#I wouldn’t have to shovel or mow

[elscottie]

My mom and I are insane. Really considering selling my cute 1920’s house for an ugly modern townhouse just so I could live worry free

[moongreenlight]

Have you ever seen that corny ass skit where it’s the girl talking to her husband asking him to fix things and he says “I’m not a plumber” “I’m not a carpenter” bla bla bla and then one day he comes home and the girl’s like “oh yeah I had the neighbor come over to fix the things you wouldn’t” and the neighbor says she can either bake him a cake or sleep with him as payment so the husband asks “so what kind of cake did you bake him?” And the girl says “I’m not a baker?”

Very much Neighbor!Price x stay-at-home-mom!reader coded :)

Mdni. Nsfw below cut.

Neighbor!Price who’s found a quiet little cul-de-sac to settle in when he’s got some time off. It’s a little neighborhood, mostly older people who’re thrilled to have a man like him around to help bring out bins and offer to mow their lawns or rake their leaves or shovel their drives when he’s around.

But somehow he’s found the only other younger family in the area living directly next to him. Parents are a few years his junior, and they’ve got two young kids. He assumes the boy, the older one, is early elementary age- sees you herding him into the car in the morning with a pack lunch and a backpack that’s nearly the same size as he is to and from the house in the morning and afternoon. And the girl, the younger, must be in pre-k, because she’s only out for half the day and doesn’t get the same pack lunch her brother gets.

He’s gotten to know you pretty well. When he’s around, the two of you will chat while you’re tending your garden and he’s working in his garage carrying out some odd project or another. He thinks you’re sweet. Likes the way you wear overalls with a little top when you’re planting flowers in the beds out front. How when you bend over or stand at the right angle he can imagine you’re not wearing a top at all.

He hates your husband. He’s crass and rude and never waves hello to any of the neighbors- odd for such a friendly little community. Leaves for work early and comes home late and leaves you to fend for yourself all day. Doesn’t know how to interact with you or your kids. And Price is almost certain he doesn’t fuck you the way you deserve to be fucked because his bedroom window looks over your living room and he’s caught you on the couch with your hand down your pants more times than could have been coincidence.

He’s known to be the neighborhood handyman. Got a little workshop set up in his garage and a general knowledge about nearly everything, so it’s not uncommon that he gets a knock on the door a few times a week. Usually it’s some of the older neighbors popping over to see if he can fix their TVs or help their grandkids connect to the Wi-Fi, but it’s a pleasant surprise when you turn up on his porch mid-morning.

You’re scrunching the ends of your soaking wet hair in a towel. Apologizing as soon as you hear him turn the deadbolt. Feverishly going on about how you must have blown a circuit in the bathroom trying to dry your hair and you’d usually be able to manage but your husband shoved a bookshelf in front of the breaker and you can’t get through to it.

He’s sweet about it. Always is, but especially for you. Follows you over to your place and promises you no less than ten times that it’s really no trouble. He’s happy to help. It’s a quick fix, but he drags it out as long as he can. Insists on following you up and down the stairs from the basement to the top floor twice to make sure everything’s working properly.

He notices that the bathroom door sticks and that the fire alarm in the hallway is chirping from a low battery. You apologize for the toys in the living room and the clean laundry pile on the couch and the state of your house. Say that your husband is racking up a hefty to-do list with a small laugh that’s just a bit too forced.

He’s thrilled to tell you that he’s got some free time later in the week and says he’ll come over if only to help out your husband. Makes some backhanded remark about how your husband is clearly a busy lad. You refuse- of course- sweet thing that you are, but he turns up the next day after you’ve taken your kids to school anyway.

He tails you up the drive so there’s no way you can shut him out. Shushes you when you try to apologize for one reason or another and takes off to fix not only the sticky bathroom door and the fire alarm batteries, but also the dripping kitchen faucet and the garbage disposal that’s been broken for months.

You try to stay clear of whatever room he’s working in, chirping short responses to whatever nonsense question he asked in an attempt to lure you over. It was only when he was about to head out and he saw you leaning on the dryer to keep it shut that he saw his golden opportunity.

You were clearly trying to hide it, but even with a small load of clothes in, it sounded like you’d thrown a pair of boots into a tin garbage pail and shook it hard as you could. You tried to shoo him off, but he wasn’t having any of it.

There’s enough skirting around the subject to give you chance to turn down his advances, but when he realizes you’re not outright telling him to go fuck himself, he’s essentially taking it as a challenge to see if he can’t push you to that point.

Hoists you up on the still clanging machine and pushes between your legs on the weak pretense of needing you there to keep the door shut while he works. The machine shook the straps of your top down off your shoulders and made him acutely aware of the fact that you hadn’t had the time to put on a bra yet. It made his pants near painfully tight on the crotch.

He’d try and make idle chat. Your kids and plans for the day, but it’s entirely too hard for him to focus on anything other than the way your thighs are pressing together as the dry cycle started to bang the machine around more. He makes a light comment about how he’s not sure how you get anything done around the house with the dryer in this state. Your laugh is breathy.

And when he leans over you to reach to the back of the machine, he can feel the way your soft panting breaths fan his neck. Confirms his suspicions.

“Alright?”

You’re chewing the inside of your lip while you nod. Clearly starved for stimulation if all it takes is a dry cycle to get you off. Poor thing.

It’s stuffy in the laundry room. Adds to the appeal. Makes your shorts ride up and stick to your legs. Your thighs are dewy and glide together when you shift under his gaze.

“You sure, doll?”

The two of you are almost nose-to-nose. You’re leaned back, caged in by his big arms that look even bigger in his almost obscenely tight shirt. He’s smiling. Letting his eyes wander to your collarbones. The way your throat bobbed when you swallowed.

Before you could choke out your answer, the dryer stopped. Chimed the alert and slowly stilled. You took a shaky breath and nodded once more, looking like you couldn’t decide whether to be disappointed or relieved. He backed off, stretched out his hand to help you down.

You lead him to the kitchen. Ask if you can get him anything. Tea or food. He declines. You say something about stopping to get cash when you’re out picking up your daughter in a couple hours. He declines again.

“John, really, I appreciate your help. You have to let me get you back.”

You’re filling the kettle with water anyway, leaned just slightly over the sink. He knows it’s impolite to stare, but he’s never had very good manners when it came to things like that.

“Bake me a cake or somethin’, then. Sleep with me. Won’t take your money, though.”

You whirl around and end up sloshing some water down your front. Doesn’t seem to phase you. Your eyebrows are damn near at your hairline.

“I don’t know if that’s appropriate, considering…”

He snorts a soft laugh. It’s kind- not at all suggestive. Like he’s playing off a clever joke.

“What? Baking me a cake?”

You purse your lips and set the kettle on the stove.

“Never been a very good baker.”

He about hurdles the kitchen island like he’s running track.

“That right?”

You make a thoughtful sound before clicking on the burner. He can see you biting back a smile. You finally turn to face him. Leaned back on your hands with your head cocked slightly to the side.

“I just don’t know that it would be appropriate given our- my- situation.”

It’s his turn to hum and nod. Take a few steps forward, slow and slinky like a predator stalking toward its prey.

“Sure.”

You chew your bottom lip. Try to find some resolve in fussing with your wedding ring. It’s horrible. Small. He can’t help but think about how he’d be able to get you a much better one. He takes a few more steps forward.

“It’s complicated, John.”

Your voice is mousy now.

“I know.”

A few more steps forward and he’s back nose-to-nose with you. Pinning you against the counter.

“I just-“

“Then tell me to go home.”

The button of his jeans grazes your groin and sends sparks up your spine. You recoil slightly, but he’s got his massive hands on your wrists to keep you in place.

“My husb-“

“Don’t. S’not what I said. Tell me to go home. Tell me to go home, and I’ll leave. S’easy as that.”

The coarse hair of his beard brushes along your jaw. Visible goosebumps rise all the way up your neck and down your arms.

“John, he-“

A throaty growl from him.

“He’s not getting a lick of you.”

And then somehow he’s got you on your back on the couch. Shoved off the pile of laundry and pushed you down. His eyes are near pitch black and hungry. Ravenous. He tears off your shorts. Doesn’t wait for you to hoist your hips, just yanks so hard that you’re a little worried you’ll get thrown off the couch with them.

He is wretched. Planting wet kisses from the inside of your knee all the way up to your sex frustratingly slow. Big hands splayed over your hips to keep you from bucking up into his mouth. He’s got this maddeningly smug smile on his face like he’s waiting for the perfect moment to say I told you so. Like he knew this was going to happen from the start, you were just too stupid to see.

Your underwear is embarrassingly wet from your little go on the dryer. Your pussy puffy and sensitive underneath. You whine when he kisses over the damp spot. Laves his tongue over your folds without pulling them to the side. He makes some comment about the state of you that borders on snarky, but you choose to ignore it.

When he finally does rid you of your panties, there’s a moment of clarity where you realize what you’re doing. You push up on your elbows and try to roll out from under him, but he gives your clit a mean slap that forces you back onto the couch and ends your protest. Sends you to that liminal, clouded headspace where all you can focus on is how desperately you need to come.

It’s clear he’s savoring the moment. Running the point of his tongue through your folds. Teasing at your hole. Artfully swirling around your clit, but never close enough to give you the friction you’re so desperately craving. Planting hot, wet kisses on your inner thighs. Leaves a few love bites in his wake like he’s boasting; so certain your husband wouldn’t get close enough to notice that he had no problem decorating you as he pleased.

You’re a mess. Being taken apart stitch by stitch. Panting and whining and begging for more. Your orgasm is coiling tight under your belly without him having to do much. Any other time you’d have felt a little pathetic, but you were too preoccupied to care now.

He finally brings his hands up and you think he’s about to stuff you full, but he only lets his fingers drag slowly along your sensitive sex. Collects some of your arousal and pulls it up toward your naval. Watches the goosebumps form under his touch.

He rucks your shirt up with his free hand and immediately wraps his lips around your pebbled nipples. Tongues at them. Lets his teeth graze teasingly over them. And whatever one he’s not got currently in his mouth, he’s working his fingers over. Pinching and flicking until you’re teary eyed and squirming under him.

And then finally, fucking finally, he ducks back down and fixes his mouth on your clit. Sucks gently on the swollen bud for just a moment and then companies his mouth with two fingers bullying their way inside you.

The stretch is almost uncomfortable in its suddenness, but you quickly get used to it. The pleasure is blinding. Forces you to throw your head back against the cushion and screw your eyes tightly shut. A string of high, needy moans float through your gaped lips.

He’s sweet, Jesus, is he. Hums and groans with his mouth still on your bundle of nerves. Pulls away just enough to tell you how pretty your pussy is taking him before going back to work on your sensitive clit. You want to scream. You think you may actually come entirely undone on this couch if he doesn’t stop.

And then your orgasm coils so tightly within you that it explodes outward. Tears through you and leaves every square inch of your skin sizzling. He doesn’t let up. Pins you down by the stomach with his forearm and continues down his warpath. The sounds his fingers make when they sink into you are so pornographic that it makes your face hot.

You eventually find it in you to warble out something that sounded like please, too much. And he pulled off, still with that smug grin pulling his lips now surrounded by glistening slick caught in the hair of his beard.

He gives you one last kiss. Lewd and wet and so searing hot you’re worried it will actually blister the sensitive flesh of your cunt. He’ll sit back on his haunches and fuss with the button and zipper of his jeans before saying something horrible and cheeky like

“C’mon, doll. Thought you were set on payin’ me back.”

[druidx]

Incorrect Quotes

Tagged by @cheerfulmelancholies, ty!

Tagging back: @strosmkai-rum @spacetimewraithwrites @wildswrites @odysseywritings @ayzrules @morganwriteblr @my-writblr @bexminx @writingingraves @dreamwishing @aalinaaaaaa @pleaseloathemyveryexistence @jaguarthecat @catharticallysarcastic @bread-of-death @bluegreystarstuff @bodoramzap @whimsyqueen @dxrlingdaydreams @horridmacaronibaby @thewriteflame @amoretteverity

Rules: use this quote generator & list as many quotes as you like using characters from your WIPs.

I'm going to do this for characters from The MOW Files series

Gurn: What's the signal when something goes wrong? Asuka: We yell, 'oh shit.' Gurn: …That'll work.

Avery: What did you two do? Tana: Asuka: Avery: You’re not in trouble, I just need to know if I have to lie to the police again or not.

Asuka: We have fun, don’t we, Gurn? Gurn: I have never been more stressed out in my entire life.

Teodore: I hope no one lowkey hates me. Teodore: Highkey hate me. Hate me with every fiber of your being. Teodore: Go big or go home.

Gurn: *cocks gun* Go to Bed. This is no longer a request, This is now a Threat.

Avery: Pick a card, any card. Asuka: Fine. Avery: Wait, that's my credit card! Asuka: You said any card.

Tana: Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The X makes it sound cool.

Asuka: I came out here to attack people and I'm honestly having such a good time right now.

Jarret: I would do anything for money. *later* Jarret, covered in blood: THE STATEMENT STILL STANDS!

The Narin (Gurn's ship): I think we can all agree I’m the ten amongst these threes.

Asuka: I never said I was gonna get back together with them. But I was thinking, they're in town, would it be the worst thing in the world if I gave them a call? Gurn: No. No, Asuka, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. It would be the fourth worst thing. Number one: a super volcano. Number two: an asteroid hits the Earth. Number three: All the Evel Knievel movies are lost. Number four: Asuka calls Teodore. Number five: Tana gets eaten by a shark. Tana: I’m Tana, and I approve the order of that list.

Asuka: Wake me up- Gurn: Before you go go Teodore: When September ends Tana: WAKE ME UP INSIDE

*The squad is playing a team sport* Gurn: Are you upset you don’t get to be on the same team as Asuka? Tana: Have you ever played a game with Asuka? Gurn: No… Tana: Have you ever been trapped in a cage with a wolverine? *Meanwhile, on the other side of the field* Asuka, chasing Teodore: I SAID FASTER! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORD “FASTER” MEANS? IT MEANS MORE FAST!!!!

Gurn: You’re from Mars, right? Asuka: Okay, first of all, my parents live on Mars. Asuka: I live in the moment.

Gurn: What’s the straightest thing you’ve ever done? Jarret: *sighs* Jarret: I killed a man.

The Narin (Gurn's ship): I'm not ugly, I'm just aesthetically challenged.

Avery: You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon. Avery: It's me.

Jarret: Everyone, calm down! We're grown-ups, let's deal with this like adults! Sonasoda: So, we're just going to wing it and hope for the best? Jarret: Obviously. Now, Gurn, pass the shovel.

Gurn: Alright, listen up you little shits. Gurn: Not you Brianna. You’re an angel and we’re thrilled you’re here.

