#The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Rosa but I also love Balder too so they cancel. I just love everyone in bayo 1 & 2

[woolmasterleel]

Something I've been thinking about lately...

Rbs appreciated for science... Also feel free to dump your favourites here if you'd like (❁´◡`❁)

[athena-xox]

Changing the characters featured in each special without doing any research (it’s been like 2 weeks since I’ve proper watched eah).

True hearts day - chefs kiss it’s perfect

Thronecoming - I like the characters with their side plots but specifically for those going into the storybook of legends I would change blondie and cedar. Blondie would be at the game, it makes no sense why she was there (unless she followed them but she would have to be covering the game anyways so??) and cedar because I feel like they either should have focused more on her being able to lie or just cut her. I would replace them with 1 kitty because she could cover both the plot points that blondie n cedar bring (aka finding out where to go and how to get in) because I think definitely smth could be worked out with her going into the in between. And then I’m in between Ginger and Holly for the 8th girl. I feel like Ginger just because she’s important for spring unsprung so it would make sense to meet her earlier, but also then the focus would be less on raven + briars horrible destinies and on gingers. And I think that Hollys destiny makes a lot of sense for a quick little montage but then that brings the question on if it should be poppy instead or if the sbol they go into is a fake or not.

Spring unsprung - for the girls who get outfits from Lizzie I’m not going to switch them for Maddie and Kitty even tho it would make sense for Lizzie to make the outfits for them (but then again I’m pretty sure the og queen of hearts doesn’t even know who the Cheshire Cat + Mad Hatter r) so the only one I’ll switch is Holly. Just because I didn’t commit to her for the thronecoming arc and so I feel like she doesn’t really need to be there. I would switch her for Farrah (ik she didn’t exist yet but do I look like I give a fuck?) because in the diaries her cedar and Lizzie design together. And briar and cerise can stay because they’re featured and they are like main characters. The others in this special make sense tbh

Way Too Wonderland - ok yeah it makes sense for the 6 girls. The 3 wonderlandians who left pre curse that makes sense. Briar who is literally the catalyst for all these events. And the two main characters. If I could add someone I’d add cerise because her parents got married in wonderland, which could create an interesting plotline, and after spring unsprung her character was kinda discarded which is too bad. The others (the charmings + bunny and Alistair can stay too). Mm honestly I’d remove faybelle. It makes sense for her to be there just to establish her character before dragon games + epic winter but she wasn’t needed. Honestly could switch cerise with her.

Dragon Games - now here’s where I start to actually dislike the line up not just in a nitpicky way. Okay so off the top of my head the ones who compete in the dragons games are Melody, Lizzie, Poppy, Darling, Holly, Apple, Ashlynn, Maddie and Raven. I’m sorry what?! No briar?! Or cerise?! Immediately cutting Lizzie and Melody for those two. And I feel like Ashlynn could be replaced by Jillian, Cupid, Ramona or Nina. And then for those who go to the forest originally are Raven, Darling, Maddie, Ashlynn, Poppy, and Holly. Definitely adding Briar because that just makes this so much more interesting / briar’s rebel arc could have happened!! I’d either just add her to the existing group or if cut the O’Hair twins and also add cerise because cerise is close friends with raven and is seen with darling lots.

Epic Winter - so if you know me yk were cutting rosabella. I’m very tempted to just add Lizzie but we will resist the temptation. I’ll definitely be changing this one a lot. So the crew is Briar, Faybelle, Ashlynn, Blondie, Rosabella, Daring and Crystal. Cutting Blondie & Daring and adding Poppy and Duchess. Okay that might not look like a big change but im changing who gets which arc. Those with flowers are now Briar, Rosa, Poppy and Crystal. Ashlynn is just there because she’s friends with Crystal not because of the flower. Faybelle is there for the same reason. Rosabella is just there because of her flower, of course she becomes friends and stuff but the whole ‘I can fix him’ thing is gone. Instead this is poppy and duchess. Whether or not it’s seen as a ship or friendship Duchess is the one who needs redemption not Daring. Also I just found the blondie wanting a real story arc to be stupid

Forest Fest - I forgot this is considered a special? Is it considered a special? Anyways I think it’s fine I found it annoying how raven and dex had to be the ones to save the girls it could literally be anyone else. I found Poppy kinda a random choice for blondie to take, like just for the hair?? Maybe Ginger instead because she also has a show and they could be going together.

Tbh I want to make another post with in depth analysis

[httpsdana]

84 Jude bellingham with a Brazilian reader PLEEASE

Sal o Azúcar ?~Jude Bellingham

*GIF isn't mine. credits to the owner*

I PUBLISHED THIS AND REALIZED THE REQUEST SAID BRAZILIAN READER. IWROTE THIS AS SPANISH IM SO SORRY. EITHER WAYS I HOPE YOU ENJOY <3

you can request from my prompt list

this is my master list

players/drivers I write for

84-“as much as I love listening to your native language, you know I can’t understand shit.”

warning: this is google translated spanish

"why wouldn't you let me help you" Jude whined, following y/n around in the kitchen

"Jude. I've told you this a million times before. I cannot fuck up tonights dinner. this is the first time your parents are coming over here to Madrid and you helping me isn't gonna be the best choice" y/n repeated, sighing at the boy who was following her around

"that's really offensive" Jude mumbled, sitting down on the countertop

y/n knew he wasnt actually sad, but she was right about everything she said. Jude wasn't the best help in the kitchen

"you can help me by bringing me the ingredients when I want them" she suggested making Jude's face lit up

he nodded excitedly, jumping off the counter and standing next to her.

She started preparing the dinner with Jude standing next to her. The soup she was preparing needed salt and needed to be stirred well and she shouldn't stop the stirring

"Jude. salt please" she said, urging him to rush

He grabbed the jar of 'salt' and gave it to her. y/n, without looking, grabbed a big amount of it and put it over the soup, and continued her stirring

"thanks babe" she said, smiling at Jude. He pressed a kiss on the top of her head, and stood beside her until she finished everything for the dinner

"Denise. Mark. its so good to see you guys again" y/n said, hugging the couple in front of her

"come on in. Jude is just getting dressed" she led them to the living room

"of course he's still late. I wonder if you're the one who waits for him when getting reafy for a date" his dad joked, making the three of them laugh

"I heard that"Jude said from behind, annoyance evident in his voice, but a smile was plastered on his face because of seeing his parents after a few months

He gave them both a hug, and they sat down for a chat

"I actually helped y/n with dinner" Jude said proudly, making his parents laugh

"oh no. how did that go?" Denise asked, making Jude put an offended hand on his chest

"it was alright. I didn't let him do anything beside bringing me the ingredients" y/n said, making his mother laugh

"that was a good choice. when he was young I had to beg him to leave me cook alone" she said, making her husband and y/n laugh

"that's not true" Jude gasped, making them laugh harder

"enough talking about how bad Jude is in cooking, how about I serve you guys dinner?" y/n got up, leading them to the dining room

She went to the kitchen, with Jude following her

"that wasn't nice" he pouted, making her chuckle

"well...we were only speaking the truth" she shrugged, placing her hands on his chest, his hands placing themselves on her hips

He just laughed, and leaned down, pressing his lips on hers. Before he had the chance to deepen the kiss, y/n moved back and pushed him away

"stop your parents are waiting for the food" she turned, grabbing the pot of soup

"take this. and I'll bring the rest" she gave it to Jude

They all sat down for dinner. y/n filling up the bowls of soup for the parents

Denise had the first sip of her soup, before she started coughing hard

"everything okay?" y/n asked, worried something might had happened to her

"honey. I think you're mistaken between the salt and sugar" she said, making y/n turn to look at Jude. He had an awkward look on his face when his girlfriend glared at him

"you gave me the sugar instead of the salt?" y/n asked, making Mark laugh out loud at his son

"how was I supposed to know its sugar instead of salt?" Jude said defensively

"Joder, Jude, ponemos la sal en el tarro azul y el azúcar en el tarro rosa." y/n said in an angry tone. before realizing she was speaking spanish instead on english (fucking hell Jude. we put the salt in the blue jar and the sugar in the pink jar)

Jude looked at her dumbfounded, before speaking up

“as much as I love listening to your native language, you know I can’t understand shit.” he said, making his parents chuckle

y/n let out a sigh, rubbing her temple before turning to his parents

"I'm really sorry guys. I promise he won't be entering the kitchen again" she glared at Jude

Denise shook her head and said everything was fine

"I think the rest of the food has sugar instead of salt too, how about we order some pizza?" Jude said with an awkward smile

They all laughed, before nodding

"let me do the talking. I don't think your spanish is good enough to order a normal pizza" y/n joked, grabbing the phone from Jude's hand

[schumigrace]

My life will, quite literally, never be the same.

I moved to the motorsport county for a multitude of reasons, but having Silverstone on my doorstep was at the top of the list.

The mileage counter in my beaten-up racing green Vauxhall has racked up most of it's digits on the A43 through Towcester, I can tell you the exact position of every road sign painted with a brown rectangle, a chequered flag next to the word "Silverstone". I could tell you which direction the track is in from anywhere in the world, as if it's Wing shaped roof hangs like a petrol-laden North Star. All roads lead to Silverstone, you may say (no-one has ever said this)

So, Grace, I hear you asking, how often do you go?

