#if it meant it might reboot back to something close to normal

[cartoonscientist]

call me a hippie dippie bleeding heart socialist but I think if we’re willing to try assisted suicide to deal with mental illness without trying just giving people money so they don’t have to work first, I think that’s kind of evil. but that’s just me.

[vampyrsm]

Bakugou is teaching you how to make cake and all you care about is when you get to lick frosting from his fingers

shakes you around. THIS IDEA, THE HAND KINK ... I'm going to go insane !!!! I was going to answer all my asks on the weekend but you sent this, and I can't ignore it

Bakugou is a secretly very good baker, whilst everyone knows how good of a chef he is. He keeps his baking skills on the down low, he bakes cookies, cakes, brownies, cupcakes, all of it. And you're his taste tester. This meant you got to sit front row at the kitchen island watching Bakugou work his way through different tasty desserts.

Today? Cake. He said it was for Kirishima's kids' birthday, something Kirishima had to practically beg Bakugou to do. Under normal circumstances, you would simply sit there looking pretty for him whilst he chatted to you about his day and your own in return. But he insisted you'd help him today, figured he might as well show you how to make a good cake since you keep asking so many questions.

"Then you have to make sure the batter is thick, and silky." He instructs, dragging the rubber spatula through the batter to ensure he himself was following the instructions. You couldn't help but nod along, staring at how easily his wrists twist and turn to ensure he's gathering all the batter. Your mind repeating the way he said thick, and silky.

He moves to divide up the batter, you idly following behind him and holding the pans he'd need and he doesn't seem to notice just yet how you're not paying any attention at all. His voice is so soft as he continues to tell you just what to do, and you know you should feel a little guilty for wasting his time but god; you want his fingers in your fucking mouth.

"Oi." he snaps his fingers, your eyes big and owlish when you look up at him, "Did you hear a thing I said? No? The fuck were you doin' then?" he answers whilst you shake your head, eyes drifting back down to his hands and he raises an eyebrow. "What?"

He notices the batter on his fingers from where he had to wipe the pan clean along the edges to ensure it didn't bake at an odd angle. He makes a move to grab a sheet of kitchen roll but you're grabbing at his wrist, and he's far too confused and a little surprised that you just grabbed him. "What're you do—" the words die on his tongue when your tongue presses against the pad of his finger, curling around the digit before you're closing your lips around his finger.

Bakugou can't stop the way his cock twitches at the way you're practically sucking his finger off, cleaning the batter off of his index and thumb slowly.

"There," you smile innocently when you drop his hand as if you didn't just turn him the fuck on. You turn away from him when he's still stood there rebooting his brain to try and catch up on what the fuck just happened.

He grabs your waist, pulling you back into his hard chest to duck his head low enough to let his lips brush against your ear. "Bedroom. Now."

[alejandroseyepatch]

How about some little chase from the total drama reboot

Regressor! Chase w/ Caregiver! Zee

It had been about ten minutes since Chase had begun to put stickers all over Zee’s face. Zee didn’t mind it in the slightest, plus it was keeping Chase entertained which wasn’t the easiest thing to do.

“How many stickers are on me?” Zee asked. Chase stopped and looked at Zee’s face. There were a lot of stickers on his face, almost his entire face was covered.

“A million!” Chase giggled, sticking even more on Zee. “A million? That’s a lot of stickers.” Chase nodded as he giggled more, making Zee smile.

Though, after a couple more minutes, Chase had ended up running out of stickers. The little frowned, dropping the now empty slip of paper.

“All gone…” Chase mumbled, rubbing the small tears out of his eyes. “Oh, well it’s okay. Maybe we can go find some more somewhere.” Zee suggested. Chase aggressively shook his head, a very angry pout growing on his face.

If Chase got upset over anything, even the tiniest little thing, he will throw a fit over it. Zee was well aware of that and he knew it was bound to happen eventually.

“Relax, little dude. We can figure something out.” Zee said. “No! I want those ones!” Chase pointed at the stickers on Zee’s face. “Maybe we can find another copy of them.” Zee responded, though that only seemed to make Chase even more mad.

“If you don’t want different stickers, then how about we play something else.” Zee spoke. “I don’t wanna! I want…I want..” Chase cut himself off as he began to sob.

“Woah, little guy. It’s okay.” Zee said calmly. He held Chase close and began to rock him and rub his back. Zee was really good at calming down Chase whenever he’d get upset. Or any little for that matter.

After about five, Chase had begun to calm down. He was curled up in Zee’s lap and sucking on his thumb, small whines, sniffles, and whimpers leaving him.

Zee kept rocking him slowly. He figured Chase was probably tiredly. If he had a fit over something this small, it normally meant he was tired. And even if he wasn’t sleepy before his temper tantrum, then he definitely was now.

“Maybe you should try taking a quick nap, buddy. I think you might be sleepy.” Zee told him. Chase whined, moving closer to Zee.

“You can sleep in my lap. I don’t mind, as long as you get some rest.” Zee shrugged. Chase didn’t make a sound, but he did let his eyes slowly close. Zee smiled.

“Night, little dude.”

[hobbit-in-kuroshitsuji]

Kuroshitcember 2022 Prompt Nr. 4

Prompt: Pick a male character and dress them up in drag! Ciel doesn’t count. Why are they in drag? Do they like it? How do people react? Is this a regular occurrence? What happens next?

You can find all prompts here!

All of these will be uploaded/archived to this blog's Ao3 eventually

Summary: William walks in on Ronald and Grelle dressing up in dresses, but doesn't make them change back into approved uniforms when he realises this subconsciously means a lot to Ronald. CW: Slight angst, implied deaths and suicide, but fluff in supportive shinigami family :3

(This prompt let me go wild with a new HC I have about Ronald’s past and sexual orientation…)

“What… is going on here?” William had paused in the doorway so abruptly that it had almost looked as though he’d walked straight into a glass door.

But he hadn’t.  

He had just walked in on Grelle and Ronald… dressed up in pretty dresses.

Ronald grinned widely, lips painted red to offer a strangely sultry smile – it suited him. Normally, if William caught Ronald doing something other than his work, the young man would be a little flustered and try to explain. This time, though, Ronald seemed to be in his element.

Confident.

Comfortable.

“We have to go undercover,” Grelle explained, pulling a pose to show off her hips to William which the reaper promptly ignored.

“You don’t have to do anything,” William said with a scoff. “You are grim reapers. You can be invisible to mortals.”

“But this is more fun! We finally get to make use of my beautiful ballgowns!” Grelle continued to blabber on about her dresses, disappearing into her own world where, apparently, Ronald and William were keenly listening to her go on and on about the dresses she had made (instead of working, Will dryly noted). They were rather eloquent and beautiful, matching the red colour of her hair and flaunting the curves she held which even William could see would drive other women into jealousy.

“Ah, don’t look so sour, sir,” Ronald offered with what had to be a light-hearted bump of the elbow against William’s side – but William only glared at the touch. “It made Sutcliff happy, and besides, it’s not my first time in a dress.”

Quirking a curious eyebrow, William watched as Ronald’s green eyes twinkled with light not present in the room, a clear sign the reaper was digging into memories meant to be suppressed – memories of his past.

Tensing, William remained quietly listening in respect, worry gnawing at his heart despite his stone cold face showing otherwise.

“Whenever home got particularly shitty, me and the lads would stay out long past any pub’s closing hours. I found myself some nice friends who knew where the nightlife continued, if you catch my drift, sir. Down in basements of what society thought to be the most heteronormative of nobles; aristocrats during the day, and their true selves during the night. There was not a single man down there shying away from who they were. No lads… Just friends exploring.”

“And you joined them?” William asked despite himself. He knew urging Ronald to dig further into these memories might only bring emotional hurt to the reaper… but, this was new to William.

“During the evenings I could enjoy the company of a woman, and during the late nights I could enjoy the company of men. The best of both worlds, like I liked it.” Then his eyes flashed green again, any expression disappearing from his face for a second or two, his entire being pausing for two seconds as if he was… dead again. As if his use of past tense had suddenly driven him straight into realising his own fate… knocking him back to the dreadful reality of immortality.

Then he suddenly continued, brain rebooted, memories supressed. “Sorry ‘bout that, what was I talking about? Oh, right, the mission.”

William took a deep breath, watching with sympathy gnawing at the bottom of his stomach as Ronald repeated the Shinigami mission given to him and Grelle, as though he had not just revealed to William his bisexuality and admiration for undercover societies of non-hetero people.

“Of course,” William said with a nod of his head, playing along as Ronald’s mind shielded itself from harsh realities. “Good luck out there.”

William turned and left, quicker than he would have liked.

It was never nice to be reminded of their mortality and what awful things might have happened to his fellow reapers. He cared not for what might have happened to him. He cared for them –

But he would never admit that. They were meant to work, and he would ensure they kept working hard.

Though… from time to time, William could allow a little bit of fun…

Especially if he could mask it as essential to a mission.

__ taglist: @eemoo1o-animoo

[fictionalpeter]

Roswell fic preview

Going to actually try and write this fic I'm had in my head since the reboot renewed my interest four years ago. The basic premise is it picks up where the original show left off. Think of it as an alternate season 4. Kind of a 'fix it' for the dangling plot threads the show never resolved.

Although I'm also going to introduce some elements from the books and the reboot show as well.

Anyway, he's a short preview. A Max/Liz scene, of course:

================================================

Somewhere outside of Texas, Liz sat on the roof of the motel writing in a notebook. It wasn’t her journal, but something else.

“I thought I might find you up here”

Liz looked up to see Max approaching her, carrying two glasses.

“Guess you can take Liz Parker out of Roswell,” Max commented. “But you can’t take Roswell out of Liz Parker.”

“Well, it’s not the Crashdown roof, but really—what is?” she quipped, tilting her head to the side. “Please tell me that’s not alcohol!”

“Ginger Ale,” Max reassured her. “Never let it be said I don’t learn from my mistakes. Eventually.”

He sat down next to her.

“I can’t believe how much of a jerk I was that night,” he sighed. “Every thing I said about us not being together, and how it wasn’t safe—and I was the one getting jealous over a stupid contest you entered because of it…”

“That Maria entered for me,” Liz corrected him. “Without my express permission, might I add?”

Max chuckled at that.

“And you weren’t a jerk, Max,” Liz assured. “Far from it. At the time, I remember thinking it was the worst night of my life. But looking back—it turned out to be one of the best.”

“The best?” Max asked, confused.

Liz didn’t say anything. She just nodded, giving him the purest smile she could muster.

“I wish I could remember,” Max mused. “I’ve lost an entire lifetime of memories, but if I had to pick one to have back, it would be that.”

“Here…” Liz whispered, leaning towards him. “Let me show you…”

Closing her eyes, Liz placed her hand on Max’s cheek...concentrating.

FLASHBACK

‘Let’s just keep running, you and me—away from here! Away from everything! I see everything so clearly now: we’ll go someplace where no one knows us. As long as we’re together, nothing else matters.’

‘You’re drunk. Nothing that you’re saying is true!’

‘It’s all true, Liz. It’s how I really feel. It’s all just magic when think about you.’

‘Turn it off, Max! Anyone can see…’

‘And when I’m not with you…I go crazy.’

‘Max…’

‘When you’re here…’

‘Max, please…’

‘You’re my dream girl, Liz.’

‘What if I believe you tonight?’

‘Then we live happily ever after’

‘And then what about tomorrow? When you go back to realizing who you really are, and all your fantasies go away?’

‘I’ll still have you’

‘This—this can never be normal, Max.’

‘What’s so great about normal?’

END FLASHBACK

Liz breaks the connection, surprised how easy that was. She had created the connection this time, rather than just been a recipient of Max’s own powers. It was something that both excited her and terrified her.

However, the scientist in her quickly took a backseat when she noticed tears in Max’s eyes.

“Max?” she asked. “Are you crying?”

“All this time, I thought—I don’t know, that I hurt you,” he admitted. “Not physically, but—that I ruined your night, that I lashed out and said something hurtful but—all I said was the truth. Everything I was so scared of saying out loud.”

Max took her hand.

“But the things I said, and how they made you feel—I didn’t know I was capable of that.”

“You meant it?” Liz teased. “Every word?”

Max nodded.

“Thank you for showing me that,” he said. “I was so—hopeful. I’ve made a lot of mistakes since then, but—I’m trying to do better. I hope that, somehow, I can be that guy for you again.”

“I don’t think he ever went away,” Liz reassured him. “Just buried underneath all these other responsibilities and regrets and impossible choices. But part of being in a relationship is accepting the good along with the bad. In a way, I’m kind of glad I got to see you at your worst, too.”

The two of them hug, with Liz resting her head on his shoulder.

“I meant what I said three months ago,” she whispered. “For better or worse.”

“I don’t think I can get much worse,” Max said bitterly. “I’m going to try to do better, though.”

The two of them kiss, then lean back against the wall, staring up at the stars.

“I wonder if it actually exists,” Max mused.

“What does?”

“Someplace where no one knows us,” he continued. “Some place you and I really can live happily ever after.”

“I love you, Max Evans,” Liz told him. “Wherever you are, that’s where I’m happy.”

“And I love you, Liz Parker,” he replied. “Parker-Evans? You know—we never really discussed that part.”

Liz gave him a cheeky grin.

“Oh, I was thinking Evans-Parker,” she quipped. “I mean, don’t get me wrong—your parents are great, but you are adopted, so I’m a bit more attached to my name than you are to yours, don’t you think?”

“Ok, ok—how about we compromise, hmm?” Max teases. “Princess Elizabeth Evans-Parker.”

Liz raised an eyebrow.

“I’m an intergalactic king, remember?” Max teased. “Deposed, abdicated, but still technically royalty. Marrying me technically makes you a princess.”

“Oh yeah?” Liz challenged, jumping on Max so they both topple over. “Then maybe my lord hast best attend his maiden fair?”

Liz grabs Max’s collar and kisses him again.

“Whatever milady desires,” Max manages between breaths.

Unknown to either of them, Liz’s sketchbook has been left open off to the side. Fortunately, Max had been too preoccupied to notice its contents.

If he had, he’d have seen page after page of mathematical formulas and equations, blueprints, mind maps, sketches, and hastily drawn-out theories. And the very end is a caption:

“You were given the capacity to do everything the human brain is capable of”

==

increased intelligence???

[imkylotrash]

Perfidy

Pairing: Saul Silva x reader

Request: Reader is in alliance with Beatrix and has been sent by Rosalind to get close to S to find out more about the teachers' plans. After a while, she feels guilty coz she really fell in love with him and confesses about betraying their relationship and sabotaging his plans. S stays mad at her for a while but he loves her too so he forgives her maybe and then fluffy floof? Anonymous And Saul and Reader who is on Rosalind’s side; a highly regarded soldier entrusted to be one of the guards of Saul where he is imprisoned. Over time there is some kind of connection or attraction there (not sure if mutual) which complicates things. It can be unresolved/left open or if you come up with an ending cool! Anonymous

A/N I did a little twist at the end, and I'm not really sure how well it worked 😬

Tagging: @grey-girl @intoanothermind @artsyle @baueoud @glowingatdawn @anreeixcobra @kingunder221b @lflores2008 @alexiapayne12 @quarterback-5 @estelmei @alice-the-nerd @bitchwhytho @music-of-melody @shadowhuntyi

"Food." You place the tray on the floor backing out of the room to keep an eye on him. When the door closes, you take a deep breath that you didn't know you needed.

"That's all?" It's the first time you've seen him since Alfea. He looks horrible already. The Solarian prison is a tough place to survive. Part of you worries about him, but you push that in the back of your mind trying to crush any affection you might feel towards him. You can't like him - and he certainly doesn't like you.

"What do you mean?"

"You've got nothing else to say? After using me for information, making me believe that you lov-" Words fail the soldier as he looks at you through the glass that confines him. Of course, it isn't normal glass. It's been reinforced and manipulated to prevent cracking. It's the most secure prison in the whole of Solaria.

"I was doing my job." He throws the tray of food towards you but you don't flinch. It won't do any damage.

"That was a waste of food. Some people would kill for a meal like that."

"I feel like you're always running off to talk to Farah or Ben," you whine as he comes back from yet another long meeting. You want in on those meetings. You want to know what they're doing to keep the Burned Ones at bay. You want access to Dowling's office. You want it all, and you have to play this stupid game of pretending to be here just for Saul.

"Maybe you should just come next time then. I'm sure they'd appreciate your point of view," he says so casually that you almost drop the glass you're holding. It cannot be that easy. You've been seeing each other for three months and already, he seems to trust you.

