#all of my uncles have been to jail at least once

[munson-blurbs]

Joker!Eddie Munson x Harley Quinn!Reader

Summary: You're a psychologist who has always done the right thing. Enter Eddie Munson, mandated to attend court-ordered counseling sessions, who has a devilish side you can't resist.

WC: 2.9k

Warnings: dark fic, loosely based on Joker and Harley's story, mention of drug dealing, mention of parental abandonment and death, murder, ex!Jason Carver/Harvey Dent, arson, power imbalance, allusions to smut

A/N: Before y'all say anything, I know that Joker and Harley have a toxic relationship. Eddie and Reader bring out the worst in each other, but this is *clears throat* FANFIC! So long live these fake toxic relationships. And big thank you to @corroded-hellfire for her help with the lore. Happy Halloween!

Divider credit to @saradika

Eddie Munson didn’t sit down once for the entire duration of his first session. 

Most of your clients opted for the couch. The more nervous ones sitting so close to the worn cushion’s edge that they nearly fell off, while the more experienced ones practically lounged as they recounted whatever horrors had occurred since their last session. 

Eddie paced back and forth, his Reeboks wearing a hole in the mildewed carpet, only pausing when he needed to light a cigarette. 

“I mean, this is bullshit.” He took a drag and exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Twenty fuckin’ years, I get shoved to the side, and now they think some shrink is gonna fix all my problems?”

‘They’ most likely referred to Chief Hopper, who had been the one to recommend Eddie receive court-mandated therapy instead of serving time in jail for possession with intent to distribute. The police chief had become soft ever since adopting that teenage daughter, which was probably why Eddie was in your dingy office rather than behind bars. 

Your gaze flicked over the tattoos on his arms, visible where he’d cut his shirt sleeves, and looked him in the eyes. “Have you been to therapy before, Eddie?”

He threw his head back and laughed so violently that you dropped your pen. Before you could reach for it, Eddie picked it up and placed it in your lap, his fingertips grazing the hem of your skirt. 

“After my dad got locked up for, oh, I dunno, the tenth time?” Eddie shook his head and laughed again, though this one was quieter. “My uncle took me to talk to some shrink. Turns out that my old man had actually stolen the guy’s car. Small fuckin’ world, huh?” He scratched at the nape of his neck. “Yeah, he told us never to come back. So we didn’t.”

Your heart broke for the child he once was, rejected by a therapist while coping with his father’s incarceration. “Where was your mother?” You asked softly. 

Eddie flicked some ash into the ashtray. “She’d been dead for a while at that point.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be.” His face lit up, smiling too hard to properly take another drag of his cigarette. “At least she didn’t have to deal with any of this shit. All she had to do was be worm food.”

The visual made your stomach turn, but Eddie was grinning. 

“Aww, c’mon, Sweetheart” he pouted jokingly, snuffing out his cigarette. “You gotta appreciate some dark humor once in a while.”

The nickname would have earned any other man a stern look, maybe even a warning for dismissal, but it felt so right coming from Eddie. 

“Do you use humor to cope?” 

He twisted a skull ring around his finger and walked over to where you sat before crouching down in front of you. 

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do here.” One hand found your knee, his nail catching on a run in your black tights. Eddie peered up at you, lips twisting into an unsettling smile. “But I’m not dealing because I’m sad or trying to fill a void left behind by my parents. I’m doing it to survive in this shithole.”

He rose then and resumed his pacing while he ranted. “We can sit here all goddamn day and talk about my daddy issues, or my mommy issues, or how the system failed poor Eddie Munson over and over and over. And maybe I’ll leave here feeling slightly less shitty about myself. But you know what that won’t do?” He didn’t wait for your response. “It won’t put food on the table or keep the lights on. It won’t stop the bank from taking my trailer. Greedy bastards.”

Only when you remained silent did Eddie glance over at you with his wide brown eyes, as though he’d just remembered his speech had an audience. “You can put all that in your notes. Show it to Chief Hopper, to the judge; I don’t care.”

You closed the marble notebook perched in your lap and capped your pen. “I’m not trying to fix you, Eddie,” you said. “I just want to know you.”

“No, you don’t.” Eddie huffed out a chuckle. “You wanna get inside my brain. You can’t help it. I’m an interesting guy.”

He was. You’d always been interested in understanding people; how they thought and how it affected their behaviors. It was why you chose a career in psychology. But Eddie had something beyond that—a magnetic pull that drew you in, no matter how many times you silently reminded yourself to maintain those professional boundaries. 

For the remaining twenty minutes of your session, you dug for as much information about Eddie as you could get. He played guitar, took six years to graduate high school because of an algebra teacher who was determined to flunk him, and kept a notebook of his own to plan Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.

If you didn’t have another client immediately after him, you would have let him keep talking. You clung to every word like a lifeline, noting the little mannerisms peppered into his personality. 

Eddie spoke with his hands and ran his fingers through his knotted curls when he was particularly agitated or passionate about a topic. His nose scrunched when he asked questions that required your approval. He’d lick his lips every so often, and his tongue poked out of his mouth when he was concentrating. Every movement was intoxicating.

Your next session was more of the same, though this time, Eddie actually sat down on the couch. He lit a cigarette before speaking, taking a drag and holding it out to you. 

You watched the smoke curl around his fingertips, beckoning you to accept his offer. It was wrong; sure, you could smoke during a session, but to share a cigarette with a client? You shouldn’t. You couldn’t. 

You did. 

“There ya go,” Eddie murmured under his breath, watching your chest rise with the inhale and fall with the exhale. “Sweetheart, ya gotta take the edge off once in a while. Do something that makes you smile.”

You cocked your head teasingly, holding the cigarette hostage for a moment longer. “Aren’t I supposed to be helping you?”

“We can help each other.” He plucked the cigarette from your grasp. “Watch.”

Your gaze stayed on his lips, full and slightly chapped from the bitter winter, as he inhaled deeply. He crooked a finger, and your body moved of its own volition to the spot beside him. 

His thumb pulled at your lower lip, a question he could already answer. His mouth found yours, not in a kiss, but just to transfer the smoke he’d been holding back; tobacco mixed with a subtle hint of spearmint. 

“How do you feel now?” Eddie hadn’t moved back, and you felt every word he spoke. 

All you could do was nod, focusing every ounce of energy on going back to your chair. The distance suddenly seemed too far; any distance from Eddie seemed too far. You wanted to be in his lap, sharing the remainder of that cigarette, drawing you in closer…

Swallowing your steadily building desire, you forced yourself to ask him a question that didn’t pertain to the way he tasted. “W-What was it like moving in with your uncle?”

Eddie laughed darkly, taking in your nervousness like he knew exactly how brainless he’d made you. “My uncle, huh? All right, I’ll bite” He stretched, revealing a thin trail of hair that started at his navel and dipped below the waist of his jeans. There was a sick gleam in his eyes when he caught you staring, but he said nothing about it.

He told you about a police officer dropping him off on Wayne Munson’s doorstep in the middle of the night after his father had been arrested. 

“Just me and a trash bag full of clothes that barely fit me,” he proclaimed. “Oh, and the headlice tagging along. Ended up having to shave these gorgeous locks.” He shook his head to exaggerate his point.

“That must’ve been really traumatic for you.” You tapped your pen on your notebook absently, somewhat aware that you should be writing this information down, but not able to look away from him.

Eddie shrugged. “Not really. It grew back.”

“I meant…never mind.” You tucked your lips into your mouth to stifle a giggle.

He looked as though he wanted to say something, but your actions distracted him.

“Don’t hide your smile.” He ran his tongue over his teeth, letting you feel the gravity saturating his words. “Makes me happy when you smile.”

“I didn’t want you to think I was laughing at you.”

He clicked his tongue in mock sympathy, like he pitied you. It was a gesture you were unused to seeing from your clients. “You wouldn’t be the first, Sweetheart.” Eddie sat forward. “You might have been the first to feel bad about it, though.”

Over the following weeks, your sessions with Eddie followed the same routine. You would ask him questions and he would answer them cryptically. Shared cigarettes became more frequent as you convinced yourself it was good for building rapport.

In the early days of spring, where winter’s chill still peeked in each morning, Eddie opened the door to your office and found you crying in your chair. Most clients waited for you to get them from the waiting room, but he always let himself in.

The moment you heard the hinges creaking, you swiped at the tears dampening your cheeks. Embarrassment flooded your veins and heated you from the inside out at the thought of him seeing you in such a vulnerable state.

He was at your side in a heartbeat, reaching for the tissue box you kept on your bookshelf. “What’s wrong?” There was venom in his tone, ready to bite at a moment’s notice.

“N-Nothing,” you lied clumsily, convincing neither him nor yourself. “Just a bad day.”

Eddie gritted his teeth. “Don’t fuckin’ do that, Sweetheart.” He grabbed your chin and brought your full attention with it. “Don’t fuckin’ lie to me. Not when I’ve been honest with you.”

The story spilled out before you could think better of it: You’d woken up that morning to your ex-boyfriend banging on your front door, screaming to let you in, his slurred words informing you that he was drunk. Calling the police would be futile; he was buddies with the whole department and more than likely had them in his back pocket. All you could think to do in that moment was hide under your covers until he eventually gave up and left.

Eddie tensed, never losing his grip on you. “Did he hurt you?” His breathing quickened, fight-or-flight activated. “I swear to God, Sweetheart, if he put his hands on you–”

“No,” you hurriedly assured him. “No, he just scared me. But Jason’s never–” Your eyes widened when you said his name aloud; all at once, you realized your error.

“Jason…Carver?” Eddie’s eyes narrowed. “The hell were you doing with an asshole like him?” He shook his head before you could answer. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he never bothers you again.” Rage flashed in his eyes. “Just say the word, and I’ll do it.”

You furrowed your brows. “What do you mean?” There was no way…he wouldn’t…

He crossed his arms over his chest, obscuring the view of the devil on his shirt. “Do you remember a few years ago when Harrington Enterprises was planning to shut down the plant to build those luxury condos?”

You nodded, wondering where he was going with this. Warren Harrington had all but signed on the dotted lines, but he’d been murdered in his own home before he closed the deal. Rumor had it that his own son, Steve, had orchestrated it in order to gain control of the family fortune. An investigation came up without any suspects, and the plant remained open. 

“If they had their way, my uncle and all of his buddies would be out of a job, and then they’d lose their cars, their homes…well, you know how it goes.” Eddie smirked. “So I did what I had to do to stop that from happening.”

“You…” you lowered your voice in case anyone was listening in, “you killed Warren Harrington?”

He bristled preemptively, only relaxing when he didn’t detect any  judgment. “I’d do anything to protect the people I love.” Eddie’s palms cupped your cheeks, the calluses scratching at your skin. “I’ll kill Carver if it’ll keep you safe, Sweetheart. You won’t have to worry about him anymore.”

Everything about this was wrong. He was threatening to commit homicide for you because he loved you. 