Never.

That is, of course, until I received an email from God herself (the Aston Martin F1 Team Marketing Analyst) informing me of my invitation to their AMR24 Launch. An invitation I very obviously accepted, after 24 hours worth of crying, screaming, and stalking said marketing analyst on LinkedIn to make sure this was not in fact some messed up kind of joke

So it's 7 in the morning, I'm doing my usual commute through the god-awful traffic hell that is Northamptonshire, only this time I'm not going straight ahead on the Silverstone Bypass, I am taking the ever elusive right turn into the brand new Aston Martin Technology Centre and being handed a visitor's pass

The first thing I notice is that they've only gone and put a bloody AMR23 (with the new livery) right in the middle of the lobby, it's covered up at this point, and I'm staring daggers through the cover just daring it to be riddled with carbon fibre underneath. AMR team members are floating around like green angels everywhere I look, shelves are adorned with this past year's trophies (I make a comment to a passing team member - "you'll need more shelves after this year", she chuckles and moves on - I try not to take this is a bad sign)

8 o'clock hits, the official launch video plays, and the cover is removed. jesus fucking christ she's green. thank fuck. I can go home now.

Oh, hang on, is that Mike Krack?

Shit it is.

Mike has a shakedown to run of course, so he doesn't hang around for too long. He's confident in this car though, they've been working on it for years, and he's sure we'll be quick out of the gate. Off he goes across the road to the garage. "Don't worry," they say, "you'll be going over to watch the cars on track too."

Sorry, can you repeat that please, I believe you just said we are going to go over to the track to watch the cars.

"Yes of course, but not before we ply you with cake and coffee, naturally, oh and also Pedro De La Rosa is here along with Jessica Hawkins. Do you want to chat to them?"

I ask Pedro where he and Fernando went to dinner last night. Somewhere in Oxford I think, I stopped listening, I was thinking about how much I would be willing to be a thir-

Anyway.

At this point no photos are allowed for the rest of the day, they are literally building the car right in front of you no you cannot put that on social media.

We're heading across the road now, along the Hamilton straight and up around Stowe, we head past the Porsche Experian Centre and I make some vague comment about Webbonso that nobody picks up on. Nevermind. We turn left just before Maggots and Becketts to head towards the pit lane, and into the Aston Martin garage.

The smell of petrol is so overwhelmingly strong and I make sure every single cell of my lungs is scarred from it. A batak machine is being set up and I joke "wouldn't it be funny if someone beat Jenson Button's world record today". Someone did, not even 5 minutes later. A wave of "get Jenson on the phone!" fills the garage.

I turn around, Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich are on a stage talking about how exciting it is to see the car, or at least they're trying to look excited. I'm not sure Drugo knows what that even means.

Lawrence Stroll is talking to a mechanic and I can literally hear the thousands of dollars dropping into his bank account with every heartbeat. Surely his son is nearby? Oh yes, right infront of us. Imagine that. (Lance did of course look gorgeous, his racesuit tied around his waist, laughing with his engineers like the whore he is)

We're heading over to the PU station now and the wonderful AM team member is talking us through the specifics of it, but I haven't heard a single word she has said, because unfortunately for her Fernando has decided to enter the garage at that exact moment. I am stood near a space heater, and he locks eyes on me (nope, the space heater) immediately. He makes his way over and sticks his backside directly towards the heater and my face is about as red as the radiator.

"Good morning! How are you?"

I have so many words to say to you right now, and not a single one of them is in a language that either of us can understand. I think I eventually vomitted up some form of acceptable response, however, because he smiled at me.

"Are you cold?"

"Only a little" I respond. Not anymore, I'm picturing myself under you, I think.

I totally lost a good hour after this because there's not a single memory here for me to put into words, damn you Alonso

The blur fades with the freezing air outside, and we're stood on the pitwall. Sky Sports are here now and have us doing media stuff, I run as far away from them as possible and climb onto the pitwall. FIA, if you're reading this, I promise I kept both feet on the ground at all times.

They tell us the shakedown isn't going to plan, suprise surprise, and you actually cannot see the car on track today. I mentally curl into a ball and sob the whole way back to the AMRTC but all of a sudden we are being led to mission control and the composite engineering stations and they are, literally, building a car infront of us whatthefuckishappening

By this point I have recovered from my minor sulk - Grace this is literally the best day of your life get over yourself - and then we're being told that as an apology they have hired a room in the Hilton Hotel opposite the pitlane, free food and drinks for as long as we want, oh and... cars on track. all. day. long.

Whilst writing this i received another email from biblically-accurate marketing analyst god asking for feedback. I think a string of letters indicating incessant shrieking will probably do the trick

[baeksqt]

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑— valentina giacinti

valentina giacinti x fem!reader

(a/n: had this small blurb sitting in my drafts since feb/march? idk but I think I might do a pt. 2 of this vale piece but anyways enjoy my luvvies ^_^)

word count: 434

genre: fluff with an angsty tendencies??

The air hung comfortably silent in the living room, as you and Valentina huddled around your suitcase. With her sitting on the blue hardshell as you were on your knees trying to close your luggage, tugging at the zip. 

“Mia Rosa, move your legs for a moment.” Tapping Val’s calf gently so you can drag the zip around the suitcase, letting your girlfriend attach the lock. As Val clicked the lock into place, you couldn't help but notice the dejected look on her face. Her lips formed a slight pout as the curls of her hair cascaded across her face.

“You know, six months will pass by in the blink of an eye,” you said with a soft smile, gently brushing the overgrown hair out of her face. “We’ll see.” she huffed, plopping down on the carpet across from you, leaning against the overstuffed suitcase. “What time is your flight?”

“5:15,” you answered shortly, “it’s now 11, so I’m going to get ready.” Standing up to head to the bathroom.

Valentina had been quiet all morning as you hurried around the apartment frantically, trying to collect last-minute items for your flight. The airline you worked for wanted you to relocate to Dubai and that meant turning your relationship with Valentina into a long-distance one. As the moving day approached, it became evident that Valentina struggling to come to terms with the idea of relocation. Every time the topic was brought up, she seemed to dodge it, perhaps in the hope that you might reconsider the opportunity and decide to stay in Rome with her.

As time went by, you eventually found yourself in front of the hallway mirror with only a couple of minutes until you needed to head off. You meticulously adjusted your hair parting, making sure to smooth down any stray hairs and ensuring that they stayed in place. The lingering scent of hairspray filled the air as you worked on perfecting your look.

Valentina sauntered over to you, her steps deliberate and graceful, the aroma of her coffee trailing behind her. As she took her last sip before setting it down on the coffee table, her gaze lingered on you, assessing you from top to bottom. As she reached out a warm hand to straighten the lapels of your blazer, you caught a glimpse of her intent expression in the reflection. The subtle movements of her hand and the furrow of her brow hinted at the whirlwind of thoughts racing through her mind.

“You’ll be back before you know it.” her voice exuded a sense of calm reassurance. You hum in agreement, your eyes gazing over the tiny bumps of her freckles. “I promise you it won’t be long and you have many matches to play whilst I'm away,” your voice cracking slightly as you pulled her into a tight embrace, hearing her small sniffle by your ear, holding in her tears.

[jmdbjk]

He wears his heart on his sleeve

...maybe he should just get it tattooed there too.

Jungkookie was very quiet and reflective during his most recent Weverse live, at least at first.

Perhaps he was manifesting his Jimin to appear in the comments because he stared at them for a while... a long while.

Earlier in the evening, with Tae, he attended the movie premiere of Dream, a soccer movie with a ragtag team storyline. A team of misfits who come together and persevere. It stars Tae's friend, Park Seojoon, Wooga squad and fellow cast member on Jinny's Kitchen.

He looked happy to be there but self-conscious at the same time. Unused to the crowds and spotlight after being out of it for a while. He didn't have anyone to hide behind. It looks like maybe he said "oh my god" when he stepped up in front of the bank of cameras (haha).

After having a supposedly fun outing, Kookie came to visit us on Weverse live and seemed to have a lot on his mind. He said he missed us and wished us good health both physically and mentally. I imagine Hobi leaving for service and Moonbin's tragedy last week are fresh cuts to our Kookie's heart. It breaks MY heart that Kookie has to experience those things. I don't know how close Kookie was to Moonbin. But I do know losing someone so suddenly can make you so scary aware of your own mortality and makes you realize instantly what should truly be important and what is irrelevant.

I am thinking his evening out had him keyed up and he came to visit with us in order to decompress and relax. He said the only ones who could create a calming environment for him right now was Army. However, the (I'm sure inane) comments he was seeing were not doing the trick. He seemed a little perturbed at them so he turned them off.

But he said sitting there knowing we were on the other side was calming and enough for him at that moment. He felt at peace knowing we are all connected. And then he let out a big sigh. Sort of a "I'm doing the best I can" sigh. Oh Kookie, I feel you.

