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digestionsack · 2 years

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El’s Playlist Part Four: The “Holy Shit” Songs/My Favorites

1: “Shut Up and Let Me Go” by The Ting Tings

Just…heh 😏

There are…a lot of breakup songs on El’s playlist; however, the person that song is directed at (from El’s point of view) can be very up-in-the-air. They could be about Henry, Brenner (mostly), and yes, Mike as well. I covered a lot of them in Part 3–and those were mostly about Brenner, so that makes sense. But, being a Byler catering to the Byler tag…I had to single this one out as one of my favourites because it’s so clearly about Mike that it’s not even funny—not Brenner or Henry or even Hopper. Let’s proceed…

“Shut up and let me go/This hurts, I tell you so/For the last time you will kiss my lips”

So obviously “kiss my lips” can’t be about Hop or Brenner or Henry because…ew. So this gave me my first hint that this is about Mike. And it checks out if we’re going with the “El knows about Byler and wants Mike to just let her go instead of trying to prolong a relationship where he isn’t giving her the love she wants him to give” track. And yeah, it’s going to hurt like hell, especially after that monologue. If this is foreshadowing El breaking up with Mike in S5 and how she will handle it, I’m very proud of how she could be going about this.

“Now shut up and let me go/Your jeans were once so clean/I bet you changed your wardrobe since we met”

Ooooh…get wrecked, fr. “Were once so clean” could be referencing when they met in S1–when Mike was introducing El to the outside world and be openly himself. Throughout the seasons, almost completely once he starts romantically dating her, he “changes his wardrobe” metaphorically—he tries to ditch D&D in an attempt to “grow up,” he lies to her (which, after S1’s ethos “friends don’t lie,” understandably confuses El greatly), and we the audience are cut off from his POV as his character shifts. And this really tells me that this isn’t about a Brenner—El eventually learned that Brenner was a manipulative asshole, but Brenner always was a manipulative asshole. His “jeans” were never “clean,” even long before El came to be (think Brenner experimenting on Henry before El was even born), so he did not change from a good person into who we see.

“Now, oh so easily you're over me/Gone is love/It's you that ought to be holding me/I'm not containable/This time love is not sustainable”

Damn, if this isn’t blatant as hell. “Gone is love?” “This time love is not sustainable?” Do I even need to explain this?

“I ain't freakin'/I ain't fakin' this/Shut up and let me go”

Can I just say how much I admire and am in awe of El’s development over the seasons? She goes from being an experiment in a lab taught to never defy orders to being a young woman able to express her anger and tell the people around her when she’s unhappy. Even when she’s miserable in the beginning of S4, she has the courage to confront Mike about his lack of “I love yous” and how that makes her feel. If (hopefully when) she breaks up with Mike in S5, she will articulate her point clearly and stand firm. Yes, she will be hurt, and she will show that, and there will likely be tears involved, but if these lyrics are any indication at all, she will handle it in a very mature way and speak her mind, trusting her instincts instead of outside influences. God I love her so much 😊

“Shut up and let me go/This hurts, well, I can't show/For the last time you had me in bits”

Like I said before, this indicates that El will stand firm on whatever decision she makes in regards to breaking up with Mike. “The last time” line could be referencing the monologue, maybe, but imo this is referencing their initial fight in S4 that resulted in the pseudo-breakup (“from El”). She was in tears, in “bits.” She was angry and hurt (understandably so) and the fight was pretty explosive. And the S3 breakup was also very dramatic (although it was played for laughs). But the “last time” line could imply that El will be quiet but firm in the S5 when the breakup comes. Damn, I’m gonna be so emotional wrecked in two years…I can’t wait 😛

“Now shut up and let me go/For fear of living in regret/I've changed since from when we first met”

THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING. THIS IS WHAT WE’VE BEEN SAYING! This is the entire warning story (established by Karen Wheeler) against living in regret because you felt forced into a societally acceptable life instead of the one you really wanted. Imo, El doesn’t want to draw anything out past it’s time—especially not now that Max is in a coma and so many things have gone to shit. And YES—she HAS changed in the years since she met Mike, and so has he. This is the definition of “growing out of the romance.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t be friends or that they don’t care about or love each other, but they have grown out of this romance.

“It's me that ought to be moving on/You're not adorable/I want something un-ignorable”

At this point I’m not even going to explain. I mean, look at this! “You’re not adorable;” thinking of when Mike is singing and El cuts him off but when Max is singing El enjoys it…hmm.

2: “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler

So, when I initially looked at these lyrics, I was kind of confused. Not because the lyrics are anything super cryptic, but…a lot of you know this song, right? And you know it’s about wanting a man to be your hero, right?

“I need a hero/I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light/He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon/And he's gotta be larger than life/Larger than life”

And we know that this…could not be less El. She doesn’t need a defender! Yes, she needs her family and friends and her love for them, but she doesn’t need a man. Her whole S3 “there’s more to life than stupid boys” (and literally the rest of the show) has proven to us that although she values and needs the emotional support of her family, she doesn’t need a man or romance to prop her up.

Great, now that we’ve acknowledged that…why in the hell is this song on her playlist?

I have a theory—the basis for which is two lines in two songs.

Song 1 (“Holding Out For a Hero”):

“Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed/Late at night, I toss and I turn/And I dream of what I need”

Song 2 (“White Rabbit”—next song):

“When logic and proportion/Have fallen sloppy dead/And the White Knight is talking backwards/And the Red Queen's off with her head”

BONKERS, people. BANANAS. WHAT exactly does this imply? “White knight” is way to specific a phrase for this to have been a coincidence.

My theory: The fact that they put in a song that seemed so opposite to El’s experiences which included lyrics about a romantic, idealized “white knight” only to follow it up with a song about how said “white knight” is talking backwards and using Alice in Wonderland as a metaphor for how nothing is as it seems??? REALLY suspicious. This leads me to believe that the romantic meaning of “Holding Out For a Hero” is supposed to be inverted. And honestly, it’s not too much of a stretch. I mean, look at the lyrics for “Holding Out For A Hero:”

“Racing on the thunder/And rising with the heat/It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet, yeah”

“I need a hero/I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night/He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast/And he's gotta be fresh from the fight”

Yeah…I think that particular message of the song is supposed to be inverted.

But…there’s something else in this song and in these lyrics—something a bit more ominous. And it gives the “White Knight” thing another meaning: Vecna.

“Up where the mountains meet the heavens above/Out where the lightning splits the sea/I could swear there is someone, somewhere watching me/Through the wind and the chill and the rain/And the storm and the flood”

“I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood”

And the plot thickens.

So, overall, this song being on El’s playlist is…quite interesting. It could have a lot of different meanings—reverting the traditional message of the song while emphasizing the more ominous verses to hint at Vecna’s appearance in S4. All while interweaving lyrical messages with another song that would otherwise be unrelated…man, so cool.

3: “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane

Right, so I’ve already covered the whole “white knight” thing, and that was the main thing that made this song interesting to me, but there’s still other stuff in here that could pertain to El’s life and possibly be foreshadowing…

“One pill makes you larger/And one pill makes you small/And the ones that mother gives you/Don't do anything at all/Go ask Alice/When she's ten feet tall”

A reference to mothers here definitely makes sense if these playlists were supposed to be marketing specifically released before S2. The “ten feet tall line” could be a metaphor for social outcast, which El could definitely resonate with especially in S4. I wonder if the “don’t do anything at all line” could suggest that El was hoping to find a sense of normalcy when she found her mom only to have this not come to be when her mother’s past was revealed (please take this with a grain of salt; I haven’t seen S2 in a couple of months).

“And if you go chasing rabbits/And you know you're going to fall/Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar/Has given you the call/Call Alice/When she was just small”

Again, I know this playlist was for S2 and the last verse suggests that this song specifically was foreshadowing S2 (although there are other songs here that foreshadow S3-4), but…I think this verse could kind of fit with El’s S4 arc. The “chasing rabbits/going to fall” lines could be a metaphor for how El was trying to chase a “superhero vs monster” identity in S4, only to discover that this method of identification was too extreme and does not fit the human experience, especially hers. Even the “hookah-smoking caterpillar” could be referencing Argyle. And a line about Alice being “small” could be a metaphor for how El feels at the beginning of S4.

“When the men on the chessboard/Get up and tell you where to go/And you've just had some kind of mushroom/And your mind is moving low/Go ask Alice/I think she'll know”

This verse was a bit trickier. “Men on the chessboard/tell you where to go” could apply to all seasons, save the ending of S4, especially with the reference to mushrooms (hallucinogenics, probably representative of when El was drugged when she tried to escape from the lab in S4), so I’m thinking this verse could be about the beginning of S4.

“When logic and proportion/Have fallen sloppy dead/And the White Knight is talking backwards/And the Red Queen's off with her head/Remember what the dormouse said/Feed your head/Feed your head”

And this…this…just…whoa.

Lot going on here.

The main ethos of this verse, I think, is “things are not what they seem.” You see that a bit in the seasons that have already been released, but I think we’ll really start to get into it when S5 comes out…things will really start to go off the rails (in a good way, hopefully, not in a this-show-is-a-trainwreck way). Especially since we have the apocalypse now and especially since we have an established villain that fucks with people’s heads. But anyway, that’s my take for the first two lines. Then we have “White Knight” and “Red Queen…” As I said in my analysis of the last song, I think “White Knight” is referencing Mike. Along with the whole “inverting the meaning” thing I covered in the last song, Mike is a Paladin—we can make some leaps there, and other people have pointed this out. Not only does “talking backwards” imply that Mike was lying in that monologue and that he’s been hiding something (or a lot of things), the association with the next like (“Red Queen”) foreshadowing him being targeted to Vecna (who is very clearly associated with the color red). Fortunately, the “off with her head” part implies that Vecna will be defeated one way or another, so at least we have that going for us. And “feed your head?” Interesting…definitely a Vecna reference.

4: “Barracuda” by Heart

By “Heart,” huh?

This song seems to be another song about Brenner, but I just thought it was pretty interesting how Henry is included in the metaphor as well.

“So this ain't the end, I saw you again, today/I had to turn my heart away/Smiled like the sun, kisses for everyone/And tales, it never fails”

This seems to be referencing the reveal that Brenner isn’t dead, meaning El has to face him again. She is more emotionally prepared and mature than she was at twelve, but it still hurts like hell. Come to think of it, this could probably also be referencing El seeing Henry again after thinking she had permanently blasted him out of her life after he betrayed her. Both Henry and Brenner are smooth talkers, using emotional manipulation to trick El into believing their lies (smiling, kisses and fairy tales, as the lyrics say). But this time, El turns away from them.

“You lying so low in the weeds/I bet you gonna ambush me/You'd have me down, down, down, down on my knees/Now wouldn't you, barracuda? Oh”

Pretty much the same as the last verse: Brenner is an emotional predator, ambushing El, hitting her where it hurts. Henry, biding his time in the lab, uses El to get the Soteria chip out of his neck.

“Back over time we were all trying for free/You met the porpoise and me, uh-huh/No right, no wrong you're selling a song, a name/Whisper game”

And this…I think it’s El, to Brenner, about her and Henry. I think the “porpoise” is Henry, and I thinks this and the last verses align pretty closely with what El feels for Henry and Brenner in the fourth season. El is angry with Henry for manipulating her and knows that he means her and her friends genuine harm, but even angrier at Brenner for manipulating them both. She does not think that Henry is a monster—she knows Brenner is. (And I gotta say, I loved how the topic of personal identity and “superhero vs monster” was given a nuanced angle when it comes to El’s arc.)

“And if the real thing don't do the trick/You better make up something quick/You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn to the wick/Ooh, barracuda, oh yeah”

Oh, yeah. Brenner making up lies, eventually burning down to the wick and coming to a dead end…and that’s where El corners him and gets her closure. Queen

“"Sell me, sell you" the porpoise said/Dive down deep now to save my head, you/I think that you got the blues too”

This…is a little tricky. This is an acknowledgment that both El and Henry were the victims of Brenner’s abuse. “Save my head” is quite an interesting line, considering the fact that the way Henry tortures his victims is by reaching into their head and pulling at their worst traumas. And so that “save my head” line…is it for El? Or is it for Henry? And if it’s for Henry, what does that imply?

“All that night and all the next/Swam without looking back/Made for the western pools, silly, silly fools”

I’m not quite sure about this one, though I know there’s a string to pull on. But “western pools” is definitely a reference to California.

5: “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship, No Protection

This song is most definitely about Mike and El, and…not gonna lie, it was a bit of a downer for my Byler-biased self. Check these lyrics:

“Lookin' in your eyes/I see a paradise/This world that I've found is too good to be true/Standin' here beside you/Want so much to give you/This love in my heart that I'm feeling for you”

“Let 'em say we're crazy/I don't care about that/Put your hand in my hand/Baby, don't ever look back/Let the world around us/Just fall apart/Baby, we can make it/If we're heart to heart”

“And we can build this dream together/Standing strong forever/Nothing's gonna stop us now/And if this world runs out of lovers/We'll still have each other/Nothing's gonna stop us/Nothing's gonna stop us now”

“I'm so glad I found you/I'm not gonna lose you/Whatever it takes/I will stay here with you/Take you to the good times/See you through the bad times/Whatever it takes/Is what I'm gonna do”

“Ooh, all that I need is you/All that I ever need/All that I want to do/Is hold you forever/Forever and ever...”

Yeah, so that’s pretty clearly positively romance-coded. And it’s understandable, given where Mike and El were (both in the show and with the fandom) before S2 came out and during. They were very cute and popular during this era—no use denying it.

That being said…there were some lyrics that caught my eye due to narrative discrepancy.

“Let ‘em say we’re crazy”

I get that this is an objectively romantic line that is used for lots of couples, so it’s understandable that it’s used here, especially with the whole “only love makes you that crazy” line from S2. And “crazy” in regards to love is brought up. But…not with Mike and El. Instead, we get “crazy together,” and Jonathon and Nancy’s implied “crazy love.” And in S3, we are specifically given a bit where Mike tries out the “blank makes you crazy” with El and she doesn’t understand. So…I don’t know. This likely wasn’t intentional. But…it’s definitely a noticeable line.

“Let the world around us/Just fall apart/Baby, we can make it/If we're heart to heart”

First of all…bro, the world did fall apart around you. Unintentional foreshadowing much? Could this be foreshadowing what happened at the end of S4? Because if that’s the case, this line is not romantic.

Also…whoa. “Heart to heart?” That’s definitely a phrase that has been prominent for the past two seasons. But, as I’m sure other people have pointed out…does it really make sense when it comes to Mike and El? Have they ever had a clear, honest heart to heart? A talk where both of them are on the same page, understanding each other and coming out feeling closer? When has that happened? The closest I could get was Mike apologizing to El in the grocery store isle in S3–but wait, El not understanding the “blank” in “blank makes you crazy” leads me to believe that they really weren’t on the same page. Maybe when El says “you were talking about your feelings/heart” before she kisses him at the end of S3–hold up, he still had his eyes open during that kiss and looked confused as hell afterwards. So not even that. Maybe the “mouthbreathers” part in S1? People, I’m genuinely trying find stuff. But Lumax, Jopper, Byler, and Jancy have all given us solid heart to hearts, so when I see “heart to heart,” it’s those couples I will think of.

“And we can build this dream together”

The word “dream” being mentioned is certainly noticeable. Not only is there a “dream” motif in El’s playlist (which I am interpreting to be tied to Henry’s curse, El learning to not identify her life though dreams and fairy tales, and the message of “nothing is as it seems”)…but “dream” used in a romantic context can have a bunch of layers. Yes, our most common association is “it’s a dream to be with you,” meaning “being with you is a dream come true.” But…it’s also used in breakups (hopefully mature, amicable ones? *crossed fingers*).

“Ooh, all that I need is you/All that I ever need”

And this…this is blatantly untrue. As we’ve established, El has not needed Mike for a while now—at least since S2, not the way this song is implying. And with S4 focusing so much on “want vs need” and “I love you because I need you vs I need you because I love you,” these lines become that much more noticeable. It’s like “Holding Out For A Hero” in that sense—as MBB says, El is beginning to realize that she is her own hero, not anyone else’s. Whether this take is a stretch or not, you can’t deny that “need” has been a word that has been brought up an inordinate amount in S4–enough for it to become what appears to be an intentional motif. Maybe this song and “Holding Out For A Hero” were meant to be narratively accurate when these playlists were released, but El’s S4 arc is such that these songs are no longer applicable to her character if their being included on this playlist was unironic. If these songs were put on this playlist with the intention of being inverted…well, that’s a different story.

6: “Team” by Lorde

I think for this song, the title is pretty self-explanatory—there’s a lot of stuff here about the party! But there’s also some other interesting stuff…

“Now bring my boys in/Their skin in craters like the moon/The moon we love like a brother, while he glows through the room”

Aww—this is probably referencing the OG party from El’s POV! Cute and wholesome! “Craters like the moon” could be a metaphor for how the OG party has things that set them apart from “conventional society” but that make them beautiful like craters make the moon beautiful. She loves them all like brothers—sweet!

“Dancin' around the lies we tell/Dancin' around big eyes as well/Even the comatose they don't dance and tell”

Whoa okay; big 180 from the last verse. Lies definitely references the whole love triangle thing El’s been involved in. Lies are a HUGE thing—Mike lying to El, El lying to Mike, Will lying to Mike, all of them withholding crucial information…le drama. Big eyes probably reference Vecna. Eyes are a big motif in S4 especially, what with Vecna sucking people’s eyes into their heads, and also Mike covering his eyes in some way each time he and El have a happy moment—which ties back into the love triangle lies line. A mention of a comatose? Damn, they really were foreshadowing S4. And those lies still (depending on how much you want to link Max’s coma to Mike’s monologue) tie in with this line.