You needed to stop this. It had gone too far. And yet you couldn’t, not when he was pleading to let him take care of you. All of your career, all of your life, you had been expected to clean up everyone else’s messes. You were the one who fixed other people’s mistakes, who solved their problems. To lift that burden from your shoulders, to let someone else take it on…

“I love you, too, Eddie.” You reached out and took his steady hands in your trembling ones. “I love you so much.”

“Okay. Good.” Eddie sighed deeply, leaning in and pressing a tender kiss to your forehead. There was a flicker of amusement when he pulled back and saw the concern on your face. “C’mon, baby. You should be happy. Here.” He reached behind your chair and grabbed your bag, rummaged through it. Deft fingers uncapped your ruby red lipstick and drew a Black Dahlia smile on his lips, extending from one clean-shaven cheek to the other. “Now, close your eyes.”

You did as he asked, placing full trust in him. You expected him to draw a similar smile on you; instead, he pressed his mouth to yours, transferring some of the makeup to your face.

The words I love you kept falling from your lips, muffled only by the hungry kisses you eagerly gave and accepted. Zippers were unfastened, buttons undone, clothes strewn across your office floor. For a moment, the only sounds were the soft moans and panting breaths that punctuated the silence. It was love, and it was perfect.

It all happened so fast.

You woke up the next morning to sirens blaring down the street, a never-ending parade of noise and flashing lights. There was no way Eddie had already done something to Jason; you’d just talked about it yesterday. Killing one of Hawkins’ most beloved citizens would certainly take more than twelve hours of deliberation.

If Eddie had struck, he wouldn’t have been able to escape unnoticed. 

Black smoke billowed from one of the Loch Nora mansions, visible even in the less wealthy parts of town. You could hear your neighbors clamoring, and the consensus was that it was the Carver house that was burning to the ground.

You drove straight to the county jail, not even stopping off at work or letting them know you wouldn’t be in. The fear of being reprimanded paled in comparison to Eddie’s fate.

Flashing your government ID, you bolted through the doors and blew past the guards. Sure enough, Eddie Munson sat behind the bars of a cell, head in his beautiful hands. The same hands that had touched you just yesterday, fumbling with the tiny buttons of your blouse. The man who was larger than life during your sessions suddenly seemed so small.

“Puddin’?” 

Eddie glanced up when he heard the nickname you’d given him. “Baby, I…I didn’t kill him. I tried, but he got out. Forgot that rich people have those smoke detector things,” he added with a wry smile. It was then that you saw that his mouth was still stained with remnants of your lipstick. “But when he ran out of the house it looked like half of his face had burned off.”

Of course he’d stuck around to see the aftermath of his destruction.

“We can talk about this later. Okay?” You lowered your voice to a whisper. “We’re getting out of town. And we’re never coming back. I’m gonna tell the guards that I’m taking you out for a therapy session. Just follow my lead.”

Eddie was uncharacteristically quiet, so much so that you worried the guards might apprehend him because he wasn’t talking. Their narrowed eyes followed you and Eddie until you exited the building.

“My girl is a natural-born deceiver.” Eddie laced his fingers with yours. “So proud.”

You laughed. “If they gave us any trouble, I might’ve had to knock them out with their own clubs.” When you started towards your sedan, Eddie tugged you in the opposite direction. “My car is–”

“Forget it. Leave it here.” His eyes scanned the parking lot. “We’ll take that one.” He clocked your confusion and let out a raucous laugh. “Al Munson may have been a deadbeat, but he did teach me one thing.”

You slipped your arm around his waist. “Looks like I have a lot to learn.” 

“It’s gonna be me and you against the world, baby.” Eddie pulled you closer and whispered in your ear. “We’re gonna knock ‘em dead.”

--

[yaskie]

This video is also uploaded on TIKTOK Ko-fi Website: Click Here

A continuous battle and I am scared(URGENT) - you can click on the image to direct you to the Ko-Fi Site.

Dear Friends, Right now I feel despair, and hopelessness. And I feel so tired. I deeply apologize for tagging you all again, please don't get mad. I just really needed help.😢😢 I just got my life back, and recently recovered from my debts from my previous battle in between 2021 and mid 2023. I really felt so ashamed in writing this, because I am avoiding as much as I can to ask help financially again. 

You were there for me during my darkest hours, and for that, I will be eternally grateful. But now, I find myself in a situation more dire than ever before, and I am trembling with fear as I implore you to lend me your aid once again.

The video you see attached to this post is a painful reminder of the recent loss I've endured. Uncle Dindo joined our creator last March 24, 2024, after battling Stage 4 Lung Cancer for a month. His passing has left a void in our souls, and also drowned us in debts too. I am helping with expenses as much as I can, that it also drowned me. My Father died of the same illness as well. I made a post more than a month ago with the Title: FIGHTING AGAINST CANCER sadly we still have zero donation and sales from our Emotes and Digital Stickers sale. 

I do not know how to approach all of you again, but I am so scared right now. The reason I made this new post is I've been doing my best to make ends meet, trying to loan to a bank to be able for me to start my Treatment again(but mostly got rejected). I am already back to work eversince the fourth quarter of 2023, but the income is not enough as I earn only $12-$15/day with 12 hours plus of work.  I am really really scared right now as I am writing this. First, I need to settle my rent within 12-24 hours which cost $500(water & electricity is unstable). My landlord is threatening me that he will lock the house, kicking me out and leaving my pets behind. My cats and my dog are my life. Update(05/02/2024): I asked helped from a local council here to help me talk to my landlord. We have an agreement and I am given enough time until Saturday of this week - May 4, 2024. To settle the rent and for me and my pets to leave the apartment, we found a new one but we need a 2 month deposit. And payment for a rental truck. I need to pay my landlord too - so, I can be able to transfer to another home, and he will let me leave peacefully. Which will have another cost, as I need to rent a small truck because I have my pets with me. I have written this on my previous blogs before that I have been sexually harassed(this SCARES me so much too), and stalked by a former friend. He was jailed, but he is back again(already reported it to police). But for safety transferring home is needed. My trauma is still not yet recovered. We still need to prioritize as well my Aunt's treatment, as her health is rapidly deteriorating too(Stage 3 breast Cancer is advancing, her right breast has already been removed). And I need to start mine again, it spread in other parts of my body(I am holding on). I'm really scared right now. If you can spare anything—money, support, anything at all—it would mean the world to me. I hate asking, but I don't know what else to do. Any amount is appreciated, or you can purchase from my Small Shop as well. Thank you so much. Please take Care. Love, Jasky P.S. Sorry if my writing sounds scattered. I don't have proper sleep at the moment.

Sorry for tagging again, please do not get mad at me. I really help so badly. Reposting, or if you have any at least $5 or buy stickers it will really mean a lot to us, to me.

@boost-the-signal @measurelessdreamer @c1a1r3r3df1e1d @samblerambles @nearlybitches

[valleyofthelilly]

Prologue: Texts With Katsuki but You're An Exchange Student.

NEXT

Tags: Exchange student!Reader x Katsuki, Uncle Might, Bestie Izuku, Traumatic childhood, University AU, characters are 20/21, war never happened for the sake of our happiness, reader is mentioned to be from America but you can ignore that, this is an intro for context (?) i guess, will be an smau.

Life hadn't ever been kind to you, per se. The past decade had been peaceful, and with the childhood that you endured peace was the best it would get. So you appreciated and reveled in it. Living in whichever state your heart pleased and going to University with government funds, all thanks to the hero whom changed the trajectory of your life.

You should've known better than to get comfortable with this feeling, though. It was and always would be short lived. Registering for classes was the only thing on your mind at the moment. You were scrolling through different Practicum of Battle Tactics professors when your phone lit up with a call notification. A bright smile and blonde hair took up the entirety of the screen, courtesy of All Might. You picked up the phone and answered the call, brows furrowed all the while.

"Hey Uncle Toshi, long time no talk, everything alright?"

"Actually Young (y/n), we need to have a conversation, are you sitting down?"

Ah, there goes the aforementioned peace, right out the window. Cue heart attack starting now. If All Might tells you to sit down, chances are things aren't great.

"Yeah, what's up? You have me worried."

"I would tell you to calm yourself, but you reserve every right to worry in this situation. I regret to inform you that your parents are being released from jail in a month."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Fuck a heart attack, your heart stopped.

"I know, this is a lot to take in. I was told that this is the most notice they could get me as far as a release date went. I attempted to get it pushed back, or even reopen the case to see if they could get more time based on evidence found since their arrest." You heard him sigh a heavy, defeated breath through the speaker. "However there was nothing to be done on that front. I do have another option to present if you're interested." He paused, as if waiting for permission to continue before explaining.

"I'm listening." You breathed softly, anxiously.

Over the phone you heard him clearing his throat, followed by the sound of papers rustling. A sound of satisfaction was made as though All Might found whatever he was looking for. Having known the man like family since you were a child you understood first hand how messy his paperwork could get. You could only imagine the state of his desk at the moment, where you knew he was sitting due to the time difference. Part of you felt bad for interrupting his teaching schedule even though he had called you.

"Okay so," He paused as though he was reading something, "We can have you in Japan in three days. I can have the visa and your enrollment at UA University expedited."

You held your breath for a moment. You debated if you really wanted to go overseas for a year, or longer, depending on how your case played out. But the alternative was your family finding you and dragging you back to that godforsaken cult.

They had somehow survived albeit not as strong as they once were. The loss of their leaders, your parents, put a large dent in their "community" but didn't cause them to disperse. You couldn't imagine going back there.

"Alright, I'll start packing." Was the decision you made after a minute of silence. "One thing though,"

"And that is?"

"No one but faculty knows about this. I understand the importance of them knowing, should something happen. But I'm a charity case here. Everyone has read the news story about my family and then sees my quirk and eventually puts two and two together. I want a fresh start." You rambled, ending with an exasperated sigh.

"I can assure you, a fresh start is the least I can do for you. You deserve it." All Might replied sincerely and curtly, still audibly filling out and filing paperwork. You presumed it was for your transfer. "Though it will affect your quirk training, you understand this right? You can't use your quirk at it's highest output and expect people not to figure out who you are. The story was national news Young (y/n)." He sighed heavily.

"Well, yes, but couldn't you and your protégé help me train? He kept your secret for years, don't see why he can't keep mine."

"You raise a fair point. Speaking of Young Midoriya, I have a conference to attend on the day you fly in. He'll be picking you up from the airport. I've sent your flight information over already."

"Thank you Uncle Toshi, I appreciate you more than words can say."

"Don't mention it, kid. Like I said, it's the least I can do. I'll see you soon, have a safe flight!"

"Thank you! Oh-! How do I know who to look for? I have no idea what Midoriya looks like."

"Green. Look for lots of green." He said without any added context before ending the call. The line dropped and you shook your head confused, but got to packing.

~

A few days later when you landed, you understood, and you wondered to yourself how a person could be so green. Little did you know, this little green gremlin was about to be your new sidekick.

an: i'm so excited to actually churn out the texts for this SMAU but readers background/reason for being at UA is a big part of the story. i felt like it deserved its own little background. this isn't crucial to the story but will def help provide context later down the line.

