#How To Get Washable Marker Off Of Skin

[mameillieureennemie]

halloooo can I request a short fic of modern au college vi x reader, reader is vi's room mate and a nursing student that needs to review for her exams and memorize human anatomy and what the muscles are called. Since Vi is pretty fit she comes up with this joke that she can write the muscle names on Vi's body, and Vi surprisingly agrees to it and I'll leave the rest up to u :3

this was so much fun to write! thank you, anon, i'm buzzing.

college roommates!vi x reader, modern au, nursing student!reader, rated m

You knew this would be a bad idea.

You were highly aware of it when you thought of it, and even more so when you asked. But you didn't know what else to do, and honestly, you had always been a visual learner.

Plus Vi was your roommate and was always talking about if you needed any help, you should never hesitate to ask her.

But asking for help like this was...bold...and brave...and maybe a little bit stupid.

Even if you did initially joke about it because this was never supposed to come to fruition.

There was no turning back now, though.

"So you just want me to take off my shirt?" Vi asks, both of you stood in the middle of your living room. She's looking at you, inquisitive, and you manage a nod while trying to find your voice.

Which is hard, considering you're so close to seeing Vi with her shirt off. Which isn't new because Vi walks around shirtless all the time. She basically lives in her sports bra when she's at home, but this is different.

You'll be getting up close and personal with a shirtless Vi. Running your fingers over her defined muscles as you memorise them. Feeling the heat of her skin against yours because she always runs hot. It's tricky territory that you're falling into, especially considering your preexisting feelings for the woman in front of you.

Damn you and your stupid jokes.

Damn Vi for entertaining your stupid jokes and making them real.

You watch as Vi takes her shirt off in that infuriatingly attractive way. Both of her hands crossed at the hem of her shirt before pulling it over her head. Your eyes are instantly drawn to her abs and the flex of her arms and you may not survive this.

Vi smiles at you, pretty and gorgeous, and so beautiful it hurts and spreads her arms open as if saying come at me.

The gesture makes you snort but also has you feeling a little warm. Especially with how her muscles shift beneath her skin at every move she makes. It's so hypotising.

"Okay, so I'm gonna write on you, and I'm gonna get real close because anatomy," you explain lamely, but Vi nods, listening seriously. "If you get uncomfortable or it's too much, then just tell me, and we'll stop."

Vi nods again, smiling. "Thanks, sweetheart. But I highly doubt that will be a problem." She says and you hum, curious.

"And why's that?" You asks, uncapping a washable marker and nearing Vi's left bicep.

Vi shrugs, turns her head away for a second, and when you glance at her face, you swear you see a hint of pink across her cheeks.

"Because it's you," she murmurs, quiet but loud enough for you to hear and oh.

"I see," you mumble, all warm on the inside and without an answer to give.

You take your time memorising Vi's body, writing down scientific names over the correct parts, and changing up the marker's colour to add fun to it.

Vi seems genuinely interested in what you're doing, even asking questions that help with your memorisation. The once tender atmosphere is light with your chatter and laughter, both of you smiling as you go through anatomy together.

Running the tip of the marker over Vi's collarbone has her squirming because she's ticklish, and you can't help but write over the bone again. You do it twice more, grinning as Vi tells you to knock it off. You tell her you won't, and she makes you swear, but that lasts for about ten seconds before you're back to it.

"You're such a jerk!" Vi exclaims, laughing as she tries to snatch the marker from you. But you're fast, and you end up dancing away from her as she attempts to grab at it.

"How can you not grab this from me?" You tease as you dodge another one of her reaches. "And you work out way more than me. This is an embarrassing moment for you."

Vi growls (oh, that's an interesting noise), and you squeal as she lunges with a speed she hadn't bothered to showcase until now. Your attempt at dodging is pathetic, and Vi has an arm around your waist as she presses you against the living room wall. Her other arm has its hand wrapped around your marker-wielding wrist and trapped above your head.

"You were saying how this was embarrassing for me?" Vi murmurs, sounding triumphant, and you'd hit back with a snarky retort but you can't because your tongue is tied.

Vi's pressed up against you, chest to chest, skin to skin, and she's so warm. Her face is mere inches away from yours, the tip of her nose almost touching yours, and you can see just how blue her eyes are. Just how red her lips are and how plump they look.

Your eyes dart up from her lips, and you catch Vi doing the same. That has your head spinning, seeing that she's also looking at you like that.

Like she wants to...

"Vi," you whisper for no reason you can decipher. You don't know why you're calling her name, but all you know is that you're burning up, and your heart is beating too loudly in your ears.

But then Vi takes that leap, lets loose a soft whimper before whispering, "Can I...? Please can I...?"

You're nodding your head faster than you can speak, but Vi's on your lips before you can even say yes.

The way she kisses you has your knees weakening. Her lips are surprisingly soft and taste like the strawberries she ate with her lunch. The inside of her mouth is even sweeter, and she echoes your moan as her arm around your waist tigthens. Her hand holding yours against the wall comes down to grasp your chin, tilting your head to the side to deepen the kiss and ah.

You pull away for air, cheeks flushed, and vision hazy as Vi trails open-mouth kisses down your neck. Your hands slide into her hair, nails grazing over her scalp, and you gasp as her deep groan sinks to your skin.

Then she's making her way back to your mouth, and you pull her in greedily, allowing her to lift you up so your legs wrap around her waist.

"Sweetheart," Vi rasps, managing to pull away for a moment. She barely resists you drawing her in for another kiss, your hands cradling her cheeks. "Sweetheart, what about your exams? I wouldn't—wouldn't want you to fail and—?"

"Vi," you say breathlessly, resting your index finger over her lips. "Pretty girl, what's another way for one to learn about anatomy?"

Vi looks at you before the blues of her eyes darken further, and she's nipping at your jaw.

"I can think of one way."

[thrashkink-coven]

Super easy and cheap devotional acts for beginners.

A nice cup and some clean, fresh, water on the altar can often be all you need for daily offerings

Grow a plant on your altar, use your weekly watering as a devotional act. Hermes is currently helping my peace lily grow :)

Draw their sigil on your nails and then paint over them with nail polish that matches their color correspondences.

If you can’t acquire alcohol for your deities (wine, vodka etc) because you’re too young, white vinegar also works. The quality we’re looking for is the purification aspect. White vinegar is natural, antibacterial and never goes bad. You can leave it on your altar until it evaporates if you want.

If you work with a deity involved with self love like Aphrodite, investing a little more time into your skin care and scent can be very rewarding. Nothing super boujie, it can be as simple as getting some nice smelling lotion at the dollar store.

Food and water offerings don’t have to be external, especially if you’re in the broom closet and don’t have an altar. Reserve the first bite of your meal for your deity. Savour its taste while you think about them. Pour yourself a crisp glass of cold water and guzzle it as a devotional act.

Use a washable or dry erase marker to draw sigils on your shower wall for bath rituals. It’ll come right off when you’re done.

Tea bags are just bags of dried herbs. You can use these as offerings or draw sigils on them and burn them for witchcraft. No one is ever suspicious about a little tea. Adding a tea bag to your water offerings also gives them an extra kick.

A couple dollars at the thrift store will take you a long way. I love thrifting items because they’re usually well loved. I especially like thrifting spirituality books that past practitioners have written in. Sometimes my deities communicate with me through the books that are available on any given day. If I was just talking to Leviathan about the power of water and I see a book about Hydromancy, I know that he’s sending me a sign. Like, 90% of the books Lucifer has sent me popped up at the thrift store. Most expensive one was $7.99. (and I tag swapped it for 2.99 😊 thanks, Hermes-

and on this note, literally steal. Not from small local thrift stores, but I mean this with my whole chest, steal from Value Village. If you can sneakily swap a tag and get something for cheaper literally do it. Value Village gets all their inventory for free I literally do not care. Corporate thrift stores don’t deserve rights. I steal from Value Village as a devotional act to Hermes 😊 lmao )

If you don’t have money to spend on really nice paintings and posters of your deities for your altar, start buying books about them. It’s a double win. A book about Greek religion will certainly have multiple beautiful sculptures and paintings of Aphrodite that I can cut out and put on my wall. A book about angels might have a cool painting of Lucifer. Books about Goddesses, ancient religions, anthropology, astrology etc. You get the opportunity to learn, and if it’s a book you don’t particularly care too much for, you can take it apart for imagery. People ask me all the time where I got all of my paintings and pictures from. BOOKS.

Does your deity have a kind of complicated sigil that you love but you also kinda hate redrawing every other day? Sorry Cerberus (Naberius) I love you but that sigil is so complicated babe.

Learn how to block print! It’s very simple. You get a block of linoleum (usually pretty cheap, I think mine were like $5) , some ink (~$10), and a carving tool (varies depending), and make a sigil stamp! All you gotta do is draw your sigil and carve it out nicely one time. You can still bless it and imbue it with your energy, and you can easily put it on prayers, talismans etc.

Chalk is your best friend. Use it to draw sigils on the floor or wall that can easily be wiped away. You can imbue special chalk and use it for casting circles if you don’t like the mess of salt.

[heartsforvin]

Hi, could you please do an imagine where reader colors vinnie’s tattoos, please

COLOR IN THE LINES

this is ADORABLE thank you for the request !!

pairing; vinnie hacker x fem!reader

warnings; cussing, use of pet names (baby, princess, etc), otherwise just fluff

summary; you love to color in vinnie’s tattoos

one of your favorite things to do when you and vinnie have a day together is to lay in his bed, legs entangled with each other, while you lay on his chest and color in his tattoos.

you bought washable markers that won’t damage skin specifically for this. vinnie realized early on in your relationship that this was one of the many things that made you calmer.

walking into vinnie’s room, you greet him with a smile before quickly heading to his bathroom.

“hello to you too, princess.” vinnie says under his breath as he watches you sprint to his bathroom.

you walk out a few minutes later with a smile. vinnie watches as you walk around to the other side of his bed and pull open the nightstand drawer.

he smiles when he realizes what you’re grabbing. he quickly removes his sweatshirt so he’s only in sweatpants now.

you hop up on the bed and vinnie widens his legs for you to kneel in between him.

you start to shade in his most recent tattoo, it has healed so it was perfectly okay to color it in by now.

you hold onto his arm while you shade in the tattoo right below the one you just finished.

once done, you kiss his arm, making vinnie smile. “what’s that for?” he asks you.

you shrug with a tight lipped smile. “i love you, that’s what it was for.”

vinnie watches you in pure awe as you do the one thing you love most. he pushes some hair behind your ear and kisses your temple softly.

“have i ever told you that you’re the most beautiful girl in the world?” the compliment makes you stop abruptly.

he in fact has told you that you’re the most beautiful girl in the world. he tells you everyday.

a slight blush creeps up on your cheeks, you’re grinning ear to ear at the boy in front of you. your boy.

