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lloydskywalkers · 6 years ago

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terrorize y’all’s neighborhood

I can’t write short fics, you guys. I tried.

Anyways, I know DOTD is the canon Ninjago-Halloween-equivalent thing, but I wanted to write about the ninja having a normal holiday, because in what world would Lloyd not love an opportunity to dress up and eat all the candy he wants?

(And the title is completely stolen from Thriller. Completely.)

Hope you guys are having a great holiday!

"Kai."

"Kai, look."

Kai rolls his eyes, glancing skyward briefly before turning.

Sure enough, Lloyd is holding a bloodied, rubber eyeball up to his own tightly closed one, his face screwed up in a grotesque expression. "Agh, my eye fell out!"

Kai leans one arm against the shopping cart, the other on his hip. "What did I tell you about picking stuff up we aren't gonna buy?" he says, even as he suppresses a snort.

Lloyd's expression falls, and he sticks his tongue out at him. "You're not fun," he grouses.

"I'm lots of fun," Kai says. "I'm just trying not to raise the Green Ninja to be a corrupt child criminal who steals bloody eyeballs from Walmart."

"I'm not stealing," Lloyd protests. "Look, I got it from the Halloween section, it's right there!"

Kai looks up and realizes that he has, indeed, made the crucial error of wandering into the Halloween section with Lloyd in tow, when they're only supposed to be getting a few groceries.

"Oops," he mutters.

"Oooh, look at all the fake blood they have…"

Kai quickly makes to drag Lloyd away before he's forever swallowed by aisles of plastic skeletons and cheap ghoul masks. "C'mon, bud, we've still gotta get stuff for meals," he says, as he tugs a reluctant Lloyd toward the food aisles. "We can't all eat rubber eyeballs for dinner."

"Aw, but they have so much cool stuff," Lloyd pouts, watching the Halloween aisle disappear forlornly. "What's the point of Halloween if you guys aren't even gonna let me celebrate it?"

Kai is only half-listening what Lloyd is saying, too intent on the scrawled shopping list he's got in his hand. He brings it closer to his face, squinting. Why do they keep letting Nya write the shopping lists? Her hand-writing is terrible, they should just appoint Zane as secretary from now on.

"-and that's why Halloween is clearly the best holiday in the entire world," Lloyd is still rattling on. "It's way better than those other dumb holidays, kris-ness, or whatever-"

"You mean Christmas?" Kai gapes at him. He shakes his head. "Boy, we're gonna have to change your mind on that one…"

Lloyd shakes his head. "Halloween is definitely the best, because you get to dress up and scare people, but most importantly you get-" He stops abruptly, eyes going wide as Kai desperately tries to drag them to the next aisle.

"Candy, Kai, can we stop, please, please please-"

"Lloyd, I told you, we're only here for groceries."

Lloyd groans, hanging off the shopping cart as Kai struggles to push it forward, kicking at Lloyd with his leg. "Just some of the mini snickers bars? The ones with little ghosts on them?"

"Lloyd-"

"I'll die without them."

"You've been hanging out with Jay too much," Kai huffs, dragging Lloyd up by his arm. "Look, if you're good, maybe I'll buy you a candy bar at the check-out."

Lloyd brightens immediately at that. "Okay!" He says. "What's next? Do we need cereal? 'Cause the cereal's right here. Can we get Froot Loops?"

Kai rolls his eyes, but he can't help but grin at Lloyd's enthusiasm as he practically tears down the aisle, the sleeves of Jay's old hoodie (that's still way too large for him) flopping over his hands again as he does.

The grin slides off his face as Kai glances back down at the shopping list, highly conscious of the tiny numbers Nya's scrawled at the bottom of the page. Those are painfully legible. He drags a hand over his face. They're not scrapped for money, per say, but after everything - the loss of basically all their belongings on the Bounty to the Devourer, the cost of keeping up with rent - they really do need to be keeping an eye on things, financially. They aren't terrible, but it reminds Kai uncannily of the days he spent struggling to support himself and Nya on the blacksmith shop.

It also means he can't buy Lloyd anything he wants - not even cheap little bloody eyeballs.