Asuka You’re drunk. Gurn:Correction: drinking. Present tense. Grammar, Asuka.

Gurn: My life is a mess. Jarret: Gurn relax, go get a beer. Gurn: I don’t want a beer. Jarret: Who said it was for you?

Gurn: Come on Asuka, do it for our friendship. You can't put a price on that... Asuka: Yes I can. Fifty dollars.

[firefly-in-darkness]

Peace of Mind

Pairing → Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Summary → After Bucky’s return, losing him again is your worst nightmare.

Word Count → 900 words

Warnings → angst.

Betas → @princessmisery666​ - thank you for bouncing titles around with me too, you’re a superstar for this one!! // all mistakes are my own.

A/N → This is just a lil’ something that will probably make you cry.

As always, comments and reblogs are appreciated💕

Firefly’s Masterlist

She awoke with a start, the mid-afternoon sunshine streaming through the curtains. An uneasiness in her stomach from the disorientating sensation of having an afternoon nap. Propping up on her elbows, she glanced beside her, looking for Bucky but found the bed empty. A frown pulled at her brow, why hadn't he sought her out when she disappeared to take a nap?

The silence filling the room, the whole house for that matter, caused an ache to bloom in her chest, growing as she scrambled from the bed and called out his name.

Silence.

She glanced into the study. Empty. Everything was in order, nothing was amiss. It was exactly as she had left it. She checked the spare bedroom, on the off chance that he had slipped away to play video games. She looked out the window, checking for his car in the driveway, or any other sign of his presence. Could he be mowing the lawn?

Nothing.

The luscious grass and vibrant flowers they had planted in the backyard earlier were there, the shovel and fork still propped against the fence where he’d left them. The laughter as they wiped dirt across each other’s cheeks only hours ago was now a distant memory. Even with the signs that he had been there, it did nothing to quell her fears. It only reminded her that he wasn’t here now. 

“Buck?” She repeatedly called, descending the stairs two at a time, almost stumbling, “James?”

The lounge was the same as the rooms upstairs, visibly absent of him. The kitchen had a plated half-eaten sandwich. Her thoughts spiralled as she recalled the moment her old college friend turned to dust before her very eyes.

Fear held her gaze on the woman beside her as her body began to disintegrate and the mug fell, China smashing and coffee spilling on the floor. The seat still held the imprint of the previous occupant but was now covered with a layer of dust.

A shiver zipped down her spine as she remembered the chaos that ensued in the cafe, grabbing Bucky’s hoodie, and wrapping it around her body tightly.

Childless mothers and fathers, parentless children. Screaming and rushing. The customers burst out into the streets of New York, pulled along with the surge of the crowd. Car horns blared as the driver and driver-less vehicles collided. Civilians looked around, in hope of seeing one of their heroes, ready to solve the world’s problems once again.

Nobody showed, she knew they wouldn’t. Bucky had been calling and texting, telling her his fears and whispering sweet nothings all the way from Wakanda. The messages and video calls had stopped two days previous, an abrupt single line about Steve’s impending arrival. Hours passed before Steve called, telling her of how Bucky had fought valiantly, how his best friend had been brave. 

Thanos had won and taken Bucky from her, from Steve, from the world.

She wasn’t valiant or brave, she crumpled under the weight of grief.

Opening the patio door, she stepped out into the backyard, wincing at the coldness of the porcelain slabs attacking her bare feet. She called out his name again. This time he responded, with her own name coming from the workshop meters away.

Her heart raced as did her feet, almost colliding into the solid mass of the super-soldier. Bucky held her tightly, an arm wrapped around her waist and his other hand cradling her head to his chest.

“I thought you'd gone again,” she whispered, clinging to him tightly and breathing in his familiar scent mixed with oil. 

“I'm here,” Bucky pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

A memory flashed before her eyes, about Bucky telling her he was going to work on the Harley this afternoon. The panic slipped away, comfort replacing the ache in her chest.

Red mist converged around the house, unbeknownst to the couple embracing. Wanda’s fingers flexed and contorted before she stepped aside, sensing the approaching super soldier.

Steve stood beside the woman and crossed his arms, watching his best friend hold the woman tightly. “You have to stop this, Wanda. She can’t live like this. She knows something isn’t right, and you know that.”

“It’s nothing, she just had a nightmare,” Wanda continued, sparing a quick glance at her friend.

“You can’t fix things; she has to make her own choices.”

Wanda turned to the former Captain, “I don’t control her Steve, I just show her what she’s longing for; the man she loves. She lost so much that day, we all did. I can give her this bit of peace.”

“Bucky’s back now,” Steve reminded, “How is any of this going to make sense to either of them when he returns?”

“He’s not here though, it’s been a year. He went off fighting children with Sam and had some therapy sessions, but he hasn’t even acknowledged her existence,” She scoffed and took the lead in walking across the field back towards the newly built compound.

“You know why he hasn’t been in contact, it’s to protect her. He’s trying to do better, to be better. For her,” Steve explained, defending his friend. “This will end badly; I don’t want you to get hurt too.”

“It won’t come to that,” Wanda shook her head and smiled, “Her being happy makes me happy.”

Fin.

Tag List; @aeo10fan @capsgrl @charmedbysarge @coffeebooksandfandom @crystalchrysalis19 @eclipses-and-moondust @emmabarnes @escapingthoughtsandsecrets @foxyjwls007 @gooddaykate @guera31 @im-squished @impala1967dwinchester @justagirlinafandomworld @justanotherblonde23 @justile @kalesrebellion @ladydmalfoy @leyannrae @maladaptivexxdaydreaming @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @natasha-danvers @nekoannie-chan @queenoftheunderdark @quinjetboi @redbarn1995 @selen-o-phile @starryeyeseunbyul @stuckonjbbarnes @stuckysavedmylive @suchababie @supraveng @valsworldofcreativity @vicmc624 @weird-mumbling @wiccanmetallicrose @writerwrites @doasyoudesireandlive @rainbowkisses31 @little-diable @identity2212 @ajaviary @pottahishotasf @itsamarvelfan-writes​

[rosemaryandarsenic]

do u have any hc's for domestic life w/ gareth ..?

DO I! Oh my god, too many haha. Both fluff and NSFW HC’s to follow so minors, this is your warning lol.

- firstly, Gareth radiates dad vibes. He’s always watching for deals on new tech, I feel like he’s the kind of person to get an in home computer and he’s SO EXCITED about it.

- he absolutely has a VHS collection that turns into a CD collection. Even as they lose popularity he keeps those CD’s and tapes, still has a huge stereo even though he could just use Spotify.

- he hates mowing the lawn, def a cool weather kind of guy. Loves the fall and winter, enjoys going out and shoveling the driveway then sitting outside with a mug of coffee or tea.

- goes all out for Halloween and Christmas, wouldn’t be caught dead with Easter themed anything. It took him awhile to get into Valentine’s Day but now he buys you flowers every year in excess. I could see him getting you one of those lego flower sets so you can save them.

- can’t keep plants alive to save his life. Literally manages to kill everything except one pot of violets his sisters got him one year. He guards them with his life. They froze one year and he literally cried and has never forgiven himself for letting them die.

- drinks black coffee, prefers tea to coffee though. A big fan of Irish breakfast tea. Thinks Starbucks is a waste of time. Secretly goes for pumpkin spice season though. Will deny that like his life depends on it. I just know he’s the kind of dad that would take his girls though, wouldn’t let anyone call them basic.

- speak of dad, he’s def the dad that has the treat tax. Like he gets his kids treats and surprises all the time but he always gets a piece of their candy or a bite of whatever. Yknow that meme where the dad is reaching back while driving? That. The dad tax.

- owns a frankly ridiculous amount of socks, none of them match and he doesn’t even know which ones are his at this point. Like, you’re at the store and he tosses a pack in the cart and you’re like, “again?!” And he’s just like, “listen-“

- he’s def messy but if there are dishes in the sink or coffee mugs on his desk he will freak out. ADHD clean if you know what I mean.

- hates typical sports, will not watch them and will not play them. One of his kids asks to join the football team and he’s like, “why don’t you take a dance class instead?”

- he’s the kind of husband who signs you both up to learn salsa and then proceeds to nearly break both of your legs because he simply cannot dance. It’s okay though because he tries so hard and it’s fucking adorable.

- enjoys slow dancing with you whenever possible. When you two started dating he’d play Top of the World by the Carpenters or Our House by Cosby and swirl you around his parents kitchen. His mom caught you one time and nearly cried because it was so precious.

- this man loves his mother. Like, would do anything for that woman. When he met you, it was exactly the same. Huge family guy but has daddy issues so male authority figures are not his fav. If you’re family though, he’d guard you with his life.

- got bullied a lot in HS obviously. If Eddie came back alive he’d tell him about what Jason did and apologize profusely for spilling even the tiniest bit of info. Eddie forgives him completely but Gareth never really lets go of it and feels horrible about it to this day.

- if he ever found out one of his children was getting bullied he’d literally lose it. Like, irrationally angry and has to go smoke in the garage to calm down so he doesn’t kick some 12 year olds ass.

- teaches his kids D&D.

- always wanted kids, but never wanted you to feel pressured. If y’all got pregnant anytime, teens or later he’d literally drop everything to prep for being a dad. Gets scared alot about not being able to provide for you.

- I feel like he’d take up piano as well as his drums, so he would have something he could practice quietly. Finds peace in creating things whether it’s music or art. Literally gets lost in the rhythm.

- so many good flannels and sweaters

- can’t sing for shit but likes to sing to you

- doesn’t know how to do “manly” things because his dad was not around so he asks Eddie to teach him how to fix cars and build shit. He’s really good at sewing and mending things, likes to cook too. Can’t bake for shit but he’ll try if it’s important. Ended up getting really into cars and bikes, never owned a motorcycle though.

- big breeding kink. Like. Aggressively into it lol.

- he rips your underwear a lot because he’s needy and just pulls them off lmao

- has broken two bed frames of yours, once in college and once in your first apartment. Now you just have one of those box frames with drawers that holds the mattress because he can’t be trust haha

- fucks your on top of the dryer while the kids are asleep, or sneaks you into the garage to smoke and fuck in the car.

- begged you to get some type of pet like a cat or a dog when you finally have your own place

- has always wanted a pet snake

- major pediatrician or English/history/music teacher vibes

- took him three years after high school to go to college because he wanted to just find his own way and HS really burnt him out.

- stops drinking around 25, just not into it. Says he likes being more present. Maybe would have the occasional beer or glass of wine on special occasions but really hates hard liquor.

- played with the band into his 30s! They have a couple albums and quit after Eddie had his second kid.

- Jeff and him are life long friends, they still play video games together once a week even if they’re 60 and retired lmao

- does not like being outdoors much but is really good at camping and swimming. Has a big connection with nature when he’s in it, it’s just not very often.

- takes you to drive ins all the time

- gets headaches a lot

- steals your clothes. Like you’ll wander into the kitchen in the morning and he’s wearing your sweatpants that say Juicy or PINK on the ass with rhinestones. Will also wear dresses with you and skirts. A fashion icon really.

- he takes up the entire bed when he’s sleeping, steals all the blankets and talks in his sleep.

- the kind of guy who lifts up his leg when he farts and laughs at it, idk what to tell you about that one

- he loves bubble baths

- literally cannot work blinds for the life of him. Like, he’s always pulling the chord wrong and then getting really mad when they come down lopsided and he has to come to you begging for help because he just can’t do it.

- opens pickle jars on the first try every single time

- smells really good, somehow always sweet but in a natural musky way.

- hates the sound of people chewing but also chews really loudly himself

- one time during sex, you were on top and he grabbed your boobs and yelled, “what’re thooosee.”

- makes jokes at the wrong time, all of the time.

- people think he’s angry all the time but he’s just quiet until he trusts you and then he talks your ear off and gets so fucking loud

- watches TV at full volume with no awareness of his surroundings like a heathen lmao

- collects comics

- will not go within 10 feet of spiders

- constantly dehydrated, chugs water all the time and it’s still not enough

- he’s really good with animals. Y’all have chickens, and he always wanted to work on a farm. Teaches your kids 4H stuff, but doesn’t like the idea of scouts because it “encourages kids to romanticize the military instead of helping the community”

- he loves rock collecting

- buys lots of crystals

- superstitious as fuck

- really good at running but hates working out, he only does it so he can perform on stage and keep up with his kids.

- really into yoga and Pilates, but can’t meditate at all, gets distracted too easily.

- he’s a causal enabler, if you want something he buys it then and there and if you’re debating something he just does it for you. Can’t say no to his partner or his kids.

- he goes to therapy on and off again, practices coping mechanisms and reads a lot of workbooks. Hates the mass produced self help books but wants to stay self aware so he’s always looking things up or calling his therapist to talk about it.

- still has his stuffed teddy from when he was little.

[angel-shaw]

OKAY SO I LIED

Angel is up first 💖 Cuz I said so >:)

These are my headcanons/OC’s for the Redacted ASMR listeners (Warning there is a lot, I tried to dumb it down a bit but still lol)

Angle <3

Name: Leo Evans Gender: gender fluid(bio fem) Pronouns: he/she/they depending on their mood

If they ever have kids Angle would be happy to have their kid(s) to call them mom. They see it as a title rather than a gendered term. I think rather than Mrs. or Mr. they would use Mx. :)

Angle is the oldest out of 4 kids. They have 2 young brothers and 1 younger sister.

Angle helped raise their siblings because their parents worked a lot. Leading them to resort to quick and easy, cheep meals to feed them and their siblings. They started working when they where 13 by just mowing grass in the summer/spring/fall gardening whenever they could and shoveling driveways in the winter. Their siblings would pitch in and they made it into a game.

They learned not to relay on their parents promises to hang out or spend quality time with any of their siblings because they 99% of the time they got called in or had an emergency. So they spent a lot of time trying to make it up to their siblings, making it a point to never lie to them or brake their promises to them.

They never hated their parents because they loved them they where just busy working to get bills payed and get food on the table. Angle wanted to take some stress off of their parents so they asked them to teach them to do taxes and stuff so they could do it well they finally either spent sometime with their siblings or slept. They also started shopping for groceries and clothes for them and their siblings.

They had a relatively small budget for food and stuff so they got a lot of cheap stuff and relied heavily on the food they got from the school. Saving up any left overs for new clothes or some presents for their siblings.

Well they only got very little for any Hollidays they wanted to make each one special for the others. That’s when they got into decorating and stuff.

They tried to never shoplift but their younger brother (who is the second oldest) would take hygiene products, as he noticed they were getting low so his sibling wouldn’t have to worry about management into the budget. They didn’t realize this until later on (adults) because they were too focused on everything else.

