#(//gonna say it here now im not gonna do any fourth wall breaking stuff)

[tenmatsukasa-wxs-official]

are you aware you are going to be in a movie.

Eh? What are you talking about? I am in a movie! I’m just an extra in it, but I am technically in a movie nonetheless!

[watchmegetobsessed]

TO LOVE AND BE LOVED - Part One (Harry Styles)

a/n: oh my god i am sooo thankful for the love the masterlist got with just so little info about the story! it means so much to me and i really hope i won’t disappoint you with this story! i was planning to post the first part on tuesday but i got excited bc of all the feedback and reactions and decided to start earlier, so here it is, part one of TLABL, a story im kind of proud of and very happy to share! please drop by my ask box or leave your thoughts on the story, i would love to hear everything from you guys!

pairing: CEO!Dad!Harry X Reader

warning: mentions of death, cheating and divorce

word count: 11.2k

SERIES MASTERPOST masterlist

“I hope you realize this holds nothing against you, we all love and appreciate you and your work, but we had to face some unexpected problems this past year.”

You sit in front of Claire, your boss completely dumbfounded, not even comprehending what she is saying completely. You came to work this morning absolutely oblivious that today is going to be your last day of work at the daycare you’ve been working at for over two years now.

“I’m sorry, but last time you let us in on the budget you didn’t bring up any complication that might have indicated someone could lose their job, so what possible problem could have come up so abruptly?” you ask with a shocked and nervous chuckle. Part of you kind of hopes this is just some stupid joke she is playing on you, but Claire is not one to make games out of such serious things. Letting out a tired sigh she pushes her reading glasses up to the top of her head into her carefully curled hair.

“Look, I’m really trying not to make a big deal out of it, but we had to make some cuts on the budget. The kitchen and gymnasium renovation was completely unplanned and it kicked us in the butt. We are making some changes about the groups this year and it was made that it can be solved with one less person on the team. I’m sorry it had to be you, but the decision had to be made.”

“But why me?” you press. “There are two people who have been working for a shorter period of time here, didn’t I earn your trust during my time here?”

“It’s not about that, Y/N,” Claire shakes her head.

“Then what is this about?”

“If you are so keen on knowing, we’ve… received a few… complaints.” Your eyebrows shoot up to your hairline, this is the first time you’re hearing about it.

“Complaints?”

“Yes. Some parents are not quite the fan of the kind of mentality you are using while teaching the kids.”

“What are you talking about?” you ask, feeling all the blood rushing out of your face. This is starting to get way too nasty. Claire pinches the bridge of her nose before leaning onto her desk, clasping her hands together.

“I know that you are quite the free spirit and want to teach the kids about openness and acceptance, but not everyone is as rainbow as you are. Some kids brought the word home about what kind of books you’ve been reading and we’ve gotten a few concerns about you basically promoting the LGBTQ community for the kids.”

“I’m not promoting, I’m trying to teach them to accept everyone just the way they are, how can that upset anyone?!”

“Well, it does. The committee had to make a decision on who we should let go and many agreed that it might be the safest decision to make it be… you.”

You’re about to faint. You are sure you are about to fall off this chair and just black out. How can someone get mad about you reading stories about acceptance and treating everyone equally? What kind of monster can see it as a bad thing? And now you are losing your job over such a stupid thing that you don’t even feel responsible for.

Though you’d love to stay and try to convince Claire to not let you go, you know the decision has been made and if you’re being honest, you don’t feel comfortable anymore working at a place where parents tell you off for teaching important values for their kids. Sadly, but you sign all paperwork about your immediate parting and you leave Claire’s office to pack your stuff.

“Miss Y/N! Miss Y/N!” Izzy, one of the sweetest girls in your group basically launches herself at you, smashing against your legs as she hugs you happily. “Do you want to see what I just painted?” She blinks up at you with her gorgeous green eyes and your heart breaks that you won’t get to see her again.

“Oh, Sweetie. I have to—you know what? Sure. Show me your painting,” you smile at her warmly. You can’t say no to her, not when this is the last time you get to see her.

As you’re cleaning out your locker in the break room, Heather walks in and stops in her tracks, seeing you with your gloomy face as you pack everything into a cardboard box.

“What the hell are you doing?” she questions right away. The two of you have known each other for years now, you did the same master’s programme and somehow ended up working here together, carrying on the friendship you’ve formed through your school years.

“I was… fired,” you sigh, wincing at the words.

“What?! Why?”

“Apparently, we are having some budget problems with all the renovations that was made recently and unbeknownst to me, some parents have been complaining about my openness with kids so I was the lucky one to part ways with.”

“That’s fucking bullshit! The kids adore you, how can someone complain about something like that?”

“Don’t know, ask them if you ever find out who they are,” you mumble under your breath as you shut the now empty locker closed. “I’m sorry we can’t carpool anymore,” you pout at her.

“No fucks given about that, what are you gonna do now?” she asks, seemingly very bummed at the news that you won’t be working at the same place now.

“I don’t know,” you shrug. “I guess I’ll have to find something new if I don’t want to end up on the streets,” you mumble.

“Oh girl, I’m so sorry,” Heather sighs pulling you into a hug. “Why don’t we go out for drinks on Friday? Everything is on me!”

“Don’t act like I’m already broke, makes me feel like a loser.”

“Sorry,” she scowls. “Just want to brighten you up a little. Meet me at seven at that Mexican place, how does that sound?”

“Stuffing my face with nachos and tequila? Sounds like the best plan I could wish for.”

You waste no time arriving home after your worst day at work. You jump right into the job ads, looking for basically anything that might help you out of this impossible situation. Sending your resume to as many places as possible, you get a few callbacks the next few days, but you only make it to one interview on Friday and that doesn’t go well either. The man who calls in for an open position at a private kindergarten turns out to be a total snob and he doesn’t find your free spirit too fitting with the profile of his institution so you get rejected at the end of the interview.

You head out to meet Heather feeling like shit. You’ve been unemployed for four days, but it’s already breaking your spirits.

“You know what? Clair is a bitch for giving in to the complaints,” Heather slams her fourth shot glass on the table with a grimace. “She should have defended you!”

“I’m sure she just didn’t want to get into any disagreement. Some of the parents donate great amounts to the school and Claire would never risk losing that money,” you sigh rolling your eyes.

“Okay, but she is being very… not inclusive,” she narrows her eyes. “Firing someone for teaching the kids openness? Bullshit.”

“I’m just sad I don’t get to see the kids anymore. They really grew close to my heart.”

“The little fuckers can be so damn cute, almost make me want to have one.” Heather sighs, downing another shot before pulling the nachos closer to her. You laugh at her vulgar reaction, she has always had quite a dirty mouth but somehow she controls herself well around the kids. “How has the job hunting been?”

“Horrible,” you growl in frustration. There are not many that offer a good paycheck and the few that does are these posh places that expect you to treat the kids like they are made out of gold which is ridiculous. That’s not how you raise a kid!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sure something will come up soon. Why don’t you look into nanny jobs, have you thought about that?”

“What do you mean?” you furrow your eyebrows, popping some chips into your mouth.

“A lot of people prefer having nannies for their little children, some even want them to move in. My brother’s ex-girlfriend was a live-in nanny for about two years and she earned a shit ton of money, because she didn’t have to pay rent and a good chunk of the food, because the parents just treated her like part of the family and bought groceries for five people instead of four.”

“I’m not sure I’m cut out for that kind of stuff.”

“What, earning money?” Heather scoffs.

“No, living with a stranger.”

“Most of the time the nanny gets like a separated place so it wouldn’t be that bad, but you know what’s good for you. It was just an idea,” she shrugs.

Soon enough you drop any work talk not wanting to ruin the mood. You enjoy some time away from the stress of job hunting and you’re just trying to have fun with your best friend. You start talking about nostalgic memories from college and end up looking up people you graduated with on social media, checking out what they’ve been up to in the past years.

“Alright, I’m gonna go to the restroom quickly, watch out for my drink,” you announce pushing your drink closer to Heather as you head towards the restrooms.

There’s a bit of a line so you stand behind two girls chatting about some cute guy they just met and leaning against the wall you close your eyes for a moment, feeling the drinks hitting you in the head. You’re not used to drinking, haven’t really had the time to get drunk too much lately and it’s saddening to think that now that you’re unemployed, you could black out every day, you wouldn’t have anywhere to show up in the morning.

Getting deep in your thoughts you almost don’t even notice that your phone is buzzing in your pocket. When you finally realize you pull it out of your back pocket and look down at the unknown number with a scowl. You quickly leave your spot in the line and rush out to hear something as you answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I hope I’m not calling at an inconvenient time, I’m Harry Styles and I’m looking to talk to Y/N Y/L/N?” you hear a thick British accent on the other end of the line.

“This is her.”

“Great. Sorry for the late call, I’m Isabelle’s father.”

“Isabelle?” you ask in confusion, the names not really clicking in your head thanks to the shots you’ve been taking.

“Isabelle Styles? Izzy?”

“Oh! Yes! Sorry, yeah. Mr. Styles, what can I help you with?” you ask, not sure why Izzy’s dad would be calling you.

“Well I just recently learned from my daughter that you’re not working at the daycare any longer?” “Uh, yeah. Unfortunately I was fired this Monday…” you awkwardly answer.

“I’m sorry about that. Izzy has been really sad about it, I wanted to ask if you’ve found a new job already?”

“Not yet, I’ve been looking but I haven’t had much luck yet,” you confess.

“In that case I have an offer to make,” he firmly continues and you perk up at his words. “I’ve been thinking about pulling Izzy out of daycare, but I didn’t want to do it until I found someone to take good care of her. You’ve been her absolute favorite and she’s been devastated since you’ve been gone. If you’re up for a job of this kind, I would like to offer you a spot as Izzy’s nanny.”

“Oh!” is all you react, completely not expecting this call.

“I know there are a lot to discuss, but if you’re interested, I would be more than happy to have a chat with you sometime this weekend? To go over the details and see if we can make it work.”

“I, uh… Um, yeah. We can meet, that sounds good. When would it be good for you?”

“How about tomorrow afternoon?”

“That can work.”

“Amazing!” he beams. “I’ll send you the address through text if that’s alright for you.”

“Yeah, of course. When should I be there?”

“Would three o’clock suit you?”

“Absolutely,” you nod, stunned at the turn of events.

“Great, thank you so much, and once again, sorry to bother you on your Friday evening. Looking forward to see you tomorrow!”

“Thank you, Mr. Styles, see you soon!”

You get back in line at the bathroom and then make your way back to the table where Heather gives you a puzzled look.

“Did you take a massive shit or something?” she jokes as you take your seat and stare back at her, still in shock.

“No, I had a very interesting call, actually.”

“With who?”

“Um, Izzy Styles’ dad just called and offered me a job as her nanny.”

Heather almost chokes on her drink, coughing at the news. You hand her a napkin as she dries her chin off from her cocktail.

“Harry Styles wants you to be the nanny of his daughter?” she gasps.

“You know Izzy’s dad?”

“Y/N, everyone knows him! He is the sexiest man to walk this planet and not to mention that he is like stupidly rich! Have you not seen him yet?”

“Not really,” you shrug. “Izzy was picked up by an old woman most of the times, I guess I never worked when her dad came for her.”

“That explains why you’re not squirming already,” she scoffs. “That man is like… crazy hot, I’m telling you. I bumped into him one morning when I guess he was dropping Izzy off, the way he said ‘Pardon me, Darling’ made my knees shake,” she tells you, faking an accent that’s nowhere near what Mr. Styles sounded like on the phone.

“Well, I guess I’ll see him for myself. I’m meeting him tomorrow to discuss details,” you shrug and Heather slams her hand on the table.

“Oh my God! You’re gonna work for Harry Fucking Styles! Get ready because your panties will be soaking wet all the time,” she laughs like a hyena.

“Heather, stop!” you shake your head laughing too.

Following Mr. Styles’ call you decide to cut the night shorter than you intended, not wanting to look absolutely wasted when you meet him. Arriving home to your small, one bedroom apartment you take a quick shower before climbing to bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to collect your thoughts. You told Heather you’re not willing to do the whole live-in nanny thing and Mr. Styles might not even want you to live with them, but now that the option is there, you realize it might not be the worst case scenario. Especially since you’re not really swimming in other job offers and you are in desperate need of anything at this point.

Despite having consumed quite some alcohol the previous night, you wake up at a reasonable hour in the morning, finding a text from Mr. Styles about the address you’d have to be going in the afternoon. You make a quick trip to the grocery store and do some chores before you start getting ready for the meeting. You opt for a simple black dress that reaches your knees and pair it with a little funkier, flower printed blazer to bring some color into the outfit.

Punching the address into the GPS you see that it’s taking you to the outer skirt of the city to the neighborhood that’s known to have some quite luxurious estates and you immediately think back to what Heather said about him being ridiculously rich. Driving down the streets in your old Volkswagen you couldn’t stand out more at a place where at least three cars park on the driveways and one of them is a Ferrari or a Porsche.

There’s a massive security gate under the address that’s your destination and it’s left open so you can pull up to the driveway easily. You park next to a fucking Tesla, finding it extremely funny to see your car next to it, but it is what it is. Walking up to the front door you ring the bell as you take a look at the house that can easily considered to be a mansion. Guessing from the outside there are at least about five bedrooms in it and you can only imagine what other luxurious units are squeezed into it.

Soon enough the front door opens and you find yourself staring back at a breathtakingly gorgeous man, wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black suit pants, his chocolate curls falling to his forehead as his emerald eyes fall on you, a warm smile tugging on his lips.

Shit. Heather was fucking right, you think to yourself swallowing hard.

“Miss Y/L/N, it’s so nice to see you. I’m Harry, Izzy’s dad, come on in!” he invites you inside before a short handshake.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Styles.”

“Please, just call me Harry. I don’t like formalities at home,” he asks you as the two of you walk further inside until you arrive to what looks like a living room, but it’s actually the size of your apartment.

“Only if you call me Y/N,” you smile at him and he nods right away.

“Miss Y/N!” you hear a small voice call out and turning around you see Izzy running down the hallway until she throws herself against your legs.

“Oh, hello Sunshine!” you hum, squatting down so you can hug her.

“I missed you!” she pouts, rubbing her eyes.

“I missed you too,” you smile at her, caressing her soft cheeks before standing up. An older lady walks in, the one you’ve seen picking up Izzy. She approaches you with a friendly smile as she extends a hand towards you.

“Hi, I’m Ruth, it’s nice to meet you.” “Y/N, nice to meet you too.”

“Ruth, would you take Izzy outside while I talk to Miss—erm, Y/N here?” Harry requests. Ruth nods and taking Izzy’s hand she lures her outside to look for ladybugs in the backyard and that immediately catches her attention. The two of them leave through the sliding door, giving you and Harry privacy.

“Please, have a seat,” he gestures towards the sectional couch. “Would you like something to drink?”

“I’m good, thank you,” you smile at him as he sits in an armchair across you.

The interior of the house is quite cozy, kind of modern with a hint of vintage touches that make it less rigid, a pop of color showing at most corners so it’s not too monochrome. You quite like it.

“Y/N, I once again apologize for calling you at such an inappropriate hour, but I often work late and I wanted to get in touch with you as soon as possible upon hearing the news.”

“Don’t worry about it, I understand.”

“Isabelle mentioned it to me on Thursday that the other workers told her you no longer work at the daycare so I asked around a little yesterday and was informed that they let you go earlier in the week.”

“It was quite sudden for me as well,” you chuckle lightly, feeling a little anxious to talk about it.

“I know it’s not too appropriate, but I asked why they chose you to part ways with and I have to say it’s outraging that some parents are so ignorant and wayward. I’m really sorry this had to be the reason out of everything.”

“Thank you.” It actually feels nice that he thinks the same, this whole firing was ridiculous and you were losing hope in humanity, but Harry is now very much restoring it.

“Let me walk you through what the situation is here and what I was thinking about.” You nod and listen carefully. “I’m president of a record label and it consumes most of my time, I sometimes work sixty hours a week which I know is not ideal and healthy and I’m trying to change it, but it’s not an easy situation. I thought that putting Izzy into daycare was a good idea, but it’s been getting harder to work around her schedule as a single parent with so much work on my hands. Ruth is a family friend who has been helping tremendously with Izzy, but she is not getting any younger and she would like to retire fully and spend more time with her own grandkids. So I’ve been thinking about hiring a nanny for Izzy and try to make her days work around mine while I’m able to do that. She is going to start preschool in little over a year and I want to spend as much time with her as possible, but it’s not easy when the schedule depends on an institution. When she told me about your firing I had the thought that you might be interested in taking the spot as her nanny. She is obsessed with you, wouldn’t stop talking about what you do every day, and I might have also looked into your professional background. I like what I’ve seen and I’m very much into the way you’ve been dealing with the kids at the daycare. Openness is really important and I want Izzy to grow up in an environment that teaches her about being equal and supportive towards each other. I would be more than happy if you’d be the one taking care of Izzy while I’m not available.”

To say the east you’re stunned at how forward and open he was about the offer and his compliment about your professional background is quite flattering. You can tell he is doing an amazing job at raising Izzy as an open and accepting human, she was always one of the nicest and sweetest kids who always made sure to include all her peers in the games you played. And it’s obvious Harry is not just being a hypocrite, his tattooed arm, painted nails and ring clad fingers are not quite what you’d traditionally imagine a man like him wear, but he does it well and clearly doesn’t give a fuck what others might think about it.

Harry continues with how much he thought you’d be earning for the job and you almost choke on your own saliva. It’s almost three times as much as you’ve been earning at the daycare and you’d be able to save a good chunk every month which is quite amazing.

“I have to ask, were you thinking about a situation where I live with you or I’d have to be coming here every day?”

“Well, essentially it would be the easiest for everyone if you moved in. I have plenty of rooms you could choose from and you’d have access to everything else as well, of course, including the home gym, the pool, the sauna and the entertainment room. But I understand if you are not willing to make that commitment. If you choose to live here you wouldn’t be charged anything, naturally.”

This actually sounds like a dream, moving into this luxury mansion from your cramped little apartment and being able to save the money you’ve been paying on rent.

“And what would be the time management? If I moved in it would easily make me fall into a habit of always working, which is not quite ideal,” you point it out.

“Of course,” he nods. “I like to take care of her morning routine so you’d have to start around nine when I leave to the office. If we can make this deal working I’d like her to start taking some extra classes during the day, moving her activities earlier in the day so her afternoons would be free. She takes piano lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays, a swimming instructor comes here on Thursdays and she is taking French lessons every Tuesday and Friday. Everything takes place here, I would reschedule her activities to take place between nine and twelve. You wouldn’t have to worry about her during those times. You’d cover lunch time and then the afternoons. I try to get home between four and six and just work from home if it’s possible so I can be around her. You’d have to only help out whenever I can’t make it home in time I have urgent works that have to be done from home. We could have dinner time together and then her night time routine is my duty again. Ruth is willing to help me out on Saturdays and I spend Sundays with her strictly without any work distraction so you’d have the weekends off unless something comes up. In those cases I would check in with you beforehand and arrange it however it works best for you.”

You’re speechless for a moment. What he just shared doesn’t seem too bad, you might have to work a lot more, but being one on one with just one kid is much easier than dealing with fifteen of them at once. Not to mention that the money is still amazing compared to what you’d have to be doing.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, it’s an amazing offer. Izzy is such a sweet girl, I would be more than happy to take care of her.”

Harry smiles at you warmly, clearly proud of his daughter, as he should be.

“Can I ask for some time to think about it? It would be a huge commitment.” “Of course. Take your time and let me know whatever your decision is.”

“Thank you.”

Harry offers a quick tour in the house regardless, the kitchen is massive, they have a nice dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the green slopes of the backyard that seems to be Izzy’s kingdom. She has a playhouse that could almost function as a real one, the pool is filled with floaties for her and she has her own playground further in the back with slides, monkey bars and a swing set. Your assumptions were almost right about the number of bedrooms. Beside Harry’s master and Izzy’s own room there’s one that’s been used by Ruth, one that’s for Harry’s mother and sister for whenever they are staying over and there are three additional rooms now serving as guest bedrooms, one of those would be turned into your room if you chose to move in. The gym seems better than the one you’ve been going whenever you felt like being a little active, the entertainment room has everything you could ever think about for a room this sort of and the sauna is already calling your name. Living and working here might actually feel like a vacation.

“Miss Y/N! Look what I found!” Izzy runs up to you when you and Harry step out to the backyard, holding her pointing finger up. A ladybug is wandering around her tiny finger, not even bothering with the amazed girl that’s inspecting it.

“Wow! How many dots do you see on it?” you ask and she knits her eyebrows together, counting the black dots.

“Five!”

“Yes, good job!” you ruffle her curls as she smiles up at you proudly. She really is an angel, you’ve grown to like her a lot and you would be lying if you said you didn’t get emotional over thinking about never seeing her again. Being able to take care of her and give her the best possible childhood would be such a dream and the chance to do that is right in front of you.

“I’ll be waiting for your call, Y/N,” Harry smiles at you walking you towards the front door.

“Harry, I don’t think you need to do that,” you speak up and see his face fall, he obviously took it the wrong way, thinking that you want to say no to his offer.

“Oh…”

“It’s not that,” you chuckle softly. “I would love to take the job. And if you’re still okay with that, I’d like to move in, it would make everything just so much easier.”

You watch as his expression changes from disappointed to hopeful as he cracks a smile nodding.

“Yeah, the offer is still there. When do you think you can start?”

“How soon do you want to pull Izzy out of daycare?”

“As soon as possible. If I have to I can go in on Monday and do all the paperwork. You could move in sometime during the week maybe?”

“I have to talk to my landlord about my lease, but I’m fine with moving in during the week,” you nod smiling and you can’t help but feel excited.

“That would be wonderful. Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

You discuss a few more details and then you head out, thinking about how the next time you’ll be coming here, you’ll be moving in.

“If this one doesn’t go to the donate box, I’m leaving right now.”

Heather holds up a pair of denim shorts, painted in the colors of the flag of the States. She holds it pinched between her index finger and thumb as if it was something nasty and disgusting

“You know I only bought that for that stupid frat party. I never wore that anywhere else, so you can put it into the donate box.”

“Thank God!” she groans and throws the shorts into said box.

It’s Sunday evening and your place looks like a warzone, boxes taking up the place everywhere as you’re packing your life up to officially move into the Styles mansion. You agreed with Harry to bring over a good chunk of your stuff on Monday and then settle in for real on Tuesday. He is pulling Izzy out of daycare first thing on Monday and you’d stay at home with her for the first time on Wednesday. It’s been a fast paced change, but you couldn’t care less. With the amount Harry is gonna pay you, you’ll be able to save up a good chunk every month, like you always wanted to.

As you finish putting your books away you reach the shelves that contain all your photo albums. Photography has been your passion for a long time. It started as a simple hobby sometime through your freshman year in high school, but in senior year, your photos filled the yearbook and you even did the design of it too. You’ve had a few gigs since then, some weddings and pregnancy shoots and you like to sell your photos individually as well. You wouldn’t have imagined how much a simple nature photo costs.

Flipping through the one on the top, you can’t help the bitter smile on your face as you see the photos from your brother’s 14th birthday three years ago. There are tons of family pictures with you, your brother Trevor and your parents, seemingly being all happy and joyful. Things were different back then and you didn’t see anything coming.

It’s past midnight by the time you more or less finish packing, you’ve filled three big boxes with things to donate so you have significantly less stuff to move to the Styles mansion in the morning. Heather spends the night, but leaves early in the morning since she needs to go to work. The moving van you rented out arrives a little after eleven and the two guys from the moving company helps you load it with about two thirds of your stuff. Harry is at work when you arrive and Izzy is still at the daycare, Ruth is the only one at home, she helps you out even though you tell her not to break a sweat over it.

“Let me help, makes me feel needed,” she chuckles sweetly when you try to get her to stop, but she insists on bringing in some smaller bags and boxes.

You’re still unpacking when Ruth arrives back with Izzy a little after four. You hear her little feet tapping against the floor as she runs down the hallway, bursting into your future room.

“Miss Y/N! You’re here!” she cheers, throwing herself into your arms as you sit on the floor, being the perfect level for the little girl.

“I am! How was your day, little Sunshine?”

“We finger painted and I made a painting for daddy, do you want to see it?”

“Of course!”

Izzy disappears to get her backpack from Ruth who is making her some snacks in the kitchen. She soon returns with her painting, presenting it to you proudly.

“Look! This is me and this is daddy!” she points at the two human-like figures, the only thing giving away who is who is that one of them is bigger than the other one. “And then this is mommy!” she then adds, pointing at a star in the upper corner of the painting and you freeze.

In the midst of everything, you didn’t even have the time to question why Harry is a single parent. To be honest your first guess would have been divorce, but Izzy’s painting is telling you something a lot more tragic.

“It’s beautiful,” you smile at her, trying to hide your surprise at the new information. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

Ruth makes sure Izzy is busy while you finish up unpacking and when you’re about to be done, Harry arrives home. Approaching your room even though the door is open he knocks on the doorframe, catching your attention.

“Hello, just wanted to see how things are going. Do you need help with anything? I’m sorry I couldn’t be here to help with the boxes and all…”

“Hi! Oh don’t worry about that, I had plenty of help,” you shrug smiling. “Everything is going fine, thank you.”

“Great. I did all the paperwork today, tomorrow is going to be Izzy’s last day at daycare. You’re still up to start on Wednesday, right?”

“Yeah, of course. I only have a few things left at home so I’ll be all set by tomorrow.”

“Thank you so much,” he smiles warmly. “And thank you for being so quick about everything. It means a lot to me that I can spend more time with Izzy thanks to you. I really appreciate it.”

“I should be thanking you the opportunity. I wasn’t really drowning in the job offers,” you chuckle making him smile as well. “Please let me know if you want me to change anything, I have a plan I would like to go around with Izzy’s days, but of course, your word is the most important.”

“I trust you to take good care of her during the day. The only thing I want is to have her home when I get home. Ruth couldn’t always pick her up before and I really hated to do the extra trip and pick her up from daycare instead of coming straight home to be with her.”

“Understandable. I’ll make sure to plan accordingly,” you nod smiling.

“Y/N, I want you to feel home as much as possible. This is your place just as much as it is ours now. Izzy and I go grocery shopping every Sunday, it’s kind of a father-daughter thing we do every week. We keep a list on the fridge, feel free to add whatever you need and we’ll get it.”

You can’t help the smile that stretches across your lips, because this is such a sweet thing to do, when Harry could easily afford someone to do the work for him. Yet he still uses this time to be with his daughter.

“Yeah, sure, thank you!”

“I’ll get out of your hair now. Would you like to stay for dinner?”

“Oh, no, but thank you. I still have some things to take care of before tomorrow.”

“Alright,” he nods before walking out. He leaves you thinking hard about him. You wonder what really happened to Izzy’s mom and if he is dating someone right now. A man like him is basically a dream to any woman, you doubt he is having a hard time finding a partner, but you haven’t seen any sign of another woman around the house. Guess you’ll have to wait and figure it out yourself.

The apartment is awfully empty on your last night here. When you moved in about a year ago you didn’t think you’d be moving into a mansion from here. You spend the evening cleaning out a bit so you leave the place in good condition. Your landlord was terribly nice about your early leave, you could easily agree that you’d pay for the two more weeks that’s left from the month and that would be all, no extra costs for moving out before your lease was up.

You’re cleaning off the kitchen counter when your phone starts ringing, it’s a video call from your brother.

“Hey there! What’s up?” you ask, propping up the phone on top of the microwave while you move around, doing your thing. Trevor seems to be lying in bed, a black hoodie covering his upper body.

“Hello, just wanted to see how the moving has gone today.”

Despite the ten year age gap between you and Trevor, your relationship couldn’t be better. Probably because you were old enough to see what a blessing a sibling really is when he was born.

“Everything went smoothly. I only have a few stuff to bring over, that can fit into my car tomorrow, so it’s fine.”

“Cool. How is the dude? What was his name again?”

“Harry. Harry Styles.” You see him pull his laptop to his lap and probably searches up Harry’s name before his eyes widen at the screen.

“This dude is big! He is the president of HES Records, they run some of the most popular singers these days.”

“Yeah? I was sure he is a big name judging from his mansion,” you chuckle.

“Have you looked him up yet?”

“Not really.” “Want me to read what’s here about him?”

“Sure,” you hum, continuing to clean while you listen to Trevor.

“Alright. Apparently he is thirty-one, took over the record company when he was just twenty-five because his father wanted to retire early. The number of talents working under the label has doubled since he has taken over and many of his clients have won Grammy Awards. Impressive,” he hums, scrolling down on whatever site he has just found. “He is known to be a private person, the last time he made an appearance… Oh shit…” Trevor breathes out and you turn to your phone with furrowed eyebrows.

“What?”

“Wow, this shit is heavy. It says the last time he made a public appearance was in 2017, not long before his wife was killed in a car accident.”

You freeze, feeling your stomach drop to the floor, immediately thinking back at Izzy’s painting of her family. It very much makes sense why she said the star was her mother, it must be the way Harry explained to her what happened to her mother.

“It happened in 2018, she wasn’t in the fault, a drunk driver ignored the red light and ran into her car at a crossroad. This is terrible, oh God.”

“Poor Izzy, she probably doesn’t even know what really happened.”

“Must have been hard on him, there’s not much about him since then.”

“Can’t blame him for not wanting to be in the spotlight after losing his wife.”

“Yeah.”

Trevor shows you a few pictures of him from years ago, he has always been handsome, but your favorites are the few from the times when he had long hair. He looked so different, like a whole other person, but still, he rocked it perfectly.

Then you show Trevor around in the empty apartment before loving to the couch, turning all your attention to him.

“How have things been?” you ask with a sigh. Trevor purses his lips and shrugs.

“Other than the constant screaming matches on the phone and endless fights every time dad comes over for more of his stuff? Everything is rainbows and butterflies.”

“Is it really that bad?” you scowl.

“It’s like they never run out of stuff to throw at each other, but I feel like this much couldn’t happen even in their twenty-eight years together,” he scoffs making you chuckle.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck in the middle of all that.”

“It’s like payback,” he hums and you give him a puzzled look. “You had it bad growing up for being the surprise baby, making them teen parents. Then I came at a reasonable time, they already knew the drill, but now that you’re out of the house I’m getting all the shit, having to deal with their divorce.”

“I’m really sorry, Trev,” you sigh, feeling guilty that he is all alone at home.

“It’s fine, I don’t blame you,” he shrugs. “But you could make it better if you asked your millionaire boss if I could hang out at his house sometimes.” He grins at you slyly and you roll your eyes. Of course he is already thinking about using you for his own good!

“I don’t want to push the boundaries just yet, but I’ll see what I can do.”

You talk a little more about school and what he’s been up to with his friends before ending the call. You take a shower and go to bed right away, feeling extremely worn out from all the packing you’ve done through the day.

The next day you pack the remainder of your stuff into your car and then your landlord comes over to do a checkup, though he fully trusts you took good care of the place.

“Again, thank you for your understanding, I didn’t plan to leave so early, but it just kinda came up,” you tell him, handing him over your keys.

“Don’t worry about it. I hope your new place will treat you right,” he smiles kindly at you.

You chat a little longer before you leave and head over to your new home. Once again, Ruth is the only one home and being the angel that she is, she helps you to carry your stuff up from the car before leaving to get Izzy from daycare. Since there’s not much left to unpack you finish quite fast, leaving you some extra time alone in the house. Walking around you try to learn your way around, still finding it a bit of a maze. You find Harry’s home office’s door open and after a bit of hesitation you step inside, just taking a look around. Yeah, it’s kind of a nosy thing to do, but you couldn’t help yourself.

His space is quite clear, he keeps his stuff neatly organized. Certificates and plaques are hung up on the wall, showing off his many successes in the business. There’s a huge bookcase near his desk and there you see some family photos… ones that include his late wife as well.

She was beautiful. There’s a picture of the three of them in the hospital from the day Izzy was born, Harry has an arm around his wife’s shoulders who is holding baby Izzy, both of them radiating happiness as they just become parents. Your heart breaks when you see the photo next to it, it’s just Harry and her in Paris, the Eiffel tower standing tall behind them as they are grinning widely at each other, foreheads touching. Harry has his arms wrapped around her slim figure while she is hugging his neck. They look so happy and in love, like they were always meant to be with each other. Knowing what tragedy hit them is just hard to process even for you, who never even met the woman.

You hear the front door open and Izzy is laughing at something, so you rush out before anyone could catch you snooping around.

“Hi Miss Y/N!” she chirps upon seeing you when you meet them in the living room.

“Izzy, you don’t have to call me Miss Y/N, Y/N is perfectly fine,” you smile at her, caressing her rosy cheeks.

“Okay. Ruth, can I please have some ice-cream?”

“I’m afraid we ran out of ice-cream, but I’ll put it on your grocery list,” Ruth tells her, a pout tugging on Izzy’s lips.

