#we went through multiple fleshed out poses

[frostbitebakery]

I got my head checked

[edupiii]

*slams head into marble counter top, causing cups to fall onto the floor with the sheer amount of force*

I HAD A THOUGHT. POSSIBLY EVEN A THEORY.

or im just late as hell to the party

Spoiler Warning for Episode 7 of Murder Drones Below

ALRIGHT! Now I KNOW this shit is going to sound kinda crazy but STICK WITH ME HERE PLEASE-

I was just wondering around YouTube and I got this video made by @sutekh94 (sorry if you didn’t wanna be pinged Sutekh, if you’d like i can take the @ out) suggested to me. I watched it cause I like to see what other people say about the cringy media I consume rapidly.

At one point in the video, Sutekh is talking about the end shot of Uzi being in sppaaaaace saying that she was “shot into Copper-9s orbit”. I paused the video and looked at the clip on screen which was this BEAUTIFUL scene. Absolutely stunning.

Now at the end of the new episode I had a brain thought that this could be an outside shot of Copper-9, but then I found that too odd. However, seeing someone else say it has me looking into stuff. So I went through all the times we’ve seen Copper-9 within the series and found that yes, this very much is Copper-9 and Uzi stuck on its orbit:

highlighted circle is of the Little Rock’s orbiting Copper-9 that bump into Uzi

We can see the rock orbits, the space between Copper-9 and the (possible) moons it has. The Saturn moon being close up in the first angle we see from the first episode, but it being far away in the newest episode. This shows the distance and that despite being seen as farther away now, the Saturn moon is still the one we see so commonly in MD during the night.

But I was confused why it was like this? Why would it lead to the planets orbit? I understand the planet has a massive hole in it, but still it seemed like an odd occurrence.

Now- this is where I start sounding like I should never be let outside in public spaces-

Before we see this final scene of Uzi in spaaaacee, we watch The Solver/Fleshaa/Cyn go down that exact same hole saying: “honestly, I’m starving.”

It also references eating earlier on in the episode when talking to N: “Let’s eat.”

The Solver/Fleshaa/Cyn came to Copper-9 to initially get rid of other solver users that it knew of (Uzi and Doll), as well as find the cross with the patched code in it. First it destroyed all possible evidence involving the solver and the patch (scene where it explodes the computers and lockers in episode 7).

Secondly, it goes after Doll. Doll was against the Solver because she refused for it to use her to “eat the planet”, to which Flesha says, “not sure it needs you buddy”, then killing her.

Next it went for Uzi. It was originally going to kill Uzi acting as Tessa, however when N decapitated her that was no longer an option. Instead, it shifted into using Uzis body. At this point, she also has acquired the cross thanks to N. It goes ahead and destroys that too, checking another box off the list.

The Solver then went to kill N but was stopped by Nori, causing there to be a new target added to its hit list. In the fight with Nori and N, the Solver shows little respect for Uzis body. On multiple occasions it try’s to get Uzi killed. It knew N would try to stop this from happening, but even if he didn’t save Uzi, that would still be a win for the Solver.

It then try’s to eat Nori, wanting to get rid of her as quickly as possible since she poses the most threat to its plan. It’s interpreted by N and then loses control over Uzi. However, Uzi then proceeded to PUNT her mom down the flesh hole, resulting in Nori to be checked off the hit list as well since she would be assumed to be dead.

With Nori, Doll and the cross/patch gone and Uzi no longer under its control, the Solver retreats back into its Flesha form, surprise attacking N and Uzi. I would assume that the Solver doesn’t perceive either of these traumatized goobers to be a threat, seeing as it try’s to kill the pair but ultimately fails.

With all other players out of the field, The Solver no longer has anyone it deems as a threat. Dropping down the hole in victory and into Copper-9s orbit.

The Solver as we have seen eats oil, drone cores and human flesh and blood. With all human life (possibly) being wiped out entirely by being eaten, the Solver is starving. The next best option: drones.

Copper-9s current residents are only drones. Specifically worker drones who have no weaponry or Solver powers. The drones have governance over themselves (aka, sentient), so the Solver can’t just brainwash or order them into being eaten. So it plans to do it in one big final swoop.

It has been said on multiple occasions throughout the show: eating the planet, eating worlds, etc. but i (personally) never thought of that being an actual possibility. With the Solver/Flesha/Cyn in the orbit of Copper-9 and all possible obstacles taken care of, it is free to gorge itself on the drone inhabited planet, finally satisfying its endless hunger.

I would think it would do this by creating a NULL void, as the endless void/black hole can be acquainted with the idea of a always starving being. Something that can never be full. Never satisfied. We see this with earth and the core of Copper-9. We can also see this in the other times we have seen the NULL void appearing: a flash back in episode 4, killing the Sentinels in episode 6, it being in the sky in episode 7 during the murder drone apocalypse and probably a bunch of other times I didn’t write down.

The Solver didn’t get to fully eat Copper-9 all those decades ago, but now it’s come to finish its meal.

If this has already been a known thing and im joining in late, i profusely apologize for wasting both your time and my own.

As for a motive for The Solver doing this: to eat. It isn’t fighting for the freedom of drone kind or fighting against humanity because of the way they treated the AI they created, but rather uses drones as vessels and a food source. Often, Eldritch beings have little reason to care for anything. They do what they please and it’s horrifying because there is absolutely no way to deter this force or even try to talk it down. It’s above emotion and morality. It is all that matters and those beneath are seen as nothing but insignificant animals to yield to its power. It doesn’t want to dominate or rule a universe, it just wants to consume it.

[wolfavens]

what was your inspiration to create your main oc? (pass the question on)

or for any character you want to tell us about, really =)

Aaaah this is such a perfect ask! Thank so much for thinking of me... now here I come to make you regret you thought of me 😅 Unnecessarily long history of Brian under the cut ❤️

In 2012 after finishing a couple of short stories my friend at the time encouraged me to write a novel. It was never finished and went through multiple drafts which were all discarted but it did give birth to two of my oldest ocs: Brian & Fawn. At the time their names were Fallon & Teyrnon tho but's lets not get hung up on my never ending pet peeve of renaming ocs to make their names fit their personalities better - in my demented brain that is. 😂

The unfinished novel was about druids and fallen kindgoms and big evil and were it not absolutely filled with tropes and bad grammar I'm sure it would give G.R.R. Martin a run for his money, lol (no it would not, it sucked 😂) But it did give basic outlines to who Brian will become - a big blond lower class overachiever who pretends he is dumber than he really is & has a doomed romance with his best friend.

In 2015 I started a simblr (this simblr in fact 🥳) to tell a vampire detective story. I'm pretty sure nobody remembers it (it also sucked btw) but both Fawn & Brian had cameos in it under their original names. They were still druids post their kingdom's final fall helping humans in a urband fantasy setting... don't @ me I told you it sucked 🤷‍♀️ All the way up to my disgraceful abandonment of this blog Fawn & Bri had little cameos in my witch story, faerie story... all the stories.

In 2019 I think I made a new blog because I started hating everything I ever touched - a state of affairs that continues to this day I guess. 😂 On the new blog I posted mostly short snippets of draft #89746453 of Fawn & Brian's story (at this point their names were Teyrnon & Fawn I think...) Mostly tho I was fleshing out Fawn's cousin Shadow (Niall). The greatest regret of my life is that I deleted that blog and only have a couple pics left & none of the snippets 😭

Following that I left simblr for a few years attempting to write on and off. A few short stories came out of that (plus an abandoned writing blog) and I noticed all of those stories were basically Brian & Fawn AUs because either I'm that uncreative or these two just live rent free in my head and I stopped fighting. In November 2021 I returned to simblr with Light Trap - the last of those stories I wrote & Brian so much... editing... of Brian. I would've stuck to it too if I wasn't a lazy arse who couldn't find a baseball bat poses & poses of a ghost flying out of a mirror 🤷‍♀️

And here we are today. Brian is still blond, blue eyed poor as shite (20 simoleons guys send help) has recently earned the overachiever trait & the difficult relationship with his mother which drove him to the overachiever trait in the first place and is in love with his best friend. He has starred in over 40 short stories & novelas in the last 10 years (all found in Fawn's druid fanfic notebook because metafiction *drops mic*) and this year he will get that puppy which I keep promising everyone (and is also an easter egg for my demented brain to the dog he used to have at the very beginning who followed him around everywhere Dogmeat style & helped him fight evil or whatever).

Now don't tell me you don't regret me getting this ask, ahahahaah 😂

[alexissara]

My Favorite NPCs

We're at it again talking about my OCs. We've talked about Current OCs and my favorite OCs who never really got to see play so today we're talking NPCS. I GM a lot, more than I play. So of course, over that time I've made some characters whom I just love so much and have become some of my favorite OCs despite them never really being PCs or only being PCs very briefly. Honorable Mention to Jillian Owlnight whom I have already wrote about when I wrote about The Iconic Matriarch from TSL.

Grifta Scamsly

System: Anyone I can fit them in

[ https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/296093 ]

Grifta Scamsly first appeared as a one off joke NPC who was intended to divert the players in my Fellowship campaign just a little. However, Griffta Scasmsly, They/Them, as in THEY got THEM deals but seriously please use the right pronouns was a big hit with the players. Since they were well liked I had them show up in little bit roles again and fleshed out a backstory from jokes I told during appearances that actually lead to them being a big part near the end of the campaign establishing firmly The Scamaly and their backstory of being part of a group of Orphans who were abused by the adults running the orphanage and managed to take over the joint and get all of them out of their lives by conning everyone they could in an elaborate scream proudly taking on the Scamsly name they formed for themselves.

Griftta would appear in multiple worlds since then with the consistent beats, They/them, is from a found family of orphans and actually a very helpful friend who just also happens to be a con artist. They even went on to inspire me to make the playbook for Thirsty Sword Lesbians The Swindler which also started as a joke that I could make the Griffta playbook since they didn't fit any of the playbooks perfectly.

Celeste

System: Fellowship

[ https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/332600 ]

In the same campaign that Griffta appeared we had our Overlord Celeste. A chaotic being who altered areas to make them strange, fun and weird wishing to alter the whole world to her amusement altering reality wherever she went. In truth the woman was possessed by an evil force who simply wished to ruin the world and had attempted to burn the world before and was sealed away in a Crystal the girl found. She was a weirdo who just had her crush and best friend in a very uptight community of light mages. She wanted to make the world break through all the norms and everything for her beloved taking it too far.

She was really fun to play because she had a very fun voice to do and a very strange manner of thinking and doing things while being rooted in one of the PCs in a positive way and in a negative way with the other two. Celeste was a house of mysteries for the players to crack and a force of chaos that was hard to get pinned down. Then getting to play a touch of her without the force inside of her at the very end was very rewarding and her being united with her mutual crush and them getting together was just very sweet. It was overall really great to have this very recurring villain that the game itself put under protection and the effects of could be felt every single step of their adventure.

Altia

System: Thirsty Sword Lesbians and King Is Dead

[ https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/227881 ]

Altia was "Her Holiness" the voice of the goddess of The Pure Light was another villain that was just an utter blast to chew up as a GM. She is really special becuase she was really fun on multiple layers. There was her while she was possessed by the Pure Light both as mostly herself but swayef and more of a direct take over. Then there was her post being free of The Holy Lady fully herself but trying to make up for past wrong doing. Then her more exploring herself phase but equally fun was showing the counter balance to her. Altia always posed herself as a reformer, progressive, to The genocidal churches left and improving monster relationships. Since her personality was mostly involved in most choices she really had made some strong reforms and having The Holy Lady move to her more conservative counter part and war errupting right away and policies shifitng to further fash then the existing bad fash was fun and only had the impact because Altia set up varying degrees of awful for us.

It was fun to have this religious and political agent, the ways she changed the world when she was evil and the ways she wanted to actually change the world, the ways she was twisted and the ways she resisted. Altia was just a really fun character and as a shared NPC in a CO-GM campaign she was really fun to build on with others and go through varying twists I'd never have made myself but loved.

Queen Azure

System: Masks: A New Generation

Art by Littleinksheep

Another Villain and this time one that didn't get to see too much spotlight but even found herself in lore in a future campaign so one I have a ton of fondness for. This NPC was a little bit different in that it was an NPC I designed from a PC perspective with the Masks Playbook, The Innocent. The playbook has you make a future version of yourself that is a big time baddy or otherwise messed up and have that be the main focus of conflict for you.

Azure was the princess of a Fire Emblem land on Earth that was taken from earth and into a space collector of abnormally magical and powerful places to "protect the universe". When this tech was being used to move it Azure was hit between a pivotal moment in time and space duplicating herself one being shot through time far into the future 1418 years into the future and the other, Queen Azure remaining in her place in time but in a new universe captured by the man.

Her farther killed before her and her people and culture being wiped out while she was captured by him to remain part of his "preservation of history" lead to her getting angrier and more aggressive, she had fought in a war before always with the power of friendship and with hope to reach every opponent, now she wanted death for her enemy no path to redemption or understanding. Azure managed to lead other captured cultures that hadn't resisted and therefore still had numbers left to rise up against the man who captured them and kill him and sized his operation. With his tech she took her old castle and turned into into an intergalactic spaceship and reality traveling ship. Azure then went to start conquering worlds with the intention of using her domain over them to protect them from a force as powerful as that man and threats that might grow to his level gathering the strongest warriors to work under her directly.

Over time Azure also learned the dark secrets of her own culture and embraced all sides of her abilities to become more powerful in order to protect the multiverse. After so many years she finally found her home reality and home world returning to find her first and truest love was still alive and had become a vampire in her absence but rejected the path she had taken and fought back against her. I GMed the first encounter session as a set up for my character coming into the campaign as I switched characters and I was in tears as she fought her beloved and they reached that moment of impasse where she realized the only thing left from what she knew, the woman she loved most, all of that were no longer compatible with her but refusing to let go of her role as the protector of The Multiverse and Queen of The Arondite Kingdoms.

I can't help myself but ramble about her as you just saw, I got so much more to say but she is such a tragic villain who isn't like mind controlled or corrupted just brought to a radical position by radical trauma but genuinely doing her best and what she thinks is the kindest option. She worked really well as a natives foil to Princess Azure and this looming threat of the kind of person she could become, she would become if she saw what she saw. Azure doesn't deny that if she suffered the same trauma she would have been different, she knows they are the same exact person she is simply a younger version of her but she wants to remind her of why she fought, why what they fought for matters but she also had to come to terms with the reality her life was fucked up too and that part of what was going on with Azure started well before "that man".

Mona

System: "Masks: A New Generation"

[ https://picrew.me/ja/image_maker/86774 ]

Mona was from my very first dedicated TTRPG campaign that actually had consistent games. There was a session I made specifically to present a bunch of hot NPCs to the players and attempt to get them to hook up with someone. Our Alien Stoner Pizza Delivery girl fell head over heels for one of the most silly of my silly sexy characters Mona. She has a magic staff that can do anything but it's totally random and triggers off her saying magic. One day Mona found it on the ground, she brought it to The Lost And Found and they ended up returning it to her when no one claimed it. Since then she has used it and her super power to jump really high [above average] to work as a part time gig hero on apps.

This bisexual dork fell head over heels for the cute alien girl being mutually considered fuck ups but both seeing only the amazing things about one another. Over time they stood up for each other and fought for each other and time and time again despite how wild, scary or out of this world things got Mona was there to provide magic.

I had a really funny little voice I did for her and to this day randomly I'll just say "Magic!" in her voice and get a giggle out of my fiancé or my girlfriends who were in the campaign.

Sapphire Riches

System: Masks: A New Generation/Thirsty Sword Lesbians

[ https://meiker.io/play/11994/online.html ]

Sapphire Riches actually started out as PC in a Thirsty Sword Lesbians One Shot I did on stream. I started a Masks Campaign shortly after that stream and in the first session of the shared GM campaign I ran I decided to put Sapphire in as a bit NPC still in her rich bitch era with none of the introspection I gave her for the TSL game. She was a rich girl super hero using tech she mostly just bought along with maybe a few of her own mods added in and part of a corporations super hero department. She ended up with a romance with one of the PCs and she did in fact manage to fix her, mostly, kinda, she improved a lot.

I really enjoy playing a terrible rich girl but typically those characters can not be fun to have around long term but here everyone knew where I was taking her so it was even more fun to be able to lean into it and show that development. She remained a fairly minor character even after the time skip where we switched to Thirsty Sword Lesbians. Sapphire is just one of those really fun characters to have show up and be a little cute or sassy or out of touch and remained a high light any time I brought her in. Most recently I used her in a private RP as a main character but leaning more into the toxic elements for spice and that was a really fun take too.

If you enjoyed hearing about my OCs then you can support me on Patreon or Ko-fi or you can just tell me you liked them. Sharing this stuff probably helps in theory someone hire me to GM something so rebloging helps a lot too.

[cobaltusami]

Superhiro

bleh! Finally It's finished! This took so fricking long to write- But It was a lot of fun. It reminded me of when I was a kid and would play heroes and villains with my friends. I could have fleshed out the ending t word scenes more but I was afraid It would be too long because I could literally go on forever. Besides, I think there's going to be more installments to this with more focus on a single villain instead of multiple ones. That's my plan anyway!

Word count: 4467

Characters: Ler!Hiro, Switch!Chihiro, Lee!Leon, Switch!Taka(briefly), Lee!Mondo(briefly), Lee!Makoto(briefly), Ler!Hina(briefly), Ler!Sayaka(briefly), Sakura, Celeste, Byakuya

The air In the school was heavier today than usual, and the atmosphere was filled with negative energy. Everyone seemed to be affected by It, being less cheerful and more agitated than usual.

Even people like Makoto weren’t impervious to it’s lingering effects. Apparently he and Byakuya had gotten into an argument in the dining hall in front of the other students.

Hiro hadn’t witnessed any of It, having slept In this morning. He was just on his way to join his classmates when he spotted Chihiro exiting the hall. He waved to them but they seemingly didn’t notice. “Hey Chihiro!” He greeted cheerfully in spite of the looming negativity.

That’s when he noticed It.

Chihiro looked up at him with tears in their eyes, stuttering and trying to greet him back. They gave up on their failed attempt after a moment.

“Chi? What’s wrong buddy?” He asked, concerned as he approached the smaller student.

Chihiro shook their head and went running past him, most likely to the solitude of their room.

Hiro was about to go after them but heard yelling coming from the dining hall, he sighed. So that’s why Chihiro was so upset. He took a calming breath and entered the room.

“You fuckin dumbasses! Will you stop fighting!? You scared Chihiro!” Mondo yelled at the two students in question.

“It’s not my fault! He started it!” Makoto pointed a finger accusingly at the affluent progeny.

Byakuya opened his mouth to say something but Taka interjected first. “I don’t care who started the yelling, I am giving you both an order to STOP YELLING!” He snapped.

“Jeez, The hell did I just walk In on?” Hiro muttered under his breath, still going unnoticed by his classmates. He lingered In the doorway for another moment before deciding to turn around and go after Chihiro.

“Chihiro? You In there?” He asked through the door after not getting a response from ringing the doorbell. “It’s me, Hiro.”

There was some shuffling from inside the room for a moment before silence, As if they were hesitating on whether to let him in or not.

“If you don’t wanna open the door, I’ll just sit here and wait until you’re ready.” He said reassuringly, Leaning against the wall next to the door.

Leon approached the Clairvoyant, coming from the direction of the dining hall. He nodded a greeting to the taller student and knocked on the door in a short random tune. “Yo, Chi. It’s Leon. I’m here too.” He announced.

Hiro smiled at the red head and sat down on the floor, Leon followed his lead and sat on the other side of the door. “Mondo was gonna come check on you too, But he didn’t wanna scare you because he’s pretty mad right now.” The Aspiring rockstar said.

“What were those two fighting about anyways?” Hiro asked.

Leon sighed and rolled his eyes. “Stupid shit. Byakuya’s being…”

“Byakuya?”

“I was gonna say a total dick, But yeah.” Leon snickered. “Anyway, He was being a dick and came in insulting us. Mondo started to get mad but Makoto’s the one who got In his face. And Chi tried to diffuse the situation but Byakuya…”

“Lemme guess, He said something really mean didn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Leon replied with a soft sigh.

The door unlocked and slowly opened, revealing a shaking and tearful Chihiro. “H-He said… No o-one asked me, a-and n-no one wanted m-me there. He-He said… He...” They shook their head and backed up into the room, leaving the door open for the two students.

Hiro was the first to spring up and go Inside the room, pulling the programmer Into a hug. Leon was only a few seconds behind him. He closed the door as he entered the room, hearing the yelling picking back up in the dining hall.

He sat down on the foot of the bed quietly, trying not to outwardly show how angry he was for how his friend was treated.

“It’s okay Chi…” Hiro said softly to the crying student.

After a few minutes they pulled back from Hiro, wiping their eyes with their sleeves. “He said… That no one likes m-me...” they choked out.

“Hey! That’s not true! Since when did Byakuya have a good take on anything?” Hiro retorted, picking the programmer up and setting them on the bed next to Leon. “We all love you!”

Chihiro sniffled, Looking up at Hiro with hopeful eyes. “R-Really?”

Hiro crouched down so he was at eye level with them. “Really!” he smiled, ruffling their hair.

“Yeah, That prick doesn’t speak for us! You should know that by now.” Leon added.

Chihiro wiped their face with their sleeves again, tears still leaking down their cheeks.

“That doesn’t mean It doesn’t still hurt to hear things like that.” Hiro interjected. “It’s okay to be sad.”

“Right.”

Chihiro nodded wordlessly.

Hiro looked at Leon silently, trying to come up with a way to cheer the programmer up. The rockstar offered a small shrug as a response.

He racked his brain for a minute before coming up with an idea, He grinned and stood back up to full height. “I got It!”

Chihiro jumped at the sudden exclamation. “W-What?”

The eldest student grabbed the sleeves of the jacket draped over his shoulders and tied them in a knot around his neck, mimicking a superhero’s cape. “I think It’s about time I revealed my secret identity to you!”

Chihiro and Leon exchanged confused looks. “W-What Is he talking about?”

“You’re asking me as If I know?” Leon retorted.

“Well, My name Is still Hiro… But I’m actually a superhero! Ooh! Superhiro If you will!” Hiro grinned, making a superhero pose.

“Oh booooo! That was horrible man!”

Chihiro, to both the mens surprise, giggled at this. “W-What’s your power?”

“I sense when people are feeling down. My superpower Is…” Hiro suddenly scooped up the programmer, cradling them in his arms. “Cheer up tickles!”

He lightly began tickling Chihiro’s sides and belly, causing them to squeal and erupt into bright giggles. “Hehehehe! Hiro! stooop!” they giggled, playfully pushing at his hand.

“Sorry buddy, No can do! I can’t stop until you’ve been effectively cheered up.” Hiro grinned, pinching at their side.

Chihiro’s giggles soon turned into happy laughter as they squirmed.

“Squirm all you want, You can’t escape!” Hiro sang teasingly, spidering his fingers along their ribs. “Another power of mine Is keeping sad friends trapped while I tickle them happy again!”

They laughed harder and gently pushed at his hand. “Okahahahay! H-Hiro plehehehease! I’m hahahappy!”

“Are you sure? Because Superhiro doesn’t like being lied to.” He chuckled.

“I-Ihihihihi’m sure!” they tittered.

“Alright,” He paused, withdrawing his hand. “One more thing though!”

“W-What?”

Hiro readjusted his hold on the still slightly giggling programmer, now holding them bridal style instead of holding them with one arm. He lifted them higher into the air closer to his face, and blew a long raspberry against their belly.

They shrieked and pushed at Hiro’s head, dissolving into fits of loud laughter in his grip.

After blowing a second one, he relented, laying Chihiro down on their bed as they recovered from their fit. “You feel better now kiddo?” He smiled as he untied his jacket sleeves.

Chihiro nodded, still giggling breathlessly. “Yehes… Thank you H-Hiro…”

As Hiro held his jacket In his hands, about to drape it back over his shoulders, an idea struck him. Maybe there was a way to help with the negativity problem…

“I have an idea.” He hummed, throwing the article of clothing over one shoulder as he knelt down on the floor. He leaned against the foot of the bed facing the other two students. “I think I might be able to fix everyone’s bad moods.”

“R-Really? How?” Chihiro asked, their face lighting up as they sat up.

“Don’t tell me…” Leon sighed. Already seeing where this was going.

“Maybe Superhiro should go pay the grumpy students a visit.” he winked, confirming Leon’s suspicions.

Chihiro giggled. “I think so too!”

“I’m not sure that’s gonna work, I mean, There’s no changing Byakuya’s mood from what I’ve seen.” Leon mumbled.

“You know,” Hiro started, seemingly ignoring Leon’s reasoning. “I’m gonna need a sidekick If I’m gonna take down all these evildoers…”

“H-Hey! Are you even listening to me??”

The answer Is no. Not that anyone should be shocked that Hiro isn’t listening to reason.

“What do you say, Chi? Wanna help me get the negative meanies?” He asked.

Chihiro’s eyes widened with excitement, a big smile overtaking their features. “S-Sure!” they beamed.

Leon sighed, throwing his hands up as he was continuously ignored. “Why do I even bother?”

Chihiro bounced up off the bed excitedly and retrieved another sweater from their closet, draping It over their shoulders and tying it at the sleeves just as Hiro had earlier. “I’m ready!”

Hiro laughed at the unusual behavior from the normally meek programmer. “Now you need a super name…”

“Hmm… How about The Decoder?”

“If that’s what you want, that’s fine with me!” He smiled.

Chihiro nodded, giggling happily as Hiro stood and tied his jacket into a cape again. “Well then, Decoder! For our first assignment…”

Hiro spun around on his heels, facing Leon now. “We must defeat the Red Rocker!” He declared, mimicking a superhero voice.

“Th-The Red Rocker?” Leon parroted, feeling a wave of happiness flood him at being recognized as a rockstar. Though that was short lived once what he said sank In. “W-Wait! Nonononono!”

Leon shot up and went running for the door but Hiro was right after him, hooking his arms around his waist and carrying him back over to the bed with ease. “Not so fast, Evil doer!”

