#i just think about the pilot a lot. rick thought he was going to just end everything there that night and when he was lying on the ground-

[fear-no-mort]

pov it’s the night of December 2nd 2013 and you’ve just burst into your grandsons room to pick him up so he’s not down there when you blow up the world the guy who ruined your life is from because you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if you let him stay down there with everyone else which is Really fucking weird because you thought even coming back here in the first place meant giving up forever on anything for the rest of your life but this goddamn kid stops you from blowing up the planet and now you’re basically permanently fucked because now you’re just gonna have to keep on living and it’s because you love him. and tomorrow morning you will be running from alien police with him

[quincywillows]

a scattered and overall supportive review of percy jackson season 1

let me just say first of all, it's extremely fun to be enthused about a tv show like this again. the adaptation isn't perfect, but it's a lot of fun, and you can tell there's plenty of heart and good intention behind what they're doing. i'm very much enjoying tuning in every couple of episodes and catching up -- and avoiding the relentless commentary of the internet while i do so lol.

but now it's time for MY commentary!! to preface, i was a huge fan of the books when i was younger, am a stalwart long-term advocate of the original five books as some of the best children's lit of our lifetime, but i also enjoyed the films a decade ago for what they were and think people (including cough rick cough) are way too harsh about them. justice for logan lerman. anyway

i'm not going to do like a play-by-play, but in summary, here are my takeaways from the first season -- what i thought worked, what did not, and things i'm optimistic about going into the future seasons.

the good

for an adaptation of the original series (which, to be fair, i have not reread in years), i felt this was honest and faithful. there were tweaks, obviously, but none that took me too out of it or felt irredeemable. there was a lot to like about this show, so i want to start right from the top with my highest highs.

the worldbuilding / production design. i absolutely loved getting to see how they imagined certain iconic characters, locations, and sequences from the books. it was so exciting to get to see camp halfblood for the first time on screen (at least, in this adaption) -- that moment in episode two definitely felt like a turning point where we picked up from the somewhat laggy pilot episode. i especially loved the design of mount olympus, aspects of the underworld (hades and his upside down castle were baller, though how did percy and grover get up there lol; and i absolutely loved the choice for asphodel and the ghosts being rooted like trees, i never would've thought of that myself but it was so chilling and unique... just wish i could see it better through the terrible lighting, but we'll come back to that), and of course, camp. even down to the small details, like the camp beads... it's just very cool to see it come to life.

the casting. i wasn't sure about some of the casting when the news was breaking, but i'm very happy to have been pleasantly surprised all around (and have majorly avoided people bitching about every single thing). there wasn't any role where i felt like someone was horribly miscast, and you could tell that everyone involved really wanted to be there and committed. i thought the casting of the gods was especially inspired at times. some of the highlights for me personally:

adam copeland as ares. i had no idea he was apparently a wrestler turned actor until my sister told me, but i thought he was absolutely spectacular. very charismatic, with just the right amount of cringefail that ares needed. i found him thoroughly enjoyable in all his scenes.

lance reddick as zeus. having just played horizon zero dawn recently, oh my lorde was this an inspired choice. he was absolutely brilliant. i'm so so sad about his passing, i don't know how they're going to recapture his performance, but i have faith now that they'll find a way.

timothy omundson as hephaestus. i love that they took a softer, more mad scientist approach to his role than like ugly basement blacksmith vibes... i just thought it was really refreshing. his scene with annabeth, where we got so much humanity from him in such a short span of time, was one of my favorite scenes of the season.

jason mantzoukas as dionysus. i mean. what else can be said. obvious choice, but he was so fun lol. i hope they give him more to do next season.

other standouts beyond the main youth cast for me were jay duplass as hades (his brief appearance in 107 was thoroughly enjoyable) and dior goodjohn as clarisse (she was by far the acting standout of the first couple episodes to me). also very happy to see jessica kennedy parker and sinclair from the 100 get work, lol.

walker as percy jackson. it was really wonderful watching walker grow as an actor even just through the first eight episodes. the difference from 101 to 108 is almost night and day. you can tell how much he cares about the project and percy as a character, and he upped his game with every episode. i cannot wait to see what he turns out in the coming seasons. to be fair, i thought all of the youth cast did a decent job, and i'm giving them a lot of leeway and room to grow since they are literally child actors -- it takes time to hone your craft, and im optimistic they're all going to do a great job as the series goes on. but walker was, definitively and thankfully as the protagonist, the standout.

charlie bushnell as luke. i was so excited when i heard he got cast because i loved him in diary of a future president, and he did not disappoint. i kind of wish he had more to do, but all of that was forgiven in the finale when he had his final confrontation with percy. oh, the acting popped off then -- i can't wait for him to get to chew up the scenery more in the coming seasons.

grover and percy's friendship. it was so sweet to see this come alive, and i thought walker and aryan had excellent natural chemistry together. they were so endearing, and i really believed their friendship basically from the start (them swapping their sandwich fillings is a tiny detail from the pilot that has stuck with me since; i just loved that choice so much). they definitely provided a lot of my favorite moments in the season, and i think evoked the most genuine "aw wow" moments from me.

percy's relationship with sally. since sally was, understandably, absent from the original novel, it was awesome to get the flashbacks here that allowed us to more deeply understand their bond. i thought walker and virginia did a great job with this, and the young actor who played little percy also did a surprisingly great job (he was actually one of the stronger youth actors in the pilot imo lol). you totally understood why percy was doing everything he was, because that mother-son bond felt believable. big shout-out to the absolutely baller line "i am sally jackson's son." one of the first writing moments where i was like oh snap!

the music. a good score really can't be understated, and this one did not disappoint. did just what it needed to do. i also loved the closing title sequence and the art direction there with the epic music -- just such a nice touch that i'm so glad they included.

some of the writing. i'll get more into some of my qualms with the writing below, but there were definitely some great moments that deserve their flowers. i thought they did a great job weaving in some early themes without being heavy-handed about it (percy having to define who he is for himself, mostly). there were some genuinely funny moments that made me laugh out loud, including "i am impertinent," annabeth's "i'm multitalented," and the entire exchange on the road side when the trio to ares are like no... we're fine... ahaha bye... oh and percy trying to drive the taxi out of the garage at the casino was absolutely hysterical.

pivotal scenes hitting their mark. when the show needed to deliver, i thought they really delivered. i absolutely loved the staging and acting in the final luke and percy confrontation -- the lighting of the fireworks was such a cinematic touch. percy's arrival at olympus and scene with zeus was also a big standout. i loved a lot of the st. louis arch episode, and thought the hephaestus golden chair sequence was really well done. overall, the episodes i thought were strongest were without a doubt 104, 105, and 108.

expansion where expansion was welcome. one of my favorite aspects of the series is how it's giving more nuance to the monsters and "villains" of the books. i loved that we got a little more motivation for alecto beyond evil -- that she clearly wanted to accomplish her own mission and retrieve the helm, whether out of loyalty or fear. i loved how medusa got much more depth and humanity, that we're sort of reexamining the fairness of how myths are told rather than just taking it all at face value. i'm really looking forward to seeing how that continues in the next seasons.

the decent

percy and annabeth. to be fair, i think my issue with this is more on the fan reaction than the show itself. i think the show is doing a decent, if somewhat awkwardly paced job, of building their friendship and offering small little hints of what could blossom in the future in classic youth awkward ways -- unexpected hugs, banter, etc. i think walker and leah are both doing a good job, and i look forward to seeing how it develops. but my god, people on the internet are really jumping the shark so hard here. i can't handle seeing more "uwu percy is in love" posts when it's like. y'all. THEY ARE 12. THEY JUST MET. LET THEM ORGANICALLY BECOME FRIENDS FIRST... i just hope the creators don't feed into that and also jump the shark. like yes, we all know where this is going, but can't we enjoy the actual journey to get there instead of forcing what isn't there yet? in any case, on the positive side, some of the moments between them i really enjoyed: the conversation on the train when grover was asleep, the hephaestus chair sequence, annabeth giving him her camp beads before going to olympus (that was a slay... that was a legendary slow burn start moment worth hyping up), the way percy smiled at her in their last scene... that's the good stuff. let's not rush through what we're getting folks. the water is fine.

lin manuel as hermes. here is the thing. i thought lin did a good job. i thought his casting was apt, and fun, and he did a great balance of hermes charisma and like, a darker edge. it's just... the thing about lin manuel is that he's lin manuel. and this is coming from someone who likes him, but it's like he shows up on screen and i'm just like. hey it's lin manuel. it's a bit of a "takes you out of the moment" stunt casting, but i'm not mad about it. i wouldn't call it a bad thing. hopefully it'll wear off (though i doubt it). i guess i'm just deciding that hermes is just lin manuel, which honestly, would kind of track.

the youth acting. mentioned this above, but again, some of that early delivery was rough. but i am giving a lot of grace, and i think they've already improved plenty in the first eight episodes. i felt the same way about shadowhunters back in the day when i thought kat mcnmara was hard to watch in season 1, but by season 3 she was my absolute favorite cast member and came so far. i have no doubt these kiddos will do the same. so very much looking forward to that.

the not so great

the pacing. this was definitely the weakest part of the story writing wise. it wasn't irredeemable, but it did hinder the first half of the show (which didn't lock in for me until about 104, when the stakes truly shot up at st. louis). and that also affected how dynamics and plot points were able to unravel. the biggest victim of this...

the luke reveal. from the start, i was worried about this. since luke was only really in episode 2, i had doubts about whether the reveal of his betrayal would be at all satisfying or earned. i don't know that i can speak on it for sure, since i knew what was going to happen as someone who read the books, but i still feel we should have gotten more of those luke-and-percy-bonding scenes and convos earlier in the series rather than tacked onto the finale as flashbacks. it worked there, but i think it could've been better. thankfully, all of that didn't hinder the delivery of the finale confrontation, which as i said, was a standout moment for me.

the fight scenes. with rare exception, i was pretty underwhelmed with many of the monster battles and confrontations this season. given that's such a huge gimmick of the novels, i hope they're able to revisit and polish up the pacing of these in the future... i just felt that scenes like the museum clash with dodds were so rushed and anticlimactic. or not even confrontations at all, like the scene with crusty. we got a bit more of this at the back half of the season, in the sword fights with ares and luke, but i wanted more of that epic feeling throughout. i'm hoping it's maybe just a budget concern and that it'll improve in the coming seasons -- especially as the bosses get bigger and the stakes get higher -- but i'm not sure i'm optimistic just yet.

some of the dialogue. it was... wooden, to say the least. i think the worst moments of this were when they were trying to force Kid Bants -- which just felt stilted in the earlier episodes -- and whenever they were explaining greek myths point blank to the audience. there were moments it worked, but many where it didn't, and i hope they flesh out how to better info dump in the future episodes. i didn't mind the change of having percy be more familiar with the myths and thus more aware, but they could afford to finesse how they relay that information to us in the audience without basically reading from wikipedia in percy's voice.

the ugly

oh my god i can't see. i can't SEE. this show went to the teen wolf academy of employing one lightbulb and it's actually criminal. there were so many scenes where i really wanted to see what was happening because the stakes were high or the scenery was so pivotal -- the entry into the underworld for the first time, the vastness of medusa's basement of stone, THE FIELDS OF ASPHODEL -- but the lighting was so god awful i legitimately couldn't see a thing. in asphodel i literally could barely see the trio's expressions, it was that bad / flat. the audience is smart, we understand it's dark out. we can suspend our disbelief so you can add some visibility to this thing. i was turning up my brightness constantly but it wouldn't go any higher. please, disney execs, rick, anyone -- GET ANOTHER LIGHTBULB. i'm losing key immersive aspects of the show to this and it's a bummer. when they were walking through waterland for the first time and annabeth was like "wow can you believe this craftsmanship" i was like i don't know, girl, I CAN'T SEE ANY OF IT. begging on my knees that they fix this next season.

well, that ended up longer than expected, but oh my gods it is so nice to be writing paragraphs about a tv show again. all in all, i'd say 7.5/10 from me in this first season. there's so much to be keen for here, and i'm really happy with how it's going so far.

friends and fellow demigods, what did we all think?

[fandomwe1rd0]

One thing that keeps me watching Rick and Morty is Rick's character development. He still is a horrible person yeah, not denying that. But we know that he's going to therapy and you can see a clear difference from how he treats Morty in season one to how he treats Morty in season 6-7. Let's use the pilot as an example, in the pilot Rick literally drags Morty out of bed, nearly bombed the earth, Morty stopped him and I assume they went back very late which led to Morty being incredibly tired and Rick not really caring. That's the opening, now let's compare that to the opening of "Full Meta Jackrick" (Love that episode btwwww) Now it starts with a previous leon sprial with Rick being the only one who knows it's fake. And when they get to the chamber that counteracts Leon's toxic, he encourages Morty to say "Next time on Rick and Morty" showing trust in him, then when they do catch previous leon, Rock warns Morty to hold on tight, already showing more care than in the pilot. Speaking of which let's move back to the pilot shall we? So Rick drags Morty out of school again and proceeds to go to another dimension with Mega seeds. Morty forgets to turn on the boots and falls down a cliff and breaks his legs. Rick just seemed annoyed at Morty for not turning them on despite it being Rick's fault for not letting Morty know that before hand, and only attempts to resolve the situation when Morty complains. Moving onto Full Meta Jackrick, so after they capture previous leon, Rick gives Morty some googles and turns them on for him, a small detail but still it already shows the differences in the pilot, when Rick and Morty are getting their asses whooped by Jesus, Rick without hesitating gives Morty a remote to escape the Meta layer saying "Morty! Take this and get out! " and has a lot oothother small moments of him protecting Morty thought out the episode. Now back to the pilot, Rick and Morty eventually get the Mega Seeds, and Rick asks Morty to uh stick them up his butt, Morty clearly doesn't want to but Rick pressures him and Morty eventually agrees. So they go through interdimsional customs and turns out the seeds where for nothing since they can still track it with a new machine, so Rick gives Morty a gun and tells Morty to shoot them lying and saying they are robots when Morty expresses concern Rick just hand waves it away saying it was a figure of speech, when Morty and Jessica were actually getting along Rick drags Morty away, let's the Mega seeds dissolve so he can convince Beth and Jerry to let him go on adventures with Morty, then proceeds to rant to Morty about 100 years Rick and Morty. Ok we're at the ending now let's examine full Meta Jackrick, Rick tells Morty that his life matters which is already a step above what we're used to, helps Morty up when he runs into barrels, looks worried when Morty jerks forward when tied up in a chair, keeps Morty put of protago nick's ray, keeps Morty out of Rhett Con's retcon range, helps Morty out of an orange (long story) and even gives Morty his lab coat and shields him from the wind when Morty was shivering from cold and again looks worried for Morty(I'm so normal about this scene)

Rick also attempts to drown someone when he thinks they took advantage of Morty so that's fun, and that's it, I like how you can clearly see differences from season 1 to season 6, I'm sorry this post got so long but I hope you enjoyed it!

[seancamerons]

Let's talk about Caitlin Ryan!

When I watch Degrassi Junior High, I remember falling hopelessly for Rick and Caitlin. I know everyone loves jaitlin, myself included, arguably the stronger power couple that ended oddly. Most fans kind of forget about them who are short-lived Klareesque, but I'm not surprised. I saw some old jaitlin just a few minutes on my dash, and it got me thinking.

Would it be controversial to say that Clare with KC is the equivalent of Caitlin and Rick and Claudr, similar to Eli, I guess that would make Drew a bit of Joey? Not really the same but if I could I would say and suspect, now correct me if this is too hot of a take, but early Caitlin and Rick are espys for Sean and Emma, respectively apart and together perhaps their entire relationship is based on them retooled and tweaked for a "new generation" but the similarities are there.

It might be a stretch, but consider this! There was a throwaway line by adult!Lucy in 2.12 white wedding part 1, "when are you going to add a mini Spike and mini Snake to mini Caitlin over there?" Implying Emma is similar to Caitlin back in the day or coded Caitlin is intentional.

The facts are both are environmentally conscious, trope of granola girl, the girl has a big mouth and can't mind her own business or stay in her lane, crusades and causes, controversial editorial pieces that manage to ruffle feathers and a pechant for bad boy characters. Joey was more a funnyman musician type but he wasnt Mr. Academics had trouble in school, could fall into the bad boy category, and was held back a grade in high school.

For example of a similar thing, Caitlin fought for Spike to stay at Degrassi while she was ironically pregnant with Emma when the school was intending to expel her with added pressure from pta, angry parents, and school board. Who would've thought that Caitlin would be this influence on her years later. Emma was shown to know exactly who she was and even liked her and sought her (bad) advice. Emma similarly wrote that nak editorial, which offended Sean’s brother and let's not forget about the vicious rumor Emma accidentally started and then humiliated herself and Liberty. There is alot to unpack with that such as seeing Armstrong and Liberty could've triggered her trauma regarding Jordan (the pilot love interest who was a pedophile predator) she is suspect of an adult being close and hands on with a teenager no matter how preposterous it all manifested.

Sean is a similar character to Rick, but somewhat similar to Craig, too, with the whole childhood abuse thing. I do suspect that this was intentional. Joey, too , is so instrumental in the season 2 opener with this plot point, and Craig's introductory plot makes a lot of sense, such as the whole thing with Rick and Craig. It also makes a logical writing sense kind of way with Sean cut from similar cloth to both Craig in the universe and his espy Rick Munro.

Semma though similar or based on Rick and Caitlin, right down to the end of Caitlin and Rick's relationship when he took up smoking cigarettes implied deviant behavior, similarly in dtng Sean was hanging with the deviant, "gangsta", Candy Bandits became his new friends and it pretty much ended Sean and Emma’s relationship in the third season.

In degrassi junior high, after the split Rick was sent to the Bermuda black hole after making him a satelite love interest territory, and of course, we see Caitlin later was paired with Joey, who was arguably a leading man in comparison. They shared a lovely relationship after that with major build up and were upgraded to power couple status, and we know the rest. Caitlin also dated the mysterious, environmentally conscious dark horse Claude who is arguably a bit more Eli Goldsworthy coded for a host of reasons which of course ended badly in more ways than one, and Caitlin and Joey got back on track after their split and Claude's untimely death by suicide. Caitlin felt guilty for the entire thing if I remember correctly and was comforted by Joey. If I remember right, I think this is what Claude had wanted, to hurt Caitlin for hurting him for not accepting his affections after their break up and moving on from him. Remember when Eli manipulated Clare in the conclusion of season 10 when he famously hit the wall inside Morty for the sole purpose of destroying the car for Clsre spelled the end of their initial relationship as we know it, was essentially a near death experience. Eli survived and manipulated Clare, and she finally left him after distancing herself, and then Eli did what he did. But they kind of subverted that a little bit obviously, but I think that was perhaps an initial plan.

So obviously Cailin has main character energy, similar to Emma her closest espy, Clare Edwards and perhaps even Maya Matlin, who are similarly cut in the same or similar cloth if there were some venn diagram there'd be quite significant overlap. Drama always follows for better for worse with these ladies. No stranger to drama, both in romance and friendships across the board.

It's kind of weird, though. Adult Caitlin is certainly aside from her rekindled relationship with Joey, a big ol' mess, and there is a lot to unpack with that. At this point, pretty heavily, it's implied she'd been through the ringer romantically (1.01 Mother Child Reunion). She is successful in her career, and it is a barrier for her. lkve glr her and mayve shes not over the her high school sweetheart and their ill fated engagement to her former flame joey who now is a widower with a child at this point in tjme working as a used car salesmen with a taxky commercial. Caitlin, as we know, began the "rebooted revival" series engaged to be married to an awful director, Keith, who had a wandering eye (Allison) and was condensending toward pretty much all of Caitlin's friends.

While Caitlin and Joey ended in a bittersweet fashion, (thanks alot Kevin Smith! </sarcasm) Caitlin resumed her career and ultimately left the series. When Caitlin eventually resurfaces in season 7's Jesse's Girl, where she hooked up with her mentees boyfriend, who is ironically named Jesse. Honestly, awful decision by the writers, and a disservice to her character who'd been around since the 1980's.

I can't believe Caitlin is the kind of woman who would get pissed at a boyfriend over cigarettes or vices when she was written to do something like that. Jesse was, at the very least, 10 or so years her junior. Cougar!Caitlin on the prowl isn't exactly what I expected to see for her future, and not really a flex for her character, a huge nosedive if you want to talk a fall from grace.

So there you have it. That's how I see it anyway.

[histronic-gizmo]

I made this post a while ago, but I changed my mind about creating reviews for all the episodes. This one is completed so thought I'd share it

S1E1 - Pilot

Got all set up for a marathon tonight! Small bowl of takis, a coke, a caprisun, and lights dimmed. Let's fucking go!

I'm gonna do this by reviewing directly after the pre credit scene then do the rest of my thoughts on the episode afterwards.