“How about this: I’m gonna make a delicious smoothie, that’s almost like melted ice-cream, would you like some?” you offer and her eyes brighten up immediately, nodding right away.

While Ruth puts away Izzy’s things they brought home from daycare, while the two of you move to the kitchen to make the smoothie together. You find some frozen berries in the freezer and pair them with bananas, putting them all into the blender with oatmilk, blending it all together.

“How is it?” you ask Izzy, who is sitting on top of the counter, tasting the pink smoothie that leaves a cute little mustache above her cherry lips.

“I like it!” she smiles, scrunching her nose.

“We can make it some other time then,” you smile, drinking up your portion.

Izzy is dancing around the kitchen, babbling about her last day at daycare while you clean the glasses and the blender when Harry arrives. He is wearing a baby blue suit with a crispy dress shirt underneath, looking fashionable but still business appropriate at the same time.

“Daddy!” Izzy launches towards her daddy, who catches her, throwing her into the air before holding her in his arms, joining you in the kitchen.

“Hey baby. How was your day?”

“Good, all my friends hugged me but I told them we would meet in the park.”

“That’s right, and I have the number of all your friends’ parents, we can have playdates with them whenever you want to,” he smiles before his eyes meet yours. “Hi Y/N, everything went well with the rest of your moving?”

“Yeah, I’m all set,” you smile back at him.

“That’s great. I have a few calls to make, but I’ll be done in thirty probably. Would you mind looking out for Izzy in the meanwhile?”

“Of course. She promised me to take me around her room, so we could do that, what do you say?” you ask the little girl who nods in excitement.

Harry disappears in his office and Izzy pulls you to her room, showing you just about every toy she owns. Her room is a typical girl’s room, the walls are painted a light pink color, her bedframe resembles a castle and she has a dollhouse as big as your previous bathroom. Harry clearly spoils her rotten, but what you noticed is that she is not one of those annoying bratty only children who can’t take no. She was clearly taught how to behave and always listen to the adults.

While Izzy is putting her stuffed animals away after introducing you to all of them, you spot a photo frame near her bed, decorated with macaroni. You remember when you all did that together at daycare and now you get to see the photo that ended up behind the glass.

It’s a photo of Izzy and her mother, she was just a baby and doing quick math in your head you realize it must have been not long before her accident, might even be the last picture taken of the two of them. Her mom is smiling at the camera while Izzy is sleeping in her arms peacefully. Izzy looked a lot like her when she was a baby, the bridge of her nose and her lips resembled her mother’s, though now she appears to take more after her dad with her chocolate curls and piercing green eyes.

“That’s my mommy,” she tells you when she sees you looking at the photo.

“It’s a nice picture,” you smile at her, trying your best to hide how heartbroken you feel even just looking at the photo.

“Daddy said she had to go up to the sky, but she is watching me from there,” she explains, clearly not entirely sure what it means, but you can tell she misses her. “Daddy said she is living between the stars now and that she loves me very much.” You need to fight your tears back at her words.

“I’m sure of that too,” you breathe out smiling at her.

“Izzy, do you want to help me make dinner?” Harry walks in smiling, though it disappears for a moment when he sees the two of you looking at the photo of his wife, but he is quick to control himself.

“Yes! What are we making?” she runs over to him, jumping up and down.

“Uh, chicken and veggies.”

You step away from the photo, pretending like nothing just happened. You’re dying to discuss it with Harry, hear him talk about it, but you won’t push him. If he wants to share it, he’ll come to you.

“Alright, come on then,” he smiles down at her. “Thank you for watching her, I’ll take over from here. Food will be ready in about an hour, Ruth is staying with us as well,” he informs you.

“Great, I’ll… I’ll be in my room,” you nod.

The first two weeks on the job brush past smoothly. It takes you some time to get used to your new home, but taking care of Izzy doesn’t feel like work, so you’re feeling amazing in your new job. You easily fall into a schedule with her.

The mornings are always Harry’s duty. He wakes her up around seven-thirty, makes her breakfast and dresses her for the day before he leaves around nine. Thanks to this habit of his, you’re able to sleep in until eight, leaving you plenty of time to get ready for your day with Izzy before Harry has to leave. Depending on the weather, the two of you then either take over the back yard or move to her room for some play time before her class of the day starts in the noon. Piano with Rosaline on Mondays and Wednesdays, French lesson with Lyon on Tuesdays and Fridays and then Izzy’s favorite on Thursdays, swimming class with Kitty.

Izzy loves to help in the kitchen so you usually make lunch together. Once her tummy is full she takes a nap before you sit down to learn something new every day. You’ve been teaching her the numbers and the alphabet, or some days you just talk about anything that interests her and learn at least two things she hasn’t know yet, all through games so she doesn’t even realize what you’re doing. You’re usually done by around three, leaving you time to take a visit to the park, if Harry is not planning to take her himself later that day.

You’re strictly home by four, unless it’s Tuesday when she has her dance class until five. Those days you drive her to her class, run some quick errands and pick her up. Harry usually uses his extra time in the office on these days, but he is always home by six to have dinner together with his daughter.

Once Harry is home you’re off duty, though you like to stay close, not just in case something comes up for Harry, but because you genuinely like spending time with Izzy and Harry, seeing them interacting.

Harry sometimes has to work on Saturdays as well, but just as he promised Ruth is always here to take over duty on those days, leaving you free for the whole weekend. It’s been working perfectly for you and those very few concerns you had about moving in dissolve quite fast as soon as you start working.

Though it’s been pretty clear to you before, you now one hundred percent sure that Harry is living for his daughter. She is always a priority, he doesn’t hesitate to decline any work calls he gets in the evenings if Izzy needs him, if she is a little fussy and wants her daddy’s attention or when they are in the middle of a game. He is clearly trying to keep a balance between his work and role as a father and from what you’ve seen, it seems like he is doing an amazing job in that. However you haven’t learned much else about him. He is all friendly towards you, but makes sure to keep it business casual, not quite keen on getting to know each other better as just friends, maybe.

A Friday afternoon you’re having a little tea party in the backyard with Izzy when Harry arrives home, but this time, he is not alone. Through the sliding door you spot him with a blonde guy who is talking very articulately as Harry is typing on his phone. The man looks about Harry’s age, but you can’t tell if he is a friend or a business partner, but if Harry brought him home, he is more likely to be a friend of his.

“Uncle Niall!” Izzy gasps when he spots the man through the glass and abandoning the tea party, she starts running towards the door. The man spots her and slides the door open grinning widely before she jumps into his arms.

“Little bugger! How are ya?” the man laughs, holding Izzy in a tight hug before leaning back to take a good look at her. You notice his thick Irish accent and it suits his appearance quite well. You head inside as well, in case Harry needs Izzy busy for a little longer, though he doesn’t mind having her around, kissing the top of her head before finishing up whatever he was doing on his phone, watching Niall and Izzy smiling.

“I’m having a tea party with Y/N, wanna join?” Izzy invites the man, who then looks at you for the first time, smiling widely.

“Hi, I’m Y/N, Izzy’s new nanny,” you introduce yourself, holding out a hand that he shakes, keeping Izzy in his other arm without a problem.

“Nice to meet ya, I’m Niall.”

“Y/N, Niall is an old friend of mine. He is joining us for dinner, hope you don’t mind,” Harry informs you and you find it funny how he is kind of asking for your approval when it’s his house.

“Not at all.”

“Harry has told me he hired a pair of new hands to help, but he didn’t mention it’s a stunning young woman!” Niall beams, making you blush right away.

“Ni, I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to pick up my daughter’s new nanny,” Harry warns him lightly, though there’s some firmness in his tone, not that it scares Niall in any way, he even winks at you.

“Oh come on, you can’t expect me not to flirt when you surround yourself with so many pretty women! First Ruth and now Y/N!”

You smile at him, something is telling you he wasn’t joking and he tried to flirt with Ruth as well. Harry just rolls his eyes at his friend, taking Izzy from him.

“Keep it in your pants, Niall,” Harry tells him and though it’s nothing vulgar, it catches Izzy’s attention.

“What should he keep in his pants?” she questions, making your and Harry’s eyes grow big right away. Luckily, Niall keeps his cool and takes care of the situation.

“My attitude, Sweetie. Your daddy is just jealous because I’m more handsome than he is,” he smirks at the little girl, successfully avoiding an awkward conversation about what it is that Niall should keep in his pants.

You smile at his reply, even though you are not that sure about the comparison he just made between himself and Harry.

“Izzy, do you want to continue the tea party?” you ask her and even though just a minute ago she was inviting Niall to join her, now she shakes her head no. “Alright, I’ll pack it up then.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. We’ll do it, right Izzy? She brought it all out, she is going to be the one packing it up,” Harry reminds her and she nods.

The two of them move outside to put her little tea set back into the basket she keeps it in, leaving you and Niall alone.

“So Y/N, how did you end up here?”

“I was working at Izzy’s daycare, but they sent me away not long ago. Then Harry contacted me and offered the job which was a lifesaver, truly.”

“That’s great! Well, not that you got fired, but that you ended up here. I know it means a lot for Harry that he can spend more time with Izzy, you’re making everything a lot easier for him.” Niall walks over into the kitchen and grabs a water for himself as he leans against the counter. “I can see that he is a lot more relaxed now already.”

“Really?” you ask, surprised.

“Yeah. I know he always used to stress about picking Izzy up, or forgetting something the daycare asked for. Now he can make it all work just how he wants to, that fits him a lot more. It hasn’t been easy on him since Maggie’s death.”

This is the first time you hear anyone talk about Harry’s wife and now you just learned her name. Maggie.

“Being a single parents is never easy,” you add with a soft smile, not wanting to interrogate Niall about Maggie. It’s Harry’s place to tell you about her, if he wants to, of course.

Soon enough Izzy and Harry take over the kitchen, Niall helping them this time and you leave them alone, taking some time for yourself in your room. Later you go out to check if there’s anything you could help with, Harry asks you to set the table as he finishes up the cooking.

“So, Y/N. Tell me a little bit about yourself!” Niall asks you over dinner.

“Um, what do you want to know?” you ask, feeling a little flustered to be in the spotlight.

“I don’t know, family, friends, hobbies?”

“Well, I have a younger brother, Trevor. He is seventeen and already taller than me.”

“Oh, that seems like a big age gap.”

“Ten years, to be exact,” you nod. “He was planned, I wasn’t,” you add with a soft chuckle. “But we have a great relationship, so it’s all good. We talk almost every day.”

“I’m sure you’ll get well along with Gemma then!” Niall beams, glancing at Harry.

“Gemma is my sister,” Harry explains. “Though she is not that much older than me.”

“But you can bond over being stuck with a younger brother who outgrew you,” Niall jokes making all three of you laugh.

All through dinner you realize how different Niall is from Harry, but in a good way. While Harry is more quiet and calm, Niall is kind of all over the place, buzzing and chatting every chance he got, but the two of them make a great pair, bringing what the other doesn’t have to the table.

After dinner you attempt to leave them again, but Niall makes you stay as they open a glass of wine. Harry puts on a movie for Izzy to keep her busy, giving the three of you a chance to sit out at the terrace from where you still can keep an eye on the little girl inside.

“Alright, Y/N. When are we going on our first date then?” Niall asks out of the blue, a cocky smile tugging on his lips.

“Niall, for fuck’s sake,” Harry breathes out as you let out an awkward chuckle.

“What? I think there’s some electricity going on between us.”

“I, uhh—I don’t…”

“Please don’t turn me down!” he sighs dramatically, making you smile.

“You’ve been great company, but I’m not sure we should go out,” you tell him. He huffs in disappointment, but it’s clear he didn’t take it to his heart.

“Is it because you’re taken? I didn’t even ask, are you dating anyone? You can’t be engaged, because I don’t see any rings,” he points out, nodding towards your naked fingers, however his words make you suck on your breath.

“I’m not engaged. Not anymore,” you admit and you watch their eyes go wide at the information.

“Wait, you’ve been engaged before?” Harry asks, clearly surprised, if not shocked.

“Yeah. For about four months,” you nod, running your tongue over your lips as you reach for your wine, taking a few large gulps.

“And what did the fucker do?” Niall bluntly questions, earning a look from Harry. “What? I’m just curious what twat it takes to lose a woman like her!”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about that,” Harry presses, but you shrug.

“It’s not a secret. We dated for about two years before he proposed. I said yes, started planning the wedding and everything, then found out that he had been cheating on me with his assistant for about a year. We broke up, simple as that. It’s in the past, happened a year ago.”

“That’s some next level asshole bullshit,” Niall shakes his head while Harry is just staring at you with an unreadable look before he turns his attention at his glass, still clearly deep in his thoughts and you wonder what he thinks of you now. Here is the loser who not only got cheated on, but lost her job, all of that just in one year.

Harry doesn’t react, and a moment later Izzy comes out because she is thirsty, so daddy duties call him away. Niall stays a little, but heads home soon as well.

“It was nice meeting you, Y/N. The date still stands though,” he smirks when he pulls back from the short hug he enveloped you in.

“Alright,” you chuckle, slowly getting used to his flirty act.

You was the wine glasses and head back to your room while Harry walks Niall out and then takes Izzy upstairs to give her a bath. You don’t cross paths until later when you leave your room, already in your pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt to grab some water for yourself and he walks out of Izzy’s room just then, probably done with putting her to sleep.

“I’m sorry if Niall made you uncomfortable, he didn’t mean to be rude or anything,” he apologizes as the two of you walk together.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” you chuckle softly. “It was kind of a boost to my ego, if I’m being honest.”

Harry huffs with a smile and stops at the kitchen island, his fingers tapping on his lips as you grab yourself a bottled water.

“I’m… I’m sorry about… about what you told us earlier.”

Closing the fridge you look at him, seeing that he is kind of hesitant, like he is not sure he should have spoken up, but you appreciate the thought.

“It’s alright. Just water under the bridge,” you shrug.

“I just feel bad you had to go through that.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” you chuckle softly. “It sucked, yeah. I really thought I would live happily ever after with Keith, but instead I got a lesson.”

“A lesson?”

“When we broke up I was obviously on the floor, both literal and theoretical way. I thought it was my fault, that I did something wrong and that’s why he did what he did. I even thought that I’m not worthy of being loved and being in love again. Took me time to realize that no matter what happened, I still deserve to be happy and to find someone to love and who can love me back.”

It appears that your words touch him deep, staring back at you, he just nods shortly, not replying to anything you just said. You’re not sure he is so silent because he doesn’t really understand what you just talked about or if it hit too close to home. Whatever it is, he keeps it to himself.

“Good night, Harry,” you smile at him before walking out of the kitchen and up into your room.

You’re lying in bed already when you hear him open his room’s door and then close it and suddenly he is all you can think about. The way his eyes sometimes pierce down on you, the way he taps his fingers against his lips when he is thinking hard or the proud smile that always plasters across his face whenever he is watching Izzy do basically anything. But you do see some pain in those beautiful green eyes of his and your desire to take just the smallest fracture of it away grows, even though he is not showing any sign that he is willing to share it with you.

The next morning, despite having the day off, you wake up quite early. You toss and turn, try to fall back asleep a little longer, but you just can’t. It’s a nice, warm morning and you decide to take advantage of the little balcony attached to your room. Wrapping yourself in your fluffy robe you grab the book you started reading a few days ago and sit out, enjoying the morning Sun that’s shining right at you on the balcony.

You don’t even realize for a while that you’re not the only early riser. When your eyes wander down to the big oak tree that’s near Izzy’s playground, you spot Harry doing what appears to be yoga on a green mattress, wearing nothing else, just a pair of black shorts. No shirt.

For a moment you think about going inside, feeling like you’re invading his privacy in a way, but you have the right to enjoy the morning Sun on your balcony, it’s not your fault he decided to have yoga at the exact same time. And it’s just hard not to look at his shirtless body stretching in all directions, twisting and turning as he goes through the motions, his tattooed body on full display.

It’s been clear since the moment you laid eyes on him for the first time that Harry is probably the most beautiful man you’ve ever met and that includes all your exes. Paired with his kind of mysterious charisma and the way he takes care of his daughter, he is the whole package, but you have been busy with Izzy to dwell too long on how attractive he really is. But right now, you are not working and he is very much shirtless in the backyard, teasing you with thoughts you definitely shouldn’t be thinking about when it comes to your boss.

A shaky breath leaves your mouth as you let yourself watch him just for a few more minutes before heading back inside, not wanting to get busted for being a stalker and also not wanting to see him in more positions and have even more unholy thoughts about him.

But what you don’t know is that just as you step inside, Harry catches your figure disappearing in your room, knowing well you saw him too.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

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[fallindomino]

how i would have changed s2 of hsmtmts

obvious disclaimer but im not a screenwriter or anyth so im not claiming what i want is best, this is just for fun lololol

okay so first of all nini would still have dropped out of yac but she wouldn’t have gone back to east, she would have transferred to north bc she was too ashamed to tell anyone she left at first and maybe she still wants to explore who she is away from ricky and the others

nini could join north’s batb and this way maybe we could have some playful rivalry with lily and nini and more scenes with antoine shdhdjdj also it could have been a great opportunity to flesh out lily’s character so those scenes where she reaches out to ricky and her confession at the end of the season actually make sense lol

speaking of ricky ,,, i think he should have left the play at some point hear me out. he only joined in the first place because of nini and barely wanted to do it at all once he realized he wasn’t gonna be able to perform with her. he could have joined crew and been a manager with natalie or smth considering he rlly does see the theater gang as a second family. also this would leave so much room for ej and ricky development and bants since ej joined the av club and began to pursue film. they could have some convos where idk ricky asks ej how he figured out what he wanted to do after duke didn’t work out and ricky could actually develop some interests that arent the play or nini ,,, maybe fucking art club i mean he did p good on that centerpiece for carlos’ quinceañera.

with ricky not being the beast anymore i think seb should take his place that would be soooo good. and since seb isn’t chip anymore carlos won’t make those snide comments about chip being a small unimportant role and we can just cut that whole fight bc it was dumb and bad. we could still have seb being insecure that carlos is only dating him bc there aren’t really any other gay guys at school. in a heartbeat is great and i did like ricky being supportive in the background it was kinda funny too idk dhdjdjfj

ooh i almost forgot abt rini ahshdj okay so i still think they should break up. but in my version there’s no ricky pulling an ej 1.0 and deleting comments off of nini’s insta, cause with ricky in art club and nini at north trying to figure out what she wants i think one of them would realize that they’re going in different directions and only got back tgt because they made each other feel safe cause what they had was familiar. this could be triggered by ricky mentioning smth abt nini at yac and then nini breaks down and tells him that she dropped out and is at north and doesn’t know where she’s going. and then they can both realize they aren’t good for each other rn and have a less tragic mutual break up.

honestly i really liked the scene of nini taking charge after miss jenn freaked out cause with the character detail of nini giving every person in the cast of productions she’s in a thank you note she just seems really like someone who is suited to lifting others up. this could still be explored at north, maybe she could help lily through her issues that were briefly implied in ep 11 and nini realizes she wants to be a drama teacher and encourage kids to go off book and put themselves into their acting, something she couldn’t have at yac.

okay now ej ,,, so like i said in ricky’s section, more bants between them cause i feel like friendships kinda fell by the wayside due to all the relationships so more friendship !!!! also the scene where ej tells his dad he’s not going to duke shouldn’t have been an ending scene, it should have been fleshed out with his dad pushing back saying how he pulled all these strings to get him in and ej saying he doesn’t wanna go if his own hard work couldn’t get him there. and also more scenes of ej doing av club things !!! and realizing he rlly likes film and wants to do it OMG IT WOULD BE SO COOL IF HE BROKE THE FOURTH WALL AND ASKED THE DOCUMENTARY CREW ABT THE FILM INDUSTRY god i would love that. the only scene we rlly got of ej doing film things was at the quinceañera which made me kinda sad. uhhh also i just wanted to specifically mention how ej got mr mazzara that job at cal tech bc it really showed how he wanted to be there for people not just for gina, who he had a crush on, but for mr mazzara who supported him outside of romance, so i wanna keep that for sure.

gina !!! okay so i mostly liked her arc in this season, the only changes i would make would be to flesh it out a teeny bit (god this hypothetical s2 would have to be like 22 eps at least shdjdjdjfj) anyways besides ashlyn singing home to get gina to stay i think there should be a scene where they actually talk in her room abt how gina feels safer when shes on the run (second chance reference ilysm) hhhh and also a scene of her and carlos actually working out compromises for their choreo cause i liked that bit of development too and fleshing that out would make gina an even better foil for lily, who felt a need to hog the spotlight like gina used to. with gina’s own arc fleshed out her character would feel more whole independently from romance and portwell would be even more rewarding than it is in the current s2. the only thing i would really change abt portwell is that they would kiss !!! in the finale but thats bc im biased.

ashlyn should have gotten a more fleshed out storyline about being insecure about not being a good enough belle or the typical belle. there were some throwaway lines when north did their typical dramatics but the only two real scenes that showed it were when ash talked to big red about it and when she was telling nini she wanted to do a run in “home” bc lily did it. ashlyn should get more screen time where she has to grapple with the reasons she doesn’t feel good enough and big red can still support her but also gina too bc i would like more roommate besties interaction.

kourtney could still date howie, that harry potter shit was cute but there needs to be smth else for kourtney’s arc. idk she’s still into fashion so maybe she could be out here trying to create her own line or smth? this doesn’t have to be resolved in s2 like making a wholeass line takes time and she could work on it into a potential s3. kourtney just didnt get much outside of howie and the stuff at the beginning of the season where she said nini inspired her to be independent and that's why she got a job was just dropped?? so i think that fashion could fill that for her if she’s still dating howie cause like having her whole arc just be the pizza place kinda overlaps w big red’s mini arc abt how he wasn’t settling for hospitality, its what he wants to do with his life.

ik what ur thinking. anna, even if you added more episodes, where would u find the room to add all these plotlines?? well first we cut (most of) the seblos fight, so thats some time saved. honestly most of the time that we r going to gain is going to be from cutting ms jenn’s time. things like ms jenn’s and nini’s car ride would get cut, but mostly all of ms jenn’s romances would get cut down. considering she’s the teacher and isn’t actually a character with an arc how does she have THREE love interests this season?? like all of the weird tension between her and zack can be cut, like just some short scenes of them being competitive can stay. all of the stuff with ricky’s dad can go bye bye we don’t need it. i did like her w mr mazzara so most of that can stay i just didn’t like how he said he would give up cal tech for her, ew no that would be gone.

the MENKIES !!!! this is the last thing im gonna address cause in a perfect world every character would get a long fleshed out arc but then the season would be waaay too long and also im mostly trying to work within material the show gave so this is mostly made up of “realistic” deviations from what actually happened. lol idk what that even means it just makes sense to me. but anyways!! uhhh bro idk i thought them dropping the menkies was funny but it also made the finale really BAD lmao. in this finale, seb is the beast, east still had to deal w the fact that they’re underfunded compared to north but no one is injured, lily is less of a poorly written character and maybe ppl are even rooting for her, and wow i just realized i never actually said what role i think nini should have in north’s show. OOH she could be student director instead of lily cause lily both being in the play while also directing was weird considering omg i just checked and according to her wiki page shes a FRESHMAN?? and they let her be student director? lol hell nah. okay so with all that in mind ,,, the menkies should have been the season cliffhanger instead of portwell. east and north should both be nominated, both schools perform at the menkies, and then the award winner is about to be announced and THATS when it cuts to natalie and the end of the season.

one, this actually gives more tension for a summer s3 as we would be waiting to see the consequences of whichever school won. also i bet people would be wondering if nini’s gonna be transferring back to east or staying at north. people would also prob wonder if ej would be getting the scholarship if east won and what that would mean for his interest in film.

lmao that got longggg and idk if anyone’s even gonna read this but it was fun to do :D

[kaminohana]

the meme man full analysis

Yeehaw here we go. Analysis of Mikoto Kayano’s video and song, along with some theories about the many themes and symbols in the video. Note: If there’s any other supplemental material for him out there, I haven’t read it. This is just an analysis with the music video we were given. If I happen to miss stuff that was mentioned before, I may talk about it in another post lmao

I was SUPER invested in this video as I watched it and soon realized “Oh shit, I think Mikoto’s plural”. Cuz, you know, I’m plural too (not disclosing what kind) and it felt SO good to see some actual parallels to stuff I go through- though of course not to Mikoto’s degree.

That said, I feel I should make a disclaimer in passing: yes, portraying your only plural character as homicidal ain’t the best representation. But, you know, we’ve seen other cases like that in Milgram so I’m just gonna leave it at that. Personally, I’m not that offended because the execution is SO top-notch. Though, hey, I totally understand how this can be very frustrating to other systems to see plurality depicted in such an unhealthy light- if it’s not for you, it’s not for you.

Keep in mind the point of the Milgram series is to make you uncomfortable in so quickly incriminating someone; if you’re hesitating to determine someone as guilty, hey, that’s probably intended and good! It’s about personal decision, so I’m not going to judge you one way or the other in voting. I just find it fascinating how these videos can put us in such conflict. This is all just my own perspective, BTW, so if you disagree with some of these points, good! I’m just hoping to share my thoughts since I can make a lot of connections. I’m by no means an expert in plurality or tarot, I just have some background in both and decided to try my hand at this analysis, so I really don’t the final say on what’s going on in the video.

Now, onto the actual video analysis.

I’m sticking with the basic idea that Mikoto is split into two parts; his more loveable, gentler side, which I referred to in another post as Softboy Mikoto, and the more violent side which may be acting as a catharsis to his frustrations. I referred to this side previously as the Devil alter, as he is depicted with the Devil major arcana tarot card. I can see how this could be taken badly, so for now I’m just going to refer to him as the shadow alter. There are many themes of duality in the video, most commonly with the symbol of the half moon which appears so many times. Shadow of the moon etc etc. I’ll be bringing this up several times as I analyze the lyrics. I’ll be breaking down the lyrics as evidence to support the idea that Mikoto is plural, and to show how softboy Mikoto (and shadow alter Mikoto) view this particular relationship and how this culminates in murder. Sometimes I refer to Mikoto (as a whole), softboy Mikoto, or shadow alter Mikoto depending on what I’m trying to describe in the below.

First piece: the title. MeMe. Me x2. A dead giveaway, like Umbilical. Also, it can be a meme, which is interesting taking the definition of the word meme in this context: “an element of a culture or system of behavior passed from one individual to another by imitation or other nongenetic means” (Oxford Dictionaries).  HMMMM. I know memes are generally within the context of a community, but I think it’s interesting to actually apply this to Mikoto. What exactly is being passed on? Could we argue that Mikoto’s frustrations from one of his parts is being passed on to the other? Interesting to think about, though it may not be relevant.

Going into the lyrics:

So from here I’m guessing there was a point in Mikoto’s life where his plurality was not an issue; or, potentially, there was a time before his split. These were the good times.

Playing dead vs. being alive – representing duality. May refer to how, when one side has their way, the other is locked away in the headspace with no control, thus feeling like being dead. In the context of “if only”, perhaps he’s wishing that he just didn’t do anything if only to prevent things from getting this far.

“If” I could end- I believe Mikoto (particularly softboy Mikoto) is saying “Hey, I have no control over my other side. If I did, would things still be the same? Would I still be ‘letting’ this happen?”

“Keep it” and “hide it away” I feel like are both representative of his shadow alter and of the desires that alter represents. Many words related to destruction are tied to this alter, so it could be seen as Mikoto trying to hide those urges as well.

“’I’ will save ‘me’”- this is a very interesting line that I think very well encapsulates the shadow alter’s initial motives; he’s saying “hey, I’m going to take care of us,” I believe to try and convince softboy Mikoto to let him out. As far as if softboy Mikoto can actually “let” him out is TOTALLY up for debate.

Part of the reason I refer to the other alter as softboy Mikoto is because there are softer words I notice used by him in the song; here’s I’m seeing “snuggle”, so I think this side of him is more vulnerable and soft.

SWITCH, shake up that brain- wow couldn’t be any more obvious here

This is where the chorus starts. This I think is from softboy Mikoto’s perspective, PARTICULARLY when he’s trapped in the headspace. There are many forms of plurality IRL in which alters cannot simultaneously front, so one or more are “pushed” back into the headspace. This very act occurs several times throughout the song in the weird minimalist vaporwave shadow realm room, where the tarot cards are. During this time, we can assume that is when the shadow alter is fronting. Softboy Mikoto slowly starts to become more helpless and fearful in this space as the song goes on, and this is where he makes his celtic cross tarot spread that quite frankly defines the whole song. I discussed that in my other post.

Another facet of plurality that is applied here is amnesia, which is common, especially when alters are pushed back to the headspace. Within the headspace, there may be a lack of awareness to the outside world, which Mikoto seems to express in his confused sentiments like the above (in the video, he is also scratching his head, which as a gesture can represent being confused). “Why am I here?” can act as a double entendre, both referring to “Why have I suddenly been pushed to this headspace?” as well as the whole point of Milgram- “Why am I in prison?”. He may not be aware of exactly what he did, hence why he feels it’s a mistake. He may be experiencing amnesia of what his shadow alter is doing, so he doesn’t even know what crime he committed. However, he at least has enough awareness to tell someone else is present in his body doing things, so he begs the viewer “Hey, just watch whatever my body is doing and it’ll all eventually make sense. I don’t have access to this information, but you do.” I thought this was an interesting fourth wall break.

The truth revealing itself could also be the truth coming to light from the particular tarot reading he does in the headspace; note that the cards only seem to be appear in this place and not in the outside world. So softboy Mikoto is trying to figure out what’s going on this way. If he can’t figure it out himself, maybe the cards can give him some direction.

Another duality- “I won’t forgive you if you reveal the truth” vs. “However I know I’m right when I say I’m innocent”. Or he could be right about something else.

I’m wondering if the breaking here is just reflecting the shadow alter or is softboy Mikoto actually wishing he could end the shadow alter. He at least wants things to change; the way things are right now is not something he’s okay with. Though, it sounds like he isn’t getting help with this and has no idea if he can even arrest full control again. It seems at this point, this has been going on for a while so he’s stopped trying.

In the video, the shadow alter is doing a GREAT job hiding the evidence; while of course probably just trying to not get caught, the shadow alter may also be trying to hide his crime from softboy Mikoto so he’s none the wiser.

He’s hoping he can be rid of the shadow alter side, but I think he also is dumping all his difficult feelings onto the shadow alter. Maybe he feels its some sort of release, even if he can’t control it, so he feels a lot of guilt over the shadow alter’s existence, even though that alter is serving a purpose as a conduit for those emotions.

I really really think though that there IS some connection between softboy Mikoto and shadow alter Mikoto. Maybe they are both truly aware of each other, hence the scene where they are viewing each other through the mirror. I think here, softboy Mikoto might be admitting that it feels good to let the shadow alter out, like a hug. The “minus energy” probably refers to the shadow alter.

“Maybe it’s okay that we’re separated like this?” he wonders. There seems to be a sense of feeling alive at least that is conveyed through the shadow alter.

SPLIT IN HALF- yeah, again, pretty encompassing.

In the video, I think this is when we have a switch, as Mikoto’s expression changes in the outside world mirror.

The chorus again, softboy Mikoto is shoved into the vaporwave shadow realm headspace. He’s asking the audience to investigate him here, but I also like to joke that he’s like “uwu look at me I could never harm anybody, pwease let me out”, which may be true only so far as softboy Mikoto is out.

I wonder if in “I will NEVER forgive you if this is happening to me” is directed at the shadow alter instead of the audience? Like softboy Mikoto is saying “I swear to god if you murdered someone im gonna be so pissed, but I also already kinda know it’s happening.” Just another take.

In the video, softboy Mikoto is THROWN into the headspace, where he is gifted with just one hint of what’s going on: The Devil tarot card.

You DARE accuse Miette of murder? Oh! 1000 years jail for Milgram viewer!

Now the vaporwave space starts to turn into a bloody mess; perhaps now softboy Mikoto is starting to put two and two together.

“Hurting it, holding it down, it doesn’t change anything, does it”- I definitely understand this being plural, like if your alters are causing problems, you may try and chastise them, or you may try and lock them away deep inside, but that often doesn’t stop them from existing. It’s really cool how that idea is present here. Like YES that’s how it is quite often. So even if softboy Mikoto TRIES to smother or accuse his shadow alter, that’s not going to change anything.

It being the same anywhere he goes makes me think he’s been putting up with this for a long time, that it’s not about what environment he’s in because his shadow alter is with him everywhere he goes.

“It’s like what’s wrong isn’t wrong”- may be referring to multiple things:

-the shadow alter having a different morality (hence why murder is okay for him, his indulgence in smokes and…redbull/alcohol, etc)

-OR, how softboy Mikoto’s amnesia isn’t letting him understand the full picture so everything is okay when he’s out fronting (shadow alter cleaned the place up and stuff, perhaps hiding all evidence of murder)

-“I’m already the fake one”- a very common sentiment for plural folks, worrying if you as an alter aren’t “the original” or if you’re not actually split and it’s something you’re making up, etc. I think softboy Mikoto is having these feelings. Poor boy, wish we could get you some therapy instead :/ (all of Milgram would be very different if only most of these people could get therapy, let’s be honest)

Now, what’s special here is that BOTH alters are in the headpace, with shadow alter Mikoto looming ominously behind softboy Mikoto.

