#an extension of younger teenage years or still teenage i guess)

[fideidefenswhore]

Charles responded to Henry's Easter outburt to Chapuys in a conciliatory tone, agreeing that Henry did not need his help with the Pope, but that he was well-disposed to help if he could, and would perhaps have more influence than others. As to Mary, he was sure Henry would act as a good father ought, especially in consideration of her virtures. It was only his close relationship to her that led him to urge Henry to treat her with fatherly regard. Surely it was not unreasonable for kin to intercede for children?

The King’s Pearl (2017), Melita Thomas

[kismetconstellations]

@sockdooe Are there legitimately, truly, and genuinely people who fight about that?

I'm pretty sure that the Black Lion, herself, definitively answered that question.

She came to Shiro's aid by awakening and allowing Keith to pilot her when Shiro was being attacked and on the verge of losing his life to those raptor creatures in the second season's opening episode.

She severed Zarkon's connection to her in favor of bolstering her bond with Shiro, because Shiro understood that the relationship between Lion and Paladin is "not about power. It's about earning each other's trust."

And, she cherished Shiro enough to hold onto his essence after his body was destroyed.

Shiro was the first to master seeing through his lion's eyes, all the way back in Season One.

He and Black had a deep enough desire and willingness to fully understand one another that she showed him her history and abilities that she and Shiro had yet to unlock together.

There's no debate to be had, here. Shiro is the ultimate Black Paladin, as determined by the Black Lion, herself.

I can only guess that there's an element of ageism, perhaps even ableism, and undoubtedly superficial vanity at play when it comes to the fandom's preference for Keith, Lance, and the pairing of the two of them that shall not be named. Keith and Lance are skinny, elfin-faced twinks with a cliche rivalry and certain vulnerabilities that appeal more to the younger demographic. Shiro is a square-jawed, six-foot-tall adult man with bulging biceps and abs of steel, and the sort of trauma that would take years to even begin processing, let alone healing from, who seems to be much more popular with the older, adult fans, and Eastern audiences. The younger, American fans took to calling Shiro a "dad", after all, despite him being twenty-five years-old; nowhere near old enough to be a father to any of the teenagers he finds himself put in charge of. I've also seen Keith/Lance shippers calling Shiro "Keith's dad", which feels vaguely racist, and arguing that Shiro "raised" Keith, which is ludicrous. It doesn't help at all that the show, itself, feeds into the ageism and ableism by sweeping Shiro's trauma under the rug, sidelining him when he's down an arm, and sequestering him and Coran off with the other adults while the teenaged- sans Keith, who was at least twenty-one throughout the latter half of the seventh and whole of the eighth season- Paladins go off on their adventures.

I know the intention was to kill Shiro off permanently before the producers vetoed it due to Shiro's popularity and status as the show's only (living, explicitly confirmed, and relevant) gay character. Perhaps because he has no one-to-one equivalent character in the original series this was a remake of, and Keith was the leader in that same original series, so he was destined to be the leader, here, as well. Or, because the VLD showrunners were under the- delusional- belief that they could have Keith redo what Shiro had already done, only better, somehow, because they prioritized spectacle over narrative substance. Regardless, it's apparent that Shiro is only still around out of obligation, come the eighth season, and there was no desire on the writers' parts to further explore or develop his character. Hence him having no family, and, by extension, no real support system, being largely isolated from everyone, only really getting to shine in an episode that's half filler and unintentionally perpetuates more ableism, and then being married off to a "character" who might as well be a glorified piece of set dressing for all of the personality and importance he's given.

It's absolutely mind-boggling to me that,

1. The majority, or at least the most vocal parts of the fanbase cared more about shipping and complaining about being "queerbaited" over Lance/Keith when Shiro is right there.

And, 2. It seems like Josh Keaton, Shiro's voice actor, was the only member of the crew who truly appreciated Shiro, enough to offer his personal headcanon about Shiro's family- that Shiro was raised by his grandfather- state that he intentionally gave the clone's voice a harder edge compared to Shiro's softer, gentler tones in order to distinguish between the two of them, showing his implicit understanding of Shiro's character, and even made a video tribute to Shiro after the show had ended.

Aww, thank you for enjoying my angry rant on Shiro's behalf. Believe me, it burns that Shiro is overlooked entirely as the stepping stone he was on the path toward gay representation in children's media, purely because this show's quality plummeted so hard, and the fandom earned itself a reputation as one of the worst in recorded history. He deserves to be honored and celebrated, as not only a proud gay man who told Pidge that "owning who you are is going to make you a better Paladin", but also as a trauma survivor who strove to remain gentle, patient, and kind, and devote his life to saving others.

And, yes, he also deserves the best therapist in the universe, and all of the cuddles. ❤

[mybatimblog]

headcannon headaches (pls help/j)

Context: ok so i have this incessent need to make my story as canon compliant as possible, and this goes for most fandoms im in. I'm flexible with some stuff (for example, i'll always have erasermic be married in my mha writing, i'll always have wolfstar exist in my mauraders stuff), but when it comes to timelines i am pretty strict.

a friend of mine once told me that my story fit so well they forgot it WASN'T canon and it made me so happy that I'm striving to do that even now.

ok onto the actual issue

I'm writing fic with Sammy in it and I've always headcannoned him as like, a bible-belt-farm-kid-oldest-son who didn't talk much with most people but MAN could he play that old piano at church like an extension of his own body and he doesnt have many friends but WOW can he make up a song on the spot and get everyone dancing in 2 shakes

i was kind of thinking south carolina. baptist. livestock farm. can you guess what they had? Sheep. :D

and this was all fine and dandy! except that Sammy somehow has to be working in New York as a teenager in 1922 in a cinema ! AwEsome......

I averaged it out so that he was around 15 or 16 in 1922, because thats kind of average teenager age making him around... born 1907, about 6 years younger than Joey Drew. which is fine, because that fits based on Joey's autobiography.

the PROBLEM is who in their right mind would have their teenage son move STATES all by himself to get a job at the cinema in new york im so freaking rigid that i don't want to change anything but... yknow, show must go on

OK so ive thought of... some solutions?

Have him be from a more northern bible-belt state. Virginia maybe. Still not great that he's moving states as a teen though

"starving artist wants to pursue his dreams" trope, maybe he could run off to the city with Jack or something? it could fit. downside is he'd never finish highschool. Which i suppose is fine. I personally don't think he had much musical education anyway (thats for a different post)

His father somehow gets a job in the city and sammy goes with him. This way he can finish highschool, but it does kind of take away part of the farm stuff i wanted and thats... not ideal.

i sound dramatic but my brain is not handling this wellllll....

[crazyworldofemmamarie]

do you like any other older horror movies? That's a very dumb question but I'm unashamed about such things. I've rewatched some of the movies that really scared me when I was younger, and if anything they're even more scary now. I only watched 3 or 4 of the Saw films, but your blog is making me feel like looking again.

I love the entire genre, please yell at me if I mess up a reblog, or if my extensive experience in the field can help with your endeavors. I'm a John Carpenter fan from Way back; sometimes I don't know who directed what has become my favorite movie of the week and it turns out to be his...some of em aren't horror, like Starman, but it's heavy sci fi, and 80's Jeff Bridges is such a great actor...rambling with the lunatics. I like your blog! Don't fall for any of those HP Lovecraft movies; there's no sex in the books or stories so that Reanimator fool can go...sex was the selling point in the 80's though, guess it couldn't be avoided. I've read a ton; it's gotta be good for something. The way folks are saying manifest; that's made it back around after 24, 25 years. I'm tryna track something, for the good of everyone, but I'm no psychic medium, not even a small. If you think I made even a little bit of sense, I thank you for your time.

Okay! what's One movie you Won't watch, or Can't? I couldn't watch more than probably 10 minutes of High Tension, probably because I have kids, but I think that's the only one that keeps me from looking at it. Tobyn Bell should get a fun, dancing man role huh? He's pleasant to see if you ask me;) my kid's a huge Leatherface fan but they remember his name and everything. I "got" to see all the Faces of Death tapes as a teenager, we're fine, we're fine(just smile and nod)...I'm not sure how much longer I have on this earth, so I'm making it weird, and keeping it positive and spooky is challenging! But this Halloween will be my first single Halloween since lots of years ago and I am not going to let it slip past another year. My parent's were wed on Halloween, they forgot the 31st was already special, and I've always liked that memory of them making out on the couch between the trick or treat visits...anyway, have a great day, forgive me for going off on Every tangent, still looking for my pack y'know? Idk if covens advertise openings and I'm still learning to behave lmao...if intent is truly key, I am so good. My intentions are good. I'm never surprised that we get to know the "bad guys", monsters in the movies and stories that I personally can't really hate, or judge, but those are the fictional ones. Unfortunately the bad guys out here are really bad, and boringly bad. Yell at me any time, but y'know I won't hear it, lmao

Holy Moly, I am so sorry, my dumb ass basically took forever to figure out how to reply but hey I got it now, haha!

And no, don't worry about rambling I totally enjoy your stories and thoughts and I find it amazingly sweet that you even took the time to write to me, really and I am always open to chat! (And in all honesty, I am still learning to behave as it, but there's nothing wrong with having a little fun, wink wink.)

I do wanna ay I think it's super cool you're parents got married on Halloween, that's totally badass! Halloween is my favourite holiday, my Mom was super big on it because she never got to celebrate it when she was young cause she grew up super religious and it was to make up for lost time.

If I ever got married and I could convince my partner on a date, I probably pick October 1st, but in all honesty, as long as I can get married in Autumn I am totally happy. Though that's a rant for another time, haha.

Now to answer both of your questions:

I really like a lot of horror and I usually go from 1920s German Expressionism horror to present day. Though I am not gonna lie to you, I get really stuck with that late 60s/70s horror, especially that Art house horror like The Last House on the Left or I Spit On Your Grave cause I really enjoy realistic, could really happen horror, plus as a film manic, the 60s/70s had a lot of freedom with things like art and film and I just feel we get more out of that and I'm just like you where it's dirty, raw and full of sex, haha.

Though the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974 is my all time favourite horror film of all time, but I do really enjoy Last House, Spit on Your Grave, Black Christmas, The Wicker Man and all that.

80s is a hit miss for me, I'm really not a big fan of those popular slashers like Elm Street, or Child's Play or Friday the 13th, but love those somewhat terrible b movies like Sleepaway Camp or Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2.

B Movies are another big thing for me, anything from Puppet Master to Basket Case to Evil Dead.

Now to you second question, the one film I can't watch and it's one of the very few films I've seen once and it's Cannibal Holocaust. I don't know what it was, I love cannibalistic films like The Hills Have Eyes or Cannibal! The Musical; but for some reason, this film didn't sit right with me, I can't tell you if it was cause it was too realistic, too bloody or the fact that they killed real animals on camera or that in reality you don't really know who the villain's really are (that's another rant for another time, I gotta whole essay on that, yeah, I'm a loser haha). In all honesty, I think it was all of the above for me, either way I can't do it, I look away if I see even clips of it or something, though I am trying to hyper myself up and try to watch again in the future as a future film study since I believe it's on both Tubi and/or Shudder.

Either way, I thank you very much for message and posting ask! Don't be afraid to send more, I am always willing to chat, (now that I figured out how to reply) and I hope you don't mind that i post this if ya do, just shoot a me a message, but either way, thank you so much for your time!

[genderparve]

I caught up with welcome to night vale this morning, which leads me to think about Carlos, and Dylan Marron, and how much I was obsessed with him when I was younger. I first started listening to wtnv when it got really popular, after First Date aired in 2013. I listened consistently for over five years, and these days I am much more sporadic but I still try to listen to episodes that catch my eye, or go to live shows. Wtnv really rewired my whole brain and I feel a deep genuine affection for it, though that's mostly a topic outside of the scope of this blog.

I relevant part here is my infatuation with Carlos, and through him, Dylan. I can't really explain why, exactly, except I saw myself in the character of Carlos so strongly. this character with which I share remarkably few traits, compared to other characters I've projected onto in the past. Carlos is a gay male Latino scientist, and I was an ace female Jewish (at the time) high school teenager, who had absolutely no interest in any kind of STEM subject. I guess I was kind of enamored by his awkwardness and quiet yet steadfast and earnestness.

I wanted to be Dylan's friend so badly. I stalked his Twitter and other social medias more than was probably healthy, lol.

Anyways. The reason I bring this up is that in hindsight I think Carlos and Dylan were the start of me embarking on a gender journey.

One of Carlos's most important defining features when he was first introduced is that he has gorgeous, perfect hair. And it meant a lot to me that the actor of the perfect hair-character had a curly, short undercut:

At the time I didn't know many people with undercuts. It was also really hard to find photos of people with curly hair like my own that had an undercut or other short hairstyle. (Maybe it still is? I don't know.) I remember when I first got my hair buzzed I showed my hair stylist a photo of Dylan and said, "give me this, please!"

This was at least a year or two before I started questioning my gender for the first time. But I think it kind of sowed those seeds, you know, that I didn't have to conform to gender roles all the time.