“We live in cities you'll never see on screen/Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things/Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams/And you know, we're on each other's team”

And we’re back to the happy! Well, kind of. “Cities” could feasibly be a metaphor for Hawkins. But “palace within my dreams?” Oh boy. First of all, another addition to the “dream” motif—what up! Palace…could this be Castle Byers? In which case this would foreshadow the Wonder Twins? Or could “palace” be a metaphor for a romanticized idea of something, an idea that El has deconstructed to become a more authentic version of herself? If that’s the case, this could be referencing the “superhero vs monster” dilemma from S4. But the last line is definitely about the entire party, if not Will specifically.

“I'm kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air, so there/So all the cups got broke shards beneath our feet but it wasn't my fault/And everyone's competing for a love they won't receive/'Cause what this palace wants is release”

Okay, I love this. The “over getting told to throw my hands up” line—so true! It’s telling us that El is tired of having her powers dictated by other people as a tool or a weapon—and this tracks! The “broke shards” line could be her realizing that the loss at the end of S4 really wasn’t her fault, and that Brenner wasn’t right about the things he said about her. Oh damn…“a love they won’t receive?” Jeez, be more obvious, would ya? El trying so hard to be “good enough” for Mike’s love at the beginning of S4, but over the course of the season realizing she doesn’t need it—or want it. Realizing that he won’t be able to give her the kind of love she wants as a romantic partner. And the “palace” line tying back into the previous verse, which was about the palace being a metaphor for a romanticized idea of something needing to be deconstructed for the person to move on. “The palace wants release…” El wants clairity and reality now more than she wants a “perfect romance…” Damn, this song is really something else.

“I'm kinda older than I was when I revelled without a care/So there”

WHAT A QUEEN. This is so perfect! El IS older and she HAS changed. She’s not the lost girl in the woods that Mike found, nor the curly-haired kid that Hopper cared for. She is becoming her own person. She loves them, but she no longer needs them to take care of her as she once did. She wants them in her life—she just needs them to understand that she is growing and changing. Hopper has acknowledged that and is accepting that. Mike…well. I hope he gets there, I really do.

7: “Kept Me Crying” by HAIM

I know that, with a lot of these “breakup songs,” it is usually kind of hard to tell whether they’re about Henry, Brenner, or Mike. So I try to make my best guess based on the lyrics—but of course you could interpret them in a different way!

However, this song…

This.

This song is so about Mike it’s not even funny. Or rather, it’s super fucking funny how obviously this is about Mike.

“When you sleep, are you dreaming of me?/Who's to say, but I'm always awake/If you want me, I'm waiting for you/If you call me, I'll pick up/Know I shouldn't, but I can't give up as usual”

These lyrics aren’t as obviously about Mike…but we’re just getting warmed up here. Either way, this reflects pretty well El at the beginning of S4.

“Kept me crying for so long, my tears have dried/When I hear your voice, those tears they come back to mind/So don't call me just to tell me/You don't love me anymore/Still it wrecks me 'cause”

NO WHAT?? “You don’t love me anymore??” That’s literally what she said! It’s not just that—it’s the other lyrics that hint that she’s through with Mike’a bullshit! She knows he isn’t loving her the way she wants to be loved! She’s over it! And she’s getting over him! Her “tears have dried!” Queen!

“I've got to cover, I can't pretend/That I'm anything more to you now/Than someone just hard to forget/And after all these tears/After all my years of trying/I don't wanna hear/That nothing meant anything”

Whoaaaa. S5’s gonna be intense. Is this her calling him out for not only lying in the love monologue, but never loving her romantically at all? Damn, El. Give it to him straight (no pun intended).

“I was your lover/I was your friend/I was your lover/I was your friend”

Awww….is this foreshadowing El and Mike becoming good friends in S5 rather than forced romantic partners? If so, cute and wholesome! Also, Mike confusing platonic love for romantic love?

This song is just…wild. So wild that the Duffers put this song on her playlist. Insane for this.

8: “Monster Lead Me Home” by Sara Hartman

I know how a lot of us (me included sometimes) are fairly certain that these playlists were mostly just for funsies and any foreshadowing is mostly about S2–maybe S3. But this song, to me at least, is very clearly foreshadowing S4. It just fits too well.

“Spin around, round, round me/Collide without a sound/Caught up in your gravity/I don't know how/Run away, way, way from me/The spirit only I can see/I need you now 'cause I don't know how”

I personally think this song is about Brenner. But this verse reminds me a lot of what happened with Angela in Rink ‘O Mania. Maybe “monster” is a general descriptor of the people tormenting El (which would focus mainly on Brenner but have little bits of Henry and Angela)? This verse was a bit more open-ended; the next verses more clearly describe Brenner, in my opinion.

“Monster take me somewhere/Where I can save my breath in the air/We walk in shadow/Monster lead me home/Where there is no place to hide/Stranger on the other side/We walk in shadow”

Ooooh…interesting. I think the “take me somewhere” line is referencing the Nina Project—and is that a mention of breath and breathing I see? Most likely foreshadowing El getting strangled by Henry’s vines…I think the rest of this verse foreshadows El getting taken to the Nina Project, back to Brenner, back to a place where she could not hide from her memories anymore, back to a setting that reminds her of Hawkins Lab, where she was forced search for Henry in the “vale of shadows.”

“Now you surround, round, round me/Didn't think I could be found/Before we tear through the streets/Don't test the ground”

El not expecting Brenner to come back, only to be led straight to him, alive and well. El learning that she deserves better than him, that he manipulated her, that he was the monster, and letting her powers loose, ultimately leaving him to die.

“A long way, way, way from comfort/Keep our back to the cold/I need you now 'cause I don't know how/I don't know what, what”

El far from home needing help with her powers, yes, but mostly needing closure before settling into her identity. Brenner was a father figure, but he caused her more harm than good. Maybe she once needed him in a way, but she no longer does.

9: “Hero” by Lissie

Damn damn DAMN.

This song was fun.

“Who knows what you'll find when you look inside?/Haunted beach, roll the dice/The zombies in the corner aren't amused”

I’m thinking this could loosely be applied to S3, when El went into Billy’s mindscape. After all, “zombies” (the flayed) and “haunted beaches” are mentioned, so my mind went there. A little precursor to El’s S4 journey; her internal struggle with “hero vs monster.”

“Play the part of the blushing bride/Tame the horse and take it for a ride/This thread of consolation comes loose”

“Play the part?” Damn, okay, Milkdud bones. But other than that, I think this is referencing the beginning of S4, where El is trying so hard to fulfill the role she thinks will make her happy (pretending to Mike that everything is great in Lenora), but as the lyrics say, the “thread of consolidation comes loose”—the whole act starts to unravel.

“I could've been a hero, I could've been a zero/Could've been all these things/I could've been nothing, I could've been bluffing/Could've been all these things/And if I am unable, tell him that I'll try/But underneath the table/I will spin the wheel and hope for gold”

Again, showcasing El’s internal struggle with the whole “superhero vs monster” dilemma.

“I've seen the road and I've seen it hide/Out of view, cloaked by night/I want my forty acres in the sun”

Up to this point, El’s road has been hard and painful. She doesn’t want to have to be the superhero anymore (apart from being “her own superhero,” as MBB says). She just wants to rest, to have her “fourth acres in the sun.” Kind of reminds me of that line from Team: “I’m kind of over getting told to put my hands up in the air/so there.”

“Bitter winds come in from the north/My spirit dims, but I feel the force/"No longer in my hands, " I say to you”

This one’s a bit trickier. I can’t figure out for sure what this may mean, but I’m getting the feeling that the “bitter winds” are the events of S5 still to come, the preparation for the biggest battle yet. Also, “feel the force?” Just solidifying the El=Luke parallel.

10: “The Story” Brandi Carlile

I can definitely see this song being foreshadowing for a sort of bittersweet end of S5.

“All of these lines across my face/Tell you the story of who I am/So many stories of where I've been/And how I got to where I am/But these stories don't mean anything/When you've got no one to tell them to/It's true, I was made for you”

Awww, this is so sweet. It’s giving the sense that El’s journey is coming to a close, and she’s really settling into who she is as a person. I love her so much! I think the “made for you” part is a blanket statement about the people she loves, maybe specifically Max. Even if Mike and El do stay together next season (which I highly highly doubt), El’s journey thus far has been so much more than romance, especially with what we’ve been shown in S4. In my opinion, this song is about the people she loves—all of them.

“I climbed across the mountain tops/Swam all across the ocean blue/I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules/But baby, I broke them all for you/Oh, because even when I was flat broke/You made me feel like a million bucks/You do, and I was made for you”

What I said for the last verse applies to this one to, I think. And “made me feel like a million bucks” could definitely apply to Max! When El is feeling lost and insecure in S3, she goes to Max and Max helps cheer her up and makes her feel better. And “I broke all the rules/but baby, I broke them all for you?” “We make our own rules?” Definitely Max. So SWEET!

“You see the smile that's on my mouth/It's hiding the words that don't come out/And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed/They don't know my head is a mess/No, they don't know who I really am/And they don't know what I've been through like you do/And I was made for you”

The way I see it, Max and Will are the only members of the party to not initially see El as a weapon or a tool. Max encourages El to use her powers for fun things (although spying maybe wasn’t the best call) and shows her Wonder Woman comics to make her feel empowered. Will has gotten to know El as a person without powers and his sister, and jokes about committing fraud in Vegas with her powers. So many people have been treating El like a “superhero,” but it’s really Will and Max (and of course her family but Will and Max specifically) who have been lifting her up in the way she needs.

11: “Jolene” by Dolly Parton

Okay, I know that most of you know this song. You are familiar with what Dolly’s trying to say here:

“Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/I'm begging of you please don't take my man/Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/Please don't take him just because you can”

“Your beauty is beyond compare/With flaming locks of auburn hair/With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green/Your smile is like a breath of spring/Your voice is soft like summer rain/And I cannot compete with you/Jolene”

“He talks about you in his sleep/And there's nothing I can do to keep/From crying when he calls your name/Jolene”

“And I can easily understand/How you could easily take my man/But you don't know what he means to me/Jolene”

“You could have your choice of men/But I could never love again/He's the only one for me/Jolene”

“I had to have this talk with you/My happiness depends on you/And whatever you decide to do/Jolene”

But here’s the thing: This song might not be as clear-cut as once thought. Bylers will say Jolene is Will. Milkduds (and some members of the ga) will insist this is about Max. Or…this could be about Vecna (I’ll explain)…

Let me rule out the Max theory real quick: If Jolene is supposed to be Max, then why is it the last song on El’s playlist? There are so many songs depicting the positivity of El and Max’s friendship on this playlist before Jolene (such as Buzzcut Season and The Story), so why finish off the playlist with a song about romantic competition? Especially since it is now clear to El that Max is interested in Lucas over Mike. And that tiny bit of jealousy and competitive feelings towards Max that El had in the second season were just that: tiny. Definitely not a big enough plot point to put on the playlist.

So there are the two most likely options. This song has romantic implications, so many people will say it’s about Will—and I think that’s a pretty solid interpretation. With this, lines like “your voice is soft like summer rain” (rain fight) stand out. So yes, this could be about El realizing that Mike has romantic feelings for Will and her grappling with that realization—maybe having a conversation with Will about it. And if we’re running with the theory that Mike is getting Vecna’d (which I think is pretty likely), then the lines “he talks about you in his sleep” (Mike reaching out to Will while getting Vecna’d) stand out to me as well.

But…what if we considered the fact that Jolene may be Vecna? Obviously not with the romantic lens, because ew. But if Mike is the “man” in the song Dolly is talking about, that would mean that El is super distraught that Mike might be taken from her—even though the story is hinting more that she will be the one to break up with him. So what if we consider that Mike is being “taken away” from El by Vecna? Even if it’s not romantic, Mike being about to be killed by Vecna would be a pretty understandable reason for El to be upset and bargaining with “Jolene.” And what if we consider the possibility that Vecna uses a Will illusion to trick Mike into falling into a trap? That might explain the “your smile is like a breath of spring” line—Vecna attempts to sway Mike with something that he wants, but El sees the truth. Anyway, just spitballing with this.

Anyway…that’s it! That’s my analysis of El’s playlist! Like I said before, this is all in good fun. Even though I like some of my theories and believe that there is a possibility they might happen, they are just that: theories! So please take them with a grain of salt. I hope you had as much fun as I did!

With love,

digestionsack

#byler #el hopper #platonic elmike

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signalwatch · 2 years

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90's Watch: Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead (1991)

Watched: 02/09/2023

Format: HBOmax

Viewing: First

Director: Stephen Herek

Sometimes a movie goes off the rails so fast and so hard, feels cynically produced on top of that, that it's hard not to just get mad, fold your arms and complain til the credits roll. For the past 32 years, I'd successfully not seen Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), which came out when I was 16 and was working through my Gen-X feelings of rejecting things I felt were marketed at me - but specifically at a very dumb version of me the people selling me stuff mostly took to be an idiot.

In 1991, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead was *heavily* sold at teen audiences with ads on MTV and elsewhere running seemingly non-stop. Certainly I saw trailers before other movies. And you always knew: if the movie looks like this, and they're advertising it this hard, it's because it sucks and they need to get people in before word spreads.

There was a long tail of 1980's-style comedy into the 1990's, enough so that it probably deserves its own niche, but this movie feels like a 1987 release more than something that would hit at the same time as Home Alone.

The pitch is this:

Kids are left at home for two months under the care of a mean old lady. She dies in the first ten minutes, and the kids dispose of her and accidentally the money they were to survive on. For reasons, they do not want Mom to know (and Dad has some mysterious shadiness about him that is never teased out).

Instead of BOTH teens getting jobs so they can survive, only one does (Applegate). She works for a day at Clowndog (which looks like a very bad job, but a very fun place to eat), and then lies her way into a job at a fashion/ uniform company as an executive assistant. And never worries about getting caught. Even as she steals from the petty cash.

Kids learn life lessons. Romance is found. The ending makes zero sense.

You can blame the director for this, but Stephen Herek directed a number of watchable films, from Critters to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure to some big-budget, successful, live-action Disney films. In short - I think he knows what he's doing, or especially did in the 1990's. But if he also shot what was on the page for this movie, then... you know, these writers more or less don't have a track record after this movie that I'd write home about.

Curiously, this entire family lacks scruples while also having a complete lack of charm or any redeeming qualities. Movie: this stuff is important if you want people to care about the ending. Counting on the audience being dumb kids only sells so many tickets. At least try to make us care whether the children live or die. I mean, we've already shown a curious callousness to life and death once in the movie. What's one or two kids less? But the kids all get one character goal and spend the duration whining about whatever their thing is. There's no love or even hate between them. They merely co-exist in space.

Despite a really solid title that promises a dark comedy full of hijinks, we get a pretty basic "fakin' it til you're makin' it" comedy made popular in the 80's with Working Girl and The Secret of My Success welded onto a teen summer romp about being a dipshit. And, despite the fact it looks like a comedy, there's almost nothing present to illicit actual laughter. I laughed audibly exactly once, at a supporting character's choice to clutch a jar of M&M's as a coping mechanism.

The set ups of the film intended to provide our hero with challenges all seem to point to: this girl is going to jail. And she is going to jail because she's an idiot and everyone else in her family is an asshole, from youngest kid to absentee, lying mom who has skipped the continent to go bang a shepherd.

What's odd about the "makin' it" business aspect is that she... doesn't? She hands all of her work to Kimmy Robertson, and her solution for saving the company is to turn their industrial uniforms into highly 1980's-specific and impractical designs that seem like they'd just bring more shame on the workers than a smock or a golf shirt.*

Either one of these movies might have been fun on their own, but together...

It feels like no one sat down with the script and said "does this make sense?" Like - ok, I'll buy the shitty mom also didn't tell the kids who she was hiring to babysit them for two months. I'm not sure how this old bag was qualified or why she thought making the kids miserable was not going to get back to the mom. Ignore all that. Babysitter is dead within 10 minutes.

But I also don't get what the kids thought was going to happen when they had to explain to their mom they threw away a corpse. Like - that woman presumably had friends and maybe people who loved her... The movie could have set it up so that wasn't true, but it didn't. They just throw her away. (Apparently Bad Mom also left 2 months worth of cash? Jesus, lady.).

But it also does weird little things like - they give the kids two cars, but then one is stolen partway through the movie (by drag queens. And that plot point never, ever returns... when it so easily could have). Like... why? Why one car? It makes whole chunks of the movie not make sense. Like - did they call an ambulance to the farm? Did they get a ride?

Look, I could spend an hour naming Things In Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead That Could Have Easily Not Happened And/ Or Been Fixed. I will spare you. When other people think that's criticism, I find it both dubious and annoying. I mean, I am 100% right about all my thoughts on this, but I doubt I will sway anyone who loves the movie for any reason. Shine on, you crazy diamonds.

But, jesus. This is the laziest @#$%ing movie.

It also costars Joanna Cassidy, who I know mostly from Blade Runner, and who is clearly in a wig here but allowed to be over 40 and hot, which is shocking for the period. And it has John Getz, who was the main guy in Blood Simple, here being horny at Christina Applegate. Josh Charles plays Applegate's paramour and he's... fine. David Duchovny is there to show you what happens when no one knows what to do with you as an actor. I think the secretary/ Josh Charles' sister played Admiral Cornwell on Star Trek: Discovery.