They tried to keep up with school and their homework but found it hard in between taking care of and helping their siblings. They where unfortunate in the teachers department for a wile so they got more stressed by that. “You can’t just not do your homework! It’s important and you will fail without it!” “Sr. all due respect I’m trying I help my siblings with theirs and-“ “Do it well they are sleeping! You need to get it done period! The next time you don’t turn in your homework when it’s due its detention Evans!” Also stuff like “You have free time. You need to use that to study and do your work. Your just being lazy.” So they always felt a need to work themselves to the point of exhaustion. (Their siblings tried the best they could to help but they where also just kids)

They considered dropping out to get a job but their brother (3rd oldest) helped them out.

Once they graduated they got a full time job.They worked at an office job where they handled financial stuff at first. They moved out to their own apartment but made sure to stop by and help out their siblings with anything they needed. Especially when they where sick.

Their apartment was all most always messy and they never eat anything other than cheap stuff or things from their friends. The oldest brother learned how to cook decent meals and their parents job raises so they could afforded some better things. They stoped by for food a lot because they where invited. Their siblings helped them clean their apartment a few different times and never judged them for it.

They had two really close friends in high school that also helped them out. They understood that they had problems with control and stuff so they always listened and didn’t get upset at any fits they had.( got some real one 🙏)

They have a few different ex’s Michael is one obviously. They had an ex-named John, Ethan, and Justin. Those are the ones that lasted longer than 2 months, they had others but their siblings always cut them off quick(and for good reason) 

They started dating Justin is high school and he used them for their body which made their gender dysphoria extremely bad. They had it before, but were still coming to terms with it. He wrecked their self-confidence and it took them a wile to fix it. He cheated on them with a girl in their Science class. That was the final straw for their sister and she made them brake up with the dushbag. They dated for almost a year.

Them came Ethan who love bomed them. This was after he found out Justin had cheated on them and said his girlfriend cheated on him and was abusive as well.(he was lying). Whenever he wanted something and he didn’t get his way he started saying that they where started to act like his ex. They dated for 6 mouths before he slipped up and said it in front of their siblings and got kicked out real quick.

They hadn’t dated in a few years and met John after they moved out. They met him at work and they hit it off. It went well for a while till one day he come home (their apartment they where letting him stay in FOR FREE) drunk for the 3rd and started yelling and throwing things. They left the apartment and walked to their parents house to cry in their siblings arms (poor baby) They went back in the morning with their their brother(the older one) and he was still their, still drunk. They had amused he would be passed out but nooo of course he wasn’t. Which is why their brother instead to walk them home. He put himself between them and ended up getting hit in the face with a bottle. They snapped and knocked him out (work it bitch) . They checked on their brother and called the police,after explaining what happened they where just told to be more careful and to next time call the police when the throwing started so it could get stoped before it got worse than it was. Safe to say that he was not welcome back and they broke up. Sadly he didn’t want to let them go and started begging for them to take him back. They went to HR. But they where useless so they quit and changed jobs. They changed the locks on their apartment and their friend stayed over for awhile. (15 months)

Said friend was Michael who they had met though their other friend. He offered to stay over and help them out for a wile. He slept on the couch for the first few weeks. He helped them get their mental state to a better place and respected it when they came out to him. That’s when they started dateing. He put his arms on their shoulders and told them he cared for them and that they didn’t have to worry anymore. They asked if they could kiss him and he said yes. It evolved from there and they where together for almost 1 and a half years. They had a really heathy relationship and ended up adopting their cat Sweetie when her mom got hit by a car and was left calling out for her mom. Michael had a huge sweet spots for cats, and of course they did to. Sweetie obviously favored Michael, of course she loved them too but she always came when michael called. They broke up on decent terms.(Fell out of love and he wanted to figure himself out.) It still hurt but it wasn’t anything like their other relationships. They had gotten an apartment together so he helped them find a new and in a safe area (away from their ex who still tried to win they back sometimes) They left Sweetie with him when they moved out. They talked on occasion about the cat but both agreed they should probably keep their distance.

The day they met David they walked into a home where store cuz they needed ✨light bulbs✨ and that’s when they saw David. They thought he was cute and grabbed what they needed (+ a little eye candy) and head for the self checkout. They put the bag in their car and went across town to get gas cuz it was ✨cheaper✨ as they where filling their tank they where watching YouTube and an add popped up for a game they had been wanting in a store right across the street. Of course they went to go check it out. They walked in and started looking for it. They noticed David again when they went to check out (they had gotten the game and a new cover for their switch cuz it had Link on it). They knew they saw in at the hardware store and still thought he was cute. But of course a few warnings went off because they where raised to be careful and they raised their siblings that way to. They where going to go home but they started to feel hungry and remembered about the fast food joint relatively close to their apartment and decided to go their for lunch. Then BOOM 💥 A wild David appeared! They said fuck it and made a move. You know where it went from their.

They told David a lot about their childhood but left out a lot of the sad stuff because they still where early in the relationship and they didn’t want to overwhelm him. ( cough cough-you can blame a certain ex for that) of course they told him about their cat and Michael. They mentioned they had other exes to but tried not going into a lot of detail. Of course David found out eventually. (Later on I think.) When John saw them with David outside and he ran up to them smothering them. Of course they tried to push him off, panicking, and David very quickly stepped in and pulled him off of them. Their ex tried to say they where his and David almost growled at him. Once they got away from the bitch David was going to ask who the hell he was but saw that his Angle was close to tears and shaking. He took them home and they told him what happened between them. Of course he was concerned and asked why they hadn’t told him. (He was calm here and wasn’t upset like the jealousy video) (that video made me cry by the way.) They told him they thought he stoped and they just wanted to forget about him. David understand and comforted them. (I WANT HIM OMG T^T)

So I have seen a lot of the Pups AU and I am engulfed by it. So for a little bit of context David and Angle had 2 kids Gabriel who was their first Kido and Natalie the second one

I absolutely love them and I want to add a few things myself - go check it out it is truly amazing 🥰 such amazingness

So because Angle is biologically a female for my OC they gave birth (I would like to say that this makes their identity no less valid and if you think trans people (specifically trans FTM, can’t give birth because it makes them “not a man “or “proves they are a woman “) get the fuck out please and thank you 🥰)

I said up at the top that I think Leo would use the term mom more as a role than gendered thing :) so somethings here include mom as a title they use :)

I think they had a C-section for Gabriel and he had some problems at birth. He was born with pneumonia and had to be care for in the hospital for a wile ( my brother was born pre-mature and with pneumonia so this is a little bit of a personal insert. My brother is fine btw it ok :D )

This of course worried David and Leo both but Gabriel was ok after getting the proper treatment, with Magic the recovery process was a lot easier to. When they finally got to bring him home the others where all over him. Of course everyone respected boundaries and didn’t push for Leo or David to let them hold or say hi or anything. About a week after they came home they invited Ash,babe,Milo,sweetheart,Sam,Darlin and Marie to come over a met/hold Gabriel for the first time.  It was really sweet and Leo took a much needed rest with David as Darlin( this will make more sense when I post theirs lol) and Marie feed/held him.

When Gabriel first started going to school Angle was really worried, obviously, just nerves and Christian help with that because he was also a Parent and his kid was all ready in school. When Natalie was born she did not have any health problems and they could come home a lot sooner. Leo took a lot of videos of Gabriel and Natalie when they were babies and continue to as they grow up because they are adorable and want them to be able to look back at it. (Also because David never got to know his mom and only knew her though story’s and pictures,they wanted to make sure that if anything happened to them their kids would have something)

Also Leo is super protective of their kids. They got called to the school once because Natalie’s skirt was “to short” and she was in a tank top. And when I say Leo went off on the teacher that said that and the vice principal, I mean they had both of them almost trembling. After that they tried calling David. Ya no that didn’t work ether. Turns out he’s also protective and won’t stand for bigotry.

When Natalie was in middle school after her powers had manifested she was being picked on by some older kids. Well normally she wouldn’t take it she was tired and just wanted to go to lunch. A freelancer, a water elemental and a air elemental were the ones picking on her. A fire elemental that was her age stepped in and told them to go away. The freelancer started arguing with the fire elemental and she started to heat up (no fault of her own) and this is when the water and air elemental got the bright idea to poor freezing water on the two girls. Natalie noticed and went into defensive mode pushing the girl out of the way and tackling the water elemental. The freelancer then decided to use fire and ended up burning Natalie‘s side Natalie shifted to protect the other fire elemental girl. Darlin’s kid gave Natalie their gym clothes and her and the fire elemental girl where taken into the office. Angel was called along with the other girls father. Angel was told that her daughter had been fighting and needed to come be picked up they we’re told nothing about the severe burn on Natalies side. She of course want to the school and was on the phone with David when they spotted the fire elementals father outside of the office and she asked. It ended up being Damien who was their with Gavin because of course Damien was upset that his daughter had been fighting, but was concerned because she never got into a five before. So Gavin went with him after he got the call. They talked and what Damien was told was that his daughter had gotten into a fight with another girl in her grade and burned her. Of course this worried Leo because they were told nothing about their daughter being burned. When they were allowed into the office to speak to the kids Angel immediately went out to Natalie and asked what happened and if she was ok. Natalie said she was fine and immediately started defending the girl, saying that she had defended her and she wasn’t the one to burn her. Gavin offered to heal her and Leo thanked him repeatedly. After hearing the full story all of them where upset. Damien‘s daughter was really worried because she thought she did something wrong. Leo quickly assured her that she did nothing wrong and thanked her for trying to help her daughter. Leo then told her daughter to go out in the hall with Damien’s daughter and to plug her ears because “Mommy’s gonna be really loud for a minute ok?” They proceeded to tear the principal the vice principal a new one they told them if something like this ever happened again that they would no longer have a job.  they apologize to Damien and Gavin for the misunderstanding and they exchange phone numbers. When David found out he was pissed. So that’s all I have Angle I’m tired and I’m not gonna proof read this rn,I’ll do it tomorrow and edit any mistakes, if you notice any please point them out kindly :) thank you and I have you enjoyed I probably will make a few short one shots about Angle and their ex’s and David :) I



[theonespoopyghost]

Episode 1 Part A - You Are Already Dead

You are dead, well before your time. You remember why, vaguely; an accident. You’d looked both ways before crossing the road, but a car screamed out of nowhere and mowed you down too fast to evade. Now you're sitting in the graveyard where you’ve been buried, staring at your own tombstone glumly. You were just a normal teenage girl, until this happened.

What is your name? [Kikuko Yukimura] The funeral’s over. You regained consciousness about halfway through the eulogy, standing up from the coffin to tell everyone you were fine. It didn’t take long to realize they couldn’t see or hear you, and you’d left your body behind. The service was an awkward affair after that; classmates who never gave you a second glance were suddenly singing your praises, while distant relatives struggled to find something relevant to say. When your parents took the stand it was a different matter; though the reality of the situation had yet to sink in properly, you still got teary-eyed at the idea of potentially never seeing them again. They were embarrassingly out-of-touch, to be sure, but always meant well. You’re going to miss them more than you expected. After that was the drive to the graveyard on the edge of town, and the burial. That was uncomfortable in a different sort of way, watching the coffin be lowered and dirt shoveled on top, knowing your body was in there. Were you supposed to stay in the coffin with it? That didn’t quite seem right, but staying up top, watching from the edge of the crowd struck you as wrong too. Either way, it’s done and over with now. Here you sit, alone, as the sun sets on the rows of tombstones. But just as it slips beneath the horizon, something happens. An eerie mist billows from the trees, and from a doorway you suspect wasn’t there a moment ago, a strange specter appears. “Are you the grim reaper?” you ask, somehow knowing you’ll be heard this time. “Not quite,” the stranger says, which you suppose makes sense given their lack of robes or a scythe. “Rather, I am here to give you a job offer.” “Why me? I’m dead.” On some level, you’re alarmed by how calm you are about all of this. The stranger’s eyes shift to the side. “You meet the necessary criteria, and being dead means you’d theoretically have less to hold you back from taking the offer. I wouldn’t do this under normal circumstances, but recruitment is at an all-time low. Living applicants have started turning the job down a lot more frequently in the past six or seven years; something about a ‘bunnycat?’ I’ve never even heard of such a thing before, and there’s nothing untoward about the job itself, but there’s this sudden strange level of suspicion involved that I just don’t understand. I’ve still got a couple of others for this region who have expressed interest, but any sort of additional help is more than welcome.” “I see.” You’re not sure you understand any more than they do, but nod regardless. “What is the job?” “Ah, sorry!” the stranger blushes, realizing their blunder. “It’s… how would you like to become a Magical Girl?” “A magical girl?” You cock your head, confused. “I consider just being a ghost pretty magical just on its own… also kind of spooky, really.” “A Magical Girl is a transforming warrior who protects humanity against the forces of darkness!” The stranger explains. “Unknown to the general population, you fight against all sorts of dark magical beings that seek to do harm.” “Oh, that kind of magical girl?” You remember watching some shows like that as a kid, but you haven't really given it much thought in years, and it's strange to think that it's actually real. Still... “I guess that would give me something to do…” Sure beats sitting around in a graveyard, moping all the time. “Fine, I’m in.” “If that works for you, yes.” The stranger just seems relieved you accepted at all. They produce a cushion with several different-colored rings sitting on top. “Now to select from these. Choose the one that you feel the most… connection with.” Holding your hand over them, you somehow sense an… attitude from each, for lack of a better word.