Kai glances over the list again, chewing on the inside of his cheek. They can't not get ibuprofen, that's a big no-go. Basic medical supplies are a must, obviously, and he can't skimp on the milk or Zane'll kill him. They could maybe skip the anxiety meds this time, but then Kai would feel awful if anyone had trouble-

"What's wrong?" Lloyd says, craning his head over Kai's arm. "Do we not have enough money? Do you owe some to somebody? Are we in trouble with the mob?"

"Are we - what?" Kai blinks. "The mob - no, Lloyd, geez. How do you even know about that?"

"Gene had an uncle in it! He said they would go yank people off the street, then they would like, steal their kidneys an' stuff if they couldn't pay you back," Lloyd says, gleefully.

Kai stares at him, mentally despairing. He finally decides to let this particular one go. "No, Lloyd," he sighs, wearily. "We're not in trouble with the mob. We're just…a little tight on stuff, right now."

Kai winces. How is he supposed to explain their financial woes to a kid? "Sorry kiddo, we probably won't be able to get those snickers today."

"It's okay," Lloyd says, with surprising nonchalance. "I know we're not super rich or anything. Stuff cost a lot. Before I was with you guys, back when I was on my own, I would try to buy food and stuff, sometimes? But it cost so much. Who even has that much money, anyways?"

Kai winces even harder, feeling the same frustrating mix of pained anger he does whenever Lloyd brings up his childhood thus far.

"-anyways, the point is, I totally get why people become bank robbers, because imagine if you had that much money, you could buy, like, so much candy-!"

"And that's our cue to check out," Kai says, a hand on Lloyd's back as he ushers him past the employee eyeing them suspiciously. "Didn't I say we were trying not to turn you into a corrupt child criminal?" he hisses.

"It was just a joke! You're never fun, geez-"

They get through the check-out line mercifully quick, and Kai's total ends up being slightly under budget, so he caves and buys them a snickers bar to split. Lloyd is seemingly pacified, so Kai decides it's a good time to bring something back up.

"Anyways, back to the whole 'we're tyrants who won't let you celebrate Halloween' thing," Kai says, as they pile the now-bagged groceries back into the shopping cart. "Where'd you get that idea? We're obviously going to celebrate. You can even go trick-or-treating with the other kids in Ninjago City, if you want. Or we can hit up Jamanaki, or Cole's hometown, I guess."

Whatever place is safest at the moment, Kai decides, as they head out of the store.

Lloyd, to his surprise, doesn't exactly look thrilled with that idea. "I dunno," he says, dully. "I don't really wanna hang out with the other kids. Can we just watch scary movies at the apartment?"

"What's wrong with the other kids?" Kai says, frowning. Lloyd isn't usually shy - maybe a little quiet around new people, but he's definitely not one to shy away from any opportunity to get candy, regardless of who's around.

Lloyd shrugs, looking down as he toes a scuff on the linoleum floor. "There's nothing wrong with them," he mutters. "It's more kinda...me."

Kai blinks, coming to a halt. "What?"

Lloyd gives a jerky little shrug. He grins up at him, a toothy one that shows his slightly too-sharp teeth, his red eyes flashing. "'Cause I'm the spawn of evil, duh, they all fear me!"

He says it brightly, still grinning fiercely, but Kai catches the slight waver in his voice, the fake edge in his smile.

Oh. Kai's heart twists.

He opens his mouth to give a rebuttal, fully prepared to insist to Lloyd that nobody even notices those things - and stops. Kai hesitates, thinking back to their trip in the store so far. You'd think, living in a place where literal snake people ran around constantly, red eyes wouldn't draw much attention. But living in a place where Garmadon is relatively well-known…

There'd been that shopper passing by who had done a double-take at Lloyd, her eyes quickly skirting away from his. Kai had shot her a death glare, and Lloyd thankfully hadn't noticed, but…still.

Kai's jaw tightens, and he feels about ready to bare his own teeth.

"You just…you just gotta show 'em it's nothing," he opts instead, trying to sound encouraging. Cole is usually much better at this positivity stuff. Or Zane. Or Jay, really, just anyone other than Kai. "Just be yourself," he finally says. "Once they actually meet you, they'll like you, no sweat."

"Just be yourself? What kind of stupid advice is that?" Lloyd glares. "You didn't even like me when you met me."