The movie is wisely anchored by Applegate, who was most famous at this point as Kelly from Married... With Children and seemed ready for bigger things. If the movie is watchable, it's that Applegate is watchable and likable, and not playing a broad, dumb character. Her scenes with Joanna Cassidy and John Getz suggest a better movie that doesn't exist when they aren't on the screen. But it's hard to sell to boys wanting to see Applegate a movie when she's on TV every week, and I don't think the movie did a great job of marketing the Makin' It portions of the film. Applegate's career is worthy of discussion because she's proven multiple times she's hilarious, but she has to be the straight man here to literally everyone.

Who knows what happened from script to production to the editor's block?. Anything could have. And probably did.

I will possibly try this movie again in another 32 years to reconsider.

*I say this as someone who worked back-to-back at Chuck E. Cheese and The Disney Store

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from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/yuMK0Xo

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light-end-dragon · 2 months

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Chapter 5

(Infirmary)

Mika: Zzz…..zzz……

Makoto: ?? He just randomly started snoring….?! I thought he woke up, but I don’t know any reason why he’d want to fake sleeping.

Yuuta: It’s a little bit contrived, though. Is he really asleep?

Mika: (Aah, it ain’t no use! They’re already on t’ me. Should I stop breathin’?)

Mika: (Wait, but I’d die if I stop breathin’! I can’t be dyin’ like this!!)

Mika: (I’m lookin’ forward to Valkyrie’s complete resurrection-and I can’t just be kickin’ the bucket before we make that dream come true. Valkyrie’s the strongest…!)

Makoto: N-now his limbs are starting to shake?! The infirmary’s air conditioning is working, so it can’t be because of the heat.

Makoto: Or maybe…now it’s too cold? Kagehira-kun, do you want me to get a blanket for you?

Mika: (I c-can’t reply like this! They’ll know I’m fakin’......Calm your mind, calm your mind….)

Mika: Zzz…..zzz…….

Makoto: (No…I’m pretty sure he’s awake, but I guess he just doesn’t want to talk to me? He looks really nervous…)

Nazuna: How’s Mika-chi…I mean, how is Kagehira doing? I’m sorry to keep you both waiting!

Makoto: Oh-Nito-senpai! Were you able to buy him something to eat?

Nazuna: Yeah, I have a sports drink, ice cream, candy, and some stuff….anything I thought he’d like.

Nazuna: Oh, right-and they were holding a sort of lottery that you could draw from if you bought enough, and I got this ticket for a free ice cream, any price!♪

Yuuta: Wow, that’s pretty amazing-you really cashed out on the luck today.

Nazuna: Yeah, it really feels like it. Anyway, is Sagami-sensei not here?

Makoto: Not as far as we’ve been here. I would’ve thought he’d have come back soon since he didn’t leave a note, but where would he even go to take this long?

Nazuna: Ugh, if he were here, I could’ve left this with him. Why is the time he’s not here the exact time I really need him to be?? Now I’m in trouble.

Yuuta: Um…I’m very sorry, but I realized the warning bell is about to ring and I need to return to class. I’m still rather worried about him, but I feel a lot better about leaving him to rest in the infirmary….

Nazuna: No, go back, go back! You’ve helped more than enough-thank you! And don’t worry, I’ll figure something out from here.

Yuuta: Okay, then please excuse me-thank you!

Mika: (This voice…that’s Nazuna-nii? There ain’t no mistakin’ it-its Nazuna-nii!)

Mika: (That…that means that nice person talkin’ to me jus’ now knows him!)

Mika: (If I’d a’known that, I’d not faked that I was sleepin’!!)

Mika: (Him soundin’ worried’s gotta be a trap too.)

Mika: (Right when I start trustin’ him, he’ll stab me in th’ back-I ain’t gonna let’em pull the wool over my eyes!)

Mika: (Gotta make a break for it when I can. Don’t got no strength left ‘cause I ain’t eaten, but I can’t just wait here. Who knows what he’ll do t’me!!)

Mika: (Oohhh, if I’d a’known it’d be like this, I’d’ve eaten lunch…)

Mika: (It’s the price I gotta pay for savin’ money, though. I gotta save for Valkyrie’s funds.)

Mika: (At least if I’d taken some candy, I’d’ve somethin’ to eat….nnn, wait, didn’t I put one in my pocket? Mmm~....mmm~.....)

Mika: (There-I jus’ felt it with my fingertip! Jus’ goin’ by the shape, but that’s definitely candy! Heaven’s lookin’ out fer me t’day~ehehe ♪)

Mika: (Mmm…the candy’s plumb stuck t’ the wrapper!! Did it melt in all this heat?!)

Mika: (I wonder if I can jus’ rip it off if I put my back into it…might well give it a shot.)

Mika: Nnn….hck…..naaaa?!

Nazuna: Aaah-what was that?! W-what’s this on my face-quick, quick-Mako-chin, get it off!!

Makoto: Nito-senpai, please calm down! It’s just a piece of candy, though it seems like it got stuck to your face…..there’s a bathroom nearby; you should go use that to wash it all off.

Makoto: It’ll get all sticky if you use your hands.

Nazuna: Y-yeah. I’m sorry, can I leave the rest to you and Anzu for now? I’m gonna come right back, so please just keep an eye on how Kagehira is doing.

Mika: (...Anzu? Anzu-chan came here with Nazuna-nii??)

Mika: (Nnnrrgh….that means she ain’t a friend either! I’m still gonna be surrounded by enemies..!)

Mika: (But I wasn’t expectin’ my candy t’ land on Nazuna-nii’s face like that. He-he might be an enemy, but I’ve gone and done a terrible thing to him….)

Mika: (No! Because of him, Valkyrie…t-that’s only fittin’ for someone who betrayed Oshi-san. So I ain’t gonna be sorry!!)

Makoto: Um, Kagehira-kun? How much do you remember? We found you passed out in the hallway and brought you here. Are you…um, thirsty?

Makoto: I uh, got something here for you to drink…..You seem pretty hungry too. Do you…want some candy to eat?

Mika: ….D-don’t want none a’ that. Oshi-san’ll be right cross with me if I take stuff from other people.

Makoto: Oshi…san? Are you talking about that person I see you around with? If I’m not mistaken, Kagehira-kun, you’re a member of Valkyrie, right?

Mika: H-how d’ya know that?? You look all mild t’ throw people off that you’re a spy??

Makoto: N-no, no, you got it all wrong! I’m just really good with technology and smartphones, and I collect my own sort of database from the info I get at the academy.

Makoto: It’s more like a hobby, I guess? That’s really the only reason I know you’re a member of Valkyrie.

Mika: Oh, that’s why? Now I feel real bad for misunderstandin’ ya….

Makoto: Ahaha, don’t worry about it. I did hear you muttering about candy though, in your sleep. Do you like sweet things, Kagehira-kun?

Mika: Eheh, I really love ‘em. I get real happy when I taste sweet stuff like that…♪ An’ I can get ‘em right cheap too.

Mika: It’s jus’ ‘bout 200 yen for a whole bag. It’s been my lifeline….♪

Makoto: I-I see….That is a pretty strict way of living ... Though I’d love for you to eat something proper; I think you’ll feel even better, then.

Makoto: See? Anzu-chan’s agreeing with me.

Mika: (Noo, I can’t do this! He’s friends with Nazuna-nii, and all close to Anzu-chan too…he has t’ be an enemy.)

Mika: (But he don’t seem like he’s lyin’ about his concern? Maybe he really is a good person…..)

Mika: (But then how does he know Anzu-chan? I gotta ask what unit he’s with…..)

#scout story: frozen ice

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screampied · 4 months

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✩ here’s the second masterlist! — this features published works from early may ‘24 up to now. 18+ only. for my old works, here’s the first masterlist.

ೀ⋆ MULTI HEADCANONS.

don’t be shy hit it raw.

cartwheel on the dick.

you say it’s big but you take it.

runnin from it.

fakin' it for you.

slow it down make it bouncy.

she wanna go viral.

she’s a very kinky girl.

call me by your name.

match my freak.

hit it like it’s all mine.

all on my tongue i want it.

hit or miss.

you get me so soaked.

big ‘ole freak.

this ain’t fiction, baby! (it kinda is..)

sweetest (cream)pie.

checked the rack.

i can make that p*ssy rain often.

c*m right on me, i mean camaraderie.

ೀ⋆ ONESHOTS/FICS.

💭 SATORU GOJO.

candy boy: who would have thought that the #1 camboy in your city was no one other than your virgin roommate gojo, who’s totally putting on a show for his fangirls. he talks too much, but maybe you can shut his mouth and put his sweetened little fantasies to reality.

government hooker: what happens when you’re the popstar too? even better question: what happens when you show up to a show with no panties thanks to your band mates gojo and geto?

hell on heels: it's your third day on the job as a flight attendant. you work around a lot of snobby rich elites, but a particular one catches your eye. a particular one who tips you $300 dollars in cash and wants way more than just your uninvited attention.

if i was a rich girl: not only do you get your panties back but you get a handsome, suave sugar daddy as a gift. gojo takes you out on a date but the lavish, exquisite food isn’t what he’s exactly hungry for. hint: it’s between your legs. oh, and you.

hollaback girl: you wanna be his favorite girl—but you also wanna be his favorite brat. satoru’s caught off guard when you decide to play with him while he’s in a meeting. not only do you make him pissed but you make him whine.

bubble pop electric: it’s your birthday and your sugar daddy takes you on a spree to the mall. perhaps buying a new set of panties with his initials engraved on it to tease him wasn’t the brightest idea. get in loser, you’re going shopping.

bon appétit: stupid ovulation week is approaching soon and out of nowhere, you get baby fever. you ask your sugar daddy for help but his version of ‘help’ is trying to get you pregnant.

💭 FUSHIGURO TOJI.

ghostin: it's midnight and you're bored. bored and horny. everyone knows ghosts aren't real, or are they? you end up summoning a ghost and he's not leaving anytime soon, in fact, he wants to give you a taste of your own medicine for disrupting his slumber. you get a taste, alright.

ridin' dirty: you never realized how hot your local mechanic was until he had you arched and bent over your hood. spoiler fucking alert, you end up getting a different kind of pipe that’s of course free of charge just for you.

mama i’m in love with two criminals: you had one job. interrogate two felonious criminals, not screw them both. but it’s a friday night and what happens in the interrogation room stays in the interrogation room, right? wrong.

finish inside her: what the hell is a full nelson? no worries, luckily underground boxer toji shows you a hands-on demonstration. although, you want choso to try it with you too. not only are you a slut visual learner, but you also think you can take them both - not in a fight though.

never wanna lose me: for the hell of it, you let your roommate toji hit just once and he’s never been the same. what starts as a usual lazy smoke sesh turns into him wanting more than just to get high—he wants you.

bed chem: being sandwiched between two of your co-stars during a séx scene sounds like a fever dream. the real fever dream is finding out who you have better bed chemistry with. the sweet blond who always talks you through it or the smug dark haired one who’s constantly stealing your panties.

pheromoaned: after three long years in the slammer, toji returns home to you—his pretty sweet fiancé. to surprise him, you decided to spray on your new expensive pheromone perfume. was it the best idea? probably not. you wanted to tease him, not make him feral.

💭 NANAMIN KENTO.

i just wanna hear you s(c)cream: what’s your favorite scary movie? is it carrie? psycho? or maybe nightmare on elm street? perhaps picking up the phone was a bad idea, but you don’t scare easily! or do you?

million dolla baby: nanami gets dragged to a nearby strip club by his colleague gojo. he insists it’ll help him stop being so pent up and tense from work. there, he meets you—and for some reason, he just can’t keep his hands off your body. perhaps nanami wanted a bit more than just a dance though.

💭 CHOSO KAMO.

💭 SUKUNA RYŌMEN.

save a horse milk a demon: who would’ve known the king of curses can lactate? not you and certainly not him. this is dire, he needs help but more importantly - he needs you.

💭 SUGURU GETO.

i just wanna hear you s(c)ream: what’s your favorite scary movie? is it carrie? psycho? or maybe nightmare on elm street? perhaps picking up the phone was a bad idea, but you don’t scare easily! or do you?

government hooker: what happens when you’re the popstar too? even better question: what happens when you show up to a show with no panties thanks to your band mates gojo and geto?

#oohmami: cuban link, diamond cross—you’re a big fan of suguru geto, the top street racer in tokyo. he doesn’t wanna win any more races, he wants to win you this time. keep at it and he might have to fuck you on the highway.

ೀ⋆ THIRSTS.

💭 SATORU GOJO.

easy access.

want a taste.

he’s confident.

spoiled.

💭 FUSHIGURO TOJI.

good boy.

baby makin.

marry the p*ssy.

one bite.

firefighter!toji

ride it good.

💭 NANAMIN KENTO.

take a seat.

patience.

caught in the act.

marry me again.

get it wet for me.

marry me.

slipped out.

little kinky.

teach me.

💭 CHOSO KAMO.

full nelson.

sensitive.

so big.

p whipped.

💭 SUKUNA RYŌMEN.

baby makin.

king of whining.

messy eater.

more than two.

let them know.

touch me.

on that throne.

💭 SUGURU GETO.

keep quiet.

big girl.

💭 SHOKO IEIRI.

bumpy ride.

#★vegaslists.

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dndfuckhouse · 4 years

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Session 30 - Things are Looking Up (Fuck You Rickert)

youtube

> 🎵 Bridge to London / Vampyr OST.

We pick up again with the party separated into their two groups, exploring the underground for signs of Cole and Ezra. Han and Finn make their way back to the group’s assigned meeting place at Renny’s having lost their pursuers while Keva waits ahead of them anxiously. The three think over the roving hooded group they spotted, wondering why they seem to be guarding the Western Scaffolds in the meantime.

While the three were searching about, the other team find their way to a bar by the name of the Cracked Skull, with some directions from Nickel. After making up a reason to drag Henrick away for a chat the group find themselves taking part in a card game with Rickert in exchange for information, 350 gold if they lose or for free if they win.

The group shuffle themselves off to the other end of the bar to discuss cheating tactics, Ghester making another guest appearance to the others. At the same time so he’s not left awkwardly standing at the table with Rickert, Rokka shuffles off to awkwardly get the drinks he promised.

Chip: the cost for the ales is 32 copper, 4 copper per mug Rokka: he shuffles through his coins and see that he's short on copper "darn..." he pulls out 2 gold pieces instead "HERE TAKE THIS INSTEAD! THANK YOU BYE!" he grabs all the drink and Very Slowly walks back to Rickerts table Chip: you dont get too good a grip on all of them and end up dropping one full mug on the floor Rokka: He freezes in his steps and yells with his head tilted upwards "AHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo.... 😩 there goes my drink......." he sulks his way back to the table and hands everyone their drinks "here you go...." Rickert: in front of you he gives a hoot “well henrick this friend a yours is more hospitable than I thought” Henrick: he responds with a cough “ah-yup, always been a….good guy that one” Rokka: gives a thumbs up at henrick and rickert 😬👍

As Rokka attempts some sort of distraction the other three confer over their cheating plan, Psalm using Ghester to spy on Henrick’s cards while invisible Plum will tell Cimmorro what Rickert’s cards are by tracing the number into his hand.

Psalm: what if i said smn like "psalm repeats the plan" Cimmorro: [40 minutes later of psalm repeating the plan] Plum: "we should probably make sure that they're not watching us" Han: everyone turns around at the same time to look at rickert Psalm: you know when you're like "don't look now but" and then the person looks

Enacting their plan they hide Plum in the corner as they become invisible with Psalm’s help. Soon after the group meander their way back to rickert’s table with their plan set, as they do he gives them all a lazy once over.

Rickert: “oh back already, thought you’d run off with your tail between your legs?” he snorts Cimmorro: taking a seat cimm snorts back, "and miss the opportunity to spend time with a handsome guy like you? not a chance. let's play" Plum: are you sure marriage isnt the end goal here? Chip: jez if i was drinking something i would have spit take

Rickert: he lets out a cackle “right right, sit your asses down then” he quickly pulls out a deck of cards and begins shuffling it "you and tall boy here are playing issat it?" Psalm: in his head like... am i tall???? when han exists?? "Yes, tall boy here is playing." psalm says as he sits down Rickert: he eyes you “hmmm righto, just in case your brains are both full’a cotton I’ll go over the rules again for you big man” Plum: rickert seems to be invested in psalm's physical size Chip: why do u phrase things like this Plum: WHY ELSE CHIP

Plum: you should have named ghester remy Psalm: SHOULD I? SHOULD I HAVE? Cimmorro: you know it works since u keep saying psalm is french, hence he’s linguini Plum: you know how ghester is like a cloud of smoke, just start having him be like the nebulous shape of a rat

Rickert soon spouts off the rules for King’s Gambit for a few minutes until he’s satisfied the party understand. Pleased, he leans back in the booth taking a sip of his newly gifted ale before continuing.

Rickert: “and if I catch any of ya’s tryin’ anything funny the bets off, only one thing I hate more than being lied to that’s gettin' cheated, and I’m sure from experience you know how serious I am bout’ these things” he lets out a cackle Henrick: next to him you see henrick sigh “guess I’ll be the second player for us then” Rickert: he snorts “yeah you’re shit at cards, but not like either of these two chumps are any better” he says while elbowing one of the other two goonies, he squints around at your group gain before speaking "where'd your fourth skitter off to boys?" Plum: he remembers us 😳 Cimmorro: living in his head rent free

Psalm: just shrugs, "Seems they've disappeared somewhere. Our group is split at the moment so we'd need someone to tell the others we'll be running late." Plum: plum like ‘?’ right now and then like ‘oh’ Rickert: he idly taps the table for a moment before snorting "right. well lets get started shall we" and he hands the deck to one of his goonies "start dealing" they quickly get to work

The group begin playing the game in earnest, starting on the first round of cards, calling and raising the bet in turn.