[chevvsgotanumbrellatattoo]

I haven't even seen the full season, but from Tumblr alone (yall are troopers), I am devastated. Even my shitty fic from 2020 made more sense than this shit (before you ask, no I will not sharing /gen /nm. My writing pre-4-years-of-creative-writing-classes was AWFUL)

Also, the true ending was revealed to me last night in a dream:

Viktor owns and runs his bar. Sissy is alive and well. The two of them and Harlan (kid aged, like S2) live on a farm and go to the record store every Saturday. Mr. Pickles comes along each time. Harlan has no powers.

Ben was never in jail bc crypto currency can't exist when the best phone tech is a rotary phone??? Anyway, he goes to art school, hones his craft, and makes up with the family by inviting them to his first art show. He visits Klaus on Mondays for lunch.

Five works at the CIA. He truly loves solving big puzzles, he learned that from the Commission. After work, he comes home to human!Delores and helps her cook supper. They talk about science and how Five's boss keeps telling him to pick up a new hobby for stress relief. Delores smiles over her glass of wine and suggests picking his guitar back up.

Klaus lives in a 2 bedroom apartment with Dave. His OCD and anxiety is still rampant, but with Dave's support, he gets on meds (which Dave holds onto and administers for him since pills make him nervous) and gets a handle on it. He and Dave have movie nights every Friday and talk about tarot. Dave makes the best menudo Klaus has ever had.

Allison lives happily with Claire and Ray. She learns to manage her guilt and anger, apologizing at length to the family and vowing to herself to be a better person. Claire needs a better role model than the person she'd been. Ray and Allison take Claire for picnics with the at least one of the Uncles once a month. Claire looks forward to it every time.

Diego and Lila are happy. They have their 3 little nuggets and love them to pieces. Diego learns that his father-in-law has a friend at the archery range in the next town over. He drives over with him one day and decides to pick up knives again. It takes a long time to make peace with the fact that his aim will never be marigold-perfect, but Diego is entirely happy with his progress.

Lila is ELATED to have her parents. She talks to them daily and plays Twister with little Grace and the twins while her Mom and Dad take turns spinning the Twister wheel. She goes to the gym to scratch the itch of adventure she sometimes finds herself needing and talks to Diego when something is bothering her. Diego does the same. They call it 'Thick-Headed Therapy Thursdays' and they get ice cream afterwards.

Luther lives in a lovely house with Sloane. He studies space and cooking at the local college and helps Sloane kickstart her fashion designs (based off when she made her KILLER wedding dress in like,, no time at all). They have a small dog named Moon-Moon McGee. Sloane keeps her moon-rock wedding ring safe in a small box in her nightstand.

Grace works at a daycare and is the favorite of kids and grownups alike. She visits Diego and Lila on Sundays and makes little Grace and her siblings pancakes and chocolate milk for breakfast (Lila and Diego partake in this as well).

Pogo works at the library. He prides himself on neat bookshelves and loves when people ask him for help. He calls everyone "Master," "Miss," or even "Mx." and asks politely for preference and pronouns before doing so.

None of them have their powers.

Reginald Hargreeves still has a heart attack and kaputs. Abigail never bothers the Brellies.

The family all make it to little Grace's birthday party. The piñata breaks when she hits it. The cake is gone within an hour. Little Grace and Harlan are damn near inseparable. She makes Mr. Pickles hats for the holidays, much to Harlan's delight.

Case in point, they're all so happy and love each other! They each go to therapy and work out their own issues and don't take it out on each other!! The kids love all their aunts and uncles!! Everyone wins!! (Except Reggie bc FUCK YOU).

[jqmalikhsgib]

moonlight

three

eddie holds her close as she lies on his chest. he stares at the ceiling before simply looking at his girlfriend. eddie still couldn’t believe it. yn yln was his girlfriend!

she was by far the prettiest girl in hawkins high. sure, others would say it’s tammy but they’d be wrong. yn was breathtaking to eddie. she might be an angel forreal, he wouldn’t know nor would he care. he was in love.

eddie never expected to find love. after his mother died and his father was sent to jail, eddie was constantly shamed by the whole town of hawkins. the ten year old boy was confused. he was just a boy, a simple little boy who lost his mom and dad in less than three years from each other. he was shunned for the crimes his father committed. people expected him to be nothing but a criminal just like his old man. eddie only did what he could do. he put all his anger into his favorite game, dungeons and dragons! he became an excellent dungeon master. it was his rage that made him good. then his uncle introduced him to the guitar.

eddie became good at playing. he started writing music and finding other kids who were labeled as ‘freaks’ to for a band. they were actually pretty fucking good. unfortunately they listened to that ‘devil worshipping’ music. with how closed minded the fuckers in hawkins were, he was only shunned even more. people started labeling him as a cult leader. and creating a club named ‘hellfire’ where you play a game that’s getting bad press didn’t help his case. but eddie didn’t care. he couldn’t have care less about what these dumb fucks think of him. eddie knew he’d make a name for himself, he knew he’d be successful and prove everyone who ever doubted his abilities wrong.

his mother was the only person that pushed eddie. his mom letting him know he was somebody and the whole world will know his name. and still ‘till this day he believed her. her words always left an impression on him. and then he met her.

god, when he first laid eyes on her, she was mesmerizing. the way the sun shined in her hair, her eyes glowed brightly, her smile lit up his heart. she was fucking perfect. finding out she’d been the daughter of a preacher, knowing how this town looked at him, knowing what her parents might think if they saw him. he knew he had no shot with her. not a single bit. but he was so wrong.

when she approached him he thought she’d been confused at first. ‘no fucking way is she actually talking to me. no one she knows my name. no fucking say man!’ but she did. she knew who eddie had been and she didn’t give a fuck what anyone else thought of him. she thought eddie was beautiful, unique, intriguing, intelligent, funny, and handsome.

eddie still has yet to believe she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. and here he is, six months later dating her. six months of kisses, six months of hand holding, six months of tight hugs, six months of i love you. six whole months since you gave him a chance. he thanked his lucky stars every single second of every single day. he promised he wouldn’t mess this up.

it’s one reason why he hesitated to make love to her. he knew it would be her first time. he didn’t want to hurt her and he knew how much she vowed to stay a virgin until marriage. but then her words made his heart flutter. “‘m not worried ‘bout that eds. i know in my heart you’re my forever. in a way, im giving myself to my husband.” he spent the rest of the night worshipping her body. eddie simply looks at her once more. kissing her forehead gently before whispering in her ear “goodnight, wife.” he truly been lucky.

looking at her now has only made his heart hurt. that night was something he’d cherish forever. it was the moment he knew, or at least thought, he’d marry her.

then he woke up one morning hearing the rumors about her family suddenly moving. he didn’t believe it at first. but when he passed by her house and saw the for sale sign, his heart shattered. he assumed her family found out she’d been dating eddie and took her away. the one thing that made eddie really happy in a long time. eddie wasn’t sure why he assumed something would actually be great for once. he should have known better.

the night she left he was reminded of the last thing his father told him before he got arrested for good. “the munson men are cursed, kid! i should have known your mom being my ticket to happiness was just a sick joke god played on me. we munson men, we’re only good for being a slave for the man, or being criminal, no in between. we don’t get the fairytale happy ending. it’s no princess waiting in the castle for us with a shit ton of doe. we are who we are. if i taught you anything kid, remember that.”

he was absolutely right. what a fucking fool he’s been to fall for it.

“hey, why don’t we all go to the play room, yeah? maybe start building something with the legos?” nancy grabs all the kids, including kali. eddie hadn’t notice the little girl who looked identical to him. he’d been too busy staring at her. 

she gives him an awkward smile. looking down at her feet before clearing her throat. “it’s so much i have to tell you, eds. i just don’t know where to start.”

eddie simply shakes his head. “you don’t need to explain yourself to me, yn. i know your parents probably found out about us.”

her eyes begin to water. he could tell she wanted anything to hold his hand, hug him, and kiss him as if it were their last. he knew that look. it’s never changed.

“it’s deeper than that. i—eddie what my parents did wasn’t okay. what this town has done to you was never okay. seeing you as some kind of—it’s disgusting eddie. you were just a young boy when it started. i don’t know how you did it, eds. i still don’t! you’re the strongest man i know.”

eddie gives her a half smile. he didn’t have much to say. he wanted her to speak. mostly because he missed her voice. it feels good hearing her again.

she simply closed her eyes before sighing. eddie assumed she was holding back tears. he had been doing so the moment he saw her face.

“just gonna rip this off like a bandaid. eddie, the reason why my parents forced us to leave was due to my pregnancy,”

she looks at eddie. he just gives her a blank stare. she frowns not knowing if he heard her. but as soon as his hands connect with his mouth she knew he did.

“i—they just barely made friends in this town. my father being a preacher, he couldn’t risk this town looking at his daughter as the ‘town slut.’ or the ‘freaks mistress.’ so he moved us and forced me to sign my right away to my, our kid. after a few years i couldn’t take it anymore. her seeing me as her older sister and not her mother, it felt so wrong eddie. i—i tried to get to hawkins but i didn’t have enough money. not for food, clothes, shelter, nothing! i knew i had to get my life together to being a single mom. so i moved in with my grandmother and saved and saved and saved. i worked many jobs, barely getting any sleep, making sure our baby was fed, telling her about her dad. i sacrificed a lot to get back to you, eds. so we could get back.” when she finished eddie stared at her. he soaked all the information in.

she bites her bottom lip before hearing footsteps running towards her. she looks down as she feels arms wrap around her. “im hungry, mamma.”

eddie simply bends down. he looks at the little girl. she had her hair in two simple braids, she was wearing an orange rugrats t-shirt, a pair of overalls, and a necklace with an e on it.

eddie cried. he couldn’t believe it. he was a dad! eddie was a father to the cutest kid. he didn’t even know her but he already loved her. she had his eyes. he knew he’d do anything just from one look. this little girl already had him wrapped around his finger. he still couldn’t believe that he was a father.

“mamma.” the little girl whispers. she gestured for her mom to bend down.

“why’s the curly haired man crying? did i do something, mamma?” the little girl questioned.

eddie simply laughs through his tears.

“no, baby. it’s just—remember how mamma said one day she’s gonna take us home to daddy?”

the little girl simply nods her head. “well baby, the curly haired man is crying because he’s your dad and he loves you. he’s just feeling overjoyed.”

“oh! can—can daddy take us to dinner?”

eddie noticed she was going to decline. eddie simply shakes his head with a smile before nodding at his daughter gently.

“yeah, let’s—let’s get some food.” eddie whispers.

eddie watches as his daughter plays in the mcdonalds playroom. she was definitely a mini version of himself. he’s learned that she’s a talker.

the whole time they’d been eating she told eddie pretty much her entire childhood. eddie listened to every word. he loved listening to her babble.

he couldn’t believe that just a few hours ago he was just a man. a man who suffered for the last six years without the only woman he’s ever loved. now that same woman is back in his life and brought him someone precious to spoilt.

god, eddie felt like he now had a purpose in life again. he still had so much work to do within himself. with everything that happened in the upside down. he’s so grateful that dustin and steve carried him out. he would miss this very moment of his life if he died down there. he owed everything to those two. he owed everything to the doctors that saved his life as well.

