#people have probably already figured it out but i did the sleuthing on my own so pth | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shihalyfie · 3 years ago

Text

About the Adventure: reboot, the likely reason why it exists, the question of target demographic, and whether I would recommend it or not

I think this reboot has been kind of a strange outlier in terms of Digimon anime in general, in terms of...well, just about everything. I also feel like everything surrounding it has kind of been giving us mixed signals as to what the intent and purpose behind the anime is -- well, besides “cashing in on the Adventure brand”, but looking at it more closely, that might be a bit of an oversimplification.

I’m writing this post because, having seen the entire series to the end for myself and thinking very hard about it and what it was trying to do, I decided to put down my thoughts. This is not meant to be a review of what I think was good and bad, but rather, something that I hope will be helpful to those who might be on the fence about whether they want to watch it or not, or those who don’t want to watch/finish it but are curious about what happened, or those who are curious as to why this reboot even exists in the first place, or even maybe just those who did watch it but are interested in others’ thoughts about it. I'm personally convinced that -- especially in an ever-changing franchise like Digimon -- how much you like a given work is dependent on what your personal tastes are to the very end, and thus it’s helpful to understand what kind of expectations you should go in with if you want to watch something.

With all of this said and done, if you want to go in and best enjoy this series, I think it is best to consider this anime as a distinct Digimon series of its own. The relationship to Adventure is only surface-level, and by that I mean it’s very obvious it’s doing things its own thing deliberately without worrying too much about what prior series did. Of course, I think everyone will have varying feelings about using the Adventure branding for something that really isn't Adventure at all, but we are really talking about an in-name-only affair, and something that’s unabashedly doing whatever it wants. So in other words, if you’re going in expecting Adventure, or anything that really resembles Adventure, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. But if you’re able to approach it like yet another distinct Digimon series, and the other aspects of it fit your fancy, you’ll probably be able to enjoy it much better. And, conversely, I think it’s also important to remember that this series seems to have a writing philosophy with a fundamentally different goal from most Digimon series, and since it’s understandable for most long-time Digimon fans to have their tastes built on those prior series, it’s fine and completely understandable that this reboot may not be your cup of tea, for reasons that probably don’t actually have much to do with whether it’s an Adventure reboot or not.

There are no spoilers in the following post. (Although I use some emphatic language for the duration for it, these are mostly just my personal thoughts and how I see the series and the overall situation.)

On what exact relationship to Adventure this series has, and why it’s an “Adventure reboot”

If you ask why they did an Adventure reboot, the easiest answer to come up with is “Adventure milking, because it’s profitable”, but that’s kind of an oversimplification of what the issue is. This is especially when you take into account a key fact that official has been very well aware of since as early as 2006: most kids are too young to have seen Adventure, and therefore have no reason to care about it.

That’s the thing: Adventure milking only works so well on today’s children, and Toei and Bandai know this. This is also the reason that the franchise started going through a bit of a “split” starting in around 2012 (after Xros Wars finished airing), when the video game branch started making more active attempts to appeal to the adults’ fanbase with Re:Digitize and Adventure PSP. (Although they were technically still “kids’ games”, they were very obviously aimed at the adults’ audience as a primary “target”.) The generation that grew up with Adventure and other classic Digimon anime was getting older and older, and targeting that audience would require tailoring products more specifically to them -- ultimately culminating in 2015 and the solidification of “very obviously primarily for adults” media in the form of both games (Cyber Sleuth and Next Order) and anime (tri.). Note that Appmon ended up getting its own 3DS game, but since it was targeted at kids, it seems to have been developed by a completely different pipeline/branch from the aforementioned adults’ games, so even that had a split.

So if we want to talk about full-on nostalgia pandering, that’s already being done in the adults’ branch. In fact, Appmon development specifically said that they felt free to not really care about the adults’ audience because that was tri.’s job. Of course, the hardcore Digimon adults’ fanbase is still keeping an eye on the kids’ shows, and it’s good to not upset them -- and, besides, even if we’re all suffering under the hell of capitalism, people who work in kids’ shows still tend to be very passionate about the content and messages they’re showing the kids, so they still put an effort into making good content that adults can enjoy too. But, nevertheless, adults are still the “periphery demographic”, and a kids’ show is not a success if the kids (who have not seen and do not care about Adventure) are not watching it or buying the toys. Appmon ended up being extremely well-received by the adults’ fanbase, but that all meant nothing since the kids didn’t get into it.

Most kids are not super incredibly discerning about so-called writing quality (it’s not like they don’t at least unconsciously know when something is good, but they’re much less likely to be bothered by little things adults are often bothered by), so there’s a certain degree you have to get their attention if you want things to catch on with them. Critical reception does matter a lot more when we talk about the adults’ audience, but for the kids, the more important part is how much you’ve managed to engage them and how much fun they’re having (especially in regards to the toyline). Moreover, there’s the problem of “momentum”; Digimon’s sister shows of PreCure, Kamen Rider, and Super Sentai have sometimes had really poorly performing shows (critically or financially), but have managed to recover it in successive years to avoid getting cancelled. Digimon never managed to get to that point, with sales nearly dropping to half with Tamers and again with Frontier. So in essence, Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon were all attempts at figuring out what was needed to just get that “kickstart” again -- but things just never lined up for it to work.

So if kids don’t really care about Adventure, why would they do Adventure nostalgia pandering? The answer is one that official has actually openly stated multiple times: they want to have parents watch it together with their children. Both Seki and Kinoshita said this in regards to watching the reaction to Kizuna, and it was also stated outright as a goal for the reboot, but, believe it or not, there’s reports of this having been stated back as early as Savers (followed by an admission that maybe 2006 was a little too early for people who grew up with Adventure to be old enough to have their own kids). So the little nostalgia references in Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon aren't really meant to magically turn the series into Adventure as much as they’re supposed to be flags waved at the parents to get them to pay attention, so that they can introduce their kids to Digimon and watch it together with them, until the kids eventually take an interest on their own and they don’t need to rely on that kind of standby as much. (I say “as much” because of course PreCure, Rider, and Sentai all are still very indulgent in their anniversary references, but they’re not nearly as reliant on it to the point of life-and-death.)

This is also why Kizuna’s existence and release date two months prior to the reboot is a huge factor in this. The reason tri. wouldn’t have done it is that it never actually reached a properly “mainstream” audience. It’s a huge reason I keep emphasizing the fact that tri. and Kizuna are two separate things with completely different production and release formats, because tri. being a limited OVA screening released in six parts over three years means that, although it was a moderate financial success that did better than the franchise’s other niche products, in the end, it didn’t actually reach the “extremely casual” audience very well. We, as the “hardcore Internet fanbase”, all know people who watched all six parts, and the difference between tri. and Kizuna’s release formats doesn’t hit us as hard because of international distribution circumstances, but even on our end, if you talk to your casual friends who barely remember anything about Digimon except what they saw on TV twenty years ago, you will almost never find anyone who got past Part 1, maybe 2 at most. (That’s before we even get into the part where a good chunk of them got turned off at the character design stage for being too different.) Sticking with a full six-part series over three years is a commitment, and if you’re not someone with a certain level of loyalty to the franchise, you aren’t as likely to put aside the time for it!

Kizuna, on the other hand, was a full-on theatrical movie with full marketing campaign that was aimed at that extremely casual mainstream audience, including a lot of people who hadn’t even heard of tri. (due to it being too niche) or hadn’t bothered to commit to watching something so long, and thus managed to “hype up” a lot of adults and get them in a Digimon mood. (Critical reception issues aside, this is also presumably a huge reason Kizuna isn’t all that reliant on tri.’s plot; Adventure and 02 both averaged at around 11% of the country watching it when it first aired, but the number of people who even saw tri. much less know what happened in it is significantly lower, so while you can appeal to a lot of people if you’re just targeting the 11%, you'll lock them out if you’re overly reliant on stuff a lot of them will have never seen in the first place.) We’re talking the kind of super-casual who sees a poster for Kizuna, goes “oh I remember Digimon!”, casually buys a ticket for the movie, likes it because it has characters they remember and the story is feelsy, and then two months later an anime that looks like the Digimon they recognize is on Fuji TV, resulting in them convincing their kid to watch it together with them because they’re in a Digimon mood now, even though the actual contents of the anime are substantially different from the original.

So, looking back at the reboot:

There’s a huge, huge, huge implication that the choice to use Adventure branding was at least partially to get Fuji TV to let them have their old timeslot back. Neither Xros Wars nor Appmon were able to be on that old timeslot, presumably because Fuji TV had serious doubts about their profitability (perhaps after seeing Savers not do very well). This isn’t something that hits as hard for us outside Japan who don’t have to feel the impact of this anyway, but it’s kind of a problem if kids don’t even get the opportunity to watch the show in the first place. While there’s been a general trend of moving to video-on-demand to the point TV ratings don’t really have as much impact as they used to, I mean...it sure beats 6:30 in the morning, goodness. (Note that a big reason PreCure, Rider, and Sentai are able to enjoy the comfortable positions they’re in is that they have a very luxurious 8:30-10 AM Sunday block on TV Asahi dedicated to them.)

Since we’re talking about “the casual mainstream”, this means that this kind of ploy only works with something where a casual person passing by can see names and faces and take an interest. This is why it has to be Adventure, not 02 or Tamers or whatnot; 02 may have had roughly similar TV ratings to Adventure and fairly close sales figures back in 2000, but the actual pop culture notability disparity in this day and age is humongous (think about the difference in pop culture awareness between Butter-Fly and Target). 02, Tamers, and all can do enough to carry “adults’ fandom” products and merch sales at DigiFes, and the adults’ branch of the franchise in general, but appealing to the average adult buying toys for the kids is a huge difference, and a big reason that, even if they’re clearly starting to acknowledge more of the non-Adventure series these days, it’s still hard to believe they’re going to go as far as rebooting anything past Adventure -- or, more accurately, hard to believe they’ll be able to get the same impact using names and faces alone.

This advertising with the Adventure brand goes beyond just the anime -- we’re talking about the toyline that has the involved character faces plastered on them, plus all of the ventures surrounding them that Bandai pretty obviously carefully timed to coincide with this. One particularly big factor is the card game, which is doing really, really well right now, to the point it’s even started gaining an audience among people who weren’t originally Digimon fans. Part of it is because the game’s design is actually very good and newcomer-friendly, but also...nearly every set since the beginning came with reboot-themed Tamer Cards, which means that, yes, those cards with the Adventure names and faces were helping lure people into taking an interest in the game. Right now, the game is doing so well and has gained such a good reputation that it probably doesn’t need that crutch anymore to keep going as long as the game remains well-maintained, but I have no doubt the initial “Adventure” branding was what helped it take off, and its success is most likely a huge pillar sustaining the franchise at the current moment.

Speaking of merch and toys, if you look closely, you might notice that Bandai decided to go much, much more aggressively into the toy market with this venture than they ever did with Savers, Xros Wars, or Appmon (Appmon was probably the most aggressive attempt out of said three). They put out a lot more merch and did a lot more collaborative events to engage the parents and children, and, presumably, the reason they were able to do this was because they were able to push into those outlets with the confidence the Adventure brand would let them be accepted (much like with Fuji TV). Like with the card game, the important part was getting their “foot in the door” so that even if it stopped being Adventure after a fashion, they’d still have all of those merchandising outlets -- after all, one of the first hints we ever got of Ghost Game’s existence was a July product listing for its products replacing the reboot’s in a gachapon set, so we actually have evidence of certain product pipelines being opened by the reboot’s precedent. (The word 後番組 literally means “the TV program that comes after”, so it’s pretty obvious this was intended for Ghost Game; in other words, the reboot’s existence helped ensure there be a “reservation” for this kind of product to be made.)

I think one important thing to keep in mind is that Toei and Bandai have as much of a stake in avoiding rehashing for their kids’ franchises as we do. Even if you look at this from a purely capitalistic perspective, because of how fast the “turnover” is for the kids’ audience, sustaining a franchise for a long time off rehashing the same thing over and over is hard, and even moreso when it involves a twenty-year-old anime that said kids don’t even know or remember. Ask around about popular long-running Japanese kids’ franchises and you’ll notice they practically rely on being able to comfortably change things up every so often, like PreCure/Rider/Sentai shuffling every year, or Yu-Gi-Oh! having a rotation of different series and concepts, or the struggles that franchises that don’t do this have to deal with. And, after all, for all people are cynical about Toei continuing to milk Adventure or any of the other older series at every opportunity, as far as the kids’ branch of the franchise goes, this is only capable of lasting to a certain extent; if they tried keeping this up too long, even the adults and kids would get bored, and there is some point it’ll be easier to try and make products directly targeted at the kids’ audience instead of having to rely on the parents to ease them into it.

So it’s completely understandable that the moment they secured a proper audience with the reboot and finished up their first series with this, they decided to take the risk with Ghost Game right after. And considering all that’s happened, this is still a risk -- they’re changing up a lot (even if not as much as Appmon), and there’s a chance that the audience they’ve gathered is going to shoot down again because they’ve changed so much and they no longer have the Adventure branding as a “crutch” to use -- but they’re taking it anyway instead of going for something at least slightly more conventional.

Which means that, yes, there’s a possibility this will all explode in their face, because the Adventure branding is that huge of a card they’re about to lose. But at the very, very least, Ghost Game is coming in with the “momentum” and advantage that Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon all didn’t have: a brand currently in the stage of recovery, all of the merchandising and collaborative pipelines the reboot and Kizuna opened up, a fairly good timeslot, and a premise somewhat more conventional than Xros Wars and Appmon (I’m saying this as someone who likes both: their marketing definitely did not do them many favors). There are still a lot of risks it’s playing here, and it’s possible it won’t be the end of more Adventure or reboot brand usage to try to keep that momentum up even as we go into Ghost Game, but it’s the first time in a long while we’ve had something to stand on.

Okay, so that’s out of the way. But the end result is that we now have 67 episodes of an Adventure “reboot” that actually doesn’t even resemble Adventure that much at all, which seems to have achieved its goal of flagging down attention so it can finally going back to trying new things. This series exists, we can’t do anything about the fact it exists, the period where its own financial performance actually mattered is coming to an end anyway, and we, as a fanbase of adults hanging out on the Internet keeping up with the franchise as a whole, have to figure out how each of us feels about this. So what of it?

About the contents of the reboot itself

One thing I feel hasn’t been brought up as a potential topic very much (or, at least, not as much as I feel like it probably should be) is that the reboot seems to be actively aimed at a younger target audience than the original Adventure. It hasn’t been stated outright, but we actually have quite a bit of evidence pointing towards this.

Let’s take a moment and discuss what it even means to have a different target audience. When you’re a kid, even one or two years’ difference is a big deal, and while things vary from kid to kid, generally speaking, it helps to have an idea of what your “overall goal” is when targeting a certain age group, since at some point you have to approximate the interests of some thousands of children. Traditionally, Digimon has been aimed at preteens (10-11 year olds); of course, many will testify to having seen the series at a younger age than that, but the "main” intended target demographic was in this arena. (Also, keep in mind that this is an average; a show aimed at 10-11 year olds could be said to be more broadly aimed at 7-13 year olds, whereas one aimed at 7-8 year olds would be more broadly aimed at something like 5-10 year olds.) Let’s talk a bit about what distinguishes children’s shows (especially Japanese kids’ shows) between this “preteen demographic” and things aimed at a much younger audience (which I’ll call “young child demographic”, something like the 7-8 year old arena):

With children who are sufficiently young, it’s much, much more difficult to ensure that a child of that age will be able to consistently watch TV at the same hour every week instead of being subject to more variable schedules, often set by their parents, meaning that it becomes much more difficult to have a series that relies on you having seen almost every episode to know what’s going on. For somewhat older kids, they’re more likely to be able to pick and pursue their own preferences (the usual “got up early every week for this show”). This means that shows targeted at a young child demographic will be more likely to be episodic, or at least not have a complex dramatic narrative that requires following the full story, whereas shows targeted at a preteen audience are more willing to have a dramatic narrative with higher complexity. This does not mean by any shake of the imagination that a narrative is incapable of having any kind of depth or nuance -- the reboot’s timeslot predecessor GeGeGe no Kitaro got glowing reviews all over the board for being an episodic story with tons of depth -- nor that characters can’t slowly develop over the course of the show. But it does raise the bar significantly, especially because it prevents you from making episodes that require you to know what happened in previous ones.

The thing is, the original Adventure and the older Digimon series in general didn’t have to worry about this, and, beyond the fact that their narratives very obviously were not episodic, we actually have concrete evidence of the disparity: Digimon has often been said to be a franchise for “the kids who graduated from (outgrew) a certain other monster series”. Obviously, they’re referring to Pokémon -- which does have the much younger target demographic. That’s why its anime is significantly more episodic and less overall plot-oriented, and Digimon wasn’t entirely meant to be a direct competitor to it; rather, it was hoping to pick up the preteens who’d enjoyed Pokémon at a younger age but were now looking for something more catered to them. This is also why, when Yo-kai Watch came into the game in 2014, that was considered such a huge direct competitor to Pokémon, because it was aiming for that exact same demographic, complete with episodic anime. When Yo-kai Watch moved to its Shadowside branch in 2017, it was specifically because they had concerns about losing audience and wanted to appeal to the kids who had been watching the original series, but since they were preteens now, they adopted a more dramatic and emotionally complex narrative that would appeal to that audience instead. So you can actually see the shift in attempted target demographic in real time.

Adventure through Frontier were aimed at 10-11 year olds, and here’s the interesting part: those series had the protagonists hover around the age of said target audience. We actually have it on record that Frontier had a direct attempt to keep most of the kids as fifth-graders for the sake of appealing to the audience, and so that it would be relatable to them. You can also see this policy of “matching the target audience’s age” in other series at the time; Digimon’s sister series Ojamajo Doremi (also produced by Seki) centered around eight-year-olds. Nor was Seki the only one to do this; stepping outside Toei for a bit, Medabots/Medarot had its protagonist Ikki be ten years old, much like Digimon protagonists, and the narrative was similarly dramatic. The thing is, that’s not how it usually works, and that’s especially not really been how it’s worked for the majority of kids’ series since the mid-2000s. In general, and especially now, it’s usually common to have the protagonists of children’s media be slightly older than the target age group. This has a lot of reasons behind it -- partially because kids are looking to have slightly older characters as a model for what to follow in their immediate future, and partially because “the things you want to teach the kids” are often more realistically reflected if the kids on screen have the right level of independence and capacity for emotional contemplation. Case in point: while everyone agrees the Adventure through Frontier characters are quite relatable, it’s a common criticism that the level of emotional insight sometimes pushes the boundary of what’s actually believable for 10-11 year olds...

...which is presumably why, with the exception of this reboot, every Digimon TV series since, as of this writing, started shifting to middle school students. That doesn’t mean they’re aiming the series at middle school kids now, especially because real-life 13-15 year olds are usually at the stage where they pretend they’ve outgrown kids’ shows (after all, that’s why there’s a whole term for “middle school second year syndrome”), but more that the narrative that they want to tell is best reflected by kids of that age, especially when we’re talking characters meant to represent children from the real world and not near-immortal youkai like Kitaro. In fact, the Appmon staff outright said that Haru was placed in middle school because the story needed that level of independence and emotional sensitivity, which is interesting to consider in light of the fact that Appmon’s emotional drama is basically on par with that of Adventure through Frontier’s. So in other words, the kind of high-level drama endemic to Adventure through Frontier is would actually normally be more on par with what you’d expect for kids of Haru’s age.

But at this point, the franchise is at a point of desperation, and you can see that, as I said earlier, Appmon was blatantly trying to be one of those “have its cake and eat it too” series by having possibly one of the franchise’s most dramatic storylines while also having some of the most unsubtle catchphrases and bright colors it has to offer. Moreover, one thing you might notice if you look closely at Appmon: most of its episodes are self-contained. Only a very small handful of episodes are actively dependent on understanding what happened in prior episodes to understand the conflict going on in the current one -- it’s just very cleverly structured in a way you don’t really notice this as easily. So as you can see, the more desperate the franchise has gotten to get its kids’ audience back, the more it has to be able to grab the younger demographic and not lock them out as much as possible -- which means that it has to do things that the original series didn’t have to worry about at all.

Having seen the reboot myself, I can say that it checks off a lot of what you might expect if you tried to repurpose something based on Adventure (and only vaguely based on it, really) into a more episodic story that doesn’t require you to follow the whole thing, and that it has to break down its story into easy-to-follow bits. In fact, there were times where I actually felt like it gave me the vibes of an educational show that would usually be expected for this demographic, such as repeated use of slogans or fun catchphrases for young kids to join in on. That alone means that even if the “base premise” is similar to the original Adventure, this already necessitates a lot of things that have to be very different, because Adventure really cannot be called episodic no matter how you slice it.

Not only that, even though the target audience consideration has yet to be outright stated, we also have interviews on hand that made it very clear, from the very beginning, what their goals with the reboot were: they wanted the kids to be able to enjoy a story of otherworldly exploration during the pandemic, they wanted cool action sequences, and they wanted to get the adults curious about what might be different from the original. Note that last part: they actively wanted this series to be different from the original, because the differences would engage parents in spotting the differences, and the third episode practically even goes out of its way to lay that message down by taking the kids to a familiar summer camp, only to have it pass without incident and go “ha, you thought, but nope!” Moreover -- this is the key part -- “surprising” people who were coming from the original series was a deliberate goal they had from the very beginning. They’ve stated this outright -- they knew older fans were watching this! They were not remotely shy about stating that they wanted to surprise returning viewers with unexpected things! They even implied that they wanted it to be a fun experience for older watchers to see what was different and what wasn’t -- basically, it’s a new show for their kids who never saw the original Adventure, while the parents are entertained by a very different take on something that seems ostensibly familiar.

