#reunite my diaz boys I miss them so much

[mischiefbuckley]

EDDIE I’M GONNA START CRYING

[midnightstar-90]

Hidden~ Eddie Diaz x Nash! Reader

A/N: Not edited because I'm in school, but I will edit later. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I plan to go by episode when I get to season 3 plots.

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Flashback to 2003

Narrator's POV

'The fifth game. This was the fifth game he has missed this year. He wasn't even there to comfort me in the ambulance.'  Y/N sat angrily on the hospital bed, with a cast on her foot. She was so mad at her father. For the second year in a row, Her father has missed all her activities.

She knows why he isn't there, but she thought that when her father told her that he was getting married and having another child, he would at least make time for her. Now, she is in the hospital with only her mother by her side.

The doctor walks into the room with a smile. "Well young lady, you are free to go. Your mother can sign you out at the front desk, and then you may go," The doctor said.

As I'm getting ready to go, Bobby runs in. "I'm so sorry. Marcy had a doctor's appointment, and I lost track of time," he says.

Y/N hops away, using her crutch, and rolls her eyes. "Y/N,"  Bobby calls out defeated. "She scored the winning goal before breaking her leg. When she saw your team come to her rescue, she thought that maybe, just maybe, her father would still see all her hard work. It seems like you care about your new family more, but get this through your head, Robert. She... Is... Your family," Y/M/N says with an angry tone.

Bobby stood in the hospital room looking at the bed where his daughter laid, injured. He knew he messed up. He knew he was losing his daughter. She is almost a teenager. He had to make it up to her.

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Bobby's POV

I know the best way to make it up to Y/N. Ever since she was little, she loved riding with me and the crew as we saved people's lives. I told Marcy that even though I had to work I was also going to spend time with my daughter. She was okay with that.

Y/N's Pov

When my dad picked me up, I didn't know what to expect. I was still injured and mad, so what could we possibly be doing. I got into the car when I noticed his work bag.

My face lit up when I figured out what was happening. "Am I going to work with you," I questioned my father? "Yeah, and I have a surprise for you," my dad said while watching the road. He tried to hide his smile but I knew it was there.

When we got to the Firestation, everyone greeted me. I saw some old faces and some new ones. We walked to the changing room. When we entered, my dad opened his bag and handed me some clothes. "You got me one of your uniforms," I said while jumping up and down. He nodded his head and we headed out.

The ride was so cool. Even though I still had my cast on, the fire crew let me put out a small fire with the hose. It was so cool. We then had to help out a gruesome fight. The gory calls were always the best. We ended the day with the team going out for burgers and milkshakes.

I had so much fun with my dad. The next day, I went to school still wearing my dad's fire department shirt he gave me.

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Present Day

Narrator's POV

When Bobby saw the woman he once called his baby girl, he knew he had to see her. He sat in the hospital lobby along with Eddie remembering the conversation he had with Athena.

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2 hours ago

Bobby's POV

"What's wrong? It looks like you've seen a ghost," Athena asks with a chuckle. I keep a very serious look and say, "I did. That was my daughter." Athena looks at me with a serious/confused face and asks, "What?!"

"When I was young, I was also reckless," I said with a sigh. "So is every man in the world, but go on," Athena said jokingly.

I gave Athena the summary of my life before LA, "Y/N was a drunken mistake, but I still loved her. When I got with Marcy, I didn't hang out with her as much. Then I had the kids. When the fire happened, I knew I couldn't be around Y/N, so I did what I thought any father would do to protect their child. I ran. Now she's here in LA, with a son, and teaching Eddie's kid."

"Well, it seems like Y/N being back is a sign. Maybe you could get a second chance with her. You are great with May and Harry, why can't you use what you learned to better your relationship with your daughter?"

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Narrator's POV

Y/N woke as the Nurse was checking her vitals. Y/N groaned and said, "What happened, and where is my son?" The nurse jumped and said, "Oh, Miss Nash you're awake. Well, you were in a car accident. Your son is fine. He is in the children's ward with minor injuries."

Y/N let out a breath, with the knowledge that her son was fine. "You have some visitors. I'm gonna let them in now."

'Visitors? What visitors? I just moved here. Did my mom find out somehow?' Y/n's thoughts took a pause as her door opened. It was two firefighters. One I knew for a fact was Eddie, and the other was someone who looked familiar, but I had no clue who they were.

"Eddie? What are you doing here?" Y/N asked smiling. He tried to give me a hug without hurting me. "Well, Chris has school on Monday, so I had to check on his new favorite teacher," he joked. Y/N laughed and smiled. Bobby watched his daughter with his co-worker. Y/N looked toward the familiar stranger.

"Hi, I'm Bobby Nash. I'm the LAFD's 118 fire captain." When Y/N heard the name, she instantly remembered the name. "Dad?" she said with tears in her eyes. Bobby wiped the tears from his eyes and walked over to his daughter. Eddie moved out of the way so that his fire captain could reunite with his daughter.

"Yeah baby, it's me." Y/N couldn't believe her eyes. Eddie decided to let the family talk and went to have a nurse bring Y/N's son to her room. "You left me," Y/N said now fully crying. "Let me explain. I was having a hard time at work, and it set me off. I did some things that I regret to this very day. I couldn't protect some of my family, but I knew I could protect you from the darkness inside of me. I didn't know what the best thing to do was, so I ran. I am so sorry," Bobby explained wholeheartedly.

Y/N instantly went in for a hug. She still had tears in her eyes, but she was happy. Still sad, but happy she gets another chance with her father. "I saw you today. You may not have been there to save me when I broke my, but you were there to save me today." Bobby smiled when a little boy walked into the room with Eddie.

The boy ran in. "Mommy," the boy yelled to the top of his lungs. Eddie helped him onto the bed. "Hi, baby. Zach, this is Bobby and Eddie. Eddie is Chris' dad an-" Y/N was cut off by her son, "The Eddie you said looked hot." "Shhh," Y/N said with a finger to lips. Eddie and Bobby watched the two and chuckled.

Y/N explained to Zachary that Bobby was his grandfather, and Zach was so happy. The 4-year-old almost ran Bobby down with the hug he gave. Y/N and Bobby were so happy to have their family back.

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Eddie's Pov

After the visit to the hospital, I think it is safe to say that I like Y/N. The hard part was telling Shannon. She is Christopher's mother. I walked into the house to see Shannon and Chris making pizza.

"Daddy!" "Hey buddy," I say picking him up, "How was school?" "School was awesome. Y/N taught me math using M&M's, and then we got to eat them. During recess, Y/N and her son Zach played with me." The way Chris talked about Y/N made me like her even more. "When mommy picked me up we went to the store for ice cream and pizza. She said we're gonna watch a movie," Christopher said with a huge grin. Just when I think I want something, I remember that sometimes what I want isn't all about me.

The food finished cooking, and we sat down as a family and ate. We watched 'A Bug's Life' before Shannon left. I went to put Christopher to bed, but before he went to bed I wanted to have a talk. "Buddy, if I wasn't with mommy, but you could still hang out with her, you would be fine with that right." He looked at me and said, "We just got her back. Do you not love her anymore."

"No, I will forever love your mommy, but she's been gone for so long that I think it is time for me to move on." "Are you talking about with Miss.Nash, because I saw the way you looked at her, and it was the same way I look at my dessert," I laughed at his joke.

"I like Miss. Nash and I love mommy. I don't want to lose them." What he said gave me a lot to think about. "Ok, bud. Go to sleep," I said standing by the door. I turned off the light and headed to my room. I got ready for bed and slept on my thoughts.

Taglist: @notanordinaryprincess95 @jjpogueprincess @wiypt-writes

[ngame989]

“Onward” - TGG SVTFOE Fanfic Collection Ch. 7

Writing: @ngame989​​​

Art: @toxicpsychox​​​

Editing: @toxicpsychox​​​, @seddm​​​, an IRL friend

Alternate fic links - FFnet, AO3

Summary: Bloodlines clash over the past on the first anniversary of the Cleaving, while Star, Marco, and others try to focus on looking forward.

Comic Page

Masterpost

Sorry for the big delay. In the meantime, we did a pretty massive in-character RPish Q&A session taking place in the time of the fanfic collection storyline just before this chapter, so check that out here! Post-summer schedules are settling in now, so hopefully we can get back on track for regular updates. See below for the text, hope you enjoy!

“Think we should head back downstairs soon?”

Star poked her head out from the closet to find Marco had taken his hoodie off and spread himself akimbo on their bed, breathing heavily with his eyes closed. “We probably should,” she admitted, turning the swords she held in her hands over a few times. Her own blade was relatively simple compared to the ornate craft of Marco’s falchion, the Cleaver. That name seemed especially fitting now, since it was exactly one year ago today that their new world was created. She carefully set them against the wall, still in their protective sheaths. “Ooooor we could just use my messiness as an excuse for why it took us extra long to find these!” she drawled out dramatically, giving Marco a sly grin. He finally tilted his head towards her and opened his eyes, treating her to his soft warm gaze while she kicked off her tennis shoes and adjusted her old sky-blue dress. Their day had begun only a few hours ago, yet she was already feeling drained, and his slight wince when she dropped onto the mattress, reclining against a wall of pillows suggested he mirrored her sentiment. “You OK?”

“If your uncle’s hug didn’t break something, your aunt’s sure did,” Marco mumbled, testing his joints for injury with a grimace before scooting himself further towards her and dropping his head into her lap. Normally she’d be all for the rowdy family party going on right under their feet, but today felt like it should be their day too. Earthni was a wonderful place for sure, but today was the anniversary of so much more for her. The perfect bliss of loving Marco, the terror of losing Marco, the overwhelming sadness of missing Marco, the enrapturing contentment after reuniting with Marco...

“Marco, Marco, Marco…” she singsonged, thoughts leaking out into words. Her left hand caressed his cheek while she tangled the fingers of her right in his hair; he closed his eyes and nuzzled further into her contentedly. Her smile grew all the wider as she upped the ante, squishing his cheek and poking his mole then finally honking his nose. After a few moments of trying his best to ignore it he started lazily swatting her hands away, but she persisted nonetheless. This adorable face was hers for the booping, dangit!

“Star.” His tone was firm, but she knew better than to assume he meant it.

“Yes?” she innocently crooned.

He caught her wrists and held them away from him. “What are you doing?”

“Having fun, silly.” She wriggled free and got a sneak attack in, pinching both cheeks at once. When he went in for the counter, she pulled back so quickly that he slapped himself, causing Star to fall backwards onto the pillow clutching her sides and laughing. Marco lifted himself off of her and onto his knees, and she caught only a glimpse of his cocky smirk before he dove forward, pinning both her arms above her. “Oh no! You got me, Diaz! I am at your mercy. Whatever shall I do?” Try as she might to keep up the mock damsel in distress act, she failed to suppress her giggles. Only a second later, he released her hands and planted a quick kiss on her lips before resting his head on her shoulder. Her arms wrapped tightly around him. When she’d made the fateful decision to risk leaving everything else behind for Marco, this was why, this was what she couldn’t see herself living without.

“Star… ow…” Her grip slackened and he wheezed in relief. “You definitely… got that… from your dad’s side of the family.”

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.

“Hello, dears.” Eclipsa’s voice rang from the doorway, catching them both off-guard. Marco yelped and rolled off of Star, flopping to the floor with a thud. “Don’t mind me, I was just sent up to see if you two were ready for your demonstration. I must say, everyone seems quite excited for it.”

“Oh heeeeeey, there’s the swords!” Star pointed with a totally convincing shocked expression. “Silly Marco, I told you they wouldn’t be under the mattress!”

Eclipsa laughed heartily enough to make the light purple hem of her summer dress sway around her. “There’s no need for excuses, dears. In my younger days, I would have killed to have Globby with me at even a single family outing. I’m not one to tattle on the tomfoolery of love. You should probably go, though, before any more Butterfly-Johansen friction spills over.”

“Uuuuugh,” Star groaned. Things had been pretty civil amongst all the various interdimensional families thus far, but she’d known it was only a matter of time before something happened. When she was a kid it was fun watching everyone punch each other off cliffs to vent their frustrations, but now it just seemed petty and pointless to her. Had they learned nothing from everything that happened? She helped Marco off the ground then grabbed their weapons for the exhibition spar that all their guests were apparently anticipating. He slid into his hoodie while she slipped back into her shoes, then they closed the door behind them and descended the stairs.

The Diaz living room was largely occupied by the Butterflies for the time being, while Star could hear the characteristic Johansen ruckus from the backyard. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could all just get along forever? Probably, but she could scarcely fathom how that might ever happen. She glanced around to find her mom trapped in conversation with Great-Aunt Etheria in the kitchen. Despite wearing more casual clothing, Mom was in total “queen” mode right now, politely tut-tutting at all of Etheria’s observations. Maybe that wasn’t the best term for it, but it was how Star had known her mother most of the time growing up. However, there was still no mistaking the strain in her expression: even the Queen Moon of her childhood couldn’t put up with Etheria for long, and Star had no idea how the mom she’d gotten to know in recent years could handle it for more than half a minute. When Etheria noticed Star’s presence and strutted towards the stairs, Star could see her mother breathe a slight sigh of relief before following.

