#my family goes every year and 12 years ago was the last time i joined them

[alligaytorrr-official]

bonus:

12 years apart to the day

[sunshine-theseus]

Cyclones | Christine Sinclair x Reader

Words: 3k

Summary: cyclones and cancelled flights eventually lead to good things.

Warnings: natural disaster?, fake injury. Let me know if I missed anything

“Are you sure you’re okay?” the voice crackles through my phone speaker, the shotty connection barely giving me time to talk to my best friend.

“I have my candles and torches, the tub and my water bottles are full, everything is inside or tied down. The only devasting loss so far is my leftover curry I had to throw out.” The torrential rain hasn’t let up since it arrived last night, but it isn’t helping the sweltering heat that will only worsen with no power. The second of which I fear I may lose any moment.

“This isn’t my first rodeo Chris, I’ll be okay.”

“But what if this is the one time you aren’t? I can’t spend my retirement vacation without my best friend. I’ll end up mourning you instead.”

“Why the fuck would y-” my phone dies and everything else in my house goes with it. I didn’t realise I had such little charge, but the newly found lack of airflow through my house is my number one issue.

A cyclone hasn’t hit my little coastal town in years, but the universe has conveniently chosen the day I’m supposed to fly out to join Christine, to hit. The Australian heat is wasting no time and as the rain carries on, I lay down on the tiles to find relief. I originally planned to turn my generator on, but eventually decide to keep everything off, it’s been a while since I’ve properly disconnected.

I gather books I’m yet to read, candles and snacks from the cupboard and sit down at my desk. I’m an hour into reading The Iliad when my cat jumps up and starts meowing and pawing at the pictures that are carefully placed on or around my desk. The main focus seems to be the two polaroid images in the same frame, of Christine and I from when we first played each other at the 2003 world cup, and from her retirement match a month ago.

We’d never met before 2003, but both sported the number 12 and thought a jersey swap would be cool. We became close friends rather quickly but only played each other at big tournaments until we both signed for the Portland Thorns in 2013.

I think that’s when I first knew I had a crush on her, but 10 years into a friendship is a rather odd time to confess to your best friend you like them, so I never mentioned it. We’ve both dated multiple people since then, but nothing ever sticks.

Then, 4 years ago, I retired after one too many ACL injuries. At 34 it was probably time for me anyway, and I always knew I’d never play for as long as Christine. After my official retirement, I moved back to Cairns, now a professional sports psychologist. I love being home, but it was missing something, or someone. Within the first month I put up every memento, gift or picture I had that reminds me of Chris, who Scout has also grown to love.

“I miss her too buddy. Maybe she should come visit us so she can see you huh?” I scratch her chin as she leans into my hand affectionately.

I spend the rest of the day and the next, reading and playing around on my violin. The doors and window are all shut to keep the rain from flying in but I’m so desperate to open them to feel some sort of relief from the sauna I’ve created.

It’s around 4pm on the 3rd day that the rain slows, and another few hours until fans begin to spin again and lights flicker on. I scramble for my aircon remote before rushing to plug in my phone, desperate to speak to someone other than my cat.

It takes a few minutes, the battery slowly whirring to life, but I can’t even swipe to put in my password before a rather excessive amount of notification begin to make their way through. There are messages from friends and family asking if I’m safe, others are simple social media notifications, but the majority seem to be made up by a certain, newly retired striker.

13 missed calls

58 messages

I can’t suppress the smile that slides onto my face and the red tint that warms my cheeks as I think about how worried she was. That’s what friends do right? Worry when you might get eaten up by a natural disaster.

And I quickly figure I should call her and let her know I have power again and am in fact not dead. And I do just that.

“YOU’RE OKAY. YOU’RE BACK.” I move the phone aware from my ear as she screams down the line, but I laugh none the less.

“I’m alive, nothing is damaged, the rain has stopped, everything is back in business.”

“I can’t wait to see you. Get your ass on the next plane I swear.”

“I don’t think there’ll be a plane on a route to Canada for at least a few days. The world hates us Sincy.” A groan I’ve grown familiar with sounds over the speaker, and I can picture her falling back dramatically in her chair.

“I promise as soon as I can I’ll be on that flight out of here. Scout will be chilling with my neighbours, and we’ll be chilling on the beach with some gin.”

“Good. First flight out, I expect you on it.”

~~~~~

The first flight route heading to Vancouver turns out to be 4 days after the cyclone passed. So far two of those days have gone and I’m trying to fill my time, Christine seemed to drop off everyone’s radar and that left me with very little to do.

I’m loading up The Sims 4 for the first time in months when a knock rattles against my door. While confused, not expecting anyone or anything, I sneak toward the door, peaking my head around the wall to get a glance of who it could be. That’s when I see a very familiar face, looking around in a stupor.

“Christine?” I stand in the doorway looking quite the mess with a dumbfound look on my face. My hair in a knotty bun, glasses resting crookedly on my nose, shirt 3 sizes too big (perhaps one of Christine’s I stole a few visits ago) and bike shorts. Anything more and I’d be dying from the heat.

“Surprise! No flights were leaving for a while but some were coming in, so I thought why not go to the ultimate vacation destination.” Despite what would be nearly a full 24-hours of travel, she looks rather adorable. Her own hoodie must be a few sizes bigger and her curls rest over her shoulders, a rare sight. Her headphones rest around her neck and her bags are almost toppling over behind her.

I shake off my surprise and start running, jumping into her arms and nearly tackle her to the ground.

“I can’t believe you’re here! What the fuck, oh my god, holy shit. There’s so much to show you, very little to do. I don’t have a spare room. I’ll sleep on the couch, take my room. Oh, let’s get your bags in, you’re probably exhausted.” I squeeze between her and the lattice work that makes the short hallway outside my door and grab her rather large duffle bag and suitcase.

I take them to my bedroom, which thankfully had been tidied up recently, and tuck them neatly in the corner. Her footsteps signal that she’s following me and I quickly wipe my sweaty palms on my shirt before turning toward her.

“It gets super hot so the aircon remote is on the bedside table, or you can open the window, but Scout likes to jump out of it sometimes. Speaking of, she’s here somewhere, you’ll hear her before you see her. Also free-range of like the kitchen and stuff. There’s an ensui-” Christine cuts my rambling off with a tap to the back of my knee with her foot. Said knee buckles and I fall forward, into her arms.

“What the fuck Sincy?”

“You’re rambling.”

“Sorry. It’s just the first time you’ve been here. In my house. In my hometown. Ever.”

“And I’m excited. I’m sorry for springing it on you, I don’t actually have to stay here I can get a hotel.”

“No! No I want you to stay here. It’s just I’m usually the one making the trip, I’m not a very good host.”

“You’ll be fine. I’m down for anything and everything. After a very long nap.”

~~~~~

I waited until a reasonable hour to wake Christine up the next day.

“What the fuck is this? Do you put tar on your toast?”

“You’re telling me, all the times you’ve visited Australia, even during the world cup, you’ve never tried Vegemite? Christine… come on.” I push the plate toward her.

“No. You can’t make me eat that.” She pushes it away.

“Please, just one bite. You’re staying with me you gotta try stuff. You’re on vacation, you’re trying new things.”

“If you even try to bring a shoe with beer near me, I’m hopping on the next flight out.”

“I promise a shoey is completely off limits. That shit is nasty. But I’m going to take you to a cricket game and snorkelling on the reef, and Harley’s Crocodile Farm. The point is I have a list. Now try the ‘mite Chris.” The plate slides back toward her and she hesitantly takes a bite. A pleasantly surprised look flashes across her face.

“I’ll give you the point. This is good.”

“Oh! Mary, Mary Fowler that is, is back  for Christmas. Do you want to have a beach day with her and her family? Play beach cricket and soccer?”

“For sure.”

“Oh make sure to have thongs. Your feet will thank me.”

“If you said that sentence to me 20 years ago, I possibly would have slapped you.” I giggle but make my way to grab togs and pack a beach bag.

When we arrive, the promised burning sand is what greets us, rather than the young Australian who I’ve grown somewhat close with. The sun beams down, in great comparison to the previous week, and I make sure to push more sunscreen into Christine’s hands.

“Dude how do you survive here.” A bead of sweat rolls down the side of her face and I just smile, slip my thongs off and lead the way to try and find the Fowlers.

When we do eventually find them, Christine is desperate to slip into the water, and I set up our towels beside Mary, who watches over her own family’s things as she soaks up the sun.

“In all my years of knowing you, and that is almost all my life, you’ve never been this happy. And you won’t even admit your feelings to the person who makes you this happy. You giggled when you called telling me she surprised you. Giggled Y/n.”

“I- I don’t know what to do Maz. I know I like her; I have for years. I just always figured it’d go away once I moved after retiring and seeing her significantly less but if anything, it’s worse.” I flop back against the towel covered sand and Mary joins me, resting a hand on my arm.

“Maybe you should just confess. I can’t say I know she likes you back, but the chances are high.” I glance toward the water and let a soft smile grace my lips as I watch Christine play with Louise and Ciara. Maybe confessing wouldn’t be such a terrible idea.

~~~~~

A few hours later, the sun is lower in the sky and the water laps at my feet as I retrieve the soccer ball. I throw it back into play and run along the sand. The ball ends up at my feet and I begin the run back to my team’s goal, I’m about to make a pass to Caoimhin when Christine makes a tackle and takes my feet out from underneath me.

I let out a scream and clutch my knee. The sand sticks to my skin as I writhe in pain, and I feel a hand gently touch my shoulder.

“Fuck fuck fuck it hurts.”

“Holy shit I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make a tackle. Oh god we need to call the ambulance.” Christine rolls me onto my back, and I scrunch my eyes in pain. She stands up to grab her phone when I stick my leg out and trip her, making her fall beside me.

“What the fuck!?.” I start to giggle as I watch Christine’s face morph from fear to shock.

“You little shit! You faked it?”

“Uhh yeah, you were playing dirty Sinclair.” I poke her in the side as I stand and offer her a hand. As she stands back up, I remember how much she towers over me and blush.

Not long after, Mary and her family head back home, and before the sun begins to set, I get some fish and chips for Chris and me to share. As I sit back on the sand, the sun begins dipping below the horizon, casting pinks and oranges across the sky. The light shines on Chris and for a moment I forget I’m staring. Her blue eyes are clouded by the golden hues but still as beautiful as they have always been. Her hair is wet from the salty water, curling as it dries.

I only stop when she bumps her shoulder against mine, holding a chip toward me expectantly.

“You’re staring.”

“Sorry.” The now familiar heat spreads over my cheeks as I tuck my knees up to my chest, resting my chin on them.

“What’s running through that pretty little head of yours?” I take a moment to contemplate if I should tell her the truth.

“I… I’ve just missed playing, especially with you. I haven’t felt anything close to how I felt on the pitch, and I was forced out because of a stupid ACL injury. It’s been so long.” She wraps an arm around me and pulls me into her side. My head falls to her shoulder and her’s falls on top of mine.

“You deserved a better ending.” We both reach for the chips, hands grazing against each other. I drop the chip and rest my hand on my lap, palm facing upward. Christine’s fingers trace the lines on my palm before slipping her fingers between mine and interlocking our hands.

Nothing is said as we watch the sun rest behind the water. The sound of waves crashing on the sand nearly lulls me to sleep but Christine slowly slips from beside me and stands up. I follow suit, grabbing the fish and chips and heading to the car.

“I’d say this was a rather successful first day. Wouldn’t you?” I ask as I sit on the edge of the bed, drying off my freshly washed hair.

It’s silent for a moment and I turn to look at the Canadian.

“Chris?” her vacant stare refocuses, and she smiles.

“Absolutely.” I smile back and stand up, about to head out to go to sleep.

“Wait.” I stop at the door and wait for her to continue.

“Do you want to sleep here? I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want. Or we can put like pillows between us or something. Or-” I run and jump onto the bed, rolling onto my side to face Christine.

“Thank you for coming. I’m excited to show you everything I love. Today is only one of many.”

“I’d do anything for you. And I was thinking… what if I made this stay a little more… permanent? Well not permanent maybe just extended. Or permanent if you want. Or neither at all.”

“Yes! Yes, yes absolutely 100% I want that definitely. Please stay.” I only now notice how close together we are. I can feel her breath against my cheek, her leg brushing against my own.

Her fingers brush against my forehead and cheek as she moves a piece of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. I inch closer, eyes flickering between her own eyes and her lips.

“Are you going to kiss me or do I have to kiss you.” Her lips ghost mine as she jokes, but I don’t allow myself to overthink it as I close the gap between us.

Her lips are as soft as expected, and sweet. I can feel her smile as she kisses me back and I wind an arm around her waist.

“I’ve wanted to do that for 10 years.” I whisper.

“Do not tell me I wasted 10 years of my life thinking you didn’t like me back.” I let out a rather pathetic laugh and my head falls forward, forehead resting against Christine’s.

“Well now is as good a time as any to make up for all the lost time.”

~~~~~

Our hands swing between us as I lead her down the esplanade. The bright rainbow lights of the ferris wheel that never left, reflect off every surface as we approach. The carriages lurch to a stop and we’re ushered on by the teenager at the counter.

“This is possibly the cheesiest thing you’ve done. If we stop at the top, I will start laughing.”

“No! Stop, it’s going to be cute, okay? And a little cliché.” I knock my foot against her’s as we stare out the window, looking out across the water and the mountains, in awe of the stars that twinkle above us.

As predicted, we come to a stop right at the top, and I smile as Christine starts laughing.

“I’d do anything to make you smile, including cheesy ass shit like this.” I slide across to her and she pulls me into her side.

“I love you.” I kiss each of her cheeks before kissing her lips.

“I’ll love you forever.”

“Is it odd I’m glad you retired? I just don’t know if this would have happened if you did.” She smiles and kisses me on the forehead, and we continue to watch the landscape as we make the decent.

@Y/N_Y/L

@Y/N_Y/L I will love you until the end of time. 20 years of knowing you, 1 year of getting to let you know I love you. Chris, you’ll always be my number 1 @c_sinc12.

[hotarutranslations]

17th Generations 1st Anniversary

Evening

I lied a ton!

There was cheering at last years spring Budoukan!

In the announcement of Haru-san and Getta, The announcement of their member colors as well, It was stirred up like, OOOOOHHHH~~!? We did so much

Wasn't it an amazing year!?

It was packed!?

That was the year

Excuse me, I'll be quiet🙃🙃🙃

Thats right and so, somehow today is, (although they were not revealed at Budoukan)

Its the day the 2 in 17th generation joined Morning Musume,

Its been a year since the announcement🫶🏻

Inoue Haruka-chan Yumigeta Ako-chan, Congratulations on your 1st year~~🫶🏻

We celebrated after rehearsal🤍

1 year!! Its amazing!! Its been 1 year!!

On the other hand up until a year ago, these 2 were just normal girls

Its something amazing……

I think that over the course of the tour, their strong, courageous and fun expressions have increased🔥

Even with our finale being at Budoukan,

It'll be nice to see a lot of them!!!

I'll also do my best!

Time is precious! They said it together so! I also think that, and I'll do that!

For my own 1 year anniversary, I read my blog to look back on it but,

its kinda lol

I wont post a link because its rough🤦🏻‍♀️ If you'd like to read it go ahead and read it though🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm saying this to me, for me, thinking to myself 'There are more ways to write than that, right' and shouldn't say that to anyone else? I'm also don't my best to write about my first anniversary, right?

Before the first anniversary, Oda joined, ⑬Colorful Character released, CRAZY ABOUT YOU with Sayashi-san, Daisuki 100manten with Fukumura-san, I showed off a lot on tour, right🫶🏻

Thats right, the other day I met with Sayashi-san!

Thinking of celebrating 17th generations 1st anniversary now That is also in the documentary on Hulu-san as well, If you're interested, I definitely think you should watch it💫

🪩We're performing at Nippon Budokan on May 27th (Mon)

It will be live broadcast on Hulu And we're showing it on Live Viewing

Its been decided we're holding this🫶🏻

Lets have fun together, whether we're at the venue or not at the same time🫶🏻

📺Hello Pro Dance Gakuen Season 11

April 18th 11:30PM~ A Learning From TSUKUSHI-san Adventure🕺

Sendai Broadcast "Ara Ara Kashiko" April 13th (Sat) at 10:25AM~ Ishida Ayumi Goes~!

I appear once a month as part of the AraKashi Family

The previous shows, and makings, are on OX VIDEO STORE!

Thank you for following.. Instagram💙🩵

💿

May 15th Release Morning Musume '23 Concert Tour Fall "Neverending Shine Show ~Seiki~" Fukumura Mizuki Graduation Special YokoAri's 2nd Day With Fukumura-san's Graduation Performance

May 15th Release Morning Musume '23 Concert Tour Fall "Neverending Shine Show" SPECIAL YokoAri's 1st Day With OG Performances

🪩Spring Tour Is Ongoing Morning Musume '24 Concert Tour Spring MOTTO MORNING MUSUME

⚾️《LIVE DAYS！～Exciting Big Exhibition Match～》 June 2nd(Sun), after the Hokkaido Ham Fighters vs. Yokohama DeNa Baystars match, Morning Musume '24 will be having a special mini live!

🪩Hello! Project Kenshuusei Happyoukai 2024 6gatsu "Lily"

June 9th (Sun) Osaka June 16th (Sun) Tokyo

🪩The MusiQuest 2024 July 21st (Sun) PiaArena MM

We're challenging a new festival stage❤️‍🔥 Absolutely, Definitely, Thank you for your support❤️‍🔥

🍉Sanrio Character Grand Prix Thank you very much for supporting Gaokki🍉

📻Morning Musume '24 Morning Jogakuin ~Houkago Meeting~

Airs Every Saturday, On Radio Nihon at 12:00AM~

Past Broadcast Episodes Are Available →Program Details

see you ayumin <3

[cosmicspacewidow]

Finding A Home Chapter 2

Summary: After landing the role of a lifetime In the film Black Widow 2, Cade Jones goes to LA where he meets Scarlett Johansson and Elizabeth Olsen. During the summer they film the movie and Cade plays Scarlett's son but over time it's not acting anymore and Scarlett and Lizzie find the missing piece of their family, but not without a lot of bumps along the road. This story is set in a real world with real people mixed in with the MCU movies alternate universe that is also set in an omegaverse, so Alpha Beta and Omega dynamic as well as non-sexual age regression, abuse, and violence. This is a bad summery just give it a read if you want.

Pairing: Scarlett Johansson/ Elizabeth Olsen

Word Count: 5,979

Chapter: 2/?? (36 chapters posted on AO3)

Chapter Trigger/Content Warnings: Mention of Abuse, Violence, Non-Sexual Age Regression, and Bullying.

Chapter Summary: Cade meets Scarlett and Lizzie at dinner and of course it doesn't go as he expects.