“i had a really bad day, v,” you breathe out, almost wanting to cry at the thought. “that means a lot, no matter how much you tell me.”

vinnie takes the washable marker out of your hand and caps it before putting it on his bed. he takes your hands in his and looks at you.

“what happened?” he asked you with pure sincerity.

you sighed, hoping that no tears rush out of your eyes as you explain to vinnie about your day. he grabs you and places you in his lap, hugging you tightly as he leaves kisses all around your face.

“people at work, mainly customers. they’re all fuckin’ idiots.” you rant.

vinnie lets out a laugh, he grabs your arms and rubs his hands down them gently. “shh,” he tries to calm you.

grabbing the marker off vinnie’s bed, you pop the cap off and begin to color in vinnie’s ‘break my heart’ tattoo on his chest.

he knows this calms you most so he doesn’t ask why you ignored him. he moves his hands so they’re around your waist now, holding you gently.

“gotta get you a coloring book, sweet girl.” vinnie says softly as he watches you move down to the tattoos on his lower stomach.

you giggle as you shade in the tattoo on his right side. “i like using you as my personal coloring book, though.”

as much as you’d love a coloring book, you’ve been using vinnie’s ink as one for awhile now, and don’t think switching to paper would help calm you as much as this does.

vinnie doesn’t mind, though. as much as it hurts him to see you upset or stressed, he loves the way coloring in his tattoos helps you so much.

“i know you do baby, and i love it too. but i wouldn’t mind getting you your own book for it.” he tells you.

your eyes immediately shoot up to his, he watches your demeanor change and soon rubs your back and places a soft kiss to your cheek.

“i’m sorry, princess,” he apologizes once he realizes that’s not what you want at all. “didn’t mean to upset you.”

you smile slightly at your boyfriend before moving to his arm, shading in more ink on his skin.

you’re quiet for the rest of the time until you finally finish all the tattoos on the front side of his body.

capping the marker, you put it back in the box before putting the box back in the nightstand drawer.

“how’d i do?” you ask with a smile, standing next to vinnie with your hands on your hips.

he stands and pulls you to his bathroom so he can take a full look. once he sees your art, he smiles.

“you did amazing, sweetheart,” he kisses you. “my little artist.”

you smile and hug vinnie from the side, gripping his waist and soon turning so your body’s pressed against him. chest to chest, you smile at your boyfriend while he looks down at you.

“thank you for understanding and letting me do that.” you tell him, standing on your tip toes to kiss him.

vinnie wraps his arms around you tightly in a hug. “i’m here for you, my love,” he says. “always.”

you and vinnie stay like that for awhile before heading back into vinnie’s room for the night. vinnie picks up his hoodie but you quickly swatted his hand.

he chuckles as he faces towards you. “like me without a shirt that much, huh?” he teases.

you hit his chest and climb into his bed. “get over here dork,” you tell him. “yes i do, but i like looking at my coloring more. first time i actually colored in the lines.”

vinnie laughs as he gets in beside you. he lays down and scoots you closer to him, wrapping his arms around you as you snuggle into him.

the rest of the day you spend snuggled up to vinnie as the two of you watch movies.

you run your hand along vinnie’s chest and stomach, admiring your coloring work, being grateful you have the most understanding boyfriend.

hiii finally back to posting !!! i hope you all loved this as much as i loved writing it !! and i hope the anon who requested this did as well !!

like i said in my most recent post, work for me has been busy since i got back - and although i don’t post while im at work, i am still a bit active w my moots. i’m trying my best to stay active but my personal & physical wellbeing come first so if im inactive w uploads, just gimme time 🥹

I LOVE YOU ALL THOUGH !! thank you for all the continuation of the support / feedback on my posts <333

tags; @cosmicanakin , @lyndys , @slvthrs , @forevergirlposts , @bernelflo , @leqonsluv3r , @kriissy4gov , @lovingsturniolo , @louloulemons-blog , @hallecarey1 , @st4rswrld , @violet0182 , @visualbutterflysworld , @laylasbunbunny , @kayleiggh , @supabhad

[amortxt]

⠀ㅤ⠀ ⠀𖥻⠀ㅤ⠀﹫⠀choso⠀kamo.

ㅤㅤⓘㅤㅤfluff, reader and choso are in an established relationship, yuji is a child and choso's little brother, silliness ensues

the tv speakers blasted out a laugh track from a now forgotten TV show. you and yuji sat down on the living room carpet giggling, as you uncapped the black washable markers. a playful smile on your face.

"okay yuji, i need you to sit super still for me so i don't mess this up, okay sweetie?" he nodded excitedly. his eyes shining with mischief that you chose to ignore for the better health of your mind.

the boy was practically quaking with eagerness, but he tried his very best to stay as still as possible. you dragged the marker across the bridge of his nose and onto both sides of his face, making a long rectangle against his soft skin.

you hold up a small mirror for him and his smile gets impossibly wider. "do i look good? do i look like him!?" he pokes at the marker that decorates his skin.

you pick him up and hold him into your lap, ruffling his hair as he laughs. "you look adorable! you look just like your big brother, yuji!" you hold him tight and pick up your phone and snap a photo of you and yuji together.

the door unlocks, your heads both turn and you pause the tv. yuji gets up off your lap and practically sprints to go and greet his big brother.

you could hear yuji giggling and screaming in excitement as you walked to go and greet your beloved. he had the most awestruck expression, it pulled a small chuckle out of you too.

yuji continued running around in circles, yapping on about how happy he was to have looked like his big brother. you pulled choso into a hug and gave him a kiss.

he prolonged it just a bit more and you smiled on his lips. he finally let you pull away, you two both out of breath. "this is what you two do while i'm not home?"

"i have to entertain myself somehow! maybe when yuji is away we can dye your hair pink." you made a sly grin.

his face twists and his eyebrows scrunch. he was supposed to walk into work with bright pink hair? but looking at your face, and looking at his little brother who was running around in glee from matching just the smallest detail.. how could he ever deny the two most important people in his life?

"…maybe." your face practically lights up. you energetically laugh just the same as the small child that was prancing around behind you, jumping with excitement in choso's hold. he can't help but laugh with you. yuji, overhearing your conversation came running back again to hug choso, making an "uppie" gesture, to which choso picked him up. he felt so loved, so at home.

⠀ㅤ⠀⠀©⠀all work written by ﹫amortxt. do not repost.

[lowkeyrobin]

headcannons where quackity's s/o has tattoos? could also be nsfw, if you're comfortable with it :))

I don't write NSFW but I can definitely do the tattoo part! thanks for requesting!! I don't think I've actually posted a quackity focused thing yet which is surprising to me bc I have like 3 drafts for him LMAO

QUACKITY ; tattooed lover

summary ; you have tattoos and your boyfriend is head over heels

warnings ; language; talk of needles / pain of tattoos, use of quackitys real name (lmk if I should change it!)

word count ; 670

genre ; fluff

masterlist

In general, he'll act normal about all your tattoos and whatnot, but inside every time he sees your arms (especially if you have sleeves or some sick ones around your wrists that trail up your arm even a bit) he'll just get a little red in the cheeks. He absolutely loves all your ink. He thinks it's so sick, but he's not committed enough to get any, and he doesn't think he has the pain tolerance.

he went with you to get a new tattoo on your shoulder/upper arm area

he learned you'd be there for like 5 hours and he groaned like a shitty iPad kid and took his phone out while he threatened to call Philza

once he saw the tattoo gun... oh lord it was over

literally whisper shouted at you while the artist got up to get gloves

"that's what you're getting jabbed with??? why are we here again???"

genuinely can't look

once he hears the buzzing he turns his music on and he's staring down while he sits on the couch across from you

"Alex, look!" you smile, "I'm fine"

"how do I know you're not a clone?"

"Holy shit. dude it's the quackityhq duck, that's why I brought you along"

"WAIT WHAT?"

it's not a big tattoo whatsoever, but it's a reminder that he's always with you, how you've grown together and how that's always going to be an era of your content you'd never forget about

literally gets emotional about it

"You didn't have-"

"I wanted to, for the millionth time"

he genuinely didn't know tattoos were so expensive, once you leave he questions why it was 450 dollars and you explain to him how tattoo artist income works

He's not the one to want to peel off the second skin or pop the ink bubbles or even touch the tattoo until the skin goes back to normal. He's just kinda freaked out for some reason, it's just one of those things and it honestly makes sense.

He takes some dedicated time to sniff all the lotions and numbing creams and comment on each and every one, though. All while you're trying to do some aftercare on it and shit, and you just watch.

"this one smells like buttercream icing"

"yeah?"

"ew, this one smells like badboyhalo's ass!"

"why would you even know that? 😁"

If you have any tats without color, Alex will gladly color them in with washable markers like you're a walking coloring book. He'll literally call for you and ask you if he can color on you again, it's cute, really.

"y/n/n, can I color your tattoos again?"

"aren't you streaming?"

"so?"

"yeah, fine"

he has a whole gallon sized ziploc bag filled with Crayola washable markers

like he goes from playing on the qsmp and hanging out with some people to coloring all over you while said people watch 😭

you wave to his friends like "Hello, I am his walking therapy coloring book"

he's like a little kid. You just look over at him like, "Holy shit I could love you forever wtf"

Sometimes, he'll just draw you new tattoos (with washable markers dw) cause he gets bored and wants to doodle on you. Most of the time it ends up being stick figures and dicks but it's okay, it's his way of showing affection.

He'll genuinely think of song that remind him of each of your tattoos. Somehow, some way, he does. He has a whole playlist titled 'Y/n's tattoos', and he rarely listens to it, but he thinks it's fun to think of a new song when you get another tattoo.

Although he is a little concerned because what's gonna happen when you're old and wrinkly? How do the tattoos last? Do they become old and wrinkly like the tattooed grandmas meme? Because if so, he'll rip on you til the end of time.

"well I have a long time before I look like a tattooed elderly person, but okay"

"So you will? Oh my fucking God! BAHAHAHA"

[luvmayumii]

Hihi, would I be able to request a fem!Reader X Pavia? Maybe the reader colouring in his tattoos and doodling even more on him, but he doesn't mind at all because his lover drew all that? Maybe even bragging about how talented the reader is at drawing? Just an idea ^^

— 📻

VULNERABILITY

🎀 PAIRING: pavia x reader

🎀 CONTENT: fem!reader, fluff, mentions of blood/violence (but nothing happens), pavia calls reader bella (pretty)

🎀 WORD COUNT: 0.5k+

🎀 NOTE: this would've come out earlier but i got sick... :') sorry it came out shorter than expected, motivation fell down after i got ill. i hope you enjoy it though !! pavia's my favorite character (besides horropedia) so i liked writing this

There were few domestic days like this between you and Pavia. Oftentimes, he'd come home late in the night with mysterious blood stains tainting his skin and clothing, only to find you already sleeping in bed. You'd both have to get ready for bed early in the morning anyway, so he'd usually just watch you sleep. He would murmur things about how he finds it strange that you can sleep so easily.

