#Faith i just drew her cause she pretty

[fictiongods]

I find it so funny when people say fuffy is one sided, Faith and Buffy are literally BOTH so obsessed with each other, like Faith is the more obvious one (to the point where people say it’s one sided) but Buffy is literally so insane about her too like “oh pretty girl with big brown eyes who is taller than me and wears a lot of leather just drew a heart on the window while I’m in the middle of my chem test?? The one I’ve said I needed to study for (but didn’t cause I was hanging out with her) and repeatedly said I might fail and was worried for like half of the episode…but like you guys!! She drew a heart on the window!! I have to go…no choice…” and this is AFTER she spent the whole period absolutely GUSHING over slaying (but specifically about faith slaying) like I can promise you this is not one sided

#buffy summers #faith lehane #And that’s literally only one example #they are both so normal about each other you guys #but can we also talk about how Buffy finally LET herself talk about slaying in that positive light #like I don’t think she really ever does that again

[woomycritiques543]

TW: Visuals of Blackface, Trans erasure, Transphobia.

Well then…

Sure makes the fact that Vivziepop supported Blaire White, even if she doesn’t want to admit that, had caused her to have internalized transphobia since EVERY trans character is pushed entirely into the background to the point of barely being visible or is only mostly there for fanservice (trans fetishisim) with no actual role yet at all, in the story…

Yeah… Vivziepop’s “I was NEVER transphobic I just liked Blaire because she was pretty! I didn’t know that she was a transphobe even AFTER I already saw her transphobia but defended it as “a normal political discussion” just because I didn’t want to admit to the fact that I supported a transphobe so I pulled a “I forgor!” in my “apology” to pretend as if I didn’t remember anything- when I clearly remembered the tweets that I was pretending that I “didn’t” see “yet” enough for me to mention the “insensitive tweets” that I “didn’t see until after I watched her and drew the fanart and realized my terrible mistake AFTER I watched her videos and saw her tweets AFTER I supported her!” like I said in my “apology” and instead saw WHILE I was watching Blaire White because I SUPPORTED HER for her transphobia, aka her entire channel, and pretended as if what she did was a “simple political discussion to disagree with” and “not” TRANSPHOBIA AND RACISM! Which means that I do remember supporting a transphobe, and her transphobia, but just dont want to admit it because REASONS!” that are in her apology hasn’t aged well… hasn’t it…

(What Vivziepop actually said compared to what she said she “did”…)

AKA: Vivziepop made a false apology, lying about what she did and weaponized her trauma again, writing an entire speech about “seeing things from all sides!” when she specifically supported transphobes, and didn’t do this as a “perspective thing” since she drew fanart of Blaire White, a transphobe, and actually saw the “insensitive tweets”, not “after” she supported Blaire but WHILE she supported Blaire and even DEFENDED the existence of said tweets that she claims that she did “not” see at the time where she made said fanart. When all Blaire White’s channel is, is transphobia anyway, so either way Viv couldn’t cover up her own transphobia even if she tried. Her post directly defending the existence of transphobia by calling it a “political discussion we “should!” have (the “trans are politics!” code word transphobes say to alienate people that are trans.) and saying that she’s “allowed!” to support transphobes just because she doesn’t “CATER!” to her audience. When let’s face it:

What’s worse than a past transphobe, is a past transphobe that refuses to admit to her past transphobia. A transphobe, that still has transphobia that she clearly has today due to the past influences that she refuses to own up to… which in itself: is transphobia.

When:

1. “Political Discussion that we should allow to exist! I DONT CARER TO U!” and being a bigot aren’t the same thing. Transphobia isn’t a simple political discussion Vivienne.

2. The way Vivziepop replied here very much implies that she knew about the transphobia in advance, which is why she got so defensive about it.

3. She already saw the “insensitive tweets”, and cant make the “I FORGOR!” excuse anymore like she did after Hazbin came out when she clearly remembers what she responded to, despite lying and saying that she “didn’t” see those tweets at that point, when she clearly did and even SUPPORTED the existence of said tweets from some she drew fanart of and all mentioning those tweets did was blow her cover.

So all of this “I JUST WANTED TO SEE DIFFERENT SIDES!” speech about how “good faith my simple mistake was!” was a total lie and she actually defended Blaire for said “insensitive tweets” that she tries to deny that she saw at the time, when she defended the existence of these posts and tried to call transphobia and racism a “important discussion”, which is transphobia.

She also tried to go “I DONT SUPPORT BLACK FACE!” as in “I NEVER SUPPORTED BLACK FACE!” when she clearly did, it’s right in the post that she’s denying existed 👆

When Blaire’s post says “BLAIRE BLACK!” in reference to the mask she was wearing AS blackface, and is clearly mocking Black Lives Matter, was posted in the BLM tag to harasss them- for being black: which is RACISM!

Blaire of course, denied all of this, and only showed the mask picture in her fake as all hell “apology!” video, and per usual, used misinformation to mislead her audience, but that’s another post-full altogether…

So in a nutshell:

Vivziepop supported a transphobe and her transphobia, lied about it to make herself look “good faith”, which ironically, is worse for her reputation since that means that she denied what she actually did and never apologized for it, which means that she never apologized for how she treated the trans community, which still makes this a current action and something to currently hold accountable since she currently lied about it in her “apology” to make what she did look “goos faith” and outright denied being a transphobe at all, which means that she still supports this since she lied about it to make herself look “good”instead of admitting to the fact that she supported a transphobe and a drew Nazi oc of a real Nazi scientist that tested on children.

-annnnnnnnnnd… she shoved all of her trans characters into the background and even ERASED a trans character just because he was directly on screen in HB Episode 5.

Yikes.

#hazbin hotel #helluva boss #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critical #tw transphobia #so in an extra nutshell: #Vivziepop supported a transphobe. #lied about it. -and still has transphobic behavior TO THIS DAY- #just because she doesnt want to admit to anyone: #that she was a transphobe back then. let alone admit to the transphobia that has now: #JUST for her reputation. Which makes the Blaire White section of her apology false.

[snzhrchy]

Hello!

Can I request a dr. Stone hyuga x reader. Like she's pretty shy at first so no one takes notice of her, but secretly she's a closet perv who drools about hyuuga's muscles. He takes notice and starts to get interested in her. Sorry if this is weirdly said, It's my first time requesting something! Thank you for ur time and I love your writing.

shameful.

hyoga akatsuki x perv!reader

synopsis; you find yourself attracted towards the man who tried to kill you and that causes him to be intrigued by you too. taglist; lmk if u wanna be on it <3 warnings; smut (implied at the end) + masturbation notes; loved writing this !! im so down horrendous for this man like i need him to ruin me..

— your first meeting with hyoga was very... interesting, to say the least. in short, he burned down your village without any mercy. however, he did get his punishment in the end as he was now a prisoner in the kingdom of science--being forced to spend his days behind bars for the heinous crimes he had committed.

— that's also when you had the misfortune of meeting him. senku wasn't an evil man--far from it so because of that, he wanted to make ishigami village's prisons a little but more habitable and he chose you for the job! it wasn't exactly a job as you were merely just providing food to him and the other prisoner but...

— during this task was when you first met and got to see him, properly. you’d be lying if you didn’t say you weren’t attracted to him from the moment you laid your eyes upon him. he was, quite literally, the most attractive man you had ever seen. sure, you had your fair share of muscular men from all over japan however, there was something about hyoga that drew you towards him.

— which was probably why you were so very enthusiastic about this job you’d been assigned. since you hardly ever spoke to anyone, no one ever guessed that you had done the unthinkable and managed to become infatuated with hyoga--the man who was responsible for destroying your entire village but he wasn’t that dangerous now, though.

— however, you hardly ever interacted with him, whether it was on the perseus or back at the village; he barely paid any attention to you while you were head over heels for him. you did not attempt initiate any conversation with him either--you'd rather just admire him from a far. it was hard not to with the way he carried himself. no matter how strenous of a task you were performing, if he were in that room, that task would be long forgotten as your eyes would be fixated on him.

— your eyes would travel to his silver, silky hair, imagining what it'd be like to run your hand through them (and pull on them) then they'd traavel to his chest and your eyes would admire his perfectly built body and how well his abs adorned his abdomen and then his thighs and...

— hyoga wasn't stupid--far from it; he was quite literally one of the most intelligent and observant people ever. and unlike everyone, he noticed. he noticed how your eyes would always stare at his figure. even though you tried to be subtle, he was very aware of the effect he had on you. he found it amusing and peculiar as well; how could someone who he tried to murder possibly like him…? sure, he was used to attention from the opposite sex but he hadn’t gotten any after his depetrification—and he surely didn’t get any attention from villagers here.

— this intrigued hyoga. he found this entire thing amusing and liked receiving this type of attention. to know that he had someone—an ishigami villager at that—wrapped around his finger made him joyous. he could surely use this to his favour.

— and he did! once aboard the perseus; on one faithful night, he was just taking a mere stroll across the ship, admiring the changed landscape when he heard you whispering his name.

— he found it odd but as he got closer to the source of the sound, he realised that you were touching yourself while thinking of him. hyoga was aware that you were terribly infatuated with him but this pleased him (and certainly gave him an ego boost.) to think that someone was touching themselves while thinking of him… yes, it was certainly pleasant.

— no matter how much hyoga tried to control himself, he couldn’t help but get hard over listening to you mumble his name over and over again. he wondered what you’d look like if you were under him.

— eventually, that night, hyoga allowed his emotions to take over and he ended up finally fulfilling your desires.

— let’s just say it didn’t end there and hyoga ended up using you as his personal stress reliever from there on out.

#dr stone imagines #dr stone x reader #dr stone hyoga #dr stone #dcst x reader #dcst imagines #dcst #hyoga akatsuki #hyoga #hyoga akatsuki x reader #hyoga akatsuki imagines #akatsuki hyoga #hyoga x reader #hyoga imagines

[van1llam1lkk]

♱ Growing Desire

[ sfw | TW ; Religious imagery, Implied Stalking, Cult themes, Manipulation, As well as some General Yandere content but it's very tame, Female Yandere x Gender Neutral Reader. ]

I wanted this to be more possessive Cause she's the conquest horsemen,, but oh well

This is... A new emotion for Misaki. She wasn't the type to become so easily infatuated with people. Maybe Mother, but if comparing her to you was an unjust statement as you'd basically be lower than scum in that situation.

She lived the entirety of her twenty four years in the Seraphic Faith, an organization created a couple thousand years ago. However, the public eye had just dumbed it down to a terrorist group because of an incident in the 1930's that the government just can't get over for whatever reason.

Her job was simple, keep the public image as clean as possible, manage her section of the organization, and recruit new members.

And doing the same things every day can grow repetitive, and tiresome.

So was it really that strange everytime her memory sometimes grows fuzzy thinking of when this obsession of hers started? It was just supposed to be a routine check up of her section nothing more nothing less.

She absentmindedly observed the people, writing down notes of anything that seems like it needed to be improved or just little things she noticed. Because she was so engrossed in her work she bumped right into you, it makes her cringe in thought with how cheesy it was.

Frustration bubbled up inside of her but the moment she locked eyes with you did it all die down, she almost would've stumbled over her words if she wasn't trying to keep up appearances.

In a strange sense she wanted to keep you, she had no real reason as to why that was one of the first things she thought when looking at you.

You weren't special or unique, being easily comparable to everyone else in this godforsaken Cult.

She couldn't put her finger on it— but maybe it was because of how stupid, and docile you seemed in that moment, or maybe it was just how Naive you were.

In the end it doesn't really matter, because from the moment you looked up at her with those pretty eyes she was enchanted. From the way you carried yourself, moved, the sound of your voice— Why was it all so mesmerizing?

She didn't even realize it at the time, that she was becoming obsessed over you from that one little conversation. Thoughts of you lingered after that meeting, although she told herself it was just animalistic desires masquerading itself as something deceitful and disgusting— love.

Her obsession with you rapidly became more consuming: prayers blended into thoughts of you; time that should've been spent working on reports she were replaced by fantasies of what you might be doing right then.

At each gathering, she searched the crowds with her eyes, searching for you in hopes of a glimpse at your beauty instead of taking her rightful place among her sisters. As the sermon was delivered, her thoughts were far away - dreaming of a way to see you again.

She didn't even notice it bleeding into how she treated others, especially those close to you. Sprinkling in little threats to friends she deemed unworthy of your attention, having someone she specifically payed to send some rather unkind messages towards anyone who dare even thought about coveting after you. If they can't even handle a little harassment what makes them think they can be with you?

It felt wrong to desire after you this much, it made her stomach churn, and throat burn. She was supposed to be devoted to one person only, and that was Mother. Stressing about it did little to help her, often just ending with her digging her nails into the flesh of her palms till it drew blood while doubled over a trash can.

Because she just couldn't bear the thought that her, someone who was supposed to be pure was growing gluttonous, Lustful,

Sinful.

She couldn't have that could she? But if it was true that she was growing dirty. How come every time she thought of you, did the thought of The Gracious Mother come up? Maybe— Maybe you'd been sent from Heaven just for her. Why else would she feel so violently ill trying to ignore her growing fixation on you? To act like you don't exist?

So in the end, when your friends drift away, When family become uneasy in your company, When you get the feeling someone is watching you even when alone. And you start growing paranoid of the littlest of things, Is it really odd that the one who gives you comfort is Misaki?

#Fawn | Misaki - Conquest #writing #new writer #reader insert #fiction #fanfic #yandere oc #yandere #yandere content #female yandere #oc x reader #x reader #gn reader #gender neutral reader #female original character #she's a terrorist... #isn't she dreamy? #shes insane #conquest horsemen #four horsemen of the apocalypse #cw religious themes #cw religious imagery #cw stalking #tw stalking #tw cult #cw cults #After introducing them all im gonna do a family game night #tw manipulation #cw manipulation

[bcbdrums]

Full Disclosure

A Drakgo fanfic. Read on: AO3 | FFn

A/N: This next one-shot has a few sources of inspiration. First, the prompt from this list: 2. "If I kiss you, will you shut up?" Prompt was recommended by the legendary "Guest" on AO3 (you know who you are!) who specifically wanted French kissy-face, and the story was inspired in part by @lordwiggyton whose recent Mama Lipsky art has had my mind stirring. I'm also submitting this work to the "Hey, Sweetheart" Valentine's event run by @ficwip. It's not the conventional route perhaps, but within the rules? Pretty sure. And last but not least, it's an answer to @kim-possible-prompts's Valentine's Day prompt! (Have y'all noticed I adore answering prompts? lol.) ALSO this is the first of some birthday gifts I have for the incomparable @gothicthundra. Happy birthday, chaos queen. :) Enjoy!

Full Disclosure

Shego sighed from her perch at the end of the bed, leaning back and re-crossing her legs as she watched Drakken pace and listened to the same worried ramblings for the third time.

"But what if she never forgives me!" he cried as he wrung his hands.

"Dr. D.... We've been through this," Shego said, glancing down to study her nails. "She's jumped across moving train cars for you. Somehow I don't think finding out you've spent the past twenty years attempting world domination is going to come as much of a shock."

"But Shego..." Drakken said, pausing in front of her.

Shego looked up and took stock of her lover's appearance. He had, at her insistence, gone for black slacks instead of his usual Dockers, a tailored cherry-red dress shirt, and a black silk tie that perfectly accented the rest of his attire. And of course, the gold medal he'd received for saving the world hung heavy over his chest.

Shego wished she were the one going out with Drakken that evening, especially considering the calendar date. But this night had been planned for quite some time.

"She's had faith in me my entire life... How can I tell her it was all for nothing?"

"Drakken—"

"I admit it's past time to tell her the truth, but I just can't bear to disappoint her!"

"Drakken—"

"And then I'll never hear the end of it!" Drakken continued, throwing his hands up and resuming his ambling around the bedroom. "Passive-aggressive cards and letters is all I'll get for Christmas now! And lumps of coal instead of home-knitted sweaters!"

Shego stood up from the bed and briskly approached him.

"Drakken—"

"All the years of silence I left between us so she wouldn't figure it out. All those lost years I could have been close to my lonely old mother. That's what her letters will say, now. Have you ever heard that woman start on a guilt trip? She's an absolute master!"

"Drew!"

This finally caused the mad scientist's jaw to snap closed. He stopped mid-stride and whirled around to face her.

"If I kiss you, will you shut up?"

"Hnn?"

Shego didn't wait for an invitation. She snaked her arms around Drakken's neck and pressed in close before he could protest, and was gratified to feel tension leave his shoulders first and his lips a moment after.

She was far gentler with the kiss than with her words, her lips sliding with soft friction against his until they parted and gave her tongue purchase. She felt his soft exhale through his nostrils against her cheek as his fingers found her waist, and she could feel his hum of satisfaction where their chests were pressed together. His tongue was gentle as it slid alongside hers in caress, and he still tasted of cinnamon from his toothpaste.

Warmth blossomed in Shego's chest at his attentive response, and for the moment the dilemma of the present was forgotten. There was only the gentle pressure of noses fitted together, the give and take as their tongues took turns parting supple lips and exploring the heat and texture of one another. Drakken's body melded hot against hers as his hands slid lower, and her fingers rose to tangle his perfectly slicked-back hair.

It was fortuitous perhaps when Drakken pulled back slightly to stroke the outline of her mouth with the tip of his tongue. It was intoxicating, but the faint distance allowed her other senses a chance to process the sound of approaching footsteps. Not in time to leave her lover's embrace, however, before they reached the doorway.

"Hey, Sweetheart— Drew Theodore P. Lipsky!"

It was Shego who moved first, putting a healthy space between them and leaving Drakken blinking and confused for a moment with his lips still parted before he had processed the voice that had spoken.

"M-Mother!" Drakken cried, darting behind Shego instinctively at the sight of his mother's judgmental expression.

"And no ring on her finger yet! For shame!"

Shego's face flushed as she was sure Drakken's was doing as well. That was a topic she definitely did not want to get into right then, and least of all with Drakken's mother who had her own agenda on the matter.

Mrs. Lipsky had opted for nicer attire for the evening as well, choosing a conservative charcoal sheath dress with a floral teal and peach floral sweater and pearls.

"Dr. D.," Shego said quickly, stepping away from the mad scientist and leaving him looking very exposed as he waved at his mother and attempted a weak smile through kiss-swollen lips. "Shouldn't you and your mother hurry to make your reservation on time?"

"Ahh...y-yes. But first," Drakken said, turning and nearly tripping over his feet as he hurried to pick up his mother's gift from the bed. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

The irritated crinkle at the older woman's eyes softened as her frown bloomed into a smile.

"Roses! And chocolate! Oh Drewbie, you shouldn't have!"

"O-Only the best for you, Mother," Drakken said as he presented the gift with a nervous smile.

"Marzipan! My favorite!" Mama Lipsky said after plopping one of the chocolates into her mouth.

"Of course! Now...Shego was right, we'd best get going," Drakken said. He began looking around for his suit coat, and then stopped short when he found Shego holding it up for him, a smirk on her face.

"Aw, she's so thoughtful Drew!" Mama Lipsky said, smiling fondly at Shego as she closed the chocolate box. "Dear, would you mind putting these in water for me until we get back?"

"Sure," Shego replied, smoothing Drakken's jacket over his shoulders.

She received the flowers from the woman a moment later, who squeezed her hand with a grateful smile before turning toward the door. Without the watchful gaze of older generation, Drakken turned worried eyes back upon Shego. All of his fears from the rambling of before were spoken in the inky blue of his irises, and Shego was tempted to give him a shove toward the door as a way of telling him to knock it off. Instead, she leaned in to let her lips graze his ear, speaking so softly she could hardly hear her own voice.

"She'll always have faith in you. Besides, you saved the world. You've accomplished more than she could have ever dreamed. Have some faith in her."

Shego felt again the release of tension from Drakken's frame as she adjusted the medal over his tie. She smirked again when he pulled away, the light of hope having returned to her lover's eyes.

"Coming, Drewbie?"

"Yes...yes, Mother," Drakken said and turned to go, confidence back in his stride.

Shego tilted her head down to smell the flowers as the two left. It was a strange new world they'd found themselves in since the invasion, but, some things would always be constants.

