#now we all say we're sorry and the children will do what the adults say

[eimearkuopio]

🤦‍♀️

He was even on the list.

Possessed by a time-travelling ancestor.

I guess this explains a lot of the breadcrumbs.

Should I have put Alex Horne on there too?

Ugh I think I've even figured out what judge not lest ye be judged meant and it's worse than I thought.

[stubz]

"Maverick is here."

"Hi Maverick! Want some coffee?" the human groaned.

"Only if it's Irish..."

"Heh, if only."

The two humans tried but couldn't help the shift of tone when talking about the youngling. Couldn't help the sighs or forced enthusiasm when it came to Maverick.

Maverick, age 6, species Ewelsjay, and the unknowing arch nemesis of Kim and Max.

.

"Maverick get down from there!" the man shouted up to the child dangling from the fire sprinklers.

"But it's fun!" giggled the child.

"They're not for climbing! Get down now!"

"No I'm no-!" the sprinkler snapped.

"I told him," he growled running towards the crying youngling. "a million times I told him don't climb the sprinklers! They're not for climbing! But did he listen? Nooooo."

..

"Maverick! What happened!?"

"Mr. Aurum, Maverick climbed the fire sprinklers and fell when they broke. Luckily it wasn't that high and he landed on the mats, he only has a bruise and scrapped knee."

"And you let him??"

"..No. I did not. We have told Maverick multiple times not to climb them because of this very reason."

"Oh Mavy. You need to listen your teachers. I'll have a talk with him."

"See you tomorrow then."

...

"And he looked at me as if I let his kid climb the sprinklers!!" he took a swig of his Irish coffee.

"Tell me about it...the guy acts as if it's always our fault. One time he told me it was my job that his kid puts his bag in his locker. His 6 year old kid...he's 6 years old! I tell him and sometimes he does it but most of the time he looks me in the eyes and says you do it."

"Exactly! We're not servants!"

"Gah please let them move or switch schools!"

....

"All right kids, foods ready so line up."

"But before you grab a plate let us tell you what's just for the humans today. The kitchen made an accident today and put in too much of a spice that can be dangerous for other species, it's the blue pot. Okay? Only humans can eat that."

"Human kids, only have a little to start with because its spicy. If you like it then you can have more later."

The kids nodded and started to serve themselves, only the humans taking food from the blue pot.

When they ate the adults chuckled and smiled watching their fellow humans eat the spicy curry. Some kids loved it for the spice or flavor while others chugged their milk. They're non-human friends laughed or gasped.

"Human Kim, can I try some?"

"Sorry Maverick but not today. It's not safe for some of you kids. We'll have this again on Friday though and we'll make sure it's safe for the rest of you kids."

"Aw. Okay." the human cracked a small smile and ruffled his golden hair.

"How about you try some of this? It from the same place on earth."

"It's green!"

.....

"Excuse me, Max and Kim? Maverick told me something very concerning yesterday."

"Oh, what was it?"

He told me that yesterday there was a dish just for the humans. That no one but humans were allowed to eat it." the Ewelsjay glared at them.

'Here we go' they both thought.

"Mr. Aurum the kitchen made a mistake when making one of the dishes yesterday and put in too much of a spice that is dangerous to most species. So to not waste the food and keep the others safe we only allowed the human children to eat it.

This was a simple mistake and Kim has talked to the kitchen already and made arrangements to make the dish again on Friday."

"Really? 'Too much spice' is what stopped my child from eating? Unbelievable."

"...listen-"

"Sir, this type of spice is one that can be rather harmful to younglings, even adults, and since we couldn't quite call everyone's parents asking for permission we decided to play it safe." the human placed a hand on her co-workers back. Trying her best to calm her friend. Even though she too wanted to rip Aurum a new one.

"I'll be the judge of that. Tell me, what's the name of the dish and how exactly the kitchen made it."

"Mr. Aurum I don't think-"

"Goat curry and it has many different variations but this recipe had 1 seeded scotch bonnet pepper."

And with that the Ewelsjay left with his son.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?"

"No but I don't care. Besides as much as an a-hole he is there's no way he'll let Maverick eat it before he tries it first."

"Ooo the perfect crime."

*the next day*

"Teachers teachers teachers!"

"Yes Maverick?"

"My Dad tried the goat carry and his face turned bright orange! He took one bite and then screamed for water but it didn't help."

"Yeah water doesn't do much. Rookie mistake."

"Yeah but then I remembered what teacher Kim said about milk and gave him that and it helped!"

"So how's your Dad now?"

"He's stuck in the bathroom still drinking milk." he said so matter of factly making the humans snort.

"A-and now do you see why we didn't want you eating it?" asked Max trying his best not to laugh.

"Yeah...I guess I should be listening to you two. You are my teachers."

"Glad to hear that. Now go to put your stuff away and play."

"Okay!" once he was out of earshot the two finally allowed themselves to laugh till they cried.

Maverick was a handful most times but moments like these reminded the two that he was a kid. And kids learn from those around them. Hopeful Mr. Aurum would learn what his son did today, listen to the teachers.

[carolmunson]

alive with the glory of love

(older!rockstar!eddie x older!actress!wife!)

a valentine's slice of life with our favorite rockstar almost thirty years into our marriage. the year is 2023 and we're still stella rink and we're still famous as hell. aged like fine wine. a decades long career and a decades long marriage with two twins in their late twenties. this is semi from the twins perspective. we know what our life was looking like before, let's see what it looks like now. :) eddie manip by @eddiemunsons-missingnipple cw: 18+ minors dni, allusions to smut/wearing lingerie, but overall this is a short little something. reader and eddie are both 57, so, sorry if you don't want to be fifty seven. but if i have to be in my 'early twenties' every time i read a fic, you can be older for like, seven and a half minutes.

The phone eases into focus, Violet’s giggle sounds as she presses record, leaning on her elbows at the kitchen island. The room is a sun drenched, black and white tiled vision — still partially stuck in the 90s, remnants of your old life, despite the ongoing renovations. Despite the teasing from your adult children. Some stuff just never lost its charm – plus, the kids were calling it ‘a 90s vibe’ and you were both pretty sure that was cool. 

“Morning, happy Valentine’s Day,” Violet says sleepily, Van trudging in behind her. They both take lazy seats on the bar stools across from the chef stove that their father is delicately working over. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, honey,” Eddie calls over his shoulder, daintily pouring pink batter into a cookie cutter mold on a hot pan. The kitchen and dining room are filled to the brim with flowers and balloons. Eddie’s been up for hours getting everything set up for you, some things never change. Some things never get old. 

“What’re you doing?” Van asks. 

“What do you mean, what am I doing? I’m making mommy—” He turns around with a furrowed brow, deepening his forehead creases before he realizes they’re recording him. He sighs before turning back to his task, “Guys, again with the phone?” 

“C’mon dad, they love you!” Violet begs, putting her phone down and shoving it in her sweatshirt pocket, “Van show him the comments on the last one.” 

“They think you’re hilarious, they want you to have your own account,” Van encourages, he opens his own phone to bring over to his dad. He grew up to be a spitting image of the two of you, as if they pasted Eddie’s face on his and gave him all your other features. The color of your eyes, the texture of your hair. Your bright, enrapturing smile. A perfect fifty-fifty. 

Van scrolls slowly through the endless comments, Eddie squinting down at them, “Van, I don’t have my glasses.” 

Eddie peers down lower, “What does that mean? ‘I know it’s big’? What’s big?” “New…choker…just…dropped? I didn’t make chokers for merch,” he shrugs, waving him away to pay attention to the stove. “Ew,” Violet laughs, “Stop making him read these out loud, that’s so gross.” 

“You should still make your own,” Van says, sitting back down, “It’d do way better than the one for Corroded.” 

“Have your mom do it,” Ed shrugs off, “She knows how to do all that internet shit.” 

“That Howard Stern clip is going viral again,” Violet says devilishly, “The girlies are obsessed with you.” 

“I don’t care about the girlies, Vi,” Eddie blushes, flipping one of the pancakes on the pan, “I care about your mom.” 

“I just wanna show them what you guys do for your favorite holiday,” Violet whines, “They’ll love it.” 

“They’re gonna call him a simp,” Van teases, a look of realization washing over his face,  “Wait, you’re such a simp for mom, actually.”  

They both laugh, Eddie doesn’t know what ‘a simp’ is so he laughs too.

“That’s a good word for like, a DND character type — you should see about that in your campaigns,” Ed continues while he plates a pancake on an ever growing stack of pink and red. 

“Ohmygod Dad, no, that’s not—“ Van laughs silently into his hands. 

“Stop making fun of him, he’s old,” Violet pleads between giggles, taking her phone out again, “Dad, seriously can you just tell us what you’re doing? Why do you love Valentine’s Day?”

“Is this for your TikTok thing?” he asks, pulling his dark curls up in a ponytail with a black silk scrunchie, bangs he can’t quite part with falling in waves over his brow. ‘My Pilates teacher was telling me they’ll be safer on your hair,’ you’d said — and he’s never been one to say no to you. Every time the kids came home they’d take their phones out and make Tiktok’s of the two of you, sometimes you’d make a solo one for Violet or Van’s page if you felt like it. But with Twitter and Instagram, you didn’t want to overload your assistant with some other form of social media – but it looked like the two of you were really popular. Especially Eddie. 

Violet educated you about ‘fancams’ which were just clips to music. There were a lot of the two of you together, or you solo from your movies and shows in the 90s. Progressions of you then and now and how you’re still ‘so hot’ and ‘unproblematic’. Eddie’s almost always started with the clip of him at Howard Stern, jaw ticking while he tried to keep his composure: ‘Excuse the fuck out of me, what did you just say about my wife? Do you wanna lose your fuckin’ teeth?’ The comments were always flooded with a mess of young people losing their shit: ‘god i’ve seen what you’ve done for others’ ‘stopppp he’s obsessed with her’ ‘@vidawn i hope your mom can fight’ ‘@vannywayne @vidawn i’m five years younger than u but i would be a great step dad’ ‘when is someone gonna fight howard stern FOR ME?’ ‘@vannywayne @vidawn they’re thirsting over your dad again’ ‘i’m banging on the walls of my enclosure’ 'ewwww we hate cheaters' ‘i NEED to fuck him’ ‘@vannywayne you look EXACTLY the same’ ‘are they looking for a third?’ 'idgi he looks dirty' ‘they are notttttt making them like him anymore’ ‘not him being old enough to be my father i’m sick’

“Obviously,” she snaps back, rolling his eyes when he starts touching himself up for the camera. 

“Should I do a couple of push ups so I look buff or…?” he teases. Violet and Van make a face that puts any face you’ve given him to shame. It’s the only regret he has about having kids with you – all that attitude had to go somewhere. 

“Fine, fine,” he huffs, “I’m ready for my close up, Vi.” 

“You’re so cheesy, dad. Just be normal for like, five seconds,” Violet huffs, taking out her phone again, “You’re ready?” 

“M’ready,” he smiles. “Okay, so, what’re you doing?” Violet asks again. 

“I am making pancakes,” he starts, pouring red better into the cookie cutter mold on the pan this time, “In a heart shape, for your mom.” 

“How long have you been doing this?” she asks, a smile spreading across her face. It matches her dads. There was no mistaking that Violet was Eddie Munson’s daughter. 

“Since we got together, so – the first one was in 1990,” he muttered, flipping the pancake, “I do it every year ‘cause she loves it. They’re strawberry, but they’re pink and red ‘cause I put food coloring in them.” 

“Is Valentine’s Day her favorite holiday?” 

Eddie grins, “No, her favorite holiday is the fourth of July. Not ‘cause she’s got a boner for America or anything. She just likes fireworks and when I use the grill.” “Is it your favorite holiday?” Van asks this time. Eddie nods, a bright blush pushing up on his face. 

“How come?” Violet and Van ask at the same time. Eddie turns the burner off, placing the heaping plate of heart shaped pancakes on the center of the island. He opens the wine cooler on the opposite wall, pulling out a bottle of champagne and two flutes from the top cabinet.

“‘Cause I get to spoil your mom all day,” he smiles, “She deserves it.” 

“You spoil her every day,” Van teases, “I can’t think of a more doted on woman on earth than mom.” 

“She’s very special,” he shrugs. 

“And you do this every year?” Violet asks, zooming in on the pancakes. 

“Every year for the past thirty four years, well, minus ninety-two,” he frowns a little, “We had some time apart that year.” 

“Still had my chef make them for me though.” 

Your voice cuts in from the large arch way connecting to the dining room and Violet pans quickly over to get you in frame. 

“Hi mom,” Vi says, “Is this your favorite holiday?” 

“No,” you shake your head and laugh, the same laugh he fell in love with, “It’s the fourth of July. C’mon Vi, how long have I been your mom? Do you even know me?” “You’re supposed to be in bed, honey,” Eddie frowns, “You’re ruining the surprise.” 

“The surprise that’s older than my kids? How could I forget,” you grin, rounding the island and greeting your husband with a gentle kiss, “Happy Valentine’s day.” 

