#after posting is when i realized “mom said she used to call dad that too” would be more belivable... oh well. we win some lose some

[minzart]

What do you think they were talking upstair in the whale?

[Second dialogue version bc I couldn't decide wich was funnier]

[storiesforallfandoms]

i’m sorry i let you down ~ eminem

word count: 1492

request?: yes!

“Hii. I was wondering if you could do an Eminem imagine where the reader is his daughter who is going through addiction like he used to?”

description: she promised herself that things wouldn’t get bad, but when they do she has to come clean to her dad about her problem

pairing: eminem x daughter!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of drug addiciton and withdrawals, some use of y/n, rpf

masterlist (one, two, three)

She promised herself things wouldn’t get bad. She knew about her dad’s addiction. She knew how bad it was. He had warned her to be careful when her doctor’s prescribed pain medication to help with post-surgery pain she was having. In fact, (Y/N) was reluctant to take the meds at all. She didn’t want to even risk getting hooked on them the same way her dad did. But, after a day of the pain being too much to bare, she caved and took the meds.

I’ll have control of this, she told herself. It won’t get bad. Once I’m healed, I’ll stop taking them.

She kept telling herself that as she got a refill after taking all of the first bottle. She convinced herself she still needed them as she went back to her doctor to ask for another prescription. Even after she healed and was given clearance to go back to her normal life, she told herself she still needed the prescriptions.

Eventually, she recognized that she had a problem, but by that point it was far too late.

(Y/N) knew she should’ve reached out for help when she realized she had a problem. Especially to her dad, who had struggled before and had already gone through detox and rehab. But she felt too ashamed to tell anyone. She didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t heeded Marshall’s warnings and started taking the pain meds anyways. She knew how he would react, and she didn’t want to let him down. She thought she could handle it on her own. She knew she had a problem, so that meant she could fix it, right?

But the withdrawal symptoms were too strong when she tried to stop. She’d shiver yet be sweating, she couldn’t keep food down, and she’d be awake all night, among other things. She broke down too easily to make the withdrawal stop, and then had to start the process all over again. It was a never ending loop.

And it probably would’ve continued endlessly, if Marshall hadn’t found her.

She was in the middle of a bad bought of withdrawals, hunched over her toilet as the contents of her lunch emptied from her stomach. Because of this, (Y/N) didn’t hear the knock at her front door, nor did she hear the door open and shut. It wasn’t until someone was kneeling down next to her that she realized anyone else was there. And to her horror, it was Marshall.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice full of fatherly concern. His eyes studied her face, slick with sweat and pale from how sick she had been.

She couldn’t lie to him. Not when he was looking at her. He’d see right through her. So, she nodded to the garbage bin next to the sink. When he looked, he saw the empty pill bottle she had flushed hours ago to stop herself from relapsing. Marshall knew immediately and sprang into action. He gave (Y/N) a wet cloth to wipe her face and told her to meet him in the car when she was ready.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“You’ll be better off at rehab. They can help you through the withdrawal.”