Incidentally, the song he said he was obsessed with that evening and that he had playing in the background on repeat was I Really Want to Stay At Your House by Rosa Walton & Hallie Coggins ... some of the lyrics:

Another evening I'll be sitting reading in between your lines Because I miss you all the time...

...I'm on top of you, I don't wanna go 'Cause I really wanna stay at your house

He said he's working hard on new music but its difficult. If he says its not easy, then the final result will probably be OUTSTANDING because he struggled to make HIS version of perfect. Masterpieces are sometimes not easy to create.

He was steadily sinking, sitting in the dark, sipping his highball through a straw but after 35 minutes of solemnity and saying he needed to go to sleep, he all of a sudden came alive when he began talking about food... go figure.

He waffled back and forth about whether he should just get off his butt and make the noodles or go to sleep, but then he really got into it and explained in great detail this recipe, down to the proper color of the perilla oil to use. Though he didn't have the correct perilla oil in his pantry, he made the sauce and boiled the noodles.

The whole idea of him puttering around his kitchen trying out new ways to make noodle or rice dishes is very endearing. He does have somewhat of a head start in advanced levels of cooking though because of the times they filmed Run BTS episodes with Chef Paik. He learned important cooking procedures like "reduce" the liquid in the pan and desirable "viscosity" of the sauce.

When he's into it, HE. IS. INTO. IT. He adjusted his recipe, repeated the ratios of ingredients, explained in great detail every step.

Please. Someone just hug him. JIMIN COME GET YOUR MAN.

[actualbird]

Given the post you made about Fluffy Date Fatigue, what are some conflicts you'd like to see Rosa have with the MLs?

irt my post on lukerosa Fluffy Date Fatigue

hi rose!! sadly i only have an answer for this for lukerosa because im constantly rotating them in my brain, HAHA, so theyre the only one ive thought about extensively for this. SO. off the top of my head, here are some conflicts i'd like to see between mc and luke even after theyve entered a relationship

mc's abandonment issues (which exist because of luke's 8 year disappearance) clashing with luke's necessary excursions due to out of town missions. mc doesnt want to be a "clingy girlfriend" and she knows that this is luke's job and she's accepted that, but sometimes her fears bubble up and it shows in over-worry or self worth issues. this would be worry that luke brushes off, because luke Never wants her to worry. plus, he can take care of himself, but this comes off as him being dismissive of her feelings and her reasoning. ARGUMENT ENSUES

luke's over protectiveness in general just existing. IT'S INSANE TO ME THAT THIS, WHICH WAS SUCH A KEY RECURRING CONFLICT IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP, JUST DISAPPEARED AFTER ANNIV 1. even now that theyre together, luke would still be over protective and mc has full rights to continue to be annoyed by that depending on the situation, but luke is also valid for wanting to protect her, who wouldnt want to protect the person they love? ARGUMENT ENSUES

luke continuing on with his NSB work despite his illness condition worsening. this is an issue of worry once again, but reverse, lukerosa is just so full of worry lkjBLKFBSDLKJFL. ARGUMENT ENSUES about how luke should take better care of himself but luke would also be completely valid wanting to continue with his work.

whatever this is that i wrote a snippet of in DMs

thats just some conflicts i can think of right now at this hour of 4:47am, but you get my point HAHA. lukerosa is very ripe for relationship troubles, and showcasing that would make for some very compelling stories, because theyd work through it and their relationship would become stronger and more nuanced because of it. this would make for such good stories: stories about trust, about perseverance, about how to work together as a couple, etc. i wish tot did this.

but they dont, so all i have are my mental ponderings lkjBKSJLDF

[geddy-leesbian]

yayy Ethan and Luis both being paranoid new dads and malewife Ethan fluff

After she's done with her bottle, Luis lays back down with Rosa situated on his chest. She doesn't seem sleepy, so Luis plays with her until Ethan comes back. There's not a lot he can do with her at this point, but even the small things make his heart swell. He makes weird faces at her. She doesn't try to mimic his expressions, but she watches his face intensely. He puts his fingers in front of her face, and her tiny hands grab them.

Ethan finally comes back and gets up on the bed and kisses both on the tops of their heads. Then Luis gets an extra kiss on the cheek.

“I missed you,” Ethan says, even though he hasn't been gone very long and was only downstairs, not even outside of the house. “How are the two most important people in the world doing?”

“I've never been better. I don't have the constant aches and pains anymore, I can lay however I want, and most importantly… Now that my fingers aren't swelling, I can wear my real engagement ring,” Luis puts his hand on the back of Rosa's head, showing off the ring. He wants Ethan to know that he truly does love the heirloom ring, because he does and wouldn't have taken it off for a second if his fingers were smaller, even after their fight where they both said things they shouldn't have, the worst being related to Mia. “And our princess is still perfect, I'm still in awe that a screwup like me managed to make something perfect.”

“You're both perfect. Don't even try and argue with me that you're not right now, you can't change my mind,” For once, Luis doesn't argue. “I got the basement cleaned up, dishes from breakfast and lunch are done, laundry is done. All I'm doing until dinner is laying in bed with you. Before I get comfy, is there anything you want me to bring to you?”

“The baby carrier. I want to go for a walk,” Ethan's response to the request is an extremely skeptical look. “I know, I know, you don't want me lifting a finger yet and think the fact I've been feeding her is too much. But I just want to walk around in the yard for a few minutes. It's actually good for the healing process, getting the blood flowing. Call Rebecca if you don't believe me!”

“You want to go outside? It's winter.”

“Doesn't matter. I'll bundle Rosa up, I'll wear your jacket, it'll be okay. I'm going to go stir crazy if I don't leave the house soon, it's been weeks!” Luis can see Ethan's resolve begin to crumble. “I want some fresh air, and I bet Rosa will like it. I did as a baby. My grandfather told me I would be pretty fussy when I was inside, but taking me outside and rocking me on the porch always calmed me down. The winters there were harsher than here, and it never stopped him from taking me out.”

“Just a couple minutes,” Ethan concedes. “And I'll be the one wearing it, you're taking it easy and walking slowly.”

“Yes!” Luis says, careful not to be loud enough to upset Rosa. Ethan moves the small basket currently functioning as Rosa's wardrobe onto the bed, where Luis can reach. Then Ethan leaves the room to get the carrier. Luis starts focusing on her again and whispers. “Can you do me a favor? Be good to Daddy. Don't cry when he takes you from me. He isn't a stranger. He's loved you since the day I told him I was going to have you, even though I screwed things up so bad that I was sure he'd leave me and not want anything to do with you.”

Luis keeps rambling while he gets her dressed in a toasty warm outfit. He doesn't bother getting himself dressed; they're not going out in public, just the secluded backyard, so Ethan's hoodie and sweatpants is fine.

Ethan comes back empty-handed, no baby carrier. Luis looks at him, a little confused.

“I realized something, I don't want you on the stairs yet.”

“Don't treat me like I'm made of glass! I want to go outside and feel up to it, I don't have any stitches, there is no reason for me to be on bed rest. I am going outside, with or without you!” The sharpness and volume of Luis's voice disturbs Rosa and she starts crying. Luis's voice immediately softens and he holds her closer to his chest. “Don't you cry, everything is okay. I'm a little upset at Daddy right now, but he means well, he just wants to protect me.”

“Hey, honey?” Ethan starts, sitting down on the bed and putting his arm around Luis's back. Ethan's weapon holster presses against Luis's thigh when he sits down, reminding him of how dedicated he is to protecting his fiancé and daughter. He wants to go outside, but he'll yield if Ethan really doesn't want him to. “You cut me off. I said I don't want you on the stairs. I was just going to tell you to put Rose in her bassinet so I could carry you down the stairs, then go back up to get her. I know you are stubborn enough to go outside on your own, but I'm not letting that happen, we'll all go out together.”

“Oh,” Luis's face flushes with embarrassment as he realizes how unnecessary his outburst was. He reluctantly sets her in her bassinet. His paranoia hates the thought of her being out of his sight for even a second, but he knows Ethan's paranoia hates the thought of Luis being up and moving around before he's fully healed. If Ethan is willing to put aside his paranoia to let Luis walk around, Luis is willing to put aside his to let Ethan carry him. “I'm sorry for freaking out on you.”

“It's okay, you had a baby yesterday, you've got some free passes for emotional outbursts. Holding anything you say against you right now wouldn't be fair. I'm impressed this is the worst you've been,” Ethan reassures. “Ready to be carried?”

“I always am. I still love that you can just pick me up like I weigh nothing.”

Luis still lets out a sigh of relief when Ethan comes into the living room with a still crying Rosa, who he passes to Luis before starting to get the carrier on. She stops crying immediately. While Luis does feel bad that Ethan hasn't gotten any magical newborn bonding time, a part of him can't help but love being her favorite person. He'd been so afraid that she'd hate him; Luis was the screwed up mess that didn't seem in any way ready for a baby and refused to even try to accept he was having one for seven months, Ethan was the perfect family man that longed for a baby for years and bought everything a newborn would need the day after Luis finally told him about the pregnancy, when Luis hadn't even thought about the fact that babies need things. It just seemed like a given that the baby would prefer Ethan Winters, effortlessly perfect fiancé and father to the eternal screwup Luis Serra. Her preference for Luis and zero interest in Ethan was truly a curveball he never saw coming. He's sure it'll eventually even out, but he'll bask in the joy of being the favorite while he can.

