#surprise guest Mitch
Note
Any chance you could do a famous single mum reader x Harry fic
since he’s a certified MILF lover
CRUSH
WORD COUNT: 2.2k
SUMMARY: Harry has been into you for way too long, but you haven't given him a chance. You run into each other at the Grammy's afterparty and you finally tell him why you're so adamant about keeping your distance.
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Harry will forever remember tonight.
It’s his second time going home as a Grammy winner and nothing can ruin this experience for him, not even how his performance was ruined. He did it again and nothing else matters for now.
Or at least that’s how he should be feeling as he is celebrating with his friends and other winners and artists at the after party, but something keeps bugging him.
Just hours earlier he ran into you again and he hasn’t been able to get you out of his mind since then. It’s no surprise you were at the award show, even though you’re not a singer he could have expected to run into you at one of the most important nights of the year. Yet, he was still surprised to see you walk down the red carpet, but it might have been because you always have that effect on him no matter what.
If someone asked Harry who his celebrity crush was he would say you with no hesitation or remorse. He’s been enamored with you since the first time he met you at some other after party a few years ago. The two of you were introduced by a mutual friend and he stuck to your side for as long as possible, drinking up every word, every laughter and every look you gifted him with. He thought you were way out of his league, he still does, but that doesn’t stop him from yearning after you like a lovesick puppy every time your paths cross. Harry can’t tell how many times he tried to flirt with you before, but his flirty comments were met with soft rejection every time, you never seemed to be returning the gentle feelings and though it was devastating, he knew he could do nothing.
He could at least call you his friend, more or less. He definitely has a tither connection with you than with most people in this room, there’s a bigger circle of friends you both share so you end up meeting every few months without planning it and there are periods when you’re even texting.
He hasn’t talked to you for a while now, so seeing you brought his feelings back he’s been harboring for so long.
Now as he’s sipping on his drink he can’t help but keep looking around, trying to spot you in the crowd to no avail for now. He pulls out his phone and opens the message thread with you, rereading the last few texts he exchanged with you a while back. His thumb hovers over the screen, fighting the urge to hit you up with a message when an elbow meets his side. Looking up he sees Mitch beside him.
“Your crush is here,” he informs Harry with a knowing smirk, nodding towards the bar.
He follows his friend’s gaze and spots you only seconds later. You’ve changed out of your burgundy gown he saw you wearing earlier, sporting a chic pant suit this time, but you’re just as breathtaking as ever.
Mitch just chuckles when Harry gets up without a word and heads over to you. Pushing between guests he ignores everyone who might try to strike a conversation up with him until he finally reaches you.
“Y/N, hi!” he smiles at you warmly. You turn to face him with a cocktail in your hands, a wide smile stretching across your face.
“Harry! What a nice surprise!” you chuckle. “Congrats on your wins!” You don’t hesitate to put an arm around his neck and pull him into a hug that he returns gladly.
“Thank you.”
“Though it was no surprise you won, the album is amazing.”
“You listened to it?”
“Of course,” you chuckle. “I wouldn’t have missed it.”
“Do you have a favorite?” he asks with a cheeky smile.
“Hmm, probably… Satellite.”
“Great choice.”
The conversation keeps flowing and suddenly it feels like it’s just the two of you even though it’s a crowded party that’s happening around you. Harry realizes that no matter how much time passes between each time he sees you, he will always catch himself falling for you over and over again. He tries to flirt with you this time as well and this is the first time he can feel like his rizz is not going straight over your head.
“Y/N, I need you to be very honest with me,” he starts, when you both had a few drinks. Neither of you is drunk, but definitely tipsy.
“About what?” you chuckle.
“Do I have a chance with you? For real, I’m not playing here,” he smirks, placing one hand to his chest, while holding up the other one, his half empty glass rising into the air.
You sigh deeply, looking away from him as you busy yourself with your own drink.
“Ah, it hurts!” he acts as if he was shot in the chest. “Am I that ugly and boring?”
“Of course, you’re not!” you roll your eyes.
“Okay, do you like me?”
“I do,” you admit, avoiding to look him in the eyes.
“Alright, then let’s take this conversation over to my place.”
“I can’t,” you shake your head.
“We can go to yours as well, I’m fine with that too,” Harry half jokes, but he notices that you’re not laughing. “Y/N, what is it then?”
“I need to get some air.” Jumping to your feet you leave your drink behind and head out to the back of the place that’s the smoking area, hoping to be alone for a bit, but Harry rushes after you, determined to get answers this time.
He finds you in a dark corner, your arms wrapped around yourself as you stare out into the void.
“Y/N, I’m sorry if I went too far, I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s… fine.”
“I just… fuck, I really like you. A lot. I can’t stop thinking about you and… I couldn’t just not shoot my shot.”
“You’ve been shooting your shot for a long time.” He finally sees a tiny smile on your lips.
“So you did notice my attempts?” he grins. “Just chose to ignore them, I guess?”
“Harry, I can’t.”
“Can’t ignore them anymore?”
“No. I can’t date you.”
“Can’t as in…?”
Sighing, your head falls back, against the wall as you close your eyes for a few seconds before opening them and finally looking at him.
“I don’t date.”
“Why?”
“Because of Arian.”
The picture is finally crystal clear in Harry’s head. You’re depriving yourself from dating because of your son.
It’s no news to Harry that you’re a mother, he has even met your five year-old son, but he never thought of him as the reason why you keep rejecting him. You keep your private life pretty hush hush, especially since you split from your ex, Arian’s father three years ago. No one knows why you called it quits and there’s actually no photo of the little boy online either, that’s how dedicated you are to protect him from the public. Harry completely understands it, but he doesn’t see why you can’t date because of Arian.
“The little guy doesn’t want to share you with anyone else?” he tries to joke.
“I’m a single mother who is also an actress. My life is complicated enough without dates and boyfriends.”
“Woah, we’re only talking about one boyfriend,” Harry puts his hands to his chest. You crack a smile, but it’s not as genuine as he would want it to be.
“It’s just not the right time for me to start dating again. I’m sorry.”
“I’m a little hurt you’re not even giving me a chance.”
“I’m sure dating a single mother is not exactly your dream either.”
“Y/N, I haven’t even thought about it until you brought it up. Arian is a cool little guy and I have no problem with you being a mother.”
“You will at one point, trust me,” you scoff and Harry tries not to take it personal. You’re just trying to protect yourself and your son, it’s not against him.
“What if I prove that it’s fine? That I’m not just some random guy who will come and go?”
Staring back at him you chew on his words as you tilt your head to the side.
“We’ll see.”
At first the peace and quiet takes over your waking mind. You feel a gentle breeze from the window you left open for the night and you stretch long underneath the silky covers when it finally dawns on you.
It’s peaceful. And quiet. You haven’t had a morning like this in about… well, five years. Arian loves to wake you up whenever you’re home, jumping on the mattress, or just cuddling to you, either way, he never misses a chance to spend a morning with you.
So where is he now?
Slight panic rushes through your veins as you quickly wrap yourself in your silky robe and head out to find your baby. All the worst case scenarios flash through your mind, but they dissolve the moment you reach the stairs and hear his laughter coming from the kitchen. With careful steps you approach the source of his voice that’s mixed with another one, a more mature male voice that you don’t recognize at first but when you round the corner and see what’s happening in your kitchen, recognition washes over you.
Harry Styles is making pancakes in your kitchen with your son. And they are making a big mess, but Arian seems to be enjoying it. Music is playing in the background and there’s a ginormous bouquet of flowers on the kitchen island. Your heart flutters in your chest as you walk closer.
“Mommy!” Arian notices you and climbing off his stool he runs over to you and you gladly pick him up into your arms.
“Hey baby, what’s… what’s happening here?”
“Harry is making us pancakes!” He throws his hands up into the air in excitement as you walk over to the kitchen island and sit him down on top of it.
“Good morning, Y/N,” he smiles at you so charmingly, it’s hard to focus on the fact that he is in your house on a Saturday morning.
“Hi, what do you… Um, what are you doing here?”
“Mommy, I told you, he is making us pancakes!” Arian giggles.
“I know, baby. Hey, you’re still in your pajamas, why don’t you go up and change?” You help him off the counter and gently push him towards the stairs. He runs off singing to himself.
“Before you throw me out,” Harry starts, holding the spatula up, “You told me to prove it.”
“Prove what?”
“That it’s fine that you’re a mom. So, this is our first date, in your house, with your son, so you don’t have to worry about him or get a babysitter.”
“How did you even get into my house?” you chuckle in disbelief. You’re definitely touched by the gesture, you don’t like to spend time away from Arian when you’re not working.
Grinning, he starts flipping the pancakes in the pan.
“Well, I might or might not have contacted your agent who hooked me up with your housekeeper who let me in this morning.”
“Wow, my own staff betrayed me,” you chuckle.
“I wouldn’t say betrayed. They both were happy to help me, because they want what’s best for you.”
“And that would be you?” you ask, arching an eyebrow at his cockiness. He shrugs, but his smirk tells it all.
“Look,” he sighs, turning the stove off. “I really did mean it. I don’t care that you’re a mom. It’s all good, it’s part of you. I don’t want to just come and go in your and Arian’s life. Just give me a chance to prove that it could work.”
He must have some kind of magic power over you, because he really just waltzed in here, made some pancakes and convinced you to change your mind.
“Arian will always come first for me, Harry.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything else,” he nods.
“That means that even in my limited free time, you’ll most likely have to share me with him. I’m not the type to let nannies and babysitters raise my child.”
“And I love that about you. Arian is lucky to have you as his mother.”
Staring back at him you want to say no, but you simply can’t. It’s impossible.
“Okay,” is all you say.
“Okay as in… You’ll give me a chance?”
“Yes, but don’t fuck it up,” you chuckle as Harry walks closer and his hands find your waist, pulling you closer. It’s the first time he is physically this close to you, but it feels like he’s been doing it since forever, like you belong in his arms.
“Never,” he smirks and as he leans closer you hear a pair of tiny feet running down the stairs, so you step back just in time for Arian’s return.
“Give me the pancakes!” he giggles, climbing up to a stool and you smile at Harry.
“See, he is already cockblocking you,” you whisper to him chuckling.
“Touché,” he sighs with a smirk. “But he is cute, so it’s alright.” Shaking it all off he turns to Arian as he places the pancakes on a plate. “So, what do you want on top?”
Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!
#harry#styles#harry styles#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles fanfic#harry styles oneshot#harry styles one shot#harry styles fluff#harry styles x you#harry styles x y/n#harry styles x reader#harry styles blurb
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Imagine they are at a friends Halloween party and as the party starts dying down and rest of the guests leave only Harry, Y/n, the friend, their partner, Niall and some other close friends are left, they decide to play truth and dare, Harry is really not into late night party stuff anymore so he asks her to leave with him but she begs him to stay because she is actually having a lot of fun and he gives in because he loves seeing her happy and then one of Harry's friend gets the dare of giving the person sitting on their right a hickey, Harry realises that it's y/n...
🍟
fhsds i love how you weasel niall in everytime ahahaha love that truly lmao HOWEVER for the sake of not overcomplicating things (and you’ll eventually see why) i’ll exclude him from this lil get together this once 👀
Daddy issues- Masterlist, Author’s Note & Warnings
extra / alternatively, read on wattpad
It's us (word count: 5k)
*this was originally slightly different, i switched up a few things so that it could fit in the narrative after they get back together!
*timeline: somewhere after the main story
Harry was tired. It'd been a long week. He'd finished a project that had been a major pain in his ass and he was more than glad to be finally done with it, and all he wanted was to stay in with his lovie and watch some true crime docuseries splayed on his couch, his head in her lap while she carded her fingers through his curls and scratched at his scalp- it put him right to sleep. See, he wasn't a fan of watching eerie stuff before bed but Y/N was and he was humouring her watching these shows with her, but if he could fall asleep before he saw something that would make him double-check the locks, he was glad for it.
Unfortunately, Y/N had some other plans in store for them that weekend. Well, in actuality, it just so happened that it was Halloween that Friday and when he saw her dressed up as a sexy kitten he felt conflicted. First of all, she wasn't really wearing a costume- so the "sexy" bit was his personal interpretation of it cause he found her sexy anyway. She'd just put on a headband that made two kitten ears point out of her luscious head of hair, she did a dramatic winged eyeliner and drew on whiskers on her cheeks complete with coloring the tip of her nose a cute pink.
It was... doing things to him. He wanted nothing more but to keep her inside and make her... purr.
But when she insisted they went out to their friends' that had invited them over for the occasion, he felt inadequate. "I don't have a costume!"
"I don't either! This isn't exactly a costume!" She pointed at her kitten ears she'd gotten from the Chinese discount shop.
"Yeah but it's something. I'll probably be the only one not wearing anything..."
Y/N pouted. "You can just be the hot DILF. C'mon baby... We talked about this...."
Harry couldn't fight the grin off his face. "The what? Come here, you..."
She dodged him. "Nuh-huh. We'll never leave the house if we get started and you know it!" She couldn't keep the smile off her face either as she was circling around the dining table trying to not let him get to her.
"I don't need any more convincing to stay in, darling," he smirked.
"Oh, shush! C'mon Harry! I really wanna go! Please? We won't stay long if you don't want to, but we've been cooked up in the house for the past 2 weeks, I wanna get out for a few hours at least," she bit her lower lip and looked at him from under her eyelashes. "I'll make it up to you. What say?"
Harry squinted at her. "Oh. You can bet on it"
*
Harry was nervous.
She'd met some of his friends before, after they'd ran into Mitch and Sarah and their, then, newborn baby. Y/N had fit in perfectly. It wasn't surprising to him that she did, but he'd been apprehensive about his friends' attitude towards her for the longest time- what with her being 16 years younger than him (and most of them) and whatnot. But turns out he should've had more faith in his friends. They knew Harry well enough to know he wouldn't bring just about anyone as a date anywhere if he wasn't serious about them. And they were mature enough not to judge a book by its cover.
In the meanwhile though, he'd been pretty absent.
None of his friends except for Mitch and Niall had known about his struggles for the 17 months him and Y/N had been apart for. At least, he hoped they didn't know... he'd been MIA for that whole entire time, and this was the first time he'd be seeing the extended group, let alone get acquainted to the new additions.
Mitch had reassured him that nobody would ask any uncomfortable questions, and that they all just knew he'd been through a rough time, but that all was well now and they all were excited to have him back.
That's why he'd been postponing meeting them for so long. He felt like he would be scrutinized. He feared they'd been gossiping about him, wondering what had happened, and now they'd try and pry it out of him.
Y/N knew he'd alienated himself from his friends that whole entire time, but she'd been the one to talk him to it. This was the perfect time for a casual way to reintegrate themselves into his group of friends.
"Baby. Don't be nervous. It's just your friends in there. They'll be happy to see you. I promise."
Harry was really only closer to Mitch and a couple others, and their respective partners, but there were other people invited to this little get together, people he hadn't met before. He hadn't been expecting this. Mitch made it out like it was just gonna be their usual group. A friend of Sarah's was hosting and she'd invited other people too, apparently.
But Y/N had been right about the costumes. Only a few were costumed, hardly so, and most of them were just wearing whatever. Part of him was glad she hadn't been the only one putting something together, even if only those cute little ears. He wouldn't have wanted her to feel out of place. In fact, Mitch was apparently a vampire for this. He'd put on a whole lot of powder and a deep burgundy lipstick and it did the trick, fangs or no fangs. The long hair helped too along with his usual aloof demeanor.
"I'm not a vampire," he grimaced.
"Oh?" Y/N gave Harry a look as if asking him to save her.
"I'm Brad Pitt. I just so happen to be Brad Pitt in 'Interview with a vampire'."
Harry rolled his eyes while Y/N chuckled but he knew she was doing it to save face. "Stop being a dickhead."
Mitch just smirked to himself going to get a refill of his rum punch and they proceeded to mingle with the rest, Sarah introducing them to those they weren't already acquainted with.
His closest friends really did seem to be genuinely happy to have him back, Y/N too. He felt a bit silly for having postponed doing this for so long. He'd really missed them too.
Hours went by however, and Harry was getting antsy. Not only was he genuinely growing tired, but he really wanted to love on Y/N. She was just too darn cute slash sexy slash adorable with that pink button nose of hers and he wanted nothing more than to have her wear nothing else than those kitten ears and her heels for a couple of hours before they went to bed.
"Darling, let's leave. Please?" He hummed into her ear. He'd been so worked up about seeing his friends again, all that stress and anxiety getting to him, plus his social batteries had drained already, not being used to doing this in so long.
"Just a little longer," she pouted. "I'm having fun."
He eyed her glass. "Hm. I can see that."
She furrowed her brows, deadpanning. "What?"
He smiled at her, "nothing. You're getting a bit tipsy. I just don't want you to get sloshed, though. You got to make it up to me, remember?" He whispered that last bit into her ear once more and that had her giggling more than she would have normally.
"Ok," she placed her glass on the coffee table in front of them. "I'll be good, daddy."
Harry's eyes widened dramatically while shushing her simultaneously, going in for a kiss to make sure he silenced her more effectively. "You're in so much trouble," he mumbled smilingly against her lips.
She was looking at him all dreamy eyed. Maybe she was more far gone than he'd realized. The fact was, Y/N was a cute drunk. She never drank till she blacked out, definitely not enough to embarrass herself in any way, ever, but she was a cute, horny mess.
She whispered looking right into his eyes, their lips still touching slightly. "Let's go find a bathroom."
Harry bit his lower lip and pinched her thigh making her yelp far more loudly than was necessary, throwing her into another giggle fit. "Shhhh," he shushed her again. "You little minx. That costume of yours isn't that far off. We're going home. C'mon," he stood up and offered her a hand but immediately one of the other women cut in.
"Hey! You two, what's with all the commotion?" She laughed, "c'mon. Pay attention. We're playing truth or dare."
"Seriously?" Harry furrowed his brows smilingly but Y/N pouted at him and he eventually dropped his hand and went to pour himself another coke.
He normally would've needed a drink to find this even remotely entertaining. He was sober now, though, had been since they'd gotten back together. No exceptions.
He did however insist Y/N have a drink whenever she felt like it. She shouldn't have to suffer the repercussions of his own actions. This was a decision he'd taken for himself and he was fine with it. It was, however, the first time he was in a setting with such heavy drinking all around him. It was the social habit that was hardest to break, and that indeed prove to be quite difficult althrough the evening.
But these were grown ass adults playing truth or dare, for god's sake. How did it even get to this? Was this how silly they'd always acted when a bit tipsy, and only now that he was seeing it all clear-headed he found it a bit too funny.
He spotted a group chatting to the side and joined them, keeping his eyes on his lovie from afar.
She was so beautiful. He couldn't deny he enjoyed seeing her so carefree and giggly. Made him feel all warm inside, and it made this whole evening worth it, with all the anxiety and stress that came along with it for him. He was paying attention to the conversation the group he'd joined was having, trying to keep himself occupied but when he heard a lot of oohs and aahs he turned to look at the group playing truth or dare once more.
Dean, was it?- had apparently agreed to a dare. Lizz, the woman to his left squinted at him playfully, plotting for an appropriate one. Harry realized they were all a bit tipsy, not just his Y/N. Actually, he may as well have been the only sober one there. It was well into the night by now. Past 11pm. And apart from being fairly bored he was getting quite tired. He would wait for her to play a round as to not come off as rude and then they would take their leave. "I dare you... to give the person on your right a hickey," Lizz's eyes glistened and Harry straightened up at that immediately, turning his back to the group he'd joined.
This Dean guy turned towards Y/N and raised his eyebrows at her suggestively and Harry was seeing this all unfold in front of his eyes as if in slow motion. Y/N just looked at the man, dumbfounded and then scanned the group seeing everyone eagerly awaiting for it to happen, so she just extended her neck towards him, gathering all her hair to the side, granting him access, and squeezing her eyes shut, smilingly.
Was she... enjoying this?
The second the man's lips touched her skin he turned away, rushing to get away from the scene unfolding in front of him.
He found a bathroom and locked himself inside, panting heavily. He wasn't feeling well. He could see red in front of him, that's how out of it he felt. He downed the coke he had in his glass and then placed it on the bathroom counter a little bit too forcefully by the sound it made, but he was hearing it all muffled. He looked at himself in the mirror and he almost couldn't recognize himself. Turning the faucet on, he splashed cold water and slapped his face lightly, shaking his head.
What was happening? It felt like he was having a panic attack.
He hadn't felt like this since...
He shook his head again. No. This wasn't happening again. He wouldn't allow himself to go in that dark place again.
He held the edge of the counter to stop his hands from shaking, his knuckles turning white with the force of his grasp. He needed to get it together. Because all he could think of was rushing back in there and knocking out that son of a bitch in one swift motion.
And her smile... that was the worst of it. He squeezed his eyes shut. Why did she smile like that?
He needed a drink so badly.
"Harry?" He snapped his eyes open, unaware of how long he'd been in there. Then he heard her voice again, more softly. "Baby, are you in there? Are you ok?"
"Y-yeah. Be right out," he cleared his throat. He wasn't ready to get out of that bathroom, he didn't trust himself. But he had to, he couldn't hide in there forever. He splashed some more water on his face, took a few deep breaths and then emerged only to see her waiting for him propped against the wall outside the bathroom.
"Harry, oh no... you look so pale. What's wrong?"
"I'm just... not feeling too well. Can we leave, please?" She tried getting closer to him but he closed his eyes taking a halfstep back.
It took her aback, he noticed, but she didn't say anything. "Ok. I'll just get my purse."
"I'll get the car started."
She turned back to give him a worried look. "Aren't you gonna say goodbye?"
"I'd rather we just left... I'm not up for it," he mumbled, looking away.
She wanted to say something, he could tell, but she decided against it and went to get her things as he rushed for the front door, making a run for it almost. The moment he stepped foot outside he gasped for fresh air.
Good. He was out of there. Nobody got hurt. He could do this.
God. He needed a drink so badly.
He avoided eye contact when Y/N finally got into the car and he drove right off. She didn't ask him anything, didn't try to talk to him.
Was she feeling guilty?
The scene kept replaying in his head, that jerk's mouth closing in on the delicate skin of her neck. And her smilingly offering the side of her neck up to him.
He glanced over to her and could actually see the hickey. The car swerved and Y/N yelped in shock "Harry!"
He pulled himself together enough to drive them home safely, but he was losing it.
After they got inside the house Y/N remained by the door watching him pace around, trying to busy himself. He was visibly shaking and he was trying to hide it but before he could head for the bedroom to undress and jump into the shower he caught his hand in hers and stopped him in his tracks "Harry. Talk to me. What's going on?"
He couldn't look at her. He knew he was overreacting. That much he was aware of. It was just a silly party game. It didn't mean anything. But it was incredibly triggering to him. And he couldn't help the visceral reaction he was having to it.
"I'm not well, Y/N," he said, his voice small. "I'm trying to get my shit together... but I just can't."