“Happy Valentine’s day, baby,” he murmurs into a second chaste peck, “You’re supposed to let me bring them up to you.” 

“My kids are home, I don’t wanna spend all day in bed,” you pout. He pouts back dramatically, tugging on your arm to pull you flush against his chest. 

“I thought you loved spending all day in bed with me,” he pushes some of your hair back before resting a palm on your cheek, moving in to kiss you deeply. The scruff on his chin scratches around your mouth but you never care because he still kisses you, he kisses you every day. He’d kiss you all day if you let him. You had too many girlfriends whose ex-husbands were on their third wife and every year they’re more surprised that Eddie is still on his first.

“Okay, I think that’s our cue to leave,” Van says, Violet stops recording. Their faces sour.  

“Yeah we don’t want a January ‘94 repeat or anything,” Vi jokes. The twins high five at their own mean reference to your horrific sex tape debacle, but you and Eddie toss them a playful glare. 

“Hey, she might be your mother, but she’s my wife,” Eddie warns, hand sneaking down to rest on the small of your back to pull you close to him, “Don’t mess with her.” 

“Yeah,” you tease, crossing your arms, “You saw what he did to Howie’s studio. I just gotta say the word.” 

“So scary,” Violet rolls her eyes, leaving the kitchen with her twin in tow, “We’re taking the Jeep to get Jamba Juice, do you want anything?” 

“My usual,” you answer while Eddie goes to the fridge to get grapefruit juice out of the fridge, “And get daddy’s usual too. Do you want his card? Where’s your card, hun?”

“Wherever you last left it,” he responds, gracefully pouring grapefruit mimosas for the both of you. 

“It’s in my purse,” you call out. 

“Which one?!” Violet calls back, both of them waiting by the door. 

“The pink Kelly!” 

“Got it! Do you want anything else?” Van calls out. 

“Just uh,” Eddie giggles to himself, tossing you a once over, “Take your time!” 

“Gross!” they yell back in unison. Eddie waits for the door to close to pull you back into him, he watches you at first. Brown eyes cascading over the slope of your nose, your cheeks, the crinkles at the edge of your eyes, your smile lines. He looks at you like he’s looking at you for the first time, every time. He looks different, but the same. Dark curls smattered and entwined in silver, a nose ring, a never ending scratch of overgrown stubble. Deep lines on his forehead that exaggerate his already animated features. Lips still full and warm, hands still big and covered in rings. He’s kept his body real tight for fifty-seven, still throwing himself in the gym daily. ‘If I’m gonna be addicted to something now it might as well be like, my cardiovascular health, babe.’ His crows feet make him somehow more attractive, his smile got better with age. He still makes your heart race when he catches your eye from across the room. “You wearing that little red thing I like?” he purrs in your ear. The tie to your robe sliding between his inked fingers.

“Maybe,” your finger trails over a tattoo on his bicep, “Maybe, I got something new for you to see. Maybe it’s black, maybe it’s strappy. Maybe it’s that thing you saw when we went shopping last week.” 

“Christ,” he huffs, pressing a kiss to your cheek before stepping back over to the counter, “Do you ever stop getting hotter? Eat your breakfast before I bend you over this bar stool.” 

“Let’s bring it upstairs like you wanted,” you smile, following him closely to press your hips up against him, “We can get a little messy.” 

“Yeah?” he growls, pushing part of your robe away to see a peek of black lace and strappy leather, “Fucking god, Stell.” 

“C’mon,” you whisper breathily, pushing up on your tiptoes to kiss him again, “They’ll be home soon.” 

Some things have changed, some things remain the same. He still fucks you like a rockstar.

[allur1ngs]

instead of : "i saw mommy kissing santa claus" it's actually just: "i saw unnie kissing santa claus"

just reader kissing santa bada during christmas eve like them 2 and the girls just saw that secretly not even recognizing bada 😭 like the girls were actually trying to see if santa was there but their reactions were something-

this is sooo cute!!🎄

"ouch, watch where you're walking!" cheche nudges kyma.

"i can't see anything!" kyma whisper-shouts back loudly.

"shh!" lusher quiets down the other bebe girls, holding a finger up to her mouth.

it's a cold, starry night on december the 24th—the clock is minutes away from striking twelve in the morning, and beginning the christmas festivities. the bebe girls--or more accurately, lusher as the spear header--gathered together with the expressed interest of "catching santa"...

"why are we even up this late?" hyo groans. "we're not going to see anything, y'know. santa's not real--"

"shhh!!" lusher exclaims loudly, placing her hands over soweon's ears. "there are children around--"

''oh come on, we're all adults here--" cheche argues back before she's cut off.

"guys." tatter mumbles, grabbing the girls' attention, and halting their bickering.

"what?" all the girls say in unison.

tatter motions for them to come closer and peek their head around the corner of the wall. they girls clamber over, each of them taking various positions against the wall before looking ahead.

the living room is dark--only barely lit by the beige, flickering string lights hung on the christmas tree. but, even with the sparse ligthting, the girls are able to make out two figures.

one is wearing a delicate and beautiful red and white velvety christmas dress. it's you. you're smiling widely, putting gifts under the christmas tree.

the other figure is tall, and is also wearing red and white clothing, although their's isn't a dress, it's a suit. a santa claus suit.

"santa." lusher breathes, her eyes going wide and sparkling.

in the living room, you stand up. "i think that's the last of them." you then turn back to face santa, your smile never fading. "what do you think, santa? are those enough presents for the girls?"

santa opens their mouth, about to respond when they catch something dangling just above them. they look up, prompting you to do so as well.

there, dangling from some decorated lights is a mistletoe.

"oh, how'd that get there?" you wonder aloud, voice full of cheer. "well, we are standing under it..."

santa wraps their arms around your waist, bringing you closer until you're chest to chest. they lean in, about to place a kiss against your lips--

"unnie's about to kiss santa!" lusher gasps.

"we have to stop them--bada's going to kill santa if she finds out!" soweon shakes her head worriedly.

"unnie, stop!!" lusher and the rest of the girls shout, running out of their hiding place.

you jump at their voices, your hand slapping over your chest in pure shock. santa also parts from you, surprised, but still keeps you close to their side. now facing the girls, santa's face is illuminated, revealing--

"boss?!" all the girls exclaim in surprise.

bada stands before the girls, dressed in a santa claus suit, looking anything but jolly. "yah, what are you all doing up?"

"we came to catch santa..." soweon trails off, glancing between you and bada. "what are you doing up, unnie?"

"we were putting your presents under the tree." you answer, moving to huddle into bada's warm side.

"why just now?" hyo asks.

"because if we’d put them out any sooner, you all would have tried to open them before christmas." bada says, deadpanning.

"that's not true--" lusher tries to argue, but even the other bebe girls give her a "really?" look. "okay, maybe we would have--"

"go to bed, won't you?" bada cuts her off. "we were in the middle of something." she gestures between you and her, which makes you bashful.

"sorry, boss." hyo starts to push the girls away from you and your wife, an apologetic grimace on her face. "we'll go back to our rooms. pretend like we were never here."

"i'm so glad that wasn't santa." soweon says quietly. "i was worried unnie would cheat on bada."

the girls all glance at each other, deciding to not destroy the youngest bebe girl's hopes and dreams.

meanwhile, you can't help but laugh at what had just happened.

"oh, it's funny is it?" bada smirks, pulling you back into her chest.

"a little." you banter, twirling the pompom end of your wife's santa claus hat.

"well, i think you still owe me a kiss, don't you?" your wife smiles.

"yeah, i think i do." you nod, weaving your fingers between hers.

under the twinkling lights and a cherry-red christmas mistletoe, you and santa share a kiss.

[one-and-a-half-yikes]

IM fandom got me actin up cause I wasn't even gonna say anything about this chapter lmao

So let's tall about it

Chapter 349: Imperfect Parents

It is not lost on me in the slightest that we're using plural nouns in this title instead of just referring to one parent. I can't imagine why.

Okay so, I'm fully understanding of why people are upset with this chapter and I get that we were so close to a good ending for the boys but-

Canola is right.

I'm not sorry she absolutely is right about this and we gotta address it now. Putting this on the record here and not just on the discord where I already went over all of this.

Let's start with the beginning.

Canola makes it clear that no minor should be in Felix's care, and upon inquiring we are given a very clear reason as to why.

And she is correct. When the Labyrinth chapters were dropping I need it to be made clear I had no patience for any of the Questers' actions regarding this scene. Every last one of them knew damn well Boris shouldn't have gone in there and they still let him regardless. The fact that Cuphead was the only one who had his wits about him enough to say no is embarrassing because when the fuck did he become the reasonable one amongst the group? Why were Leticia and Cuphead the ONLY ADULTS WHO REALIZED THAT BORIS WAS A CHILD

Everyone knew about the children going missing in Fairmont. Everyone knew how dangerous this was but because Boris didn't look like he was traumatized by the other previous quests everyone decided that he was mature enough to handle this quest. The problem lies in the fact that the Questers treat Boris like he's 25 when he's only 14. Not only that, but unlike everyone else who was going into the Labyrinth Boris was DEFENSELESS. He didn't have any real means of saving himself, and given what was in the Labyrinth? Do y'all really think a pipe was going to save his ass? The only reason why Boris lived was because Sarah used him to escape Fairmont, that's it. Otherwise he very well could have fucking died in there and then guess whose fucking fault THAT would have been

In the context of this particular conversation it doesn't matter that Canola doesn't have the full context because she doesn't need it. I said this on the discord and I'll say it again here. Every excuse and reason that people are giving for why things happened the way they did is a NAIL in Felix's coffin preventing him from adopting Boris, not a boon in his favor. These are grown ass adults, they do not need protection from their stupidity and negligence. Because let it be understood, when Canola says "Felix's isn't equipped to care for any minor" she means because of this very reason. Because what the Questers did here was negligence and child endangerment, plain and simple.

If Felix is genuinely serious about adopting Boris he needs to understand that simply listing all the problems he has isn't good enough. You're not being graded for a damn test here, no one cares about your impassioned speech about how much you love and care for those boys after everything they've gone through; it's a nice sentiment, but absolutely meaningless in the grand scheme of the conversation he's having with Canola.

Fundamentally what a social worker like Canola is asking of Felix is: with the behavioral issues and trauma this child has, can you really look after them and give them the proper care they need? Can you guarantee them a safe environment to heal and process their trauma? Can you put your foot down and reprimand Boris when he's out of line?

All of these are necessary questions to ask and all of these questions Felix has failed even before the idea of adoption occurred to him.

Things are not going to get better unless a change is made in the dynamic of the quest group. Everybody, not just Felix, has to stop treating Boris like he's an adult and recognize him for the traumatized child he is. And that means putting their foot down and Boris actually experiencing repercussions for things he does without adult guidance and supervision. Something he dearly needed during the TalentTown arc and was denied by everyone in the group who turned a blind eye to it, not because the don't care about him, but because none of them are truly equipped to deal with a child.

I don't think all hope is lost for Boris to be clear, but I am saying a change absolutely needs to happen in the group and soon if they don't want Boris getting separated. If they care, they'll do it without hesitation.

[rpstartersinc]

* 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐘'𝐒 ( 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑. )

feel free to change pronouns / wording!