“Ah, dearie, there you are. Come, come, let me see this magnificent blade I’ve heard so much about.” Eclipsa held it up, but the eldest Butterfly snatched it from her grip without even a glance before running her fingers all over the blade. “Fine craftsmanship, indeed… where did you get such a thing? I must commission the maker for a new display.”

“It was actually Buff Frog who recommended me an old friend of his, she’s really cool. She does experimental art with molten metal that’s really pretty-”

“Ah. Hmmph.” The woman handed the sword back to Star tersely. “Well, it is well-made, I’ll give it that.”

“Speaking of artistry,” Moon chimed in before Star could respond, “weren’t you saying something about Marco’s parents, Aunt Etheria?” Star and Marco glanced at each other anxiously.

The large woman perked up, scorn diminishing in an instant. “Oh yes, they’re wonderful. A poet and a sculptor, how splendid! It’s positively delightful to see such devotion to the most noble of endeavors. The graceful wielding of a blade or a brush are signs of a good temperament. I’m glad at least your family can appreciate the finer, more delicate things in life, boy.” Star cringed a bit, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Marco doing the same, but the tension she didn’t even know she had in her shoulders dropped. Despite the tone, it was nice that Marco was being accepted, but… yeesh. “Let’s get on with this display, shall we?” The group headed outside where the Diazes had taken advantage of their spacious backyard.

Star instinctively shielded her eyes with one arm, blocking out the blinding light of the sun. Two poles held a banner up above a table loaded with all kinds of meats and vegetables. ‘Butterfly-Johansen (and Diaz) Annual Picnic’. Marco’s parents had resisted inserting themselves for long enough that Star had scrawled the addition on herself. They were hosting the freaking thing, why shouldn’t they be an official part of it? The Butterflies who had followed them outside were audibly scoffing at the various Johansen men and women sweeping up armfuls of meats and jamming them into extra large tortillas that were still far too small for the task. Finally she found her dad, who was guiding cousin Rock through the various foods that had become a staple of his diet, and when he noticed her in kind he skipped over. “Star, honey, there you are! And Marco, my boy, tell me: did you have your first encounter with Grandpappy Bear? The man with the grey beard down past his knees?” Marco nodded at the clarification.

“Ha! My father used to tell me stories of how he’d vanquish foes by opening his arms to feign surrender. Many great men and women fell right for it- went for the hug and had the life squeezed right out of them!” His eyes narrowed intensely, getting right in Marco’s face, and Marco’s nose ruffled at the wild beard hairs.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Marco dryly responded. “My everything hurts.”

“Nonsense, lad. If you’re even still standing, you’ve done better than most! It’s like you’re part of the family already.” He clapped Marco on the back with a joyous laugh, and Star grabbed onto her boyfriend’s arm to keep him steady on his feet.

“Try not to break the boy,” Etheria sneered from the doorway behind them, joined by a few of Star’s aunts and uncles.

“They are quite talented at breaking things,” Heartrude murmured low enough that anyone farther away than Star probably wouldn’t hear.

“Aye, we’re just having fun with ‘em,” Aunt Crag hollered back. “From what Rivey tells me, he’s gonna be an honorary Johansen soon enough!”

Daaaaaaad. Star tried to bury the rising heat in her cheeks. While her brain was still putting itself back together, Marco had jumped between them with a nervous grin on his face. “So, swordfighting, huh? What’s the deal with that?”

“Yes, I suppose some entertainment is in order,” Etheria sighed. “Are you quite sure that we can’t stage a rousing game of Flags, Moon? After the last few cancellations due to…” Her gaze flickered to Eclipsa and Globgor briefly. “Circumstances on Mewni, and now the Butterfly Kingdom being dissolved altogether, I dare say some stress relief might do us all some good.”

“Hear, hear,” the Butterflies behind her chanted. Even a few Johansens were mumbling their assent, though they’d never be forthright with their agreement with the eldest Butterfly.

“Be that as it may,” Moon spoke up, “my decision still stands. If there’s anything I’ve learned these past few years, it’s the value of letting go of the past if it’s holding you back, and Flags, fun as it may be, just kept this feud going. We have our whole lives ahead of us. Perhaps it’s best if we can all learn to find that which binds us together.”

“She’s right,” one of the Johansen cousins added. Phew. Finally, maybe people were starting to see the sense in- “Since we don’t have to bother with politics anymore, maybe we just shouldn’t put up with them!” Oh for the love of- calm down, Star. Deep breaths. Though she tried to ignore it, a tiny voice in the back of her mind pondered those words carefully. Why were they trying to make the families get along? Sure, it’d be nice for its own sake, but it wasn’t like her parents were BFFs with any of their in-laws, either. Maybe it was selfish to think, but what did they get out of it?

As the tensions mounted more by the second, Star felt something prodding her clenched fists. She looked over her shoulder to see Eclipsa surreptitiously handing over her sword, while Marco already had been given his. Star took the hint. Too late to turn back now.

“EN GARDE, MARCO!”

***

To anyone else, the sun being blocked out completely in the middle of a summer afternoon would have been alarming, but for Eclipsa it was a most welcome sign. “Having fun, my love?” a deep voice boomed above her.

Globgor shrunk down to smaller than his default size, his form-fitting sweater vest and pants scaling appropriately, and dropped down on the grass next to his wife to hand her a cup of tea. She took a test sip: black, with milk and a generous serving of honey. He only ever put that much in when he thought there was something bothering her, and as always, he was correct. “I get the unfortunate feeling we’re not quite welcome among some of the clan, Globby. Especially those on our side. The Johansens seem quite fond of you, though.”

“Ehhhh.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re right, they’re definitely nice in their own way, but I think it’s only because I’m strong. They kept laughing about eating people, and said maybe Etheria would be a gourmet meal.”

“Well, that is a perfectly acceptable reason to like you, dear,” she crooned, placing her free hand on his arm. “But yes, that is… troubling.” It didn’t surprise her, really; it had taken her nearly a year to find her place within the small portion of the Butterfly family consisting of just Star and Moon. Eclipsa had accepted being an outcast from the remainder of it, given her supreme infamy in Mewnian lore, but it wasn’t in her nature to sulk, and in all fairness it had been a good year for them. Perhaps she hadn’t been the best at guiding her people safely through dangerous times, but she still had earned respect and camaraderie from much of Monstertown. Rebuilding the town after Mina’s destructive rampage had been a satisfying effort, and she still had far more time to enjoy the company of her family than she ever could have dreamed.

Taking another soothing sip, her gaze wandered over to the only other people she knew that needed this time to be together as much as she had. Star’s combat style was fierce, unrelenting chaos guided by warrior’s instinct, but Marco balanced it perfectly with a keen eye for when to defend and when to counter. Eclipsa had guessed where they’d end up from quite literally the first moment she’d met Star, and where they complemented each other perfectly as a team, they were equally matched as opponents. The shimmering steel clanged over and over, neither combatant spending more than a handful of seconds on the backfoot at a time. Marco deftly ducked under a ferocious two-handed swing and jabbed forward, so Star rolled with her momentum to dash backwards. She was about to back into a cactus behind her when Marco kicked off the ground and lunged towards her, grabbing her free hand and twirling her to the side, eliciting hoots and hollers from the enthralled crowd. They both giggled before squaring their stances, and combat resumed.

“They’re quite extraordinary, aren’t they?” Eclipsa turned away from the match in progress at the sound of Moon’s voice. Globgor extended an enlarged arm towards a chair leaning against a picnic table and dragged it over for her.

“They’ve both turned out to be some of the best of us. Even with all my strongest magic, I wouldn’t want to get between them. It looks like they could keep this up forever.”

Moon raised an eyebrow and folded her hands in her lap, sipping from a mug with an ornate floral pattern. Royal status or not, Moon had a taste for the finer things. “I wasn’t talking about the swordfight, Eclipsa.”

“Nor was I.” Eclipsa playfully smirked, and Moon conceded the point with the two sharing a knowing look.

Globgor shrunk and hopped onto Eclipsa’s shoulder, gathering some of her flowing green hair with his tail as a headrest and reclining into her neck. “Wouldn’t it have been nice to be like that at their age? We only ever had minutes at a time to ourselves, and it’s not like we could just use giant mirrors or big glowy portals to chat whenever we wanted.”

“True enough, my love, but Star had been devoting everything to keeping an entire kingdom afloat at age 15 for half a year, and Marco’s own service merited knighthood in less. Even if we debate the details, I’m not sure I envy them.” She gently ruffled his hair with her fingers. “And besides, we’ve had the last year, and however many more follow to do whatever we wish.”

Globgor smiled back up at her, hugging one of her fingers. “You’re right, dear. Oh Moon, that reminds me, how are those big plans you mentioned a few weeks ago?”

Moon crossed her arms, frowning slightly. “It’s not anything that big yet. I’ve... just been gathering some information. Wrathmelior was quite helpful in finding Historia Homewnum for me, it’s older than the Butterflies themselves. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with it yet, but I want to talk to Star first.” She turned away from Eclipsa and Globgor, gazing with a solemn smile towards her daughter who was laughing hysterically as she chased Marco down and tackled him into the grass, weapons forgotten. “How we look back on Mewni requires guidance from those looking most forward.”

“How do you look back on it, Moon?”

Her brow furrowed as she took one sip, then another, clearly lost in thought. By the time she spoke, the entire glass had been drained. “I’m not proud of many of the things I did, or even those I felt I had to do, in my time as queen, but it’s a legacy left behind nonetheless. The people of this world deserve to know it as it was, sometimes noble and sometimes flawed.” A shout of “why I never!” was heard from the distance, and everyone turned to see one of the younger Butterfly cousins hastily retreating from an encounter with Johansens. “Very flawed,” Moon sighed. “The Johansens at least mean well, in their own ways, but my side… well, let’s just say it’s a good reminder of why the Cleaving was necessary. My apologies for any trouble they’ve caused.”

Eclipsa laughed sardonically. “Until quite literally hundreds of years after she perished, my own mother would have drawn and quartered me just for being in love. Family problems are nothing new.”

Globgor hopped off her shoulder, enlarging as he pointed across the spacious yard closer to Moon and River’s yurt, which had become a veritable house in recent months. “Is that River?” Eclipsa squinted to block out the sunlight and get a better view, and sure enough he was locked in a struggle with Heartrude, who was trying to wrestle a large drumstick out of River’s teeth.

“In all fairness, Moon, the Diazes are excellent chefs. I wouldn’t blame anyone for that level of passion over the catering,” Eclipsa sniggered.

“For heaven’s sake…” Moon grumbled while dragging her hands down her face. “River!” She darted off towards the scene, leaving Eclipsa and her husband alone once more.

A few of the others glanced over their way, but none responded. Globgor grew a little more and stretched his limbs before sprawling himself out on the ground, yelping sheepishly when his actions knocked the chairs over. That’s my Globby. Eclipsa giggled and jumped over the wreckage into his arms, using his chest as a pillow. They both loved their daughter more than anything, but time for just the two of them was always welcome. “There are certain advantages to not having much of an audience…” he said, chuckling and gently pulling her closer for a kiss. When she’d first started secretly dating monsters in her youth, the Mewman lore had maintained that size-shifters were clumsy oafs when large and insidious creeping vermin when small, and that was saying something since the pages written about the middle ground weren’t exactly flattering either. No matter his outward appearance, he always knew how to handle her with precision and grace, and they’d worked up a complete comfortability with the shifts in their daily lives. One of Globgor’s favorite amusements was trying to solve any mundane issue he could with only size-shifting, leading to some incidents such as the shelving unit they’d had to rebuild after he tried expanding in a confined space to reach some baking ingredients at the top, but it never failed to amuse her. They flirted in the grass until they’d lost count of the minutes, uncaring of who may have been looking at their innocent (by their standards) shenanigans, until the sunlight in the corner of Eclipsa’s eye went dark once more.

The moment that it took for Globgor to stop being distracted by her kisses lasted about as long as the time it took her to recognize that the usual cause of this was already beneath her, and both snapped to attention together. “Gotcha! Now we’re even-steven,” Star gloated.

All four eyes below her blinked a few times. “Um, it’s Globgor, not Steven.” The other three looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. “What, what’s so funny?”

“Nothing, darling,” Eclipsa responded. They both stood up, brushing any stray grass marks off their clothing. “Excellent fight, dears, though I’m afraid I was too, ahem, preoccupied to catch the ending. Who won?”

“Star did,” Marco said.

She poked him in the cheek, beaming with pride and doing a little dance. “First time, too! I was like, swing, swing, slash and I did this really cool twirl and knocked it right out of Marco’s hands. I did it!”