AO3 Chapter LINK

ENJOY

Chapter 2: Overcoming Obstacles A Step Towards Trust

Scarlett’s POV

The last couple of months had been probably one of the busiest months in Marvel history. Immediately after the release of Endgame, Marvel's stocks dropped over 45% in less than 12 hours. The entire Marvel fan base all across the world was protesting the ending of the movie. Nobody was happy about the deaths deemed necessary for the story. 

After finding out that Robert Downey Jr, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evens, Paul Bettany, and I tried fighting Marvel very hard on not killing us off, it only enraged the fans even more. Marvel had not said anything about it until the ComicCon when they announced that The movie black widow was supposed to be released soon and it would be the last installment featuring The Black Widow. If people were mad about Endgame then this was nothing in comparison.

Disney's stock dropped again within 5 hours of the news, it was so bad of an overall loss for the company. Everyone at top levels was freaking out trying to figure out what to do. It was the next day when I got a call from my lawyer, Scott Harkin, and my management team urging me into an emergency meeting. 

In that meeting I was told that there were rumors of a second black widow in the works and the possibility of bringing the Natasha back from the dead. It was clear the new generation of viewers were coming into a realization of the power they had over these big tycoons like companies. My team and I came up with a contract and deal for what we were going to ask for if Marvel did end up coming to us. 

We were asking for better pay, benefits, safer set practices, more story and creative control on my part and no more than 12 hour days for everyone all terms including the full crew no exceptions. Before we could even leave the meeting my manager Claire had gotten a phone call from the executives at Marvel. They indeed wanted to start developing a second movie, and my team was firm on our terms and got every single one of them before signing on to another contract with the studio. 

Marvel was pushing this movie fast to bring back up their stocks and profit margins but it was  still a slow climb for them because fans were wary of the studio actually following through with the rumors of a new black widow movie. Marvel was just lucky to already have a script written years ago so it didn’t take long for production to get underway. There was some last minute casting decision but I'd been assured by Kevin Feige himself that this was going to an amazing cast and crew.

I was sitting around a large table that was filled with many people I'd like to call part of my family. There were a couple big wigs joining us tonight including Kevin Feige and the Russo brothers and the new director for the movie. Ben Canon or something like that. I'd never worked with him before and even requested the same director as the first movie, Cate Shortland, but there was a scheduling conflict Marvel wasn’t willing to work with. 

Other than that it was all people I’d call my pack Florence Pugh, Rachel Weiz, David Harbour, Ray Winston’s, Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Evens, and Jeremy Renner. The main crew was all here except for our newest addition. I haven’t heard much about him other than he absolutely blew everyone away with his audition and fighting skills and really had a natural talent for acting. 

Kevin had explained to me that he was a great find and had said he was very unique and extremely shy and very new to the industry so I suggested we do a welcome dinner so he could meet everyone in a relaxed nature. 

We had all gotten settled at the table and we were all catching up with each other when the main door to the room opened and the host led a young teenager into the room. He looked nervous and I would have been too if a bunch of strangers were all staring at me like that. The moment was broken when Kevin stood up and made his way over to the boy.

“There you are! Everyone, this is Cadence Jones, he’ll be playing Anton Romanav, the son of Natasha.” Everyone said a chorus of hellos. The boy smiled and waved.

“Hi... you c-can just c-call me Cade.” He stuttered out quietly.

“Oh yea that’s right.” Kevin announced as he remembered something.

“Cade here has a bit of trouble speaking sometimes but I’ll tell you when you see him act you’d have no idea.” Kevin continued as he ushered the boy inside the room more to sit down. Each seat had a name place so his designated spot was in between me and Lizzie. I could tell Kevin's comment about him speaking embarrassed him by the way he looked down at the floor from the moment on. Once Kevin and Cade sat down the conversations at the table started back up so I turned to him and decided to properly introduce myself.

“Hi there, I’m Scarlett. It's nice to finally meet.” I said to him and he shyly smiled back at me and nodded as if he was saying likewise. 

“Oh my goodness aren’t you just adorable?” Lizzie said on the other side of him scrunching her nose up like she always did. I watched as Cade turned to her, blushing a little bit before ducking his head down in embarrassment. I gave her a look.

“What? He is?” She said with a shrug and a smile. Lizzie was the sweetest person ever. She was very soft and funny like a little puppy but when she needed to be it was like a switch flipped and a little pitbull would come out all bark no bite ultimately a sweetheart. 

“Babe, don't embarrass him like that.” I told her and she just laughed and shook her head.

“You’re right you play his mom it should be you to embarrass him right? I’m Lizzie Olsen by the way.” She teased and a small chuckle left Cade’s mouth. He pulled out a laminated card from his pocket and passed it over to me. I scanned the note and Kevin’s comment made more sense. 

It read in a nice and fun font with colored text, Hi I’m Cade I have an anxiety disorder called selective mutism. I am unable to speak in certain social situations. This is not a choice, it's an involuntary response, I’m not being rude.

“Can I pass this around the table?” I asked him so everyone can have a slightly better understanding of our new cast mate. He thought about it for a second before nodding.

I passed the card over to Lizzie and she read the card quickly too before passing it to Chris sitting next to her. He wasn’t in the movie and neither was Lizzie, ever since we started dating Lizzie and had Chris become besties even though I knew him longer and he was my friend first they were always together in their free time as of late. As the card made its way around the table nobody seemed phased except until Jeremy got a hold of it.

“How does that work?” He asked, looking at Cade. The boy picked with his fingers for a moment and was about to say something but it was Kevin who spoke up first. I felt a small growl in the back of my throat come forward as I looked at Jeremy. I knew him, we were friends, but he was an older guy and thought anxiety was for the “snowflakes” of America so I’d have to keep an eye out.

“I asked that very same question but I'll just send you the audition tape and I think all your questions would be answered.” Jeremy took that for an answer and we all fell back into a comfortable conversation. Everything was going well and about ten minutes later the waitress appeared with the appetizer and the drinks some people ordered when we first arrived.

“Okay guys are we ready to order?” I heard her ask the table, looking around no one was really paying her any attention except for myself, Cade, and Lizzie who were closest to her.

I was about to say yes that we all were ready taking control of the room but I noticed Cade beside me start to panic a bit, the stress on his face was evident looking around for a menu as his leg started to furiously bounce under the table. This is when I realized that he never got a menu in the first place.

“Actually, can we have some more time to look it all over? I think we’ve been too busy catching up so far but Umm Cade? Would you like to put in a drink?” I asked the waitress and then turned to Cade. I took my menu and slid it in front of him, flipping it to the back where the drink options were. I slightly pushed out some calming pheromones into the air to get him to relax a bit.

His shoulders relaxed a bit as he scanned the menu for less than a second before looking up at the waitress like he had something to say but it wouldn’t come out and then looked back down at the menu and shook his head. He was giving off the most anxious scent I've ever smelled in my life.

“Are you sure bud? You can just point which one you want or you can whisper it to me or something.” I didn’t mean to call him that, but he seemed nervous and I wanted him to feel comfortable. I could tell he had something in mind and I just wanted to encourage him however possible.

It seemed the waitress had picked up Cade's lack of communication and tapped him on the shoulder. She tucked her notepad in her apron and started making hand signals towards him. He brightened up and started signing back to her. They seemed to have a small conversation and then she grabbed her notepad and started writing.

“Okay one hot chocolate and a glass of water coming right up. I’ll be back.” She said before turning and leaving. 

“That was cool, can you teach me something?” Lizzie asked Cade. He seemed surprised but nodded. He pointed to Lizzie and then started to spell out her name with sign letters as he very quietly talked it out.

“L. I. Z.Z.I.E th-that’s  Liz-zie.” He explained his voice was soft as he spelled her name out but the two of us could hear him. Lizzie tried to copy his hand movements. He smiled and nodded as she practiced for a bit and then asked him to teach her more. He didn’t seem to mind but I knew he still hadn’t looked over the menu and the waitress would be back soon.

“Liz, why don't you let him pick out what he wants to eat first before he teaches you anything else?” I asked softly not trying to be commanding or dominatining the two, but trying to switch gears a bit.

“Oh gosh yeah sorry about that I get so excited sometimes.” She said to Cade he shook his head and signed something.

“I know that one he said it’s okay.” Lizzie said happily as Cade nodded to say she was correct.

I nudged the menu and he looked down at it for a minute. He seemed to just be staring at the first page not necessarily looking through it much like he did before with the drinks. His leg started bouncing again under the table and Lizzie and I both gave each other a look. Lizzie herself had anxiety so we both were hyper aware of the cues of anxiety.

Cade's POV

Dinner wasn’t going as horrible as I thought it was going to be but I was still highly stressed. I did relax a bit after Lizzie had asked me to show her some sign language. Not many people are so interested in finding ways to communicate with me so it was nice to see her instantly try. She seemed really sweet and Scarlett too. Being in their presence felt really comfortable just knowing them for less than an hour. However I got anxious all over again when Scarlett suggested I take a look at the menu and pick out my dinner. 

I didn’t feel that hungry as my stomach was in knots but as I looked at the menu again I knew I wouldn’t be able to order anything from here. It was written in cursive and even though I was pretty smart with the way the letters blended together I could never form a correct word and I never learned it in school. With all my moving between foster homes I figured that lesson was missed. I felt my chest tighten and my leg start to shake as I faked looking through the menu but Scarlett seemed to know what was up and questioned me about it.

“Are you okay?” She asked me softly and my nose was filled with a calming scent radiating off of her as I looked up quickly nodding, not even thinking about it before answering.

“I’ll be honest, I can tell that's not necessarily true, I’m a human lie detector.” I looked at her nervously, nobody could read me like that. 

 And it made me wonder Why did I lie? I felt comfortable with her and Lizzie and that was rare. Unlike most people they didn’t seem bothered by my anxiety or lack of speech. So I took a couple deep breaths to steady myself and I cleared my throat and I remembered something that Striker dad used to alway tem me. Bravery can even be found in the smallest moments, not just the big ones we see in movies,

“I-i can’t read cursive.” I said in a little voice dejectedly I was embarrassed to look at them so I looked back at the menu and the small cursive font it was in. 

“I can read it to you or I could ask for the kids menu. I'm pretty sure that it's not in cursive?” Scarlett suggested and I felt myself perk up at the idea of a kids menu. They were easier with better choices and always so fun to color on.

I quickly remembered where I was when I felt myself slipping into a weird headspace where my brain started to go fuzzy and pushed that feeling down. It wasn't an unusual feeling but it was one i knew to always lead me into trouble with Kenneth and Joyce, sometimes I would find myself slipping in a more submissive and younger headspace than what I actually was. Kenneth would always say that it was the devil trying to take control of me. And that I had to resist temptations. It was usually easier to keep this side of me at bay but today I was tired, still in pain from the fall and very much overwhelmed so it was harder to resist. I could only imagine what it would be like to slip in front of all these adults I'm supposed to work with. I’d probably be fired on the spot so I shook my head and tried to pull myself up.

Lizzie’s POV

I watched as Scarlet offered to read Cade the menu for him or get a kids menu. For a second he seemed to brighten and relax at the sound of a kid's menu but then immediately shakes his head and looks down at his lap nervously before rubbing his temples. He definitely wanted that kids menu but was too embarrassed.

From the second I saw him walk in I felt a need in my chest to take care of him and watch out for him so I had a feeling his status might include being a little. Scarlett and I were both caregivers and it was widely known that when in the presence of each other caregivers and little could sense each other. 

I looked over to Scarlett who had seemed to be thinking the same thing I was. She didn’t say anything else to Cade. I just watched her get up and head out of the room. A minute later she came back and sat down. She placed a piece of paper and a box of crayon in front of Cade. He immediately lit up looking shocked at her. She was a Dominant Alpha like that, whenever she could tell someone she cared about wasn't going to speak up for themself she would naturally do it for them.

“Thanks.” He said before grabbing the crayons and opening the box. Just like any kid he had one track mind and coloring was the objective. It seemed he forgot about the original task which was to pick out some food. 

“Whoa there,” I said to him, placing a hand over the one he was coloring while getting him to stop and look at me. I gave him a little smile.

“How about you pick out what you want to eat first and then you can color?” I asked him, he huffed and pouted for a second and went to start coloring again. Scarlett stepped in and took the crayon out of his hand and flipped the page over to the food menu.

He let out a little whine, turning his pout over to Scarlett. Thankfully another five seconds and I would’ve caved and let him continue to color. His pout was too cute and she stood a better chance with him.

“Here let's look at the options and we can color in which one you want, okay?” Scarlett said to him he thought about it before nodding and looking at the menu with Scarlett. Each item had a little picture of what the food was so as they looked Scarlett read the menu off to him. He didn't seem too convinced but nodded to her.

“Okay so they have salad, meatballs, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, cheeseburger and grilled cheese? Which one sounds good?” He grabbed a yellow crayon and started to color in the grilled cheese.

“Good choice, grilled cheese is the best, Scarlett makes the best grilled cheese there ever is.” I told him and he smiled. He tapped the rest of the crayons looking at Scarlett for permission to now color.

“Yeah. Go ahead now.” She said to him and he smiled and turned to color in the rest of the food items. I got sucked into a conversation with Florence and Jeremy for a little while until the waitress came back in and brought Cade his hot chocolate and water before taking everyone's dinner orders. When it got to Cade's turn he got visibly nervous again he immediately dropped the crayon he was using and started picking at his fingers and he couldn’t get any words out, Scarlett stepped in and she grabbed the crayon he dropped and gave it back to him, turning his attention back to the page before ordering for him.

“He’d like the kids grilled cheese and a side of fries please.” Scarlett told her as he colored, the waitress wrote the order down and continued on. We all continued to talk and have a good time together and within no time our food was coming out and everyone dug in.

After finishing our food we all continued to talk and just catch up while the guys ordered a round of shots for the table. The waiter even brought one for Cade but I was quick to take it away from him. For some reason whenever people see a group of actors or celebrities they act like the rules don’t apply and I saw too many teen celebrities get into drinking and drugs because of it.

Luckily he didn’t seem to notice or just wasn't interested as he was working on a crossword puzzle on his menu so my small crisis was averted. Through dinner I could see him slowly getting more and more comfortable with everyone. I watched as he minded his own business and occasionally spoke if spoken to. 

After a while he started to look a little tired and was fighting sleep, eyes drooping and rocking in the chair every once in a while. It soon became more frequent and I realized what he was actually doing. As always Scarlett must’ve picked the same thing I was because she turned to him.

“Do you have to go to the bathroom?” She whispered to him he looked a bit shocked, a small blush creepy up on his face before he stilled his body. 

“Ah No.” he mumbled sleepily.

“Okay well if you do you can let me know. I can show you the way.” He just nodded and went back to his crossword he had not finished yet before he started dozing off. It was probably another 45 minutes before I noticed once again he started to fidget in his seat. 

He was resting his head in his hand now as his eyes started to droop. He seemed to have to finish everything on his menu so he was just quietly listening to the conversation. I looked at the time and it was already 10:24pm. I watched as Cades' eyes closed for a couple minutes and the boy relaxed. He looked peaceful, no anxiety whatsoever but the moment was ended by his eyes shooting open and his body tense. 

I was going to ask him what was wrong but I noticed Lizzie sniffed the air and then looked down at the floor and I followed her eye line to see liquid dripping from Cades seat to the floor. I looked back up at him just as his eyes might mine.

“S-sorry i’m… shit i’m sorry.” He whispered mostly to himself. He looked like he was either about to cry or have a panic attack, maybe both. I placed my hand on his shoulder to comfort him but he only shot up in his seat abruptly, causing the table to shake and knock over his water glass spilling over onto the two of us.

“Fuck.” He mumbled before running out of the room. I got up not too long after him excusing myself as everyone at the table looked confused except Lizzie. 

Scarlett's POV

I left the room but didn’t see Cade, the man at the coat check was still there talking with our waitress so I went over to them.

“Hi, excuse me?” I said to the two.

“Hi, is everything alright?” She asked me.

“Did you see a young teen run this way by chance?” She nodded.

“Oh yeah he signed for the bathroom.” 

“Ok thank you, could I get my coat while I’m here?” I asked, thinking he’ll need something to cover himself with that could work. 

“Sure thing!” The guy said as he took my ticket and headed into the back. He came back out with my jacket and a duffel bag and skateboard.

“Here’s your jacket and here is his stuff too if you’d like.” I took the bag and headed down to the restrooms but as I went a lot of questions started forming in my mind. Was he ok? Was this the kids first night in town? Where was he staying? Where were his parents?

I got to the restroom and instantly knew where he was. His scent was radiating and the soft crying coming from the family restroom was a dead give away so I knocked.

“Cade? It’s me Scarlett, I have your stuff and just want to see if you need some help?” I waited for a minute and the cries quieted down a little bit and then the door unlocked and opened a crack and I heard shuffling. I moved inside before closing the door and locking it again. He was sitting on the floor in the corner with his head in his knees.

I moved over to him getting down on my knees to try and be eye level with him.

“Hey you're okay, don’t worry it was just an accident. They happen all the time.” He shook his head but still didn’t look up at me but just started hitting his head with his fist. I grabbed his hands, holding them in mine stopping him from hurting himself further.

“Buddy I need you to take a deep breath for me?” I started taking deep breaths myself and placed his hand on my chest so he could feel my breath. Lizzie always told me that physical contact sometimes helped ground her when she was upset so I figured I could try that. It seemed to work as he tried to match my breathing. He was very uneven still but I could see it start working. 

“You’re doing great just like that.” I told him after five more minutes he was able to get his breathing under control and I was now sitting down leaning against the wall with him next to me with his head on my chest. A buzzing sound of my phone rang out slightly scaring him.

“It’s ok just my phone.” I told him and I pulled out the device. It was a text message from Lizzie saying that she had told everyone that we’d be heading out and taking Cade home since it was getting late. And that she was outside the restroom.

Focusing back on Cade, he was way calmer than before, basically asleep on my chest. He was still in his wet pants as a reminder as to why we were here in the first place.

“Hey.” I said softly running my thumb over his cheek softly to wake him just a bit. His eyes fluttered open looking up at me confused. His eyes looked very little in the moment and I had a feeling he was still dropping into a littler headspace. Making me wonder how young his headspace could drop. It seemed he was pretty young so I was really shocked that his parents would let him travel alone like this.

“Let’s get you cleaned up okay?” I asked him and he moved his head off of me, standing up as he shook his head as if to clear it. He stumbled a bit and I quickly moved to get up and steady him.

“It’s okay, just relax.” I moved him over to the toilet so he was standing in front of it for him to see if he still needed to go.

“Here take those off, try to go and I’ll find you something new to wear.” I told him he pulled off his pants and underwear and sat on the toilet. I thought it slightly odd he chose to sit and pee but maybe he preferred it that way. I turned and looked through the bag looking for a new set of clothes. I found a pair of pajama pants and went with those and pulled out a white t-shirt and  black hoodie too knowing it would be cold outside now. 