When he left, (Y/N) allowed herself to cry.

~~~~~~

A few days in rehab proved to be much better than the weeks (Y/N) had been trying to get clean on her own. The withdrawal was still hard, but like her dad said, they helped her through it. Besides sleep still being an issue, everything else had mostly passed.

Her sisters came to visit after the second day of her being there, and her mom called almost every night, but she had yet to hear from Marshall.

“He’s not mad,” Hailie had assured her. “He’s just glad he found you when he did.”

(Y/N) didn’t believe her.

It was nearly a week later when one of the workers told (Y/N) she had a visitor. When she entered the visiting room, she stopped in her tracks when she saw Marshall had been waiting for her.

He stood, but hesitated a moment before moving to hug her. She gratefully accepted the gesture.

“You look at lot better,” he said as they sat down.

“I feel mostly better. I’m still not sleeping, but that’s it.”

“The insomnia is the worst part. It’ll take time, but eventually it’ll get better.”

(Y/N) nodded. She suddenly felt like she couldn’t look her father in the eye. She was glad he had finally come, but now he was here her shame had returned. Not only shame that she had fallen into addiction, but also the fact that Marshall had to find out the way he did.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said, her voice small.

Marshall seemed shocked. “For what?”

A lump was forming in (Y/N)’s throat. She tried to swallow it down so she could speak. “For letting you down.”

“Honey, who said you let me down?”

She let out a humorless laugh. “Please, dad. No one had to tell me. It’s kind of obvious.”

He was still looking at her in confusion.

“You told me not to take the pain meds,” she said. “You warned me and I did it anyways. I was stupid enough to think I could have a control on them, but I didn’t. I let myself fall into addiction and I let myself suffer because I was stupid and didn’t take your warnings.”

Tears were running down her cheeks. She looked away from Marshall and tried to wipe them away, but it was no use. They were falling so quickly that as soon as she wiped one away, another took it’s place.

“(Y/N), you didn’t let me down,” Marshall said. “You’re not stupid for taking the meds. I didn’t tell you not to take them, I said to be careful taking them. Doctors prescribe those types of medication for a reason, and obviously you needed them if you started taking them in the first place. The unfortunate thing is, a lot of those pain meds can become addictive and some doctors don’t seem to care about that. It’s not your fault.”

“I didn’t want you to be disappointed,” (Y/N) admitted. “You’ve always told us about your problem, and I felt like if I told you about mine that...you would be disappointed in me.”

“I would never be disappointed in you for struggling. We can’t control things like that, no matter how many times I’ve told you about my addiction or how many precautions you try to take. If anything, I was disappointed that you hadn’t told me about it, but I realize now you only did that because you were scared.”

(Y/N) nodded. She had been scared. She knew her dad wouldn’t be the only one who would be upset about finding out about her addiction, but he was the one she was most worried about getting a reaction from considering his past. At the time, she couldn’t bare to think about the look on his face if she had come clean before. Now, though, she was starting to realize that the smartest decision would’ve been to tell someone long ago.

“You waited to come visit,” she said. “I thought - ”

“It was because I was mad,” he finished. “Hailie told me.”

“But thinking more clearly, it’s probably because you were waiting for me to get a little better, right? Mom said that’s why she hasn’t come yet. She was afraid to see me in the early stages of detoxing.”

“Well, there was that. I’ll be honest, the state I found you in still haunts me a little bit. But also, I don’t exactly have fond memories about being in a place like this, so coming to visit was hard.”

(Y/N) almost face palmed. Of course, that made sense. Visiting someone in rehab had to be tough on its own, but visiting after you yourself had gone through rehab had to have a whole other layer of trauma to it she was sure.

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “For everything. I should’ve told you long ago about what I was going through.”

“I don’t blame you for not telling me. I’m just glad that you’re okay, and that I found you in the stages of withdrawal and not something else.”

They both stood and hugged again. (Y/N) was reluctant to let her dad go, but she knew he couldn’t stay all day. The fact that he came at all was a relief, and she was feeling better after their conversation.

“I’ll come back in a few days,” he promised her. “And I’ll visit regularly until you’re out.”

“I’d really like that,” she said. “Thank you, dad.”

“You have nothing to thank me for, sweetheart.” He pulled her in for one last hug and kissed the top of her head. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

[palskippah]

does Magma Mario shift between two forms? One human and one koopa. What’s the requirement for becoming koopa for her like full name or getting angry

Hi!

Yes, she's a shapeshifter and got those two forms only dhdjdh

[[I think I already said this somewhere, but she had to be human enough if she wanted to survive in Luigi's body 🧍 because had she been fully koopa it would have just kicked her out right away. Because a koopa (reptile) is not compatible with a human (mammal) but Bowser is a royal koopa and he has magic and stuff so his body makes it work 👁️👁️]]

She can control her shapeshifting at will, it's not really controlled by her emotions. If she gets very angry she'll growl and stomp and blow out smoke furiously, but if she wants to keep human form while she's throwing her tantrum, then that's how it's gonna be.

But if she's feeling sad or ashamed, for example, she would turn into koopa and hide inside her shell, until the unpleasant feeling goes away.

In fics they say sometimes that koopas got shell pockets, but what if when Magma keeps stuff in her shell and then shifts into human all her things just fall to the floor and she's like 🧍

When she was a baby though, she didn't have much control over it, and at random times she shifted into koopa or human. Magma was born human(ish) and not long after she was in Luigi's arms she shifted to koopa and him and Bowser (and Mario) were like :0 and :D because it was a pleasant surprise ajdkdhd

When she's human, I'm not thinking of it as keeping the koopa form down or anything (like she gotta shift to feel free in her body or something like that?) or viceversa. Like, both forms are Magma and most often it's the human one. But when she's human sometimes she feels her tail or tries to sweep it and realizes she doesn't have it at the moment (ghost tail??). Or her posture hunches, as if the form of her shell was at her back. (By the way, the shell magically appears as do the scales).

Also, and know that Luigi has never implied that he feels left out as the only human in their mostly koopa family, but Magma has favored since she was small her human form unconsciously to be like her mama- only that she's maybe three times his size when she's older, but that's beside the point. So maybe out of habit she keeps her human form more than the koopa (so Luigi isn't the only human in the family??)

Btw, she's as (very) tall in both forms, so in that way it doesn't make much of a difference. And she can breath fire (or maybe has a power-hand too like Luigi?) in both forms, so. She is a bit stronger as a koopa tho.

And here's a thing I drew the other day sjsjd where Magma has one of those walls where her height is tracked, and sometimes there's big growth spurts, and other times the difference each year is not very big.

Luigi is always the one to mark it, and he starts using a stool to reach her head way too soon in his opinion. Besides, Magma is very happy when she's taller because on one side is funny because Junior is shorter than her and she always makes sure to remind him of it, and on the other she can be as tall as her papa (which is cool!)

Also, a thing I talked with a mutual the other day, about how their fanbaby once becomes a teenager stops the saying daddy thing and just go with saying dad (and it breaks Bowser's heart JSKDHD). But I think it's funny and also cute that my aunts and mom are all grown ups and call my grandma mami still :'v So, Magma and Junior keep calling them mama and papa, even if the rest of the koopalings go with mom, ma, mommy, or dad, father, pa, or idk sjssh

Also, maybe all her clothes are magic-ed to not get in the way when she shapeshifts, so even as a koopa she wears her short-sleeved shirts and overalls.

Here's another drawing I did that I didn't like, but you can look at her face 🧍And she has purple eyes bc Bowser has red eyes and Luigi's are a light blue so why not mix them up. And in a post about the movie someone pointed out that Bowser got like retractile (??) front teeth and maybe Magma has those too, and if she applies enough force on her bite they come out.

[half-oz-eddie]

Journaling Billy is so personal for me.

Billy with a gratitude journal that he writes in every time something good happens, or someone does something nice for him.

He got the journal from a nurse at the hospital post-starcourt, who thought it would be a nice way for him to pass the time, while also lifting his spirits and helping him realize how much love and kindness is around him, even if he doubts it.

It's just a blue, soft cover bound book, but he humors the nurse because she's got warm, pretty eyes and reminds him of his mom.

He uses it often, even after leaving the hospital.

Steve catches him writing in his journal one day, and Billy tells him it's fine if he reads the gratitude journal but not his diary.

Steve, of course, is dying to see what's in the journal, what Billy considers nice, and what good things have been happening to the love of his life.

Aug 1, 1985 Everyone came to see me. Even those kids Harrington always babysits. That's nice, right?

Aug 5 Harrington brought me some food from some burger joint. It was good. I guess he's nice even though I was kind of a dick to him.

Aug 21 Harrington showed up to drive me home. I don't know why he's being so nice to me. It pisses me off because I think he just feels sorry for me. I'm probably using this journal the wrong way but I don't care. I can't talk to anybody about this. I'm not feeling that grateful for shit today.

Aug 25 Max helped me with my pain medication. I thought she hated me. She acts like everything's fine. I have to admit I’m grateful what happened only stays in my nightmares and I wake up to a different reality.

Aug 29 Harrington called to check on me. Offered to come over and play cards. He doesn't have to keep pretending. I like the company, though.

Sept 10th Max tried to stay home from school to look after me. I'm doing a lot better so I didn't need the help. I still don't understand why everyone's being so nice after what I did. Sept 14th Felt strong enough to go out for some air on my own. Saw Sinclair and that other kid. Think his name's Dustin. They were on their bikes. They waved and asked how I was doing. Told them I was fine and they rode off. Do I deserve their concern? Sept 15th Sinclair came back while I was on the porch. Asked for Max. I told him he couldn't be here because of Neil. We waited for Max a few houses down and talked about basketball. He's trying out for the team so I gave him some advice. It was a nice conversation. Didn't feel forced at all.

Sept 20th I told Lucas I was sorry for what happened that night. He said he'd forgotten all about it. I know the little shit was lying, but I guess he forgives me. That was cool of him.

Sept 29th Lucas made the team and thanked me for the advice. I don't feel like I did anything.

Oct 4th I'm feeling better than ever. Driving around on my own again. Nobody seems to blame me for what I did, and everyone's nice everywhere I go.

Oct 11th Went to see El. She's always kind to me. She's like the little sister I never had. She made me some waffles.

Oct 15th Saw Harrington again. It was warm so we went swimming in his pool. I really missed the water.

Oct 29th Haven't been writing much down. It feels like I'm saying the same things over and over. Everyone's always nice to me. Dad's not bothering me anymore. I feel like I have a lot of support around me. For once I feel safe. Oct 31st Went to a halloween party with Harrington. First time having a beer in months. Got a little too drunk and we kissed. He didn't seem to hate it. I didn't either.

Nov 9th Finally talked to Steve again after the kiss. He asked if I wanted to go steady. I said no at first, then changed my mind. I'm glad I did.

Steve smiled as he read every entry. Every few days, Billy's entries were longer and longer. He talked about things that made him smile, people he met, and how much he appreciated the simplest things. It was an amazing transformation. He continued to read the entries, his eyes widening when he read the most recent one. January 12th 1986 I'm falling in love with Steve. I was hoping he’d say it first but he hasn’t said anything. Maybe I’m too hopeful. He treats me like he loves me too, I think. But I’m not sure. Steve quickly closed the book, feeling like he'd violated Billy's privacy by reading something he hadn't known before. "Why so quiet, Steve? You read yesterday's entry, huh?" "I—yeah. I thought maybe you wrote it in the wrong journal."

"I didn't. I was gonna tell you, I just...I dunno. I didn't want you to think I was trying to move too fast."

Steve laughed. "You have no idea how relieved I am."

Billy narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Billy, I've been in love with you for weeks."

Billy snorted. "You're such a sap, pretty boy."

They shared a kiss and Billy wrote in his journal about how grateful he was, to love and be loved.

January 16th On August 21st last year, I was wrong. I have everything to be grateful for.

▪️▫️▪️

A little something to show my gratitude for reaching 400 followers. I appreciate all of you ❤️

Also tagging some friends I’ve met here that really belong in my gratitude journal for all the kindness they’ve shown lately and their posts just make me smile.

@shieldofiron @monsterpegger001 @dragonflylady77 @harringroveera @bigdumbbambieyes @brightside-of-the-upsidedown @thatgirlwithasquid

[ladykailitha]

Royal Pain Part 13

Hello! I got the next part done in time to post today

Steve gets an unpleasant surprise and Eddie grovels.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

***

Steve tried not let the disappointment settle in his gut. He had set himself up and he shouldn’t have been surprised that Eddie didn’t feel the same. They had only been hanging out for a couple weeks after all. He shouldn’t  have expecting Eddie to fall head over heels in love with Steve in that time.

He should have taken the olive branch of friendship when he had the chance. But now he’s ruined a good thing before it could even get started. What was he to expect when he kept shoving his hand in the fire but get burned.

He had been helping Chrissy get a better feel at knowing the depth of the ink when he heard a commotion in front.

“My girlfriend wants to get a tattoo on her breast,” the man said.

“Yes, sir,” Robin said. “I heard you the first three times you’ve said. But as I’ve explained the only female tattooist is Chrissy and she’s only an apprentice.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit!” the man bellowed. “I know the owner! Stevie is a woman! And you’ll bring her out here right now!” He pulled out his phone and waved it in her face. “I call her! Don’t think I won’t, bitch!”

“Sir, I have explained,” Robin pleaded, “Stevie isn’t a–”

Steve stepped out to the front and held up a hand. “It’s okay, Robs. He’s right about one thing. He does know the owner. Dad.”

The shop became deathly silent. You couldn’t even hear the ragged breaths that Steve was experiencing as he struggled to get his emotions under control. Behind him ringed Chrissy, Erica, and Argyle, all wearing expressions of shock as they had come out of their rooms to see what the fuss was about.

“Steven,” Mr Harrington sneered. “What are you doing here?”

Steve walked up to the counter behind Robin. “I could ask you the same thing, seeing as this is my shop. I’m Stevie.”

“No grown man calls himself Stevie,” Mr Harrington scoffed.

“Clint baby, who is this?” the woman asked, tugging on his arm.

“Oh god, she looks Erica’s age,” Steve breathed.

“Girl...” Erica agreed.

“Don’t worry about it, Kinsey,” Clint said patting her hand gently. “I want to speak to the owner this instant. Kinsey wants a rose on her right breast, I don’t want some creep leering at her.”

Steve burst out laughing. “You know, if you had a dozen things differently even being who you are, I might have let Chrissy take a crack at it. Roses in her style would look amazing. But you came in here, threw your weight around, shouted at my best friend and insulted me to my face. So no one is doing her tattoo. And I’ll make sure you are black listed at every parlor I know, too.” He wouldn’t have really let Chrissy tattoo her. Not while she was still an apprentice, but this idiot didn’t know that.

Clint turned nearly purple with rage. “Don’t you know who I am?”

“You’re a piece of trash,” Steve said crossing his arms over his chest. “Does Mom know you’re here with your latest side piece?”

The color change was a dramatic as it was instantaneous. He went from purple to white as he realized he couldn’t bully Steve around anymore.

“If she’s even legal,” Chrissy said with a raised eyebrow.

Kinsey blushed and Clint whipped around to face her. “You told me you were eighteen!”

She flipped her hair. “And you told me you were single. Who’s the biggest liar?”

Steve turned pale now. “Call the police. I want them removed from my property. Now.”

Robin picked up the phone and immediately Clint turned to the doorway, but it was blocked.