"Wha- that's not true," Kai says, frowning. "I-"

"You guys hung me from a roof!"

Kai cringes. "Ah, yeah…um….look, in hindsight, that was super uncool-"

"And then you all hated me for like, a month, until you found out I was the Green Ninja-"

"Hey, woah, now that's not true," Kai says, grabbing Lloyd's shoulders firmly, forcing him to look at him. "We definitely liked you before then, and you know it. But c'mon, Lloyd - you acted like a total brat, you know that, right?"

Lloyd huffs, but he nods, looking sour. "Yeah, yeah," he mutters. His expression falls a bit. "But…you guys are different. No one else has ever liked me. All the kids at Darkley's hated my guts."

Kai is dying, just a bit, on the inside. Like the I-Need-To-Light-Someone-On-Fire-For-This kind of dying, the kind where he goes out and does something stupid-

"Except for maybe Brad," Lloyd mutters, hand on his chin. "I think he sorta liked me, a little bit…"

Kai finally cuts in, his voice only mildly venomous. "Well, the kids at Darkley's were all little assholes-"

"Nya says you're not supposed to use that word," Lloyd says, suddenly very serious. He'd taken his "language learned at Darkley's is not acceptable language if you want dessert tonight" lecture very seriously, it appears.

Kai huffs. "Okay, those little jerks - they don't know what they're talking about. They're a bunch of brainless rock heads."

Lloyd gives a slightly happier giggle at that. "Like Cole?"

Kai gives him a side eye. "Be nice."

"Cole is way cooler than anyone at Darkley's, anyways," Lloyd amends.

"How about this," Kai says. "We all go trick-or-treating together, so if anyone decides to mess with you, I light them on fire."

Lloyd lights up brighter than the flashing electronic pumpkins next to them, and Kai mentally congratulates himself.

"For real?" Lloyd says. "You'll dress up and everything?"

"Cross my heart," Kai draws an x across his chest. "Now hop on," he says, patting the shopping cart handle. "I'll run and push us across the parking lot."

Lloyd whoops, hopping up on the cart.

"Okay," he says, as Kai puts one foot up. "I lied. You're sometimes fun."

"Oh, just sometimes, huh," Kai grins.

"On weekends, and holidays, and-"

Kai never does learn when else he's fun, because Lloyd is too busy laughing as they careen down the parking lot, shopping cart rattling loudly in their wake.

******

Nya thinks them all trick-or-treating a great idea, and she claims that she can make fake blood all on her own - so by the time Zane agrees with her, nobody stands a snowball's chance in hell of saying no to that particular team-up of puppy eyes.

Cole tries arguing that they don't have costumes, until Jay wickedly reminds him that they've still got the pirate outfits from the whole thing with Captain Soto and his men - but by that point, Cole isn't resisting much anyways. Lloyd's excitement is infectious, and it's fun to celebrate holidays with a family this big.

It's something none of them are quite used to, but it's welcome nonetheless.

"We're only sticking to this neighborhood, okay?" Cole tells them, for the hundredth time. "It'll gonna be crowded enough that I doubt anyone will notice it's us, and they're running a haunted house in the middle, so-"

"A haunted house?" Lloyd says, looking up from where he's finishing off the blood splatters on his own costume. "Can I take back what I said about Ninjago City being lame? This is awesome."

Lloyd, economically, has decided to as a ghost, which only requires Nya's old bedsheet, eyeholes, and a good deal of homemade fake blood splattered over it.

"I've gotta be a scary ghost," Lloyd tells Jay, seriously. "The more blood, the better."

"You got it, kid," Jay says, who's getting pretty liberal with the blood himself.

"You're a pirate, Jay, not a zombie," Zane says, ducking the drops of red paint that go flying.

"A zombie pirate," Kai offers.

"A zirate," Jay grins. Cole groans.

Nya's the last to dress up, and she's ended up going as a vampire, to Lloyd's eternal delight.

"You look like me!" he says excitedly, as Nya gives him a sharp-toothed grin.

"Yup," she says, running her tongue over the plastic fangs and making a face. "They feel kinda weird, because they're just lame fakes, but they look super cool, right?"

Lloyd's own fangs (which is a generous term) are tiny in comparison, of course, so they really look absolutely nothing like each other, but the megawatt grin he's got on - Nya's playing the long game here, and Kai has to respect her for that.

