#pity. or even jealous jerry.

[invisiblegarabgetruck]

/random but I want these two to somehow meet and Jerry gets bi-panic seeing his post-apocalypse self...... 🫣🫣🫣

context : they kinda adopted(?) hjer back and The fam immediately told hjer to go clean up and they sent forced jerry to assist him lol

j -*feets away for hjer* uh i just gonna...put the clothes here

hjer - hm *take off his shirt*

j-

j- 👀

[countlessrealities]

@shctupmeg sent: "So, awhile back Morty killed my parents. So I live with my grandparents now. Yay!" for Morty and Summer (her breaking the news over a picnic of baked goods)

When he had agreed to Meg's idea of having a picnic in their backyard, Morty hadn't expected much from it. Just quiet downtime and awesome baked goods. Summer would have been on her phone the whole time as per usual and he had been planning to keep his mouth occupied by chewing the food as slowly as possible not to directly interact much.

He realised how mean that might sound, but it wasn't that he disliked Meg or didn't want to spend time with her. She was supportive and a great listener, two things the boy truly appreciated, since he had been around people who were the opposite of that all his life.

The issue was that, these days, he always felt a little awkward around her. He couldn't tell if it was because they were dating the same person, or because they were trying to understand whether or not they wanted to be a couple too or because, much his chagrin, he was jealous of her relationship with his counterpart.

Most likely a mix all of those three things and who knows what else.

When it was just the two of them, Morty could set those feelings aside and focus on the present, but having Summer silently judging him from behind her phone made it impossible to.

On top of that, the last thing he would have anticipated was for Meg to drop that bomb on them, with no warning and in that forced cheerful tone.

The morsel of cupcake Morty had been in the process of swallowing went down the wrong pipe for the shock and Summer looked up from her phone, eyes widened in surprise.

An uneasy silence stretched over them, interrupted only by the boy's constant coughing. In the end it was the redhead to speak up, reaching out to slap her younger sibling on the back, to help him not to choke to death.

"Geez, and I thought that my little brother was the slaughterer," she commented, with a snort, sounding mildly impressed. "And your grandparents as in, like, your filthy rich grandparents? The one who got you that sick necklace you show me? That's, like, so rad."

Pity that Jerry's parents weren't as wealthy. She could have gotten a hot funeral picture and being getting to live with someone who would spoil her rotten.

Once he had managed to get his coughing under control, Morty pushed his sister off, shooting her a glare. The crazy bitch knew that she wasn't helping hitting him like that, but of course she had kept doing it anyway.

"Wh-...FM did what?" He stuttered out, sounding much more incredulous than Summer had been. And with reason. The redhead had a point, between the two of them he usually was the more aggressive Morty. "H-How? And...Why?"

He knew that Meg's parents were awful and that they openly abused her without second thoughts. Yet, there could have been plenty of other ways to get rid of them, without his counterpart having to do the dirty work directly. He and Rick had made plenty of people disappear, and he was sure that their other selves had to.

"T-That's...I don't know, i-it doesn't sound like him...?"

Yet, as he spoke those words, even he himself didn't sound too convinced. He knew far too well of what he and his counterpart were capable of. They would have committed every crime for the sake of something they believed in and, even more, for someone they loved. Now, he had been aware that his other self was in love with Meg. He had heard him saying it a couple of times, and it was pretty obvious from the way he looked at her. Yet, somehow, hearing about this particular act was what made the idea truly hit him and he couldn't help wondering what the fuck he was doing, foolishly trying to make a place for himself with them in...that.

Morty's stomach churned as a bundle of emotions he couldn't name grew inside it. He felt like an idiot, reacting like that, but he couldn't help just how out of place it made him feel.

He couldn't stay there with her, nor under his sister's too sharp gaze, anymore. He needed to go and hide somewhere for a while.

"Uh, I...I just...I just remembered that I was supposed to, uh, h-help Rick with...a thing! Y-Yeah! Sorry, it's...I really have to go or-or he'll get mad at me."

And with that he jumped on his feet and dashed towards the house, without waiting for an answer. The cupcake he hadn't finished remained on the blanket, completely forgotten.

Summer stared after her brother retreating form for a moment, before rolling her eyes and dropping her eyes back on the screen of her phone.

"Geez, what a drama queen. Boys, am I right? They just can't, like, handle emotionally charged situations."

{ @advnterccs (Morty) - mentioned }

[rickle-n-mort-enthusiast]

Absolutely correct, but also I'm fairly certain Rick's love language is acts of service. This is shown throughout the show in little but significant ways.

He made Beth a whole box of things she wanted as a kid, and in the flashback scene to his conversation with Prime we also see a toy robot (which could be a prototype for the feds or something but it looks so much like a toy I choose to believe it's for Beth). In S.6 when he's coming around to Jerry he chooses to help Jerry with his fortune cookie anxiety as a sign of respect, and in many ways the whole Jerricky thing started due to his respect for Jerry and to prove him wrong. In S.7 when "he" messes up the reunion with Diane, he make a whole robot out of spare parts that night and makes breakfast for her in the morning.

He refuses to make things he doesn't want to make, that's his whole shtick, he can do anything but he needs to want to do it. He makes Morty that love potion, but he doesn't really want to make it or even fix it so it fails and destroys humanity instead. On the otherhand, blackout drunk Rick really wanted to show how pitiful The Vindicators are in front of Morty, so he set up that whole Saw bit for them and killed not only their arch nemesis and themselves along the way but Morty's admiration of them (he's an easily jealous old man).

I know, that doesn't sound "loving", but you also have to take into account that @fandomwe1rd0 is completely right, Rick is so fucked up that his attempts to love the people close to him often also comes with a side of abuse and emotional manipulation.

And this doesn't just apply to Rick, it applies to plenty of traumatized and disfunctional characters that are so heavily corrupted they can't properly show love anymore. If you identify their love language, you also can typically identify their primary form of abuse.

Take The Vat of Acid episode, largely regarded as one of the worst things Rick did to Morty. It's an act of service because he created what Morty originally wanted, but it's corrupted because it's also intended to hurt him and reinforce their imbalanced codependency. Rick didn't know how much it'd hurt him, but he knew the mere truth of the device would hurt him. This is mirrored in The Heist episode when Rick makes a huge elaborate heist just to make Morty give up on his dreams.

Interestingly, love language can also be a way of self-harm if the character is self-loathing enough, and oh boy is Rick self-loathing. This is most obvious to me when Morty sends Rick down a spiral in the end of S.6. Not only has he thrown himself down the destructive hyperfixation over Prime again but he's completely stopped taking care of himself, putting any effort into acts of self-love. And what was the last thing he did before he shut himself away in this self-destructive hole? He MADE a "better" version of himself, or at least a version he thought the family would like more than himself, in particular Morty since Morty matters the most to Rick and is what set him off to begin with. Fucked up but still an act of service.

Plus, need I mention the ultimate self-sacrificing act of service he did when he made the decision that his family's safety was more important than his own when he turned himself in to the Galactic Federation at the end of S.2?

This turned into a bigger rant than I intended but I also want to mention how perfect those canapes had to be when he knew Bird Person and Squanchy would be coming to his party (also the whole war effort and Battle of Bloodridge could be seen as an act of service to BP since he did it just so the guy would "respect" him)

There's 5 love languages but Rick has developed a 6th one where he emotionally abuses people to show his love, this pathetic old man is not ok <3

[rottingspunk]

Love Buzz [Ch. 6]

July 31st, 1988

You awoke with a heaviness on your chest. It was a weight like no other, a heavy with a lightness to it. It was a light-hearted heavy. You felt something was wrong and weighing on your conscious. The sudden shift of your bed proved that something indeed was weighing on you. “How’d you sleep?”, you always loved Jerry’s voice. He turned to face you. You replied by gently cupping his face and kissing him, careful to not let the sheet fall from your chest. When you pulled away you left Jerry with a smile, “I guess that’s a yes.” You chuckled and carefully sat up, clutching your white sheet to your chest. Jerry’s fingers danced down your spine. You had a lot on your mind, what happened last night was nothing more than a burden and nothing less than a relief. You were very touch-starved despite what you wanted to believe. 

Jerry continued to touch you as you just stared at the wall. He loved you. He loved every part of you and it upset him that you guys lost touch. It also upset you but you figured then (and know now) that it happened for a reason. Last night was fun for you, it was like reliving a very explicit but pleasant memory. At first, when Jerry approached you, you weren’t that into it but then you warmed up to the idea of seeing Jerry again, not in a serious way of course. 

Before you could break the silence, Jerry sat up and tried to beat you to it.

“Y/n?”

“What was last night to you?” You cut Jerry off sharply, your words were fast. Jerry had a guilty look on his face. He so desperately wanted to sugarcoat his answer but knew better, when you were younger you established the rule that he should never lie or sugarcoat anything to you.

“Y/n, I loved every second of last night but… I think I just really needed to-”

“Get something off your mind.”

“Yeah.”

You and Jerry were always good at reading each other’s minds. 

“So who’s the guy?”

Jerry’s question made your eyes widen. Your heart stopped as you turned to look at him.

“There’s no guy.” Your voice was far too shaky for Jerry to believe that for a second. Jerry quirked an eyebrow and smirked slightly. “I’ll tell you who my guy is if you tell me yours.”

 You gave him a look of confusion and he laughed, “I also like guys now.” You smiled. “I’m happy for you, and his name is Kurt.”

“No way, Kurt Cobain?”

“Yeah? Where do you know him from?”

Jerry gave you a look like you were stupid and stopped touching your back. “Have you never heard of “Ted Ed Fred”?” 

For the next hour, Jerry gave you a music lesson and you listened, you were a little desperate to hear anything that involved your newfound obsession.

–

The short-lived euphoria you experienced last night that carried into the morning had been crushed by your thoughts. 

“Does he even like me?”

“Is he just pitying me?”

 You were currently envious of Jerry and the guy he had been crushing on. He told you his name was Layne and that they were actually in a band together. You were jealous of the way that everything with them seemed so uncomplicated. Granted, things with Kurt weren’t complicated but you felt like something was missing. 

The loud ringing of the phone wrecked your thoughts and you jumped to answer it. 

“Y/n?”

You recognized his voice instantly, joy took over your mind, and love filled your heart. You adored him.

“H-hey Kurt”

“Hey, um, I was wondering if I uh- could come over. My friend has his girlfriend over and I don’t really want to hear them. If you know what I mean.”

You giggled at his shyness to just say that he didn't want to hear them have sex. The thought of Kurt coming over intimidated you a tiny bit but you knew you liked him too much to let him suffer. Especially since you’ve been in that situation before with Shannon and his ex, it scarred you, to say the least.

You told Kurt that it was more than okay for him to come over and gave him your address. He told you that since you lived close he’d be over in 10. You were hoping you’d have more prep time but you decided that it’s probably for the best that you didn’t have too much time to kill any existing happiness in you before someone came to your apartment. You waited for him anxiously, your palms sweated and you tried your hardest to not let your eyes start watering. You felt the overload of emotions and you sensed your mind about to combust. 

—

When he got there he thanked you for “saving” him and you awkwardly laughed while panicking on the inside. You both decided you should watch a movie to pass the time considering Kurt didn't know when his friend and his girlfriend would be done. Once again when he mentioned it he shyly beat around the bush and it made you like him even more. The confidence he had was a confidence like no other. It was complete, something firmly established in a special way. The way that his confidence mixed with a subtle shyness made up a beautiful personality.

When you sat down to watch the movie you kind of avoided Kurt. He noticed but didn’t want to make you uncomfortable and slowly avoided you back. Around halfway through the movie You got up to get both of you water, when you returned you sat a great deal closer to Kurt, comfortable tension laced the room. It grew heavy when Kurt subconsciously put his arm around your shoulders and (consciously) pulled you closer, noticing your newfound solace. As if it was second nature you titled your head to lay on his shoulder to which he smiled and rubbed your arm slightly. 

As the credits rolled you became aware of everything that had just happened. You were cuddling with your crush on your couch. You were having physical contact with an angel on your couch. It amazed you. You never would’ve thought you’d get here. 

“Y/n?”

“Yeah?”

“What are we? I like being your friend but I feel like being your friend isn’t enough.”

Now was your chance but you feared your self destructive nature would ruin this perfect chance at happiness. Alas, you mustered up all your courage.

“I don’t want to be your friend.”

[mandoalorian]

Pedro boys when they get jealous??

Pedro’s characters getting jealous

Headcanon masterlist

Din Djarin

Din will shrug it off and pretend like he doesn't care or doesn't notice. After all, he's a bounty hunter and he has bigger things to worry about. But he just can't shake the feeling. He likes you so much, and although you're both taking things slow, he really doesn't want to lose you to some slimy crime syndicate. He closes himself off, talks even less than usual, and becomes very focused on his bounties. You eventually have to pull him to one side and ask him what's going on. It'll take a lot for Din to admit the truth, but when he does, you're able to comfort him and reassure him that you won't ever leave his and Grogu's side.

Maxwell Lord

If he sees someone flirting with you at a charity event or gala, he'll get very defensive. He'll stalk over to you and wrap his arm around you, reminding everyone that you came here with him. You're his. You're a little taken aback by his sudden onset affection but you soon realise why he's doing it. He might even come out with a crazy villain one liner like "I will leave you here with nothing to defend yourself from the wrath you certainly will face". (yes that's from the movie and I just love it when he comes out with the most dramatic things!)

Oberyn Martell

He is so used to sharing you with Ellaria and his other lovers, he can't imagine himself to be a jealous type. But when you accompany him to Westeros and a Lannister apprehends you, he's mortified. He'll pull the man to one side and whisper threats in his ear, drawing out his dagger and holding it against his neck. "If you ever near my love again, you won't live another day."

Frankie Morales

He'll probably feel insecure, and uncomfortable if he sees someone flirting with you. He'll be too shy to approach the man and tell him to back off (unlike Santiago or one of the other guys). He'll wait until their finished and pull you to one side. "Hey baby? Can we get outta here? I wanna go some place where it's just us." he'll say, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He starts to get super protective and he just wants to be somewhere alone with you.

Marcus Pike

No no no, please don't let this angel get jealous. He's already been through so much. He would feel absolutely defeated if he saw someone flirting with you. He'd go home and wallow in self pity, watching all your favourite movies and listening to your favourite records— because he believes that he's lost you. He hasn't, of course. He's just used to all his relationships breaking down because his partner ends up leaving him for someone else.

Max Phillips

We've seen Bloodsucking Bastards right? He doesn't get jealous. He's a vampire. Does he even have feelings? Let's say that he does. The guy flirting with you will straight up get a punch to the face, just like Max did to Evan. Max will prove to you that you're his through sex and he'll leave marks (bites) all over your body which will show that you're already taken by him.

Dave York

He'll murder them. I don't know what else to say. He gets so angry and defensive, he'll hunt them down and literally kill them. And he'll get away with it. And then he'll come home to you, pepper kisses all over your body and tell you how you're his forever and he loves you. He says "sweetheart, I hope you know I'd kill for you." Of course, you don't think he's being literal...

Ezra

He thinks it's useless confronting the guy who has been flirting with you for the past few weeks. It doesn't matter to Ezra. What matters to him, is proving to you how much he loves you. He needs to give you a reason to stay, and he wants to give you a reminder that he's best off with him. He'll do all this through loving touches and kisses and the whispers of sweet poetry as he caresses you through the night.

Javier Peña

He doesn't usually get jealous, mainly because he's never really been in a long term relationship. But even just after a few dates, he finds himself getting protective over you. He swears you're perfect for him, and he's never met anyone like you before. You're endearing, fresh, beautiful, and he doesn't get bored of you (which is usually a big problem when it comes to Javi). He doesn't realise how he truly feels until he's faced with the fact someone from work has been flirting with you. Javi is filled with a blinding rage and he'll start wanting to do more PDA, especially in the office.

Jack Daniels

Oh boy, another one who'd get so incredibly defensive over you. He is very confrontational. He'll approach the guy who has been flirting with you all night and completely set him straight. If the guy dares question Jack— it's over. The guy must have a death wish. He'll then turn to you and carress your face, reminding you how much he loves and cherishes you.

Marcus Moreno

Missy is the first person who can sense her father's jealousy. She rolls her eyes, flicks her hair and tells him he needs to get over it. She'll talk some sense into him. "You have no reason to be jealous, they'd never get with that loser. They love you." Missy nudges her dad playfully and goes back to listening to her music.

Javi Gutierrez

A guy at at one of the house parties brings you a drink over and flirts with you, and Javi sees. Javi will get so upset and so insecure. He'll probably lock himself in his bedroom and watch Paddington 2 on repeat for the rest of the week; crying into a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. You finally cave and demand to know what the hell is going on with him, and he admits seeing a guy flirt with you got him so worried you'd leave him. You shush him and wipe away his tears and promise you'd never leave him for anyone. You love him unconditionally.

Pero Tovar

He gets very territorial around you. He's rough, very handsy, and kisses you all over. He wants to make his mark on you and show the world that you're taken by the esteemed Pero Tovar himself. Women want him, men fear him, but he's yours and you're his, and that is not up for discussion.

Permanent taglist: @supernaturalgirl @phoenixhalliwell @ah-callie @luvzoria @stardust-galaxies @wickedfrsgrl @goth-topic @nerdypinupcrystal @wonderfulfluffer @kiwi-the-first @pedroepascal @castiel-barnes @honeymandos @rocketqueen @ladycumberbatchofcamelot @dybalalover10 @girl-obsessed-with-things @elena-myth @moth-guillotine @pedro-pascal-love @hayley-the-comet @pinkninja190 @maxiarapamaya @autumnleaves1991-blog @artsymaddie

[winterisakiller]

Get Better - Chapter Three

Title: Get Better

Chapter: 3/18

Character: Tom Hiddleston/Cath Richardson (OFC)

Genre: Romance

Rating: Teen and up

Summary: Love. Companionship. Family. These are all of the things Tom Hiddleston desperately wanted. But his life and his choices left that a distant and unlikely prospect. So he did his best to move on and live his life as is. When an opportunity to return to the theater arises, he jumps at the chance and along the way finds that maybe, just maybe, those distant and unlikely prospects are closer than he could have imagined. Sequel to Brave Face.

Authors Notes/Warnings: So as I was writing Brave Face I knew that Tom’s story wasn’t over, even if that particular part of it was. And while I knew, more or less, what the overall ending to the story would be, its taken me a while to figure out the time in between. Thanks to @redfoxwritesstuff for letting me continually throw ideas off and at you. I still can’t fathom why you put up with it, but I am eternally grateful you do. This story will update on Thursdays.

Tag list: @tinchentitri @theheartofpenelope @noplacelikehome77 @nonsensicalobsessions @blacksuitofdoom @messy-insomniac-bookgirl @just-the-hiddles @theoneanna @wolfsmom1

Previous Chapter

CHAPTER THREE

 A sharp wind whipped down the florescent lit tunnel, sending a sudden shiver down his spine. Tom pulled the blanket he’d been handed tighter around him, stifling a yawn. It had been an early morning and despite several cups of coffee, with more espresso shots than he’d care to admit to, he still felt the pull of sleep dragging on him. The excitement, however, was winning by leaps and bounds. He had been intrigued when the idea was pitched to him, of making a teaser for Betrayal and posting it as-is before formally announcing the show the following day. It was a creative and fun way of drawing attention to the production and getting buzz going around it.

 The teaser’s premise was simple, Tom would come into focus walking down the aforementioned tunnel, something out of the camera’s range would catch his eye, and the viewer would watch his reaction unfold. Watch the shock, pain, anger, and finally defeat play across his features. No dialogue, no real explanation; just him and music. Beautiful in its simplicity.

 He stood to the side, watching as the days’ crew reset the shot and fiddled with the lighting. It was their third, and hopefully last, take; the lighting have gone a touch fuzzy during the last set up. It was a bustle of controlled chaos and something he’d always found fascinating. The way in which the crew flittered around each other was almost an elaborate dance.

 “Alright, places everyone!”  The director called once things had been set to rights. Tom nodded, took a deep breath and stepped onto his mark.  

 The rest of the shoot passed with little issue. The fourth take had been the one Tom was certain he’d nailed. He’d watched the final footage with the director and found himself pleased with the initial result. The days’ footage, Tom was told, would be edited that evening and should be ready to go up the day after. With a warm smile, Tom bid farewell and headed out into the bustle of the now busy streets.