" you're being a jerk. "

" you know i have somewhere i have to be. "

" guess it depends on what you believe. "

" you want your usual, right? "

" you beat up a man in broad daylight. "

" it's like you're not even trying here. "

" i am just trying to figure out who you are. "

" you want the job or not? "

" thanks for babysitting. "

" i wish someone would buy me a ring. "

" that good-looking guy i recognise, who are all these other punks? "

" you should know what happens to little kids who don't eat their dinners. their bodies stay the same size forever and they never get to ride the adult rides at the amusement park. "

" how about some burger with that ketchup? "

" everything's better swimming in ketchup. "

" don't tell me to calm down. "

" you know that this is the right thing to do. "

" i'm hardly fit to be raising a kid. "

" just keep your eyes on the monitor and keep people out. "

" we're going to have so much fun together. "

" you do realise that lunch is the most important meal of the day? "

" it's just a theory. "

" sleeping is not a crime. "

" why don't we just kill him? "

" i'm coming with you. "

" about time, starting to think maybe you fell asleep on the job. "

" you're bleeding, by the way. "

" i like to stay well-informed. "

" i really loved this place as a kid. "

" you've been acting suspicious since the moment you opened the door. "

" it's been a weird night. "

" this place... it gets to people. "

" you security hires, you never last. "

" wanna dance? "

" don't let this place get to you. "

" warmer... "

" i made a mess, i'm sorry. "

" it's not funny! "

" it's nice that we can finally agree about something. "

" you just have to know how to look. "

" from where i sit, i'd say you're lucky. "

" no more sleeping on the job. "

" you're not here to have fun. "

" i'll give you anything you want. "

" i thought i was gonna die. "

" you can come out now! "

" i won't get angry at you. "

" ghost children possessing giant robots? thanks for the heads-up. "

" they're spring locks. "

" they tend to be pretty unstable. "

" i don't think they like me very much. "

" i don't really see how that's any of your business. "

" finding the guy that did this is the only thing that matters to me. "

" you just had an accident, you're okay. "

" i saw your eyes, you were terrified. "

" you were never the right person to take care of her. "

" you can't stay in there forever, you know? "

" i managed to stop the bleeding, but you're probably gonna need stitches. "

" they tried to kill me. "

" it's not just their ghosts that are inside of those machines. "

" it's their bodies. "

" i tried to warn you. "

" he really messed you up, didn't he? "

" you couldn't just leave it alone, could you? "

" i have something for you to play with. "

" a little old for temper tantrums, aren't we? "

" you had one job, one. "

" that's two jobs. "

" i won't let you hurt her, too. "

" they know what you did. "

" look at the nasty things that you have become! "

" look how small you are, how worthless you are! "

" you are wretched, rotten little beasts. "

" i made you! "

" i always come back. "

" i'm having a hard time just processing everything that happened. "

" you never know what can happen. "

" do you think if you drink enough milk, you just turn into a cow? "

[thenntrewrite]

I'm not exactly sure how to approach this, so how about we start with some redesigns I've made and explaining the thought process behind the designs? We'll start off with the man, the myth, the legend himself:

Meliodas

I'll be honest. I do not like the shota/childlike appearance that is Meliodas. I get that it's suppose to be part of a running shtick of, "oh my God, he's a child—wait no he's a grown ass man?!" or a personal preference for the author (who makes a lot of his adult characters look like children/quite young for their age), but it's playing into one of the tropes I hate (looks young but is actually an ancient being). If it's your cup of tea, more power to you, but it's not my kind of flavor, so we're redoing him design-wise while also trying to keep some things (colors mainly).

So for his design, the thought process was like this:

Since he's a demon, I was like, "okay, bet" and told myself to pick one (1) from the three (3) options I gave myself, which was dragon, goat and crow— dragon in reference to his sin (Wrath) which is usually associated with dragons, goat because of goats being associated with hell and Baphomet and the Devil always have goat features, and crow because Morgan le Fay (which is his future wife in my rewrite, surprise! This bit is moreso fanservice to my middle school self. I'm sorry Melizabeth lovers, don't eat me alive)'s animal is usually the crow and crows are seen associated with death and that ties in with his curse of immortality.

Now, the goat jumped at me the most because it's the one most heavily associated with Hell, and he is the son of the Demon Lord whom I named Felec (based on Arthurian Legend, the little information we have on him), and I saw these amazing goats for someone's DnD character, and it just fueled my need to draw him as a goat more. The original idea was to give him goat-like features which was the ears, horns, the pupils, but then I got to thinking, "man, the seven deadly sins are all suppose to be from different races, yet it's hard to tell with how all of them looked practically human" and I know I can easily say, "ah no, this is just his human form, his true form is a lot more demonic and he needs the human form to blend in", but then I thought, "that's so boring", so lo and behold, I start with his eyes and worked my way from there.

I changed his hair to curls because his old spiky hair was not working, and his outfit had got to go because I thought, "he'd look more sick with goat legs", and made him two different outfits to accommodate that and to fit the medieval fantasy setting better. I was thinking of blending some attributes of a dragon and a crow to make him more demonic like, but I don't know, I just really like what I made and thought other features would throw everything off balance. Maybe he comes off more like a cursed goat and rolls with that idea so people don't suspect him of anything, but hey, I can always tweak it to make him more demonic if it doesn't come off that way. And I did not want to give him dark colors for his fur—that's going to go to his youngest brother, Zeldris.

(Here's my first official post! Hope you enjoy @gh0stofyesterday )

[nerdygaymormon]

Queer Gospel Music

This past year I came across several songs that I enjoy listening to on Sundays. I created a playlist for myself for Sundays and thought I'd share with y'all.

Yet : Ashley Hess - Ashley Hess was a finalist on the 2019 season of American Idol. I heard her perform this song at the Gather Conference where she introduced it by saying, "The next song that I'm gonna play is a song that I wrote in my lowest time. But it's a song that's so special to me because it was the moment that I felt like I finally came out of hiding, and that the Lord not only saw me, but loved me and embraced me." I can relate so much to that. Plus, I don't hear many songs from the perspective of "I'm trying, so God please don't give up on me."

God Loves Me Too : Brian Falduto - Brian played the gay kid in the movie School of Rock, and catapulted the character into an LGBTQ icon when he delivered the line “You’re tacky and I hate you.” Now as an adult, Brian is back and singing that no one has to earn God’s love. Brian wrote the song after visiting a church that was welcoming and accepting of queer people. I look around and see I’ve found a place where peace and love abound. I’ve waited my whole life for the truth. It is true, God loves you. It don’t matter if you’re LGBTQ

My Little Prayer : David Archuleta - David wasn't out yet when he recorded this, but I imagine he really related to some of these lyrics, such as I'm beginning to understand that you (God) have a plan for me.

The Queer Gospel : Erin McKeown - I love these lyrics. There are those who think we're wicked. There are those who call us names: depraved, lost and sick, and would rather bathe us in shame. But we put the "sin" in sincere, we put the "do" in the doubt. God is perfectly clear. We are perfectly out. Love us as we are. See us and we're holy. In this shall we ever be wholly ourselves.

Good Day (feat. Derek Webb) : Flamy Grant - Matthew Blake was a worship leader for 22 years who has become a “shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting drag queen” named Flamy Grant (it's a play on the name of gospel singer Amy Grant). The lyrics talk of coming back to church after having left for feeling oppressed. They’ve come back to church because despite what some say, God’s love is expansive enough for everyone. God made me good in every way, so I raise my voice to celebrate a good day. 

Believe : GENTRI - The pianist for this group is gay. After coming out, he was having a hard time with faith and was angry at God, and he felt God gave him this song as part of his healing process. Believe there is an answer. And while you feel you're buried deep in a disaster, believe more hands are waiting, ready to lift you up and carry you back to safety. You're not alone, keep holding on. And believe.

Explaining Jesus : Jordy Searcy - In 2014, Jordan was a contestant on The Voice. He grew up active in a church and since being on the television show he has written several religious songs, including this one. Jordy discusses the shortcomings of churches, comparing the ways in which church members act and interact with each other, including how they treat the gay community and oppress women. If you're gay and over 85, you've felt for your whole life that when God made you, he just messed up. In the chorus he apologizes that this has been the experience, I'm sorry no one explained Jesus to you.

Satan's Tears : Kyler O'Neal - Did anyone ask how real you are? Has anyone said that you are loved, or that you’re the one they’re dreaming of? Those questions start this beautiful song by trans woman Kyler O’Neal. The song addresses a young gender non-conforming person unaccepted by their world, and the singer promises to wipe away Satan’s tears which were created by a cruel society

Same Love : Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert - Macklemore sings that his gay uncles should be allowed to marry, and speaks of how Christianity has hurt gay people. "God loves all his children" is somehow forgotten, but we paraphrase a book written thirty-five hundred years ago. The song concludes with Mary Lambert singing I’m not crying on Sundays, which I think means not letting religious intolerance and churches harm us anymore

No Place in Heaven : MIKA - Mika is singing about how religion teaches there’s no place in heaven for gay people because the way we love is sinful. Father, won’t you forgive me for my sins? Father, if there’s a heaven let me in

God Is : The Outer Banks - I don't know that they had queer people in mind when they wrote the song, but the lyrics relate to the conflict between one’s queerness and relationship with God. God was never angry. God was not against me. God was never far away. God is not disappointed.

I Know it Hurts : Paul Cardall & Tyler Glenn - I just wanted to believe, but how am I supposed to believe this about me? And then we find each other, queer church members who can understand what we’re going through, who know the hurt. For most queer people, they leave church and go on a different path. They’re not lost, a faint light at the end is guiding their way, they’re finding another way back home.

Losing My Religion : R.E.M. - The song was interpreted as the struggle of a closeted gay man coming to terms with what his religion taught about gay people and is seen as an example of queer coding in the era of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Lead singer Michael Stipe had declined to address his sexuality, so when “Losing My Religion” came out, people assumed Stipe was coming out as gay. Consider this the hint of the century. Consider this the slip.

HIM : Sam Smith - This is a song about a boy in Mississippi coming out and the conflict between his sexuality and his religious upbringing. He is grappling with the feeling that there’s no place in church for him because he’s gay. Holy Father, we need to talk. I have a secret that I can’t keep. I’m not the boy that you thought you wanted. Please don’t get angry, have faith in me.

Pray : Sam Smith - You won’t see Sam in church, but they say they’re a child of God at heart and are begging God to show the way. I’m not a saint, I’m more of a sinner. I don’t wanna lose, but I fear for the winners

Faith : Semler -  This song reached No. 1 on the iTunes Christian music chart and is about growing up queer in a faith community and how the rejection by the church left them scarred. When my religion turned against me, they said my hopes and dreams were faulty. I showed these holes inside my hands, and they claimed they couldn’t see.” Even as they struggled with the church, Semler kept a relationship with Jesus and flourished far more than she did in any church building. But I don’t wanna get small to be in those rooms

Hey Jesus : Trey Pearson - Trey made headlines in 2016 when as the lead singer of the Christian rock band Everyday Sunday, he came out as gay. Three years later and Trey has a question: Hey Jesus can you hear me now? It's been awhile since I came out, I was wonderin' do you love me the same? As a person who struggles to reconcile faith with sexual orientation, I find this song quite moving.

Heaven : Troye Sivan feat. Betty Who - Troye sings about what it’s like for a religious teenager to come out as gay. Without losing a piece of me, how do I get to heaven? Without changing a part of me, how do I get to heaven? All my time is wasted, feeling like my heart’s mistaken, oh, so if I’m losing a piece of me, maybe I don’t want heaven? Troye explains “When I first started to realise that I might be gay, I had to ask myself all these questions—these really really terrifying questions. Am I ever going to find someone? Am I ever going to be able to have a family? If there is a God, does that God hate? If there is a heaven, am I ever going to make it to heaven?” The video features footage from LGBTQ+ protests throughout history.

Revelation : Troye Sivan and Jónsi -This song was written for the movie Boy Erased, which is about a young man being sent by his parents to a conversion therapy camp to try to change him to not be gay. The lyrics are about feeling liberated from the toxic teachings he learned at church about LGBTQ+ people. It’s a revelation. There’s no hell in what I’ve found, and no kingdom shout. How the tides are changing as you liberate me now and the walls come down. In other words, God doesn't condemn me for my queerness.

Orphans of God : Ty Herndon & Kristin Chenoweth feat. Paul Cardall - The message of the song is we are all loved by God, we are all thought about, we are all created equally and God loves us all the same.

Midnight : Tyler Glenn - The Neon Trees frontman gives an emotional song about his departure from the Mormon church but not from God. The ballad is accompanied by a video that shows Glenn removing his religious garments and replacing them with a glittery jacket, which is such a powerful metaphor.

[writerobscura]

The USA

Sorry for the radio silence; I'm still processing how 51% of my country thinks it's okay to elect a bigoted, misogynistic felon to the presidency.

This election is a reminder that half of this country is so fucking hateful that they're willing to elect someone that makes us a laughing stock around the globe while those who bought and paid for his campaign gut democracy.

Are you doing better than you were four years ago? Of course not. You were getting subsidy checks Biden pushed through a Republican congress post-pandemic.

Wages went up for essential workers, and that expense got passed on to you because corporations aren't going to short to their shareholders - and the President can do nothing about that without holding companies accountable to regulation - which our new president has no intention of doing.

The next two years:

My adult children will lose their healthcare when he and his Republican senate quash the Affordable Care Act - but hey, so long as you have a few extra bucks at the end of the month for cigs and beer, what do you care?

Some states will be able to seize the medical records of women and mothers and use those records to fine or put them in jail (abortion, IVF, getting your trans teen the care they need) - but hey, none of those things affect you personally, so fuck 'em and hey, women aren't even human, am I right you newly registered voting Gen Z fellas?

College debt, infrastructure repairs, social programs - kiss all that goodbye because fucking the planet up is a small price to pay so you can get gasoline for under $2.99. Oh, and that Latino spouse? All it takes is one call from a disgruntled 'Murican and our new INS will be there with 'post-citizenship deportation review' papers.

Wars? How easily everyone forgets that Ukraine is at war right now because your guy failed to help him when Russia flooded his country with separatists. You think he's going to stop arming Israel? Where's the money in that?

Xenophobia may have worked when the USA was 100% self-sufficient in the 1900s, but it cannot be done in this day and age - but hey, going back to the old days is what it's all about, right?

Living in a hurricane or natural disaster prone state? You better pray to whatever G*d you worship that nothing happens in the next 2 years because the Pubs have the Senate and the presidency - no more FEMA funds and 'emergency handouts.'