What kind of Magical Girl will you be? Red - Passionate Orange - Reliable Green - Clever Blue - Consistent [Purple - Esoteric] Pink - Purehearted

[lauralot89]

I guess it’s time to tell y’all the saga of Basketball Woman

(no, she does not look like Anne Ramsey in the movie where Kristy Swanson explodes her head with a basketball but feel free to picture that if you want)

ever since I moved into this house I’ve had weird neighbor encounters, made all the more bizarre because @penroseparticle lived on my same street for ages and never experienced any of this, but I guess I attract the weirdness like I attract cats

anyway most of my bizarre neighbor encounters have been kind of funny in a way, like the lovely elderly couple who moved in next door except that one day and without ever seeing a for sale sign they were gone and three to four women were there instead and I kind of but not really wondered if they’d abducted/murdered the old people, especially as they kept going into the woods at night with shovels and tarps

but Basketball Woman is not that

my first encounter with Basketball Woman was secondhand and happened when @penroseparticle was visiting last month.  he said that earlier in the day some kids had been playing basketball and there was this woman screaming at them to go away.  i thought that was odd, but figured maybe some lady was just having a shit day and decided to take it out on some rowdy kids, it’s not great but it happens

roughly one month later, I was driving home and I saw some of the Local Youth shooting baskets and after parking in my garage I approached them because I had an arrangement where the Local Youth had offered to mow my lawn for money and I agreed because fuck indiana summers but the last week all the Local Youth had been missing and I wanted to check and see if they still mowed lawns

and as soon as I got out of the car I heard the screaming and remembered the woman @penroseparticle mentioned

she was full-on screaming at these kids to get away

to explain the setup here, the house next door to basketball woman has a basketball goal in their yard, sort of at the edge of the properties, facing the street, and kids stand in the road when there aren’t cars (there usually aren’t) and play basketball

she was screaming at the kids to stay out of her yard

they were not in the yard

they were in the street

I guess maybe if they missed the goal it could have gone in her yard but that didn’t happen in the entire time I was outside

the Local Youth were openly mocking her which makes sense because they’re preteen boys and no children respect adults who don’t respect them, but especially not preteen boys

I did not actually see Basketball Woman at this point because I pointedly did not look that way, like, this is none of my business, if she wants to lose her voice with impotent screaming who am I to intercede

but she was screaming the entire time I was outside and when I got home I left my door open and she screamed for a further ten minutes, like how do you not get tired

all I could think was why would she not just complain to their parents if they really were all up in her yard, when has yelling at preteen boys who aren’t even your kids ever accomplished anything

four days later, my uncle had died and I didn’t know when I’d be home and when I wouldn’t for the rest of the week because arrangements were still being made, so I saw the Local Youth outside and decide to pay them in advance for their services.  they were jumping around in an inflatable pool like it was an actual pool and managed to put a hole in it during the minute I was in the yard.

On the way back to my house  I passed the house with the basketball goal, and the mother at that house was out in her yard with her kids, having a heated argument with Basketball Woman, who was sitting on her own porch.  All I really made out was the mother telling Basketball Woman “I will not, and I’d love to see you try to make me” and then I went back inside because I didn’t want to just stand around spying on the neighbors.  

but I did actually see Basketball Woman this time

she appears to be in her fifties or sixties, and I was thinking from her voice that maybe she was older than that and had dementia, and while it’s possible to develop dementia at those ages, I don’t think it’s as likely, and she seemed fairly well groomed for someone whose dementia would have advanced to the point of screaming at children from her porch all day, but I’m not a doctor

more notably, I saw her house

see, on this street, most of the houses have been here since at least the nineties but the cul-de-sac at the end of the road and a bit of the road leading up to it were empty lots, until the people who built my house in 2018 bought them up and started building houses

Basketball Woman lives in one of those new houses; it’s the same style as my house so it’s easy to tell.  And the family with the basketball goal has been living on this street since before I moved in.  So apparently Basketball Woman, who at this point seems to just hate the sight of children, moved into a house next to a family with multiple children, because what is logic.

that brings us to last night

in the past week, the Local Youth have not actually mowed my lawn, which, I mean it is hot as balls but also it’s hot as balls and I myself only have a reel mower and so mowing takes a while and I’d rather not if I don’t have to or at least I’d like to plan accordingly so I can do it before the sun comes up, and after I made dinner last night I looked outside and the Local Youth were shooting baskets again.

except I didn’t want to be this person who goes outside just to approach children, which I have been doing multiple times now, so I decided to walk up and down the street and just talk to the Local Youth when I passed them, because it was dusk and less hot as balls at this point

while I was approaching, I noticed three things: a) the basketball goal’s net was torn and hanging down, b) the backboard of the goal was leaning forward (it might have been this way for a while and I’m just not observant) and most notably:

c) Basketball Woman was at the edge of her yard, a few feet away from these kids, opening taunting them

she was constantly in motion, but it an unnatural way.  i don’t know how to describe it except to say it reminds me of those commercials for medications that counteract tardive dyskinesia, but I’m not trying to diagnose anything and it’s entirely possible she was just flailing in that way that entitled white women do in those cell phone recordings of them losing their shit on people over nothing

I was openly staring at this point, but I feel that was justified, because this is escalation, right? like she could actually be a danger to these kids, who knows

so I talked to the Local Youth and the whole time she was just keeping up her nonsense, and I continued walking down the street, listening as long as I was in earshot

then when I reached the end of the street I turned around and started back and

well

the mom and all her kids had come outside again, I guess seeing that Basketball Woman was really close to the goal and fearing for the Local Youth like I did

except this time the mom and Basketball Woman were like right on top of each other, and yelling back and forth, and I was seriously concerned it could get violent

the mom was shouting things like “You’re wasting your time” and “You’re accomplishing nothing” and Basketball Woman was all “Keep them out of my yard” and one of the Local Youth was like “It wouldn’t even go into your yard if you hadn’t broken the goal” and so on and so forth and I guess Basketball Woman has a grown adult daughter who went no contact with her and the mom somehow knows that because she was taunting Basketball Woman with that after Basketball Woman called her a bad mother, and the mom was saying she had Basketball Woman on tape doing something, and I don’t even know, it was a mess

I again felt guilty for just openly gawking at this, so I walked up to one of the daughters in the driveway and told her that if her mom was planning to call the police about harassment I’d be willing to give a statement because a) Basketball Woman is white, b) the family next door is white, c) the Local Youth are white, and d) this is an escalating series of harassment and with all those things combined I feel like this is a situation where police presence might actually help

and then the daughter hit me with the bombshell that they have called the police about the harassment multiple times, and apparently this has been going on for three years ever since Basketball Woman moved in, and I just hadn’t heard it before now and the police hadn’t done anything, I guess because there’s no law against being a dick on your own property, even though she clearly crossed into their yard multiple times that I saw

according to the daughter Basketball Woman just waits at the window on a daily basis to see when kids come outside, and then she comes out screaming

I didn’t know what to do so I just said I’m so sorry you’ve been dealing with this, let me know if there’s anything I can do, and then I went back to my house and sat on the porch for about ten more minutes until everyone just sort of wandered back to their houses because I was still worried about physical escalation

so

that is the current situation

I miss when I had fun hypothetical murder neighbors and not actual risk of assault and battery neighbors

I mean the hypothetical murder neighbors are still there, but yeah

[maatryoshkaa]

baby, it’s cold outside | b.c.

summary: you’ve never really given your cute next-door neighbour a second thought—that is, until you’re shovelling your driveway alone in a snowstorm during the holidays, and a certain someone decides to lend a helping hand. 

pairing: next door neighbour!chan x reader

word count: 1.5k

ryu says: this was!! supposed to be!! a harmless drabble but guess who got carried away again TT—anyhow this is an ambiguous holiday drabble and a teensy gift for you guys in case you need a little breather!

[☃️6:48 P.M.]

“This is the worst holiday ever.” You plunge your shovel into the snow with a frustrated groan, the heap next to your driveway growing precariously high. As far as you’re concerned, all your friends are on the other side of the world — soaking up the sun on a warm, white-sand beach or tropical cruise — and here you are, shovelling your driveway in the middle of what might as well be the worst snowstorm you’ve ever seen, just so you can back your car out and find a decent place to eat dinner. You’ve been snowed in (and feeling sorry for yourself) for the first couple of days of the holidays, sufficiently depleted your fridge, and now you’re starving. 

You scoop up another shovelful of snow, snivelling—you’re not quite sure if your nose is runny because you’re bitter over not thinking ahead and booking your own vacation while you had the chance, or if it’s simply because you’re so damn cold.

You’d pulled on a windbreaker before heading out, convincing yourself that the shovelling wouldn’t take that long—and now it’s soaked through, your bare hands (why hadn’t you thought to put on mittens?) stinging every time you grip the shovel. You can barely feel your face, your expression frozen into a scowl that’d make the Grinch whimper. After an hour of fruitless labour, you’ve barely managed to make a dent in your driveway: every time you finish a section, the falling snow is already forming a new layer. In fact, you’re pretty sure that it’s snowing even harder than when you first started—fat, fluffy clumps of the stuff, coating everything within your line of sight with a thick blanket of white. 

It really would be beautiful, you think numbly, if you weren’t so miserable. Starving, wet, cold, sore, and absolutely miserable.

“C’mon, y/n, you can do this,” you mutter to yourself, flexing your frostbitten fingers as best you can and mustering what little motivation you have left. “Just one clear lane, and then you can—”

A strong gust of wind sends you flying backwards, Christmas-cartoon-style, and you land hard on a patch of ice. Feeling the unpleasant, stinging cold seep into your pants, you watch in horror as the wind sweeps the entire snow pile you had been working on back onto your driveway. With an exasperated cry, you throw your shovel down and it sinks into the snow pile before disappearing, tears beginning to prick at your eyes. 

Just as you begin to contemplate cooping yourself up in your house and starving for the evening, you feel a sudden, warm weight on your shoulders and your hands reach up instinctively to feel a puffy winter parka draped over your shivering frame. You look up, bewildered, and your cheeks begin to burn from something other than the cold.

Next door neighbour!Chan is standing over you, eyebrows raised over drooping eyes—the kind of eyes that always makes him look soft and sleepy—and he smiles, shaking stray locks of curly blond hair from his face. There’s concern in his expression, but you swear you catch a note of amusement as he holds out a hand to help pull you to your feet. He’s holding a steaming mug of hot cocoa in his other hand, and he holds it out to you with a lopsided smile that makes you knees want to give way again. 

“You were shivering pretty bad out there—it’s the least I could do.” Words fail you, your tongue having tied itself into knots, and Chan chuckles, pushing the cup into your hands and patting them lightly. “Warm up for a bit, yeah?”

You manage to stammer out a thank you, and Chan disappears back into his house for several moments before coming back out with a shovel. As he begins scooping the snow back into the pile, you blurt out, “Were you—were you watching me this whole time?” Your mouth goes dry as you flash back to yourself muttering like an angry old man, your hair plastered to your face from the wind and sleet.

Chan stops and looks back, and you’re not sure if he’s winking or just smiling. “My living room window faces your driveway,” he replies simply, eyes sparkling as if they contain a secret joke, “and...you’re pretty hard to miss.”

He turns back and you sputter, the parka—his parka—slipping from your shoulders. Wrapping it tightly around yourself, you take a sip of the hot cocoa, sighing at the warmth that spreads across your chest and fingertips. Your eyes stray to Chan’s silhouette, outlined in the light of the streetlamps. Under his black parka, he’s wearing fuzzy reindeer-print pajama bottoms, and you can’t help but smile.

The few interactions you’ve had with your next-door neighbour were not your proudest moments. Sure, you’ll admit, you’re not the smoothest when it comes to social skills—you have to rehearse your order ten times before the waiter comes, et cetera—but for some reason you can’t quite explain, it gets particularly bad around Bang Chan. 

For instance, one time you were taking out the trash when Chan happened to step out of his house. When you raised your hand to wave at him, you knocked over the lid of the bin and spilled its entire contents onto your entire driveway.

Another time, you were mowing your lawn when he pulled into his driveway. This time, Chan waved first before pulling into his garage, and you stared after him, effectively forgetting about the lawn mower in your hands. 

There’s a permanent patch of dirt on your lawn now, serving as a painful reminder of your own social shortcomings.

It’s not your fault he’s so damn cute! Snapping out of your reverie, you bury your head in your hands. That’s it. You’re cursed with a cute next-door-neighbor, and now you’ve probably wrecked his cozy night in. You glance at his reindeer pajama bottoms again—snowflakes are beginning to stick at the hem—and feel like slapping yourself. After all, who in their right mind would leave their warm home in the middle of a snowstorm to help their crazy neighbour shovel their driveway? You are the worst next-door-neighbour in the history of next-door-neighbours.

Cheeks burning in embarrassment, you carefully set down the mug of hot cocoa before digging your shovel out from underneath the snow pile. Chan’s shovelled a good amount of snow already, and with the two of you working together, your driveway is clear in no time. Chucking the last shovelful of snow onto the pile, Chan raises his shovel in triumph, turning back to face you with a smile you swear is warm enough to melt away all the snow in the world.

Another blast of wind makes you shiver involuntarily, and Chan's expression turns worried. “Are you still cold?” He reaches into his pockets as if fishing for something and pulls out two packets, ripping off the plastic and handing them to you. “Here—these are hot packs. You know how to use ‘em?”

You nod, thanking him, but your fingers are so stiff from the cold you fumble and nearly drop them. After several moments of trying to rub the sachets to activate them, Chan’s warm hands envelopes yours, gingerly helping your wrap your fingers around the hot packs. Your gaze flickers up and you’re startled when your eyes meet his, your breath catching momentarily in your throat.

The sun’s gone down while you were shovelling, the sky darkening behind a veil of grey winter clouds. The snow has stopped, too, leaving your street sparkling and white beneath the pleasantly warm glow of the streetlamps. You’ve never been this close to Chan—you can see snowflakes melting on his lashes, and a cute flush of red (getting darker by the second) on the tip of his nose. He smells like peppermint and coffee, an odd combination that, for some reason, makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

It takes you a second to realise that Chan’s been holding your hands for a good couple of minutes now, and you clear your throat, voice coming out surprisingly steady for the first time tonight. “Thanks so much for—for helping me.” You gnaw at your bottom lip, tearing your gaze away. “You should probably head back in before your food gets cold.”

Chan chuckles, removing his hands from yours. “I didn’t make dinner—my fridge is empty.” He glances at your driveway. “Were you going somewhere? Holiday party?”

You laugh. “Not even close. No plans at all—I was going to find a place to eat dinner.” The hot packs are burning in your palms now, and the next words that roll from your tongue surprise even you. “Want to grab a bite together?”

Chan tilts his head, slipping his hands into his pockets with the same lopsided smile that’s always given you butterflies. “I’d like that.”

Maybe this isn’t such a bad holiday, after all.

[adozentothedawn]

Got tagged by @orime-stories, thank you!^^ And I absolutely consider you one of the bright spots too! :D Without you I wouldn’t have found my way here and I’ve been so much lonlier.

Three ships

I’m not really into shipping to be honest, but these are the ones I sometimes actively seek content for.

Claudeleth. Claude is my baby and I love him and Byleth will take good care of him, just like the other way around. I’ve seen some really good fics of the two of them and I love them. A lot. You can pry these two out of my cold dead fingers. And while we’re here, Hilda totally ships it and gets her girlfriend Marianne in board as well.

Chrobin. Ah, Fire Emblem Awakening, the game that introduced me to Matt Mercer and even let my self-insert marry him. Yeah sue me, I really loved. I don’t think I can ever play awakening without romancing Chrom. He’s such delightful dumbass. Also Lucina and Morgan are my babies. (Another one from Awakening I really like is LonMiri. They are so stupid I love them. @fuckyeahlonmiri there still are some of us and I was working on a good post, but I haven’t gotten around to it, never give up hope!)

