#i wanna be peekaboo's MOTHER

[aayakashii]

got very depressed today and ended up writing a very self-indulgent comfort fic that now I will make everyone's problem ヽ(*´∀`)人(´∀`*)ﾉ

featuring 🫵you🫵, Peekaboo, and special guest Sagara Haru. It's fluff, tooth rotting fluff again. I am just a girl.

soft beats to feed your baby anomaly to

Your fingers tapped against your chin as you stood in the middle of the Jabberwock kitchen, eyes scanning all the pots that were scattered around the counter and shelves, way too wary to actually rummage through them with your hands.

“Baby formula… baby formula… baby formula…” you muttered repeatedly, as you read every label of every container, until your eyes stopped at an inconspicuous pot with no label.

Stepping closer, you opened the lid, and was met with a crumpled bag of baby formula stuffed inside.

“God, I would never find this if I only relied on the labels” you said, huffing, pulling the bag out and walking back to the living room.

A small bottle with boiled water was ready, on top of a small stool, right beside a crib that contained a very hungry and very impatient Peekaboo.

“Found it, Peekaboo!” you said, triumphantly, and slumped on the floor, bringing the stool closer.

“I can now make your bottle and feed you! I'm sorry it took so long, but you gotta tell your dad that his kitchen is a mess.” you rambled, as you began to scoop the baby formula and put it carefully in the bottle. Peekaboo chirped in what seemed like agreement with you.

As you quietly kept scooping small amounts of the powder, you finally relaxed, humming the tune to a song that was stuck in your head for the past week. At this, Peekaboo's ears twitched and perked up, and he waddled closer to you.

“Okay, done!” You finished shaking the bottle to mix the contents and Peekaboo immediately raised his little arms towards you.

“You want uppies?” you said, smiling as you noticed his expectant face. “Okay, let's give you uppies.”

With a groan (Peekaboo was heavier than he seemed), you picked him up and began to bring the bottle towards his mouth, until his arms patted your hand, pushing the bottle away.

“What's up, baby? I thought you were hungry” you asked, confused.

Peekaboo kept flailing his arms, pointing to the bottle and to you, clearly trying to communicate something.

“I'm sorry love, I don't know what you mean…”

His little face scrunched up, as he wiggled on your arms and booped your mouth and then the bottle.

“You want me to drink from the bottle too?!”

He shook his whole body, growling impatiently. For a moment, he stared at you, as if he was thinking about how he could convey his message in a way that you would understand. After a few seconds, he chirped his usual sounds, but tried hard to mimic the melody you were humming a few moments before.

“Oh! You want me to sing for you while I feed you?” you guessed.

His little face lit up, and he nodded fiercely.

“Okay, okay, but er… I'm not a very good singer, honey” you replied, apologetic despite his excitement.

Peekaboo growled, showing his huge sharp teeth and you knew there was no bargaining with a spoiled anomalous animal.

“Fineeee, fine! Okay, I'll sing, but you have to promise me you'll drink your bottle and not bite me, okay?” you sighed.

Peekaboo nodded happily again, chirping and extending his stubby little arms to the bottle.

As you titled the bottle to his mouth, his red, shiny eyes looked at you expectantly. You cleared your throat and began to murmur the lyrics to the song.

Stars shinin' bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper, "I love you”

Peekaboo frowned and tapped your throat, clearly ordering you to sing louder. You sighed heavily again, shaking your head in defeat, and raised your voice.

Birds singin' in the sycamore tree

Dream a little dream of me

You began to sway gently, careful not to make Peekaboo sick with the movement.

Say, "Nighty-night" and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me

While I'm alone and blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me

The little bunny-like anomaly closed his eyes, gulping his food and peacefully enjoying the slow swaying of your body, feeling relaxed in your arms.

Stars fadin'–

You cleared your throat again, as your voice cracked trying to reach the higher tune, but Peekaboo seemed to pay no mind to how out of tune you sounded sometimes.

Stars fadin’ but I linger on, dear

Still cravin' your kiss

I'm longin' to linger 'til dawn, dear

Just saying this

The bottle was quickly emptying as you clumsily sang and danced with the small animal in your arms, and, in your concentration, you failed to notice a flash of red appearing on one of the corridors.

Sweet dreams 'til sunbeams find you

Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams, whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

You hummed the ad-lib part of the song as Peekaboo downed the last bit of the bottle, still moving slowly and carefully as he yawned in your arms.

Stars fadin' but I linger on, dear

Still cravin' your kiss

I'm longing to linger 'til dawn, dear

Just saying this

Your voice didn't crack this time, and you put Peekaboo against your shoulder, giving little taps against his back in order to help with his digestion – a little burp coming out of his mouth making you giggle as you sang.

Sweet dreams 'til sunbeams find you

Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you

But in your dreams, whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

As you finished the song, Peekaboo ended up fast asleep on your arms, and you kept humming and dancing, all while completely unaware of how Haru observed the scene, hidden behind one of the pillars of the living room.

The red-headed blushed furiously, his hand covering his mouth in order to hide a smile that was so big that could light up stadiums upon stadiums.

“Isn't that good, Peekaboo? We finally got you the other mom I've always wanted for you!!” he thought to himself, pumping his fist victoriously in the air, as wedding bells ringed into his mind after seeing the domestic scene unravel in front of him. He hadn't even confessed nor invited you to a single date, but after that, he knew he couldn't wait any longer.

[backwzzds]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ grumpy daddies that softened up over time, supernovas

one piece men who didn’t want kids at first, but changed their minds the further they got into fatherhood.

TRAFALGAR LAW

okay you getting pregnant was nowhere near law’s 10 year book of plans. honestly, being in a relationship with someone wasnt either, but you rewrote his expectations the moment he met you.

but having a baby? that was pushing it.

law was always hesitant of starting a family of his own because the one person he did call his family was taken from him at a very young age. and with the world we lived in, the last thing he wanted to do was bring a child into this madness, especially as a pirate amongst the supernovas.

you were always nervous on how law would react to having a kid, especially at such a young age. i mean, you were 23 and he was 26–not really ideal ages to have kids. but the man was so pussy drunk, the darker side of him was willing for one night—just one night—to risk it all to shoot his load between your velvety walls. now you two were facing the consequences.

the first few months were hard. of course, law loved little lea with all his heart. he was never one to deny his little girl, but you were able to tell how new this all was to him. he couldn’t spend all night up studying his med books, instead he had to be in bed by nine sharp, because a certain trafalgar had their bed time at that time.

at this exact moment, law would be hunched over neck deep in some physiology book, scribbling sloppy doctor’s notes on yellow post its. but currently, he was on his side of your shared bed, bedtime story book folded over his eyes as little lea’s head rested snugly on her father’s chest. law’s tattooed fingers protectively held her small frame against his body, almost as if he was keeping her from anyone taking her.

you had just finished doing some spring cleaning when you came into the room. looking around, you noticed that there wasn’t a single surgical book in sight. lea got him so good, she didn’t even let him study before she begged her daddy to read her a bedtime story. and hardly ten minutes in, the same man was cuddling over the same thing he swore he wouldn’t be able to take care of.

RORONOA ZORO

okay we all know zoro is a klutz. the man truly did not mean to get you pregnant. as if he suddenly forgot how biology and science worked, the thought of you getting pregnant the moment he came inside you raw (six times btw) completely slipped his marimo mind.

literally everyone and their mother knew the man hated kids but was somehow one of the best babysitters? if you wanna count out nami and robin. it was no surprise that he’d be a great father once he actually warmed up to it.

so the moment that baby zina turned four, it still felt unreal to him that you two shared an entire human together. ironically, zina had all of zoro’s looks and your entire personality.

that included driving her daddy insane.

“daddy,” zina pulled the pocket of her father’s sweats. zoro grunted with his heavy sword in his mouth, training for the hundredth time that morning. “why is our hair green?”

zoro couldn’t helo but chuckle as he gave out, “not sure.”

not only that, but zina got away with a lot of things even you couldn’t when it came to zoro. you three were at a fair on some summer island, deciding to take zina out for the day. there she was on top of her father’s shoulders, continuously covering and uncovering them as part of a game. “peekaboo!” the little marimo giggled, and to your surprise, zoro actually played back.

usually, you would have expected zoro to get annoyed fairly quickly if it were any other kid. he thought the whole of them were burden’s that talked too much. but he made the little girl sitting atop his shoulders, and he knew half of her belonged to you. so the fact that there was a possibility she’d grow to annoy the shit out if him just as much as you did—he wouldn’t have it any other way.

EUSTASS KID

kid would be the grumpiest dad of it all. he just had a downright shitty pullout game (not that he’d even tried), so it wasn’t a surprise that he got you pregnant fr. he swore up and down he aint want a kid, but the moment baby kuina came out with his fire red hair and bold ass personality—suddenly he was america’s #1 dad.

like seriously, you had no idea after all at fuss you’d find him bathing kuina, feeding her, taking her on walks—everything. the man saw your child more than you and you wasn’t playing dat fr. i mean, as great as it was to get a break from kuina postpartum and kid did all the work, it still amazed you to see such instictive dad behaviors come from him.

like kuina wouldn’t stop crying and you didn’t know why? she’d babble out the words of dada and kid would come flying to her rescue, baby talking back to her.

“aw mama’s being a big scawy meanie?” he’d tease. “i know princess let’s stop crying before uncle kil’ gets the both of us, okay?” kuina wouldn’t even understand half of what her father was saying to her, but he was talking to her and that was all she needed before she’d be thrown in a fit of drooly giggles.

on top of that, but the two would spend hours in the workshop together. “babe don’t forget to take her out every other hour. i don’t want her inhaling any of the fumes for too long,” you’d remind kid as kuina would quietly watch him build something. her pacifier would be tucked tightly between her lips as she almost laid against the terrain of kid’s knees, admiring his handy work.

[danieyells]

Could I pretty please ask for any Haru stuff you found? 🥺 I've been afflicted with the Haru simp disease and only information/content of him can cure me 🛐

HARU'S CHANGED MY FEELINGS ON HIM not that i disliked him at all before but like. . .you know how he acts like the team mom? His voicelines make this worse. I thought he was more like a meddlesome but chill guy with a lot of energy. The truth is this poor man is a single mother with two unruly kids, a house full of animals, and VIRTUALLY NO HELP BESIDES YOU. No wonder he drinks nearly every fucking night. I get why Jabberwock doesn't have ordinary students but jesus christ please get some helpers in here. My man is overworked.

I ended up putting almost all of them in because. . .he is struggling poor boy. I have officially edited this to contain all of Haru's voicelines! Sorry for the wait!!

Hello: (the first time the game is opened after that character is set as home screen NPC. Only happens once per day, unless the character is switched out and back.)

"Hey, nice timing! One sec, I've just gotta finish feeding everyone."

You've Got Mail: (whenever there's something in the inbox, usually Arena rewards)

"You've got some letters! Better open them before that goat lookalike makes a meal out of them!"

Default: (requires no affinity, has no time constraints)

"Folks are going wild over the Anomalous Animal Back To Nature Tour, and this is your chance to experience it at a discount rate! C'mon, help me hand out these fliers!"

"Everyone stuffs up sometimes. Don't let it get to you—just think of it as a funny story you can pull out later and laugh at! Gahaha!"

the only way he knows how to cope with his pain is to laugh at it. . .my therapist told me that was good actually! he's well adjusted! disregard the nightly drinking.

"You sure are fond of {PC}, aren't you, Peekaboo? You did nothing but bite me for the first three days after we met."

tbf you were from another house and it was probably fresh after the clash. . . .

"You reckon I work hard? Nah, this is nothing to write home about. All right, let's head to the next zone!"

"Hey, nice work out there today! Let's knock a few more jobs off the list then take a break, hey?"

oh my god you take breaks? or are you telling the player to take a break while you keep overdoing it. . . .

Affinity 1: (between 5am and 11am)

"Morning! Let's get this show on the road!"

Affinity 2: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Hey, {PC}! What a coinkydink! I just finished my rounds."

Affinity 3: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Ren? He's working at that whacky restaurant again. I'll have to go pick him up later."

Affinity 4: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Towa's off to that hill again? I was gonna ask him to hold down the fort... Guess I'll have to stay put tonight."

Affinity 5: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Am I tired? Nah, don't worry, if there's two things I have confidence in it's my stamina and my bad luck!"

Affinity 6: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"The Sinostra folks are causing a kerfuffle again... I don't need any of that! You should take care not to get dragged into their mess too, you hear?"

Affinity 7: (between 11am and 4pm)

"You wanna know how to get the animals to like you? You just gotta show how much you love them, like this— Ow! Don't bite me, Peekaboo!"

Affinity 8: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"None of our critters have warmed to Ren at all, even though he spends all day with them... Guess that handsome face only works on humans."

Affinity 9: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Phew, time for a bre— Hm? That sounded like the Capybus! I'm gonna go check on her, watch Peekaboo for me!"

Affinity 10: (between 10pm and midnight)

"All right, the kids are all in bed. I'll just ask those two to hold down the fort, then I'll head out for a little walk..."

Affinity 11: (between 5am and 11am)

"I went to wake that sleepyhead Ren up this morning, but it was like he couldn't see me even though he was looking straight at me. Reckon his eyesight's bad?"

Affinity 12: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Course I eat, don't worry about that! Just earlier I pinched some of Peekaboo's veggies when I was making his lunch and had them with a piece of bread!"

Please eat food. . . .

Affinity 13: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"So much to do... Gotta take in the washing and get the shopping done... Argh! There's not enough hours in the day!"

Affinity 14: (between 5am and 11am)

"This? It's an energy drink. Don't feel like the day's started till I have one. (gulp) (gulp) Pwaaah!"

PLEASE EAT FOOD AND SLEEP. . . . . . . . .

Affinity 15: (between 5am and 11am)

"Ah man, there's soap all over the walls again! You're so good at playing with the animals Towa, if you could just learn how to clean up after you'd get full marks..."

Towa i love you but please help your mother boyfriend captain. . . .

Affinity 16: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Ah! I can't do dogs! How'd you get in here?! Towa!! Come here!! No!! Don't bite me!!"

He is terrified of dogs????? Towa absolutely electrocuted the shit out of that dog. Rip in pieces. That dog truly fucked around and found out. It will never go in the dorm again.

Affinity 17: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Thanks for helping out again today, you're a real lifesaver. Sorry I can't walk you back..."

Affinity 18: (between 8pm and 5am)

"You reckon I look like an acrobat when I'm using my stigma? Gahaha! Maybe I'll practice balancing on a ball then!"

Baby no you are not a clown please what if you break something again--

Affinity 19: (between 10pm and midnight)

"...(gasp) Crap, I fell asleep... Did you put this blanket on me? Cheers... Maybe I'll grab a few more minutes..."

Affinity 20: (between 5am and 11am)

"I swore I'd take responsibility for protecting all the lives in this park. I can't let anyone die on my watch."

Affinity 21: (between 11am and 4pm)

"I don't know where I'd be without all the critters in this place if I'm honest with you. Well, gotta be my animal magnetism that's keeping them here anyway! Gahaha!"

Affinity 22: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Hm? There's some critters whose nails were getting dangerously long so I was giving them a clip. Come here, I'll do yours too if you want!"

Affinity 23: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Oh, off for a cheeky night out? Gahaha! I know a good place, want me to take you?"

get wasted with him and give him somebody to talk to!! he needs someone besides romeo and rui to listen to him rant sometimes!

Affinity 24: (between 10pm and midnight)

"A soft bed to lie down in and someone to chat with till I drift off... I'm really living the high life here."

He's a simple man. . .it's easy to imagine him holding your hand here while he dozes off. . . .

Affinity 25(max): (no time constraints)

"Really learned the ropes here, haven't you? Once we have a little cash to spare, I'll buy you your own Jabberwock uniform!"

they must be expensive if it takes until Affinity 25 to get you one! He's so conscious about his finances(disregard all of the stuff he buys and never uses--) that being given a purchased gift is surely the highest tier of affection from him haha. But also. . .he treats the anomalous animals and oftentimes even the other ghouls in Jabberwock like they're his kids. This is his way of saying 'you're part of this family too.' Which is very sweet.

Spring: (March-May) (between 5am and 11am)

"Today's shearing day for the fluffy squad! It's actually a pretty hefty task, so I've gotta hop to it if I want to be done before summer..."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Bucket, check. Trowel, check. Me and Towa are heading to the mountains to pick some veggies. You wanna come?"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"We've been getting a lot of balmy days lately, and the sun's up longer. Can't help but dilly-dally when I'm working..."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"I've gotta clean out all the sparrow nests soon or they won't be able to look after their kiddos properly. Looks like there's... 61 nests total..."

Summer: (June-August) (between 5am and 11am)

"A lot of customers have been saying they wanna stay cool in the summer so I changed up the course. Now we have a special summer-only waterside tour!"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"It's hot so I invited Ren to go fishing, but his face screwed up like a prune and he yelled at me. What's he got against fish?"

Probably the same thing you have against dogs. . . .

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Phew... Finally finished harvesting all the feed crops for the day... Everyone's health is dependent on their quality, so now's the time to do it right."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Lotta bugs around this time of year... But they're important for the food chain, so I've gotta take care of them... Argh!! Give it a rest with the buzzing!"

Autumn: (September-November) (between 5am and 11am)

"Hey, nice timing! I'm about to make a fire with the dead leaves I collected so I can bake some potatoes, take a seat!"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"I like the Jabberwock uniforms. They're made out of high-performance fabric that keeps you warm when it's cold out and safe when you're handling venomous critters!"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"The hibernation squad's gonna start eating us out of house and home this month... The food bill's gonna be rough... Eeek!"

(between 8pm and 5am)

"You reckon that's a rabbit on the moon? No way, it's a toad! C'mon, look closer!"

apparently the pareidolic toad in the moon is a Chinese myth! I wonder if they mean to suggest Haru is actually Chinese.

Winter: (December-February) (between 5am and 11am)

"Rounds are quicker in winter since some of the critters hibernate. Makes things a little easie— Why's the kitchen on fire?!"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Brr... Can't help but get green-eyed looking at the furry critters when it's this cold..."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Nice and toasty... Hm? I'm talking about Peekaboo! He's better than a hot water bottle in this weather!"

Haru putting Peekaboo on your tummy when you're having cramps or just in pain in general is a cute mental image, especially since Peekaboo likes you lol

(between 8pm and 5am)

"It's cold outside so some of the critters have been sneaking into our rooms at night. You heard Ren scream just now, right?"

His birthday: (September 20th)

"It's my birthday?! Oops, totally slipped my mind... Thanks for remembering!"

Your birthday:

"Happy birthday. The Capybus is all yours today—I've got a custom birthday tour all planned out for you!"

New Years: (January 1st)

"Happy New Year! How'd I ring it in? I was milking the cow and when I looked up I'd totally missed the first sunrise! Gahaha!"

Valentine's Day: (February 14th)

"You're kidding, I can really have this?! They say a little sugar helps sweeten a tired day! Thanks a million, this'll keep me going a while!"

White Day: (March 14th)

"Ta-da! I bought you some hand cream, for the chocolate you got me last month. Thanks for everything you do here."

hand cream when you do all of that manual labor and probably have to wash your hands a lot is a really practical gift actually, gg haru

April Fool's Day: (April 1st)

"Can you believe this? Ren got up early, and Towa fed everyone for me! ...Tried to make a joke for April Fools but it just made me feel empty inside..."

Halloween: (October 31st)

"Check it out! The pumpkin Capybus, in town for three days only! I sacrificed sleep and some of our budget to get her ready!"

If it's painted I really hope that paint is waterproof. . .never know when Towa's gonna make it rain. . . .

Christmas: (December 25th)

"Merry Christmas! This is a reindeer, she lives up in the mountains! And I'm Sagara Claus! Gahaha!"

just don't let romeo see it lolol

Idle: (about 20 seconds without interacting with the game) (below 13 affinity)

"Hey there, miss! Looking gorgeous as ever! ...Wait, I was kidding! Come back!"

(13 affinity and above)

"You seem pretty flat out today... Nothing for it, I'll get a few other things out of the way while I wait for you to get back."

Absent: (logging in for the first time in 2 or more days?)

"Phew, that's a relief... I was worried one of ours ate you... Glad to see you back."

Once again. . .an absolute sweetheart. And a single mother who is desperately in need of some help around the house. That April Fool's line really got me lolol poor guy. All of his have a lot of energy to them so i feel like i posted more than Haku, who's kind of a more low key guy lol. . . .