 He’d taken the tube that morning, enjoying being able to sit and people watch. It helped keep him grounded, just doing the everyday tasks that so many seemed to take for granted. He could usually take the tube with little fuss or fanfare. That was one of the wonderful things about London, very few people seemed to care who or what he was. True, there would be the occasional fan who would approach him or the rare ‘sneaky’ photograph (which he never really understood the point of) but for the most part he was left to his own devices.

 He’d fired off a quick text to Luke before he’d entered the station, letting him know all had gone well and that he was off home. Luke responded quickly, reminding him that his phone meeting with Marvel regarding updates for the Loki limited series had been pushed back until following afternoon. Which meant for the time being, Tom had the rest of the day to himself and he was greatly looking forward to the lack of demand. He made his way through the ticket barrier and followed commuters down the escalators and onto the platform. The train rumbled into the station a few minutes later and he joined the mass of people making their way into various carriages.

 Tom quickly settled into the first available seat, letting his mind wander as he watched the eclectic mix of people filling the carriage. It was something he’d always enjoyed about the city; the mix of cultures and people that had always made it uniquely London. The carriage was busy but not packed, it was still early enough in the day that most commuters were still at work. Tom enjoyed the relative peace as the carriage jostled along, silently counting the stops until his own.

 He made his way from the train onto the platform once the train had pulled into his station. A flash of dark hair and a familiar laugh caught his attention as he made his way through the busy station to the ticketing barrier. Tom turned his head in reflex and a jolt of recognition shot through him. Cath. The name materialized in his head without conscious thought. But she was gone before he could make a move, disappeared into the crowd heading towards the platforms.

 Tom shook himself back into the present and carried on through the gate and then out onto the street. It was just as well she’d gone, he reasoned, pulling his coat tighter around himself as a swift breeze raced down the pavements. He didn’t actually know her, had no reason to approach her other than his own, admittedly overabundant, curiosity.  And that had often caused more trouble than it was worth.

 Silently, he carried on down the pavements and back towards home. Bobby, none too pleased with being shut in the back room in his crate, barked repeatedly as Tom unlocked and pushed open the front door. “Alright, alright,” he called. “I’m coming.”

 He shrugged out of his woolen coat, hanging it on the rack near the door, and jogged through the house towards the back room. Bobby, finally free of his confinement, let his displeasure be known with several more loud and growly barks. Tom rolled his eyes and let the spaniel out through the door into the back garden to do his business and terrorize the local wildlife.

 The following day’s teaser release and subsequent play announcement were well received, which had been a major relief. The response on social media had been overwhelmingly positive and Tom was more than pleased. Zawe had begun talks to secure her involvement in the show and from what Tom had been able to gather, Charlie Cox was in talks to join as well. Nothing had been set in stone and probably wouldn’t until closer to the New Year, but Tom couldn’t have been happier. He’d known Charlie for years and was glad to at least have the chance of potentially working with him.

 His phone had been ringing off and on throughout the day following the official announcement; friends and family sharing their well wishes and excitement. His mother had been particularly thrilled as she could talk more openly about the play now that had it been announced publically. His mother and her enthusiasm had become the stuff of legend in and around Suffolk.

 “So someone actually took pity on you and hired your sorry face. I must send them flowers…and my condolences as well,” Benedict laughed. His call had come just after Tom had finished an impromptu afternoon run. He was in desperate need of a shower but hadn’t the heart to tell his friend to buzz off.

 “Well,” Tom quipped back. “If they actually hire you on occasion, I figured I would be a shoe-in this time round. And,” he added as an afterthought, “there is a much better chance they can actually pronounce my name.” Ben snorted laughter at the comment which pulled Tom into a laughing fit of his own. “But in all seriousness,” Tom continued once he’d managed to calm himself, “I am ridiculously excited to be able to be doing this. It’s going to be a challenging role and I am looking forward to it.”

 “So who are you playing? Robert or Jerry?”

 “Robert.”

 Ben laughed in delight. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. And they’ve cast Emma and Jerry?”

 “Not officially no,” Tom answered, laughing as well.

 “Unofficially?” Ben goaded.

 “Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox, pending availability.”

 “Very nice indeed, Mr. Hiddleston. You’re moving up in the world.” He paused, taking a breath. “Hopefully Sophie and I will be able to make it during the run.”

 “Don’t feel obligated,” Tom admonished. “I know things are going to be a bit mad with the little one coming.” He had been beyond thrilled, and quietly jealous, when Ben had told him that he and Sophie were expecting again. The baby was due in late January and Tom was well aware that their lives would be chaotic for a least the first few months while their family settled into its new routine. The play would be the absolute least of their priorities. “If you make it, that will be amazing but don’t feel like you must. Honestly.”

 Ben laughed. “I have a feeling that by the time your show opens we’ll both be ready for a break and grown up company.”

 Tom laughed as well. “I can only imagine.”

 A loud scream echoed from Ben’s side of the line. “I’m terribly sorry to cut this short but I need to make sure my sons aren’t killing one another. Sophie will be awfully cross if any damage comes to them in my care.”

 “Yes. Yes. Go on, take care of your offspring. Talk to you later.” Tom ended the call and stretched his back, it having started to get a bit stiff. He really needed to make sure he stretched pre and post run now. God, I’m getting old, he thought with a grimace. Tom toed out of his running shoes and took the stairs two at a time, more eager than ever for a hot shower.

 —

 The rest of November passed in a blur of various appointments and meetings cumulating in an appearance at Tokyo Comic Con. Tom always thoroughly enjoyed being able to attend Asian events, especially fan ones. The welcome he received was always warm and the fan base vocal and tremendously supportive. It made the long flight and horrendous jetlag worth it. And this time had been no exception. He’d thoroughly enjoyed talking with fans and participating in numerous panels. But he had to admit, he was grateful to be going home. He’d joked with Luke about the real possibility of him sleeping for at least a week on the way to the airport.

 “Good,” Luke deadpanned back. “Please do. Less chance of you causing me headache.”

 The flight home had been a long one, with just enough layover to make his usual jetlag feel a hundred times worse. He’d practically fallen into the car awaiting him at Heathrow and slept all the way home. It certainly wouldn’t do his re-acclimation to British Standard Time any good, but he’d been far too tired to care. How he’d made his way from the car and into the house, he still didn’t know. Nor how he’d fumbled his way from the entry way, up the stairs and into his bedroom. He’d woken late the following afternoon still in his clothes and momentarily unaware of just where he was.

 Tom blinked around the room several times before the familiar shapes of his dresser and the door to the ensuite came into focus. Home. He pushed himself upright, a jaw cracking yawn escaping him. He was still tired, still a bit fuzzy-headed, but now that he was conscious he could sense the grime of several hours confined in a small space with far too many people all over him. With a fair amount of effort, he pulled himself to his feet and padded into the bathroom, stripping as he went.

 Freshly showered and feeling much more like himself, Tom climbed downstairs nearly twenty minutes later and set about fixing both coffee and food. Plate of egg and toast in one hand and a steaming mug of coffee doctored to his liking in the other, Tom padded into the living room and settled himself on the couch. He let himself revel, selfishly, in the silence of the house.

 Bobby was still at Emma’s; she and her husband had volunteered to watch the little devil while he’d been out of the country. Why they’d agreed, Tom still wasn’t entirely sure. And while he’d missed the little bugger, it was nice to be able to eat a meal without having to face those large, pleading eyes. He’d never been able to completely resist them, and he knew Bobby knew.

 Tom took his time eating, he had nowhere in particular he needed to be and fully intended to laze about for as long as possible. He pondered actually taking on his ever-growing ‘to-be-read’ pile. It had been ages since he’d allowed himself the luxury of just sitting and reading a book. Yes, he still read as often as was possible, but it was usually during filming breaks when he wasn’t going over lines or blocking or a few moments before falling asleep. Actually sitting about and just reading, that was a true rarity. Possibilities.

 Once he’d finished the last of his meal and drained the very last of his coffee, Tom pushed himself to his feet and padded to the kitchen. He contemplated simply leaving his used plate and mug in the sink for later, after all it wasn’t as if he won’t have the time later. But the impulse was quickly abated; his mother would box his ears, metaphorically speaking, for doing such a thing even now. He shook his head and laughed at himself, washing and drying them quickly before heading out of the kitchen and into the main hall.

 As Tom made his way down the hall his suitcase and backpack, left carelessly by the door the night before, caught his eye and he groaned. He should take his clothing out and get a load of washing started, knowing if he put it off it wouldn’t get done. With a muffled curse, he lugged the case towards the laundry room, setting it on the floor and sorting through his clothing. He’d gotten a load in the wash and started the sorting of the next when the sharp ring of his mobile echoed from the front of the house.

 Tom sighed and padded back into the hall, finding this mobile vibrating and ringing away on the table; Emma’s number flashing across the screen. He had to have pulled it from his pocket by reflex the night before as tended to keep in beside him the majority of the time unless he purposefully needed a break from the outside world.

 “Yes, little sister?” he said as way of greeting after he’d grabbed the offending object and slid his finger across the screen to accept the call.

 Emma snorted a laugh. “He lives! I was wondering if you’d be conscious and functional yet or not.”

 “I do live, the conscious and functional part is debatable. Now what can I do for you?”

 A loud, piercing cry echoed through the line and Emma sighed, wearily. “Take my child off my hands for the next…I don’t know…Eighteen or so years?”

 “Somehow I think Jack might have a few objections to that idea.” Tom chuckled, padding back into the living room and dropping onto the couch.

 “He’ll live,” Emma grumbled. “I’ve got to dash. Just give us a call when you’re ready to swing by for Bobby. And if you want to take Allie with you, feel free.”

 “I think I’m good. One adorable yet demanding creature is more than enough for me at this juncture,” he reasoned adding, “And Bobby doesn’t scream” as an afterthought.

 “Oh ha bloody ha. See if I agree to help you with anything in future….Allie no, put that down…Alice Marie…Sorry, Tom, I’ve got to go.” The line clicked and Tom let his phone drop beside him on the couch. He scrubbed his face with his hands before standing and heading back into the laundry room. He’d finish sorting his laundry and then call her back, letting her know he was on the way.

 The drive across town wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d feared it would be; London traffic being what it was. He pulled his car to a stop in the drive leading to the house forty minutes later, almost reluctant to turn the engine off and lose the heating.  Emma had the door open, his niece on her hip, before he’d climbed out of the car.

 “She’s calmed I see,” he called, reaching out to take the little girl from her mother’s arms. She smiled in delight and clung to her uncle, babbling excitedly. “Hello there, angel.” He kissed the top of her head before returning his attention to his sister. “And how has my boy been?”

 Emma laughed and shook her head, ushering Tom inside. “He’s been his usual self. Luckily he hasn’t dug up the back garden…again. Only because it’s been so bloody cold.”

 Tom threw back his head and laughed. “Well thank goodness for small miracles.”  The aforementioned spaniel, upon hearing his master’s voice, came sprinting out into the hallway, barking. Alice let out a squeal, clapping her hands together and reaching for the excited dog jumping at her uncle’s feet. Tom bent down and gave Bobby an affectionate scratch behind the ears. Alice reached out and grabbed at Bobby’s ears. “No, sweetie. We need to be gentle with the doggy.” He demonstrated by petting Bobby softly on the head. Alice mimicked his motions and Bobby tossed his head up, licking her face. She squealed in delight and wriggled out of Tom’s arms.

 Behind him, Tom could hear Emma laughing. “You are a natural, you know?” He turned around, blinking at her in puzzlement. “With kids,” she continued, “have been for years.”

 He shrugged, turning his attention back towards his niece and his dog to ensure neither was misbehaving. Alice was contentedly patting Bobby on the head and babbling at him. “So are lots of people.”

 “I’m just saying…You are great as Uncle Tommy and I think you’d made quite a good father in your own right.”

 “Em.”

 “I know you want that, Tom. It’s plain as day to anyone who knows you,” she pressed, giving him a knowing look.

 “Of course I want that, Em. I just…Sometimes we can’t get what we want.” He let out a resigned sigh. “Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we want and we’ve no one to blame but ourselves. I’ve come to terms with it.”

 Emma folded her arms over chest, “You and I both know that’s a boldfaced lie.”

 Tom pushed himself to his feet, turning to face his sister, frustration clear in his eyes. “Just let it go, Em. Seriously.” His tone brooked no argument. “Do you have the rest of his things gathered or do I need to go into the back and fetch them?”

 “Tom…” It was clear though that Tom was no longer willing to entertain the conversation at hand. “All his stuff is gathered in the back room.” He gave her a nod and headed down the hallway towards the room in question. Alice who had until that point been contentedly patting Bobby on the head, raised her attention to her mother and inquired, in her own fashion, after her missing uncle. Her mother sighed, “Uncle Tommy’s gone to get Bobby’s things then they are going bye-byes. But we’ll see them again soon.”

 Alice pouted at this, “No bye-byes!”

 “It’s alright Allie,” Tom spoke, dropping the bundle of Bobby’s things carefully by the door and settling on his knees beside her. “Bobby and I will come back soon. But I think right now mummy and daddy want a little time with just you.” Alice sniffled and grabbed at Tom who pulled the toddler into his arms. “I know, I know.” He kissed her head, and standing, handed the girl to her mother. “You be good for your mummy and daddy okay?”

 Emma looked at him over the head of her still sniffling daughter. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

 Tom nodded and mouthed, “It’s alright.” Picking up the bundle once more, Tom leant down and hooked Bobby’s lead to his collar. “Come on, boy.” He pushed open the front door and led them out into the dark and cold December evening. Bobby had hopped into the backseat of the car willingly enough but throughout the drive home insisted on sticking his nose further and further between the two front seats, nudging at his master’s arm.

 “You, my lad, are a menace,” Tom laughed as he pulled back onto the main road and into traffic. The drive home took twice as long as the initial trip. Tom hadn’t been surprised; London traffic was a nightmare, regardless of the time of day. As they sat, Tom’s mind wandered back to Emma’s earlier words. She’d meant well and he’d known it. And he’d hated being so short with her. But they’d had the conversation far too many times over the last few years and he was tired.

 There were things he wanted; someone to come home to, a family of his own, the things he saw in the lives of his sisters and friends. And yet here he was inching ever closer to forty and still, more or less, alone. Most days it hadn’t bothered him. He had more than enough to fill his life. He had friends, nieces and honorary nephews aplenty. He had a rewarding and engaging career that he still loved, despite its pitfalls and stresses. But somedays…Somedays that nagging voice inside his head reminding him that he was alone grew loud and became difficult to ignore.

 He took a deep breath and forced himself to concentrate on the road before him. Behind him, Tom could hear Bobby’s incessant whining. “Fine, come on up.” He patted the seat beside him and Bobby let out an excited bark and quickly leapt into the front seat where he sat, watching the traffic around him.

                                                             —

 Christmas, as always, came far too quickly. Tom had spent the week before scrambling to make sure he found the bits and bobs he’d purchased throughout the year and hidden away ‘for safe keeping’. Why he never bothered to use the same spot twice, he’d never understand. Though, if pushed, he could admit it most likely came from a lifelong habit of trying to hide his things from nosey and inquisitive sisters and later from intrusive school mates.

 But he’d found them all in the end, and the evening before he’d been set to drive to his mother’s, Tom sat in his living room surrounded by wrapping paper and sellotape, wondering just what he’d been thinking. Despite his ability to master almost anything thrown his way, Tom had always been rubbish at wrapping and practice, he’d found, made little difference.

 Cursing and muttering under his breath, he fumbled his way through. The end results were far from perfect, but they were wrapped. Bobby had taken great pleasure in chasing the loose paper, gleefully tearing it to shreds. Watching this, Tom wisely made the decision to pack the gifts away where the spaniel could not reach. He didn’t think Bobby would actually go after them but experience had taught him that trusting the playful spaniel in that regard was not a risk worth taking.

 With a jaw cracking yawn, Tom pushed himself up to his feet. A quick glance at the clock informed him that it had just gone one in the morning. Much later than he’d intended. “Bed,” he murmured to himself. Bobby fast on his heels, Tom climbed the stairs and, after a quick detour to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, fell into bed.

 He set out for his mother’s at a little before noon the following day. Traffic wasn’t nearly as hectic as he’d thought it would be, especially for the day before Christmas. Bobby sat contentedly in the front seat, every so often barking at passing motorists. He had tried, and failed, to keep the spaniel in the backseat and as they left the city limits, he’d relented and allowed Bobby what the spaniel firmly believed was his spot. Christmas music rang out of the speakers, Tom had always had a soft spot for these songs, and found himself humming along quietly as he drove.

 It hadn’t snowed yet, which was a blessing. But darkening skies loomed low and threateningly. Tom only hoped it would hold out until he was safely in Suffolk and inside with the hot beverage of his choosing before they broke. His luck, and the weather, held and he pulled into the drive only half an hour later than he’d planned. Bobby barked excitedly as Tom killed the engine, his tail a blur of motion. “Alright, alright. I know you’re dying for a walk.”

 Once he was certain Bobby’s lead was tightly fastened, Tom climbed out of the car and darted to the passenger side. Bobby hopped out and took three laps around the front garden before Tom led him back to the car. Pulling his backpack and the bag of gifts from the trunk, Tom headed up the walk and to the front door, the spaniel following closely behind.

 The door opened and a chorus of warm welcomes and a loud and enthusiastic “Uncle Tommy!” from his eldest niece, Cora, greeted him.

 He was pulled into a tight hug by his mother as he crossed the threshold. “So glad you made it before the weather turned. The thought of you out in the snow in that car…” Diana had made her dislike of Tom’s Jaguar plain from the moment he’d received it as a perk for his appearance in one of their marketing campaigns years ago.

 “Mum,” he groaned, unable to mask his annoyance, “It’s a perfectly safe car and you know fair well that I’m a good driver.”

 Diana huffed and shut the door behind him. “I’m still not a fan.”

 Settling in hadn’t taken long, he’d been placed in his old bedroom and had wasted no time in jogging up the stairs (Diana’s voice echoing after him with an admonishing “no running in the house!”) and dropping his bag on the recently made bed. The room hadn’t changed overmuch in the years since he’d lived in it; a new bedspread had been laid out but otherwise it was still very much the room of his teenaged years. Tom found an odd comfort in that. He returned downstairs and quickly found himself pulled into rolling around the floor with Alice and Cora while they laughed and screamed in delight. He could hear Emma and Sarah behind him, laughing hysterically at his antics.

 Dinner was a causal affair that evening, eaten mostly in the living room while everyone chatted and the children played with Bobby, occasionally sneaking him bits of food much to the spaniel’s delight. At quarter of nine the children were tucked into bed with the promise of a visit from Santa if they settled to sleep. He’d been roped into reading several bedtime stories because, according to Cora, “you do all the best voices”. The girls’ parents were quick to agree and so Tom settled on the floor between the two beds and read from the collection of bedtime stories that had been in the house for as long as he could remember.

 Once both girls were fast asleep, Tom rejoined the adults downstairs. He took the proffered glass of whiskey from his brother-in-law and settled on the couch. It was wonderful, getting to spend time with his family. He hadn’t seen Sarah nor her family since Emma’s wedding, something he promised himself to rectify in future. They sat up talking until well into the early hours of the morning, though Diana had turned in shorty before ten, and as they finally climbed the stairs to bed he heard Sarah grumble, “Cora will be up at first light and demand everyone join her.” And her husband grunt in response.

 Cora was in fact up at just before six Christmas morning. After waking her parents, she’d darted into Tom’s room and woke him as well by jumping repeatedly on the bed yelling “it’s Christmas, Uncle Tommy! It’s Christmas!”

 Startled into consciousness, Tom swallowed his heart and grumbled a “that’s lovely” while patting Cora on the back. He heard Sarah snort in amusement from the doorway and shot her an evil look, which only made her laugh harder.  He sat up in time to watch Cora dash from the room, grabbing her mother by the hand and dragging her towards the stairs. Tom chuckled to himself, stretched, and slowly climbed out of bed. God, it was far too early. He pulled on a jumper, as his mother tended to keep the house on the cooler side even in winter, and padded downstairs in search of coffee.

 Diana stood in the kitchen when he stumbled in, a steaming mug outstretched towards him which he took gratefully. It was a strong roast, rich and bitter. He drank it slowly, feeling the comforting rush of caffeine through his bloodstream. Gods above, he loved coffee. Excited cries soon echoed in from the living room, beckoning his attention. He made his way into the living room behind his mother and settled into one of the open arm chairs, watching as Alice and Cora were settled before their respective pile of gifts.