“Here you go.” I said handing him the clothes without looking. I heard him wipe and the toilet flush before some shuffling of him changing and then him washing his hands. Once he was done I turned to look at him and was met with a very sleepy looking kid. 

“Okay well it’s getting really late so how about Lizzie and I help you get home? Where are you staying?” He definitely wasn’t in the right headspace to be getting home so late on his own so I was going to make sure he did. 

We walked out of the rest room to see Lizzie standing outside of the door. She smiled softly at the two of us and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I didn’t miss how Cade looked surprised at the affection but quickly masked his face. 

“Are you guys ready to get out here, it's pretty late?” Lizzie asked mostly to Cade. He started to look nervous again and his breath started picking up. Lizzie was quick to react, placing her hand on his shoulders and looking him in the eyes. 

“It's okay, slow your breathing for me.” He nodded and followed her breathing calming down. With shaky hands he started to type something out on his phone. 

After a little bit of typing he held the phone out to us and we heard a voice read out his words.

“My contract said Marvel would set up a place for me to stay during shooting but I can find a hotel or something.”  The voice read out. 

“I can go talk to Kevin and see if they have anything setup for you.You guys can head out to the car and I’ll meet you there.” I told the two. Lizzie nodded and I headed back up to talk to Kevin. 

As expected Kevin tried to play it like he had no idea what I was talking about but I reminded him this same thing happened with Tom Holland when he joined the MCU and how much trouble they almost got into with him. After that Kevin tried to say he figured something out within the next couple of days, like the kid didn’t need a place to stay now, so I told him to forget about it and that he could stay with me. 

Lizzie’s POV

Scarlet handed me Cade’s bag and I led him out the back door and took him to Scarlett's BMW i7.

I helped him hop inside the back seat before climbing in the front passenger seat and turning on the car to get the heater going while we waited.

“So you like to skate?” I asked him, looking in the rearview mirror as he spun the wheel of his board and then I turned in my seat to look at him.

He nodded and signed Yes back to me with a smile.

“I like the look of your board, are you also into Space?” I was looking at the design on the bottom of the board. It looked like an astronaut was floating aimlessly in space but the cool thing about it was that he had a drum strapped to his chest and it looked as If he was playing in space.

Cade nodded again and smiled brightly looking down at the board for a second before he pointed at himself and then tapped the astronaut on the board and back to himself.

“Is that you?” I asked putting together what he was trying to express. He nodded again.

“Wow, that's really cool. So you're into space and skateboarding. ” I said to him and he seemed surprised I was showing interest so I gave him a little nudge and an encouraging smile making home start laughing a bit. A second later Scarlett opened the door and hopped in the car.

“What do we have going on here?” She teased looking back at Cade. He chuckled slightly and shook his head.

“He was just showing off his cool skateboard to me.” I boasted and he just shook his head again.

“Well that's cool. Can I see?” Scarlet said encouraging him a bit more and he showed her the board and she said it looked sick as heck causing him to laugh. I smiled huge and enjoyed the laughter Cade was expressing.

“Okay ok let's settle down a bit now. It’s late and we don’t want to get all wound up right before bed.” Scarlett reminded us. Sending a wave of calming pheromones through the car. I immediately relaxed as she did and watched as Cade did too with a small smile on his face.

“Ok fun police.” I joked as I settled down in my seat and turned to her.

“So where were we going?” I kinda forgot we still had to take Cade home.

“Well they didn’t really have any set up yet so I offered for Cadence to stay with us if that was cool with you?” She asked him looking in the rearview mirror. 

He quickly pulled out his phone and typed something out before he played for us. 

“It's okay I can find somewhere I don't want to be a bother.” The automated voice read out. He started to gather his things like he was going to leave the car but Scarlett spoke first.

“No you're not a bother at all. We have the extra space plus we’ll be filming mostly together anyway so it helps with scheduling and rehearsals. Don’t fight me on this one okay?” Scarlett turned on the radio and started driving towards our house not giving him any room to say much of anything else on the matter. I could tell her alpha was talking control now as she has a strong protective nature. We all rode in comfortable silence as the music played. 

About ten minutes into the ride I heard snoring coming from the backseat and saw Cade propped up against the window peacefully sleeping.

“He’s so precious, Scar.” I whispered to her, she glanced in her mirror to look at him and immediately smiled seeing him at peace.

“He is, isn't he? highly anxious too, I wonder what all that about. He’s too young to have to be worried so much.” Looking back at Scarlett she looked deeply worried. I could see the wheel turning in her mind. 

“And I’m just so surprised? What kind of parents send their 16 year old kid to LA on his own, like tell me that’s not weird?” She did have a point especially since the boy had so much anxiety and trouble speaking. 

“We’ll have to ask him about it sometime. See if we can get the full story?” I suggested.

“Do you think I went too alpha on him? Should I have let him get a hotel or something?” She asked me.

“ I don't think so, Scarlett, he is 16 he should be with an adult to watch over him at least. But if he is not comfortable with us we can arrange something else. ” She nodded in agreement as she drove. We were getting close to home so the two of us sat in silence for the rest of the ride. 

Once we got to the house. Scarlett didn’t want to wake the sleeping pup so she carried him inside and upstairs to the spare room we had. Once he was nicely tucked into bed, we left the room and headed to our own room across the hall and were quick to fall asleep too. 

I think I fell asleep for about an hour or two total before I was up again and couldn’t fall back to sleep. This was a regular occurrence for me. Sometimes with my anxiety I wouldn't be able to sleep no matter how hard I tried so I got out of bed and headed down stairs to the living room. I laid down on our huge sofa I had insisted on getting.

I grew up in a big family and we often spent time crammed together on our family couch watching television as we grew up. I still love a good dog pile cuddle session, in fact we had them quite often whenever our friends would come over for a dinner party or movie night. I turned on the tv and made sure the volume was down low before starting another episode of i love lucy. After watching a bunch of old tv sitcoms to help me build on my character Wanda for WandaVision i really got into I love Lucy. 

[maitaponce]

The Mid-Life Friend I Didn’t Know I Needed

By Rachel King

I was in my apartment one morning in early spring when my phone rang. It was my brother. As always, he was the one who had phoned me. “Can you do me a favor?” he asked. “I need your help. I’m doing a New York Times crossword puzzle and a lot of the clues are about New York.” At last, the request made sense — I knew nothing about puzzles, but I had lived in New York for decades.

In the three years since that video call, we’ve continued to meet over Zoom every week, joined by his wife and two of his friends. We’re now on our second book of New York Times crosswords. I never thought I’d become a regular player of crossword puzzles; now I plan my weekends around them.

When we were younger, there were a variety of impediments to closeness: a 12-year age difference, the awkwardness of our blended family (our father married my mother after his mother’s death), and physical distance (we both grew up in the Northeast, but he’s lived elsewhere for most of his adult life). 

To better understand how a simple game could make such a difference, I turned to the book Adult Sibling Relationships by Geoffrey L. Greif and Michael E. Woolley, both professors at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. They advise siblings looking to forge closer bonds to “consider trying new experiences together.” The reason? People often fall into old patterns of behavior when interacting with their families. This is exactly what was happening when I failed to initiate phone calls with my brother. I was regressing into my role as the entitled younger sibling, always taking for granted that my responsible older brother would call me. Greif and Woolley say that “experimenting with new environments can help siblings break out of uncomfortable interpersonal expectations.” Turns out my brother, who never studied psychology, has good instincts. While I’m sure he really did want help with a crossword puzzle back in April 2000, he’s always been the one who was reaching out and looking to strengthen the sibling bond. This time it really worked: By trying something novel, we finally succeeded in building a shared social life. 

I called one of the book’s authors, Dr. Greif, for more insight. 

He told me that the conditions of contemporary life make it challenging for families to stay close. “It was much easier 500 years ago where you married somebody in your village who your parents knew and who you knew growing up and you lived in the village or on the farm for your whole life.”

In other words, it’s still a recent phenomenon for people to stray so far from home. Our ancestors likely saw their extended families regularly. Their relationships were built 365 days a year; they didn’t rely on once-a-year, high-stress holiday gatherings. Now our time with family is more limited, and our expectations more unrealistic. “The Norman Rockwellesque view that all families have to be loving at Thanksgiving, and that everybody is getting along well — that is not going to be the case in the large majority of families.” In other words: If you feel apprehension about an upcoming family gathering, you are not alone.

The important thing to remember is that whatever does or doesn’t happen this holiday season, those gatherings don’t need to define our relationships with our siblings. My experience proves it. It may work far better to try to connect with them during the rest of the year. There are a variety of ways to remain — or become — close.

Greif and Woolley’s book is not sitting on an especially crowded shelf. The amount written about brothers and sisters in adulthood is dwarfed by the enormous volume produced about parents, spouses, and children. Still, adult sibling relationships are important because of how ubiquitous they are (more than 80 percent of us grow up with siblings) and because of how long they last. If all goes well, our siblings are the people who are with us cradle to grave. Research suggests that closeness to a brother or sister can improve our health by mitigating loneliness in later years, after children have left home or marriages have dissolved. Often, they are the sole link to the earliest years of our lives. That’s why these relationships can grow richer as we age. In their book, Greif and Woolley describe what has been called “the hourglass of closeness,” noting that there’s a kind of default closeness of childhood, during which we have no choice but to share a house, favorite toys, and parental attention. Then, in young adulthood, we break away from our families to establish our own identities. Later, in middle age, it may become easier to reconnect as we’re no longer struggling to define an identity separate from our families of origin and are less likely to still feel competitive with our siblings. At age 40, 50, or 60, we’re much more apt to know who we are — and we can, at last, choose what we want to share with our siblings.

I value the opportunity to explore our shared memories. For example, my father has been dead 25 years, and now there’s no one in my life but my brother who knew him. I can quote my father’s witticisms to my husband or friends as much as I like, but my brother is the only one who can respond by chuckling, “That sounds just like dad.” When he does this, I find myself with a lump in my throat, a little surprised by the tears I’m blinking back. Sharing my memories with my brother makes our father — and our grandparents, too — come alive for me again. What’s more, being in touch with my brother is the best way I can think of to honor them. Truly, nothing would have made our father happier than knowing that my brother and I were spending time together.

I am still not good at crossword puzzles, but since they’ve given me so much over the last several years, I’ve come to appreciate them. I like the fact that the longer you work on one, the easier it gets. As you play, the puzzle isn’t just being solved — it’s teaching you how to solve it. Each answer holds the key to others: 29 down helps in solving 39 across, and vice versa. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s camera (Leica) and the 2001 Grammy Best New Artist winner (Alicia Keys) may appear to have nothing to do with one another, but in fact they are inextricably linked.

And so, two words that seem to have nothing to do with one another are connected, like my brother and me, siblings whose paths in life have crossed only briefly. We share a last name, a hometown, and the bad eyesight we both got from our father. We have always vaguely known that we shared more than that but what, exactly, remained a mystery — one that I’m finally starting to solve.

[elegyofthemoon]

1, 5, 12 for female character ask

LETS GOOOOO also this will be under a read more because i will actually ramble forever lmao

female character asks

One of your favourite female characters?

I don't have a picture of her because she's just from a book, but Eleanor Vance from The Haunting of Hill House! I'm serious that The Haunting of Hill House really hit super hard and that it floats in my thoughts every now and then, especially because of the way Eleanor's story goes.

When we meet Eleanor, she was trapped in a shitty family situation, where no one really cared of her being, so the research she joins to go to a haunted house becomes her little getaway. I fell in love with her the moment she drove away with her sister's car and just dream of the many lives she could have lived in the many towns she'd go to visit on her way over to Hill House. And I fell in love with the romantic way that she viewed things in the house.

In the house, it felt like things were coming together. Eleanor felt precious in Theodora's gaze and attention. She was needed for the experiment, but it doesn't last long.

There's a moment in the story where Eleanor just disappears from the narrative, and the writing style becomes so bleak that I couldn't help but miss Eleanor's colorful flowery language. In that way she haunts the writing by her absence.

The ending though really got me. Nowhere else but this house did she find love, but the others were worried about how the house had been affecting Eleanor, so they try to make her drive home...and well. It doesn't end well.

"Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.

5. A female villain you love?

I'd say she's more antagonist than a straight up villain? And mentally (and elsewhere) I've been raving so so much about her bUT-!

Alyssa Zaidelle from FF13-2! She doesn't start off as an antagonist when you first meet her, but later she winds up stabbing the protagonists' in the back and leading them into a trap to save her own skin.

She might actually be my fave villain just because of how often she kinda haunts my thoughts from time to time. In actuality, a lot of her motivations are so blatantly human, and it just makes me sad when a lot of people crap on her character. Like yes, I get it, but also. What else would you do in her situation?

Her story: she was one of the people that had died in the train disaster that takes place at the beginning of the game, but due to the timeline distortions in the 2nd game, she winds up alive again, with a haunting sensation throughout her new life about how she should have been dead, just like her friend, whose grave she comes and visits in game as well. She gets told by the actual villain of the game that if the protagonists fix the timeline, then she'd disappear. All her dreams of doing research and making a name for herself will vanish just like that, and no one would remember her. But the villain tells her that if she helps him continue to break the timeline, then she can stay.

She chooses to help the villain, luring the protagonists into a death trap, but of course, plot armor happens and in the end, the timeline gets fixed and she disappears ironically.

I think it sticks with me a lot because I just see a girl just trying to fight for her life -- all the years she had gained for being alive than dying on the train 10 years ago. All those dreams unfulfilled. It just makes me sad :/

12. An interesting female friendship?

The first one that came up is the friendship between Tohru, Uo, and Saki in Fruits Basket!!

tbh I don't really remember much of their friendship, but Uo (the blonde on the left) and Saki (the black hair girl on the right) are so protective of Tohru that they pretty much serve as second/third mom to Tohru after Tohru had lost her mom.

But it's a mutual friendship. The way that Tohru was a light for both Uo and Saki and offering them a place of comfort and safety and just being a welcoming person overall, that's how Uo and Saki become so fond of Tohru. It's honestly the sweetest thing to see, especially how strong the friendships remain over time, and it doesn't get overshadowed at all by the romance that happens. (I have a word to pick though about the romance with Uo and Kureno though ngl like that happened way way way too fast but okay I guess whatever. In my head Uo and Saki are together)

[alex-the-bard]

1. Are you named after anyone

legally no, but chosen name was inspired by Alex Fierro from Magnus Chase

2. When was the last time you cried?

every time i face the horrors

3. Do you have kids?

define kids, bc found family is a thing buttttt

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

NO! OF COURSE NOT! *sarcasm*

5. What sports do you play/have played?

i play trombone, drums, cahone, recorder, and almost halfway guitar (kinda a sport?) and every now and then i’ll join a running team

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

wether or not i vibe with them

7. What’s your eye color?

this one specific shade of green that changes colors a LOT depending on the environment, but it usually looks hazel behind my glasses, also my left eye color is very slightly brighter than my right eye

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

scary movies, idk, i just want to feel something

9. Any special talents?

i am a walking human soundboard

10. Where were you born?

skipping, sorry

11. What are your hobbies?

felonies

12. Do you have pets?

we used to have 3 cats, a dog and a bird, but we had to put the cats down a few years ago, and same goes for the dog who recently crossed the rainbow bridge

13. How tall are you?

5’7”-5’8”

14. Favorite subject in school?

science and band

15. Dream Job?

bold of you to assume i have any idea what i’m doing with my life

15 Questions 15 Mutuals

I was tagged by @oh-goodness-loki - TYSM dear!!!

1. Are you named after anyone? No... my Mom liked the name. (I hate it btw, and have taken on another in day-to-day life.)

2. When was the last time you cried? The other day, watching "For all mankind" (which is better than I had thought it would be?!)

3. Do you have kids? A daughter.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? MEEEEEE???? ^^

5. What sports do you play/have played? I used to ride. Stopped when I got pregnant.

6. What's the first thing you notice about people? Whether they hold eye-contact, maybe?

7. What's your eye color? Dark brown.

8. Scary movies or happy endings? Depends. I don't like torture movies, but I do not like overly saccharine stuff either. Aliens as a prime example for both?! :)

9. Any special talents? Errr.... I used to have a lyrical soprano... wanted to be an opera singer once upon a time.

10. Where were you born? Skipping, sorry.

11. What are your hobbies? Reading, video games, music, vampires. I also read a lot.

12. Do you have pets? I have a cat, Mo.

13. How tall are you? 5'4"

14. Favorite subject in school? Biology and philosophy

15. Dream job? Not sure. I used to love my job a lot, but now it's more and more meetings and... well.

Tagging:

@prigorie @isabellehemlock @lynnenne, @thefairylights @slutaciouslestat @inkyblotposts @burstingbone @blackgirlasis @alcassin @shashiatnight @anannua @dreamofme9 @danissa10 @redversaillesrose @onlymywishfulthinking ... and whoever wants to!

(Feel free to ignore this if you don't want to, obviously^^)

[navalcriminalimagines]

Hi!! It's me AGAIN! 😝 May I request "OH, you're jealous!" with Gibbs? I love jealous Gibbs so much!! 🤭👀❤️

I love writing jealous!Gibbs!! Thank you for your request! This took an unexpected turn, I hope you'll like it! 👀❤️

Warnings: smut, dom!Gibbs, blowjob

Tags: @hotch-meeeeeuppppp

Oh, you're jealous

You met Leroy Jethro Gibbs a couple of years ago. You had just started as an FBI Agent, and you were Tobias Fornell's partner. The case with NCIS was your first interagencies encounter, and not on your life would you have thought about meeting the most amazing man.

But you did and you spent the next year hoping something would happen with him. Every time you heard about NCIS through a case, you made sure to be involved. It's only after Diane's wedding with Victor that things finally took the turn you were waiting for.

Tobias had a hard time seeing his ex-wife and mother of his daughter getting married again, especially after he learnt that she had cheated on him with that Victor. After the wedding, you invited him for drinks but he told you he already planned on getting at Gibbs's house and he told you to join.

You did, and by the end of the night, Gibbs and you were making out in his basement while Tobias had passed out upstairs on the couch.

That was a year ago and since then, your relationship with Gibbs has been amazing. Unfortunately, you don't see each other as much as you'd liked to. You're both committed to your jobs and you knew about your boyfriend's past. You don't want to pressure him into anything, it may scare him away.

There are actually good sides of not seeing each other much; when you and Gibbs manage to get together, you just enjoy one another's company and there are no fights. What would you two argue about anyway?

You can't say you and him are clearly dating, since you never used that word and actually, you never talked about what the relationship is and where it's going. Eventually, you'll have the talk, but not for now. You don't want to ruin it by asking it to be serious or planning a future.

Finally, a new joined case came in. Gibbs called Tobias and quickly, you two were driving to the NCIS headquarters.

Of course, Gibbs's team doesn't know anything about whatever is going on between you two. To be fair, Tobias was suspicious, but you - or Gibbs - never told him anything.