“Hiro! I swear to god, If youhuhuhuhuhu-- Hahahahahaha!” Leon burst out laughing as he felt Hiro’s hands descend upon his sides.

“Okay Decoder, Help me vanquish this evil doer!” He grinned. “Through my super vision, I can tell his feet are pretty ticklish.”

“Dohohohon’t you dahahahare!” Leon laughed, struggling in his grasp. “I wihihill burn your cohohohomic collection you neheheherd!”

“No you won’t.” Hiro laughed, squeezing his hips.

Leon shrieked, throwing his head back laughing. “SHIHIHIHIHIT! HIHIHIRO STAHAHAP!”

“Hey, That’s Superhiro to you, Villain!” Hiro grinned, massaging his thumbs in circles against the dips of his hips.

Chihiro pulled off his shoes and socks and started lightly wiggling their fingers all over his right foot. “Yeah, Don’t disrespect Superhiro!” they giggled.

Leon tried to kick Chihiro’s hands away, but couldn’t thanks to Hiro sitting on his legs. All he could do was wiggle his feet in vain and laugh. “HEHEHE HIRO! CH-CHIHI! NOT THEHEHEHERE!”

Between his feet and his hips he couldn’t decide which spot was worse for him.

Hiro snickered, speeding up. “We’ll only stop If you give up being a criminal and come to our side!”

“WHAHAHAHAT THE HEHEHEHELL ARE YOU TAHAHAHALKING ABOUT!?”

“I think what he means Is, Help us and we’ll let you go…” Chihiro explained.

“THEHEHERE’S NO WAHAHAY IN HEHEHELL I’M HELPING YOU!” Leon laughed, sending the best glare he could to Hiro.

‘Superhiro’ smirked and rolled his eyes, reaching back with one hand and targeting his left foot, specifically his arch, a spot he knew would make the redhead convulse with unapologetically loud laughter. “You sure about that?”

Leon screeched, his body jolting sharply at the sensation. “FUHUHUHUHAHAHAHAHACK!” He swore, trying to wiggle his foot away from Hiro’s skilled fingers.

Chihiro took notice of the reaction and mimicked what Hiro was doing, making Leon’s laughter turn silent.

“Are you going to give In now, Red Rocker?” Chihiro smiled, their question was met with frantic nods from the baseball star.

“Are you suuuuuure?” Hiro teased, Still torturing the poor redhead.

“IHIHIHIM SUHUHUHURE!” He choked out, tears welling up in his eyes from laughing too hard.

Hiro relented and signaled for Chihiro to stop as well. Chihiro giggled and stood up. “Who’s our next target, Superhiro?”

Hiro stood up too, humming thoughtfully as he considered their options. “Got any Ideas, Red Rocker?” He asked with a playful smile.

“Oh, I have a few ideas alright…” Leon panted, glaring tiredly at the older man.

“Watch It… Unless you wanna go for round two.” He wiggled his fingers threateningly at the rockstar who flinched and hugged his knees to his chest as he sat up.

“U-Uh… Makoto?” Leon suggested, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

Hiro looked at Chihiro, whose eyes seemed to light up at the mention. “Alright, The Lucky Charm It Is.”

“Th-The lucky charm…?”

“Duh, Everyone has a super name.” Hiro snickered, handing Leon his shoes and socks back. “C’mon Red Rocker, pull yourself together.”

After that, they headed back to the dining hall to retrieve Makoto, but he was nowhere to be found. It looks like the altercation had broken itself up and most of the students had left the hall.

“LifeGuard! Where did The Lucky Charm go?”

“What are you three doing?” Celeste asked, confused.

“Who needs a lifeguard?? And why??” Aoi asked.

“They’re playing super hero.” Leon explained. “He’s talking about Makoto.”

“I’m assuming he’s referring to Hina when he says LifeGuard?” Sakura asked, to which Hiro nodded.

“Ooh! I want a super name!” Sayaka giggled excitedly.

“Hmm… How about… The Platinum Siren?”

“Oooh! I like It!”

“Um… right.” Hina smiled in exasperation, rubbing the back of her head. “Anyway, Makoto went back to his room so try checking there?”

“Thank you, LifeGuard!” Hiro said In a superhero voice. “Come, Decoder and Red Rocker. Let us go apprehend the criminal!”

He turned and left the room, Chihiro following closely behind, Leon sighed and hesitated. Why did he get involved in this silly game again?

He followed not so enthusiastically behind the two joyous students as they hurried down the hall, their jackets flying behind them like actual capes from how fast they were running.

Chihiro rang the doorbell while Hiro and Leon hid on either side of the door against the wall so that Makoto wouldn’t immediately spot them.

After a few minutes Makoto opened the door. “Chihiro, Hey… Are you okay?”

“Mhm. I’m doing much better now.” They smiled up at the lucky student.

“Good… I’m sorry about earlier, Byakuya was way out of line with what he-- ACK! H-Hey!” He yelped in surprise as Hiro suddenly came into view and scooped him up, carrying him inside his own room and dropping him on the bed as the other two followed and closed the door behind them. “What the hell!?”

“Evil doer, Your fight earlier with Byakuya upset The Decoder so I’m here to help them exact revenge!”

Makoto blinked, absolutely lost as to what was going on. His eyes flickered to Leon, who seemed uninterested. “What is he going on about now?”

“They’re playing a game.” Leon explained in a deadpan manner. “They’re superheroes and you and Byakuya are the villains.”

“Oh.” Makoto couldn’t help but smile a little at how happy Chihiro seemed, It seemed like they both were having a lot of fun… Who was he to ruin it for them? “Well, Foolish heroes. I won’t be thwarted by the likes of both of you!”

Makoto leapt off the bed and made a break for the door.

“He’s getting away Superhiro!” Chihiro gasped.

“Stop him, Red Rocker!”

“Why do I gotta do It?”

“The Red Rocker Is no match for me!” Makoto grinned, grabbing Leon as he sprinted out the door. “In fact, I’ll take him with me!”

He gave his best evil laugh as he pulled the door shut and went running with Leon down the hall.

He pulled Leon Into the Gym with him and doubled over to catch his breath. “Man, I need to start working out…” He wheezed.

Leon leaned against the wall, also catching his breath. “Y-Yeah, I’m not really used to running anymore either.”

“It’s really nice of you to play along with them.” Makoto smiled, standing up straight again.

“Y-Yeah well… I didn’t have much choice. They kind of forced me Into It.” Leon blushed, recalling how he got into this mess to begin with. “It was nice of you to go along with it without being coerced.”

“I can tell they’re having fun, I didn’t wanna ruin it.” He replied. “So, let me get things straight… You’re the Red Rocker, He’s Superhiro, Chihiro Is The Decoder… Who am I?”

“Hiro called you The Lucky Charm, I think he was thinking of cereal.” Leon chuckled.

“The… Lucky charm? Ehh, Not exactly the worst name I’ve heard…” Makoto smiled and shook his head. “Is anyone else playing along villain wise?”

“Nope. Me, You and Byakuya were the only villains. Apparently Hina and Sayaka are heroes.”

Makoto smiled mischievously. “Let’s go recruit some baddies then, Red Rocker.”

“Aye Aye, Captain.” Leon smirked in response.

The two set out on their sneaky mission to rope their friends into the silly game, they managed to avoid Chihiro and Hiro quite easily, surprisingly to the both of them.

“You want me to do what?” Mondo asked, blinking in utter confusion.

“Join in on our game as a villain.” Makoto repeated.

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

“For Chihiro.” Leon replied. “Hiro started this goofy superhero game to cheer them up after this morning’s blow up. It’s working so far.”

“We need some backup, Because by now Hiro’s probably convinced Sayaka and Hina to join in-- Maybe more.”

Mondo sighed. “Alright. But only because It’s for Chihiro.”

“Let’s go get Taka onboard too.” Leon grinned.

They went off In search of said student, But they were too late. Somehow Hiro and Chihiro had convinced the strict student to join in on their game as a hero.

So they went back to the dining hall to see If Hina would join them instead but didn’t find either of the girls there.

Though they did find Sakura and Celeste drinking tea.

“Where’s Hina and Sayaka?” Makoto asked curiously.

“They went running off with Hiro and Chihiro, saying something about apprehending the villains?” Celeste recalled. “I’m assuming they meant you three.”

“Yeah.” Leon confirmed.

“Celeste? You wanna--”

“No.”

“Hey Sakura,” Mondo leaned against the back of her chair, whispering something to her. She made a confused face, asking him if he was sure, expecting him to change his mind. But he doubled down, asking her again.

“I do not wish to be involved in this chaotic game of yours.” Celeste smiled, taking a sip of her tea.

Sakura sighed. “If you’re absolutely sure you want me to…”

Makoto and Leon exchanged confused looks. “What?”

“Hell yeah I do, Sakura’s gonna join us.” Mondo grinned as she stood up.

“Alright Sakura!” Makoto beamed at the unsure Martial artist. They went back to her room (Makoto cheesily referred to It as their ‘lair’, Sakura politely asked him not to call her room that again.), since the heroes would be less likely to find them there, and they devised a plan.

“Hmm, They appear to be really good at hiding.” Taka frowned.

“You can say that again.” Hina said after checking a closet.

Hiro hummed thoughtfully as he went over every spot they’d checked. “Maybe they’re hiding in a bedroom?”

“Oh heroes~ This Is a school announcement,” Leon’s voice bounced off of the walls, He had set up his amps In the main area outside the dining hall and spoke through a microphone. “We villains are gonna kick your asses!” He smirked.

“Where’s that coming from?” Sayaka asked.

“Sounds like It’s coming from the commons.” Chihiro answered. “Let’s go!”

The four took off running towards the commons area but only found Leon’s amps with no sign of the rockstar around.

“They’re totally messing with us.” Hina huffed.

“Yeah-- Hey, Where’d Taka go??” Hiro realized they lost the red eyed student and scanned around looking for him.

Little did they know, Mondo had been hiding around the corner and nabbed him when they were heading to the commons, The Biker dragged him back to their ‘lair’. “M-Mondo! How could you betray me bro!? We could’ve been heroes together!” He frowned as Mondo taped his hands with bandage wrap.

“Oh, I’m not Mondo. My name Is The Crazy Diamond.” He winked, Taka seemed unimpressed.

“Seriously? Your gang name? That’s sort of lame…”

“Yeah? Well what’s your super name?”

Taka smiled defiantly at the ‘villain.’ “My name Is The Hall Monitor, Villain!”

Mondo was going to diss on his name, But Taka seemed proud of It and he looked like he was enjoying this game too, So he let it go.

“Alright Hall Monitor.” Makoto started his villainous monologue. “Here’s what’s going to happen… We’re going to capture every one of you lousy heroes and torture you. Once you’re out of your minds, There will be no heroes left to stop us!”

“You won’t be able to catch all of us! I assure you of that!” Taka said confidently, though his confidence wavered once he looked around the room. “W-Wait a minute… Where am I?”

“Oh, This? You’re in our secret lair.” Leon smirked.

“But Sakura asked us to stop calling It that so… You’re In her room.” Makoto added.

Taka flinched in surprise. “W-What?! She’s a villain!?”

“That’s right, Kyoudai…” Mondo hummed evilly. “And the others have no idea.”

“You dastardly fiends! How could you do this!?”

“Quite easily, Actually.” Mondo smiled, jabbing his fingers into Taka’s sides. “Just think, all you guys had to do was ask her nicely and she probably would have joined your side.”

Taka shrieked and convulsed with laughter, trying to squirm away from Mondo’s wiggling fingers. “Nohohoho! Mondo! Stahahahap tihihickling me!”

“Sorry bro, There’s no Mondo here.” Mondo chuckled darkly.

“Thihihihis isn’t fahahahahair! I cahahahan’t move!” He complained.

“Since when have villains played fair~?”

While this carried on in their lair, Sakura had grouped up with the other heroes under the guise of helping them. She suggested that Hiro and Chihiro check the boys locker room while the girls would check over the commons area again. Chihiro and Hiro didn’t suspect a thing so they did as suggested.

“That’s really weird, It’s like they vanished Into thin air...” Sayaka pondered.

“They’ve gotta be hiding in either the boys locker room or a bedroom, We’ve checked everywhere else.” Hina said, turning to her best friend. “I think we should start checking rooms, Where should we start?”

Sakura pretended to think about It. “They could be In any room, Even one not belonging to them.”

“What would be the point of that?” Hina asked, walking towards the dorm rooms with the two girls.

“To throw us off, We should check any open room.” she said, smiling in amusement as Hina nodded In agreement, They began checking for unlocked rooms when they heard Taka shouting.

“HINA! SAYAKA! DON’T TRUST--” He was abruptly cut off, Most likely by someone covering his mouth.

“Taka??” Hina listened carefully for his voice again but heard nothing.

“I think It came from down the hall…” Sayaka said as they hurried down the hall towards Sakura’s room, finding the door was slightly open but It was dark inside so they couldn’t tell If anyone was In there or not.

Hina pushed the door open and crept In, feeling along the walls for a light switch. “Taka? Are you in here?” She whispered cautiously.

She finally found the light switch and hit It, finding Taka on the bed with Makoto covering his mouth. “Heya, LifeGuard.” He grinned.

Hina whipped around hearing shuffling behind her, not really to her surprise but definitely to the shock of the villains, Sakura had Mondo pinned to the floor with a knee in his back and his arms above his head against the floor.

Sayaka had also pinned Leon down.

“W-What?! No way! You betrayed us!?” Makoto gasped.

“Sorry, Makoto.” She smiled. “They had already asked me to join the heroes.”

Hina grinned victoriously as she tackled Makoto onto the bed, pinning him easily. “It was a good strategy, But did you really think Sakura was going to betray me? Seriously?”

“Sakura, I swear to god… When I get out of this hold, You’re soooo gonna get It.” Mondo growled, sending a glare over his shoulder.

“You don’t fight girls.” She reminded him cockily.

“DECODER! SUPERHIRO! WE’RE IN HERE!” Sayaka called upon hearing their voices down the hall, They came running in and looked on in surprise at the scene before them.

“Wow! You girls kick serious butt.” Chihiro giggled.

Hiro went over to Taka and undid the bandage wrap around his wrists. “You okay, Hall Monitor?” He asked.

“Y-Yeah, Crazy Diamond over there was tickling me.” he huffed.

Hiro looked over at Mondo and grinned. “Is that so? Well, You should return the favor.”

Sakura nodded at her cue, removing her knee and flipping him over onto his back. She pinned his arms above his head firmly, there was no way he was getting out of her hold.

“This Is such bullshit.” Mondo sighed in defeat. “Sakura, I promise you as a man, I’m gonna get you back for this.”

“Goodluck.” She smiled in amusement, Her tone borderline teasing. “I’m stronger than you.”

Before Mondo could further threaten the Martial artist, Taka pounced, digging his fingers into every ticklish spot he could find, Making the Biker shriek with laughter.

“It’s okay LifeGuard, We got Lucky Charm. Go help Siren remind Red Rocker why It’s a bad idea to conspire against us.” Hiro smirked as Leon yelped.

“You got It, Boss.” Hina giggled, Hopping off the bed giddily, approaching the struggling Leon.

“Nononono-- NAHAHAHAHA!”

Makoto tried to escape but Hiro caught him in his arms and pinned him down. “Nice try! You gave us a lot of trouble today, Lucky Charm.”

“W-Wait, H-Hiro, C’mon… You don’t have to--” Makoto squeaked as he felt fingers wiggling against his ribs, He looked over to see Chihiro smiling mischievously as they tickled him. “Hehehehey! Ahahahahaha! Don’t tihihihickle me!”

“You were one of the main villains who was being super negative earlier, So yes, We do have to do this.” Hiro sighed dramatically, using one hand to tickle Makoto’s belly while the other still held him down.

“WAHAHAHAIT! WHAHAHAT ABOUT BYAKUYAHAHAHA!?” Makoto laughed, trying to squirm his stomach out of reach.

“Oh, Don’t worry. We’ll get him too.” Hiro smirked. “But not before we completely wreck you.”

This went on for a while, Mondo was pretty pissed at them when he could think clearly again, But seeing the happy looks on Chihiro and Taka’s face's calmed him down immediately.

After that, The negativity that plagued the school seemed to evaporate. Everyone was in much higher spirits.

It seemed like one thing was for sure, when everything was upsetting and everyone was feeling down, they could count on a Superhiro to save the day and lift everyone’s spirits.

[jarofstyles]

Fan Club

A/N: This story.... it’s very near and dear to our hearts. We have a total of 7 parts written, 80k words total. It is our take on the PR relationship trope, mixed with Harry gets with a fan trope. It’s full of angst, full of sweet moments and smutty moments alike. We LOVE these two, they are quite literally our children. It is a bit more personal for the reader in some aspects, we know we have all imagined what it would be like to be with Harry at some point, so this goes out to you. We made Y/N of Russian decent in this one, just to make things fun ( and because we wanted some representation for our Russian babes out there 🤧). All in all, we are extremely proud to present Fan Club to you, we hope you enjoy ✨✨ - n + d

send feedback and requests here 

masterlist

pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

warnings: angst, glimmers of fluff

word count: 11.2k

It was hard for Y/N to explain how she ended up in this situation. Fake Dating international popster, Harry Styles. To be honest, it was all a bit of a crazy story even for Y/N. She couldn’t believe it either. Y/N was a simple girl with simple taste. Her older sister, Katya, owned a bakery called ‘for goodness bakes’ that’s been open for about 5 years, Y/N has been working there alongside her. She spent most of her time at the bakery, having just graduated with a degree in business marketing. She liked doing things most 22 year old girls liked doing: fun makeup, nights in with wine and romcoms, and of course being a fan of Harry Styles. 

Since she was 12 years old, she had been a fan of One direction and well... Harry was always her favorite. She initially fell for his preppy appearance, but ultimately fell for his charm and quirkiness once she fell deep into the fandom. And she did fall deep. She had a stan account on every social media platform, she bought merch and multiple copies of albums, and even wrote fanfiction on wattpad. To say she was a big fan was an understatement. 

About a month ago, Harry’s team had reached out to her via the email of her bakery. They had seen the post that she made, a picture of herself with a kiwi tart with the caption, ‘it’s none of your business.... unless?’ and had asked if they could have a meeting with her at their headquarters. Obviously, Y/N agreed to this meeting, thinking that they might want her to cater an event or something. But no, they wanted her to be his ‘girlfriend’. 

They had explained to her that they had been searching for the perfect candidate who was not only a fan, but was also just a regular everyday girl. They said they liked her aesthetic and felt like she would suit Harry well. Her background in business marketing meant that she would be good at knowing what to post and her being a fan meant her love for him would be believable. The fans and media would eat this story up! It took Y/N a moment to comprehend what they were asking her to do, but they started bringing up numbers and Y/N couldn’t say no. This would get her and her sister out of debt and could pay for so much new equipment at the bakery. This sum of money could change her life. Plus, she’d get to fake date her idol? It seemed like an offer she couldn’t pass up. So she signed the contract. 

That’s what landed her here, waiting patiently at the door of Harry’s secret London home where his manager Jeff said to meet the two of them to discuss the plan from here on out. Her heart was beating extremely quickly, wanting to keep things cool. She didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable, she wanted him to like her and trust her.

Harry hadn't started off jaded. Granted, most didn’t. They had the sparkle and excitement. But Harry had lost it. Years and years in the industry, from when he was a teenager to present, it had ruined it for him. That excitement he had previously had been watered down immensely. A lot, actually. But he was mostly tired of the things that came with the job— not music itself. 

Harry loved music. Making it, writing it, performing it. He loved his fans. But he hated what came with if. The people who constantly wanted things from him. Not a moment of privacy when he was out and about— though that had gotten better as his fans grew up, honestly. The media blowing up and twisting every bit of his words to fit their own wants. The fact that anyone he was seen with was a potential love interest in the eyes of the media. How they scared off and ruined good things for him because of it. He was tired of that. Every person who came to him made him wary. What was the motive? What was the reasoning behind them coming to talk to him? Fan or someone wanting a photo just for their Instagram? He wasn’t sure. 

Relationships had been hard and for now, he’d basically sworn off of them. After the bad ending with Camille, he had decided to take a long break. Until the label said he should probably have a PR move, one unlike his previous ones. One involving dating someone posing as a fan. A regular person, without his level of fame. Someone relatable to fans. Or that’s what Jeff has said to him. At this point, Harry was used to being tugged around with his dating life so he agreed. Did he want to? No. But he was under contracts and he wasn’t going to fight something so stupid. It would be a few dates, hanging out. Right? He didn’t even have to talk much to her. 

He was far too aware they probably offered her a good amount of money. Most likely why she was even there. So when he let Jeff open the door, he was annoyed with himself. 

She was pretty. Fuck off. That’s how he felt. A lackluster wave was given to her, a nod as well as she sat down across from him at his oak dining table. Cute. Pretty hair, soft cheeks. Petal pink lips. If this wasn’t a stunt he would probably think she was a lot cuter, though. 

A wave. 

Years worth of build up for this moment and all Y/N had gotten was a wave? She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Y/N offered him a smile, a shy but genuine one before looking over at Jeff. Obviously she had known who Jeff was, how could she forget the iconic ‘help me Jeffrey!’ Quote. The hundreds of photos of them together. It was surreal, but her shock surprisingly helped her stay calm. 

“Alright! Harry, Y/N. Y/N, Harry.” Jeff smiled at her, knowing Harry wasn’t happy about being here. “So have you been properly briefed about what’s required? It’s a lot more than we would usually ask of a project like this, a while longer.” He said. Harry looked at him in question. What?

“Yes, they gave me a brief outline at the meeting I went to but nothing too specific. They said you’d go over that here.” Y/N answered, pushing a few pieces of hair behind her ear. “Oh?” She asked, knowing she had signed a contract for a year. It was a long time but she assumed everyone was in it for that long. Y/N really didn’t know how PR relationships worked, she just assumed things about them through what she had seen on the internet and what all the stans were saying. She never really believed that people did things like this, but clearly, they did. 

Y/N looked over at Harry once again, taking any spare moment she could to really take him in. He was just sitting there looking so fucking perfect. An angel in the flesh. This was the man who had sparked her sexual awakening, who had taught her to be a badass bitch and to be kind to everyone she met. She knew she wasn’t his type and that this wouldn’t really end up like a fan fic, but she couldn’t wait to at least become his friend.

“Wait— how long?” His voice was deep and rather cold, but he wasn’t aware it was longer than usual. Granted— his own fault. Jeff said to look over the contract and he had just signed. It had been so many years of reading contracts he was tired of it. 

“A year. There’s a clause to extend it if need be, or shorten after 8 months.” Jeff shot him a look. “But that’s only one of the differences. I know you’re tired H, but get it together.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Y/N here is the perfect girl next door. We found her to be perfect to do this with you. But it’ll be different because it’ll be a confirmed relationship. All other stunts, they’d been left to interpretation and never spoken about them. Blacklisted questions in interviews, etc. but we’re going with the narrative of you both being quite comfortable talking about it. Y/N won’t have to admit much considering she has her own life and job outside of this, but you’ll be talking about it in interviews. About this lovely girl who made you rethink how you went about relationships.” It was odd. A whole storyline for their relationships. 

“We know how to work this. You’ll both first be photographed together downtown. Harry holding your hand, Y/N. And then we will plant things in each of your social media posts to hint at it. Seemingly innocent but, a tattoo of his in the background. Wearing a shirt he has recently worn. His journal. All of those things.” Jeff explained the beginning of it. “From there, you’ll be more open. Post photos or do those Instagram stories your bakery is good at, Y/N. Have his voice in the background. Be photographed out and about. Simple things, grocery shopping. Y/N will come to your small gig, Harry. Hang around with your mum, and wear one of your rings on a necklace.” He would buy one and wear it for a bit before giving it to her so there was proof it was his. “When we get into it... we’re thinking cute Instagram posts from both of you. Open. Affectionate. A bit of an acting job. You’ll both be good at it though. I am confident you both can handle it.” He wasn’t sure how nonchalant Harry was seeming, though. Y/N seemed uneasy with how out of it Harry seemed to be and he didn’t blame her. 

“That’s quite a lot more than I bargained for.” Harry spoke again, sighing. “I suppose if it’s necessary for the numbers. I don’t know why I can't just do a meet and greet or something but. Okay.” He muttered.

Harry’s voice didn’t sound like the Harry Y/N knew. It was rather rough and not in the way she had grown to like it. It made her look away from him quickly, not wanting to piss him off. Maybe he was just having a bad day? She couldn’t really blame him. She was sure having all these fake relationships probably sucked. The tasks seemed fairly easy. Y/N knew that the team would be there to remind them about things and well, if she got to hang around Harry all the time, it really couldn’t be that bad. She really wanted to get to know Harry and hoped that he wanted to do the same. It would be more fun that way.

“You know why. Y/N is perfect. The fans will love her. She’s gorgeous, but has the girl next door stuff about her. Plus, she’s very nice. You’ve been lovely, Y/N.” Jeff turned to her, attempting to comfort her.

Y/N really needed to stop giving Harry the benefit of the doubt. He just kept proving her wrong. The tension between Harry and Jeff showed that Harry really wasn’t on board and it made Y/N feel strange. She thought that Harry had agreed to this and knew all the conditions, she didn’t think this was something that was sprung on him that he didn’t really get to think about. She smiled shyly again at Jeff’s compliment, looking back at Harry to try and read him. 

“I’m sure it’s weird having some stranger come around to be your girlfriend and all, but it’s just as new for me if that makes you feel better.” Y/N really wanted him to like her. Like really wanted him to like her.

Harry wasn’t sure what she was playing at. What she wanted. If it was more money or fame or whatever. He wasn’t sure exactly why she was doing this either besides for money. Whoever wanted to do this for fun would be absolutely crazy. 

“Thanks.” Harry nodded stiffly. Half of him didn’t like treating her coldly, but the bigger part was terrified of getting hurt. If she was using him for more money. Going to ask him to introduce her to someone else. No one ever liked him for him. They liked the things that came. The attention and money, luxury that was thrown at him. It was never for him or his love or jokes or interests.