[eddiemunson-reader-shame]

A Freak and A Basket Case “As The Good Lord Intended” - Love Walks In

Eddie Munson x Original Character

Has the @stranger-things-x-oc-blog community inspired me to finally write about Allie? Yes. Yes they have. So please, have this Drabble about A Freak and A Basket Case that was written as the Good Lord intended: as an OC fic.

Divider by: @strangergraphics-archive

Big shout out to all my friends and moots in the Eddie Munson fandom. There are so many people to tag and I don’t wanna miss anyone, so if you’re a moot and you’re reading this, I love you 🥺❤️.

Trigger Warnings: Inappropriate and potentially triggering use of finger guns, suicide mention. In case you don’t like stuff like that, I’d avoid reading ❤️.

It had started so simple: with a smile.

“—and I trust in this group of fine, young Americans I see before me today, that you will not squander the opportunities given to you…”

They were playing with one another. Like unsupervised little kids. Pulling faces. Stifling laughter behind their hands.

“— trust that you will not bring shame to our school and that you will always conduct yourselves with dignity, honor and respect—…”

Eyes so dark brown they were almost black sparkled with the light of one thousand stars. Batting in a playful game of peekaboo behind a curtain of shaggy curls twirled around ringed fingers, deep grooves of smile lines betraying true intentions that had been previously hidden by his intimidating frown.

“— and that you will not let shame come to the good name of the Hawkins High Tigers—…”

Principal Higgins droned on, addressing the student body for the first assembly of the semester to encourage greatness in the faces of the bright, smiling, predominantly white young Americans of Hawkins High School. Some looked reverently back at him; in particular a new crop of senior students in Izod and Ralph Lauren sat up ramrod straight and smart.

They took away the attention from the majority of students struggling to stay awake after being forced to assemble at seven fifteen am on a Monday after summer break. Higgins made a point to make direct eye contact with his preppy flock’s bright blue eyes that matched his own, hands on either side of his podium like a preacher doling deliverance from a pulpit.

While the principal spoke his words of encouragement to his little audience of polished white collar perfection, two freaks were playing with one another, horsing around from worlds apart: the boy lurking off to one corner of the bleachers on the side where the scoreboard read “home”, the girl aptly placed on “visitor”.

Alejandra Perea giggled softly, covering her eyes with her hands as she peeked through the gaps of her fingers, cheeks positively red as the guy from across the way continued to play up like a fool.

She flexed her fingers, closing and opening them like the petals on a flower. Then positioned them lower, wriggling them by her lips. Imitating little tentacles. Like she was pretending to be a mindflayer.

The metalhead flared his nostrils and pursed his lips. He turned – maintaining side eye contact – and from that angle it looked like he had his finger up his nose. Dexterous fingers pretend picked, brown eyes squinted as if examining a booger, then he pretend flicked towards the gaggle of girls sitting a few rows below him.

Alejandra nearly chewed a hole in her jacket cuff trying to stop from laughing.

The guy smiled even wider. A long tongue stuck out at her, dark brown eyes crossed.

She snorted, covering her gap tooth grin, before making a fish face at him. Waving her hands like fins by her cheeks.

It had all started with a smile…

At first, they had both looked so intimidating. Both with a case of faces that looked bitchy and rude when at rest. Alejandra didn’t know a soul in this crowd, and she had been livid when her mother pulled into the drop off lane this morning. She thought she could hurt everyone before they hurt her, but she was wrong. Instead of trying to be a Bene Gesserit, she should have listened to the hundreds of afterschool specials that had tried to warn her of the worst possible outcomes of high school: bullying, being the new meat, becoming a victim.

During assembly, she found herself alone. Her attitude had soured her seat mates from having her around them, and she hid in the upper corner of the visitor bleachers while clutching her backpack to her and trying to read from a very old and rough Dune hardcover. Ten minutes ago the only man that would have managed to make her smile would have been the Lisan Al Gaib of Arrakis himself, that dreamy blue eyed Shortening of the Way that lived within the dog eared pages of her second hand Frank Herbert novel never failed to make her feel like life was worth living.

The expression Alejandra put on her face was angry, hateful. She bundled up in her quilted Carhartts jacket even though it was 80 degrees outside and high humidity. Her dress was as gray as her mood. And she wore a scowl to match. The whole look screamed Alia Atreides to her, but all anyone else saw was a poor blue collar shrimp attempting to cover up her cherry red nose and tear stained cheeks.

Then she caught sight of him.

He was an honest to god real life Eddie Van Halen – at first Alejandra had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t actually the rockstar himself – sitting around the upper corner of the home bleachers. He was surrounded by guys in leather who were secretly passing around a plastic water bottle from which they took furtive sips, and he sat like a king on his throne with his elbows on his knees and his fingers steepled.

Not-Van-Halen’s face was scrunched up into a hateful squint. He looked like he would throw a chair if asked the time.

And she couldn’t stop staring at him.

He’d made eye contact with Alejandra. Raised a suspicious eyebrow. Challenged her silently to a stare down as his lip curled up in a snarl. And because he had on a shirt with a familiar outline of an angel falling over the words “US Tour 1975”, Alejandra Perea did something so natural and automatic, that it caught Not-Van-Halen off guard.

She smiled at him, and waved a timid hand.

Now here they were: two silly geese behaving like they were in elementary school, playing and pulling faces. They couldn’t have told you who started it if asked, they only knew that both were determined to finish it.

“And now,” Principal Higgins clapped his hands together, “I ask that everyone please rise for the Hawkins High Fight Song.”

Everyone stood in a grumble of protests and snickers, and half heartedly began to sing as the school band began to play. After being conditioned for the last few years, the more senior students knew their parts and played them well except for Not-Van-Halen and his entourage of friends, and for Alejandra, who didn’t know the words anyways.

She kept her eye on Not-Van-Halen, watching his friends rib and tease him as the others sang as one body the most convoluted, brainwashed lyrics that made up their school’s fight song. It was like watching a group of Fremen captives being forced to sing praises for Baron Harkonnen, and Alejandra made eye contact with Not-Van-Halen amidst the chaos.

She pressed her index and middle finger together, and with thumb up, pressed them to her temple. Universal high school code for boring, convoluted ass shit that just made you wanna paint the walls with your own dura mater.

Not-Van-Halen widened his eyes and put a hand over his chest as his mouth pulled a frown, before nodding in agreement and pulling another face. His tongue was waggling out at her, and little devil horns were made on his head with his spindly fingers, and Alejandra had to slap her hand over her mouth to stop from screeching out loud. The sound was muffled by the crescendo of students coming to the close of the song, and just as she was about to retaliate the dismissal bell rang. Shrill. Overpowering.

A grim reminder that she was still in Hawkins.

Principal Higgins made sure to clarify to his selected group of precious baby birds that the seniors were to head in the direction of the school cafeteria to Ms. Kelley and Mr. Kaminski for their schedules and locker assignments, doling out similar information half heartedly to the retreating freshmen, sophomore, and junior students.

Alejandra kept her eyes locked on Not-Van-Halen for as long as she could, but lost sight of him when she was overtaken by a throng of students all hurrying to move past her.

“Fuck, welp, I guess this is where we leave you and Jeff.”

Gareth Emerson took one more swig of the plastic bottle of Everclear that he’d snuck that morning from his mother’s Sears Roebuck liquor cabinet. Frank Kraguljac picked up his backpack and began to stand, grunting as he stretched. Frank was already complaining about the wait, pissed off because he’d lost a d4 in the bleachers just walking up to the highest point to sit down.

“Where are we even going?” Frank complained.

“Didn’t you hear Higgs? Front office, dude.” Gareth said, looking on as Eddie seemed to be searching for something, “You and Jeff are in the cafeteria, right Eddie?”

No response from his fearless leader.

“Hey… Eddie!”

“Huh?!”

His large brown eyes looked desperate, brows knitted together in a frown. The expression was concerning, certainly not something that self respecting Eddie Fucking Munson would ordinarily wear.

“What are you looking at?” Gareth asked, and all eyes turned to where Eddie had been looking previously.

The metalhead didn’t respond, pausing as he took one more glance out towards the visitor bleachers, as if hoping for something once more.

“I was waving at that new girl…” he muttered.

“Huh?”

“New girl?” Jeff Schaffer asked, looking around in the throng of students retreating.

“Yeah, you know, the one who kinda looks like that Valerie Bertinelli chick. Gray dress, quilted jacket, cute little bob cut…?” He replied, his voice trailing off as he continued to look out.

For obvious reasons, the prospect of seeing someone who resembled the guilty pleasure that was Barbara Cooper Royer had Jeff and Frank searching up and down. Gareth couldn’t place the name to the face, until he remembered that one of his favorite guitar players had married about four years ago.

“Valerie Bertinelli…? You mean the one that’s married to Van Halen?” he asked.

“Yeah, yeah, that one. She looks a lot like her! The new girl… the one that was sitting up higher in the bleachers, you know the one?” Eddie’s voice had become a bit more exasperated, growing increasingly flustered as he looked down at the slimming crowd.

“Uhhhhh…”

They all looked around. Jeff stood higher, leaned forward, and he squinted a little as he put a hand over his eyes. He repeated “Bertinelli… Bertinelli…” like a mantra as he searched.

“Bob cut… kinda curly…? Dark brown hair? Rick Moranis type glasses?” He asked.

Eddie’s eyes lit up, a smile tugging at his lips, and his wild hair whipping back and forth.

“Yes! That’s her! That’s her! You’ve seen her, right?”

“Yeah, she’s standing right over there. That’s her right? In the brown jacket with all those patches?”

Jeff pointed out Not-Bertinelli standing in line to leave. She seemed to be looking for someone, bouncing on the soles of her feet.

Leaning over his friend and slapping the back of his leather coat, Eddie followed the point, nearly sending the two of them toppling over the bleachers. Jeff got annoyed and hissed a snide “get off my ass” before Eddie moved.

Utterly smitten. Still with more faces to pull.

“Yeah…” he breathed, his grin overtaking his face, “Yeah, that’s her.”

They all stared. Frank catching flies with his mouth open, Jeff still squinting, and Gareth with his right hand over his mouth.

“… Bertinelli, huh?” Gareth asked, skeptical.

Eddie nodded.

“… she looks more like a hobbit.” Jeff admitted.

The comparison caused Eddie to splutter and the rest of Hellfire Club to laugh, nearly choking on their own spit.

“Excuse me?” Eddie blurted, “You think she looks like a hobbit?!”

“Oh shit...” Gareth grinned, “Yeah I totally see it. Darker skin tone, chubby face, curly brown hair… and she’s tiny!”

“She just blends right into the crowd.” Jeff nodded, “Good at hiding? Brown skin? That’s a Harfoot, dude, not Bertinelli.”

“Shut up!” Eddie hissed, his face turning red as he shoved a laughing Jeff, “Be nice! She totally looks like Bertinelli!”

“Man, that’s a Baggins from Bag End. Admit it!”

“Gareth shut your mouth or I swear to God your long rests will never know peace-…”

“Bertinelli Baggins of the Shire.” Frank blurted out.

The boys began to howl with laughter, while Eddie shoved them all. Each one alternated with different fucked up variations of jokes. Asking if she’d used the one ring to disappear from view. Suggesting that they corner her during lunch and see if they could check for curlicues on her feet.

All the while Eddie was trying to call his men to order. Screeching like an angry barn owl for them to shut the fuck up, it’s not funny, his beet-red face evidence that he was hypocritically fighting for his life to not bark out his own unhinged laughter at the jokes. Because secretly he knew they were right. The cute new girl was totally a hobbit.

Bertinelli Baggins…

Eddie silently hoped that maybe he’d manage to get lucky and find her again. Even if he had to look in every smial this side of Hawkins High School to find the Bag End she called home.

[cheesus-doodles]

*sits baby down on counter and crouches down so I’m face to face* we need a talk young lady, I notice you been smooching off my husband, don’t think I didn’t notice those giggles. I’m disappointed in you missy! You betrayed your own mother to go hang out with HIM?!?*points at izana* like, 2 months ago he didn’t even acknowledge your existence like ser-hey! Hey! Eyes on me missy! Don’t look at him! Look at me! Im not done yet! Im your mother! I carried you for 9 months and what do I hear? You said papa first?! Not mama?!! What you gonna do next? Dress like him too?! *procedes to dramatically slide down a wall, hand to my forehead* My own daughter betrays me! I can’t! -sassy anon.

Link to relevant post

Masterlist

‎

sassy anon, I know meant you this as a sassy ask to your baby daughter, but I couldn't help myself this is too cute

First time in a few days you have had some bonding time with your baby daughter, some time you could actually just hold her in your arms and spend time together, outside of when you breastfeed her, Izana hanging over your shoulder waiting to snatch her away from you once she was done. But even spending so little time with you, she still instantly recognises you and start making grabby hands for you, babbling and calling out "Mama". Picking her up, she starts putting her little hands all over your face, tugging slightly on whatever of your hair she could grab and putting bundles of it into her mouth, even while you make your way to the kitchen for a quick snack.

The footsteps that immediately started up behind you were enough to tell you that Izana was not far behind, but you were glad that he didn't attempt to snatch her away from you - maybe he finally realized that giving your child attention didn't mean that you were replacing him?

You sit your daughter on the kitchen counter, where she instantly starts throwing her arms up and down, and repeating some of the words she had heard Izana and the other executives saying earlier. Poking her chubby belly and teasing her about being a little heart stealer, being a little Daddy's girl to the point that she doesn't even want her Mama anymore? Saying Papa before Mama after you carried her for 9 months? But you couldn't really blame her, not with the amount of time she gets to spend with you compared with Izana.

All the while she is just giggling as you played with her, rubbing her hands and feet and generally just snuggling her, before you played a quick game of peekaboo while you retrieved a couple of snacks from the lower drawers. But the cold and hardness of the kitchen counter quickly had her starting to fuss and reaching out to be carried, which you obliged, picking her up with your free hand and tucking her against your body, only to turn around and hop to seat on the counter.

Yet the moment Izana stepped foot into the kitchen behind where you were seated, your daughter's attention was almost instantly stolen by your husband, who started babbling at him, repeating Papa before you quickly turned her back to face you again with a quick kiss to her forehead.

"Don't wanna hang with your uncool mama huh?" You gently pinched her cheek before taking another bite and finishing up your snack, to which your daughter seemed to have picked up on your question, switching her attention back to you from Izana, tightening her grip on your shirt and leaning her head on your shoulder, instead mumbling Mama again as she settled down. Seemed to have fallen asleep in the full moment that it took Izana to pad over to where you were, your kid now fast asleep in your arms. Pressing another kiss to her cheek before turning to press one to Izana's, who had been patiently waiting for his, only for him to steal one from your lips instead.

"A few more minutes Izzy?" A soft plea as Izana slipped his hand into yours, leading you back towards the room two of you shared - it was just so rare to have time for your daughter and with her that you wanted to make the most of what you had. He didn't reply, but he didn't take her from you nor did he make you hand her over to Kakucho or Ran, both of whom seemed to be just hanging out in the corridors outside your room.

You didn't hear the slightly jealous "lucky kid" mumbled under Ran's breath, which would get him a smack to the back of his head by Kakcuho who did after the door closed behind Izana.

[hongism]

mists of celeste ➻ 41.5

➻ characters: san, nightingale ➻ genre: space au, pirate au, space pirate!ateez, angst, smut ➻ word count: 3.5k ➻ rating: m ➻ warnings: language, violence, guns and weaponry, blood, mentions of torture ➻ summary: Sneaking aboard the ship of a renowned space pirate may not have been the best idea, but you’ll have to make do with what fate has handed to you

⇐ previous | next ⇒ | masterlist

✧✧✧ act five ➻ part 8.5

​ ​ ​ ​

“Knock knock.”

San’s eyes snap open at the sound of the intruder, book in his hands falling away to his side as he gets his bearings. The book goes forgotten — he had already fallen asleep trying to read it twice — but San does gather that he’s still in the same clinic room as before, although this time it’s grossly absent of one person in particular. A head of pink hair peaks in from the door frame, and it’s then followed by a familiar face that bears one glimmering eye and a smattering of scars across his fair skin.

Not the person he wanted, but he doesn’t have a say in the matter.

“Peekaboo, darling, miss me?” Nightingale’s lips twist into a grin as he pushes further into the room. His arms are spread like a bird’s wings, a fitting match for his codename, but San doesn’t see the charm in his gesture. “Captain and his dearly beloved are on their way back now. We’re heading back to the ship after this.”

“Hm.” San thinks to ask the hunter where you are but he can’t stomach the idea of giving Nightingale the satisfaction of seeing him emotional again. “Any word on what they were up to? I missed the memo—” San waves a dismissive hand through the air and rolls his eyes a little “—while being kidnapped and tortured.”

“Seonghwa asked to pay a visit to mommy dearest.”

That has San’s attention snapping forward, eyes staring hard at the bounty hunter before him, and the glare no doubt echoes how shocked he is to hear that. He pushes his tongue between his lips and wets the skin there.

“I wasn’t under the impression you knew anything about that.”

“What other contact would Captain and his treasure trust enough with such a sensitive job? I’ve had her tagged and under close watch for years. May not need to keep doing that after today though.”

“Seonghwa won’t kill her.”

Nightingale leans forward enough to bend at the waist and stare San down.

“The Lieutenant of Death won’t kill his mother?”

“Seonghwa won’t.”

“Oh come on, Sannie, you and I both know they’re one and the same. There’s no such thing as having two consciousnesses inhabiting one body, and it’s certainly not happening to that guy. Are you suddenly not the infamous Shadow Walker, the Scourge’s Black Dog?” Now there’s a name San hasn’t heard in quite some time. He’d almost forgotten its ring, maybe would rather have forgotten it if he’s being honest with himself. “Is Hongjoong not the Scourge of the Black Sea? How about that Berserker — the traitor, Jongh—”

“You take his name out of your fucking mouth!” San snaps with an unexpected heat to his tone that makes the man across from him lean away once more. “I don’t wanna hear you speak on him again.”

“You’re so sensitive, Sannie. Was it something I said?”

“Seonghwa, Lieutenant of Death or not, won’t kill her. That much I know for certain.”

The bounty hunter tilts his chin upwards, and a few strands of pink hair slide further back on his forehead.

“Your dearly beloved is back safely on the ship already, if you cared to ask.”

San’s silence doesn’t go unnoticed, but it does go unanswered for a long stretch of time. For a moment, the man wonders if the bounty hunter will truly leave well enough alone and not bother anymore. Wishful thinking as always.

“Interesting choice, that one. Far different from your usual type.” Nightingale moves forward to grab the chair beside San’s bed, spinning it on one of its legs and keeping it level with the palm of his hand. He’s always been like this — a bit insufferable and quite the show-off, which only makes San wonder why Hongjoong keeps him around.

“And what’s my usual type then?” he dares to ask, although knowing he’s setting himself up for another cheeky remark. The bounty hunter smirks and stops the chair where it is. He slings a leg over the seat and settles against it, chin finding a new home place atop the flat lip of the backrest.

“Someone with pink hair, a few facial scars, a pretty prosthetic eye, and a pension for danger.”

San makes a note to mention this once things have settled down a little — to mention the history settled between him and the hunter before things spiral into misunderstandings. For now, though, he doesn’t have the chance to, and he swallows back the scowl ready to overtake his features.

“Unfinished business, huh?” Nightingale continues. Out the corner of his eye, San sees how the man tilts his head to the side and regards San with an oddly blank stare. It’s gotten easier to stomach that stare for certain, but there are times where San catches himself looking too long at the emotionless prosthetic eye and the flickering LED lights in it. “Think that’s what we are to each other rather than Hongjoong if I’m being honest.”

“I’m not unfinished business, Yeonjun,” San says under his breath. “Soobin is.”

“Don’t speak on things you know nothing about.”

He knew he was toeing the line already, but the hunter’s confirmation of how hung up he is on the aforementioned man only goes to show how right San was.

“Hongjoong is too. He has a lot of debts to pay back with you, and until then you’re unfinished business to him.” San shifts the conversation with ease, and it seems to make the man beside him at least a little less tense.

“Mhm, I can only think of one debt in particular that’s worth repaying. The others have been buried beneath our feet long ago.”

“As for me… even if you stay on the ship for a while, what you’re asking for is off the table. What we did in the past stays there. At least for the time being.”

“Aw, when did you become a closed relationship, monogamous type of guy? Or is it just for this one in particular?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but we simply haven’t had that conversation yet.”

“I can’t blame you really. She’s something else.” Nightingale’s lips twist again, this time into a broader grin as he looks over at San. When there’s no immediate reaction, his grin falls. “Hm, thought you’d play jealous like you did earlier.”