“so, we should probably discuss somethings.” eddie turned. he completely forgot that the woman he loved, the woman he still loved, was right in front of him.

“nance told me that you almost died, eds.”

here it goes. the seriousness of his life. he knew they’d have to talk about it at some point. he wasn’t quite ready to tell her everything. she didn’t need to know everything! it’s not like she’d believe him anyway. who would believe that a simple fantasy game could be reality?

“i—i did.”

“im sorry, eds. i—i couldn’t imagine what you went through. nance didn’t tell me much. she said that you tried to save the town even after they tried to pin you for murder. may i ask who died?”

eddie clears his throat. he didn’t know how to answer her. telling her that the girl he had a crush on before meeting her, was inside of his house. it would probably devastate her. she knew of his crush on the cheerleader. she’d probably think they’d been together.

but he knew her as well. she could sense a lie a mile away. he didn’t wanna lie to her.

“chrissy.”

“cunningham? how did she—how did she die?”

eddie scratches the back of his head. he bites his bottom lip before looking into her eyes.

“it’s hard to explain, yn. she just—it was the most terrifying thing i seen in my life and im still facing the hell it put me through.”

thankful his girl was understandable. she never pushed eddie into revealing anything he wasn’t ready for. that’s something he’d always love her for.

“i hope this won’t affect whatever this is.” eddie points between the two.

“eddie, we’ve both changed over the last six years. i had our daughter and also had to deal with my toxic parents. you had to deal with seeing someone die and almost dying yourself. we still have so much to work on, eds. for the sake of our family, for our daughter, i think we both need to have professional help. nance tells me you’re already in therapy. that’s great, eddie! means you want to get better. and that’s exactly what kali needs. she needs both her parents to be stable and happy! im looking for a therapist myself. i think until we can figure things out for our kid, we shouldn’t be seeing each other. not romantically. i don’t think either of us are ready for that.”

eddie nods his head. he wants her back. wants to be with her and only her. but he knew mentally, he wasn’t ready for that just yet. eddie had a little ways to go before starting a relationship with anyone. he loves her with his whole soul. but he couldn’t ruin something so pure and beautiful when he’s suffering. he needs time to grow. especially now that he’s a dad.

“i love you eds. ill always love you. you’re my person, okay? and i—i want us to be together. i just want us to be together properly. we deserve to give kali, and ourselves time to learn each other again and time to heal.”

“i agree. i just want to be apart of her life yn. your parents took six years away from me. six years of not knowing where you were or if you were safe. and six years of not knowing i had a daughter. promise me you won’t take that away?”

“i could never! so, we’ll figure this out?”

eddie looks at his kid once more. he gives her a simple nod. “we’ll figure this out.”

[disasterbiwriter]

You may have seen me obsess over this before, but... Luke tries to teach Jess how to play baseball, because "every boy likes baseball, right?" And it doesn't go very well. 😆

The Diner Dudes and the Bad Hop

Part I

Lorelai is bussing a table when Luke clatters down into the diner, and as she looks up and takes him in, it's clear she's trying not to laugh.

"What?" Luke demands. "What?!"

"Nothing, I just didn't know you realized you could wear those things with the brim to the front." She reaches up and gently flicks the brim of his ancient Mets cap.

"Knock it off." What does it say about him that even that miniscule degree of contact with her sends his stomach into somersaults?

"Sorry, sorry." She looks him over once more, from the hat down to the scuffed up Slugger hanging at his side. "So, you're really going to go through with it?"

"'Course," he says. "He's excited."

Her face is soft. "Of course he is. He loves to take the trash out if it means you're with him."

"It's going to be fun," Luke insists. "All boys love baseball."

"Right right." She snaps and points at him, cheeky. "Hey, do you think he'll put whatever he's reading down long enough to hit the ball, or are you thinking the reading material will be thick enough to be a stand-in for the bat?"

Luke rolls his eyes. "Are you in overtime yet?"

"Maybe."

"Go home."

Part II

"All right, bud, remember what I told you?"

Six-year-old Jess is vibrating with excitement. "Yep!" He ticks the items off on his grubby fingers. "Keep my eye on the ball. Don’t swing at anything below your shoulders or anything higher than your knees."

"Er, close. It's actually - "

"And quit when it starts to feel like all the baselines are running uphill."

Luke scratches his head. "Did... I don't remember telling you that last one."

Jess scrambles for the backpack he slung off along the first baseline and pulls out a pristine library book. "Babe Ruth’s Baseball Advice," he announces proudly. "Mrs. Gilley ordered a copy of it for the library when I told her you were gonna teach me baseball."

Mentally Luke runs through a catalogue of sayings attributed to the Big Bam and makes a mental note to remind Mrs. Gilley that Jess is still in elementary school. "All right, put the book down, let's get to it, kid!"

"I'm ready, Uncle Luke!" With comedic effort he hefts the bat over one shoulder and readies himself behind the plate.

"Uh, honey? Try taking the mitt off when you bat."

"You got it, Uncle Luke!"

Part III

"Jess, I think you'll probably have more luck if you open your eyes when you swing."

"Good idea, Uncle Luke!"

"Jess, honey, that's third base, not first."

"But we read left to right! Why do we run right to left?!"

"I, uh... I don't actually know the answer to that."

"That was better! Try running towards the ball instead of away from it next time!"

"What if it lands on my head and cracks it open like an egg?!"

"No, I'm definitely sure there are only three bases, kiddo."

"Chuck Presby says there are twelve, and if you miss any of them they make the umpire put you in JAIL!"

"But are you sure?"

"Look, sweetheart, I know I told you I don't actually know everything about baseball, so I guess it's possible... But I'm telling you, I don't think there has ever been a baseball player who was also a bank robber. And you've gotta stop listening to anything that Presby kid tells you, he's an id - he's just teasing you."

"Uncle Luke! We forgot the wickets!"

"No, Jess, there are no wickets in baseball, that's cricket."

"Uncle Luke! Uncle Luke! I hit it! I - oh no! Uncle Luke! Are you okay?!"

Part IV

Lorelai unearths a bag of peas from the diner's freezer and gently settles it against Luke's cheekbone. "Well, at least he hit it."

Luke glances over at the counter where Jess is wearing more ice cream than is getting into his mouth. He loves that little gremlin so much he might actually cry - or would, if any tears could escape his rapidly-swelling eye. "He certainly did. Baby's first bad hop."

"What on earth is a bad hop?"

"You know," Luke sighs, "ask me some other time. I think I'm done talking about baseball for the day."

"You got it. Need a beer, boss?"

"Make it two. Hey, didn't I tell you to go home?

"You want me to get you a beer or not?"

"Right, shutting up now."

Part V - Two Weeks Later

"And then," Jess says proudly, tapping the little square with his finger, "the guy hit a fly and got out at center field - so I put the 8 in his box Eight stands for center field, remember?"

Lorelai whistles over the scorebook, impressed. "That's so cool, kid. And you learned how to do all that today?"

"Yep." He spins a little on his stool, clutching the precious document carefully in both hands. "Uncle Luke says I picked it up faster than anyone he's ever seen."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me even a little bit."

"I think watching baseball is more fun than playing baseball." Jess beams at Luke as he comes out from the kitchen, Jess's dinner in hand. "Don't you think so, Uncle Luke?"

Luke sets Jess's plate in front of him and strokes his nephew's hair. "You know what? These days I think you're right."

[pxnsneverland]

Beauty and The Boss | austin!elvis x oc (part 11)

plot summary: Laura Jean Walker is the daughter to Louisiana’s most powerful mafia boss, but to her, he’s just her jail warden. When she sneaks out to the Louisiana Hayride with her friend she sees Elvis Presley perform and instantly knows something is special about this boy. Especially when he saves her from being assaulted by a townie. She thinks she’s on cloud 9 until she gets kidnapped in the middle of the night by the Memphis Mafia led by Elvis himself. Will Laura Jean try to free herself or will something hold her back from finding her way home?

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

pairings: austin!elvis x oc

word count: 1729

warnings/notes: Gun Violence

Chapter 11

I'd be lying if I claimed I wasn't worried about my father's impending visit. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to wiggle my way out of his hands this time. There will be no rebellion or blackmail to save me or Elvis. This meeting would put a stop to everything, regardless of who won. I stayed close to Elvis while he and the rest of his mafia armed themselves with as many of Elvis' guns as they could conceal on their bodies. It was like witnessing troops train for battle. Elvis approached me, a fully loaded handgun in his hands.

He extended it to me. “Now, darlin’, I don’t know how this is gonna go. But I’ll be damned if I let him take you away from here no matter what happens to me.” He took my already trembling hand and placed the gun in it. “I’ll protect you with my life and you know that. But if Walker manages to fire first…you need to defend yourself. I know he’s your Daddy–”

“Not anymore.” I slid my hand around the gun's grip and tucked it into the waistline of my pants. Despite my quivering palms, the rest of me was rock solid. Even before I met Elvis, Daddy had been dead to me for a long time. I could pull the trigger if the time came. At least, that's what I told myself.

Elvis kissed both of my hands on the back. “When all this is over, we’re gonna have a Hollywood weddin’.” He grinned, but I could sense the anxiety he was attempting to conceal.

I smiled back and placed my hand on his cheek. “We sure will.”

~

2 hours appeared to fly away before Elvis received a call from the front gate. I knew it was time when his jaw clenched. He hung up the phone, nodding to the mafia guys who had been eagerly waiting for Elvis' signal. Elvis led me to his office, followed by his guys. When my father arrived at the door, just two people remained to accompany him in. Coming down the corridor, I could hear his dominating footfall. I took a long breath to calm my nerves, which were becoming more agitated as the steps became louder. The door flung wide, revealing my father and his mafia associates, men I had grown up with since childhood. Men who were previously like uncles were suddenly total strangers standing before me, staring at me with the same disdain they had for Elvis.

Elvis was absolutely disregarded by Daddy. He gave me a cheeky look as he glanced at me. His gaze slid down until it came to rest on my hand, which was lying on the outside of my thigh. His lower lip trembled. “Well…” he said slowly, “I guess my little gift was an early wedding present, wasn’t it?”

“You’re a sick man, Walker.” Elvis pretended he hadn't heard Daddy's remark. “You knew she would be in that car with me. You were willin’ to let your own daughter die just to prove a point?”

“My daughter made her choice.” While conversing to Elvis, he kept his gaze on me. “But once I get rid of you, well, her choice won’t really matter, will it?”

Elvis' jaw clenched. “I have no complaints about resolvin’ this peacefully. I’ll forget about the money you stole and your debt to me, but you have to leave Laura Jean here with me and never contact her again.”

