#the finale finally addressed morty but there's a lot to say about That too.... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cyanichexanthine · 5 months

Text

Tagged by @scarstarved to list 9 favourite characters (thank you for the tag 🥲💕💞🫠)

It’s under a read more bc it’s kinda a big post lmao, also not particularly ordered because my brain combusted just trying to think of 9 (ended up with 8 but why not it’s my favourite number) and a bit on why they’re there bc it was a fun revisit tbh.

Oh this is going to be a great getting to know me exercise 🥲

1. Rick Prime (Rick and Morty)

The current favourite little goblin. Could never explain why he was a fave but after unmortricken and the subtext threaded throughout s7 I think it's finally coming together especially when I think of other faves in this post (I have a bad habit with faves with seeing them for 0.5 seconds and deciding they're a fave and only later realising why as more about their character is revealed)

To avoid sharing more of my thoughts about his character (and clowning harder than I've already let slip and bc it's mostly interpretation and hc) Let's just say I think there's so much about Prime that is not fully understood yet and I can't wait to see how they address it (also pour one out for another victim of the curse of many of my faves dying in horrible brutal ways with unresolved emotional conflict)

2. Tartaglia/Childe/Ajax (Genshin impact)

Can’t explain this one too much either yet tbh. Another on sight fave. Precious little goblin who cares immensely for his family and seems to want to have friends/an adventurous life but is distanced by how he's wrapped up in conflict and chaos ever since he fell into the abyss as a child.

"You shall ever be the eye of the storm,"

"And the clashing of steel shall ever accompany you."

He has a constant desire for battle and proving himself (likely because it’s how he learned to survive/possibly because it keeps him occupied and it is a horrible cycle). He’s likely also addicted to the thrill of winning/surviving/overcoming due to this as well.

I constantly worry he's going to die. Pleasantly surprised that he hasn't so far. I want to see him develop. I want to see him peel away from the Fatui (bc he’s clearly unhappy and he dislikes a majority of the other harbingers but they’re a means of both keeping his family supported and seeking challenging battle). I want to see him do well and realise he's more than just “a weapon” to serve the tsaritsa’s purpose but the whole abyss thing is a LOT of unresolved trauma that he has never properly been addressed. And boy oh boy does he have a lot of death flags.

3. Amanda Young (Saw)

Ohhh Mandy. She's so, disaster. She has this depth of compassion and raging conflict inside her. Following John just because he gave her a hint of purpose while still regretting what she's become to some extent (secretly continuing harm/trying to kill Adam/wanting to help the fellow addict and being visibly distressed when they died etc) and making unwinnable traps as she thinks they didn’t deserve a second chance.

Likely because she harbors the fact she both doesn't feel worthy of a second chance herself and knows what this "second chance" has made her become, she doesn’t feel that purpose, doesn’t feel like she is grateful for living as John claims. The whole scene where she’s pointing the gun at Lynn and the “nobody fucking changes, it’s all bullshit, it’s all a fucking lie and I’m just a pawn in your stupid game. I don’t mean anything to you.” “So help me. Fix me. Fix me motherfucker, I’m standing right here.” Haunts me a little. Ahhh mandy 😭 I cry every time at that fucking scene.

It hurts to see her devotion to John (and he refuses to give up on her to the point of his death, he believed in her most of all, because she was the example of his ideology) while also seeing her so fundamentally disagree with his principles through her own struggles. She's just pain, pain, agony. Pain. (Another victim of the unresolved emotional conflict deaths 👏)

4. Danny “Jed Olsen” Johnson (Dead by Daylight Ghostface)

Idk why but the dbd ghostface is just so so good. Like I love the Scream movies sure but Danny is a special case. (Also I was a ghostface/stealth killer main back in my dbd days lmao) Danny's story and persona is great, from the Roseville murders, to how he writes/visualises the crimes before they happen, the way he wears certain perfumes during special kills. He’s just so interesting as a ghostface. He seems obsessed with the horror; the unexpected, the atmosphere, the anticipation, the thrill, the reverence of his stories and legacy. He seems to almost feed off of the human response, the fear and resulting chaos when people read his stories in the paper after each kill.

The local police were confounded: the murders were carried with fury akin to a crime of passion yet coldly premeditated.

The scarier the story, the more he appreciated his life. The truth of the stories made them far more potent.

He’s so in love with making a carefully constructed, terrifying story come to life. Yet he’s still impulsive and hot headed when something in his design falls apart. Ah reminds me on the days I’d write paragraphs on analysing his character based on the small background we had before the archive tome 🥰

And I will always adore how well his gameplay in dbd lines up with him as a character.

5. Gintoki Sakata (Gintama)

Listen I have such a soft spot for Gintama and by extension Gintoki himself. He acts lazy, aloof/sarcastic, unattached and a bit "not my problem, don't care, glhf with that"/selfish but he always has a good heart in the end. Often putting himself in danger to help others and going the extra mile for them when they're at the end of their rope. Notably from memory for broken families and people desperate for reconciliation/a second chance.

This anime had so many emotional beats for how silly it looks on the surface. I remember crying from emotional impact into crying from laughter in the same episode when I first watched the series. Also a lot of heartfelt moments of advice and commentary on the human condition. He’s so adorable. Parfait king.

6. Kokichi Oma (DRV3)

Here we go. Not my proudest one (was honestly a little scared to mention him because of the fandom/character perception etc but DR series was a huge part of my teen years along with RPG horrors so rip) but man does this kid mess me up. It hurts so much how he was just trying to investigate and end the killing game in his own way (trust issues so he refused to openly team up). And the way he spirals so hard in the trial after getting Gonta (who, I think he did consider a friend) killed as self defence against Miu is just 💔

The way he considered them all friends and in an attempt to end the killing game, he died slowly and painfully, while knowing they all hated him.💔 Yes his means/the way he went about it were fucked, yes I understand why people hate him. But jesus christ does understanding his motives and his emotions during the game fucking hurt. (another unresolved emotional conflict death let’s gooo)

7. Tiffany Valentine (Child's play series/chucky tv show)

Oh I love her so much. She gets two gifs bc I can’t choose. She was like the highlight of s2 especially. I love her energy, her swings, her endless obsession with/pursuit of knowing true, all consuming love; the way she will not be devoid of all humanity and loves her kids and will realise some things Chucky does are awful while still conversely doing absolutely abhorrent things herself (the Nica incident perhaps?). Will never argue with seeing more of her. I'm so glad the show delivers. (I still need to catch up on s3 though). I would honestly love a little more of her formative story, how she became Valentine.

8. Michael Myers (Halloween)

Another showing my love of horror here but this big guy is a classic. Actually what got me into horror so intensely tbh. I love his little arts and crafts. The way he'll string up a whole scene just to get the most screams and fear. The way he panics when his mask is removed. I do always wonder about him. I mean we're told he's evil in human form but I can't help but feel Loomis gave up on him. Everyone did. I don't doubt it's as basic as him being the shape of evil and that's fine but I like how ambiguous it has always been. There is no clear cut answer on why Michael is what or who he is and I love it.

Wow love the recurring themes here. I’m sure I probably forgot a few older faves too but oh well. Time to not analyse those and go sleep.

Tagging @potetosaradas @dayglomasochism @lara60 @drawmanations @zanukavat if any of you want to share your faves. 🥰

#tag game #long post #hexed rambles #there are a lot of characters I like but not many faves it seems #faves I have to have been mentally or emotionally unwell over them at least once #the funniest thing to me is some of these aren't even in my top 10 media #adding nick valentine as my 9th bc replaying fallout 4 😢 ily detecto peepaw

12 notes · View notes

the-awful-falafel · 1 year

Text

Finally actually watched all of s6e9. Incredibly mixed feelings overall, so here’s some noticeable pros and cons I jotted down:

Pros:

The sheer relief of a Morty focused episode after him getting sidelined this whole season is palpable, I missed this kid

Morty casually insulting and being suspicious of Rick, at least in the beginning, good for him

Morty running the show for much of the episode, making decisions, and being bold shows not all his development was trashed, at least?

There are a lot of depressing implications about Morty being initially willing to ditch his family for the sun knights, or at least considering it not a dealbreaker if he never has to see them again. Poor kid definitely has a repressed desire to escape his family environment if given a strong enough alternative... wonder if they’re going to ever explore that further?

On paper, an episode that finally addresses the lasting impact of the Vat of Acid incident is a good one, and Morty briefly snapping at Rick in the garage was cathartic, even if the execution leaves... much to be desired

Rick and Morty hugging near the climax was.... kinda sweet, I guess?

Animation was good, especially in the sun kingdom

Cons:

Once again another “Morty fucks up and causes a massive catastrophe and Rick needs to save him” episode, except this time Rick is nice and emphasizing just how much nicer he’s gotten by saying sorry, being constantly supportive, and asking to be trusted in dialogue so Morty’s continued reliance + dependency on Rick is clearly fine and not disappointing /s

Rick is delivering the most unnatural, heavy-handed "therapy textbook” style apologies + support + emotional communication with Morty, in such a flat voice too. Like, I’m sorry, but this does not register as something Rick as a character would say at all, much less what an actual real person would say to someone else even when working on their self-improvement, and the fact I know this is supposedly sincere character development just makes me more disappointed in how incredibly forced it’s being delivered tbh

Morty’s resentment was drastically overstated to me in summaries. He’s in this weirdly calm and sympathetic state when Rick is monologuing his aforementioned info-dumpy apologies to him-- he only really gets that one good scene where he lashes out at Rick in the garage, but it passes by really quickly, and by the end of the episode what little distrust there is is basically all forgiven and forgotten because good news, Rick is truly kind and able to be trusted now! And while Morty’s rightfully suspicious of the rug getting pulled out from under him the whole episode (which is like, realistic and better than nothing) that distrust is weirdly minimized and framed as something irrational to maintain in the face of Rick’s newfound goodness

(Not particularly surprising considering the bullshit of how Morty’s character was handled in the crow break-up two-parter and how forgiving he’s written to better facilitate Rick’s near-saccharine character growth spurt, but uuuuuuugggh)

This episode just feels like the writers addressing one of the most fucked up and abusive things Rick ever did to Morty, but only out of obligation, ticking "take responsibility for the vat of acid incident” off the Rick redemption checklist and then resolving the consequences of that incident as quickly as possible (aka, the trauma this sort of abuse is implied to have left on Morty to the point where Rick getting forgiven by him so fast and cleanly would be uncomfortable no matter how sincere Rick’s turnaround is) so they can reclaim the whole vat-death gambit a display of how much Rick and Morty love and trust each other now. I’d be genuinely shocked if there are any actual consequences for Rick’s past abuse of Morty after this episode, because it just feels like they rapidly papered over it in this episode with “your feelings are valid Morty, but it’s okay he’s nice now just trust him”

R&M’s reconciliation feels just as shallow and uncomfortable to me now as it did back in the S5 finale (even though there were admittedly a few good moments in this episode, they only feel like they work without any context of what led to this point) and they just keep digging themselves deeper into the same problems the more they twist the narrative to revolve around Rick’s hyper-idealized healing process

Controversial opinion time, but I kinda hope there’s some sort of fakeout/reveal/incident in the finale that makes Rick regress to an extent, makes his self-improvement arc fall back to be more grueling and realistic and gives his victims more of a right to not immediately (or ever) forgive him. Because tbh, I’ve been watching Bojack Horseman recently, and it just makes the sheer unsatisfying nature of Rick’s character growth since the S5 finale even more apparent, and I’d hate for this to just be the unquestioned status quo from here on out.

#rick and morty #rnm critical #morty smith #rick sanchez

35 notes · View notes

countlessrealities · 1 year

Text

@petalsxfallen sent: “As you all know I hate everything about Christmas so far but you guys celebrate it so here.” Petal said as she shoved their presents towards them. Inside Morty’s held a video game he wanted along with a graphic novel. It was labeled “Batman Arkham: Poison Ivy”. It was a slightly larger book that contained several of her stories over the years. For Summer, her gift was a couple items of clothing she eyed at a back alley market Petal took her too. Along with a couple weapons from there as well. For Rick it was simple. A large bottle of alcohol wrapped in a boy and a huge sack of weed. She would’ve went for more hard drugs but it wouldn’t be family friendly.

Saying that the presents were completely unexpected would have been a huge understatement. Not only Petal had always been vocal about her distaste for Christmas, but convincing her to agreed to come over for Christmas had take Morty a lot of effort. In the end, the teen had managed to lure her with the promise that the four of them would get away from the family to share some of Rick’s special, extremely strong eggnog.

However, her present was the most Morty had expected to get out of her, so being faced with presents, not just for him and Summer, but for Rick too, was a bit of a shock.

For a moment no one moved. Or rather, the teens just stared at the packages, while Rick rolled his eyes and stole a long sip from his flask. Eventually, it was Summer to break the lull, reaching out to take the two boxes addressed to her.

“Wow, thanks!” She said, started to rip the paper. “I’d say that you didn’t have to, but, like, I love getting presents, so I’m glad you did.”

A wide grin opened on her face as she saw the denim jacket she had been begging Beth to get her for over two weeks and that cool black top with a skull that had caught her eyes the last time she and the Gem has been out shopping. Useless to say, when she opened the box with the weapon, she perked up even more.

“Are those throwing knives? Rad! And I finally have my own switchblade. Nothing like that lame thing Dad tried to give me for my birthday.” She rolled her eyes. It had been lame as fuck and Beth had taken it away even before she could have a good look at it. “Thanks, Petal!”

“Uh, y-yeah, it was really cool from you to get us stuff, s-since you don’t celebrate an-and all,” Morty chimed in, reaching out for his presents. “An-And you really didn’t have to, but...w-we appreciate it. A-A lot.”

With that, he shot a look at Rick, who however completely ignored him. The boy rolled his eyes, but he didn’t comment, choosing to focus on unwrapping his gifts. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the videogame and the hint of a blush touched his cheeks at the sight of the comic. He remembered all the comments that Rick had made when he had compared Petal to Poison Ivy, and he was still a little embarrassed by it.

“O-Oh, Bioshock 2! Y-You remembered! I...I wasn’t even sure you were listening w-when I was talking about. An-And, I mean, it would have been fair.” Cue to an awkward chuckle. “T-Thanks, it’s awesome. Uh, an-and the graphic novel with...Ivy too.”

“T-Trip over your words a little more, will you, M-Morty?” Rick interjected, finally pushing himself away from the workbench and approaching the other three.

The mockery earned him a glare, but he pretended not to have noticed it and grabbed a hold of the weed and the bottle instead. He took a few moments to give the former a thorough sniff, humming under his breath in satisfaction once he had made sure that it was the good type, and then looked at the label of the liquor. It was from Earth, but it wasn’t cheap shit.

“D-Damn, an-and here I was thinking that you’d get me some random shit j-just to keep up appearances.” A snort. “W-What, are we friends or something now?”

#[ ic :: c137 Rick ]#[ ic :: Morty ]#[ ic :: Summer ]#[ ft: Petal ]#[ v. Forever a hundred years ; main verse :: c137 Rick ]#[ v. Forever a hundred years ; main verse :: Morty ]#[ v. My generation gets traumatized for breakfast ; main verse :: Summer ]#petalsxfallen

1 note · View note

taocastleprincess · 3 years

Text

shaman king (2021) ep 1

i said i was going to type smth up last night but teaching is literally so exhausting sooo i'm here now!! i have watched the episode like a million times since Thursday LMAOOOO i think i mostly have the dialogue memorized, that's how much i've watched it. i'm just so happy though, i've been a lifelong fan of SK, i was obsessed w it in my teens (still am but i was on a DIFF LEVEL in HS), and i'm just SO HAPPY we finally got a reboot!!! Shaman King deserves a canon adaption, so glad that Takei got it :)

this post got super long rambly so my thoughts/glows/concerns are under the cut!

gonna start w the GLOWS

-- honestly, i am in LOVE w the new OST!!! i have had it on repeat since it was released in Japan!! Megumi is a godsend and i feel like both the OST and the ED kept the same vibes as the og adaption OSTs and EDs. can't really explain why that is but the melodies and the feelings you get from the new OST are very authentic to the SK-verse.

-- the animation is absolutely beautiful and i could hardly focus on anything else the first 2 times i watched it. i was really scared about how the animation was going to look bc so many weird rumors about the animation team were circulating on twitter but it is nearly perfect. they stayed true to Takei's style and the background scenery is out of this world. i also think all of the characters look brighter and more... like them? like, i love the og SK but even as a kid i felt like the animation did not really capture any of the characters (especially Yoh, Ren, and Joco) in their true essence. Like, it was just very dull and didn't accentuate any of their key features. The reboot is beautiful and I love the way certain characters' eyes are drawn. I thought that the look of Ryu's crew was a great example of the animators highlighting and emphasizing defining features of certain characters. They aren't major characters at all but we know they are important to Ryu (and his story) so their designs are given their rightful due.

-- i know that a few people didn't appreciate the beginning scene of the episode for a myriad of different reasons and i find them all totally valid and understandable, tbh. however, i think the opening scene was really great. i had a few problems w it (i do think the 'chosen one' set-up for Yoh was heavy-handed and weird bc i don't think the source material really wants us to believe that Yoh is the stereotypical 'chosen one' and i think it pushes back on that trope quite a bit but i'm open to hearing diff opinions on that) but overall, i think it gives a very cool and mysterious set-up for the anime. i don't think it does much to spoil the eventual ~Hao is Yoh's twin!!~ reveal because, to me, personally, it wasn't that big of a reveal/plot twist. what i WILL say is that the opening scene was very diluted in comparison to the manga vers and that was a bit disappointing but i think they might revisit the scene/make it more dramatic later on in the series when there is more context around the events of that night so that may just be a little tease, you know?

-- this should not be shocking to read from an account that is named 'taocastleprincess' but... AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH THE ENDING SCENE WITH REN AND BASON WAS SOOOOO PERFECT AND I DIDN'T EXPECT IT!!!! ON MY FIRST WATCH I RAN IT BACK LIKE 300x!!!! THEY BOTH LOOK AMAZINGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

moving on from glows and to CONCERNS, i spy a lot of possible issues w pacing, character development, and authenticity. the series is currently only slated for 52 episodes, a whole 12-eps shorter than the OG adaptation, and the entirety of the series is supposedly being adapted so... 52 eps for 300 chapters? to me, that seems extremely rushed even with best-case scenarios. i have read opposing views on twitter, people think that 52 eps is just enough if they cut 'filler' and 'stick to the most important arcs.' i don't think i can agree with any part of that argument. i really think that it's a REACH to say that Shaman King has filler chapters or filler arcs. there is a purpose for each and every chapter/arc in the series. plot development, character development, foreshadowing, etc. those all hold distinct and important purposes and the love, thought, and time put into the SK manga is exactly why people love it. 'filler' does not have a true narrative purpose, it only serves to lengthen the story, so to say that there are scenes/chapters/arcs that can be glossed or skipped over you would have to make the argument that they have no narrative purpose or bearing on the story. i personally think it would be extremely difficult (near impossible) to make that argument for anything within the og 300chap work but, again, i'm open to seeing if anyone can change my mind.

the first episode of SK flew through and glossed over a lot of important scenes for character study/development. by the end of the first episode, you don't really understand or relate to Morty as one might have done after the first episode of ogSK. and although Yoh is supposed to remain mysterious/confusing/weird for the first couple of chapters/eps, at the end of ep1 there is no GRAND interest that has been developed about him. The first episode operated at a breakneck speed and to its detriment. the characters so far are extremely flat regarding everything beyond character design. the viewer is hardly invested in the partnership between Yoh and Amidamaru because there is (little to) no build-up of their partnership and both of their characters are... not real to us yet. even the scenes regarding Amidamaru's past and his friendship with Mosuke doesn't affect or interest the viewer at all because it is referenced, addressed, problematized, solved, and wrapped up all within 3.5 mins.... huh?

what REALLY destroys me, though, is that the anime seems to be foreshadowing that Manta's character will be playing a backseat role.... the first couple of adventures are from Manta's perspective. he asks the questions that we have, situates us in this very weird world and helps to world-build without it being obvious or heavyhanded, and we start to understand the nuances of his character. none of that was present in 2021 ep1. it kinda felt like Manta was a plot device instead of a character. granted, like i said, none of the characters feel real yet but Manta getting this sort of treatment so early on is dismaying. i really do feel like Manta and Yoh's (developing) friendship and trust in each other is the heart of the first quarter of the series (and is continuously referenced and exalted throughout). rushing through (or, really, just straight up cutting out) the first couple of subplots/mini-adventures that they have together feel really weird and detrimental to the overall tone and purpose of the series. those early adventures cement so much and really lay the groundwork for the rest of the story. it's disappointing that they didn't get their due.

this isn't a very organized review/breakdown, i'm just typing as i think, but to sum up what i am REALLY worried about is this: if the series continues at this extremely crazy pace, i'm a bit worried that the characters will never feel fully developed. not only that, but SK has a lot of heart-wrenching scenes and also a lot of scenes that are beautifully filled with hope and care. i just don't see how those scenes are gonna hit quite as hard or even as they SHOULD if the pace doesn't slow down and let us really sit with these characters and their feelings and motivations.

i mean, i know that this is only the 1st episode of a 52ep series but a lot of things don't look too promising... anyway, these are my initial thoughts/concerns/feelings. i'm way too busy to actually sit down and plan out all of my millions of thoughts but hopefully this was good enough!