"You're shaking," she pointed out whisperingly. "You're worrying me. Please talk to me... Tell me what's wrong."
He finally looked into her eyes and what she saw appeared to have sobered her up completely. "Baby," she got closer but was still mindful of his personal space, still holding his hand with both of hers. "What's happening? You're scaring me... please."
He exhaled shakily and looked away again; after a beat he finally reached over to her hair and pulled it all to one side, mimicking her gesture from earlier, exposing the hickey. His eyes darkened looking at it unobscured now.
Her breath caught, "Harry... Wait. Wait, you saw that?... I looked for you as soon as it was over and you... you weren't there... and I realized how that must've looked to you and I was so relieved when I saw you weren't there and I just... I didn't know how to react... I didn't want to be a party pooper, I didn't think it through--"
"You smiled."
She blinked at him confusedly. "Huh?"
"When he was doing it. You smiled," his voice was coming off as if strangled, he didn't recognize it coming out of his mouth.
"Baby, no. What? I was just playing along! What are you saying?"
He just looked at her and smiled a humourless smile. "I know it's silly. It's just a game, right? I know all that. It's just a hickey on a dare at a stupid party with tipsy people having a bit of harmless fun. But it did something to me, and I can't help it. I had to run away before I jumped the guy. I wanted to... God." He squeezed his eyes shut, "I haven't felt like this in so long. And I thought it was all behind me."
Y/N's eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "No! No, baby, no. It's ok! It's ok! You're just jealous, alright? It's who you are. You're possessive. Doesn't mean anything!"
"Yes it does," he grimaced. "And you know it." He pulled his hand out of her grasp and took a step back. "I'll never get better." He could feel his own tears welling up.
"No..."
He shook his head and could feel tears blurring his vision completely so he just let them drop heavily on their own accord. "I'll never get better. This is who I am."
"Stop!"
He kept shaking his head walking backwards away from her until his back hit a wall when he was forced to stop and she rushed toward him, cupping his face in between her palms. "No! Listen to me! That's not who you are! It's not! Because you didn't do anything! You hear me?" She tried searching his eyes but he wouldn't make eye contact "You ran into that bathroom and you snapped yourself out of it and you were in control of the situation! You didn't let it get the best of you! You're in control, Harry!"
"I wanted a drink" he cut her off, shaking his head as she tried keeping him still. "I wanted a drink so desperately..." he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut and feeling more tears fall down his cheeks and she thumbed them away lovingly, cooing him and shushing him.
"You're fine. You made it. It's alright."
"It's just that... it was so triggering..."
"I know, baby, I know," she pulled him into her arms and he slumped against her, crying in earnest now/ "You're safe now. It's all behind you. You did it, you were in control. You did so good, baby." she pulled back a bit and kissed all over his face, kissed his silent tears away and stroked the back of his head until he stopped shaking. "I would never do anything to upset you, nothing to make you jealous. You know that, right? I love you."
He buried his face in the crook of her neck, and she wondered if he purposely chose her right side, the untainted side. "I know," he mumbled. "Rationally.. I know. But the way you smiled kept repeating in my head, on a loop..."
"I was just..."
"I know!" He squeezed her to his chest, possessively, "I know. But still... I couldn't help how jealous it made me feel. How possessive. I can't stand it. Him touching you... anyone touching you..."
"It'll never happen again. No matter the circumstances. I promise," she carefully snaked her hands around his neck and tried her luck for a kiss. He didn't fight it. In fact, he urgented the kiss immediately.
"I need you," he told her in between frantic kisses and she nodded her head, their mouths desperate for one another.
"Have me, Harry. I'm yours. Never doubt that."
He groaned, turning on his heels and pressing her against the wall instead. "Mine. Mine. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he managed in between kisses.
"I'm the one who's sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I was just--"
"Shh. Enough talking. I was on edge the whole evening. Never wanted to leave in the first place," he pulled away and looked at her, taking in her Halloween makeup and letting his lips quirk up a bit but then when he reached her eyes his own saddened again seeing how her winged eyeliner had gotten smudged with tears. "Did I ruin our evening completely? Should we not? I don't want to do anything if--"
"No! Please. This is us, Harry. This is how we communicate too, alright? I need this just as much as you do. I'm yours. I want to show it to you. Let me show it to you. Ok? Can I? Can I, daddy?"
"Fuck," he cursed, closing his eyes and going back in for a searing kiss. "Yes. Yes. It's us."
"Want you to show me who I belong to," she reached a hand in between the two of them and pressed it against his crotch, happy to find him ready and wanting. "God, I need you," she mewled. "Please, daddy."
She meant to get on her knees but he stopped her. He couldn't wait to get inside her, he wasn't in the mood for teasing. He unbuckled his belt, freeing himself rapidly and pushed her skirt up past her waist. Her heels would aid his access and he kicked her legs apart, pulling the crotch of her panties to the side and feeling her up. "Fuck. Always so ready for me, aren't you sweetheart?"
He grabbed one of her thighs bringing her leg over his hipbone, she grabbed his cock lining it up with her entrance and he sunk into her without preamble. It was a very tight fit, and it sent painful shockwaves through her core. Wet as she was, he was still large and she always needed to be properly warmed up by him before actual penetration. There would be none of that tonight though. After a few deliberate thrusts, her pain rapidly turned into pleasure and she moaned loudly, throwing her head back and bumping it a bit too harshly against the wall behind her.
"Yes, yes! Oh God!"
He brought his other hand to her neck then, squeezing tightly at the sides, his thumb pressing into the tender spot inhabited by the hickey and she gasped in pain. "Say you're mine. Tell me you love me."
"Yours, always. Only you. I love you, daddy. So much," her voice grew fainter, his fingers pushing into her throat more and more and then he kissed her harshly, pushing his tongue inside of her mouth and making sure he stole all of her breath away. By the time he pulled back she was sufficiently light headed to slump against him and he pulled out, turning them around again and throwing her over the edge of the sofa near them. He pushed her front further down into the cushion and propped her ass up, her waist snug against the armrest, and impaled her again, making her groan.
His pace was punishing. He didn't know where he summoned the energy from, but he was relentless. She felt so good around him, her words had been so reassuring. He felt safe. He felt like he was in control, like she'd said. He could reign it in. He could fight his primal tendencies. He still wanted to punch that fucking bastard, but he recognized that he could control his actions even if he couldn't control his feelings of jealousy and possessiveness. He loved her. She was his. He couldn't stand the thought of another man touching her like that. Where did being human stop and where did his violent streak begin? He didn't know, but she was right. He'd been in control.
And he was in control now. She let him be in control. She gave this to him, trusted him, always put herself in his palms like putty trusting him to take care of her, to push her to the brink and then catch her when she fell.
"So good. So good for me, sweetheart," he pulled away and kneeled in between her thighs, pushing them further apart and burrowing his face against her wet cunt.
"Oh god!"
He held her by her thighs, pulling her flush against his face, eating her out like a man starved. He needed her to come, needed her to let go. He'd been so close, he had to reign it in.
"That's it," he slapped her ass soundly. "Drench me, baby, want you coming all over my face. And then I'll have you coming all over my cock," he slapped her ass again and again and kneaded her cheeks in his palms as he pushed his tongue inside her, throwing her off the edge.
When she came down from her high he kicked his pants off along with his briefs and sat on the sofa, and he fully intended to grab her from underneath her arms and scoop her into his lap but she was quicker. Still propped over the armrest, she grabbed a hold of his painfully hard cock and got her mouth on him. He humoured her for a bit but finally tugged her hair and yanked her off of him. "Fuck baby, you're too good. I want to finish inside you. Get up here."
On shaky legs, she straddled him on the couch and he sank into the backrest, letting her move over him and love on him the way she wanted. He enjoyed her slower pace, the deep kisses, enjoyed mouthing at her breasts and her tugging at his hair but soon he was on edge again, and he'd promised her he'd make her come again. "Touch yourself, darling. Come on. Show daddy how you rub that pussy."
She moaned, throwing her head back and doing as instructed and his eyes darkened again seeing her bruised flesh. He groaned, grabbing her hips and slamming into her, getting impossibly deep inside her. "Oh my god! Oh god, oh god! Fuck! Daddy, don't stop!"
"Never!" He gritted his teeth. "Want you to feel me for days, never forget whose you are."
"Yours," she mewled, her kitten ears having fallen off her head at one point, her drawn on whiskers smudged. She was perfect. And she was his.
"Mine. All mine. Come for daddy, baby. Show me what a good girl you are."
"Yes! Please! Fuck!"
As soon as he felt her clenching around him he let go, pressing her against his groin and letting her milk him for all he was worth. "God, I love you."
She slumped against him, pushing him into the backrest, both panting heavily. "I love you too, so much. Never doubt it again. Alright?" She lazily pulled back a bit to look him in the eye.
He nodded solemnly, "I never did. I just... want to be worthy of your love. Never want to disappoint you again..."
"I never want to disappoint you again, either," she searched his eyes. "But this is the only way we can do it. Together. Talking. Communicating. Loving eachother. Ok? Never try to hide from me. It's us."
He kissed her, squeezing her flush against him. "It's us."
Daddy issues- Masterlist
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2022 Blurbs
HARRYCHELLA N.1
It's Harry’s first night performing for Coachella and he doesn't tell YN who his surprise guests are. (3.1k)
HARRYCHELLA N.2
It's Harry’s second night performing for Coachella and he finally reveals to YN who his surprise guest is. (2.5k)
Zane Lowe Interview
Interview bit where 1dbandmember!reader is mentioned.
Superior Guitarist
Harry's asked in a interview who's the better guitarist: Mitch or YN?
Liam’s Podcast
YN’s reaction to Liam’s unsavory comments about her.
Paps
How YN deals with rude paparazzi.
Family
There's a familiar face in the crowd of Harry's Love On Tour show in Dublin. (1.8k)
Amsterdam
Harry does what a fan's sign says.
It's A Classic
Harry and YN receive a nostalgic 1d shirt from fans.
Tits
YN distracts Harry while he's taking an ice bath with talking about a certain body part of his.
Before a Show
How Harry acts before one of YN's shows.
34+35
YN changes a certain word when performing on stage.
Medicine
Who is YN to deny her fans' demands to cover one of Harry’s unreleased songs?
Venice Film Festival
YN is Harry's date to the Don't Worry Darling premiere. (3k)
Or Is It?
YN says one of Harry's iconic phrases during her show.
Wasted Time
A morning with a love sick YN and Harry.
Cake
YN wants to take a bite out of Harry's bum.
Vows
A fan's sign at Harry's show catches the couple's attention.
YN LN: Same Interview, The Sixth Year | Vanity Fair
YN’s growth since she became a solo artist.
Summer Nights
Harry brings out his Sandy to sing with him for HARRYWEEN 2022.
Pink and Blue Forever
YN’s Instagram post for Fine Line's 3rd birthday.
Hot Ones
YN answers hot questions with even hotter wings.
Forevermore
After 12 years of knowing each other, YN and Harry finally tie the knot on their anniversary on England.
Waiting Room
YN’s One Night Only for her third album.
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Satellite Ch 4 (HS X OC)
CHAPTER FOUR
Grammy Night 2021
"Maggie just walked in." Jeff said, eyeing the door.
Harry turned to see her. She was beautiful. Maggie was always beautiful. She wore her hair back loosely and a simple black dress with some midriff and back baring cutouts. Sparkly heeled sandals. She tightly gripped a clutch. He saw her pull her face into that tight public smile. Dear God she was so painfully thin.
Guests at the party greeted her. The pearly white smile got bigger and tighter. She was so visibly uncomfortable. Maybe not to the world but Harry could see it. He almost regretted inviting her. Was she okay? Was this causing her upset or discomfort?
He crossed the room and everyone around them scattered. He offered her a smile and she relaxed into her genuine Maggie smile. Her hands loosened up around the clutch.
Harry took a chance and leaned in. He kissed her cheek. "Thank you. This means everything to me."
She squeezed his arm. "You deserve it all. Thanks for including me."
He surprised them both when he grabbed her into a hug. He breathed in the clean scent of her hair and kissed her cheek again. He lingered longer than he should but not as long as he wanted. When he pulled back he said the only thing he could think of, "Drink?"
Maggie nodded. She needed a drink. A big vodka to swim in so she wasn't thinking so hard about all of this.
Harry took her hand and led her to the large bar. Just that simple gesture could have melted her. Except now Maggie found it hard to feel much these days. Her work wasn't just acting. Her life felt like an acting job. Just act like everything is ok. For the moment she just tried to be here and to be present.
Harry ordered her vodka with extra lime. Her first sip gave her such a rush that she leaned back into him. Without much thought Harry wrapped an arm around her waist. This is how they used to be. The new normal was they were officially 'just friends'? Maggie was all about control and order. Being with Harry set her on edge. All of that carefully crafted control and order she liked so much was tossed out the window around him. She couldn't trust herself to do what was in her best interest because part of her felt so invested in him. She knew logically she should cut all ties to Harry but there was a piece of her that just couldn't let go. After all that had gone down between them she was still here. What would it take to finally sever things? She was afraid to know the answer. She was afraid of what it might do to her.
"Hello!" An excited British voice called out to Maggie. It was Sarah followed by Mitch.
Maggie's eyes popped open wide seeing Sarah so clearly pregnant. "Oh my God?! What is this baby bump?! How did I miss this while watching you tonight?!" She left Harry's side to hug Sarah.
"Because this guy is out flashing his tits in a leather suit. Who would notice me?" Sarah laughed.
"Hey now." Harry pretended to be offended. Sarah and Maggie hardly gave him a glance once they started talking baby.
Mitch grabbed a drink at the bar next to Harry. "Is she ok?" He whispered and nodded toward Maggie.
Harry could only shrug. He didn't know. He knew in this light she looked gaunt. Not even the makeup could hide that.
"I have to be fed. I'm starving - all the time." Sarah announced.
The words cut through Maggie. Her face flushed. Sarah knew it was a poor choice of words immediately. Maggie clearly had something going on with her.
Mitch saved her from the awkwardness. "C'mon. Let's get that situation handled. Maggie it was really good to see you." He squeezed her arm.
"Congratulations on, on - everything! " Then a giant sip of the cold vodka. She needed a buzz.
When she turned to look at Harry he looked concerned. No. This would not do. This was his night. She tipped her head back and poured the rest of the vodka down her throat. People were dancing. She grabbed his hand.
"Don't be so serious, Styles. Let's have some fun."
They danced. They talked to friends. Maggie went to the ladies room at one point and he lost track of her. It was late and things were quieting down.
Finally he noticed people coming in from the terrace. The door opened and he got a glimpse of her.
Maggie looked out on Downtown Los Angeles. Would she ever stop loving it? Maybe LA was her longest relationship. When she left New York she never looked back. Los Angeles felt like home and a vacation all at once. The sun. The ocean. Her career allowed her to see the world and do amazing things. She was so thankful. Maggie knew she was fucking it all up right now. She knew eventually someone was going to say something. Her body would be addressed. It was always this body. This body was bad at 260 lbs. This body is bad at 101 lbs. What about a boob job? Too muscular. Too skinny. Too tall. Too short. Too young. Too old. Too pretty to take seriously. Too serious for such a pretty girl. She couldn't keep up and she was losing control. All Maggie wanted was some control back in her life.
She dropped her clutch by her feet. She could feel herself leaning a little too far off the terrace rail. It dug uncomfortably into her bony rib cage. You could let it all go, she heard the words in her head. You could tumble head first into Downtown Los Angeles and it would all just be quiet.
She felt strong hands around her waist suddenly.
"What are you doing?" Harry growled, clearly panicked. His face was flushed. She was alarmingly leaning over the rail. So much so that only her tiptoes remained on the ground. He pulled her tight against him and took a few steps back from the edge.
Maggie came back to reality. "I was enjoying the view and I've had a lot to drink. " She brushed it off.
"You have to level with me. You aren't okay. You don't look like you are okay." He searched her eyes for the truth.
"No complicated conversations. You promised me. I'm here because you wanted me to be and you made me a promise." She took a breath and looked away from him.
They were both still and silent for what felt like a long time. Harry picked up her bag and extended his hand to her. Maggie slipped her small, soft hand into his and followed him out.
They said their good nights to the guests remaining. Harry never let go of her. She started walking towards the lobby of the hotel. He gently redirected her to the elevators.
Maggie thought she should protest and insist on leaving. She didn't have the fight in her. Being next to him felt so comfortable. Walking into his room where she could take off her 'Maggie mask' and just be felt so good.
"I'll get drinks and snacks. " He said as he kicked off his shoes and took his jacket off.
Maggie sat back on the large leather sofa. She unbuckled her sandals and pulled her feet under her.
Harry appeared with two vodkas and a cheese plate. Maggie happily took the glass. She was unmoved by the cheese plate. She however grabbed a piece of cheese (swiss - the lowest calorie option) to keep Harry from asking any more questions.
A single cube of cheese. His stomach was in a knot. Didn't her sisters see this? Was anyone helping her? He put his glass down on the coffee table.
Maggie leaned against him. He put his arm around her shoulders. She felt him take a breath as if he was going to speak. She turned quickly and put her finger against his perfectly pink lips.
"Please don't. I don't want to overthink it. There is so much unsaid and nothing is going to change tonight. Let's just have this night. You deserve a good night." Maggie pressed her lips against his. They shared a soft kiss. She settled back in against him.
He knew she was right. He just wanted to savor this time with her. Amelia Mason was waiting for him in London. She was sleeping in his bed this very minute. Instead of trying to focus on whatever that was he was here with Maggie. Maybe they would never work or the time would never be right. He was so drawn to Maggie though. Harry wasn't ready to stop trying. She completed tonight for him. He would go back to hating himself for being a shit to Amelia later.
"Can I take you to bed?"
Maggie nodded her approval. He gently pulled her up off the sofa with him. He planted a kiss on her forehead. Then he turned her around by her waist and steered her into the bedroom.
Once there Maggie made her way out of her dress. Harry discarded his clothes and slipped into the bathroom. When he returned Maggie was in bed. Now dressed in the hotel robe and sleeping soundly. Her hair free from its loose updo sprawled all around her. She was so peaceful. He wanted to be peaceful with her. Harry got under the covers and pulled her in close.
Breathing her in he couldn't help but be sent back into happier times.
2018
"I get it. I'm not a musician but you're wrong." Maggie rolled her eyes as she took a sip of the bitter red wine she was served.
"I am a musician. Musically, American Girl is more substantive. Can I just run around critiquing movies like I'm a filmmaker?" Mitch narrowed his eyes as he took a swig of beer.
"You sure can but I almost dread hearing it if you won't acknowledge that Here Comes My Girl is superior to American Girl."
Harry stifled a chuckle. He and Sarah bowed out of this fight at least ten minutes prior to this exchange. Maggie and Mitch really liked one another but they really liked antagonizing each other most of all.
"C'mon H. School your lady." Mitch pressed.
"Well I hate to tell you that you're both wrong and Tom Petty's best song is Wildflowers."
"Wait, what? That isn't even the best song on that album. Gorgeous song but wrong answer." Maggie was now shaking her head.
"She's not wrong. " Sarah finally interjects sitting back on the floor on a cushion next to Mitch. She passes him the vape.
"Incredible. Maybe we should call Stevie and ask her." He says with a bit of annoyance in his voice.
"Lame. Name dropper." Maggie swatted his knee from her spot on the floor between them.
"It's You Wreck Me." Sarah replies matter of factly.
Mitch releases the smoke he has been holding. At the very same time Mitch and Maggie blurt, "It's Crawling Back to You."
The two high five. Sarah and Harry roll their eyes and snicker at them.
"Fuck. I'm putting that album on. Want more pizza while I'm up?" Mitch asks the three of them.
"Yes. Bring more pizza out. I'm so high. I am going to eat all of the pizza." Sarah moans falling back on the carpet softly with a giggle.
Maggie had stopped by her favorite wood fired pizza place on the way to Sarah and Mitch's house. It sounded like everyone was on the way to drunk or stoned after a long day at the studio. So she ordered a little bit of everything. She was greeted with a hero's welcome when the trio saw the armfuls of food she had.
Harry nudged Maggie with his knee gently. 'You eat? Want something?"
"I had a big dinner. All good." Maggie was a liar. She had a small salad with a little balsamic vinegar that she ate before she decided to run five miles on her treadmill. She later had a Pepcid chewable for dessert because the balsamic gave her acid reflux after her workout. Reminder. Only plain lettuce and veggies before anything strenuous. She had a movie wardrobe to fit into and late night pizza would not help.
He smiled a big dimpled smile at her. "Ok. We have to make sure you are fueling up while working out for this movie." He let his fingertips gently rub her arm a moment until they were startled by Tom Petty's Wildflowers. Mitch came clumsily crashing back into the room and dropped the brown pizza box onto the coffee table.
Maggie had been hanging with Harry and his friends while they made his sophomore album pretty regularly for the last few weeks. Now Harry was calling them a 'we'. Mitch was referring to her as Harry's lady. They never once discussed what they were or weren't after that day in Harry's pool. Maggie assumed this was still friends with benefits but as the days wore on it felt less casual.
"Can you drive or want me to get an Uber?"
"I can drive."
Harry got up off the floor and offered Maggie a hand. "Ok, tomorrow is another studio day. Going to call it a night."
"Are you ok to drive?" Sarah asked.
Maggie nodded. "Yeah, totally fine."
"Then get out and let me enjoy my Petty." Mitch roared in her direction and then winked. Maggie flipped him off with a smile.
"Night guys. See you tomorrow." Harry said. He led Maggie out with a hand on the small of her back. As they approached her convertible he reached up and stretched. A sliver of belly peeking out from his vintage Beastie Boys shirt. Before she could even have a lewd thought about it Harry had her pressed up against the sports car. "I haven't been able to kiss you all night."
"You were very well behaved."
"I think I deserve a reward." He gently kissed her mouth. His lips tugged at her bottom lip. A deep groan escaped him. "Come home with me?"
"Are you drunk Styles? Am I taking advantage of you if I say yes?"
"Mmm, God, I hope so." He let his fingertips wander up and down her hips. Maggie rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Get in the car."
He flashed his dimples at her as he jogged around the car and got in. 'Gonna let me control the music?"
"I guess just this once." Maggie's rules were her car - her music. She did not want to be forced to listen to an entire Wings album as Harry had done to her last weekend.
'Wildflowers' began to play as she pulled out of Mitch and Sarah's place. When Harry began to harmonize along with Tom Petty it was magic. He reached over and put his warm hand on her thigh. They shared a smile.
Easy. Casual. Maggie reminded herself.
A few weeks later ...
Harry yelled out in frustration. "I can't fucking write. I can't write songs anymore. I lost it." He tossed his journal onto the floor.
Mitch put his guitar down. "I mean that seems pretty fucking dramatic. It's only been a few days."
"Right a few days of nothing. I feel so fucking much and I just can't get it out. And what does come out is absolute, fucking rubbish.”