“What kind of father would I be if I left my daughter here with you and your riff raff?” Daddy narrowed his eyes. “Especially when your bloodline has a history of killing mine.”

What was he on about? Until I met Elvis, I had never heard of the Presley family or their links to the mafia. And I knew Daddy would never miss an opportunity to tell me about another mafia family that was our rival. He had to be lying. Just trying to get something going inside of me so I'd make a mistake and he'd have the upper hand.

I discovered my own voice before Elvis had an opportunity to discover his. “What are you talkin’ about, Daddy?”

Daddy gave me a frightening smile, as though everything was going as planned. “You know your Mama died in a hit that was meant for me. You should know, darlin’. It’s his fault you don’t have a Mama anymore. Or should I say it's his Daddy’s fault.”

My cheeks heated, and I felt as if the world was whirling around me. My mouth got dry, and drums began to pound in my mind. Vernon Presley was the reason my life had crumbled. He was the reason my father saw me as a property rather than a daughter. His thugs had murdered my mother, an innocent, charming woman who had done nothing wrong but fall in love with the wrong guy. The name Presley was the boogieman I'd been looking for all these years, the thing that kept me awake at night hoping and praying for justice for a mother who died much too young.

“Laura Jean…” Elvis began in that lovely, delicate voice I had grown to adore, the one that was just meant for me..

My hands were quicker than my thinking, and I snatched the revolver from my belt and pointed it at Elvis. The Memphis Mafia attempted to make a move towards me, but Elvis stopped them and told them to keep still. Angry tears streamed down my cheeks, and all I could see through my clouded vision was red. “Did you know?”  I said, my voice shaking.

Elvis raised his hands. “Darlin’---”

“DID YOU KNOW?!” I yelled and removed the gun's safety. My finger was poised above the trigger.

Elvis' expression softened as he gazed at me with loving eyes. I have no doubt I could have shot him right there and he wouldn't have stopped loving me. I was blinded by the wrath, anguish, and heartache I'd been harboring since I was 12 years old. Elvis released both of his hands. “I didn’t know. But I knew Daddy had ordered some hits before he got jailed. He called it protectin’ me from the nearby bosses who would come sniffin’ around once word got out about me takin’ his place. When you told me about your Mama and with Louisiana bein’ so close, I—I thought maybe, but I didn’t want it to be true.”

The hammering in my brain became more intense, and the wrath within demanded blood for blood. I could hear my father laughing behind me. “See, baby girl? That’s why I’ve kept you so close, tried so hard to get you away from this boy. He doesn’t love you. He’s just tryin’ to finish what his father started.”

Mama's face flashed across my head like a movie reel. Her smiling face saying my name as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world. Her hugging me and singing to me only to serve the purpose of making me smile and cheering me up. Her teaching me to play the piano and her bell-like giggles when I hit the wrong key. The images then altered. I saw Elvis's face. Elvis smiling at me and whispering my name to me in the breeze. Elvis cradling me in his arms and tenderly sang me to sleep. Elvis teaching me to play the guitar and his boisterous laughter when I couldn't figure it out. My thoughts abruptly cleared, allowing me to see Elvis's face directly in front of me. That was right. That first night when I watched Elvis perform, I rediscovered the affection I had lost from Mama. His love, our love, was as precious and beautiful as Mama's love for me. Elvis was nothing like his father, and I was nothing like mine.

I spun around, my gun now aimed squarely at my father. He also indicated for his men to take a step back. His amusement was unwavering. A memory went through my head of Daddy teaching me how to shoot a gun. If you aim at something with this, you better always intend on killing it, he had said. “What? Are you going to shoot me now? Your own father?” He laughed. “You’re not going to kill me, Laura Jean. As much as you hate to admit it, you need me. You can’t survive without me.”

I shook my head. “I haven’t needed you for a long time, Daddy.”

“You know that’s a lie. Look where you’ve ended up, look how far you’ve fallen.” He extended his hand. “Come with me, sweetheart. Let us be the family we were meant to be.”

I'd heard him talk like this before. He'd only used that voice with Mama. A sincere voice that made you believe he meant what he said. But there was something odd about it. The genuineness felt distorted and untrue. “Leave, Daddy.” 

“You’re coming with me, you little brat! Whether you want to or not!” He pulled out his handgun and pointed it at Elvis.

I didn't think about it. I simply reacted. In my haze, I heard a loud gunshot and had no idea who had shot first. I cast a brief glance towards Elvis. There was no blood or evidence of harm. He appeared unharmed and content. I carefully turned my head to see where my father had recently stood. He was now lying on the ground, blood soaking his costly suit from a gunshot wound to the chest. As I approached him, he was struggling for oxygen and choking on his own blood. His men just watched for a mob leader who fell quickly lost respect. I stood over him, his astonished and wounded gaze was returned with one of indifference.

I knelt next to him. “I want you to know two things before you die. That your daughter who you treated like an expensive object is the one who killed you. The other thing I want you to know…is that one day soon, your daughter is going to hold the name of the family who ruined your life.”  I kissed and placed my fingertips on his brow before rising to my feet. I aimed the gun at him once more. “Goodbye Daddy.” I fired, the bullet striking him between the eyes.

Stay tuned for part 11!! Click HERE to view!

[beeceit]

Leonardo, come down here, and put that back

You ever get too into the short character study you meant to leave in the tags of someone else's post and accidentally write a 1033 word one shot told in the second person about someone else's character meeting yours?

Haha me neither, anyways... here's my take on what I think it would be like for LDC Leo and POB Uncle Nardo to meet <3 Bonus points if you catch all the other peepaws referenced

@nani-nonny teehee

Out of all of the bizarre situations you’ve found yourself in over the course of your life, this ‘peepaw multiverse convention’ was certainly far up there. 

Dozens of alternates of yourself and your former brothers, even some Aprils (though not many) stand around chatting, recounting stories, showing off their little selves.

Most of them seem to get on fairly well, splitting into little groups like a highschool cafeteria.

Well, what you imagine a highschool cafeteria looks like, you’ve never been.

There’s the smart ones, the cool ones, the tired ones. And, inevitably, the class clowns.

Some booty shorts wearing jackass covered in stickers keeps chucking empty waterbottles and paper airplanes at your head. You can't tell if he genuinely doesn’t realize that you could kill him easily if you wanted or if he just doesn't care. 

He's wrapped around his own Mikey now, the weight that constantly dragged on his shoulders, on every Leonardo’s shoulders, almost vanished from that single touch. Lucky bastard.

You had your own Mikey once. You fucked that up, too. Pushed him away. Twisted yourself until you could scarcely be called brothers anymore. And still, after it all, in his desperate final act of life he tried to save you. Not only you, the stupid selfish blueprint that became you.

That useless arrogant child you once had been.

Everything you've been through, everything you've lost, it was all your own fault. It was his fault. You can see the cracks in the armor. The foundational flaws that will lead him down the path to becoming you. Distantly, you think maybe you could still save this world's version of your family if you just get rid of the common denominator.

You can't mistake this as justice, though. As a good deed. You don't want him dead as a precaution, you want him dead for revenge. You're selfish, self-righteous, focused. In him you can see the son you used to be. The part of you that was a brother, a friend, the part that has long since faded in your chest glows so brightly in him. But you must extinguish it. He deserves this. You both deserve this.

The new guy gives you a look that you don't understand. 

Oh, right.

You shake yourself out of the memory. Out of the corner you find your own counterpart engaged in a very one sided conversation with another young Leo, a feral looking one legged creature with the conversational skills of a busted up talking tom. Some part of you is glad he seems to be making friends. 

God, you felt old. And this place didn’t have nearly enough alcohol to even begin to process… that whole situation. You turn back to the new guy. It’s been a while since any of them got this close to you. Most of the other Leonardos herded their littler ones away from what had been deemed ‘naughty gay peepaw jail’, which is the stupidest name they could give your self-imposed little angsting corner, but maybe not inaccurate.

You finally identify the look the new one’s giving you. It’s pity.

Disgusting.

He's young. Too young to be here, you think, as if you could really be the judge of that. He's not even 30 yet, hasn't even reached 6 foot. Still has 2 arms. Ah well, for now, at least.

He's too happy.

Something in his scarf makes a chirping sound. 

The new guy, Nardo you’ve heard him called (And god, you used to be Nardo once upon a time), reaches in and pulls out a small creature, hardly bigger than an oreo. You’d almost have thought it was a strange rock if you hadn’t seen the little tail emerging from under his shell thumping against Nardo’s hand. Nardo chuckles and kisses his head with such tenderness.

“Bitty, buddy, you weren’t supposed to wake up from your nap just yet.” The tiny thing babbles indignantly but is quickly quieted when Nardo rubs a finger against his cheek and under his chin.

It’s disgustingly cute.

And disgustingly familiar.

You’ve seen the family photo album, seen the pictures of your own father (former father) snuggling up against an incomprehensibly small version of yourself the exact same way. You’ve seen a handful of Leonardos with children of their own, amalgamations of turtles and rabbits (why so many rabbits?) and humans and different sorts of turtles. 

That’s not just a Leonardo’s baby, that’s a baby Leonardo.

He was so helpless and small. Precious, fragile, innocent.

But he was still a Leonardo.

You had been like him once, before, you knew you had. How had such a sweet little creature become the murderer that ended the world? Nardo held Bitty out to you, cupping his hand to keep him securely held. You made eye contact with the child for less than an entire second before he chirped, frightened, and nuzzled back into Nardo’s palm, shaking.

Nardo frowned and pulled him back to his chest, stroking his shell with his thumb.

“I’m sorry, he’s never reacted to anyone like that before. I’m sure he’ll warm up to you eventually, he’s just still tired.” He was afraid of you. Terrified. You hadn’t so much as said a word to him and the child saw right through you. Even an infant was able to see the blood on your hands. 

His wet afraid eyes matched your own counterpart’s scarily well. The chirps of fear and your own Leo’s screams overlapped. Would you have done the same thing if your counterpart were so small? You don’t think you would, but then again, at Nardo’s age you wouldn’t have thought you’d do a lot of the things you’ve done.

“Hey, uh, you okay? I gotta get the little guy somewhere a little quieter for a minute, but I can come back. I’m sure I won’t have any trouble finding someone to watch Bitty for me, I’ve already had to fend off at least eight kidnapping attempts this morning.” Nardo looked at you with concern, genuine concern, even after you scared his baby. He really was too young to be here. “Don’t worry about me, just go.”

“Oh, uh, alright. I’ll see you later?”

“Pray that you don’t.”