I'm not really sure what point I'm trying to make. I just really love Carlos (and by extension Dylan) a whole awful lot.

[feminismisstillahatemovement]

What are your thoughts on polyamory?

I was a firm believer in it when I was younger, and still think it can work for certain people with certain temperaments and certain beliefs about life. For myself, I've come to realize that even when I was involved with multiple people I was only truly in love with one person at one time, that the others were people I just liked an awful lot, and that I'm unable to accept the person I'm strongly commited to being with anyone else. So I guess I've drifted towards a more loosely monogamous position over time, after a lot of trial and error and heartbreak.

My hunch is that biology has a much larger part to play than any of the people in the polyamorous scene I've known are either aware of or willing to accept: when people are in their teens and twenties, their brains and conclusions about the world are still developing, and so it is to be expected that people often experiment with identities and play dress-up with labels at that time. This is why it's so common for teenage girls to proclaim themselves lesbians (or more recently, trans) for a few years, since their adult sexuality has not fully kicked in and their statistically-likely desire for children, along with their sexual peak, is still up to a decade away. At this point in their lives, sexuality is often a relatively abstract concept disconnected from the frenzied biological drive to reproduce, and so the idea of sex being just a simple, pleasant, non-threatening extension of friendship seems an appealing safe harbour to drop anchor in for awhile.

The hormones invisibly controlling our actions are also something I've never heard the people I personally know in polyamorous relationships directly acknowledge and address: when women go to bed with a man, their bodies release large amounts of oxytocin, which is a bonding hormone, presumably because, on a simple biological level, every time a woman has sex with a man a new life could result, which will change hers forever, so she is unconsciously driven to try make a strong bond between the two of them so she has someone to protect and provide for her and her potential child once pregnant and increasingly burdened and incapacitated. When a woman goes to bed with lots and lots of men, though, that hormonal process is continually thwarted and confused and stops functioning properly, so she often finds herself unable to fully commit or connect to any of them, and usually ends up deeply unhappy and lonely and unable to maintain any lasting relationship at all.

As for men, they don't tend to release much oxytocin when having a one-night stand, which evolutionarily makes a lot of sense, since their evolutionary job really is to go from woman to woman planting as many seeds as they can to increase their chances of reproduction. To put it at its simplest, on the level of human/mammalian cost, sperm is very cheap and eggs are very expensive.

When men are repeatedly with the same woman over a period of time, the bonding hormone they release is not oxytocin but vasopressin, the amount of which governs how much they jealously mate-guard: it's the hormone that can make men monogamous for life, but it's also the hormone that can make men murder their lovers for infidelity.

The reason I'm bringing all this up is that all of these are invisible forces guiding our actions that we have no control over, and indeed should be very wary of trying to assert control over, since they are survival mechanisms evolved over millions of years that have led us to even be alive today at all. Because of the heavy feminist (and hence social constructivist) influence in the polyamorous scene, there's a denial - or at least a glossing over - of biological differences between the sexes, and biological imperatives that fall outside the more politely communistic ideal of "share and share alike" are treated as secular sins; a solitary individual's personal failing to live up to an ideological group ideal. Once I began to see that clearly, I also began to have reservations about the whole conceptual framework of polyamory as some sort of identity and community.

But as I say, I still respect the people who try to make it work, and I do believe a small minority of people are of the right chemical composition to be able to make it work for them.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Chapter Five: Paris Revealed (Stories/Memories)

Prev

AO3

Marinette flinches back as the room erupts in shouting. The younger boy, who was definitely younger than her and yet almost (if not definitely) taller than her, was fiercely glaring while he screamed at Mr. Wayne in….was that Arabic? The man that walked in with him was waving around the knife in his hand while Dick yelled at Mr. Wayne, his face filled with confusion instead of fury. Glancing around for a way out, Marinette makes eye contact with Alfred who nods behind him. Sneaking away from the group of angry men, Marinette follows Alfred into the kitchen and instantly feels at home. And much calmer.

“I’m sorry.” She mumbles, breathing deeply to avoid spiraling again. Alfred simply hands her a cookie before turning around and putting water in a kettle.

“There is no need to apologize, Miss Marinette. It seems Master Bruce has forgotten all sense today and is instead insistent on acting like a fool. It was wrong of him to announce you like that, without preparing you or the boys beforehand. I do hope that his atrocious display of proper manners doesn’t make you want to leave.” Alfred says, and Marinette’s eyebrows shoot upwards. Was he? Was Alfred actually blaming this situation on Mr. Wayne? Was it Mr. Wayne’s fault? Did he not actually hate her? Did he just make a mistake?

“I- what?” Marinette says, unsure of herself.

“You, my dear, are not at fault. Your father didn’t tell any of his sons that you were coming to the manor today, or that you existed in general. And judging by your face, you weren’t prepared for the boys to be here either.” Alfred clarifies.

“Oh. No, I wasn’t. Mr. Wayne just said that he wanted to get to know me, and he knew I wanted to get to know him. I- my birth mother passed away. But my Maman knew her, so I can find out from her how I’m similar to Bridgette. But neither of my parents knew Mr. Wayne, and I just wanted to know if I was like him, I guess. I didn’t even know who he was until two days ago.” Marinette admits.

“As in you found out Bruce Wayne was your birth father two days ago or-” Alfred trails off, waiting for her to clarify.

“Oh no. I found out the name of my birth father awhile ago. It’s just- I really don’t pay attention to celebrities. The only ones I really know are designers. So I didn’t put two and two together, and I didn’t even know about Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises until a few days ago. My friend Adrien made me google him and that’s when I found out about...the boys.” She says, stopping herself from saying her brothers as she was still unsure if Mr. Wayne actually wanted her like he wanted the others.

“Well I’m certain that things will start to calm down shortly. In the meantime, would you care for some tea?” Alfred asks, holding up the kettle. Marinette nods gratefully, trying hard to stop her inner spiral from drowning her.

---

“What do you mean daughter?” Damian snarls, finally switching to English. Bruce blinks at the boy before sighing.

“I mean, you have a biological sister.” He says, tired and wishing he had been able to convince Marinette to go somewhere else. Not that he didn’t want her to meet her siblings. But it definitely wasn’t the laid back first meeting that he wanted.

“You mean half-sister.” Damian spits out, crossing his arms and sticking his nose into the air.

“Shut up, Demon Spawn. She’s our sister, get over it. Where’d the kid come from? Her mom drop her off?” Jason asks, obviously trying to actually understand the situation.

“No. I first met her at the Museum and had my suspicions. She’s in Gotham on a class trip, and before you ask, yes. We had a DNA test done and yes, I am her father.” Bruce says, frowning when he sees Dick’s hurt expression morph into one of excitement.

“Wait, wait, wait! Was she the girl who was sassing the Joker?” He asks quietly, practically buzzing with excitement. When Bruce nods, Dick cheers and runs from the room. Okay then.

“Wait, she met the Joker?” Jason asks, his expression turning dark. Bruce watches his son’s face morph into one of disgust when he puts it together. “She’s the French kid he had at gunpoint, isn’t she?”

“Yes. Which is one of the reasons why we both thought the manor would be a more appropriate meeting place rather than somewhere public.” Bruce says, sighing as Damian once again starts screaming. This was not what he had planned.

---

After just a few minutes with Alfred, Marinette already felt calmer. Calm enough to giggle at another story about something that one of the boys- one of her brothers- did. Calm enough to let her guard down. And mess up.

“If you wanna see something ridiculous, you should look up the 26th time Monsieur Ramier was akumatized into Monsieur Pigeon. He made all the buildings turn into bird cages and all the food turned into bird seed. Luckily it didn’t last long, but seeing the Mayor of Paris stuck inside a giant bird cage was kind of hilarious.” Marinette rambles, giggling at the memory. It was definitely a needed akuma, situated right between two super destructive akumas. Monsieur Pigeon was, while a nuisance, always a breath of fresh air. His akumatized form was brought on by his fierce protectiveness of the pigeons, which luckily never led to death for civilians.

“Pardon me, Miss Marinette, but could I ask what you mean by ‘akumatized’?” Alfred asks, his posture suddenly stiff. Marinette’s eyes widen as she realizes what she just did. She told someone outside of Paris about the situation happening in Paris. Well crap. Normal Parisians didn’t know about the media block that she had set up with the help of the Mayor and Max. But after her calls to the Justice League were ignored, and she realized how disastrous it would be for a member of the League to be akumatized, the media block was the best choice. Time to act clueless.

“Akumatized, as in, a person is possessed by an akuma? Surely you’ve heard of it. It’s been happening in Paris for almost two years.” She says, hoping he doesn’t ask to see any evidence. This isn’t good, this is awful, this-

“And what is an akuma?” Alfred asks. Okay, this isn’t too bad.

“It’s an evil butterfly sent out by the villain, Hawkmoth.” Marinette says, giving out more information than she’s really comfortable with. Okay, time to change the subject, no more questions about heroes or villains or-

“Marinette!” A new voice calls, sliding into the kitchen, almost immediately falling over.

“Master Dick, have you forgotten about your ban on the kitchen?” Alfred asks, his lips quirking up in amusement.

“Awww, Alfred, I just wanted to talk to Marinette. I feel bad for all of us overwhelming her back there.” Dick says with a pout that somehow doesn’t look ridiculous on him. Despite obviously being at least ten years older than her.

“Don’t feel bad. It was just...a lot all at once.” Marinette says with a small smile.

“So I have to ask, are you the one who sassed the Joker at the Museum the other day?” He asks, a wide grin on his face as he sits on one of the stools. Marinette’s eyes widen and she blinks. How?

“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess. It wasn’t a big deal though. He thought I was a Wayne- well, I guess he figured it out before I did- but I think he just wanted to scare my class.” She says, waving her hand to brush off the topic. She really didn’t want to talk about the Joker. Because she was sure it would turn into-

“I apologize for asking, but have you been caught up in the villain attacks in Paris before?” Alfred asks, Marinette instantly panicking. Sure, she’d been caught up in almost every single akuma battle as Ladybug. But there were a few on record where she was targeted as Marinette, and even a few battles that she assisted as Marinette. And then there was Kwami Buster…

“Well, a few. But basically everyone in Paris has dealt with it at some point. That’s just what happens when there’s an attack so often, you know? And my school seems to be a hotspot but that makes sense because teenagers are full of negative emotions and-” Marinette cuts off her rambling, cursing herself on the inside. Great job, Mari. Now they’re going to be worried or they’re going to think you’re a freak or-

“What do you mean negative emotions? Why would that matter?” Dick asks, his previous cheerful smile replaced with a look that clearly meant business.

“That’s how the villain chooses his targets. Negative emotion. If someone is having a bad enough day, he can take control of them and give them powers and basically destroy the city trying to get to Ladybug and Chat Noir, who are our heroes. I only know what’s been posted on official sites like the Ladyblog or miraculousparis.org.” Marinette says, smiling apologetically and hoping that this conversation can be over.

“Have you ever been akumatized?” Dick asks, tension suddenly filling the room.

“No, thankfully. I’ve found ways to manage my negative emotions so that they can’t take me over. I don’t blame anyone who has been akumatized, it’s hard not to be. But, I also don’t think I’d be able to forgive myself if I was akumatized.” Because then her family would be a target. Because Hawkmoth would know her identity. And if Hawkmoth’s insistence on her being akumatized was anything to go on, she’d be a devastating akuma. And if Ladybug wasn’t fighting in the battle….would the cure even work?

“That is a lot of pressure, Miss Marinette.” Alfred says softly after a moment of tense silence. Marinette grins brightly.

“I can handle it, don’t worry!” She says, hoping no one can tell how hard it actually is. How hard it is constantly being strong. Never truly feeling a negative emotion.

---

Bruce winces at the faux cheerfulness in his daughter’s voice. He had only found out about the Paris situation a few days ago, but he was determined to fix it. Find a solution. Do something to help the city and by extension, his daughter. She’d be going back there soon. Back to a city that was being held hostage by an emotional terrorist. Bruce would fix this. He had to.

Next

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[audreydoeskaren]

Abridged history of early 20th century Chinese womenswear (part 4.2: 1930s-hair, makeup & accessories)

Source here

Previous posts in the series:

Part 1: 1890s

Part 2: 1900s & 1910s

Part 3.1: 1920s-silhouette

Part 3.2: 1920s-design details

Part 3.3: 1920s-accessories, hair & makeup

Part 4.1: 1930s-silhouette & design

A super late Happy Chinese New Year to all fellow humans who celebrate it!! I’m going to discuss hair, makeup and accessories of the 1930s today in no particular order.

Undergarments

At one point between 1932 and 1934 women in China decided to ditch the breast binders worn since the 1890s and wear brassieres instead. This allowed the natural shape of women’s breasts to show and the contrast between the bust and waist lent the dresses of the mid 30s a soft hourglass shape. The brassieres of the 1930s didn’t have stiffening, boning or foam and relied only on their structure for support, so the shape of the breasts looked very soft and rounded.