"You're forcing it man. Let it come." Kid sighed. "This song is sad. Maybe you don't want to write a sad song right now."
"I can't write any songs right now. I think we have established that. Nothing."
"Nah. I think you want to stay on theme. The breakup, the wounds but you aren't feeling that right now."
"Huh?" Harry asked, distracted as he checked his phone.
"Seriously?" Tyler rolled his eyes. "I thought we were device free until 3? How many times did you say that to me?"
"We're breaking soon, right?" He smiled as he typed a message.
"We are. You can't wait ten minutes until you see her though? Man do you have it bad." Tyler stretched out.
"She just wanted me to know she was here." Harry shrugged it off. Tyler, Tom, Mitch and Jeff had been giving him a hard time about his 'friends' status with Maggie. They had been hanging out a lot lately but who could blame him when the conversation was just as good if not better than the mind blowing sex they had been having. Harry truly felt like he was having his cake and eating it too. This was the very best friends with benefits set up he had ever had.
"Suuuure." Jeff rolled his eyes. "Harry just wants to text his girlfriend." Harry shot Jeff a glare.
"I think you've got it bad for this girl. I don't blame you. She is gorgeous and she is cool and totally not the type of girl you are going to be able to keep it casual with." Kid said from the board.
"Maggie is awesome. I agree. I'm just not in the right place after Colette to jump right into another relationship and she doesn't seem to be keen on being tied down either."
"Now that's between the two of you." Tyler smirked.
Suddenly the door to the studio opened. "Hey, hi. Hope I'm not interrupting?" Maggie stood in the doorway. She wore a red and yellow knee length circle skirt, white cropped spaghetti strapped tank. Her blonde locks were pulled back loosely in a clip with some tendrils escaping wildly but perfectly. Maggie's face was bare so her freckles popped on her lightly tanned skin. The strawberry lip oil she always wore kept her pouty lips glistening. Harry had to resist the urge to kiss her in front of everyone.
"Not at all. Just wrapping up." Mitch said. "So is there something waiting outside for us?"
At least once a week Maggie had been surprising the gang at Shangri La with fun little gifts. A mobile barista with a little coffee bar truck. Goat yoga. Massages the week before.
"I did. I hope it is very inspiring and comforting because I heard the rock star is having a bit of a day." She smiled, raising an eyebrow at Harry. He crossed his arms over his chest not moving from his spot on the couch. "You guys go ahead. I'll see if I can't cheer up this guy."
The guys all snickered. Kid mumbled, "I bet she can." Jeff wiggled his eyebrows.
Once they were alone Maggie straddled Harry's lap. "Spill it. What's up?"
"I mean nothing besides the fact that I lost the ability to write music." He huffed.
Maggie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. This was a bit dramatic. "Oh yeah? When did this loss occur? How long are we talking?"
"Few days." He hated to admit it was after the last time he saw her. Maggie had been too busy to make it out to Malibu and he was too busy at the studio to go to her. He missed her and their time together.
"A few days? You big baby."
"Hey don't be mean to me I'm suffering here."
She gave him an exaggerated pouty face of her own. "Ok, ok. How can I help?"
His eyebrows shot up and smiled that wolfish smile he got when was about to be naughty. He puckered his lips and tapped them once with his index finger. Maggie leaned in and placed a soft wet kiss on him.
"Better?" She asked against his mouth.
"Lil mo." Maggie kissed again this time her tongue softly licked into his mouth. Harry's hands traveled down her sides, down the fronts of her thighs and began to creep under the hem of her skirt. Slowly his fingers crept between her thighs into the warm wetness beneath her underwear. She sighed at the first swipe through her folds.
"Here I was going to get on my knees for you. I thought you needed some help getting inspired." She bit into her bottom lip as Harry continued to stroke her.
Harry whispered into the shell of her ear. "Later baby, later. I just need a taste of you."
When Harry and Maggie emerged from the studio thirty minutes later everyone was most definitely talking. For a group of men they certainly acted like a bunch of old women in a small town quilting circle.
"Is this my surprise?" Harry lit up as he saw dogs roaming around the grounds. Each had a handler in a matching shirt with the name of the animal charity Liza and EJ founded.
"Dogs and ice cream." She pointed to the Salt and Straw cart. Harry quickly pinched her bum and gave her a wink. It took all of his self control to not pull her body into his and kiss her strawberry oiled lips.
Casual? Easy? It seemed like it was getting harder every day to keep it that way no matter what either of them said.
A few more weeks later...
"Oh, oh - yes. H, just like that." Maggie cried out in pleasure.
"Like that baby? Right there?" Harry continued to thrust up into her as his fingers worked her swollen bud.
"Ahh - yes, yes, yes." She chanted quietly.
"C'mon love, c'mon." His hips picked up speed. Maggie bounced back harder and faster to meet his movements. A scream ripped from her body as she squeezed and shook around him. Another moment and he toppled over the edge behind her.
Maggie collapsed on top of him. She focused on getting her breathing back to normal. He pushed her hair back off her face as she smiled down at him.
Harry pulled her in for a kiss. She rolled off to his side and threw a leg over him. He stroked her hair.
"Fuck Mags. You're going to put me in traction." He said kissing the top of her head.
"I had to make it good. I'm going to be gone for four days."
Harry and Maggie had been spending even more time together now that she had some down time. He loved having her around the studio and on the fringes of his album recording.
His album started off serious and sad. It was starting to feel lighter, sexier. Maggie was just the muse he needed. While the crew was eating ice cream or playing with puppies or doing goat yoga he was finding a quiet place with Maggie. He couldn't get enough of her.
It wasn't all sex. She was funny and so smart. Just when you thought you knew her she threw a curveball at him. He found himself telling her things he didn't normally talk about. He hated being without her too long.
They weren't even officially dating. Both of them were scared to define it too much. Neither had much luck in relationships and maybe if they kept this casual for a while longer they could work it out.
Now Maggie was leaving for five days. Every year they took their production company staff on a retreat to Palm Springs to thank them but also to work a bit. The trip always sparked creativity. Maggie traditionally loved this trip. She just didn't want to leave Harry to go. It was a strange sensation for her being that she was never really this enamored with a man before. It was probably good for them. They had been hot and heavy for weeks. Plus Harry could probably do a lot more work on the album if they weren't always fucking in a supply closet or bathroom at the studio.
"A week feels too long,"he complained as he kissed her neck.
"Yeah, yeah. First of all it is technically not a full week. Four days. You'll be locked in a studio with all the guys. I'll be back before you notice I'm gone. "
"Only part of that is accurate. I will definitely be locked in a studio. However, I will absolutely notice you are gone."
Maggie caught a glimpse of the bedside clock. Just after 8am. Fuck! "I am going to be late. The girls will be here in like 45 minutes." She jumped out of bed. "I have to get in the shower."
"Do you want company?"
"God help you if you try to get in my shower Harry Styles. My sister will murder us both if I'm late."
"Liza," Harry groaned.
"Yup that one." Maggie disappeared into the bathroom.
Harry got up to make coffee. He knew Liza hated him. Maggie never denied it when he brought it up. She just shrugged it off. Harry could admit it ate at him a bit. He hated being disliked. He had been working with his therapist on that. Thankfully their interactions had been minimal.
Maggie appeared a few minutes later in ripped blue jeans, a cropped white tee and Chanel espadrilles slip ons. Her hair was wavy and held back with an Hermes scarf fashioned as a headband. She rolled her bag behind her.
Harry handed her a travel tumbler. Maggie wrinkled her nose. Her lips curled up into a smile. "You made me coffee?"
"I mean I'm no barista but it was the least I could do."
She took a long sip. Oat milk. No sweetener. She loved that he knew her coffee order. He pulled her in to kiss her. Was it possible he was missing her already?
A car horn blared from down on the street. "Liza?" He asked.
"I mean who else would beep this early?"
"Let me take your bag down for you."
Maggie locked up behind her. Harry rolled her bag. Liza's large SUV was pulled half into the driveway and half into the street. All the windows were rolled down. Liza and Alex up front. Dayna and Jamie in the 3rd row. Hillary in the second row.
"Good morning ladies." Harry smiled and waved. A chorus of "Hello" carried out the windows. All of them except Liza smiling widely and giggling like school girls.
Harry put the bag in the already open trunk and then slammed the hatch. Liza's eyes watching him in the rear view. He turned to Maggie. Suddenly her eyes went big. "Shit, I have to go back in. I can't go to the desert without sunglasses."
She turned to go back in. "Ooh baby no need. Take these." He pulled her in close and pulled the tortoise Ray-Bans from the top of his head and put them on her face. She pulled them up to the top of her head so she could see him unobstructed.
"Styles to the rescue. Thank you." She got up on her toes to kiss him. He leaned down and pulled up by the backs of her thighs to meet him. He gave her a kiss he hoped would last four days.
The horn honked. "The bus is leaving." Liza shouted. Alex put her head in her hands.
Maggie let a laugh escape. Harry smiled at her. " I think she's warming up to me." They walked hand in hand to the back door. "Have a safe trip. Let me know when you get there." Reluctantly he dropped Maggie's hand but not before giving it a quick kiss. He swatted her behind as she got in the SUV. She yelped.
"Goodbye ladies. Have fun!"
A car full of happily married women, swooned in unison. Well except for Liza of course.
Liza pulled away abruptly and hit the button to roll the windows up. Maggie leaned back. Slid Harry's sunglasses on and sipped her coffee.
She counted the seconds before the interrogation would start. Hillary piped up first, "Spill it. All of it. I want all the sexy details."
Liza barked, " I can probably live without that."
"Too bad you're outvoted." Jamie yelled up to her. Liza could be rough on people but her girlfriends didn't let her get away with anything. She wasn't Boss Lady Liza with them. She was Liza, their best friend since Girl Scouts.
"First of all did he literally just lift you off the ground by your ass to kiss you? Fuck that is hot." Dayna sighed while pretending to smoke a cigarette.
She blushed. "Hmm what can I tell you? He is recording an album. He spends all of his time in the studio right now." Maggie shrugged.
"And the rest of his time in you." Alex cracked herself up. Liza shot her a look and moved to turn on the radio. Alex knocked her hand away.
Maggie had nearly spit her coffee out when Alex said that. "You are a bunch of dirty old birds."
"Listen kid, I've been having sex with the same man since George W. was in office. So you are going to have to give me some fun details. I believe I am entitled." Hillary whined.
"We've been together nearly non stop for like the last, I don't know, a few weeks. Since we met at that shitty Martin Graves party. The sex is outrageously good. Like my vagina needs this vacation though."
"I actually didn't see that coming. Good looking guys are traditionally not great lays. When you're pretty you don't even have to try. " Dayna said. "Remember that hot pizza delivery guy in college? Cute but such a dud in the sack."
"No Day he was not hot. That was the guy who looked like the lead singer of Color Me Badd, right?" Liza laughed.
"You dated a guy with a neck tattoo so..." Dayna countered.
"No, I slept with a guy who had a neck tattoo. One time. One time I drank too much Mr. Boston and fucked a guy with a neck tattoo. You bitches are going to put it on my tombstone."
Maggie loved all of these ladies so much. High school was terrible for her but Liza and Alex's friends made Maggie their little sister too. She loved their stories and antics. As the company flourished they came out West to learn the business and take part. It was so nice to have everyone here.
"OK so back to actual hot guys. Harry. Oh Harry." Hillary smiled leaning back. "Are we official? Are we serious? It sounds serious. It looks serious. You admit he has practically broken your vagina."
Maggie leaned back too. She touched the frames on her face. She pressed her lips together remembering the feeling of his goodbye kiss.
"Honestly we haven't talked about it at all. I mean I don't think he's seeing anyone else. Not sure when he would have time. I'm not seeing anyone else. I really like being with him. I'm just not ready to label it. Every time I get too excited about something the universe steps in and crushes me. I'm not ready to be crushed yet."
Alex turned around quickly. "Mags, that's not how this works. You deserve to be happy. You work so hard. Being in limbo isn't always fun or healthy though."
Dayna called from the back, "Have the conversation. Lock that good sex down."
"But if he gets a neck tattoo - he's out." Jamie said as she pulled a hard seltzer from a cooler in back.
"Now that is good advice because these bitches will never let you live it down." Liza sighed. "OK road trip music must commence."
Harry made it to the studio on time. Funny enough, he seemed to only ever be the one to do that. He let himself in and puttered around the immaculate kitchen. He opened a can of nitro cold brew coffee and stretched.
The door opened behind him. When he turned he nearly dropped the can in his hands. It wasn't an engineer or Mitch. It was Colette.
When their eyes met she unleashed a big toothy smile at him. He was stunned. For once he didn't have words.
"Surprise 'arry." She said with her lovely French accent.
"Yes, yes it is. What are you doing here?" Harry put the can down.
"Our mutual friends are having an anniversary party and invited me. I thought I would come and drop in and make sure that was OK. Check in on you. "
The mutual friends were Kid/Tom and Jenny. He totally forgot the party was Saturday night. He was sure someone mentioned the model was invited but he had been so caught up in all things Maggie that not much but her stuck in his head.
"Of course it's OK. It's good to see you." And it was. Colette was the sole focus of his previous year. Their tumultuous relationship had shaped a lot of this album. It shaped a lot of why he was having a hard time wanting to make things more defined with Maggie.
Harry leaned in and hugged her. She hugged him back and kissed his cheek. Her hands lingered on his back a minute. She softly scratched at that spot on low on his spine that made him weak in the knees. Harry allowed himself to breathe her in.
Wasn’t she still dating that trust fund baby? Harry and Colette talked quite frequently via text but he never asked her about him. He never wanted to hear about him. They were 'just friends' because when they broke up he still wanted to keep a piece of her with him. The last few weeks were the first time since they parted he didn't feel compelled to Google her or text first.
"I'm not here to interrupt. I just wanted to see you. Maybe you will be up for dinner later?" She asked.
"That would be nice." Harry heard himself accept before really thinking it over.
Colette leaned in and quickly kissed his mouth. "I'll text you later." Just as quickly as she appeared, she disappeared.
"Was that?" Mitch asked as he entered the kitchen.
"It was."
"And..."
"She wanted to make sure we would be cool at the same party on Saturday night. I
totally forgot she was going."
"Are you bringing Maggie? Is she bringing the dude she is with?"
"Maggie gets home from Palm Springs on Saturday. She wasn't sure she would be up for a party. And I don't speak to Colette about her love life so I have no idea. However she invited me out to dinner tonight so maybe I'll hear more then."
"Dinner? Is that inviting trouble?" Mitch raised an eyebrow.
"Let's hope not."
Maggie got checked into her hotel suite. Everyone was changing into swimwear for a poolside mixer. She was already feeling a little buzz from Jamie's cooler full of fun. She rummaged through her luggage until she found her white string bikini with navy embroidery.
She set her phone up on the wireless charger on the dresser in the bedroom. "Hey siri, FaceTime, H" Maggie pulled her shoes off as she waited to see if he would answer.
"Hello." Harry's beautiful face appeared.
"Hello. I'm here. I'm alive. Charging my phone. Rushing to get changed. How is it going there?" She asked.
"Pretty good. Productive. Finished an entire song. " Harry proudly exclaimed.
"You did? So that makes three in the can, right?"
"It does. So how was the ride out?" He asked.
"Good. Fun. Jamie had a cooler of drinks so if you'll excuse me I'm halfway to white girl wasted." She giggled. "Keep talking to me. I'm gonna step over here and change. I have to get back downstairs."
"You are such a tease." He shouted as he watched her throw her pants in camera view. Harry gave an exaggerated groan. “Ugh you are such a bad girl.”
"You only know half of it." She laughed, and she returned to the camera clad in her bikini.
Harry made a wounded sound at her appearance. "I may not survive four days. You look gorgeous. Come back to LA wearing that immediately. "
"Keep working hard and four days will have come and gone before we know it. Then I'm all yours." She leaned into the camera, blew a kiss and then quickly pulled the triangle of her bikini top over to give Harry a clear view of a nipple.
"Maggie," He growled, "I can be there in two hours."
"Less with the way you drive but don't you dare. Go back to work. I have to finish getting drunk with my friends." She beamed.
"Give me a twirl in that first." He encouraged her. She turned slowly so he could take her in.
"So this meets your approval."
He let out a loud whistle. She blew him another kiss. He blew one back. "Go have fun."
"Go back to work.."
"Miss you." He said seriously.
Maggie was completely taken by surprise. It has been just a few hours but the truth was she missed him too. So yeah maybe these four days apart was a good idea. Maybe they could get some perspective on what they wanted from one another.
“It was such a perfect night ‘arry.” Colette sighed as she looked up into Harry’s face. ‘I have really missed you.”
The whiskey was warm in his belly, the breeze from the ocean settled over him. This moment felt like one of his dreams. Colette was back, she looked beautiful, they weren’t fighting. He reached his hand out to her. She took it.
“It was a really nice night. I’m glad we did this.”
“Do you want to come up to my room for a drink? I have a lovely view on the balcony.” Her eyelashes fluttered and the waves of her hair lightly rustled up in the breeze making her look ethereal.
“I’ve probably had enough to drink but I’ll walk you upstairs.” Harry knew he was playing with fire. He needed to keep his mind clear. No more booze. He wasn’t ready to let go of Colette just yet though. The night had gone too well.
Harry squeezed her hand gently and followed her.
Maggie had sobered up after having some dinner and a strong espresso. She had to do some script reading tonight before more fun tomorrow. After dinner when she returned to her room she realized she had left her phone behind charging. She was a little disappointed when there were no messages from Harry, Sure they had talked already today, a few times so really she should just be happy. Normally he said goodnight to her though.
‘Get a grip. You sound like a very intense girlfriend.’ she told herself. Maggie put the script aside and laid back. She turned off the lights and tried to get comfortable in the unfamiliar bed. She tossed and turned for another forty five minutes.
The phone on the nightstand buzzed to life.
From Harry : I hope you had the very best day. Good night sweet girl.
She typed back, ‘Only three more days to go. Good night.’
#harry styles#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles x reader#harry styles fanfic#harry styles fic#harry styles x fem!reader#harry styles fluff#satellitefic
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When Mummy's away; we play! h.s
Summary: Harry's baby surprises him on stage!
Request: No
Warnings: All fluff Xx
Pairing: Y/N + Harry are married
Trope: Dadrry!
MC: Harry
Rate: Everyone
Word Count: 500
Repost/translations: No
You can find this imagine on Wattpad here
Anywhere else, it is reposted without my consent, please report for stolen content!
Harry was standing at his mic, beautifully singing Matilda when he noticed the crowd's screams were a lot louder than normal; popping his eyes open, he scanned the audience, confused.
He made eye contact with a fan, seeing him pointing at the big screen, cranking his neck to see; a big grin landed on his face.
There was his son being filmed, crawling up the stairs.
"It appears we have a guest" He chuckled, hearing the screams.
Harry happily walked over to the side where the steps were, squatting as he opened his arms; encouraging his son. "Come here lovie!" The mic picked up, the crowd cooing at the words. "Come to dada, come here! — Good boy!" Harry cheered, his baby finally reaching the top of the steps. Harry happily picked up his son, kissing his cheek and adjusting his mic.
"Wembley! This is my son, he's learned to crawl" Harry laughed, kissing his son's cheek again. "Where's mummy?" He questioned, walking over to where his wife normally was. "Did mummy abandon you? Where's your mum? Y/N?" Harry spoke into the mic, confused. "I guess we do have a guest, I don't know where your mum went" Harry hummed, bouncing his son a little.
"I guess we're having an intermission" Harry spoke in a baby voice, his son wiggling out of his hold. "They weren't kidding when they said once they learn to move, it's all they want to do!" Harry told the crowd, keeping an eye on his son who was crawling across the stage towards Mitch. "I guess I'm to blame for this one" Harry chuckled, "During sound check I sort of uh.. encouraged this earlier. Ya know? When it was safer… — has anyone located my wife?" Harry questioned again, eyeing towards his manager.
On the big screen showed Harry's 1 year old son messing with Mitche's shoelaces, Mitch wiggling his foot which was frustrating the baby,
Harry covered the mic with his hand, moving it away from him; his back to the crowd as he called for his son, gaining the baby's attention.
Harry and Y/N had decided to keep his name a secret, but the baby quickly turned around at his name, a grin on his face, ignoring whatever Harry had said which ended in Harry walking over and picking him up.
"Terrible twos came early" Harry muttered in the mic, the crowd laughing.
"I guess I'll be sitting down with my little love for this next one! If anyone has located my wife, let me know!" He announced, carefully sitting down on the stage, his son now in his lap, fascinated by the corded mic.
As Harry sang Matilda, he kept looking down at his son, not being able to hold back his smile.
This was home.
Harry was informed once the song was done that Y/N had been located, tsking his wife as she climbed the steps.
"Want to tell the arena where you were off to?" Harry spoke in a fake parental tone which made his wife grin.
"I had to go to the loo! Jeff was babysitting!" She defended, grabbing her baby from her husband.
"So it was Jeff's fault! Typical" He tsked, chuckling, removing the mic and leaning in, whispering in Y/N's ear before covering their faces and then kissing his son, waving bye bye.
Masterlist
#harrystyles#harrystylesimagine#harrystylesoneshot#harrystylesblurb#dadrry#harry styles baby#loveontour#harry styles on tour#onedirection#onedirectionimagines#harries#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles fluff#harrys house#wattpad#harry styles soft#harry styles matilda
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MASTERLIST:
Key:
♡ = Fluff
✩ = Smut
☾ = Insta Edit
IN PROGRESS:
Trevor Zegras:
He Could Be The One ♡ : part one | part two | part three
It seems obvious to everyone but y/n that Trevor has a bit of a thing for her. So, when she and Jack Hughes decide to spend the summer in LA, it's no surprise that she starts to sense something off about Trevor.
Brendan Brisson:
I Can See You ♡ : part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six
Phoebe Hughes loved being at the lake with her brothers more than anything. This is the last summer before Luke goes to New Jersey to join Jack, and she's ready to make the most of their changing lives. However, once she arrives, she learns that the boys have invited a special guest this summer... Brendan fucking Brisson.
FINISHED:
Trevor Zegras:
Summer Sun's Calling My Name ☾
Instagram model y/n spends her summer on the beach with Trevor.
Leo Carlsson:
My Whole Heart ☾
Y/n Bedard soft launches her relationship with Leo and Connor is clueless.
Joseph Woll:
Roommates ♡
Jane Campbell is Mitch Marner's best friend. What happens when Mitch asks Jane to let the new goalie stay in her spare room?
Nico Hischier x Jack Hughes:
New Year's Day ✩
Loosely inspired by Taylor Swift's song of the same name, this story follows Devils captain Nico Hischier as he navigates his overwhelming crush on Jack Hughes as the team tries to plan a New Year's Eve party.