[allthecastlesonclouds]

Fantasy high and hatchetfield crossover never gets old! Can we hear your thoughts about it?

of course!!

so. in hatchetfield canon when hannah foster is born, the Lords in Black are pulled close enough to reality to start fucking with things. the same thing happens with Adaine.

the first thing that gets fucked with is Tinky messing around with people's ages. adaine's age does not get fucked with. everyone else's ABSOLUTELY does. thankfully she is the youngest of all of them in this world. for my sanity.

the original timeline ages (let's say adaine's 18): riz, fig, gorgug are all 18, kristen is 19, fabian and ayda are 20 (fabian was held back in school, ayda did not attend public education. on account of the witchery)

it's. unclear what's the first timeline at this point. everything happens at once. everything follows each other. adaine's head hurts constantly

they can only escape in universes/timelines that have a strong similarity to the original one! this is why they manage to escape in the lovely "fig kills an entire theatre of people" timeline (o7) and not when, say, adaine and riz are ten and the rest of them are full adults.

in more than a couple universes, the luckstones crash on a drive to visit family in clivesdale and penny is adopted by mayor goldenhoard

(she misses having a sibling. she and riz haven't talked since the accident.)

(^ at least one of these universes is nerdy prudes must die) (penny's steph, riz's pete, klck's grace, mary ann's richie, zelda's ruth, ragh's max) (adaine's reese; lucy's pj) (to get the LiB to take out max, kip kills lucy)

some of TBK have very Shifting parts in the story– a fig who is suddenly in her thirties and doesn't have any memory of success or friends won't jump back into trying to make music. she's gonna go get a job at the coffee shop downtown. they're all in tinky's toybox and he likes to see how they all respond to different traumas :D

aelwyn got out in about half the universes. in about half of that half she managed to be able to take adaine with her. in a couple universes she went to jail with arianwen. in more than a couple they're still both living with her

bill seacaster's roman murray :) fabian has no underlying mental issues :)

kristen takes uncle wiley's place in most universes. tracker's john mcnamara :D they're divorced :D

(jawbone's hidgens. his mental state varies depending on the timeline)

tracker does not feel great about shooting her ex girlfriend who she definitely doesn't still have feelings for. definitely.

riz, so far, has never been The Villain. he does die in Most Universes, though, as his younger self or his older self or both! :D

riz is all the spankoffskis and also tim

sandra lynn/sklonda is canon in at least five universes :)

i'm so so normal about all of them. thank you so much for the ask!! i. i love talking about the guys :)

ask me about my aus on this very normal day!

[apupp3tw0-strings]

Trick or Treat Troubles

Date: November 1st, 2131

Later in the day there was some trouble sorting out a way to get my friends to HomeTown. Mostly since I failed to realize that none of the many, many cars my family owns can effectively fit more than 5 people. (You'd think with a family with four kids, we might have at least one van but... There's never been a dire need for it.) Papa called went to call Puncle Sans, since he was going to be chaperoning us, though knowing Sans, there was a low chance of that happening. (He didn't, by the way, Kris ended up being our chaperone.)

While that was going on, I tried talk to Spamton a bit about earlier when one of the Askers brought up the Addisons again. Even if I tried to tell him that at least Flash seemed to care about and miss him, it seemed no use. Spamton didn't want to listen. It's almost like he just, didn't want to accept or believe they even COULD care about him... Sigh. Well, nothing I can do about that right now, nor could I last night, and by that point Papa had come back off the phone with the news that Kris would pick us up and chaperone us.

Spamton's introductions to my friends didn't exactly go as planned. How do I explain what a Darkner is without telling them about the Dark World? Didn't help that all of them noticed the supposed lack of a soul. (It's something I noticed when first meeting Spamton too. I hadn't really paid it much mind though and even less learning that Spamton and Jevil weren't Monsters and thus of course wouldn't have Monster souls.) What also didn't help was Spamton seemingly disliked all of them from the start, despite meeting them just moments ago. (I figured out why later in the night, we'll get there.) After both Blane and Blaze first mistaking Spamton for a toy (which, to be fair, he DOES look like one), by the time Neil got in the car and also commented on it, we decided to wait until we picked up Taffy to introduce him a third a time.

Even after we picked up Taffy, there was a bit more chaos because of the Askers antagonizing Spamton... Gyeeeeeh... Eventually though, we did get to HomeTown, where we met up with CK and Jevil and tried to introduce/explain Spam and Jev to my friends while still hiding the whole, you know, Dark World thing. (Also at this point, I was starting to think this was a bad idea, but for some reason tried to keep going. Hooray blind optimism!)

Once CK and Jevil came out (and my friends also commented on Jevil also seeming like a living toy, which led to the possibility of more secret bosses like Jev and Spam being mentioned and Kris glaring at multiple people...) I had to stop CK before he let it slip what Spamton and Jevil actually were as we fumbled tried to give some explanation. (Yeah. Yeah this was a very, very bad idea.) Eventually, we sort of explained them as like, our deadbeat uncles who were staying with us because... Trauma? I- Kris was able to help us out a bit more.

"Do any of you guys have an uncle?" All of us raised our hands. I know CK and I have uncles because we're cousins, I also know all my friends have at least one uncle, even if they might not all be the closest to said uncles. "Are any of them deadbeats? Kris continued. All of us except Blane lowered our hands. I'm pretty sure all of my friends and I had lost track of the times Blane had mentioned he had an uncle in prison or who got kicked out for a drinking problem or something. All unsure which uncle he was talking about. (Blaze has a theory it's all the same uncle.)

Kris turned to Blane. "Okay, lightning kid-"

"Blane." Blane corrected.

"Blane." Kris repeated "Has your uncle ever been locked up or lived on the street, gotten involved in any... bad stuff? Be that substances or other stuff?"

"Hmm... Well my dad's brother has been in jail a few times for stuff my mom wouldn't tell me but my dad said it was because he was a 'junkie'? (Whatever that means...)"

I think the rest of us all knew what that means. I mean, I know it because Papa explained it to me once as "SOMEONE WHO'S NOT BAD, NECESSARILY, BUT HAS COME TO DEPEND ON BAD STUFF LIKE DRUGS AND BEEN LED DOWN A BAD PATH BECAUSE OF IT." After which Papa had to explain what drugs were to me. (Basically stuff like medicine that people take when they're not sick because it makes them feel good.)

"Means he did drugs, go on." Kris answered before Blane continued.

"And then my mom's brother was in a cult I think."

"You know I should've started with a cult comparison."

".. CAN WE REALLY CALL THE... YOU-KNOW-WHO A CULT?" CK cut in. It was a good question, even after going on a Dark World adventure of our own and encountering another like Spamton and Jevil, neither of us really know anymore about the... Well we only know them as the "strange someone".

"Yes, I'd say it's a pretty apt comparison. The most apt in fact." Kris replied before pointing to Spamton and Jevil while still looking at us kids. "Alrighty kids, basically, those two were in a cult."

"HE Y!" Spamton exclaimed, offended.

"Shut up you know I'm right." Kris quickly shut Spamton down before turning back to us again. "They were in a cult and made a lot of bad decisions and at some point me and my friends had to fight them (and three others) after they were abandoned and now, Chicago's dad is dead set on helping them so that's why they're now staying with Chicago and CK. Alright? Any questions?"

I mean, I had a few. Mostly about the three others Kris mentioned. I've know that there's been others other than Spamton and Jevil for a while, but I still don't know a lot about them. Kris seems hesitant to acknowledge their existence, much less talk about them. Even still, Blaze was the first one to raise her hand.

Blaze asked who abandoned them, which, oh boy. Loaded question. Luckily Kris handled it pretty well by saying that... pretty much everyone did. And like, they aren't wrong. From what I've seen that seems to be what happened... Still doesn't make it any better. After brushing aside Blaze's follow up question of "Why?" with an "It's a long story" (A classic adult way of saying "I don't want to get into that right now" which took me a while to learn, particularly after multiple people got annoyed when my response would be "I've got time" or "I like long stories"), Kris called on Neil who asked why they didn't seem to have souls. Another tricky question to answer.

"Some people's souls are harder to sense." Not the worst answer, there are ways for people to make their soul's harder to sense, generally through closing themselves off I think, but from my knowledge that only really applied to not being able to determine trait. Not making it seem like they didn't have a soul at all.

Regardless, it seemed to satisfy my friends, and we were able to get on with the night.

To Be Continued

[thestobingirlie]

I do think that it’s implied that most of Eddie’s problems were due to classism: him living in the trailer park and his dad being in jail. I can see his teachers just refusing to give him his high school diploma and waiting for him to drop out, because “the likes of him don’t deserve it” and etc.

But being sabotaged is not the same as not struggling, and Eddie does struggle, clearly! He doesn’t deny it and he never once said that him being held back was not fair. And Eddie is not academically successful, otherwise Robin at least would have mentioned it, if not Nancy.

Eddie being a genius and being super successful in college is possible, very possible even, but knowing kids like that, he would have been able to utilize whatever talents that he had waaaayyyy after he graduated. And it’s also very likely that something very similar is going on with Steve. And I did think (before Eddie died) that it was an obvious parallel between them. Idk what the duffers meant now, killing Eddie (in my opinion) was a mistake that screwed over a lot of characters. I know that they’ll just ignore his death, that Nancy and Steve won’t blame themselves, that no one is going to be traumatized. But like. Idk.

So Eddie being smart is cool (he is smart! he gave Steve a torch that can be used underwater, he is smart!). Eddie being school smart? Nah.

oh absolutely eddie struggles because of his situation in life, and others’ assumptions of him. i mean, even him having an (alluded to) unstable childhood (dad in prison, living with uncle etc) can lead to kids struggling in school. i don’t think him being held back is just because he’s an idiot. though i don’t know that teachers would hold him back, i more see them trying to get him expelled. if they were to do anything.

it is super explicit within the show that eddie struggled at school. disregarding whatever teachers may have done, he just isn’t great at school. he’s great at other things, he is smart! just not in high school.

and yeah, i also see the parallels to steve, though i don’t think they were all purposeful? so i’m not surprised nothing came of it. and the duffers just aren’t great at recognising trauma lmao

[pilot-boi]

What are our Friends Doing? The ones that once escaped The Facility? Are those times behind (as much as they can be, At least?)

(Fallen Angel/Questions from the Facility AU)

((It’s been a hot minute hasn’t it))

“We’re mostly doing fine.” Ruby shrugs, glancing up from her book. There are noises of assent, some more confident than others. “It’s been almost a year since The Breakout,” you can hear the capital letters in her emphasis.

“It’s been… an adjustment.” Ruby pushes up a pair of round-rimmed glasses. Her eye sight hasn’t been the same since the magic eye lasers or whatever you hacked into her. “For all of us.”

“Yang had to get a new hand,” Ruby whispers. “Whatever Salem did to it couldn’t be fixed and the doctors had to amputate. Dr. Pietro made her a new one, though, and I think she’s happy.”

She looks sideways her sister, who is sitting with a yellow-painted hand held tight in Blake’s hand. “In fact I know she’s happy.” The blonde is carefully not making eye contact with anyone, but Blake is smiling smugly.

“Oh!” Her ears perk up. “The Avians were all declared people in the eyes of the law, which is great!” The proud smile on her face fades slightly. “It hasn’t all been good, though,” she murmurs, ears drooping. Ruby drops her gaze back to her book.

“It’s been a year, but we’re all still having trouble adjusting.”