Sure, people pretended to care but he knew far better than that. People didn’t care. They used him as a step stool to get what they wanted. Means to an end. Just like his last relationship that had really hurt him. 

Okay so he didn’t like her. Cool. Y/N couldn’t say it didn’t hurt because it definitely did, but she couldn’t sit here and cry about it. Y/N had come to this meeting and signed a year long contract and there was no getting out of it. So she sucked it up, looking back at Jeff who had explained what he wanted them to do. 

“So what we’ll do is have you both take photos of things today. Harry, you take a photo of your new guitar and have the flowers in the background. Y/N, you’ll take photos of the flowers and have just the bottom of the guitar on the counter.” It must be shocking for someone who wasn’t in the industry to see how this was so calculated.

“Would you want us to post them at different times then?” Y/N questioned, assuming hers would be uploaded first. If she posted it before Harry people would be more likely to connect the dots that the two of them were together. Well, that’s what Y/N would think as a fan. Being a fan and having a fan’s perspective would really help her in these situations because well, she knew what they wanted to hear and what they would think based on what she posted. Y/N felt like she could fully manipulate the fans to think whatever. It was quite simple really.

Y/N’s main account proved that she was a normal girl who also happened to be a Harry stan. She followed Harry on all the socials, but he probably would wait to follow her until they were public. That would make more sense. They needed to build up the story.

See. Harry wasn’t aware that she was a fan fan. There were plenty of people who went to his shows and shit for Instagram photos and videos. He didn’t even know her socials though so he didn’t check. It was maybe a little shitty of him to have a preconceived notion about her when she hadn’t barely talked to him, but he knew so many people who wanted to be in her position. Wanted to ‘date’ a celebrity until they found out that they have to travel with them and have to deal with fans and other people wanting your significant other. 

“I’m thinking not too far apart. Take the photos today but... hm. You post first. And then Harry will later. It’ll have people looking later on when they see the flowers. Fans are so insightful and research thoroughly.” Jeff was sure she knew that though. She’s had a fan account. “I have to go take this call— Harry, why don’t you tell Y/N about the album?” He excused himself then, going out and into the other room. 

No, no, Jeff, don’t leave. Y/N sighed to herself, nervous as all hell to be in a room with Harry alone when he had made it clear that he didn’t really want anything to do with her. But maybe they could talk about his album like Jeff suggested? Y/N loved his music, she often played it at her bakery. She was excited for the new album to drop and had genuine questions about it. 

Harry felt a bit on the spot but he just shrugged. “S’almost done. Don’t have a title yet. Choosing the singles soon I think.”

“That’s exciting.” Y/N smiled, “would you say it’s within the same vein as self titled or did you go in a different direction?” She asked not wanting to sound like an interviewer but this was a genuine question. God this was so uncomfortable for her, she wanted to run away and cry. She never thought that her idol would make her feel so uncomfortable in his presence. She was in his home and he clearly didn’t want her there, clearly didn’t want to have a fake girlfriend, and he was letting her know that pretty obviously whether he knew it or not.

The thing is, Harry knew he was making her uncomfortable but he didn’t really know how to stop it either. It wasn’t like he wanted to be fake. He didn’t want this. He wanted to be left alone with his music and his fans. Not a pretend fan posing as his girlfriend. That wasn’t ideal. No, he would much rather have real conversations with fans that weren’t paid to sit in his house and pretend to be interested in his music. He knew that Jeff wanted him to play nice though, so he answered the question vaguely. As always. 

“Different. A lot of different influences I guess. A lot of different things I wanted to make. It’s fun to do it.” God, Harry was being bland. But his fears drowned out the guilt he felt. Yeah, maybe it was harsh. He knew that. But he also knew that he would regret it if he didn’t. Who knew what this chick would spill to the press later on? What she would want from him! What else she would ask Jeff for.

“Well that’s good. I’m glad to hear it was fun.” Y/N nodded at his answer, feeling discouraged because he really didn’t seem like he was going to warm up to her no matter what she did. Y/N didn’t want to ask anything too specific in fear that he’d think she was a crappy fan, and well, she didn’t know how else to get him to warm up to her. These tricks usually worked on grumpy customers at the bakery. 

She wanted the earth to swallow her up. She was so embarrassed. She was just sat there, praying that she could leave soon so she could lock herself in her room and cry. The worst part was, no one, literally no one, could know about this relationship being fake. There could be no loose ends. 

“Again, I’m sorry about all this. Can’t imagine being in your position...” Y/N showed genuine empathy for him, attempting to get him on her good side one more time. Y/N wouldn’t give up on being kind, after all, he was the one that taught her that. It was just strange that he was acting this way towards someone he was going to be working closely with. Maybe this was just how he treated people professionally. He wasn’t mean, but he was cold. Y/N was still a fan at heart though and despite how he treated her she still would give her life for him. She loved him, cared for him, and would genuinely support him. It made her wonder if his whole nice guy persona was even real.

The hell? Why was she apologizing? Harry thought. She was the one getting paid for it. If he wasn’t in this position she wouldn’t be getting paid well. He wasn’t sure why this Y/N girl was trying to be so nice to him. No way in hell she could possibly imagine his annoyance. Perhaps she was a nice person or something, usually. But he was pretty positive she wasn’t rich and definitely did it for the money. It made him wary of being close to anyone when they were in this situation. Any time he had made friends with past stunts, they’d faked being truly wanting to hang out with him. Once it ended, they weren’t interested in hanging out when people couldn’t see them. It had hurt when he realized it was a pattern. 

Jeff came back in with a smile, but not oblivious to her sad face. Harry would get chewed out after, for sure. “Alright! I need you both to exchange numbers so you can communicate about meeting up. It’ll be pretty frequently.”

Y/N looked at Jeff with a small smile, nodding her head before pulling her phone out and handing it to Harry. She had changed her lock screens to something a bit more ordinary. After all, she didn’t want Harry thinking she was creepy or anything. Hanging out with Harry is something that she should be excited about, but suddenly the idea of it kind of scared her. Being alone and struggling to make conversation because she was just that intimidated by him. It was making her rethink all the years that she had spent fangirling over him. He didn’t know she was a fan, maybe that’s why he treated her the way he did? If he knew would he be fake and all over it? She didn’t want to know. 

“My days off from the bakery are Mondays and Wednesdays. But I know you probably have a set schedule so just let me know and I’ll work around it.” Y/N offered, genuinely wanting to show both Harry and Jeff that she was more than willing to cooperate. She wasn’t sure how she would get herself out of this one.

Harry sighed as he put his number in. God, he hoped she didn’t sell it. He didn’t want a new number. Someone had sold his number to fans before and it had sucked. As much as he adored his fans? He didn’t want them calling him every second. He was hesitant in handing her his phone. It was something he didn’t trust many people with but she tenderly took it and typed her own number in. Didn’t even try to snoop which was good— but then again, he was looking at the phone in her hand. 

Y/N was gentle with Harry’s phone in her hand, typing in all of her information into the contact so he didn’t have to ask. Something told her he would be annoyed having to asking her for her address if need be. So she just put everything in there, her birthday, her email, her phone number and the bakery number, as well as her address. 

“Monday’s and Wednesday’s work with him. He’s recording Thursday Friday and Sunday to give the voice a rest. Has some writing sessions he will take you to.” Jeff was annoyed as hell at Harry’s lack of kindness. He’d have to give him his own brand of talking to, but wasn’t sure if it would do much good. He was quite a stubborn person. An Aquarius at heart.

“That’s good. Yeah, I don’t know if you’re a morning person or if you like getting your sleep so um.. yeah just text me.” Y/N spoke kindly, still trying her hardest to be as accommodating as possible. To Y/N it wasn’t about the money, sure the money helped, but it was about giving Harry fans someone they could genuinely look up to. Y/N was a normal girl. She had normal sizes, normal tasks, normal likes as a human. She was a kind person. The fans would quickly find her information, quickly find out that she is a fan and would quickly see that Harry was finally dating someone that represented them. They had wanted someone like that for years, but too bad it was all fake.

Harry understood the context of it. He was going to date someone ‘normal’. Not in the world of the famous. Which in some cases, Harry wouldn’t mind. But there would be tons of things Y/N wouldn’t understand. What to be quiet about. Who to talk to and who not to. Privacy. Things she wouldn’t just... get. He had been in this life for 10 years now. It was his normal. And Y/N would have to learn it all and keep her mouth shut. 

“I am. I get up at 6.” He usually did. He could sleep in but he wasn’t the type of thing he did often. What she didn’t know was he had an awful time sleeping and needed to take stuff to help him. His mind never stopped, was always going. There was a lot Y/N didn’t know about him. He would do his best to make sure she didn’t find out.

It was hard for Y/N, continuing to be kind, but to keep herself from crying. She felt so out of place and so unwelcome, god she hoped that he would warm up to him. Maybe this was a terrible idea? Too bad she was in it for the long haul now. 

“Jeff, I have a question.” Y/N spoke up shyly, “obviously people don’t know anything about this yet, so there isn’t a microscope over my life just yet. I want to make sure I take all the precautions I can to keep my privacy to an extent, but also don’t violate Harry’s.” She genuinely was worried about that. She didn’t want to say too much or do the wrong things, she also didn’t want people finding out where she lived. Where she worked, sure, well... she probably would have to stop working at the bakery if things got too hectic. Y/N looked at Harry once again, a soft and gentle expression on her face. She wondered what it was about her that was making him act this way because this wasn’t the Harry she knew, not at all. All she wanted to do now is go home as quickly as possible and cry. She really wanted to take her posters down, really wanted to hide everything but frankly, everyone would question why she suddenly took things down. Y/N had to continue to keep her cool.

Jeff’s face softened. they’d lucked out with this one. Harry was an idiot when it came to things like this, put his blinders on— he knew well enough. But Y/N would help his career. Hell, maybe she could be his friend and help him come out of the funk he had been in with trusting people. 

Harry didn’t let it show on his face, but he was impressed with what she said. It didn’t change much, but he had it on the back of his mind. No one else had to think of these things before because they’d just known, but the fact that she had asked was nice. Time would only tell if it was genuine, though. 

“That’s a good question— I was actually about to ask about your social media. You’re going to need to change passwords. Verify everything twice. Take any potential tracking information away like the whole location finding on your phone so your friends can find you. Any social media accounts not reported to us originally in our first meeting would need to be shown. I suggest doing a deep clean and moving things out of it, as much as you can. Not enough to make you look like you did it on purpose. But... think of what you’d look for.” Jeff knew Y/N was a fan so she would have a similar brain.

“Okay yeah, I’ll need some help with that.” Y/N blushed, looking down at her hands. She had reported all her socials to them, yes, all of them. All her fan accounts and her main accounts. She wasn’t sure how to turn off all the tracking things or what to take down. She wasn’t problematic in any sense, so it wasn’t like she had any content she needed to delete. But it would probably be things like taking locations off of photos and turning off her location on snap map and for any of her friends that had her on there. She had actually done the latter this morning. 

“Also, I really don’t intend on telling anyone about this unless you give me the go ahead. So please, if there is anything you need me to do, let me know?” Y/N really was trying to think of everything here. She wanted to make sure this was seamless because she knew the fans would be like hawks over another fan being Harry’s girlfriend, if they found out it was PR they’d be crushed. Their whole image of Harry would be ruined. They needed to make this as real as possible. Y/N had so many suggestions, so many insights on what it was like to be a fan. She definitely wanted to speak up about anything that could potentially ruin this because well, this was Harry’s career and they couldn’t be caught doing this.

“Perfect! You’re going to do well with this, Y/N.” Jeff had been the one to find her so technically, this was his finding. He hoped that she could get Harry to realize how weird he was being. Because ultimately? He was a nice guy. He loved his fans, his friends and his family. Strangers scared him. He didn’t know who to trust and that made him act strangely. His team knew it. He was always polite to people he worked around but when it came to people invading his personal life, getting close? He said, no ma’am. “I’m happy that you’re aware of how it works a little. It makes it a bit easier. Harry here has had a few almost disasters with these types of things.” Jeff smirked at him, making Harry grumble and blush a little bit. Fuck. That wasn’t something he liked talking about too much. “Anyways... Y/N, we need you to be yourself. That’s why you were chosen, yeah? Just continue on. Be less active on that other twitter account of yours for the moment.” He had a whole plan for that. “Don’t stop completely but... I’ll send you ideas of what to tweet. Keep it vague but that you’re excited.” 

Harry didn’t know about the fan account. He would have, if he had read any paperwork, but right now he didn’t have a clue. 

They wanted her to be herself, which shouldn’t be too much of a problem. She just had to be aware that Harry was in her life now, consistently. He was her ‘boyfriend’ now. That’s something Y/N never thought she’d say. But here she was. 

“Okay, can do.” Y/N nodded, already knowing not to tweet as much on the fan account because well, she wouldn’t be doing that if she was hanging out with Harry. It would be hard for her not to tell anyone but she knew she had to do it. This was her duty as a fan to the fans, to make them feel represented and loved. “And what’s the story? Like how we met?” Y/N asked, feeling like that was important to know as well. She mostly asked for Harry’s sake because he clearly didn’t read the contract or the emails that had been sent around on the topic. This was an important first meeting, she assumed Harry wouldn’t want to hang out with her today but they probably would sometimes next week.

“Well, we wanted to leave that up to you. I had the idea of you both frequenting the same coffee shop— and before you both roll your eyes, I know it’s a fan fiction trope and I know that. But it’s believable considering Y/N doesn’t have any true connection that would be explainable to the music or entertainment industry.” Jeff explained. “If you have better ideas, Y/N, please feel free to tell me. However— we are trying to show this as you both fell for one another quite quickly. You both are very fond of one another and are around each other quite a lot.” He knew that Harry would be hard to deal with so he was definitely going to be offering Y/N some sort of bonus. “I think after the photos, we will have you both photographed leaving a dinner together next week. You’ll go with both myself and my girlfriend so it won’t be just throwing you two into the water.” Plus, he didn’t want her to be alone with Harry like that out in public without experiencing it first with him there. Jeff felt slightly protective of her, too. Like a little sister. “Also, I know you already said he’s but being clear— you’re okay with hand holding and physical touches in public with him, yeah? And for photos?”

Y/N laughed at the idea, “I mean that does work.” She said shrugging to herself. “But do we have anything to back that up? Have we ever been to the same coffee shop at the same time where someone who works there can confirm?” Y/N was really thinking about every detail here. “Jeff you’ve been to my bakery before haven’t you? Could just run with the fact that we became acquainted and you introduced us?” She felt like that was far more believable and paps wouldn’t have gotten photos of Jeff anyway so the story was contained between Harry’s team and her bakery. Her coworkers wouldn’t know who Jeff is, it was really fool proof. Also, did he say dinner next week? Wow, that was fast but she would be ready. “Where is dinner going to be? Just want to think about what I should wear.” Y/N blushed, wanting to make sure she looked nice for their first encounter together. Something very her but very consistent with something Harry would like on a girl. Y/N had been following Harry for ages, she knew what kind of outfit to wear based on what kind of restaurant it was. A casual dinner outfit for Harry was quite dressed up, so she’d probably end up doing a bold trouser, heeled boot, and plain blouse combo.

“Actually— that’s a good idea. I didn’t think about the staff thing. This was definitely done at the last minute so I’m not on my A game right this moment. Wonderful— lets do that.” 

Harry didn’t know anything about her, he realized. She worked in a bakery? He did when he was younger. He wasn’t sure if she knew that or not but it did make him a tiny bit more interested in her. Why would she do this? There had to be a real reason. He was positive. 

“Actually— Harry, go in there a few times this week. Make it somewhere people know you go. It’ll be believable that you found a new place and love it. And some of her coworkers will catch on, so on and so forth. I can call a tip, perhaps tomorrow? I know it’s starting early but we are on a schedule.” Jeff noted.

Harry was going to go to write tomorrow, but that obviously wasn’t about to happen. “I guess so. I can make time.” He had a pretty free day otherwise but it still annoyed him. However he was hoping there were good treats. Harry was a good actor when it came down to it. He hoped she could tell— didn’t want to thrust her about with his actions. In public was acting. All of it.

“And yes, about the touches and stuff. As long as it’s something Harry would actually do in public, yeah.” Y/N explained, knowing Harry was relatively private when he was in relationships. He didn’t do much PDA and she’d be okay with anything he was okay with. “Just um, let me know what’s okay.” It was a bit nerve—wracking, having to do all of this and make sure everything was sorted. Y/N knew a lot about Harry so she was positive that it wouldn’t be a problem, she’d only learn more. It was Harry that had to do a bit of learning about her. He would find out most things about her fairly quickly, she was an open book. 

“What type of baked good do you like?” Y/N asked, genuinely curious. “I’ll have some for you come around, pack you a little box.” She blushed, expressing something to him that she had always wanted to do. She knew he was a baker back in the day, maybe they’d bond over it?

Her coworkers would be shocked that Harry would be there considering Y/N was a massive fan and they knew that. But that’s when Y/N would tell them about it all. “You want me to tell my staff what exactly?” She wondered, “that we are kinda sorta seeing each other? Or that we’re just seeing how things go?”

“Uh— I like lemon things. Ginger cookies. Scones.... anything really.” Harry said quietly. It wasn’t said as coldly as the last couple words had been. Maybe it was because of baked goods? Regardless.... he was hoping that said bakery was good. He was obviously going to pay for them. 

“He also loves red velvet cupcakes.” Jeff piped up. “But I think that it’s a lovely idea, being familiar with what he likes... you’ve been so smart.” She really was. It was almost scary. Jeff approves immensely. Even Harry had to admit it was surprising to see her full of good ideas. “I think you should say you’ve been seeing one another. Not sure about where it will go but you really like him. Trust me— Harry here will be able to make them believe he’s very into you. His ability has made it so we’ve never been caught doing this thing. Not like that Camila and Shawn couple. They’re having leaks all over.” He winced. Their poor PR.

Y/N smiled and nodded at him, already having in mind what she would have ready for him when he came. She had an incredible lemon bar recipe and some other bits. Of course red velvet cupcakes. “Red Velvet are my favorite too. And carrot cake.” She commented, blushing once again. It’s true, Harry had been very good at all the PR relationships. She’d soon find out which ones were and which weren’t. She was determined to be the most coveted of them all though, the one that stuck out and actually stuck around hopefully. But she was positive that she’d fall for Harry’s act, hell, she’d fallen for him a long long time ago. “My staff is really tight knit, my sister runs most things actually. I trust they’ll keep things on the down low if I ask them to.” Y/N nodded, knowing that nothing would slip past her team unless instructed. She had a good feeling about all of this, they seemed to have most things under control. Y/N would help tie up loose ends that fans might think of and as long as they followed her lead, it would work.

“If you feel as though your sister can truly hold a secret, you can tell her. It wouldn’t be fair if you didn’t have someone to lean on.” Jeff said. He trusted her enough. Harry looked at him suspiciously. 

“Wait— hold on. What about an NDA?” Harry asked hurriedly. “We can't have any bit of this shit going out.” He was scared. So scared of someone finding out and thinking he was some damn fraud. 

“Harry— it’s fine. I’m sure she had enough sense to judge that a sister would tell or not. It’s up to her, anyways. Just remind her of the immense legal action that could take place if someone were to talk.” Jeff shrugged, knowing that Y/N really did know. “But we’ll have a tip called in about a bakery he’s been rumored to go to— no way that they’ll know if it’s true— and they’ll probably take shots through the window. We can escalate later during the week to him picking you up from work to bring you home. Something like that before the dinner.” He thought out loud. “Thoughts? Y/N?” Harry has been quiet. He didn’t like these things so he didn’t say much. Just let them plan whatever and wing with it later on. He was kind of shut down internally.

“I’ll think about it. But I’m still apprehensive to tell anyone. I wouldn’t want this getting out regardless... I wouldn’t want fans to lose trust in Harry just because I decided I wanted to tell my sister.” Y/N explained, knowing she’d probably tell Katya if it got too intense, but for now, she wasn’t saying anything. “Seems fine. I think once a week or maybe twice a week is more than enough. Don’t want to over kill either. Essentially, if he’s in the area he can pop by.” Y/N explained, thinking that was the best way to go about it. “I know you said we are on a schedule but you don’t want it to look unnatural either.” She said and sighed as she looked over at Harry. 

He really didn’t seem to like this and she understood but she hoped that he would loosen up even a little bit. She wasn’t a terrible person, all he had to do was ask. Y/N was pretty much an open book. “Is there anything else?” Y/N asked, eager to get things done and maybe chat to Harry a bit if he was willing before going home.

“I don’t think so. We’re going to try and take it as it comes so we don’t overwhelm you.” Jeff was the main talker and Harry was kind of just sitting and watching. Trying to read her. Either she was a very good hiding person, or she was good. Either way, he didn’t trust her. Lots of people had seemed sweet and generous and fun when he had first met them only to turn out to absolutely wreck his fragile heart. He knew he was fragile that way and he had given people the benefit of the doubt one too many times. He didn’t trust his own radar anymore. The more Harry looked, the prettier Y/N got— which was infuriating. It pissed him off internally because she had the type of lips every man wanted wrapped around their cock, and beautiful legs he had seen when she walked in. He never took women for granted, would never disrespect them, but his initial reaction was arousal and that made it even worse with his trust issues. Her eyes were soft and doll like but had a sharpness to them that he was far too aware of. She was smart. Incredibly so. And she was curvier than he usually dated— or was seen with, actually, because he had a few one nighters with girls that was far bigger than Y/N and he had loved it. He liked her body. It was a perfect mix, he thought. And then got annoyed about even thinking about it. Damn it.

Y/N nodded, “Alright, thank you very much. I’ll um... I’ll take the picture of those flowers and I’ll get out of your hair.” She chuckled apologetically, sensing that Harry really just wanted this to end and she would give that to him. He made her so nervous, now more so because she was scared of making him angry with her. Harry had always been someone she didn’t want to get on the bad side of. Harry was so nice to everyone that it really made her upset that for some reason he had singled her out and not liked her. It was disappointing. But I guess people were right when they say, never meet your idols. In many ways, Harry was Y/N’s ideal man. She liked how driven he was, how multi talented he was, how charming he was, how he was unapologetically himself. Plus he was scientifically proven to be one of the most attractive men on this planet next to ryan gosling. It was a shame that a lot of the things she had thought about Harry originally would slowly crumble as she got to know him better. It hurt, but she’d keep that hurt to herself. Just because the illusion was ruined for her didn’t mean it was ruined for everyone.

Harry felt bad, because she seemed to be in a hurry to leave. It was what he was supposed to want, so why did it make him so uncomfortable? He hadn’t wanted for her to be upset. Just... to keep her distance. She had these baby eyes and soft cheeks that looked sad and he wanted to give her a reassuring smile but he was trying to remind himself that there was potential danger here. Most likely she was a wannabe actress. Testing it out on him. Made sense. 

“Okay.” He nodded, standing up. When he did so, he realized he was quite a lot taller than her. Usually, he had models who matched his height. But she was smaller. Cute. He hadn’t experienced that before. Knocking that thought out of his head, he took the photo of his new coke bottle green acoustic, letting the flowers show in the back before he rested it back up against the counter. Y/N took her turn with her picture, taking a bit more time than Harry. Probably a better result too, and he wished he had patience at the moment.

A ping of sadness spread over her, she thought maybe he’d pretend to try and get to know her a bit but nope. All hope was lost then and Y/N went to take a photo of the flowers in a way that would fit her personal Instagram aesthetic. She usually posted shit like this so it wouldn’t be too out there. Once she was happy with the photo she had slipped her phone back into her pocket, looking at Harry and Jeff with a small smile. 

“Well, um, thanks for having me.” Y/N started off, pulling on her jacket. “And I’ll see you tomorrow?” She asked Harry with a small tinge of hope. He had said he would visit her bakery but she was still worried he wouldn’t show up. She felt so small. Being who she is, she went in for a hug anyway. Both figuratively and physically, Harry had intimidated her and she was weary about every move around him at the minute. Maybe she’d get used to it. “It was nice to meet you, Harry.” Y/N gave him a genuine smile, feeling even more shy now that she was so close to him. 

This would be torture.

Harry was a bit startled, but relented and hugged back. It was a bit weak, but he gently patted her back. God damn it. Why was she acting so sweet and nice and innocent? He would almost rather her be truthful about her wants of money and fame. It would be a lot more tolerable. 

“You as well.” He pulled back, face neutral. Thank god he had gotten his hard on down a decent amount. Never would he live this down. He didn’t just get hard for no reason. That girl had bamboozled him and was trying to trick him and wouldn’t let it happen. When she left, Harry continued to stare at her back before the door shut. And then he was promptly slapped upside the head by Jeff. 

“Ow! What was that for?” He hissed, rubbing the spot he had been smacked. Jeff Gave him an incredulous look, shaking his head. 

“You idiot. You’re going to scare away someone who will ultimately help your career and relationship with your friends.” Jeff scolded. “That girl is nothing but sweet. She’s doing this for you, and you know why. She’s a kind person and you better not make her run on us early. Do you want the press to get wind of it? She could talk, if you really treat her poorly. Looked like a damn kicked puppy when you wouldn’t talk to her.” He got his dad face on, crossing his arms. 

“You’re going to have to suck it up. Regardless if you actually like her or not, you’ve got to be decent to her. She’s stuck with you for a year.” Harry was irritated with that. Stuck with him? Although... maybe he was accurate with that.

Y/N tried her best to keep her tears at bay, putting on some music that would keep her energy up until she was in the comfort of her own home. She had been as discreet as possible leaving Harry’s secret London home. To the public, he lived somewhere in Hampstead which was actually closer to where Y/N lived in Camden.

After about an hour on public transportation, Y/N had finally made it back to her cozy flat. Tears immediately began to form as she unlocked the door, sniffling as she took off her coat and threw it to the ground with an absent mind. She ran to her room, storming to the bathroom to grab a roll of toilet paper. She needed to be prepared. How could someone she looked up to so much been such a dick to her? She could understand he didn’t trust strangers, but he truly made her feel like she wasn’t even worth basic human respect. Y/N was trying to be as kind as possible to him despite him being such an asshole to her and even still, he gave her a weak hug and response. As if she was a chore. It made her feel sick to her stomach. So she cried for a while, showered, got cozy in bed and went to sleep. She had early mornings at the bakery seeing as everything was freshly baked. So she was up at 3:30 every morning to make sure she was ready for their opening at 7.