Kanerah x The Baroness x Kalikke. (If there is a shipping name I don’t know and I’m worse off for it.) My tiefling wives are the best and I can’t understand why so few people ship it. I get the appeal of Tristian, but have you seen these two? I love them. They deserve love too and I’ll make sure they get it!

As you can see, these are all kind of self-insert ships (though to be fair Byleth has at this point evolved beyond that. She’s great.) I’m not sorry for it, and neither should you. (Also can some people please stop pretending only male Robin and male Byleth are canon? Thanks.)

Last songs listened to:

I’ll actually give you more than just one, because I have thoughts. Surprising I know. Anyway, the very last one was The Mary Ellen Carter, because this song is not finished packing its bags and moving out of my head, even after I finished the chapter from The Adventures of Hildraed Dawnsbane. 

And the other one right before that is All You Wanna Do from the Musical Six. To be honest, I don’t think I’d like the show, it just seems like it’d hit all my pet peeves, but there are some nice songs. This song specifically has absolutely made me obsessed. This is the one song with an actual arc, and it protrays it so well too. You can hear the singer move her face to emote and the emotions are so clear it’s delightful. YOu can ust hear the pain every time she says “connection” Also it just really resonates with me, it builds her character so perfectly and tells her story in one song. (I am ignoring historical accuracy, because I don’t want to shovel myself into an early grave, and also that’s not the point of musical anyway.) Also also, tell me this doesn’t sound like beginning of some lesbian romance novel. Even better an ace lesbian romance novel! I keep waiting for her knight in shining armour to storm in and mow down the assholes for the real romance to begin. (No really though, I have a whole head of ranting how she’s is totally portrayed as ace here. May write it down at some point. For now let’s just say that this totally a Jessica Rabbit situation.)

Currently watching:

The Mighty Nein! I love my boy Caduceus and will defend him from the grabby shipper hands. At least in my own imagination. Anyway, Talisien, how do you do it? How do you make me fall in love with every single one of your characters? If I do end up watching Vox Machina as well, know that it’ll be just for Percy.

Aside from that I’ve wanted to rewatch The Witcher, My Hero Academia, and The Hollow Crown for a while. And I keep rotating back to the same video essays on Youtube. Lindsay Ellis, Jenny Nicholson, and Sideways have also moved into my head and refuse to leave.

Currently reading:

Still Kyoshi, because reading books is hard, even when they’re really fun. There’s also Good Omens that I want to read (and watch) again, the screenplay of it (which is hilarious in of itself), really any Terry Pratchett book (but his phantom of the opera version is among my top choices because of the aformentioned Lindsay Ellis), and also the newest (and last) installment of The Trials of Apollo. That one will probably be my last Rick Riordan book (at least for a while), since I’m really noticing know how I’ve grown out of them. I already wasn’t really invested in Magnus Chase anymore, but I really want to finish Apollo’s story at least, he’s fun. 

How’s it going:

All in all, not bad really. Or at least not as bad as it could be. My family wasn’t really hit by covid, as my dad works in the computer department (? translation is hard too) of a bank and so home office really wasn’t an issue (for me it was just annoying because his office is right next to me room and so he kept waking me up), and my mom was already pretty good with computer technology and so actually got more jobs getting the schools tech stuff up to date and helping the other teacher get a hang of it, so at least money isn’t really an issue. (Not we’re not rich, but you know what I mean.) Home schooling for uni also really isn’t bad, especially the lectures can definitely stay that way. Absolutely nothing changes, aside from the fact that I can sleep longer and have an infinte supply of tea. Yes please, I’ll take it. And from the way it sounds, my chances actually won’t be terrible that they’ll really keep it around after covid. We’ll see. It also means that everyone else also has to rely on things like discord for social contact, which is just so much nicer for my introverted ass. You can just meet up in two seconds and leave just as fast if you want. The shittiest part of it for me is the fact that I can’t use my dice anymore for roleplaying. And my birthday LARP weekend was cancelled. 

So really right now the shittiest thing is the five exams I’ll have in the last two weeks of january. Fuck me. Especially because I really don’t have a feel yet how much I really have to study for this shit.

A whole bunch of people were already tagged for this but I think @stylishanachronism, @moon-sugar, @porokelle, @oddstitchlips, @haledamage, and @quenthelicious remain untagged. So if you want, consider this your invitation!^^

[silverfierro]

Pariah // Self Para

There was once a time, not all that long ago, when Silver Fierro wasn’t a household name for brutally murdering his older sister on a nationally televised competition. Actually, for most of his life, Silver was a pariah in only one small part on Panem. District 1, to be specific. District 1, the literal crown jewel of the country, where pressure from abiding to the rules made you a diamond and any resistance to it made you the rough. 

People tried not to stare. People always whispered. People would avoid mentioning Aurelian and Tiara’s other child by any means possible. But, why? 

It could’ve been for a number of reasons if you’ve followed his story long enough. For some of you that’s been awhile and for others not so long, but the effects have been the same, we’re both sure. As he sat against a tree in the woods, bracing himself for the end of the games that he knew was coming in his bones, the boy reminisced on that life. The life that he played no part in but faced the consequences of. 

Was it his grand entrance into the scorn of the pubic eye? The children and puppy he’d tormented certainly hadn’t asked for it, they were merely sidewalk crossers in the wrong place at the wrong time when an enraged “car” flew off the road after staying in between the lanes for so long. Everyone knew about that incident. It had gotten him kicked out of school for over a month while peacekeepers investigated. 

Then there was his hobbies to consider. We all avoided the kid in our classes obsessed with wearing all black clothing or who claimed to see demons or the one who seemed unhinged in a silent, but thunderous way. Silver was innocent in all of the previously mentioned, but he was not without ridicule. Dissection of stray animals, throwing knife practice in his backyard instead of the academy, and watching the Games as his comfort show. Maybe the neighbors would’ve waved if he partook in something simpler like painting or mowing the yard. 

His seclusion ranked high as well. Visitors to the Fierro household didn’t need fret. Silver lived in his “casita” out back most of the time. He only came inside to shower and steal meals from the table. 

“What does he do all day in there? Is that unhealthy? Don’t you ever check on him?” These were the questions Silver guessed his parent’s guests would ask. He got a kick out of imagining his parents stammering to try and come up with an answer. What exactly would they say? They didn’t know the answer to the first one. They didn’t care about the second. They would be shamed if they truthfully answered the third. 

His sweat was making him stick to the bark of the tree, but he was positioned in such a way that nobody could sneak up on him. The forcefield edge was a mere ten feet away, the same spot Jeanine had shown him earlier in the day. Nobody could come from behind to ambush him. He couldn’t be attacked without being able to put up a fight in return. It seemed, all of his life, that he’d been fighting. He pondered for just a moment to wonder if the battle would ever stop.

It made sense that everyone in the luxury district would avoid him for breaking a dog’s legs and tossing it back at it’s owners. Silver could rationalize that much and he could respect it to. After all, the attention had always been his goal. People were whispering about him, feeding the rumor mill about him, and etching him into the part of their brains that understood fear. There, he wouldn’t be forgotten.

But it didn’t line up.

“Oh that’s right! I forgot that you had another one after our princess!”

“You have...two children? I didn’t realize that, I’m so sorry!”

“Silver? Well, that’s a name for sure.”

Silver thought about how often it seemed he wasn’t around when his parents and Golden took pictures. He thought about how he would be nicely asked to stay in his room when his mother’s friends came by for brunch. He scoffed as he remembered the time his grandparents neglected to get him anything for Christmas. A little “mistake” on their end. He was always being forgotten. He was always being excluded. He was always second best.

The last thing Silver elected to remember from the memories shoveled into him from the corpse rotting beneath the dirt was the fireplace in the living room of his home. More notably, the “family” portrait that sat atop it. The portrait that the entire family had posed for hours to get complete. Everyone had spiffy outfits and had their makeup down by one of the best retired stylists in the district. The boy was elated about the idea, all smiles whenever it would be talked about. Dinner the night before tasted funny though, funny enough to make him turn-in to bed early. The next morning, he was throwing up his life and could barely move away from the toilet in the bathroom he and his sister shared. The portrait could not be so easily rescheduled and everything was already prepared. The portrait of the happy family. A father, his wife, and the child they loved.

Silver wasn’t innocent. He tortured, teased, betrayed, and murdered. He wasn’t innocent.

But he wasn’t responsible. Not entirely. He was only a monster because he had no other choice but to become what they made him to be. He became a monster to get the eyes that he so desperately sought on him. He continued to be a monster because it granted him a place of power in a world that had denied him any. He was a monster because that was the only way he would crawl his way from the ditches life left him to rot in. Being a monster got him to where he stood now. Alive again and with limitless trajectory. 

Two more faces displayed in the sky, but he barely noticed as he stared down at the light on his suit. The blue was gone. In its place, white. White, pure and blank. 

He no longer had to play for anyone’s team he didn’t ask to be a part of, nor did he have to play by anyone else’s rules. Not his family’s team, not the red team, and not the blue team. In this game, there was no unfair disadvantage that placed him behind anyone. 

Silver Fierro was a monster, a pariah, and an all-star, but all because of what others had chosen for him.

What would he become today, when he is finally able to decide for himself? 

[ihni]

What I would do if I was filthy rich:

* Commissions. So many commissions.

* Fix the cottage.

* Buy my dad a new car (like, I’d take him to a Mazda dealer, and just have him CHOOSE the one he wanted. Just. “Point at the one you like.”)

* More commissions.

* Buy two houses, next to each other - I’d be living in one of them, and someone else would get to live rent-free in the other one, in exchange for doing all the boring things that comes with owning a house that I don’t want to do (mow the grass, shovel snow, fix leaking pipes etc).

* Pay someone to write the detailed fics that I have an urge for reading, but doesn’t exist yet (so I didn’t have to write them myself). Oh, there’s a word for that, you say? “Commissions”? Yeah, sounds familiar.

* Do random good things for people. Like, anonymously get a homeless person an apartment and a phone, or buy a toy for some random kid just because they LOOKED at it but didn’t ask mom or dad for it, or, like, just being able to put actual BILLS into people’s paper cups.

* Also commissions: Like,Oh you’re offering up commissions for cheap because you need money? Great, I want, uuuuh, a drawing of a rooster on a bike. Take your time. Also, I’m paying you double.

* I would buy food from Max and have it DELIVERED, even though the delivery costs more than the food! At least once. AND I’d buy the deluxe milkshake.

* I wouldn’t stop working completely, but I’d stop working for NOW, so I didn’t have to spend the pandemic surrounded by people on all sides every day.

[primatechnosynthpop]

Oh yeah just remembered several weeks ago I jotted this down in the notes app on my phone. Not really developed enough to warrant posting on any fanfiction websites or whatever but I guess I may as well share it here

The old manor across the street from the arcade has been haunted for decades. The groundskeeper knows this all too well, for reasons he prefers not to share, especially because nobody ever listens when he tells them. But he really did try to warn those kids.

The morning after three young men waltzed into the manor against his warnings, two of those young men ran out, screaming at the top of their lungs. Cooper couldn't say he didn't feel bad. But he had tried to warn them, and what did they do? Just went right on in anyway.

Later the following day, once the kids have long since left the vicinity, he takes a look around the manor to clean up whatever remains the ghoul may have left behind from its latest victim. Sure enough, it doesn't take long for him to find a body: eyes torn out; skewered by tentacles in several places; innards partially consumed. Scattered next to the corpse are several of Cooper's belongings. Seems like this guy had been trying to steal... maybe planning to commit identity theft? Well, whatever his motivations were, it's too late to ask him now. Cooper bags the body, drags it outside, and gets to burying it.

A couple hours later, the two kids who got away show back up. They look real skittish, especially the skinny one with the glasses, but they manage to stammer through an inquiry as to whether their friend "made it out okay". They refer to him by name, and say a whole bunch of stuff about who they are and what they were doing there the night before, but it all kind of goes in one ear and out the other-- in part because the two young guys talk over each other a bit, and in part because, hell, it's not like it matters. Cooper, no longer able to muster much sympathy after learning these punks tried to steal from him, leads them over to the newest "grave" on the property, hands them a shovel, and tells them to start digging.

As he's walking away, he overhears one of them saying to the other, "is he saying Kevin escaped using a secret network of underground tunnels?" The other guy offers an equally chipper comment in return. He can't tell whether they're deep in the denial stage of grief, or just complete idiots. Either way, they aren't looking so chipper when they trudge off his property about half an hour later. Cooper watches them from the window and thinks, good riddance. Hopefully they'll spread the word around, and people will actually listen for once, and stop walking into their deaths in this house.

It isn't until several days later, when Cooper is out mowing the lawn, that he notices a change in the air. By now, he's so used to sudden chills running through his body and the like that he barely registers it at all. But this is a new sensation. It's more like getting zapped or burnt. He looks behind him, and rather than the ghoul's familiar skeletal grin, sees the translucent but well-defined and largely humanoid figure of a man standing there and glaring at him with eyes that are big patches of static.

Well, that's a new one. But after living with one malevolent spirit for nearly forty years, Cooper isn't gonna be too freaked out by the appearance of another. Hell, this isn't even the first time this has happened recently. Other ghosts, ghouls, and spirits come and go from this place all the time. Why, just a few weeks ago the temperamental spirit of some real nasty-looking guy about this punk's age wandered through the property before settling down at the arcade across the road. So he just shrugs and goes back to his groundskeeper duties.

This new ghost proves not to be much of a threat. It seems to do a lot of macho posturing without ever really attacking Cooper like it means it. Most of the time, it's out of sight and out of mind, to the point where Cooper keeps assuming it's moved on after going a day or two without seeing it, only to be mildly surprised when he sees it again, rattling the doors of his old pickup truck or going through his gardening tools or just generally wandering around and groaning to itself.

He can always tell when the two spirits run into each other, because what follows is a cacophony of moaning and screaming that can be heard from any corner of the house. It's nothing he hasn't heard a million times before, but it's so loud and incessant that it keeps him up at night, like a dog barking or a car alarm going off outside. The ghoul never did get along very well with its victims' spirits. It starts getting annoying after a while.

Eventually, Cooper starts looking for a way to put this young ghost's soul at ease just so it'll stop making a racket. The next time he catches it rifling through his gardening supplies, he doesn't stop it or shoo it away. He lets it grab his hoe and his spare shovel, and then, out of mild curiosity and the lack of anything better to do, tags along from a safe distance to see what it does with them.

As it turns out, this ghost has lofty ambitions.