During this next instrumental, just a side note: we see what’s going on through security footage. The security cameras reflecting a third person perspective is kind of neat in context of pluralism, where someone else fronting can feel like a third person awareness to another alter. I may be thinking too much into this one, but it’s a fun connection.

Another thing many plural folk go through: DISSOCIATION FROM REALITY. Ah yes, my good friend dissociation. Especially like in Mikoto’s case, where the consequences of being split have drastic consequences, he could be running away from the truth which may always be partially concealed to him. Something’s VERY wrong, he knows this for sure, and it may be at this point he really realizes “Oh shit. I just committed murder.” But instead of taking responsibility in any way, he’s trying to imagine that it’s a fabricated reality. I’m not going to say if this makes him bad or not, but it is a known coping mechanism.

I know I mention that the bad habits of smoking and drinking may be the shadow alters habits, but they could also be softboy Mikoto’s own methods of escapism, which definitely fits with the above lyrics. “I need to wake up soon”- but he still realizes that he’s going to have to face the harsh truth of reality soon.

Now this point indicates a marked change in softboy Mikoto and shadow alter Mikoto’s relationship: I believe there may be a time when softboy Mikoto expects to come back out to the front, but now the shadow alter is starting to take over fully and keep softboy Mikoto locked inside. This is supported by the Outcome card in his celtic cross spread being The Devil. Not only does this card have its own meanings, but here it may mean that the more violent side of him takes over.

Again, don’t know if he’s talking to the audience or his shadow alter in never forgiving this outcome. I believe softboy Mikoto does have a clearer morality in that murder is NOT okay, and if he were to fully acknowledge that he as a whole was capable of that, I think he’d break down. So he’s like “it better NOT be true” because he doesn’t know how he’d be able to deal with that.

Interesting in the video is when Mikoto snaps and the headspace turns red again; I would think this is when the shadow alter is entering the scene and taking over. The snap here is symbolic of the switch.

Now presumably softboy Mikoto is like “PWEASE WET ME OUT MISTEW OBAMA”, which, again with the double meaning, can refer to letting him out of the vaporwave shadow realm headspace OR letting him out of prison. Both apply.

“That it’s a lie

That I’m right”- a nice duality here. Mikoto is having difficulty separating the truth from reality.

Also NOW he is forgiving. Forgiveness vs not forgiveness (grudge)

I think it’s gotten so bad that he’s like “okay fine. Fine if I committed murder, fine if you’re accusing me of murder, but please help me understand what’s going on. Let me out”. Maybe he’ll forgive the shadow alter if only he fesses up to the murder.

Of note for the scene however is that shadow alter Mikoto is holding up The Fool card, which represents softboy Mikoto in this case. “I’m right” may be the shadow alter’s sentiment.

-THE CARDS AT THE END-

Then, all the cards show up in more detail, all depicting weapons instead of the standard minor arcana that you might see in your standard Rider Waite tarot deck (which these are based off of). The Wands are baseball bats, the Swords are kitchen knives, the Cups are…poison cans? Acid? The Pentacles are….records but I can see these being rotary saws if you squint. The Wheel of Fortune has car wheels with a snake….GTA time baby (the snake being hidden danger, the devil’s temptation, etc). The chariot is a really weird motorcycle death machine. I was thinking how like, people would drag people along behind them while driving a vehicle as a method of torture so there is that.

Now we see some cards not in the original spread- I think this represents shadow alter Mikoto inserting himself into the headspace and changing things to fit his goals. We see a couple placed in the original spread, but some don’t and are just free-floating, but you’ll see below we have enough context to decipher their meaning.

First, it’s the Page of Pentacles, which has taken over the position of the 7 of swords as the current challenge affecting the issue. This card indicates “Manifestation, financial opportunity, skill development”. I think this means the shadow alter is finally learning to take full control.

Then we see the reverse 2 of swords, which represents “Indecision, confusion, information overload, stalemate”. This could probably represent softboy Mikoto not suddenly understanding why the shadow alter is ALSO in the headspace. Maybe his dual presence in the outside world AND the headspace is indicative of exactly when he learned to take full control. This was NOT in Mikoto’s original spread.

Wheel of Fortune again, which was in the original spread. “Bad luck, negative external forces, out of control”. Yup, that confirms it.

Next, the Five of Swords from the original spread comes up. “Conflict, tension, loss.png, defeat, win at all costs, betrayal”. Softboy Mikoto is now being completely taken over. There is a facedown card on the chair. This might be the one that reads as Death later, so it may be that softboy Mikoto is…KILLED OFF?

Cup of Ace, “Love, compassion, creativity, overwhelming emotion”. I think this one is also meant to represent softboy Mikoto, but it could be that the shadow alter sees it as an act of mercy to take full control for softboy Mikoto. Maybe he feels his alter can’t handle reality and he’s going to take over full time. Or more likely he just has ulterior motives.

Reverse King of Cups. “emotional manipulation, moodiness, volatility”. Softboy Mikoto was lead along, thinking it was okay to leave things to the shadow alter or to exist alongside him. Now we see that isn’t a viable solution.

Reverse Five of Wands. “conflict avoidance, diversity, agreeing to disagree”.  I went over this more in the other post.

Chariot is the last one, WHICH ALSO WAS NOT IN THE ORIGINAL SPREAD. “Control, willpower, success, action, determination”. The shadow alter Mikoto has taken full control. Which is very quickly followed by…

Shadow alter Mikoto drawing Death. Also not in the original spread. Perhaps effectively “killing off” softboy Mikoto and betraying him.

Concluding Thoughts.

Now, I understand I do take most of these lyrics from softboy Mikoto’s perspective, but I’m sure there’s a layer of deception added on by his shadow alter. The Challenge card of the 7 of swords did represent betrayal. So softboy Mikoto’s only context into what’s going on outside may be his headspace tarot reading. If you want to question some of the lyrics, or even think one of the alters is lying, that would add SO much to the complexity of the situation, and I wouldn’t put it past the Milgram team to add something like that.

Common Themes/Symbols:

The mirror, both in the headspace and in the outside world bathroom

The Hanged Man- in a painting in the headspace and on Mikoto’s shirt. Indicative of being wrongly accused or martyred. Softboy Mikoto is likely represented with this, as well as The Fool. The Fool painting probably is there to show that he doesn’t know any better, that he is without the knowledge of what his shadow alter is doing (or doesn’t believe he’s doing anything wrong)

The Half Moon- a light side and a dark side. Pretty self-explanatory. Symbolically, it can also represent life and death. NICE.

Sorry if the conclusions end up being kind of vague. That’s the way a lot of this video is; what’s really going on, as it usually is, is up to viewer interpretation at this stage. I was just hoping to provide a bit of context into the images in the video, plural life, and narrator interpretation. I just really love this video and after this full analysis hope others can at least appreciate the work that went into it.

[organic-guacamole]

showtime

episode 211 let's go

ok first of all, this is the second to last episode guys... I don't even wanna think about how much pain I'll be in after next week's episode

mr mazzara doing the recap-

this is so weird to me and I don't know why

WHY DIDN'T YALL JUST ASK BENJAMIN FOR HELP, THATS LITERALLY HIS THING

is Nini giving out the cards a callback to season 1 when Natalie Bagley said that Nini gave her a card or something on opening night of another musical?

STEPHY AS THE ENCHANTRESS OMG YES

Ricky in the crown gives me Harry styles in that photoshoot vibes

he's so pretty.

ok but why did we never see Ricky and Ashlyn interact before? it's been like 5 seconds and I already love how they bounce off each other and it's just so natural

OH THEY REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY UNDERSTUDIES-

well that explains a lot...

so Ricky fell on top of Ashlyn and all that broke for both of them was their wrist-

insert Jake Peralta *coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool no doubt no doubt no doubt*

of course howie was amazing as the beast, were we expecting anything less??

Ricky is so beautiful and I will not shut up about it....

let me enjoy this before the makeup crew slaps mud on his face.

Nini and Ricky talking to eachother? in a civil manner? wasn't she avoiding him just in the last episode? hm ok

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH THEY CANT EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS JUST LIKE ME HAHAHAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS, WHATS NEXT? THEY CUT EVERYONE OFF CUZ THEY CANT HANDLE EMOTIONS? ...ha

yes Kaden and Rico, my favourite east high boys 🥰

I mean....where's EJ?

THERE HE IS

EJ AND GINA IN THE BACKGROUND... doing something idek

KOURTNEY'S MOM IS BACK YAY

Howie is a shining star, ofc ofc

the smallest fOrk

can't wait to see the fork burst into song about how she deserves more than to be used to eat salad😌

the duster and the bluster.... ok😃

hi Gina!

hi- oh wow I didn't know Robbie Rotten was in this show!!!!!

the portwell look.

that my friends, is a married couple's look✋

GOSH EJ WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU

aww Gina's so excited for this

D word?

Die?

Delicious?

Dom Toretto?

"good, clean fun all alone with someone I dig...a lot"

sir that does not sound very clean to me

SEBLOS

Seb looks so cute standing there next to pope Carlos

DID THEYEY REALLY LIGHT ANTOINE ON FIRE-

I NEED TO SEE THAT

Seb's reading Carlos better than big red read the script in episode 102, this is great development after the "fight"

Kourtney really just made the best outfit for herself and let the rest of them suffer

the way Gina immediately goes to hold on to EJ after the announcement

"tonight we're going to put the U in UTAH"

...

"hey where are you from?"

"TAH"

SEB'S SINGULAR CLAP KILLED ME-

he's officially salt lake city's resident thanos

just wity clapping because for some reason I have a feeling he doesn't know how to snap his fingers...don't ask why

Ms Jenn do you mind encouraging your leads before the show? idk just an idea

pepto bismol product placement smhsmh

those flowers are bigger that big red himself-

*bops along to the opening theme*

that whistle at the end slaps everytime

WHY IS THE AUDIENCE SO MASSIVE

I guess they're all here to see Ms Jenn go on as a fork after Nini decides to *go her own way*

wow i am so funny

so they couldn't do many group scenes cuz of covid, but this 300 person crowd is cool? nice

OO THE VIOLIN GIRL FROM EPISODE 6 IS IN THE ORCHESTRA

HOWIEEEEEE

"Mr Caswell", he said, in the loudest voice possible while backstage at a show that's about to start.

Mazzara what are you trying to pull-

I usually like Benjamin but I don't like his tone

"iS yOuR wHoLe FaMiLy HeRe?" LIKE YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW THATS A SOFT SPOT FOR EJ

"we've had some good conversations these past few weeks"

right so what's going to happen after you graduate?

what does he think of you not going to Duke?

what did he say about you giving the sweatshirt that's been in the family for 3 generations to a girl you're not even dating?

good old Mr. M

therapist Mr. Mazzara, they all need it.

start with Ricky though.

"Michael Bowen"

dude why did you shave, now you look less like "hot lumberjack" and more "creep at the gas station"

OH-

does she not like Mike anymore?

why does it sound like jennzzara started dating and now they just sit back and talk smack about everyone in their freetime

break the fourth wall-

uhhhh im scared

why am I scared

he's scary

hehe flowers for Ricky, obviously for Ricky, ObViOuSLY

oh boy poor Michael

this man is in love, rip

why does Ms Jenn always look at people with her eyes open so wide

LILYYYY

I'm only excited because I really like the idea of lily and Ricky being friends, nothing more.

ha this guy's got jokes

a MOAT AROUND THE SCHOOL

wheeze

also he's very pretty.

"the wolves and very talented humans"

how dare he forget to mention the very talented wolves and normal humans, smh erasure

"being nice, what a concept" ted talk by Lily who still doesn't have a last name

did she just say lol out loud

same with the hug emoji last episode-

go touch some grass babes

the way he didn't say no, but said he didn't know how the east high kids would react-

not saying he does want to date her but that's an interesting thing to think about, also another thing to write an essay analysis on just to leave it in my drafts for a few months

awww lily genuinely trying to help him

sorry guys, I've been taken by the Lily charm (didn't know it existed until now but oh well)

REMEMBER WHEN I SAID I'LL NEVER SHIP PORTWELL?

just look at me now

the Lily wink I can't she's so cute-

HELP ME I'M BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY LIL-

David Attenborough?

oh nvm it's Benjamin narrating the show in a really weird British accent for some reason.

STEPHY GOT MORE LINES YAY GOOD FOR HER

also is this to show that Nini doesn't care about being the star of the show anymore? the way she's supporting everyone else even though she's a fork?

I would pay for a special of the full musical ngl

OOO THE TRANSFORMATION WAS SMOOTH

shockingly

yo where did the makeup come from

man I wish I was a theatre kid

THIS IS STEPHY'S EPISODE NOW IDC✋

my girl is starring

"needs an X-factor"

Simon Cowbell creeps in

"it's a yes from me"

and them boom, he takes Nini and mistreats her horribly and then she comes back to theatre after deciding music isn't for her👍

"I thought she just hog-tied him?"

don't ask sebby, it's better if you don't know.

imagine they spotlight the wrong person and this dude is just some random person that likes writing down stuff during shows.

Ms Jenn just let them do what they rehearsed (at some point we never saw) or else this is gonna end horribly wrong

"help"

same Carlos, same

I love how seb is just his translator rn

I thought he said "great displeasure" instead of "greatest pleasure"....help?

big red coming out from throwing up to see his girlfriend star is the cutest thing in this show.

Ash and Gina dancing is so fun

I'm imagining them practicing at night at their home, watching the movie for the 100th time and making sure their one dance together is perfect

KOURTNEY YES

HOWIE IS IN LOVE AHHHH

I LOVE HOWIE SO MUCH

SEBBY

THIS SCENE HAS SO MUCH GOING ON I CAN'T KEEP UP

THIS IS SO GOOD

HOW???

no because I'm actually crying

I'm dead serious.

we need this musical released as a special

big red is so proud and I love to see it

Natalie: "if you do not by at least 20 dollars in concessions, you do not support art"

rando in the audience: "but I pay for ad free Spotify"

Mr Mazzara clapping in the distance

Gigi, the guy you like is talking to you, complimenting you and hyping you up

YOU LUCKY LITTLE FEATHER DUSTER

aw EJ teasing her about the chocolates in a way that doesn't make her feel bad? take notes Richard

JORDAN FISHER

there is no rest of the show idc Jordan is it for me

THE WIG CAP ON RICKY OMG

they look like they're high and having "deep" conversations on the floor

THE MEAN GIRL WITH THE EYES-

@sunshine-julie-molina YOU HEAR THAT

Natalie really just be coming for them all

Howie what is happening rn

I'm scared

"did you enjoy it"

"very much"

dude wants a kiss so bad

ASHLYN OMG

NO DON'T DO IT BECAUSE OF LILY, PUT YOUR OWN TWIST ON IT

I want a Jordan autograph please

just keep swim- oh pushing...

Gina is literally a giant next to him and I live for it

am I about to cry for the 3rd time in this episode?

yes.

Ricky's leg kicks under the table makes me so happy aw

the portwell glances will kill me.

ah yes, mashed potato snow

Mr. M.... I'm not a theatre kid but even I know you can't have your phone on backstage.

Howie please just do it

CHIP'S BIG LINE I CANT

I LITERALLY HAD TO PAUSE IT AMD SCREAM INTO MY MASK FOR A SOLID 2 MINUTES (I'm not at home rn) HES SO CUTE

oh ok bye Jordan

oo tea

NOT HIM BEING STARSTRUCK BECAUSE HE'S MEETING HIS FUTURE BROTHER IN LAW-

"we're all just glad Gigi has a big brother figure in her life"

excuse me for a few thousand hours while I laugh hysterically

THE CAMERA ZOOM ON EJS FACE AND EVERYTHING-

STOP EJ LOOKS LIKE HE'S GONNA CRY BUT I CAN'T TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY WITH THE STAGE MAKE-UP

someone else said this already but I think it's hilarious that they had to bring in 2 guest characters to create some portwell angst

omg this really is Cici's episode, found family is their thing

elevator music lol

I'm gonna bet that big red took the harness for his surprise for Ashlyn without realising what it was

did Ms. Jenn just....tell her most mentally unstable student....to commit suicide....on a disney show...was that....I'm very....well....what the actual-

oh and there she goes running off instead of trying to make it right

oh wow Nini's the hero, she's gonna save the show 🤩

😐

the judge is doing a sudoku

honestly if I went to the hsm show as well, I'd come prepared for this one too

Lily why are you looking like that-

I WAS JUST STARTING TO LIKE YOU DON'T MESS THIS UP

wow ok, there goes that.

omg

what if Howie was acting weird because he knew what Lily did and wanted to tell Kourtbut Lily threatened him so he was scared to-

anyways see y'all clowns next week when we all simultaneously lose all motivation for the week without Fridays to look forward to.

[24-guy]

I spent 2 hours on writing notes from the prison podcast stream.

Now I don’t know what to do with them, so I’m putting them here. 

No need to read them, there is just some interesting stuff I noticed, things like tones and how many times somethings are brought up. 

if you do, though, I apologize  for spelling errors. 

start stream

techno "did the calculations" on how long it would take to mine obsidian with the amount of mining fatigue they had. we knoe this is true.

dream has been writing, it is the only thing hes been able to do with the limited items he has. its his "diary"

techno teases over fanfics on wattpad

"the only thing ive written is my diary" do the revive books not count, then? or what is in the revive books that isnt writing?

techno focuses on that nobody is watching - dream doesnt comment on it - dream doesnt know about the voices?

techno is supposed to break dream out, but he hasnt got many ideas "ill get to it later"

techno enjoys prison - sees it as a vacation

techno has an optimistic outlook.

go with the flow

dream sees harming himself as exhillerating techno disaprooves

dream tells techno quackity has been torturing him everyday. techno is only surprised by the every day part

dream mentions the revive book techno remembers being told about that asks "yeah you can bring people back from the dead. yeah so how do you do that" - curious tone, seems genuinely interested for innocent meanings dream responds " i have.. the knowledge and then i get a book and then i burn it" - hesitant at first, then vague but seemingly honest reponse

techno asks what the knowledge is, incantation/password/expelliarmus dream says "something like that" slowly, then quickly says he doesnt know and that he "doesnt know how schlatt had it" - going away from the topic original book - there are more than one it is a book is what youre saying - t well... i mean, it was a book that i memorised and that now i can recreate - d techno tries again to get the knowledge he wants to revive people dream doesnt want to tell techno because he wouldnt be the only one who knew techno tries to bargain saying that if dream died, techno coulld bring him bacl dream knows they wont kill him because he can revive people

dream says no, techno says "you forgot how to write it down didnt you dream says he didnt, that he did it recently, techno repeats again that dream forgot brings up wattpad again. dream says he wrote it down for tommy. he doesnt mention wilbur to techno. bring up the homeless situaation prison is dreams house cell is boiling apparently makes a joke about cali rent prices

nobody visited the cell "we stopped anarcy" "when we get out of here" no though ahead going into this situation (techno) "just as far as i need to" dream doesnt know what techno means by stream schedule, techno jokes about dream's lack of schedual techno usually trains always looking for new combat, reasearching constant arms race no idea when a government will arise or opressing people is always prepared has a good amount of gear he also plays golf somewhere offers a game with dream no way to describe it somewhere farther than his house

dream asks about tommy techno hasnt seen him canonically, only knows he stole acouple months ago - as far as he tells dream

dream asks about carl carl is doing well

dream asks about the family its doing good, apparently, new foxes, got steve who will break him out dream writes about steve "i will write evrrything down because its hard to remember" another fanfic joke

dream asks whos feeding them they feed themselves its probably fine

milld break for 4 wall break

gist or jist

prison podcast offers, agrees that is all this is

technical difficulties

podcast bros

eating potato

dream offers his thoughts on what would happen of he tried to revive somebody who is alive two technoblades human meat sheild

dream wants to try no death first what could go wrong nothing else to do

techno house is man vs nature conflict floor has ants floof brings ants spilled pet food dream has a revivebook techno tries to read it first hit with book a small wait throw into lava DreamXD joins broke the table fixed table a god dream "cloned himsef" god looks exactly like dream feels like a question to ask earlier dream summoned dreamxd ask for wish ask for bell dream gets mad because no escape dreamxd leaves sellout timer goes off techno makes money as dream questions his life dream sits in corner hole techno aims to be annoying we count channel members for a bit

dream and techno friend bonding time?

summons dreamxd for reviving nobody dream writes this in his diary as techno rings bell tries again, it doesnt work creative mode is a known thing by mortals they know how deadly it is

warden on vacation

techno hasnt written anything he has at least 4 books in his inventory, going from the top 2nd space to the top 5th space. the fourth book is called information and is signed by dream. dream throws a potato in the lava techno asks for the revive book again, this time to see of dreamxd will come back because it is a different person summoning him dream says no

techno needs a bell to sell out for the *brand*, ritual and tradition dream put the bell in church prime no twitch primes for dream - hes a heratic (no contract) dream makes no profit dream has lots of raw potatos for 5-6 months

techno asks if dream has any friends dream says not really, they turned against him techno knows the feeling being betrayed by closest friend happens every tuesday for techno

dream mentions being visited by a few people techno asks if any tried not to torture or kill him dream says yeah like he wasnt expecting the question/(as techno put it) "he hesitated"

sapnap - didnt torture or kill him - but he said if dream got out of there, then he would - techno says hes gotta raise his standards

bad - was the best - treated dream the best - techno says hes a cult leader - dream is surprised so techno tells him about the egg - techno wasnt clear - bad hasnt viseted since 4-5 months ago - techno says even he has friends - egg was attacked - big crossover episode not clear what is going on

techno - last time they saw each other was dooms day - been a while - lot has happened - techno doesnt now whats going on currently on the server - he knows nothing - "people" tell him who died and who came back

tubbo - asks about tubbo - tubbo is chillng - snowchester named - commune - a little sus - dictator - no rushing to conclusions - tubbo has nukes - big crater - a hoby - could be meteor

ranboo - asks about ranboo - ranboo is also chilling - brings up tubo's nukes now

dream points out that techno said he didnt know anyting and then said about a new place, nukes, and a lot more dream doesnt know anything - less than techno

ranboo (again) - dream says he used to visit a while ago and then stopped coming - techno asks "ranboo used to visit?" - ranboo visited "a bit" - probably visited the most - sapnap visited - tommy visited a couple of times - bad visited - and quackity - quackity visited the most, only because hes visited daily

more potatos pog potatos

ranboo (x3) - techno asks how dream knows ranboo - "um... its just a.. long story" - techno replies sarcastically about how they dont have any time to go through it, theyre so busy with the bell - dream "i dont know him very well. he just visited a few times and that was it." - techno just repeats alright, its either bored or thinking - dream "and then i havent seen him since then so thats why i was wondering where hes been, if hes been around" - techno " ah... im not sure. i havent been around fpr like the past couple of months, honestly."

techno went on  atraining montage, played golf

dream asks about the plan to get out mining fatigue 3 doesnt mean they cant break blocks, its just approximately 370 times longer breaking obsidian takes a bit over 4 minutes math = obsidian block gone in 25.7 hours. an alarm break in the right spot break block in toilet elder guardian below the cell techno can take him if techno somehow dies dream brings him back could be out in 2 weeks havent been visited for 2 weeks nothing to lose dream has to break obsidian techno wants to end stream techno came up with idea so dream has to do it dream starts bell ringing for cheerng him on techno sounds happy that dream is doing it voices are mentioned - theyre laughing techno has perfect track of time techno is gonna annoy dream the entire time techno is a lookout there are only 4 books we only see the 4th name floof interrupts momentarily tommy killed a cat because dream liked it 300 dogs in the cell joke

channel member bell dream regrets his life again techo's plan? bell was a better investment dream has 10 bells in e chest techno doesnt techno wanted to go for more so techno could ring bell again

end of stream

[goodmode]

Favorite Foods/Beverages for your OCs? [DB, Deify and Ponderghast edition]

i dont want this post to get too long so i'm just gonna do dragonsbayne for now :^) (i also dont know if im prepared to talk about what the deify characters' favourite foods are considering im still rewriting the plot as we speak - a lot of cultural stuff i thought was set in stone is actually changing under my feet as i rework the story so idk how it affects characters' tastes yet either. i might answer it someday after i relaunch deify though! same goes for pondergast, that setting is horrendously underdeveloped unfortunately :()

corvidan: mushroom risotto. i still maintain that it's one of the first things he made for his girlfriend when they first met, even though a.) she hates mushrooms and it was a disaster, and b.) the story has sort of shifted/changed from when we were first rping these characters on a fourth wall breaking |ivejourna| community. i still kinda want it to be a part of the canon(TM) because i think it's really funny that both me and my character blundered into The Most Hated Item so immediately and fully. anyway corvidan used to like mushroom risotto well enough but now whenever he eats it he thinks about saft. given that he'll only ever be eating it when she isn't with him, it works nicely as a comfort food

cole: considering how much pub food and street food he eats you'd think he liked it more. and he likes it fine, i guess. he'd never admit to this but some of the best food he's ever tasted has been stuff corvidan made. he's resigned to not touching any of it ever again with a ten foot pole though so that's neither here nor there

kincaid: i think i wrote him drinking wine into the new year story i never finished because my brain was on autopilot and i wasn't thinking about it that hard, but i'd like to take this opportunity to say i think it would be very funny if kincaid the vampire actually didn't care for wine at all. catch him drinking expensive scotch or something. i know this isn't a food but we all know what a vampire's dietary interest is. (he used to really like his root vegetables once upon a time but that went away when he turned)

tahra: she will tell you her favourite food is anything her son corvidan makes <3 and yeah she likes it well enough. but: conrad used to take her to juvelo fairly often and with it being a coastal town it imported all sorts from everywhere, and tahra was always eager to try the stuff with lots of spices and colour and interesting ingredients. now she lives mostly on toast and light nibbles and crackers and cheeses and stuff, which is alright

turo: sometimes his agents bring takeaway food or leftovers to him upon request and if you watch really close you can see him eating slowly and evaluating everything he's eating as he's eating it with a sharp expression. impossible to tell if he's enjoying it or not. the few agents who have paid the bare minimum of attention to turo's habits privately theorise that he's tasting for poison or something. this is not the case but no one really cares enough to pry

edit: oh and lavender likes sweets.  she’ll eat anything but she likes sweets the most

[rhinoswriting]

A Life On The Road - Part 1 (A Luke Hemmings FanFic)

Overview: Elizabeth and Calum have been best friends since they were 15/14 respectively. Elizabeth is from and lives in the UK, but her family lived in Sydney for a brief 2 year period which is how the two met. 

With Calum’s band, 5SOS, embarking on their biggest and most ambitious world tour to date, he has invited Elizabeth along to work as a photographer/content creator for their social media. This is in the hopes that travelling with them and getting to explore so many new cities will help Elizabeth achieve her dream of becoming a full-time travel writer.

Elizabeth is acquainted with the rest of 5SOS but doesn’t know them tremendously well. Obviously that changes as they are all forced to be in one another’s company for the duration of the tour. As the tour progresses and new friendships blossom, Elizabeth feels the connection between her and Luke grow more and more.

A/N: This chapter is a lot of story set-up and introduces you to the protagonist.

****************************************************************************

I lent my upper back against one of the work kitchen walls and peered out of the window beside me. Any other day, the grey curtain of drizzle would have perfectly matched my work mood. But today was not a normal work day for me. Today was my last day in this hell hole. I was finally getting out of here to pursue my dream of becoming a travel writer. I hugged my mug of coffee closer, content in the knowledge that nothing was going to step on my good mood today.

“I cannot believe you are leaving me with these people.” Drew complained as he walked over and lent some of his weight onto my shoulder while cradling his own steaming mug.

“I am sorry that I’ll be leaving you here. I truly am.” I told him, and I meant it, “But you know as well as I do how much this place can drag a person’s mental health down. So when a best friend offers to let you piggyback off their career to help launch you own, you take it and make the sacrifice of abandoning your work husband.”

“I hate that you have a famous best friend.”

“Don’t be a bitter bitch,” I laughed nudging him in the side with my elbow.

Drew and I chatted for a minute or two more before making our way back to our desks at opposite ends of the office. When I got to mine I noticed that someone (probably my manager or Josie, the company busy body) had taken my second coffee break of the morning as an opportunity to place an envelope and small gift bag by my keyboard. As I placed my coffee down I noticed that the people on my bank of desks had swivelled their chairs, and thus their attention, in my direction. I also heard the tell-tale sound of high heels on cheap carpet tiles that indicated Josie was making her way over.

“Elizabeth,” Josie cooed in her usual fake friendliness, “I can’t believe it’s your last day here already! We did a small collection for you in order to say goodbye and give you something to remember us by. It’s been such a great three years and eight months working with you. We’re all sad to see you go.”

“Thanks, Josie. I certainly will miss how precise you are with details.” I said trying not to make my sarcasm too obvious.

I rummaged in the tissue paper hoping to bring this moment in the spotlight to an end as soon as possible. First I pulled out a small, sleek rectangle. Through the plastic window of the box I spied a matte black fountain pen -it was a genuinely lovely pen which surprised me. Next I pulled out a small bottle of Kraken rum -my go to with Coke on work nights out- which was followed by a second, identical bottle. The fourth and final leaving gift was a new 10 shot pack of film for my Instax Mini camera.

“Thanks guys...” I awkwardly addressed the room, “These are all really thoughtful and nice. I love the pen. Uhh, yeah, thanks again. Stay cool and all that cliche stuff.”

I promptly sat down and unlocked my PC to indicate that the show was over and I should now be left the fuck alone.

The company’s internal IM program was flashing at me in orange, indicating I had an unread message.

[Drew Clarke - 10:47 am]  I am so sorry they are putting you through this. You look so awkward. I can see you blushing from here.  It is hilarious though :’D I made such a big deal about the stupid pen they wanted to get you having to be matte black Also my leaving gift to you is that I have done everything in my power to ensure Josie knows nothing about your leaving drinks tonight

I responded with a simple gif of some character I didn’t know mouthing ‘thank you’ to acknowledge his last message and then went back to work trying to complete as much of my remaining work as possible.

The rest of the day dragged on as it would any other day of the week. The only difference was that I had the occasional desk visit from a colleague to wish me luck or let me know they’d be at the leaving drinks Drew had arranged for me that evening. 

And then Drew was at my desk before the clock had even hit 5 pm,

“Start packing your shit up then. We’ve got a bar to get to.”

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

My leaving drinks were actually surprisingly fun. Which was as much of a good thing as it was a bad thing. 

It was good because who doesn’t love people buying them either shots or rum and cokes? Plus Drew and I had had a beautiful drunken moment where we gushed over how much we treasured each other’s friendship and would definitely, definitely stay in touch always, and who doesn’t love those moments? 

It was bad because I got in at 3:30 am, set an alarm for 6 am and left my house for the train station at 7 am with a hangover headache already brewing.

My morning then got worse when I remembered I had to change trains at Sheffield. Non-direct train journeys are enough of a pain without a hangover, rucksack, camera bag and 2-wheeled large carry-on suitcase to slow you down.

When I finally, and ungracefully, settled myself on the platform at Sheffield I glanced around to locate where I could get myself a coffee and some form of breakfast. I had a 50 minute wait until my next train so there was plenty of time to try and nurse my hangover with coffee and carbs before getting crammed into another train and eventually reuniting with Cal in Edinburgh.

I spotted a place on the next platform over with indoor seating and made my way to it. Once inside the warmth of the glass rectangle I grabbed a twin pack of almond biscuits from the counter display and ordered a large cappuccino as well as a breakfast bagel. I then went and dumped all my luggage (promptly followed by myself) down at the nearest table and waited for my name to be called over the mellow jazz music.

Once I had returned to my table with my breakfast order, I opened my phone to check my messages and view the photographic damage from the night before. As I sipped my coffee I opened my photos app and was pleased when nothing embarrassing immediately jumped out at me from the 50+ square icons of photos and boomerangs that I had very little memory of taking. Most of the photos were blurry and every single boomerang was a fail, so I deleted them to save storage space on my phone. There was a super cute selfie of Drew and I, with his fiance, Adam, photo-bombing us in the background. It made me smile so much that I set it as the lock screen on my phone.

Next I moved on to my messages. There we unread messages awaiting me from Drew, Cal, my mum and weirdly my now ex-manager.