Eddie leaned against the one side, his long legs stretched out to block the entire door. “Where would you be going?”

“He wants us removed from the property,” Clint glowered. “So I’m leaving!”

“You’re leaving?” Eddie asked examining his nails. “Not we’re leaving?”

Kinsey turned on him and screeched. “Yeah, what the hell is up with that?”

Clint growled. “I’m not going to be seen with you, slut. You tricked me!”

“You told me you were single!” she screamed.

Steve snorted. “As if he would leave my mother. She’s the one with all the money. And...” he waved at Clint, “apparently all the sense.”

Kinsey balled her fists and stomped her foot. “You said you were a business man!”

Steve actually laughed at that one. “In the business Maureen Reynolds inherited from her father before she met this asshole.”

“You’re wife is Maureen Reynolds?” Kinsey asked, shocked. “Why the fuck would you cheat on a woman like that?”

“It truly is the mystery of the ages,” Robin agreed. “The cops should be here any minute now.”

Clint rounded on her and would have stormed up to the desk if Argyle hadn’t stepped between them.

“My dude,” he said putting his hand on Clint’s chest, “you need to learn to chill. All this rage isn’t good for your health, my man.”

Eddie moved to the side and out of view as the cops came in.

Within minutes of Steve explaining the situation, Kinsey and Clint were in handcuffs and being hauled away from the parlor with a lovely little thumb drive that held the security data in the hands of one of the officers.

Steve turned to Eddie. “Thanks. I really appreciate you stalling them until the cops got here.”

Eddie blushed, shoving his hair in front of his face before he shrieked and dashed out of the shop.

“What was that about?” Erica asked.

But before anyone could answer Eddie was back with his arms filled with apology gifts.

The first thing he handed to Steve was a bouquet of flowers. “Blue snapdragons for truth and because they’re cool, daffodils for honesty, white tulips for forgiveness and respect, and purple hyacinths for regret.”

Steve took the flowers with a blush. “Eddie...”

“No, sweetheart,” Eddie murmured. “I was a jackass, let me apologize in the biggest, grandest way I know how.”

Steve just nodded, handing the flowers to Robin so she could get vase for them.

Eddie then handed him a cup of coffee and still warm bagels. “I didn’t even realize how much an ass I was, that’s how big I fucked up, Stevie. Jeff had beat me over the head.” Then he pulled off the pick necklace he had worn for years and put it over Steve’s head.

“I forgot that we had just started being friends,” he explained. “I felt like I had known you for years and made a joke that would have gotten my friends laughing their asses off. But in hindsight it was stupid not just in context of what we were talking about, but the evening as a whole. I really like you, please tell me I didn’t drive you away.”

Chrissy gently removed the coffee and bag of bagels from Steve’s hands. Steve’s lip quivered as he hesitated a moment before he launched himself into Eddie’s arms.

“Oh thank god,” Eddie breathed as he wrapped his arms around this beautiful man.

Steve pulled away. Gratitude shown in his face. Maybe he had read too much into the situation, but it didn’t mean that they couldn’t get there eventually. He had to go Eddie’s speed. It was hard for him to let go of the reins but if Eddie was willing to still be friends, then he would do everything he could to keep him.

*

Steve was happily munching on his bagels, which actually wasn’t something that Robin had told him. It was something Eddie had remembered that he would bring to first period every Thursday in high school. While Steve ate his apology bagel Eddie recounted all the ways he had been an ass last night and soon enough the entire shop was in an uproar of laughter.

Chrissy simpered. “Well, I am hot.”

“Don’t go for blondes,” Steve said with a snort, waving her off.

She laughed. “Yeah and what you usually go for?”

Steve glanced over at Eddie and blushed. Chrissy mouthed the word ‘Oh.’ But she didn’t say anything.

He cleared his throat. “I bat for either team, but it tends to be curly brunets.” He steadfastly didn’t look at Eddie.

Robin giggled. “You should have seen his first girlfriend. Long wavy hair that when she cut it to her just below her chin made it super curly. Soulful blue eyes. Cheek bones you could cut your hand on...”

Steve snorted. “I still think you had the bigger crush on her then I did and I dated her.”

Robin blushed. “Maybe.”

Eddie started snapping his fingers. “Nancy, right? Mike’s older sister?”

Steve nodded. “Hair color is the only major hard rule as far who I date goes.” He cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. “And nice hands.”

Eddie’s eyes nearly burst out of his head. “You have a thing for hands, pretty boy?”

Steve smirked. “Especially like watching them touch me in bed.” He wagged his eyebrows.

Chrissy, Argyle, Robin, and Erica all hooted and hollered while Eddie turned a delightful shade of pink.

Oh. Well that was certainly interesting, Steve thought. Maybe he didn’t have to work as hard as he thought. He just had to tap the breaks a bit. He could work with that.

“Come on, you menace,” Steve said fondly, throwing away his detritus from his impromptu breakfast. “Let’s start work on that sword of yours, shall we?”

Eddie bounced to his feet happily. “I can’t wait, sweetheart!”

Steve led him into his room. “Do you mind if Chrissy and Argyle watch?”

Eddie shook his head. “Everybody’s got to start somewhere.”

Steve nodded and went to go call them in. He walked them through each step of the process of setting up the tattoo machine and choosing an ink. As he tattooed Eddie’s back he talked about blow outs and blooming. What they are and how to fix them when they happen.

He explained that when they first start out that it was something that was going to happen. But that’s why he was training them on the fruit so they could when it occurred and why.

They asked questions and Steve provided answers. Three hours later, he was done and went through the clean up and after care processes with them.

He had them take apart the gun, clean it out, dry it, and put it back together. Even Eddie was fascinated by the process. Then Steve walked him out, Chrissy and Argyle following like ducklings.

“You guys should totally all come see the band on Saturday,” Eddie said. “Mandy and the boys missed Stevie and Robin and I’m sure they would love to meet the two of you,” he told Argyle and Chrissy.

“What kind of band do you have?” Chrissy asked.

“Same one I had in high school, sunshine,” Eddie said with a slow lick of his upper teeth.

“Corroded Coffin made it?” she asked excitedly, jumping up and down. “That’s so cool!”

Steve saw Argyle’s confused expression and explained, “It’s a metal band. They’re really good.”

Eddie flushed with pleasure.

Argyle nodded. “Not my scene, man. But don’t think you have to lose out on my account though.”

Eddie nodded, he turned to Chrissy. “So how about it, you in?”

Chrissy blushed. “I don’t have anything to wear...”

Robin hopped up and down. “Me either! But we can go shopping together! It’d be fun!”

“Do you know what to look for?” Chrissy asked.

Robin flushed in embarrassment. “Not really.”

Eddie came to the rescue. “Here, let me give you Mandy’s number and you girls can all go shopping together.

“Who’s Mandy?” Chrissy asked, frowning.

“One of my bandmate’s girlfriend,” Eddie explained. “She helped Robin out a couple weeks back when she showed up to a metal concert in punk gear.”

Argyle tilted his head. “Is that not a good thing?”

Eddie scoffed. “Punk and metal have a long standing rivalry. Both counter-culture, but with very different views on what that means.”

Argyle nodded sagely. “I feel that.”

Chrissy nodded. “Sure, sounds like fun. Robin and I will exchange our numbers too so we can get a group chat started.”

Robin blushed and fumbled to get her phone out. They gave each other their numbers and Eddie sent a warning text to Mandy about the sudden influx of messages she was going to get.

“So it’s a plan,” Eddie said smiling at them. “I’ll see you on Thursday and then Saturday. I’m so excited!”

Steve grinned. “Me, too.”

He barely managed to restrain his little dance of glee when Eddie blushed. Things were starting to look up.

***

Part 14  Part 15  Part 16  Part 17  Part 18 Part 19  Part 20  Part 21   Part 22  Part 23  Part 24  Part 25 Part 26  Part 27  Part 28  Epilogue

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre​ @estrellami-1​ @zerokrox-blog​ @artiststarme​ @swimmingbirdrunningrock​ @gregre369​ @pyrohonk​ @renaissan-vvitch​ @goodolefashionedloverboi​ @chaoticlovingdreamer​ @maya-custodios-dionach​ @messrs-weasley​ @val-from-lawrence​ @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt​ @chaoticlovingdreamer​ @sapphirecobalt-1​ @a-little-unsteddie​ @i-must-potato​ @danili666​ @carlyv​ @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog​ @itsall-taken​ @justforthedead89​ @emly03 @bookworm0690 @aizawa-emma @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @yikes-a-bee @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @archermightbegay @hallucinatedjosten @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @bestwifehaver @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx 

[catofthecanals289]

i would love a max wants to propose snippet plzzz

i've posted this before ages ago, hope it holds up ;)

--

“So, are you going to spend the entire evening on your phone?” Victoria asks, as she sits down on the couch next to him, causing him to reflexively put down his phone –face down.

It’s not really fair of her to tease him like this, not when he literally hasn’t been on his phone all night and only picked it up when she got up to dump their takeout containers in the trashcan of the apartment Max only ever stays in when he has to be in Milton Keynes for more than a day or two in one go. It’s not that he minds hotels and that the apartment feels much different than one with as little time as he spends there, but still. He already lives in hotels half the year it feels like, it’s nice to have a place that he can at least call home even if it’s not. Plus, Victoria likes to use it when she makes a weekend trip to London. Although that has gotten less too, with the two kids and all. Which-

“Have you called him yet?” he asks in counter to her little jab, causing her to roll her eyes.

“These kind of news are best delivered in person.” Gently she places a hand on her stomach, soft smile on her lips, despite the challenging glint in her eyes.

He’s the first person to know, this time, and only because it’s his bathroom she took the test in and Max still feels a little crazy about it all –his little sister being pregnant with her third baby. Only him and her knowing –the only two people in the world. It makes him feel like he’s eight years old again, the both of them whispering secrets to each other under the covers of his bed, trying to block out their parents’ yelling.

No one’s yelling now, and Max isn’t scared. He’s just happy for her. Her and her little family.

It’s not what gave him the idea –he’s been toying with it for a while, if he’s being honest- but it’s what had spurred him to finally typing the words into the search bar, fingertips a little bit sweaty.

“Max?” Victoria says, head tilted slightly. “Where’s your head?”

He snorts. “Right here.”

“Mhm.” She looks at him skeptically, then after a moment, giving him a slight nudge she asks: “Everything good with Daniel?”

Flushing a little, Max nods, his phone feeling hot in his hands. “Uh, yeah. He’s in Surrey today, but he said he’d be here tomorrow. Or maybe tonight, depending how quickly they finish up.”

“Is that why you’ve been glued to your phone?” Victoria asks, teasing tone back in her voice. “Because you’re waiting for him to tell you that he’s on his way?”

“No.”

Max rolls his eyes, for good measure. It’s maybe only half true, because Max is definitely looking forward to Daniel and him being in the same place again, but it’s not what he’s been doing on his phone, which- He shoots her a glance ,hesitant for a moment, before he realizes how fucking stupid that is because it’s Victoria. His little sister. She’s probably the person he’s closest to, right up there with Daniel and his mom. And it’s not like he can tell Daniel about this just yet.

“I’ve been, uhm.” He clears his throat, unlocking his phone again so he can thumb open the website he’s been scrolling through before she interrupted him. “Looking at stuff. At –these.”

He holds out his phone to her.

She takes it, eyes already wide.

“Max…” she says, softly after barely a moment.  “You’re going to-”

“Yes,” he says, and fuck, what a terrifying thing to admit, despite the wave of excitement that surges up inside of him at the thought. It’s crest is made of fear. That Daniel will say no. That he’ll say yes, and Max won’t be good enough for him to not regret it. That it’s a stupid, little fantasy, nothing more, and most of all that-

“-I’ll have to tell dad. About me and Daniel,” he says, as Victoria scrolls down the website, looking at the quite limited number of engagement rings made for men, and the endless selection for women. “I know that. If we get married then- Yeah. And I know that dad isn’t going to like it, but I want-” He exhales, gesturing to his phone. “-that. I want to ask him. And I want him to say yes, and I don’t know. Be fucking married to him.”

He thinks about Daniel wearing a ring on his finger, a ring that Max put there and not just as an expensive gift but as a promise, a vow. He thinks about having a paper signed by the both of them putting a name to what they have that they don’t need but Max wants anyway. He thinks about waking up every morning knowing that Daniel married him. That he looked at Max and just fucking picked him. Chose him. Is choosing him. Every day for the rest of their lives. Or life. Together.

And Max knows, he knows that he doesn’t need a marriage certificate to trust that Daniel is committed to him and it’s not even about that really, knows that his issues, his worries and doubts, they’ll always be there for Max to work on, but he wants it anyway.

He wants to be Daniel’s and for Daniel to be his.

“Max, I think that’s wonderful,” Victoria says, eyes shiny. “Really, really wonderful. Shit.”

Pulling him into a hug, she squeezes him tightly.

“He’s going to say yes, I know it, I just know it,” she says, a she holds her back just as tightly, before letting go. “And dad, he’ll just have to deal. It’ll be fine. It’ll be- Fuck. We need to find a proper ring. Shit. We should go to London tomorrow, go to some actual stores instead of-” She waves dismissively at his phone.

“Daniel’s coming here tomorrow though,” Max reminds her. Or tonight. If I’m lucky, tonight.

“Well, he’ll just have to entertain himself then,” Victoria says, unbothered, a gleeful look on her face. “Fuck. I’m going to have another baby, and you’ll be getting married. And win another world championship. This is going to be our year, Max. You hear me? Our year.”

“Hey. Don’t jinx me. Don’t jinx us,” he says, cheeks flushed, just as his phone buzzes with an incoming text.

It’s from Daniel.

finishing up now! See you in two hours [kiss emoji]

Max can’t help but smile.

hurry is all he texts back.

[thatssonanii]

Prologue

A/N: Bare with me the holidays are a busy time for me so it'll most likely be week day uploads when I do start posting chapters! Enjoy! Comment, reblog & share! Updates depend on engagement! 🌻

Warnings: A bit of cursing, 18+, Minors DNI

Masterlist

The sound of kids talking and playing filled Shania's ears as she entered the three year old classroom. A few kids noticed her, running to give her hugs then went back to playing. She watched them for a moment then went to the connected boys restroom, peeking in. 

"Hey, Ms. Martina. You buzzed for me?"

Martina stood from her kneel in front of the middle stall. "Yeah. Jaden has a stomach thing and no clothes."

Shania walked in to check on the child, giving him a soft smile. "Not feeling good, buddy?"

His voice came out weak and sad. "No ma'am."

"I'll get somebody to bring you some ginger ale and extra clothes while I call mommy and daddy. Sound good?" Giving him another pout, she turned to Martina. "If you want when he's cleaned up, you can bring him to the office with me. Tell me the last name again."

"Fatu."

Leaving the classroom, Shania power walked through the daycare back to her office and to her desk. After going through her software, she found his profile and dialed the first number. 

"Good morning, Mrs. Fatu. This is Shania Taylor at Busy Bees. Jaden's not feeling well and he's had an accident so you're gonna have to come pick him up. Thank you. See you soon."

Shania left the same message three times with Jaden's mom, dad and uncle. She sighed softly realizing there was only one more number to call. Dialing the number, she put it on speaker so she could pull her curls away from her face. 

"Hello?"

The deep voice startled her a bit as she honestly wasn't expecting anyone to answer. 

"Helloooo," the voice sang out, "Somebody there?"

"Sorry, yes." She picked her phone up, moving it closer to her.  "Hey, I'm sorry to bother you. This is Shania Taylor from Busy Bees. Is this Joshua Fatu?"

"Uh, yeah, this Josh. Busy Bees?"

"Yes, Busy Bees. Your nephew, Jaden, is enrolled here."

"Oh shit, my bad," he said quickly, "I don't think I ever knew the name. He aight? He need something?"

She glanced at her office door when she heard a light knock, finding Martina standing in the doorway with Jaden in tow. She waved them in, pointing at the ottoman in front of her window. 

"He's actually not feeling well and had an accident. He didn't have any clothes but I keep extras here so that's taken care of. You are gonna have to get him though."

Josh went silent for a moment, Shania could hear rustling around in his background.

"I don't mind at all but did you call Jon or Trinity first?"

"Yes sir," she said softly as she rolled her chair over to Jaden. She covered him with her throw blanket. "I called them and the other uncle they had listed, no one answered."