On top of that, the head writer directly cited V-Tamer as an influence -- and if you know anything about V-Tamer, it’s really not that much of a character narrative compared to what we usually know of Digimon anime, and is mostly known for its battle tactics and action sequences (but in manga form). In other words, we have a Digimon anime series that, from day one, was deliberately made to have a writing philosophy and goal that was absolutely not intended to be like Adventure -- or any Digimon TV anime up to this point -- in any way. And that’s a huge shock for us as veterans, who have developed our tastes and expectations based on up to seven series of Digimon that were absolutely not like this at all. But for all it's worth, the circumstances surrounding its production and intent don't seem to quite line up with what the most common accusations against it are:

That it’s a rehash of Adventure: It really isn’t. It’s also blatantly apparent it has no intention of being so. The points that are in common: the character names and rough character designs, some very minimal profile details for said characters, Devimon having any particular foil position to Angemon, the use of Crests to represent personal growth, the premise of being in the Digital World and...that’s it! Once those points are aside, it’s really hard to say that the series resembles Adventure any more than Frontier or Xros Wars resembles Adventure (which are also “trapped in another world” narratives) -- actually, there are times the series resembles those two more than the original Adventure, which many have been quick to point out. The majority of things you can make any kind of comparison to basically drop off by the end of the first quarter or so, and trying to force a correlation is basically just that: you’d have to try forcing the comparison. The plot, writing style, and even the lineup of enemies shown just go in a completely different direction after that. So in the end, the base similarities can be said to be a marketing thing; if I want to criticize this series, I don’t think “lack of creativity” would actually be something I would criticize it for. (Of course, you’re still welcome to not be a huge fan of how they’re still guilty of using Adventure’s name value to market something that is not actually Adventure. We’re all gonna have mixed feelings on that one.)

That they don’t understand or remember Adventure’s appeal: Unlikely. All of the main staff has worked on character-based narratives before, which have been very well-praised while we’re at it. The producer, Sakurada Hiroyuki, was an assistant producer on the original series, and I would like to believe he probably remembers at least a thing or two about what they were doing with the original series...but, also, he’s the producer of Xros Wars, which definitely had its own individuality and style, and, moreover, was more of a character narrative that people generally tend to expect from Digimon anime. (Still a bit unconventional, and it has its own questions of personal taste, but a lot of people have also pointed out that this reboot has a lot in common with Xros Wars in terms of its writing tone and its emphasis on developing Digital World resident Digimon moreso than the human characters.) All signs point to the idea they could make a character narrative like Adventure if they really wanted to. It’s just, they don’t want to do that with this reboot, so they didn’t.

That they misinterpreted or misremembered the Adventure characters: There’s been accusations of said characters being written in a way that implies misinterpretation or lack of understanding of the original characters, but the thing is, while I definitely agree they have nowhere near the depth of the original ones, there are points that seem to be deliberate changes. (At some points, they’re actually opposites of the original, and certain things that operate as some very obscure references -- for instance, Sora complaining about having to sit in seiza -- seem to also be deliberate statements of going in a different direction.) The lack of human character depth or backstory doesn’t seem to be out of negligence, but rather that this story doesn’t want to be a character narrative to begin with -- after all, we’re used to seven series of Digimon that are, but there are many, many kids’ anime, or even stories in general, where the story is more about plot or action than it is completely unpacking all of its characters’ heads. In this case, this reboot does seem to have characters that are taking cues from or are “inspired by” the original, but, after all, it’s an alternate universe and has no obligation to adhere to the original characters’ backgrounds, so it stands to reason that it’d take liberties whenever it wanted. (Again, the head writer outright stated that he based the reboot’s Taichi more on V-Tamer Taichi than the original Adventure anime Taichi. He knows there’s a difference!) Even more intriguingly, the series actually avoids certain things that are common misconceptions or pigeonholes that would normally be done by the mainstream -- for instance, the Crest of Light (infamously one of the more abstract ones in the narrative) is fully consistent with Adventure’s definition of it as “the power of life”, and, if I dare say so myself, Koushirou’s characterization (emphasizing his relationship with “knowledge” and his natural shyness) arguably resembles the original far more than most common fan reductions of his character that overemphasize his computer skills over his personal aptitude. In other words, I think the staff does know what happened in the original Adventure -- they just actively don’t want to do what Adventure did, even if it’s ostensibly a reboot.

That it’s soulless or that there’s no passion in its creation: Well, this is subjective, and in the end I’m not a member of the staff to tell you anything for sure, but there are definitely a lot of things in this anime that don’t seem like they’d be the byproduct of uninspired creation or lack of passion. It’s just that those things are all not the kinds of things that we, as Digimon veterans, have come to develop a taste for and appreciate in Digimon anime. That is to say, there is an incredible amount of thought and detail put into representing Digimon null canon (i.e. representing special attacks and mechanics), the action sequences are shockingly well-animated in ways that put most prior Digimon anime to shame, and the series has practically been making an obvious attempt to show off as many Digimon (creatures) that haven’t traditionally gotten good franchise representation as they can. Or sometimes really obscure “meta fanservice” references that only make sense to the really, really, really, really hardcore longtime Digimon fan (for instance, having an episode centered around Takeru and Opossummon, because Takeru’s voice actress Han Megumi voiced Airu in Xros Wars). If you follow any of the animators on Twitter, they seem to be really actively proud of their work on it, and franchise creators Volcano Ota and Watanabe Kenji seem to be enjoying themselves every week...so basically, we definitely have creators passionate about having fun with this, it’s just that all of it is being channeled here, not the character writing.

So in the end, you can basically see that this series is basically the epitome of desperately pulling out all of the stops to make sure this series lands with the actual target demographic of children, dammit, and gets them into appreciating how cool these fighting monsters are and how cool it would be if they stuck with them even into a series that’s not Adventure. The Adventure branding and names to lure in the parents, the straightforward and easy-to-understand action-oriented narrative so that kids will think everything is awesome and that they’ll like it even when the story changes, and the merchandise and collab events booked everywhere so that they can all be reused for the next series too...because, remember, they failed with that during Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon (I mean, goodness, you kind of have to admire their persistence, because a ton of other kids’ franchises failing this many times would have given up by now), so it’s a bit unsurprising that they went all the way to get the kids’ attention at the expense of a lot of things that would attract veterans, especially since the veterans already have a well-developed adults’ pipeline to cater to them. This does also mean that this series is more likely to come off as a 67-episode toy commercial than any previous Digimon series, but it’s not even really the toys as much as they’re trying to sell the entire franchise and the actual monsters in the hopes that they’ll stick with it even when the narrative changes.

Nevertheless, here we are. The series is over. Ghost Game -- which, as of this writing, is looking to be much more of a conventional Digimon narrative, complete with older cast, obviously more dramatic atmosphere, and pretty much everything surrounding its PR -- is on its way, presumably thanks to the success of this endeavor. It’s hard to gauge it; we have it on record that they also intend it to be episodic, but remember that this doesn’t necessarily prevent it from having an overall dramatic plot or nuanced drama (especially since the abovementioned Appmon and Kitaro were perfectly capable of pulling off this balance). Nevertheless, it seems to be a lot more of the conventional kind of Digimon narrative we usually expect, so, as for us, adult long-time fans of the Digimon franchise (many of whom don’t have kids anyway), what exactly should we make of this? Well, as far as “supporting the franchise” goes, you’ll get much more progress supporting Ghost Game than the reboot; I highly doubt view counts and merch sales relative to an already-finished series will do nearly as much for the franchise’s health as much as the currently airing series, and, besides, it’d probably do us all a favor to support the endeavor that’s actually new and fresh. So when it comes to a “past” series like this, it’s all just going to come down to a question of personal preference and taste: is this a series you, personally, want to watch, and would you find it entertaining?

For some of you, it’s possible that it just won’t be your cup of tea at all -- and since, like I said, the majority of us here have based our expectations and preferences on up to seven series of Digimon that were not like this, that’s also perfectly fine, and in that case I don’t actually recommend you watch this. Of course, I’ve never thought that it was ever fair to expect a Digimon fan to have seen all of the series released to date; the more series we get, the more inhumane of a demand that’ll become, and I think this franchise becoming successful enough to have so many series that most people won’t have seen it all is a good thing. (It’s actually kind of alarming that the percentage of people who have seen it all is so high, because it means the franchise has failed to get much of an audience beyond comparatively hardcore people who committed to it all the way.) But I think, especially in this case, with a series for which adult fans like us were probably lowest on the priority list due to the sheer amount of desperation going on here, it’s fine to skip it, and if you’re someone who lives by a need for character depth or emotionally riveting narrative, the fact this series is (very unabashedly and unashamedly) mostly comprised of episodic stories and action sequences means you won’t have missed much and probably won’t feel too left out of any conversations going forward. That’s before we even get into the part where it’s still completely understandable to potentially have mixed feelings or resentment about the overuse of the Adventure brand for something like this, especially if Adventure is a particularly important series to you.

But for some of you out there, it might still be something you can enjoy on its own merits. I’ve seen people who were disappointed by the limited degree of Digimon action sequences in the past or the fact that the series has gotten overly fixated on humans, and had an absolute ball with the reboot because it finally got to represent parts of the franchise they felt hadn’t been shown off as well. “Fun” is a perfectly valid reason to enjoy something. It’s also perfectly possible to be someone who can enjoy character narratives like the prior Digimon series but also enjoy something that’s more for being outlandish and fun and has cool Digital World concepts and visuals -- and, like I said, it does not let up on that latter aspect at all, so there’s actually potential for a huge feast in that regard. I think as long as you don’t expect it to be a character narrative like Adventure -- which will only set you up for disappointment, because it’s not (and made very clear since even the earliest episodes and interviews that it had no intention of being one) -- it’s very possible to enjoy it for what it is, and for what it does uniquely.

#digimon #digimon adventure:#digimon adventure reboot #digimon adventure 2020 #digimon adventure psi #shihameta

108 notes · View notes

cherryusa · 3 years ago

Photo

Oh, silly little Sleuth. Your cousin died in this town! Sure you don’t wanna turn back now?

THE SLEUTH:

SULLIVAN “SULLY” LEWIS JOE KEERY, PLAYED BY BIANCA, 25, AEST

“WAIT - YOU TOTALLY HAVEN’T BEEN IN TOWN FOR A WHILE, RIGHT? DID YOU HEAR ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR?“

“I’ve heard a lot more than you think.” It was the kind of vague thing someone would say in one of the pulpy cheap paperbacks Sully still had in his unpacked suitcase, collecting dust in the corner of the room he was staying in. A guest bedroom, because the idea of being in his Aunt and Uncle’s... or hell, Lux’s old room, it didn’t exactly excite him. He could claim the rest of the house as his own for the summer, but he rarely even touched the doorknob on the master bedroom. Lux’s room was a little different, though. It needed to be preserved, though he’d already looked through it several times since arriving in Cherry. “I mean how could I not, it was like... my mother embodied the rumor mill. Every time I’d pass her in the hallway the house phone was superglued to her ear and she was talking about some bizarre thing happening there...” He trailed off, blinking as he looked off into the distance, imagining the things she probably whispered about him when he wasn’t around to hear it, too busy watching his Law and Order episodes. Clenching his jaw, he offered a quick, superficial smile. “I guess I don’t know everything, though. Can’t help but curious. My family still hasn’t recovered from losing Lux, so I guess I’m itching to understand what it is about this town.”

“WHAT ARE YOU PARENTS LIKE? DO YOU, LIKE, THINK YOU’RE ANYTHING LIKE THEM, OR DO YOU HAVE TOTAL MOMMY AND DADDY ISSUES?”

That question garnered a scoff. It was the only exposed nerve that Sully had for someone to press on and throw him off. “Sue-Ellen and David Lewis do not inspire mommy and daddy issues. They’re... boring, really.” A lie, but an easy one to tell. “My mother lives at the country club, is a notorious gossip and braggart. She’s fired every housekeeper we have within two years of hiring her and most of our nannies quit, so she raised us herself for the most part. I don’t even really know why she hired the nannies when she always stood over their shoulders, making sure they did everything correctly. I guess I get that attitude from her, the ‘if you want it done right, do it yourself thing’,” He smiled wistfully. “My father is protective of our family. He plays golf and he sells cars. He’s not particularly emotional.” And Sully had never heard him utter the words ‘I love you’, nor felt affection from him since he was a mere baby. Not that it mattered. He didn’t need it from that man. “Nothing special, just some regular old red blooded Americans..”

“YOU CAN BE HONEST WITH ME… WHO DO YOU THINK MURDERED LUX?”

Now this was a topic that got Sully riled up. He leaned forward, peering from side to side conspiratorially. “I can trust you, right?" His eyes seemed to be searching for something, an indication that they would or wouldn’t go spewing his words up and down the boardwalk the second he was done. “I have some suspects in mind, call it a shortlist of people who had their reasons. I’m not just interested in the who, though. That’s just one half of a mystery. What I find compelling is the why... Right now it’s like I have puzzle pieces, but I want them to fit and give me the whole story. I’m a bit stubborn that way, I guess. Can never leave something unfinished once I start it.” Sully was determined to leave no stone unturned and take no shortcuts in figuring this out. Sure, he may not have been particularly close with Lux and maybe he didn’t care enough when her murder first happened, too distracted by his own bullshit, but he knew there was something just waiting for him to uncover it. He could make his tendency to get sucked up in things work for him, at least this once.

CONNECTIONS:

THE BABY/RORY:

Sully doesn’t really know a lot of people like Rory, people who are genuine and kind. It almost makes him feel like a jerk for lying to her so constantly, but he’s made a vow to himself that if there are some people he’s trying to show his sincere self to, she’s one of them. It’s a small way of not getting too engrossed in this role he’s playing. He may also be guilty of getting carried away in offering up parts of himself because she’s one of the few people who he’s indicated his interest in crime and mystery to. He’s also very aware of how his investigation may put someone innocent like her in danger, which is why he tries not to involve her in too many of his attempts to get information.

THE RUNAWAY/SAVANNAH:

Savannah unsettles Sully. He all too often feels like somehow he’s the mouse when he’s so constantly trying to be the cat in Cherry. It seems like she’s one of the few people that sees through him, but he’s stubborn and right now completely refuses to let her in on what he’s really doing in town, let alone any of the slightly shady things he’s been doing to figure out who murdered his cousin (see: snooping around, stealing shit). He truly believes he’ll be the one to outsmart her in the end and he’s willing to play things at a more dangerous pace just to do it.

THE TOURIST/MADELINE:

Sully has made it his mission to befriend and get to know anyone in Lux’s life and Madeline is no exception. Sure, she’s not even making the suspect list and he’s not sure she can provide much information, but he’s completely unaware that she’d have any reason to suspect he’s not being quite so sincere in befriending everyone. He just thinks she’s another person who was under his cousin’s spell, which he assumes he can use to his advantage.

4 notes · View notes

pfreadsandwrites · 4 years ago

Note

Prompt Idea 💡

So reader has a short life span due to their... chakra ability? (I haven’t watched Naruto so plz forgive me in advance) and they do all that they can to make Kakashi hate them but it failed miserably.

y/n: I can’t do this.

Kakashi: You can’t do what?

y/n: I try to make you hate me so when I die, you’ll forget about me.

Kakashi knew that reader wasn’t being themselves... and he’s like “I’ve known you since we were kids. I can tell you’re not being yourself. I know who you are” and stuff like that.

(honestly Naruto lore can be complex and convoluted and gives you a lot to work with so I'm sure it's totally within the realm of canon possibility that there's some terminal chakra disease lol also i'm so impressed you're out here coming up with prompts for shows you haven't even seen!! i cant even do it for shows i love most of the time)

Ohhh okay so this is an interesting idea, I take it to mean that the reader probably finds out about their condition after they're already close with Kakashi, and then acts distant after an already established relationship/friendship?

Because given Kakashi's tendency to push people away, especially throughout his childhood/teen/young adult years, it would be hard if Y/N was trying to push them away from the beginning, you know? So I see them as knowing each other and being friends and all first, but later on as adults Kakashi detects a change in Y/N. Which I think from what you said that's kind of what you were going for, that Y/N begins to act differently after finding this information out. It's interesting, because, pushing someone away because you don't want them to get hurt, or you don't want to cause them pain, is such a Kakashi thing to do. So it's interesting to think about what the reaction would be if someone treats him that way.

As for Kakashi's reaction? Well... he has a bad habit of just letting things be, to be honest. When it comes to himself and how much suffering he can put himself through, at least. He just doesn't think he deserves good things. Like, if something shitty happens to him or if someone treats him badly he might just accept it. But I do think Kakashi has a tendency that, when someone seems to dislike him or doesn't wanna be around him anymore he's just inclined to let that be and not really fight to change their mind.

However, if he suspects something's wrong, and he's smart, he probably does - then he would probably investigate further, especially if he cares about someone, rather than just taking them at face value and letting them go. He's one to step back and assess a situation rather than be really pushy from the get-go.

So his reaction would be a combination of the two - he'd give them their space and also try to get to the bottom of the situation. They'd have to be really close for Kakashi to be openly insistent that they don't pull away right from the get go. But once Kakashi does figure it out - and he's not above doing some sleuthing on his own - I think you could expect him to show up to confront Y/N about it and you would get an exchange like the one you've outlined here.

As a lil writing exercise and one of my many attempts to get over my writer's block, I'm gonna write a tiny tiny unedited drabble under the cut (another reason it's tiny is because I've been seeing other writers do lots of cool things with this prompt and I'm incapable of that at the moment lmao).

mild angst under cut (0.27k words):

Even a fool would notice.

Even a fool would have noticed the way your fingers trembled before you clenched your first, the way your eyes failed to meet his even as you narrowed them, even as your voice broke before you scathed at him.

Even the way you turned away before you had finished, just so he wouldn't notice the tears in your eyes (something that had never worked before, mind).

And Kakashi Hatake, for all the impossible, contradictory things that he was, was no fool.

So why?

Why had he just quietly agreed when you'd told him, in no uncertain terms, that you wanted nothing to do with him anymore?

Especially if he knew - and he knew, he knew better than anybody else - what an unabashedly terrible liar you were?

His voice had been gruff - like it was still thick from sleep - and resigned. You had never expected him to put up much of a fight, but you had never expected the passivity to sting this much.

You want to turn around, to meet his gaze even though it terrified you, to glean any kind of meaning or emotion in that one visible eye of his. But your doubt stopped you - wasn't this what you wanted?

What you had to do, for his sake?

So why did it matter that it seemed like this was easy for him?

Had you got it all wrong? Had you really meant so little to him that he didn't even care for an explanation?

Your doubt takes over your discipline, and you turn around, calling out for him -

Kakashi is gone.

#kakashi x reader #kakashi #kakashi headcanons #headcanons #what do i tag this as??#answered #it's shit i'm sorry i really dont feel like i can write much these days #pfthinks

26 notes · View notes

disasterdemi · 3 years ago

Note

This is the demiromantic anon that asked for love advice. I appreciated the meme (I think that's what that was? I'm an 80 year old in a teenage body) but I kind of need advice. He's a close friend - we've been friends for almost 3 years now and I have no idea how he feels and I don't want to wreck our good friendship. Please send help (and more memes, I really liked the one you posted with your message, it made me laugh)

Of course!

Before I say anything else though, a good friendship should be able to survive people catching romantic feelings. Despite what the alloromantics will tell you, friendship and romantic attraction can coexist! People can still be friends even if they have different types of feelings for each other, as long as there's consent and communication about it. (I'll talk more about this towards the end).

Anywho, I wanted this to be somewhat thorough which means it got... rather long. So I'll put the rest under a read more:

I’d suggest doing a few things:

1. Work out what you want

This is a very important first step! We often say attraction ≠ action with regards to orientation (like asexual doesn’t mean celibate, etc) but it goes the other way too. You have a crush on your friend, but it’s completely up to you whether you want to act upon it or not. You can enjoy the feeling of liking someone romantically, but not want to be in a relationship. Or you may decide that you do really want to go out with him. Have a good think about what you actually want to do with these feelings before you initiate any conversations.

Along the same lines, think about your more specific wants and boundaries. Like, do you want to hold hands, or kiss, or call him your boyfriend, etc? But also, what are you not comfortable doing (especially if you end up dating) – for example, I think parts of my romance aversion tend to stick around for a while even after I catch feelings for someone, so I’d want to communicate that to the person (e.g. “I don’t feel comfortable kissing just yet, but hugging and holding hands are okay” or whatever).

2. Work out how he feels

To be honest this is the hardest one to offer advice on because it is so dependent on the people involved. But uhh here are some ideas:

For some people, the best option is to just be frank about it. Like: “Hey, I like you romantically and I’d be interested in [insert stuff from part 1 here] with you.” (Probably not those words exactly haha they’re a bit dispassionate). Maybe also mention that you value your friendship just as much, and that he shouldn’t feel bad if he’s not interested in doing those things. If you feel confident enough and think your friendship is pretty solid - so he wouldn’t freak out if he doesn’t like you back - then this is a good option.

However, it sounds from your ask like that road might be a bit intimidating. Which is totally understandable! In which case, you might want to do some sleuthing first :P

Has he had a crush on anyone while you’ve known him? If so, how did he act around them, how did he talk about them, etc – and is he doing anything like that with you?

Recruit a mutual friend to do some reconnaissance (I’m making this sound way more dramatic than it is haha). If you have someone you trust to do this, then this is probably the least personally risky option? Maybe?

Some people suggest starting to do flirty/romantic things like lingering touches or whatever but I’ll admit that rings my Consent alarm bells, and I feel like it could lead to miscommunication. Up to you though.

NOTE! In my opinion, asking them “Do you have a crush?” Or “Who do you have a crush on?” is probably the least likely to yield usable results. Especially with teenagers. It’s bloody intimidating to confess to your crush if they ask you outright without establishing that they like you first. (Again, why option 1 can be good if you feel confident enough. He’s more likely to admit he reciprocates if you take the first step.)

3. Go about getting what you both want

(if you don't want to change your current friendship/relationship)

If you're happy just chilling in your romantic feelings and not doing anything about them, you can probably either

Continue as you have been

Explain the situation to him. This could help if you want to make sure he understands why you might be behaving differently towards him.

(if he likes you back and you want to change your current relationship with him)

If you go with sleuthing, once you’ve worked out if he likes you I still strongly recommend telling him how you feel (see: 2.1). Communicate communicate communicate. You won’t get want you want if you don’t communicate. Dropping hints is just so rarely successful and can cause a whole lot of miscommunication, so I know it’s scary but if you think he likes you back you’re better of having an open, honest conversation about it.

Then after that, you can go about explaining the stuff you thought about in part 1! If being aspec has taught you anything, hopefully it’s that no two relationships are the same – so talk about what you both want so everyone is consenting and happy! Listen to him as well, and encourage him to think about his wants and boundaries. Maybe even give him a few days to think about them before continuing the conversation.