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Filling Empty Spaces (Amy/Mitch), part 224
Mitch and Amy find an unexpected connection due to absent lovers. Set around season 11->.
A/N: I didn’t have a beta for this story, so hopefully there won’t be too many grammar errors.
****
The deck at the back of Leah's house continued the homely feel the house had had. When Mitch stepped out first to keep the door open for her, he could tell from the way that it had been maintained and set up that this was a spot the couple living in the house liked to spend a lot of their time at and maybe entertain some guests too.
Even though the rectangle shape was simple, Leah and Brett had divided the space wisely by having the two ends serve different needs.
They had a couch with big cushions and two folding chairs in the other end around a small table, further from the door, where various big plants in their earthy-colored pots helped divide the space but also provided some privacy for conversations you could have way pass your bed time.
On the other end, closer to where he was now standing, Mitch could see a heavy looking table made out of wood and one long patio bench on each side, allowing six people to dine out, if needed.
Next to them, they had a grill.
"Do you use that a lot?" Mitch asked out of a personal curiosity, nodding toward the grill, when Leah walked over to the dining table and set the tray on it.
She glanced at the thing and nodded. "When Brett's home, yeah. He loves having people over for barbecue. I try to take it a little lighter with meat these days."
"Sounds like my kind of guy", Mitch said with a smile and sat down while Leah served them the lemonade.
"Oh yeah?" she asked, her head tilted toward him.
"Well, I actually have a beef business with this other, local cowboy", he explained. "A rodeo legend, actually."
Leah's lips curved into a smile. "So, wait... Am I understanding this right... You never left Hudson?" she checked, surprised.
From what she could remember, Mitch had always talked about doing a bit of traveling after school, before he would be ready to settle down anywhere. He had been a small town boy at heart, but Leah had always thought maybe the world would change his mind.
"Well, I left", Mitch corrected her, "but I came back."
"Your dad must be happy", Leah said, gesturing Mitch to take his glass when the lemonade had been poured. "The Saddle Road Ranch's story continues."
Mitch hummed. "Oh, he probably would have been, if that had been what had happened", he agreed. "But... it's more complicated than that."
Leah sat down when she had poured herself the drink as well. She cradled the glass and enjoyed its faint cold feel against her palms while she examined Mitch's face.
"Complicated, how?" she was curious.
"I was away, overseas, when my dad had to make the big decision to sell the ranch", Mitch shared. "I guess he was always hoping that I would be the one to take over, even though he never really vocalized it, but even though I was a little lost after high school, he knew that ranching wasn't my plan, hence why I pursued other things."
Leah nodded. "I see..."
"Of course when I came back to help him with the downsizing, I felt... sad. But not because I had not taken that chance, more like because... that was my childhood home. My roots", Mitch recapped.
Leah nodded, looking down. "I get that. -- Yet, here you are, living the cowboy life again?" she continued the conversation, eyeing Mitch's look that clearly gave away his lifestyle.
Mitch let out a laugh, spreading his arms a little bit, as if to promote it too.
"Yeah, here I am. Funny how life works. You spend years and years thinking the ranching life isn't for you and then you live a little, but end up coming back and loving every second of it...."
"I guess you have to know what you'd be missing out before you can decide you aren't actually missing out much?" she offered.
Mitch shrugged. "Guess so."
"So, you have your own ranch now then?" Leah checked.
"No. I have a house, but I lease the land. I have a horse, though. Well, two horses, but the other one is keeping my horse company", Mitch explained. "He's not an active working horse."
"Gosh, this takes me back..." Leah said, shaking her head as she reminisced those days of their teenage years and the ranching lifestyle of Hudson. "Riding and all that. I haven't done that in ages... I remember liking it, but... I guess the horse girl life just wasn't for me overall."
Mitch looked around. "Well, you never know. You have a lot of grassland here; horse would fit right in", he added with a wink.
"Oh no, I think we're happy with just having a dog", Leah insisted, the smile never leaving her face, "and with the baby on the way, it's about to get busy."
Mitch nodded. "Yeah, for sure."
"What about you? Any kids?" Leah asked.
"Oh, no", Mitch shook his head and taking a sip of the drink.
"Anyone special, at least?" she teased him.
Mitch couldn't bury his smile, so it wasn't hard for Leah to read him.
"That's a yes", she concluded, but figured since he had not said anything, maybe he wanted to keep that under wraps. "How are your parents then?"
Mitch inhaled deeply, thinking about what to say.
Her mom and dad had always liked Leah, so the question wasn't just out of politeness, he knew, as Leah had spent a lot of time at the ranch, getting familiar with their way of life and simultaneously pretty much becoming part of the family.
"They're good now. Living in a condo in Calgary", Mitch summarized. "My mom... she, uh, she had a stroke few years ago."
"Oh, no..." Worry colored Leah's face. "Is she-- is she okay?"
"Yeah, she is now", he assured. "That was the reason why they had to sell the ranch and why I came back and... well, it was just a messy stage in my life overall", he added before he would get into any type of long-winded explanation, "but... she uses a wheelchair now. She's not as active as she used to be, but still pretty sharp."
"I'm glad she survived", Leah said. She fiddled her glass, feeling like it was an appropriate time to update Mitch about her parents too. "I lost my dad to cancer six years ago. So it's just me and mom now."
"Oh... I'm sorry for your loss", Mitch extended his condolences.
Leah nodded. "Thanks. It all happened so suddenly; he got the diagnosis and within months... he was gone. Still hard to believe it sometimes."
"Yeah, I bet", he said, feeling like he knew something about that too.
Almost like reading his mind, Leah decided to change the subject, but still keeping it in the family. Unfortunately she was unknowingly keeping it in the passed on family members.
"You and Zach still up to no good?" Leah guessed as it almost sounded like nothing had really changed in Mitch's life, even though he had apparently taken few side steps to try things out.
Mitch felt like the air from his lungs suddenly got clogged.
His face turned stony, and he cleared his throat.
"Uh, actually, no..." Mitch said, feeling the catch-up taking a turn, but maybe Leah deserved to know, seeing she and Zach had once been friends too. "He... He actually died few years ago."
Leah placed down the glass with a slow movement, as if she was scared to break the moment. Her expression was shocked, but she was trying to hold it back a little bit.
"Oh... I'm-- I had no idea. I'm really sorry to hear that, Mitch. I know how close you were."
Mitch nodded. "Thanks."
A pregnant pause fell between them, and Leah knew that response all too well as it was something she often came across with whenever she told people about her dad's passing.
She knew from her own experience that she didn't really like dwelling in the sad, the suffering or the loss - the last moments - but instead loved whenever people told her memories about her father she had not heard before.
She even loved the stories that she had heard million times in the past but that helped keep him alive in her memories - and also in other people's minds.
Those comforting thoughts.
The worst part about losing someone you had loved was the fear of forgetting them.
So, she decided a similar approach with this as well.
"Whenever I thought of you, I thought of Zach too", Leah hummed softly, thinking back warmly to Mitch's cousin who had always felt more like his brother. "Every time it snows, I think about that time we tied fastening straps at the back of a truck and sat down on a that... slippery kind of rubber tire that made skiing behind the truck easy..." she tried to describe the situation and it instantly sparked a reaction in Mitch as well.
"Oh yeah, and that one time the engine cut off abruptly, and Zach just kept going", Mitch recalled, letting out a laugh, but then crinkled his brows. "We really thought he was a goner..."
"Oh my god, yes!" Leah remembered and almost gasped, still remembering watching if Zach was going to make it through the rearview mirror. "I don't know how we survived from some of the things we did..."
"Yeah, we could have seriously gotten hurt so many times", Mitch agreed.
"And it was always you two boneheads that came up with the ideas. You were inseparable...'' Leah hummed.
"That's how I always thought of us too", Mitch admitted, looking down at the lemonade. "Or... in most cases, where Zach went, I'd follow. And yeah, maybe there were few times that it was me who came up with some stupid idea and I didn't have to convince him too much to join... But turns out there's one thing that can separate us..."
Leah nodded, studying Mitch's expression.
"How are you handling that?" she asked with concern.
Mitch put down the glass and opened his palms a little bit, almost like gesturing that he didn't really have words.
"It depends. It's a strange feeling... Like this hole in me, always, with everything I do, but then... life has been built around it. It never went away, but things just... kept moving forward. I didn't think they would, but they did. In a way it's sad."
Leah nodded, understanding that.
"Like my first birthday after his passing", Mitch recalled, "it was like I refused to age, because... then we wouldn't be doing that together. I'd become older, but he never would. -- Like I said, we always did everything together - and suddenly we didn't. He stayed back-- no matter what, I never let that happen when he was alive; if he got in trouble, I was willing to get in trouble too, just so he wouldn't have to do that alone. But now... there is a division; almost like life in two acts."
Leah nodded.
"Did you get any support in the grieving process?" she wondered.
"I mean, yeah... I had Melanie, but then sometimes I just wanted that grief to be... private and sort of isolated myself with it. Everyone's grief is personal because he meant such different things for us all. Besides, she had enough to deal with that as it was", Mitch shared, sighing.
"You still keep in touch with Mel?"
Mitch nodded. "Oh yeah, we're still close. If I want to talk about him, that's who I talk to. I think - besides Zach's parents - he was the closest to us two, so... it's like a shared cut we try to mend together."
"That's good", Leah stated. "I'm glad you're not alone with that."
"Yeah", Mitch agreed. "Anyway, I didn't mean to make this meeting so grim..."
"No, it's fine", Leah assured, "I've learned that grief and loss is part of life just as much as happiness and every other experience is too. The call line I work for deals with a similar thing, so I'm sort of... used to it - if I can say that. It's better to talk about it than not."
"Oh?" Mitch welcomed the slight shift in the conversation and took his glass to have a sip. The sparkly taste of the lemon burned his lips.
Leah nodded, thinking about what to say before she continued.
"Well, I can't tell the details, because it's confidental, but after I got help myself, I wanted to pay that forward and help others", Leah explained. "Sometimes it's easiest to tell about your experience to someone who doesn't even know who you are."
Without meaning it, the conversation had arrived to a place that gave Mitch an opening to bring up the reason why he had thought about seeing Leah again in the first place.
No matter how much he would have prepped himself for this, he didn't think he would ever know the right thing to say.
"When you say you got help yourself... are you talking about the loss of your dad, or...?" Mitch asked carefully.
Leah's eyes focused on his.
"I mean I got help long before that", she explained. "Due to... what happened to me in high school."
The atmosphere changed slightly, but neither of them seemed like they were in a hurry to back down, even though the state of this unresolved situation lingered between them.
It was as if they were both trying to have a faith in each other in this moment, hoping they would proceed with the empathy the situation called for.
Mitch was glad it had been Leah who had brought it up, because then it would be on her terms, and he didn't have to risk triggering her.
"Actually... I've thought about that a lot. Over the years, but... lately again", Mitch confessed. "I don't like how things ended between us. I feel like... I let you down."
Leah tilted her head a little to the left. "What makes you say that?"
Her voice was calm, sympathetic even.
"I didn't know how to support you the way you probably needed me to", he sighed. "I know it's been years now and it's too little, too late, but..."
A hum pushed through Leah's mouth. "To be honest, I didn't even know what kind of support I needed at the time, so I couldn't have told you that even if I had tried. And I don't think you would have been able to guess that because... it took me a long time to get my voice back again."
"I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry what you had to go through", Mitch finally said, not knowing what else there was to say.
Leah was moved by it, even though for the most part she was able to speak about it in a calm manner these days.
"Thank you for saying that. I know you wanted to help, because I know how you are like, but... I wasn't in a state of mind to accept any help at that point. It's strange how our minds work", Leah shared her thoughts. "I wanted it, I needed it, but... I didn't allow myself to have it."
She looked around, trying to find a metaphor to explain it.
"It's almost like you get struck by lightning; you never think about that happening to you, but when it does, it's all you can ever think about. You lose that illusion of safety, and I don't know if you can ever really get it back. Every loud noise suddenly sends your body in a full panic mode. I didn't let anyone get close to me for a long time. My mind and body held onto that memory very strongly."
"I get that", Mitch said. "Did they ever find out who... did it?"
Leah shook her head. "No. Back then the resources were limited with that kind of stuff and, well, things of that nature were usually pinned on the victim. Besides, I feel like even if they had tracked them down, the damage had already been done; I couldn't trust anyone because my mind thought that now I knew anyone could be capable of that kind of... evil."
Listening to it made Mitch feel sad. How lonely that must have been.
Thankfully it was evident that something had changed since then.
"But now you have Brett", he brought up, almost like throwing her a life vest as she was going through the rapids of these memories.
Mitch didn't want her to drown even though he was limited in helping her.
Leah's lips curled into a warm smile. The fondness she was feeling toward her husband was beautiful to witness; even the simple mention of his name was enough to change her whole demeanor.
"Yeah. I didn't think it was possible to ever experience anything like that again, but he was so patient with me. It's been hard work, for both of us, but... I wouldn't trade any of that away", Leah summed.
Mitch nodded, but it was clear he still had questions.
"I know this is probably going to sound a little bit ignorant, but... do you feel like you've... healed?" Mitch wondered. "Because - not to compare the two, because I know they are nothing alike, but - I feel like I'm still aching from losing Zach."
Leah set the drink she had picked up while Mitch was talking back on the table and smacked her lips a little bit, thinking of what to say.
She had a theory and she wanted to test it.
"I think maybe you might confuse healing as a synonym for "feeling good" - or "feeling better"", Leah offered her take.
Mitch looked puzzled. "But... isn't it...?"
"It can be", Leah shrugged, "but... from my own experience, it's not - not always. Sometimes the process of healing is extremely painful. You might never feel good - or better."
Shaking his head, Mitch expressed the feeling of being lost. "I don't get it. Why do it then if not to feel good or better?"
"Because you have no other choice. If you want to keep living your life, you have to change things, become sound, make peace with it - call it whatever you will. Most people call it healing."
"Huh..." Mitch let out, acknowledging this was something he needed to think about more as it was hard to wrap his head around it.
"In my experience, healing is like... molting", Leah said. "And that's what I did. The process, the memories, what happened for me to get here, it didn't feel good, but... life can still be good. Other things can feel good."
Mitch watched her, seeing some kind of illuminated light behind her eyes.
"I don't know that I can ever get back that illusion of safety or escape the thought of people wanting to do bad things to other people, but... I can still live with that at the back of my mind. If I want to have the good things that I have, I have to", Leah continued. "We don't always have good options to choose, so... when I do have them, I don't take them for granted."
"So... do you think that things happen to us for a reason? Or... what doesn't kill us makes us stronger?" Mitch wondered Leah's overall view on life.
"Hell no", Leah was quick to say, shaking her head. "What doesn't kill us hurts like hell. I understand some can have those views, but... not me. I don't think I needed to go through all that in order to understand the worth of things that are good in life. I don't think suffering is valuable or the best teacher."
Mitch nodded, feeling like he had never expected this visit to take this type of turn.
"Well, you've just given me a lot to think about", he admitted, feeling a bit overwhelmed, if he was being honest.
Leah let out a laugh, understanding that this had probably been a little bit intense for Mitch all of a sudden, as it was all something she had personally grown into over the years.
"Well, you did ask..." she reminded in a jest.
Mitch joined her laugh, admitting that if he wasn't ready to have his world rocked, he shouldn't have asked.
"That's true; I did ask..."
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Guess this really is a Jared con. I was watching the M&G auctions and Jensen’s had 56 bids and ended at $613.57 meanwhile Jared’s had 73 bids and went for $580.00. Not only does this show the smarter bidders are Jared fans because even with more bids they kept the price lower but he was still more in demand this con.
That's awesome! I hope Jared feels the love from everyone!
It looks like other Walker guests had some good numbers as well with Keegan, Mitch, and Jake getting at least 10 bids each for their M&G's. One surprise was Mark Sheppard who had 40 bids for his. Definitely a sign that Jared fans are in the house!
Unsurprisingly, Misha fans went way overboard in their spending for his Adventure Walk. 40 bids and they ran the price up to $811.00. At least they kept his regular M&G at the set auction price.
Here's a link if anyone wants to look at the auctions.
#ask box#ce charcon 2023#anti minions#and their lack of financial literacy#and basic auction protocol#creation auctions#jared's m&g
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I’m excited to read Mitchy’s speech 🥹
A/N: Here you go bestie 🥹 (again with my own gifs omg) Also, quick summary, this is Mitch’s speech at Carson and Auston’s wedding hehe
Word Count: 1.8k
The applause sounding from all of the guests sitting at their designated tables gradually died down as Lexie, Carson and Auston’s chosen MC for their reception stood from her seat between Mya and Steph at the head table and headed back towards the podium. She sent Carson and Auston a wink as she passed where they sat next to each other, with Mia sitting on Auston’s lap, then smoothed her hands over her pale blue bridesmaid dress before taking her stance in front of the wedding guests.
“Thank you, Alex and Bre, for your kind words and for also welcoming my best friend into your lives so seamlessly as another sister. I know Carson loves you both endlessly,” Lexie started with a smile as she looked down the head table to where Auston’s sisters were retaking their seats after finishing their speech. “Now, I’m supposed to tell you all that the speeches are done, and we can really get this party going. But there’s one more. And it’s a pretty special one.”
“What!?” Carson said unintentionally, very loudly, as she narrowed her gaze at Lexie, making everyone laugh. “I mean… Yeah, what?”
There were supposed to be four speeches, that’s what was planned. Those speeches started with Carson’s dad officially welcoming Auston into the family, followed by Brian and Ema doing the same for Carson. After the parents, Carson’s siblings went next. Mya, Carson’s Maid of Honour and Nate, one of Auston’s groomsmen, talked about their favourite memories of Carson and Auston together and concluded with Nate throwing in that he was thrilled to have a brother finally. Alex and Bre were supposed to be the last ones to make a toast before moving on to the dance part of the evening, so Carson was thrown off guard. She wasn’t ready to cry again.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Lexie chuckled as she shook her head at Carson. “I’d like to welcome Mitch Marner to the stand.”
Everyone clapped as Mitchy stood from his spot between Nate and Freddie at the head table and couldn’t help but smirk as he looked at Carson, who looked at him dumbfoundedly while he passed by. On the other hand, Auston held out his hand for a fist bump as Mitchy walked by because he knew how a speech from his friend and teammate on his wedding day would mean a lot to Carson, which was why he came up with the idea.
Lexie smiled as Mitchy approached the podium, then patted his shoulder encouragingly as they switched places and headed back to her seat.
“Hi, everyone,” Mitchy greeted as he leaned down towards the microphone and adjusted his grasp on the glass of wine he was holding so it wouldn’t spill. “How’s everyone doing?”
Sounds of various ‘good’s and cheers sounded around the massive outdoor tent everyone was under, making Mitchy smile wider.
“Good to hear, me too. Uh, I’m Mitch,” he started. “Many of you know me as one of Auston’s teammates, but some of you may not know that I’m also Carson’s cousin. So, yeah, she and I go way back. I’m her favourite.”
Most guests laughed, but others did not try to hide their surprise to find out that Mitch and Carson were related. Nonetheless, everyone in attendance was looking forward to what Mitch had to say now, as he was already such an entertaining person and was bound to have some fantastic stories about the newlyweds.
“I was supposed to give a toast last night at the rehearsal and planned on absolutely roasting Carson and Auston. But then I was asked to do a speech tonight instead, and that it’d have to be a bit more professional. So you’ll have to bear with me because I didn’t have much time to write something longer and less funny,” Mitchy explained as he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his suit pocket, gaining some more laughs.
He chuckled, too, then took a deep breath and began. “Carson and I were born 12 days apart. I’m the older one, and yes, I never let Carson forget it. But that being said, I also don’t know life without her. Growing up, everyone called us ‘the twins.’ My aunt, Carson’s mom, started it, and everyone quickly caught on because of how accurate the name for the two of us was since we were so alike and inseparable. I still call her my twin because she is my absolute best friend. We’ve been through all the ups and downs of each other's lives together. Some not as fun as others, which I won’t expand too much on, but we’ve always been each other's rock. That’s why I never thought there’d ever be anyone good enough for my cousin, but then she met Auston.
“Now, don’t get me wrong. There was no way I thought Auston, of all people, would be a good fit for Carson. The fact that the two of them even crossed paths and were able to meet was a complete chance, but that never seemed to matter because they became such good friends after they met, and a few months later, that became something more. I wasn’t thrilled that my teammate and friend started dating my twin. At all. And it was pretty obvious too. I remember Carson saying to me once when she came over for a movie night in the very early stages of their relationship, ‘Mitchy, if whatever is going on between Auston and me makes you uncomfortable, please tell me. Say the word, and I’ll end it.’ But, of course, I did not say the word, as we can all see. I couldn’t. Being so close with Carson and Auston, I saw firsthand how happy they made each other and how easy it was for them to fall in love. There was no way I was going to come between that. Regardless of how I felt at first, I wanted them both to be happy. It just took some time to get used to.
“I’ve never seen Carson happier than when she’s with Auston and their daughter, Mia. My meems, the little best friend, my best friend brought into the world. I’ve also never seen Auston light up the way he does when he knows he gets to go home and be with his girls. Whether it be after a long road trip or just a couple of hours at practice, Auston is always so excited to get back home. Everyone knows that his favourite place to be is with his family. So, Auston, I’d like to thank you for taking care of Carson the way you have over the years. Of course, she’ll always have me looking out for her, but I know she’s in good hands with you. Same with Mia, because I know that if anything happened to my goddaughter, you would be the first to react. Rationally or not. She is your ‘mini’ after all.
“Mia is so lucky because she will grow up so loved by the people in her life, but also see what true love is in her parents. They’re soulmates and probably my favourite couple. So, everyone in here with a drink doesn’t matter what it is; please join me in making a toast to my best friends as they start this new chapter in their life together.”
As Mitch concluded his speech, he held up his wine glass in a toast, and everyone else did the same. There wasn’t a dry eye to be seen.
“To Carson and Auston,” Mitch said.
“To Carson and Auston,” the guests repeated before taking a sip of their drinks.
Once he finished taking his sip, Mitchy nodded to the crowd and stepped away from the podium. He then looked at the head table again and saw Carson bawling her eyes out while Auston held her hand smiling. With another laugh, Mitchy made his way back to the table but went to Carson and Auston instead of sitting back down.
The newlyweds stood to greet him, and Carson wasted no time rushing past Auston, who was busy positioning Mia on his hip so she could engulf her twin in a hug.
“You’re lucky my makeup is waterproof,” Carson sobbed as she squeezed Mitch tightly, making Mitch laugh again as he did the same. “Thank you, Mitchy.”
“This is the only time I won’t feel bad for making you cry,” Mitchy teased before moving away so that he could look at his cousin. “Congratulations, Carse.”
Carson quickly pulled him in for one more hug before stepping aside so Auston could do the same and watched fondly as the two pulled each other in for a bro-like hug.
“Thanks, Mitchy, that meant a lot,” Auston said.