"Now, Drew, on the phone you'd said there was something you wanted to tell me...?"

#kim possible #drakgo #drakken #shego #drakken x shego #mama lipsky #fanfiction #drew lipsky #ficwip #hey sweetheart #sweetheart2024

[capturethechaos]

In collaboration with - @earthlysorrows

Masterlist

Josh Kiszka x Reader

Words - 2.9k

Warnings - 18+ONLY, explicit sexual content, NSFW, smut, oral (m!receiving)

a/n - the first Shake My Faith blurb!!! Took a hot sec to get this out oops, but it's here!

“Daddy you have room for just one more! Please!!” The small voice pleaded from below, looking upwards at her father with eyes of a doe. 

“You said that for the last one.” He teased, fully prepared to accept one more paper sticker pressed against his skin. Anything for his little girl. 

“But THIS one’s a sparkly unicorn!” She clasped the paper in her hands to hold it up to Josh “See, isn’t it pretty!” 

“Okay you win. Go on, but this is the last one and then you go to bed.” He laughed. “Before your mother comes in here and gets us in trouble.” 

Her high pitched giggling drew the corners of Josh’s lips upwards as her little fingers tried desperately to pull the sticker away from the backing. 

When she finally got it off, she perfectly placed it within the small spattering of stickers littering his stomach. “Perfect!” 

Celeste looked up at Josh as if he had hung the moon and stars, breaking her stare only when she heard you walk into the living room. “Mommy look, I made daddy pretty!”

Your eyes flickered to your husband, lounging against the back of the couch, his tee shirt lifted to expose the sun kissed skin of his navel, littered with sparkly stickers. 

He did look pretty.

“He looks beautiful, sweetheart. Now, let’s get you to bed.” You made your way over to her, extending your hand for her to take. She offered no verbal response to your request, simply choosing to give you the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. “I know, hun, but we’re going to the water park with uncle Jake and auntie Stevie tomorrow, so you’ve got to rest so that you’ll have all the energy to play all day.”

You seemed to have convinced her, and she eagerly took your hand, jumping off the couch and pulling on your arm to drag you toward her bedroom. You looked back, noticing Josh seemingly about to stand from the couch, and you stopped. “You, don’t move, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

You could see the beginnings of a wicked grin growing on his lips as you turned back to follow your daughter. It was a short journey to her room, and the second the door was open she ran to her bed, jumping onto the mattress as you walked to her dresser to pick out a fresh pair of pajamas for her. 

“Come on, Cece, let’s get you changed then we have to brush your teeth.” You walked over to her with the pajamas, and she looked up at you, a beaming grin causing her little dimples to show as she reached for the clothing.

You simply leaned against her door frame, waiting for her to change, something she had recently insisted on doing herself, and you weren’t about to argue with her about it. So you watched as she fumbled with the cuffed end of her pant leg, huffing to herself and leaving her foot tucked within the fabric as she pulled the sleep shirt on. 

She was ultimately defeated by the pajamas when she got the shirt turned around as she tried to pull it on, ending up with a backwards shirt and pants that pulled her down as she tried to take a step. She looked up at you, a spitting image of your husband as she plopped down on her mattress and let out a dramatic sigh. “Mommy, help please.”

You pushed yourself off of the door, making your way over to her and kneeling in front of her. “You’ve got to be careful, love. You almost fell.”

You straightened out her shirt, helping her to pull her little arms through the correct holes. She was looking up at you when you finished readjusting her shirt as if you somehow had the answer to any question in the universe. “Sorry.”

Though her voice was hushed, you heard her just fine, and you gently helped her pull her foot through the cuff of her pant leg. “No need to apologize, my sweet girl. Everyone puts their shirts on backwards sometimes.”

“Even you and daddy?”

You smiled, standing up and helping her to safely step off of her bed. “Yes, even me and daddy.”

The biggest huff of relief fell from the smallest body in the room. As if realizing that it was okay if she wasn’t as perfect as her parents seemed to be.

The two of you made your way to the bathroom, and you watched as she proudly brushed her teeth as you sang a song to her. She made sure to flash her pearly white teeth to you once she was done, earning a thumbs up from you before she ran back to her bedroom. 

You followed close behind, watching her as she threw herself onto her bed and pushed the covers down enough for her to settle onto the mattress.  “Do you and daddy mess up a lot?” 

“Everyone messes up, it’s a part of life. It’s how you handle those mess ups that matter.” You leaned down to kiss her cheek as you pulled her fluffy purple comforter up right under her chin. 

“I love you Cece-bug. Forever and always.” 

“I love you too, mommy.” You leaned forward to click on the small little nightlight sitting upon her bedside table. Little stars illuminated her ceiling, showing where the constellations currently rested within the real sky at this very hour. She would always watch them so intently to put herself to sleep. But tonight, tonight she was neary snoring by the time the stars clicked to life. 

With feet as light as feathers you tiptoed away from her room, being cautious to not let the hardwood flooring creak below you. 

Josh was already staring through the archway as you made your way back toward the living room, a smile growing in his face as he observed the relaxed expression on your face. “Everyone tucked in bed?” 

You nodded as you melted onto the couch, more so onto your husband really. “She was out like a light the second her head hit the pillow.”

He had removed his shirt in the time you were gone, allowing you to feel the heat of his skin beneath your cheek as you rested your head on his chest. “How was Cal tonight, still fussy?”

His fingers found their way to your scalp, gently brushing through the tangles in your hair, earning a hum of approval from you. “He wasn’t too bad, I think he was just overtired from playing with Cece outside today.”

One of his hands swept along your jaw, stopping once his fingers were beneath your chin to lift your gaze to him. “Well, my love. What would you like to do now that they’re asleep? We could take a nice bath, or watch a movie, or we could just go to sleep if that’s what you’d like.”

You smiled, feeling his hand slip out from under your chin, and turned to press a kiss to his open palm before letting your lips meet the smooth skin of his chest. Your hand traced along the delicate curves of his torso, and he watched with a confused look as you glanced up at him when your fingers caught the edge of a sticker. You peeled it from his skin and lifted it so that you both could see it. “She really had the time of her life with these didn’t she?”

Josh chuckled, the rumble of his chest vibrating through you as he took the sticker from between your fingers and placed it on the small table bedside the couch. “She seemed to enjoy herself.”

You giggled at his statement, your lips finding their way back to his skin as his fingers began to trace along your scalp again. He watched, with a small but wicked grin, as you leisurely kissed your way down his body. When your lips met the edge of a sticker, your eyes flickered up to meet his, your free hand slowly peeling it from the space above his belly button before the space was taken up once again, this time by your lips. 

“Now it seems like you’re enjoying yourself…” His breathy words flowed out smoothly, his eyes locked upon your actions. Josh adjusted on the couch, lowering his hips to allow easier access for sticker removal. 

“Maybe a little.” Your sultry words flowed right above a small rainbow sticker to the side of his belly button. You nipped at the skin, finishing the love bite off by gently peeling the paper by your teeth.   

You felt his breath hitch as you pulled away, eyes locked onto the back of your head as he silently begged for more. With the removal of each sticker, a gentle kiss was left in its place. The closer you got to the waistband of his shorts, the heavier his breathing got, and as your hand brushed the length of his covered cock, a whimper floated from between his lips into the tranquil evening air.

There was no hesitation from him in assisting you as you peeled the remaining two layers of clothing from his body, leaving him lying bare beneath you, eyes locked on your every movement as you leaned forward to press a kiss in the soft divots of his hips, both hands gripping the firm muscle of his thighs. 

“You know Josh…” You began, mesmerized by the sight before you as if it were your first time with him. Your hands rubbed up and down his thigh so slowly it had Josh sinking his teeth into his bottom lip. “There are only a few things I praise in this world,” you kissed his hip “but your cock is my favorite.”

The delicate whimper from above gave you all the confidence you needed to move those kisses from his hips to his throbbing shaft. The vein pulsed beneath your tongue as you traced a small line up to the tip. 

“Is that so, angel?” The words came out in the softest of purrs. As you raised your gaze to nod directly at him you were awestruck by his expression. His lower jaw was hung limp as he slowly breathed out of his mouth. Chest heaving with anticipation. His eyes staring directly through you like a predator watching its prey’s every move, seconds from pouncing. “Go on then. Prove it.”

 He didn’t need to instruct you any further, as your lips wrapped around the perfectly formed head of his cock. You let every single inch of him glide along your tongue with relative ease, and were rewarded with a long, drawn out and raspy 'fuuck' from above you. 

The warmth of Josh’s hands wrapped around to find a place on the back of your head. His fingers curled into your hair to gently grab hold of a few sections of your locks. “Just like that, baby.” He managed to praise under his breath. 

Your mouth slowed around him as you let your tongue teasingly trace every vein you could find. Growing impatient, that grip upon the back of your head pushed you down as his hips bucked upwards. 

He realized quickly what he had done, releasing his hand from your head as you pulled yourself off of his cock. You lifted your gaze to his face, finding a look of worry painted on his features. The expression melted away quickly when he saw the relaxed smirk on your lips. “Patience, Joshua.”  

You loved it. The way the simple words that flowed from your mouth brought forth a sense of submission from him. To be honest his impatience and eagerness was something that always excited you. The want to feel wanted. 

So as he sat there, controlling the urge to thrust his hips, you looked up to revel in the beauty his parted lips held. Appreciate the haze in his lust filled eyes. To think your husband, the father of your children, could be reduced down to such a puddle just because you had your mouth wrapped around his cock. 

His whimpers and groans kept you in your steady, unwavering pace and it wasn’t long before the twitch of his cock told you exactly how far Josh was from release. 

You quickly switched from your mouth to just your hand, earning a curiously disappointed frown from the man above you. “Stand.” 

At your demand he did exactly as you said, standing before you to look down at you kneeling for him. Your mouth reconnected with him, continuing exactly where you had left off. 

When you could feel the pulsating against your tongue you opened your mouth wide, tongue extended outwards. Your eyes were locked on his, and the sight alone brought a bead of sweat running down his temple. 

“Fuck, angel, wanna watch that pretty tongue get covered with my cum.” He grunted, so close to the edge as your hand took over where your mouth left off.

You watched his eyes roll back, fluttering closed as you squeezed just the slightest bit tighter over the tip, and your lips turned up in a mischievous smirk. You leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the delicate skin at the base, keeping your eyes locked on his face as you spoke. “Hard to watch with your eyes closed, baby.”

His eyes peeled open, fighting against his lust heavy eyelids to watch as you slowly ran your tongue along the length of his cock. He lasted a few more strokes before his orgasm had him lifting both of his hands to cover his face, a desperate attempt to remain quiet.

You couldn’t blame him for needing to close his eyes once he had finally released all he had to give onto your tongue, nor could you blame him for falling back onto the couch. You simply remained kneeling in front of him, watching as he slowly regulated his breathing. Eventually his eyes opened once again, a drowsy grin playing on his lips as his eyes finally locked onto you. “Always so good to me, angel.”

He leaned forward, placing two fingers beneath your chin to keep your eyes locked on his as he swiped his thumb from the corner of your mouth, across your bottom lip. “Seems like you missed a bit, babe.”

Your lips turned to a smirk and you parted them just enough for his thumb to slide between them. Your tongue pressed against the pad of his thumb, cleaning the cum from it before releasing it with a soft ‘pop’.

Once the two of you were finally able to break the intense stare you had found yourself locked in, Josh helped you stand from the floor, and promptly accepted your help when you offered a hand to get off the couch. There were no words necessary as the two of you made your way upstairs, you both made a b-line for the bathroom, and while you were warming up the water, he pulled towels from the closet for the both of you.

It was a brief shower, just long enough for each of you to clean yourselves. Josh left you in the bathroom to do your skincare routine, knowing how much you appreciated the moment to yourself at the end of the day. When you finally reentered your bedroom, he was strewn out over the sheets, his eyes closed and his hand over his chest as it slowly rose and fell. 

You stopped walking when your thighs gently pressed into the plush mattress, staring at the wall ahead of you as you separated your hair into sections, slowly weaving them around each other in a simple braid. You were so lost in the action that you didn’t notice Josh opening his eyes and seeing you, or how he crawled across the bed to get to you, what drew your attention was the soft pressure of his hands as they trailed up your sides. You watched with a raised brow as he tugged at the towel that you had wrapped around you, continuing to braid as he leaned forward to press a kiss to the center of your chest. “Whatcha doing, babe?”

He hummed against your skin as he began littering kisses across the tops of each of your breasts. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

A small giggle escaped you as you wrapped a hair tie around the end of your braid. When your hands were finally free, they found purchase in the soft curls that covered Josh’s head, pulling him away from your chest and tilting it up to look at you. “How are you still in the mood?” 

He leaned into your grasp, turning just enough to press a soft kiss to your wrist before looking up at you. “If it means I am giving or receiving pleasure from you, baby, I’m always in the mood.”

“I gave you a blowjob like half an hour ago.”

He smiled, lifting his hands to your own and gently coaxing them from his hair as he lifted himself to be level with you as he leaned forward, pressing his lips to your own. “And now it’s my turn to make you feel good, angel.”

If you’d like to be added to the taglist, send me a dm, ask, or fill out my taglist form!

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#josh kiszka #josh gvf #josh kiszka x reader #josh kiszka imagine #josh kiszka smut #greta van fleet imagine #greta van fleet smut

[trashytoastboi]

Hi! Could you do a Kin'emon x female reader? I didn't see almost anything about him and the scabbards...

I thought about a nsfw where Kin' is cheating his wife with (s/o).

Thank you!

Heyya! Sure thing bean~ So sorry for the late reply on this but I'm not gonna lie I've been sitting on this completed, for like... two weeks now.🍀 Hope you enjoy nevertheless!

NSFW Scenario: Kin'emon x F! Reader. - Moonlight Rendezvous

(Female Pronouns)

Warning NSFW: ( Infidelity, fingering, riding, pretty vanilla overall~)  

Word count: 2,090 words

🦊Kin'emon🦊

The wind picked up, almost as if a storm would be approaching but there was not a single cloud in sight. Maybe it was by chance, Kin'emon drew another sip of sake. The sweet alcohol that seeped into his bones to help ease the sorrow and worry. The fond reminiscing of better times. He seemed to dwell in thought, thinking of the loneliness that accompanied his stark loyalty as a retainer. A role he had been faithful to for many years and planned to until the end of his life. His mind and body were constantly fixated, and so focused on fighting and surviving that other comforts became unattainable. The low heat the alcohol caused in Kin'emon felt soothed by the pleasant breeze that blew through the cracks of the abandoned ruins of Kuri castle. He turned to the side to face his companion while drinking for the evening. He recalled the words {Name} spoke earlier "Misery loves company and drinking alone is boring." Perhaps it was the alcohol talking, Kin'emon previously didn't pay too much attention to things like attraction. He watched a bit of the sake dribble from the cup and down her lips, his thoughts wandered into a dangerous place. Kin'emon never paid any attention but right now he noticed just how beautiful she is. He'd always found her to be a breaktaking person. Strong in more ways than one and the way her silhouette seemed to shine between the warm glow of the lantern and the cold moonlight from the caved in ceiling. It all proved dazzling beyond reason to his mind clouded by alcohol.

Her gentle smile, those tired but bright eyes that always seemed so clear and confident. {Name} possessed a unique energy and radiance. Kin'emon finished his sake and followed the thought "If it's her...I could indulge..." He paused, shocked at his own thoughts. How could he consider {Name} in such a manner? 

She turned to face him wondering why the conversation suddenly fell silent. {Name} looked up to see Kin’emon closing the space between the two of them. A pleasant, unfamiliar warmth graced her lips. The sweetness of the kiss was further complimented by the taste of sake that seeped into her mouth. Such a tender kiss was truly unexpected from a man as stoic as Kin’emon. There was a subtle pause for breath and permission, she could not bring herself to push him away and felt herself sinking into the heat the kiss brought. 

They sank further, the kisses grew deeper and hotter, more intent in their purpose to rile one another up. Kin’emon pulls away abruptly, “I apologize.” He murmured, {Name} shook her head to dismiss the needless apology. She leaned in and initiated a kiss of her own if only to show him that she did not mind his affections. His hands shakily reached for her waist, and he pulled her onto his lap. The abandoned castle lacked most basic amenities, with the lack of any proper surface such as a bed or futon, Kin’emon deemed it a shame to lay her in the debris. He awkwardly adjusted the way he sat, to accommodate {Name} straddling him. 

Kin’emon held her in the perfect position to push {Name} away, or pull her in closer. The conflict on what to do meant inaction. {Name} took the first step, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and brought herself closer. The subtle agitation of her hips grinding against him caught Kin’emon off guard. {Name} pressed a soft kiss to his lips, “Kin? Should I stop?” {Name} questioned, seeing his expression had changed. She felt as if she were crossing a line. In a sense {Name} was right, she had been crossing a line, albeit unknowingly. Kin’emon had not once mentioned his wife, the fact that he was married or anything along those lines. So far as {Name} knew, Kin’emon was a single man, married to his role as a retainer. The hesitation made her anxious and she decided it would be best to stop, however, Kin’emon’s firm grip kept her planted on his lap. “I’m sorry my mind was elsewhere.” Kin’emon spoke. 

“It’s alright, it’s probably better if we stopped anyway.” {Name} stated with a bittersweet smile, unable to fully hide her regretful expression. Kin’emon wrangled with the thoughts of his wife, with twenty long years that have passed since they last met. He doubted she waited for him, nor was there any guarantee of her being around anymore. The thought upset him, but the alcohol and impulsivity of the moment drove him towards the warmth and comfort {Name} provided. 

Whether it was a bad decision or not, Kin’emon already decided he would regret it when he was sober. RIght now he would drive every other thought away. Kin’emon was so lost in thought, it made {Name} feel awkward, she didn’t know his thoughts and opened her mouth to speak to provide some reassurance that they could forget about this. As she opened her mouth to speak, an aggressive and passionate kiss quickly silenced her. He pulled her closer, his hands guided her hips, something of a preview of what’s to come when he rutted up against her. 

He touched her gently and clumsily, it was not inexperience but something that felt more along the lines of being out of practice. In contrast to all his fervent passions, his calloused hands caressed her skin and body as if she were fragile and ever so precious. Kin’emon roughly tugged at her kimono causing it to fall open and reveal her chest. {Name} gasped softly, perhaps the surprise at how straight forward he is, or a combination of the cold wind hitting against her skin. 

His hands trailed up, roughly grabbing her tits, his mouth nipped and kissed down her neck leading down her chest. He felt her warm skin under his palms, he squeezed. Marveling at the feeling, {Name} looked at him and had to stifle a laugh. Seeing him entranced by her chest made him look innocent. Without warning he traced his tongue over the soft skin and sank his teeth in leaving a rather prominent mark. {Name} whined, and blushed from his primal actions especially when he gazed at her with those lustful eyes. {Name} had to admit it to herself, more than anyone, despite how gentle and sheep-like Kin’emon usually was, right now he proved himself as a starved wolf. She underestimated him. 

Gods knew he needed more, this didn’t feel like enough. {Name} felt as if she was being devoured and swept away in his pace. She struggled to keep up with it. Kin’emon was so desperate to lose himself at this moment and forget about everything else. His teeth grazed her flesh, his hands pushed the kimono up and made their way up her thighs. “Kin…” she whispered breathlessly, he pulled away licking his lips. The disheveled look on the always prim man added an odd point of attraction, even when dressed in tatters he kept himself presentable as a point of pride as his role as a retainer. Seeing him looking so unkempt riled {Name} up more.

Kin’emon had planned on being polite, charming maybe even romantic but the impatience took over before he could really be thoughtful in his actions. He was truly running on impulse and instinct. He groaned in frustration from holding himself back, without waiting or warning he slipped a finger inside {Name} she gasped, and softly moaned. “I’m sorry, I need you so much. I cannot wait much longer.” His voice sounded coarse, he was trying to be patient and failing. His lips crashed against hers again, and again. A second finger slips in, he thrusts them faster. {Name} moaned and held onto his shoulders for stability, she felt his long fingers giving an almost practiced motion that brushed against all of her good spots. {Name} would blame the alcohol for her mind being so blank, she could sense that growing feeling starting from the pit of her stomach. “Kin…It’s alright now.” She muttered, “No, not yet.” Kin’emon curtly responded intent on having her cum on his fingers.  