Tariffs instead of taxes on the rich? Zero-sum situation. Guess how many companies import basic things just to make the shit you eat and use daily? Monsanto is no longer an American company, most farmers in the USA 'import' their seed, though because lack of corporate regulation has allowed them to destroy all farms that don't use their seed. While we're on the subject of tariffs, any foreign company can say, "We just won't sell to you, America." What's the backup plan? Oh, right, he has none.

Prices will rise, wages will stagnate, tariffs won't work, so guess who gets billed for that deficit? Not the wealthy—they spent billions electing this assclown, and there's no way they're investing one damned penny in the rest of us.

But hey, they know you can take it because you voted to have all this...You voted for all of the above at the expense of literally half your fellow countrymen.

If Kamala won, you would've lost NOTHING. Your worst case scenario under her presidency is that you would've been running in place financially while those you consider morally or racially beneath you, might've been gotten ahead a few steps.

So yeah, 51% of my country would rather watch it all burn down than suffer anyone they consider less of a human being, be given an equal chance.

[ordinaryschmuck]

I saw a post about how Carmen Santiego has great character designs and diversity through race and body types. I considered it a good post and one that makes a good point...And then below it was a reblog about how a person went "If Carmen Santiego can have a diverse cast of HUMANS, then what the hell is up with Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss?"

First of all...What the hell do either of those two things have in common? They sure are animated shows, I'll give you that. Except that one's a children's animated spy thriller and the other two are adult musical comedy dramas in Hell. Stylistically and tonally, neither of them have anything to do with each other and you just randomly made a point because...you hate Hazbin and Helluva? Cool. Congratulations. Now get a new personality and just fucking watch something else if these two shows made your hatred this obsessed when you randomly attack a show through a post that has NOTHING to do with it. The OP wasn't attacking Hazbin Hotel or Helluva Boss. Unless they constantly attack it and they made that post to prove a previous point, something that does NOT come across in that original post, there's no reason to go "Hey, why didn't these completely different shows with their own styles take notes of this kids show with ITS unique style?"

And here's the thing: I like Carmen Santiego. I like the way that it looks, and I think its style really is unique compared to other animated series that have come out around the same time. And I do agree that it has a great diverse cast that shows off a lot of body diversity where every single character looks unique in their own way. But here's the thing: I would not go out of my way to attack other shows, to the point where I'd hijack someone else's post to say, "Yeah, this show is WAY better than this other one I hate." And if I had in the past...I'm sorry. I really am sorry. I hate that I acted that way and I will try to do better. Because that's what I do with media criticism or talking about stuff I don't like. I try to act BETTER than I have in the past because that's not how you talk about media. Whether you like it or hate it, it's never a good thing to talk about something you hate when the discussion is about something someone else loves. Sometimes it makes sense, as there are often two products that are similar to each other. Like Marve/DC, Star Wars/Star Trek, and The Owl House/Amphibia. Those are media where there's a lot to compare and contrast, with people being unaware that the main reason why they like the other basically boils down to personal preferences when it comes to consuming media. But with Hazbin/Helluva and Carmen Santiego, there's really NOTHING to compare and you're just going out of your way to talk about something you hate when it's not relevant to the conversation. It's like people who hyped up Puss in Boots: The Last Wish just to shit on Velma. Yeah, The Last Wish is a thousand times better than Velma, but there's nothing similar about both products that make the discussion worth it. You're just using something you love as a weapon towards something you hate.

I get it, people like some things and hate others. It's how we're wired as human beings and I can't stop that. Nor do I think I CAN stop it. But just feel like this is making media discussion worse when all we can think of to do when discussing something we love and bringing in something we hate into the conversation. It's not necessary, and you're feeding the creators that thing you hate by still talking about it. You want to know the best possible way to react to "objectively bad" media? Stop talking about it. Stop watching it. STOP ENGAGING.

If you don't fucking like it, stop consuming this piece of media and go watch something you enjoy instead. Give THAT your time. Show how THAT does everything right and sing its praises. Raise up this one thing that you believe is "objectively good" so it can effectively overshadow this thing you consider "objectively bad." There's a way to discuss media without shitting on something you don't like.

[lostfirefly]

Well, I don't know why I came here tonight, I've got the feeling that something ain't right

Hey, hey, hey!! I haven't published anything for a long time. The stress of studying took all my energy. Welcome to another fun day for Catherine and Buggy! English is not my native language, errors may occur. As always, feel free to share your thoughts :)

Masterlist is here

Description: Neighbor asks Catherine and Buggy to look after the kids at their birthday party while she goes to get the cake.

Warnings: Fun, fluff, jokes. A composite image of the kids at the party. Sorry in advance for the fact that children swear, but I just thought that they often repeat everything after adults. Small references to my followers.

Words: 5344

Buggy x OC from my “You’ve Got the Same Dream as Me” series.

Taglist: @gingernut1314, @operationroots, @hey-august, @yujo-nishimura, @emmiebugz-blog, @mydearlybeloathed

The title is taken from "Stuck in the middle with you" by Stealers Wheel.

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

“How long are we going to sit like this, cotton candy?” Buggy stroked Catherine's back as she curled up in his lap. 

“It's only been fifteen minutes, stop nagging.” She took his ponytail and began to wind it around her finger. “You stayed late at the circus two nights in a row. I missed you. And now I want to spend some time with you in our chair.” 

“It’s nonsense, Cathie-pie. We're doing nothing.”

“We’re enjoying each other's company. It's so great and romantic. We're resting, you're hugging me, I feel like I'm in the safest place in the world right now.” Catherine curled up even tighter and pulled the blanket over them. “Let's sit for a little while longer, please.”

Buggy rolled his eyes. “Fine. An hour, ok?” He hugged her tighter, kissed her forehead and quickly wiped the lipstick mark with his fingers. “Why do I always give in to you?” He noticed Catherine start laughing. “What's so funny, little shit?” 

“Your nose. It's so funny, it bumps into my head, then my cheeks.” Catherine saw how sad Buggy became. “Oh, don't be upset, my silly clown. I love your nose. It also whistles funny sometimes at night. But I like it, it makes me feel like I'm home.” 

“You like mocking me, right?”

“I'm not mocking you! Remember when I went to visit my sister recently? I missed your snoring and whistling, so I had to put a chicken whistle by my pillow and I hugged the teddy bear. It all reminded me of you and our home, my little bear.” Catherine exhaled and started running her fingers around Buggy's arm. “I want you to come to my parents’ house so much. I want to show you everything. My room, photo albums, my favorite places. I was sitting in a coffee shop and thinking how great it would be to sit here with you. Maybe you'll come to Loguetown with me sometime?”

“I don't know, Catherine. We’ll see, ok? Fuck, totally forgot I have something for you.” Buggy sent his hand to the night stand and pulled some box of candies out of the drawer for her. “Here, your favorite nougat ones.”

“Yesterday, you stole blue irises for me. Today you brought me sweets. You're so cute, my Buggy Bear. You bring me candies, flowers, you even started bringing me candles. Thanks!” She kissed him on the cheek and took a couple of candies. “Yummy. Oh! Can I ask you a question?”

“First, Cathie-pie, it's still a terrible nickname. Second, you talked me into staying in this chair and covered me with a blanket with little ponies on it. Me.” Buggy pointed his finger at himself. “A grown man. Do I have a choice to say no?” 

“Asshole.” Catherine popped a candy into her mouth. “You know, we've been together for six months now, and I realized I don't know your middle name. Do you have a middle name? Let's say Buggy Eiichiro the Clown.” 

“Oh, I know what name I could have.” He grinned. “Buggy “The Best Sex of Catherine Mitchell's Life” the Clown.” He started giggling and winked at her. 

“I hate you. Why can't you answer like a normal person?” Catherine gently slapped him on the shoulder. “Now you're punished and I’ll ask another question. Have you ever dreamed of anything? Or maybe you have another dream now.”

“Why are you asking?”

“Everyone has dreams, Buggy.” Catherine ran her finger over his chest. “You talk not so much about your past, I'm wondering what you were like before you met me. So far I only know that you were in prison, hanging out with some kid and are worth a lot of money. But I still think you should cost more.”

“I didn't hang out with the kid! Well... I used to dream of you leaving my life, but as we can see,” Buggy smacked Catherine on the head, “that wasn't meant to happen, and now you piss me off every single day.” 

“I'm serious, clown. I told you about mine yesterday.”

“You mean that dream where you wanted to be queen of the gummy worms?” Buggy laughed. “I can't stop imagining this picture. I'm sorry, baby, it doesn't count.”

“I was five years old, you idiot. What could I have dreamed of when I was five? Okay, if you don't want to tell me, don't tell me.” Catherine gently slapped her palms on his chest.

“Fine. Seriously though. Well,” Buggy scratched his head, “I dreamed of being the king of… all circuses. But I had to give up on that dream. I had and have no right to dream about that.”

“Are you sure you're talking about the circus? You have the right to dream, my blue-haired love.” Catherine looked at Buggy, saw that he didn't want to continue this topic, took his hand and started to run her fingers over his palm. “I don't know. It seems to me that you are already the king. Tickets are selling out fast. Your fangirls are sighing for you.”

“I don't have fangirls! Stop mocking me, little shit!” 

“No, you have! I saw them. But I won't give you to them.” Catherine poked Buggy in the shoulder. “And I’m so proud of you. Can't wait to see the new show.” She exhaled and gently took the strand of his hair. “We're sitting so well, huh? Thank you for this, I know you don’t like, but I appreciate you suffering for me.” Catherine raised her head. “I love you so, so much, my Buggy Bear.” She gently pulled him by the ponytail closer and touched her lips to his. 

(doorbell rings) 

“Who is it? Are you waiting for someone?” Catherine raised an eyebrow. 

“No. Fuck them! Let's not open the door.” Buggy tried to kiss her back.

(knock on the door) 

“Wait!” Catherine gently pushed his head back. “Maybe it's Cabaji? He wanted to come in and ask about how to spend a perfect date with a girl.”

“Why can't he ask over the phone?” Buggy tried to kiss her neck. “Fuck him too.” 

“Stop! He wanted to write everything down.” Catherine tried to fight back and slapped him on the back. “I want to help him. He's your friend.” 

“He’ll do it later. We’re enjoying each other and to be honest, now I like sitting in the fucking chair.” Buggy tried to kiss her neck again. 

“Oh, for Christ's sake, Buggy!” Catherine had a hard time pulling his head off. “Don't touch me with your painted lips. You already pestered me in the bathroom this morning and I said no. What's gotten into you?”

“You were so sexy in the bathroom in your pants with pandas, I couldn't resist.” Buggy took her hand and kissed it. 

“I wasn't sexy, I was disheveled and was brushing my teeth.” Catherine grabbed his chin and pecked him on his nose. “Is there something else on your mind, clown?”

“Stop doing this, woman!” Buggy scrunched up his face and tried to move away from Catherine.

“I want and I kiss your nose!” She pecked him on his nose several times. “Love you, my old grumpy boy.” 

“I’m not ol-!” 

(doorbell rings) 

“I'll go open it.” Catherine quickly got up from Buggy's lap, ran to the door, but stopped abruptly at the exit from the bedroom and turned to Buggy. “Oh, no! What if it's not Cabaji. What if it's some man who came to take me away from you.” Catherine winked and quickly ran out into the hallway. 

“Hey!” Buggy rushed after her and caught up only at the front door. 

Catherine laughed when he grabbed her hand and began to pull her towards him. “You're such a fool. Look at how you're clinging to me. My blue-haired protector.” She kissed him on the cheek and opened the door. “Mrs. Emmie? What happened?”

A short, middle-aged woman with dark hair stood on the threshold. “Hello, Mr. The Clown.” She waved her hand. 

“Buggy, actually.” He rolled his eyes. 

Mrs. Emmie blushed a little. “Sorry. Mister Buggy, Miss Catherine, I need your help. My grandson is here for his birthday party, his parents haven't arrived yet and I have to pick up his cake. Could you look after him and some of his friends while I go get the cake?”

“NO!” Buggy shouted loudly, not expecting such an intonation from himself.

“Please, Mr. The Clown!”

“It's Buggy, for god's sake!! I've been living here for two years!!”

“Sorry, Mr. The Clown! Well, I went around to all the neighbors. No one is here. Grandson's parents were stuck in traffic and would be here in about two hours. The kids' parents would be arriving, but they would also be arriving in about an hour. The table was already set, with cocktails for the kids and a bar for the adults. Please! I can pay!” Mrs. Emmie looked at Catherine with tear-stained eyes. 

“How much?” Buggy crossed his arms. 

“Excuse us for a second, Mrs. Emmie.” Catherine took his hand and led him aside. “Are you crazy asking about money, clown? She's asking for help!”

“Not help, cotton candy!” Buggy glanced at Mrs. Emmie. “She's asking to babysit. I'm not going to babysit for free.”

“Perfect!” Catherine fluttered her hands. “And if I asked you to babysit our child, would you ask me for money too?”

“Oh, no, in that case I'd charge you a different fee.” Buggy giggled idiotically. 