4. What to do if he doesn’t like you back

You can’t control other people’s feelings. This is so important. Of course, you can be sad if he doesn’t like you back, but remember that it’s not his fault, (it’s also not your fault for catching feelings,) and make sure he knows you are okay with him not returning your feelings! He’ll probably feel bad, so again reiterate that you don’t value a romantic relationship with him any more than your friendship.

Then you should both try to be sensitive to boundaries (probably talk about them if you can):

You might need some time away from him. That’s okay and understandable, but tell him that’s why and that it’s not because you don’t want to be friends anymore.

He might want some space from you. It can be uncomfortable for people to know someone has an unreciprocated crush on them. Maybe he’ll need some time to get used to it. But if he doesn’t bring it up, make sure you check.

Where do you go from here?

(Super important!!) Like I said earlier, people can have different feelings about each other and still get on well! You can like him romantically and he can like you platonically and you can still be good friends! So:

You shouldn’t have to “get over him” (unless you want to). A crush is about your feelings, not expectations from him. But make sure to ask him how comfortable he is with that knowledge - and explain the point before this if you need to.

On the one hand, he might be more comfortable if you stick to strictly platonic things. Make sure you respect that.

On the other hand, maybe he’s actually okay with some aspects from part 1. Maybe he’d like to hug you more, or is okay holding your hand (platonically?), but doesn’t want to kiss you or be your boyfriend. People can do things together that have different meanings to each of them, as long as there’s consent and communication.

Final note: Please please don't take this as an instruction manual - these are just my own thoughts, and what works for some people won't always work for others. So use my answer more as something to start from - something to form your own ideas from. Use pieces that you think will work, and discard others. You know yourself and your friend much better than I do :)

Best of luck dear Anon, I hope you and your friend figure stuff out <3

And as a send-off, here's a relevant old meme of mine for you :)

(There are also plenty more memes in my memes tag (link in the description at the top of my blog) if you haven’t already seen them lol)

#demiromantic #ask #anon #advice #crushes #disasterdemi #gosh this got so long I'm sorry anon - read it in chunks if you have to 😭#love advice anon

11 notes · View notes

calwrites · 4 years ago

Text

The Masked Singer (Spencer Reid x Reader)

Summary: The team has become obsessed with The Masked Singer, an extremely silly singing competition about trying to guess what celebrity is singing behind a mask. Imagine Spencer’s surprise when he hears a familiar voice.

Warnings: none (unless you count bad writing lol)

Word Count: 6.2k

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

Spencer wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but it had. The team was obsessed with The Masked Singer. One morning, JJ, Prentiss, and Garcia had been talking about it before they had to brief a new case. Apparently they had found the first season online after they had too many glasses of wine and had made it through half the episodes in one night.

“It’s just trying to guess what famous person is singing while wearing a mask?” Morgan had asked. “That doesn’t sound very hard.”

“Yeah it should be obvious, but it’s not and that’s what makes it so addicting. They disguise their voices when they talk and they give you these cryptic clues about who they are.”

Emily nodded along to Penelope’s point. “Plus the judges’ guesses are everywhere, which doesn’t help.”

“Maybe you should watch, Morgan. Put those profiling skills to use,” JJ teased.

Derek was opening his mouth to respond when Hotch walked into the room. “Unfortunately, we have a case that needs our profiling skills.”

Spencer thought that would be the last of it. They spent the next few days tracking down another serial killer, and he was looking forward to relaxing on the jet on the way home. Maybe he’d read for a bit if no one wanted to play chess with him. What he wanted more than anything, though, was to be able to go home to Y/N. But he couldn’t.

His thoughts of you were interrupted by Penelope popping up on a screen. “I have a wonderful surprise for my favorite crime fighters.”

“Well don’t just tease us, baby girl,” Derek prompted when Garcia paused for dramatic effect. Instead of answering, Garcia started playing something on another screen.

“Oh there was a new episode on last night,” Emily said excitedly. “No one looked up who was unmasked, right?” After getting verbal confirmation that no one had looked up who was unmasked the previous night, Emily and JJ gave the rest of the team a short rundown of who had already been sent home.

“And people actually agree to do this?” Rossi asked in disbelief when they were done. The girls ignored him, focusing instead on the show. Rossi and Morgan shrugged at each other, but Spencer could tell that they were both a little curious about the show.

“I know Donny Osmond, and that is definitely Donny Osmond,” Rossi yelled approximately twenty minutes later. “Just look at how he walks.”

“I think it should be cheating for Rossi to guess when he might actually know some of these people,” Derek complained. Emily and JJ both nodded in agreement, so Derek turned to Hotch. “Hotch?”

“It’s cheating.” Hotch was trying to seem like he wasn’t also paying too much attention to the show, but he wasn’t doing a very good job. Rossi threw his hands up and started arguing his case, but JJ shushed him as the clues for the next performer started.

And just like that, the team had a new tradition. Garcia would play any episodes they missed when they were on the jet on the way home from a case. If they were without a case when there was a new episode, they would get together at someone’s house, usually Rossi’s, to watch it as it aired.

Emily and Derek were probably the best at guessing correctly, but Rossi sometimes had the advantage of actually knowing the celebrity behind the mask. Hotch and JJ blamed their incorrect guesses on not having time to stay up to date on celebrities because of their kids. Most of the time, Spencer didn’t even bother guessing. He had no idea who most of the celebrities were, but he enjoyed watching as the rest of the team got into trying to figure it out. Garcia had been banned from guessing after the team found out she was doing her own research. She had tried to argue that if they could use their super profiling powers, she could use her internet sleuthing powers, but the others weren’t having it.

Spencer had mentioned the show to you when you two were on the phone chatting before he went over to Rossi’s for the season 2 premiere. Curious about the show that managed to captivate and puzzle actual FBI profilers, you had decided to start watching on your own. Now, you and Spencer discussed the show whenever you had both watched the new episodes. It was nice having something new besides work to talk about. Of course, you, like Rossi, had the advantage of actually knowing some of the celebrities.

“How did you know it was Sherri Shepherd?” Spencer asked you after he got back from Rossi’s one night. “You said you knew it was her from the first time you heard her sing.”

You laughed at the frustration in your boyfriend’s voice. More than anything, you wanted to be cuddled up with him on the couch. But you were on opposite coasts, so imagining his furrowed brow would have to do. “I’ve met Sherri Shepherd. I’ve been on The View. Or did you not watch that interview?”

You were just teasing him. You knew that Spencer watched every interview you did. He was the most supportive boyfriend ever, even though you knew that some of the answers you had to give in interviews hurt him. Every time you were asked about dating, you had to give an answer like ‘No one special,’ ‘Not looking for anything right now,’ ‘Too busy to start anything.’ Truthfully, you were too busy to start a new relationship. You were constantly filming a new movie, doing press for a new movie, or getting ready for a new movie. Plus, you already had a boyfriend. Why would you want another one?

It was hard being away from Spencer so much, but you both knew that it was what was best for your career right now. You had met Spencer when you were a struggling actor who had just finished filming your first major movie. Now, you were an Oscar winner who was constantly getting offers. Spencer had told you that you needed to take advantage of those offers to really cement your place in Hollywood. You had both decided that the best way to keep each other safe, from both the media and psychopaths with grudges, was not to go public with your relationship.

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

It was over three years ago. You had just finished filming in DC. Most of the cast and crew had already gone back to LA or wherever they called home, but you had decided to stay in DC for a few more days to unwind before going back to your empty apartment in New York. It was probably about time to accept the fact that you should move out to LA, but you preferred the East Coast to the West.

You wandered through a park, when a cluster of chess tables caught your eye. More specifically, one man sitting at the chess tables. He looked to be about your age, but what made you watch him was the way he was playing three games at once. And winning them all. When the games were over, his opponents all grumbled as they walked away, leaving the man looking at the boards almost sadly.

You knew how to play chess, but you wouldn’t say that you were great. Still, you had to talk to this guy. So you sat down across from him, startling him as he replaced all of the pieces to their starting positions. He blinked at you in surprise instead of saying anything, so you took the lead, moving a pawn out first.

The two of you played in silence for a few turns. You smiled every time you caught him looking at you, and he blushed every time he was caught. He was cute. You quickly realized that you had no chance of winning, so you abandoned any sort of strategy and began moving pieces at random. You watched as he became more and more confused at your moves.

“It’s going to be a tie,” he said finally. His voice was lovely. “I mean, I could still win, but looking at our moves throughout the game, it seems most likely that it’s going to be a tie.”

“Is there any way I could win?” Truthfully, you hadn’t even been expecting a tie, but you wanted him to keep talking.

He shook his head. “No. You actually had a decent chance of winning until I took your rook four turns ago. If you had moved your queen instead, then I would have had to move my knight, leaving my king open to check.”

You blinked at the man for a moment. “Do you remember every move we made?”

He nodded shyly. “I have an eidetic memory.” You had no idea what that was, but it sounded impressive. At your blank look, he launched into an explanation of an eidetic memory and how it was different from a photographic memory. You weren’t really sure what he was saying, but you liked listening to him.

“So, it’s probably going to be a draw,” he finished shyly, painfully aware that he had just spent way too long explaining something to you that he hadn’t asked him to explain. To his surprise, you grinned at him, taking his breath away.

“Well, I was going to say that if I win you have to tell me your name, and if you win I have to tell you my name. Since it’s a draw, I guess we’ll both have to tell each other our names. I’m Y/N.” You stuck out your hand, but he looked at it awkwardly.

“Considering how many pathogens are passed during a handshake, it’s actually safer to kiss. I’m Spencer,” he continued quickly as a blush spread across your cheeks.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Spencer. Honestly, I feel a little bit like I cheated. I started moving pieces randomly after about three turns.” Spencer looked shocked at your admission before he started laughing. “To make it up to you, can I buy you dinner tonight?” You were a little shocked at your own confidence, but thankfully Spencer seemed to like it.

“Only if I can buy you a coffee now.” You had agreed, obviously. The two of you spent the rest of the day together, getting to know each other. By dinner, it was like you had known each other forever. You had stayed in touch when you had to go back to New York. Spencer didn’t have a lot of free time, but you didn’t have any jobs at the moment, so you went down to DC whenever possible.

You and Spencer had only been officially dating for two weeks when your movie premiered. You weren’t ready for the media to scrutinize you two, and Spencer wasn’t ready for his coworkers to profile you, so you had agreed to keep your relationship on the down low.

Then you name blew up. The reviews for your movie, and your performance in particular, were glowing. People started suggesting an Oscar nomination for you. You started getting offers for roles your couldn’t refuse. So you packed up your life in New York and moved out to LA. You and Spencer talked all the time. He had even started texting you. Plus, you flew to DC whenever possible to be with him, even if it was just for a few hours. But it was still hard for you two to be apart for so long.

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

The season premiere of Masked Singer is tonight. Maybe you guys can watch it on the plane.

Spencer read your message and smiled. You knew it had been a tough case without him even having to say it. Sometimes he thought you could read his mind. You had a way of always knowing what he needed, even when he didn’t know.

A new season of their favorite show was just what the team needed. Spencer sent a quick text to Penelope to ask if it was possible for them to watch the show on the jet as it aired. She had responded not to underestimate her, which worried Spencer slightly.

The team sat in silence for a few minutes, the engine the only sound, until the screens came to life and the opening for The Masked Singer appeared. “I forgot this was coming back tonight,” JJ sighed in relief as the rest of the team smiled at the show. They settled in, ready to start trying to profile the celebrities in wacky costumes.

“And now, our very own royal contestant: The Queen,” the host said as a new clue package began to play. Spencer stiffened as The Queen began to talk. Despite the voice modification, Spencer could recognize the way you spoke. Your word choice. Your cadence. Even the way you walked onto the stage. Everything screamed Y/N. Spencer couldn’t help but smile at the mask you had chosen. It was like the top of the queen chess piece. Not the mention the tight white costume looked great on you. What would really confirm Spencer’s theory was your singing, so he waited with baited breath and hoped no one on the plane would notice his sudden heightened interest.

“If I should stay, I would only be in your way.” Spencer’s breath caught.

“Aww. Whitney,” Derek exclaimed. The rest of the team joined in with similar comments of surprise and joy as the music joined your voice on screen, but Spencer was too focused on you to notice them.

As he watched, it was like the cape on your shoulders turned into the blanket he kept on his couch that you had wrapped around yourself. The microphone became a spatula that you held to you mouth instead of using it to flip the pancakes, belting this very song much to his neighbors’ annoyance. It was a scene he was used to, having seen it many times.

“That was amazing. There’s no way you’re not winning this season. But I have no idea who you are,” one judge said when you were done. The other judges echoed similar thoughts before they all started throwing around some possible names. Spencer smiled to himself as his teammates were similarly confused. No one mentioned your name. And they probably never would.

You were very insecure about your singing voice, though Spencer often told you that you shouldn’t be. However, you never even mentioned singing in any interviews, and you didn’t sing in front of anyone that wasn’t Spencer.

“So what brought you onto The Masked Singer?” one judge asked.

“I’m actually a big fan of the show, but the real reason was because it’s my boyfriend’s favorite show. I wanted to surprise him.” Your voice shook nervously as you spoke. Spencer couldn’t tell if it was because you had stage fright or because you had publicly announced that you had a boyfriend for the first time. Not that anyone knew it was you. You and Spencer had been talking about going public with your relationship for a few months now, but you had both always found reasons to keep putting it off. Spencer knew what you were doing. Once you were unmasked, you would have to acknowledge that you had a boyfriend.

Of course, some part of Spencer’s mind reminded him that all of this was filmed in advance. There were people somewhere who knew that you were The Queen and that you had a boyfriend. Spencer just hoped that the NDAs that they had signed were enough to keep that from getting out before the episode aired. Not that he had time to worry about that. You were still talking to the judges.

“Do you think he’s going to be surprised when you’re unmasked eventually? Not that that’s going to happen any time soon.”

“Definitely not. He probably knew it was me the minute I walked on the stage. Plus, he has to hear me sing all the time when I’m home.” It made Spencer’s heart soar hearing you refer to his little apartment as home. You spent more time in your Beverly Hills house than his apartment, but whenever you talked about going home, Spencer knew you were talking about getting back to DC. Getting back to him.

As the rest of the team continued to discuss guesses about your identity, Spencer pulled out his phone to text you.

The Queen sounded amazing.

Spencer knew that, wherever you were, you would smile when you read that text.

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

Pretty soon, the new episodes of The Masked Singer were the highlight of Spencer’s week. He was always antsy when they couldn’t watch an episode when it aired, desperate to make sure that you hadn’t been eliminated yet. He loved watching as your confidence in your voice and you stage presence grew.

Surprisingly, it was after you did a cover of Heart of Glass by Blondie that the switch flipped. Spencer could pinpoint the moment it happened. Your performance became electric and there seemed to be a pull, even in the jet, that drew everyone to you.

Spencer had seen it happen before. About a year after you had started dating, you and Spencer had met up in New York for a weekend. Spencer was in awe of the way you managed to seem completely normal, allowing the eyes of all the tourists to slide right over you, despite the fact that your face was on a billboard in Times Square.

The two of you were eating lunch in a pizza restaurant. Spencer had wanted to do research to find the best place to eat, but you had pulled him into a random place. Although he hated to admit it, the pizza was really good.

It was easy to hear the conversation of the two girls, high school students if Spencer had to guess, in the nearly empty restaurant. Spencer saw the look of joy on your face when you realized that the girls were talking about your movie. You both had to smile that they were now talking about how obsessed they were with you when they had walked past you a minute ago without even realizing it.

You looked at your boyfriend with an unspoken question in your eye. Spencer nodded his head at the girls, letting you know that he didn’t mind if you went over to talk to them. As you stood up, it was like the air around you changed. There was no difference in the way you held yourself. If Spencer believed in things like vibes, he would have said that you just started giving off a different vibe. Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on you.

You spoke to the girls for a few minutes before taking some pictures with them and returning to your table. You seemed unaware of the effect you had on everyone, but Spencer couldn’t shake a strange feeling. It was like for the first time he had seen Y/N Y/L/N instead of his girlfriend Y/N. When you finally got Spencer to tell you what was bothering him later that night, you had confided in him that you often felt intimidated when he talked about his job.

The two of you had grown past that as your relationship went on, but it was strange seeing the effect that you had on his friends.

The closest he got to spilling your secret was the next week. As you got closer to the finale, the competition began heating up. In an effort to prove that you were more than just a good voice, you had chosen 1,2 Step, complete with your own twist on the iconic, according to you since Spencer didn’t really know, choreography from the music video.

“She has some serious stamina,” Emily commented as you got through the rap flawlessly despite all of the dancing you were doing. Spencer knew all about your stamina.

“And look at how her body moves. She can dance.” Spencer’s fist clenched at Derek’s comment. He knew that Derek didn’t mean anything by it. Your body moved fluidly through the dance. It was easy to see in the tight costume you wore. But something seemed to burn inside Spencer as he watched Derek watch you. He wanted nothing more than to tell Derek that last weekend he had used his stamina to keep you up until the early hours of the morning.

But Spencer stopped himself. You had said that you had a plan for telling people about your relationship. He just had to wait for you to put that plan into motion.

The judges were still clueless about your true identity, though Spencer still thought that all of the clues should have made it extremely obvious. Still, it was amusing listening to their guesses.

“I think-no, I know who this is.” Spencer settled in, ready to hear Ken Jeong’s latest wild guess. Last week he had been sure that you were Leona Lewis and the week before it was Mariah Carey. “This is Y/N Y/L/N.”

Spencer tried not to react as everyone in the jet, and on the screen, shook their heads at Ken’s guess.

“Y/N doesn’t sing,” one judge told Ken as another said, “Y/N’s not a singer. No way.”

“But Y/N won an Oscar for her role as a queen. Plus, and stay with me here, in the clue package we’ve seen things about agents. She has an agent, who gets her roles and probably got her on this show, so welcome to the show Y/N Y/L/N.”

“The Queen is in a long term relationship, and Y/N isn’t dating anyone,” one judge pointed out. The other two judges nodded along, so Ken gave up his fight. Spencer realized that, if anything, Ken guessing it was you would convince people that it couldn’t possibly be you.

“Hey, Spence, didn’t you have a little celebrity crush on Y/N Y/L/N?” JJ asked as the commercials started. The rest of the team turned to look at him. Spencer tried to hide his blush, but the smirk on Derek’s face told him it wasn’t working.

“Yeah,” Emily continued, “You go to see all of her movies. Multiple times.”

Spencer tried to shrug nonchalantly. “I just think Y/N is a good actor.” Luckily, the team soon lost interest in teasing Spencer, so he could focus on texting you about your performance.

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

“Thank goodness we finished in time to catch it.” Everyone nodded in agreement to Emily’s statement. They had just finished another case earlier that day and had made it to the jet in time to watch the finale as it aired. The team settled into their seats and quickly began sorting out their bets about who was who and who would win.

“Reid, you want in?” Rossi asked. So far, Spencer had abstained from all of the betting about the show they did. But now he wanted to have a little fun with his team.

“I think The Queen will win.” Most people nodded. That was a popular opinion. “And I think The Queen is Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Oh c’mon, kid. You’re just as bad as Ken,” Derek complained, but he was smiling. Spencer felt slightly guilty. He knew that he was at least partially right. He had been tempted to ask you whether you win, but held himself back. There was no doubt that you signed some NDAs, so you really weren’t supposed to tell him.

Spencer had a hard time caring about the other performances. He was looking forward to hearing you again and to seeing the faces of his friends when he was right about your identity. Finally, the other two finalists had gone and it was your turn. Unsurprisingly, your performance was amazing. The best of the night in Spencer’s slightly biased opinion.

Spencer was so relieved when third place was announced and it wasn’t you. Some celebrity he didn’t know took their mask off. There was some exchanging of money among his friends. But then it was time to announce the winner.

“And so, the winner of this season of The Masked Singer, who will go home today with The Golden Mask trophy is,” the host paused for dramatic effect. Spencer had to remind himself to breathe. “The Queen!”

Spencer breathed a sigh of relief as he watched you jump up and down onstage before being ushered to a throne where you would watch the runner up take off their mask. It was another celebrity Spencer didn’t know and didn’t care about.

“I guessed Miley Cyrus when you sang Jolene a few episodes ago. I don’t think that’s right, but it’s the best guess I have, so I’ll go with Miley,” one judge said when it was time for their final guesses. This was it. You were about to be unmasked. Spencer wasn’t quite sure why he was so nervous. You had won! And he already knew that it was you under the mask.

The other three judges threw out their final guesses, but no one was very sure of themselves. Except Ken, who confidently said, “It’s gotta be Michelle Obama,” earning lots of laughs from everyone watching.

“Well, let’s see who it is. Take it off. Take it off.” The host started the chant, which the audience and judges quickly took off as you pretended to struggle to take off your mask. Spencer found himself joining in with the rest of the team as they chanted too.

And finally, you removed your mask and Spencer could see your beautiful face. As great as you looked standing on the stage with your hair and makeup perfectly done, Spencer couldn’t wait until you were back home in a week and he could see you huddled on the couch wearing pajamas.

Chaos erupted, both on the screen and on the plane. It seemed like no one could believe that it was you. The rest of the team was too busy yelling in shock that they didn’t notice the look of absolute adoration Spencer was giving you.

“This might have been the most shocking reveal in Masked Singer history,” the host said into his microphone as the judges and audience began to calm down. “I mean, no one even knew you sing, Y/N. Why did you decide to come on The Masked Singer?”

You laughed uneasily into the microphone. Spencer could tell that you were feeling equal amounts of joy and nervousness. It was understandable, he thought. You had just won a singing competition despite having never sang in public before.

“I’ve always loved to sing, but I’ve never had much confidence in my voice. I’d love more than anything to be in a big movie musical. I guess I was hoping that this would be a good place to build my confidence.”

“You have an absolutely amazing voice,” one judge said. You ducked your head shyly, smiling slightly at the ground before looking back up at the judges. “I think after people see your performances you’ll have no problem doing a musical. I mean, you tackled so many different genres, and you sounded amazing doing all of them.”

You thanked the judge before turning to the others. A smile remained on your lips as they all congratulated you, but Spencer could tell from the way you kept shifting your weight that you were uncomfortable with all of the attention.

“Wait so you said that one reason you did this show was that it’s your boyfriend’s favorite show?” Spencer’s heart fluttered as he watched your smile grow at the mention of him. “That really threw me. I didn’t know you were dating anyone.” The other judges agreed.