It didn’t take much longer before she unraveled, {Name} tightened her grip as her body shook. He bit her lip to contain her moans and whimpers. He smirked seeing her in the afterglow of her orgasm. She truly is a gorgeous woman. He groaned with his inability to wait any longer, {Name} nodded her head. Her permissive behavior and ready agreement were all he needed. “I could-” she lowered her hand, he quickly seized it. “As much as I would love whatever you were planning, I need you right now.” He practically whined, shuffling awkwardly to raise his kimono enough to free himself. {Name} didn’t really know but to expect, but a man of his stature he appeared excessively proportionate. He pushed into her, sputtering over how tight she felt around him while he inched further. He grunted out curse words, practically unable to string together a full sentence to fully describe the pleasure. She felt breathless, not knowing what to thank; the lust, the alcohol or how he hastily attempted to prepare her beforehand. The combination probably made it easily but she still struggled with how imposing his size felt on her body. 

He wanted to start moving immediately, he looked up to see her expression. Her face held an obvious look of strain, she whimpered with every minuscule movement. His desperation settled for a moment, enough to give her a series of slow and meticulous kisses with reassurance in his intention. He held her body still, trying to give {Name} a moment to adjust, he kissed her neck and caressed her back with his wandering hands. “So beautiful…” He commented, barely above a whisper. Had they not been in their own world she would have missed it. 

Starting off with a slow movement, she began to rock her hips. {Name} leaned her head back, feeling the utmost pressure even from the slow movements, she tried to keep quiet knowing all of their crewmates were sleeping not too far from the ruined castle. His cock brushed against every sensitive spot she possessed, she leaned back ignoring the pain and began to pick up the pace. Kin’emon shut his eyes, he felt so close even though they just started, he was already being overwhelmed. He could hear every soft mew and whimper of his name. It riled him up all the more, he leaned against the crumbling walls as he enjoyed this moment. The pace they kept was neither fast nor rough, unlike their build up to this moment or their actions only mere minutes ago. 

He opened his eyes, drinking in the sight of her moving with so much drive, he almost wanted to let out a laugh. His hands tightened on her waist and he took control of the pace, he brought her down harder and faster, {Name’s} moans got louder, she didn’t care if anyone heard them. She tried to meet his timing, if he could he would have pinned her down. Though he didn’t want to throw her into the dirt or debris of the castle floor. 

She mindlessly babbled and begged, going on about how good it felt or how close she was. Kin’emon didn’t slow down, hearing her only made him more intent. Watching her fall apart, and getting drunk off the pleasure was pure bliss to him. Kin’emon groaned, he did not want to let go of her, nor her warmth. His release was fast approaching, he wanted to stay just like this. As his orgasm wracked throughout his body, he pulled out and ended up cumming on her kimono, not that she minded. Kin’emon slumps against the crumbling wall and catches his breath, {Name} leans against him. There were no words shared, a comfortable silence settled and they just enjoyed enjoy’s company and warmth until {Name} regained the feeling in her legs. 

Bonus: The next morning the call for breakfast had been made, gathering the crew, along with their other allies. {Name} and Kin noticed a fair share of bashful glances, awkward coughs and some curious side-eyes. They tried to eat their breakfast unaffected and not knowing what had the rest of their allies acting so out of the ordinary, if anything a lot of them seemed quite tired. {Name} and Kin’emon mutually were too busy dealing with their hangovers to really care, or know that they had woken up the crew with their antics. 

#one piece #kin'emon the foxfire #kin'emon #trashytoastboi #unholytoast #one piece imagines #one piece scenarios #kin'emon x reader #female reader #female pronouns #smut #lemon #ns.fw #fluff

[mightymizora]

What drew Glim and Manva to their love interests? Was there an instant connection between them, or was it more of a gradual build-up? What's their favorite things about their respective LIs?

Bonus question: Is there anything about their romances that went differently in your canon than it did in-game?

Hey Sunny! Thanks for another damn great question!

With Glim, there was a definite friends-to-lovers connection with Gale. I think she immediately liked him, but didn't necessarily see him romantically at the start. Just a nice guy, and so easy to talk to! Wow, he really can talk, and he's so charming! She does realise she's falling for him a liiittle sooner than he realises the same - I like the interpretation that he's as surprised as she is when she imagines the kiss during the weave connection (which I guess is a slight deviation from canon since he did kind of set up that "date".) But she convinces herself that it's one sided for a long, long time, even as Gale is trying to expressly admit the opposite - she's genuinely quite taken aback when he tells her he loves her.

Her favourite thing is impossible, she loves so much about him! But I think his curiosity is up there. She loves how he is a problem solver, is so quick and probing and so full of passion for the world. She finds an equal in him, and it is all she could have wished for.

The slight deviation, though really it's just a heightening of canon, is that they almost break up and have some REALLY rough arguments in act 3. Between the crown, the ironhand gnomes, and the death of her mother, there are some big emotions flying about.

For Manva... well, I think she meets people where they are. Gortash definitely pursued her for a long time, like years, before she finally kissed him. Lae'zel, Astarion, and Minthara all propositioned her (for very different reasons across the board.) The only person she didn't respond to was Ketheric, which was much more of an experiment for her in "what would happen if?"

There's LOTS of changes to canon, lol. For one Durgetash really isn't canon (sorry guys) and I definitely HC that she snuck back to see him at least once between the coronation and the end of the game. And obviously Ketheric happens way before the game, and is again, a fun flavour. Astarion is pretty much exactly as it is in game; he propositions her because he is scared for his safety, and they stop when they start to become actual friends. Also though the game doesn't allow it, Manva is with Lae'zel and Minthara, at least for a little while. Things peter out with Lae'zel, but at that point her and Minthara also grow closer, which is different from the game!

I'd say her favourite thing about Gortash... is difficult, because I don't know how much she really likes him. They're extremely co-dependent, which is a bit of a different thing, really. I think she likes his mind a lot, likes when they can be quiet and just... be together, which never lasts. She loves Lae'zel's spirit and power and assured nature, and when she starts to change and doubt herself, that causes a rift between them. She loves Minthara's strength of character, and also that she has such faith in her, which she needs desperately. And Ketheric isn't love, but she (wrongly) sees him as being very kind to her... poor thing.

#long post #this was SO interesting to think about #manva warhelm #glimmergris

[leesielex]

So warning time, I am about to go on a rant. I am so sick of anti-Dany incels saying Daenerys will go mad and burn KL and Jon will kill her. There will be 3 parts to this rant, 1 discussing Targ madness, 2 defending Dany which we have all heard before with the arguments they use, then lastly comparing her to other lauded characters who are never questioned or vilified like her. If you don't want to hear a pro-Dany rant, then stop now.

So let's start with, are Targs more likely to go mad? I don't believe so, In fact very few Targs have ever been mad. Maegar for example was ruthless and cruel, much like Tywin, but he wasn't truly mad. The faith of the seven was about to kill and murder (and quite possibly succeeded in doing so with a few) the rest of their line. Yes, he went overboard and his cruelty was unmatched, he was evil, but mad? No.

King Baelor was a religious zealot, does that make him mad? We see what religious extremism can do and it's prevalent even today in Christianity with the alt-right white nationalist extremist and in Muslim extremists like Isis. I will say, we could arguably say this is a form of madness, though many sane people can take this route.

Prince Rhaegal was considered mad for dancing naked in the Red Keep. Um, is this really a sign of madness? Have we not all danced naked when home alone? Have we not all gotten drunk and done something stupid. I definitely wouldn't define that as mad and more so label it as anti-Targ propaganda from the Seven and Maesters.

Aerion was also pretty mad since he thought he could drink wildfire and survive. I also have to wonder if with what we know now if he wasn't driven mad by dragon dreams and the knowledge of the others returning. But we will go with yes cause that is not a sane thought and action.

Aerys was cruel and evil, and paranoid, and by the definition, absolutely mad. Though after duskendale, can we really blame him for being 'paranoid'. People were truly out to get him, they already had, and rebellion was brewing long before he burned and murdered people. Though arguably I would consider him mad.

Viserys? Yeah, I also hesitate to label him mad. He was cruel and weak and a narcissist obsessed with returning home and gaining his birthright, but he wasn't insane. Nor more than any other cruel and selfish character in ASOAIF. But even if we include Viserys, that makes 4 mad Targaryen's out of hundreds over 3 centuries. You can't tell me in 300 years no other families had 4 members who were mad. They just didn't have the power and popularity for it to be well known or for it to matter much to anyone else. Its a bit ridiculous that people think Targs will go mad no matter what when only 4 previous ones have.

SO, Part 2, Why people think Dany is foreshadowed as going mad. She watched Viserys die, didn't try to stop it or care. Oh, you mean the brother who abused her for years, would have raped her had Illyrio not planned for it and had guards posted to maintain her virginity for her wedding, then sold her into slavery for an army? Yes, Dany was a slave, viewed only as property, to produce sons for a warlord. Then, he continued to beat her as she tried to acclimate to the life he forced upon her, tried to steal from her, even as she tried to help him acclimate as well. Viserys never had to come with the Dothraki, as Illyrio offered for him to stay with him in his manse until they were ready to go to Westeros. But he couldn't relinquish his control over Dany. What led to his ultimate death, and Dany's reaction, or inital lackthereof, he drew steel inside their city where no weapons can be drawn, breaking Dothraki law and already a death sentence. He could have been saved, but then he threatened to murder Dany and her unborn child, in front of Khal Drogo so also threatening him and his property. The Dothraki follow strength. If Dany had stood up against Drogo in favor of her brother, or shown any emotions at all, she would have lost favor with her people and Khal Drogo, she may have even been punished in some way for questioning his authority, and Viserys would have been killed anyway. She was smart enough to know this. What we do see is her regret later on, her guilt, and love for her brother. This in no way foreshadows cruelty or madness, as she had no choice but to stand by and we see her remorse throughout the books, even in ADWD.

Dany was a slaver who murdered her slave. Ugh, just, it's always white people who say this BS, I swear. Oh, you mean she murdered a woman she tried to save, who then tricked her into sacrificing her unborn child for Drogo's life, knowing full well what Drogo would be when he returned, then happily told her she would never carry another child, bragging about what she had done to her? Miri Maz Duri killed her child and cursed her womb and bragged about it. Was Dany naive in thinking she could save Miri and that she would be grateful? Absolutely. She didn't know she had already been raped many times, she was naive and ignorant. Is it a sign of madness or cruelty? Only if you consider every noble character who carries out an execution when someone commits murder. "But she told Dany not to go in the tent." Yes, knowing full well the sacrifice would cause Dany to go into pre-term labor and she would have to enter the tent. That was Miri's plan from the beginning. Oh, but Drogo didn't listen to Miri and it was Dany's fault for asking her to save Drogo. Yes, Dany was naive and she has to live with her part for being naive, but again, Miri knew what she was doing and knew it may not work and he would probably not listen to him. Miri isn't stupid, nor naive, and knows Drogo won't listen to a woman, especially a lamb woman.

Dany massacres the slave masters. REALLY??? So you think its a-ok for those slave masters to enslave, torture, mutilate, sell, buy, and murder men, women, AND LITTLE CHILDREN, including babies! They had slaves murder slave babies and PAID the other slave masters! They crucified 163 children alive and let them die a slow, torturous death. But, some of them were against crucifying children! Yes, but they still owned people, and even a well-treated slave is still viewed as disposable property and punished or killed when they disobey. And for those that said their family member was against the crucifying of the children, she gave the family full honor burial rights, paid them for their loss, and tried to make it right. Because Dany cares, and when she makes mistakes, she owns up to them and tries to make them right. Mad people do not do that.

In Qarth, and other times, she threatened to burn cities to the ground. Well, no, she didn't. The show made that change. Qarth welcomed her in immediately, happy to host her. The show made a lot of changes to Dany, especially from season 3 on. They made all her intelligent and successful strategies in Essos go to the men around her, like Ser Jorah and Daario. In the book, we see her make those decisions and weigh them all carefully. And she doesn't just lose her temper and want to massacre and burn entire cities. She does get angry, when her own people are being murdered by the Sons of the Harpies, and make mistakes. But again, she rectifies them as soon as she realizes she messed up and tries to do better.

She let the Shavepate torture children. No, she did not. They worked in a tavern, where whores worked. The father owned the tavern, and they tortured his adult children. Dany has shown over and over again she will not harm children. She takes children of the masters hostages, a common practice in ASOIAF (Jon Snow does this with the wildlings on the Wall), and even when those families continue to rebel against Dany, she refuses to harm those children, though many are telling her she must, including the Westerosi council she keeps. And when the torture yeilds no results, she ends it and feels guilt and remorse. Again, not something a mad person does.

Irri is her slave that she rapes. No, Irri is her handmaiden, that Dany doesn't ask to please her, but Irri starts it entirely. Dany immediately feels guilty, worrying that Irri may be conditioned to think she must do this and not actually want to and it makes Dany feel sick. Irri tries again and tells her it is a great honor to please her, basically begs her to. Dany does slip one time, and does let Irri do it, who is pleased to do so, but again, Dany feels guilt and remorse, and disgust, and tells her no and to leave her be, something a mad person wouldn't do. Let's not pretend almost any other character in asoiaf, save for Jon but only because HE is thinking of his bastardy, would ever decline.

Dany free slaves, and always tries her best to be fair. In her POVS we see her constantly weighing her actions, trying to be the best person, to help the most people, and be as kind and just as possible, which is actually her biggest weakness. We see her worry about ever becoming like her father or Viserys and how heavily her power and responsibility and the actions of her family weigh upon her, which is something mad people won't do, they don't weigh their actions, think of every possible way to be as kind and just and to make the world better. Mad people don't know they are mad, and she constantly worries the things she must do to lead will make her a monster. And as she rightly points out, power is terrible, and she must sometimes do terrible things, even be a monster. She locks her children, her dragons up, FFS, because they MAY have harmed an innocent child. Personally, I think it was BS by the Sons of Harpies to neuter her biggest weapons, but either way, she did that and felt horrible for the child and father, and did her best to rectify it, though she knew nothing could replace the child.

Here is GRRM's own quote about the heroes in ASOIAF; "My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results...but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight."

This quote fits Daenerys better than anyone else. She is actively trying to end slavery. We know her intentions are to make the world a better place than anything else. She has succeeded and she has failed, she has mixed results, but she is fighting the good fight.

Well, she went mad and burned KL in the show. GRRM has stated he gets further away from season 8. That after season 3ish, they consulted him less and less, and after season 4, they consulted him basically none. In Season 3, D&D asked GRRM how it all ends and they state; He told us 3 shocking moments, the Hodor scene and where the name comes from, the burning of Shireen, and King Bran. That's it. They were quick to point out, especially after the burning of Shireen, that George gave them that.

What do they say about Daenerys burning KL and Jon killing her? They take the credit themselves! They say, "we came up with that around season 3", ironically the season they stepped further and further from GRRM. Coincidence? LOL! I doubt it. That is never accredited to George and they always take credit for that. Just as they do for Sansa taking Jeyne Poole's place with Ramsay. If King Bran is the ending that came from GRRM what do you think is the different ending? Well, Arya killing the night king will not happen in the books. It's another thing D&D take credit for, and Dany will not be a Mad Queen that Jon will kill.

Even if Dany did go mad and burn an entire city to the ground, Jon would NOT be the one to kill her. How do we know this? Well, Jon is the one most like Ned Stark, the one who emulates his honor as best he can. Ned Stark despised Jaime Lannister for KILLING THE MAD KING. Why would Ned Stark dislike Jaime for killing the Mad King when Ned was actively rebelling against him after he murdered his brother and father and called for his own head? Because Jaime was pledged to serve King Aerys, and said vows to protect him! In the world of Westeros, the manner in which Jaime killed Aerys is dishonorable. Not only did he break his vows, he did not kill Aerys the 'proper way', which Ned Stark says 'we owe it to a man to look him in the eye and hear his last word as we give the sentence and swing the sword.' In other words, they must know they are being sentenced to die, and we must be able to look them into their eyes and hear their last words to swing the sword. Jon would never kiss Dany and break his vows.

Jon would also never become a kinslayer. Cursed is the kinslayer, a law of the GODS, as egregious as the Frey's breaking Guest Right. Ygritte tells Jon the tale of Bael the Bard, whose own son, a Stark, kills him not knowing he is his father. But Ygritte says, cursed is the Kinslayer, even the unknowing ones. Jon will know Dany is his kin, and would never be the one to kill her. Ygritte's entire storyline shows Jon likes warrior women and can't kill her because of what his father (Ned Stark) taught him.

Which brings me into part 3, comparing Dany's so called foreshadowed madness and cruelty to other characters. Jon Snow executes Janos Slint for simply not obeying a command. He doesn't stop his execution when Janos begs forgiveness and says he will obey. He murders him anyway. Jon blacks out in anger and almost beats his black brother to death all because he is thinking of Robb telling him he can't be Lord of Winterfell and is a bastard. He bullies and threatens Gilly into taking her baby and switching it with Mance's, putting her own child at risk to save the King Beyond the Wall's babe. Jon is more ruthless, more angry and volatile than Dany has ever been. Why is it that he is never once considered to go mad? Even before season 8? Even though we know he is also a Targaryen and will ride a dragon?

Arya murders the entire male Frey line in GOT Season 8, in the books she is a cold blood killer by ADWD and the WOW released chapter, but she isn't considered mad or cruel.

Sansa in GOT Season 8 kills Ramsay by letting his dogs rip him apart, why is this not dissected over and over again? Dany just doesn't stop her brothers execution and she is mad for it, but Sansa killing her abuser is YAS Queen, take your power back! She never once takes accountability for getting Ned killed (Its not her fault that he did, but her actions ultimately led to his death and she doesn't once think on her part in it). She isn't considered cruel for not caring Mycah was killed, takes no responsibility for LYING to protect getting power, becoming queen, and in return Lady is killed, instead she blames Arya. And as far as the books only, Sansa isn't considered mad or cruel for caring more about marrying Harry Hardyng and the plot to make him Lord and her Lady of the Vale, and gaining the North back in her power, giving her 2 kingdoms, knowing full well Sweetrobin has to die for that and in WOW released chapter, she knows Robin Arryn is being slowly poisoned and only hopes he has enough poison to not make a scene when she dances with Harry, even after she cared for and bonded with him and he tells her he dislikes Harry because he wants him dead to usurp him.

Stannis burns people alive, has helped raise his nephew as of late and his daughter loves Edric Storm (Gendry in the show), her cousin, yet he is planning to burn him alive and would have had Davos not saved him.

Robert kills for sport, enjoys killing, talks about it gleefully, like he gets off on it. And he didn't give one F that little innocent babes were brutally murdered for the throne he sat upon and refused to punish the Mountain and Amory Lorch for their brutality.

Tywin isn't considered mad, though he orchestrates the burning, pillaging, raping of the Riverlands and its people, the ending of the lines of Reynes and Tarbecks, the Red Wedding, nor the deaths of Elia and her children (And Elia's rape). He is just ruthless, and a great strategist.

Joffrey is rarely ever considered mad, though he kills and tortures for sport and fun. Though some consider him so, and of course blame the incest though Myrcella and Tommen aren't like that.

Cersei is the only other one considered mad. Truly, she is a bit mad, though a lot of it is her circumstances, her upbringing, her arrogance and cruelty, and little to do of anything else.

OH but Targs and incest make them mad. Then every character in GOT would be a little mad, cause have yall paid attention to their family trees? They are all incestous with Starks marrying Starks and Lannisters marrying Lannisters.

There is a reason that the only characters regularly considered mad are the only 2 Queens in the story. Its pretty obvious why, and its obvious why D&D got Dany's story so wrong. Like they thought it was subverting expectations that when women gain power they become hysterical mad women like that isn't the oldest trope in our patriarchal misogynistic world.