He wrapped an arm around her affectionately, which also served to calm her antics. “I was off-balance from pulling you away from the cactus,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Love made you weak, Diaz, but I love you for it.” She nuzzled into his shoulder and he rested his head against hers. “Anyway, how are things going for you guys?” Star wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at them.

“The party is delightful. It’s so nice to get to celebrate with everyone, even if there’s the occasional spot of friction.” It wasn’t worth troubling Star and Marco over; this celebration was in service of them, in a way.

“The Butterflies don’t seem to like us too much, and I think the Johansens like us for not so great reasons,” Globgor ever so helpfully stated. Well, there goes that idea.

Star growled under her breath. “Why are they always like this? It seemed like things were turning around after the last Flags,” she moaned.

Marco shrugged his shoulders. “Eh, sometimes old grudges last a long time. I remember Uncle Miguel didn’t speak to his wife, Aunt Juanita, for 15 whole years because of a stolen enchilada. She’d even bought him one the next day, too. Probably explains why Cousin Bobby is a bit weird.”

Star puffed up her cheeks in indignation. “OK, I know this isn’t the point, Marco, but every story about your extended family just makes me want to meet them even more.”

“Maybe once the government sorts out all the passport stuff,” Marco said, “and maybe on their own, too. I’m glad your family likes my parents, but I’m, uh, not so sure how they would all get along.”

“Good to know.”

“Can’t you just eat like a well-behaved member of society!” The group heard from a distance away.

“I don’t want to be part of any society that has someone do the chewing for them!”

More and more Butterflies and Johansens clustered together in the center of the yard; it seemed like this whole debacle was about to reach critical mass. Eclipsa surveyed the scene carefully: Moon and River were trying ineffectually to calm it, and the Diazes watched from the sidelines, babies in tow. It seemed like they were the only ones left in action. Marco gathered them into a huddle, with Globgor shrinking down to the appropriate size. “Alright, how do we figure this out?”

“Families bicker sometimes, darling,” Eclipsa offered somberly. “Perhaps them getting along just isn’t meant to be.”

“I don’t get it, though! Okay, fine, they’re annoyed by each other, but who isn’t annoyed by family sometimes? Heck, even Marco grates on me when he says I should ‘eat less sugar’ and ‘eat something besides sugar’ and ‘stop pouring sugar into my soda until it becomes a thick paste’! Have you ever seen the nutrition labels on the Sugar Seeds you eat too?”

“Hey…” Marco pouted.

Globgor raised a hand. “Well, Star, healthy eating is an important-”

“Not the time!” she growled.

Marco squeezed her shoulder, which calmed her down enough for him to speak. “Well, when Uncle Miguel and Aunt Juanita’s feud finally ended, it was because his brother stole one of his enchiladas and then gave it back, so they made up really quickly. I guess that helped him realize he didn’t even know why he was still being so mean about it. So maybe if we just got them to realize their issues are normal…”

“They could just be annoyed by each other normally,” Star finished. “Marco, you brilliant man, you.”

Folding her hands in contemplation, Eclipsa finally spoke. “All well and good, but how? Even though my time was 300 years ago, I don’t think much has changed in just how stubborn any of these royal families can be. They’re not just going to give up hating each other so easily.”

Globgor’s tail swished up against her in excitement. “Remember when you helped me become a vegetarian?”

“Yes, of course.”

“For a while, I still thought about eating Mewmans every single day, so you made all those veggie-filled scarecrows for me to find. They weren’t that good.”

“Not my best work, I admit.”

“But being able to still have some way of scratching that itch was what helped the most, and now it’s not even a problem anymore!”

“So you’re saying we just need a way to still let out all their aggression without doing any serious damage, then. Globgor, you brilliant man, you.”

Rafael and Angie poked their heads in between Marco and Globgor. “If I may contribute a suggestion…” he said.

“Aaaa!” The other two couples stumbled back in shock.

“Sorry, we heard you from over there and we had an idea. You’re not that good at being quiet,” Angie laughed, ruffling Star’s hair.

“When I was growing up,” Rafael continued, “we used to always play silly games in the backyard and everyone got very competitive over it. I think I have some of the equipment still in the shed. Maybe a friendly competition is in order?”

“I love it!” Star shouted, her eyes lighting up with joy. She stuck her hand into the middle of the group, grinning fiercely at the gathered crowd. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s stop our families from killing each other over petty grudges. Globgor, lift all the equipment. Nachos can help too, she should be coming back from her afternoon stroll right about now. Mr. Diaz, set it all up. Eclipsa, Mrs. Diaz, plan the rules of the competition. Marco, let’s go try to distract my family. Team Family on three!” Regardless of whether it would work, Eclipsa felt quite enthusiastic about this as well. She couldn’t say whether it would work, or how it might impact her own standing within the group, but the simple fact that there even seemed to be a chance to set things in the right direction for Star’s family at all was far more than she’d ever had the chance to do in her past.

“Alright, on three,” Eclipsa said, leading the charge. “One, two, three, family!”

***

Marco followed Star across the yard, needing to jog to keep up as she pulled him forward by the hand into the center of the ruckus. Moon and River had their backs to each other as they tried to keep the seething rage from either side at bay, but a few people had already crossed the battle lines and an all-out brawl was beginning to erupt.

“Don’t worry Mom and Dad, we got this,” Star confidently shouted over the din. Admittedly, Marco was a bit less certain than she was that this would work. He was the odd one out in terms of his upbringing, and Star’s families honestly spooked him a little bit with their intensity. The Diazes were quirky, sure, but like most other things on Mewni, this whole situation just seemed amped up to 11 all the time. Still, he wanted to see it through for Star’s sake, if nothing else. So much of what they’d gone through was due in some way or another to family disputes, it was very clearly a personal affront to her. “Alright, everyone, settle down!” Didn’t work. “Butterflies! Johansens! Could you please just stop-” Even at the top of her lungs, nothing changed.

River pushed her back a step. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ve got this.” He inhaled enough air that his bare chest visibly expanded. “QUIETTTTTTTTTTT!” Dead silence hung in the wake as every member of the families turned their full attention towards Star, Marco, and her parents. One Johnasen even paused mid-headlock of Heartrude. “Listen to my daughter speak!”

“Thanks dad. Hello, everyone!”

“Hello, Star,” the crowd mumbled hesitantly.

“Butterflies, Johansens, I know you both have your differences. I know that nothing I’m going to say will make you just get along forever. But I have a question for you. Uncle Heartrude, you hate the Johansens for how they eat, but haven’t you ever been annoyed whenever Uncle Jimothy uses salad forks for meat?”

“Well, yes, but I don’t see how-”

Star pointed directly at one of her larger cousins, and even just a sideways look at the fire in her sapphire eyes inspired him as well. “And Boulder, didn’t you once say Rock was a snooty little pebble for waxing his shoulder-horns twice a day?”

“Aye, I did.” His thick brow furrowed and his voice came out a bit muffled from behind his enormous brown beard.

“But you still love each other like brothers, so why are you still trying to break Heartrude’s leg right now?”

“Oi, I guess I am,” he said, letting go of Heartrude’s leg. “Sorry about that.”

Star squeezed Marco’s hand in hers hard enough that he could feel her pulse beating rapidly in exhilaration.

“So sure, we all get mad sometimes. But instead of trying to kill each other over it, let’s just settle it like we would any regular family feud. With friendly, non-lethal competitive fun!”

River tapped her on the shoulder. “Um, sometimes the Johansens do actually settle them by-”

“Not now, Dad,” she forced out through gritted teeth.

“Right-o, dear.” He quickly hustled back to Moon, who was watching with a proud but cautious smile.

Etheria shoved her way through the crowd and confronted Star face to face. “That may all be well and true, but the Johansens spoiled our royal bloodline-”

“That was my own choice, thank you very much, Aunt Etheria,” Moon huffed, hugging River closer to her.

“Besides, I’m proud to be a Butterfly and a Johansen,” Star continued. “And so what if it’s not what you wanted for the ‘royal bloodline’? Earthni to Etheria, we’re not even royals anymore! Who cares about some stupid bloodline when my mom was able to actually be happy?"

“Traditions are important, child. Now, I’ll grant you that we no longer hold claim to a royal throne, but neither do you, so why should we listen to you anymore?” A few murmurs were heard among the Butterflies and Johansens both. How ironic that the first time all day they could agree on something was on their right to hate each other.

“Because… because…” Star floundered for the first time in her speech. Her hand trembled in Marco’s, and the Star he knew and loved wouldn’t have faltered until hope seemed almost completely lost. He had to do something. Think, Marco, think… the Johansens respected might, the Butterflies respected prestige, what did any of them have that could appease both? They were so upset about Flags being cancelled in the first place because both wanted its bragging rights so badly. Wait… that’s it!

Alright Diaz, you got this. Marco stood tall and squeezed Star’s hand back to let her know it was OK. “Because I, Marco Ubaldo Diaz, am the reigning Flags champion, and I say to do what Star says!”

“Marco, what the horse-flipping heck-” Star wheeled on him incredulously, but he quickly turned her back towards the crowds. Their gazes roved over the faces in the crowd. All of the fight had left them. His gambit had worked.

“Huh,” Star uttered matter-of-factly, still in shock. “What would I do without you, Marco?” she whispered to him under her breath, and his heart fluttered as it always did. “Alright, listen up, people! This isn’t about epic conflicts or generational feuds. You’ve got a problem with someone? Challenge them to a short, safe, and fun game to settle that score. Marco’s parents and Eclipsa and Globgor are in charge of the event planning. They’ll help you set everything up. May the best person at resolving all their conflicts win! Welcome to the first annual...”

“Game of Yards!” Star and Marco triumphantly shouted in unison.

“Remember to have fun!” Star shouted before tugging Marco’s hand away once more, but she steered them away from his parents and then further away from the entire party.

“Um, Star, what are you- where are we going?”

“Can we talk about something? I need to get away for, like five seconds.” Marco hadn’t heard her sound that exasperated in a while.

“Yeah, of course, let’s decompress. Anywhere special you wanted to go?”

Her gaze frantically darted around them. She’d taken them back towards the forest, near the edge of the territory their parents had acquired. “I don’t know, I just kinda walked. How about there?” she asked, pointing to a small hill in a clearing, covered by the shade of some Mewnian oak trees (thankfully, the benign sort). Marco nodded, and they both went over found a suitable spot.

“What’s on your mind?”

Star shifted restlessly after sitting on her legs. He tried to convey as much support as he could through the gentle caress of her hand laced with his. Even from hours after they’d met, he’d always been ready to be right beside her when she needed, and that resolve had only strengthened as the years went by. Once she’d gathered her thoughts, she began to speak. “Who am I, Marco?”

Of the many ways he’d thought this conversation could open, this wasn’t exactly one of them. “Huh?” was all he could mutter.

“It’s just… Etheria’s right. I’m not a princess anymore, and when all that went down I just wanted to be a normal teenager, but I’m not gonna be a teenager forever either, you know?”

“I understand.”

“Yeah, but when you turned down Eclipsa’s knighthood, already had a plan for stuff you wanted to do. Didn’t you say you wanted to go to college and all that junk? You can do that now since you finished high school, right?”

“Mhmm.” Marco fell back onto the grass, resting both his arms on his chest and staring up into the clear purple sky. “I- I guess I haven’t thought about it much since then, either. Mom told me that the college she teaches at was still taking students, and it’s still really close to home, and- and I thought about signing up but I wasn’t sure.”

She plopped down beside him, rolling over to face him and taking one of his hands in hers. “You should! Marco, whatever you want to do, you’ll be amazing at it because you’re Marco Diaz, and I’ll be right there every step of the way.”

“Thanks, Star.”

“I never had anything like that. I didn’t think about it too much when I was a kid, and then I was gonna be a queen because, well, that’s what princesses did. And then the first moment that I seriously got to thinking about what I wanted, kablam-o! Solarian warriors attack, magic’s gone, and Earth and Mewni merge. Once the craziness finally stopped, all I could think about was being with you. Don’t get me wrong, the past year just being with you and doing whatever we want has been incredible, but now I just need to figure out what else is out there for Star Butterfly, and honestly...” She squirmed uncomfortably and scooted closer into him, resting her head on his chest. “I’m scared, Marco. I know I need to ‘find my calling’, or whatever Mr. Candle might call it, but I have no idea how, and I don’t want to lose this either.” Her arms buried underneath him and held him closely. There was a bit of dampness that Marco could feel seeping its way into his hoodie, and that caused a few empathetic tears to well up in his own eyes.

He brushed them away with a sleeve and then hugged her tighter to him, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “We won’t, Star. Ever. Even if it takes a year, or ten, or a hundred years, or even if you never find some perfect job you want to do forever and ever, that’s fine! As long as you’re happy and fulfilled, that’s all that matters, and I’ll do whatever I can to help. Promise.” They rested in silence for a few moments, holding each other closely as thoughts of potential futures whirred in Marco’s mind.