Manager Si: Didd u mange t geet home ok?/?. Gd luk w everythin

Work Hubby: I miss you already. Hope you got home safe! Text me by midday so I know you’re still alive x

Mum: Good luck on this big new adventure of yours! Do not forget to call us when time zones allow. Your Dad and I will always b here to support you and cannot wait to see you succeed. Say hi to Calum for us. Mum & Dad Xx

Cal: Hey, hey! So stoked to see you later and have you come oN FREAKING TOUR WITH ME!!! See ya in Edinburgh! X

I responded first to my mum, because I was raised right. I flat out ignored my old manager’s drunk text. I assured Drew that I was still alive because if I was dead it wouldn’t feel like there was a gremlin hammering away inside my skull. I followed that up with a screenshot of my new lock screen. Finally, I replied to Calum:

Morning :) Feeling rough after my leaving drinks last night. Have I already begun my new rock n’ roll lifestyle?! So fucking excited to see you again!! You are not prepared for the hug you’re gonna get! X

With everyone replied to (or ignored in Si’s case) I put my phone face down on the table and tucked into my breakfast bagel. Then as I still had 20 minutes to kill I thought what better place to slap some make-up on than the middle of a train station coffee shop?

Looking and feeling more human, I made my way from the coffee shop to platform 4 as they announced my train was about to arrive. 

I hopped on carriage L, placed my luggage in the overhead rack and settled into my seat for the next 3+ hours. I quickly shot a text to my parents and Cal, letting them know I was on my last train. Then I pulled my noise cancelling headphones on, opened up a relaxing Spotify playlist and promptly fell asleep.

[aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoldretired]

alrighty! im gonna talk about my two new dr!ocs and some updates on sheon’s whole thing. remember they don’t have names yet adkaljasdkfa

SURVIVOR: the ultimate jazz singer. 

as mentioned, she’s the ultimate jazz singer. pretty subdued personality, but she’s the type of jazz singer who would just. scream into a microphone a la screamin jay hawkins. she is pretty neutral/friendly but disconnected in the prologue/first chapter/second chapter. she gets more jittery as the interactions go on. but once you get to the post-fte section of chapter two, that night she actually tries to kill the protag. at this point its revealed her big Angsty Backstory is she got involved with drugs through the music scene and is currently suffering withdrawal symptoms and is Super desperate (something ive seen a lot with my co-musicians and its not good) big breakdown, really delirious, will eventually be talked off the ledge and calmed down. kind of like if sayaka was actually calmed down in thh chap 1

just so happens that during the night whoopsy someone else was killed. so you two have an alibi but to reveal it means you tell everyone about her issues. either there might be a lying feature like in drv3 to cover, or you tell the truth and end up isolating her. for chapter three and most of four she will keep her distance from the protag bc she’s uncomfortable but will eventually reach out to be friends again after chap 4 execution. 

is generally pretty useful during trials, tends to be a person who tries to help calm down more emotional students and look at things logically. is good at trying to calm down the blackened once the protag catches their bluff bc she understands what its like to be desperate. she does, however, cry during/after every punishment. tells others not to speak poorly of their executed classmates. 

she compulsively chews gum, and one of her favorite gifts would be gum. jokes about having an oral fixation. during school mode she might joke about singing love songs but being so awkward about it in real life. really likes dogs, has a dog plushie in her room. 

a first two fte will focus on her health/wellbeing. the third she’ll ask to not talk about that anymore and the next three are just about general stuff. the final one she’ll basically go a little further into detail but the moral of her story is like, she’s not a bad person for doing what she did, no one is. she’s just a person. and it cn happen to anymore.

dresses in clothes more inspired by late mod/early 70s fashion. hoestly im seeing like a turtleneck/pantsuit combo. short curly hair. big heavy under eyelashes. 

MASTERMIND: the ultimate drag racer (ultimate cruiser)

ok but I LOVE him. personality wise he’s the story’s anxious character, think closer in personality to chap 1 shuichi. quiet, skittish, easily flustered, sometimes cracks jokes that fall flat. he’s framed for the chap 1 murder (someone died in a go kart accident, its assumed he sabotaged the other car, his argument is why would he kill someone in a race in front of all his classmates?) the protag obviously works hard to prove he’s innocent. after the execution he makes a promise to the protag that he owes him one big time, and while it seems innocent at the time, the wording should have like. a slight suspicious undertone. 

he’ll investigate weirder areas of the school instead of practical (sometimes he has clues sometimes not) and if there’s ever a mechanical question for a trial, you’ll generally ask him for clarification. he’s not very trusting of others and is often the one to accuse others/bring the information learned in trials back into the real world and make a big deal out of it. for example, he’ll make a big deal about the attempted murder in chap 2, and he’s the one who’s constantly accusing sheon of being a traitor

at first he seems like he’s just anxious, but obviously, he’s the mastermind, and he’s trying to tear the group apart. 

his fte he’s awkward the first few times but he opens up slowly, showing actual comfort/joy around the protag. wants to be close friends. offers to take protag go karting. while their personality is pretty awkward most of the time, there are flashes of an adrenaline junky every now and then especially when talking about cars, where he seems so full of life and drive it’s almost scary. very competitive during these times, his determination almost taking a sadistic glee when talking about beating others. of course he explains it as his cutthroat sport, but ya know...mastermind. instead of saying we’re going to survive he says we’re going to win. friendly towards the others but doesn’t really care about them focused on protag. is consciously trying to seperate protag from sheon.

for a mastermind he’s actually quite the empath and grows attached to his classmates, which he actually takes pleasure in the amount of despair he feels after each of their executions. reason behind the game is the adrenaline rush he feels, never has felt more alive than on despair. he discovered the rush the first time he got in a car accident, and the moments before his crash where like pure bliss. he wanted to let everyone else feel his feverish joy, and talks about how everyone has enjoyed this, deep down. they’re all getting their sick kicks. breaks the fourth wall and alludes to the fact that the protag (through the player) is having the most fun of all. 

final trial where it’s revealed, he’s still v attached to the protag in like an almost yandere way and wants to follow up on the favor he owes from chap 1. he offers a deal to the protag where if they’re welcome to be their accomplice in all this and get out of the game. protag should push to bargain that everyone can give up their morals, sacrifice themselves to despair, and live as the mastermind’s accomplice in exchange for ending the killing game. 

eventually, he’ll agree, but only if the group decides one life among them to sacrifice for no other reason than to kill an innocent friend. the way to get to the correct ending is to choose yourself which will like invalidate the deal. protag ends up dying and everyone else lives. leaves the mastermind in a despair, but for the first time, he does not derive any pleasure. 

takes a LOT OF GLEE in admitting he convinced everyone else sheon was the traitor when she was not, everyone else is horrified.

anyways. his school mode/love mode events show his more likeable side, he can actually be a really cute partner if it weren’t for the part he’s evil but uh. soft sometimes. 

really likes energy drinks. talks about sponsorships. color scheme is like. a black racing suit but his jacket is tied around his waist and he’s wearing a wife beater. tons of accents of neon all over his outfit from like patches and brand deals. backwards hat. blushes easily. has a mullet. i love him. 

“TRAITOR” : SHEON FUKUDA (the ultimate film maker) 

ok so. still antagonistic. but more in the way of pushing your buttons and pointing out your flaws in a trial. like somewhere between antagonist and kirigiri. super chill personality, cracks a lot of jokes, is hardcore struggling with the games and will be open about her mental illness. her fatal flaw is still her martyr complex

is first framed after chap 2 bc of accused of having the ability to direct and oversee a production like this, and from that moment forward no one can trust her and she’s SUPER alienated. she’s still awkwardly trying to be friends/friendly but people act like she’s going to betray them all. tries to prove innocence multiple times going as far as to beginning of chap 3 announce to the group if they need to kill anyone, let it be her so no one else gets hurt and is super transparent about who she is. but this transparency makes people more suspicious. as she goes on she gets more desperate/gallows humor. last convo bfore chap 5 begins she has a vague conversation about with protag about if they fear death. chap 5 would end up being either a suicide or double murder (they killed each other one in attack the other while being defended against) so there’s no execution but monokuma still wants something. its also in this trial that the ultimate drag racer plants evidence taht makes it look like she’s the traitor and is addressed head on. 

a common motif for her is ‘playing the role assigned’ and knowing who she is and who she isn’t. she’s pretty comfortable knowing who she is but expresses unhappiness about being painted a villain. maybe like, three times through the story to this point it’s established as a motif/quirk of fitting a role she’s assigned bc if the protag asks her a question about herself/past/the overall story, she asks the protag a question like well, what do you want 1) 2) and you choose and she’s like. ok. then its _______. same thing here. as she’s finally excused she stares at the protag and is like do you really believe im the traitor? (yes) stares long and hard, somethng sad and defeated in her eyes. ok then. i am.

the trial doesn’t have a punishment originally planned bc the blackened are not alive. but she chooses not to vote and willingly chooses to be punished because everyone else has decided she’s the traitor and she chooses to play along so they can get closure. her last conversation should be about choosing the act of resistance, no matter how convoluted it can be. she doesn’t fear death. the pain sure, but not death. this was her choice to be punished, not the masterminds, and she hopes they lose any glee they take in her suffering because its a sacrifice for hope instead of a death in despair. last request is that she asks for the protag to make sure the manuscripts she wrote during her time are published, the last great work of sheon fukuda.

EXECUTION: CULTURE SHOCK so she wakes up on a soundstage to blinding light. she’s attached with electrodes. monokuma is sitting on a director’s chair with a director’s hat. basically the premise is as the ultimate film maker, she has to recreate different iconic movie scenes and every time she makes a mistake she gets shocked. she keeps on getting thrown into new scenes into the middle of old ones, throwing her off. after a sequence of costume changes/farces she finally collapses in the soundstage. 

beat. she looks up. above the soundstage is a sign that says “congratulations” or something. everyone gasps. she believes she beat it. a single light comes on in center stage prompting her to take a bow. she stumbles over, stands up, and looks into the shadows in the general direction of her classmates. a teleprompter prompts her classmates to clap. she takes glee, soaking in her win, and bows. as she comes up she smiles for a second before a short rings out. she’s shot through the heart. culture shock!

fte are mostly talking about directors/film references and what its like to be a film maker. real dry humor, sometimes talks about deeper stuff. her backstory is that her dad was working for an american embassy so she grew up in america going to art shool, and she feels out of place, despite being a japanese student with the same basic culture as everyone else. sometimes talks about slimeball directors, sometimes talks about missing certain food, loves takling about movies. as a filmmaker she specializes in dark comedy/farce which makes her suspicious of how someone can enjoy writing somethng so twisted

views are very intersectional, a little new agey, but still well put together. clearly a free spirit, very quirky from working in cinema, super dry sense of humor. likes philosophy

really likes blueberry jam. favorite item is somthing blueberry.

after chap 1 trial she expresses to the protag how she can never be the blackened, not just because of murdering one student, but to get away with it, everyone else would be punished instead, and she can’t deal with the blood on her hands. 

is open about her struggles with mental illness and how she was getting help and showing improvement bfore coming here but now she feels herself spiraling and hates it.

values everyone here as good friends, and while she tries to play it off she hates how they’re painting her as a villain. takes every death very personally. 

color scheme is very pastel, and she wears sweat pants and a collared shirt with a light blue robe. you can’t tell if those are pajamas or an outfit. wears rose-colored glasses. all about the aesthetic, just lean so far into film culture with her. personality/feelings towards style are very influenced by the fact she went to an american arts school instead of a japanese school like her peers so every part of her is slightly off/quirky/out-of-touch

she’ll mostly wear the glasses over her eyes, sometimes pushing them down on her nose for emphasis to make eye contact. only her anger sprite (point) shows her taking them off. 

during her execution she pushes them onto her forehead before taking her bow, almost to meet eye to eye. after she’s shot the last frame is them landing on the ground, cracking. 

i love sheon so much

[somebodyhelpthenotdeadfreds]

So. *cracks knuckes* I hear you have an au idea for Gary Green. Could you maybe talk about it a bit more? *crosses fingers* (im terrible im sorry)

 *crackles knuckles* settle down around the fire, I’ll spin a half-formed tale that is slowly growing into a real fic. Inspiration comes from my lovely Discord server and @agentmarymargaretskitz who encourages all my cracky AUs.

So John, Ava, and Gary are out on a mission for the Legends. This is after the whole ‘good and evil’ talk (sidenote: forever bitter that that was not an ONSCREEN conversation but i digress) so the tension between the two is a real ‘will they/won’t they’ mixed with the sexual tension as always. Ava doesn’t want to be here, but somebody needs to be a responsible adult.

Eventually, after *insert bullshit magic yadadada* Gary turns a corner and BAM.

“Gary, what happened?” Ava yells after hearing him yelp.“I - think I ran into a wall,” Gary calls back, rubbing his forehead, touching over his temples because damn, that’s what the pain feels like but - there’s no wall. There’s nothing. It just feels like a migraine.

He goes home that night and the headache has spread to a neck and back ache, as well. Oh well, probably pulled a muscle, it’ll be fine.

For some reason, he eats five eggs (scrambled a little raw) for breakfast and the ache is dull, humming under his skin. His mouth actually waters as Mona passes by his work desk with food for the creatures, he’s - starving.

Nate doesn’t question his eating of an entire can of chicken liver pate, plain, at his desk.

The headache’s back, and it’s worse.

It’s soothed slightly by a rare steak he makes at home, but now it feels like he’s buzzing with energy as he lays drained on the couch.

“I - think I have an iron deficiency,” he murmurs to nobody, as per usual.

There’s a purr from the back of his brain: No.

It’s all he remembers before falling asleep.

For the next three days, he’s basically been eating nothing but protein yet he’s never felt more tired in his life. Nobody says a thing to him.“Sorry Green, got the last 8 O’Clock,” McNeil laughs at him, the treacherous Keriug already filling up his cup. Gary rolls his eyes, but he finds he can’t roll them back forward again as words escape his mouth“You touch my coffee again, I’ll rip your lungs out and feed them to you.”

His eyes suddenly roll forward again and he blinks a few times before giving a high, awkward laugh. at McNeil’s startled expression. 

“You - you know me, not the same without morning coffee!” He takes whatever’s in the communal pot and sits back down at his desk, shaking his head and blinking a few more times. He gets through until lunch until he - suddenly blacks out.

He wakes up again in the afternoon, in the empty bathroom on the -3rd floor that nobody ever uses, covered in blood. That’s enough to make him panic, never mind the three empty pint containers of blood, a fourth in his hand and all over his mouth.

He stumbles out of the stall and washes his face in the sink, and when he looks up his reflection is smirking with coal-black eyes. He rubs his eyes and turns away, that purring voice pressing behind his temple. 

Hello.

“Uh, hi. What - who are you?” he asks, because damn his ingrained politeness.A friend.“I - I don't believe that.”Gary. All I want to do is help you.“...could you - not, do that,” Gary muttered, cleaning the messy stall.It’s taken longer to gain any control over you than normal humans.“...sorry?”Pure souls are hard to break.“I’m - not - a virgin, if that’s what you mean.”Oh, I know. You think about it a lot.“Don’t - don’t read my thoughts!”Too late. You’re tired, let me - drive. Close your eyes, let me-“No! Shut up!” Gary says too loudly out loud as he walks into the break room. He grabs a danish and scurries back out of there to avoid confrontation.

And instead of that, he walks right into John Constantine, looking ruggedly handsome (like always dammit Gary shut up) while he’s got crumbs all over his lips and dark circles under his eyes.“Hey, Squire,” John smirks with a cigarette between his lips even if the building’s nonsmoking. Gary opens his mouth to respond back when that awful migraine, like claws sinking into his frontal lobe, returns and he winces.“Sorry, migraines,” he explains in a rush, heading back to his desk without another look his way.

It’s too much to deal with, he opens the door to Ava’s office, knowing he looks like a wreak and she’s - so annoyed to see him, it’s so obvious, and he tries to explain, Ava, Boss-Lady, I’m - I’m sick, I’m sick, something’s wrong - “something’s wr-”“Gary, just go home,” Ava says curtly, going back to her meeting with the Legends. He lets the door close and heads on the walk home alone, only his feet carry him somewhere else.

When he’s finally back in his apartment, eating through two packages of raw lamb, the voice comes back.They’re mean to you.“I - they’re my friends, I was - I was being annoying.”Friends shouldn’t do that.“You - what do you know about friends? Where - where are you from?”Hell.“Okay. Okay, that’s normal. Why - why are you inside of me? Oh, no, that came out wrong.”Reasons you can’t know, not yet.“...cool. Look - look, don’t bother possessing me. Look at me, I’m worthless. I trip over my own carpet four times a week sober.”I...can help.“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”People deserve it.“I don’t need to hurt them, though.”Humans are dumb, Gary. All of them. You, not so much.

It’s weird, to have this conversation with essentially your own brain as you speak out loud and then have words and voice that aren’t yours come out of your mouth.

Give me a chance to take control. I’ll give you what you want, then you can let me what what I want, the demon says. (Gary’s calling him Joe, because his vocal chords cannot replicate the name that swirled in his brain)

“...you get one day to convince me,” Gary states firmly, and no sooner do those words leave his lips then his vision goes black.

When he wakes up, it’s to everything he’s ever wanted in the world. The A/C’s never on the fritz, the neighbors are quiet, the shower always has hot water, the apartment’s bigger, and there’s - a blonde warlock in his bed that kisses him before Gary has to leave for work.

He has his OWN office at work, his own Keriug, he’s employee of the month and number one agent, all the bells and whistles and everyone is actually glad to see him and greet him, even Ava, even all the Legends. Everything is so goddamn perfect, especially a visit from said blonde warlock in the afternoon, in his lap in his own office, smiling that rare real smile.

And then John Constantine says to him, Gary Green: “I love you.”

Gary sits straight up from where’s he’s been out cold on his couch, gasping for air and he doesn’t know why, he just knows his heart is racing because - 

What’s wrong? It’s what you want.“It’s not,” Gary whispers, lying but not lying, picking up his phone. “I don’t want lies. I don’t want to be lied to.”

It’s 6 o’clock. He’s been MIA an entire day and a half. There’s a single message, from Ava, at two in the afternoon: Gary, why aren’t you at work? You need to call if you can’t come in, remember.

That’s it. Nothing about his well-being, his whereabouts, about him.

Gary throws his phone into the opposite armchair and cries into a stupid throw pillow he got as a stupid giveaway at an office supply store. Not even a housewarming pillow.

There’s a hesitant warmth, just under the degree of burning, under the skin of his aching shoulder, spreading down his back.I want to help.

“How?”Whatever you need.

The knock at the door and the British accented “Gary, love, you awake?” sends Gary scrambling to shove bloody wrappers under the couch, quickly rinsing his face off before answering the door even as the voice hisses Noooot Constantine. “Hush,” Gary whispers harshly before throwing the door open.

John takes in Gary’s red-tinged eyes, dark circles beneath those, the general paleness and exhaustion. “Weren���t around today.”

“Sick,” Gary offers quickly. “Think - I have a bug. I’m fine, don’t - your’e not worried, duh, just - thanks, thank you for - checking in.”

There’s something - wrong, John can’t put a finger on it, but just nods in agreement. There’s too long a pause before the goodbyes, enough time for an embrace or a kiss, but neither offers either option. The door just closes between them afterwards.

I said humans were dumb, Gary.“Not - not all humans.”You aren’t. John Constantine, of all the humans, is the dumbest.“Hey, no, don’t say that stuff.”Yes, because you want to fuck-“Do - NO, that’s not why-”I can read your thoughts. Humans usually don’t break out of those fantasies like what I put you in. Why did you?“...it’s not real.”The warmth wraps around his arm, if that were possible. This is.Gary actually smiled. “...yeah, it is.”

Apparently, it’s easy to get used to possession, so long as your demon stays well-fed. Bloodlust can be avoided as long as there is actual blood to consume. Gary knows this butchery too well by the end of the first two weeks.

We should kill him, the demon tells Gary when McNeil steals the last K-cup again.“No, I said we wouldn’t do that....unless we had a reason.” Truth be told, he’s probably on borrowed time before he finally kills, he knows that. So far, the blood’s working to keep him satisfied.You hate him. That’s a reason. Or the man downstairs for being loud. We can rip his lungs out.“Not gonna happen.”

Ava’s in a very important business meeting with Mr. Heywood, and Gary’s leading the Legends to the waiting room outside her office to wait it out.

“So what’s this about?” Sara asks him.“Boss lady won’t let me say, you know that.”“Mick.”Oh god, Gary thinks before his vision tints into black tones.Before Mick can grab Gary, all he sees are Gary’s eyes visibly turning solid black for a brief moment before he has one hand in Mick’s collar and holding him up against the wall and snarling, “I said to WAIT.”

Then he shifts back and looks terrified for a second, dropping Mick down and offering sheepishly with a laugh, “I - sorry, no coffee. Did I mention I’ve been working out? Gotta run!”

He’s out of there, “What was that?”He was bothering you.“How did I do that?”I did it.

Then Gary’s flicking his hand to the right and McNeil’s chair spins out of control and he falls out of it onto the linoleum, precious coffee spilling everywhere.

Gary smiles despite himself. “We can’t do this a lot.”But we can do it?“...we can do it sometimes.”

For more, stay tuned for the upcoming fic!!!! Whew, I hope you like this NOVELLA that I answered you with!

[tumblunni]

okay to talk about EXACTLY HOW i would handle giving charon a big good boss fight and also sympathetic backstory and redemption and all that jazz

there are approximately ten million words beneath the cut, and also ten million raspberries in my shampoo, and these charon thoughts are just as sweet as that

alright so ALREADY i kinda did feel like he was sort of a friendly enemy when i first played the game?? like his Thing of being the constantly never fightable dude actually was kind of sympathetic in a way. it always just felt like he was Chilling Out and not giving much of a shit about being evil and also had nothing personal against you the player. he doesnt follow any of cyrus’s big philosophy and he’s clearly only here for the money and really phoning it in, and that kinda makes him not your enemy at all, even though he’s on the team youre fighting. Like I always found it a good establishing moment that in the Valley Windworks when they first introduce “hey this time there’s two galactic teammates here” and all, CHARON IS STANDING DIRECTLY IN EYELINE OF YOU RUINING EVERYONE’S PLANS. he’s just standing there! and of course he’ll never do anything to warn mars about you, the game just isnt programmed that way. but it fits really well with his character if you think of it as an intentional thing? just imagine this random gramps sitting there drinking tea while all his teammates actually Care About Things and Use Effort. He’s always criticizing team galactic’s plan too and like WHY IS HE DOING THAT TO YOU if not because Nintendo Wants Him To Be My Best Friend ok. Like he doesn’t fuckin trust anyone on his team so why would he spill the beans about his big secret plans he has to make money off of this villain plan and then bail before they actually do all the dumb shit with legendaries and such. Yes ok its PROBABLY just because its a videogame and they need to exposit stuff to the player that the character is probably just thinking and not saying out loud. But wouldnt it be so much better this way!!!! Also even when you finally face off against him personally in the postgame for his actual dumb money plan he’s still like ‘lol fourth wall breaking time im gonna not have a boss battle cos if you beat cyrus’s ass i aint got no chance’. Dammit nintend i still wanted to fight him but thats endearing so i cant stay mad at u! And he has several lines during it with stuff like “i like seeing children trying so hard BUT YOURE TOO LATE” and “youth like you can live in idealism but for me its all about the money”. Like man u remember that time i had a big angry rant about how his manga version was super OOC cos they didnt just choose to make him eviler but made him murder a child? like the only time anything involving children is mentioned in canon its him being mildly more polite to children!!! MILDLY FRIENDLY! LET ME HAVE THIS...

okay so YEAH the first big change would be just giving him more screentime and more fleshed out character in these early scenes. Make him a full on friendly character who is technically on the opposite side but has no beef with you and no loyalty to the greater plan of his team. So he’s just comically like “oh hi again! yeah lol today’s plan sucks huh?” and makes idle conversation while the main character villain admin of the day is actually doing important plot stuff. like have him along for everyone’s scenes not just mars at the start, dissappear for hours until the very end. And yes definately keep the thing of the game constantly lampshading that he’s a new character for the third version of the game, and everyone in the team thinks he’s useless and forgets he’s even there. it was annoying in the original game cos he actually didnt get any love from the writers themselves, but yknow you could give him an expanded role and rewrite that stuff to be more like “oh poor guy he’s the underdog”, yknow? am i the only one who felt inherantly sorry for him?? i mean he’s a tiny grandpa!!! and he looks so sad on his official art!! Oh oh and also add the additional running jokes and expanded characterization he had in his very brief anime appearance, which was honestly the only well written part of the entire team galactic arc. It fleshed out a bit of his relationship with jupiter who never really appeared alongside him in the game except to say “im not teaming up with you” at the end. Having the context that she finds him annoying cos she’s very serious and also very dedicated to cyrus so she hates this opportunistic bastard pretending to be dedicated when its an obvious lie. And also she thinks his laugh is obnoxious XD Oh also I liked how they expanded upon that one scene of Saturn being sarcastic at gramps and made it into an actual thing that him and charon most often work together and have a mutually sassy dynamic. I found it humanizing that anime saturn is very serious but can comically overreact to very minor teasing from this grandpa! I thought that was better than the games where he’s just serious or the manga where he was 100% changed to be 100% silly and kinda stole charon’s personality for reasons i will never understand.

ANYWAY! IN SUMMARY! show scenes of charon being endearing by being not really interested in the big evilness, being underdog-y by always failing at his smaller evilnesses and getting disrespected, and also maybe drop in some more interpersonal relationships between the admins to hint that charon does indeed have some friendship going on even if he’s a tsundere bitch who’d never admit it. Also maybe the other thing from the anime where they made him a cool computer guy? cos srsly it was lazy that the games just said “he’s the science” and never clarified wtf he actually does at his job. cos cyrus is already a science boss??? he kinda already did most of the big sciencey plans?? why does he need this man if its not for mechanical or legendary pokemon stuff OK HEY MAYBE COMPUTERS! also its funny to imagine him being a memey blogger but sun and moon actually made faba canonically that so i dont think you could improve on him. TAKE NOTES FROM BEAN MAN, NINTENDO

Also maybe you could hint at the rotom backstory before it actually happens? like could just show some mild implications that he is sad, cos the ‘friendly enemy’ thing would already be decent foreshadowing for him potentially having a soft spot. “Wah i am an emotionless evil money man” says local villain, while gossipping with Dawn about his coworkers and sharing lemon squares. But like I mean i don’t really want him to be LITERALLY that, i still like him being grumpy and guarded about his secret good heart. I’m just saying “friendly” as in.. sort of a disconnect between what he says his personality is and how he actually acts. The stuff he actually says is very grumpy but like.. hey he’s saying stuff to you when he doesnt need to, and nobody else on this team is casually talking to you as if youre not an enemy. Like he’s SUBCONCIOUSLY friendly and doesnt realise it? He’d never SAY “i am lonely hello please talk to me” but he’d sure as hell walk over to you and talk to you anyway. About grumpy things! Grumpily! And maybe express occasional compliments in a sort of “haha im surrounded by idiots you’re way more down to earth than all these adults who act more like children”. Cos in that fourth wall breaking moment he has, he respects that you’re a badass and decides thats why he’s not gonna have a boss fight. “You’d just kick my ass, so lol fight these grunts instead while i run away and do my evil plan” That is the kind of sympathetic charon i want!! He’s doing a douchey thing by breaking the script of how boss battles work and making everyone else fight you instead even though he knows that they’ll lose. But he’s also likeable because breaking the script of boss battles is unexpected and comedic! And he’s also accidentally being complimentary to you so its like SIMULTANEOUS JERK AND NICE AT THE SAME TIME. Thats the good stuff!! That quality grumplegramp content!!! if he got redeemed and just 100% changed his personality to lose all the sass and sneakyness then that’d be boring yo...

OKAY WHERE WAS I? Okay hey once you’ve established that, maybe now you have a basis for the sad foreshadowing!! Like you could have one scene where he’s suddenly NOT friendly, he’s not just grumpy in the funny sort of way but actually seems cold and stoic and actually does something useful to the team’s mission or whatever. Sort of a ‘whoa what’s wrong with him today’ thing and it could be subtle cos on the first playthrough you’d just think he was being a jerk cos he’s a jerk and all. but maybe it happens on a scene of team galactic doing some evil plan in eterna forest/other place that’d potentially relate to the rotom sidequest. like he’s just really fuckin depressed to be reminded of his one big failure in life. OH maybe it could actually be at the unnamed junkyard thats mentioned in his backstory but doesnt actually feature as an area in the original game? It could make sense that it’d be part of their plan cos team galactic attacks various energy sources and other technology related places to find the stuff they need to make the big world erasure machine. could just be simply them robbing some old generator parts after their attempt to take the whole power plant failed.

Oh and also maybe add a lil something to his last scene at the galactic lab? Cos like.. what we already have in the game has potential to be a moment where he did a good thing but no its not. Like when you look at it, hey he kinda helped you out here by being all “hey lol saturn the kid is here, bye im not stopping u, feel free to take the lake trio”. Even if saturn is the one who actually SAID feel free to take the lake trio and actually had a good hint at redemptiveness moment and all. Please never take that away, that was good, you just coulda had both of them do it, yknow? And we dont wanna make charon go full good guy all of a sudden when he hasnt even finished his characetr arc, so instead make it more of a moment where its like “im a bad guy but this is going too far”. Like maybe ACTUALLY HAVE A PAYOFF for the foreshadowing that he has no loyalty to cyrus and is blatantly plotting to betray him at some point. He never actually did!! He only tries to capitalize on cyrus already being defeated in an entirely optional sidequest that fails at delivering a proper payoff.

So hey! My idea! Add some complexity here by making it clear that charon is evil in a more petty and mundane way and not in a.. like.. actually dangerous way. Once things start getting actually dangerous he starts chickening out! Like he’s a jerk who does mean things to get money but he’s just MEAN and not friggin murderous or worldending. Give him a moment of “oh shit cyrus was actually serious oh god how do i get off of this train”. Like it seemed that he never really believed that team galactic would ever truly create a new world, and he certainly didnt give a shit about it, he just thought he found an easy opportunity for a paycheck in some dumbass’s deluded plan that’d never really work. But OOPS i guess it actually is happening, oh fuck! Give him a bit of a crisis where he realizes what he actually helped this man do, but not like a full on “everything ive ever done is bad and i dont wanna be evil anymore”. Not YET! Just friggin.. “oh fuck i cant spend money if the universe doesnt exist and also i am dead”. “PLEASE HELP ME CHILD, CYRUS IS GONNA TAKE AWAY THE MONEY!!” xD It’d be fitting for his character and a good light moment of comic relief after the emotional and dark stuff happening around this section of the game. Like he already kinda does that by having that scene of saturn snarking at him, but it could be even more funny! Move the first him and saturn bickering scene to earlier on and have this be like a satisfying scene of saturn actually winning? cos in the anime it was always charon being smug and making fun of him while saturn gets all grumpy about it, now it could be the reverse with smug charon having a breakdown and realising his whole money plan is in shambles and its his own fault.