Today is a bit special. You had just gotten a promotion, and you decided to take the day off with Pavia to spend time together in celebration. Although Pavia would've thoroughly enjoyed something extravagant – maybe with a little bit of bloodshed – he wanted to spend time with you much more, no matter if it's a quiet moment like this or a more flamboyant one.

Pavia was sitting on your bed, back against the headboard. You sat right beside him, head leaning on his shoulder. A set of washable markers was set on your lap, and you held a yellow marker in hand. You colored in the blank spots of the tattoo on his right hand, a focused glint in your eyes. Pavia would laugh at how determined you seemed over such a minor activity, but he might end up distracting you, so he remained silent. It was odd to see him so quiet, just watching you. You knew he watched you sleep sometimes after catching him staring deeply into your eyes when you had woken up from your slumber, therefore you knew that he would be mute like this occasionally, but that didn't mean it wasn't a strange sight to see.

"You draw well," he murmured. You tilted your head up to him, cocking your head to the side. A soft chuckle left your lips.

"I'm just coloring your tattoos," you replied in the same hushed tone. He huffed in response.

"Still," he said, voice sarcastically upset. There was another short moment of silence before he spoke again. "Draw on me."

"What?"

"I said draw on me."

You blinked, processing his sudden command. A cheeky smile made its way to your face, earning a scoff from him. You took the black marker from the set, putting away the yellow marker. You uncapped the dark covering, tongue darting out to lick your bottom lip. Then, you went to work.

By the time that you were done, Pavia was littered with doodles all over his skin. Depictions of cute kittens, tiny nature sceneries…but the thing that caught his attention the most was the drawing on his forearm. It depicted his wolves, and despite being very poorly drawn with exaggerated features, he couldn't help but smirk at the sight.

"I coulda sworn you hated my wolves. Said that you were scared of them," he commented, looking at the doodle.

"Just because I was scared of them doesn't mean I hated them," you responded, placing the set of markers away. Pavia remained strangely quiet for another moment. Just then, he took your wrist and pulled you closer until your faces were inches away from each other. A wolfish grin took over his features before he placed a kiss on your lips.

"You're great at drawing, bella," he chuckled. "…love you."

You could only smile back at him, a giggle leaving your lips. "I love you too."

[leoslosttoolbelt]

Some Leo Valdez rambling to start off the week

warning: I talk a lot about parent death, guilt, unhealthy coping mechanisms and self harm

---

Thinking about Leo who doesn't have the best self care habits and isn't someone who put a lot of effort into his physical appearance. As long as he's hygienic and relatively okay looking he's fine - except for his exceptionally long hand-care routine that his mother taught him when he was still a kid.

His mother always said that his hands were the most important part of him because they help Leo create.

And destroy.

When his mother passed, Leo would carelessly let his hands heat up until they were painfully hot and ugly red. It's not like his hands would amount to any good after they led to the death of his own mother - forget taking car of them, Leo would be better off absolutely destroying them.

He puts his hand too close to a burning flame when he's in the streets - the sting makes him wince but he doesn't move. He takes to biting his fingernails till they're staring back at him - sensitive raw skin of his cuticles staring back at him. He picks at his cuticles until he bleeds and absolutely never moisturises.

Things change when he starts working on the Argo 2 - just a bit. He has a purpose now, and he knows the extent of his powers, the future of the world depends on his good he is with his hands, they can't be too burnt to be able to work on his ship.

But he still refuses to wear gloves, revelling in the sting that he gets when he cuts himself with a saw and carelessly hammering until his fingers are a sorry shade of purple. He welds with his hands and let's his fingers linger around the hot metal until he can't handle it anymore. He robotically scratches himself with a screwdriver as he works on blueprints - he barely even notices.

After the war - and when he comes back from the dead it gets worse. He doesn't even try to hide it, using his right hand to grab his left wrist and let it burn. He's basically a human lighter who escaped death twice - but his mother didn't.

Jason didn't.

When he finally gets the help he needs and starts to process his grief properly, he starts taking care of his hands properly. If not for himself, it's the least he can do to honour his mother. It takes a while but he stops burning himself - Nico's silent gift of black fireproof gloves help.

He grows out of his habit of biting his nails and when the urge to do something self destructive gets too much for him - he draws. He draws on his arms with washable marker and draws on his pants and draws on the margins of his blueprints - he creates.

Little by little, he starts taking care of his hands again - it becomes something he consciously does. He makes sure he's wearing protection when he's working on his projects and uses burn creams religiously. He paints Piper's nails different colours with his steady hands and uses the clear enamel coat on himself. He let's Nico borrow his scented moisturiser because his skin is terribly dry. He buys cuticle oil and a nail file for himself. He has a nightly routine that he does while he facetimes Frank and Hazel from his bunk.

He realises how important his hands are. His hands help create tools that keep the rest of the camp safe. His hands cup his boyfriend's face and holds his hand. His hands help Piper braid her hair and help Hazel practice her magic. His hands put flowers on Jason's grave and cleans up his mother's shrine every few months. His hands help him hold his cup of morning coffee and his hands help him hug all of his friends. His hands help him clap when he's happy and help him wipe his own tears when he's sad.

Leo's hands are in no way perfect, they're scarred and twitchy his pinky is a bit wonky from a broken bone that never healed properly.

But his hands are a part of him, and that's enough reason to appreciate them.

-fin-

i didn't know how to end this but this is your reminder that you don't need to be perfect to appreciate yourself, love you and have a good week!! If anyone needs me I will be thinking about Leo and his broken pinky (canon)

[water-pokemon-appreciator]

Hey. Don't just yell at her, it was partially my fault to. I was talking to her when she was doing it, and it didn't occur to me to make sure the markers she was using were washable ones. So, yell at me too.

I'm sorry. I told Alex how to clean it off, she has the stuff. I'll get you guys some face masks you can do together after, how does that sound? Make your skin feel better?

I really don't care anymore honestly.

I'm done yelling. I'm just gonna sit here and get this marker off my face.

[artificeblade]

Tell me about 5, 25, and 27 from those weird writer questions!

AH! Hello! Hi! Howdy!~ My good friend, Gitte. :D This is going to be long read so read at your own leisure.~ For anyone that wants to try their hand at it, here is a link to the post!

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true? Now, I don't know if it's really called a superstition but it's something that happens every. single. time. and you know it too. Chapter 3, there is something about trying to complete that third chapter that is the be-all-end-all of my stories. If I can't get my shit together I nearly give up. I have to take a year or more hiatus on the thing. I work on other stories that end up stopping on that fucking chapter. I can work on other chapters before or after it but god damn CHAPTER THREE. It's my bane of existence. I don't know if it's because it's the critical step after building up everything from the prologue, chapter one and chapter two, that if I can't properly make the characters move from this chapter I'm doomed.

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story? Oh my dear friend, you have NO IDEA how any useless details I have about my characters. It's like 80% of my day dreams is thinking of all the little things my characters do and it helps me create more realistic personalities this way. ANYWAYS! Here are a few because I just love all my children characters so much. - Mori likes to connect the dot's on Nobu's freckles, creating little constellations on his skin. He does it with washable marker so it doesn't stay for long but when he is really bored he'll start doing it without thinking about it. Nobu doesn't mind it too much as long as he isn't working on anything. Mori's favorite constellations are a little heart and lopsided dog. -Rota sticks out her tongue when she is very concentrated. She doesn't know where she picked up the habit but if she is focused hard enough she has a little "cat blep". It's not often people catch her doing it but most find it endearing such a serious girl can look so childlike.

-Alyss/Frisk is always moving some part of their hand or feet. They picked up tapping their feet from Cinnamon, making them look like a rabbit as well. Mostly can be caught shaking a pen back and forth between their fingers, even twirling it if they get really lost in thought. If they are idle for too long while standing they start to shift in place. Think early 90's to 00's Sonic animations but not as sassy, haha.

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

I think, at this point, it has to be Sans. Sans fucking Undertale. I can do light-hearted, wholesome characters. I can do wacky silly characters. I can do super serious and stoic characters. I can do cocky rival/friend characters. And I can do your run-of-the-mill good or bad guy. But give me a character like Sans Undertale and I'm nearly at a lost. I can't do witty. I can't do clever funny. I can't do the thinly-veiled threats like he does and keep it to where only the person he is talking to understands what's going on. It comes off as too try-hard and cringe-y to me. When I try to write Sans upset and mad it's very expressive when in fact I know he'll be damn put together and still making those stupid puns. I'm to honest with how I write my characters when Sans is in fact someone that keeps a whole lot to himself. He has to be near the breaking point to even crack his façade. Anyways, Sans is hard to write as much as I enjoy his character trope so much.

[laminy]

Gwil fans himself, trying to cool down. “Do we really need the fire going, lads?” 

“It is getting toasty in here,” Joe says.

“I’m being roasted alive,” Gwil says, and he pushes his sleeves up. “What about you, Sami?” he asks.

Sami throws his arms up. “You’re warm.” He wiggles next to Gwil, and then grabs onto his arm. “I wanna look.”

“Sami,” Rami says, and Sami looks over at him, before he understands.

“Can I touch your arm?” Sami asks Gwil.

“You may,” Gwil says, and he winks at Rami. “What about it?”

“The picture,” Sami says, and he presses down on Gwil’s tattoo. He pokes at it with one hand, then the other. He pulls Gwil’s arm closer to him, and starts tracing his fingernail over the tiny details. “What’s it called again?”

“Desdemona.”

Sami mumbles over it, and pokes it again. “Can you stay?” he asks, and he rolls off the sofa and runs away.

“I’m going to stay right here,” Gwil says, and he stretches out. “How’s everyone else doing?”

“Good,” Ben murmurs. He’s curled up on the chair, his nose in a book.

“Good,” Gwil says, and Ben looks up, smiling at him.

“Let’s see,” Sami says as he walks back over to the sofa, clutching his markers. He pushes himself up on the sofa and kneels next to Gwil. “Gwil,” he whispers, and Gwil leans in. “Can I draw?”

“Where?” 

“On your arm.” Sami holds a marker up to Gwil’s face. “It’s safe.”

Rami gently clears his throat, and Gwil looks over at him, seeing Rami’s you don’t have to let him face. Gwil smiles, and Rami shrugs, looking back at the television.