 The actual present opening portion of the morning lasted all of twenty minutes in Cora’s case. Alice took longer due to the fact she became easily distracted by the shiny paper. But all in all, they had their presents opened in well less than an hour. They saved the adult gift giving for later, once both girls were sufficiently distracted enough by toys to allow them a moment’s peace.

 Breakfast and lunch, much like dinner the night before, were eaten in the living room surrounded by bin bags full of wrapping paper. Tom had been drafted into throwing out said bags, very much without his consent he’d pointed out. No one, however, took his protests seriously. After he’d finished lunch and could put off the inevitable no longer, Tom threw on his coat with a grumble and grabbed the bags. Bobby was quick on his heels, sensing walkies afoot. The spaniel was hooked into his lead and headed out into the cold alongside Tom. Once the bin bags were tossed in the bins at the side of the house, they took a quick lap around the front garden then up and down the drive before heading back inside.

 He unhooked Bobby from his lead once he’d had the front door firmly shut and the spaniel had shot off back in the direction of the living room where moments later he heard the delighted cries of his nieces. Tom padded towards the kitchen in search of another mug of coffee, or if he was truly lucky, hot chocolate. He found his mother pacing around the kitchen, phone balanced between her ear and shoulder as she puttered around making hot chocolate. Bless her, he thought.

 “Oh, dear heart that is fine…Honestly, I know it’s a long drive and a short stop is perfectly fine. I just want to meet that little man of yours…Yes…Alright…Speak soon.” She turned to hang the phone back into its base and jumped when she caught sight of Tom in the doorway. “Goodness, Thomas! You gave me quite a fright.”

 “Sorry, Mum.”

 “No matter. Now that you’re here you can help me finish these up…And I mean get them ready not sample the lot, young man.” She wagged a reproachful finger at him and he laughed and ducked his head sheepishly. How was it his fault that her hot chocolate was so amazing that he couldn’t help himself? Chocolate was a weakness of his, surely she knew that by now.

 Diana shook her head and began passing him the mugs she had started and the various toppings they required. Tom worked dutifully at his task though temptation to sample was strong. “Mum…”

 “No, Tom, you may not test them out.” She answered automatically.

 Tom laughed. “That wasn’t what I was going to ask, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”

 Diana chuckled. “Anytime, my boy. Anytime.” She nudged him gently with her shoulder. “So what was your question then?”

 “Who was on the phone earlier?”

 “Amy,” Diana answered simply, offering Tom a look of understanding. “They can’t stay for lunch tomorrow, but are going to stop by on their drive home.”

 Tom smiled back. “I’m glad they can make it. I know you’ve been dying to meet Henry.” Her eyes narrowed just a fraction, and Tom let out a sigh. “Mum, honestly its fine. What happened between Amy and I is in the past. She’s moved on and so have I. Honestly.”

 Diana’s eyes studied his face, an unreadable expression in her eyes. It felt like an age before she spoke, “Then why, my boy, do you look so sad?” Tom opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off with a quick wave of her hand. “Don’t, Thomas. You forget I’ve known you all of your life. I see you. You might have accepted what happened between you and Amy, that I do believe, but I don’t know if you have truly moved on.” She shot him a knowing look. “You haven’t had a steady nor serious relationship since…And what happened that summer doesn’t count.” Diana came to stand beside him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “You are my boy and I just want you to be happy.”

 Tom blinked up at her, the smile on his face not quite reaching his eyes. “I am…I mean, yes, there are times I wish for things that I don’t have. But doesn’t everyone?” He let out a sigh. “I made some spectacularly bad choices and I’ve learned from them. Things aren’t…Perfect. But they are good. I’m good. You don’t have to worry about me.”

 Diana shook her head, “Oh my boy, that’s one thing you still don’t quite understand. I am your mother, I am always going to worry about you.” She leaned down and kissed his head. “No let’s get this drinks out there before the rest of the family starts to riot.”

 Both laughing, they worked together to place the mugs onto a tray and carried them back into the living room.

Next Chapter

[arcanesupern0va]

Rick In The Water - Prologue

Summary: You were best friends with Beth as kids, meaning you knew her family and you developed a crush on her dad. When he left, you picked up the pieces of yourself and Beth, helping her and Jerry raise Summer. Flash forward fifteen years and Rick's back, and you're married to a shitty guy and since Rick isn't a fucking idiot he sees it right away, and despite the conclusion you came to to save yourself the heartache of his leaving, he cares. A lot. (I'm terrible at summaries.) CONTENT WARNING: I'm not kidding when I say you have a shitty husband. There are descriptions of abuse in this fic and I don't want to upset anyone so if that's something that upsets you, please proceed with caution.

A/N: So I posted this on ao3 originally so that’s why there’s an actual freaking prologue and what not. XD I’m posting here so I can hopefully get a little more exposure because I am desperate for validation. CW: Abusive husband af all chapters will be under a read more ^^ Pairing: Rick Sanchez/Reader Word Count: 1569 (don’t worry, this is the only short one.)

My ao3

Masterlist

I’d known Rick since I was a little girl. He very rarely paid me any mind, but I would see him stalk over to the refrigerator to grab a beer out and I couldn’t help but watch him intently. I had always been fascinated by him. The way his hair looked, how he knew so many multiple syllable words… I was infatuated. I was also 12 at the time and Rick was my best friend’s father. I was barely old enough to understand the feelings I had for the much older man. As I got older, I wrote it off as being awestruck. It happened to a lot of my friends, Beth even had a crush on our 7th-grade math teacher. Nothing ever came of it; it was nothing more than a crush.

Calling it a crush didn’t, however, explain the soul-crushing heartbreak that I experienced when he left. I tried to be supportive of Beth; I told myself I was as sad as I was because I could see it hurting my best friend, but my whole entire world had come crashing down. Summer had just been born and one day, he was just gone. I knew Beth blamed herself for “ruining” everything by resigning to have Summer. Whatever awestruck, schoolgirl crush I had brewing for him all but evaporated in the months after that and I went years with only rare moments of reminiscing with Beth that I would even think of her father. Her mother disappeared not long after Rick, having told Beth she needed to find Rick and bring him home.

She never came back either.

Beth, Jerry, and I actively raised Summer during her youngest years. Beth was adamant about making it through veterinary school and while I did work nights, I was there during the days and my nights off helping Jerry take care of the small human he and my friend created. Once Beth graduated, it was my turn to do something with my life. More than likely inspired by repressed memories of the man that left us, I found myself interested in mixing chemicals and making fantastic creations with them. As I hadn’t had time to go get a bachelors and a couple of PhDs, I settled for beauty school. It was minuscule in comparison to some of the things I’d seen Rick be capable of, but it satiated  that need I had to emulate things I’d seen him do.

You might be wondering right now, why I was so inspired by my best friend’s dad, as opposed to say, my own family. To put it bluntly, they weren’t the greatest kind of people. My father was abusive and my mother did little to stop this. My only reprieve was they were ecstatic to have me out of the house for days at a time. Beth’s mom seemed to understand this and maybe even see past the paper-thin lies I’d feed her about why I didn’t want to go home. They welcomed me graciously into their home, allowing me to stay as long as I needed, no questions asked. In one act of begrudging kindness, Rick relocated his work out into the garage. He mumbled something about how it’d probably be safer to have it outside of the main structure of the house, but I could see the sadness and pity in his eyes whenever he looked at me. Beth’s mom found some furniture and before I even knew it, I had a room in my best friend’s house that was completely my own. No one to come barging in unexpectedly screaming about a minor inconvenience that didn’t even involve me. I would go weeks without going “home”. My ‘parents’ barely even noticed. In the weeks leading up to me turning eighteen, I slowly started moving things that had sentimental value to Beth’s place, my new home, and on my eighteenth birthday, I said goodbye and never looked back.

Jumping forward again, shortly after I graduated from beauty school, I met a man named Ryan Dawes. He was five years older than me and a lawyer. He was kind to me and he always knew what he wanted and I was the object of his affection. I fell hard and fast and before I knew it, we were planning baby showers and a small intimate wedding. Jerry loved Ryan but Beth had always been apprehensive of him. I ignored it, telling myself she was just jealous that she wouldn’t have me at her beck and call all the time. I never came out and said this to her, but it was a thought that tickled my subconscious and caused a rift between the two of us for the longest time. Still, Ryan helped me buy the house to the left of Beth’s, cementing us central figures in each other’s lives. My daughter Madison was born and I was overjoyed. I loved her little face so much and I treasured every moment with her.

Shortly after she was born, my life seemed to be slipping out of my hands. I was suffering from a particularly nasty bout of postpartum depression and it was driving me away from my family. That was the first time Ryan ever got violent with me. I had dragged Beth out for a night of binge drinking when Madison was 3. I wanted to relive the better years of my life when we didn’t have so many looming responsibilities and we were young and free. When I came home completely plastered, Ryan was livid. He berated me for leaving him home alone with Madison while I was off galavanting with God knows who. I tried to tell him that I was just out with Beth and something about my tone warranted a heavy-handed backhand that knocked me to the ground. He began blaming me for making him do that because sometimes I just made him so mad. I apologized profusely at the time, telling him I would fix everything if he’d still have me. Looking back now, I’m disgusted with myself for valuing myself so lowly but I was in a very dark place. He promised he’d never do it again, finally apologizing after hours of listening to me sobbing..

He lied.

The next thirteen years of my life were a personal hell. As I’ve stated, he lied, and he lied hard. We kept up appearances in the neighborhood and for Beth and Jerry but at home, privately, he became a monster. Everything was my fault. I was the reason his meetings with clients would go awry. I would have made some passive aggression that he would carry through the day and wouldn’t be able to focus. He would push me around, knocking me into furniture and leaving me to cry for hours wondering how I’d left my life get this bad. I couldn’t talk to Beth about it, she was having her own marital strife with Jerry. She didn’t need my drama. I’d been here before though, except then I had the option of just disappearing. Ryan always needed to know where I was at all hours of the day.

One afternoon, during a particularly nasty fight, Beth knocked on the door, a hurried version of her identifying knock we’d made up as kids. Ryan relented, recognizing it was a neighbor who didn’t need to see our personal issues gesturing aggressively to the door and I hurried over to answer it. I was shocked to see a teary-eyed Beth smiling widely at me.

“He’s home. Dad came home” was all she said before grabbing my hand and dragging me to her house. I turned apologetically to Ryan, knowing that I would have to pay for this transgression later. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we came around the side of her garage. There he stood, looking disgruntled as ever.

Rick.

“Oh hey Nova,” he greeted me with the childhood nickname that had taken precedence over my legal name. I could feel tears welling up in my own eyes and I fought every urge I had to wrap my arms around the tall, lanky man standing in the driveway with me. My urge was quelled as I saw Ryan pop around the garage to investigate my disappearance.

“Honey…. Who’s this?” he asked evenly, looking Rick up and down. I quickly explained to him who he was and his smile relaxed as though any line of threat had been extinguished. He shook his hand sharply, Rick eyeing the man up and down as he introduced himself. His eyes flicked back to me and I could have sworn I saw a flicker of concern in his pale, tired eyes.

That night as I lay in bed, I couldn’t help but think about Rick. I was still completely and utterly shocked that he had returned. He barely looked any different than the day he left though. I would soon come to discover that this was a result of his interdimensional traveling. There were unlimited possibilities open to him and he would later explain his absence with them. It also would explain how a seventy-year-old man could look like he was barely passed his thirties. “Alien technology” was the only explanation that I got for that, but it made my heart rush. Regardless of whatever schoolgirl crush, I’d had on the man, that was gone out of the window, replaced instead by a legitimate lust.

+Ch1: Second Chance+

[winterisakillerwrites]

Get Better - Chapter Three

Title: Get Better

Chapter: 3/18

Character: Tom Hiddleston/Cath Richardson (OFC)

Genre: Romance

Rating: Teen and up

Summary: Love. Companionship. Family. These are all of the things Tom Hiddleston desperately wanted. But his life and his choices left that a distant and unlikely prospect. So he did his best to move on and live his life as is. When an opportunity to return to the theater arises, he jumps at the chance and along the way finds that maybe, just maybe, those distant and unlikely prospects are closer than he could have imagined. Sequel to Brave Face.

Authors Notes/Warnings: So as I was writing Brave Face I knew that Tom’s story wasn’t over, even if that particular part of it was. And while I knew, more or less, what the overall ending to the story would be, its taken me a while to figure out the time in between. Thanks to @redfoxwritesstuff for letting me continually throw ideas off and at you. I still can’t fathom why you put up with it, but I am eternally grateful you do.

Previous

CHAPTER THREE

A sharp wind whipped down the florescent lit tunnel, sending a sudden shiver down his spine. Tom pulled the blanket he’d been handed tighter around him, stifling a yawn. It had been an early morning and despite several cups of coffee, with more espresso shots than he’d care to admit to, he still felt the pull of sleep dragging on him. The excitement, however, was winning by leaps and bounds. He had been intrigued when the idea was pitched to him, of making a teaser for Betrayal and posting it as-is before formally announcing the show the following day. It was a creative and fun way of drawing attention to the production and getting buzz going around it.

The teaser’s premise was simple, Tom would come into focus walking down the aforementioned tunnel, something out of the camera’s range would catch his eye, and the viewer would watch his reaction unfold. Watch the shock, pain, anger, and finally defeat play across his features. No dialogue, no real explanation; just him and music. Beautiful in its simplicity.

He stood to the side, watching as the days’ crew reset the shot and fiddled with the lighting. It was their third, and hopefully last, take; the lighting have gone a touch fuzzy during the last set up. It was a bustle of controlled chaos and something he’d always found fascinating. The way in which the crew flittered around each other was almost an elaborate dance.

“Alright, places everyone!”  The director called once things had been set to rights. Tom nodded, took a deep breath and stepped onto his mark.  

The rest of the shoot passed with little issue. The fourth take had been the one Tom was certain he’d nailed. He’d watched the final footage with the director and found himself pleased with the initial result. The days’ footage, Tom was told, would be edited that evening and should be ready to go up the day after. With a warm smile, Tom bid farewell and headed out into the bustle of the now busy streets.

He’d taken the tube that morning, enjoying being able to sit and people watch. It helped keep him grounded, just doing the everyday tasks that so many seemed to take for granted. He could usually take the tube with little fuss or fanfare. That was one of the wonderful things about London, very few people seemed to care who or what he was. True, there would be the occasional fan who would approach him or the rare ‘sneaky’ photograph (which he never really understood the point of) but for the most part he was left to his own devices.

He’d fired off a quick text to Luke before he’d entered the station, letting him know all had gone well and that he was off home. Luke responded quickly, reminding him that his phone meeting with Marvel regarding updates for the Loki limited series had been pushed back until following afternoon. Which meant for the time being, Tom had the rest of the day to himself and he was greatly looking forward to the lack of demand. He made his way through the ticket barrier and followed commuters down the escalators and onto the platform. The train rumbled into the station a few minutes later and he joined the mass of people making their way into various carriages.

Tom quickly settled into the first available seat, letting his mind wander as he watched the eclectic mix of people filling the carriage. It was something he’d always enjoyed about the city; the mix of cultures and people that had always made it uniquely London. The carriage was busy but not packed, it was still early enough in the day that most commuters were still at work. Tom enjoyed the relative peace as the carriage jostled along, silently counting the stops until his own.

He made his way from the train onto the platform once the train had pulled into his station. A flash of dark hair and a familiar laugh caught his attention as he made his way through the busy station to the ticketing barrier. Tom turned his head in reflex and a jolt of recognition shot through him. Cath. The name materialized in his head without conscious thought. But she was gone before he could make a move, disappeared into the crowd heading towards the platforms.

Tom shook himself back into the present and carried on through the gate and then out onto the street. It was just as well she’d gone, he reasoned, pulling his coat tighter around himself as a swift breeze raced down the pavements. He didn’t actually know her, had no reason to approach her other than his own, admittedly overabundant, curiosity.  And that had often caused more trouble than it was worth.

Silently, he carried on down the pavements and back towards home. Bobby, none too pleased with being shut in the back room in his crate, barked repeatedly as Tom unlocked and pushed open the front door. “Alright, alright,” he called. “I’m coming.”

He shrugged out of his woolen coat, hanging it on the rack near the door, and jogged through the house towards the back room. Bobby, finally free of his confinement, let his displeasure be known with several more loud and growly barks. Tom rolled his eyes and let the spaniel out through the door into the back garden to do his business and terrorize the local wildlife.

The following day’s teaser release and subsequent play announcement were well received, which had been a major relief. The response on social media had been overwhelmingly positive and Tom was more than pleased. Zawe had begun talks to secure her involvement in the show and from what Tom had been able to gather, Charlie Cox was in talks to join as well. Nothing had been set in stone and probably wouldn’t until closer to the New Year, but Tom couldn’t have been happier. He’d known Charlie for years and was glad to at least have the chance of potentially working with him.

His phone had been ringing off and on throughout the day following the official announcement; friends and family sharing their well wishes and excitement. His mother had been particularly thrilled as she could talk more openly about the play now that had it been announced publically. His mother and her enthusiasm had become the stuff of legend in and around Suffolk.

“So someone actually took pity on you and hired your sorry face. I must send them flowers…and my condolences as well,” Benedict laughed. His call had come just after Tom had finished an impromptu afternoon run. He was in desperate need of a shower but hadn’t the heart to tell his friend to buzz off.

“Well,” Tom quipped back. “If they actually hire you on occasion, I figured I would be a shoe-in this time round. And,” he added as an afterthought, “there is a much better chance they can actually pronounce my name.” Ben snorted laughter at the comment which pulled Tom into a laughing fit of his own. “But in all seriousness,” Tom continued once he’d managed to calm himself, “I am ridiculously excited to be able to be doing this. It’s going to be a challenging role and I am looking forward to it.”

“So who are you playing? Robert or Jerry?”

“Robert.”

Ben laughed in delight. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. And they’ve cast Emma and Jerry?”

“Not officially no,” Tom answered, laughing as well.

“Unofficially?” Ben goaded.

“Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox, pending availability.”

“Very nice indeed, Mr. Hiddleston. You’re moving up in the world.” He paused, taking a breath. “Hopefully Sophie and I will be able to make it during the run.”

“Don’t feel obligated,” Tom admonished. “I know things are going to be a bit mad with the little one coming.” He had been beyond thrilled, and quietly jealous, when Ben had told him that he and Sophie were expecting again. The baby was due in late January and Tom was well aware that their lives would be chaotic for a least the first few months while their family settled into its new routine. The play would be the absolute least of their priorities. “If you make it, that will be amazing but don’t feel like you must. Honestly.”

Ben laughed. “I have a feeling that by the time your show opens we’ll both be ready for a break and grown up company.”

Tom laughed as well. “I can only imagine.”

A loud scream echoed from Ben’s side of the line. “I’m terribly sorry to cut this short but I need to make sure my sons aren’t killing one another. Sophie will be awfully cross if any damage comes to them in my care.”

“Yes. Yes. Go on, take care of your offspring. Talk to you later.” Tom ended the call and stretched his back, it having started to get a bit stiff. He really needed to make sure he stretched pre and post run now. God, I’m getting old, he thought with a grimace. Tom toed out of his running shoes and took the stairs two at a time, more eager than ever for a hot shower.

—

The rest of November passed in a blur of various appointments and meetings cumulating in an appearance at Tokyo Comic Con. Tom always thoroughly enjoyed being able to attend Asian events, especially fan ones. The welcome he received was always warm and the fan base vocal and tremendously supportive. It made the long flight and horrendous jetlag worth it. And this time had been no exception. He’d thoroughly enjoyed talking with fans and participating in numerous panels. But he had to admit, he was grateful to be going home. He’d joked with Luke about the real possibility of him sleeping for at least a week on the way to the airport.

“Good,” Luke deadpanned back. “Please do. Less chance of you causing me headache.”

The flight home had been a long one, with just enough layover to make his usual jetlag feel a hundred times worse. He’d practically fallen into the car awaiting him at Heathrow and slept all the way home. It certainly wouldn’t do his re-acclimation to British Standard Time any good, but he’d been far too tired to care. How he’d made his way from the car and into the house, he still didn’t know. Nor how he’d fumbled his way from the entry way, up the stairs and into his bedroom. He’d woken late the following afternoon still in his clothes and momentarily unaware of just where he was.