Source here

30s Du Barry lingerie sewing pattern for brassieres and drawers. This may not be very representative because brassieres made by different companies looked different, but they usually looked like modern bras with vertical darts and no wires or foam cups.

I must again redirect you to this article on breast binding in China, if you can’t read Chinese Google Translate works just fine. There’s one thing that I’d like to comment on though; the author named breast binding as the sole reason for the small bust measures of women at the time and argued that it caused health problems and hindered the growth of the chest. I think this is true to some extent, but other reasons for the generally small stature of women in this period (and indeed the centuries before) included malnourishment, bad healthcare and lack of exercise. Women weren’t educated about healthy diets and the importance of physical exercise before the 30s, not to mention the non-existent healthcare they received, so they were much shorter and skinnier, and suffered from more illnesses than the average modern woman. Before industrialization, food production was also often insufficient so a lot of women were malnourished.

As popular as brassieres were, some Chinese women chose to go braless. However, I have usually seen braless women in advertisements/pinup posters, so I suspect this would not be very socially acceptable on a daily basis.

Source: lai yiching0926 on Pinterest. I get so many primary sources from this person y’all may as well check out their board on Chinese calendar painting it’s bomb. I also have a Pinterest board where I collect primary sources if anyone is interested, my Pinterest username is also audreydoeskaren.

However, being braless doesn’t mean wearing nothing underneath a cheongsam. Camisoles were worn on the upper body and drawers (which were becoming proto-panties) on the lower body; alternatively a slip could be worn. 30s drawers are really pretty in my opinion, they were high waisted and had an a-line shape, decorated with lace.

To my knowledge, Chinese women in this period did not yet wear girdles, corsets or any other kind of shapewear to take in the waist, at least I have never seen their edges peeking out from underneath the cheongsam. I guess this was also unnecessary as the cheongsam was a light one piece dress and didn’t require any support at the waist.

From my observation, stockings were kind of optional in this period. In the early 20s and before, Chinese women wore short stockings tied up by garters at knee level, but as the skirt hem rose to knee length in the late 20s they probably stopped doing that as the garters would show when they inevitably flash their knees. I assume longer, nude stockings would be worn, held up by a garterbelt or something, but a lot of images of this era showed women with no visible stockings. Teenagers and younger women could wear low knit socks like Western children, but these were not acceptable on grown up women unless they were doing sports. Tights were not yet a thing either.

On top of these undergarments, some women chose to wear ankle length petticoats or pants underneath the cheongsam. This was especially the case around 1934 when the side slits were mid thigh or higher and constantly showing your drawers was likely not the most respectable thing. These petticoats and pants were most commonly white and had decorative trim. Petticoats could have slits down both sides like the outer cheongsam or a flared hem. Pants were straight cut and wide legged. Later in the decade the slits became lower so petticoats and pants weren’t that necessary anymore but many women still chose to wear them, which is fine by me because I think it’s a cute look. Likewise there were many examples of women around 1934 wearing high slit cheongsam without petticoats or pants, especially if they were dancing, so this was likely a matter of personal preference (Western dances like tango, waltz, foxtrot, charleston and swing were introduced to China and popularized in the 20s and 30s. The Paramount dance hall in my native city of Shanghai is a monument to that).

Source here

Mid 30s photograph, high slit cheongsam with pants.

Source here

Later 30s fabric ad, low slit cheongsam with flared petticoat. 

Outerwear

A noteworthy development in the mid 30s was that wearing actual, full blown Western fashion became popularized, but only as outerwear, sportswear or eveningwear; Western day dresses were not often seen on Chinese women. In regards to Western outerwear, a variety of them could be worn over cheongsam. In addition to the fur trim wrap coats popular in the late 20s, women wore capes, vests, suits, coats, knit cardigans and others. It was completely ok to mix and match Western accessories and jackets with cheongsam.

Source here

Short cape.

Source here

Early 30s women’s suit. I know I use this image a lot, it’s just really useful and beautiful :)

Source here

Early 30s fur trim wrap coat.

Source: Sayuu G on Pinterest, link

Long coat with lapels.

Source: Yuan Li on Pinterest, link

Cardigan and jacket. This kind of short sleeved, straight front, collarless jacket on the left was very popular in the mid 30s.

Another cute mid 30s accessory I’m very fond of is the gauntlet glove i.e. gloves that have a very wide trunk opening. I think they have an equestrian flair and look very badass.

Source: Yuan Li on Pinterest, link

1935 cover of The Young Companion. (Why are the useful images always so small? Woe is me)

Earrings were really common in the 30s, you could see them in almost all of the reference photos in this post. 

Hairstyles

Since around 1930 the history of Chinese and Western women’s hairstyles had almost completely synchronized so if you know about vintage Western hairstyles you’re welcome to skip this part.

In the beginning of the 30s the most common hairstyle was a short bob with optional fingerwaves (called waterwaves in this period? I’m not great with terminology). Some bobs in the late 20s/early 30s could be so short that they look like buzz cuts. The defining feature of the fingerwave was the shimmery wave-like pattern in the hair created by pinching and combing the hair while it’s wet with setting products. Just a side note, the way fingerwaves are done in most Chinese period dramas nowadays, uh, leaves much to be desired. That’s because a lot of hairstylists just attach a wavy extension (which you can easily purchase from Taobao...) to the actresses’ forehead and call it a day, but that doesn’t really replicate the structure of the fingerwave and makes it look like the 铜钱头 in Kun Opera instead.

Source: Helen Xu on Pinterest.

Early 30s very short bob.

Source here

Early 30s fingerwave

Another very common hairstyle in the 30s was this mid length bob (either side part or middle part) with a lot of volume at the bottom. I am so puzzled as to how this is achieved, maybe with teasing or curling only at the bottom? That sounds odd.

Source here

Mid 30s fabric ad.

This ad is forcing me to go on a tangent about fabric dyes. This label, Indanthren, sold fabrics dyed from a range of blue or blue-ish colored synthetic dyes made by the German company BASF (which was merged into IG Farben at this time). Because of the introduction of synthetic dyes to China, almost all colors under the sun could be produced or imported so there weren’t really any specific color limitations to the clothing of this period.

Back to hair. Contrary to popular opinion, fingerwaves were not in fashion throughout the 30s, let alone the entire republican era. As the 30s progressed, the fashionable hair length became longer, making it more difficult for fingerwaves to be performed; they were replaced by roller sets and pin curls which are more suitable for longer hair. In the mid 30s, brush out curls with a side part were extremely popular. At this point bangs kind of became a Chinese cultural heritage and a lot of women would wear brush out curls with bangs. There are literally a million patterns for setting brush out curls and every woman probably had her own tricks, so everybody’s hair looked a tad different but the overall idea was the same as Western brush out curls: women would set the hair in the night and sleep with the rollers/pin curls to let them dry, then in the morning they would brush them out until the desirable wavy shape is achieved. Many women also used curling irons to achieve the same hairstyles with heat, which was faster and didn’t require waiting overnight. With that said, the fingerwave didn’t just disappear either, it was often used in conjunction with brush out curls to sculpt specific hairstyles. I’m not a professional vintage hairstylist so I can’t always clock if a hairstyle is done with fingerwaving, brush out curls or both. From my own experience with brush out curls, they are usually more voluminous and have more fizzy ends and the waves don’t line up so perfectly like with fingerwaves because the process is more uncontrollable (or maybe I’m just clumsy).

Source here

Typical mid 30s curls.

The fashionable hair length grew longer toward the end of the decade, with the finished curls reaching either the shoulder or the nape of the neck. Hairstyles became kind of rectangular in silhouette and flat at the crown. They were often pulled back at the sides to create a more rectangular shape for the face.

Source: lai yiching0926 on Pinterest.

Late 30s hairstyles.

Shoes

Again, full westernization here. 30s shoes had higher and thinner heels than 20s shoes, although they were still thicker and lower than modern stilettos. The heels were usually curved Louis heels. 30s shoes often had a single strap across the foot and a wrapped design at the toe. Spectator shoes and Oxfords that covered the whole foot were also worn. Likewise, strapless pumps were fashionable too, sometimes with an open toe design, especially toward the end of the decade. 

Source: genibee on Flickr, link

1935 Sears catalogue. Maybe not very representative since shoes made by different companies looked different, just showing what was possible.

Interestingly, I have never seen an image of a 30s Chinese woman wearing boots or booties outside of an equestrian context. I guess boots either weren’t feminine enough or were too inconvenient under the long cheongsam.

Sportswear

A very interesting development in the 30s was the popularization of sportswear as a result of women doing sports. Wealthy or aristocratic Chinese women have been riding and hunting in an attempt to emulate European lifestyle since decades, but these sports remained elite and untouchable for common women; in the 30s however, more accessible sports like swimming, volleyball and tennis became in vogue. The popularity of swimming was in large part due to the influence of female swimming champion 杨秀琼 Yang Xiuqiong (her name is spelled differently in Cantonese because she was from Hong Kong), who was seen as a national hero for winning a ton of medals in international swimming competitions and breaking records. China began trying to participate in Olympic games around this period and there were also many other women athletes competing in different sports, so sportswear became a necessity.

The design of swimwear in this period followed closely the design of Western bathing suits, usually a tight, short, one piece bodysuit.

Source here

1933 cover of The Young Companion featuring Yang in a swimsuit. There was a stigma around female swimmers at this time though, mostly because of the revealing clothing they had to wear to allow freedom of movement. Many press reports called Yang a “mermaid” because of her physical beauty, trying to reduce her to a sex icon instead of the glorious athlete she actually was. All of the whack rumors about her being a concubine of some rich dude was also really disgusting and distracting from her achievements.

I’ve also seen multiple times this two piece design with shorts and a modernized 肚兜 dudou (a Qing Dynasty undergarment with a function akin to that of a corset cover).

Source: EMKAY on Pinterest

30s pinup girl in two piece swimsuit.

For land sports, women usually wore a short sleeved open collar shirt with shorts, short knit socks and flat pumps.

Source: Jason Tse on Pinterest

1933 cover of The Young Companion featuring a tennis player. 

Makeup

The makeup look of the early 30s was almost identical to the late 20s look, with the thin, elongated eyebrows, large oval shaped blush and delicate red/mauve lips. This continued all the way until around 1938-39.

Toward the end of the decade, the eyebrows started to return to a normal thickness and became kind of arched instead of flat. Eyeshadows became lighter or non-existent. Women used cake mascara to darken their eyelashes, which were separated and evenly spread out. The location of the blush moved slightly downward. Red lipstick was still the most popular but the lips were plumper than in the early 30s. Overall very subtle and small changes to makeup. There were a bunch of Western and Japanese makeup companies trading in China at this point, I couldn’t name any specific ones beside Nivea which was quite popular for affordable skincare products like cream and sunscreen. I assume that actresses and pinup girls would also use Max Factor, but I’m not sure how widely used his products were among the general population. The Hong Kong brand 广生行 Kwong Sang Hong (whose Shanghai branch was called 双妹 “Twin Sisters” and whose advertisements we have seen too many times in this series) was also really popular.

I know I promised to talk about makeup more in this post but unfortunately there really isn’t much to talk about :( So see you next time when I dig into the 1940s!

[siriusmydeer]

happy birthday, james.

james potter x fem!reader

summary: it’s james’ birthday, and you have a little present for him, as-well as his present to you.

word count: 3.5k

warnings: mentions of marijuana, mentions of alcohol, kissing, mentions of anxiety, choking, missionary, creampie, penetrative sex, male receiving oral, innocent kink, sort of size kink, choking, rough sex, dirty talk, a little degration?, pet names, daddy kink, mentions of sexual dancing, jealous!james, possession kink

a/n: happy bday to my fave dilf

there was immense heat flowing throughout the crevices of the room. barely a sober teenager left at the birthday celebration. it was profoundly humid in the midst of the gryffindor common room. the aroma of marijuana and the tinges of fire whisky extremely articulate in the concluded room of teenagers smoking their little hearts away and doing body-shots close to the stairway of the girls dormitories.

james fleamont potters birthday, the quidditch captain, and maybe even gryffindor prince, if you will. from the crack of dawn, march 27th he had been ecstatic enough to put his friends in an immense amount of misery from all the happy-go-lucky behaviour.

as the devoted girlfriend you were you dedicated the whole day to him. he was an amazing man after all, his loving affections never faltering throughout the first duration of your relationship. so a day dedicated to him well was in favour, but to other peers it was probably beyond and well over the top, surprise gifts, snogging sessions between classes and even his favourite meals throughout the whole day.

but now the party commenced, where everything and anything pg-13 was directed straight out the window and anything else that took place was well on its way after the younger years had went to sleep; sauntering through the crowd you made way to your boyfriend— surprisingly barely tipsy, whomst was sat on the vermillion couch patting sirius’ back as he hoarsely coughed, seeing immense amounts of smoke flow out of his mouth and nostrils.