Also maybe it could have additional payoff with Charon actually helping you take down cyrus? Again, not actually because he’s switched sides but because he's still evil but evil for different reasons than cyrus. That good ‘reluctant teamup with minor goofy villain to take down big actually scary villain’ thing. With the added bonus that the minor goofy villain is objectively a worse person than the scary villain and the scary villain is still redeemable, as opposed to in the manga where they used this same trope in the form of “cyrus is good now and we’re making charon the big scary villain to prove how good cyrus is cos charon is worse”. That was dumb. It was especially dumb cos WHY ON EARTH would you pick charon for this??? like they still had moments of him being comedic and wimpy yet at the same time wanted us to believe he was legitimately threatening? ANYWAY my idea for this is that charon’s computer skills could pay off and it could be something like “oh i always put a failsafe kill switch in my computer just in case i need to grab the money and run”. Like him being a paranoid untrusting selfish asshole was actually the reason he was able to save the day! Also it would explain why cyrus’s machine only fails and summons giratina in platinum version. the manga actually did say that charon sabotaged the machine so thats one actually good thing that came from it! Congrats u filled one plothole while making twenty more XD

OH and perhaps this same section could also foreshadow the rotom thing? like I was thinking about how he could actually choose to give up and let you take the lake trio and have it still be 100% in character. It could be an extension of his “shit, i didnt think things would get this serious, please save me from the consequences of my own actions!” moment. Cos I think that any normal dumb greedy money man would still be horrified at the idea of mutilating a thousand year old majestic unicorn of mythology and then flushing it down the toilet when it outlives its uselessness. Like he doesnt do it because he wants to help you save the day or anything, just cos the idea of killing the lake trio is just too evil for even him. It could be kind of a meaningful moment about how cyrus is doing all this for good reasons yet they caused him to do these actions that are even more evil than the actual dude with evil motives. And maybe you could establish this through a scene of him and cyrus inetracting, which could also help amp up how intimidating cyrus is, in preparation for the big climax? Have charon trying to wimp out of “disposing of the useless specimens”, but cyrus is having none of it. Like it could start off funny with him making up loads of other excuses cos there’s no way he’d admit he’s having Feelings and all. “Wait but let me have them! if theyre useless to you then i can just sell them right?? ha ha thats the only reason im saying this, lol you know me i’d never be swayed by any sentiment” But cyrus sees through it instantly and gets right up in his face like fuckin Raw Cold Fury, no you are NOT going to disobey me. He is PISSED OFF because the only reason he kept this useless senile old bat around is because he’s the only one in this group who isn’t a simpering moron at the mercy of their pitiful heart. If you can’t even do that, then what’s the use of you? So everything charon tries fails and all he accomplishes is getting fired on the spot for even TALKING ABOUT defying his boss. And cyrus just orders saturn to dispose of the lake trio instead. Saturn of course is smarter and says nothing in defiance, but then the both of them work together to let you take the pokemon and just act like they failed to stop you rather than doing it on purpose. And its kind of an uncharacteristically quiet and intense moment between these dudes that are usually at each other’s throats with funny banter. They’re united for a moment but for very different reasons. Charon knew that cyrus wasnt a good guy from the very beginning and he just underestimated him, and is now feeling in over his head and worried this could be the end. And saturn always thought cyrus was good but is starting to struggle with doubts. And maybe charon actually tries to warn saturn about it? Like “hey i knew this all along but i never told you but HEY CYRUS MIGHT ACTUALLY KILL US ALL” and saturn starts on his usual speech about cyrus being the greatest but he starts to question it and AAAAA! but ultimately this moment isnt the moment where he makes the right choice, and he does end up going back to cyrus and continuing the plan. and also charon is on the edge of actually doing something good and trying to stop cyrus’s big ol doom time (albiet for selfish reasons of No Money In The New World) but he also wimps out from this chance and instead decides to grab as much cash as he can and run the fuck away, as if its even possible to outrun the destruction of a whole dimension. but at least him and saturn agreed on the lake trio rescue operation, thus their moment of almost-redemption helped the player even if they didnt actually turn good. AND then you’d have the surprise moment of charon actually stepping up at the last minute and doing his thing to sabotage the machine and all. which again doesnt really solve the whole thing and doesnt really make him turn good but at least it downgrades the threat from ‘cyrus actually succeeds in destroying the world’ to ‘okay we just need to deal with a slight case of poke-hell and one collossal centipede’. Srsly man sinnoh’s plot has the highest stakes cos in platinum you straight up actually fail and cyrus actually would have destroyed the world if not for giratina! Oh and also a random note is that i think it’d be funny if charon helped you out while still running away? like you just learn about the machine sabotage being his responsibility cos it flashes his goofy hacker logo from the anime or something. Maybe instead he hacks your Poketch and is like HEY HELLO IM GONNA SPLODE THE THING BUT NOT COS IM A GOOD GUY, BTW I AM A SAFE DISTANCE AWAY PLEASE DONT LET CYRUS KNOW I DID THIS

SO YEAH! whatever! whether or not we get that added bit of teamup with charon in the climax, we’ve still given him a bit more screentime so the player actually remembers him and actually cares about doing his optional sidequest in the postgame. so him not having a boss fight would be less of a letdown and all. But having the teamup plot would be a good opportunity to turn the wifi event into not a wifi event! maybe during his panic charon drops the key to his secret lab and thats how you get it? cos really it makes no sense at all that the magic wifi gods can just hand you something you’d have no idea existed and never have an opportunity to get. none of the other wifi items are literally a thing owned by a significant character that needs to be teleported out of his pocket by plot magic! Also it sucks that a chunk of important backstory would be hidden in a wifi event so if they still wanted rotom’s alt forms to be a wifi event then JUST make it the ability to get the forms and not the charony diary bit. Cos it makes no sense that the ENTIRE REASON CHARON EXISTS is to introduce the rotom form event yet you’d have no clue he was connected to rotom until after youve already finished the event. It gave no damn indication you had to take the key to this particular dude’s lab in team galactic!! ANd click on an otherwise unmarked wall!! Put the diary somewhere else and hey there’s a Charon Clue(tm) and now you can actually find the damn event, there you go, fixed. Also annoying cos nothing in the event tells you you have to go somewhere entirely different to catch the one rotom in the game, and click another unmarked piece of scenery that only has a staticky screen to indicate rotom if you happen to be playing at night. Seriously this is why serebii.net was such a lifesaver!!

Okay so WOOP there we go, here we are at a point where the player has seen more of charon and had oppotunities to grow to like him as a character and be suspicious that maybe he could have some sympatheticness. And if he drops an Importante Key Itemme right before the end of the game then thats a hint that postgame stuff exists involving him, and at least one clue where to find it! All the rotom diary stuff would play out exactly the same except that its less of a hell to find, lol.

BUT THEN the big difference in Stark Mountain is that now you have the full context of charon’s backstory and the game actually reacts to you having that knowledge. Like maybe if you dont do that step first then either charon never appears at stark mountain until you do, or you get an abbrieviated version of the quest without the redemption plot? I was thinking actually maybe make it one of those daily repeatable quests, to avoid the player doing the quests out of order and permenantly losing the chance to redeem gramps. Like if you dont see the rotom diary then instead of a big actual quest you just get some five minute “oh we’ve seen team galactic sneaking around stark mountain, defeat them for Some Money Or Something hey thats weird that they were only stealing money hey yknow who’s all about the money? charon! maybe go follow up on his Importante Key Itemme to continue the plot.”

SO THEN once you return Emboldened By The Knowledge Of Good Gramps, you get the proper thing. And... it would actually play out totally the same as in vanilla platinum. Charon doesn’t have a boss fight, all his minions leave him and say he sucks, he gets anticlimactically taken out by someone else in a cutscene, and his last moment is someone making a crack about him being so frail and useless that the hot volcano breeze could knock him over.

BUT THAT ISNT THE END

Its just a fake out that its gonna have the same funny ending as every other charon appearance, and the same lack of him being remotely threatening.

cos NOW WE FINALLY GIVE THE MAN A GODDAMN BOSS FIGHT

and yknow how i said i hate the manga where he’s all super evil and owns three legendaries and kills a guy? okay take away all that stuff but KEEP THE MOMENT OF GRANDPA GETTING TO DO SOMETHING BADASS FOR THE ONLY TIME EVER

Maybe he surprises everybody by actually not being down for the count! And by now he’s just SO pissed off from a whole game’s worth of failing and being disrespected that he does something desperate and stupid at the last minute. If he was meant to be the dude who invented the red chain, maybe he could use it to control heatran even if looker took away the magma stone? like i feel it’d be in character for charon to secretly steal a prototype red chain for himself during the whole “oh fuck my boss is legit destroying the world i need to get out of here” thing. Grab some stuff to sell now your last paycheck is dissappearing into an ominous void, lol. He didnt expect to actually be using it, and if the actually completed red chain puts enough stress on its weilder to make them cry blood then this thing must be even more risky to use! so its a really huge holy shit moment of tiny gramps actually doing something intimidating! and his boss fight could actually be using heatran and actually having heatran get to goddamn appear in this sidequest. it was soooo underwhelming to have to return thru the dungeon a second time to actually see heatran, this time without any story stuff to break up the long walk...

also this entire thing could be a great climax to his character arc and sort of a moment of “okay THIS was actually his motivation all along!” Cos I always felt like Charon’s real motive was low self confidence? Like he’s always on about money but he seems to focus more on SUCCESS instead. Fame and success. “Ha ha i am the greatest scientist and i want people actually aknowledge me” is a thing he repeatedly brings up and also that other characters directly demonstrate in how they act towards him. It just feels like he thinks he can buy that with money if he’s failed his whole life in earning it. And the old “acts egotistical because he actually hates himself” character archetype would work really well as a sympathetic interpretation of his character. It would be like how he’s ‘subconciously friendly’. The thing he actually does (being boastful) is because of a different reason (not believing his own lies and being super insecure about his self worth), but he keeps it so well hidden that not even he realises that its really what he feels. Similar to how he acts grumpy because of a different reason, because he actually DOES want friends and he’s just guarding his emotions under a million walls cos he’s scared of being hurt again. And scared of how he knows he’s a weak willed person who might betray his friends again for his desperation for money. Which is really a desperation to feel valid as a human being, which is really just ‘i want friends’ again under another coat of paint. So depressingly he caused his own problems because of the same character trait that was once a positive in his life! I think he works well when interpreted from that angle, he’s like a dark subversion of a pokemon professor or of your classic ash ketchum figure. Like “the power of friendship” is what turned him evil, and also turned him into a guy who acted awful to his friends. And it could add to this thematic thing if “loving pokemon” was also referenced throughout his plot in a negative sense?

That’s actually one other good thing about the manga, they removed his greedy grumpyness (bad) but replaced it with the same motive as the villain of the 2nd movie (weird flex but okay). Aka “a guy who collects legendary pokemon just as trophies and has forgotten how to treat them like genuine friends”. Even if that wouldnt be his main character concept in this hypothetical rewritten game, it could still be a secondary trait that’s used to suppliment the main emotional arc. Like instead of just saying “money money money” you could flesh out more scenes of him actually talking about HOW he’s gonna get the money and what he’s gonna use it for. Via collecting all the rare pokemon, and to collect more rare pokemon. Which will somehow (in his twisted cynical perception of how the world works) make him a person of value and get people to respect him. It could also tie together pretty much every scene he already has! Cos his backstory is finding this pokemon friend... who was a rare unknown species. And maybe as a kid he decided to become a scientist initially just out of excitement to learn more about his new friend and show them to the world! But then the realities of the difficulties in being respected as a scientist gradually wore him down and he became more cynical, more obsessed with recognition, more believing that the only way to get it was by being an asshole and he’d just get taken advantage of if he kept being soft. And he started to forget why he really wanted that fame in the first place, and instead it just became an obsession, a vain hope that he’d hate himself less if he accomplished his life’s dream. When really from the player’s perspective its obvious that even if he succeeded he’d still be depressed when he realized how he’d lost everything in the process. And it’d be a more realistic sort of way he could have turned from a good kid to an asshole gramps. There wasnt any single day he suddenly made the decision to change, it was just a gradual wearing down of his morals over the years. he became more obsessed and more cynical that normal moral ways of doing things would never get him what he wanted. he started making small sacrifices to his personal sense of morality, and eventually reached the point where he’d completely abandoned it all without even noticing the gradual change. And somewhere along the way he forgot that he started this because of his pokemon friend, and discarded it as “not good enough” in favor of this vain quest to acquire a million other rarer pokemon and just friggin put them on a shelf to boast about them and feel less empty inside. And then also his redemption was a gradual change too? After he reached that point of completely betraying his own sense of goodness, he gradually got sadder and more tired with living this way. By the time you see him ingame he’s not remotely happy with being evil and he’s just a poor dude who’s deluded that being evil is the only way to escape the sadness rather than the cause of it. And thats why his whole ‘oops im accidentally subconciously befriending my coworkers and also the enemy’ thing kinda set him on the road to eventual redemption, cos its the first bit of small upliftingness he’s had in ages. sorta recharges his Ability To Care and he starts realizing what he’s doing and feeling regret. But yeah throughout the main game he never actually acts on his doubts and just repeatedly misses the chance to get redeemed and makes you Kinda Frustrated, similar to zuko or peridot’s redemptive arc? And ultimately reuniting him with his old best friend and showing him that its not too late to fix what he broke = the actual catalyst for his changes to fully stick and he completely switches to the good side.

BUT ANYWAY thats why he needs a boss fight first!

Something like 50-70 years worth of self hate and frustration from devoting himself to a super incorrect way of defeating that self hate, and sacrificing EVERYTHING for the sake of it, and being disrespected the entire time, and being terrified that you’re getting old and running out of time, and almost dying to some guy’s weird void plan, and losing the only thing you had left aka the team galactic job and a few maybe sorta kinda friends you had, and now being disrespected AGAIN by those same people you thought were friends (but never actually admitted it to them) and then also bitchslapped by a frog?? Also this place is real fuckin sweaty?? Yeah stark mountain is a great climactic point for his entire frustrations to boil over and be a bigger eruption than the actual volcano!

Thus we have Grand Dad Gets Serious And Has An Actually Interesting Boss Fight!

but also grand dad is being emotionally open and whoops accidentally might be tearing down those walls he built up around his big ol soft as fuck heart

like the battle would possibly be more ‘you talk him down into giving up, realizing he was wrong, quitting being evil, and going home to his friend that he misses so much. and finally realizing that thats actually the only way he could ever really defeat the self hate that drove him this far in the first place. also he’s not worthless and his friends always believed he was the awesome dude he always wanted to be’. Yknow, rather than actually defeating him and all. I mean you still do that but i think it’d be a case like with the giratina fight where even if you lose or run away you get the same result, just slightly altered text? Just as long as you come here with rotom in your party your victory was already a foregone conclusion. you just get a really cool boss fight as your reward, yknow? cos seriously I WAS WAITING THE WHOLE GAME FOR THAT DAMN BOSS FIGHT!!!

obligatory link again to the cool song i think is a great summary of all of my headcanons for this man’s character arc and would also be badass backing music for a hypothetical boss fight:

context: it makes more sense if you imagine it as his own internal thoughts of all the stuff he’s been running away from accepting in his own feelings. and/or what he THINKS that the player and rotom would be saying to him, so he’s shocked into speechlessness by the fact that they actually do think he deserves a second chance and has the potential to be good.

actually that could be a really good ending to the fight!!!

like when you get through to him and convince him to stand down, he cowers in fear thinking he’s gonna get the karmic payback for everything he’s ever done. and he tries to run away from reuniting with rotom. half of him is scared that his friend hates him and the other half is.. well..

i think it would be thematically appropriate to end it with a hug

just an image of this lil toy robot pokemon hugging this scared old man, and he’s just so empty and doesnt know what to say. its the last thing he ever expected. and then his shock turns into pain and sadness, as he was really the most scared that his friend actually would forgive him. that everything he ever did really was all for nothing, and he should have done this years ago and saved all that lost time. he’s so scared because he thinks he doesnt deserve forgiveness and he doesnt know what to do now its happening. so he just lets out all those tears he’s never cried over all these years, and the scene ends with him desperately hugging his best friend and never wanting to let go ever again

And then that’d be the big moment that was really the turning point for him, though of course that wouldnt be the end of his redemption and if there was any further postgame content you could show various scenes of him atoning throughout that. or just some images in the second credits scene after you beat the postgame stuff. i’d kinda like if there was some moment of him apologising to the rest of team galactic and joining them in their attempts to rebuild the team into something good. and maybe an extra postgame segment where this redeemified team goes on some bigger quest to try and rescue cyrus from the distortion world and heal his pain too. i think you could get a lot of good scenes out of a redeemed charon being along for the ride! like you’d obviously have cyrus being skeptical that this dude really has changed so much, and probably an extension of that earlier scene where he’s pissed off that the one guy he thought agreed with him about emotions being foolish is actually being the most emotional of everyone. but i think because of that they could also have scenes of relating together and actually starting to form a friendship in the end? like i can see charon feeling guilty for never trying to reach out to cyrus before, and also believing really strongly that cyrus can be redeemed cos like ‘yo i’m way worse than you and i was able to change, please believe that its a possibility for you too!’ Also cyrus likes machines so i think he’d be happy to meet rotom and become friends. And he has that whole grandpa related backstory so it might help a lot towards healing those scars and reuniting the two of them if he starts forming a friendship with a different gramps? THERES A LOT OF GOOD THEMATIC LINKS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT TEAM GALACTIC MEMBERS THAT ARE NEVER EXPLORED IN THE ORIGINAL GAME

also in the original version of this plotline it was a fanfic/fangame idea of an alternate universe swap where dawn/lucas/other customizeable protagonist is a galactic grunt instead of the hero. so a lot of the details were different but in that version the protag was literally adopted by whichever galactic admin they picked as their main friendship route. entirely because of self indulgent ‘i wish these guys were my dad/sister/grandpa/whatever’ feels cos sinnoh helped me thru a tough time as a kid. soooo i cant really do that charon grandpa idea where he also renovates the Old Chateau into a ghost pokemon sanctuary and becomes like an actual good pokemon professor. (also rekindles his friendship with prof rowan and agatha from the kanto elite four cos thats just a random headcanon i have) BUT i could still do all that except the part where he adopts u cos canon dawn/lucas already has a mom lol. And i think it’d be more fitting of canonverse protag to adopt Cyrus? Like obv in the canonverse itd probably be the main boss of the team who gets the bigger redemption plot and is canonically the best friend EVEN THO for tumblr user tumblunni in particular it is All Grandpas All The Time. And i like the idea of Cyboy being a survivor of child abuse who tries to become a good dad just like his parents werent. But i also like the idea of dawn’s mom adopting him as her new big brother and him getting to experience a genuine loving family for the first time! I think itd work that way cos cyrus is meant to be 27 even tho he looks older, and i dont think dawn’s mom is that young and also i just see no chemistry between them as any sort of ship. (and headcanon cyrus as asexual anyway) But also the family does still keep in touch with all the other galactic friends!!!

hhhh i wrote So Many Word just about grandpa redemption holy shit i’ll probably die if i try and cover all the other teammates now

ok i will leave it here but just know i also have Deep Headcanons about all of them, even if charon gets the most. somedaayayyyay i will share with you more!!

[bandomgay]

My brain to yours pt.1 b.u

Tw: blood,gore,self harm,violence,hallucinations,slight mention of an ed

Au: hey babes this is gonna be my 5th time trying to post this and i want death so bad...however if there is any confusing things or typos or things seem to quickly paced im sorry thats just my brain babey! Enjoy...i guess

Word count: 1,894

It all started when he was about 6 years old, he never spoke ever,not that he couldn't he just wouldn't, his parents were worried about his development,however nothing was ‘wrong', he had a quite developed thinking process for a child, but it wasn't a good one for his age nor was it a normal one,no child should be so terrified of talking to people and being thought lesser of as his voice shook violently while trying to say the easiest of sentences.

he understood people to early into his young life ,he got the memo that everything was too stupid and too hard to understand so he gave up . his mother took him back and forth to hospitals and child psychologists ,his mother scared for what was to come of him could this weirdness she didn't even have a name or diagnosis for develop into something more as he grew? She thought, would he be normal? Would he be like the other children who laughed and giggled at the littlest of things? Would he be happy like them? She had decided to push her concerns into the back of head deciding that maybe he was just awkward it's okay to not fit in hes a fucking 6 year old boy maybe it's not that deep.

he was now in the 3rd grade now and teachers became more and more loud and responsive with their problems, he thought maybe whatever bad stuff they had going on at home they just needed to vent threw aggressiveness and shaking hands and restless mornings,but however it was their screams he didn't care for, he looked them in the eye wondering what he had done wrong, however he didn't care enough to continually think about it, but he realized slowly that couldn't feel anything like the red faced teacher did, he’d envy the poor mannered teachers feelings if he could, just how they could get so angry and fed up with kids who were disgusting and vile and how he never felt that…... he never felt anything at all .Now he was in the 5th grade he had to repeat the 4th grade due to staggeringly low grades and his failed attempts at homework he never seemed to have remembered. Things were getting hard to remember, so hard to remember what the teacher had said in the classroom that seemed to fade away after he was picked up by his mom and the sheer silence of the drive home and his mothers sneaking looks into the mirror with furrowed eyebrows at her son who never told her how his day went.

In school it was just so easy just to drift off in the land of dark swirls and dark worlds filled with make believe that he couldn't separate from the real world that never seemed to go away and darkness he felt comfort in his head till he heard nothing but the disgusting laugh of a teacher who had looked as if she wanted to deck him in the face ( he imagined about 3 different scenarios of how that actually could have occured, he held back a giggle and a sly smirk) as she snapped her wrinkled hands in his face “earth to brendon” he heard the aged feminine voice laced with anger repeat twice but he had failed to tune into the first reminder he was too dissociated to notice, he came too but didn't understand her reasonings of not just leaving him alone and let him rot and break free and he soon heard the fits of laughter coming from children he knew he was too weak to stop.

he wanted to do terrible things to everyone in that very room including himself, a dark desire he couldn't contain from his mind but he never followed through with these type of thoughts. he could never seemed control them he thought of them like messages being sent from an unknown source in the back of his head that had an invisible connection to someone he could see but nobody else could he dared himself if he could just pull at the cord in his head he wouldn't have those those thoughts, the figure never showed up in the same form it could be the shadows of dirty rain water coming from outside showing like a projection on the dingy beat up wall rising above him to claim a mental dominance , or the rotten stain of mold on the bathroom floor that now seemed to have a charming glow yet secretive smile or the bag of dirty clothes that sat high up on its rounded edges now smiled at him and watched him threw the night .

now it was the 7th grade and things had went to shit,it was already shit but it had gotten no better, fits of depression had left him wanting to call a hitman on himself and letting himself be cut open so all the organs in his body to be shot out of him or rip his jaw and everything behind it out of his body but he was too fatigued to think about it anymore his brain seemed to have stopped working back in the 6th grade, he could never think clearly a heavy fog on his brain he could never do much for himself he found the most simple of things he couldn't do, he couldn't pay attention, he felt dizzy at random times becoming feverish and not thinking about why because he couldn't think he thought process lessen and lessened with every passing day until all there were was thoughts of gore and death,sadness and the never ending thought of killing anyone or anything that had managed to make him want death even more.

he just continued to fade in and out of reality staring into the wall for to long or unknowingly staring at the couple of people who he thought was calling him pathetic and worthless with the contradictory voice telling him he's so much better than the disgusting people he saw and that they didn't deserve to smile they don't deserve happiness even though they’d never even spoken a word to him, they were never mean to him. he started pinching,stabbing,pulling at his hair,clawing at himself hard trying to see if he could care that he'd just hurt himself he continued to hurt himself hoping somewhere in the back of his mind he start to feel things, to show him he's real everyone sees him, but his inner self knew what he was doing he wasn't just trying to see if he was a real person he was punishing himself because he couldn't do what the rest of the real kids could do he couldnt plop himeself in a hard metal chair and take a test without thinking about what a disgusting person he was, without hearing them say he wasn't shit that his brain is mush that he couldn't understand the easy directions how he could get so angry and mad without hesitation how he could imagine killing his parents im cold blood… he stomped on his own foot,why is he thinking about this why is he thinking about this why, they creeped back up on him showing him images of his brother and sisters dead and gutted his parents choking on blood and vomit pale and dying, he hated himself for thinking these things,but if it was possible for him to be completely honest with himself he didn't care if they had died or not he just didn't have the ability to care.

He couldn't look people in the face without seeing these images of grewling faces pushed together in piles of pink and red flesh crawling into each others organs which looked rotten and distorted, why was he seeing this things these disgusting things these things… he wouldn't admit to himself that everytime he looked in the mirror he tried not to vomit he tried to hard, he bashed in the mirror bloodlying his hand, his hiss echoing in the empty bathroom he couldn't go to the nurse he couldn't look her in the eye and see her like that, besides he was on the first floor and he was too weak to go all the way to the fourth floor he knew he would pass out, he felt something pooling in his stomach it was anxiety he felt the cramping in his stomach and the salivating in his dry mouth, he vomited into the sink, he hasn't eaten anything in about 3 weeks so the pain of dry heaving for almost half in hour into the sink made him dizzy and ultimately pass out. he had now awoken to bright lights that made him nauseous and whimper, he was in the hospital again. he tried so hard not look the nurses and doctors in the eye and seeing horrific images in his mind of them dead, rotten maggot filled and bloody be he regained his ability to see the normally after a while.

“Brendon honey…” his mommy's voice was there “mommy...hi mommy” he said in a broken whisper. She had realized he never calls her mommy unless something's wrong he wasn't aware that he was, he turned to the right finding an iv carefully placed into in scarily pale arm “honey...they found you in the bathroom your hand was cut up...you where passed out what...t?” she silenced herself for a moment seconds later starting up again. “They found you in the bathroom..the mirror was broken and your hand was cut pretty deep and passed out” he mouth trembled a bit, she moved his sweaty bangs out of his forehead, he felt wetness on his skin his own uniform shirt clinging to his skin he was sweating.

He didn't feel real he didn't respond properly to what she had said he only looked away.. And said “dizzy….everything hurts…” he was so surprised he felt something but if feeling was like this he didn't want it. “I d..don't wanna feel like this..can you make it stop mommy please?!” Nani was absolutely terrified she'd never been so scared for her little boy, “its gonna be okay,sweetie...i swear..to god i swear…” in this moment if she was honest she didn't believe there was a god, no god would do this to her son, she turned around after hearing the door and hard footsteps.

“Hello ms. Urie im dr. Yakima, i will be assisting and diagnosing your son” she nodded softly wanting her son to be okay. “Hey son,open your eyes for me,i'm here to help” brendon heard a much more distorted version of what the doctor had said than nani did, but then again he was fading in and out. He handed her pills and said firmly “these are anti-nausea and pain killers i'm gonna give these to him and he will feel much much better i promise..” He was right it with his cocked up eyebrow and charming smile that sparkled with calmness and reassurance that worked its way into nani. the medication  worked but not instantly. “Sit up honey..” She said softly, he followed what she said slowly with a wrecked groan and intense muscle pain however there was no rush.

[gameboyrocket]

Splatoon: The Outcasts - Episode 10: “The Rekindled Flame” (FINALE)

Continued from Episode 9: “The Extinguished Flame”

SPLATOON: THE OUTCASTS

Episode 10: “The Rekindled Flame”

           Amber, André, Marjani, Felicity, Caroline, Moruga, and Jolokia were all organized in a circle around the perimeter of Caroline’s kitchen – with too few chairs to go around for everyone to be able to sit at her sizable kitchen table, they had all simply opted to stand. Moruga’s arms were crossed and a sullen grimace creased his face, breaking up the dark scar lines below his eyes and on his chin, and Caroline was next to him, tapping her foot in agitation with her arms likewise folded.

           André and Jolokia were standing next to each other, with André keeping his arms folded like his former captain and teammate, and Jolokia holding her hands together, almost as if she wasn’t certain what to do with them. She was observing André intently, her expression fraught with worry. Amber and the other Outcasts each fell somewhere between Caroline and Jolokia’s expressions, with Marjani leaning more toward Caroline’s barely-contained rage and Felicity more closely resembling Jolokia’s delicate concern.

           Moruga clenched the sleeves of his Forge Octarian Jacket in his hands, as if he was trying to prevent himself from being able to use his fists to physically lash out and smash something within arm’s reach. He gritted his teeth as he looked to Caroline, hoping that her gaze would help him maintain his cool. “Well, Captain?” he asked. Caroline looked to him and nodded slowly. André unfolded his arms and looked to Caroline, trying to avoid frowning as she turned back to him.

           “We came here to meet with you guys because we were hoping you can help us do something about it,” he continued, having just finished his retelling of what had happened to him two days earlier: After a tactless thug of a man claiming to be an acquaintance of Spice Splat’s fourth member, Butch Fontina, had attempted to intimidate André into throwing any Turf War matches against his replacement, he learned that his dismissal from Spice Splat two years ago had, in fact, been fraudulently manipulated by Butch’s uncle, Salvatore Fontina.

           “We don’t have any pull with the League,” he explained, “Not as a first-season team with two rookies in the lineup. We need you guys to help us investig–” Caroline raised her hand to stop André, cutting him off. “I’m gonna level with you right now,” she started once he had paused, but before an awkward silence could set in, “We are way ahead of you.” “Way ahead of… you what?” asked André, flabbergasted at her response.

           “Did you guys know about this shit already?!” shouted Marjani, pointing an accusatory finger at Caroline, “And you didn’t tell him?!” Caroline shook her head, having lowered her hand and leaving her arms unfolded. “No, I mean we already started an investigation into this whole thing,” she revealed, “Right after it all happened, almost two years ago. We all suspected something was off, so Moruga and I went to the League the day after André left and voiced our concerns.”

           “De League found reason enough to believe us an’ handed over what dey could to help,” Moruga added, “We have all de original complaint submissions an’ security footage of de days where dey were dropped off at de League offices.” Felicity raised her hand, as if in a school class. “You don’t have to do that,” replied Caroline. “I-I just didn’t want to interrupt,” insisted Felicity, “Didn’t André say that the League wouldn’t let you know who submitted the forms, so that no one could retaliate?”

           “That was the League’s ‘reason enough to believe us,’” Jolokia finally spoke up. Moruga nodded before Caroline continued. “That’s the thing: There was no ‘who,’” she explained, “Every single form was submitted anonymously.” Amber and Marjani both looked to each other, a mixture of surprise and skepticism on their faces. “Moreover,” continued Moruga, “We compared handwritin’ an’ wordin’ across dem, and it was all nearly identical, like dey had been mass-produced by a small group of people.”

           “You guys didn’t take that back to the League?” asked Amber, “That’s unbelievably suspicious! We even thought of that before coming over here!” Jolokia shook her head. “The League was only able to investigate while the case was still open,” she replied, “Since André was already… since we had solved the issue the complaints were about, the League couldn’t open an official investigation of their own. That’s why they left it to us. Well… mostly to Caroline and Moruga.”

           Moruga released his sleeves from his vice-like grip and began to dig in his left pocket. He removed a small hard drive from it, along with a cable for connecting it to a computer. “I spent hours editin’ de security footage down to just de people going in an’ out of de offices an’ droppin’ off anythin’,” he continued, “But wit’ no names on de forms an’ no one we recognized in de footage, we hit a wall.” “Let me watch the footage,” André proposed, “If that guy from the other day is in there, that’s evidence he wasn’t lying.”

           Caroline folded her arms and looked over to Moruga. “Even if he’s in there, that still might not be enough,” she pointed out, “For all we know, he might’ve just been a courier. Even if we could track him down – without knowing who he even is, I might add – there’s a chance that his handwriting might not be on any of the forms, and that’s a waste of time for everyone involved.” She breathed in and out slowly to calm herself and turned back to the others. “We need to go deeper,” she continued, “We need proof, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that all this stuff really was Don Fontina’s doing.”

           “And for that, I think we need an audience with the man himself.”

           “An audience?” Moruga questioned his captain incredulously, every muscle on his face creasing into a scowl, “Yuh think yuh can get an audience wit’ Salvatore Fontina, one of de richest men in de city, an’ ask ‘im nicely to confess to committin’ fraud, just like dat?” Caroline smirked at her second-in-command, a hint of her inner irritation showing through the cracks. “Oh, it’s not gonna be nice,” she retorted.

           Moruga set the hard drive down on the table and put his hands together behind his back, taking a step toward Caroline, maintaining his stoic and skeptical expression. “Are yuh suggestin’ what I think yuh suggestin’?” he asked in a hushed tone, “If I know what yuh’re thinkin’, Captain, dat is a very dangerous idea.” Caroline glanced to André, who was raising his eyebrow, as if he could tell where she was going with this line of thought but didn’t dare ask if that was the case, before looking back to her right-hand man.

           “Fontina won’t let us near him if we don’t, and we don’t have enough solid evidence of meddling for the League to intervene, just some suspicious complaint forms, André’s testimony that no one else can corroborate, and footage that may or may not have one of Fontina’s lackeys whose name we don’t even know in it,” Caroline explained, “Without absolute proof, he’ll deny everything, unless we get him to slip up, and if Butch takes after his uncle, the easiest way to do that is to piss him off first.”

           “Piss him off?” asked Amber, taking a step forward, “What exactly do you have in mind to piss him off?” “Don Fontina and Butch live in a mansion over on the east coast of the city,” continued Caroline, locking eyes with her junior captain, “We’ve been over there a couple of times before, courtesy of Butch. It’s this big old place with a huge foyer, a courtyard, and two main wings, an east wing and a west wing, full of valuables, all kinds of–” “Dammit, Humboldt, what are you thinking?!” shouted Amber, “You can’t possibly think it’s a good idea to–”

           “–To trash the place?” replied Caroline, “It’s the only way I can think of to catch the guy with his pants down. I’ve met him; we all know he’s a scumbag with one of the biggest reputations in the criminal underworld, and he knows he has enemies. But he thinks his mansion is the safest place in the city for him; he’s even got respawn points installed in the foyer and the staff quarters at the back of the mansion, just in case. It’s the last place he’d be expecting us, and that’s our best bet at getting him angry enough to admit to anything.”

           “An’ den what?” asked Moruga, leaning in toward Caroline, “We just shake hands an’ go home? Report ‘im to de League? What will dey do?” “We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it,” replied Caroline staunchly, “Right now, we need to take some kind of action, and I don’t know about you, but I feel like letting off a little steam.” Moruga gritted his teeth and loomed over his captain even more, getting almost uncomfortably close to her face as his glare was menacingly shadowed by the way he’d angled his head.

           “De consequences will be severe, Caroline, even if we get ‘im to admit to it. Yuh have no exit strategy, only an axe to grind,” he argued, “Dere’s no version of dis where we smooth things over wit’ de authorities after de fact. We’ll be vandals; we’ll almost surely be banned from Turf War entirely. If I may speak freely, Captain, dis has got to be de single most half-baked idea dat yuh’ve ever had.”

           “I’m open to suggestions if you’ve got any better ideas, crabcakes,” replied Caroline, standing her ground despite Moruga’s attempts to talk her down, “But it takes a lot to piss me off, and having my team’s Roller taken away from me qualifies.” Felicity shifted uncomfortably, almost as if she were going to raise her hand again, before clearing her throat to speak up. “Um… what about Butch?” she suggested, “He might be able to arrange something.”