OKAY, so, the pilot's opening!! I love this scene. I still remember the first time I watched this episode, it was the first thing I ever saw of Rick and Morty. That's a wild ass introduction to a show lmao. The first thing you hear is *RAPIDLY APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS* and then a drunk old man drags a teen boy out of his bed and into a ship made of garbage, I can't-

The way Morty kicks Rick in the face is so funny too. And Rick just straight up lying and passing out after he grabs his flask? 10/10. My jaw was on the floor the first time I watched it. I had to pause it on the opening titles and lay down and ask myself what I was getting myself into lolol

"Or you were out all night again with Grandpa Rick", IT SOUNDS SEXUAL, WHEN I FIRST HEARD THAT I WAS LIKE "AS IN SLEEPING WITH HIM ALL NIGHT???"

And Rick's quote about sleeping and school? Definitely relate. Not in highschool anymore but it was only 2 years ago and it haunts my nightmares fr plus college is hard af

"Dammit!" "JERRY" "Beth D:" instantly knew their dynamic with three words

Love the immediate introduction to Rick's cynicism with his "There is no god" comment, this ep really set it all down. Which makes sense, it's what pilots do lol

Morty's "rename them...?" comment is underrated by the way, gets me everytime

Also, the amount of trauma Frank Palicky smashing to pieces must've caused Summer :skull:

I love the type of humor thats the scene with Morty and Frank. It's a bit cheesy and some media overuses it, but I fucking love it!

Poor Morty, always getting manhandled by his grandfather. I'm sure he likes it though :smirk:

My heart flutters when Rick saves Morty from, you know, almost getting stabbed. He acts like he did nothing, but I'm sure deep down he got pissed, why else would he just leave the guy frozen? He was maaaaad!!

He totally bumped into Frank on purpose. Look at him, already being possessive over his 14 year old grandson. GRRRR unstable old men, I love them

Here comes my favorite quote from the entire show:

"Oh man, Rick, I'm looking around and I'm starting to work up some anxiety about this whole thing."

LITERALLY ME ON A DAILY BASIS, ITS CONCERNING

And Rick saying that the way you handle new situations is to charge into them like a bull? Manic episode me fr, also just me generally being reckless

*shoves morty into the danger*

I adore Rick's mad scientist vibes in this early season 1!! Makes me pleased, I love mad scientist and jaded genius Rick equally fr

I wonder a lot about Rick going into a "future dimension". He said he was there for a while, when he was there for 30 seconds on the screen. Does time move faster in there or something? Cause otherwise, wouldn't he have come back instantly? Hmmm

POV: ur grandfather asked you to put too large seed up your ass for him

The 'airport' scene is AMAZING ofc, we get out very first "Don't think about it!" in the series >:]

Morty getting traumatized everyday :skull:

Now come on Morty, we have to get those seed out of your ass >:[

Rick is forever albert ein-douche to me, Jerry is an amazing angry father / improviser. I'd kiss him. Wait, am I attracted to Jerry? I think I'm just attracted to all the main characters in this show :skull:

Overall rating:

9/10

I rate it only 9 because I've watched it too many times to introduce it to my friends so it's hard for me to watch cus I overused it :pensive:

[countlessrealities]

Hey Morty if you could spend a week as an exchange student as Shinji’s classmate and 3rd roommate, so you guys could hang out a lot more, do you think you’d have fun?

Unprompted asks || Always accepting !

Morty ponders the question for a moment. It has been a long time since he has thought about the possibility that his life can be any different from what it is now. It feels so unrealistic that it's not really worth the mental energy. After all, Rick has infected his life since the day he has literally crashed his way inside it. By now he can't picture his existence unless it's somehow tied to the scientist.

Sharing a place with kids his age, without his weird as fuck family around? Going to school normally, without having the rest of the students expecting an alien invasion? Doing things normal teenagers do, without knowing that he will be snatched away any moment through a portal?

He can't even start to imagine how that is. Even considering Shinji's role as a Pilot.

"I-I mean, maybe? I...It would be a good time, b-but a whole week? I-I don't know," he eventually answers, sounding a little puzzled. "I-I like Shinji. H-He's smart and nice to talk to, an-and he's really badass. I-I'm glad we're friends. I'd really like to hang out with him more, b-but...the thing is, stuff tends to happen around me, y-you know? An-And it's usually nasty stuff, so..."

The other boy already has enough on his plate, without Morty adding his insane shit to it.

"I-If I could have one normal week, t-then yeah. I-I'd say yes right away. I-It would be really cool an-and we could get to know each other better. B-But 'normal', it just...w-we can't exist in the same dimension. N-Not anymore. So, maybe...a-a weekend?"

{ @haus-der-mysterionmusen - mentioned }

[wow-cool-robot]

Episode 5: Father and Son

franklin is going to either betray them and die horribly or finally bond some with kamille and then die horribly

starting off with a eulogy for kamille's mom

so the titans only use earth mobile suits and so won't touch the rick dias? then why use the hizack, zaku's weren't earth suits?

huh, franklin seems genuinely worried about the suits before taking the blowtorch

franklin is not very smart

rip that guy

i like them shoving each other around in zero g. quattro has moves

quattro is also willing to kill kamille's dad, so he gets the mission

hey, yall heard of the red comet? no reason, quattro just reminds me of him

kamille also seems willing to kill his dad. i have so much love and respect in my heart for this boy. just the most 15 years old anyone has ever been

would be funny if the titans shot franklin and the attack quattro planned went off mostly as expected

jerid must have been told "oh, the new lt commander is jamaican" and thought it was his name

i'm amazed they managed to catch up with the custom 3x faster rick dias

uh oh! there goes a gundam leg!

franklin's mistress is way too hot for him, there's no fucking way

i still love the cord phones in space

why'd you take the arm off? the gundam needs that

reccoa, you're putting too much faith in kamille. at this point amuro had a kill count in the double digits, and i don't think kamille's accomplished anything through actual piloting skill

cutting to bask saying "this is war" and then cutting away is such a weird choice

guess he can't shoot him

dude, you can't complain about him pointing a gun at you while shooting at him!

rip franklin, and more importantly rip to quattro's cool custom rick dias

quattro is refreshingly honest here. and emma takes it well

putting a lot on his shoulders there quattro

even quattro's doing it! everyone is being very nice to him and playing along with his little disguise, and i think he knows it

kamille is the only one who hasn't realized what quattro's deal is, and insulting him to his face is very funny

quattro: you'd listen to what char had to say, right? kamille: why, is he here? quattro: i think he would want you to do as i told you kamille: fuck off, this is bullshit

emma has clearly already clocked him as well, this is so funny

i like quattro killing kamille's dad and adopting him

i predict quattro bageena will continue to provide a rich vein of goofs going forward. at least until cca

i appreciate how this show has yet to have a single episode that feels fight of the week. kamille hasn't accomplished jack shit so far and i love that for him

[redhead-writes]

Hollywolf as Bob’s guardians

PART 2

So Wolfman sees this kid, maybe around 12 or 13, in a mall arcade locking the target and shooting all the targets close to perfectly. His interest is piqued. He is still in his uniform so it would not look weird that he is approaching a child. When Leonard approaches him, he recognizes the grandson of their neighbor, an old lovely lady but could give people a run for their money. 

Hollywood played poker with her when he was back from missions. The old lady has saved their arses on more occasions than one. DADT still in place there had been loads of rumors even in their secluded community. Mrs. Floyd heard about it and in a few days rumors died out. 

Neither Hollywood or Wolfman knew what she did but they were forever grateful to her. Also she always had the best cookies for after long deployment and care packages coming to their ships. 

Recently an old lady was joined by her grandson Robert, Wolfman remembered. He seemed to keep to himself and Mrs. Floyd let him be, not telling even her neighbors why he was here.

Kid strikes the last of his target and Wolfman says: “Amazing eye to hand cordination. Have you ever thought about going to be WSO?” Kid jumped a bit and turned around to come face to face with Leonard. He was scrawny, clothes seemed baggy on him and dark circles under eyes like he hasn’t slept normally in a while. Hollywood would say Robert was not cut for it but Wolfman saw something in this kid.

“No, sir…Mr. Wolfe, I haven’t.” “Well…you should, Robert. We would be losing an amazing asset if you don’t consider that.” Kid smiled at him and fixed his glasses that also seemed too big for him. Something in Wolf wanted to take care of this child, teach him all he knows.

“How about we eat some pizza and then I take you back home?”

“I am not really hungry, sir.” Robert looked down on the floor. Leonard saw his hands starting to shake. He had seen similar things in his fellow pilots after a rough mission. What the hell this kid had gone through?

“I am! You can order whatever you want. It is on me. I will tell you funny stories about my deployment.” Wolfman suggested, not wanting to pressure kiddo into anything, but gosh he needed to put on some weight. Robert just nodded following Leonard to the food court. They had a good time and Robert even ate one slice of pizza. That Wolfman took as an absolute success.

He drove them back home where Mrs. Floyd was already waiting for her grandson on the porch. Robert thanked the Wolfman, hugged his grandma and walked into the house. Old woman made her way to him. Just looking at him. Her look could rival Iceman's unnerving one.

“Found your grandson in an arcade shooting targets down, he is good at it. Also Robert ate a slice of pizza and had a milkshake.” he felt the need to count down what they did to her. She cracked a smile, her eyes glistening and started speaking: “It is his first proper lunch since his parents died in the 9/11 attacks. Thank you, Leonard!”

That explained a lot about how Robert acted, how he looked. His want to protect the kid grew with each passing minute. He also wanted to go and kiss Hollywood as a reminder that he still is there.

“I will be around here for a few months and Hollywood, too. We could take him on weekends.”

“Having two best pilots next door already is helping him, but if you both don’t feel bothered, I think it would do Bobby good, having you two around.”

As Wolfman predicted Hollywood didn’t see what he saw in Robert. One of the best WSO’s in the making but with time Rick started to see it. So he took on training Robert, starting with stretches and  morning runs before Robert’s therapy sessions that left him anxious before and tired after. Then followed yoga and meditation, all three of them did because the kid had tripped in going into the therapy too. Not only were they helping Robert but he was helping them. That made Hollywood realize what Wolfman had seen from the start. 

Robert was 14 when he lost his grandma and both Hollywood and Wolfman another dear friend. Mrs. Floyd had written in her will that custody over Robert was split between Rick and Leonard till Robert Floyd turns 18. Mrs. Floyd called them only by their given name and so the three carried on that tradition. It helped with keeping work outside the home. Their psychologist also approved of it.

Both of them were called to San Diego and they took that chance for a new start for all three of them. Hollywood as a joke put a sticker on their car back window saying Baby on board. That is how Robert got his call sign B.o.B. Wolfman and Hollywood teased him softly over it because he always will be their baby on board. Robert simply needed something that reminded him of these two men who helped raise him in WSO he is now. Sense of them with him in that plane.

In San Diego Robert met Ron “Slider” Kaner who owned a private plane company that had special training planes for pilots. Both Rick and Leonard had taken Bob flying before but this was next level. Robert passed it with flying colors, getting out of the plane laughing with Ron. The other two pilots were happy to see their kid happy like that again. He was meant to be in the air. Somehow Robert or how Ron had started to call him Bobby tripped Slider into therapy, too, but he drew a line at yoga and meditation, but Hollywood teasing him about Slider not being limber enough did the trick.

Somehow Hollywood and Wolfman had kept Iceman and Maverick out of Bobbies life. It wasn’t like they kept him hidden away. Simply the other two men had a lot going on in their life. Then Bradley upped and left without another word. Wolfman had gotten an absolute mess of Maverick calling him. Ron had canceled the last of Robert's flying training sessions. Bobby knew they all were hiding something.

That somehow brought in both hurricane and unmovable objects in Robert's life that were Pete and Tom when he was 15. Bobby was alone at home, doing his homework and looking through some of  Hollywood's paperwork. Both of his guardians are still at Top Gun base, training running late. When loud banging made him jump in his seat, Robert hid Rick’s papers and took a baseball bat for self preservation reasons. He was dialing Leonard.

“Bobby? Is everything alright?”

“I don’t know. Someone is banging on our house door.”

“HOLLYWOOD, WOLFMAN, LET ME IN! I KNOW YOU ARE HOME, I CAN SEE THE LIGHT.”

“Oh fuck!” cursed Leonard. “That is Maverick. We will be back as soon as possible. We will call his husband.”

“Leo, I think I should let him in before neighbors call the cops.”“Yeah, do that.”

Bob opens the door to have Maverick just fall face first on the carpet in the halfway. The older man groans. Bob closes the doors and goes to the kitchen to get a glass of the water for the man. Maverick, as Wolfman had called him, had sat up and just looked at Robert with glassy eyes.

“Drink this! You will thank me when you wake up tomorrow.”

“Who are you?”

“Robert, Rick and Leonard are my guardians. You must be Pete?”

“Yeah, but everyone calls me Maverick.”

“We don’t use callsigns under this roof. Only given names. Makes you realize you are not your callsign but human, too.”

“Then yeah, I am Pete. Where are your guardians?”

“Coming! They called your husband, too.” To what Pete groaned, hanging his head low but he kept sipping on the water.

“Maybe you want to move to the kitchen. It must not be good for your knees. Let me help you!”

They sat in silence in the kitchen till four men walked into the kitchen. Robert got up and told Hollywood: “I fixed your paperwork. It is under the couch cushions. I am off to bed. We still on for a run at 6AM?”

“Thanks! Yeah, kiddo, we are.”

He could hear a new voice joining the conversation when he left the kitchen: “What do you mean this 15 year old kid is going through your paperwork?”

“Hey! That is our Bobby and he does some paperwork shit for my company, too.” piped in Slider. “He is really smart. We are raising the best WSO while you failed at raising not angry punk pilot. No surprise Mav pulled his papers. You can’t fly with such mental health.”

“Slider, this is not helping right now.” “No callsigns under this roof, only given names.” said both of his guardians at the same time, confusing Pete and Tom even more.

They really haven’t been around a lot. Iceman becoming Admiral and Maverick trying to piss off as many higher ranking officers as he could while trying to raise a kid. It was no easy job. Wolfman and Hollywood knew that hand first but Bradley’s reaction to this was uncalled for.

“Pete, look at me. We will give Tom numbers of really respectable psychological health center. It is really private but it is time you deal with it all. You can’t go again in spiel over another Bradshaw. Me and Hollywood have a kid that had gone through similar shit and we are not putting him in any kind of danger for his progress to drop. Also our own progress to drop. You call them when you feel like it is time but Pete never ever again come to this house door drunk like this. I will call Ron and he will be happy to finally whoop your arse.” ranted off Leonard. These two men could be his lifelong friends but he would not put himself or his family in any kind of bad situation. Maverick just nodded while Iceman was standing close to him with hand on his shoulder. “You did a better job than me and Ic…I meant Tom.”

“You will get used to it. We had help. Our house doors are open to you. We have family dinner each Friday.” said Rick, helping their guests out of their house. When everyone was gone, he slid near his Wolfman and whispered: “That gives me a hard on.” To which Leonard answered: “Don’t tease me.” Order was mixed but that was how it started. Rick really felt turned on by Leonard’s rant. 

Ron is in for a ride and when Bob turns 18, he will become his partner because that kid had saved some thousand dollars for Slider with his amazing  reading skills that take notice of smallest details. 

Also Bob will choose to do his engineering degree before going to pilot school.  He wants to spend more time with Leo and Rick and Ron. Now Pete and Tom, too, before he goes off to become WSO.

When Ice gots sick, Robert cuts his deployment and is there for his uncle Tom because he knows the man. He will act though while he suffers. So Bob pauses his life a bit to help Pete and other Uncles to take care of Tom while Pete is away. They all learn ASL to be able to talk with Tom because no one gets left behind in this family. Tom is Admiral and gets Robert spot on Top Guns engineering team but in the end Bob ends up to be Admirals Kazansky right hand. Writing papers, taking calls and etc. "NOW LOOK WHO ALLOWS BOBBY TO DO HIS PAPERS." *pointed fingers and all*AT LEAST HE DOESN'T HAVE A CHICKEN SHIT HAND WRITING RONNIE it's what Ice totally signs back to Slider. (thank you @pollyna for this one.)

Ice gets better and Bob is sent on deployment to keep his skills sharp. Still he feels bad for leaving his family but all of them say he should go. Penny told him she will keep an eye on those trouble makers. Uncle Pete and Tom will wait with their wedding when he gets back because Hollywood and Wolfman married straight up few hours after DADT was lifted. Bobby was ring bearer. It was a small ceremony in their house's backyard with closest people. It was simple but heartwarming like those two. 

On carrier Bob kept getting care packages that he shared with other people on his squadron. They didn't question it, enjoying tasty stuff that was in those. Bob was happy to share the love he gets from his family. 

In one of the runs of the plane, Bob didn't like the sound of the plane. Uncle Pete and Ron always have told him to listen to planes. He told his pilot that something was wrong and they got to go back to the carrier but he dismissed it, telling Bob not to sweat it. The pilot was sweating it when their plane was going down fast. They ejected and then Robert's body hit the water's surface. He was just floating in the water thinking about his parents and grandma. Will he join them now? No, no, he had reason to live. There was a big family waiting for him to come home. He felt so tired and his head hurt. He could hear Wolfman screaming in his head to stay awake. He did try, oh God, he did try. Robert hoped that his parents and grandma would protect him at this moment and he could float back home safely somehow. 

Bob woke up to the clean smell that always came with hospitals. He was used to it after picking Tom up after his chemo. But why was he here? He tried to move and all his muscles just screamed in pain.

"Hey, hey, Bobby, don't move. You are bruised everywhere."

Bob squeezed his eyes because that sounded like Uncle Pete. He was deployed on a ship nearby.

"Uncle Pete?"

"Yeah, that is me." Whispered the older man, squeezing Roberts hand. "I know you are confused how I am here but our carrier got a mayday signal and I flew out. While in the air they told us more details. I thoug....I thought I will need to tell Rick and Leonard that their son died."

"Brought back bad memories?"

"Yes, kiddo. Still working on them with a therapist. Kinda hard to get through something you burried down in 1986. Then I noticed you in the ocean and called the boat to get you from my carrier." Bob just hummed, finally opening eyes to see Mavericks green eyes looking at him.

"Is the pilot okay?"

"That is our Bobby we know. Always worrying about others. He is back on your carrier. He won't be after your dads get to him. Not to count Iceman calling, too. He is flying out with Ron." Bob groaned. He was not dying. He will be okay. At the same time it warmed him over to know his family got his back.

"Someone needs to keep uncle Ron in check."

"Don't worry! Let us take care of you for once. He shouldn't fear Ron but Tom. To ignore what their WSO says and especially one that had been Admirals right hand. Really dumb. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"We flew up in the air and the plane didn't sound right. Something was not right even if I checked on it before flight but my pilot distracted me before I could get to the engines. I told the pilot it and he ignored it. After 3 minutes we are falling into the ocean because our engine is on fire. Then my body hit the water and I passed out."

"Bobby, you know that real pilots don't do that. No one gets left behind."

"I know, uncle Pete. I will go back to sleeping. Wake me up when worrywarts get here."

After this incident Robert ends up being deployed in Lemoore and he could go home on weekends without trouble. Then uncle Pete goes missing because he pushed the Darkstar too far. Of course, he comes back to them as Maverick does. Then comes the next punch in the gut. Tom was doing his routine check ups and they told him cancer was back. Bobby was there with him because Maverick had to come back from his bruising. He could see that uncle Tom took it as a death sentence.

"No, uncle Tom. You are stronger than this. We are going to a different clinic."

"No use." Wrote to Tom on his phone.

"No, I am not giving up on you and you are neither. You hear me. You have every reason to live. I will call uncle Ron if you don't follow me to this other clinic."

"Okay!"

"Great."

It took three long days for the blood test results to come back. Robert and Tom were visiting doctor in this new clinic. Keeping it all under wraps to not worry their closest. Doctor told them that there must have been some mistake in testing because it looked all good in this blood test but to be 100% they would need Iceman to check in each week. The relief both men felt.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, all the markers are clear."

After such a miracle they both knew it was time to bring Bradley back and there was only one way to do it. The suicide mission. His dads won't be happy but they will get it. Especially with uncle Pete being the teacher.

There was the first training session with him, Phoenix and Hangman as a team. The blonde man teased him, hitting the target with Baby on board. But Robert could give back as well as he got it. Seresin left them to die which would not roll with uncle Pete or him. So after training, he cornered Hangman.

"What do you need, Bob?"

"Never leave your wingman behind. You may be the best pilot here but you can't do this mission alone. And we can keep up with you, if you don't think with your ego. Also yes, Bob stands for Baby on board. My dads gave me my callsign." With that Robert left with a gaping Hangman behind him. Javy got out of shower, piping up: "You know he is right, Jake. You can't do it alone."

"Damn that stealth pilot."

But after that uncle Pete was not keen on  putting Jake with Bob in the same group. Then all hell broke loose when Jake reminded two men about Bradley's dad. Robert knew Jake was right.