“Roman moved in with Penny, but he still can’t sleep through a week without nightmares.” She turns a page, writing down an answer for her homework. “Or they both get nightmares, about being controlled or being the one controlling.” Ruby sighs. “Uncle Qrow says they might never go away completely.”

“Hazel had to go back to jail for the crimes he committed, even though he helped all of us so much.” Ruby turns another page and stares at an anatomical sketch of a cobra. “Cinder JUST got let out of juvie for her role in Pyrrha’s death, even though she was freaking brainwashed into it.”

“The doctors say Jaune will never remember everything about his family. The avians still can’t go outside without being scared of getting attacked.” Her voice is shaking and her grip tightens on her pencil.

“I got my mom back, but on her bad days she can’t even remember her name!” Ruby pushes the book away from her, suddenly furious at the drawing of the snake. “It’s been a year- I- We saved EVERYONE but it’s like Salem still won!”

Her glasses are foggy, and it’s with surprise she realizes that she’s crying. Zwei whines and Ruby bundles the corgi into her arms. Yang glances over, on edge, and Ruby waves her away.

“Dr. Peach says it’s trauma,” Ruby murmurs, her voice muffled in a face full of corgi fur. “That we’re all tense because it’s the anniversary.”

She shrugs. “We’re mostly doing fine.”

[thedawningofthehour]

Oh, ok. Pax officially became my second most hated character after Draxum. I don't care what excuses he has now, what kind of trauma he has, when this is over that man deserves to go to jail.

I guess it's a good thing he didn't show up much. It's one thing if Draxum simply lied to him saying Donnie went willingly, but he knew all along that it was against his will!!!? That it was all for 'his own good!', plus, Draxum actually promised him that he would try to convince his brothers!? Come on! Draxum almost killed Leo more than once! What would have been his response if Draxum had killed Leo in the roof chapter! A message to Mikey with a 'sorry about your other brother!?'

Cass is similar to Pax in some ways, but the difference is that she is a teenager and Pax is a grown adult! So sorry if I'm not as sympathetic to him!!!! I really hope Pax gets consequences.

Whew, sorry if I got a little intense for an oc, but I guess that's what happens when you tend to get too involved with a fic. Once again, good job.

(friendly reminder to everyone that Pax and Bella are meant to illustrate the paradox of tolerance and their very names lampoon that)

But also with Pax-yes, he is an adult, he's roughly 35-36, but this is still really young for Yokai. Their legal age of majority is 20, but they're basically like 18/19-year-olds in our world where they're still very much considered teenagers despite being legal adults. Even Bella is still considered a very young adult-50 or so is when they start being seen as real adults, and some will consider everyone under a century a YA. Tigerclaw is roughly 200 years old and he's seen as someone in their 30s would be in our world.

And Bella was raised mostly as a human and definitely feels more in line with her human age than the Yokai perception of her age, but Pax did NOT. He was 7-8 when his parents died and they died violently, at the hands of humans who hated them for what they are. He was in human school for like three years, and from then on he was raised by his uncle. In the Hidden City, as a Yokai, and for much of that time he was homeschooled and getting the full brunt of Draxum's insanity. Drax was more mild at this point, he didn't really start ratcheting it up until his nest was empty and he had nothing left to do but stew on what happened, but he was still afraid. And again, Pax was a kid who was just orphaned, had his house burned down, and narrowly escaped being murdered himself. He was already scared of humans, and Draxum just kept fearmongering until they were both completely terrified.

So Pax's reasonings for going along with his uncle's bullshit are very in line with Draxum's own excuses. He thinks Donnie would have died anyway. Yeah, he doesn't like it, but things will be better once Draxum enacts some of his plans. He doesn't hate humans. He's not thrilled, but the conflict was going to happen anyway. At least this way he can advocate for harm reduction.

I know you're not American, but I remember having to write an essay in college on the Birmingham campaign, where civil rights activists encouraged students and children as young as eight to march in protest of segregation. This resulted in the Birmingham jail being filled, mostly with kids, at which point the police used fire hoses and dogs against the remaining protestors.

These pictures brought national attention to the issue and the brutality that these people faced, but it also, understandably, attracted a lot of criticism for the usage of children in what many people knew would likely become a violent protest. I believe this was an essay question to a test, so I don't have it backed up anywhere, but the question was basically if we thought the decision was condemnable or not. And the thing is, you can't excuse putting kids in harm's way. You can't. It's just a horrible thing, period.

...But how many of those kids would be brutalized by the police as adults? How many would have their lives and opportunity strangled by discrimination? How many would die young and have their killings brushed off, labeled as 'thugs' and 'no angel' now that they weren't cute photogenic kids, and having every excuse trotted out to defend their killers from justice? Tomorrow their suffering would earn no sympathy. Didn't the guys leading this protest (which included MLK) owe it to these kids to get results? To ensure the world they'd inherit was better than what they had now? To not let their suffering be in vain? They needed national attention and sympathy, and if this was the only way to get it-well, don't they have a duty to do it?

I guess I didn't really answer the question, since I couldn't say whether it was right or wrong. I said that when a situation is unfair, you can't expect the persecuted party to climb out of it fairly. It's been set up to make that impossible. There is no right when your conflict is so intensely wrong.

Anyway, I don't remember what I got on that test.

[rontra]

isn’t Helena Wayne CTDE edition from a different universe. Which of the dc canon Helena Waynes are from another universe. is it only #3? Is it all of them?

HREHBGFBH okay so i omitted the actual like Lore Details about her in the other post bc it was mostly about the Out-Of-Universe Timeline but YEAH THAT TENDS TO HAPPEN ... its like... god

THE ANSWER IS YES!!! AT LEAST 2 OF THE 3 ARE FROM A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE SOMEHOW including the one CTDE Helena is taking from. god you know the drill by now. the rest of the post is optional details (+ your other abhorrent ask)(❤)

ok just to do this Quick And Dirty (And Don't Fact Check Me On This) style. do NOT @ me im already fighting for my life as it is. and some of this is probably wrong . but

Helena Wayne I - back in the day dc was like "(eyebrow raising emoji) our ww2 veteran guys are getting kinda...Old...." so they more or less split the Ye Olde versions of the characters out into their own earth so A) they could continue having their lives and times in the retirement home dimension while DC could have Newer Fresher stuff to play with in the "main" universe--and B) it'd explain how the legacy guys could still exist and show up in current stuff alongside newer incarnations of the same ideas. the DC Classics realm (home of the golden age) and the DC New Shit realm (home of the silver age) if you will

over in the DC Classics Realm (not its actual name) (it's "Earth Two" actually) lots of the old heroes have like children or proteges of some description, since they're Older And All That. some of us are trying to retire! so in the Earth Two dimension after catwoman serves jail time for her crimes (LOL) she and batman get married and retire and raise helena wayne-

so helena wayne I is indeed from "Earth Two" and she's besties with power girl who also lives there. characters could pretty freely visit each other across the realms using like a teleporter device thingy so it wasn't really a big deal at this time. the Old Guard and Current Guys would team up all the time. it was chill

(Catwoman Dying is the incident that makes her pick up the Huntress Thing and later on Old Batdad Dies As Well, so helena wayne I is officially ORPHANED🗣 and when she's visiting the DC New Shit realm she calls the other (younger) batman "uncle bruce" and that's very cute to me.)

then a building falls on her and the entire multiverse collapses as we mentioned before

Helena Wayne II - keep in mind its been 25 years realtime and we're in a completely new arrangement of the entire dc multiverse at this point, but helena II and power girl are from an "Earth 2" where all the guys are older, uhm,

CRUCIALLY HOWEVER Earth 2 is under siege by planet fucking apokolips and you can't just freely hop between the realms from any ol teleporter. so when helena II and her government assigned kara get thrown out of their home earth they can't just go back. in this version they're stuck on the other earth together as the only two bitches from their earth. and navigating that + figuring out how the fuck to get back to "Earth 2" (which last they saw was on fire and exploding due to apocalypse war) occupies the bulk of their initial run. their storyline gets way less good once they figure it out and go home but that's how these things tend to go isnt it

anyway in this incarnation, she's Robin first! then catwoman dies (doomed to go first i guess) and a bit later batman explodes during the apocalypse war thing. once she gets stranded helena II picks up the Huntress Thing. so she is also OFFICIALLY ORPHANED 🗣

she calls the other (younger) batman "not-dad" which is a little less cute but she also off-hand mentions that superman was her godfather which raised a few questions for me personally. did clark kent present you at baptism or is he just like your Secular Godfather

as you can see this is overtly the version CTDE Helena is borrowing material from (trapped in a realm with helena wayne!!) but technically yes both I and II are from a "different" earth, just, one has free travel and is chill while the other one doesnt and is exploding, MDSHJBGFS

Helena Wayne III - time traveler. as far as i know she's probably from the same earth, just the future? i'm gonna be real i'm not as versed in her material (and there isn't a lot of it atm either). but the future she comes from doesn't exist anymore due to her actions, so she IS stranded / doesn't have a place to go back to. she IS a continuity anomaly who "shouldn't exist" but i THINK she only traveled through time and not dimensions. MAYBE. i DONT KNOW IF THATS TRUE

anyway her batman got murdered before she left. i think catwoman was still alive im not actually sure? but anyway this helena's future ceased to exist, so is that technically being orphaned? shes Existentially Orphaned. the Timeline That Created Her is dead. anyway she calls batman "dad" :)

to address your other question,

BE QUIET!!!!!

but yeah ❤ well her not-dad but i doubt that helps. hope this answers your questionHBJFDF

[megwritesnstuff]

Something Cozy

Hello! I have no idea if I’ll be able to finish it, but this year I’m going to try my best to participate in @tescheer​ ‘s 25 Days of TES Cheer holiday event. Although these will not be specifically Christmas themed, more like winter time and the general feelings of slowing down and being with friends/family at the end of the year.

Without further adieu, here is Day 1, of which the prompt is “cozy.”

It had been... a rough year, to say the least. Between her father having to go back to help out the Legion, and her being sent far, far away to Skyrim to live with her uncle Aryuen, to finding out she was Dragonborn and doing her best to keep sane while dealing with a destiny she could still barely wrap her mind around, Leona had had enough.

All the young Imperial wanted to do was rest, now. It was Evening Star, the last month of the year. Soon people would begin their preparations for Saturalia, and the New Life Festival. Both events that she would have looked forward to, even just a year ago, but now things were... different. Sitting at the museums upper floor apartment that her uncle had graciously allowed her and her friends to live in, mysterious note in hand telling her to rent the attic room of the Sleeping Giant Inn, the young redhead sighed loudly.

“What has you so troubled, my friend?” Leona glanced up to see Inigo walking downstairs, the first one awake out of the small band of adventurers who’d joined her over the past year. His unusual blue fur glinted in the dim light of the single candle she had lit when she tiptoed downstairs herself. The younger woman knew that out of all of her friends, not a single one didn’t deal with the nightmares of their past (or in her own case, future.) She’d done her best to be quiet so everyone could get some good rest now that they were finally back home.