It tracks down the ghoul that killed it and thrusts the blade of the hoe into it, over and over. The ghoul lashes its tentacles, but each time it touches the other ghost it recoils as though from an electric shock. Watching this, Cooper almost feels sorry for the old ghoul. It's been in charge here for so long, but (perhaps by pure luck) this newcomer seems to have figured out its one weakness. As the one-sided battle progresses, the ghoul's tentacles are lopped off one by one, eventually leaving it defenseless. From there, it doesn't take long until it's completely pulverized. You can't kill a supernatural being with an ordinary weapon, from what Cooper knows, but you sure can destroy it. And sometimes being destroyed is worse than being killed.

Oh, but the ghoul will reassemble itself in time, once it recovers enough energy. Again, it's not like this is the first time any of this has happened. This other ghost doesn't have to know that, though-- let it think that its unfinished business is now finished, so it can go away. It turns and walks outside, and Cooper runs to the window to watch it leave.

But it doesn't leave.

In fact, it wanders across the property, shovel in hand, to the patch of upturned soil where Cooper buried the body. He realizes what it's trying to do as it starts digging, and despite everything, he almost starts feeling bad for it again. He goes outside and watches it dig for a while before speaking up.

"That won't work. There's nothing there." The ghost turns to stare at him with those big patches of static where its eyes should be, and Cooper crosses his arms. "Your little friends came by and dug up your body. It's gone now."

The ghost emits a reproachful moan. It drops the shovel and stomps on the ground. Then, with a shake of its head that sends little sparks of energy flying off it like water droplets off a wet dog when it shakes itself, it turns and shuffles away.

Cooper never sees that particular ghost again, and never thinks much of it again, either. There are always new supernatural happenings to be dealt with in this house. No need to get hung up on one guy in particular just because he was a would-be thief or died young or tried to fight the ghoul. He wasn't the first to fit any of those descriptors, and he wouldn't be the last.

It's not until many years later that he sees those three young men again, traipsing down the sidewalk toward the arcade across the road. So many people are coming and going to and from the arcade that day that he barely even notices. By the time it sinks in that it's definitely the same guys, and definitely all three of them, the arcade doors have already closed behind them and he can't look again to double-check. But Cooper knows what he saw, or thinks he does. He never finds out how or why, and frankly, he doesn't care. Whatever happened with that guy in the plaid shirt, it didn't break the cycle of paranormal events on Cooper's property.

Only... after that busy day at the arcade, new ghosts stop showing up, even when people visit his manor and meet their ends. And then one day, people stop meeting their end there altogether. He wakes up one day, almost another full year after the fact, and realizes that he hasn't seen the ghoul in months.

It's like there was some kind of portal open all this time, and now for whatever reason it's closed-- maybe whoever was keeping it open is gone now? Whatever. Cooper has no way of knowing, and he doesn't really care to find out. The point is, it seems like this property is all his now. It's almost lonely, in an odd way, without any spirits wandering around. Gradually, people stop dropping by so often. He should be glad to finally be left alone, but...

Ah, forget about it. Whatever happened with those kids, he still doesn't care, and he's sure as hell not gonna seek them out to express his gratitude to them for seemingly indirectly exorcising his house. He's an old man, after all, without many years left in him. And whatever years remain of his life, he intends to spend them continuing to work as a groundskeeper.

[fuckin-nancy]

Refiner’s Fire

rating: T words: 3,134 characters: Jacob Seed, Joseph Seed, John Seed additional tags: pre-cult, child abuse tw summary:

After being taken away from their abusive father, 15-year-old Jacob Seed held little hope that the lives of his brothers and himself would improve. His suspicions are confirmed when they are thrust into the care of the Isaacs, a couple who treat them little better than slaves. Jacob bides his time, until the night he can finally set his family free. 

[AO3]

Jacob watched fields and copses pass by with a sense of foreboding, tuning out the animated chatter of the social worker in the driver's seat. Jen, she insisted they call her. She seemed like a very nice person, but if the past few weeks had taught him anything, it was that he couldn't stand nice people, with their nosy concern and worthless platitudes.

She spoke cheerfully of the new life Jacob and his brothers were about to embark on. Occasionally she'd regard each of them in turn in the rearview mirror, her patronizing smile never wavering.

Neither of his brothers shared his feelings. Oh, Joseph was his usual reserved self, hardly saying two words together, but Jacob could tell by his rapt gaze and relaxed shoulders that he was content in his anticipation of what lay before them. John, on Joseph's other side, eagerly watched their passage along the highway and exclaimed at any grazing farm animals. As the youngest he was originally supposed to sit in the middle, but after begging his brothers to switch with him, Joseph had been all too happy to oblige his little brother.

"... Don't hesitate to call them Mom and Dad," Jen went on. Jacob gave a start, glancing at his brothers, but neither of their demeanours had changed.

He wanted to be cautious. He didn't want to get his hopes up, lest they be dashed yet again, and he especially didn't want that for John and Joseph. But it was getting harder to remain circumspect when this was the most carefree his little brothers had ever been.

"Looks like we're here," Jen said, as she turned into a long gravel driveway. In spite of himself, Jacob eyed the yard as interestedly as his brothers did. The house certainly didn’t look as nice as some they’d passed, but compared with the hellhole they’d grown up in, it was a palace. Chickens pecked at the ground inside their pen, and a few cows grazed in a nearby field. A sizable garden lay beside the house, and on its other side sat an old barn, its red paint all but chipped away.

Farm life could suit him very well, he thought.

When Jen smiled as his eyes met hers, he quickly turned away, suppressing a grimace. He had to keep his guard up.

John bounded ahead of them, down the overgrown path and up the creaking porch steps. Though it was late in the morning, curtains covered the windows, hiding the inside from view. Jacob gripped a garbage bag containing his and his brothers' clothes in his fist, careful not to let it drag on the ground.

 "Can I ring the doorbell?" John asked.

"Of course," Jen said, smiling.

John glanced back at them. At Jacob's nod, he turned, and gave the button a pronounced press.

After a full ten-second wait—Jacob counted—the door opened.

"Why, hello there." The woman looked middle-aged, with heavily greying hair pulled back into a bun, and a broad yet angular face. Her smile didn't meet her eyes. "Are these the three strong boys I've heard so much about?"

Jen laughed. "Yes, Mrs. Isaac, I've brought your three strong boys. Is Mr. Isaac around?"

"Yes, he's just inside. Come on in."

Two things immediately piqued Jacob's interest: the TV in the living room, showing a baseball game, and the sweet scent of fresh pastry, wafting from somewhere farther in. They'd never had a TV in their old house. Who he could only assume was Mr. Isaac sat in an old, stained armchair. He didn't stand to greet them; he only muted the TV and turned to stare at them. He did not smile.

Jen and Mrs. Isaac did most of the talking, but it wasn't long before Jen glanced at her watch and exclaimed at how late it was. "Sorry, but I gotta run. I'm sure you guys don't need my help settling in and getting to know each other, right?"

"We'll manage," Mrs. Isaac said, smiling. Mr. Isaac said nothing.

"Don't hesitate to call the agency if you have any questions. I'll visit in a few weeks to see how you're settling in. Well, bye then!"

The door shut behind her.

Without another word, Mrs. Isaac swiftly turned away, going into another room. Mr. Isaac had already turned back to the television, the volume of his baseball game back at full blast.

Jacob and his brothers stood awkwardly, bunched in the entrance. Doubt etched itself onto John's face, and Jacob silently fumed. If these people hurt his brothers ...

Mrs. Isaac returned with several pairs of boots in her arms. She dropped them at the boys' feet. "Try these on, see how they fit."

John and Joseph immediately did as they were told, Joseph helping John to find the smallest pair. Jacob waited, though.

Mrs. Isaac quickly took notice of his inaction. "Well, Jake? Get to it. We don't have all day."

"Don't call me Jake."

"Pardon?" She squinted at him.

"You heard me."

The sound of squeaking springs tore Jacob's attention away from her. Mr. Isaac stood facing them. There was nothing striking about his appearance—he wasn't particularly tall or short, thin or broad, pale or tan. He stared Jacob down, saying nothing.

Gritting his teeth, Jacob crouched and began searching for the pair that looked closest to his size. One day, he told himself. One day. 

Mr. Isaac returned to his seat as if nothing had happened.

The largest pair were a little tight, but they would have to do. John's were worse—they had to be at least three sizes too big.

Mrs. Isaac led them out into the yard. Not wanting to leave their belongings unattended, Jacob carried the garbage bag with him.

The midmorning sun warmed their backs, threatening an even hotter day to come. Mrs. Isaac entered the old barn, and the inside, though dark, was already as hot as a midsummer's afternoon. The faint stench of manure tickled Jacob's nose. John, always sensitive to such things, covered his nose and mouth with the top of his oversized T-shirt.

Mrs. Isaac seemed entirely unaffected by the smell. She gave the barn a quick look-over, then gestured to some shovels leaning against the wall. "You'd better get cleaning," she said. "This'll be your bedroom."

"Are you fucking serious?" Jacob blurted out.

"Watch your language," she said sharply. "I don't joke around, boy." She paused. "Well, what are you waiting for? We don't have all day—the chicken pen needs to be cleaned today yet, too, and dozens of other things need to be done besides." She left.

Joseph and John looked to Jacob, both stricken.

He wanted to rebel. He wanted to catch up to Mrs. Isaac and demand proper treatment. He wanted to take his little brothers and their garbage bag of clothes, hitchhike across the country, and fend for themselves until they found somewhere safe.

But the system wouldn't let them.

They couldn't run. They couldn't fight. So they'd have to bide their time, until ...

He sighed, taking a shovel. "We'll have to do what she says." For now, he silently added.

As the morning progressed, the barn only grew hotter. They found some old rugs, beat them to get most of the dust off, then lay them down as a sort of mattress. John cried, off and on, while Joseph remained silently morose. Jacob pummeled dust off the rugs with more force than was strictly necessary to vent his frustration. He hadn't known he still held on to a little bit of hope that the system could be good, could help to save his brothers and himself, but now, it was smashed to pieces even tinier than the dust motes that floated through the air.

Mrs. Isaac, exemplar of kindness as she was, brought them a lunch of raw vegetables and cold ham at noon. No sign whatsoever of the pie they'd smelled that morning. After, she made good on her promise of having them clean the chicken coop, and not only that, but feeding the chickens, mowing the lawn, hanging the laundry out to dry, weeding the garden, watering the garden, and sweeping the porch. It dawned on Jacob that she really wasn't kidding about there being dozens of things to do.

As Jacob knelt in the garden late in the afternoon, pulling weeds, Mrs. Isaac came out and, after a little deliberation, recruited Joseph to help her make supper. Annoyed that Joseph knew little about cooking besides the most rudimentary of basics, she all but dragged him to the house. Jacob half stood, wanting to stop her, but Joseph gave a quick shake of his head. Jacob reluctantly respected his wishes. He knew that for himself, he'd rather spend the rest of the week weeding in the sweltering heat than spend even one minute alone in that house, with those people.

After supper, they were sent ungraciously to bed, each given a coarse blanket and thin coverless pillow, with their only source of light being a single flashlight. John cried himself to sleep, leaning against Joseph. Exhausted as he was, it was only in the early hours of the morning that Jacob's fury ebbed enough for him to succumb to sleep.

*

It seemed like he'd just shut his eyes when Mrs. Isaac came barging into the barn. "Why aren't you up yet? I know you boys never worked a day in your life before yesterday, but even you must know farm work starts early."

Jacob wanted to ask, Ever heard of knocking?, but he wasn't in the mood for a fight. When they left the comfort of the barn, the sun wasn't even a sliver on the horizon.

Mrs. Isaac wasted no time in starting to teach them various farm chores, turning especially nasty when they weren't learning fast enough for her liking. After a vicious put-down for spilling a bucket of water, John trembled. Jacob silently took the bucket from his little brother, seething.

"You won't be getting any breakfast until all this is finished," Mrs. Isaac threatened.

It was like that for the rest of the day—they were only fed when Mrs. Isaac had deemed they'd worked hard enough.

It wasn't just farm work, either. Jacob got to experience life in the home first-hand when Mrs. Isaac selected him for helping her cook supper.

Not once, in the two hours that Jacob spent in the house, did Mr. Isaac get up from his chair in the TV room. Occasionally he'd call to Mrs. Isaac to remind her of something, or tell her to fetch something for him, which she would then make Jacob do. Mr. Isaac never thanked Jacob, or even acknowledged his existence with a passing glance. Jacob was almost shocked to have met a person even more worthless than his biological father.

Tasked with bringing Mr. Isaac's plate to him, Jacob spit into the mashed potatoes when he thought no one was looking, only to be met with Joseph's disapproving stare. Although he'd been planning to, he didn't do the same to Mrs. Isaac's plate.

That night, Jacob was almost thankful to be sent back to the barn, considering the atmosphere of the house. A blessing in disguise, it appeared, at least until a large spider crawled across his face in the middle of the night.

*

Jen the social worker never ended up checking on them, nor anyone else from her agency. Not that Jacob would have told anyone the truth about their situation, anyway. He couldn't trust a broken system.

Soon enough, they all started out at new schools—John at an elementary school, and Jacob and Joseph at the high school. Jacob hated not being able to check on John during the day, but he watched out for Joseph as best he could. Joseph seemed as much of a loner as he was; Jacob's classmates steered clear of him, which suited him just fine. He and Joseph always spent their lunch period together, never saying much.

*

Jacob sat with John in the garden on a mercifully cool Saturday afternoon, weeding yet again. Though it was his least favourite chore, he was at least glad to be doing it together with his baby brother.

Then came Mrs. Isaac's furious shout from the porch:

"John!"

John flinched.

"John!" She tramped across the yard, some wet garment in her hand. "What's this?" she demanded.

John stammered so badly, not even Jacob could make out what he said.

"You little jerk—don't you know you're supposed to wash whites separately? Are you some kind of retard?"

"It was me."

Her head swiveled toward Jacob. "What?"

"I put the clothes in the wash. My mistake—won't happen again." He looked her straight in the eye.

She frowned. Sized him up. Then said, in a quieter tone, "You make sure that it doesn't, or you'll be sorry." She trudged back to the house.

John didn't cry. He only kept on weeding, face expressionless. Jacob would've felt better if he'd cried.

*

There wasn't a muscle in Jacob's body that wasn't sore, but he pressed on. He worked mechanically, or at least tried to: break the ground with the shovel, scoop up some dirt, lift it to the wheelbarrow, upend it. His head was killing him—his throat, too. He knew he was sick. But he couldn't stand the thought of Joseph and John having to pick up his slack. They had too much on their plates already.

After yet another coughing fit, Joseph approached him, his thin face pinched with worry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Jacob straightened up on wobbly legs, trying his damnedest not to show it.

"You're sick."

"So?"

"You should take a break."

"I told you, I'm fine." He stabbed at the earth with the shovel, and the momentum was nearly enough to knock him over.