Somehow Robert has ended up as friends with Bradley. He saw both of his uncles in the man and two people he had heard only stories about. Phoenix seemed to trust Rooster but Bob could not shake the feeling of his instincts that Bradley is not ready for it. Jake's words resounding in his mind. Bob had all the reasons to come back alive from this mission. The day on the beach was what they needed. They finally felt like the team. After they went back to the Hard deck. Somehow it ended up only him and Jake left from his squad.

“It seems Hangman had been left hanging?"

"You are funny, baby on board." Slurred Jake.

"Do you need a drive home?"

"I don't have a home. Just leave me be."

"No, in this family no one gets left behind. You should have learned that after my first rant. You can stay at my place for tonight."

"Okay."

Next morning Robert woke up later than usual to come down and see Jake being sat at end of table. His eyes jumping from his dads to uncles.

"Hey, Robert! Why didn't you say your family is made up from Top Gun class '86 best pilots?"

It seems Rick and Leonard had drilled their one house rule in Jake.

"You didn't ask, Jake. Also people start to treat you differently when you explain it. Did they already integorate you?"

"Bobby, you wound us. We were on our best behavior here." Answered uncle Ron.

"I will believe that when ostrich's will start to fly. I know you wanted to talk with him since first training."

"Yeah, yeah, Bobby. He is a good kid."

"Reminds you of you, Ron?" Asked Rick who was making waffles. It made both Ron and Jake choke on their coffees. Uncle Tom didn't take his eyes off Jake that made him twitch anxiously.

"He is just angry that you hurt his husband. He will get over it in a few days. Uncle Tom knows you are right about Rooster. Maybe, possibly, uncle Tom could talk uncle Pete into giving our trio another chance to fly together."

"I will think about it." Tom signed back. Jake seemed to relax also.

Bob again was in hospital. This time after the bird strike. He knew someone was there but when he opened his eyes all was blurry. Someone helped to put his glasses back on. Those were his spares because it was flurry before his eyes could focus. In a chair tiny for him sat Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw.

"Hey! How are you?"

"Like I just ejected from the plane." answered Robert, something not nicely scrapping in his chest. Those guilty looks Bradley kept sending him did make the feeling get worse.

"What did you do?" No movement from the Rooster. "What did you tell Maverick?" Bullseye. Bradley looked at Bob so quickly he could hear the man's neck crack.

"I will ask one more time what the fuck did you tell Maverick?"

"He told me how you were taken to hospital. How when you work in this field for long you're gonna lose someone. I exploded at him and told him no one will mourn him if he burns in."

Robert felt like someone had slapped him. He started to push the call nurse button. The middle aged woman ran in his room and he rumbled down: "Man with panic attack at top gun base. Where did you leave him?"

"In common room."

"Please, call Admiral Kazansky - Mitchell straight away." She nodded and left the room. Bob has had enough of this idiot ruining his family. Uncle Ron once said that everyone was coddling Bradley and now he got to see the consequences of this coddling. This ends now. "You are a selfish prick, Bradley Bradshaw. Thinking only - me, me. Did you ever think who was powerful enough in both yours and commanders life to ask to pull your papers?"

"Mom." Bradley breathed out.

"Woohoo! You have won back one brain cell. While you ran away and didn't look back, I was there. I had to look at them while going through losing you. I was there when uncle Tom fell ill with cancer. It had to be you who was there not me. He helped you when your mom was ill but you were not there." Bradley was opening his mouth to retort something. "Don't you dare to say they could call you. We all tried but you blocked all of us and then changed your number. You kept on running from them but they kept an eye on you. Right now I have no idea why. They love you so much and you simply gave it up. You gave up people who love you unconditionally. If something happens to uncle Pete and he can't teach us anymore, I will punch you so hard you will fall in tomorrow. You are selfish, Bradley, and a hazard to my family. So I would love to ask you to go check on Phoenix before my family is here because I won't stop uncle Ron this time. Get help, Bradshaw, than maybe one day you can come back to them and be part of this family."

Rooster got up and silently left the room. Bob was right; he really did hurt his only living family. It was time to talk with Phoenix. She always had good advice.

They were on carrier and waiting for captain Mitchell to call his team's names. All that was left was uncle Pete's wingman. Bob already knew who he gonna choose but he couldn't stop muttering under his breath: "Not Rooster, not Rooster."

It was too late now. Robert looked at Bradley with one look saying: "You better bring him back in one piece."

It seemed to be going good so far and then uncle Pete was down because he saved Bradley and then Bradley too was down. Bob felt all his strength leave him but they had to get back to carrier. Also that it was his uncle Pete and Pete's kid. If there is anyone who can come back from this, than it is those two. There was signal on the radar from Rooster and small relief went trough Bob. Soon enough they were back on carrier. Bob made his way to his uncle. He hugged him as hard as he could. Then he turned to Bradley.

"You kept your promise?"

"I did. I want to be part of this family again. Thank you for kicking my arse."

"Happy to help, Bradley, but if you would excuse me, I need to give something to your savior."

"Go get him, Bob." laughed Bradley. Robert found Jake hiding from the huge crowd.

"I thought you would be basking in the lights of your success?"

"Not really feeling it."

"I wanted to thank you for saving my family memebers." said Bob, pressing his lips to side of Jakes cheek when the other man turned his head and their lips connected. Bob doesn't know how long they just stood there making out. "Good to know that I already had shovel talk from members of your family."

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI - 4.01 - Island Vibes review

So this is going to be quick because my brain have exploded and I’ve gotta leave in like 30 minutes.

BOTH THE BITS WITH MIGGY WERE FROM THE BOOK and I’m not even mad!

We got a call back/ answer to why the boat is called Bell! Yes! 

Also (in case you missed it...) THEY KISS!

I mean come on! And why is it stupidly romantic and just the right amount of spy melodrama for me to both love it and want to roll my eyes at it. 

ALSO the fact that Magnum who spends the whole episodes being all “Higgy’s got cooties!” and then two minutes before his girlfriend comes over decides that the time to read the steamy part of the book with the characters (loosely) based on him and Higgins. I AM FINE (I’m really not.)

Anyways, I sort of started a bit backwards there didn’t I.

And weirdly enough the kiss while fantastic is not my favorite moment of this whole episode. Basically because every moment might be. I’ve just been that Magnum deprived I would have watched it had it been about Magnum sitting on the beach counting grains of sand.

But anyways the quick plot summary:

Magnum is dating Lia. Who seems sweet and all but so far I don’t have a clear vibe for her. I was hoping to get more of her personality but really so for all I got is sweet and a little sassy. Her reason for not wanting to tell people as I suspected; she don’t want people to think badly about her for dating a co-worker. Which is better than being embarrassed because he’s a bottom feeding PI (as I had feared.) 

(Edit: lol there was a case, i just forgot to mention it. It was totally okay maybe even good but I was maybe more invested in my faves...)

Higgy has been playing red cross pilot, which I like, because they actually remembered! So yay for continuity. 

She and Ethan have also not been spending a whole lot of those 5 months together...  (We flew halfway around the world together just to video chat - why does this feel most accurate description of relationships 2020/2021...) I’m thinking it’s Ethan’s absence that have made Higgy’s hair even more fab. That’s my theory and I’m sticking with it...

Anyways, Kenya plot... Vaccines have been stolen, Higgy steals em back, bad guys she steals it from are somehow conected to MI6. To keep the doctors safe from the rebels she has to leave Kenya and play nice with Eve from MI6.

THIS MIGHT BE THE PART I LOVE MOST. 

But I am a sucker for spy drama. Even more the whole fact that she can’t tell Magnum. This also makes me happy because if Magnum is going to have a secret girlfriend, Higgy should get to have a secret too. And he should be all “but you hid that from me” and she’ll be all “BECAUSE THEY MADE ME you just did it because you didn’t trust and feel like telling me”.

Also Susie and Rick finally hook up! Good for them. Also sad to see Suzie go but happy baby or whatever you say! 

Yikes, only go 4 more minutes to go before I have to be out the door. This might be my worst review ever.

More thoughts? BRAIN WHERE ARE MY THOUGHTS...

UM Juliet’s first question after hanging up with Ethan: 

“I wonder what Magnum thinks...” 

Made me legit stop the video and just laugh and want to do a happy dance because, come on! It’s just too good.

Random other thing:  A cat treat dispenser that films? How did Gordy say that with a straight face?

Magnum being soft and worried but also knowing Higgy so well, being all “Being a pilot isn’t enough for you” and still telling her just to be careful. Look at his adorable resigned to just worry face!

Them being all soft with each other is nice and I want more of it! I 

That’s it. It’s been more than 3 minutes, I’m late and I will probaly come back with more thoughts as my brain has had some time to process.

Very much looking forward to all the amazing gifs I will see tonight. You better not disappoint oh great gif making gods of Tumblr!!!

(I did make a kiss-y gif. Are you impressed? I’m impressed with myself. Gifs are tricky...)

[achliegh]

Golden

FEEL FREE TO SEND ME ASKS ABOUT HOW YOU LIKED THAT CHAPTER

OR IF YOU DIDN'T LIKE IT PLEASE TELL ME WHY

THANK :)

Yeehaw Leo… it's all because this song came on one day (I don’t even really listen to country anymore so it really is fate). Leo is based off that song, each chapter is going to be based off a yeehaw song too.

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

Beta: @the-most-slyterin-hufflepuff & @punkkkboi

TW/CW: Smut, terrible yeehaw sayings and jokes, injuries, mentions of past death/suicide, minor character death, underage drinking, mentions of past arrests, cringe

Chapter Songs (listening in order is recommended):

Chapter 13:

Anchors Away

Clay was bored, wandering around the mall with nothing to do. Thomas was at practice, Noelle was at work at the aquarium. He was alone again and he really didn’t like it. Leo was busy cleaning the apartment for his mom who is showing up later tonight and Reg was hanging out at the rink.

Clay thought about going to the rink but everytime he goes for longer than 20 minutes he gets a head cold. He was walking past a recently closed store and heard faint music coming from inside. He walked in and noticed a small table set up with two men who were jokingly singing along to the song.

Clay took note of all the posters around the small store.

‘Feeling like you need a purpose in life?’ Yeah, he does. Everyone around him is doing actual things with their lives. Reg has started going to art school for errotic photography and portraits. Leo has been selling horses over video calls with rich clients and helping his mother set up times for the clients to go down and visit the horses at the ranch. Obviously, the hockey boys are playing hockey. Noelle is a year away from graduating and was recently promoted, and Clay just kind of existed…

Leo jokingly called him a houseboy when he mentioned how he just stays at home and cleans, now that's all he is ever called by Leo and Reg and it really makes Clay feel worthless. He knows they don’t mean anything by it but…. It still stings.

He moves on to the next poster. “Want financial benefits, healthcare, and more?”

That would be nice, to make his own money for once instead of his parents randomly filling his account with too much money. Something he knows he shouldn’t complain about but he wants to make a name for himself.

‘Join the U.S Navy.’ He paused, he doesn’t know a lot about his birth family, but he does know they were in the military. He has no clue which branch and he knows if he asked his parents they would help him in a heartbeat. But maybe this was a way to find out on his own.

He left the mall feeling lighter, a pep in his step.

He just enlisted in the navy. He was going to make something of himself and maybe even feel like he isn’t just watching his friends and partners pass him by.

Then it hit him, the one thing Leo and him promised each other they would never do is join the military. Because they both know how it fucks people up. Leo lost his uncle, and Clay’s dad lost his own father to PTSD from not having proper care after. Maybe he just screwed up…. But there was no going back now. He wouldn’t.

Walking in the house, Noelle was looking beautiful. She was wearing a pair of sweats rolled up twice at the waist and one of Clay’s old ratty t-shirts. Her curly hair was in her normal ponytail and she was putting on her sneakers. She looked tired from work.

Earlier in the week when Clay and Leo announced Eloise was coming to visit for a few days Noelle started stressing immediately. She has always worried about meeting parents because they always seem to dislike her when they first lay eyes on her, she blames it on her chronic RBF. Clay reassured her that Eloise would love her and actually already loves her from all the stories Clay has told her on her weekly calls.

Eloise was coming tonight, fuck! It was his birthday today and he forgot to mention it! Oops...

Thomas was sitting next to her, freshly showered in his own sweats and t-shirt looking relaxed, he was wearing some socks with little hamsters on them that Clay found for him a while ago. It made his heart jump and he felt his face stretch into a smile. He was scrolling through his phone and Thomas’ whole face opened up in a bright smile as soon as he saw Clay. He made Clay feel so special in a specific way, a way that is so different from how Noelle does and he loves them both.

He needs to tell them that.

“I have something to tell you guys… honestly, I don’t know how you will react but what's done is done.” He puts his hands in his jean pockets and taps the hell of his boots to the toe of his other boot. He was fidgeting and knew the other two noticed. It made him even more nervous.

“That doesn’t sound like good news.” Thomas looks at him a bit worried. His smile was still there but it fell slightly and Clay just wanted to fix it. He noticed Noelle had paused stomping on her shoes, oddly similar to Logan, it made him want to stop what he was going to say but… communication is important!

“Well, I first need you guys to promise me something, then I will make Finn and Logan promise the same thing when we see them because I know I will have to tell them.” He has to tell them, so they are ready for Leo just, not being okay.

And it was all gonna be Clay’s fault.

“What's the promise?” Noelle finishes putting on her shoe and looks up at him. She is trying her best to keep her face neutral but he could tell the wheels were turning in her brain.

“Do not tell Leo, I need to be the one to tell him… and I know he isn’t going to react well. Same goes for Reg but I will probably tell him a lot sooner than Leo.” He keeps on switching his feet that he is tapping and finally looks at them.

It’s now or never.

“I enlisted in the navy today.”

“Okay, Reg and I are going to pick up Ma and then we will be right back!” Leo has been all smiles all day. Finn knew he was close to his mom but this is just adorable.

“Drive safe!” Leo and Reg wave as they leave the apartment and as soon as the door closes Clay is standing in front of Finn and Logan who are snuggled together on the couch. Logan was wrapped up in Leo’s favorite blanket that his grandpa made for him before he passed away. It was a woven blanket with an image of Peanut on it. That blanket has seen Leo and Clay in their worst moments.

He was surprised Logan wasn’t scared of it given his fear of horses.

“Alright you two, I need to tell you something and it needs to be kept secret from Leo and Reg, if you so much as tell them a peep I will never forgive you. That will make family reunions super awkward.” Finn looks up from his phone where he and Logan were reading the comments on their latest tiktok on their joined account.

“Don’t look at me.” Finn raises his hand on surrender and looks at Logan who rolls his eyes annoyed and snatches Finn’s phone away to keep reading the comments.

“I enlisted in the navy-” Clay didn’t even get the full sentence out before Logan had thrown the phone down on the cushion next to him and Finn covered his mouth with his hand looking shocked.

“YOU DID WHAT?”

“Mama!” Leo hugs Eloise tightly as she drops her bags to hug him back. “How was the flight?” He squeezes her tightly before noticing her new hearing aid is flashing is three blinks then a pause and three more blinks. “I think your hearing aid is dying. Make sure to charge them when we get home.” She either ignores him or doesn’t hear him even though she can normally hear him this close.

“Rick was a great pilot as always, even let me bring y’all some moonshine he made. It's watermelon and raspberry!.” Eloise pulls away after one last squeeze and sees Reg and her smile widens. “Reg! I’m so happy you’re here!” She waits for him to open his arms as an invitation to hug him so she knows he is comfortable with her touching him and she does as soon as he opens his arms. Tighter than she did Leo. “Have you been eating well? How about sleeping? Did you ever enroll in college?”

“Yes, yes and yes.” Reg can’t help but laugh when she picks him up still hugging him and sways him around. He isn’t used to this much affection from a mother figure but… they love it.

“I’m so proud of you for following your dream.” She pulls away and smiles at him with a sincere smile and brushes his hair back. “Your hair looks nice by the way.”

“Thank you.” Reg and Leo help her with her bags and pack them into the truck and drive the short way back to the apartment. Talking about everything and anything. The door man sends a wink Eloise’s way and she holds up her left hand where her wedding ring is. Letting him know she is taken. Walking up to the apartment they smell an odd smell through the door and everyone shares a look.

“I promise it doesn't normally smell this way unless… oh no.”

“What does that mean!?” She leans over to Reg to whisper as Leo fiddles with his key in the lock.

“It means Finn and Logan tried to cook something.” Reg whispers to Eloise as Leo opens the door, Clay was the first to greet them, smiling his million dollar smile he hugs Elosie so tight it surprises her.

“Hello Bluebell! I was surprised I didn’t see you at the airport. How are you doing sweetheart! Twenty years old today! You’re all growing up so fast.” She kisses his forehead and they pull apart. “You look good. Your mother wants you to call her later tonight so she can sing happy birthday.”

“It's your birthday!” Noelle pipes up and looks at Clay offended. “And you didn’t tell us!” He cringes before turning to her.

“Oh, I guess I forgot.” He walks over to her and kisses her cheek while Eloise puts her hand on her chest from just how cute they are.

“Seems like that should have been the first thing you told us this morning instead of, ‘ I feel like a jellyfish’.” Thomas laughs a little and kisses both Noelle and Clay’s cheeks. “So cute.”

“It slipped my mind!”

“Okay, what is that smell?” Leo leads Eloise towards the kitchen after she is done fawning over how cute those three are. Finn and Logan are suspiciously standing in the way of the countertop right next to the stove. “What are you hiding?”

Finn turns bright red and Logan looks anywhere but Leo. Eloise sets her purse on the counter and walks over to them, giving them both kisses on the cheek.

“What did you make us?”

“Well… we tried to make a cake from your cookbook-”

“It didn’t go very well.” They both move to the side to reveal a lopsided cake with some diluted frosting dripping off and random coconut flakes floating around on it. “Can you at least tell what it is?” Logan casually turned the plate so the ‘good side’ was facing Leo and Eloise.

“Umm… not really. Do you mind just telling us?” Eliose was examining the cake, trying to figure out what cinnamon cake she had in her cookbook. None that she can remember.

“Something called,” Finn walks over to the book and notices Clay and Reg standing to the side with their phones up and probably recording. “Divinity Cake.” The room was suddenly really still and quiet. Eloise looked like she was about to cry and Leo was just staring at the cake in shock.

Then Eloise brokedown in laughter, to the point where she was laughing so hard she was on the ground holding her stomach and crying. Finn and Logan were visibly confused and looked to Leo for an explanation, only to find him trying to conceal his laughter in the crooks of his arm.

“Oh my god! What is so funny?” Logan looks at the cookbook and then back at the cake. It looked terrible but they tried their best! They didn’t burn the house down at least.

“Oh my lovely lovely boys.” Leo wraps an arm around both their shoulders and pulls them in close so they are all cheek to cheek for a moment. “Divinity cake is usually cooked for your in-laws in the south.. To prove you are worthy of being a good wife.” explains through his laughing breaks. “This is amazing.”

Eloise eventually stands up and dabs her eyes so she doesn’t smear her makeup. Pulling the two embarrassed boys into a tight hug. “Y’all are so sweet. Thank you for the cake.” She gives them both sloppy kisses on the cheeks and then pats where she just kissed. “Alright I’m going to put my things in the guest room and then we can cook something up for y’all to eat.” She smiles and takes most of her bags to the guest room but forgets her purse. “Finn, would you be a dear and grab my purse for me?” She calls out and Finn being the sweetheart he is, grabs the bag and tries to take it with him as he walks past.

The bag won’t budge, Leo is watching with a smile on his face and his arms crossed. Finn tugs at the bag again and eventually gets it off the counter, it nearly knocks him over with how heavy it is. He scurried to Eloise’s room and gave it to her. She holds it like it’s nothing.

He makes his way back over to Leo and sinks into his chest, his face buried in his neck. Logan is still poking the cake, showing off just how gelatinous it is. Clay and Reg are comparing videos that they took and laughing at how they zoomed in on different faces. Sending them to each other.

“I’m sorry we messed up the cake.” Finn looks up at Leo and sees the sweetest little smile, showing his dimples off. Finn has noticed Leo’s tan from the summer is fading and it is making the small scar across his nose more prominent. It was cute.

“Honestly, it’s better than anything else y’all have made. Plus, now Mama can teach you how to make it the right way for the next time she visits.” Leo kisses his eyebrow and wraps his arms around him as Finn pouts even more. Logan eventually makes his way over and rests his head on Leo’s shoulder.

“Maybe it still tastes good?” He closes his eyes and rubs his cheek on Leo’s soft shirt and tough shoulder, massaging his jaw muscles. His arms are crossed.

“We can try it afte Mama and I make some food, how about y’all pick out what you want so she can put on her mini cooking show.” Leo feels the boys lean off of him and smiles as he watches them pour over each page of the book looking for a meal they want.

“Alright, I’m ready to cook.” Eloise comes back into the room and gathers everyone so they are sitting on the other side of the counter, unless they are Reg or Leo because they are allowed to help cook. Finn and Noelle have taken the two seats while Clay and Thomas are on either side of them watching and Logan is in between them.

They all watch as Eloise explains what she is doing in hopes it helps them understand and make them want to try and make this on their own. Logan gets in trouble for focusing on Leo instead of what she is teaching and she gives him a smirk.