“too hard of a hit there, pads?” not even trying to be subtle about making a mockery of the boy hunched over the couch and puffing up smoke, the raven-haired bow slightly scowled at you before sauntering off to remus. you chuckled at his irritated-behaviour, and basically placing yourself on the verge of james’ lap, a smirk forming on the apex of his lips.

“had enough yet, dear?” you felt the vibrations of his mumble hit directly on the shell of your flushed ear from the humidity in the room, and the gruff undertone of his voice sending immediate signal waves all over the depths of your nervous system. feeling the colossal gitter in your system, borderline-anxiety pooling into the pit of your belly from his tone of voice.

it wouldn’t have been your first time with james, he was the first boy that had ever taken you all the way. but you definitely weren’t experienced— per-say, and you wanted to continue that tremendously sexual odyssey with him; and tonight, was unquestionably not going to be portrayed as innocent.

“mhm, getting there; are you liking the party?” you spoke back to the bespectacled boy was covered in a carnal aura, and awaiting your response. “i am, much rather spend alone time with you, but it’s phenomenal that you could pull all this off.” james whispered back at you in response, he wasn’t even attempting to be subtle at this point of his true intent with you, i mean— ‘alone time’ his purpose was set crystal clear.

he could so play this game, but you could just play better; it’s not like it was quidditch.

“‘course it would be, me and alone, how enticing.” you were ridiculing him, it was obvious to any peering eyes that could’ve been eavesdropping on the conversation over the deafening music that had been blasted in a continuous loop throughout the duration of the party.

“enticing it is, that’s why i presume we get out of here. don’t you think? ‘ve got a few suprises for you, after all.” the boy proposed to you with sensuality lingering in his tone and he spoke to you. he was venereally whispering into the shell of your ear so he wouldn’t have to shout to you over the boisterous music.

“your birthday, a surprise for me, those don’t exactly go hand in hand. what’s the surprise for, hmm?” starting to question the reticent boys motives as his fingers trailed onto the apex of your thighs in light-weight movements in small swirls close to the hemline of your skirt.

“not a day where i don’t want to surprise, m’girl. it’s upstairs.” james looked at you ponderously as you creased your brows in faux-thought. you knew where you would be in the end of the night, it made you feel electrified. like every single touch was oversensitive and every single emotion of yours was in overdrive; the most prominent that were roaming around your bloodstream being pure arousal.

your finger agilely-danced up the side of his jawline, and swirling around his brunette tendrils in thought. would he leave his own birthday party to be all alone, with you? i guess he certainly would. sirius would be impressed following with a concerning applause he would give the both of you that could have your mother gritting her pearly whites by the extensive amount of scandalous acts you had partaken in with your boyfriend.

you could play his very own game, maybe better. swivelling your body to the point where your hand landed on the ripple of his navy blue jeans feeling the tightening feeling of his beseeching cock that was partaking that very second, and feeling the shell of his ear start to burn at the touch of your lips and whispering a small, “take me to your dorm.”

pulling away with a slick smirk practically glued to your lips, seeing the flash of warmth scrummage up the boys cheeks in pride of his love wanting an escape with him. he was in fact one to brag, and he verily adorned that you would always be right by his side, not letting his gates open up with scoundreling waves of jealous flow throughout his body at the memory of another boy hitting on you few hours previously.

feeling the glide of his hand effortlessly slide into your smaller one, and his guidance towards the deep mahogany flooring of the stairs. the couple heard a whistle in the distance. the both of you compliantly turning around to see a tall-drunken raven-haired boy sat on a love seat. his arm around an ebony-haired lycanthrope, waggling his dark brunette eyebrows and blow a small kiss at you both. seeing remus fit out a small chuckle as his eyes roamed back to sirius. cute.

his hand sliding out of yours as he guided you up the antiquated stairs with the placement of his hand right above the swell of your bum directly into his dormitory that would guaranteed be unoccupied for the rest of the evening to the early hours into the morning.

as soon as the squeak of the door end and you heard the shut of the door you back was immediately arched against the wood on the now-locked door. his hand was directly sitting on the column of your neck in a hold, the pads of his fingertips slightly squeezing the sides of your neck; feeling your pulse heighten in anticipation. “c’mon bunny, you didn’t think i was finished just yet, did you?” the whisper of his mockery was warm as his hot breath fanned over your ear.

“yes... daddy.” you delayed whilst whispering to the boy, still getting used to all the pet names that had been thrown around since your relationship had begun. his mind was starting to get bleary and a dominant headspace was taking over every nook and cranny of his mind, ready to please you.

he felt the anxious bob of your gulp in his palm as you maintained eye contact with him. he rose a brow at you in a silent question, as if he was asking, ‘do y’remember the safe word?.’ you rapidly nodded in silent response as he grinned at your shy smile; pushing the strident music into the back of your mind that had been booming from below you.

he gazed at you for a moment before catching your plush-cushion lips with his own, feeling your lipgloss glide across his lips like a smooth paint. your tongues greeting eachother like old friends, the simple taste of fire whisky glazing your tongue. he felt the mundane taste of your strawberry lipgloss catch onto his taste buds as his one hand grasping your throat guided you all the way over to his ivory-comforter clad bed.

your body assertively falling onto his mattress, feeling his body weight hovering over the midst of your torso , one of his hands heavily grasping at your waist. “you’re making it difficult to gentle, darling.” his murmur landed directly on your lips, the shimmer from your lipgloss on his lips prominent as he hastily spoke; saying his sentence rapidly before pushing his lips back onto your own.

“then don’t.” you confirmed to him, whispering between kisses directly on his mouth. wanting every ounce of his unfamiliar belligerent take place. his inure hand that had a previous strict grasp on your waist now dancing across the flesh of your abdomen after your shirt had risen up from your skirt.

in a millisecond of mid separation of your lips he suctioned them onto the column of your throat, rolling the flesh of your neck in between his pearly-white capped teeth. his hand that had remained of your throat departed and now grasped at the root of your hair so your neck was at his full disposal. his breath approachingly quickening as he proceeded to mark up your throat with tinges of plum and cherry hues.

he took a hold of the hemline of your ivory-top, sliding it up your torso and pulling it directly off of your body and onto the floor of his dormitory. “mine... all mine.” he murmured to himself as he looked at you in vast glory. the best birthday present ever.

you clutched onto the bottom of his shirt, feeling the loose fabric between your nimble fingers and sluggishly pulling on it in a signal for him to undress. he saw the deep intent look gazing into your irises, your pupils basically exploding in lust as you continued to gape at the boy.

he straddles your legs for a moment his upper torso on display as he grasped at the neckline of the shirt and swiftly pulling it off of his toned body, now returning and remaining his hover over yours. he furthered to continue nipping at your collarbones. “if anyone ever thought they could love you like i could, fuck you like i could, make you cum like i could. they’re wrong.” he spoke into the crevice of your neck continuing his work at sucking marks into you.

his hot kisses overwhelmed your senses as his lips got closer to the hemline of your skirt that you had been wearing all that, the skirt eventually riding up your thighs all on display at your previously dancing figure like a show. his hand plummeting to the back of your skirt, feeling the small cold zipper on his finger tips as he dragged it down the swell of your bottom and trailing it down the planes of your adorned thighs he so effortlessly paid attention too.

feeling his lips sponge from your lower thighs all the way back up to your neck your breathing extended immensely whilst feeling his grasp of jealousy on your body. james was truly attentive, but he resented when anyone else thought they could swoop you away from him like you were nothing; because you were everything.

he hooks his pointer finger under the chisel of your chin, blasting your gaze right into own. his eyes moving erratically over your face as he was in deep thought of his word choice. “you’re mine, aren’t you?” he simply wasn’t asking this for an actual answer, rather than a test of your obedience towards his dominance over you for the remainder of the night as he fucked you into oblivion.

“yes.” you complied to him, not fully giving into him just yet. a playful tease before the fun could truly begin, pulling your lips into an extravagant pout as his thumb dipped into the cleft of your chin with a tightening grip. “yes, what?” you may have been stubborn but so was he, james wasn’t foolish and moderately knew the game you were playing at wanting the relatively familiar words to leave your mouth.

“yes, daddy.” your compliance towards him brought great pride and satisfaction in the swell of his heart, you would be the first and last person he would say that too. it brought him tremendous gratification that everything you had been taught was from his knowledge and his teachings.

“wanna suck your cock, daddy. teach me, again please.” your voice had an undertone of a whine lacing it, pleading out to your boyfriend so you could pleasure him on his birthday. he smirked at your demeanour of perseverance, quickly flipping his body underneath yours so your remained on top of the shirtless body.

you further swivelled your body down his form, nosing at his happy trail. kissing all the way to the point of his boxers, seeing the adamant print of his bulge through the fabric of his underwear. mumbling a quick ‘lift up’ and stroking his prick in your hand. your warm saliva coming in contact with his erection, spreading it around him for easier access.

your bleary eyes made direct view at his precum leaking tip, starting at mini-kitten licks that could have the boy groaning going off of intuition. “fuck, baby, just like that— keep going.” his praising going straight to a churning burn of warmth in your lower abdomen, heavily breathing as you took his tip into your mouth and prodding it with your tongue.

you took your mouth off his prick for a moment, steadying your breath before you took him in fully. going lower and lower trying to avoid the pesky gag reflex in your throat. you heard the grunts approach deeper and deeper from his mouth the more you took him in. one hand stroking the base of his cock, your cheeks nearly hollow as your sucked profusely nearing him to an orgasam in almost minutes.

his fingers were threaded through your tresses as you moved up and down his shaft. his guidance helping you as you throughly swirled your tongue onto his cock. your breathing quite deep through your nose. his own release near, his torso was clenching at the feeling of a tremendous boil in his abdomen about to burst through him entirely and directly into your mouth.

you felt the warm ropes of his release shoot directly down into your hollowed cheeks is one duration, swallowing his cum that had coated the walls of your cheeks now thoroughly down the vermillion walls of your throat. you took your mouth off of his prick, lines of spit surrounding his cock and covering your lips like it was your own personal brand of lip gloss rather than the simple strawberry one you had on previously.

you gaped at the boy trembling in pleasure, seating yourself upon his lap. you bit your lip in angst for a moment, feeling the easy glide of your teeth directly on your swollen lips, further opening your mouth showcasing him your clean tongue. he shot you a grin in fulfillment, grasping the roots from the back of your head and quickly pushing your lips together in one breath.

as you were sat upon his bare lap he took the liberty to shift his hand up the crevice in your back, all the way up to the stygian-laced material of your bra. his one hand loosening the metal clips and flinging the black material right across from your skirt. taking it upon himself to take a taut-grasp at your breasts mid-kiss rolling the bud of your nipple between his fingers, electrocuting a groan emitting from your mouth directly vibrating onto his own lips.

as his grasp removed itself from your breasts it made way back to the depth in your lower back, using the moment to propel you underneath his larger form. “such a pretty little baby, you are.” the boy claimed as his hand re-attached it self to your violet-ridden neck. james’ opposite hand had a tense grab at the strap of your thong, snapping it once against your flesh seeing you slightly tremble at tinge of affliction in his grasp before he fully tore them off your waist.

the bespectacled boy flung the flimsy material directly onto peters bed, seeing your eyes widen at his audacious-like manner. “alright, poppet?” the boy confirmed, on the outside of his dominant persona it looked like he was making a mockery at your somewhat skittish-behaviour, but he truly wanted to confirm you were alright with his aggressive-like actions.

you quickly nodded excitedly at his abrasive behaviours. a smirked grazed his lips as he separated your locked legs from mortification, even after having sex with your boyfriend you still happened to be embarrassed on how sterling he could make you feel. he finally took liberty to realize how wet you truly were, not to mention how pathetic you were at covering it up. finally slotting his middle and ring finger in-between your anticipating cunt, collecting juices onto the pads of his fingers.

“all f’me, huh baby?” he crooned in a ridiculing manner, his hand still prominent on your throat and his thumb maneuvering from the crook in your throat to your jutted lip, feeling your gloss mixed with your spit on the pad of his thumb as he moved his finger swiftly back and forth in a taunting manner on your lips.

his thumb finally caught in between your teeth with a miniature playful bite, looking deep into his lustful blown-cerulean irises. his thumb making way to pull down your dewy bottom lip, and it pulling back up with a small ‘pop!’

“i want you, i want it rough.” the very plead left your trembling lips in desperation. felling the wet print of his thumb right below your lip, pressing into the flushed skin. emotionally yearning for his slack touch, the warmth of his olive skin aching directly into yours in desire.

his prideful grin scorned his face as he placed himself between your cage-like legs that dressed the sides of his waist like a stiff belt. the both of you were almost chest to chest, the emotional connect building between you both as you maintained lustful eye contact, both intently aching for each other. the squeeze of his digits on the baluster of your throat grew more intense as he settled his hips between your plush thighs.

he slowly dragged his tip through your glistening folds gathering all of your juices directly onto the mound of his cock and slowly descending into the depths of your cunt allowing you to adjust to his substantial size.

he started off with slow, deep thrusts, feeling your torso pressed up against his own in abundance. tensing his clap on the side of your throat as he pulsed in and out of your sloppy cunt; now easily as his thrusts gained a brisk pace in and out of you.