"Really?" You could intel on Bloom to help Beatrix, you could find a way to break out Rosalind. It seems far too easy but he nods his head and as promised brings you with him for the next meeting. You're surprised by the guilt that lingers in the corners of your heart, as you walk back from the meeting hand in hand.

"I really liked seeing you involved tonight. It's nice bringing you and the rest of my world together," Saul admits a little sheepish.

"I appreciated you letting me be a part of it." The words roll off your tongue so easily it scares you a little. You squash the part of you that might hold any sort of feeling towards Saul and focus on the information you got tonight. Any day now, you'll be able to break out Rosalind.

"You think I care about food? I want to know what the hell is going on! What did you do to Sky?" Your fingers are itching to be run through his hair, but you also don't have a death wish at the moment so you stay on your side of the protective barrier.

"Sky is just fine. He's still at Alfea studying." This little piece of information seems to relax Saul slightly, but you can still see the betrayal in his eyes. He hates what you did to him, but you're not entirely convinced he actually hates you.

"I should've known you weren't being truthful. You never cared about anything other than yourself." You clench your jaw to keep yourself from admitting everything you've been ignoring for the past year but he sees the crack in your facade. He knows he hit a nerve, and he'll definitely be using that to his advantage later. There are no rules to how this game works anymore - something you're both very aware of.

"I'll let you get some sleep. I'll be back by dawn."

"Are you still awake?" You keep quiet hoping he'll believe that you're sleeping. You can't face him right now knowing that tomorrow he'll be given the title traitor and be escorted out of here in handcuffs. He's quick to undress and crawl under the covers. His warm body almost melts the ice you've tried to seal your heart with.

"I just wanted to let you know that I love you," he whispers unaware that you're awake. It's the first time he's said and even you can't ignore the butterflies in your stomach. As the amazing actor you have become, you pretend to slowly wake up.

"Hi baby," you whisper with a smile cuddling up to him. You don't say a word about what you just heard and he doesn't repeat it. But it hangs in the air between you.

"I'm sorry I woke up. Go back to sleep," he says kissing your forehead. How are you ever meant to go back to sleep after hearing that? Your entire body feels electrified to the point where you can't pretend you don't feel the same way about him. You want him even if goes against everything you believe in.

"I wasn't sleeping." He knows what your confession means.

You return precisely at 4:30am knowing this is the moment where the cameras reboot giving you just five minutes before they'll be back on. You're carrying a set of clothes and a backpack filled with provision.

"You ready?" You open the door handing him the clothes. The timer on your wristwatch lets you know that there are 3 minutes left before the cameras are on again.

"Ready." He keeps a hand on your shoulder to keep up with your pace. This time of the morning, all the guards are in the meeting room waiting for assignments for the day which is the perfect opportunity to slip past them unnoticed.

"Left," you whisper turning the corner with Saul right behind you. 1 minute. Fresh air hits your skin instantly calming you down. The hard part is over now.

"I wasn't sure if you were coming or not," Saul says slightly out of breath. He's still angry with you, but it's nothing like the way he looked at you back in his cell. When you told him to act enraged at you, you hadn't expected him to play the part so well. You're still doing your very best to keep all feelings towards Saul out of your mind. You're doing this to prove that you've had a change of heart. You know it'll be a long time before he'll fully trust you again.

"Of course I came." It's your way of saying those three words back to him, and he doesn't miss the intention. So much has changed between the two of you, but you know that you want to fix it. And this is the start.

"I wasn't sleeping." You want to tell him that you love him too, but there are other truths you'll have to admit before you can get to that part.

"I've been working with Rosalind. Bloom is going to free her," you say trying to remember the feeling of his skin pressed against yours. He pulls away looking ready to run alert the others but he sees something in your eyes that stops him.

"It's too late. Beatrix showed her the way to Rosalind." You know what comes next. He'll yell, throw something and then probably yell some more.

"Tomorrow, you'll be arrested and taken to a Solarian prison."

"Why are you telling me all of this? You could've gotten away with it." For such a brilliant man, he can be quite dense sometimes. You're well aware that the anger will come sooner or later after the confusion is cleared up, but you're using it to your advantage right now.

"Listen to me. This is going to happen no matter what. I thought I was on the right side of history, but the time I've spent here just proved me wrong." You try to take his hands in yours, but he pulls away. He's hurt, betrayed by the one person he thought he could count on.

"They're going to arrest you, and I will be assigned to guard you, which means I can break you out."

"Thank you. For helping me." It's the best he can offer you right now, and you'll happily take it. Anything that isn't pure hatred is a step in the right direction.

"I'm sorry it even came to this." You know you'll be given plenty of chances to prove your loyalty in the future as you take back Alfea, and you'll make use of all of them. This time, you know what you're fighting for, and he's standing right in front of you.

"Follow me?" You mean to say it as an order, but it comes out a question.

"Yes, ma'am."

[crew-of-the-detz]

Y’all thought I was joking?

Lets go baby coffee shop AU time.

I’m a new hire at the local coffee shop down the block from my appartment. I work the early morning shift and often open the shop with the manager. Usually that early its pretty dead with the exception of this one woman. I suppose I should call her my regular, as it’s always me that ends up serving her. She comes into the shop every day, orders a large cold brew with an extra shot and vanilla flavor, and leaves. Nothing remarkable about her really, and from the whole 5 words of dialouge I’ve gotten from her I learned she’s a marketing consultant for Detz Incorperated across the street. I suppose the real reason I always remember her is because of her face.

That face she has, it’s the grumpiest looking face I’ve seen in my entire life. 

Like, I’m not exagerating, it’s almost always pulled down taught into a slight frown. When it’s not, its curling a snear at somebody or something in annoyance. Also, everything about her is sharp. Her clothes, sharp black suit and slacks. The laptop bag she normally has with her, a sharp looking aramid bag with a sleek machine on the inside. Those aviators she always has on, even inside, a sharp silver colors that accentuates her sharp face. 

Yesterday, I saw her come in and the line was longer than usual for us that early in the morning. Her frown curled up into that snear and she got in the back of the line, patiently waiting. Now, her drink is pretty simple, so between steaming milk and grinding cardamom for someone elses drink I quickly poured some coldbrew and put a shot of vanilla in it. Eventually she came up to the till and ordered in her short, curt, manner. I grabbed the cold brew from the fridge behind me and set it on the counter in front of her.

Her face, it changed. 

It wasnt a snear, it wasnt a frown. It was something knew. It was the face you make when you get a pleasant surpise, her mouth opened ever so slightly shock with maybe even a grin. 

Her brain took a second to reboot and then that frown came back, but as she handed me the cash she said something she’d never said to me before. 

“Thank you.”

It was the most sincere thank you I’ve ever heard in my life, even though her tone of voice was the flattest tone I’ve ever heard in my life. 

So now I’m upping the ante, when I prepare the drink Im going to write a joke on it and see if I can’t change that grumpy face. I spent time after closing looking up cheesy business jokes on the internet, cause, to be honest, I have no idea what her sense of humor is like. I had no idea what any of it meant, but I wrote one down on a napkin and brought it to work with me this morning. 

I opened with the manager, the manager left to sort out some paperwork, and I waited. Sure enough, 5:45 AM rolled around and in she came. The store was completely empty aside from me and her, so I started to make the drink as she walked up to the till and just leaned against the counter waiting. I took the sharpie we used to write the drinks ingredients on the cups and wrote my little joke. I handed it to her and immediately started sweating as she gave me the cash.

Is the joke stupid? Is she gonna think im some sort of creep over stepping bounds? Oh god what if she stops coming back? What if-

“Pfffft”

I looked up and her hand was over her mouth, but her cheeks had... dimples?

The hand moved away and she had an honest to god smile on her face. She took off her shades and read it again, as if she was checking it was real.

“That’s a good one, mind if I tell it to my co-workers?”

Her voice had intonation, her face was in a smile, I was caught completely off guard.

“Uh, y-yeah! Thought you might like that one.”

She leaned over the counter and read my hand-written nametag. “So uh, Finnegan right? I was kind of in a rush last time, but I really wanted to thank you for making my drink before. Even though I was at the back, guess it pays that I come here every day huh?”

This was the most I’d ever heard from her, In the two months I’d worked here and her coming in every day for those two months. “Ah it’s nothin, helps your drink is super easy to make. Unlike some people who want like 50 things in their coffee and expect it to be done in 5 minutes.”

Her smile, got bigger?

“What can I say, I have simple tastes.” She gasped, like a small little muffled gasp to hide feeling. “Oh my god I just realized that I never told you my name,” she reached her hand across the counter, “I’m Elizabeth.”

That name, I’d heard it somewhere before. Then it hit me; the marketing consultant, her working at Detz Inc, the general manner she held herself. I’ve seen her in magazines at the doctors office, this woman is Elizabeth Korlin a marketing genius or something like that. She wrote the Peacock software for marketing and like revolutionized the game. 

I stood there dumbstruck for but a second, before I came back to reality. “Pleasure to meet you Elizabeth,” I shook her hand, “Say, aren’t you the one who wrote the software that like, changed the game for marketing?”

She blushed, I swear on my mother she blushed. It was faint, just a slight pop of dull red to her cheeks.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it changed the game. But yes I wrote some software that helps businesses with their marketing.” She picks up her coffee, “But, I really should get going. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah! Same place same time.”

As she opened the door to head out into the street she turned back to me, “With another joke, I trust?”

I smiled at her, “You got it.”

She left the shop and went out into street, the sunrise reflecting off her shades. Looks like I got some jokes to research. 

[shutupandshipit]

Words from your mouth - Oneshot

Summary: When Shinsou had used his quirk on Bakugou to tell the group who he was in love with, he wasn't expecting an honest answer. Even under his control, he'd been expecting Bakugou to resist or say something narcassistic along the lines of, "Myself, what the fuck kinda question?"

That's not what he got.

What he got was a perfunctory, "Deku."

.....

Or where Shinsou uses his quirk and feels bad about the secrets spilled.

Pairing: Bakudeku

Rating: T (for Bakugou’s mouth)

Author’s Note: Yeah, not sure where this came from. I thought about not posting it, but I'd already finished it, so here we are. Hope you enjoy it!

When Shinsou had used his quirk on Bakugou to tell the group who he was in love with, he wasn't expecting an honest answer. Even under his control, he'd been expecting Bakugou to resist or say something narcassistic along the lines of, "Myself, what the fuck kinda question?"

That's not what he got.

What he got was a perfunctory, "Deku."

Everyone around the table made some sound of surprise. A gasp. A squeak. A little, "What the fuck?" Several jaws dropped, but more hands leaped to cover mouths instead.

"Wait, really? Does he know? What did he say?" Kaminari asked rapidly, the only one who seemed to be able to speak after the revelation. He leaned across the table toward the other blond, hungry for secrets.

Shinsou wanted to shove him back in his seat, tell him to stop asking questions, but he was still trying to wrap his mind around the information he'd just been given. Bakugou who was loud, proud, and very passionate about how much he hated Midoriya was actually, in fact, in love with the other hero in training. He felt like he'd been transported into an alternate dimension.

Bakugou's red eyes were blank, but he still rolled them as if he was still in control. "Yes. He loves me too. Thought that was obvious."

"So... you're gay?" Kaminari was more eager for answers than Shinsou thought he should have been, nearly halfway across the table.

"Yes."

Shinsou finally rebooted, blinking rapidly as his concentration faltered. Before Kaminari could shoot off another invasive question, his control over Bakugou shattered.

The blond blinked back to awareness, red rising high in his cheeks as the life bloomed in his eyes again. Most people couldn't remember what happened when they were under his control, but both Midoriya and Bakugou had proven that they were cognizant when his quirk was in affect. So, reason prevailing, that meant Bakugou knew exactly what he'd just said. His eyes dropped to the table, hands curling into fist in his lap.

Instead of yelling and screaming or attacking Shinsou, Bakugou simply rose from his seat and left.

Groaning, Shinsou rubbed at the back of his neck. "I shouldn't have use my quirk." As a general rule, Shinsou didn't care to muck about in his classmates' personal lives. He didn't care who was dating who. He didn't care who liked boys or girls or who didn't. He didn't care who had money or who was poor. He'd come to UA to learn to become a hero, not to make friends (even though it had eventually happened). Honestly, he did his level best to stay out of the ungodly amount of drama Class 3-A had. But they'd been playing a stupid game that up until that point, Bakugou had willingly been participating in. When he flat out refused to answer the question, Shisou just kind of...

Caved to peer pressure, went too far and crossed boundaries he shouldn't have.

The others whispered wildly between each other. Ashido leaned into a dejected looking Kirishima with a gentle smile while she ran her fingers through his hair. Kaminari shook Sero until the other teen's head flopped back and forth on his neck. Yaoyorozu and Jirou wore wide eyes, heads ducked together. Shisou thought that maybe he was the only one who thought he'd crossed a line.

'I really don't want to apologize to him,' he thought with a sigh, but knew he was going to anyway. He'd do it in the morning instead of going out to find Bakugou that very second. He didn't know what the blond would be up to, but he was sure it would involve destruction of school property in some shape or form.

Bakugou wasn't back in the dorms for dinner as far as anyone knew, and Shinsou's guilt grew just that much more. Luckily, the group had the common decency to keep their mouths shut around Midoriya. Whether they kept them shut around any of the others, he wasn't too sure.

.....

Two years of training with Aizawa had set his body on a timer that woke him up ungodly early no matter how late he went to bed (if he went to bed). Nowadays as graduation grew near, Aizawa had decided to push their time to coincide with a normal human sleeping schedule, but Shinsou still woke before the sun rose every morning.

Most days, it irritated him, but that morning, it would come in handy. He knew he wasn't the only one who woke up before anyone sane. One of those people was Bakugou.

Dressed in his gym clothes, Shinsou set out at a brisk jog for the gym. Unlike what he'd assumed, he didn't find Bakugou among the heavy weights or cardio machines (which was honestly for the best). Redirecting himself to the training rooms, he hadn't even reached the double doors before he heard Bakugou going absolutely ballistic inside. While he didn't particularly feel like fighting for his life before five in the morning, he knew he needed to apologize before it was too late.

After a moment, the room went eerily quiet. With a heavy sigh, Shinsou began to pull open the door, but stopped with it barely cracked.

In front out him, Bakugou had Midoriya bodily pinned beneath him. They were both sweat slicked and panting, shouldering heaving. Ash stuck to their skin as dust slowly settled around them. Bakugou straddled Midoriya's waist, shins pinning his legs while his hands held his shoulders down.

Shinsou didn't move a muscle. Neither spoke while their breathing calmed.

"What's the matter, Kacchan?" Midoriya was the first to speak, his voice barely a whisper and gentle to a fault. Bakugou's shins slid to the ground, and he sat back onto Midoriya's hips. His hands didn't leave his shoulders, but Midoriya's hands found their way to his thighs, rubbing slowly. "And don't say nothing. Something happened last night. I can tell. Please talk to me."

"It's not something you did," Bakugou muttered gruffly. His voice was different, strained in a way Shinsou had never heard it.

"I would still like to talk about it. I don't like to see you like this." After a moment, Midoriya whispered, "Please. Please just talk to me. I want to understand. I want to help."

A hoarse bark of laughter erupted from Bakugou. Shinsou couldn't see his face from his angle, but he saw him raise an arm to scrub at his face. "I fucked up. I'm sorry."

Midoriya's soft expression never wavered.

Shinsou blinked rapidly, unsure if he'd really heard what he thought he'd just heard. Possibly, he was hallucinating from lack of sleep. Maybe he was having a stroke.

"What are you sorry for? How did you mess up?"

"I just-" Bakugou paused, shoulders hitching for a moment. "I might have ruined our chances of going pro, and I just- I'm fucking-" His voice broke, dropping in volume. "I'm fucking sorry, okay. I'm sorry."

Still, Midoriya's face never changed, and he reached up a hand to cup Bakugou's face. "What do you mean? How did you ruin our chances?"

"That fucking purple haired bastard!" Bakugou exclaimed, but the fury didn't last as his hand cupped the one pressed to his cheek. His body dipped lower, closing the space between them and making it that much harder to see what was going on.

"Shinsou?"

"Whatever the fuck his name is."

"Come on, Kacchan, I'm not a mind reader. Tell me what happened."

There was a slow wet sounding inhale before Bakugou continued. "It's... we were playing this stupid fucking game. We were all answering questions and someone asked who everyone was in love with. And I didn't want to fucking lie, so I refused. I wasn't going to answer at all, but that fucking troll doll used his quirk on me and made me tell everyone. I didn't want to, but I couldn't stop it. And then Pikachu kept asking questions. Asked if you knew and how you felt. Asked if I was gay. I couldn't stop answering."