#shaman king #episode review #yoh asakura #manta oyamada #personalshy #shy's sk thoughts

7 notes · View notes

arrow-guy · 4 years

Text

Author and Auror (7/??)

Synopsis: Eleanore Vaughan has never been one for the spotlight. Her cousin, Rosaline, is the one best suited to the limelight, and is happier for the attention. Though Nora is most comfortable tucked away in her book shop, what happens when Grindelwald’s sudden takeover flips her world upside-down and thrusts her into the inner circle?

A/N: Okay, this chapter is particularly Dramatic and we’ll learn a little more about Nora than we have in other chapters. She’s a little more assertive than she’s been in previous chapters, which was kind of fun to play around with. Again, I am quite a bit behind where @thorne93 is in our collaboration, but I’ll catch up eventually. Until then, please enjoy lmao

Previously, with Rosaline....

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

Pairing: Theseus ScamanderxOFC

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Canon typical violence, dueling, minor injury

part 6

Twelve aurors sit around the table with Theseus at the head. Tina sits to his right with me on his left and Newt next to me. The aurors grow restless after fifteen minutes of silence and Theseus finally decides to start the meeting.

“As you all very well know, we’ve had a break in the Rosaline Vaughan case,” he says. “Seeing as she’s paired with one of the most feared wizards in the world, we should be wary of what this could mean for the wizarding leadership in England.”

“And just what does that mean?” a blond auror asks.

“I’m sure you all remember Ms. Vaughan’s campaign for minister several years back, Dawes. While I myself have not been fully privy to her dealings between then and now, I’m certain that her cousin is more than capable of explaining.” He gestures for me to speak.

“Rosaline was at the top of her class at Hogwarts. She worked her way through the ministry ranks in a few short years and began campaigning for Minister. She’s powerful and wicked smart. Grindelwald, as you very well know, is also powerful, and extremely dangerous. Now he’s coupled himself with Rosaline. I don’t know what he’s planning to do with her, but she’s still very influential in many ministry circles and has maintained just about every contact from when she was running for minister. If he can use that to his advantage, all hope for us could be lost.”

“And what makes you think she’d do any of that?”

I snort. “Who in their right mind would get engaged to Grindelwald? She’s probably bewitched, or something.”

“You’ve got no way to prove that. What if she just wanted more power for herself?” Dawes asks, looking much too smug for my liking.

“Are you mad?!” I hiss, my anger getting the better of me.

“Rosaline wasn’t power hungry,” Newt interjects. “She stepped away from her campaign, didn’t she? She was a hair's breadth away from being one of the most powerful people in wizarding London, and she walked away. Why would anyone looking for power take a job as an assistant to a magizoologist? The closest they’d ever get to power is a dragon, and they’re not exactly the type to help anyone with anything.”

Dawes goes silent, scowling at both Newt and I.

“What’s wrong, Dawes?” I ask. “ You look as if someone stuffed a wedge of lemon in your mouth.”

He snorts. “It’s just that I’ve got to wonder exactly why a shop attendant and a zookeeper are being brought onto a case as important as this.”

I shove my chair back from the table, wand already in hand. Theseus places a hand on my shoulder, silently telling me to stand down.

“Are you questioning my judgement?” he asks, his eyes narrowing.

“No, sir, I just-”

“You don’t seem to understand these two as well as I do,” Theseus says. “Eleanore Vaughan was the best dueler in her graduating year. Newton Scamander, my brother, has more experience tracking and detaining living beings than anyone in this room.” Dawes says nothing. “Do you need a demonstration?”

I watch as he tries to sink down into his chair.

“I’d pay to see that,” the witch sitting next to Tina says.

Murmurs of agreement ripple through the Aurors in the room and I look to Theseus with satisfaction. Newt has one hand covering his mouth to hide his smile and I see Tina choke back a laugh.

“Do you think you’re up for a duel, Dawes?” I ask. “It’s been nearly fifteen years since I was in school. A lot can change.” Theseus snorts and I smack his arm.

I can see Dawes eye twitch. “Only if you want to,” he says indignantly.

“Then it’s settled!” I push myself up from my chair and gesture to the doorway. “Shall we take this outside?”

“Fine,” he grumbles.

It’s a quick walk down to the training rooms. There are still groups of young aurors working out and duelling one another when we walk in. All activity ceases as soon as Theseus walks through the doors. Every single trainee stands at attention until Theseus says otherwise. He tells them to line up against the walls and put up shield charms to protect them from any stray spells, jinxes, or hexes.

“Sorry, sir, but who exactly’s gonna be duelin’?” one trainee asks.

“Auror Dawes has so kindly volunteered himself to duel Ms. Vaughan today,” Theseus explains. “I expect you’ll understand what you’re meant to learn once the duel is over.”

Murmurs ripple through the congregated aurors and trainees. I block them out as I get into position at one end of the gym. Dawes takes his time getting into position, stripping his jacket and shirt off as he goes, leaving him in a white singlet and his slacks. I raise my eyebrows and look to Theseus who just shrugs and walks over.

“He’s trying to intimidate you, I think,” he says.

“Hm,” I hum and tuck my wand back into my pocket and work open the top button of my blouse. “Suppose I’ll have to do the same, yeah?”

Theseus blushes but laughs all the same when I’m down to my crimson silk camisole. He takes my vest and top from me and backs off to the sidelines to referee. There are several whistles from the trainees as I pull my hair back into a loose bun and ready my wand.

“Come on, Dawes. You may be under the employ of the Ministry, but I haven't the time to stand around all day and wait for you to finish with your little stretches.”

Dawes looks up and his face goes beet red when he takes in my appearance. “Aren’t you a little indecent?”

“Same could be said of you with that gut you’re working on there. I should expect an experienced dueler to appreciate a full range of motion. Now,” I lift my wand. “Shall we blither on like idiots, or duel?”

I can practically hear him grind his teeth from where I stand and I have to forcibly keep a smirk from my face. We bow to one another and ready our wands. Dawes is the first to act, throwing a loud and aggressive incarcerous at me with little thought. I cast a quick protego and the spell fizzles out before it even reaches me. In retaliation, I cast a stinging jinx and a full body bind one after the other. Dawes is only able to protect against the first jinx and his hit with the body bind immediately after. He struggles against the spell and growls angrily. I tilt my head to the side and wait for him to break free of the spell.

“Nora…” Theseus warns.

I wave him off and turn back just in time to see Dawes free himself and advance on me, sending a cutting curse my way. I dodge it and glare at him.

“You tried to cut me?!” I hiss.

“We never set rules, remember?” He seems much too pleased with himself

“Diffindo,” I hiss. I flick my wand at him and a small cut slices vertically up his bicep.

He cries out and grabs at his injured arm. He tries to fire off another spell but I shield myself from it before casting silencio coupled with a flipendo. He manages to right himself and stumbles to his feet, hands immediately flying to his mouth. He tries to say something and nothing comes out. I cast locomotor mortis and his legs snap together. Next comes a full body bind, and a quick depulso sends him flying across the room. He slides to a stop against the wall. I crouch down beside him and tilt his chin up with the tip of my wand.

“Don’t ever fucking question me again. Do you understand me?” He nods frantically and I point my wand at his mouth. “Finite incantatem.”

I walk away from him and he calls after me.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

I shake my head. “No you’re not.”

Theseus snorts and hands my blouse back. I spell the wrinkles from it and shrug into it, swiftly doing up the buttons and tucking it into my slacks. I leave my vest unbuttoned and turn to address the onlookers.

“So. What have we learned today?” I ask.

“That you should be a fucking auror, that’s what,” one young man says. The room erupts into laughter.

“Aside from that,” Theseus says.

“Overconfidence is useless,” a mousy girl says. “And underestimating our opponents can be deadly, if not, in the very least, bad for our health.”

“Exactly. Now, as you were.” Theseus pulls one of his aurors to the side as we’re headed for the door. “Get him to a healer. If they ask what happened, just tell them he was a prick and got what was coming to him.”

They nod and hurry over to help Dawes to his feet and usher him out the door as soon as he’s steady enough.

“I genuinely didn’t mean to cut him that deep,” I mutter as they stumble past. “Think I may have gone a little overboard there at the end.”

Theseus shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it. I meant what I said. He got what was coming to him. After all this time out of school, you’re still a brilliant dueler.”

“Aw, you’re just saying that.”

He shakes his head and slings one arm over my shoulders, pulling me into his side. “I would never, and will never say anything to you that I don’t mean.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I need to ask you something.”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Newt has been avoiding Tina, hasn't he? And whenever Rosaline is mentioned he goes quiet,” I lift my eyebrows and he presses his lips together. “Quieter than usual, anyways. I was told he wouldn't stop talking about Tina after he came back from the state's, but something has changed since Paris.”

“I can't answer a question you haven't asked, Theseus.”

“Has he got feelings for Rosaline?”

I nod slowly. Theseus sighs. “I haven't known very long. He told me when we were in Norway.”

“Why didn't he say anything sooner?”

I glance around and pull him into his office when I'm sure the coast is clear. “You know how your brother is. He's not exactly the most socially adept, he'll admit that freely enough, and when Rosaline started working with him she'd said something about not wanting anyone to break her heart.”

He scowls. “Surely that couldn't have been true after all these years.”

“Perhaps, but he took it to heart and did his best to move on. But Rosaline confessed that she loved him in Paris and then, well… everything went pear shaped. Newt is still processing things, and certain things have been pushed aside while he does that.”

“His relationship with Tina.” I nod and he scrubs a hand over his face. “Alright then… do you think it's wise to have her on this case given the circumstances?”

“She's a damn good auror. It'd be a shame to waste her skills, especially given the fact that her sister joined Grindelwald.”

“Of course. Then we've got our team then, don't we?”

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

Part 8

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please reblog, comment, and/or shoot me ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

#theseus scamanderxreader #readerxtheseus scamander #theseus scamander x reader #reader x theseus scamander #theseus scamander #newt scamander

23 notes · View notes

miss-musings · 4 years

Text

TROS Review - after second viewing

I’m glad I knew all the spoilers going into my first viewing. If I hadn’t known Ben died, I would’ve screamed. Although I’m pretty sure I heard someone at my second viewing go “What?!” when he fell over and vanished into the Force.

OK, let’s break this down.

THE GOOD

The movie looks great.

Daisy, Adam and John Williams all FUCKING brought it for this movie.

I actually liked some of the fan-service-y bits like Wedge getting a cameo, Han having a memory chat with Kylo/Ben, and Luke motivating Rey. I also noticed on the second go-around that Kylo flies an old Imperial TIE fighter (one from the Death Star ruins) to Exegol. And I like that shot of the old X-Wing of the Rebellion and the old TIE fighter of the Empire there alongside each other.

Most of all, I loved ALL the Reylo scenes we got in this movie. About 70 percent of the runtime seems to be dedicated to Rey, Kylo/Ben or both. I mean, it’s basically Reylo: The Movie, and I’m totally here for it. (But more on that below.)

I actually liked seeing Kylo in the mask again. I think it makes him look... sexy? Idk what I feel, y’all.

Some of the new creatures and characters were cool, even if we didn’t spend much time with them. (Again, more on that below.)

Loved Leia’s moments and how she had a big part to play in the story even if Carrie is gone. 😢

Those are all the big things; there might be a few small things that I’d remember if I were watching the movie in real time, but I can’t remember them now.

So, let’s get into it:

THE BAD

Oh, boy where do I start?

The pacing in both the very beginning (first 20-30 minutes?) and the very end (last 10) was ridiculous. My dad even agreed that the beginning felt rushed and disjointed.

While I love Kylo/Ben and Rey, the movie spends so much time focusing on them that no one else really gets an arc. Say what you will about TLJ, but Finn and Poe both had arcs in that movie, even if they were small. I felt like Poe did in this movie what he did in that last one: took to heart the words of wisdom of others around him (or at least, regurgitate their lines). He did it with Leia and Holdo in TLJ, and he did it with Zorri and Lando in this one. Finn doesn’t get any arc in this and the fact that he’s supposed to be Force-sensitive is like ... ??? What? I don’t even have time to unpack all that.

Also, Rose and Hux were sidelined majorly. I don’t even like Hux but even I felt his character and end were poorly done in this movie.

Something about both Finn and Rey’s Force abilities that bugged me was that I thought all Force sensitives can intuit or understand what others are saying in any alien/droid language. Remember how Rey could understand Chewie when she first met him but Finn couldn’t? It makes sense why Rey could understand a droid like BB-8 but why a Wookiee? Are there a lot of Wookiees on Jakku? No, she could understand him bc she’s Force sensitive and it’s an ability she has. But, in this one, neither she nor Finn could understand Babu Frick. I know it’s a small detail, and I could be misremembering canon, but it just bugged me both times.

So, Rey being a Palpatine... makes no sense. How and when did Palpatine have a kid? Was Rey’s dad a cloning experiment, or a naturally conceived and born child? This is something I’m morbidly curious about. I liked it better in TLJ when we thought she was no one, and this seems like a GIANT retcon and slap in the face to Rian Johnson. They even had to write a line about how Kylo supposedly never lied to her. Part of me wonders whether the Emperor was lying??? Maybe making Rey think she was his granddaughter would trick her into being obligated to come and end his life herself? But then, why was that Jedi Hunter looking for her parents? Oh well. Anyway, I did want her to be Rey of Jakku and no one else. But I also appreciate the thematic parallels and the yin/yang thing going with her and Kylo/Ben. He’s the embodiment of the Dark Side even though he’s descended from the Light, and Rey is the embodiment of the Light Side even though she’s descended from the Dark. So I’m a bit conflicted, but I hate it more than I love it.

I also HATE that Ben died. BUT, at least he didn’t die from falling into the pit, and at least there’s still a possibility that he’s coming back. The worst of it is that after he disappears, he’s never addressed again at all. Wouldn’t Poe or Finn ask about him? They don’t necessarily know he’s dead, and he would be a major threat if he were still alive. And why wasn’t he a Force-Ghost at the end? I HOPE it’s bc they’re leaving it open for him to come back. Or maybe his energy is living on in Rey whether spiritually (the dyad thing) or physically (maybe pregnant???).

But here’s the deal: in some ways this movie felt like the series finale of beloved TV show. All your favorites come back for little cameos, your main characters go out on a high note, and everything is resolved to a greater extent. Sure, there are more stories to tell, probably, but the Main Conflict has now been resolved. Think Avatar: The Last Airbender TV show or Star Trek: Voyager as examples.

BUT, in other ways, it DOESN’T feel like a finale. It feels like they’ve left doors to open and questions to explore in future properties. Is Finn Force-Sensitive? Is Jannah Lando’s relative? Is Ben Solo really dead? What’s gonna happen to Rey? Etc.

So, the movie needed to pick a lane. Either be The End of an era, or not. You can’t wrap up a story but then tease us with more stories. That’s not how this works. Fuck, even Harry Potter — as much as everyone hates JKR — got this right. Big Bad Guy is dead and instigating conflict is now resolved. Palpatine was the one who started this whole thing, so now that he’s dead, all is well???

Well, here’s my other big complaint about the movie. JJ & Co don’t seem to know how the Force works.

The Force is about a balance between the Light and the Dark. When one side becomes too strong, the other side grows stronger to compensate. When one side wipes out the other, the other responds. There must always be balance. Snoke even pointed this out in TLJ that Rey was Kylo’s Equal in the Light bc he was growing stronger.

And the Sith and the Jedi are religions on their respective sides. Not all Dark side users are Sith; not all Light side users are Jedi. And there are some Force users who use both freely and some who stay in balance.

The Mortis arc of TCW demonstrates this very well.

This is why so many people were pissed that Ben died. Not only are you losing a great character but you’re also losing the potential of what Ben and Rey could’ve been together as Force-users.

Palpatine and all the Sith are dead. Luke, Leia and all the Jedi are dead.

Except for Rey, who is descended of the Sith but trained by Jedi. So, she (and Ben) would have to figure out exactly how to keep the Force in balance. If the last Jedi just destroyed the last Sith, then the Dark Side is going to have to respond. But, if Rey could find other Force-users and teach them how to be in balance and use both Light and Dark in harmony then balance could be restored. There would be no need for these extremes if everyone stays in the middle.

This means Rey would have to end the Jedi. Which is what Luke wanted in the last movie. But then we find out that Leia received Jedi training??? So was Leia a Jedi? Is Rey? I’m so confused.

I like the fact that Rey’s saber has a darker hilt but it’s a yellow/orange blade. It kinda hints that maybe she will stay in balance — using both light and dark, being neither Sith nor Jedi, but something in between — a Skywalker, if you will.

So I guess, that’s a tiny win. The theory that the Skywalker(s) could be a new religion of Force-users in balance with the Force could still happen after that scene of Rey on Tatooine.

But, still, I hate all these retcons and the idea that the Jedi are the end-all, be-all. The Sith definitely aren’t good; but the Jedi weren’t always great either. And I hate that Rey had to fight Palpatine alone when it should’ve been her AND Ben — the balance between the Dark and Light should’ve been stronger than him, but whatever.

Also, one last thing, but why did Rey have BB-8 on Tatooine? Didn’t Poe make a big deal about Rey hurting BB-8 at the beginning? Why wasn’t BB-8 with Poe? Why wasn’t Chewie with Rey on the Falcon? (I guess he might’ve been and just never got off the ship.) Wouldn’t R2 and C3PO have been more appropriate in that final shot? They were in all 9 films. They’re more iconic and thematically appropriate than BB-8 to close out the saga, but oh well.

😪

TL;DR: I have really mixed feelings about this movie. At the end of both showings, I was smiling, so that’s something. I had fun... I think?? But yeah, it’s definitely bittersweet.

#reylo #rey x kylo ren #tros #tros spoilers #the rise of skywalker #rise of skywalker #kylo ren #ben solo #rey palpatine #star wars #force dyad #dyad #adam driver #daisy ridley #john williams

110 notes · View notes

artificialqueens · 5 years

Text

malamente part 1 (branjie) - evan

AN: Hello hello hello! I’m back again, this time attempting a multi chapter fic. I am SO EXCITED to share this all with you, as I work through my favorite theme in any media: women who bond over killing their abusers. This fic has a million inspirations, and if you’re curious, find me @formercongressman ! Big heads up to check the tags. It’s gonna be a heavy one, but also full of redemption and righteous revenge and healing. Take care of yourselves! If I should be tagging differently in the future, please let me know. A huge thanks to Meggie for beta-ing, and to everyone on the Branjie fic discord for being my eternal cheerleaders <3 <3 <3 love yall!!

In which Brooke might have killed her husband and Vanessa brings tequila.

–

So, there’s a dead body in her kitchen.

Brooke pops a window and sticks her head outside. It’s October, and the crisp evening air soothes the heat she feels building on her neck. She’s perched on a stool, breathing deep, surprisingly calm with all things considered.

She watches the sunset over the tree-lined street. She waits. For what, she’s not sure.

It’s her husband. Jason. He’s crumpled on the kitchen floor. His arm is extended toward her, rigor mortis locking his hand in a pointed finger. “You fucking bitch,” was the last thing he somehow muttered through his rapidly closing throat. And that was it. Finally, that was it. She keeps expecting him to move, now, to jump up and swing at her like any old night, but he is completely still. Turned to stone.

(Perhaps she had known he was deathly allergic to figs. Perhaps she had forgotten to label her freshly baked pastries she stored in the fridge. But, she thinks, when you’ve got a seasonal fruit allergy and a penchant for gluttony, at the end of the day it’s your own damn fault. Brooke doesn’t feel guilty. She’ll sleep tonight.)

There’s no blood, which is good. She’s wearing white shoes. This is a thought she allows to cross her mind.

The sun goes down and she’s not sure how long she’s been sitting there. Finally she pulls out her phone. She’s never had an excuse to use the emergency call button before, but she sure does now.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Hello, there’s been an accident.” Fuck. She knows her voice sounds to metered, too steady. How should she sound right now? She breathes in, feels it catch in her throat. “I think? My husband? Is dead?” Better.

“Ma’am, have you checked his pulse? Do you know if he is breathing?”

“No, he’s, um…” She stands up and kicks at his extended hand. Rock solid. “He’s cold.”

They ask for an address, and she gives it to them. Then the phone call is over, she’s tapping her nails on the hard plastic of her phone case, and waiting, again.

Brooke knows there will be questions. She’ll say she was in the bath when he came home from work at the bank, treating herself to a long, languid Friday afternoon, and that she didn’t know anything was wrong until she found him an hour or so later. The house is huge, and she never would have heard anything from up in the bathroom. In actuality, of course, she had been waiting in the living room with a tattered copy of an Ibsen play in her hands, hoping he’d find the pastries, anticipating the wheezing, the choking, and the thud of his body against the tile.