“Yeah my boyfriend and I have been together for over two years. We’ve just kept it a secret.”

“Well the secret is out now.”

“You still don’t know who he is though,” you pointed out. The judges laughed and agreed.

“Whoever is dating her is a lucky man,” Rossi commented as the show wrapped up. Spencer tried not to let his heart skip a beat. What would his team think when they found out about you two?

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

“I still can’t believe that The Queen was Y/N Y/L/N,” JJ sighed. The team was in the elevator on the way up to their floor. They all needed to drop some stuff off, but Hotch had told them that no one was allowed to stay late tonight. They needed to get home and relax.

“I can’t believe she managed to have a secret boyfriend for over two years without the media finding out,” Emily added. “You know Garcia is probably already trying to uncover the mystery man.”

The team laughed as the elevator doors opened. Spencer made a mental note to warn you about Garcia. He had already texted you to congratulate you, but he missed you. You were supposed to finish filming in a few days and then you’d be back home in about a week. Still, Spencer was a little bummed that you would miss your third anniversary, which was actually tomorrow.

“Hey, Pretty Boy, who’s at your desk?” Derek asked.

It took Spencer a moment to really understand what he was seeing. It didn’t quite make sense in his brain. Every time you got home, you would immediately shower (to wash off the airplane germs), throw on one of Spencer’s old sweaters and some leggings, and curl up on the couch with whatever book Spencer had left laying around until he got home. And now here you were, wet hair and all, sitting at his desk. He barely had time to admire the look of concentration on your face as you tapped at your phone, probably texting your agent.

“Wait, is that-” But Spencer didn’t let Emily finish.

“Y/N!” he called as he pushed through the doors into the bullpen.

Your head shot up at the sound of your boyfriend’s voice, a huge smile growing on your face. You dropped your phone onto the desk (your agent could wait) and rushed over to him. Completely ignoring the fact that his team was a few steps behind him, you threw your arms around Spencer, wrapping your legs around him too when he picked you up. He began to spin you around, causing you to shriek in glee.

Finally, he put you down. You started to move away, but he surprised you by putting his hands on either side of your face and connecting your lips. You smiled into the kiss, so happy to finally be back with your boyfriend.

“Does anyone else feel like they’re missing something?” You two broke apart at the sound his coworker’s voice. You smiled shyly at the man who had just spoke, Rossi you assumed, based on Spencer’s stories about his team.

“Everyone, I’d like you meet Y/N. My girlfriend.” The team looked between Spencer, who was looking at you like you were the only thing that mattered, and you. You could feel the blush on your face, but that didn’t stop your own goofy love-struck grin.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you guys,” you finally said. “I’ve heard so much about you all.”

“We can’t say the same,” the blonde, JJ, slowly replied. You could feel Spencer shift uncomfortably beside you, before he pulled you even closer to his side.

“That’s my fault,” you said before Spencer could say anything. “I wanted to keep our relationship a secret so it didn’t get out to the media.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Spencer corrected you quickly. “I wanted to make sure that Y/N didn’t get targeted by anyone because of my job. She didn’t want anyone targeting me because of her job. It was a mutual decision.”

“And you couldn’t even tell us?” JJ asked. You could tell, even without knowing her, that she was hurt. You knew that she was Spencer’s best friend, so it was understandable. In fact, every face was looking at the two of you with some mixture of confusion, surprise, and hurt.

“I didn’t want to risk it,” Spencer said uncomfortably. “I figured that the more people who knew, the more likely it would be to get out. Y/N already had to tell some people, so I didn’t want to add to the list.”

“I only told my agent, my assistant, and my security team. And I only told my security team because they thought they caught Spencer trying to break into my house one day.”

Spencer’s face went bright red as he remembered that failed surprise. “I think we need to hear that story sometime.” The rest of the team quickly agreed with Prentiss. It seemed, for now at least, they would let the whole secret thing go.

“What are you doing here?” Spencer asked suddenly. “Not that I’m not happy to see you. I am. You’re supposed to be in LA filming.”

You grinned mischievously at him. “I managed to get the filming schedule rearranged a bit, so I could finish early. I shot my last scene this morning, then went straight to the airport. I wanted to surprise you, so we could finally spend an anniversary together.”

“When do you leave again?” The softness of Spencer’s voice broke your heart. He was preparing himself for you usual answer. You’d be here for a week or two and then have to leave again. But not this time.

“Not for months.” A smile of disbelief spread across Spencer’s face. “I’ll have to go to LA and New York for a few days here and there, but nothing long term. I want to be here with you.”

The two of you had, once again, forgotten that Spencer’s team was standing in front of you. It was so easy to get wrapped up in one another when you were both used to being alone together.

“Did I hear something about an anniversary?” Rossi asked, shaking the two of you out of your little bubble.

“It’ll be three years tomorrow.” You grinned up at your boyfriend. It was the first anniversary you would get to spend together.

“Let me host a dinner for you,” Rossi offered. “I’ll make one of my famous meals. We can break out some nice wine that I’ve been saving for a special occasion.”

Spencer began to shake his head, but you grabbed his arm and gasped. “Spencer please,” you begged. “You know I’ve always wanted to go to a dinner at Rossi’s place. You only talk about them all the time. Please. Please. Please.” Spencer finally gave in to your pleading, nodding reluctantly.

You hugged him in excitement before moving to properly introduce yourself to his friends. As you chatted with them, you could hear the clicking of approaching heels.

“My favorite crime fighters will be unhappy to know that I haven’t been able to find anything about Y/N Y/L/N’s secret boyfriend.” You looked up at the brightly dressed woman, definitely Garcia, who had just walked into the bullpen.

“Actually, baby girl, I think we figured that one out ourselves.” Garcia looked up from her phone at Derek’s words. Her eyes widened as she saw you standing among her coworkers.

“Wha-? Who? How? What?” she stammered. In response, you grabbed Spencer’s hand, pulling him closer to you. He wrapped an arm around you, grinning apologetically at Garcia. “Spencer Reid, I would be so mad at you if I wasn’t so happy about meeting Y/N.” Without wasting another second, she rushed over and hugged you. You laughed at the look of jealously on Spencer’s face as you were taken from his arms. This would take some getting used to.

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

You smiled happily, watching Spencer’s friends laugh at a story you had just finished. “I think this was a much better anniversary than burning dinner and then ordering takeout would have been,” you whispered to your boyfriend. Rossi’s food had not disappointed. Nor had his wine. You were feeling comfortably warm as you cuddled up with your boyfriend.

“It’s what we would have done after dinner that I was looking forward to.” You tried not to shiver at Spencer’s words.

“There will be plenty of time for that,” you reminded him. “I’m glad I’m getting to know your friends. They’re so important to you.”

“I’m glad they’re getting to know you. I think you all will be friends. That might not be good for me though.” You laughed at the embarrassed look on your boyfriend’s face. His friends had plenty of embarrassing stories about him, so you had been swapping stories all night.

It was easy for the team to see how absolutely in love the two of you were. Even if they hadn’t been profilers, the looks you two shared were so obvious. What had surprised them was how open Spencer was to your touch. In fact, he was the one initiating most your contact. You had been prepared to control yourself for the sake of Spencer’s professionalism, but he didn’t seem to have the same thought. Any time he could, he would grab your hand or wrap his arms around you.

That was how you had gotten to be cuddled up next to him. After dinner, the party had moved outside. You had been heading for a seat in between Emily and Penelope when Spencer’s hand had reached out and grabbed yours, pulling you onto the outdoor sofa beside him. Not that you were complaining. So you had stayed like that the rest of the night, leaning comfortably into your boyfriend’s side.

A couple weeks later, you posted a picture that Penelope had taken of the two of like that onto your social medias. It was time to introduce the world to your boyfriend.

#spencer reid #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid fic #criminal minds #criminal minds fic #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #matthew gray gubler #mgg #mgg fic #spencer reid x you #calwrites #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds fanfiction

136 notes · View notes

gingus-doon · 4 years ago

Note

If you want to make the Megumi survives AU spicier imaging sprinkling in the conflict of original Sou being alive. If Megumi retains her memories she likely processed all the paperwork for him, so she's torn between exposing this twink for the snake in the grass he is (and lessen Keiji's guilt) OR try to pry secrets from Sou before its too late.

!!!! THAT IS SO INTERESTING, TY FOR THAT!! it begs the question– did megumi know sou maliciously caused the shooting? i think she did, assuming she was working with asunaro! in that case, her protection of keiji wouldn't purely be for emotional reasons (though i'd like to think they contribute to it sjfjdj) but also because asunaro needs keiji for the death game! perhaps she wanted keiji to enjoy his last few years freely…? or did they hide the truth of what would happen to him and her? they probably didn't tell megumi she'd be in it too, or that to finish molding keiji, he'd need to kill her.

ahhh but, back to the au!! under the assumption that megumi was working with asunaro to some degree, still in the dark about some things, but maybe more enlightened than hayasaka… it seems unlikely she'd retain her memories, but it'd be so interesting if she did!!! if she exposed what sou did to keiji (and perhaps what sou did to the others, if she was granted the knowledge) it may give them somewhat of an upperhand…? they already all saw sou as their enemy before, but perhaps this could unite them against a common enemy a bit better so that CERTAIN PEOPLE (coughcoughshincough) stop trying to spook highschoolers they think are evil… though, perhaps, retaining this knowledge when no one else does could make her come off as suspicious? depending on if her priority is her (& keiji's) survival, or everyone's survival, it may not make a lot of sense to say this in the first case! maybe not even to tell keiji– though it could soothe his guilt, knowing she worked with asunaro to basically traumatize him would probably not go over with him well lol, even if she was kept in the dark about some things. it's possible, if she was blackmailed, that she could mention that before she admits the truth of the shooting to keiji, but it's still possible that he'd react badly! it'd be interesting for her to wrestle with the guilt of not telling keiji for the sake of her own safety yet again, but it's even worse this time because the severity of his trauma symptoms are so much worse now, and so painfully apparent. buuuuut, if she's being emotional megumi whose priority is not her own survival, i think she'd tell people what's up with sou (especially keiji) and take it as it goes.

but ahh, the second option! that sounds potentially darker. i may be misinterpreting what you're saying (my bad if i am!) but is it forming an alliance with sou to increase her chances of survival…? i wonder what megumi would have against sou to use as a bargaining chip for her life, though! the others’ memories of sou were taken for a reason, so perhaps it'd throw the death game off its rhythm in a way that's not allowable if she told? but then they'd kill her, because they can do that– UNLESS, she served some other purpose in this, like protecting sara…? saying this because it's possible that keiji was tasked by asunaro to protect sara throughout the death game, and maybe the prize he'd receive from that is not dying or at least an increased chance of survival. so, even though it's also likely that he just saw the percentage papers and reasoned he should stick to sara because of that, maybe there was more meddling involved! (and even if there was no meddling in that specific way, keiji still primarily fulfills the role of sara's logical protector) so what i'm saying is, maybe megumi could take that role in this, as she'd be a more capable protector than keiji. (theory-ception… woah!)

another interpretation of "trying to pry secrets from sou before it's too late" that i can think of is her working against sou either for the sake of everyone or herself. so, if she knew about what sou had done to everyone but didn't tell anyone (because of the aforementioned suspicion concerns) and tried to figure out the death game for herself to escape with everyone or just to ensure her and keiji's survival. she is an elite inspector!!! probably better than keiji, considering she's the one who mentored him and has been on the job longer. i could see her doing some sleuthing ( ＾∇＾)

thank u for the ask ! ♡♡

#your turn to die #megumi sasahara #keiji shinogi #hmm i guess i'll tag sou #yttd au #*puts read more in awkward places because i didn't expect to have a read more*#i didn't think i'd need one but this is pretty lengthy sjdhsj sorry abt that !#wow i rly just said 'guess i'll tag sou' then forgot to tag him #forget him i guess #in the original i was really focused in on just megumi and keiji shdhsb so thank u for bringing sou up lol #i wasn't thinking about him at all #EXPOSE THE SNAKE TWINK MEGUMI!!!

25 notes · View notes

jamiedc-they-them · 4 years ago

Text

Control Z (Platonic)

Requested Imagine: “Agents of shield x reader where the reader went with Bobbi and the rest of the agents to the safe house to try and take Skye back to HQ and when Skye quakes the bullet away they all fly back; maybe the reader’s leg gets impaled by part of a tree?”

You felt the pain, but you also felt hazy. To you, the world was like a blur, with dark spots dotting around your vision as the sound seemed to be muffled. The main thing you registered was strong arms pulling you back.

You were then placed down on the harsh and cold floor of the Quinjet, as you were you saw something come into your vision; blinking, you saw it was none other than Bobbi Morse.

You had seen the woman worried before, hell you all were going in when you went to get Skye; but now that concern had been paled to you as you were sure you didn’t look the best.

“Y/N? I need you to focus, keep your eyes on me and keep them open.” Was all she asked.

You did your best to oblige and give her into her demand.

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

Grant Ward was someone you had once called a best friend. However, when you met Skye, he had competition about the best friend name. You knew you could have more than one, but this was the position of top best friend.

After Grant Ward betrayed you all, that spot went to Skye in a heartbeat. Despite that, his betrayal had hurt you both more than anyone else.

If anything, it had made you look out for the girl more. Now, you had no ill will towards her old partner, Miles. But…Ward was another thing.

“What is it with you and your choice in men?” You asked, not in a hurting manner; but you still had to ask.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” She said with a small chuckle, “But, if it helps, I’ve changed that…or am trying to,” She thought about her next words; but ultimately decided to say them, “I appreciate this Y/N, really I do. I love you for it….but, my choices are my choices. I just need you to do something for me,” You nodded, “Let me make them, just have my back if they backfire, ok?”

You got the want, “You’d do the same for me,” but you still made that argument, “I’m just trying to look out for you.”

Skye looked like she wanted to say something, but ultimately just nodded; knowing that the oncoming fight would be a pointless one.

She knew you would, with how you offered to go instead of Simmons to the HYDRA base, pretty much begging Coulson to let you go.

He, however, denied you; reasoning it as pointless revenge for what had happened to your father. Skye knew he had hit a spot with those words; she had seen the hurt in your eyes and the way his one softened to your figure.

Your father had been killed by HYDRA during the takeover. He knew it wouldn’t heal over night; but he also saw how it made you around the team; even more protective and willing to do anything to help them with their own issues.

Simmons was outed, and Skye wanted to save her friend. You wanted too as well; however, you kept your eye on your best friend to assess what her next move was going to be. She looked to you in a pleading fashion.

May would not let her go, but she knew you would back her up with her choice, “Skye.” You said, trying to make her reassess her options.

“Look, Y/N, Simmons has been outed...I know May said there’s a plan; but I need one of my own. I could meet my father, Y/N….I need to check.” She argued to you. You sighed, but softened a little and nodded, knowing it would be wrong to try and keep her from at least trying.

“Ok.” Was all you said.

You both held up flashlights as Skye led you down the alleyway, your lights showed you a number, “450”; then you moved your lights to another door, “451” you both drew your weapons as you slowly approached it.

Skye went on one side, you on the other; she looked at you and you both silently counted to three before opening the door and sweeping the area together.

It was empty, at least for now anyway. There was nothing but your own tense breathing and blue lights that lit up the area. It was run down, very run down by the looks of things.

“Hello?” Skye called out.

“Oh yeah, let’s just announce herself.” You whispered to your friend.

“Shh!” She reprimanded you as you both continued towards a slightly opened door, “Anyone here? You wanted to meet. Well, here I am.” She said you both got closer and closer to the door.

You were there, you were at the door. You and Skye both shared a look, but you took a step back as you let her count herself down before kicking the door in. She went in first, then you followed her. You both checked for anything; only to find nothing instead.

“Where did you go?” Skye asked out loud. You both holstered your weapons as you continued looking around. Instead of being in action mode, now it was sleuthing mode.

However, it didn’t take long for Skye’s flashlight to go over something that made her call out your name. You turned to your friend, before following where her flashlight was pointing; it was pointing to a picture on the floor of a man holding a child.

She picked it up and looked at it, with you looking at it too over her shoulder. The man looked so innocent, as did the child in the picture.

A hand on your shoulder spun you around, with Skye turning with you in case it was a threat. It wasn’t, it was only Coulson.

He looked from the picture to you both, “So he was here?” He asked.

Unshed tears appeared in Skye’s eyes, “Yeah,” She said softly, her voice slightly cracking as she said the words, “I just wanted a glimpse.” She knew that she wasn’t in any real trouble; neither of you were, but she still felt that she needed to try and justify why you had come along with her.

“You’re having one hell of a day, huh?” He asked in a sympathetic tone. The tone made some tears fall as the two shared a hug. Coulson looked to you over Skye’s shoulder, he held out an arm for you as well. You quickly filled that with your own body.

Skye was in the middle of a hug that told her that she wasn’t alone on this, “We’ll find him.” He told her.

“We’ve got you.” You added as you tightened your hold on the two, “We’ll find him, Skye. We’ve got your back all the way.”

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

Jemma was home, you had ran and hugged your friend instantly and tightly; she returned the hug, having missed these a lot.

“Bobbi?” You asked, pulling back from Jemma; you old friend chuckled a bit as she was ready for your hug. You jumped and tackled her into said hug.

“Hey, Y/nn.” She greeted as she pulled away first.

“You saved Jemma?” You asked, despite already knowing the answer.

“She was sent in to be a lookout for me, I wouldn’t have made it without her.” Jemma told you; you, however, just looked between them both happily. Now you had your new friends and your old ones.

“Still running around fixing other people’s problems I see.” Bobbi noted, you looked between the two; as if accusing Jemma of having talked. Bobbi quickly continued, “I’d like to say I knew you, but I know you, Y/nn….I’m just glad you’re alive.”

You knew that there was something in her words; not malice….but something. You, however, looked past it in your elation at seeing both of your friends safe and sound, “You too, Bobbi.”

Ward was going to be moved, his brother was gong to pick him up. Coulson, knowing it before you would ask, let you go with Skye to talk to Ward.

“Y/N, long time no see.” Ward greeted, smile more disturbing than you’d let on.

“You only speak to them if spoken to; you speak to them out of line or break that rule, and I will walk, just like last time.” She threatened him with a mostly apathetic voice, but you heard the anger that boiled under the surface.

“Which one?” He asked.

“Your older brother, the Senator.” Skye clarified for him.

“Christian. Why? What happened?” He asked as he ran a hand down his face as if he’d been through this before.

“We just need basic information: Habits, places he frequently visits, stuff like that.” She listed off for him.

“He’s not what he seems. He always has an angle. And if he thinks that you can lead him to me…” He said in slight fear of his brother.

“Says the man that had another angle the whole time I knew him for.” You said, letting your own hurt of his betrayal being known.

“This isn’t about you.” Skye said, wanting to get Ward back on track.

“Isn’t it? Don’t you remember what happened at the well, what he made me do? He gets joy from one thing. Hurting people.” For a moment, it looked like Skye as going along with it; so, you kept an extra eye on him, “So tell me, please, does he know I’m here?” He asked one more time.

“Not how it works, Ward. You answer our questions, remember?” She said that moment being forgotten.

“And I always do. I always tell you the truth. But if Christian knows that I’m here –” Skye cut him off.

“You always tell me the truth?”

“Yes.” Skye scoffed at his answer, “I promised you I’d never lie to you. And I haven’t.” He said; the next moment however, he seemed to change tactics, “What’s this really about?”

“I need information about your brother: People, connections –”

“Is this about your father? Because I wasn’t lying about him. He’s alive, and he’s –”

“A monster.” You spoke up, not allowing him to talk in a manipulative way to your friend, again.

“You forgot to mention that detail.” Skye said, in a quieter voice.

“You found him.” Ward said, as if proud of himself.

The next moment, the screen appeared over his cell, you both turning back to see Coulson looking at you both with an unreadable expression.

Coulson told you both that Ward had, in fact, given you something; before berating you both for slipping off track.

As he walked away, Skye looked to you, “I’m sorry that I –”

“No, no. Not your fault. If my old man was still here, I’d probably do the same in your shoes.”

The next time you saw Grant Ward, he was being led by the guards; yourself and Jemma stood in front of Skye in a protective manner. As he passed you, he looked to Skye, “If I ever see you again, I’ll kill you.” Jemma threatened.

Grant then looked to you, softening slightly at your years of friendship, “See you in hell, asshole.” Was all you said.

Bobbi had returned later, finding you saw in the main lounge, drinking a drink late at night. She looked at the sight a little fondly, remembering to when you would do that with your father.

Then she remembered what had happened to him.

She entered, taking a seat next to you and just watching you for a few moments before she spoke, “Heard you and Skye spoke to Ward today.” She said, testing the waters.

“Yeah, went great.” You drank a large gulp as you responded.

Bobbi took a moment, thinking about whether or not she should say her next words; however, she eventually went with them, “You know his death wasn’t your fault, right?” the words were blunt; the words were harsh; the words were the last thing you wanted to hear.

You slammed your bottle onto the table as you stood up, pushing yourself up and moving to the other side of the table, putting your hands on your hip as you paced a little before looking at your friend with misty eyes.

“Then whose was it?” You asked, “If not mine, then whose? I wasn’t there, Bobbi! I should’ve been, but I wasn’t. I – I can’t let the others down like that.” You said, voice quivering slightly as you said your words. You quickly wiped at your eyes, as if your friend wasn’t watching you like a hawk during this moment.

“They don’t need you to play overwatch.” Bobbi said, sitting against the table now, closer to you.

“Who else is gonna?”

“Look, what happened to your dad –” You moved to her as she started to talk, pointing a finger at her in anger.

“What happened to him should’ve of! Skye has the chance to see her father, to find some fucking family! I’m gonna get her to them, she deserves that.” You softened your voice as you continued to talk, seeing that you had lost control.

“Agent Y/N,” You both and saw Coulson looking between you both, “I need you.”

Turned out, he needed you for a lot things, as things spiralled from there; with Ward getting out and Skye’s father making plays. To say you had your hands full would be an understatement.

For yourself, Bobbi and Hunter, it led to you all tailing HYDRA agents while the others tried to find your find, “HYDRA’s here in a bag way. Some abandoned theatre the, “Ponce de Leon.”” Bobbi said as she called Coulson to let him know, “No. And there’s no easy way in. There are at least a dozen HYDRA soldiers inside.” Bobbi said, after a bit more on Coulson’s end, she hung up.