Midoriya was silent for a breath. "How would that ruin our chances?"

"How the fuck could it not?" Bakugou moved to stand, but Midoriya's hands held him in place. "You know how the fucking world works. Why do you think there's no openly gay heroes? It's not because there aren't any, it's because they would be fucking cancelled by their own fanbase for the person they love. We haven't even graduated- What if they- Fuck-" His breath was coming in quick, staccato gasps, shoulders heaving all over again.

Shinsou didn't think he'd ever seen Bakugou spiraling into a panic or anxiety attack, but he'd experienced enough of them to recognize the signs.

"Kacchan, calm down, breathe." Midoriya eased himself up beneath Bakugou until he could wrap the blond up in his arms. They sat like that, tangled together for several long, silent moments, Bakugou's breathing the only sound in the room. "Our classmates don't care about stuff like that. They're not going to say anything about us."

"You don't-"

"I do know because we're not the only ones, Kacchan. I can't tell you who. I won't break their trust like that, but believe me when I say, we're going to be fine. Even if they weren't, you should have more faith in them." Midoriya pressed his lips to Bakugou's temple, but his voice was still strong. "Even if people did find out, I have no doubt in my mind that we'd still be able to become the top two heroes. No matter what, we're going to be the best heroes the world has ever seen. No one is going to stop us from achieving our dreams, and nothing is going to keep me from being with you either. Okay?"

Bakugou didn't answer, his face tucked into the crook of Midoriya's neck.

Midroiya stroked a hand through Bakugou's hair, tugging at the spikes. "Okay?" he repeated.

"I just don't want to take more from you than I already did when we were younger."

"You're giving me more than you ever took every second you're with me." Pulling his head away from his shoulder, Midoriya stared into Bakugou's eyes. "I love you. Nothing's going to change that. Not even if it makes it harder to become a hero. You're my only, Kacchan, and I'd give up everything to stay with you."

"Don't say that," Bakugou hissed, "I wouldn't let you give up your dream for me. I'm not worth that, not compared to everything you've done to become a hero."

Midoriya's smile was so sweet that Shinsou thought maybe it was a good time to leave. Really, he should have left the second he'd realized the moment was intimate, but fascination kept him in place.

"You forgot that being with you is one of my dreams too."

"You're such a fucking sap," Bakugou grunted, but he was the one to lean forward, to seal their lips together as Midoriya's hands dropped to cup his waist.

Shutting the door as silently as humanly possible, Shinsou made his way back down the hall. He gave them fifteen minutes to themselves before returning, deliberately being as loud as possible. He made a show of stomping around, tapping on the door, rattling the handle, before finally stepping into the room with head lowered. He jerked his head up as if surprised.

The pair had separated, squaring off as if they'd been about to spar instead of making out.

Shinsou scrubbed at the back of his head, uncomfortable with the intimacy he'd witnessed and not entirely sure how to pretend like he hadn't seen it. "Oh, I didn't realize anyone would be here, but I wanted to talk to you anyways, Bakugou."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you, troll hair. Fuck off. We're busy."

'You sure were,' Shinsou thought, but managed to restrain himself from saying.

He pushed on as if Bakugou hadn't say anything, ignoring the way Midoriya's eyes jumped between them. "I came to apologize for yesterday. I shouldn't have used my quirk on you. I didn't think I was going to get a serious answer. I crossed a line."

Working his jaw, Bakugou finally scoffed after a moment. "You can take your apology and shove it. If you want to make up for it, we'll spar instead."

Midoriya rolled his eyes, but Shinsou shrugged. "Sure. Whatever." He stepped into the training room, allowing the door to slam behind him.

[statticscribbles]

Lover’s Lines

Summary: Sweet pea/reader; You’re secretly dating Sweet Pea, both of you putting on a “ hate the other” facade

Sweet Pea smirks leaning on his arm looking down at you from where he rests against the wall. “Not like a Northsider to be sneaking around the back of Pop’s now is it.” “Just like a Southsider to.” You shoot back, he straightens up and you unzip your jacket revealing your uniform. “What’s your excuse?” You smirk as he goes quiet for a moment. “Your name, and number of course. Only time I can catch you so you won’t think I’m some creep.” “So waiting at the back of my work place isn’t creepy?” You arch an eyebrow but stop when his face crumbles. “Sorry, just figured you wouldn’t be too happy to have everyone seeing you get hit on by a Southsider.” He shrugs and steps away. “You’re right, but I wouldn’t really care if they saw us on a date.” You call after him before stepping through the back door.

You meet Sweet Pea after your shift, he buys you dinner, although considering its 3am it’s technically breakfast. You talk surprised to find how much you have in common. You manage to spend two hours debating over the newest comic release, you’re firmly on the side for the reboot, no matter how far from the original it strayed you figured any content was good. He invites you back to his place after you explain your parents would probably have a breakdown if they found out you went out with a Southsider.

“So why do you want to come back to mine? Wouldn’t that make them freak out more?” “They’re already going to freak. Might as well give them something to actually be upset about.” You shrug as you grip around his waist as he speeds over to the Southside. He tugs the hood up on your jacket. “No point in my friends freaking out either.” You nod and follow him to his trailer. This is the first time you sneak behind everyone’s back with Sweet Pea. You decide overall that it’s best for both of you to keep it a secret, at least until the tension between the Southside and Northside die down.

_____________________________________________________________

When Southside High closes and you find yourself in several classes with Sweet Pea you think it’ll be easier to hide, at least until you can manage to warm your parents and your friends up to the idea. It’s almost fun at first, getting in jabs and snide comments about each other; reassuring each other after school nothing was meant by it. You end up making it a game, whoever has the least points by the end of the day buys dinner for the other. You almost always win.

Sweet Pea somehow manages to sneak past everyone to meet you after the Vixen’s finish practice; all but cornering you alone with him. “I regret dating a Vixen.” He hums between kissing you. “Why?” “Skirt keeps getting shorter every time I see you.” You laugh as his fingers brush against the skin at the hemline. “It wouldn’t be so short if you didn’t pull it up now would it?” Sweet Pea stays quiet pulling away when you both can hear voices. You tug your skirt down slightly and he winks at you.

“Wanna put on a show?” You nod smirking, faking anger as you shove past him, and what you discover to be a group of Serpent’s. “Fuckin’ Southsiders.” You snarl; trying your best to keep a smile off your face at the glare they shoot Sweet Pea.

_______________________________________________________________

Sweet Pea’s winning so far, but since it’s lunch you know you usually manage to get in a few jabs, considering everyone spends lunch sitting together. The perfect time to annoy him and try to get him to end up buying dinner on your date tonight.

“You’re going to ruin everything, freaking Southsider” You snarl and try to shove past sweet pea. “I thought we were past name calling.” “Thought you liked me screaming you name, hm?” You taunt. “Oh you little prissy Northsider.” Sweet Pea sneers. Jughead steps forward glaring.

“Stop can’t you two let the stupid Northside Southside thing go already.” Sweet Pea turns to glare at him and rolls his eyes. “I would if she did. She’s living up to every single stereotype of Northsider’s I’ve ever heard. She’s worse than Cheryl! Cheryl, Jones, Y/N is a nightmare.”

“Oh I’m a nightmare am I?” You look up from the couch in his trailer; he rolls his eyes holding out a soda for you. “Of course, you’re ruining my reputation as a tough Southsider.” You smirk as he leans down to kiss you. He sits down and you climb onto his lap. “I’m sorry for ruining your tough guy rep.” You purr. “I can think of a few ways for you to make it up to me.” He pulls you in kissing you as you roll your hips against his.

____________________________________________________________________

“I don’t hate Sweet Pea at all, He started it with the whole Northsider’s are shit and apparently I’m the “queen” of it or whatever he says.” You slump a little in your seat. “Oh my god you like him!!” Veronica’s eyes light up and you stare wide-eyed at her shaking you’re head. “No I don’t! I don’t like Sweet Pea!” “You so do!” “It doesn’t matter either way, it’d just be more fuel for him to make fun of me. Please don’t say anything.” Veronica nods, but you can see her smirking at Toni when class ends.

_______________________________________________________________

“What’re you looking at anyways?” Toni turns to were Sweet Pea stares raising an eyebrow. “You’re looking at Y/N.” “No I’m not.” Toni nods. “You were, looking at her just like how I look at Cheryl. You have a crush on her.” Sweet Pea swallows glaring over to you and then back to Toni. “Why would I ever have a crush on Y/N. Have you seen her? She’s epitome of a try hard Northsider. She’s never going to be anything but Northside trash, completely average, nothing special; why would I want that?” He shrugs turning back to his breakfast. Toni frowns as you move slightly faster past their group.

________________________________________________________________

“Dude you took it too far. She was crying earlier.” Sweet Pea turns looking worriedly in your direction. “You sure it wasn’t fake?” Fangs shakes his head. “Whatever you said must’ve really hurt her.” He shrugs and continues eating, Sweet Pea stands making his way over to you, Veronica glares at him. “Christ, I just wanna apologize, for whatever I said that’s got you so upset. Can we talk, alone, if you’re okay with it?” You nod, following him out into an empty room.

“Fangs said you were crying earlier, what happened? What did I do Y/N.” “It’s nothing Sweets, don’t sweat it.” You turn back towards the door. “Hey;” He catches you arm. “We can talk later yeah? I have practice today but I can skip. It’ll be fine.” “Skipping practice or us?” You don’t answer him as you leave.

_________________________________________________________________

Sweet Pea tries his best not to talk as you walk with him towards his bike. You can tell he’s desperate to talk about it. “So Pop’s?” He offers and you shake your head. “Your place is probably best.” You speak as you tug hood up the usual protocol for going to visit him. You keep your grip as tight as normal all the way to his trailer, you follow him in and he sits nervously on his bed. “Y/N I’m really sorry if what I said earlier; I didn’t nor will I ever mean it and-“

“I love you.” You watch his mouth close and open, as his face seems to light up. You step closer to him so you’re standing in front of him, close enough so he presses his face into your shoulder. He sighs, relieved pulling you onto his lap, it’s your turn to rest your head against his neck. “Can we date? Like in public?” He nods and you pull your face up to look at him. “Are you okay?” You poke a finger into his cheek. He nods slowly. “You love me.” You nod back to him. “Yes, we’ve established that. So now we don’t have to be at each others throats, I’m sure everyone will be relieved.”

“They won’t be.” Sweet pea smirks and you wait for him to continue talking. “They’re going to be sick worse than they are, we might not be at each other’s throats but we’ll be down them.” He wiggles his eyebrows and you laugh. You lean forward kissing him but he pulls away sharply. “I love you!” you nod confused at him. “I assumed you did?” You question and he shakes his head. “No you said you love me and I forgot to say it back! I love you Y/N; I always will.”

Support My Writing?

[willadisastercry]

Pidge is less okay than everyone thought... and that’s okay

Tw: detailed description of a panic attack, unintentional self harm (not intense or graphic)

Shiro and Lance are the only one’s who seem to be able to help when Pidge has an anxiety attack, they’re also the only people who know she even actively has them. But Pidge has overworked herself all week, not getting enough sleep or even bothering to eat much before today’s mission. So when she faces a hitch in an attempt to acquire possibly crucial intel that could put her family back together, she can’t steal her nerves quick enough before this one comes on and nothing seems to be working to calm her down this time.

“Really good work out there today, guys. Relax and rest a bit before we regroup later to discuss.”

Pidge had barely noticed Shiro was even speaking, too enthralled in the prospect of what could possibly be contained on the drive she’d secured with galra intel from today’s mission.

“Awh, come onnn Shiro. Can’t we just call it a night? I’m so wiped.”

Flight plans, prisoner logs, cargo shipment details, the possibilities were really endless and anything could get her one step closer to finding her father and brother. She couldn’t get complacent now.

“Would you rather wake up early tomorrow morning—“

“NO! No, forget I asked. Ugh,” Lance urged before huffing in frustration as he sprawled himself across the couch in the common room, everyone else already following suit and nearly entirely atop of one another.

They all seemed content to remain like that, but Pidge felt like there were bugs crawling under her skin. She didn’t want to relax, she didn’t know if she could.

Her heart pumped erratically in her chest as she felt more and more useless sitting on a couch relaxing when she could be analyzing the data that just might help her find her family.

“Anyone else have—“

“I’m going to go ‘relax’ in my lab,” Pidge announced resolutely.

“Uh, Pidge, you know the whole point of relaxing is ya know, not doing anything, right?”Hunk asked as Keith shifted to allow him to release her from under the weight of his arm where it fell in their semi dog pile onto the couch.

“I need to start my diagnostics on the encrypted files I retrieved before they corrupt,” Pidge’s words were pointed and direct.

“Lone galra cruisers don’t usually have tech guys, it’ll take some time to relay the news of the attack over to hq and even more time for them to properly investigate and figure out what we got away with... you’ve got plenty of time Pidge—“

“Well, we weren’t exactly stealthy and they could have failsafes already initiated ready to go at any moment! It’s crucial that I review and decrypt as much as I can before all of our work goes to hell—“

“I thought we were sorta clean with it...” Keith muttered deep in thought as he reviewed their performance over in his head.

“Woah, slow down,” Lance interjected everyone, “if you’re still mad at me about not catching that last sentry before you were done cleaning out all of the files from the server then, I get that, but you don’t need to be so—“

“Guys, guys! We’ll discuss it later, for now everyone’s only job is to chill out, and Pidge, you can go work in your lab as long as you promise to come to the meeting later with a cooler head, deal?”

“Yeah, whatever. Deal,” she gruffed before taking off towards Green’s hangar to retrieve the usb from today’s mission.

“Jeez,” Hunk sighed as he fixed his headband back into place from where it had slipped down.

“And I thought I could be hot-headed...” Keith mused almost in awe but also worry because why was Pidge this worked up over some data that may or may not even be helpful?

“I was still down from a blast during hand to hand with the second wave of sentries...” Lance stared at the floor, his face full of hurt as he recalled his moment of error in battle that he was certain causing Pidge’s mood.

“...I didn’t see the last one come up and when I did he’d already blasted the control panel to shit.”

“It’s not your fault Lance, the mission couldn’t have gone smoother. We did what we set out to and that’s all we can focus on for now, let’s just give her some space to cool off and wait for the meeting to dole the rest out.”

The boys agreed and stayed in the common room for several more minutes talking about how weird Pidge was being before finally heading off to get cleaned up.

Pidge wished she could get washed up, but she had so much work left to do. She was typing away furiously as she produced line of code after code, determined to not let up before she was done.

Her legs pumped restlessly against the floor while she worked, her entire body practically vibrating with nervous energy.

She just needed to configure a base for her decryption software according to the firewalls in this particular ship’s files so she could finally let it run and—fuck.

The altean computer screen wavered and then sputtered as it began rebooting.

“Nononono, no, NO! You’ve got to be kidding me...”

She could throw up.

The processor had overheated before she could get the last few lines of code typed to initialize her software which meant when it cooled off she would have to start from the beginning and by then... by then there could be nothing left to decrypt.

Panic swelled in her chest, the heat spreading as quickly as it appeared.

This could have been what leads her to her father, to her brother. And if she failed she could be what breaks her family... for good.

She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until the strain in her chest brought her out of her staring competition with the blaring red across the screen in front of her.

Inhaling sharply, she clutched her chest. The initial breath hurt and so she breathed again to see if it would hurt again, and it did.

Shit, why does it hurt? Slower. Breathe slower.

But she couldn’t. She took another. And then another. And then she was breathing so fast none of her heaves seemed to alleviate the tightness that wrapped around her lungs and crawled up into her throat.

“Aha, fuck.”

The panic came on so quickly it almost made her nauseous.

The harder she tried to return her breathing to normal the deeper she seemed to plunge. But she still had work to do. And she had to be cooled off for the meeting or Shiro wouldn’t let her return to her lab.

She needed to, in her own words, calm the fuck down.

She’d done it before, managed to bring herself down from this point. But that was with Lance by her side to gently guide her breathing to something steadier and with Shiro holding her so tightly it was hard to find a good enough reason to remain so tightly wound.

And she was just very rude to both of them so she couldn’t ask for their help after that. Pidge had never done it by herself before, but she would have to at least try to now.

So she closed her eyes and forced herself to take in a large enough breath so she could count her inhale, hold it, and then exhale, but even doing that had hurt and seemed to just make deepen the ache.

“No... why... why isn’t it... working?!”