----

‘Hello. I am coming in at 9:30. H.’

Harry looked it over. It wasn’t too friendly but wasn’t too rude, right? He was overthinking. Y/N had made him think last night. He hoped he hadn’t hurt her too badly, because while he did see her sad eyes he thought he was making it up in his head to try and feel bad for her. Jeff has confirmed it and made that ugly feeling in his stomach crawl into his throat. He sat and thought about how to make it so they were at a distance, but she wasn’t too hurt. Every part of the scared side of him said to continue his actions, though. He wasn’t being mean. Right? ‘Wrong. You dick.’ The other side of him told him. Conflict was something he saw all too much of in his life. He knew too well about the issues at hand. But he had always taken it so he wasn’t sure how not to prepare for it. 

Pulling up to a quaint little bakery, Harry smiled to himself. It was cute. A punny name. He liked it. Somewhere he definitely could see himself going randomly if he had seen it. Parking his car across the street, he sat for a moment and gathered himself. Now to prepare for being cute to her.

Y/N would be lying if she said she didn’t smile at the text. She had always imagined getting a text from Harry and here she was getting a text from Harry. It wasn’t anything special, but it was to her despite how sad he had made her yesterday. She had dressed herself in a baby blue sweater and overalls, putting her hair up into a messy yet contained bun. All that crying yesterday made her eyes fairly puffy so she made sure to do some fresh, no makeup makeup look. She wanted to look cute if he was coming. 

“What’s gotten into you this morning?” Katya asked, seeing Y/N’s giddy mood. They were currently baking everything they’d prepped yesterday, putting out all the freshly baked breads, bagels, cinnamon rolls, and donuts. 

“Dunno, just... happy I guess.” Y/N smiled, saying it in a way that would raise questions. Perfect, get her thinking. Her excitement was genuine. He was going to come and see her and be sweet to her, it was like a whole new interaction between the two. Best part was, she could just play out everything she imagined in her head. It was a perfect set up. Jeff was so smart with getting a fan to do this.

“Hm. We’ll see. That looks like a boy smile.” Her sister really had no clue. Everyone knew she was a big fan, and would be absolutely floored when he came in. 

Harry sighed against his steering wheel, he put on his big boy pants and decided to get a move on. Today, he wore a loose white button up with a few of the buttons undone, black trousers and red boots with ‘sucker’ on the back of them. He had been sent the whole collection and did quite like it. But his pea coat was unbuttoned, car keys stuffed into the coat pocket after locking the door. The little bells chimed as he walked in, and he took a look around. It was very cute. Instagram worthy, some would say. It smelled really good too, which was a plus.

The earlier morning rush had passed, kids now at school and parents now at work. The rest of the day really consisted of prepping more goods and serving whoever came in. Y/N really liked working at the bakery, it was her safe space to be creative and feel good. She liked to spread the message of kindness she had learned from Harry into her store everyday. 

There were a few people in the bakery when he came in, sitting drinking coffee and doing work. They hadn’t really noticed who it was, and even if they knew they didn’t seem to care too much. Y/N popped her head from out the back and smiled widely when she saw him, walking over to the register so she was closer to him. 

“Good Morning, how can I help you?” She asked in a teasing tone, that giddy grin still on her face. Y/N was going to let him take the lead, letting him choose how this interaction would go but of course Y/N was going to turn up the flirt factor so that anyone surrounding them could tell there was something going on between the two of them. “You look nice.” She hummed.

“Hello, love.” Harry felt a weird gushy feeling in his stomach when she had smiled so widely at him. Fuck. Y/N looked so pretty. Hair perfectly messy, lashes long and eyes wide and glittering. Her lips had a bit of gloss or something along those lines and he wondered if it was flavored for a moment. “You do as well. Like the color.” He did, and that wasn’t even a lie. He loved the color and how it complimented her skin and hair. Made her eyes pop out. “I would really love a cup of coffee... and a hug.” 

Though she was surprised, the look didn’t stay long on her face. Instead, he was met with a gushy smile and a crinkle of her nose, “can do, yeah.” Y/N hummed as she rounded the corner to come give him a proper hug. Closing her eyes as she snuggled into his chest for that brief moment.

God. Harry was fucking himself over with this, and he didn’t even know why he suggested that but his heart twinged when she looked surprised for a moment, but beamed like a ray of sun before rounding the corner. Her apron was taken off and he decided to take the initiative and hug her. It was a friendly hug, held for a bit too long. Her body was warm, warming him from the cold he had felt outside. Her cheek pressed against his chest which had been bare since he had forgone a few buttons, and his mouth felt dry. He hadn’t had a decent hug in months by anyone but his mother. Pulling back, he brushed a tendril of hair away that had escaped. 

“I came to see if you’d be so kind and give me some pastries.” Harry spoke quietly, making the moment look private— even though he had heard the choked gasp and the whispering going on behind them— her coworkers. It was sweet really, the two of them clearly excited to see each other, but also not wanting to draw too much attention to the fact that they were like that. It was perfect acting. 

Well, she wasn’t acting. Y/N looked up at him with enamored eyes, the smile never leaving her face as he even spoke quietly to her. 

“Of course, how many are you thinking?” She asked just as quietly, biting her lip a little as she hesitated to move back behind the counter to get his coffee going. “Black coffee yeah? For here or to go?” Y/N confirmed, knowing that he didn’t take cream or sugar in his coffee from being a fan. She’d just say Jeff told her. 

Her coworkers were bewildered, Katya’s eyes nearly popping out of her socket as she watched the interaction unfold. Y/N giggled at them, shaking her head as she went to get a box for Harry’s goods. 

“What would you like? Anything you’d like, on the house.” Y/N told him, standing behind the massive glass cases full of baked goods. “Lemon bars, red velvet cupcakes, and anything else?”

“Absolutely not on the house, I’ll be paying. Nice try though, pet.” Pet was a good nickname for her. She was a responsibility— but a cute one. Even if it burned his ass to think about her like that. But right now? Y/N was plenty cute— and she acted very, very well. Harry almost believed this true excitement. Thankfully, he found that he fed off of that energy from her acting. “You already know? Impressive.” Harry looked at her with a gentle smile. “Yeah, the coffee black. Lemon bars, the cupcakes. Hm. Throw a few random cookies in there too. I’ll be going to write for a little while.” That was good to do, right! Throw in a daily activity. He felt his mind was off when he was around her. It went a little crooked, was the best way to say it. He got distracted and honestly? It was kind of infuriating. He supposed it wasn’t her fault, unless she was secretly a siren and singing a silent song. Or had a spell attracting him to her, even though he was fighting it hardcore.

“Hey.” Y/N pouted when he refused her offer, “let me do something for you.” She said firmly because she meant it. A few baked goods and some coffee cost her nothing in the long run, but she wanted to do something nice for Harry because all the fancy dinners and experiences about to come were something she’d never be able to repay him for. Y/N packed everything up in the box, even adding a cute little note that said ‘tell me which was your favourite — Y/N ❤️ xx’. She put it into a paper bag and set it on the counter next to the cup of coffee. She was actually quite excited for him to try them, she wanted his opinion and frankly she knew they were damn good. 

“Long day ahead of you then?” Y/N asked, referencing him writing. She was genuinely asking because she cared, wishing that he was comfortable enough with her that she could come and give him a cuddle when he got home. What was she thinking? This isn’t real, he’s acting. And she’s meant to be acting as well.

It did strike him off that she didn’t take the money. Or the offer of paying. Usually people say that when they want it anyways and just expect you to insist, but she really didn’t seem to care about it. Which... was suspicious. While the bakery was very cute, it definitely wasn’t high end. He could tell they needed some new chairs and definitely some updated paint but he thought it added to the charm. Maybe they truly couldn’t afford it? He was curious as to what the hell she spent the money she was going to get on. 

It was true that the bakery was a little bit worn, but with the money she’d be getting from this contract halfway through? They’d be able to afford closing for however long they needed to renovate. Y/N has even wanted to buy the space upstairs as well and host small acoustic gigs for local musicians. 

“Uh.. I mean, a little bit. I’ll be writing a bit and then going to a very boring meeting.” It was the truth. God, how was he going to be able to focus? Harry was fighting a battle internally with how it was with her, trying to read things and find warning signs but it was hard. She was scary. Not in an outright way— but the way that. If this was real! If he had just walked in and met her at the coffee shop and didn’t think this was acting? He’d give her his number. She had an amazing charm around her that he was positive she had to know about— though acted as though she didn’t. “I hate to cut it short, pet. But I’ll talk to you soon, yeah?” He took hold of her smaller hand and squeezed it, before stuffing a hundred pounds into the tip jar. He turned around before she could protest, only turning when he got to the door to shoot her a wink. And as soon as he was out the door, he heaved a heavy breath. Christ. Why?

“Aw well, text me if you get too bored.” Y/N gave him a cheeky smile, leaning on the counter a little bit so she was closer to him. “Have a good day, pet.” She teased right back, smirking as he started to walk off. He really didn’t have to put a hundred pound note in there, that was flexing a bit, but it was very nice. It would go straight towards the bakery as it normally did.

3..2..1…

“What the actual fuck was that?” Her sister came storming over with wide eyes. “Y/N— that was... he's all over your walls. He has been on them for years and now he’s callin’ you pet?” She was shrieking but for good reason. Harry bloody Styles came in and hugged and flirted with her sister, they seemed to know each other well enough. It was incredibly shocking and Y/N hadn’t said a damn word to anyone. She used to stay up to watch his tv show appearances— hell, Katya was 99% sure she still did. But now? “You guys have each other’s numbers.... Y/N, you can't be for real.” Her eyes were wide as she looked at her blushing sister. Anyone would be just as freaked out. Harry was not only a celebrity, but she had seen the times she spent hundreds on tickets and had photos of him as her lock screen— which had mysteriously disappeared.

“Yeah, yeah he is.” Y/N giggled, blushing deeply as her sister looked at her in awe. Her sister knew first hand how much Y/N loved Harry. She had watched how Harry single handedly saved her from the darkest of times, how genuinely happy he made her. Hell, she even went to a show with her once just to see what all the fuss was about. Y/N wrapped her arms around her sister in a hug, squeezing her tightly because she really appreciated how excited she was. Her poor sister was convinced it was real and Y/N couldn’t break it to her. Couldn’t tell her Harry was actually really cold to her and not anything like that. 

Truth is, Y/N had a really shitty love life. All her ‘boyfriends’ weren’t really boyfriends and Harry was sort of the one thing that kept her going. She just dreamed about what she wanted, dreamed about how Harry would treat her better in hope that one day maybe, she’d meet someone like him. 

“His manager, Jeff. He comes here a lot you know... and he um, he introduced the two of us.” Y/N explained, being her shy and coy self. It was 100% believable.

----

Harry went to the writing session and found himself writing about her eyes. Bright eyes and lush thighs and every bit of silky hair he wanted to wrap around his hand. He had very dirty thoughts about this girl and it translated in to paper. 

Harry had to go home and jerk off. And it was embarrassingly quick. He thought about how her sweater had dipped down and he’d seen the swell of her breasts, imagining taking her back behind that counter and fucking her sweet cherry mouth and watching his cum drip from her lips down to her tits. Knowing that in his fantasy world, she’d be walking around with his cum on her— and that was quickly done. 

The guilt he felt after though? It was annoying. He was so cold to her but wanted to fuck her raw. So in that guilt, he went up to the kitchen and tasted a lemon square— nearly fucking moaned. It was so good. He knew it was part of the whole thing to go there, but he wouldn’t be complaining because if he got those every time? He would be set. 

‘Lemon square is good. Thanks. H.’ 

It was dry but also a compliment, so he didn’t feel so bad for using her face in his dirty mind.

Y/N was about half way done with her day when she got that text from Harry, smiling a bit because he actually decided to text her. Sure she left a note, but he didn’t have to text. That was a private thing that they did after all. 

‘glad you liked them 🍋’ 

She wondered why on earth she felt so fucking happy. He had just popped in for a brief interaction but it made her whole day fly by. Before she knew it she was closing down the store, locking up to head home. “You going to see your man tonight?” Katya asked curiously and Y/N blushed. 

“No, unfortunately. But we’re going for dinner next week with his manager and his wife.” Y/N told her, knowing stuff like that she could tell her. “Might hang out tomorrow though cause it’s my day off, but he’s a busy man so I’m not sure yet.” Even hearing herself speak about Harry like this was so strange, but she’d get used to it for sure.

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

[part 2]

A/N: Harry :( why he have to be like that?? better hold on tight for this one - n+d

let us know what you think!

masterlist

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 6. Random thoughts.

Hey, can you guess what my favorite episode of the anime is? Here's a hint: it's one apparently a lot of other Subarem shippers hate. I say f**k that! Episode 18 and this book made me love the idea of them as a couple even more! But we'll get to that in a minute.

“By conducting these negotiations, you bear Emilia’s fate on your shoulders. Naturally, everything you say affects her, and it carries the same weight as Emilia’s words. This is not a decision you should make lightly, nor are the words you say easily taken back.”

“...Ah, uh...”

“Moreover, I ask again—should you owe me in this matter, it will mean the defeat of the Emilia camp. Are you truly fine with this?”

It really brings into the focus the problem of Subaru calling himself Emilia's knight without thinking and why the actual knights took such offence to it. At best it was a gimmick with no actual meaning to him and at worst he wanted all the rewards that came with being a knight (or at least what he perceived as the rewards) and not any of the responsibility. That's basically the reality Crusch is making Subaru face; the true burden that is on the one who claims to be Emilia's representative. Being a knight isn't just a game or a fancy title. Whatever he does will heavily impact his lady's future and he never once considered that.

“You hate the Witch Cult. That’s the reason you approached Emilia, is it not?”

Damn.

“—You have not said, ‘I want to save Emilia,’ even once.”

Daaaamn. Obviously, we know the witch cult has nothing to do with why Subaru wanted to hang around Emilia, but it's really telling of his current state that that's what it looks like from the outside. His hatred for Petelgeuse is stronger than his love for Emilia.

The fact that Roswaal has twice now been absent during events that his presence could easily have prevented tragedy is incredibly suspicious. Especially during the mansion arc, where he only left the mansion during the loop Subaru had made a lot of progress in finding the shaman and thus, unlike the previous loops, could have warned him about what was about to happen. It feels like Roswaal is intentionally removing himself as to invite disaster upon his house and Emilia, likely to manipulate her and Subaru.

Priscilla is an oddity to me, because she really feels like someone I should dislike more than I do, as I tend to have an instant dislike for very bratty, entitled, and/or spoiled characters. I'm not sure what it is specifically that's lifting her up so much for me. It's not just the looks, because I've seen attractive female characters I've hated because of their brattiness (I think she and Bitch princess from Shield Hero share the same english voice actor, in fact). I think that, one, there is just this sense of fun and amusement when Priscilla's around, like I just want to see whatever she does next, and two, despite her attitude, I'm not really getting a feeling of shallowness from her. She doesn't feel like she's putting people down just to prop herself up. There is actual strength and depth to her.

Rem followed behind both of them, and he could hear noises coming from her nose every so often. Rem had a keen sense of smell, and she’d apparently picked up some kind of unsavory scent, staring at the back of the iron helm as they walked along.

Well, Al is from another world like Subaru, so it wouldn't be surprising if he also had the witch's scent attached to him, assuming his situation is anything like Subaru's.

“Don’t be silly. You’re Ram, right?”

“I am Rem... Forgive my rudeness, but where have you met Sister, Master Al?”

Rem explained how he’d mistaken her for her nearly identical older sister as she posed the question. However, Al made no reply. He raised up his one arm and touched his helm, busily poking the metal.

“What the hell’s goin’ on here...?”

Al sounded nervous, seemingly unable to process the information. The increasingly rapid tapping offered further proof.

“So you’re Rem...and your sister is Ram?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“This might be a weird thing to ask but...is your older sister alive?”

“...? I do not understand the meaning of your question. Sister is alive, as she should be.”

The instant Rem gave that answer, Subaru, who had been listening to the conversation in silence, felt goose bumps all over his flesh.

“—This ain’t funny.”

Well...that got a lot of theory wheels turning in my head. I was already wondering if Al had his own Return By Death ability, so it's certainly possible he'd met Ram before a restart, though why he'd mix up her and Rem, I'm not sure. Another possibility is that he's maybe experienced Subaru's own RBDs, so while he can't trigger the ability himself he retains his memories from the original timelines. We've seen timelines where Ram has died but also one back at the mansion where only Rem died. Of course, there's also the possibility this story is going to go full Futurama: Bender's Big Score and Al is going to turn out to be a future version of Subaru sent back to the past.

That damn whale is like something out of a horror movie. I don't tend to care for gory horror but I do like movies with unique monsters and killers, so I could easily see myself getting into a movie about a giant flying whale that appears in a dark fog and basically consumes the entire existence of whatever it eats, including its past presence in the world. It's not just memories being erased. The person themselves never was.

You can tell the story is doing a good job of connecting when I know full well that Subaru's going to have another RBD and that everything's going to be fine and I'm still tearing up over Rem basically sacrificing herself to hold off the whale and Subaru is realizing he's allowed her to die four times over.

Huge difference between the books and the anime, as I'm pretty sure in the anime Puck just killed Subaru in the room Emilia died in. There was no bringing her to the witch cult's hidden cave like there was here.

“Unable to even pass a single trial, not even facing a single Deadly Sin, bearing great expectations only to stumble over the first stone in her path...”

The madman looked down at the sleeping Emilia, sighing.

“—Ahh, you were lazy!”

Curious as to what he meant by all that. Now that I think about it, I don't think it's been revealed yet the specific reason the witch cult went after Emilia. Yes, she looks like the Witch of Envy but it that a bad thing or a good thing to the cult? Do these "trials" she was supposed to face have to do with the dragon and royal selection or the witch?

I don't think they said why Subaru can now see Petelgeuse's previously unseen hands. I think I saw a theory about how Subaru's connection with the witch grows stronger with each RBD, beyond just the scent, so he might simply has just accumulated enough EXP to finally level up into seeing them. Then again, I did love Subaru's mocking line to Petelgeuse that the witch has been "cheating" on him with Subaru, so it's certainly possible he just has more of Satella's affection than Petelgeuse and thus he gets more special perks from her.

And finally, we get to the talk between Subaru and Rem at the end. Funny thing, when I first started watching the anime, someone I knew who'd seen it before me told me that, one, it's very different from Isekai Quartet, which introduced me to the characters, so don't go in expecting a comedy, and two, that episode 18 has a Subaru moment that a lot of people hate. Given how the arc had been since before that episode and how Subaru kept falling further and further, I had no idea what was going to happen or what was worse than what he'd already done that'd get people to hate him so much.

And it turns out it's just because of a shipping war. I'm still not sure if I should feel relieved or annoyed. Yeah, I ship Subaru and Rem over Subaru and Emilia, but hating this part of the story just because he still loves Emilia? I feel like everything else except for that one line gets ignored (the line I'm avoiding saying because I don't want a bot to flag this post) and that the lack of all context except Subaru loving Emilia while Rem loves him destroys a lot of why the scene works.

There's just so much to talk about with why I love this part between Subaru and Rem. I'm a big fan of superhero stories and a classic trope I love is when things get dark and everything is brought to its lowest point...only for the hero to make a comeback. And Subaru... The man is broken. He's given up. Not only has he experienced death, failure, and futility multiple times, he's seen the people he cares about be completely slaughtered, with Rem dying, being mutilated, and even erased to protect him and Emilia, the woman he loves, dying directly because of him. He's powerless to change anything, or at least everything he does change seems to just make things worse. He sees himself as selfish, greedy, and arrogant; that he never actually cared about anyone other than himself. He's just spewing all this very justified self-hatred...and Rem counters it perfectly, not saying a single thing that isn't true about what she loves about him. Last volume had her imagining running away with Subaru, so the possible life with him she talks about isn't just something she's pulled out of the air. It's something she's considered and wants, which means it has actual weight when she turns him down.

I think another reason Rem connects to Subaru so much is because she's no stranger to self-hatred. She's also seen her own existence as a blight on everyone and everything around her. That she's selfish and terrible. And the person who helped pull her out of that state, at least somewhat, and get her to start liking herself was Subaru, which is what she's doing for him now. It's what I love so much about the relationship between these two. It's not just that they've saved each others' lives. They've helped each other in incredibly personal ways, despite the fact that neither fully knows what the source of the other's pain is. Subaru doesn't know what Rem felt as she watched Ram's horn get cut off. Rem doesn't know about Subaru's RBD and constant failures. They didn't need to. They simply knew the other needed help and they gave it, with no strings attached. It's why, despite me shipping them together, I'm not upset that Subaru doesn't return Rem's love (yet?) in the same way. There was a great bit of art I saw of the moment, and the words alongside it were "I didn't say I love you to hear it back. I said it so that you would know." Despite her still having some issues, being a little too subservient and obsessed with Subaru, I can believe Rem's love for him is real. When Subaru hated himself and believed everyone else did too, Rem told him that she loved him, not to get anything back out of it, but simply because she wanted him to at least have that to hold onto.

Rem was clearly at least a little upset at the end of their talk, and I can see it being some regret that she turned him down or that he does still love Emilia more, and I'm fine with that. She did the right thing and she is happy the real Subaru is back, but her being a little sad afterwards keeps her human (even if she's a demon).

Honestly, while I do ship them, I think both did make the right call. If or when they hook up, it should be when there's no lingering doubts or regrets they're carrying with them. Where they can have a future where they can smile together and with everyone in their lives they love and can't just abandon. Plus, I want to see Ram as an aunt to Subaru and Rem's kid! That sounds amazing!

And Subaru saying he loves Emilia, even after Rem poured her heart out to him...well, yeah, of course he does. He just found out Rem loves him and has had no time to process it (he was trying to run away with her out of fear and guilt, thus why she turned him down). If his feelings for Emilia were that easily swayed then it'd be hard to say that they were ever that strong or real to begin with, and thus what would have been the point of everything he's been through? It's not like he said it to hurt Rem. Hell, here and in the anime he sounds pretty apologetic as he says it, because he knows it'll hurt her to hear it and he doesn't want that. But it is the truth. So I'm not going to get mad at him for it. It's consistent with his character and everything he's been through and lead to great character moments for both him and Rem. What's there to be angry about?

But yeah, there was a little bit of it in the last chapter but I'm soooooooo looking forward to next volume. I remember just the feeling of hype and "F**k yeah!" going through my chest on my first watch of the anime. Subaru, after hitting his absolute lowest point, pulling himself together with Rem's help and gathering up everything he's got to fight back against the previously hopeless situation and save the day. It made all that heartache and misery so worth the wait.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/gr9y77/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_6/

[goodshipsherlollipop]

Self-interview (but not really)

When I heard about @sherlollyappreciationweek hosting a self-interview event, I thought it would be fun to participate, so people could get to know me better as an author.  But, instead of doing a self-interview, I approached some of my readers and asked them to pose questions for me to answer.

I’m not aiming at making this about me personally.  It’s all about me as an author.  If you want to know about who I really am outside of my writing, feel free to chat with me privately.

The name of the person asking the questions will precede each section. As this interview is rather long, I will do it in two parts.

MossRose10

Q: What personal experiences or skills (in broad strokes), besides your faith, have influenced what you write about for your characters?

A: I know I see Molly differently than most people, in a more wholesome way.  When I look at her character on the show, she doesn't seem the type to have a long sexual history, but instead, seems to be someone who has devoted her life to becoming the best pathologist she can be.  I adore her character, and to be honest, I put a lot of my own traits into her - including her love of singing and faith.  My post TFP Sherlock has had his true nature restored by the events of Sherrinford.  Thus, he is emotionally stable and able to love Molly deeply. I can write him that way because I happen to have a romantic, loving husband (lucky me!). A lot of times in my married stories, I draw on experiences I've had that I have fictionalized for the characters.  I usually refer to these in author’s notes.  I also love writing about their children, and put a lot of thought and personal experience into writing for them from watching my own daughters grow.

As for the other characters, I just write them the way I feel reflects their personalities best from what I’ve observed in the show, working on fleshing out their characters more as I’ve continued 3 years worth of storyline beyond TFP. For example, my version of Mycroft has mellowed a lot and married Lady Smallwodd, and John has also become a Christian and is remarried with a son.

Q: What kinds of characters do you find most challenging to write, and what strategies do you use to write them?

A: I don’t think I necessarily have a lot of issues in writing the canon characters because I have watched the show so many times I feel I know them personally.  Probably the most challenging thing is writing for OC’s or peripheral characters I may have brought into a story that we haven't seen a lot of (like Billy Wiggins or Philip Anderson).  I must admit, I have written very little about Moriarty, because most of my stories take place after his death.

dmollyc

Q: What character is hardest to write?

A:  I kind of  addressed this one in the above answer, but I do think I'd find it difficult to write for Moriarty because I'm not sure how well I could get into the psyche of a deranged madman!

Q: Do you get any nasty reviews?

A: Thankfully, not many. Most of the negative ones are people reacting to a story out of context.  They will read a story in the middle of my chronological timeline and then complain that the characters are OOC.  When I write my continuing stories, I assume that people are familiar with the characters as I’ve written them already, so this can cause confusion.

Because of the Christian themes, I have lost readers who object to the theology I present through my characters. Obviously, I will not please everybody.

But generally speaking, people are very kind about my work when they review it, and I especially love the reviewers who immerse themselves into my world of Sherlock and Molly and embrace my post-TFP version of them.

Q: What do you like best about your stories?

A: Probably what I like best is that I've found a unique niche in the fandom in creating a whole Christian theme, and writing a lot of different stories with the same theme.  I've not seen anyone else doing that (although I'd love to see it done by others).