“You're disgusting, you know that?” Catherine gently stroked his shoulder. “I know, you don't like kids. I'm not a fan of them either. But do you really want to leave me to be eaten by a bunch of children? I will never believe in my life that you would do this. You didn't leave me in that god’s cage.” Catherine hugged him around his waist, placing her chin on his chest. “Will my Buggy the Brave Knight save me again? And don't forget there's free food and free booze there. Then we'll come home, and I promise I won't even drag you out for a walk today. We'll stay home and eat chips and hot dogs like old people.”

“Fine.” Buggy groaned. 

“You're my best!” Catherine kissed him on his cheek. “Love, love, love you!” She turned back to Mrs. Emmie, who looked at Catherine with hope in her eyes. “It's okay, we agree.”

“Thank you! Thank you!” Mrs. Emmie hugged Catherine. “You know, Mr. The Clown, even though you grumble all the time, you've become a little bit nicer since that sweet sweetie came into your house.”

“See? I’m sweet.” Catherine playfully poked Buggy in his chest. “And you're nice.” 

Buggy rolled his eyes and growled, pushing Catherine towards the exit. “This means I'm changing, and you've come to love me differently.”

Mrs. Emmie led them into the back yard, explaining the rules and restrictions. Catherine memorized them attentively, jabbing Buggy with her elbow whenever he started to grumble. They walked out into the backyard, which was covered with colorful balloons and streamers that said Happy Birthday. Large tables were filled with baked goods, sandwiches, and sweets. The yard echoed with the sounds of children's laughter and whistles.

“Oh, that table over there is definitely for me!” Buggy nodded towards a closed bar with a bunch of drinks and started to walk towards it, but Catherine grabbed him by the pants as soon as he took two steps away from her. “Baby, if you want something from me, just ask.” He chuckled.

Mrs. Emmie and Catherine looked at him at the same time, puzzled. Buggy tensed slightly, looking at Catherine's “i’ll kill you” face. 

Mrs. Emmie exhaled and shook her head. “Miles, honey!” She called out as they descended a couple of steps of the large wooden staircase below. “I’m going to get your cake. Miss Catherine and Mister Buggy are going to sit with you while I go away for a while. I’ll be back in an hour. Bye.” She grabbed the keys and quickly ran out of the house. 

Catherine took Buggy's hand and led him towards the children. “Hey, guys!” She waved to them as she walked out into the backyard.

“WOOOAAAH!!!” A small, chubby boy with big cheeks, ginger hair and big dark eyes turned to face them. “Look! Guys!!” Miles poked his friends in the shoulder. “This's a real clown!!! Strange.. he's not wearing a costume, he's wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Anyway!! RUN!!!” 

Ten kids jumped up from the grass and ran towards Buggy. 

“Hey, hey!!” Catherine stood in front of Buggy, spreading her arms. “Quiet, guys!” 

“Can you do magic?” One kid was tugging at Buggy's pants.

“Is your nose buzzing?” The other kids tried to get past Catherine.

“Woohooo!!!” One of the children squealed. “Loook, guys!! I’m flying!!” 

Catherine turned around to see Buggy picking the child up by the scruff of the neck and glaring at him. “Buggy! Put the kid down on the ground right now!” She hissed quietly through her teeth.

“He was tugging at my pants!” Buggy turned the child over in his hands. “I don't like it.” 

“I don't care, put him down!”

Buggy rolled his eyes and set the child down. 

“Alright, kiddos, everyone to the table.” Catherine nudged a few kids in the back. “Who wants cake?”

“Who needs cake when there's a clown here!!” Miles squeaked. 

Several children tried to attack Buggy again, but Catherine grabbed him by the shirt. “Na-ah! No attacks on the clown until everyone's had their cake.” She bent down, placing her hands on her knees, and looked at the children. “So. Who wants cake now?” 

“WE WANT CAKE!! WE WANT CAKE!!!” All the children, joyfully throwing up their hands, ran squealing to the table in all directions.

Catherine laughed and followed after them, making sure all the kids were seated. She turned away for just a second to pour everyone some juice when she heard a child squealing and an adult cursing. 

“I can't sit still!!!” Miles' voice came from behind Catherine. “He's so cool!!!” Catherine turned to see several kids attacking Buggy, who tried to fight off a crowd of screaming children and cursing. 

“What the fuck?” Buggy tried to throw the child who had jumped on his back.

“You're sooo funny!! Your nose looks soo real!” The kid started laughing and was about to grab Buggy's nose. 

“Hey, get off him!” Catherine rushed to pull the kids off the suffering clown's body. “You okay?” She quickly examined Buggy's face and hands.

“Fuck, no! Catherine, let's go home. They're crazy!! Let them look after themselves!” Buggy tried to take the squealing kid off yourself. 

“We can't. We promised to help. Look, they like you.” Catherine giggled as she lifted another child off Buggy. “Okay, Miles! Get off my boyfriend's back!” 

“Is he your boyfriend? Wooooaaaah!! You're so lucky!!” Miles looked at Catherine with admiration. “You probably can watch tricks all the time. Is he showing you tricks?”

“Oh, yeah, believe, dude, I show her tricks.” Buggy giggled with a proud expression on his face. “You know, adult ones.” 

“What? What do adult tricks mean?” Miles looked from Catherine to Buggy, waiting for an answer.

Buggy crossed his arms. “That means I can…” 

“Shush!!” Catherine hissed and whispered under her breath. “Shut up and wipe that smug grin off your face,” Catherine took a small step toward Buggy. “Are you crazy, saying that in front of the kid?”

“What's wrong? He's…” Buggy looked at Miles, who was fiddling with his hand. “How old are you, bro?”

“I'm six!” Miles said proudly, with a slight lisp.

“See, Cathie-pie, he's six.” 

“I don’t care. I'm not gonna ruin a little kid's life with your stories.” Catherine nudged Miles toward the table. 

“Look, they are sitting, eating cake and don't bother anyone. Let's go home.” Buggy took Catherine's hand and dragged her to the door. “Nothing will happen to them.”

“I can't leave 10 children unattended, Buggy.” She pulled her hand away and glanced towards the children.

“Come on, cotton candy! Their parents are coming in... How long have we been here?” Buggy looked at his watch. “Ten minutes? Fuck!”

“Stop grumbling, clown! Oh, my God! See? One of the kids is eating dirt!” Catherine waved her hands and ran to another chubby kid with dark hair and big brown eyes. “Hey, you! The boy! Stop doing that!” She barely lifted him off the ground. “What's your name, baby?”

“I'm Howl!” The boy, covered in mud, answered with a proud look.

“And I'm Catherine.” She knelt down and started wiping the kid's hands. “Stop eating dirt, Howl.”

“This will make me cool!” Howl shoveled another handful of dirt down his throat. 

“Cool guys don't eat that. They eat hot dogs. Do you want to be a cool boy and eat hot dogs, Howl?” Catherine stroked the boy's hair.

“Nope!” Howl grabbed the dirt in his hand and put it in his mouth.

“Dear lord!!” Catherine rolled her eyes. “Oh! I know! See that man over there?” Catherine nodded gently toward Buggy. “See? He’s strong and cool. And you know why? He likes hot dogs! Now do you want to be cool like him?” She saw Howl glance at the clown, then look at Catherine and nod. “Do you want me to get you a hot dog?”

Howl scowled. “Now I want to believe you. And as I started believing you, I want a hot dog!!” He jumped towards the table.

“Thank God!” Catherine stood up from her knees and saw Buggy walking towards her, sipping his beer. “Are you kidding me? While I'm trying to seat the kids, you’re enjoying a beer?” Catherine grabbed her head. “These kids are like ten of you, Buggy. They also sit quietly at first and then bam! They start whining and doing strange things.”

“But see? You're doing great. Maybe I should go home and support you from the couch?” Buggy shrugged and put the empty bottle on the nearest table.

“Oh, go wherever you want, Buggy.” Catherine waved at him. “I was hoping for once in my life you'd help me.”

“Sorry, Cathie-pie. I’d love to make things right but it’s time to exit stage left. Bye!” 

“How-- How can you do this to me?” Catherine's eyes widened and she yelled after Buggy, who was walking away. “What? You didn't leave me in the desert, so now you're taking revenge, huh?” She watched how he waved to her. “Go f-- screw you, clown!!!”

“Excuse me, Miss Catherine!” Someone poked Catherine in the arm with his finger several times. “You're swearing!” Miles’ voice came from behind Catherine. 

“And what?” She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. 

“When my parents argue and use bad words, they put a dollar in the jar.” He pulled out a jar of money and shook it in front of Catherine's face. “Dollar, please.”

“What? I won't pay you!” Catherine squealed, her eyes wide.

“Then I'll tell my parents that you were swearing. Guys! Repeat after me! Screw you! Screw you!!” Miles and Howl began to jump around Catherine excitedly, repeating the phrase after her. Miles stopped and glanced at Catherine. “See, lady? You’ll have problems. Dollar.” 

“Do you think you can scare me, little bastard? I jumped off a cliff and live with the clown!” Catherine shifted her gaze to the table and crossed her arms. “Let's do it like this! You sit down at the table, I'll let you have a baby cocktail and I'll tell you a funny story, what do you think the idea is?”

“I don't want the story! Let's do it this way. I'll keep quiet, and you call the clown. I want the clown! Where'd he go?” Miles started to fume. 

“He better packs his bags right now to flee to another country away from my wrath.” Catherine muttered under her breath. “What should I do with you?” She scratched her head. “Oh! If you guys don't want a story, let's hit the piñata. There's probably candy in there. Do you guys like candy? You're kids! You should love them!” Catherine looked at them pleadingly in her eyes. 

“WE WANT THE CLOWN!!!” All the kids stamped their feet. 

“Mother fuc–!” Catherine suddenly covered her mouth with her hand.

“Dollar, please!” Miles picked up the can again.

“Screw you!” Catherine heard the phone ringing. 

“Guuuuys!” Miles raised his hand. “Go!” He waved his hand, giving the command. “Mother fuc-! Mother fuc-!” The kids started kicking their feet and merrily repeating after Catherine. 

“Screw you all!!” Catherine heard the phone ringing. “Shit! Everybody stay here!” Catherine pulled her cell phone out of her pants pocket. “Mrs. Emmie? What? Are you going to be late? And kids’ parents? Also? Yeah, sure, I'll keep an eye on them. Goodbye.” Catherine put her phone in her pocket. “Yeah, she's got traffic. I bet they're all sitting at the bar drinking aperol right now. Oh my god, the kids!” She watched them all scatter again. “Everybody should freeze now!!!” She barked loudly and abruptly covered her mouth with her hand again. “For god's sake, let's beat the piñata now, eat fries, and then you eat cake, and I'll show you tricks.”

“Hooray!!!!!” All children tore out of their seats and ran toward the big pig-shaped piñata. 

They joyfully started pounding the toy until candy sprinkled out of it.

“MY SWEETS! MY SWEETS!!!!” The kids piled on top of each other and started raking up the candy. 

“Stop!! What's wrong with you? Stop climbing on each other.” Catherine grabbed her head. “This is some kind of madhouse.” She muttered to herself and looked at her watch. “I've made it through almost an hour. There's still an hour left.”

“Miss Catherine, I didn't climb on anyone and behaved well. Can I have cake now?” A thin voice of a girl was heard. “I'm Hilda.” 

“Oh, of course, dear Hilda.” Catherine stroked the girl's head and clapped her hands. “Everyone to the table! Let's have cake and fries!!”

“You promised us magic tricks, Miss Catherine!” Miles mumbled, eating candies and approaching the table. 

“Yes, magic tricks! Let me juggle.” Catherine picked up three tangerines and tried to throw them up in the air to catch them, but they all fell to the ground. “Okay! That was a practice run. Let's try again!” She tossed the tangerines again, but they also fell to the ground.

“You're a bad juggler! Why are you ruining my party?” Miles began to sob. 

“Oh, well, I'm sorry I'm such a fucking clumsy person, okay? I can't juggle!” Catherine angrily threw the balls on the ground.

Miles started whining and all the children began to repeat after him. 

“Oh, stop crying! Bunch of..” Catherine rolled her eyes. “It’s not my fault that your paren-”

“I’ll tell my mom that you spoiled my party, and you swore!” Miles wiped his nose. “I want to see you juggling!! YOU CANNOT JU-UGGLE!!”

“Because she doesn't know how to do it. Right, Miss Catherine?” 

“THE CLOWN!!!” Miles, Howl and other seven kids, except for Hilda, jumped to their feet.

Catherine turned to where the children were pointing and saw Buggy gesturing to them to calm down. Catherine tried to hold back a smile, but she wasn't very good at it. “You're back!”

“Yes, and I hate myself for that.” Buggy shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets.

“I always knew you were a good person.” Catherine started stroking his hand. 

“And for that, I hate you.” He shifted his gaze to the kids. “So. What's going on here?” 