Tom blinked around the room several times before the familiar shapes of his dresser and the door to the ensuite came into focus. Home. He pushed himself upright, a jaw cracking yawn escaping him. He was still tired, still a bit fuzzy-headed, but now that he was conscious he could sense the grime of several hours confined in a small space with far too many people all over him. With a fair amount of effort, he pulled himself to his feet and padded into the bathroom, stripping as he went.

Freshly showered and feeling much more like himself, Tom climbed downstairs nearly twenty minutes later and set about fixing both coffee and food. Plate of egg and toast in one hand and a steaming mug of coffee doctored to his liking in the other, Tom padded into the living room and settled himself on the couch. He let himself revel, selfishly, in the silence of the house.

Bobby was still at Emma’s; she and her husband had volunteered to watch the little devil while he’d been out of the country. Why they’d agreed, Tom still wasn’t entirely sure. And while he’d missed the little bugger, it was nice to be able to eat a meal without having to face those large, pleading eyes. He’d never been able to completely resist them, and he knew Bobby knew.

Tom took his time eating, he had nowhere in particular he needed to be and fully intended to laze about for as long as possible. He pondered actually taking on his ever-growing ‘to-be-read’ pile. It had been ages since he’d allowed himself the luxury of just sitting and reading a book. Yes, he still read as often as was possible, but it was usually during filming breaks when he wasn’t going over lines or blocking or a few moments before falling asleep. Actually sitting about and just reading, that was a true rarity. Possibilities.

Once he’d finished the last of his meal and drained the very last of his coffee, Tom pushed himself to his feet and padded to the kitchen. He contemplated simply leaving his used plate and mug in the sink for later, after all it wasn���t as if he won’t have the time later. But the impulse was quickly abated; his mother would box his ears, metaphorically speaking, for doing such a thing even now. He shook his head and laughed at himself, washing and drying them quickly before heading out of the kitchen and into the main hall.

As Tom made his way down the hall his suitcase and backpack, left carelessly by the door the night before, caught his eye and he groaned. He should take his clothing out and get a load of washing started, knowing if he put it off it wouldn’t get done. With a muffled curse, he lugged the case towards the laundry room, setting it on the floor and sorting through his clothing. He’d gotten a load in the wash and started the sorting of the next when the sharp ring of his mobile echoed from the front of the house.

Tom sighed and padded back into the hall, finding this mobile vibrating and ringing away on the table; Emma’s number flashing across the screen. He had to have pulled it from his pocket by reflex the night before as tended to keep in beside him the majority of the time unless he purposefully needed a break from the outside world.

“Yes, little sister?” he said as way of greeting after he’d grabbed the offending object and slid his finger across the screen to accept the call.

Emma snorted a laugh. “He lives! I was wondering if you’d be conscious and functional yet or not.”

“I do live, the conscious and functional part is debatable. Now what can I do for you?”

A loud, piercing cry echoed through the line and Emma sighed, wearily. “Take my child off my hands for the next…I don’t know…Eighteen or so years?”

“Somehow I think Jack might have a few objections to that idea.” Tom chuckled, padding back into the living room and dropping onto the couch.

“He’ll live,” Emma grumbled. “I’ve got to dash. Just give us a call when you’re ready to swing by for Bobby. And if you want to take Allie with you, feel free.”

“I think I’m good. One adorable yet demanding creature is more than enough for me at this juncture,” he reasoned adding, “And Bobby doesn’t scream” as an afterthought.

“Oh ha bloody ha. See if I agree to help you with anything in future….Allie no, put that down…Alice Marie…Sorry, Tom, I’ve got to go.” The line clicked and Tom let his phone drop beside him on the couch. He scrubbed his face with his hands before standing and heading back into the laundry room. He’d finish sorting his laundry and then call her back, letting her know he was on the way.

The drive across town wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d feared it would be; London traffic being what it was. He pulled his car to a stop in the drive leading to the house forty minutes later, almost reluctant to turn the engine off and lose the heating.  Emma had the door open, his niece on her hip, before he’d climbed out of the car.

“She’s calmed I see,” he called, reaching out to take the little girl from her mother’s arms. She smiled in delight and clung to her uncle, babbling excitedly. “Hello there, angel.” He kissed the top of her head before returning his attention to his sister. “And how has my boy been?”

Emma laughed and shook her head, ushering Tom inside. “He’s been his usual self. Luckily he hasn’t dug up the back garden…again. Only because it’s been so bloody cold.”

Tom threw back his head and laughed. “Well thank goodness for small miracles.”  The aforementioned spaniel, upon hearing his master’s voice, came sprinting out into the hallway, barking. Alice let out a squeal, clapping her hands together and reaching for the excited dog jumping at her uncle’s feet. Tom bent down and gave Bobby an affectionate scratch behind the ears. Alice reached out and grabbed at Bobby’s ears. “No, sweetie. We need to be gentle with the doggy.” He demonstrated by petting Bobby softly on the head. Alice mimicked his motions and Bobby tossed his head up, licking her face. She squealed in delight and wriggled out of Tom’s arms.

Behind him, Tom could hear Emma laughing. “You are a natural, you know?” He turned around, blinking at her in puzzlement. “With kids,” she continued, “have been for years.”

He shrugged, turning his attention back towards his niece and his dog to ensure neither was misbehaving. Alice was contentedly patting Bobby on the head and babbling at him. “So are lots of people.”

“I’m just saying…You are great as Uncle Tommy and I think you’d made quite a good father in your own right.”

“Em.”

“I know you want that, Tom. It’s plain as day to anyone who knows you,” she pressed, giving him a knowing look.

“Of course I want that, Em. I just…Sometimes we can’t get what we want.” He let out a resigned sigh. “Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we want and we’ve no one to blame but ourselves. I’ve come to terms with it.”

Emma folded her arms over chest, “You and I both know that’s a boldfaced lie.”

Tom pushed himself to his feet, turning to face his sister, frustration clear in his eyes. “Just let it go, Em. Seriously.” His tone brooked no argument. “Do you have the rest of his things gathered or do I need to go into the back and fetch them?”

“Tom…” It was clear though that Tom was no longer willing to entertain the conversation at hand. “All his stuff is gathered in the back room.” He gave her a nod and headed down the hallway towards the room in question. Alice who had until that point been contentedly patting Bobby on the head, raised her attention to her mother and inquired, in her own fashion, after her missing uncle. Her mother sighed, “Uncle Tommy’s gone to get Bobby’s things then they are going bye-byes. But we’ll see them again soon.”

Alice pouted at this, “No bye-byes!”

“It’s alright Allie,” Tom spoke, dropping the bundle of Bobby’s things carefully by the door and settling on his knees beside her. “Bobby and I will come back soon. But I think right now mummy and daddy want a little time with just you.” Alice sniffled and grabbed at Tom who pulled the toddler into his arms. “I know, I know.” He kissed her head, and standing, handed the girl to her mother. “You be good for your mummy and daddy okay?”

Emma looked at him over the head of her still sniffling daughter. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

Tom nodded and mouthed, “It’s alright.” Picking up the bundle once more, Tom leant down and hooked Bobby’s lead to his collar. “Come on, boy.” He pushed open the front door and led them out into the dark and cold December evening. Bobby had hopped into the backseat of the car willingly enough but throughout the drive home insisted on sticking his nose further and further between the two front seats, nudging at his master’s arm.

“You, my lad, are a menace,” Tom laughed as he pulled back onto the main road and into traffic. The drive home took twice as long as the initial trip. Tom hadn’t been surprised; London traffic was a nightmare, regardless of the time of day. As they sat, Tom’s mind wandered back to Emma’s earlier words. She’d meant well and he’d known it. And he’d hated being so short with her. But they’d had the conversation far too many times over the last few years and he was tired.

There were things he wanted; someone to come home to, a family of his own, the things he saw in the lives of his sisters and friends. And yet here he was inching ever closer to forty and still, more or less, alone. Most days it hadn’t bothered him. He had more than enough to fill his life. He had friends, nieces and honorary nephews aplenty. He had a rewarding and engaging career that he still loved, despite its pitfalls and stresses. But somedays…Somedays that nagging voice inside his head reminding him that he was alone grew loud and became difficult to ignore.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to concentrate on the road before him. Behind him, Tom could hear Bobby’s incessant whining. “Fine, come on up.” He patted the seat beside him and Bobby let out an excited bark and quickly leapt into the front seat where he sat, watching the traffic around him.

                                                           —

Christmas, as always, came far too quickly. Tom had spent the week before scrambling to make sure he found the bits and bobs he’d purchased throughout the year and hidden away ‘for safe keeping’. Why he never bothered to use the same spot twice, he’d never understand. Though, if pushed, he could admit it most likely came from a lifelong habit of trying to hide his things from nosey and inquisitive sisters and later from intrusive school mates.

But he’d found them all in the end, and the evening before he’d been set to drive to his mother’s, Tom sat in his living room surrounded by wrapping paper and sellotape, wondering just what he’d been thinking. Despite his ability to master almost anything thrown his way, Tom had always been rubbish at wrapping and practice, he’d found, made little difference.

Cursing and muttering under his breath, he fumbled his way through. The end results were far from perfect, but they were wrapped. Bobby had taken great pleasure in chasing the loose paper, gleefully tearing it to shreds. Watching this, Tom wisely made the decision to pack the gifts away where the spaniel could not reach. He didn’t think Bobby would actually go after them but experience had taught him that trusting the playful spaniel in that regard was not a risk worth taking.

With a jaw cracking yawn, Tom pushed himself up to his feet. A quick glance at the clock informed him that it had just gone one in the morning. Much later than he’d intended. “Bed,” he murmured to himself. Bobby fast on his heels, Tom climbed the stairs and, after a quick detour to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, fell into bed.

He set out for his mother’s at a little before noon the following day. Traffic wasn’t nearly as hectic as he’d thought it would be, especially for the day before Christmas. Bobby sat contentedly in the front seat, every so often barking at passing motorists. He had tried, and failed, to keep the spaniel in the backseat and as they left the city limits, he’d relented and allowed Bobby what the spaniel firmly believed was his spot. Christmas music rang out of the speakers, Tom had always had a soft spot for these songs, and found himself humming along quietly as he drove.

It hadn’t snowed yet, which was a blessing. But darkening skies loomed low and threateningly. Tom only hoped it would hold out until he was safely in Suffolk and inside with the hot beverage of his choosing before they broke. His luck, and the weather, held and he pulled into the drive only half an hour later than he’d planned. Bobby barked excitedly as Tom killed the engine, his tail a blur of motion. “Alright, alright. I know you’re dying for a walk.”

Once he was certain Bobby’s lead was tightly fastened, Tom climbed out of the car and darted to the passenger side. Bobby hopped out and took three laps around the front garden before Tom led him back to the car. Pulling his backpack and the bag of gifts from the trunk, Tom headed up the walk and to the front door, the spaniel following closely behind.

The door opened and a chorus of warm welcomes and a loud and enthusiastic “Uncle Tommy!” from his eldest niece, Cora, greeted him.

He was pulled into a tight hug by his mother as he crossed the threshold. “So glad you made it before the weather turned. The thought of you out in the snow in that car…” Diana had made her dislike of Tom’s Jaguar plain from the moment he’d received it as a perk for his appearance in one of their marketing campaigns years ago.

“Mum,” he groaned, unable to mask his annoyance, “It’s a perfectly safe car and you know fair well that I’m a good driver.”

Diana huffed and shut the door behind him. “I’m still not a fan.”

Settling in hadn’t taken long, he’d been placed in his old bedroom and had wasted no time in jogging up the stairs (Diana’s voice echoing after him with an admonishing “no running in the house!”) and dropping his bag on the recently made bed. The room hadn’t changed overmuch in the years since he’d lived in it; a new bedspread had been laid out but otherwise it was still very much the room of his teenaged years. Tom found an odd comfort in that. He returned downstairs and quickly found himself pulled into rolling around the floor with Alice and Cora while they laughed and screamed in delight. He could hear Emma and Sarah behind him, laughing hysterically at his antics.

Dinner was a causal affair that evening, eaten mostly in the living room while everyone chatted and the children played with Bobby, occasionally sneaking him bits of food much to the spaniel’s delight. At quarter of nine the children were tucked into bed with the promise of a visit from Santa if they settled to sleep. He’d been roped into reading several bedtime stories because, according to Cora, “you do all the best voices”. The girls’ parents were quick to agree and so Tom settled on the floor between the two beds and read from the collection of bedtime stories that had been in the house for as long as he could remember.

Once both girls were fast asleep, Tom rejoined the adults downstairs. He took the proffered glass of whiskey from his brother-in-law and settled on the couch. It was wonderful, getting to spend time with his family. He hadn’t seen Sarah nor her family since Emma’s wedding, something he promised himself to rectify in future. They sat up talking until well into the early hours of the morning, though Diana had turned in shorty before ten, and as they finally climbed the stairs to bed he heard Sarah grumble, “Cora will be up at first light and demand everyone join her.” And her husband grunt in response.

Cora was in fact up at just before six Christmas morning. After waking her parents, she’d darted into Tom’s room and woke him as well by jumping repeatedly on the bed yelling “it’s Christmas, Uncle Tommy! It’s Christmas!”

Startled into consciousness, Tom swallowed his heart and grumbled a “that’s lovely” while patting Cora on the back. He heard Sarah snort in amusement from the doorway and shot her an evil look, which only made her laugh harder.  He sat up in time to watch Cora dash from the room, grabbing her mother by the hand and dragging her towards the stairs. Tom chuckled to himself, stretched, and slowly climbed out of bed. God, it was far too early. He pulled on a jumper, as his mother tended to keep the house on the cooler side even in winter, and padded downstairs in search of coffee.

Diana stood in the kitchen when he stumbled in, a steaming mug outstretched towards him which he took gratefully. It was a strong roast, rich and bitter. He drank it slowly, feeling the comforting rush of caffeine through his bloodstream. Gods above, he loved coffee. Excited cries soon echoed in from the living room, beckoning his attention. He made his way into the living room behind his mother and settled into one of the open arm chairs, watching as Alice and Cora were settled before their respective pile of gifts.

The actual present opening portion of the morning lasted all of twenty minutes in Cora’s case. Alice took longer due to the fact she became easily distracted by the shiny paper. But all in all, they had their presents opened in well less than an hour. They saved the adult gift giving for later, once both girls were sufficiently distracted enough by toys to allow them a moment’s peace.

Breakfast and lunch, much like dinner the night before, were eaten in the living room surrounded by bin bags full of wrapping paper. Tom had been drafted into throwing out said bags, very much without his consent he’d pointed out. No one, however, took his protests seriously. After he’d finished lunch and could put off the inevitable no longer, Tom threw on his coat with a grumble and grabbed the bags. Bobby was quick on his heels, sensing walkies afoot. The spaniel was hooked into his lead and headed out into the cold alongside Tom. Once the bin bags were tossed in the bins at the side of the house, they took a quick lap around the front garden then up and down the drive before heading back inside.

He unhooked Bobby from his lead once he’d had the front door firmly shut and the spaniel had shot off back in the direction of the living room where moments later he heard the delighted cries of his nieces. Tom padded towards the kitchen in search of another mug of coffee, or if he was truly lucky, hot chocolate. He found his mother pacing around the kitchen, phone balanced between her ear and shoulder as she puttered around making hot chocolate. Bless her, he thought.

“Oh, dear heart that is fine…Honestly, I know it’s a long drive and a short stop is perfectly fine. I just want to meet that little man of yours…Yes…Alright…Speak soon.” She turned to hang the phone back into its base and jumped when she caught sight of Tom in the doorway. “Goodness, Thomas! You gave me quite a fright.”

“Sorry, Mum.”

“No matter. Now that you’re here you can help me finish these up…And I mean get them ready not sample the lot, young man.” She wagged a reproachful finger at him and he laughed and ducked his head sheepishly. How was it his fault that her hot chocolate was so amazing that he couldn’t help himself? Chocolate was a weakness of his, surely she knew that by now.

Diana shook her head and began passing him the mugs she had started and the various toppings they required. Tom worked dutifully at his task though temptation to sample was strong. “Mum…”

“No, Tom, you may not test them out.” She answered automatically.

Tom laughed. “That wasn’t what I was going to ask, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Diana chuckled. “Anytime, my boy. Anytime.” She nudged him gently with her shoulder. “So what was your question then?”

“Who was on the phone earlier?”

“Amy,” Diana answered simply, offering Tom a look of understanding. “They can’t stay for lunch tomorrow, but are going to stop by on their drive home.”

Tom smiled back. “I’m glad they can make it. I know you’ve been dying to meet Henry.” Her eyes narrowed just a fraction, and Tom let out a sigh. “Mum, honestly its fine. What happened between Amy and I is in the past. She’s moved on and so have I. Honestly.”

Diana’s eyes studied his face, an unreadable expression in her eyes. It felt like an age before she spoke, “Then why, my boy, do you look so sad?” Tom opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off with a quick wave of her hand. “Don’t, Thomas. You forget I’ve known you all of your life. I see you. You might have accepted what happened between you and Amy, that I do believe, but I don’t know if you have truly moved on.” She shot him a knowing look. “You haven’t had a steady nor serious relationship since…And what happened that summer doesn’t count.” Diana came to stand beside him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “You are my boy and I just want you to be happy.”

Tom blinked up at her, the smile on his face not quite reaching his eyes. “I am…I mean, yes, there are times I wish for things that I don’t have. But doesn’t everyone?” He let out a sigh. “I made some spectacularly bad choices and I’ve learned from them. Things aren’t…Perfect. But they are good. I’m good. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Diana shook her head, “Oh my boy, that’s one thing you still don’t quite understand. I am your mother, I am always going to worry about you.” She leaned down and kissed his head. “No let’s get this drinks out there before the rest of the family starts to riot.”

Both laughing, they worked together to place the mugs onto a tray and carried them back into the living room.