“my girl, letting me use her cunt at my disposal.” james started to babble small praises mixed with degrations into your ear as both of your orgasams began to subtly approach at his quickening pace inside your clenched cunt. “like you’re my little toy.” his derides causing your moans to spurt out of your mouth instinctively; your noises sounding like a beautiful song that could’ve played on a broken record repeatedly, like he was being hypnotized.

the sensitive burn in your belly was further approaching at a brisk speed as it swivelled from the crevices in your spine all the way to your core. “‘m gonna— let me cum, please. ‘m gonna cum, daddy.” you blubbered quickly at the intensity of his thrusts on your g-spot. feeling immensely full from him being buried inside of you, his unfamiliar yet sensational rapid thrusts building tension inside of your abdomen.

“go on poppet, cum for me.” he crooned to you as you mumbled pleas of ‘thank you’s.’ and explosion of pleasure strictly taking over the planes of your nervous system whilst his pubic bone continuously thrashed against your bundle of nerves in the midst of his swift thrusts.

his cock twitching whilst wrapped around your cunt, close to his second orgasam of the night. further, releasing deeply into your velvet walls now coated with his release, a grunt following as he squeezed the sides of your throat, his hand never departing from it, and burying his face into the side of your neck.

his hover over you now remaining seeing your pleasure-struck face as he pulled his softening cock out of you, catching his breath and shifting the hair that was stuck to your forehead now on the sides of your face and behind your ears. he kissed your damp forehead once, swiping his nose against yours affectionally before speaking.

“c’mon dove, let’s get you to the shower.”

taglist: @kittykylax @ronbrokemyheart @aspiringsloth20 @amourtentiaa @msmb @five-cups-of-coffee @emmaev @serenitywilderness @famdomhideout @hufflepogue @dear-luna @luvvninaz @miraclesoflove @black-like-my-soul

[voltronfandomhag]

Albegas/Gladiator Voltron Revisited

A few years ago I posted about Gladiator Voltron, the proposed third Voltron season which was to be adapted from Lightspeed Electroid Albegas. Ultimately it was abandoned in favor of producing another batch of Lion Voltron episodes. About a year ago Toei released the first two episodes of Albegas with English subtitles on Youtube. You can watch both episodes here and here. 

This post is meant to be an update of my first Gladiator Voltron/Albegas post, with more detail about the characters and setting. I also briefly share my thoughts on the show based on the two episodes available.

SETTING AND STORY

In the future, the nations of Earth have been at peace with each other for many years. Our three protagonists, Daisaku, Tetsuya, and Hotaru, are talented students at Aoda School, which is famous for its robotics program and located near Mt. Fuji. Their lives are turned upside down when the evil alien Derringer Empire, who already rules the galaxy, invades Earth. Earth’s only hope against this threat is the super robot Albegas and the three teenagers piloting it.

THE HEROES

Our heroes are teenagers who attend Aoda School in Japan. Each of them created a robot for a school competition. Their bots were later improved and modified so they could combine into Albegas. 

Daisaku Enjoji

Daisaku is brash, confident, loud-mouthed, and a total cad. Despite his bad grades, his skills in robotics are apparently superior to both Tetsuya and Hotaru’s. He comes from a working class family consisting of his painter father, stay-at-home mother, cheeky younger brother Jiro, and a younger sister. Both he and Tetsuya have a crush on Hotaru, though Daisaku is more blatant and perverted about it. His hobby is soccer. Pilots Alpha Robo (black).

Tetsuya Jin

Tetsuya comes across as more reserved than his two teammates. Like the others, he’s a student at Aoba School and skilled in robotics. It’s unknown what his grades are like, but at least one of his teachers, Ms. Danko Kibi, scolds him for his rebellious attitude. He and his sister grew up orphans with no other family to take care of them. Currently he lives alone in the school dorms. Tetsuya feels lonely and envies those who still have parents. What happened to his parents, along with the whereabouts of his sister, aren’t mentioned in the first two episodes. Unfortunately, he’s  something of a slob; his dorm room is a mess. Like Daisaku, he also has a crush on Hotaru. However, he’s more subtle about it and expresses exasperation at Daisaku’s pervy antics towards her. His hobby is playing guitar. Pilots Beta Robo (blue).

Hotaru Mizuki

Hotaru is the daughter of Professor Mizuki; her mother isn’t mentioned, but it’s implied she’s been out of the picture for a long time. Beautiful, intelligent, and feminine, she’s the star of Aoba School and her class representative. Despite being adored by her teachers and the heartthrob of her male classmates, she’s bullied by her female peers. She also longs for a mother figure; there’s a scene where Hotaru outright tells her father and his assistant, Saeko Asabuki, that she approves of their relationship and hopes they get married so Saeko can be her stepmother. While annoyed by Daisaku’s caddish ways, it’s implied the attraction might be mutual. Her hobby is tennis. Pilots Gamma Robo (red).

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

The allies, family, and friends of our heroes. 

Goro Kumai

HIS JAPANESE BLOOD TINGLES! A well-meaning but bumbling classmate of the main trio who serves as the show’s comic relief. Goro does his best to help defend Earth with his self-made gorilla robot but he’s simply out of his league. Daisaku considers him a burden while Hotaru pities him.  He has an unreciprocated crush on Hotaru. 

Professor Mizuki

A brilliant scientist and Hotaru’s father. His knowledge of robotics is second to none. After the main trio’s robots were nearly destroyed by invading Derringer, he not only rebuilt them, but made them much more powerful and able to combine into Albegas. He also serves as both a mentor and the voice of reason; he tries to encourage the trio to exercise caution and patience. However, his words often fall on deaf ears, and the trio’s insistence on rushing headlong into battle against his repeated warnings frustrates him. But he believes in the trio’s abilities. It’s implied he’s sweet on his assistant, Saeko Asabuki.

Saeko Asabuki

Professor Mizuki’s assistant and love interest. She’s soft spoken, beautiful, and lady-like. Hotaru wants her as a stepmother.

Ms. Danko Kibi

An overbearing, outspoken and strong willed teacher at Aoba School. She takes her job very seriously, is fiercely proud of the school, and believes it’s important her students grow to be strong, stout, and fearless. Despite not being the head teacher, she often gets her way through sheer force of personality.

THE VILLAINS

The villains aren’t very fleshed out, but given I only had two episodes, that’s not very surprising. Anyway, the Derringer are an evil purple-skinned alien race of conquers who have set their sights on Earth. They desire our planet for its beauty and consider humans primitive. Albegas is humanity’s only effective weapon against their superior technology. Their giant robot Mecha-Fighters are the Derringer’s most fearsome weapon.

Lord Deran the Great

Supreme ruler of the Derringer. We don’t actually see him in these episodes. The only information we learn about him is he desires all things beautiful as his own.

President Azass

The leader of the invading Derringer force stationed in a base orbiting Earth.

General Duston

President Azass’s top officer, at least during these first two episodes. He’s ruthless, prideful, and doesn’t take humans seriously.

General Catastra

Another army officer on President Azass’s orbital base. 

Dyme

Yet another Derringer officer. He considers Duston an incompetent moron for not taking Albegas more seriously as a threat 

LIGHTSPEED ELECTROID ALBEGAS

The three robots that compose Albegas (Alpha Robot, Beta Robo, and Gamma Robo) were not originally designed to combine together. Instead they were individually built by the main trio as entries into a school competition. When the Derringer attacked Japan, the three teens attempted to fight off the invaders in their robots, but were soundly defeated. Professor Mizuki, seeing the robots’ potential, both rebuilt and heavily modified them, making them far more powerful and able to combine together into multiple configurations. However, the three pilots, at first, don’t know and understand just how extensive the modifications were despite Professor Mizuki’s repeated warnings. Unfortunately, circumstances in the first two episodes have not given them time for proper training. As a result, the pilots are learning about Albegas’s abilities, and how to use them, in the heat of combat.

As stated, the robot comprising Albegas can combine in different ways, with each combination having its own specialization.

Denjin Dimension

Alpha, Beta, Gamma. This is the basic combat configuration. Can use the finishing move Denjin Sanbai Sword.

Sky Dimension

Beta, Alpha, Gamma. We don’t see any of its abilities, but I’m guessing it specializes in flight and/or aerial combat. 

Professor Mizuki mentions four other modes: Space, Sea, Underground, and Rescue.

My Thoughts

Do I think American Voltron fans missed out by not having Albegas localized? Not really. Between this, Golion, and Dairuggar, I feel this was the weakest show of the three, and I don’t think it would’ve captured kid’s imaginations the way Lion Voltron did. Granted, in some ways Albegas has more elements in common with GoLion than Diaruggar: small number of pilots, planet bound, faster paced, and a simpler story. But, again, I only have two episodes to go by, so I could be wrong on some of those points. But I’m interested enough that I’d watch more episodes if they became available.

[harvestdew]

pls will u ever elaborate on kiki's backstory im dying to know what on earth is going on there

yeah i was like wow i’m gonna be so cool and mysterious and NOT tell anyone not even my friends what’s going on with kiki til i pump out my comics because i thought it’d be better that way? but school saps the energy from me so idk why i expected to get comics out in a timely manner when comics take a lot of time. i also feel bad because i’ve had multiple people go like “WHAT the fuck is going” so i’ll just tell you all as a little 500 followers treat so you guys don’t misunderstand and think she’s a murderer

also if you ever want to hear me talk about my oc’s more you can always come to my livestreams (i stream my stardew valley gameplay w/ friends or when i draw)!

disclaimer: this will be long. it’s complicated, if you’re more confused just send me another ask and i’ll elaborate, and i’ll split it into 3 sections! i’m so sorry

childhood - after kiki’s parents divorced, she chose to stay with her dad, her mom remarried to a rich CEO (more on this later), whatever. her dad dies in an accident, but instead of being passed over to her mom, kiki got sent to pelican town to live with her grandpa on her dad’s side when she was 13. i think at this time haley is too young for her to hang out with because i always thought she was younger than kiki BUT sebastian is her age and they’re actually put in the same class

kiki struggles with acclimating to pelican town because she’s a) grieving b) joining the class in the dead middle of the year so everyone thinks she’s a loser LOL. i guess sebastian felt really bad for her cuz he finds her crying outside once of class and gives her like his juice or something out of pity. they end up becoming friends though, and by extension, she becomes friends with sam and abigail. she hangs out with sebastian the most though, plus they’re kinda neighbors so robin was used to her stopping by constantly out of convenience

unfortunately kiki only spends 2 years in pelican town because her grandpa died, but before he does he gives her the envelope like in the intro of stardew valley and tells her not to open it. everything goes downhill for her at this point because it means she has to move back in with her mom. kiki knows that her mom has 0 attachment to stardew valley so the only way she thinks she can really keep in contact with everyone is writing them letters which sounds pretty infallible at first

anyway i may or may not have taken inspo from an e ve MV here because childhood friends parting makes me really sad

teenage years up to early 20s - around this time surprise her mom is (surprise) awful. by this i mean her mom literally married a chairman at joja corp., enrolled kiki in private school, and tried to siphon any connection she had to her dad, grandpa, and stardew valley by substituting it with her new life in zuzu city. not to mention kiki’s step-sister irene who i’m going to design lately hopefully (?) also loves making her miserable only because she hates kiki’s mom 

the only thing that makes city life bearable for her is frequent letters from her friends, most often (if it wasn’t obvious again) sebastian. daelin told me he probably sent her emo poetry and i think that’s literally SO funny but even then the letters don’t last that long because within a few months her mom decides the letters are getting in the way of her kid’s success and starts throwing them out before kiki gets them or sends her own. naturally she thinks sebastian just doesn’t give a fuck about her so she stops writing after a while. but then this makes HIM think she doesn’t give a fuck about him and he holds a grudge against her for it for years even though she has no idea

then kiki forgets about stardew valley since there seems to be nothing else tying her to it, goes to business school, and eventually gets as a job in PR at joja corp. if that’s not bad enough she gets engaged to a MAN she doesn’t even like. her fiance is someone who manipulated her into dating him which i’ll again elaborate on in a second, plus her mom is obsessed with him like ohhh big handsome man WHATEVER except he literally only wants to marry her because her step-dad is a chairman. but kiki’s absolute breaking point (which i’m still kinda hashing out and only have a vague idea of) is when she figures out her fiance orchestrated a PR disaster by logging into her computer and messing a bunch of stuff up (idk if i should do hacking or whatever) so she gets blamed, only to take blame/save the day for the thing he LITERALLY started so she could feel indebted to him enough to date him. at this point she feels so suffocated by her life in zuzu city that she contemplates running away, so while packing she finds grandpa’s letter and decides to run away to stardew valley

present - i know the missing person stuff didn’t make sense but i hope everything i explained kinda gives you more context? her mom put out a missing person notice and her peers/family from zuzu city are still looking for her. this is partly why she doesn’t have a phone when she moves in, she tries to pawn her engagement ring off to clint for extra gold, and refuses to have pictures of her taken by haley for the first few weeks of their friendship. ofc when kiki goes back, she is escorted by robin, talks to lewis, etc. whatever is in the official intro and it’s kinda standard but on her way to pierre’s for cleaning supplies she accidentally runs into sebastian and realizes he hates her guts and has no idea why because he literally won’t tell her. the idea of childhood friends to strangers is really fun to write imo and then the story persists from there! 