“They're crazy, Buggy. And that kid Miles. He’s a little evil. He tried to swindle money out of me. It feels like the only calm person here is that plump blonde girl named Hilda, and only because she eats all the time.” Catherine buried her head in Buggy's shoulder. “I wanna go home. But we need to entertain them somehow, because they'll continue squealing and destroying everything when they finish the cake, because they saw you. Buggy, please! Help me!” Catherine was practically breaking down into tears.

“How about I show them a couple of chop chop tricks?” Buggy placed his hand on her back. “They're kids, right? They love it when clowns do funny things. And by the way, not only kids love that.” He giggled again in a stupid way. 

“Shut up, you pervert.” Catherine raised her eyes. “And no chop chop in front of these kids, please. I don't know who they are, or who their parents are. What if they come after you later? I don't want you to get hurt.” 

Buggy snapped his fingers. “Are there any ribbons or scarves around here?”

“I saw some. Wait.” Catherine quickly ran to the table and came running back. “Here.” She held out several colorful chiffon scarves to him. 

“Okay, kiddos. Who wants tricks?” Buggy tucked the handkerchiefs under his sleeve and headed toward the kids. 

“WE WANT TRICKS!!!!” All ten little bodies stared at Buggy in admiration. 

Questions were constantly heard from around the table. “Is your hair real? Or is it a wig?”, “And where did you buy such a natural nose? Does it honk?”. The children shouted their names randomly, trying to get Buggy's attention.

“Either you calm down now or no tricks!” Catherine barked, glared angrily at the children and plopped down on the chair. “I can't!” She drank the juice from the nearest glass in one gulp.

“Hey, Miles!” Buggy said quietly, adjusting his sleeves. “I heard it's your birthday.”

“Yeah! Yeah!” Miles started stamping his feet on the spot. “My birthday, my party!” 

“And I also heard you were picking on that beautiful girl.” Buggy pointed at Catherine and clicked his tongue. “Not cool, bro.”

“Tattletale!!” Miles whispered to Catherine and showed his tongue. “I didn't mean to, Mister the Clown.” He pouted. “Sorry, miss.”

“I guess she's not mad at you anymore.” Buggy winked at Catherine. “And I also…. What's that?” He pointed somewhere behind the kids. 

Everyone at the table, including Catherine, looked around. 

“Where? I can't see anything!” She tried to figure out where he was pointing. 

“TA-DA!” Buggy's voice was heard. 

Catherine and all the kids turned around and saw him start to take out handkerchiefs from his sleeves. The children froze for a second and then suddenly burst into laughter, squeals and applause.

“Best trick ever!” Catherine started clapping. “You're the best clown I've ever seen in my life!”

Buggy began juggling tangerines, but he was also not very good at it. Then he started showing card tricks, he was a little better at this. The children squealed, shouted and stamped their feet at his every mistake, thinking it was part of the act. 

“Now I'm going to ask my lovely assistant to help me.” Buggy held out his hand to Catherine. 

“Who? Me?” She leaned closer to him. “Will you pick one of the children?”

“Nope.” Buggy winked at her. “Will my cotton candy help me?”

Catherine blushed, giggled and squealed quietly at the same time, and extended her hand to Buggy.

“Mister the Clown, can you make us a balloon dog? I'm Arthur, by the way.” A skinny, fair-haired boy covered in cake asked from the end of the table.

“Hello, Arthur!” Catherine said and bowed slightly. “Of course he will make an inflatable dog. Give us one minute!” She ran away for a second, picked up a sausage-shaped balloon and ran back. “Please, Mr. the Clown.” Catherine bowed like a true circus assistant, handing the balloon to Buggy.

“Cotton candy, I have no fucking idea how these dogs are made!” Buggy whispered quietly. 

“Think of something. I don't think they care what the outcome is. I think they just like you.” Catherine glanced out of the corner of her eye at the excited children.

Buggy groaned and tried to bend one part of the balloon to make a tail, the other part of the balloon to make a head. He twisted something resembling a twisted sausage in his hands for a long time.

“Something like that.” He showed this balloon misunderstanding to the children.

18 eyes looked at Catherine and Buggy, with the exception of Hilda, only blinking back.

“What's going on? Why are they silent?!” Catherine looked from the children to Buggy and took a step back just in case.

“I don't know.” Buggy nudged Catherine behind him. “I don't like this. I don't like it even more that they're looking at us the way you look at me just before you start squealing and jumping on me.” He nudged her back another step.

At that very moment the children burst into squeals and jumped up from their seats, running towards Catherine and Buggy. 

“Get back! Get back!” Buggy shouted at Catherine and took two big steps back.

“Hello, kids!” Mrs. Emmie's voice was heard and the children immediately ran to her. Several parents also came into the yard. 

“Am I alive? Or were we trampled?!!!” Catherine was ready to cry with delight, hugging Buggy. “Are you ok–?” 

“Miss Catherine! Mister Buggy! Hello! We are Miles' parents. Auggie and Trevor.” A short, stocky man with dark hair and grey-blue eyes, a tall, thin middle-aged woman with blue-black hair and blue eyes came closer to Catherine and Buggy. “Emmie said you helped us out. I hope the kids didn't torture you too much. Our son can be naughty sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Are you fucking kidding me?” Buggy barked. “Your kid–!”

Catherine kicked him in the leg. “It's okay, Miss Auggie. Miles's cute.” She giggled slightly. 

“Let me thank you with a cocktail!” Auggie invited Buggy and Catherine to the bar, where she poured them each a Long Island. They were talking when Miles approached his parents and tugged at his mother's dress. 

“Mom, where's my scooter? Daddy promised me a scooter!” He looked around. 

“Honey, you don't need a scooter yet, we bought you a kick scooter.” Auggie patted Miles on the head. 

“But I wanted a real scooter!” Miles stamped his foot. 

“Hah, you don't always get what you want, kid. I dreamed of being queen of the worms, but you see, my dreams were never meant to come true.” Catherine took a swig of her drink.

“Screw you!” Miles stamped his foot and stuck out his tongue to Catherine. 

“Miles! What kind of words were you saying?!” The boy's mom's eyes widened. 

“She said that bad word!” Miles pointed at Catherine. 

“What?!" Auggie looked at Catherine blinking. “Are you out of your mind?”

“It's time to go home, cotton candy!” Buggy threw Catherine over his shoulder and was about to run towards the door. 

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Catherine grabbed four bottles of different alcohol and managed to grab a tray of snacks. “We dese-e-eerve it!!” She screamed as Buggy raced towards the apartment with her.

Buggy reached the apartment in seconds and closed the door. 

“Lock it all up! Lock it all up!” Catherine laughed, putting the bottles on the table. “God, I hope they don't get too mad at us.”

“Fuck them!” Buggy leaned his back against the door and looked at the large bottles of alcohol. “How did you even grab all that?”

Catherine shrugged, came closer and hugged him around the waist. “You hear that?” She chuckled. “Silence!” Catherine raised her head and looked at Buggy's tired and at the same shocked face. “Thank you! I couldn't have done it without you. You see, we have proven once again that we are a strong crew.” She kissed him on his nose. “And my silly clown..”

“I’m listening, my Cathie-pie.” 

“Don't get me wrong, I love you.” Catherine started stroking his head. “But from today on, I won't let you touch me without… well.. you know. I'll tell you more, you'll put on every single.. well, you know.. in the box on your little Buggy.” 

“Hey! He's not little!” Buggy kissed the top of Catherine’s head. “But for the first time in my life, I’m not gonna argue with you, cotton candy.”

[rayssyscourse]

My system is personally mixed on the ToSD, but our thing with it in general is that what it says about how children develop doesn't really match up with anything else on child development. Kids do have personalities, and while I might be wrong about this existing, I've never read anything on child development that actually validates the way the Theory of Structural Dissociation views childhood.

It actually works very well to explain why our endogenic system developed, but the reason my system doesn't inherently like with the way it's applied to systems isn't because we're "fantasy and iatrogenic" according to that other user. It's mostly because we do work with kids and in a way it feels a bit diminishing of children's experiences and think it applies better to just trauma and dissociation.

A lot of it really does make more sense if you apply it to trauma in general instead of just systems, which I believe was the original intention if memory was correct, but now people treat it like the System theory instead of the Dissociation theory. Especially since it has been applied to adults with PTSD.

Childhood development of plurality in general is still just under-researched and like it or not, systems that don't fit that model exist and without them being properly examined we can't say if the Theory of Structural Dissociation universally applies to systems or not. It's just a gap in research and there's no reason to dig in your heals and go "nuh uh" because we have decades of recordings with thousands of individuals in this broad umbrella of group that doesn't fit this model and still has never been properly looked at for how their development works.

I also don't think anyone is arguing that it doesn't exist, but just the levels of how much it should apply to systems and especially early child development is debatable.

sorry ive been bad about posting asks recently, been feeling a little burnt out :') by all means keep sending them, though; I might be slower to reply because busy and mental health but I do really enjoy reading them and responding to them when I do get around to it! <3

as I said a few other times on this topic, I'm not the reigning authority on the tosd (far from it), so I don't want to say a ton until I've had the time to read up on it a little more. that said, I think your take is pretty reasonable. i will say that it's very much still worth using and studying the tosd even if it may not apply to all systems, and that in almost everything there's gonna be outliers. but overall, yeah, I think it's okay to question stuff like that when we just don't fully know.

[deadmomjokes]

as a teacher, hearing about the way you communicate so clearly and thoroughly with your child is so inspiring. I wish more people had resources on how to communicate with kids like you do.

I'm very bad at taking compliments, so I'll just say "Thank you" and also qualify that she makes it pretty easy. She's very smart and has always, from day one basically, needed to know the reasons behind everything. In other circumstances, she would probably be called "stubborn" or "defiant." But the thing is, I remember my own "stubbornness" growing up, and it was almost always the result of me not understanding why things were the way they were. From a young age, I hated with a burning passion the "Because I said so" thing. So I determined that I didn't want to do that when/if I had kids of my own.

My daughter is very bright and curious and makes that easy for me. Her "why" phase was/is pretty specific, which is helpful in keeping ahead of the frustration-induced rage-meltdowns. (Not all of them, of course, because some concepts are really hard to grasp even as an adult, let alone when you're 4 years old and everything Feels Too Big.)

But I also made a conscious effort to start practicing early, before she could talk or push back on a lot of stuff. It felt so weird and silly at first, but I basically narrated everything I did with/around her, and put a reason for it. So a trip to the store sounded like this:

"We made it to the store to get our groceries, so we have yummy food to eat. Let's go inside and get a buggy--that's where we'll put all the things we get, because we can't carry them all in just our hands. I'm going to put you in the buggy, too, right here in this seat, that way you can see what's going on but I have both my hands to push the buggy and grab the things we need. Here, look, some bananas! Let's get some of those because you love to eat them. Oh, no, sorry baby, we can't eat them right now. This stuff isn't ours until we pay for it at the very end-- that's the part with the beep-beeper and the bags. When we get home we can have some of the bananas, because then they are our bananas." Etc, etc, on and on.

People looked at me like I was nuts. It felt a little nuts at times, especially before she could respond verbally. But it worked. It built a habit for me to give a reason for why I'm doing things, or making her do things. More importantly, I feel like, it made me stop and question when I didn't have a good reason for my answers or behaviors. Like if she comes up and asks to blow bubbles outside, and I go, "No baby, not right now," she can be like "why not?" And I have to look at myself and my reasoning. Is it because I'm actually busy or we're genuinely about to do something else that precludes the 5 minutes it'd take to do bubbles? Or is it because I just don't feel like it? It's not fair for "I don't feel like it" to supersede her desires for connection and entertainment all the time. (Sometimes you're just worn out and don't have the bandwidth for it, and that's valid. Parents are people too! But it can't be all the time, yk?) So if I don't have a good reason why not, I let her know that I thought about it more and changed my mind, and off we go to blow bubbles.

I also heard the advice, idk where or when, that you need to practice on your children what you want from them. So if I want my child to be kind, I have to be kind to her, in ways that she can see and appreciate. If I want her to know it's okay to change your mind, I have to point out when that happens for me, like in the above bubbles example. If I want her to be a decent human being who respects others, is empathetic, appreciates the efforts of others, speaks kindly, thinks about how her actions impact those around her, etc... You get the idea. It starts with me. And I try to consciously remind myself of that fact.

It's not always easy, because kids aren't always rational (but to be fair, neither are adults lol). And what is rational to a 4 year old is not always the same as what is rational to me, the adult with almost 3 decades of experience more than her. So sometimes it's like explaining to the wind why it ought to blow in a different direction. But the longer I get to know her, the more I'm able to pick up on the way she sees things, her personal defaults, the way she talks around concepts she's not sure about, etc. It's part of what's cool about getting to be her parent. I get such a close-up view of this little person becoming a little person, and it makes me stop and think about things I have taken for granted for a long time.

I'm rambling again, but I have developed a lot of Strong Feelings about the way kids are treated and looked at in general, and a lot of determination to do better for the kids I get the privilege of loving.