Next

[lavenderek]

Derek was a very shitty boyfriend in viridian. But other than that I will never disparage the glory that is tutor!verse

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH. yeah.

this is a cathartic viridian hate post under the cut

yes he was a shitty boyfriend, and his characterization is 1000% unrecognizable as derek hale, i am humiliated that at one point i tried to pin that character’s name on this cardboard cutout of an ~~~awkward~~~~ person. how oblivious do you have to be? who doesn’t notice their actual significant other, who they have been dating for years at that point, not being physically present anymore? who, in this year of our lord 2013 (which is when i shat that thing out onto the internet), loses their phone for, like, weeks, and doesn’t notice. like clearly if stiles was texting him and “jerry” was texting him, this is a form of communication derek was harnessing on the regular lmfao? how was he waking up in the morning? how was “jerry” informing him of their hangouts? how was he keeping in touch with his sister? what did he do when he was pooping? god, what the fuck?

and hey, while we’re at it, stiles was pretty shitty too! in what world does stiles stilinski just, like, waft sadly around and cook his anxiety away? had i never seen the show? where was i getting this shit? there is one thing that is known about stiles’ personality. there is one thing that is undeniable. there is one thing that is explicitly lampshaded throughout the show. stiles is sarcastic. when is he “sarcastic” in this series? he’s not. he says goofy shit sometimes, and that’s it. who is this guy? what does he do? where did he come from?

but then we get to “jerry,” the grand poobah of bullshit. i selected the name “jerry” because it was generic as fuck and i couldn’t be fucked to write a character. “jerry” has no personality and antagonizes stiles for no particular reason, and it’s sort of implied that he does it because he wants to fuck derek? but like! derek has no personality! “jerry” could have fucked literally anyone. he could have fucked a blowup doll and it would have been an identical experience. i don’t even describe derek physically. like, in that fic, i never describe him. you don’t know what he looks like. for all you know, derek in this series could have that benjamin button disease. you never see “jerry” and derek have, like, any conversation. do they even like each other? what do they even talk about?

for that matter, what do derek and stiles talk about? all they ever talk about is the fact that they’re dating. they never just, like, shoot the shit. at least the first installment, which is fuckin’ lousy with “~~~awkward derek googoo gaga” bullshit, has them talk about something other than each other, for all it lasts two sentences.

cheeseburger mac is delicious, though. what i love is that derek just has like half a pound of ground beef just, like, sitting in his fridge lmfao. these are two boys in college, and they both openly admit that neither of them cleans or does the dishes unless stiles is having an anxiety attack, but derek went out at some point and bought a half pound of ground beef and stuck it in the fridge. what was it intended for? when did he buy it? how long had it been in there? who was going to cook it? when? why? how do you end up with, like, incidental ground beef? this is absurd. who wrote this? oh, i remember.

and the best part, actually, is that in order to have anal sex, you have to do a lot of prep beforehand? and most of us just pretend that’s not a thing because we don’t like to think about that stuff, but just knowing that that is reality, that means that stiles had to have, like, given himself an enema before this makeup date. this wasn’t supposed to be a sexy date, this was supposed to be them, like, grabbing dinner and talking through a rough patch. this was makeup sex, and makeup sex is supposed to be spontaneous, and i wrote this like it was spontaneous, but it wasn’t. this is a plothole i ordinarily would give a pass, but not in this case, because it’s not a good fic. it’s just not lmao.

other things i hate about “viridian,” in no particular order:

the class is just called “history.” i was in my second year of college at that point. there is no excuse for naming a college history course “history.”

that last lemon squeeze of schmoopy whining about what derek “would do” if he knew stiles was sad, which - no, he probably wouldn’t have done any of that shit, because he’s not fuckin prince cotton candy charming and stiles isn’t sleeping beauty kissy poo what the fuck

derek’s birthday dinner. they went to chili’s, and who was there? we know stiles was there, and we know “jerry” was there. presumably there are others? maybe? could also just be stiles and “jerry” sitting alone at the table while derek’s in the bathroom. no way of knowing.

yes we get it you watched doctor who one time

i’ve mentioned this before, but the fact that they fucked on the freshly mopped floor of a diner, which is absolutely vile, and after three years working food service, i knew better, which makes it even worse

that scene transition where i didn’t want to deal with “jerry” anymore so i just went “dereks outta time!!! zippo!!!!!!” and had derek literally sprint across town to the diner i’m laughing so hard jesus fucking christ

when i wrote that fic, i was very fragile and very immature, and the fact that it employs everything i hate in a sterek fic aside, it just brings me right back to that intensely embarrassing and miserable stage in my life where i had no sense of subtlety. it was a shitty time of my life and i wasn’t happy, and i hate who i was then, i really do. i made bad decisions and had bad attitudes. i had no idea how to be a good friend to someone. i don’t much like my personality now, but i hate That Me’s personality more.

this plot was self-pitying and whiny. i was obviously projecting my own insecurities about being wanted and my absence being noticed into a fanfiction, and it’s pathetic. like, it’s really just sad. i can’t call it a self insert because i never could decide who i related to lmao, but it definitely is just a cry for help.

like, please don’t misunderstand, i’m truly humbled and grateful that anyone would like something i made; but the fact that this is the thing that it is, makes me froth at the mouth. i feel like i am being flushed down a toilet. i put so much effort and thought into the things i make, dude. i’m not making any claims as to whether any of them are good, i’m just saying that i work on them and only put them up if i think they, like, fit in with the other shit i’ve made. i have a longfic i have been nursing for two years. i take months writing chapters of dyk. even that fuckin tumblr fic i wrote for julie this last christmas took me several rounds of editing. education and viridian were each hammered out in an hour and a half in the library at school while i ditched classes i had paid for, and you can tell! because even “bingo,” which isn’t something i would write now and which i don’t really consider to be very in character, was thoughtfully laid out and treated with some semblance of self-respect.

viridian is shameful pandering. it was me begging for attention. i don’t like it. i’m by no means claiming any of the shit i make is empirically good, seriously, i’m not. i’m just saying that i work on the things i make, and this thing was not worked on. this thing was flung into cyberspace with no thought whatsoever. it’s called “viridian”? because viridian is a shade of green. green for jealousy. yeah. that’s the kind of in-depth planning we’re talking here. but who is jealous??? stiles or “jerry”??????????????????? me. i’m jealous. of people who are talented.

if the eight of y’all still wanna read that thing, go for it. go nuts. and while y’all are doing that, i’m gonna be over here bitching about it.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #64

“i won’t let you say goodbye, and i’ll be your reason why.”

do you believe in climate change?   yes like damn i know i'm conservative but i'm not stupid. what is the first thing you do when you get on the computer?   check facebook. do you sing in the shower?   VERY rarely. what do people most pick on you about?   the fact i'm always on the computer. you get one full day with the one you love. what would you do?   omg... to do anything?  and does he love me again?  i'm assuming that's the only way he'd hang out with me, so... but anyway.  i'm pretty sure the whole day would be a mix of making out, making love (yes i'm fucking old i actually say that term), and catching up with one another. if you could dye your hair one color, what would it be?   gray.  mom won't let me. would you ever try fear factor for one million dollars? why or why not?   try it?  sure, because that's a lot of money.  i highly doubt i'd get far, though. if you have a camera, when do you use flash?   almost never. do you look better with red lipstick or black lipstick?   i personally like myself more with black. the last person you talked to on the phone and the last person you held hands with are in a burning building and you can only save one; who?   mom or best friend?  i'm saving my mom. do you remember who the first person you ever had a sleepover with was?   most likely, brianna. when was the last time you were in a hot tub?   years ago, when i lived with jason in the apartment.  they had a hot tub. do you ever watch films and rip them apart for their inaccuracies?   YYYYYUP.  i got very bad at doing that after binge-watching cinemasins stuff with j. what's your favorite tree?   weeping willow describe the darker side to your personality.   i can apparently be murderously jealous.  my words can be fucking blades on rare occasions.  i'm very impatient with most things.  i'm a pessimist. what, without fail, makes you cry?   talking about jason. have you ever seen a shooting star?   i think so.  i've also seen a star explode. favorite forest animal?   deer. if you’ve stayed overnight in a hospital, how did you entertain yourself?   it's literally impossible to entertain yourself there.  each time, i could only try to sleep... what's something you should be sorry about, but aren't?   idk, really.  i'm pretty much sorrow for any wrong i've done that i can think of... how do you feel when it's your birthday?   i guess i kinda feel special.  for once. will you cry at your wedding?   OH GOD YEAH you get arrested, what for?   i feel the most likely crime i'd commit punishable by arrest would be attacking ashley. do you like the song crush by david archuleta?   DO YOU CATCH YOUR BREATH, WHEN I'M HERE WITH YOU?  ARE YOU HOLDIN' BACK, LIKE THE WAY I DOOOO? have you ever had a dream where you could understand a foreign language?   i have not. do you know anyone who has road rage?   jason's mom.  BAD.  she's a fucking savage italian new yorker lmao. have you ever had a particularly disturbing dream? about?   i've dreamt of being raped by someone i know; i woke up sobbing.  i'm most certain i've had more, i just can't think of any. would you ever consider getting an abortion, under any circumstances?   NO.  UNLESS it's considered an "abortion" when you end an ectopic pregnancy.  i don't think it is, but if it is, i mean, they're kinda necessary...? what do you think of people who get abortions?   i feel an immense amount of pity for them. do you ever argue or debate with people about your beliefs?   not so much anymore, but occasionally, yes. when was the last time you felt turned on?   some time ago, not sure... thinking too much about someone... would you rather suffer from anorexia or bulimia?   what the fuck?  neither!  they're both terrible illnesses! do you think it’s okay for a survey to ask if you’ve been raped? why?   ... good question.  like, it could REALLY trigger somebody, but at the same time, surveys are sorta supposed to ask lots of questions...? do people say you have an accent?   i definitely had an accent when i was younger, but i barely have one anymore.  when i say certain words, you can occasionally detect that i'm from the south. a guy is beginning to treat you like a total booty call. what do you do?  ... i'd tolerate it, probably, if it was jason, because i'm that fucking pathetically desperate for his attention.  anyone else?  ha.  fuck you, dude. do you still have pictures of you & your ex?   i still have every picture we've ever taken together.  ripriprip have you ever been into a real cave?   no, i wish! what is something you and your significant other do that may seem weird to others?   i don't have a s.o., so can i talk about my "crush" because i love talking about him/find it therapeutic to talk about him so much??  okay!  honestly, he's just weird all around, and i love it.  perhaps the thing he does that most people would consider odd though is play "magic: the gathering," a card game pretty popular amongst people like geeks.  it's pointlessly ridiculed a lot. how long have you liked the person you like right now?   five years... who was the last person to be mad at you?   colleen.  pretty sure she hates me by now. when was the last time you had sex?   never.  i'm a virgin. are you going to anytime soon?   anytime soon, almost certainly not.  i won't until i'm either with jason again or married. name all the people that you talked to today. online, through texts, and in person.   colleen and jax. do you know anyone who self-harms?   anyone who does it currently?  no, thank heavens. what are your parents’ names and what do they do for a living?   donna (pharmacy worker, home care provider) and ken (mailman) do you know a schizophrenic person?   i have a half-sister who's schizophrenic, but i've never met her.  i also met schizophrenics at the mental hospital, but wouldn't say i "know" them. did you ever watch sailor moon? if so, who is your favorite?   omg yes!!  i don't recall who my favorite was... i know i really liked the two cats, though. have you seen the game show “baggage”?   i have.  i really dislike jerry springer, but i enjoyed the show solely because i liked seeing the weird facts about people.  there was some whacky shit. name the last 3 people you kissed and list one nice thing about each one.   i've only ever kissed jason, and he's very creative. when was the last time you felt EXTREMELY depressed? why is that?   i am a clinically depressed person; it's different from just being depressed.  i am, literally, always depressed, but yes, the intensity varies.  the last time it was super bad was last night, because my best friend in the whole universe was being a shallow-minded bitch. would you ever dye your hair pink?   the whole thing, just pink?  no, unless i was being paid, hm, maybe like at least $50. what is your favorite type of muffin?   chocolate chip. what is the last type of salad that you ate?   who even knows.  i don't like salad much. what do you usually put on your waffles?   peanut butter and syrup do you ever stop and look up at the sky?   i have a massive appreciation for natural beauty, so definitely. would you rather be a successful writer or artist?   artist. do you have any best friends that you only know online?   not anymore.  i've had two people i consider to be former best friends that i knew purely online: megan and minuette/mini.  i evicted megan from my life for lying obsessively to me and mini just kinda... stopped talking to me.  we talk what, maybe three times in a full year?  i still love her to death, i just don't think she likes me.  i have multiple friends i know only online, but i wouldn't consider any as my "best" friend. have you ever gotten into a physical fight?   i have not.  got real fucking close though when rachel decided it was cool to snatch me by the shoulder and pull me down to her level.  bitch. is it okay for people to cheat if it’s only online?   fuck that!  cheating is cheating! do you pretend to be something you’re not to make friends?   i guess... kinda.  not much, but kinda.  when i'm first getting to know you, i'll admit to my depression, yeah, but i try to act like i'm in control of my disease when i'm really not.  i try to act like my illnesses haven't beat me down into the ground.  i try to act stronger. do you always respond to chain letters?   nope, i don't care who it's from. if you could, would you want to stay young forever?   if i could live forever at like... 23, yeah, i'd do that. when is your birthday?   february 5th!! c: what is one word that you can’t stand?   "the c word," used to refer to a certain body part of a woman.  i don't really like "the p word" that refers to the same thing, too. did you believe in santa claus as a kid?   of course!  the only person i've ever met that HASN'T is jason.  i feel so bad for him knowing he didn't...  it was so magical as a child. :< have you ever been drunk?   i've been mildly drunk, yes. do you like french toast?   hell yeah! are you good at bowling?   lmao nope. when is your father’s birthday?   sometime in april... are you interested in anime?   sure, yeah.  i like some. are you part german?   that's a good part of my heritage, yes. do you wear lipgloss?   no, i use lipstick. do you dream of being a porn star?   uh.  no. do you play guitar?   not anymore, no.  i took some classes my freshman year of high school i think, or maybe it was my last in middle school, but it was difficult.  i mean my teacher said i was learning pretty quick, but i could mess myself up easily.  i truly do believe the guitar is a very hard instrument to learn.  i also had a hard time feeling enpassioned to even play... do you have a niece or nephew?   i have a good number of "half" nieces and nephews, but i have one of each that are immediately related to me. did you take geography at school?   isn't it common core?  so yeah.  i enjoyed it. favorite fantasy creature?   dragons!! how do you feel about people who get a sex change?   ... i'm going to only say i'm very conservative on this matter.  you can figure out the details. would you ever have a child with someone just to make them stay with you?   NO.  not even for jason.  i would not put a child through so much misery. have you got any half or step siblings?   i have four half-siblings.  both my parents were involved with someone else before meeting each other. do you like kids’ movies?   generally, yes, they tend to be very cute.  now movies for like, young toddlers that do almost nothing but sing and break the fourth wall asking the audience to help and such, no. have you ever been to the beach? if so, tell me the name of the beach you last went to and when.   i've been a number of times.  i last went to a beach whose name i forget in north carolina last may. how often do you change your underwear?   the answer is simple: just don't wear underwear. have you ever been to court for something other than a traffic ticket?   i was at a court before, yes, but it wasn't the kind of hearing you're expecting.  when i was in the mental hospital once, i believed they wanted to keep me longer than necessary (they wanted me there a full month), and some guy/lawyer/something visited the hospital checking up on all the patients, telling them about how we had the right to question our time in front of a judge at court.  i wanted to, so i went, and it was honestly the scariest time of my life.  we were cuffed at our arms and feet, and i had to go into a van with people far crazier than i to ride to the court.  i honestly wondered if i was going to be attacked in that van.  at the court, i had to muster up all strength imaginable to present my case to the judge, alone, to see if my time would be lessened.  it was.  i actually wrote a poem about this time in my life while i was at the hospital after this event. don’t you hate it when people suddenly love a celebrity when they die?   yes, i do, because it's a shame people only seem to be important once they're gone. do you actually read privacy policies when signing up for new things?   no, i don't. what do you usually order from mcdonald’s?   mcdouble, fries, drink.  i'm such an american. do you like to draw very detailed drawings, or just stick figures?   as detailed as i dare. do you own a shirt that says “vote for pedro”?   ha ha ha, no, i should! has anyone ever tried stealing your boyfriend/girlfriend away?   yep.  when i "dated" juan, which lasted less than 24 hours, rachel made up some bullshit that she had sex with him over the weekend and told me during lunch by flat-out mildly assaulting me.  because i realized i believed he would do that, i broke up with him.  i'm perfectly aware now that no, he did not have sex with rachel, she just lied so i'd break up with him.  it was clear as day that she was very, very possessive over juan and would do anything to have him.  honestly?  i'm glad she made up that story, because i can't imagine a relationship with juan having gone well.  in the end, they never ended up dating. then, i dated jason.  you know when you change your relationship status on facebook, your friends are alerted?  well.  jason and rachel were "friends" on facebook because they're also exes.  when he changed his status, oh, did she have shit to say riiight in public on his life event.  i have no idea what was said, as when i asked jason what was said, he told me something like, "just stupid shit, so i laughed and deleted her."  so she obviously wasn't happy about me dating her ex.  too bad, slut. (: do you think you could have a relationship with the last person you texted?   romantically, no.  i'm not interested in women like that. what do you have in common with the last person you kissed?   more like what don't we have in common.  we were extremely similar.  i guess i can list one thing though, and that'd be that we were both gamers. can you whistle?   i'm not good at it, but yeah. if you had a child at the age you’re at now, do you think you’d be a good parent?   it's not my age i'm worried about, it's my mental state.  i doubt i would be. what's the heaviest song you actually enjoy?   i mean, how do you personally define "heavy?"  Heavy as in emotional, or heavy as in bassy?  emotionally heavy, uhhh, "hurt" by johnny cash, i guess.  heaviest in the guitar sense, if i understand what you're asking, would TOTALLY be "here to stay" by korn.  the sound and depth of that guitar riff slays. have you ever shared a shower or bath with someone as an adult?   no, and i don't find it to be ideal. are you bitter about anything?   HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA- is there anything in your possession that probably shouldn’t be?   i don't think so. do you listen to music to fall asleep?   maybe like only a couple times a year.  i have to feel like it'll help. do you use emojis?   i do sometimes.  not nearly as much as i did when i was younger, though.  i only do if i feel like it truly enhances the sentence/clarifies my tone of "voice." who's the last person you talked to about sex?   jax.  i'm asking her advice on something. does the sight of blood make you feel sick?   it doesn't. how do you feel about dreads on women?   the same way i feel about dreads on men: if they're well-taken care of, they're fine. would you date someone three years younger than you?   nope. by society's standards, are you attractive?   no, because i'm fat. would you let your kid smoke weed?   if they want their asses whooped. are you a good artist?   i mean... i'm decent, i guess? are you a tease?   i've seen this question a lot lately but i've never given a direct answer lmao???  anyway, honestly, hell yes.  the only person i've ever been serious with had a love/hate relationship with it in the sense it was sexually frustrating but was evidently also a turn-on, so.  i don't plan on changing that. what do you think of people who save it for marriage?   very good for you.  i honestly think that's great and borderline magical knowing you'd wait for someone until your marriage night, odds are.  but after 21 years of believing so, i don't think it's for me. have you ever had a one-night stand?   nope. has someone ever pressured you into doing something you didn’t want to do?   well... kinda.  i both did and didn't want to do something. would you date someone who was addicted to drugs?   hell naw. how long should people be together before they propose?   i don't really judge that by time, but rather the sincerity of the connection you've established.  in general though, i'd wait like three years. what about a song can get you to love it instantly? what can make you dislike a song right off the bat?   omg give me a good, heavy riff!!  i won't automatically dislike the song, per se, but i'd probably stop listening to it if the quality's bad. when making a big decision do you tend to make it on your own or ask for advice from others?   i ask for my friends' advice. if your car broke down would you call a friend or family member to pick you up or would you call aaa (or something like it)?   errr.  depends on the problem, i guess. do you like it when other survey takers post pictures in their answers? how often do you post pictures in surveys to accompany an answer?   i do like it, because it gives you a more in-depth peek into their lives. (:  i only ever do it if the question asks me to or if it's too good an opportunity to pass up. do you think that deep down, everyone is good at heart?   no, i don't believe that. how many people have you kissed?   one romantically, one semi-romantically on the cheek. are most silences awkward for you?   FUCK MAN YES. do you think some people are better than others? if so, why?   as far as your worth goes, no.  we are all equal under god, and even if you're not religious, well, we're all equal in the same skin.  but when it comes to morals and such, let's face it, some people just are??  ex., i firmly believe someone like mother teressa is at least 50 times "better" than a rapist??? did you ever see the movie good burger when it came out?   not when it came out, but i've seen it and love it!  it's so funny! are you easily angered?   i'm honestly not, just so many things have been happening lately that are capable of pissing me off... what's your sexual preference?   i like dick. name a song you've really been digging lately.   i've been into a good number lately, but i'm really digging "this is gospel" by panic! at the disco. do you ever delete questions from surveys?   yes, i do.  i don't generally answer questions that i've answered a thousand times, are common sense ("have you ever missed somebody?" bitch i'm human what you think), or are just flat-out boring.  i hope it makes my surveys more fun to read, and they're also more enjoyable to do. have you always had a core group of friends, or have your friends come and gone throughout the years? what’s your situation like now with friends – do you have a set of people you can depend on over others, or do you find the older you’ve gotten, the more people have drifted apart?   throughout my whole life, i've definitely not had one solid group of friends.  they've come and gone.  now as i'm older, i have less friends, but they're more solid. do you believe that there is such a thing as unconditional love? assuming you loved someone with all your heart and did not want to lose them, would there be any “condition” that might force you to reconsider your feelings?   i know good and well it exists because i feel it for jason.  i don't claim it to be a good thing, though.  like if he did do something very, very stupid... i feel like i'd still be there to tell him i love him.  i also have unconditional love for my pets. when was the last time you caused somewhat of a scene in front of others? were you embarrassed, or did anyone say anything to you about it? or, have you ever witnessed someone else (such as an intoxicated person) do something in front of others that was extremely embarrassing or inappropriate?   i can't remember the last time i caused a scene, but yeah, i've seen plenty of people do stupid shit. do you enjoy driving? if you were to take a road trip and were asked to be either the driver, the front passenger, or a backseat passenger, which would you prefer?   NO.  i panic terribly.  if we were taking a roadtrip, i like shotgun. have you ever donated blood? is this something you’d be interested in doing? do you know what blood type you are?   i did in high school, but i don't think i'll do it again because it was SUCH an anxiety-inducing span of time.  my blood type is a, like my dad. have you ever struggled with your weight or experienced an eating disorder? do you think that others’ opinions have had a negative impact on your perception of your own size? how is your body image these days?   eeek.  i'm overweight.  i was perfectly healthy until jason left me; to try to fill the emptiness i felt, i ate like a mindless zombie, and it never worked. ... i've gained 100 pounds since he left.  fucking embarrassing.  society's opinion of big people has definitely controlled how i view my body, and my body image is horrid.  i despise how i look. have you ever yelled at or berated a person who provided you with terrible customer service? has someone ever done this to you while you were working? do you think there is ever a case where this is justified?   i have not, but i have been very passive-aggressively.  it involved how the cash register cannot be opened without ringing up an item.  pretty sure an old man wanted to kill me once.  i was still in training... i nearly puked from the anxiety.  and i mean i understand it had to be a little bit annoying, but damn, no need to look at me like i killed your firstborn child. do you think being diagnosed with being a sex addict is actually a real excuse?   excuse for what, though?  it really depends.  i mean if you claim you raped someone because of a sex addiction, uh no, that's not an excuse. do you feel like an idiot every time you step into hot topic?   ... the fuck?  no???  some people, myself included, just find their style aesthetically pleasing??? what do you think about like 3oh!3 and hollywood undead?   i only like like two songs by 3oh!3, and hollywood undead's okay. how many people of your preferred sex have told you that they loved you? how many do you think actually meant it?   two, i think, and i believe only one meant it. when was the last time someone called you “gorgeous”?   probably when i was ready for my senior prom.  i was so beautiful then. if you needed advice about sex/contraception, who would you be most likely to go to?   my mom when wrapping up gifts, do you ever leave the price tags on?   no, i don't.  just doesn't seem right somehow. you’re watching tv with your parents and a sex scene comes on. what do you do?   probably try to make a funny comment while feeling quite embarrassed inside. is it possible to be ‘in love’ with someone, if they don’t love you back?   of course it is. were you the girl who always looked at failed relationships and said, “that’s never going to happen to me”?   yes and no.  i wanted to avoid dating in high school for just that reason, because i knew most failed.  but i also thought i'd be a smart enough person to do my part in solving any problem my s.o. and i would have.  but he's gotta meet me halfway, turns out. do you sleep in t-shirts?   no, i sleep in tank tops and camis. are you a fan of adam sandler?   he's rather funny, yeah. do you keep magazines by your toilet?   nah. did the one person who hurt you the most in your life apologize?   he said, "i'm sorry how things worked out."  "worked out" my ass.  i genuinely don't believe he meant it. ever call your boyfriend 'daddy'?   OH MY FUCK NO PLS STOP THIS TREND what’s something you need to go shopping for?   tank topssss do/did you do good in school?   all the way from elementary through high school, yeah.  i crashed and burned in college. do you write?   well, i'm a forum rper, so i do creative writing any time i do that.  i'll write a poem every now and again. what’s your zodiac sign?   aquarius.