There is a reason HOD opened with 172 years before Daenerys Targaryen is BORN (IN THE BOOKS) and doesn't go by the show timeline. Otherwise, it would say 170 years before Daenerys Targaryen is born, as she was older and born earlier in the show. And there is a reason why they didn't go by the year of her DEATH. Because GRRM's ending is different! She is no meant to go mad, though she may end up becoming darker! She was always meant to be a hero! The story has always been about Jon and Dany coming together to defeat the Others; the song of Ice and Fire, and the farther we get from GOT, the more GRRM divulges that makes it more obvious to anyone paying attention and not wrapped up in their biased hate would easily see.

If you made it this far. By the Old Gods and the New you are a saint and a true Dany fan!

#daenerys targaryen #daenerys deserved better #daenerys defense squad #anti anti #these trolls have me frustrated #they missed the entire point of asoiaf

[superectojazzmage]

Okay, so review for Across The Spider-Verse

In short, it was exactly as amazing as hoped, arguably more so.

Absolutely brilliant writing, direction, animation, acting, everything. Takes everything the first movie did right and improves on it while pruning out its tiny few flaws. Continues to truly capture the spirit and feel of the comics and staying as faithful to them as possible while still doing it’s own thing. Demonstrates a remarkable understanding of the character of Spider-Man and his mythos. Genuine and earnest in all the right ways, never demeans or sneers at the source material but rather lavishes it with the love and respect it deserves. Just incredible work from everyone involved.

Some specific notes:

The acting is great. Oscar Isaac and Jason Schwartzman in particular are PERFECT and steal the show as Miguel O’Hara and the Spot. The returning actors like Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, and Hailee Steinfeld get to really show off their chops.

The humor and drama are balanced even better in this film than in the first one. The down moments hit harder, the jokes get even bigger laughs, and they never step on one another’s toes.

The action scenes are fantastic just like in the first film. Incredible and very creative fights all around.

Animators REALLY like to show off. The first film’s experimenting with different art styles gets taken up to eleven here. Lots of crazy visuals and elaborate changes in look and feel from world to world while still keeping the same broad “vibe”, and they even delve into some Roger Rabbit-esque territory. It’s really impressive. That said, just like the first film, there are some scenes that can get really literally flashy and strobing, so be aware of that if you’re especially sensitive to flashing lights. I don’t think there’s anything that’d cause issues, but just a head’s up.

The writing for the Spot was great; they closely follow his arc from the comics of starting out as a dorky, incompetent joke villain and then evolving into a terrifyingly ruthless and vindictive monster with absolutely broken powers and it’s really well done, like a bizarro inversion of an anime “hero trains to get stronger” storyline. He’s definitely one of the big highlights and was a great pick for villain.

Peter B. is everything Spider-Man should be and his relationship with Mary Jane and baby Mayday are another major highlight. Marvel editors on life support.

Miles and Gwen both get really great character arcs themselves. Poor Miles really gets put through the wringer.

Miguel is spectacularly well-done, just the right balance of sympathetic, charismatic hero and total grouchy asshole, just like he was in the comics.

Spider-Punk is a Giga-Chad.

Jessica Drew is a weird outlier in that she’s not very faithful to the comics version and the points where she IS accurate are based off one of her worst runs, in total contrast to everyone else. I feel like she was maybe meant to be a different character and got reworked into Jessica for some reason mid-production, or maybe that they had to completely alter her to use her. That being said, as a functionally new character, she’s pretty cool. Issa Rae does a good job and her design totally fucks.

The overall plot is partly a really brilliant meta commentary on Marvel’s treatment of Spider-Man Post-OMD with middle fingers fully extended at Spider-Editorial and I’m living for it. There’s also some clear commentary on the nature of adaptations and what Spider-Man as a character stands for, amongst many other things. Some very dense and heavy themes underpinning the narrative, but none of it is intrusive and you don’t need any prior knowledge aside from watching the first film.

You can REALLY tell that this and Beyond The Spider-Verse were one giant script split into two movies, because the ending is honestly pretty abrupt feeling, though it’s made pretty clear that this is just Part 1 and Part 2 will pick up from right there, so as long as you’re aware of that it’s okay. It’s a massive cliffhanger.

All in all, we walked out of the theater EXTREMELY impressed and very hyped for the next film. This was a wonderful movie that really captured the essence of not just Spider-Man but Marvel Comics as a whole. 10/10 would recommend.

#across the spider verse spoilers #across the spiderverse #across the spider verse #spiderverse #atsv #spiderman atsv #spider man #spiderman #marvel #marvel comics #marvel universe #films #movie review #movies #comics #comic books #phil lord #christopher miller #LORD AND MILLER SWEEP

[shmaptainwrites]

[CH. 6] New Doctor on the Block

Chapter 6: Enemy Fire I

Pairings: Hawkeye Pierce x fem!Reader

Characters: Hawkeye Pierce, Max Klinger, Mr. Park (OC), Sherman Potter, Father Mulcahy

Summary: Reader, Hawkeye, Klinger, and Mr. Park are sent to the front to operate on soldiers that can't be brought to the 4077th

Warnings: general wartime violence/injuries, light angst

Notes: I'm just gonna be criptic here and say this won't be the last time you'll see this

Series Masterlist - NDotB Masterlist

When you heard the news to report to Colonel Potter’s office you had a feeling in your gut it wasn’t going to be for a pay raise. 

You gave Hawkeye a look as you entered along with Klinger and one of the male orderlies that helped in the OR, trying to figure out what in the world this group was called for. 

“Colonel, if you don’t mind can I ask why we’ve been called here specifically? Are we in trouble?” you asked. 

“Not particularly,” he shook his head. “One of our battalions is taking heavy fire in the front, they have a lot of wounded, but no choppers can safely get in to bring them out to us. It makes more sense to try and fix them up as best as we can where they are and send them to a unit afterwards.” 

“Are you sure we’re not in trouble?” Klinger asked. “Cause that sounds like a punishment if I know any.” 

“I’m sorry, but we drew names. Two surgeons, one enlisted man, and one nurse or orderly.” 

“When do we leave?” you asked. You hoped the fear wasn’t too evident in your voice. You hoped once you got on the scene your medical brain would go on autopilot and block out anything unpleasant. 

“This afternoon, you should all pack a small bag and whatever materials you might need.” 

The group of you nodded your heads and ran off to get your things sorted. Once all of your stuff was packed, you opened the drawer in your nightstand and pulled out a letter, something you’d drafted a while ago. 

You asked around the camp for Father Mulcahy and found him sitting outside his tent, tending to some potted plants. 

“Father, do you have a quick moment?” 

“Yes of course my child. What is it?” he asked. 

“This letter,” you handed it to him. “In case I don’t make it back can you see that it gets to my children?” 

The Father was a little taken aback, but he nodded his head. 

“I will, but I have faith that you and the rest of your company will make it back safely.” 

“Thank you, Father, I appreciate the sentiment.” 

“I will be sure to pray for your well-being while you’re away.” 

You smiled and shook the priest’s hand. “I’ll be praying right there with you.” 

You took a deep breath and swallowed your nervousness before making your way to the jeep that was going to take you out. 

You tossed your things in the back and sat in the front with Hawkeye while Klinger and Mr. Park sat in the back. 

You hated the army’s jeeps. You thought they were the most uncomfortable car in the world. You missed driving on regular paved roads, in normal cars, but you knew that was a luxury you weren’t going to have for a while. 

You tried not to talk, afraid it would give away how nervous you were. Instead, you took out the most recent photo your father had sent of Grant and Julia, smiling at how much they had grown since you last saw them. Apparently, Julia had asked your dad to teach her how to read and in exchange, she agreed to learn to play poker. You’d probably have some pretty hefty competition between the two of them when you got back. 

You tried your best to keep it in your mind. When not if. 

Around thirty minutes later you arrived at the camp and the Colonel wasn’t exaggerating when he briefed you on the number of wounded and the amount of fire they were facing from the North Koreans. 

“I’ll do triage,” you told Hawkeye. “You get started on the worst ones and I’ll join you once we’ve determined some level of priority.” 

You had to yell to be heard over the constant sound of shells going off, by the end of this your throat would be raw. 

You agreed that was the best first course of action. Klinger and Mr. Park set up some sort of makeshift OR for you both, giving penicillin when needed and cleaning everything with as much ether as they had. 

Before you knew it you were elbow deep in a soldier digging as much shrapnel out of him as you could. 

You could hear the faint whistle of some sort of bomb or missile and your eyes went wide. 

“Cover the patients!” you yelled and it was a good call as dust and rubble fell from above. Whenever that happened you did your best to irrigate the open wounds, but it felt like it was almost useless. 

Considering there were just the two of you surgeons it took you a while to attend to all the patients and by the time you did it was dark outside, but the shelling seemed nonstop. 

You were walking with Hawkeye, trying to check in on all of the patients as best as you could, identifying symptoms if there were any when another bomb went off causing whatever was left over of the structure above you to crumble down. 

“Look out!” Hawkeye grabbed you and pulled you out of the line of the debris, thankful it wasn’t on top of one of the wounded. You shrieked when you saw the cement fall in front of you, gripping tightly onto your fellow surgeon. 

It took you a moment to recover from your shock, but when you did you blinked a few times and looked over at Hawkeye. 

“You saved my life,” you whispered. 

“It’s in the job description, don’t mention it,” he shrugged, trying to lighten the mood, but all you could do was hug him, thankful he saved your babies from losing another parent. 

You tried to compose yourself, but you were a bit shaken for the rest of the evening. You couldn’t even rest as you sat and ate dinner out of a can, your hands carrying a tremor with them. 

While Klinger and Mr. Park went to sleep, you stared up at the blank sky, wondering where all the stars had gone.

“It’s been a long day,” Hawkeye said quietly from behind you. “You should get some rest.” 

You were silent for a moment before speaking, “This is where my husband died,”  your voice was reflective. “On the front I mean.”  

Hawkeye was quiet, he listened to you carefully. 

“I knew it was bad from his letters, but this…” 

“I know it’s not much of a consolation, but I’m sure there are a few wives who will be very happy with the work you’ve done here,” he reminded you. “Isn’t that why you came?” 

You nodded your head. 

“But what about my kids,” you asked. “Was it selfish of me to come out here? To risk orphaning them?” 

“I-” he shut his mouth. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I could ever know. I haven’t been a husband, or a father, and definitely won’t be a mother.” 

You chuckled at that comment. 

“Have I ever shown you a picture of them?” you asked and Hawkeye shook his head. You moved back to sit next to him and pulled out the picture from your pocket. 

“My dad tells me Julia doesn’t go anywhere without the doll you bought her,” you told him. 

“You said it was from me?” he asked and you nodded. 

“Yes, and they’re already very determined to have you visit us once we’re all back home,” you chuckled. “I miss them so much, Ben.” 

“I can only imagine,” he gave you a small smile. “Now come on, you’ve worked hard today. Let’s get some rest so we can go home tomorrow.” 

You finally agreed and were about to grab a blanket and lay down against your backpack when you saw Hawkeye motion for you to come closer. 

“I can grab my own blanket,” you remarked. 

“I know, but it’s not just for you.” 

You understood what he meant and laid with a part of your back against his chest, the side of his face pressed gently against the top of your head and his hands coming to steady your shaky ones. 

“Ben?” you whispered. 

“Mhmm?” His voice sounded groggy and quiet. 

“I-” you squeezed your eyes shut and decided against saying anything. “Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight,” he mumbled against your hair, a thumb rubbing against the back of your hand. 

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, hoping you’d at least be safe for the night. 

Tags: @montyfandomlove

#hawkeye pierce #hawkeye pierce x reader #hawkeye pierce x you #hawkeye pierce fanfiction #mash #mash fanfiction #mashblr #mash 4077

[myloveforhergoeson]

That's All She Wrote - Chapter 15

Previous chapter

Find me on wattpad and ao3!

Show: Big Time Rush

Pairing: James Diamond x Original Female Character

Chapter 15: Was I The Only One (1.15) ~ 12.5k

It had been one week since “Z-Day” as Camille and Jo had taken to calling Roxy’s break up, and the writer deemed overall that she was handling it pretty well. Especially if watching Pride and Prejudice on repeat while choking down her sixth frozen hash brown for the morning and bawling her eyes out counted as handling it pretty well. 

The girls had been more than generous when it came to sharing their time with the writer, who knew full well they had many important auditions to attend, but couldn’t bring herself to finally tell them she felt fine enough to be alone until this morning. Not only were they probably sick of hearing about Dak, but they also likely wanted a space to gush about their own new relationship developments without fear it would bring Roxy into a spiraling state of sadness. More than once did Jo mention her new official status with Kendall, and more than once did Roxy try and fail to hold back her tears - wishing she still had a faithful, loyal boyfriend.

She knew choosing to end their relationship was the right thing to do, but wished it wasn’t causing her so much pain.  

With Camille and Jo away, Roxy had planned to spend today in a similar movie-watching- hashbrown-eating fashion - she couldn’t get enough of Lizzie and Darcy and their stupid, perfect, amazing relationship that still worked out even though she was way out of his league - but Gustavo had called her to make sure she kept an eye on the boys for a little while. Apparently, he had a top-secret, surprise guest at Rocque Records and he didn’t want them making fools out of themselves in front of them. 

It probably would have been a better use of her time if he had told her who to look out for, but he had generously granted her the last week off of work, so Roxy didn’t say anything about it before her boss hung up the phone.

As the assistant made her way down to the lobby, she spotted Big Time Rush lounging by the pool reading their respective favorite magazines: Hockey Action Magazine for Kendall, Future Doctor for Logan, HELMET for Carlos, and Pop Tiger for James. Spying an empty chair by the long-haired boy, she scooted past him and noticed he had this month's new edition of the magazine. It featured one of her current favorite singers, Jordin Sparks, but unfortunately also featured a picture of Dak in the upper right-hand corner. 

What took over her, she didn’t know, but she smacked the magazine out of the boy’s hand before settling down on her chair and taking out her songbook to polish a few chords for her new song. 

James scoffed, picking up the magazine once more and reading one of the blurbs on the cover. “Hey, do you guys want to know Dak Zevon’s secret to perfect toast?”

Seems like someone’s mad I never replied to his message. Roxy registered, doing her best to not reach out and wring his neck at the mention of her ex. At least it had been long enough that she didn’t tear up at just the mention of his name.

The rest of the band shot James a death glare before hissing out a chorus of “No!”

Throughout the last week, they had seen her sparingly; only a few times on the way to the second-floor ice machine and once at the vending machines in the lobby, aggressively taking her anger out on a package of Cheez-Its that wedged itself in the gap between the glass. 

“It’s all in this month’s Pop Tiger.” The boy explained, waving the magazine around before Carlos snatched it out of his hands. 

“What I wanna know is, we’ve been in L.A. for four months,” He began, staring into magazine Jordin’s bright eyes. “When are we gonna meet some totally cool and hot celebrity, like Jordin Sparks.”

Yeah, because the last celebrity we met was just so cool...

Biting her tongue, the assistant drew out a few music staffs as a young woman with a large blue suitcase walked up to the teens. 

“Excuse me, I’m looking for Mr. Bitters.”

The sound of her voice was near perfectly recognizable from the writer, who had spent a lot of time listening to the album Battlefield this past week. Roxy looked up so fast that her notebook nearly slipped out of her lap and onto the damp pool concrete at their feet. 

In front of her stood Jordin Sparks, there in the flesh, asking her - and less importantly her band - for directions to the front desk. Maybe the band did hold the power of manifestation. 

Big Time Rush was less than cool about this, as they all huddled in towards Carlos, holding the magazine cover up a few times to compare image and reality before ultimately confirming they were the same person. All at once, they began talking, tripping over their words and giving nonsensical statements, to which the woman was taken a bit back. 

“Hi, Ms. Sparks,” Roxy greeted, pulling the pop star’s attention away from her dumb, babbling friends. “The front desk is right through those doors! And I’m Roxanne, if you need anything else.” 

With a nod of her head, Jordin thanked her and made her way toward the double doors to the lobby. 

So much easier talking to Jordin than… 

Thankfully her thoughts were swiftly cut off as a few beats of a melody came to her, fixating itself on the first lines of her song. These days, the only good it did her to think about Dak was in terms of songwriting.

Roxy was barely able to get anything down before the band jumped up, presumably to follow the famous singer, and dragged her along - not that she was complaining. There were only so many days she could sit in her apartment watching her movies in the dark; seeing what the newest person at the Palm Woods was up to seemed like an exciting alternative.

Catching up to the star, the four boys were calling out her name over and over again in order to grab some of her precious attention. Poor Jordin was just trying to get to the elevators, signaling to the assistant she would be staying in the hotel for at least a few days. Maybe she had a new project coming up, like an album writing or recording session.

Is it possible she’s Gustavo’s special guest?

“We just wanted to say welcome to the Palm Woods!” Kendall blurted out, seemingly very ecstatic that Jordin would be sticking around for a bit. Out of the four, he was normally the one to be the least starstruck.

Carlos beamed, following with, “We’re Big Time Rush.”

“We’re recording at Rocque Records.” Bragged James, running a cool hand through his hair.

Nest in line, Roxy waved. “I’m their songwriter-assistant! And a huge fan of yours.”

“What are you doing here?” Logan finished, eager to learn what the singer was up to while in Los Angeles. 

Slightly frazzled, Jordin looked between the five as she internalized their statements, “I’m recording at Rocque Records.”

Oh, my God…

***

Of course, the song Jordin had written to record with Gustavo had to be a love song. A sweet, sappy love song about being open and vulnerable and surrendering to your feelings for another person, while begging them not to rip out your heart and stop all over it. It was slow and incredibly melodic, perfect for Jordin’s soothing voice coming from the recording booth. 

As Roxy sat in the control room with Gustavo, she was focused on not allowing the oddly specific lyrics to hit too close to home - even if the words put her feelings into words better than “Stuck” ever did. As each line fell smoothly out of Jordin’s lips, she prayed that it was just this first verse that would bother her. 

Reaching back into the recesses of her mind to access as much information she had about Jordin Sparks allowed her to tune out the words and focus on the beautiful piano melody filling her headphones. Along with winning American Idol a few years ago, Jordin had released two full-length albums since then that had easily landed her as one of the hottest new artists on the Billboard charts. To have her recording a new song at Rocque Records was more than an honor; it was just another step in Gustavo’s path back to the big time. 

Easily singing the last high note of the song, Jordin inadvertently opened a small window for Big Time Rush to reveal themselves in the back of the control room, startling their boss, in order to cheer for their new label-mate. A smattering of compliments came flying out of their mouths, praising the singer for the perfect execution of her carefully crafted song. 

From the booth, Jordin cringed a bit, seeming to recoil at the praise. “Are you sure you guys like it? ‘Cause I’m not sure I’m feeling it yet.”

Immediately, the band switched up their words entirely to agree with her. 

Yikes, good thing that’s not one of my songs.

Beside the assistant, Gustavo stood up to silence the boys with a wave of his hand before turning to address his guest. “Don’t worry about the song, okay? Just take a little more time with it, and give me some time to fill in the chorus and add some layers. This song is gonna be a big hit. It’s gonna be great!” 

Absentmindedly, Roxy reached out and messed with a few of the buttons on the large control panel to save Jordin’s preliminary recording for the producer to listen to later as he was reworking the song. Though her headphones were nice and plush with wonderful noise-canceling abilities, she was still able to hear Gustavo yelling to the band behind her the moment he flipped off the two-way communication with the pop star. 

“Dawgs, Roxanne, I got a big present for you in my office!” 

There was no time wasted as the band rushed towards the other room, eager to see what Gustavo had for them. 

When Roxy didn’t move, still messing with the control panel in front of her, the producer hung around for a minute, waiting for the assistant to follow her band. 

“I know there isn’t anything in your office, Mr. Rocque,” Roxy said plainly, pretending to be incredibly interested in the tone and pitch sliders on the board. “Besides, you don’t need me today, I mean, you’ve already got a song-”

“It’s just a meeting to make sure everyone is on the same page. Come on.”

It wasn’t a request at this point, and the girl had nothing else to do besides follow the man to his office. On the way there, she unfortunately realized that would be the first time she would be in that room post-break up and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle it as gracefully as she had been handling everything else this past week. 