Her chest felt too heavy to do it, too tight and she couldn’t seem to manage the counts without making it worse. Her lungs would tighten up and ache before she reached the end of the time she was supposed to hold her breath which caused her exhale to be several rapid inhales instead.

Oh god.

She pushed herself away from her desk, in the process pulling the keyboard out as well as knocking over a pile of electronics that fell to the floor with a clank that jarred her now insanely sensitive ears.

There was too much input. Too many things making it impossible to do this on her own.

She scrambled to shut the radio off, but her eyes were blurry with tears and she couldn’t find the correct buttons, increasing the volume and switching it to a station of static instead.

She let out a scream she didn’t know she was holding back as she sank to her knees, clamping hands over her ears to try and block out all the noise that was now overloading her senses.

It was like everything had been dialed to 10.

The whirring of the computer processor as it worked, the cool air being pushed into the room from a vent over her head, the steady beeps and ticks of several different machines and... and the door of the lab opening followed by footsteps.

“Pidge?”

Keith.

“Pidge, hey... what happened?”

His voice was so loud.

“What’s wro—“

“Shh,” she begged, voice barely a whisper over her ragged breathing.

“Okay, okay,” he placated as he closed the distance between them.

“I can be quieter... and maybe if I turn this off, how’s that? Better?”

She nodded, removing her hands from her ears once he’d gotten the radio off. She hadn’t noticed when she’d started shaking but her hands were trembling so badly she had to hold them to keep them remotely still.

“I’m gonna sit with you, is that okay? Alright, do you think you can tell me what’s happening right now?”

She thought about it for a second and concluded that even she didn’t know.

She’d had anxiety attacks before, Shiro had been the first to name it for what it was. They were mostly inattentive ones where she’d dissociate, sometimes she would get worked up and hyperventilate, but it was only ever fleeting, short, over in a couple minutes. And other than that she’d always had some sort of an answer to nearly everything anxiety related. Except now.

Because right now she did not know what was happening, only that even her own heart pumping was so loud it made her want to disappear into a blissful cloud of nothing. She didn’t like not knowing what this was and why she was feeling it, and that realization seemed to break what little progress she had made in containing it.

“Wait no, it’s okay, you’re okay!”

But she wasn’t. She was so far from okay.

“Pidge, you’re safe. You just need to breathe.”

She knew that already and she’s been trying, but the more she tried and failed the more she became aware that there was nothing she could do on her own to stop it.

“This happens to me too sometimes, I know it seems impossible but you can do it. We can do it together, yeah? Okay, I need you to take a really deep breath for me, I’ll go first.”

And he did. He inhaled audibly and urged her to follow. And she tried, but her chest hitched and she choked on the air she tried to bring in.

Keith wanted to soothe her and placed his hand on her arm but she jolted so violently at the touch that he tore his hand away as if he was afraid he’d burned her. She met him with desperate eyes, sincere with frustration and impatience.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m helping much.... do you want me to get someone else? Hunk? Or maybe—“

“Sh-Shiro or Lance, p-please...”

Her hands were in fists on her lap and they were beginning to go numb, a tingle spreading from her wrists up to her shoulders and a similar one moving up her legs. She hated when that happened.

She hated feeling so much emotion when her body felt so stuck, so not there. Because she was there and she was struggling and now was not the time to go ghost on herself.

“I can’t-I can’t stop it, I just want it... to stop.”

“This feeling isn’t permanent, it’s just your body reacting—it’ll stop,” he moved his hand from the floor to her knee and she flinched again but let it remain there.

“I’m going to be right back with someone, is that okay? You’ll be alone for only a minute...”

She nodded through a strangled sob. Her mouth was starting to go dry and so she didn’t feel much like talking anymore.

Keith squeezed her bouncing knee before taking off in a dead sprint. Pidge surrendered to the heaviness of her eyelids and closed them for a moment as she vaguely wondered how he would describe the predicament to their friends and how exactly he’d realized something was awry at all, relishing in the prospect of focusing on something other than her own panic for a moment.

But the relief didn’t last long because when she pried her eyes open to see if someone, anyone was back yet, the world tilted.

She watched in horror as objects seemed to wane out of focus while others seem pulled into hyper detail, the floor stretching out in front of her in an unrelenting wave of movement, the little dots of static that you usually see when you blur your vision or just before you pass out were now moving so quickly she could cry. Correction: she was already crying, but she couldn’t stop full on hysterics now.

She didn’t know when she had scooted herself against the leg of the desk but was thankful for the support, thankful for something to remind her that she was on the ground, in her lab, in... space.

The way her chest contracted as her mind continued to do its own whirring, continued to think about all of the things she couldn’t possibly control but felt compelled to try to caused her a whole new type of distress.

It was too much.

She squirmed as she tried to get away from herself, from this feeling, throwing her head back hard enough to hurt as she wailed, but it didn’t because she couldn’t feel anything. It was like her entire body had shut off an entire sense and the others were thrown completely out of wack because of it.

And she didn’t know why she was crying exactly, there seemed to be too many reasons and not any all at once, but she gathered that it was one of those instances where now that she’d started it was going to be really hard to stop.

Those were really the only circumstances under which she cried, especially now that she was in space with a ship full of teenage-ish males and two very parent-like aliens, after going so long without crying at all only to lose it over absolutely nothing and somehow end up crying about everything.

But this was sort of different. Because she felt so much more wrong than just an overdue cry.

She didn’t have much more time to deliberate this because there were voices pulling her out of her daze. Shiro was knelt in front of her and Keith was back.

“There you are.”

Shiro moved one hand to her shoulder and she shrunk under it, her eyes wild and fearful as she could feel the weight of it, but nothing more.

“Hey, it’s alright. It’s just me,” he said as he moved to sit beside her against the drawers of the desk.

“Keith said you were getting really overwhelmed, so I’m here if you want—oh!” Pidge had rushed forward to bury her head in Shiro’s chest and his arms closed around her securely.

“I’ve got you, i’ve got you...” he gushed as he held her trembling frame, the tears still flowing freely and her chest still struggling under the immense pressure that had built in it.

She tried to ignore how trapped she felt, yearning for the usual ease that his tight embrace brought instead of this suffocating strain. She felt another scream bubble at the back of her throat as she let the weight of his arms take her somewhere almost worse, somewhere she wasn’t just struggling to breathe anymore, but now felt like she had absolutely no air to even try.

“Pidge?! Hey, talk to me, where you at?”

She pulled away from Shiro, his voice piercing her ears like a small explosion. He immediately retracted and searched her face for an explanation but it was just filled with fear as she drew her knees up to her chest, clutched her hands over her ears and tried not to give into the sobs until she had enough air to support such heavy crying.

But it soon became blatantly clear that she couldn’t get enough air in when her face had gone slack and her sobs had all but stopped except for the croak of her tired throat as she desperately tried to pull in air, the strong arms around her releasing completely now, more hands finding her back and tapping her shoulder.

“Pidge, you need to take a breath, the air is there. You’re—damnit it, you’re going to pass out if you don’t try. Is Lance on his way over? Okay, can you go get water and a...”

The rest was lost on her as black continued to impede her vision, Shiro’s usually warm and calming voice now just as sharp as the sting in her lungs and cut with worry. Tears still flowed down her cheeks to meet under her chin and continue down her neck, but they came silently, the hollow rasp from her throat as she struggled through irregular and rapid breaths barely audible anymore. She almost wished that she would just pass out already, let her body’s self preservation instincts break the unbearable cycle of panic it tortured her with.

But Shiro wouldn’t let her, he was just about ready to administer rescue breaths with how pale she had gotten before Lance arrived.

“Shit, Pidge, what the hell? You usually do so well with the breathing excercise I showed you... but it’s okay, this happens.”

Lance settled himself next to Pidge on the other side of Shiro and began to work one of her fists open, her hand was now lax for the most part, so it wasn’t hard and did the same with the other before putting his hand on her back while the other corded through her hair.

“I’m going to stretch your arm out so you can— damnit you’re really tensed up, do you think you can relax your arm a bit?” He questioned tenderly as he began gently easing her arm away from her chest, holding her hand while rubbing at the clenched up muscles as they released their tension.

“Yeah, just like that... you’re doing so good,” he murmured as he took her shaking hand up to his chest and pressed her pliant fingers down. After a minute she looked around lazily, her body still racked with trembling sobs before soft fingers were tipping her chin to meet a warm smile mouthing ‘hey’.

Shiro watched in a mix of awe and confusion as Lance handled Pidge’s crisis, ignoring the hesitation in his eyes because his voice was so steady and his so hands sure that it didn’t matter that he didn’t know in the slightest of what he was doing. He was just being him, this was his nature, to be able to read someone so well and provide them with such tenderness.

“Want to try and listen to how I breathe?”

She parted her lips as if to speak but a particularly pointed sob prevented it, Lance seemed to get the point though and shifted his legs around.

“I’ll let you settle in and you tell me when you’re ready for me to return the hug...”

Lance tugged on her other sleeve and guided into a cautionary embrace, his touch light and his hands remaining on her arms as she found the spot on his chest where she could practically hear his heart moving against his ribs, but... not quite.

Everything sounded muffled now, like she was under water but wasn’t prepared to take a deep enough breath before being shoved beneath the surface.

Except she was comepltely aware that she wasn’t actually under water. Like it was all a cruel joke where she was tortured while she watched everyone else around her breathe easily. Her mind still able to rationalize that even though she felt like she was, she wasn’t actually dying.

But Lance wasn’t flaunting the fact that he could breathe, he was trying to remind her how she could too. He squeezed her arms each time her hands tightened around the material of his sweatshirt, reminding her that she should be thinking about how his chest was working, pushing all the other junk in her mind away for now.

“Feel how my voice carries when I talk... how controlled each breath is... think about what you can feel and hear and touch... they’re things you can perceive... things you can control, don’t focus on what you can’t...”

Okay, he’s right. I can do that. Try to do that.

She shuddered through a round of hitches in her sobbing and pressed her face further into Lance’s chest, not even having the mind to worry about how wet it was getting with her tears.

Think about what you can feel...

She could feel the thumping of his heart even if she wasn’t quite hearing it at that moment, her mind making up the difference and leading her to imagine the sound it must be making each time it does... and how the air being pushed out through his nose must be whistling... and how the constant reverberations must mean he was... humming.

But then it stopped as he took a big breath and let Pidge rise with his chest as it expanded, sure to let it out just as steadily.

Her chest seemed to loosen then, her body rushing to take in as much air as it could before the panic spiked again.

“I’m going to hug back now, you let me know if you—oh, okay, I’m here, Shiro’s here too. You’re okay,” he ran his hands through her hair and pressed her tightly to his chest, his legs coming up to plant his feet firmly on either side of her as he began slowly rocking them back and forth.

It felt nice. He moved them carefully, slow enough that she could have been asleep in his arms and she wouldn’t have been disturbed, but also so securely that her mind couldn’t disappear the presence of his hands bracing her back and circling through her hair.

But the lull didn’t last long.

It wasn’t his fault, this is just how it went. When she got bad like this, the panic came and went in waves. If her body still had nervous energy left, it didn’t matter how much she managed to calm down, she would have to start from square one until there was nothing left in her to continue.

No!

Shiro was just as surprised as Lance when her voice cracked, the soothing sounds she was murmuring to herself as she worked her breaths closer and closer to normal broken by a wail.

Fuck!

Fuck you, fuck this, fuck—everything.

“-dge? Pidge?!”

“We’re still here, you’re still alright.”

“Give me a sec... there ya go, better?”

He’d turned her around so that her back was against his stomach and then held his hand up in front of her to show her before he closed it and lowered it to her chest, she knew what he was going to do and melted into him further as he began to rub gentle but firm circles over her sternum.

“Ahh... ahah, f-fuck,” she sobbed beneath him, she shuddered under the touch, her hands searching for something else, anything else to ground her and stumbling upon Shiro’s on one side and her thigh on the other.

She squeezed tight on both as she fought desperately not to slip again, feeling the way her body wanted to become light again.

Nope, we are just not doing that shit again.

She was so mentally done with this, but her body seemed to be losing energy too. She could feel it tiring, losing the warewithal to continue its draining overreaction. Turns out not having rested at all after their mission just to drop like this was a blessing in way, she was scared of how long she’d have been able to go if she wasn’t already worn out.

She forced her eyes shut and focused on Lance’s fingers, his knuckles pressing hard, but not hard enough to hurt. She’d almost wish he was. The rhythmic motion was heavenly because she couldnt ignore it as he kept the pressure there above her heart.

She gasped when she started coming back to herself, feeling the sudden shift when she seemed to be given the reigns back on her own breathing, sucking in huge gulps when she finally could control it.

“That’s it, you’re doing so good... listen to how I do it.”

Shiro was massaging the residual tremors out of her hand as he held it, the additional release of tension aiding in grounding her further.

She was faintly aware of the lab door opening but was too focused on not losing her pace, her breaths still manual and unsteady but a hell of a lot better than before.

“Oh...” it was Keith, he sounded worried.

She was confused for a moment before a hand was on her thigh.

“Hey,” Lance’s hand was at her wrist now. “Oh Pidge, don’t-don’t do that.”

Keith was trying to lift her fingers up but stopped when he saw that pearls of blood were starting to form beneath them and didn’t want his struggle with her to make it worse.

“Crap.”

“Pidge let—Pidge you gotta let go.”

The hurt in Lance’s voice stung. She wasn’t even aware she’d been doing that, but she couldn’t bring herself to break the iron grip, this peace was so tenuous and she couldn’t afford fucking it up.

When she didn’t respond Lance exchanged a knowing look with Keith who moved his hand under the palm of hers before both boys wrenched her hand up, surpressing how sharply he breathed when he saw the trail of red with sheaths of skin uprooted and purple crescents dotted about.

They sort of just stared, lost for a second, neither of them quite sure how to proceed.

“I got it,” Shiro offered as he took the offending hand from them, Pidge’s gaze still somewhere else.

There was a moment of silence before anyone talked or moved again.

“Pidge, hey. Keith brought water for when you feel up to it.”

Keith was kneeling next to them now, pouring cold water onto a rag and wringing it out before showing it to Lance.

“He’s got something cold to put on your face, maybe over your eyes? They must hurt...”

She blinked absently, silent tears making their way down her cheeks.

“This should help, ready?”

It took a second but she finally nodded and then the rag was descending on her swollen and bloodshot eyes. She jumped at first but he continued and once it was fully laid on it was bliss. The coolness calmed the angry puffiness and the pressure kept new tears from falling.

“I’m... gonna put something on your leg. It might sting, but it’s also cold so it’ll feel nice,” Keith said wiping up the small drops of blood that escaped the scratch wounds before pressing whatever it was down on top for a beat.

They weren’t bleeding much, the skin torn literally just enough to bleed. She also couldn’t really feel it, the area just felt numb and stiff. She hadn’t meant to draw blood, she just needed something that felt real to bring her back.

A spark of shame lit deep in her gut as realization dawned on her, she had hurt herself. Sure it was subconscious, but she still did, literally with Lance and Shiro right there trying to help. But she pushed those thoughts away.

She was far from perfectly fine, still working through the after shocks and residual anxiousness that followed. She sort of felt sick to her stomach and couldn’t stop swaying her leg back and forth as she lay against Lance, his grip as tight as ever, with Shiro still caging her unsteady hands in his.

Keith had gotten a blanket at some point to drape over her and kept removing the rag to re wet it with the cold water that she didn’t quite trust herself to drink yet.

“How ya feeling?” Lance murmured into her hair.

She hummed in response.

“Gonna take that as better, right?”

She nodded and then grimaced when Keith took the rag away once more and opened her eyes only to realize how much pressure had built behind them.

“What’s up?” Shiro asked when he noticed her face twisting up.

“My head hurts.”

“Hm, Coran has some sort of aspirin equivalent somewhere and... you could lie down, try going to sleep until dinner—oh! Hunk is making your favorite, he figured everyone needs a good meal after today.”

“Sounds nice,” she almost slurred, her head snuggling into the crook of Lance’s arm. She still shook as if she were cold, even with the blanket.

The three of them discussed something for several minutes but she tuned the conversation out, too busy relishing in how she could breathe again, only a small part of her worried about relapsing back into hysteria as the waves of panic returned smaller and smaller.

“Pidge? You awake?” Lance asked, trying not to eat her hair.

“Soooo, we were thinking of having dinner in the common room tonight, we think you should eat something before you turn in and we don’t want you to be alone just yet, also so you can be snuggled at all times... what do ya think?”

She smiled and scrunched her nose up with and enthusiastic ‘sure’.