“You remind me a lot of Wyatt, you know that? Around the same height too.” She smiles as she fiddles with her ring after she washed her hands to get the rest of the flour off her hands. Leo is watching the food in the oven as he leans against the counter and nods in agreement with her.

“I do?” Logan looks at her a little confused, he sadly never got the chance to meet Wyatt but he always pictured him as more of the strong and silent type who was also tall, giving Leo his extra few inches of height.

“He was 5’10 and the sweetest man I have ever met, he was goofy and carefree like Finn and always had this hard look in his eyes like you do. Unless he was looking at Leo or I, or in your case Leo. Please don’t look at me like that.” Leo snorts and smiles.

“That would be kinda weird.” He turns his head over his shoulder and smiles at his boys. “Why don’t we tell them some stories about dad? I never really talk about him because… well, it still hurts.” Eloise smiles a little sad at her son and gives his arm a comforting squeeze. Her love language.

“Well, he was in the air force.” She notices Clay looking away, Noelle suddenly looks uncomfortable and Thomas looks a little sad. Something was off. “He and his twin brother Wess joined at the same time, and flew fighter jets together. His brother was shot down and Wyatt made Leo promise to never join. After he came back he vowed to never leave again. He kept his promise.” She smiles at the image of him coming home still fresh in her mind. “He was in love with music, sometimes I think he loved music more than us. He tried to get Leo to learn how to play instruments but the poor boy is so tone deaf he couldn’t figure anything out.” She laughs a little as Leo smiles. “I remember when Leo was being taught the guitar Wyatt would be thrown into laughing fits when Leo would play the wrong chords and smile up at him like he just did something.”

“I thought I did!” Leo laughs a little and turns around to face everyone else. “Look It took me forever to learn rhythm, and now I can dance like there is no tomorrow… still can’t sing though.”

“Ahmen!” Clay pipes up and ducks as Leo throws a spoon at him.

“Shut up!”

“Wyatt did manage to teach Clay how to play fiddle somehow, do you still play?” Eloise checks the food in the oven and determines it's not done.

“I haven’t played since… yeah I haven’t played in a while.”

“He was so proud of you. Wyatt was also a sportsman. He loved sports, especially baseball. So when Leo came home and told Wyatt he joined the team, they went out back and played catch for, I don’t know, hours.”

“My arm was sore the next day.”

“He came to every single game of Leo’s besides one, and was his biggest fan. He made shirts with Leo’s player picture on them and wore them to every game. No matter how many times Leo begged him not to!” The timer goes off and Reg gets the food out of the oven.

“Is this done?” He asks, Eloise comes over to check and nods.

“Looks good! How about we eat?” She smiles and has everyone line up so she can dish it out for them.

Thomas and Noelle are getting ready to leave when Eloise asks Clay to join her outside. He gives them a worried look but follows her. Outside is cold, and there is a bit of snow on the railing of the balcony.

“Talk to me Clayton, something is wrong, I noticed it earlier.” She looks at him and taps her foot as he pulls out a cigarette and lights it. “Clayton.”

“I joined the navy, and I haven’t told Leo, and I ask that you don’t tell him either because he needs to hear this from me.” He is looking out at the traffic below so he doesn’t have to watch her face. He knows she is upset with him.

“Is that what you really want to do?” She walks up next to him and joins him in looking at the traffic. Clay has always admired how strong Eloise is, she has been through a hell of a lot and still has this calm and stable energy.

“Yes.”

“Then you made the right choice.” She turns and looks at him, smiling in a way that he knows is trying to hide her sadness. She ruffles his hair as he finishes his cig and puts it out on the bottom of his boot. “Have you told Noelle and Thomas?”

“Yeah.” He knows his short answers sound hostile but he wants to be away from this conversation.

“They support you?” She always makes sure he has support, it hurts sometimes. Like he can’t just get support himself and he always needs help.

“Yes.” She nods and walks back towards the door.

“Then you better spend as much time with them as you can.” She goes inside, leaving Clay to think about everything by himself.

It was dangerous.

He walks back inside and they leave. Noelle turns around from the passenger seat and smirks at Clay. He was in for a fun night.

“I’m off to bed boys, we have a busy day tomorrow!” Elosie kisses her boy's cheeks and walks to her room.

“I like you mom.” Logan says as he tackles Leo to the ground straddling his back with his scented markets in hand. He tugs at Leo’s shirt, he complies and takes it off. Logan has been dying to do this all day.

“I hope not too much!” Leo crosses his arms under his head until Finn sits down next to him and he pulls his thigh so it's underneath Leo’s head. Leo shivers as the cold marker hits his skin and Logan begins coloring.

“What other stories do you have about Wyatt?” Finn rubs his fingers over Leo’s short hair that has really grown out over the past month, it was starting to curl at the ends making Leo look sweet.

“He used to read to me when I was little, then when I was able to read I would read to him until he fell asleep and started snoring.” Leo smiles and Finn can feel it on his leg. “He was also my coach for little league baseball for a bit and he was great but not everyone liked that he was my dad. Other parents thought I was getting special treatment. Also he would argue with the umpires and get in trouble!” Leo bursts out laughing and Logan gorans.

“Leoooooooooo! Be still!” Leo calms down and lets Logan keep coloring the flowers of his back piece.

“Sorry sorry, I just remembered when he got kicked out of a game because an umpire called Clay out when he was safe. It was hilarious. He called the umpire a muppet.” Smiling Leo yawns and blinks a few times.

“You can fall asleep, we will wake you up and go to bed when Logan finishes.” Finn is scrolling on his phone and is petting Leo’s head as he feels it get heavier with sleep. Finn looks up at Logan after making sure Leo is asleep.

“We need to tell him we love him.”

“Yeah, we do.” They smile at each other and share a peck before going back to what they were doing.

The next morning Finn and Logan wake up with a Leo sized dent in the bed and not Leo. They wander out to the kitchen and get smacked in the face with the smell of blueberry pancakes. They float into the kitchen and smile at the sight. Eloise has her hair in curlers and is in a thick grey robe and Leo’s sweatpants because she doesn’t own a pair. Her face is free of makeup and it shows how well she has taken care of her skin over the years. She is flipping a couple of pancakes while Leo sips on some apple juice. Just chatting away about the plan for today.

“Okay so after family skate is the party at Pascal and Celeste’s.”

“I won’t be at family skate dear, I have some work to do today.” She puts the last pancake on a plate, making sure that each plate has two, she takes two plates over to the table while Leo carries the other two.

“Ma, you promised me you wouldn’t work while you were here.” He sighs and sets the plates down. He sighs and sits down, not noticing the other two people in the room, he starts poking at his pancakes with his cheek on his hand and elbow on the table. Sulking.

“I know sweetheart but these people are someone who your Daddy tried to sell to for years. They plan to get two mares and then I will be at the party. On time. I promise.” She puts the dishes from cooking in the sink and fills the pancake batter bowl with hot water before grabbing her cup of coffee and walking over to sit next to Leo.

Logan and Finn share a look. They shouldn’t be listening to this.

“Okay but, just please be there towards the beginning of the party. I want to introduce you to my-... the team.” Leo furrows his brow not understanding why he about called the lions his team, when he doesn’t even play hockey.

“I will try my best, Merigold.” She pats his hand and Logan and Finn make their entrance, yawning and stretching as they walk over to the table. “Morning boys.”

“Morning!” Finn smacks a kiss on Leo’s temple as he walks past and Logan does the same, taking their seats and chowing down.

Later that day Eloise was putting her hair in a ponytail as she checked to make sure there were no creases in her uniform. Well, it's not a uniform but what she likes her and Leo to wear when they go to sell.

A black tall-neck turtle neck with long sleeves and tight to the body. Some khaki colored riding pants with tall back socks and brown riding boots. Professional yet comfortable. She was selling to the Malfoy family today, the father is buying these mares for his sons wedding coming up. She is still convinced that they only want their mares because Wyatt is gone, making Knut horses more desirable.

They were in contact with Wyatt for years and were not very nice. She knows she needs to make this sale though. Walking out to the living room to grab her purse she sees Leo moping on the couch by himself. She sighs out of her nose, walking over to him and petting the top of his head.

“I promise I will be there tonight, with moonshine.” She smiles as Leo rolls his eyes.

“I trust you.” Then he stood and gave her good luck and a hug before walking back to his bedroom… not the master bedroom. She takes a deep breath and leaves the apartment.

The rink was cold, Leo was bundled up in his new coat, hat and gloves while rocking his normal jeans and boots. His brand new skates were in hand, not broken in so he was wearing two pairs of tall socks just to help against blisters. Clay actually owned a pair of skates and has been skating since he was younger because he has family in Montana that he would visit for the holidays.

Jerk.

Leo was sitting in Finn's stall just trying to stay warm while he watched Noelle tie one of Clay’s skates and Thomas tie the other. Leo had to admit, he was so happy for Clay, seeing him with that sappy smile makes Leo know that he’s okay. He never smiled like that with Ashley.

Logan walks over to him, completely ready to skate and looking good. He was wearing his favorite well worn sweats and Leo’s new thrifted sweater that was dark green, showing off his eyes. He was wearing his normal cap backwards and Leo has always found it funny that Logan will never wear a hat forwards.

“Ready to get laced up?” Leo nods and holds out a skate to Logan. “You’re very quiet right now, are you that cold?” Leo just narrows his eyes and gives a short nod. Logan shows him how to lace up and once his other skate is on he stands up and nearly falls over.

“This is going to be terrible… is there a dentist nearby? I have a tendency to fall teeth first into the ground.” Licking over his chipped tooth absentmindedly he looks around. There were kids running around in skates and jumping into other players arms. He smiles a bit and rests his elbow on Logan’s head who is wear much more worn down skates so Leo is a fucking giant to him. “You’re the perfect height.”

“Yeah yeah, lets watch you try and walk. Then we can find Finn who I’m guessing is talking to Syd.” Logan helps Leo take a few steps knowing Leo has no balance at all. In skates or not. He has witnessed this name trip over nothing.

“Whose Syd?” Leo starts walking on his own and feels like this isn’t so bad.

“My oldest sister. Aubry is here too. They also play professional hockey. So… don’t get on their bad sides.” Leo stops walking.

“You never mentioned your sisters will be here! I thought I was meeting them when we go to visit your parents in a week! Oh boy… Do they know about you and Finn?” Leo continues walking after Logan grabs his hand and leads him out of the tunnel.

“Yes they know about me and Finn, I told my family first because… well my parents love him and my sisters all had a bet so… yeah. But they don’t know about you because I didn’t know if you were ready for that.” Leo stops him before they completely exit the tunnel and presses him up against the wall, kissing him softly.

“Thank you.” Leo smiles when Logan does and they pull apart to see they are the last out of the tunnel. Walking out Leo stops in front of the ice. “Yo, I don’t know if I have enough ego to let me fall face first onto the ice in front of a whole hockey team yet.”

“What, you aren’t up for the challenge?” Clay skates right up to him, not as seamless as everyone else but still pretty well. He has this challenging look in his eyes and Leo knows exactly what is going to happen. “I knew you weren’t good at everything.” Leo launches himself at LCay who skates out of the way just in time for Leo to miss and barely holds himself up as he glides across the ice.

“Clay! When I get my hands on you, I swear!” Then he falls flat on his ass and gorans laying down, staring at the ceiling annoyed. This sucks.

Clay is having an absolute field day, Laughing his ass off as he skates up to Leo and helps him stand. Patting his back for a moment and letting Leo get his balance he then pushes him over and skates away.

“CLAYTON!” Leo falls basically into a middle split and it distracts Finn from his conversation with Logan and his sisters, hitting Logan’s chest until he looks over at Leo who is still being taunted by Clay and now Reg.

“I didn’t know he could do that.” They share a look and both seem to get ideas around the same time because their faces get all reg and they high five.

“Who is that?” Sydney is readjusting her hat as she looks at Leo. “He’s a cutie, I wouldn’t mind getting a piece of that.”

“Agreed. He is really handsome.” Aubry nods in agreement and Logan is suddenly possessive. He glares at them.

“Back off, he’s mine!” He crosses his arms and turns his attention back to Leo who is now talking to Katie who has made herself at home on his leg. Leo looks like he is trying his best not to shake from how cold he is.

“You have Finn, let us have our fun.” Aubrey hits his shoulder and skates over to Leo and Katie. “Need some help?” Katie smiles at her. Leo looks up at her and gives a shy smile because he is embarrassed. Nodding she holds out her hand, Katie grabs his other hand and helps him up. With Katie on one side and Aubry on the other, Leo starts more skating and less falling over.

“Awww they are so cuteeeee.” Sydney smiles at them and hears Logan grumble, looking at them annoyed and Finn is still snorting everytime Leo stumbles. But Finn has this look in his eyes that Sydney has only ever seen him give Logan. She hopes there isn’t anything shady going on between those three.

Eventually, Aubry and Leo stake back over to Finn, Logan and Sydeny who are all still chatting on the ice and sipping their hot chocolate that Celeste brought.

“Can I have a sip?” Logan holds up his cup over his shoulder to Leo’s lips, because Leo is behind him, and holds it as he takes a sip. “Mm, so yummy. I’ve never really had this before. Hot chocolate?” Leo doesn’t really drink warm drinks at all, even the coffee is normally cooled down to where it isn’t hot, sometimes iced.

“You should have Finn make you some, he is really good at it.” Finn kisses Logan's forehead and smiles.

“It’s like the one thing I learned how to make properly. Alex taught me! He is coming to the party later tonight if you want to meet him.”

“I’d love to meet him! Now, I’ve met Aubry. I’m guessing you are Sydney? Logan talks about you guys sometimes but I don’t know a lot.” Leo smiles at her and reaches his hand out to shake hers.

“You have a southern accent…” Aubry and her share a look.

Logan is definitely not keeping him from them.

[walkerwords]

“The Savior Sessions” Part 23 of 33 - Negan x GN!Reader

IMAGE CREDIT: AMC

SERIES MASTERLIST

Summary: You were right in Alpha seeking revenge for crossing into their lands and now swarms of Walkers are arriving at the gates of Alexandria. Still trying to deal with the emotions in your own mind, you are tasked with supervising Aaron and Negan who are to work together. What happens when the three of you get stuck over night in a cabin together and what is Carol thinking?

Word Count: 6061

Warning: Swearing

Song I Wrote To: “My Blood” by twenty one pilots

Note: This one takes place in ep 3 of season 10 called “Ghosts”. In this chapter, we get a better look at the reader’s life before the end of the Savior war and especially what they knew about Carl and the letter he left for Negan.

-------

A cataclysmic event.

That was what you witnessed when they dropped fire on Atlanta. Everything was burning and the air was thick with the smell of hot metal and melting tar. You could still remember the way your skin felt as you ran through the street, trying to flee from the destruction. 

That was the first night you finally saw a Walker up close. You had seen them on the TV and images that flashed on public monitors in the heart of the city, but never had one been mere feet away. It moved towards you as if you were the only thing in the world that mattered. You wanted to run, to scream, but you just stood there, watching. 

You could hear the commotion behind you as people ran for their lives, but nothing could distract you from the Dead man in front of you. Fresh blood dripped from its mouth as it reached for you. Stumbling back, you couldn’t think to do anything else but examine how something as beautiful as a human being had become...this. 

A shot came from a nearby convoy as the military tore through the rubble-filled streets, ending the Walker once and for all. They didn’t stop to ask if you were okay and they didn’t yell at you to run, they just kept going and you were alone again. 

As you stared down at the man that once was, you couldn’t stop the thoughts that ran through your head that said, “Perhaps this is next for all of us. Perhaps this is what is meant to happen.” 

That thought followed you all the way from the city and into the hills where you eventually met Carl Grimes and it had never truly left you. 

Even now as you watched Walkers approach your home in waves, those two little sentences were buzzing in the back of your mind, trying to make themselves known. However, just as you had for about a decade now, you shoved them away and picked up your weapon. 

The number of Walkers that fell upon Alexandria was something that you hadn’t seen in years. Being so far from the cities, it was rare to find massive hordes right near the communities or even groups of more than ten or fifteen. However, now there were groups of ten or twenty every time you turned around and you knew why. 

Alpha was pissed. 

You had tried to warn them when they went over her borders, but of course, nobody batted an eye when you spoke up. 

You couldn’t understand how one day your thoughts mattered and the next, they went clear over everyone’s heads. You knew you weren’t in charge, that didn’t both you. What did bother you was that your people had begun to question you, rather than relying on your council. You started to notice it after the blizzard and then even more so as your relationship with Negan furthered. 

While you still held a position of respect within Alexandria, you knew that you were looked at differently because of Negan, but you didn’t hold an ounce of resentment towards the man that you loved. Negan was the most important part of your life now and if that meant that nobody looked to you anymore, that was something that would have to get used to. 

Especially in moments when you were the only one dealing with the Dead. 

Aaron and the others had arrived home in the early hours of the morning, desperate to get their children home safely and when they saw you on watch, they had avoided your eyes immediately. You knew why they crossed over, but if you had had it your way, you would have been glad to watch the world burn. 

There had been a discussion, well rather an argument, earlier as more waves of Walkers approached. Lydia had been present in the meeting hall when Daryl had begun questioning her.

You had stayed in the back, ready to jump in to defend her if necessary, but she was handling it well. Lydia had explained that she didn’t think the Walkers were from her mother and that Alpha would have sent a horde. You weren’t so sure about that.

You knew fear tactics and this was textbook. 

Then there was the fact that Alpha now wanted to speak to Michonne and Daryl. You hadn’t even volunteered to go with them to the South border because you knew they would shut you down. However, you didn’t mention that bringing Carol was just as much of a risk. While you were pissed and wanting blood, Carol’s vendetta was even more personal.

Once some of the Highwaymen began throwing insults at Lydia, you took her out of the room and let Daryl deal with them. The last thing she needed was more venom thrown at her and you weren’t going to have her stand by and be spit on. 

Instead, you began to help clear out the Walkers again while you thought about what to do about her mother. While you didn’t agree with accepting Alpha’s terms and her borders, antagonizing her was the last thing you wanted to do.

If you were going to take her out, you wanted to do it when she didn’t expect it. You didn’t want a firefight or a clashing of swords, you just wanted her and Beta dead. It was that simple. Though, like most things in the fucked up world known as the apocalypse, nothing was ever truly simple. 

Negan was not too far away from you, helping to load the corpses into the wagons. You were keeping an eye on him as he worked, but you kept finding yourself distracted as the day wore on. Especially by one memory in particular…

--------

Months Earlier…

“This is either a trick or you pulled some huge strings on the puppet masters of Alexandria,” Negan said as he closed the door to your house behind you. Lydia who was sitting on the couch glanced up from the art book in her hands, something you had found in the garage a few days before and gave to her. 

“If you keep questioning Michonne’s decision, she’s gonna send your ass back out into the cold to sleep in the snow,” you warned, taking off your heavy coat.

“I’m not complaining,” Negan said with a grin and a wink. With a sigh, you gestured for him to make himself at home. 

“Lydia, did you eat?” you asked as you entered the living room to turn on your newly fixed fireplace. 

“Siddiq brought me something,” she said quietly as she stared at Negan who looking at her with curiosity. You gestured between them.

“Lydia, this is Negan. Negan, meet Lydia,” you introduced. 

“Nice to meet ya, kid,” he said with a neutral face, trying to gauge her reaction. 

“Hi,” she said shyly, folding her legs underneath her on the couch. 

“Jailbird here is gonna be staying with us when it’s below zero,” you explained as Negan leaned against the wall near the fire. “So just watch where you step so you don’t step in his ego while he’s here.” Negan scoffed. 

“Wow, (Y/N), that hurts,” he said. 

“Yeah? Well, so does this,” you said, as you gestured to the fresh wound on your side. “I’m gonna go change the dressing, try not to corrupt her, yeah?”

“I would never!” he called as you climbed the stairs towards your room. However, instead of searching for gauze, you remained on the landing and listened in on Negan and Lydia. “What are you reading?” Negan asked after a moment and you could hear the flipping of pages in the quiet of the room. 

“(Y/N) found it in the garage,” Lydia said. 

“Ah, Dalí,” Negan said. “I like his stuff.”

“The clocks are cool,” Lydia admitted and you smiled to yourself. 

“That they are,” Negan agreed. “How are you doing? I heard life is sort of kicking you in the teeth at the moment.” 

“I’m better than I was yesterday,” Lydia said. “At least a little bit.”

“And tomorrow you’ll be a bit better than you were today. Takes time,” he said.

“Nobody wants me here,” she whispered, almost too quiet for you to hear. 

“(Y/N) does,” Negan said, “and trust me, coming from them, that means a lot.”

“Why are you locked up?” Lydia suddenly asked and Negan remained quiet. It was only after about a minute that he sighed. 

“Do you really want to know? It’s not a pretty story,” he said. 

“Neither is mine,” Lydia admitted and then you heard her shifting on the couch, settling in to listen to him. 