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> 🎵 Marked for Death / Assassin’s Creed IV OST

Cimmorro: ok ill raise it to 10... Rickert: he raises a brow at you but says nothing Cimmorro: i wink at him Rickert: he rolls his eye Han: cimm flirting with rickert like its gonna give him any kinda edge is making my whole week rn Cimmorro: THIS IS HOW HE COPES SSKLJF

Chip: rickert is across from cimm, henrick across from psalm Cimmorro: damn kyaa double date Plum: i hate that this is a double date

The round continues, Plum manages to get glances at Rickert’s hand successfully the whole time, feeding the information to Cimmorro, while Ghester gets a good look into Henrick’s. The party end up winning the first round with Psalm on top, taking in 250 chips.

Rickert: he clicks his tongue angrily Psalm: psalm just smiles at him Cimmorro: cimm breathes out a really long sigh of relief Rokka: rokka looking like [pog] Plum: ryuji_losers!_mp3

Plum: what is this jojo part 4 right now Psalm: set the bar on fire Plum: YO IF HE FINDS OUT WERE CHEATING THE BAR ON FIRE FR ENUH

The group continue into the second round, calling and raising in turn while they attempt to prolong their cheating efforts with Plum and Ghester.

Plum: 23 natural 20 oh my god Cimmorro: LETS FUCKING GOOO PLUM SUCK HIS DICK WHILE YOURE AT IT Chip: HE'LL NEVER KNOW IT WAS YOU

After a few turns of raising (and an increasingly confused cimmorro) Plum attempts another peek at Rickert’s hand. Though as they get close to him this time they see him twitch and an eye rove towards their general direction.

Immediately after the party see, in a split second, a dagger come careening down into the table (right in front of plum’s face) stabbing into the wood with a crack. His hand keeping a firm grip on it hilt while Henrick jolts next to him, they see Rickert turn his head slowly around the booth as if looking for something before giving a glare at the two across from him.

Rickert: “now boys im gonna be nice an amicable and say im just feeling a little antsy, but ya' wouldn't happen to be pulling something over me right now?” slowly he gives you a sharp grin Psalm: "You really think we'd do that after seeing firsthand what you do to people that try to cheat you?" Rickert: he tilts his head holding the grin "believe me, there have been plenty of people stupid enough to try buddy" he pulls the dagger out of the table, flipping it round and back onto his belt “let’s keep it moving then shall we gents? better hope i dont feel nothing funny again” he turns his attention back to the game Henrick: he sighs next to him relieved Psalm: he just shrugs "Maybe, but I'd like to think I'm not thaaat stupid." Ghester: you hear him laugh in your head at that Cimmorro: cimm takes another chug at his drink and goes "okay soo, can we play now?" CIMM WANTING TO SIGNAL TO PLUM TO STOP BUT DOESNT KNOW HOW Plum: PLUM WONDERING HOW TO TELL CIMM SOMETHING SIMILAR

Plum: imagine if cimm attempted to cast guidance on plum for the stealth roll you just see shit lighting up outta nowhere Han: ;KH;LKHAKHLSDLFAWREFD Cimmorro: just havin a little giggle here mate

The group continue playing until the end of the second round, revealing their hands Rickert takes the pot for his team this time, a total of 520 chips, putting them ahead of the party heading into the last round.

Cimmorro: cimm is just " 😥 " at psalm rn Psalm: just pats his shoulder like "eh you were close" Cimmorro: [inaudible grumbling] "i expect at least a dinner date after you take my money from me when this is all over" at this point his mug is empty Rickert: he snorts "maybe if you ask nicely" Cimmorro: cimm snorts back

The group continue on into the third and final round, despite the previous mess-up Plum decides to peek once again at Rickert’s hand, though it ends up backfiring on them. As they move closer to get a look at his cards again Rickert twitches his eye back in their direction and grins, in a second he whips his hand out in Plum’s direction and grabs their invisible head by the hair.

Chip:

Cimmorro: it's ok plum u die with dick huge honor Celebrity Guest Aqua: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBmjUoB5OPo Psalm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoFSfas_tco

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> 🎵 Take What Is Ours! / Assassin’s Creed IV OST

Rickert: “ahhh-! now what’s this? tangible air?” he turns his head back in the direction of you two in front of him “you’ve got 10 seconds to explain boys” Psalm: just stares at what RIckert is looking at like "Oh Plum, you're back already?" Plum: "Yeah, the others said to hurry it up." i wonder if rickert can feel plum withering away Psalm: "Oh, alright, I trust you made it around the place without running into any guards?" Cimmorro: "the crowd wasn't that hard for you to get past, was it?" Plum: "well yeah, it was fine. duh" Rokka: rokka rn

Psalm lying through his teeth against all odds somehow manages to convince Rickert, glaring at them all for a long while before releasing Plum from his grasp. He stares at the group for a few moments before speaking up again

Rickert: "id prefer it if all the friends 'round the table here made themselves visible before sidling up into my personal space" he turns his back at the rest of you smiling Psalm: "We'll keep that in mind if ever we do this again” Rickert: “real smartass aren't you” Cimmorro: "still skeptical? i don't know why you think we're cheating on you when you just won... what? 520 chips? ....if anything i'm wondering if you're the one cheating" sighing "i like to think we have a good connection here" Rickert: he turns to you and barks a long laugh "if you've got any proof feel free big boy, im a man of principles here, wouldn't do good if i went 'gainst my own rules" Plum: "how about i just sit next to them so you know im here, i kinda like being invisible..." Rickert: he clicks his tongue at Plum "i aint playing if i cant see 'ya" Plum: ">:(" Psalm: "Boss' orders, sorry."

Psalm drops the invisibility spell, causing Plum to apperate before everyone once more in full view.

Rickert: he smirks seeing plum appear "appreciate it, now-" and he elbows henrick "pay attention dumbass" Henrick: he jumps slightly in response "yeah yeah..." Cimmorro: "my apologies then. [snickers] i clearly don't know that much about you. but i'm sure that dinner would serve well for getting to know each other. now, let's play?" Rickert: he raises a brow at you "really going on about that dinner thing huh?"

Celebrity Guest Aqua: cimm incapable of not hitting on anyone Keva: flirting to cope, yknow like how people laugh when they're nervous, that but flirting Han: yes exactly jasdf Psalm: it's actually fucking killing me jez like WHAT ABOUT THIS SITUATION Cimmorro: JUST LITTLE CIMMORRO THINGS

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> 🎵 Marked for Death / Assassin’s Creed IV OST

Rickert shuttles them off into the final round, calling and raising one by one. Cimmorro folds early clearly dissatisfied, Rickert also folds soon after, making it a battle between Henrick and Psalm for the rest of the round. The two stay engrossed in the game for the next few minutes while the nervous energy around them builds. Though in the end when the cards are revealed Psalm ends up winning 650 chips for the party’s team, as well as the entire game.

Chip:

Henrick: he sighs and sags his head over the table while rickert punches him in the shoulder disgruntled Rickert: "are ya useful for anything you deadbeat" Plum: "good job" plum says and looks genuinely surprised at you two Rokka: "Great work guys!!!!" Psalm: "Well it was close, honestly had me worried there." Henrick: henrick rubs at his face "...think thats the best i've ever played frankly" Rickert: next to him rickert rolls his eye and leans back in the booth chugging his drink

Cimmorro: [has been shaking psalm back and forth rn] "i could kiss you right now!!" turns to rickert "so... anything we want to know you'll tell? yes??? Psalm: "Er...Uh.......? You're welcome?" Chip: psalm like [touches chest] what is this feeling...

Rickert: rickert replies "yeah yeah... unless it's about my mother's maiden name or some shit like that" Cimmorro: [stops shaking psalm and clasps his hands together] "no longer interested!” Plum: this is the funnies tmessage in the world Psalm: rickert has a mother? i thought he just crawled out from under a rock fully grown and horrible

Cimmorro: “so, about the bounty hunter and the blue tiefling, where did you last see them?" Rickert: he leans back, one of his arms snaking behind the booth seating and responds “...ran into yer associates about a day ago now or something, they were wandering around an area near this inn down to the west, like they had nothing better to do” he tilts his head away to look over the rest of the bar and turns back stretching “a small group of strangers approached me and my fine crew here, asked us to nab em, tie em up, throw em into a building and keep watch over em, nice easy job” he takes a swig of his drink again Henrick: he chokes on his own drink out of nowhere, coughing he turns to him with a withering glance "..T-THAT'S what you've been complaining about..?" Rickert: he smacks his shoulder again "since when did you give a rat's ass about who we manhandle" Psalm: deadass, really, really rickert, really rickert you're responsible for this rickert really

Cimmorro: wincing, "strangers... can you describe what they looked like at least? and where is this building then?" Psalm: just pinches his nose bridge like r u kidding me rn Rickert: he lets out a cackle “hah figured you wouldn’t like hearing that! soon as I realised it was that swordsman freak I was happy to oblige, don’t know nothing ‘bout that eccentric tiefling though” he scratches his chin continuing to talk “some skinny drow, and some obvious looking hired hands, didn’t pay up front but I was gonna let it be. grabbed the two with them and kept em nice and happy, best service ive ever provided frankly” then he frowns “but the prick who hired us suddenly ran off, probably got spooked and hey I’d be thankful to lose the company frankly BUT-!” at this he slams his drink hard down on the table “-THEY DIDN’T LEAVE ANY PAY! fuckers…. next time I see em’ im gutting them” Han: SKINNY LITTTLE DROW.. Celebrity Guest Aqua: game theorizing, i know nickel would pay the first date i know it

Rickert starts idling flicking a knife in his other hand clearly annoyed discussing this while the two other goonies start grumbling next to him in agreement, next to him Henrick holds half his face in his hand.

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> 🎵 Bridge to London / Vampyr OST.

Plum: "so that means we can just go grab em no problem right" Cimmorro: "i... i see... did the drow happen to wear red robes? you didn't answer me where the building was now.” Rickert: he grumbles "nah wore all black like every other prick down here, didn’t recognise em’ so they definitely weren’t from round here which means they probably have no issue cutting and running. haven’t heard sign of em’ round here or up in the city since and believe me I’ve been keeping a damn ear out" he continues complaining into his drink Henrick: he continues somewhat awkwardly after him “it’s a uh- probably a little building in the north, think the boss here took ‘em to a basement there.” he sighs “didn’t realise uh… well, It’s a building with a green painted door, sticks out like a sore thumb” Finn: rickert: yes i will answer your questions no i wont Cimmorro: i want to beat him senseless

Psalm: he sighs "No other defining features at all? Gender or name even?" Rickert: he leans into his hand and groans "not much, didnt exchange names, they liked to complain alot, though think it was a gal but eh ive been to preoccupied...." at this he seems to remember something and whacks henrick on the arm who jumps again “oi- jackass did you actually get the shit from bren like I asked?” Henrick: after rubbing his arm for a second he responds “n-no? wait. yeah. yeah I did that” Rickert: he pulls him over and angrily grumbles something at him before kicking him out of the booth onto his feet “-hop to it then” Henrick: he makes a surprised sound and wobbles onto his feet quickly “yeah yeah don’t need to say it twice…” rubbing his head grumpily walking off Plum: can we hire henrick Psalm: psalm is just : thonk : he's busy thinking Rokka: "bye henrick!!" he waves Henrick: he turns and stops and kind of lazily waves behind himself as he goes

The group watch Henrick walk off quickly through the crowd of the bar and out the front door after being shooed away by Rickert on some sort of errand. He then turns back to face the group addressing them again.

Rickert: “anything else eating at ya?” he idly starts shuffling the deck of cards looking annoyed Cimmorro: "speaking of the north here, we were given directions to head there as well. i was wondering what goes on up at that parts? yknow, just to be safe... hehe.." after a beat cimm goes "ah! right. i wanted to ask you about our previous meeting. you know with the crates? refresh me again what i was wearing at the time and the exact locations of where i assigned you to move those crates" Plum: plum trying not to laugh at those questions Rickert: he raises a brow with distaste "ya running round down here without knowin' that much? surprised you aren't dead" he sighs and leans forward "couple big gangs keep things running down here, guys who look over the east dive and places up north are called the Iron Mantles. Probably the most easy going frankly and the best to work 'round, long as you dont step on the toes of anyone wearin' a spiked pin anyway" at the second request he tilts his head and squints "....what ya' goin senile already bud? i've only ever seen you in.." he gestures with his hand lazily with distaste "whatever the hell all that is" Chip: rickert: your shoes? whack

Cimmorro: "aht, aht, aht. i'm the one asking questions right now. speak up" Rickert: he frowns and starts tapping his hand on the table "some dumb ass questions, told us to smuggle them into the cave network after u rolled up on the damn boat, dropped 'em out in some inconspicuous cove... YOU were there? what, grumpy you messed up the location or some shit" Plum: "do you know what was in the crates?" Rickert: he turns towards you and points at cimm exaggeratedly "big boy here said no peeking" Cimmorro: "surprised you listened... didn't take you for a good boy" cimm begins thinking "cove huh... is it far from here?" Plum: i was going to say something like that but i dont want to go down that route and you went and said it Cimmorro: LOL Han: (becomes homophobic)

Rickert: he makes this face at your comment 🤨 "bout as far as any other smugglers drop point" Cimmorro: "well, your group just takes jobs from anyone that pays? what exactly do you guys even do? aside from like. [hand gesturing to all this]" Chip: cimm calling him a whore rn Han: rightfully so Plum: FIX HIS LIFE

Rickert: "what pays, what keeps the food coming in, what lets me get myself something nice every other month. cutthroats for hire in every sense of the word buddy" he downs the rest of his drink and continues in a mock sing song voice "such is the way of the foxbloods that tread underfoot" he then makes a gagging motion Cimmorro: nodding slowly, "right, right... what's the name for your little boy band here then? you and your gangs like names right? i must've missed it last time we've met." Rickert: he moves to rest his hand on his chin "just said it pal" Cimmorro: "foxbloods?" Rickert: he nods his head Rokka: ANNYEONGHASEYO FOX BLOOD IMNDA Keva: THIS MAD EM ELAGHGUH

Satisfied with their questioning the group finally make their tactical retreat from Rickert and his goons, bidding them a forced adieu. He waves the party off grumpily with little fanfare as the other two goonies near him slide back into the booth. As the gang step back out into the cool air of the cove they spot Henrick a ways down the road with all the bars outside, squinting at something in the distance. Following his eyesight it appears he’s staring towards the far west end of the cavern into the darkness.

They turn to squint in the same direction, on the very far end of the cove wall they notice it seems to be more lit up than before. They notice what looks like a network of scaffolds laid into the wall, spidering up to the ceiling and around it.

Cimmorro: i lightly tap henrick's shoulder and be like "so uh, what's that about" Henrick: he quickly turns his head towards you “huh? oh hey just…” he turns his head back “think they lit the lights on the western scaffold up…” Rokka: "is that supposed to mean something? o_O" Henrick: he raises his eyebrows genuinely surprised “you do work down here but ya don’t know…?” Cimmorro: "just think of me as stupid okay and answer my questions" Plum: “you and your group are so nosy” Henrick: he tilts his head confused at Plum "...us?"

Rokka: michelle literally begging to adopt henrick rn Cimmorro: MAYBE IF WE ALL GIVE HIM OUR PLATINUM Finn: its ok we can just house him in vinnys shop, he gets a new job that way too Rokka: HENRICK UR NEW BOSS IS NOW VINNY Cimmorro: wait thats perfect thats our new major goal now fack antessa Han: FUCK VORDE AND ALL THAT WERE GETTING THE ADOPTION PAPERS FOR HENRICK BABYYY

Henrick: “well uh…one of the big gangs has their offices high up on the western scaffolds. call themselves the ‘Enforcers of Harmony’ don’t involve themselves in anything outside their boss’ interest I hear, but they run a lot of stuff on that side of the cove. If the lanterns along the wall are all lit up usually means their guards are all out and about… makes life annoying” he sighs and folds his arms “…guess im gonna have to wait a bit for that to die down” Cimmorro: i look over to the others "... you don't think those rascals might've... you know..." Rokka: "i would like to have faith in them" Psalm: "Feel like that faith might be a bit misplaced given our record." Plum: “i mean they were what? checking out the roofs? not the least suspicious thing ever if you ask me” Cimmorro: “🙂 i really have to get away from you guys...” Rokka: he looks at psalm "it is not misplaced!" turning to henrick "hey henrick what's rickert got you doing out here anyways?" Henrick: "uhh... dont know if i should say, im just moving something" he folds his arms Rokka: "but we're OLD BUDDIES ! whatcha moving bro?" Ghester: you hear ghester in all your heads speak up "hmm never a dull moment" Psalm: *shrugs* Cimmorro: cimm just whips his head around again on reflex when he hears ghester, still not used to it Rokka: rokka also looking around Henrick: he gives you a weak stare "ah....i dont know if i'd call us that exactly" hes like ?? at everyone turning their heads and turns his too to look for anything suspicious Cimmorro: wait thats so funny and cute pleass

Psalm: "Well, be seeing you I guess, in any case we should actually get moving, I'm sure were over our designated time at this point." Rokka: "Sorry for assuming...:(" Henrick: he makes a 😰 face "....okay okay fine look were friends i still probably shouldn't tell you....." he nods at you psalm Rokka: he perks up "yay! okay I will respect ur privacy bro! I guess we will take our leave then!! SEE YA LATER BRO" Cimmorro: "yeah thanks for the info, get yourself a new job though" cimm begins to walk away Plum: “yeah for real, get a different job. your boss is an ass” Henrick: he gives you a lazy wave as you walk off "... yeah yeah no need to start the lectures now" he turns back to staring out over to the scaffolds Psalm: That's such a like idk video game npc thing to do, Just going back to staring Chip: dont disturb his pathing

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> 🎵 Lost Lanterns / Below OST.