“I wasn’t playing. I didn’t appreciate you saying something like that to her when you barely know her and had never met her.”

“All I did was ask if she needed a sparring partner.” The man leans back in his seat, sitting up straight as he raises his arms in defense. “Nothing more than that.”

Nothing more than that, as though that’s not how he and San started their tumbles together to begin with.

“You know what you were insinuating. Being sleazy is hardly charming, by the way.”

“Worked just fine with you, didn’t it?”

“She’s not me, and what works on me doesn’t work on everyone. It had to work with me though, didn’t it? Besides… you were never interested in playing by the rules back then, so why would I trust you to play by them now? Have you lost all self-respect in the time since we last saw each other?” Perhaps this is a bit of a low blow, but San never got to get that off his chest the last time they saw each other. “You missed out on the communication part then, and it seems like you’re keen on doing the same again.”

Yeonjun’s lips fold this time, and now they paint his expression with what looks like annoyance. San feels a flicker of guilt before it dwindles into nothing because he shouldn’t harbor any guilt when the man needs to hear what he’s saying.

“There’s no harm in playing around a little, you know. Maybe you wouldn’t be so miserable all the time if you lightened up some.”

San regards him with nothing more than a lingering stare, one that he hopes conveys the thoughts on his mind just fine without having to say them out loud. The moment passes, and San pushes down the bubble of frustration in his gut because he gets it. He understands, but only from a sense of empathy rather than sympathy.

“I’m sorry, Jun, for what happened to your crew.” San has lost people along the way — especially during the mutiny, which was a taxing and horrid situation to live through as it was — but he’s never lost everyone. Not all at once, not in one fell swoop, and not the way Nightingale has. “I never got to say that last time you were around.”

“Yeah, well, shit happens, huh?” Yeonjun leans forward once more and lets his arms come back down on the chair. This time, however, he avoids San’s stare and busies himself with picking at a loose thread on his fingerless gloves. “You’ve had your fair share of shit since then too.”

If it were up to him, San would rush to say that it’s not comparable, that what Yeonjun went through was far worse than any of the pains he’s been dealt in that time, but Yunho has been trying to work that mentality out of him. Traumas aren’t comparable because they are individual. San’s aren’t any less, nor are Yeonjun’s. It just seems easier to say it that way.

“Guess whatever gods are out there had to remind me that I’m not untouchable.”

The last time San saw the bounty hunter, the prosthetic eye was still fresh, as were the open wounds on his body and heart. Even though they’re scarred over now, San knows they’ll still be sensitive for a long while. It’s not something they ever talked about because it was far easier not to, but after brushing shoulders with death himself, he thinks he ought to at least say something.

“I haven’t been sleeping around, no, to answer your question from earlier. I have enough self-respect to not do that. Or maybe I have none at all and don’t think I’m worthy of that much. Who knows.”

“Don’t say things like that,” San says under his breath.

“Genuinely, San, I’m not as broken as you think I am,” the hunter answers within a second, barely waiting for San to close his mouth before he’s speaking. “Shit happens. I lost a crew and my eye. But I’m doing far fucking better on my own and having a hell of a time while doing it. Wallowing and whining about it won’t make it change. I’ve got self-respect, whether you think I do or not. As for Hongjoong’s debts to me… frankly, there’s none to be had. He’s the one who dragged me out of that hull and found me my first lead. He did enough by saving my life back then.”

The pink-haired man is smiling again, just a bit and enough to reach his eyes, and it’s reassuring enough.

“I don’t hold it against you though,” he continues, and San glances up through his lashes to take a better look at him. “I hope you know that much.”

“Yeah, well, come back to me when you’ve done what I did, then we can talk about guilt,” San mutters. It’s moreso meant to be a comment kept to himself, but Yeonjun hears it nonetheless. A frown paints his features.

“You did what was asked of you, San. Nothing more, nothing less. I wouldn’t expect you to have done differently either, knowing what your captain means to you.” As tempting as it is to close his eyes now, San can’t bring himself to do it. It’s a cruel reality to be faced with a man who so visibly bears such cruel scars only to relive those moments when he shuts his eyes. Yeonjun shifts his weight from foot to foot, and his arms fall to his sides as he reaches to grip the lip of the table he’s leaned up against. “And for the record, I have done what you did before.”

“Really? Lure someone into trusting and relying on them, sleeping with them multiple times to fool them into a sense of false security, then torture them physically and mentally at the drop of a pin because it was the plan all along?” Even echoing those words now is a knife in the gut that San doesn’t want to wrench out, a trauma that Yunho can’t address without some sort of meltdown on San’s part.

“We both know it wasn’t like that. That it wasn’t all disingenuous. You took care of me, looked after me — you kept me sane, San.”

“How much of it was real? I can’t even answer that question myself because it keeps me up at night. What was real and what wasn’t? Which parts were just me trying to trick you and which were genuine?” San throws his head back against the pillow, and his eyes finally fall shut to be met with a brief but violent vision. His stare snaps back open to look at Nightingale once more. “You asked what’s different about her — part of it is that. I can… I’m more emotional now than I used to be, less detached and unhinged, and now I can see better what’s real and what’s my subconsciousness trying to do what was asked of me in the past.”

“I can see that just in how you carry yourself. Or — well, you know how it is.” Yeonjun snorts at his own comment, arms springing up to cross over his chest once more. “We’ve both changed since then, and if it makes you feel any better, Hongjoong apologizes every time we correspond. Seems you both have that in common still.”

“I don’t blame Hongjoong.”

“But you blame yourself for doing what he told you to do.”

“It was the way I went about doing it that was the issue, Jun, you know that.”

“In any case, San, I truly don’t blame you. You did what was asked of you.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“No, but I know what Hongjoong means to you, and in all the missteps you took back then, I also know how important it is to you to follow orders from your captain. I don’t think that’ll ever change.”

“Why are you trying to excuse what he did — what he had me to do you?”

“Because I would have done the same in his shoes, dummy.”

San frowns, something sad and less than impressed with the quip the bounty hunter sends his way, then he finds himself repeating the same five words he just spoke earlier:

“That doesn’t make it right.”

Nightingale sighs, then a hand is moving up to comb through his hair and push it off his forehead. He doesn’t look San in the eye when he speaks next, and part of San is glad about that bit because he’s not sure he could handle it.

“To some people, nothing we do is right. To others, we’re doing the wrong things with the right intentions. To me? Who the fuck cares? At the end of the road, we all die, and whether I think the torture Hongjoong had you execute was right or wrong isn’t gonna influence where I end up in the afterlife if there even is one.” A pause, in which Yeonjun blinks up at the bright lights lining the ceiling. “You don’t blame Hongjoong for making that decision, you just said so yourself. Only you for being the one to do it.”

“Because I knew from the start what I was going to have to do, and I still dragged it out.”

“That was your dumb compassion speaking, Sannie. Your heart has always been in the wrong place for piracy — too soft, too much faith, I could go on — but you still take every single shot because you’ve got people to fight for. I just have myself. And I plan to keep it that way for a long while.”

Yeonjun moves away from the table to stand up straight again, and this time, he moves for the door without warning. It’s only when he’s halfway gone that he decides to speak again, eyes finding San’s as he looks over his shoulder.

“If you view every decision you’ve ever made through the lens of ‘right’ versus ‘wrong’, then you’re setting yourself up to be miserable in the long run. Sometimes, you do what you have to. There are no weights added to the scale on either side in those decisions, San. You need to realize that before anything else.”

…

It’s the tail end of a late-night when Yeonjun returns from the bathroom, hair a mess in wet strands that cling to the back of his neck, and San finds himself yet again wondering how this all started and why. Normally he would be in bed by now, tucked under the covers and waiting for post-coital cuddles and affection.

Not tonight.

He waits by the door tonight, leaning against the metal with sagging shoulders that scream defeat in a lot of ways. He wonders briefly if Yeonjun can see all of that the second their eyes lock. At first, it’s just a gleam of confusion, a question on his lips, and furrowed brows that make San feel far worse than before.

“Could I ask you to come with me, Yeonjun?” San asks. He tries to sound confident and firm for all it’s worth, but frankly, it comes out in a whisper and it’s one that causes a throbbing ache to blossom in his chest.

“Where to?” Yeonjun inquires in return. Hurts, almost.

“The brig.”

“Ah. Alright, let me put a shirt on at least.”

He resigns himself so quickly, takes the fate that San has just handed to him without complaint, and accepts it just like that.

“That’s it?”

“Hm?”

“You aren’t putting up a fight? Not gonna argue it or anything?” Part of San wishes so desperately that the man had put up a fight, one where San could pull his punches and act weaker than he truly is just so that he wouldn’t have to do this. He can take Hongjoong’s wrath, that’s nothing new to him — never lasts long anyway and is always far less painful than the kind of punishment he grew up with.

San just wishes he would fight back.

“What’s there to fight, San? I’ve known this was coming for a long time. It was simply a matter of when the pin would drop and the time would come.”

“I have to lock you up,” San continues like it’ll do any good. How long have they known each other now? The marks are certainly not fresh, so wouldn’t this be an extra stab in the back? “To hurt you, mentally and physically. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes to what, Sannie?”

“Don’t call me that,” he begs, and it’s like he’s a child again, on the floor of a dingy room full of the smell of blood and the sound of cries.

“Your captain doesn’t trust me. I’m from a rival crew. Of course he would have me tortured for information while I’m in his grasp.” Two bright blue eyes stare hard at San, unmarred and without blemish. “You can’t tell me that he’s not been stalling. My captain will have been looking for me for almost a month now. How can Scourge not catch up to him in that amount of time?”

San blinks at the floor under Yeonjun’s feet.

“He’s been stalling because of you, waiting for you to make this move. As willing as I am to step into the brig, San, I’m still a loyal man. I won’t tell you anything about my crew without some effort on your part.”

“You’re asking me to hurt you?”

Yeonjun’s brows twist and furrow together. For a moment, he looks a little bewildered.

“As though you leading me on like this all this time wouldn’t hurt as well? I’ve let you hurt me already, San, knowing this was the end of the line the whole time. But now… I’ll let you hurt me in a different way too. It’s what you’re good at, isn’t it?”

Those words feel as though sharp teeth have just dug into his chest and ripped out enough flesh to leave him bleeding out on the floor. But it’s just Yeonjun and his bright blue eyes — sad, terribly sad eyes — and San again wonders what this was all for.

“It is.” San heaves a deep sigh and pushes off the door, staring the man across from him down with a little more ferocity. “I am a weapon of my master’s making, and my captain’s left hand. Allow me to show you exactly what the Scourge’s Black Dog was bred to do.”

✧✧✧ a/n: !!! i don’t really know what to say gjeoigjroi anywho a small interim both to kinda explain nightingale a little more, as well as some of his history with both hongjoong and san and the crew as a whole before we get into more meatier stuff ^^ the flashback portion takes place well before mc comes into the picture, thus well before san stopped viewing himself as a weapon so this also gives a bit of a glimpse into what that was like to him

[hxnmantii]

Obi and Ogun as dad's

+Obi being a good baby daddy (Obi x black!fem baby momma), Ogun’s is gender neutral

tw; fluff, Obi's child is a baby while Ogun's are 10-12

a/n: These were seperate requests that i had decided to combine together but whoever requested this, y'all's taste is superior. I hope you enjoy!!

Obi Akitaru

He is the most supportive person the process. He’s picking up your tummy when you get bigger so you can feel some type of relief, he’s massaging your feet and kissing your forehead before lightly scolding the baby to stop kicking their mother. He’s an angel although a bit overbearing.

He would be in the middle of a fight, hiding behind a corner, calling to check on you and y’all’s little dumpling. And when you say your water broke, he’s sprinting tf out of there, telling Shinra and Arthur to come fight those losers. And when everybody finds out your water broke??? They’re ending the fight quickly and jumping into the car to get Obi there as quick as possible.

And after the whole ordeal, You’re going to have to fight this man for your baby because you will never see your child and it’s partial your fault because being the loving wifey you are, you wanted to make it easier for him when you were gone so you taught him how to make a baby wrap carrier using the silk around the house. It was only meant for home but as soon as he got comfortable making it, the baby never left his chest.

He would call team meetings to update them with how the current mission is going only to turn around with your baby wildly looking around with a cute gummy smile. Now nobody is paying attention, including him. It takes one question about his baby to completely disregard whatever he was planning on talking about.

“Um...Captain, aren’t we supposed to be talking about the mission?”

“Yea but that comes after my baby. Any more questions about my baby?”

After that Hinawa snitched on him to you and now he’s only allowed to bring the baby on certain days of the week.

He desperately wants to help with the baby’s hair but is afraid to mess up the little tuft of hair. He actually doesn’t start helping out until you reassure him that you’re not gonna damage their hair by putting it into a ponytail. He still kinda avoids doing hair and leaves it to you because you always know what is best for their hair.

He’s definitely the type of dad to play peekaboo or upsy daisy and then blow on their tummy. Your baby loves that. All you hear is the baby’s giggle as you’re in the kitchen cooking dinner, you can’t help but laugh at the pure joy in their voice. He’d come around the corner, baby laying flat on their stomach like superman in his hand before smushin their face against your cheek in a sorta kissing way (?) and then give you a proper kiss.

You can not tell me that obi would not use his child as a weight. He’s dramatically making grunting noises as he curls with the baby or when the child gets older, he’s pretending to lose arm wrestles because “you’re just too strong for me ahh” making the child giggle.

He would also try to be funny and get your baby a weight set so they could be strong like him and the first time they pick up the bar, he’s hyping them up and when the baby lifts the bar over their head? He’s swooping them up and placing fat kisses all over their face,hollering about how y’all’s baby is going to be the next Dwayne Johnson

During the night, he’s one who pampers, change the diaper and ticks them into bed, singing some cute baby song while moving their little feet’s and playing peekaboo, getting them to giggle one last time before bed.

And they’re having nightmares and call out to the baby beam that they’re scared, Obi is the first one to jump up to comfort them. He’d say some cheesy line “Like how dare you mess with my child!! Are you ready to taste defeat??” As he dramatically opens the door and just throwing punches at nothing, gaining the giggle of their child. He’s turn around and be like “you wanna jump in on this kiddo?”

And Let’s not forget how he’s the best damn Sanata out there for a good 6 years….before he got caught kissing you under the mistletoe. Not the best way to find out Santa isn’t real…..

But besides that, he’s one of the best dads out there who supports y’alls baby no matter what.

Ogun Montogomery

It is not two parents with two daughters, it is now 3 children with one struggling adult because Ogun starts clowning with his daughters. He was already goofy but now he has two carbon copies of him with the exact same attitude and smile.Needlessly to say, they are daddy’s girl.

That means preparing for family matching outfits that all vary depending on each person's style because he likes to encourage creativity and individuality in a way. That also means y’all got the best shoe game in the area, no creases, no stains, all fresh. Family pictures have never been the same after y’all came in.

Ogun is the best teacher because he doesn’t get upset easily so no doubt he’s teaching them how to ride his skateboard (and getting the girls one if they wanted one), how to fight (he’s a firm believer of y’all better your sons what no means because i'm teaching mine how to shoot) and then some.

If they really enjoyed his skateboard, don’t let him know because he will buy tickets to six flags. Y’all will definitely be cutting the line and getting the best seats as well as making bets on who can keep their face straight the whole (everybody lost lol)

No because he has designated family nights, more or less a mini sleepover in the living room, where you guys do nails and face masks while gossiping and out of everyone, Ogun is the most interested in the gossip because he’s lowkey messy nosy and wants to know although he tries to discourage his daughters prying into others business.

“So her mom is dating the principal?? I knew there was something fishy with those two when I went down there to meet your teacher. Wait a minute, how y’all know that?”

The best at doing hair. He can braid like nobody's business. He’s got his daughters walking to school with hearts and names braided in their head. He’s that type of good.

And when he finds out what kind of fire power they have??? It‘s over. There’s gonna be scorched marks all around the house with figures that suspiciously look like his figure🤨

“Ogun why are my walls black?”

“What do you mean babe? They’ve always been like that.....?”

“The walls were white when we moved in”

“Wow...really?....I never noticed”

Him and his daughters are akekekeing on the other side of the phone, trying to hold in laughter so they don’t get in even more trouble, knowing that it’s because they were wanted to practice using their powers and Mr. invincible wanted to be the live target

Ogun is really the whole package, a good teacher, a great friend and a great dad and the girls were able to meet each one of his sides without a difficulty because he was amazing like that. Ogun supremacy

[ehbunnehsblog]

So someone made this post I thought was really cool and I wanted to answer it the person who made the post goes by @buh-beep so please go give that post a like and follow them with all that said here are the questions

1. What is the oldest doll you own?

Probably my Beautiful Crissy doll from 1968 although that may not be the date for that exact doll she is pretty old. She was made by the company ideal.

2. What is the doll you got most recently?

My Bratz Collecters Yasmin from 2018 by MGA. When I lived with my mom she bought her for me I think she gave me a card and we got it. I don't have her or any of these dolls anymore since I don't live with my mother for personal reasons.

3. Favorite Type of Doll?

Hands down Bratz. They have been my absolute fave since I was a little girl and i still love them their fashion, makeup just everything really is iconic and I really believe that they might have the same impact as Barbie once I get older. Now if we talk about favorite lines? That will have to be for another time.

4. Least Favorite Type of Doll?

Pinkie Cooper. It's cute I had one but I was just not interested in the dolls sadly I definitely think it was an interesting idea though and its probably perfect for some people I just never knew where she would fit in with my other dolls. Also when I saw my cousin and his ex they had stuff for me and for some reason I could only take two things home and my mom sorta had me take her home when I could have had a Hannah Montana doll so rip :p

5. How many dolls do you own?

Zero now rip but honestly idk. I had mostly Bratz and sorta collected but now I might genuinely try to collect them.

6. What is a doll you had and wish you still did?

Tan Bratz Passion 4 Fashion Cloe. I still really wish I kept her but I was going through this dumb phase where I just stopped caring about my dolls and we had this science project in school and I did mine on hair dye and dyed her hair using some fruit or something and gave her away. If anyone knows where I can get her (hopefully for cheap) please tell me I really loved her she was also one of my friends absolute favorites.

7. What does your wish list look like?

A lotta Bratz mostly but that would be a very long list so to save you the details two of the series I want are the Tokyo a Gogo dolls, Formal Funk and Flashback Fever.

8. Prettiest Doll you Own?

Honestly have no clue all of them are gorgeous but I think one of my prettiest is definitely Rock Angelz Sasha I would love to own more Sasha dolls shes so gorgeous.

9. Ugliest Doll you own but love anyways?

I don't think I own any ugly ones really just ones that had messed up hair so I don't really have anything to add here. Actually hmm maybe my first edition Cameron and Dylan Bratz dolls they are still cool though.

10. Cutest Doll you own?

Either my Barbie Peek a Boos or my Mindy Mint Chocolate Chip Yummyland doll. I love Bratz but I really wish I saw more cutesy but fashionable dolls I believe they should bring back Yummyland dolls they smell so dang good and because kids love slim maybe they could add a small bottle (in a shape of a drink) that smells nice too? Idk lol.

11. Biggest Doll you own?

A Barbie doll that is I believe 28" in size after that I would say my Beautiful Crissy Doll and than my Yummyland doll.

12. Smallest doll you own?

All of my Barbie Peekaboos and Polly Pockets. Since Polly came back I think Mattel has the perfect chance to bring back Barbie Peek a Boos. They are pretty small so I kept them in a basket I am used to the size of Bratz I find them easier to hold over Barbie Peek a Boos or Polly's.

13. What doll in your collection is worth most?

Hmm probably Beautiful Crissy tbh I wanted her because when i was in grade 8 i watched these old vintage commercials on YouTube and i saw her and i just thought she was one of the most gorgeous dolls. I don't have her now because again shes at my moms but I don't think I could sell her shes just really cute and I think dolls from that time and older are special and tell a story and show a different time.

14. Doll you will never buy and why?

Lamilly and American Girls. I know these dolls especially American Girls are very popular for a lot of people but I am not really into dolls that are supposed to be like me I like fashion dolls mostly or really cutesy dolls. I think American Dolls are pretty iconic in their own way but I just can't see me owning one and for Lamilly same deal I feel like its trying to put down other dolls and make Lamilly seem superior and I just don't dig it. I don't like Barbie's a whole lot but I dislike like Lamilly I think it's a good message but it just feels meh? Idk other dolls I will never own are Blythe's I have this thing with dolls with eyes like that and I think it would probably spook me a bit.