“Alright,” Negan said, almost reluctantly. “It all started when a man named Rick visited Hilltop for the first time…” 

-------

You were knocked out of your memory as arguing reached your ears.

Still reeling from your thoughts, you searched for the cause only to see Gabriel stepping in between Aaron and Negan. Aaron’s morning star prosthetic was already attached and you could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears as you rushed over to find out what the damn issue was. 

“You need fighters,” Gabriel was saying. “He can fight, you’re taking him.” 

“What now?” you asked, already regretting the question. 

“Your buddy doesn’t trust me to help him take out Walkers,” Negan explained. “Though, I’ve already expressed my desire to stay here and bury corpses instead of hanging out with Captain Hook here.” Aaron glared at Negan and you were already getting a migraine. 

“Seriously?” you asked Gabriel who was already on the verge of giving up. “Fine, I guess I will play babysitter.”

“Fucking perfect,” Aaron swore. 

“Hey,” you said, pointing at him, “don’t break the asshole pact,” you said, reminding him of the conversation the two of you had on his porch before you left for the fair. You had finally repaired your relationship with Aaron and you weren’t going to blow it now. 

“I know, I know,” Aaron said, getting where you were coming from, “but it doesn’t extend to him.” 

“I never said it did,” you defended. 

“You want to referee these two?” Gabriel asked, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Fine, be my guest!” Gabriel stormed away and you turned to both of the men before you with your arms crossed. 

“Great, now you’ve pissed off the Priest.”

————

The three of you walked through the thick forest in silence. 

Normally, you would have been chatting or joking with Negan about being outside the walls for the first time together, but your romantic getaway was nowhere near as special as you thought it would be. 

Aaron dragged his feet alongside both of you. You could hear his feet digging in the mud and you knew he was doing it on purpose to annoy Negan. Jesus had taught him how to move through the woods in silence just as Lydia was teaching you. 

This only made you even more annoyed.

“You’re quiet today,” Negan observed, poking at your side. You looked over at him and took his hand, squeezing it a few times before letting go. 

“Sorry,” you said, returning your hand to rest on your sword.

“What’s gotten into you?” Aaron asked. 

“I’m pissed off, Aaron,” you explained with a huff. 

“Well, I can see that,” Aaron said. 

“Not helping,” Negan shot back. Aaron just rolled his eyes at Negan’s comment. You pushed on, ignoring both of them. It had only been a couple of days since the satellite fell and while Eugene felt that harvesting the tech from the machine was necessary, you still thought it was foolish. 

Your mood wasn’t getting any better no matter what Lydia or Negan tried. If you were being honest with yourself, you just needed a break. All you wanted to do was go away for a while and not think about communities arguing or masked menaces tracking your every mood. 

You just needed a moment. 

Now with the meeting happening at the Southern border, you didn’t know what to expect. Just as long as Daryl came back in one piece, you would be okay.  

For now. 

The three of you ended up in a clearing not too far from Alexandria, but far enough to see where the Walkers would be crossing towards the main road that led home.

Aaron gave Negan an old broomstick to handle the Walkers and he wouldn’t give in to your request of giving Negan your knife. It was ridiculous, but you figured it was better than Aaron yelling and Negan making ridiculous comments. 

“You have that look on your face,” Aaron observed as he took a swig of his water after taking out another Walker. 

“What look?” you asked, unbothered by the blood stuck to your blade. Negan was nearby, always twirling his stick around to amuse himself. 

“It’s the same look you had the day Rick and Daryl brought Jesus to Alexandria,” he explained. 

“Annoyed?” you asked, staring off into the trees. 

“More suspicious,” he said. “Though, I would throw in just a dash of pessimism, too.”

“Is that so?” you asked.

“You know, when I met you, I really didn’t like you,” Aaron said and you scoffed.

“Ouch,” Negan muttered. 

“There was just something about you that I didn’t get,” he went on. “Rick acted as if you were some kind of boogeyman.”

“This isn’t sounding any better, Aaron,” you said, leaning on your sword. 

“What I’m trying to say is that you always seemed like the black sheep of the family and I think we need that kind of thinking right about now,” he said, surprising you. 

“I thought you would be on team, ��cross the border’,” you said.

“So did I,” Aaron said. 

“But?” you prompted. 

“I don’t know anything at this point. At least, I feel as if I don’t,” he admitted. “All I do know is that we can’t treat these...people like we have in the past with other enemies,” Aaron said and you didn’t miss the glance he threw at Negan. Negan ignored him, but he was still listening.

“Right, and now with Daryl agreeing to meet with these psychos...” you sighed.

“Daryl knows what he’s doing,” Aaron tried.

“Well, out of the three of us here, I’ve known him the longest. I know how blind he can be when it comes to his family and with Carol hurting the way she is, he ain’t gonna stop until Alpha is dead,” you said. 

“I remember how he used to be,” Aaron said, but you shook your head.

“You didn’t know him before Alexandria, before the Prison,” you said. “Daryl used to be loud and sharp. After his brother went missing he became standoffish and reckless. Nobody could work with him, not even Rick. The crazy son of a bitch once impaled himself on his crossbow bolt when his horse threw him off. Then, he got shot in the same afternoon on Maggie’s farm cause Andrea thought he was damn Walker. The man doesn’t know when to slow down.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Aaron asked. 

“It was when nobody knew him. Nobody knew what to expect. The only people he was even decent to were Carol and Carl.” 

“Not you?” Negan asked, hauling another body over to the pile. 

“Definitely not,” you said, thinking about all the arguments the two of you would get into. “We were civil, but I think we saw too much of each other in another. I remember Merle, Daryl’s big brother seeing us work together against the Governor. He used to make some really ridiculous comments, but one always stuck with me. Merle would say that we were ‘just two screwed up kids who ended up at the end of the world,’ and hell, he was right.”

------

The three of you worked into the late afternoon, early evening as sweat bloomed on your brows and blood stuck to your boots. 

Negan did his best to take out the Walkers with his stick, but he was itching for a blade. If Aaron wasn’t around then he knew that you would give him one without question. 

As he watched you, he could see how anxious you were getting. You had mentioned that Daryl never slowed down, but you never did either. You became distant and restless when you didn’t have a target in your sights. It was one of the many things he loved about you. 

After taking down another three Walkers, you wicked the blood from the sword that had become a part of you. 

“I’m going to get some more water,” you announced. “Try not to kill each other.”

“I’ll do my best,” Negan said with a wink. You ignored him as you grabbed the canteens and headed into the trees. 

Negan and Aaron were silent as they continued to kill the Walkers that broke off from the main horde that the others were handling. Without you to be there as a buffer, Aaron began to bite his tongue so he didn’t blow up at the man next to him.

Negan however, could feel the heat coming off him. 

“Are you just gonna keep staring at me or are you going to man up and tell me what’s on your mind?” Negan said, turning to face his adversary. 

“I have nothing to say to you,” Aaron said. 

“Ah, we both know that’s not true,” Negan said. “You’ve been just dying to give me a piece of that mind buried under all those curls. So, come on, lay it on me.” Aaron was quiet for a moment before he let his anger win over his decision to remain somewhat civil.

“You’re not good enough for them,” Aaron said and Negan raised his brows, taking in the words.

“If you think that pisses me off,” Negan began, “then I hate to break it to you, but you’re not the first to disapprove.”

“I won’t be the last either,” Aaron threatened and Negan caught onto what he was saying. 

“If this is about Maggie,” said Negan, “then I think you need to take a step back. She can want me dead all she damn well pleases, but the fact is, she had her chance to kill me and she didn’t take it.”

“She’d do it now,” Aaron said. 

“Why, because I’m in love with one of her friends? Are they friends? Because last time I checked, (Y/N) never talks about her.”

“You don’t get to dissect every relationship they’ve had. You are the reason that (Y/N) lost two people they really cared about, three if you count Sasha,” Aaron said. 

“I had nothing to do with Sasha’s death,” Negan said. “I didn’t kill her.” 

“No, you didn’t,” Aaron agreed, “but you are the reason she’s dead.” Negan glared at Aaron, trying to control his breathing. 

“It was war, Aaron, or are you forgetting your merry bunch of survivors killed my men as they fucking slept? You pulled the trigger first. You can be pissed at me all you want, but do not look at me and see a monster when you’ve shed just as much blood.”

“You wanna know what I see?” Aaron asked. “I see someone that's pretending.”

“Come on, man, just let it go,” Negan said as he moved past Aaron, going to follow you. However, Aaron was faster, throwing out his leg and blocking Negan’s step, sending him to the ground. “Jesus!” Negan swore. “Did you just trip me? What, are you? Twelve?” Aaron sneered at him, but Negan wasn’t having it. Getting to his feet, he towered over Aaron. “What the hell is wrong with you? I've been puttin' my neck on a block for you people all goddamn day!” 

“You don't give a damn about us,” Aaron said, not believing it for a second.  “If you gave a shit, you'd leave. That's what everyone needs.”

“I can’t do that and you know it,” Negan said. 

“Because you love them?” Aaron asked with a scoff.

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Coming from you? Absolutely! They may have forgiven you for all the death and torture, but the rest of us haven’t!” 

“Nobody has forgiven anyone!” Negan said. “You think (Y/N) forgives me for murdering their friends right in front of them? They don’t and I haven’t asked them to! Look, I did what I had to do back then.” Aaron was silent then as Negan’s words cascaded over him. 

Aaron then tilted his head just as a predator would when watching its prey. “What did you say?” he asked, but Negan remained silent. “No, no, no. Open that up. Tell me why the love of my life had to die,” he ordered. 

Negan shook his head, but he took the bait. “Okay. One simple fact. One truth kept my people going... if you don't protect what belongs to you, then sooner or later, it belongs to someone else. That goes for your land, your wallet, your home, your country... everything. It is your job as a man to protect it. That's the story of America, the story of the whole goddamn world. And ain't nothing changing it... not you, not me, nobody,” Negan said, getting into Aaron’s face, but the latter wasn’t backing down. 

“Are you saying that Eric's death was my fault?” he asked but Negan remained still. Aaron then shook his head, stepping into Negan’s space even more. “Well, if I failed Eric,” he whispered. “Then you failed your wife.” Negan went still, looking down at Aaron with fury in his eyes.

“Careful,” Negan warned, trying to remain calm, but Aaron wasn’t done.

“Yeah. She died hating you, right? Gabriel told us the story and I know that (Y/N) has heard it, too. Hate to break it to you, but you will never see her again.” Negan’s mouth turned into a smirk as light entered his eyes. 

“What? You wanna say something?” Aaron challenged. 

“Yeah,” Negan said and then with a quirked brow pointed over Aaron’s shoulder. “Behind you,” he whispered as Walkers converged on Aaron. Aaron took out one in a hurry as another, which was covered in vegetation, fell on Aaron, taking him to the ground. Aaron yelled as the Walker reached for his face, but he was able to hit it over the head with his morning star, killing it easily.

However, something was wrong. Negan was gone and Aaron couldn’t see.

------

By the time you got back to the clearing, it was night. 

Of course, this was the time for you to get turned around and have to double back. You pushed into the clearing, ready to get the boys back on track when you were met with an empty space. 

“Seriously!” you yelled, throwing your hands up. “I say not to kill each other and they leave me,” you muttered. “No, no, (Y/N) they’ll be just fine, just two people who hate each other. Why should it matter if they both care about you? It’s not like that fucking matters.”

You continued to talk to yourself as you shone your light on the ground and managed to find Negan’s footprints. “It’s a good thing you’re practically bigfoot,” you whispered as you headed into the trees. You were then very happy that Daryl had taken all that time to teach you how to track or you’d be out there stumbling over Walkers and roots.

The tracks were accompanied by another set. You figured they were Aaron’s considering how precise they were. Walker tracks were more random and uneven. They led away from Alexandria which only made you even more annoyed. “Right, let’s go away from the walls and the warm food. Assholes,” you swore as you climbed over a fallen tree and kept moving. 

Eventually, you saw a flickering light in the distance. Stepping over what was either a dead Walker or a half-eaten deer, you arrived at a cabin. Noises of alarm echoed from the cabin and you ran towards it, kicking open the door. You slid into the main room just as Negan finished killing the last Walker with a crowbar. You would have to ask where he got that later. 

“What the hell?” you asked, alarming Negan. 

“(Y/N)?” Aaron’s voice came in the dark. “Negan?” 

Negan looked at you and in the dark of the room with only the moon to illuminate his features, he looked incredibly intimidating. “You alright?” Negan asked Aaron who was looking around the room rapidly. You took a step closer to him, confused. 

“Yeah,” Aaron said. “How did you…?”

“Your light switched on,” Negan explained, reaching down to turn off the flashlight that was on Aaron’s belt. 

“What’s wrong, Aaron?” you asked. 

“I can’t see,” he said, looking around the room, trying to focus on anything, but couldn’t. Negan kneeled in front of Aaron who stiffened as Negan got close. 

“Flowers growin’ out of the Walkers is hogweed,” Negan explained, looking at Aaron’s eyes. 

“Hogweed?” 

“Nasty shit,” Negan said with a glance over at you. “Causes rashes, blindness…”

“Is it permanent?” Aaron asked as you leaned against the wall. 

“Sometimes,” Negan admitted. “You wash your eyes out?” 

“Yeah, in a stream, but I… I didn’t have,” Aaron tried and then you realized you still had the water. 

“Here,” you said tossing the full canteen to Negan who gave it to Aaron. Aaron drank half of it in one go, desperate to quench his thirst. 

“Alright, come on,”  Negan said as he helped Aaron off the floor and you were surprised to see that Aaron let him. Negan got him settled in the old chair before joining you next to the window. 

“What are you doing?” Aaron asked. 

“We’ll take watch and leave first thing in the morning. That good with you?”

“Yeah,” Aaron said softly. “Yeah, that’s good.”

“You two are both idiots,” you said, crossing your arms. 

“We know,” Negan and Aaron said at once and you couldn’t help but smirk at that. Aaron settled into the chair, the reaction to the hogweed taking its hold, but he didn’t sleep.

Instead, he listened. 

“Maybe don’t run off in the middle of the night when a lot of Walkers are around, okay?” you said.

“Sorry,” Negan said sheepishly. You nodded to him, peering out the windows, letting your mind wander. “What are you thinking?” he asked. 

“What?”

“You look lost in thought, have all day,” he said with a shrug. 

“Uh, I was thinking about Rick,” you said. 

“Anything in particular?” he asked. You were quiet for a moment before turning to fully face him. 

“I lied to you before,” you said. 

“When?”

“When you asked me what the vote was on what to do with you. I told you that Rick just decided. He and Michonne had the final say, but that wasn’t the whole truth,” you admitted. “Rick asked me what I thought he should do.” Negan was quiet for a moment.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing at first,” you said. “I didn’t have an opinion right away. I was angry with you and I wanted you to pay for what you did, but I… I didn’t know if death was the answer. I was conflicted.” 

“Why?” he asked and you looked at him with glossy eyes. 

“Because of Carl,” you admitted and you saw something shift behind his eyes at the mention of the late teen. “I read the letter that he wrote to you. Michonne let me after she had given me the one Carl left to me. I knew what Carl wanted. He wanted the fighting to stop, he wanted the hate to stop, and he wanted you to be a better man. How was I supposed to deny him that?”

“Did you tell Rick this?”

“Sort of,” you said with a sigh. “I told him that Carl had written to me asking me to take care of him and Judith. Carl trusted me to be the protector of his family because he couldn’t anymore, but he never needed to ask. I would have died for Rick and I will die for RJ and Judith if it came down to it.”

“I know,” Negan whispered. 

“I thought about it for hours, the question Rick asked me, and then I told him that it wasn’t up to me and it wasn’t really up to him either. Carl had already made the decision. Rick had already made promises to the people he loved. He promised his best friend, Shane, that he would protect his family because Shane did it first; He promised Lori that he would protect Carl and he did.

“What happened to Carl wasn’t Rick’s fault no matter what he thought. Most of all, Rick promised Michonne that he would build a good life for their daughter, and I had to remind him that he wasn’t allowed to break that promise. Carl had an idea, and if we had killed you, we would have been dishonoring him and everything he wanted to fight for but couldn’t. I had to make a choice and for once it wasn’t for my survival, but for securing Carl’s legacy. You once asked me why I stayed in Alexandria when I felt as if I never quite fit.”

“And you said it was because Carl was buried there,” he remembered. 

“Alexandria is strong and still standing because of Carl. It’s not just because his grave is there. It’s because everywhere I turn, I see that kid’s influence. I made a promise when I read the letter he wrote to me. I can’t break it now and I never will.”

“Where is all this coming from?” Negan asked. You wiped at the tears that formed in the corner of your eyes. 

“I feel as if I’m starting to lose sight of him, Negan,” you said. “I look around and I don’t see Carl, I see Alpha’s face or Jesus’ blood on my hands. I can’t see the good anymore.” 

“There is still good in this world, (Y/N),” Negan promised. “You just gotta search a little harder.”

“I’m tired of searching,” you said. “I try to be there for Lydia, but most days I have no idea what I’m doing. What the hell does she see when she looks at me? I don’t even know what I see when I look at her.”

“Do you wanna know what I see when I look at Lydia?” he asked. 

“What?”

“I see a scared kid who’s had a shit life and who needs you to look out for her,” Negan said. 

“Right,” you said, but Negan wasn’t convinced you were getting it. You then looked up at him. “What do you see when you look at me?” Negan didn’t even hesitate.

“Possibilities,” he said and it threw you for a loop. Looking at him in the dark of the cabin, you could only see the truth pouring from him. 

“What do you see when you look at yourself?” you whispered.

“Not much,” he answered.

“Negan…” 

“It’s alright,” he said. “I’ve accepted it. You know, when I went back to the Sanctuary and saw what everything had become, I finally got it.”

“Got what?” you asked. Negan reached out and dragged his knuckles along the back of your arm, savoring the feeling as if you were going to fade away. 

“That my number was up the second Rick told me he was going to kill me in that clearing,” Negan said, avoiding your eyes. “I just didn’t know this would be how he’d do it, condemning me to a life of self-hatred,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. 

“Why are you saying this to me?” you asked.

“I’m just trying to let you know that it’s okay if I don’t get the happy ending. I was more of a fan of horror films than fairytales anyway,” he admitted. 

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Just…” Negan trailed off and then pulled you towards him, wrapping his arms around you. “Just be still with me right now. Just, be still.”

-------

Negan eventually fell asleep after you convinced him to get some rest. 

You were too wired to even think about sleeping. You sat on the floor between Negan and Aaron, your sword reflecting moonlight across the dark room. The next time you heard a voice, it was Aaron’s and not Negan’s. 

“I’m sorry,” Aaron whispered. “I didn’t mean to run off.”

“It’s okay,” you said, reaching up to squeeze his hand. Aaron went to say something else then when Negan began talking in his sleep. You were used to it from all the times you spent by his side in bed, but Aaron froze as he listened to the nonsense. 

It wasn’t until actual words were formed that Aaron sat up. “Simon,” Negan muttered. “Si…,” he said again and then went back to mumbling before growing silent again. It had been a while since he dreamed about Simon, you realized. 

“What the hell was that?” Aaron whispered. 

“Negan, he talks in his sleep. He says the names of his victims sometimes.”

“Simon?” Aaron asked, surprised. 

“Negan strangled him when he tried to overthrow him. Simon was the one who ordered all the men and boys to be killed at Oceanside. He killed the boy at Hilltop and was the one who massacred Jadis’ people. Negan never knew any of it,” you whispered. 

“Makes sense,” Aaron said and you furrowed your brow.

“How so?”

“Negan doesn’t hurt kids,” Aaron said simply. 

“No, no he doesn’t,” you said, glad that Aaron understood that. 

“He still grinds my gears,” Aaron said. 

“I know.”

“And since when is he a fucking botanist? Hogweed, really?” Aaron scoffed. 

“He’s been out in the world for a long time,” you said. 

“Yeah, I know,” he said and then, “I never knew about Rick.” You sighed, but you figured he had been listening. 

“Nobody knew, that was the point.”

“I guess I never realized just how much he put on you,” Aaron said. 

“I didn’t mind,” you said, leaning your head against the chair. 

“Maybe you should’ve.”

-------

The next morning, Aaron was still struggling with his eyesight, but it was getting better. 

Negan slung one of Aaron’s arms around his shoulders to help him walk as you carried the weapons. Rosita pulled open the gate when you got home and yelled for Siddiq as you explained what happened. The doctor came running down the street with worry. Once he saw that Aaron was in one piece more or less, he took him from Negan.

You knew that Siddiq and the new doctor, Dante, would get him fixed up in no time. After making sure Aaron was okay, you began to lead Negan back to his cell. As you approached the Grimes’ house, you noticed Michonne, Daryl, and a very pissed of Carol standing on the stoop. 

“Uh oh,” Negan said as he stuck close to you. As you got closer, Carol shoved past both of them and into the house. The look on Daryl’s face made you incredibly nervous considering he had just returned from the meeting with Alpha. 

You and Negan stopped next to them and Michonne seemed to relax at the sight of you, knowing that at least you were okay. 