This means he's gotta get those snickers bars with the little ghosts on them later, though.

******

Trick-or-treating ends up being a lot more fun than Kai had been expecting - then again, he's never really been himself that he can remember, so maybe it's a new experience for all of them.

Well, except Jay and Cole. They're both far too invested in making sure they hit every single house possible.

Kai grins as he watches them head back from their latest house - Lloyd makes the cutest little terror of a ghost he's ever seen, swamped in the sheet as he is. Albeit a very bloody ghost, fake blood dripped gruesomely all over him. But he seems happy enough, flapping his sheet-covered arms around at anyone who dares get near them.

Well, he had been. Lloyd had discovered, much to his dismay, that it's almost impossible to eat candy with a sheet draped over his face - though there were an amusing few minutes where he had tried vainly to shove several Starbursts through the eyeholes at once. He's finally given up and shoved the sheet back over his head, where it drapes over him like a very bloody cape as he surveys his bag of candy. He's beaten them all by a ridiculously large margin, but that's just because they're all suckers who are slipping half their own candy into his bag the entire night.

"Hey, you got any chocolate you wanna share?" Cole says, reaching his hand toward Lloyd's bag.

Lloyd opens his mouth and snaps his teeth together. "I'll bite you," he threatens. "Like a shark."

"Ooh, Lloyd the Fangfish," Cole pretends to shudder. "Watch out, he's got rabies."

"I do not," Lloyd huffs, but he grudgingly hands Cole one of his Kit-Kats.

"Don't eat too much in one go," Zane reminds him. "You don't want to make yourself sick."

"Aw, c'mon Zane, it's Halloween," Jay says, through a mouthful of his own candy. "Lighten up."

"Hey, Zane can't help being such a mom," Kai says, slinging his arm around him. Zane shrugs at him good-naturedly, not hard enough to actually shake him off. "One of us has to be."

Zane rolls his eyes long-sufferingly. The moon dips behind a cluster of clouds, darkening the streets a bit, and Kai's about to suggest they head home - when a voice echoes across the street.

"Lloyd - hey, Lloyd!"

Lloyd's head snaps up. "Brad?" he says, almost incredulously, as the boy runs up to them, tugging on the hood of his own costume.

Kai stiffens, and he's distinctly aware of Nya giving the kid the stink-eye where she stands off to the side. Sure, Lloyd kind-of made-up with his friends after they lured them all to Darkley's and tried to re-evil-brainwash him, but years of being demon brats don't just go away (look at Lloyd). That, and Lloyd's words from earlier are still pretty fresh in his mind.

Kai narrows his own eyes. Lloyd can handle himself against one little tyke, but just in case…Kai isn't too opposed to shoving some kids in a trash can tonight.

Lloyd and Brad have gone quiet, carefully eyeing each other. Kai holds his breath as they size each other up. Brad was the one Lloyd said might have liked him, right? Maybe this can work in his favor, then. If Lloyd can just be chill for five seconds, then maybe-

"Your fake blood is lame," Lloyd finally says. Nya smacks a hand against her head.

Apparently, it's the right thing to say when you're an ex-evil hellion of a kid, though, because Brad immediately relaxes, jutting his lip out in a half-pouting scowl.

"Is not. Where'd you get yours, anyways?" He gives the ninja a wide-eyed glance. "Did you get it from somebody they killed?" he whispers.

Zane sputters as Cole claps a hand over his mouth, holding back snickers. Lloyd rolls his eyes.

"Nah, they'd never actually kill somebody. They're good guys, remember? Nya - that's Nya, by the way! - she made it."

"Cool," Brad says, looking a little less nervous. "Hey, Gene's over at the playground - wanna help scare him? We still owe him for the fake spider thing, right?"

"Oh - uh, yeah, obviously," Lloyd says, and Kai almost snorts at the gleam in his eye. Gee, you spend all this time trying to reform a kid.

The two fall into easy conversation - mostly plotting an unfortunate Gene's demise - as if they'd never been strained at all, and Kai watches as Lloyd runs off with him to the other kids, feeling a little abandoned and a lot protective.

"Just one little hair," he says to Nya. "I'll just singe one off."