"Aight, I'll try to call them. I'm on the way though, Ms. Taylor."

"Thank you, see you soon."

The small monitor on her desk chimed and real time video popped up fifteen minutes later. Easing up from her spot, Shania checked the monitor then went to the front door of the center. She pushed the door open for him, a small smile on her face. 

"Hey, Mr. Fatu." She watched him as he stepped inside. "Thank you for coming."

He looked around the foyer then at her, giving her a small nod. "Josh. Just Josh. I gotta get em from the class?"

"Nope, he's actually been in my office with me. Fell asleep not too long ago. He had me watching toy videos so the nap was a blessing in disguise for us both," she joked. "Since he is asleep, I can go ahead and get a copy of your license."

He frowned a little at that. "Why?"

"I make copies of everyone's licenses when they come to pick up one of my babies. State law. Keeps them safe. You can step into my office."

The two stood in silence while she made her copies. Josh grabbed Jaden's backpack, bag of soiled clothes and the small bottle of ginger ale beside him. He watched Shania move quickly around her office from the printer to the filling cabinet then to her desktop, lingering there for a few minutes. She wrote something down on her post it before peeling it off. Going to Josh, she held it out to him smiling. Slowly, he took it then looked at her. 

"What's this?"

"Your family's code to get into the door so you don't have to wait to be let in whenever you come get him."

"Thank you," he stuffed it into his pocket then carefully picked up his sleeping nephew, "I need to sign em out?"

"I'll take care of it. You just take care of my buddy. When you talk to his parents, let them know he can return when he's been symptom free for 24 hours."

"Gotcha. You the boss lady huh?" He joked adjusting Jaden in his arms. 

Her smile grew a little wider, her cheeks pushing her eyes into small slits. "I wouldn't say boss lady but I am the owner."

"Shit. Forreal?"

"Yes and we don't talk like that in Busy Bees, Josh." She chastised playfully.

He flashed her a quick smile, giving a peek of his gold fronts on his bottom teeth. "My bad, Ms. Taylor. Ima let them know though. Have a good day, don't work too hard."

Walking in front of him to the door, she propped the door open for him to exit. She watched him effortlessly unlock his truck, put Jaden's things in then Jaden into his seat. She called out to him before he could open the driver side. 

"What's up?"

"Call me Shania."

His fronts made another appearance. "Yes ma'am."

[jmdbjk]

Bangtan weekly report

Lordt, what a week, what a month, what a year? It's September, we're on the downhill slide.

I've been busy, y'all. You know, life happens and all that crap we say when we have to focus on stuff that's not as fun as staring at the latest naked Bangtan pics... anyway... there is A LOT to process, A LOT to even sit down and catch up on.

Let's break it down shall we?

It was JK's b-day and he first tried to TikTok live us and you know, I hope he can't figure it out to his satisfaction because there's no replay and no translations so fuck TikTok and I mean that in a nice way. Thank god for Armys who record and translate.

And he dropped this tiny but significant TMI:

We know he's building that big whatever it is. It will be a while before he leaves his current residence...or? What? Moving elsewhere until he enlists? He mentioned in one of his more recent past lives that he had to clean up some of his junk in his apartment... soooo.... hmmm....

Also, this:

Acting research? I'm loving the sound of whatever that is.

Thankfully he came to visit us on Weverse live as well, did a few card tricks and cut it short, one of the shortest lives he's done in years and years? Were the aces a hint? Or just part of his magic trick?

Adorable goofball. By the way, the subs are up on this live.

He was out and about before the live, taking pics on the street, he's said he doesn't mind at all, running into fans in public and saying hello.

It's the people who claim to be fans who stalk him and show up uninvited to places where he's trying to live his life in private. Whoever you all are, I'll speak for Kookie. Y'all suck.

In Busan, when he was with his idol friends, they were asked if they were who they were by the restaurant employee and they tried to deny it. That should be a big hint to leave them alone.

Kookie shared a video on his TikTok in solidarity and support of RM speaking out about the uncalled for hate that came RM's way after he posted that song on his Instagram story.

You know... there's been quite a lot of discourse lately about culturally sensitive topics. Tae's "gaffe" and this song that RM shared... I think if you felt offended or uncomfortable when you saw those things happen, those feelings are your own and 100% valid.

Being of Japanese descent, through my life, it has made me cringe when I hear people call stuff "Jap crap" or just yesterday, a canvasser for a political candidate asked me if I was from around here... like... if I was blonde and blue-eyed would they have asked me that? You know? I was speaking to them exactly like I speak here, fully fluent in (Southern U.S. redneck) English because that's my only language (sadly, no thanks to mom and dad because I did not learn Japanese or French). But I don't get obsessed or angry or want to threaten anyone's careers or life. I don't even think about it. And I don't really hold it against people who are not aware of how they come across like that.

People are insensitive all the time without knowing it: asking a woman when they are due but she's not pregnant and maybe can't even have children... mentioning other culturally derogatory terms without realizing it (see "Jap crap" above), saying something looks "gay" like... ok what does that even mean?... you know what I'm saying? I use the term "spirit animal" all the time and someone DM'd me saying it was offensive. So we're all guilty.

I get it, we're all different in how we react. BUT MY FEELINGS ARE VALID TOO, AND MY REACTION IS MY OWN AND DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE SAME AS YOURS TO YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE.

As I said, feelings are valid, and the members aren't perfect and it's okay to call them out on it. But the extra implication that was piled on Namjoon for that song rec crossed the line and he addressed it in his own live.

Exasperated he explained that it was just a song and that he knows exactly what everyone is saying, that he's a 30 year old man and can express himself freely. He said even if there will still be those who will accuse him of lying, he can't and won't lie to us.

I love him: "For ten years I've held things in my heart but nowadays I can't do that, I have to speak my truth. Believe my own words."

Before he got into it though he offended the mathematicians and then tried to back track (omg I'M JOKING ok?... unless someone got offended... omg, can we just chill?)

His 2-day old stubble and fuzzy headed self.

The obsession people have with their weight and their looks is mind-blowing. The way he's drilled in the comments on his face, his hair, about admitting he's tanning, how much he weighs, what he eats, he looks tired... This man has an IQ of 160 or whatever and people are worried about a mosquito bite on his forehead. The vapidness and shallow level of interaction in the comments knows no limit. But we've known that. Please, before commenting can people please make a list of things to speak on other than how they look?

He closed by saying to trust him, he'll always show us what's inside of him whether its his music or him as a human... life is a journey with a lot of obstacles, he's good and focusing on his own things and not on the bad energy. He is in such a good head space nowadays... love to see it.

Next up, Taehyungie-hyung...dis my fave pic out of everything I've seen so far:

I am not a fan of Tae in blonde hair, I've said that before. But this particular shot is stunning to me, the lighting and angle.

As you know, I've not paid as close attention to Tae. Honestly I've been waiting for him to share things during this solo time so I can get to know him better just like I did with the other members.

Up until now, everything he does seems superficial EXCEPT the deliberate soft reveal of his relationship with Jennie, which I hope they are doing well and navigating the shitty waters of having to be idols in a relationship.

But so far, its photo spread after photo spread and I'm just not into it. Yes, Tae is very photogenic. I'm sure V biases are over the moon. I'm happy for them! If it was Jimin you would be sick of me posting every photo, so I get it! But I was looking for something a little deeper from him.

So it was this Dingo show that his personality opened up a little to me somewhat... interacting with this Army who's dream is to become a Military Officer. She is the cutest thing, her reactions so genuine and I could feel her excitement and how she was overwhelmed at the end of their day together when she broke down. Girl was holding it in and living the life that day!!! Sooo happy she got to experience that!

And these pics are the cutest:

This one right above with her hands on his shoulders... such a precious memory. I am looking forward to hearing the rest of Tae's album. I'm sure I'll have things to say about it at that time.

And that brings me to Jimin. The jikook selca not withstanding, we haven't seen or heard from him in ages so after 2 months, 15 days, 23 hours, 8 minutes and some odd seconds (but who was counting? not me)... we finally see him again in person at a Dior event in Seoul.

He looked so good, except that tan leather coat reminded me of something 50s vintage, car coat over a sheath dress women wore in the springtime. He's small. Let's put a giant white garbage bag on him. Don't know what goes through their minds.

Dior creates some extraordinarily crafted pieces, but so far, I sometimes wonder if they've even bothered to look at any of Jimin's previous photo concepts for other various things. It's almost like they don't know how to dress him. That's just my personal opinion.

Anyway..AND THEN HE COMES LIVE!!! FINALLY!!!

Is that a Red Dragon keyboard he has in front of his computer? I don't really know anything about gaming stuff. And goodness...

He gets comfy by tying up those pants that look like four of him (or him and Kookie) could fit in there at the same time...

His eye crinkles... I don't care what people say about his beakie... I'm all about the eye smile and those eye crinkles that are going to get deeper with time.

Y'all, this is my bias...

That mood light of the realistic solar system makes Jungkookie's mood light look like child's play. But I see why his moons down his back look like they do.

I know some of the first translations say he called Jungkook for his birthday and he talked about wanting to live his 30s just as full as his 20s, and he's learning through his solo work that he has things to learn and he will improve and I just don't have enough or the right words to express how much I love and admire his perseverance and dedication to being the best at what he does and the best human he can be. I will do a full blog post when the official subs are ready later this week.

I don't know how this guy from the other side of the world got so completely under my skin:

I know there was a lot of other content that dropped that I didn't touch on but there aren't enough hours in my day to type it all up. I will just continue to watch and absorb as much as I can just like everyone else.

Jin and Hobi are still plugging away at their respective bases, I always pray for their safety and health while they are doing their duty. In a few months, Jin may show us what it will be like to celebrate birthdays while they are enlisted.

And Yoongi. We wait as the days tick by. We know its coming very soon. Holding my Yoongi bias friend's hand very tightly. We'll get through this together.

[dogbound1128]

Punch Out!! Headcannons Masterpost!

This will be updated every time I come up with a new one!

Make sure to read the trigger warnings in the tags before continuing!

Little Mac 🟢🇺🇲

☆ Transmasc!

- All he had to do was knock off the "Kenzie" and he was good to go lol

- He is also pan

☆ He's actually the standard amount of talkative! He just goes quiet when he's annoyed.

- Which is why most of the boxers have never heard him speak lol

☆ His main social media account has like a pink anime pfp and says stuff like "( >w<)"

- He tries to let as LITTLE people as possible know this

- He keeps on accidentally replying to wvba posts with his main account then quickly deleting them

- One time, after deleting a reply on his main, he thought "Hey, if I reply with my official Boxing account and say "I DIDN'T MEAN TO REPLY ON MY MAIN", people might think that I was joking, and meme the heck out of it! That would be fun!!" Nobody thought he was joking.

- Is the Antonymph of the Internet (✿ UwU )

- Still fighting on Newgrounds over if his love is valid • m •

- Fuck the cynicism let the colors fly >X3

- Don't care you think it's cringe because it's not your life B)

☆ Gave the most DEVASTATING side-eyes as a baby

- He didn't even do them when he was dissapointed, his face just looked like that when he looked to the side

- One time Doc was showing off some jab techniques when babysitting, and asked "How was that?" and Mac just hit him with the (¬_¬ )

- Doc knew he didn't mean anything by it, but it still hurt

- It made him laugh though

☆ Backstory (warning this shit is just upsetting)

- His Dad is abusive

- He just spends all his days watching TV and taking his anger out on Mac when he feels like it

- This was one of the main reasons Mac got into boxing

- When Mac asked how old his Mom was, his Dad said she was exactly as old as him. Mac did the math and realized that the chances of an accidental child born completely healthy at 50 are highly unlikely. Every time Mac asks his Dad about it, he shuts him down, so Mac has his suspicions about how he's actually related to his "Dad".

- At some point in his early childhood, he got a best friend.

- They were inseparable. Even to the point where they'd share a cot at daycare

- He was the loud, and all-over-the-place one, Mac was more timid.

- This best friend LOVED birds. He also loved surfing, but he had, as his mom said, "noodle bones", so that wasn't really in the foreseeable future.

- He had a nickname that only Mac knows.

- One day he just stopped showing up, even for school. And Mac's Dad didn't care enough to call their family. Mac knew for a fact his friend would've never just left him like that, so he just spends his days not knowing what happened to him

- Mac sometimes wonders if he still thinks about him, too (he does. a lot)

- Not even Doc knows about Mac's old friend

- Despite his Dad being abusive, he still tries to make up excuses for him

- "Well, he grew up in a different time..." all that

- Nobody is happy with this

- Needless to say Doc hates Mac's Dad with a burning passion

- It's a miracle his Dad doesn't want to take care of him so much he lets him spend most of his time at Doc's gym

- It's to the point where Mac has his own bag with a toothbrush and deodorant and shampoo for the nights where his Dad is too drunk to drive him home

- Has a mat with a pillow and blanket specially for him but he usually just falls asleep on the couch while Doc does taxes on the computer

- He's completely fine with jokes about murder, stealing, shootings, or any of the bad shit, but for some reason he CANNOT handle car crash jokes

- He genuinely can't understand why or how someone could bring themself to be fine with jokes like that

- Doc's been meaning to point out to Mac that he treats car crash jokes way differently from other kinds and ask him if he's ok, but he hasn't found the right moment.

- He can sort of assume why, considering every time Doc tries to use his arm as a seatbelt for Mac (like if they're on a bus or using Doc's ancient-ass pickup truck) Mac will start freaking out and not talk for a while

☆ After everything, he considers every building associated with boxing his home

- Because his happiest moments came from boxing and training, he finds the feeling of leather and vinyl comforting

Aran Ryan 🍀🇮🇪

☆ Despite him being mostly an Irish Stereotype, Aran prefers to stay sober

- That's because the first night he ever drank he was so excited to get that high but it never came. All his friends were giggling and hooting and hollering and throwing shit and trying to stand on each-other's shoulders but Aran didn't feel different at all. If anything it made him tired! So he doesn't drink because of that and everyone who finds out is BEWILDERED by it

☆ Might be part fish 🤨????

☆ So... how is fucking Undyne Undertale Aran's Sister?

- Take the Gumball Episode "The Origins"

- Replace Gumball with Aran and Darwin with Undyne

- There's your answer

- If you haven't seen the episode and plan to watch it REMEMBER TO DO IT IN AN ETHICAL WAY. Like don't give money to a company that's sending it's money to a genocide or abusing it's workers or something like that

☆ Used to get into laughing fits A LOT as a child

[omegasmileyface]

The Foleys' Incredible Crisis

Chapter 1: Call It Stormy Monday

Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad) was written and performed in 1947 by T-Bone Walker. It is one of the most popular Blues songs ever, and has been performed and reiterated by countless other musicians. It has been credited with inspiring B.B. King to take up electric guitar, and it is included in the Library of Congress.