As she pushed open the large black door, she hesitated for a moment as she rocked back on her heels, before she looked up to find Big Time Rush locked in Freight Train’s embrace. This was certainly a better sight than imagining her and Dak holding each other in the center of the room, gently swaying to the dulled music from the dance hall. 

“Freight Train’s squeezing us!” Kendall squeaked once Gustavo entered the room behind his assistant as if that would help his situation at all. 

A bit red in the face from the pressure, James looked less than pleased, “This is our big present?”

“Yes!” Gustavo confirmed, making sure to look each boy dead in the eye as he spoke. “Because I want you nowhere near Jordin Sparks!”

Once Freight Train was sure everyone got the memo, he let the band go. 

Between breaths for air, Carlos cried, “What? Why?”

“Because you’re bad luck and destroy everything you touch.” Their boss deadpanned. 

Logan chucked a bit, nonchalantly leaning his hand back onto the desk behind him for support. “That is so not true.”

Once a bit of weight hit the big, black desk, the wooden leg crumpled and sent everything on top crashing to the floor. Papers flew, mugs shattered, and, much to the assistant’s pleasure, the large computer monitor hit the floor particularly hard, destroying the glass screen. 

From across the room where Roxy was leaning on the glass-paneled wall, she spoke up, “I’d say they’re the opposite. In fact, I think they’re my good luck charms.” 

Narrowing in on his point and ignoring all that had just occurred, their boss continued. “Jordin and her team picked me to produce her new song over every producer in this town. ‘Cause word on the street is, Gustavo Rocque is back.”

Yeah, thanks to my songs! was a thought the girl chose not to vocalize. 

“Now, Jordin is staying at the Palm Woods, which means, if she is by the pool, I want Bad Luck Rush to be in the lobby!” Gustavo screamed at the band, before turning to the young girl behind him. “And I want you to switch your focus to helping Jordin for the duration of her stay. Anything she wants, make it happen, and if she so much as breathes the same air as these four, I need you to call Freight Train and have the situation dealt with as I fix this song.” 

***

After Roxy had gotten Jordin back to the Palm Woods, the two sat out by the pool examining the song she and Gustavo had written. 

On the ride back, the singer explained to her temporary assistant her fears about being caught by the paparazzi at the hotel - since winning one of the biggest reality TV shows in the country, they had made her life a living hell. Wanting to make a good impression on her, Roxy had promised to do her best to keep her out of the public eye and since then had been on high alert.  

For the last 20 minutes, Jordin had been marking up the lyric sheets with suggestions for different notes and changes to the general melody while listening to the song over and over on her MP3 player; the assistant had cracked her notebook open in hopes of making any more progress on her own song. In the last week, she hadn’t been able to get anything down after her session with James in Studio B - which was both good and bad. At the very least she hadn’t been thinking of Dak every waking moment of today. 

From a quick scan for paparazzi across the pool, she noticed her band standing arms crossed inside the doorway to the lobby. It was clear they wanted to come say hi, but were respecting their boss’ wishes and staying away from the pop star. 

Quickly excusing herself, Roxy popped up and made her way toward the boys, catching the tail end of their conversation.

“Bad Luck Rush?” James scoffed, peering over at Jordin, “He’s wrong!”

Logan nodded his head in agreement, “It’s more like Roxy said, we’re good luck charms.”

“In fact, the best luck Jordin could have is spending her entire day with me!” The wannabe continued, pulling out a hand mirror and comb to freshen up before the rest of the band gave him some nasty side-eye. “Uh, I mean, us!”

Sucking in a breath, the girl laughed, “Oh I could think of much better ways for her to spend her day - like songwriting with me.” 

Evidently, her words startled the long-haired boy who must have been too absorbed in his primping to see her walk up, causing him to yelp and drop the mirror at her feet with a loud crash. 

Wide-eyed, Roxy looked down at the destroyed glass at her feet before panning up to the band. Each member had an equally terrified look on their face as they realized the ramifications of James’ actions.

Carlos was the first to speak, “You broke a mirror… That’s seven years bad luck!”

Pulling the remains of the shattered mirror off of the carpet and ringing the comb back to his hair, James rolled his eyes, “That’s ridiculous.”

“Heads up!” 

In a second, Logan grabbed Roxy’s hand and pulled her behind the large doors along with Kendall and Carlos. This left James wide open as a large beach ball coming from the pool bounced off of his head, followed by a large squirt of bright, white sunscreen from someone on a lounge chair directly onto his gray button-up. As the boy attempted to collect himself, Logan pulled the writer even farther back as a stampede of children appeared seemingly from nowhere headed directly for the pool, and by extension James. In no time he was mowed down by the kid mob.

Though it took a few seconds to collect his bearings, the singer eventually pulled himself off the ground looking a little worse for wear. 

“Oh!” He cried, holding the mirror up once more to examine his form through the sharded glass, before dropping it at the ugly image in the frame and running off towards the elevators. No doubt to get cleaned up and attempt to impress Jordin later in the day.

Kendall, stepping out from behind the doors, turned to his friends. “Guys, we’re not bad luck, and don’t let Gustavo get to you. Just enjoy the day, like I’m gonna enjoy my day with Jo by the pool.”

From across the way, Jordin got up from her seat and began collecting her items. 

“Ah, that’s my cue,” Roxy stated, giving a quick wave to the boys before taking off. “Stay safe! Don’t let James anywhere near Jordin!”

 After they had taken in what she had said, Carlos and Logan held Kendall back and began arguing about something unintelligible by the time the assistant made her way back to Jordin.

“Anything I can help with, Ms. Sparks?” She asked, grabbing her bag off the seat beside the star. 

Jordin picked her things up as well, “That’s alright, but thanks! I’m going to take a few laps around the pool to try and sort this song out.”

Beaming, Roxy nodded, “I’ll join you, then. I’m always looking for new songwriting techniques to try!” 

As the pair made their way down the stretch of the pool, the assistant noticed a twitch in the planter box beside them. From among the top of the foliage, she spied something that didn’t belong: a tree hat attached to the head of Reginald Bitters, holding a sleek black camera. 

What the… 

Scanning the area in front of them she noticed a vivid, yellow banana peel by the side of the pool - directly in Jordin’s path. The singer was too buried in her lyric sheets to notice and with her headphones back in to listen to the song, Roxy’s attempt to call her name was futile. 

Click!

Once the shutter of Bitter’s camera released, Roxy rushed forward and placed herself in Jordin’s path to stop her from stepping any closer to the banana, but in her haste miscalculated where her foot would land. Of course, in her heroic attempt to save Jordin from the paps, she would be the one to slip the moment her foot hit the peel.

Center of gravity shifting, she let out a small yelp as she helplessly began to fall backward. Anticipating a hard fall, the girl closed her eyes, tensing her body to brace for impact before someone’s hands shot around her waist to save her. 

Blood from her racing heart pooled in her ears as she slowly opened her eyes, to find Kendall peering down at her, worry written across his face. 

“Woah,” Roxy breathed, trying to catch her breath as she stood weightless in his arms. “I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t worry about it, it was a lucky catch.” The boy grinned, giving her some time to collect herself.

Behind them, a pair of footsteps stopped echoing on the pool deck.

“Uh, Kendall? Roxy?”

Without thinking, the girl dipped her head back to find an upside-down image of Jo burning into her retinas. The assistant felt Kendall’s hands tense the moment he registered her voice.

“Jo.” He greeted calmly, peering down at his assistant before looking back up to his girlfriend. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

Roxy watched Jo’s knuckles turn white as she gripped her beach bag. “Really? ‘Cause it looks like you’re embracing my best friend.”

“It does look that way…” Roxy mumbled, watching in dismay as Jo began to walk away before she could explain what had happened.

Broken mirror, banana peel, jealous girlfriend… Maybe they are bad luck.

Once Kendall helped her back up, she gave him a fleeting statement of gratitude before running after Jordin. She, thankfully, had been able to keep her from wiping out in front of Mr. Bitters but since this scheme had failed, who knew how many more traps he could have potentially set up around the hotel. While being a bodyguard wasn’t on her list of dream jobs, for now, Roxy was content to keep the singer safe. 

A few dozen laps around the pool later, Jordin was still lost in her own little world, leaving Roxy on high alert as they continued to pace - even with her aching feet. While this strategy seemed to work for Jordin, the assistant found that her hyper-awareness of their surroundings did not make for good songwriting material. The only thing she could think about as they went around and around was Jo and how much she couldn’t wait to explain what had happened earlier. 

It was interesting to learn that her friend was the jealous type; that felt more like a Camille quality than anything. 

Another go around allowed the acute danger-detecting sensors in her brain to spot Logan and Carlos moving around the pool like they were in a cheesy spy movie while talking into their watches like walkie-talkies. Dressed in nice black suits with a lapel pin of a four-leaf clover and dark aviators, the assistant could only assume it was some form of protest against Gustavo’s title of “Bad Luck Rush.”

The fake spy antics brought the two together at a table by the side cabanas that had been set up for what looked to be a nice, romantic lunch. Kendall stood beside them, adjusting the tablecloth - suggesting that his day at the pool with Jo was quickly turning into an apology date. 

It reminded her of Dak more than she cared to admit. 

Caught up in her head now, Roxy let her guard down for a moment as she tried to push the thoughts of her ex-boyfriend out of her mind. The last week had been more than enough time to get her act together and she hadn’t even gotten a good song out of it yet. 

Losing my mind is all I can do, ‘til I forget about you… 

Now, in front of both the pop star and the assistant was a fairly large black cat sitting down, licking one of their hind legs. 

Too concerned with digging around in her bag to find her songbook and write that thought down, Roxy was unable to stop the unlucky obstacle from bothering Jordin. Thankfully, unbeknownst to her, both Logan and Carlos bolted over and picked the animal up to relocate it, cooly saying hi to the girls as they passed by. 

“Hey Jordin, hi Roxy!” Carlos cooed, cradling the cat in his arms and doing his best to act very nonchalantly about it. “‘Sup!”

“Working on the song…” Both the girls mumbled, holding up their respective projects and ignoring any other interference. 

Wearing a satisfied smile, Logan held his hand out, “You two go do that!”

Their speech grew fainter as the pair continued their laps, both writing more on their respective pages as more ideas began to formulate.

Maybe Jordin’s right… The writer thought. This does seem to be helping.

Roxy’s revelation was quickly forgotten as someone from behind called out her name, causing her to turn around, only to be met with a large, angry, black cat landing directly on her face. 

Terrified, a scream left her lips as she dropped everything she was holding to try and pry the creature off of her. The cat, equally as terrified, thrashed around; scratching her face, digging its claws into her scalp, and tangling its limbs in her hair - causing an extreme amount of pain on the girl's part as she continued to wail in hopes someone would be able to help her. 

The writer was hopeless as she tried to stumble to a chair in order to ground herself, her vision obscured by the angry creature. Entirely focused on the warm blood she could feel rolling down her cheek, her actions quickened, causing her to knock down a pool umbrella, a palm tree planter, and even send someone unexpectedly flying into the pool.

Trying to form an apology, the only sound she could make was “Mhh-orry!” as the cat continued to stick to her.

More struggling occurred, but only for a few more moments until she bumped into a chair and fell harshly down into it. 

Screw it.

With as much force as she could muster, she snatched the animal around the waist and pulled, fully detaching it from her body before gingerly placing it on the pool deck. As soon as it hit the ground, it ran off, scattering between two orange planters on the other side of the pool. 

Tangled hair covered her eyes, it took Roxy more time than she would have liked to gather what she could into a side part. A few places were sticky - with blood or something else, she didn’t want to know - and a few chunks detached into her fingers. Gently taking one hand, she reached up to her cheek and immediately winced. There was at the very least one visible mark left on her skin and it was taking everything she had in her not to burst into tears out of both embarrassment and shock.

Finally able to catch her bearings, she noticed a small table in front of the chair she was sitting on covered in a beautiful tablecloth and a variety of little finger foods arranged around a pastel flower bouquet. Across from her sat Kendall, mouth agape, who moved to shoo her away as fast as he could. 

“Oh!” Someone called from behind her, making her cringe. The frontman wasn’t trying to be rude, he was just trying to save her from another awkward situation with Jo. Safe to say he had not succeeded.

Jo stood, arms crossed behind the writer, staring her boyfriend down. “Now you’re having a girly, romantic lunch with Roxy.”

With a sigh, the girl stood up to face her friend. Cat scratches, matted hair and all, “Do you really think I’m in a space to be going on a date right now? You just sat with me for days on end while I was sobbing and trying to come to terms with my last relationship ending. I’d never do anything to hurt you like that, Jo.” 

“Seriously, It’s not what it looks like!” Kendall chimed in. 

“Just because you couldn’t keep your boyfriend doesn’t mean you can steal mine!” Yelled the actress before shoving past Roxy and Kendall, back into the hotel. 

All the writer could do was sit there as her jaw dropped and her eyes threatened to spill over with the tears she was desperately trying to hold back. There had been too much crying over the past seven days for her liking. 

“Rox, I-”

“Save it.” She cut him off, lip beginning to tremble. “Keep an eye on Jordin, please, and just… Stay away from me.”

Forgetting she had even dropped anything, she got up and practically ran into the hotel. A few cold drops fell from her eyes, hitting the cut on her cheek and bringing a salty, stinging pain. Whatever hurt more, the physical or emotional damage, Roxy couldn’t tell as she used the heel of her palm to wipe everything away. 

Typically, the staircase was a safe bet for getting onto the upper floors undetected and she had made it to the top of the second-floor stairwell before motioning to pull the door open. Since she had been just so lucky today, it shouldn’t have shocked her that as she pulled the door towards her, someone on the other side pushed it open - causing her to fall backward onto the carpeted landing. 

This cannot be happening to me right now.

“What the hell is your problem?” The girl bit, pausing for a moment to register who the figure in the doorway was. 

Looking back at her was James, hand still on the door handle, as pale as a ghost. 

They both stared for a second before the singer broke the silence, crouching down to her level trying to comprehend what had happened to his assistant. 

“Roxy…” He whispered, so gently, as a few more tears escaped her eyes. Though she should have, she didn’t stop him as he reached one hand out to cup her face and slowly swipe his thumb over her non-injured cheek. “How did you-”

Not bothering to finish his thought, the boy ran one hand down her arm to grab her hand - using it to pull her off the ground and back towards their apartments. 

***

One thing no one ever talks about after a breakup is the feeling of utter worthlessness one will experience. 

Over the course of the last week, it was safe to say Roxy was feeling quite worthless. Like she wasn’t good enough, or interesting enough, or pretty enough for anyone to have any sort of feelings for her. Did Camille and Jo actually want to be her friends or were they only interested in using her to get to the band? Do Gustavo and Kelly really think she’s a talented songwriter or did they just want to take a load off and use her to get rich off her music? 

Is James helping me because he cares about me or is he just trying to use me like Dak did?

An unfair thought for sure, and the girl knew that, but she couldn’t escape the little voice in the back of her head telling her there was no way another human being could care for her in any capacity. Even as James was delicately holding her chin to the side and wiping away at the cut on her cheek with an alcohol wipe from the small first aid kit he had found in the bathroom, she knew logically he must be doing this out of some form of care. However, based on his naturally flirtatious disposition, and the fact he asked her out hours after she had dumped her ex, Roxy had a sinking feeling form in her chest as she burrowed back into the orange couch. 

After the week I’ve had, I need someone to take care of me - even if it may send him mixed messages.

The sting of the alcohol bit at her damaged cheek, bringing her back to the present and out of her head. It had been a nasty place to live since Z-Day 

“Uh,” She tried, thinking a bit of light conversation might keep her from any more selfish thoughts. “Were you going somewhere? Earlier I mean, in the stairwell.” 

Pausing for a moment, James swallowed loudly before pulling his hand back completely. “No. Nowhere more important than being here.” 

Wow.

“And… I’m sorry for what I said this morning at the pool. I knew it would hurt you, and I was upset about how I ruined our night at the dance-”

“You didn’t ruin it. The only person who ruined the dance was Dak.” 

In fact, you made it better, was a fact she almost let slip, but was able to refrain from sharing as she followed his reach into the first aid kit. Talk about sending mixed signals.

It was hard to ignore the snort that left James’ lips as he pulled out two bandaids in their white, crinkly packages, holding them out in a ‘V’ shape. “Fuck that guy. Now, want the Incredible Hulk or Scooby-Doo to help you heal?”

Tell him, tell him, tell him! 

Finally, the metaphorical angel on her shoulder made its appearance to remind her of her selfishness as she dodged his question. 

“I’m sorry I ignored your messages afterward, I should’ve been clear with you. I’m not interested in seeing anyone for a little while.” 

“Scooby-Doo it is.” James declared, opening the package and leaning in close to her face to place it. 

Roxy thought about recoiling, but it was hard to deny the jolt that ran down her spine as the hand once holding her chin made its way down to the couch, pushing down a part of the cushion dangerously close to her thigh. 

“And it’s fine,” He said, practically whispering into her ear, as the sticky substance on the back of the bandage connected with her cheek. “I’d just hate to see another douchebag break your heart.” 

Only able to muster a quiet “Oh”, Roxy sank backward onto the couch as he turned away and moved to put the first aid kit back in the bathroom. Generously, he had left her a hairbrush on the coffee table to fix the number that the cat had done on her. 

Mind a complete blank for the few minutes he was in there, all the girl could do was let his words echo in her head as she untangled out her locks. When her heart wasn’t racing, he could be quite easy to talk to. 

Now who’s sending mixed signals? 

“I’m gonna head to the park now, unless you need anything else.” The boy called from the kitchen sink, washing his hands.

 Stay with me for a bit-

“Ah, I think Jordin said she was heading there. Something about a lucky wishing well? I swear I’ve been to that park a million times and I’ve never seen one... Probably a good idea for me to go with you.” 

With the well not at all related to wanting to spend a bit more time with James, the pair silently left the apartment - no one bringing their previous conversation any further than what they had already discussed. 

Not entirely sure how to feel about the whole exchange, at the very least Roxy left that apartment knowing for sure someone in Hollywood cared about her. She knew the rest of her friends did too, and she would soon realize once the effects of heartbreak wore off and put to ease the voice in her head telling her otherwise. 

The thought to find Jo and fully explain their situation crossed her mind, but the writer wasn’t quite sure how to face her yet. Even if they were best friends, Jo’s words had cut her to her very core. To insinuate she was interested in stealing Kendall was just plain rude, especially with the additional, backstabbing comment about not even being able to keep a boyfriend. 

Not like that hadn’t been the only thing she had been thinking about for the last week. Jo even knew, holding Roxy as she rocked back and forth on her bed in her blanket of stuffed animals, listening to her sob about how boring of a person she must have been to have Dak actively seek out another partner while they were dating. 

Keeping him isn’t the problem, Roxy realized as she stepped out into the beautiful, grassy area behind her home. It’s just a matter of picking the right guy.

Finally, after having such a strange, bad-luck-filled first half of her day, the writer wanted nothing more than to sit on one of the park benches and bask in a bit of sun while Jordin continued to work on the song. Thank goodness, she could spy the pop star from where she and James were standing together, lost in thought as she slowly walked towards the well on their right.

She would have to ask Bitters about the well later, still swearing it had never been in the park before, but to be fair, if pop sensation Jordin Sparks asked her to build a well out back the hotel, she absolutely would too.

The monument stood about seven feet tall, covered in mossy stone and long hanging vines as if it had been a permanent figure in the park for ages, along with a weathered sign reading Wishing Well. Its beautiful stone base was decorated in small, orange flowers that almost felt dangerous to trod on in order to throw a coin down the well. There was even a small hand crank to retrieve what should have been a bucket on a string to collect water, but as the girl peered over the ledge down the hole, she realized there was nothing but dirt covering the bottom. 

Instinctively reaching to her back to open the flap of her small bag and grab a coin, Roxy realized she didn’t have it with her; meaning her songbook was nowhere to be found. 

Anxiously, the girl mentally retraced her earlier steps in hopes of determining its location before finding herself amidst a breakdown. 