"Kai, he's his friend, look," Nya sighs, gesturing at Lloyd and Brad where they're now tearing around the playground with several other kids (who are, no doubt, equal hellions). "They're just having fun."

"Yeah, well, I don't trust 'em."

"Well, Lloyd can always blast them across town with an energy burst, if they give him any trouble," Jay says, tossing a chocolate bar at Cole.

Zane frowns at him. "That's…not exactly the use of power we should be teaching him."

"What, you don't want Lloyd to protect himself from bullies?"

Zane considers the point. "Perhaps, if the situation called for it…"

"Great!" Jay stands up, linking his arm with Zane. "Then who's up for the haunted house with me?"

Cole takes a step back. "Nuh-uh, you know how I am with creepy houses. I don't do that kind of stuff-"

"You do with us!" Nya says cheerfully, grabbing one arm while Kai wrestles the other. Cole sputters indignantly as they drag him along. "Come on, let's see if Lloyd and his little demon gang wanna join."

******

"Welp!" Jay throws the door open with unnecessary dramatics as they pile back into the apartment. "We're banned for life. I hope you guys are happy."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who drop-kicked the chainsaw actor," Kai mutters.

Cole flushes. "I'm a ninja, I can't help it - it was reflex!""

"Was the high-pitched screaming reflex?" Jay says. Cole elbows him in the gut, and Jay snatches the candy bar from his hand in retaliation. Cole gives an indignant yelp.

"Hey! That was my last chocolate bar!"

Nya roll her eyes as she squeezes past Jay, who's loudly chewing Cole's candy bar in his face. Lloyd totters in behind her, half-buried in the pile of candy he's amassed in his bag. He's giggling manically, and the look in his eyes is genuinely more terrifying than anything Kai's ever seen.

"Pace yourself on that candy, alright?" Kai says, eyeing him. "I don't wanna wake up to you puking your guts out tonight."

"Nuh-uh," Lloyd says, through a mouthful of taffy. "I don' ge' sick from candy. S'impossible."

"That's what you said the last time," Cole says, snatching the bag from Lloyd's hand and ignoring his cry of displeasure. "That's enough for tonight. You can eat yourself sick again in the morning."

Nya strides by them, falling onto the couch next to Kai with a a thwump. Kai watches in amusement as she rubs a hand across her eye, smearing mascara and eyeliner across her cheek in a raccoon-like smudge. Nya notices his stare, glancing at her hand and huffing.

"Remind me not to wear costume makeup again," she mutters, as Kai snorts. "At least I didn't ruin it for the picture."

She digs into her bag, pulling out a slightly-rumpled but still glossy photograph.

"Not that it matters," Nya continues. "This is the worst picture of us I've ever seen." She makes a face, staring at the picture the workers at the haunted house had snapped of them before they went in.

Kai shifts on the couch so he's looking over Nya's shoulder, squinting at the photo. "Is that supposed to be Zane?" he says, pointing at the blurry figure on the right.

"May…be?" Nya says. "At least you turned out alright."

Kai grins at where he's taking up half the picture, Lloyd wrapped in a chokehold around his neck that could be considered a hug if generous, both of them grinning wildly.

"Someone's gotta bring the beautiful," Kai says. He looks up to where Lloyd is being accosted by Cole, having somehow gotten his hands on yet another chocolate bar.

"Lloyd, I said that's enough. Lloyd, don't - no! Stop!"

Lloyd's hand stills, the chocolate bar hovering inches from his mouth.

"Put it down," Cole hisses. The chocolate bar moves half an inch closer. "Lloyd! No!"

Lloyd shoves the chocolate in his mouth before Cole can blink. "Lloyd!"

Lloyd springs from the chair, cackling wildly as he runs. Cole tears after him, seething. "I'll use you as a toothbrush for the Ultradragon, you pint-sized punk-"

"I'm surprised Sensei Wu hasn't come in and killed us yet," Jay says, flopping down on the rug below Kai and Nya, fumbling with the remote.

"He went out for the evening," Zane says. "Which means you can scream as loudly as you want over the movie."

Jay chucks a wrapper at Zane's head. He snatches it easily, tossing it back at Jay. Their worn TV finally flickers to life just as Cole and Lloyd finally wind down, Lloyd looking a lot less gleeful with his decision.