15. Strangest doll you own?

Pinkie Cooper hands down. Again she just doesn't fit anywhere and shes so odd and really stands out from the others not that that's always a bad thing but as someone who is mostly into Bratz, Monster High and Ever After High she just doesn't go anywhere although she would probably fit in maybe with the EAH dolls. Another is probably the big Barbie like I didn't want her I just got her as a Christmas present one year and yeah that's that.

16. Biggest Doll Related Regret?

Giving away that Cloe doll I will always regret that also almost wanting to sell my Bratz and not bringing my dolls with me when I left my moms and went to my dads. Also I just wanna say my dad is the coolest and one day we had a nice convo about toys and stuff it was pretty rad.

17. What's the most important aspect of a doll in your opinion?

I just want to say I absolutely love this question this is the main reason why I wanted to make this post. I believe the most important aspect is if the owner finds joy in that doll because if you don't we wouldn't have so many people collecting dolls and dolls wouldn't be sold. I think dolls are very important and can build up good skills. Another important aspect is if you can pose the doll and depending on if it's a fashion dolls is if it has good clothes and good fabric all of these are so important but as long as people find joy that's the most important.

18. What's your doll related pet peeve

People are gonna hate this and I apologize but I find it difficult to watch or look at people changing the dolls like not in clothes changing but repaints it's cool and some of them are absolutely gorgeous but sometimes I have a bit of a pet peeve of them mostly because I am so worried that I will never find those dolls because people use them and repaint them. Their aren't many Bratz repaints though so I don't get bothered too much and when they do repaints they make the faces so pretty and I would love for MGA to use some of the screenings some of these people use because they look so good.

19. When did you start collecting dolls?

This might be an odd opinion but I think that anyone can be a doll collector even if they don't mean to be like for me I don't call myself a doll collector but I sorta am? Even though I never meant to be but now I do want to collect but it started with Bratz when I was young but now I want to take it a bit more seriously.

20. Have any doll related stories?

Well I never first fought anyone I was way too young lol but I do have two good stories number 1 is on Christmas a few years back my grandparents before they both passed bought me a Holiday Yasmin doll from 2007 don't know how they found it but they did and I loved that doll but again at my moms rip another one is one Christmas I got two of the same Bratz Cade dolls and for the longest time I thought it was Dylan because the doll looked exactly like Dylan does in the movies and shows lol! I might go into more stories on my dolls because there are a few that I really like.

With all of these questions answered I will once again ask people who see this to go like and follow @buh-beep who made the original post. This was intended for doll collectors I believe personally I don't call myself a collector but as someone who loves dolls I thought this would be fun and it really was if anyone wants to this I suggest it. Its really fun and I like sharing this stuff with you guys.

☆With all that said I hope you liked this post. Please give me a follow i post a lot of stuff like this☆

[jokerownsmysoul]

Q and A about Joker

10 questions.

Thank you so much @arthurflecksgirl & @will-you-be-there for the tag, I loved doing this 💙🌺

I tag: @daydreamhustler, @arthurflecc, @daincrediblegg, @fleckcmscott, @tinyclowndancer you don't have to do it if you don't want to 🌹and anyone who wants to do it, consider yourself tagged 💕

Rules: If you wanna join this Q & A just copy and paste and change the answers :) Tag 5 people :) ENJOY

1. What's your fave scene in Joker?

Omg can I say the ones where Arthur is in? 😩 I started listing some scenes but then I realized I was listing the whole movie lol. There are scenes that make me particularly soft, but I think it's impossible to answer this question. I cherish each second of this movie 💙 some of those scene though, are the one where Arthur is stretching his shoe up at Haha's, I find him very handsome in those few frames. The scene where he comes home and talks with Penny and the domesticy of their shared moments, the one where he answers the phone, the Pogo's one, the one at the hospital, the dancing scene at Arkham at the end of the movie, the one of Joker talking with Murray... These are so many and I didn't even finish to list them, it's just impossible 😭

2. The cutest scene in Joker?

Another tough question omg. The iconic scene of "Oh yeah? Who do you talk to?", the one where he's playing peekaboo with the kid, the one where he does the gun gesture with his hand in the hallway to Sophie, and each one of the Carnival scenes, because Carnival is the cutest clown ever existed 🥺

3. The saddest scene in Joker?

I don't think it's possible to find the saddest scene, the whole movie is sad and painful. But I think that Arthur reading Penny's file and in general being aware of the dynamics with his mother is a point of no return for him and his mental health, Penny was too important for him.

4. The funniest scene in Joker?

Assuming that there is a funny scene in Joker which I find difficult to believe, I'd say when he scares Gary. This scene is brilliant and so well composed, he looks particularly amused by himself when he does that. This particular sweetness mixed with a sort of soft pride in managing to scare him off makes me smile 🥺

5. The sexiest scene in Joker?

Every scene where Arthur is in, don't mind me. 😂 Starting from the one where he's watching Wayne on the television with Penny, the second therapy session, the stairs dance, when he's rehearsing, and every scene where he's wearing the red sweater or the red suit. But again, my answer is every scene where Arthur is in 🙌🏻🤡

6. Do you want part two?

Joker is perfect as a standalone, but Arthur is so complex that there's a lot to explore in a sequel. A part of me would love to see Arthur again, of course, but another part of me is afraid that a sequel might ruin the glorious memories that Joker gave us. If they get it right, being respectful of Arthur and his story, and don't mess up things like very often happen with a sequel, I can be only happy to see him again. But they must make a sequel not just for a matter of money because the first one became a cult, but because they want to explore Arthur better and have something to say. Todd loves Arthur as much as we do, I'm sure he'd love to explore him better and I think with him we would be in good hands, he cares about Arthur and this movie. 💙

7. How many times did you watch Joker?

I've legitimately lost counts. A lot of times 😂

8. Are you more of a Joker's or Arthur's girl?

I don't like this expression tbh because Joker is Arthur, it's the same person. Joker is Arthur, he's just in a different state of mind. I'm his through and through no matter what he's going through in his life and in what state of mind he's in. But if you want an answer, I'd say Arthur because Arthur is who he is and who he wanted to be. "He doesn't want to feel so bad anymore" 🥺

9. Do you believe he was adopted?

After a whole year I am still very confused about this. I don't think he was adopted, but the theory that says he was adopted got some points too. I think it's one of the hardest things to understand of this movie because both of the theories are valid and believable, though I think he wasn't adopted.

10. Worst/most hated person in Joker?

Honestly every person who was rude to him in the same level. And I don't know why, every time I see that Wallstreet guy taking Carnival's wig off him on the subway scene, wearing it he himself and simulating Arthur's laughter to mock him before beating him, I get nauseous. It's such a disrespectful gesture and privacy invasion, I don't know why it hits me like that but I hate it.

[mortuarybees]

It looks like this:

The aquarium is cool and dark and, apart from the occasional screams of delighted children, it’s quiet. Aziraphale is holding onto Crowley’s arm, fingers pinching the folds of his worn leather jacket, beaming all around, and Crowley feels warm pride blooming in his stomach. He gave him this. He looks like he’s entered a whole new world, the childlike glee and fascination naked on his face; and even better, he looks at Crowley like he’s handed him all its wonders on a platter.

They don’t get to do things like this often; they make the rounds of the British Museum, the Tate, the parks and public gardens, they’ve probably been to every free museum in the city at least three times over, and they enjoy it; but they don’t often visit places like this, places that cost £40 for just one of them to get in. Christ, the last time was probably for their tenth anniversary, Les Mis on the West End, and they’d saved for a year for seats in the dress circle and a bottle of wine.

(It looks like this:

Crowley waits tables at a posh restaurant in Mayfair, Monday-Friday. It’s miserable, but the tips are better than he’s ever had anywhere else, and it’s there that he met the Dowlings. Their son is a menace; nothing calms him, nothing satisfies or entertains. He threw pasta at the German ambassador’s son and made him scream so loud every wine glass in the place vibrated, and Crowley had seen the helpless look on his mother’s face, the storm brewing in his father’s, and swooped in without another thought, putting on an exaggerated posh accent like some butler from one of Aziraphale’s boring, oddly captivating shows and waited on him the rest of the night as if he were a little despot, pointing out that pelting ones subjects with bread was quite unbecoming of a little prince. He laughed and adopted a dignified air, delighting in ordering Crowley about and racking up his parent’s bill, but he didn’t throw a plate at anyone, so it was an improvement.

At the end of the evening, Mrs. Dowling hadn’t so much asked as told him she’d be hiring him; their nanny had demanded Saturdays off as a break from the little beast, and they needed someone to babysit, because Mrs. Dowling couldn’t possibly be expected to watch him herself. The pay was good, and with living expenses in London what they were and Aziraphale getting his hours cut, he wouldn’t dream of saying no.

There were other perks, too, like Mrs. Dowling throwing him tickets to the London Aquarium some MP had sent them for Warlock’s birthday; she’d taken him once, and he’d tried to steal a little shark from the touch tank. Never again, she said, take your girlfriend. She glanced at his ring. Wife?)

“Oh, Crowley, dear, look,” Aziraphale cries, pulling him towards one of the tanks. He presses the hand that isn’t on Crowley’s arm against the glass, his eyes wide and bright as a full moon. “A jellyfish! Don’t they just look so marvelous? It’s like they’re dancing.” Crowley smiles and presses closer to his side. "They're my favorite fish, I think. They just look so ethereal."

"Jellyfish aren't fish, angel," Crowley says, bemused. "They're...I dunno, jello."

"Don't be ridiculous, Crowley, it's in the name," he tells him, very patiently. "They wouldn't be in an aquarium if they weren't fish."

"Dolphins aren't fish and they're in the aquarium," Crowley points out, quite sensibly. Aziraphale still hasn't looked away from the jellyfish, and Crowley still hasn't looked away from Aziraphale. He likes the fish, he does, but there's something a thousand times more fascinating about watching Aziraphale watching them.

"Of course dolphins are fish," Aziraphale says. His brow furrows. "They live in the ocean, dear, I've seen Planet Earth."

(It looks like this:

Crowley practically runs home from the bus stop, barely getting his wild grin under control before he barges into their flat. Aziraphale is cooking, doing whatever it is he does that makes store brand pasta and sauce from Tesco's taste less like chalk. He hides the tickets behind his back--he held them in his hands the whole way home, leg bouncing, feeling as giddy as he had on the way to their first date--adopting an innocent expression, but Aziraphale isn't fooled; he gives him a suspicious look the moment he sees him and says, "What are you up to, you old serpent?"

"Oh, nothing," he says, very convincingly--he did theater in college, he's an excellent actor, thanks--and strolls over to give him a kiss in greeting, slides up behind him and puts his chin on his shoulder to peer down into the sauce. "Smells good."

"Thank you, dear," Aziraphale says, preening.

"What are you doing tomorrow after church?" he asks, and Aziraphale cuts him a curious look out of the corner of his eye.

"Thought we'd feed the pigeons," he says. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Oh, thought I'd take this handsome man I picked up somewhere to the London Aquarium," he says, as casually as he can with the excitement buzzing in his veins. "Make a date of it."

Aziraphale laughs. "Is that so? If you're busy, I suppose I'll make a trip to Paris, pick up some crepes."

"That'd be for the best," Crowley agrees, and he puts his arms around him, casually fanning the tickets in front of him. "You wouldn't believe how hot this guy is, and I'm hoping I'll get lucky. I'll put a sock on the door in case you're back early."

Aziraphale gasps, putting the sauce spoon carefully on the trivet so he can grab the tickets, squinting at them as if he's afraid they're forged. "Crowley! Oh, my dear, you didn't!"

"He's a classy one," Crowley says, grinning. "Takes something special to impress."

"But how can we afford these? We're behind on the electric bill, dear, and my hours--"

"Relax, angel, Mrs. Dowling gave them to me," Crowley says, running a reassuring hand down his arm. "Totally free. Well, at the cost of my sanity, maybe, but that's not a bad deal in this economy."

"Crowley," Aziraphale breathes, and he turns in Crowley's arms to face him. He's looking at Crowley like he's hung the moon, and he leans in to kiss him like he could live off the taste of his lips alone.)

They enter a room that's mostly empty; watch a mother play peekaboo with her daughter, the father holding the girl on one side of a tank, the mother ducking behind fish and corral on the other, making the girl squeal with delight.

Crowley has glitter in his hair--from the night before, but he also just likes the way it looks, so he put more in this morning, gold bright in his red hair--and some of it has stuck to Aziraphale's cheek, and the otherworldly light of the water catches it just right, makes it shine like stars. It is not uncommon for Crowley to cover Aziraphale in glitter; so much is ingrained in the fibers of the tweed jacket he wears it looks gilded in the right light.

"He doth teach the torches to burn bright," Crowley says softly, touching the glitter on his cheek, and Aziraphale smiles at him, cheeks coloring. He gets an idea, and waits until the family has moved on to take Aziraphale's hand in his. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand / This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: / My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand / To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

Aziraphale beams at him. "Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much," he says. "Which mannerly devotion shows in this, / For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, / And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." He presses their hands flat together, and leans in to kiss him, but Crowley steps back. Aziraphale's brow furrows, his lips pulling into a pout, and he clasps their hands together again to keep him from moving away. Crowley goes anyway, darting to the other side of the tank to peer at him through the impossible water, and God, he looks so good in blue. Aziraphale's breath hitches, his lips parting.

(It looks like this:

They met in an Intro to Philosophy class in 1996, nearly coming to blows even on the first day, the simple question of 'What is Philosophy?' Crowley couldn't help but antagonize him, loved how he looked when he was frustrated and indignant, how he thumbed the cross around his neck when Crowley had gotten into his head. He threw an argument about Kant, who he frankly considered to be full of shit, so Aziraphale would be in a good mood after class.

He wasn't, though, he was just suspicious, demanding to know why he'd conceded when he'd spent all semester insisting there is no Categorical Imperative, no supreme moral code, that the only consideration that should be taken in a course of action is the consequences it will have, and he was as frustrated as he'd ever been in the heat of an argument, and he looked beautiful.

"I was distracted," Crowley said. "Thinking about this poster I saw, for that new Romeo and Juliet movie. You like Shakespeare, don't you?" He did. He knew he did. He'd noticed him, furiously annotating in the margins of an old copy of Hamlet that was more notes than text; he had this wretchedly charming little Stratford-upon-Avon tourist pin he wore all the time.

"I...am?" Aziraphale said, blinking at him. He had the most wonderful eyes. Crowley had noticed the very first day, when they'd gone wide at some horribly blasphemous comment Crowley threw out to shock and impress.

"Do you have plans tonight?" Crowley couldn't help bouncing on the balls of his feet, practically vibrating with excitement; he'd seen Aziraphale in the audience of their production of Twelfth Night, alone but looking like he was in Heaven, hanging on every word, and then he'd seen that poster, and he'd known, that was the ticket. Well, the tickets would be the ticket. Anyway.

"Not...really?" Aziraphale said, brow furrowing.

"Great, so you wanna go with me?"

"Go where?"

"To see the new Romeo and Juliet," Crowley said, and he felt he'd been quite smooth about it all, even if his palms were sweating.

"With you?" Aziraphale looked completely baffled.

"Yes, with me," he said. Please, please, please, Crowley didn't pray, because he hadn't prayed since he was thirteen and realized that if they expected young men to be straight, it was kind of ridiculous of the church to make Jacob Wrestling the Angel look like that, and the whole foundation of the church in his mind just kind of tumbled from there; but he did put it out into the universe, just in case someone was listening. Please, please, please, I never ask for anything. Not of the universe, anyway.

"I...you want me to go with you?" Aziraphale looked like he was doing a particularly difficult math problem and none of the numbers were adding up right. It would be charming, and might make his chest feel a little tighter, that he was this unused to being asked out on dates, but it was more just frustrating. He was losing his nerve.

"Just meet me at the theater with the discount tickets for students at seven, alright?" Crowley said impatiently, and Aziraphale, still confused but looking relieved at having specific instructions, nodded. The moment he'd left the building, he'd pumped his fist, grinning like a madman, unaware that Aziraphale could still see him through a window in the corridor.)

"Have not saints lips?" Crowley asks from the other side of the tank, giving him a coy look. "And holy palmers too?"

"Ay, pilgrim, lips they must use in prayer," Aziraphale says, with a delighted smile.

"O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do," Crowley says, and darts around the tank. Aziraphale dodges him, going to the other side to throw him a mischievous look. "They pray," Crowley whines, "grant thou, lest faith turn to despair!"

"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake," Aziraphale says; and the breathless joy as he'd watched the jellyfish was nothing compared to what's on his face now, and Crowley is dizzy with it.

"Then move not," Crowley begs, crossing to the other side of the tank slowly, "while my prayer's affect I take." Aziraphale stands still, watching him, and tilts his chin just a little, lips parting.

(It looks like this:

Leonardo Dicaprio sees Claire Danes through the aquarium for the first time, and Crowley leans in, his breath ghosting against the shell of Aziraphale's ear. "That's how I felt when I first saw you," he says.

"You do know how the play ends, don't you?" Aziraphale says, voice shaking just a little. He's trying to tease, but there's a note of sincerity too.

"They were kids," Crowley says. "I know better than to trust a friar. Besides, it was beautiful, wasn't it? How they loved each other despite everything."

Aziraphale looks at him; he really looks, his eyes bright in the dark theater, and then he turns away. Crowley's heart sinks, but before he can start kicking himself, Aziraphale takes his hand, his cheeks pink, and Crowley glows.)

Crowley kisses him as tenderly as he has for twenty years. Their first wasn't after their first date, or their second, or their third; but it had been worth the wait, their shaking breath and trembling hands, the certainty of their lips, and Crowley knew then, the moment their lips met, with the same conviction he felt now after two decades, that he would spend the rest of a long and glorious life with Aziraphale.

"Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged," he whispers, and Aziraphale's hands grip the lapels of his leather jacket.

"Then have my lips the sin that they have took?" Aziraphale says, and Crowley grins wolfishly.

"Sin from thy lips? O, trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again," he demands, and Aziraphale pulls him into another kiss, smiling against his lips, letting Crowley press him back against the cool glass of the tank until they hear footsteps echoing and the chatter of voices. Crowley breaks the kiss to rest his forehead against Aziraphale's, catching his breath, though the waver of light across his face isn't helping, nor is the way the light from behind makes his curls look like a halo. His angel, indeed.

"You kiss by th' book," Aziraphale whispers.

"Teenagers," grumbles the voice of a man, when he sees the outline of two figures embraced on the other side of a tank, and Crowley barks out a laugh, taking a step back. He takes Aziraphale's hand, and leads him blushing into the next room, feeling smug when he hears the same voice exclaim that they're older than he is, they ought to know better.

"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon," Crowley says, pulling him closer to link their arms again. "Who is already sick and pale with grief, / that thou art far more fair than he."

"Don't be rude, darling," Aziraphale laughs, but he's beaming, gentle as the soft lightening of the horizon, bright and radiant as the sun beneath it, and Crowley--oh, Crowley loves him.

(inspired by 1996 romeo and juliet; conversation with @saaliyah and @genderqueercrowley about r+j and Them; conversation with @transsouthernpansy about Aquariums; when john mulaney said That about his wife annamarie tendler; please read @genderqueercrowley‘s fic i keep a window for you (it’s always open) that makes much better use of shakespeare; part of human au)

[ajokeformur-ray]

✨ Unfiltered Joker thoughts ✨

I watched Joker with a bunch of lovely clowns on my Discord and while they werewolf’d in the chat, I typed out my thoughts here as they came to me. These are unedited, unfiltered, and exactly as they were in my head. I don’t know who’d be interested in this but 🤷‍♀️ who doesn’t love unfiltered thoughts about our man? NSFW ahead in places, lmao and some self-ship elements because it’s always on my mind.

There are Controversial Things within, I’m sure - be nice about it if you wanna comment, or unfollow/block etc. if it bothers you I won’t take it personally. I will take it personally if I’m sent a rude message, though. Fair warning. You curate your own online experience so scroll past silently if you gotta!🥰🥰🥰🥰

Tagging @arthurflecc @jokerownsmysoul @daincrediblegg @sweet-nothings04 bc they were in the chat and missed me there!! 

 Word count: 4, 597.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG JOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJO -

*Presses play*

OMG THERE HE IS BABYYYYYYYY ~ 

Ugh that white shirt... 🥵

“paint me like one of your french girls” 👀

oh, honey, no. 

Don’t force yourself to smile, my love, it’s okay. you can be hurting.

sweet angel who can do no wrong asdfghjkl

wanna kiss that tear away...