Now she sees the ambulance lights. Then she hears the knock at her door.

A cool rush surges through her. It’s relief. That’s when she starts crying.

–

Brooke is grateful, at least, for Nina, who knows about 90% of what is going on.

Nina knows that Jason would hit her. Brooke had spent a few nights at Nina’s place, waiting for a fight to blow over, waiting for an insincere apology, and so on and so on. Nina would order Chinese food and mix her a drink and set her hand so gently on Brooke’s arm. And when Brooke would go back the next day, Nina would nod and say, “Alright, sweetie, I’m always here.” That woman had more patience in her body than the rest of the neighborhood combined.

Nina knows that Brooke wanted Jason dead. Brooke should have left, could have left, yes, but at 32 with no degree or practical work experience other than schmoozing at galas and fundraisers and two years with a ballet company in South Africa, leaving Jason wasn’t something she could justify. Plus there was so much money, he was gone a lot, and she had her own herb garden. Jason dying was the best case scenario.

Nina doesn’t know about the figs, and Brooke does not intend to tell her.

But 90% of the story is enough for Nina to be exactly what Brooke needs at the funeral. Brooke is not the distraught, whimpering widow that Jason’s family is expecting, and Nina goes above and beyond. She steers away Jason’s elderly mother, she holds Brooke while she pretends to cry, and she nods supportively while Brooke delivers a not-at-all-heartfelt eulogy that she looked up online the night before. Nina, in short, makes it easier to play along.

But there’s only so much she can do. It’s 3 p.m. and they’re all still at the graveyard. Jason’s body is finally, finally in the ground, but apparently that doesn’t mean that anyone is allowed to go home yet. Jason’s sister has them all sitting in a circle (on the ground, in this dress) and they’re going around and saying one nice memory about Jason.

When it comes around to Brooke, she can’t think of a single thing to say. Maybe, if she tried, she could dredge up a memory from before they got married, before he started drinking so much, when there were vacations and gifts and lavish dinners with exciting people. Those times were happy, right? But all she can think about right now is the way his eyes would narrow before he threw a glass, his pointed finger, the sound of his body hitting the kitchen tile. That last one was happy.

“Brooke?”

It’s Nina’s voice. Brooke feels too many eyes on her, and she knows she doesn’t have the filter to fake it right now, so she runs away.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

People make way for her, and she notes the pitying faces. It’s not something she usually likes to see, but it’s better, definitely, that they think what they think.

“Let’s give her some space. She’s going through a lot.” Nina’s voice again. She owes that woman the first-born child she’ll never have.

The chill, October air hits her again as she finds an exit off the back patio of the funeral home. The graveyard stretches out before her like an invitation, which she accepts. She takes off directionless. For a moment she worries her heels might sink into the earth as she crosses, but they don’t. She wonders how much harder it is to dig graves after the first frost.

She spots a mausoleum tucked back in the corner of the small graveyard under an old oak tree. It’s made of worn stone, and has a small bench she spots where the light filters in through the trees. She sits down, leans into the cold wall behind her, lets it hold her straight and upright.

It’s hard to hold a secret.

Brooke can lie for days. She can put on a happy face and lilt through a fundraiser as long as she can lock eyes with Nina across the room and know she’ll have someone to commiserate with after it’s over. This already feels different. She feels like she’s waiting for the ball to drop, for some feeling of remorse to settle in, for a new kind of loneliness to catch up with her just when she thought she might get to start her life again.

She wonders for a moment about what tomorrow will look like. Casseroles and strangers’ cookware piling up in her sink, that’s for sure. A deposit in her bank account, eventually. Shopping with Nina, a case of red wine, nice things. But what then?

Maybe, as a twisted joke, she could open a bakery. She’d sell fig pastries year round.

She’s sure she looks a wreck, and opens her phone camera to try and fix her smudged makeup. At least she looks sad, with one good trail of mascara running down her face from the few tears she had managed to squeeze out. She feels her pocket for tissues and realizes that she’s out, and tries to smudge the tear track away with her finger. It’s not a very successful endeavor, but all she needs to do for now is look just put together enough.

She’s too focused on that to hear the click of another pair of heels against the marble base of the mausoleum until a girl with hair in long, dark waves comes spinning around the corner and nearly topples onto Brooke.

“Oh shit, sorry. I didn’t see you there.” The girl is small, even in heels, and she’s wearing a long black gown and lace gloves that make even Brooke feel pedestrian. Her voice sounds like the crunch of a car rolling slowly down a gravel road. She rights herself, watching Brooke. “Is it wrong to swear in a graveyard? My bad.”

“I don’t fucking know,” Brooke responds instinctually, and then cracks her first authentic smile in three days.

The girl smiles too. It fills her whole face, and she practically glimmers in jarring contrast to the sullen and somber graveyard behind her. She sits down next to Brooke on the bench, carefully.

“Do you want a tissue? Or some tequila?”

“Both, actually, would be wonderful.”

The girl pulls a packet of tissues and a flask from her sleek black clutch. Brooke graciously accepts the flask, takes too big of a swig, and winces as it burns. It tastes like gasoline with notes of vanilla, but Brooke is grateful for anything at this point.

She holds out her hand for a tissue, but the stranger pushes it away. “Let me,” she says, and starts to dab the tissue gently around Brooke’s eye, precise and conscious of her makeup. She’s gentle. “Lemme guess, annoying coworker? Batshit aunt? Your yoga instructor?”

Brooke chuckles. “Husband.”

The girl pulls back, and looks at her quizzically. “No. These aren’t real tears.”

“They are.”

“I’m good at telling when people are lying. So don’t. I can tell you’ve been crying too pretty for these to be real.”

Brooke doesn’t know what to say to that. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

The girl gives her a look, and then goes back to blotting around the corner of her eye. “Was he an asshole?” she asks. Brooke has to hand it to her, this girl is bold. Brooke bites her lip, hesitates. “My boyfriend’s an asshole,” she adds. “So I know.”

There’s a lot unsaid, but she knows too. “Yeah, he was an asshole,” Brooke yields.

“I won’t say good riddance-”

“You could.”

“Good riddance.”

Brooke sits with that for a moment, and it feels good. Too good, maybe.

“I think I killed him,” Brooke says out loud for the first time. She’s hit with another cool rush. Relief.

“Oh.” The girl pauses for a nanosecond before switching to the other side of Brooke’s face. “You think?”

“It’s a grey area.”

Brooke isn’t sure what she was expecting at this admission, but it certainly wasn’t nonchalance. This beautiful, bold, and bright stranger nods as if Brooke had just said she likes the color red. And it’s everything she needs. So Brooke doesn’t pour her heart out. Rather, she hands a piece of her demons to this small and radiant person and remains grateful for the weight off her shoulders.

“There.” The girl finishes up with Brooke’s makeup, her thumb gliding lightly over Brooke’s cheek. “You’re pretty again.”

“I didn’t even ask about you,” Brooke realizes aloud. Unless this stranger is a particularly fashionable twenty-something who haunts the local graveyard during the day (or, perhaps more excitingly, a ghost who haunts it a bit more literally) she’s probably here for a funeral as well.

“Oh.” The girl casts her eyes to the ground for a moment “I’m here for my abuelita. Good woman, full life. Got to sit with her and hold her hand on the last day. So really, I’m all good.” The smile is back, smaller, but sincere.

“But you’re drinking?”

“My sixteen year old cousin brought it. Don’t know where she got it, but she’s a smart bitch. Had to confiscate it.” She grins and takes a long swig from the flask, and hands it back to Brooke. “Plus, abuela would have wanted a party.”

“What’s your name?”

“Vanessa.”

“I’m Brooke Lynn. Brooke.”

“It’s good to meet you, Brooke.”

Brooke raises the flask in the air. “To your abuela.”

“To abuelita! And to…” Vanessa hesitates. “Not your husband. To you. Whatever the fucked up circumstances, to you.”

Brooke locks eyes with Vanessa for a moment that lasts maybe half a second, maybe a full minute, she can’t be sure. She bookmarks it as a moment when she feels safe, a moment when she actually feels okay. She watches intently as the corner of Vanessa’s mouth turns up in a smile before she kicks back the flask again. Vanessa follows suit.

“I feel like I should be thanking you,” Brooke says as she winces through the taste.

“For my cousin’s cheap tequila? No need.”

“No, more for… I don’t know, listening. You’re easier to talk to than most people.”

“I like secrets. Don’t worry.” Vanessa places her hand on Brooke’s knee, and she could swear that she feels an actual electric spark travel down her leg as Vanessa presses her thumb into her skin. Or maybe she just imagined it.

Vanessa stands, stuffs her things back into her bag, and squares her shoulders. “I’m glad I met you, Brooke. Don’t have too much fun in there, okay?”

“Okay,” Brooke says, and surprises herself with the sweetness behind her own laugh.

Vanessa turns to leave, and for a quick flash, Brooke thinks about following her, reaching for her arm, asking for her number. But all too quickly Vanessa is out of sight, out of earshot, outside Brooke’s world and back in her own.

“Thank you,” Brooke says softly, to no one but the marble floor.

AN: Hello hello hello! I’m back again, this time attempting a multi chapter fic. I am SO EXCITED to share this all with you, as I work through my favorite theme in any media: women who bond over killing their abusers. This fic has a million inspirations, and if you’re curious, find me @formercongressman! Big heads up to check the tags. It’s gonna be a heavy one, but also full of redemption and righteous revenge and healing. Take care of yourselves! If I should be tagging differently in the future, please let me know. A huge thanks to Meggie for beta-ing, and to everyone on the Branjie fic discord for being my eternal cheerleaders <3 <3 <3 love yall!!

In which Brooke might have killed her husband and Vanessa brings tequila.

–

So, there’s a dead body in her kitchen.

She watches the sunset over the tree-lined street. She waits. For what, she’s not sure.

There’s no blood, which is good. She’s wearing white shoes. This is a thought she allows to cross her mind.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Ma’am, have you checked his pulse? Do you know if he is breathing?”

“No, he’s, um…” She stands up and kicks at his extended hand. Rock solid. “He’s cold.”

They ask for an address, and she gives it to them. Then the phone call is over, she’s tapping her nails on the hard plastic of her phone case, and waiting, again.

Now she sees the ambulance lights. Then she hears the knock at her door.

A cool rush surges through her. It’s relief. That’s when she starts crying.

–

Brooke is grateful, at least, for Nina, who knows about 90% of what is going on.

Nina doesn’t know about the figs, and Brooke does not intend to tell her.

“Brooke?”

It’s Nina’s voice. Brooke feels too many eyes on her, and she knows she doesn’t have the filter to fake it right now, so she runs away.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

People make way for her, and she notes the pitying faces. It’s not something she usually likes to see, but it’s better, definitely, that they think what they think.

“Let’s give her some space. She’s going through a lot.” Nina’s voice again. She owes that woman the first-born child she’ll never have.

It’s hard to hold a secret.

Maybe, as a twisted joke, she could open a bakery. She’d sell fig pastries year round.

“I don’t fucking know,” Brooke responds instinctually, and then cracks her first authentic smile in three days.

The girl smiles too. It fills her whole face, and she practically glimmers in jarring contrast to the sullen and somber graveyard behind her. She sits down next to Brooke on the bench, carefully.

“Do you want a tissue? Or some tequila?”

“Both, actually, would be wonderful.”

Brooke chuckles. “Husband.”

The girl pulls back, and looks at her quizzically. “No. These aren’t real tears.”

“They are.”

“I’m good at telling when people are lying. So don’t. I can tell you’ve been crying too pretty for these to be real.”

Brooke doesn’t know what to say to that. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

There’s a lot unsaid, but she knows too. “Yeah, he was an asshole,” Brooke yields.

“I won’t say good riddance-”

“You could.”

“Good riddance.”

Brooke sits with that for a moment, and it feels good. Too good, maybe.

“I think I killed him,” Brooke says out loud for the first time. She’s hit with another cool rush. Relief.

“Oh.” The girl pauses for a nanosecond before switching to the other side of Brooke’s face. “You think?”

“It’s a grey area.”

“There.” The girl finishes up with Brooke’s makeup, her thumb gliding lightly over Brooke’s cheek. “You’re pretty again.”

“But you’re drinking?”

“What’s your name?”

“Vanessa.”

“I’m Brooke Lynn. Brooke.”

“It’s good to meet you, Brooke.”

Brooke raises the flask in the air. “To your abuela.”

“To abuelita! And to…” Vanessa hesitates. “Not your husband. To you. Whatever the fucked up circumstances, to you.”

“I feel like I should be thanking you,” Brooke says as she winces through the taste.

“For my cousin’s cheap tequila? No need.”

“No, more for… I don’t know, listening. You’re easier to talk to than most people.”

Vanessa stands, stuffs her things back into her bag, and squares her shoulders. “I’m glad I met you, Brooke. Don’t have too much fun in there, okay?”

“Okay,” Brooke says, and surprises herself with the sweetness behind her own laugh.

“Thank you,” Brooke says softly, to no one but the marble floor.

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #nina west #branjie #lesbian au #angst #hurt/comfort #malamente #evan #tw domestic violence #tw murder #concrit welcome #submission

67 notes · View notes

ramheavenandhell · 5 years

Text

Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 8: I didn't mean it

AN: My apologies to everyone who couldn't sleep peacefully after where the last chapter ended. Hopefully, this chapter will make it all better for you… Warnings: Rick/Morty, slight angst

Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 8: I didn't mean it Two weeks. It had been two more weeks and Morty still hasn't seen or heard of Rick again. The other teen still didn't show up at school for the tests like he used to. He didn't show up for anything. Morty couldn't help but wonder if Rick had finished building his spaceship and left earth without him…but what about "Rick and Morty forever and 100 years" then? Would he really just abandon him here like that and start an entire new life out there? Never looking back as if everything between them had never happened? As if his entire life on earth never existed? …As if Morty never existed? The long absence made the brunet go slowly crazy. Not only insane with worry, but getting straight whack in the head. At this point, he actually started to wonder if Rick had ever been real and not just a figment of his imagination. After all, the strange inventions and just the entire story surrounding the other started to sound so ridiculous that it actually sounded more believable to think that Rick was no more than the imaginary friend that poor, lonely and bullied Morty had thought up to comfort himself. It just felt all so strange… However, he knew that it wasn't the case and that Rick was very much a real and existing human when he overheard none other than Brandon and Sammy talking about him in the hallway at school. "…and I agree, Rick has been acting rather strange lately." B.P. mentioned in his usual monotone voice. Normally, Morty wouldn't have the nerve to budge into anyone's conversation – even if he kind of knew Rick's friends, they didn't really hung out much unless Rick was there, too. However, he was so worried and intrigued that he quickly approached the two talking teens. "Ha-have you seen or talked to Rick?!" He shrunk a little back as he noticed that he was probably a bit too loud – and also rude for just walking up like that. Two pairs of eyes turned to him in surprise. "Hey, did something squanch between you and Rick?" Squanchy asked back, clearly curious now and hoping to get an answer for their friend's strange behavior. Morty nervously played with the hem of his shirt. "…kind of…" Honestly, he wasn't sure if it would be okay to mention the kiss to them. "I-I've tried to check Rick's workshop, but he changed the password for the lock." He continued. "And I've also tried calling him, but he doesn't answer. He also doesn't respond to any of my texts…and I-I'm actually too scared of his parents to check if he might have gone home…" Only when he noticed the others' shocked faces, did he realize that he just told them that he knew where Rick's parents lived – something that not even Rick's closest friends knew about. He worried his lower lip as the two looked at each other in disbelieve and hoped that telling wouldn't get him in trouble with Rick or his friends now. Brandon turned back to him and thankfully didn't address this as he told him calmly, "Rick has been residing in the garage the entire time. Morty, you should go there. He will open for you this time." Morty actually doubted that Rick would just miraculously do that, but then again, he wanted to trust the taller teen and figured that he might have planned something. "O-okay. I-I will go right now."

True to his word, Morty skipped school and went straight to the garage park. He still had some doubts when he knocked on the garage door. However, this time it opened. Rick looked at him in surprise and the brunet realized that he was probably expecting B.P. or he wouldn't have opened it to begin with. "Oh." That was all that the blue-haired teen said in greeting. Morty almost expected that he would shut the door in his face again or tell him to leave. Instead, he just turned around and took a seat at his workbench again, his actions the closest to an invitation that the brunet was probably going to get from him. While Rick continued to tinker on something that looked like it might be a component for the space car, Morty let his eyes wander around the garage. The other teen seemed to have been working very intently on the vehicle over the past several weeks that he had been absent. It certainly looked quite different from the last time that Morty had laid eyes on it. Another thing that he also noticed where the many empty cans and food wrapper that were littering the floor. It made the boy wonder if Brandon had brought Rick food while he had locked himself up in here. Without stepping any closer, Morty cleared his throat. He had been waiting all this time to talk to the other about what had happened. It was now or never. "Rick, I-I've wanted to talk to you. I wanted to talk about the ki—" "Yeah, yeah. That." Rick interrupted him without turning to face him. "Just forget about it, Morty. It was a mistake. You-you know that I was drunk and you also know how drunks act sometimes. I-I didn't mean anything by it." He played the whole event down as if it was nothing while he continued to work on the mechanical part. "Hey, Morty. Hand me a screwdriver." A few seconds passed and when only silence greeted him, Rick finally turned around. His face quickly turned into an expression of shock as he was horrified to see that Morty was standing there and silently crying. When a sob wrecked the brunet's body, he suddenly bolted. "Morty! Wait!!" Rick was quick to jump up from his swivel chair and dash after him. Being the faster of the two, he quickly caught the other boy and turned him around to face him. However, Morty lowered his head so that Rick wouldn't be able to see his crying face. The spiky-haired teen put his hands on the other's wet cheeks and lifted his head, but Morty still avoided looking at him by squeezing his eyes shut tightly. He just couldn't face Rick right now. Slightly callous fingers wiped the tears gently away only for them to be replaced with new ones. "I'm-m such an idiot…" The brunet sobbed. "…because—because I ho-honestly thought that it act-that it actually meant something…" The other teen sighed. "No, Morty. I'm the idiot this time…" "Huh?" In surprise, the brunet finally looked at him. He could clearly see regret on Rick's face. "Morty, I'm sorry that I lied about it. I shouldn't have said that because it did mean something to me. Actually it meant a lot to me." Then he kissed Morty. Softly and briefly. Just a small peck. When he pulled back though, the brunet was the one who leaned forward and kissed him again. This time it was longer, but still innocent – just a closed-mouthed kiss. When they separated once more, Rick led him back inside the garage again. Even if the place was practically deserted at this hour, they really shouldn't just stand around out there, talking or kissing. It surely would look odd and frankly, it was no one's business. "So…" Morty began, still feeling a bit awkward about the entire situation. "Does…does this mean that you like me, Rick?" Even if they just kissed, he needed some verbal confirmation for what the deal between them was now. Hopefully, the other teen would start talking honestly with him about this. Rick stepped back over to his workbench again, but looked at the brunet. "Yes, it does mean that I like you, Morty… even if it's for selfish reasons." This again! "What do you mean with that?" His brows furled and he hoped that Rick would elaborate on it. However, the spiky-haired teen only shrugged and turned around to look at his unfinished gadget again. "Just means that I'm an egotistical bastard." That response was less than satisfying and the brunet still didn't understand, but the other's behavior made it obvious that questioning him more wouldn't get him any better results. So instead, he decided to overlook this and continue with the previous topic. "You know…after you kissed me—in the restroom I mean, I've been actually thinking a lot about it and about my feelings." The blue-haired teen's attention was on Morty again. "And I finally realized that I actually like you, too." He smiled shyly at the other, who also smiled back at him. It felt good to say it aloud. "Also, I think, I'm pretty stupid for not noticing it sooner…" He added with a blush. "Sometimes, you really are slow, Morty." Rick agreed, but there was no malice behind his words. "…but I guess, I should have told you sooner. Stupid of me to think that you would get a hint…" The brunet pouted. It hadn't been that obvious to him at the time…but the more he thought about some of those moments between them, the more he couldn't deny that the genius teen was right. "Um…so, does that mean that we're dating now?" Morty asked tentatively. "Sure. If you want that." The smile on the brunet's face was so broad that it was actually painful. "I would love that." His insides felt so warm and there was a fluttering sensation in the pit of his stomach and Morty just felt so happy right now that he wanted to hug the entire world…or at least Rick. Giving in to the urge, he crossed the short distance between them and wrapped his arms around the other boy. For a short moment, he almost feared that Rick would tell him off or something, but thankfully, the hug was returned. He almost began to purr when a hand rubbed gently over his back and the painful memories of these past weeks were slowly fading, Morty's frazzled nerves soothed and his slowly collapsing mind mended again. All in the matter of just a few seconds and through such a simple gesture. It was so comfortable that he could have fallen asleep just then and there if Rick's voice wouldn't have suddenly brought him back to reality. "Hey, Morty? You wanna help me finish building this?" The yellow-shirted teen drew back a bit and looked at the unfinished device on the workbench. "Sure." They separated and Rick took a seat in his swivel chair again, while Morty looked the mechanical part more closely now. "What is it supposed to be?" "Just part of the motor." The genius teen explained simply. While it didn't look like a component that you would find normally in a car, Morty didn't question it. After all, it was supposed to be a space cruiser and not a regular automobile that would drive on earth's streets. Over the course of the next hours, they tinkered together on it, Rick explaining a few things here and there whenever Morty asked, while the brunet handed him whatever tool he currently needed. To Morty it felt like it had been forever since they've done this and god, how had he missed it! Happily, he assisted the other teen, just glad that he could be in his presence again. While they continued to work together, Morty began to think about the new situation. They were dating now! That meant that he had finally a boyfriend! Rick was his boyfriend… The initial joy was slightly dimmed as he actually thought about Rick's previous relationships. He was known for dating girls for a few weeks and having sex with them before he dumped them again. Would he also…? "Morty? What's wrong?" "Huh?" The brunet seemed a little disoriented as he was suddenly ripped out of his thoughts. "I asked you to hand me the soldering iron, but you were spacing out. Is something the matter?" "No, not really…" Morty picked up the requested tool and handed it to the other boy. "…I was just wondering…are you…? Is our relationship going to be like your other ones?" The young scientist's eyes widened. "Morty, no! It's not…!" He sighed and took a moment to find the right words. "Morty, listen. All of the girls and the few boys that I had been with weren't really all that great and I usually figured that out really quickly after dating them for a few weeks. So that's why I was always so quick to break up with them again, too." He looked deeply into the brunet's eyes and Morty was sure that his words were sincere. "But you are different from that, Morty. I mean, we've been hanging out for a long time already and know each other pretty well. So please believe me when I tell you that it's not the same with you." Rick was right about that. They had been friends for quite a while already and they've both got to see the best and the worst of each other, so they knew what they were dealing with here. "Okay, Rick. I get it. And I believe you." After nodding in confirmation, a smile was on his face again and he felt like a weight had been lifted from him. The blue-haired teen returned the smile. "Oh, and just so you know, I'm going to take this slow with you. So don't think that I'm going to jump you right now or anything." That was actually unusual of Rick and it honestly surprised the brunet. "What? Why not?" No that he wasn't feeling a little relieved to know that the other wasn't going to try anything pretty soon, but he was curious to know why. "Because I know that you aren't ready for that yet." The spiky-haired teen's expression turned smug. "I would destroy you, Morty." Sadly, poor Morty didn't quite understand that explanation. "What do you mean with that?" "You'll see later when we're actually going to do it." The accompanying wink didn't fail to make the brunet blush. They focused back on Rick's project then, but Morty couldn't deny that he felt elevated now that they had cleared this up. He decided that he would believe Rick. After all, he had always been treating him differently than everyone else, so he was convinced that he would stay true to his word and treat their relationship differently as well.