LASTLY - I’M SO SORRY for writing so much i just couldn’t condense it into less paragraphs if i wanted but i hope it was interesting!

[hercleverboy]

OKAY

📝 gimme some fluff fluff about Spencer trying hot chocolate with like. whipped cream with the reader for the first time. something infuriatingly adorable that makes me sad I don’t have my own Spencer

also

You know I’m coming for 💚

kate’s 1k celebration🦋

✏️ an <1k spencer fic

wc > 971

Spencer Reid was a simple man to please. 

He’d always had the same coffee order, for years at that point. He never saw any necessity to change it. He enjoyed it, it did the job, so why would he bother with adding anything else?

Of course, when he was in coffee shops he’d look up at the extensive menu whilst he stood in line and frown at the collection of syrups and odd drink names (what even was a frappuccino anyway?) He never really used to understand it. If people were in a coffee shop, why would you order something that wasn’t coffee? And why did they all have such long, complex names? He simply couldn’t wrap his head around it. 

That was until he met her, of course. She’d always had a strong dislike to coffee, ever since she was younger. The bitter taste was not something she was fan of, and once the two moved in together she would scrunch up her nose at the scent of Spencer’s coffee brewing early in the mornings. In their year of dating, they’d been on numerous coffee dates, though Y/N always took the opportunity to explore new flavours and drinks. 

It was a Sunday morning and the pair laid together in bed, wrapped up in one another and the array of white bedsheets. Y/N’s head lay on his chest, her fingers interlaced with his while his other hand held her close to him. They’d been awake for a while at that point, and it was just reaching 10am when Spencer pressed a kiss to her forehead and mumbled something about heading down the road to the cafe for breakfast. She beamed up at him with a nod, Spencer leaning down to peck her lips before begrudgingly untangling himself from her warmth to get ready. 

Spencer had seated himself at a table by the window, so he could look out at the street and people-watch —one of his favourite things to do. Y/N had insisted on paying for the drinks and food (despite Spencer’s slight protests) and had only won when she promised that she’d let him get it next time. His attention was brought back when she set his black Americano in front of him before taking her seat opposite him. 

Immediately Spencer’s gaze fell to her cup, a tall glass of what looked to be hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. He frowned, the words leaving his mouth before he had much time to consider whether they were the best thing to say. 

“Why do people get so many additions to their drinks nowadays?” He asked, genuinely curious. 

Y/N wasn’t shocked by his question, nor his curiosity. What may seem sarcastic or rude to some sounded fine to her, she knew he didn’t mean it like that. She smiled over at him with a shrug. “I don’t know, honestly. I think it just kind of makes it more fun, you know? It’s a little less, plain, I guess you could say.” 

“Well, I happen to like plain.” Spencer scoffed, lifting his cup to his lips and taking a sip to prove his point. He allowed the slightest hint of smile to paint his lips as he tasted how sugary the drink was. She’d very quickly caught on to his extreme sweet tooth, and even after a year together she still knew exactly how to get his coffee the way he liked it. 

“That’s okay. It’s not for everyone.” She chuckled, bringing her own lips to her drink and taking a sip. 

She didn’t miss how Spencer’s eyes lingered on her drink with intrigue, and so when she placed the drink down she slid it slowly towards him. 

He furrowed his eyebrows, looking up at her in question. 

She scoffed in a joking manner. “I’ve seen you eyeing it up. You can try a bit if you’d like? If you’re worried about germs you can drink from the opposite side.” 

Spencer opened his mouth to argue that he didn’t want to try it, but he would be lying if he did. He couldn’t remember if he’d ever really had a hot chocolate before. It wasn’t like he got to have them as a kid on cold winter nights, and only at that moment was he curious about what it tasted like. As much as he wanted to stick with his coffee, the same order he’d had since he was a teenager working on his second PHD, he couldn’t deny that the steaming chocolate drink looked inviting. The whipped cream looked good too, lactose intolerance be damned. 

So he simply nodded, reaching out to pull the drink towards him a little more before picking it up and taking a sip. 

It was really good. 

He took a few sips before placing it back down. 

Y/N raised an eyebrow. “So? What’s the final verdict, Doctor?” 

He gave a small smile as he spoke. “It’s.. heavenly.” 

Y/N hummed with delight. Spencer began pushing the drink back towards her but she reached a hand out to stop him with the shake of her head. “You keep that one, I’ll grab another one.” 

“No, this is yours. I’ve already got my coffee, it’s okay.” He tried, but she just smiled at him. 

“It’s no bother, Spence. I’m glad you found something new to drink. Perhaps now you’ll stop brewing that awful smelling coffee in the mornings?” 

He chuckled at that. “Baby steps.” 

“Baby steps.” Y/N affirmed. 

They sat there for another half an hour while they finished their drinks before finally deciding to head back home. Y/N frowned as she noticed how Spencer seemed to linger as he pulled back on his jacket. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah I just— I really liked that drink.” He started, the edges of his lips picking up in a small grin. “Do you think we could get another one to go?” 

[bittybattybunny]

Good day it’s a new au time cuz BRAIN ROT BRRRRR

Anyhow it’s a “MCU” but not kinda au

big thanks to @doodleimprovement for dealing with my word vomit over this au lol iamsosorry

Ru is a tech company CEO giant with his daughter Harriet (his business partner is his former wife who wants nothing to do with their kid) and adopted the recently orphaned Kaya Solaria after she helped stop a mugger in the alley way (well. Spider King did but her mask got hit off by a bullet and Ru saw it was just a kid and stepped in)

Working on running a company, raising his 6 year old as well as a super powered 15 year old (Kaya actually has Spiderman’s powers, King came after the fact and is tied to how she lost her dad) he ends up getting injured on a business trip after he was taken captive. Upon return he decides to try and ‘be a hero’ as a means to get his eldest to stop sneaking out (she has guilt over her dad dying so tries to be a hero to make up for it despite Ru asking her to wait until she’s 18 at least)  he figures if he can get the world (or at least their city) safer, she can rest at ease (cuz he’s a good dad and just wants her to... be a kid. not try to be more than a kid) he uses the Alias “Thorned Snatcher” (as his last name is Thatcher)

Vanessa however wants his new tech as she thinks its the key to a new weapons future and nearly kills Ru when she rips the reactor from his chest. Thankfully he had his old model still and his secretary (Eclipse) and daughters get home in time to help him. he knows if he doesn’t stop Vanessa things will be even worse for his family.

During their fight, he’s knocked down and nearly stops there to tired, but hears his daughters crying for him, specifically for the first time since he adopted her Kaya calls him “Dad”. He knows he needs to keep to his goal and if Vanessa is left free he failed a father.

He manages to get up with the Help of Eclipse who joined the fight, having stalled Vanessa hand to hand despite Vanessa’s weapon suit (sus eclipse is sus) and he’s able to fight again and put an end to her.

he gives Kaya a stipulation when they are waiting on the cops, he’ll let her fight crime, but only when he’s with her.

and thats the first part of this au eve (second bit deals with miss secretary past. A woman who is able to give Kaya a sore hand with a high five despite kaya can stop some extensive things (likepeterstoppingbucky’sfist) and went toy to toy with Vanessa with just a hub cap. Hrm. Cap. Cap. Captain...?)

I actually wrote up when Ru met Kaya. It’s a lil fast pace but I did it on purpose.

“If ya just hand ova ya wallet and yer valuables, you and yers can get out of here with a scar on your little faces.”

Arulius sighed as he heard the mugger and moved an arm to push his 6 year old behind his back. He gently gestured to his watch with a finger, to which she tapped a button on to call their bodyguard, Florence. 

“I’m afraid I really don’t have time for this. Harriet has a dance recit--” Arulius clicked his tongue when the gun was pressed up into his neck.

“I’m bein generous, man.” he pressed it further, pulling the hammer back.

“That’s not very polite! Did your dad never tell you not to stick your shooter in people’s faces?” Came a laughing voice. The mugger gasped when black webbing stuck to his back and pulled him to the ground. 

Standing perpendicular to the wall was the dark-suited figure, glowing white eyes and jagged smile laughing.

“D-Dad! Dad, it’s Spider King!” Harriet giggled as she hung onto her dad’s leg. He scowled and went to step back.

“YA FREAK!” The mugger tried to fight against the restraints, the primed gun going off in the hero’s direction.

There was a hiss as the masked figure fell off the wall with a solid thud. Arulius scooped Harriet up, only stopping when he saw the vigilante's face, the bullet having knocked her mask off.

“A… A kid?” he grimaced. Why was a CHILD attacking a mugger? Before he could open his mouth to speak there was a hissing.

“N-No King don’t! I’m fine! I’m fine!” the teenager gasped as the black claws she had tore off in slimy chunks, lunging at the mugger. She winced with the crunch as his hands were removed and she paled some, shaking.

Arulius shielded his daughter’s eyes.

“BOSS!” The red head came barreling down the alley, a bit too late when Spider King tried to grab her mask. 

“Stop.” Arulius ordered her. She looked up with frightened gold eyes. The tentacles retracting up her sleeves, “wait a moment.”

“Oh gross!” Florence shuddered as she moved to get the mugger up, the man an incoherent mess, “you do this?” she asked the teenager whose temple was bleeding.

She said nothing and gripped her arms as she tried to process. She blinked when tiny hands went to her cheeks.

“BIG SIS IS SO COOL!” Harriet giggled. Her father was talking on his phone.

“I-I’m.. No…” she looked away ashamed, “Y-You… I’m… I just… wanted to help…” she began to sniffle, “I-I didn’t mean for king to…”

“He hurt Sol. Bite back.” The snake-like creature peeked from the girl’s collar.

“I-I told you no biting h---” she placed her hands over her mouth and scurried to her feet, violently vomiting into a trash can. She panted some. Tensing when a hand rubbed her back gently.

“Yes. yes. He shot his own hands off in his confusion. Must be high.” Arulius was standing near her now as he spoke on the phone, “My guard was able to restrain him. Yes. yes I’m fine as is my daughter and the teen he was attacking. Mmhm.”

She flinched when he scowled and tilted her head up, “scratch that, looks like the teen got a bit hurt, but we’ll treat her. Yes. yes. I’ll leave my guard here.” hanging up he shifted his phone to his pocket before licking his thumb and wiping the blood away. She winced.

“O-Ow don’t! That stings!” she whined as tears pooled in her eyes.

King hissed and went to bite him but stopped when the girl sniffled. He nuzzled her cheek as Arulius let go. 

“Come on.” he pointed towards the black car that pulled around, “let’s go and then I’m calling your parents.”

She gripped her arms and stood firm, “T-Thanks for calling the police b-but you better f-forget you saw me, Mr. Thatcher.” she chuckled nervously, brushing black hair from her face.

“You know who I am?”

“O-Of course I do! Who wouldn’t?! Thatcher tech is my dream job!” she gasped, “I-I was a-at your summer program--” she covered her mouth.

He clicked his tongue, “the one for highschoolers?” he asked. She whined and moved to run but bumped into Florence who huffed.

“Give me your parent’s number.” Arulius sighed.

“I… I don’t…” she chewed her lip. She was quiet.

“Where do you live at least? I’ll drop you off.” he shook his head.

“PARK!” King chirped.

“Hush!” She fretted.

“The park? You live in the park?” Harriet asked as she stood near the teenager’s legs, “That’s not fun!”

“W-well i-I couldn’t stay at m-my apartment…” The teen frowned. She winced when she was pushed towards the car. Whining and trying to deflect she found herself sitting in the back. Harriet crawled in and grinned as Arulius sat in the passenger’s seat.

“No parents. No house. Now I get why a damn kid is running at muggers.” he rubbed his temples with a groan, “name?”

She was quiet.

“I’m not calling you ‘spider king’ name.” he asked a bit firmer.

“S-Solaria…” she mumbled, “K-Kaya Solaria…” she wiped the tears with the back of her gloves, “A-Are you going to turn me in?? I-I don’t mean any harm Mr. Thatcher! I-I promise! I-I normally do fine!!!”

“How old are you?” He opened the window and put a cigarette in his mouth and leaned out as he lit it up. “Under 18 if you were at the company summer program.”

“I… I turned 15 last month…” she admitted ashamed. 

“You’re a few years older than me!” Harriet beamed, “I’m 6!” she grinned.

“I’m more like a decade older…” Kaya chuckled nervously. She looked at the tech company CEO. he had pulled a laptop out and made another annoyed click with his tongue. She winced.

“Your father…. Gabriel Solaria?” he leaned back, “the journalist?”

She nodded.