“How bout I give you a lift?” Shiro smirked fondly as he squatted down and motioned for her to hop on his back.

They all had a good laugh at that, Keith and Lance joking about how they’ll never receive the same star treatment.

“I think it’s safe to say the meeting is rescheduled for the morning, sorry Lance!”

“Whateverrrr! The things I do for you, Pidge,” he laughed as they settled in on the couch, Hunk almost suffocating her when he was done serving their meal.

“I’m never letting go, I hope you are aware of that.”

“Not complaining, just... can I have my arm back? Thanks.”

“What was even on the drive—“

“We do not speak of... of that, Princess.”

“Pidge can run her diagnostics again before tomorrow’s meeting and then after that she’s on an electronic hiatus. Also everyone’s going to their rooms at curfew from now on, no exceptions. You people are humans and you need sleep!”

“But Shiro!”

“At curfew? Like at exactly curfew?”

“Yes Keith.”

“Space...“

“Lance. Lance, do not say it.”

“✨Space dad✨ has entered the chat.”

[mx-julien]

how do the ninja repair their suits after they get damaged?

they get into so many fights that usually don't show in their clothing (S2 and Hunted are the exceptions I can think of) and we know that they wash their uniforms (see: The Pink Ninja of S1), so i don't see why they wouldn't know how to sew. however, it'd take a lot of time out of their day, so they might have a person they could go to for repairs.

their outfit changes from season to season, though, can be for a Plot Reason (ex. Rebooted, Posessed, and I'm not counting Prime Empire b/c that's not real clothing it's just computer code), or will sometimes remain unexplained

*cue soft jazz music and link to Ao3*

Afternoon sun comes through the shop window. Each aluminum pin Suni places shines and dances little lights across the wall. The AC unit to her left moves the gray fabric so it shimmers, making the folds in the shoulder of the gi ripple. It's about quarter 'til closing time, so she's indulging herself and took out her latest project. A bit rushed, maybe, but she rarely gets customers at this hour.

The bell rings. Of course it does.

"Good Evening, Ms. Anup," Mr. Jones hesitates on the threshold before walking up to the counter, "I've come to pick up my suits. Very sorry for the late hour, my husband and I returned from abroad a bit later than expected."

"No harm done," Suni straightens up, "I'll go grab your things - they're in the back."

Suni turns on her heel and heads to the back room. It smells mustier than she cares for, but she can only clean so often when she's the only employee. Her grandmom would've helped, but she wasn't around long enough to know that most of the city was being regularly repaired, anyways. It isn't a good excuse, but her shop's still standing, so business is fine.

The cabinets were designed by her brother, and she had put them up herself. Mr. Jones' garments were on the highest bar. She gets them down and smooths her hand over the lapels of his freshly pressed blazer. He had brought three pairs of pants and four shirts in for tailoring, as well. Something about a "kind-of promotion" meant that he was running around more, so he needed them brought in a bit. Don't ask her why he couldn't just switch out of a suit. Some people were just particular and that was what kept her lights on.

The recent attacks had been knocking everything out of wack. Even punctual Mr. Jones, who walks in with an apology and leaves with some of the most expensive pieces in the shop.

Speaking of which, she realizes, she'd just left her project with him in the front room. Hopefully, since only one part was out there, it probably isn't even that notable. Probably.

Walking to the front, Suni lets the gears turn in her head turn as she rationalizes her bad decision.

She's definitely be wrong about the whole "it's more normal" justification because Mr. Jones quickly turns his head away from her dress form as she comes back to the counter. At about 6 feet tall, she doesn't need to crane her neck down to look at him, which she appreciates right now since seconds ago she barely avoided a collision with the doorframe and also she might need to confront him if he tries to say anything about the garment. It's a reflex every time someone's left alone with it, since she made that mistake once and will probably never hear the end of it.

Six cuckoos bring in the new hour as she hands over the clothes on their hangers. Mr. Jones starts telling her an amusing story about a bus and some knockoff D&D game that he ran into while he was away.

When he's done, she notices that her cheeks hurt from laughter as she clicks the register drawer back into place. She has his change in her hand and turns to him, only only to see him staring at the project. Well, the innocuous top half of it.

"Here you go, Mr. Jones."

His head jerks back to her, "Can I ask what this is?" cocking his head in the direction of the dress form.

He accepts the change as Suni fixes her gaze on him. He's standing like a tin soldier, anticipating her response and planning his own. I guess you just get like that in government work. Again, thank goodness it only slightly resembles armor at the moment. She doesn't want to wake up to agents banging on her door, or a warrant of sorts.

"It's to do with this one group of modern dance students. They're all in college and commission me to do their costumes."

"College students?" His eyebrows don't seem to believe her.

"Yup."

"They have some specific tastes." His eyes trace the outline of the half-pinned gi with light blue embroidery and protection symbols.

"Yeah," she rearranges some recipts, "but they pay well and don't give me a ton of instructions usually, so I don't mind." She's attempting to keep get tone nonchalant.

He's looking at her kind of like how you might at a kid whose trying to sneak up on their parent in the grocery store: amused and not going to say anything.

"Those are some lucky kids." He steps towards the door, his polished shoes reflecting more light than her window, when he opens the door and turns halfway back to her. He opens his mouth, but no words come out. Eventually, he pulls himself together, "Have a good afternoon, Ms. Anup."

"You too, Mr. Jones."

She waits until his car pulls out of the strip mall before pulling out her Borg phone and dialing the only contact with a wave emoji in the name. While she waits for the phone to dial, she grumbles, "Nya, I swear to the First Master, you owe me so much coffee after this."

[pinkprimrose05]

GX Month Day 18: This Wasn't in the Rule Book

@gxmonth

Ao3 Version Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33473653/chapters/83310418