Maybe it’s in the stairwell… or had fallen off my back after that cat attacked me.

“Ugh,” The girl growled. “I hate this bad luck curse!”

Preoccupied with her thoughts, she was a bit distracted in trying to find a place to think when she noticed James drop onto the grass - hands and knees and all - as he began to comb the piles of clovers spread out along the field. 

He glanced up at her from his place on the ground, “Then get down here and help me find a four-leaf clover. I’m trying to counter my mirror-breaking bad luck with good luck.”

“Mmm, I think I’ll pass. Rolling around on the grass doesn’t sound like my idea of a good time.” The writer decided, leaning against the edge of the wishing well. “Besides, I think I lost my bag. Did you see me drop it in the stairwell?”

Shaking his head, the boy went back to his search. 

Behind Roxy, the soft sound of footsteps being cushioned by blades of grass let her know that Jordin had arrived. 

Even though she was listening to the song through a pair of long, white earbuds, the faint tune was loud enough to be carried by the wind to the other side of the well. 

Sighing, the pop star dug a coin out of her back pocket. “Okay, wishing well, I’m recording a new song today, and I need some good luck.” 

Tell me about it. Roxy agreed, trying to focus on the beat of the song flooding across the well’s opening. The slow song filled her ears, if only it were a bit faster it would fit the band’s style perfectly. Maybe even a duet?

Across the field, a pair of agents dressed in black suits popped out from behind a tree, clearly spying on the two girls at the edge of the well. Logan and Carlos were still in their weird spy get-ups, talking to each other through their watches as they peered around the park. Whatever they were doing earlier had caused her more trouble than it was worth, so she silently prayed the two wouldn’t bring any more bad luck to Jordin’s - and by extension, her - day. 

Tap tap tap

Sounds of a hammer striking a nail instinctively caused the girl to glance to her right, where she noticed Kendall - keeping a respectful distance between himself and his assistant - setting up a game of horseshoes a few feet away from the outdoor lounge area while James continued to look for his clover. How much more cliche could this day get; now all the band needed were repeating 7’s, some ladybugs, and a wishbone to complete whatever bad luck countermeasures they were taking. 

Exchanging a few pleasantries with the boy in the grass, the assistant overheard that the frontman was setting up another date and made a mental note to avoid the right side of the field at all costs. The wannabe tried explaining his strange behavior, before realizing one of the game pieces might be good luck, lunging towards his best friend and trying to take the horseshoe from him. The pair struggled for a bit, unknowingly turning the object upside down in the middle of their tussle. 

Roxy was just about to go and break up their fight, and turn the horseshoe right side up, before Jordin called out to her from the other side of the well.

“I see you’re doing better!” The beautiful woman noticed. “I was pretty concerned after your catfight.”

Letting out a light chuckle, the writer didn’t feel like explaining the fight with her best friend hurt even more, before holding a finger up to her bandaged cheek. “I got lucky, just a little scratch.”

The statement was a bit ironic, considering the cat was black, but the two thought nothing of it. 

“Well,” Jordin said, reaching into the large stack of songwriting books and papers she had been cradling into her arm before pulling out a familiar black, leather-bound journal. “You dropped this when you were attacked. It looked really important so I held onto it.”

Eyes lighting up, Roxy rushed over to the singer and made a move to grab the book. “Oh, you have no idea how much that means to me! Thank-”

Ding

Something large and metallic hit the back of her neck, shocking the assistant as she felt herself begin to slip in and out of consciousness at the force. Still gripping onto the journal, she wasn’t aware of her body enough to let go as she tumbled forward, eyes closed - dropping completely into the well and accidentally taking Jordin with her. 

***

A few minutes later, Roxy came back to consciousness.

Save from her monster headache dominating what felt like every square inch of her skull, as she held out her limbs for a once-over she seemed to escape with no cuts or bruises. Someone, presumably Jordin, had propped her up against the cold, stone walls of the bottom of the well and a shiver shook her body as the cool atmosphere ran through her. 

“Thank goodness!” She heard Jordin squeal. “I was so worried you were seriously hurt… What even happened?” 

Rubbing the back of her neck, the girl winced as her fingers ran over the spot she had been hit. “I have no idea… Something hit me in the back of the head and I just… Passed out. I’m so sorry I dragged you down here with me. Are you okay?”

Leaning forward to collect some of her scattered books and papers, the singer nodded, giving her a sheepish look. “Yeah, you kinda broke my fall.” 

Roxy had no words about that, choosing instead to examine their surroundings and try and figure out a plan to get out. First, she checked her pockets, only to find she had left her phone in her missing bag - calling 911 was out of the picture. Next: the walls of the well. The smooth stones were embedded in some kind of concrete, making it impossible to get a grip or foothold out of any of the gaps. Then finally, she held her hand up to block the sun from her eyes as she peered up towards the top. The well was too deep for her to stand on Jordin’s shoulders to climb out and there was no bucket with a rope to pull themselves out with. 

We are so fucked.

Putting on a brave face, the assistant turned to Jordin with a bright smile, “We’ll find a way out of here.” 

That dream, however, was short-lived as the girl attempted to stand. The sudden movement of it all, combined with the aching of her joints as she slowly rose caused her knees to wobble, bringing her straight back to the floor. Her stomach churned, bile rising into her throat when she tried again placing her officially out for the count. 

A moment later, a penny flew down the well, conking the assistant on the head. It took everything in her not the empty the contents of her stomach right there as she hissed out, “Ow!”

It was even beginning to hurt with every word that left her mouth. 

“Guys, is that you?” Jordin called out, standing up as she tried to find which side of the well they were on based on the direction of their voices. 

As she spoke louder, an echo emanated off the stone walls, driving the girl crazy as her headache worsened. 

“Uh…” The sound of Kendall’s voice falling down on them felt like taking a cheese grater to her brain. “Don’t worry, you two. You can count on us! How are you doing? You good?”

Jordin threw her papers down in anger, “We’re in a well!”

Making the “phone” motion with her thumb and pinky fingers, Roxy tried to ask the pop star if she had hers on her person but weakly dropped the gesture as more echoes filled her ears. Just as much as the sound bounced off the walls, it felt like they were bouncing around her skull too.

“We have to call the fire department…” Logan said, voice not carrying since he wasn’t speaking directly into the well. 

Kendall scoffed, thinking his voice was out of earshot, “We can’t call anyone, or Gustavo will find out and kill us!”

“The second I’m out of here, I’m going to kill you.” Roxy declared through gritted teeth, hoping her voice would carry enough to reach the blond. 

Up top, someone shuffled around, “He’s going to think we’re bad luck.”

“Carlos!” James called, sounding incredibly irritated. “We are!”

A slap on the brick let the pair know someone was leaning over the edge of the well. “Jordin! Roxy! Everything’s fine. We’ve got a plan!”

Simply based on the panicked tone of Carlos’ voice, Roxy knew that was a load of bull. It was both a good thing and a bad thing she had gotten to know the boys well enough to tell their mood based on the way they spoke. Right now, she wished she could believe him. 

A bit of incoherent mumbling came from the surface that Roxy was unable to focus on. Though she knew she should be working to find a way out with Jordin, for now, all the girl could do was pull her knees to her chest and rest her forehead there. She had been the punching bag a few too many times today and the pain was starting to take its toll on her body. 

Across the well, the song lazily jumped out of the singer’s headphones allowing the girl to focus on it as her eyes fluttered open and closed. 

What had I been thinking earlier? Roxy questioned, trying to recall the idea she knew she had to help Jordin fix her song. Right now, all the calm melody was succeeding at was putting her to sleep. 

“Woah, woah!” Jordin started, glancing over at her trapped companion. “You need to keep those eyes open for me.” 

The task felt close to impossible, but Roxy did her best to keep her eyes on something; ultimately deciding to count the number of bricks that made up the circumference of the well. When that got boring after about 30 bricks, her attention turned to the song sheets the pop star had strewn over the ground. 

Gingerly, the girl leaned forward and snatched a few of the sheets and a pen Jordin had let fall as well. Perhaps by looking at the song, the assistant would be able to remember her earlier thoughts. 

Riddled with notes and add-ins from Jordin, the pages were a bit complicated to read, but it was nothing compared to the girl’s mess of a notebook. Quickly adapting, she learned that the singer used similar notation and was able to somewhat understand the changes she was wanting to make to the song. Most of the chorus flowed together nicely and the subject of the song was very romantic - Roxy tried to save herself the pain of thinking of her ex - but there was something off about the individual verses themselves. They didn’t fit together as well as the chorus did.

“Hey!” Kendall called from above, startling both of the girls who eagerly looked his way. “The boys are lowering me down. We’ll get you guys tied to this rope and get you out of here in no time.” 

There were a few seconds of silence before the blond let out a fearful scream, landing a few inches from where his assistant had decided to stretch her legs. At least his landing was far more graceful than hers could have been. Not only that, his arrival kicked a large amount of dust at the bottom of the dry well. The substance coated the girl’s lungs causing her to cough, another action that could be felt tenfold due to her injuries. 

“Oh, hey…” The blond said nonchalantly as if his plan hadn’t just ended in horrible failure. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Jordin hit back, picking one of the music sheets off the ground and gripping it so hard her knuckles turned white. “I’ve got a song I can’t figure out…”

Roxy let out another involuntary cough, “I slipped on a banana peel and got attacked by a cat…”

“And again!” The singer took over, “We’re in a well!”

Anger radiating off Jordin in waves, the writer made sure to cover her ears as the echoes rolled off the sides of the pit. 

At least now I can convince Gustavo to kill Kendall instead of me.

Another voice rang out from the entrance, “Kendall? Is that you and Roxy? And Jordin?”

The delicate voice of her best friend filled her ears, causing her to bury herself into her knees once more. She hadn’t even had a chance to discuss everything that had happened with Jo yet, and here she was again, ready to misinterpret another unfortunate accident. 

The three shared a similar statement, “It’s not what it looks like!” and based on the lack of response, it was likely Jo had already left the park. 

Did it ever cross her mind that we might need some help?

Trying not to think too much about her best friend’s terrible assessment of their situation, the writer turned back to the lyric sheets before a conversation between Jordin and Kendall erupted. Working on her own songs with noise in the background was already tough, but now with a fresh and new song, the task felt unachievable. 

“Look, I’m sure Logan, aka the Big-Time Brain, is concocting an amazing rescue plan as we speak.”

A scream coming from someone above grew louder and louder, telling the three that Kendall’s assessment of the situation was incorrect. 

3… 2… 1… 

Logan landed on the bottom of the well with a thud! kicking up yet another cloud of dust in his wake. A few seconds later a tape measure clattered to the floor beside him. Now that there were more people in the well, the narrow area for landing without hurting another person was growing smaller and smaller. 

Trying her best to get to her friend, Roxy was able to get a few inches closer to the center before a wave of nausea washed over her. 

“What plan was that?” Hissed Kendall, pressed flat against the wall of the well, as if he was trying to make himself smaller. 

Laying horizontal on the floor, Logan turned around to face the blond with a scoff. “Oh, I’m fine. Thank you.” Pausing for a moment, the singer rummaged around for the tape measure. “I was measuring the diameter of the well to fashion a crude pulley system when I slipped.” 

“Don’t worry guys!” Carlos’ voice rang down, “James and I are on the case!”

“You can count on us!”

At their words, Roxy gripped the papers she was holding just a bit tighter before sighing, “We’re never getting out of here, are we?”

The boys in the well agreed: “We’re gonna be here a while.”

Above, the pair began to vocalize their plans and ideas to save their friends from their entrapment - each plan dumber than the last. Though oddly enough, it was quite inspiring to the writer as she listened in. They were dedicated to helping, despite their natural skill sets falling away from detailed plans and daring escapes. 

Collaboration… She thought, reading over the lyrics once more. The entire love song, from Jordin’s perspective, was a heartfelt and open discussion about first loves and wanting to be cared for. So in her own head about fixing what she already had, the pop star had been blind to the possibilities that this song might be better suited for one - or in their case, four - more people. She just needed a different perspective. 

Taking the pen and underlining the second verse and a bit of the pre-chorus, Roxy took the choppy lines and wrote BTR beside them. Another once over, this time imagining all of the singers together, Roxy quickly etched out the rest of the sheet where she thought Jordin’s lines fit the narrative of herself and where her lines fit the narrative of her lover. 

“Jordin-” Roxy began, delicately picking herself off the ground and leaning against the side of the well for support. However, she was quickly cut off as Logan called something to the boys above.

“Carlos, did you just come up with an ingenious water displacement plan?” 

“Uh,” Carlos sounded unsure, “Yeah!”

Song first, then tell them I’m probably not able to swim.

Trying again, the writer finally caught Jordin’s attention this time. Shuffling over to the singer, she held up the page she had marked up and quickly explained her idea pointing wildly all over the sheet. “I think your song could benefit from a little extra help from a different singer - well, singers. If you sing part of the verse here… and here… then here again, and let the boys sing… these sections here, your love solo turns into a beautiful love duet. Like, a conversation of expectations before agreeing to be in a relationship.” 

At her own words, a small verse quickly popped into her head to the tune of Jordin’s song that would fill up a small bit of the instrumental break in the middle.

Anything I’m doing, I’d drop it for you

‘Cause you’re the one I’m giving my heart to

But I’ve gotta be the only one

Ouch.

Glancing over to the woman, Roxy noticed her eyes running back and forth over the page, mouthing the words to the sections the writer had designated as hers. 

“Ah, I don’t know-”

“Ahhh!”

Knowing this sound well enough by now, the four in the well pressed themselves up against the brick as James crashed down to the bottom, a green hose following in his wake. Before anyone was able to move to help him up, the boy placed his hand down on the floor, taking a handful of the dirt and letting it fall through his fingers. Remaining in his hand were a small group of shiny, copper pennies. 

His face lit up, “Millions of lucky pennies! I’m saved!”

Taking more handfuls and tossing them up in the air like a lucky-penny shower, James missed a distinct “Wah-hoo!” coming from the top of the well. Roxy barely had enough energy left to grab the back of his button-up to pull him back towards her before Carlos landed at the bottom. 

Neither of them said anything as the dust cleared, just a nod of thanks from the wannabe. 

As Carlos stood up, the rest of the band stared at him menacingly, “What did you do that for?” 

“I was lonely!” The boy defended. 

Silence flooded over the well as Jordin scrambled to put her papers together, handing a few more to the girl to no doubt mark up for a duet-style piece. 

Logan let out an anxious chuckle, clasping both of his hands together as he glanced over at the pop star, “Well, it looks like you may not make your recording session.”

Defeated, the boys lowered themselves to sit on the dusty ground. Assistant moving to join them, she gingerly laid her head on Kendall’s shoulder as she set about fixing the lyric sheets Jordin wouldn’t get to use for the day. 

“It’s okay,” The singer said, sitting down as well. “ Just when I thought we might have figured out the song, looks like I might not get to record it.” 

Clearing his throat, James stated, “I didn’t think the song was bad. How did you change it?”

Beside Jordin, Roxy gathered up the sheets and distributed them out to her friends. If they examined the writing she had made on the page, hopefully they’d be able to sell the singer on the idea of a duet. 

Softly counting down, the long-haired boy started from the pre-chorus, “One, two, three, four, to the five-”

“Now, Logan, can you add some background? And Kendall and Carlos, harmonies?” Roxy asked, writing down James’ part on the sheet she was holding. Though the boy’s voices were quite loud, she pushed through the pulsating pain to prove to Jordin that this song would benefit from some extra help.

Trying again, the band executed her wishes perfectly as they made their way to the end of the chorus. Their voices melded beautifully together, and the acoustics from the open space of the well aided them as the sound bounced around the group.  

Making a note to add lots of reverb, Roxy waved her hands in a circular motion to encourage Jordin to jump in too. 

The five sang the chorus one more time, this time deciding to end on a gorgeous high note that probably made its way to the farthest edge of the park. 

By now, there was no denying that not only was their song perfect, it just needed a little extra nudge to get to the place Jordin wanted it to be. 

“That’s it!” The singer cried, a grin splashing across her face. “That’s exactly how I wanted it to sound! Now you’ve got to get me out of here.”

In the middle of the well, Roxy spied the smattering of items the boys had brought down with them. How can we fit a rope, a hose, and a tape measure together?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Kendall sighed, “Well, there’s only one guy I know that can pull six people out of a well.”

***

Before the six of them knew it, they were tumbling out of the well and hitting the hard ground of Palm Wood’s Park all thanks to Freight Train’s incredible strength. 

Would it kill Bitters to seed this lawn?

Admittedly, Roxy still wasn’t feeling the best, and now she had rope burn covering her palms, but anything was better than being trapped down a well. 

The group expressed their thanks in a cacophony of groans and grunts as they worked to untangle themselves from one another. It was hard to tell where her limbs ended and her friends’ began. 

Before they were able to properly stand, Bitters popped out from behind a tree, holding the camera Roxy had seen him with earlier before she slipped on the banana peel. “Aha! Jordin Sparks pulled out of a well, tied to five losers. I’ll be rich!’

As quickly as she could, the girl threw her arms out to try and shield the pop star before yelling, “Freight Train, the camera!”

Thankfully, the man caught her drift as he reached one gigantic hand over the lens and crushed it. Hundreds of little plastic pieces dropped to the ground before Bitters wasn’t even able to get his finger on the shutter release. 

Of course, the hotel manager began to complain, but as he squared up to Freight Train it was clear he was fighting a losing battle. Like a dog with his tail between his legs, Bitters ran off in the direction of the hotel lobby. 

“Hey, guys!” Freight Train greeted, before giving out an ominous warning, “Gustavo isn’t happy. He knows about the well and he has a skunk in his studio that he can’t get rid of.”

Looking around at each other, the boys began to laugh, “Gustavo can’t get rid of a skunk?”

Finally able to get up, the band helped the girls gather their belongings before following Freight Train to the parking lot of the Palm Woods where a car was waiting to take them back to Rocque Records. 

The ride gave the girl a little bit of time to close her eyes and rest her body, warding off any more unwanted nausea. 

Upon arrival, the band ran up the stairs, assistant in tow, as they beelined for the kitchen and janitor's closet near Studio B. Freight Train was kind enough to show Jordin the way to Studio A in the meantime. 

Each boy grabbed a tool to wrangle the stinky little creature: Carlos, a can of Sexy Dog Dog Food, Kendall, a cardboard box fashioned onto a long rope, James, a large piece of cardboard, and Logan, a packing tape gun. Before making their way out to the hallway, they handed their assistant a pair of bright yellow dish gloves. 

“No way I’m helping you catch a skunk.” She deadpanned, trying to hand the items back, “Knowing my bad luck I’ll just get sprayed.”

Logan waved her off before crossing his arms and leaning back-to-back on Carlos, “It’s nothing the Good Luck Patrol can’t save you from!”

“We’re pros at this, don’t worry.” Kendall jumped in to assure her. “You just need to hold the box steady so Logan can tape it down.”

Carlos twirled the can of food in his hand, “It’ll be fun, we promise!”

They must be out of their minds.

Begrudgingly, she slipped the gloves on and followed the four out into the hallway. 

Towards their boss’ office, they noticed he and Kelly were pressed with their backs up against the wall - a small black and white fluffy creature at their feet. With its tail up, there was no mistaking this was an angry skunk, ready to attack the adults at a moment’s notice. 

Counting backward from five, Carlos leaped into action.

Sliding down the hallway on his knees and a “Wah-hoo!” the boy opened the can of food with a satisfying crack! catching the animal’s attention. Once its head turned towards the singer, he threw the can at an angle, letting it spin out over the carpet right in front of the skunk to keep it distracted and in place. 

As it moved closer to the can of food, Kendall, who had made his way to the other side of the hall, swung the box-on-a-string a few times in a circle, before sending it flying in the animal’s direction. Just as the skunk went to take a little bite of the food, it was captured under the box.

Now, it was Roxy’s time to shine. Running down the hallway, giving Carlos a high-five on the way down, she made her way to the large box of cardboard that trapped their prey. On her left, James jumped out from behind the couch with his piece of cardboard and as she held the box down so the skunk couldn’t escape, he slid his item under. Now that there was no open space, the skunk would be unable to roam freely around the studio. 