The group of four make their way back to the rendezvous point to meet up with the rest of the group, after a bit of a walk they manage to reach Renny’s inn successfully. Looking around they don’t see sign of the others until they spot Keva shuffling on the roof of the building, after a few more minutes Han and Finn also make their appearances from the rafters, joining the group below.

Plum: “we made it here first?” Rokka: "i thought we were late! haha"

Keva: she turns to look at han and finn "what the hell happened?” Finn: finn stares at you for a moment before looking at han, not wanting to admit that they did an awful job back there. hoping that han will silently agree. Psalm: watching like that scaffolding shit was definitely them

Han: as han shares no such sentiment and wears her heart on her sleeve. she looks shamed and mad. "we climbed the wall and didnt notice guards. alerted them and attacked. got away once realized what were dealing with." Keva: "wait, they attacked you or you attacked them?" Han: shamefully looks away "i attacked them" Rokka: "my faith......................." Psalm: "I shouldve made a bet with you.” Rokka: "good thing you didn't" Plum: “guess you were right cimm” Cimmorro:

Keva: her face is kinda scrunched up for a while and wants to lay into them more, but eases off seeing han showing remorse and also knowing she's had a lot on her mind following the cult business. she turns to the rest of you, irritated. "what now?" Psalm: "Well we managed to get Ezra and Cole's location after an uncomfortably high stakes game of cards." Cimmorro: “and some other things that i can tell you on the way to them"

Cimmorro: "right. do you know if they could recognize you if we were to scuttle around? we are heading north, however” Han: “i dont. one guy maybe got a look at me, better than Finn. if i can sit out to avoid unnecessary risk." Finn: "he might recognize me too, i climbed up higher than you, didnt i?" he grits out quickly, looking like a child who doesn't want to be in the presence of their parent after fucking up Han: "you also did not shoot him in the face." (editors note: it was not his face) Finn: “true that” (editors note: is it?) Cimmorro: "can we avoid shooting people in the face for now please" cimm looks pointedly at han like 😳 but without the blush

Rokka: "perhaps you can turn to a bat and hang onto me or someone else?" Han: han lets out a small sarcastic HA at this Rokka: he tilts his head at this like ? Han: han doesnt respond to rokka, and doesnt make eye contact with finn Rokka: [confused dog head tilt]

Finn: "that thought crossed my mind as well." finn brings a hand up to his face. "psalm can hide me away under his cloak too, for less suspicion as to why you are carrying a bat around." Plum: “actually why’d you climb? why didn’t you just fly around in the first place?” Finn: finn looks at you for a good moment plum. "i... i did not think to do it in the moment. my head...my thoughts... they are elsewhere, i suppose.” Plum: “oh, gotcha. lot going on right now yeah.” Finn: he nods, appreciating the briefness of their exchange and seemingly plums understanding

Cimmorro: [helping to disguise han slightly] okay cimm just rummages and hands the set of clothes to han "here, try to make do with this" Han: han looks over the clothes, seems like shes about to complain about size but attempts to try them on anyway

Han slaps on the clothes given to her by Cimmorro, the pants wont fit her but, the shirt might though as its pretty roomy, as well as the cloak which she whaps over her other one. Wardrobe change complete, the party head out to the northern parts of the withered bone, making discussion and sharing information along the way. and searching around.

Han: "i wanted to ask renny who the west scaffolding belongs to, unless you guys know?” Plum: “they have some dumb name like enforcers of harmony, which doesn’t sound too good” Keva: "sound like cops" Finn: "how awfully tasteless..." finn sneers Plum: “it’s just too wordy if you ask me 🤔” Han: "... i think that sounds kinda badass, maybe they're nice?" Psalm: "If they're nice whyd you shoot them?" Han: "didnt know they had such a cool name" Psalm: "Well, can't argue with that logic." Keva: rolls her eyes at this

Soon enough they come upon the building, Henrick was right, once they were there it was easy enough to find knowing what to look for. Soon enough the find themselves before a rickety looking building, the green door sticking out against all the brown wood of its walls and roof. The building itself is about 2 stories or so high, its windows boarded up, like the others around it, nothing else about it seems to stick out. The group check the building out a bit, with Finn tucked in Psalm’s cloak.

Though suddenly as he’s searching around with the party, Cimmorro sees a spark of magic apperate before his eyes, in the air shines a faint blue light before an envelope appears in the air followed by a bell sound. Perfectly crisp and black, and stamped with some sort of wax seal on its back, it drops into his hands before the magic in the air disappears entirely. The party each note it but continue searching, Han and Rokka nearby taking particular interest (and caution) at its sudden appearance. However after a few seconds of observation Cimmorro immediately registers the stationary as familiar, the same kind of stuff Willow uses, the wax seal having a jasidan symbol embossed into it.

Cimmorro: [OPENS IT LIKE A WILD ANIMAL] Rokka: "woah, cimm" Han: han peaks over cimms head at it Cimmorro: he is too busy to notice you

Sent to Cimmorro from Coralwash in Krenic

Dear Cimmorro I felt it would be prudent for me to send you back a quick response as soon as I was able. Seems you’ve gotten up to more recently in the past week than you have in the past few years, a cult of all things..? I shall be making the journey over to Shorewater as soon as I can along with a few others, feel free to let the king know that some of the Krenic churches will provide some aid in these endeavours. Do your best to keep out of trouble until then, is what I would say, but I feel that would be asking for a little too much of you. Looking forward to speaking to you in person again after all this time, I’ve let Ulle know about your package, they seems quite excited about it. I will see what I can do about Jasper and the sweets. By the Goddess’ Grace, Willow

Cimmorro: cimm looks like this 😖😖😖😖😖 thinking "finally something nice today!!!" Han: han reads the letter over cimms head and goes "your girlfriend? willow is a nice name. strong" Rokka: "GIRLFRIEND?!" Cimmorro: “i’ll leave that to your imaginations. didn't you know it's rude to read other people's mail??" Rokka: 😳😳😳 Han: "dunno, never got any." han shrugs and begins walking Cimmorro: "oh....sorry" > actually feels bad

As he neatly tucks away the letter the others share information amongst one another about their previous escapades, and the current doppelganger information they garnered from Rickert.

Keva: "how'd you get him to talk? don't know anyone like him that would give away that info for free" Plum: “we cheated at a card game and he forked over the info, almost got stabbed, i think?” Psalm: "Yeah, that was cutting it pretty close." Plum: “IT REALLY WAS” Psalm: "Cant imagine being morally bankrupt everywhere except for where cheating is concerned, but at least it worked out.” Keva: stares at you both like 🤨 "do none of you know how to pick your fights? thought we didn't want to die" Plum: “well we didn’t!” Psalm: "You wanna give that guy 350g be my guest." Keva: "you'd still have left over for the trip even if you paid, especially if you pooled" Psalm: "But the airship..."

Psalm: "Oh, I never thanked you for the assistance Plum. You too as well Ghester.” Plum: “all part of the job :j” Ghester: you all hear in your heads "appreciate it" Han: “i heard this one before” Rokka: "OKAY WHO IS PLAYING THESE MIND GAMES" >rokka begins to think he is being haunted fr Finn: :| Psalm: not registering anyone's reactions to ghester

Psalm: "And paying that guy would leave a bad taste in my mouth." Plum: “true, he has tried to kill me before” Keva: makes a >:-\ and sighs, a more somber look coming over her. "look, all i'm saying you need to be more careful messing with people like that." Psalm: "Yes mother 🤨 /s" Plum: plum about to be like well duh to keva, but can’t bother. they look like that’s what they’d say though. Keva: she gives you a very flat look at you both, and then her thoughts seem to drift off elsewhere.

The group make their way slowly into the building, checking for traps and keeping an eye out as they press into the first floor. Looking around they enter what appears to be a large room, pretty empty and deserted, dusty old furniture sitting around what looks like a living area of sorts. A few of the chairs look like they were moved recently into watch positions next to the walls.

They spy a door leading out of the room to the left and right, as they make their way around they feel the floor creak under them slightly. From the leftside door they spot some rickety stairs leading up to a second floor, whereas the right one seems to open into some sort of closet. Peering inside Keva checks it, seems this is where whoever lived here threw all their old rotted furniture, pretty dusty, nothing of real note.

Psalm: sammy's summer home Cimmorro: PELASE

The group begin searching around the first floor while Han moves to go investigate the second one. Upstairs she doesn't find much of note, but comes across what seems to be an old bedroom. In the corner she spies a bed that doesn’t appear as dusty as everything else, seems whoever holed up here changed the sheets and used the room as a base for a couple of days, strangely particular. Judging by the dust on the ground they took everything they kept in here with them when they left in a hurry.

Turning over the room Han finds nothing else of note, finding that it's been left pretty bare. Squinting at the bed though she does find a few long strands of white hair, about a torso’s length long. Poking around the main room Cimmorro finds its so dusty in here in certain parts that he ends up sneezing for about 10 seconds straight. Next to him Plum finds what looks like a trapdoor peeking out under one of the old rotten cabinets in the corner.

Cimmorro: [barely audible sneezing like a cat's] Plum: “do wee jas followers say something after sneezing?” Cimmorro: "ugh huh, wha-" [rubbing his nose] "bless you is common for most of us but more formal would be "by her grace"" still rubbing his nose while looking over what you're nitpicking there with keva Plum: “oh okay, kinda more normal than i expected. by her grace, then.” plum says Cimmorro: cimm pats your head Plum: plum just laughs

Psalm: oh yeah you're free to not be a bat anymore since we're inside right Finn: i want to be a bat... Chip: ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS YOURSELF

The group watch as Keva and Plum push the cabinet out of the way together, freeing the trapdoor. Keva makes to cracking open the lock on it soon after and flipping it open while Han makes her way back downstairs to reveal her findings, as she does Rokka listens in to see if he can hear anything coming from the passage below.

Plum: [makes voila pose] “beholde” Cimmorro: cimm goes "ooooo" at keva and plum Rokka: "oooh" 👏👏👏👏👏 Plum: [bows]

Chip: picturing psalm just standing in the middle of the room holding finn Han: hes busy Psalm: BEHOLD: CREACHER Han: psalm is moral support Finn: meanwhile all i can think about is finn pulling his hair like remy Psalm: remy is real and in our campaign Finn: wait if keva has amos that means, cook off

Rokka: "I hear something down there....shuffling noises?" Cimmorro: "must be cole shuffling.... i hope" Rokka: "gosh i hope so 🥺 "

Han: breasts boobily downstairs "upstairs empty. found some white hair in a bed though, that is interesting." Plum: "i wonder if its that drow he mentioned, dont they usually have white hair?” do they Chip: yes Plum: AHA! Chip: HERLOCK SHOLMES Plum: LOCALISE THIS

Rokka: "are you keeping that hair" Han: “no? should i?” Rokka: “should u? 🤔” Han: han narrows her eyes at this, "you are right, better save than sorry" and runs back upstairs to get a sample Rokka: “good work han!” Han: distant "HELL YEA!" han comes back with some hair tied in a neat coil

One by one the group hop down the trapdoor and make their way down the ladder connected to what looks like a rock wall in the dark. After a few seconds of climbing they drop down into a room with wood floors and cobbled walls, no doubt carved out of the cavern walls.

The room down here appears much more like it was occupied, dead lamps and candled having been snuffed out, as well as a number of chairs and tables placed around haphazardly. On the table it appears there are a few scrawled pieces of parchment. They dont spy anything else though, or any other exits.

Thinking of a way to light the room for his not darkvision having friends, Cimmorro uses his sacred flames on one of the dead lamps on the table. With a THWOOSH one of the lanterns kind of explodes in the dark and falls over, seems to stay lit as it lays upon the ground however.

Cimmorro: "let there be light?" Plum: wants to clap but snickers instead

As the group snoop about, Rokka and Finn crane their animal ears, and suddenly find themselves hearing sounds coming from the rightmost wall of the room.

Rokka: GUYS WAIT I HEAR SOMETHING FROM THE RIGHTMOST WALL

Plum: AHHHAUUGHHHAUWEH Finn: finn tugs lightly at psalm’s hair, on the right, to emphasize as rokka speaks

In the meantime Cimmorro picks up the parchment from the floor to examine it, looking at it, it appears to have the scratchings of someone keeping track of the things that occurred each hour, most of it appears irrelevant. Though judging by the descriptions of the two captives he ascertains Ezra and Cole were definitely brought down here, there is one other note but it appears to be written in something he cant read, seemingly some sort of code.

As Keva moves over to the right wall to inspect it she holds out a hand for Cimmorro to hand her the parchment, assuming it to be written in thieves cant. Though as she does, her other arm feeling around the wall suddenly goes through it, she pushes through curiously disappearing behind it. Cimmorro and Rokka quickly make to follow after her while the others continue investigating the initial room, quirking a brow at them walking through the wall.

The three come out into what looks like a short hallway with a door at the end, a small window inlaid into it. As they walk closer they hear grunts of what sounds like effort coming from the door.

Cimmorro: at the noise cimm blurts "working hard or hardly working" in a low voice and laughs to himself

Back in the initial room the others search around but don't find much else of interest. Bat Finn in hand, Psalm squints at the wall the others walked through and right above it he sees some faintly scratched arcane runes, though he cant read them (knew you should have payed attention in arcana class...)

Psalm: really missing comprehend languages right about now Chip: ghester voice like if only you had comprehend languages Han: "whoever was here cleaned up real good. left nothing." Finn: finn stares at you Psalm: not now finn i'm focusing * brain fizzling out *

Han and Plum join the others through the illusion wall while they fuss over the strange metal door with the window in it. Psalm and Finn keeping watch in the entry room while Psalm’s brain melts over arcane rune interpretation.

Craning her head up Keva peers through the small window in the door into the room beyond, there she sees Ezra unconscious on the ground with his arms bound, and Cole next to him, hers also bound. The two are behind a set of metal bars that divide the room in half with a metal door set into it, seemingly locked shut with them behind it. A lone lantern appears to have been left on a desk on the half of the room they aren’t behind.

Looking back at Cole it looks like she’s grunting with effort reaching her leg through the bars, very close to reaching a set of keys comically placed on the floor in front of her.

Cole: “rrrrgh…..so….c-close…..come ooooooon” she eventually falls back drained “okay cole….take a break…5 minutes then give it another shot” she says while flopping back on the floor again.

Ezra appears motionless next to her, his eyes closed. The group go about examining the door, though strangely they cant even see a lock on it. As Keva fusses with it and smacks the window to get her attention, Cole jumps and sits up suddenly.

Cole: “huh wha- ohhh I bet you guys thought it was real funny-“ she stops her spiel mid-sentence once she recognises your face peering halfway through the window keva “….oh my gods you really came, and you’re okay!” she quickly shuffles towards the bars, sitting on her knees “im dying over here seriously-!” Cimmorro: "might have something to do with that parchment i gave you?" Psalm: wow i like that cole basically admits some jackass left the keys like that, probs rickert honestly

Keva nods at Cimmorro to hand over the parchment to see if they can garner any clues from it at all, interpreting the thieves cant to the others, it appears to be a hastily written terms of agreement.

“capture and guard of three individuals, elf, tiefling, and human. one is fine but its preferable for all three to be detained for best chance of success. we will be fighting whoever comes to get them, free to kill if it comes to it though heavy preferences for keeping them alive. Only need one of them for my purposes specifically, do as you’d like with the rest. payment will be given once the fight has ended, from there we go our separate ways”

Keva: "the human was probably vinny. must have been theyord." Cimmorro: "what in the.... well that won't solve the door”

While they think over the contents of the parchment, Rokka attempts to bust the door down with a huff, though he ends up bouncing right back off of it.

Rokka: "OGH! MY NOGGIN!" Han: han catches rokka if he like, bounces off Rokka: he looks up at han "oh thanks han 🥺 " Han: "ye course, just be careful bro" 🥺

Unsuccessful at breaking it down, Keva goes back to yelling to Cole while trying to figure out a way to help her and Ezra escape their bindings.

Keva: i call thru the door to cole "do you know how we can get in?" Cole: she leans forward on the bars to hear you "uhh...not really. that thing looked real sturdy the whole time we were here..." and unmovable door... you take a moment to peer about the room she's in again through the window...

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> 🎵 Stage 03 Spook Mansion / Tiny Toon Adventures - Buster Breaks Loose! OST.

The room looks Dishevelled and Ransacked… someone clearly left it without much care on how it looked. Looking around you see various bits of Furniture stacked precariously on top each other, Rope and Planks, a Chair and a Broom, A Lit Lantern and Sacks and a Chest, as well as a Hanging Bucket amongst other things….

The Metal Door appears locked, no doubt by the key just out of Cole’s reach. The Metal Bars seem sturdy… You think you can also see something carved into the top of the door. You wonder how you will go about helping her when you can’t even get into the room yourselves… at least she can see you through the Window....

Psalm: i played all this 999 for this moment Chip: SEEK A WAY OUT

The group begin scrutinizing the room, first eyeballing the runes and writing above the metal door as well as the glass window in the door. Deciding that they can probably help some more if they can get Keva’s mouse Amos inside the room, they also decide to try and break the glass window in the door.