Joseph, of course, didn't miss it. "No, you're not fine. You need to rest. I can finish it later if she thinks it needs to be done now."

"No." The urge to cough bubbled up his throat, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. He turned to dump the dirt.

He felt a hand on his arm. "Jacob—"

"I told you, I'm—!" Coughs exploded out of him. He couldn't breathe. He bent over, eyes watering, hoping it would end soon so he could get back to work.

Eventually it did subside, leaving him shaking. He reached down to pick up the shovel.

But Joseph grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing Jacob to look at him. "You're going to kill yourself at this rate! Can't you see that?"

Jacob stared. His scrawny little brother, with fire in his eyes. A night came to mind, so long ago—the night Joseph had convinced him not to confront their father. He'd had the same fire in his eyes then, too.

"You don't need to push yourself so hard," Joseph said. "You do enough already. John and I will be fine."

"Okay." Somehow, Jacob found himself stepping away—relenting.

Joseph may have convinced him, but he didn't have to like it. He rested for a week until he finally recovered, and hated every second of it.

*

It was the sight of Atlanta burning that gave him the solution to their problems.

He'd lost count of all the times he'd seen Gone With the Wind at school. Georgia just loved to toot its own mediocre horn. He chuckled at the memory of his father yanking him and Joseph out of the classroom while drunkenly prophesying hellfire for the teachers and students, though there wasn't really any humour in it. The good old days.

But this time, as he watched the greyscale flames flickering over the city, he suddenly knew exactly what he had to do in order to save his little brothers.

*

That night, Jacob didn't sleep. He waited.

When he was certain John and Joseph were asleep, he crept to the door, and opened it just a crack. The house was dark.

He slowly made his way to the shed, careful to stay in the deepest shadows. Once he reached it, he found the gasoline canister just inside, right where he'd left it.

Upon his return to the barn, he silently woke his brothers. John rubbed his eyes, groggy and confused, but Joseph took one look at the bright red canister in Jacob's hand, just barely illuminated by the moonlight spilling in from the open door, then led John out, blankets draped over their shoulders like mangy capes. Jacob was pleasantly surprised that Joseph wasn't going to try to stop him.

He poured gasoline over everything, though he made sure to only use about a third of the canister: he wasn't done with it yet. As he exited, he pulled a box of matches from his pocket, pilfered from one of his classmates.

He lit a match. Threw it into the barn. Poof—up went the flames.

After releasing the cows from their stable and the chickens from their coop, he lit those on fire, too. The canister now depleted, he chucked it. He picked up an axe handle.

Finally came Mrs. Isaac's shrieks from the house. Half a minute later Mr. Isaac shambled out the front door, still in his pajamas, so distracted by the inferno that he didn't even notice Jacob until he bumped against his shoulder. "What the hell—"

Five consecutive hits with the axe handle, and Mr. Isaac was down. Jacob gave him a couple more for good measure.

As he stood over the groaning man, Jacob was struck by just how weak he was. Jacob could've easily done this on the first day. He'd just built Mr. Isaac up in his mind as an untouchable giant, one he couldn't dare disobey, because that's what the system had taught him—that adults had intrinsic power over him.

One look at Mrs. Isaac had her squealing, running off into the night.

At that point, Jacob figured he may as well burn the rest, too. He didn't have any more gasoline, but he still had plenty of matches. Up in flames went the house, the shed, the truck, the car.

Until finally he joined his brothers, huddled together, watching the flames. They sat in comfortable silence for hours, until the sounds of sirens broke the night.

All he could see, all he could think of, was his little brothers. "I'll come back for you," he shouted over his shoulder as they pushed him into the cop car. "It'll be okay. I promise."

Whatever his punishment was, it wouldn't last forever. And once it was all over and he reached adulthood, he'd go out and he'd find them. Even the system couldn't stop him from doing that.

They'd be together in the end, no matter what.

[jenoptimist]

Moving houses wasn’t considered a tragedy; tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were all tragedies. They were all extremely serious and devastating to be considered one. And yet there you were, staring at your new house with a large box in your hands, practically reeking of misery. Logically, you knew why your parents up and moved your small family from the busy, largely populated city to the quiet suburbs with its tight-knit community–rent was disgustingly high in the city but a mortgage in the suburbs, while not dirt cheap, was certainly worth the money when they did the figures. But still. Your whole life was in the city. It wasn’t like you had many friends or anything, however the few that you did fortunately lived within walking distance. 

At least decorating your room would be fun. Your brother wasn’t as artistically talented as his close friend, Ten, but he had better artistic skills and vision than you did. You knew that he wouldn’t disagree when you’d ask him to help. At least you hoped so, anyway, because Taeyong had the tendency to be too absorbed in whatever game he had just recently purchased. His newfound love seemed to be Animal Crossing at the moment as he talked about it non-stop. In the off chance he’d decline, you would probably just resort to searching up a Bob Ross painting tutorial on YouTube. Although you hoped you wouldn’t have to. You wanted to spend some quality time with your brother before he inevitably disappeared in his room to play his games or produce some mixtapes in his makeshift at-home music studio.

“Isn’t it fantastic?” Your mom breathed out enthusiastically as she came up from behind you, a small box in her hands. Not wanting to see her face wrinkle with a frown, you decided to agree.

“Yeah, it looks great.” 

If she heard the melancholy in your voice, she chose to ignore it.

*

It had been a few months since you moved in and you tried adapting to your new life in the suburbs. Not changed that much really–you still just stayed inside your room alternating between reading books and watching movies on Netflix. What did change was that you could no longer just walk up to your friend’s house when you were bored. Facetime was fantastic and everything but could only do so much. You loved your friends. Really, you did, but the commute to the city was almost two hours by bus. What made it even worse was that the bus was infrequent, showing up either a few minutes early or vice verse. In rare occasions the bus wouldn’t make an appearance at all. Your older sister sure was lucky that she had a stable job and could afford to maintain her life in the city. 

Deciding that you needed a change of scenery, you abandoned your seat by the window and made your way to the kitchen where you found your mom chopping up some vegetables. When she declined your offer to help her, you beelined towards the fridge to grab a glass of water before sitting down to watch her as she hummed, skillfully cutting the carrots into thin strips.

“Honey,” she said as she dropped the knife on the chopping board, looking up to face you. “Do you ever get bored in the house?”

You shrugged noncommittally. “Sometimes.”

“Well, what if I gave you a task?” You scrunched your nose. The last time your mom had given you something to do because you were ‘lazing around’ it ended up with you almost breaking your arm, and probably your leg, because the ladder wobbled. Fortunately Taeyong was with you at the time and was able to help break your fall. “Please? Our neighbor, Mrs.Na keeps asking me about ‘the child that keeps looking out the window wistfully’ and I think that you could use a bit of fresh air.”

“So you want me to,” you said slowly while practically disappeared into the chair, “make friendly with the neighbors?” She tittered at your reaction. But could she blame you? You weren’t a social butterfly or anything. In fact it was even amazing that you had friends in the first place considering how introverted you were. 

“No. Not if you don’t want to. I was thinking more like you could fix up our front garden.”

The garden wasn’t horrendous looking. At least you didn’t think so. Sure, there were some weeds that littered the majority of the grass and there weren’t any flowers, but not everybody could have beautiful front gardens like Mrs.Na! Her sons was super conscious about how their garden looked. It was a regular occurrence to see one of them, usually the one with the bubblegum pink hair, water their plants at least three times a day while you were reading by your window, with a large smile on his face. Although you weren’t sure that plants needed to be watered that often, their garden was super lush and vibrant. Maybe they just had a magic green fingers and that was why none of their plants died of over-watering and always looked spectacular.

You eyed your mother suspiciously. “And it isn’t because you want to have the best front garden in the neighborhood.” Your mom was as competitive as they got; any time a festive season was due she had to outdo the rest on the street with the decorations that she hung up, she never let you or any of your siblings win at Mario Kart and you remember when you were younger, you had to have the prettiest lunchbox in the class. There were more instances you could think of but those remained vivd in your memory.

The smile that she let out was a guilty one. “Well, maybe just a little.”

You snorted, knowing that the opposite was true. “I’ll do it but only if we buy Disney Plus.” You had been bugging your parents to buy the subscription for a while, needing to fulfill your love for Disney movies, but they didn’t budge no matter how hard you pleaded. If you received allowance you would have subscribed the day it became available but you didn’t and Taeyong, sadly, had to decline because of his recent gaming purchases. You waited patiently as she mulled it over.

“Alright kiddo. You got yourself a deal,” you whooped loudly, “but the garden needs to look fabulous.” 

You mock saluted her as you hopped off of the seat. You had garden plans to make.

*

It was disrespectfully hot when you decided to put your plan into motion. The sweat trickled down your back as you tried to remove your first weed. You had been at it for a few minutes but it didn’t shift, not even a little bit, and you were getting more and more impatient as the seconds flew by.

“Can’t you help me?” You whined, gloved hands still gripping tightly onto the annoying little plant, as you turned to look at your brother who was sitting on the steps.

Without raising his eyes from his phone he said, “nope. It’s your job. I’m just here to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.”

You mimicked him silently as you returned your gaze to the weed, hoping that your glare would somehow disintegrate it. The annoying thing was that you had everything you needed except, apparently, a small digging spade. Grumbling to yourself, you exerted what you hoped was enough energy as you pulled harder. Nothing. It didn’t even budge. You folded your arms as you scowled, watching as it danced with the breeze. It definitely seemed to mock your failure with each movement that it made. Wiping your forehead you stood up and marched back inside your house, making sure to lightly kick your brother on the way in, and determinedly searched for something that could help you dig out the little monster.

Deciding that one spoon disappearing mysteriously wouldn’t be noticed by your parents, you grabbed one and stomped back outside. Taeyong slapped your leg as you passed by which made you stick your tongue out at him–not that he noticed, too engrossed in his game. As you began harshly shoveling at the soil surrounding the weed, you reasoned that your mom couldn’t be annoyed at you if she were to find out about the spoon. She was the one that wanted the prettiest garden after all.

It felt like more than an eternity had passed before you successfully managed to rid the garden of its weeds. The sun was setting and while your parents told you to head back inside, something about removing all of the weeds made you more motivated to execute the plan that you had for your garden. As you bagged up the remaining stems, you heard footsteps approach you from behind.

Taeyong squatted beside you, holding out a Caprisun. “You did a great job.” He smiled, ruffling your hair affectionately when you took the juice pouch from him. “Let’s go back inside. You can continue tomorrow.”

*

“Looking good.” A voice that definitely did not belong to your older brother commented. Whoever the person was had to be lying to you, seeing as your flowers were only cute little sprouts. Standing up and turning from your position near the steps that lead towards the door, you found yourself staring at Mrs.Na’s sons. They stood side by side on the pavement, just a few inches from the grass, surveying your garden.

“Thanks.” You mumbled, growing self conscious at your work the longer they looked at your unblossomed flowers. It had taken a few weeks but the garden was finally starting to take shape; you mowed it to perfection, planted the seeds strategically and planned to convince your parents to add a wooden bench just beside the steps so that you could read while bathing in sunlight. Maybe you could even purchase a bench from IKEA, assemble it with Taeyong and somehow convince him to paint it so that it can have some personality.

The pink haired teen, you weren’t sure but you suspected that they were around your age or maybe even a bit older, smiled brightly. It was the smile you saw when he watered his flowers. You returned his smile, albeit awkwardly, and hoped that that would be the end of the conversation. Your hope was brutally crushed when he strode towards you, stopping just a few meters away from you before thrusting his hand out.

“I’m Jaemin, your neighbor across the street. Nice to meet you!” The smile still sat on his face and you briefly wondered if his facial muscles ever grew tired. “That’s my best friend Jeno.” He continued when you shook hands.

You nodded at his not-brother, geez you were so embarrassed that you assumed that they were related, who remained at their original spot. You held your smile as you met his eyes which earned you one of his own–he had a pretty smile. It was a smile that took over his entire face, his eyes adorably disappearing into little crescents. Jeno apparently deemed the small interaction between the two of you as an okay to head over to stand beside his best friend. You felt a little dazed the longer you looked at his cute smile so you averted your gaze back to Jaemin.

“Your garden is prettier.” You complimented, hands wringing the t-shirt you sneakily took from Taeyong–it was an old one, anyway, so hopefully he wouldn’t notice that it was missing from his closet. 

Jaemin visibly preened, his smile somehow growing even wider. “Thanks! Hey, we were on our way to grab some milkshakes or something,” he side-eyed Jeno who nodded slightly. “Want to come with us?”

You blanched at his suggestion. What on earth possessed this guy and his best friend to compliment your garden and invite you to their hang out? Was this a common thing to do in the area? Although you doubted it seeing as they only approached you now and your family had moved in months ago. Unless, maybe, they were waiting until the perfect time to corner you? Whatever the reason, you had to reply because they couldn’t smile and wait patiently forever.

“They’d love to!” You turned immediately and stared at your mom incredulously. “What?” She asked as she smiled serenely. “They look like nice young men. Now go and get changed while I get them something to drink.”

*

The days that followed the impromptu hang out were fun. It was routine at that point to care and maintain your garden during the morning and then seeking out Jaemin and Jeno for company when it was the afternoon. While you and Jaemin bonded over horticulture, the teen freely offering advice on how to care for your plants and asked for your opinions on pots, you and Jeno preferred to spend your time with each other by talking about various books or him playing his guitar as you tended to your garden. Jaemin regularly teased the two of you for being ‘boring nerds’ but neither of you cared because you both knew that he was aware that his extroverted-like nature could be overwhelming at times for the two of you.

It was the afternoon and, like clockwork, you collected Jaemin from his house so that you could both walk to Jeno’s house down the street. Jaemin chatted animatedly, comfortably filling up the silence like he always did, not stopping even as the two of you approached Jeno’s house where your friend was waiting patiently at the steps on the porch of his house.

“So what are we doing?” The black haired teen asked as he jumped up and made his way towards you. He and Jaemin did their handshake when he was close enough. 

When they were finished he smiled radiantly at you, raising his hand. The gentle high-fives he gave you every time he saw you was something that you always looked forward to. There was nothing special about it or anything, you just liked the feeling of his hand against yours–which you knew was absolutely pathetic. Sometimes, though, when you were feeling particularly courageous, you folded your fingers so that your hands would interlock. It was something you did quickly, fold and then immediately let go because you knew he wouldn’t return it anyway, so there was no point in making things weird.

Your brain almost short-circuited when this time it was Jeno who folded his fingers, smile turning shy, but you managed to fold yours as well. You supposed that the two of you looked stupid; two teenagers staring at each other with their hands interlocked in mid-air however you couldn’t find it in you to care. Not when your heart was beating as fast as it was, your hands becoming clammy.