“Of course,” Mitchy replied. “I know you’ll take care of her, and I’m glad I was able to be part of this all.”
The two men nodded as they moved away but were quickly brought back into a group hug when Carson wrapped her arms around them.
“I love you both so much, two of my favourite boys,” she stated, then leaned back to look down the table at the groomsmen who were all watching and laughing. “You boys are my other favourites.”
“Damn right,” Nate scoffed, then winked, so everyone knew he was teasing. Yes, he was Carson’s only brother, but even he knew the bond between her and Mitchy was unmatched.
“Well, everyone, that was actually the end of the speeches,” Lexie, who was suddenly behind the podium again after sneaking past the other three. “Please feel free to socialize and grab some more food or drinks. We’ll get the music going here soon so the party can begin.”
“Oh, no,” Carson whispered, then glanced at Auston. “I don’t want to dance just us in front of all these people.”
“I got you. No need to worry,” Auston assured her while wrapping his arm around Carson’s waist and pulling her close so he could kiss the top of her head.
“And while you two get ready for that, I’ll steal this little one for a little longer before she has to go to bed,” Mitchy said as he took Mia from Auston and held her on his hip. “Hi, meems!”
Mia clapped and let out a happy squeal as Mitchy started kissing her cheek, but it didn’t take long for her smile to turn into a yawn. It’d been such a long day for the six-month-old, but she had done so well and wasn’t even cranky. Instead, she was just tired, seeing as it was already getting close to her bedtime. Brian and Ema were watching her for the night, so Mitchy knew this was probably his last bit of time to spend time with Mia before she went to sleep.
“Uh, you better share,” Steph called from the other end of the table, then stood up to join them all. “You can’t just hog our goddaughter.”
“Yeah, Mitch, we want a turn with our niece,” Mya chimed in while gesturing towards Alex and Bre, who nodded in agreement.
“Sucks to suck,” Mitchy replied, then bolted off with Mia to who knows where.
The others caught up to him eventually after the dancing started. However, still, he only gave Mia over to Ema after she had fallen asleep slumped against her Mitchy’s shoulder about an hour later.
#auston matthews imagines#auston matthews fanfiction#auston matthews imagine#toronto maple leafs imagine#nhl headcanon#nhl writing#nhl imagines#hockey writing#hockey imagine#hockey rpf#hockey imagines
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Oops! All linkdump!
Tonight (May 2) I’ll be in Portland at the Cedar Hills Powell’s with Andy Baio for my new novel, Red Team Blues.
On May 5, I’ll be at the Books, Inc in Mountain View with Mitch Kapor; and on May 6/7, I’ll be in Berkeley at the Bay Area Bookfest.
In 1997, Jorn Barger coined the term “web-log” to describe his website “Robot Wisdom,” where he logged his journeys around this exciting new digital space called “the web.” Two years later, Peter Merholz shortened “web-blog” to “blog”:
https://peterme.com/archives/00000205.html
If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this dump to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/02/wunderkammer/#jubillee
Two years after that, I started blogging, when Mark Frauenfelder made me a guest-editor on Boing Boing:
https://boingboing.net/2001/01/13/hey-mark-made-me-a.html
I’ve now been blogging for 23 years, nearly half my life, a near-daily discipline that forms the spine of my writing practice. I take everything that seems important, and, in summarizing it for strangers, embed it in my own mind, and then find connections that turn into essays, speeches, stories and novels:
https://doctorow.medium.com/the-memex-method-238c71f2fb46
For the past 3+ years, I’ve been blogging solo on my Pluralistic.net project. It started off as a “link-blog,” in the Robot Wisdom vein — short hits summarizing interesting things:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/02/19/pluralist-19-feb-2020/
But over the months and years, it’s turned into a place where I write long essays, sometimes six or seven per week, trying to pull on all those threads that I’ve cataloged over the decades, weaving them together into big, thoughtful pieces, often to great and gratifying notice and even a little fanfare:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys
But I miss the linkblogging! For the past 14 months, Pluralistic has featured a little section called “Hey look at this,” where I post three short links, bare-bones pointers to interesting stuff online:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/01/reit-modernization-act/#linkdump
These links pile up in my todo.txt file, ebbing and flowing. Some days, I’ve got nothing for the section. Some days, I’ve got a backlog. These days, I’ve got a massive backlog — enough links for many, many editions. I am drowning in linkblog debt, and the interest is compounding. It’s time for a jubilee:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/24/grandparents-optional-party/#jubilee
Here, then, is the first-ever Pluralistic Jubilee Linkdump Backlog Bankruptcy!
First up:
“The Internet Isn’t Meant To Be So Small,” Kelsey McKinney’s crie-de-coeur for Defector:
https://defector.com/the-internet-isnt-meant-to-be-so-small
This is part of the enshittification canon that includes Cat Valente’s unmissable “Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things”:
https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other-and-start
McKinney’s money-shot:
It is worth remembering that the internet wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to be six boring men with too much money creating spaces that no one likes but everyone is forced to use because those men have driven every other form of online existence into the ground. The internet was supposed to have pockets, to have enchanting forests you could stumble into and dark ravines you knew better than to enter. The internet was supposed to be a place of opportunity, not just for profit but for surprise and connection and delight. Instead, like most everything American enterprise has promised held some new dream, it has turned out to be the same old thing — a dream for a few, and something much more confining for everyone else.
This doesn’t just make me want to stand up and salute — it makes me want to build a barricade (or a guillotine).
On to “Reddit Data API Update: Changes to Pushshift Access,” a Reddit thread where the volunteer mods are discussing another enshittification move: Reddit’s pre-IPO API shut-down that has broken all the mod tools that volunteers use to shovel out Reddit’s Augean Stables, getting rid of spam and catfishing and fraud:
https://old.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/134tjpe/reddit_data_api_update_changes_to_pushshift_access/
This isn’t just “stop talking to each other and start buying things” — this is “stop doing billions of dollars in volunteer labor keeping our users safe, and start paying us for the privilege.” Good luck with that, Reddit.
Hey! The Hollywood writers are back on strike! The Guild is a shitkicking, take-no-prisoners, radical union with massive solidarity:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/2/23707813/wga-hollywood-writers-strike-2023-streaming-ai-wages-contract
It’s what let them trounce the talent agencies — hyper-concentrated to just four companies, two owned by private equity ghouls — over a 22 month strike:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/23/opsec-and-personal-security/#monopsony
The talent agencies had rigged the system so that instead of getting a 10% commission on the writers’ earnings, they were taking as much as 90% out of every dollar — and were about to make it worse, building their own studios, so they could negotiate with themselves on behalf of their clients. In the same week, 7,000 writers — even the ones who weren’t getting screwed — fired their agents, and demanded a return to the 90/10 split and a ban on agencies owning studios. The agencies say nfw. The writers stayed on the picket line.
There’s a whole chapter on this in Chokepoint Capitalism, Rebecca Giblin’s and my book on creative labor markets and monopoly. One of our sources was David Goodman, who led the strike:
https://chokepointcapitalism.com/
David hosted our LA launch, where he told us, “We thought the agencies had all the power. We learned that they only had as much power as we gave them. You can make a movie without an agent. You can’t make one without a writer.”
The new strike is about the same thing as the old strike: shifting money from labor to capital. The studios have figured out how to use streaming to avoid paying writers, using gimmicks like shorter seasons and running their own streaming services to dodge the wages the writers are owed. As the union says, the studios “created a gig economy inside a union workforce.”
I live in Burbank, where many of these studios are located. I’ll see you on the picket line.
Sticking with labor for a moment: the Biden administration is investigating the use of bossware — the spyware your boss uses to monitor your driving, keystrokes, web usage, location, hand-movements, facial expressions, even your eyeballs:
https://gizmodo.com/remote-work-surveillance-software-workers-rights-1850392911
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Request for Information solicits your experiences with bossware:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/050123_OSTP_RFI_PREPUBLISH_.pdf
They want to know:
Workers’ firsthand experiences with surveillance technologies;
Details from employers, technology developers, and vendors on how they develop, sell, and use these technologies;
Best practices for mitigating risks to workers;
Relevant data and research; and
Ideas for how the federal government should respond to any relevant risks and opportunities.
If you’re living under bossware’s yoke — say, if your boss has transformed “work from home” into “live at work,” then you know what to do: melt the switchboard!
One more labor story: a reminder that labor rights are a marathon, not a sprint. A group of Amazon drivers won a $30/hour contract through their union, the Teamsters. Even more importantly, the contract lets them refuse to work under unsafe conditions (it’s never just about money):
https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/27/23667968/amazon-contractor-delivery-union-teamsters
But there’s a catch: these are Amazon drivers, but they don’t work for Amazon. They drive Amazon-branded vans, specced down to the last rivet by Amazon. They wear Amazon vests. They deliver Amazon packages. But they work for “Delivery Service Partners,” a kind of pyramid scheme created by Amazon that tricks workers into thinking that paying Amazon for the privilege of working for a trillion-dollar company makes them “entrepreneurs.”
Instead, they’re “chickenized reverse centaurs.” “Chickenized” because — like poultry farmers — they are totally controlled by a monopoly buyer that dictates every part of their business to them, dribbling out just enough money to roll over their loans and go deeper into debt. “reverse-centaurs,” because they’re the inverse of the AI theorists’ idea of a “centaur,” that is, a computer-assisted human. Instead, they are human-assisted computers, with their every last move scripted to the finest degree by bossware that they have to pay for:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/19/the-shakedown/#weird-flex
Amazon now has the luxury of terminating its contract with the union’s employer — the cutout that allows Amazon to maintain the worker misclassification pretext that these drivers in Amazon vans wearing Amazon uniforms delivering Amazon packages don’t work for Amazon.
Amazon hates unions in ways that are hard for everyday people to grasp. One of the organizers of the union drive has been illegally terminated in retaliation for his labor activism:
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-delivery-owner-says-he-was-punished-for-supporting-union
This fuckery doesn’t mean that union organizing is dead. As Jane McAlevy writes in “A Collective Bargain,” her superb memoir of her union-organizing career, unions started winning the class war when labor organizing was illegal, fighting in the teeth of a rigged legal system. We won then, we’ll win again:
https://doctorow.medium.com/a-collective-bargain-a48925f944fe
Seeing defeat (seemingly) snatched from the jaws of victory is a major bummer, but a better world is possible. It’s not even complicated — it’s just hard. If you are in precarious housing, or homeless, or if you experience the moral injury of living in a city where your neighbors lack the foundational human right to a home, it’s easy to feel despondent.
But solving homelessness isn’t complicated, it’s just hard. In Finland, they solved homelessness through the simple expedient of giving everyone a home. This didn’t just address the problem of not having a home — it also made incredible progress on the comorbidities of homelessness, like mental health problems and addiction. Turns out, getting sober or getting treatment is a lot easier when you’re not freezing to death on a sidewalk. Whoathunk?
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/how-finland-solved-homelessness
There are many ways to improve our cities. You can (and should) fight for better local government, but there’s always the tantalizing option of taking matters into your own hands. That’s what the Crosswalk Vigilantes do. They research the intersections where cars are killing their neighbors, then they put on hi-viz vests, set out traffic-cones, and install crosswalks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x33yLuJ5slI
If you’re wondering how the forces of bossware, homelessness, and other enshittifying factors came to rule, it’s actually pretty straightforward. 40 years ago, we installed a software patch called neoliberalism (in some regions, this patch was had localized names like Thatcherism or Reaganomics).
40 years later, the patch is an unequivocal failure and now it’s our job to roll it back, despite all the broken dependencies this will trigger. Most of us can see this is true, but not The Economist, which Brad DeLong calls “Neoliberalism’s Final Stronghold” in his Project Syndicate article:
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/economist-writers-last-true-believers-in-neoliberalism-by-j-bradford-delong-2023-04
De Long’s catalog of the recent bizarre, delusional work in The Economist embodies Upton Sinclair’s maxim, “it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
Every Naomi Kritzer story is a fucking delight and “Better Living Through Algorithms,” just published in Clarkesworld, is no exception:
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_05_23/
Few writers are better at inhabiting the uncomfortable space between recognizing the delights of the internet without flinching away from its horrors. This one is simultaneously hilarious and horrifying.
If you’re just discovering Kritzer, check out “So Much Cooking,” an eerily prophetic 2015 story in the form of a series of perky cooking-blog posts amidst a global pandemic. It got a much-deserved second life during lockdown’s peak sourdough moment:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/17/pack-of-knaves/#so-much-cooking
And then try her at book length! “Catfishing on Catnet” is Kritzer’s book-length adaptation of her Hugo-winning short story “Cat Pictures Please.” It’s an AI caper about cat memes, community, and the anti-enshittification underground:
https://memex.craphound.com/2019/11/19/naomi-kritzers-catfishing-on-the-catnet-an-ai-caper-about-the-true-nature-of-online-friendship/
Speaking of science fiction: I’ve got a new novel out. Red Team Blues is an anti-finance finance thriller, a heist book about cryptocurrency and forensic accounting with a 67-year-old hero, Marty Hench:
http://redteamblues.com/
The book came out last week and I am still in the nailbiting interregnum where its fate is unknowable — will it be another bestseller, or fizzle? Thankfully, the reviews have been stunning. Mitch Wagner calls it “the most exciting technothriller about a 67-year-old accountant you’ll read this year”:
https://mitchw.blog/2023/04/25/warning-cory-doctorows.html
Mitch ruminates some on the distinctive way I’m handling Hench’s aging process in this book and its two (at least sequels). Reading other peoples’ insights into one’s own work is a wild experience. I mean, it’s nice when a reader notices something you worked hard to put in there, and frustrating when a reader imagines something that definitely isn’t there.
But the best thing is when a reader notices something that you didn’t consciously put in there, but which is undeniably there, and also very cool. In his Locus review, Paul DiFilippo homes in on the way that Marty Hench is totally reliant on his friends and comrades to get out of hot water:
https://locusmag.com/2023/04/paul-di-filippo-reviews-red-team-blues-by-cory-doctorow/
Marty is besieged and almost helpless without the aid of friends, acquaintances, and even strangers. He is no go-it-alone superman, but rather an individual tied into a network of humanity, relying on the goodness and altruism of his fellows for survival.
This is so right. Marty is no great man of history — he is part of a polity, a collective of people from all walks of life who try hard to help each other. Call it solidaritypunk. Also, Paul opens his review with “I can’t possibly say enough good things about Cory Doctorow’s new novel.” I mean, who can complain about that?
I was also very gratified by Henry Farrell’s Crookedtimber review, which says some very nice things about the way I work in technical detail, and suggests that this technique is one that all kinds of technical experts, policy wonks and scientists could learn from:
https://crookedtimber.org/2023/04/27/red-team-blues-and-the-as-you-know-bob-problem/
Which makes Matt Green’s review, where the eminent cryptographer digs into the cryptographic technical details of the book, especially delicious. Green is a brilliant scientist and science communicator, and he says I get it right, and do it well:
https://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2023/04/24/book-review-red-team-blues/
One of the first reviews to hit the web came from Matt Haughey, AKA “Metafilter Matt,” who called it “a ‘ripped from the headlines’ romp”:
https://a.wholelottanothing.org/2023/04/25/red-team-blues-is-a-fun-ripped-from-the-headlines-romp/
Matt’s fellow PDXer and olde timey blogger, Andy Baio, called it “a wild ride”:
https://waxy.org/2023/04/cory-doctorows-red-team-blues-is-out-now/
Andy is my host at tonight’s book signing in PDX, at the Powell’s in Cedar Hills:
https://www.powells.com/book/red-team-blues-martin-hench-1-9781250865847?partnerid=33241
As I type these words, I am sitting in a window-seat on Alaska Air, en route to Portland for that event. I am wearing slip-off shoes, a jacket with pockets of sufficient volume to store my watch, wallet and belt, and socks that I don’t mind exposing to a dirty airport floor. As I shuffled through the TSA checkpoint an hour ago, I found myself looking on the beleaguered “officers” who were patting people down with pity and even a little sympathy.
The TSA is an abomination. A boondoggle that doesn’t make aviation safer, lights billions on fire in lost productivity, wages and capital equipment. Its legion of underpaid, miserable workers invade the privacy and even sexually assault millions of Americans every day, and have been at it for decades without any sign of stopping or even slowing down.
The agency is now 20 years old, and it just keeps getting worse, finding new ways to make America hate it. Reading “The Humiliating History of the TSA,” Darryl Campbell’s giant reckoning in The Verge was a wild ride, and a reminder that while most of us only interact with the TSA’s awful, inexcusable policies a couple times a year, TSA workers live with it every day:
https://www.theverge.com/c/23311333/tsa-history-airport-security-theater-homeland
Before I close, please let us have a moment to acknowledge the passing of Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian music legend, who has just died at 84. He will be missed:
https://www.joeydevilla.com/2023/05/01/r-i-p-gordon-lightfoot/
All right, it’s time to hit publish on this linkdump, but before I go, a couple of absolutely lovely little webtoys and grace-notes for you to take away:
Womprat (the font you’re looking for) is the world’s greatest Star Wars font collection:
http://womprat.xyz/
And finally, Tumblr, now owned by WordPress parent company Automattic, is striving mightily to reverse decades of enshittification from Yahoo and Verizon. They’re leaving very heavily into listening to their users, paving the desire-paths and putting the community ahead of any other priority.
One place where that is paying unexpected dividends is their deeply weird little merch store, where you can buy up to 24 blue checkmarks to appear on your posts (they sell in pairs at $8). Even better: they’re now selling a 3D printed, light-up, Tumblr-themed Dumpster-Fire:
https://shop.tumblr.com/product/tumblr-dumpster-fire-3d-print/
The dumpster-fire was hoisted from a community member, who made their own, sent it to management, and struck a bargain to sell them through the store. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make sarsaparilla when life gives you SARS.
Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Mountain View, Berkeley, Portland, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!
[Image ID: A page of comic book 'small ads.']
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Walker RICC panel
At Rhode Island Comic Con this past weekend there was a moderated Walker panel with Jared, G, Mitch, Keegan, and surprise guest Jake Abel whose name I could not remember, I swear I had to pause for a full minute cause I could only think of him as Adam! 😂 He is joining Walker by playing a character that is the Mayor of Austin’s Chief of Staff, his first episode is this week's upcoming ep.
We're gonna just jump right into the panel.
Jared takes a second to thank Jake because since he was busy filming on set, that gave the rest of them some time off so they could attend the con on Friday. He also introduces the rest of the panel during which some in the crowd shout that they love G and Jared does his jealous husband act 🙄
Jared pays the mod some compliments, the person moderating is the person behind the website Nerds and Beyond. Jared says he stays up reading her stuff when he probably should be sleeping.
Getting to the questions, what is something Jared loves or that is challenging about being a producer?
He answers that he loves the puzzle, he loves putting together the legos. He was always the kid that would build legos or put together puzzles and then once build would destroy it; he wakes up early and gets to work on the script, and watching casting videos and trying to figure out where the storylines can go. Doing that on Walker and now on Walker Independence the irony for him is that when he worked on spn he would say he wanted to be at home and work less which is the opposite of what happened so now he’s home doing work he loves and is proud of but he gets home at 5 or 6 and he’s exhausted but when this happened in Van he would call G and be like " hey love y’all, miss y'all, I'm gonna go to bed" and be in bed by 6pm but now he gets home and has to deal with the kids and G.
You know what I find funny Jared? It’s that you’ve mentioned this before but usually what you say is that in Van you could grab a beer or just go to sleep. How very interesting that the detail of calling your wife be remembered at this convention with her right next to you 🙃
Anyhows he says a lot of them there have kids then turns to Keegan and says he doesn’t know what he ever complains about, because Keegan doesn't have children, to which he replies his cat. x
The next question is for G, what has it been like working with Jared again, and has there been anything challenging when doing some of the difficult scenes ie. Emily dying, Walker getting tortured?
She says that there’s nothing more beautiful and special than watching your partner and people that you love thrive at what they do and she gets to watch it from the sidelines often and then when she gets to show up in the game and be a teammate there’s nothing she finds more romantic and sexy. To which Jared says that it's great cause she's like "you turn me on" and he'll reply that he's on set and that she'll be winking at him at 5 on set then she wraps and when he gets home from set at 9 all he'll hear from the bedroom is her snoring. I s2g I have seen sitcoms do this type of storyline.
That it’s special but it’s also challenging at times because they obviously (🤨) live together but they also work together that their baseline for how they met was working together so that’s almost their first and best relationship at times but it is challenging. It’s hard not to bring those emotional scenes home like Emily's death.
Also, watching Jared get tortured she says she has a very odd sense of humor and when uncomfortable she’ll laugh hysterically- ma'am that's literally called nervous laughter, it's extremely common and has nothing to do with your sense of humor.
So he’s getting tortured and crying and she’d be laughing. Is that why you couldn't manage any genuine emotion in those scenes? And here I thought it was just due to your natural lack of talent.
But there’s not a day that goes by where she doesn’t feel incredibly grateful when she gets those opportunities to not only be able to wake up and go to bed together and have a beautiful family but also to be able to work on projects. They met because they were both actors on an amazing tv show so she’s so grateful for that experience that led them there and she’s just very grateful and blessed. x
What is something Mitch loves about Abby and Bonham's relationship, and about getting to work with Molly Hagan?
Mitch starts by saying that the day he met Jared was one of the best, most important days of his life. Awww 🥰
He tells Molly all the time that he’s the luckiest man in the business to be able to stand across from her. He shares that when he first met her he asked her if she wanted to go grab something to eat, and this was after they had gotten tested in the production office and she didn't want to take her mask off cause it was the height of the pandemic so she was like 'oh well' and kind of reluctant but he talked her into it and they went to get something to eat, at the time he didn’t know what he was in for and what came is that she’s a hurricane in the best way.
Says he adores her, that what we see on our screens they live in their life. He loves her to death, and she loves him; he’s been working for over 40yrs and this is the best cast, crew, show he’s ever been on.
And he truly means that Jared is such a huge part of his life and to now become part of the Padalecki family because they took them in when Texas had that huge freeze; it was 15 people and 5 dogs living in his house. That they fed them and kept them warm and took the best care of them and he would have frozen to death in his house if it wasn’t for them. That when he called Molly up and told her they were going to go get them and she said thank god, and that with Molly, he just looks at her face when they’re doing a scene and there’s so much going on and it’s glorious. x
At this point, Mark Sheppard pops up to say hi! And after a quick funny exchange with Jared where Mark is like 'sorry, boss!' the panel continues 😂
Jared says Mitch was the first person cast on Walker after him. Anna Fricke and he were talking about the show and character and just setting up his backstory because one of the first parts of creating a show is making a two-page prosaic of what the show will be about, the issues it will tackle, the characters, and once the character of Bonham was written Jared called Anna and told her that he wanted Mitch for the role, and she thought it sounded awesome but she didn't know if they'd actually be able to get him. So Jared called him up to find out what his schedule was looking like and see if he'd be interested, and he didn't even finish pitching the character to him before Mitch was telling him that he'd do it. And this was before contracts were drawn up but he knew Mitch and he knows if he says he was gonna do something he'll do it so from then on out it was the two of them on the cast list. x
Then he also shares the story about how he and G were on their 10yr anniversary and Anna contacted him because she wanted G for the Emily role, and according to G he was looking at her awkwardly and according to Jared she was looking at him like "oh did we just spend too much money on dinner?" She spends hundreds of dollars on clothes to wear around the house yet I'm expected to believe she gives a fuck about spending too much money on some dinner? Jared pls that woman probably doesn't even know the word budget, so he asked her and she supposedly started crying and said "really? of course" and it was like snowing and beautiful and peaceful and quiet what is this a Hallmark movie 🙄
Next question is for Jared and Keegan. How much will the aftermath of what happened to them play into the rest of the seasons and what was it like exploring that trauma for their characters?