I enjoy writing my own continuing post-TFP happy ending for Sherlock and Molly, expanding their universe and that of the other characters from Sherlock as well.

Also, I enjoy showing Molly as someone with a belief in saving herself for marriage.  It's not going to be a popular idea for the general population, but I know many Christians can relate to that desire to keep sex for that special someone rather than experimenting with every boyfriend they date.  

I also think I do a pretty good job in writing love scenes that are steamy, but still clean, although I’m aware that some readers are more sensitive who find them too steamy.  I write using my own inner guide for how far to take things in the bedroom.  Some stories are definitely steamier than others, but there are certain graphic terms I will never use in my writing because I feel they cross the line of my own comfort zone.

Chelseamh98

Q: How have you overcome the challenges of your vision impairment?

A: This is definitely an ongoing process for me.  When I began writing, my proofreading would just consist of looking over the chapter a couple times to try to errors. I have issues when typing on my iPad because of the flat keyboard surface.  That means I often type a word incorrectly.  To help compensate for that, I have hundreds of words in my “text replacement” section, so that certain words I often mis-type automatically correct to the right word.  I have a bad tendency to hit the M instead of N or vice versa, for example.  A few months after I began publishing, someone suggested I use a text-to-speech app to help me identify incorrectly spelled words.  That did help.  I copy a chapter into the text-to-speech app and watch my chapter in a split screen as I listen to the words.  That has been a big help.  Then, this year, I discovered a free website called prowritingaid, which I now use as another editing tool, and it identifies even more spelling and grammar errors.  So now I find myself writing, proofreading as I go along several times as I write.  When the chapter is finished and I am ready to publish, I do another visual read.  Then I use the prowritingaid site as another editing step. After that, I use the text-to-speech app and listen as I read.  Finally, I copy the whole thing into Google Docs, add italics and bold type and glance through the chapter again to see if Google Docs has discovered any more errors.  It's a very long process, believe me, and it takes so much longer to do the editing and proofreading than to write! For me, the writing part is easy!

Q: Does it (visual impairment) affect the way you write?

A:  Physically, yes.  I cannot use a computer, because I need to be inches away from the screen to see what I am doing.  Sometimes I will sit at a table and write, but usually, I put three cushions on my lap and sit my iPad on top.  Over time, that method has caused me to have pretty severe tendonitis, but I have no other way to write, and it's worth the pain to keep writing! Currently, I am also dealing with frozen shoulder as part of the physical issues.

Also, I have to enlarge my text to write.  I use the Colored Note app for my chapters, set to the maximum size of 36, and when I go into Google Docs, I set the size to 25 so I can read it.

Q: What part about writing do you find the most challenging? What’s the easiest?

A:  As I mentioned above, the most difficult part is definitely the editing/proofreading process because I have to work so much harder than a normally sighted person, and it takes up a huge chunk of time.

Also, I am very particular in trying to write realistic fiction whenever possible.  That means a ton of research. For example, in my story where Molly was shot, Confronting Evil and the Truth, I researched a lot about gunshot wounds and how to care for them.  In A Honeymoon Journey, my characters went to Stratford-upon-Avon, and I researched that location thoroughly for many of the chapters.  In my latest COVID-19 series, I have followed the pandemic closely in the UK and have added many real situations that have happened there.  Research, research, research!

The easiest part is definitely writing the story itself, especially dialogue.  I can hear the characters in my head telling me what to write.  I rarely suffer from writer’s block, unless I am trying to think about how to write a mystery or crime and how to resolve it.

Aslan's Princess

Q: Where do you find inspiration? Is it something specific? Or multiple things?

A: I find inspiration mainly in two areas.  First, from watching episodes over and over and analyzing them. Second, I also find inspiration in my own life, in bringing in real experiences I am familiar with (such as pregnancy and childbirth).  Occasionally I will read a story or a review where someone tells me something that sparks my imagination. My current WIP, The Good Book, was actually inspired by a gif-set one of my readers, Penelope Chestnut showed me.  It got me wondering what would happen if Sherlock suddenly discovered the Bible (shown in TBB) in his bookcase and decided he wanted some answers about the meaning of life.

Justwritebritt

Q: What drives you to keep writing?

A: Certainly, one of the most motivating factors is hearing from readers who enjoy my work.  Readers generally have no clue what kind of power they possess when it comes to encouraging a writer to keep going.  A pat on the back is always a good thing. I wish more people could understand that.

Aside from that, though, I feel a calling from God to keep writing. I like sharing my faith through Molly (and Sherlock). My hope is that people will find my stories inspiring and encouraging.

Q: What/Who can you absolutely not write without?

A:  I cannot write without my iPad.  I use it not only to write, but to research and to watch Sherlock on Netflix.  it's my all-in-one resource!

Q: What is your favorite story you've published so far?

A: I will always love A Journey to Love, Faith and Marriage, because it is the “mothership” from which all my other stories spring, but my writing technique was not great at the beginning; there’s an obvious improvement in later chapters.  But, I am also very fond of Sherlock’s Dream of What Might Have Been.  That one tells a story of Sherlock and Molly meeting in uni, and then jumps to the canon, inserting a secret relationship (and child) throughout the series canon. I put a lot of thought into filling in Season 4 backstory as well.

Q: What (in vague terms) story are you looking forward to telling next?

A: I have a few stories in the pipeline that I am looking forward to sharing.  One that steps away from the overt Christian themes is a Pretty Woman AU.  I haven't seen anyone attempt an AU for that movie, and I look forward to sharing it.  Perhaps it will spark interest with a few more readers because it isn't heavily weighted on the Christian theme scale, but is merely one of my more whimsical, creative story ideas. It is the first story I have written that combines elements from both a movie and the Sherlock narrative.

I also have a couple of one-shots that I will publish in the timeline of my WIP Journey to a New Home, one,that deals with the topic of divorce using a Biblical perspective, plus one that sheds light on the subject of depression.

End of Padt 1.

[aion-rsa]

How Star Trek: Discovery Bungled Michael Burnham’s Path to Captain

https://ift.tt/3993jzJ

This Star Trek: Discovery feature contains spoilers for Season 3.

 Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 was surprising in many ways. The latest season literally went where no installment of the Star Trek franchise had gone before, flying into an unknown time period that exists so far outside established canon that the series was basically free to do whatever it wanted. And, for the most part, it did.

Break up the Federation as we once understood it? Check. Show us a broken Starfleet that was essentially in hiding, hanging on to a dream of past glory? Also, check. Confirm the eventual reunification of the Vulcans and Romulans? Spock’s dream was achieved, folks. In Discovery Season 3, there are new planets, new relationships, and new rules—all set in a new future that often feels as alien to us as viewers as it does to the characters that have been catapulted there.

Yet, Season 3 somehow still ended with a moment that felt completely expected: Michael Burnham’s promotion to the Discovery captain’s chair.

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To be clear, this is not a bad thing. As captain of the Discovery, Burnham makes history – she is, officially, the first Black woman lead to captain in a live-action Star Trek series. (Shout out to Carol Freeman, captain of the U.S.S. Cerritos on the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks.) That’s exactly the sort of representation we need more of as we flesh out what Gene Roddenberry’s hopeful vision for a better humanity looks like. (And work toward a time when there won’t be any more character firsts that need to be recognized because our media will have caught up to that ideal.)

Star Trek is made better by featuring diverse characters and telling stories about the wide variety of people (and alien species, where applicable) who look to the stars with wonder and boldly go forward. Our pop culture as a whole is made more interesting and vibrant by featuring a wider variety of characters in healthy positions of power and exploring the choices and tensions in those lives. These are good things and fans are right to want to both see and support them.

But despite those truths, after the events of Season 3, it’s no longer clear if becoming a captain is the right move for Michael as a character, or for the larger narrative of Discovery itself going forward. And it’s difficult to solely celebrate such a landmark moment when it doesn’t entirely fit with the story we have seen play out on screen so far, no matter how much we might want it to.

Read more

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Finale Ending Explained

By Kayti Burt

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Star Trek Discovery Season 4: What to Expect

By Lacy Baugher

Burnham’s promotion does have a certain air of inevitability about it. Discovery hasn’t exactly been subtle about her career trajectory, and most viewers have likely been expecting this since the show’s first season, as Star Trek series leads have, traditionally, been in the captain’s chair. And, for the most part, Michael has earned her shot by virtue of being a compassionate leader who has stepped up when her crew has needed her and saved their lives multiple times over.

Sure, she has something of a colorful professional history – complete with mutiny, insubordination, varying degrees of recklessness, and a general disregard for rules she finds inconvenient or simply doesn’t want to follow. But it’s not like that’s something new in this universe and we’ve certainly seen (usually white) male Starfleet officers repeatedly rewarded for brash creativity and the same refusal to play things safe that she displays.

The problem is that much of Season 3 appeared to be telling a very different kind of story, one that interrogated not just what kind of leader Michael wanted to be but also acknowledged the tension between the identity she left behind in 2259 and the person she’s becoming in the 32nd century. The fact that she spent a year carving out a life in an unknown future on her own has obviously changed her, so much so that a significant subplot this season involved her valid questioning of whether she wanted to be a part of Starfleet at all.

This undercurrent added some intriguing tension to many of the season’s early episodes, as Michael discovers that, on some level, she enjoys living without the institutional guardrails and daily regulations of life as an officer on a starship. Maybe her dream was never to run around the galaxy with Book and his giant cat queen, but it’s clear that Burnham enjoys the freedom of the choice to go where she wants, to act on her own, to not have to answer to regulation. 

Though she clearly missed her Discovery family, Michael seems remarkably free and unburdened in her life with Book, in a way she’s never really been allowed to be on the show before. And that’s part of the reason her brief stint as Saru’s Number One is so uncomfortable to watch. For a year, Burnham has been living a life of independence, one in which she has unilateral control over what she does and how she handles problems. Of course, she’s going to have a difficult time transitioning back to a world that was never that fond of her penchant for risk-taking in the first place.

And for a brief moment, it felt as though Season 3 was honestly asking if a life in Starfleet was something Michael even wants anymore, if it is the best way for her to make positive change. Over the course of the season, we watched Michael spend more time trying to figure out ways to flout the system than being a true partner to her captain. Saru has to reprimand her repeatedly, she eventually gets demoted, and even Admiral Vance seems to have serious misgivings about her leadership abilities—all while Michael is making decisions that save lives and that, aside from some interpersonal consequences, she doesn’t regret. 

Unfortunately, Discovery seemed so determined to end Season 3 by putting Michael in the captain’s seat that it forgot to truly show us how she got there. How did she make her peace with all the conflicting feelings she had about her place in Starfleet and its role in the 32nd century? Did she talk to Book about what it might mean for their relationship if she’s suddenly commanding a starship? 

And, moreover, what changed the minds of other characters like Saru and Vance, who seem to harbor grave misgivings, not about Michael’s ability – she’s clearly proven how capable she is many times over – but about whether such a position is the best fit for her skills. And to be honest, it’s disappointing that Discovery skipped over all that. This is a new future, and none of the old rules have to apply any more. There are different ways to serve, to lead, to help others, and even to hold power than through a position of command. The series posed some difficult, fascinating questions, and then completely dropped the ball on exploring or answering them in any thorough way.

Of course, there’s every chance that Michael Burnham will turn out to be a remarkable captain. She’s saved her crew, her friends, and all sentient life in the universe once already, and she’s nothing if not dedicated. Who knows? Perhaps placing her in an official leadership position will allow other members of the bridge crew to more fully step forward into their own stories as the Discovery explores this new universe. After all, Burnham can’t solve problems in her new role by constantly going rogue anymore. And maybe that will be a good thing, in the end. 

For all its ensemble feel, Discovery has always been primarily focused on Michael’s story. The biggest question of Season 4 will be whether the show can square this circle, and find a way to give fans this deserved step forward, but to do so in a way that makes sense for who this character is becoming, not who she was when the show started. 

The post How Star Trek: Discovery Bungled Michael Burnham’s Path to Captain appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3sQPPQU

[ellaintrigue]

Be so. So. Careful

Over the span of my early adult life I started to build a controversial reputation. Not that anyone knows who I am, but in general, across the local area, friends of my parents, and family know of me. My ex brought chaos throughout my life with his gradual decline from mental illness and my refusal to censor my body or feminist beliefs has led to harsh judgment. And you can't listen to the gossipers, but it's there.

I suppose some think that a "fat" "whore" in a bikini with a crazy past may have low self-esteem, but it is the opposite. I feel pretty good about myself and don't want to meet anyone that could ever hurt me again. I love my body and love my scars and when a woman with stretch marks or a big tummy poses in a bikini, I love her too. It's 2020, let's love one another instead of judging pasts and shaming women.

Now, while we should not be hung up on the past, I've had a long healing process. And although many of us try our best, skeletons in the closet sometimes come back to life. This post is going to offend some people but it's been brewing in my mind for over a month now.

What may seem like it is none of my business, is, when brought into my life. I've been a victim and that's on those that chose to hurt me, but all victims know this: we must do what we can to protect ourselves in the future.

I'm an alcoholic. I function but I drink. I pay for my habit and stay out of people's way. While drinking is obviously bad, I have never hurt anyone else with my habit. My ex, on top of having untreated mental illness, had a problem. He would go months without drinking then go on days long benders, causing property damage, getting into fights, and getting arrested, building up fines. In the end he stole $800 in silver coins that I had, my last asset left after I lost my life savings to medical bills. I was at work that night. He had broken in my house, grabbing the coins, and my truck keys. He stole my truck, took it to the gas station, and bought a bunch of Natty Daddys, giving the cashier 4 solid silver coins for each beer. $800 for tallboys that cost just over $1 each at the time. My ex told me he thought the large mint coins were "quarters."

A year after I left my ex, a cousin recommended a painter to my mother, for my house. I do not own my house. I have nothing, I lost everything to medical bills and my ex stole the rest. I own my car and truck, that's it. So thank God for mom who is kind enough to let me stay here and I pay the costs that I can. Thank her for painting the house and getting new siding.

But the first painter was a flop. You can't judge on people's pasts, and people's looks... but sometimes you can... I fought my ex for 2 years after leaving him, he became a violent stalker. So I requested for the painter to call me before stopping by my house because I was easily spooked. But unexpectedly, I looked out my window to see a pickup truck in my yard. So I went outside and saw a scraggly man in the yard, on the phone. "Excuse me! Who are you??" I asked. He glared at me, yelled he was the painter, then walked away. It was not a good first impression.

Finally he talked to me briefly, canning his attitude for a moment. He was thin and gaunt with a cigarette shaking in his hand. His face had a grey hue and his eyes were sunken. He rasped out some details then left. He was in his 50's but looked almost 70. And he never came back, he just walked away with mom's $3,000. Mom thought he was licensed and reliable since family had recommended him. I said over and over before that happened, though: I did not like the way the motherfucker looked.

Court ensued and mom won. But before the trial, the guy approached my mom trying to talk things over, which made me scared. He knew I was alone at my house at the time, what if he wanted revenge? What if he burned the fucking house down? We had looked at his record after he stole: drug charges, assault, DUIs, abuse of a minor, multiple domestic violence charges, malicious destruction of property, theft, and stealing from homeowners using his business aka being paid and not doing his work. The guy was a drug addict.

Now, I'm not saying all druggies and drunks are nasty pieces of shit... but, do I need them in my life? I am sorry, but no, it is not my preference. My childhood friend passed in 2017 from opiates after years of addiction and hurting people with it. A round faced smiling child had turned into a criminal that relied on drugs and didn't care how she got them. At any time I can close my eyes and bring up her last photo in my thoughts. Her once beautiful green eyes, dull and sunk into her face, mere weeks before she overdosed at home.

My last ex was boring in this aspect, his vices were cigs and soda. He did not drink or do drugs, not even pot. I liked that about him. I'm fine with weed but he had his shit together and worked, despite a criminal past.

Past... disregard it only when you can. And my ex worked multiple jobs and worked his way up. Often when a man gets out of jail or prison he ends up doing various manual labor jobs but I notice basic retail and fast food positions are common. Also things like yard work, dishwashing, etc. You have to get what you can get and report it to whomever concerned. It must be rough to start over like that. Clearly my wacko ex never made it but that's how the stats go.

While only close to mom, dad, and Erin, I love and respect extended family, who are kind to me, including cousins on my dad's side. Well, everyone thinks I'm a short little fatty, which, yeah, I am. But I'm cocky and talk to whoever so I'm guilty of going after men that could have been models. And it's fine to laugh at me over that, I laugh at myself. However I don't date much or talk about it anymore so I was surprised when my cousin mentioned this guy she went to high school with and kept pushing me to talk to him. At first I didn't view it as a dating thing since I'm not attracted to anyone over 40 and said he could add me if he needed a friend but he never did. A month later she was still bringing him up and asked me why I hadn't contacted him. And I just said, hey, I'm not desperate for a man, don't need the "help" but thank you.

But, it triggered me. While I’m rarely insecure, I went into defense mode when I saw the guy on FaceBook. He was 45 but looked 55, sunken eyes, no teeth, and just a miserable looking face. I don't go around calling people ugly. But it was the same gaunt druggie look as the painter that ripped off my mom. He posted weird rants and yelled at people in his comments over petty things. I showed his picture to my friends and the rest of my family and my soft mannered, intelligent Norwegian philosopher friend of many years even took one look at the guy and said, "he looks like a neo-Nazi child molester." Another friend, that had been in jail, said, "stay the fuck away from him, he's bad news."

So while wondering if it was my "slutty" bikini pictures or the fact I had dated my crazy ex that made me so qualified to take on this dude in my cousin's eyes, I did searches on him and it showed he had a criminal record. I wasn't going to pay to read into it but I now knew, between his profile and public records that he was a recovering addict, had a record, and worked as a grocery store stocker which is a perfectly fine job, but again, one of the low paying basic jobs someone fresh out of the pen might get.

Since I'm a passive-aggressive psycho I confronted my cousin with all this. And she just says she knew the guy in high school and that he drank sometimes. She knew nothing of drugs, a record, or him missing teeth. And I wish that dude would open his damn mouth wider because in the one pic where I can see, it's just a drooping black hole. He was trying to be sexy in that photo and in the comments under his shirtless body with cheesy tribal tattoos he does the shrugging man-emote and says "I'm going through my slut phase, mkay?" Now my ex had no teeth and that was fine by me but he wasn't drugged out either and had a nice pink face. But what if I didn't check into this guy? What if I didn't think? What if I decided he was cute and let him into my life and got abused and ripped off again? Sure, people can rebuild and bounce back but it's still extremely common to relapse and hurt people all over again.

...Be careful... be so careful...

Mid-way through 2017, a lawyer emailed me a picture of the unfortunate painter so I could identify him and I honestly couldn't say it was the man. A picture several years old featured a smiling man with bright eyes and a flesh colored face. The man in my yard that day looked like a frozen corpse.

Past is past and looks are looks but when you lay down with dogs you wake up with fleas.

Be careful who you associate with, and who you introduce to people.

[nodesiretogrowup]

alright, round 2

Quack Pack!:

Damn, they just throw you into the sitcom. I love it. All the overacting and over the top poses/reactions are great

Dewey’s entrance is great

Is the bear the one from the last episode?

“I’ve shenaned-once, I’ll shenan-again” BEAUTIFUL

And then he just one-legged hops up the stairs backwards

I liked the Della and Louie are both wearing green. It’s a cute thing to tie them together

ON THE MOOOOOOOOON

Louie totally did this scheme with Dewey in Della’s place at some point

The fact that Scrooge stops to entertain the idea is great

 “We’ve got about...30 mins” I love when shows make allusions to the actual runtime

Beakley and Webby had the BEST ENTRANCE! They must have seen the Lady Gaga halftime show

That dangerous agent stuff is probably gonna come back. Next week is the spy episode so...

“I’m not a spy” I wonder how that worked in the plot of the fake show. Did Beakley do spy stuff? It just doesn’t make sense for a sitcom

From the get-go Huey could tell things were off

WHY DID DONALD HAVE TO MAKE SUCH A SEXY FACE AT THE CAMERA?! I DON’T WANT TO HAVE A CRUSH ON DONALD! CURSE THE DT CREW FOR MAKING DONALD HOT! AND THE SEXY VOICE!

I wish they had just used the Quack Pack intro for the theme this episode

I want Launchpad’s band to somehow exist. I liked the girl’s design a lot

INTRODUCING DELLA!

“QUACK PACK WAS TAPED IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE.” Oh 90s sitcoms

When you rewatch the episode you can see they foreshadowed the twist. Donald looks directly into the camera an awful lot for someone that doesn’t know there even is a camera

Knox Quackington? Even for a show full of punny names, that is a ridiculous name

His outfit looks more “ace reporter” than “eccentric photographer”

“He’s a spy” Do you think Gene was trying to pretend to be a spy for the wacky misunderstanding of the episode in-universe or he just didn’t know how photographers act?

“YOU’RE SO SMALL! But so STRONG!” Webby has probably killed a man

The screen wipes are GREAT, though that feels more like an anime thing than sitcom. Sitcom scene wipes usually were establishing shots of the house they live in or the city. I’ve watched far too much tv

Louie’s lie speil was great and solid logic

“Time is money, kids, and I’d rather spend time because it’s not money” Inspirational

Donald sure cares a lot about the lighting. How would he know the office had the best lighting, hmmmmm

Something about that hand movement makes me think 90s but I’m not sure why

Dewey doing the dance that the triplets do in Mr. Duck Steps Out is cute

The blank pages made me think about how people can’t read in their dreams

“On the moon we had this old saying-always check your pockets” To be fair, that is good advice

Poor Huey just CAN’T catch a break! First he hallucinates a talking guidebook (THAT BURNS TO DEATH AND COMES BACK AS A GHOST) now reality is SHATTERING BEFORE HIM. Yeah...this season’s gonna do a number on this kid. Hopefully he gets a break next week

“Since when are YOU a hairstylist?” “SINCE THE INTERNET” Now THAT is a quarantine MOOD right there 

So we learn later that SHABOOEY is Gene’s catchphrase, is Dewey saying it because he’s being controlled by Gene in that moment? 

Donald looks into the camera again

SOMEONE HELP THIS CHILD! HIS WORLD IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL

THE FUCKING PEP COMMERCIAL! GOD IT WAS SO 90S AND BEAUTIFUL!! I NEED THE SONG TO BE RELEASED! 

Maybe because it was a soda ad in a Disney Afternoon-based show, but the commercial made me think of Coo-Coo Cola from Rescue Rangers

Ducktales-the ONLY Disney show with an in-universe “and you’re watching Disney Channel”

I love Huey dearly but....it’s really fun watching him MCFRICKIN LOSE IT

Dewey can’t throw...because he’s a theatre kid

Donald looks at the camera again

Louie’s wipe DEFINITELY looks like something out of an anime. Is Louie secretly a weeb? I mean he is in a different show

Gene doing his best not to break character. A true thespian through and through

“Yo” *all the ladies cheer*

All of the sudden BAM Launchpad has a band. Is he the Uncle Jesse?

I love that we don’t get to hear them play

“Trapped in a mystical prison that’s constantly laughing at us” I call that my brain :’)

“WHO ARE THOSE LITTLE GUYS?”

“I figured if anyone would crack, it’d be Dewey” Huey seems WAY more likely to snap imho

“But that was from soul-crushing loneliness” Della, you wanna talk about that? With a professional perhaps?

“We need some wacky hijinks!”

“HOW DID I GET HERE? WHY AM I DANCING?” Huey gets SO MANY great lines this episode

And once again we have Donald looking directly into the camera

“Cute girl stuff” Della probably went around with a meat tenderizer as a kid, so it’s normal

Goofy seemed to be aware of the cheering. HMMMMMMM

AAAAAAAAAAAAND.....GOOF TROOP POSE

I’ve been calling DT17 Goofy Chibi Goofy because of how short he is compared to how he normally looks. They probably made him shorter so he and Donald fit in a single frame easier. I know a lot of the boarders/animators for the show have a hard time doing scenes with Launchpad and the kids because of how MASSIVE he is compared to the kids

Goofy knew something was different about Donald. HMMMMMMM

The way Don delivers the line “You CAN help” has a weird inflection, at least to me

I want Goofy thinking to become a meme and people put random sounds over it like those are Goofy’s thoughts

That face-slap was loud

AND DONALD LOOKS INTO THE CAMERA LIKE HE’S ON THE OFFICE

Where was Dewey that whole time? He kind of just...disappears for a bit

Oh Launchpad, you MAJESTIC himbo. And Gene smiles, too cute

“Getting the lid off that peanut butter jar was an adventure” In that household it probably could have

Donald using Louie and Della’s names when he could have just said you broke your mom’s vase or something like that

You look pretty nervous there, Donny-boy

“I don’t mean the last episode” Good, because you kinda lost your mind in the last episode

Wow, flashbacking is TRIPPY

“EVERYONE, TILT YOUR HEAD TO THE LEFT THEN SCRATCH YOUR CHIN” So that’s how you do it

“We should really get back to the plot, I mean problem”

Why don’t you want to flashback, DONALD?

lol Goofy does it too even though he wasn’t present for that event

Gene’s just blankly staring in the background

“REMINISCE HARDER” What you tell yourself as you take a test and are trying to remember what you studied

Yay, the journal is brought up!

“How many lamps did this jerk have?” Excellent question

Webby looks INSANE and Huey FULLY SUPPORTS HER

DONALD HAS PTSD AND NEEDS HELP

I feel like Gene took some MAJOR liberties with Donald’s wish. When I think normal family problems I don’t think of sitcoms. In fact that is the FURTHEST THING from what I think of as normal. Then again Gene is played by Urkel, so that might be his normal

Speaking of, does Gene know that they are all ALREADY in a tv show? How far does this rabbit hole go?

“EVERYONE STOP CATCHPHRASING!” “Is ‘I’m not a spy’ seriously my catchphrase?” You deserve better, Beakley

Of COURSE Dewey’s cool with it...because he’s a theatre kid

DEAR LORD, SOMEONE HELP THIS MAN!