It was almost funny how fast things returned back to normal. Rick was attending school again – at least as long as they had a test – and dragging Morty off otherwise. The only difference was that the brunet wasn't complaining about skipping as much anymore and that Rick didn't just grab him by the wrist when he was pulling him along, but taking his hand. Also, there were the occasional exchange of small kisses. Usually as a greeting or as a goodbye, but also sometimes just in-between. In short, things were pretty great even if Morty's grades and record of attendance were paying the price again. However, while they were officially dating now, they hadn't really told anyone about it yet or attempted to shout it from the rooftops. That was most likely also the reason why Jessica suddenly showed up at Morty's locker when he grabbed his textbook and ignored the blue-haired teen, who stood right next to him. "Hey, Morty!" The brunet was surprised that she suddenly spoke to him because even though they had agreed to go on another date again, they didn't had any contact these past weeks, safe for being in the same classroom at times. "Oh! H-hey, Jessica." He greeted back, his stutter not as bad as it usually had been around the redhead. Rick looked anything but pleased about her showing up, but Jessica still ignored that and smiled at Morty. "I'm glad that you seem to be okay again. You've looked really upset these last days and I didn't want to bother you…" "Oh, yeah. I had a bit of a…rough time…" Sheepishly, he rubbed one of his arms, noticing from the corner of his eye how his boyfriend gave him a startled and worried glance. "So, yeah. I was thinking now that you seem fine again, you might want to hit me up on that offer and go on a date with me? Just the two of us." "A-actually…" Rick's angry glare at Jessica was almost feasible as he nervously tried to explain to her why he had to decline. "I know tha-that we agreed on this, but I-I can't…" "Why not?" The redhead was as oblivious as ever. "Be-because I'm already with…someone…" This took the girl by surprise. "Oh! Really? I wasn't expecting that. But that's cool, I guess…?" Before the conversation could go any further, Rick suddenly wrapped an arm protectively around Morty's shoulder. "Yeah, he's together with me now, so don't bother him ever again!" "Oh, oh…" Jessica turned wide-eyed, even more surprised about that reveal. "Yeah…I'll just go then…" Slowly she left and Morty felt really embarrassed about his boyfriend just throwing this at his long-term crush. Noticing the brunet's sudden abash behavior, Rick began to question him. "What? Are you ashamed about our relationship? ...or about me?" "NO!" Morty couldn't believe that Rick would actually think that. "I just…hadn't planned to c-come out of the cl-closet like this…" Well, it was out now and he had no doubt that Jessica would spread the word around school. There would be a lot of gossip and broken hearts if people found out that Rick was dating the all-time loser Morty, but hopefully, he would be able to handle it. "Hey, don't worry. If someone gives you shit about this, just tell me and I'll beat the crap out of them." A small peck sealed the promise. Morty smiled. As long as Rick was here, he shouldn't worry about rumors or anything like that. And that the spiky-haired teen seemed to quickly go into protective boyfriend mode now, was really flattering and charming. So confidently, he took Rick's hand in his and together they walked to their next class…

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

#rick and morty #ram #rnm #rick #tiny rick #morty #morty smith #au #rickmorty #rickorty #rorty #angst #confessing #hopesfanfictions #fanfiction #fanfic

3 notes · View notes

porkchop-ao3 · 6 years

Text

RickCon’18: Part 1/3

Part two, Part three

Thank you to @hoodoo12 and @ricksanchezbae for this idea and for encouraging other people to give it a go, I had a lot of fun writing this :)

My take on RickCon focuses mostly on two OC's, one I've written for before and one I haven't. This could be seen as sort of a sequel to my Tailor Rick fic, so I’d recommend reading that if you haven’t already just for some context :) also, I drew him here, so you can check that out if you want a visual! A couple of people wanted to see him again, so I hope you like this.

This series will be SFW, just some implied sex (not involving reader) and some Rick-like flirting :) Enjoy!

“Absolute bloody pricks.” Rick muttered, inspecting the cuff on my arm with a clear expression of distaste. “Th-that ruins the whole ensemble.”

The stylist who had been applying my eyeshadow turned away momentarily and I took the opportunity to look down at the cuff for myself. While the wristband didn't do my outfit any favors, I wouldn't go as far as to say it was ruined. I read the neon code once more; HF-002, and tried to swallow down the sensation of disbelief. I hadn't had an awful lot of time to adjust, it'd been months since I'd heard from Rick Sanchez after receiving my custom gown in the mail, and suddenly I was here. In some strange place away from earth, entirely populated by Ricks and Mortys. I hadn't been expecting to hear from Rick ever again, but when a letter slipped through my door requesting that I visit him at my earliest convenience, I'd been too curious to ignore it.

That's how I found myself at RickCon. Apparently, Rick hosted a number of events at the convention, including a charity clothing auction to raise money for… trunk people in need? I'd quickly learned that he was a very generous person, though only for his own benefit. When I first met him, he'd gifted me a one of a kind, custom made dress worth thousands, purely so that he could feel good about himself. He'd made no attempt to hide that the charity auction was no different. Anyway, he needed models, and for some reason he thought I'd be suitable. I'd laughed in his face at first, but when he explained the citadel to me; infinite realities and alternate versions of him all gathering in one place, I had to see it for myself.

“I don't understand why they can't just make an exception for me. I assume it's because they're jealous, n-not many Rick's make a name for themselves in their original dimension. There's far too much hopping around for my liking.” He continued as the stylist returned to applying my makeup.

“Almost done, sweetie.” the stylist said almost boredly. He was another Rick, dressed in pink with the sides of his head shaved, the rest of his hair swept upwards to make for a particularly striking hairstyle.

“I-I-I explained to them that this is a fashion show. I'm aware that the majority of Rick's wear the same grotty lab coat day in, day out, but surely they understand that that.” Tailor Rick pointed accusationally at the wristband. “Is the opposite of fashion!”

“Relax! It looks fine. Nobody will even care and anyway, this is for the uh, the… what are they? The trunk people.” I said, trying to move my face as little as possible as to not disrupt the stylist.

“Oh, right.” He scoffed. “Of course, the trunk people.” I didn't need to see him know he was rolling his eyes.

“All done.” The stylist said, leaning back and giving me a once over.

“Finally. W-we have about five minutes until we're starting. Cutting it a little fine, aren't we?” Rick said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the stylist.

“I'll have you know I'm the president's personal stylist. If you want the kind of perfectionism I deliver, you need to give me more than half an hour.” The stylist quipped, turning his back on the other Rick as he bent over to gather the various brushes and makeup products on his desk. I glanced over to the tailor, raising my brows when I caught him checking out the ass on his alternate self.

“You shouldn't need more than half an hour to paint some slap on her face. The real time consumer is teaching her how to walk, since her parents clearly didn't do a very good job-”

“Oi! I can walk just fine when I'm not tottering around on stilts!” I said defensively.

“Stilts? They're mere kitten heels.” He scoffed. I very nearly growled. My initial attraction to him had quickly disappeared with prolonged contact, at this point I couldn't understand how he'd made me so wet and flustered throughout that dress fitting. I must've been hormonal… or something. “Anyway, get up, we're starting soon.”

I rose to my feet, straightening out the dress I was wearing. I had another six lined up for me to change into throughout the course of the auction, and two Ricks lined up to help me do so. The gown I was going out in first was a lovely, deep burgundy cocktail dress. I'd questioned Rick about why he thought it was a good idea to try and flog cocktail dresses to a room full of men. Initially, he'd reminded me that it was also a room full of alcoholics, and they'd pay attention to anything with the word cocktail in it. Or course, that was his idea of a joke and the real reason was that apparently there wasn't just going to be Ricks at this convention. They often brought along any significant others they had, and some just happened to be women.

Now that was a comforting concept and definitely gave me another reason to agree to being his model for the afternoon. At least if I was going to a Rick and Morty convention, there would be other people like me attending too, it'd give me some allies once my job was done and I'd have time to explore the convention while Rick hosted his panel; More than just a lab coat: Style tips for the working Rick.

“I'm going out there first to introduce the event, your Rick-sistants will send you out on cue.” He told me, taking me by the elbow and guiding me towards the entrance to the stage, where the two Rick's that'd be helping me change were standing, both of them suited up semi-formally, their hair a lot different to Tailor Rick's in that it was spiky, sticking out in all directions.

“Oh God.” I said as I caught a glimpse through the gap in the temporarily erected wall that separated the dressing area from the main stage. I could see the crowd, and although it was no Royal Albert Hall, it was more people than I was accustomed to standing in front of. “Remind me why you chose me instead of an actual, professional model?”

“For the same reason I chose you to create a dress for. Your figure is…” he trailed off, glancing down at my chest. “You will be appreciated here more than my regular ladies.” He said, and I flushed.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Well, most of the audience members ha-have no intention of buying anything.” He said, peaking out at the crowd. “Normally it's the same three Ricks buying anything, and half of the audience disappears once all the women's wear has been sold.”

“So they're just here to ogle?” I asked, and Rick turned to smirk at me.

“Of course.” He told me. “Apart from those with Sugar Babies in need of gifts.”

“I thought this was a nice thing. You know? For charity.” I frowned, crossing my arms.

“Oh, but it still is, isn't it? The charity will get their money, the Ricks will get their entertainment. Everyone's a winner.”

“Except for me.” I pointed out, he turned and looked me directly in the eye.

“Quite the contrary. Now you'll have an opportunity to seek out a Rick who's willing to satisfy your cravings.” He told me, leaving me confused.

“I'm sorry?”

“You have quite the appetite for me, correct? I-I-I seem to recall you were going to ask me on a date after your dress fitting. I'm sorry that my professional ground rules prevent me from accepting, but I'm sure many of the Ricks here will have no such qualms.” He smiled politely, and my face flushed in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

“Appetite? Are you mad? Perhaps when we first met I was taken by your charisma and charm, but let me tell you, my appetite has been more than filled over the past few days of incessant complaining, rudeness and bossiness.” I scolded him, jabbing my finger into his chest. My words seemed to amuse him.

“It’s time. Carry that boldness with you out on stage, my dear.” He said, and with that, he turned the corner onto the stage, and I heard him addressing the crowd and willing them to settle down.

It was barely a minute before I was being ushered on stage. I stepped out into the open, momentarily freezing as I scanned the crowd, every face was almost identical, row after row of Ricks. I noticed a couple of other faces too, the occasional Morty, a few Summers here and there, but it was mostly Ricks. Barely a second had passed when I got ahold of myself and walked forwards. Of course, I completely forgot how to walk; well, in the way that Rick had taught me, so I simply strolled and stood at the edge of the stage with my hand clasped behind my back so nobody could see how much they were shaking. My face felt hot under all their eyes, I noticed the leering smirks from the audience members, and noticed how they whispered to each other. I made eye contact with a few of them, gaining a wink from one, and a brow wiggle from another. I found myself giggling, enjoying the attention despite the initial nerves.

Before I knew it, the dress had been sold, and I was given my cue to leave the stage and get changed. A model Rick took my place on stage, wearing a hot pink suit. I wondered about the kind of Rick that would consider buying such a loud outfit.

“Quickly, baby. Let's get you out of th-that dress.” One of the Ricks waiting for me said, coming up behind me and unzipping the garment. The other Rick held onto my hand to keep me stable as I stepped out of my shoes. One dress was stripped off of me, and just as quickly another was being shimmied up my hips. I didn't have time to feel exposed, and the two men made me feel more than at ease with their professionalism.

“Wow, you look fantastic in this one. This oughta fetch a g-good price.” The other told me as he buttoned up the front of it. The Rick behind me was tying up a bow in the back, pulling it taught. I glanced down at the dress, all black silk with white buttons going up the front of the bodice, sleeveless with a boat neck and a ribbon running around my waist. I felt very sophisticated wearing it.

And fetch a good price it did. Standing out on stage, I felt a little more confident the second time around, and turned from side to side, giving the audience a three-sixty view of the dress. The numbers called out by the auctioneer just went up and up until they were in the thousands, and even though I had no idea what currency was being used, I was surprised at how much people were willing to pay for a single item of clothing. It sold for seven and a half thousand, and Rick was right when he'd said it would be the same few Ricks bidding, I only saw about four different hands going up throughout the whole thing.

The third dress made me nervous. It was the shortest of them all, hitting at mid thigh; a lot shorter than I would usually go for. It was also practically skin tight, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination; though it had a high neckline and long sleeves, so at least I had some modesty in that department. It was navy blue with a wide white stripe going across the bust. Rick had pointed out to me that it was one of his apprentice's (coincidentally his grandson, Morty's) designs and he was only selling it to get it out of his studio; he preferred a more refined, classy style.

I noticed his blatant eye roll when I stepped out on stage, and the room roared with wolf whistles and undeniably carnal sounding cheers. He snapped something about reeling it in, you bunch of animals, to the crowd, which was mostly ignored. A Rick in the front row dressed in pastel colours, a bow-tie around his neck, stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out an ear piercing whistle, and when I looked at him he blew me a kiss and called out something that sounded Spanish, I caught the phrase bella dama in there somewhere.

“Thank you, to the gentleman in pink shirt, starting us off at six hundred!” The auctioneer called, and the Rick who'd whistled to me went pale.

“What the fuck, no! I-I-I didn't!” He quickly stammered, earning a collective howl of laughter from the entire room.

“I'm sorry, sir, all bids are final. Anyone for seven hundred?” Was the response he got. Not a single hand in the room flew up.

“Come on! Y-you fucking bunch of assholes, someone wants that! You're just- you're just-” He growled, glancing around the room, a few snickers could be heard. I'd never seen such a large group of people working together just to screw some guy over. It was actually quite impressive. A classic case of cutting one's nose off to spite the face, it was obvious by the dress’s reception that there would otherwise be a bidding war.

“No? At six hundred, then. Going once, twice…” The auctioneer announced, then the hammer came down.

“Fuck you guys!” The Rick in pink spat, crossing his arms and slamming his back against the chair.

“Lighten up, buddy. It's for the trunk people!” Some Rick from the back called through unrestrained laughter.

“And fuck you especially!” He retorted. I offered him an apologetic smile, feeling somewhat responsible, before I left.

The rest of the auction went off without a hitch, and once all of the dresses were sold I was left to change back into my own clothes as the designer gear was packaged up ready to be distributed to the buyers at the end of the auction. I was tasked with helping the assistant Ricks with the packaging; each dress was wrapped up in a garment bag inscribed with Tailor Rick's logo, then folded up neatly inside a sturdy, fancy black box with magnetic clasps on the lid, which was again decorated with the logo in silver metallic foil. Also inside the box came a certificate of authenticity and a thank you letter from the charity. Finally, the box was placed inside a gift bag and a note with the dimension number of each buyer was stuck to the side, then it was taken off to a different room ready to be collected and paid for.

I waited around until the end of the auction to see Rick, only for him to bypass me and go straight into a private dressing room. I tried not to feel irritated by this; I didn't have a private dressing room, I'd had to change out in the open with at least three Ricks standing around. When he came back out, he had changed into a more casual suit; something cooler and more stylish than the traditional black and white number he'd been wearing beforehand. This suit was covered in a Paisley pattern, and it was a deep teal colour. Underneath, his shirt was black, as were his shoes and tie. He looked very chic and handsome. He approached me, straightening out his tie and adjusting his collar.

“You did well out there, aside from the fact you walked like a baby rhinoceros.” He teased, though he was smiling.

“Bit of an exaggeration.” I pointed out, looking him up and down and feeling extremely dowdy in my jeans and t-shirt.

“Not at all.” He smirked, then plucked a piece of lint off my shoulder. “I have my other event in an hour, so I'm going to have to stay here to h-help prepare the room. Y-you're free to go, however.”

“Oh? What shall I do?” I asked stupidly and he held eye contact with me for a moment before answering.

“Well, you could always go and enjoy the convention.” He suggested with an amused tone. I rolled my eyes.

“Why didn't I think of that?” I said sarcastically. “I mean, on my own? Just… just walk around this place?”

“Yes. You're a big girl, aren't you? You're capable of independence?” He raised his brow.

“Yes, it's just…” I trailed off and chewed the inside of my mouth. “It's a little daunting.”

“You'll be fine. You can't leave without me with you, so if you're worried about some other Rick trying to snatch you away, don't be.” He said all too casually.

“I wasn't worried about that… but I am now.” I furrowed my brow and stared at him, he simply chuckled in response.

“Go, attend some of the panels, try some of the food, and if you get overwhelmed there are plenty of places for you to go and catch a breather.” He said, taking my shoulders and turning me around to push me towards the exit.

“Okay, you have your phone with you, right?”

“Yes. But don't try to contact me.” He said bluntly.

“But what if there's an emergency?” I asked, turning around to face him once he'd got me out the door.

“Then I suppose that's an exception. But you'd better be dying, otherwise I-I don't want an interruption!” He rolled his eyes again. “Meet me back here in two hours. Have fun. Oh, and I put some money in your purse, g-go wild.” He added flatly, before the door was closed in my face.

I stared at the frosted glass for a while before taking a deep breath and turning around.

“Fuck.” I breathed, staring out at the mass of people in front of me, a sea of blue white and yellow with barely anything in between.

Tbc.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez x reader #fanfiction #rickcon #oc ricks

21 notes · View notes

hoodoo12 · 6 years

Text

RickCon ‘18 (1/6)

@ricksanchezbae gets all the credit for saying, “Imagine RickCon” to me, and then brainstorming with me about all the things a convention on the Citadel for, about, and by Ricks would be like, based on cons we’ve attended. Includes cameos by lots of Ricks and some OCs, and references to some of my other stories. SWF but some swearing, mostly crack-y!

Enjoy!

⁂

Rick had brought you to the Citadel before. Quick visits, no “touristy” stuff, just whatever speedy errand he had to complete and you happened to be with him at the time.

But today--today!

Today was special. Rick was a panelist at RickCon ‘18, and he decided to allow you to tag along. It had nothing to do with your begging and whinging about wanting to go, or the promises of blowjobs you made him. So you told yourself. He’d finally caved; that was the important part.