Why yes, it's prompt bending time! Wish this day came a bit later into the month so it was closer to the release date of Duel World ARC-V but, oh well, what can ya do? ...Oops, looks like I spoiled the chapter. Yes, this year's AU prompt also doubles as a celebration of ARC-V coming to Duel Links, and it's probably the one prompt I'm most excited to write because hoo boy I've been waiting for this moment for sooooo long! 8D

~~~~~

"Manual Reboot Successful. Initiate Sign-Up Process? "

..

"Initiating Sign-Up Process. Establishing Connection...Please Enter WORLD_ID."

..

"Response Recorded. Initiating Connection to WORLD_ID SERIES6..."

"..ERROR. Failed to Connect to WORLD_ID SERIES6. Continue Sign-Up Process and Retry?"

..

"Response Recorded. Continuing Sign-Up Process."

..

"Response Recorded. Aborting Connection to WORLD_ID SERIES6...Connection Aborted"

..

"...Sing-Up Process Completed. Initiating Log-In Sequence..."

..

..

..

"ERROR."

-----------

Yuuma sat by the river, waiting for something big to happen.

He knew he wasn't support to be there. Tour Guide hade explicitly told everyone to not get close to the Gate during new world maintenance, but being his curious self, he guiltlessly ignored the warning. Why? Because of the aforementioned new world, of course!

From what he knew about it -which wasn't much, but Juudai-senpai had been rambling about all the different Duelists, Decks and weird game mechanics that they might see for two weeks straight and that sort of gave him a general idea-, this new world thing was a pretty big deal in Duel Links, and with it being so covered up, Yuuma was all too hyped to see what it was like for himself, consequences be damned.

He'd tried world-switching to no avail, as he sebsequently found out that the game wasn't only staggering log-outs, it was also staggering travelling through Duel Worlds for however long he was stuck here. He'd tried asking everyone he knew about it over his D-Gazer too, but that didn't work, and neither did begging a sleepy Kaito to try and hack the game for more info..

..Which led back to him sitting by the river, kicking his legs back and forth as Emperor's Key swayed in the morning breeze, dangling from the string in his hand while he kept waiting, waiting, and waiting some more...

"Yuuma?"

"Eek!" The Xyz Duelist practically jumped five feet into the air upon hearing his name being called, thoughts racing in frantic circles as he turned to see someone approaching...then immediately relaxing when he realized exactly who that someone was.

"Three!"

Michael Arclight smiled, waving gently as he tottered to the river bank and sat down next to Yuuma, who sighed in relief at knowing he wasn't in grave trouble for getting caught near the Gate. The two traded greetings, then settled into silence as they gazed at the horizon, at the clear sky and rising sun of their Duel World's landscape. If it were him, Michael would be content with just staying like that and admiring the view, but the ball of excitement next to him wasn't about to share that sentiment anytime soon.

"Sooooooo..." Yuuma began "What are you gonna do today?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" His friend gave him a puzzled look, and Yuuma made a broad gesture with his arms in response, as if that was supposed to mean something.

"You know, about the, uh, the new world? Are you gonna visit that? Duel people there? I don't know what to expect from it to be honest, it's the first time for us and I'm reeaally excited and also curious and I can't wait to see what will happen...but we can't find out anything before the maintenance ends, and it looks like it's gonna take a while and I'm getting bored so, what are you gonna do?"

Michael hummed thoughtfully, glancing at his Duel Disk "Well, I was thinking of waiting until things settled down before doing anything about all of this. A game this big can get quite unstable with such a huge update, you know? That's why I came here anyway, and..." the pink-haired Duelist blushed faintly "..I may or may not have decided to ignore what Guide-san said about the Gate in the process. Please don't tell anyone I was here?"

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed." Yuuma said, mimicking a zipper sound as he ran two fingers along his lips for effect "No one will ever know of your super classified one-time incident of breaking the law...not that that law made sense anyway. I mean, COME ON..."

Michael giggled, listening as Yuuma launched into a full-on rant about how meaningless them 'closing' the Gate area was. He wasn't exactly wrong though; if it was about as dangerous as Guide said, surely there would be some obstacle or lock to stop people from getting too close, right? Surely she wouldn't just count on everyone to not be reckless enough to ignore her, right? Unless...

Unless the error she's dealing with here might cause serious backlash if she tried inputting a new command that also interacts with the Gate, in which case-

Any other thought that would have followed that trail instantly vanished when the Gate suddenly exploded with blue light, and in that moment, Michael's world went quiet.

-----------

"Unacceptable! This is unacceptable! I have a fucking job interview in two hours, how am I supposed to get ready in time for that??"

Yuusei sighed, running a hand through his already mussed hair for what was probably the eighth time in thirty minutes. Tour Guide's sudden announcement of an emergency maintenace -one that somehow overlapped with the new world's- had put everyone on edge, even more so after they found out they couldn't log out until it was over. As a result, every single Duelist currently in the 5D's World had gathered at the Deck Editor and unanimously decided to wait out the maintenance period there...but some of them weren't particularly happy about being stuck in the game for however long it took.

Chief of those was Jack, who kept pacing next to the table Team 5D's and co. clustered around, all while throwing several uncharitable insults at Guide, Isono, Kaiba, and basically everyone affliated with the Duel Links staff.

"Why do they have to keep messing up every time they launch one of those new words?? I swear, if I see any of those little-"

Carly instinctively covered her ears when the Resonator Duelist let out a particularly nasty swear, and Crow shot him a miffed glare from behind. Yuusei sighed again, then slowly pushed himself out from his chair to rest a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Jack, please go get a cup of coffee and cool down." He said in an uncharacteristically pleading, tired tone "We're all stuck here, we all have important things to do, and some of us haven't slept for twenty-six hours. It'd do everyone a lot of good if you stopped yelling at empty air for a while."

Jack crossed his arms and huffed, but forced himself to simmer down regardless.

"...Fine. I'll go get myself some coffee and 'cool down' or whatever, but not because you asked me to, it's because I need some fresh air." And with that, the former King of Duels strode out of the Studio, coat flapping dramatically in a gust of wind before he went completely out of view.

"Good riddance." Crow let his head drop on the table with a low thud, raising a thumbs-up in Yuusei's general direction, and while he normally wouldn't agree with that sentiment, the Synchro Duelist was currently grateful for the calmer atmosphere of the place, now that Jack was gone. He slid back into his chair, hoping to get some shut-eye to compensate for staying up for all of the night before...

"Guys, we have a problem."

...Or not. Yuusei looked up in time to see Bruno -No, stop it, that's Antinomy- dropping in the chair between him and a barely conscious Kiryuu, the computer in his hands flashing with several warning signs overlapping on top of strings of code, which kept appearing and disappearing at a seemingly random pace. This, the noiret decidedly thought, peering intently at the screen, definitely doesn't look good.

"The energy output is spiking around the Gate area and the ones close to it." Antinomy explained to no-one in particular, his usually passive face set in a stressed frown as he clicked away at the keyboard "It appears that whatever issue that caused this emergency maintenance has gone completely out of control, and while we don't know exactly what that means, compressing so much energy in a certain area, no matter how broad..."

"...is bound to make it blow up." Yuusei concluded, eyes widening as his mind caught up with the implication behind that "This means the Duel Studio and everyone in it will be affected if anything happens to the Gate."

Antinomy nodded "Exactly. It could be that someone is trying to log in, and that's why I'm asking you to go and- dammit!" He swore, fingers moving across the keyboard at a far more frantic pace when the computer let out a series of long, loud beeping sound. Yuusei was pretty sure he got whiplash from how fast he turned to see what was going on-

-but before he could register more than the word "ERROR" bolded in blue across the screen, he felt a shock of static, and then...nothing.

-----------

"Automated Reboot Successful. Log-In Sequence...Complete."

"Connecting to WORLD_ID SERIES2...Connection Successful."

"Linking with.."

"..Sakaki Yuuya."

-----------

The first thing he felt when he came to was a gentle breeze tousling his hair, rays of sunshine lighting up his eyelids, and droplets of water spraying his face every couple seconds. It wasn't raining, that much he gathered, which meant that he'd most likely spawned near a fountain or a river, since there was no trace of the salty scent of seawater in the air.

Yuuya opened his eyes. Sure enough, there was a fountain to his left, its marble structure adorned with a ring of green leaves that carried all kinds of colourful flowers, water flowing from it center and from the sides. Pushing himself up, the tomato-haired Duelist looked around, taking in the rest of his current surroundings, and the first thing that caught his attention was a huge, round portal thingy that hovered in the air, with glowing lines of blue circuitry running through its silvery white perimeter.

That must be the Gate, he thought that's how I came here.

A bit further ahead was what seemed to be another portal, but this one was rectangular in shape, unlike the Gate's circle, and it was completely blue as well. Yuuya watched as the portal rotated in place slowly, the other side of it coming into view with the label 'Duel School' appearing on top of it. Curious, he reached out a hand to touch the portal...

...only to pull back immediately when the pixels forming it fizzled and crackled with electricity, shocking him.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!!" Yuuya clutched his stung hand with the other, hissing in pain at the contact before letting go of his hand. He sucked in deep breath then slowly exhaled, wiping the tears that formed at the corners of his eyes before turning away from the Duel School to keep walking (and to will away the sick, fleeting memory the shock had sparked for a moment).

Yeesh, that wasn't a great first interaction... he grimaced, waving his hand in the air in hopes that it would calm the stinging pain down But that doesn't mean I can't find something good if I keep looking. I wonder where all the other Duelists are.

The path he was walking down split into two at the end. Yuuya turned around, chancing one more look at the admittedly beautiful yet strangely desloate area he started in. He chalked its emptiness up to it being quite early in the morning...but then again, it wasn't morning for everyone around the world, so maybe it was just that the area was mainly used as a terminal, which would explain why he was the only one there...

Wait.

Wait.

He shouldn't be.

Switching his Duel Disk on with a quick swipe (which was an honestly stupid action in hindsight because damn his hand stung hard from that), Yuuya dialed the very first contact on his list, running the hand with the Disk strapped to it through bi-colored bangs and pushing them out of his face as the device rang once, twice, three times. Where was everyone else? He, Yuzu and Gongenzaka had logged in at the same time, and Sora had told them he'll jump in right after, so why was he the only one to come out of the Gate?

*Din-di-di-din, din-ding...Din-di-di-din, din-ding...Din-di-di-din-*

"Hello."

Yuuya blinked, then did a double take at the soft, young voice that came from the other end of the call. That...that wasn't Yuzu. He swallowed.

"..I'm sorry, who am I talking to?"

A few moments passed before the voice replied "My name is Sera. You must not recognize me, but please don't worry, the owner of this device is safe and sound, and if you wish to talk to her, she is here with me."

The line went silent then. Well, almost silent; Yuuya could hear bits of chatter and the sound of someone fiddling with the Duel Disk...before said someone decided to blast his eardrums full-force, like she always did.

"Yuuya! Where the heck are you?!" Yuzu cried out, and he found himself smiling at the familiar loudness "I've been looking for you everywhere!!"

He winced when her voice cracked on the last word, hand running through his hair again as he laughed nervously "Sorry, sorry! I...honestly don't entirely know where I am yet. Thought we'd start at the same place, but I guess we didn't..." He glanced around for any sort of landmark to pinpoint his position, then remembered where he came from at first and settled on that "Um, can you see the Gate? I'm standing close to it."

There was a beat of silence, then an audible sigh. "I see," Sera muttered at length "Sakaki-san, I think you have logged into a different Duel World than the one Hiiragi-san and I are in at the moment..because we're standing right in front of the Gate."

It took a full ten seconds for Yuuya's brain to register that, and when it did, all that came out of his mouth was a drawn-out "Whaaaaaaat??"

"...You skipped the rest of the tutorial, didn't you?" Yuzu's voice carried a hint of amusement and fondness, before assuming a more serious tone "Okay, look. If you check your Duel Disk, you'll find two arrows in a circle at the top left corner. Click that, and you'll get a list of the five different Duel Worlds in the game. Sera said that something happened before we came here that stopped everyone from travelling between those worlds, and apparently there was a sixth world that we were supposed to log into but didn't...anyway, the highlighted name will show you the world you're in. I'm in the fourth one right now..."

Yuuya listened as Yuzu explained what happened to her after logging into the Duel World, following her instructions all the while. A quick check told him that he was in the second world, the one labeled 'Duel World Series 2'. He nodded along his friends' words, and when she finished, he took yet another look at his surroundings.

"Alright, gotcha, I'm in the second world." He said, and it was then that he decided to head left "I guess I'll go take a look around the place, see if I can find out where everyone else is, and wait until we can all switch to the same world. It's great to hear you're alright, Yuzu. Take care!"

"Hey, that's my line!" She quipped in response, and Yuuya could practically hear the playful grin on her face "But seriously, I'm glad to know you're doing fine too. See you later, Yuuya."

And with that, the line went dead. Not even bothering to turn his Disk off, Yuuya broke into a quick jog, humming a cheerful tune to himself and grinning widely as he started rhyming the tune to his steps. Yuzu was fine, she was okay, they'll find each other soon enough and meet up with their friends, and they'll have tons of fun exploring the game, just as they planned.

Yeah, that's the spirit!

He only slowed down when the smooth, metallic path turned into dirt, patches of grass growing randomly in the way and on the sides, as well as a pair of trees and a few stray daisy bushes. A huge structure that felt so very out of place loomed ahead of him, its futuristic design and neon blue lines contrasting sharply with the simple greenery surrounding it, despite only being separated from that by a ring of gray tiles at the end of the dirt path. Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be a floating label above it that spelled out the words "Duel Studio", and a sliding door that opened on its own when Yuuya came close. The Pendulum Duelist stepped through-

"Ack!"

-and promptly crashed into a blur of black, stumbling backwards as a result. Leaning on the now-open door for support, Yuuya nursed his head with his free hand, letting out a small sigh before he looked up to check on whoever it was that he bumped into...and froze when he locked eyes with them.

That shade of gold was...familiar.

Yuuya's eyes widened, and the brunette facing him mirrored the action for a split second, before his shock faded into a passive scowl that clashed with his fluffy, Kuriboh-like hair. Yuuya opened his mouth to say something, he wasn't sure exactly what, but the taller male turned back to the Duel Studio, subtly motioning for him to come along, and whatever it was that he wanted to say went out of the window.

"Follow me." His voice -slow, deep and clear- carried a distinctly authoritative tone as he strode ahead, and after a moment of apprehension, Yuuya found himself trailing behind. The guy looked like he knew where he was going, and didn't exactly seem opposed to talking to him, which meant he could possibly get some answers to the pile of questions building up in his head, and well, weird gut feelings aside, that was actually a good thing.

The two sat at a round, red table in a distant corner, and then just...stared at each other. Yuuya waited for the Kuriboh-haired Duelist -at least, he guessed he was a Duelist, judging by the strange custom model of a Duel Disk on his left arm- to say something, anything, but nothing came out, and he wasn't sure exactly how to start the conversation, so...he kept waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And waiting.

"............"

And then decided that was enough waiting. "Umm...are you even gonna say anything?" Yuuya asked after a full four minutes, half expecting to get no response..

..but the guy actually rolled his eyes at him, like he'd asked a stupid question or something "What are you expecting me to say?"

Huh. Okay, this man was kinda bad at conversing. Yuuya held back a sigh, plastered on a smile instead, and tried again.

"Hmm, how about an introduction? That sounds like a good start." He held out a hand "Nice to meet you, I'm Sakaki Yuuya. And you are..?"

The brunette's stared moved to Yuuya's outstretched hand, then back to his eyes...and then he sighed, holding his own hand to his temples as he mumbled something in a foreign language Yuuya couldn't make out (but assumed was an exasperated statement, based on the tone of what came next).

"Dear Lord, why is it that every single one of them turns out to be a child?"

"Huh?"

"You can see Duel Spirits," He said, pointing at Yuuya. It wasn't even a question, just a factual statement he threw as casually as someone discussing the weather forecast "and you most likely have a special bond with at least one of your cards, that may even go as far as your very soul being bound to it. Is that correct?"

A few moments passed in silence, and then: "How did you-"

"I knew that was the case. Listen to me, Sakaki Yuuya; I do not know the exact extent of your knowledge about the nature of this world, or that of the darkness you possess, but know this-" gold eyes narrowed dangerously, and Yuuya flinched in spite of himself "Duel Links is not just a game. There are greater forces behind the creation of the Duel Worlds, ones that can tamper with your memories and thoughts, even call back beings that were supposed to be gone forever and link different dimensioms. Your status as a Legendary Duelist means you are directly involved in everything that might happen in the new world, so proceed with caution, or prepare to deal with the consequences."

Yuuya reeled back in his chair, face going white. He stared down at his pendulum, gripping its dimly glowing crystal tightly in his hands -had it been doing that for a while? He had no idea. His head was starting to feel light, his throat got all choked up, and he was sure he'd be shaking if not for how tense his muscles were. What- what had he gotten himself into? If he'd known it was more than a game, if he'd known they'd be thrown in the middle of crossfire again-

Deep breaths, Yuuya, deep breaths.. He told himself before he got too lost in thought, inhaling sharply. Calm down, let it out slowly, relax.....yeah, there we go.

"Why are you telling me this?" The teen asked once he was certain his mini-panic attack was over, and he must've been imagining things because he could swear he saw a ghost of a smile on the other's face when he replied.

"In all honesty," he began slowly, the edge to his voice almost completely gone "I have had enough interdimensional conflict to last me a lifetime, and I would really rather not deal with any more of it if I can. I assume you understand where I'm coming from here?"

Yuuya hummed absently, and that seemed to be a satisfying answer to the brown-haired Duelist, who pushed himself out of his seat and turned to leave, but not without allowing himself another final sentence.

"Very well then. For your own sake, as well as everyone you may care about, I hope you're actually smart enough to follow my warning. Until we meet again...or not."

And with that, he walked away, disappearing behind the staircase to the right. As soon as he went out of sight, Yuuya let his head fall down on the table with an unceremonious flump!, making some inchoerent noises when the sound of some lady announcing the end of the 'Maintenance Break' blasted over the intercom above his head, and he became distantly aware of other voices and some footsteps sounding not too far from him.

*tap*

Alright, so he and everyone else have basically jumped into yet another grand scheme that caused conflict across different dimensions, but this time the stakes weren't as clear as in the Interdimensional War.

*tap-tap*

The thought was admittedly daunting, and he was a hundred percent sure no-one he knew would like to go through something like that again..

"Oi."

But on the bright side, it seemed that they weren't the only ones dealing with this sort of thing, which meant they could easily find many allies in the different Duel Worlds...yeah, if they kept an eye out, they should be all right-

"Oi!"

Yuuya's head snapped up when he realized someone was calling out to him, and when he looked up, he was greeted with the smiling face of..

"You again??"

..the same Kuriboh-haired Duelist?

"Sorry, what?"

Yuuya did a double take. Yeah, no, that wasn't him; the eyes were colored soft brown instead of hollow gold, and he was wearing a red jacket instead of a black robe too- Yuuya mentally scolded himself for overlooking the differences (but also found it somewhat funny because, you know, he had to deal with this kind of confusion more than once before).

"Nevermind, I think I confused you for someone else. My bad." He gave the red-jacketed brunette a sheepish grin, gesturing at the empty chair opposite to his, then watching as he placed his also strange custom model of a Duel Disk on the side of the table before sitting down himself, fiddling with the device all the while. Even the way he composed himself was different; this guy felt far more lax and chill compared to the other one, and it made Yuuya relax a bit in turn, the silence that stretched between them feeling more comfortable.

"So, let me guess..." Red Jacket began a bit later, leaning a bit forward with a curious glint in his eyes "You're one of the new kids?"

A small nod "You can say that, I guess. I'm Yuuya, and you?"

"Yuuki Juudai. Pleased to meet you, kiddo- wait, I can call you kiddo, right?"

"Sure, unless you're somehow younger than me, which I doubt because of the..height difference."

Juudai smiled again "Aight, kiddo it is then. I gotta say though, I'm impressed you managed to switch worlds that fast. Took me a whole week to realize that was even a thing."

He laughed, and Yuuya chuckled with him. "Actually.." he said afterwards, rubbing the back of his neck with a small, bashful smile "A friend told me about it, and I couldn't even use it when I first arrived. Something about an error happening with the new world and shutting down the whole game, I think? Yean, that locked out the switch thing for a while, and it stopped everyone from logging out too."

"Woah, for real?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Damn," Juudai slammed a hand down on the table "you sure had one heck of a first day, kiddo. Guide must be freaking out with all of this going on."

Yuuya blinked, confused "Guide?"

"Oh, you don't know her?" The older teen asked, quirking an eyebrow "She's, ah, the Duel Spirit of Tour Guide From the Underworld. Pretty much the one who manages this place, since the actual owner doesn't give a shit about the shenanigans happening around here, and she also runs the Duel School. You can go hit her up if you have any questions about the game; she's a great help for new players."

"A Duel Spirit..." Yuuya echoed quietly, stare moving down to the Deck slot of his Duel Disk. He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at Juudai and asked "So anyone can interact with them here? The spirits, I mean."

"Of course! It's part of the game's charm, y'know?" He answered, throwing a wink at Yuuya before continuing "Being able to hang out with all your monster friends, even if you might not see them in real life..I don't think anyone would pass up on something that cool."

The younger Duelist smiled at that, hand subconsciously touching the top of his Deck, which earned him several happy murmurs and a particularly loud roar as well "Yeah, that does sound pretty cool. I gotta try it sometime later."

"You totally should." Juudai agreed, taking out his own Deck and shuffling through it as he added "In the meantime...would you like a good ol' tabletop Duel? My old-ass relic of a Disk is being particularly laggy today, and I heard you had this cool summon mechanic with the backrow zones- what was it called again? Pendant? Pending?"

"It's Pendulum Summoning." Yuuya clarified, tentatively taking his Deck out of its slot when Juudai did the same "And uh, sure, I can show it to you if you want."

The brunette's smile turned into a wide grin as he whipped out a pair of folded game mats from his pocket and placed them on his and Yuuya's side of the table, putting each of their Decks on the far right before punching a fist in the air "Heck yeah! I'm finally the first to Duel the new kid with the new cards, this is gonna be a lot of fun!"

"Definitely!" He nodded, his own smile widening as he drew his starting hand with a little more flourish than necessary for a tabletop Duel- not that he really cared, what mattered at the moment was that, even if he was going to have to fight again later down the line, he was going to enjoy Dueling to the maximum as long as he could. No use worrying about the future, all he came here to do was have fun, and fun was he going to have.

Watch out, Duel Links, here I come..!

"LET'S DUEL!!"

~~~~~~~

THE END, finally. This, for whatever reason, took me three weeks to finish alongside the other prompts (okay actually Yuuya's POV slipped from me and I barely managed to end it where I did), and I couldn't even make it on time ffs. There goes my plans to deliver all chapters on time...but I at least hope you enjoyed reading. ...Oh yeah, you may have noticed by now that I left some loose ends here and there (like the conclusion of the chapter for the residents of Duel Worlds ZEXAL and 5D's, AKA those poor souls who got a mass reboot error and received no answers as to why), and to that I say...nothing. Yeah, you gotta wait a little while longer to see what happened to them after the reboot. That said, I shall now take my leave and return to the land of Ao3, see y'all on...someday by the end of the month, I guess.

[1smolbean]

ok rant (? started out as a rant but descended into chaos) time

no but I find it absolutely fucking hilarious that my parents are like "oh just move on from your trauma" and then don't tell me how to do that, trigger me even when I've told them about my triggers, make me talk to people that trigger me, and make me go to places that trigger me. like...ya think maybe, just maybe, that, idk, I might have trouble moving on from those events if I have to relive them all the time? and I've explained it to them but they just refuse to understand it and they don't understand the word "no" either and I just,,,find this the funniest thing ever cause like they don't fucking understand! they don't! and I've told them but they refuse to! and I'm laughing this is so funny they refuse to understand

I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING I'M SORRY THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY LIKE THEY REFUSE TO UNDERSTAND IT AND I,,,,,I JUST JKDJFKDLSJFLDKJFD THEY REFUSE TO GET IT AND THIS IS THE FUNNIEST THING EVER THEY REFUSE TO HELP THEIR CHILD LIVE A HAPPY LIFE

what kind of parent does that? a shitty one. they're the most hypocritical people I've ever met cause THEY'VE moved on from their trauma and they respect each other's triggers and my brother's triggers but like,,,not mine and why? CAUSE THEY'RE BAD AT THEIR JOB. THEY'RE BAD PARENTS and I'm literally laughing so hard this is so funny to me and my mother has said before that she is proud of me for not skipping school because she assumed I would but she's proud that I haven't. like,,,,wow okay I literally have no reason whatsoever to skip school though??? why would you assume that? and idk I just find it hilarious that my mother both expects me to get an A+ on every subject and also skip school. like bitch excuse me? that's...HHJFDHSFKHFDSKH THAT'S FUNNY IT'S FUNNY THIS IS FUNNY. I'M SORRY. I'M REALLY SORRY THIS IS HILARIOUS TO ME AND I WROTE OUT A WHOLE GODDAMN RANT ABOUT THIS BUT IT'S JUST THREE PARAGRAPHS OF ME BEING LIKE "MY PARENTS' HORRIBLE TREATMENT OF ME IS FUNNY" AND LIKE...IT IS THOUGH!

I feel like Alvar Vacker and Winter Schnee right now. like I just,,,this is so funny but I also want to stab something right now. is this normal? I don't think this is normal. I should talk to a therapist or doctor but I'm my own therapist and everybody else's too and idk it just seems...wrong to burden people with MY problems when they have their own. i should stop telling people when I'm sad, they don't need that. No, no but they care. why do they, though? my parents "care." they yell at me, say I'm not enough, tell me it's hard to take care of me, but they care. I guess. i think they care. caring is bad. caring for someone is bad. i shouldn't...i shouldn't trust people, because trust gets you hurt. and i hate being hurt. and i shouldn't care about people. i shouldn't care. do i even care? did i ever care? yes. but i won't anymore.