“Oh, yes, I see it says non-toxic,” Gwil says. “Well, I suppose that will be alright.”

“Just here,” Sami says, touching the tattoo.

“Yes, no clothes, no fabric,” Joe says.

“I know!” Sami hums to himself, and pops the cap on his marker, starting to colour Gwil’s arm. “Does it hurt?”

“Not nearly as much as when I got it,” Gwil says.

“How do you get it?” Sami asks.

“Oh, it’s a needle,” Gwil says. “They fill it with ink and they stab your skin dozens of times, over and over, until there’s a picture.”

Sami slowly looks up at him, eyes wide.

Ben snorts, and slumps down further in his chair. “Jesus, Gwil,” he mutters.

“That’s why Baba and I don’t have any,” Joe says.

“Ouch!”

“It is ouch,” Gwil says. “But it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Okay.” Sami leans down and presses a quick kiss to Gwil’s tattoo, and then he gets back to colouring. By the time he’s done, Desdemona is a mix of orange and purple, with a dot of red. Sami sits up and smiles proudly at Gwil. “What do you think?”

“Oh, that’s lovely,” Gwil says.

“Yeah?”

“Mm, thank you.” 

“Pretty,” Rami says.

Sami looks around, still clutching his markers. Then he smiles at Gwil, and crawls over his lap to settle on his other side.

“What?” Gwil asks.

Sami keeps smiling as he pops the cap on a marker and presses the tip of it to Gwil’s other arm.

“What are you up to?” Gwil asks.

“Sami,” Rami says, leaning forward. “What are you doing, did you ask?”

“Can I?” Sami asks. “Please?”

“I don’t have a tattoo there.”

“I know, I’ll draw.”

“What did you want to draw?” Gwil asks.

“A kitty cat?”

“Oh, I suppose that’s alright,” Gwil says. “What colour?”

“Green.”

“Hmm, lovely.” Gwil looks down, watching Sami start on his outline. “What shall we name it?”

“Uh, Purple.”

“Oh, right,” Gwil says. “We love a twist.”

Sami hums to himself as he keeps colouring, and Gwil looks back at the television.

Ben looks up from his book, watching Sami for a couple seconds. “I know you said the markers are non-toxic,” he says. “Where did we land on washable?”

Gwil’s eyes widen, and Joe starts to laugh.

[love-skincareroutine]

How To Get Washable Marker Off Skin

New Post has been published on https://skin-care-routine.com/skin-care-routine/how-to-get-washable-marker-off-skin/

How To Get Washable Marker Off Skin

A. How to Get Pen and Permanent Marker Off of Skin

It is almost incredible how many problems children can get with a single marker. One minute they are happily doodling on a piece of paper, and the next they are getting themselves (or their brothers) fake tattoos and a face full of felt makeup. Fortunately (for you and her) not even permanent ink is permanent with the right tools and tricks. Here’s what to do to remove the pen or permanent marker from your skin – or yours.

1. Tips for removing pen or permanent marker from your skin

You can be comforted to know that ink from a permanent marker or pen fades naturally over time – two to three days, according to the Northern New England Poison Center. Even if you do nothing, your child’s skin will soon return to its original condition. In some cases, e.g. For example, if the marker is on an inconspicuous part of the body, doing nothing may be preferable to other methods, as certain products or rubbing repeatedly can be more irritating to the skin.

“Soap and water help with normal hand washing, and the rest eventually dissolves after a number of baths,” said Erin Kravitz, who has a young daughter, to Mom.com. “Most things are soaked in the bathtub, especially with the help of a cloth.”

2. Removal of skin blemishes with household products

However, if you can’t or don’t want to wait for the ink to disappear on its own, these suggestions can help. A general note: like most other spots, the ink on the skin is easier to remove when it is relatively fresh. So if you can put your child in the bathtub, or at least near a sink, you can quickly get better results.

a. Soap and water

If the ink stains in question are water-based – you’re in luck! – They should be quite easy to remove during the normal bath. Water-based paints are often used in washable markers for children, such as: B. Crayola, who recommends good old soap and water to erase accidental body art.

“Typically, Crayola washable products can be removed from the skin by washing with soap and water,” says the company’s website. “If soap and water don’t work, try wet wipes, baby oil or make-up remover. Since crayons are water-based washable products, keeping the area around the stain moist can help remove it. ”

b. Baby wipes

Crayola recommended wet wipes for more resistant and washable stains can also be used with ballpoint pen ink or permanent marker. And because they are formulated for babies, they are probably softer on your child’s skin than some other home remedies you can find on the Internet.

c. Baby oil

Baby oil is commonly used to remove makeup and temporary tattoos. So it makes sense that people would also recommend it for ink stains. According to Healthline, baby oil “adheres to excess skin oil and removes all substances” – possibly including a permanent marker. The website suggests applying a small amount of oil to the area and then washing it off.

d. Milk

It sounds strange, but a home remedy that Good Housekeeping mentions to remove permanent skin stains is to put a cotton ball in the milk and rub over the stain. There have been mixed analyzes of the effectiveness of this method – some say it is better to remove stains from fabrics and upholstery – but if you happen to have a little milk on hand, it probably doesn’t hurt to try.

3. Other methods

Many people say that alcohol is the key to ink stains, but you need to exercise caution. Alcohol can be easily inhaled or absorbed through the skin, creating a risk of isopropyl alcohol poisoning. Children are particularly at risk, which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics on its website HealthyChildren.org emphasizes that alcohol should never be used to lower a child’s fever. If you have a permanent mark on your skin, a small amount of alcohol in a cotton ball – used in a well-ventilated area! – it may be good, but for children or stains that cover large parts of the body, it is better to try something different or let the paint fade naturally.

  B. Removing Permanent Marker from Your Skin

We offer products that we believe are useful to our readers. If you buy through the links on this page, we can earn a small commission. Here is our process. The ink happens. From time to time, it is possible to get permanent ink on your skin. Unlike tattoo ink, which is actually embedded in your skin, permanent ink – think of sharp markers – just touches the surface. This means that it will disappear over a few days. However, there may be ways to remove permanent marker stains from your skin a little faster. Watch out for so-called remedies that can do more harm than good to your skin – you may accidentally get more than one permanent marker.

1. Remove the permanent marker from the skin

According to the Northern New England Poison Center, it can take two to three days for the permanent marker to disappear from the skin on its own. If you want to remove the marker a little faster, you can also incorporate one of the following methods into your washing routine. You will probably have to repeat these methods several times before you see the results. There are also aggressive ingredients that you don’t want to apply to your skin. This includes baking soda and bleach. Also, do not use ingredients that may have an allergic reaction.

a. Sea salt shell

Sea salt has natural exfoliating properties. When mixing with warm water, you can make a gentle exfoliation to exfoliate the top layer of the skin. Mix equal parts of salt water and warm water to make a paste. Gently massage the scrub into your skin – but don’t rub it – twice a day.

b. Olive oil or coconut oil

If you have olive oil or coconut oil at home, apply a small amount to your skin and rub gently before rinsing. These oils can help to bind to your epidermis. In theory, the oil can adhere to the permanent marker marks on your skin and help to remove them smoothly.

c. Baby oil

The idea behind mineral oil, or baby oil, is that it can adhere to excess skin oil and remove any substances. In theory, this would also work with permanent stains. Apply a small amount of oil to the affected area and then wash and rinse as normal. However, be careful if you have acne-prone skin, as applying extra oils can lead to subsequent rashes.

d. Whitening toothpaste

The same properties of toothpaste that help lighten surface stains on teeth can also lighten permanent marker points on your skin. Use this method twice a day. As a bonus, you can even use a new toothbrush to exfoliate. Massage gently in a circular motion around the colored skin and rinse well.

e. Chemical-based remover

Household chemical removers can remove permanent marker pigment when you are in an emergency. These include:

Isopropyl Alcohol

Nail polish remover

Hand sanitizer

You can use this up to twice a day. Apply a small amount with a cotton ball and rinse with warm water.

f. Make up remover

Makeup remover can be another solution to remove permanent marks from your skin. This is also a less harsh option compared to household chemical removers. Apply with a cotton ball and massage in a circular motion for a few seconds. Rinse thoroughly with warm water.

2. Is the ink not healthy for the skin?

Traditional permanent markers found in office supply stores are not intended for your skin. In fact, permanent markers contain ingredients considered to be toxic, such as resin, xylene and toluene. If these markers come into contact with your skin, they may be slightly irritated. Symptoms include redness, swelling and itching. Permanent marker vapors can also irritate the eyes, nose and throat.

3. Safer ink for the skin

Accidental marking with permanent ink is unlikely to cause adverse symptoms. With that said, you don’t want to purposely put a permanent marker on your skin. If you are interested in markers for your skin for sports or tattoos, find markers that are designed specifically for the skin. They are also waterproof, but, unlike their traditional marker, they do not contain toxic ingredients.

The permanent marker will eventually disappear from the pores with regular washing and natural oils. However, if you want to remove marker stains a little faster, consider the home remedies above. However, be careful not to use substances that you are allergic to or sensitive to. Consult a doctor if you develop rashes or swelling due to permanent marker marks on the skin.

  C. How to Get Crayola Markers Off Your Kids Skin

Then you bought your child a set of Crayola markers. They just wanted to get Picasso out of him. The next thing you know, he’s just messing up his skin with them. Freaky? You shouldn’t be. Pencil markers are made in such a way that, although your child uses his whole body with drawing paper, he can easily remove it from the skin. And that is what we are focusing on today. We’ll show you how to easily remove Crayola markers from your child’s skin.

1. Ways to remove markers from children’s skin

There are several methods that can be used to easily remove the marker from your child’s skin. While some may work, others may not. That’s why we talk about all the effective ones.

a. Method 1: using soap and water

Most Crayola markers are washable. You can try using soap and water to improve the situation. If you can only use the method when the spot on your child’s skin is recent, it will work best.

Use warm water to moisturize your skin first. Next, you need to use a clean towel and add some detergent.

Now rub the stain in a circular motion while proceeding smoothly. This trick will help you to remove almost all the stain. To make sure it is completely erased, you will need to clean the area several times.

b. Method 2: using disinfectants

Hand sanitizer is very useful for removing stains from markers. When we say disinfectant, we mean that it is “alcohol” that does the trick.

This works perfectly as a catalyst for removing paint. Because they are “HAND SANITIZERS”, they are also kind to the skin.

Enough talk, let’s see how it works. First, you need to apply a small amount of disinfectant to your child’s skin. You will see the ink reactivate. Clean it with a cotton ball.

When you’re done, just rub the skin to remove the marks.

c. Method 3: makeup remover

Who said makeup removers can only be used to get rid of makeup? You can also use them to remove Crayola markers from your child’s skin. In addition, it is one of the safest methods to use when aiming at the eye area.