Her chin lifted up and dug into his chest as she stared at him. “Any ideas?” Those Earth-sky-blue eyes that had filled him with a sense of purpose for so long now implored him to return the favor.

“Well, you’re not a princess anymore, but… maybe the stuff you liked doing as a princess could help? You’re a natural leader, you inspire people to be better than themselves, you worked so hard to make Mewni a better place.”

“Marcoooooo,” she crooned, and he lovingly pecked the blushes rising on both of her cheeks.

“For real, Star, you’re the coolest person ever, you could do whatever you put your mind to. Not long after we first met, you were terrified of all the princess duties, and you ended up figuring out how to do them the Star Butterfly way. Just remove the ‘princess’ part of it, and figure out whatever else you’re gonna do the Star Butterfly way.”

A teasing smirk rose on her face. “Weeeeell, I can think of at least one thing, mister…” she booped his nose with hers, and it was his turn for a fiery blush to arise. “You’re so cute to tease. Have you ever thought about what would happen if none of it happened? Like, if I never stopped being a princess and then I had to be queen someday.”

“A little? That whole year on Mewni was kinda a bit weird and all, with the squiring, and…” His voice dropped to a mumble. “Figuring out how I felt about you.”

“Right back atcha, there. But what if we’d still done all that, just without completely changing the world?”

“Being a knight would have been really cool, I guess, but the whole Lifelong Post thing… kinda weird. Maybe I could’ve been one without it, or something? Or maybe I’d have just picked you, officially,” he said, poking her nose. “A knight and princess being together is a story that’s, like, 1000 years old, after all.”

“That’s really sweet, Marco, but… nah,” Star dismissed him, turning over to stare at the same sky he was, folding his hands inside hers.

“Nah?”

“Nah. You wouldn’t have been a knight for long.”

“Oh yeah? How come?”

“If I was still a princess, then you’d be my prince.”

He jerked upward out of instinct, only stopping because of the weight on his chest. “Uh, Star? I, um, I don’t think that’s how noble ranks, um-” Stream of consciousness took over while he scrambled to collect his shattered thoughts.

“Princesses can do what they want, silly. I’d declare you Marco Diaz, Prince of Echo Creek, and your mom and dad could get little crowns, and there’d be all sorts of ridiculous contracts to sign. You’d be free to whatever you wanted on Earth, too! But we could still be together.” Her head tilted up and her eyes met his once more. “Forever.” The determination in those pools reflected love at him, and even with the impact from the gravitas of her statement, it still just felt natural, it felt right, like everything with Star always seemed to. She leaned upwards to kiss him, slow and soft and sweet as her hands ran over his face and through his hair as his reciprocated. When they finally broke apart, Star sat up, and the Sun framed her hair in the most beautiful way; Marco found himself needing a few more moments than usual to catch his breath. “I’ll always love you, Marco.”

“No matter what, Star, I’ll always love you too. Now come on,” he said, pushing off the ground to a standing position. “Let’s go win some Yards, my princess.”

“We just had a moment, Diaz. You get a pass, this one time… my prince.” She puffed up her cheeks indignantly, but a radiant smile cracked the facade almost immediately, clearly as lighthearted and giddy as he’d ever known her to be, and he felt much the same.

Their fingers intertwined as they dashed away towards their home once more, looking forward to finding their place in the world and - more importantly, perhaps - tag-teaming to kick some butt.

[achieveandhunt]

live typing extra life 2019

warning: this a fucking LONG post. if you plan on reading it all, godspeed.

i typed all of this as it was happening on stream so this gets progressively less coherent as i grow more sleep deprived. prepare yourselves. i may or may not go off topic at some points

larry vehemently vomiting pure malic acid. we’re off to a great start

what the fuck the soggy ass popcorn in that ranch jesus christ

lindsay in the song from AH the musical. i love her so much

jeremy going YAAAAAAY after someone eats a cursed oreo

matt getting AGGRESSIVELY kissed by larry

“this kiss this kiss” before geoff and jack kiss

geoff “i’m from alabama” ramsey

THIS FUCKING RANCH SEGMENT HAS ME GAGGING

jeremy “the alcohol demon the whiskey goblin” dooley

alfredo “you wont believe what the white people did today” diaz

DUSK BOYS DUSK BOYS DUSK BOYS GET THAT DICK ESSENCE

wait why does it sound like wonderwall

they look like characters from the matrix

the speaking parts. make my teeth hurt

in conclusion: they weren’t kidding abt the tight pants 

okay everyone get ready for eric soundboard spamming YEAH BABEY

“hi i’m from broadcast and i don’t want to be here” they represent themselves well

also, let’s take a second to appreciate broadcast here!! they have a really tough job and don’t get a ton of credit. lots of love to all of broadcast!!! you guys are awesome

i am: foreseeing problems with this eric sound board

which one is eric?? will the real eric please stand up?? was the real eric the one we found along the way??

“i’m... just really worried that i won’t ever find love-” “i really don’t care”

WHY DO THEY HAVE THAT ON THE SOUNDBOARD (what does that apply to? whatever it is you’re thinking of, but mostly “daddy wants some”)

ooh someone’s about to get a fReE tongue piercing from a pineapple

god dammit i went to the bathroom for thirty seconds and now they’re eating chad’s chest hair

owie the shock collar and belly slap look painful, but drinking natty light from a shoe? that’s a true punishment

“and this roast was brought to you by meundies”

ah yes what better way is there to end a segment than people throwing up

“man action” oh no

THROBERT MULVEINY

K A R B is blind in T W O of her eyes

“my last name is cottagecheese”

I HAVE A PIECE OF METAL SHOVED UP MY A S S 

chris has somehow managed to lose 23 years of age and roughly 412 pounds

“just open throat like baby bird” who the fuck is writing this and why is it jeremy

jon. jon you’re breathing in adam’s ass fumes

a summary of this segment: ass and cottage cheese

BARB IS HERE I REPEAT BARB IS HERE

“to fitness” -starts choking-

final fitness coach: tad, here to workout your issues so they can beat you into submission

“will you buy my wet” well i don’t see that on the raffle items

we’re back folks & i’m loving this walk around segment

moonball wall and gavin&michael will soon be reunited can we get an F in the chat

jeremy getting a borderlands tattoo is very on brand

what’s extra life without a little satan

“starvation army, putting lead back into paint, increasing childhood obesity” people in chat: TAKE MY MONEY

chris “i’m doing a different hole” demarais

ah yes. the game we all play in hell: twister

nobody edit chris getting mustard shot down his throat. i’m scarred enough from the original clip

oh fuck. oh god. the mayo. oh god what the fuck is up with the misuse of condiments this year

this just in: a human soul costs roughly $12,700

D̷̯͑̆̈́͝Õ̸̲͎̥̬͈̬̙͕̲G̸̢̧̠͉͚̙̲̙̓̔̀̇S̷̥̀́͆̈́̇̀ ̶̣̞̗͚̬̭̖̦͇̈́̎̈́̿̓̈́͆̒̋D̷̙̟̩̫͉̺̐̊̚Ö̶̥́̋́̓ͅĜ̵̞̌͋̏̉̌̕͝͝S̵̤̹̣̫̮̻͛̍̑̕͝͝ ̷̧̨̞̙̥̟̜͍̉̍̑̏̇̀̾D̴̻̮̩̯͓͉̖͎̘͐̒͋̓̉͝ͅỎ̶̰͓̳̥͑̅͛͊̒͐͊͘̚G̵̩̻̦̥̠̃̔Ş̶̹͚̩̱͖̀͆͘ ̸̢̢͇̻͔̗̺̼͖̱̏̾̔̚D̴̨̨̫̙̃̾̋̾̆̓̓Ớ̷̡͓͎͊G̶̱̣̣̰̝̖̰̗̓͐̐̊͋̀͊̀̕͝Ş̷̩̺̬̖͙̺̟͗̈́͒͗̀̑́́̕͠ ̷̡͈̼̲͈̳̫̺̝̈́̋͌͗̒ͅD̸̨̬̞̪̗̘̄̑͆̿̈́͘͠͝O̸̡̡͇͕̻͎͍͉̅̌͗̄͌̑̉̔͂̎Ḡ̸͙̟̪̞̬̬͕͐̈̏S̶̝̪̼̮̠̜̭̳͖̘̑

urine: to help with aerodynamics

jon: maya, speak! maya: *the smallest arwoo*

today’s mvp: any dog. pick one. no matter which you pick, you’re right

how the fuck did blaine change back from satan so quickly

barb as a cat is... my new sleep paralysis demon

blaine: barbara speak! barbara: climate change is real

#dogsforkids

this just in: extra life killed my wifi

we’re back & kdin is in the business of killing people with spice. she is the spice queen

queue six thousand well-timed 1337 donations

HOLY SHIT THAT’S COLIN FROM WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY

hmm “questionable liquids” is very... questionable

trevor: oh there’s four of them! we all get to join in the Fuckkkk

“what’s your favorite kind of candy” “any meat”

i like pickles and i would rather rip my eyebrows off than drink the juice so i feel for trevor

the only thing worse than drinking apple cider vinegar is shooting it out of your nose

���can you feel the love tonight” “i used to and that’s the problem”

“flubs every word man” damn, really missed the chance to say captain hair

jeremy not being able to intentionally flub his words is so fucking funny

OK BOOMER 

wow i can feel my blood pressure spike just watching these shots

Xavier Woods is here and he wants to know if it’s Christmas

miles doesn’t know what a question is

WHERE’S YOUR HAIR

oh no. oh no helping hands is next. everyone clear a splash zone

CHEF MIKE CHEF MIKE CHEF MIKE

miles bossing around chef mike is priceless

“you leave that fucking dough on the floor”

“you wanna slam your hands down on the table” *pizza sauce goes flying everywhere*

HOEDOWN HOEDOWN HOEDOWN jesus why do i keep doing that

“If Colin Mochrie is listening, I’ll see you here next year” OH FUCK YEAH

--- this is when i take a break so my soul can return to my body (aka i have work to turn in. college will never not be a pain in my ass) ---

oh god dammit i missed all of Always Open. fuck college who needs a medical degree

so... we have some very interesting things happening in family feud and i’m not sure if i like any of them

hmm. is now the time to get drunk

oily twist feels very... ominous

what do you mean you don’t remember gandalf having a taser in lord of the rings?

someone in the chat said “big stupid sleeping thing is what my parents called me in high school”

i think i’m blacking out what’s going on i don’t remember the past two hours

ah yes. voldemort and snape having a talk show together sounds exactly like something J.K. Rowling would make a spinoff book or show or porno of

can we just talk about how much shit chris has been doing this year? what a guy. what a dude

“coldy with voldy” actually means getting knocked the fuck out cold because you only got three hours of sleep last night and you don’t want to miss chef mike and lindsay cooking

this snape poem is summarized by one phrase: “that was terrible sit the fuck down” (sorry chris)

“let’s destroy a weasley” enter chad

fucking called it

“you smell poor” i need a caffeine drip

heh the wheel spins are at 69 heh nice

i’m a grown ass woman

welcome to a section called: we torture chad for your entertainment

“who wants us to kill weasley?” *massive cheers from the audience*

“wait weasley step away from the wideshot so i can masturbate to this later”

“i’m not gonna rub my eye mom”

oh they’re really gonna kill chad on stream huh

i felt that chest slap in my soul

i think i felt my own ribs crack

oh fucking

tumblr deleted my thoughts on the fanfic section

alright. fine. brief summary: my teeth are burning

my mom lindsay is on next and i’m so excited but i’m nearing the point of loopiness so things will go downhill dramatically from here

this is my fucking fourth extra life, you would think i’d be smart enough to sleep the night before

LINDSAY LINDSAY LINDSAY THAT’S MY MOM

JEREMY JEREMY JERE- wait a second... did jeremy get taller

oH CHEF MIKE CHEF MIKE CHEF MIKE

i hope Xavier comes back next year because he’s funny as fuck

m y a t t

oh god the mcdonald’s shade i’m rolling

lindsay “who’s the chef here” jones

chef mike mentioned mayo and i involuntarily gagged

chef mike clowning the big mac. i’m crying

he made the right choice with ryan bc i’ve seen his cooking stream(s) and it’s nothing if not great content

i heARD A MICHAEL JONES

“lindsay you haven’t done anything but warm up cookies so far” “yeah and?? you’re welcome”

you know that classic snack. slightly warm oreos

JEREMY THE LIQUOR GOBLIN DOOLEY IS BACK

oh god him screeching across set is making me cry laughing

why does it remind me of trevor’s voice cracks in the one minecraft ep where they’re singing the lion king

the biggest spoon for the smallest shot glass

i just realized we’re not even halfway through yet and i’m scared for the length of this list i’m gonna end up falling asleep involuntarily at some point

lindsay no your teeth are going to errode from that shot in your mouth

well timed leet donation #1829495

this gorden ramsey bit is so fucking good

jack: what do you think of the arugala? matt: i don’t even know what you said

iT’s NoT jUsT tWo CoOkIeS miCHeAL

jeremy and michael just chillin amidst the choas is exactly my demeanor at any party i’ve ever been to

lindsay scores: ryan = 7 because diet coke, matt = still eating lindsay’s meal so it’s a 10, xavier = also still eating it so it’s an 8. total: 25

“deep fry everything but a remote control”

chef mike scores: ryan = 9 for no death, matt = greens are present, words were said, score is 8. xavier = Gourmet Mcdonald’s, food is edible, score is 8. total: 25

oh fuck it’s a tie

now they fight to the death. death = doing as many shots as possible

i think we’re all going to need liver transplants after tonight

no jesus please don’t vomit oh goD oh fUc k please- oh thank god

okay i’m making a part two this is too much

[luxurylives]

Missing Pieces Part 2

Pairing: Logan x Vanessa Kingsley

Book(s): Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance

Word Count: 3,475

Rating: No rating

Summary: Logan reunites with his foster parents while Vanessa considers what she was told earlier.