So now you were on the Citadel in a line that snaked seemingly forever back and forth between ropes waiting to get to the admissions booth for a ticket.

Rick groused that he should have bought you a ticket online, but you pointed out you’d still have to stand in line anyway to get your con badge. He only gave you a dry look that you recognized as the one when you make a valid point he hadn’t thought of.

Finally you were next. Rick took a quick sip from his flask.

When you were beckoned forward by the bored looking Rick at the next available booth, you hurried forward. Rick shouldered you out of the way so he made it there first.

“Rick Sanchez, dimension G-88,” he belched at the admissions Rick. “I’m a p-panelist. She’s a guest.”

Admissions Rick didn’t look impressed. “A guest from where?”

“I told you, dipshit. G-88!”

“I need a DNA sample from you and her to verify.”

Rick held out his hand immediately, but you hadn’t been told about a DNA sample--

Rick grabbed your hand too. His grip was strong and unyielding.

“Rick, what--”

“Don’t stick my middle finger, it’s my f-f-favorite!” Rick demanded, ignoring your question.

The Rick behind the desk rolled his eyes, and forced your hand into a flat device that looked like an appendage sized letter press. Rick stuck his hand into another.

There was a tingling sensation, then a jab that resulted in a quick burst of pain, and then your hand was freed. You stuck your poked finger into your mouth and tasted a tiny amount of blood.

The admissions Rick studied his computer screen for a moment, while Rick grumbled again that he should have gotten you a ticket beforehand, because all this bullshit would have been taken care of during pre-registration. The Rick behind the desk didn’t bother hiding his eye roll at that either.

Finally though, Rick’s dimension and your dimension were confirmed. Rick paid your admission. He was given a badge that he shoved in a pocket; you were given a plastic badge on a lanyard with “Rickcon ‘18: Weird Science!” printed on it, a booklet with a map of the convention center, a schedule of panels and events, and small blurbs about each panelist and celebrity Ricks who were ‘honored guests’, plus those ‘honored guests’ autograph and photograph schedules.

You thanked admissions Rick while you were flipping through the booklet, and turned away.

“W-wait, baby,” admissions Rick said, stopping you.

Rick didn’t look too happy about the familiarity of the pet name, but the man behind at the booth stared him down and said,

“I’m not pan, man, I’m fucking gay. She doesn’t do anything for me. Chill the fuck out.”

Rick sighed, and admissions Rick addressed you again.

“You got your badge, but you need your wristband.”

Obligingly, even though it was unusual, you held your hand out again.

Admissions Rick slapped a wide, tight, immobile cuff on it. The same tingling feeling engulfed your forearm, and there was another stab of pain that lingered. In a few seconds, the words “Rick Sanchez, G-88” were emblazoned on the cuff in bright neon green.

“This p-proves where you’re from. It’ll only come off with another sample of your Rick’s DNA, so no other Rick can . . . escort you away,” you were told in a bored tone. “For your own safety, you also can’t leave the convention center with it; the doors won’t open for you unless your Rick has his hand on it. Can’t have you wandering around the Citadel without your Rick.”

A thousand questions skip through your head: So basically the wristband was like a kid’s safety bracelet? What if there’s a fire? How would you get out if that happened? And these other Ricks, would they really try to . . . escort you without your permission?

All that you manage to ask, however, is,

“Another DNA sample?”

Admissions Rick smirks at you. “Y-yeah. He’ll need to pr-provide another drop of blood so you can remove it. There’s other ways to get a little DNA sample, if you two are into weird kinky shit. But it’s programmed for him alone. Now, I suppose other Ricks could beat the hell out of him and get some blood onto it that way, or cut off his fucking hand if they were really determined--”

Rick flips the guy off. “See? Told you it was my favorite finger,” he interrupts, and drags you away from the admissions booth.

Meekly you follow Rick into the entry hall and mount the long escalator to the main floor. You never did get your questions answered, although Rick tells you not to worry, all the other guests brought by Ricks and Mortys who aren’t living on the Citadel will be wearing the cuff too.

to be continued . . .

#rick and morty #RickCon '18 #fan fic #sfw #fanfic

19 notes · View notes

ask-36-e · 6 years

Text

(( Heeyyyyy its a crappy story I wrote a long time ago and just went through to try to make it flow better I hope. XD Fingers crossed.))

A green portal molded into sight in the middle of the courtyard of the Citadel of Ricks. The occurrence wouldn’t have had anyone batting an eye, except this time numerous Ricks in the area stopped what they were doing, hearing something like a loud bang before a Rick tumbled through the portal, followed by dark acrid smoke. He rolled a few feet across the floor as the portal closed behind him, panting heavily, and lungs burning for breathable air. A blood trail was left in his wake.

His left side was charred – clothes burning back an exposing burned blistered skin. The glow of heat crawled along his previously white lab coat, bits falling to the floor as they lost their grip on adjoining seams. He had his right arm clutched around something, but it was difficult to make out exactly what from this distance. Most Ricks tugged their Mortys closer, some dragging them completely away from the scene.

Council guards in the area had all taken obvious notice, hands at their holsters as they cautiously approached the scene. “Wh-what in the hell?” One could be heard murmuring.

“Stand back! Give them some room!” one of the guards shouted to his comrades.

“Call medical!”

Rick was just starting to sit up onto his knees, his wounded arm trying to hold him up and shaking with the effort. Had he really made it out? He could barely see through the blood seeping down his face, but the area surrounding him looked bright. Gold archways, shining floor, men in white. Perhaps he’d died. His family would be fine. Everything would be okay. As a guard approached him, the notion went out of his mind. It was another Rick. He should have thought better than to think one of his kind would actually make it to the pearly gates.

“Where are you from?” The guard put a gloved hand on the new comers still clothed shoulder.

Rick opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was rougher than usual. His throat clenched closed, causing him to start coughing again, his lungs protesting. The small bundle in his arms began to screech, causing Ricks jaw to visibly clench. Though as aggravating as the sound was against his shaken nerves, it was at the same time like a call of victory. He’d managed to save at least one member of his family.

“D-don’t, don’t force yourself.” The guard stood up as a medical team came by with a stretcher. He waved them over. The guard turned to speak to one of the medics as Ricks head swam, his vision blurring as the adrenaline in his system started to wane.

The scene the medic was faced with was one from a graphic slasher movie. Blood dripped from the burned skin of the man on the floor before him. From forehead to toes. It was as if someone had taken a flame thrower to the guy without mercy. Painful blisters peppered his blackened skin. Small wisps of smoke still billowed from what was left of his clothing.

The medics helped get Rick up onto the stretcher, two of them picking him up off the ground and laying him down. The white cushion was quickly stained red on the left side as they pulled straps over Rick, holding him in place. They left Morty in his arms, lying on his chest. He was still wailing. The world went fuzzy around Rick as he blacked out.

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

A bomb blew down the door, thick smoke billowing in. Someone was yelling, but it was hard to hear from the explosion. He reached out do his daughter, Beth, trying to pull her out of the way of danger, but failed to save her as a laser shot through her back. Her name soundlessly spilled from Ricks mouth before he had to shield his face from debris.

Squinting through the smoke he could see his granddaughter, Summer, trying to pull her father Jerry free from a fallen part of the ceiling to no avail. She was too small. Not strong enough. Tears flowed from both of their eyes. He was about to reach out to her when the smoke billowed forth, causing him to cough and gag trying to breathe. He lost sight of them. He turned, about to save his own skin when he remembered Morty, his infant grandson. He was in a small cushioned seat near the couch.

Rick dove over the piece of gaudy furniture, grabbing the baby with one arm as he reached for his portal gun with the other. He saw the green glow getting closer, closer, he’s through it and then…

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

Ricks right eye slowly opened, initially blinded by the bright florescent lighting. The world around him went from the world being a white blur, to a colored blur, and finally to a hospital room.

Machines around him were beeping every now and then, nothing too irregular. He had no idea how long he’d been out. The left side of his face and most of his body was covered in bandages; he made note of this the second he tried to shift a bit in the bed. Somehow, after all that had happened, he wasn’t dead. He wasn’t sure whether to be happy about that or not. He sat up suddenly with urgency as he remembered - Morty.

How long had he been here for? Where was Morty? Did he actually manage to save him or had it all been a dream? He could feel his chest tighten as panic set in. He was about to throw back the sheet covering him and go try to find Morty when a nurse Rick came in to check on him.

“Finally awake, I see.” The nurse noted, making some marks on his clipboard.

“W-where’s Morty?”

“Safe.”

“Where. Is. Morty.” Rick looked like a panicked animal – his eyes lowered, jaw clenched, muscles as tight as they were able to get in his current condition.

“Lay back down.” The nurse walked over and checked the machines that were beeping nearby. He then checked the IV fluids that were connected via needle to Ricks arm. “He’s in the infant ward. He’d inhaled a lot of smoke. It was touch and go for a while.” The nurse didn’t even make eye contact as he spoke.

Rick flopped back down onto the bed, a light grunt pushing from him. His gaze was pointed at the ceiling. “When can I see him?”

“Give me a minute and maybe you can soon.” The nurse made a few more notes on his clip board before walking out of the room. Rick huffed. He didn’t care if he was in pain. He had to see for himself that his last bit of flesh and blood was okay. It was a weird feeling that twisted in his gut unable to believe the nurse’s words.

A moment later the nurse returned, this time with a doctor. The doctor looked over the nurse’s notes before looking down his glasses at Rick. “36-E, correct?” He spoke in a condescending tone. Rick rolled his one visible eye.

“Yes.”

The doctor handed the clipboard back to the nurse. “He tells me you want to go see your Morty?” he folded his arms behind his back. Rick just gritted his teeth.

“Yes.”

“Do you think you can make it that far?”

“I made here, didn’t I?” Ricks gaze finally turned to the doctor as he sat up a bit again in the bed. “Please. I just want to see him. Why is that so hard to understand?”

The doctor looked him up and down and sighed. “Alright, fine.” He turned his gaze to the nurse, still standing beside him. “Help him get up and over to the infant ward.” The doctor didn’t even wait for a response, turning heel and walking back out the door, figuring if this Rick wanted to make his injuries worse, god speed.

The nurse made his way over to Rick, starting to put his hands out to him to help him up, but Rick shoved his hands away. “I-I can stand on my own.” He grumbled. Rick uncovered his legs, the left one of which was bandaged up all for except his toes. He moved his right leg over the side of the hospital bed, but found pain in trying to move the left. The nurse noticed, but just gave Rick a smug look. Rick gritted his teeth and moved the other leg, stiff as it was, off the side of the bed as well, finally pushing himself slowly and uneasily up onto his feet, his right leg supporting most of his weight. Rick shot the nurse a glare before taking his IV stand in hand.

The nurse sighed. “This way.” He stepped to Ricks side and made his way out the doorway, Rick following, although slowly. Limping from the pain, trying to use the IV stand as a support. They made it to an elevator down the hall from Ricks room which took them up to the infant ward. Once out, they went down a hallway before turning right and standing in front of a large glass window. It wasn’t unlike a nursery in hospital on earth; you could see the babies through the glass as nurses cared for them.

“Are these all Mortys?”

“Yep.”

“Where’d they all come from?”

“Well, some were situations like yours – Ricks that showed just showed up here out of the blue. Some were orphaned for whatever reason or left to the Ricks care. …Some were kidnapped.” The nurse mumbled that last bit.

So it hadn’t been a dream. The rest of his family was all dead.

“You should probably try not to worry about --…36-E?” The nurse had turned to address Rick, but found him gone. For being so badly injured he could apparently still haul ass. Or maybe they’d just been staring for too long in an awkward silence. In any case, as he looked back into the nursery, he saw Rick sitting in one of the chairs, a baby in his lap.

Say what you wanted about a Rick, but he could tell which Morty was his from a mile away. No doubt whatsoever in their minds. Rick rocked the chair gently using his good leg, looking down at the sleeping infant. “Looks like it’s just you and me, Morty…” Rick whispered to him.

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

It was 15 years later, and Rick sat in a crowed of among other Ricks in an outdoor auditorium. Though it wasn’t truly outside, since it was still inside the citadel, but it was in one of the open courtyards. The stage was being prepped for a ceremony.

Rick had come to accept life at the citadel, and had even been employed under their ranks as an assassin for the council. He’d gone through training and had one of the deadliest aims among all the cadets in his squad despite only having sight in one eye. He earned the nickname “Dead Eye” Sanchez from his peers in his training group. He was decked out in his formal citadel uniform.

As soon as he’d been old enough, Rick had started sending Morty to a special prep school in the citadel, being trained to one day be his partner in the field. Over the years Ricks had discovered the incredible use a Morty can be to a Rick and it would be a shame to waste it. At least that’s what he told himself. It totally wasn’t because he wanted a kick ass partner to go on adventures with.

Mortys sat in the front rows, waiting anxiously, talking and laughing amongst themselves. They were dressed in council scout uniforms, traditional wear for them at this age. A few minutes later, the headmaster Rick finally approached the podium. He gave a speech, something along the lines of “When I look out at this sea of bright young minds…” blah blah. The traditional blather. Rick wasn’t really paying attention until he heard “Morty, of dimension 36-E.” He looked up from his half asleep stupor to see his Morty trotting up on stage to accept his certificate. He was smiling ear to ear, as were most of the other Morty’s whom he joined. That ridiculous smile that made Rick feel oddly happy when he saw it. Stupid smile.

The rest of the Morty’s were called off, each receiving their certificates. At the end, the headmaster concluded with something about this being their graduating class for…Rick wasn’t really paying attention again. But the crowed stared clapping, and he took it as his queue. The Morty’s took a position with their feet shoulder width apart and their hands behind their backs – an obedient stance. They tried to look serious, but most of them couldn’t, including 36-E. As soon as they were excused, the Morty’s trotted off the stage; though some just jumped off the front. Rick stood up waiting to greet him.

“Rick!” He heard his name called through the crowed. Okay, it could’ve been any Rick, but somehow he could tell it was his Morty calling. Though he had raised the boy on his own, he’d never brought up the title ‘dad’ to him. It just made him feel weird…and reminded him of his dumbass son in law, rest his soul.

“H-heyyy, Morty!” Rick returned before Morty jumped at him, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him tightly. The boy was affectionate, something Rick had come to just accept over the years. Rick proudly placed his hands on Morty’s shoulders. “Good job, kid!” Morty looked good in his uniform. So professional. Like a little Rick. Almost.

“T-thanks Rick!”

“C-c’mon. Let’s go get some ice cream.” Traditional celebratory food. Or any time food, really. It was a treat that seemed to be very common between Ricks and their Mortys, no matter what the dimension. Unless they were from one where ice cream didn’t exist. What a shame. He put his arm around Morty’s shoulder and walked with him, attempting to separate them from the crowed while other Ricks were still chatting. “So, excited to start advanced training in a few months?” Morty groaned.

“Aw, c’mon Rick…I just finished school…Can’t we talk about something else?” Rick laughed.

“I’ll help you out. Since y-you’ll be training to work with me, after all.”

“O-oh yeah…out killing people, huh?” Morty didn’t sound too excited about it. The kid had a good conscience, something Rick hoped he could say he instilled in him.

“I-It’s not just ‘killing people’…they’re bad people, Morty.” Rick would get Morty used to this idea somehow. He wanted to have him out there with him. Traversing dimensions, galaxies…he wanted to show him everything. Things that no school could ever teach him. Experience. Real life experience.

“L-let’s just talk about it later, okay, Rick?” Morty rubbed at his upper arm. The two of them shared an apartment in the citadel like all the other uniformed Ricks. Though not all of them could say they were lucky enough to have a Morty as a roommate. Rick sighed lightly. This was going to be harder than he thought.

“O-okay, Morty. Let’s just go get that ice cream.”

#Origin story?#I wrote this closer to when I first created 36 XD #so he still has his some of his bad-assery in this story #Enjoy #hopefully

14 notes · View notes

samtheflamingomain · 3 years

Text

remember when tik tok was a song?

A lot has changed in my short time on this planet. I grew up to the sound of the ole dial-up and now I can watch someone talk about why the Earth is flat for an hour from anywhere on the disc!

The way we create, consume and criticize media is one of the things whose recent evolution is probably what piques my interest the most. Not necessarily the content of the media, which is always changing, but trends in the structure behind it.

Tech has obviously improved exponentially. Health, science, education - all significantly changed in the past few decades. But same goes for the past few centuries.

Media has, necessarily, been slower to evolve. Can't have TV shows without a TV. It basically went from book to newspaper to radio to TV to Internet. There's at least a few decades between all those things, if not longer. However, from TV to today is what I'm most interested in.

For decades, for generations, TV was channel-surfing via an antenna or a satellite dish served by your cable provider. A lot of those words mean nothing to a teenager now.

I'm 26. I started with cable (10 channels), then we got satellite (500 channels), then by the time I was 16 or 17, Netflix the streaming service came out. So I'm in a very small window of people who were young enough for all of these things to happen in my childhood. 5 years older than me and you didn't get Netflix as a teen. 5 years younger and you didn't have cable as a teen. Maybe 10 years. You see the point.

Then realize that the 16 year-old of today hasn't grown up without Netflix being a household word. If the 16 year-old of today wanted to watch Peter Pan, he would boot up Disney+. I would've gone to Blockbuster and rented it for $3. If he wanted to see a kitten falling down stairs and then doing a backflip, that's probably somewhere on Youtube. If I wanted to see that as a kid, well, I'd better start looking for a very gymnastic cat with all its lives.

So to sum up so far, a lot has changed very quickly - about how we consume media. What about how it's formatted?

And how we consume it always necessarily comes before what it is we're consuming changes. Remember when "Netflix Originals" didn't exist? The platform was built, the people came, and then new media came from it.

We've seen TV shows go from the binary of "22 minutes or 44 minutes" to "however long we fucking want". The disintegration of the binary of "comedy or drama". When I was a kid, sitcoms had seasons of 22 episodes, once a week, in the fall. Drama shows usually had 16 episodes. Now Netflix puts out "Mike Tyson Mysteries", with any number of episodes in a season, with each only 11-13 minutes long, pretty much at random. Letterkenny puts out 6-episode seasons once a year on Christmas. Back in my day, we never knew if this season would be the last. Even if the last episode was a cliffhanger, there was no promise of a resolution. Sitcoms kissed the rings of the networks every year hoping to be renewed. The other day South Park announced it was making 6 more seasons and a bunch of movies.

There are a few TV formats that I consider "evolution proof" - game shows (not reality, game), soap operas, late night and standup. All of these date back to radio times and have rarely if ever changed format. I'm personally hoping that, within my lifetime, I'm able to see a change in the way standup is done. We've seen very few attempts to break the mold, and the only example I can think of right now is Mulaney's Sack Lunch Bunch, and to be honest I think it left a lot to be desired. But that's to be expected if media itself is going to change formats - it'll take a lot of trial-and-error.

Quick tangent: I'm not talking about comedy itself. Comedy is constantly changing formats. Vine made absolute stars out of SIX SECOND-LONG content creators. I mean standup. I'd like to see its definition change from "70 minutes of uncut, unedited, scripted jokes told in story form on a stage in front of an audience with a microphone and maybe a few props done by one person, with pauses for laughter and applause, sometimes with audience interaction" to "long-format comedic content delivered by one person to an audience", taking away the mic, the stage, the very structured format. With the exception of maybe Bo Burnham, even if you've never seen a specific comedian, you know what to expect and when to expect it. You can Just Tell when the last joke is about to begin. You're not going to be surprised when the guy picks someone out of the crowd to make a few jokes with. You probably even know the definition of a call-back by name because they're so common. I don't know how it would necessarily change, but I don't think it's impossible.

Back to the main post for one more point: fandom. We've talked about the evolution of the consumption of media and what format we're watching it in. We know the content has evolved. But I think one of the most interesting changes in this category is the way we interact with shows now.

I'm currently sitting in my Simpsons-character-covered tracksuit I bought for $15 on Wish, next to my closet which contains about 15-20 t-shirts. At least 8 of them are Simpsons-themed. When I started building this collection, it started about 5 years ago when I saw my very first Simpsons shirt in a Bluenotes, and it was the only one I had for a few years. I would buy any Simpsons shirt I saw for a while. Today I went to the mall, and if I still had that policy I'd have blown through my savings in one trip.

I actually consider myself lucky; The Simpsons isn't as popular on merch you'd find at the mall as say Rick and Morty, Adventure Time, or Spongebob. I've seen giant stuffed Pickle Ricks, but never an oversized Homer.

My point being, I'm a superfan, but of a slightly older show that isn't nearly as popular as it used to be. If you walk into a Hot Topic, you can probably find any pop culture property on a t-shirt, mug, keychain and temporary face tattoo. This was not the case 10 years ago.

And that's just fandom with regard to the physical world. Did you know that John Mulaney, who did 3 Netflix specials 4 years ago, has THREE subreddits? Every time I get into something new it used to cross my mind, "Hey, I wonder if there's a subreddit for this yet". Now it's "I wonder which of the several subreddits that surely exist for this show/movie/vague concept is best".