When you arrive in the bullpen, you can see Tony DiNozzo's face lighten up. He greets you with a huge smile, clearly avoiding Tobias. "Y/N, it's nice to see you again! This case just became very interesting," he winks at you and you chuckle. Tony has been very flirty with you for the beginning, and if you hadn't had a crush on Gibbs at the very first second, you probably would've hooked up with the Very Special Agent.

"Nice to see you too, Tony. I like working with you, guys," you smile and your eyes finally settle on your 'boyfriend', sitting at his desk, already talking with Tobias. He doesn't greet you at all, instead he just asks his team to do a sit-rep.

As you're staring at the screen and listening to McGee, you can feel Tony's body on your left and Gibbs's on your right. Gibbs's fingers are gently brushing yours and you can feel shivers running down your spin.

"You cold, Y/N?" Tony whispers in your ear. "Want my sweater?" he offers and before he knows it, a hand slaps the back of his head. "I'm just being nice, boss," he complains. Boss doesn't answer.

Tim finishes the sit-rep, and orders are given. Of course, Gibbs asks you to be with him and the two of you are on your way down to Autopsy. As soon as the elevator's doors close, Gibbs's mouth is all over you.

"Hey," he finally greets you.

"Took you long enough," you say between two kisses. He smiles against your mouth, ready to kiss you one more time but the ride is over and the doors open.

After that stop in Autopsy, Ziva tells Gibbs that the BOLO they sent gave results and they need to get going. He tells her to go with Fornell. As you need to check a few things in the FBI database, you settle at an empty desk with your laptop and get into work.

Quickly, you notice someone putting a coffee next to you, "Latte, two sugars, am I right?" Tony asks.

"Wow, no one brings me my coffee at the FBI. I'm gonna need Fornell to steal you," you smile at the Agent.

"I'd rather have you joining us. I'm sure Gibbs would be okay," he says. "Although, if I break rule 12 again, I'm a dead man,"

"Wait!" you think for a moment, "Rule 12 is--never date a coworker, right?" Tony nods. "Very presumptuous of you, Tony DiNozzo," you grin at him.

Not that you enjoy flirting with DiNozzo - even if it feels nice that a handsome man like him is hitting on you - but you can see Gibbs's pissed off face in the corner of your eye and you do enjoy that. "Well," as he's practically sitting on 'your' desk, Tony leans over you and whispers, so no one can hear, "You're pretty, I'm pretty. We can make pretty good things together, don't you think?"

You only have time to softly laugh, since Gibbs got up and headslaps DiNozzo again. "Quit flirting at work, got it, boss,"

You watch Gibbs walking to the elevator while Tony puts his hair back in place, "We'll continue this tonight, if you want to join us? We're celebrating Ziva's citizenship at a bar,"

"I'd love that,"

Gibbs comes back half an hour later with a fresh coffee. You can see on his face he’s clearly pissed but you decide not to do anything about it for now.

* * * * *

The rest of the day went smoothly. There was no big breakthrough in the case, for a moment you thought that the celebration might be canceled. But to everyone’s surprise, Gibbs and Fornell decide to call it a night. “We won’t be able to get anything done before tomorrow morning anyway,” Fornell says.

The NCIS team didn’t need much to start packing their things. As you’re putting your laptop in your bag, Abby, Jimmy and Ducky appear in the bullpen, “Celebration night!” Abby exclaims, “Gibbs, Fornell, you’re joining?”

“What are we celebrating?” Your boss asks.

“Ziva David, being officially a citizen of the United States of America!” Jimmy explains, wrapping his arm around Ziva’s shoulders.

Fornell looks over his shoulder, down to Gibbs. “You going?”

“Pass,”

Then, Fornell puts his eyes on you, “You?”

“Yup, Tony offered me to join. If anyone minds,”

“Of course not!” Abby happily grabs your arm and walks you to the elevator. You don’t have time to give one last look at Gibbs, as you’re all taking off to the bar.

Only Fornell and Gibbs remain in the bullpen. “You sure you don’t want to keep an eye on DiNozzo?” Fornell teases his best friend.

“Fornell, if you want to go, just--leave,”

“Fine, I’ll protect her myself,” he says, “Unless I get too drunk and don’t see them sneaking out to the bathroom,”

Gibbs growls before standing up, “I hate you,”

* * * * *

At the bar, you and the team got into a booth in the back. Of course, Tony made sure to be right next to you and Abby was on your other side. You all ordered your drinks and when the waiter brought them, you toasted, “To Ziva!” everyone says.

You have barely swallowed the first sip of the Champagne when you see Gibbs and Fornell entering the bar. Abby sees them too and calls their names. “I don’t know what you told him, Fornell, but I’m so glad to convince him to come,” Ziva confesses. It really means a lot to her that all of her team - her other family - is here to celebrate.

Even if he joined, Gibbs is being himself and doesn’t talk much with anyone, except some quick exchanges with Ducky. He’s sitting across the table from you, and you can see his eyes darkening as Tony whispers something in your ear that makes you giggle. He drinks his second bourbon in one swallow and goes to the counter to order another one. You excuse yourself to Tony, and join Gibbs.

“You okay?” you ask him, innocently.

“Perfect,” he mutters.

“Wanna spend the night at my place, tonight?” you whisper in his ears, gently nipping his lobe.

“Why don’t you ask DiNozzo?” he answers.

"Oh, you're jealous!" you exclaim with a chuckle, as the bartender puts the glass in front of Gibbs. His hand grips on the glass hard, his knuckles are turning white.

“Why would I be jealous? We’re not dating,”

This sends you off, you bit your bottom lip to avoid shouting in the middle of a bar. You take one deep breath to remain calm and answer, “Of course. I wonder what you’ve been doing for the past year, if not dating,”

Even with the dim light, Gibbs can see your cheeks turning red from anger. He shouldn’t have said this, because obviously, he has strong and deep feelings for you, but he hates to admit that he’s indeed...jealous. “Maybe I’ll indeed ask DiNozzo. Or maybe I’ll ask a stranger. Or--Or maybe, I’ll ask DiNozzo and a stranger,”

You’re about to leave him here when he grabs your wrist, ever so gently. You can see that his face had softened a bit. Then his hand moves from your wrist to your hand and his fingers intertwine with yours. Gibbs starts to walk away, taking you with him. He doesn’t say a word until he reaches his car. He opens the door for you, “Are we really sneaking out?” you ask.

“Just get in,” he orders, along with smack on your ass.

This gesture sends something right down to your core. You smile and get in his truck, shortly followed by him.

The parking lot is dark, the car is only facing trees and bushes. But you don’t have time to overthink what’s going on, as Gibbs’s lips crash on yours. He immediately asks for access with his tongue, which you happily grant him. One of his hands gets under your top, feeling your skin under his fingers. It keeps getting higher, until he cups one of your breasts and squeezes. You moan in his mouth, and your nails scratch on his scalp. He growls at the feeling, and quickly grabs your hips to make you sit on his lap. “You seriously want to do this in the car?” you ask, but it seems obvious as you can feel him getting hard.

“I want you to make yourself forgiven,”

His blue eyes are dark with lust. You know exactly what that means. You haven’t experienced the dominant side of Gibbs yet and god, is it turning you on. You can feel yourself getting soaking wet in your panties. You approach your lips to his to kiss him again but he only lets them brush. “Your mouth should be busy somewhere else,” he says.

“Yes, sir,” you agree and work on his belt.

You don’t know if he’s ever done something like this before, but his painful erection lets you know how turned on he is. You give him a few strokes, feeling some precum on your hand. He groans under your touch and then, you bend your head over to lick the head of his cock, tasting him. “Fuck!” he mutters. You play with the head for a moment before taking him inside your mouth.

As you blow him, Gibbs has one arm stretching over the seat and his other hand is settled in the back of your neck, guiding you. You can feel him grabbing your hair into his fist from time to time. “You’re so good at this, sweetheart,” he praises you and you hum in response, with his cock still inside your mouth. It sends shivers down his spine, and he bucks his hips, making his length go as deep as possible inside your throat. When he hits the back of your throat, Gibbs lets out such a huge moan, people in the bar may have heard him.

“Who does this mouth belong to?”

You relish him briefly, “You.” you answer.

“Good girl,” he growls. “Now, make me cum in that pretty mouth of yours,”

You go back to your oral ministrations and quickly, Gibbs is coming inside your mouth, shooting his load inside your throat, as your name leaves his lips in the most erotic sound you’ve ever heard. You couldn’t be any more turned on at this very moment. As he’s catching his breath, you make a big show of swallowing every drop of him.

Finally, he grabs the back of your neck a bit roughly to make you kiss him. He can taste himself on you and from the sound you’re making, he understands that you love that side of him. “I’m not done with you,” he says, brushing his lips against yours. “We’re going back inside, like nothing happened, but if you keep flirting with DiNozzo, or anyone else, I’ll deny you for such a long moment, you’ll beg me to shot you,”

You may be crazy, but this makes you want to piss him off a little more.

[thatsgay-writes]

Catra x twin!sister reader where reader travels in alot of planets to find her sister and when she landed on etheria she explored the whispering woods and found melog, with their help she found glimmer and she led her to her castle and she finally met her sister. Catra wasn't pleased about it thinking that her family abounded her she just pushes reader away and goes to her room. Reader stays and went to deal with catra. They talked (mostly arguing) and in the end catra and reader hugs and they became very dear friends.

(I'm basically making you a nicer version of Catra with super girl powers (which you don't use in the story) and Lena Luthor as your wife because why not. I am also putting everyone in their early to late 20s... I also forgot to add Melog :( sorry.)

"Space log, day... 2000?" You mumble as you speak into the recorder on your ship. "It's been... 4 years since my son was born. 8 years since my people finally fully integrated with the civilization of our sister planet. 10 years since I renounced my royal title. 12 years since I met the love of my life. 16 years since my home world was destroyed by the Horde and my parents were killed. And... 24 years since I have last seen my baby sister." You breath out, having lost hope after so many years of things going wrong. "Lena and Madden have stayed on the planet Oa while I explore this last planet. It appeared almost 2 years ago and was the last place the Horde had ever been. Who or whatever is on the planet must be powerful." "This... This will be the final planet I explore. I have no hope of seeing my sister again." God you were so tired of the disappointment you felt every time you couldn't find your sister. "Happy 26th birthday." You mumble out as you get closer to the new planet. "End log."

---

"This is spaceship Kr 97. Requesting permission to land. I repeat requesting permission to land." You spoke into your radio, hoping to hear anything back. Maybe this planet didn't have the technology yet for radios? "If anyone can hear me. My name is Y/n and I come in peace. I will be landing my ship on your planet and will wait 2 days before exploring on my own." You say into your radio before putting it back where it had been hanging and controlling your ship into the planets atmosphere. It was a little bit of a bumpy landing but you landed your ship just fine on the outskirts of what seemed to be a forest. You set a 48 hour alarm on your phone. You weren't sure how the people or creatures of the planet told time, so you just stuck with what you knew. It had kept you alive so far anyways.

"Alrighty." You say to yourself as you step off of your ship. You take a deep breath as you feel the yellow sun power you up. "48 hours, let's get to work."

---

You spent the next two days cleaning up in and around your spaceship, setting up a camp, and watching how the forest worked so you knew what you could eat and what you couldn't. You had been sitting on the ground relaxing when you hear your timer go off. You click the loud noise off and stand up, grabbing the bag you had prepared. While learning the forest, you had seen some villages that seemingly lead towards somewhere and you had decided that the best course of action was to hop from village to village to see if their was a kingdom or something of that nature that you could get into contact with. You just hoped everyone was nice and that this wouldn't be a hard planet to navigate.

---

The first town you enter seems to be a farming village. You can tell because you had to walk through fields and saw, what you assume, were the livestock on the planet. You stood behind some trees for a while as you assessed how the villagers acted. You watched as kids ran around playing with their friends, shopkeepers and homeowners leaving their windows open in the nice weather, clearly not scared of being robbed. You decide that it's safe enough to enter and you have your powers to back you up incase things go wrong. It was weird because the planet had 3 moons and only 1 sun, usually planets had the suns out number moons but it was enough. You fix your cloak over your ears and tuck them back so they wouldn't be noticeable or a defining characteristic if things went sideways.

You walk slowly through the village, having expected to get some attention from your large black robe. And you do get some curious looks but it's mainly all friendly smiles. You are almost halfway through the village, aiming to enter one of the shops and ask around, when a something hits your leg. You look down and see a ball a few inches in front of your foot. You pick it up, making sure to retract your claws, and hold it out to the toddler who was staring at you and his ball. "Here you go." You say to him as you hold the ball out and shake it a little so his attention goes to it. He waddles up to you and takes the ball from you. He stares at it for a few seconds before making motions with his hands, wanting you to hold him.

Without hesitating, you pick him up and hold him close to your chest. "Where is your mother, kitten?" You ask him as he reaches up to play with your ear that were still under your hood. "Kitty!" He squeals as he knocks the hood off your head and you hear an audible gasp from behind you. "Oh my gosh, Catra I am so sorry! We didn't think you were visiting till next week. We would have prepared a feast for you and the rest of the princesses." You turn around and see an elderly looking man, who's eyes widen at the sight of you. "Have you gotten taller and cut your hair again?" He asks confused. You give him a small smile, "I'm sorry but I'm not this Catra you speak of. Are you saying there is someone similar looking to me on your planet?" You ask and the man gives you a weird look when you call it his planet but slowly nods his head. You feel hope for the first time in years and eagerly ask the man if you could stay near the town till she came next week. He gave you a bit of a weird look, not sure who you were now and unsure of your intentions, even though your reaction was positive. "Sure."

---

After returning the toddler to his mother, you basically sprinted back to your ship in excitement. "Lena! Lena!" You shout happily into the radio on your ship. Time is a little different on the planet as the sun was just starting to set but it would already be completely dark on Oa. But by your clock it was only 9, so Lena and Madden should still be awake. "Y/n?" You hear your name crackle through the radio and a smile appears on your face. "Lena you'll never believe it! There is someone on this planet that supposedly looks just like me and vice versa!" You say into the radio, feeling like a kid on Nova day. "I think it's her... I hope its her." You say as you image seeing your sister again for the first time in 24 years. "I'm so happy for you y/n! We will start making preparations to join you soon." You bite your lip in thought. "Maybe you should wait... I just wouldn't want to overwhelm her, you know?" You can almost hear Lena nodding on the other end of the phone. "That makes sense, we'll plan to leave by the end of the week if everything goes well."

"Geez I love you so much." You mumble with a wide grin. "And Madden too. Is he still up?" "No he fell asleep a few minutes before you radioed, he spent all day playing." "Oh well, tell him I love him and I'll radio back in the morning." "Okay, bye." "Bye."

---

"We need to be very careful about this." Glimmer says as she and the best friend squad enter the village who sent a letter the day before about someone who looked like Catra in their village. "We already knew that there were other people out there but as we already know not all of them are friendly." Catra walks next to Adora, numbly nodding along. Could this be it? Could she finally learn where she came from? Everyone else in the Horde had been born into it and Adora had come through a portal but no one really knew where Catra was from. "Are you okay?" Adora asked as she squeezed Catra's hand, nervous at how silent her girlfriend was. Catra just mutely nods back.

---

"This planet is simply marvelous!" The group hears you laugh out after being greeted by the village leader. "They look almost just like you Catra." Bow comments as they watch your tall figure move around as you play with the kids of the village and let them climb all over you. "Y/n!" You hear someone call your name and turn to see the village leader standing with a group of people and... Catra. They watch as you freeze and let your mouth fall open in shock. You set the kids down and encourage them to go play together. You walk towards the group with a smile. You go down the line of friends shaking their hands and introducing yourself, ignoring their looks of surprise, before finally reaching Catra. "Wow..." You breathe out in absolute awe. You can feel your eyes get misty the longer you stare at her. "You look so much like mom." You say with a watery laugh that completely sets Catra off.

"Who are you?" She asks as she pushes her finger into your chest making you take a step back. "What? Catra, I'm your sibling. I thought the similarities would make that clear." She glares at you and you can feel the whole village watching the interaction. "Just because we look similar doesn't mean anything." You move quickly and grab her right hand and hold it up next to your left one, both birthmarks showing.

You watch as Catra freezes. Her face and body come to a complete stop as her eyes flicker between the identical birthmarks and your face. "I know you must have questions and I do too. But I have spent the last 8 years going all across the galaxy looking for you and right now all I want is a hug... Please?" You get out as you let go of Catra's hand only for her to push you away one last time and storm into a temporary tent that had been set up for the best friend squad.

You take a second to take a breath before following after her. "I wouldn't follow after her, she needs time to cool down." A blonde, Adora, said to you as she placed a hand on your should to stop you. "I've dealt with people with anger issues before." You say as you brush her hand off. "I know how to handle this." You say and walk towards the tent again, not giving anyone a chance to stop you.

---

"You can't hide away in here sister." You say as you enter the tent, dodging a pillow that was thrown at your head. "Don't call me that." She mumbled angrily. "And why not, you are my sister are you not? I mean everyone saw the birth mark." Catra stands up angrily. "If you were my sister, you would have spent longer than 8 years looking for me! And how can you even compare me to this "mom" that I know absolutely nothing about!? Where are they anyways, huh? Where's great old mom and dad that I have spent the last 25 years not knowing about!" She unloads onto you and your feel your heartbreak at how disheveled she looked. You shouldn't have assumed everything would be smiles and laughs when the two of you first met.

"26." "Huh?" "You're... We're 26. Our birthday was 2 days ago." "So I don't even know my own birthday!" Catra explodes. "Get out." She says suddenly and quietly. "What?" "I said get out." She repeats and you shake your head at her. "I'm not leaving." You watch as Catra's hair stand up. "I am giving you one last warning, get out now or I will do something I might not regret." You cross your arms and stare her down. "I have spent the last 8 years planet hopping with my family looking for you. I. Am. Not. Leaving."

Catra jumps at you suddenly, attempting to scratch, hit, kick, do anything to make you leave the tent. Instead of doing what she wanted, you just wrapped her in a tight hug and sat on the ground. You stay like that for a while, her trying to hold back sobs and angry tears before finally letting go and you just rubbing circles on her back to try and calm her down. "Why?" Is all she says after almost an hour of being in that position. "Why what?" "Why now?" You let out a sad sigh at her question. "Mom and Dad are dead, killed by the Horde Prime and his followers when I was 10." You can feel Catra flinch at how blunt you were and the fact that she had worked for the Horde only a few years ago. "You had already been missing for 8 years at that point, multiple search teams being sent out but none could find you." You squeeze Catra tighter as you feel yourself relive all the grief that you carried for the past 16 years.

"I managed to get most of our people off the planet and to our sister planet before the Horde completely destroyed everything. Got everyone situated on that planet, met the love of my life, renounced my claim to any throne, and finally I started looking for you." It's silent for a few minutes as Catra absorbed everything you said. "So..." You asked as you wiped your tears off your face. "What about you?"