Author’s Note: The second part of Missing Pieces is here. I really enjoyed Ride or Die Appreciation week, if only summer school didn’t get in the way. Thank you so much to the hosts. If some names are unfamiliar, they’re from Hollywood U. Pixelberry Studios own all of the characters. Part 3 and 4 will be up very soon!

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @desiree-0816 @leelee10898 @lilyofchoices @emceesynonymroll 

“…so that’s it? You’re just trying to reunite with your foster moms?” Vanessa studied Logan’s face carefully. However, she couldn’t he was too good looking and the white shirt, the Irish Spring scent, and the veiny, toned arms weren’t helping.

“Yes,” Logan said calmly.

“That still doesn’t explain this Emilio guy…” Vanessa’s voice trailed off.

Logan thought for a moment. He had to come up with something, something believable. Suddenly a lightbulb went off in his head. “Vanessa, the truth is…I have a gambling problem”.

Vanessa scanned his face but couldn’t see any signs of laughter or even a smile.

“I was going to reunite with my foster moms so they could help me get out trouble, Emilio was trying to find me because I owe money, that’s what he does…he tracks people down, finds them”.

Vanessa bit her lip, however, she started to consider his words. “So he was like some…’ bounty hunter’…?”

“In a way, I mean being in that type of work someone from his past is going to try and seek payback or something”.

Vanessa took another look at Logan, who looked back at her with pleading eyes. “I cannot believe this” she shook her head and headed towards the door. Logan jumped up from the couch and rushed after her.

“Vanessa, wait” Logan reached out and grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her towards him. “Please just hear me out”.

Vanessa turned to gaze into his brown eyes, she felt hypnotized and pulled in for a split second. “Marco, just…leave me alone” Vanessa pried his hands off of her and stormed out of the loft.  

Despite what happened with Vanessa, Logan still had a job to do—he had to meet Zoe and Rita and find out what they know. Logan called a Dryve car to take him to the bus station where he purchased a ticket to Ashburn Bay. About an hour in a half later, the bus reached the Ashburn Bay bus station. Where Logan called a taxi to take him to Zoe and Ritas’ home. Once he got picked up, he sat in the back going over what he could say when he saw them. However, nothing came to mind. Momentarily the taxi pulled up to a lavender colored home with white shutters and hydrangeas planted out front. A golden retriever was sleeping on the front porch. Logan paid the driver and stepped out of the taxi, his heart pounding and hands shaking.

As Logan got closer to the house, the dog woke up and started barking loudly. Logan jumped back as the door flew open.

“Goodness Freddie, what is it?”

Logan stared at her blankly. She was wearing a white shirt, capris, and flip flops. Her dark hair in a ponytail. She then looked up at Logan, her eyes widening.

“Oh my god…”

Logan felt his eyes watering and swallowed, he started to speak but the words weren’t coming to him.

“Rita! Come to the door!” she rushed down the stairs to hug Logan.

Shortly, another woman appeared and also rushed towards Logan and hugged him.

“Welcome home” Zoe said.

Vanessa met up with Chelsea at Starbeans that afternoon. After they ordered their drinks, they took a seat on the patio.

“…I don’t know Vanessa, seems kind of…weird” Chelsea replied and took a sip of her Frappuccino.

Vanessa ran her fingers through her auburn hair and sighed. “I mean…maybe he was scared to tell me? Or—".

“Vanessa, don’t tell me you’re buying this?”

“Chelsea you should have seen his face…maybe I should help him…” Vanessa’s voice trailed off. She knew her parents had connections to a good lawyer and there were the feelings she had for Logan.  

Chelsea shook her head and took a deep breath. “Vanessa, I feel like this is a repeat of James Ashton”.

“Chelsea, this is not the same as James”.

“From my perspective, it looks that way. I hate seeing you get sucked into this kind of stuff, don’t you remember how James lied to you about that girl he was dating at Hartfeld? They were still together when you two hooked up a few months ago”.

Vanessa grimaced as she thought back to that summer in Cape Cod. James and his parents were visiting her family. Then one night it finally happened, he took her to bed. Only to find out later he was still dating the same girl she met at the masquerade ball. That same summer she got mixed up with two girls who only stabbed her in the back.

“Yeah but you knew they were together and didn’t say anything to me” Vanessa said sternly.

“Actually I didn’t, James and his girlfriend were having problems at the time, courtesy of Alpha Theta Mu, and I distanced myself from them after that prank was pulled on Claire”.

Vanessa sighed as her thoughts drifting back to Logan. She figured he had probably left by now to go find his foster parents. Something about him was taking over her mind and she couldn’t describe it. There was something exciting and mysterious about him.

“Just promise me that you will stay away from Marco, you’re one of my best friends and I don’t want to see you get hurt again”.

Vanessa took her straw and poked at the melting whipped cream, she then looked up at Chelsea whose eyes were pleading with her. “Okay, I promise”.

Chelsea was satisfied with her answer until she saw a distant, far-off look in her eyes.

“What?” Vanessa asked as she took another sip.

“Nothing” Chelsea said. It troubled her to see Vanessa like this, but sometimes lessons needed to be learned the hard way.

Logan wandered around the living room, with Freddie trailing at his feet and sniffing him. There were a couple of photos up of Rita and Zoe in Phuket and Beijing. Next to those were some of the foster children they have had over the years.

“You know we still, have a photo of you from your tenth birthday party”.

Logan turned around to see Zoe entering the living room from the kitchen with Rita following behind her.  

Logan took another look to see a photo on the end, he picked up recognizing his younger self. A large cake was in front of him, presents, Zoe and Rita were behind him, and two other kids that he couldn’t remember were also in the photo.

“It feels so long ago…I can’t remember” Logan studied the photograph—it was him but too distant to feel anything.

Rita came up behind and rubbed his shoulder. “It’s fine, have a seat we need to catch up”.

Rita led him over to the couch and sat down next to Zoe. Logan took a seat across from them.

“Logan, I’m going to cut the chase. What happened? Was something wrong?”

Logan knew what they were talking about but remained silent.

“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Zoe asked.

“No…everything is fine I just…I felt…pressure”.

Zoe and Rita looked at each other, unsure of what to say or think. Rita closed her eyes for a moment before continuing. “Logan, when you were fourteen you never came home. We waited at the bus stop and then we drove to the middle school—” Rita said.

“The receptionist said you walked home, and we searched and searched and well…nothing” Zoe replied.

Logan’s mouth went dry and he breathed slowly. He avoided looking at them knowing if he did, they would start crying. Freddie came over and sat at his feet, looking up at him whimpering.

“The police didn’t do anything either, not even an amber alert” Zoe said angrily.

“Logan, talk to us, what happened? Did we do something wrong? Was it me? Was it a bully? Or…” Rita’s voice trailed off.

“I was in some trouble, but it’s over now but I was too scared to come home” Logan said finally. He thought back to that day. He befriended a few older kids at school who were involved in a gang. After school, they went joyriding and robbed a convenience store. However, they left him to fend for himself when the police showed up.

“I don’t think you understand how that affected us” Rita said.

“I’m sorry” Logan said weakly and looked to each of them.

“Well, you are here now and that is what matters,” Zoe said. “How long are you visiting?”

“Not long, I came because I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and I want to try and connect with my family…relatives”.

Rita looked at the floor as Zoe placed a hand on her knee. “Logan… “.

“Please, I know it is a lot to ask, especially now, but if you can tell me anything or have anything, I would really appreciate it”.

Zoe and Rita looked at each other and whispered to each other. “Wait here,” Rita said as she stood up and disappeared down a hallway. Momentarily she returned with a box with Logan’s name written on it. Once she took the lid off, there were numerous documents and papers inside. Logan stood up and sat on the coffee table in front of them, ready to start sifting through the files.

“One month after your disappearance, Zoe got in touch with one of her college friends, Alana Kusuma. She arranged for us to meet with a private investigator in Ashburn Bay who did some digging” Rita said.

Zoe took out some of the papers and handed them to Logan, who began reading them over.

“Who was the investigator?”

“Diego Barrantes” Zoe said. “He was able to tell us about your mother, whom he visited in prison and was able to track down a few of her relatives”.

Logan sifted through the box, most of the documents contained information about his previous foster homes, there were more photos of him from when he lived with Zoe and Rita, as well as a few things he made when he was in elementary school.

“Your mother’s name is Analia Diaz” Rita pulled a picture out of the box and passed it to him.  

Logan stared at the picture, his mother was on the beach with who he assumed to be relatives, laughing.

“This is your father, Jorge Martinez” Zoe pulled out a newspaper clipping and passed it to Logan.

Logan examined the article and the picture with it. Jorge was pictured at a construction site with a hardhat and vest. There was dirt covering his face.

“Why was my Mom arrested?” Logan turned back to the other photo.

Rita sighed and took out a file and began flipping the pages, reading off Analia’s misdeeds. “Driving while under the influence, robbery, assault, substance abuse…the list goes on”.

“Where is she now? Is she still in prison?”

Rita wiped her eyes as Zoe rubbed her back and brushed some hair out of her eyes. “After your mother gave birth to you, she…she lost control, the separation was too much for her to handle”.

Logan felt his eyes water and a tear slid down his cheek. “Are you saying…?” he said weakly.

“Yes, Analia took her own life”.

Logan took the box from them and pulled a few more things out, he froze when he saw another newspaper clipping and slowly pulled it out. The headline read: “Woman Throws Herself Off a Hotel Balcony”. Logan started to read but set it down and covered his face.

After a moment of silence Rita spoke. “Perhaps we should put this away…at least for now”.

“What about my Dad? Where is he?” Logan looked back at the other newspaper clipping and photo.

“Your father died a year ago, he was severely injured at work and never made a full recovery” Zoe said.

Logan picked up another article and read the headline: “Four Construction Workers Injured in Building Collapse”. Logan skimmed the article and set it down, once again burying his face in his hands. He spent months after the breakup trying to piece his past together. After watching Colt and Ellie, he longed for a family connection. However, with everything that his foster parents were sharing with him now, it seemed all was lost.

“Logan, I know this is a lot to take in right now, but there are two things that Diego did find that we need to talk about”.

Logan wiped his eyes and sat up to face them. “What are they?”

“Well, first there is Emilio Salazar” Rita said flatly.

Logan took a deep breath and looked at the floor. What David had mentioned earlier was starting to come back to him.

“We caught him snooping around here a few times and had Diego check him out. Apparently, he was involved in illegal street racing and some other gang activity”.

Logan felt his heart thundering in his chest, small beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

“Diego also uncovered something called the Brotherhood and Mercy Park Crew, he thinks you were involved but wasn’t able to find anything”.

“Were you involved? Was that part of the reason you ran away years ago?”

Logan straightened himself up. He still couldn’t bring himself, to tell the truth, they would be crushed. “No, he must have had the wrong person”.

An uncomfortable silence began to take over until Zoe pulled the box towards her and began rummaging through it.

“We wanted to tell you that your grandmother is alive or at least we think she is” Rita said.

Zoe pulled out a photograph and passed it to Logan. “This was taken on her birthday,” she said.

Logan took the photo and examined each face in it, none of them recognizable. “She celebrated her birthday in the hospital?”

“She has been sick for a long time” Rita said.

Logan stared at the photo and his grandmother’s cheerful smile despite her surroundings. “Do you know what hospital she is in?”

“Logan that was taken months ago…we don’t know if—”.

“Please, I need to know” Logan pleaded with them.

Zoe exchanged a look with Rita and wrote two addresses down and handed it to Logan. “One is the hospital and the other is her home, or at least that is what Diego told us”.