CARNIVALCARNIVAL CARNIVAL *STARTS SWAYING IN MY SEAT*

jaunty piano to juxtapose his shitty mood

you spin me right round, baby, right round...

ohhh, baby 🥺🥺🥺

someone’s honky lmaoooooo ~ 

that cello

Ohhhh, darling man.... i’m so sorry. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry

WOOPS CRYINGGGG ~

sweet angel love still tryna be funy with the flower squirting...

what else will squirt tonight???👀

ohhh, darling. deep breaths baby. it’s okay. you’re okay.

CRYINGGGGG

ohhhh baby boyyyy....

legit just cooed aloud

oh angel <3 

“is it just me or is it getting crazier out there?”

it is my love... it is. 

let me sit on your lap and still the shaking of your legs

ohhhh my love. you’re okay. just breathe.

Dr. Kane was doing her best but you’re beyond what she can handle

you deserve better, sweetheart.

my love, my life.

I JUMPED WHEN HE HIT HIS HEAD IN ARKHAM

“who knows?”

yeah me too, my love. me too. 

“i just dont wanna feel so bad anymore”

oh baby.

i know, my love. i wish i could hold your hand and stroke your hair and kiss your cheeks 🥺🥺🥺

had a shitty day but wants to comfort a child on the bus. thats my manssss ~ <3 <3 <3 

okay but his peekaboo makes me giggle please do that to me when im sad

“‘cuse you bitch?”

the greasepaint still on his face is endearing omg 

GIVE HIM BACK HIS CARD OR IMMA RIOTTTT

CRYINGGGGG 

ohhhh baby. no. deep breaths. i’m here, my love. not going anywhere

those fucking steps

me too, darling. i feel your exhaustion like it’s my own and i long to take it from you without changing a single thing about you.

my love, my life

the weariness of an unchanged routine is a paralysing one

wanna rub cream on your bruises

“yeah, mum” so soft im cry

“eat. you need to eat” i hear you in my head when i wanna skip meals and it helps me.

“oh yeah? who do you talk to?” YES SASS HER

“yay murray” ohhhhh angel you’re so cute I’m cry 🥺

murray you wankstain - old and crusty 🤮🤢🤮🤢

arthur’s laugh in his daydream 🥺🥺

“i love you murray” // “you’re awful murray” baby noooooo

“theres something special about you arthur” the only real thing murrat ever fuckin said AND IT WASNT EVEN A REAL THING IT WAS IN HIS HEAD

“I TAKE GOOD CARE OF MY MOTHER” YEEEES BABY YOU DO! SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

just wantin recognition in your daydreams bc you dont get it in your real life

YOU SWEET THING

HIS SWEET SMILE AND THE CELLO OH BABY 🥺😭

YOUR BACK 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

shoes are too tight so you gotta stretch em 

can you stretch me too???👀🥵💦🔥

“chuckletown” RANDALLS LEGACY AND WE TURNED IT INTO SMTHN LOVING AND NOT SARKY LIKE HE INTENDED LMAO FUCK YOU RANDALL YOU PIECE OF SHIIIIIIIIT

arthur’s hair in the sun omg like a halo

randall fuck off fucking fuck off go aWAY LEAVE MY ARTHUR ALONE

you asswipe

arthurs shy and nervous lil giggle omg baby say no give the gun back its not well intended 

“my boy”  AHA LMAO HE DOES PAY YOU BACK BUT NOT HOW YOU EXPECT LMAOOOO YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE

THOSE CURLS

arthur’s sweet little lilting voice in front of his boss omggggg ~ 

HOYYYYYYT 

his logic makes no sense wtffffff ~ 

RETAIL SMILE LMAO THATS A MOOD 

brewing insanity..... 

POUND ME LIKE THOSE TRASH BAGS

RUIN ME AND THEN REBUILD ME IN YOUR IMAGE 

those mf stairs again

it’s the same old team since 1916... in your head, in your head...

never in my LIFE have i been aroused by a FOOT

lmao only Arthur istg that man is the exception to my every rule

Gigi is so CUTE 🥺

THAT SMIRK SIR CAN YOU NOT

“hey” omggg look at you tryna connect ugh so proud of youuu ~ 

the moon is a silver dollar... 

THOSE CURLS

THOSE BARE FEET

THAT SOFT VOICE

ARTHURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR 

frances conroy is a goddess omg i love herrrr ~ 

espesh on ahs she’s a queen

but i digress lmao wrong fandom

“dont you have to be funny to be a comedian”

FUCK OFF PENNY 

FUCK RIGHT OFF THEN FUCK OFF SOME MORE PLEASE

slap that bass.... 

FINGERSSS ON THE GUN ASDFGHJ PUT THEM ON ME INSTEADDDD

zoom zoom the world is in a mess

LMAO YEP

“psh” omg you sweet angel asdfghjk

THAT EYEBROW RAISE ASDFGHJK SASSY KINGGGGG

GET ITTTTTT

UGH THAT BODY WANNA COVER IT IN MARKS OF LOVE TO REPLACE THE VIOLENT MARKS

ARTHUR @ HIMSELF “YOURE A GOOD DANCER // I KNOW”

omggggg sweet clumsy babyyyy

lmaooo “old war movie” do you tell penny that when we get caught having sex on the sofa????

arthur honey following sophie isn’t.... the best way to get her attention asdfghjk 

someone needs to teach you social interactions... 

I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTTTTTE

that student/teacher roleplay comedian at pogos makes no sense to me???? i dont get his jokes at all

lmao bad comediannnnnn

arthur’s cute lil mistimed giggles ksksksksk 

wanna kiss your cheeks every timmmme 

you’re working so hard to achieve your goals im so so proud of you

ambidextroussss ~ (just like me omg we’re perfect for each otherrrrr)

“people expect you to behave as if you dont” YOU INTELLIGENT LIL SHIT OMG I LOVE YOU AND YOUR MIND

you know its a daydream if arthurs wearing a shirt at home 

his shy “yeah” omggggg ~ angelllll 

“i have a gun i can come by tomorrow” LMAOOOOOOOO 

“youre so funny arthur” YES HE IS DREAM!SOPHIE

CARNIVAL CARNIVAL CARNIVAL

I ACTUALLY STOMP MY FEET HERE BC IM HAPPY FOR THE TIME HES ON SCREEN SWEET CLOWN 

THE ONLY ONE IM NOT AFRAID OF

HES SO SO HAPPY OMGGG

BABY BOYYYY IN HIS ELEMENT

SAD THO BC KIDS ARE TERMINALLY ILL 

bestest party clownnnn 

“I love this job” oh baby 🥺🥺

aaaaaaaaand now the betrayal from randall lmao fuck that dude

NO BB YOUR FOREHEAD NO SMASHY GLASSY

LMAO THE FUCK ERIKA???

dudes 35 not a kid 

throwing greasy chips into a girl’s hair isn’t how to flirt my dude lmao you’re gross??? 

ew

EW EW EW WIGGLE YOUR CHIPS ELSEWHERE

ohhhh arthur, honey no omg breathe it’s okay

you wanna help but you dont know how

you sweet thing 

send in the clowwwwwwwwwwwwwwns ~ 

IM CRYINGGGGG

“they couldnt carry a tune to save their lives”

JOEKR ITS NOT YOUR TIME YET GO AWAYYYY

lmao jokes stay you know im lost without you 

HOW CAN YOUR HAIR LOOK SO GOOD AFTER BEING UNDER A WIG ALL DAY ?????

carnival with arthur’s hair is just 👌👌👌👌

WHERES HIS CARDDDDD 

nooooooo omg baby no omg i wish i could take all those punches for you

i’d take it all in a heartbeat to save you

gritting his teeth not taking in anymore

YES BABY GET EEEEEEM

YES YES YES YES STAND UP FOR YOURSELF SO PROUD OF YOU

first 2 self defence, 3rd one unsure lmao but fuck it 

no PUT THE GUN AWAY FROM YOUR FACE BABY ITS OKAY DONT FORGET YOUR BAG OR YOUR WIG ITS EVIDENCE

KILL THE 3RD COVER YOUR TRACKS

GOOD BOYYYYYY

carnival with blood on face = killing your insecurities

8 bullets from a 6 chamber????? mm-hm lmao i know @daincrediblegg wrote a thing on this once lmao bestest Egg is smart and i love her muchly 🥰🥰🥰🥰

run baby run, dont ever look backkk... (check yes juliet)

BATHROOM SCENE BATHROOM SCENE BATHROOM SCENE

fuck me against that dirty counter

joker’s waking uuuuuuuup....

that cello though unffff 👌

got me clenchinnnnn you fluidddd ~ 

and in his eyes, all the sadness of the world. those pleading eyes that both threaten and adore (phantom of the opera)

my brain is 90% song lyrics 

hes so graceful and ethereal so full of pain and of love and of adventure and worth and need and yearning

my sweet boy

my wonderful angel

my fallen angel

T POSEEEEE

DAYDREAM KISSSSS

ugh push me against the wall and shove your hand down my panties and take whats yours 

please and thanks

so confident

so smooth

so sure

unf

take me angel im all yours 

and my name is carnival

SASSY BOYYYYY

I SAY BOY BUT YOURE A MAN LMAO 

YESSSSSS TELL THEMMMMMMMM 

LMAOOOOOO RANDALL SEEMS LEGIT CONFUSED PFFFT

TOUGH SHIIIIIIIT

LMAOOO PUNCH OUT

BUSTING A LUNNGGGGG

HE DOESNT KNOW HIS OWN STRENGTH

OR HIS OWN LIMITS

“DONT SMILE”

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

nothin worse than being told to smile when you really wanna bare your teeth and let rip

aka me every fuckin minute of my life 

SHUSH ME SHUSH ME SHUSH ME

ILL CRY BUT DO IT

LMAOOOOO CHOKE ME WITH THOSE BICEPS 

ILL GO OUT DOIN WHAT I LOVE

YOUUUUUUU 

“gotham’s lost its way” ok trump

“thats not funny” SHUT UP PENNY YES IT IS

STOP SMOTHERING ARTHUR LET HIM BE FREE

“nobody ever saw me. even i didnt know if i really existed”

and

“you dont listen do you”

BOTH ARE MOODS

i feel them so hard

hes so sure of himself in this session

so angry and done and weary

“people are starting to notice” ALMOST A YEAR OF YOU BEING NOTICED

that green jumper omggg 

good luck getting me out of it pfffft 

“erika have you seen my - oh, there it is. never mind.”

want it back???? payment is kissessss

EW SEXIST COMEDIAN

arthur honey stop primping youre perfect <3 <3 <3 

im so so proud of youuuuu

COLLARBONEEEEEES

OMG HE STUMBLES UP THE STEPS DARLINGGG

I wish i could hold your hand while youre on stage and comfort you while you deliver your jokes

just breathe, darling. it’s okay. i’m here, i promise. <3 

every time you gag on your laughter my heart clenches

CRYINGGGGG

oh, my love, it’s okay. just breathe. dont fight it. dont fight yourself 

you’re so good at imitating your ma pfffft 

lmaoooo you’re so funny arthur 

WOO BOI DONT FLASH YOUR PORN PAGES AT THE AUDIENCE 

givin me ideas.... 

SMILE THOUGH YOUR HEART IS ACHING

SMILE EVEN THOUGH IT’S BREAKING 

WHEN THERE ARE CLOUDS IN THE SKY

YOU’LL GET BY

SMILE THROUGH YOUR FEAR AND SORROW

SMILE

AND MAYBE TOMORROW

YOULL SEE THE SUN COME SHINING THROUGH

arthur is my sunshine

EXCUSE ME HEART EYES OMGGGG

ME AND ARTHUR HEART EYESING AT EACH OTHER PFFFFFT 

gonna put people off their food doin that 

thats life

arthur’s imitations and those soft curls and the dancing and the - 

erika.exe has stopped working 

“come on dance with me”

👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

i prefer the horizontal dance myself...

“big date”

“deliver the letter”

NARCISSISM 

ARTHUR YOU DESERVE BETTERRRRRRRRRR

IS IT BAD HIS EYEBROWS TURN ME ON?? SO THICK AND DARK AND STRONG I - 

and those eyes

ugh fuck meeee ~ 

yes thats an invitation

penny “needs care” but her handwriting is that neat???? yeah fuck off 

sorry i dont buy it

she was grooming him i think into some kinda husband role and its fucking gross as fuck she was abusing him and he just wanted her gone 

CUTE LIL NOSTRIL FLARES BC SAD AND ANGRY

OMG

his quiet anger scares me but i admire how he calmed down so fast

angry penguinnnnn

HE CARRIES HIS CLOWN NOSE AROUND IN HIS POCKET

CUUUUUUUTE

the similar clothing colours of arthur and bruce is v def intentional 

in another life, arthur....

i’m so sorry darling you deserved and deserve so much better

legit one small change in anything coulda prevented 80% of this film

your magic tricks are gorgeous ~ 

you’re so funny and soothing and comforting and so good with kids

you are the best party clown

I GASPED AT THE FLOWERS

like my server nameee ~ 

“hi” that soft noise 🥺

arthur’s hands on those bars omg 🥵🥵🥵

okay i’ll admit i still dont get the whole arthur/thomas thing lmao is he his dad???? ive seen this film 10000000 x and i still can’t decide.

i wanna say he is but like ??? idk ??

it’s tragic either way omg arthur’s wasted in gotham

ruuuun arthur run run runnnnnnnn 

the bg music isss 👌👌👌👌

arthur accidentally caused penny’s stroke bc med w/drawal but all that abuse, like ????? i get why he kept her sedated lmao i’d want her knocked out or smthn too

7 meds between the two of them, probably.... that might be why he wanted an increase???

you gotta lie, angel.

you’re in way over your head but lie

yeeees good boy!!

“a clown thing?“ lmaoooo tell them!!!

NO ITS EXIT ONLY

KINDA LIKE MY ASS LMAO NO ANAL FOR YOU 

he just wants love and comfort and for someone to stay omg you sweet thing 

you deserve the world and all the forehead kisses 

TURN THE TV OFF

TURN IT OFF

TURN IT - 

OH TOO LATE

arthurrrrr ~ 

its like a car crash lmao you know its coming but you cant stop looking

fuck off murrat

FUCK OFF SOME MORE

oooooooh thats a danger face....

lowkey want it between my thighs lmao use me to work out your frustrations i can take it 

“kill the rich” lmao relatable 

this film revealed to me that i have a flexible morality ksksksk im all for it though 

sleepy bb ~ 

“we are all clowns” ALSO RELATABLE

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

arthurs thriving in the crowd omg yes baby looks so happy

flashes of joker comin throughhh... 

sneaky baby...

quick on his feet, light on his sense... 

tread lightly on my ground, (abba; andante)

THE RED THEATRE SUIT OMG FORESHADOWWWW

he looks good in red

he looks good out of red too 👀👀

that is the smile of the world’s most precious angel omg babyyyy ~ 

he makes me smile omg hes my sunshine

my love my life 

you saved my soul do you know that??? do you feel me and how much i love you? do you see me and these tears? 

do you feel me like i feel you?

ohhhhh boy here we go asdfdgfhgjhk arthur going to meet his dad, only asking for love and instead he gets punched in the face

i mean i get it bc of what arthur did to bruce with the whole hands in the mouth thing but bruce is barely mentioned, like an afterthought?

thomas has a nasty temper i wouldnt want him for a dad

thomas legit only mentions bruce after he’s punched arthur its like his only thought is really protecting himself and his rep with the whole penny thing

his son comes after; legit as he’s walking away he mentions bruce so hes obvs not that concerned????

shitty dad award lmao

not that what arthur did is okay im not excusing his admittedly misguided and lowkey creepy actions but like ????

lmao prob gonna get hate for this ^^ like i did last time i mentioned it but i dont care im allowed an opinion

too tired to care rn anyways pfffft its storming so bad outside and my wifi has dipped idk if this’ll save

c’mon wifi, for me... 

yes

arthur didnt have an attack til he got called crazy, its a trigger word for him 😭

oh baby its okay, deep breaths.

dont fight your laughter, that’ll make it worse 

the way he bounces back from that punch though - you know how to take it, dont you, my love?

you sweet thing.

i wish i could get you out of that fridge omg baby those old ones lock - how did you get out ????

meds are wearing off now.....

darling say no to the show lmao you dont wanna go

*facepalm*

every time i watch this i hope it turns out different

it never does

arthur honey dont ask questions you dont want the answers to

that clerk was protecting you not letting you see the file

that clerk and gary were the only ones nice to you

but it wasnt enough

you needed love and support and help and guidance 

and instead you got literal and metaphorical punches and no break

the hand puppet omgggg ~ 

i want him to play peekaboo with me when im sad/upset/make a hand puppet over my shoulder aszdxfcghvjbkn

ohhhhhh darling stop reading stop reading stop reading

put it down. 

this entire scene is confusing and heartbreaking

ive seen this film 10000000 x and im still not sure i fully understand

his laughing is so much like sobbing here

omg moonshine its okay you can cry. let it all out. 

newspaper clips in a real file???? mmmm - unprofessional or arthur’s manifestation of news??

🤔

we love pathetic fallacy in this house

i wanna get you in the shower and wash you down and feed you and wrap you in my warm embrace “i had a bad day”

my dark angel, it’s okay. i’m here. i love you and im staying with you no matter what

sophie was his last hope, his last chance to reconnect

again im not excusing it lmao but im saying i understand him

hes touching everything to experience it for the first time

he knows shes a daydream

hes self-aware but he needs his coping mechanisms

we all do it

not the breaking in, i mean the daydreaming 

“i had a bad day” shatters my black, shrivelled heart 💔💔💔💔💔💔

ohhh, darling.

istg you’re the only person i ever fucking coo at 

finger-guns = reconnecting = remember me see me

but i guess to sophie it came across as ominous/creepy??

poor arthur trying so hard to reconnect to people and he just cant do it he doesnt have the social know-how bc no one bothered to ever teach him

again im not saying its okay im just saying

lmao i hate how i always feel like i have to justify myself even before thats called into question pffft the internet is cruel and prev times ive voiced myself ive been sent rude messages and once bitten twice shy

the sword forgets but the tree remembers

hes sobbign and laughing and its gut-wrenching

that neighbour yelling “shut up” better catch these hands imma square up

have some compassion dickwad

you never know what someones going through so be kind

always always be kind

^^^ film takeaway right there

if looks could kill penny would be 6 feet under

OH WAIT LMAOOOO 😂😂😂😂😂😂

in killing her he sets himself free. but the trauma and the damage done to him leaves him open to more of the same bc hes so vulnerable

that heart-rate monitor went quiet so quickly did he tune it out????

OMG THE WAY HE REHEARSES FOR THE SHOW YOU SWEET MAN OMG YOU DESERVE THE WORLD

sir thats my seat lmao my throne of red

“yeah? all of you? okay” 🤡🤡🤡

us lining up to fuck him into next week 😂

THATS LIFEEEEE ~ 

the fuck kinda hair dye you usin’???