           Amber shook her head. “But he might get defensive if we start throwing accusations at his uncle. If we have to resort to more drastic measures like what Caroline’s suggesting, telling Butch at all might ruin our chance to get to the Don,” she responded, “We have to consider that once we let Butch in on all this, we can’t undo that. We don’t know if he knew about this, or where he’s going to stand if he didn’t. I hate to say it, but I think we can’t tell him what’s going on.”

           “Either way, he probably won’t be happy when he finds out,” interjected Jolokia. Marjani scoffed, nonchalantly itching her ear as she spoke up. “Yeah, well, he’s an ass, anyway,” she argued irritably. “Hey, now, chill out. You guys don’t know him like we do,” retorted Caroline, “He puts on a tough face, but he’s just trying not to look like a weakling.” She glanced over to André to see his reaction.

           “He’s always talking about you, you know,” she added. André’s eyes widened slightly, taken aback by her comment. “Me?” he asked, unsure of Caroline’s meaning. “He practically never shuts up about you. Always going on about wanting to earn your respect. I think he just wants you to acknowledge him as a worthwhile replacement,” explained Caroline, “He’s been in a funk ever since that match we had at Walleye, just after the Splatfest. I don’t know what happened between you two there, but he’s been kicking himself over it since then.”

           André scratched his head awkwardly as his expression fell slightly, his mouth contorting into a half-frown and his eyes betraying a sense of guilt. He sighed and lowered his arm. “…Maybe I had him figured wrong,” he admitted. “Even so, we can’t assume he’ll be on our side,” added Amber, “If we go through with this… there’ll be no going back.” Moruga shook his head. “…None of dis will end well, Captain,” he pointed out again.

           Caroline shot Moruga an irritated look, as if she was somehow surprised that he yet thought she was unaware of her own folly. “We’ve wasted two years not being able to do anything about this, Moruga!” she argued, “I’m done waiting for a legit way to set things right! We finally know that it was all fraud and who’s responsible for it! Do you want us to just do nothi–?” “–However!” Moruga interrupted her sternly, silencing her in shock with his tone.

           “Moruga Oaxaca is no coward,” he continued, “…I will not back out an’ let yuh do somethin’ so reckless alone. If I cannot convince yuh otherwise, I swear to make certain yuh do not get yuhself killed doin’ dis. It is not a good idea by any stretch, and we’re hardly justified, but I have just as much a bone to pick wit’ de Don as any of us. If I cannot quell de winds, I will be de eye of de storm.” Caroline smirked slightly at Moruga’s conclusion and turned to the others, specifically Amber.

           “Amber… You three don’t have to be a part of this,” she urged, “This is something that happened to the four of us. Your Turf War careers are just getting started; you shouldn’t risk what you guys have for our sake.” Amber simply stepped forward, shaking her head. “Listen here, Humboldt,” she asserted, looking to Marjani and Felicity for their looks of approval before continuing, “Like it or not, André is an Outcast now. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, so we’re gonna be there for him.”

           Marjani and Felicity exchanged glances and nodded to each other. “Count us in,” agreed Marjani, “The more, the merrier, right?” “André’s like the big brother I never had,” added Felicity, “I can’t chicken out now.” André turned away from the others, gulping quietly as he blinked back the tears, trying to avoid drawing attention to himself. “André…” Jolokia whispered softly, putting her hand on his arm as he controlled himself.

           Turning back to face his friends as he quieted his breathing, André could see that they all had their eyes on him. “Alright, big guy,” Caroline consulted him, “You’ve got the final say on this. I know you might not want us to go through with this, but we’re not gonna let you take the entire weight of the world on those big shoulders of yours. Not again.”

           André smirked, shaking his head. “If Moruga can’t convince you, what hope do I have?” he asked, “Truth be told, I’d rather avoid you guys all getting wrapped up in this, but we’re at a stalemate with making this right if we don’t do something. I’m tired of having to hide how I feel about this. I want Don Fontina to know he messed with the wrong team.” “Then it’s settled,” replied Caroline, “We’re all in? Moruga? Jolokia?”

           Her teammates both nodded in unison as she glanced between them. “Alright,” she continued, “Moruga, Jolokia, the three of us will get back together here around seven. You four get together at André’s and meet us at the mansion about half an hour after that. Everyone, bring your Turf War weapons and your A-game. We’re gonna make Don Fontina regret ever crossing Spice Splat.” The others each nodded and made their way out of Caroline’s kitchen to the apartment door, leaving the room one by one.

           André, the last one out, looked back into the room, leaning down slightly so that Caroline could see his head under the door frame. “You’re absolutely sure about this?” he asked. “André, you guys were the ones who needed convincing,” replied Caroline, “It’s not smart, but I don’t care anymore. It’s been too long, and we went through too much to just take it sitting down and try to get past a bunch of red tape.” André nodded. “If you’re sure,” he relented, “We can’t afford to hesitate. Tonight, it’s no-holds-barred.” He rose a few inches back to his full height and followed the others down the hall toward the apartment building’s exit.

           Caroline inspected the pieces of her Refurbished Mini Splatling, still laid out on the table after she had disassembled it for cleaning earlier, before the arrival of André and the Outcasts had delayed her planned routine. “No-holds-barred…” she murmured contemplatively as she picked up and stared at a small screw that still bore a small trace of blue ink on its end from Spice Splat’s match that morning.

             Marjani breathed out a cloud of smoke upward, tilting her head back as she did. “Slow down there, luv,” Spyke chuckled, “S’not goin’ nowhere. ‘Ere’s still plenny where ‘at came from. An’ yer gonna ruin my poor, lovely rugs blowin’ it up at ‘em like ‘at.” Marjani grinned. “Sorry, it’s just…” she muttered, “I got places to be, people to see, you know?” “Oh?” asked Spyke, sipping whatever alcoholic concoction his associate Nico had mixed up for him, “Now you’ve gone an’ piqued my interest. What’s goin’ on, luv?”

           Marjani paused briefly, wondering if she should tell Spyke the truth about what the Outcasts and Spice Splat were planning. “No, wait, lemme guess,” interrupted Spyke before she could speak, “S’a boy, ain’t it? You’ve got yourself a date, I bet?” At this, Nico, sitting adjacent to the two with his own cigarette, raised an eyebrow and looked at Spyke skeptically. “Wot?” protested Spyke, “S’a good guess, ain’t it?”

           “It’s not a fuckin’ date,” laughed Marjani, before taking another puff from the joint Spyke had rolled for her, “We’re, uh… well, we’re gettin’ together over at the Fontina mansion.” “‘We?’” asked Spyke before taking another liberal sip of his drink, “An’ who, pray tell, is ‘we?’” “My teammates,” replied Marjani, “And, uh… Spice Splat.” “Spice Splat?” Spyke pressed, “I fought you an’ yer teammates hated Spice Splat. At leas’, I know you do.”

           “S-somethin’ came up,” replied Marjani, dodging the question as best as she could as she realized that perhaps she’d said too much, “Things have, uh… changed. So we’re all gonna get together tonight and trash– uh… get trashed over at the mansion.” Nico glanced back and forth between Spyke and Marjani, his eyebrow raised once more. “Nico’s right,” said Spyke dubiously, shaking his head, “Yer not tellin’ the whole story.”

           Marjani’s face contorted slightly at Spyke’s accusation. “That obvious…?” she admitted, “Alright, fine… can you guys keep a secret?” Spyke grinned, looking to Nico with his head lolling. “Can I keep a secret, she asks,” he chuckled, “Well, I know I can, but I don’t know ‘bout ol’ Nico ‘ere.” Nico narrowed his eyes, looking at Spyke in confusion, as though he either didn’t understand the joke or at least didn’t find it nearly as humorous.

           “Alright, so…” Marjani started, “…We’re actually gonna fuck the mansion up. We found out the Fontinas were behind André gettin’ kicked off of Spice Splat a couple years ago, so we’re gonna get even.” “The Giant Squid?” asked Spyke, sipping his drink again. “Kraken,” Marjani corrected him. “Right, Kraken, same fing,” replied Spyke indifferently, waving his hand at her response. “No, it’s not, a Kraken’s bigger,” insisted Marjani.

           “No, it ain’t, ain’t it?” Spyke argued, “‘Sides, ‘e’s a giant squid an’ a Kraken user, wot’s it mattah?” “‘Cause that’s not what people call him!” replied Marjani, “They call him ‘the Kraken’ because his Kraken’s fuckin’ huge! I mean, like, seriously, you ever seen that thing?” Spyke shrugged. “Only on TV,” he conceded. “Dude, gotta say; it scared me the first time I saw it, but it’s awesome when he does that,” continued Marjani, grinning once more as her voice trailed off. Nico simply looked between the two and shook his head as the conversation lulled to a sudden stop.

             Felix straightened out his skirt as he inspected himself in the mirror. He took several deep breaths as he tried to calm himself. He was scared out of his wits at what he’d gotten himself into, but he couldn’t let that stop him, not anymore. He knew he couldn’t get cold feet now; André and the others – the people who had accepted him upon learning the truth about his dual life – were counting on him to fight alongside them, and he would never forgive himself if he backed out and one of them got hurt because of it.

           The others had all been trying to hide it – except maybe Caroline – but Felix could tell that they were as nervous as he was about what they were about to do. Still, he wanted to look his best. Mafia or not, he had no plans of going in looking disheveled and terrified. He had redone parts of his makeup a couple of times already to make sure it was perfect. He inspected his work in the mirror again just to be sure.

           Feeling mentally prepared, Felicity turned away from the mirror and adjusted her outfit one last time. She made her way over to her bedroom door and reached down to pick up her Squiffer in its tote bag and sling it over her shoulder. A sudden unexpected knock on the door caused her to jump slightly. “Sweetie?” asked the soft voice on the other side of the door. Felicity cringed as her heart skipped a beat – how was she supposed to explain all of this to her mother?

           The door began to swing open before Felicity had prepared her alibi, and she could barely react in time before she was face-to-face with her mother. “Are you–?” Ms. Quinn began to ask before seeing Felicity before her, “–Sorry, I thought you’d be more dressed down by now.” The two paused for a moment as Felicity froze up, her voice catching in her throat.

           “Actually…” continued Ms. Quinn, “You look more like you’re getting ready to go out somewhere.” “I-I…” stuttered Felicity, “…I a-am.” “At this hour?” Ms. Quinn questioned skeptically, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms, “And when were you going to tell me?” “J-just now,” replied Felicity. “A little last-minute, don’t you think, sweetie?” asked her mother. “Y-yeah, sorry,” murmured Felicity sheepishly, “I-I almost forgot.”

           “Where are you headed?” asked Ms. Quinn, standing back upright and stepping back into the hall so that Felicity could follow her. “W-we’re, uh… getting together with André’s old teammates,” Felicity explained. “Team Spice Splat, right?” Ms. Quinn continued, following Felicity down the hall, “Is that why you’ve got your bag?” “Mm-hmm,” Felicity confirmed, struggling to keep her cool, “Moruga’s gonna… teach me how to disassemble my Squiffer and put it back together.”

           “Moruga is their sniper, right?” asked Ms. Quinn as the two descended the staircase from the loft balcony overlooking their living room, “The tall, dark, and handsome one?” “Oh my gosh, Mom,” giggled Felicity as they reached the living room, “Please don’t say that again. Moruga is… well…” “Oh, don’t you say it,” Ms. Quinn jokingly warned her, “…You are right, though, he’s much too young for me. And I can do just fine on my own, anyway.”

           She paused, folding her arms. “…What about you?” she asked casually. “M-me?!” stammered Felicity in surprise as the two neared the front door, “Mom!” “I-I’m sorry, sweetie,” Ms. Quinn suddenly retracted her insinuation, “I-I didn’t mean to assume. Y-you just don’t talk about dating much. I don’t know if… well…” Felicity sighed, hanging her head. “I don’t know, either…” she admitted, “I’m just… still kinda trying to figure me out.”

           She turned to face her mother and looked up at her before glancing down again and taking a step forward to embrace her mother. Ms. Quinn reciprocated the hug, smiling warmly. “But I do know that I love you, Mom,” Felicity continued, “Th-thanks… for everything.” Ms. Quinn squeezed her child just a little more tightly. “Aww, sweetie…” she fawned, “I love you, too. What’s this all of a sudden?” Felicity pulled away, trying to avoid crying so that she wouldn’t have to waste time doing her makeup again.

           “I-I just felt like I needed a hug, that’s all,” she reasoned. “Well, there’s more where that came from when you get home, if you want,” replied Ms. Quinn, her hands still on Felicity’s shoulders, rubbing them affectionately. “Mm-hmm,” Felicity smiled as her mother lowered her arms back to her sides. Felicity turned to open the front door.

           “B-bye, Mom,” she stuttered, keeping up her grin as best as she could, “I-I’ll… try to be back before curfew.” “Say hi to everyone for me,” replied Ms. Quinn as she smiled back. Felicity closed the door behind her, sighing once on the other side as she set out to return to André’s apartment, where the two of them were to convene with Amber and Marjani.

             Amber swam up through the thin ink trail she had painted on the side of the building swiftly and stealthily, making sure she hadn’t been seen as she leapt out of her ink at the top and landed on the stone-covered rooftop. She made her way over to a small water tower located on the building and dug her left hand into her hoodie’s pocket. Producing a tiny metal box with a magnet on one side, she opened it up and unfolded the piece of paper she’d placed inside to re-read it one last time:

 Maverink, I don’t know when you’ll get this, and I don’t know where I’ll be then. If things somehow go really, really wrong, I might even be dead. I hope not, but it might happen. If I get out on the other side of this okay, I’ll leave another drop to let you know as soon as I can, but you’ll probably come check up on me at my apartment before then. But if something happens to me, I want you to know that I’m sorry for everything that happened. For disappearing the way I did without telling you; for not being there after Commander Haliphron was KIA; for trying to run again when you found me.

 I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye on everything, and I regret never apologizing to the Commander for that, either. But it’s like you said; I’m all you have left of Mother and Father, and ever since I saw you again, I’ve been realizing that you’re the same for me. I’m sorry that I forgot that and tried to leave it all behind. If I can’t see this through, I need you to do something for me.

 We’re going to be taking on Don Salvatore Fontina and his mafia at the Fontina mansion tonight. Two years ago, he wronged one of my teammates by getting him kicked off of his old team with fraudulent complaints, and we’re going to get back at him for it. I know, it’s stupid and petty, but he’s gone too long without paying for the things he’s done, not just this. If we can’t do it, I need you to step in. We’re going to try and do this our way, but if that fails, I need you to pull out all the stops.

 I already risked drawing attention to myself with the incident with Felicity’s dad. “Miriam” has to lay low now, and that limits what “Amber” can do to try and get Fontina. But you have the means to operate outside the law more freely than I do right now. Please do whatever it takes to bring him down. Find whatever you can to help someone nail his ass for all the criminal activity he’s done. You found me through investigating Felicity, so I know you can find something on him. If you have to, just splat the bastard, but I’d rather that be a last resort. If we can avoid it, I don’t want anyone to die for this, not even him. This should be about justice, not revenge.

 If something happens, I want you to know that I love you.

Miriam

             Amber sighed as she refolded the note to her brother before placing it back inside and closing the box. Reaching underneath one of the supporting struts on the water tower, between two of its four legs, she used the magnet to affix it to an inconspicuous spot on the inside, where it would wait for Maverink to find at some point within the next few days.

           She stepped back, checking to see if she could see any part of the box at a glance in case, for whatever reason, someone other than Maverink came up to that rooftop first, and stuffed her left hand back into her now-empty pocket again, her Octoshot shaking in her right. Her bottom lip quivered as she fought back the tears, turning around to leave the rooftop and rendezvous with the others back at André’s apartment.

             André led the other Outcasts as the sun set behind the city’s skyline. It was an unusual change of pace for the team, whom he often lagged behind to avoid overtaking them, but today, he and the others all walked with purpose and resolution. Taking the back roads to avoid drawing stares, the group made their way down the sidewalk, the outer wall of the cliffside Fontina Mansion on their left.

           Spotting Moruga and Jolokia ahead, André glanced back over his shoulder. “You guys ready for this?” he asked, “…Last chance to go home.” Marjani rolled her eyes in annoyance. “How many times do we gotta fuckin’ tell you?” she repeated, “We’re not goin’ home!” “Language, Marjie,” Felicity reminded her teammate, “…Though you are right. We’re not leaving you here to do this yourself.”

           Amber breathed in deeply and exhaled softly, trying not to draw her teammates’ attention. “Right, Cap?” asked Marjani nonchalantly. “H-huh?” Amber stuttered, clearly distracted. “Yo, you okay?” asked Marjani. “Y-yeah,” replied Amber, “It’s just been a while since I saw… actual combat. I’m… I need to psych myself up for it again.” “Oh, geez, that’s right,” Marjani realized, looking back to André.

           André stopped and turned to look Amber in the eye. “You’re sure you’re up for this?” he reiterated. “Oh, don’t you give me that look,” Amber rebuked him in a hushed tone, her confidence now clear in her voice, “I’m the only one of us with real combat experience. If anything, I’m the only one here who shouldn’t be nervous. I’m trained for this. I just need a minute to get myself back in that mindset, and then you guys will get to see what I’ve been holding back in Turf War.”

           André turned back and continued the last short stretch down the sidewalk to where Moruga and Jolokia were waiting, looking around in confusion. “Where’s Caroline?” he asked, “I thought you three were all coming together.” Moruga shook his head. “She sent us on ahead to do some scoutin’,” he replied, “Wanted us to confirm dat Don Fontina is even here tonight.” “And?” asked Amber.

           Jolokia nodded. “He’s here,” she revealed, “…But so is Butch.” “What do we do about him?” asked Felicity, “Wh-what if he… he wouldn’t… would he?” Moruga shook his head. “Butch values what we have,” he stated, “I doubt we’ll end up against him. If we see him, we need to take precautions not to hurt him.” “Ugggh,” Marjani grumbled. “Do not even think about it,” Moruga emphasized, pointing to Marjani sternly. “Fine,” she relented, “But if he shoots at me, I’m not gonna just sit there and take it!”

           “He won’t,” retorted a voice behind the Outcasts, “I have faith.” André and the others turned to see Caroline, just as she was arriving. Her usual smirk had returned, perhaps due to what she was lugging with her: A massive Splatling, far larger than her usual Refurbished Mini Splatling. The Outcasts’ jaws dropped as André began to reciprocate his former captain’s grin. Moruga simply shook his head with a small smile of his own.

           “The old Hydra. How long’s it been since I’ve seen that?” André asked, “Does it still work after all this time?” “I needed a little extra time to get her back together,” replied Caroline, “But she’s oiled up and ready to spit fire like the old days. I figured it’s as good an occasion as any to bring back the Reaper.” “Auggh!” shouted Marjani, “No fair! I was gonna make a joke about how my Splatling’s bigger when you got here!”

           The others each burst into laughter at Marjani’s unexpected quip, the sudden infectious hilarity even causing her to join in. As the group’s amusement subsided, they felt a wave of morale and unity wash over them, as if their thoughts were all synchronizing with each other at once. Caroline kept grinning. “Amber, can I ask something of you?” she inquired. “Shoot,” replied Amber, “Just not literally, please.”

           “I want you to lead us,” Caroline confessed, her grin softening. Amber raised her eyebrows, stunned by the proposal. “I-I, uh…” she stammered, “W-why me?” Caroline glanced down to Amber’s Octoshot, causing her counterpart to lift it to her chest somewhat defensively, as if she meant to hide it. “You’re a Splattershot-type user,” explained Caroline, causing Amber to exhale quietly in relief.

           “Moruga told me your story about that Octoshot Replica of yours, which makes me think you’re better than you give yourself credit,” she continued, “And…” She took a few steps forward, smiling at Amber as she tried to make eye contact through the junior captain’s opaque Tinted Shades. “I’ve seen firsthand the kinds of gambits you can think of under pressure,” she concluded, “That play back at the Splatfest still sticks with me as one of the single greatest daredevil comebacks I’ve ever seen.” Amber tried not to blush at Caroline’s compliment.

           “Plus, there’s something I like about your style,” added Caroline, “There’s something… rigid to it. You give orders, and that’s that. You adapt when needed, but you rarely hesitate. You know what needs to be done, and you do what’s necessary to execute it. I don’t even know how you got Marjani to listen; even Butch was more obedient than her early on. If we’re going all-out tonight, we can’t go with my style, just letting everyone do their thing as best as they can. We need organization, and, frankly, you’re better at that on the fly than I am.”

           She looked over to Moruga. “Any objections this time, crabcakes?” she asked jokingly. Moruga shook his head. “I trust yuh judgment, Captain,” he replied, “Yuh logic is sound to me. But if things go wrong…” He made eye contact with Amber, who nodded at him. “I will be more den willin’ to take over. We cannot afford stubbornness,” he finished, “Dere is no clock on dis match. We must fight to hold de line indefinitely.”

           Caroline stepped forward, into the middle of the group, just in front of the gate. “Alright, guys,” she murmured as she set her Splatling down momentarily to pull her Squid Nordic’s goggles down over her eyes and fit them into place. She picked her weapon back up and smirked at the others, all eyes on her.

           “Who’s ready to bring the heat?”

             The brightly-lit foyer of the Fontina Mansion gleamed, its immaculate white floors and walls reflecting as much light as possible from several elaborate chandeliers to create a regal, heavenly effect. If not for the darkness through the windows on either side of the large main doors, one wouldn’t even be able to tell the time of day. A large, ornate staircase extended upward on the path straight from the door to a balcony overlooking the foyer. Doors present on both levels of the floor led to the east and west wings as well as out onto the balconies overlooking the open courtyard area beyond the staircase. A single respawn point, normally only found on official Turf War grounds, was located front and center in the room, though the foyer was devoid of anyone to use it.

           A faint siren began to wail throughout the mansion and the grounds outside, signaling the beginning of the combined assault from the two Turf War teams. After a few moments, a few muffled shouts could be heard outside of the entrance, followed by loud thuds. The doors to the foyer swung open, André, Amber, and Caroline leading the charge inside while taking care to step over the now-unconscious security guard at their feet just outside the door.

           As the group filed into the room, Caroline pointed to the respawn point and the group wordlessly made their way over to it, though André and Moruga stopped to close the doors behind them, locking them to slow any of the guards trying to come in from outside. One by one, each one of them transformed into their squid forms to splash into the pool of synthetic ink filling it, starting with Caroline, whose dive tinted it her signature red shade, causing each of the others to have their tentacles changed to her color in turn, save for the tips, which maintained their natural hues.

           The now scarlet-tentacled group lined up side-by-side, with Amber doing as Caroline had requested and stepping in front of the other six to speak to them all. “Alright, we’ve only got a couple of minutes before security gets here, so listen up,” she instructed, the others all standing at attention, “We need to find where Fontina’s holed up and regroup there. No one confronts him without the rest of us, understood?” Her comrades each nodded silently, awaiting their orders.

           “Now, we don’t really want to be slapped with property damage charges when this is over,” she continued, “I know we want to get back at him and piss him off, but we may have already made enough of a splash just by barging in here. Let’s try and make sure our targets are the security guards. Caroline, you said they have a respawn point of their own, right?” Caroline nodded. “Yeah, in the security center at the back of the mansion,” she replied.

           “Then we don’t have to worry about holding back,” continued Amber, “But that also gives them the advantage of attrition if they can keep coming back.” “Not exactly,” interjected Moruga, “Dese are low-power models; dey’ll bring us and de guards back from a splat, yes, but not in de best shape.” Felicity gulped. “Wh-what do you mean by that?” she asked hesitantly. “It means we’ll probably be unconscious after respawning,” explained Jolokia.

           The others each traded nervous glances. “That’s fine, that’s okay,” Amber reassured them, pushing her sunglasses up slightly, “That’s perfect, actually… So long as we splat more of them than they do us. Actually…” She breathed in deeply and sighed with relief, briefly looking away from the group. “If anything, it means we’ll all get out of this alive,” she murmured, “…Probably.” She turned back to the others.

           “But that just means we have to protect this area as best as we can,” she continued, “Caroline, Marjani, you’re our Splatlings, you’ve got range and firepower. That makes you our best bet to hold this foyer so we can use that respawn point safely if something happens to any of us.” She then turned to Felicity and Moruga, pointing at the two of them as she spoke their names.

           “Felicity, Moruga, I want you guys in the courtyard on the second-level balconies. If we can keep them out of that area, they’ll have to take the long way around to get into the wings and won’t be able to flush us out while we search,” she directed before turning to the last pair, “André, Jolokia, I want you two searching the east wing, off to the right side of the stairs there; I’ll take the west.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up!” interrupted Caroline, “You’re going there alone? No, I’m going with you.”

           Amber crossed her arms. “Caroline, we don’t have an even number of people. Marjani needs the Reaper here with her to hold the line, and her mobility isn’t ideal for searching rooms. The same goes for Moruga and Felicity; we need to make sure we have enough of us here in the foyer and the courtyard to keep those areas on lockdown,” she argued, “And as nice as it would be to have André backing me up, I’m not sending Jolokia to search an entire wing without him there to keep her safe.”

           Caroline stared down Amber, her sternness almost masking her uncertainty. “Please…” added Amber, “…Just trust that I can handle it solo.” Caroline frowned and closed her eyes with a loud, deep exhalation, seeing the logic in Amber’s decision and realizing the futility of arguing it. “Y-you’re sure about this, Amber?” asked Felicity. “Definitely,” replied Amber, nodding, “…I’m not sending anyone else in alone.”

           She looked down the line of her friends standing before her – André, Jolokia, Felicity, Marjani, Moruga, and Caroline, and nodded solemnly. “Alright, you have your orders,” she concluded, “André, Jolokia, if you find Don Fontina in the east wing, reconvene here to back up Marjani and Caroline and make sure this point is secure before we go after him. Figure out a way to round the rest of us up and get over there as soon as possible. He may try to run instead of hide. Do what you can to keep him in one place. I’ll do the same if I find him on the west side. Now, let’s get out there!”

           Felicity and Moruga rushed up the stairway as Marjani and Caroline began to rev up their Splatlings, covering the foyer in as much ink as they could to gain a preemptive movement advantage once the security guards arrived. André and Jolokia moved toward the door off to the right side of the staircase, with Amber heading toward the left side on her own.

           “Everyone!” shouted Caroline over the roar of the two Splatlings, causing everyone to turn back and look at her. After a brief pause to make sure she had everyone’s attention, she smiled. “Good luck out there,” she said. André nodded and smiled. “Same to you,” he replied, before turning back and heading through the door after Jolokia, his Roller slung up on his shoulder.

             Butch rushed down the hall as the sirens blared, wearing his usual White Inky Rider, though his usual 18K Aviators were absent at this time of night, leaving his gray eyes exposed. “Da hell’s goin’ on?!” he murmured as he made his way toward his uncle Sal’s office, hoping to find him there and make some sense of what was happening. Just before he could put his hand on the handle to the large double doors, he heard it turn and the door swung open, leaving him with his hand outstretched. “Butch!” hissed a voice.

           Standing behind the door with a solemn expression on his face was Butch’s uncle, Salvatore Fontina. He stood only a little taller than his nephew, his short, orange tentacles graying around his ears and tied back on the back of his head, and a smaller, far grayer goatee surrounding his frown. His face was covered in an abundance of stress-induced wrinkles, giving him a hardened, aged look, and his sunken, gray eyes met Butch’s with a piercing gaze. His white suit and black tie matched the color scheme of the mansion’s own interior.

           “Oh, thank cod, you’re already here!” he rumbled, his husky voice simultaneously easing Butch’s fears with its familiarity while also leaving him on edge with its urgency. “Uncle Sal, what da hell’s goin’ on?!” Butch asked agitatedly. “No time to explain!” growled Salvatore, grabbing Butch by the wrist and dragging him into the office, “Get in here, I’m lockin’ da door!” “Uncle Sal!” shouted Butch as his uncle released him to bolt the door shut.

           “Dere’s a break-in goin’ on,” continued Salvatore, “Security’s takin’ care of it, but youse and I are gonna stay in here ‘til it’s blown ovah.” Butch’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. “A-A break-in?!” he asked in shock, “Who da hell would dare ta break inta here?” “I’m not sure yet,” replied Salvatore, “I’m pullin’ up da security feed on my computah right now.” Walking over to his desk, Fontina leaned down to inspect the computer screen that could fold down into the desk itself as part of its surface.

           “Dey’re all ovah da place…” he growled, “Dese fuckin’ kids came right in da front door. What da hell do I pay dose numbskulls for?” “Kids?” asked Butch, joining his uncle. “Yeah, seven of da little shits, by da looks of it,” replied Salvatore, “Buncha vandals or somethin’, I don’t care why dey’re here.” He reached up to press a button on a small device clipped onto his suit’s collar. “You fuckwits bettah round dose kids up! What am I payin’ youse for?!” he shouted into the microphone, “You hear me?! I. Want. Dem. Gone!”

           Butch studied the live video feed, his eyes and jaw even wider than before. “What da fuck…?!” he wheezed in surprise, “D-dat’s Spice Splat! Dat’s my teammates! And da Outcasts are wit’ ‘em! What da hell?!” Salvatore looked over his shoulder to his nephew, bewildered. “Youse know dem?! Your teammates?” he shouted, “Den what da hell are dey doin’ here?!” “I dunno, lemme go out dere and talk to dem!” protested Butch, “Maybe I can find out what–!”

           “–Fuggedaboutit!” bellowed Salvatore, “If youse know dem, chances are dey’re here fuh some reason relatin’ ta youse! You’re stayin’ put right here wit’ me, hear?” Butch gritted his teeth. “Uncle Sal, I might be able to stop all dis if you let me–!” he began, only to be interrupted again. “–Absolutely not!” Salvatore roared, his voice growing hoarse as he continued to maintain his volume, “I’m not lettin’ youse go out dere and get hurt in all dis!”

           Butch sighed. “Alright, fine!” he backed down, “But when security rounds dem up, I wanna talk to dem an’ find out why da hell dey’re doin’ dis.” Salvatore huffed angrily, his enraged snort reminiscent of that of an irate bull. “Fine,” he snapped, his volume finally lowering, “Aftuh security rounds dem up.” He and Butch looked back to the security footage feed to watch as the battle between the Fontina security forces and the combined might of the Outcasts and Spice Splat unfolded.

           “Oh, shit…” murmured Salvatore, “Youse said dose Outsider kids were here wit’ your team?” “Yeah, I don’t know why,” answered Butch. “Dat’s da team wit’ dat giant squid kid, right?” asked Salvatore, “Da one who was on your team before youse?” “Yeah, André,” Butch confirmed. Salvatore covered his mouth with his hand in shock, falling silent pensively as he watched André and Jolokia on the footage.

             André swung his Roller with all his might, hooking it around one of the security guards who’d gotten too close before spinning around, throwing the unlucky man a few meters into another guard. He dove into the red ink and retreated backward, dodging the fire of several other guards who were spraying their orange ink toward him and Jolokia. “André, this way!” shouted Jolokia over the noise of the numerous Splattershots and whizzing ink bullets.

           André sprang out of the ink and flicked his Roller to send a wave of ink and the guards before turning to follow Jolokia through a large glass door as quickly as he could, outside of the east wing and onto a large, concrete patio area, presumably reserved for parties. Driven away from their goal of searching the rooms of the east wing for Don Fontina, they took cover behind a series of immaculately-trimmed potted hedges on the far end of the patio, inking as much of the ground as they could on the way there.

           As the two stopped to catch their breath, André glanced over the nearby railing, realizing that this side of the mansion rested on a cliffside overlooking the harsh waters of Inkopolis’ bay. He hadn’t realized it when the group had arrived; the road that they had taken to get to the mansion in the first place eventually led to a beach, but he didn’t think the descent from the mansion itself was going to be this harsh. The drop was at least thirty feet, and he couldn’t even see what rocky dangers hid just below the surface of the churning waves.

           He breathed deeply, releasing a guttural sigh. “Well…” he muttered, before jokingly pointing out the obvious, “This is terrible.” Jolokia simply looked at him, the fear in her eyes twisting his gut. “Didn’t think… they’d have this many guards in one area,” André panted, “Think they figured out why we’re here? If they know it’s because of me, it would make sense to send more of them after me than anyone else.” Jolokia furrowed her brow.

           “Stop it!” she cried. André nearly jumped at her reaction, the ocean spraying up the cliffside and filling the air around the two with a light mist. “Stop trying to take the blame for everything!” Jolokia shouted, tears welling up in her eyes, “I-I can’t do it anymore! I c-can’t watch you keep letting yourself get hurt for the s-sake of everyone else around you!”

           André was speechless at his former teammate’s sudden emotional outburst. “You said yourself t-two years ago that it was never about you, it was about the team! It w-was about us!” Jolokia continued, “What happened to that? What made you give up, André?!” André wasn’t sure what to say. “I-I did what I thought I had to, Jolokia,” he stammered. “Didn’t it mean anything to you?” Jolokia sniffled. “Oi, we know youse two are out here!” shouted one of the guards’ voices from the other side of the patio, “Drop dose weapons an’ come out wit’ yer hands where we can see dem!”