Still holding it down just in case, she watched as Logan popped out from behind Kendall with his tape gun. With James folding the sides of his cardboard to fit the dimensions of the box, the other boy was able to take his tape and run it all along the edge to ensure the skunk was trapped inside. In another fluid motion, he detached the rope from the top.

Once the boys backed away, Roxy picked the box up carefully, being very mindful of the creature inside. Turning to face her boss, she pushed it into his hands as her band proudly proclaimed, “Here’s your skunk!”

There were no thanks, just shocked looks on their boss’ face as he yelled, “How did you do that?”

“We catch stuff all the time in Minnesota,” Kendall stated as though it was an obvious fact anyone would have known about them. 

Carlos clapped once, jumping in, “Yeah! What did you use as bait, a lady skunk puppet?”

Laughter rang out over the floor of Rocque Records, from the assistant, her band, and her bosses. The latter laughed just a bit too long, suggesting Carlos’ comment may not have been all that far-fetched. 

“Enough!” Their boss cried once he caught wind the teens were laughing at him and not with him. “Let’s hit the studio, it’s time for Jordin to record her song.”

As their boss said, everyone piled into Studio A, ready for what the rest of their day would bring. 

The band naturally formed a straight line, while the other adults and Roxy stood to the side, which Gustavo used to pace back and forth between them as he gave out his orders. 

When Kendall had made the phone call to Freight Train earlier, Roxy had learned the boys were the ones who caused her to fall into the well. As she had reached to take her songbook from Jordin, they had all been arguing over a metal horseshoe from the game Kendall had been setting up. It had slipped out of their hands, flying through the air in just the right manner to hit the writer in the back of the head and send her tumbling down the well. 

Their actions had been horrible and caused her a lot of pain, but more than anything she was happy it lead them down a path where they were able to work out Jordin’s song. She had forgiven them, but now it was up to their boss to see whatever disciplinary action he would like to take. 

“Now, in light of recent skunky events, I have decided not to kill you. 

The band loudly breathed a sigh of relief. 

“However, you blatantly disregarded my orders to stay away from Jordin Sparks and proved once again you are Bad Luck Rush.”

“Mr. Rocque!” Roxy called from the other side of the studio, a slight shake in her voice as she stood up to the producer. “I think I’m the bad luck charm. In the span of a few hours, I slipped on a banana peel, I got attacked by a black cat, and I was the first one to fall down the well. If you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me.”

Gustavo turned back to face her, face growing red.

“No, no!” Jordin said from beside her, holding her arms out in defense. “Roxy and the boys are good luck!”

At the statement, Kelly raised a brow. “They knocked you down a well.”

“Yeah, but if I hadn’t fallen down the well, we would have never figured out the song.”

Their boss blinked a few times, allowing the statement to fully resonate. “They helped you figure out the song?”

Excitedly, Jordin shook her head. “It’s not a solo, it’s a duet!”

Gustavo let out a bout of laughter at her comment, raising his voice a pitch higher in disbelief as he began to point backward toward them. “A duet? A duet with Big Time Rush? That is the most,” He paused to catch himself in front of his new client, “...Greatest idea I’ve ever had.”

Of course… No love for the writers.

At her boss’ command, the girl grabbed five microphones and set up the dance studio for an impromptu recording session. The boys were given plenty of time to learn their parts, and Gustavo had even listened to a bit of her input as he was picking different settings on the soundboard. 

He quickly tracked the piano, along with the assistant on her muted acoustic guitar so the band and the pop star would be able to have a background track as they sang. 

After reading Jordan’s pages over and over again in the well, Roxy had internalized the song - so much so it barely made her think of Dak anymore as she had on her first listen. As the song said, love was dangerous, a message she had unfortunately found out the hard way. But, after a day of being with friends and getting back to work, her heart hurt just a little less than it did yesterday. 

I’m going to be okay, she determined as the song began playing for the five to record vocals to, reaching up to touch the plastic bandage on her cheek. 

Slowly, the low R&B melody filled her headphones in the control room and she watched as the recording process began. Though she was happy to see her friends do their job, it always felt kind of awkward for them to perform a song for the first time. Mostly, the girl had taken to imagining music videos the band could make and putting them in that scenario in her head.

For this song, visions of black and white on a classic late-night talk show sound stage filled her head. Both the band and Jordin would be dressed in vintage suits and a vintage dress with the pop star taking the lead. 

Quickly jotting the idea down in her songbook, she focused on that as the song quickly came to an end. 

A cheer from everyone in the studio lit up the singers’ faces, letting them know they had nailed their initial take. 

“Gustavo, that was awesome!” Jordin cheered, hands still gripping her microphone in excitement 

Her boss nodded, taking his headphones off, “So awesome, in fact, that I’m teaming you up for one more project.”

Gathering everyone back in the studio, he clued them into why a skunk had miraculously appeared in Rocque Records. Apparently, since the ‘90s their boss had been locked in a conflict with another music producer, the owner of Hawk Records. Once Hawk had caught wind that Jordin Sparks had chosen Rocque over him, he sent the skunk in hopes it would convince her to jump ship and pick his record company instead. 

Proposing a quick trip to Hawk Records, skunk included, Gustavo came up with a plan to distract Hawk long enough to place the skunk into his limousine as payback. 

Hawk Records was clear on the other side of town, and it made Roxy incredibly nervous to travel with the skunk, but once they got there their plan was set into motion. 

Handing the assistant her phone, Roxy quickly dialed the number Gustavo had given her. 

“Hawk Records. Hawk speaking.”

“Hello, Mr. Hawk, I’m calling you from the office of Jordin Sparks. Please wait one moment while I get her on the line.”

“Jordin Sparks- as in Jordin Sparks?” The man on the other line didn’t even try and hide his excitement. 

Quickly taking over the phone from the writer, Jordin said, “Yup, that’s me. You were right, Rocque Records stinks. I want to record my song with you instead.”

While the man on the other line continued to speak, she covered the speaker with her hand and made a shooting motion with her hand - meaning it was finally go time. 

The moment Hawk’s silver limousine pulled up in front of the building, the band managed to open the door to the backseat and gently let the skunk go. Once outside of the box, the animal understandably ran as far away from it as possible. Now, Hawk was in for a taste of his own medicine. 

When the doors to the building opened, everyone ducked behind the vehicle as they heard him call out, “Get me to Rocque Records. I beat Gustavo again! Yes!”, as he entered the limo before emitting an evil laugh. 

Pulling away, the car moved a total of 30 feet before the driver slammed on the brakes. The door to the backseat was nearly knocked off its hinges as Hawk let out a guttural scream, holding his hands up to his eyes. 

Guess old Skunky did the tick.

***

The following morning, the band and their assistant got up bright and early to see Jordin off before heading to work. 

Once they had successfully pulled their prank and made it back to the hotel the previous night, Roxy made a beeline for Jo’s apartment - showing up with flowers and a signed copy of Jordin Sparks’ new album Battlefield before explaining everything she had seen was a product of her bad luck. Thankfully, the actress had already had some time to think about what she had said to her friend and profusely apologized for her harsh words. After seeing Roxy get cheated on, she explained it was like a switch had flipped in her brain. Any time she saw Kendall with another girl it freaked her out, but she had never meant for her friend to get caught up in it. 

After a lengthy conversation, the two had finally made up. Not only that, Jo had been meaning to return the mini backpack she had found poolside when she ended up catching the pair on their “picnic”, so Roxy was finally able to reunite with her other precious belongings.

Now, the boys were standing off to the side of the hotel check-in desk talking to Jordin, who had already wrapped the writer in a bone-crushing hug. 

“Good luck with your writing, I’m sure it’ll save more than me one of these days.” The singer gushed, gathering the assistant in another hug she happily returned. Hopefully, they’d cross paths again. 

“Thanks, Jordin,” Roxy replied, handing her a sticky note with her phone number on it. “Call me if you’re ever in another bind - be it writing a song or stuck down a well.”

The two shared a giggle before Jordin turned to face the band, “And you guys, good luck on your album! ‘Cause I could use a really great opening act in concert.”

Reaching out, she pulled Carlos and Logan into a hug as well. Behind her back, the two did their Good Luck Patrol handshake before she moved to hug James. He, of course, ever the dramatic, needed to be physically pried off the singer by his bandmates. 

“And I hope you and Jo work things out,” She said, reaching out to embrace Kendall. 

He assured the singer they’d be fine, but not before Jo walked into the lobby, witnessing their sign of physical affection. With an Ahem! his girlfriend caught his attention before storming off towards the pool. 

“Dude,” Roxy face palmed, “I just smoothed things over for you! Way to make it worse.”

“Wait, here!” 

In an instant, Jordin had pulled a beautiful bouquet of flowers that were sitting in a vase on Bitters’s desk and pushed them into the frontman’s hands. It didn’t take long for him to run after her, assuring her the action was not what it had looked like. 

A loud honk from the parking lot let Jordin know her ride had arrived, and as everyone waved goodbye they were filled with a large sense of satisfaction. 

Today, a song with Jordin Sparks, tomorrow, who knows?

#thats all she wrote fic #big time rush #btr #james diamond #james maslow #kendall knight #kendall schmidt #logan mitchell #logan henderson #carlos garcia #carlos penavega

[bijoumikhawal]

life times in enemy territory- a garak playlist

Commentary about why each song under the cut!

Better than me- the Brobecks Look at what you've done, now I'm a mess/Today I even thought I'd wear a dress/It's beautiful, so smart/And no good for me/At all

Commentary track: Garak at Ba’amaren. Surrounded mostly by upper class idiots strutting about and looking down on him even though they feel the need to steal the credit for his tactical knowledge, developing emotions for both people who are actually kind and the first man to ever beat him up.

Hallelujah- Leonard Cohen Your faith was strong but you needed proof/You saw her bathing on the roof/Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her/She tied you to a kitchen chair/She broke your throne, and she cut your hair/And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Commentary track: more ASIT references- a poet overthrown by his love of a woman, who he explicitly connects to faith and religion? Fits the vibe pretty hard. A similar vibe is the Lesbian version of Maddy Groves I can't put on this playlist because it's only on bandcamp.

Brutus- the Buttress I always knew I could be the one/Though I feel the endless pain of being/And I am scorched by the sun/Of humble origins and born of the cursed sex/My name is Brutus, but the people will call me Rex

Commentary track: not on this playlist for the gendervibes, more for the utter jealousy and the fact that Garak would fume about a song related to Ceasar being associated with him.

Alligator Teeth- Mother Falcon Things are not like they seem/Things are not like they seem/Things are not like they seem/That’s what I’ve learned of dreams

Commentary track: a song about anxiety and hypervigilance. Not much else to it.

Explode- Patrick Stump They said that they found it in the basement/Enough to just blow that roof to the pavement/And he was the man for the job/A one-man bomb squad/A middle aged mess thinking

Commentary track: Garak whenever anyone goes "hey you, the former spy, we need you to do spy stuff".

Lovesong- Snake River Conspiracy However far away, I will always love you/However long I stay, I will always love you/Whatever words I say, I will always love you/I will always love you

Commentary track: a dark romance song about utter devotion regardless of what someone does to you. Describes far too many of Garak's relationships.

Live by the Sword- Dorian Electra It's cold like the ocean cold like the rain/Show your devotion, show me the pain/Show me the blood, show me you tried/Show me the tears coming down from your eyes

Commentary track: there's a video on YouTube analyzing the Flamboyant album through a trans lens, and this one is read as describing a threat- if you want to live like this (out and proud), you're gonna die like this. It also works as a parallelism between Garak's two fathers- Tolan, warning him to chose a life other than violence, and Tain, urging him to take power through violence.

Father- The Front Bottoms I have this dream that I am hitting my dad with a baseball bat/And he is screaming and crying for help/And maybe halfway through it has more to do with me killing him/Then it ever did protecting myself

Commentary track: Garak has daddy issues... bit of a Garak/Palandine vibe as well, and kind of a gender vibe.

Villainous Thing- Shayfer James Oh dear, let me see those smokey eyes/'Cause you're a villainous thing/And we can't have you living a lie/Oh dear, let's remove those pretty clothes/'Cause you're a villainous thing, oh/And I don't think anyone knows

Commentary track: Garak talking about someone else? Someone talking about Garak? Works either way

Our Word- 36 Questions And as I laid there helplessly/A million different thoughts came to me/I saw my parents hearing the news/"Your only daughter drowned today"/I thought about what they might say

Commentary track: a family that teaches their child to lie to the point where lying is the natural and expected reaction to any complicated emotion or situation.

Hatef--k- the Bravery And there will be no tenderness, no tenderness/There will be no tenderness, no tenderness/I will show no mercy for you/you had no mercy for me/The only thing that I ask, love me mercilessly

Commentary track: Garak's relationship to far too many people, but specifically Barkan. We know Barkan doesn't consider his enjoinment to actually prohibit him from sleeping with other people- he and Garak definitely had bad sex while they were at school together.

The Moss- Cosmo Sheldrake Well, legend has it when the sunbeams come/All the plants, they eat them with their leaves/Well, legend has it that the world spins 'round/On an axis of 23 degrees

Commentary track: this is almost entirely vibes based, at best I can say it's connecting to Garak's relationship with Tolan and Hebitian religion.

The Heroine- Unwoman I go through the motions again and again/But you are not here to see them/I go through the emotions again and again/And this time I actually feel them

Commentary track: Garak's feelings of abandonment on post canon Cardassia, if you buy that Julian wouldn't immediately start triaging people after the bombardment.

Dust and Ashes- Josh Groban How did I live?/I taste every wasted minute/Every time I turned away/From the things that might have healed me/How long have I been sleeping?

Commentary track: credit to @ofhouseadama on this one; I hadn't paid any mind to Great Comet in years, and she's right, it is a REALLY fitting post canon Garak song.

Honorable Madam- Daniel Kahn and Vanya Zhuk Honorable Madam/Queen of Separation/Many years we've been/The very closest of relations/I beg you, do not taunt me/Don't tear my words apart/If Death don't want me/How about your heart?/I beg you, do not taunt me/Don't tear my words apart/If Death don't want me/How about your heart?

Commentary track: it was very hard to chose a lyric selection. This song very much reminds me if my own fucked up relationship to the idea of homelands, borders, and "seperation". Interpret the "honorable madam" who is both "loving and oppressing" and its pretty decent song to describe Garak's relationship to Cardassia.

Circus- Lindsay Mendez Hello kind sir I'm so glad you never met me/You're my first one so forgive me if it's messy/Just to be fair/I admit that I'm scared/And sorry for what I must do

Commentary track: this one's creepy! And fucked up! Just like Garak's relationship to literally everything because of being raised with the expectation of being a spy, torturer, and assassin from a young age- especially if you think he honeypotted. Blending the lines of intimacy and violence.

Writer in the Dark- Lorde I am my mother's child, I'll love you 'til my breathing stops/I'll love you 'til you call the cops on me/But in our darkest hours, I stumbled on a secret power/I'll find a way to be without you, babe

Commentary track: Garak has mommy issues too, it's equality. Also a song about abandonment and learning to move on.

Adam Raised a Cain- Murder by Death (cover) In the darkness of your room/Your mother calls you by your true name/You remember the faces, the places, the names/You know it's never over it's relentless as the rain

Commentary track: the secrets and violence your parents teach you.

Compulsive Liar- Ezra Furman I've got one fatal flaw/I'm a compulsive liar/If I don't love you/I will tell you anything/And even if I love you/I'll always be conniving/I'll always be negotiating with the truth

Commentary track: lying, closets, and queer subtext! About the ways lying and confinement feel safer than the truth and freedom.

A body on the step- American Murder Song Was a mother, was a mother, burning someone's clothes/Was a mother, was a mother, burning someone's clothes/With rope in her apron and black for an eye/A body on the step and lies all about

Commentary Track: yet another song about a family that lies and ruins each others lives, but especially their children's. Also a really good song to write to.

#Cipher talk #Ds9 #elim garak #I couldn't sleep so I did this #Edosian melancholies

[godofdystopia]

Sashannarcy Week Day 3: Jealousy

Another day, another entry in @phrogfrommars Sashannarcy week! This time it’s jealousy.

While hosting a booth at Comic Con, a particularly smitten fan decides to ask out Marcy in front of everyone. Sasha and Anne take exception to this.

words: 2.4k. slightly longer now

“Thank you and enjoy the rest of the Con!” Marcy said to the leaving family.

The teenage girls, about the same age that she was when she was thrown into amphibia, thanked her for the autographs and ran off to check out a Demon Slayer merch booth, with the father chuckling as he walked off after them.

Marcy leaned back into her chair and just sighed with contentment. She’d managed her childhood dream: she had her own booth at Comic Con! She liked to believe that it was for her growing talents as an artist even though she knew it was probably for the ‘Helped save the entire world at 13’ thing.

She knew she had fans though, cause after the news died down about one of the LA Saviors writing her own webcomic, and the deluge of people who read it to get close to her had faded, what was left was apparently a pretty sizeable fanbase of people who just… liked her work because it was good.

She fought down the urge to start handflapping in excitement again, last time she’d knocked over her laptop and the stack of informational fliers about how to start your own webcomic she’d brought with her.

She remembered the first few people who had shown up to the booth in homemade merch of her webcomic: One elderly man leaning on a cane he’d carved to resemble the staff of Malekith the Arch-Magister, The incredibly muscular woman who had on a pretty good replica of Warlord Tormund’s face paint and warhammer, a couple who were cosplaying as Lady Olivia and her faithful knight Ser Yunnan (She couldn’t resist!) and two twins dressed up like Gelamir the Golden King and Horace the False Hero.

She’d cried, she’d actually cried at that. Anne and Sasha had to hold her for a few minutes just because she wouldn’t stop crying from happiness. It was almost as bad as when Anne and Sasha proposed.

Almost.

She leaned, looked at the ceiling above, and just let the noise wash over her.

Here she was, married to the loves of her life, with a job that let her physically manifest her endless imagination into the world, and people actually enjoyed what she wrote.

She wished she could take thirteen year old her by the shoulders and shake her, telling her that things will get better and she doesn’t have to go into medical science like her parents, her teachers, and everyone else want her to.

… oh, and to hurry up and confess to Anne and Sasha already, cause if she didn't she'd end up getting stabbed in the back by an evil salamander who gaslights her into believing he’s her new dad.

Speaking of Anne and Sasha… ‘Where are those two?’

They’d wandered off to go get some refreshments but surely they should have had them by now? How long were the lines for the refreshments?

“Oh my god, you’re Marcy Wu!”

The excited shout drew Marcy out of her thinking and she sat back up in her chair, putting a smile back on for yet another fan.

He was pretty nondescript: Brown tousled hair, five o’clock shadow, glasses, and a brown tweed jacket over a blue sweater. He looked friendly enough, and had something behind his back that he was clearly fumbling with.

“Yep, little old Marcy: That’s me!” She said cheerily, reaching over to grab a pen. “Do you want an Autograph?”

“No, I… Well, actually yes I would.” He looked a little embarrassed as she offered a gentle smile, writing out her name like she had so many times now. “But I would also like to ask you something?”

Marcy just smiled and waited for him to continue.

“I would like you…” He got down on one knee and thrust out a bouquet of roses. “... to go out with me!” He shouted the last bit loudly, causing a few heads to turn towards them.

Marcy just blinked owlishly, staring at the man like he had grown a bunch of new heads and started talking in tongues.

“Bwuh?”

“I’ve been a fan of yours since you saved the world! I followed all your socials-”

‘Okay, that’s a bit weird, but nice I think…?’ Marcy thought to herself as her smile turned increasingly awkward.

“I’ve been sending you fan mail for a whole year!”

‘Wait, that was him?’ Marcy thought, now creeped out.

“I’ve even wrote this twenty seven page essay on why you should go out with me and-”

“OKAY!” Marcy yelled, wanting this conversation to be over but not wanting to be rude. “Uh, thank you but I'm good. Anyway, uh here’s an autograph. Next plea-”

“To help convince you, I have prepared-” He reached into his pocket and pulled out an I-phone. “-A serenade!” He fiddled with the phone for a bit, and then cheesy upbeat music began to play.