Happy Invisobang!!! This should have been posted earlier in the week but I couldn't make myself get to the computer to finalize/format it. Hehe. This year I had the INCREDIBLE experience of working with Shadow and Sharks, who were such wonderful artists— they have a whole smörgåsbord of art to please your eyes in this story! They have kept me on my toes— as I write this, the final, collaborated illustration is still a secret to me 👀 Lola is an OC I named once I realized Tucker absolutely feels like he has a little sister. Since then she's been in my heart and I can't let her go. My wonderful girl Lola. It's a treat whenever I get to see her in the wild— I almost had a heart attack when she appeared in Lex Luthor's Ascent from Supervillainy to Fatherhood by halfagone!

For a directory of all currently posted chapters and related content, check out the Table of Contents!

fic summary: After a whole week of vacation stuck together, the Foleys were more than happy to have some time apart. So when they each found themselves caught up in ghost business, that meant handling it alone. Angela wasn't planning on improvising a ghost conspiracy, Maurice was hoping to avoid working IT, Lola didn't think playing a hero would take her out of school, and Tucker would really have liked to focus on his own problems. But, really, what else did they expect from Amity Park? Home, sweet home.

words: 2269

AO3 link

next chapter [pending]

Tucker dropped his bag with a thunk. He was far beyond caring to be delicate, despite the electronics inside— he just wanted to shed his shoes and jacket and maybe the memories of the trip along with them.

"Ohhhh-kay," said his mom, grimacing at the trash can. Nobody had thought to empty it before they left. "What a vacation!" She laughed emptily. "I'm going to bed. You can fend for yourselves for dinner."

Tucker's dad popped back out from behind the bathroom door. "Before you go," he called over the rush of the faucet, "can we all just agree? Real quick, get in the den and then we can all ignore each other."

Lola sighed loudly and gave up untying her shoe, just kicking it off. Tucker agreed. He couldn't wait to wash his hands after the long trip.

His dad dried off his hands and joined them in the den, looking each of his family members in the eyes one by one. "I propose we never talk about this trip unless we have to."

Everyone agreed with as much fervor as they could muster after the fraught day.

"Also," said Lola, "I think we should try not to talk to each other for a whole day."

"Works for me," said Tucker.

His mom yawned. "Much as I love you all, I'm good with a day pretending you don't exist. Tucker, can you walk with Lola to and from school tomorrow?"

He looked at his little sister. She shrugged.

"As long as she plays nice, yeah."

His dad clapped. "Cool. Alright. So, unless one of us needs something, we all mind our own business tomorrow? Okay. I'm gonna order a pizza, and... I'll sleep in the guest room tonight. Pleasure doin' business with you all."

Tucker closed his eyes and sighed, pleased at imagining taking a shower and sleeping in his own bed in a few hours.

They had just wanted to see family in Chicago. What a disaster.

The library was quiet when Angela Foley came in. That made sense, she worked weekday mornings, so they usually only saw adults and the rare preschooler. As much as she liked helping the spread of knowledge, it was nice not to have too much to do at the front desk. Maybe she could get a crossword puzzle or two done.

She had made it about halfway through the puzzle (Angela knew a lot of things, but wordplay was never her specialty. What on Earth was she supposed to get from "gift for a blue lady"?) before someone walked in, paused, and went straight for the front desk.

She put on her smile. "Hi! Can I help ya with anything?"

The man was tall, wearing a clean white button-up shirt and jeans. His brassy skin and black hair caught strangely in the fluorescent lights, turning almost orange at their edges. She was pretty sure he was a ghost in disguise, but she had helped ghosts before. Usually, if one was asking for help using a library, they weren't intent on doing anything violent.

Usually. She still reserved a little caution.

"Yes, I'm looking for information on a very distant place. Where might I find something like that?"

"Well, what place is it?"

"It's called An Aghaidh Mhòr."

Angela blinked at the unfamiliar sounds. "I'm not familiar. Is that... Gaelic?"

The man fiddled with his sleeves. "Scottish, I believe, yes."

"Alright." Angela stood up and moved toward the computer monitor at the desk by the door. "I'm going to check in our catalog for books on Scotland."

The man watched silently as she searched. Angela hummed. "It looks like, in house, the only books we have on Scotland are travel guides covering the whole of the UK or Europe. I don't expect they'd have many details on smaller places— well, I'm assuming An Aghaidh Mhòr is small, since I haven't heard of it. If you'd like, you can check anyway, or I can contact another library in the system, and they can send over some more specialized books, but that might take a few days."

The man said nothing, but his eyebrows furrowed in thought. Angela recognized the face of a person with a wide, potent array of bad options.

"Or, if you're more pressed for time, we do have a few computers and Internet access here. I can help you find some web sites that might have what you're looking for."

"And this wouldn't take any longer than looking through a book?"

Angela smiled and headed toward the public computers. "Faster, even, if you know what you're doing. I can help you if you've never done it before."

They began their search, and the man caught on quickly to what Angela was doing and how. She helped him for a while, long enough to find out that An Aghaidh Mhòr was a place in the woody North of Scotland, usually called Aviemore, and was something of a tourist destination. Beyond that, she left him to do his own research and went back to her crossword.

She just had a pesky few clues left when the man started muttering curses in another language and walked back over to her desk.

With panicked eyes, he said "I have to be honest. What I'm looking for is, ah… evidence that An Aghaidh Mhòr has an open community of ghosts alongside its humans. I'm certain that it once did, and I know that it still must. But I have chased every tail of information I could find that led to pages on the computer, and none of them, regardless of detail or experience with the town, has mentioned it."

He looked down and seemed to weigh something in his head. "It must be some sort of secret. Whether to protect the ghosts or to protect themselves from ridicule, the living people of An Aghaidh Mhòr have hidden their ghost society. You have to help me find it."

The little hairs on Angela's body all stood up. Warning bells were going off in her head. There was nothing to do but remain calm. "If that's the case, I don't know about anything like that. I can send out a question to my colleagues to see if they know anything, but I'm afraid I can't–"

"No!" The man swung out a hand, and the inner doors swung shut, silvery light weaving across them like fishing nets to keep them in place. The lights dimmed and his skin faded to a deep, fiery orange, layered and complex like agate. His eyes glowed like the moon. The few library guests gasped and looked at him in shock.

"You are a keeper of information, from a city with a striking connection to ghosts. I need to know the truth about ghostly An Aghaidh Mhòr, and you must help me find it." His silver eyes were full of fear, but Angela couldn't bring herself to care how the ghost who just trapped and threatened her was feeling.

She had to think fast to get out of this safely. Something to keep his hopes up…

"Fine. Fine." Angela held up her hands. "I'm not confident in my own grasp of the situation, but I do know of some secrets like the one you're talking about. It'll take some time– say, a couple hours– to put together anything meaningful, and I'll need to call in an expert, but I can do it. I will do it."

She could only hope her friends were any good at improv.

Maurice was never one for early mornings, but he always made the best of his hour alone after the kids went off to school and Angela's shift started. That was his time to make coffee and goof around. He could prance around the kitchen in ways that would make Tucker gag if he were there, and as long as he couldn't see his neighbors, he could put them out of mind enough to sing as loud as he wanted.

Before work was the blues hour. Today he put on Lucille. Whole album, on tape, from the top.

If anybody asked why he started his days with the blues, he'd probably say something about the sad lyrics reminding him how lucky he was. How no matter how embarrassing the family vacations or boring the work or sleazy the boss, he still had a clean house around him and a faithful wife beside him.

In reality, though, he mostly just liked the beat.

Once he got into work, it was just the same as ever. Double-entries and journalizing. He didn't even get to mix up which accounts he dealt with. VLADCO was too big for that. It was Accounts Receivable, 140-180, day after day.

But at least it wasn't IT.

Then, after almost an hour of swimming through "Axiom Labs, Ltd. $1,300 Debit" and "Hey, Maurice, how was the weekend?" and "Nugreen Ectosuppliers, LLC $400 Credit" and "You get that last letter? Crazy what Masters is trying these days, yeah?", everything went dark.

(Or, at least darker than usual. The grainy white of every surface in the office never lent itself to anything deeper than a cloudy grey.)

After a few seconds of quiet shock, the lights came back. Now, however, there was a ghost floating in front of the door connecting the Finances and Supplies department to the rest of the facility.

He seemed to be well-muscled and of average height, though it was hard to tell exactly what a ghost looked like when they were putting off that much of an aura. His skin was dark green and rough-looking, like bark, and there was a reddish halo around his head like some sort of spectral hair. His blood-moon eyes looked over everyone in the room individually before anyone dared speak. Finally, he opened his mouth.

"This is the center of a company that arms humans againsts ghosts and similar threats. Yes?"

Shocked, a few people nodded.

"And you are all from the department keeping stock of supplies. I do not know where your weapons are kept, but I know that you do. Someone in here will retrieve them for me. I need them, if I am to bring my people, ghosts and humans, together again."

The tension finally broke the membrane freezing time, and several office workers started to move for phones.

"Don't bother trying to get help. I have severed all the lines of communication between you and the world outside this office. I will leave you alone, as soon as someone leads me to the armory."

Maurice glanced at the little LCD display on the phone on his desk. No signal. His computer, too, had nothing when he clicked over to the Internet settings.

No one said anything. Some kept trying with their phones, but not a single person offered to explain how scant and useless the actual in-house ecto-equipment supply was or show the path to it. Maurice imagined they were all thinking the same thing he was; yes, complying was generally the way to stay safe in a hostage situation, and panic was strong, but a ghost coming into town and getting their hands on even just half-assembled ecto-equipment never went well. And, maybe even more importantly, VLADCO had terrifyingly strict regulations on safe ecto-tech policy. Unless the immediate threat of being personally hurt for information increased, the consequences in the long run were the biggest monster here.

The ghost crossed his arms. "Fine. You have one hour to bring me to the weapons. I can wait. I have waited this long. If you take any longer, or if you attempt any trickery, then I will start going through with threats. Until then, you may have your time to panic and fantasize about ways out that don't involve giving up company supply. I will be standing here."

He leaned against the door, and his gaze stayed rock-hard on the workers and their cubicles.

Maurice caught the eye of his most tolerable coworker Jacob. Jacob widened his eyes in some silent look of panicked questioning. Maurice shrugged. He was scared out of his mind, but what was there to do? Freaking out wouldn't do anybody any good. He could wait here and see if any ghost hunter showed up, and once they got closer to the end of the hour, everybody could meet up and decide if it was worth giving up the ecto-tech.

For now... well, he certainly wasn't going to do more accounting. This was as good an excuse for a break as any.

He toyed around on his computer for a bit, fidgeting with whatever programs he had. Maybe if the ghost noticed him, he could say he was looking for office schematics explaining where the ecto-tech was held. Really, he couldn't think to do anything but let off stress.

He played around in the rudimentary E-mail client for a bit. Mimed sending goofy messages to his coworkers while he knew he couldn't accidentally send them. But there, at the top of his inbox, was the automated morning office update. It had just come in four minutes ago... after the communications were shut off.

Was there some kind of hole in the ghost's anti-communication measure? The intercoms weren't working, and normal E-mails weren't going through, even within just Finances & Supplies. But the daily updates worked on a different system than the normal E-mails, so nobody had to send them at a consistent time each day, just queue them up.

...Was there something about the different setup that made it immune to the ghost's blackout?

Maurice got to investigating.

[woah-were-halfway-there]

Along For The Ride: Blueprint

Word Count: 5.5k

A/N: finallyyyyy here’s the blueprint blurb that is way too long to be an actual blurb

When he entered the room and saw the camera, Auston knew what was happening. He agreed to do a segment for an upcoming episode of Blueprint but wasn’t exactly sure what questions he’d be asked.

Practice ended about half an hour prior, so Auston’s hair was still slightly damp from his post-practice shower. Nonetheless, he was cozy in his sweater and sweatpants as he gently rubbed his left thumb over his wedding band, a gesture he tended to do when he felt a little uneasy.

After a couple more nods and quiet hellos, someone approached Auston and handed him a small microphone as he got situated on the chair in front of the camera.

“Oh, thanks,” Auston said while clipping the mic onto his sweater collar with ease. “Good?”

“Great,” the producer replied with a smile. “You ready for your feature?”

“I guess so,” Auston chuckled. “Still not sure what you guys have planned for this, but I’m happy to help.”

“We had this idea for a specific part of Blueprint that, well, we think fans will really enjoy, and it’s centric around you. So we’ll talk to you and ask you some questions from off-camera, but of course, if there’s something you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to. Sounds good?”

“Sure, let’s do this.”

Auston shifted in his seat once more as he watched the producer talk to the cameraman and ensure the lighting looked good. She said they’d begin in a few moments, so Auston waited patiently until his phone buzzed in his pocket.

The screen lit up once he took the device out of his pocket, and Auston couldn’t help but feel himself relax when he saw the picture of him, Carson and Mia that was set as his lock screen. The picture was from the night before his and Carson’s wedding that past summer. The evening of their rehearsal dinner. Carson was dressed in a silky white jumpsuit with her hair in simple waves while Auston was wearing dress pants and a light blue button-up that matched the little blue flowers that decorated Mia’s dress, the same blue Carson’s bridesmaids would be wearing the following day.

The photo itself was simple. Carson and Auston were holding Mia and had posed for a few pictures, but Mia, out of nowhere, glanced up at her mom and giggled. So naturally, Carson couldn’t contain her massive smile in response while asking Mia what she thought was so funny. Of course, Mia laughed again, which made Auston smile, too.

Auston couldn’t remember who caught the candid moment on camera but was glad they did. It was one of his favourite pictures, and even though there were pictures from his wedding day he could use as his lock screen, he loved the simplicity of that one.  

After realizing he’d just been looking at his phone for a moment, Auston then glanced down the screen to see the notification was from Carson. In the message, she told him that she and Mia were out grocery shopping and to let her know if there was anything he wanted in particular.

Auston was texting back a response when his phone buzzed with another text from Carson. This time it was a selfie of Mia wearing a hoodie and a little beanie, slumped against her mom and not looking very impressed.

“This tired girl misses her daddy,” the message read, making Auston smile again.

He immediately wanted to call Carson, even just to hear her voice and get a proper update on Mia, but the producer then announced they would start filming in 30 seconds. So, Auston quickly texted Carson, saying he was good with whatever groceries she got and would come home to snuggle his mini once he was done filming.

After that, he slid the phone back into his pocket and braced himself for whatever he was about to be asked.

“Ok, Auston, thanks again for doing this,” the producer said.

“No problem. Thanks for having me.”

“So, as most people know, this will be your first full hockey season as a dad. How does it feel?”

“Oh,” Auston replied, a little caught off guard by the question but quickly playing it off and smiling again before he continued. “Surreal. Mia… she’s just the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Can you tell us more about her?”

Auston paused, feeling a little hesitant to answer, then nodded.

“I adore her. She’s everything good in this world. Yeah, there’s never a dull moment with Mia. She’s just so fun and curious about the world. She can be sassy, though, which her mother always says she gets from me. But it’s amazing to see her grow and watch her little personality form.”