To do this, you need to use a cotton ball and put some remover on it. Now, carefully clean the stains. You can also use the remover to remove ink stains.

Once you’re done, it’s time to rinse your skin with warm water.

d. Method 4: baby wipes

To remove difficult but washable stains, the Crayola team recommends the wipes themselves. Remember, they don’t work with permanent markers.

However, baby wipes are the most delicate alternative to everything else, as they are only made for babies and toddlers.

e. Method 5: baby oil

Of course, if you have a baby in your home with your child, you also have baby oil in your home. Use it as a quick alternative to remove the marks.

Your child already has excess oil on his skin. What baby oil does is basically sticking to excess oils while removing stains. The best part? You can also use baby oil to remove permanent markers.

f. Method 6: using milk

You read that right, “milk”. This will help you to clean these marks. Knowing how to properly apply milk to your child’s skin can also help remove permanent stains.

However, you will hear mixed reviews on the subject. There are mothers who say that applying milk only works if the stain is on the upholstery or on the fabrics. On the other hand, we have no problem with trying your child’s hand.

2. Here are some that are not for you

Now we talk about rubbing hand sanitizer and they have alcohol, even though it’s just a tiny portion. You will find that some people try to remove alcohol on their own to clean the stains, and yes, it also works. However, when applying it to your child’s skin, you must also take the necessary care. You should know that the skin absorbs alcohol very quickly, which can lead to isopropyl alcohol poisoning.

Your child’s skin is delicate and if you rub the alcohol carelessly, there is a chance that the skin will be vulnerable to withstand the reaction. Therefore, even when applying it, you should use only a very small portion and rub with a cotton ball.

3. Summary

Well, that was all there was to remove Crayola markers from your son’s skin. We talked about all the effective methods here so you can choose the method that best suits you. Don’t worry, one of these will definitely work for you, no matter what. But remember that we do not recommend drinking alcohol unless it is really necessary.

[fushigujiro]

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮

➤ Pairing; Draken, Hanma, Rindou, Shinichiro x gn!reader!

➤ Warnings; fluffy stuff~

DRAKEN

Ken loves it when you help out at his shop with him. He is working with new bikes at the back and he looks up through the door that leads to you at the front desk just writing whatever information is needed. He also loves it when you take care of customers when he can’t at that certain time or moment. He also VERY MUCH adores you when you have the same knowledge as him when it comes to bikes and motors. It’s like such a turn on for him, when he can just be staring at you with so much love and then when you finish talking and you notice he’s just staring at you then all of a sudden he just picks you up and hugs you tight with a genuine smile on his face.

“Look at my girl being such a nerd~”

“But you love it!”

“That I do….and you too.”

HANMA

Shuji loves it when you kiss the tattoos on both of his hands. You two are just laying down on the bed cuddling each other then he feels two lingering kisses on the backs of his hands and finds you who is the cause of it. Even though he acts like he doesn't like it which he fully does, he loves it when you get a boatload of markers and just colour his tattoos. Seeing you just get excited and seeing you concentrate while trying to draw on his skin makes is heart clench so bad.

“What are you doing?”

“Definitely not coloring your hands..”

“Baby—”

“IT’S WASHABLE!!”

RINDOU

Rindou absolutely adores it when you give a lot of kisses. It’s very simple but it makes him feel so loved that he wants to cry. It did one time-- ALMOST but it did happen. He comes home from a meeting or just out with his brother and the second the door closes is the second you are in his arms giving him boat loads of small kisses and pecks. he thinks he felt a lick on his face but he’ll let it pass. The more kisses you give him, the more you're gonna hear little giggles from him-- bro, HE SOUNDS SO CUTE MAN!!

One time when he came home, and he didn't get kisses when he opened or closed the door to the house, he got grumpy quick. Pouting, arms crossed and everything..flipping baby. He found out you were just distracted by the game you were playing on your phone all the way upstairs in your shared room. He stood at the door way with his foot tapping on the ground very loudly to catch your attention and when you seen him you smiled but looked at him in confusion as to why he looks like that. Then you quickly figured that you didn’t give him his kisses when he came home and ran to him full speed with a whole lotta kisses to give. He went to sleep with a satisfied smile...he's such a brat bro i swear

SHINICHIRO

Shinichiro loves it when you are basically..you! He has no specific thing he loves about you because he loves all of you equally...okay I AM TELLING THE TRUTH, I AM, but he loves it when you are very intimidating..make sense? Like for example, you and his friends are hanging out at a park bench just talking, laughing, and then all of a sudden a group of people, men, like 3 or 5, pop up walking towards you guys.

“Well hello there sweet thang~”

You cringe at the unfamiliar and flirty voice that was close to you and was most likely thrown at you. You turned around and so do the others to look at the weird guys right behind you. They were taller than you, yes, but they didn't scare you one bit.

“I am not a ‘sweet thang’ and what do you want?”

Your annoyed voice was known as you were already tired off these men behind you already. Shinichiro just sat back and enjoyed to whatever was about to happen knowing you know how to take care of yourself.

“Ouuuuuuu, she's a tough cookie~ we like those.”

“Luckly, she doesn't like you.”

“She’s taken you freak now, walk away,.”

Wakasa and Akashi spoke as Benkei stood up ready to deal with them but you held out your hand to stop him from moving any further. He listens to you but stays behind you if anything as the guy continues to speak.

“And who is that special man then, huh? That boy right there?”

The guy points to Shinichiro who just looks at him unamused. You narrow your eyes at him at the slight jab he made at your boyfriend.

“And what about it?”

“He definitely looks like a little ass loser who also can’t-”

The way your foot connected with his covered junk, and with the way it made a little crack definitely made the guys shut up and just wheezed his way oall the way down to the ground while holding his private part in pain. The other guys that were with him, already started to walk backwards fast, not only because of you but the way Benkei was staring right at them.

“It’s a good thing that he is my loser then.”

You finished and looked up at bekei who gave you a pat on the head and went ahead to the guy still in pain. Akashi and Wakasa turned their backs towards you like something serious was up..

“What’s wrong?”

“We heard that crack, y/n.”

“You will never get the chance to kick my dick even if you're mad at me.”

“Flippin demon.”

You laughed at how they looked spooked out by the thought of them getting kicked in the same place. You look at Shinichiro who has his head on his hand just looking at you dreamily.

“What’s with you now?”

“Baby, you can kick me anytime you want..THAT WAS SO HOT!”

“Of course he would say this...sicko.”

“WAKA HUSH!”

keisukefushiguro © 2021 all right reserved.

[bellakitse]

Greener on the Other Side

“I’m sorry,” he gasps, not believing what she’s just said. “Say that again, please.”

“I said he’s married,” she repeats herself softly, giving him a pitying look. “And he has a kid."

+

Alex hasn't heard anything about TK Strand in over four years. That's about to change.

Alex Fletcher walks into Gramercy Tavern twenty minutes later than he agreed to meet his friends. He already dreads what is sure to be a lecture on his constant tardiness from the group, but more so, what he knows will be pointed looks when they see he’s come alone instead of with his boyfriend.

Spotting them to the left of the restaurant, he starts to make his way over to them. “Sorry, sorry,” he starts to say with a charming smile as all five of them look up at his voice, hoping to curb the scolding before it starts. “The 6 train was an absolute mess. It got the 33rd street and then refused to go forward.”

Liz and Becca share a look at his excuse, and Alex has to keep from rolling his eyes at them. He gets it. Being late is one of his less desirable character traits, and they find it annoying, but after over a decade of friendship, he thinks they should get over it by now.

“Yeah, the trains have been acting up all week,” Malcolm offers while his wife Patricia gives him a small smile, the two of them ever the peacemakers of the group. “Sit down, man.”

Alex offers his friends a more sincere smile, shaking hands with him and his other buddy Chris before giving all three women kisses on the cheek.

“Where is Dean?” Patricia asks politely, and Alex winces at her mistake. It’s been a while since he and Dean ended things, but it’s also been a while since Patricia has joined her husband at one of their dinners.

“We broke up a few months ago,” he tells her, his face feeling tight from his fake smile. “I’m dating someone new now. His name is Wallace.”

“Oh,” Patricia says softly, going a little red in the face at her blunder. “My apologies, Alex.”

He waves her off, wanting to move on from the embarrassing moment quickly. “No worries, Patty,” he says to her. “And Wallace wanted to come, but he had to work,” he explains, trailing off lamely, not believing the lie himself, but it’s not like he can tell his friends that Wallace simply didn’t want to come because he thought it would be boring.

His friends all give him understanding, if not quite believing looks, and Alex wonders just how pathetic his expression is that they don’t push for more.

The mood around the table is awkward and quiet, making his skin feel tight. Thankfully their waiter comes over to take their drink order, easing the moment, giving him something else to focus on.

He starts to loosen up once there is a vodka soda in his hand. He listens to Liz as she talks about her latest architecture project, laughs at the funny story Chris tells them about his 1st-grade class painting the class bunny with washable markers. He’s enjoying their company, forgetting for a moment that his boyfriend should be there with him getting to know his friends when Becca’s eyes light up as Chris wraps up another story about his students.

“You guys will never believe who I saw yesterday walking out of FAO Schwarz,” she starts, her brown eyes lighting up with the chance to share some juicy gossip.

Alex leans in, already intrigued by the look on her face.

“Who?” Liz asks with a grin, curious herself.

“TK Strand,” Becca answers, saying the name with emphasis, and Alex gets why even as he feels shock go through him. It’s been over four years since he has seen or heard from TK. Not since the night he stopped him from proposing, confessing he was in love with someone else.

Mitchell, he thinks bitterly as he takes a large gulp of his drink. In the end, he’d turned out to be Alex’s own personal karma for hurting TK.

Walking in on him and another guy from their gym eight months into their official relationship had been a kick in the teeth and a hard lesson to learn.

He shakes his head to clear it from the lousy memory just in time to hear Becca’s following comment, shocking him more than her first. “I’m sorry,” he gasps, not believing what she’s just said. “Say that again, please.”

Becca looks at him, hesitating as she bites down on her lip, looking remorseful for a moment, probably remembering that out of all of them, he’d be the one with the most invested interest.

“I said he’s married,” she repeats herself softly, giving him a pitying look. “And he has a kid. They were coming out of the toy store when I bumped into them, and he introduced them to me. His husband’s name is Carlos, and their little boy is Luca. Really cute kid – was talking a mile a minute about all the toys in the place, and given all the bags they had, they must have bought him half the store.”

“Wow,” Chris breathes out, his surprise evident. “I can’t believe he’s married and with a kid. How old do you think?”