“Damn shame. He was a decent guy. His stories were interesting.” he flicked through the news reports as Florence got in the driver’s seat.

“Done with the cops?” he asked, “stop by the courthouse.”

“Huh?” she started the engine, “courthouse.”

“P-Please! D-Don’t turn me in! I-I’ll b---”

“I need to grab some adoption papers.” he gave a smirk and looked back at the crying teen, “Since it seems Harriet's getting an older sister. But no more crime fighting.” he shifted to cross his arms and put his feet on the dash. “15… fucking 15. You know what I did at 15??”

“Built a rocket engine that was able to lift a treadmill?” she stated with a small smile.

He blinked and snickered, “okay, yes but I was also just. Going to sch--- do you go to school?”

“I-I’ve been attending school still.” she scratched her cheek, “Um… Subcon Public high…” she sank back in the seat. She jumped when Harriet sat on her and protectively put her arms around the younger girl. She shifted her seat belt around her as well when Florence pulled into traffic.

“Well you’ll have to transfer. Is that an issue?”

She shook her head, “U-Um mr. Thatcher… what… are you planning?” she asked softly.

“Adopting a lost child, and making sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.” he snickered, “Any school you want to attend?”

“I… i you can’t! Y-You just met me!” she gasped in shock, “I-I’m a freak! I’m an accident! I-I have an alien!”

“Meeee” king stated proudly with a cackle.

“Yes but you know what I see? I see a scared kid who’s trying a little too hard.” he scoffed as she stared, “and we’re going to grab adoption papers, then I’m ordering pizza. Any allergies?”

“EAT EVERYTHING,” King laughed.

“Perfect then.” Arulius huffed, “and you can call me Arulius. Since I guess calling me dad off the bat would be weird.” he began to type on his laptop.

She sat there in confusion. She’d simply gone to help someone. And now her idol was adopting her. Her. a mutant spider freak with a parasitic alien.

She reached and pinched her cheek and whined.

Arulius caught this in the rear view and began to cackle loudly.

“Sorry kiddo. You’re awake.”

“B-But why are you just adopting me and not turning me into a lab or something?!” she asked fearfully.

“Dad’s nicer than he looks~!” Harriet giggled, “Can you shoot webs?”

“Mmhm.” Kaya shifted her gloves off and removed the cuff under her sleeve, “its um. An artificial webbing actually, unless King is the one shooting it. He has a gooey webbing.” 

Arulius peeked and reached a hand back. She frowned before handing the cuff to him.

He turned it over in his hands with an impressed whistle, “you construct this?”

She nodded, “I-I like engineering and I figured it’d be useful when king’s tired, i-it’s bio degradable too! But really strong!”

“That's how you swing around right?” Harriet asked with sparkling eyes, “What else can you do?!”

“Well I can walk on walls.” Kaya sighed, “I’m pretty strong too? I can lift a car if I focus. I can move fast?” she frowned, “I’ve never really… tho-- STOP THE CAR!” She gasped.

Florence slammed on the brakes as the truck at the intersection sped by.

“There’s um that. Normally I can semi tell something can happen.” Kaya frowned, “s-sorry for yelling.”

“No, by all means!” Florence laughed, “So. Spider King huh?”

“W-well it’s cuz I’m spider-esque and then King.” she pet the alien who chirped.

“What’s his deal?” Arulius asked but got silence, “alright another day then.” 

Florence parked the car as Arulius got out.

“Wait here,” he stated and Kaya just gave a nod. He threw her web shooter back and she caught it with wide eyes, “You’re grounded from crime fighting until you’re 18, but I won’t take your web shooters.”

“Ah… okay…?” she blinked as he shut the door and headed up. She leaned into the seat and just sat there. Very confused.

“Can I call you big sis? Or kai??” Harriet asked the older girl.

“Oh… um… I guess you can call me whatever….”

“Kaya’s a cute name.” Florence chuckled, “Crime fighting though. What a hobby.”

“I… I just wanted to help people…” she admitted softly, “I have these abilities so I thought I needed to…”

“Can you swing with me when we get home? We have a big tree in the yard!” Harriet giggled, “can you sign my daily bugle of you??”

“I’d rather not…” Kaya chuckled.

“Sleepy.” King huffed.

“Exhausted,” Kaya admitted as she shut her eyes. She barely registered she’d fallen asleep.

After a bit Arulius returned with the needed paperwork. He blinked and smiled as he looked in the back seat. The superhero passed out, his daughter sleeping against her.

Kaya’s arm rested around Harriet, and even King was putting his head on the girl.

“Well, not the oddest thing I’ve ever dealt with.” he spoke softly as Florence started the car once more. He flipped through the papers, “seems people had no idea she was on her own. Thought her uncle had her but turns out he lied and was just taking the financial support.” he grumbled, “there’s some messy hearings but I think I can just. Pay it off.” he looked back and gave a smile, “hey free babysitter.” he snickered.

------

He tapped his foot as he crossed his arms with a huff.

“Kaya.”

She looked away ashamed.

“What did I say?”

“No webbing in the house unless you’re watching.” she mumbled.

“And then why is the house covered in webs?” he asked with a twitch of his eyebrow.

“I-I was just playing with Hattie!” she defended. She huffed and he smirked. She seemed a bit more settled in if she was copping an attitude, “I-I’ll clean it up! I promise Mr. Thatcher!”

“Arulius. I told you, use my first name. You’re my kid now you know.” he sighed and headed inside.

She stepped aside and rubbed her neck, looking at the floor, “I-I can’t just… call you your name… that’s rude…”

“You’re my kid now, it’s weirder if you keep calling me “Mr. Thatcher” I’m not asking you to call me dad but.” he chuckled.

“THOT!” king sang loudly as the teen’s face turned red.

“I-I didn’t teach him that! I swear!”

[tartrazeen]

Random HankCon Reverse AU Post

I wrote this on Discord some months back, and very luckily somebody fantastic helped me out by finding it! <3 <3 <3 The context was around the HK series already being a canonical type of android in the game: it's a housekeeper model, like the HK-400 Connor hunts down in his first investigation with Hank. So from that, everyone was discussing a reverse AU where Hank was an HK housekeeper, Connor was an overworked older brother taking care of his younger brother, and one of them was proposing that Connor just rent an HK to help around the house and take the load off. And from that, I came up with this roughly described - but still fun and angsty - concept. Picture reading it as I wrote it: mid-conversation, and butting in to slap this idea onto everyone. :D

Omg - Hank helping out enough in just a few ways by making lunch or something, or dinner for the next night, and Connor actually having time to go to sleep and spend time with both of them. Or Hank activating a Cranky Child Up Past His Bedtime protocol and making Connor go to bed, because the poor guy doesn't have an off-switch when every single case just needs a 'few more minutes' for him to crack it.

Connor having such a rough week that his little brother saves up cash from - pfft, I dunno, what's stupidly diabetically sweet enough for this - recycling beer bottles from around the neighbourhood, purely to rent Hank for Connor's sake AND THEN IT BECOMES LIKE SOME KINDA WEIRD-ASS DATE THAT NEITHER OF THEM SEEM TOO INTERESTED IN ENDING But then - then - they get into a bit of a routine like that. Connor's happy enough to rent Hank when his little brother needs him, but now it's grown into a... "Okay, fine, if I need him too, then that just helps both of us. That's okay." ... And then one day, his little brother's staying at a friend's house or something, and Connor's - just... bored? Lonely? Tired? He's not sure. But he flicks over to a website, sees Hank is available, and decides to rent Hank really just for himself. And it's the first time that's ever happened without a kid in the house or without Connor himself being too exhausted to function, so it officially becomes a weird-ass date of them hanging around. Maybe going outside to get air. Whatever happens. Now here's where I can draw upon some more IRL bullshit: water heater rentals. These things last ten years, you pay $40 a month to rent them, but at the end of the tenth year, you'd still have to pay to buy it out. And that - despite everything you pay - could still cost like $6,000. Even if you bought the thing outright, it would've cost $5,000.

I say that because I imagine Connor getting to the point where he's thinking... he might buy Hank. Whenever rental products go up for sale, there's usually a steep discount, so he thinks it won't cost too much. No one else rents Hank as much as he does anyway, and he's not sure how much he's spent, but surely that would knock the price down. He's still very much trying to think of this as a practical transaction to manage the purchase of a machine, after all. Except Connor is the one asking to buy Hank. The company isn't offering. So the sticker shock at the price is - just... unbelievable. To the point that Connor very much regrets even opening his mouth. And the nanny company says it's that or they throw Hank out, because - just the IRL - they can't be seen selling Hank cheaper or giving him away when they're done with him, or they'd never make any money. "People would just wait until he's thrown out and go dumpster diving." So now we have a ticking clock and Connor has a bill to pay. We could do two things from here: 1) Connor gets the money (spoiler). It isn't easy. He's already doing all the overtime he's allowed because he's volunteered for it - he can't afford to let something like sleep get in the way of catching a murderer - so he's making the most that he can. He doesn't have any vacation or sick days to cash in because he's used them all whenever he's burnt out; that's probably why he looked into getting Hank in the first place. And it's not like he has time to get a second job or anything. It's his little brother that asks, "Do we really need a car?"

So they both start selling everything. They don't really need a crappy couch. This table's been wobbly since day one. A garage full of crap that is coated in dust and grime is just enough to get them over the edge of it. And it's a weird feeling, bringing a nanny-bot back to an almost empty house. Connor might comment on how there'd be a lot less to clean, which is bullshit, but the best he can in defence of it all. So Hank takes it for what it is, slowly appreciating exactly what this meant for all of three of them. It's an empty house that's quickly become a full home. 2) Connor doesn't get the money (yesssssssssssss) Because there's just no way to pay that. It's ridiculous - even if he could afford it, he should still be arresting these people, because this is an obvious robbery. He can't make that last leap to admit this is more than a machine to help around the house, and the company - just... "Okay. You have three days to change your mind if you're interested." His little brother tries to get him to. He asks if Connor can just sell the car. Not only is that a bad idea, because how else is Connor going to get to work, but who's going to pay that much for it anyway? It's not worth it, Hank is a walking piece of plastic programmed to be friendly, and if they need a nanny-bot so bad, they can buy a new one for a third of what the rental company is charging. On the second-last day, his little brother tries the ol' "Rent Hank for Connor's sake" trick. It's a last-ditch effort to get Connor to admit that they would all feel awful losing Hank, machine or not. He's real enough to them, right? Wrong. Plastic. Money. Facts. Connor's more pissed that his little brother wasted more cash that could've gone towards paying a price they would never be able to afford anyway, and walks off to let his little brother hang out with the android for a last night. He doesn't want to draw this out for himself, and Hank had better be gone by the time Connor comes home.

Connor doesn't do much. He mostly just walks around for hours. And for way too long - eventually, he's at a park, and there's Hank emerging from the snow (oh yeah, it's snowing) to gently wait there in silence. That goes on for long enough for Connor to accept that he's going to miss Hank. It's a short conversation, and Hank's used the Cranky Kid protocol for Connor to know to start heading back, but that's all Connor says: "We'll miss you, I guess. Thanks." Hank is gone by the time Connor wakes up. The house is quiet, his little brother has his breakfast, and Connor has his lunch made. And that is what really gets to him. Hank - over and above his programming - once again took care of Connor, too. Those walls that were already dropping finally drop the rest of the way, and knowing perfectly well that he's too late, he calls the rental company up to ask if there's a payment plan or some extension or anything he can do to keep Hank. There is! Fortunately! And if Connor would like to arrange that for any of these other rental androids, the company can certainly help. What about Hank? Well, this is a business. They had a deadline and costs around that deadline, so they couldn't keep waiting around forever in the hopes that some family changed their mind about buying a standard android. It's unfortunate, but yes, Hank was appropriately disposed of. Would Connor like to buy another android that looks like Hank instead? Connor hangs up before they can give him the full sales pitch. His little brother notices. His work notices. Everyone notices that Connor's different lately. He's reached an almost terrifying level of laser focus on his work. He has all the time he wants to catch all the bad guys he feels like, and he does because who's going to stop him, really? And it goes like that while his little brother keeps asking for Connor to rent a different android, or to just buy one that's like Hank. On and on and on and on and on and on and on until Connor finally just loses it, dumps his phone on the ground, tells his brother to do whatever the hell he wants so long as he shuts up, and storms back out. He's out there for hours in the cold, half to spite Hank's memory - that he's become painfully reliant on for reasons he ascribes to guilt - and half because he knows it's not only guilt he's feeling. Everything tingles. His fingers, his nose, his ears, and he's at least considering going home to his car so he can warm up without having to do a walk-of-shame back inside. He's saving that for when his brother's asleep. This is roughly a minute before he notices Hank walking out in the snow. Not Hank. Not exactly. It's another android that looks like Hank, and that jolt in Connor's chest twists into a searing ache again. He's changed his mind and he's out here entirely for spite now, because his little brother must've called his bluff and rented another nanny and sent him to drag Connor home.