A lot of the time when I see the concept of fandom discussed in mainstream media, it's still a severely outdated depiction. Even documentaries tend to stop at "and then Comic-con was invented. The End". I hate to praise it for anything, but if it did anything good, The Big Bang Theory did properly define "fandom" for the world.

I remember when 99% of people polled would not have heard of "fan fiction". I started writing it at 12 when the category for Harry Potter fan fiction on fanfiction.net had but a few thousand entries. My show of choice, Death Note, had a few hundred. I got in on the ground floor and built my way to the top. I abandoned that account 6 years ago and I still get 10-20 story comments or favorites per week.

Now try finding someone who hasn't heard of fan fiction. Find someone who's too old to have written on AO3.

Finally, and I know it's been a long ramble but bear with me, I want to address the homicidal, drunk-driving, pregnant-wife-killing elephant in the room: stans.

If you don't get the reference I just made, please google "origin of the term stan". Caught up? Good, so now answer me this: how did we take a term that refers so very, very obviously to a very, very negative situation and turn it into something someone says casually or even proudly of themselves?

Obviously when I say I stan Green Day that doesn't mean I'm going to write Billie Joe threatening letters and kill my girlfriend, it means I consider myself one of their biggest fans. I think in all of English vocabulary, there's only one other word that's taken such a 180 in definition and it's one I can't say.

Anyway, that's me done. Now that there's more streaming platforms than people who've fucked your mom, I'm interested to see where we go from here.

Stay Greater, Flamingos.

#media #media consumption #evolution of media #tv #sam

1 note · View note

the-awful-falafel · 3 years

Note

Am i the only one who doesn‘t see why people say Morty was so degraded as a character 😅 i mean sure the „i refuse to do that i‘m just desperate to get back together“ line was dumb, but it was just a joke, Rick literally explained it was basically Morty‘s midlife crisis talking: as soon as he‘s 14 again he would be less codependent and that‘s exactly what happened. He started setting boundaries and telling Rick he won‘t be with him anymore if he‘s not honest with him. Him supporting and forgiving Rick for now because he has a lot of empathy is in character for him but it does not and should not mean every bad thing Rick has done is just forgotten and that Morty is fully reset and healed. And despite the writers commentary, I really do think that they know this, I don‘t think this is an indication of Morty‘s character growth being tossed out. He‘s still going to snap eventually and Rick will still be held accountable. Nothing that happened made me think otherwise, it‘ll all happen in time. I can‘t see them just glossing over fucked up things like the vat of acid

Not really sure about everyone else's reasons, but the reason I felt like Morty got degraded/done dirty is mostly due to how needy, dependent, and clingy he was written towards Rick in the S5E10 opener (not even really the midlife crisis thing, which I know was just a joke, but more just in general), in a way that felt downright disturbing considering his solo development the rest of this season. At bare minimum they should have given Morty a few more weeks before he missed Rick enough to try and mend things with him (because I agree with you, he's forgiving enough to at least try, but he shouldn't be so forgiving he's going to grovel over it like he did here). Show him enjoying his own solo adventures with Rick's portal gun, going to school like a normal kid, surviving by himself, just something that doesn't imply that he's doomed to fall to pieces without Rick around. Like... when was Morty being desperate/needy enough for Rick's company that he'd attempt to emotionally blackmail Rick into coming back ever built up as part of his character? If it's due to the fact that Rick was the one who unexpectedly owned up to his abuse and left (which I acknowledge could change Morty's reaction), why did Morty's characterization still feel so exaggerated and specifically designed to shit all over the independence that they've been exploring in his character up to this point, and implicitly justify both his codependent relationship with Rick and the continuation of the status quo?

It also felt like the finale wasn't really respecting the sheer extent of Morty's abuse when it came time to address it in S5E9, which is bizarre since it was meant to be the episode where his and Rick's conflict reached a fever pitch and they split apart, so you'd think the core problems would be addressed... more clearly? Instead, it muddled their relationship as a weird, both-sidesing "okay but what if they BOTH had a lot to learn" allegory while also giving Rick a complete softball in his culpability by having him be the one to realize that their relationship is toxic (in a super broad way that noticeably didn't bring up any specific abuse he had done to Morty), therefore he must leave with the crows and inadvertently deny Morty (or the narrative) the opportunity to truly hold him accountable for anything. And even that character development on Rick's part gets regressed barely a few minutes into the next episode, but since Morty missed him so much, Rick doesn't have to do anything else besides the bare minimum to earn forgiveness! Status quo restored, hooray!

Yes, I know they tried to show it's not a complete regression since Morty is setting boundaries and stuff, saying stuff like "I don't want to do this anymore if you're not honest", but it came off as... rather weak to me, tbh. Not only was the buildup unearned, it didn't sound that different to how Morty tried to set boundaries and "invent honesty" in season 4, and that didn't hold up in the long run, either. Rick has always caved to a certain degree of Morty's wishes/nagging, even from the earliest seasons, so it's how he handles Morty's outright defiance to his ego/control over the relationship that is much more revealing about him as a person (like in Morty's Mindblowers and Vat of Acid). Rick being somewhat nicer to Morty in these episodes just doesn't feel like a significant enough improvement to justify how quickly the narrative forced them back together. Morty's forgiving nature felt uncomfortably utilized, too, like they were simultaneously acknowledging it as a fucked up trait "bred" into him to facilitate Rick's abuse, but also trying to have it both ways by painting his unconditional forgiveness of Rick as the first step in Rick realizing his mistakes and the two of them working to become true partners. If that was what they were going for, I'm sorry, but they executed it very, very poorly and left a lot of harmful implications with how it ends up framing abusive relationships in the process.

Like, the way they wrote it, I don't get the impression this is the start of Rick and Morty's relationship improving at all. I get the impression this is the start of them pretending their relationship is improving (and maybe genuinely trying for a while) but more and more of the fucked up stuff gets brushed under the rug and they start falling into the exact same patterns as before once "honesty" and "respect" stop working, because abuse built on such a one-sided inescapable power dynamic isn't fixed just by deciding to be nicer to each other.

If this discomfort is intentional, if they're planning on this "equal partnership" thing to eventually crash and burn since it's built on such an unbalanced, consequence-free foundation, bringing the conflict to a head in a later season in a way that respects our Morty's growth and finally holds Rick accountable in a way he can't depend on his victims' forgiveness to get out of, I'd... still view these episodes as ultimately a regressive cop-out, but I'd be slightly more tolerant of it, at least, since it would feel more intentional? The finale's excellent characterization of Evil Morty and how he called out Rick's abuse without much pushback indicates some self-awareness at least, so I'd like to have some faith this will be handled better in the future, but the behind-the-scenes writer commentaries are... very worrisome. I guess I'll have to wait and see what they do in Season 6 onward, but how they handled this particular conflict will probably leave a bad taste in my mouth for a while.

#asks #rick and morty #rick and morty spoilers #rnm s5 finale spoilers #morty smith

31 notes · View notes

yeonchi · 3 years

Text

Kisekae Insights #15: Hiroki and Akari’s Strawberry Mysteries Part 1 (with Hybrid explanation)

These next two instalments weren’t easy for me to write. Off the bat, the subject of these instalments is the relationship between the protagonist, Hiroki Ichigo, and his wife, Akari Ichigo. Why wasn’t it easy for me to talk about it? The subject and the storylines associated with it are heavily based on elements of my life and their associated fantasies.

Writing the review for Can You Hear Me? has really inspired me to talk about some high school friends who I wasn’t necessarily friends with (I say that because I never hung out with them much). In that review, I mentioned my high school crush as one person I was reminded of after watching the episode. The character of Akari is based on her, but this infatuation goes way deeper than you think given how much effort I put into writing her storylines in my project.

Portions of these storylines were inspired from the final episodes of certain TVB dramas from 2013-14. As such, I feel obligated to provide content (trigger) warnings as these storylines contain themes associated with mental illness, suicide and domestic violence.

In case you haven’t seen, I’m going to be giving my answer to the Hybrid in this instalment. I’m leaving the IRL context until Part 2 in the next instalment and I’ll also be taking a break after that. For now, enjoy the rollercoaster as we start going down the rabbit hole that is Hiroki and Akari’s relationship.

Hiroki Ichigo: The Enigma Beneath

You will notice that the character profiles for Hiroki and Akari are different from the ones I’ve done so far, particularly in that they have no job or personality descriptions. Aside from being officers or superheroes, any job I give them ends up being forgotten once the story arc gets going (I wish Chibnall could say the same about Yaz), so they don’t end up mattering anyway. As for Hiroki’s personality, I’ve already covered that in #2.

I’ve detailed Hiroki in his final incarnation here because most of the storyline revolves around this incarnation, but his previous incarnations do have significance in the storyline likewise.

Also, you will notice that I’ve designated Hiroki as the Hybrid. I’ve never really liked the Hybrid arc because it gave too many possibilities that pointed to multiple figures potentially being the Hybrid. Steven Moffat did reveal that the Hybrid was supposed to be the Doctor and Clara together, but to me, that’s just a red herring for the identity of the real Hybrid. This is my answer to the Hybrid arc – Hiroki Ichigo is the Hybrid.

Here are some of the criteria given for the Hybrid throughout Series 11 (BBC Series 9). The Hybrid is a creature crossbred from two warrior races, supposedly the Time Lords and the Daleks. According to all Matrix prophecies, the Hybrid will stand in the ruins of Gallifrey and unravel the Web of Time, breaking a billion billion hearts to heal its own.

Let’s break down the Doctor’s final line in Heaven Sent:

“The Hybrid is not half-Dalek. Nothing is half-Dalek. The Daleks would never allow that.” Just because the Doctor can say it can’t be half-Dalek doesn’t mean that it isn’t. Besides, Hiroki isn’t half-Dalek anyway – technically, he is part-Kaled, the Kaleds being the ancestors of the Daleks. But since the Kaleds are synonymous with the Daleks, this fulfills the Dalek portion of the Hybrid.

“The Hybrid destined to conquer Gallifrey and stand in its ruins… is me.” Some people believe “me” refers to Ashildr, also known as Me, but I think that the Doctor accusing Ashildr of being the Hybrid is just him deflecting the blame because he was in denial of being the Hybrid (plus, the Doctor seemed to prefer calling her Ashildr instead of Me). The Doctor was born from Hiroki, so the Doctor saying that is a bit of a stretch. However, to be fair, the Doctor didn’t even know who the Hybrid really was until Rassilon told him in Space Squad Part 3. In comparison, Hiroki realised that he was the Hybrid in the Decade finale.

Now, for the time being, Hiroki has never stepped foot on Gallifrey, but I’m planning on rectifying that in Soulbound Series 4. As for unravelling the Web of Time, that’s already been done if you count all the timeline changes I’m going to detail, so hopefully I won’t need to address that again. Since Hiroki is a warrior, you can bet that he’s broken as many hearts as he’s willing to break in order to heal his own.

So how did Hiroki become the Hybrid? Firstly, Hiroki was born a human with Time Lord and Jenova DNA (see #2). Later on, in 2012, Hiroki became part-Kaled/Dalek after his DNA got mixed up with Akari’s during a regeneration (read on to find out).

In 2018, during Age of Riders Forever, Hiroki found himself being pursued by alternate versions of himself who had banded together and based themselves in the Capital (like the Citadel of Ricks in Rick and Morty). Hiroki upgrades his vortex manipulator so he can travel in time. After incorporating Kamen Rider Wizard’s Time Ring into his manipulator and using his own body to calibrate it, Hiroki manages to go into the past and make contact with his past self multiple times.

At some point, Hiroki was found and brought to the Council (the equivalent of the Council of Ricks), where he was given a mission to detonate a memory bomb in exchange for leniency. He does so, but when the Council comes to pick him up, he refuses to go back with them and teleports away. Hiroki’s travels had caused numerous paradoxes, but his vortex manipulator caused the temporal energy to build up inside his body, which would rip him apart and scatter him throughout the Time Vortex instead of ending the universe.

Sure enough, Hiroki’s body was ripped apart, but his consciousness was saved by his ex-wife and her family that he saved inside the supercomputer in Dewey’s library on Never Land. They then sent Hiroki back out and made him a new body using fairy dust, pollen, the happiness of everyone on the Mainland, the remains of his DNA from his old body and about half a field’s worth of dandelion seeds. After that, Hiroki leads the fairies and Flowertots in an attack on the Capital, saving his friends while killing the Council and all the other versions of himself. With Hiroki now being part-fairy and part-Flowertot, he gained the ability to utilise some forms of Never Land magic, but because he doesn’t possess a source of magic or a connection to one, it requires some time to recharge naturally.

And so, that was the story of how Hiroki became the Hybrid.

Akari Ichigo: Mystery Girl Becomes Seductress Becomes Assassin Becomes Wife

I didn’t put a personality description for Akari in the pic mainly because she’s based on my crush and I have no idea what her personality is like. Therefore, my personality description for her would only be based on my impressions of her and what I think she would be like in the project. Needless to say, I didn’t put a lot of thought into it. When she’s good, she cares for Hiroki really much (though it’s mostly because of the hypnotic seduction perfume), but when she’s evil, she just doesn’t care about him. In the Series 9 finale, there’s a bit where she literally says “I’m gonna put a cap in your ass” in a yandere-like manner before Hiroki smacks her around and shoots her in the head, but we’ll come back to that in Part 2.

Originally, I was of the belief that Akari was born in 1998, making her six months younger than Hiroki, but I later found that I was one year off; Akari was actually born in 1999, making her eighteen months younger than Hiroki. This change doesn’t affect the story a lot, but I am kind of pissed that I didn’t know this earlier.

Akari’s paternal grandfather is a Kaled named Antoni, meaning that from him, she has a link to the Daleks. Akari was used by both her family and the Daleks as a tool to get to the Doctor by having her seduce and kill Hiroki. They didn’t know that Akari would end up getting seduced herself and before they knew it, she ended up getting in too deep that they had to wrench her off him with the help of Girl Power.

On top of that, they also didn’t know that Akari had made such an impact on Hiroki that he went to extreme lengths to either take her back or kill her. Akari never loved Hiroki, but she never had the guts to say it to his face and break off their relationship amicably. At the end of the Last Great Time War, when Girl Power were defeated for good, Akari got back with Hiroki and all was well again. Or so they thought…

The introductions are over. Let’s get into the story. Before I do, I want to clarify that Hiroki and Akari weren’t known by those names until 2014 onwards.

First meeting retcon

Based on the release order of my stories, Hiroki and Akari originally met in 2011 when they were in their secondary school armies. However, paradoxes, timeline changes and retcons have made that first meeting WAY earlier than that.

The root reason why schools were forming armies and fighting each other goes back to the 90’s when the state government established Arming Schools for the Future alongside One Country Two (Naming) Systems. Towards the end of the 90’s, a member of Akari’s family became an MP to prevent those two programs from being abolished when the opposition party formed government.

After Antoni went off to fight in the Time War, Kaled agent Neramix met with his children and helped them incite a war between the schools to support the Dalek cause. The two armies that they incited happened to be the kindergarten armies that Hiroki and Akari were in.

In March 2003, the two armies went into battle. This was the first battle of the Time War on Earth and the first battle for Hiroki and Akari. During the battle, Akari runs away from her unit and hides. Hiroki spots her and sneaks away from his unit to follow her. After encountering each other, they hide together and talk to pass the time. Akari doesn’t want to fight because she doesn’t want to make the world scarier than it already is, but Hiroki fights because he wants to make the world nice again. Hiroki decides to escape with Akari and take her home, but after a distraction involving two incarnations of the Doctor and some TARDISes, Parker finds Hiroki and drags him back into the battle, leaving Akari wondering what happened.

Thanks to that interaction, Neramix had what he needed to slowly mould Akari into Hiroki’s future killer. Neramix would be killed by Kamen Rider Decade soon after, but his intention was to have Antoni’s grandchildren, namely Akari’s brother and cousins, oversee this plan and fight in the Time War in place of their parents.

Over the next few years, Hiroki and Akari would meet out of nowhere, but little did they know that these meetings were a result of time manipulations by the Daleks. On top of that, additional changes to the timeline led them to meet more frequently.

By February 2010, Akari’s primary school army had become part of the Oda Army. Parker was planning a campaign for his primary school army to defeat the Oda, Mōri and Date armies and conquer their territories. He arranged for Hiroki to “defect” to Akari’s army and act as a spy for a few weeks. When the invasion occurred, Hiroki returned to his army, breaking Akari’s heart. Another few weeks later, the two of them reconciled when their armies encountered each other again in battle.

The date of their “first meeting” was rapidly approaching and at the way the timeline was going, the Web of Time would become damaged. In December 2010, during the primary school armies’ graduation ceremonies, the Master (Harold Saxon) used a dimensional splitter to transport them into a pocket dimension and pit them against each other in a “Graduation Battle Royale”. Hiroki and Akari met each other again, but Kamen Rider Decade arrives and fights them as he attempts to detonate a memory bomb (a replica of a forbidden weapon of the same name in the Omega Arsenal) between them. Decade evades them and successfully detonates the memory bomb just as the armies are returned to their rightful locations.

The memory bomb would supposedly restore people’s memories of the correct timelines and erase the memories of Hiroki and Akari interacting with each other before 2011. As a side effect, however, their timelines were burst open with metaphorical superglue on the broken ends. A couple of months later, in February 2011, Hiroki and Akari were in the same secondary school army. At the end of their first day, Hiroki and Akari encounter each other again, weeks before their actual first meeting. They accidentally touch hands as they dodge a falling flowerpot and as a result, they discover that they are fading out of existence until they touch hands. After seeing the Doctor, they discover that they have “Intertwined Pinkie Syndrome” – well, not really, but their timelines were fused and if they were to let go of each other, they would fade out of existence as their timelines would have no beginning or no end.

As such, Hiroki and Akari were forced to live together for the time being. The next few days went a bit like the two music videos below (because this storyline was inspired from them):

youtube

Later, the Doctor discovers that the effects can be reversed if Hiroki and Akari are willing to sacrifice their lives to save someone. At the same time, the two stop an old lady from being hit by a reversing van. Their hands let go, but they do not disappear. Their timelines return to normal and they go back to their own lives.

Without the courage to say “I’m sorry”

Finally, Hiroki and Akari meet each other for the first time in March 2011. Hiroki begins to fall in love with Akari and before long, their friends become aware of this along with Akari’s cousins, Daniel and David, meaning that the pieces of their plan are finally coming together. They formed the Teiro Army and began taking action by intruding into Hiroki’s battles. Eventually, after Parker’s death and the fall of the Sanada Army, they built up enough strength to ally with other armies, who have affiliations with Hiroki, and turned them against him.

Over the course of the next 16 months, Hiroki’s friends encouraged him to talk to Akari and ask her out, but he never ended up doing so, either because she was with her friends or he couldn’t muster up the courage to do so even when she was alone. He got more acquainted with Akari’s friends than Akari herself. When Akari and her friends founded Girl Power in February 2012, Hiroki just happened to be on the other side of Hong Kong. Eventually, Maya, one of Akari’s friends, tells Hiroki to talk to Akari before it is too late.

In May 2012, Hiroki writes a love letter for Akari, though this was partly as a result of a plot by his friends. She shows it to her cousins, who then launch an attack on Hiroki and his allies, the Takeda Army. Despite fighting each other in the battle, neither of them even brings up the love letter.

Later, in July 2012, the Teiro Army takes over Hiroki’s secondary school army, forcing him to escape with the Takeda Army. Daniel contacts Hiroki and tells him that they have taken his friends hostage. Hiroki realises what is going on and calls out Akari for being too scared to tell him face-to-face about the love letter, causing her to snap and agree to meet him alone.

Sure enough, the two of them meet alone in a hall or stadium. After some pressure from Hiroki, Akari admits that she doesn’t love him the same way he loves her, but they can still be friends. Hiroki accepts her offer, but Daniel throws some rape gas (that he stole from the police) at them, saying that they don’t deserve each other.

Going on a tangent for a bit, rape gas is similar to tear gas, but the principle of how it works is basically “rape or be raped” – depending on a person’s mental state, they would either faint or develop the urge to sexually assault anyone in sight. In July 2011, the police first tested the rape gas at a university, where protesters and counter-protesters were protesting about kids fighting in armies, racism/crime, climate change, the fact that you can drive from Melbourne to Tokyo in a matter of hours and ACAB. However, this time around, Daniel modified the rape gas, meaning that Hiroki or Akari would have to violate or kill the other person in order to get out alive.

Hiroki and Akari managed to resist the effects of the gas, fighting each other until Parker and a few others, who had managed to free themselves, break in and save them. Parker dispels the effects of the rape gas from them, causing them to lose their memories of the past couple of hours as they are knocked out. They regain consciousness later before Hiroki, Parker and their allies purge the Teiro Army and their allies from the city.