[classicallyelegant]

It would seem Maxey and Matt have brought out more characters this time around. They are here to help flesh out the story more....I hope! Please enjoy!!

UGH WHY HER?

“Rena! I know you heard me. Why walk away from me and why call out Maxey and Rod like that?” He closes the door behind him.

“Oh come off it, Dustin! You don’t like the two of them together any more than I do. Don’t pull this high horse stuff on me! I know you better than that!’

“That still doesn’t answer my question and believe me; I have my own reasons for not being happy about the way things have turned out. You, on the other hand, have no right to take your attitude out on the two of them.”

“It wasn’t on the two of them! It was mainly her! WHY DO YOU GUYS ALWAYS DEFEND HER? What in the world makes her so special that you just fall at her feet?” I sit at my desk and put my head in my hand. No matter what, men always take Maxey’s side of things! I can’t win!  He crosses the room and sits on my desk.

“Rena, I’m not just blindly defending her, but she is pregnant, so your jealousy is out of place.”

“See! You see? I say something bad about her and I’m jealous! I can’t say anything around here without someone saying how great she is and how low I am!”

“At least if she said anything bad about you right now, which she hasn’t, she has the excuse of being pregnant. YOU ARE NOT!”

“AND whose fault is that?!” I kick the drawer of my desk right beside him. “You won’t come near me thanks to her! Matt is still mad at me and Rod will never…..” I try to hide my tears.

“Rod will never touch you now that his dream is right beside him! Poor you! You always have to play the pitiful victim, don’t you?!”

>sniffle< “Why must you be so vindictive to me, Dustin? I have always tried to be a safe place for you and I have not forced you into anything. No, you’d rather pick me apart, wouldn’t you?”

“I’m not picking you apart. I’m trying to get through to you. Maxey is a lady, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit here wallowing in your own self-pity. Wake up, Rena! She is one person and you are another….end of story!”

“Are you saying that for my sake or your own? You think I don’t know about you kissing her behind Rod’s back?”

“You are really obsessed with him, aren’t you? I thought Matt was supposed to be the object of your desire….as if you ever stood a chance with either one of them!”

“Maybe I did try to turn a blind eye to the fact that Matt is gay but I still held out hope he could change his mind. As for Rod…it has always been strictly professional with him.”

“Oh puh-leez! ‘Strictly professional’ my eye! You lusted after him so bad until Barbara got in your way. Only now that she’s gone, you take everything out on Maxey!”

“Why you! Fine, poor Maxey has to incur the wrath of The Dragon Lady! I’ve watched too many guys stare at her to feel completely sorry for her.”

“Oh so now the truth comes out! You’re mad because of Alejandro! That’s what really brought this on! You’re pea green with envy that he’s been watching her from the get go and never gave you any kind of a chance at all!”

“It’s not fair! She does nothing to attract you guys and she gets all the attention!”

“Do you even hear yourself right now? I mean, that is a new low! You have an attitude with her because she has the attention you want. How dumb is that!” He stands up and walks out. It figures! I have a crush on Dustin and have had one for quite a while….but Maxey was engaged to him! I can’t beat her!

I got this job by clawing my way here. I had to put up with a lot and I told myself I would not put any of my workers through the same routine. I haven’t either though it hasn’t been easy. When Matt came along, he was so dreamy, I fell at first sight! Maybe I did favor him over others, but he proved himself more than capable of holding his position. Then Rod came and I was so impressed with him, I couldn’t help but be smitten. He was nice and just bubbling over with talent. BUT THEN…..

Maxey had been a friend of mine from my school days. She has always been the sweet, quiet type. I was overjoyed at first because I thought Yay! A girlfriend to chat with! Ha! That was short-lived!  Almost immediately, she was paired with Matt and they couldn’t seem to keep their eyes off each other. I told myself it was because she was new and he would come around. He only got closer to her and I watched as he defended her time and time again. If he wasn’t defending her, they had the whole studio buzzing about their affection towards each other.

I watched when Rod came to see her and he would just stare! As soon as she acknowledged him, he turned and ran. I saw him show up to hear her sessions and he would watch her every move, but he didn’t have the nerve to talk to her. His face looked so pitiful! Barbara was jealous too but she didn’t give up…she landed him although I’ve been told her way was….unconventional, to say the least.

BUT oh when Dustin came along! Every girl here had her eye on him! I tried to be as sweet as I could to him, but before I knew it, Jerry got to him and he started making his rounds of the actresses that worked here. I kept telling myself it would be OK as he didn’t seem interested in any of them but >sigh< Maxey became his target and his whole demeanor changed! Every turn, she came up smelling of roses and I got left in the dust!

Despite all of that, I really don’t hate Maxey. Quite the opposite to be honest! I haven’t always done right by her but I haven’t been totally unfaithful to her either. She can’t really help how guys react to her, but like I said, she never does anything special to get their attention, she just gets it. I think the thing about her is she is so vulnerable. She is very open about her feelings towards people, even when she doesn’t mean to be. She brings out the protector in everyone….including me. I never seem to keep things from happening to her but I try to stop them from repeating. I failed her big time where Jerry was concerned though!

Jerry was before my time really. He’s worked here for quite a while, but he always did have a tendency to go after the younger girls. He flirted with me before I became his boss. He was still flirty but a little more dignified after. None of the girls complained too loudly, so I never said much about what he did. I should have put an end to it, but he did his job, so I didn’t. Maxey came along and I could see it all over his face….he wanted her. Problem was he couldn’t get around Matt to even try to distract her. Matt went into full protection mode when he saw how Jerry acted towards her and I saw he and Jerry have several arguments….I’m guessing about her.

Dustin swooped in and knocked her off her feet. She smiled so much around him. One look at him said he was quite taken with her as well. He would watch her but there was this tenderness in his gaze he didn’t have around anyone else. His smiles seemed more genuine and I was gutted that he had made his choice. I was glad he was happy and I was happy to see her smile, but I knew that meant I was not in the picture.

Then opportunity called me on the phone….or so I took it at the time. Jerry called me and asked me to meet him in my office early the next morning. I did and he told me he had a plan to finally get his wish with Maxey. He said if I helped him to get her away from Matt’s protection, he would help me land Matt. Well, that was all I had to hear as I was desperate for Matt’s attention but couldn’t get anywhere near him the way Maxey did. I quickly agreed and we set about trying to wedge between them. I did feel a little bad for it, but I was more focused on Matt than Maxey anyway.

If Jerry told me about his wanting to sell her, I didn’t hear it. I don’t think I would have been so eager if I had heard that part and it broke my heart when he declared that to her and everyone else in the room. I still tried to stay focused on Matt but the disgust in his eyes and voice….any relationship I could have wished for was over before it even really began. Dustin just looked at me. He never said a word. I was beside myself when Jerry was finally caught and I just blurted out my confession. I had no idea he meant Maxey such trauma and even I wanted to protect her when I heard.

It took a while before Matt would even let me near Maxey again. I did apologize to her but I’m afraid I don’t know a proper way to prove to her how sorry I truly am. Even Dustin gave me looks if he saw me close to her. He would come to touch her himself or he would hurry her along to where they would be away from me.  Maxey said she forgave me and she has never blamed me in any way for what happened. I’m relieved but I feel like I haven’t done enough to make things up to her.

After all of that though, Katie introduced me to Alejandro and I was stopped in my tracks. He is just so handsome though he is pretty young. He was polite and a little on the shy side but it was totally endearing. I saw why so many of the young girls crowded around him, but he already knew Maxey and Matt when he came to work here. I saw the look on his face around Maxey and I thought Oh no! Not again!

YEP! It was happening all over again! He was not good at hiding the fact that he was interested in her as much more than just an older colleague. The final straw for me was when Dustin and he got into an argument. I went to check on him after making sure Dustin was OK. Alejandro was lying in Maxey’s lap and she was brushing his hair back to soothe his head. He looked up at her and took her hand. NOT THIS AGAIN! I just couldn’t take it. When I could speak to him alone, I told him not to make his crush so obvious but he got mad and told me not to make my jealousy so apparent. Another one defending her! As usual. Maxey didn’t do anything, but why can’t I be in her place? This always happens to her and I don’t understand why it’s not me! What am I lacking so much of?

“Hey, Rena…got a minute?” I look up to see Matt coming in. I wipe my tears quickly.

“Yeah, sure. What is it you want?”

“I read over these two script liners. I like both but I kind of think this one should have Rod involved.” He shows me one in particular. I half smile because I had thought the same…only I didn’t mention it.

“You do? Would you be interested in working with him on this?”

“I….well, I wasn’t expecting that but yeah, that might be fun.” He sits in the chair in front of my desk. Even as casual as he is…Matt commands attention. I get so lost in his voice when I get to be near him, but to hold him…paradise. “I would like to ask him first, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind. He would probably be more responsive to you anyway. I’m not his favorite person at the moment.”

“Rena, you have to quit picking on him and Maxey, you know.”

“Oh aren’t you one to lecture?” I put my head down like I’m writing a note.

“Well, Maxey got a little peeved at me earlier, but I’ll smooth things over with her. I can talk to Rod later. As for this other one, I really liked one of the characters. I do think Maxey would do a fine job here as well…but that’s your call.”

“It would be the director’s call more than mine. I only step in if I have to.”

“Oh really? I think you may have a few exceptions to that rule.” He smirks. Oh heart of mine!

I manage to give him my most wide eyed look. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating!” Oh yes I do but I won’t give you that!

“Of course you don’t!” He laughs and gets up to leave. “Let me know when you have a director for that other show, OK?”

“Sure, Matt. I will be sure to do that if you don’t want it.” He smiles one last time before he leaves, closing the door on that sight. Oh Matt! With all the time that has passed, no man can do what you do!

“Umm, I’m sorry to bother you, but can I come in?” Alejandro opens the door just a few minutes later.

“What’s in your head, Alejandro?” I’m surprised to see him in my office.

“In my head?” He looks so puzzled.

“Just an expression. What do you want to see me about?” I smile at him.

“Oh!” He scratches his head and sits in front of me where Matt was before. “Did you know that Derek went to get Maxey and Matt for our show today?”

“No, I didn’t know about that.”

“Oh I see. OK then...” He starts to get up but I stand up before he does and come around my desk.

“Did something happen that I should know about?”

“NO, I was just wondering if you knew ahead of time because I didn’t know they were coming.”

“Hmmm…. I suppose Derek had his reason for doing such.” I shrug.

“It was a crowd scene so he said he needed other voices, I just didn’t think those were the two he would get.”

“Was that such a bother to you?”

“No, it wasn’t that. It just surprised me, that’s all.”

“OK, anything else you need me for?” I don’t quite see where he is going with this.

“No….it’s OK. Have you seen Katie around here? She wanted me to see her but I can’t find her.”

“I believe she was in the booth earlier but I haven’t seen her for a while.”

“I’ll keep looking then. Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime! That’s what I’m here for, you know?” He grins and waves his way out. Boy! What a day!

[blackmambajack]

Snow White Adaptation Essey

In this essay, I will discuss how I would adapt a well-known story. The story I will be adapting is the well-known classic tale of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. The original story was published in a German book, in 1812, called ‘Grimms' Fairy Tales’ which is a book that contains 209 different tales, by Jacob and Wilhem Grimm. In the Book, ‘Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs’ also has title of ‘Little Snow White’.

I will do this first by briefly describing the original story, followed by other adaptations and finally discussing my own adaptation and the reasons behind this adaptation. The essay will now move on to describe the original story.

The Queen, asks her magic mirror who is the most beautiful person in the land. When her step daughter Snow White is seven years of age, the mirror tells the Queen that Snow White is the most beautiful, not her. Out of jealousy, the Queen sends a huntsman to kill her, but the Huntsman took pity on Snow White and tells her to run away. She finds a small cottage in the middle of the forest and takes refuge in it.  Seven dwarfs, who live in the cottage, return to find Snow White asleep on their bed. As she awakes, the dwarfs hear her tale, and allow her to stay as long as she takes care of them and the cottage. The Queen meanwhile finds out that Snow White is still alive and where she is. The Queen tries on three occasions to kill her, using a lace, a poison comb and finally a poisoned apple. She finally thinks she has achieved this with a poisoned apple. The dwarves were too late to save her, so they placed her in a glass coffin and laid her on a mountain. She laid there for months until a prince came by, and asked if he could take the coffin, which the dwarfs allowed. One of the prince’s men tripped and dropped the coffin, which caused the poisoned apple piece to fall out of Snow White’s mouth. She woke up moments later and fell in love with the prince and got married. They invited The Queen to the wedding, punished her by placing her in iron boots, and made her dance over burning coal until she died.

In my adaptation, I would like to keep the same moralistic ethos of the original story.  I do find the original text of Snow White enjoyable, but it could be considered disturbing that the Queen is jealous of a seven-year-old girl. It does make the Queen appear as more evil and bitter.  In a contemporary adaptation it may be more fitting if Snow White was around the age of twenty, or at least eighteen. Although the story does have some good morals in it. It teaches that it is bad to have arrogance over one selves own beauty. Because of the Queen’s obsession over her own looks, she cannot stand the fact that there is somebody else more beautiful than she is. In the end, her own vanity gets her killed. The story also teaches not to trust strangers, because Snow White is nearly killed three times because she falls for the Queen’s three disguises. In regards to beauty, the story also discusses that real beauty comes from within. Although the Queen may be beautiful on the outside, she is nothing but cruel and egotistic, but Snow White is quite the opposite, being sweet and caring. Meaning Snow White is both beautiful on the inside and out, making her the fairest in the land, because the Queen could never be as kind and gentle as Snow White.

On December 21st 1937, the first animated feature- length film came out in America based on the Brothers Grimm classic story of ‘Little Snow White’ called ‘Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs’. The film was adapted by ‘Walt Disney Studios’. The film started production in 1935. Everyone thought that the film would not appeal to an adult audience, but the film was proven to be successful across all ages.

“Over at our place we’re sure of just one thing, everyone in the world was once a child. So in planning a new picture, we don’t think of grown-ups or children, but just of that kind, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us that the world has maybe made us forget and maybe our pictures can help recall”.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7-QaPlTd-M (13/11/17 20:28)

The film is extremely loyal to the book it is based on, but with a few additions. One of the more noticeable changes is there is less gore and violence, the original had the Queen eating  lungs and liver believing they were Snow White’s, the original even had Snow White being strangled to near death by the Queen. Disney made the film more family friendly, for everyone to enjoy. Disney also gave personalities to the seven dwarfs, even giving them individual names that fit their personalities. This was one of the things that was missing from the book, because giving characters’ strong personalities makes the viewer relate more to the situation.

However, ‘Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs’ was only the second adaptation of ‘Little Snow White’. The first was made in 1933 starring Betty Boop, and the entire short was animated by one man, Roland C. Crandall. The film also features a song by Cab Callowey ‘St. James infirmary’, sung by Koko the Clown. A book made in 1994 by a man named Jerry Beck (an Animation Historian) wrote a book called ‘The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals’ and Betty Boop’s Snow White is one of the animated shorts in the book.

Unlike Disney’s adaptation of Snow white, the short does not follow the book very closely. The Queen is still very egotistical over her own looks and gets jealous over somebody else’s beauty, in this version that person was Betty Boop instead of Snow White. The seven dwarfs have no actual relevance in this version, other than carrying Betty Boop’s coffin. Just like any other Betty Boop cartoons it is strange, but enjoyable to watch. Although it is not very loyal to the book, it is easy to recognise what story the short is based on. It keeps the most important aspects from the book to make it recognisable, such as the Queen’s jealousy and the magic mirror. This shows that an adaptation does not need to follow ever idea or plot twists to the letter from the original source it is being based on. The adaptation just needs to follow the basic lines and ideals of the original (with maybe some updated morals) so that it does not lose that essential idea of what made the original what it was.

“Use the original story as character history/backstory so the parallels are interesting but you don’t have to follow it to the letter” - http://www.damyantiwrites.com/2012/01/04/adapting-famous-stories-fiction/ (28/11/17 14:23)

For my own adaptation of Snow White, I will be basing the whole story in the American 19th century, also known as the ‘wild west’.  I will be mostly keeping to the original story, but changing many of the character job titles to fit in with the environment I have set them in. The Queen will be the owner of the brothel where Snow White works and will have the title of The Madam to suit her job. This will still give her a strong sense of power. Unlike other adaptation of Snow White, where the Queen is beautiful, The Madam will be a much older and fatter woman who is not as fair as she once was in her youth. This will make The Madam have more of a reason to be jealous towards Snow White, making her feel more bitter because she is not as attractive as she once was. Snow White will be one of the prostitutes that will be working at The Madam’s brothel; this will give a reason as to why Snow White looks up towards the Madam and trusts her. Just as with other versions of Snow White, Snow White will be a very sweet and gentle character. She will be much older compared to the original text where she is seven, Snow white will be approximately the age of twenty, because as I stated before, making The Queen jealous of a seven-year old’s beauty is a rather disturbing thought, but in this adaptation The Madam will be more jealous of the fact that she is no longer as beautiful as she once was. Very similar to Disney adaptation, the seven dwarfs will be Gold miner, because during the 19th century America had the gold rush. They will also no longer be dwarfs in keeping with the more realistic setting. The huntsman will also change to the town sheriff, which will reflect the character’s inner conflict to kill Snow White as he is supposed to be a symbol of justice. The prince will be the son of a rich connoisseur, so that he has some form of power and Snow White gets everything she deserves by marrying a man with money.