To Keegan, Walker has been so good at portraying grief and how people deal with grief especially Cordell's storyline with Emily he finds it so realistic and wholesome, and as an actor, the pursuit of truth is so interesting to him but also as a viewer of Walker it’s been wonderful to see these topics brought up in a beautiful and inclusive way; so the PTSD story really spoke to him as a human being but also as someone who is going through his own stuff in his life like grief and processing trauma so he says hats off to their writers for putting that forward. Also, these are really heavy things on set so it’s really wonderful to have Jared in between scenes keeping things light and fun, and beautiful.
That his experience with Jared has been so wonderful and beautiful, and that Jared in real life really is a constant spectrum of goofball behavior and incredibly smart way of dealing with things that are very hard to talk about so huge reverence for him and the show. Moving forward they do deal with the trauma, and it does impact storylines in a way that he feels is very truthful and honest.
Jared concurs, and shares more about the casting process. They got casting videos from all over the place and they were looking for someone that wouldn't just fit the role but also be willing to relocate to Austin if needed, and they must have watched hundreds of casting videos. Says that luckily he was home and could use them as an excuse to not help G watch the kids. Not even gonna say it, y'all know what I'm thinking.
And of the ones they saw Keegan was number one but they didn't know if he was available and willing to move cause he was based in Cali but it became obvious he was the right character. In a lot of shows, you know someone is the right person and you hope you’re the right person as well, and then gradually certain strengths come up and the way Keegan bodies that emotional availability with strength like that was maybe the initial idea of the show, of their version of Walker. It’s about someone super strong when they need to be but also someone who will be emotionally available and kind. He would say he wants Cordell Walker to be like Dwayne the Rock Johnson or Hugh Jackman they're built and they're strong and they could crush you but they're also goofy.
He thinks they all knew this was the season like they’re all in place to approach this and the audience now knows them enough to trust them with these types of storylines says you don’t wanna lead a pilot with a torture sequence and grief that leave you thinking 'I don’t wanna watch this shit I’ll cry', sir did you forget what happens in your own pilot? Your character is in a depression because he hears his wife get murdered. I mean, I didn't cry either but still...
He says that 39 episodes in their audience trusts them enough to approach this, and that’s kinda why they started this season as such and have continued on; it’s messy, the truth is messy Cordell is a caring parent and grief-stricken widow and he makes mistakes like the one he did in the last episode. x
Jake time! He was supposed to be a big reveal but people already knew of his involvement because he had partially appeared in the background of a video that Keegan posted. He was told to say he was shadowing a director, which is true he has been shadowing one of the directors, and then he posted a picture from a trailer but everyone recognized the couch so to muddy the waters he changed the geolocation to Atlanta but he didn’t know MC was filming in Atlanta at the time and that started this whole back and forth amongst the fans.
Real quick, in case anybody doesn't know what shadowing a director means it's basically an apprenticeship, you get to follow a director around and learn about the process of filming and directing, in this case, a show.
Jared says Jake’s character will be introduced this season on Thursday's new ep (at the time that I am posting this that would be tonight's episode), that they had a character who is getting introduced in s3 and Jake fit in perfectly. He’s a wonderful actor, he would fit anything perfectly but this was like when Jared saw it he knew Jake was the perfect person for the role. He lives with his family in Austin as well so he reached out - and at this point Jake interrupts to say "which meant I was cheap because you didn’t have to fly me in" 😂
Jared, continues and says he has wanted to work with him again for like 10yrs. That Jake's a filmmaker at heart, the way he dissects a scene and character and storyline is very much from filmmaking and he’s been that way since he was in s6 or whatever of spn that he would see Jensen and Jared doing their thing and he’d be like "what about doing this?" And they’d be like "that makes perfect sense, badass we have somebody here who is working from the top down as well as from the bottom up like from the character up"
Which makes Jake say "top to bottom is that what you said?" so Jared replies that Jake’s definitely a bottom...💀 Well it takes one to know one.
Continuing on with the story! Jared contact him and told him he’d love for him to direct an ep of Walker and for him to shadow a director and that it just so happens that there was a perfect character for him to play since he’s there.
Jake says he was at Home Depot when he got the call 😆
At that moment in time, he had just moved to Austin, he’d only been there for four months so getting this call and this opportunity just felt right because he was starting a new home in a new city and there was family calling him saying 'hey do you wanna drive down the street and hang out again?' and sometimes in life you take this big risks and you don’t know if they’re gonna be the right thing but you feel the pulse so you pull the trigger and so getting that call to him was immediate feedback of this: uplifting his life and his family and moving to this place so they could have a different lifestyle for a while was the right call to make. He says the crew and cast for this show are unlike anything he’s ever worked on before and that’s coming from spn which also had an incredible cast and crew. Everyone is so professional and they work so quick and he couldn’t be happier. x
What has been their favorite plotline or twist from the series?
Jared says there have been several but he thinks this year's one is his favorite because it goes back even before what was seen in s1. Interesting 👀
He thinks s1 was awesome because while they were figuring out what was going on with Emily, and Walker's time undercover and being betrayed by a friend ultimately that little twist and turn from going from the character of Callie at the poker game to figuring out what really happened was pretty awesome, and pretty fun to play the big standoff with the Walker family and Stan Morrison. He loved all the Northside Nation stuff, and then s2 Serano was also a lot of fun but he thinks s3 and where they are going with it is his favorite. They’re figuring out what they can do and do well, and what fans respond to and says comments and questions are seen and can be listened to and are listened to so they’re figuring out their strengths. x
What has the response been like for the show?
Jared says it’s been wonderful. That it's been fun, and what’s really funny is for 15yrs of spn a lot of times when he’d be talking to people about what he does they wouldn’t be familiar with it so they'd say that they have young kids who can watch it or something like that and he’d be like 'nah, no wait 10yrs' but with Walker, anybody can watch the show and so it spreads a wider net so they meet people who say they’ve never seen spn or Star Trek or Harry Potter but they really dig this show, and they have kids so he has really enjoyed making a family show. He adds not that spn wan’t about a family but this isn’t gonna give children nightmares. Although the pilot did apparently give their kid nightmares, they were sitting watching the pilot and kept checking on the kids and suddenly Shep got all pale and ran out, and he was in the furthest corner of the yard crying. And he asked them why G always has to die and why if Jared's the boss he has to kill her. x
Last question, what can fans look forward to for the rest of s3? What are we going to see?
Jared says we start with Jake, we see relationships build, relationships questioned, feeling a bit more grief but not like tortured in a cell which btw did beat the shit out of them cause the cell was actual steel so because he was in running shorts there were no knee pads and he got really banged up. He’d get home from work limping around. Other things we'll see in this season are friendships forged, and decisions questioned and he thinks we see a lot of what all humans go through trying to do the right thing and trying to trust your instinct but you need to question that instinct to make sure you’re not missing anything.
Jake asks if he would say the twists are 360s? And Jared says we see a lot of 360s. So Jared explains the joke cause it’s an inside joke. This started with Jensen and him on spn cause sometimes they’d have a 16hour day so they’d go to work at noon and it would be 3am and they’d both be waiting for them to knock on their trailer door (👀) to say it was time to go to work so the only way they could kinda make each other stay awake without chugging coffee would be like ‘hey we’re doing a double take’ so the challenge was that during a scene they’d do a double take and then turn 360 and Jared has sort of taken that over to Walker. They do this thing were you walk in and when you go to walk out you turn and do a 360.
Keegan says Jared puts a 360 into every episode. Sometimes they get cut but Jared asks for them to put them back in 😆 Jake says he hadn't known that was a thing but we'll see on Thursday that he got a 360. x
And that was the Walker RICC panel, if you wish to watch it yourself as always you can do so through the links below. I recommend wearing headphones, and you might have to play with the audio because their microphones kinda sucked. There were times when they could be heard very clearly and then others when it was like the volume on the mics got lowered.
Walker RICC panel pt 1
Walker RICC panel pt 2
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How about Willow for the headcanon thing?
yay!!
A) She used to not go outside a lot out of anxiety and she'd only leave the house with her parents or her brother. Since moving to Frostfield she's become less anxious and a little more open.
B) Loves hugs and cuddling but doesn't do it very often. People are shocked at how tight she can squeeze.
C) After Allan came back from Munchmore her fears spiked even more, and when she got sent to Munchmore... When she was found, she refused to leave her cage because she was terrified of something awful happening to her too.
D) Used to be more girly. All of her old stuff is in her guest room. It was a huge surprise to Mitch when he crashed at her place for the first time.
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youtube
Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared
The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!
#ACLA24#ACLA24Leaders#youtube#youtube video#climate leaders#climate solutions#climate action#climate and environment#climate#climate change#climate and health#climate blog#climate justice#climate news#weather and climate#environmental news#environment#environmental awareness#environment and health#environmental#environmental issues#environmental justice#environment protection#environmental health#Youtube
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Miko, High Five, and the Etherian "Glitch"
This is set after season 2 of Glitch Techs and after season 5 of She-Ra. After the first mention, High Five is referred to as “Five.” I never thought I could write over 7,000 words in this story, but somehow, I was able to! I hope you enjoy it, and yes, comments (and suggestions for improvement) are welcome. I rated this Teen and Up because the story is basically a YA story, due to some accidental nudity, cursing, and some other stuff, ha.
Romantic pairings: Miko/Zahra, Entrapta/Hordak, Adora/Catra, Castaspella/Juliet, Ridley/Wrong Hordak, Bow/Glimmer,
Friendships: Ridley & Entrapta, Miko & High Five, Adora & Bow & Catra & Glimmer
Words: 7.4k
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27825937
Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/1254522917-miko-high-five-and-the-etherian-glitch
Characters: Ridley, Miko Kubota, High Five, Phil Altiere, Haneesh, Adora, Catra, Bow, Hordak, Wrong Hordak, Castaspella, Juliet, Entrapta
Summary: Miko and Five have wild adventures on Earth fighting glitches and are alone, this time, on a mission. Getting an alert that something is wrong, a glowing blue inter-dimensional portal sucks them across the plains of spacetime to another world which is thousands, if not millions of light-years across the cosmos. Their high-tech gloves don’t work, and they find a surprising guest who almost destroyed the headquarters of Hinobi not that long ago. How will they survive in this new world full of magic, futuristic technology, and princesses who are in love with each other? Only time will tell how much they can adapt to this world and make new friendships, making the best of a unique situation.
It was like any other day as a glitch tech for Hinobi. For the first time in a while, Miko Kubota and High Five, who went by Hector Nieves in more formal settings, were on a solo mission. Neither Zahra, Haneesh, or their rival-of-sorts, Mitch, would be joining them. The glove-like gauntlets of Miko and High Five beeped simultaneously, belting it out the warning:
“Unknown anomaly detected. Please…”
The message cut off and began scrambling the words that came next, which recommended that they “take appropriate measures.” Miko and Five cautiously exited their van, scanning the area for any glitches. They were both puzzled. Miko vented her frustration as she stamped her foot on the ground repeatedly.
“What in the world?...There’re no glitches here. Probably these dumbass gloves aren’t working correctly, AGAIN.”
Five concurred. Both were walking toward their van when some unknown force pulled them in. In desperation, Miko and Five fired energy blasts from their high-tech gloves. Miko thought that they could handle this problem on their own, while the situation scared Five. He put out a call to headquarters. Unfortunately, only the words “we need” reached the Hinobi headquarters. Their boss Phil Altiere, on duty, eating a messy pizza for lunch. Phil saw Five’s message as routine and ignored it.
The bluish glow enveloped Miko and Five, who lowered their gloves and accepted their fate. They wrapped their arms around each other for support. Both were transported thousands, if not millions, of light-years away across the rocky plains of spacetime to a magical world littered with futuristic technology and inhabited by genderfluid elemental princesses.
The interdimensional portal threw Five and Miko into the air. Instead of hitting the metal platform below, the prehensile lilac-colored hair of a middle-aged woman snarled them from either certain death or extreme injury. She proceeded to place them both on a soft, and plush, couch, almost like she had been expecting them to arrive through the portal. With a big grin on her face, she presented herself to these confused visitors.
“Hey, fellow travelers! I’m Entrapta! You can call me Apta, E, or just Entrapta.”
As Miko and Five continued to be perplexed at what had been through, Entrapta kept talking. She then loudly declared, “welcome to…Etheria!” While they appreciated that she was friendly, bubbly, and had greeted them affectionately, neither trusted her. They stepped off the couch and raised their gloves toward her, demanding that she release them.
“Thanks for welcoming us, but we’d like to go back NOW!” Miko shouted.
Five followed this up, saying, “yeah, ditto what Miko said. Give it up, lady!”
Cowering in fear, Entrapta accepted her death until a cackle pierced the room, which had become still. Miko knew she recognized it from somewhere but couldn’t place it. A geeky teen with huge round glasses and auburn hair stepped out of the shadows. She stood in front of Entrapta, protecting her from any harm. She spoke to them both.
“You two think those fancy gadgets of yours will work? Ha! Jokes on you. That stuff doesn’t work on this world.”
Miko expressed her astonishment at seeing her former friend, a skilled hacker, again, after they had been apart for so long. Still processing it, her words came out somewhat jumbled:
“Ridley…here…now?”
She nodded in response.
While Five was skeptical of Ridley’s claims about their high-tech gloves, Miko thought that she might be right. Turning her glove away from Entrapta, she aimed it at the wall. She pressed a button and covered her eyes. Her gadget belted out words which confirmed what Ridley had told her and Five only a few minutes earlier:
“Error. Device Inoperable. Error.”
Five sighed. He remained wary of this woman who called herself Entrapta and even more so of Ridley after what she had done at Hinobi headquarters. He tried out his glove in the same way. It gave him the same message, which completely baffled him. His face flushed a little. He feared that Miko would interpret his actions as meaning that he didn’t believe her, so he spurted out something to throw off any possible “suspicion”:
“We are totally fine, partner! Everything will be ok!”
His words, followed by finger bangs, confused Miko to no end. Not only did she have no idea what he meant, but the word “partner” made her nervous. She remembered that Zahra, about 17-years-old, had wanted her to explain what type of partner Five was to her, with the implication of possible romantic affection between them. She found such a thought absurd. Her and Five as lovers? They were friends, and nothing more, plain, and simple. She wondered if Five thought the same way about her and if Zahra had a crush on him.
She reached out for Five and patted him on the back. She tried to reassure him that everything would be fine, despite the circumstances both found themselves in.
“Yeah, it will…bud.”
She breathed deeply and then explained the next part in a soft voice.
“We are going to be here for a while, so let’s take it all in…then, we can go home.”
Entrapta saw it all differently. She carefully placed Miko and Five on the couch. When both had pointed their high-tech gloves at her, she thought it was all over. She remained forever thankful of Ridley for protecting her. While Miko and Five were unsure what to think of her, but she also remained wary of them. Just as she began to open her mouth, Ridley piped in. She rolled her eyes, declaring that she had been right all along.
“Ha! I told you both. I’ll take you…”
Entrapta abruptly interrupted her and produced an excuse to pull Miko and Five away.
“Rid-ley, it's ok. I’ll take them around with my…uh…partner. You can join us later if you want.”
Ridley nodded. While she wanted to go around with Five and Miko, she thought that Entrapta would be better suited to take them across the planet, and she had some technology tinkering to do. Entrapta had become her good friend. At first, Entrapta saw her with intense interest when she accidentally arrived in Etheria because of one of an experiment gone wrong. At the time, she desperately tried to go back, but Entrapta had calmed her down. Over time they became good friends, and Ridley appreciated Entrapta's partner. In her former world, Hordak would have been described as Entrapta’s boyfriend. People on Etheria used terms like “partner,” “lover,” or any word which would accurately describe a relationship between two or beings of any gender. She had an attraction toward technology, and she loved tinkering with it, as did Entrapta.
Ridley winked at Entrapta and waved to Miko and Five as they left the laboratory in Dryl. Entrapta had moved back there after the Fright Zone had become overgrown with plants following the defeat of Horde Prime and the Horde as a whole by Catra and Adora, and the rest of the Rebellion. Entrapta brought Miko and Five close and spoke to them with a whisper.
“Would you two like to be surprised?”
Miko and Five, seeing the drab conditions of Dryl, hoped that the surprise would be better than where they currently were, underground in a laboratory.
Although Entrapta had Swift Wind on speed dial, she did not like him much. She saw him as extremely annoying as a being usually couldn't speak its mind in the same language as a person like her. She preferred her now-lifelong partner, Hordak. Some, like Adora, Glimmer, and Bow, accepted her newfound relationship, while others, such as Mica, Mermista, and Frosta, were skeptical because Hordak committed countless crimes as the commander of the Horde. No matter what they thought, he had committed himself to her. Every day, he tried to make up for his past actions which had maimed, killed or destroyed the lives of countless others. She-Ra had removed his evilness, but the memories of what he did continued to haunt him every day. He experienced trauma, just as Catra and Adora did, along with most, if not all, of those involved in the fight against the Horde.
To get to the surface, all three traveled through a huge pneumatic tube like a bullet screaming out of a rifle, which scared the willies out of Miko and Five, but Entrapta enjoyed it intensely. Still recovering from that experience, Entrapta covered their eyes. She ripped off a camouflage cloth which had concealed a huge spaceship from any onlookers. When she saw Hordak sleeping inside, it made her uneasy. He was supposed to be in the Fright Zone with other Hordaks from the Velvet Glove, dismantling it so that the area could be put to better use, part of the rehabilitation of the planet. This would include constructing homes for Scorpia and her people, who had been forced from their land by the Horde years ago. She quickly removed her hair from the eyes of Miko and Five, then reformed her hair into a hand that pointed to the ship’s cockpit. She went ahead and the words, “…and that’s my partner, Hordak,” followed.
Five grinned while Miko looked at the ship with glee.
“This is mega cool. It’s like something I’d see in a video game.”
Entrapta responded with complete bewilderment, saying, “video…game?” Miko then patted her on the back and softly spoke in her air. She told her that she would explain it later.
In what seemed like seconds, they entered the gigantic grayish ship, which Entrapta affectionately named “Darla.” She happily showed them around the controls. The ship had once belonged to the earlier She-Ra, Mara. Every time she was inside, the craft’s technological capabilities fascinated her. Pulling a lever, the craft tilted upward and sped ahead at a supersonic rate. Miko and Five gazed out the window, completely terrified, while Entrapta enjoyed herself, happily chuckling, while she cuddled Hordak. The heads of Miko and Five spinning, the ship touched down outside Bright Moon, which sparkled in the sunlight. Stepping outside, Miko stared in awe at the castle and its surroundings, forgetting about the time in the spacecraft which had brought them there. As all four of them walked up to the castle, her eyes wide with excitement, she jabbed Five in the side and chattered to him about a game she had played years ago.
“Hey, doesn’t this remind you of Magical Princess Castle Adventure: Moon Capture? It’s almost like someone came here and copied this castle exactly!”
Five bowed his head in agreement and had a slight smile. He never played the game but did not want to admit it. Instead, he lied, declaring “yeah, I remember that one…it was hella cool…you know, it had…that castle.” She wanted to talk to him more about the video game, but that would not happen. Two Bright Moon guards at the base of the Moonstone spire, stopped them in their tracks. They demanded to know their business in the kingdom, serving as the de facto center of the planet which helped the populace of Bright Moon and the other six kingdoms on Etheria. Rumors had circulated that the Princesses had delegated more of their power to the population and only served in truly ceremonial roles, other than fighting off possible threats and helping to rebuild the world after the destruction wrought in the fight with the Horde. But the reality of the situation was different.
“Who are you and why are you here?”
Entrapta let out a cackle, picking up the guards with her hair, and threw them into the water nearby. The guards gazed up at her and recognized her at once. They bowed, even as their clothes were completely soaked, and said softly, “you may proceed, Princess Entrapta. Sorry for the inconvenience. You and your guests are welcome here.” Entrapta glowered at them for impeding her travel to Castle Bright Moon and for calling her a “princess.” She hated that word and all the royal trappings associated with it. As they continued across the causeway, a familiar face greeted them. He mentioned toward them and told them to come inside. His curly brown hair in an afro buzz captivated Miko, while his medium brown skin sparkled from the light bouncing off the Moonstone and surrounding water. Walking them through the castle’s hallways, he gleefully introduced himself to Miko and Five.
“Hi, I’m Bow. What’s your names? I’ve never seen either of you…ever before…And what’s up with those clothes?” he said, pointing to their Hinobi uniforms.
Five wanted to explain everything, but Miko beat him to the punch. She cleared her throat and began telling him what had occurred. “So, we work for a company that gets rid of video game glitches which manifest in real life and we were pulled into this blue portal thing, which brought us to this planet…and so yeah, that’s basically it, man.” Bow acted like he knew what they meant, even though what they told him did not make a lick of sense even to someone as smart as him. Even so, he recognized that their current outfits would lead to a lot of unnecessary questions. He pointed them to a spare room and recommended they change into something more comfortable.
One at a time, they entered the room, changing into their normal clothing. For Miko, this was a black tank top covered with a yellow t-shirt with a cat in the middle, a blue hoodie about her waist, black tights, red-and-white socks, an orange wristband, and blue sneakers, all of which were somehow stored in her high-tech glove. Five, in contrast, wore a green t-shirt, with a game controller in the middle, atop a black undershirt, grey pants, and sneakers with light and dark grey parts. After both had changed, Bow chuckled and shook his head, remarking, “well, this should be fun.” He banged his hand on the door in the hallway which had “Catradora room” in beautifully written script taped on a piece of paper. A message below it, written in the same handwriting, stated “Knock before entering…if you dare.” He heard a voice shout back “come in!” Bow gingerly opened the door. Entrapta, Hordak, Miko, and Five all came in at the same time. Catra, Adora, and Glimmer were playing a game. If Miko and Five had played it in the human world, it would have been called “Spoons.” On Etheria, people called it “Sparkle” because all the items you had to grab during the game “sparkled” in the light. All three were caught off guard not by Entrapta or Hordak, who they had seen from time to time after the defeat of Horde Prime a few months prior, but by Miko and Five. Glimmer looked at Miko’s hair with amazement. She had never seen someone who had such long purple hair with pink tips. It somewhat resembled her hair, pastel pink on top and sparkling purple underneath, but was different. Similarly, Adora loved the color of Five’s puffy hair which had a galaxy purple hue. Catra adored the cute black winking cat on Miko’s shirt, which had one eye open and the other closed.