"O-oh, too much candy," Lloyd moans, clambering onto the couch next to Kai.

"You puke on me, I'm tossing you off the roof," Kai says, but he wraps an arm around him nonetheless, pulling Lloyd against his side.

"No you won't," Lloyd yawns, eyelids already fluttering as the movie starts. "You'd miss me too much. Wouldn't ever have any fun without me."

"Oh, I wouldn't?"

"Nope. I gotta…keep you from getting boring."

"No worries on that one," Kai says, grinning. He bites back his own yawn, settling further into the couch as Lloyd nods off, curling up against his side. "No worries at all."

Lloyd is soundly asleep against his side in seconds, snoring softly. Kai's getting all sorts of looks from Jay and Cole, but he masterfully ignores them - for now. Nya's taken to nodding off on his other side, so he's kinda sibling-sandwiched at the moment. Upsetting them isn't worth putting Jay in a headlock tonight.

"Here," Nya suddenly whispers over the movie, waving the picture up at him from where she's using his shoulder as a pillow. "Wanna put it in your modeling portfolio?"

Kai maturely sticks his tongue out at her, but he still snatches the picture. "Nah, but I'll keep it as a reminder of what massive dorks you all are."

They settle back to watching the movie, and he glances at the picture again. It's a pretty cute one - not that he's gonna admit that. It's a keeper, at least. They really don't have a lot of pictures of their team, and hardly any at all with Lloyd and his disaster-haired self.

Ah well. He can take more later. They've got plenty of time.

#my fic #ninjago #taking a break from your regularly scheduled angst to bring you gross fluff #casually hops on the lloyd-with-fangs train

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simmancy · 7 years ago

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Relationships Ask Game

@volcanopasta is sad that tumblr rudely ate her ask, and so am I, SO

EVERYTHING FOR SADDY ✩

Previously Done Questions: sex, family, affection

Disagreements:

Who is more likely to raise their voice?

Maddy’s most likely to start a disagreement off, and Maddy’s most likely the one to raise her voice first.

Who threatens to leave but never actually does?

I could see Tabasco threatening and not being strong enough to.

Who actually keeps their word and leaves?

In this case, it would be Maddy. If he breaks her heart, she goes.

Who trashes the house?

Maddy–actually, both of them might do this. I can see Tabasco punching the wall.

Do either of them get physical?

not with each other–no, no I don’t think Maddy would ever let anyone touch her that way. If they did, she would leave immediately. But like I said, I could see Tabasco punching a hole in the wall; I could see Maddy throwing something in anger.

How often do they argue/disagree?

real arguments? Not too often (Tabasco would be… whipped), but playful ones…. The banter is real, and Maddy’s feisty (which is part of the appeal).

Who is the first to apologise?

you know, I’m not sure. I think Maddy, though.

Sleeping

Who snores? If both do, who snores the loudest?

Tabasco, and he’s loud.

Do they share a bed or sleep separately?

I can’t imagine someone looking at Maddy and not wanting to share her bed, so. You know.

If they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart?

cozy up. I think Tabasco’s probably one of those people who constantly run warm, and Maddy would seek that out. She likes to be cozy haha

Who talks in their sleep?

Maddy Moon, a Pastille through and through. I could see Tabasco attempting to hold conversations with sleeptalking Maddy, too.

What do they wear to bed?

nothing~. jk, Maddy wears nothing as an adult; Tabasco wears a t shirt and boxers, usually.

Are either of your muses insomniacs?

Tabasco sleeps poorly.

Can sleeping pills be found by the bedside?

maybe as adults, Tabasco. Maddy still tries more natural methods to sleep.

Do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side?

I think it’s more that Tabasco wraps his arms around Maddy, tbh.

Who wakes up with bed hair?

Maddy has more hair, so….

Who wakes up first?

mm… Tabasco, I think. Probably might watch her sleep a little too, the creep |D (and by creep I mean, he has a moment to himself where he can go, “wow, look at this girl, this is my girl. I am lucky. she’s mumbling about weird things. still love her.”)

Who prepares breakfast in bed for the other?

Maddy might on occasion.

What is their favourite sleeping position?