CHOKE ME W THOSE BICEPS

DANCIN TOGETHER IN THE BATHROOM

THOSE HIPS DONT LIEEEEE 👀👀

scissors = pre-med murder but triggered by “my boy” - term used by abusers. 

poor angel’s triggered by lots of things, i think. theres no telling what triggers his violence and thats what makes him dangerous

could be anything and theres also no telling what his “you wronged me” scale is so ??? 

he’s like a kicked dog... lashes out when hes had so much and wont/cant take anymore

“COMING” yeaaaaah i bet....👀

“i stopped taking my medication and i feel a lot better now” GET OUT GET OUT THATS A RED FLAG OUUUUUUUUUUT YOU GO

OOOOOH JOKER’S LAUGH IS OUT - HES MOCKING YOUUUU AND YOU DONT EVEN KNOW IT BOY’S SMARTICLES

this is why arthurs so dangerous. he looks lithe and weak and fragile but he takes down a man twice his size with scissors in one hit

do not underestimate him it’ll be the last thing you ever do

I WANNA LICK THE BLOOD OFF HIS FACE

BRITISH ACCENT ON POINT 

LMAO he’d so mock me for mine 😂

“you were the only one who was ever really nice to me” a moral codeeee; flexible morality like meeee ~ 

okay but he so made gary jump bc he knew gary was too scared to move otherwise

loooooving the gallows humour with the door lock PFFFT

gotham slept on arthur dude’s hilarious

OH OMH OMG OMGOMOMGOMGOMGOMGOKMG JOKER JOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKER

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY LOVE MY LIFE MY CLOWN MY HUSBAND OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

IM CRYINGGGGGGGG

JOKERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

JOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKER

I CANT BREATHE FUCK OMFFFFF LOOK AT HIIIIIIM

LOOOOOOOOOK LOOK LOOK ASZDXFCGVHJBKLKJHGFDSZDXFGHJHKJLKJHGFD

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

MY LOVE MY LIFE MY JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKER

JOKERJOKERJOKER

LMAO HE’D BE GIGGLING AT ME RIGHT NOW OMGGGG

lmao let randall rot there fuck hiiiiiiim (and not in the fun way)

i want Joker to touch my clit like he did the lift button 👀

ohhhhh look at you having fun on the stairrrs

happy babyyyy ~ 

dancing  towards what you believe to be your death

so glad you changed your punchline at the last minute you didnt deserve to die

SWEET FLAWLESS ANGEL I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU

his “oh” when the cops come lmaooooo ~ 

he does that when you grind down hard on him...👀

so used to pain he gets up from being hit by a car and carries on 😔

run baby run...

hes so agile and so quick on his feet

thinks fast too

arthur for fuck’s sake dont you dare stop

you’re almost there, my love.

im so so proud of you

SASSY DANCING ANGELLLL

i love that smug smirk he has and that chuckle omg lmaooooo ~ 

i’d do anything to see you look at me with such pride

ooof you look so angry in the subway but i’d happily cup your face in my hands and smother you in kisses

your eyes red rimmed with tears. youve been sweating and crying ohhhh ~ 

my love omg you didnt want this, you didnt want the riots and you dont know how it spun so outta control and you didnt choose this

i so desperately want to be with you right now

“i dont believe in anything” THATS OKAY I DIDNT NEED MY HEART ANYWAY

I MEAN ITS ALREADY YOURS BUT YOURE STANDING ON IT OUCH

💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

“mm-hm” i love that little noise

“i love dr sally” BITCH YOU HAVE A WIFE AT HOMEEEE

“THATS WHAT YOU CALLED ME ON THE SHOW. A JOKER. DO YOU REMEMBER?” THATS SUCH A DANGEROUS LOOK ON HIS PERFECT FACE LMAO MURRAY HAD ONE CHANCE TO CHANGE HIS MIND AND APOLOGISE AND HE DIDNT EVEN KNOW IT LMAO

fuck ‘em, Joker.

You deserve better

GET

THAT

FUCKING

GUN

AWAY

FROM

YOUR 

FACE

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

all that pain in his eyes....

oh, darling. how did no one see you????

his backstage dancing got me 💦💦💦

hes so ethereal and mysterious, so free yet so constrained, so beautiful and so himself

i love him i love him i love him i love him

smile playing as he comes out on stage lmao even now hes being told what to do and how to act

hes never free

spinny baby

you spin me right round...

he suits the stage so well

lmao woop sexual assault (kissing dr sally without consent) isnt a good move Joker but damn what a first kiss...

never thought i’d be jealous of an elderly woman but here we are 🤡

he looks so good under the lights omg so crisp....

wanna mess and smear it uuuuup

~

you’re all being mocked and none of you fucking know it lmao get wrecked

memory problems bcof the notebook + “get it right” - he really cares

ohhhhhh baby come on change your punchline, come on....

okay but that drunk driver joke does make me giggle lmao it’s so out there and honestly my sense of humour is just as dark as his is

i just sHIVERED 🥵

“arthur” HE SAID CALL HIM JOKER DONT BE RUDE

ohhhhh i’m cryingggg 😭😭😭😭😭😭

i cant watch this without crying ohhhh all that pain, all that suffering and all that anger, confusion and betrayal. a mental breakdown on nat tv and no one sees him. how the fuck are you all so blind?????

“mur-rray” LMAO YOU FUCK MY NAME I FUCK YOURS

SAY IT JOKER IM SO SO PROUD OF YOUUU

hes speaking facts

“they couldnt carry a tune to save their lives” and that eye roll and groan yes we stan a dramatic CLOWN

this is fucking heartbreaking omg “i dont care about anything” but then he rants in the next minute - so unpredictable and dangerous and untamed but so so pretty in his pain so beautiful and so free

but hes not free... not really

“werewolf” as a verb omg only you could make that work

im so fucking proud of you

“youre awful murray” ooooooooh....

LMAO JOKER’S JOKE BLEW MURRAT’S MIND

hes crying and shaking and no one ??? sees him ???? how????

i legit dont understand how people just dont see him? people see what they wanna see but it’s right there???

he seems almost surprised by the fact he killed him

YES GRAB MY FACE LIKE YOU DID THE CAMERA PLEASE

IN THE WHITE ROOOOOOOOOM

UGH I LOVE THIS SONG SO FUCKING MUCH ITS SUCH A FEEL GOOD SONG

GOTHAM IS SO PRETTY WHEN ITS ON FIRE OMG ITS SO ALIVE

I LOVE THE ENERGY THIS SCENE GIVES OFF

ITS LIKE HOW JOKER HIMSELF MAKES ME FEEL

ALIVE

his little “hi” like they can hear him 🥺🥺🥺🥺

his laughter omggg sweet angelllllll ~ 

“i know. isn’t it beautiful?” YES IT IIIIIS

AND SO ARE YOU

OH NO OMG NO NO NOPEEEE

this scene always scares me even though i know hes okay pffffft 

the birth of joker lmao

be careful with him please hes precious cargo

omggg i wanna sit on that car and wipe his blood away and help him to get home so i can patch him up

lmao im a scaredy cat til my loved ones are threatened then i scare up this fawn bites

i wanna help Joker to get help and support

i wanna love him through it all, the good and the bad

his slow dancing always gets me omg it’s arthur, still there, still suffering, still unseen and unloved

hes crying and hes in pain

blood smile - my inside is on the outside now and it still hurts

he didnt want any of this. he chose his name ubt not what came with it

my poor clown...... 

CRYINGGGGGG AGAIN

HIS GENUINE LAUGHTER SENDS ME OMG ITS SO PRETTY

i wanna make him laugh like that

it always makes me smile omg those cute lil hiccups 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

THATS LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE

i love the audio muted during the scene he sings it omgg it’s so prettyyyy ~ i like to pretend hes singing to me sometimes asdfghjk

metaphorical or literal blood???

hes accepted who he is now.

hes free

dancing in the white light like an angel

i love him i love him i love him i love him i love him i love him i love him i love hiiiiiiiiiim ~ 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

~ THE END ~

[greenbeany]

27? (i already know some stuff but if you wanna go in even more detail!) and 46 + 55!! you dont have to do all of them though if its a lot

27) Crimsons family

Oh boy that's a loaded question

Crimson is siblingless. Aaaactually I might add a younger sister into that later for angst reasons, but currently she's an only child

Ohhhhh ok so she's adopted. Her adopted mother is a faunus panda (she has lil panda ears) and she's a very nice lady. Her adopted father is a human. Together they manage a bakery. (According to Bran) often they like to look after faunus in Atlas by giving out food. However, because it's Atlas, in order to get customers, Crimsons mum (Mint Teal) needs to hide the ears.

Her real parents, she vividly remembers (obviously)

Her mum is uh... Think Kali Belladonna personality, but a skilled huntsman. And also dead.

(so Summer-)

Her dad was a guy I guess. Generic dad. Huntsman. Broody. Was good at peekaboo.

46) Crimsons leitmotif

One minute I'm gonna pull up a piano all rq

Brain started playing a bunch of dark chords uh that didn't work.

Idk something jaunty on a violin? Something posh but upbeat. Nothing piano tho, too elegant

The kind of motif that sounds bright and happy, until you partner it with guitar. Then it's edgy as fuck.

55) Crimsons best and worst traits

She never runs out of energy ever?? She wakes up at 5 am to wake up every dorm and goes to bed at midnight. Can work on low sleep. Always energised for a fight.

Gets distracted easily. And easy to provoke. If temper is lost, semblance will flare up. You better hope beryl is available when it does, otherwise you will be in trouble

Ask me OC stuff!

[islerouxsims]

Just wanna let you know that youre doing a great job on the save files. please dont give up! And thank you for doing that!! <3

Thank you so much @ifloweryou​. I have just entered the save after the latest patch download and it looks like a sh*tshow . What have they done?! I’m scared. Might do some building in another save until it settles down. Anyone else have all their mods broken? I can’t even seem to activate them again. Strange.

In the meantime, I don’t think I introduced the Cloudpuffs to you yet. This is Cricket who is a caterer and her adorable son Copper. They live on the adorable Peekaboo Place in Willow Creek. She’s happy because it is in a good schools district and far away enough from Cooper’s criminal father. She is group leader of the Single Mothers’ club :)

[marmolady]

Milestones and Memories

Book/Series: Endless Summer

Main Pairings: Estela x MC/Taylor (f) 

Summary: Post-ending.  Snippets of a life on La Huerta and beyond, the trials of a world collapsing around them now far in the past. And Taylor and Estela have company on this road they travel... their little girl, Liv.

Read this one first! Livita

Warnings: Coarse language. Mentions of homophobia.

Word Count: 4956

Reviews and reblogs are hugely appreciated!

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @sceptilemasterr @bbaba-yagaa@edgydepressedchoicesthot@blightarts@princessstellaris@acidsugar0@taramitch96 @sapphovonchat @strangerofbraidwood  @noeschoices @queerchoicesblog  @mrsmontoya 

Taylor stirred at the sound of a sharp cry which grew louder as she tried to adjust her eyes to the darkened room. She felt Estela move beside her, barely awake.

“’s okay,” she mumbled, groggy, “I’ve got her.”

In the little sidecar crib beside their bed, baby Liv was hungry and intent on making everyone know about it. Taylor sat up, and leaned across Estela to pick up the crying infant. As she gathered Liv to her chest, pushing her singlet up out the way, she glanced at the clock. Almost quarter-past-five. Not too bad. Only two wake-up calls during the night was nothing to sniff at.

Estela emitted a soft, rumbling groan as she rolled onto her side. She huddled closer, spooning her wife, and gazed up at her and the baby with tired eyes. Her hand reached out, resting tenderly on Liv’s back as Taylor tried to settle her. “…Shhhh… Livita…”

“Oh, sweetness…” Taylor murmured, rocking the child ever so gently, “it’s okay. Mommy’s got you.”

The cries became quiet grumbles, and within a couple of minutes, Liv settled to nurse. Taylor heaved a grateful sigh and grinned.

“Well, it’s getting easier. We’re practically pros at this.”

Through the two months since her birth, baby Liv had been the light of her mothers’ lives. Secluded in their home outside Elyys’tel, the initial bonding period had been idyllic, which was just as well, for sleep could be elusive.

“Hey?”

“Mmmhmm?”

“I might take her for a walk, watch the sun come up. It’s not as if she’ll go back to sleep now.”

Taylor instinctively snuggled in, defiant at the thought of leaving her lovely bed. She pointedly ignored her wife sniggering at her. “God, you are a maniac.”

“Are you coming?”

“Ugh. Fine. But I’ll be talking Liv into sleeping in tomorrow morning.”

Estela laughed, reaching for the sling she used to tie the baby against her chest, before pecking Taylor’s lips with a kiss. “Good luck with that. But, honest, you’ll feel better for getting up.”

The gentle breeze was cool, the stifling heat that was so synonymous with La Huerta’s tropical zones having retreated with the previous day. Even after just a few steps outside, Taylor knew that Estela had been completely right; this really felt nice. She took her hand and let herself be led up the lush hills beyond their home. From the highest point, they could look over Elyys’tel and across the sea to Sharktooth Isle. For a beautiful sunrise, there were few more impressive spots on the island.

Estela sat down carefully, cradling Liv with one arm. The baby squirmed against her chest, eyes wide and curious in response to the light of day slowly spilling into her world. Estela unwrapped her and held her up in her arms. “See, Mama Taylor? It’s a beautiful morning.”

With a giggle, Taylor nuzzled in and tickled Liv’s belly with kisses. She heard a sudden gasp, and looked up. “What?”

“Do that again!

“What is it?

“She just smiled! Oh my god, Taylor; it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen…”

“What? No! You do it- I wanna see!”

Having passed Liv to Taylor, Estela blew raspberries against the baby’s stomach. In no time at all, Liv’s small, rounded face was lit up with a wide smile- one that made Taylor’s heart race.

“Oh, my Livi! My happy girl! Is that funny? Is Mama ‘Stel funny?” she babbled in wonderment. “Oh, my girl, you have just the prettiest smile in the whole wide world!”

They tickled and played peekaboo, completely enraptured in the totally new feeling of connection with their little one. When they finally looked up from a beaming Liv, the sun had already emerged over the horizon.

“And you wanted to just stay in bed…” Estela couldn’t help but smirk.

“I’ll give you this one,” Taylor conceded, scooting closer and resting her head on her wife’s shoulder. “I don’t even mind that we missed the sunrise.”

Estela inhaled blissfully as she pressed a gentle kiss into Liv’s wispy hair, and then turned to Taylor. She whispered against her lips. “...I’m so happy…”

Taylor smiled into a sweet kiss. “Guess that makes all three of us, hey? All these milestones… moments that we’ll never get back… I don’t wanna miss a single one…”

 ________________________________

 “Can the birthday girl do her trick?”

“Please, she is not a performing poodle!”

Diego pouted, but caught Taylor’s eye. She grinned discreetly and brought Liv over to him.

“If you don’t mind death glares from uptight Uncle Al, go ahead,” she said.

With a happy squeal, Diego leaned in close and started singing under his breath. “Na na na na na na na na…”

“Batman!” Liv squeaked, her hands flying up in the air.

“Yaaaas, queen!”

Aleister rolled his eyes, amid cheers from everyone else.

“Na na na na na…”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” he grumbled, as the whole group got in on the act.

“Na na na na na na na na na na na…”

A pause. All eyes on baby Liv.

“Baaaatmaaaan!”

“Chyeah boi!”

Taylor giggled and kissed Liv’s beaming face. “You’re so clever, babygirl! Mama’s gonna go and get a special cake, just for Livi… can you say ‘cake’? ‘Ca-ake?”

The infant’s face was a picture of bewilderment.

“Okay, that one was a bit tricky. But I know you know this one…” She pointed towards Estela. “Who’s that? Is that Mama?”

Recognition lit up Liv’s eyes. “Ma-ma,” she said, flailing an arm out in the direction of her other mom, who caught it gently and kissed her fingers. Liv gave a happy chortle. She looked up at Taylor. “Mama!”

“That’s right, also Mama…”

“Mama… Mama… Mama… Mama… Batman…?” Liv babbled.

Aleister, walking by, scoffed. “Didn’t I say you would confuse her with this nonsense?”

Estela just laughed, light and utterly carefree, and tickled her baby under the chin. “Oh, Livita! He’s just grumpy because you said ‘Mama’ before ‘Uncle Al’.”

Then came the cake, lit with a single glowing candle that seemed to hold Liv in a trance, only broken as her mothers simultaneously leaned in to gently kiss her head.

Taylor whispered through the other voices that began to raise in song. “Happy birthday, angel…”

 __________________________________

 Squealing as she went, Liv paddled wildly, her tiny arms sending splashes in all directions.

“You’re doing it, Liv!” Taylor cried, arms outstretched, ready to scoop up her happy toddler. The child reached for her, a look of satisfaction on her cherubic face, and Taylor wrapped her into a hug. “Yay, Livi! Such a clever girl!”

A couple of feet away, Estela watched, beaming with pride. “No fear at all. Figures.”

She ducked under the calm sea waters, and Taylor pulled an exaggerated face of feigned confusion.

“Oh no! Where’s Mommy gone, Liv? Where’s Mommy?”

“Oh no!” Liv mimicked, turning her head this way and that. “She gone!” Boldly, she put her head under the water and paddled forward, secure in the knowledge that her mothers would let no harm come to her. Some two years old, she spent her waking hours exploring the big wide world, and testing the boundaries of her wriggly little body. The seas around La Huerta were just another playground to her. Confidently, she swam down and wrapped her arms around Estela’s shoulders, hugging tight as they surfaced together.

“Found Mommy!” she hollered.

With effortless strokes, Estela swam out further, unable to stop herself from grinning as Liv babbled contentedly from her safe perch on her back. She felt the toddler let go, endlessly trusting, tiny arms reaching gleefully skywards.

Taylor streaked forward until she was just about keeping up. She was a strong swimmer, but Estela was basically a porpoise.

“You be careful, Miss Liv!” And, of course, the toddler just laughed.

As Estela slowed to tread water, Liv fell forwards, hugging around her head and getting a face-full of wet hair. She nuzzled her face in.

“… Wuv you Mama…”

Estela’s mouth fell open, her eyes grew wide and then scrunched shut, teary. “Livi…” she gasped. “I love you too. I love you so much.”

“Woah, did she just…? Oh my god!” Taylor swam over and put her arms around her wife and daughter.

Giggling over her mothers’ excitement, Liv swung her arms back and forward around the back of Estela’s head and kissed her, before reaching out to Taylor. More confidently, she cried, “Wuv ‘ou Mama!”, and echoed Taylor’s delighted squeal.

“And I love you, Liv! Lovely, lovely Livi!” And Taylor kissed her, and kissed her, and kissed her some more, while Liv shouted with laughter, the whole time bouncing up and down on Estela’s shoulders.

“Wuv ‘ou! Wuv ‘ou! “Wuv ‘ou!”

  _________________________________

Liv yanked her arm away from her mother’s grasp, her fierce glare never faltering. “I hate you!”

As if slapped across the face, Estela recoiled. She tried to steady herself, but her voice trembled as she spoke. “Liv, go to your room right now. Don’t you dare make me tell you again.”

The small child’s breath was an angry pant. She stormed into her room and slammed the door. “I hate you; I wish you weren’t my mom!”

Estela shuddered and buried her face in her hands, still crouched on the floor beside the front door, where she’d been restraining her daughter. And then she felt Taylor’s arms around her shoulders, and the gentlest of kisses against her temple.

“She’s upset… she didn’t mean it…” It seemed inevitable that one of them would cop those three words, the ones that stung like barbs in a parent’s heart. But on Mother’s Day of all things… Shit, thought Taylor. “Estela…” she whispered, “love, what happened?”

Staggering to her feet, Estela let herself be led to the couch, and she wrapped her wife in a hug. Damn, she needed that hug. Indignant shouts and screams rang out from Liv’s room. Out of the corner of Estela’s eye, she spotted the card that Liv had given her that very morning, the first she’d ever made all on her own, and could no longer hold back from weeping.

Taylor rubbed Estela’s back. “Deep breaths…”

“She kept running away from me,” Estela said with a sigh. “It’s simple and it’s stupid, but that’s all it was. She wanted to go after Taari and those other kids who thought they’d spotted the new sea guardian, and she wouldn’t hear ‘no’. I turned and she was gone… I caught her trying to hide away in one of their boats.” She roughly wiped her eyes. “And I… and I yelled at her. I grabbed her by her arm and dragged her all the way home.” A pause, and then her voice shook when she spoke again. “I… I think I scared her, Taylor… God, I’m used to people looking at me like that, but her…” Tears came anew. It was all new and frightening. She’d never lost her temper with Liv, no matter how hard the small child pushed her. And push she did; Liv was sweet and affectionate, but she had a will of iron.

“…Hey… when she’s calmed down, we’ll talk it out together. Look at me, baby… she knows you love her, that you’d never hurt her. Livi loves the bones of you. She looks at you like you’re her hero.” Taylor kept up her gentle caressing, kneading her wife’s shoulders, so tight and tense. Mother’s Day was always hard. “I guess we skipped through the terrible twos and got the terrible fours instead. She did go too far. Maybe we’ve gotta be stricter; it’s just been so nice to feel like we can have a loose rein on her.” She shook her head, lost in thoughts for a few moments. Their little Liv led a carefree life, oblivious to just how dangerous the world could be. They’d tried to give her that. Estela had been adamant that they give their daughter at least a few years before shattering the illusion. La Huerta these days was paradise, but even in their safe haven, the shadows remained. “Estela? Maybe it’s time we really talk to her about your mom? I know she’s still little, but she’d understand why today is hard for you.”

Estela’s eyes squeezed shut. Her mom would have been better at this. She’d have known how to handle Liv- she’d survived her own headstrong daughter after all. She’d know exactly what to say. Since her own child’s birth -really, since the pregnancy began- the aching feeling of missing her mom had taken a new depth for Estela. For all those years, grief had been anger, but it was only after that passed that the hollow sadness could take its place. For however much she felt herself moving on and letting go, there were some days when all that emotion returned with a vengeance… and with it, the fear of losing someone else dear to her heart. Liv could not have known why she’d overreacted as she did…

“Maybe…” she whispered. It occurred to her that the cries had quietened. Her own anger had fizzled out, and more than anything, she wanted to hold her little girl. “But right now, I just need to talk to her about what just happened.”