Gene just trying to sneak out. I don’t think he wanted to deal with all that family drama

“HOW MANY MORE SECRETS DOES THIS AGENT HAVE?!” Oh Launchpad. Next week you’ll learn all about secrets and agents and secret agents

Gene feels like what would happen if all of Genie’s pop culture references were limited to the 90s. I LOVE IT

“AGES! The long ago year of 1990!” Well I feel old (born in 91). His eyes after he says it are just AMAZING

Gene being so knowledgeable about what makes great tv is hilarious. Clearly he should have directed the Darkwing movie lol

Seriously though, this really gives us a good look at Donald’s psyche. The guy just wants his family to be safe. But it’s even deeper than that. He wants to be normal, which includes him having a voice that’s easier for people to understand. He’s got a lot of baggage and trauma that needs to be dealt with, mainly how he views himself. Like, fuck

The HURT you see in Della’s eyes when Donald talks about why he likes it there BROKE ME

Huey’s line about adventuring being who they are got me teary eyed

Goofy just shrugs as he walks out

Of course Launchpad was gonna get the multiple dates plot. We’re ALL thirsty for some Launchpad

“Probably at least 3 seasons, plus spinoffs, and I assume they’ll reboot the show eventually.” Lines like this make me think Gene is very aware he is in a tv show

WHY THE FUCK WERE THE AUDIENCE HUMANS?! IS GENE AWARE THAT HUMANS EXIST AND ARE WATCHING THE VERY SHOW HE’S ON?! WHAT IS REAL ANYMORE?!

 “HORRIBLE, FLESH-FACED MONSTERS!” Not gonna argue with that

Dewey is SUCH a drama queen

I don’t like how Scrooge called Gene genie. He told you his name, there’s no need to be rude

POGS

Ok the study date girl kinda reminds me of Laura from Family Matters, but that might just be because Urkel is there lol

How old is Launchpad supposed to BE in the sitcom? I don’t think a 30-something is going on many study dates

“You all seem real nice, I feel bad about the mix-up” LAUNCHPAD YOU BEAUTIFUL HIMBO

OH GOD THE LAURA DUCK IN THE BACKGROUND. JESUS

Beakley and Della telling the dates to find themselves and to be independent SLAYED ME. I was NOT expecting that!

“AH, MY PET SNAKE!” “Louie why would you have this?” “THIS IS A POORLY CONCEIVED STORYLINE!” “Eh, everyone’s a critic.” Louie’s right though, DEWEY would be the one with an exotic pet. Or any pet

Tiny Johnny and Randy

WHY ARE THE HUMAN KIDS’ PROPORTIONS SO MUCH WORSE THAN THE ADULTS?! THEY HAVE GIANT FUCKING HEADS!

 PUT SOME PEP IN YOUR STEP

The ENTIRE SCENE of Goofy and Donald together was SO HEARTWARMING and something we could NEVER GET before this series!  Having Donald and Goofy talk about being parents is WONDERFUL! It’s something we’ve never seen before with these characters. Donald just wants to be normal and Goofy giving a beautiful speech about how there really is no normal so enjoy the candid moments in life. I LEGIT CRIED

OF COURSE Goofy would have the wallet overflowing with pictures, he is THAT DAD. Seeing Max was great. I thought we might see PJ but I SQUEE’D when they showed the picture of Max and Roxanne! I hope they show up for real later on

We get a hint at the OTHER twist here with Goofy actively encouraging Donald to put things back to normal while everyone else that aren’t the Duck family are trying to keep them there

Also, Goofy’s ears have bones

DON’T MESS WITH DONALD’S FAMILY. It will NOT end well for you

Goofy just starts snapping pics, like the true photographer he is

SAX TIME

“LET’S GET QUACKING” It’s no “I AM THE STORM” but still good

AVENGERS CAMERA SPIN

“A lamp in a lamp?” I can’t tell if that is BRILLIANT or lazy. Or BRILLIANTLY LAZY

“YA HA HA HOOOOWIIIIIEEEEE” It wouldn’t be a proper Goofy cameo without the yell

The scorpions got bored and left

 “The sound of no one laughing never sounded SO GOOD”

“BEST EPISODE EVER!” Definitely in my top 5

“Gawrsh, that’s sweet.” *does a cute wave* “Wait, Goofy was really here this whole time?”

Ok, but where was Goofy before then? Did Gene poof him away from something important? I WANT ANSWERS!

I bet they had this bit so people wouldn’t freakout like they did with Darkwing

I love Launchpad just being confused and waving at Goofy. He’s never met the dude before so it’s understandable. But I NEED they to have a proper interaction. THING OF THE PROPERTY DAMAGE!

“Magic’s got NOTHIN’ on a big name guest star” YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN A SHOW!

Lowkey want that Goofy lava lamp

The little Maxes flying over Goofy’s head...ADORABLE

PLEASE TELL ME THEY GOT GOOFY HOME SAFE

Donald using his last wish on the picture made me tear up. He could have had ANYTHING. He could have wished for a normal voice. But he used it for a family memory

Donald and Beakley both looked into the camera for the picture. WHILE FIGHTING DEMON HUMANS.

I can’t lie, THIS was the episode I was most excited for even before we got the premiere date. I was excited for the 90s cheesiness. Then we found out Goofy was gonna be in it and I got even more excited. Goofy is one of my faves, especially Dad Goofy. I was expecting it to be balls-to-the-wall insanity nonstop but they got me in the feels too. I want more of this Goofy and Donald. The two of them being single parents who lost someone close to them. Like I said earlier, this episode is in my top 5 for sure.

[shirtlesssammy]

10x16: Paint It Black

Worcester, Massachusetts

A man walks out of confession, seemingly lighter of spirit and with a distorted camera lens following him outside the confessional booth. He then grabs a candle holder, walks outside and stabs himself through the heart and slashes it down his torso. I mean, really guy, 40 Hail Marys would probably cover it, but you do you. 

After the title sequence, we find Crowley busy with Hell paperwork. One demon comes to complain about Rowena (She put his face on the back of his head, Quirrell-style.) 

She’s mad at Crowley for not pleading to the Grand Coven on her behalf (OMG, I forgot all about her need to get back in the good graces of this organization...taking Rowena from Buckleming and letting her be a fully formed and wonderful character was the best thing to ever happen, I swear.) She’s also mad that he sided with the Winchesters. “You prefer them to your own flesh and blood.” I see it’s tea time in Hell. 

Sam and Dean are on the case. There have been multiple deaths --all victims gutted themselves nice and slow. 

Two nuns at the murder church are talking. 

Isabella recalls her time before becoming a nun. She knew a man named Piero, an incredible artist. She would pose for him. And, I’m sorry, but what’s with the dead muskrat on Piero’s head? Ew, girl. 

Sam and Dean get the phone from the most recent victim. Dean continues to be a Mark of Cain jerk-face. Sam is skeptical that this is a case, but Dean is very convinced. 

A man and a woman leave confession time at the murder church. The distorted camera lens walks with them down the aisle. Later, Husband is getting a late night snack when Wife comes into the kitchen. She tells him to come to bed. 

He turns and she pulls out a pair of scissors and guts him, blood splattering everywhere. A whitish demon-ghost exits the wife and floats away as the wife comes to, screaming, realizing what she just did. 

Sam and Dean interview the priest about the most recent murder. The wife remembers nothing after going to church. Dean and Sam think they’re above the secrecy of confession and ask about what the dead dudes were confessing. They’re introduced to Sister Mathias. She’ll show them around and answer any churchy questions they have. Sam heads off on his own (? I thought that’s why Sister Mathias was there --to show them around?) Anyway, there's a lot of awkward throat clearing and such. 

Dean asks Sister Mathias about the state of the McCarthy’s marriage. She’s in the know and very up to date on the extracurricular activities of the congregation. She’s also a hot gossip, as nuns tend to be. Dean then starts asking the real questions. “I guess I’m just wondering how somebody quits one life for something completely different --and believe in it so much.” This episode doesn’t offer much, but when Dean’s alone with people that he feels will keep his secrets, he’s very honest. 

Sam arrives and asks about strange occurrences in the church. It’s on the site of an old burial ground. And Sister Mathias thinks the idea of ghosts to be absurd. 

Sam and Dean leave. Dean makes performative jokes about Sister Mathias. They try to rule out what kind of supernatural entity they’re dealing with. Dean focuses on the fact that all the victims recently went to confession. Dean then asks when the last time he went to confession. 

Back in Hell, Crowley brings his mum a wee gifty: Olivette, the high priestess of the Grand Coven. She’s in chains and Crowley leaves Rowena to do with her as she pleases. (Natasha: We should totally call these latest two episodes our Teryl Rothery series, since she was the medical examiner in Heart.)

And now we’re back with Isabella and Sister Mathias. They’re talking about Piero again. Isabella was deeply in love with Piero. Listen, this love is so deep the soft focus lens can’t get any softer. Isabella talks about how the painting of her started his career and was his masterpiece. Then the show reveals itself: Florence, Italy, 1520. “Sweet Jesus, nothing in my love life was ever so magical,” the seemingly devote nun exclaims. Isabella tells the other nun that she confessed her love to Piero. Piero did not feel the same way. He was in love with his art! Isabella fell into despair. What is life without a muskrat man? Her family shipped her off to a convent. 

Rowena tortures Olivette, who reveals what happened to the coven. Instead of the all-powerful coven Rowena wished to join, it’s now been stripped down by centuries of witch hunts. Added to that, an organization plundered the coven’s greatest secrets and shipped them off to bunkers all over the world to hoard all that power for themselves. And who are these massive tools? The Men of Letters.

At the church, Dean sits in the confessional booth. Uh. I’ve read this fic. Avert your eyes, fair children! 

Dean fumbles his way through a confession about his womanizing and cheating ways and then asks if he’s “good to go?” SIGH. The priest dismisses him with a handful of prayers, but Dean lingers in the booth. “I pretty much just figured that that was all there was to me, you know? Tear around and jam the key in the ignition and haul ass until I ran out of gas. I guess I just thought sooner or later, I’d go out the same way that I live – pedal to the metal, and that would be it.” Dean thinks that the Mark is going to kill him, and drops the line that haunts us fans to this very day: “There’s things, there’s people… Feelings that I want to experience differently than I have before, or maybe even for the first time.” EYEBALLS EMOJI! Dean emerges from the confessional and Sister Isabella wafts in from out of the walls. Dun dun DUN. 

Isabella ghosts herself into the priest’s body next. I’m guessing they’ll just pot up some tulips together? Probably something nice.

Sister Mathias finds Isabella’s diary and begins to read it. One night Isabella snuck into Piero’s studio to destroy his paintings when she found him sleeping with another woman. She stabbed him brutally and her Life of Vengeance officially began! 

Sister Mathias fetches Sam and Dean. She explains that she’s hung out with many ghosts and watched them move on, but she didn’t expect Isabella to be quite so murdery. 

Isabella’s journal ends right after her trial, where she was convicted of witchcraft and burned. The Winchesters speculate that her journal is what ties her to Earth. Dean orders Sam to burn it.

Rowena continues to beat up Olivette, slap by sharp slap. God, I do love Rowena in a gorgeous gown!

Rowena scolds Olivette for losing the coven’s heritage to the Men of Letters. If the coven is useless, Rowena will hunt them down instead. Where can she find those wily Men of Letters? Olivette clues her in: the Winchesters are legacies. “Perpetually the Winchesters,” Rowena spits out. IKR?? Then, humming, she sets up a spell to DEAL with Olivette. Olivette shakes and screams and THEN... Rowena stops. She’s got a better idea. She utters a different spell and----

Back with the hunt, Dean explains the mechanics of rock salt on ghosts to Sister Mathias. Meanwhile, Sam reads Isabella’s diary. He learns that her blood was intended to be mixed into the paint used to create Piero’s masterpiece portrait. Isabella took it a step farther into psycho town, though. She chopped off her fingertip and told him to add her blood, flesh, and ground bone into the painting. UGH.

Dean discovers the priest torn open and dead on the altar. Suddenly Sister Mathias attacks him. She’s possessed! Isabella tells Dean that the priest had to die because he forgave Dean for his transgressions. GURL please. Sam burns the portrait and Isabella flames out dramatically.

At King o’ Hell headquarters, Rowena watches a wee hamster running in a wheel. The hamster is Olivette! She’s even wearing a cute, tiny red necklace.

Rowena doesn’t explain when or why she asked demons to create a nice, clean, enriching habitat for Olivette. Instead, she asks Crowley about the Winchesters and the Men of Letters. Crowley brushes her off and Rowena smiles prettily and swans away. Clearly, the issue shall never arise again!

In the car, Dean is like me...still grossed out that Isabella and Piero added a FINGERTIP to a painting. Like, Piero. DUDE. That should’ve been a red flag. Sam asks about Dean’s excessive time spent in the confessional. He offers to be a sounding board instead and Dean is SUPER ON BOARD with that plan. JK, of course Dean intends to keep his emotions locked in a warded box and flung into the deepest ocean trench. Sam delivers a rallying speech. He doesn’t think the Mark is going to kill Dean and they’re going to work together to save him! What could go wrong?

There are Things. Quotes...I Want to Experience Differently:

Scissors to the gut really brings out the Grinch in me

The FBI believes in ghosts?

Smug, self-righteous bastards: the Men of Letters

Learning there’s more to the universe than your tiny world can be a frightening discovery

There will be a way, and we will find it. That’s what we do

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[hejer-maomao]

WHOOOO ASK BOX IS OPEN- Okay! I have ideas for angst, so how would Harr, Sirius, and Lancelot (the trio uwu) react if their S/O one day doesn’t remember them? Maybe the Magic Tower brainwashed them...Will they try to get her memories back? Or will they let her go? I also wanted to send one where they react to their child dying but eehh I’ll send that another time-

Darling, I am head over heels in love with this request ❤

Your other prompt? I’m also dying to write that as well, so you are more than welcome to send it in whenever you want. The sooner the better because I’m really excited about it!

Aaaaand before we start, we have our familiar warning:

Trigger Warning: Heavy Angst. Proceed with caution. I’m not planning on making this happy at all.

Lancelot:

“Who… are you?” Your words, softly-spoken in your familiar sweet tone, felt like a sharp dagger digging into Lancelot’s heart.  

He stood still as a statue, as if paralyzed from the neck up, unblinking, blood drained from his face. Those three simple words, that took no more than few seconds to be mumbled, sent him reeling backwards, his brain desperately scrambling to make sense of it all. Lancelot was rendered speechless, temporarily incapacitated, unable to comprehend what had just occurred. He felt all eyes on him, all of his soldiers’ sympathizing and pitying gazes, and it finally dawned on him why he wasn’t allowed in your room the moment you woke up. Lancelot sharply inhaled, trying to remember how to breathe, yet the air seemed to burn inside his lungs, as if his own body was trying to reject its very source of life.

They said it was an accident. One of the imprisoned Magic Tower disciples managed to escape his cell the day of his trial, and gave up his own life in a fit of madness to cast a forbidden spell on you. That was what the official report stated, leaving out how Lancelot was the real target, and you were simply pulled in into the mess, like always.

They said it would be alright. Edgar weak’s smile never reached his eyes and Zero didn’t dare look him in the eyes as they both muttered lies after lies. Kyle was the only one who didn’t speak to him, as he spent nights upon nights tending to you, trying out countless medicines in hopes of sparking any memory in your brain but to no avail. Jonah, always his dependable right-man, took over all of his tasks as Lancelot attempted in his desperation to spend all of his days near your bed, hoping his presence would make you remember your own husband.

But nothing worked. Not Kyle’s medicines, nor Lancelot’s own efforts. You were as polite and cordial as ever, welcoming him every time he entered your room, but Lancelot never failed in noticing how uncomfortable you seemed in his presence, clearly intimidated by him.

The day it was finally decided you would return to the Land of Reason, now that you had no one shackling you to Cradle, Lancelot sat down on his bed and chuckled, his eyes void of any emotions.

Having your love was a once in a lifetime miracle that will not be repeated. Lancelot was truly blessed with you. A monster like him, whom Heavens pitied and offered him one of her angels to keep him company for a while, cannot ask for more.

“The sun, the moon, the wind, the stars, will forever be around, reminding you of the love you once shared, and the peace she’s finally found.”

Sirius:

“Do you have everything you need?” Sirius locked eyes with you, attentively watching you as you picked up your bag from the ground, awkwardly smiling at him before you nodded in affirmation. He smiled back, trying to be as careful as possible with you, as he handed you a package containing your last meal prepared by Sirius. You softly whispered your thanks, quickly bowing to him before you started to head off to the carriage waiting outside. Sirius’ smile never wavered as you climbed up into your seat and settled in, Seth in tow, and the carriage took off, taking you to the Civic Center where the hole leading back to your own world was going to open soon.

Once you were out of sight, Sirius finally stopped smiling. He could feel a few drops of blood seeping in his clenched fist, due to his nails harshly digging into his flesh, but he kept his hands hidden in his pockets and silently made his way back to his room, ignoring all of Ray’s shouts.Once the door was safely closed behind him, Sirius’ emotions finally took hold of him, ripping out from his heart, and he punched the wall with his right hand, once, twice and thrice until his knuckles were ripped apart and blood was dripping unto the carpet. Sirius barely felt the sting of the pain, his eyes still locked on the blue dress you left behind, the very same day you disappeared.

It took them weeks. Hellish weeks of desperate search and agonizing pursuit of your kidnappers until you were found, with no single wound on your body in the middle of the forbidden forest, with a single note addressed to Sirius.

The Queen of Spades wasted no effort to try and get your memory back. Medicines, potions, spells, anything at all. He sought Lancelot’s help and got Kyle to try whatever means necessary for you to regain what you lost, but nothing worked. In fact, all of the medical probing and constant examinations had the complete opposite effect on you, and you quickly grew distant from Sirius, getting annoyed day after day with all of his questions. As he gazed upon your fragile frame, curled under the blankets, face twisted in agony as you went through another examination and multiple inquisitions again, Sirius felt it was time to give you up. He needed to set you free.

 And so he did. He stepped on his own heart and let you out of it. Sirius knew that the minute you started seeing his love as mere shackles chaining you to a past you no longer know anything about, he has lost you for good.

“There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.”

Harr:

Harr lost his heart the day you lost your memories.

He never imagined that he would be miraculously saved from the depths of hell, cradled by a gentle healing hand and offered a second chance in life only to have it all brutally snatched from him in a blink of an eye. Harr was familiar with pain. Pain was his forever uninvited guest, pain was his loyal companion and pain was the bitter taste that never leaves his mouth. But after meeting you, after knowing how warm your arms are, how soft your lips feel and how good being with you is, loosing you all of a sudden left a gaping hole in Harr’s chest, a hole that will never be filled.

Watching you awkwardly smile at him as if he has never made you laugh your heart out, ask him the same questions you pose to a stranger when he has memorized how many beauty marks you have on all of your body, shake his hand to tell him goodbye when he has held that hand between his own and slipped an engagement finger on it only few weeks ago, made his heart rip itself into pieces. It hurts, it hurts and it hurts so much and Harr doesn’t know what to do with all of this pain he feels inside. He feels as if he’s gasping for air, gasping to breathe, gasping to live without you by his side.

So Harr let you go. Without even breathing a word of his love to you. No matter how angry Loki got at him and no matter how many times Sirius and Lancelot visited him to talk him out of his decision, Harr simply refused to tell you a thing. Not a single word.

Somehow, he knew, that even if he told you all, show you all the bracelets and the small trinkets he made for you, invite you to the house you both built up together or even confess his feelings once again, you won’t be able to recall a thing. So Harr ran away, like the coward he always was, and hid your ring before you could even see it and claimed he was a mere friend.

As he watched you leave to your own world, Harr weakly smiled, raised his head to the sky above and prayed you find happiness once again.

“Grief is the price we pay for love.”

[joon-bugs]

Dare

~This is a fic that’s been in the making for about two months and I finally got it finished!~ 

“Want to continue the game?” You dug your nail into your palm. Jungkook was gonna get a talking to later. Maybe you should have told Hoseok to leave. That you were tired and had to work the next day. It would have been the smart thing. The safe thing. But a low buzz had already settled in your chest, warming your skin. 

word count: 4,290 

pairing: Hobi/Reader 

genre: smut 

warnings: swearing, multiple orgasms, hair pulling, face riding, intoxication 

“You're up next birthday boy.”

“No way. I swear you skipped your turn Y/N. I'm not that drunk.” You rolled your eyes. Leave it to Jung Hoseok to call you out on your bullshit.

“Damn, I thought I had boozed you up enough.” You took a swig of your half empty beer bottle and scowled. You hated beer. But it was cheap, and you were poor. Hoseok cleared his throat and raised a brow.

“Alright, alright. Fine. I choose..truth.”

“Ugh, lameee. You’re no fun.” Jungkook piped up from the couch. He swung his leg in your direction, attempting to hit you.

“Hey watch it you little shit! Or I’m calling Namjoon and outing your ass.” Jungkook sputtered, almost choking.

“You wouldn’t.”

“You wanna try me?” You held his glare until he sighed, waving his hand dismissively.

“Alright Miss Truth.” He looked thoughtful.

“Done any butt stuff?” You nearly threw your bottle at him.

“Well? You have to answer the question Y/N. It's the gameee.” You opened your mouth to abuse the brat when Hoseok chimed in.

“Yeah Y/N. It's the game.” You turned to look at him and blushed at the playful smirk on his face. Damn him for being so attractive.

You took an absurdly long drink before answering. Jungkook sat up, leaning until he was on the edge of the couch. Oh you were going to get him back for this.

“Yeah. I've done some..butt stuff.” Jungkook fell to the floor laughing, and rolled around until he could catch his breath to wheeze out-

“Oh my god really? I honestly thought you were gonna say no. Holy shit.” He was crying now, wiping  the obnoxious tears from his face. You didn't find it that funny.

“How did it feel?” Jungkook had managed to calm himself down and was pulling himself back onto the couch.

“Well if you must know it felt fucking awful. There wasn't enough lube but he insisted we go for it. I was stupid enough to let him convince me. Never again. End of story.” You finished off the rest of your beer and reached over to grab another one from the side table. You noticed it had grown silent and looked up to see Hoseok and Jungkook staring at you.

“What?” Your skin prickled nervously at the quiet.

“Wow. What a dick. He’s supposed to make you feel good too.”

“You offering Kook? Sounds like you know the area.” You spat out, still a little upset. He scoffed.

“No offense Y/N but that's disgusting and..you're not my type. Maybe Hobi would be so kind. He's got lots of experience from what I've heard.” He nudged the man in question with his elbow, wagging his eyebrows. Your eyes went wide. Hoseok was still for a second then propped his chin on his hand and stuck the tip of his tongue out.

“Well if you want to see how things are done right Y/N, give me a call.”

You squeezed the neck of the new bottle and coughed, disguising your embarrassment. Maybe you'd all had too much to drink.

“Isn't it your turn Jung Hoseok?”

He chuckled, leaning back to rest on his elbows and jutted his chin up, a signal that he was ready.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare.” Wow. That was quick.

“See? Hobi knows how to have a good time.” Jungkook threw his hands up, flopping onto the cushions with a thud.

You bit the inside of your cheek, thinking over your options. You held a lot of power in that moment and needed to use it wisely.

“I dare you to chug that whole thing.” You gestured to the drink he had barely touched, deciding to play it safe. Steer the conversation away from anything remotely sexual. Alcohol mixed with hormones was like playing with fire. Sure it was hot, but someone was always bound to get burned.

He glanced down at his hand, then back at you. Then a wide grin appeared on his face and his throat was suddenly blessing your vision. Oh shit. So much for it not being sexual. His head was tilted back all the way, the long curve of his neck golden and shining. Was he sweating or was it just your imagination? His adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped and when he was done he wiped the remainder with the back of his hand. A droplet escaped his mouth, glistening as it trailed down his throat. You swallowed, not realizing you were staring until Jungkook reminded the room of his existence.

“Woo! My man!” He clapped Hoseok on the shoulder excitedly, shaking him enthusiastically. Hoseok gave a toothy grin in response, his eyes on you. When had it gotten so hot? Jungkook’s turn went by in the blur, and then it was yours again.

“Alright Y/N. If you don’t choose dare this time I’ll make sure to pick a really embarrassing question.” Jungkook seemed giddy at the idea. Was the last one not embarrassing enough? You really needed to find other people to hang out with. You swiped your sticky palms down your jeans. I’m gonna get you back for this kid.

“Ughh. Dare then.” It couldn’t be that bad. Could it? Jungkook kicked his lips, a wicked glint in his eye. Maybe there was no god. Your muscles tightened, preparing to bolt.

‘Just take it off now girllll, just take it off. Uh. I'm a master baby with your bra.’

The familiar chime of his ring tone had you flinching, your heartbeat thumping loudly in your ears. Jungkook glanced down at his cell and recoiled, jumping up.

“Ahhh shit shit. Its my brother. Oh man.” He paced around the room, taking in deep breaths. Your covered your mouth, holding in your laughter.

“Hey Namjoon. Where am I? Uhh I went out. To the store. For snacks.” He cringed at his own lie and you smiled at his turmoil. You heard the yelling at the other end of the line and saw Jungkook swallow. He was already pulling on his jacket, and glancing at the door. He looked back at you and Hoseok, embarrassment clear on his face. You blew a chaste kiss at him and waved him away, reminding yourself to tease the younger at a later time. No sooner had you done this was the boy gone, whirling out the door with the quickness of a trained athlete. With him he took the light joking atmosphere and you felt immediately uncomfortable.

It wasn’t as if Hoseok was a bad guy. He was originally Jungkook’s friend, the two meeting through their love of dancing. (That and chasing tail.) Being close to Jungkook you were soon introduced to the man in question and had fallen down the dark rabbit hole of attraction. If it was a small interest, you could have easily brushed off how his eyes would linger longer than necessary, or how he would make himself seen when you were around. No, you were hopelessly crushing on Jung Hoseok and couldn’t stop how tense your body got when it was just the two of you. You crossed your legs and  examined the chipped polish on your fingers, trying to avoid any eye contact with the man across from you.