“Thank you” Logan said as he took the sticky note. “Wait a minute, both of these…”.

“They’re on the east coast” Zoe said.

Logan sighed, he wasn’t anticipating a cross country road trip but then again, he was desperate, and he had to know.

“I guess I better head back and start packing” Logan rose from his seat and pulled out his phone to call a taxi. As he paced around the room, the memories he had of living with Zoe and Rita began to come back. The Friday night movies, homecooked meals, and the walks on the beach. A part of him desperately wanted to go back to those days but they were long gone.

A while later a car horn outside signaled it was time to go. Rita and Zoe stood up and led Logan towards the door. Once they opened it and he was outside, something told him to stop. He wanted to confess everything and let them know what was really going on. This very moment was his opportunity to turn his life around and start over in Ashburn Bay. Logan was at the bottom of the steps when he turned around. Rita was just about to close the door with Zoe by her side and Freddie in the middle. She looked up at him expectantly.

Logan cleared his throat, fighting back tears. “Thank you again”.

“Take care of yourself Logan” Rita said.

Logan nodded and opened the door to the taxi.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

“Bus station” he said.

The driver shook his head and pulled away from the house. Logan turned around watching the house fade into the distance.

That night, Chelsea took Vanessa to meet one of her friends at their house. Despite the conversation, pizza, and soda. Vanessa kept thinking about Logan, was he telling the truth? Was it gambling…or something else? She immediately snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Chelsea laughing.  

“Oh my gosh! That must have been so embarrassing for him!” Chelsea cried.

Ingrid tossed her hair with a wide grin on her face. “It was the worst promposal ever and lamest to boot, he dressed up as some The Crown & the Flame character and read some weird monologue to me during lunch”.

“What was his name?” Chelsea laughed and briefly looked up at Vanessa who was clearly in another world.

“I think it’s Tim…or Josh…to be honest I don’t know. I told him no in three different languages and went to prom with Brent”.

“Harsh” Vanessa said quietly.

“Please, he’ll get over it” Ingrid said and set her Coke down and took another bite of her pizza. “So what should I know about Langston? Best sororities? Parties? Guys?”

Chelsea quickly jumped in, knowing Vanessa was distracted. “Langston doesn’t have anything on Hartfeld, you need to transfer”.

Ingrid considered her words for a moment and shrugged. “My mind is made up, but I will visit you, Langston isn’t that far from Hartfeld” she picked up her phone and quickly rose from her seat.

“Back in a minute, two of my friends just pulled up” Ingrid said. “Vanessa, I mean it I need to know the deets about Langston when I get back”.

“Sure thing” Vanessa said.

Ingrid shook her head with a satisfied look on her face and ran back inside the house.

“Vanessa, what’s going on?” Chelsea said.

“It’s Marco…should we call the police…I mean he could be in danger…”.

Chelsea rolled her eyes and set her cup down. She whirled around to make sure, no one was around. “Vanessa, Marco brought this on himself…you need to let him go”.

Vanessa peaked at Chelsea’s phone to see an incoming text from Javier. “Why? Javier is still texting you”.

Chelsea snatched her phone up, noticing an incoming text and quickly deleted it. “Not for long, he has his own issues, something against Marco and that Emilio guy”.

“What do you mean?”

Chelsea bit her lip, instantly regretting she mentioned anything. “Well…after we hooked up, I snooped around his place and found a gun and picture of a Devore GT and a Yottsume Halberdier”.

Vanessa pursed her lips, processing what Chelsea told her. Something was definitely going on, but what?

“What did Javier say? Maybe he’s an undercover cop?”

“Oh my god, Vanessa, let it go,” Chelsea said sternly and shook her head. “Both of these guys are bad news and whatever the hell is going on, we do not need to be sucked into it”.

Vanessa started to protest but Ingrid sauntered back onto the patio with a few of her friends following behind her.

“Are you guys okay?” Ingrid looked between Vanessa and Chelsea with a confused look on her face.

“We’re fine” Chelsea stood up to greet Ingrid’s friends, quickly pasting a smile on her face.

Vanessa rose from her seat to join them. Unlike, Chelsea she couldn’t turn away from him. Whatever was going on had to be much deeper than gambling.

Logan returned to Las Mente in time for his shift which went by fairly quickly. Javier asked a few questions which Logan answered vaguely. Once Lilac Palm closed and everyone went home, Logan sat out back staring at the address to the hospital and to her home. Suddenly he heard footsteps approach and quickly stood up. He reached for a bottle to grab but set it down once he saw who it was.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to startle you”.

Logan relaxed seeing it was only Vanessa and sat back down on the step. “I wasn’t expecting you”.

“I can see that” Vanessa said as she took a seat next to him.

“I thought you were done with me”.

Vanessa took a deep breath, choosing her next words carefully. “Marco, let me help you”.

Logan raised his eyebrows at her. “What do you mean?”

“Whatever is going on…I want to help you through it”.

Logan stared into her blue eyes and once again, found himself looking at Ellie Wheeler. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. “Vanessa, I…” Logan started to say but then he had an idea. Vanessa could be his ticket to the east coast and while searching for his grandmother he could try to reconnect with Ellie too.

“If you don’t want me to—”.

“No, I appreciate it” Logan said as he took Vanessa’s hand and squeezed it gently.

Vanessa smiled, feeling her cheeks turn a subtle red. “So you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Logan smiled and began to build upon the lie he told her earlier as Vanessa clung to every word.

[wildtige429]

Godson

@lynea-kureji

Taken in Yadda Yadda Berries. Star and Marco will learn something about Toshi and Rasticore’s relationship.

--------------

Somebody. A traitor or some assassin or a hired hitman, was planning to kill Eclipsa and his dad by using Yadda Yadda Berries in the pie and wine. Fortunately, the royal taster has risked his life for her and Toshi have saved his father from drinking the spiked wine when he picks up the scent of poison from the drink.

Now he, and his pals are on the case of who is behind the assassinations. When Toshi finds out who was trying to kill his dad and Eclipsa, he’s going to teach them a thing or two for being murderers on their new queen, who is not evil at heart. And his dad is no longer the villain they thought he was after Kurogane, the legendary spinosaurus, calmed down and became a family ally after he barfed out his dad, and they were able to reunite and rekindle their relationship.

The informant has informed them that it was the work of an assassin from the guild of assassins. When they reached there, the trio spotted an oh-so-familiar, but small face in the kitchen.

After a little greeting, much to Rasticore’s exasperation and frustration since he is still healing from whatever did this to him (Toshi did joke that he ever wondered he fell onto his side because of the weight of his large arm). Thankfully, the recovering frilled lizard gave them the info they need.

“Babs, eh? That’s our new lead,” Star figured, “Thanks little guy.”

And she pats him on the back and she left. Toshi stayed behind, putting a hand on his shoulder after he sighed miserably for being called little guy.

“Oh man, whoever did this to you, must have been real pissed,” he spoke to him, “Would it be okay if you tell me what happened?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Rasticore grumbled.

Star and Marco returned when they noticed Toshi is missing, “One question though. Is it me or do you two know each other?” she wondered.

“Yeah, it’s like you guys are chums,” Marco agreed.

Rasticore turned around and rested his fists on his waist, “Cause I’m the kid’s godfather.”

They paused to digest that new information about their friend, muttering and whispering to each other that explains why their friend and Rasticore know each other.

“You’re Toshi’s godfather? That explains why you two are so close,” Star muttered, “I actually noticed you two meeting up in our last fiascos.”

Toshi blinked, and held his chin in trying to remember the times he meets Rasticore in their previous adventures and how Star noticed them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C65hL9d1ANM

(Flashback 1)

Rasticore tracked through the aisles of Quest Buy, searching for any signs of his targets through this maze using his tracker. He senses a presence not far and turned to face the person. 

When he and Toshi noticed each other, the green lizard eased down his scowl and lifted his hand in greeting. And Toshi returned it before they departed.

(Flashback 2)

“Rasticore, bring me Princess Marco’s bones!” 

And Heinous threw what’s left of Rasticore’s hand directly at Marco, the Diazs and Star. But the hand fell worthlessly. Toshi gently picked him up.

“Dude, when did you become a cougar magnet?” he asked him.

The claw made spasms and wild gestures that the young lizard translates as, “WHAT!?”

“Me too, I don’t get why she likes you,” he whispered awkwardly.

(Flashback 3)

“LEAVE THIS PLACE, HEINOUS!!!”

The former dean spun around and saw Gemini being held hostage and put at gunpoint by a pissed off Toshi. When she was busy preaching, he approached the minion quietly and whipped out his cybernetic pistols. The sight of the hostage situation stunned the princesses of the former school, Star and Marco. Since everything is seen on the big screen.

“Leave now! Or your friend here GETS IT!!” he threatened, jabbing the muzzle of his pistol into the golem’s temple.

“Oh please,” she huffed, folding her arms, “As if that would scare me.”

“Wow, she doesn’t care about you,” Toshi whispered to Gemini, making him sigh in exasperation. When that didn’t work, he gently pushed him away and quickly grabs the still recovering Rasticore, who is just a torso. Feeling the gun aimed at his heart, the healing lizard dropped his chainsaw and lifted his arm in surrender.

He got a reaction from the elder. 

“DON’T HURT HIM!!!” she wailed in total horror.

“Sorry I had to do this,” he whispered to Rasticore.

“It’s okay, kid, I get it,” Rasticore answered, using hand signs.

“When you’re fully regenerated, you’re have to put a restraining order on her,” he reminded.

Rasticore replies with a thumbs up, “Agreed.”

“Now GET OUT OF HERE!!!” Toshi roared at Heinous, waving his pistol to tell her to get into her car.

“Okay, okay!” she wailed, quickly getting into her car. Without warning, Gemini snatches a rock and throws it. Toshi thought he was aiming at his face to save the lizard but the rock smacked into Rasticore’s stomach, displaying a terrible wince. He made rapid hand signs.

“Hey, what the hell man!?” Toshi translated for the golem after reading his sign language.

“Sorry, I was aiming at you!” Gemini apologised.

Seeing the display and accepting the fact that Turdina, their liberator, is a boy, the princesses, with Pony Head rebelled, battle crying.

“VIVA LA REVOLUTION!!” Toshi yelled in fluent French, “WOOOOOOOO!!!”

In his total glee and adrenaline rush, he simultaneously kicked the torso down.

“Sorry!” he called out to Rasticore.

(Flashback 4)

“Heinous!?”

Toshi, with Ruby following behind him when they hear something happened to Star and Marco, marched in with a slow scowl and slowly pulling out his pistol.

“How many times do I have to warn you that if you ever come back -!”

He let out a bloodcurdling scream when The nearly formed Rasticore quickly whips out a taser and jolted him in the side. Dropping his gun and collapsing, he panted in pain.

“Toshi!” Star and Marco cried with alarm.

Leaning down until they are at earshot, the green lizard whispered, “Sorry I had to do that.”

“Hey man, it’s okay,” Toshi whispered back with a slight chuckle, “Now we’re even now.”

The two shared a short laugh fest that confuses Star and Marco, making them wonder.

Does Toshi and Rasticore know each other?

(End of flashbacks)

“Yeah, I forgot to explain that to you,” Toshi smiled sheepishly, “Been busy with our mishaps.”

“How’s your mom?” Rasticore asked normally.

“Oh, she’s doing great!” he answered with a smile, “You heard what happened to my dad and my mom that day?”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard,” he answered, “I didn’t know Kurogane was frozen all this time! But I’m glad you got your dad back.”

“Yeah, it surely does,” he sighed with nostalgia, “I better leave, Rast. We gotta catch the culprits before they strike again.”

“Tell your parents I said ‘HI!’” he called out as the trio ran off.

“I WILL!” Toss’s voice is heard calling back.

-----

Each of the flashbacks are Gift of the Card, Heinous, Princess Turdina and Monster Bash.

I hope you like it!

[apple-grass-and-smiles]

Final Conclusions

Ten conclusions people came to about Marcos Diaz and Lorna Dane, in reverse order. 

10. Esmé

Esmé takes a large amount of pride in being able to read people. Granted, it’s helped by being able to sense their thoughts, but even without her power she thinks she’d have been pretty good at it. But even a novice would have been able to figure out that what Marcos and Lorna had between them was love. And when she realizes that, as she watched him pull his girlfriend to his side as Esmé recounted the Hound girl’s horrific story, she rejoices. Because people who are in love are people who can be manipulated. People who are so in love that in a moment of sadness they can put aside their differences and hug are people who have something to lose and therefore something worth fighting for.

Yes, Esmé thought, I can use this.