Keva: she blinks..... and takes out a dagger. Cimmorro: he reels back thinking you were gonna stab him for a moment Keva: she laughs a bit at that

Keva tries breaking it with her dagger but is unsuccessful, though she gets the sense that it can, in fact, be broken. In the meantime through the others’ collective eyes read the runes on the bar door as some kind of enchantment, barring access (haha). They also spot some elvish writing under them, Cimmorro and Rokka both translate it to the rest of the group.

“Erzattan Dungeon Co. For all your Macabre Needs – And Always Remember: To walk forwards, one must first learn to shuffle from side to side”

Cimmorro: "this door asking us to dance.......? side to side" Rokka: "thats what i'm also getting..." rokka starts shuffling side to side while moving towards the door Keva: keva looks at the camera

Rokka dances towards the door, walking right into it, his dancing not appearing to have convinced it to open for him.

Cimmorro: “:D” Rokka: “ah.” rokka stops shuffling and just walks away Keva: i gesture at the window “your turn” Rokka: silently Keva: "No where are you--" Rokka: "im embarrassed" Keva: "just hit the window" Rokka: "ok....😳" Cimmorro: <about to lose it> Han: han is trying to contain her laughter

Han: takes out her handy dandy hammer "you want try with this?" Cimmorro: "why do you have something like that" Plum: "you had that on you?” Han: "what? why? i always have it on me" Rokka: "oh how nice of you han thank you!" Plum: [big sigh] Cimmorro: "... for???- you know what nevermind it became useful anyway"

Han hands Rokka her hammer, it actually looks different than most regular hammers. Its one solid piece of metal and looks very primitive, a small ram sigil carved into it. Rokka takes it gratefully before smashing the window open, he celebrates briefly before handing it back to Han who carefully tucks it away again.

Cimmorro: "redeemed yourself" Rokka: he blushes....................

Keva: i take out amos and hold him up to the window "see those keys? can you take them to her?" Amos: amos squeaks with determination" Cimmorro: imagining keva talking to amos like kronk with the squirrels Keva: no but she does speak in a higher gentler voice, as you do with pets

Keva gently drop him down through the window, he scuttles over to the keys and picks them up, slowly dragging them into Cole's cell, she takes them with her tied hands and whoops to rejoice.

She stands up, keys in hand, flips around and unlocks the metal bar door, it swings open before her ! But as she attempts to walk through she walks straight into what appears to be an invisible wall, shocked she stumbles back, nearly tripping over Ezra on the ground

Cole: “w-what….huh…..” she begins leaning forward slowly attempting to push through the air unsuccessfully. Cimmorro: ....... Rokka: . Psalm: when we get dispel magic it's over

The group quickly tell her to try shuffling from side to side out the door instead. She stops attempting to push through and nods at the guidance

Cole: "uh...shuffle to the side" you slowly watch her shuffle sideways through the door...successfully passing the invisible blockade

The group then begin instructing her on things to inspect around the room, attempting to get her out from the other side. She checks out the chest in the room as well as the door, informing the group that it needs some sort of specific key to open. She moves over to also inspect the hanging bucket, though she cant reach it so she instead bonks the bottom of it with the top of her head.

Cole: the bucket comes down but it appears to have been filled with water, splashing over cole's head, she shouts "ahhhh! thats cold..." you hear a clink clink of something hitting the floor with the bucket Keva: "you okay...?" Cole: she shakes her head like a dog "a-ok!"

She picks up what seems to have dropped with the bucket, another smaller key strangely enough. Back in the cell Amos seems to be idly sniffing around Ezra’s sleeping face and body. The group wonder if they could get him to chew through their ropes before realising they can probably just hand Cole a dagger instead.

Han: all of us cheering cole on while she struggles Chip: like ur watching her twitch stream Cimmorro: OH YM GOFDJA egirl cole

Cimmorro: EAT HIM AMOS Han: AMOS DOING WHAT U WISH TO DO Cimmorro: 😳 yeah im a rat

Cimmorro: ezra blink twice if u need help Chip: ezra sleep Rokka: whats ezra dreaming about Chip: not being in here Cimmorro: he’s in a better place...

Cole manages to cut herself out of her ropes thanks to Cimmorro’s carefully thrown over dagger, she also moves to cut Ezra out of his, noting that the people who nabbed em knocked him out with something.

Finn: he tugs at psalm’s hair again, wanting him to go into the room Psalm: "If I'm understanding you correctly then... I can't say we'll be of much help but sure." Finn: he squeaks at that, not like psalm can make any sense of it but surely its not because finn is nosy and wants to see whats going on even if theyre both useless. he tugs at your hair again. chop chop Psalm: "Yeah, yeah I'm going." --> psalm looks around one more time and then walks off and enters the hallway Finn: psalm earns himself pleased chirping

Chip: like how u ask him to take u when u can just fly over Cimmorro: nobles.. Plum: what a chad Finn: when i have a gundam? you fool Psalm: AHEUF

Keva directs Cole to knock over some of the sacks high up on the shelf, revealing a couple of green yellow potions, she shuffles over the stepladder and grabs the two of them. Handing them through the broken window to the group, Plum sets about to identifying them as the others continue manoeuvring her around the room. Cimmorro takes the other one, seeing if he can glean anything with his medicinal knowledge. From what he can ascertain from its colour and contents it doesn't seem to be anything like poison, if anything it smells faintly like nuts. He assumes that it has restorative effects but he’s unsure.

Han in the meantime looks about the hallway, spying the incoming Psalm and Finn, but more importantly she finds what looks to be piece of what looks like some sort of mechanism. Deeming it important the group decide to hand it to Cole.

After handing it over, Keva instructs Cole to look in the bin near the metal bars, inside it she finds a locked box. She uses the previously found key on it, unlocking it successfully, peering about she tells the group there's a few gold coins and empty bottles inside, as well as what looks like another half of the mechanism they just handed her.

Staring at them it appears they slot together, once she does the item now appears to be a doorknob. Keva calls her over to slot it into her side of the door, as she does it clicks in perfectly, finally swinging the door open.

Psalm: YOU FOUND IT Chip:

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> 🎵 Lost Lanterns / Below OST.

Cimmorro: “👏👏👏👏” Rokka: rokka hoots Keva: keva smiles, satisfied. "okay, let's get ezra out" Cole: "thank you so mu--ch!" she pulls you into a big killer hug Keva: keva stiffens up in surprise, full hover hands. she laughs a bit, not sure how to react "alright alright okay. have you all had anything to eat?" Cole: she grumbles "not for like a day now...and oh uhggh one of them knocked ezra out with some magic because he wouldn’t stop making fun of them so I haven’t even had anyone to talk to for like….also an entire day!” she shouts out Keva: i pull out some of the bread and cheese i saved for her, saving the other portion for ezra when we get him up Cole: she wolfs it down bark bark

Han moves to pick Ezra up bridal style, as the group discuss what to do Plum also brings up the idea that should trash the place while concentrating on their identification, just in case.

Cimmorro: holds plum by the shoulders and helps them manoeuvre Plum: "Well here's what I'm thinking......[concentrating]........if we trash the place they can't use it again. But if we trash the place they'll relocate and we can't find them again. but i suppose if we already came here they probably won't come here again." Celebrity Guest Aqua: can i be patron on vengaboys pateron. tier 1 is deciding when to do arson once an ingame month

The group discuss trashing the place, wondering if it was a letterheads base but assume they wont be coming back in any case. In the meantime Psalm slides into the room and snags the gold from the locked box.

Finn: finn climbs down to your shoulder and stares at you Psalm: He...pockets the gp and stare at him...? Finn: finns shocked but does respect the power move to not share. its what he'd do too. Psalm: jeez he can share it out later it's not like he's trying to skimp anyone 🥺 "How about I split it and buy your silence then jeez..." Finn: the bat is pleased. you feel as though it has a smug aura. Psalm: psalm rolls his eyes and continues investigating

Cimmorro decides to give Ezra and Cole a full medical to be sure nothing funny has happened to them in their absence. Cole sits patiently at attention the whole time, they both seem to be okay, a few scrapes here and there, Cimmorro supposes Rickert wasn't lying when he said he wasn't allowed to rough either of them up. He doesn't notice any marks or blemishes that stick out either, the only real thing of note being Ezra's temporary coma.

in the meantime Psalm and Han go about properly combing the jail room for anything else useful (Ezra safely laid back on the ground for easy examining). Through their incredible teamwork they manage to find Ezra's sword and Cole's gloves shoved underneath the sacks in the chest, plus a few other things of note. About 20gp, another potion, this one black in colour and goopy, as well as a copper ring with the image of a ram carved into it, though distinctly different from Han’s. He hands the latter two items to Plum for identification.

Finishing with his examination Cimmorro also searches around the room a little while telling Cole they’ll probably have to wait on Plum’s identification. He doesnt find much else that the others dont but he does find two small shiny bells wrapped in a bag tucked away in the room.

Psalm: “These belong to you?” Cole: she turns excitedly and crowds you "ohhh so they kept them in here ohhh i was so worried i lost em!" she takes ezra's katana from you to carry for him and shakes your hands wildly "cute bat by the way! i didnt know you had a pet..." Psalm: * accepts the jostling* "Guess you lucked out." * psalm genuinely doesn't remember if Cole knows about Fin''s vampirism * "I uh..Thanks." Finn: finn kinda sweating bullets but appreciates psalm not ratting him out. although...well...cole and ezra are going to find out about him sooner or later wont they?

Keva: "what happened anyway?" Cole: she folds her arms with a sigh "some no good cutthroats jumped us while we were out looking for vinny...tied us up and tossed us in here, i cant tell ya how worried i've been about him this whole time..." she snaps back to attention as if remembering something "speaking of-where have you guys been, whats going on, have ya seen him??" Keva: “oh-- vinny's fine by the way, he's the one who gave us an idea of where you were." Cole: "the only people locked up were me and ol' ezra and- wh-oh really so you found him then? how's he doing?" she leans forward anxiously Keva: "he's alright. that lady jeane has him working pretty hard at the palace right now." Cole: her whole face goes like <:OOO "he's back at the palace? wait no did they capture him...."2 Keva: "capture?" Cole: "...yeah. the... you know! whole on the run thing...!" Keva: "oh no, we're all in the clear. think the royals just wanted his help with figuring out the mess the letterheads left." keva shrugs "don't really know anything about magic so." Cole: she stares at you, looking like shes thinking really hard "...i see i've missed alot" Keva: keva (and michelle) is now realizing cole does not know about the letterheads lmoa

In the meanwhile Plum finally identifies the green yellow potions, handing one over to Cimmorro to use on their sleeping beauty Ezra with Han’s help. They then get to work on identifying the one that is black and goopy.

Potion of Early Rising Common, 200gp - When this potion is drunk any effects rendering a creature unconscious are nullified, so long as the creature has at least one hit point.

Cimmorro: "you have to administer it via cpr han" Han: "no i dont" Cimmorro: "he's going to be sleeping beauty forever" i start preparing it anyways as i snicker at han Han: han drops his head "then leave him" Keva: keva watches all this with concern Cimmorro: "so so cold..." Han: "hes not my really my type" i bring ezras head back up Cimmorro: "you'll let him die just because of that?!?" Psalm: "Is that important when he's dying?" Plum: [laughing] Han: "no i just know i dont need to do that" han goes to flick cimms head Cimmorro: [head is flicked] >:( Han: >:) Cimmorro: "just say you wanna fuck me it is that easy you know” Rokka: 😳 Han: "every night cimmorro. watch yourself when you sleep tonight" Cimmorro: “😏: Han: han giggles to herself (mostly)

Cimmorro: "okay han i need to know, do you find me hot. because i need to know if i'll be okay in a life and death situation with you. which, i might add, i've been in quite far too many times" Psalm: "I think if we were in a life and death situation and Cimmoro was the one that needed help the assumption is that we're all already dead." Cimmorro: cimm grumbles "you say that like i'd easily let any of you die on my watch..." Plum: "you know, can we hurry up and get outta here? before we have to fight someone?" Psalm: cant wait to find out who's long grey hair that is in the next 50 secs Plum: right Celebrity Guest Aqua: this is embarrassing that's mine

Eventually Cimmorro pops the potion open, successfully getting Ezra to drink it. After a few moments he seems to cough and groggily come back to consciousness. He grunts slightly before blinking wildly and tensing up, recognising Han and Cimmorro however he untenses. slightly.

Ezra: “…uh” Han: "sup" Cimmorro: "good morning" Keva: we're all standing around staring at him Psalm: EZRA WAKE UP YOU FUCKED UP BIG TIME

Ezra: he rubs his face and sits up "...good morning...?" he looks around wearily Cole: she smiles Keva: she holds out the rest of the food she saved to him "was it worth it" re:getting knocked out for making fun of whoever lmao Plum: "your favourite person brought you here actually, ezra" Ezra: he takes the food and starts eating it quietly "yes." before turning to plum through his chewing saying "i am well aware but thanks anyway" Keva: keva snorts Plum: [plum nods in acknowledgement while focused on the bottle] Cimmorro: "once ezra regains some footing i say we best head out already" Plum: “agreed” Cimmorro: [goes back to piloting plum from behind] Rokka: "just carry him" Ezra: he bristles at the suggestion and immediately stands "no need for that"

The party begin to make their way out of the basement and building and back into the cove proper, smelling the cool salty air again. Plum finds themselves successfully identifying the goopy potion along the way.

Potion of Hide from Undead Rare, 520gp - When you drink this potion, you become difficult to locate for undead creatures. An undead creature must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be unable to detect or locate you with sight, hearing or smell.

Even extraordinary senses such as blindsight and tremorsense are not effective. The effects automatically end if you take an action which uses radiant energy, attempt to turn undead, or attack an undead creature. Otherwise, the effects of the potion last for one hour.

Reaching the cove again and beginning to back topside to the city, the group give Cole and Ezra a run down of the past few days events along the way. As they go on the two’s faces change from various shades of shocked to flabbergasted, though they both appear relieved that Vinny seems to be doing well enough currently.

Cole: she mopes and places both her hands under her chin “figures we’d get grabbed by some nobodies while you guys are off saving the city… man I couldn’t even look out for the boss…” she kicks a stray rock Ezra: he sighs next to her “makes sense now why they just ditched, not worth the effort anymore if royal guards and corpses are being rumoured about” he stretches his arms “… hate this damn cove sometimes, never worth travelling on your own” he begins rifling through his coat and his pockets, though he starts to become more frantic over time as if searching for something “…bastards stole my damn-“ he sighs and rubs a hand across his face, fuming silently to himself Plum: [plum wondering if what he's looking for is the ring] can i identify this now, actually i ask if its what ezra’s looking for first Psalm: aw thats no fun Plum: IM NOT A THIEF Han: unlike some Psalm: unrelatable

Ezra: as you ask him he huffs "...my sending stone" Han: "oh, hmm... we scoped the place but didn't find it. actually, was there someone with long white hair with you guys?" Ezra: he just goes 🤬 internally but all you can see is him furrowing his brow and rubbing his temple Cole: she pipes up to respond "hmm? oh yeah i think....maybe one of them did? think it was a drow, they always had this hood up whenever i saw em" Psalm: "Is that all you know?" Cole: she shrugs her shoulders "...yeah... they didnt say why they grabbed us, the way one of them was talking though... i think he had a bone to pick with ezra" she leans over and whispers this conspiratorially to you Psalm: "Did you get a good look at that one? Although I feel like I know who it might be." Cole: "uhhhh messy red hair, scar on his face, weird smile" Psalm: "Thought so." Rokka: "thats rickert alright" Cimmorro: well here's the tea sis

Keva: "what was the drow wearing? like what color" Cole: she thinks "uhhh dark black clothes, dark hood..." Ezra: he nods to agre Psalm: "Did they have really dark skin? Like black almost?" Cole: she nods "yeah, that's pretty typical though isn't it?" Psalm: "I mean..? Not always..? Nickel's skin is pretty light in comparison I'd think." Cole: she cocks her head questioning "comparison? ohhhh have you seen this mystery merc?" Psalm: “Who knows? that’s what im trying to find out” Cole: “🤔”

Psalm: * racking his brain * "About their clothes was it full black or did it have any weird patterns on it?" Cole: "full black, though they seemed to be wearing alot of layers" Keva: "must not be used to the weather here” Psalm: "Carry any weapons or no?" Cole: she thinks "i didnt seem any on them... but they didnt really fight when they grabbed us...." she snaps her fingers "like a manager" Han: "for what it's worth, i have the piece of hair. if i remember correctly, it can help with the spell that looks at a person from any location.” Psalm: "Alright well that's all I've got. han if you want to locate them be my guest, but I'm not sure what good that'll do us now anyways." Han: ".. i dont think i like loose ends." Psalm: "I agree with you there."

The party continue making their way back aboveground from the cove while pondering these new questions, their two associates successfully rescued.

---

Notes

- 🔮Psalm pocketed 34gp

- 🍺Plum gained a 「 Potion of Early Rising ✨」「 Potion of Hide from Undead ✨」 and is currently identifying a 「 Ring ✨」 with a ram’s head carved into it

- 💎Cimmorro found a bag with「 Two Shiny Bells ✨」 inside

- 🧰Cole and 👤Ezra have been safely rescued

- 🏹Han has a「 Strand of White Hair✨」 safely stashed away

- 🦇Finn is still currently in his bat form (20 or so minutes remaining)

#recaps #201122 #this one is pretty fakin long

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there-was-a-hole-here-itsgonenow · 2 years

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Eleven’s Breakfast Jams isn’t pro-Melvin

Long post ahead: Just gonna lay out the notable songs on El’s playlist that have patterns of breaking up, bad/ill-fitting relationships, getting out/ wanting to get out of bad/ill-fitting relationships, dead love, faking, insecurity, uncertainty—I think that mainly covers it (also with intermingled Brenner significance for some).