“Forgive me, Inigo. I didn’t mean to wake you. Please, go back to sleep.”

“You did not wake me, young friend. The strange dreams and biting of fleas did that. You should also not dodge my questions.”

The redhead bit her lip and then sighed again, softer this time, as the blue khajiit came to sit by her in the soft warm light. She knew he meant well, of course, but it was still something she had trouble talking about with anyone besides Khash or Lucien, the two friends who had become much more like siblings to her than anyone else.

“It’s just... this. Dragonborn stuff.” Leona waved the unsigned note for emphasis, before tossing it down onto the coffee table and slumping back into the chair, defeated.

The older man grabbed up the note with a yawn to scan over, his eyes widening just a bit before going back to normal. He gently placed it down and looked over at the redheaded Imperial. He’d try his best not to make things worse for the teen by being shocked.

“I see... This was waiting for you when we arrived home yesterday, yes?”

“Yeah. I asked Farengar if he could have his associate from before contact me to teach me more about dragons, but this note isn’t signed or anything, so I have no idea if it’s really her. It could be those crazy cultists from before, or any other number of enemies. I just--” The girl sighed heavily, reaching up to rub her eyes. It was apparent she hadn’t slept a wink, by the dark circles and gritty sound of her usually smooth voice, “--I just want to NOT have to worry about this stuff for once. I miss my dad. I miss how we used to decorate the house for the whole month, even though New Life Festival is right at the end. I miss the time before I knew I was supposed to be this great hero.”

Leona wouldn’t cry, it was something she promised herself after that fateful day in Helgen, when she’d discovered her fathers bloodied body. She’d hardened her heart after that so she could get through things, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t hard. Now, in the hour before dawn, sitting in the candle light with the crazy khajiit she’d discovered in Riften’s jail who swore he knew her (he didn’t) it was harder than ever.

“Leona... I am sorry. You are still so young to be dealing with all of this. Not to mention how you’ve agreed to help Khash, Lucien, Kaidan, myself and the others, too.”

Inigo looked at the younger woman fondly. Even though they hadn’t had a formal discussion about it yet, he’d already realized that this young woman and the one he’d betrayed weren’t the same person. He hadn’t left yet, though, wanting to stay with this group and help them all in any way he can. They accepted him, even as he was still crazed, coming off of the skooma. He wanted to do anything he could to repay them, especially Leona.

“Come. Let me escort you to bed, surely you will feel better if you sleep. Allow your mind to rest and not worry for a bit, hm?”

He stood, and took her hand, leading her up the stairs to her bedroom and insisting she get some rest. Even if the redhead had wanted to put up a fight, there wasn’t much fight left in her. They’d been out on the roads for weeks, fighting dragons and helping the people of Skyrim. She was dead tired.

After softly shutting the young woman’s bedroom door, Inigo grinned as an idea came to him. With him and everyone else working together, they could surely come up with something to give their Dragonborn friend a bit of respite.

“Inigo, are you sure this is a good idea? I hate to be a Debbie downer, but this isn’t exactly what I would call a “New Life Tree.” Back in the Imperial city, they’re MUCH bigger--”

“Lucien. Shut up. It’s not going to be the same as some rich boys home would look, but it’s still nice. Don’t you want to cheer Leona up?”

Inigo sighed, shaking his head at Lucien and Kaidan arguing, as usual. He’d told them his plans earlier this morning, and everyone had agreed that decorating the safehouse while Leona slept sounded wonderful. However, with all of them being different races, and coming from different parts of Tamriel, they hadn’t been able to agree on how exactly to decorate, what foods to make, or what would make the youngling happiest. Finally, they’d decided to do a little bit of everything, that way, they could enjoy it too.

Sure, the dragons were a huge threat, but there wasn’t a ton they could do at the moment, anyway. Why not relax and make themselves a bit cozy in the interim?

Finally, another voice spoke some reason, though. Thank the Gods for Khash, honestly.

“Do not mind them, Inigo. They will probably argue no matter what. We are all used to it at this point, probably. I think the tree you picked looks nice. It is not very big, but it does not need to be.” The young Argonian chuckled softly, helping him line it up with the tree base they had bought in the Solitude marketplace just a bit ago, making sure the tree stood steady on its own before both of them backed away to admire it.

“This will be the first time I am able to really celebrate the New Life Festival, so I am pleased with it. I am sure Leona will like it as well.”

“I am happy you think so, my young friend. I hope she will stay asleep until we are done, although...”

Inigo turned to glare at the other two boys still arguing. Inigo didn’t get angry easily, and so even one sharp look from the blue catlike man was enough to silence them for now.

“She will not if you two do not stop making so much noise. Help Khash and I finish setting things up in here. Quietly.”

It was already midday by the time Leona was able to open her eyes again. Honestly, she could barely remember this morning. She knew she had talked to Inigo a bit about some of the stress she’d been having lately, and he insisted she would probably feel better if she actually got some real sleep for once. She’d been too tired to argue about it, so she took his advice. She hadn’t meant to sleep half the day away, though. Quickly, she got up and went around her room, following her usual routine. Wash off, get dressed in the warm clothes her uncle had bought for her, tie hair back. She nearly put her armor on out of habit, but her and the rest of her crew had agreed to take a few days in town before heading back out, so she left it off.

The cold of Skyrim was something she’d still not gotten used to, but she sweaters Uncle Aryuen had bought for her were thick and warm, very cozy. She yawned before pushing open the door to her bedroom and heading downstairs. Every motion was muscle memory at this point, and she was halfway downstairs before she truly opened her eyes and saw all the changes.

The apartment, which had previously been plain, bland, and dusty, was now decked out in what she could only call a smorgasbord of decorations from nearly every culture on the face of Nirn. From snowberry wreaths of the Nords, to garland made of pieces of clay shaped into the phases of the moon and strung along fine silver embroidery thread, something common in Elsweyr. There wasn’t a surface in the whole of the apartments first level that wasn’t decorated to be festive in some way or another.

In the far corner, where she’d originally pushed a chair and table near the window to act as a sort of reading nook, stood a short but stout pine tree, decorated beautifully with wooden ornaments and torchbugs placed into small glass jars. It was a sight to behold, to be sure, more beautiful than even the humble tree Leona and her father had put up back in the empires heartland.

Everyone was either sitting to rest, or standing to adjust a decoration here or there. They were all dressed in their casual clothes, even Nebarra (save for his iconic helmet, of course.) The first person to notice the young woman finally up and moving about was Remiel, who smiled wide and shouted “Surprise!”

All of the others soon turned to smile at the Imperial as well, following suit in their greetings and declarations of surprise. For Leona’s own part, she stood stock still on the middle of the stairs, unable to process her own thoughts. For as much as she had wanted something like this, she didn’t think Inigo would go and get everyone else into it, as well. They’d been saving all of their septims to buy a larger base where everyone could stay much more comfortably, but even still, even if it set them back a bit... Leona was overjoyed. It made her chest feel warm in a way it hadn’t in much longer than a year, and it made warm tears drip from her pale face.

Inigo noticed the tears and immediately frowned. He’d gotten carried away, just like he did in the old days. He hadn’t thought it would make her this upset, though.

“Oh, Leona you... you do not like it...?”

Around the khajiit, the others faces began to fall as well. Xelzaz, who’d been arranging food on the table in the dining room, walked out and looked up at their unofficial leader.

But, thankfully, the redhead shook her head. Fiercely. She was still wordless, but she reached up quickly to swipe away the tears that betrayed her heart. Finally after another moment, she spoke.

“N-no.. No, everyone... I love it. Thank you all so much. I-I promised myself I wouldn’t cry anymore, that I’d become the kind of person that didn’t worry you all, but... I guess these tears don’t count. I’m so happy right now...”

The collective sigh of relief didn’t escape her, and she ran the rest of the way down the stairs to start giving out the hugs they all deserved.

She couldn’t really name the emotion that had wormed its way into her chest and wouldn’t go. Love, joy, happiness. All of them at once. All she knew was that, even though it was freezing outside, and the poor insulation of their apartments walls was letting a bit of that in, she still felt so, so cozy here, with all of her new friends.

[shipcestuous-two]

Hi! I've read about your uncle/niece and brother/sister OCs and they are all so interesting! I enjoyed reading about them. You mentioned once that children of one of the brosis couples, who are cousins, also fall in love. I wanna ask you, do you have other OCs that are cousins in love? Or maybe you can share a bit more about these? Thank you!

[x]

If I'm remembering right, I have three sets of cousins OCs among my romance WIPs. I've been better about not starting a new story every six weeks or so like I used to! Now it's more like two a year. (Usually just jotting down ideas so I can focus on the ones I've made substantial progress on.)

The first are Nick and Mary from my Christmas story who are raised believing they are double cousins (fathers are brothers, mothers are sisters) but learn later that they share the same father. This story has a lot of really close platonic cousin relationships.

I think the story you're referring to is one of my less developed ideas that will probably be fit into my mediaeval-style fantasy universe. The sister made a marriage for advantage and not for love, and continues an affair with her brother who is frustrated but puts up with the situation. They're found, and - or perhaps for another reason - the brother is killed and the sister is jailed. It has sort of an Anne Boleyn flavor to it. The sister seduces one of her guards and escapes with him. She settles down with him and has a daughter. When the daughter is grown, it's revealed that the brother had a son, and I actually can't remember my ideas right now about where exactly that son came from. Anyway, the children are not half-siblings. They fall in love and are able to be together happily. So there's a Wuthering Heights flavor to the second half.

I can't remember if I've described this other story on the blog. I haven't worked on it in a long time but it's still there, sitting in the back of my mind. Two cousins are raised by their grandfather. The parents are all dead. The grandfather is wealthy and they all live on a big estate. The cousins aren't super close and each doesn't realize the other is in love them. Boy cousin grows up and moves to another state to get away from her and his feelings. Quite a few years pass and they're somewhat estranged, in an amicable way. Then the grandfather dies, and he comes home. Woman cousin is married now, to make things more complicated. I'm fuzzy now on the details, I'll have to read through my notes one of these days, but there's a provision in the will requiring Man Cousin to live at the estate (where Woman Cousin and her husband live) in order to get his part of the inheritance. So feelings are eventually revealed.

This whole story was inspired by this really tiny moment in a book I read. A cop's only family was his older cousin and her husband. He visits them occasionally. He assumes his cousin is embarrassed of him or at least doesn't think much of what he has chosen to do with his life, but he learns from talking to her husband that she's actually really proud of him and brags about him to her friends. So that dynamic is kind of key in my story - he's got the wrong idea about how she feels about him, and she's not very good about expressing her true feelings. There's also a class thing, just in the sense that she likes being fancy and he not that way, and he thinks she looks down on him for it but it's not that simple.

So hopefully those descriptions made sense and weren't too generic. I wish I could write as fast as Stephen King, then all of my WIPs would be published and I could talk about what the story actually was instead of just my ideas, lol.

Thank you so much for your question!