“Four,” Becca answers instantly. “I asked Luca, and he held up his fingers.”

Alex shakes his head again. It’s been four years since he and TK were together, and he has a four-year-old son. “That doesn’t make any sense,” he says mostly to himself.

“I get the feeling he’s adopted,” Becca answers. “Or maybe Carlos’ son,” she continues with a shrug. “But he called TK dad.”

“What was the husband like?” Liz questions, and Alex is grateful because he can’t bring himself to ask.

“He was polite and friendly,” Becca pauses, shooting him another look before continuing. “Ridiculously hot, and hopelessly in love with TK. I spent maybe ten minutes with them, and you guys should have seen the way he looked at him. It was like TK hung the moon.”

The table is quiet for a moment. For his benefit, he’s sure, as he tries to process everything he’s learned, when Liz speaks up again.

“Good for TK. He deserves that and more,” she says with a smile on her face that takes a hard edge when he shoots her a glare. “What?” she questions, her whole expression challenging him. “You didn’t take care of him when you guys were together, and he’s a great guy. I always liked him even though we lost touch after you broke up. I’m glad he’s found happiness.”

Alex bites down on the urge to lash out at his friend, not only is it a losing battle with Liz, but deep down in the parts of him where he has buried his guilt and shame at his past actions, he knows he can’t argue with the truth she just laid on him.

 ֎֎֎

 The rest of the dinner is awkward to say the least. Even though they move on from TK, Alex can’t stop thinking about his ex and what he’s learned. He pulls Becca to the side as they’re leaving, grilling her for any more information she might have.

She finally tells him TK had mentioned they were staying with his mother and little brother – one of the few things he did know about TK and his family since Gwyneth and his father ran in the same legal circles. He’d learned about the woman’s surprise pregnancy almost three years ago.

Becca looks at him as he absorbs the information before letting out a heavy sigh, reminding him not to do anything stupid.

He’d given her an absent nod that even he didn’t believe. Which is probably why he’s outside of Gwyneth’s Park Avenue apartment in a hat and sunglasses like a stalker, hoping to catch a glimpse of his ex and his husband.

Whether luck is on his side or karma wants to teach him another lesson, he doesn’t have to wait long. He’s been outside of the swanky apartment building for maybe 15 minutes, trying to decide what exactly he thinks he’s doing, when the front door opens and out walks the person he wants to see.

He ducks behind a tree just in time to not be spotted, peeking behind it to look at the small family.

TK, at 26-years-old, had been a beautiful man; Alex remembers that well. But now, at 30, he’s even more stunning if that’s even possible. He walks out of the building with a tall, muscular man Alex instantly recognizes as the ‘ridiculously hot’ mystery husband. Each of them with a little boy in their arms.

“So what are we doing today?” he hears TK ask with a grin on his face as the little boys instantly start to chant, ‘Park, park, park!’

“I wanna see the penguins, Dada,” exclaims the little boy in the arms of TK’s husband. Carlos and Luca, he remembers.

TK smiles softly at his son before looking at the child in his own arms. “What about you, little brother? Do you want to go to the Central Park Zoo and see the penguins?” he asks, tickling his chin, getting a happy giggle along with a nod from the little boy.

TK’s grin grows before he looks over at his husband, getting a nod from the man too.

“It’s unanimous then,” TK proclaims in an animated voice that has the boys lighting up. “To the park! To the penguins!”

The pair of boys let out a ‘yeah!’ leaning over at each other to share a clumsy high-five that has the adults laughing.

“You just had to rile them up, troublemaker,” Carlos scolds TK, and he might be a stranger to Alex, but he can tell it’s said with amused fondness.  

“You love me,” TK teases his husband, going easily when the man reaches out to tug him in closer by his shirt, turning his face up as his husband leans in to kiss him, tilting to the side to keep the boys out of the way.

Alex swallows hard at the display. Even from where he’s hiding, he can see TK’s bright smile and dancing green eyes once he and his husband break the kiss.

“Always, my love,” Carlos tells TK as he kisses the side of his face adoringly.

“Dada, Papa,” Luca groans out. “Kissing later, park now,” he continues, much to the amusement of the two men.

“So demanding,” TK teases, leaning in to kiss the little boy’s cheek too, laughing at the face he makes. “Okay, let’s go.”

They start towards the park, and Alex hesitates for a moment. He’s seen and heard TK and his family with his own eyes and ears. It’s obvious his ex is happy and not at all thinking about him. He should turn around in the opposite direction and leave before his luck runs out and they spot him. It’s the reasonable thing to do, and yet he finds himself following them about half a block back, keeping his head down.

He can’t hear them from this distance, but he can watch them. He takes in the way the two men hold hands while each holding on to a child, listening and chatting with the two little ones. Everything about them screams family, and Alex can’t deny the dull ache it causes inside his chest.

Is this what he and TK could have had?

He follows them through the park until they come to a series of benches. He watches as TK hands over his little brother to his husband, the man easily carrying both kids. TK sits down, but no one else does. Instead, he waves at them as his husband walks away with the children, leaving TK alone.

Alex hesitates again. This is his chance to approach TK, and yet he’s frozen in place by indecision.

A moment later, his ex takes the choice out of his hand.

He startles as TK turns his head to look straight at him with a raised eyebrow. “Are you just going to stand there?” he calls out to him casually, the picture of calm as he places his arms on the backrest of the bench. It’s different from the TK he remembers, who was always constantly bouncing his legs with nervous energy.

“How did you – “ he starts, feeling awkward and off-balance.

“I didn’t,” TK answers with a shrug as Alex gets closer to him. “It was Carlos who realized. He’s a cop. Noticing weirdos is kind of his job.”

Alex cringes at the descriptor as he comes to a stop in front of him. “Hi, TK,” he says lamely, wincing again at the high pitch sound of his voice.

TK raises an eyebrow at him again. “Hello, Alex. Any particular reason you’re following us in that get-up?” he questions, pointing at his hat and sunglasses.

Alex feels his face grow hot at the question. He reaches up, taking them off. “Becca said she saw you,” he says uncomfortably, getting a casual nod back from his ex. “And I got curious,” he continues weakly. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“That sounds like poor impulse control,” TK mutters to himself. He moves to the side, leaving half the bench open for Alex to decide if he wants to take a seat or not.

Alex would be embarrassed by the speed with which he takes the offer, but the joy at being allowed to get closer overrides that. Neither says anything after he sits down, him because he’s nervous, TK it seems because he’s simply waiting him out.

“So,” he starts slowly. “You’re visiting?”

TK looks at him, seeming to study him before giving him a nod. “We try to see my mother and my little brother Robbie every few months. Sometimes they come to see us, but New York is always pretty in the spring, and Luca has never been.”

“That’s your son,” he blurts out, his face going hot again at the look TK shoots him.

“Becca shared everything, did she,” he questions with a dry smile, shaking his head to himself.

“The group had dinner,” he explains, not needing to add who exactly was there. There was a time when TK would have sat right next to him at one of those dinners, charming everyone with stories about fighting fires and daring rescues.

“Ah,” TK exhales softly. “It’s nice you all still do that. They’re good people. I liked them.”

“They liked you too,” Alex answers, giving TK a half-smile. “Liz was thrilled to hear that you’re married and have a kid. She’s happy you’re happy.”

TK smiles, this time more genuine. “That sounds like her,” he comments, looking nostalgic for the first time. “She was always kind to me,” he finishes, not adding anything else.

It goes quiet between them again, causing Alex’s nerves to fray at the edges. He’s not used to this TK. The one he remembers always filled the silence, even if it was just with nervous chatter.

“So, are you?” he can’t help but blurt out, swallowing nervously when TK gives him a curious look. “Are you happy?”

TK lets out a huff, and while he doesn’t smile or laugh, Alex can see a hint of amusement in his bottle-green eyes. “Is that why you’re here? You want to know if I’m happy?”

He feels the hairs at the back of his neck stand at the mocking he hears in TK’s voice. “Is that so crazy?” he questions defensively. “The last time we spoke wasn’t precisely the best encounter – “

“That’s because I was getting ready to propose to you and instead found out you were fucking around my back with a spin instructor,” TK interrupts him, surprising Alex with how calm he is. There is no anger or reproach in TK’s voice like Alex anticipated, just a simple fact. It hurts Alex more than he expected to witness how unaffected TK seems. “How is Mitchell by the way?”

Alex clenches his fists, his nails digging into his palms as embarrassment courses through him. He wants to stand up and walk away from this. He’s not sure what he’d hoped to accomplish by seeking TK out, but it’s clear now whatever it was, he isn’t going to get it.

He looks at TK to find a mild curiosity on his face, like Alex’s answer doesn’t really matter to him one way or another.

“We broke up,” he answers anyway, taking a breath to try to soothe the ache before his next words. “I found him in our bed with someone else less than a year after you and I broke up.”

“Well shit,” TK says quietly, letting out a breath of his own. He doesn’t look gloating the way he has a right to look. Instead, he looks at Alex with what can only be called compassion. “Karma didn’t just pay you back. It sucker-punched you in the face, huh?”

Alex lets out a startled laugh at the description. TK joins him with a chuckle of his own, and Alex welcomes it even if it’s at his own expense. They laugh for a few seconds before they let it trail off.

“To answer your question,” TK starts to say. He looks at him, bobbing his head softly. “Yes, I’m happy. I’m the kind of happy where I wake up in the morning, look at my husband sleeping, usually with our kid between us, and I can’t believe just how lucky I am.”

“You love him,” Alex whispers, not really needing an answer when he can see it clearly on his face.

TK answers anyway. “He’s my soulmate,” he says with a smile that isn’t directed at him at all. It’s directed at the man who walked away with two kids in his arms minutes before. “I used to think that was you,” he continues, his voice sounding far away, lost in the past while Alex aches in the present. “I was so sure of it once, and then I met Carlos. I was still a mess about you, and I wasn’t looking to fall in love at all, but there he was, and I fell. I fell so fast, Alex. Years later, I’m still falling in love with him every single day.”

“That sounds – “ Alex starts, exhaling through the dull throbbing in his chest. “Scary, honestly.”

TK smiles, bright and beautiful, just like Alex remembers. “It is,” he says with a short laugh. “It’s terrifying, but it’s also amazing, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world.”

Alex nods quietly to himself.

“I’m sorry you haven’t found that yet,” TK continues softly because it seems that surprising Alex is the name of the game today. He gives TK a shocked look that has him giving Alex a compassionate look back. “I never wished you ill will. I was hurt and angry after everything went to hell between us, but in the end, I wanted you to find someone to love the way you couldn’t love me and for that person to love you back just the same.”