I have gone back to wishing I could acquaint a ridgdly edged object fundamentally used in the construction of walls with my biological father's facial structure. (translation: ok nvm I wanna hit my dad in the face with a brick)

maybe if you didn't yell at me i wouldn't listen to music so loudly. father

father (derogatory)

i am going to lie down on the floor and listen to Special Girl by dodie until i die

i'm the eldest daughter but I'm not a daughter i'm a son but my parents don't care

i feel nothing but the crushing weight of responsibility on my shoulders

I believe I need a counselor, or therapist, or- no, I have one already, I'm my own therapist

I can deal with this on my own

hey mother when you look through my tumblr and read this PLEASE GET ME SOME ANTIDEPRESSANTS OR ADHD MEDS IM NOT DOING TOO GOOD

the powerpuff girls reboot script made me speedrun the five stages of grief I hate it so much

cats opening partially closed doors with their FACES is wild and I love it

I want more soda.

everything hurts and I'm dying

Okay so what the hell happened here Nina please get yourself into shape you need to figure out why you did a 180 from being sad to being angry to being sad to being angry and also that gender can fluid you really be switching from "gender is for mortals" to "none gender left boy" with your emotions too

this picture of Winter Schnee perfectly encapsulates my mood right now

im in pain everybody! were in pain! specifically in my chest! what the hell is happening with my lungs

nevermind we're good now

YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO HURT THE WAY YOU KNOW THAT I DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I FEEL LIKE I'LL BE OKAY AND I HOPE I CAN JUST MAINTAIN IT I WILL NOT LET MYSELF BECOME MY PROBLEM

AND I'M JUST WAITING FOR THE DAY YOU SAVE ME FROM MYSELF 'CAUSE I CAN'T HELP THE WAY I FEEL FOR YOU FOR YOU

AND WRITE IN EVERY SPACE THE WORDS "I LOVE YOU" IN REPLACE THEN MAYBE TIME WOULD NOT ERASE MEEEEE IF YOU COULD ONLY KNOW I'D NEVER LET YOU GOOOO AND THE WORDS I MOST REGRET ARE THE ONES I NEVER MEANT TO LEEEEEEAAAAVEEEEEEEE UNSAID EMILYYYYYYYYYY

*muffled sobbing*

it's projecting onto fictional characters with trauma hours everybody

DO OR DIE YOU'LL NEVER MAKE ME BECAUSE THE WORLD WILL NEVER TAKE MY HEART GO AND TRY YOU'LL NEVER MAKE ME WE WANT IT ALL WE WANNA PLAY THIS PARY I WON'T EXPLAIN OR SAY I'M SORRY I'M UNASHAMED I'M GONNA SHOE MY SCARS GIVE A CHEAR FOR ALL THE BROKEN LISTEN HERE BECAUSE IT'S WHO WE ARE

hey remember that "fuck therapy I'm becoming a knight" post I spam reblogged yeah that's my current mood rn

anyway that concludes round one of my annual mental breakdown don't worry I'll be back in approximately five minutes after drinking an entire bottle of soda

[cosmicheromp3]

let’s talk about snowbirds don’t fly for a second, shall we: the arc where roy’s addiction was first introduced, and how it actually affected the relationship between roy and ollie.

people’s perception of snowbirds don’t fly and the events surrounding it is so... weird, to the point where it often makes me wonder whether they’ve actually read the comic (and roy’s appearances right after, but i realize those might be less known) or whether they’re just going off a few very specific panels and inaccurate recounts – usually from people that will twist anything in their favour to call ollie a bad guy.

because, if you pieced together what most people seem to think happened – and this is what i was expecting to find once i decided to read it myself –, in snowbirds we should see: roy, not yet an adult and still under the active care of ollie, starts using drugs, and oliver’s so caught up in himself and negligent that he doesn’t notice what’s happening. when he finally finds out, he lashes out, hits roy and kicks him out of the house, leaving roy without a home. this makes their relationship crumble, and roy starts hating ollie because of it. they don’t speak to each other, and leave in awful terms.

and... in many aspects, that’s so far from the events you'll see if you actually go read green lantern #85 (snowbirds don’t fly) and #86 (they say it’ll kill me... but then won’t say when!). i’m assuming a lot of misconceptions happen because of a) writers with a grudge against ollie who retroactively, and unfairly, painted him in a bad light, and people took this at face value, and b) retcons that came with the new 52 reboot – but, i'll be honest, i don’t care enough to go read that mess even for this post. in general, i’m pretty sure we all agree that we ignore out of character comics; let’s not make roy and ollie the exception to that, yeah?

first i want to get something out of the way, that i feel like i need to mention even though there’s probably people that have talked about it better than i could. when we analyze this comic we should keep in mind that the characters in the story were meant to fill specific roles for the sort of... PSA comic that dc was trying to make, and in the 70s, at that. considering this, both roy and ollie are plot devices.

the creative team behind the story (o’neil and adams) have said that they chose roy to be the average “good” teen who fell into drugs – as a way to say “this could happen to anyone, even to this reputable superhero”. ollie was the caring but imperfect parent who missed the signs – not abusive but distant at the moment, he was meant to be more like a nudge to parents to pay closer attention. it was written to play as a sort of “this could happen to the best of us” situation. and in that context, ollie is made to react in a way that is at most "not ideal" for the standards of its time: he hits roy, and denies to himself that roy’s addiction is a real problem that needs to be dealt with delicately. this is used to send the message of “don’t react like this”.

that isn’t exactly the point of this post, and i don’t want to downplay the harm ollie did with his reaction or absolve him of any blame. the point of this post is: people seem to think that’s where the storyline ended, that was ollie’s final reaction, and those are the terms in which ollie and roy parted; which is just not true.

instead, ollie hitting roy happens in the very first page of green lantern #86 – we have an entire issue in which ollie is faced with his initial reaction and made to confront his mistake (which is more than we can say for, um, other father superheroes that have hit their children. i won’t name names.) the only moment you could read as him “kicking roy out” – which is the phrasing i’ve seen applied to this – happens the very next page, where ollie tells roy to “get out”.

the thing is, roy was not living with ollie at the moment. there was nowhere that ollie could kick him out from. “get out” means just that: get out of this room (and ollie didn’t intend anything more than that with his words.) the comic makes a point of stressing that roy is, by that point, independent, and old enough to be living without a guardian.

ollie, right after roy leaves, thinks: “but he shouldn’t need attention–at his age”. ollie is in the wrong here because of his close-minded view of addiction and because he’s not considering that, though a legal adult, roy is still young and needs care, but it still shows that roy was largely on his own by then. ollie’s reaction is definitively negative and a rejection, but can’t in any way be seen as “kicking roy out”, because it isn’t. (note, also, how ollie’s first thought is that he failed roy, but his denial and stubbornness get in the way and he shifts the blame. he’ll eventually have to get over this and change.)

we see that ollie plays the role of the father that reacts poorly, and he is directly contrasted with the adults who do take responsibility for roy – hal at first, and dinah after, are the ones who play the role of “this is how you should react.”

hal finds roy without knowing what happened between him and ollie, and his first reaction is to take roy to a doctor; he immediately recognizes that what roy needs is help – and will later say so to ollie. when roy refuses, saying he wants to kick the addiction on his own – to prove himself to ollie, because even though he doesn’t think ollie was right he still values his opinion and their relationship, but i’d say there’s something he’s trying to prove to himself, too –, hal recognizes that he doesn’t know anything about drug withdrawal or addiction, and he’s receptive to roy, asking him questions and listening without judgement.

so he takes roy to dinah, who is the one that (very kindly, might i add, because dinah and roy weren’t that close at the time) cares for roy while he goes cold turkey. roy, possibly rather unrealistically, though i’m no expert, kicks the addiction in the span of a few pages. before the ending of this arc, roy has already gone clean.

there’s a one week timeskip there, where we assume that out of the characters featured in this story, roy only interacts with dinah, and ollie’s been with hal. then, before the conclusion of this story, roy is given a place to confront ollie and call him out for his mistakes. roy calls him out for turning his back on him, and he gets to tell him – and show him, punching him in a scene where it’s implied that ollie completely deserves it, unlike the opposite situation that this issue started with – about the pain he’s been in. we are given, in text, a moment where roy can express to ollie what he’s been going through, what he did wrong, and how it affected him.

(this is a moment where the intentions of the comic are very clear, not only because roy practically turns to the camera to deliver the PSA, but also because of the wording: roy told ollie that he turned his back on him, and in the same page he talks about society turning its back on drug addicts, same wording twice. ollie and roy are both meant to represent something other than just themselves, even if this happened in continuity and ended up affecting their characters in the long run.)

and ollie – unlike in that first page, now ollie is shown to listen and understand. he’s not in the same place or mindset he was in when everything started. in the beginning, ollie thought that there must be something inherently bad about a person who does drugs, in a reflection of society’s – and parents’ – views of the issue. and that shows in his initial denial and reaction: ‘how could my son, who’s a good person, do this?’ then, in this scene, when roy tells him he beat the addiction, he answers “good boy” – roy immediately rejects this notion, and emphasizes that there’s more to it than his own goodness: what’s important is the help he received, namely from hal and dinah, and a caring environment. ollie, at the very least, begins to understand this, and in doing so understands very clearly what he needs to change about their relationship if he wants roy back.

this means that ollie starts undergoing character development in this one issue alone. the thing about ollie, in regards to his relationship with roy, is that he has made mistakes and the narrative acknowledges it; but, when well written, he realizes and admits it, making a point of learning from his mistakes. roy knows that ollie has fucked up, too, and doesn’t let him off the hook for it, but he also recognizes that he makes an effort to be better. especially after snowbirds, this informs their relationship a lot.

by the end of the issue they’re not hugging, and roy is leaving on his own, but that’s completely of his own accord. and these are the last panels in the entire issue:

the whole original comic, but mostly these panels specifically, is what makes me wonder about people’s perception of these events, and the misconceptions i previously mentioned – because i really am confused as to how you could reconcile these two opposite readings. unless, you know... people are speaking without ever touching the original comic. (i don’t want to blame anyone for not reading older comics, but please, if you’re gonna speak, especially if it’s to shit on a character or call them abusive the way people do with ollie, do it in an informed way.)

so, right after the events of snowbirds, because roy was allowed to speak up and ollie was made to listen, at least as much as can be expected through his stubbornness, they’re in much better terms than people usually think. if you look at roy’s chronology, he interacts with ollie in his next few appearances (barring the teen titans ones), teaming up as they normally would, with the one difference being the emphasis that’s put into the fact that roy has grown away from ollie – in the same way as any young adult would grow away from a parent. there’s also roy’s resentment for ollie’s actions, but this resentment is portrayed as deserved and it doesn’t turn their interactions into something negative. it’s still clear that they both care for each other, and there’s certainly no hate.

[from action comics #436/2]

this first one takes place a few months after roy goes his own way. roy is in the middle of working a case when ollie gets involved, and they work on it together. green lantern #100/2 is their next appearance and has a similar plot, this time with dinah working with them as well. in both of these, they still work well together, are able to communicate in action and have each other’s backs.

in the action comics issue, ollie insists that roy is still welcome by his side, and that he should still feel free to ask for help whenever he needs it. roy refuses in the way that’s shown in the panels above – saying that he needs to “be a loner for a while” and build a life of his own (though it’s not an exact parallel, because ollie is ollie and takes “loner” to a whole other level, the wording here reminds me of the way ollie tends to leave on his own whenever he feels like he needs to find himself). you’ll see that these interactions aren’t hostile at all – quite the opposite.

world’s finest #251/3 might be the one where their interactions are the most tense, and that’s mostly just in the end. when they’re done with the usual superhero team-up, ollie shows willingness to talk to roy:

“i can’t help out. roy’s back, and, well– we’ve got a lot of talking to do.” through these issues, we realize that ollie has learned: his previous mistake was not paying enough attention to roy, and not showing him that he could always count on ollie (both in noticing roy’s addiction, but also before, in not taking enough care so roy wouldn’t get to that point). he tries to make up for it every chance he has, but it’s always on roy’s terms. everyone is aware that ollie is the one who was in the wrong, and it’s up to roy to forgive him or not, but no one ever pressures roy to do so. when roy doesn’t want to stay and talk, ollie accepts it.

ollie atones again and again, and their relationship isn’t magically fixed and they don’t go back to being close without effort – effort which rightfully has to be done, again, mostly on ollie’s part. but they never, ever go so far as to hate each other.

then, in green arrow (1988) #75, ollie feels so bad about what happened between them, about the way he screwed up, he essentially says to roy that he wouldn’t fault him for wanting to shoot him. “so go ahead. god knows, you’ve got plenty of reason.” roy has been brainwashed here; he breaks through it because of ollie’s words. 

and, after this whole ordeal is done, this is how they part ways:

by this point, roy already has lian and a life of his own. he’s gone back to being speedy and then arsenal, he’s in the titans again and he will become a renowned hero in his own right. he might have forgiven ollie a long time ago, but now that he has found himself – like he set off to do at first – he seems more prepared to make amends and see where he stands with him (maybe i’m attributing more consistency among these issues, that happen years apart, than we should actually give them credit for, but i can’t help trying to find the common themes.)

after these, which are the most immediate interactions after snowbirds, we have multiple instances of them being close again. it’s in every small moment they have together, really, but off the top of my head, a couple that are illustrative for their relationship are green arrow: the archer’s quest and justice league of america (2006) #7, even though they don’t directly interact in this last one. i was gonna include panels from both, but this is getting long enough; i urge you to read them, especially if you followed along reading the issues i’ve mentioned, because they’re great. what i am gonna include, cause it’s amazing, is this panel from justice league of america wedding special.

in my opinion, these misconceptions around ollie and roy not only are a disservice to their characters but also mean that people are missing out on what i think is a really interesting relationship. it’s almost rare to see a relationship evolve in a way that feels so organic in comics, not only because the interpersonal conflict here is shown to have real, tangible consequences but also because the characters are allowed to grow in a way that is gradual and natural and even satisfying.

ollie and roy's relationship might have never been the exact same after snowbirds – but which father-son relationship stays the same after the son grows up? and i think it's a testament to the strength of their bond that without ever ignoring these events (because, as i’ve shown, they’re very much acknowledged again and again) they not only never stop loving each other, but are also able to keep building something meaningful going forward.

[popculturebuffet]

House of Mouse: The Stolen Cartoons Review (Patreon Review)

Hello all you happy people! It’s Patreon Review Time. Since my 5 dollar or higherr patreons get 1 review a month, Kevin my 10 dollar patreon is using one of his to celebrate the 20th anniversary of House of Mouse by having me review a random episode a month. And for this month we’re going all the way back to the start with The Stolen Cartoons!

I already introed house of mouse back when I reviewed “The Three Cablleros” episode but for a refresher: House of Mouse is a 2001 cartoon about Mickey and Co running a club. Mickey is host, Minnie plans the show and runs the books, Donald tends to the VIP”s and co owns the club with Mickey, Goofy is head waiter,  Daisy runs guest services, Horace is technical support, Clarabelle is a gossip monger with no clear actual job, and Max is Valet. The show was used to repackage shorts from the short lived show Mickey mouseworks, using the club setting as a wraparound and said club was attentend by all the various characters from the disney canon. It’s as awesome as it sounds. 

The voice cast, which I didn’t intro thorughly last time, was equally awesome with all the actors for the characters at the time, all legends in the industry. Wayne Allwine as Mickey,who played the character from the late 70′s to his death, Russi Taylor as Minnie and the Triplets, who did the same and was also married to wayne, Tony Anselmo, who should be thorughly familiar to readers of this blog and donald duck fans as his voice since Ducktales, Voice Actress Tress Macneile as Daisy, likewise,  Jason Marsden as Max and Voice Acting Legend Jim Cummings as Pete. All except Allweine i’ve profieled before on this blog in various other series, but Wayne, outisde of a very minor role in black cauldron, only voiced Mickey, and to me is the defntiive voice for the guy, though Chris is getting close. 

The other notable members of the cast i havent’ covered are April Winchell, who while tremendous, I will save for an episode Clarabelle is actually in more, and Bill Farmer. I have a great amount of Love for Bill and like everyone here, he was a vertran of the industry by the time he showed up in this series. His defining roll far and away is goofy, who was, to my delighted surprise his FIRST voice audition, having studided PInto Colving’s voice well to the point you can barely tell the difference between the two, and having inherited the roll around the same time as Russi and Tony. He’s the voice of Goofy I and most kids from the 80′s onward have grown up with and is the best at the roll by far, having chances for depth and nuance Pinto wasn’t allowed with the Goofy Movies and other works. IN general he’s just THE goofy to me. He’s also the voice of horace and pluto, and currently voices Hop Pop in Amphibia which is super noteworthy as looking at his filmography like a lot of the sensational 6′s va’s he’s only voiced goofy or Pluto for most of his career. But hey like Tony, if you only do one charcter might as well be the fucking best at it. He also has a show on Disney Plus with him and dogs I need to watch yesterday. 

So with our cast out of the way, and not much history to go into, join me after the cut and we’ll see how House of Mouse got it’s start and if it was a good one. 

Breaking from my usual format for House of Mouse and doing the shorts as they come up int he main story for two reasons: The first is that the shorts are integral to the plot and the second is that there’s way more main story this time around than usual, likely to properly set things up. 

So we open at the House of Mouse with Mickey Adressing the club and showing off the general premise of this being a club for all of the various heroes and villains of disney to hang out and what not. He also presents the house rules which are no smoking (Fair and should’ve always been a thing), no villianous schemes and no eating the other guests, all helpfully demonstrated as he says them. We also get to see the others in action: Minnie handling the schedule and the crew, Donald welcoming the guests, and Daisy running the desk and getitng brainwashed by Jafar into giving him a table. Max also is providing his job as Valet which surprised me because I genuinely thought he didn’t join the cast till season 2.. despite the fact he’s right there in the credits.. which are the same for ALL THREE SEASONS. 