Under his spell

Following the final battle against the Teiro Army, the Arming Schools for the Future program was abolished and the armies would become schools again once the holidays were over. Hiroki was given the privilege to choose whether he would stay with his army or leave and he chose to leave. For a while, Parker gave Hiroki a choice to join him or become a ronin (wanderer), but he refused because of Akari. The reason why he decided to leave was because people had become afraid of him following the events of the battle. Instead of joining Parker or the Takeda Army, he decided to become a ronin because aside from fighting, he had nothing else to live for.

Hiroki decided to travel the land while Akari went to Okinawa with her cousins, Narutaki and Veronica. Hiroki’s travels would eventually lead him to Okinawa, where a parallel version of himself from a parallel universe would help him ask Akari out by spraying him with some hypnotic seduction perfume. Akari became caught in the perfume’s spell and so, she and Hiroki became a couple.

A few months later in November, the Salacian Time War came along. Hiroki and Akari were not involved in the war itself, but they played a role in its endgame. Hiroki and Akari were hanging out with the latter’s friends when Daniel had them kidnapped and taken to their base in the Serra do Mar mountain range, codenamed “the forests of Wanmokai”. Hiroki is subjected to a weapon known as the Dehydrator, which sucks the strength out of the victim and drives their brain to the point of insanity. After a while, he manages to untie himself before falling to the ground. Following a meta-crisis regeneration which results in Takumi Kamijō being born and escaping from the base, Hiroki and Akari are found by Parker, who teleports them back to his base in Santos.

Later, Parker and the others are trying to power up the Harmony Signal, but even with Ultimate Madoka’s help, they still can’t get it fully charged. Hiroki is still struggling to regenerate following the meta-crisis and requires a catalyst in order to regenerate, so he decides to propose to Akari. As they kiss, Hiroki regenerates, but his DNA gets mixed up with Akari’s, making him part-Kaled (fulfilling the Time Lord and Dalek requirements for the Hybrid) and making his subsequent prototypes their children. The new prototype, Kumiko Hayashi, is able to provide Parker with enough energy to fully charge the Harmony Signal.

At this point, some people would say that dating for 3-4 months before proposing is a bit fast, but when you think about it, they’ve known each other for nearly two years, or nine years with seven on-and-off.

After another year of dating and getting caught in turbulent events, Hiroki and Akari got married in December 2013, with Princess Celestia acting as their celebrant and singer Miyuki Nakajima featuring as a guest at their reception.

A chaotic marriage

Even before his wedding, Hiroki had suspected that Girl Power was plotting something behind the scenes and that if he were to walk into their trap, he would die. Borrowing the Pony Doctor’s TARDIS, Hiroki went on a farewell tour in order to delay his own wedding, but upon hearing that his old friend, one of the commanders from his primary school army, had died, Hiroki decides to accept his fate.

The day after Hiroki and Akari’s wedding, a man named Reona Yukawa (a man from a hentai game with an IQ of 256) worked with the Master to save Antoni from the Crucible. Soon after, the Daleks begin attacking Hong Kong. Hiroki and Akari work with the Fourth Doctor as they meet with Parker and Violet, who defeat the Daleks with newer Daleks. For context, it is the bronze (Time War) Daleks fighting against the coloured Daleks of the New Dalek Paradigm. Despite their reception, I’ve never liked how the latter was underused throughout the series, so I thought I’d give them some love here. Meanwhile, the Fifth Doctor is in seclusion on Paris Island with Marco Wong and his wife, Princess Maritan (from the manga that teaches Japanese people how to swear in English with army imagery).

Suddenly, Antoni transports the landmasses containing the Doctor and his friends to their base at Koshi Castle in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Hiroki, his prototypes and their partners are taken and they have their germ cells taken and placed in the Progenitor, rendering them infertile as the Daleks breed super-soldiers out of them. Soon after, Akari is kidnapped and brainwashed by Girl Power, who pairs her with a new husband, a white man (I don’t know why I pointed that out, that makes me sound racist) named Shaun. When Hiroki and the Fourth Doctor find them, Hiroki tries to grab Akari, but he is shot by all the Girl Power officers. The Fourth Doctor runs away to find Parker and Violet while Hiroki makes his way back to his TARDIS and regenerates into a new prototype, a four-year-old boy who would be named Kyōya Shinomiya.

In the Progenitor, a baby is being grown from Hiroki and Akari’s DNA – their daughter, who would be named Kasumi Shinomiya. Due to Takumi’s interference, the baby would end up in Manchester in December 2005, coincidentally the same place where Akari and Shaun would encounter Kyōya and Kasumi and form a family together. Meanwhile, Hiroki, having lost his magical boy powers following his regeneration, accepts a deal from the witch Walpurgisnacht and manifests into a female incarnation who would call herself Momoka Mizutani. Momoka opened up a Hong Kong-style café in Salford, with red drone Daleks disguising as her human staff, and for the next eight years, Momoka would become acquainted with the Shinomiya family as they became regular customers. She also uses an infostamp to make contact with Kyōya, unbeknownst to the rest of his family.

Eight years later, the Fourth and Fifth Doctors arrive in Manchester. They encounter each other and head to Momoka’s café to talk. Just as they learn who actually owns the café (Hiroki), Ayaka Kikuchi comes in with her army and engages in a shootout with Momoka and the Daleks. After defeating Ayaka’s army, Momoka transmats herself and the Shinomiya family to her ship, where she prepares to have Ayaka, Shaun, Kyōya and Kasumi exterminated using the Yashio’ori, a mythical weapon (from Warriors Orochi 3) capable of firing Dalek energy rays like machine guns or a concentrated laser beam that can pierce even dwarf star alloy. Unfortunately, the Yashio’ori was sabotaged by Ayaka and her allies so that the laser beam would not charge after Momoka fired it once during a demonstration.

Momoka is killed in the ensuing battle, but Walpurgisnacht took over her body and regenerated her, allowing her to continue with her plan. She searches out people who had wronged her over the years and enacts her own brutal justice on them. She also begins to experience psychosis brought on by a regenerative crisis, causing her to hallucinate her previous incarnation. The Doctors and Parker catch on to this and begin searching for her. Parker and Violet encounter her at UNIT and they convince her to surrender herself and not give up hope that things will be better. As Momoka proclaims that she still has unfinished business to take care of, Parker and Violet decide to work together with her so they can help her find the help she needs.

After confronting the Shinomiya family again, Momoka shoots Akari in the arm and kidnaps Shaun. She takes a video of him confessing to stealing Hiroki’s wife from him and sends it to Parker and the Doctors. Under the guise of delivering the ransom money to Momoka, Violet picks her up at a carpark and takes her to a getaway car she and Parker left for her. However, when they get there, Momoka is cornered, so she lets Violet go before she shoots herself in the head. Her body disappears as her TARDIS takes her away.

All this time, Reona, Antoni and the Master had used the distraction provided by their allies to prepare an army to start another Parallax War. The Daleks prepare to bind Akari and Shaun’s minds together as they prepare to become the emperor and empress of the new Girl Empire, but Kyōya, Kasumi and Momoka had been working to prevent this. Momoka summoned Hiroki’s past incarnations, along with his prototypes and even Storm Dasher, to fire infostamps at the throne, separating Akari from Shaun and breaking her from her conditioning. As the mind-breaker’s efficiency approaches 100%, Momoka uses a key to connect her mind with Akari, intertwining their timelines and making their previous encounters with each other fixed points in time.

Akari is freed, but all the Daleks turn on Reona, Antoni and the Master. After the first two are exterminated, the Master destroys Koshi Castle with a nuclear device before escaping, killing all the Daleks and super-soldiers with it. Girl Power managed to escape as well and most of their members went into hiding, but Shaun was apprehended off-screen, convicted of war crimes and sentenced to cryogenic suspension. Following this, Momoka regenerated into Hiroki, her final incarnation, and got back together with Akari. As a result of events, they (and some others) were eight years older than they should be.

This storyline was inspired by the final episodes of A Great Way to Care II (仁心解碼II), with Momoka being based on the character Apple Lam Chung-yan (林頌恩) played by Tavia Yeung (楊怡). Momoka would become a prototype and return in Series 9.

Anyway, I think that’s enough for now. If you thought that last storyline was harrowing enough, wait till you get to Part 2. It’s the part where things get turbulent and I cross the lines of morality so many times that you’ll be calling me an incel before you even get to the IRL context. My judgement day is nigh. See you in the next instalment.

#kisekae insights

0 notes

gravitysanchez-blog · 6 years

Text

TOURIST RICK-ED - a sanchez falls au fic

It’s finally done! I admit, I took way too long on this (since, like...last year. lol) but I’m really happy the way it turned out and how I established the base dynamics in this.

If you’ve never heard of the Sanchez Falls AU, I can’t blame you: check it out here. If you don’t want to deal with the overdescriptive, kind of cringy description, it’s basically a Rick and Morty and Gravity Falls mashup, based off the “Dipper and Mabel” Morty and Morticia easter egg. Enjoy.

Ah, summer break. A time for leisure, relaxation, and new memories. And while I can’t say much for the former two, I can say that speeding down Oregon wilderness driving a golf cart with a puking sister and a mountain of gnomes chasing me definitely applies to new memories. Now, I know at this point you have a lot of questions. I would too, so let me go back a little bit - rest assured, there’s a perfectly logical explanation for this.

This entire mess began up in Washington, when my mom and dad finally decided to get divorced after seventeen years of arguing. Mom, trying to readjust to a life without my dad, decided we could use some fresh air and time apart from the city. So she sent me, Morty Smith, and my twin sister Morticia down to Oregon to stay with our Great-Uncle Ricardo Sanchez, in a sleepy little town called Gravity Falls. While her and our big sister Summer try to get adjusted in Seattle, me and my sister are going to try to turn our lives around here and have a good time. Oh, and one more thing. There’s a goat on my bed.

“This attic is amazing!�� Morticia, in the span of three seconds that we’ve been in the room, is already busy putting up kitten posters on one wall, taking the rickety bed on the right and spilling her yellow and pink clothes all over it. She turns to me while she’s sorting out her dresses and grins. “Although I’m not sure how I feel sharing a room with a dork like you.” She stick her tongue out at me. “Funny, ‘Tish.” Fun fact: one of our many running jokes between us is how much of losers we are. Our only friends are pretty much each other. Morbid, I know.

“So, uh, there’s a goat on my bed,” I said, changing the subject. “Are we not going to address this?”

We both looked over at the goat. It stared back at us with its yellow, beady eyes, sprawled on the comforters as it nibbled on what I supposed was my pillow. We were silent.

“I mean, it’s a little cute,” Tish murmured, sliding off her bed. “Hi, goat friend,” she sung as she wrapped her arms around her neck. It started chomping on her pink sweater. She looked at it. “Uh, okay. You do you, goat friend.” She turned to me. “He’s soft.”

“H-hey kids, what the fuck are you doing up there?”

And that’s my Great-Uncle Ricardo Sanchez. We call him Rick for short. What a guy. He was to transform his house into some tourist trap that he called “The Mystery Shack”. The real mystery was why anybody wanted to come to a tourist attraction in a town with a population of 300 people. But they did, and guess who had to work there.

Tish looked over at the doorway, still hugging the goat. She was a little scared of Rick, I could tell. We both were. He was loud, rude, vulgar, and most of the time drunk. Why my mother had the bright idea that he would be a good guardian for the summer was beyond both of us.

His feet clanked up the stairs, and as he appeared in the doorway with his tie loose, he stared at both of us. “Kids, aren’t you supposed to be taking care of the gift shop?”

“T-t-there’s a goat on my bed.”

He stared down at me, and I swallowed.

“What, Gompers? He’s fine. Fuckin goat does what it wants. Doesn’t hurt anybody.” He pulled a flask from his suit and took a swig. “I’ll take him down if you stop giving me that pathetic look, though. God.”

I shifted my eyes to the ground. This summer was supposed to be all about good vibes, but what good vibes were we going to get working in a gift shop for an alcoholic uncle?

Tish got up, patting her knees. “I think Gompers likes me.”

“Gompers likes anyone that has something he can eat. W-w-why don’t you take him down, if you like him so much. Your brother can go down and work the gift shop until you’re done. Cuz you know what I like? Money.”

Tish sighed, getting up. “You’re no fun,” she said, but Rick had already stumbled downstairs. I groaned as I got up and followed him. Both of us had been hoping that maybe we could get away from the wreck that was our lives in a completely new place, and actually make something of an awesome summer. So far we’ve got a random goat on my bed and an alcoholic, rude uncle who uses his relatives for free labor. Not adding up very well.

Then, something happened.

It didn’t start off very exciting. Kind of boring.

I was cleaning the gift shop while my sister Tish hid behind the merch shelf, having a mental breakdown peeping at some guy. “He’s so cute! Gosh, I should talk to him, shouldn’t I? Wait, but what if I do something, Morty? What if I mess up an-and trip and he thinks I’m a klutz? What if he thinks my socks are stupid? Oh, jeez, why did I only bring my blue socks this is a disaster, why couldn’t I just have brought white socks like a normal person-”

“Tish, I know you’re going th-through your boy-crazy, teenage-hormones phase, but you’re going a little too far on the crazy part. Calm down. Jeez.” “What?” She rolled her eyes and turned to me. “Come on, Morty, this is our first summer away from home! If I’m going to make this summer worth something, I have to at least have one sweet summer romance.”

Girls. “Yeah, but do you need to obsess over every guy you meet?” Just a couple days ago, she hid behind a huddle of balloons and crushed on the mattress-sale guy. If that wasn’t borderline crazy, I didn’t know what was.

She shrugged. “Mock all you want, Morty, but I got a good feeling about this summer. Great things are going to happen!” She turned to me with a smile. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy of my dreams walked through that door right-”

“Morty, Girl Morty!” Rick stomped in, wiping the drool from his chin and adjusting his hat. Trying to look professional, I guess. That’s how he got people. He was incredible at playing the mystic Mr. Mystery and the humble Uncle Rick to our mom. Live with him, and you see his true colors.

Tish slid back over to the counter, watching him as he crossed his arms in the doorway. “Alright, kids, look alive! I need-” he belched “-I need someone to hammer these signs, hammer ‘em in the woods up there. It’ll be great, get in business or whatever.”

“Not it!”

“Not it!” my sister almost shrieked.

“Not it!” Rick’s handyman, Soos, stood up on a ladder behind us hammering in a shelf.

“Soos, nobody-nobody fuckin’ asked you.” He turned away. “Jessica! I need you to put up these signs.”

Our red-headed cashier of the shack groaned, shifting her feet on the counter. “I mean, I would, Mr. Sanchez, but you know, I’m a small, fragile woman. I can’t handle the woods, I might eaten by a scary bear.”

“J-j-jessica, your family are literally all loggers.”

“Yeah, but I’m a woman-”

“Okay, okay, shut up. Jesus Christ, I would literally, fucking, fire all of you if I could,” he muttered, rubbing his temples. He turned to me suddenly. “Alright, Morty, go put up these signs. You’re, uh, you’re a man. I think.”

“Aw, I’m a man too!” Soos grumbled from his ladder. I wholeheartedly agreed with him. Rick decided to ignore Soos, and shoved the signs into my arms. “Chop-chop, Morty.”

“Oh-oh jeez, Rick, seriously? Those woods are creepy! Every time-every time I go in them, I feel like I’m being, I don’t know, watched, or something.” I almost cringed at Rick’s gaze glaring down at me. I probably did.

Rick rolled his eyes. “Ugh, this again. Look, Morty, I know you’re an anxious, whiny little teenager, but seriously. There’s no monsters or anything “paranormal” in this town. For god’s sake, it’s a bunch of rednecks and-and...country people out here.”

“H-hey, just today, my mosquito bites spelled out ‘Beware’! You...you can’t deny that, Rick!” I put my arm up so he could see, and he squinted down at the words.

“You know, to be fair, I am incredibly drunk right now, but I’m pretty sure that says Bewarb.” I looked down, and to be honest he was right. “You need to calm your tits, Morty.” He straightened up, almost falling backwards. “Li-listen, this whole ‘monsters in the forest’ thing is just local legend, made up so that your Great-Uncle Rick can make a shit ton of money and pay off the mortgage of this dump, alright? So quit being a pussy and put up those goddamn signs.” On that note, he walked out of the shop.

Joy.

“Great-Uncle Rick never takes anything I say seriously,” I grumbled, hammering sings on various trees. Nobody was going to see this stupid things, anyway, and even if someone did, they’d probably be too creeped out to be interested. I swear, sometimes Rick just makes us do these things to be an asshole for fun-

CLANG

Struck out of my thoughts, I stared at the tree in front of me, the nail between my fingers. Cautiously, I took the hammer and struck the nail again, pressing my ear to the bark this time.

CLANG. CLANG.

“...what the hell?”

On the side of my arm, I suddenly noticed a groove in the bark. I dropped my hammer and nail, shoving my fingers into the groove and started wrenching it back. The metal dug into my fingers as I pried it away, falling to the ground with a thud.

There was a mechanical box sitting inside the tree, dials and tubes and switches, all covered in dust and cobwebs in the opening. I sat there for a moment in shock. This was real. Not like the Bewarb thing, not like Rick’s stupid mystery shack. This was something mysterious, something weird.

I flipped a dial. Nothing happened. I flipped it again. Still, nothing happened, I flipped another one. Nothing happened-

“MAAA!”

I jumped, whipping around. Behind me, Gompers the Goat, sweater-and-bed-muncher, jumped away from me and into the woods. I stared at him for a second, before looking where he once was to find a large, gaping hole had appeared.

“What the hell?” I walked up to it, kneeling down and peering inside. I was met with dirt and cobwebs, slinging around the walls leading into an underground box. Inside, there was a large book, covered with more dirt and spiderwebs.

Well, wasn’t that just mysterious.

I dug my hands under the book, cobwebs sticking to my arms, and pulled it out, getting more cobwebs and grime off the book and onto my shirt. It was made of some sort of dyed blue leather, a six fingered hand on the cover with a 3 written in the middle. The whole thing reeked of some fantastical mystery - and mold.

I flipped open the book on the ground, peeling away the rough pages. The title page was torn, “Property of” on the top middle, but cut off. Mysterious. I picked the book up closer to my face and turned the page.

June 18 - it’s hard to believe it’s been six years since I started investigating the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls - I looked back up. This had to be a joke, right? I mean, yeah, the bewarb thing was a little weird, and certainly a mechanical tree isn’t normal at all, but seriously? This was too unreal. Great-Uncle Rick just said it was all a scam. Rick also might have been too drunk to really notice anything substantial, though.

I couldn’t stop flipping through the book, my mind nearly blown with drawings and descriptions of cool and creepy monsters - Floating Eyeballs, Giant Vampire Bats (fun!), gnomes, cursed doors. Each page was a whole new crazy thing.

I kept mindlessly flipping, taking it all in. It had to be true, I thought. Why would someone go out of their way to hide all of this? Not to mention write it. I kept flipping, until my eyes caught something large and bolded, scratched in the middle of a page. TRUST NO ONE “Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed. I’m being watched by that son of a bitch! I have to hide this book before he finds it. Remember, in Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust.” What? “No one you can trust?” Absently, I closed the book. What did he mean, he was being watched? Who was “he”? At first, this seemed cool, but everything was starting to get a little more scarier…

“Morty! There you are!”

“Ah!” I dropped the book, whipping around to see Tish right behind me, leaning on a stump. “Thank god, I just escaped Rick and was looking for you. So what about this “no one you can trust” thing you said to yourself in the middle of the woods?”

“Uh…” I shoved the book with my foot under a log. “Ah, i-i-i-it’s nothing! D-d-do-don’t worry about it. Just, you know. Uh. Me.” I grinned.

She folded her arms, looking over my shoulder. “Wow, didn’t expect you to take that so seriously. Did you just push a book under that log? What are you hiding?”

“Tish!” I looked around. The goat was back, and had pulled the book under the log. He was chewing happily on the cover. “I’ll...I’ll show you. Can we go somewhere private?”

Back in the shack, I paced the living room. “Tish, it’s insane! Rick said I was being paranoid, but according to this book I found in the woods, Gravity Falls has this totally cool, awesome, kind of scary dark side!” I flipped to the Floating Eyes page, showing it to her. “Look at this, Tish!”

“What? You’re kidding me, right? This is a joke.”

I paced around again. “No, I’m not joking. But get this, Tish. At some point, the pages just, like, stop. Like the guy who was writing it mysteriously disappeared. There’s even this page where the author says something about someone watching him and having to hide the books, and it’s just all...crazy!” This was not what I was expecting this summer, but even though it was pretty scary this was much better than any boring summer working for an alcoholic great uncle.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, loud and clear. “Who is that?” Who would be visiting Rick? The bartender? Who could even stand to be around him and know him personally for even five minutes? “Well,” Tish looked down, wringing her hands and grinning. “I might...I might have got a date.”

What.