“Ok, they’re on their way to back us up,” She informed you both as she saw your still tense posture, “Y/N,” You looked at her, “We’ll get her back. Skye’s a smart one, she’ll make it.” She assured you.

The others arrived and you came up with a plan; to stop HYDRA’s drill and then to find Skye. You followed them, taking down any and all HYDRA members in the area. As you continued, you had the nagging feeling in the back of your mind that you should be helping in the search for Skye; but here you were instead.

It was right at the end, at the seeming victory that you got the call, “Skye’s still down there.”

You didn’t talk on the way home; you only ran to find your best friend asleep in a glass cage; basically quarantine.

“Y/N.” Bobbi called out as you stood, staring at Skye; she looked broken in the cell, “Y/N, look at me,” You complied, “Look, this was out of your control –”

“So was my father, Bobbi.” You snapped.

“It was,” You didn’t expect such a blunt statement, “But that, like this, is not your fault. You are not responsible for this.” For once, you listened to her words; you seemed to have some understanding of them.

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

You were all in new territory, now just flying in the dark; Jemma was terrified of what had killed Trip and feared that Skye had been infected with some sort of parasite. So, in a way, she was patient zero.

You, however, did all you could to try and visit Skye as much as you could as Coulson would keep sending you on missions to get you away and try and help you not worry about her and this new situation. He knew you would, they all were worried; he just thought that this would be the best way to help you deal with it.

That led to a confrontation with Skye’s father; the guy wasn’t exactly what you wanted him to be for your friend. Right at the current moment, you were with the others and going to confront him and his goons, while using Skye as (sadly) bait to draw him out.

He took it, meeting you all on an abandoned football field; part of it made sense with the different sides and all.

However, this game would be anything but clean. As, while you only had one powered person on your team, they had a few.

You were with Bobbi, fighting against your opponent a woman who had sharp claws as fingers. You had tried to talk her down, however the woman didn’t want to come with you. She swung at you, you ducked as Bobbi used her batons against your assailant. You managed to get a punch in, before you leaned back to dodge another attack.

As you fell back, Bobbi covered for you, sliding over the table and grabbing a towel that she then wrapped around Karla’s hands and threw her into a wall.

“Get back!” Bobbi warned you as she used her batons to hit the table and raise it up, the other end sending Karla back and making her finally fall unconscious.

It was after that when you had felt the vibrations on the floor. Bobbi looked to you and opened her mouth to advice against your next actions, but you were already running out before she could.

“SKYE!” you yelled as the vibrations stopped and your friend started to collapse, you didn’t make it in time, however. Instead, she hit the cold grass with a thud.

Simmons had made gloves to help suppress her power, to try and help mitigate any further damage to herself.

Bobbi, meanwhile, had vanished for a small time. However, before she had left, she had seemed to ask Andrew to give you a therapy session. You knew that you wouldn’t be able to get out of this one, so you knew you had to go.

So, now you sat with Andrew opposite you, with one of his arms swung over the sofa his on to try and get himself comfortable; you, meanwhile, were tense.

“Y/N, I know you don’t want to be here. But I do appreciate it.” Andrew said, his words sounded honest; but he could tell you were still thinking about other things other than this moment.

“Yeah, well, you get more money for this and Bobbi gets to do whatever she wants to do without my constant badgering so, you know.” You said.

Andrew laughed a little, “I know you’re worried about Skye, but you have no need to be –” He tried to assure you of that; but you spoke over him.

“Of course, I am, I’m her friend and she’s going through something right now and no one is there to help her.” You said in a defensive manner.

“Everyone is doing their best for her –” Again, you stopped him; but he didn’t seem to mind.

“They’re shit terrified of her.” He caught onto your wording.

“And you aren’t?”

“For her, sure; but not of her.” You clarified.

“I see, so your own issues don’t really matter?” He asked, seeming to fin something to bring it full circle, back to you.

“I know what you’re trying to do. And I’m onto you.” You said, narrowing your eyes at him.

“And what is that?” He asked in a slightly playful voice; maybe he did enjoy his job after all.

“Trying to get me to open up about my issues rather than think about my friends’. It’s cute. But, out of them, Bobbi and I are the oldest, so I’ll do what I need to for them.”

“Ah, so it’s a big sibling motivation driving you.” He said. Now he was getting somewhere.

“I guess, even if I didn’t have one.” You said, having never really looked at it that way before; you had to give him that.

“Maybe it’s more a of an almost parental thing. After what happened with your dad –”

“….He was always involved in my life for as long as I could remember,” You said, deciding to just come out with it, “I mean, I guess I got lucky there,” You let out a humourless laugh, thoughts going back to your friend who was locked up, “And he….he never let me in on his – So – So when HYDRA….” You trailed off, feeling yourself feel the guilt and pain.

However, for once, you felt the comforting presence that your friend had ordered to be by your side; seemed Bobbi knew you better than you gave her credit for, “I just….One minute he was there, then he was gone. I just want Skye to have a moment with her father.” You admitted, more tears appearing in your eyes as you pretty much laid yourself bare.

“I know Coulson’s trying to fill that void, and I appreciate it. But I can’t control my own shit. But, maybe by doing this for Skye, I can.” Although, part of you knew how flimsy the justification was. How flimsy and how many holes that answer actually had.

You still stuck with it, however.

“Did you ever get to say goodbye to him?” He asked. As he did, you finally let out a sob. As that happened, however, your best friend just happened to be walking past the room, she looked in and saw you breaking down.

She wanted nothing more than to go and comfort you, but she then remembered what Coulson had told her; about how she needed to be moved.

“Goodbye Y/N, see you in a little while, hopefully.” She said under her breath as she continued to watch you talk to Andrew about your father.

She was happy for you, she was, that you were starting to try and heal. But, then again, she also knew that she’d miss you and knew how you’d most likely react.

After your talk with Andrew, you had felt a little better. But now you were being attacked by someone else.

“Y/N,” May called out your name as they both approached you, “Come one.” Was all she said simply.

You, her and Fitz met up with Coulson as May revealed what was going on, “It’s Bobbi. She’s set off some kind of EMP. She’s gone.” You looked between the older pair with wide eyes.

“What?” You asked.

Now you had two people you called friends stabbing you in the back; and just to add to that, Skye was gone. You tried to find a place to hide, but you then came face to face with the woman herself.

“You fucking bitch!” You cried out as you swung for her, she dodged and then grabbed both of your arms to restrain you; as other agent’s pulled out their weapons.

“Y/N, Y/N calm down! Calm down!” She ordered you as you still struggled against her.

“We’ve found where Skye is, she’s in trouble.” Those words made you stop; but you still glared at your friend.

“Oh god, now we’re bringing them with us?” The bald one said. You already didn’t like him.

“Where is she?”

She was being hounded by SHIELD like she was a threat, you all ran as quickly as your legs could take you to find her. You had, heart racing as you saw her holding a gun to a downed agent.

However, a gun click then made you look at the bold one, “SKYE!” You cried out, she turned to you as the bullet went off. However, the next moment, a pulse knocked you all back and onto the ground.

You were hazy, but you felt a slight pain in your leg.

Skye looked at the destruction she caused, but then she saw the piece of bark that was impaled in your leg. You had only tried to help her, and she had hurt you in the process.

So, she did the only thing she could to keep you safe; she called Gordan and ran.

Bobbi had pulled you onto the Quinjet, the thing immediately took off as she made damn sure to keep you breathing and alive. You were her friend, but you were also Skye’s; and she knew that her other friend would feel mountains of guilt if you bled out because of her own actions.

As soon as it landed, Bobbi called out for Simmons; not a medic, but Simmons. She knew that your friend would be the only one you’d trust in the state you were in.

“Oh my god, Y/N.” Jemma said in one breath as she ran to you and helped get you into a bed, “Clear the room!” She ordered everyone else; when they didn’t move, she turned to them, “I said out!”

“Come on you guys.” Bobbi said, helping clear the area. Then it was just you and Jemma.

“Oh, Y/N.” Jemma said in a quivering voice; she never liked to see anyone hurt, but especially not any of her friends.

“Just….just pull the damn bark out.” You told her; she took your hand for a moment before she nodded.

“Alright, you’ll need something to –”

“I can be here; I can hold their hand.” Bobbi offered, knowing she was on uneven ground with Jemma as a friend; but right now, you were a common goal they both shared, to save you.

“Fine.” The British woman conceded; Bobbi moved and grabbed your hand, squeezing it to try and prepare you.

Finally, the bark was removed, and you let out your own scream. Your own bark of pain.

You finally laid back down in your bed as Jemma tied a bandage around said wound. As she did so, Bobbi only kept your eyes on you.

“Did you speak to Andrew?” She asked, trying to keep you distracted; you nodded before grimacing in discomfort for a moment.

“Yeah, guy’s good.” You admitted as Jemma finished and moved to stand next to Bobbi so you wouldn’t have to strain yourself.

“Knew it.” Bobbi said with a smile, one that shook as she was worried about damaging your friendship.

“So, REAL SHIELD, huh?” You asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, long story.” She said.

“Well, I’m sure you can catch me up for as long as I’ll be in here for.” She now looked at you a bit confused, “What you did was shitty; but I’m not going to be going anywhere until this is done healing and until doctor Simmons lets me out,” Simmons gave you a caring smile, despite the tense situation SHIELD was currently in, “Besides, what’s Skye is going through is something I can’t help her with. At least, not on my own. So, we’ve got time until we find her.”

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

Your leg had healed just as they were about to go on a mission to try and find Mike Peterson and another Inhuman that had been with Skye. You, of course, volunteered to go, both to save Mike/Inhuman, but also for Skye.

However, the catch as that you needed to work with Ward, so an old friend was coming back into your life one more time.

As you did, one person on your list show up to look at you all from above, “Hey guys.” She said, leaving you all elated.

You hugged your friend, but not tightly; it was still a comforting hug to you both. She hugged you back, taking this as a moment of forgiveness for her. She had better control of your power, but she still worried about whether or not you made it out.

This showed her that you had made it, and that you harboured no ill will towards her for what had happened.

“So, new guy….?” You said in a suggestive voice; Skye rolled her eyes but knew that you could always read her easily.

“There’s nothing thee….not yet anyway.” She said, you chuckled at her words.

Ward was then in the room, seemingly confused as to why you had all stopped talking and only looked at him with death glares. So, he tried to address the elephant in the room; his betrayal.

“Y/N….I’m sorry about what I did to your father.” He said, you only kept a firm look at him; but Skye moved her hand into yours.

“You don’t talk to her about that.” She said, defending you; she squeezed your hand in a sisterly, loving fashion.

“Ok, ok.” Ward said, raising his hands up in the air, getting the message.

He led you to the HYDRA facility to find the guy (Lincoln) and Mike. You followed Skye, making sure to keep him apart from Skye as you all walked and followed Ward. The door opened, and you all instantly got hit by gunfire.

Getting behind cover, you fired a few shots, before ducking back down again on your bad leg. While it had healed, the pain was still there.

Skye noticed your shift on you leg, she knew she had to take care of them quickly. She ran out of cover and held her hand out, the next moment, the HYDRA agents flew backwards.

“Thanks.” You said as she helped you up.

“What are friends for?” She responded with as she helped you up and you all continued on your way.

As you went with Skye, you both came across a few agents; together, you both made your way through them, both working in sync as all the HYDRA guards went to none. Finally, you both shared a nod as you made your way into the room that held Lincoln.

However, the flatline was the only thing you heard, “Hey, hey, hey.” You said, Skye looked up at you, “You can rumble shit, right?” She nodded, “You can save him. You got this.” You told her. She held her hands over his chest and pushed down.

After she did, the machine beeped.

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

Skye….Daisy’s mother was gone, as was her father via amnesia. She had gone to her room when she got back, but you heard the crying on the other side.

“Daisy?” You asked, knocking on the door. You waited a moment before the door opened, with a tear-stricken Daisy Johnson on the other side, “Oh, honey.” You said sympathetically as you hugged her and closed the door behind you as she broke down in your arms.

“They’re gone Y/N! They’re gone! It’s not fair!” She cried into your shirt as you ran a hand up and down her back as you pressed your lips onto her head.

“I know it’s not, Daisy. Death never is,” You pulled away and waited until she met your eyes, “But you know what helps?” You asked.

“What?” She asked as she sniffled.

You smiled softly at her, “Talking about it, as it turns out.” You said, sitting on the bed with her.

You knew you couldn’t solve it for her, and that was just a truth you had to live with. But there was something you did know; and that was that you could do the one thing you should’ve been doing in the first place; supporting her.

So, here you were, doing just that

#agents of shield imagine #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d imagine #agents of shield x reader #daisy johnson x reader #daisy johnson imagine

46 notes · View notes

retvenkos · 4 years ago

Text

heart pt. 2 // john ambrose mcclaren

To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You - One-Sided John Ambrose McClaren x Lara Jean, One-Sided John Ambrose McClaren x Reader, slight fluff, slight angst

requested

Summary: For one moment, you eyes lingered on your phone. John Ambrose had gone to hang out with Lara Jean and a few old friends at the old treehouse they used to haunt in their youth. He had been nervous about it for days prior, and you had joking told him to text you and S.O.S. if he needed an out. You were almost certain he wasn’t going to take you up of your offer, but for the last hour you had the inexplicable feeling that he would. What was it? Intuition? Desire?

pt. 1

Part of you wanted to pull away from John Ambrose McClaren the moment he expressed that his heart did not belong to you. It was the sensible part of you, perhaps - the part of you that was self preserving and knew that nothing good could come from lingering near a boy who had the potential to break your heart into dozens of tiny pieces. But, another part of you - evidently, the more persuasive part - begged you to stay by his side, despite what would come.

You hadn’t known Lara Jean Covey for a long time. You no longer went to school with her or even lived nearby. You hadn’t seen her since sixth grade, when she and John were attached at the hip. You had no idea what she was like, but some nights, you would stay up late, concocting stories about what she was like.

You figured she was a cheerleader or some athletic type. Who else had the confidence to send a love letter to a boy she hadn’t seen in literal years?

Yes. You were sure of it. Lara Jean Covey was the complete opposite of your John Ambrose, and because of that, their relationship could only progress in one of who ways:

1. John Ambrose meets her, realizes how much she had changed, and is immediately shocked. Being the gentleman that he is, he’d try to disregard how different she is from the last time they had spoken. Things would go badly as they tried and failed to reconnect, and they would eventually part ways, John disappointed at getting his hopes up. You would console him while he was an emotional wreck, saying he was too good for her, anyway, and you would mean it more than he understood. OR,

2. The two meet and it’s the perfect combination of opposites attracting and having enough history and vague similar interests to sustain the perfect relationship. John Ambrose would be head over heels for the girl who had been an old friend, once, and a new love interest, now. They would move fast, and eventually you would be left giving him recommendations for date spots and giving him pep talks. You’d always be at his side, but farther away now that he had someone else to fill his days.

Was it wrong for you to prefer the former?

Not that you wanted John Ambrose to be heartbroken. You knew what it felt like to get your hopes up for nothing and wouldn’t wish it on him for a moment. But would you be able to stomach the two of them together, when push came to shove? Would you be able to drift away from John Ambrose, knowing it was for your love of him, that you held him at bay?

You sat on your floor with a notebook open in front of you, waiting to be filled, but found yourself unwilling to create anything on the blank page. You sighed and popped in your headphones, turning up the music so as to drown out the conflicting voices in your head.

For one moment, you eyes lingered on your phone. John Ambrose had gone to hang out with Lara Jean and a few old friends at the old treehouse they used to haunt in their youth. He had been nervous about it for days prior, and you had joking told him to text you and S.O.S. if he needed an out. You were almost certain he wasn’t going to take you up of your offer, but for the last hour you had the inexplicable feeling that he would. What was it? Intuition? Desire?

You sighed at your hopelessness and turned back to your empty page.

You worked, your head bobbing to the music only you could properly hear, your face settled in a concentrated sort of frown, and when someone knocked on your bedroom door, you didn’t hear them.

Knock knock.

You erased what you had just put down on the page, twirling the pencil in your hand like a baton.

Knock knock.

You smiled as one of your favorite songs came on, reminding you of memories with John Ambrose - walking to the mall in the summer because neither of you had a car and wandering through the stores, not having enough money to buy anything of value. You would always end up at the vending machines at some point, and John always seemed to have just enough quarters in his pockets to get you both something without having to break the single, crumpled dollar bill he had with him. The summer’s top 100 always seemed to play on loop, there, and while the songs were synthetic pop, and not always to your taste, it reminded you of him.

Bing!

The sound of your phone cut through the music, catching your attention and pulling you back to the present. You stretched to reach your phone and dragged it back to you, unlocking it with practiced ease.

from: johnny (12:04 p.m.) S.O.S.

You immediately stood up, disregarding your notebook on the floor as you snapped to attention. Looking for a pair of shoes you could slip on, you typed out a next.

to: johnny where r u?

Bing! He was quick to answer you back.

from: johnny Outside your door.

You pulled out your earbuds and unlocked your door, swinging it open.

John Ambrose stood on the other side of your doorframe, his hands holding his phone tightly. He smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “I see you got my text.”

“What’s wrong?”

You allowed him in and he sat in your desk chair, careful to avoid stepping on your current project that lay abandoned on the floor. He was already comfortable in your space, and if it weren’t for the look on his face, your mind would have dwelled on that thought.

“How was the treehouse?” You tried again, and you saw him stiffen at the comment.

John Ambrose opened his mouth, but hesitated before speaking, as though trying to find the right sentiment. “Eventful,” he eventually said.

Oh?

One of your eyebrows shot up and he sighed. You knew the feeling. Usually it was you who had a complete lack of words for what happened in the world around you, but this time, it was him. It was puzzling, really.

John Ambrose McClaren always seemed to understand everything - it was his super power, really. There was no situation too dificult, no problem beyond comprehension. John could figure everything out - he always had. When you didn’t understand it, he did. That had always been part of your dynamic - there was nothing that the two of your couldn’t sleuth when given the time and proper motivation.

But matters of the heart were never quite so simple as everything else. You knew that better than anything. Sometimes, there was no clear answer.

John averted his eyes, turning his body to the opposite wall, trying again. “Lara Jean apparently has a boyfriend.”

“What?”

“And old friend, too - Peter Kavinsky.”

You blinked furiously, your head shaking back and forth. After a moment, you moved to better see John’s face, to gauge his reaction to finding out.

He was staring at your wall, blankly, his eyes seeing right through the pictures you had put up, there, most of them containing the two of you in various stages of your lives. You wondered what he was thinking, but he was in his own world, now, one where he probably relived every moment he had spent misreading signals from the girl he had always had a crush on. He had been convinced that she liked him back - how could he have gotten it so wrong?

“I’m sorry.” On instinct, you walked over to him and sat down of the ground next to his chair, resting your head against his knee.

For a minute or so, he was quiet. When he eventually spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. “I thought I had a chance, y’know?”

You nodded and hugged his calves, the only part of his that you could easily reach for your place on the ground. You hoped it conveyed the same sweetness as an actual embrace, something that could comfort him they way he had always comforted you.

“Why would she send me that letter if she was already involved with Kavinsky?” He shook his head, as though trying to clear it of cobwebs so that he might be able to understand. “Why even write it?”

He asked valid questions - ones you didn’t know the answer to.

“Even if she thought I would never receive it, why address it to me? Why write something like that?”

Your mind went back to the writing that Lara Jean had left on that love letter to John Ambrose. You considered her words - so sincere, so brave. They were really quite puzzling, especially for not having meant them. But... no... She had to mean it. Otherwise, why write it? What did she have to gain from making love letters that didn’t mean anything? From what you had heard, Lara Jean only had a lot to lose - a boyfriend and now, an old friend.

But, if that letter did mean something, why send it now? What did she have to gain by making John Ambrose McClaren believe that he had a chance with her?

Lara Jean was only losing, in the end.

You knew that John Ambrose was worth losing everything, for. Did she?

“Feelings aren’t always rational, I guess.” You spoke, you eyes ahead, looking at the photos of your life, with John Ambrose always at your side. You didn’t notice him looking at you, then, and if you had, it would have only given more stock to your words. “Loving the people you do doesn’t always make sense.”

“You sound as though your talking from experience, (Y/n).”

You looked at John Ambrose, gazing deep into his eyes; you could see everything you loved about in reflected in their depths - his compassion, his cleverness, his talent, his love. You smiled, dipping your head in a nod, as if allowing him in on one of your best kept secrets.

“Yeah, I am.”

#to all the boys i've loved before #to all the boys #p.s. i still love you #tatbilb #john ambrose mcclaren #john ambrose x lara jean #x reader #reader insert #imagine #fic #one shot #one sided feelings #slight angst #slight fluff

37 notes · View notes

seagreen-meets-grey · 3 years ago

Text

The Last Slide: Ch. 3

@feeisamarshmallow dun dun dunnn number threee

Read on ao3

_______________

Chapters: 1 2 3 4

_______________

There was a bounce in her step as Amy walked away, leaving Jake to finish his paperwork. When Holt had given her the green light to work the water park murder case with Jake, she saw the slight twitch around the corners of his mouth and noticed that the parting nod he gave when he dismissed her from his office was just a little bit slower and more significant than usual. This was a personal gift to her for the many years she’d worked for and bonded with him.

Then the mere excitement in her husband’s eyes as she told him about the case added an extra layer of levity to her enthusiasm. Seeing him so happy never failed to make her smile and believe that the world was inherently good, despite the people who shot poisoned darts into someone’s neck at the water park.

And just after noon, when business at the apartment would be done, they’d leave to work their last case together, at least while working at the same precinct. It should have made her sad, knowing it would soon be over, but the thing was, it would not be over. She was still going to see everyone from the precinct regularly, Jake obviously the most. It didn’t feel like a real goodbye as long as she only switched locations. Her new precinct wasn’t even that far away, close enough to meet up for lunch.

(Maybe she was a little bit in denial about everything, but she’d find that out soon enough anyway. For now, gloomy wasn’t a real word in Amy Santiago’s vocabulary.)

Humming contentedly to herself, she entered the women’s bathroom – and did a double-take at the juxtaposition of a familiar leather jacket and the red-rimmed eyes staring at her wide-eyed through the mirror.

“Rosa?” she exclaimed in surprise. “Are you… crying?”