“Amazing. As we mentioned, this is your first full season since becoming a dad, correct?” The producer asked, which made Auston chuckle slightly because he knew she knew the answer already but was trying to get him to talk more so they could edit his interview into clips.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Auston started and quickly thought of ways to keep going.

“Mia was born at the end of January. Wow, it’s wild that she will be a year old so soon. When she was born, I was lucky that the team was in Toronto already. I didn’t have to rush back and spend a flight alone, hoping I’d make it on time and be there to support her mom in whatever way I could. I know that’s not the same for many of the guys in the league, so I know how fortunate I was in that situation. I got to spend a few days at home as well. I was able to miss a game and spend those first couple of days at home, which was so important. Again, I was lucky too because I only had to miss one game, even though I may have looked into taking a leave if it came down to it.”

“Anyways, I was home after that game because we had a few days off. I was only asked to do shorter practices, then my first game back was in Detroit, I think. It wasn’t far, and we had another home game soon after, so I wasn’t even gone for a whole day. We had one more away game within the first week of Mia's birth. Again that wasn’t too far from Toronto, so I could be home quite a bit for that first little while. She was a little over two weeks old when the team went on a lengthy road trip. We were gone for close to a week, which was a lot for me, like. I’d get ridiculously anxious if I went so long without getting an update on how things were at home. That trip was pretty testing, but I knew I’d have to do it eventually.”

Once he finished his spiel, Auston blinked, surprised by how he comfortably just went on about all of that. However, with the way the producer, cameraman and other crew members were smiling and nodding at each other, Auston could tell they loved the content they were getting.

“That’s great, Auston,” the producer told him. “And what’s it like for you now to be away so much?”

“Being away from home? Oh, it sucks,” Auston replied bluntly, making everyone laugh and himself smile. “What? It does.”

“Wow, usually he’s more dramatic about being away than that,” Mitch spoke as he and Michael walked out from behind the camera. Auston assumed that the two guys were cutting through to go to the locker room, but they couldn’t keep on going. So instead, Mitchy stopped dead in his tracks to glance between Auston and the camera. “Wait, are you guys doing a feature on him?”

“Yeah, and you’re ruining the shot!” Auston laughed.

“Oh, well, that sucks,” Bunts said as he casually walked over and pretended to try to push Auston off his chair. “For you.”

“Get outta here,” Auston chuckled and pushed him away.

“What’s the feature about?” Bunts asked the producer as he walked back over to Mitch.

“We’re asking him about Mia,” the producer responded.

“And you didn’t want to ask ME?” Mitch asked disbelievingly. “I’m her godfather!”

“You’re on our list of people to ask for comments, Mitch. Don’t worry,” one of the sound guys explained. “We figured we’d talk to, you know, the one that’s a new dad, about his daughter first.”

“Ok, that’s fair,” Mitchy responded and continued walking. “Carry on.”

“You know, I’m offended I’m not getting asked about Mia,” Bunts stated while looking over his shoulder as he walked with Mitch. “We’re besties.”

“She likes me better,” Mitch scoffed.

“That’s not true!”

That was the last thing anyone heard from the two boys as they rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight.

After a moment, Auston just shook his head and smiled before looking towards the crew again. “Where were we?”

“You were telling us about what it’s like being away from your baby so much,” the producer reminded him.

“Right. Yeah, being away sucks a whole lot, and I’m sure I’m not the first hockey player-dad to say that, either. Being in a position where you’re gone from home so much and having a baby, you can’t help but think about everything you’re missing. There are milestones and other situations that will happen with Mia that I don’t want to miss, but given the type of job I have, I know it’s likely that I will. And that’s a tough pill to swallow. I’m so lucky because I have a partner… my wife, Carson, who is absolutely incredible. She holds the fort down at home while I’m gone and is the best mom to our little girl.”

Auston paused after that, feeling many things as he reached up to wipe away a tear. “I’m sorry, guys. I don’t mean to get emotional.”

“No, it’s ok,” the producer assured him. “Take your time.”

“It’s just- she’s everything to me. Carson, she’s my rock. I couldn’t do this without her, and I know it’s not easy for her with me being away constantly, but she never wavers in supporting what I do. She’s amazing, and sometimes I worry I don’t tell her enough. Like even just now, before we started this, she texted me asking if there was anything I wanted while she was out grocery shopping with Mia. I told her to get whatever, but I know that I’ll get home in a bit, and she’ll have picked up some of my favourite things and things I wouldn’t have even thought to ask for, but she knew I’d want. That’s just how Carson is.”

“Most of us here have had the pleasure of meeting Carson before, even just in passing, and from what I personally know about her, what you’re saying checks out,” the producer chuckled. “She seems like the type to pay attention to the little things.”

“Oh, yeah, like I never forget anything because she always remembers it for me somehow,” Auston replied, making everyone laugh.

“Ok, be honest,” a camera guy said. “Is Mia more of a mama or daddy’s girl?”

“That’s not even a question,” Auston scoffed. “She’s the biggest daddy’s girl. I always get called out for it, too, because it shows. Carson always gets grumpy about it because, well, I call Mia my mini. Out of Carson and I, she does look a bit more like me with the dark hair and eyes, which has Carson like, ‘of course, she couldn’t just look like you. She has to be a daddy’s girl too.’ And I just love it. I love that little girl so much. But Mia is very attached to her mom too, though. They’re partners in crime and rely on each other the most when I’m not home and just in life. Mia also has, like, her people. Aside from Carson and me, she’s got some really great people that she’s very attached to.”

“Like who?” Asked the producer.

“My mom is one, for sure. She and Mia have such a strong bond, and it’s easy to see. Whenever my family visits here, as soon as Mia recognizes my mom, she lights up and reaches for her. Then my mom would just hold onto her, talking with her and pout when someone else wanted a turn. I think us being in Arizona and with my family during the offseason helped develop that bond a lot, but Mia loves her whole family so much. She’s also very attached to Carson’s brother Nate and, as painful as it is to say, Mitchy. With Carson and Mitch being cousins, I think he and Nate remind Mia a lot of each other. She’s always giggling nonstop when she’s with either of them.”

“Mitch has made it clear how much he loves Mia, but what about the other guys? She’s quite popular with the team, isn’t she?”

“That’s an understatement,” Auston explained. “She’s got each of those guys wrapped around her little finger.”

The crew laughed at that and then glanced at each other momentarily before the producer stood up from her seat.

“Ok, I think that’s good,” she said and nodded at the cameraman to stop filming. “You gave us a lot to work with there, Auston. We really appreciate it.”

“It was no problem at all,” Auston replied, smiling as he took off his mic and stood up. “Is there anything more you guys need from me today?”

“No, no, you’re good. Go get home to Carson and Mia,” the producer told Auston as he handed her the mic.

“Don’t have to tell me twice. See ya guys.”

~*~

A couple of days later, Auston was back at practice thinking nothing about the feature he’d filmed. He knew if the filming crew needed anything more, they’d ask. So, it was easy for him to continue on normally focusing on hockey.

However, unbeknownst to him, it wasn’t just a regular day at practice.

Carson was outside the rink area, where the team would walk to and from the dressing room, talking with the producer and a cameraman. Mia chilled in her car seat on the ground next to her, blowing raspberries as she played with the ring toy she was gripping onto.

“Ok, yeah, so I’ll put this on and then just take Mia up to the glass, right?” Carson asked as she clipped the tiny mic the producer handed her to her sweater. “Is there anything you’d like me to say as we walk up?”

“Just introduce yourself and yeah, just do whatever you’re comfortable with,” the producer said, smiling. “We know that for you and Auston even to have Mia take part in this is huge, and we appreciate you letting us film this.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all. We know this is a safe space for Mia, even if there are cameras. She’s with us too. I also really appreciate you asking if it was ok to film us rather than just assuming. I know Auston would too.”

“Of course, the players' and their families' privacy will always be something we respect,” the producer replied but was soon cut off by a squeal coming from Mia, who was looking up and reaching toward her mom. “Well, it seems like someone wants your attention.”

“Ma, mama,” Mia babbled while not looking away from Carson, showing how at almost a year old, she did in fact know who mama was.

“Wow, sorry, little miss,” Carson said, laughing slightly as she crouched down to take Mia out of her car seat. After standing back up, Carson immediately went into mom mode, adjusting the little fluffy beanie Mia was wearing and ensuring her jacket was zipped all the way up while mumbling about not wanting Mia to be cold. The producer watched, smiling, as the two girls had their little moment that ended with Carson kissing Mia’s head before looking back at the others. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Take all the time you need,” the producer told her. “We’re ready whenever you are.”

“Thanks. I think we’re ready,” Carson replied.

“Great,” said the cameraman. “You’re good to start right there, and I’ll count down from five to let you know when we’re starting to film.”

“Got it.”

Carson nodded and smiled at the other two just before they started going over some final details and moved her attention back to Mia, who was leaning against her chest while taking in their new surroundings.

“I know, sweet girl,” Carson said as she reached up to gently play with Mia’s little curls sticking out from the beanie she wore. “This is a whole new place, isn’t it? It’s a little nerve-wracking at first, but we’ll see your daddy very soon.”

At that, Mia perked up and moved away from Carson’s chest to get a better look at her mom.

“Dada,” she repeated but sounded like she asked a question, which made Carson laugh.

“Yes, dada,” Carson explained, then tickled Mia to get some giggles out of her. “And Mitchy and Willy and Bunts. All of your favourite guys.”

Mia started giggling like crazy the more Carson tickled her. Still, soon her attention fell back to the two strangers standing nearby, and she immediately leaned against her mom again and clutched onto Carson’s sweater.

“Ok, Carson. Here we go,” the producer warned her about how they were about to start filming. “In five, four, three, two-.”

Instead of saying one, the producer pointed and nodded to Carson, signalling the camera was rolling.

“Um, hi,” Carson started, suddenly feeling very nervous. Similarly to Auston, when she felt anxious, Carson tended to fiddle with her wedding and engagement rings. It was challenging to do that as she held Mia, but when she glanced down at the little girl hiding her face against the fabric of the sweater she wore, Carson’s nerves faded because she was suddenly focused on ensuring Mia felt better. As someone who struggled with anxiety and often blamed herself for Mia seemingly experiencing the same thing, Carson was always the best person to help Mia in such moments.

“I’m Carson Matthews, and this is Mia. She’s a little shy with being around so many new people and in an unfamiliar setting, but we’re here to surprise the guys with a little visit. Hey, Mia, can you look at me for a sec?”

Mia hesitated momentarily as Carson tapped her, trying to get her attention, but didn’t want to move from where she was comfortably hiding against her mom’s chest. She slowly leaned back to look up at Carson, showing how her eyes were beginning to water from the unsureness she was feeling.

“Oh, my sweet girl,” Carson said, visibly melting after making eye contact with Mia.

At that moment, she forgot about the camera. She didn’t care about it anymore because Mia was her number-one priority over everything. Had she been more aware of the camera, she probably would’ve said maybe filming wasn’t a good idea. However, she became too focused on Mia even to remember the presence of others.

The producer and cameraman picked up on what was happening and debated cutting the camera, but they knew if Carson wanted them to stop, she’d tell them, and they fully respected that. So, they decided to continue filming to see how their little situation played out and was fully prepared to scrap the idea of that segment entirely out of regard for Mia’s feelings. However, they didn’t need to because they soon caught a very sweet moment between the mother-and-daughter duo and were highly impressed by how Carson handled everything.

“Mama,” was all Mia had to babble for Carson to know how she was feeling.

“I got you, baby,” Carson spoke softly before pecking Mia’s nose. In response, Mia wrapped her arms around Carson’s neck and leaned against her shoulder, to which Carson just held her and began rubbing her back. “Oh, I know. I know. It’s a lot seeing all these new things, isn’t it? But, you know what, look who’s over here.”

Carson then walked over to the large frosted glass sliding doors the Leafs go through to enter the rink. The doors opened and showed the team practicing on the other side, which piqued Mia’s interest. The Leafs were at the opposite end of the rink, so no one noticed the doors slide open to show Carson and Mia standing together. Carson squeezed Mia and pointed to Auston, who was slightly closer to them but was too occupied speaking with one of the coaches to realize he had visitors.

“Do you know who that is?”

“Dada,” Mia answered, not missing a beat and almost instantly seeming to be in better spirits as she focused on her dad.

“Yes, that’s dada,” Carson said, then placed multiple kisses on Mia’s cheek, making the little girl giggle happily. “Wanna go see him?”

Mia nodded, continuing to watch Auston until the doors closed again. “Dada!”

At that, Carson turned around to face the camera and look at the producer, resuming what they were doing prior.

“They don’t know we’re here,” Carson explained. “Well, Sheldon, the other coaches and Johnny do, but that’s it. The plan is that as soon as Sheldon calls for the end of practice, we go out there and surprise Auston with a visit. He got a ride out here this morning with Bunts and thinks that’s how he’s getting home, too, so he has no idea.”

A loud whistle blew on the rink side of the doors, making Carson react by turning around to face the doors again. However, she paused, unsure if it was the right time to go out.

“They’re finishing up, Carson,” one of the Leafs staff members said, smiling as she walked by, but not without waving as she went. “Hi, Mia!”

Mia squealed happily in response, seeming to recognize the woman.

“That’s our cue, little miss,” Carson told Mia before glancing over her shoulder at the camera. “Here we go.”

Carson approached the doors again, this time more confidently, as she strode into the rink area and walked next to the glass towards the bench.

The guys were huddled around Keefe, listening to the last bit of his spiel before ending the practice. Keefe spotted Carson walking with Mia and tried to contain the smirk tugging at his lips as he spoke, knowing what would happen when the guys noticed the girls’ presence.

“Alright, that’s it,” Keefe said, nodding toward the guys as the music they were blaring cut out. “You guys have a day off tomorrow. Enjoy it, and I’ll see you all at the airport on Sunday.”

With that, the group dispersed. The guys took their time getting off the ice, having a brief conversation with one another or going over to collect pieces of equipment before heading out.

Still, no one noticed Carson and Mia except those who knew they were there. John tried to get Auston’s attention, but Auston was too occupied talking to Gio as they each grabbed their water bottles.

Some guys turned around and began skating to the door so they could leave the ice. Once they saw Carson with Mia, they smiled and waved, knowing Auston’s day was about to be made and caught on camera simultaneously. So, they decided to hang around to see it all play out.

Carson tried to remain patient but wanted to get Auston’s attention so badly. Luckily, though, Gio turned around after a moment and spotted her. He smiled, then nudged Auston and nodded towards Carson so he’d see who was waiting for him.

Auston didn’t know what Gio was trying to show him, and it showed when he turned around, and his face lit right up upon seeing his girls on the other side of the rink waiting for him. He was smiling so wide as he skated over to them, not noticing the camera at first as he stopped in front of the two girls and leaned over the boards towards them.

“What’re you guys doing here?” He asked, still cheesing hard as he leaned over the boards more to give Carson a quick kiss.

“We wanted to surprise you,” Carson replied and nodded toward the camera so he’d see. “And figured I’d give you a ride home.”

“Ah, I see,” Auston said as he glanced over at the camera briefly, knowing they were filming to add to the feature they were doing on him for the Blueprint. He didn’t mind, though, because it didn’t take long for his attention to move entirely to the little girl who had been so patient and excited to see him. “Hi, mini!”