“Oh get a room!” Jaemin exclaimed as he pretended to gag. The two of you jumped apart, avoiding eye contact as your pink haired friend snickered. While Jeno started a play fight with him, you took the time to calm yourself down. When they finished, they looked at you.

“What?” Hopefully there wasn’t a flush evident on your cheeks or something because you would be mortified.

“It’s your turn to choose something for us to do today.” Jeno replied, peeking at you through his lashes.

You tilted your head slightly as you thought. The three of you had already gone to the cinema and ice-cream parlor that week because that was what Jaemin had chosen to do two days ago and yesterday, when it was Jeno’s choice, the three of you went to the small museum before he requested that the two of you model for him so that he could work on his photography skills. There wasn’t much else to do so you were stumped.

“How about we build something from IKEA?” Your parents caved in and bought the bench however Taeyong declined your invitation to assemble it because of work. At his refusal you immediately began to sulk but quickly cheered up when he promised that he would paint it when he had the chance.

“Do you mean the bench that your parents bought the other day?” 

Pleased that Jeno remembered the tidbit of random information, you beamed. “Yep! So, what do you guys say?” They chirped their agreement and with that, the three of you spun around and walked back to your house.

“Are we nearly finished?” Jaemin asked from where he was laying down on the grass, resting his face on the palm of his hands.

Jeno clicked his tongue at response. “You mean are me and y/n nearly finished.” He corrected as he continue to twist the screwdriver. Jaemin pouted which made you huff out a laugh. He was the one who eagerly volunteered to read out the instructions as the two of you assembled it, imitating a loud buzzer when either of you did something wrong.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost finished.” You assured him then you turned to face Jeno. “Can I have that screwdriver when you’re done?” He nodded in reply. As you waited, you allowed your eyes roam his figure; from how his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and then all the way down to his bicep and hands. Your eyes averted immediately to the large tree behind him when he moved suddenly. “Thanks.” You said as he held out the tool towards you. The two of you held eye contact for longer than necessary, your hand over his as you swiped the screwdriver from him.

“Your welcome.” Jeno responded quietly, his eyes searching your own.

From your right, you heard Jaemin flop onto his back and release a loud, groan that spoke of long-suffering.

*

Unable to fall asleep, you scrolled through your phone aimlessly. It was four in the morning and the entire house was asleep. As you were about to click a random YouTube video that was in your recommendations, you received a text from Jeno. You smiled goofily at your screen as you tapped your reply to his question. Just as you were about to start the video, there was a light tap on your window. You waited, hoping it was just in your imagination or a bird that crashed into your window by mistake. Another tap convinced you to slowly get off of your bed and check the winow.

Jeno stood on your lawn in a puffer jacket and sweats, camera strap hanging on his neck. “Come with me.” He said, keeping his voice low.

“Where?” You inquired, already ready to grab your hoodie and your shoes.

“It’s a surprise.”

The surprise ended up being a forty-five minute away. The location he lead you to was on top of a steep hill, where a large cherry tree stood. The hill overlooked the neighborhood and, if you squinted hard enough, you could just about make the outline of your house. The view was very pretty. You made a mental note to read in the shade of the tree some time during the week or maybe even host a picnic there.

“Why’d you take me here?” You questioned, turning to look at Jeno.

“I thought that we could watch the sun rise,” he kicked at the air lightly, fiddling with his camera. “And that maybe I could take some pictures of you?”

“Okay,” you agreed easily, loving how he beamed at you in return. You sat on the grass, patting the spot next to you, and hugged your arms against your chest. Resting your temple on your knees, you caught Jeno looking at you. “What?” He shook his head. “So how’d you find this place?” You asked. You were mesmerized by the way he spoke, calm and gentle as always. Sleep was threatening to possess you but you fought against it, not wanting to miss anything.

When the sun made its slow appearance, Jeno hopped up and held his hands out to you, pulling you up when you grabbed onto them. Him taking pictures was nothing new but you felt a little bit antsy because it would be his first time taking pictures of you without Jaemin. As you contorted your body to create a variety of silly poses, you tried not to think about how intimate the whole situation felt. It was probably all in your head anyway.

“Wait, just two more.” With that, he let his camera go and retrieved his phone from his pocket. He took a photo of you and then he walked up to you, put his arms around your shoulders and snapped a quick picture.

The walk back involved plenty of saccharine smiles, bashful gazes and Jeno handing you his puffer jacket to keep you warm. You didn’t feel brave enough to take his hand on your own or kiss him sweetly like they did in the movies when you were saying goodbyes. But as you stared at your ceiling, smile so wide it hurt your cheeks, you wished that you did.

*

“What are you guys doing?”

The two teens stopped bickering, Jeno placing something behind his back. You quirked a brow but took a seat in the booth opposite them, anyway. Jaemin wanted to watch a movie again and so to pass the time, the three of you decided to grab a milkshake in the diner before the screening.

“Oh no,” Jaemin gasped dramatically as he patted at the pockets of his denim jacket. “I forgot my wallet at home,” you shrugged, offering to pay for him immediately. “No, it’s alright. I’ll just go and grab it. Ow! Jeno, what the hell!” You glanced at the aforementioned teen, who smiled innocently before wincing. “Well,” Jaemin sighed as he stood up, “I’ll just head out.” Jeno covered his eyes with his hand, avoiding the look that his best friend gave him. As soon as he disappeared, Jeno’s phone buzzed numerous times which made him mutter something you didn’t catch.

“Okay,” you said, dragging out the word. “What was that all about?”

“Who knows?” You remained somewhat suspicious. There was something going on, you were sure of it. “I, um, ordered your regular for you if that’s alright?”

You nodded an affirmative and allowed a beat of silence before you spoke again. “He’s not coming back, is he?”

Jeno sputtered. “I– Well, you see–” You giggled at him, causing him to whine out your name as he hid his face in his hands. “There’s something I need to give you.” Then, without further hesitation, he produced a mason jar from behind his back. “It’s a terrarium that I made for you yesterday.”

You took it from his hands and held it with caution as you inspected it. It was very pretty. The plants that he chose were extremely vibrant, the stones different colors and he even placed a cute little cat figurine that was made to appear like it was sleeping.

Removing your gaze from the mason jar, you met his eyes. “Is this why you couldn’t hang out with us yesterday?” You asked softly. When he nodded, you returned your gaze to the mason jar so that you could continue to stare at the terrarium in wonder. “Oh my God,” you breathed out, gently placing the container onto the table. “This is totally a date, isn’t it? That’s why Jaemin abandoned us the minute I got here.”

Jeno fidgeted with his fingers as he met your eyes, clearing his throat before he spoke. “I wanted to ask you before, you know the day we watched the sun rise together?”

“Jeno that was two weeks ago.”

He winced. “Yeah, I know. I chickened out last minute.”

“Oh my God,” you repeated, eyes widening. “If you had told me this was a date I would have dressed nicer. Jeno, how could you do this to me?”

“So you don’t mind that this is a date?”

“Jeno, sweetie, I’ve had a massive crush on you for ages now. I’m surprised you didn’t notice or I didn’t accidentally tell you.”

A goofy smile lit up his face. “Oh.” He looked extremely pleased, like a dream of his came true. You supposed it probably did. “You look great, anyway, so it doesn’t matter. You always look great.”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t stop the smile that emerged. “So does this mean we can hold hands on the table as we share the same milkshake and stare adoringly into each others eyes?”

Jeno threw his head back to laugh and you were quick to follow. “If that’s what you want.”

Later that evening after your date was over and the two of you were sitting on the bench, the one that Taeyong successfully gave some personality, you kissed him softly like you wanted to weeks ago. And as you watched him walk away, him repeatedly looking back at you, you startled when you saw Jaemin waving his arms erratically on his porch. When you acknowledged him with a wave of your own, he gave you a huge thumbs up.

“Finally!” He hollered before breaking out into a silly dance.

“Thank you!” You yelled back.

Finally indeed.

[prorevenge]

Abusive mom is ruined and wanted

It's a rough story to start, so I'll just go chronologically.

The first exmaple of how evil she was my older brother told me. Back when I was really young, my dad was in the Army and managed to score some leave (vacation time) from Desert Storm to surprise my mom for her anniversary. When he knocked on the door, all my mom said was "Why aren't you dead, I need the money." Her new beau then started backing out of the garage in my dad's mustang cobra.

He got revenge, but that's a story for later if you guys want.

The divorce was pretty much what you expect, mom got custody of me. My dad later tricked her with some money and got me for a visit, then filed for custody since my mom had warrants out for her arrest.

A few years later my dad remarried to your typical evil stepmother who doted on her daughters and hates her stepson. For example, for Easter my step sisters got huge baskets of candy and chocolates, a couple toys, etc. I got an old soup can with my name painted on it (poorly) that "I could use for pencils."

This witch managed to talk my dad into sending back to my mom, and here the story begins in earnest.

Where my mom was living was an old two bedroom, one bath house. My sister's shared one room, my mom and stepdad shared the other, my brother got the whole basement, and I got a "room" so small that I could touch fingertip to fingertip each wall, and it was double that long. I had a curtain instead of a door.

I got nothing. I hated life there. I was one of only a few white kids at school, so I got beat up alot for being white, it was low income area in Michigan, so I was the one who always had to shovel, rake, mow, and then my mom would "rent me out" to the neighbors, and they all just paid her. I did all the chores and was "grounded until she felt like ungrounding me." I basically sat on my bed for six years anytime I was not in school, cleaning, or making her money.

I learned this later, but my mom was "extorting" money from my dad. She would demand $3000 for a school photo, and he willingly paid $700 a month in child support, even though there was no need to. (He worked in the oil field business after he retired, on a corporate board). She would make stuff up like "Our car broke, etc" and demand money. My dad had to fork over $12,000 for me to go visit him for a week. He couldn't take me in at the time, he wasn't home enough (lots of travel) and he was single, but I found out he was sending me Christmas and birthday gifts every year, and I later found out from my brother she pawned them all. He bought me a brand new Color Gameboy, which was promptly taken away because "I was grounded." She pawned that too. She would often hit me for stupid reasons, like when I once put the dishes away a bit damp or if I managed to get a chocolate milk from the school cafeteria. Once I got fed up and pushed her, she called he police and he chided me.

In short, it was hell.

Meanwhile my sister's got upgraded to a private school and lots of amazing toys. She took custody of my grandfather who had MS from the waist down and couldn't even use the bathroom by himself. She got power of attorney and took all his money and blew it, as well as taking half his pain meds (like Vicodin) and giving them to my brother to sell. This will be important later, kinda.

Now the revenge part. This is going to be a bit long, so I apologize in advance.

In my junior year of high school, I got to working in the library. My teachers were amazing and supportive, and knew my situation. I got my dad's email, and we started planning. He figured once I finished high school, he would personally come up and get me. Finally when my mom decided to have a "graduation party" for me, complete with inviting all her friends and none of the like, two people I could call a friend, a couple days before my graduation ceremony. About two hours before the party was going start, my dad pulls up. I invite him in, and he looks around, looks confused. He leans in and asks me "Where is she?" I point. She was right in front of him lying on the couch. He screwed up his face, and said he'd wait in the car.

While I was gathering all my stuff in a single garbage bag, my mom finally realized who this stranger was, and lost her shit. She tried everything from bribing me with Nascar tickets (I hate Nascar, she liked it but I knew she didn't have any) to physically obstructing me. She had pulled out all the stops for this party, spending a couple thousand and lots of time cooking, err making me cook. I get outside, throw my stuff in the truck, and we take off.

(Side story. We get halfway down the street and my dad has to pull over. He laughs uncontrollably for awhile. I asked his what's up, and in his Texan accent says "Boy, when I was a kid I always wanted to marry a movie star. I just didn't think it be Jabba the Hutt." Evidently they didn't recognize each other at first, she put on ALOT of weight after they divorced.)

We get to his place, and it starts. I get updates from my sister in law. The party was f*****d. She was humiliated. Since she didn't have me, my dad stopped sending money. They had months worth of unpayable bills. She had to pawn her jewelry, pull my sister's out of the private school and back into public school, sell one of the cars she had. Soon she started calling for money claiming someone stole the mail all the time so they couldn't pay their bills and needed money to replace the mailbox so they wouldn't steal it anymore.

It was refreshing knowing I was free, and I could say no with no repercussions. I was happy to live and let live. I vowed to leave her be and let her sink or swim by her own hand. I was elated to be free, and had no desire to look back at that part of my life.

But she wasn't done with me.

I decided to follow my dad's example and join the service. I decided the Navy was the place for me. My job required a top secret clearance, so they do a very thorough background check, to include a credit check. Turns out I was delinquent in mortgage payments, I was receiving social security, and I owed a power company alot of money among other credit card debts. That b****** stole my identity and ran me into debt since she couldn't get anymore money. I knew about identity theft, it just never occurred to me that a parent has everything they need to do so.

This couldn't stand. After I finished basic training and my technical school, I spoke to my Chief (supervisor). Chief was awesome. She managed to wrangle me a "temporary assignment" to a recruiting station in my old town where my mom lived so the Navy would buy my plane tickets. I spoke to the police and filed a report. One by one I managed to clear most of the debts from me and send all the debt collectors after her.

Then I made a visit to the social security office. I was in uniform at the time, and spoke to a clerk about how I was somehow getting payments when I never got anything. She looks up the account, and boom. My mom was here. She claimed I was permanently mangled and disabled in an accident and I was physically unable to sign, giving her permission to cash my checks. The clerk read that last part out slower as it dawned on her that I was clearly more than able. She opened a case. For the monolithic bureaucracy that was the government, they move pretty fast when someone's stealing money from THEM.

Turns out when they went to investigate, she had already skipped town. They issued warrants for her arrest and she is on the run.

I got cut a check for $20,000, the amount that was garnished from my wages for what she stole from the social security administration, and she now owes that much to Uncle Sam.

So this was ten years ago.

So evidently my brother found out that not only am I doing great, I am very successful. I recently left the service and I am starting an even more exciting job. So he told Mom, and she came crawling out of the woodworks via Facebook for money for a "doctor", but I told her prison gives free medical care, and it felt good. Turns out when my aunts (her sisters who lived in another state) found out about how she treated me, she was cut out of everyone's will, to include my grandmother. Unfortunately we didn't get to my grandfather before she cashed in on him.

So heavily in debt, with no family to turn to, no way to get a job, with fraud on her record as well as selling prescription medication, and warrants out for her arrest, my mother, Jabba the Hutt, is receiving hers.

I got cut a check for $20,000, the amount that was garnished from my wages for what she stole from the social security administration, and she now owes that much to Uncle Sam.

Sorry if this is the wrong sub, but I thought I'd share.

(source) story by (/u/Admiral_Bismarck)