He then, to Marcy’s absolute horror, began to sing.

‘Oh my frog.’ Marcy thought to herself. ‘This is worse than getting stabbed. I wish Andrias was around to stab me again.’

**********

Anne and Sasha walked through the con, hand in hand, and fast food bags in their free hands.

Marcy hadn’t been the one to convince them to dress up like the characters she most certainly didn’t base the three main female heroines in her webcomic off of, not at all! Yeah, sure: they were all in love with one another and all had suspiciously similar lives to the ones they led in Amphibia but it’s all a coincidence!

Anne and Sasha didn’t buy it, but nor did they care. They chose to dress up because they loved Marcy.sd

Anne was clad in a bright blue tunic over a simple white long-sleeve button up, a pair of black wool pants that led down to shining golden boots that went up to her knees, but matched with a pair of similarly metallic gloves made her look like a folkish knight. A simple belt held a sword that looked quite similar to the one that Anne used in Amphibia.

Apparently, Brenda was a normal teenage girl from San Francisco who got whisked away to the shattered realm of Arvanis, where she had to use the power of found family and the heart to save not only Arvanis, but all the worlds of the multiverse. She would go on an epic, continent-spanning adventure where she found out she was chosen by destiny itself to save the world as well as her newfound family alongside her girlfriend Haley.

Totally not Anne.

Sasha, meanwhile, was clad in blackened plate and faux wolf fur. She had one pauldron that had a spike big enough to make a Chaos Space Marine feel inadequate, the other had a dragon skull that Marcy called, ‘The Skull of Tyrannus the Dread Hunger.’ Her breastplate was carved to resemble a deer’s skull like she was a Dragon Age character, with a matching pair of hip armor and her hair had a crown of knives and was curled up like Carrie Fisher.

Princess Akana was the daughter of Warlord Tormund and was also his second-in-command, While he ruled over the black tower in the Mountains of Mourne, she led his war parties to oppress the people of the kingdom of Telchis. She knew no other life until she met Brenda and Haley. There, her long hard heart began to thaw and she began to wonder if this was the life she wanted to lead. Soon, she would be forced to join forces with Brenda and Haley, alongside their friends and companions, to face the Nameless God and his army of demons. And there they would learn that love does truly bloom on the battlefield as Brenda, Haley, and Akana fell madly in love with one another.

Sasha had laughed and gave Marcy a kiss for that one, even if the girl insisted it totally wasn’t them.

Either way, the two girls had gone out of their way to dress up for their wife to surprise her, which led to lots of happy squealing. Marcy’s smile made the long nights of trying to get Sasha’s armor just right all worth it.

“Just saying, we could have gone to the Thai Go truck. Ned would be willing to hook us up.” Sasha said as she drank her boba tea.

“Did you see the line in front of that truck? I like Ned but I'm not waiting for an hour just to get some of my parents cooking.” Anne said as she walked hand in hand with her wife. “We’ll just swing by their place afterwards.”

“I want Thai food though!” Sasha complained.

“... I can make Thai food, Sash. I can do it easily.”

Sasha was about to respond when she caught sight of the weirdest thing: Some dude was taking a knee in front of Marcy’s stand and seemed to be playing music while… holding… flowers.

Oh.

Oh, Hell No.

Anne blinked at the angry expression on Sasha’s face and, turning towards what she was looking at, started snickering. “What the hell is he doing?”

“He’s flirting. With our wife!” Sasha snarled angrily.

“C’mon Sasha, it’s probably something el-”

“Oh Marcy, you’re so fine! I wanna make you miiiine! Cause you’re so pretty!”

An explosion of blue light erupted in Anne’s eyes as she suddenly went very still.

Sasha, meanwhile, didn’t even notice when her fist clenched her Boba so hard that the drink exploded.

**********

Marcy sat in her own personal hell as the excited fan continued to sing, badly, about how much he liked her and wanted her to go on a date with him.

Marcy coughed into her fist, and made sure to use the hand that had both her wedding rings on it.  He failed to notice and continued to sing badly.

“Ohhh Marcyyyyy-”

“Hey!”

Anne stomped up to the fan, her metal boots clanking on the ground as she did so. She leaned over the man, glaring at him. “That’s our Mar-Mar. We already called dibs!”

The watching crowd all began to mutter and look between her and Marcy, who had proceeded to bury her face into her hands at Anne’s comment. The couple dressed up as Queen Olivia and Sir Yunnan began to chuckle.

“Wha- You can’t call dibs on a person!” The fan, who’s nametag read ‘Jacob’ said shocked.

“Well that’s too damn bad cause me and Sasha already did!” Anne yelled, holding up her gauntleted hand to show off her wedding rings. “We got dibs. Go find your own Marcy.”

“Wait, I thought she was married to that woman?” Jacob pointed behind Anne back at the Table. Anne turned back just in time to see Sasha make her move.

“Ohh Marbles. Have I told you how beautiful you are today?” Sasha said with a smirk, sitting on the booth table and crooking Marcy’s head up towards hers with a metal clad finger. Marcy had descended into a blushing mess at this and was now spluttering incoherently.

“Every time I see you, I remember how much I love you.” Sasha, looking Jacob in the eye out of the corner of hers, leaned in and began to kiss her wife.

Marcy’s face now perfectly resembled a tomato with how red it was, and if one were to listen to her thoughts they would find that her whole mind had begun to bluescreen from the situation.

“Wha- Hey! I want to kiss her too!” Anne, blushing up a storm, managed to stomp her way over to her wives and pulled Marcy away and cupped her face with both hands. Marcy had just enough time to stammer before Anne leaned in and began to kiss her as well.

Sasha smirked before turning her head to look down at Jacob, who looked crestfallen. Her face looked so imperious that everyone watching thought she was Princess Akana brought to life. Which made sense, since for all her protestations to the latter Marcy had in fact based them on her and her wives.

“Marcy is ours. Our wife, not yours.” Sasha channeled all her training from Toad Tower and all her teenage socialite training to perfect a look of such imperious disdain that all watching grew just a little afraid of her. “Go find your own Marcy.”

Jacob, not wanting to mess with the incredibly scary blonde in very realistic looking armor, grabbed his autograph and scurried off.

Sasha waited till he was out of sight before deflating with a sigh, leaning back to look at her wives. “You okay there Mar-mar?”

Anne had finally let up on kissing her wife and stepped back just a little awkwardly, remembering how public this all was and growing just a little mortified. ‘Can’t believe I grew that jealous…’ She thought to herself embarrassed.

Marcy meanwhile, was still trying to recover from the back to back make out’s with her wives. Her face had gone beyond tomato red and was rapidly approaching fire truck red. Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out at all, or at least no sound audible to human ears. She looked between the two of them like a fish out of water, just staring.

“Hah! That was amazing!” All three girls turned to see the couple from before, the ones cosplaying as Olivia and Yunan, approaching with smirks on their face. “Took me and Cait by surprise when that guy just dropped to his knees and proposed like that! Good job staking your claim like that though, props!” The amazonian woman, dressed to the nines in a regal dress and tiara, gave them a thumbs up while her wife, and Sasha could see the ring on her finger so she knew they were married, giggled at them in her head to toe suit of green plate armor.

They walked off whispering to one another, and Sasha turned to look back at her wives.

“Well, I think that went well.”

“We- what the heck was that!?” Marcy yelled, her mind still trying to recover.

Anne rubbed her foot against the floor and looked away. “We just… we saw that guy and, well… felt a little jealous?”

“A little jealous? You both made out with me in open public after claiming me for yourselves!”

Sasha frowned a bit “How mad are you right now?”

Marcy breathed in, then breathed out, and looked them both in the eye. “I will be soo mad if you both don’t continue right now!”

Marcy tried not to laugh as she saw her wives blush up storms at that.

‘Two can play that game girls!’ She thought to herself.

#amphibia #anne boonchuy #sasha waybright #marcy wu #sashannarcy #sashannarcy week 2022 #sashannarcy week #minor the owl house crossover #cause the nerd is Jacob Hopkins #jacob hopkins #he gets dunked on #as is tradition

[universestreasures]

Asaka’s Feelings About Ren

How Asaka feels about Ren is both straightforward, but also not at the same time. Yes, she does LOVE him. No really, like really love him to the point where some would call it obsessive. Girl definitely fell hard for him the day they met, but...why? What drew her to love Ren so much to the point where she dedicated herself to staying at his side?

To get the more straightforward stuff out of the way, she does find Ren attractive in both looks and personality. She loves his messy red locks that are pretty and fun to brush and comb, the way he can make her smile with the weird things he says, his beautiful and deep eyes that say more than his words do as he watches her, and definitely gets a kick out of his more serious and darker side (when it’s not being directed at her, obviously) that comes out during intense Cardfights and how he was until his loss to Aichi in S1.

However, her feelings for Ren go beyond just romantic attraction. What is most important to Asaka, and what really drives her, is how Ren is probably the first person to ever give Asaka any form of recognition and put his faith in her. 

Think about it. It was implied that Ren is the one who scouted Asaka for Asteroid. Even with Tetsu saying she was no where near the skill level needed and wouldn’t be a good candidate, Ren still insisted there was just something about the look in her eyes that he could just tell was there. He saw Asaka’s potential when no one else did. He praised her deck (even in an unpolished state) and the way she wielded it, even after a loss to Kyou during a time where Ren didn’t tolerate loses. He wanted her on his team right then and there, and watched her climb up the ranks. 

And that faith, that attention, that recognition made Asaka feel like she was worth something, when she probably didn’t have those feelings before. She liked how it made her feel, and it made her want to stick around Ren, no matter how hard the environment was around her. She wanted to stay by the side of the person who enjoyed watching her play, who wanted her around.

Not only that, Ren gave her a place to call home. I HC Asaka doesn’t have the best relationship with her parents, which is why we never see her bring that up. She dedicated herself to Asteroid for both it being Ren’s organization, but also because it has become her second home and a place she truly has come to care about. 

All these feelings too drive how she’s willing to do anything for him, too. It’s, in her own way, showing her love language as well as repaying him for what he’s done for her. If it wasn’t for Ren, I don’t think Asaka would be either the player or the person she is now.

Now...has her feelings for Ren caused drawbacks? Yes, absolutely. Her view of her self worth for a very long time (probably not till after their fight in S3 when she’s reversed) depends on Ren, which is why losing to Misaki in S1 hurt so bad (see this HC post for more detail about that). She relied on him to help keep her going. That obsessiveness over his attention and recognition and fear of losing everything if she lost made her push herself way more than a teenager who is also a student should. It got to the point where if Ren didn’t let her back on the team, well...let’s just say I think things would get dark and serious really fast for her. 

Asaka has since learned to manage her feelings and not let Ren alone define her self worth. She still cares about his thoughts, of course, but she now puts greater focus on how she feels about herself and how she shouldn’t be so hard on herself. She definitely also started to engage in more self care and self love than before. And Ren was instrumental in helping with that, helping her learn to love herself. 

Overall, she owes a lot to Ren. Ren is her Vanguard, the one who leads her down her path she chooses to follow at his side. She loves him with her whole heart, and that won’t ever change. She wants to be around him and he wants her around. He asked her to stay with him, after all. And it’s because of him that she can act so confident and take the stage with all her beauty, grace, and skill. She knows he will always be watching her and supporting her, reminding her every day that she is an amazing person and that she deserves love from both the audience as well as from herself. 

#💎 Assassin Treasure (Asaka Narumi) #💎 The Assassin & The Asteroid King (Asaka & Ren) #💎 Assassin's Glimmers And Glitz (Asaka Headcanons) #tw long post #(I've been meaning to put this out cause this is a big part of my Asaka portrayal in general even if she isnt interacting with a ren #(but similar to how my Aichi is about Kai Ren is Asaka's Vanguard and thus is super damm important to her in any universe even if they #(are not a couple #(I HOPE THESE SOUNDED COHERENT CONSIDERING ITS LATE AND IM SO WORDY #(I JUST HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS

[the-average-melli]

PLA Fanfic: The quest for milk

Melli paced around his room frantically, unsure of how to proceed. A pink-flushed newborn sprawled out on his bed, loosely wrapped in a tiny handmade blanket. It squirmed about as if it were trying to find something. Melli stared down at it with a stressed look on his face; his pretty purple brows furrowed as the smol bean started to voice its discontents with a shrill sobbing sound.

“You hush!” He commanded the little one, who didn't seem to get the memo. “The Great Melli needs to come up with a great solution!” He stopped in his place. “What could you possibly want? You already have me!” He mused to himself. The little one was unphased. “What? Why so sour!?” Melli sighed and murmured under his breath, “you will learn to see just how wonderful I really am in due time, Hattie.” The tall Disney Princess on Crack™️ scooped the baby up into his arms causing those shrill sounds to soften significantly. “You see?” He pulled her close, sharing his warmth as if he were a Pokémon with flame body.

“What’s that sound?” Someone standing outside remarked as Melli stealthily shut the door to his residence behind him. He did his best to avoid eye-contact and go about his business just as he would were he to visit the Noble Electrode, concealing the child behind his majestic hairs.

“Is that a baby I hear?”

“It must be one of those pokémon all riled up.”

“That’s the sound of a human baby,” the other was certain.

“Oh, is it? Perhaps I, the Great Melli, ought to investigate it then… Off I go~♡” Melli fled the Settlement before anyone could trace that familiar fussing noise to him; his faithful stinky companion, Skuntank, tagged along as usual enthralled by the antics of whatever the wacky man was up to.

“That was weird” The bystanding Clan member shrugged.

“Right? But then again, he’s always like that,” another chimed in.

The little one grabbed onto Melli’s luscious locks of lavender as he sped out into the Crimson Mirelands at the outskirts of the Diamond Clan’s humble Settlement. There, he noticed a familiar face framed with short red hair and a full figure. The person wore a similar uniform to Melli’s own with a few personal alterations.

“Fancy seeing you out here!” The woman said. He froze in his tracks.

“Oh, hello hello, Arezu~”

“What are you up to? You seem like you’re in a hurry,” Arezu wondered. The fussing noise returned, but this time softer and more muffled. “Do you hear that, by any chance?” Her eyes widened.

“Hear what?”

“It sounds like a baby.”

“You must be hearing things. Perhaps the humidity of the bog is getting to you because I quite frankly don’t hear a thing!” The fussing grew louder. “Hattie shhh!” a sweat drop fell from his forehead as the baby in his arms drew attention to him like a Wyrdeer in the headlights.

“What are you doing with a baby!?”

“N-nothing at all.”

“Melli…” Arezu shook her head. “If you need help with something, you can tell someone. It’s not always possible to do things on your own, y'know?” He couldn’t avoid it anymore, so he showed her the little one squirming in his warm embrace.

“I’m trying to feed her,” he timidly admitted. His lovely lashes fluttered down.

“If that’s all, that’s no problem!” Arezu lit up, a gentle smile spread across her friendly face. “Where’s her mommy?” Melli continued in a quieter tone of voice,

“…She doesn’t have one.”

“Oh, I see… I’m sorry to hear that.” She tried to think of what to say without dwelling on it. “Oh, I know! How about you come back to Jubilife Village with me? I help the hairdresser out there and know there are plenty of people who might be able to help you out!”

“I don’t know...” The thought of strangers filled the man with unease, even after they’ve proven to have better relations with the Diamond Clan after the whole debacle atop the Temple of Sinnoh. “What in the world could they do?”

“Let’s go see. Besides, the baby needs nourishment.” Though he was reluctant about relying on outsiders, the persistent pleas of the infant left him little room to disagree.

“Oh, alright. Let’s go.”

Alia perched on a wooden Gingko Guild wagon parked beside to the Galaxy Expedition Team HQ building. She was open for business with two other merchants, all of which were cloaked in blue and yellow, indetifiable colours for this brand of travelling merchants. One man was selling appliances for a lofty price. Another younger woman was selling the average selection of basic resources. Alia, who was drawn to sparkly objects in particular, focused on polishing and selling different types of stones she found on excursions.

“Alia!” Arezu ran past the guards posted outside the entrance who were accustomed to her coming and going ever since she took on an apprenticeship at the village. Alia looked up at the sound of that familiar tone of voice. “Alia we need your help!”

“We?” Alia noticed the lanky noodle of a man waltzing in behind Arezu. “oh here comes the stinky-Smelli,” she teased as she laid out a set of polished shiny stones.

“Well, well. What have we here? The Galaxy Grunt evolved into a Gingko Guild merchant?” The Disney Princess on Crack™️ shot back, looking down at the petite person seated in front of him. Alia looked the same as she did as a member of the Survey Corps—the same silvery hair, round specs, and cheeky smile. All that changed was the uniform; she kept her hair tied back under an off-white handkerchief with the Guild’s logo printed at the top to keep her hair at bay as she worked.

“What brings you here?”

“Melli has a little problem,” Arezu pointed to him.

“His face?”

“No actually,” Arezu couldn’t help but chuckle under her breath. She always found their banter lowkey entertaining.

“I’m gonna get the manager,” Melli pouted.”

“Joke’s on you: the manager is out today. I am the manager today!” He shrinked back at this news and looked away as if he didn’t hear it—all walk and no talk.

“We're trying to feed this baby. She doesn’t have a mommy and she's pretty hungry,” Arezu explained.

“Oh, I see.” Alia nodded, empathising with the situation. “Newborns need a fair share of milk to grow big and strong, but it's important that it isn’t from pokémon like moomoo milk.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but they can have a formula if they can't feed naturally.” Alia stood up. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” The two Diamond Clan Wardens took a seat while an egg-shaped pokémon popped out from below to take Alia’s spot. A togepi!

“What’s her name again?” Arezu thought she heard it earlier, but couldn’t catch it when Melli tried to calm her.

“Her name is Hattie.”

“Hattie is a pretty name!”

“Naturally. Almost as pretty as my own! If she makes it, she'll be almost as amazing as her father, too~” Arezu’s eyes widened. This man would never compliment anyone higher than himself, so she reasoned this meant the baby was partly his.

“You're the father!?”

“Of course~♡”

“How--?”

“Sorry for the wait, I’m back and this should help,” Alia reappeared with a container of white liquid.

“What, pray tell, is that?” Melli stared at the foreign object.

“Formula in a bottle! I crafted a bottle that should be easy to clean and drink out of.” Alia handed it to Melli, who turned it in his hands to carefully examine it.

“It’s warm.”

“Formula needs to be a certain temeprature, it should be warm for baby!” Melli was not in a place to question it—he wasn’t a woman and he never cared for a child until now, so he didn’t even bother to challenge that point. He offered the bottle to Hattie, who latched onto it and began suckling the formula as if her life depended on it.

“She must have really needed that!” Arezu watched as the liquid disappeared from the tiny transparent container.

“Hattie finally ate something~” Melli cheered for his daughter, who no longer squirmed in discomfort. She nestled into his warm chest as his heartbeat soothed her to sleep.

“If you need more, you can stop by here, or one of us can deliver to the Settlement.” Alia sat back down at her spot behind her display of stones; the togepi chirped and climbed into her lap. “If there’s anything else you need, just let me or any of us know!” Melli refused to actually say he appreciated the help. Instead, he willingly offered to pay,

“How much will it be?”

“It’s on the house,” Alia winked. Deep down, she empathised with how hard being a single father was, especially in a time period without much support for single fathers in general. The man wore a surprised expression on his face—he didn’t expect such kindness from anyone; he expected even less from someone he constantly ragged on in the past.

Arezu stayed behind with Alia at Jubilife to help out the hairdresser while Melli and Skuntank returned to the Diamond Clan Settlement. He hugged his daughter close and sang to her on the way back home. He wasn’t truly alone as he feared he would be when he was elected to be a single father.

“I promise you this, Hattie: the Great Melli will be the greatest parent ever! I vow to do everything I can to help you one day become almost as excellent as myself~♡” He gently kissed the top of her head.

#pla #pokemon #pokemon arceus #pokemon legends arceus #gaming #pokemon headcanons #melli #pokemon melli #fanfic #pokemon fanfiction #fanfiction #hattie #original character #oc #fiction