Without a second thought, Auston started reaching to take Mia from Carson. But, much to his dismay, Carson stepped away and shook her head, making Auston look at her with the most butthurt expression.

“Nuh-uh, you’re all sweaty,” Carson complained. “I just bathed her this morning.”

“Carse,” Auston pouted, not caring who heard. “You can’t not let me hold her.”

“You can hold her after you’ve showered,” Carson sassed right back, making the guys standing nearby break into fits of laughter over how devastated Auston looked.

“But that’ll take too long. I wanna hold her now.”

“Then you better get to the locker room and shower.”

Auston still looked at Carson with a pout and huffed dramatically, hoping she’d crack. It didn’t work, but luckily for Auston, something else did.

“Dada,” Mia said, smiling so wide as she reached toward Auston.

“See, she wants me to hold her,” Auston stated as a matter of factly.

Carson glared at him momentarily, then sighed in defeat before shifting Mia in her hold so she could properly pass Auston, their daughter. “You’re giving her a bath again once we’re home.”

“Hi, my girl,” Auston greeted happily as he moved away from the boards slightly, not acknowledging what Carson said.

Carson watched the two together and couldn’t help but smile at least a little bit. She loved them both and how much they loved each other so much. Then she shook her head and glanced toward the camera.

“I used to be his girl.”

“You still are,” Auston quipped, not even looking away from Mia but matching Carson’s sass with ease, even though she was teasing.

Carson rolled her eyes at that, her smile growing wider as she did, though. However, a familiar voice yelled from across the ice before she could say anything else.

“Is that Meems?” Mitch called out and was quick skating over.

“Mia!” Willy said excitedly and followed after Mitch, Bunts not trailing far behind him.

“Oh, there’s my favourite Matthews,” Mo stated as he joined as well and soon, most of the guys were crowding around, trying to say hi to Mia, and she loved every second of it. Of course, they were all happy to see Carson too.

“Would you back off,” Auston snapped at Mitch, who was trying to take Mia from him.

“You literally get to spend the most time with her. Let me hold her,” Mitch replied.

“She’s my daughter!”

“She’s my goddaughter!”

The two started bickering, making Carson facepalm as she waited for them to stop. Slowly, some guys made their way off the ice and nodded to Carson before heading to the dressing room as the arguing continued.

“Carson, can you tell him to stop?” Auston pleaded with his wife, sounding like a child who wasn’t getting his way.

“Don’t try to get her to take your side,” Mitchy scoffed, then looked at his cousin in disbelief. “Control your husband, Carse.”

“Both of you are ridiculous,” Carson replied, shaking her head. She had another sassy remark ready, but then she noticed Mia fighting so hard to keep her eyes open while leaning against Auston and decided to step in. “How about I take Mia, and we head home because it’s getting near her naptime? And Mitchy, you and Steph can either come over later tonight or tomorrow so you can see her before you’re both gone on your roadtrip.”

“Are you making food?” Mitch asked with zero hesitation, to which Carson nodded.

“I can.”

“Sold.”

“Sick invite,” Bunts scoffed and looked at Carson disbelievingly.

“You know you’re always welcome, Mikey,” Carson told him as she took Mia back, who let out a big yawn as she snuggled closer to her mom. She then looked at Auston and spoke again. “I’m trying to ignore that she smells like you now.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad,” Auston whined, then smiled down at Mia. “I’ll go shower, though, so we can get this tired girl home for a nap.”

He then leaned toward Carson, wanting to give her another peck on the lips, but stopped, afraid she’d move away and say he smelled bad again. Carson knew that’s exactly what was going on in his mind and felt bad for a second because she was just teasing, even though he definitely needed to shower. So, to let him know she didn’t actually care that much about how smelly he was, she closed the gap between them and stood on her tiptoes to catch his lips in a kiss.

Carson could feel Auston smiling against her mouth, which made her do the same. Then the moment was ruined by a loud noise, which made them jump slightly.

“My bad,” Willy stated as he bent down to pick up the stick he accidentally dropped. Mia looked at the blonde with a slight scowl because of the loud noise he made, which made Willy feel terrible. “Oh, Mia. Don’t look at me like that. I’m sorry.”

Mia continued looking at him, unimpressed, but her expression soon turned into a smile. Which was a given, seeing how much she loves Willy.

Carson and Auston looked at each other, trying not to laugh at the interaction between Willy and Mia, but they couldn’t help it. However, seconds later, Mia yawned and snuggled close to Carson again, reminding her parents it was almost nap time.

“Ok, we should really be heading home soon,” Auston said as he stepped through the open door so he could make his way to the dressing room. “I’ll go shower right now. Meet you outside the dressing room in like 20 minutes?”

“Deal,” Carson responded, earning herself a wink from her husband before he headed off.

Shortly after Auston left, the cameraman stopped filming, which Carson completely forgot was even happening still. The producer thanked her again for letting them film her and Mia before saying they would go off and film a few more little things for the feature. So, Carson took off the mic she was wearing and returned it before the producer and cameraman went back through the sliding doors and out of sight.

Carson stayed in the rink area for a little while, talking to Mitchy and the few guys that still lingered around, but it didn’t take long to notice Mia’s cheeks getting rosy from being around the ice for so long. Mitchy saw Carson realize Mia was getting cold and witnessed her shifting into mom mode like he had so many times before. It made him really happy seeing how incredible of a mother his best friend was turning out to be.

All the guys she was still speaking with understood and figured they should probably head to the dressing room and change out of their gear.

Once they were back in the warmth of the lobby area, Carson got Mia settled back into her car seat with a fluffy blanket, then put a baby sensory video of dancing fruit on for Mia to watch as they waited for Auston. The video was enough to keep Mia occupied for the roughly 10 minutes it took for Auston. She was on the verge of passing out when Auston finally joined them and barely even reacted as he approached them because she was so focused on her video.

Auston just chuckled, knowing how much those sensory videos put Mia at ease, and he decided not to disrupt her as he approached.

“Ready to go?” He asked Carson as he grabbed her coat from a nearby chair and held it up to help her into it.

“More than ready,” Carson replied as she put on the coat and turned to face Auston again as she zipped it up. “Thanks, babe.”

“Of course. And ok, let's go. I’ll drive us home.”

Carson nodded in response, appreciative of his offer because, similarly to Mia, she was getting tired and ready to crawl into bed.

“After we get home and put Mia in her crib, wanna nap with me?” Carson asked as Auston grabbed Mia’s car seat to carry her out to the car.

“I would love to,” he answered, smiling as he stood back up.

Auston then wrapped his free arm around Carson and held her close as they made their way out of the practice facility, not knowing the cameraman and producer were nearby catching this one last sweet family moment on video.

[isopod-chan]

Another success story.

Trigger warning: cancer on a parent.

For context, read my previous success story, where I manifested my health insurance card back.

The day before I made that post, I was face with an almost identical situation, with identical success.

I had the hospital's business card with my next appointment written on the back. The doctor did this for both of my visits, so I had the old card and new card with me.

It wasn't until after new years that I lost that business card as well.

An unknown yet verified number kept calling me, and when I answered, it was a machine telling me about my next appointment. Unfortunately, I'm a frequent victim of random spam calls, so I just thought someone gave the wrong number and their doctor was now calling me (It had already happened multiple times before).

It wasn't until my mom remembered my appointment that we realized I totally messed up. One day of angry mom scoldings later, I was now searching my room up and down, left and right for that damn business card. Boy, the things that happen to me.

I kept thinking about that success post I made; saved in my drafts, unfinished. I knew the law couldn't fail me now, so (the loa girlies are gonna h8 me for saying this) I kept wishing to the universe to get another chance to write down the date and time of the appointment.

Call me again. The doctor will call me again. I'll have another call from the doctor's phone machine. I will find the card. I will find it written somewhere else. Dad or mom will get the schedule texted to them. I will have it sent to me. I don't care how, but whatever it takes, I will get that schedule.

I checked my messages. I tried calling back. I looked through all my purses and cabinets and boxes and pockets. Nothing. At one point, I just kept grabbing the old card on accident, so I threw it on my bed frame, but it fell under the bed.

Whatever. I'll get it tomorrow. I'm exhausted.

Tomorrow came, and I kept looking, now with a shorter deadline.

I checked my purse again, and felt something inside the pocket.

The old business card. With the old appointment.

I completely forgot I put it there to get it out of the way while searching. So if the old card was in my purse... that means the new card... was under the bed!!!

Sure enough, I found it, gave it to mom, and she was the most relieved mom ever. My surgery was fine, so mom used my appointment to go see the doctor herself, since other hospitals were too full for her urgent need.

Today, mom came back from the hospital with a gauze on her nose. I finished feeding our patient (we're caregivers; we work in our home) and left the room so she could talk to me in private.

Her suspicions were correct. The lump on her nose was cancer, and the doctor said it was "too dangerous to wait until June" (that's where the other doctors placed her appointment. Yeah, MONTHS from now). Any longer and it would've spread further.

My doctor is always prepared, so he quickly did surgery on her nose and removed the cancer completely.

My mother was saved thanks to my manifesting.

I'm at a loss for words. I don't even know how to end this post. I'm crying while writing this.

All I can say is, never lose hope. Never lose trust in the law. Never doubt your powers. You are so incredibly strong.

[farmerbebop]

Back by unpopular demand: one last holiday update. It doesn't have much action but it's a holiday so we don't really need that.

1. I suddenly got some skin rashes and showed them to mom. She immediately took out something she called "all-purpose spray" and I only got a chance to say "What even is an all-purpose spray?" before she sprayed it on my skin. She said I must have forgotten to apply sun cream in the afternoon when I went out for an hour or so, which is true. She said I can't go out after lunch until late afternoon again because it's too hot. The next morning at 9 a.m. she just put tons of sun scream on me and sent me out and said when I'm back and can't find her on the beach that means she is back at the hotel, and I must be back for lunch.

You can see why no healthy child can get sick and no sick child wouldn't get well under my mom's care and when I did get sick as a kid she never failed to remind me of what I did wrong. I would lie sobbing on my bed until my dad came back from work and assured me I did nothing wrong and if I would just drink some orange juice everything would be alright again. (My dad can convince a general of an enemy army to drink his orange juice if he has to but that's not the point here.)

2. The Hippocratic Museum is small and had only a few visitors when I was there so 'the old man with a book' personally gave everyone a tour. He was the only one there before another woman came and sat at the counter. She gave me a free postcard for the five that I bought.

For someone who used to eavesdrop on other people's guide in museums like me, this is great. One time I was eavesdropping when I realized no one would believe I belong to this group of people the way I look.

At the Roman Odeon I saw a man wearing only his shorts standing at the top posing for a photo and felt quite relieved because now I am not the only one who looks like a three-year-old next to Patrick McGoohan.

3. We wanted to go on the "kindergarten train" as I call it, the one that takes a bunch of tourists around town, but the driver told me they have to wait until they have at least six passengers. After a few days we finally caught the right moment and we got driven around town together with another family. After a while, a man from a restaurant nearby ran out and greeted the driver and he stopped in the middle of the road to talk to the man for like five minutes. My mom, too used to living in Germany after nearly 30 years, has never seen anything like this and was like "Can you believe this?"

Mom can't walk far so our evenings were spent within 10 minutes walk from the hotel. One time we went to a pub on the street overlooking the harbour and it has less non-alcoholic choices than the street vendor has corn products (boiled corn, grilled corn and popcorn). I inherited the love for glutinous carbs from my grandma and so I prefer grilled corn everyday to choosing between a drink called virgin something and another called pornstar something. My best friend is still struggling to find a boyfriend because most of them run away when they find out she has a PhD. I WONDER WHY.

4. Mom asked me how to send a heart emoji as reaction instead of a thumbs-up on facebook post because her niece posted a photo of her daughter's birthday. None of us is sure what the birthday girl's real name is. We only know her by her pet name. She is four years old and the other day she just told her grandpa "Grandma does housework the whole day and you do nothing. What are you sitting there for? Sitting there will only make you fat."

Almost every kid I have seen is better with words than I was at their age. Back when my little sister was a small kid, whenever I washed the dishes, she would say "Do you want to hear a story?" then bring a chair and sit down next to me and make up a story on the spot. When she went to the toilet for a longer time I had to come too, so that she could tell me her stories.

I sometimes have to read letters from electricity company, insurance company, etc. for my mom. I have headaches every time reading those letters. Mom said even Germans sleep on the street because they can't handle the paperwork for unemployment benefits.

5. Mom's boss called to make sure she is coming back on time. Mom said business is not that good so he gets bored sitting at the shop. He tried to reduce the electricity costs by not allowing mom to turn on her music player. Mom took it home and after one time taking care of the shop he said the music player can return.

He also runs a private taxi service, used to make money by buying and reselling flower shops, had a restaurant once, saved quite a lot of money. He hired his wife with a high salary and transferred the money to her to legalize it so that they could use that money to buy a house. Then his wife ran away.

This job doesn't pay much but mom can't work the whole day anymore so her choices are limited. She also doesn't want to have her own shop. She is too old for that. She said there's this woman who did the cleaning in the hospital for years, bought a shop with her savings, but she doesn't know how to do the work so she has to hire an employee. It's not possible to make any profits with the rent and the salary to pay so now she still has to clean the hospital.

6. Mom asked if my dad still wants me to get married. I told her he has enough to worry about beside that. She laughed and said he is probably just tired of talking to me about it.

If there's anything my dad is not tired of doing, it is talking. He can be so drunk he can't even walk, but he can still talk in metaphors and if he wants to say he doesn't like what you have done he will say it in a way that makes you vomit blood, if you can understand it within three days.

I remember him talking a great deal about getting married but I can't remember the details. The gist of it is, he believes there are some good guys out there.

Mom said getting married is like gambling. But if there's one choice that has to be made right when things go wrong it is the choice between your husband and your kids. And you always have to choose your kids.

She also said if you can't find a partner, no one is gonna take care of you when you are old. We really never ask where the hell our government is.

7. There's a place in the world where I would crawl back to if I'm fatally wounded and I'm sure the island of Kos also means the same thing to someone out there. Once you have seen it, you'll understand why it's the birthplace of Hippocrates.

[livewireprojects]

Pride Month 2024 Sonic Sketches

Second pic made in Procreate, kinda excited about it

Made a few sketches for pride month, kind of started out with a comic were Silver comes out to his mom as bisexual along with a pic of Blaze after telling her dad then decided to draw everyone at a pride parade & showing their pride