“What happened?” you asked. 

“Carol shot at Alpha,” Michonne divulged and you sighed, trying to contain your anger. 

“Fucking fantastic,” you swore. “How much shit are we in now?” 

“She knew we crossed,” Daryl said. “She knew about all of it. The fire, the blizzard, and even when Michonne and Aaron crossed by the river. She’s got people everywhere.” 

“So Carol felt the need to light the fire further?” 

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t have?” Daryl challenged but you remained quiet. Daryl shook his head as he walked away. “I need to find Lydia,” he said before heading across the street. 

“This is only going to get worse now,” you said to Michonne who nodded. 

“I know,” she said. “Get ready for a fight.” Michonne turned and followed Carol back into the house, still rigid from the night before. You sighed, gripping the sides of your head as every fear was coming back.

“Are you actually pissed Carol tried to kill Alpha?” Negan asked. 

“No,” you said, removing the keys from your belt, “I’m pissed that she missed.”

AN: Next Chapter is going to be an important one. Hint: Carol becomes desperate and turns to an unlikely ally. 

TAGS: 

@lucillethings @cameronsails @stark-dreams @amaroho @thanossexual @yes-sir-hotchner @boom-bunny @delusionalteenagewhispers @scootankle @ritajammer21 @writteriguess​ @tea-atfive @jennydehavilland @waspyyy @yespleasejayhalstead @hoemadegrace @writingdeadangel @huffledor-able541 @pulplorrd @felicisimor​ 

[pricklerick]

Okay, let’s talk about Beth.

I think the fandom tends to forget how fucking young she is.

Beth got pregnant with Summer when she was seventeen. Canonically, Summer is seventeen. That means Beth can’t be more than 35 in the pilot. At the risk of sounding like an old fart: dude, she’s just a baby. 

Let’s see what we can infer from this information. 

Did you guys know that the prerequisites for veterinary school and medical school are pretty much identical? Basically, it’s four years of undergraduate biology and chemistry, with maybe some math and physics thrown in for fun.

With this in mind, ti’s likely that Beth still planned to go to medical school after she had Summer. We know that Summer is Beth’s favorite child (Morty’s Mindblowers). On top of that, there’s evidence to support that Beth had a pretty big hand in raising baby Summer, while Jerry may have had more of an influence on Morty. Remember this little exchange in Raising Gazorpazorp?

Morty: What do I do if it cries?

Beth: Then you put it down and let it cry itself out.

Jerry: Yeah, right, we tried that technique on Summer, and she's gonna end up stripping, isn't she? Yes, she is. She's gonna strip for attention because she was denied it.

Beth: Stop filling it with your own insecurity! You're gonna turn it into Morty -- uh, mm -- more  -- more of you!

This suggests that Beth kept baby Summer at hime during the day while Jerry worked. It’s easy to imagine Beth taking night classes as the local university, studying like mad to keep a competitive GPA, and justifying her indifference to Summer as “good parenting.”

Beth has Morty when she’s about twenty. This falls a little into headcnon territory, but I think that Beth was a year ahead if her peers academically and probably started college at seventeen. Based on this headcanon, I’m going to say she’s a junior in when Morty is born. 

I think the show makes it pretty obvious that Morty is a mistake. If you really want to get dark, I kind of like the idea of Jerry sabotaging Beth’s birth control in order to get her pregnant because he’s resentful fo her desire for a career in medicine. He sees it as abandonment or some shit, and he also can’t handle the ego-blow of his wife being a doctor. But that’s just a personal theory. Regardless, I think it’s clear that Beth Smith didn’t want to be saddled with another kid.

She probably didn’t want to be saddled with the first. 

Making it through medical school with a toddler is a fucking challenge. Making it through medical school with a toddler and a baby, with a husband who is nebulously supportive at best; well, Beth is a smart woman. She knows an impossibility when she sees one.

Beth is twenty years old, and her dreams have been shattered by her husband and children. I’m sure Jerry makes her feel pretty guilty about how much their family would sacrifice if she continued to pursue her goal of being a surgeon.

Four years, Beth, and the five more years of residency! And you’re talking about fellowship after that! The kids would be teenagers! And how are we going to pay the bills??

Beth settles on vet school for several reasons. First of all - and you better believe she tells Jerry this - what the hell is she going to do with a bachelor’s degree in biology? Teach high school? Even Jerry knows that’s off the table.

But Beth’s already got the prerequisites for acceptance into vet school. Unlike medicine, there’s no residency required to practice as a vet, just four years of graduate study. Some of that is clinical rotations, a much better schedule for balancing family life and academics. Beth tells herself that being a vet is the same as being a doctor; after all, humans are just primates. Besides, there are less than one tenth as many vet schools as there are med schools in the United Staes - it’s just as competitive, more competitive, vein, to become a vet than it is to become a doctor. Sure, she’ll take a pay cut, but she’ll rack up considerably less debt in the process. 

Beth convinces herself that it will all balance out in the end.

She’s a competitive student with a stellar GPA. At barely 22 years old, Beth is accepted into one of the top veterinary promos in the nations, no problem. Jerry pretends to be proud. They don’t even have to move far from Muskegon, but Jerry takes a lower paying position that allows him to take care of the kids while Beth attends class. 

Summer is five years old and startlingly independent. Already, she despises her father. Jerry tells himself that he’s always wanted a son anyway. Morty is young and impressionable, and Beth is never around. 

“It’s just you and me, buddy!”

Beth finishes school in four years. She’s 26, Summer is nine, and Morty is five. She takes a job in a clinic, and for a while, things are okay.

But when she turns 29, something inside Beth snaps. Her twenties are gone. Here she is, mindlessly writing antibiotic orders and spaying cats. Summer is a preteen, Morty is whatever he is. Jerry got a promotion at work, despite his useless civics degree? And Beth?

Beth is bored. 

She briefly entertains the idea of returning to medical school, but dismisses it instantly. Her classmates would be so much younger. They’d find out about her background as a vet and they’d laugh at her. Jerry would whine incessantly. It feels too much like starting over.

So, again, Beth settles for the next best thing.

“I’ve applied for a residency program,” she tells Jerry one evening over a glass of wine.

Three years, she promises. Three years, and then I’m done for good. Equine Surgery, she gushes to Jerry. It’s prestigious, the highest paying specialty in veterinary medicine!

“We’ll have to move!” Jerry protests. Beth justifies it by saying that the salary for horse surgeons is highest in the northeast.

It’s surgery, she tells herself. It’s what you’ve always wanted to do. Horses are big mammals, just like humans are big mammals.

They move to Washington. Jerry takes yet another pay cut. Beth is 30. Summer is 13. Morty is nine.

Washington State’s equine surgery residency is tough. Beth is challenged. She wakes int he wee hours of the morning and falls into bed, exhausted, in the wee hours of the night. 

And for the first time in years, Beth feels alive.

Rick shows up on the doorstep on Morty’s thirteenth birthday. It’s a day of dual-celebration. Morty is finally a teenager, and Beth is finally finished with school.

Beth already feels like she’s in mourning. She’s 33, and she’s at the peak of her career  (you’ll never be smarter than you are in this moment, her favorite mentor had reminded her the day before boards). She starts a job and the horse hospital next week. She’s signed a contract, already received her hefty sign-on bonus.

Then Dad shows up, and all of Beth’s accomplishments fall hollow from her lips. 

She thought he was dead, for christssake.

She introduces Rick to her family: Jerry, her loser husband (cringe, cringe, cringe); Summer, basic teenage bitch (does poorly in school because the would rather be popular than smart); Morty, the fuckup with some learning disability that Beth had never bothered to pay attention to (the real reason that I never lived up to the potential you saw in me, Dad).

It’s enough to drive any woman to drink.

I don’t think I’m too far off the mark here. Beth is so tetchy and self-conscious about her job because she’s relatively new at it - remember the “we’re losing him!” scene in the pilot? She’s incredibly resentful fo Jerry, for all of the reasons. Summer is her favorite child because Beth spent more time with Summer when she was a baby, and she is independent and self motivated - traits that Beth values. She regards Morty with vague disdain, to the point that she hardly remembers his existence, because she was absent for the majority of his childhood. Beth view Morty as “Jerry’s child,” and Summer as hers.

(Quick headcanon that Beth thinks of Morty as looking like Jerry, which just adds to her aversion, when actually, he looks a lot like young Rick. Beth has no way of knowing this, though, because there are no photos of kid Rick Sanchez).

I don’t mean for this post to sound sympathetic toward Jerry, because I’m really not. He’s a hot mess, too. I just wanted to flesh out Beth a little bit, and maybe justify Rick’s choice to clone her. Beth is young; she still has a whole life to live, and she never got the chance to be the woman she wanted to be, or the mom that her kids deserved. 

Rick chose to give her the opportunity to succeed at both.

[carmenxjulia]

Another Duane interview transcript, coming at you! This one was from a smaller Carmen Sandiego chatroom. There were several interviewers, so that’s why the name of the question asker changes. Get the details below the break! Stay tuned, more interview transcripts coming soon.

Duane Capizzi:

HI EVERYONE! I'M IN!

Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the way haha. Then got lost trying to change my PFP

Thanks for gathering! Shall we get started? Let's do some Q&A!

(as long as they are not geography questions haha)

Fuel:

What characters or plot points were cut from the final product?

Duane Capizzi:

Ooo, starting with a right hook to the jaw!

Let me think about that for a moment: I'm hesitant to give too much away because I'm really hoping we can tell more stories in this world at some point

Which is to say, we tend not to waste anything: if we don't use it when we originally planned, we usually find a way to use something later - and there's usually a "karmic" reason that we waited.

I'll also preface by saying this: I know season 3 was more of a mini-drop and some felt season 4 was rushed. But I wish EVERY season were longer. Season 1: ideally, i wanted the Pilot to be its own event and 10 more episodes after that (but we had to tell the post-Pilot story in 7. At the end of the day, that had its benefits: we got to the Shadowsan turn earlier and I think that's when a lot of viewers realized the ride they were truly in for). Season 2: we initially figured we'd need 5 episodes to have Carmen doing the ACME dance with Chief, and wound up doing it in 3 - mostly because it quickly became clear that Rio needed to be a 2 parter, and the Zack and Ivy backstory a rough 2 parter. So we squeezed 3 episodes worth of plot into 209. It was exhilarating!

So, we had hoped to have more episodes for Season 4 of course. We had a ton of ideas and had to compress things a bit. But honestly in many ways it was for the better. I know we all wanted to live in this world longer, but I think sometimes the flip side is true - when you have big ongoing storylines, it can get frustrating when some things drag out too long. But, we got all the "story" we wanted to tell in Season 4 - we just lost some "incident" if that makes sense. We would have taken longer to get there.

So, all that preface to answer the question: we wanted to do more musical numbers! We had a Bollywood dance sequence in a return to India caper with Paperstar. We wanted to do a famous Elvis suit theft in Las Vegas during an Elvis impersonator convention (Shadowsan's an early elvis guy; Brunt likes the Vegas "jumpsuit" era). We also wanted to do a thread where Gunnar gets captured by ACME so that Julia could interrogate him and he could play mind games with her a la Hannibal Lector and Clarice. CAVEAT TO ALL THIS: these were some ideas that were bouncing around, that may not have seen the light of day if we couldn't get them to work. But they were on our wish list.

re: "other stories" - I could live with these characters for another 32 episodes easily and there have of course been discussions. But alas, that is up to the powers that be. Let's keep fingers crossed - and keep the Carmen love alive online so that someone up there takes note

There is more of course, but those are some things that spring to mind.

Fuel:

Were there any scenes cut for time that were your favorite?

Duane Capizzi:

Not much springs to mind: our directors were amazing at getting everything in the scripts to fit naturally (and in fact, I was the one who was usually suggesting trims to let other things breathe, etc). We were limited to 22 minutes of episode time, NOT counting front and end credits so a little longer than the average show. We have a pretty good idea when the SCRIPT is too long, so the cutting usually happens at script stage before it gets to the board crew so that they don't waste efforts over-boarding material that won't be used.

We had hoped to build out Chase and Carmen teaming up for the first time, meeting at Carmen's hotel lobby etc for more scenes of them together; but had to reduce that to get that all to fit in the VERY packed episode 406. But again, tighter was fine considering. That's one area that leaps to mind. (note that when I say packed, I don't mean that in a bad way: we spend a lot of time pouring over details in editing to make sure everything gets its due).

If I think of anything, I'll circle back at a later point. But the simple answer is that scenes were usually trimmed or compressed at script rather than board or animatic. So nothing comes to mind. I know it's hard to believe, but "shorter is usually better."

except for my answers to fan questions of course

Fuel:

We saw that in s4 episode 6 that Julia's mother(?) is wearing a necklace remarkably similar to the one Julia wears all the time. Is this the same necklace and if so, why was it given to Julia?

Duane Capizzi:

Just when I thought I was detail oriented! Wow! You guys blow me away

I can't take credit for that: it was either the board artist or director who added that. They do slip things in! As I've said before, EVERYONE on the crew really brought their A-game and were as deep thinking and as passionate as I was/am about the show.

It's a nice detail and I would say your interpretation works!

It took me three or four reviews before noticing that the team had slipped in baby Carmen near the play set in Mom's front yard at the end of 408. When I caught it, I was like: bravo!

Fuel:

When they first met, Zack and Ivy said to Carmen that they were the only family they had, do you know what happened to the rest of Zack and Ivy's family?

Duane Capizzi:

I don't. At least, I don't yet until such a time that I might have the opportunity to explore that. It was important to their relationship with Carmen that they be orphans, so they had that common bond (aside from being "thieves who steal from bad guys" - even if it was only gonna be one time for Zack and Ivy).

I know there are writers out there who like to do entire bio's for characters up front but i'm not one of them. It could be a trap in many ways. I like to have a general idea but be open to the demands of the ongoing storyline. You discover things along the way - it's like you're taking a journey with the characters by writing them, and the longer you spend, the better you get to know them (that was not a prepared statement by the way - I just made that up but I'll have to use it again :). So in Z/I's case it wasn't important to the story or Carmen's relationship, we felt. Conversely, we STARTED with Shadowsan's family backstory with 203, but more important to me was that we use it as a platform to explain why he stays with Carmen and crew. He really has no home at that point, so it was relevant to the present ongoing story. Which is what made that especially powerful to me.

Also, there's always a push-pull between telling character back stories while balancing them with ongoing episodic plots. You have to service both. If you just tell back story, then you're writing a biography

Arden:

What was the biggest challenge when designing these characters, especially the pre-existing characters from the series in the 90's?

Duane Capizzi:

This is probably more of a question for Chromosphere, re: challenges. But from my standpoint overseeing that process, the first thing I'll say is that we weren't necessarily trying to be "true" to those characters since we reinvented nearly every one from the ground up. (with the exception of Carmen of course - her trademark red hat/coat weren't going anywhere! But mostly the update with Carmen was in the styling of her "outerwear"

ALTHOUGH: I will admit that I was pushing for Carmen to have shorter hair as Carmen. I thought it would be a cool update. Chromosphere were really passionate about giving her long full hair and I have to see that they were right. The short tomboy cut worked so well for Black Sheep anyway. We had a different hair style for each of her ages.

So about the reinventions: Gunnar is in spirit a similar character to the original (old colleague in Vile and an early mentor if I remember), but his presentation completely different. We weren't trying to be "in canon" with the original. The beauty of CSD is that every incarnation has been its own entity so that freed us to reimagine the characters. THE CLEANERS, for instance: gimme some Cleaner love! There were a pair of janitors from the original game named RICK AND NICK ICK. They were literally janitors, it was too silly for our purposes. But, it's one small step to make them "Cleaners" (in the sinister hit men sense) - and lo, our reinvention.

So to summarize the answer to your question, they weren't really challenges to me so much as FUN to creatively reinvent the original characters (many of which were from the game, so not really "characters" per se with dialogue and inner lives). Whenever we could, we tried to use character names from the originals and update their looks and personalities. Where we couldn't find an equivalent for what we needed, we created characters from whole cloth. For instance, it seemed a miss to do a heist show without a tunnel guy and a high rise climber guy. Hence, LC & ET, everyone's favorite taco truck vendors!

(yes, i've seen some short hair carmen fan art on Twitter - someone did a great one recently!)

Arden:

Are there plans to give us more of the characters in, say, novel/graphic novel form?

Duane Capizzi:

I know HMH has done a bunch and no doubt have more in works. There's currently a novelization of the Pilot with some additional material if anyone's interested. I consulted on the second one, Clue for Clue, because it falls in the timeline while Chase was still Interpol/pre-Acme so was tricky.

And depending on whether another series in this canon makes it to air, I may just approach them about writing one or two myself to get some "further adventures" our there. Anything is possible!

Arden:

If you could go back and change anything about the series, what would it be?

Duane Capizzi:

File under anecdote, but there was what I felt was an important expression on Gray that kept me awake at nights, from his graduation ceremony at Vile. When we revisited those flashbacks in the Gray arc in Season 4, I had them change his expression there (to be more evil less innocent). We had it corrected in 404 so was able to get permission to have Netflix "fix" the Pilot by adding that shot in. I am tenacious!

We really poured over everything, it's the series that I have virtually zero complaints with the end product to be honest. But the simple answer is: I would have gone back to 106 and "un-greek'd" Gray's nametag. It's sort of a rule for international that we scramble signage (which is weird for a show that takes place in many countries/languages, I know I know). It's mostly for localization/translation reasons. And I'm sure there are some countries where Gray's name might be spoken differently. But as a proper name, I think we could have made an exception and seen "Gray" on his name tag. See? Details! But that's about the worst of it

there's also like one small line from Chief in 208 where she indicates she knows Carmen is a good guy (something to that effect) which I felt was too absolute and would have tweaked the line to temper it a bit. It's tiny, but looking back it sort of bugs me and I kick myself for not catching it. But this is absolutely the series I wanted and couldn't be happier.

Carmen:

How did Carmen know she could trust Julia? As far as we know, she has not seen or heard Julia defending her, and in the Fashionista Caper, Julia even held up her gas gun to her, saying she was under arrest. Do you have any opinions on this? Was it just intuition?

Duane Capizzi:

I'm gonna go with intuition

Carmen was raised on an island with some hardened criminal types. I think she's a pretty good judge of character. Poor Julia, trying to be tough with Carmen didn't suit her.

But, great observation! I'd have to mentally step through everything to see if Carmen had any earlier indication but i think you're right there.

Yes, sometimes you just gotta follow your heart

Carmen:

Are there any characters that didn't actually interact that you think would get along well?

Duane Capizzi:

Amazing question! First, I'd have to think more about who DIDN'T meet - you're asking the hard questions haha. But "get along well" is very specific! Hmmm, care to volley anyone?

I'll also add that so many smaller moments get lost in the "binge" of it all, but I am surprised how few fans have noted the first meeting between Player and Julia. THAT was a good one IMO! Very sweet!

Before getting back to your question, I also want to add that we were originally going to find a way for Carmen to lose her earring in Stockholm so that Julia could pick it up and be communicating with Player. BUT, I cut it at treatment stage because I knew we didn't have room in that episode to service it. Circling back to questions 1 & 2, another case where it turned out better saved for later IMO (saving Player meeting Julia, not to mention the earring business in 402 with Ivy).

Oh of course, Julia and any of the other Vile members. It would have been Gunnar for my vote, as mentioned earlier. We probably would not have had Julia meet anyone else and mixed it up more. I like that Cleo sort of became J's personal nemesis.

YES, SONIA & XIFENG (and LUPE PELIGRO, if I can add). The intent was (and is, if we ever get to revisit) to see them again in Carmen's travels. We started to expand Carmen's world but when we finally learned the finite number of episodes we had to finish the story, we drilled back down into the essentials. Would love to see them some day!

I'm hesitant to share too many things I have in mind in this forum for hope that they will see the light of day one day. You know, "spoilers"

Julia:

Do you have any opinions on Zari? Just in general? Some thoughts on her backstory would be nice if possible

Duane Capizzi:

I love Zari! I really don't have any back story on her at this point. She was originally just "Agent B" but when the need arose to give story points to another agent, we chose her because she looked so awesome! And Sharon Muthu gave voice to her so wonderfully.

I love when we finally teamed her with Chase. Hopefully the anticipation was that she would give him a hard time. I love that we defied expectation (organically, of course) and had her respect him by the end of that episode (for believing that he foiled Carmen!)

Julia:

Do you have any thoughts on small facts about any character, major or minor, that you think are fun/interesting to think about, but don't necessarily add to the plot itself?

Duane Capizzi:

Bellum, like myself, likes cats. But you knew that!

I try to put everything pertinent on screen, doing double duty to service any given episode's story but also the overarching story. That "journey" thing I mentioned earlier - we had no idea Chase falling on his own car would be a thing when I first came up with it. But as other characters refer to the incident, it took on a life of its own and made the characters feel more real.

Sorta kinda related to this question and some earlier ones, I will say that I DO think there's more to learn about Shadowsan's past vis a vis Lady Dokuso: it's clear to me that they have a history together, and it's something I hope to explore someday soon (maybe in a book if not another series

Julia:

Are the Carmen Sandiego books a part of canon?