He's committed to that until Hank mentions the number of times Connor's tried to fight him on going to bed, and the grand total of zero times that Hank's lost this fight. Hank's very good at this. He's had to deal with a lot of rough families and teenagers. Hank remembers that because each family has a profile saved based on every visit: preferences, schedules, the kids' needs, memories... They've always been backed up. It's a business, after all. It takes Connor a few minutes to get it. He's still trying to decide if this android is real or not, let alone... his Hank. And Hank is perfectly willing to keep coming back to convince him. And he will, every time, for as long as Connor keeps a copy of his memories. ... But it is going to be after Connor is in bed. Connor's never been happier to get dragged away, kicking at this 1.98m cuddle-bear the whole time.

[beck-a-leck]

For the AU ficlets, I come begging for more shameless indulgence: Dr. Trent x Pastor Carter 48. meeting again at a high school reunion au 🥺

I live to provide all of the shameless indulgence in tumblr prompt form!

Have a little high school reunion Trent and Carter in a slightly modern-ish AU, maybe perhaps just some pre-moving to Mineral Town AU.

Enjoy!

Ficlet AU Prompts

Trent sighed for what had probably been the tenth time in as many minutes as he carefully smoothed the adhesive nametag over his right breast pocket. The woman who had been handing out nametags at the reception table had looked vaguely familiar, but Trent hadn't recognized her last name. Then again, she had most likely gotten married over the last ten years if the ring on her finger and the swell of her belly indicated anything. On the other hand, he was at his high school reunion – the likelihood that people were lying to try and impress their former classmates or save face was higher than normal social situations. He joined the small throng of people who were shuffling into the hotel ballroom. The same place, supposedly, that had held their senior prom. He hadn't gone, he wouldn't know.

He scanned the dimly lit room, half looking for any familiar faces, half looking for the promised bar. He saw the bar at the far side, across the dance floor where a few people rocked and swayed to last decade's top hits under the lights of a disco ball, past the extensive display of posters and pictures of their high school years. Faces taken from the yearbook, group and club shots, those silly little 'elections' they'd done, most likely to succeed, prom king and queen, et cetera, and then somber in memoriam of former classmates who hadn't made it to their tenth reunion.

Trent sighed as he scanned the poster for any faces he recognized, there weren't many, fortunately, but he still felt a twinge of sadness at those who were there. With an uncomfortable lurch in his stomach, Trent recognized the name and face of a former patient, a car crash victim that had come through the ER while he had been doing his residency.

Trent pulled his eye onto the next poster; someone had kept a mint condition program from their high school graduation and had tacked it up with a collection of photos of classmates in their caps and gowns. Trent had gone to a large suburban school, his graduating class had counted nearly 500 students – by his best estimate of people in the ballroom now and nametags left on the table, less than half had deigned to come to their reunion. Actually, Trent had thought fewer people would come. With people flung far and wide across the globe in their adulthood, high school reunions weren't really the local events they had been ages past. With modern communication people who wanted to keep in touch with each other were already in touch, and life updates were easy to keep up with.

Hell, Trent hadn't even wanted to come to the reunion, not really. When he got the invitation, he half filled out the RSVP email out of curiosity, decided against it, had to go take care of a patient, and then forgot about the invitation until he opened his email again and accidentally sent off a half-finished response to the organizers. By the time they emailed him back, asking for the rest of the necessary details and if he had any desire to contribute old photographs or help organize, it felt impolite to refuse the invitation.

Trent made his way to the bar, grabbed a beer, and not feeling in any particular mood to dance by himself, wandered back over to the collage of pictures. He scanned them, looking for familiar faces. He hadn't sent in any of his own, so he didn't expect to find his face in the candid snapshots of laughing friends. But he found his yearbook photo, stiff toothless grin, unenthused and too thin and pimply and his hair cut unflatteringly in a style that was popular back then, and already too stressed out not knowing what was to come though undergrad and then med school. Trent laughed ruefully at this photo of his younger mug, looking just as awkward and ungainly as the classmates surrounding him. They'd all felt so grown back then, seventeen or eighteen, and on the cusp of true adulthood, looking back, even just ten years later, they all looked like kids. Goddess knew what Trent would think of this photo in another ten or twenty years.

He scanned the group pictures, knowing he would be in a few of the club photos. There, science club, hiding in the back row with the other taller boys, and math club, the very small Asian-American club. Enough extra curriculars to round out his resume and look impressive, but still leave him plenty of time to dedicate to his studies. No sports teams, Trent had never been very athletic. His stomach gave a weak lurch when he saw the varsity football team, the quarterback had been Trent's first crush on a boy, but then again half the school was swooning over the quarterback so he wasn’t alone. Unfortunately for Trent and most of the school, Travis had dated the same girl from freshman through senior year, so the crush had stayed a crush. Then there, in the debate club was Emily, the first girl Trent had dated. They'd been together for six whole months sophomore year.

He scanned the photos one last time, smiling despite the painfully embarrassing recollection of his most awkward years. There was a photo of his homeroom class, in matching t-shirts they'd made for their last week of school. He scanned the faces and tried to recall their names and found that he couldn't confidently place half of them. The last time he'd spoken to most of those kids was the last day of school. He wondered if any of them had also come to the reunion.

Another body stepped up to the photo board, Trent shot the newcomer a sidelong glance. He held a cup of punch in his hands, he was wearing a black suit, his sandy brown hair was cut short, he was clean shaven, and – Trent felt another swoop in his stomach – quite handsome in an everyman sort of way.

The man grinned at Trent. "Goddess look at us, we were just kids back then, weren't we?"

"Yeah." Trent took a sip of his beer. "Find yourself in any pictures?"

"Oh. I actively avoided any group activities in school, and I didn't bother with school pictures. But I think there was one I couldn't avoid; it was one of the days I actually bothered to show up. There." He pointed to Trent's homeroom group picture. There was mirth in his voice as he pointed, "There I am, the scowling one."

"That was my homeroom..." Trent did a double take between the sullen teenager with shaggy hair that had been dyed black, with a number of piercings and a couple tattoos peeking out from under his t-shirt sleeves, and the clean cut, easily smiling man with shining eyes, standing next to him sipping punch. He hadn't been wrong; he'd barely attended school enough to avoid getting held back or suspended. He'd had no friends that Trent knew of, had been, as Trent's father liked to loudly complain about, a 'no good shit kicking gutter punk.' And it was probably only because he had stood out like that in Trent's memory that the man's name came back to him.

"Carter?"

Carter's grin widened, "One and the same. Trent, right? I haven't forgotten everyone, have I?"

"No, you've got it." Trent offered his hand, and they shook. Carter’s hands were warm, slightly calloused. "How have you been? What have you been up to?"

“Oh, all kinds of things. Last ten years have been full of change for both of us, I imagine.” They stepped away from the photo boards to take a seat at a table. Carter’s eyes swept over Trent. “Let me guess, you went to med school, became a doctor, didn’t you?”

Trent’s eyes widened, why would Carter remember something so small like his projected career path from high school? “Yeah. How did you know?”

“It’s on your nametag.” Carter laughed.

“Oh, right.” Trent’s cheeks grew a little warm. He’d forgotten that nametags included professional titles, if acquired. And Trent didn’t go through eight years of medical education to not be called Doctor. He took another sip of beer before asking. “What about you? What are you up to?”

“Would you believe I’m in the seminary right now?” Carter laughed and took a drink. “I don’t think anyone who knew me back in school ever expected the angry, goth, near-dropout would end up becoming a priest, but here I am.”

The laugh lines were deeper on Carter’s face than most of their classmates. The wrinkles by his eyes were a little more pronounced. There were hints of past gauntness, a hollowness that was beginning to fill out. He’d been prematurely aged, looking older than their twenty-eight years. Trent suspected that Carter’s last decade hadn’t been as easy as it had for a lot of their peers. He’d seen a lot of faces come through the ER, aged prematurely by one substance or another.

“A priest? How did that happen?”

“Oh, a little of luck, a little divine intervention, and a lot of therapy.” He laughed again. Trent really liked the sound of that warm, easy laugh. “I didn’t exactly join up right after graduation, really it’s a recent development.”

They spent almost the entire evening sitting at that table, taking turns getting fresh rounds from the bar. They mingled with other classmates, making polite if mildly awkward small talk. Trent heard “wow, a doctor!” more times than he cared to count. But at the end of the night as he got into his car, he thought fondly that tonight wasn’t a complete waste of a Saturday. He left with Carter’s number and a plan to get lunch together on his next day off.

[ohtobeaspettyasleah]

What’s a typical day for teacher Ethan and his twins like?

A typical school morning would look something like this: Ethan’s alarm going off at around 5am, a night and day change to what he was like as a teenager/younger adult. If he could see himself now? If you told Ethan Dolan when he was 31 that his alarm would wake him up at 5am Monday the outside Friday most weeks of the year? He wouldn’t have believed you, would’ve laughed obnoxiously in your face.

But here he is, stumbling out of bed with his boxer briefs rolled up slightly on his thighs from a restless night. Yawning as he slammed his hand against the light switch to get a good look at himself in his ensuite mirror. Hands on his vanity as he assessed the damage.

“Not too bad.” He mumbled. Picking up his toothbrush. ”not too bad.”

Ethan tried his best to keep the volume to a minimum— but there’s only so much you can do when your coffee machine sounds like a military jet taking off. It’s always around that 5:15 mark where little Lexi Dolan is dragging herself from her bed, making a quick pitstop on her journey by stopping by the toilet. Small kids equal small bladders. Lexi would more often then not, still be half asleep when she rounded the corner— her feet padding on the hardwood flooring as Ethan watch he drag her blanket behind her. Grayson kept his till he was 21, Ethan would let Lexi keep hers till it was disintegrating if it meant she was happy. 

“Lex, Lex it’s quarter past five. Don’t you wanna stay in bed some more?” Ethan would asked as he sipped his coffee and picked his daughter up under her arms. Placing her on the island bench wrapped in her blanket. Jersey could get cold. But Ethan’s house was always freezing.

Lexi would shake her head each morning, if Ethan was up? She was up to. “You want some breakfast then?”

“Toast please.” Lexi had the same thing every morning, occasionally she’d break from routine and ask for cereal of some kind or if Leo wanted pancakes she’d have those too— but at the tender age of 6? Lexi Dolan had her own morning routine. And it always, always started with strawberry jam toast.

It would always just be Lexi and Ethan until around 6:30. That’s when every morning Ethan would barge on in to his sons room singing up a storm with Lexi on his hip— sure Ethan knew he was tone deaf, but his dad used to do it to him so he felt as if he’d carry on the somewhat annoying tradition.

“Rise and shine Leo!” The six year old would smirk and pretend every morning to still be sleeping. Ethan would always play along. His kids an extension of himself. Flipping his lifeless son over his shoulder as Lexi trailed behind him. Laughing loudly as Leo opened his eyes to shh her from giving up the gig. “Oh well, I guess Leo’s batteries didn’t change up last night Lex, gotta change em—“ Ethan would pretend to change out Leo’s batteries, he’d laugh as Ethan tickled his sides and sad him down in front of his breakfast. Quick oats, with a teaspoon of cocoa, it made them go chocolate brown and was the only way Leo would eat the damn stuff.

“Eat up, gotta get ready for school.” Ethan ruffled Leo’s already messy bed head.

“Miss Reid said I’m a good reader, but I have to would on reading in my head.”

Miss Reid said I have to work on reading out loud.” Lexi sighed. Ethan kissed her cheek.

“I agree, you gotta speak up and use your voice Lex, your brother can’t always speak for you. Readings sometimes something we have to do out loud for others, like how sometimes I’ll read you a bedtime stroy. You wouldn’t be able to hear me if I read in my head now would you?” Ethan asked. Lexi shook her head. “Exactly, so if Miss Reid said she’ll help you I want you to let her okay, you like Miss Reid?”

“She’s pretty.” Leo added. Ethan remembered having a few crushes on his former teachers too.

“I’d that the only reason why would like her Le?” Ethan chuckled as he did his tie up. Getting himself ready for work before he helped his kids get ready for school.

“No, she makes sure my Ironman gets put back in my cubby and not the toy box which is nice.” Ethan smiled.

“That is nice of her.”

“She eats lunch with me if I don’t feel like going outside.” Lexi added. Ethan’s heart broke abit, his priority at the moment was his daughter’s ability to be herself, always caged by her anxiety. She was six— it was so cruel.

“Well I think that’s really nice of her too.” Lexi noded in response as she left to get ready. Ethan sighed as he fixed his shoes and looked up at his son. “You plan on getting ready anytime soon or am I sending you to work with uncle Grayson instead of school?” It always had Leo move fast, the threat of going to work with uncle Grayson had him racing to his room to get his schoolbag and change. Ethan laughed.

He’d drop his tots at school, watching as their bags engulf them as they walked up the path together before driving across town to St Anne’s, where he’d teach sophomores media and technical skills. Before getting use out of his double degree and watching a bunch of puberty ridden 16 year old beat the shit out of each other with dodgeballs in PE.