Luis can't believe he ever doubted his ability to parent. Rosa starts crying when they leave the bedroom, and it takes every ounce of willpower in Luis's body to not start flailing around to escape Ethan's arms to run and comfort his baby. She's okay. If you can hear her, you know she's okay, no one is taking her away. Ethan will go get her in just a couple minutes.

Luis fusses over the carrier with one hand, his other arm cradling Rosa, making sure everything is on properly before placing her into it. He talks and sings as he does, knowing she's not going to appreciate being separated from her favorite person yet again.She doesn't seem as relaxed as she is when Luis is holding her, but she doesn't start crying again, so that's a small victory.

Luis gets a small pang of homesickness when he finally opens the back door. It's so ugly in the yard- there had been a beautiful blanket of snow over everything a few days ago, but now a lot of it has melted. It's just an ugly barren landscape of yellow grass with a few sad piles of snow. Valdelobos was an ugly, horrible place in so many ways. Valdelobos winters were brutal, they meant going to bed hungry and cold most nights, but they were at least beautiful. None of this half assed snow, the whole landscape was always beautifully transformed by the snow and frost.

Ethan still manages to give Luis a little bit of princess treatment, insisting they walk with their arms linked, just in case Luis is overestimating himself and isn't ready to be up and moving around without some support. Luis doesn't mind, he likes leaning on Ethan's shoulder and looking down at Rosa. It makes the homesickness go away, all he can think about is how perfect she is. She doesn't go to sleep, she keeps her head turned sideways, trying to look at her surroundings instead of keeping her face to Ethan's chest.

“You were right.” Ethan says eventually.

“About what?”

“You said she'd like the fresh air too, this is the longest I've been able to have her without her melting down wanting to go back to you.”

“Oh. Yeah,” They walk a few more steps before Luis starts feeling winded. “I hate to cut your bonding short, but I'm beat. Walking across a yard is exhausting when you've barely left your bed for two long months…”

“I'm sure it is,” Ethan turns to start heading back to the house. “You think she'll let me read to her inside? You could hold her.”

“Yeah. We'll try that, and you can do the next feeding, that should help a lot. I fell in love with you for so many reasons, but your insistence on feeding me constantly was definitely the first thing, what got your foot in the door of my heart. She's a good eater, chugs her bottles at a champion pace,” Deep down, Luis finds her eating worrying. The large appetite and the way she's a lot more alert and aware of her surroundings than a one day old should… Growing and maturing at a quicker pace could easily be related to the mold. But Luis can't bring himself to think about it too much right now, he's too happy for it to drag his mood down, instead pretending it's purely a good thing, that his baby is just a genius. “If you're giving the bottles, you'll be her best friend in no time.”

“Should I go ahead and take her upstairs and then come back for you?”

“No, I'm fine on the couch until bedtime. I could use a change of scenery. Just go and get something to read,” Luis slips his jacket off and takes Rosa back from the carrier. “Will you be more of a daddy's girl now that Daddy was who took you on a fun walk outside?”

Luis gets the unnecessary clothing layers off and positions her sitting up in his lap, and Ethan sits down right next to him, opening a picture book and propping it up on their laps where they can all see it. It's not just any book, it's a pop-up book. Rosa is enthralled, smiling and reaching out a tiny hand to start grabbing at the cardboard animals that are popping up out of the pages.There's a look of concern on Ethan's face– he was very prepared for fatherhood and must be well-read enough to know that a baby this young shouldn't be reaching for objects yet. She should be looking at faces intensely, maybe looking at the book's pictures, but not trying to grab at anything. She probably shouldn't even be awake and happy right now, she hasn't slept since before her last bottle.

And Ethan has shown enough concern and awareness of his infection that he's surely making the same connection Luis did, that her acting beyond her age is less her just being a genius and more related to her father being made of mold when she was conceived. But he wipes the concern off his face and says nothing, instead shifting his gaze to the book and beginning to read aloud.

She's asleep by the end of the book. Luis adjusts so she's cradled in his arms, not propped upright.

“If you want a nap, just say the word and I'll take her. But if you don't, I'm not going to fight and insist on taking her. It would be fighting a losing battle.”

“You know me so well,” Luis agrees, before grabbing the TV remote and passing it to Ethan. “Find us a Christmas movie. I still need to be educated on the America way to celebrate. All we did in Valdelobos was little presents and all the religious nonsense.”

“You do. It's a lot more fun here, especially with kids. I'll ask Chris to bring us a tree and some ornaments. I'm not leaving you two alone long enough to get any of it myself. We should pick out some presents to order too. She's too young to really understand any of it, but I still want to wrap some presents for her and leave them under the tree,” Ethan stops and thinks for a moment before he keeps talking. “To be paranoid, we probably shouldn't have any baby things shipped directly here?”

“You know, I wouldn't say you're being paranoid. It's a very justified concern,” Luis affirms. “Bet we could talk Claire into going out for us. Get a catalog and circle things or just a plain old list to give her so she can buy everything. I know her and Sherry like Christmas shopping, they've tried to get me things every year, she wouldn't mind. Then we wouldn't have to worry about shipping or anything.”

“She said she wanted me to call her tonight and update her on how you're doing, I'll ask then.”

“Perfect.”

Ethan finally turns the TV on and flips through channels until he gets to a decent movie. Then he sets the remote aside and turns his attention to Luis and Rosa, pressing his body against Luis's and stretching an arm out behind his back. His other hand gently strokes Rosa's cheek a couple times and then rests on Luis's thigh. While he'd like more physical affection with his little miracle, he doesn't want to risk waking her up.

Luis tries to focus on the TV, but his eyes keep going to Ethan, who looks deep in thought.

“Mi regalo, what are you thinking about?”

“You,” Ethan answers immediately. “I'm glad you wanted to go outside. I was really worried about you during the pregnancy. Not just because you felt so awful physically… You were in bed constantly. I was worried your depression would get bad again, like when I first met you and you never left the house. I'm really glad you wanted out today, it's good for your mind. As soon as we stop being paranoid enough that we can handle letting Claire babysit for a few hours, I'm taking you out on a nice date.”

“That'll be a long time. We might even be married first! That'll be easier, Rosa will be the flower girl, in a carrier with one of us the whole time, then we won't be worrying about her.”

“Having a baby, then getting married, then going out on a date. We really botched the order.”

“And taking it slow, we shat the bed there. We're just not built to do things the right way, and that's okay, we still ended up with a perfect baby. I love you, Ethan.”

“I love you too. And I love our little Rosa María. More than anything. I'll always be there for you, and for her. Protecting you both from everything,” Ethan looks back down at Rosa, and dares to stroke her cheek again, and holds one of her hands too. “If anyone so much as touches a hair on that perfect little head, I'll make sure they regret it.”

[thisnameisnotspokenfor]

I know I said I wouldn't give any more snippets but I need to know what you guys think of this part - aka I should maybe look into getting beta readers. Maybe.

“So,” she started. “What do you want to do today?”

“Well,” the star hummed thoughtfully. “I was wondering if we could build one of your projecs from your schematic journal you know. Just for fun.” She froze, briefly contemplating his words. In the past she’d probably have been thrilled to hear someone say such words. But after the meeting she had yesterday, she couldn’t find it within herself to be proud of her schematic journal any more.

“You’d really want to do something like that?” she frowned, leaning against the wooden post of the nearby fence.

“Why not?”

“Cepheus,” she sighed. “You can practically do any and everything that I’ve created and written in that journal.”

“So?”

“So why would you want to waste your time building it, Cepheus? It’s pointless and impractical-,”

He frowned, looking over her carefully, “Is that what the king of fools and his court of sycophants told you?”

“Shhh!” she hissed, nervously glancing around the clearing to ensure that no one had heard the insult directed towards the king. “You can’t just insult the king like that!”

“And why not?”

“Because…because he’s right!” she exclaimed, feeling the words tumble from her before she could stop them. “Everything he and his advisors have said about my inventions were right! Look at everything I’ve done Cepheus! None of it has ever been good enough in comparison to what the king and the other apprentices can do! That’s why no one wants to give them or even me a chance!”

“That’s not true-,”

“Oh? Okay then, name me one thing I’ve managed to accomplish this week without any help from you, both directly and indirectly! Go on! Try it!”

He cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably, “well you know, there was that…one time. And I mean- uhhh.” He glanced towards Valentino who shrugged. “You know Asha, I haven’t been around you for that long so-,”

“You haven’t!” she angrily nodded in agreement. “But the fact of the matter is that my inventions are useless!”

“They’re not useless,” he argued back. “In fact, they helped you against me in the library the other day. You only lost by one book. One book.”

“Because you were goofing off!” she retorted.

“Alright that’s a fair point, but still! You can’t deny that you were using some innovation and creativity there!”