1. Shut Up and Let Me Go, The Ting Tings (Pretty much this whole song is damning: “This hurts, I tell you so/ For the last time you will kiss my lips/ Now shut up and let me go” + “Now oh so easily you’re over me/ Gone is love/ It’s you that ought to be holding me/ I’m not containable/ This time love is not sustainable” + “I ain’t fakin’ this” + “This hurts what I can’t show… For the last time you have me in bits/ For fear of living in regret/ I’ve changed since from when we first met” + “It’s me that ought to be moving on/ You’re not adorable/ I want something un-ignorable”)

We’re off to a great start.

2. Revenge, Patti Smith (“Needed you, you withdrew/ I was so forsaken/ Ah, but now the tables have turned, my move/ I believe I'll be taking my revenge” + “Ah, the sands and hands of time have run out/ Run out, ah you better face it/ Ah, this thing’s run amok” + “For the ghosts of our love have dried, have died/ There’s no use faking it.” The whole song is ‘no BS, no-nonsense, I make the rules here.’ Very much “I dump your ass.” But there’s also the undeniable ‘dead love’ aspect too.)

3. Dog Days Are Over, Florence + The Machine (About a bad relationship being over. The phrase ‘dog days are over’ itself comes from an idiom that refers to the hot days between July and August—the end of a harsh period of time.)

4. Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin (Directly from songfacts: about “a lovelorn woman so enraptured by her man that she's willing to break off yet another piece of her heart if only he will take it.” It doesn’t help that ‘lovelorn’ means to be unhappy because of unrequited love.)

5. Don’t Get Me Wrong, Pretenders (Again, songfacts: “this song describes the complexities of love from a female perspective - she’s inconsistent, but wonderful, and wants her lover to know that he shouldn’t get too worked up, because she could change quickly.” Basically, don’t get too excited because I could change my mind. Unstable grounds.)

6. Bulletproof, La Roux (About telling a past lover she is no longer interested in taking him back: “I’ve been there, done that, messed around/ I’m having fun, don’t put me down/ I’ll never let you sweep me off my feet/ I won’t let you in again” + “This time, baby, I’ll be bulletproof/ I won’t let you turn around/ And tell me now I’m much too proud/ To walk away from something when it's dead”)

7. Don’t, Larkin Poe (“Don’t, Honey, don’t bust down my door/ Tellin’ me what I should do/ You’ve been around time and again/ But you don’t give a damn about where I've been” + “Don’t try to lie/ Don’t try to tell me/ Don’t try to buy me/ Don’t try to sell me/ (No) I know what I am/ (Lie) I know what I need.” This resonates more so with El toward Brenner to me. But I couldn’t help but think of Mike’s and Brenner’s superhero comparisons—with Mike constantly telling her she is a superhero despite her not wanting that. And the lying part. Also would refer to El coming into her own and moving past lies and things she doesn’t want, knowing instead what she is and needs.)

8. You’re No Good, Linda Ronstadt (Songfacts: About a woman who comes to the conclusion that the guy she broke up with was trouble from the start, but, at the same time, realizes she has done bad things to him as well. Being toxic to each other.)

9. Head Over Heels, The Go-Go’s (More songfacts: Written by The Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine and Charlotte Caffey. Valentine describes this song as “one where I had a lot of phrases I’d written down, and they started connecting. Things like ‘One hand is reaching out, and one's just hanging on,’ and ‘Seems like my weaknesses just keep going strong’ were really about self reflecting and a dawning awareness that the band and certain areas of life were getting kind of out of control." Works as a self-awareness toward El’s relationship with Mike and realizing exactly what Brenner has put her through/ used her for.)

10. Dreams, Fleetwood Mac - Actually not songfacts, wow. Taken from storyofsong :

This is just a big Bruh moment, geez

11. Don’t Wanna Fight, Alabama Shakes (About seemingly endless fights that go on in a relationship filled with disagreements: “My life, your life/ Don’t cross them lines/ What you like, what I like/ Why can’t we both be right?/ Attacking, defending/ Until there’s nothing left worth winning”)

12. Let Me Go, HAIM (Whole song shows an unhealthy relationship that the couple has a hard time letting go of. The singer wants to be ‘set free’ from her lover and yet stay with him—because she feels like “nothing” without him. This one lyric pretty much sums up the most important takeaway of the song: “together we are not one/ We are nothing but holding on and on”)

13. Mind, Jack Ü (Mind games are being played, looks like one person is taking the relationship seriously and the other isn’t—another very unhealthy dynamic. The lyrics seem to suggest a repetitive desire to show the unserious person ‘how to love again’)

14. Cannonball, The Breeders (Songfacts: The Breeders’ Kim Deal says not to read into the song too much, but describes using the metaphor of a cannonball “to indicate a person who is reckless in love.” I mark this as an unhealthy relationship song for El simply because of the lyric “I’ll be your whatever you want.” That is a reckless thing to think in a relationship and it robs you of your sense of individuality. Reminds me of Max telling El she needs to try things on and see what feels like her. Not Hopper, not Mike, “You.” Ultimately doing herself a favor to begin being what she wants. This could also connect to her time with Brenner, being whatever he wanted her to be while he worked his father/daughter manipulation.)

15. Kept Me Crying, HAIM (specifically chose this one to cover here)

16. Stuck, The Aces (also covered this one here)

17. Jolene, Dolly Parton (It’s the insecure, begging tone of the song that gets me. You shouldn’t have to worry about your significant other leaving you for someone else. And I’m sure this is referring to when El saw Max with Mike in s2, but I have seen people talk/ joke about it being about Will. Imagine though, the lyric “He talks about you in his sleep” would be such a repressed Michael Wheeler slip-up because he definitely would not be dreaming of Max. BUT, I really don’t think El would respond to Will’s feelings in such a pleading way. Especially not at this point in the series. When she saw Mike with Max and knocked her off her skateboard, El was acting jealous and possessive. Fits better. Regardless, this is not a happy, secure love song.)

I’m not gonna stop laughing about Will as Jolene for awhile though

18. Holding Out For a Hero, Bonnie Tyler (Not a relationship song but I can still easily apply it to El and Mike: The song is like a requirement list for a man who needs to defy impossible standards. It’s reminiscent of El’s overly romanticized soap operas. El expected her relationship with Mike to be something it couldn’t be, because he cannot possibly be what she wants/ thinks she wants. Cannot help but laugh at the “I need a Superman to sweep me off my feet” lyric too.)

✨Bonus✨

Papa Don’t Preach. The ‘Daddy I love him song.’

“Daddy if you could only see

Just how good he’s been treating me

You’d give us your blessing right now

‘Cause we are in love”

lol Hopper would vomit

#milkvan is bones #dry bones #super dry #i will indeed not let go of jolene will #el’s playlist #st analysis #not a byler centric post but still #byler #it’s relevant #mike wheeler #mike wheeler is not straight

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palant1r · 3 years

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An Incomplete List Of Wrightworth Songs That Unlock Forbidden Emotions

And Some Of Their Lyrics That Most Make Me Want To Lie On The Floor And Yearn

GHOST - INDIGO GIRLS

"Now I see your face before me I would launch a thousand ships To bring your heart back to my island As the sand beneath me slips As I burn up in your presence And I know now how it feels To be weakened like Achilles With you always at my heels"

THE CAVE - MUMFORD AND SONS

HATE THAT YOU KNOW ME - BLEACHERS (ALSO PRETTY MUCH THE ENTIRETY OF THE GONE NOW ALBUM)

45 - BLEACHERS

"Now you're just the stranger that I know best"

'TIS THE DAMN SEASON - TAYLOR SWIFT (SPECIFICALLY, BEANIX HELPING EDGEWORTH WITH CASES IN EUROPE)

"I won't ask you to wait if you don't ask me to stay So I'll go back to L.A. and the so-called friends Who'll write books about me, if I ever make it And wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles I'm fakin' And the heart I know I'm breakin' is my own

To leave the warmest bed I've ever known"

THE RUN AND GO - TWENTY ONE PILOTS

"Don't wanna call you in the nighttime Don't wanna give you all my pieces Don't wanna hand you all my trouble Don't wanna give you all my demons You'll have to watch me struggle From several rooms away"

CANDLE (SICK AND TIRED) - THE WHITE TIE AFFAIR

just. just the entire song. it's about phoenix after edgeworth's note

TO LIVE A LIFE - FIRST AID KIT

"I wrote you a letter To make myself feel better To redeem some part of me I thought I had lost And we were a lost cause Long before we fell apart 'Cause honey, I was too eager And you were too smart"

SUNBURN - OWL CITY

"Oh afterglow, look out below! We'd left a trail of dust behind As we parted ways, she held my gaze, And left an imprint on my mind I tried not to cry as we said goodbye And hung the clouds above my town But I shed a tear when she disappeared 'Cause now I'm a stranger on the ground"

#anyway i can link the whole 8 hour playlist in a reblog if anyone wants #wrightworth #narumitsu #ace attorney #in honor of tomorrow being our high holy day #andy rambles

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ssahoodrathotchner · 3 years

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Jacket

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader

Requested by: @hqtchner and inspired by this gif

Word Count: 1.1k

Prompt(s): 12 Stealing a sweatshirt/other item(s) of clothing

Summary: Aaron loans you his jacket and there’s no way he’s getting it back.

Warnings: swearing, car chase/car crash, injuries/blood, Aaron being soft and concerned

A/N: ngl this turned out more angsty (i guess????) than i originally planned but it’s still got fluff !!

Masterlist

--- It’s been a long case, and to make things worse, as soon as the team pulled up to his house, Tyler Carter took off in his car, prompting a car chase that has taken the better part of the last twenty minutes of your life.

The one thing making your day better was the fact that Aaron decided to wear his FBI windbreaker.

At least you have something nice to look at while chasing a murderer, right?

Tearing off after him, the first SUV—Aaron driving, you sitting shotgun, Prentiss and Reid in the back—kept easily on his tail while the second SUV—Morgan driving, Rossi shotgun, JJ in the back—cut through the neighborhood in search of a way to stop Tyler before he could get too far. However, one inconvenient intersection light later and now both SUVs were trying to catch up to him.

Swearing softly, Aaron takes a hard right before speaking into his comms “Garcia, any idea where he’s going?”

“Yes, Sir,” she chimes in almost immediately. “It looks like he’s currently heading towards the high school.”

“Good thing school’s out for the day,” Morgan states, and you can’t help but agree.

“Garcia, can you call local PD and make sure they clear the school campus?” you ask. “We don’t know what his endgame is and we don’t need anyone else getting hurt.”

You hear Aaron make a noise that sounds vaguely like “good call” but all your attention is on making it to the high school.

Speeding into the parking lot, Aaron throws the car into park without even bothering to pull in to a parking space.

You barely register Emily’s urgent “Look out!” before Tyler Carter’s car comes flying in, smashing directly into the hood of the SUV on your side.

The car jerks to the side, throwing you around as the windshield fractures in front of you. Vaguely, you can feel Aaron’s arm across your chest, holding you in place, as the airbags deploy around you.

“What the fuck was that for?” you groan.

Ears ringing, you swing your head to look at Aaron, hearing Reid and Prentiss moving around behind you, muttering.

Aaron’s already talking into his comms, and you can hear his voice in your ear as your mind clears.

“…Morgan and JJ, take point with local PD. We have at least—” his gaze turns to you and he frowns, “—we have at least one agent down.”

“Prentiss, Reid…?” Aaron’s question goes unspoken.

“We’re okay,” Reid answers, Emily groaning in agreement.

You can hear one of the back doors open, and the sounds of Spencer and Emily sliding out, voices raised, as they help with Tyler’s arrest.

“You okay, Sweetheart?” Aaron asks tentatively, hand moving to swipe at a cut bleeding on the side of your face.

You scrunch your eyes closed, clearing your mind, before taking a deep breath. Ouch.

“’M fine,” you answer, eyes opening to find Aaron looking at you worriedly, the creases in his forehead shifting as he surveys your face. “This is not how I thought today would go.”

Carefully, you move to sit upright in your seat, blinking a few times to find the windshield cracked in front of you, and the window on your side shattered.

Hence, the cuts on your face.

Ouch.

Suddenly, Aaron’s at your side, pulling the car door open and helping you stand, an arm carefully placed around your shoulder to help keep you standing. He leads you to the back of the SUV where you both come to a stop, and watch as local PD place Tyler Carter in the back of a squad car before driving off.

With a sigh, you pull your arms closer to your chest, feeling the chill in the air, when Aaron’s warmth leaves your side. Before you can even think of objecting to his absence you realize that he’s taking off his FBI windbreaker and wrapping it around you.

You quickly slip your arms through the sleeves, letting them hang past your fingertips before reaching back to pull both Aaron’s arms around you. Leaning back into his chest, you appreciate the warmth of his jacket—how is he so warm?—the two of you watch as the rest of the team and local PD wrap-up.

“You should get checked out by medical,” Aaron says with a sigh, and you can just picture the small frown on his face.

“I’m fine, Love,” you respond. “Pretty sure it’s all superficial cuts and bruises. No concussion or serious injuries.”

“I’d feel better if— “

“Aaron,” you look up, cutting him off. “I’m okay,” you add, smiling at his worried face.

Looking unconvinced, you roll your eyes before stretching up to kiss the underside of his jaw. His eyes close for the briefest moment as he pulls you further into his chest, resting his head on yours.

“Thanks for the jacket,” you say, tugging it even closer to your body. “You’re never getting it back.”

Aaron huffs a laugh and kisses the top of your head. “I’m sure I can find another one, Sweetheart.”

“Good,” you say with a grin. “Because this one is mine.”

“Hey lovebirds,” Rossi’s voice interrupts your teasing. “We’re all done here.”

“What about the SUV?” you ask, gesturing at the wrecked car behind you.

“The field office will pick it up, since it’s clearly not going anywhere,” Rossi says, raising his eyebrows. “Reid and I will catch a ride back to the station with an officer. The rest of you can take the other car,” he supplies before turning to Aaron. “You, however, will not be driving.”

With a short laugh, you turn to face Aaron, just in time to watch his frown deepen at Rossi’s remark. You kiss his cheek before disengaging, adjusting his jacket around you before reaching for his hand.

The two of you walk over to the second SUV, Derek already in the driver’s seat and JJ in the passengers. Aaron—ever the gentleman—opens the door for you and you slide into the middle seat, giving Emily a questioning look that she waves off. Aaron slots in behind you and once all of you are situated, Derek begins driving back to the police station.

“Nice coat,” Prentiss smirks. “Where’d you get it?”

“Oh, you know,” you say, matching her smile. “Crime scene couture.”

Emily, JJ, and Derek laugh at your statement, and you don’t even have to look at Aaron to know he’s got a small smile as well.

Leaning into Aaron’s side once again, you press a kiss to his shoulder with a small sigh.

“I hope you know I’m not giving this back to you,” you say softly.

Aaron snorts. “I didn’t think you were, Sweetheart.”

With a content smile, you let yourself relax against Aaron’s side, smile growing wider when he kisses your forehead.

There are worse ways to end a case, and at least you got a new jacket.

--- Tag list (dm to be added): @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @averyhotchner @prentisswrites @mylovelysnowflake @hqtchner @fakin-it-til-i-make-it @emlynblack @clarawatson @andromedasstarship @madamsnape921 @mac99martin @midsummernightdream @itsmytimetoodream @homoose @whosscruffylooking @agentaaronhotass

#andi writes #andi hits 400 🥰#aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x fem!reader #aaron hotchner x y/n #aaron hotchner x you #hotch x reader #hotch #aaron hotchner #aaron hotch hotchner #aaron hotchner fanfiction #cm fanfic #criminal minds #bau

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maxineswritingcenter · 3 years

Text

You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 6

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

To say that I was doing well after I left Derek’s house would be a lie. I really don’t understand why it hurts so much. We barely knew each other outside of a few encounters. Was it just me that felt the aching in my chest? I want to believe that he felt the same thing, but that seemed selfish. That I wanted him to miss me. That I dreamed of him showing up at my window and begging to see me. But that wouldn’t be real, that was a fantasy. Derek would never act like that. That was just my fantasy.

I promised Stiles I wouldn’t get romantically involved with Derek, but it was more painful than I have ever imagined.

I sat in Coach Finstock’s office while the school day went on. Relacing the netting on the crosses that were used in case any of the players broke their own. The repetitive movements were mind numbing so it was probably for the best. I could zone out and not think about Derek.

Tonight was parent teacher conferences for some students who weren’t doing well academically, both Scott and Stiles were a part of that list. But who could blame them? One of them was a werewolf and the other was friends with the aforementioned werewolf. The weeks seemed to run together, it didn’t even feel like autumn yet, but we were halfway to winter.

I had stayed away like I promised. The only times I even heard about Derek was from what Scott told Stiles. They were both planning on finding the alpha and taking him down together. That would be good for him. Good for both of them. I have been feeling so many emotions since then. A lot of anxiety and anger. But they never felt like my own. I sighed and rested my eyes for a minute, the repeated movements slowing my brain down enough to sleep on Coach’s desk.

The man in front of me was badly burned, one side of his face was pink and muddled, much of his hair was burned on that side.

“I need your help.” Derek’s voice echoed, “If you can hear me, I need you to give me a sign. Blink. Raise a finger. Anything. Just… Just something to point me in the right direction, okay?” The man, his Uncle Peter, stayed in the same position.

He sighed, “Someone killed Laura. Your niece, Laura? Whoever he is, he’s an Alpha now… but he’s one without a pack, which means he’s not as strong. I can take him. But, I have to find him first.” Still no response.