And she does. She makes Lorna have nightmares and taunts her and makes it clear that an extreme stance now could mean Marcos and the baby being safe later on. And Lorna fall for each and every one of the deceptions and half-truths. Esmé doesn’t lie. She believes almost everything she’s saying. Yes, something needs to be done to stop the hate that mutants have been facing and she truly does think bringing down Campbell is the way to do that, but what she honestly doesn’t know is if Marcos will take Lorna back once she’s done what she had already set her mind to. Once upon a time, when fairytales seemed like they could be real life Esmé might have believed that true love could conquer and that the two lovebirds would be able to reconcile in the new world she, her sisters, and Lorna were building. But Esmé Frost had stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago.

Esmé’s final conclusion: They may be in love, but no love is that strong.

9. Andy

Andy is a typical teenage boy and that more than anything is the reason it takes him so long to realize that Marcos and Lorna aren’t just dating but are instead head-over-heels crazy for each other. And really he only figures it out because he hears them say it. He’s 15 and a bit preoccupied with not dying for goodness’ sake! He’s not focusing on people’s romantic feelings. But even he can pick up on hints that people are in love with each other, especially when the hints are them saying those exact words.

Sure, there were lots of signs that they were probably in love before the day it finally clicked for him. They were dating. A kid was on the way. Marcos had gone crazy trying to get Lorna back. Lorna talked about Marcos a lot. And they spent a ton of time together. But Andy knew people at school who did all of those things too who then went and broke up. It was sad, sure, but it was also perfectly reasonable for him to think that maybe these two would end up just co-parents a year down the line with no romantic feelings between them.

He and the other kids are in training when it happens. First, Lorna nearly chucks a small pot at Marcos’ head, which is really funny for all involved (except maybe Marcos, but who knows for sure that he wasn’t laughing on the inside?) and brings an abrupt stop to the lesson. Some sort of mission is going on today. Andy isn’t very clear on the specifics but he knows that Marcos, John, and Shatter are heading out soon to try and meet up with a contact of some sort. The couple steps aside of the group of teens (“Lauren, you’re up. Try and see if you can get Andy to stop something without bringing the building down.”) and proceed to talk in hushed voices. He hears bits and pieces about the baby, training, being home before dawn, and the importance of not being spotted. All pretty normal stuff. But then Marcos says he loves Lorna and she says it back and it sounds nothing like the way kids at school throw around the terms or how people in movies might say it. It sounds like two people trying to put their hearts into three syllables, both painfully aware that eight letters can’t encapsulate their true feelings. It sounds a lot like a promise of forever. A promise that tomorrow they’ll still be together and that the same will be true in a year and for every day beyond that. It sounds exactly like when his parents tell him that they love him. And if there is one thing he knows it’s that if someone is talking like that, they’re never going to let go of each other.

Andy’s final conclusion? Sometimes when people say they love you they really, really mean it. And don’t get hit in the face with a spatula.

8. Lauren

Lauren is well-versed in the art of spotting crushes and relationships thanks to nearly four full years of high school drama. It’s not so much a skill as much as a means of survival. But the one feeling you don’t really see in high school is love. So it’s not until she sees her parents hugging a few days after being reunited that it clicks. Marcos and Lorna didn’t have the same vibe as the couples at school or the same look in their eyes as she had seen on countless faces as they looked at their crushes. Nope. Lorna and Marcos held each other like her parents did. Which meant only one thing: love.

“Hey, Mom. Can I ask you a question?” Lauren asked one day as she sat nearby while Caitlyn finished making the daily lunch of macaroni and cheese.

“Yeah. What’s up kiddo?”

“Do you think a relationship could survive all of, you know, this?” she asked, gesturing to the mutants around them.

Caitlyn turned away from the pot she’d been stirring and sat down on a chair near Lauren with a quizzical look on her face. “That’s an odd question. What brings that up?”

“I was just thinking about Lorna and Marcos. They’re obviously in love and I was just wondering if they had any chance of making it. Everything is just so crazy here and their lives are even more dangerous than ours and I’m certain having a baby on the way makes things even harder.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if they can make it. I want to think so, but, like you said, this isn’t an easy way to live. But what I can tell you is that I think they’re family and, just like us, it’ll take a lot more than this mutant insanity to ruin that. Now go and get your brother and dad for lunch. I put canned chili in the mac and cheese this time so it’s not a meal to be missed.”

Lauren’s final conclusion: Only two incredibly strong people could get through this still in love. She hoped Lorna and Marcos were strong enough.

7. Caitlyn

Caitlyn knows that the man sitting next to her in the car is in love as soon as he calls Lorna is his family. It clicks instantly because those are the words she’s been saying over and over as she tries to convince people to help her save her husband: “He’s my family.” And now here was a young man who was saying the exact same thing about this girl whose fate so resembled Reed’s.

Marcos’ eyes are focused on the road but she can see the desperation beginning to seep into them as he thinks about his partner who, for all he knows, he may never see again. No, Caitlyn reprimands herself because if Marcos doesn’t ever see Lorna again then there is almost no chance that she’ll see Reed and Caitlyn Strucker refuses to believe that such a thing could ever happen.

“She seems like a wonderful woman,” Caitlyn offers up like a life preserver to Marcos as he struggles to keep from drowning in his thoughts.

“She is. She’s amazing.”

“What’s she like?” Caitlyn is determined to keep him talking and focused. She knows just too well just how dangerous it can be to allow one’s mind to wander to dark places and she needs Marcos at his best if they’re going to pull this off and get back to Clarice before she destroys the Underground entirely.

“She’s… I don’t know. She’s like a force of nature. If she thinks something needs to be done she’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish it. She loves people more than anyone I’ve ever known and if you’re lucky enough for her to love you then she’ll do anything to make sure you’re safe. She’s smart too. So many of our missions have only worked because she’s planned them. She can be funny, when she wants to be. But mostly she’s just so strong. She’s determined and nothing can break her and…,” Marcos’ voice peters out as they approach the hospital.

Turning to the young man sitting next to her, Caitlyn reaches out a hand and places it on his arm. “Hey. We’ll get them back. Lorna and Reed.” Marcos offers a small smile in exchange as he parks and gets out of the car. When he looks back to make sure that Caitlyn is following him up to the hospital steps she catches a look of pure determination in his eyes.

Caitlyn Strucker’s final conclusion? Marcos Diaz will do anything to get Lorna Dane back and she never want to see what happens to someone who comes between them.

6. Reed

Reed Strucker had seen enough of cases of unrequited love in his life to know that just because one person was in love didn’t mean that the person they cared for loved them back. He’d also seen more than his fair share of people who got pregnant and didn’t stay with their partner. And it was for those two reasons that he didn’t assume that what Ms. Dane had with her child’s father was love. Sure, she refused to give him and the Mutant Underground up to Sentinel Services and nearly killed a police officer who had shot him but she could have just been loyal to her cause and someone who was clearly part of her team. Did her actions maybe suggest that she loved him? Sure. But he didn’t have enough evidence to pass a true judgement and expected to never have the information necessary to do so.

That is, until a little over 24 hours late when he found himself sitting across from Marcos Diaz, begging for help from the organization that he had just been trying to destroy. It’d been a long day.

And here was the thing, any doubts Reed may have had about the feelings between the two young adults fled from his mind when Diaz put his glowing hand right above Reed’s arm. That wasn’t the move of a casual boyfriend. Marcos was not making an idle threat. That was something that he would have done for Caitlyn or Andy or Lauren. That bespoke true love. Here was someone who was willing to risk everything for a girlfriend he had no guarantee of ever seeing again. Diaz had no way of being sure that Reed wasn’t actually working as a spy trying to get him in prison. There was no promise that Reed was actually a father with two children who had revealed mutant abilities the night before. And even if that was the case, Diaz had to realize the potential consequences of threatening someone who only a little while earlier was trying to prosecute his girlfriend. A simple boyfriend would have made some idle threats. But Diaz had a burning hot hand inches from Reed’s skin and that was the move of someone who was desperately trying to reunite with the love of his life.

Reed’s final conclusion: Don’t ever get between Marcos Diaz and Lorna Dane.

5. Clarice

Clarice felt horrible when she realized how close Marcos and Lorna actually were. Sure, she felt bad beforehand but this was on a new level. She had separated two people who were clearly very, very in love. How did she know they were in love? She saw it all over Marcos’ face. Heard it in his voice. Recognized it in the purposeful way he moved. Everything about his entire being screamed of a shattered piece of a whole that had been ripped from their other half. She knew the look. Not because she’d been that half but because she never had been.

Clarice Fong was pretty certain that she’d felt just about ever feeling on the spectrum. She’d felt joy and anger and heartbreak and contentment. But she’d never really felt that sort of love where you were certain that the whole universe had conspired to bring you and this other person together. But clearly Marcos Diaz had because everything about him was new to Clarice and that earth-shattering love was the only thing left that she hadn’t seen.

He was so desperate. That was the thing that stuck out the most to her. The way his shoulders slouched and his voice scratched and his eyes searched every room as if maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t heard her slip in a back door. Only she wasn’t ever there. And then his eyes would still and fall down to his hands, as if praying that maybe if he stared long enough her hand would appear in his.

Clarice’s final conclusion: Never fall in love with someone and then lose them.

4. John

John figured it out because Marcos told him.

“I think I might be in love with her,” Marcos had muttered one day.

John hadn’t really been listening (still wasn’t). “In love with who?”

“Say that a bit louder next time; I don’t think she heard you. C’mon, man.”

Much quieter this time,  “Sorry. It’s just not something you expect to hear.” A pause. “What makes you say that anyway.”

“I don’t know. I just… I don’t know. We’ve been together for half a year now and things are going great and I think I’ve loved her for forever but now it’s finally all clicking and now I’m aware of the fact that I’m in love with her and now I have no idea what to do,” Marcos looked at John with pleading eyes as he finished his speech.

It really shouldn’t have surprised John to hear. Afterall, the two had been nearly inseparable for the past six months. They ate together; they attended meetings as a couple; they tried to be on the same missions.  If you couldn’t find Marcos you just looked for Lorna because she was never far behind and vice versa. They had truly moved from being a pair to being two parts of the same, incredible whole. In hindsight, John should have known they were in love long before either had a chance to confide in him.

“So are you going to tell her that?”

“That I love her? I guess at some point I’m going to have to, but I just… What if she doesn't love me? What if I ruin everything? What we’ve got now is so good. I don’t want to destroy it just because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”

“Have you considered that maybe she’s thinking the same things right now?” John asked, looking at his friend with only a hint of pity in his eyes.

“No…”

Rolling his eyes, John responded, “Go and talk to her, you idiot.” And with that Marcos Diaz turned and nearly ran to find Lorna Dane.

John’s final conclusion: Love made people rather stupid.

3. Sonya

Sonya knew they were in love when she saw the way Lorna smiled at Marcos when he wasn’t looking. It wasn’t a bright smile, one with wattage that could outshine the sun, but a quiet one full of contentment and peace. And it was exactly the sort of smile that Sonya herself had when she looked at Johnny. And that’s when Sonya’s “best friend mode” kicked in.

The two women had only known each other for a couple of years but it had been enough time for her to see just how much Lorna shouldered on a daily basis. Between being one of the leaders of the Atlanta Underground and trying to deal with her mental illness without the help of medication (none of them could just swing by their local Walgreens and pick up drugs as needed), plus training kids to survive in an increasingly hateful world, Lorna was, in a word, swamped. Sure, Marcos had been a godsend in the beginning. He brought some much needed manpower to the Underground and he and Johnny had become a nearly unstoppable team. Overall, Sonya liked him a lot, but she also knew firsthand the dangers of a heartbreak. She’d seen in dozens of times in the women at the shelters. Women who, despite having been beaten and hurt over and over again, couldn’t help but cry because at one point they’d thought they’d been loved and now they were having to realize that their abuser’s feelings were far from love. Sonya didn’t expect Marcos to start beating Lorna, but she wouldn’t put it past him to end the relationship one day and to leave Sonya with a betrayed Lorna. (With a Lorna who looked at Marcos the way Sonya looked at Johnny, with a deep sense of longing and tears not far behind.) Sonya believed in her friend’s ability to overcome anything but picking yourself up after being in love and then losing that love was a messy and painful business and no one had time for that.

And then Sonya turns to see Lorna laughing at something Marcos had just said as he pulls her in for a hug and she can’t help but hope beyond hope that it all works out.

Sonya’s final conclusion: Marcos better not break Lorna’s heart or he was a dead man.

2. Lorna

Truthfully Lorna doesn’t really know when she actually fell in love. All she knows is that one day she was sitting there laughing with Marcos about something stupid and it hit her like a slap to the face. This wasn’t a crush. It wasn’t infatuation or just someone she really liked. This was it. This was Love with a capital ‘l’ and all the joy and sadness and fear that came with it.

In her head she swore like a sailor.

Not because she wasn’t happy or because she didn’t think Marcos was a great person or anything but because how could he, a rather exceptionally well-adjusted (all things considered) man ever love someone like her? Here she was, a terrifying mess of a person who was barely avoiding drowning in her duties with the Underground and rarely felt mentally stable. And there he was, a person who literally shone and would project rainbow lights onto the ceiling of their room when she was manic and couldn’t sleep and would hold her when she cried for hours on end until there was no more tears left to shed. How on Earth could two such completely different people in such a chaotic world ever dream of making this work?