So things are going well.. so naturally that’s when Pete shows up to try and ruin things. Look he’s having a hard time after the divorce.. several years ago. Okay maybe he’s always just been a dick and that’s why he’s divorced in the first place. Point is he naturally wants to shut the club down, boot them out, and wreck up the place like any natural cartoon villian or real estate scum bag landlord. Pete just happens to be both because he can multitask. .and because it’s basically the same thing you just have to be animated for one of them.  Thankfully whoever the previous Landlord was, i’m going with Shere Kahn given the setting, his roll in tailspin and the fact the obvious candidate, scrooge, would make no sense here given a later episode where he guest stars, wrote into the contract that as long as the show goes on, they can stay in business. Pete stews over this and naturally plans to stop the show while Minnie, in a cute bit, comforts a nervous mickey and just tells him to play some cartoons. So...

Pluto Gets the Paper: Wet Cement and Donald’s Dynamite: Magic Act I”m covering both of these at once. But as I said the animated shorts this time are one big sized one and two of the shorter ones to make more room for the story. Which is fair: this is the first episode, and thus needs to set up the premise. The series isn’t story driven but your first episode should still feel like one, ease you into the world and get you situated and THEN can do the normal format. It’s also in the episode’s favor as the heavier story focus meant a BETTER story than most season 1 episodes, on par with the two season 3 episodes i’ve covered so far. 

The shorts themselves are fine. So far this is the only Pluto Short i’ve liked as it has a neat enough gaga: Pluto has to get the paper in wet cement. Why did the paperboy throw it in wet cement instead of in the driveway, I dunno but given this short is well.. short and just meant to deliver on some quick gags, I’m not going to question it. It’s the first Pluto short i’ve covered without any dog sexual harassment, i’m not looking a gift dog in the mouth. 

The other short short played right after is part of a series where Donald ends up trying to get rid of a round bomb that shows up wherever he is....

It’s pretty damn funny, though being a huge Donald fan i’m obviously biased, but even removing my donald duck brand sunglasses, I will concede this was objectively fun.

But the cartoons stop as, true to the title, they’ve gone missing! Horace is found tied up, the cartoons are gone and Pete is obviously responsible. and hilariously so as the rope has his name on it and he says “I don’t know horace horsecollar” There are a LOT of good gags in this one, i’m leaving a lot out for time’s sake. 

So Mickey and Minnie come up with a plan: Mickey sends the.. Quackstreet Boys.... to stall. Now it may shock you but I actually LIKE the backstreet boys. Not to an extreme amount but I did grow up with them, and even now find their music pretty damn good. No my issue is this parody is weak, mostly running entirely on the title pun. The most I can give them credit for is using the outfits from their second album cover. No I wasn’t kidding I did grow up with them. You saw that everywhere so even if I didn’t enjoy their music then and now, i’d know it. But it just feels really weak, like they had no idea what to DO with the boys and instead just slapped them in a lame parody. It dosen’t help i’m not a fan of the classic version of the boys outside of the comics, as I feel later productions should’ve had them actually be distinct, and it took until 2017 to pull that off with the reboot, something I fear may be undone in future productions. Please.. don’t.. you can have Cristina Vee voice them all, I don’t care about the voice I just want to be able to tell them a apart. So yeah I don’t like it but it dosen’t drag the episode down. Just something I wanted to have a moan about. 

So they split up: Mickey, Minnie and Goofy go to shoot a cartoon while Donald runs the club. Naturally he rebrands.. but what really is telling is everyone boos him when he tries to mc.. just for not being Mickey. While Donald does have a massive inferiority complex here, desperately wanting to one up mickey.. with moments like this it’s hard not to see why> He’s JUST as big a star, just as talented , maybe not as nice but just as likeable. He even co-owns the club. But ironically only Mickey Himself, and Daisy of Course, treat him like an equal. To everyone else it’s Mickey’s world and he’s just the sidekick. It’s no wonder he spend sthe entire show desperately trying to outdo mickey: he doesn’t hate the guy, even if he wouldn’t admit it.. but he just wants to be loved too. Sure it’s part ego.

Mickey does return though with the new cartoon. And our only sizeable one so. 

Hickory Dickory Mickey: This is a REALLY good one with a simple enough premise; Goofy wants Mickey to take him to the airport at 6am tomorrow.. which Mickey balks at. 

Seriously i’ve woken up at 3-4am to go to the airport or on road trips. Waking up at 5:30 is pretty standard. Goofy also has good reason to ask as he once BROKE MICKEY OUT OF JAIL. And as seen up top the flashback is done in black and white AND with their old models. I just.. love everything about this and it had to have taken extra effort to make new models for the old models and thus extra money for a quick joke. So kudos best part of the episode. But with his hands tied Mickey is forced to take him and Goofy leaves him his clock which won’t stop ticking. So we get just.. nonstop good gags as Mickey tries to sleep with standouts being his trying to drown it out only to get the tick station, the tock station on the radio and the clock channel on the tv. He also tries to mail it and naturally it comes back thanks to a kangaroo when he ships it to Australia..a nd then get’s progressively batshit as he mails it to HADES (comes back in a puff of smoke) and to the 1920′s (It comes back in black and white with arms and legs). It’s just.. really damn good and I suggest seeking it out. I have liked other shorts better but this was a good one. 

Pete still gloats as they’ll need more cartoons.. only for one to fall out of his jacket and Mickey to shake the rest out. We then get a fun chase between the two, SO many good jokes, my favorite being him dressing up as a dalmation only for Cruella to take measurements, before being cornered by the three and the elephant from tarzan who throws him out.. right next to pepper-ann and her mom “Don’t touch the villian dear”. Good crossover.. and another show that like House of Mouse is not on disney plus don’t ask me why. 

So our heroes win, we get our usual sponsorship and unusually we see the guests leave, a nice bit I wish they did more. All’s well that ends well. 

Final Thoughts: This episode was fantastic. It introduces the cast well, sets up our villian, our basic premise and while only having one major cartoon, uses that as a plot point and it’s a damn good one. A fantastic start to the series and frankly the best place to start if your curious about the show. I’d like to thank Kev for sponsoring this review. If you’d like your own review you can look at comissoin details on my blog or get one guaranteed every month by becoming a 5 dollar patreon. You get one guaranteed review a month, acess to my discord server for my patreons, and to pick a short when I do birthday specials. And contributing to my patreon gets me closer to my stretch goals, even one dollar helps. Next goal not only gets reviews of the super ducktales mini series, but also a darkwing duck episode EVERY MONTH. And with the plug done, i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[smegdwarf]

But Who Could Love Me? (Rimmer X Reader) - Chapter 4

A/N: Prepare yourself for fluff!

Warnings: None, all fluff here!

Summary: Pretty much giving Rimmer the love he deserves.

Even after a month or so dating, sneaking around to spend time alone, Rimmer still couldn’t quite accept that you had chosen him. As much as you didn’t want to hide it, you couldn’t deny how much you enjoyed teasing him and winding him up. The colour of his cheeks when you’d catch him staring at you, the feeling of him trying not to react when you place your hands on his shoulders  or your favourite, watching him get flustered when you lean over him to reach the other side of the dashboard. The teasing and winds up however weren’t always one sided, Rimmer slowly started to play you at your own game, every now and then letting his hand graze yours as he walked past or randomly shooting you a sweet smile that he quickly began to realise you couldn’t resist.

After a tiring trip to what was thought to be a abandoned derelict but turned out to home a couple of rogue Gelfs, the crew were finally on their way back to Red Dwarf with Lister and Cat slightly ahead in blue midget. The trip was never meant to be a whole crew outing but when Lister and Cat didn’t return when they said they would you made the decision to go and find them with Rimmer and Kryten in starbug.

“I’ve switched to autopilot” You heard Rimmer speak as he walked into starbugs stern where you were working on Kryten, followed by a clang as your head hit the metal droid above you as you shot up without thinking.

“Ow!” You winced as you rolled out from under the work bench Kryten was laying on.

“Oh god are you ok? I didn’t mean to scare you?” Rimmer panicked as he crouched down next to you.

“It’s fine, I somehow forgot I was working on a solid metal Android for a moment there” You laughed as you rubbed your head, you might be hard light and practically indestructible but you could still feel pain ...something you always thought of as a disadvantage.

“What are you doing anyway?” Rimmer asked curiously as he helped you up.

“Krytes took a bit of a hit in the bazookoid fire with the Gelfs and said some of his wires might have come loose so I said I’d take a look” You explained “He kept stuttering and switching to Spanish mid sentence”

“Is he ok now?”

“Yeah I was just closing him up and about to reboot him” You smiled as a smirk started to appear on Rimmer’s face “What are you thinking of?”

“He’s on downtime right?” Rimmer smiled, his cheeks blushing at the thought of what he was about to suggest.

“Where is this going Arnie?” You raised your eyebrow at him, you liked this side of Rimmer.

“Well we don’t have to boot him up just yet?” Rimmer’s eyes darted to the side as he walked back towards starbugs cockpit.

“Well what do you want to do?” You asked as Rimmer sat down at the dashboard.

“I just want to spend time with you” Rimmer smiled sweetly.

“You know that cute and innocent act doesn’t work on me anymore, what were you thinking of?” You smiled leaning against the side of Rimmer’s chair.

“I feel awkward now” Rimmer chuckled quietly “Don’t worry about it”

“I’ll go reboot Kryten then?” Before you could even think about moving Rimmer’s hands were on your waist and pulling you down onto his lap “Well I definitely wasn’t expecting that”

“So what do we do now? This is kind of as far as I got?” Rimmer mumbled a little, still feeling awkward.

“Well we could make out?” You shrugged as Rimmer’s cheeks flushed red once more.

“But this is Listers seat? We can’t do that in his seat he’ll go mad?” Rimmer rambled.

“What Lister doesn’t know won’t hurt him?!” You laughed quietly as you let your arms rest gently round his shoulders.

“And what about Space Corp directive...” And with a small shake of your head and no further hesitation you collided your lips with his, his arms not having quite found their rightful place.

“Rules are made to be broken Arnie!” You spoke quietly as you kept your eyes focused on his.

"Well normally I’d disagree but I’d break every rule for you”Rimmer smiled as he leant in to kiss you.

“Since when did you become such a sop?” You spoke softly as you returned the kiss, you would never have put Rimmer down as the soppy lovesick kind but after all for him this was the first time he had ever truly been in love.

“You’re asking me?” Rimmer chuckled as he took every second of this moment with you, his arms resting gently at the bottom of your waist, finally finding where they belong.

“How long till we’re back to Red Dwarf?” You asked gently brushing back a curl that had come loose from his face as he smiled softly leaning into your hand.

“Annoyingly not long” Rimmer sighed as a light a on the dashboard started blinking.

“Rimmer, Y/N, Krytes, you there?” Listers voice boomed through the speaker.

“Listy? Are you ok?” You asked as Rimmer froze in the seat beneath you.

“Y/N are Rimmer and Krytes with you?” Lister asked.

“What do you want Lister?” Rimmer grumbled, his grip tightening on the arm of the chair.

“Hello to you to Rimmer” Lister taunted “Cat and I just wondered if you three wanted to join us in  a couple card games when we get back?”

“What kind of card games?” You asked curiously, making sure you didn’t get accidentally roped into a game of strip poker.

“I’m gonna teach Cat how to play Fish!” Lister chuckled.

“Yo bud did you say fish?” Cats voice mumbled in the background.

“Yeah count me in, what about you Arnie?” You gave Rimmer a smile you knew he couldn’t resist.

“Fine count me in too” Rimmer gave you a playful glare.

“Where’s Kryten? He hasn’t said anything?” Lister addressed the elephant in the room as you and Rimmer looked at each other in panic.

“Erm...” Rimmer stuttered as you quickly thought out an answer.

“Krytes is on downtime, I’ve just finished fixing him up” You spluttered fast enough to not invite speculation of what was really going on.

“Fixing him?” Lister replied confused.

“Yeah he took some damage in the gunfire but he’s fine now” You quickly explained as Rimmer became fidgety and anxious beneath you as you cupped his face gently in your hands before placing a gentle kiss to his forehead to calm him down.

“Brutal! ...well we’ll see you back on Red Dwarf” Lister bought and accepted your story that was some what true but not the whole truth.

“Good god” Rimmer let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Right I better get our mech friend back up and running” You smiled as Rimmer pouted “Hey don’t look at me like that”

“Damn I thought that would work” Rimmer chuckled as you stood up “Go on then, go boot up the bog bot!”

“Before I do...” You smirked as Rimmer raised his eyebrow at you confused, leaning in closer to him as your lips met his in the middle.

“Just as I planned” Rimmer laughed quietly as you walked slowly back to Kryten.

“Yeah yeah” You teased before leaving the cockpit.

Before long you were back on Red Dwarf, with Kryten fixed and rebooted and back with Lister and Cat.  With freshening up and a meal out of the way the four of you sat round the table in the boys sleeping quarters ready to begin game night with Kryten enjoying making his way through a big pile of ironing.

“So Cat do you get the rules of the game now?” Lister stared Cat down from the opposite of the table.

“Yeah let’s play” Cat replied as Lister shuffled the cards before dealing them out.

“Right Y/N you can go first!” Lister smiled as you lifted your eyes from your cards to Rimmer who sat opposite you.

“Aright then ...Rimsy!” You smirked as Rimmer raised his eyebrow, caught completely off guard by the change in name “Got any 3’s”

“Go fish smeghead!” Rimmer lips too turned into a smirk as he spoke, meanwhile you pretended to strop as you took the card from the top of pile in the middle.

“Cat your turn!” You smiled as Cat too looked at Rimmer.

“Goalpost head!” Cat stared Rimmer down.

“Is this whole game just going to be you lot picking on me?” Rimmer asked with a small smile, all the while you were winding him up too he didn’t mind.

“Got any fish?” Cat asked, having not understand any of the rules of the game as Lister shook his head.

“You’re supposed to ask for a number Cat?” Lister explained again.

“Why would I want wheel-arch nostrils number?” Cat screwed up his nose.

“He meant a number card Cat” You explained softly.

“Anyway where’s the fish?” Cat furrowed his brows as everyone shook their head with a sigh “You can’t ask a cat to play this game and not give him a fish?”

“It’s the name of the game you doink!” Lister finally broke “There’s not actual fish involved”

“No fish?” Cat looked at Lister almost offended “I don’t know why I bother?”

Just as Cat went to storm out a faint noise could be heard just outside the ship.

“Can you hear that noise?” Rimmer screwed his nose up as he tried to listen.

“Yeah it’s you smeghead” Lister teased as Rimmer sighed.

“No I can hear it too” You said curiously as you walked over to the window.

“It appears to be the Gelf ship we saved Mr Cat and Mr Lister from” Kryten chimed in as Rimmer and Lister joined you by the window.

“I think we should head down to starbug now!” Rimmer’s voice was stern as he spoke, while on paper he was only second tech as far as he was concerned he was in charge.

“Wait a minute ...what’s that?” You pointed towards the distant red splodge flying over the Gelf ship.

“That’s another ship ma’am” Kryten finally joined you over at the window.

“Gelf?” You asked as Rimmer’s hand found your wrist, his grip tightening as the Gelf ship got closer and his concern for you grew bigger.

“Whatever it is we need to move!” Rimmer reminded everyone of his previous idea but before anyone could consider moving the Gelf ship went up in pieces, the blast radiating through the Dwarf and sending everyone and everything flying.

Without a second of hesitation, Rimmer arms were wrapped around you as you both fell to the floor. Not wanting you to get hurt he used his own body, wrapping himself around you to cushion your fall.

“Are you alright?” Rimmer asked trying to catch his breath as he helped you up.

“Yeah thanks to you” You smiled sweetly, for the first time Rimmer had been brave and heroic rather than the coward everyone knew him to be as your well-being and safety weighed far more than his own.

Rimmer had completely let down the high walls he’d spend his whole life building for you and only you. All Rimmer had ever wanted was to love and to be loved and with you he had everything. He was completely and hopelessly in love with you and for the first time in his entire existence he was happy.

“Hey look it’s that other ship!” Cat pointed out as the ship got closer to the dwarf.

“Oh god no” Rimmer grumbled as he realized who it was.

“It’s Ace!” Lister exclaimed as everyone except you and Rimmer scuttled off to the landing bay.

“No no nooo” Rimmer sulked as he sat on his bunk, his self esteem going from 100 to 0 in a matter of seconds.