Duane Capizzi:

I only consulted on the first two or three (too busy with series!) and have not read them, so hard for me to answer in a definite way. They are definitely in the universe we've created, but not in the timeline that I know of (which would have been too hard to pull off with our script development running concurrently). But do know that the book team at HMH pays close attention to the series and world so they should be perfectly compatible. Look no further to their clever social media on the series for example.

Kenz:

We saw in season 4 that Julia and Carmen helped each other mid to long term; would there ever be a possibility that Julia would permanently or semi-permanently join team Red?

Duane Capizzi:

Of course there's a possibility. But in a sense, with ACME now finally on Carmen's side, in a sense if Carmen were back in the game Julia, Chase, Zack and Ivy would ALL be an extension of Carmen's crew. But, would J remain with ACME or literally come to Carmen's team at her HQ? As they said in an old radio show: "Only The Duane Capizzi knows ..."

Kenz:

Where do you see Carmen in her retirement (if she retires)? Do you think she would still travel the world or settle down somewhere? Similarly, do you have any thoughts on what some other characters could be doing years down the line?

Duane Capizzi:

That is a big question, and one difficult to answer without some potential future spoilers (and yes, I really want to tell more Carmen stories if you can't tell But I'll answer by giving you one "read" on our open-ended ending as seen in 408 (read no further if you haven't seen it - yeah, right haha). The ending suggests to me that Carmen settled down for a spell to forge that relationship with her mother, to make up for lost time. But, if that is indeed Carmen that we see on the rooftop, I think the ending suggests that Carmen doesn't stay still for very long. If Vile is back, there is work to be done! Carmen has a life mission - she's one determined lady.

But of course, it's deliberately ambiguous: "anyone with your heart, wisdom and courage can be Carmen Sandiego." Is it Carmen? Sonia? Someone we haven't met? I think both endings resonate: Caroline and I always said "Carmen is bigger than a person, Carmen is a movement" would be a great message to end the series on. And I think our ending resolves this chapter of Carmen's journey as a person, but also elevates her to mythic status. Which is why I love it!

And, that seems to me a pretty perfect question and answer to end our chat on. Thanks everyone! Again, I cannot tell you how moved I am to see that we have such a passionate, intelligent and talented fan base. THANK YOU.

Take care guys, thanks again for having me! 'night!

[noladyme]

Chess. Chapter 10

Y/N never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it. She only took what she needed, or what she felt others needed. She’d stayed out of sight for a long time, avoiding anything that could get her in to too much trouble. But for some reason Rick Flag shows up in her life, and in an instant, everything changes.

TW: Language, sexual themes, injuries. Rated M

(This story is obviously non-canon, i.e. Diablo and GQ, but I hope you’ll enjoy it either way. Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list.)

The next day our weapons were packed up for us; as we weren’t allowed to have them on us during the flight. They had doubled the guards for our transportation to the garage; as some of them would be joining us on the journey.

Apparently over his resentment towards Harley for keeping us awake the night before; Digger was cracking jokes, and messing with the pilot of the chopper taking us to Gotham. It was bigger than the one from a couple of days ago; seemed to be for transportation of goods, and not humans.

“Oy, mate. You ever see that movie, Con Air?”, Digger asked the pilot; who was clearly out of his element, and probably had never flown murderers and psychopaths across the country before. He fled to his seat in front of the aircraft, and Digger laughed hoarsely at us. “I think he’s seen it!”, he grinned.

Croc had been wheeled out on a standing gurney, strapped down, and mouth covered. They hadn’t untied him before boarding, but instead wheeled him into a large cage, and strapped the gurney to the bars. Five smaller cages were placed against the walls of the chopper, each equipped with a chair with straps that seemed to be supposed to function as seatbelts.

I took a step towards Rick, the guards around him quickly aiming their guns at me. “What the hell is this, Flag?”, I hissed.

He once again winced at my use of his last name. “Wallers orders. She’ll explain more once we arrive in Gotham”, he answered, voice leveled; not wanting to let anyone know about our connection.

Grabbing my arm, he led me to one of the cages in the chopper, pushed me inside, and closed the door; leaving us standing face to face – looking at each other through the bars.

“I need you to trust me. I’m going to make sure you all come out of this alive”, he whispered, and squeezed my hand before raising his voice. “Sit down and strap up prisoner. We got a long flight ahead”.

I looked at him, eyebrows furrowed; and then sat down in the chair.

Being led into his own cage, hands cuffed behind his back; Floyd smiled at the female guard locking the door. “Did they remember to tell you; I’m gonna want the vegetarian option”. She walked away from him, pretending not to hear. “Miss? Miss? Service at this airline is ridiculous”, he chuckled, and sat down to strap in.

Diablo had been drenched in water; and the Tweedles were seated on either side of his cage, each holding a fire extinguisher. He was grinning from ear to ear at the ridiculousness of the security measurement chosen to control him. We all knew none of it would do shit in the end, if he decided he wanted to use his fire.

“Where’s Harley”, Rick asked the guards, and they all looked confusedly at each other.

“I’m coming!”, Harleys voice yelled. Running down the hallway leading to the garage, with two guards – each dragging a brightly colored suitcase with one hand, and aiming guns at her with the other – trailing behind her.

Harley was dressed to the nines. Glitter stiletto boots; a barely there gold and pink sequined dress, and a faux fur coat. At least I guessed it was faux; as I’d never seen a purple, long haired zebra before. “Gosh, you’d think you’d give a girl time to pack up before a vacation”, she panted, and fanned her face with her hand. “This isn’t a vacation, Quinn. Get your ass on that helicopter!”, Rick growled, and followed her to her cage, locking it with her inside. Harley rolled her eyes at him, and strapped up like the rest of us.

“Arent you excited?”, she asked, beaming at me. “We’re going home!”. I shook my head. “We’ll be back here in no time”.

She grinned, and winked at me.

During our flight, Rick sat across the floor from my cage, continuously wringing his hands, and looking from between my eyes and the floor. At one point the female guard Floyd had been cracking jokes at earlier; came up to him with a small thermos.

“You look like you need a cup of coffee, sir”, she smiled sweetly. “I roast the beans myself”. Rick politely declined, and went back to starring at his boots. She pushed her hip out, bit her lip, and sighed. “Well, you just let me know if there’s anything at all you need”, she said, and turned to walk away, swaying her hips a little more seductively than her uniform could make look good.

I couldn’t help myself. I jumped at the cage, grabbed the bars, and starred her right in her face. “Sit down, prisoner!”, she said angrily.

I hissed at her, and bared my teeth; giving her the scariest face I could pull off. Mine, bitch!.

She jumped back, and rushed off to sit in her own seat; which happened to be next to Crocs cage. He growled; and she audibly swallowed, and looked away, holding on to her gun like it was a teddy bear. Crocs eyes smiled at me; and I smirked back.

Rick looked up at me and gave me a crooked smile. I half smiled back, and sat back down.

---

We landed a few hours later on a helipad on top of a large building in the outskirts of Midtown Gotham. Our cages were wheeled out of the chopper. Waller was waiting for us with a mustachioed man, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

“Commissioner Gordon”, Waller said. “This is Task Force X”. Gordon gulped. “You’ve probably met some of the team before”.

Harley sprang out of her chair, and stretched her arm out of the cage, as if to shake his hand. “Gordon! It’s been so long! How’s your wife?”, she smiled genuinely.

Floyd and Digger both chuckled, and sent each other a look.

“I don’t like this, Waller”, Gordon said. “You don’t have to like it, commissioner. You just have to accept it”. “You’re asking me to sign of on sending these sociopaths out on my streets, and hope that they won’t burn the whole city down in the process!”, Gordon raged.

“Psychopaths”, Harley corrected him. “Sociopaths are unable to show empathy, and to put themselves in others shoes. Psychopaths can fake it with the best of them”.

“Quinn, shut up”, Rick said, trying to hide a smile.

Waller continued. “This isn’t your call Gordon”, she said coldly. He frowned.

“You know, ever since I met you those three months ago; when you wanted me to let you use the bat-signal, everything has gone downhill”.

I gasped inaudibly. Him. He was the one that helped you. It was a trap. Rick took a step towards me, probably noticing my facial expression.

Waller looked at Gordon pointedly. “That’s a discussion for a different time”, she said, and I noticed her looking at me for a millisecond, before returning to him. “Why don’t you go on that vacation to Aruba you’ve been planning, hm?”.

Gordon grumbled something in response, and left us alone on the roof.

Waller turned towards us.

“Welcome to Gotham”. She turned to the guards. “Get them settled in”.

Rushing to me before my guard could reach my cage, Rick grabbed the bars. “I didn’t know, Y/N. I swear!”, he whispered; before the guard whisked me of to a nearby elevator.

---

We were placed under guard in an abandoned office building.

“Wow. Recession really hit this place hard, huh?”, Floyd said, looking around the large windowless room we were occupying.

“This is Wayne Enterprises property”, Rick answered him, glancing at me.

I sat, frozen in place, on my chair in my now opened cage. I hadn’t been able to stand up since it had been unlocked.

The guards had left us alone, after Rick – and Waller – had assured them that it was safe. Still; they were posted throughout the building, prepared for what they thought would be an inevitable escape attempt.

Croc, stretching his limbs from having been tied down for so long, walked over to me; put his hands on my shoulders, and pulled me into a standing position. My legs still wobbly; he had to hold on to me for a second, before lifting my chin to look at me.

“You a’ight, cher’?”, he asked, with his naturally gravelly voice.

“They set me up”, I answered.

“They set us all up, darlin’”, Digger said from his corner, sharpening his boomerangs – our weapons having been given back to us on the insistence of Rick.

“The first time they got me was on date night”, Harley said. She seemed far away again. “Mr. J took me dancing; and we were on our way home to cuddle up with a movie. Alice in Wonderland, my favorite”, she smiled at me. “It’s what she does. She gets us when we’re the happiest”. Her smile turned into something different. For the first time since I’d met her, Harley seemed… sad.

“No”, I said, trying to send her a look of sympathy. “I mean, before all this”. I went to the middle of the room, Croc trailing close behind to catch me if I decided to faint on them.

“A while back an acquaintance tracked me down at Sammy’s with an offer”, I said quietly. Selina had shown up at the club, wearing a black designer dress and sunglasses. Her topic of conversation had been interesting, but I’d been a little hesitant.

Selina, I know I owe you one for all the times I’ve asked you to feed my cats when I was working, but come on!, I thought to myself.

“She told me about a safe with a lot of money”, I continued. “I was short on cash, as I’d lost some money on a trip to Vegas”. A trip that had ended with me having to post bail for both me and my ex-“fiancée”, Melissa. “The safe was supposedly easy to reach; no thermal cameras, very few guards… It sounded too good to be true”.

“It was, huh?”, Diablo asked, leaning against a wall by the door.

“Yeah”, I answered. “She said she’d have done the deed herself, but didn’t have time due to other obligations. I didn’t need a lot of money to hold me over, just a couple of grand, ‘cuz I needed to help a friend”. I sent a look in Ricks direction. He nodded, knowingly. “Her only demand was that I donated most of the money to a shelter here in the city. I had no problem with that, as long as I could take what little I needed for my friend”.

“But she lied about the cameras and the security”; Rick said.

“I don’t know”, I answered. “Either that… or there was a tracker on the money. Shit, I have no idea, but a month later, you assholes showed up at my job, drugged me, and sent me to bumfuck Louisiana; to join your circus”.

Rick tightened his lips.

But Selina had known where I was all along. Why not just tell the Bat where I worked? Or was the safe another test?

My head was spinning. I sat down on a chair someone pulled out for me. Putting my head between my knees, I breathed heavily.

Rick got up and addressed the room. “You’ve all been assigned quarters here in the building. Please, try not to kill the guards. Croc, that means you”, he said, looking towards the large figure standing next to me. He growled in response.

“Get some rest. Tomorrow we move out”.

Everyone cleared out, each led by gunpoint to their designated room. Rick grabbed my arm tightly enough for it to look as if he was being rough with me. The female guard came up from behind us.

“Sir, we have a place set up for you on another floor. So you can get some privacy”, she said.

“I stay with my team”, Rick answered, and pulled me of in the direction of an adjoining corridor.

There were no guards in front of the door to my room. We were alone.

---

The room itself had clearly been an office. There were still indentations on the floor where a desk and a chair had stood. There was a file cabinet in the corner, drawers open and empty. On the floor lay a simple mattress with a pillow and a blanket covering it. A window let in the lights of the nighttime skyline. I put my hands against the window, fogging it up with my breath. Rick closed the door behind us.

“Y/N?”, he said quietly.

“Everything I’ve been through these last months… all lies”, I said, still staring out the window. “I can’t deal with anymore lies”.

“I’m not gonna lie to you, Y/N”, he said, and walked up behind me.

I turned around and looked at him. His eyes were intense – and honest. I took his hand and put it to my cheek. “I don’t want to think anymore. I need everything to just… stop”, I said, and grabbed a hold of his jacket, leaning in to him. He put his arms around me, and kissed the top of my head. “I know, kitten”. He exhaled and held me close. “I know”.

We stood there for a few seconds, before he let me go, and walked towards the door.

“Can you stay?”. He stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around; looking at me, bewildered. “You sure?”, he asked. I nodded. He stepped towards me.

“I’m not going anywhere until you ask me to”, he smiled warmly, and put me back into his arms again.

The room was chilly, but Ricks warmth spread through me, and for the first time since what felt like forever, my body relaxed, and I exhaled all the pain and frustration that had gathered inside me.

“Take me away from here”, I said, closing my eyes. “Where do you want to go?”, Rick asked, stroking my hair. “Anywhere”.

Rick chuckled. “I have a cabin in Montana”, he said. “You ever gone fishing?”. “Would it surprise you if I said yes?”, I smiled. “Kind of”, he laughed, and looked down at me.

I stepped away from him, sitting down on the mattress with my back to the wall. He sat down next to me; his arm behind my back, holding me close.

“Tell me about your cabin”, I said.

“It’s of a dirt road in the woods, right by a lake. Not a powerline in sight. No electricity or running water; but it’s got an old-fashioned water pump connected to the sink”. His thoughts seemed far away. “It’s just the one room. Wood stove. Insulated it myself last year”.

“Sounds like heaven” I mused.

“I still freeze my balls of in the winter, if I don’t keep it supplied with wood”, he said.

“Too bad”, I smirked. “They’re nice balls”.

He looked at me, eyebrows raised, stifling a laugh. “Oh yeah?”. He raised his chin a bit, looking down at me. There you are, you cocky bastard, I thought, and grinned at him.

He gave me a squeeze, and I rearranged my legs so they were laid over his.

“Can we go there?”, I asked. His face became determined. “I promise”, he said, and stroked my cheek.

I leant in to him, and our lips met. At first it was soft; sweet. Taking a break to look me in the eyes; Ricks face became hesitant.

“If you want me to stop, say it now; because if we keep going, I won’t be able to…”. I put a finger against his lips.

“Don’t… stop”, I said, put my hand around his neck, and pulled him in again.

Ricks free hand went to my thigh; squeezing it; and pulled me onto his lap; straddling him. I opened my mouth, and our tongues met, gently stroking each other.

As he held on to my waist, I took of my jacket. He quickly unlocked my harness, and threw it into a corner. I kissed his neck, and pushed his jacket down his shoulders; helping him take it of. Running my nails through his hair, I gently tugged at his earlobe with my teeth; coaxing a stifled moan out of him.

He pulled my top over my head, and put his hands on my breasts; squeezing them gently; making me gasp in response. He leant down and placed a kiss on my collarbone.

I tugged at his t-shirt. He pulled it of with a swift move, leaving only my bra as a barrier between our naked torsos. He pulled the straps of it down. “Off…”, he breathed, and what was supposed to be a yes, became a moan falling from my lips, as I reached behind my back, unhooking the unwanted garment.

A hand on my back, and the other on my butt; he swiftly turned us around, so that I was lying on my back under him. He sat on his knees between my legs, looking down at me. Slowly, he pulled the straps of my bra down my arms, leaving my upper body naked, laid out for him to see. I felt a sudden pang of insecurity, and laid an arm over my chest.

“No, please”, he said. “Let me just look at you”.

I smiled, cheeks reddening; in spite of the fact that he’d seen me completely naked once before.

He moved my arm out of the way, and ran his fingers down between my breasts, his expression soft. “You…”, he began, but couldn’t finish his sentence. I smiled.

“You just gonna stare at me all night?”, I asked.

His face darkened; and he was on me. A hand on each breast, he squeezed them together, and kissed me passionately. His left hand squeezed my nipple, making me gasp from the delicious sting of his touch.

His mouth moved down, kissing and nipping the skin on my throat. My vagina was throbbing, heat spreading from it, going into my stomach, and out my legs. Not letting go of my breasts, he licked a trail from between them, all the way down to my bellybutton. I put my hands on his upper back, sliding my fingers from his shoulder blades, up to his neck. His fingers grazed over my nipples, which were erect and responsive.

Pausing a bit over my stomach, his hands moved down my sides, stopping on my hips. He hooked his fingers into my waistband, and looked up at me, waiting for permission. I nodded, biting my lower lip; and he began pulling my leggings down, stopped by the boots I was still wearing. I laughed at his annoyed face, as he roughly pulled of the right boot, and gingerly pulled of the left one, taking care not to hurt my still injured ankle.

He removed my leggings swiftly, and lifted my ankle to his lips. I was no longer wearing the bandages – Harleys treatment had done some good – so he kissed the inside of it, and gently placed it back down on the mattress. His fingers trailed up the outside of my legs, and ended up on my hips again; playing with the sides of my panties.

Ricks pants had grown quite a bit tighter bellow the waistband; and with a smile I sat up, and began to unbuckle his belt. From where I was sitting, my lips had access to his chest, and I kissed my way to his right nipple; taking it into my mouth, gently nibbling it. His hands stroked my back as he grunted in response, and pulling my head back, he leant down, and once again kissed me; our lips weaving in to each other, as if they were created for this one purpose.

Our tongues colliding, he gently pushed me back down on the mattress; and moved back down my body, this time pulling down my panties – laying me bare in front of him. Sending me a wicked smirk, he ran his hands down the back of my thighs, lifting them so that I lay with my legs spread and my knees bent.

My breath hitched, and I closed my eyes.

He started at the top of my mound, kissing it gently, and tugging at the hair there with his fingers. He inhaled my scent. “Mhmm”, he mumbled, and I ran my fingers through his hair; hands shaking in anticipation. His warm breath spread across my folds.

“Rick”, I gasped.

“I’m here”, he answered; and kissed my nub once.

The sensation instantly sent sparks flying all the way through my body, and made me flinch. “It’s ok”, he breathed in to me. His hand found mine, and squeezed it gently.

His shoulders touching the backside of my thighs, I rested my left foot on his back.

He stroked a finger up my taint, between my folds; all the way up to my clit. Removing it, his lips once again met it; this time sucking gently. I had trouble laying still; my body already convulsing, even before I had climaxed. Releasing my hand, he put his arm over my belly, holding me in place.

His tongue took the same path his finger had; before he sucked one of my labia into his mouth, nibbling it; and chuckling at how my legs began to shake involuntarily.

“Lay still, Y/N”, he laughed up at me. “I…”, I gasped. “Just… shut up! More…”. I was panting. He chuckled again, moved his hand from my stomach to my breast; and moved on with the task at hand.

Kissing the area around my vagina, he payed attention to every part of it except the part I need him to concentrate on the most. My nub was throbbing, yearning for his touch.

“Rick!”, I mewled, and tugged at his hair.

I heard him groan, and suddenly he latched on to my clit, sucking; while he inserted two fingers into me, curling them. Gasping, I looked down at him, meeting his brown eyes. His pupils were blown, and he moaned in to me.

His fingers relentlessly coaxed me towards my climax; finding that perfect spot inside me that made my whole body feel on fire.

He suckled deeply at me, then – noticing how my muscles began to tense up – let go. “Now”, he breathed, latched back on to me; and curved his hand into a position that made me feel like we were permanently attached to each other.

I could literally see stars. My whole body convulsed; and my back arched. All the while Rick kept on suckling at me, and using his fingers to draw everything out of me that he could. I held on to the mattress; in a weird way convinced that if I didn’t, I would fall of the face of the planet. Ricks fingers kept bending and stretching, and then bending again; stroking and coaxing.

I squealed breathlessly, shaking. It felt like electricity coming from inside me, moving out my vagina; but in stead of the current knocking me out, it was the one thing keeping me alive.

And – without knowing it – I smiled.

My body gave a final convulsion, as Rick let go of me with his mouth; his fingers still inside of me.

I gasped loudly, laughed, and tried to meet Ricks eyes. His whole face was one big question mark.

“Y/N?”, he said; and looked down at the fingers he could now see, but also could still feel were inside of me. “What?”, I panted, completely out of breath. “You’re, uhm… you’re gone”.