Alex swallows hard at TK’s words, feeling overwhelmed by them. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

TK looks away from him, and Alex follows his gaze to find that his husband and the kids are coming back with ice cream in their hands. “Thank you for saying that,” he says softly as he stands. He looks down at Alex, giving him a slight quirk of his mouth. “Goodbye, Alex. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Alex watches TK walk away from him, knowing it will be the last time he’ll see him. “Goodbye, TK,” he whispers at his back, feeling the loss more now than he did four years ago.

 ֎֎֎

 “Dada, we got ice cream!” Luca exclaims happily as he slurps on his spiderman popsicle.

“I can see that. Can I have a taste of spidey?” he questions, leaning in when Luca sweetly offers him his treat. “Mmm, that’s yummy. Thank you, sweetheart.”

Luca smiles up at him, his face already a sticky red and blue mess. He looks at Robbie to see his face is yellow from his Spongebob popsicle. He smiles at them fondly as he turns his backpack to his front, searching for the wet wipes to clean their faces.

“We got you a cone with sprinkles,” Carlos says with a smile, though TK can see the worry in his eyes. “Is everything okay?”

TK looks at his husband, taking in his concern for him along with his ever-present love, and smiles as he remembers what he just told Alex moments ago. The love he and Carlos share is so strong – it can be frightening at times to feel so much and so intensely for another person, but like he told Alex, he wouldn’t change it for the world when it means Carlos loves him back just as strongly.

“Yeah, baby,” he answers, reaching out to touch Carlos’ cheek. “Everything is okay,” he smiles at his husband before looking down at his son and little brother. “Better than okay because we’re going to go see some penguins!”

Luca and Robbie cheer happily.

“Let’s go, Robbie,” Luca says to his uncle, throwing an arm over the other little boy’s shoulder.

TK and Carlos watch them walk a few steps ahead of them, chatting away the way only little kids can.

“You sure you’re alright?” Carlos asks as he hands him a melting ice cream. TK takes it, giving it a few licks to keep it from dripping.

“I swear, babe,” he assures him as he wraps an arm around Carlos’ waist. “We talked, and then we said goodbye.”

“What did he want?” Carlos asks curiously.

TK shrugs. He’ll be honest even after talking to Alex; he’s still not entirely sure what the other man wanted out of the conversation. “I’m not even sure he knows,” he answers after a moment. “He apologized for the past and asked me if I was happy. Maybe he was feeling guilty.”

“What did you tell him?” Carlos questions, a smile playing on his mouth when TK shoots him a look. “What?” he asks innocently, and TK can’t help but chuckle at his fishing.

“I told him,” he starts to say, making sure that he’s holding Carlos’ gaze, as usual falling in love all over again as he gets lost in Carlos’ soulful brown eyes. “That every morning, I wake up amazed I got so lucky to love and be loved by you.”

Carlos pulls him to his side, pressing his face into his neck. “I’m the lucky one, Ty,” he whispers against his skin.

TK smiles at Carlos’ words, his smile growing as Luca shouts for them to keep up; the penguins are waiting. “We both are, my love.”

[marvelfansince08love]

Wanda requests you say 👀 How about R comforting Wanda after the Lagos incident

Now I know who this is - Cherru I am sorry my friend x

Sweet Affirmations to you, My dear Wanda  

Wanda Maximoff x Reader 

Gif credit @go-fandom-imagines

“Eleven Wakandan’s were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria last month. The traditional Wakandan’s were on an outreach mission in Lagos when the attack occurred-” 

The news anchor continues on as you watch with a worried frown, since returning back from the mission in Lagos Wanda had locked herself away in her room only coming out to grab her dinner plate after being coaxed out by Natasha. Her avoidance had hurt you more than you would like to admit but you knew as soon as you limped out of that building and saw Wanda’s expression at seeing your injured self due to her powers, she was utterly devastated. You decide you’ve heard enough as you switch the news off and make your way out of the room and into the hallway, the faint sound of muttered voices echoes from Wanda’s bedroom down the hall as you make a beeline towards the sound.

 Leaning against the doorframe you watch her small screen knowing that she had already sensed your presence the moment you left your room down the corridor.  

“What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeria-” 

“Mute,” you command, the screen goes quiet as the events that unfolded continue to play silently. Wanda’s gaze never wavers from the TV. 

“This wasn’t your fault Wanda, you shouldn’t blame yourself.” you start, knowing that your words are barely reaching her tormented mind as she continues to spiral in her own self hatred. 

“Turn the TV back on, their being very specific,“ she mutters, her voice laced with hurt and sadness. Finally her gaze drops from the TV and into her lap as she twists her rings arounds her fingers, a nervous habit that you’ve noticed she does whenever she is struggling to cope with her emotions. Stepping closer you sit next to her on her bed and allow silence to fall upon you both as you wait for Wanda to speak again. Since knowing the witch you’ve come to learn her way of communicating especially when it comes to communicating with you about her troubles, the best way is to allow her to talk first. 

“I’m a monster,” she whispers, tears gather in her eyes as she grits her teeth in an attempt to stop herself from sobbing. Leaning your head against her shoulder, you lace your fingers through hers and squeeze in comfort. 

“No you aren’t, you were trying to save them. Steve said it himself, he got distracted which caused you to step in and save him. We are only human Wanda,” you explain, keeping your voice soft. She scoffs, shaking her head as she disagrees with your statement. 

“But it wasn’t Steve’s powers that caused half the building to crumble, killing people,” her voice weak, her vulnerable green orbs find your comforting gaze. Cupping her cheek you force her to keep her gaze on you. 

“What happened was an accident, you are not the only one to blame here.” you reassure, brushing a few stray tears from her cheek. Her eyes close as she leans into your touch seeking the only comfort she needs; from you. 

“You were in that building Y/N, I could have lost you,” Finally, you realise where some of her hurt is coming from. Moving from your spot you crouch in front of her, gripping her hands within your own watching her watery gaze fall onto the hands in her lap before you pull her palm up towards your cheek allowing her hands to touch your skin to feel your physical presence. 

“I’m still here, Wanda.” your words are like a breaking point for her as she finally sobs openly. You stand and allow her to collapse forward leaning into your stomach as she cries, brushing your fingers through her long hair you shush her gently feeling the witches hands grip your shirt tightly. 

“Look at me, Milacik (darling).” you softly instruct, her teary eyes flick up to your face waiting for you to continue. “Come with me,” you grab hold of her hand from behind that still grips your shirt and pull her to her feet. 

Gently guiding her to the full length mirror, you place her in front of you watching her gaze at you through the mirror with curiosity. Without a word you move away from her frame to grab a marker pen holding it out in front of her before taking the lid off. Her eyes follow the black ink as you trace letter by letter watching the words form in permanent ink, her head tilts as her chin wobbles fighting another wave of tears. You continue to write upon the mirror making the words frame the outside of her body like a protective barrier, you both remain silent as you continue with your work. Finally, you place the lid back onto the pen and watch her take in the messages on the board, her eyes fall upon three words that are written in line with her heart. 

“A Good Person,” she mutters under her breath, her finger tracing the lines of the words. Leaning your chin against her shoulder you smile at her reflection placing your hand against her chest. 

“Always a good person,” you whisper. Wanda turns around to face you, her brows furrowed as her expression changes a look of confusion evident. 

“I don’t deserve you,” her words saddens your heart but you smile through your heartbreak at her lack of love towards herself. 

“We deserve each other, it’s just you and me okay? We’ll get through this together,” you promise, as her forehead leans against your own nodding at your words as she finally allows some of that hatred towards herself and powers to release into the world. 

“Are you guys done with the sloppy shit, we wanna come in.” Clint’s voice startles you both from your private moment behind the closed door making you both laugh. With the flick of her wrist Wanda opens her door, revealing the team who all seem to be fighting for a place at the front of the door. Clint walks in first and pulls Wanda close to him followed by Natasha and the rest, you all groan in protest as Thor squeezes just a little bit too tight. 

“Alright Buddy, let us go.” you groan, patting the God of thunder on the arm as he sheepishly apologises. The group turn to the mirror to see your work and smile softly at the handy work, except for Tony who jokingly grumbles about washable pens being available instead of ruining his mirrors. Natasha grabs the marker and moves towards the mirror adding in her own kind words about Wanda as the others follow her lead. Pulling Wanda close to your side you kiss her temple and watch them fill her mirror with sweet words. 

“Y.N I love-” you cut her words off by kissing her lips gently. 

“I know,” you say, the words not needing to be said as your eyes tell her everything she needs to know. 

Watching her smile and joke with the team as she points out the different words on the mirror, brings a sense of warmth across your chest. The love you have for her is unmatched to anything you’ve ever experienced before, watching her is like watching a flower blossom in the summer. Her dark past may linger and make her feel wrong and unworthy but with the right love and care shown she can finally see brighter days and just how special she is because of it. Because Wanda Maximoff is no monster, no killer; she’s just a woman trying to fight for her right to live a happy purposeful life. 

Permanent tags: @waitingfortheendtocome @natasha-danvers @natasharomanoffswife

[beyondthisdarkhouse]

(woman by Gil Evgreen, second artist unknown)

A hypothesis on why pink became the feminine colour

So like, we’ve all heard about Jo Paoletti’s historical research showing how in America, pink was the recommended colour for baby boys up into the late 1920s, yeah? And that dramatically switched in a short space of time, so by the 1940s and 50s, blue was for boys and pink was thoroughly feminine.

But I’ve never seen an explanation of why this might have happened, and I have an inkling of a theory. It involves jeans and lingerie.

1. Gender is fake

There have always been working-class women who do manual labour. There have always been men in performing arts and fashion. The images in this post represent a small slice of reality, not the reality of gender itself.

This theory is not really that the fashion industry searched the souls of Americans and intuited that men and women just vibed more with certain colours. I think this was about the public narrative of these colours, the way those colours were used in American media and public consciousness from 1920 to 1950.

2. Denim: A Way of Life

Especially before easily-washable synthetic fabrics, it makes absolute sense that the preferred fabrics of manual labourers and skilled trades were very rugged, sturdy fabrics, dyed in colours that were colourfast and wouldn’t show dirt too much. So by the early 19th century, the preferred outfit of America’s working man was denim jeans or overalls and a chambray shirt, dyed blue with indigo. Thus we get the term “blue-collar”. It was also what women wore when they took on heavy industrial labour: When Rosie the Riveter rolled up her sleeve, that sleeve was dark blue chambray.

When World War II ended in 1945, there was a lot of public anxiety about women continuing to do those “masculine” kinds of jobs and competing with men for employment. Media narratives heavily pushed for women to get out of the industrial sector and into the kitchen.

So my theory is: Americans in the 1940s associated blue with industrial work, which was what the people in charge didn’t want women to do. Therefore, for women, it became ix-nay on the ue-blay.