“No,” Rosa sniffed in a gruff reply. “I’m allergic.” When she turned around to face Amy, an understanding passed between the women. Rosa knew that Amy knew that allergies weren’t involved in the detective crying in the women’s bathroom at work. Especially after Rosa had come in late this morning.

“Do you want to talk about those allergies?”

“No.” Rosa pulled a pair of sunglasses from her pocket and put them on to hide the red eyes, brushing past Amy to the door. On the threshold, however, she hesitated, then tilted her head at Amy without looking at her directly. “I know you’re not going to leave this alone, so… If you want to help me with these allergies, be at my place tonight at eight.”

Then she left, head held high, and Amy felt a second wave of giddy excitement wash over her. A few years back, Rosa would have left without a word – well, except for the threat to ruin Amy’s life if she ever mentioned those allergies to anyone. Now Rosa was one of her best friends and Amy knew that she felt the same about her. Whatever was going on with her sleuth sister, they were going to take care of it together. Because that’s what friends did.

(Part of Amy hoped the reason for her sleuth sister’s turmoil wasn’t just Rosa’s favorite motorcycle being too old for full repairs or something, although she’d take even that seriously if Rosa felt this passionate about it.)

(Because that’s what friends did.)

***

Of all the things Amy expected when entering Rosa’s apartment that night, it wasn’t a miniature tiger dashing behind the couch the moment it spotted her.

“Wait,” Amy said as she took off her jacket, “was that…?”

“Her name is Tigress. She’s been living behind the dumpster outside for the last three weeks. She killed the rats; I gave her food.”

“Oh. So, you have a cat now?”

Rosa crossed her arms and leaned against the kitchen counter, a grim look on her face. “Tigress decided so, but then I saw a flyer for a missing cat and I’m sure it’s her. Also, pets aren’t allowed in the building. Naturally, I’m thinking about moving and just taking her with me.”

Amy peaked behind the couch. The cat was sitting there in the shadows, cleaning her gray-striped fur. Upon noticing the curious human eyes invading her privacy, Tigress hissed at her and crawled underneath the couch.

“She hates people,” Rosa explained. “We understand each other.”

“But now you have to give her back to her owner.”

Rosa grunted in reply and Amy didn’t acknowledge the heartbroken look on her face. “I don’t want to get into it right now, but… I just don’t like goodbyes when I don’t want to say them. It’s so…”

The word weak ghosted around the room, tailed by human. But if Rosa didn’t want to talk about feelings right now, there was no reason to prod. It would only lead to the night ending prematurely.

Amy walked over and carefully extended a hand, putting it on Rosa’s arm once she’d made no attempt to hiss at her or crawl underneath the couch and– yeah, Amy could guess why this cat was the perfect fit for Rosa.

“Besides, Arlo wouldn’t like smelling cat on me.”

“Arlo?” Amy frowned in confusion for a moment until she remembered. “Oh right, your dog that you never bring.” (Not that Amy would have seen much of him anyway, what with her own allergies closing up her throat and turning her eyes into puffy seas of tears within seconds.) “Wait, where is he anyway if you’re not allowed to keep pets here?”

Rosa shrugged. “Guarding my second apartment.”

“Your second– You know what, never mind.” A secret apartment really didn’t surprise her. “How can I be of help? Do you want me to accompany you to the shelter to pick out a new cat?” Even as she said it, she figured that wasn’t Rosa’s plan.

“I don’t want a replacement cat.” Rosa glanced over at the pair of glowing eyes watching them from out of their hiding spot. “I’d like you to come with me to return Tigress. I don’t want to do it alone.”

Amy felt a surge of sympathy for Rosa Diaz asking for emotional support without a lot of preamble. (And maybe a fair bit of pride at being the one the tough woman felt safe to confide in.)

“Of course.” She gave her friend’s arm a little squeeze. “Anything.”

“Thanks, Amy. Now stop touching me and help me catch the cat.”

***

The second surprise of the night came in the form of Tigress’ owner.

As Amy held the cat carrier that Rosa had bought at the nearest pet smart when they realized the cat was too fast and unwilling to stay in either their arms for longer than five seconds, Rosa knocked on the door to Rebecca Erickson’s apartment.

At first, Amy thought the woman’s last name to be a coincidence. It was possible, after all, to encounter two unrelated people with the same last name within one day in New York City.

But when Mrs. Erickson insisted that she was no longer a Mrs. since she left her husband a few months ago, Amy saw the probability dwindling that this woman wasn’t the ex-wife of the pool attendant she and Jake had met earlier that day. She decided to not mention Darius or anything related to the Pearson murder.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice the fourth person in the apartment until she heard a soft curse from the direction of what she assumed was the bedroom.

She also barely took note of the general messiness of the place, starting with the array of empty coffee cups on a heavily stained couch table, or the bookshelves where cookbooks lay on top of fantasy novels and at least half the books stood upside-down, or the bowl of fruits where apples were lying right next to bananas, or the overturned basket of – as far as she could tell – both clean and dirty laundry next to the bedroom door.

And standing there, clad in a hastily overthrown bathrobe, was none other than Sam Kirkwell, head of Tropic Thunder Aqua Park. When he realized that Amy had noticed him, he quickly disappeared behind the door.

Why was Kirkwell here, she wondered with furrowed brows, with his employee’s ex-wife, the same day her supposed lover had been killed?

She barely heard Rosa talking to Ms. Erickson, too occupied with contemplating following Kirkwell into the bedroom to question him. But before she could come to a decision, Tigress – whose actual name was Bubblegum, much to Rosa’s dismay – escaped through the open window onto the fire escape. Ms. Erickson rushed to the window to scream after her but, naturally, the cat didn’t listen to the crazy woman yelling at her from the place she’d just escaped.

Ms. Erickson, now in a frantic hurry to go after her pet, pushed Amy and Rosa out of the door and left them in the hallway while dashing down the stairs, her voice echoing back up to them. “Bubblegum! Mommy’s coming for you!”

“What do you bet the cat turns up back in my dumpster later?” Rosa asked, a hint of smug amusement coating her voice, when they exited the building.

“Yeah, totally…”

“Santiago, did you even hear what I just said?”

“Huh?”

Rosa stood in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. “What’s going on?”

Amy frowned in thought and fished her phone from her pocket. “Did you see the man hiding in the other room upstairs?”

“The half-naked guy? I bet that’s her surrogate pet.”

“He’s the head of the water park where Jake and I are investigating a murder.”

Rosa shrugged. “Turns out NYC isn’t that big after all. Why, what’s got you so suspicious about this?”

Amy explained it to her while dialing Jake’s number. She couldn’t wait to get home, she needed to tell him now. If he hadn’t already picked up Mac from Karen and Roger’s place, they could still go back upstairs and talk to Kirkwell.

She let it ring for twenty seconds but Jake didn’t pick up. Maybe he was driving, maybe he was busy with Mac, maybe his phone was dead again – no, it couldn’t be, otherwise she’d have instantly reached his voice mailbox. She opened their messages to shoot him a quick text to call her back ASAP, but before she could press send, something struck her as odd.

“What is it?” Rosa asked, having noticed the look on Amy’s face.

“Jake hasn’t been online for over two hours.”

“Huh.” Rosa looked at the screen. “He’s not with Mac?”

Amy shook her head right as a message from Karen came in, asking when they’d be picking up their son. For anyone knowing her husband, him not being on his phone for this long on a regular weekday night when he was neither working nor spending time with his family was a little odd. Not impossible, but odd.

(If this were Gina, Amy would be very concerned.)

“He’s probably still at the old apartment,” she guessed. “I’ll go there and tell him about Kirkwell directly.”

“Do you want me to come with?”

“If you want company right now, of course.”

Rosa scrunched up her face in contemplation for a moment. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll just spend some time with Arlo.”

“At your secret apartment?” Amy grinned conspiratorially but Rosa took a step closer until they were almost nose to nose, putting on her threatening face.

“Tell anyone about that and I’ll disorganize every single one of your binders.”

Amy gulped. “Got it.”

Rosa drove them back to her place where Amy’s car was parked. As Amy was waving goodbye from behind the wheel, Rosa pointed at the alley next to her building. Sure enough, a gray little tiger was slinking into the alley through the shadows.

Seemed like the cat had decided where it wanted to live, Amy thought as she set out for her and Jake’s old apartment. When she arrived, she knocked on the door since she didn’t have a key for the place anymore.

“Jake? Are you there?” She knocked again. “Mr. Davies?”

She received no answer. Obviously, Jake and their landlord were long gone. The appointment for the keys had been almost three hours ago.

But when she tried calling him again, he still didn’t pick up, and the last online time stamp hadn’t changed, either.

Maybe he was with Charles, she thought, but after a quick call, that turned out to be a dead end. The same with Terry. Where the heck was her husband?

She finally pulled up the app that allowed her to see the location of his phone. She rarely used it since she always felt like a controlling wife when she did, but this time, she figured she was allowed to track him down like this.

Weird. According to the GPS data, he was at the water park. And as she walked back outside and scanned the street, his car wasn’t even here. What was he doing at the closed water park at this hour? And if it was case-related, why hadn’t he told her? He couldn’t have gone there to meet with Kirkwell, either, because that guy was currently being gross with Darius’ ex-wife. (Or not, depending on how Ms. Erickson was taking the loss of her pet for the second time.)

Her gut rumbled with suspicion. She had a weird feeling about this. So she got back in her car and drove all the way to Tropic Thunder.

And there it was, Jake’s old piece of junk of a car, alone on the huge parking lot. She glanced inside and saw his wallet, phone, and keys on the passenger seat. She tried the door. It wasn’t locked.

Suddenly, she felt the darkness of the parking lot creeping up behind her back, raising the hairs on her arms, the nearby traffic too far away to be comforting. Something was wrong here.

“Jake?” she called into the night. “Jake!”

The only one answering her was the wind rustling through a heap of old flyers on the ground, lifting some of them and carrying them across the asphalt. The water park itself was closed, of course, the only light in the building coming from the display windows next to the main entrance.

“Hello?” Again, no one answered. Jake wasn’t here. But why was his car? Moreover, why was it unlocked, with valuable possessions just lying there openly on the seat?! Messy as her husband might be, this wasn’t at all like him.

The knots in her stomach tightened as she dialed the number of their landlord. He picked up after the fourth ring, but it felt like an eternity.

“Hi, Mr. Davies. This is Amy Santiago. I’m sorry to call you at this hour but I am looking for my husband and I have not heard from him ever since he went to meet with you earlier. And I was wondering if he mentioned anything about where he was going or if he was meeting anyone later.”

“Well, no, I’m sorry” the old man on the other end of the line replied, the usually comforting effect of his gentle voice dead to Amy’s ears this time. “After we handled everything with the keys, he asked to stay a few minutes by himself, to say one last goodbye or something.”

“Can you tell me what time he left at?”

“No, I went to run a few errands while he was at the apartment and when I came back to lock up, he was gone and the apartment dark.”

Amy could hear her heart pounding in her chest. She now knew Jake had been with Mr. Davies, but she had absolutely no further lead. It unsettled her greatly.

After ending the call, she took a few minutes to breathe. No need to panic, she told herself. He was probably fine and there was a simple explanation for all this. Her gut didn’t believe her, though.

She needed answers. And she already had an idea about where to start. Taking Jake’s personal things with her and locking his car, she got back into her own, and made her way back into the city.

Back to Ms. Erickson and her secret lover.

***

Once again, it’s pain that rises him.

After a long moment, it subsides enough for him to find himself bound to a chair, zip ties cutting into his wrists and ankles. His body wants to curl into itself from the sharp tug in his stomach and his mouth tastes metallic.

He blinks his eyes open and realizes that the left one feels hot and swollen. That’s probably why he woke up this time.

The shimmers in front of his eyes are back and it’s hard to focus on the person hovering over him. He makes out words but they are slow to reach his brain. He makes the mistake of shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. Everything instantly blurs and he’s glad about the ties holding him to the arms and legs of the chair. He feels like throwing up.

Two hands reach out and shake the chair, drops of saliva landing on his face as the other person yells at him. Jake squints into the bright little light and finally understands it’s coming from a headlamp fastened to the person’s forehead.

It’s a man. The shape of his face is familiar. Jake’s ears stop ringing and he hears the voice properly now.

A particularly fast brain cell registers the familiarity, but the information doesn’t quite get through to his other cells yet.

His nose picks up the smell from earlier, his eyes scan the unfamiliar chair he’s sitting in, but the floor underneath finally breaks through the haze in his brain.

He knows. He knows where he is.

He knows the man tightly clutching a pocketknife in his hand, although the disturbingly angry expression is new.

Jake feels his breath come in a quickening pace as he fully comes to and the realization hits him at full speed.

He never left the apartment.

#b99fandomevents #b99 summer 2021 fic exchange #b99 #the last ride #b99 fic #peraltiago #jake x amy #sleuth sisters #jake peralta #amy santiago #rosa diaz #maja writes

1 note · View note

bluesfortheredj · 5 years ago

Text

Hitsuzen.

Hitsuzen - A naturally foreordained event. A state in which other outcomes are impossible.

Chapter 7.

The weekend was upon you; it was Saturday evening and both you and Evie were sitting in the garden at Sarah and John’s while you waited for Charlie to pick you up. Your amateur sleuthing had earned you a stern warning from John and yet the harsh words had only interested you further into what was going on with Adam.

“He’s here!” Sarah calls out cheerily from the kitchen.

Evie is quick to rise to her unsteady feet and begins to toddle towards the front door as quickly as her tiny legs will take her, and when Charlie knocks at the door she practically squeals with delight at the prospect of seeing him again.

“Evelyn!” you laugh as she reaches up for the door handle which is far too high for her short arm, “come here.”

You open the door with a smile and Charlie grins directly at you before Evie stretches her arms out to the tall man.

“Charlie! Charlie!” she demands, wanting him to take her from your grasp.

“Hello there young lady!” he chuckles as you lean her towards him.

He balances her on his side as she leans her head on his shoulder and you never thought you’d feel slightly envious of your own daughter in such as way as you do now. Her chubby fingers grab at his shirt as she gives him her version of a cuddle and John has to shout out for you both as you suddenly realise you were still stood at the front door. You let Charlie walk through then watch the two of them as he strolls into the lounge with her attached to his side, and you can’t help but think of David and how he probably would have been her favourite parent; a true daddy’s girl left without a dad. Charlie turns to see you leaning against the now closed front door and nods for you to catch up with them but you hold up your index finger to signify you’d only be a minute, then disappear upstairs for a breather.

“Evie, l think Betty is missing you outside, why don’t you go and see her?” Sarah suggests softly.

You can hear Evie’s tiny ‘humph’ and imagine her snuggling into Charlie a little more in an attempt to not leave him, and your heart breaks at the thought she couldn’t have done this with her father. It caught you off guard like this sometimes, an overwhelming wave of sadness that she missed out on knowing her dad even though she doesn’t have a clue about anything right now, and you have to take a short time out to gather yourself again. She knows no different though and although you’ll tell her one day when she’s older all about her dad, she’ll be blissfully unaware for a good few years to come.

“Go on Evie, I promise I’ll be right out,” Charlie says as he encourages her to join her friend in the garden.

“Promise?” she confirms.

“Promise,” he repeats sincerely.

“Okay… where’s mummy?” she questions before she walks away.

“I’m not sure darling, should I go look for her?”

“Yes peas!”

You drop your head into your hands with a laugh at her pronunciation of ‘please’; you were so grateful to have her in your life, one word from her and your mood could change within an instant, and the sadness you’d felt only moments before was now shrinking back into the shadows of your mind. Your hands drag down your face, revealing it inch by inch until you notice Charlie standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at you with a concerned expression pulling at his perfect face.

“Are you okay?” he asks quietly as he ascends the stairs towards you slowly.

“Yes, I’m fine,” you chuckle, “Evelyn still hasn’t managed to master the ‘l’ in please!”

“Are you sure? We don’t have to go out tonight if you don’t want to, we can just… sit on the stairs?” he smiles, taking a seat next to you and nudging your shoulder gently.

“No I want,” you reassure, leaning against his arm, “I really do.”

“Charlie? ...Charlie?” a familiar voice calls out, “did you find mummy?”

Evie’s small figure wobbles out from the lounge and looks up at you both sat on the stairs then she crawls up each step until she wriggles her way into the limited space between your thighs thanks to the narrow staircase, and she falls against your chest with a sigh, her little arms reaching across your torso as far as they can go. That mother and daughter bond was undeniable at times like this when it seemed as if she knew exactly what you were feeling and instinctively gave you a cuddle to make things okay again. She looks up at you with eyes older than her years, staring right into your soul, then smiles before puckering her lips for a kiss which you gladly peck before squeezing her once more.

“Cuddle Charlie,” she says quietly as you hold onto her hands while she steps down then over to his waiting arms.

She settles in between his legs much better being as they were more slender than yours and he lifts her up onto one of his thighs so she can sit happily looking at you both as she leans against him as if she knew him.

“You like Charlie don’t you?” you ask as she fiddles with his fingers that sit at her waist, keeping her safely on his lap.

“Yeah!” she grins.

“And why do you like Charlie?”

“He’s cosy,” she replies, snuggling into him, then she looks up to meet his gaze, “are you a daddy?”

He opens his mouth before his mind can catch up to him; the question obviously taking him surprise, “uh… no, I’m not a daddy.”

“Oh,” she says, slightly disappointed, “so you can’t cuddle mummy because only daddies and mummies cuddle.”

“Ah, actually there’s a loophole that does allow me to cuddle mummy,” Charlie starts, much to your amusement, “I can cuddle her if you say I can… even if I’m not a daddy. So, do I have your permission?”

“Yes! You have persmesson,” she nods happily as the two of you chuckle at her mispronunciation.

“Fantastic! Come here then (Y/N),” he grins as he puts an arm around you and cuddles you into his side.

“Are you two going out tonight, or am I supposed to be making dinner for two extra people?” Sarah laughs from the bottom of the stairs as she looks up at the three of you huddled together.

“Yes, we should get going,” you agree.

Sarah walks up to grab Evie from Charlie then takes her down and into the garden to play with Betty while you get your things together and Charlie talks to John.

“Now be good little miss,” you grin as you squat down next to Evie, “and I’ll see you later.”

“Okay mummy,” she nods, “you be good.”

“I will!” you laugh.

“Bye bye Charlie!” Evelyn calls out as you stand, “night kiss?”

“Of course sweetheart,” he chuckles.

You back away as he kneels on the floor next to Evelyn and kisses the top of her softly, and you smile as you watch her little eyes flutter shut as she enjoys his comforting touch; maybe she subconsciously yearned for a fatherly figure without even realising the meaning behind it after seeing the interactions between Betty and John. You walk away to stand by the lounge door to wait for Charlie and look at Evie as her eyes follow him all the way to you, then she diverts her gaze to yours and gives you a big cheesy grin before the two of you disappear.

“Thank you,” you sigh as you get into the passenger seat of his car.

“For what?” he frowns.

“For being so good with Evelyn. It really does mean a lot.”

“It’s nothing, honestly. She’s a brilliant kid and she’s part of you so I just feel lucky to have two new people in my life,” he shrugs.

You smile timidly at his reply then he starts up the car and reverses out of the driveway; his hand falling naturally onto your thigh after he’s got the car into gear and you’re cruising down the road that leads out of the village. Your hand lays on top of his gently until he has to change gear again, but soon enough you arrive at the larger pub in the next village over where his fingers slip between yours as you walk through the door together. He walks you through to the garden where you find a table then he heads inside for the drinks and returns just as a scuffle begins to break out at the other end of the pub.

“Someone’s had too much to drink already,” you joke as it soon calms down thanks to people separating the two men.

“I hope they don’t carry on for too long… I’m off duty and on a date, I’m not getting involved!” he laughs.

“So this is an official date?” you smirk.

“The second one by my count,” he winks.

A blush creeps across your cheeks at his wink, “I’d agree with that number.”

“Sarah tells me you did superbly at taking the class the other day by the way. I didn’t have a shadow of a doubt that you couldn’t handle it.”

“Thank you! I really enjoyed it, it’s certainly put things into perspective for me. I thought I’d be happy with always being the technician but now… now, not so much.”

“You should get job hunting then,” Charlie smiles proudly, “get yourself out there.”

“Everything’s so perfect here though, and Evie’s settled… I don’t know, maybe I’ll just have to wait for Adam to leave,” you laugh.

“There’s no harm in looking though, and it’ll be easy to settle somewhere else if you have someone to help you...”

“Not sure I can ask John and Sarah to help with another move!”

“You wouldn’t have to, I’d be there.”

You smile as you bring your wine glass to your lips then a crash of glass from inside the pub causes you both to snap your heads around to look in the direction of the sound, and there you see Adam stumbling outside with a drunk grin pulling at his mouth.

“You two look adorable together!” he slurs as he approaches the table, “just so cute. Where’s Evie in all this though? Palmed off on Sarah again?”

He scoffs to himself as Charlie stands from the bench and moves into his path, then he lifts his hand and Adam walks straight into it with a bounce, losing his footing easily thanks to the alcohol in his system.

“Oh! He’s your guard dog too?!” he laughs.

“I think that’s enough now, don’t you?” Charlie says calmly as you silently seethe at his comments, “I suggest you head home… on foot,” he continues, taking Adam’s keys from his pocket and slipping the one for the car off the ring, “you can pick this up from the station in the morning.”

“Oh come on! Seriously?!” Adam whines.

“Go home before I call officers to escort you to a nice cosy cell for the night,” Charlie warns.

“I’m going,” he says, backing away with his arms up in the air in defeat, “I’m going!”

Charlie stays standing until Adam is out of sight then drops his head with a sigh and shakes it from side to side as he returns to his seat, “well that was… interesting.”

“Would it definitely be completely illegal to go for a joy ride in his car?” you question.

“Unfortunately it would, but we could make some excuse by you doing him a favour by driving it to the station for him to pick up?”

“I like your thinking!”

“Are you alright after all that?” Charlie asks, reaching his arm across the table so he can take your hand in his.

“I’m fine, honestly. Lucky you were there though otherwise I would have decked him.”

“I don’t doubt that for one second! I was close to it myself!”

“I’m still not quite convinced he’s capable of murder though...”

“Hmm, nor are we to be honest. Something doesn’t add up, it’s too much of a coincidence.”