As her wife rose to her feet, Taylor looked at her with admiration. “Do you want me to come with you?” she asked.

Having considered for a moment, Estela nodded her head. “Yeah… yeah, I do. We’re a family, and we’re in this together. She needs to see that we’ve both got her back, and each other’s.” Hand-in-hand with Taylor, she approached Liv’s bedroom, her heart pounding. Here goes nothing…

 _________________________________

 The banging of a small fist on the door woke Taylor from her slumber. A glance to the clock beside the bed told her that it was six on the dot; the earliest agreed wake-up time for special occasions. From behind, Estela nuzzled against her neck, and even sleepy as she was, Taylor’s lips curved into a smile.

“Happy birthday, mi amor. Thirty-three…”

Taylor rolled over with a low ‘hmmph’, facing her partner. “Bullshit,” she murmured. “Technically, I’m only eleven.”

“If you say so. Not too old for being jumped on by a small bribona?”

Liv bashed more forcefully on the door, and Taylor laughed.

“All right then, Livi!” she called, “Bring it, girl.”

The door flew open and Liv vaulted onto the bed, one arm outstretched, reaching to hug Taylor, the other in plaster and a sling. In her hand was a colourful piece of folded card.

“Haaaappy birthday, Mommy!”

“Oof!” Taylor grunted. Jesus, that child always seemed to find a way of sticking her knee into tender organs… “Thank you, sweet pea.” She wrapped her arms around Liv and found herself the recipient of a clumsy and rather wet kiss. “Just be careful of your arm… and my kidneys…”

After a few affectionate bounces on Taylor’s midsection, Liv tumbled sideways so that she was sandwiched between both of her moms. She hugged Estela’s arm with her left, and with her plastered right hand she offered the card to the birthday girl.

“For you.”

“Oh, thank you! Did you make this?” Taylor admired the messy illustration of a smiling sun looking down on a family of two women -one of whom wearing a party hat-, a little girl, two dogs and a purple cat. “Or was some clever artist spying on our family?”

Liv giggled. “It was me, silly! And, uh, Mama Estela helped.”

“I just held your hand steady, mija. This was all you, Liv. You might actually be better with your left hand now.”

“Olivia Andromeda Montoya, you are such a talented artist!” Taylor gushed. “See, I can tell it’s you, because you’ve even drawn your blonde streak in your hair.”

The ‘blonde streak’ was a lock of Taylor’s hair that had been woven into Liv’s. The recently adopted fashion statement had come about on the day of her aunt and uncle’s wedding, at which the small girl had briefly dabbled in hairdressing. Inspired by her cousin Reggie’s dissatisfaction with his recent neat-and-tidy haircut, Liv had decided to help him out, utilising scissors, Jake -dead to the world after a long string of flights and several whiskeys-, and a big pot of glue. Her hair styling debut had been met with mixed reviews, but before her antics were found out by any of the attending adults, she’d managed to scissor off a great chunk from the back of an unknowing Taylor’s head. In her childlike naivete, it had been a compliment; she wanted to look like both her mothers. There had been some amount of shouting, a little bit of horrified screaming… but in the end, good humour prevailed. As far as Estela was concerned, that her daughter had such ingenuity was something to be proud of, especially as her actions had been made only out of love. After the initial shock and a much-needed discussion about haircuts and consent, Taylor -who now wore a pixie cut- found herself touched by the gesture. When she looked at the lock of blonde hair hanging by her daughter’s face, she saw an honest and loving tribute to their bond.

She opened up the card and read ‘Dear Mama Tay, have a day with hugs and kisses, you are 33, love from Liv, Ps I love you lots’.

“Honey, that’s really special.” Taylor leaned in to give Liv a great big kiss on the forehead. “I must be the luckiest person in the world.”

  _________________________________

A deep frown across her face, Taylor emerged from the Principal’s office. Of course, there was a first time for everything, but the first phone call to pick up her daughter from school after she’d slugged some other kid in the nose… that wouldn’t be one for the albums. Liv sat in the chair, just outside the door, her legs swinging nervously. Six years old, perhaps small for her age; even faced with an unavoidable reprimand, her dark eyes shone with defiance.

Taylor held out a hand. “Come on, Livi. We’ll talk in the car.”

With the little girl not forthcoming with details as she sat strapped into the car seat, it fell to Taylor to break the silence. Damn, she hated this. Their little angel had an attitude on her, but she’d never before been in real trouble. There had to be a good explanation for her to suddenly be lashing out.

“Why did you hit Jamie, Olivia? Did he do something to upset you?”

Liv scowled. “He’s a butthead. That’s why I hit him.”

The venom in the tiny child’s words took Taylor aback. It wasn’t exactly surprising that there might be something of an aggressive streak in her, but it certainly hadn’t surfaced before. “You broke his nose. That’s very bad.”

“I know how to hit good. Mama ‘Stel showed me.”

Fucking great, thought Taylor. “Hmmm…” she said instead, “I think when she showed you that, it was so you could protect yourself in an emergency. You only hit when there’s nothing else you can do to stay safe. We don’t just punch people because we’re mad. I know you know that.”

Liv was quiet, looking pointedly out the window.

“I’m gonna need you to give a real apology to this boy when you go back to school…”

“No.”

“Olivia…”

“Mommy, I hit him ‘cause he deserved it. I’m not sorry.”

Taylor bit her lip. She didn’t like the attitude, but her instincts told her there was something beneath it.  “Honey, what happened? Whatever this kid said or did, we can work out together how to fix it- without hitting.”

Liv’s brown eyes welled with tears as she looked down into her lap. Through the mirror, Taylor saw her daughter’s distress and immediately felt an aching desperation to wrap her arms around her.

“Hey, Liv… it’s okay. You can tell me what happened when we get home. It’s okay, sweetness; we’ll work this out over a cuddle.”

Mother and daughter sat side by side on the couch, Liv huddling up close, her head hanging. Taylor pecked a kiss to the child’s forehead and waited for her to open up.

“Mom, Jamie was being really mean. For, like, a long time. He says that I’m a lez-bean because I have two mommies, and we are all gonna go to hell for being disgusting. I don’t even know what that means, but he says it like its bad.”

Taylor sighed heavily. This was something she’d expected they’d encounter at some point, but certainly not this early on. She put an arm around Liv, giving her a gentle squeeze.

“That must have made you sad. Some people don’t understand that families can be made up of any combination of mommies, or daddies, or grandparents, or friends, or aunts… or… you get it, yeah? What matters is that we love each other.”

“So… we won’t go somewhere bad?”

“Darling, no. People who think things like that are too busy being angry at the world to remember what really matters. I don’t believe hell is a real thing, but I know that if it was, you definitely wouldn’t go there for loving another person.”

Liv finally looked up to her mother’s face, beseeching. “And, uh, he said more mean things.” She winced. “About Mama Estela.”

“Oh.” Taylor felt her heart sink further. Of course, standing up for her loved ones would be what would get Liv into hot water. Like mother, like daughter.

“He started saying that her beauty stripe makes her look like an ugly monster, and then all the other kids started saying it too. And pretending to run and hide at pick-up time.”

“Oh, Liv, I’m sorry.”

Liv sniffled and wiped her nose. “Today he drew a stripe on his eye and chased everyone around. So I hit him in the face.” She tugged on Taylor’s sleeve, her wet eyes pleading. “Please don’t tell her. I don’t want her to be sad.”

Taylor bundled the child into her lap and snuggled her close as she cried, stroking her silky hair. “I promise I won’t. But I need you to do something for me, okay?” She held Liv out, and gently tipped her chin so that their eyes met. “Next time someone’s being horrible like that, I need you to walk away. You’ve gotta walk away, ‘cause you deserve better than to have to listen to that kind of talk. And then I need you to tell a teacher what’s happening, ‘cause kids like that need to be dealt with. By a grown-up. Not by you and those flying fists of yours. Do we have a deal?”

“Deal.” Liv flung her arms around Taylor’s neck and hugged her with all her diminutive might.

Just then, the front door creaked open.

“Livita, are you okay, mija?”

“Mommy!” Liv jumped up and ran into Estela’s arms and nuzzled against her chest. “I’m okay.”

Taylor joined them. “Our little lady has been putting bullies to rights. Apparently, she’s inherited your strong right hook. But we’ve had a talk. It’s all fine.”

“God, Livi, I thought I told you- emergencies only?” Estela left several fierce kisses on the top of her daughter’s head. Getting a call that her beloved Liv had been sent to the office for fighting, protective instincts had flared up in an instant. If she’d have been hurt…

Looking up, Liv looked sheepish for the first time. “I’m sorry. It felt like an emergency. I know what to do next time, I promise.” She reached and softly kissed Estela’s long facial scar. Some dumb bully couldn’t stop her from seeing something beautiful. “I love you…”

“I love you too. My brave girl.”

“And Mama Tay?”

Estela chuckled and tugged Taylor closer so that Liv could impart the requisite sloppy kiss on her face. “And Mama Tay.”

“And Batman?”

“Well at least I got a mention before Batman…” Taylor rolled her eyes, laughing. It looked like Liv would be all right. She’d have another talk with the Principal when the suspension was over, but for the time being, it was hard to deny that having a few extra days with their daughter at home felt like a special treat. Taylor had made a promise to herself a long time ago that she’d cherish each moment, each memory made together. It wasn’t always easy, but feeling the arms of the two loves of her life around her… Liv’s suspension wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

  ______________________________

Liv was biting her nails as the car pulled up at the gymnasium, her nerves plain to see. Now seven years old, she had grown but remained petite. Her dark hair, so long that she could sit on it, had been lovingly braided into a bun. Almost constantly overflowing with bravado, her apprehension could not go unnoticed; her eyes gave it all away at a glance.

“Livita… it’s okay to be nervous.” Estela sat down in the seat beside her daughter and took her hand. The big brown eyes that looked up to her were desperately seeking something… reassurance? “You can do this. But if you really don’t want to, no one’s gonna push.” She paused, her thumb stroking Liv’s hand. “Why don’t you tell us what you’re most worried about… maybe we can help?”

With a shuddering exhale, Liv started to speak, breaking the silence she’d held since they’d started the drive to her very first gymnastics showcase evening. “I don’t like people staring at me. When people stare at me… it’s never ‘cause they’re thinking nice things. It’s ‘cause they think I’m weird. If I screw up, they’ll laugh at me more.”

Taylor reached out from the front seat, and stroked the little girl’s knee. “That’s not what’s happening tonight, honey. I’m here, we’re both here; and Uncle Diego, and Uncle Al, Auntie Grace and Reggie, -and Tio Abuelo came all the way from San Trobida- we’re here to support you. We’re going to be watching you because we’re proud of you. And because we love you.”

Liv’s bottom lip trembled.

“Olivia,” Estela spoke more firmly now. “Forget about everyone else. No one who talks garbage about you is worth caring about, you hear? When you’re up, look out and find me. I’ll be there, on your side. Always.”

At those words, Liv looked up. Her eyes met with Estela’s, gaze suddenly steely and determined as she nodded. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Sometime later, Liv’s family had gathered in the stands, ready to cheer her on. She had indeed drawn quite the little crowd of supporters, including her cousin and best friend, Reggie, who had come straight from school. As Liv stepped shakily out onto the floor, her caught her eye and poked out his tongue.

“Reginald!” Grace reprimanded lightly, unable to keep the laugh from her voice. Manners be damned, the grin that flashed across her niece’s face made it clear that Reggie had done exactly the right thing.

Uncertainty still in her eyes as she took to the balance beam, Liv searched the stands for her mothers. As she knew they would be, there they were, hand in hand, pride in her written all over their faces. She met Estela’s gaze, sending back a look of fierce confidence. A slight wobble, but then she caught herself with a deep breath. And then Liv turned a perfect cartwheel, finishing to the sound of applause with the broadest of grins across her face.

Now brimming with confidence, Liv seemed to fly through the showcase, and all the while she could feel the loving eyes of her family on her through every movement. She finished with a back handspring- pulling it off for only the third time ever- and skipped off the floor, triumphant, straight into Estela’s arms.

“Mom, did you see me? I did it!”

“You killed it out there, Livita.”

Taylor joined in the tight hug, feeling the elation that shone out from her beloved child. “Hon, you looked incredible! Give me five, girl!”

Their hands met, and they were united. Together, and loved, and unafraid.

 ______________________________

Sunlight brought colour into the hills over Elyys’tel, though for the time being, it was all too distant for the baby in Estela’s lap to make out. All baby Liv knew were the two people who stayed close to her, tickling, cuddling, kissing her.

Taylor reached for her phone and took a quick photograph. “I know some things are best not experienced through a camera lens, but she is not gonna stay like this for long. If that little smile isn’t worth capturing for forever, I honestly don’t know what is.”

Sucking contentedly on Estela’s fingers, Liv soothed herself after what was almost too much excitement. She kept glancing around, seeking eye contact with her mothers. When Taylor leaned in for yet another kiss, her smile returned, wide and gummy. She cooed, reaching out to touch and tipping over onto the dewy grass, guided by two pairs of hands until she was wriggling on her belly.

Estela scooched up against Taylor and looked out over their home, her head resting on her wife’s shoulder. She found herself grinning like an idiot at the feeling of her little Liv grasping at her feet. How much more perfect could life even get? “So, uh, you ready to keep going? There’s a whole lot of beautiful morning left for us to take in.”

Gently, Taylor took her wife’s face in her hands, touched by her easy radiance. Being absolutely blissed out on their family life could do that. And she kissed her, long and sweet. When she came away, she lingered with her face but a breath from Estela’s.

“That sounds wonderful,” she said, and then she couldn’t resist pecking one more kiss to her beloved’s lips, and another to Liv’s head as she bundled the infant into her arms. “What do you say, Livi? How about we go make some memories…”

[urdearestmom]

Santa’s Helper

hey yall!!! i posted this on ao3 and ff at christmas, but i haven’t been on tumblr much recently, so here you have my christmas oneshot!! hope everyone has had wonderful, restful holidays and love you all <3

El really didn’t want to be stuck here doing this job, but she really needed the money and this was all she could get on such short notice. Santa’s Workshop at Starcourt Mall had just opened for the day and while there weren’t many kids lined up yet, she knew there would be. And because it was getting closer and closer to Christmas, the mall was getting fuller and fuller of crazed shoppers. Hawkins wasn’t even a big city, but the number of people El saw every day was overwhelming.

Usually, there were a few kids who would act out and cause problems while they were waiting for their turn with Santa (who was really just a big man named Benny wearing a wig and a fake beard. He managed the burger joint in the food court, though, and he was really nice), and El’s job was to make sure things didn’t get too out of hand. So far, in her first three days on the job, kids had thrown up, had tantrums, gone potty in their pants, and started fights with other kids. She was kind of going a little insane, but once December 22nd passed, she’d be free and she’d have the money she needed to get on a plane and go visit her dad.

He lived in Florida now that he’d retired. El had gone to college in Bloomington, far removed from her upbringing in upstate New York, and she had then moved to Hawkins with a job offer after graduating. Unfortunately, the job at the newspaper wouldn’t start until January, so El had been getting by on her rent payments and other necessities by working at Benny’s Burgers. However, if she wanted a chance to visit her father for Christmas, she needed money for plane tickets, and so she’d had to get another job to help herself out.

Nothing particularly interesting had happened before the noon hour besides one little girl getting upset that she had to wait so long to talk to Santa (her mom hadn’t been able to calm her down, so El had had to resort to escorting them from the line, which the mother hadn’t been pleased about). El was minding her own business at the gate to Santa’s Workshop when she looked up and saw the most gorgeous man she’d ever come across step into line.   

He was tall and slender, a black denim jacket draped over him accentuating his shoulders. His entirely black outfit contrasted very nicely with the shock of purple hair on his head, which was what had initially drawn El’s attention. She couldn’t see him at the angles she wanted to, considering he was in line and El couldn’t exactly move around and get caught creepily staring at a customer, but from what she could see the man was not someone who would probably be called conventionally attractive. Nevertheless, El was attracted. She’d never exactly been conventional, either.

Bonus: he looked like he was around her age, maybe a little bit older.

Her fellow elf and hall neighbour (who had told her about this job), Dustin Henderson, was smirking at her from across the line.

“See something you like, El-Bell?”

El glared at him. “Shut up, Dustin.”

He snorted but didn’t say anything else, and El went back to looking at the mysterious man. He was a bit closer now, and El could see that he was accompanying a little boy who looked around four. The boy was swathed in winter clothes, a puffy coat zipped all the way up paired with a thick scarf, hat, mittens, and boots. The kid certainly wouldn’t be getting a cold anytime soon, although El worried he might have heat stroke with all those clothes on in the heated mall. She watched as the boy tugged on the man’s hand and said something, and then the man plucked the boy’s hat off. He took his own mittens off and unzipped the top of his coat, revealing his little face, which El suspected was exactly what the man had looked like when he was that small. She wondered what their relationship was. Brothers with a really wide gap? Cousins? Uncle and nephew? Possibly father and son, although that would mean this guy was either older than he looked or the kid had been born when he was very young.

El had only looked away for a moment to make sure the next kid made it to Santa’s lap without falling over, but when she turned back she found the purple haired man looking her way. He’d hefted the boy onto his hip and they were both looking at her, actually, but the man looked in a different direction as soon as he saw that she noticed. The boy, however, continued staring, and he smiled and waved when he saw El looking back at him. Her heart melted at his little grin and she waved back.

The two of them played a game of peekaboo for a few minutes as the boy and his whatever-the-man-was-to-him approached the front, and then El was taken by surprise as Dustin greeted the man. They did some weird one-handed handshake, clearly indicating that they were friends of some sort.

“Hey, man, I didn’t know you worked here,” said the purple haired man. And shit, did he ever have a nice voice. El pretended she wasn’t listening as she looked back at Santa-Benny and then towards the line of kids and parents to check for any disturbances.

“Dude, I told you,” Dustin answered. “You were probably too busy running after Jesse Owens there to remember.”

El heard the man laugh and it filled her with a swelling feeling. Why was everything about this guy so enticing?

“Isn’t that right, Matty?” Continued Dustin. “You like running?”

Matty must be the little boy because El heard a kid’s laugh. “I love running!”

She turned around and saw the last kid getting off of Santa, so she decided to butt in real quick.

“Hey, it looks like Santa’s ready for you!” She said. Matty turned away from Dustin and smiled.

“Yay!” He exclaimed, wriggling to get away from the man holding him. “Let’s go see Santa!”

Matty tugged the man away with him and El raised an eyebrow at Dustin. “Who’s that guy?”

Dustin gave her a sly smile. “Why, you interested?”

El didn’t answer, merely rolling her eyes.

“He’s single, by the way,” he added. “Name’s Mike. We’ve been friends since fourth grade.”

She hummed. “That’s nice. Back for Christmas?”

“No, he’s back permanently.”

El considered this. She wondered why she hadn’t seen him around yet. Little did she know she’d be seeing this Mike around a lot more often.

It turned out that Mike was to be the new occupant of apartment 3C, just down the hall from El and across from Dustin. Apparently, Dustin had convinced Mike to move out of his parents’ place and into the vacant apartment on their floor, which El came to know of one day when she was heading out for another shift at Santa’s Workshop followed by one at Benny’s. She was walking out of her door when a small body crashed into her legs and almost bowled her over. She looked down in shock and was surprised to find that she recognized the child. It was Matty.

“Oh, hello!” She exclaimed. “I know you!”

Matty looked up at her and gasped. “You’re the pretty elf lady!”

El smiled. Pretty. “Why thank you. And you’re Matty, right?” She was waiting almost with bated breath for that gorgeous piece of man to appear somewhere in the hallway. Why else would Matty be here?

Matty laughed. “Yes! Do you live here too?”

El’s answer was interrupted by a beautifully smooth voice. “Matty, you’re not supposed to talk to strangers.”

Matty frowned and looked in the direction of the open door to 3C, which El hadn’t even realized anyone was moving into. The beautiful Mike from last week was standing in the doorway, hair flopping messily as he leaned into the hall.

“But it’s the pretty elf lady!” Matty protested.

El watched as Mike went suspiciously pink, his face clashing with his hair.  “Sorry about him,” he said, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it,” El replied. “It’s fine. He’s so cute it doesn’t even matter.”

Matty grinned at her from the floor. “The pretty elf lady said I’m cute!”

Mike sighed loudly and lightly smacked his head on the doorframe. “Come inside, Matty,” he pleaded. “Aren’t you going to help me?”