“Hey.” You paused, whipping your head up at his voice. He mimicked your pose, his knees peeking out of the strategically ripped holes of his jeans. Why did his freaking knees have to look good too? You coughed, the dryness of your throat blocking your airway.

“Yeah?” You tried not to make the word a squeak.

“Want to continue the game?” You dug your nail into your palm. Jungkook was gonna get a talking to later. Maybe you should have told Hoseok to leave. That you were tired and had to work the next day. It would have been the smart thing. The safe thing. But a low buzz had already settled in your chest, warming your skin.

“Truth or dare?” Hoseok looked thoughtful, tilting his head.

“Dare.” Maybe it was the alcohol making you brave. Or it could have been the roar of blood pounding in your ears.

“I dare you to take off your shirt.” You weren’t sure if you had really said it out loud, but by the look on Hoseok’s face..you had.

“Huh.” He clucked his tongue, keeping his eyes on yours. This was so stupid. And inappropriate. Now he was gonna think you were a pervert. Great. You shook your head, holding the weighted alcohol bottle in a tight grip.

“Sorry, you don’t have to do that.. I think I’m just a little dru-“ In a flash Hoseok had lifted his arms, his shirt finding its new residence on the floor. Holy moly. You weren’t expecting that. Your face burned at the newly exposed flesh and you pretended to scratch at your eyebrow as an excuse to look away.

“Is this what you wanted?” His voice was lower than you remembered it to be before. You chuckled awkwardly and cleared your throat again, not knowing how to respond.

“My turn now, right?” He filled the silence after a moment and ran his hand through the curtain of hair that framed his face. You followed his movements like a hawk, marveling at how soft his locks looked. How would it feel under your own fingertips? You wondered. You nodded silently, giving him the go ahead. Your heart was loud in your chest, drumming a steady beat in your ears.

“Truth..or dare?” You knew you were walking into dangerous territory now.

“Um..dare?”

“Kiss me.” You blinked owlishly. This was not happening. You had to be dreaming.

“Excuse me?” His face remained impassive. Unchanged.

“Kiss me.” You considered throwing yourself out of the window. But honestly..would kissing your crush be the worst thing in the world? Your eyes gravitated to the deep cupid’s bow of his lips. No. No it wouldn't.

You got onto all fours, making a decision before you could think better of it. You slowly crawled over to where Hoseok sat, trying to avoid staring at his chest for too long. It wouldn’t make what you were doing any easier. His eyes were lidded when you approached, almost closed. And you could hear how measured his breathing was up close. His eyelashes were long, framing his feminine shaped eyes and high cheekbones. For someone so hot he was...pretty.

The lit lamps in the room cast soft shadows on his skin, painting him in tones of muted gold and chocolate browns. It felt really intimate like this, in the silence and closeness of your apartment. Like lovers stealing away into the night. But you knew that you weren’t lovers. You were two almost strangers only brought together by the coincidence of Jungkook. You clenched your jaw and stopped in front of him. This was just a game. Silly. Something to be laughed at later. It was wishful thinking to believe it was anything else. Feeling your body sink into the carpet you sighed quietly, before pushing your upper half forward.

His mouth was pliant, coming alive at your small pressure. They were smooth, sliding over yours as butter would on toast. You hummed, relishing in the pleasant feeling. The lips pressed to yours were surprisingly hesitant in reciprocating however, and you pulled away as that twinge of doubt resurfaced.

Hoseok’s hand shot out to grab your arm, startling you.

“Kiss me again.” He breathed, his exhale puffing onto your face. You licked your lips, savoring the taste of him. Cheap beer mostly, but there was something else there too. Something dark and forbidden.You gripped a patch of carpet, uncaring of how damaged it would become.

“Unless you’re scared.” You floundered, your mouth opening and closing. Hoseok’s fingertips rubbed the crease in your elbow and you let out a shudder, your nerves trembling. Hoseok too was soon on his knees, moving to mimic your position. You were going to remark how it was your turn to ask him but found your body moving by itself.

You placed your hands on his bare shoulder, hoping he wouldn't notice how they were shaking. His fingers traced up your sleeve until they came to rest on the underside of your jaw. You came close to his ear, close enough to touch. You wet your lips.

“Truth or dare Hoseok?” It was a whisper.

“I choose you.”

He tugged you forward, pressing his lips into yours insistently. Your chest came flush with his as he fell back on his knees and you tried not to topple into him. He laughed lightly, adjusting himself until his arms were secure around your waist. You sighed into his mouth, playing with the hairs on the back of his neck. They were as soft as you expected. Hoseok groaned, pulling you down onto his lap so that you were now straddling him. This position brought your crotches level to each other and he took full advantage of this by digging his nails into your hips and grinding his pelvis into yours. Your legs tightened on the side of his and you whimpered, biting his lip to stifle the noise.

“Oh Y/N..I’ve waited so long for this.”

Hoseok’s hand came up to rest on the curve of your back, angling you until his mouth could be latched on your chest. You squeaked at the unexpected wet tongue and gripped his shoulder blades, trying not to completely dig your nails into his skin. Your thin sports bra was no match for the persistence of Hoseok’s tongue and soon the material was soaked from his attentions.

“If your goal is to make this bra completely unwearable then I’d say you were successful.” You laughed breathlessly. He paused to give you a simmering look.

“Glad you finally caught on.” He grinned. Oh. Said bra was off of you quicker than you could comprehend along with your top, with Hoseok clinging to your now bare skin. You bowed your back when he started to suckle a nipple, the vibrations of his humming sending jolts of pleasure to your lower region. The hair along your body prickled, alive at the erotic sensation. You pressed yourself down on his jeans, unable to help that you were basically dry humping him like a cat in heat. The noises you made were sharp and jerky, reflecting your desperation.

“Oh god-Hoseok. Please I-.” He nipped at your collarbone.

“Careful. You’ll make me come in my pants.” You stopped abruptly and gave an apologetic look.

“Sorry.” You muttered, panting.

“Here. I have an idea that will help you unwind. Lay back.” You raised an eyebrow at him. He gave a small smile in return.

“Trust me. It will be better for both of us.” He tilted you back slowly, until you were on the carpet, your legs still wrapped around him. What the hell is he doing? You tried to keep the thought from reflecting on your face.

“Relax. I’m not gonna hurt you.” You swallowed back a twinge of fear, choosing to grip the soft flooring to contain your shaking. Hoseok pressed light kisses down your body until he reached your bottoms. He looked up at you for permission and it was then you finally understand his intentions. You jolted upright and pushed at his shoulders in a panic.

“No no. You um, don’t have to do that.” The sentence fumbled out, your cheeks flaming. Hoseok let out a full bellied laugh then and you just wanted to recede into a hole.

“You really are something Y/N. You’re the first girl I’ve ever met to say they didn’t want to get eaten out. That’s cute.” He shook his head, eyes twinkling in amusement.

“Don’t laugh at me you ass! It’s just-just that no one has ever done that for me before.” You slipped out from under him and curled into a ball, tucking your head into your knees. After a moment you heard Hoseok curse under his breath before you felt a touch on your shoulder. You lifted your head up hesitantly.

"Y/N. Hey. I'm sorry. Really. I was just surprised is all. It’s okay if you don’t have experience with it.” He looked sympathetic and thoughtful.

“Here, maybe this will be easier for you.” He said after a pause. You glanced over at him warily, only to see him lay flat on his back.

“Um..what are you doing?”

“Come here.” He beckoned, waving you to his side with a curl of his fingers. You sighed, rubbing at your eyes and obeyed him before you could think better of it.

“Okay, now what?”  

Hoseok splayed a hand on your thigh, rubbing the cloth material.

“First you gotta get these off.” He smiled, not moving to do so himself, but letting you make the choice. If I do this I’ll be almost completely naked. Your nerves were starting to get the better of you again. You covered your chest self consciously. Hoseok’s face took on a serious expression.

“Y/N. We don’t have to do this. As much as I would nothing more than to have you screaming my name, I’m not gonna force you into anything.” The sincerity in his voice made you feel like an ass for thinking badly of him and you nodded your head before slowly slipping off your pants. You glanced at him to see his attention fully on you. With shaky hands you made to remove your simple panties when Hoseok protested.

“Leave those on actually. Just put your legs on either side of my head.”

“Umm what the hell?” You hadn’t meant to say that aloud.

Hoseok rolled his eyes before pulling you on his chest. The skin to skin contact made you gasp and you braced yourself on his pecs, feeling lightheaded. Hoseok's large hands roamed up the back of your thighs, urging them into position around his head, his eyes black and shining. This was beyond strange to you. It seemed..rude to have your vagina so close to someone’s face.

“Relax baby.” Your muscles clenched at the nickname. You felt the probing of a finger around your pantyline and could feel the sharp inhale of air from the man underneath you.

“Mmm you have no idea how good you smell Y/N. I’ll have to thank Jungkook later for inviting me.” At the mention of the kid you scoffed but the noise turned into a shuddering gasp when Hoseok moved your underwear to the side and flattened his tongue to swipe along your folds. You nearly fell over but caught yourself by grabbing onto Hoseok’s hair. He repeated the action, eliciting a moan from your lips.

“Not so bad is it?” He asked when he came up for air. You quickly shook your head, not able to form a response. You pushed your pelvis down on his tongue, riding the wet digit as his fingers dug into the meat of your behind.

"Oh Hoseok...oh god."

He hummed, holding you closer to his face, not letting up until your legs began to shake. Your body was pulsing, alive and burning. You rotated your hips, letting out a squeal when Hoseok gave attention to your clit. You yanked hard on his scalp until he gave a short shout.

"Sorry, sorry. I got carried away." He let out a breathless laugh, massaging the outside of your thighs.

"Its okay Y/N. I don't mind a little pain." He winked, before flicking his tongue out, resuming his attentions. You rocked against him, moaning in high pitched whines, feeling a familiar stirring below until you could take no more.

           "Oh ah-ah! I think I'm gonna-"

"Come all over my face Y/N." His voice was husky, the demand giving you the push you needed to tumble over the edge. You screwed your eyes shut, mouth open soundlessly as your hips chased the electric tingling coursing through you. You felt your release slick down your thighs, and shuddered violently as Hoseok lapped it up reverently.

Soon his touch became too much however, and you weakly rolled off of him, your body jelly on the floor. Your chest heaved and you briefly wondered how you had never done anything like this before. You felt in a way, cheated.

A shadow passed over your face then  and you glanced up to see a grinning Hoseok, his chin glistening. Mother of God. He ran his tongue over his mouth, collecting the remaining juices, before placing a light peck to your lips.

"You still alive?" He laughed at your disheveled state.

"Just get down here and kiss me again." You grabbed him by his shoulder, satisfied when he was tightly pressed against you. You were both panting, pawing at every inch of skin until Hoseok pulled away to fumble with the button of his jeans. He seemed to struggle with the material, from nerves or drunkenness you couldn't tell. He cursed under his breath after a third attempt, frustration evident in the heavy breaths.

"Here let me." You deftly undid the clasp of his pants, surprised at the steadiness of your hands. Hoseok seemed sheepish, not looking at you when he tugged the item down his lean legs. You sat transfixed, watching as his boxer briefs came into view, the front bulging. Well shit.

You were both now in only your underwear and stared at each other in silence. You swallowed loudly and flicked your eyes down to the mass before you, both intimidated and aroused. You could tell he was big, the tent in his boxer briefs leaving nothing to the imagination. You reached for them but was stopped by Hoseok. He cleared his throat but his sentence still came out hoarse.

“Another time, Y/N. I just...want to be inside you. If uh, you still want to.” He quickly added, scratching his head with his free hand. You smiled at his thoughtfulness, and leaned back to mimic his position earlier.

“I’m all yours.”

Teeth clashed together in a frenzy, tongues teasing and tasting sweaty skin. Remaining undergarments were ripped off, hands only briefly exploring before impatience got the better of you two. Hoseok held himself in his hands, and suddenly rubbed the tip on your clit, shocking you enough for a thought to cross your lust clouded brain.

“Hey Hoseok, do you have any protection?” It came out almost incomprehensible you were breathing so hard.

"Ah shit. Yeah I do. Sorry I almost forgot." He patted the area around him with one hand, still holding himself in the other. His dick was stiff and bright red, leaking already. Curiously you swiped the top of it, hearing a loud hiss  from Hoseok.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." He swore, finding the condom in the back of his jeans and ripping it open with his teeth. He rolled it down on himself in one fluid move before he slid between your legs, fitting himself in the v shape. He stared at the inviting image of you for a moment before using a hand to grasp your hip.

"Can I-?"

As if he needed any more permission.

"God yes."

He entered you fast and you flinched, the stretch instantly painful.

"My bad my bad, here I'll be gentler." He promised, pulling out and pushing back in at a much more comfortable pace. He stopped when his hips were flush with your thighs and took in a shuddering breath. He waited approximately five seconds until he began to thrust sharply, causing your body to slide up and down the shaggy floor. What an embarrassing way to get rug burn. You thought, reaching for Hoseok to ground yourself. He got the hint and intertwined one of your hands with his own, leaving the other to control his movements.

He wasn't overly thick but he was long, reaching places deep inside you that soon had tears springing to your eyes.

"Are you-ah, okay Y/N?" He'd noticed your emotional reaction and slowed.

"Ye-yes! Don't stop. Don't stop please!" You arched your back, shutting your eyes against the red hot sensations burning through you. You clawed at the carpet, feeling your stomach twist and your toes curl. You were already sensitive from your previous orgasm and a second one was coming fast.  You threw your head to the side, feeling utterly taken and oh so wanted.

Hoseok’s body stuttered then and his hips started to lose their rhythm.

"I don't know how much longer I'll last up here. I was already hard at the thought of seeing you tonight and then we kissed and-ugh you're so hot and wet. I just want to stay inside you forever." He was gasping, his words tumbling out in a slur, sweat caked on his tanned skin.

" I-I want to see you come again." Hoseok said suddenly, and you felt him rubbing erratically at your engorged clit.

You fell apart at his touch, bucking to meet the pleasure as your rode out your second high, only noticing that your partner was finished when he gave out a yell and was on top of you. You held him close, ignoring the twitching of your muscles in favor of burying your nose in his hair. Hoseok sighed and nuzzled your neck before pulling out of you and discarding the used rubber. He flopped down on the couch and waved you over, which you obeyed happily. You lay your head on his chest and listened to the strong thumping of his heart, wondering where in the hell you two would go from there. His fingers played in the curve of your back and you shuddered. You decided that maybe that thought could wait. 

Written by Rose 

[arcanesupern0va]

Down With The Rickness; Ch3: Scene Of The Crime

Summary: Vindicators 3: The Return of World Ender? Never heard of him either.

A/N: Thank you for reading this far and thank you so much for your continued support. ♥ So I think the next one is gonna be a Halloween inspired one. I watched a movie last night that I really wanted to just force Rick into so I think that's what's going to happen. Probably won't be anywhere near as oooey gooey as this one was but I can't resist making Rick a goshdang sap because it's my god given right. Hahaha. Be sure to let me know what you think! Unless it's mean and just generally not constructive in which case pls don't because I am soft and my feelings bruise easily.

CW: Thar be Drunk Rick here. And blatant use of an episode.  Pairing: Rick Sanchez/Reader Word Count: 6704

My ao3

Masterlist

~Rick In The Water~

|Ch2: Silhouettes|

Surprisingly, it was a horrid stench that woke me up, along with Morty gently nudging me into consciousness. I groaned, rolling over and bringing the blanket up to cover my nose and save me from the horrendous smell that had permeated the room.

“C-Come on Aunt Nova, we gotta go,” Morty murmured, shaking me again before standing up and moving away from the bed. “Rick, uh- He had one hell of a night last night.”

Whatever I had been imagining didn’t match what I found in the conference room. Rick was splayed out, completely coated with shit and sleeping peacefully despite it. I clasped my hand to my face trying desperately to purge the image from my brain before it made itself at home. I turned to focus on Supernova and Morty, turning my back on Rick completely.

“Good morning. Looks like your boyfriend had a long night,” she remarked. My cheeks burned as I peeked around her despite myself, seeing the full extent Rick’s mess went to. “Crocubot, why don't you escort Mr. Sanchez to a more comfortable spot so that someone can… clean up his diarrhea.”

“Whoa, I'm nervous about my first mission,” Noob Noob declared proudly, entering the conference room toting multiple weapons.

“Actually Noob Noob, you have a new mission,” Supernova told him coldly, flicking her wrist to replace the weapons with a mop.

“Got damn,” he said sadly, resigning himself to his new “mission”.

“Vindicators, prepare for arrival. Worldender dies today, with or without Rick’s help.” She ordered, leading us to the ship we would be descending to Worldender’s hideout planet in.

My head was still reeling as the ship took off from the main ship and soared down to Worldender’s planet. Morty kept me calm, explaining the different Vindicators to me before we were forced to drop down onto the planet from midair. Vance grabbed my waist with a sly grin, pulling me uncomfortably close to him before jumping out of the back and landing safely on the ground below. I pulled away from him quickly, only to be confronted with the pungent smell of burning flesh and rotting corpses as I surveyed my surroundings. Most of the planet seemed to be composed of corpses and bones and it just reinforced my assumption that the vast majority of space was just disgusting. Vance offered me a handkerchief to cover my nose with but I politely declined, not wanting to offer him any more of an ‘in’ than he already thought he had. I used the sleeve of my shirt instead, pressing it against my face hard enough that the skin ached around my nostrils from the pressure.

“A-Aunt Nova, are you okay?” Morty asked, looking up at me with concern plastered all over his face but noticeably unbothered by the smell.

“Y-Yeah,” I coughed, unsurprised the air tasted as bad as it smelled, “how are you so relaxed right now? This place fucking reeks.”

“Oh, Rick implanted me with a scent filter for my nose. There was a planet that smelled like burnt tires and rotten eggs and he got tired of hearing me complain about it,” Morty explained, “Sure, it’s based off Rick’s preferences so I haven’t smelled lavender and sweet pea in over a month but whatever you’re going through looks like it sucks.”

“So you can’t smell anything right now?” I asked, astonished.

“Nope,” he shrugged, “right now all I can smell is your shampoo and Vance’s cologne.”

“Must be fuckin’ nice,” I grumbled, staring at the ground ahead of me as we followed behind Supernova.

Drones approached us at an alarming pace but Supernova made quick work of them using the powers of whatever the “Star Mother” was. We advanced, only to come to a total dead end. This time it was Alan Rails’ turn, somehow creating a train to blast through the wall so we could advance further.

“Is it just me, or are their powers a little… stupid?” I whispered under my breath to Morty, only to earn an annoyed sigh.

“You sound just like Rick. These are actual superheroes, Aunt Nova. Most people just get movies but you’re actually in the presence of people that do everything they can for the better good,” Morty chastised.

“Like, I get that but even you have to admit they’re pretty lame. I mean, sure Supernova uses powers from some ‘Star Mother’ but like, the one guy is literally just an amalgamation of ants? And Alan can just call on the power of trains? Ghost trains? In what way could that possibly be helpful other than complete and utter destruction?”

“You don’t get it-”

“Aah! Gun Turret,” Million Ants interrupted us.

“Are you alright?” Supernova asked, concern flooding her voice.

“Yes. I only lost 400 ants. My queen is laying more,” he assured her as the holes in his chest mended in front of us, “I am back to one million ants,” he announced proudly as a look of relief flashed over Supernova’s features.

“Someone wake up Sanchez,” she demanded, glaring as she watched Crocubot toss Rick gracelessly onto the ground as Vance bent over him.

“H-Hey, wait- What are you doing?” I started nervously, as Vance pointed a finger at his face. Supernova shook her head briskly at me, holding up a hand as the tip of Vance’s finger opened and a blue gas emerged from it.

“Ugh,” Rick groaned, his bloodshot eyes taking in his surroundings as he familiarized himself with his location. “Oh, christ.”

“Oh, good. You’re up,” Supernova remarked sarcastically.

“Barely,” Rick growled, pulling himself to his feet.

“Rick, we're taking fire from an automated turret. Can you bring it offline?”

Rick grunted in response, pulling out a thermos as we watched him mix chemicals to produce a small creature. He held the plump creature over his eyes, squeezing it and relishing in the relief the liquid it produced offered.

“Ahh, that’s better,” he sighed, blinking away the bloodshot in his eye and looking around the room. His eyes fell on me and for a moment, a look of fear passed through them. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Rick!” Supernova shouted, irritated by the delay.

“I can’t help if I can’t see,” Rick shot back, shaking away his concerns for a moment and pulling out a small roving device that scurried over the floor into the line of fire. The top opened to allow a transparent disc to absorb the bullets before it spit out three compact discs that morphed into small robots. They climbed on top of each other, propelling themselves up onto the turret and fixating themselves over the barrel. Rick winked at me before jumping in front of the turrets in a ‘ta-da’ pose and I felt my heart drop as the turrets began shooting. I’ve moved to go after him, to pull him out of what I assumed to be certain doom but he turned to face me, grinning like a madman as the turrets fired until they exploded.

“And that’s how you do it, baby.”

“I could've just used a ghost train,” Alan grumbled, shoving past Rick and continuing through the door.

“Really? You don't say. You would have used a ghost train?” Rick gloated, rolling his eyes as he looked around the room. “H-Hey, everybody, the ghost train guy would have used a ghost train!” The rest of the Vindicator and Morty pushed passed him, mumbling under their breath and shooting looks of disgust and irritation at Rick as they passed.

“Is there coffee?” Rick asked, stopping Morty as he pressed on past his grandfather, the disgust and irritation even more prevalent on his face than the rest of them, “H-Hey, Morty, can you be a pal? Grandpa left his coffee maker on the ship. Y-You know, the French press thing?”

“Get it yourself,” Morty shot back, going around his grandfather to follow the rest of the team. As I passed him, that same look of fear covered his face as he looked me over, making sure I was okay. Once he seemed satisfied, he turned away to follow the group silently. We navigated the halls to Worldender’s lair in silence, Rick focusing in on Morty to avoid having to face me.

“You’re sni-uuuuurp-ppy this morning,” Rick remarked, following closely behind Morty while also keeping a watchful eye on my progress behind him.

“Just focus on the mission, alright,” Morty snapped, not interested in anything his grandfather had to say at this point.

“Oh, oh, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, you're right. Ooh, real serious. Gotta take it real serious, huh?” Rick said mockingly, glaring at the back of the Vindicator’s heads.

“Rick…” I called out gently, trying to relieve Morty of the punishment of dealing with his hungover grandfather. Rick turned to face me finally, a bit too eagerly for his liking it seemed as he groaned and stopped in his tracks to wait for me to catch up.

“H-Hey, Nova,” he grumbled as I caught up, “You shouldn’t have come.”

“And what, miss out on all the fun?” I chuckled. “Seems like you’ve had one hell of a night.” I watched him carefully, trying to ignore the part of me that was simply relieved that he was awake.

“Yeah, I got, uh, upset,” he shrugged, sidestepping a corpse as we entered a large room.

“I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine,” he said, cutting me off. “What are you even doing here? You know this is supposed to be incredibly dangerous right?”

“I figured you’d be here,” I shrugged, holding my arm against me and rubbing it.

“Jesus,” Rick muttered, shaking his head.

“Son of a steam engine! They're all dead!” Alan interrupted before Rick could say anything else. I took the room in only to find it littered with corpses, posed in various sex positions.

“Why would Worldender do this to his own men... and several women?” Crocubot asked, confusion leaking into his robotic tone.

“Well, he is the Worldender. The guy ends worlds. Kind of his thing,” Vance said, rolling his eyes. Rick kept moving forward, not interested in the massacre only to step on a hidden panel on the floor. A large hook bearing a corpse swung down from the ceiling in front of us, leaving Vance to cry out in horror, “What the fuck?!”

“It’s Worldender!” Supernova exclaimed, “What happened to him?” Worldender let out a weak moan, alerting us that he was still alive. I stared in horror as the monster on the hook gurgled in agony at us, unable to form any true speech.

“I sense his life force is fading,” Million Ants remarked, moving closer to take a better look.

“Million Ants, ladies and gentlemen! The ant colony with the power of two human eyes!” Rick snarled, unable to help himself. Worldender sputtered some more before an organ flew out of his mouth. “All right. Short mission, good mission. Remember when Alan wanted to use a ghost train? See you guys in Vindicators 4. Morty, Nova?”

“Rick, whoever did this is an even bigger threat than Worldender! We can't leave now!” Morty exclaimed nervously, looking to me for assistance.

“He's right. This is far from over,” Supernova insisted, hovering over to Rick.

“Well, have fun with that. But we have a comet girl, a monorail man, two assholes, and a full alligator to meet in, like, an hour,” Rick dismissed her, ready to head back through the door to the lair. As he turned to leave, however, a large shutter descended in front of him. It missed him by a hair as all of the exits sealed up immediately and left only one remaining door. The Vindicators and Morty prepared themselves for a fight but Rick grabbed my arm and dug into his lab coat for his portal gun, only to come up empty.

“Shit,” I murmured, the real terror of the situation descending on me quickly, realizing whatever had locked us in here truly had us stuck and Rick didn’t have a way out.

“I sense the presence of a greater evil,” Million Ants remarked looking around the room as if whatever it was would pop out at us immediately at his revelations. A large monitor descended from the ceiling, much to my surprise and it immediately cut to a video of a very drunk Rick.

“Check, check, One, two. Okay, is it recording? Good. Hello, Vindicators. Welcome to your reckoning, babyyyyy,” Drunk Rick held the last word out as we all turned to look at him.

“Well, it's official. I had too much to drink last night,” Rick remarked sheepishly, not quite meeting my eye.

“Rick, what did you do?” I asked nervously, my eyes darting around every corner.

“To be honest with you, I don’t really remember,” Rick admitted quietly, his eyes still trained on the monitor.

“ If you guys are watching this, you're, you know, the Vindicators,” Drunk Rick slurred, adjusting the camera to assure he was in the frame.

“R-Rick… buddy…” Vance started, training one of his wrist-mounted pistols on Rick as he looked him up and down cautiously, “What’s, uh, what’s going on?”

“Obviously, I came here last night during a blackout,” Rick told him flatly, gesturing up at the screen.