“Look, if you know something, just give me a sign. Is it one of us? Did someone else make it out of the fire?”

Still getting no response, he became agitated, “Just give me anything! Blink! Raise a finger! Anything!” He growled, reaching for the man, “SAY SOMETHING”!

“Hey.” I jolted at the sound of Finstock’s voice. He stood in the doorway of his office.

“You alright, kid?” He asked, his eyes went from my face to the crosse that I was aggressively fixing the net on. What was that? Was I… seeing what Derek was seeing? No, that was impossible. Insane even.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” I went back to relacing, tugging the knots taut and reaching for a lighter to burn the ends of the string so they wouldn’t unravel.

“Do I need to kick his ass?” He asked, his large eyes looking a little more crazy than usual. He was trying to seem threatening, but I wasn’t threatened by his booming voice and looks anymore. He was alluding to someone not treating me right but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

I chuckled a little, “No. It’s not his fault. He’s going through a lot right now.” I stood up and placed the crosse in the spare locker with the rest of them, “Besides, I probably shouldn’t be dating considering the last guy I was dating murdered my parents and tried to murder me.” The humor was dark, but what a way to cope.

“Any news on that guy?” He stood up straight, walking to his desk.

“Nope. I think he skipped town. He’s the feds' problem now.”

“Does Stiles want to be a doctor?” He changed the subject, he was looking at a paper in his hand.

“Uh… Not that I know of.” I shrugged.

“Because he wrote a detailed history of male circumcision on his economics test.”

I got out late, well past the time the student teacher meetings were over. Filing records, grading a couple things for Finstock and ordering more pearls for the upcoming games since we were running low. These days really run together, especially when you’re trying to forget most of the year that happens.

Speaking of happening, was I really seeing the same thing Derek could? It didn’t make sense. They were just random dreams. Like the one the other day where Derek was speaking to this woman about how she didn’t kill his sister. That was just a dream. But… Why could I feel sadness? Sadness, guilt and pain.

I got home, seeing that Stiles’ Jeep was nowhere in sight meaning that he was off to do more werewolf nonsense with Scott. I trusted Scott to keep him safe, but that didn’t mean I wanted Stiles running around where there was an alpha on the loose.

That night I made dinner, ate, saved two plates for Uncle Noah and Stiles and sat in the living room. They were running a story on another body that had been found. A bus driver killed in an animal attack. They were calling it a mountain lion. A mountain lion was more likely than a werewolf normally. But here we are. Officially werewolf capital of the world. I turned off the TV and laid back on the cushions, closing my eyes. Maybe a couch nap would relax me a little, it would kill my back in the morning, but I would be able to tell when Stiles came home.

Scott and Stiles were walking towards me across the school lawn, playfully pushing each other.

“I’m gonna kill both of you.” Derek’s voice said, “What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?” He was frustrated and angry, but also a little scared. Finding the alpha is what he needed to do, at the same time though, this person got the jump on Laura.

“Sorry…I didn’t know it would be that loud…” Scott said sheepishly.

“Yeah, it was loud… And it was awesome!” Stiles cheered.

“Shut up.” Derek barked.

“Don’t be such a sour wolf.” Stiles mocked.

“What’d you do with him?” Scott asked, looking around me.

“What?” Derek asked, I turned to see an empty backseat, “I didn’t do anything…” I saw Scott and Stiles’ eyes widen as pain exploded through my back. Blood gushed from my mouth as I was lifted up. I was coughing and choking on my own blood. Pain and fear were running through me, my heart pumping so quickly causing more and more blood to gush from my mouth. The last thing I saw was the world rushing by me as I was thrown towards the school wall.

I woke up before I made impact. My heart was racing and my back ached. I reached behind myself awkwardly. The only thing I felt was the raised bumpy scar from my stab wound. So it was just a dream, but it felt so real. So…Was it real? Did I just experience Derek…

I looked up at the clock and saw it was well into the early morning. I got up and made my way upstairs, Stiles’ door was slightly open and there was still light inside. I just went in, panic already starting to build in my chest. Stiles was sitting at his computer, he turned and looked up. He looked like he had a long night.

“Stiles, is…” I swallowed thickly, “Is Derek d-…Dead?” My lip was trembling. He opened his mouth to answer then closed it. He avoided my eyes.

“I really don’t know.” He explained what happened at the school that night. How the alpha attacked them and chased them around the school and that when they got out, Derek’s body was gone.

“I don’t know if he crawled off somewhere or if the alpha dragged him away before the cops showed up. But I’m pretty sure I won’t have to go back to school until Monday. We tried to blow the alpha up. And we also kinda blamed Derek for it.”

I shook my head and chuckled, “Nice. Throwing a dead man under the bus, after all he’s done for me.”

“It wasn’t my idea!” He shouted in a hushed tone, “We thought he was dead for sure. But now I don’t know. Besides, we couldn’t give up the big secret to a hunter’s daughter, a dick, and Lydia who has been through enough already.” I nodded and left the room. He called after me but I couldn’t be in the room anymore. Just… they could have blamed anyone. A rabid animal even, but they were blaming Derek. I closed the door and leaned against it, slowly sliding down until I met the floor. My chest felt tight and I wanted to cry. I had cried so much lately I didn’t know if I could. My emotions were running so high and it was so confusing? Why was everything so different?

It was Monday morning and tonight was another full moon, meaning Scott was jumpy and could turn at any moment. The night before they had gone off to “hang” but Stiles was really bad at hiding the alcohol he had taken to get drunk with Scott.

I was eating cereal at the kitchen table when Stiles came down. He was groaning and definitely hungover.

“Booze doesn’t pay, does it?” I smiled.

“You’re more chipper than usual.” He grimaced a bit, holding his head.

“Not chipper, just really good at fakin’ it.” I went in for another spoonful. He looked away, hearing Uncle Noah coming through the kitchen on his phone.

“We are watching his family’s house. Maybe he’ll wind up there?” Uncle Noah looked up, seeing Stiles, “Give me a second.”

“Don’t you have a test to get to?” He asked.

“What’s going on? Did you find Derek yet?” Stiles asked, more pep in his voice.

“I’m working on it. You go take your test.” He said firmly.

“All right, Dad, listen to me-” Stiles stood up.

“Go!” He shouted, I had never heard him shout before.

“This is really important! You have to be careful tonight, okay? Especially tonight.”

“Stiles, I’m always careful.”

“Dad, you’ve never dealt with this kind of thing before, okay? At least, not like this.”

“I know. Which is why I brought in people who have. State detective. Go take your test.” Stiles grumbled but grabbed his book bag and left the house. Uncle Noah sighed and went back to his phone call as he followed Stiles out the door.

Later on in the day, Stiles texted me. He probably shouldn’t be, especially with his test.

STILES: Scott had a panic attack about Allison. He said he might kill someone.

I sighed, my thumbs dancing over the phone screen.

(Y/N): Then we’ll chain him up so he can’t get out. I’ll pick up some chains at the hardware store.

After a stop at the hardware store, I got to the lacrosse fields where Coach Finstock was looking over a list.

“How’s the pink-eye epidemic?” I asked. He rolled his eyes.

“Real good, half of my players had to go on the bench. Goddammit, Greenberg.” I looked over the list.

“Who’s Bilinski?” I squinted at his sloppy writing.

“That one.” He pointed his pen towards Stiles.

“You put Stiles on the first line?” I smiled, perhaps my subtle hints had worked.

“Yeah, and we made McCall co-captain.”

I blew air out of my mouth, “I’m sure Jackson shit a brick.”

He shook his head, “Yeah, he’s not taking it well.” I shrugged and made my way over to the bench where Scott and Stiles were in the middle of a conversation. I didn’t join, just listened in.

“Yeah, she likes you. She’s totally into you.” Scott smirked. Stiles grinned, clearly excited. The She in this scenario could be none other than Lydia Martin. But there was something about Scott’s tone that threw me off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lydia making her way to her seat in the bleachers, pulling out a compact mirror and fixing her lipstick. I didn’t want to believe that Scott would do that to his friend, but the facts were pointing towards it.

Practice seemed to be going well, that is until Scott got pushed over during a practice run. I could practically feel his anger from across the field.

“All right, you’re up, big boy! Let’s go!” Coach called. Scott retaliated this by knocking into another player, and sending him hard on his back. I winced, intaking a breath through my teeth.

“That’s it, McCall! That’s the spirit! You earn it! Earn it, McCall!” Coach grinned. Maybe this is why we had so many players on the bench. Coach could see victory when Scott played. It was Stiles' turn on the offensive against Scott. With the full moon so close, I don’t think their friendship would do Stiles any favors, he shoved Stiles away just as hard and fast as the other player. Each time he got a goal. The next player, Danny, also was a victim of werewolf rage since Scott hit him in the face, sending him to the ground. I grabbed Coach’s whistle and blew it, calling for the play to pause.

I jogged up to Danny and knelt down, some other players surrounded as well.

“Danny, can you hear me?” He nodded slowly, holding his bleeding nose. I stood up, “Take him to the bench guys.” I walked back over to Stiles and Scott.

“Everybody likes Danny. Now everybody’s gonna hate you.”

“I don’t care.” Scott said smugly. Stiles shook his head and went back to the benches.

“What the hell is your problem? You make co-captain and it goes to your head.” I shoved his shoulder. He breathed out, his eyes glowed yellow

“You don’t want to mess with me right now.”

I narrowed my eyes, “Is that a threat?” He smirked, his eyes going up and down my body.

“It could be.” I looked at him in disgust.

“First Lydia and now me? You’re a really shitty friend, Scott.” I made my way back to Stiles who was staring back at the bleachers. Jackson and Lydia were talking.

“He did it.” He whispered. I squeezed his arm lightly. It was going to be a long night.

That night, Stiles and I went to the McCall’s house to get prepared for the full moon. Stiles carried a duffle bag to the best of his ability, even though it had the steel chains and locks I had bought. One of the only reasons I came was so if I needed to I could get him out quickly. The other was because I didn’t know how he would react to the situation with Lydia. Stiles unlocked the door and went inside. Did Mrs. McCall know he had a key?“

Scott?” We heard her call. Mrs. McCall turned the corner and saw us in the hallway. She was in her scrubs, probably going in for a late night shift.

“Stiles.”

“And (Y/N).” I waved.

“Ah.” Her eyes went to Stiles' hand, she pointed, “Key.”

“Oh, yeah, I had one made.” Well, that answers that question.

“That doesn’t surprise me. It scares me, but it doesn’t surprise me” And then, like a buffoon, Stiles dropped the duffel bag with a heavy thud.

“What is that?”

“Uh, school project.” He lied. Mrs. McCall, who either believed the lie or just wanted to change the subject, asked: “He’s okay, right?”

“Who, Scott? Yeah, totally.” Stiles lied.

“He just doesn’t talk to me, not much anymore. Not like he used to.” She said somberly. I could only imagine that’s how my mom felt when I went into high school and into a phase where parents were uncool.

“Well, he had a bit of a rough week.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I get it. Yeah. Um, okay. Uh, be careful tonight.”

“You, too.”

“Full moon.” She looked out the window. Stiles and I stiffened.

“What?”

“There’s a full moon tonight. You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nutjobs.”

“Oh.” He breathed out, both of our shoulders dropped.

“Yeah…” She said awkwardly.

“Right…”

“You know, it’s, um, actually where they came up with the word "lunatic.”

We opened the door to Scott’s room. Stiles dropped the duffel and turned on the lights. We both jumped when we saw Scott sitting in his computer chair.

“Oh my god.” I put a hand on my chest, trying to catch my breath.

“Dude, you scared the hell out of us. Your mom said you weren’t home.”

“I came in through the window.” he said blankly. Stiles and I shared a glance.

“Okay, um, let’s get this set up.” Stiles bent down to get into the duffel bag that was near the radiator, “(Y/N) got the heavy duty stuff.” I kept my distance from Scott, staying right by the door, ready to grab Stiles and book it.

“I’m fine,” Scott said, causing us both to stare, “I’m just gonna lock the door and turn in early.” We all knew a door wouldn’t stop him, he had other plans in mind.

“Are you sure?” Stiles asked, “Cause you got this kinda serial killer look goin’ on in your eyes. I’m hopin’ it’s the full moon taking effect cause it’s starting to freak me out.”

“I’m fine.” Scott repeated, “You should both go home.”

“Alright, we’ll leave.” He stood up then stopped, clearly trying to put his back up plan into motion, ‘Well would you at least look in the bag and see what we bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don’t.”

“Just in case you’re feeling a little anxious.” I smiled. Scott got up and walked to the duffel bag. He bent down and pulled out the thick, metal chains.

“You’re thinking I would put these on? Chain me up like a dog?” He snarled and dropped the chains.

“Actually, no.” Stiles quickly pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and slapped him on Scott’s wrist, chaining him to the heater. I grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him away when Scott lunged.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Scott growled.

“Protecting you from yourself.” Stiles sighed and glared, “And giving you payback. For making out with Lydia.” And there it was. Maybe I should have checked the bag for other items he bought. He went downstairs, leaving me and Scott in the bedroom.

“(Y/N), uncuff me!” He struggled.

I shook my head, “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I don’t have the key.”

He lunged and growled, causing me to jump. I looked away, embarrassed that I was showing him that I was afraid. But I was afraid. I’ve known this kid practically his entire life and he was turning into a completely different and dangerous person.

“You like that? Hmm?” He hummed suggestively. I shook my head, talking to him was probably going to just make things worse. Thankfully, Stiles had come back…with a dog bowl.

“I brought you some water.” He said, pouring water from a bottle into the bowl and setting it down in front of Scott.

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU” Scott roared and threw the bowl at Stiles.

“Stiles…” I whispered. The situation was getting dangerous.

“You kissed her, Scott! Okay? You kissed Lydia. And that’s my…The one girl that I have-'' Stiles shook his head, “You know, for the past three hours, I’ve been thinking it’s probably just the full moon, you know? He doesn’t even know what he’s doing and tomorrow he’ll be back to normal. He probably won’t even remember what a complete dumbass he’s been. A son of a bitch. A frickin’ unbelievable piece of crap friend.”

“She kissed me.” Scott interrupted.

“What?” Stiles looked so betrayed.

Scott grinned menacingly, “I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me.” Stiles glared and walked out of the room, I followed behind.

“She had her hands all over me, she would have done anything I wanted! ANYTHING!” Scott’s voice rang through the house. Stiles paced back and forth outside the door.

“Stiles?” Scott called through the door, “Please let me out. It’s the full moon, I swear! You know I wouldn’t do any of this on purpose. Stiles, let me out. This is starting to hurt. You said it, Stiles, it’s the full moon. It’s Allison breaking up with me. It’s not just a break, she broke up with me. It’s killing me! I’m feeling hopeless. Just let me out.” Stiles paused, looking towards the door. I looked him in the eye, shaking my head.

“He’s just trying to make you feel bad.”

Stiles nodded, “I can’t.” He called.

“No! No no no!” Scott shouted, followed by screaming. And then silence. Stiles opened the door, Scott was gone. Only broken handcuffs remained. I grabbed a set of chains and started going downstairs.

“Stiles, stay here.”

“(Y/N)!” He called, grabbing my arm before I went out the door.

“Stay put.” I glared, shutting the door behind me. Scott was a sweet kid normally. But if I needed to keep Stiles safe and if that meant knocking out a couple of his teeth then I would. I went around back to his window and followed the path of broken grass into the woods. I gripped onto the chains tightly, ready to swing if I needed to. My plan had been to knock him out and chain him to a tree. Not sure how well that would work though.

I stopped in a clearing, having lost the trail. Behind me a twig snapped. I’ve always been an act first, ask questions later in these situations. I swung the chain, cracking Scott across the face. My eyes widened at the state of him. Like Derek, he had coarse hair growing down his cheeks, the bridge of his nose was scrunched up and appeared more animal like, his brow bone protruded. His jawline though? Still weird.

Scott’s head had swung to the side with the chain, he looked back slowly, and glared as he spit blood onto the ground. The scrape on his cheek healed almost immediately.

Ha ha, I’m in danger.

“Scott.” I said cautiously, taking a slow step back, “You know me. I’m your friend.” He wasn’t moving closer, but he also hadn’t stopped looking at me with his glowing yellow eyes like I was food.

“So, uh, you blow off your steam. Do some running, clear your head, that good stuff. And I will see you tomorrow. Okay?” I smiled nervously, he didn’t answer, “Okay.” Now it was time to run since I had gotten myself a decent head start. I turned and ran, hearing a roar and footsteps behind me. I threw the chains back over my head, hoping to trip him or hit him in the head. That didn’t seem to do much since he didn’t slow down.

All at once I was body slammed to the ground and turned on my back. Scott was sitting on top of me, leaning down he roared loudly in my face. His large pointed canines shone in the moonlight.

I screamed, shoving and kicking at him, “SCOTT! SCOTT PLEASE!” He thrusted a clawed hand down towards my chest that I barely caught. He seemed slightly confused, but pushed down. I whined, using everything I had keeping his sharp claws from my chest. I couldn’t even breathe.

“Scott, please don’t hurt me.” I begged through my teeth. He roared again, raising his other arm to strike when something flashed across my vision. Whatever it was, it knocked Scott off of me. I gasped for air, my lungs and muscles were screaming at me. The two began to fight, growling and snarling. I sat up, scrambling to get out of the direction of the brawl. I couldn’t see much in the dark since the clouds had covered the moon, but whoever it was got Scott on the ground, roaring down at him. The other stood up straight just as the moon’s light peaked through. And there stood Derek Hale - tall, proud, and very much alive.

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Read part 7 here!

Oh boy, who could have seen that coming? Anyone who’s seen season 1, that’s who.

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