“That didn’t pay off in the long run whatsoever? Absolutely!” she huffed, forcefully sitting herself on top of the fence as she scowled at the ground.

Cepheus stood there for a moment, confusion filling his features before he frowned and shook his head. “I honestly can’t believe that I’m the one who has to say this,” the star muttered to himself before sitting next to her. “So maybe you had a little help from me, big deal! Doesn’t everyone in your country kiss up to the king in hopes that he’ll help them out too? There’s no shame in needing help from someone else, even if it’s supernatural assistance-,”

“There is if you’re me!” she argued back. “Everything I do and say has to compete against it, just to beg people to even give what I do a chance. And then you saw what happened yesterday, what could’ve happened if you weren’t there!” She sniffled, as her voice wavered. “Nothing I could’ve made or invented would’ve been able to save Mara, Abril or Adelina like you did.”

“Most people in Rosas wouldn’t have been able to do that either,” Cepheus gently interjected. “What I did isn’t exactly something common nor easy, and if you hadn’t saved your birds when you did, then there would be nothing I could’ve done for them either. Same goes for your grandmother’s music box. You managed to fix that with no one helping you.”

“But it wouldn’t have worked without your power.”

“My power that you suspected and figured out it needed,” he pointed out. “Shouldn’t that count for something?”

“Maybe? Ah,” she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Sorry, it’s just hard to be optimistic about this with everything going on. It just feels like no  matter what I do, I’m always running into dead ends, that I can never break through.”

He nodded, looking towards the sky, “I understand. But you don’t have to feel bad about that Asha. I get that it’s frustrating when people constantly never believe in you, but you can’t let them get to you. Who will believe in you if you can’t believe in yourself?”

“You I guess,” she teased, as he chuckled. 

“Well you’re not wrong about that,” he started before leaning back. “You know I’ve seen you do some crazy things lately Asha.”

“Crazy? What have I done that’s been crazy?”

He glanced at her as he began to ticking off points on his fingers.“Hmm, scaling floating objects, swinging from chandeliers, hip throwing a pyromaniac arsonist, kicking me off a cart-,” he paused grinning at her. “I’m having to take a breath because this list is so long-,” 

“Only because you put me in those circumstances!” she replied, grinning in spite of herself.

“Me? No, no, it was that stupid king of yours, which brings me to this-,” his smile vanished. “Why do you work for a man who has such little appreciation of you? Surely you could find yourself in a better position?”

She shook her head. The last thing she needed was the star, of all creatures, to hate the king on her behalf. “you don’t understand. My family and I…we owe the king.”

“Money?”

“Sort of,” she lied.

“Hmm, again with the financial problems. You know Asha, if it’s money you need, I could-,”

“It’s more than just money!” she quickly interjected, as she’d realized she’d been close to giving away her father’s friendship with the king. “But he’s been nice to us, in fact he’s been nice to a lot of people in Rosas. That’s why people come here to stay.”

The star didn’t look as if he believed her before she added. “In fact, he officiated infrastructure projects to help a lot of people back when Rosas was fairly new.”

“What sort of infrastructure projects?” the star asked looking a bit curious as she mentally berated herself for letting such a fact slip.

[kissofthemis]

Artem and Rosa chatting over coffee BECAUSE they're pulling an all nighter again?

The whirring of the coffeemaker felt exceptionally loud in the otherwise quiet office.

Rosa didn't want to waste any resources or time by making a full pot of coffee, so she had defaulted to heating up a pod. However, she forgot how loud the machine was when heating up a single pod, and she lifted a finger to her lips to give a whispered "shush."

She wasn't worried about disturbing anyone at this hour, as she was fairly confident that she was the only one still at the Themis office at 11:52 PM, but the jarring buzzing noise and now the echoing plops of coffee falling into her mug were a bit too eerie for her liking amidst the silence.

"At this hour, I would recommend not adding as much vanilla syrup as you usually do. Can I grab you a sugar?"

"Eeeek!"

The unexpected voice caught Rosa entirely off guard. She whirled around, one hand clutching her chest, only to find herself face to face with what was now an equally startled Artem.

"Sorry. I wasn't... trying to judge your coffee habits."

"N-no, that's not..." Rosa exhaled sharply, willing her heartbeat to return to a normal rhythm. "Please don't sneak up on me at this hour, Mr. Wing," she managed to sigh out at last. She was still audibly panting, but she tried to act as nonchalant as possible as she grabbed her mug and stepped to the side. "One sugar sounds great. Thank you."

Rosa practiced some deep breathing while Artem fetched two sugar packets. "I wouldn't recommend both at this hour, but I do know you have a sweet tooth, so..." His voice trailed off, and he instead punctuated his sentence by handing her the packets.

"Thank you." Rosa accepted them and dipped her head politely. "Um... you aren't going to chastise me for drinking coffee at this hour?" She was admittedly surprised to find him being supportive, although she couldn't help but think he was concealing his disappointment in her.

"Well, I certainly don't agree with it," Artem admitted. "But if I were to criticize you..." A small smile cracked at the corners of his lips.

"Then that would make me a hypocrite."

Artem placed his own mug underneath the machine and added a fresh pod. As the coffee began brewing, he turned to Rosa with a more neutral, but slightly curious, expression. "Do you expect to be here for a while tonight?"

Rosa sighed and leaned against the pantry counter top, drumming her fingers against the surface in a bit of frustration. "Yeah. Hopefully not all night, but at least another hour or two. Did I tell you about the acquisition deal I've been working on?" When Artem gave an affirmative nod, she continued. "Well, it turns out their accounting methods and records were alarmingly inaccurate. Now we have to rework the working capital calculations, and it's possible that the company we're acquiring doesn't have that minimum threshold in their treasury. Now our client wants to entirely rework that aspect of the purchase agreement to protect themselves from any losses we may incur, and I don't blame them. The problem is that the other company doesn't want to own up to their mistakes, and their counsel is more or less enabling their bad behavior." She slumped against the counter top with a heavy sigh. "Which means I'm spending all night going over the absurd revisions that opposing counsel made to our latest draft of the purchase agreement... and I probably have to reject most of them! Oh, and here's another kicker. We're inheriting some employees that work remotely from outside Stellis, so we have to make sure that their employment agreements don't contain any weird wrinkles we need to know about. Some of the foreign laws just don't have analogous laws in Stellis, and vice versa. The price of growth, I suppose...."

Just how long had Artem been standing there, watching her, while stirring the very-clearly-finished cup of coffee in his hands?

"Oh my gosh! I've been talking your ear off! I haven't let you get a word in! I'm so sorry, Mr. Wing!" Rosa bolted upright and dusted herself off before bowing apologetically.

Artem raised a hand to stop her and shook his head. "No need to apologize," he tried to assure her. Was it her imagination, or did he sound a bit flustered? "I quite like listening."

Rosa was a little surprised by that statement. "Really? Even though it's all..." Whiny? Complaining? Work-related? What was she most embarrassed about, actually? "You must have enough on your plate," she finished at last, before nervously beginning to twirl a loose curl around her finger. "Please rest assured that I have this under control!"

"I know you do."

Was it her imagination, or did he sound a bit tender?

'Oh, no. It's only midnight, and I'm already delirious.'

"I like hearing you talk," Artem said simply. How could he say something so ridiculous with such a straight face? "I know that I've dragged you out of your comfort zone with criminal cases," he went on. "To hear you speak so passionately about the work you prefer to do, about economic and corporate matters, is quite refreshing." He wrapped his long, slender fingers carefully around his mug, as if wanting to ensure he could capture the entire circumference in his hands. "Your passion is warm. It's admirable."

"A-anyway, what brings you here at this hour, Mr. Wing?" Why did she say that? He was already here and stayed late, obviously. Why didn't she phrase her question that way? Now he was going to think she was dumb!

If Artem found her question bizarre, he gave no indication whatsoever. "I was supposed to depose a witness next week, but the deposition was moved up due to scheduling conflicts." He paused to take a sip of his coffee, then he glanced over Rosa's face with a knowing expression. "Opposing counsel asked if I would prefer to push it back an extra week, but I declined."

Her emotions must have been easy to read. Her first thought had naturally been, 'Opposing counsel is a real jerk to cut your preparation time instead of extending it!' Rosa opened her mouth to inquire as to why Artem agreed to move the deposition date up, but as she looked up at Artem's face, realization struck her. She lowered her gaze and simply nodded.

"Your client is anxious, and you didn't want to incur further delays. Otherwise that anxiety would only continue to grow."

Artem's expressions tended to be calm, cool, and perhaps even stoic or cold. The way he carried himself emitted an air of confidence and calculation, as if he were prepared for anything and everything, and as if nothing could ever faze him.

But Artem wasn't just a legal robot. Rosa saw the emotion hidden in his azure eyes. Once you cracked the surface of the lake, the depths of those blues contained compassion, sympathy, concern, determination, sorrow, and an overwhelming dedication to justice.

Artem was the type of person who would inconvenience himself in order to ease someone else's burdens.

"Don't forget to take care of yourself too, you know."