           Jolokia’s breathing quickened. After glancing in the direction of the guards, André looked back to Jolokia. “Of course it did,” he finally replied, “I-I just… I…” Trying to figure out his response, he sighed. “Look, Jolokia, can we… can we talk about this later?” he asked, “Now’s not really the best time–” “–There might not b-be a better time! We’re pinned d-down out here!” Jolokia wailed, “I-I’m scared that I’ll never be able to tell you–”

           “–Don’t,” André interrupted her, “Don’t say that. We’re getting out of this, okay?” “But what if they–” Jolokia attempted to speak again, only for André to simply put one of his massive fingers to her lips to quiet her. “That wasn’t an ‘if,’” he asserted, “It’s fact. We are getting out of this. And we are going to talk about this later.” He leaned in and planted a brief kiss on her forehead, before pulling back and looking her in the eye. He stood up, leaving his Roller on the ground as he remained slightly hunched behind the hedges, before turning around, rising to his full height. “After all…” he rumbled.

           “…I still owe you a coffee.”

           André stepped out from behind the hedges, his arms at his sides. Jolokia’s voice caught in her throat, as much as she wanted to scream for him to stop. “Easy dere, stretch!” shouted one of the guards, standing at the front of the group while the others kept their Splattershots aimed at him. André took one brief look at the man before his mouth curled into a snarl – it was the same lackey who’d tried to confront him two days earlier, sparking this series of events. The man smirked. “Alright, we got da big guy,” he spoke up, making sure he could be heard above the crashing water below the cliffside, “Now where’s dat pretty little…”

           The man’s voice trailed off as he and his allies watched André, who had begun growling angrily, his voice rapidly deepening. Their gazes all slowly traveled upward as André’s shadow morphed and swelled to envelop the group, transforming into the familiar shape of his colossal Kraken. Jolokia watched in shock from behind the hedges as a few of the guards began to back away. The guard in front was petrified as his face twisted into a reflection of his fear, attempting to stutter out some sort of threat – or any response, for that matter.

             Moruga took aim with his Splatterscope and fired, splatting another one of the Fontina guards. He scanned the courtyard, watching carefully to try and make sure no guards could get through. Felicity was off to his right, doing the same with her Squiffer. Other than the occasional shot or the sound of the security alarm still going off, the ink-coated courtyard was quiet, with tension hanging in the air as if frozen in time.

           “Hroooaaaaar!”

           Moruga jumped as he suddenly heard a distant roar off to his right, far past Felicity and outside of the courtyard itself, in the direction of the east wing. As his head jolted to look over that way, he could see that Felicity had had the same reaction. The two watched in stunned silence as one of the Fontina security guards flew through the air, screaming as he tumbled uncontrollably before landing in a bush in the courtyard with a rather painful-looking splat. “Huh,” the bewildered Moruga mused, just loudly enough for Felicity to hear.

           “I guess somebody made André angry.”

             The resounding thunder of André’s roar could barely be heard on the other side of the mansion, where Amber was currently huddled down behind a tall, rectangular pedestal with an expensive-looking vase set on top of it. Ink bullets flew by her as she tried to regain her breath. As she’d been trying to check each room in the wing for Fontina, she’d been accosted by more security guards than expected, and a firefight had broken out the moment they spotted her.

           “Oi, youse numbskulls, don’t hit dat vase!” shouted one of the guards over the cacophony, “Or it’ll be comin’ outta your paychecks!” Amber clutched her arm, trying to regain her breath. She was no stranger to wounds on the battlefield, but that didn’t mean they stung any less. There was barely any part of the floor covered in the red color that everyone had set, so her options for movement and mitigating the damage done to her arm using the ink were limited.

           Time was running out for her to make a choice about how to proceed, but as much as she tried, she couldn’t come up with a good plan. “Dammit!” she hissed to herself, fighting the urge to start crying, “Dammit! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” She lifted her Octoshot and stared at her reflection in its ink tank. “What would the Commander do?” she asked herself quietly.

           She thought back to what Maverink had told her, how their adoptive father had died a year earlier fighting an escaping prisoner in the chaos following Grand Admiral Octavio’s downfall, and shook uncontrollably in fear at the thought of that happening to her. What if Caroline and Marjani were in trouble? What if the respawn point was no longer active, and the squids weren’t safe from being splatted for good? She couldn’t get the thought out of her head, as much as she tried.

           “Hold it!” shouted the apparent leader of the security guards, causing the others to stop firing and merely keep their weapons trained on the area where they knew Amber was taking cover, “Alright, girlie, we’re gonna play nice an’ give youse to da count o’ three ta come out wit’ your hands up, see?” Amber gripped her Octoshot and held it close to her chest. She knew she couldn’t trust them not to hurt her, but trying to catch them off guard by going on the offensive would be far too risky and likely fruitless, given their numbers.

           “One!” shouted the leader, the guards around him beginning to close in on Amber’s location, “Two!” he continued, ��Come on, don’t make dis harder, girlie!” Amber gulped as she pushed her back up against the pedestal, fighting her hastening breaths. This was it; she had to make her stand now. She began to push herself back to her feet, as much as her knees wanted to buckle. She held her Octoshot firmly in one hand, trying to push her sunglasses back up her nose with the injured arm, only to wince in pain.

           “Last chance, now!” continued the guard, “Thr–oof!” Amber heard the guard’s voice get interrupted by the sound of him being splatted. Startled by the noise, she waited a few moments as the other guards began to scream and open fire. She covered her ears in terror and slid back down the pedestal. One by one, however, the chaos of the guards quieted down with a few thuds, until one finally fell on his back next to Amber, shocking her out of her stupor.

           The guard, still conscious, looked over to Amber, a look of pure horror on his face and an open gash on his chest. He reached toward her vainly before suddenly splatting in an explosion of purple ink, being sent back to the security team’s respawn point. “That’s the last of them,” mused a voice suddenly, causing Amber’s eyes to widen behind her shades, “Now, then…”

           A pair of expensive-looking brown shoes poked around the corner of the pedestal, along with the tip of an all-too-familiar golden blade. A pair of black pants rose from the shoes to a matching suit coat as Amber looked up at her savior. Her eyes met those of her older brother as he smiled down to her. “Maverink!” she shouted in surprise, “You’re here?!” “I said I’d be around to keep an eye on you, didn’t I?” answered her brother smugly, extending his off hand to her, “Now, on your feet, soldier, you’re not getting sloppy on me yet.”

           Amber dropped her Octoshot and took her brother’s hand, holding back her tears of relief as best she could and allowing him to pull her to her feet. “You know I’m not a soldier anymore,” she insisted. Maverink clicked his tongue in mock realization. “Oh, right,” he replied sarcastically, “So would you rather I call you ‘deserter?’ Or perhaps ‘traitor?’ Or just ‘Amber?’” Amber glared at her brother through her shades, taking a step back to pick up her Octoshot in her good arm again.

           Maverink sighed and rolled his distinctive green eyes. “Sorry, forgot you can’t take a joke, Sis,” he conceded. “A joke?!” asked Amber incredulously, “It’s not funny when you damn near tried to kill me last time!” Maverink narrowed his eyes, his smile vanishing. “I did nothing of the sort!” he protested, putting his free hand on his chest, “Not one thing I did was done with any sort of lethal intent!”

           Amber broke eye contact with her brother, realizing he was right. “Alright, fine, maybe I’m exaggerating,” she admitted, “Sorry… I guess I’m still a little bitter.” Maverink’s gaze softened as he took a step forward to put his hand on his sister’s shoulder. “I’m not much better…” he agreed, “‘Traitor’ was a bit harsh of me. Sorry.” Amber stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her brother. “It’s okay…” she muttered, “…It is kind of true, after all.”

           As the two separated, Maverink looked his sister in the eye quizzically. “…What are you doing here with no backup, Mimi?” he asked, almost as if scolding her. “I-I’ve got backup,” countered Amber, “I’ve got you.” Maverink raised an eyebrow. “Your tone doesn’t make it sound like you knew I’d come,” he contended. “I-I didn’t…” Amber confessed, looking down again, “I didn’t think that you’d get the dead drop this quickly…”

           She looked up at her brother again, her expression one of mild irritation. “Or that you’d come here instead of doing what I asked,” she continued. Maverink smirked and shook his head. “Who said I didn’t?” he retorted. Amber’s jaw dropped. “You found something on Fontina already?!” she questioned. “Something like that,” replied Maverink vaguely, turning away from his sister, “…So, you came to search this wing alone. Any particular reason?”

           “I-I can clear rooms faster on my own than with the others,” stuttered Amber, sidling up next to her brother, “They don’t have the same kind of training we do. It’s easier for them to keep up with each other than with me.” Maverink was silent for a moment, not making eye contact with his sister again as she stood next to him. “…You wanted to prove you could handle it yourself,” he concluded, “…Am I right?”

           Amber fell quiet. “Miriam,” Maverink continued, looking to his sister once more, “You don’t have to prove anything anymore.” Amber looked away from him and shook her head. “…I’m not trying to prove anything; not that it should’ve been me that day. It’s to make sure none of them are alone here. They’re safer in groups of two,” she insisted, “…I’m not trying to beat my regrets, Maverink. I’m just learning from them.” Maverink nodded slowly in understanding.

           “…I see,” he acknowledged, “…You’ve grown.” The two finally began to make their way down the now-empty hallway, opening each door and making sure that Fontina wasn’t behind any of them. Finally, Amber arrived at a pair of large, double doors near the very end of the hall. “Hold on,” she whispered quietly, “This one might be it.” She placed her hand on the handle, finding it to be firmly locked. “That’s likely to be it,” agreed Maverink, “Unless we’re dealing a man so wealthy that he needs his broom closets to be as ornate as his master bedrooms.”

           He put his hand on his hip and let his other arm, holding his Fountain Saber, dangle freely. “But let’s not be too hasty,” he continued. “We should go back and help the others,” replied Amber, “We need to confront him together, and they might be in trouble without us.” “I wouldn’t worry about the others,” replied Maverink, shaking his head, “After all, what good would I have been as backup if I was as alone as you?”

           “Wait, what?!” asked Amber, whipping around and turning to face her brother, “You didn’t come alone?! Who else did you bring?!” “Someone else with a… personal investment in tonight’s events,” Maverink hinted with a smirk. “Personal…?” Amber mused, “Oh my cod, did you bring someone who shouldn’t be in this kind of danger?!” “To be fair,” argued Maverink, “None of you should be in this kind of danger, either. Don’t worry, he’ll be alright.”

           “I’m going to back them up!” declared Amber, heading back down the hallway, “Hold this location until we get back!” “Who are you to give me orders, Lieutenant?” joked Maverink, “I still outrank you, you know!” “I don’t go by those ranks anymore,” quipped Amber, spraying a path of red ink in front of herself before swimming off. Maverink sighed. “I’ll just… stay here and see if I can’t get this lock open, then,” he mused.

             “Hraaah!” Marjani screamed in frustration as she fired her Splatling across the foyer’s balcony, causing the security guards up there to stop for a moment, slowed by the ink splattering around them or purposely avoiding being hit more squarely. Only one of them was splatted by her volley, but she was followed up a moment later by the roar of Caroline’s Hydra Splatling as it fired across the same area, splatting the remainder of the guards.

           “They just keep comin’!” Marjani shouted over the engine of Caroline’s Splatling. “Maybe their respawn isn’t low-power like this one!” replied Caroline, “They might have the advantage of not being unconscious when they come back!” “They already have an advantage!” protested Marjani as she revved up her Splatling, more of the guards beginning to enter the room, “There’s more of ‘em than us!” “I haven’t seen anyone twice, though!” argued Caroline, “I think they just have a lot of manpow–errgh!”

           Caroline stopped as a shot hit her in the leg, causing her to fall to her other knee. “Shit!” Marjani muttered as she fired across the balcony, missing the guards as she slowly moved toward her ally, “Caroline!” She couldn’t get over to her in time, however, as a second barrage of shots rained down from above, overwhelming and splatting her ally. “Fuck!” shouted Marjani, dodging the hail of ink as she moved over to the respawn point, placing herself between it and the stairs as she fired at the guards on the balcony to splat them.

           She turned around as Caroline reformed from the ink in the respawn point, unmoving. “Shit, shit, shit, fuck!” she muttered incoherently, turning the other Inkling’s limp body over, “Come on, come on, coddammit, wake up! Fuckin’ fuck!” Caroline’s eyes remained closed, and it was clear that she was out cold. “Fuck, fuck, shit!” Marjani hissed again, about to turn around before a sudden, sharp pain in her head caused her to fall over on her back next to her unconscious partner.

           As she shook her head, trying to recover from her momentarily foggy vision, a foot was suddenly planted on her chest forcefully, causing her to gasp for air and grab the leg of the offender. She gritted her teeth as she tried to throw the tall security guard off of her, but his weight was too much. He pointed his Splattershot in her face. “Dat’s enough, now,” he spoke forcefully as she struggled, “We’re not gonna do anythin’ to dis spawn point, see?”

           “Fuck you!” growled Marjani. “Watch your tongue dere, missy,” retorted the guard, leaning in to push his Splattershot closer, “If dere’s one thing I hate more dan havin’ to deal wit’ little pricks like you, it’s havin’ to deal wit’ da bodies. I am not in the mood to do dat tonight, so just calm right da hell down an’ I won’t deactivate dis spawn point.” Marjani continued to grip the guard’s leg. “If you think I’m just gonna–” she started.

           “–Don’t make me…” the guard interrupted her before noticing an odd sound. Marjani barely heard it over the guard’s voice and her own frustrated grunts, not caring as to what it was. The guard looked around the room, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise, before facing the front door and realizing that the noise was coming from behind it. His eyes narrowed in confusion as he cocked his head slightly, keeping his Splattershot aimed at Marjani.

           “What da–?”

           BOOOOOOOM.

           A wave of sound blew the front doors wide open, utterly obliterating the lock in the process. In the blink of an eye, it continued through to the guard’s position, and he only had a moment for his expression to change to one of realization and shock before it splatted him into a mist of orange ink that flew through the air and covered a sizable portion of the staircase, though traveling just above Marjani and Caroline and leaving the two of them unscathed, save for a bit of the guard’s orange ink that splattered across the two harmlessly.

           As the blast stopped, Marjani flopped back on the ground in relief, her arms wide open as she tried to catch her breath, her eyes as wide as her mouth, before she turned her head to see what it was that had rescued her. A Killer Wail rested just outside the doors, dying down as the room finally fell silent other than Marjani’s quiet panting. “Who…?” she tried to ask as she breathed heavily, looking over to the doors.

           A head poked around the corner of the doors, purple tentacles shining in the light of the foyer. The dark-skinned young Inkling inspected the damage done to the doors in surprise as he removed his noise-cancelling headphones. “…Did I do that?” he asked sarcastically, with a grin breaking out on his face. Seeing her brother there, Marjani scrambled back onto her feet and stumbled over to the door, leaving her Splatling on the ground where it was. “Dodge!” she shouted.

           As Dodge began to walk into the room, he was suddenly met by his sister throwing her arms around him. “What are you doin’ here?!” she cried, gripping her brother. Dodge laughed as he patted Marjani on the back to comfort her. “Savin’ you, apparently. You know, the next time you throw a party in an awesome mansion like this, you really oughta remember to hire a DJ,” he joked as she finally let go of him, “…Also, Mom and Dad are totally gonna kill us for this, you know that, right?”

           “I know, I know, I’m just glad you’re here…!” murmured Marjani, pulling her brother in again. “Sorry about the Killer Wail,” Dodge apologized, “I… don’t have anythin’ else I can use.” Marjani pulled back again, stunned at what he’d said. “Killer…” she repeated as she looked over and remembered the Killer Wail next to the two of them. “I-I…” she stammered as she tried to think of the right words, “Th-that’s okay. I was… kinda preoccupied anyway.” She turned back to her brother. “How’d you know about this?” she asked.

           “I’ll explain later,” replied Dodge, “For now, we gotta help Caroline.” Marjani turned back to the unconscious captain. “R-right,” she agreed, rushing back over to her ally’s side. “Come on, Caroline,” she muttered, lifting the other girl’s head, “Wake up, dammit!” Dodge knelt down across from Marjani, the two of them on either side of Caroline. “Think it would help if I did CPR?” he asked. “Dodge!” shouted Marjani, “Not the time!”

             Felicity took aim with her Squiffer and attempted to fire, only to realize she was low on ink again. “Moruga!” she shouted, and her counterpart responded by shifting his aim over to the guard she had been trying to splat and firing while she quickly transformed into her squid form, ducking into a puddle of her red ink to refill her ink tank.

           “Damn!” Moruga cursed under his breath as he tried to readjust his aim back to another guard, finding himself low on ink, as well. “There’s too many!” cried Felicity, taking a shot at the guard and missing, “I-I can’t keep up!” Moruga took aim at the guard, counting the seconds until his shot was fully charged as the man made his way through the courtyard unimpeded by either.

           Suddenly, the guard on the other end of Moruga’s scope exploded in a shower of green ink, causing Moruga furrow his brow in confusion – the Fontina guards were exclusively using orange as their ink color, while Spice Splat and the Outcasts had set theirs to Caroline’s signature red. Why had the guard left behind a pool of green where he’d been standing?

           Moruga pulled back from his scope and looked around, bewildered. Suddenly, he spotted his and Felicity’s deliverer on the rooftop of the mansion’s west wing, their own Hero Splat Charger pointed at the courtyard below. “Who in de…?!” Moruga’s voice trailed off as he recognized the telltale gas mask. “Oh my cod!” exclaimed Felicity with a smile, “Isn’t that… VX? That was his name, right?” “De freelancer?” asked Moruga, “Why is he here?”

           VX simply looked over to the two and waved briefly before taking a second dead-eyed shot at another guard in the courtyard with no hesitation, signaling for the two to continue their own fire. “I think he’s here to help!” replied Felicity, “But… how did he know what was going on?” “Whatever his reason, I won’t complain,” retorted Moruga, “It looks as though de security forces are slowin’. Let’s mop up de rest of dese guards and regroup wit’ de odduhs!”

             Amber led the group down the hall back to where she’d left Maverink, with the others not far behind. “You sure you’re going to be okay, Humboldt?” she asked worriedly. Caroline smirked, though she was clearly exhausted, leaning on Moruga for support. “Come on, it takes more than that to keep the Reaper down,” she insisted, “I’m nursing a wicked headache, but I’ll live.” “Thanks again for the save, Dodge,” Amber continued, “I’m grateful, but you shouldn’t have–”

           “–I don’t wanna hear it,” interjected Dodge, shaking his head with a smile, “Just because I can’t ink doesn’t make me useless. A Killer Wail’s right up my alley.” “…I was going to say you shouldn’t have come here and put yourself in danger,” replied Amber. “R-right,” Dodge stammered, putting his hands behind his head sheepishly, “But when that weird octo guy told me Marjani was in trouble, I couldn’t just stand back and not do anything.”

           “He came to you, then?” asked Amber, “What for?” “It’s a surprise,” Dodge beamed as he put his hands in his pockets, shooting a look to Felicity and raising his eyebrows knowingly, to which she simply rolled her eyes. Amber sighed as they arrived back at the doors leading to what they had concluded to be the Don’s office. “Hey,” Amber greeted Maverink as they stopped, avoiding using her brother’s name in front of the others for his sake as much as her own.

           “My thanks to yuh, whoever yuh are,” added Moruga, “Yuh ‘backup’ arrived just in de nick of time. Dodge rescued de girls and VX helped us out.” Maverink raised an eyebrow, taken aback by Moruga’s statement. “‘VX’…?” he asked, “Who’s ‘VX?’” VX responded by stepping forward and cocking his head slightly. “He’s not with me,” asserted Maverink. “Wait, he’s not?” asked Felicity, “Then why is he…?” The group’s gazes all fell on VX, who simply replied by shaking his head, shrugging, and letting out a muffled gravelly noise that vaguely resembled a chuckle.

           “Well, anyway, at least everyone’s still in one piece,” mused Maverink. “For the most part,” quipped Caroline. “Right, well, the best-laid plans of kids and squids, hm?” Maverink replied, avoiding looking over to Amber as she glanced down at her feet, “At least there were those respawn points to prevent any… major collateral damage.” Regaining her composure, Amber looked back up to him. “Any luck with that lock?” she asked.

           “Unfortunately, no,” replied Maverink, “It seems to be deadbolted from the inside.” André stepped forward, the others parting before him as he neared the doors. Maverink stepped aside with a smirk as André hefted his Roller onto his shoulder and lifted his right leg. With a temperamental grunt he threw as much of his weight behind his foot as he could and pounded it into the door, knocking it open in one swift movement with a loud crack as the bolt buckled and split the wood holding it back.

           “Cripes!” shouted a voice on the other side as the group filed in through the now-open double doors, the ten of them arriving in Don Fontina’s office opposite the man himself, standing with his hands and a surprised Butch behind his back, both of them still standing at his desk. Butch’s eyes darted through the crowd of intruders, completely flabbergasted at the turn of events. “Wha-what da hell is all dis–” he began.

           “–Butch!” snapped his uncle, “…Let me handle dis.” He took a few steps out from behind his desk to stand at its side, taking one hand from behind his back to run it through the tentacles on his head as he sighed, shaking his head as he let his arms fall to his sides. “Boy, youse little shits sure did a numbah on dis place, huh?” he mused, smirking, “How much damage did youse cause? A couple grand, I imagine? Now, don’t make any sudden moves, kids… I just turned off dose respawn points remotely.”

           Maverink glanced over to an expectant Dodge before nodding subtly. Dodge nodded back and adjusted his visor as the two looked back to Salvatore. “Now den…” the Don muttered, “To what do we owe dis… little get-togedda? I mean, surely youse little twats have a reason for trashin’ my mansion.” Marjani scoffed. “Cut the shit, Fontina!” she shouted. “Marjie, don’t,” interjected Felicity, putting her hand on Marjani’s shoulder and holding her teammate back.

           Salvatore laughed. “A little firebrand, dat one,” he acknowledged, shaking his finger at the group, “You’ve got moxie, girlie. Youse coulda worked fuh me someday.” Marjani sneered disgustedly at the thought, but held her tongue. “Fat chance…” she muttered quietly. “But now all youse kids are gonna be doin’ is some hard time,” continued Salvatore, “Once I’m through wit’ youse, of course. Youse picked da wrong man ta mess wit’.”

           Caroline, Moruga, and Jolokia each stepped forward, taking their places at André’s side in front of the rest of the group. “Two years ago, I was dismissed from my team, Spice Splat,” André explained, “An inordinate number of complaints had been filed against me for my gigantism. Two days ago, I found out from someone working for you that it was all faked by your men on your orders, just to open up a slot on a popular team for your nephew there to take.”

           Butch’s jaw dropped as André spoke. He stared at his uncle, unsure what to make of André’s accusations. Salvatore shook his head, his smile breaking out again as he began to chuckle. Soon, the empty halls of his mansion echoed with the sound of his raucous, seemingly-endless laughter. Failing to see the humor, the others simply looked back and forth between each other. Salvatore placed his hand on his chest as his laughter finally slowed to a stop.

           “Dat?!” he asked, still grinning, “Dat’s why youse felt it imperative to break into my mansion, clobbah my security force, and break down the door to my private office?!” He continued to chuckle slightly. “U-Uncle Sal…” Butch whispered. Salvatore raised his right hand to silence his nephew without so much as a look. “It’s alright, Butch,” he assured him confidently, before shaking his head and chuckling again.

           “All dis… over a fuckin’ sport?” he continued, “Youse wouldn’t happen ta actually know who it was who told you all dis crap, would youse? A name? Any proof whatsoever dat dis guy was workin’ fuh me like he claimed?” André frowned. “He called himself ‘a friend of Butch,’” he admitted, “Never said his name.” The Don pursed his lips and nodded, as if seeing that his suspicions were correct. “So youse kids took da word of someone whose name youse don’t even know…” he assessed before shaking his head, “…And decided dat was reason enough to do what you’ve done tonight?”

           “Enough!” bellowed Moruga, “De complaint submissions were all anonymous! De handwritin’ was de same set of four! An’ dey were all submitted around de same time! Yuh think dat isn’t enough for us to be suspicious when combined with yuh lackey’s story?” As the others began to speak up, Salvatore’s mouth curled into a frown, showing his age lines. “Shaddup!” shouted Salvatore. He folded his hands behind his back again.

           “Youse kids have no idea how fuckin’ petty dis whole thing is,” he replied, “Do youse have any idea who I am? I’ve done far worse den all dis… so much worse. I’ve got ties all over da city, hands in drug traffickin’, rigged casinos, loan sharkin’, prostitution; all of it is mine. Youse ask any pimp in dis fuckin’ town who he answers to, an’ he won’t tell ya, ‘cause he’s too afraid of what I’ll do to him if he does.” He slammed his hand on his desk next to himself.

           “I am da single most powerful an’ feared man in da entire criminal underworld, an’ youse stupid fuckin’ little shitheads come here and trash dis mansion because of a fuckin’ sport?” he ranted, “Oh, yeah, of course, no, I forgot dis stupid shit’s all youse little shitheads care about! Oh, boo hoo, big ol’ mean Don Fontina spread a little gossip about a fuckin’ freak of nature. Yeah, I rigged it all! So what? So long as youse ain’t got da evidence to back it up in court, you’ve got nothin’. It’s your word against my money, an’ dat ain’t a fight you’re gonna win.”

           Maverink took a few steps forward, a smirk on his face. “Actually…” he interjected, “…It’s our word and the eyewitness testimony of Inkopolis now.” Salvatore furrowed his brow. “An’ who da hell are you? Whaddya mean?” he questioned, pointing at Maverink, “…Oh, I know youse, you’re one o’ dem Octo-freaks comin’ around here an’ causin’ trouble in da city ‘cause of da war, ain’t ya?”

           Maverink shook his head, chuckling. “Well, that was a bit uncalled for, but I suppose we can’t really add ‘racist prick’ to the list of charges,” he replied before looking Salvatore in the eye once more, “…Congratulations, Don Fontina. You just broadcasted your confession to the entire city of Inkopolis.” The color drained from Salvatore’s face as his confident expression dropped. “Y-youse what?!” he asked.

           “What are you talking about?!” Amber questioned in confusion, “What’s going on?!” The others all murmured amongst themselves as Dodge stepped forward. “Allow me to fill in the blanks here,” he offered, adjusting his visor again. “Dodge, you were in on this?!” asked a bewildered Marjani, “What did you guys do?!” “Just let me explain,” Dodge reassured his sister confidently.

 Some time earlier…

             Dodge was late to leave the studio; he’d stayed behind at the top of Inkopolis Tower to help prepare everything for the following morning’s Turf War battles. Being the last one there, he’d be locking up for the night. Ever since he’d proven his professionalism with the Squid Sisters recording session months earlier, he’d been entrusted with more and more responsibilities at his job, managing video and audio feeds for Turf War matches and being given a set of keys to the studio.

           As he made his way to the exit, he slung his bag over his shoulder and pulled his set of keys out of his pocket. He turned off each set of lights one-by-one until the studio was dark before reaching for the door handle and turning it. As he opened the door, he was met by a figure standing on the other side of the door, shadowed from the front by the darkness in the studio. “Wah!” Dodge yelped as he stepped back.

           “Turn on some lights in here, it’s pitch black,” the figure grumbled dryly. “Wh-who the heck are you?! Don’t scare me like that!” shouted Dodge. The man reached into the room and flicked one of the light switches back on, illuminating his face. Dodge could now clearly see the man’s features, including his short, ruddy tentacles and the attention-grabbing purple marks around his striking green eyes.

           “A-an Octoling?!” Dodge stammered. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it?” asked the man, finally making eye contact with Dodge. “N-no, I-I just don’t know any Octolings, is all,” replied Dodge hesitantly, “Who are you? Wh-what’s goin’ on?” The young man folded his arms as he stepped into the studio and closed the door behind him. “Let’s make this quick,” he stated plainly, “I need access to the broadcasting system.”

           “The broadcasting system?!” Dodge asked, his jaw dropping, “No, no, no, no, no way, I can’t do that. My boss will kill me. Seriously, he will, the dude’s a shark.” The man shook his head. “I don’t have time to argue this with you,” he reiterated, “The Outcasts are in danger, and I need to hijack the broadcasting system if I’m to have any hope of helping them get out of this one.” “W-wait, the Outcasts?!” Dodge asked, “What do you mean, they’re in danger?!”

           The man took a few more steps into the room and sat himself down in the chair Dodge had been using until a few minutes earlier, turning it to face the console once more. “H-hey, you can’t mess with that!” protested Dodge, “Slow down, what do you mean the Outcasts are in danger?!” “Your sister, the foul-mouthed one with the Splatling, right?” asked the man. “Yeah, Marjani,” replied Dodge, “What’s goin’ on?”

           “The Outcasts and their peppery friends are en route to take on the Fontina mafia family tonight,” explained the man, “And they have no means of actually taking them down and coming out on top. I want to use this system to goad Don Salvatore Fontina into telling the whole city about his crimes. If nothing else, it should hopefully take the heat off your sister and her friends.” “The Fontinas?!” asked Dodge, “Who are you, anyway?”

           “Would you stop questioning everything and just help me with this?” retorted the man impatiently, turning the system back on and pressing a few of the buttons, “I can just hack it if you don’t, but it’ll be easier and faster if you help me get this hooked up to an inconspicuous camera of some kind so I can go help them!” “Hacking the broadcasting system?! That’s totally illegal!” argued Dodge. “Technically, the reason I’m in the city at all is illegal,” replied the man, continuing to fiddle with knobs and buttons.

           Dodge sighed, crossing his arms. “You’re really not gonna tell me who you are?” he conceded. “Nope,” replied the man. “…You know, the vague hints only make me more curious,” insisted Dodge. “Yep,” the man agreed, though remaining tight-lipped. “…What about after this is all over?” asked Dodge. The man glanced over to him before returning to his work. “…No promises,” he acquiesced. “Alright, look, I’ll help you with this,” replied Dodge, stepping forward, “On one condition.”

           “If it’s to tell you who I am–” the man started. “–No, not that,” interjected Dodge, “I’m coming with you to help.” The man shook his head. “It’ll be dangerous,” he refuted Dodge’s assertation, “I don’t think you’re up to the task. You’re, what, a DJ?” “If my sister’s in trouble, I’m up for anythin’!” insisted Dodge. The man sighed in resignation. “Alright, what Turf War weapons do you have?” he asked. “I-I… uh…” Dodge cringed sheepishly, “I… can’t play Turf War.”

           “You can’t play Turf War and you want to help?” the man questioned as he turned to Dodge with an incredulous look on his face, “What, pray tell, do you plan on doing, then?” Dodge looked at his feet, wracking his brain as the man looked back to the console as he continued to try and prepare it. “Wait!” Dodge suddenly spoke up again, leaning on the desk next to the console, “I do have one thing I can use…”

 Don Fontina’s office…

             Salvatore stared at the group, dumbfounded, as the veins on his head began to bulge. “I attached the camera to my visor where it would be inconspicuous, and we headed on over,” Dodge explained with a smirk, “We only took so long to help out because we had to get it hooked up to your mansion’s Wi-fi. Thanks for the three bars, by the way.” Salvatore gritted his teeth. “You’re bluffin’,” he challenged the two on their story.

           “Well, the police should already be on their way here,” replied Maverink nonchalantly, “Then you’ll see we’re telling the truth.” Salvatore began to growl angrily, as if speechless. The group’s reactions were varied – Felicity, Marjani, and Dodge all exchanged glances, while Amber and the others simply stared at Salvatore. “I’ll kill youse!” he finally exploded, “Where’s my coddamn Splattahshot?! I’ll kill all o’ youse before da cops even get here! I’ll even pay da fuckers off ta get ridda your bodies for me! You hear me?! I own dis city!”

           Salvatore turned to his right, reaching around his desk and grabbing a drawer before yanking it open. He stuffed his hand inside before taking a second look to realize that his Splattershot wasn’t in the desk. He leaned over the drawer, trying to find his weapon. “Where da fuck is it?!” he screamed. He suddenly caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see Butch aiming the Splattershot at his face.

           “So, Uncle Sal…” Butch murmured, clearly pained, “When were youse gonna tell me dat I didn’t make da team ‘cause of my own skills?” Salvatore stood back up, sneering at his nephew. “Butch…” he hissed, seething with rage, “Put down my Splattahshot.” Butch took a step forward, holding the Splattershot at arm’s length. “All I wanted was somethin’ I could do myself!” he shouted, “Somethin’ dat would make you proudda me, like all dose years ya’ve put inta raisin’ me were worth it to ya!”

           “Butch!” with his nephew not listening, Salvatore attempted to shout him down. “Oh, but nooo, fuggedaboutit, Don Fontina’s gotta flex his muscles and be all influential-like!” Butch continued his tirade, “What else did ya do, eh? Threaten anyone else who tried out fuh da team? Bribe da boss? How much do I really owe ta your stupid little power trip, Uncle Sal?” The rest of the group was silent, not daring to step in without a clear picture of whose side Butch was really on.