Since this adaptation will take a bit more of a realistic take on the tale, all factors of magic will be removed. So instead of The Madam talking to a magic mirror, she will be talking to a mirror, whilst she is drunk, with a reflection of her younger self telling The Madam that people would notice her more if Snow White Was no longer around. This will show that the madam has not let go of the past and wishes that she was still young. She will also find out that Snow White is still alive hearing rumours around the town about seeing Snow White near the miners. So The Madam persuades the town sheriff for more details about the situation at hand.  The message of “do not trust others” will slightly change in this adaptation. Since Snow White has some trust towards The Madam, instead of The Madam changing into a disguise to trick Snow White, she goes to the cottage where Snow White is, as herself, to apologise for the misunderstanding. This will be adapting the original meaning of “not to trust strangers”, to being careful of who you trust in general since not everyone is who they appear to be. This also means that The Madam will not make three attempts to try and kill Snow White, as in the original, as I feel the scene would lose all meaning of its message after the first attempt, and drag itself out too much.

The fate of The Madam won’t be as cruel as it was in the text, having the Queen being punished by dancing over hot coal until death. That ending seems a bit too dark for a contemporary children’s story, it even makes Snow White come off as a bit of a cruel person, even though she is supposed to be kind and forgiving person. Very similar to Disney’s Snow White, The Madam will be chased away by the miners. She will run away into the middle of the dessert, having escaped the miners, but then she will realise that she is completely lost in the middle of nowhere, miles away from any town or civilisation.

Here is a small part of a script I have written. The scene takes place where The Madam is jealous over how everyone talks about how beautiful Snow White is. She is in her room drunk and complaining about Snow White and then starts to hear a familiar voice.

SCENE 5.INT.THE MADAMS BED ROOM. EVENING.

The room is dark, with all the curtains closed. There is a mirror on the wall. On the other side of the room there is a fire place, with the fire still lit.

The door bursts open, the Madam comes stumbling in, drunk, holding an almost empty bottle whisky.

THE MADAM

(Spitefully, sarcastically)

Snow White... Beautiful…

She spits on the floor

THE MADAM

How is she beautiful? when of course I am the fairest!

 She walks towards the mirror, places the bottle on her dressing table and looks at her own reflection. The image of herself fades into a much younger and beautiful version of herself.

 THE MADAM

They don't even know what they are missing out on

 The Madam strokes her hair back, admiring her own beauty.

 THE MADAM

I'll always be the most beautiful

 she turns away from the mirror and starts walking away, but stops as she hears a young voice coming from behind her

 THE MADAM (REFLECTION)

It's true, you were once the most beautiful woman any man had ever seen

 The Madam turns around to see a younger reflection of herself is talking from within the mirror

 For the art direction, the adaptation will follow very similarly to Don Bluth’s art style. Having a realistic appearance, but not having it so detailed that the characters are disturbing to look at. Just like Don Bluth’s films, the film will be aimed at children but will have a dark turns to it. Since the story is simple and straight forward, like the original text, it will be easy for young children to understand, but it will keep some of the violence from the original, because showing children some slight dark imagery can help them learn morals quicker than being told not to do stuff, but also making the film a little dark, with some good humour, will make it appealing for older audiences to enjoy as well.

“[If] you don’t show the darkness, you don’t appreciate the light. If it weren’t for December no one would appreciate May. It’s just important that you see both sides of that. As far as a happy ending…when you walk out of the theatre there’s [got to be] something that you have that you get to take home. What did it teach me? Am I a better person for having watched it?” - https://filmschoolrejects.com/the-melancholy-of-don-bluth-1be72847b858/ (23/11/2017 14:38)

 External Links:

 Grimm’s Fairy Tales:

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/

 Little Snow White Story:

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm053.html

 Little Snow White Synopsis:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312913/plotsummary

 About Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:

http://www.filmsite.org/snow.html

 Snow White Morals:

http://pediaa.com/what-is-the-moral-of-snow-white/

 The making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7-QaPlTd-M

 Betty Boop Snow White:

http://www.heptune.com/snowwhit.html

 The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals:

https://mubi.com/lists/the-50-greatest-cartoons-as-selected-by-1000-animation-professionals

 Don Bluth:

https://filmschoolrejects.com/the-melancholy-of-don-bluth-1be72847b858/

 How To Adapt A Well Known Story For #Fiction:

http://www.damyantiwrites.com/2012/01/04/adapting-famous-stories-fiction/

[kinship-is-sinship]

YESSSSSS!!!!! 😩

/random but I want these two to somehow meet and Jerry gets bi-panic seeing his post-apocalypse self...... 🫣🫣🫣

context : they kinda adopted(?) hjer back and The fam immediately told hjer to go clean up and they sent forced jerry to assist him lol

j -*feets away for hjer* uh i just gonna...put the clothes here

hjer - hm *take off his shirt*

j-

j- 👀

[ramheavenandhell]

Three Mortys For Rick – Chapter 1: Crushes and Plagues

AN: I've had this idea for a while in my head, but I wasn't able to come up with a story for it until now. Luckily, my muse found interest in it again. I hope you'll enjoy. Warnings: Morty/Jessica, Brad/Morty, Rick/Morty, one-sided attraction, pining, teen romance, light body horror Summary: Out there is a universe where one Rick doesn't just have one Morty but three. See how the lives of the Smith family and Rick Sanchez go when they actually have to deal with triplets.

Three Mortys For Rick – Chapter 1: Crushes and Plagues Infinite universes and infinite possibilities. That meant that there were endless dimensions out there were practically anything could be possible. In many of those dimensions lived a Rick and most Ricks had a Morty. However, the Rick of dimension Y-72 Φ6 didn't have just one grandson, but he had three. They were triplets going by the names Morris, Morton and Mortimer or just Moe, Mort and Morty. The only distinguishable features that they had were their differently colored clothes – each always in the favorite color of the respective boy. Moe would be wearing red, Mort green and Morty yellow. Now, some people would think that this Rick must be truly blessed to not only get one, but three little assistants, but oh, how wrong they could be… Other Ricks were wise enough to actually pity this poor sap for having to deal with three little dipshits. Even the Mortys knew though that living as triplets was not easy. The problem was that most people were never able to tell them apart and confuse them with each other. That wasn't always a problem, but at other times it was. Like this morning at school for example. The triplets were standing at their lockers – which were luckily right next to each other – getting their books for the next class as Moe nudged his brother, Mort, after closing his locker door. As Mort looked over in confusion, he just nodded his head in the direction where Jessica was standing. Conveniently alone. Mort had been waiting for a time when he could ask Jessica if she wanted to go to the Spring Dance with him this year. He knew that she was basically together with Brad, but their relationship had been constantly on-going-off-going so he could at least try to ask her out. Seeing this as his big chance, he took a deep breath, steeled himself mentally and walked over to her. His brothers were quietly watching from the lockers, but tried to act as if they weren't. "H-hey, Jessica." Mort squeak in his shy and pubescent voice. "Oh. Hello, Moe." She greeted back. "Ah—O-oh, no. I'm Mort. Mo-Moe is my brother—the one in the r-red t-shirt." He pointed over to said boy, who deliberately rummaged deeper inside his locker as if he wasn't listening in on their conversation. "S-see? I'm wearing green." "Uh, okay." She just responded nervously, but with a smile to the correction. "A-anyways, I wanted to ask you if y-you wanted to go to the Spring Dance with m-me?" he asked nervously. "Oh, sorry, but I'll be going with Brad to the dance." She replied. "O-oh—u-uh… okay." He could only say awkwardly. "Yeah, uh… see you later, Morty." She said and then left to hurry to her next class or wherever. "I-I'm not…" he started, but gave up as she was already outside of hearing range. It were situations like these where he seriously considered if they really should go through with the idea of dying their hair in different colors to make them more distinguishable. It had been an idea that Moe had, but Morty was the one who said that he wouldn't do it and Mort had been completely undecided about it. His brother Moe came up from behind and only gave him a pat on the back in sympathy. Then the boys continued their school day as normally as was usual for them. He really wished that they weren't born as triplets because even if they all looked the same on the outside, they were different from each other. They weren't the same person with just a different name-tag attached to them. Unfortunately, no one would see that. Well, no one but one person. After school was over and the trio headed home, they spent their afternoon as it had become most typical ever since their long lost grandfather had reappeared and moved in with them – they assisted him with his projects in the garage. No sooner than the boys had entered Rick's self-acclaimed workshop did the scientist already bark out orders without looking up from the project that he was tinkering with at his workbench. "Moe, hand me the Philips head screwdriver." Moe didn't wait long and grabbed the tool to bring it over to his grandfather. "And Mo--ooourrgh--rty, you go and look for my defraculator. It should be in the box on the shelf." He said as he accepted the screwdriver. Mort ran over to the shelf and began searching in the aforementioned box. "Mort…" Rick started dryly, still not having looked up from his work. The boy stopped rummaging and looked at his grandpa "Uh, y-yeah?" "I said that Morty should look for the defraculator. You go and get me a beer." Rick finished. "Yeah, o-okay." Mort said and abandoned his search in favor of going to the kitchen and fetching his grandfather the requested beverage. Morty squeaked and took the free place at the shelf to look for the object in question. While this went down, Moe had watched the whole exchange in fascination. Rick was the only person who was able to tell them apart and that without even looking at them. Even their parents sometimes had trouble and if it weren't for their different colored shirts, they probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart at all. It was something that the three brothers had tested out and had fun with when they were still very little. Back then, they wore armbands with their names on it so their parents could tell them apart and the boys would swap their armbands and find it funny that neither Jerry nor Beth did notice that they weren't the ones that they thought they were. He really wondered how Rick was able to do it, but then Moe reminded himself that their grandfather was a genius. Unfortunately, no one else was and so the boys were still stuck with the problem that people confused them for each other. It wouldn't have been such a pain if it wouldn't mess up with their love lives so much. Not that they really had much of a love life, but they all had at least one person that they had a crush on and landing with that person wasn't easy when they took you for someone else. Mort was obviously pining for Jessica what – as far as some constants for Mortys throughout the multiverse went – was pretty much a normal thing. His brothers however were a little more troubled because the person of their interest was a tad bit more complicated. Moe for example was having a crush on Brad – yes, of all people – and sometimes he was jealous of Mort who would get told off by Brad to not talk to Jessica. Even if that sounded shitty, but he wished that he would even get that much attention from the handsome boy. The only times the quarter back of their high school team would talk to him was when he thought that he was Mort and told him to stay away from his girl. There was not a chance that he could even think of ever confessing to Brad. However, Morty thought that the troubles of his brothers were nothing in comparison to his own. Their crushes still seemed normal by contrast to the person that he had fallen for. There was no way that he could ever openly confess his feelings – heck, he couldn't even tell his own brothers about it. It would have to be his well-guarded secret that he'll probably take with him to the grave without anyone ever finding out about it. Or, so he had thought. It was in the late evening when the boys were lounging around in their shared room as the topic of their love interests came up again. Even though the room was pretty small, the boys had been living like this for years and were used to it, having to share one closet and cramping together at a large desk. They slept in a triple sleeper. Moe was taking the lowest bed and his wall was decorated with sports posters – mostly ones about football. Mort had the one in the middle and a few posters of scantily clad girls were decorating the space on his wall. And Morty slept on the bed at the top, his free space being decorated with sci-fi posters – like a Darth Buddha poster, among some others – and a green flag with the words "science" on it. It was almost ridiculous at this point that they still had to share one single room at their age and Moe had been trying to move out and take the spare room that they had on the first floor. Unfortunately, the arrival of their grandpa had put those plans to an end as Rick got that room and called it his own now. So, as they were laying in their beds and Mort lamented over how asking Jessica out today was a complete failure and Moe complained that he wouldn't even be able to ask Brad ever – and not just because he was obviously going with Jessica already – the topic shifted rather suddenly to Morty. "So, Morty. How's the progress with your crush going?" Moe asked almost teasingly. "W-what?!" Morty leaned over the edge of the bed to look down at his brother. "What are you talking about? I don't have a crush on anyone. You know that!" "Oh, come on. That's a big fat lie and you know it." Mort threw in. "Yeah-" Moe continued. "-it's so obvious that you have a crush on Grandpa Rick." "No, I don't have a crush on him!" Morty squeaked panicky as if he was scared that Rick – or anyone, for that matter – could hear them. "Really, Morty. It's so obvious that we're surprised that Rick hadn't said anything yet. I mean what was that today with you spacing out and staring at him while you should look for his tool. There was no way that he hasn't noticed that." Mort stated matter-of-factly. "Aw man, aw geez…" Morty muttered. He probably should be glad that his brothers didn't seem to mind too much that he was having incestuous feelings towards their gross grandfather. It was also nice that he didn't have to carry the weight of that secret alone anymore. He really didn't like to keep anything from his brothers anyways because they were so close and shared practically anything even if that sometimes led to them bickering with each other. "So… what should I do now?" Morty asked. "Why don't you tell him?" Mort asked. Morty was instantly as red as a traffic light. "No way! How-how could I?" "Why not?" Moe asked back. "You know, he's a pretty open-minded person. He probably won't mind or at least I'm sure he won't get angry at you." Mort agreed on that. "Yeah. If you don't tell him and he'll make the first move, he'd probably say something like—that you should "get over your planetary mindset" or something like that." "Even if you say that, he's still my—our grandfather!" Morty should have known that his brothers' advices would be no good. He'd probably get to hear better ideas from Mortys of other dimensions. Not that he could ever tell one of them about this. He was pretty sure that they would freak out. "Whatever… Good night." Morty said and pulled the blanket over his head to signal that the conversation was over to him. Mort and Moe exchanged glances before they also bid their brother a good night and decided to go to sleep, too. Who knew how much they would get, when there was a chance that Rick would burst into the room in the middle of the night and drag them out to another crazy adventure again.