“Obviously?” Supernova demanded, exasperated, “You came here and defeated our arch-nemesis while so drunk, you don't remember doing it? That's something ‘obvious’ to you?”

“Look, I'm a lit-little more complex than you guys and, no offense, but I've always suspected that a lot of what you do in a year could be knocked out in a couple of hours,” Rick replied nonchalantly. Supernova opened her mouth to speak again but instead trained her attention on the screen.

“...So I thought, why not just do your job for you so we can have a little fun game,” Drunk Rick mumbled, pointing to the left where a spotlight flashed on and illuminated a large board with each of the Vindicators on it along with a defining trait for each of them.

“Rick, what did you do?” I demanded again, eyeing him nervously myself now.

“Is this a ‘Saw’ thing?” Morty asked angrily, moving closer to the board to investigate closer, “Are you ‘Saw’-ing the Vindicators?”

“I’m a drunk Morty, not a hack,” Rick snapped, looking around the room nervously.

“I certainly hope you idiots didn’t bring Nova with you because if you break the rules, lose the game or try to leave, you will die. Like in *uuuuurp* ‘Saw’,” Drunk Rick finished clumsily. Rick’s eyes met mine nervously and my mouth went dry.

“Well, I-I-I think we've seen enough. I'll just figure out how to unplug this,” Rick hurried off quickly looking for a plug while the rest of us stared up at the screen as Drunk Rick continued his tirade.

“Okay, here we go, room number one. The Vindicators are known throughout the galaxy, but do they know yourselves? Do you know yourselves? Match your... your shit, your... your gimmicks with your faces and y-you get it, it's a matching thing. And do it in three minutes, or you'll *uuurp* all die.”

“Screw this, I’m not playing his game,” Vance declared. “I'm gonna find us a way out of here.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on, Vance. He said we'd die if you tried to leave,” Rick reasoned, stepping in front of Vance, “I really don’t give a fuck about you but I can’t let Nova die, why in the hell did you assholes let her come again?”

“I informed her of the risks yesterday, she seemed assured that you would keep her safe,” Supernova told him coolly, much to his irritation.

“Th-this guy probably knew she’d be too stubborn to listen to any of you assholes so here’s hoping he didn’t go too crazy with the booby traps.” Rick was trying to convince himself as well as the rest of us as paced back and forth.

“Why are you acting like that's not you?!” Vance demanded hysterically.

“What part of ‘blackout’ don't you understand? I thought you drank?” Rick snarled, looking up from the floor.

“Like cool drinking! Like sexy drinking, not this psycho trailer-park shit!” he bellowed, looking around the room for some kind of reassurance that he was in fact not the crazy one.

“Vance, stay calm…” Morty said cautiously, bringing Vance’s wrath down on him instead.

“Oh, so you're the leader now because we gave you a jacket?! You're the learning-disabled kid we do photo-ops with!” Vance reamed Morty, his breathing quickening with every syllable. I moved to step in, to defend my godson against the sudden onslaught from his heroes when he shook his head at me quickly and swallowed his hurt.

“Okay, ouch, but-”

Vance began hyperventilating fully again, fanning his face against the red that was inching its way up from his collar. “Okay, this... this is triggering me. I need space. I-I need SPACE! FROM THIS!”

Before anyone could stop him, Vance engaged his rocket propellers after eyeing a conveniently placed vent in the ceiling. He shot his way up to it, ripping away the grate and flying into it. Sounds of saws and gunshots echoed as we could do nothing but watch as Vance’s legs contorted in agony before plummeting back down and landing in front of us. We stared in abject horror as one of the rocket boots kicked back to life and started flying around the room leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

“I really wish I could say I was sorry about that one,” I murmured numbly, staring at the rocketing foot until Crobubot finally took aim and shot it out of the air. “What the fuck is going on right now?”

“H-Hey, Nova,” Rick started, moving closer in an attempt to comfort me but I winced away from his touch, “it’s gonna be okay, I’m not going to let-”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't crush your windpipe!” Alan interrupted, grabbing Rick by the throat and holding him against the wall.

“Wait, no!” I grabbed Alan’s arm, trying my hardest to pull him away from Rick. I may not be able to reconcile all of this away right now, but I still couldn’t bear to watch him hurt. Alan looked over his shoulder for a moment, pushing me down to the ground with a malicious glint in his eye that was all too familiar before returning his attention to Rick.

“Because my epidermis is laced with a nanofiber defense mesh,” Rick answered coldly, strange electricity covering his body before Alan was launched back away from him. “And because, like I said, I don't remember last night.”

“I told you not to invite this mummified motherfucker back!” Alan bellowed from the ground, shooting a dirty look over his shoulder at Supernova.

“Alan, I'm not proud of what's happening here, but if you keep coming at me or if you touch another hair on Nova’s head, there's gonna be another passenger on that ghost train,” Rick snarled, taking a step toward him and leaning down to really drive his point home.

“Guys!” Morty called over to us, “I figured it out.” While Rick and Alan had been fighting, Morty had taken to solve the puzzle Rick had set up for the Vindicators. “I figured I didn’t want to die so I better actually figure this shit out before this asshole gets us killed.”

“Congrats! You did i-uuuurp-it!” Drunk Rick slurred proudly when the monitor flashed back on. The door opened, revealing our path forward.

“It was a bit. All of the descriptors apply to all of you,” I murmured, reading the descriptors and matching them up to what little Morty had told me about the Vindicators, “Drunk Rick's point is that none of you are very special or different.”

“That's always his point,” Morty affirmed, despondent.

“Let's just get through this as quickly as possible. Then, we'll deal with the three of you,” Supernova said contemptuously, hovering past Rick and me.

“Th-Three of us?” Morty exclaimed, looking heartbroken before he turned his ire to Rick, “I hope you're proud of yourself!”

“Uh, I kind of am. I saved the goddamn universe.”

“That's not the issue, Rick!”

“Ahh, it would've been if I hadn't.”

*+*

We made our way through the next room, losing Crobubot in the process. Drunk Rick appeared on another monitor again, this time sporting a deerstalker cap and presenting a large map for the puzzle of the room. Crobubot’s confidence had chosen to reveal even more questionable backstory about the Vindicators from when Rick hadn’t been with them. This time it was concerning an entire planet they had to destroy because they couldn’t locate their target at the time, something called Doomnomitron. I was stuck watching in real-time as glimmers of hope and respect Morty held for the team started to rapidly deteriorate. Rick pointed out that he could’ve just created a device to seek out Doomnomitron but apparently it had been Alan’s call not to call Rick back.

Morty solved the puzzle yet again and the in-fighting only worsened as we made our way into the next room. This time Drunk Rick was wearing one of my old Hawaiian t-shirts, holding up a coconut filled with more booze.

“Aloha... means hello and goodbye in Hawaii. But, uh, aloha means... has nothing to do with this room,” Drunk Rick sputtered as his head rolled around loosely on his shoulders. “I'm so fucking drunk. Nova’s going to be so mad at me in the morning. Jesus Christ, she better not be in here with you.” Rick’s eyes met mine, unspoken apologies and frustration boiling over. “Ugh, okay, here's the deal. I-I want to rest my eyes for a little bit. I'm--I'm not going to sleep. I just... just need to rest my eyes, so let's make this one simple. Just try to hit some three-pointers.” Lights came on to light up a basketball hoop and a small bomb rigged to blow. “Let's say... you have to hit... five three-pointers in... five minutes or, I don't know, the whole place--the whole planet will get blown up with a n-neutrino bomb. And try to make it a-a lesson about yourselves like, like how... selfish you a-are, or something. Also, Hawaii,” he rambled, his head resting on the desk for a moment. This time, however, the video didn’t cut out and just continued playing as Drunk Rick struggled to keep the contents of his stomach within.

“Jesus Christ,” Rick murmured, staring at himself on the screen before Morty grabbed his arm and dragged him over the neutrino bomb.

“M-Maybe I should take N-Nova to Hawaii,” Drunk Rick mused, stifling down the urge to vomit as he rolled his head back and forth on his workbench, “She thinks I hate her… The fuck is she thinking? I can’t even get up in the morning without thinking about her.”

“O-Oh,” I blurted out, my eyes glued to the screen as Million Ants and Supernova made quick work of the Three Pointer Challenge and Alan Rails started accusing them of some alleged infidelity. Rick’s eyes were still trained on me, however, much to Morty’s chagrin as he continued disarming the bomb without Rick’s help.

“I mean, s-she’s not the brightest when it comes to my work but sh-she’s just brings me so much peace. Like a stupid amount of peace that I don’t deserve,” Drunk Rick continued almost incoherently, “She doesn’t expect me to be the s-smartest guy in the room and sh-she’s never wanted me to solve all of her p-problems even though I’ve tried like hell and p-p-put more effort into her problems - oh, fuck I’m gonna puke - th-than I’ve put into anything else in my life. I-I-I don’t know, sh-she’s just so-so-so special to me. And sh-she keeps asking me what’s wrong and I-I-I don’t know how to explain it to her. I-I-I can’t get drunk and tell her, I mean look what do when I’m just mildly irritated with Morty,” he rambled. I couldn’t stop the watery giggle from falling out of my mouth as my eyes flicked to Rick again. He and Morty were struggling with the drunkenly improvised bomb but my small outburst didn’t go unnoticed by Supernova behind us.

“Something funny to you, girl?” she hissed, her voice wavering. I tore my eyes away from the screen to find Alan, well, everywhere. While I had been enraptured in the drunken ramblings of the emotionally closed-off man I’d fallen in love with, Supernova’s affair with Million Ants had come out into the open. The fight had turned deadly when Supernova had confirmed Million Ants’ superiority in the bedroom, leaving the sentient ant colony to defend the woman he loved. The fight ended when Million Ants possessed the Ghost Train Conductor or whatever the hell he was and exploded him from within, surprisingly killing the “undead” man.

“I-I-I wasn’t- I-I-I didn’t,” I stammered as she descended towards me at an alarming pace.

“You think you can just wander through here while all of my friends are killed at the hands of your… boyfriend,” she spat the word out as though it left a disgusting film in her mouth. “Who’s to say you deserve to live when my team has reduced to shambles.”

“You touch her and what happened to your friends will seem like a day in the park after I’m done with you,” Rick threatened lazily, barely looking up from the bomb as Supernova drew closer.

“Rick!” I squeaked, trembling as the cosmic grew closer, the energy from her righteous anger pulsing around her.

“She’s not going to do shit,” Rick said dismissively, focusing in on the bomb as Morty’s attention was drawn away. “There we go. Disarmed.”

“Y-You’re supposed to be heroes!” Morty bellowed, standing up to face the cosmic atom bomb in front of me. “She hasn’t done anything to you! Leave her alone!”

“Morty- Don’t,” I urged him, as he moved closer to the ticking time bomb in front of me. His words seemed to have an effect, however, and the pulsing around Supernova shrunk as she stood down.

“You will all pay for Rick’s crimes,” she declared coldly. With a flick of her wrist, cuffs appeared around our wrists. “I don’t want you three disappearing once this is over, all of these deaths are on your hands.”

“Oh, come on, maybe a couple of them, but definitely not the train guy,” Rick scoffed, quickly searching the black bands around his wrists for a way out but coming up empty.

“All of them,” Supernova hissed, launching one of the planets hovering around her into Rick’s groin. I moved to rush to his side, only to be launched away from him with another of her planets. “Not so fast. Rick won’t leave you behind, judging by his drunken ramblings, so you’re what I like to call… insurance.” Million Ants made the final three-pointer, allowing the door to open to one final room. It was a simple room, only a small pedestal sitting in the middle of it.

“All right, by now, I've been pretty clear that I think the Vindicators are full of shit,” Drunk Rick slurred on the monitor, taking a bite out of his piece of pizza, “But... you do have one thing I'll never have and probably another that I probably won’t have much longer. The first is the only part of the Vindicators that has any value to me and the second the most amazing thing in the room, besides me. So if you know what they are, place them on the platform. Guess wrong and the pla-planet will explode. And probably the solar system, 'cause I kind of fucking eyeballed the neutrino bombs on this one.”

“So what's the trick? Morty, you're the Drunk Rick expert,” Supernova asked callously, looking between Morty and me.

“I think for the first one... no matter what we put on there, we die. He said it's the part of the Vindicators he values. That means nothing. He wants our last moment alive to be spent knowing how few fucks he gave.”

“Jesus! Okay, open to second opinions!” Supernova glared, looking around at each of us.

“I-It could be Morty,” Rick admitted reluctantly.

“What?!”

“Hey, I don't know,” he shrugged. “I mean, look, when I get drunk, I get stupid and emotional and there's no logic to it. We all heard all that shit from the last room. It's, like, possible I got so drunk, I felt like I was losing Morty to the Vindicators, and maybe this is my way of saying ‘Okay, you can have him, but only if you know how important he is, otherwise I'll kill you.’”

“That is a... really specific guess,” Million Ants remarked.

“Look, I... there's nothing in the room but us. I'm just using logic to connect some dots. It's the best guess I've got.”

“But you're betting our lives on it,” Supernova said accusingly.

“I'll cover that bet. I get it,” Morty said smugly, heading for the platform.

“Wait, Morty, I think you're making that smirky face because you're misinterpreting the moment,” Rick said urgently, “I am not being coy about some hidden love for you. I want to be really clear that, if anyone has a better guess, like, if I gave you an amulet last night, or-” A loud ding rang out and everyone let out a sigh of relief before a chair shot up and scooped up Morty.

“Oh, shit,” Rick swore, staring at the now-empty platform.

“Alright. The second one?” Drunk Rick demanded expectantly.

“Well, go ahead, Nova.” Rick nodded at the platform in frustration.

“M-Me?” I stuttered. “I just watched that thing eat Morty. I don’t think I’m in a hurry to hop on up.”

“Look, he said the most amazing thing in the room. It’s definitely none of these assholes. Do you really think I’m going to hurt you, drunk or not?” Rick said flatly. I walked up to the platform hesitantly, glancing at Rick one last time before another seat appeared, dropping me into a cardboard Tunnel of Love.

“Jesus Nova, couldn’t just stay out of the line of fire could you,” Drunk Rick chuckled, twisting his hands over as I floated down the long tunnel. “Look, I’m sorry I’ve been such a dick and I’m really sorry you had to go through all of these hacky shenanigans to prove my point to the Vindicators and Morty. I brought you down here because I just didn’t know how to tell you how much I was struggling with all of this. Watching you hurting- Seeing you walk out into that lake and not come back up. Jesus Nova, you know you’re everything to me, right?” His voice cracked and the tears welled in my eyes instantly. “It’s not like I can’t relate though, believe me. When I came back, it was just to give Beth some closure before I killed myself but when I saw you- when I saw the way you looked at me, something changed in me. For once, I can’t explain it.

“I’m sorry for leaving you with these assholes too, by the way. I thought you were going to come with me like you usually do and when you didn’t I just- I don’t know, I took it personally I guess. I got about twenty minutes away before I shut my damn ego up and flew back.” The cart pulled up to the final monitor and much to my surprise, Drunk Rick was crying. “I can’t do this without you, Nova. Please, despite all of the logic in your brain, please don’t give up on me.” I bit my lip, fighting back tears as I stared at the broken man on the screen in front of me. “So just, you know, think about it okay? Whatever you want, I’ll accept but I don’t want to lose you. I’m sorry I couldn’t just say this to your face. I’m just… so sorry. Alright Nova, I’ll, uh, I’ll see you later.” The cart sped back up the track and soon I was being raised back up through the platform. Morty looked less than amused standing next to his grandfather but I started to rush into his arms, only for one of Supernova’s planets to launch me back to her side.

“Not so fast, girl,” she hissed. The room shuddered and the entire platform began rising from under us.

“I sense this means we’re not dying,” Million Ants said, surveying the room.

“Not all of us,” Supernova said darkly, using her telekinesis to hold Rick, Morty and I up by our throats.

“Sweetheart…” Million Ants started gently, moving toward Supernova.

“Just let Titty-Bean do this, Snuzzles. It's for the greater good,” she replied irritably.

“Titty-Bean?--”

“Greater Good?--” we sputtered under her force-grasp that grew tighter with each movement.

“It's like you said, Morty: there's no right or wrong,” Supernova hissed, hovering closer to Morty.

“Never said that!”

“It's the galaxy's faith in the Vindicators that keeps the galaxy secure!”

“Yeah, I feel safer already,” Rick muttered sarcastically.

“No doubt. Who do we make the check out to?” I replied, meeting his gaze for a moment.

“Titty-Bean, listen to me. When you came to me, I was merely a sentient colony of ants. It was your beliefs, your pursuit of justice, that taught me to be a man,” Million Ants said soothingly, pulling her closer to him. We fell to the ground, sputtering for air as Supernova became distracted with Million Ants. Rick pulled me into his arms, desperately clinging to me for dear life as he patted my hair down.

“When did it get so complicated?” she asked mournfully, nuzzling into his hand.

“Who knows? But we can make it simple again.”

“You were always the romantic,” she remarked sadly before taking a step back from him, her eyes narrowed. “Which is why you can't leave either.” We watched in horror as she dug her hand into his chest and extracted his Queen Ant, crushing it in her palm. “Goodbye, my love.”

“Damn! She double-crossed Snuzzles!” Rick exclaimed, pulling away from me momentarily as she descended upon us.

“Silence! I'm going to enjoy this,” she hissed, raising her hands in front of her. As I buried my face into Rick’s chest, airhorns interrupted her attack as the platform finally reached its destination.

“Let's give a huge thanks to Rick Sanchez for killing Worldender, putting this awesome party together, and for booking one of the hottest talents out there: Logic!” an announcer called out and a spotlight descended upon us. Supernova lowered her hands, realizing the sheer volume of witnesses surrounding her.

“Look at that. Geez, I must've planned a whole party. Invited a bunch of people. Not bad, Drunk Rick, not bad,” Rick said, pulling himself to his feet before extending a hand out to me and pulling me to my feet. As Logic started a song about the Vindicators, Supernova slipped into the crowd, much to Morty’ dismay.

“Rick! Supernova’s getting away!” he shouted, pointing at the section she disappeared into.

“Oh well,” Rick shrugged, dancing along to the song.

“But… she was trying to kill us!” Morty retorted.

“Morty, twenty people try to kill me every week. I end up getting high with half of 'em,” Rick assured him flatly. “J-J-Just enjoy the festival, alright? I’ll worry about her later.”

It looked like just about everyone had gotten an invite as Beth, Summer, and Madi squeezed through the crowd over to us. I hugged Madi tightly before Summer pulled her into the crowd to introduce her to some of the friends she’d made adventuring with Rick.

“So, I’ll just assume nothing is going to happen to her here?” I asked Rick nervously, watching her hair bounced as Summer pulled her behind.

“Look, I invited Beth to this, she should be safe.” I narrowed my eyes at him, unconvinced but he just groaned, grabbing my hand. “Come on, let’s party.”

*+*

When we finally got home, the exhaustion from being in a life or death situation hit me like a truck. The moment I fell into my bed, I was out like a light. When I finally woke back up a day later, I was surprised to find Rick sprawled out next to me, sleeping peacefully with his arm draped over me. I carefully extracted myself from underneath him and made my way to the bathroom, desperate for a shower. As I opened my door, I found Morty headed in the same direction.

“O-O-Oh, hey Aunt Nova,” he mumbled, his eyes trained on the ground in front of him. “W-Were going to take a shower?”

“Y-Yeah, but you go ahead. I waited this long, I can wait a little bit longer,” I assured him, moving to head back into my room.

“I-I-I heard what Rick said, in the Hawaii room,” he said quickly, grabbing my wrist. “I’m not saying I was wrong about him, but I get what you see in him, I guess. A-A-And, I guess how he feels about you too? He’s still a dick and piece of shit a-a-and you deserve better but-”

“It’s okay Morty, I understand,” I assured him quickly. He looked relieved, waving as he headed for the bathroom. I went back into my room to find Rick stirring, sitting up and rubbing his eyes as he looked up at me.

“I was starting to think you were in a fucking coma, you know,” he yawned at me.

“I don’t know, something about almost dying just makes me really tired, not sure what that’s all about,” I shrugged sarcastically. “Speaking of which, we should probably talk about all of that.”

“Yeah, I get a little… dramatic when I drink. Sorry about that,” he groaned, standing up and stretching.

“Well, yeah. That was something else, but I’m talking about what happened when I got up on the platform,” I said cautiously, watching his face for a reaction.

“What about it? I don’t remember anything from that night? I probably just called you like, super pretty for five minutes,” he said defensively. “Did I say something fucked up? Morty was not happy with me after coming out of his.”

“N-No, not quite,” I chuckled. “No, it was more along the lines of you being worried I was going to leave you or whatever. You know that’s never going to happen, right? A lot of bad shit has happened since you’ve been back. I’ve been kidnapped, you killed my husband and maybe even my parents but you haven’t fucked up nearly as bad as you may think you have. I probably wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”

“Well, I mean, if that Rick was going to come kidnap you then you would probably just be stuck living on the Citadel and hella fucking confused,” Rick argued awkwardly.

“So not the point,” I groaned, rolling my eyes at him. “Look, all I’m trying to say is you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going anywhere. Effectively, you’re stuck with me.”

“Are you okay? With everything that happened?” he asked hesitantly. “Being with me, it’s not a normal life and it never will be.”

“Rick, not to sound cliche but my life has literally never been normal. As long as you bring me home now and then so I can see Madi, I could literally care less. Just don’t leave me, okay?”

“Nova, I told you already, I don’t think that’s possible,” he assured me. “Even that twenty minutes I left you with the Vindicators and Morty was hell. I tried to get back as soon as I could but by the time I got back, you guys were gone.”

“Look, I get it. I’m not going to say it was okay because it wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination but I get it,” I reasoned. “I was drunk and being a dick.”

“Welcome to the club, sweetheart,” Rick laughed, holding his flask up in solidarity. “We’re gonna be okay, right?”

“Oh, I hope not. Putting my neck on the line all the time is half the fun of being with you.”

“I love you too, brat.”

+Ch4: Every You, Every Me+

[gascon-en-exil]

Joining the Game Late: S1E8 “The Pointy End”

Synopsis

The game gets real for the Starks as everyone rallies behind Cersei. Varys tells Ned that he is in fact an idiot. The Eyrie will not move. Tyrion continues to write checks his ass may or may not be able to cash. Suddenly, ice zombies...again. Tywin and Robb are riding to war, and Robb is too trusting like his father. Direwolves continue to fix problems with mauling. The youngest Stark kid remembers he’s in this for like five seconds. Joffrey enjoys his cronyism, and Sansa is in way over her head. Drogo gets a flesh wound, and he and Dany have an understanding under all the misogyny. Hodor is hung like a very pasty horse, and we are all much richer for knowing that.

Commentary

...Sorry, I’ve still got the image of Hodor dick in my head. Funny that even male nudity gets to serve multiple functions in this show whereas female nudity is always there for the fanservice, unless you count Lysa Arryn breastfeeding her preteen I guess. Moving on.

The stakes have really ramped up with all the Starks having to confront the inevitability of war with the Lannisters. Ned’s on his way to execution, Catelyn can’t get her sister to help out (although Lysa does sort of have a point about how dangerous their enemies are, go figure), Robb’s leading an army as his first extended bit of character development, Arya’s “dance instructor” pulls a heroic sacrifice so she can escape the palace on her own after accidentally getting her first kill, and Sansa is stuck still playing the games of the court as she has to defend herself as Joffrey’s fiancée and plea for her father’s life. Bran doesn’t have much to do apart from talk to that bandit woman the Starks took captive, but then he’s been pretty sidelined ever since he got pushed out of that window so I’m not surprised. What was his little brother’s name again? *looks up* Oh, Rickon. I am probably not going to remember that, unless he actually does something at some point. Seeing Robb playing off someone other than Theon was my favorite part of all this, because you can tell he’s doing his best even though he’s in way over his head even after his mother shows up to back him up. The scene where one of his bannermen argues with him and gets some of his fingers bitten off by Robb’s wolf was too silly to take seriously though; good thing the guy has a sense of humor about getting maimed? Northerners are weird.

Over in the Lannister camp Tyrion’s plot thread rejoins the rest of his family, and even though this is only his second episode Tywin does a really good job of conveying their family’s stakes in this fight and how it’s less about the Starks themselves and more about cleaning up a bunch of political loose ends he left hanging during Robert’s rebellion. Like Cersei he works well as a character who’s obviously an antagonist while not diving headfirst into hammy villainy; Tyrion is the one who feels more like an outlier for showing up to the conflict fifteen minutes late with Starbucks no wait that’s in S8 a tribe of Hill people who might be working for the Lannisters now, but that’s more than can be said for Jaime at the moment who’s being a menace with his own army offscreen. There’s been some nods to the politics of the Riverlands in this episode and the last, but so far it’s hard to get a feel from them since it’s all been told and not shown.

Not so for the White Walkers, who show up again posing a serious threat to the Night’s Watch. I was never a big fan of zombie horror and have always been a bit perplexed about its appeal, so I’ll go ahead and say that I’m not really invested in the plotline at the Wall. It was nice seeing Sam be useful though, in a way that I imagine is meant to foreshadow his eventual role as author stand-in. It’s a more interesting duty than Jon’s BFF (no homo). Daenerys’s plotline on the other hand offers a real ethical dilemma for her, in that she has to face the reality that the Dothraki intend to fund her invasion of Westeros by raiding defenseless villages and selling the inhabitants as slaves. Dany saves a group of women from rape and in the process starts a very tense dialogue involving multiple layers of imperialism, misogyny, and comparative theology that all ends with some guy getting his tongue ripped out through his neck. Must happen all the time, really. This I think is one advantage I have in knowing how this all ends before I went in, because it makes it easier to see where Dany’s desire to improve the lives of people around her with basic moral positions the audience can support (i.e. slavery is bad) can come into conflict with her even greater desire to rule Westeros. I’m not defending the showrunners’ decision to abruptly shift her over to full villain mode in the last 3-4 episodes, but the material is definitely there earlier on if you know to look for it.