And how convenient! There’s another colour to push on them!

3. Women Are For Looking At, Amirite?

For a couple decades before World War II, there was a subterranean undercurrent in gender and how people think about it, and that is: Underwear. Bare limbs, undergarments, and pictures of scantily clad women became a lot more common in the 1920s and 30s, and Americans became a lot more used to seeing them.

"Feminine”, in Western society, is hugely based around white women. And if a white woman wants to wear underwear under a skimpy outfit, she’s better off picking underwear that doesn’t clash very much with her skintone, which means white, beige, or pink.

Relatedly, if you’re a pinup artist (and this was the pinup era) who isn’t allowed to depict a white woman naked, the next best thing is to make her look naked, which means, dress her in clothing that matches her skin. Ergo: Pink.

So I honestly think pink transmuted over time from the colour of a naked white woman, to the colour of scanty and scandalous lingerie, to the colour of a woman who is very sexually desirable, to the colour of a woman who’s just very feminine, as defined by men of the 1940s.

Conclusion: 2 Fake 2 Gender

So after all those decades of baby boys dressed in pink and baby girls dressed in blue, I think the 1940s and 50s saw a lot of media and public narratives about gender becoming very firm: It was important that there be Man Roles and Women Roles, that we keep the Man Jobs separate from the Woman Jobs, and we be absolutely able to tell the girls from the boys. And, well, pink and blue were the easiest markers to hand.

So the next person who tells me women like pink because of BERRIES ON THE ANCESTRAL SAVANNA can take a long walk off a short pier.

[watchyourbluesturngolden]

matching tattoos

warnings: none

word count: 1.8k (the longest i’ve done in a while whoo 🎉)

"Stevie, I don't think your mom will be too happy with me if I let you do this," Harry said, eying his two year old daughter. She had been asking about it for weeks, but so far he'd been able to distract her before you caught wind of their conversation.

"Pleeeease, daddy?" She pouted, looking up at him with wide eyes. 

"Why don't we have some cookies instead, love?" 

"No." 

"Ummm... oh! I know what we can do! Why don't we go in my studio? You can play the piano, or the guitar, maybe sing a song for me..." He trailed off.

"I want to do this! Please?" 

Harry's heart melted in three seconds flat. How could he say no to her? He tried, he really did. He opened his mouth to say "no, mommy will really kill me, why don't we do something else?" but one glance at her sweet face left him speechless. He couldn't do it. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

"Alright, we'll do it... but!" He cut himself off, raising his voice slightly to be heard over her excited cheering. "But! We only have two hours til mommy gets home." She nodded eagerly, bouncing on her feet. 

"And if we do this it has to be our secret, mommy can't know. Can you keep this secret?" He said, making a very serious face. 

"Yes!" She squealed, giggling. 

"Pinky promise?" 

She beamed, holding her tiny hand up to his. He wrapped his finger around hers, squeezing for just a second before releasing her. 

"Go get the markers then, we have to work fast!" 

Stevie screamed in excitement, running as fast as her little legs could carry her. He heard her digging around the art room, probably making a huge mess, before he heard a scraping noise on the wood floor. She was pushing a box of markers that was nearly as big as she was, groaning dramatically. 

"It's... too... heavy," she panted.  "Please help!" 

Harry smiled, leaning down to pick up the box. He scooped her up too, settling them both down on the table. 

"Alright, Miss Styles," he said, adapting a posh accent. "This is a proper tattoo parlor, so we shall do this properly, hm?" 

She laughed, kicking her feet. 

"I want the mermaid!" She said, pointing to the ink on his forearm. 

"Patience, Miss Styles," He smiled, wetting a paper towel under the faucet. "First, we have to get your arm ready!" 

She held out her arm, tracing her little fingers over his other tattoos as he wiped her wrist with the cloth. 

"So, the mermaid, hm? You have excellent taste, Miss Stevie," he joked, throwing the towel back to the sink. "What color?" 

"Black, like yours," she said, smiling sweetly. 

He felt his heart squeezing as he reached for a black marker. She was so precious. He would do anything, literally anything, to make her happy. He knew it was probably dangerous, how much power this two year old had over him, but he didn't care. He had been in love with her since the day she was born; since the first time he had looked at her. 

"We can match, look at that!" He said, beginning to draw on her arm. "Did you know that I love you sooooo much?" 

"I love you too, daddy," she giggled. "And that tickles!" 

"Oh, it tickles, does it? Should I stop?" He hovered the marker over her skin, glancing at her teasingly. 

"No!" She yelled. "I want to match you!" 

"Alright then," He said, laughing as he went back to his task. "Why don't we listen to some music?" 

"Yeah!" 

"What should we listen to?" 

"Your song, the fire!" 

"The fire?" Harry looked up, confused. "None of my songs have fire in them, bug." 

"Yes," she said stubbornly. "And the fish!" 

Harry thought for a second before it clicked. "Do you mean Adore You?" 

"That one!" 

"You're right," He laughed. "That one does talk about fire. I'll get it, yeah?" 

He set down the marker, picking up his phone. After a minute, she was dancing in her seat to the drums of Adore You. When the chorus came on, she sang "walk through fire for you" while looking at Harry triumphantly. 

"Did you know this song is about mommy?" He said, focusing on his drawing. 

"Really?" She asked incredulously, eyes wide. 

"Really! It's about how much I love her." 

"Yucky," She said, scrunching her nose.

  "Yucky? That's not yucky!" he exclaimed. "It's nice!" 

Stevie hummed, kicking her feet along with the music.

   "It's yucky." 

"Stevie, you're hurting my feelings!" He said, gasping and clutching his chest dramatically. "I can't go on," he sighed, throwing his other arm over his forehead. "I'm sorry, daddy," She giggled, reaching up to pull his arm back to her. "Keep going!" 

He smiled, adding the finishing touches to her drawing.

"And... there we go! One mermaid, just for you." 

She beamed, holding her arm next to his to compare. 

"Daddy... your mermaid has no clothes. She needs some." 

"How about you draw her a shirt?" Harry laughed, handing her the marker. She furrowed her brow, focusing intently on her task. 

"Good job staying in the lines, love!" He said, ignoring the scribbles around the outline. "And you were right, it does tickle." 

"I know!" She laughed, giving the marker back. 

"What now?" 

"The... the heart!" She said, pointing the the small filled in shape on his upper arm. 

"Sure, that's an easy one." 

He proceeded to give her at least ten more matching "tattoos", including a cross, an anchor, a poorly drawn rose, and the green bay packers logo. 

"Daddy!" She gasped. "I have a idea!" 

"What's your idea, princess?" 

"The butterfly! On my belly!" 

"You want a butterfly on your belly?" He asked, lifting his shirt to show her his. "Like this?" 

"Yes!" She clapped. "Like that!" 

They were having the time of their lives, drawing and singing as loud as they could to all of Harry's songs. He loved watching her face every time he finished drawing. Her eyes would light up and she would pull his arm to hers, showing him how they matched. Every time a new song came on she would squeal and kick her legs because "it's my favorite song!" 

They had just finished making silly noises together at the end of "Sunflower" when Harry heard a noise. He froze with the marker on her arm, looking up quickly. 

He reached over to pause the music, holding a finger to his lips when she whined at him. He glanced at the clock, hoping he was just imagining things. You weren't supposed to be home for another hour. But no, that was definitely the sound of the front door opening, followed by your voice calling out a greeting. 

"Mommy!" Stevie shrieked, launching herself off the table. 

"No!" Harry hissed, grabbing her before she could run off. "Stevie, we have to wash this off!" 

He scooped her up, running up the stairs to the bathroom. 

"Harry?" You called out. That was weird. You could have sworn you heard them in the kitchen. "Stevie?" 

"We're- we're upstairs, love!" Harry yelled back. "Just cleaning up!" 

Cleaning what? You wondered, but didn't dwell on it for too long. It had rained recently, so they had probably gotten muddy outside. 

You made your way to the kitchen with the grocery bags, beginning to put everything away. Then you saw the box of markers. You narrowed your eyes, confused when you realized there was no paper around. What had they been drawing on? 

Up in the bathroom, Harry was starting to panic. He had set Stevie up on the counter while he was rubbing at the ink with a washcloth. 

"It's not coming off! Why isn't it coming off? The box said washable!" 

"No, don't take my mermaid!" She cried, pushing his hands away. 

"Stevie, love, I'm sorry, but we can't let mommy see these. Remember? They're secret tattoos." 

"Mommy will like them! They're nice," She pouted. 

"No, I don't think she will," Harry said, laughing nervously. "Maybe if we..." he grabbed the bottle of soap, dumping some onto the cloth. "There we are! Whew," he sighed in relief. "Good thing that worked, or daddy might have been sleeping on the couch tonight." 

Just as he was lifting her off the counter, he heard a knock at the door.

  "Harry? What are you doing in there?" 

He swung open the door, smiling charmingly. 

"Just a little cleanup! We... spilled some yogurt. Right Stevie?" 

She nodded, looking up at you innocently. 

"Ok... why were there markers all over the table, but no paper to use them on?" You asked, raising an eyebrow at him. 

"Uh... we were going to color, but then... the... yogurt explosion..." 

"Oh, I see," you said, still suspicious. "Stevie," you said, kneeling down to be at her eye level. "Is daddy telling the truth?" 

Harry held his breath. Stevie was notoriously bad at lying. Usually, Harry was thankful for this, but right now he could do with a little fib.

"Yes mommy, yogurt went everywhere," she said, eyes going wide as she mimicked an explosion with her hands.

You smiled, straightening up. 

"Well, I'm glad you got it cleaned up. I'm going to go put the rest of the groceries away." 

Harry exhaled as you got to the bottom of the stairs. He quickly lifted Stevie up, spinning her around. 

"Thank you, Stevie. You're such a sweetie," He said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. She giggled, wiping her face and wiggling in his arms.

"Let's go see what mom bought us!" He said, bouncing her as they ran downstairs. 

Harry thought he was in the clear. He really did. He had managed to scrub off all traces of the marker, including the scribbles drawn over his own mermaid. Luckily, Stevie was true to her pinky promise and didn't say a word. She told you about how they played outside and what books they read, but said nothing about the makeshift tattoos. She was good at being sneaky.

By the time Stevie was yawning, Harry really though everything was fine. When you went to change her into her pajamas, he settled into the couch to find a movie. 

Everything is fine, he thought. You had no id-

"Harry!" You yelled from down the hall. 

He hopped up from his seat, rushing to Stevie's room. 

"What is it?" 

"Harry," you said, turning towards him slowly. "Why does our daughter have a huge butterfly drawn on her tummy?" 

So close.