The next morning, as the entire Smith family and one Rick Sanchez were sitting at the table and eating breakfast together, the triplets had to fight to keep their eyes open. As predicted, their grandfather had disrupted their sleep and dragged them of to another one of his whimsical errand runs. And as usual it had involved a lot of running, dodging bullets and several near death experiences, but they still made it out alive. It was when Moe practically fell asleep with his head held up by only one hand over his bowl of half-eaten cereal, Mort laying with his head on both of his folded arms next to his equally half-full bowl, snoring loudly and Morty plopping face first into his cereal that Beth decided to speak up. "What's wrong with you boys? You're not getting sick, are you?" "It's pretty unlikely that all three of them are getting sick at once." Jerry threw in skeptically. "To me it looks more like they had been staying up the entire night again." When he said that, he looked over to Rick, waiting to see some sort of reaction from the old man. However, the scientist only continued to eat his breakfast, ignoring Jerry as if the man wasn't even there. This made the family father frown and accusingly he added. "I actually think your father kept them up again." "Oh, Dad. Didn't we say no more adventures in the middle of the night?" Beth put on an upset face, but her voice wasn't quite able to match the expression. Jerry frowned even more because that soft tone made it sound like she was looking to make excuses for the eccentric old man – again. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but it was a real—something really important. It won't happen again." Rick sweet-talked between bites yet didn't sound sorry at all. Jerry crossed his arms. "That's what you already said last week. And the week before that." He wasn't going to believe one more word out of that man's mouth and hoped that Beth would finally start to see through her father's shameless lies, too and put a foot down. However, before the discussion even got a chance to escalate, Rick quickly excused himself from the table. "Breakfast was great, Beth. Your mother couldn't have made it better." He gave her a pat on the shoulder as he passed by her on his way to the garage. "Thank you, Dad." As always, Beth was putty in his hands. Jerry groaned loudly in defeat. It was just like every other time. The triplets meanwhile were all snoring loudly in the background. Eventually the boys made it to school – and surprisingly still on time. However, as soon as they were in class they fought a losing battle against their tiredness. The English teacher, Mrs. Tootsie, only shook her head as she saw the triplets in the backrow of her classroom sleeping. It wasn't the first time and instead of interrupting her lecture in favor of waking and reprimanding the boys, she only made a note to report it to principal Vagina again. Mort, who was sitting at the very back, had his head laying on the table, cushioned by his folded arms. Moe, who was sitting in front of him, still held his head up with one arm and slept in this upright position and Morty, who sat on Mort's left, held his head up with both hands and looked like he was dangerously close of tipping over and face planting into the top of his desk. While they were caught in dreams about their respective crushes, they mumbled incoherently, causing some of the students who were sitting right next to them to occasionally look over or giggle. However, once first period was over and they shuffled sleepily to their lockers to get their textbooks for the next class, their sleep deprivation wasn't going to stay on top of their list of worries for this day for long. Just as the boys opened the doors of their respective locker, a familiar whooshing sound resonated through the hallway and a green glow entered their visions. "C'mon boys. We gotta go." Rick's spittle was flying around as he urged the triplets without giving an explanation to what was going on. Not that an explanation was really needed. It was obvious that he planned to drag the trio off to an adventure again. "Didn't Mom just tell you "no more adventures"?" Moe asked, crossing his arms skeptically. Rick blinked at him. "Nope. She only said no more adventures at nighttime. It's in the middle of day so this is apparently okay. Even though I fail to see how the position of the sun in the sky at our current location on this planet is a determining factor for when to go adventuring." However, it was also true that Rick had been told off to pull the boys out of school for his intergalactic escapades, but as long as no one noticed that he did, everything should be fine. He did choose to pick them up between and not in the middle of class after all, precisely for this reason. Of course he had memorized the boys' schedule, but was still peeved that he actually had to wait till first period was over before he could come and pick them up. "But we're having math next period, Rick. We can't miss that." Mort complained. Of course, Mort wasn't exactly eager for algebra, but Jessica was in their math course so there was no way that he could miss it. "Yeah and knowing how long your adventures always end up being, I'll probably miss my football practice today, too." Moe threw in. And he wasn't only bringing up this argument because Brad was at the practice. Even if he wasn't the best at PE, in comparison to his brothers, he was really great at it. Also, he was a pretty good runner even if he never got to play in a real game and could only warm the reserve bench. As his brothers stared at him, Morty only fidgeted with his fingers, being the only one of the trio that couldn't bring up an argument why they couldn't go with Rick on an adventure. If anything, he'd probably only try to come up with a reason to spend some more time with their grandfather – for obvious reasons – and therefore only kept his mouth shut. Rick rolled his eyes. "Who cares about that? I already told you what I think of school. And we'll be back in 30 minutes tops so you won't miss your stupid football practice. You-you'll be even back before your beloved math class is over." Without waiting for further arguments, Rick shot a portal in front of the row of lockers and dragged Moe and Mort with him through it. Morty hurried after them, not wanting to be left behind. They arrived on a strange-looking planet. The sky was an orange-brown and the ground was violet and occasionally covered by a blue patch of grass – or at least something, which looked like this planet's equivalent of plant-life. Rick released the two boys' arms again as he stepped forward and pulled a device from his lab coat. It looked like a radar of sorts. "So, why are we here anyways?" Mort asked, clearly down now. He was going to miss his chance to see Jessica today. The least that his grandpa could do was explain for what he was missing it. "We-we're here to find some of those Nooberian Crystals." "Do we have to smuggle them in our butts again?" Moe asked skeptically and put his hands on his hips. Rick looked at him as if he seriously just had asked that. "You-you-you're having a real fixation there, Moe." He only commented before he turned back to his strange device. Moe opened his mouth to protest, having already inhaled but stood paralyzed and flabbergasted as he realized it. His grandfather did not just do that, did he? That was just gross! He had practically accused Moe of liking to take things up his ass! Whether that was actually true or not wasn't even the point right now. Since Moe was still baffled, his brother, Mort, choose to make a comment. "I bet those crystals are just another drug so that he can get high…" "They're not Kalaxian Crystals. I said Nooberian Crystals and I'll have you know that they have no kind of effect that would make those crystals desirable as a drug." Rick immediately protested without even turning back to the boy, but instead started to walk in the direction where those crystals presumably were located at. "These crystals aren't really that useful however they have a very special crystalline-structure. That's why Grandpa needs them for his science." With that explanation, any further arguments had been shot down and died – for now. The little group made their way through the bizarre landscape, Rick leading the way, barely looking up from his device while the triplets trailed behind him and looked at their surroundings. It wasn't all too long before they reached a hole in the ground. "Heads up, dipshits. The crystals are down there." Rick exclaimed as he stopped right in front of the gaping hole. The boys looked critically down into the pit. "How are we supposed to get down there?" Morty asked reluctantly. Rick groaned at his grandson's stupidity and rolled his eyes before taking a swig from his flask. "Don't be such a baby, M--oouuurrgh--ty. It's not that deep. We're just gonna climb down." After he said that, he gave Morty a slap on the back who stumbled and then actually fell down the hole. His brothers kneeled at the edge of the pit to see if he was okay. "Ow." Morty only commented dryly as he laid sprawled on the ground. He surely had some bruises, but it didn't look like he broke anything so with a sigh the boys climbed down the hole, following their grandfather who had already started ahead of them. The scientist jumped the rest of the way down and Moe followed his example while Mort struggled to make his way safely down to the ground without losing hold and falling the rest of the way. However, just short of reaching safe ground, he did slip and landed on his butt. Dusting himself off, Mort followed Rick and Moe who had already passed by the still on the floor laying Morty. Struggling to sit up, the boy in the yellow t-shirt weakly called after them. "H-hey, wait for me." Before he scrambled to his feet, he actually caught something leaning against the side of the earthy, purple wall, covered in the shade. Curiously, he went over to get a closer look at it. He hummed a little as he tried to analyze the unmoving creature. It looked humanoid, but seemed to have eyes all over its body. The stillness seemed to be a clear indicator that it was dead, but after the many adventures with his crazy grandfather, Morty was no stranger to death anymore and didn't flip out instantly. Meanwhile, the scientist and his two teenage assistants walked down the tunnel-like path that lead them deeper and deeper into the underground. Each of the boys held a glow stick that Rick had given them as it became too dark to see – Moe had one that glowed in a bright pinkish-red color while Mort had one that glowed neon-green – while their grandpa walked ahead of them with an actually normal-looking flashlight in his hand. Morty hurriedly joined their group and crashed accidentally into his brothers. "Where the heck have you been, dawg?" Moe asked him in a hushed tone and with a frown on his face. "Sorry." Morty whispered back as he accepted the glow stick that Mort handed to him. As he turned it on, it glowed in an orangey-yellow color. Rick didn't comment on Morty having lagged behind even though they all knew how dangerous it could be to get separated on their adventures. Keeping up the appearance of not giving a shit about his grandsons, Rick swallowed down the lecture that sat on the tip of his tongue and chased it with some of the liquor from his flask. The group continued their expedition till they reached a spacious cavern. Its entire ground was covered in glowing turquoise crystals. All three boys looked with big eyes and in awe down at the beautiful sight. "What did I say? Here they are! The Nooberian Crystals!" Rick proclaimed loudly and spread his arms out as if he was the first man who made a fire. "How many of those do you need, Rick?" Morty asked. "As many as you can fit in here." His grandfather only said as he held out a big brown sack to him. Morty wordlessly took the bag that was big enough to fit a bunch of kids into it. "Well, c'mon. Get going, boys. We don't have all day." Rick acted as if he was the one who had appointments to miss and then took another swig from his flask. The other two brothers joined Morty and each grabbed at the rim of the sack to help holding it open as they started to harvest the glowing crystals. Mort couldn't suppress a loud groan though. It was pretty obvious that he wouldn't get to see Jessica in their math class today because they had already surpassed the "30 minutes top" on their way here. It was probably going to take hours before they had gathered enough for their grandfather to be satisfied. Especially, since Rick was just looking around the cave and suckling on his flask, most likely not even thinking about helping his grandsons with collecting those crystals. The boys began to work like a well-oiled machine. They were perfectly coordinated and had distributed their tasks among each other to be more efficient. Mort for example would be holding up the bag and try to catch all of the crystals that his brothers flung into it. Morty was standing practically next to Mort and almost blindly picked up the crystals that were close by to throw them in the vague direction where his green-shirted brother stood. Moe had wandered off a bit further so as to not hinder Morty and threw his crystals with a practiced motion towards the bag. If he wouldn't have been already doing football practice, he might have considered joining their high school's basketball team. As Morty crouched over the ground and continued to pluck crystal after crystal, his eyes suddenly landed on a particularly big exemplar. Thinking that it would speed their harvest up a lot if they just got that one big one, he went over and tried to pick it up. Unfortunately, this big crystal was a lot harder to "uproot" from the ground than the smaller ones had been. Huffing a little and filled with determination, he put both of his arms around the glowing stone that was almost as big as Morty himself and began to pull with all the strength that he had inside his body. "Morty, what are you doing?!" Rick suddenly yelled in the same voice that he used when the boy was touching something when he had just told him not to touch anything. At the voice of their grandfather, the two brothers also looked up and over to the boy in the yellow t-shirt. Before anything else could be said or done, Morty had managed to pull the big crystal free though. Not a second later, the ground started to rumble. 'Did I cause this earthquake?!' Morty wondered mentally as he only looked around in a panic while still holding onto the crystal. What should they do now? Could they even do anything when the cave was about to collapse? However, that wasn't even what was going on and the boys only realized it as the ground beneath their feet started to rose upwards and a deafening roar echoed through the cavern. "Really great, Morty! You woke it up!" Rick yelled. "Run, boys!" Not really waiting to see if the boys followed his advice, Rick dashed on ahead. The trio quickly jumped down from the back of the beast, abandoning the collected crystals to follow their grandfather. Mid-run, Morty actually dared to turn around and look at what he had accidentally awakened from its slumber. The monster looked a little like a dinosaur and its entire back was covered by the glowing crystals that he and his brothers had been harvesting mere moments ago. Why hadn't Rick actually told them that those crystals were growing out of the back this alien? If Morty had known, he would have treated them with more care and wouldn't have tried to force that one big crystal out of it. However, the crystals weren't even on the boy's mind anymore because the only thing that he could see were rows and rows of razor sharp teeth. He stumbled a little and finally looked back ahead again, pushing himself more and running even faster than before. Moe, who was the fastest runner of the trio, had grabbed Mort's arm and pulled him along because he was the slowest of the three brothers. As they came back to the little clearing from which they had entered into the pit, Rick pulled out his portal gun and opened a portal. The man and his three teenage grandsons dashed through it and tumbled into the safety of the garage. Or, at least the boys thought that they were safe. Just as Mort, the last of the trio, passed through, Rick plucked a rather big gun from his workbench. Just in time as the maw of the beast followed them through the portal. Rick aimed and shot at it. The blast made blood and teeth splattered through the garage and with a loud shriek the alien pulled its muzzle backwards and the portal thankfully closed again. All three brothers released a breath that they hadn't even realized they had held. As the boys stood up and looked around, it became quickly obvious to them that they wouldn't return to school today. It was already dark outside… Suddenly Morty started to scream, causing Rick and his brothers to look at him in shock. His skin was starting to split open and orbs appeared from the open wounds, but he didn't only feel incredible pain in those areas, but also inside his body. His vision started to become blurry yet he was sure that nothing was wrong with his eyes. It was somehow extremely weird and he didn't understand what was happening to him. "Oh great." Rick only groaned. "Good going, Morty. You got yourself infected with the eye plague." "Wh-wh-what is that?" Morty asked fearfully while his brothers looked with a grimacing and a horrified face at him. "It causes eyes to grow all over your body and your intestines." Rick explained and paused to take a big gulp from his flask. "The eye plague is incurable and deadly." "WHAT?!" In shock, Morty slapped his hands on his cheeks and yowled as he jabbed his fingers in some of his newly grown eyes as he did that. The image of the dead humanoid creature with the countless eyes that he had found inside of the pit appeared in his mind. Oh no! Why was he such an idiot to touch it and get himself infected by the disease that caused its demise? His grandpa rolled his eyes. "Chill out, Mo--oouuurrg--ty. It is supposed to be incurable, but there's nothing that I can't cure. Well, with the exception of death…" The boy sighed a little in relieve, but whimpered again as he felt new pain surging through him. It also became gradually more confusing for him to look at Rick since he was looking through so many eyes right now and it seemed like more continued to grow still as his skin continued to split apart. "However, it's gonna take a while." The scientist admitted as he turned around to his workbench and fumbled for something. "We'll also have to put you in quarantine now." With those words, he turned around again, a respirator already covering his face as he strapped on a pair of rubber gloves. "Aw geez. Quarantine? Really, Rick?" Morty asked, not liking being put in a small, confined space for a longer amount of time. Again. It always made him feel claustrophobic and caused him to have panic attacks every so often. "Unless you want the rest of humanity to catch the plague, then yes, Morty. In case you failed to notice, this thing is highly contagious. In fact, I'll have to quarantine your brothers, too." Rick said as he opened the hatch to his underground secret, not-so-secret lab. "What? Why?" Moe and Mort yelled simultaneously. "Because you turds are always sticking together like a bunch of old chewed out bubblegum under a school desk. You're most likely already contaminated and it's just a question of time when it's gonna break out in you, too." "H-how long are we going to be quarantined?" Mort asked nervously. Even if Jessica rejected him, he still wanted to go to the Spring Dance and hopefully get a chance to have at least one dance with her. "Should be fine in about a week." The scientist shrugged. "Oh and by the way, you should be careful with what you're going to eat as long you have the plague because there's a lot of things that sting like hell if you get it in the eyes." "Oh man. Aw geez." All three boys said in unison. The only thing that was different about them were their expressions as they said it. Moe looked rather annoyed, Mort look disappointed and Morty looked like he was about to freak out. This was going to be a long week…

AN: It's not much yet, but this was mostly am introductory chapter to show the triplets and their different personalities and mannerisms a little.

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

[ramheavenandhell]

Finally Ricktober, Bitches!! – Chapter 15: Evil Rick – A True Rickicidal Psychopath or Just a Pathetic Puppet?

AN: This prompt was one that I had been looking forward to again. Warnings: manipulation, (minor) character death, psychopathic tendencies/behavior Summary: Evil Rick never suspected what his grandson could be capable of. So, he also never expected the fate that eventually awaited him.

Finally Ricktober, Bitches!! – Chapter 15: Evil Rick – A True Rickicidal Psychopath or Just a Pathetic Puppet? "Really, Beth?! Are you really so delusional that you don't notice what is going on?!" Rick sighed in annoyance. "You're just making a mountain out of a molehill, Jerry!" "Oh, am I really, Beth?! Am I?! Have you even seen what he did?!" While he tried to concentrate on the gadget that he was working on, he could feel his focus slipping. Beth and Jerry were having one of their infamous arguments in the parlor, but they were loud enough that Rick cloud clearly hear every word through the entire kitchen and the closed door of the garage. "Apparently you haven't or you would notice that this is anything but normal, Beth! It was another corpse! A freaking corpse again!!" "I'm sure that it's just a phase." "A PHASE?! Beth, he was playing with a corpse that he dug up from the graveyard again! How many did that even make this month?! He's a psychopath!!" Rick groaned. Would the two of them just get a divorce already! "Just admit already that your father is a bad influence on our son, Beth!!" "My dad isn't a bad influence!" What Rick hated most about their stupid fights was that they always pinned their failing marriage on other people. It didn't really bother him when the discussion went to him. However, it did bother him that lately more often than not, they pushed the fault onto their son. As if Morty could be really held responsible for the mistakes that his parents made… "How is he not?! He's a psychopathic mad scientist!!" "No, he's just a brilliant scientist and genius!" "Oh really?! Then why does he never let anyone in the garage since he set foot in our house?!" "It's just because he doesn't want anyone to mess with his inventions! You'd end up breaking them if you would get even close to them! Even I would know that much, Jerry! You're just jealous because you have no one in your own family who's as brilliant as my dad is!" "I just can't believe you, Beth!! Your father is a crazy and raising our son to become a complete sociopath and you still protect that bastard!!" The door opened without a knock. Rick knew that it could only be one person even before he heard his voice. "Hey, Rick." Morty said as he closed the door behind himself again and walked closer to the workbench. In the background, the voices of his parents could still be heard arguing, as Jerry demanded that they'd throw out Rick and sent Morty to a mental hospital. Rick inwardly scoffed at the notion. There was nothing wrong with his grandson. The boy was a bit of a wimp – which was not even his fault, but only thanks to the genes of his sorry excuse for a sperm donor – but otherwise a very helpful assistant to him. "Is there something you need help with, Rick?" Morty asked. "Sure. I need to harvest—need to get some organs from that Splorkian. Actually, I just need his heart. So, be a good helper and dissect him for me, okay Morty?" The boy looked over to the table that he mentioned at. "Is it still alive?" he asked needlessly as the Splorkian that laid bound and gagged on said table was wiggling around. The creature looked actually very human-like. "Of course, he is. I need that organ as fresh as it can be. Going to make a delicious soup out of it." "Um, and where is its heart? Is it in the same place where a human's heart is—I mean anatomically speaking?" "Not quite. Just make a sternotomy like I taught you and look around till you find it." He handed the boy a scalpel and put his entire focus back on his gadget again. "And what does it look like? The same like a human heart?" "Kind of. It's purple though and a little bigger. I-I-I'm sure you'll recognize it once you see it." He only spared a brief glance at his grandson as the boy began to cut the living alien open – its screams muffled by the gag while Morty's face was completely emotionless.

As Rick opened his eyes, he felt disoriented. His vision was weird. Not exactly fuzzy, but static-y. As if he was looking at the footage of a camera and not looking through his own eyes. He also felt weird in his body as if it wasn't his own. However, as he looked at his reflection when he passed a window, he could see that it clearly still was his body. He wore his favorite black sweater and still had his scar that ran along over the right side of his mouth. Pretty distinctive features for a Rick. What was new though were the heavy rings beneath his eyes. He looked like he didn't get a wink of sleep for weeks, which was weird. After all, he felt like he just woke up from a really long slumber. Although that couldn't be, since he was walking through some kind of hallway. That's not how you usually wake up. He wondered where he was and where he was actually walking to. This place didn't look familiar at all. It was only when his legs continued to carry him to wherever he was currently going that he noticed that he had no control over his body. Just what was going on? A lump settled in the pit of his stomach as he had a hunch to what exactly was actually going on here. He just didn't want think that he was right in his assumption. Didn't want to believe that someone had used the technology that he had created – the technology that he had worked on for years – against him. Because if that was true, it could only mean a couple of things and he liked neither of those possibilities… His line of thoughts was interrupted as he entered a room where he was greeted by the sight of his grandson. It didn't ease his current confusion one bit. The boy wore an eyepatch and even more surprisingly, he had Rick's portal gun. 'Morty?' He wanted to ask what was going on, but his lips didn't budge and his vocal cords didn't react. Instead, he could only watch as the brunet dialed some coordinates on the portal gun and then handed it to him. "Ready, Rick?" he asked with a grin on his face that looked purely evil. He had never seen such an expression on his grandson's face and was taken aback a little. Still unable to react out of his own accord, he could only watch how his own hand grabbed the offered portal gun and opened a portal. He quickly ventured through it together with his grandson, wondering where they would end up in, since he didn't really get a good look at those coordinates that were put into the device. He was utterly confused when they emerged in the dining room of the Smith house. Even though it was obviously not the same house that he knew because the entire family including a Rick and a Morty were sitting at the table and eating breakfast. It was such a familiar scene. One that he had seen and experienced many times, but for some odd reason it felt like it was so long ago. Before anyone in the family knew what was going on, he raised the plasma gun from inside his lab coat and shot the unsuspecting Rick right in the forehead – killing him with the single shot. Chaos broke out as the family began to scream. His grandson readied the gun that he had brought along himself and aimed with it at the Morty. It was obvious that his intent wasn't to kill the boy though as something that could only be a tranquilizer dart hit the brunet who then slumped over and landed with his face right in his breakfast. The family was still panicking and yelling as he and his Morty went to the boy, grabbed him by his arms and the cloth of his yellow t-shirt and then dragged him with them through the still open portal. Everything went so fast that the poor family could probably still not grasp what had just happened. Rick himself was having trouble fully understanding what had just went down even if he was (unwillingly) a part of it. Sure, it wasn't the first time that he had killed. And it also wasn't the first time that he had killed a Rick. But even he – despite having been nicknamed Evil Rick by his alternate counterparts – would never kill a Rick right in front of his own family like that. And why did they bother to abduct his Morty? It was all really confusing and also frankly horrifying to him. Morty let go of his alternate self as soon as the portal closed behind them and Rick was the one who carried the boy now. Where he was going with him, he did not know, but his grandson was right by his side the entire time, having taken his portal gun back again to put it in the back of his pants, hidden by the yellow t-shirt. They passed through hallways, which all looked the same for a while and he still wondered where the heck they were right now. The facility looked kind of desolate yet it wasn't in a state that it looked like it had been completely abandoned. They halted in front of a door that was guarded by a big alien that looked like it was some sort of crustacean. Morty took the unconscious boy from him and his own hand went to a button that opened the door. Inside he could see what could only be a cell and the inmates were Mortys. Many Mortys. And all of those boys looked in fright up at him, whimpering pathetically. His grandson dropped the unconscious boy on the cell floor and didn't even spare his pitiful counterparts a single glance. "Quit your whining you useless, little turds." He could hear his own voice say yet it sounded so foreign to him. Why did he even say that? Just to look like a villain? Acting like a tyrant towards these helpless boys who didn't even had the power to cause any harm to him or fight back? It was just weird. After the drop off, he pushed another button to close the door again and he was back on his way with his grandson, walking through more countless hallways. Just what in the world was going on here? And why had he no control over his own body? It was obvious that he was being controlled by someone else right now, but by who? It couldn't be his Morty, could it? The boy would never do something like that. Or would he…? Eventually they ended up in something that looked like a control room. Morty sat down on a seat and lounged comfortably while he himself went to a control panel and hit a few buttons. The shields that had been surrounding the glass dome above them were lowered and revealed a layer of what was a human wall. Not just a human wall, but a wall of naked Mortys that were currently tortured by the devices that they were strapped to. The boys' cries of agony could be heard over the speakers now. He didn't know what to think. Just who would build something freaky like this? Of course, he knew that a Morty was able to shield a Rick from most of their enemies. And a bunch of Mortys in pain were able to shield you even from other Ricks. From what he could see past the naked boys, they were on an absolutely remote planet and it was obvious that no one was going to find them here – not even the Council of Ricks. But why the effort? Why hide like this? And why doing something like this kiddy porn horror show? It was complete overkill. "Ah. Isn't it such a beautiful symphony?" His grandson sighed pleased. His body turned around to look at the boy with the eyepatch who seemed very comfortable with the fucked up sight and sounds that were surrounding him. There was no doubt anymore that he was behind all of this even if he didn't understand why he did it. Or, how he could do this to his own grandfather. "Mmm-Mo—Mm-M-Mor—" The attempt to call out his grandson's name was nothing more than a low rumble in the back of his throat, but it caught the boy's attention. "Mmm-Mor-Morty!" "Oh, looks like we need to do some recalibrating." Morty said as he sat up and walked over to a bunch of tools and instruments that laid out on a small table. He picked up something, which Rick could easily identify as a laser defribulator. "Don't worry. I will make sure that you will go back to sleep again, Grandpa Rick." This would be the last time that Evil Rick was "awake"…

AN: Maybe this is a good point in time to mention that I'm personally not on par with the "Evil Morty is Rick C-137's original Morty" theory. I've actually written a little (better said a long) rant about it, so if you're interested in seeing my opinion and reasoning, you can actually read it here.

Prompts

Chapter 1: Doofus Rick / Rick J-19ζ7

Chapter 2: Surgeon Rick

Chapter 3: Simple Rick + Weird Rick

Chapter 4: Lab Rick (+ Surgeon Rick)

Chapter 5: Deepthroat Rick / Investigator Rick

Chapter 6: Storage Rick

Chapter 7: Flesh Curtains Rick / Younger Rick

Chapter 8: Seven Sins Ricks

Chapter 9: Tiny Rick

Chapter 10: Mysterious Rick

Chapter 11: Slow Rick / Tall Morty (+ Surgeon Rick + Lab Rick)

Chapter 12: Miami Rick

Chapter 13: Golfer Rick

Chapter 14: Gouverness Ava Rickinsocks

Chapter 16: Chair Rick

Chapter 17: (Rookie) Cop Rick

Chapter 18: Super Fan Rick

Chapter 19: Guard Ricks

Chapter 20: Guilty Rick

Chapter 21: Lizard Rick + Aqua Rick

Chapter 22: Novelist Rick

Chapter 23: Morty Games Rick

Chapter 24: Zero Rick

Chapter 25: Teacher Rick

Chapter 26: Bubble Gum Rick

Chapter 27: Robot Rick

Chapter 28: Jar Head Rick

Chapter 29: Toxic Rick

Chapter 30: Council of Ricks

Chapter 31: Rick C-137