           “Do you have ANY idea what I’ve thrown away and sacrificed fer your sorry little ass?! I’ve gotten my hands dirty all over dis city, all of it, fuh you!” shouted Salvatore, “Ya remember dat time I came home wit’ ink on my favorite white suit, Butch? Dat wasn’t some stupid neighborhood kids playin’ Turf War like I said, dat was some poor schlemiel’s brains dat I had ta blow out when he couldn’t pay up!”

           He threw his arms wide open, red-faced and the sweat beading on his head. “All o’ dis, dis whole mansion, my whole legacy, was s’posed ta be yours! You were s’posed ta get it all when I kick da bucket, and live a happy, comfortable life, doin’ whatever da fuck you wanted!” he continued, “But your stupid little friends had ta come in here and tear da coddamn place up, and why?! Because I got youse on a high-profile team, like you deserve!”

           “Ya fuckin’ screwed André outta somethin’ he earned! Somethin’ I thought I earned after he was gone!” continued Butch, taking another step forward to get in his uncle’s face and now pressing the barrel of the Splattershot into his uncle’s chest, “I thought I was good enough ta live up ta what he left behind, and now I find out dat none of it’s true ‘cause of you, and I’m not even half da man he is!”

           “Ain’t dat da fuckin’ truth,” Salvatore muttered, shaking his head in disappointment at his nephew, “Go on, den, ya gonna fuckin’ shoot me or what? Like I said, dose fuckin’ respawn points ain’t gonna save nobody now. Come on, I bet you ain’t got da guts, Butch! I bet I could strangle ya right here in fronna all your stupid little friends and none o’ ya little fuckwits wouldn’t do shit about it!” Butch fell silent as his uncle derided him and the others, the Splattershot dropping to his side with his arm.

           “So ya wanna find out, do ya, ya little fuck?!” shouted Salvatore, “Never shoulda taken your sorry ass in after your whore mother died! I always told Germano he was a fuckin’ idiot fer marryin’ ‘er!” Salvatore raised his hands, veins visibly bulging on the backs of his knuckles as he moved them toward Butch’s neck. Butch’s eyes widened simultaneously as those of everyone else in the room as everyone began taking a step forward to stop Don Fontina and pull him off of Butch.

           They all stopped as the sound of the Splattershot going off rang out in the silence. After a moment, Don Fontina fell to the ground, howling in pain and clutching his left leg, which was bleeding out a mix of his own blue blood and the orange ink Butch had fired from the Splattershot. His nephew simply stood where he was, stunned and still staring straight forward in silence for a moment. “Don’t talk about my father like dat,” Butch finally murmured.

           “My leg! My fuckin’ leg!” shouted Salvatore, “You coddamn fuckin’ ungrateful little shit! C’mere, I’ll fuckin’ kill ya fer dis!” The disgraced Don attempted to latch onto his nephew’s leg, only to be incapacitated by his pain, his face contorting in agony. Other than his unintelligible shouting, the rest of those present in the room were silent as time seemed to slow to a stop. Before they knew it, adult Inklings in blue uniforms were flooding into the office, drawing their weapons and shouting for everyone present to drop theirs.

 Later…

             The eight cephalopods stood nervously outside the mansion next to a police car, each speechless at the turn of events that had occurred in Salvatore’s office. Even Dodge was silent despite having known about his and Maverink’s plan to take down the Don beforehand. Their weapons confiscated by the entirety of the police force that had arrived on the scene, they all looked back and forth between each other, all of them unsure of what to say.

           Finally, Marjani spoke up as she surveyed the group. “Hey, where’d, uh… that Octoling guy go?” she asked, avoiding using any terminology that would suggest familiarity in front of her brother or Spice Splat. “An’ VX?” asked Moruga, “Did he vanish before de police arrived, as well?” “Looks that way,” commented Caroline, “I guess whatever reason those two had for helping us out, they didn’t want us to know. Shame; I wanted to thank them.”

           “You say that like they were together,” interjected Dodge, “But I’ve never seen VX in person before we all met up.” “Well, whatever,” replied Marjani, “I don’t really like him anyway. Dude creeps me the fuck out.” “Language, Marjie,” whispered Felicity, eliciting laughter from Caroline, Jolokia, and even Moruga. “Even at a time like this?” asked Caroline. “Someone’s gotta keep Marjani in line,” joked Amber.

           “Hey, I keep myself in line!” protested Marjani. “Sure,” agreed André, “You just draw the line in a different spot.” Marjani huffed as the group laughed again, finally feeling some relief as the reality of their unexpected victory sank in, regardless of what was to come next. Somehow, despite the odds, they had conquered the entire Fontina “security force” – though they were all more than likely self-trained goons rather than professionals – and actually brought Salvatore Fontina to his knees in front of the city.

           As their laughter died down, they were approached by a pair of police officers, the younger of the two a well-built man with dark blue tentacles hidden beneath his cap and the older a moustached veteran with graying tentacles. Felicity fought the urge to hide her face behind her tentacles as she recognized them as the two officers who’d come to her aid the night of the incident with her father a few months earlier.

           “Alright, everyone, there’s no easy way to do this,” started the younger officer, “I’m going to need names from all of you kids, and–” “–That’s enough, son,” interrupted the older of the two with an exhausted tone in his gravelly, aged voice, putting his hands on his belt and shaking his head. “Sir?” questioned the younger officer, looking over to his superior.

           “We’ve got bigger fish to fry,” continued the older officer, “There’s gonna be a lotta upheaval with this Fontina business. These kids got caught in the middle of something bigger than themselves, and they didn’t even realize it.” “With all due respect, Chief, we’ve got these kids on trespassing on private property, at least a few grand in property damage, assault against the security force–” the younger officer attempted to stand his ground.

           “–Son, just don’t,” the older officer interrupted again, “You wanna go through all the extra paperwork yourself, be my guest. But Sal Fontina walked free after his brother died, despite having instigated that incident, and I’ve been trying to nail his ass for eighteen years ever since. Far as I’m concerned, these kids just took down an entire crime syndicate, and on accident to boot. They’ve had a long night; let’s just make it easier on everyone and let ‘em off with a warning.”

           The younger officer sighed. “Really, sir?” he asked. The older officer crossed his arms. “Really,” he maintained, “They had their reasons, and I don’t blame ‘em.” The younger officer turned to the group, sighing a second time. “You’re all free to go,” he conceded, “Your Turf War weapons are all being held by the officers over at the armored car. Go home and get some rest, kids.” The group all looked back and forth between each other, flabbergasted that they weren’t being arrested.

           “What’s going to happen to Butch?” asked Felicity. “Basil’s going to have to stick with us for a little while. He shot his uncle in the leg, after all, but we know that it was only in self-defense,” revealed the younger officer as the older one furrowed his brow looking at Felicity, “What we’re interested in is finding out how much he knew about his uncle’s criminal empire, and if he participated in anything illegal.” The older officer snapped his fingers, as if realizing something.

           “Ms. Quinn!” he barked, causing Felicity to yelp and blush. The officer chuckled quietly at her reaction. “You certainly have a knack for getting yourself in trouble, huh, little missy?” he joked, “How’s your mother doing? She alright?” Felicity exhaled in relief at the officer’s casual reaction to recognizing her. “Once she f-finds out about tonight…” she stuttered, “…I don’t know how she’s going to react.” The officer nodded in understanding.

           “Thank you, officers,” Caroline finally spoke up as the group began to collectively turn to leave, “We’ll stay out of trouble from here on out.” Jolokia nodded. “We can’t thank you enough for cleaning up after this mess we’ve made,” she added. “Come on, everyone, let’s get going,” Amber beckoned to the others, “Most of us… probably have some explaining to do when we get home.” “We’ll most likely have to contend wit’ de League now,” replied Moruga.

           “Well, whatever comes next, we face it together this time,” asserted André. He held his hand out to Jolokia, who was walking next to him on his left. She smiled as she put her hand in his, her slender form engulfed in his giant fingers. Felicity giggled at the two before putting her arm around Marjani, who was walking next to her. “No matter what twists life throws at us, right?” she asked. “Yeah,” admitted Marjani, rolling her eyes, though smiling and reciprocating her teammate’s gesture, “I still need you losers, after all.”

           Dodge sidled up next to Amber with a grin on his face, feeling bold at having seen the displays of affection her teammates were making. “So, Amber…” he started, adjusting his visor, “Seems like you guys owe me one. How about you make it up to me with a–” “–Don’t even start, Dodge!” Marjani interrupted, “Don’t make me come over there!” Amber laughed. “Marjani’s right, Dodge,” she added, “I don’t think that Octoling guy would approve of you hijacking how you helped us out as an excuse to flirt.”

           “Eh, what does he care?” protested Dodge, “Dude never even told me his name, he won’t find out.” “You don’t know that,” disputed Amber, “After all, how did he know you were Marjani’s brother, anyway? He might have eyes and ears everywhere, for all you know.” Dodge gulped nervously at this thought and glanced around, as if trying to spot the Octoling somewhere in the vicinity, watching his every move.

           As the group arrived at the armored car where their weapons were being held, the officers standing nearby stepped aside to let the group take their respective armaments. Marjani and Caroline lifted their Splatlings up off the ground, while André hefted his Roller up onto his shoulder with his free hand. Amber inspected her Octoshot for any damage before letting her arm dangle at her side, the adrenaline of the night finally wearing off.

           “You guys all ready to go?” asked Caroline. Her teammates nodded silently, satisfied that their weapons were all intact. The group of eight set off once more, leaving the scene of the mansion behind them, the police lights flashing more and more distantly as they made their way back up the sidewalk leading away from the night’s events. As they walked, Amber turned to Caroline. “Listen, Caroline,” she addressed her senior quietly. “Hm?” Caroline looked over to the younger captain.

           “Tonight, we came together for each other,” continued Amber, “I’m grateful to all of you guys for having each other’s backs back there, really. But I just want you to know that… this doesn’t change anything. If we’re all still allowed to keep playing Turf War together, chances are we’ll see each other on the battlefield again. And if that happens, you’d better not start slacking off, Humboldt.” She smiled, eliciting a knowing grin from the red-tentacled girl.

           “Because next time, you’re gonna lose to the Outcasts!”

 SPLATOON: THE OUTCASTS

END

[queenevaine]

Some David/Ace stuff, as a sequel to this fic!

It had been several days since Ace and David spoke after their fight in the woods near the campfire.  The gambler was fine with that; they were able to avoid each other and not cause any more problems.   David wasn't keen on approaching the subject, and Ace was more than happy to leave it that way.  He had since adopted his normal, confident smirk, as if nothing had ever been wrong.  

Even in another trial against the Doctor, Ace seemed no worse for wear.  He worked on generators with the others, while David kept the Doctor busy.  They easily managed to get several done before David was put on his first hook.  

Meg ran off to go save him, leaving Ace and Nea to finish the last few generators.  When there was only one left, Ace opted to head into the basement and see what he could find in the chest he knew was always down there.  He had become dulled to the faint heartbeat; the Doctor sometimes could be felt from a long distance away.  

He looked through the chest he found there, listening to his heartbeat and realizing it was getting faster.  It was unlikely that the Doctor was coming over to check his basement, and Ace kept searching to find a basic, half stocked medkit.  He sighed, turning to head to the stairs when now saw he was being watched by unblinking eyes.  

Ace stared cautiously at the Doctor, unable to shake the feeling growing in his stomach.  For a few, uneasy moments, the Doctor just stared, almost studying him.  He watched the Doctor slowly tilt his head, and he swore the already forced grin on the lunatics face grew.  Then the Doctor slowly stepped forward, electricity surging around him.

Ace screamed at the shock, gritting his teeth when the Doctor walked closer and held Ace against the worn, bloody wall.  He had a few moments to catch his breath before another, slightly stronger shock went through him.  Not this again!  His first thought was to try and kick the Doctor away, but the shocks made his muscles tense too much to respond to what he was trying to do.  

Give in, and the pain stops.  

Something spoke to him.  It couldn’t be the Doctor, it didn’t sound like him at all even when the lunatic laughed.  Whatever it was, he shook his head.  Ace didn’t listen to anything trying to give him commands.  The Doctor laughed, electricity crackling so much Ace could hear and feel it in the air.  He screamed at the top of his lungs, legs giving out underneath him.  The Doctor stepped back to let him sink to the ground, leaning against the wall.  

The Doctor laughed as he put his mace aside, rubbing his hands together with distinct crackling.  

David had heard the screaming from the other side of the trial.  He had been at the exit gate with Nea and Meg, all three of them darting their attention over when they first heard the screaming.  They had quickly gotten the last generator on and had the gate open, waiting for the fourth of their group.  David started towards the screams, pausing to look over his shoulder.  

“Someone keep an eye out ‘ere, I’m gonna go get ‘im.”  

Meg jogged to catch up with him.  

“Like hell you’re going alone, big guy.  I can run the Doctor around while you get him to the gate.”  

David sighed, shrugging in response.  No time to argue about this shit now.  Moments between him and Ace were awkward and tense, considering their last time actually talking resulted in a branch across David’s face.  But, he couldn’t in good conscious leave Ace to suffer with the Doctor again.  He cared in his own, blunt way.  

He and Meg reached the stairs to the basement after a full out sprint across the worn ground of the woods.  Ace’s screams were getting more and more strained and weak, giving a sense of urgency.  Without hesitation, David leapt down the stairs.  

“OI!  STEP THE FUCK BACK!”  

The Doctor turned, hands and arms absolutely alight with electrical currents.  Ace was slumped against the wall, head leaned back and his body shaking.  Even from where David stood, he could see Ace’s chest heaving with every breath and terrible electrical burns around exposed areas of skin, even in the dim light of the basement.  David grit his teeth, ready to punch the Doctor in his stupid fucking jaw.  He picked up his mace, chasing Meg and David up the stairs from the basement.  

Everything in Ace’s body hurt.  He was certain that so much electricity should have killed him, but the Entity didn’t quite understand human limits.  Or, it simply didn’t care.  Cares enough about what electricity can do besides killing you.  He was grateful for the small break from the painful shocks, the Doctor’s ‘treatment’.  Ace closed his eyes, trying to muster up the strength to get up.  He felt so weak and vulnerable, and it was a terrible feeling.  

He couldn't help a soft gasp as he felt someone's hands on either side of his face and level his head.  When had someone come back?  And God, he sounded so pathetic.  

“Easy, not gonna hurtcha.  I'm gettin’ you outta this shithole.”  

Why would David of all people come back for me?  He briefly shook his head.  Now's not the time.  

“I can't.. can't move much.”  

Even speaking was a strain.  David's hands fell from his face, and his head hung towards his lap.  

“Alright, sit still and don't squirm, then.”  

Before he could ask what David meant, Ace felt himself be lifted into David's arms, carried bridal style.  He lay limp as David raced up the stairs and bolted towards the gate.  Ace would worry about appearances later, when he wasn't keenly aware of how much he was shaking and his muscles still twitched, albeit slightly.  

Nea was waiting at the gate, eyes focused elsewhere.

“Go ahead and go.  I'll make sure Thomas gets out in one piece.”  

Ace felt David pause, then continue moving on after a few seconds. The cool fog closed in, and Ace willed himself to moving.  David's grip only tightened.  

“The fuck did I say?  Don't squirm.”  

“David, you can put me down now.  I can walk.”  

“Bullshit.  You're not fuckin’ walking while you're shakin’ like a damn tree in a hurricane.”  

“David-”

“Look ‘ere, Ace.  We ‘aven’t been playin’ nice with each other lately.  But there's a better fuckin’ chance of hell freezing over before I willingly let anybody here suffer when I can do somethin’.  Being an arsehole is just part of my personality.”

Ace sighed, closing his eyes and letting himself relax.  No convincing him now.  David set him down carefully by the fire, taking extra time to be as gentle as he could.  He grabbed a medkit, taking out bandages to wrap around the burn marks on Ace's chest, neck, and arms.  He hated feeling helpless, but everything hurt far too much for him to care.  

“Scream if I'm hurting ya.”  

Ace nodded once, laying limp as David bandaged him up.  He was almost surprised at how careful the rough and tumble scrapper could be.  

“Oi, stay with me ‘ere.”  

Ace groaned softly.  Everything ached and he just wanted to rest.  He felt David wrap his arms around him and pull him close.  

“Sorry, ‘bout nearly beating the shit outta ya.  It just worries me and the rest of us when you act outta sorts.”  

Ace stayed quiet as he thought about David's words.  It was almost funny, beating someone up because you care about them.  

“I'm sorry, too.  Wasn't thinking straight.”  

Moving his arms to try and return the hug shot pain through them, making him stiffen.  

“Gh-shit.”  

Ace wasn't sure why that was the moment panic set in.  David wasn't going to hurt him, but his mind still screamed that Ace was going to be hurt more.  Just wait.  David set him down, his left hand pressing against the right side of Ace’s neck to check his pulse.  It was the feeling of pure helplessness that bothered Ace; being at someone else’s mercy and there was little he could do.  David pulled his hand back at the soft whine Ace made.  

“I’m not gonna hurt ya.  Promise.”  

Ace shook his head, sitting up despite his muscles screaming at him.  

“‘M fine.  Just need time to rest.”  

He looked around at the campfire, surprised that no one else was there.  Was he still hallucinating?  

“Just me ‘nd you here.”  

Ace sighed in relief.  It was a small relief, knowing that only a few people saw him breaking down instead of all the others he shared the campfire with.  He still didn’t like it much in the first place, but it was the best he was going to get.  David sat next to him, arms crossed.  

“Y’know, no one’s gonna think less of ya for ‘aving a bad day.  Shit ‘appens to all of us.”

Ace took a deep breath.  It was true, he wasn’t a perfect individual and got unlucky, but that was something he didn’t like admitting even to himself.  He blinked in surprise when David moved behind him, arms around his waist.  

“Get some rest anyway, yeah?  No one’s gonna touch ya.”  

There was plenty more he wanted to say, that he didn’t need to be protected, but it was a comfort he didn’t want to pass up.  Ace leaned his head against David’s shoulder, letting himself relax as David held him close.  

[miseryff]

21. YOLO

Paris

Wow. I am deadass a slut.

I tried to shake off any feelings of guilt as I pulled up to Derrick’s aunt’s crib. I really fucked with Dre’s head a minute ago. Why was I throwing myself at him like that? When I had a perfectly good nigga waiting for me? “You need to slow yo ho ass down and not fuck this up.” I gave myself a pep talk while looking at my reflection in the rear-view mirror. I shook my head at myself once more before reaching over and picking up the bag filled with Mexican food. It was Tuesday and me and Derrick were feenin’ for tacos.

Tacos and dick? Oh yea, tonight was gonna be lit.

I rang the doorbell and smiled brightly once I was greeted with Sheila, Derrick’s aunt.

“Hi, Auntie Sheila.” I walked into her open arms and kissed her cheek before walking into the home. “How are you, baby? You brought anything for me?” I chuckled as I followed her into the kitchen. Best believe Derrick’s hungry hippo ass was front and center eating what looked to be chicken and rice. “Babe, why would you let me get tacos if you already had food to eat?” I rolled my eyes on the low before turning to Sheila. “I got tacos, Auntie. A whole lot. I guess its just me and you tonight--”

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Im still hungry and those tacos are for us. Sorry, auntie.” Derrick quickly jumped up from his seat at the table and rushed over to where Sheila and I stood. We purposely ignored him as we began to tear up the chicken and shrimp tacos. “These shits hittinnnnn!” I dragged as I took big bites from my taco. “Seriously. Gimme two more to take up to my room,” I nodded before separating two tacos for her and sending her on her way. I didn’t want to laugh but Derrick was steaming to the left of me. Serves his greedy ass right.

“That’s so fucked up.”

“What I do?” I faked innocence as I walked over to the fridge. “You like my hair babe? I made them clip the ends a little. It’s giving Selena vibes, aint it?”

“Shit look trash.” I spun around from looking inside the fridge once I heard his flat tone. This boy was not giving me an attitude because of some damn tacos. I refused to believe it.

“Exuuuuuse me? Shit look what?” I cupped my hand behind my ear. Maybe I heard him wrong.

“Shit look trash, mamas. Ima fuck it up tonight though so I don’t even know why you spent bread to get it done.” As if his comments weren’t rude as shit, this nigga then had the audacity to pick up my half eaten taco, and shove that shit in his mouth! “You ain’t fuckin’ shit up, nigga. Fuck outta here.” I grumbled as I walked over to where he stood, with a can of ginger ale in my possession. “Now open this. I don’t wanna break a nail.”

“Open it yaself, big boi.” He went to stuff his hand inside the bag again when I threw the can at his bare chest. The hissing sound he made was music to my ears. “Pick it up and open it, Derrick.”

“Fuck you, Paris.”

XX

The sex was amazing. It was always amazing. Now we were both exiting the shower because tonight was my dad’s showcase for his newly signed artists, Summer Walker and Da Baby. “Wear the black shirt, babe.” I patted his booty as I walked over to the dresser, searching for my deodorant and body lotion.

“Cause you wearing that revealing ass black dress, so you want me to match ya fly?”

“Yessirrrrr!” I dragged as I applied lotion to my arms and breasts. “Ima wear the red bottoms you got me too. Daddy keep his baby fresh.” He paid my words no mind as he watched me massage the lotion onto my tiddies. “You see the purple mark you left? I told you that shit hurt.”

“You pulled my head back when I stopped though. So just say ya freak nasty ass liked it.” I blushed before continuing to lotion my body. He was right.

The showcase was packed the fuck up, and I mean from wall to wall on some CB shit. Luckily Derrick and I were posted up in V.I.P. with my dad and some of his peoples from his label. I knew most of their faces but didn’t care for the Hollywood shit.

My dad had that Summer Walker chick sitting to the left of him, and Da Baby was posted up in the back talking to some chick he came with. They looked very blessed to be here tonight and it made me feel good knowing that my father was really about to change these people’s lives.

“Shawty tryna be ya stepmoms and shit” Derrick spoke into my ear because it was loud as fuck in here. I knew who he was referring to though. Summer kept rubbing my dad’s legs or resting her head on his chest whenever he said something that I doubt was that funny. I knew my dad, and I knew him very well. He was fuckin her on the low but shawty was not good and keeping shit lowkey.

Looking from the outside in, you would think that she and my dad were dating, boo’d up. I had to remember to ask him about that lil situation later on. I didn’t care who my dad fucked or didn’t fuck. As long as it wasn’t no bitch that sneaked dissed and shaded me, I was gucci. “My dad is a lil slut.” I joked back before taking my shot to the head. I was babysitting this lil ass Tequila shot all night.

Derrick was lit off Dusse and pretending that he was aight. His hand stayed around my waist and he kept kissing on my neck ever so often. Baby was lit and wanted to fuck. We was gonn get to that a lil later on though. I actually wanted to vibe out at this lounge and hear some of the unreleased music from both artists.

“You good, babe? You want me get you a water?” I needed to use the bathroom, and get another round of shots for myself so I didn’t mind getting him a bottle of water. He needed it anyways.

“What I need water for? I’m chillinnnnn.” I chuckled before kissing his lips. “I’ll be right back. Sit here and don’t get in no trouble.” He fanned me off before sitting back on the couch and sparking up. Oh he tryna fuck me on some cross faded shit tonight. You love to see it.

xxx

There was dead ass a line to use this bathroom. I could not believe it. I was maybe fourth in line to use the bathroom when I spotted two familiar faces by the bar. “Fuck it,” I decided to try this bathroom shit later and made my way over to my big bros. Dre looked the fuck good, as usual, and Fred looked good too. I never looked at Fred that way though so it was whatever.

Dre spotted me first and then elbowed Fred, who sent a small smile my way. “Yo, where Derrick at?” That was the first thing this nigga said to me. “Hi, Fred! How are you? I’m good!” I shouted over the music, and he thought that shit was funny for some reason. He gave me a quick hug and I directed him to the V.I.P section before turning my body to face Dre.

“Hi, baby.”

“Lemme holla at you real quick.” I allowed him to take my hand in his as he led me out of the lounge and over to this parked Range Rover. I was surprised when he took a key out of his back pocket and unlocked the truck. Oh, niggaz driving in Rovers now? Copy.

Dre

“First, are you lit?” I wanted to make sure that the Paris I was talking to was in the right state of mind. Paris sober was already dangerous. But Paris off liqs or drugs? Yeah, that was a whole different person. She ignored my question as she admired my new truck. I was working my ass off to afford this truck and I dead ass loved it.

“This shit fire, Dre. I need me one of these.” I rolled my eyes before chuckling. “Shawty all you gotta do is say the word and you know ya pops gonn get you one.” She was the one to laugh this time. “Nah, that nigga got me working working. Gotta get shit on my own now.”

I nodded. I respected that, you can’t be babied forever. Eventually her spoiled ass was gonn have to get to a bag. “On the real though... I got some shit I wanna talk to you about.”

“What happen, Dre? Cut the lifetime shit and just say it.” She finally made eye contact with me. She leaned back and rested her head against the window. I admired her body in that revealing ass lace dress for only a moment before clearing my throat. “I don’t know if I’ve always been attracted to you and just buried that shit cause I truly cared about you or what... but I’ve been thinking about you heavy these last couple of days. And its not on no lil sis type shit. I be thinking bout grabbin’ you up and fucking the shit out you.”

The car was silent for maybe ten seconds before she finally spoke. “Why you was acting like you aint wanna fuck me a couple weeks ago, though? When I was throwing myself at you?”

“That’s because you was lit, Paris and you aint know what you wanted. You was going through shit with ya family and was coked out. How I’m gonn take advantage of you when you in that state? That shit not cool.”

She rolled her eyes but chose to remain silent. “I know you got ya nigga and all but I wanted to address shit, cause I’m looking at you different now and I ain’t about to front like I only see you as my sis. You gonn be my sis for life, but I’m looking at you as a different woman now.”

“So do you want to fuck or not? Cause I been wanting you inside of me for a minute now, and my nigga inside. So we could either do it here real quick or set up--”

My hand found its way around her neck and I squeezed a lil roughly as I pulled her towards me. “Suck me off.”

xxx

The truck was dark inside and my windows were tinted so I knew no one could see this princess swallowing my dick whole. My head rested against my seat as I pushed her head deeper down my dick. “Fuck...” shawty was a head monster, and I was loving every second of it. It didn’t take long for me to bust in her mouth and I was surprised when she told me that she swallowed my kids.

“Put ya chair back so I could ride ya face.” I couldn’t see her face due to the darkness in the car but her tone was serious as shit. That turned me on even more. Doing as she said, I made the stomach of my seat lay flat and I laid back. She easily climbed over from the passenger seat and hovered over my lips for a second before lowing her body onto my face. Her moans were sexy as fuck and I felt my once soft dick getting hard again.

“Mmmm, just like that baby. Oh my god!” I wasn’t new to eating chick’s out but I also didn’t think I was the best either. The way Paris was moaning and moving her hips, you would think this was the best head she ever got. As I ate her out I used my hands to grip her plump ass. In one swift motion I parted her ass cheeks and slipped my thumb in her butt. “FUCKK! You gonn make me cum all in ya mouth.” Her hands never left the top of my head as I continued to tongue fuck her and twirl my thumb in her ass. That combination made all the shawty’s go wild.

“Nah, cum on my dick. Get in the back.” She quickly moved her body to the back of the truck and laid out against the leather. “I don’t have a condom... shit.”

“So fuck me without one. I’ll take a Plan B.”

Shit, she ain’t have to say no more.

[caramellody]

TAZ EPISODE 69 LIVEBLOG

This is it! the end is here...I’m not ready

(Mobile users, scroll down to avoid the spoilercapade)

I...I really wanna know how they're gonna finish it. 68 was the wildest episode they've had yet and. I am n o t ready

Edit: Futre val here, this is LONG. IM NOT KIDDING ITS REALLY LONG

-so apperantly there’s no recap. like at all so I’m gonna recap it for myself

-Last time on the adventure zone: Griffin Mcelroy ruined me in front of my salad

-also, the ads are at the start so we get a good full on 120+ minutes of adventuring

-I’m just here waiting for it to load and everything, I had to do stuff before the finale and did that. also got me some Pringles which I now realize is the only way to have a taz liveblog (never forget Robbie pringles man where is h e)

-ITS STARTING

-THAT'S THE SEX NUMBER

-I’m so proud of Griffin holy shit like no. thank you for making such a good story man.

-DAVENPORT

-THAT'S THE CAP’INPORT WE KNOW

-J ohn?

-JOHN!

-OH NO

-oh my goodness Taako remembers of the shoes

-Merle: I died 68 times. been there. done that. do your worst

-OH SHIT

-oh shit. BATTLE MUSIC Y O

-Good rolls merle

-The first death was the robot owl

-’shadow john’ griffin fucking pulled a persona didnt he holy shit

-RIP

-a battle on a ship while davenport works on avoiding the hunger is such a good image

-holy shit 96

-OH

-JOHN?

-UM. THE SWORD

-OH...OH NO

-FINAL BOSS TIME

-ALSO THE TAZ THEME PARTS PLAYING AAAA

-’he’s still john?” pffft

-FINAL JOHN

-OH NO MERLE

-NO ONES OKAY MAGNUS IS HURT

-i’M HAVING P5 FINAL BOSS VIBES

-oh god a death save

-oh man everyones getting hurt

-TAAKOS DOWN

-THEYRE ALL UNCONSIOUS. N O

-OH BOY THE BONDS

-OH ANYONE?

-HE CALLED PAN 

-THE BONDS ARE SUMMONS

-oh! TAZ KNIGHTS CAMEO

-THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP SAVES ALL

-OH SHIT JOAQUIN IS B A CK

-GARFEILD

- HE THINK THAT FAR AHEAD

-FREE SAMPLES

-ILL PUT IT ON YOUR T A A A A A  Abbb

-GOOD OL FRIEND ROSWELL

-ITS ONLY BEEN AN HOUR

-l up?? no its a he. WAIT HE’S CASTING A SPELL

-HE USED THE 9 SECOND BALL

-TBH I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE MAGNUS WHO SUMMONS THE VOIDFISH

-FISHER PLAYING SOME DEATH METAL HOLYSHIT

- OH GOD THEYRE FIGHTING

-tbh I can only imagine them playing throught the fire and the flames as the voidfish attack the orbs

-NO

-DONT YOU DARE GET NEAR THEM

-OH

-TBH I ALREADY EXPECTED THAT HE’D HIT THE BOND ENGINE

-Thats like. the third farewell speech taakos made amazing

-OH GOD ARMS OUTSTRETCHED

-this is such as good as the actual WONDERLANd SCENE

-they’ve used their bonds with other friends, but the last attack was using the bonds between the THREE OF THEM.

-GRIFFINS VOICE ON THAT SCENE. YOU CAN TELL HE'S EMOTIONAL

-JOHN

-he's gone hmm

-UH. DAVENPORT?

-OH. OH NO

-OH. THIS IS WHAT SHE SAID BY GIVING THEM TIME

-SCUTTLEBUDDY WHAT THE FUCK HOLYSHIT

-ooooo the planes

-OKAY BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO DAVENPORT?

-Umm...OH ARE THEY GONNA BREAK THE FOURTH WALL?

-IS THE VOICE...GRIFFIN?

-too late im updating the wikipedia

-FUCK. THEY ARE BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL ARENT THEY

-Like. it makes sence too. the voice mentions it as a ‘we’ and them in a group.

-Jeffandrew? Geoffandrew?? is 10/10 Griffin and I can’t see it any other way.

- Geoffandrew Geoffandrew Geoffandrew Geoffandrew Geoffandrew

-Ango my boy was what broke me m a n

-ooooh. an epilouge-kind of ending

-aaah! battle wagons are legal guys!

-refuge is doing well! aaaaaaaa

-yay neverwinter is alright too

-trash man lucas making a school

-ANGUS MY BOY!

-Davenport being a sailor is so fitting I should’ve saw that comming

-KRAVITZ MADE A DEAL W/ LUP AND BARRY

-he. HE CAME BACK

-SHE IS BACK MY BOYS

-PRINGLES!

-THE DUELING

-taako’s going on a vacation to the afterlife

-EXTREME TEEN ADVENTURES

- ele merle 

-fucking merlegarita ville

-Mookie is good i love him

-erle mere is. hilarious

-oh my goodness is he officiating Hurley and Sloane? Lup and Barry? Taako and Kravits? OH SHIT ITS KILLIAN AND CAREY AAAAAAAA

-oh my goodness TAZ is gonna end with Killian and Carey getting canonically married

-MAGNUS GOT A DOG

-how does magnus die????

-Hes gonna see Julia is he

-ITS JULIA

-SHE HEARD THE STORIES

-’he says he was a cleric we’re not so sure’

-Griffins voice...he’s so emotional about this too god im so happy.

-FISHER?

-Theyre gonna go find new stories!

-Is...is that it?

-Justin saying how everyone cried tho. same man. same.

-theym ending with just a casual talk at the end. god that was beautiful.

SPOILERS END HERE