You lift your fingers and slot them between Charlie’s then your eyes meet across the table, “do you believe in coincidences? Fate? Things like that?” you ask.

“I do,” Charlie nods, “I believe that everything happens for a reason and sometimes things happen in your life that are destined to be, and you have no choice but to embrace it.”

“What if you’re a little reluctant at embracing it? Maybe because there’s an element of fear?”

“Then I’d hold on tight,” he says softly, strengthening his grip on your hand, “to someone you trust to help you get through it.”

“Better stay like this for a while then,” you admit shyly.

@lv7867 @lovemarvelousfics @fuckyou-imspiderman @aynsleywalker @timeandpixiedust @the-baby-bookworm @pink-lemo @chlobo6 @queenslandlover-93 @misslolasworld @killer-queen-87 @drivenbybri @itsametaphorgwil

#Charlie Nelson #ds charlie nelson #charlie nelson x reader #midsomer murders fic #gwilym lee #charlie nelson imagine

30 notes · View notes

pastelbatfandoms · 4 years ago

Text

ABCs of your OCs

A list of oc questions in alphabetical categories - i made each category based on the first word I could think of in alphabetical order, so enjoy!

Decided to try and answer these using Gifs and Images of My characters (aka who or what reminds me of My character)

.Doing this for My OC Michelle Riley in My Riverdale Fic.

Michelle is “played by” Ksenia Solo (Teen) & Kaya Scodelario (Young Adult)

A: Aptitude 1. what are your oc’s natural abilities, things they’ve been doing since young? Writing,solving Mysteries,has always had an interest in the occult and anything different and unusual.

2. what activities have they participated in? Michelle is a bit of a Loner but she has done Cheer and writes Poetry in her spare time as well as mysteries. She also was a camp counselor & Lifeguard with Betty and Cheryl over the summer.

3. what abilities do they have? She’s human but Michelle knows a bit of Karate and was taught how to fight by FP.

4. what things are they bad at? Being Honest,Indecisive,

5. what is their most impressive talent? Writing and Dancing

B: Basics 1. what is their hair color? Dark brown. Dies Black or wears Blond wigs.

2. what is their eye color? Brown but wears Light green or blue contacts

3. how tall are they? A little shorter than Jughead

4. how old are they? 15 (Story start) 19 (Story end) October 7 2000

5. how much do they weigh?

C: Comfort 1. how do they sit in a chair? Usually leaning forward.

2. in what position do they sleep?

3. what is their ideal comfort day? Reading or watching TV,eating,doing something creative,learning new things (especially about the occult or conspiracy theories),writing poetry,mainly being by herself on her down time.Although she’s an ambivert so she does like hanging out with her BF or Friends after her alone time.

4. what is their major comfort food? um Anything lol She’s literally a female Jughead in more ways than one. Burgers and fries,Milkshakes,Pancakes,Chips and salsa...

5. who is the best at comforting them when down? Betty or Mom. Most of the time Jughead. (unless it’s about him)

D: Decoration 1. how would they decorate a house if they had one under their name? Minimalistic with plants,charming and attractive yet simple and comfortable. Small neighborhood.

2. how would they decorate their child’s room? Michelle doesn’t want kids

3. how do they decorate their own room? Shabby Chic,Girly mixed with rustic. With of course darker undertones.

4. what type of clothes and accessories do they wear? Goth,Grunge,Edgy,had a preppy phase. (Casual Artsy in Middle school)

5. do they like makeup/nail/beauty trends? Yes.

E: External Personality 1. does the way they do things portray their internal personality? Sometimes. She’s not as tough as she portrays.

2. do they do things that conform to the norm? Sometimes. If on her own.

3. do they follow trends or do their own thing? No

4. are they up-to-date on the internet fads? Only E-Girl and Mod Goth.

5. do they portray their personality intentionally or let people figure it out on their own? Is shy at first.

F: Fun 1. what do they do for fun? Shopping,Dancing,hanging out at Pop Tates Malt Shop,Drive in movies,Art,watching Horror movies,writing poetry,Solving Mysteries,going out to a club or the biker bar The White Wyrm.

2. what is their ideal party? See Above. Dancing,Strobe lights,Band,Underage Drinking/Sex. Unless she’s 18 or 19 then. Decorating for parties and liked having Clue inspired Sleepovers in middle school.

3. who would they have the most fun with? Her girls. B,V & C.

4. can they have fun while conforming to rules? When alone yes.

5. do they go out a lot? Yes.

G: Gorgeous 1. what is their most attractive external feature? Her eyes and smile.

2. what is the most attractive part of their personality?

3. what benefits come with being their friend?

4. what parts of them do they like and dislike?

5. what parts of others do they envy? IDK if I’m going to finish this.

H: Heat 1. do they rather a hot or cold room?

2. do they prefer summer or winter? Spring and Fall

3. do they like the snow? Not really.

4. do they have a favorite summer activity? Thrift Shopping and Sleuthing

5. do they have a favorite winter activity? Reading inside or Sleuthing.

I: In-the-closet

1. what is their sexuality? Pan Sexual

2. have they ever questioned their sexuality? yes

3. have they ever questioned their gender? No

4. would/was their family be okay with them being LGBT? Yes they are very open minded.

5. how long would/did it take for them to come out? High School

J: Joy 1. what makes them happy? Art,writing,shopping,mysteries,love,music.

2. who makes them happy? Her Family (Blood and none)

3. are there any songs that bring them joy? Wow I have a whole playlist...

4. are they happy often? More or less

5. what brings them the most joy in the world?

K: Kill 1. have they ever thought about suicide? I don’t write that. They may have dark thoughts but never act on them,this is not 13 reasons why.

2. have they ever thought about homicide? No

3. if they could kill anyone without punishment, would they? who? No

4. who would miss them if they died? Um all her Friends and Family

5. who would be happy they died, anyone? Penny Peabody lbr

L: Lemons 1. what is their favorite fruit? 2. what is their least favorite fruit?

3. are there any foods they hate?

4. do they have any food intolerances?

5. what is their favorite food? Already said. She also really likes Chicken with chips and salsa.

M: Maternal

1. would they want a daughter or a son?

2. how many children do they want?

3. would they be a good parent?

4. what would they name a son?

what would they name a daughter?

5. would they adopt? Possibly

N: Never Have I Ever

1. what would they never do? Kill Innocents.

2. what have they never done that they want to do?

3. is there anything they absolutely can’t believe people do? People do alot of shitty things. Killing Kids and animals would be one of them.

4. what is the most embarrassing thing they’ve done?

5. have they done anything they thought they’d never do? Um get drunk and sleep with her boyfriends Dad??...Or cheat on Jug with Veronica. SPOILERS! But I probably won’t finish this story lbh.

O: Optimism 1. are they optimistic or pessimistic? Both

2. are they openly optimistic?

3. are they good at giving advice? Yes

4. is there anyone in their life that throws optimism on them? Throws lol I suppose her Mom or Betty.

5. were they always optimistic?

>>>P: Personality 1. what is their best personality trait?

2. what is their worst personality trait?

3. what of their personality do others love?

4. what of their personality do others envy?

5. do they hate anything about their personality/about other’s personalities?

<<<Will do this later

Q: Questions 1. do they ask for help? Sometimes

2. do they ask questions in class? She did yes,when she was trying to be a straight A student.

3. do they answer questions that make them a little uncomfortable? Yes

4. do they ask weird questions? Yes

5. are they curious? Yes

R: Rules 1. do they follow rules? Sometimes.

2. would they be a strict or laid-back parent? A good balance.

3. have they ever been consequences for breaking a rule?

4. have they broken any rules they now regret breaking?

5. do they find any rules they/others follow absolutely ridiculous? Nope

S: Streets 1. are they street-smart? Yes

2. would they give money to someone on the streets? Probably

3. have they ever gotten in a fight on the streets? Yes

4. has anything happened to them on the streets? Other then Fights,no.

5. are they cautious when out? Now yes,but she can take care of herself.

T: Truth 1. are they honest? More so now yes.

2. can they tell if someone is lying? Yes

3. is it obvious when they’re lying? Yes

4. have they lied about anything they regret lying about? Sleeping with FP

5. have they ever been talked about behind their back? I’m sure.

U: Underdog 1. have they been bullied? A couple times but they stopped once she stood her ground,same with standing up for others (like Jughead)

2. have they bullied anyone? No

3. have they been physically attacked? Yes

4. have they ever been doubted? Yes.

5. have they surprised people with being good at something? Yes,alot of Guys (and girls) underestimate her.

V: Vomit 1. do they vomit often? 2. do they get lots of stomach aches? 3. are they good at comforting someone ill? 4. what do they like as far as comfort goes? 5. do they burp, cough, or hiccup most when nauseous? when vomiting?

W: Water 1. do they drink enough water? 2. have they learned to swim? 3. do they like to swim? 4. can they dive? 5. can they swim without holding their nose?

X: Xylophone 1. what is their favorite genre of music? Oldies,Indie & Goth Rock

2. do they have a favorite song? Prince-Die 4 U

3. do they have a favorite band/artist/singer? The Cure,Prince & The Neighborhood.

4. can they sing well? Sure

5. can they rap? No

Y: You 1. how old were you when you created them? It was in 2017.

2. what inspired you to create them? Watching Riverdale for the first time

3. were they different when they were first created? No

4. do you enjoy writing them more than other characters? No

5. what’s your favorite thing about them? Her style and sarcasm.

Z: Zebra 1. what’s their favorite animal? Cats and Dogs

2. do they like animals? Yes

3. cats or dogs? Both

4. what’s their dream pet? Panther or Dragon

5. do they have any pets at the moment? Shares a Sheepdog/Mutt with The Serpents,named Hot Dog.

#riverdale fanfiction #mughead #My OC #gif survey #oc survey

4 notes · View notes

jq37 · 5 years ago

Text

The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 16

Into the Woods

We rejoin our Bad Kids (minus Riz, who we’ll get to in a bit) who are still on the Goldenrod while chaos happens around them. Fig adds to the chaos by successfully (with a 30!) pretending to be one of Goldenhoard’s minions to no real plot significant effect. I just feel the need to mention every time Fig rolls a 30+. The kids get Gilear out of his hiding place--a sarcophagus--right before it’s launched out as ammo. His safety proves short-lived however because, when Ayda pings that Riz is no longer on the same plane as them, Fabian recklessly sails the Goldenrod directly into Riz’s last known location, instantly killing both himself and Gilear. So he’s for sure back to his old self.

Kristen brings them back up and passes some heals out generally while she’s at it. Meanwhile, with a Nat 20, Adaine fully Oracles out and knows exactly where Riz was being held. There, they find a smear of blood (which they taste???? even though they know the disease is communicable by blood???) and Riz’s briefcase, but no body. Plus Tracker smells Celestial energy and Ayda senses conjuration magic. But all that subtle sleuthing is made pointless by Kristen getting a Nat 20 (of course) to just stumble into the next room and find a room full of footage of exactly what happened. Wild.

Bill can’t get them to where Riz is. The best he can do is get them to the Astral Plane. Fig remembers to check on the stuff she stole from Vraz. Baby just got a to-do list but Fig conveniently grabbed a scroll which will create a portal back to Arborly. Then, they cast Zone of Truth on Goldenhoard who gives them this information before they get to the Astral Plane:

Arianwyn was never working with him.

He repeats what we already knew about the NK giving him a coin as part of them working together in the past. He adds that his money being spent would mean it would come back to him 5 fold and also increase the spread of the NK’s power.

He thinks the NK is a creep and says he never talks and only appears in weird dreams. At Fig’s prompting, he says he does look a lot like the skeletal figure in Adaine’s Scry on the Shadowcat. He also says he never dealt directly with the Shadowcat and can’t see her in the photo. However, the Shadowcat did put him in touch with Aelwen.

The NK had more followers in Elmville but Goldenhoard doesn’t know who else was because he refused to join the Shadowcat network, which was a requirement. (I wonder if they include whoever the couple in Sandra-Lnn’s past was)

He let the NK have Sylvere when he was taking over the world because he didn’t care about it.

Meanwhile, our little Angel Riz is en route to heaven with his dad who is happy-shocked to see him. Pok calls in that he’s coming in with a “good aligned, possible CI,” and it’s immediately clear based on the reaction of the person on the other side of the call that Pok talks about Riz all the time in glowing terms. They arrive in heaven and Riz sees that he has a little chair set up at a copy of his grave so he can sit and listen when Riz and Sklonda come and talk to him. Ally is almost crying. Lou is almost crying. I’m almost crying.

Heaven--or at least this version of heaven--is set up like an office but outside. I’m picturing the classic Window’s XP background. We learn that Pok is a part of a special force called the Lower Planar Recon Task Force. Basically, it’s full of traditionally evil aligned races (like goblins and gnolls) who are perfect for infiltrating places like Hell. We also see that Pok has a plaque for getting his death avenged by his son.

Anyway, we see where Riz gets his attitude from when Pok kicks puts his gameface on (“Clues first, friends later.”) and has an extended puzzle solving scene with Riz (sprinkled with some father/son stuff). Highlights:

Heaven actually didn’t know about the Kalina=Disease thing. Riz and the gang cracked that for them. Kalina doesn’t ping a Detect Good/Evil but Pok thinks she would ping a Detect Poison/Disease.

He started seeing Kalina about 22 years ago after a mission with the Third Ring (see below). No, he didn’t cheat on Sklonda. If it happened via sexual contact, it would have been pre-meeting her.

Kalina can’t pick things up but she can create the sensation of weight and substance by hijacking your nervous system. So, to his knowledge at the time, Pok had touched her.

He was introduced to Kalina by someone he already knew and trusted from the Third Ring (Falinel government agency).

Kalina doesn’t have godly intelligence or omniscience. The way she blew her cover was accidentally mentioning seeing something firsthand she would have had no way of seeing (a river being in a certain place). He didn’t call her out then but he clocked it and started looking into her extra-governmentally.

Kalina got Sklonda her job in Elmville--which directly put Pok in the path of Goldenhoard, who ate him. He also strongly suspects that he got Pok’s citizenship revoked--an action that allowed Goldenhoard to harm him.

Pok thinks that, despite the Bad Kids’ focus on the sex aspect of the Shadowcat plague, it’s a lot more general than that (see eg: the life transference spell moving it from Sandra-Lynn to Tracker).

Father/Son Interlude #1: Riz mentions that all of his friends are super horny all the time and he’s not about that. Pok says that he was a super late bloomer so it’s fine if he’s not into that now or if he’s not into it period--though he selfishly does want grandkids.

Father/Son Interlude #2: Pok also shares a story about his own relationship with his superficially distant but actually loving 1st gen immigrant dad the twin theses of which are “People show love in different ways,” and “Work is an act of love,” a sentiment that workaholic Riz appreciates.

Most demons can see Kalina.

Pok was in hell undercover to try and figure out how devils had been successful in keeping Kalina at bay. He showed up in the Bottomless Pit but he was trapped there for a while--presumably because Gorthalax was in a gem at that time (also Riz mentions for the first time that Sklonda is dating him which he takes OK).

Pok has a new body so Kalina can’t tap into it. Kalina must have learned where Pok was because Sklonda infected Gorthalax once they started dating and she got the info from him. And since Kalina spurred him to come rescue Pok than she probably wanted him to blow his cover.

Kalina avoided having her picture taken. Once it was taken, she wasn’t able to do certain things she was able to before.

Pok says that Riz probably won’t be able to visit him again without pretty powerful magic, but Riz isn’t too concerned because he has some pretty powerful friends. And, with that, Pok offers to hire Riz as a consultant for heaven which, you can imagine, he is very here for. He takes his son to get suited up.

Back with the other Bad Kids, they look at the assorted things Bill has looted and find some Holy Water, which they pocket, and a birthday present for Fig, which she is pretty easily convinced to open early. It’s a sick new bass which doubles as a literal axe (OK, not an axe, it has serrated edges, I just like the idea of an axe-axe) and can shatter rubies. They then say bye to Bill and get back to Arborly (with the Hangman who is still knocked out, but not destroyed like before).

The group collectively decides to leave Gilear in Arborly for both his safety and the safety of Kristen’s high level spell slots. Adaine takes some of his blood so she can Scry on him if necessary. Sandra-Lynn and Gilear exercise their parental rights to make their daughter feel awkward about her love interest. Speaking of said love interest, we learn what Ayda was working on in secret: a spell for Adaine! It’s called Adaine’s Furious Fists and it essentially lets her magic punch people. Adaine can punch people now! I mean, she’s been doing it since S1 but now she can do it effectually! Love that for her!

Back to Riz. He’s in with an angel called Isosceles (think quasi-eldritch horror Biblical angel, not Halloween costume angel) who is like the Q of the squad. Riz gets hooked up with some new gear:

Trick bullets (like how Green Arrow has trick arrows)

A grappling gun attachment for his gun

Arcadian Watch: Equipped w/ a saw, laser (1d4 radiant dmg) and lockpick

Seraphim Vest: Basically a wingsuit (temp fly speed of 40 but only laterally and down, not up)

Gregorian Tie: Equipped with a spy camera

Once he’s suited up, Pok calls up a door that will get Riz back to the moment in time it was called. But, since they’re in no rush now, he asks Riz to take a walk with him and fill him in on some of the boring, mundane, unimportant stuff he missed from RIz’s childhood. It’s very sweet.

Afterwards, Riz pops back up in Arborly and everyone is super happy to see him. Riz almost blurts out what he learned about his dad but wisely moves the conversation to the Van where he tells them everything except the personal family stuff. Based on the info from Riz, Adaine thinks that Kalina was probably introduced into eleven society a couple hundred years ago by Landrynn Lear (fake cleric spreading the Kalina virus they learned about a few eps ago) so it’s not super weird Aelwen and Arianwyn would have been working with her. It’s less weird than Pok working than them.

Kristen latches onto the part about the picture being taken of her taking away some of her power and they all do checks to puzzle that out. Adaine (with Arcana) realizes that Kalina has to maintain herself in all these people all the time and, if a picture is taken of her--has to make it so that she can be seen by all of those people at all times which is a permanent spell effect which is-as we learned earlier this season--very hard to pull off. Her not being able to do certain things once the pic was taken was probably just her losing power from the strain of this extra magical effect (my takeaway: don’t let her destroy that photo--or, use it as a bargaining chip). Kristen (with Religion) thinks the 4 transubstantiations (familiar to plague and spellbook to curse and so on) are curses which overlap and create synergy (my takeaway: take them out one by one and watch them exponentially drop off in effectiveness). Gorgug (with a Tinkerer’s check) surmises that the way to take the most pics of Kalina and weaken her would be to take a video of her and broadcast it to as many people as possible.

Gorgug also has another thought: He wants to know if them having and spending their cursed money is actively endangering him. At the prospect, he decides to give all of his money away to the Tinkerer’s Hall (without telling them it’s dragon money, which means the curse won’t get passed on). Kristen, Fig, and Riz follow suit, much to Fabian’s shock and horror. Adaine opts to keep her money since she has no caring family to fall back on.

They also--I’m just gonna bluntly say this insane thing that Ally conceived of--have another shrimp party which they livestream in hopes that it will go viral, gain a following, and then when they have video of Kalina, they can get lots of people to watch it. And you know what the craziest part is? It’s not a bad plan. It’s c r a z y, but not illogical. To quote Mr. Lee Mulligan, “The charity shrimp party goes super viral.” Amazing.

The next day, Adaine brings back Boggy (who poofed in the last fight) as an owl so he’ll be a little safer while in Sylvere. Don’t worry, he’s still spherical as ever. The Hangman (now healed) stays behind, as does the Van--but they do take it actual gem out and take it with them. Baby is there and does come with them. Ayda and GaF also come at Fig’s request.

Fig is able to open a passage into Sylvere and they can instantly feel the ambient badness. They decide to start looking for the three things they need to make the Kalina Vaccine: Starmoth chrysalis, Herrowgray nectar, and Lundgreen pollen. The jocks and Boggy go for the chrysalis, Sandra-Lynn, Fig, Adaine, and Ayda go for the nectar, while Kristen, Riz, and Tracker look for the pollen.

The boys don’t find anything but, suddenly, there’s an image of a super creepy witch’s cottage in the gem, and Zathriel (the Celestial inside) bugs out before the gem goes dark. And Ragh is suddenly gone.

In her group, Sandra-Lynn flies off on Baxter in search of the nectar but the flapping noises that should be happening suddenly stop. Ayda offers to fly after her but then also becomes distressed, asking why they’re in a house (the others can’t see it) before also vanishing.

Kristen, Riz, and Tracker are looking around stagnant water for the pollen and they see Kalina’s reflection in the water. Kristen starts to film her on her crystal. Kalina (who they can all see at the same time for once) says that in Sylvere, nightmares are real, something demonstrated when Tracker fully wolfs out without the presence of an actual full moon. Kristen tries to Dimension Door out but they're too far in. They try to subdue her but Trcker vanishes into moths (?). Kalina says that Tracker is chasing down what she thinks is Kristen to kill her (which would make sense as being her nightmare). She says that she said she’d kill them if they got into the forest and here they are. She does a little damage to Riz to underline the statement and Riz starts recording her secretly. Kalina is doing small bits of damage (like 1-4 I think) but it’s enough that it will kill them before they have the chance to make tinctures.

The jocks find the chrysalis and then look for the others. Fig tries to use Ada’s feather to find her but, like the sapphire, it’s dead. Through Boggy, Adaine can see the jocks are flipping out and find the nectar and go find them.

Kristen casts Greater Restoration of Riz and tells him to find Tracker. The attacks stop on Riz and double on Kristen. She’ll be dead before she can employ any kind of healing mojo than can help significantly and the other healer is MIA. Everyone is running to find each other and then they suddenly hear, emanating from every corner of the forest creepy laughter and they all see a crowned skull. Concerning!

Detention

Fabian for Crashing the Goldenrod

This was almost like the ribbon dancing sequence except Kristen had something to potentially gain from that and this was an absolutely insane course of action for no particular reason.

Honor Roll

Kristen for Using Her One Greater Restoration on Riz

What a quintessential healer move. Having one heal and giving it away to your party member. Listen, she may have rejected Helio, but he picked her for a reason. Girl is a BAMF.

Random Thoughts

“You can't make these things up. You can. We did.”

Actual Crazy Person Bill Seacaseter: I had to kill Gilear as a matter of course but I love Gilear!