You and Catra spent the rest of the night and next day sharing stories about your childhood and how differently but similar the two of you had grown up. You even got to tease her about Adora and the fact that you were, technically, her older sister by 2 minutes. You were also very excited when you got to show Catra around the ship you had taken to get to Etheria.

---

"So I am guessing everything went well?" Lena asked over the radio after you finally called her about coming to Etheria. "It was a little rocky at the beginning but we smoothed things over... She's great Lena, you guys are gonna love each other." You say with a giant smile on your face as you look at Catra who was relaxing in the copilot seat next to you.

[romeo-golf]

Infiltration Part II

12 weeks since my first day at Dandy’s Candys and you’d already gained almost 30lbs. You’d been averaging 2lbs a week of growth until recently when I let slip I was ramping it up for you. I wanted a full extra 75 on you before the end of the year and we had to push you harder to get the next 45lbs. Your 36” trousers were ancient history and these days your belly was hanging over the waistband of a pair of snug 46’ers as you waddled into the lift. Your shirt buttons acting like a one-cup bra for your gut, tucked in tight to your trousers and keeping it supported in front of you.

Dandy’s rented space in a small building converted from an 1800s inner-city townhouse and the lift had been squeezed into a corner. As the doors opened this morning Ross from accounts called out from behind you “hold the doors!”

Ross wasn’t a small guy, but you’d long ago eclipsed his girth. He was probably an inch shorter than you and at a guess weighed around 250lbs. You stood gut-to-gut as the doors closed, both of you with your backs firmly against the walls but every time you took a breath you felt your belly resting against his. Your dick throbbed.

You looked up and focused on the space above his head to distract yourself as the lift slowly trundled up the building. The plaque on the wall read “WEIGHT LIMIT: 800kg / 10 PERS” and you couldn’t help but notice that you were a good lunch away from being twice the allocated weight per person. Throb.

These lifts always seem to assume people are much smaller than they are, you considered, before then thinking about how Ross was known as “big Ross” when you joined and how that moniker seems to have slipped away as your size overtook his. No one called you “big” anything. They were probably being polite at this point assuming you “struggled” with your weight rather than simply having a good appetite like him. Throb.

The lift jolted as it arrived at the fifth floor and you felt your gut wobble as it stopped. You both tried to move forward as the door slid open. Thick, soft guts squishing directly into each other. You blushed hard and you both played the “no-you-go Tango” out of forced politeness. Two or three more firm belly squashes before eventually you decided to just push yourself out of the lift in front of him and get to your desk before the throbbing in your pants became obvious to anyone else.

You sat down, flustered and aroused, on your new extra-wide chair. I’d already left your morning pastry on your desk and you hungrily ripped open the bag and started eating the first of your three thick, soft, almond croissants. Each sugary bite landing on your tongue and tasting more delicious than the last, crumbs falling off and landing on the top of your swollen belly almost as though your body doesn’t want anything going to waste and catching each flake for you to collect and eat later.

You licked a finger and started collecting each flake from your shirt as it stretched around your gut. Your phone buzzed.

“Good lad, don’t waste a bite!” my message said.

I was always watching you. At first it felt like a boss who couldn’t trust you to do your work, but you soon learnt that I kept work very separate to pleasure and in fact I was just admiring my handiwork. Making sure you ate everything I gave you; Checking you ordered the lunches I suggested; Watching your body expand and grow.

My favourite afternoon hobby was to message you after a large lunch and remind you how much you’d eaten in the day. Today was no exception.

“That calzone was a good 1500 calories, porky. Plus the 1100 in your trio-of-croissants breakfast which I noticed you ate with an appetite!”

“If I didn’t eat them all they’d go stale… and who eats half a pizza anyway?”

“You greedy fuck. I’ve watched you go into that snack drawer three times since you got back! I know you’re hiding the wrappers in there until everyone goes home so no one sees them.”

“It’s just a waste of energy to keep walking to the kitchen to throw them out. I’ll do them later.”

“No judgement here, fatboy. I’m sure you’re already dreaming of a family-sized lasagne tonight…?”

“Yeah… that sounds good.”

“I’ll be over at 8.”

“8? I can’t wait that long to eat dinner…!”

“Oh no, I’m just coming over with dessert.”

You squirmed in your seat. You knew dessert meant funnel-fed ice cream and you also knew that I didn’t stop until every mouthful was swallowed. There was no mercy, no let-up. The more you ate the hornier it made me, and the hornier I was the more I forced you. You knew I could push you further than you could ever do it yourself.

Your laptop pinged with a new email and snapped you out of your daydream.

SUBJECT: Excess Stock Disposal

Hi team

We’ve got a few cases of Summer ’21 stock with expiry dates next month. If anyone wants to grab something for themselves please go ahead. All leftover items are being destroyed on Friday.

Thanks,

R

You scanned the email again, your eyes resting on the “to” field. It was just you and Ross I’d included instead of the whole team.

“Just me and Ross?” you texted

“You both look like the hungriest on this team. Scared I’m losing interest?”

You were scared. What if you weren’t growing quick enough and I’d pinpointed a new pig? You needed to show me what you were capable of.

Ross was already sliding back from his desk and heading over to the stockroom. You stood up and waddled as quickly as you could to catch up with him. Whatever he ate you were having two, you promised yourself as you reached the door and followed him in.

You were going to show your feeder what a pig you could be. 375 by Christmas? You were going for 380.

[thesleepiesthufflepuff]

My Favorite Fics 2020

Alrighty. I read a decent amount of fanfiction this year (mostly thanks to Wizards Hearts/Game of Drarry), and I’m here to list out some of my very favorites. Thank you to all of the creators out there who put so much time, effort, and energy into creating beautiful stories, and here’s to lots of reading in the new year 💜 also, this is in no particular order and all rec notes are from my personal fic tracker spreadsheet (if anyone wants details on how I set up my spreadsheet, etc. please feel free to send an ask!) 💕

1) Change on the Horizon by Static_abyss / @static-abyss [Explicit, 118.6k,]

When things settle down after the war, Harry has trouble figuring out who he’s supposed to be and what’s expected of him. At the same time, Draco finds himself having to decide between what his parents want and what he wants for himself. Together, Harry and Draco embark on a journey to figure out who they are as individuals and what that means for their future together.

A canon AU drarry fic based on the relationship between Mickey and Ian from Shameless.

Hands down one of the best fics I've ever read. Ana did the most amazing job at translating Micky and Ian's relationship to Harry and Draco, although it’s definitely not necessary to know Shameless in order to enjoy the story. The writing is stunning, and I loved every single bit of this

2) I’ll Play Your Game by JayseHasNoGrace [Mature, 52.2k]

After quitting the Auror department at the ripe old age of twenty two, Harry Potter finds a nice, uneventful job in an apothecary. At least, it's uneventful until his old rival Draco Malfoy comes into the shop.

They strike up an unlikely friendship, which evolves into an increasingly convoluted scheme, which then snowballs spectacularly out of control into a tangle of lies and blurred lines.

They'd agreed to a fake relationship — in Harry's case, to get the wizarding world to take him off his 'perfect saviour' pedestal, and in Draco's case, just to be given a chance in wizarding society at all — but neither of them expected just how difficult that might really turn out to be. Especially when the stakes grow ever higher, and they both start falling for each other. Just a little bit.

FAKE DATING!!! Ugh, this was so good. I love the media aspect of it, and the way that everything comes together is just brilliant. A must-read for anyone who loves fake dating!!

3) I Can be Your Lighthouse by orpheous87 / @orpheous87 [Teen, 4k]

When Harry gets called to investigate reports of Dark magic, the last thing he expects to find is an almost unconscious Draco Malfoy. After multiple instances, he resolves to find out what's going on.

inspired by the song The Lighthouse by The Used.

So, so sweet. I love Harry's determination to figure out what's going on. This is such a lovely fic, and I enjoyed every minute of it

4) Freedom to be by Quicksilvermaid / @quicksilvermaid [Explicit, 169.5k]

Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived.

12 years after the war, he's become the Boy Who Lived For Everyone Else. He has the perfect wife. The perfect house. The perfect job. The perfect friends.

Only nothing feels perfect.

Until one day he stumbles across a club called Release and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him to a very different place.

This left such an impact on me, and it’s a fic I think about often. I can't even begin to explain how incredible everything about this is.

5) Dear Diary by AWickedMemory (TeddyLaCroix) [Teen, 20.4k]

// This can’t possibly go worse than the last time I kept a diary. //

After the war, Harry picks up a journal to write in… and it writes back. Luckily, it’s not a Horcrux on the other end this time.

Absolutely amazing. The relationship that develops between Harry and Draco as they write to each other was so soft and wonderful, and I would easily read 100k of this!

6) Grounds for Divorce by Tepre [Explicit, 122.2k]

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter.

A story about histories, a story about families. A story about a lemon tree somewhere in Upper Egypt.

I loved this. It was so angsty at times, but well worth it. An absolute classic that I’m so pleased to be able to say I’ve read.

7) Nero Su Bianco by Zuzallove [Explicit, 40.5k]

September 1997. Hogwarts is under the regime of Voldemort and the Carrows. Finding himself alienated by both his friends and his supposed enemies, Draco puts quill to parchment, and writes letters. He addresses them to the only person he can think of, as Hogwarts rapidly falls into chaos and ruin: Harry Potter. He goes to great lengths to ensure the letters are never discovered, and he’s pretty certain he’s done a great job.

Until the day of his trial.

The letters were so much fun to read, even though they were heartbreaking at times. I loved Draco’s characterization in this, as well as how his relationship develops with Harry.

8) Thunder by Keyflight790 [Explicit, 21.5k]

The storm will disappear; the rain will subside; but what's left in its wake will last forever. A story of love and loss, redemption and thunder

I really loved how well Draco's addiction was written. I'm not a huge fan of past relationships, but this was done in such a beautiful way. Plus, talking to dragons!!!

9) dirtynumbangelboy by magpie_fngrl [Explicit, 39.4k]

After Harry’s unfortunate encounter with his ex, Draco Malfoy makes him a proposition. Draco wants his parents to stop matchmaking him and Harry wants to make his ex jealous. All they need to do is simply pretend they’re in love. Problem is… Draco already is.

Amazing. This has absolutely sucked me into the world of fake dating. I could ramble about this forever, to be honest. Simply incredible, and I love how snarky their relationship was. It was the epitome of a good Drarry fic.

10) just tell me when it’s alright by M0stlyVoid / @bonesliketambourines [Explicit, 23k]

Harry’s been fighting tooth and nail for any bit of normalcy he can get his hands on. He’s sick of feeling like something’s wrong with him, tired of feeling different. He thinks he’s finally gotten to the root of it, and has settled into a routine that makes him happy. Naturally, that’s when Draco Malfoy walks back into his life and upends it once again. Has Harry bitten off more than he can chew with his former rival?

YES!! I genuinely loved Harry’s clinginess. This fic was absolutely amazing, and the secret dating was lovely. Plus, bi awakening!!

11) When Hippogriffs and Pygmy Puffs Collide by oldenuf2nb [Mature, 32.7k]

Harry Potter bakes cakes, brilliantly. Draco Malfoy inks tattoos, brilliantly. Owls deliver post, including messages from clients, with an occasional lack of brilliance.

I was really surprised at how much I loved this, especially since I’ve not really read many fics with odd jobs. I absolutely adored the fact that Harry was a baker and Draco was a tattoo artist, and the characterizations were absolute perfection

12) You Send Me (Honest You Do) by firethesound [Explicit, 37k]

As far as potion accidents go in general, and deaging incidents go in particular, Draco knew this could have been so much worse. Harry only lost about ten years, and all his memories are still intact. But the sight of him looking as if he’s stepped straight out of Draco’s Hogwarts memories has dredged up a whole mess of complicated feelings Draco thought he’d buried years ago, and Draco really doesn’t know what to do with any of it.

I absolutely adored this, and I thought the de-aging aspect was done is such a tasteful way. Such a good read.

13) Highly (in)Compatible by daisymondays [Teen, 36.8k]

Draco’s been shagging The Prat Who Lived on and off for a few months when his soul mark starts to change. Draco’s had to accept a lot of adjustments to his life, but accepting that Harry Potter could be his soulmate is one step too far. It can’t be true? Can it?

I LOVED THIS! Oh man, that ending!  Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant

14) Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) by ICMezzo [Mature, 37.8k]

The Room of Requirement was severely damaged in the war, but not so much that it could not provide for one lost student and another young hero—especially when they needed each other most of all.

An amazing, beautiful, tender fic! The ROR has given them the gift of each other, and I honestly love that it's just the two of them and no other characters. An incredible and soft read

15) December Never Felt So Wrong by MaesterChill / @maesterchill [Explicit, 50k]

'Twas the month before Christmas and sixteen year old Draco Malfoy had never felt worse. His attempts to kill Dumbledore were failing and, as usual, Harry Fucking Potter was a constant thorn in his side.

All that suddenly changed when Draco woke up 15 years in the future and discovered that not only was he allegedly shagging Harry Fucking Potter, he also had thinning hair and a five year old son, and no fucking clue how he got there.

Truly brilliant, and I was laughing from the start. The combination of the aging up, Harry’s off-tune singing to Muggle songs, and soft parenthood were all things I immediately fell in love with. Will be reading again and again

16) Catch Me If I Fall by keeli_marie [Explicit, 38.2k]

When Draco Malfoy collides with Harry Potter one morning while dropping the kids off at school, things don’t go quite the way either of them would have expected.

Another absolute gem, and I'm still reeling from how amazing it was. I'm always a bit hesitant with kid fics, but this is one of the best depictions of love between Harry and Draco that I've read. I love how supportive Astoria is. Such a lovely fic  

16) Love Found by Peachpety / @peachpety [Explicit, 7.5k]

During Harry’s sixth year, Draco Malfoy joins the Order as a double-agent and continues with his task to get the Death Eaters into the castle as assigned by Voldemort. Draco succeeds with his mission the evening Harry returns from the caves with Dumbledore. The boys reunite on the Astronomy Tower and, with the Death Eater’s arrival, are forced to engage in a fight, driving Harry to come to terms with his feelings about true friendship and romantic love.

SUCH a good rewrite of the astronomy tower scene. I can’t describe how much I love the pre-existing relationship, which is a trope I typically steer clear from. And the snark!!! Such a good fucking fic

17) Taro Milk Tea with a side of Depression by Veelawings / @veelawings [Mature, 1k]

Draco sat through twenty grievous minutes of Ministry-mandated group therapy for Newly Registered Magical Beings & Creatures — then promptly stormed out.

Okay, I loved this. The play format was so cool and fit the narration so well. Absolute perfection and SO. GOOD.

18) The Dragon At The Bottom Of The Garden by Zopno [Explicit, 52.3k]

At 25 Harry Potter's life was simple; he flew, sculpted, and had the vault in the back of his mind to keep all unpleasant business. It was stable, but when Draco Malfoy literally hit him with a giant rock; all that changed.

I loved the storyline, especially Animagus bird Harry!! This was such a unique take on an Animagus and post-war fic, and I loved reading it so much   

19) Exposure by GallaPlacidia [Mature, 26.9k]

When Seamus uncovers Draco Malfoy's camboy profile, he, Harry and Ron decide to anonymously book a private show so as to humiliate him later. Fascinated by Draco's confidence, Harry keeps booking private shows under the disguise...

Self prompt: Draco is a camboy. Harry betrays him.

I can't give this enough praise. The hurt of it all was so brilliant. A new favorite for sure

20) you've got the antidote for me by Kandakicksass [Mature, 20.7k]

When Harry Potter unintentionally severs their soulbond before it can fully form, Draco Malfoy resigns himself to a slow death and decides not to burden Harry with a soulmate he's made it very clear he doesn't want.

He's never been selfless before, but for Harry, he can try.

Fuck. Like...fuck. This was so sad and angsty and perfect in all the right ways. Watching everything unfold was so painful but so worth it. Another new favorite

21) A Room Up There (And You In It) by thestarryknight [Teen, 59.2k]

When Preservationist Draco Malfoy was assigned to work on Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, he was excited to delve into the gorgeous Black family antiques. His excitement quickly ended when something in the House decided it did not like his presence one bit. Featuring a grumpy antiques lover who most certainly did not sign up for this, encounters with a vengeful apparition, and a healthy application of Christmas spirit.

Absolutely fucking fantastic. This fic reads intimacy all over, despite there being no sex. I love preservationist Draco and the way in which information about Harry unfolds. I can’t say enough how much I loved this advent fic, and Starry did such a great job

And now for three fics that I have yet to read/need to emotionally prepare myself for:

1) Modern Love by Tackytiger / @tackytigerfic [Explicit, 61.2k]

Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

And it really doesn’t seem fair that Draco Malfoy is back in Harry’s life, all of a sudden, and even though he’s wandless, and living with Muggles, and making his mother cry with his lifestyle choices, he’s happy. So what's he doing right, that Harry isn’t?

Because things don’t really change, do they? And if Harry can’t be happy, he’ll settle for a good night’s sleep, some posh antiques, and the opportunity to find out what Malfoy has been up to for all these years.

And that’s what starts it all.

2) Dragons Don't Know Paradise by  tainara_black / @teacup-tai [Explicit, 50.9k]

In 2004, when Remus spends two scary weeks in the ITU due to complications of pneumonia and his HIV condition, Sirius walks around the house like a ghost and Harry finds comfort and strength in Draco through a chat in an online LGBT forum. Harry falls for him, but Draco has a lot of secrets and, before long, will need to come clean—even if he believes that no one is able to understand a dragon.

This is a story about falling in love online and about facing the reality of death, but above all, this is a story about hope, finding love and acceptance. (Non-magical / bookshop AU, written for the 25 days of Drarry 2020)

3) Aeternus Solem by onbeinganangel / @onbeinganangel [Explicit, 36.9k]

On December 1st, Harry Potter gets sent halfway across the world to attempt to break a possibly fatal curse on an unnamed British Unspeakable — except said Unspeakable is not unnamed at all and Harry has been in love with him for over four years.

{If anyone spots any mistakes in this list, PLEASE let me know! I hope you all have a lovely New Year’s, and may 2021 be less of a dumpster on fire than its predecessor 💜}

[official-weasley]

Molly's Wrath (The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley AU)

Warnings: Molly being...well Molly

Word count: 3,502

Characters: Charlie Weasley and my OC Nova from TICW which you can find here

Charlie

“Do you have everything?” I asked the second Nova came down the stairs.

“We're only going to be gone for a few days,” she gave out a gentle smile, “if everything goes well, of course.”

“I don't care what they say, it's our life.” I walked to her and pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“Are you prepared to answer all the questions?”

“Like what?” I asked bemused.

“Like why did it happen, how could you be so irresponsible, where are you going to live and your answer better not be the Sanctuary!” Nova imitated my mum.