Artem blinked in what was probably the most outward expression of surprise that he had ever shown at the office. "Pardon?"

"You can't take care of others if you don't take care of yourself first." Rosa shrugged as if that were the most obvious fact in the world, and then she turned to head back to her desk.

"Wise words," Artem murmured, and he stopped next to her desk as she sat down. "I wonder where you heard such advice."

Rosa tilted her head to the side in confusion. Artem tended to be straightforward, but she couldn't help but feel as though another layer of meaning laid beneath those words.

The twinkle in his eyes gave her the answer.

"Well, don't give people advice that you won't follow, Mr. Wing!" Rosa folded her arms over her chest in a huff. When had he become so bold as to tease her like this?

"I think the same principle applies to you," he responded simply. "You do have a tendency to avoid asking others for help."

Rosa aggressively lifted her mug to her face, hoping to conceal the fiery blush spreading across her cheeks. "I just don't want t--"

A coughing fit broke off her sentence as coffee went down her windpipe.

"C-can I get you some water?!"

"N-no!" Cough. "I'm!" Another cough. "Fine!" She wasn't convincing him at this rate.

But Rosa trusted him to keep this intimate, somewhat embarrassing moment of the midnight hour as a secret. She just prayed the moon could do the same.

[museqmeg]

Reporter’s Notes - Chapter Six: Earrings

___________________________________________________________________

A vashmeryl fic

Author’s Note:

Another little fanart inspiration by @aleikats . I thought this concept was so cute!

___________________________________________________________________

Dinner was a jovial affair. With everyone freshened up, bellies full of warm food, and with the promise of sleeping in a bed, spirits were high. There were also spirits being passed around the table.

Roberto had made the decision as the senior (in appearance) member of the group to purchase a bottle of whiskey. He came back from the bar with the bottle and four glasses before slamming them on their table, glass clinking. “Drinks on me! We deserve to relax a little before God knows what gets sucked into our Typhoon.”

Vash gave a sheepish grin and nervous chuckle saying, “Yeah… sorry about that. I can’t seem to catch a break.”

“It doesn’t help, blondie, that you seem to have a death wish,” Wolfwood retorted, tapping the ashes of his cigarette into the ashtray on the table. “It's a good thing I’m here to do some damage control and clean up after you.”

Vash just looked at the Undertaker with his held sheepish grin.

Roberto was pouring out everyone’s shots when he said, “Before you get on my case, newbie, about ‘being on the job,’ this is outside of normal business hours. Plus, if we get the Stampede liquored up here enough, we’ll probably get some good information out of him for our article. Little personal trick of the trade,” Roberto winked at her.

Vash had the decency to look a little worried before nervously laughing it off.

Meryl huffed, “Fine… but don’t go too hard. The last thing I want to do is be chauffeuring a bunch of hungover crybabies tomorrow.”

“No promises, little lady,” Wolfwood said as he picked up his glass and raised it, “Here’s to the hope that we get to July with little to no incidents.”

“That’s a pretty tall order, given everything we’ve already been through,” said Roberto. He just shrugged saying, “Here’s hoping,” and tossed back his shot.

Vash just smiled at Meryl raising his glass, she raised hers too and watched as Wolfwood threw his back, then Vash, and Roberto was already pouring his next round. She tossed hers back and was met with that familiar burning sensation of the alcohol going down her throat. She tried to hide her cough, but Wolfwood seized the opportunity to tease her.

“Geez, shortie. Can you not handle a drink at all?” He poked her in the ribs.

“She was the ‘top of her class’ at November University, I doubt she’s had more than beer and some fruity drinks in her time,” chuckled Roberto. “She got rip-roaring drunk back at Jeneora Rock after only one ale.”

“I did not!” She shot back. “I was maybe a little buzzed.”

“Like hell you were, your speech was all slurred and you were wobbling in your chair like a toddler,” Roberto stated. “I even had Rosa ask if you were old enough to drink since it hit you so hard.”

Meryl just glowered at him. Angry because she knew he was a little right. She didn’t want to admit it, but her size made it difficult for her to tolerate even the most acceptable of alcoholic portions. She had drinks with friends and the occasional party while at university, but she never built a tolerance to the stuff.

Vash spoke up, “It’s okay, Meryl. I don’t hold my alcohol well either.”

“Seriously, needle-noggin? You’re the tallest one here. It’s gotta take quite a few drinks to get you good and tipsy, no?” Wolfwood smirked at him.

“Only about two or three.” Shrugged Vash. “I think I’m sensitive to the stuff… I get kind of silly.”

“Silly, how?” Asked Roberto. “Do we need to attach a leash to you?”

Vash raised his right hand to scratch the back of his head saying, “Probably not? The farthest I got was about a quarter ile from the town I was at. I got drunk enough to stupidly prove that I could break a thomas that was giving the innkeeper a hard time. I say I only got a quarter of an ile away because that’s where the bird dumped me… not one of my finest moments.” Vash chuckled at the memory.

Roberto took another shot saying, “We’re going to need a leash.” He looked around the inn.

Meryl was feeling pretty good after her first shot, inhibitions slipping when she blurted, “You should ask him about his earring!”

Vash shot her a look of betrayal as Wolfwood asked, “What’s this about his flashy jewelry?”

“He had his ear pierced on a dare, another drunk incident, and liked it so much he decided to keep it.” She giggled at the memory of him flicking it in the sunlight at her when he told her the story. “He really likes it.”

Vash winced and took another shot. “Alright Meryl, your turn for another shot.” His grin was devious, as if daring her. She knew she shouldn’t take the bait, given her low alcohol tolerance, but she was feeling so good. Vash poured her glass and she quickly drank it down to prove she wasn’t going to back down.

“Easy newbie.” Roberto said. “I can’t find one leash, let alone two. Undertaker, you’re going to have to help me keep watch of these lost puppies if they get out of hand.”

“No promises, gramps. I kinda want to see what happens. And… maybe I wanna cut loose too.” He grinned devilishly.

“I’m regretting this already…” groaned Roberto.

“I know!” Meryl chirped. She shuffled off her chair, feeling extremely bold albeit wobbly, and walked around Roberto to Vash before plopping in his lap.

“M-Meryl!” Vash squeaked, his face full of surprise. She was still wobbling, so he held her in place, hands resting on her hips.

“Just hold still, I’ve got a leash.” She unclasped the hoop from his left ear and then removed her right earring. She clumsily put her earring through his pierced ear and fastened it before replacing her empty right ear with his hoop. He was watching her intently.

“There!” She said triumphantly, hands on his chest. “Now you can’t go far because I have your precious vanity hoop and you have half of my graduation gift. You better not run off with it!”

“That goes for you too, Meryl.” He countered as he repeated the same flicking gesture to his earring now on her ear as he did during their coffee “interview.” She glowered at his grin and hopped off his lap, returning to her chair.

————————————

The rest of the evening got as silly as Vash said it would be. They had a game of darts and despite the amount of alcohol consumed and Vash’s proclamation that he was a lightweight, he was deadly accurate and beat them all at the game.

Another bottle of whiskey was downed before Vash took notice of a piano in the corner and rushed over to play. In a very “concert pianist” manner, Vash stood over the piano bench and whooshed his coat over as if he had tuxedo tails before hammering out a bawdy tune. In Meryl’s inebrious state, she gaped at him in awe. He played better than most, even with the silly folk song he was pounding out. He seemed to be a magnet of joviality and it got the rest of the inn up and dancing.

Roberto took that as his cue to duck out, yelling over ruckus, “Old drunko’s going to bed! You kids behave!” He waved the half empty whiskey bottle over his head in ‘goodnight’ and went up the stairs, taking the bottle with him.

“What?!” Asked Vash over the crowd. He was still playing and someone had tied a scarf around his head, making his already spikey hair stand straight up.

“Gramps went to bed!” Wolfwood hollered back at him. He looked over at Meryl, doing her best to stay upright in her chair before proclaiming, “We’re dancing, little lady.”

“Wha-!“ was all Meryl could get out before Wolfwood scooped her up and into his arms. He started dancing and twirling her around, laughing loudly. He was holding her so high against him that her feet didn’t touch the ground. She was literally being swung around like a doll! Her head was spinning before, but this was too much. Between the heat of Wolfwood’s body, the strong odor of nicotine, and the spinning, Meryl started to feel her stomach roil. “You oaf! Put me down!”

Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, Vash took notice of her pale face and hollered to Wolfwood, “Hey! Bring Meryl over here! She can sing us a tune!”

Wolfwood swung and danced her over Vash. It was a miracle that she didn’t vomit on Wolfwood before he stopped and set her down.

“I’m gonna take a smoke break since you got shortie,” Wolfwood said to Vash before walking to a corner of the room and lighting a cigarette. He may not be actively participating, but he wasn’t going to miss Meryl’s performance.

Vash finished out the final phrase of the piece to give her time to get her bearings.

Everything was still spinning when she heard Vash ask, “So what song are you going to sing for us, Meryl?”

“I never agreed to that!” She said, swaying. She turned to glare down at him on the bench, but quickly realized he was eye level to her just sitting. ‘That’s right, he was a lanky giant.’ She mused, adjusting her gaze to meet his eyes.