Matty’s dark hair flopped around his face as he got up, much in the same way that Mike’s had moments earlier. He crossed his arms. “I want ice cream.”

“It’s cold outside, I’m not giving you ice cream.”

Matty stomped his foot petulantly. “I don’t care!”

El stifled a laugh. Matty really was adorable.

“I’m gonna mail you back to your mom, I swear,” Mike announced. “Gonna wrap you up like a present and leave you with her for Christmas.”

At this, Matty went streaking down the hall. “No!” He yelled. “I don’t wanna go back to Mommy for Christmas!”

Matty ran inside the open apartment and El heard a thump that sounded like he’d maybe run into a wall. Nobody said anything for a moment, until Matty’s voice came back out.

“I’m okay!”

El grinned and locked her door, watching Mike sigh tiredly again out of the corner of her eye. She was dropping her keys into her purse when he started making his way toward her.

“I’m Mike,” he said, holding his hand out to shake. “Nice to meet you, neighbour.”

“Dustin told me you were friends but he didn’t say you were moving in,” El answered. “Nice to meet you, though. I’m El.”

“El,” he repeated, as if testing how the name felt. El quite liked the way it sounded coming out of his mouth. “Cool name.”

“Cool hair,” she responded, immediately cringing at how awkward she was being.

Mike laughed. “Thanks. My mom never let me do anything to it growing up, so now that I’m officially out of college I thought I’d do something crazy. Usually, it looks like Matty’s.”

El imagined how Mike would look with dark hair, and she thought he would look just as beautiful. She didn’t voice that, however.

“Well,” she said, “unfortunately duty calls. Kids are waiting on the pretty elf lady at the mall.”

Mike bowed dramatically. “Be on your way, pretty elf lady.”

The next time she saw him was two days later. He’d come knocking at her door to ask if she wanted to join a small housewarming party of sorts, consisting of Dustin, himself, and Matty.

“I just thought it’d be cool if I could make another friend in the building,” he’d said, nervously scratching the back of his head, “Dustin’s the only one of the ones I grew up with that still lives here.”

El, of course, jumped at the chance to get to know him better. Hanging with Dustin was always a plus, and getting to see Matty would only be the icing on the cake. So, Friday night after work, instead of lounging around her apartment on her own like a loner, El found herself walking over to 3C.  

The door was opened by the man himself, but El could see Dustin horsing around with Matty on the carpet behind Mike. He smiled brightly as he let her in.

“You came!” He exclaimed. “Make yourself at home, I’m just whipping something up for dinner.”

She said hello to Dustin and Matty, but they were wrapped up in their game and El’s main target was Mike anyway, so she made her way to the kitchen.

“What are you cooking?” She asked. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.

“Beef stew, I think,” he answered. “But without the potatoes? So it’s just beef and peas, but there’s rice too.”

Something about the way he said it was so cute that El couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose a little as she smiled.

“Sounds good.”

“Yeah, apparently Matty loves this, so I’m figuring out how to make it,” Mike continued, pushing up the front of his hair with one hand and stirring the beef and peas pot with the other. “His mom likes him to eat healthy, so he shouldn’t really be eating junk all that often. And we had pizza last night.”

This was the second time El had heard mention of Matty’s mom, and from the way Mike had mentioned her both times, it seemed like there was a complicated story there.

“His mom?” She questioned. She hoped it wasn’t too forward, after all this was only the second time she had officially met Mike and she didn’t want to be nosy or anything. But she was curious.

He paused, his eyebrows coming together in confusion for a second before his face cleared. “Ah, I forgot you haven’t been here long,” he started. “Everyone here knows about it, I forgot that you probably wouldn’t.”

El raised her brows expectantly, and in response, Mike pointed towards a framed picture sitting in the back corner of the counter. It was a picture of him with Matty that looked fairly recent, and the bottom of the frame read “#1 Dad”.

Oh. Matty was Mike’s son. Jesus. Her surprise must have shown on her face because Mike laughed a little awkwardly.

“Yeah, Matty was a bit of an accident,” he said. “High school girlfriend. She didn’t find out until after we broke up, and then there were a lot of issues because I was supposed to go to college but I wanted to be around because she shouldn’t have to deal with something that big on her own, you know?”

El nodded sympathetically. “I get it, don’t worry. So what happened?”

Mike shrugged. “I went to college. I got to spend time with Matty whenever I was on break, but now that I finished and I moved back here I see him more often. This year he’s spending Christmas with me and then I’m driving him back to Chicago for New Year’s.”

El leaned against the counter contemplatively as she watched Mike flip the switches off on the range. The flames under the pots disappeared. “Well, I’m glad it seems like you guys have a good relationship.”

“Yeah, she’s cool,” he said, turning to the sink to wash his hands. “We respect each other’s wishes. Wouldn’t date her again, but she’d be a good friend.”

El didn’t say anything for a moment, but Mike must have mistaken her silence for something else because he looked at her a little nervously and said, “It’s not a problem, is it? Me having a kid?”

“Why would it be a problem?” What was he implying with that? Could he tell that she liked him already even without barely knowing him?

“No reason, it’s just- girls usually get weird when they find out I have a kid,” he answered, meeting her eyes as if challenging her to have a problem with it.

“Well, Matty’s proven to be nothing short of the cutest kid ever, so far,” she replied.

Mike grinned. “Guys, it’s time for dinner!”

Moments later, Matty and Dustin charged into the kitchen and the group seated themselves. The meal was delicious and Matty didn’t make any fuss. That is, until about halfway through dinner when Mike looked up at him and Matty grinned.

“Stop doing that, we use good manners at the table,” reprimanded Mike, his eyebrows scrunching together in the middle.

Matty shovelled a spoonful of peas into his mouth, slouching against the edge of the table. Dustin looked like he was about to laugh, but he didn’t make any noise. The room was silent again, filled only by the sounds of forks scraping across plates, until a few moments later when Mike looked at Matty again.

“Matty,” he said quietly. “I asked you to stop kicking me. We’re eating.”

Matty’s whole face screwed up as if he was about to scream, and then it cleared and he grinned, showing his teeth. “I wasn’t kicking you, I was loving you with my toes!”

Dustin snorted loudly and El almost choked on her rice. Mike closed his eyes and put a hand to his forehead, but she could see him struggling to keep a straight face. Matty giggled at the reactions of the adults around him, finding the whole situation hilarious.

“Just eat your food, Matty, okay?” Said Mike resignedly after a moment.

“Okay, Daddy!” Exclaimed the little boy, promptly returning to his dinner.

El looked between a sniggering Dustin and an exasperated Mike and had to bring a forkful of beef to her mouth to keep from laughing.

The rest of dinner was uneventful, but then afterwards when Matty tugged on the edge of El’s sweater to ask if she wanted to stay for the movie they were going to watch, she couldn’t say no. He was too cute. And it helped that she could see his dad starting to blush and say she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to.

“Nonsense and poppycock!” She decreed. “Matty wants me to stay, don’t you?”

“Poppycock!” He screeched. “Daddy, what’s poppycock?”

Two hours later found Dustin snoring in the armchair and Matty snuggled under Mike’s arm, sandwiched between his dad and their neighbour on the couch. The two left were softly talking over Matty’s head, the end of Home Alone playing in front of them.

“So what are you doing for Christmas?” Asked Mike, shifting as Matty slid lower.

“Hopefully flying to Florida to spend it with my dad,” El answered him. “I got the elf job so I could buy plane tickets.”

Mike nodded, pressing further into the couch cushions. “That’s nice. We’re going to my parents’, hopefully my older sister makes it.”

“Where does she live?” Questioned El, curiosity piqued.

“New York, so we don’t see her too often.”

A smile broke across her face. “That’s cool! I’m from New York!”

Mike wrinkled his nose. “You’re from New York and you moved to middle-of-nowhere, Indiana?”

This sparked a laugh in El and Mike joined her. “I’m from upstate New York, not New York City. It’s pretty much boringsville up there too. Hawkins isn’t so bad though, I like it here.”

“Yeah? What about it?”

She smiled. “It’s homey. And the people are nice.”

She wasn’t sure if he got what she was implying with that, but it felt good to at least get her foot in the door with trying to make a move. Maybe after Christmas…

Waking up on the morning of Christmas Eve with her bags packed and ready to fly, El had a feeling that something was off. When she looked out the window, she knew why: it was snowing. Hard. Her flight was probably delayed or even cancelled. With a sinking heart and mounting stress, she caught her bus out of town to Indianapolis’ airport.

Luckily, she made it to the airport with only a minor delay, but the counter for the flight she was supposed to be on was suspiciously empty and the workers overly frazzled for it being so early in the morning.

“Hi, I’m checking in for the flight to Fort Lauderdale?” She said, sliding her ticket and passport across the counter. The woman behind it looked at her tiredly.

“We’re sorry ma’am, but all flights have been cancelled until the storm blows over. You can call us then and we’ll be able to offer you a seat on the next flight out,” she explained. “Merry Christmas and I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

El thanked her and went to go sit in a chair in the middle of the terminal. What am I supposed to do now? She sat there with her bags by her feet for a few minutes, slightly panicking and in denial, before she accepted that there was nothing she could do.

“Guess I’ll find a payphone…” She muttered, getting up to look for one. There was one at the other end of the terminal by the security gate, and she punched in her dad’s number with shaking fingers and burning eyes.

He picked up on the third ring. “Hello?” Came his gruff voice.

“Hey, Dad,” said El sadly, pulling at her scarf.

“What’s wrong, kid?”

She sighed. Of course he would be able to tell immediately that something was wrong. “There’s a storm. My flight’s cancelled.”

Her dad blew out a breath. “I’m sorry, Ellie.”

“I’m sorry too, Dad. I really miss you.”

“Well, there’s nothing much you can do, is there?”

“Not really,” she answered. “They told me to call when the storm’s over and they’ll put me on the next flight out. But I don’t think that’ll be before tomorrow…”

“So what are you gonna do?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I have some friends, but they’re spending Christmas with their families.”

She talked to her dad for a few more minutes before her time was running out. “I gotta go, Dad, I’m sorry. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

“I love you too, kid. See you soon.” He hung up and El sagged against the payphone in defeat. She was hoping that a bus back to Hawkins was leaving soon.

Unfortunately, the bus schedule told her that the bus she’d been on had left already and that the next one wouldn’t be in for twelve hours, and it was with trepidation that she walked back into the airport, wracking her brains for what to do. She only had two friends she could call, but both of them were probably busy. She figured she’d try anyway.

She called Dustin first, but when he didn’t pick up she remembered that he had told her he’d be leaving his apartment early to help his mom prep the house for their visiting family. He was probably gone already. Feeling the desperation of not wanting to be stuck at the airport all day, El dialled Mike’s landline and prayed he would pick up.

The dial tone seemed to go on forever as she waited, but then the phone clicked as someone answered.

“Hi!”

El could almost taste salvation, but she still had to know if she could even get out of the city. “Hi, Matty. Could you put your dad on the phone, please? It’s El.”

“Daddy!” Screamed Matty. “It’s for you!”

Mike’s voice sounded tinny and far away as he responded. “I told you not to the answer the phone, only I do that, okay?”

“But it’s not bad people.”

“For the love of God… hello?”

“Hi, Mike, it’s El. Hope I’m not interrupting anything important?”

“Hey!” He didn’t sound particularly stressed about anything… “No, we’re not leaving till later. What’s up? I thought you were supposed to be at the airport.”

El sighed into the phone. “I am, but my flight got cancelled because of the snow and the bus back home isn’t coming for twelve hours. Is there any way you could help me out? I tried Dustin but I think he’s already at his mom’s.”

“Yeah, he left, like, twenty minutes ago,” Mike answered, confirming her suspicion. “That sucks, though. I can drive down and pick you up, but I’ll be about two hours.”

“Are you sure?” El stood straight, tense with anticipation.

“Don’t worry about it!” He reassured. “My car’s good with snow, I’ll get there fine. It would suck for you to have to spend Christmas Eve stranded at the airport.”

“Okay, so I can be at post 23 in two hours…”

El could almost cry at the good heart Mike had. He was truly a blessing in her life, in many ways. As the days had progressed since the dinner she’d had at his apartment, they had hung out more, always with Matty but a lot of times without Dustin. Mike was kind and caring, if a little hardheaded and with strong opinions. But El didn’t mind; she liked a challenge in conversation. In fact, she couldn’t think of much that she didn’t like about Mike, and it only made her feel more and more attracted to him. He was probably the closest to her dream man that anyone had ever come.

In any case, she had to find some way to keep herself occupied until he managed to get to Indianapolis, so she dug out her copy of Animal Farm and started reading where she’d last left off. She was slumped over in her chair, the book nearly falling out of her grasp, when she looked at her watch and started, seeing that two hours were nearly up. She gathered her belongings and made her way outside, looking in the direction of the agreed-upon meeting spot for Mike’s little blue BMW. Luckily for her, she didn’t have to wait very long before it appeared in the falling snow, Mike throwing open his door and coming around to take her bags and stow them in the trunk.

El quickly tucked herself into the passenger seat, shivering as she shut the door and waited for the rumbling radiator to warm her up. Moments later, Mike jumped back into the driver’s seat and drove off down the terminal in the direction of the highway.

“Thank you so much for doing this,” she said. “I can’t believe you actually came.”

Mike smiled at her and reached out for her left hand. “It’s not a problem at all. Your hands are cold, though, do you want the heat up?”

“If you can,” she answered, teeth chattering.

He reached out for the knob and El noticed Matty asleep in the backseat. She giggled.

“He came for me too?”

Mike looked in the rearview mirror quickly. “Yeah, he absolutely refused to stay with my mom. Fell asleep about fifteen minutes ago, but he wouldn’t stop talking the whole way about how excited he was to see you for Christmas, even though he literally saw you yesterday,” he said, rolling his eyes. “He really likes you.”

El smiled softly at the little boy even though he couldn’t see her. “Well, I’m glad. I’m gonna miss him when he goes back to his mom.”

“Yeah…”

“How long until you have him next?”

Mike kept his eyes on the road as he calculated. “Three weeks? I think that’s what we agreed on. It’s better than the months it used to be because of college.”

El nodded, looking out her window at the rapidly building snowdrifts on the sides of the highway. “Do you ever think about what it would’ve been like if he’d never been born?”

She saw Mike’s purple locks flop a little as he flicked them out of his eyes.

“Sometimes. I don’t know if I would’ve made the same mistake if I could go back,” he replied. “It’s been hard on both of us as young parents. But,” he added, “Although I would’ve supported Isabel in whatever she wanted, I’m glad she didn’t end it. He’s an amazing kid and I love him more than anything.”

They were all silent for a moment before Mike tapped at the steering wheel randomly and asked, “What about you? You ever think about having kids?”

El nodded. “Sometimes. I want to get settled in first. Have a good, stable job, a place to live, and maybe marriage first. But that’s not necessarily an absolute.”

He hummed in response. “Sounds reasonable.”

“Yeah,” laughed El. “I have the place and I’m going to have the job, now all I need is a boyfriend. But one of those isn’t as easy to find.”

Mike cut her a quick look. “Dustin could totally set you up, he’s good at that.”

“Oh, trust me, he’s already tried.”

“Really? With who?”

And so El launched into the stories of all her failed dates with guys Dustin had set her up with, she and Mike crying laughing by the end. Matty was still soundly asleep and tinkling Christmas music was streaming through the radio. Snow continued falling thickly outside, but it wasn’t much of a hindrance. The BMW was a beast in winter. They were probably halfway back before Mike uttered a surprised, “Oh!”

“I’m so stupid!” He exclaimed. “I just remembered this probably means you’ll be spending Christmas on your own, yeah?”

El shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know when I’ll be able to get to my dad.”

“Why don’t you come over with us? My mom loves having guests,” he suggested. “And then you can go right back to your place when I go home.”

She considered it. “If you’re sure it’s okay.”

“Absolutely!”

It turned out she had absolutely nothing to worry about. Mike’s family was more than welcoming, although she could tell his father didn’t really have much holiday spirit. Matty was excited to tell his aunts and his grandmother all about how El was an elf who worked with Santa and that she must be really nice if Santa picked her. Dinner was a delicious meal prepared by the matriarch of the household, and El could understand where Mike got his cooking skills from. His sisters, although one much younger, were both equally interesting people to talk to and interact with. El found herself a bit sad that she would likely never have reason to hang out with them again. The only issue came up when Mike, El, and Matty were getting ready to leave: they were about to be snowed in, and Mrs. Wheeler absolutely refused to let them leave under such conditions.

So, El ended up sharing a room with the older sister, Nancy. She didn’t make a fuss about having to share with a woman she’d just barely met, which El was grateful for. They’d just have to make ground digging Mike’s car out in the morning.

Coincidentally, the next morning El woke early. Nancy was still asleep, and it seemed the rest of the house was as well. But when she made her way to the bathroom she’d been shown the night before with her toiletry bag, she found Mike stumbling out his door, already dressed. He started when he saw her and she laughed at his expression.

“Merry Christmas, Mike,” she whispered.

He rubbed his eye and yawned. “Merry Christmas, El. Slept well?”

“Yup,” she answered, entering the bathroom and taking her toothbrush out of the bag she brought. “Thanks again for letting me celebrate with you.”

“You’re welcome, it was a pleasure,” he replied.

He stood by the door waiting for her to finish brushing her teeth and then her hair, and then they switched places, except El went back to the room to change into her day clothes. When she came out and went downstairs, it was only to bump into Mike in the doorway to the kitchen, and she suddenly had an urge to look up.

What she saw threw her heart into her throat. A sprig of mistletoe was attached to the beam right above Mike’s head, which meant that…

He had followed her gaze. “Oh, uh, we don’t have to do that,” he stuttered, face fire quickly spreading. “My mom just puts it up to mess with us.”

However, as El saw it, she had two options and only one of them was viable. So she followed her instincts, throwing caution to the wind and grasping Mike’s arms lightly over his sweater as she leaned up to give him the kiss that the mistletoe demanded.

Pulling apart moments later, neither opened their eyes right away, both savouring the feeling of what was surely the first of many kisses.

Finally, they opened their eyes, and upon making eye contact they both started giggling like little kids who just opened presents on Christmas morning, because that was essentially what they were.

“Merry Christmas again, Mike,” said El happily.

“The Merriest of all,” he responded.

El was definitely going places with this nut by her side.

[alsklingwille]

timmy in sweaters: a masterpost

yall knew this was coming

we’re starting with the BEST* one

*i also say this about 50 other sweaters he wore

LITTLE CHERRY BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is one of my favorites and he wears it all the time so its probably his favorite too

see

i wanna sit on his lap ummmmm what who said that???? 

CHEESIN!!!!!!!!! and that shirt he paired it with?? iconic. LOOK AT THE SWEATER PAWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HAD TO PUT IT AGAIN CAUSE HE LOOKS SO CUTE IN THIS PICTURE WHAT HE FIJCSXOJVXIZCVL

peekaboo mr. arm comes in to tell us that he also likes timmy’s sweaters

another one of my faves, so simple but so effective??? and hes effortlessly beautiful how

whoops that’s not a sweater how did that sneak in here ha ha ha 

hello nothing to see here, just a regular ol college student on his way to grab a cup of coffee before his psych 1103 class

who else????? would ever be able to pull this off???????? it has creepy birds on it?????????????? yet he looks magnificent i-??

so colorful so beautiful

.

*deep breath* and now.....for the photoshoots

OKAY now its the really GOOD shit....so soft i want to lay down next to him

FASHION ICON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! get him a modeling contract

ITS SO BIG ON HIM IM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO FLUFFY!!!! LIL MARSHMELLOW!!

is this that same sweater again?? i cant even concentrate im too distracted by his hair 

upon different angles and further inspection, it looks like no, it’s not the same sweater but STILL JUST AS CUTE!

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM??????????????????? no words needed here

thank you to every single photoshoot stylist who puts him in a sweater. its like everyone knows

look at this soft pink boy very troye sivan here nice

what????????? wet hair???????? fluffy wool sweater?????? with a cute little pocket??????? tiny little toes all scrunched up???????? i need this in poster size immediately 

this probably doesnt even count as a sweater but you know what i dont even care cause he’s looking deep into my soul rn

and the best for last: little elio being engulfed by this lovely monstrosity of wool

OKAY we’re done there’s probably so many more cause sweaters are all this boy wears but im sorry it had to end sometime

anyway, timmy looks fantastic in sweaters and everyone and their mother knows this - including timmy himself

have a great day peeps, if you need me ill be sneaking into timmy’s closet and stealing everything that he owns xoxo