Chapter Text
Rejected Skye Euphemisms
(be warned, many of these don't even make sense)
- Did he show you his Hairy Houdini?
(I think there was something about Harry Potter too -- Hairy Porker, maybe?)
- Did he get trapped in your box?
- Did you let him pick any card?
- Did he stick his hands into your top hat? Did he pull out a Rabbit?
(For reference, a Rabbit is a type of vibrator.)
- Did he show you his Three-Card Full Monty?
(Talking about Fitz showing her a card trick.)
Trip's Song Titles
- Ray Sunshine
Sometimes a Person Takes You By Surprise
No New Toys
I'm the Special-est
Just Tryin' to Keep Things Light
Lucky to Have You
Every Day Another Brother
- The Noise & The Funk
Girl, I'm in Your Corner
Back From the Brink
Bring the Noise
I Wanted to Be the One
Girl, You Know I Look Good
Deleted Scenes
- From Super Sleuth Science Squad in the one-year flash forward.
"And just think - the answer was there all along, we just had to find it using science!" Jemma sighed. "If only we hadn't run into that pesky reporter…"
"Who's talking about me?" Bobbi swept onto the stage, followed by a couple deliberate strains of ominous music and a chorus of boos from the children.
"Miss Information," Fitz said frostily.
"That's Ms. Information," she sniffed. "And according to my research," she whipped out a small notebook, "42% of people believe the forks disappeared because of ghosts, 17% are convinced it was telekinesis, and 33% say it was a conspiracy by the school. Only 8% believe the explanation could be scientific." She flipped the notebook closed with a haughty roll of her shoulders. "So you see, you can't possibly be right. I've got the facts on my side."
-o-
- Originally, the scene where Fitz fixes the TV at Scout's, I'd written that the entire bar's electricity was shut off and everything went dark - you know, for mood lighting and stuff - so this is a piece from that version of the scene.
The bartender quickly sparked up his lighter, setting a few candles out on the counter and hopping onto a wine crate to give him a bit more presence. "Guys! Guys!" he called, over the protestations of a few patrons who were vociferously upset at having their soccer game cut off. "Calm down, nothin' to worry about, just a little short-circuit in the fuse box. We'll have it sorted before you can say Bob's your uncle."
Another man emerged from the kitchen area, apron still on and a dish towel draped over his shoulder. "Lance," he called to the bartender, and held up the box of tea lights in his hands. "Told you we'd need these…"
"And I told you we're not a candlelit-dinner sort of establishment. But fair is fair, Idaho - I will concede their usefulness in this one very particular scenario."
Epilogues & Head Canons
- Mack believes in second chances, and with Fitz moving on from Fungineers, he needs someone with similar skills to replace him. Mack hires Lincoln; Lincoln does not fuck everything up terribly a second time.
- Raina ends up with Cal. In this world, Raina is pretty much Cal's #1 fan and she's in love with him (when I was writing it, it wasn't quite so blatant yet that she was trying to surrogate-daughter him, so just… she's in love with him; it's fine) but Cal had never been interested. However, Cal gets amnesia, and Raina is there in the hospital and she totally takes advantage and says she's his wife and pulls a While You Were Sleeping/Overboard on him. It works out though, because it turns into The Vow because he never realizes it was a trick, so they're both happy.
- Ward eventually pisses off enough women in Treehouse Falls that he has to spend his Friday and Saturday nights helping Gramsy knit dog sweaters - which he doesn't mind, because family is so important. (That sounds like I'm implying he then set fire to Gramsy's house or something, but I'm not, you guys. He's honestly a pretty good grandson because she's the only woman who actually wants him around, so… he values that.)
- I like the idea that the Ice Machine Apocalypse lights show would've given Fungineers some sort of edgy/rebellious street cred with the adolescent crowd. Possibly, Donnie might've even tried to get the band back together.
Coulda Been
- Super Sleuth Science Squad went through sooooo many possible names/themes. The biggest contender was probably Sparkle Spaceship Science Squad, where they were on a spaceship and they all had glittery costumes. Also, I was going to have Robert Gonzalez cameo as the villain on Super Sleuth Science Squad - "No one knows his name. They call him The Admiral." (Little BSG ref in there. Oh well! Sometimes you just have to rein in some ideas and just finish the dang story, y'know?)
- I tossed around quite a few naming options for the town of Treehouse Falls, references to SHIELD, like Buston, Hubberg, Shieldville, Providence, etc. Treehouse Falls just sounds so picturesque, though. Plus, it's punny. (Oh! And incidentally I came up with some of the history of Treehouse Falls, but I'll save that in case I write the one-shot where they actually visit the historic treehouse the town is named for. Spoiler alert: there is also a waterfall.)
- Originally, Captain Chemistry was going to be Chemistry Queen, and the show Science is Super, instead of superheroes, was going to be a sort of castle/medieval theme. I liked the superhero thing better, because it allowed for the mistaken identity thing in the beginning, and obviously there are Captain America comparisons and well, "No capes." Gotta love The Incredibles! :-D
- Fitz's magician name was at one point going to be The Fantastic Fitz; also, Mack was going to be shown more often as Fitz's comically tall magician's assistant, and occasionally I wanted Mack to pick Fitz up and carry him around. Initially, their company offered all sorts of party performers, they (Fitz and Mack) themselves would dress up as whatever they could (Power Rangers, etc.) but they also offered temp jobs to people like Skye and Bobbi and Raina to show up to parties dressed as whatever the customer needed. So there was a scene slated in the beginning, where Fitz shows up to Jemma's workplace and tries to intimidate her with a "this town's not big enough for the two of us" type speech and very magnanimously offers to hire her out as part of his company and Jemma's like "... pretty sure I'm okay; I'll take my chances." Hehehe. But "Leo Fitz: Party Pimp" was ill-conceived and too complicated and, fortunately for y'all, got thrown out.
- As many clichéd tropes as I put in this thing, I had even more tossed around that I ended up chucking. Just… as kitchen-sinky as this fic is, it could've been a lot worse. So, thanks, betas!
Extra RumpledTux!Fitz Pictures
Most of these work as Fitz in his rumpled Amazing Leopold tux after a long day of turning magic tricks; happily, though, the first one works really well as Fitz getting into his Professor Smartbrain costume too.