Bill tells Gilear to kill any man who looks askance at Hilariel. Fig (mirroring a comment to Bill from last season) questions what he should do if any woman looks at her. An enthusiastic, “Dealer’s choice!” is the answer.

"If you die in hell do you die in real life?"

Is the message of this season just “Vaccinate your kids”?

Fabian offers to threaten someone who’s bullying Gilear. You know what that is? Growth.

Bill brought the Bad Kids to the Astral Plane but they wanted to get back to Arborly ASAP. I wonder if there was something Brennan expected them to do there and they didn’t.

Fig ripping the scroll was wild but, honestly, I might have thought that was how it worked too. It’s for sure a thing sometimes. But, in a similar vein, very concerned Fig is going to accidentally shatter Gorthalax’s gem prematurely with that bass. Feel like she’s not 100% clear on how that works.

“I don’t have a crush one anyone. I just want to be rich.”

Riz took over from Adaine this episode in unpacking my high school experiences, lemme tell you.

Wondering where Baron fits into all this. It seems like the kind of effect that Sylvere would be able to produce but he wasn’t in Sylvere when that happened and I feel like that wouldn’t be Riz’s nightmare (unless it represented anxiety about his not dating or s/t like that). What was that about? Who exactly caused it and with what ability? Is that just a standard demon power?

Not important but last week when Brennan said a halo formed around Pok he distinctly motioned around his head and not over his head so I felt happy to have interpreted that correctly when he said this ep that the halo was one of those you see in old pics of like the Madonna and Child and not a modern-traditional angel halo.

The idea of a lower plane task force is extremely dope from a world building perspective. Like, that makes total sense.

“Don’t even talk to me until my death’s avenged.” I knew that was going to be a real mug as soon as it was said.

The stuff with Pok and Riz was so unbelievably sweet. Him having a chair set up to listen to his family talk at his grave? Him clearly being the proudest dad and talking about Riz all the time? Him wanting to just talk about unimportant stuff with Riz because it’s his important stuff. Ugh, my entire heart. And Riz immediately reverting to full, “My dad could beat up your dad,” mode. I love them so much.

I feel like Siobhan took coming up with a spell for Ayda as an actual out of game homework assignment which she should because Brennan *will* let her do it and then Ayda will save the party with it. That’s how D&D works baby I don’t make the rules. Hit me up with your best ideas.

Adaine actually asked Gilear for some of his hair in order to Scry on him and he’s the one who offered blood instead because he couldn’t spare any more hair. Feel like there’s gotta be a spell for that

Siobhan just casually says the phrase, “Mycelium web,” once again just being Adaine.

Couldn’t Kalina just say, “Screw it,” and stop showing up in pictures if the strain gets too much? Like, if your cover is blown, it’s blown. Or is it set up in such a way that it’s gonna screw her before she has the chance to turn it off?

It’s funny that Zac is playing such a low Int character because he’s actually figured out a lot of stuff this season and he’s the one who remembered that dragon madness won’t get passed on if the person who gets the money has no knowledge that it’s dragon money. I wonder if we’ll get to see him play a non-Himbo next season.

Adaine, predictably, has no social media presence. Speaking of social media, I love the naming convention of just sticking the word “fantasy” in front of things like Twitter and Google--as in, “You guys are all over Fantasy Twitter.” Like, why even complicate things? You know what this is.

Goodbye card for Gilear: Outside--Gilear I need you/Inside--to get me a cortado.

I had a stray thought that Riz could possibly use the door to come back after having done angel training for like a month but (1) that’s a little meta-gamey and (2) they were making an exception for him to be there that short time as it was. Anything else probably would have been pushing it.

Is Pok’s heaven affiliated with any deity or is it just where all the good workaholic secret agents go? To me, it seems like it liaises with all the other heavens more than being it’s own main heaven, you know?

Oh man. Ayda disappearing and Fig clutching her powerful feather, begging her to come back after indirectly putting her the situation she’s currently in? Heartbreaking dude.

I wonder why the people who disappeared disappeared beyond just getting rid of the NPCs.

Edit: Forgot to mention the part where Kristen rolled a -1 with her trash Dex so Ayda had to give her a portent roll to not instantly blow everything.

The Bad Kids are in a very precarious position right now. If I trusted Kalina to be someone of her word, I might try to bargain with her--destroy the picture in return for letting us leave. From a DM standpoint, I think it’s probably a good time for an Abernant Ex-Machina. They’re in the forest too as far as we know and they gotta come back into the story somehow. This could be the time.

Everyone going off about how Riz is a little angel and he could have told them if he was a Celestial and how much he loves Gilear while he’s not in the scene and can’t say anything is peak D&D.

Bill Seacaster saying a bunch of insane nonsense and then Adaine being like, “Nice seeing you Mr. Seacaster,” is also peak D&D.

This episode, Adaine, Fig*, Kristen and Brennan (as Sandra-Lynn) each rolled a Nat 20. Adaine and FIg each rolled one Nat 1 that was canceled by disadvantage and Riz rolled one Nat 1 that stuck.

*I actually am not 100% Fig rolled at Nat 20. Kristen did for sure but I don’t have a Tally for her so I might have flipped those by accident. If you happen to know for some weird reason, lemme know.

#fantasy high #fantasy high live #fantasy high spoilers #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers

56 notes · View notes

aphrodites-law · 5 years ago

Text

A Bit of Clarity 🍂 (4/?) The visions had started last autumn, a year ago now. It had caused a bit of chaos for some, a bit of clarity for others. Two days ago, Clarke Griffin had been perfectly fine managing both her Café and her stress. But now she was curious - so deeply curious about the vision of herself entwined with the aloof Lexa Woods that it was leading her to complete distraction.

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

The open mic was neither a success nor a failure. It was inevitable that they took a hit following Finn's own event, which Clarke refused to think about. She could only hope he'd had as small a profit as Baker's had, though in the end new clientele did come and there was the possibility that they would come again. That was good. They'd had fun, too, especially when Wells and Harper had decided to do some improv to warm up the room.

Despite the pleasant weekend, Clarke was relieved it was over, her body still feeling the effects of long days and short nights. She had what felt like three knots in her back, all of them maddeningly out of reach.

She sipped on her own coffee in between orders that Tuesday, relatively glad for the busy pace. Busy meant she didn't have time to think. Gaia, Harper and her moved around one another with practiced ease, communicating swiftly whenever necessary. Clarke didn't want a second to herself. Whenever she had a moment, she went in the back to check on their stock. She counted jars. She undid and redid her ponytail. There was absolutely no reason for her to think about the past Friday. None at all. She had far more important things to do.

Raven came in after lunch hours, peeking into the kitchen while she took off her hat. Clarke followed her with amusement, wondering why she was acting like a sleuth.

“Wells is on his break," she told her.

“Oh I know." Raven turned to her and lowered her voice. "I need to talk to you.”

“What’s up?”

Raven went around the counter. "Did you get him a birthday present yet?"

Clarke rearranged the presentation of their last few sandwiches on display. "Did I get him a present six weeks in advance? No."

Raven grinned. "Perfect. I got him the best seats to this new play - Nowhere Ground - big fucking hit he's been pissed isn’t on his season pass. But then I started thinking- how amazing would it be if I could get him a backstage tour of the Music Hall too?"

Clarke could guess where this was going. "You think if I had contacts there I wouldn't have pounced on them already? Besides, you're closer to the entertainment business than I am. Doesn't your team know people?"

Raven shook her head. "Too prideful. Theater rivalry and all that.”

Clarke slid closed the display window. “Well... you could ask Niylah? I think her dad does deliveries for the Music Hall. He might know someone.”

“Niylah who I barely know and who you dumped?”

“I didn’t du- okay, just tell me what you need.”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Spill.”

“Well my guys couldn't be bothered, but I did get a tip-off that the Music Hall crew hangs out at Barton after Saturday shows. I figured we could go together, schmooze a bit-“

“Wait a minute- Barton?”

“I know what you’re thinking, but there’s no way Daddy’s Boy will be there mingling with tech crew. Besides, the place's changed a lot since college.”

Clarke glanced at the front door, desperate for a new customer to give her a way out. “Why am I being roped into this again?”

“Because I can’t actually do the flirting.”

Clarke pretended to think about it for a second. “Right. I'll pass.”

“Clarke,” Raven groaned. “It’s for your best friend! And you might actually meet someone out of it.”

“Someone like Finn?” Clarke asked pointedly.

“Someone good for you,” Raven amended. “But if you're really not feeling it, you can just slip in a word about your café to a whole crew who’ll probably end up hungover and in dire need of quality coffee the next day."

“Raven...”

“What do you have to lose?”

“A nice warm bath while I finally catch up on my book?”

“Sometimes I look at you and wonder how the fuck you’re single, but then these words come out of your mouth and I remember.”

“You kiss Wells with that mouth?”

“And he loves it. Come on, Clarke. Please?”

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Fine. But if anyone makes puns about my buns, I’m out.”

“Fair.”

* * *

Clarke met Octavia Blake just ten minutes after stepping into Barton that Saturday night. Clarke had opted for dark fitted pants and a low-cut top paired with her midnight blue blazer, though in this weather she'd regretted not taking her coat instead. She'd curled her hair and made an effort with her makeup, just enough to at least cover her fatigue.

Clarke hadn't been to Barton since college, where, yes, she had regrettably met Finn and fallen for his then boyish charm. She'd been swept up in the thrill of dating a politician's son and he'd been after a way to hurt his long-distance girlfriend - that was all there was to know about it all. Clarke's regret was that she had been blind for too long. But Raven was right to say the place was different - and the last time they'd all been here felt like forever ago now. Finn himself hadn't changed much, but Clarke hardly recognized herself in pictures from that time, where her hair went down to her waist and most of her clothes were paint-stained. Everything had been different then; less predictable maybe.

But there was something comforting about habits too. Clarke had that feeling when they walked into the bar, suddenly recognizing everything from the tables to the ceiling. It wasn’t the place that had changed but the people. Gone were the college juniors and seniors, now working adults with better clothes and sharper features. Barton had a sprawling design, with small rooms connected to each other and three different bars. Raven grabbed her hand and led her to the busiest one, where the people couldn't be mistaken for anything other than theater crew. Huddled together with beers in hand, they wore sweatshirts and baseball caps and some even still with gaffer tape hanging from lanyards at the side of their jeans.

By the sound of them, they were happy to be done for the weekend. There was something infectious about their energy and their tired grins.

"Raven fucking Reyes!" A woman called out after they had gotten their beers.

"Octavia?" Raven gasped aloud. "What the fuck?"

Before Clarke even saw it coming, Octavia had wrapped her arms around Raven and just about lifted her off the ground.

"Shit, what did they feed you at Yale?" Raven asked while laughing.

Octavia stepped back with a wide smile. "Just the regular ramen, but I did take up boxing."

"Figures." Raven turned to Clarke. "Clarke, this is Octavia - a little punk I used to tutor."

"Would've never gotten into Yale without that big brain helping me," Octavia added. "What've you been up to?"

"Definitely didn't pack on more muscle. I'm at sound engineer at the Swan House."

"Awesome, lots of sound people around tonight. I'll introduce you guys."

Raven glanced at Clarke with a knowing smirk. "Perfect."

"Do you work at the Music Hall?" Clarke asked Octavia.

"Not exclusively. I'm a stunt coordinator," Octavia said, clearly proud. "I'm also an instructor at my friend's gym in the Green Strip."

"Damn," Raven said. "How the hell did you land in Costial after I kicked your ass to Yale?"

Octavia chuckled. “Well I did meet the love of my life at Yale - it just worked out that his family's here in theater city and we could both find plenty of work."

“Is he here?" Raven asked.

"Oh he's always a bit longer after shows, but he'll be around soon. Come on, let me introduce you both to the crew."

* * *

They met riggers and lighting technicians, costumers and makeup artists. Clarke had forgotten how nice it was to see new faces without waiting to hear their order. It was almost like a reflex now, but everyone was warm and welcoming. Clarke had no doubt that Raven would get Wells his backstage tour, and possibly even more.

After a while they sat at one of the side tables, starting on their second beers. Clarke was listening to Octavia when she looked up and the widest smile spread on her face.

"Linc'!" she called.

Clarke froze in her seat, cursing her bad luck. Octavia's boyfriend, the playwright.

His cousin was right by his side like she had been at the Polis Hotel, looking more jaded than Clarke could imagine anyone being at Barton. When their eyes met, Lexa stopped and seemed to come alive. But Clarke refused to back down this time, remembering how she'd been the one to look away at the party. Lexa had still been a mystery then. It had felt exciting to catch each other across a crowded room. Now Clarke only felt her own pride refusing to let this woman have any lasting hold on her.

Finally Lexa did look away, glancing toward the bar before she walked there. Octavia dragged her boyfriend toward their table.

"Linc', this is Raven and her friend Clarke. Guys, this is Lincoln."

"Raven who got you into Yale?" Lincoln asked with a kind smile.

"Psh, she got herself into Yale," Raven answered. "I just nudged her in the right direction."

* * *

After a while, Clarke excused herself from their table. She'd enjoyed hearing Lincoln talk about the play - and both Raven and her had plenty theater gossip to regale Wells with - but eventually Raven and Octavia moved on to reminiscing and Lincoln stood up to catch up with his colleagues.

Knowing that Raven had clearly found the connections she needed, Clarke got up as well and roamed around each room with her last beer in hand. She looked toward the end of the room and found Lexa alone at a table, one empty drink in hand and her phone in the other.

Of course.

Lexa looked up at the very moment, and surprisingly, stood up to walk toward her. Too startled, Clarke barely had the time to pretend she had another destination in mind.

"Clarke-"

"What?" She asked, perhaps too abruptly.

"Could we sit down and talk?" Lexa asked.

“I don't think we have anything to say to each other."

Lexa swallowed thickly before nodding and looking down at the drink in her hand. Her quick acceptance strangely angered Clarke. She watched as Lexa regained her isolated table and ran her hand through her hair. Still clinging to her bottle, and despite knowing that two beers were fuel for bad decisions, Clarke stepped toward her.

"Actually I do have a question," she said. "What the hell is your problem?"

Lexa quickly looked up, eyes flashing with affront. "Excuse me?"

Clarke stopped on the other side of Lexa's small table. "You start talking to me, telling me about a side-job opportunity, inviting me to the premiere of a packed play, and then you treat me like the plague.”

"I wasn't aware being friendly came with so many expectations."

Clarke reeled from the coldness. "You can’t be serious.”

“What do you really want to say, Clarke?” Lexa asked.

“It's because I refused to be interviewed, isn’t it?"

This seemed to upset Lexa. "I'm a professional, not a child."

Clarke didn't believe a word of it. "Is that the kind of journalist you are? Entitled to other people's stories? Resentful when they turn you down?"

"You don't think very highly of me, do you?" Lexa asked with a clenched jaw.

"I thought we were getting along, that we-"

"What? That we owe each other anything because we had a few chats?"

It hurt, perhaps more than it should have. Lexa was right - it had only been a few conversations - but there had clearly been a shift after Clarke had turned Lexa down. And Clarke was disappointed. Disappointed that the woman she had made up in her mind had turned out to be so bitter. Disappointed that she'd allowed herself to believe Lexa might look at her differently one day.

"You know - if you want to keep sitting at tables alone and tune out the world, you go ahead and do that."

Lexa finally stood up, her stool scraping against the floor.

"That's rich coming from you."

Clarke felt her blood run hot. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hiding your talent behind your counter, afraid to take a chance on something new. Not exactly eager to step out of your comfort zone, are you?"

"You don't know anything about me!" Clarke snapped.

"I know you draw whenever there's a lull. I know it means something to you, even if you put every single one of them in the trash when you're done."

Clarke was taken aback for a moment, but recovered swiftly. "Not everyone needs their hobby to become a business. Who do you think you are acting like you can read people based on a few minutes of their lives?"

"That would be my job - one you seemed to find interesting at the market," Lexa answered dryly, but with such an air of arrogance that Clarke felt suddenly spiteful.

"You think the Gazette is so fucking important? Get over yourself, Lexa."

"At least I put myself out there," Lexa retorted harshly.

"At least I'm honest," Clarke fumed.

“With everyone but yourself it would seem.”

Clarke drew in a sharp breath. "You know what? You can talk all you want about integrity, but I'm not the one who tried to get closer in the hopes of getting a story. I'm not the one who wants everyone but herself to bare their fucking soul."

Lexa looked like she had been slapped and Clarke knew she needed to leave before they made a scene. It was clear by now that they would never see eye to eye.

"I hope you and your new coffee shop are very happy together."

* * *

Clarke walked out of the bar feeling grateful for the brutal cold. It felt like the only thing that might calm her down. She couldn't believe the turn the night had taken. Couldn't believe she'd even confronted Lexa, let alone snapped at her. Lexa's indignation had only spurred her on, but what she'd said had awakened a snarling creature. Lexa didn't have a clue what it took to run a business. Sacrifices were a part of it - she couldn’t just waste what precious time she had on pastimes. How arrogant could she be to act like she knew better?

Clarke had been so wrong. Lexa was a stuck-up, self-absorbed, entitled bitch and there was no universe where Clarke would take a person like that to bed. She'd ruined things with Niylah for a feeling that had turned out so laughably wrong. Well, screw the vision. No one knew for certain that they were glimpses of the future. No one knew a damn thing.

"Clarke, wait up!"

Clarke turned and waited for Raven, who jogged toward her and then leaned down on her knees. "Jesus, you're fast in heels."

Clarke blinked, as if suddenly remembering she'd left without even checking on her friend. "Oh Raven, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Hey, it's okay. What happened?"

“Nothing."

"You hightailed out of that bar because nothing happened?"

Clarke shook her head, unable to get the words out.

"It's that woman - Lincoln's cousin, isn’t it? She's played a number on you."

"I didn't meant to cut your evening short, you were having fun and-"

Raven grabbed her hand. "Hey, forget about that. You being safe and happy is more important to me."

"Raven…"

"Come on, let's go. I'm freezing my ass off."

* * *

They settled in Raven's car, warming up thanks to the heat. Raven drove slowly, giving Clarke ample time to calm down. In the small space and in the dark, Clarke felt like she could finally confess what she'd kept from everyone.

"I had a vision," she said.

Raven's eyes widened. "What? When? At the bar?"

"No, weeks ago."

Raven quickly glanced at her. "Shit, Clarke. I mean- congrats! Why didn't you say so earlier? You know we've been rooting for you."

Clarke paused, her cheeks feeling hot. "I didn't know how to… It was, um… sexual."

Raven snorted. "Well, you know I saw Wells' bare ass in the shower asking me to move in with him."

Clarke laughed despite how heavy the moment felt. "Yeah, but this wasn't like that. The way she held me-"

"She?" Raven asked, and then, "Oh. Same woman from the bar, right?"

"How do you know?"

“No offense, but this is the first time I’ve seen you this worked up about someone, and I was there during the Finn era.”

“Seven months aren’t an era,” Clarke argued.

"But it was her, wasn't it?"

Clarke refused to replay her vision again. "I don't know anymore. I thought it might be, but she's so… she's just not who I thought."

"Then forget about who it was. Just take it as a wakeup call."

Clarke looked at her. "Wakeup from that?"

Raven hesitated. "Clarke… don't you realize how hard it's been to hang out with you this past year?"

"I'm trying to run a business," Clarke defended.

"Wells runs it too. Are you saying he's slacking?"

"No, of course not. You know I couldn't do it without him."

"Right. But when Wells gets home, he leaves work at the door. We hang out or we go out, sometimes together, sometimes separately. He never misses a play and he rock climbs every chance he gets, even if just for an hour. The café means a lot to him, you know that, but it doesn't mean everything."

Clarke tried to imagine that for her. "Honestly that sounds exhausting. I can barely pick up my feet at the end of the day."

Raven bit her lip. "For a while he felt the same, but then he kinda realized he was making excuses."

Clarke frowned. "I go out."

"Do you? Or do you wait for people to either ask or drag you out?"

"It's just been busy with the holiday season," Clarke justified.

"Before that it was the college season and before that it was summer. Don't you have the budget to hire someone else at this point?"

Clarke sighed. "Wells talked about another full timer, and someone else on the weekends, but I haven’t really looked into it yet."

"Right. All I'm saying is it's not fun feeling like the bad guy for wanting to hang out with you."

"Do you really feel that way?"

"I feel like you've made your business your spouse, but a place can't be a home. So maybe seeing yourself bone a stranger is your body's way of saying it needs something a bit more exciting than cold sheets and a 5am wakeup for the rest of your life."

"You're as eloquent as ever, Rae."

Raven smiled as she turned into Clarke's street. "I'm a genius."

* * *

Clarke locked the door behind her and took off her coat, thinking about Raven’s words and the way the evening had panned out. The anger was snuffed out of her, replaced by exhaustion and a feeling of regret. She couldn’t believe she’d somehow given Lexa the power to upset her so thoroughly. That she’d believed for one second that Lexa might-

No, she wouldn’t replay each interaction again. She wouldn’t even think about her anymore. Clearly trying to cross the line between them had been a mistake. There was nothing to be gained from it. Lexa was only after stories - wanted secrets in exchange for dust, and Clarke never wanted to see her name in one of her pieces.

Raven was right: she’d focused too much on who had been in her vision rather than what it meant. She was lonely and she’d had a vivid fantasy - it was no more than that. People fantasized about strangers every day; about leading different lives with different people. The past year had seen her doing the same thing with the same people every day. It wasn’t strange that her subconscious would crave some excitement. She’d had such a fixed impression of Lexa; quiet, reserved, polite Lexa. Clarke could see why a part of her would find it thrilling to draw her out of her shell. To be the focus of Lexa’s razor-sharp attention and deft hands.

But her impression had been wrong. She’d acted on something that was never there in the first place. She'd let the vision influence her to the point of acting completely out of character. That was her mistake.

Clarke took off her heels and walked to the bathroom to wash up. She put her hair up, washed her face, put on her pajamas and slipped into bed with the covers up to her neck. All she had to do was sleep it off. Tomorrow she could put these past few weeks behind her. Move past the vision.

Lexa was never going to be a part of her life. She wasn’t a stranger or even a customer anymore. She wasn’t anything at all. Clarke turned around and buried her face in her pillow.

[part five]

#clexa #clarke x lexa #clexa fic #f: a bit of clarity #so... yikes?#w

128 notes · View notes