He was grinning goofily at her before addressing the crowd, “What should we have the little lady sing?” Meryl glowered at him for using Wolfwood’s nickname for her. He never did that!

Shouts and suggestions came a-plenty before a title caught Vash’s ear and he started to plunk out the intro. “You know this one, right Meryl?”

“Yes,” she slurred, “but I didn’t agree to sing.”

“Aww come on, you’re gonna upset the audience,” he pouted.

“Yeah girly!”

“Sing us something pretty!”

“They’re clearly your audience and you just enjoy hamming it up!” She said looking disgruntled at him.

“Guilty!” He chirped, vamping four bars of the intro to give her time to join in. “Please?” He looked especially pathetic.

“Fine…” Her inhibitions were all but gone.

He grinned ecstatically as she began to sing. Meryl didn’t have a bad singing voice and she knew it. Growing up she was part of her school’s choir and even participated in her university choral ensemble. Sometimes she even got solos. She hated to admit it, but it was fun making music with Vash. He was a lively duet partner and he made it easy for her to answer back his phrasing. She was just getting into it when a loud “My turn! Woo!” came from Vash and he started singing loudly with her… completely off pitch.

His singing was all unpolished enthusiasm and raucous energy in his tenor range, completely at odds with his piano proficiency. Meryl stopped singing to gawk at him. He had not a care in the world and the effects of the alcohol were so apparent, his voice was cracking through the registers. Wolfwood guffawed loudly at Vash and Meryl gave a quick laugh at his performance before joining back in.

“Hey! Shut it blondie! We can’t hear the little lady!” Wolfwood hollered through his hands. Vash bashfully grinned and promptly stopped singing, focusing back on the piano.

They finished their duet. Their audience, clapping and cheering. Meryl smiled widely and went to take a bow… with a little too much enthusiasm. She all but fell forward before a forearm came around her waist and yanked her back.

“Whoa, Meryl!” Vash giggled. He got her upright, but didn’t release his arm around her. She still swayed against his arm and her eyes started to get droopy. Vash felt her unsteadiness and scooped her up under her knees with his prosthetic arm.

“Alright folks, that’s it for our star tonight!” He said, standing up from his bench with Meryl in his arms princess style. He nodded to Wolfwood who nodded back. A mutual understanding that their small traveling companion had reached her limit for the night and it was time to get her to bed.

—————————————————-

Vash carried her up to her room, Meryl half dazed and mumbling incoherent nonsense.

He looked down at her, “What was that, Meryl?

“You sing awful,” she slowly articulated. The four syllables taking everything she had to get out.

“Haha, I actually can sing, but I didn’t want to overshadow your performance.” He grinned down at her, pulling her blankets back and laying her down.

He was pulling her shoes off when she replied, “How very considerate of you.” Her eyes were getting heavier.

He just chuckled as he pulled the blankets over her.

“Hey Vash…”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t forget that you can’t run off. You have my earring…” She trailed off, sleep quickly overtaking her.

He smiled down warmly at her. He reached out with his right hand and stroked her hair, it was so soft. “As long as you don’t run off with mine,” he answered. He gave his hoop on her ear a little touch before straightening up.

He was shutting her door as he said, “Goodnight, Meryl.”

Her soft breathing was her only response. He just smiled to himself as the door latched.

—————————————————————————————————————

Well, that was a fun chapter to write. I got to use some of my professional music experience for some bits.

Their little duet was inspired by this hilarious video.

[natural-harmonia-posting]

It's been a long while since I've even seen that journal so bare with me. I think there were a few cases in Unova, nothing above ten but still a handful amount, actually a huge chunk of them were in Sinnoh.

The only case I can remember off the top of my head in Unova was this one guy, he and his wife were just taking a random nature walk and she recalled being blown off her feet and away from her husband. Then he was just gone, all of his Pokemon and identifications were just on the ground but he was nowhere to be found. It doesn't seem to be exclusive to a place or time, it can happen anywhere.

My suggestions are to either; look into Ultra Wormholes, try chasing after some time altering Pokemon like Celebi or Dialga, or you can try searching for Looker.

If I remember, Looker was one of the cases that went missing just randomly, though he later way found months later on some shore of Hoenn riddled with extreme amnesia. He calls people affected by this phenomenon "Fallers," if there's anybody who'd know more about this, it's him. He's your best shot at this.

I can't believe I haven't heard of this before. Ingo's pokémon were left behind, too. Elesa, Clay, Emmet, and Iris have all been taking care of them in the meantime.

I don't think I'll have much luck getting in touch with those legendaries.. I mean, we already have Zekrom and the Lati twins around, but I don't know if legendaries can help us find others among them, especially ones from other regions. Ingo and Emmet's father was Sinnohian, but that's the only tie we have to Sinnoh, and he's long gone. Maybe I'd have some luck with Ultra Wurmholes. Unfortunately... the only person I know who knows anything about that would be Colress. Last I heard, he's in jail. I doubt he would speak to me anyway.

Looker, though, huh? As in Interpol Looker..? Are you sure about him? I guess I'll have to ask him about it, but it's not something he or Nate have ever brought up. Right now, he's fostering Nate and Rosa, 'til they can find Rosa's mom and figure out what to do with Nate. So many missing and unaccounted for people in this region.. how bizarre.

[wanna-be-bold]

I haven't written Densi in forever but this episode inspired me to write something short. Spoilers(ish) for 14x18 and my wish for post-14x21

"Good morning Mrs. Deeks." Kensi smiled at hearing her husband's voice, snuggling into his side even more and smiling when she felt him squirm at her cold feet hitting his legs. 

"Good morning Mr. Deeks." She felt him kiss the top of her head and pushed herself up, letting her eyes roam over his naked chest. She was about to push herself off of him and get up when he grabbed her waist, pulling her back to him. 

"Wait a second. Where are you going?" 

"You know I need breakfast. Especially after working up such an appetite last night." 

"We did work up an appetite didn't we?" They smiled at each other, Kensi leaning down to press a kiss to his lips. 

"We did. Which is why mama needs breakfast." 

"How about I order us room service and we work up even more of an appetite while we wait?" She tilted her head, her hair falling over her shoulders giving Deeks a full view of her own naked chest. 

"Fine. But you owe me pancakes and hashbrowns." 

"Deal." 

With that he grabbed his phone and placed an order quickly before he pulled her back on top of him.

"This was a really great idea baby." Deeks looked up from his spot on the bed, watching as Kensi came out of the bathroom after drying her hair. 

"Oh yeah?" She crawled into bed, turning one leg under her as she sat next to him. 

"Oh yeah. I'm really glad we were able to come back here." 

"Me too. Can you believe it's been 8 years since I invited you to come up here with me?" 

"Mmm… Can you believe it's been 8 years since we went 'all in'?" 

"Sometimes it feels like yesterday."

"Sometimes?" Her smile was bright as she teased him but she should have known he would get all serious and sentimental on her. 

"Yeah. And then other times, when I think about everything we've been through together, it feels like a million years ago." She felt her eyes get watery then as she thought about everything that has happened in the last 8 years. The number of times they each almost died, especially Syria and Mexico. Their wedding. Their struggle to have kids. Their decision to adopt and then to adopt Rosa to finally become parents. 

Filled with emotion, the only words she could squeeze past the lump in her throat were a quiet "Thank you."

"For what?" Deeks smiled, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. 

"For always being there, even when I tried to push you away. For being by my side through everything. Just, just for being you Deeks." Her words made tears spring to his eyes and he pushed himself up more to look straight in her eyes. 

"I love you so much." 

"I love you too." 

There, in the same cabin on a mountain in Mammoth as they shared their first night together after going all in, Deeks pulled her into a kiss before quickly getting lost in each other. 

It was just over a month ago that they made the promise to each other that they would spend more time together with just the two of them and a week since they decided to hang up their badges for good. It was only a couple days after that that Deeks had surprised her with a trip to Mammoth, proving to her that he could be a romantic when he wanted to bed. And it was just over 12 hours ago that they got the news that their family would be expanding as a phone call confirmed that Pilar was officially able to be adopted, both of them not waiting for the person on the other line to finish talking before saying they wanted to adopt her. 

The thought of being by unemployed parents to two teenage girls should have terrified them but instead they were thrilled. 

Things may not have happened the way they thought but they wouldn't change it for the world. 

[coldinpants]

MY COLDFLASH HEADCANONS appearance/body features

Leonard is not as tall as everyone thinks he is

He uses special insoles and high-heeled shoes to make himself appear taller (he'll never admit it).

The first time Barry saw Leonard without shoes, he was like, "I can put my chin on his head, wow!"

Lisa and Mick call him all the names of the dwarves from Snow White in a chaotic order.

(and I'm aware that in real life Wentworth is taller than Grant, but that still doesn't explain why Len looks so small next to Barry)

Barry is actually blond (an homage to the comic book Flash)

He started dyeing his hair in high school because he thought he looked older with dark hair.

After the lightning strike, Barry had to dye him hair much more often than before. Almost all the dye washes off his head after one wash.