To break the ice, Adora giggled, and turned to Miko and Five, proclaiming, “you wanna see something cool?” Catra shook her head, muttering under her breath. She knew exactly what Adora had planned when she summoned a giant sword that had a golden hilt, a turquoise-colored opal, and a light blue blade. She shouted, “for the honor of gayskull!” and transformed into an eight-foot-tall warrior who radiated across the room. While this impressed Five, Miko became entranced, with the feeling that she was staring at a goddess from a video game.
Catra inched closer to Adora, now in the form of She-Ra, whispered that she had said “gayskull,” not “greyskull.” Her cheeks turned a rosy red, as she nervously tried to defend herself. In the process, she tripped and fell backward. Catra rushed in to catch her, but Miko happened to be there, causing Adora to fall into her arms. She chuckled uneasily and set Adora, who came back to her normal self, onto the ground while admiring her. Still somewhat flustered, Adora explained everything, preempting any questions from Miko or Five.
“Hold your questions…let me explain what happened. This sword changed me into a magical warrior named She-Ra who is set to fight evil, I guess…it all started when I found the sword in the Whispering Woods…and the rest is history…The last time I transformed…”
Catra cut her off and continued the thought. “…was when we kissed each other. We had to, in order to save everyone...and everything, ya know.”
Affectionately, Miko looked at them both with big eyes, adding, “Aw. So, love that saved the world…or universe…or whatever?”
Apprehensive, Catra started to say “well, I wouldn’t call it that…,” Adora jumped in and said, “yes! That’s exactly what it!” Catra moaned, not liking to be as open about her feelings. Even so, she accepted Adora’s explanation, since she knew that she had told the story correctly, although she did not like making their relationship that public. Since the fall of the Horde and the beginning of de-Hordeification on Etheria, they had enjoyed each other’s company, going on occasional frolics through the Whispering Woods and other parts of the planet. Sometimes when they passed nearby a town, Adora would shout the loudest she could “I LOVE MY CAT GIRLFRIEND! SHE’S CATRIFIC!,” humiliating Catra every time.
While Catra and Adora chattered away, Entrapta sat in the corner furiously taking notes with Hordak beside her. It would serve as the beginning to her new story, which she titled “Catra, Adora, and fangs of love.” Although she continued to work on her social skills, she did not mind watching social interactions from afar and poured herself into these silly stories she came up with, often on the spot. She then planned to distribute them in book format to all those across the planet, even as she continued to determine how she would complete this goal.
Adora saw that Catra was uncomfortable, so she quickly thought up something to “solve” the situation. She also wanted to know their new guests better. Catra, on the other hand, remained wary of Miko and Five, something that she and Entrapta could agree on, despite their outgoing nature. She suggested traveling to Mystacor, an idea that made Catra roll her eyes. Adora inched closer to Catra and spoke softly in her ear, “it’s ok, CAT-RA. It will be fine. You can trust me.” Adora’s words calmed her down and she agreed to follow along, surprising Bow and Glimmer at the quickness of her concurrence with Adora’s judgment.
In what seemed like an instant later, Adora, Catra, Glimmer, and Bow crammed into Darla, grumbling as they did so. Unlike the previous time, Miko and Five found seats, as did Hordak. Once everyone had come inside, she shouted, “Is everyone ready?...LET’S GO!” They nodded in agreement and she pressed a button, throttling the craft forward at a breakneck pace. As Catra shrieked, Adora comforted her, while an exasperated Five bellowed: “Oh Nerds!” No one understood his catchphrase and looked at him, perplexed. But Miko knew. She patted him on the back, murmuring to him, “it’s ok, Cap. I get you.”
The ship lurched to a sudden stop, with everyone, apart from Entrapta and Hordak, thrown forward. Sheepishly, Entrapta apologized, while pressing a button which opened the landing ramp. Annoyed and complaining about their journey, these thoughts soon faded away. They saw General Juliet and Castaspella, called Casta or Aunt Casta for short, who greeted them with open arms. Glimmer embraced these two lovers as did Adora, while Bow, Catra, Miko, and Five stood at the side. After their hugging ended, Casta walked with a pep in her step toward Miko and Five, excited to see new people. Even though she had become accustomed to Glimmer’s purple and pink hair, originally detesting the colors, Miko’s purple hair with pink tips left her spellbound like nothing else, with her eyes open wide with wonder.
All of them walked together across Mystacor, visiting the sites, whether the steam grottos, the cloud beaches, or any other areas of relaxation. Hordak and Entrapta stayed by the ship, tinkering with technology. This is because Casta had not warmed up to Hordak yet. Even seeing him haunted her with the awful deeds the Horde had committed across Etheria and remembering the time she saw Hordak as a little girl attacking sorcerers. She could not forgive him for his war crimes. He had atoned in some ways. But no trial had occurred, not for him nor for anyone formerly part of the Horde. With the defeat of the Horde, the Princess Alliance had become defunct, as had the Rebellion. It had become part of a new amalgamation that had named itself the Royal Authority Group or RAG. Afterward, a “truth and reconciliation” approach had been adopted, meaning that a commission to discover and reveal wrongdoing by the Horde in hope of resolving any remaining conflict had been created. This proposal had caused much division. While Entrapta, Adora, Catra, Glimmer, Scorpia, Swift Wind, Huntara, Micah, and Perfuma favored this approach, Mermista, Frosta, Casta, Netossa, and Spinnerella did not. Neither did General Juliet and Sea Hawk. This meant that the proposal for truth and reconciliation passed 9-7, with Melog, Emily, and Wrong Hordak as non-voting members.
Although Entrapta could have easily walked around Mystacor, bringing Hordak into the mix could have engendered further tensions, so she stayed by her ship with her partner, while some of the citizenry snarled. They were not ready to accept members of an organization that had destroyed so much of the planet and almost destroyed Mystacor itself, although the latter had been Shadow Weaver's doing, not the Horde. Catra and Entrapta were treated differently because Entrapta continued to develop technical systems that interconnected each of the kingdoms, working to undo the damage she had done. As for Catra, she remained Adora’s girlfriend and tried to do some of the same, working to make the planet a better place. Some held resentments against both, but more against Hordak and the Horde as a general entity.
Miko and Five relaxed in the steam grotto alongside Glimmer and Bow, while Catra and Adora were nearby, in their own grotto together. Casta and Juliet had gone off to the main chambers of the former citadel and current center of Mystacor. Even in all the time Miko and Five had spent on Earth, nothing could compare to this experience. Miko began posing a series of questions to Glimmer as she remained enthralled by this entire world.
“So, like can you use magic? I mean, Adora showed us her transformation into She-Ra earlier.”
Glimmer chuckled. “Yeah, I can and I’m AWESOME at it! Wanna see?” Bow shook his head and hoped she wouldn’t show off her magic to a stranger. He tried to warn her not to and that something bad would ensue. She didn’t listen to his advice. Stepping out of the steam grotto and overconfident, her towel snagged on a rock and pulled off her body. She teleported nearby and stood in front of them, shouting “ta-da!” Miko acknowledged her, then looked at her in horror. Not even 16, the same age as Five, she had never seen a nude female body other than her own. Catra guffawed while Bow shook his head once more, while Adora hollered loudly. “Glimmer, YOU’RE NAKED! Get some damn clothes on!” Scrambling, Glimmer rushed to cover herself, nervous to expose herself in front of strangers. She then began muttering a response as she slunk back into the grotto with Bow.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen…I apologize for anything…”
Miko interrupted her. “…I just had never seen someone without clothes on…it was kinda a bit of a shock to be honest.” Glimmer began crying and continued. “Again, I’m sorry…” About to say something more, Catra interjected with her thoughts. “Sparkles, you don’t need to worry about it…I’ve seen Adora naked a bunch of times and it doesn’t bother me. You should be comfortable with your body.” Glimmer agreed and wiped the tears off her face. For Bow, however, Catra’s comment got him thinking. He then had a realization: had Catra and Adora done the “dirty deed”?
“Uh, Catra, you’ve seen Adora naked? Like when? And what did you do?...did you do the…”
Adora, whose cheeks became as red as a stoplight, struggled to find words to respond to Bow. She did not expect such a question. She was, secretly, a little angry at Catra for mentioning it, although she couldn’t blame her. Waving her arms wildly she tried to set the record straight about their relations, even though it wouldn't clarify anything.
“It…was nothing! We sleep together from time to time…and cuddle…none of that dirty stuff…we aren’t about that thing…all people who love each other do these things, right?”
Bow, just as uncomfortable, did not know what to say, so he accepted her response, although it seemed like a form of evasion. Catra, for her part, did not want to undermine Adora, even as it annoyed her that Adora had downplayed their relationship. As they chattered away, Casta came running toward them, telling them that lunch was about to be served in the former citadel. With everyone acknowledging her, she returned to prepare the table for the meal. Complaining profusely, each person put their clothes back on after drying themselves off with the complimentary towels. They did so in such a way that no one would be uncomfortable at seeing someone else naked in front of them.
A short time later, Adora, Bow, Catra, Glimmer, Miko, and Five all gathered around a medium-sized dining room table, with Casta and Juliet sitting at opposite ends like they were at the “heads” of the table. Each of them ate happily, devouring the food in front of them. Everyone was so caught up in eating, that no conversation ensued. Just as soon as Casta wanted to begin talking about something, she looked up and everyone had left, going their separate ways. Juliet sighed and moved closer to Casta, as magic assistants took away the dishes so they could be cleaned using various spells. She tried to be as frank as she could.
“Those kids. I really wanted to ask them some more questions, especially that girl and guy…I have never seen them around here.”
Casta silently agreed. Awkwardly cracking a smile, she gave her observations.
“Glimmer has grown up so much from the last time I saw her…and that boy, Bow, is nice too. I’m still coming around to Catra…but I am glad that Adora has someone who loves her…she needs that after everything she is been through…and…I’m glad we have each other.”
Juliet’s caramel tan cheeks turned a lighter brown, jesting Casta, shouting, as she tickled her, “Oh, stop that, you!” Giggling a little, she leaned in closer, and told Casta in a soft voice, “I’m glad we are both here, together…we can enjoy our lives now that the war has ended.”
Glimmer, Bow, Catra, Adora, Miko, and Five all hid behind the double-doors leading into the room, watching this all unfold. Bow only went along with this plan because he felt obligated to so, like Five. Even so, neither left, even though this sort of spying wasn’t their style. Catra, Glimmer, Adora, and Miko were like giddy schoolgirls, watching this unfold, liking the intrigue. Then, something changed. The faces of Juliet and Casta came closer together and their lips met. Glimmer’s face went from its usual tan appearance to a darker skin tone. The doors flew open, and she tumbled onto the ground, as did Adora, Catra, and Miko, as the human pyramid which all of them constructed came crumbling down. Casta and Juliet looked at all five of them with interest, then burst out laughing. Both came over to Glimmer, who stared into space and mortified that her aunt would be kissing someone in front of her friends. Casta spoke to her.
“Oh, so you were watching us through that doorway, were you now? You could have just asked if we were together…instead of hiding, Glimmer.”
Stuttering a little, Glimmer inched forward while the rest of her compatriots remained on the ground. “I-I-I just didn’t think you…were…like that, Aunt Casta.”
She let out a hearty chuckle. “Oh, Glimmer, I’m so much more than you could ever imagine…I can love people too, you know…”
Glimmer’s face flushed with blood and warmer than usual. She continued to attempt a cogent argument but stumbled over her own words repeatedly, even stuttering a little. “I-it-s just embarrassing with all these guests here…”
Seeing that the emotional state of her niece in shambles, she began to open her mouth to say something. Suddenly, Adora interceded. “So, Castaspella, how you’d both get together…Mystacor isn’t near Bright Moon…so how’d this beautiful romance begin?”
After getting permission from Casta, Juliet answered the question instead. Clearing her throat, she began the story. “Well, in the aftermath of the Horde Prime’s defeat, there was a big feast in Bright Moon. She came there on business and I heard about a dance party...”
The sounds of their voices faded away as Casta, Juliet, and Adora chattered away. Catra tried to slip away, but Adora held her arm tightly. She rolled her eyes. She agreed to stay only because she loved Adora and didn't want to disappoint her. Somehow, Miko, Five, Glimmer, and Bow left, with Glimmer relieved. Soon thereafter, her mind became filled with images of Juliet and Casta smooching each other over and over in the most sexual way possible, while wearing skimpy outfits. She began yelling, running away the fastest speed she could muster. Bow cried out, shouting “wait, Glimmer, wait!” but she ignored his pleas. Having been to Mystacor in the past, he guessed where she would be. Prior to searching for her, he checked to ensure that Miko and Five were ok with coming along.
“So do you both want to join me in this search…or chase I guess…for my girlfriend…I mean partner…or go to Entrapta and her partner?…either one works for me.”
Miko answered in the affirmative. “Yeah, sure, that’s fine with me, how about you, Five?”
He whispered back, “whatever…anything to get away from that PDA in the dining room…I’m just not there with my love life.”
As they walked slowly to Glimmer’s secret hiding place, somewhere that only Bow knew about, he raised his eyebrows. He had no idea what this “PDA” thing meant…
“PDA…what’s that?”
Miko giggled a little, saying in a soft voice, “personal display of affection.”
Bow understood. He didn’t see it as a negative thing. He told them casually, “oh yeah, Glimmer and I express our personal affections, as you call it, for each other all the time, although we aren’t as direct as her Auntie and Juliet were in that room…all the time.”
Despite the fact she had expressed interest in how Adora and Catra had gotten together, his response horrified Miko. She moved her head from side to side, only speaking one word “…right” with a heavy dose of sarcasm in an attempt to push it off. There were many possible reasons for this response. For years upon years, she had channeled many of her emotions into video games, and perhaps the prospect of someone loving her like that scared her, as she saw everyone as friends, not potential romantic partners, or people to have crushes on.
Bow, Miko, and Five had finally reached their destination: Aunt Casta’s private library and study. Glimmer had come here many times in the past, bored by the antics between her late mom and Casta. She had come there as a solace, to calm herself down after seeing Casta and Juliet smooching, giving her visions which, she never wanted to see. Standing by the door, Bow saw Glimmer meditating near the stacks, sitting near the wide and he approached carefully, then announced himself so his presence wouldn’t surprise her.
“Glimmer, are you ok? I came here to make sure you are fine and all…we can leave now if you’d like…there’s no reason to see Juliet or Casta again.”
Breathing deeply, she rushed over to Bow and hugged him. Tears began streaming down her face. He put his arms around her as well and gave her a peck on the head, with her cheeks becoming warm, turning a little darker in its complexion. Together, and holding hands, Glimmer and Bow left this secret hiding place and headed back to the ship, with Miko and Five in tow. Their visit in Mystacor had come to an end, none too soon for Glimmer.
Sometime later, they came to a nearby area which served as a makeshift landing pad for ships like the one that Hordak and Entrapta flew in across Etheria. Other ships were currently being constructed from old Horde technology in order to create free air travel from place to place, with Mystacor serving as one of the future hubs of such travelers. Some people who had formerly been Horde soldiers were part of the construction, while a truth and reconciliation commission, for all the crimes committed by the Horde, continued. The records of each proceeding were recorded by hand by a robotic scribe, along with video and audio files through various devices put in place by Bow. Each of these records would be deposited in an archives under construction in Bright Moon, thought to be the center of Etheria itself. While the specifics of who would work in the archives had not been fully determined, it appeared that George and Lance would offer their services in a support role as historians and collectors of information, along with Bow, assisting archivists working at the facility. The records from the family library curated by George and Lance would likely form part of the collection, as would accounts of battles against the Horde, oral history interviews, and transcripts from the commission. Unlike a library, however, the records would not be organized by subject matter or by topic. Rather, they would be kept in the original order set by the person or organization who had created the record in the first place, with these records assembled in a hierarchical fashion. Each collection of records became a record group, then subdivided into series and files, with the records arranged so they could be useful and accessible, with original order occasionally disregarded if the archivists deemed it necessary. This all happened after archival appraisal of the records themselves had occurred. The records could be of any form, whether paper, digital or moving pictures. Most were paper because Etheria did not have an internet. Currently, a pilot intranet program named Aptanet, a system created by Entrapta, only remained available within some of the kingdoms. As the archives was only in its first stages, no records schedules had been established. Perhaps, in the future that would be added as a way to ensure that records were processed efficiently and effectively, allowing for access to all the records by Etherian citizens, no matter the kingdom they resided, accompanied by the appropriate description and necessary other archival tasks.
On the landing pad, or what appeared to be one, Entrapta and Hordak sat outside the ship, with Catra and Adora nearby. They happily greeted an approaching Miko, Five, Glimmer, and Bow, with grins on their faces. No one discussed Casta and Juliet smooching, even though they all saw it, apart from Entrapta and Hordak, as they just played a game of Rummy, named Ethumy on this planet for some unknown reason. Both enjoyed each other’s company. Everyone quickly filed inside. Soon thereafter Entrapta, while holding Hordak’s hand tightly, bellowed, “get, ready, set….GO!...” Darla flew forward at an incredible velocity, even quicker than previously, causing Miko to shriek like she had the last time, with Five comforting her. At the same time, Bow, Glimmer, Adora, and Catra were a little terrified but were able to get through it as they all hugged each other so that no one would be alone.
Without warning, the ship came to a stop near Bright Moon, hovering in the air. Since Entrapta didn’t see a safe place to land Darla, this seemed like the only safe option. Glimmer griped but knew what she had to do. She grabbed the arms of Adora, Catra, and Bow, readying themselves to wish the unexpected guests on Etheria goodbye. Miko stopped Glimmer in her tracks with a “wonderful idea”: taking a selfie with her newfound friends, so she could have something to remember them by. Bow, Glimmer, Catra, and Adora agreed, even though they had never taken a selfie. Five decided to join in too. All five of them squeezed together, cheery, and having a jolly time. After they were finished, Bow took out his tracker pad. It resembled what Miko and Five would call a tablet in their world. He set a timer, and all five of them moved to the other side of the craft, beamed, and the tracker pad snapped a picture. Before leaving, Bow checked the picture and satisfied with it, whispered to Glimmer, “ok, let’s go.” Glimmer, Bow, Adora, and Catra all said their goodbyes. Then, they disappeared into thin air, teleporting into the halls of the Bright Moon Castle.
Miko and Five were sad to see their new friends leave but knew they had to get back to Earth, since their families and lives were there. Darla expeditiously reached Dryl, touching down in the courtyard, on top of a pad that Entrapta had designed. She quickly motioned them to leave the ship, which she covered with a net that made it invisible so Darla wouldn’t be stolen. She snickered and turned to them, saying “pretty neat, huh?” Miko and Five nodded their heads. Hordak decided to come down to the laboratory with them this time. He firmly clasped Entrapta’s right hand. All four of them descended underground in an elevator, which Entrapta, of course, had installed. Ridley, still distracted by some former Horde technology, which she loved tinkering with, waved nonchalantly in their direction. She remarked, “oh, you all are back. That’s nice.” Miko approached her and asked, “Ridley, are you sure you don’t want to come with us?...back to Earth?” Ridley let out a loud belly-laugh. “Go back? Ha! I’d never go back to that wretched planet. I can start anew here without all that baggage. I can work with cool technology that no one on Earth would ever dream about.” She followed this, adding, “yeah and there's no cops who want to bust me here.” She then blushed a little, her cheeks becoming as red as ripe strawberries, followed by the words, “and…I have a boyfriend.” These words took Miko aback. She never expected Ridley, of all people, to be the romantic type. Puzzled, she decided to probe a little more with her questioning. “WHO!?” Ridley pointed to Wrong Hordak, standing nearby, and working on the same project as her. Sheepishly, she replied, “I call him WH for Wrong Hordak, a name some people gave him in the past, and he likes that.” She bellowed across the room, “Hey, WH, say hello to our guests, Miko and Five!” WH spun about, smiled, and gave them a thumbs-up. Neither Miko nor Five knew what to make of this gesture, so they nervously grinned back.
Somehow, during their brief time on Etheria, the portal remained open. Since it hadn’t acted as wildly as the one Catra had opened all that time ago, items from Etheria were not pulled inside. Entrapta shook their hands, as did Hordak, both wishing them well. WH and Ridley did the same. Prior to stepping through the portal and returning to Earth, Entrapta handed Miko a pen with her name engraved in the side. She bowed her head and said in a soft voice that it would be her present to them. Miko and Five, about to step inside the portal, gave their farewells. Miko spoke first. “Bye Entrapta, Hordak, WH, and Ridley…it was a pleasure meeting all of you, some for the first time and others…again.” Five followed this up by saying, “I hope to see you all sometime soon.” Both bowed and turned their backs, saying one line in unison: “Just in case I don’t see you, good morning, good evening, and good night!” As they entered the portal, Miko and Five were sent through the plains of spacetime at an alarming rate that it would have boggled their minds to stop and think about it. Before they knew it, the portal spit them out onto the asphalt pavement, right next to their van. Seconds later, Haneesh and Zahra came running toward them. Zahra sat down on the road's surface and came to Miko’s side, then spoke to both of them. “Hey, Miko…and Five, are you ok?”
Both nodded their heads, giving her the sign that they were fine. Zahra moved in and gave Miko a peck on the cheek as a friendly greeting. Remembering what she had seen that day, between the head kiss by Bow on Glimmer’s forehead, the intense kiss between Juliet and Casta, and description of Catra and Adora’s kiss, Entrapta and Hordak holding hands, she immediately thought that this kiss meant that Zahra loved her romantically. In fact, it was a custom for those in the Arab world, especially among Muslims like Zahra, to kiss friends and family on the cheek as a greeting. Whether Zahra had feelings for Miko remained to be seen, although she likely did. Miko scrambled up from the ground, still in a bit of pain, and somehow sprinted into the distance, her face becoming warmer and warmer, the more she thought about the interaction. Five shook his head, while Zahra had no idea what had riled up Miko so much, and neither did Haneesh. She explained to Five that a cheek kiss was a tradition to greet people. Five told her, “yeah I think she knows that, but that’s not what this is about.” He paused. “I’ll tell you about it later when we make a report to Hinobi about our…unusual experience today.” That satisfied Zahra and Haneesh, who got back in the van to chase down Miko, so they could all go back to headquarters together.