She was yanked out of her reverie by Marcos’ voice. “Babe?”

“Huh?”

“Did you hear a word I said?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Meet with Daniel at 4:00 sharp to get the plans for the Sentinel Services building. Sorry. I was just thinking.”

At that Marcos gave her a look that wordlessly asked her to share what thoughts had dragged her away from him. And it was that look in that moment that sealed her fate, for better or for worse. That look that showed that he wanted to follow what was happening in her head whether it was good, bad, or incredibly ugly. He wanted to hear her thoughts and be told about the demons that ran through her mind oh so often. It made her stomach flutter with joy because maybe, just maybe, this could be something wonderful.

Lorna’s final conclusion: She was going to do whatever she had to to keep this going.

1. Marcos

Marcos fell so hard and fast that he doesn't even remember the 'falling' part, just the 'in love' part that he's found himself living in. And it is that last part that has brought him to a bar in the middle of nowhere with just a small bag of belongings and a deep-seated fear that he is about to be taken out by the cartel, despite promises from Carmen’s father that he could leave the family on good terms (Carmen was far less agreeable when he broke the news to her that he was leaving).

The drink he was nursing was doing absolutely nothing to take the edge off and he was bouncing his leg rapidly, trying to release at least a fraction of the nervous energy inside of him. In truth, he knew how stupid all of this was. He’d met with Lorna and John only a month ago and had helped them out a couple times since but he’d been adamant that he was not, under any circumstances, leaving the cartel. He’d come up with excuse after excuse and Lorna, with her quick wit and sharp tongue had called him out on each one. It was too dangerous, he’d say. She’d retort that the Underground protects their own and he’d be safe. Carmen would never be okay with it he’d sigh. She’d roll her eyes and promise him that truly she could find him another girlfriend if that was his hang up about the whole thing. He’d make a comment about it just not being a good fit and she would get up from the table and walk away because “that was the most ridiculous excuse ever”. (Years and years later, when Aurora is older and the world is a fair bit brighter and they’re not running and hiding anymore, Marcos will decide that it must have been during those early arguments where he fell for Lorna.) John hadn’t ever pushed Marcos to join them, but Lorna had pushed incessantly until he’d found himself laying in bed with Carmen desperately trying to come up with an actual reason to not leave. He didn’t love Carmen; they both knew that. It would be dangerous, but he knew that he could take care of himself if he needed to. And he did enjoy the work he’d done with mutants in the past. He’d liked the way the work had made him feel like he was making a difference. That’s it, he’d thought, that’s why I want to leave. But that hadn’t felt right either. There was something else. You mean someone else, a small voice in his head whispered. It wasn’t until he’d woken up with images of black hair and green nails in his mind that he’d begun to accept that maybe his heart was telling him it was time to go.

And that’s how he’d ended up sipping a truly horrendous drink in a bar at 4:00 in the afternoon on a Thursday, ready to leave the cartel to join a group of mutants.

Then Lorna Dane walked through the door and gave him that smile of hers and he corrected himself. He was leaving the cartel for the chance of a future with someone better doing something good, regardless of the cartel and his past and his flaws and the fact that this was all an enormous risk that could blow up in his face at any moment.

Marcos’ final conclusion: He was doomed. But maybe it’d be worth it.

[tamersmile888]

Life Is Strange 2: The Sims 4 Challenge Behind The Sims Lot 4

Sean created the painting for this title card after I decided on the title of this Lot...Thank You Lord for being so wonderful, awesome and brilliant. The joy!

After playing this lot, I am firmly team Sean and June. (Jean? Sune? SJ...? We'll work on it. Many of you may be Team Sean and Lyla or Syla, which sounds pretty impressive and I secretly love it, but shall discuss all of this. And we have much to discuss.

But first, let's talk about my sweet, beautiful baby boy Jagger. I was so nervous when this idea came to me. I didn't want to do it. I wasn't going to do it. I didn't want to do or say something that would disrespect people who are actually deaf. I don't personally know anyone who's deaf, so I had to do research to make sure I was even addressing them the way they'd prefer to be addressed.

I guess it all started with The Walking Dead. Connie and Kelly, and the actresses who play them have become my favorite characters in the show. They're so strong and inspiring. One line that really stuck to me was when Connie signed that being deaf is their superpower. This inspired me to learn ASL . Why not make the effert to communicate with someone who's different than you. I think it's important.

I even got a notification from Square Enix about their mission of making games accessible for all players. I will leave a link to their accessibility website along with other helpful resources I've found at the end of this blog.

I didn't know how to make Jagger communicate  because I wanted to be respectful. So, I allowed him to express himself through music.

Sean is obviously showing off for June. Or pretending to take a selfie while checking her out in the camera. It's not weird. It's cute.

I love Jagger and June's bedrooms so much. They are available on the gallery if you want to play around in them. Here Jagger is taking a nap, shoes and all, after a long day of hard school works...

....while June stares out the window, stoic as her puffy unicorn. What do you see June? Could it be? It just might. But we'll get to that later. It's pretty spooky...

Let me introduce you to the School Crew: Clockwise we have Sean of course, then there's Jagger. (He was sitting at the table but then he got up and left. But there is a side story that happened off camera that I'll get into in a sec.) Then...wait for it...It's Cesar Diaz from On My Block! I got him from off the gallery and made a few changes (I'm also doing an On My Block challenge you can look out for if you wanna) and when he and Sean met each other I fangirled so hard. This is a dream come true. Only in the Sims can Sean Diaz and Cesar Diaz become best friends and best men at each other's weddings. I'm just putting it out there. Also, I will overlook the fact that I am just now realizing they have the same last name. Destiny!

Next to cutie pie Cesar is Asher from another story I've hit pause on since this challenge called "Acing It With Asher." You can check it out on my twitter page. It's incomplete right now, but I will try to finish it sometime in the future. In the back there all alone is Cassandra Goth. Who we shall get back to in a moment.

Then there's Holly from my Disney Z-O-M-B-I-E-S CAS also on the gallery. She's telling creepy stories about zombies and werewolves probably. Next to her is Shantiya who I found on the gallery, who I also made some changes too. While I was checking out the new MAC makeup in CAS and trying it on her, I found this super cute workout attire that I fell in love with but have no idea where it came from cause I'm pretty sure it wasn't there before. It's from one of the career rewards I think, but I just don't know which one. I also played around with the helmets that were added with the Eco Lifestyle update. She looked like she was on a roller derby team and I thought it was super fun. But then I forgot to change her out of it for this story so she ended up coming to school like this, and I wrote it in because it was kind of funny.

Finally, there is June looking fresh in her bowler hat, sweater and green lipstick. I had so much fun dressing June. She's so chill and cool. Also one of my favorite sims of all the times.

Little did you know, there was a jam session happening behind the scenes. However, Sean is not a musician, therefore it made not a lick of sense so I left it out.

This cutesy pie was driving me a little crazy. I needed a sad face because he was going to video chat with Sean in the last Lot about how his foster parents wanted to adopt him and how they didn't want him to talk to Sean anymore. However, he was in an endless good mood so I just left him be. Also, when I was taking these pictures I was cracking up about how close his face was to the screen. All up in my face. Not only do babies do it. Cats do it too. Confirmed. (Shameless plug for my Teddy: https://www.instagram.com/lil_smokethecat/)

Remember that secret story playing in the background? Here we have a very uncomfortable Jagger being annoyed by a bombarding Cassandra Goth. You missed the entire exchange at school where she got up from her table to go talk to him. For a moment they just stood there in silence, Jagger's anxiety level escalating because he has the Loner trait...and then Cassandra just walks away like nothing happened. Awkward yes. But at least she had the guts to do something. Maybe next time?

Yes! She strikes again, managing to get Jagger all alone in June's bedroom while the rest of the crew remain downstairs respecting the Fontenot's privacy behind the boundary of the staircase. Cassandra invites herself in to have a chat with Jagger who was probably writing jokes on June's laptop because it's his thing. But now Cassandra has ruined it and he is no longer in a comedic mood. It's all about reading the room Cassandra. Quite frankly, Jagger would just like to be left alone.

But Cassandra was not the only uninvited guest...

Allow me to introduce Mozley Livingston. The neighborhood zombie. Just creep creeping about Willow Creek in the dark of night with his loud pink pants. The weird thing is, I only ever saw him at night.

The moon ominously hangs in the sky above him. Calling out to other creepers lurking through the streets....

This is Dakota Skye, werewolf and leader of her pack. The whole Z-O-M-B-I-E's crew is taking over Willow Creek. Why should she be left out of the party? So cool and fierce, and she knows. it.

Jagger just relaxing in the pool. He was very tired that day and this was him getting his energy back up. Sorry Jag!

Double Diaz hanging out at the beach together with their new friend Ray, also from "Acing It With Asher." Cesar didn't stay too long. I'm pretty sure he bounced after this picture was taken.

I really liked this photo. They look so royal and majestic. The princess and prince of Oasis Beach.

Look at how he's looking at her. I'm telling you. These two are destined to be together. There’s shimmering and everything.

This was supposed to be my big reveal of Sean's new look. It's like, "Oooh, who's that...?Is it Sean? No way it's Sean." Then he turns around and....

"Hey, guys!"

Sean, no...You were supposed to be all brooding and what not. We talked about this. You're mind is burning overtime as you're trying to earn enough money to get out of town and reunite with Daniel. This look? This was not in the script.

So I made him stand by the window and sip because it fit the mood better. Sipping and pondering life. So serious.

Because Jagger is so cute. That jacket looks great on him.

Again, whenever June's around, Sean likes to show off. And she's never paying him any mind. Sean, you're going to have to work harder than that. Especially since she is your future wife and all. 

Before June came around, it was all about Lyla. Jen who?  (Also, I know Jen in the game is actually spelled Jenn, but I found that out too late so...It's Jen, and not Jenn. Two completely different people.) Lyla was supposed to be the one for Sean. They're best friends and she would have stuck with him through thick and thin and all the in betweens. But Lyla...she had something else in mind.

Exhibit A:

That's right. Lyla was in town and she never even bothered to stop by. (I mean, even if she did I wouldn't have allowed her to see Sean because they're supposed to be separated for the majority of this story for the big reunion. ) She's just hanging out with some random guy...OR is it. Let's get a little closer shall we?

EXPOSED. EXPOSED. EXPOSED!

Lyla has been sneaking around Sean's back with Abraham. The guy who basically got Sean and Daniel kicked out of his house. The one place they could find shelter, beds, showers, and music videos. And she looks like she's actually enjoying his company. Come on Lyla. Really? But I'm not going to pretend as if I'm not liking this scenario because let's just think about it. Lyla is kind of sassy and witty. Abraham is filled to the brim with sarcasm. I think they're kind of perfect together. Which is why I'm not even mad. Do you Lyla. Enjoy.

Meanwhile, June and Sean jammed out at the neighborhood yard sale. I was going to have Sean sell his art at the yard sale, but it felt like the story was getting too broad, so I left it out. All buyers must go through Michele. Clients only. We are professionals here. But I did like the idea of Sean and June spending more time together.

And falling in love...

I used the picture of Jagger because it kind of looked like he was signing a D, for Daniel. I thought it was a nice touch. Again, I wanted to be respectful and only use gestures that looked like real ASL.

I'm just saying...

Conclusion:

This challenge started off a lot simpler. All you had to do was reach level 10 in painting and sell your paintings for 5 thousand simoleons to buy Korbin's car. Except, I realized that Sean was going to need to purchase the abandoned lot for the next Lot challenge. And 5 thousand turned into 18,308. Because I didn't want to use cheats to decrease the Fontenot's household funds to 0, I added up every single price of every single painting. Since I enjoy math, it was actually pretty fun for me. 

The most difficult part of this challenge was just the time it took to reach level 10. At first it took a while, but I found a work around. Every time Sean would get the Confident moodlet or any moodlet that would subdue his low energy for a few hours, I'd use that time to get a few paintings in. Which I made copies of and put in his inventory because I am a hoarder of a mother and could not let go of my baby boy's fine masterpieces. I'm thinking about putting some of them on display in a very special place that I am excited to start working on... God Bless! Love, Charly

LINKS

Square Enix Accessibility Website: https://square-enix-games.com/en_US/news/square-enix-accessibility

AbleGamers Website: https://ablegamers.org/

Ubisoft's Mission: https://www.dualshockers.com/ubisoft-accessibility-features-games-exclusive/

Free ASL Lessons: https://www.startasl.com/learn-sign-language-asl

https://www.lifeprint.com/

INSPIRATIONAL STORIES:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/banjo/i-was-a-deaf-musician https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwqSuvFzDdI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_7RrfYtNa4