“How about I just roll my eyes every time like Ron usually does?” I chuckled.

“Charlie, this is serious!” Nova whined.

“I know you're nervous but you worry too much.” I made her let go of the bag she was holding and wrapped my arms around her in a tight embrace.

“What if they don't approve, what if your mum doesn't approve?” Nova started to panic.

Ever since we found out we are going to have a baby and I mentioned that we might be scolded by my parents for getting pregnant before getting married, Nova has been having a hard time falling asleep and dreading to tell my family.

“And what is she going to do? Ground us?” I giggled.

“What if...what if...” Nova's lip started to tremble, her gaze on the wall next to us.

“What if what, love?” I tilted my head, hoping she will look me in the eyes.

“What if she makes us give her away?” Nova whispered.

“Her?” I gasped. “We're having a girl?!” I exclaimed. “How do you know?”

“I-I don't.” Nova smiled sheepishly. “I just have a feeling it's a girl. I can't quite explain it.”

We haven't been to St Mungo's yet as Madam Finch suggested us to go but we made an appointment and we are going there after our visit to the Burrow. The night after we found out about the baby, we discussed if we would like to know the gender and we both agreed that we would like it to be a surprise – we would be happy whether it's a boy or a girl.

I was certain that I would be as happy having a daughter as having a son but now that Nova said she thinks it's a girl, I couldn't help but hope for it to be true. I have 6 siblings, only one being a girl so when I imagined having a family with Nova I first thought of a girl that looks just like her.

I couldn't stop my lips from curving into a smile imagining a little Nova running around our living room, giggling as I am chasing after her, trying to tickle her while Nova is sitting on the sofa and laughing at our shenanigans.

“Char? You with me?” Nova waving her hand in front of my face brought me back from my daydreaming.

“Huh, yeah.”

“What were you thinking about?” Nova pressed her lips together not to chuckle.

“Oh, nothing. Just us having a girl.” I scratched the back of my head, feeling the heat on my cheeks.

“You're adorable, do you know that.” She ruffled my hair and kissed me on the lips before starting toward the door.

“Nova, wait.” I reached for her hand to stop her.

Her saying that we're going to have a girl made me completely forgot about her worries about telling my family.

“C'mon, Char. We can daydream later.” She chuckled. “We have to go if we don't want to miss our portkey and you know I don't want to know what apparition will do to my stomach. I already don't like apparating.”

“I just don't want you to go there all worried, thinking that my mum will make you give up the baby. She will probably be mad but she loves children and has been nagging us to make her a grandmother for years.” I tried calming her.

“I know, but Molly is also very traditional and I got pregnant before we got married.” “And you'll give birth after we get married. Problem solved!” I lifted my hands in the air, enthusiastically.

“Right.” Nova's eyes were narrowed, still skeptical of my optimism.

“Your mum was happy about it.” I won't stop giving her reasons for her not to worry.

“No,” Nova giggled, “my mum was ecstatic.”

“Exactly! My mum will be just as happy.” I rubbed my chin. “If your mum didn't tell her yet.”

Nova's mum visited us a few days ago and since it was the day after we found out we decided to tell her. Well, Nova more or less blurted it out because she couldn't hold in the excitement and Olivia would find out sooner or later, because she always knew when we were trying to keep a secret.

To say that she was happy to have a grandchild was an understatement. She already asked if we need anything, offered to move to Romania so she could babysit, started to lecture Nova about all the baby things she has to know before she gives birth, and of course, cried her eyes out along with her daughter.

“We made her swear.” Nova sounded confident that for once, our mums won't tell each other everything about us that the other doesn't know.

“You made her pinky promise, love.” I bestowed her with a soft smile.

“Hey, those a serious!” Nova laughed.

“We're going to be fine. Now, come on.” I kissed her one more time and gestured for us to leave our home.

—

The second the portkey transported us to the hill at the Burrow I began to feel nervous. Nova grabbed my hand to get my attention and nodded toward the tree where I surprised her with a midnight picnic all those years ago.

I smiled at the memory that rolled in front of my eyes. We barely started dating back then and now we lived together, were about to get married, and had a baby on the way. Sometimes I still need to pinch myself to know that this is my real life as I never imagined it to be so perfect.

“There they are!” The second we stepped through the door my mum pulled us both in a tight hug.

I looked at Nova, who looked paler than usual and I knew that her nerves were getting the better of her.

I knew at once that all of my siblings were probably playing Quidditch outside and as much I was would like to join them, I found this a perfect opportunity for us to tell my parents the news alone.

“So, how's the planning going?” My dad asked the second we sat down in the living room.

“We're on a tight schedule but we're managing,” Nova said, covering her mouth with the cup of tea my mum brewed.

“What Nova is trying to say is that she can't decide which of the girls will be her maid of honor.” I chuckled and took a sip of my tea.

“You still haven't decided!” My mum returned from the kitchen, looking perplexed.

Nova swallowed thickly and shook her head slowly.

“But you're less than 10 days away from the wedding.” My mum forgot how to close her mouth.

“They are coming to visit us in a few days and they'll discuss it then. Right, love?” I put my hand over Nova's to make her stop having a mini panic attack.

“Yeah.” She nodded quickly and started blowing on her tea to distract herself.

Nova has never been afraid or intimidated by my mum. On the contrary – she saw her as a mother figure and it always meant a lot to me that they get along so well. But ever since we announced the date of our wedding, my mum has been sending her letters non-stop about how she should do and arrange everything.

Nova, of course, couldn't bother with so many things because we wanted to keep it as simple and as minimalistic as possible. So picking out the right napkin color and the right flowers was something that just didn't concern her. The second she mentioned that to my mum – making a mistake of telling her that she doesn't need all that even though she appreciates her help – my mum raised her voice at her for the first time since they were introduced at King's Cross when we were 12.

Nova knew that Molly was just excited and that she didn't mean anything bad by saying a few things a tad too loud. Nonetheless, now every time we visit or she gets a letter from her, she becomes nervous and acts like a child waiting to be scolded by their mother.

I talked to her about it and she said that she just can't help it – saying that she loves my family so much and wants the wedding to be perfect for everybody. She has calmed down a bit over the last month but knowing we would have to do a lot of things last minute, she was still a bit shaky.

“Did you at least talk to Bill yet?” My mum asked another question after a moment of silence.

“No,” Nova mumbled.

“She is going to talk to Bill when he will accompany her to her dad's grave tomorrow,” I answered for her.

“I just don't understand why do you have to do everything so last minute.” Mum sighed.

“They're busy, Molly. Give them a break.” Dad said gently, then turned to me and sent me a wink. “I am sure the wedding will be just lovely.”

“Of course, it will be lovely. We have been waiting for this for years.” Mum pursed her lips.

“Speaking of waiting for something for years.” I cleared my throat. “We have something else to tell you.”

“Oh, more exciting news?” Dad jumped in his seat.

“We're...”

“Oh, thank Merlin, you're finally moving!” Mum clapped her hands together, interrupting me.

“No.” I shook my head.

“Molly, let them finish.” Dad put an arm around mum's shoulder, shaking her a little.

“Why not?” Mum completely ignored dad's gesture and furrowed her brows.

“Mum...”

“Haven't we been through this?”

“Can you just listen...”

“You can't live in that Sanctuary forever, Charles.” She kept interrupting me.

Dad sighed, shrugged, and tried to calm me down with a faint smile. I glanced at Nova, who was nervously tapping her foot and biting the inner side of her cheek, her eyes on my mum.

“Mum, please...” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“I didn't say you have to come back home but nobody's going to tell me that there isn't a village in the apparition distance where you could find a nice house and...”

“I'm pregnant!” Nova blurted out, leaving my mum speechless.

“You're...” Mum's eyes kept switching between me and Nova, her mouth slightly opened.

“We're going to be grandparents!” My dad got up so abruptly that he almost knocked over the coffee table.

He walked to Nova, looking at her tummy, teary-eyed, and pulled her into the tightest hug I think she has ever gotten from him.

“Congratulations.” He whispered in her ear before letting her go and coming to me to do the same. “Do you know the gender yet?” He asked excitedly and I shook my head.

“Molly, come on, say something.” Dad wiped his eyes and sat back down.

“What's the rush?” She said under her breath.

“What?” I asked, incredulously.

“What's the sudden rush? What happened to 'no mum, we aren't ready to have kids yet, let us enjoy life'?” Her voice rising.

“You're the one that nagged us about making you a grandmother!” My brows came together and I raised my voice at her.

“This wasn't planned, was it?” She hissed at me, ignoring my comment.

“Molly, calm down. We should be happy for them.” Dad extended his hand to prevent her from standing up.

“Planned?” I let out a laugh. “Like Bill was planned? Like I was?”

Mum gasped but said nothing.

“We're not even two weeks away from the wedding, what does it matter?” We all turned to Nova now.

“She's right, Molly. They are getting married and they are starting a family. It's all you talk about since they got engaged.” Dad tried calming mum down one more time.

“But they are not ready, Arthur!” Mum turned to dad, giving him an angry look. “They don't even know how to plan a wedding, let alone have a baby. They live amongst the most dangerous beasts not even thinking about moving! How can you be supportive of this?”

“Molly, that's enough!” That was the second time I have ever heard my dad raise his voice.

The only other time was when the twins nearly burned down the house in my second year.

“They are adults, they both have a good job and they can take care of themselves, right?” Dad's frown disappeared when he looked at us.

“Y... Excuse me.” Nova put her hand over her mouth and got up.

“Nova...”

“It's alright, Char. I got it.” She said as she disappeared on the stairs.

“She already has morning sickness?” If I didn't know any better, I would say that that was concern in my mum's voice.

“Oh, now you want to know more?” I rolled my eyes and stood up. “I need some fresh air.”

“Charlie, wait.” Dad made me stop walking as he closed the front door behind us.

“No, dad. I'm sick of this. She never listens and she has never been supportive.” I sighed and leaned against the wall next to the door. “She shouted at me for 3 hours when I made my final decision to move to Romania and she sent Bill a Howler when he accepted the job in Egypt. I have enough of this.”

“I know. I'm sorry.” Dad put a hand on my shoulder.

“You have nothing to apologize for, dad. You have supported us all in everything we ever did.”

“She will come around. The news just caught her off guard. You have to know that you and Nova starting a family has been the main topic of our conversations for months.” Dad smiled at me.

“Then why did she throw such a tantrum? Why can't anything ever be easy with her?” I frowned, trying to keep my voice down.

“You and Nova remind her of us when we were your age. Yes, it's no secret that neither you nor Bill were planned,” dad's cheeks turned scarlet, “and we struggled to get everything in order. Your mother is just worried because she doesn't want you to go through the same thing. She wouldn't trade you two boys for anything in the world but she wishes she would be more prepared and she just doesn't want you to struggle as we did.”

“But we won't. We might not know everything about babies but we are willing to learn. Olivia said she will send Nova some books and we have an appointment at St Mungo's tomorrow and yes, we didn't plan to have a baby quite so soon but dad,” I took a deep breath, “you should've seen us when the test showed a plus. We were so excited. We might not be the most knowledgable but I know we are ready for this.”

“I know you are, son,” dad pulled me into a hug, “you're going to make great parents.”

“Thanks, dad.” I couldn't stop the grin from spreading all over my face. It meant the world coming from him.

“Parents?” We broke apart when we heard voices behind us.

Ginny, Fred, George, and Ron were looking at us, their mouths wide open, brooms in their hands.

“I'm...I'm going to be an aunt?!” Ginny started shaking from excitement.

“We're going to be uncles!” Fred and George said in unison.

“Is Nova really pregnant?” Ron smiled and I nodded.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” Fred dropped his broom and stepped to where dad and I were standing.

“We want it to be a surprise, so we don't know.” I chuckled.

“Fred, I will bet you 3 Galleons that it's a boy.” George turned to his twin, offering him his hand to shake.

“You're on!” Fred shook it at once.

“I want to bet too!” Ron appeared next to the twins. “I think it's going to be a boy too!”

“I think it's going to be a girl!” Ginny lifted her chin confidently.

“Ginny, you don't even have 3 Galleons.” George laughed.

“I don't need them, because I am going to win.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Are you going to bet too, dad?” I turned to him.

“Why not!” Dad shrugged. “I'm with Ginny.”

One by one my siblings hugged and congratulated me before grabbing their brooms and running towards the shed.

“I'm going to check up on Nova.” I turned to my dad.

“You do that, son. I'll talk to your mother.” He opened the door for us.

I ran up the stairs, stopping in front of the bathroom to catch my breath, ready to knock on the door when I heard voices inside.

“Let it all out, dear.” I heard my mum say gently, Nova vomiting. “There you go. Almost there, you're doing great.”

“Thank you, Molly,” Nova said as she flushed.

“I think I owe you an apology.”

“It's okay. I understand that this isn't ideal.”

“No, it's not okay. I know I made Charlie very upset and I didn't even ask you how you feel about it.” Mum sighed.

“I want a family with Charlie but I always bottled it, telling myself it's not the right time and that we should wait. When we were walking to the store to get the test I panicked because I wasn't sure how I would feel if the test showed that I was pregnant. But as we were waiting for it to show the result, the excitement in my chest growing, I knew that I would be sad if we would see a minus and Charlie wanted it to be positive too and when we finally looked we were so happy. We both want this and it feels right.”

“It really does.” I heard my mum move as Nova started vomiting again. “There you go. You can do this.”

“I am sorry. I should have approached the situation differently.” Mum said after a few seconds of silence when Nova stopped once again.

“Perhaps.” Nova let out a chuckle.

“I just don't want you and Charlie to be like me and Arthur. We had no idea what we were doing when Bill was born and we had no one to help us.” Mum inhaled and exhaled sharply.

“But we have you and my mum and we are eager to learn as much as we can before the baby arrives.”

“I know. It's different. You'll manage just fine.”

I knocked on the door, deciding to stop eavesdropping.

“Can I come in?”

I heard my mum stand up and unlock the door.

“Of course, Charlie.” She said gently, avoiding my eyes.

I sat down next to Nova and kissed her forehead.

“How are you feeling?” I whispered.

“I think it's going to end soon.” She smiled gently.

“It's better than yesterday then.” I tried being positive.

“Oh, definitely. Yesterday we camped in the bathroom.” She giggled.

“We are going to the healers tomorrow. They'll tell you if you can expect this to end any time soon.” I pressed my lips against her forehead again, stroking her hair.

I looked up at my mum, who was standing silently at the door, smiling and tears in her eyes.

“Mum? What's wrong?”

“Oh, nothing!” She swung her hand while wiping her eyes with her other one before kneeling next to us. “I am so sorry, Charles.” She sobbed. “I was wrong. You are ready and you will be so great at this. Congratulations!”

I pushed Nova gently off me and hugged my mum. After dad calming me down and hearing mum talking to Nova, I decided not to hold any grudges. I understand that she just wants the best for us but sometimes doesn't know how to show it properly.

“It's okay, mum. You just need to learn to think before you speak and just listen to us.” I said nonchalantly.

“I know. I am working on it.” She nodded even though I knew she felt called out.

“Does your mum know already?” She turned to Nova after she flushed the toilet again.

“Yes, we told her a few days ago.” Nova smiled.

“Oh, I am going to go and write her a letter.” My mum clapped excitedly and left the bathroom.

“They will probably discuss if it's a boy or a girl.” Nova giggled and I followed because I knew that that was exactly what will be the main topic of their correspondence until our baby is born.

[freckleddoll]

Reasons why Doll could still be alive

1. I’m still in denial

I compiled a list of reasons why I think that there is a possibility of Doll coming back in the future! Although I do think the chances are slim, given the fact that she hasn’t appeared in the Manga since 2009, which was 12 years ago. However, there is a handful of reasons from a story telling perspective of why it’s possible, and also a handful of inconsistencies between Doll’s death and all of the other Noah’s Ark Circus deaths. Very long post under the cut.

Starting with the most obvious, we never see Doll’s death actually happened, it’s ever only implied.

We don’t hear a direct command, it’s only implied that she died. This is “affirmed” a second later by Undertaker.

He laughs about how Ciel is hastily, and that he can not take back what he’s done, even if he regrets it later. However, this isn’t explicitly about Doll. We as the audience are made to believe that this is about her because we just saw the frame before, of Doll’s signature lollipop falling.

We have seen every other death on screen. We are certain to see each of their corpses, except for Joker, who’s death is confirmed by William T Spears earlier in the chapter.

This is placed conveniently, or dare I say, deliberately before Doll’s death. We see William and Ronald collecting souls only before Doll shows up. The only other Reaper we see in this chapter afterwards is Undertaker.

This is of course speculation, but I don’t believe that the death Undertaker is referring to here is Doll’s death. I think he might be referring to the massacre Ciel and Sebastian have basically just committed after being employed for this mission to save the children. This is something Ciel can not take back. But Undertaker never explicitly said Doll, in fact, he specifically chose the phrase “to hold each and every soul dear” which implies that multiple souls were lost. I don’t think he is actually talking about the Circus Troupe, Doll or Joker.

What could this mean?

I think we are purposefully being misdirected as an audience member here, and I believe that the decision to withhold the details of Doll’s death was deliberate. I believe that the narrative is purposefully withholding information that will much later in the story become important.

Another thing I’d like to point out is, why on earth is Undertaker here? His presence isn’t explained, other than to “affirm” Doll’s death. He is seen with a carriage, along with Charles Grey and Charles Phipps. Well this could tie back to R!Ciel, I think that it’s also possible that:

Doll is actually dead and the information being withheld from us is that Undertaker took her body to later use as a Bizarre Doll to mess with Ciel later in the series.

Doll was disarmed by Sebastian, and once they left, perhaps even believing Doll was dead, Doll was taken in by Undertaker and R!Ciel for revenge or something. I know this one is a lot more dodgy, but it’s the one I believe makes more narrative sense.

Now let’s move on to how this makes sense from a narrative perspective.

Obviously, Snake is still alive, and believes that his family is alive. He goes to Ciel’s manor looking for them.

Ciel offers Snake a position at the Phantomhive manor, under the guise that they are looking for Snake’s family. Snake joins him because Ciel is manipulating him here, telling him that Snake can essentially have a new family at the manor while looking for his old family.

I believe Doll is a big influence as to why Ciel makes this decision. 

Ciel sees Doll when he looks at Snake, which seems to be painful for Ciel. He then goes out of his way to affirm that they were, in fact, bad people (perhaps to justify his own actions in his mind) but then goes back on this and claims that he believes they were good people as to manipulate Snake.

He wants to help them achieve happiness and give them the chance to atone for their sins. The question is, is Ciel taking Snake in to atone for his own sins or to manipulate Snake?

Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked. A crucial character that is being played in this scene is of course, Doll. In every single memory that Snake shares, Doll is center frame, or the person who was closest to him.