He sat there on his knees, two fingers curved. I could still feel him inside me. I suddenly realized what had happened.

“Oh”, I began. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry. That is…”.

I reappeared, covering my face with my hands. “I can’t believe that just happened”.

“Y/N, no don’t worry about it”, he smiled at me. “It’s fine”. “That has never happened to me before”, I groaned into my hands. “This is so embarrassing”.

He pushed my hands away from my face with his free hand, and stroked my cheek. “Hey, really. It’s fine”, he chuckled. “If anything, I take it as a compliment”.

I gave an embarrassed laugh, and looked down.

“Uhm, Rick?”, I said. “You’re still… uhm…”.

He looked down at his hand, and – realizing where his fingers still were – he flushed pink himself, and gently drew his fingers out of me.

I curled up into a seated position on the mattress, pulling the blanket around me.

“Well that was a party foul”, I said, still embarrassed. Rick put his arm around me, lifted my chin, and kissed me. “Not at all”, he smiled. “You have any idea how goddamn hot it is, that I could make you do that?”, he said, and kissed me again, before whispering into my ear.

“Makes me wonder what other parts of me would look like, in the same position”.

I frowned. “That’s weird”. “It’s kinky”, he gasped, faking indignation. “It’s weird. You’re weird”, I said, and shook my head.

“Fine”, he said, exasperated, and paused for a second. “So… we’re not gonna try to find out?”, he teased with a smirk.

I giggled. “Maybe some other time. It takes up a lot of energy I’d like to use elsewhere right now”, I said, and looked up at him.

His lips parted, and his breath hitched. I merged my fingers behind his neck, drawing him in for a warm kiss; before sliding one hand down his naked chest, and taking a moment to stroke across his abdomen.

He was warm, and he wrapped his arms around me under the blanket, as goosebumps had emerged from the chill of the room.

I moved my hand further down, continuing the task of undoing his pants. Once opened, he pushed them down and off of his legs, along with his boots. He was left in his boxer-briefs, and I cupped his bulge; once again relishing in the memory of how his penis had felt inside me a few nights before. Sliding my hand under his waistband, gripping his length; our kiss deepened, and he pulled his face away from mine to gasp, as I started pumping him slowly.

He leant over me, laying me down again. “I can’t wait anymore”, he breathed, and pulled of his underwear quickly, positioning himself between my legs. With his fingers, he spread my wet folds, and slid into me; our eyes never breaking contact.

We simultaneously moaned. “Still beautiful”, he croaked, and I smiled.

A hand behind my head, his elbow supporting him, to avoid putting all of his weight on me; he lifted my leg, and put it around his torso. He bucked into me forcefully, making me squeak in a very unladylike manner. He smirked at me.

“This is a good look on you”, he said, moving his hips to pump into me slowly. “What?”, I panted. “Fucked senseless?”. “You don’t seem quite senseless yet”, he chuckled, and bucked his hips again; bottoming out.

My eyes rolled back, and I mewled. He continued his slow torture; thrusting slowly – drawing sounds from me I’d never heard coming out of my mouth before. “Ffuu… mhmm… Rick”, I moaned; and put my hands on his bottom, trying to force his delicious feeling member as far into me as possible. “I’m right here, kit… Aahh!”, he groaned, as I scratched my nails down his back. “You’re playing with fire”, he gasped, and dug his fingers into my butt cheek, making it sting with sweet pain.

He suddenly pulled out of me, gathered my legs; and spanked me hard once; then stroked his fingers across my aching folds. Putting both my knees over his shoulders, and holding on to my thighs; he pushed into me again, all the way, with a forceful movement. “Let me know if this is to rough”, he said, and looked at me apologetically.

“Shut up, and get back to work, soldier”, I answered, and smirked.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “That’s colonel to you”, he said; leant over – almost folding me in half – and bottomed out again.

“Sir, yes, Colonel Flag, sir!”, I moaned, almost instantly climaxing around him. The feeling of my walls beginning to clench around him, made him groan. He continued thrusting into me in this position for a while, before getting on his knees, once again holding on to my thighs; so that my butt was lifted from the mattress.

I was mewling in pleasure. I simultaneously felt that I was being lifted into the air, and falling down a deep hole. Down, down, down. Will the fall ever come to an end?. I was delirious.

Rick let go of my thigs, and my legs fell to either side of him. He was panting, straining to hold back. I could see his muscles tensing up, and hear his breathing grow more erratic.

He leant down over me again, continuously thrusting into me. I put my arms around him, one hand in his hair again, holding on to whatever I could to keep our bodies close.

He put a hand on either side of my face, and our lips met again, tongues melding for a few thrusts, before he looked me into the eyes. “Together?”, he panted. I nodded.

With a loud groan he increased his speed; our bodies so close that his pubic bone was stimulating my clit with our movements. I continuously rolled my hips, matching Ricks movements in and out of me.

The stars were returning before my eyes, and I let out a sound, letting Rick know I was close. He moaned in response; and bottomed out one last time; grabbing on to my shoulders, to force himself into me as far as he could.

Our bodies felt like we exploded together. The current I had felt before was back; this time fusing us together in pulses matching our heartbeats. My core spasmed around him. I felt his member twitch inside me, and his body convulsing on top of me.

Then we both melted. He relaxed his muscles, and rolled onto his back, pulling me with him, so that I was laying on his chest; our bodies still conjoined by our still convulsing nether regions.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, woman”, he said hoarsely, and I chuckled in response.

He pulled the blanket over us, and kissed the top of my head. I readjusted my body, and he slid out of me with a silent gasp.

“I’m gonna need a shower after that one”, I smiled. He laughed in response. “I don’t think there are any showers in the building, but”, he said, reaching for his pants on the floor, “I think I have some wet-wipes in my pocket”.

“Be prepared, huh? Such a good boy scout”, I teased. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh away”, he answered, and pulled out a pack of wipes.

While he prepared to clean himself of, I noticed something else having fallen out of his pocket. It was the polaroid that had been in my crate of gear back at Belle Reve. Looking at my smiling face on the picture; where I was standing with a foot on the seat of a folding chair, holding on to the back rest; and the other leg raised in the air above me – I bit my lip and blushed.

“You kept this?”, I asked quietly.

His face reddened. “Yeah. I couldn’t let them burn it”. I kissed him softly in response.

We fell asleep in each others arms. The last thing I heard was the sound of a helicopter flying across the night sky outside the window.

Tag list:

@gloriousgam3r​​

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[theonlinemuse]

And me and @freckledpianoman are back with more Beth Chapel content! Continuing from this post, here’s even more headcanons about our favourite Dr Mid-Nite: 

Beth is nearsighted and started wearing glasses when she was three and a half. Bridget started noticing that her daughter kept squinting all the time and eventually took her to an eye doctor, attributing Beth needing glasses so early to all the times that she hid under the covers with a flashlight and read late into the night instead of sleeping 

Her prescription is really strong and while her glasses correct most of her vision, she still needs accommodations like enlarged and high contrast texts and other visual aids 

Chuck eventually becomes another accommodation since he acts as a cross between telescopic and magnifying glasses and a talking watch 

She’s fluent in French thanks to her grandma Beatrice’s influence and she can carry a conversation in Spanish (she picked it up from Bridget, who often talks with her patients in Spanish) and Norwegian. That last language throws people off when they first hear about it, but it comes in handy when four-year-old Pieter Cross and his family (who don’t speak much English) move to Blue Valley from Trondheim, Norway 

Yolanda grumbles about not being able to talk to Beth in Spanish class whenever she’s home sick from school because she's the one decent conversation partner she has in that class

Rick often practices translating for his French class with Beth. Once he goofed and said “madame le docteur”. And poor Beth was close to shaking him and going, “Rick, that's wrong on so many levels” 

He knows by the incredulous look on her face that he’s all sorts of wrong and he blushes all embarrassed. But later he mistranslates on purpose just to see her adorable reactions 

She wants to pick up more languages eventually (she’s deciding if she wants to take both Mandarin and Arabic in college like her dad did) and is currently learning ASL 

Beth is a Star Trek fan thanks to her dad’s influence. She and James would watch reruns of Deep Space Nine while she was growing up and it was their way of bonding. While that tradition didn’t happen as often when Beth started high school, she and Yolanda (who had watched Voyager with her brother and cousins) eventually start a tradition of watching Star Trek Discovery 

Beth and Yolanda’s love for Star Trek is often a point of contention with Rick and Courtney, who are both Star Wars fans. It’s been the subject of a lot of arguments about what to watch for JSA marathons. Pat is usually the tie breaker 

Beth learned how to garden from her grandma Beatrice, who raises African violets in her rooftop garden. Beth’s backyard isn’t big enough for a garden so instead she keeps all sorts of plants in her room, including little teacup succulents on her bedroom windowsill and in honeycomb shelves 

While her backyard’s too small for a garden, there’s a pink dogwood tree and she loves reading and having picnics under it when it’s in bloom. In the summer Beth makes her own butterfly feeders and hang them from the tree and watch the butterflies gather 

She grew up listening to Schoolhouse Rock thanks to her dad, who would play their songs in the kitchen whenever he made breakfast on Saturday mornings while she was growing up. Even now, Beth sings along to them whenever she hears them and Chuck starting adding them to karaoke mode, including her favourites “Three is a Magic Number”, “The Tale of Mr Morton”, and “The Energy Blues” 

When she was in middle school, she started using the melody of Schoolhouse Rock songs to memorize things like country names and the periodic table. She used the latter to help Rick memorize different elements for his chem class. Yolanda actually caught Rick softly singing to himself at his locker when he was searching for his notes for one last read through 

“Beth got you to sing? Willingly?” “I wasn't singing, you’re hearing things.”

Courtney is weirded out by the fact that Beths texts with Mike of all people, but it's mostly through gifs, emojis, and random memes. She has no idea what they even talk about, saying that Beth texts with Mike more often than she does with Rick, much to the latter’s annoyance. In reality Beth and Mike talk about robotics competitions, the latest episode of whatever they were binging (this week was Julie and the Phantoms), and their ongoing bet on when Courtney and Yolanda will finally get together

If Beth wins, Mike has to help upgrade her costume and if he wins, she owes him an ice cream cake 

“It's like their own little nerd language, it makes no sense.” 

Her style icon when she was little was Ms Frizzle. Beth thought that Ms Frizzle’s themed dresses and jewellery were so cool and she wanted to dress up like her. She still loves Ms Frizzle’s style and you can see the influence it has on Beth’s fashion from bright colours, unique patterns, and quirky jewellery 

Beth has a special section in her closet for Ms Frizzle like outfits that she wears to the children’s library she volunteers at. It makes her very popular with the kids there 

She actually dressed up as Ms Frizzle for Halloween in seventh grade 

Despite being on opposite sides, Beth and Cindy have a begrudging respect for each other similar to Betty and Wilhelmina’s relationship on Ugly Betty, Beth being the JSA member that Cindy tolerates the most

Cindy begrudgingly thinks that she does know a thing or two about fashion because she often upcycles clothes. Courtney’s surprised that Beth’s still alive after she said that Cindy dresses like an evil PTA mom within earshot, though she did kidnap Beth a few times for a shopping spree 

“Get in loser, we’re going shopping!” “Did you just quote Mean Girls?”  

The first time they had a standoff, Cindy went “please, I’m Japanese, you’re Black, we’re not talking around this thing like a couple of dull white people” 

Cindy once called Rick a feral raccoon and smirked when it made Beth accidentally burst out laughing 

While Beth is more than confident with her personal style, but she’s still very new to makeup in general. Yolanda and Artemis (even Cindy much to everyone’s shock) have taken it upon themselves to help experiment with makeup and find out what she likes. Beth immediately knows that she doesn’t like mascara, even as Yolanda scolds her to stay still while she’s trying to put mascara on her

“You’re making it seem like I’m torturing you.” “Your superhero costume has claws, that doesn’t exactly scream safe.” “I’ll have you know I’m very practiced with my claws, now stay still!” 

Beth likes the lipsticks and glosses much better, she likes the different colours and how it feels on her lips 

She has to get used to the feeling of makeup on her face in general, but she doesn’t mind it and she’s shocked when she looks in the mirror. It’s still very much her, but it's like she’s glowing. She can’t stop smiling and the girls all look at her fondly 

And they also exchange knowing looks, knowing that Rick is going to lose his mind 

She did a history report on Bessie Coleman in middle school and she eventually drew inspiration for her Dr Mid-Nite costume from looking at photos of Bessie’s pilot outfit 

Beth and her mom often did ceramics classes when she was a kid. They weren’t very good at it at first, but the little lopsided knick knacks they made always made them laugh. Beth and Bridget got better over the years with Beth painting colours and patterns on whatever her mom helped her make before they went into the kiln. She thought they would be plain otherwise and Bridget agreed with her 

While ceramics classes have since stopped, they still use the honeycomb mugs and planters that they made and painted when Beth was in middle school. Bridget uses one for the aloe vera plant she keeps in her office at the hospital 

Beth is allergic to pineapple. She found out during a school trip in third grade when Henry offered some of his fruit salad and she ended up with a swollen face and tongue, which really freaked Artemis and Cindy out. Yolanda and the villain kids ended up taking care of her until the ambulance came and Beth jokes that it was the one time the JSA and ISA kids worked together on something 

She now carries an epipen in her backpack and Rick has taken to carrying a backup one in his jacket in case Beth can’t get to her backpack in time 

She had a stargazing phase that she never grew out of. Her parents got her a mini telescope for her fifth birthday and Bridget started teaching her about the solar system before Beth started learning about constellations on her own. Bridget jokes that if her daughter hadn’t been set on becoming a doctor, she would’ve gone into astrophysics 

Beth still has a telescope set up by her bedroom window. Sometimes when she has trouble sleeping and she’s not in the mood to read, she’ll look for constellations through the telescope while Chuck chimes in with little known star facts 

She also has a starry globe nightlight and a constellation globe

She and Rick sometimes have stargazing “dates” out on her back porch. They curl up together in a patio chair with midnight snacks while they watch meteor showers. Sometimes Yolanda and Courtney will join them, curled up together in the other patio chair  

Beth and Courtney often have karaoke nights at the Pit Stop after Pat souped up Barbara’s old karaoke machine. The usual playlist includes fun 80s and 90s jams as well as modern songs like Bruno Mars, Lizzo, and Janelle Monae. Yolanda often joins them for girl group songs (Little Mix is a favourite), even though she protests that she’s not much of a singer when she’s not singing Selena songs 

Rick gets roped into doing a song too, much to his dismay. Courtney pouts and complains that he has to because there’s an unspoken rule that everyone has to sing

“I don't sing, dammit.” “Oh really, are you forgetting about that little ditty you were singing before your chem test?” 

Beth sees how nervous Rick is and decides to go easy on him, finding a slow, bluesy song that he can keep up with and assuring him that even if he can’t croon those long deep notes, everyone will cheer him on. He ends up giving the best performance of the night, shocking the girls and impressing them all 

He blushes when he sees Beth looking at him all starry eyed 

When Beth was growing up, her family would have game night every Thursday and they were always old fashioned board games like Clue, Scrabble, and Pictionary. Whenever they would play Clue, Beth would always choose to be Miss Scarlett while her dad would switch between Professor Plum and Colonel Mustard. Beth could never beat her mom at Scrabble and it often ended up with Beth’s chemistry words versus Bridget’s medical terms 

While game nights have since stopped, James will sometimes have Beth join him for a card game at three or four in the morning after he comes back from a business trip. He taught her how to play games like crazy eights, gin rummy, and cribbage when she was in middle school and it’s now their way of catching up after he comes back from travelling  

Both her parents are only children. James’ family was originally from California before he moved to Nebraska for work while Bridget’s family are of Louisiana Creole descent and hail from Omaha. Beth is quite close to Bridget’s side of the family, especially with her second cousin Delphine’s family. Beth sometimes helps look after Delphine’s daughter Eliana whenever she and her husband are in town 

Rick once mistook Eliana for Beth’s baby, hilarity ensued

Beth has a love for animals and since the fandom has collectively decided that Beth is a Disney Princess, she has a particular talent for being an accidental animal tamer. During a mission, three of the ISA’s attack dogs made a beeline for her and attacked her with doggie kisses instead of doing their job 

The ISA are torn between being pissed (“when the hell did Mid-Nite become an animal tamer?”) and confused. Sportsmaster is vaguely impressed and takes it as a challenge 

Later they tried scaring Beth with a python, which only really worked on Yolanda (“oh my god, what is that?”) while Beth just boops the snake on its snout. The snake swooned. So did Rick 

After Rick and Yolanda recover from the shock, they look at the trio of attack dogs follow Beth all the way to the Pit Stop and go “we’re not keeping you”. Rick just hopes that the trio are the only attack dogs that follow her back home. He wishes that he had been more specific because he was not expecting an actual maned wolf suddenly coming up and sniffing all over Beth during a visit to the Dugan-Whitmores’ cabin

“What the fuck, where did that come from and why is it all over Beth?!” 

It turns out that Beth didn’t realize that she had a cookie in one of her pockets and the maned wolf caught a whiff of it and was now trying to find it. The way it sniffs her is ticklish and she’s laughing the entire time 

Once the maned wolf brought over a friend to see Beth and Courtney goes, “aww, he met another–oh my god, that’s a panther!” The panther also wanted one of Beth’s treats and it swooped in between her and Rick and started pawing at her like a spoiled kitten 

Rick picked Beth up and carried her inside because “we can’t trust her outside anymore” 

[doesntgetdrunk]

Who do you think is more of a self destructive asshole? Bojack or Rick Sanchez? I feel both characters have a lot of different similarities with each other in terms of dealing with addictions like alcohol or drugs, also self loathing but I think the difference in characters, is that Rick is aware he's asshole and at times doesn't mind being a dick cause he covers it as intelligence or him being like a God in a way were bojack doesn't always owns up to his shitness behavior if that makes sense.

This was pretty hard to answer. They’re both extreme assholes in their own ways. They both go into denial and they both commit sins that have enormous effects, both known and unknown to them. They have both been the cause of death and destruction. 

Bojack is so focused on himself that he doesn’t realize what it is that he is doing to those around him. In season one they make a joke about it, but he is so upset that he takes a homeless man on a bender with him and ends up watching him die. He is completely dependent on those around him. We see him take Todd and ruin his project so that he can stay with him and not move on with his life. He can’t handle Princess Carolyn breaking up with him. He begs Diane for validation that she simply cannot give him. 

However, that is all in season one. The one thing that Bojack has going for him is that he eventually does try to grow. The second interview in Xerox of a Xerox took everything away from him. He had tried turning his life around before, but I think losing everything was both his biggest fear and the one thing that he desperately needed in order to fully start a new life. He needed to face the consequences of Sarah Lynn’s death and what he almost did with Penny. He needed to hear how he took advantage of Princess Carolyn all those years and how he used the other women in his life. He needed to see that he has a pattern. 

Bojack uses people to achieve whatever it is that he needs. He kept Princess Carolyn around because she inflated his ego and took advantage of her at every turn and indirectly held her back from getting the family she dreamed of having. Sarah Lynn was his escape when he needed it and pushed her to the point of death. Todd was his friend when he felt completely alone and he held him back from accomplishing his dream. Diane was his voice of reason that truly understood him and he would bring out the worst in her and push her into binge drink with him. He dragged all of these people down with him but after a while he saw what he was doing. 

That’s the difference though, Rick doesn’t seem to ever truly face consequences and doesn’t completely learn. Rick goes from universe to universe. He has no real concept of consequence. If someone dies, he simply moves on to another universe where they’re alive. That is the most nihilistic view anyone could ever have on the world around them. Rick literally has no idea what’s happening with his real Beth and his real grandchildren. 

Rick and Morty abandoned their universe when Morty’s love potion turned everyone into Cronenberg type creatures like it was nothing. They buried versions of themselves and he was unphased. Rick Sanchez left his daughter and granddaughter in that world without a second thought and kept Morty with him because every Rick needs their Morty to stay hidden. 

Rick made a clone of Beth and made sure that he had no idea which was which so that he didn’t have to live with his decision. He wanted to see both outcomes but didn’t want to completely let her go so he did what he thought best - replace her. Then to ensure that they wouldn’t find out about each other, he planted bombs in each of their necks that would explode if they came into contact so he wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences. 

To Rick, no one matters because everyone and everything is infinitely replaceable. The family that we see him with in the pilot isn’t even his original family. They show that he has memories with baby Morty, and yet Beth would talk about how Rick left her and Diane when she was little and just returned. Something happened to his original family and he jumped in wherever he could. He’s abandoned multiple versions of his family. He’s ruined multiple versions of his family and we never once see him try to go back and fix one of them or apologize, he just keeps jumping from one to the other. 

We see these moments of him where he feels lonely and isolated, but just because he feels bad doesn’t mean that he’s a better person. All it means is that he’s aware of what it is that he’s done. 

That’s why I think Rick Sanchez is the bigger self destructive asshole. I’m not saying that Bojack is all that much better or that he wouldn’t do the same thing if capable, but simply that Rick has grown much more jaded and numb to his actions.