[xatsperesso]

Sleepover: Gambling edition

It all started with a knock on the door, with a lot of demon children hanging out, and with three adults diligently watching over them.

The atmosphere was kind of tense, and for good reasons at that. Lied took a glance at the adults in the room, and scooted over to where iruma was sitting.

"Hey," he whispered to Iruma, loud enough that the rest of the class will hear, but the adults on the other side of the room won't "Not that I mind or anything, but why are Kalego-sensei and Balam-sensei at the sleepover?"

--

"Why am I here again?" a very tired Kalego asked Opera who all but kidnapped him into the kids little party. He imagines Shichiro was also kidnapped by their senpai too.

"Last time Iruma held a party it got a little out of hand, so I brought you here-" Kalego snorted at that. "Brought" like he isn't here against his will "-to help me keep this one in check"

"Ah, but Sullivan-sama told me that he wanted me here to help you relax a bit , Opera-senpai" Kalego whipped his head so fast he swore he heard a crac.

"Did you just say that you willingly came here??"

--

"Well, that sucks," Lied sighed at Iruma answer. "Last time was a mistake! we didnt know that it was supposed to be diluted!"

"You knew and yet you drank it"

"Purson!"

Iruma had to agree with what Lied says. It is a bit awkward with the adults being here. There's no rowdy talking or friends daring eachother, they're all just awkwardly trying to quietly make conversation

Except for Jazz, whos's looking very thoughtfully at the adults.

"What are you thinking about, Jazz-kun?" Everyone in the room (except for Kalego-sensei and Balam-sensei, who seem to be having a very lively conversation) turned to look at Jazz.

"Well, I've been thinking," he quickly threw a glance at Kalego-sensei before moving to the centre and lowering his voice even further "isn’t it kinda unfair that the teachers get to gamble over which of us is dating, but we don't?" If anyone wasn't interested before, then they sure are now.

"I bet some of the teachers are dating each other. They all seem pretty close to each other" Allocer nodded as everyone scootched even closer to better hear each other.

"Woah woah wo-" Everyone quickly shushed Lied as to not grab their unwanted companies attention (unfortunately, several kids collectively shushing one of them is very suspicious to not watch closely)

"Sorry!" Lied whispered sheepishly "but are we seriously going to gossip about this in front of them?"

"True. We're going to need someway to distract them while the others places their bets" the second Kerori uttered the word 'bet', a very excited smile carved it's way through every demon's face (ah, purson thinks, this is what everyone felt during the music festival)

"But who knows how to distract Kalego-sensei, Balam-sensei and Opera-sensei?"

Collectively, all the young demons looked at a very not ready Iruma.

--

"They’re planning something"

"Kalego-kun, let the kids play. We're just here to make sure they don't injure themselves"

"Or drink too much, mess up the house beyond recognition and pass out leaving me to deal with thirteen teenagers having their first hangover"

"...that too"

--

"I mean, they all seem to watch me intensely whenever I use my spell to float, so maybe that?"

"Alright," Lied took the pencil and paper he asked from clara a second ago "since we all don't have money right now, and because some of you don't trust me-"

"You still haven't paid me back-"

"We're all going to write our bets down here. Do you want to write yours down before your very important mission, Soldier Iruma?"

"What?!" Azz exclaimed very loudly, and right behind him Iruma shook his head showing everyone that he doesn't want to place a bet

"How dare you suggest that Iruma-sama would participate in such cheap-"

"Do you have any bets to place, Azz?" Lied asked, handing the notebook to Azz mainly to spare his ears from one of Azz-kun's lengthy lectures

"Kalego-sensei is married to his work" Azz said with a serious face.

"Ooo! Me too, me too! I think-"

"Guys!" Ix clapped her hand to grab everyone's attention.

"Didn't Iruma want to show us the trick he's been working on?" She continued loudly, to allow the adults to clearly hear what she's saying

"Oh, yeah!" Iruma’s face lit up, as he quietly cast the spell and his body kept rising and rising, far away from hus friends so they would be out of the view of anyone who’s watching him, while Azz-kun and Sabro-kun stood below him in case he fell.

--

As Kalego watched Iruma floating further and further away from the ground, a question popped into his head.

"Why doesn't Iruma ever use his wings?"

Balam and Opera both slowly turned their heads, one looking at Kalego cautiously while the other looked exasperatedly.

"Kalego..humans don't have wings" now it was kalego's turn to slowly turn his head to his friends

"...what?"

"Yeah," all three adults jumped at a very quiet Purson appearing from nowhere "they also don't have horns or tails"

"Oh yeah," Balam looked at Purson, remembering a very embarrassing week "Purson also knows of Iruma’s nature"

Opera looked at Balam with shock. Their ears were flat against their head as he asked a question they very much feared the answer of.

"How, how many demons know?"

"Know what?" For the second time, the adults were startled this time by Gaap's appearance.

"That Iruma is an imaginary being" Purson answered

"That Iruma’s a human? I'm not sure about Azz and Clara, but I've figured it out during our first year so surely they have"

"Mhmm. By the way, why are you here and not with them?"

"Ah, right! Kerori had an idea for you, Purson!" The little demon quickly whispered to his classmate's ear before both of them went to join the rest of the class.

Kalego pinched his nose and let out a sigh as he foresaw the amount of headache this will cause him.

"We're gonna have to find out who knows of the boy's nature and who doesn't"

"How long have you two known?"

"Kalego discovered it last week, and I've known since the first year"

"...I'm going to have to relay this information to Sullivan-sama" Opera sighed as they watched Iruma descending carefully back to his friends. Sadly, they missed Iruma’s new trick. They’re going to have to ask Iruma-kun to perform it later so they can get a chance to see it.

--

"Robin-sensei and Kalego-sensei will obviously win!"

"Are you blind?! Kalego-sensei and Balam-sensei know each other since school! Plus, Robin-sensei is obviously with Orias-sensei!"

"I don't care as long as we all agree that Dali-sensei and Suzy-sensei are completely a thing"

"Are you kidding me?! There's no way Suzy-sensei would ever-"

"Hey, Iruma!" Lied waved at Iruma as he quickly floated towards Iruma "we still need more time. Do you know more ways to distract them?"

"Well, I know opera always watches anyone who plays with the hell-kitties like a hawk" Lied snorted, causing Iruma to tilt his head in confusion which Lied quickly waves away (he can’t believe anyone at this age still calls Infernal cats hell-kitties)

"I'm on it" Agares sped past them towards the two cats laying around on the fluffy carpet, adn proceeded to throw himself facedown on the floor, waiting for the cats to lay on him.

In less than a minute, Opera was watching a sleeping Agares who has two purring cats batting playfully at his hair.

"...alright, I didn't get to ask him if he want to bet or not but whatever. Do you know how else to distract them?"

"Hmm, oh! Clara, can you make chainsaws that can't actually hurt?"

"Of course! I can make them like rubber or plastic or-ooh! I can make chainsaw balloons that works!"

"Yes! Those will do great! Does anyone know how to juggle?"

"I do!" Gaap excitedly ran to them, happy that he gets to show his juggling skills

"Can you juggle chainsaws?" That seemed to make Gaap pale a little

"I-I can try?" Iruma beamed at his friend which helped soothe the poor scared boy

"Great!" Iruma took six balloon chainsaws from Clara, Gaap has never been more relieved to see a balloon, and handed three to Gaap "can you help me start them before we juggle? Oh, and let's go juggle over there"

--

"Is there anything else I need to know about Iruma?" Kalego knew that he should’ve picked up Balam's books on humans, but he was swept with correcting so many assignments that he didn't have any chance to read anything else (he should stop doubling the abnormal class's homework)

"You do know that he's a human, right sensei?" Kalego should really stop being startled by these hellions, or better yet should stop talking about Iruma all together around them (since when can these kid's sneak up on him?)

"Sabro, why do you know this?" A tired Kalego asked

"During our flying test Iruma told me that he healed the leaders leg using his blood, so I did some research on that and found out" That grabbed Opera's attention from the sleeping teens and the cats

"Pardon me, but how did Iruma get injured?"

"He went through the cutthroat valley-wait" something in the back of Kalego’s mind kept nagging at him that something's wrong

"Kalego," Balam's worried voice called him "did Iruma participate in the flying race last year?"

Ah, this is what was nagging Kalego.

"...shit"

"Kalego-IRUMA!" Everyone suddenly looked at Iruma, who was juggling chainsaws with Goemon?!

"IRUMA AND GOEMEN! LET GO OF THESE CHAINSAWS RIGHT THIS SECOND OR I SWEAR TO DELKIRA I WILL-"

--

Sure, Iruma and Gaap got lectured for thirty minutes over safety, common sense and what acceptable pranks to pull, but it was really fun juggling the balloon chainsaws. They actually brought Iruma so many memories.

And surely his classmates are all done-

"I just feel like Suzy-sensei and Raim-sensei would make such a cute couple!"

"And you're willing to bet actual money because of a feeling?"

"I bet Ifrit-sensei and Marbas-sensei are together"

"They're literally wearing wedding rings no one would bet against you on that one"

"So I'm gonna win the bet!"

"That's not how bets work, dumbass!"

"Are you sure this is what you want to bet on, Azz-kun?"

"There’s literally no one who would voluntarily put up with him"

So, they’re still not done.

But Iruma saw Jazz handing money to Purson, which puzzled him. He thought they were gonna write down their bets and hand over the money to the winners directly?

"Hey, Lied-kun," he looked over to a very sulking Lied who's playing in his ds alone on a bean bag "why are they giving money to Purson?"

"Apparently!" Lied threw his arms in the air as he huffed annoyingly "Purson is a much more trust worthy demon than I am!"

"I'll trust you with my money when you pay me back!"

"And I'll pay you back when I have money!"

"You literally bought three new games two days ago"

"Anyways," Lied turned to look at Iruma "they're still not done, so we're going to need some more time"

"Well, if I pull anymore stunts they might actually ground me, but maybe Sabro could tap dance? I saw him do it once and he's very good at it! What do you think, Sabro?"

"Sure, I don't have any bets to place anyway. A cool demon king doesn't place bets on people's love life"

Sabro walked to the centre of the room. He crossed his arms, and jumped into the air clacking his heels three times.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look curiously at what Sabro is doing. He turned to look at his classmates and yelled at the top of his lungs "CHOOSE A SONG!"

"Gyari's new single!" A very excited Kerori screamed

Sabro smiled viciously as Iruma played the song on the room's speaker, and Sabro started dancing. He captivated everyone with his dancing, except for Purson who went around the room asking the demons what they bet on.

"Woah. He really is good" Lied exclaimed, before a very curious question popped into his mind

"Hey, Iruma, how did you learn how to juggle chainsaws?"

"I used to do it at the circus when I was young! But they insisted I use real chainsaws, I almost lost a finger that one time!" Iruma laughed at the fun memories before continuing to watch Sabro who's footwork was starting to get really intense.

Lied was left to watch Iruma in horror as he digested what was just said to him.

"...what?"

--

"He really is good at this" Balam mused as he continued watching Sabro smoothly dance to the peak of the song

"He is," Kalego commented, watching Sabro a second longer before turning to Balam "Do you know anyone else who knows about Iruma?"

"I know of Iruma’s nature, if that's what you mean, sensei" Kalego closed his eyes and took a deep breath, because really, he should have expected this. At this point it'd be better if he asked who doesn't know.

"And how, pray tell, do you know?" He turned to look at Caim, the fourth person to admit that he knows that Iruma is a human (after this is all done he's gonna have a talk with Iruma this is truly getting ridiculous)

"I was having a chat with Jazz's familiar and he told me that Jazz has been stressing over what to do with such sensitive information" at this point Balam is just trying his hardest not to laugh at Kalego's tired face. He does feel sorry for Opera though. They don't seem to be taking all of this information too well.

"And how does Jazz know??" It's getting too hard not to laugh at Kalego. He shouldn’t laugh at his friend's suffering, but it's just so funny.

"Iruma accidently told him at the last slumber party when he drank too much relax juice"

"Told me what?"

"That he's a human"

"Ah, yeah that. I'm cool with that and all but he told me when he was drunk, you know?"

Opera is just looking sadly at the ground. All this time they've been going under tye assumption that only they, the chairman and Bachiko know of Iruma’s origins. Are they really fit to be called Iruma’s bodyguard if they can't keep track of who knows his most intimate secret?

"By the way, sensei wants to know who else knows"

"Knows what?" Allocer asked Caim curiously, much to Kalego’s chargin

"That Iruma’s a human" and with each kid coming closer, curious as to why their classmates are surrounding their teachers

"Wait, didn't we agree that we won't talk about this until Iruma tells us himself?" Kalego felt his patience running thin

"Talk about what?" Until he just snapped

"Alright!" His voice boomed across the room, startling all the younglings in the room (serves them right for almost stopping his heart multiple times)

"How many of you brats know of Iruma’s nature?!" He screamed at the twelve demons in front of him, and to his annoyance, Balam's amusement, and Opera's Alarm, almost all the kids raised their arm, save for two very confused demon's and one mortified human.