“Let me get this straight. You, the other socially awkward half of me,who has no friends and can barely talk to a guy without tripping over her own shoes, and is worried about the color of her socks got a boyfriend in the half-hour that I was gone? You’ve never had a boyfriend in your life!”

Tish fell back on Rick’s easy chair. “What can I say, brother? I guess it’s just...summer lovin’ up in the air!”

“Tish, please never say that again.”

The doorbell rang again, and Tish sprang up, running a hand over her hair. Flashes of anxiety and excitement were clear on her face. “Uh, c-c-coming!”

Joy. I sat up on the couch, crouching over the book. Honestly, who cared about Tish’s new boyfriend? And her expanding social life that apparently was going a lot better than mine? Because of this book, I was having one of the most exciting days of my life. Eye-bats!

“W-w-what’cha reading there, buddy?”

Quickly, I shoved the book out of site. “Uhh, just, uh, just, ca-catching up on-” I grabbed a magazine from the side table and read the cover - “uh, Playboy for Silver Foxes?” Immediately, I regretted being born as my eyes hit a forty year old woman strip teasing on the cover. I wanted to drench my face in bleach.

His unibrow raised up at me in suspicion, but he shrugged it off as he pulled his flask out of his back pocket and took a swig. “Although I’d like to know how those got out of my room.”

Oh, jeez. “H-hey, I-”

“Hi, Grunkle - uh, Great-Uncle Rick, Morty. This is-this is my new boyfriend!” Mabel popped in the doorway, discreetly trying to hide the sweat coming down her forehead, grinning widely as she pulled someone’s arm from the hallway. The guy that immediately popped in looked like some of the emo kids from school - dark hoodie, crazy eyeliner, creepy glare.

“Sup,” said the emo dude.

“Uh, hi.”

“We met at a graveyard, and omigosh he was so poetic and deep it was so beautiful-” Tish started gushing as she clung onto his arm, looking up at him. “Is...is that muscle?” She looked back at me with a grin.

Rick stared back at the guy, his unibrow raised. “So, uh...how you doing?”

The guy’s eyes seized up as they started darting around the room. “Uh...uh...norm-normal!” he nearly shrieked. “Normal...man!” Rick stayed silent as he stared at the guy, taking another swig from his flask.

“Good for you, buddy.”

“H-h-he means Norman,” Tish said dreamily, leaning into him. “That’s his name.”

Rick looked at me. For once, I had to agree with the crazy son of a bitch - this was weird.

“So...uh,” Norman took a step back, and Tish nearly stumbled. “Do you, uh, wanna, go and uh, hold hands or something?”

“Oh, that would be amazing,” Tish murmured, leaning into him more than I thought possible and dreamily taking his hand.

Rick rolled his eyes, flopping next to me on the couch. “Oh my god, shut up already. Jesus Christ, you’re going to make me sick.” He picked up the remote and started flipping channels. “Don’t you two have a date or something?”

“Oh, silly me!” Tish started dragging Norman out of the hallway. “I’ll see you guys tonight!”

As they left, Rick leaned over to me. “Morty, if you take anything from me, do yourself a favor and don’t get wrapped up in that shit. Focus on money. It’ll get you a lot farther than that pointless, annoying crap.”

Says the man with Playboy for Silver Foxes, I though. I decided to ignore that, though. Norman was the main thing on my mind right now, and he was just way too creepy and weird for me to get my mind off of him. No wonder Tish got a boyfriend, if that was the selection. “So, uh, Rick, w-what did you think of Norman.”

“Morty, do you honestly think I actually give a shit?” He straightened up, flipping channels again. “All that shit is to me is annoying garbage that never did anyone any good. Now, what isn’t garbage,” he turned and grinned to me, putting down the remote, “is reality television, Morty. At least it gives you pleasure in your day with no bullshit.”

The TV, in front of me, was portraying an episode of National Geographic, far from reality TV. A mother tiger was taking care of her young.

I got up, discreetly hiding the journal under my shirt and shuffling to the other room. “Uh, okay, Rick. You do that”

“Damn right I will, Morty!” he shouted out before I left.

In the other attic, I curled up on the corner of the wall, flipping through pages. “More eye-bats, gnomes, gnomes…” Suddenly, my eye caught on a page. “Zombies? Those actually exist?” I curled up tighter, hunching over and bringing my eyes to the page.

Known for their pale skin and bad attitudes these creatures are often mistaken for…”Teenagers?” I looked down at the illustration, and the eyes of the creature bored into me as Norman’s did, and I swore I could hear Norman’s voice come out of the drawing.

Norman was a zombie! It all made sense!

It was then that I realized Norman’s voice wasn’t coming from the illustration - it was coming from outside.

I scrambled to the window, hanging on the sill and watching in horror as Tish sat on the bench outside, giggling. Before her, Norman was stumbling towards her, arms outstretched, ready to take my sister in his jaws and rip apart her brains, and my sister was unaware that she was about to die by a zombie, and I had to do something, I had to warn her before it was too late-

“Mabel, watch out!” I shrieked, slamming my palm again the window. He put his hands on her neck. “Mabel, NO-”

He took his hands away, revealing a new daisy chain around her neck. I could see her face light up as she giggled away, batting her eyelashes at him. Okay, so he didn’t eat her brains. Zombies weren’t even real! I looked down at the book. This stupid thing was probably written as a joke or a prank.

But was it?

“Is my sister dating a zombie, or am I just going crazy?” I asked myself.

Behind me, a voice rang out. “It sure is a dilemma.”

I turned around, greeted by a familiar face. “Soos? What are you doing here?”

Soos was on a ladder again, screwing in a lightbulb. “Avoiding Rick. He’s in a bad mood right now, dude. Probably because of your sister’s date. He has a bad history with women. Anyway, I couldn’t help but overhear you talkin’ to yourself in this empty room while I was here.”

I turned my back against the window. “Honestly, Soos, how do you even stand Rick?”

Soos shrugged, getting off the ladder. “Rick’s not a totally bad guy. He’s a jerk, but not a bad guy. We have a little bit of history together, I guess. It’s a long story, dude.”

“It’s going to take a while before I believe that.” I looked back down at the book. “But, Soos, do you think Tish’s new boyfriend might be a zombie?”

Soos shrugged. “I don’t know, dude, but there’s a lot of weird things in this town. I wouldn’t doubt it. I mean, dude, the mailman has got to be a werewolf with how hairy he is. I’d say you should follow the guy and see if he eats any brains.”

For someone who says “dude” a lot more than ever should be used, he had a point. I got up. “Good point, Soos. Time to go investigating, I guess.”

So that’s how I spent my afternoon - creeping in the shadows and watching my sister go on her date with Norman. I know, I know it sounds weird and creepy, but I needed to see if this guy was really a zombie. This book might be just a prank, but it also might not. I mean, what if he did eventually try to eat my sister’s brains? That would so ruin my summer.

However, at the end of the day, I just felt stupid. I had found absolutely nothing to prove that Norman was a zombie, though I had taken ten thousand photos and videos of them. Sitting in the other attic, watching the video of them watching the sun, I groaned. I was a stupid, nervous wreck. Why did I even believe anything from some stupid book, I wondered, as I watched Norman reattach his fallen-off arm and readjust it around my sister’s shoulders.

Wait, what?

Quickly, I rewound the video. Sure enough, I witnessed my sister’s boyfriend’s arm fall off his shoulder, him look around warily before he reattached it before my sister noticed.

I was right. Norman was a zombie. Cold dread sunk into my chest. I had to do something, save her before it was too late.

“So, uh...now that we’ve been together for so long, and uh...got to know each other, there’s something I should tell you.”

Morticia and Norman were enjoying the view of the valley when Norman spoke. The girl, shook out of her love-stricken daydreams, turned towards him. A guy with secrets? That was hot. And a guy who trusted her with these secrets? This was turning out way better than she expected. She better not mess this up.

Morticia leaned towards him. “Y-y-you can tell me any-anything, Norman.” As soon as the words left her, she cringed. She hated it when her stuttering took over, and hated the fact that it usually came up the worst around someone that wasn’t her family. She was perfectly fine around Morty and her sister Summer - hell, even Rick sometimes, but one stranger could leave her a mess. She probably looked like an idiot, Norman would see she was just some loser-

“You see, I’m uh, not who you think I am,: he said, turning his head away as he stood up, fiddling with his jacket zipper. “Do you think you would still like me if, I, uh, was...different?”

Oh, jeez. THis was the part where he revealed his dark yet romantic secrets to her. Morticia was almost frozen by everything writhing through her head. Out of all the misery she faced with guys at school, this was her breakthrough, she had done it, now all she had to do was not fuck this up, she could shove his beautiful face into those cheerleading girls who called her an ugly loser-

“Morticia?”

She was struck out of her thoughts as she noticed Norman staring intently at her, his hair blowing slightly in the breeze. Shit, she had zoned out. “Y-y-yeah, sorry, sorry!” she sputtered, scrambling up. “Of course, you-you can tell me anything, Norman!”

He stared at her for what seemed like an hour. She had begun to sweat again. Oh, she had really done it this time, fucking hell-

He shrugged, and with a quick motion he unzipped his jacket to reveal...what?

She stared as his body came apart as his jacket fell off his shoulder, disassembling to reveal five or six stacked little men, with flannel and lumberjack beards and pointy hats, all grinning up at her, and she was face-to-face with them. “Surprise, we’re gnomes!” The top one cheered up at her.

Well, this certainly wasn’t the twist she was expecting, and this certainly wasn’t romantic or hot. What the hell kind of prank was this?

She sat there, frozen yet again, as the top gnome jumped down onto a log and looked up at her. “Look, here’s the thing. Our gnome queen just died, and we need a new one. You’re the perfect woman, Morticia, and we all love you. So what do you say, babe? Do you wanna marry this hot hunk and become the new gnome queen, loved by all?” As he said this, he nudged her with his elbow, tapping her hip.

All of a sudden, she wanted to run and hide in her room under her pile of sweaters and blankets. She started to back away, rubbing her arms. “LIsten, t-that’s really sweet, sweet of you guys, but, uh, I should...get back home. I don’t think this is going to work.” She turned away.

A sigh came from behind her. “I thought you might say that,” the gnome said from behind her. “Which is why we’re going to kidnap you.”

Wait, what, no-

“TISH!”

The forest around me was a blur as I bounced over logs and sticks and shrubs in the Mystery Shack golf cart, I had to find Tish, god knows what could have happened by now, she could have already been eaten, her guts spread out over a rock and Norman hunched over eating her brains, I could already be too late- “TISH! TISH!”

“MORTY!”

I stopped. “TISH, WHERE ARE YOU?” I screamed out. God, I wasn’t too late, hopefully, she hadn’t had her brains eaten yet, maybe Norman was about to crack her skull before she heard me-

“MORTY, HELP! OVER HERE!”

The yell came from my right, behind a clump of bushes and trees. I slammed on the gas pedal and shot forward, breaking sticks and branches. “Tish!” All around me, fir branches were splitting cuts into my face and arms, the cart bouncing over the debri-

As I came into a clearing, bursting out of a bush, I suddenly had to stop. When I was driving in, I had expected to see a brain-hungry Norman chasing after Tish. Instead...she was tied up and pinned to the ground with a wedding tiara on, surrounding by a crowd of tiny lumberjack men filling up the clearing. One was next to my sister Tish with a wedding ring on. “We’re trying to have a ceremony here, excuse you!” he shouted angrily at me.

I got out of the cart. “Uh, Tish, what’s going on?”

She shifted her eyes away. “Apparently Norman just ended up being a bunch of gnome jerks. They kidnapped me to enslave me as their queen or something.”

The gnome with the wedding ring in his hand laughed. “Darling, sweetie pie, don’t be so dramatic. You’re not in danger or anything, you’re just going to marry all one thousand of us for all eternity! Is that really that terrible?” Gnomes? All this time I thought Norman was a zombie, but all this time he was actually a bunch of gnomes? I grabbed the journal from my vest and flipped through it. I still didn’t understand how Norman was a bunch of gnomes, but on the plus side gnomes shouldn’t be that dangerous, right? I landed on the gnome page I saw earlier, my eyes skimming the text. “Weaknesses…”

Weaknesses: NONE

They were two feet tall, and they had no weaknesses? I looked up and stared at them. No way. There was no freaking way they were indestructible. “L-listen, you-you jerks! Let my sister go!”

The gnome laughed again, his hands on his hips. “Listen, listen, kid. We’re not going to do that. We need a queen, boy, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us! We’re a powerful race, what do you think you could do-”

CLUNK

He flopped over as I slammed the back of a shovel against his head. Thank god it had been in the back of the golf cart. I raised my weapon up, kneeling towards Tish and pulling up the ties. “Anyone wanna piece of this?”

As she scrambled up and we raced towards the cart, the gnomes started chasing towards us, waving sticks and fists. “That’s our queen! You can’t get away with her!” Tish looked back at me with a terrified look. She threw herself in the passenger seat, pulling me up to the drivers as they clambered towards us. “Go, go, Morty!”

I slammed on the gas, and we speeded off to leave the crowd of two-feet tall men in the dust. Weakness: speed. “Later, suckers!” I yelled, a rush of adrenaline going through me.

I refocused back towards the road. “I knew something was up with those guys! There was just no way you could have gotten a boyfriend that fast. I went and looked it up in the journal, and I thought he was a zombie at first, but dang, gnomes-”

“Yeah, I get it!” Tish shrieked. “Just drive!” She was turned around facing the back of the cart, and I noticed the terrified look on her face. “Shit, Morty, ju-just drive! I think they did a Voltron and made one huge, giant gnome!”

I slammed on the gas, taking a quick look behind me and she was right - I watched in horror as the gnomes climbed upon themselves in the thousands until they blocked the sun, am menacing, horrifying mass of gnomes. The thing started running towards us, the vibrations rattling the cart, getting closer and closer shit shit shit holy fuck oh jeez we’re going to die - Tish grabbed my arm. “Morty, they’re-they’re getting closer!”

I turned back towards the road. “I know!”

She was silent for a second, then “Morty-”

“I know-!”

“-MORTY, behind you!”

I got thrown against the steering wheel as a huge weight fell on my back, almost slamming my head against the dashboard. “They’re catapulting the gnomes, you idiot!” she screeched.

I reached behind me and grabbed the gnome off my back, throwing him and whacked him against the horn as he latched onto my arm, his grimy teeth chewing on my skin - jeez get off my goddamn body what the hell - until with a final smack he screeched and tumbled out of the cart, rolling in the dust like a rock. Suddenly, I couldn’t see as a gnome head took over my vision, his little gnome claws scratching my cheeks - “TISH!” - my head was thrown back into the seat with a forceful thwack. The gnome fell off, bouncing off my lap, Tish’s fists balled.

“Tish, did you just punch my face?”

“How else am I going to get the thing off?” she yelled, fingers gripping the seat as she looked behind her. Suddenly, her face went white. “Morty, look!”

I looked behind me again - at this point, if the forces that be seemed to want to obstruct my view of driving with all their power, then so be it. The monster had its hands - or gnome clusters, whatever - gripped onto a pine tree, and throwing itself back I heard the roots snap as the tree was yanked out of the ground. “He’s going to throw it at us!” Tish shrieked, ducking.

I watched, frozen in fear, as the gnome monster threw his arm back, slamming his foot against the ground and flung his arm forward. The tree was coming towards us like a rocket, my heart jumped as I saw the thing fly over us - it was going to hit the ground and block the road in front of us, we would be trapped -

I gripped the steering wheel. “Hold on!” I twisted the wheel to the right and slammed my body against Tish’s to the edge. She screamed in my ear when, with one hand holding her and the other holding the steering wheel, we flipped sideways under the falling tree. I could hear the branches slapping the side of the cart, one poking my leg as we sailed under the hulking mass plummeting on us. The bark caught on the end of the cart as we slid through, an awful SCREECH filling the air. My heart hurt as it pounded against my chest, jumping off my ribcage as the tree THWOMPED to the ground three feet behind us.

The side of the car slammed on the ground, and me and Tish collapsed on the dirt. “Oh my god,” breathed Tish.

We stilled as the vibrations of the monster got closer, rumbling. I looked up, and there it was - the completely terrifying, towering, giant pile of gnomes, the sun blaring behind its head. Tish shoved me off of her. “I’ll deal with this. Just stay here,” she muttered, hoisting herself over the side of the cart.

I climbed out after her. “Tish, you’re not going to handle it by yourself!”

She kept walking towards the monster, her fists clenched. “Go away, Morty!” “What the hell, Tish?” I got up and brushed the front of my jeans. “I get it, I imagine the whole gnome thing was pretty traumatizing, but I just saved your life. Why are you acting all pissy at me?”

“I’m fine, Morty!”

“Don’t give me that, Tish! What the hell is going on?”

Tish turned around and looked at me, her eyes glittering as she bit her lip. “You want to know what’s going on, Morty? You just saved me from the big bad monster, you’re right! All because your sister Tish-” her shoulders started shaking “is too god-goddamn of a loser to ever find anyone decent! I get it, whenever I even try I’ll just get punished for, for stepping out my boundaries.” She looked down. “I get it. My first boyfriend, and he’s a clan of gnomes. That’s what people like me deserve. I get it. Y-you don’t need to rub it in.”

“Tish-”

She started walking away again. “Morty, just leave me alone!”

I ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder. “Tish, if you think you deserve that you’re an idiot. Just because the cheer team and the jocks think we’re losers-”

“-and the whole school.”

“So? Who cares what a bunch of stupid teenagers think about us, Tish? You’re not a loser. You’re like, the most pure-hearted and good person I know. God, Tish, the only way I’m dealing with this divorce is because I have you. You deserve so much better than anyone at our stupid mess of a school, and certainly a lot better than that…” I looked back up at the lumbering giant gnome-pile lumbering towards us, “...thing.” That was going to have be dealt with soon.

Tish looked at me, her eyes narrowed. She wiped her cheek. ‘“Y-you’re not just saying that, because I’m your sister?”

I hugged her. “W-well, of course I am. but anyone who doesn’t realize the same thing is an idiot, Tish. You’re great.”

Tish looked back up at the monster, coming closer. “Thanks, Morty. But, uh, what are we going to do about that?”

“What, didn’t you have a plan?”

Tish looked at me. “No, of course not. I’m a teenage girl being angsty, I’m not thinking about how to stop a monster. I have like, self esteem issues.”

I looked behind us, separating the hug. The monster was still pounding towards us, the gnome components screaming in battle fury. “I’ve got you kids now!” one of them shrieked. The shrieker held the ring in his tiny fist, waving it in the air. “My beautiful bride, you will finally be back with us in your rightful place…” his voice dropped suddenly.

“Oh, shit-sHIT GUYS RUN BACK RUN BACK-”

A white light exploded from underneath the gnome monster, throwing the gnomes into the air. Me and Tish winced as we heard their shrieks and various thumps on the ground. Suddenly, another BOOM ricocheted through the air, and we ran back as fire and brimstone ripped in a neat circle around the property.

I grabbed Tish’s hand and started backing off. She turned to me. “What the hell?”

“Hey, dumbasses! Be careful of the mines, goddammit!” A slurred yell came from the shack.

Tish turned to me. “Did….”

I stared out at the scattered, fleeing crowd of gnomes. “I can’t believe Rick put a line of mines around the Shack.”

Tish snorted. “This is Rick we’re talking about here. Are you really that surprised?”

“Honestly, however Mom decided that this man was good enough to take of two teenagers is beyond me.”

Later, Tish and I were strolling the gift shop, Rick counting the money in the cash register. “Sorry for-for setting off your, uh, mines, Grunkle Rick.”

He looked at her. “What did you call me?”

Tish glanced over at me, and I was surprised to see a glint in her eye. “Grunkle Rick. It’s like Great Uncle mashed together. Grunkle. He stared at her for a second with a expression mixed with either confusion or disdain - I couldn’t tell. After a few seconds, he shrugged and looked back down to counting money. “Whatever. Mines were set there to blow up anyway.” He looked back up at us. “You know, if you want something from the gift shop, you can have it, right?”

Tish, who looked to be holding something in her hands, looked over. “Wait, really?”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

She looked over at me, a confused expression at me. I put my hands up. Why Rick was deciding to be nice was beyond me. Maybe somewhere in that skinny, old bastard, there really is someone decent.

She grinned, spinning around. “Uh, Gru-Grunkle Rick, I found this, I found this grappling hook!”

He sighed, leaning into his hand. “Fine. Don’t break anything.”

I looked down at my right. Beside me were a set of baseball caps with pine trees on them - Oregon sure puts a lot of pride in their trees. On my other side, Tish was sliding herself against one of the shelfs, grinning as she held her grappling hook. It seemed maybe the gnome experience made her feel a little more confident about this place. That it wasn’t going to turn into a giant shithole, that maybe we could have one good summer.

I looked back down at the caps.

Well, Oregon, with your gnomes and your pine trees, show me what you got.

#gravity falls #rick and morty #morticia smith #morty smith #rick sanchez #sanchez falls au #sanchez falls

15 notes · View notes