Doll is either takes up the most space in the frame, or she’s the one who is standing closest to Snake. Not even Joker is this present in all of the images, but she is in all of them. While we didn’t see this much play out in the actual Book of Circus arc (given that Snake had very little screentime in that arc anyway), we can infer from these images that Snake felt the closest to Doll out of everyone at the Circus.

We also aren’t just seeing his actual memories normally, we are seeing his memories in an emotionally charged state. While he is feeling highly emotional, the person he thinks of the most is Doll. This is not just him remembering her as being the friendliest or most open person to him, this is who he was actually closest with within the Circus.

Doll’s relationship with both Snake and Ciel are very important parts of both of these characters. We see Ciel soften and feel guilt when he is reminded of Doll, and we see that Snake and Doll were presumably very close because of this scene.

Also just some fun images that I felt like pointing out:

Doll is featured in this image with one of Snake’s snakes. There isn’t much of a reason to feature one of these Snake’s snakes, unless we’re meant to infer a connection between these two.

I’m not quite sure where this image came from, but look! Doll and Snake are sitting next to each other, and Snake has a little smile on his face, which as we know isn’t very common for Snake in this series. There are very few instances of him smiling. However, this is obvious in the anime style so it likely isn’t manga compliant it’s cute though.

They’re featured together in another image!

Now for Doll and Ciel of course:

Doll and Ciel are seen here lying together.

These two images are very important to me and I feel they both hold a deeper meaning. Now it’s time to talk about Ciel and Doll.

Of course, there is the eye symbolism. Both of them keep an eye covered up, because both are hiding secrets that they need to keep covered up. Both wear a costume and live under a persona (Doll’s Circus persona that hides her identity of someone who kidnaps children and Ciel’s Smile persona where he is hiding his identity of the Queen’s watchdog). Yet, both of them are drawn to each other despite their secrets and form lasting connections.

We also see Ciel reaching out to Doll, and Sebastian taking the lollipop out of his hand. He is literally taking her away from him and blinding him from finding her. He is concealing the truth?

Despite what her family says, Doll refuses to believe that Ciel is with the yard.

She draws the parallels between herself and Ciel right here! She literally said it herself! Both of them are capable of holding secrets, and despite what appearances may suggest, people are still capable of hiding things. When she says “but we” she is acknowledging that appearances don’t always match expectations.

However, she still believes in him, up until the very end.

Even up until this point, she was still willing to listen to Ciel, and denies it until she can’t anymore. She reflects on their time together, having believed that their friendship was real.

Doll finally accepts it and feels hurt, betrayed and angry. She tries to kill him after this. Instead of anger, fear or hatred, this is the face we see Ciel make.

He looks sad and tired. This isn’t the face of someone who takes pleasure in the idea of killing her. We see him feel remorse for Doll even earlier, like I pointed out earlier in this scene

This scene is what compels him to take Snake in, being reminded of Doll. He looks sad here, he looks remorseful.

But most importantly, there is this image.

This takes place in the Green Witch arc, meaning that he is still thinking about Doll, she is still relevant up until this point in the story.

This image isn’t necessarily him leaving behind those who impacted his life who have since died, though that is certainly part of it. As we know, R!Ciel is still alive which O!Ciel at this point was not aware of. This picture does not reflect the complete truth.

His last obstacle could be interpreted as the Circus itself, but Doll and Joker aren’t positioned together like Rachel and Vincent are. Doll is a distance away from Joker in this image, and her image is a different size than Joker’s, implying that they are two completely different obstacles. In my opinion, Joker represents the Circus as a whole and himself. He represents all the sacrifices he had to make in Baron Kelvin’s manor. He could even represent his trauma while inside the cult.

But Doll is a completely different obstacle. She represents a personal obstacle. She seems to have impacted him greatly, being an influence in what compelled him to take Snake in. She is also one of the only people in this series we see Ciel feel remorse for. She is important.

At this point, this is supposed to give us the conclusion to all of these stories and ideas. But as highly speculated by the fandom (and practically canon) the first Ciel we see in the image is actually R!Ciel who O!Ciel left behind at the cult, who we know is still alive. The first greatest obstacle and his last greatest obstacle. That’s symbolism right there, right?

But I don’t believe that Snake’s story has concluded just yet. His family should still be a huge part of his character and his motivations. If his story isn’t leading up to something, than I think it’s going to be a rather poor choice on Yana Toboso’s part. But as we know, she doesn’t just do things for no reason, I believe that a lot of this was intentional.

TL;DR: Because Doll’s death is never specifically seen on screen, because Undertaker seems to purposefully mislead us after Doll’s death (and because of Undertaker’s presence in the first place), because the promise of looking for Snake’s family who is pivotal to Snake’s character, and because of the importance of Doll’s relationships with both O!Ciel and Snake, I believe that there is a chance that Yana Toboso is planning on bringing Doll back into the story.

This is all speculation, of course. I’d love for it to be true, but it is still rather dodgy given the fact that Doll hasn’t appeared in the Manga in twelve years. I could definitely just suffering from hopeful thinking, but I would love to see our girly make a return. Perhaps with R!Ciel? But the idea of her returning with R!Ciel is an idea for another day and I might make a separate post about it sometime! Thanks a bunch if you made it this far!

[dcforts]

[day 12: the one with the dancing + day 16: family]

The bunker is quiet.

Even the giggling from the girls’ room has stopped.

Cas starts the last dishwasher and sighs. They did it.

His back hurts, his feet are heavy and his neck is stiff, and now he thinks that conveniently falling asleep on the couch right before the end of the night was nothing but a strategy on Sam’s part. He should have done the same.

Sure, everyone had volunteered to help, but Dean had been resolute and unwavering. They all had a long journey and they needed the rest, there was no way he’d let them lift a finger in his kitchen.

A Winchester treat package, Christmas edition.

Even when Jody had stayed behind and insisted, Dean hadn’t wanted to hear it.

“Is not cooking, decorating and serving enough?”

“We invited you for the whole deal Jody,” Dean had said, physically blocking her from entering the kitchen. “Go to bed. We got it,” and he’d said it with such convinction that Jody could only shake her head and relent. 

“Fine,” she’d said, shoving a finger in his face, “but I’m never again letting you doing my dishes when you come over.”

Dean had just huffed a laugh and taken the last dirty plate from her hands.

Cas was already in the kitchen at that point, sorting through leftovers and empty bottles.

That was – Cas doesn’t know how long ago. It’s been a while since he’s checked a clock.

But he knows Dean is throwing out the last of the trash and the kitchen is clean and ready to be stained again. So he feels like they did it.

He goes back to the main rooms for a quick check to see if they missed anything, and he ends up stepping on a piece of wrapping paper and tape that starts squeaking at every step. He sighs, walks to the nearest chair and lets himself sink into it.

He peels off the piece of paper, but then he can’t bring himself to get up again.

He’ll just be a minute, he tells himself, just to get his back some respite. He’ll get up when he’ll hear Dean come back.

He props an elbow on the armrest and his head on his hand and wonders if he can hear the dishwasher beep from there.

He had no idea that holidays could be so exhausting.

Barely sleeping in anticipation of all the things that had to be done, working tiredlessly in tidying up and preparing for guests, last minute shopping, wrapping, cooking.

And then, having everyone around all the time, talking and laughing. From the moment the girls from Sioux Falls had invaded the bunker that afternoon, Cas is pretty sure he hasn’t had a single moment alone. Even when he’d gone to the bathroom at one point, Garth had followed him to get him to hold little Cas for a picture.

And that’s not to mention: keeping everyone out of the kitchen, setting up board games, save Claire from choking with laughter watching Donna and Dean singing and air guitaring to their own rock version of Jingle Bell Rock, alchool spilling, gifts opening, “Please don’t read that book out loud, there could be a deadly spell in there”.

And after dinner, directing everyone to their assigned bedroom, keeping them there, taking care of who needed extra blankets, who wanted extra pillows, teethbrushes, slippers, babies crying and drunken giggles.

Complete, utter chaos.

But now sitting there, in the quiet room and with the Christmas tree twinkling a few feet away, Cas thinks: a really good day.

He so wishes he was already tucked under the covers in an horizontal position, though.

A sound startles him from his thoughts. Dean takes the steps to the library in one jump. “Hey, all done?” he asks, and doesn’t sound at all like someone who’s been up since dawn.

“Dishwasher,” Cas says, stifling a yawn.

Dean stands a few feet from him and smiles fondly, “You can go if you want. I can handle it.”

His tone is charming and lively and Cas can’t possibly understand how he has any energy left when he can barely keep his eyes open.

Still, he shakes his head, “You can go if you want. I’ll stay up. You’ve done more than anyone else.”

“Alright, we’ll both stay up then,” settles it Dean, “Are you gonna fall asleep on that chair?”

“Mh,” says Cas who’s actually amazed at how incredibly comfortable his own hand is.

He hears Dean walking around him.

“How much longer for the dishwasher?”

“No idea.”

“Let’s say four minutes, uh?”

What he says doesn’t make any sense to Cas, not until sweet and soulful music starts filling the air around him.

Dean comes back into his space and when Cas blinks his eyes open, there’s a hand in front of him, palm up, in offering.

“Come on.”

“Dean,” he groans, but he’s already accepting it and letting himself be pulled up.

“I’m doing this so that you don’t fall asleep,” Dean says, his voice low, walking backward and dragging him along until they are in a clear space.

“I’ll just fall asleep on your shoulder.”

Dean stops and their chest touch. “I’ll allow it.”

Chestnut roasting on an open fire, sings the record and Cas drops his head on Dean’s shoulder and circles his waist. He closes his eyes and it feels like losing touch with reality a bit – he lets himself fall and fall into the warmth of his body, the smell of food on his clothes, the strong grip of his hand. Dean is solid and perfect and makes him feel lighter and Cas is much more comfortable than he was a second ago.

“We’re supposed to be moving, Cas, you’re just hugging me,” comes Dean’s amused voice from someplace around his ear.

Cas sighs but slowly starts swaying to the rhythm of the record as it sings, Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe, help to make the season bright.

“Do you think they’ll be up early?” Cas asks, mouth pressed against Dean’s sweater.

“Yeah. But we’ll have Sam sort out breakfast.”

“We need to lock the door.”

Dean lets out a laugh and raises a hand to stroke his hair. “Come on, it hasn’t been that bad.”

As he laughs his whole chest vibrates and his muscles shift, and Cas, pressed against him, starts to feel more alive. It’s all Dean, he knows - it’s the life and light he contains. It’s always been like that with him.

“Well, now I’m feeling much better,” he says and he means it.

“Yeah? Wanna go again from the start?”

Cas pulls back a little to look at him. This close, he can see clearly the bags under his eyes, but also the way they still sparkle, “Are you actually serious? You’d do that?”

Dean shrugs and leans in for a quick kiss before saying, “Sure.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Yeah, but - more happy than tired.”

“And you’d do it - all over again? Even the part when I dropped the tray with the starters?”

“Yep.”

“Even when Charlie spilled sauce on Bobby, when Garth told that superlong story about his kids? Even when we caught Sam and Eileen making out in the bathroom and then there was that big fight over charades?”

“A thousand times,” he says, and he buries his face into Cas’ hair, “if it means I get to be with the whole family and you, at the end of it all.”

“Well, you’re very sweet, really. But I’d rather we just disappear until New Year’s.”

Dean laughs again, “I’m not the one who promised Claire a foosball rematch.”

Cas lets out a pained sigh and shifts to press his lips against Dean’s neck , “I’d forgotten about that. Why did you let me do it?”

“Cause you love it.”

They fall quiet as the record takes a breath and starts singing again, And so I’m offering a simple phrase, to kids from one to ninety-two.

Cas starts kissing a trail up the side of Dean’s neck.

“Mh,” says Dean swallowing, his voice suddenly raspy, “alright, we’re locking the door.”

Although it’s been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you, sings the record.

They let it sing.

The dishwasher beeps. They don’t hear it.

joining @bend-me-shape-me in doing this!

The Christmas Song sang by Nat King Cole

[tlou-1]

Joel x Reader (Home) - Chapter 12

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6| Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13| Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 TBA

Chapter 12 - Big News (You share your news with your family and receive some bigs news of your own + wedding) 

Thankfully it didn’t appear your ankle or foot was severely damaged but the doctor had asked you to avoid putting weight on it and to revisit her in two weeks for a final once over. More importantly your family were elated by your and Joel’s news, Molly couldn’t believe you were actually settling down after all these years, the same for Tommy with Joel. The things about Jackson is, they tried to celebrate things as much as possible. It often gave people something to look forward to and revel in something joyful... in saying that these things could potentially get bigger than needed. 

A couple days later after the proposal, Joel and you are sat opposite each other on the sofa one afternoon, your legs resting a top of his enjoying the peaceful cosy day. You were looking at him for sometime, mulling over how you wanted to marry Joel Miller but in a way that suited you both. “Joel?” You say softly, he looks up from the book he was reading “hmm?” He replies his mind slowly rejoining the real world. 

“What if we were to get married soon?” You ask, pulling his book down further away from his face. 

“How soon?” He asks now looking at you. 

“In a week or two?” You shrug trying to suggest it as casually as possible. You explain your logic, in that the longer you leave it, the more things will get out of hand and people would have time to prepare. Neither of you were the big wedding type and neither wanted a fuss. Something simple in the church with a small group of people was more than enough.

“Damn - why didn’t I think of that?” He chuckles. 

“So you agree? Something simple, in the church just over a week from now? Say next Sunday?” you smile.

“Sounds perfect” he sighs and goes back to reading his book. 

The plan is simple, a small wedding in the church with your family and friends. Joel was to borrow a shirt and tie from Tommy and you planned on wearing the one dress you owned, it was not formal but it was the best you could do. Molly however had another plan for your dress, a few nights before the big day, you, Ellie and Joel had joined Molly and Jesse for dinner. At the end of the meal Molly stood up from the table and announced she had something to show you and Ellie and that the boys would have to keep themselves occupied in the meantime. In her spare room on the bed lay a dress, it was a cream sheath gown very simple and classic. 

“I need you to try it on so I can fit it properly to you” Molly said as she tied up her hair. 

“How did you - did you make this?” You ask overwhelmed. 

“Tried to, I have always been a dab hand with a needle and I had some help from the girls in town. We couldn't find any white material but I think this is pretty close. Even had some lace left over from a curtain to make a veil”. You couldn’t help but pull her into your arms and thank her. You didn’t want anything fancy but you did have to admit the thought of being so underdressed at your own wedding had been daunting.

The day before your wedding, you found Joel in the bathroom with a razor exceedingly close to his jaw. 

“Oh no - is the thought of marrying me really so bad or are you just worried about Tommy’s speech?” You sigh over dramatically, peering your head into the bathroom. Joel has a bit of a chuckle but goes back to focusing on the task at hand. 

“I am actually trying to shave this thing before tomorrow” he says inching closer to the mirror for a better look. He seems defeated when you approach him and slowly take the blade from his hand, “Please don’t” you smile up at him, running your hand along the ruff hair on his jaw.

“Why not? Everyone else is telling me I should. That I should be clean shaved for the day” he gruffs.

“Because, I want my husband to look like Joel Miler” you say giving him a kiss before putting the blade away in a drawer.

“Plus you look sexy with a beard” you joke as he playfully taps your ass as you leave the room.

“Trust it to start snowing on the one day I put on a dress” you joke standing in the hallway of the church. Everyone else except you and Jesse were seated, Maria had decided to set a few round tables out for friends and neighbours to sit, with your and Joel’s family seated together at the front on a long table. 

“You know most people would think that was romantic” Jesse laughed placing your arm in the crook of his. He asked if you were ready, ‘To marry Joel? Of course. To have everyone looking at me? Absolutely not’ you thought but you nodded and made your way into the church hall. The room had been adorned with fairy lights and kept simple like you had asked. 

After the short service you and Joel sat side by side while members of you family celebrated with you. As Tommy got up to give his speech which Joel had insisted he did not have to give, you took Joel’s hand under the table “Just relax, how bad could it be?”. Turns out pretty bad, even cracking jokes about Joel’s first wedding years ago that just didn't quite land but that somehow made it all the more funny. 

Ellie got up from her seat and cleared her throat as though she were about to give a follow up speech but Joel quickly sat her back into her seat “I don’t think I can take another one Kiddo”. Maria announced it was time for your first dance together as Mr and Mrs Miller, “But we didn’t pick a song?” You whispered in Joel’s ear as you make you way to the centre of the room. 

“We didn’t but I thought you wouldn’t mind if I picked for us” he pulled you in as the music started playing. Crazy Love from your Van Morrison record started playing. 

“A very nice choice Mr Miller. If I remember correctly this played the first night we spent together” you smile.

“It was Mrs Miller and we will spending tonight and every other night together from now on. I am going to feel a little bad taking that dress off you later though, you look stunning” he whispers and you can feel his breath on your neck as you both slowly sway to the music.

You settle into married life pretty quickly, not much changes it turns out except Joel occasionally calling you wife and you calling him husband. “You best make a call at Dr.Henry’s this morning” Joel called to you as you began putting your boots on to take Bruce out. You groan “Joel, I am perfectly fine. You know that”. 

“Oh I know that darling but if you could just let Doc know that, maybe she will stop asking me to send my wife across for her final check up” he jokes but you agree to go. 

“How’s the foot feeling?” Dr. Henry asks, she was a kind and warm women not much older than you. 

“It’s honestly much better now, thank you so much for taking a look at it a couple weeks ago” you fake a smile. You felt bad but you hated being examined and wanted to leave the room as soon as possible. 

“That’s good to hear, that’s good” she trails off. 

“Great, do you mind if I get going?” You say quickly pulling your socks and boots back on before she can try and examine anything else like last time. 

“Y/N, your foot isn’t why I asked you to come visit me. The last time I ran a couple different tests just to get a general view of your health” she sits down next to you. 

“Yes I vaguely remember you sticking a needle in my arm and asking me to pee in a cup Doc. Please don’t make me do that again” you whine which makes the doctor laugh.

“No, it’s actually about the results from last time. I had a look at the samples and well - well you are pregnant”. She explains.

You feel what you thought was a knot in your stomach, but in a second you realise that knot was potentially a baby. 

[violetwolfraven]

Willie Headcanons

So I actually came up with this like a month ago and forgot to post it. Anyway enjoy my headcanons about our favorite sk8er boi. Be ready for feels.

Tw: death, car accident mention, emotional manipulation.

...

In my mind, Willie had a good relationship with his parents. They were supportive and everything. They both loved Willie very much.

And Willie has youngest child energy so I’m saying he has a sister who’s 2 years older and a brother who’s 5 years older. Their names are Delilah and Austin.

AND ALL THREE OF THEM ARE ADRENALINE JUNKIES.

Seriously imagine the worst possible combination of head empty only skateboarding and you’ve got Willie, Delilah, and Austin.

Austin started skating when he was 7 and got Delilah hooked on it a year later.

Their parents kinda didn’t like the idea of it but those two had already started teaching Willie basic stuff by the time he was 3.