"Iruma-chi's nature?" Clara asked, feeling very left out as she saw that almost all her friends knew something about Iruma that she doesn't.

"Excuse me, but what do you mean by this statment, Kalego-sensei?" Azz felt embarrassment as he asked this question, because almost everyone knows what sensei means except for him! And it's a question about Iruma-sama! How does he not know?

"You know, that Iruma’s a human" Gaap said, unaware of the dumbfounded looks Azz and Clara are throwing him, nor the fact that Iruma’s near tears "I apologise, Iruma-kun, for not informing you that we know sooner, but we thought it'd be better if we waited until you trusted us enough with this information"

"...what?" Azz and Clara asked very, very quietly as everyone in the room slowly realized that Azz and Clara, tha two demons that are glued to Iruma at the hip, are the only ones who don't know.

"Huh?!" Poor stunned Iruma doesn't know how to deal with the fact that all of his classmates mow know of his identity.

He really doesn't knows what to do now?

--

Deep in the castle, Sullivan sits alone in his room contemplating whether it'd be better to let the youth have fun on their own or if he can go and join them.

He really wants to have a slumber party with Iruma, it's not fair that Opera and his friends get to be there and he doesn't! So not fair!

[thedepthsoffandomminds]

Maze runner chapter twenty

Previous chapter

Masterlist

"Hello, Thomas. I'm glad you're safe.” Ava Paige walked out of the burg in her signature white coat. Teresa walked behind her.

“What the hell?

Teresa?

“Wait, what's going on?” Newt asked.

“She's with them.” Thomas sighed.

“Since when?”

“Teresa always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good. Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time.” Janson explained with a triumphant grin.

“Where's y/n?” Newt asked.

“She's safe, don't worry.” Ava smiled, but it did little to reassure Newt, his heart felt like.it might burst from his chest.

“I'm sorry. I had no choice. This is the only way. We have to find a cure.” Teresa said. Newt fought against his restraints but one of the soldiers forced him back to the floor and held a gun to his back.

“She's right. This is all just a means to an end.You used to understand that, Thomas. No matter what you think of me, I am not a monster. I'm a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure! No matter the cost. I just need more time.”

“More blood.” The doc walked through the crowd.

“Hello, Mary. I hoped we'd meet again. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances.” Ava said.

“I'm sorry about a lot of things, too But not this. At least my conscience is clear.” The Doc said.

“So is mine.” Ava smiled. Janson fired his pistol, hitting Mary in her chest.

“Mary? Mary?” Vince grabbed her as she dropped.

It was as if the world stopped for a moment as the doctor took her last breaths.

“Come on, Janson. Don't forget the tiger.” Ava turned and walked on to the burg, guiding Teresa alongside her, “Load them up. Let's go. All these people. Get rid of them.” Janson started shouting orders to the soldiers.

“Let go of me!” Vince huffed.

“Sonya! Aris!”

“Let's go!” Too many Voices spoke at once.

“Get back!” Thomas jumped to his feet, pulling Jorge's bomb from his coat. “Everyone, stand back! Stand back!” He shouted, flicking open the detonator.

“Hold your fire!” Janson called out.

“Stand back. Let 'em go.” Thomas demanded.

“Thomas, put it down.” Janson warned.

“Let 'em all go!”

“You know I can't do that!” Ava says to him.

“Thomas, please stop. I made a deal with them. They promised we'd be safe. All of us.” Teresa comes back down the ramp on the Burg.

“And I'm supposed to trust you now?” Thomas growls.

“It's true. It was her only condition.” Ava says.

“Shut up!”

“Everything can go back to the way it was. Thomas, do you really want all of them to die? For y/n to die?” Ava stepped closer to him.

“Listen to her, Thomas.” Teresa begged. “Think about what you're doing.” Ava implores him.

“We're with you, Thomas.” Newt, stands at Thomas's back.

“Do it, Thomas.” Minho says.

“We're ready.” Frypan agrees.

“We're not going back there.” Thomas shakes his head.

“Thomas?” They see the fear in Ava’s eyes.

“It's the only way.” Thomas closes his eyes and braces himself

In that exact moment a car horn blares through the silence.

Jorge sped in through the crowd

The distraction gives Vince and the other adults of the right arm a chance to get back to their weapons.

“Get her out of here!” Ava shouts shoving Teresa back toward the burg.

“Get out of here! Go!” Janson shouts at his.men. They grab as many of the immune children as they can and retreat to their ships.

In the chaos, they don't notice Minho being shot by the taser rounds. He falls to the ground as electricity surges through his body. The soldiers drag him back with them.

“Minho! Minho!” Thomas sees him but it is too late. The burgers take off. Newt runs out below them, he can't think what to do, his best friend and girlfriend were taken, out of his reach.

Mai Mai l, who had now awoken leapt out in front of him, knocking him back so a stray bullet narrowly misses them both.

“No, no.” The tiger shoves her whole body against him. In her way she tries to comfort him as Newt cries.

“Come on, come on, Newt. Get up” Frypan pulls his friend up his shoulder and drags him away with the others.

Newt wanted to wallow in his sadness but there was too much to do. Bodies were laid flat and fires put out. Equipment was checked through and all around people salvaged what they could. What was once a peaceful place now was tainted with despair. Thomas filled his backpack with tinned food.

“What do we do now?” Frypan asks, he sat close to Newt and Mai Mai, neither of you had moved for sometime.

“Well, we pick up what's left of us. We stick to the plan. We get you kids to the safe haven. Then we start over, I guess.” Vince explained.

“I'm not going with you.” Thomas said.

“What?” Vince narrowed his eyes on the dark haired boy.

“I made a promise to Minho. I wouldn't leave him or y/n behind. I have to go after them.”

“Hey, kid, look around you. All right? WICKED just kicked our ass.You think about where you're headed.” Vince tried to argue.

“I'm not asking anyone to come with me.” Thomas continued.

“Thomas, listen to me. I've known Minho and y/n for Well, as long as I can remember. So, if there was any way that we could help him, trust me, I would be up there standing next to you. This, what you're talking about, is impossible. More like suicide.” Newt said, a tear dropping from his eye. The tiger let out a low growl deep from within her chest. She shoved her shoulder into Newt's hip and stepped over to Thomas.

“Maybe, but I know what I'm supposed to do now. It's not just about Minho or y/n. It's about all of us. It's about everyone WICKED's ever taken, everyone they will take. They'll never stop. They'll never stop,

so I'm gonna stop them. I'm gonna kill Ava Paige.” Thomas said with sheer determination radiating from him, beside him Mai Mai stamped her foot and huffed out a breath through her nose, her eyes locked on Newt's. He nods to her.

“Yeah, yeah you're right. Let's do it.” He agreed.

“I have to admit,” Harriet agreed, “I'd like some revenge.

Well, that's a good speech, kid. So what's your plan?”

You wake in a bed, a white room surrounded you with bright yellow.lights blurring your vision. There is a low beeping of machines close by and you can hear people talking.

“Do you think this is enough?” Teresa says, you turn your head towards her and see her with Ava. The older woman holds up a tray filled with vials of blood.

“For now, we can start testing these straight away.”

A doctor approaches your other side and you feel him touching your arm. You lash out at him knocking him to the ground and you throw your legs off the bed.

“Y/n!” Teresa shouts.

“Y/n, stop. Just listen to us! You're about to save the world.” Ava implores you to calm down but you yanked the needles from your arms and stumbled away from them. Ava darted across the room, hitting a large green button on the wall. A soldier came running in and instantly hit you with the buy of his gun. You fall to the floor and he grabs you, restraining your arms behind your back with cuffs.

“Take her to the others. We have enough for now.” Ava orders him.

Next chapter

@fandomfan-102 @deanstolemydragon @afalls14universe @akilaporu001 @green-which

[by-speaker]

Horror Movies (ENG VER.)

Prompts by @raven-cincaide-words

The kids had decided to have a Halloween movie marathon, nothing too scary because afterwards Philza and Missa knew they would end up with the two terrified kids in their room and bed. Thanks to Anabelle and It, Philza had been pushed out of his own bed, from next to his boyfriend's warm side, by his two brats. 

So now they were watching, ‘The Adams Family’ at the request of Tallulah, who had stated and reaffirmed, that they were very much like the family of manic goths. 

‘Hey, we may be goths, but I don't think we're maniacs,’ the blond had tried to defend himself, but then thought about it a bit, his boyfriend was literally the grim reaper, he was called the Angel of Death and well, the brats are their children… ‘I take it back, Princess, you're right.’

Missa let out a giggle, ‘Hey, at least we're a family of united goth maniacs’ he said, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend to pull him closer to his body. 

The four of them were curled up on the couch, Chayanne was sitting on his dad Missa's lap, half sprawled over one of the arms of the couch, Tallulah was leaning against Phil, with a big bowl of popcorn in her lap. 

In the movie, Wednesday Adams was electrocuting her brother Pugsley. Tallulah was silently clapping, clearly thrilled by the Adams siblings' antics. 

Chayanne chuckled a little at seeing his sister so excited about the movie, ‘I hope you're not getting any ideas, Lulah.’ He joked, though somehow you could hear the nervousness in his voice. 

Missa ruffled his son's hair, ‘Don't worry, Chay. We don't have electric chairs in the house.’

‘We do have a generator, though.’ Philza said, more to himself than to the others. 

Missa nudged him, ‘Don't give him ideas, my love.’ 

‘I don't need ideas,’ Tallulah said with her signs, ‘I can look up my own murder ideas.’ 

That made Chayanne's eyes widen in terror, because Chayanne may be a withering warrior, but his little sister was something that made him quake in his wellies.

They weren't even halfway through the film when the two children had fallen asleep, although neither of the two adults noticed, quite interested in the film. 

When the credits rolled, Missa was going to ask Chayanne what movie he wanted to see now that it was his turn to choose, but the boy was drooling on the arm of the couch. He went to tell Tallulah that she could pick another movie, but the girl was in a similar state to her brother, still holding the bowl of popcorn, though it was already empty, her purple cap was about to fall off her head. 

‘I think they fell asleep.’ Philza said with a laugh. 

Missa giggled, ‘I don't plan on moving them, if I have to deal with two kids acting like babies when they're sleepy now I'll probably cry.’ 

Philza snorted, ‘Do you want to watch another movie?’ 

Missa nodded, rearranging Chayanne, so his neck wouldn't hurt in the morning.  ‘Do you want to watch Twilight?’ 

‘But Twilight isn't horror?’ Phil said in confusion. 

‘If you think about it from Charlie's perspective yes,’ Missa said, ‘Imagine Tallulah grows up, and one day she tells us, dads I'm going to marry the town millionaire weirdo, I'm going to get pregnant, and I'm going to let him turn me into a vampire.’

‘No… Twilight no’ Chayanne speaking startled them both. 

They both laughed, knowing their eldest son's distaste for the movie of sparkly vampires and teenage romantic drama. 

‘I thought you were asleep?’ replied Missa, laughing. 

All they got was a tired sound from Chayanne that no doubt made them laugh. 

‘I'm going to put him to bed,’ Missa said, getting up with the child in his arms, ‘give me Tallulah. 

Philza swallowed a laugh, ‘Sorry, love, but I don't think you can handle both of them, I can't handle both of them.’ 

Missa gasped in offence, ‘Are you trying to say I'm weak?’ 

‘Yes.’ 

Missa was puzzled and frankly offended, ‘Philza, I'm Santa Muerte, I think I can handle 2 kids.’ 

‘Yes, but you're in your mortal body, darling, and they're both dead weight.’ Said Philza resigning himself to the fact that his stubborn boyfriend decided to carry the two children in his arms, ‘You're going to drop them, and it's not going to be pretty.’ 

Missa looked at Philza with determination, ‘Watch and learn, my love,’ he said, bending down to pick up Tallulah, swinging Chayanne in one arm and lifting the girl carefully. 

‘I really don't think that's a good idea…’ complained Philza, but he couldn't complain too much any more because Missa had balanced the two children almost perfectly, holding them on his hip, the children almost by a reflex had wrapped their arms around Missa's neck.

‘See, I told you I could,’ Missa said, though he was clearly struggling to keep the children from falling off him. 

Philza let out a sarcastic snort, ‘I'm going to take Tallulah before you drop her.’ 

Missa rolled his eyes, but let his boyfriend manoeuvre the little girl out of his arms, they both carefully climbed the stairs and settled the children in their beds. Chayanne immediately started looking for his Techno stuffed animal, hugging it as soon as he found it. Missa made sure to hang Tallulah's hat on one of the bedposts, and put her headphones on their charging station. 

They both tiptoed quietly out of the room, sighing when they saw that the kids hadn't woken up. 

‘Do you still want to watch the movie?’ The blond asked, tired after struggling to get his son's pyjamas on. 

‘The only shiny chest I want to see right now is yours, and I plan on lying on it.’ Said Missa pulling the Brit into his room, ready to sleep through the night.