All four of them reached headquarters, with Five and Miko explaining their story to their boss, Phil, who thought that they had lost it, as anyone who heard their wild story would think. He told them to turn in their high-tech gloves and to go home for the rest of the day to clear their heads. Off in a huff, Miko and Five returned to their respective homes. Haneesh and Zahra hadn’t heard the story about their day yet, but they would soon enough. Miko, exhausted from the day’s ordeal, laid down on her bed, putting the pen Entrapta gave her on a bedside table. She instantly fell asleep. As she rested, the pen transformed into a small robot that looked like a grasshopper. It cut a hole in the window screen and began scaling the side of the house, and soon reached the slate roof. Once there, the robot changed form once more and began emitting a high-frequency radio wave beam. This energy wave was so powerful that not even the most advanced satellites orbiting the Earth could pick it up. The beam barely reached a dormant beacon, which sent the message speedily onward from beacon to beacon through space, until it reached the one orbiting Etheria, which transmitted the message to the planet’s surface. Working late at night, as usual, the middle-aged woman heard a loud beeping noise from one of her monitors. Yawning, and drinking some home-brewed tea, the screens illuminated her face, revealing her to be none other than Entrapta. She walked toward the screen and snickered. “Good…everything is going according to plan.”
*****
Notes: I used pages for “Mara’s Ship,” “Glimmer,” “Juliet,” “Castaspella,” and “Bow” on the She-Ra fandom site, the “Miko,” “Zahra,” “Haneesh,” and “High Five” pages on the Glitch Techs fandom site. As I wanted to incorporate archives into this story, I summarized Samantha Thompson’s post, “How do archivists organize collections” (https://peelarchivesblog.com/2015/08/26/how-do-archivists-organize-collections/) and incorporated it into this story. As Stephanie Greenhut wrote in NARA’s Education Updates blog (https://education.blogs.archives.gov/2013/04/08/intro-to-national-archives/), for NARA, “archival records are filed in whatever system each contributing agency thought was best for their day to day business.” For this post, I used information from NARA’s Federal Records Management page (https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/scheduling/id, https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/scheduling/inventory-elements), the starting guide for Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (https://aad.archives.gov/aad/help/getting-started-guide.html). For the final part of the story about the cheek kiss by Zahra on Miko’s cheek, I used Lindsey Shapka’s article “To Kiss Or Not To Kiss? Your Guide To Cheek Kissing Etiquette” in The Anthrotorian, the Cheek kissing Wikipedia page, Julia Jahanpour’s “8 Ways the Arab Cheek Kiss Can Get Awkward,” “Greet Like a Local: Deciphering the Complicated Culture of Greetings” on EasyExpat.com, and Roger Friedland and Janet Afary’s “The Politics of a Kiss: Islam and Intimate Life in Turkey” in HuffPost. The line “Just in case I don’t see you, good morning, good evening, and good night!” is very close to the one in one of my favorite films. Anyone want to guess which one?
#spop fics#spop#glitch techs#glitch techs fics#libraries#magic#ptsd#trauma#yuri#romance#fanfics#fanfiction#read on ao3#ao3#wattpad#Castaliet#catradora#ashly burch#lgbtq#entrapta#ridley glitch techs
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SATELLITE Ch 4
SATELLITE
CHAPTER FOUR
Grammy Night
"Maggie just walked in." Jeff said, eyeing the door.
Harry turned to see her. She was beautiful. Maggie was always beautiful. She wore her hair back loosely and a simple black dress with some midriff and back baring cutouts. Sparkly heeled sandals. She tightly gripped a clutch. He saw her pull her face into that tight public smile. Dear God she was so painfully thin.
Guests at the party greeted her. The pearly white smile got bigger and tighter. She was so visibly uncomfortable. Maybe not to the world but Harry could see it. He almost regretted inviting her. Was she okay? Was this causing her upset or discomfort?
He crossed the room and everyone around them scattered. He offered her a smile and she relaxed into her genuine Maggie smile. Her hands loosened up around the clutch.
Harry took a chance and leaned in. He kissed her cheek. "Thank you. This means a lot to me."
She squeezed his arm. "You deserve it all. Thanks for including me."
He surprised them both when he grabbed her into a hug. He breathed in the clean scent of her hair and kissed her cheek again. He lingered longer than he should but not as long as he wanted. When he pulled back he said the only thing he could think of, "Drink?"
Maggie nodded. She needed a drink. A big vodka to swim in so she wasn't thinking so hard about all of this.
Harry took her hand and led her to the large bar. Just that simple gesture could have melted her. Except now Maggie found it hard to feel much these days. Her work wasn't just acting. Her life felt like an acting job. Just act like everything is ok. For the moment she just tried to be here and to be present.
Harry ordered her a vodka with extra lime. Her first sip gave her such a rush that she leaned back into him. Without much thought Harry wrapped an arm around her waist. This is how they used to be. The new normal was they were officially ‘just friends’? Maggie was all about control and order. Being with Harry set her on edge. All of that carefully crafted control and order she liked so much was tossed out the window around him. She couldn’t trust herself to do what was in her best interest because part of her felt so invested in him. She knew logically she should cut all ties to Harry but there was a piece of her that just couldn’t let go. After all that had gone down between them she was still here. What would it take to finally sever things? She was afraid to know the answer. She was afraid of what it might do to her.
"Hello!" An excited British voice called out to Maggie. It was Sarah followed by Mitch.
Maggie's eyes popped open wide seeing Sarah so clearly pregnant. "Oh my God?! What is this baby bump?! How did I miss this while watching you tonight?!" She left Harry's side to hug Sarah.
"Because this guy is out flashing his tits in a leather suit. Who would notice me?" Sarah laughed.
"Hey now." Harry pretended to be offended. Sarah and Maggie hardly gave him a glance once they started talking baby.
Mitch grabbed a drink at the bar next to Harry. "Is she ok?" He whispered and nodded toward Maggie.
Harry could only shrug. He didn't know. He knew in this light she looked gaunt. Not even the makeup could hide that.
"I have to be fed. I'm starving - all the time." Sarah announced.
The words cut through Maggie. Her face flushed. Sarah knew it was a poor choice of words immediately. Maggie clearly had something going on with her.
Mitch saved her from the awkwardness. "C'mon. Let's get that situation handled. Maggie it was really good to see you." He squeezed her arm.
"Congratulations on, on - everything! " Then a giant sip of the cold vodka. She needed a buzz.
When she turned to look at Harry he looked concerned. No. This would not do. This was his night. She tipped her head back and poured the rest of the vodka down her throat. People were dancing. She grabbed his hand.
"Don't be so serious, Styles. Let's have some fun."
They danced. They talked to friends. Maggie went to the ladies room at one point and he lost track of her. It was late and things were quieting down.
Finally he noticed people coming in from the terrace. The door opened and he got a glimpse of her.
Maggie looked out on Downtown LA. Would she ever stop loving it? Maybe LA was her longest relationship. When she left New York she never looked back. Los Angeles felt like home and a vacation all at once. The sun. The ocean. Her career allowed her to see the world and do amazing things. She was so thankful. Maggie knew she was fucking it all up right now. She knew eventually someone was going to say something. Her body would be addressed. It was always this body. This body was bad at 260 lbs. This body is bad at 101 lbs. What about a boob job? Too muscular. Too skinny. Too tall. Too short. Too young. Too old. Too pretty to take serious. Too serious for such a pretty girl. She couldn't keep up and she was losing control. All Maggie wanted was some control back in her life.
She dropped her clutch by her feet. She could feel herself leaning a little too far off the terrace rail. It dug uncomfortably into her bony rib cage. You could let it all go, she heard the words in her head. You could tumble head first into Downtown Los Angeles and it would all just be quiet.
She felt strong hands around her waist suddenly.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked, clearly panicked. His face was flushed. She was alarmingly leaning over the rail. So much so that only her tiptoes remained on the ground. He pulled her tight against him and took a few steps back from the edge.
Maggie came back to reality. "I was enjoying the view and I've had a lot to drink. " She brushed it off.
"You have to level with me. You aren't okay. You don't look like you are okay." He searched her eyes for the truth.
"Wow, thanks. Also, no complicated conversations. You promised me. I'm here because you wanted me to be and you made me a promise." She took a breath and looked away from him.
They were both still and silent for what felt like a long time. Harry picked up her bag and extended his hand to her. Maggie slipped her small, soft hand into his and followed him out.
They said their good nights to the guests remaining. Harry never let go of her. She started walking towards the lobby of the hotel. He gently redirected her to the elevators.
Maggie thought she should protest and insist on leaving. She didn't have the fight in her. Being next to him felt so comfortable. Walking into his room where she could take off her 'Maggie mask' and just be felt so good.
"I'll get drinks and snacks. " He said as he kicked off his shoes and took his jacket off.
Maggie sat back on the large leather sofa. She unbuckled her sandals and pulled her feet under her.
Harry appeared with two vodkas and a cheese plate. Maggie happily took the glass. She was unmoved by the cheese plate. She however grabbed a piece of cheese (swiss - the lowest calorie option) to keep Harry from asking any more questions.
A single cube of cheese. His stomach was in a knot. Didn't her sisters see this? Was anyone helping her? He put his glass down on the coffee table.
Maggie leaned against him. He put his arm around her shoulders. She felt him take a breath as if he was going to speak. She turned quickly and put her finger against his perfectly pink lips.
"Please don't. I don't want to overthink it. There is so much unsaid and nothing is going to change tonight. Let's just have this night. You deserve a good night." Maggie pressed her lips against his. They shared a soft kiss. She settled back in against him.
He knew she was right. He just wanted to savor this time with her. Amelia Mason was waiting for him in London. She was sleeping in his bed this very minute. Instead of trying to focus on whatever that was he was here with Maggie. Maybe they would never work or the time would never be right. He was so drawn to Maggie though. Harry wasn't ready to stop trying. She completed tonight for him. He would go back to hating himself for being a shit to Amelia later.
"Can I take you to bed?" Maggie nodded her approval. He gently pulled her up off the sofa with him. He planted a kiss on her forehead. Then he turned her around by her waist and steered her into the bedroom.
Once there Maggie made her way out of her dress. Harry discarded his clothes and slipped into the bathroom. When he returned Maggie was in bed. Now dressed in the hotel robe and sleeping soundly. Her hair free from its loose updo sprawled all around her. She was so peaceful. He wanted to be peaceful with her. Harry got under the covers and pulled her in close.
Breathing her in he couldn’t help but be sent back into happier times.
#harry styles fan fic#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles angst#harry styles imagine#harry styles#satellite fic
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Snow Place for Murder (Mountain Lodge Mysteries) by Diane Kelly #Review @DianeKellyBooks @StMartinsPress
Snow Place for Murder (Mountain Lodge Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting - North Carolina
St. Martin's Paperbacks (October 24, 2023)
Mass Market Paperback : 304 pages
ISBN-10 : 1250816017
ISBN-13 : 978-1250816016
Kindle ASIN : B0BQGHWH79
International resort developer Nigel Goodwin has traveled all the way from London, England to Misty Murphy’s little corner of North Carolina and bought out the Mountaintop Lodge for the week prior to Christmas. Their intention? To pitch an exclusive new resort concept to wealthy American investors.
But locals are at odds over the idea, and when a group comes to the lodge to express their worries to Mr. Goodwin and the potential investors, a blizzard hits Beech Mountain. Like the weather outside, things quickly get frosty, and Misty has to call local police to intervene. Handyman Rocky Crowder plows the lodge’s drive and, in an attempt to regain a jovial holiday atmosphere, smooths the snow pile into a makeshift sledding hill for the guests to enjoy.
Misty’s boys have finished their exams and are “home” from college for the winter break, planning to spend most of their time snowboarding at the ski resort. While taking a few runs down Rocky’s sledding hill, they discover a funny-looking, nose-shaped rock. Only it’s not a rock. It’s the frozen nose of Nigel Goodwin, who’s found dead and buried under the mound of snow.
Who put the developer on ice and why?
Dollycas's Thoughts
The Mountaintop Lodge in North Carolina is fully booked the week before Christmas. Nigel Gorden wants to develop a resort nearby and has invited a group of wealthy American investors to give them his pitch and a skiing vacation.
The new resort proposed is getting mixed feedback from the local community. A group against the proposal had come to Misty Murphy's lodge to voice their opinions but it didn't go well and she had to call in the police to clear them out.
Later, a blizzard blows in dumping fresh powder on the mountain. When handyman Rocky Crowder clears the snow from the lodge's drive and parking lot he makes a sledding hill for everyone to enjoy, including Misty's sons who are helping at the lodge during their holiday break. They are excited to try it out and they make an interesting discovery, a weird rock that isn't really a rock. When Misty realizes what it is, she and Rocky rush to the hill and start digging. They find international resort developer Nigel Goodwin's dead frozen body.
Who would resort to murder to stop the developer and why? Misty may have a killer on the premises so she needs to help the police ice them out before they strike again or getaway with murder.
I love that this story takes place at Christmas time because it brings Misty's and Rocky's children and Misty's ex too, to the lodge. Jack and Misty have a very amicable divorce. They are truly friends and always put their college-age sons, J.J. and Mitch, first. Rocky's daughter Pebble arrives early and takes a job at the diner across the parking lot. His other two daughters, his son-in-law, and granddaughter arrive on Christmas day. Brynn, Misty's friend and right-hand woman was away for the holidays but diner owner Patty was as busy as ever. She and her truck driver husband did share New Year's Eve with Misty and Rocky. Ms. Kelly makes it so easy to get invested in her characters. The comfortable relationships between everyone are so heartwarming. I like the way the author is letting Misty and Rocky's relationship slowly evolve.
There were plenty of suspects to work through regarding Nigel's death. Was it one of his guests? or someone local trying to stop the resort? The author throws in many twists and turns and the actual motive was surprising. I really enjoy that Misty works with the police. She keeps her ears and eyes open, asks a few questions here and there, and reports back to Deputy Highcloud everything she learns. She does get involved at the end and she and Rocky are present for the exciting arrest.
Ms. Kelly sets each scene so well. This being the third book in the series I have a clear picture of the lodge, the diner, and the nearby surroundings. It is easy to feel you are right there in the moment wherever the characters go. The blizzard had me shivering. I don't usually think about that type of weather in North Carolina, but I now know it happens. After enduring Wisconsin winters my whole life I felt for everyone that had to go out in it for any reason.
I love that Misty's cat, Yeti gets to have her own moments. Short little chapters from her point of view about what the "ridiculous creatures" i.e. crazy humans are doing or not doing.
Snow Place for Murder is a wonderful addition to this series. A little fictional vacay to Beech Mountain and the Mountaintop Lodge for the holidays was pretty delightful sans the murder of course.
I have enjoyed every book in this series. The mystery is contained in each book so they all can be read on their own but I recommend reading them all in order for maximum enjoyment.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
Diane Kelly writes stories that feature feisty female lead characters and their furry, four-footed friends. Diane is the author of over 30 novels and novellas, including the Death & Taxes, Paw Enforcement, and House Flipper mystery series. In 2021, she’ll launch two new series, the Southern Homebrew moonshine series and the Mountain Lodge Mysteries.
Author Links:
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Also by Diane Kelly
Coming April 23, 2024
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Bruce Wayne’s parties were always a large event. They were filled with more theatrics than the West End on opening night, had more special guests than a talk show after an awards ceremony and were filled with so much jewellery that Sophia wasn’t one-hundred percent sure where she should be looking.
Beside her, she could tell that Mitch was eager to get the job done. His attention kept darting around, searching out easy camera targets, anything that he could hack. After all, that was the point of a reconnaissance mission. Not that Sophia was too focused on all that. Everything felt like it needed her attention, felt like it was inviting her to take a closer look, to take things if they were easily accessible. Across the room she spotted Gabe and Kalie, the woman distracting attention with elaborate gestures as she spoke; Gabe was looking at the art though, surveying it for the pieces that would bring the highest price at auction.
At least, she guessed he was doing his job rather than simply admiring the paintwork.
‘A.J., stop fiddling with it,’ a young man chastised, snapping Sophia’s attention to a duo walking their way.
Dick Grayson was an impossible person to ignore. He held himself with the grace of a gymnast, a little of his guardian’s arrogance settling over him but in an almost charming way. Even with his dark hair slicked back it was possible to see the constant movement that he had. An air of always wanting to be somewhere else, even though he was grinning brightly and probably enjoying the crowd. Enjoying the attention that came with it, the pleasant smiles and eagerness for conversations to start.
The young woman with him shot him a death glare but didn’t stop fiddling with the material of her dress. She was hating it; a foil to Dick’s reaction.
‘Why do I even have to come to this stupid gala?’ she grumbled, tugging the dress down slightly before hiking it up again. ‘I don’t care what happens at Wayne Enterprise.’
‘Yes you do,’ Dick said simply, shooting her a small smile.
The woman merely shrugged, as if indifferent, but Sophia could see the small smile flickering on her lips. She was playing, enjoying the reaction of Dick Grayson; her entertainment in the whole evening.
‘Phia,’ said Mitch carefully, ‘we need to see more of the cameras.’
She barely nodded, her attention on the young adults that now seemed to be walking their way, a kind of intrigue burning behind Dick’s eyes, a charming smile on his face.
‘Hi,’ she said brightly, mirroring his own smile at him. ‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Grayson.’ She unlinked her arm from Mitch’s and offered her hand out to Dick.
Dick’s smile seemed to widen as he shook her hand. ‘Dick, please,’ he introduced, ‘Miss…’
‘Soph,’ she said, waving a hand of introduction at Mitch. ‘And this is Tyler.’ She spotted the flicker of surprise on his face, but he quickly plastered a barely convincing smile onto his face. He extended his hand out towards Dick.
‘My ever smiling friend is A.J.,’ Dick said, nudging the young woman gently in the ribs.
A.J. nodded at them, but Sophia couldn’t help feeling as though she were being analysed or something.
‘Well,’ Sophia said, carefully looping her arm through Mitch’s once more, patting his arm, ‘we’d best not keep you too long. It was a pleasure meeting you both.’
She could tell Dick wanted to brush her comment off, to assure her that they weren’t wasting his time or anything, but he didn’t. It was if he understood their need to move on; though, she doubted he did otherwise the security team would be on them. ‘You too,’ he said, stepping aside to let them pass.
Sophia eased passed them, Mitch just behind her.
‘Hope to see you again,’ said Dick as they moved further through the crowd.
She waved a hand over the sea of heads, uncertain to if he saw the gesture or not.
‘Of course you’d get on with him,’ complained Mitch playfully as they weaved closer to Gabe and Kalie.
She groaned, gently hitting his arm. But she was glad he was there with her, that the real fun was only just beginning.
‘If the Bat turns up,’ Sophia said softly, rubbing her arms in an attempt to battle the cold, ‘can we get Plan to talk to him? A grump off.’
Archie stifled laugher. Despite his large size he was eyeing Gabe warily. The man was glaring at the both of them, the scowl making the gesture obvious given the darkness around his eyes the mask created.
‘Focus, Shadow,’ her father murmured, not looking away from his scanning of the end of the alleyway and the rooftops above them. He was looking for signs of the Bat and his Boy Wonder; enough of the police had been paid off already, they weren’t an issue.
Sophia nodded sombrely.
‘It’s all clear,’ Mitch’s voice assured her through the ear piece; his words coming out in the usual Italian of a job - however butchered the pronunciation was.
She glanced briefly at her father, who gave a curt nod, before she got to work with the lock. It took her no more than a few seconds to pick the lock and slip into the darkness. She let out a calming breath as she eased the door closed behind her. She needed to scout out more of the security before any of the others came in. She knew Gabe would be there in an instant if she needed him, no matter how moody he’d been.
Carefully, she snuck through the corridor. She strained her ears, listening with every step. She traced the path from the side door into the main auditorium, without really thinking.
When she reached the doors she listened for a moment, tried to peer around the edges to see if she could make anything out in the room beyond. But there was nothing.
‘Almost,’ she murmured into the communicators, before she pulled the door open softly, hurrying in before anyone would notice any different.
She was lucky. There was no one in the room beyond. The security system had been disabled by Mitch from the café across the road; Kalie keeping all attention away from him.
‘Ready when you are,’ she murmured, the Italian of work easy to slip into for her.
She heard her father giving orders but kept sneaking forwards; weaving across the floor just in case there were any trip wires, in case there were sensors directly in front of it that they hadn’t known about.
She was almost there when she heard the curse over the communicator.
‘Chef?’ she asked, panic gnawing at her chest.
‘Your boss is out there?’
Sophia turned quickly at the sound of the cheerful voice; her chains were already in her hands, the familiar weight of them something of a comfort. It was impossible to miss the colours of Robin’s outfit; but there was something about the sound of his voice that had disorientated her.
She groaned.
‘Je ne comprends –’
‘Notre chef. Il est – ?’
Sophia cut him off with a wave of the hand, chains flashing. ‘What do you want, Boy Wonder?’
He chuckled, his own weapon already in his hands. ‘To stop you.’
‘Good luck,’ she said, smiling as she offered out her wrists. ‘Catch me if you can.’
Just as he took a step forwards, Sophia rushed to one side. Robin was fast, but she guessed he didn’t go jogging every morning, guessed most of his training involved fighting because that seemed to be the Bat’s main concern. If she could keep moving for long enough…
Something flashed past her head, made a metal sound against one of the pillars.
‘Not very heroic,’ she teased, ducking behind the pillar.
‘I can show you heroism if you want,’ he said. ‘But you’ll need to come out here.’
She chuckled softly, glancing towards the exit closest to her. It took her to the other side of the building, if she remembered Gabe’s blueprints correctly. Not the greatest of places, but it was better than being cooped up inside with the Boy Wonder.
She heard him take a cautious step forwards. Instinct took over. She dove towards the door, hauled it open and ducked through it. She’d barely slammed it shut before she heard Robin knock against it. ‘You’ll have to be quicker than that. Won’t be seeing you, Robin,’ she teased, forcing a chair under the handle, one she’d seen a security guard sitting on earlier in the evening. And then she bolted, knowing that she had to get to the others.
Maybe their luck in Gotham City was finally reaching its last legs, and moving would once again be an inevitability before they found themselves taking on one job too many.
#Repost#Made By Me#Drabble#Crossovers#Supergirl OCs#Nightwing OCs#Sidekicks and Criminals#The Making of a Hero#Sophia Laverna#Mitchell Tyler#Gabriel Laverna#Kalie Saunders#Amelia Jane Kane#Mitch Tyler#Gabe Laverna#A.J. Kane#Sophia Laverna & Mitch Tyler#Sophia Laverna & Gabe Laverna#Sophia Laverna & A.J. Kane#Sophia Laverna & Dick Grayson#A.J. Kane & Dick Grayson
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Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc
The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!
#ACLA24#ACLA24HighSchoolStudents#youtube#youtube video#climate leaders#climate solutions#climate action#climate and environment#climate#climate change#climate and health#climate blog#climate justice#climate news#weather and climate#environmental news#environment#environmental awareness#environment and health#environmental#environmental issues#environmental education#environmental justice#environmental protection#environmental health#high school students#high school#youth#youth of america#school
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