AUTHORS NOTE – PLEASE READ…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all. Nothing that has to do with The OC, and nothing that has to do with the film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

First and foremost…if you have not seen the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind…now is the time to turn around, because you'll have no idea what's going on.

This is a Ryan and Marissa story, using the story line of Eternal Sunshine… basically, think of Ryan as Joel, and Marissa as Clementine. In this story, the characters don't meet again the next day, they meet again five years later…so, the bulk of the story is Ryan reliving all his memories with Marissa from season one. The characters are kind of spit in half between Ryan and Marissa and Joel and Clementine. When the story jumps to when they meet again, in the future, they basically act as Joel and Clementine, and it follows the movie almost exactly. Thus creating a sort of passivity in Ryan, and a more liberated, kind of spunky, blue haired, and foul-mouthed Marissa. I wanted to keep those parts of screenplay, but I also had to make then teenagers, thus the time leap. Well…one of them, anyway.

I got my hands on a copy of the original screenplay for this film, so there are parts where I followed the screenplay as apposed to the movie…so even if you've seen the movie there will be some different stuff…particularly the beginning and ending, and some of the timeline…but I'm pretty sure it all makes sense. Also in dialogue, some Ryan and Marissa interactions start with a classic season one interaction, and can turn into a conversation Joel and Clementine were having, or vice a versa.

As far as the plot line concerning Mierzwiak, Mary, Stan and Patrick, that is as much part of the story as anything else is, sorry if you don't want to read that stuff, but it's pretty essential for the story. Anyway, there are a lot of things lifted directly from the movie and directly from The OC…it's all about blatant plagiarism…just kidding…although seriously now…who would truly ever want to re-write Kaufman? Charlie, or Andy, for that matter. I don't know if Andy ever actually wrote anything down though…sorry, rambling. Also, there is one small scene I stole from the Cameron Crowe, classic eighties movie, Say Anything. So…I don't own anything that has anything to do with Say Anything or Cameron Crowe, either. Anyway, I had to put it in because it was just too perfect. Besides, to know Lloyd Dobbler is to love him. If you've seen the movie, you'll know where it is.

Any words in italics are Ryan's point of view, unless otherwise specified, and from inside Ryan's head…if that makes sense. I used it very much in the same way they used the voice over in the film. Sometimes he's narrating, sometimes he's just thinking, sometimes he's talking to you…i.e. the reader. It's not hard to follow.

A few minor pieces of information: for the purposes of this fanfic, let's all just assume that Ryan and Marissa did actually sleep together at the end of "The Perfect Couple" episode…agreed? Good. Oh, and there's no Montauk in California…at least not that I know of, so open your mind a little bit on that one too.

Okay, so I hope I haven't officially confused the hell out of you…give it a shot, and let me know what you think.

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Just a thought…I'd recommend smoking a joint before reading this. Wait, what am I saying, I wouldn't want to be bias, so…choose whatever drug or hallucinogen that suits you…and enjoy.

Or not…