But... the other two had other interests. Delilah was into art (painting) and Austin played piano (like, really well).

For Willie, skateboarding was his thing. And it always was.

He had fun with it when his big brother would put his hands on his and teach him to play a bit, or his sister would give him some paint and a spare canvas and they’d doodle together, but it wasn’t like skating.

As far as I’ve seen (which admittedly isn’t that far) it’s widely accepted that Willie has ADHD so I’m leaning into that here.

And Willie inherited his brain from his dad, who had a bad experience with meds and so wouldn’t let any of his kids go through it.

So Willie grew up unmedicated but probably better off for the time period. His dad taught him coping mechanisms. Him and Austin. Delilah didn’t inherit it but she was taught to empathize with her brothers and recognize when they needed her help with something.

She’s a badass who can and does beat up anybody who’s mean to her brothers for missing social cues.

But anyway while Austin had piano (and skating as a side thing) Willie got even more hooked on skateboarding than either of his siblings because his brain latched onto it from a young age and couldn’t let go.

We all have our outlets. The chaos in our brains has to go somewhere. For Willie it goes into skating.

When he’s young he and his siblings will skateboard to school and then after school they’ll skate all around Hollywood for hours.

They do their homework in random McDonalds and Denny’s and tbh become local cryptid customers. Like they’re just these 3 super friendly skater siblings who tip really well and visit every fast food place within a 20 mile radius of their house with varying frequency.

They also find e v e r y skatepark, empty pool, and vacant lot in that 20 mile radius that they can possibly find.

Their parents have to bail them out of jail for trespassing and the occasional vandalism every so often.

Sometimes one of them has stuff to do and it’s just two of them out skating but if two of them are busy the other one never goes out alone cause it’s dangerous. We’ll get back to that later.

So anyway when they’re 17, 14, and 12, Delilah comes out as a lesbian.

And the family is supportive of course because they’re a good family.

But her coming out gets Willie thinking. About how some of his friends have crushes on girls but he just... doesn’t see the appeal.

Like he has a couple friends who are girls and they’re great and he likes hanging out with them at recess but he doesn’t get the hype. They’re just more friends. So he doesn’t really see what his big sister is so interested in either.

In my mind Willie actually is from around the same time as the boys (dying in like 1999) so one day while nobody else in their house is home he and Delilah are watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Willie’s again wondering why people think Leia is so hot cause she’s cool and all but Luke is right there and he looks really good and—

Willie: I think I might be gay.

Delilah: Yeah I know.

They talk about it and Willie does decide to tell the rest of the family but he’s a bit wary about anyone else because he saw how some of Delilah’s friends turned on her after she came out. He doesn’t want that to happen to him.

He does end up telling a few of his friends but he doesn’t quite not care what people think of him the way his big sister does.

Austin is the only straight one and he’s like. So awkward about it but in a sweet way.

Austin: So, Britney Spears is hot, right?

Delilah: Stop.

And

Austin: So I saw you hanging around Chris the other day are you two..?

Willie: ...no...???

Austin: Cool, yeah I didn’t think so. Just had to make sure. Not that I’m doubting your ability to get boys but I’d have to shovel talk him if you were.

Willie: If I ever do get a boyfriend, please don’t.

He tries. He’s a himbo if that wasn’t clear. Where did you think Willie learned it?

So anyway fast forward a couple years and they’re 22, 19, and 17. Austin and Delilah are both in college and Willie’s the last one left at home and things between their parents start getting... tense.

Like they don’t fight exactly but they’ve fallen out of love and things are awkward.

Even Austin and Delilah can tell and they’re only home on breaks and some weekends but for Willie it’s right there and he’s watching it happen. He has no option but to see.

They used to have a rule that they don’t go skating alone because it’s dangerous but Willie just can’t make himself stay home so he goes out skateboarding.

At first it’s never too far from home or anywhere where there’s too much traffic but as things get increasingly awkward at home he goes out farther and farther, chasing the adrenaline high he used to get from going anywhere and everywhere every day after school with his siblings.

Then his parents officially tell him they’re getting divorced and

And it’s not like he couldn’t see it coming, but... it still hurts.

And neither of his siblings are coming home any time soon so

So he goes out skating on his own, way too far from home. He keeps going until he doesn’t even know where he is anymore.

He isn’t really paying attention the way he should but that’s not why he runs into trouble.

The driver of that red pickup is drunk and he rounds the corner out of nowhere.

If Delilah or Austin had been there they could have yelled for Willie to jump out of the way, or maybe up on the hood so the impact wouldn’t be as bad, but he’s alone.

So he gets hit, and the car was going fast enough that he’s dead before he even hits the pavement.

After that there’s a lot of confusion but once Willie figures out he’s a ghost... it’s too painful to think about going home, so he just... doesn’t.

He doesn’t want to see his family mourning him, so he just distracts himself, skating everywhere he couldn’t before without getting busted.

Plus some old routes where he used to go with Delilah and Austin, just for something that’s familiar but not too familiar.

He’s on one of those more familiar routes a few weeks after his death when he’s skating down Sunset Boulevard one night, singing along to Toxic by Britney Spears blasting from a nearby club and a man dressed in a purple suit comments on how he’s got a good voice.

Honestly Willie is just so relieved to have someone to talk to that he forgets about stranger danger completely.

Plus he recognizes an Elder Gay in Caleb and assumes he can trust him because the Elder Gays he met at pride that one time he went with Delilah were so nice and understanding of how reassuring it was to see queer people of older generations who got a happy ending.

Caleb barely even has to try. He just lets this 17-year-old obviously-queer ghost rant at him for a few minutes, asks a few questions and finds out that he also can play piano, and convinces him to come to the Hollywood Ghost Club the next night.

From there it’s not like Willie has anyone to save him so of course he has to join the club.

At first he’s completely alone because the other performers scare him almost as much as Caleb does.

Then slowly, he sees how they give him space because they know he’s scared of them. How they turn a blind eye when he leaves the club without permission. How they don’t critique his mistakes with the same sarcasm they show each other.

Willie starts to realize that the other performers are doing their best to look out for him, and he starts being less afraid.

They’re all too concerned with their own survival to really protect him but if they draw some attention to themselves occasionally so Caleb doesn’t notice Willie being slow to pick up some tricky choreography, that’s not too risky.

The others are all like 21 at the youngest and they really don’t appreciate Caleb tricking a literal child into working for him no matter how talented said child is. (Cause Willie is good at singing and piano. It’s just not his passion.)

The twins are 22 but they died in 1925 and before that they were performing to support a younger brother who they never got to say goodbye to so maybe they see Willie as a kind of second chance.

Lyssa (what I decided to name drummer woman because I don’t know her real name if she has one) is 25 and she died in 1984. She had a daughter who’d be about Willie’s age now and... who knows? Maybe they were friends.

Fuego is 24 and from 1951 and he had a childhood best friend who enlisted and died in WWII that he thought he might get to see when he died but that boy moved on and so... well, Willie’s just a little younger than his friend was the last time he saw him.

In short Willie becomes everyone’s baby brother and they do what they can to look out for him even if they’re just as scared of Caleb as he is.

And the better adjusted Willie gets to (after)life at the HGC and the better they get to know him, the guiltier the others start to feel about him being stuck there.

Eventually a combination of guilt and worked-up courage leads Fuego tells him about the whole unfinished business thing, in hopes maybe he can figure his out and get away from Caleb.

It doesn’t take Willie long to think of his family, how hopeless he felt about the divorce, how worried he was it would change everything and then how scared he was to see his family in pain because of his death.

He realizes his unfinished business is probably seeing them. Letting himself say goodbye.

He almost gets away with it.

Caleb catches up and stops him in the driveway of his house and poofs them back to the HGC.

He convinces (gaslights) Willie into believing that saying goodbye was never his unfinished business and even if it was it’s not like it would matter because Caleb wouldn’t let him do it.

The next morning he ships the HGC out to Tokyo. They stay on the move for a long time and when they are in town, Willie is basically locked in his room.

The next time he’s allowed out in Hollywood, his parents don’t live in their old house anymore and he has no way to find them.

As a coping mechanism, he just starts making the best of a bad situation. Becoming better friends with the other ghosts. Helping soften the blow whenever someone new comes along.

None of that means he stops checking the faces of passing skaters or keeping eyes on restaurants his folks used to like, but it does mean he more or less gives up hope.

That’s what he’s doing when he bumps into Alex.

Look, Willie loves his friends at the HGC. He really does. But there’s a big difference between 17 and 20-something. Like the others will drink alcohol some nights and technically Willie was born over 21 years ago but he still feels weird enough about it that he doesn’t drink.

He hasn’t talked to anyone his age in a long time so Alex is a breath of fresh air.

Also he’s like. Really cute. And sweet. And funny. And shit, Willie’s fallen for him before he even has time to think about it.

He keeps thinking about how Alex doesn’t seem like he’d be physically capable of hurting someone on purpose so Austin would approve and every once in a while there’s that sarcasm that pops out which means he’d get along great with Delilah.

In general Alex is the kind of guy he would’ve loved to take home to meet the family. Them not included, he’s kind of... everything Willie’s missed about Hollywood in the form of one person.

Then they hang out more and Alex is still everything he’s missed but he’s also so much more than that and...

It almost feels like a part of Alex is still alive. And for the first time in years, a part of Willie feels alive, too.

They’ve known each other for like a week tops and Willie is already in love.

Not that he’s admitting that to anyone, because he’s learned the hard way that anyone you care about can be used against you.

Still... when Alex asks for help getting revenge on Bobby, he can’t bring himself to say no because he needs to keep Alex in his (after)life and the only way he knows how to do that (or to make people be nice to him in general) is to be as useful as possible.

That turns out to be a big mistake, because Caleb sees right through him in an instant, targets Alex to confirm it, then immediately starts the process to trick the boys into committing to eternity at the HGC.

Willie feels like an idiot for thinking he could actually get away with it. Doing something good for someone he cares about.

He hadn’t thought Caleb would be interested in them because he’d never actually heard them play. The assumption was that he’d make them do some small favor and then let them talk to their bandmate for 5 minutes. A clean deal where they never have to commit to anything. Willie forgot to take magic into account.

He almost manages to convince himself it was all a bad dream, but when he seeks out Alex and his friends to check on them, he can almost feel the jolts himself, and seeing Alexthem in pain feels terrible.

Willie knows that theoretically they could figure out their unfinished business and cross over, but that all depends on finding it and doing it fast enough and if they failed...

People you care about can be used against you. And Willie does not want to be used against Alex again. He doesn’t want to see Alex used against him.

So he keeps his distance, in hopes Caleb will think he lost interest. He’s pretty sure once the boys find out about the stamp they’ll hate him, anyway.

And plus, as he’s been taught by his friends at the HGC, you have to look out for yourself because no one else will do it for you. Maybe you hurt somebody by not standing up for them, but you can apologize later and hope they forgive you. You can’t apologize if you’re gone, and it’s not like it would make a difference anyway because Caleb is too powerful for anyone to beat.

The thought of how spending eternity with Alex might not be so bad even if it has to be at the HGC does come up, but ironically that’s what makes Willie decide to screw his courage to the sticking point and tell them.

Because he has seen what decades at the club has done to his friends.

They’re all great performers, and they perform happiness well even to each other, but Willie knows them enough to know how tired they all are. How they have been doing the same thing over and over again for decades and they are sick of it.

They’re young, talented tragedies lost to drug overdoses, or AIDS, or accidents, or suicide, and they should’ve gotten to rest after everything they went through in their lives. Instead, they got a curse disguised as a blessing. They got to stay on a stage, got to keep performing and soaking up applause, never got to stop.

Willie has been there a shorter time than most of them and he feels it. The exhaustion, because ghosts are supposed to haunt for a few years then figure out their unfinished business and move on. They’re not meant to be trapped for decades, used as party tricks.

A part of Alex still feels alive and being trapped in the Hollywood Ghost Club for years on end would kill that part of him.

Willie can’t let that happen, so as hard as it is...

He tells the boys what’s wrong with them. And by that hurt, betrayed look in Alex’s eyes, he’s honestly expecting him to never forgive him.

But then Alex does. And that almost hurts worse because whether he figures out his unfinished business or not, Willie doubts he’s ever going to see him again.

He honest to God almost cries when Alex hugs him because... shit, he hasn’t gotten a hug since he was breathing.

He goes back to the HGC and tries to go about his day, and keeps replaying how good it felt to have Alex’s arms around him, hoping that memory will get him through the next few decades on his own.

The ghosts at the club do actually gossip a fair amount and by this point all of them know about the 3 dead members of Sunset Curve.

So when Willie admits to Helen (what I’m calling one of the twins) that Alex hugging him was the first time he’d gotten a hug since he died, she hugs him tight for a good 20 seconds, telling him she’s sorry he has to lose him, and if Willie closes his eyes he can almost pretend it’s Delilah.

The next thing he knows, he’s locked in a closet.

Caleb comes to talk to (intimidate) him a few hours later, saying he knows what Willie did.

He’s magically locked in his room alone for a couple weeks after that and it’s essentially psychological torture.

Helen, Anna (what I decided to call the other twin), Dante, Fuego, Lyssa, and everyone else tell him not to test Caleb for the next couple years, but Willie has a heart full of love and a head full of fuck it, so he doesn’t listen.

He gives it exactly one day of being/acting scared and obedient, then goes out without permission again, fully intending to scream in a museum alone to let out all his feelings.

Remember: Willie didn’t see the Orpheum performance. He doesn’t know the boys didn’t cross over but by Caleb’s mood he has a feeling the outcome of that scenario was not in the magician’s favor.

He gets there and it’s literally this comic by the very talented @williessweatycherrysocks

He can’t stay long but he and Alex scream in each other’s faces, talk a bit, maybe sing a duet.

After that, they sneak to see each other when they can but don’t get to see much of each other for months.

It’s hard on both of them but they don’t give up on their relationship.

Through long and complicated events which I will outline later, Willie eventually gets free of the HGC, hugs his friends goodbye already making plans to take down Caleb for good to free them, too, and promptly declines an offer to stay in the Molinas’ garage.

As much as he wants to be close to Alex he’s done being confined to one place.

He still comes and visits like every day tho.

He knows a lot more about ghosting than the other boys do so he and Carlos get along amazingly like:

Carlos: So do you know who Jack the Ripper was?

Willie: No? How old do you think I am?

Carlos: I dunno but I thought it might be Caleb cause that would explain how he never got caught.

Willie, taking notes in his Things To Potentially Use To Take Caleb Down notebook: You’re a tiny genius.

No one was expecting it but everyone is in awe of how well he and Carrie get along. Between the two of them they know so much celebrity gossip. (and it’s definitely a good thing he’s on good terms with her cause she and Alex are close)

On the angsty side, Willie also bonds with Nick over how they both know how it feels to be manipulated and used by Caleb.

Also it takes a long time before he’s able to trust him, but he does get adopted into the Molina clan by Ray.

Ray reminds him a lot of his own dad, once Willie’s able to see that he’s nothing like Caleb.

Ray’s honestly just 100% happy to Dad™️ anyone who needs a dad so it works out great once Julie and the boys figure out how to make Willie visible.

But anyway back to important stuff.

Now that they don’t have to hide for any reason, Willie and Alex can both breathe a little easier. Or... they both feel better. Ghosts don’t really breathe.

Willie can finally let himself get used to feeling alive again.

The whole ghost gang goes (invisibly) to the Los Feliz Homecoming dance and maybe it should make him feel a little on-edge with the kind of club-like environment but...

He’s got Alex there, and they’re dancing to some corny pop love song from the 90s that Flynn probably put on because she knew the ghost boys would be there so how could he feel anything but safe?

For a minute it almost feels like actually being alive and there’s yellow and pink and blue lights coming from everywhere reflecting in Alex’s eyes and Willie is suddenly very aware of the fact that though they’ve been together for a long time now, they haven’t had their first kiss.

Then the Cha Cha Slide starts up and the atmosphere switches and Willie totally forgets about the whole romantic tension thing because it’s the Cha Cha Slide everybody has to dance along.

Dirty Candi performs towards the end of the night and the ghost boys cheer the loudest despite how Julie’s laughing at them. They don’t care that Carrie can’t even hear them, they’re being supportive!!!

Everybody screams even louder when Flynn runs up on stage and kisses Carrie and Willie feels a big burst of affection at how Alex shouts ABOUT TIME!

Then he gives Willie a quick hug and leaves cause he and the rest of Julie and the Phantoms have to go get set up for their performance.

Since Alex was able to flip Carrie’s hair in All Eyes on Me I’m saying that ghosts can touch lifers if they focus and believe it will happen hard enough, so the ghost gang has developed a system for alerting their non-Julie lifer friends to their presence.

So while they’re waiting in the crowd Willie taps Carrie on the shoulder like: • - - one short tap, two long taps, a Morse code ‘W’ and Carrie lets Flynn know that he’s there.

(Nick can see him too but Nick’s off somewhere with his date {one of his lacrosse teammates you know the one})

Anyway so Julie goes out and starts up the song and then the rest of the band poofs in but

Something’s unusual.

Cause it’s not Luke on the lower main vocals.

It’s

Alex

Singing while he plays the drums and fucking killing it.

Willie totally bluescreens for a second but then when he actually focuses on the lyrics...

It’s a new song about beating the odds and being with the person you love in spite of the challenges that come with them.

And yeah there are Julie elements in there, (and she’s definitely making heart eyes at Luke even as he sticks to backup vocals) because of course there are since she has to start the song up, but

But Willie might not have any formal music training, but he was at the HGC long enough to know his stuff about music and recognize different artists’ styles.

And there’s a time signature switch on the bridge that’s a little off from how Luke would write it. There’s a swing to the melody that’s a bit more ‘pop’ than the band’s usual songs. Julie’s harmony doesn’t go as high as it normally would, as if whoever wrote the song didn’t have as high of an upper range to work with as she does.

The song is so unmistakably Alex that no one else could have written it.

Flynn and Carrie are quietly making smug comments on what they bet his face looks like right now but Willie’s not listening to them.

On the last chorus, Alex fucking winks at him right before poofing out.

Willie has whiplash like how did they go from him having to psych Alex up to break into a museum even when there’s zero chance of getting caught to Alex openly flirting with him from the stage?

He poofs backstage right as the boys get back from dropping their instruments back in the Molinas’ garage and he honestly doesn’t know what he even wants to say to convey how amazing that performance was.

Then Alex just smiles at him.

Alex: So I take it you liked the song?

Willie: Can I kiss you right now?

They both kinda freeze after he blurts that out and Reggie goes wow really quietly before he and Luke poof out to give them some privacy and whoops now they’re both flustered but

Alex: Wow, didn’t expect that. That’s... um, wow. But yeah.

They kiss and it’s a total romcom moment.

And the story’s far from over, but to Willie this definitely feels like happily ever after.