Leonard had gotten used to dating a brown-haired guy during the day and falling asleep with a blond guy.

Leonard is missing a pinky toe

A long time ago in prison, they cut off his pinky toe because he didn't want to work with the local mob (yes, that's a Prison Break reference).

Losing his toe didn't make him less agile, but instead gave him the opportunity to refine his body control.

When Top (Rosa Dillon) joined the fight between Flash and the Rogues, Leonard was the only one who didn't fall to the ground. Barry was very impressed with that.

Barry has a lightning scar

It's the only scar he has left after gaining superpowers.

The skin on the affected area is very sensitive (why do you need this info? lol idk).

Sometimes Leonard grows stubble

He often works for days on some project and forgets to shave, but he usually shaves it off almost as soon as he notices the stubble.

Barry really likes that three-day stubble of Len's because it makes him look very homely and it tickles his face when Barry kisses his boyfriend.

Also, Barry likes the red marks that appear on the inside of his thighs...

Barry electrocutes other people all the time

He can't control it. Sometimes sparks just fly off his body like the effects of a cramp.

Leonard crosses his fingers for luck every time he wants to kiss or hug his boyfriend, but he's one hundred percent willing to take a risk.

Piercing

In addition to tattoos and scars from fights, Leonard's body has old piercing marks.

Only Barry knows the piercings of what Len did when he was young ;)

[mildlyinterestedcreature]

do you have a favorite sciencey topic? if so tell me all about it! or if it's something not sciency that's cool too (if i got to rant you get to rant lol)

well it's not science at all but i will now be presenting my ranking of the halloween heists from brooklyn 99 (so spoilers for the whole series i guess)

Okay so I love all of them but I least beloved would be season 3. I think it's totally in character and a good heist but I don't find it quite as fun as the others. I do adore Amy's lipreading, though, and I think the way Hitchcock was involved was very fun because on the first watchthrough you can kind of tell that Hitchcock is lying when he opens the blinds, but then you'd assume that he was really trying to win for himself. One of the things that makes me love this episode a little less is how Jake comes off - which of course he acknowledges and it's not like he does it again, but I kind of hate that expression Amy gets like "why is he like this" when Jake does something immature which makes me wish we could see more of how Amy fell in love with him and how his immaturity turned from obnoxious to, well, however she sees it in the later seasons. I'm not sure because we don't have much insight on that.

Next up is season 2. Again, it's a great episode but it just doesn't quite give me that happy chemical. Part of this is because this was back when the heist was only between Holt and Jake, and then they'd just have to recruit the others for them, which isn't as fun as a free for all. Also the later seasons are just naturally more fun and exiting because of all the recurring characters and how many twists and turns you know to expect.

Then season 1. It's iconic because it's the first heist, but it's also just so fun. I love how since it's the first one you didn't know what to expect so you had no way of knowing that Jake knew what he was doing pretty much the entire time. I love how Jake assumed that Holt used one passcode for everything because of his age and Holt just kinda looked upwards and said "That would be an .. astute assumption" I love how shocked Holt is and how you can tell this is going to be an event every season. However, with it being the first one come the absence of later beloved recurring heist characters and twists and team ups.

Season 4 was very fun. I love how they thought it was Terry the whole time, I love how Gina planned the whole thing around the fact that no one knew she had false front teeth, I love that it's been going on just long enough now that you can tell there's something fishy about Gina just being out so soon. And this is Bill's first appearance, always a win. As you can see I do very much like this one but it just doesn't quite measure up in my head.

Season 8 cannot be blamed for not being top of this list. It had so much pressure riding on it as the very end of the series, it was never gonna do every single thing perfectly. But damn did it do well. Terry crashing through the wall like the kool aid man, Gina's surprise reveals, the fact that it's a two parter. And of course the very end, when they all had emotional conversations in the bullpen was the saddest/best thing ever. Holt saying that if he'd had a son and he'd turned out like Jake he'd be very proud is just the cutest. Rosa and Amy, the sleuth sisters, had an awesome talk, and of course that final shot of Jake smiling from the elevator warms and breaks my heart at the same time. But, like I said before, it can't help but leave you feeling a bit empty. Because you're never gonna see another heist.

Season 5's heist has the best twist ever and I love it so much. I love the cumberbund, I love the way the proposal plays out, I love how Jake and Amy look at eachother, I love how Cheddar was sent to get the cumberbund as Holt lifted the huge box thing up using a pulley system from his office but then it wasn't Cheddar - it was just some common bitch! Somehow, however, this one is still beat by

Season 7. I think it's kind of obvious why I like this one so much - Rosa wins. But there's also the fact that it was attempted thrice and she secretly won all three times, and the fact that it opens with people running around in easter bunny suits completely unexplained. I love Rosa. I love that she wrote her name in fire. I love the infinity gauntlet aspect.

But season 6 must be my ultimate favorite. It's just so fun. The fact that Terry is covered in gold almost the entire time, the band, the fact that it takes place in may instead of on halloween because of an accident that turned out to actually have been faked by Terry. The fact that Cheddar's toy is replaced like three times, the fact that Jake and Amy both literally bought taser presents for each other somehow? Like they both separately planned that and found those presents somehow. I love that Rosa just fucking taped Charles in a box and shipped him off?? I love Terry's dancing when he wins, and I love that by the end Kevin had come around to the heists.

[frankensteinwitch]

Heyy this is my creepy pasta oc backstory it’s kinda short and cringe but yeah we are on tumblr

TW: transphobia, sight gore, bullying, homophobia, dolls. Slurs and insults

Today is the same as others, boring. Walking to school is boring, my parents are boring. Well at least I look not boring, being goth is much easier than being a cheerleading bitch. As I continue to walk to school I see my friend Clayton waving his hand.

“Marina ! Over here "

"Hey Clay, what’s up”

Clayton was my only friend, he was about 5,9 so he towered over me even in my boots. He had short gray hair that he dyed himself so it has spots of brown, he was a punk so he was also an outcast.

“Hey Marina , let's just skip school! You don’t want to go, I don’t want to go. Plus there is a new antique store in town!”

“Really? Think we can find anything good?”

“Maybe but it’s worth a shot, plus I know that you don’t want to go to after Jenny outed you as trans to literally the entire school”

“…yeah”

“Hey don’t be sad, you got me don’t u?”

“Y-Yeah, let’s go. I’m interested in this Antique store.”

—————————————————————————

We arrived at the antique shop, it was interesting and old looking for a new store. We looked around and there was a lot of weird old stuff, I continued to look around until I saw this doll. It had dark skin like mine, but blonde hair and was dressed in a black dress and Mary Janes, black fishnet gloves and a pearl necklace. I liked her, so I decided to buy her then and there.

“You're going to buy that doll?” Clayton asked

“Yes, I feel like she wants to be my friend and she was lonely”

“You do have a soft spot for lonely people as u are one yourself” Clayton teased but then he sounded nervous

“Hey Marina , I-I um would like you to be my girlfriend, and idc that your trans bc your beautiful and your like a raven and um well-“

Without a second to think I pulled him into a kiss.

————————————————————————-

It was later that night, I was in my dark room with nothing but the moon's lights shining through my window. I couldn’t sleep, to many thoughts in my head, ones about Clay, ones about Jenny at school, my parents. And when as if I could think anymore my eyes landed on the doll sitting on my dresser.

“I haven’t given you a name have I?”

“Mhm…”

I started to think of names and then a rose petal from my vase felt on top of it

“Ah hehe La Rosa”

I picked her up and went back to bed but as I walked towards my bed I saw a figure outside my window on the street just outside. It was just standing there

I hid under my covers and tried to say quiet, hugging my doll. I slowly drifted off to sleep.

—————————————————————————

It's been a few weeks since me and Clay started dating, it has been different yet again nice. School was still boring and I’m stuck in math class. Jenny started to talk short about me but I could hear it. After class Jenny and her friends stopped me in the bathroom

“Well if it isn’t the school tranny”

“Leave me alone Jenny”

“Haha why should I your a freak and so is your faggot boyfriend, you shouldn’t even be in the GIRLS bathroom”

“….”

I tried to leave but her two friends pulled my hair down and slap me on the floor

Jenny started to beat me but this time was different. Inside me started to beat. I pulled Jenny off me and started beating her face, she screamed at me and cried but I didn’t stop. Her friends ran to get help but it was too late, she had stopped moving, crying and breathing.

I stopped with my hands shaking and before I knew it I ran out of the school and to my house .

————————————————————————

I was panicking in my room when Clay came in to see how I was doing.

“It wasn’t your fault but we have to run away, the police are looking for you”

“…I can’t, I killed someone”

“I know but still…”

He grab La Rosa and gave her to me then grabbed our backs as we headed to the woods

While walking we stopped

“W-What is that”

We saw something in front of us , a man holding a doll that looked like Clay but matched La Rosa

“Who are you”

I asked but no answer. As soon as we stepped closer a black mist consumed us

—————————————————————————-

As I woke up I was smaller, and I didn’t see Clay. All I saw was his doll variant. And I looked at my hands…my doll hands.