Everyone here is kind of based on my own ideas for the characters especially Mephiles since anything involving him has to do with the version I made for him for post-06 reboot. Also some stuff is in color(Blaze's forehead gem, Cosmo's necklace, Amy's headband, Sonic's hair clip, ghost aura stuff) cause it seemed fitting due to the meanings behind the colors on the pride flag.(Like purple for soul)

Middle row

Like the text says Blaze told her dad & he made her a frog hat to support her. He's a nice/friendly guy that cares a lot, it's unfortunate that Blaze's late mom was so terrible & left with Blaze for her own intentions.

Rouge & Knuckles at pride, I was a little worried about how well I got Rouge's bisexual flag makeup. I eventually fixed up the lipstick & added matching earrings. Knuckles unintentionally looks like a pirate cause I can't draw his hat at angles. So yeah my version of Knuckles & Rouge are bi, Knuckles use to date Sonic(in my ver) & Rouge has some interest in women in the past.(Especially Topaz at one point)

Here's Blaze & Silver, Silver has a bi flag cardigan. Pretty much at some point the two realized together they're bi. They eventually told their parents(well Blaze's mom is gone so she only told her dad) & they luckily have supportive families.

Surge isn't in my Lost Prince stuff but I thought she & Amy were cute together in the fanart people made. I also think Metal was interesting with Amy, at some point gets with her in the future in my Lost Prince AU. Metal at some point stops working for Eggman & tries to make their own identity after a talk with Sonic especially since they were becoming more sentient. Metal wasn't sure what he wanted but eventually figured things out.

Right row

The context of the sign is that this is meant to be Tails, Cosmo(revived as a plant/mobian chipmunk hybrid) & Cream when they're older & in their teens or later. The time skip is mostly cause at the moment Cream is pretty young in present day, Tails is too but he's slightly older. I guess you could say Tails & Cosmo had a puppy love or something then things got serious when they were older when Cosmo returned then later Cream joined them.

Cream is pretty accepting of who she's into, I dunno what Cosmo is into(I guess technically bi since she's dating Tails & later Cream when Cream joined the couple), Tails I think maybe straight but I dunno. At the very least Tails is supportive of his friends & brother.

Context for this is just I wanted to add Vanilla & her late spouse so them from the future. Added Vector cause him & Vanilla are kinda cute so he's her relationship from the future. So Vanilla's late partner is my OC Cake who despite willing to be called a dad by their kids(Cream & at some point Sonic cause I like the idea of the rabbits adopting him) & only them, Cake was nonbinary. The rabbit family is pretty accepting of people.

Decided to bring in Gadget & Zero/Infinite, the guy in the corner is Zero's late dad who I'll explain at a late point

And then there's these three. I'm not entirely sure what my thoughts on Shadow & Mephiles are, at some point I think I realized demisexual felt right for Shadow. Like I said before any of my thoughts on Mephiles are specifically for the version I made of him for post-reboot in Sonic 06. I was originally thinking of giving him the male gay pride flag but given what I've done with him in Lost Prince AU I kinda realized he fits in with demisexual too. While my version of Sonic identifies as male he likes dressing in whatever he wants & isn't exactly gender-conforming.

Sonic mostly dressed up for pride & tied a pride flag to his neck like a cape. For some reason Mephiles is the only one I tried making designs for on his outfit.

Here's a cropped version of the comic. Pretty much Silver & Blaze realized they were bisexual, at some point Silver got the courage to tell his mom & later his dads.*

For some context Silver's mom is male & in a relationship with men*, he's pretty accepting so Silver doesn't need to worry much. However his worries are understandable because of being around Blaze a lot & seeing how her mom treated her. Blaze's mom was strict & caused a lot of issues that Blaze is still recovering from. Blaze left with Silver & Venice at some point leading to meeting her dad & becoming estranged from her mom. Her mom is gone now but as said Blaze is still recovering. Silver's family(along with Blaze's dad) understand & reassure Silver, Venice & Blaze that the three are accepted/safe.

*I dunno if the marriage is legal at best I know Silver's dad & his mom's marriage is legal. Venice's(Venice is Silver's half brother) dad went missing for a few years(Eggman was behind it) & ended up joining the relationship after being rescued/talking things out. Venice's dad was able to be part of the wedding as another groom but I dunno if this counts as official/legal by human standards.(I guess technically official by Mobian standards)

Thought I'd make a version without the color for everyone to see. The text about the frog hat is missing because it was connected to the frame I made for the comic involving Silver & his mom.

[helloitsbees]

56 -Randy benson 👀

56. Goodbye sex

you're an evil evil person and this got so fucking long that i might post it on ao3 lmao

There’s a moment at what must be their fiftieth restaurant that Randy plays over and over again in his head after it’s all done. He thinks now that it must’ve been the last straw, the clincher. The finishing blow he didn’t know he was dealing. He wouldn’t know– he’s never hit anyone before. 

“We’ll just pick a bank that deserves it. One that’s run by shitty people.”

That’s the sentence that makes Benson look at him differently. They’d been talking about how the money was running out, since no matter how many times they dine and dash and steal gas, no matter how good Randy’s gotten at shoplifting from convenience stores, they still have to pay for motels. Randy only had around $2,000 in his bank account when they went on the run, and he’d withdrawn it all as soon as they’d left the diner, blood dripping onto the ATM down his right arm, Benson applying pressure to the bullet wound, still cursing wetly under his breath. 

That was five states and two months ago. There’s only $68.35 left now, and Benson says, half-joking, “Shit, maybe we should rob a bank.”

That’s when Randy says it. It catches Benson off guard, because he laughs at him at first. Then he looks again, sees he’s only half-joking too. 

“Burgers Burgers Burgers was run by shitty people,” he tells Randy, like Randy can’t still taste the mold in the back of his throat sometimes. “And you worked there.”

Randy shrugs. He never used to shrug in answer to people. It’s impolite, his mom always said. Use your words. She still calls him nearly every single day. He ignores it every time.

“If there’s a me working at the bank, he’ll get over it,” Randy says, and he doesn’t see it at the time, but something in Benson splinters at that. 

They argue a little. Nothing new. Benson spouting half-articulate philosophy, Randy backing down after a few minutes. It’s a push and pull they’ve practiced, a bit like dancing. Finding the steps, treading on each other’s feet occasionally.

“It’s for a good cause,” he says finally, the last dying ember of his argument before he lets it go. “It’s for us.”

Benson studies him. Cracks his neck. Opens his menu. “Sure.” There’s a lightness to his voice that sounds strange, clinging to the back of his throat like artificial sweetener.

That night, Benson’s gentler than usual with him. 

He’s always been gentler than Randy likes when it comes to sex– before they fucked for the first time, back when Benson was still an enigma, Randy had been expecting blood and sharp nails and biting and calling him “daddy,” and instead he only gets a little blood and a couple of bruises in the shape of his fingers, and what actually hurts is the realization of how much he’d wanted it to hurt– but this is different. This isn’t Benson minding his own limits, this isn’t him treating Randy like he’s gonna shatter. This is him trying to make it last. 

“Randy,” he’s groaning into his neck, stubble scraping his throat– Benson had shaved his mustache after seeing the police sketch of himself on TV and muttering that it made him look like his dad. “Randy, Randy.”

“Please,” Randy says. He wants so badly to say his name, but Benson doesn’t like hearing his name during sex. “Please, f-fuck, please–“

“You gonna be good for me?” The breathless nod Randy gives him is unnecessary, and they both know it. He’s always good. “You– you gonna be a good boy, Randy?”

There’s sweat clinging to the hairs on the backs of his knees. His shoulder aches. He wants Benson to dig his fingers into the hole he put there, the way he did by accident once when Randy was riding him in the backseat of the Chrysler. Randy came on the spot when he felt his fingers go in, and Benson threw up on the side of the road afterwards, blood and pus from the infection still on his shaking hands. 

“Always,” Randy pants, feeling himself getting close. “A-always, I’ll always be good– be good for you–“

Benson fucks him harder. Kisses him. Sucks his tongue into his mouth, swallows around it like he’s trying to eat Randy alive. Randy can feel the pulse of his cock, can feel him twitch inside him when Randy whimpers.

They’d stopped using a condom after the first few times, after Randy had let it slip that he really, really liked feeling Benson’s bare skin inside him when the last expired Durex in his wallet had broken mid-fuck. 

“You don’t have to worry about getting me pregnant,” he’d argued, putting the whine in his voice that he knows Benson likes sometimes. “And– and you know I’m clean, and you probably are too, since it’s not like– it’s not as if you’re–“

Benson had laughed, loud and high. “My whoring days are over,” he’d said grandly, ruffling Randy’s hair and pressing a rough kiss to his temple. “You’ve made an honest woman of me.”

“Too good,” Benson says now. He babbles sometimes when he’s about to cum, strings of nonsense Randy likes to try and follow before his brain goes completely fuzzy. “Too fuckin’ good for me, so sweet, wanna give you the goddamn world– wanna change it for you, make it good– fuck, you’re tight–”

“I’m g-gonna cum,” Randy gasps, and Benson bites into his uninjured shoulder, hard. It’s only when he feels the wetness of blood trickling down his chest that he falls apart, writhing around Benson’s cock, letting a pathetic cry loose from his throat.

Benson kisses the sound back into his mouth, tucks his tongue between his teeth, cums inside him. He’s crying a little. He does that sometimes; the first time he’d hit Randy after they’d started fucking was when Randy asked if he was okay, so Randy doesn’t ask anymore.

“Love you,” Benson mumbles, breath heavy. “Love you, Randy. Fuck.”

“I love you too,” Randy says, and weaves his fingers into Benson’s hair. It’s past his chin now, a proper mullet. Randy hates how haggard it makes him look. “I love you so much, Benson.”

He can feel him shudder when he kisses him again. He’s still crying. Randy kisses him even harder, cumdrunk, lovedrunk, dazed, wishing he could pull the ugliness out and swallow it whole. He could take it, if Benson would ever give it up to him. He can handle anything now.

They fall asleep like that, still naked and disgusting with cooling sweat and drying cum, wrapped around each other like stray cats. Benson’s lips are on his temple, humming some prog rock bullshit they’d heard on the radio into his skin. Randy smiles, and closes his eyes.

The bed’s empty when he wakes up. 

Love you, the note on the nightstand says. Don’t do anything stupid. Do me a favor and have a good life for me.

He sees him on the news just as he’s frantically calling his mom, and Randy tells her to shut up for the first time in his life so he can hear the newscaster say that Benson turned himself in. 

Benson’s dead-eyed in the mugshot, a yellowing bruise on his cheek. He’s still gorgeous, even with the stupid mullet. Randy breathes out, and asks his mom if she knows any lawyers.

The trial takes eight months. It’s four times the length of time that they got together.

Randy gets disqualified as a witness. He doesn’t make it to the stand. He has Stockholm syndrome, apparently. 

Benson gets the death penalty. He doesn’t make it to the chair. Chris has a brother at the same prison, apparently.

Randy does what he’s told: has a good life, doesn’t do anything stupid. He gets a communications degree, an office job, a boyfriend who doesn’t mind that Randy sometimes says the wrong name while he’s getting fucked. 

He keeps the note. Replays that last night over and over in his head until it goes blurred at the edges, foggy with distance. Replays what he’d said, rolling it around like it’s a broken tooth in his mouth.

We’ll just pick a bank that deserves it. One that’s run by shitty people. 

He thinks he knows now why that made Benson decide to end it. He didn’t like the idea of Randy thinking that anyone deserved it.

“The whole– the whole idea of ‘deserving’ is bullshit, anyway,” Benson had said once, wind in his hair, distant thunder rippling through the open window over the sound of the motor. “Whatever happens, happens. There’s no cosmic balance, no karma. Nobody deserves anything. They just get whatever they get.”

The first time they’d fucked, he’d mumbled “I wish I deserved you” into Randy’s hair, but Randy decided not to mention that to him. He’d just nodded, watching the streetlights play over his face, hearing the thunder grow closer, waiting for the first drops of rain.

[wisteria-html]

Are fathers usually terrible? I don't have many other people around me to compare to, so I thought I might pose it to others.

🐦

Hm. Ok.

The question I’m pondering is how honest to be on here. I’m a part of a whole story now, I have more eyes on me than I have in a while. Yes I used to be big on TikTok, but that was a character. A persona. This is just me: my opinions, my beliefs, my thoughts, regardless of the situation. Even now that I’m in the croakerverse, I want to be clear that I am still myself. This post is all me too, all of this is true.

Don’t read if you’re sensitive to abuse, nothing is explicit and he wasn’t awful, but I do talk about some more serious stuff.

My dad wasn’t great. He was shitty to my mom, he hit my sister a couple times, and I was JUST LIKE HIM. Not in that I was abusive, I wasn’t, but he saw me as a mini him. We’re very alike. We look alike, have similar work ethics, and we’ve always had similar interests.

When I was a kid he would read me Stephen King. As early as four or five years old. Scaring me was one of his favorite things in the world, I never saw him laugh harder. It got to the point where my mom was scared to walk around corners for fear he would jump out. He never hurt her physically, but he did love to see her scared.

When I was eleven years old I told him I wanted to end my life. I begged him not to tell my mom… and he didn’t. My mom was the one taking care of us, she made all the doctor’s appointments, and he hid it from her. Years later I learned he had started being suicidal at eleven too. I get it from him.

When I was in middle school we started running together. It took me years to call it physical abuse. He never touched me, but he would withhold water for miles. If I couldn’t make the pace he wanted he would stop talking to me. Once I got heat exhaustion because he wouldn’t let me stop running before we hit our goal, and then he left me on the side of the road half unconscious while he got the car. Once I threw up and he congratulated me for pushing myself so hard. Once I had to stop and he left me in the middle of the National Mall because “He wasn’t gonna stop his workout just because I was too weak to finish.” I used to fantasize about letting a car run over my foot or breaking my own leg because I knew it would be the only way it would end. When I told him I was done he barely spoke to me for a week. I was twelve years old, thirteen at most.

When my mom learned how bad things were for my sister and I, she ended things. She had been unhappy for a while and stayed for our benefit. I’m not going to get into my sister’s story, it’s not mine to tell, but know that she’s been completely no contact for years. I don’t know if she’ll ever speak to him again.

After they split I tried to go to therapy with my dad. I told him everything he did to hurt me, how seeing scary movies with him was awful because he would make fun of me for days over me jumping at a trailer to cover up how afraid he was of the movie itself. How I hated it and it wasn’t worth it. A year later he asked to take me to see a horror movie, and when I asked if he remembered why the answer was no he said “Oh yeah, you don’t like me making fun of you for being scared.” He never cared or tried to change, not really.

During COVID, he couldn’t come over anymore. I was free. I had been so stuck fawning for him that I never stopped to consider not seeing him. The second I couldn’t see him? Things got so much better so quickly.

We didn’t talk for about two years. Last year he came over to get something and I saw him. I realized he didn’t scare me anymore. I loved him but I didn’t see him as a father. I didn’t care what he thought. We started seeing movies, then musicals. We see each other once a month at most. It’s fun but also exhausting. I don’t like telling him about my life.

When I get married someday, he will be invited but he will not walk me down the aisle. We will not dance. I love him but I also hate him, sometimes.

My relationship with my dad is complicated. The fact that he’s in the military doesn’t help. I’m happy he’s gone and part of me mourns the father child relationship I wish we could’ve had. Seeing him makes really sad sometimes. I think I keep talking to him because I feel like I should, not because it makes me happy. It doesn’t make me unhappy, I just… don’t care. And I shouldn’t not care about my own father.

I don’t know if this answers your question. Honestly I might delete it tomorrow, I’m pretty exhausted and there’s a fair chance I’ll regret posting this. I’ve never told anyone but close friends and my therapist. But I hope this did something for you.