“My favorite position–uh, probably–” “Not that kind of position, this isn’t that category.” “Oh. I don’t know, then.”

Who hogs the sheets?

the perpetually cold Maddy Moon

Do they set an alarm each night?

Maddy does. Tabasco is prone to oversleeping as a teen, sets an alarm as an adult.

Can a television be found in their bedroom?

definitely. How else are they gonna watch their shows?

Who has nightmares?

Maddy is more prone to nightmares than she wants him to believe. Unfortunately, the sleep talking tends to like… reveal that. No secrets this year, Maddy Moon.

Who has ridiculous dreams?

also Maddy Moon. She’s a mess. Don’t tell anybody.

Who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed?

TABASCO. Like, Maddy also does this, but he’s bigger and stronger and she struggles to fight for bed space, unless she just curls up right next to him like a cat. Then he’s defenseless

Who makes the bed?

Maddy. She’ll make the bed over his lifeless body, she don’t give a fuck.

What time is bed time?

Maddy tries to sleep at a regular time, 10 PM as an adult, before midnight as a teen (sneaking out nonwithstanding). Tabasco sleeps…. whenever.

Any routines/rituals before bed?

I’ve pretty much detailed Maddy’s routine, so let’s try Tabasco.

…NSFW, he’s a dude, he probably takes care of Business to help get him sleepy. Other than that, looking at stuff on his phone, watching TV, trying to find ways to go to sleep and not working. Laying awake staring at the ceiling totally not thinking of pretty Maddy girls or boys or whatever.

Who’s the grumpiest when they wake up?

Tabasco, probably. Poor sleeper to begin with, so.

Work:

Who is the busiest?

guess that depends!

Who rakes in the highest income?

Tabasco, as adults.

Are any of your muses unemployed?

mmm. no. if kids are involved, Maddy takes time off while they’re young, but she’s never fully unemployed.

Who takes the most sick days?

Maddy’s known to take mental health days, on occasion. Tabasco…. doesn’t.

Who is more likely to turn up late to work?

You know what, I’ll say this about both of them–they’re not the show up late type, not where money is involved.

Who sucks up to their boss?

Tabasco, definitely. Gotta keep his job to provide~

What are their jobs?

mmm. spoilers for the future.

Who stresses the most?

Maddy just pretends to be zen. She’s actually an anxious mess about like, everything.

Do your muses enjoy or despise their careers/occupations?

overall… yes. the enjoy their careers. I think Tabasco might want more, but.

Are your muses financially stable?

for the most part. I think money for the Pastille-Sauces would be tighter, over all, than any of the other eventual ends for Maddy… because both of them are prone to spending.

Home:

Who does the washing?

Maddy~ domestic princess (best princess), who finds it relaxing. Tabasco actually does help with this chore, though. Mostly because if any money is left in his pockets it becomes Maddy’s and like, no.

Who takes out the trash?

"the kid, I guess” “we don’t have a kid, Tabasco.” “then it must be you, Princess.”

Who does the ironing?

Maddy refuses to buy an ironing board, so. No one.

Who does the cooking?

the daughter of the pancake-loving, classically trained chef.

Who is more likely to burn the house down just trying?

Tabasco could burn water.

Who is messier?

Tabasco literally hangs out in a murder barn.

Who leaves the toilet roll empty?

Tabasco’s such a dude, he completely forget every time. If there wasn’t a Maddy to remind him, it’d stay empty until the next time he #2s.

Who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor?

"I’m not leaving them there, they’re just being stored” - Tabasco.

Who forgets to flush the toilet?

Maddy, sometimes. She somehow never fails to remind Tabasco, though.

Who is the prankster around the house?

def Maddy–she’s definitely Ries’ daughter.

Who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere?

ooooooh. Maddy probably does more often–I imagine Tabasco would keep his on him most of the time, and then be smart and immediately hang them up when he gets home. He cares about his car. Maddy believes the car is just a tool, basically.

Who mows the lawn?

no lawn to mow~

Who answers the telephone?

Maddy, usually. I can imagine Tabasco picking the phone and just… hanging it up immediately.

Who does the vacuuming?

the roomba!

Who does the groceries?

Maddy drags Tabasco out with her after he complained she didn’t get such-and-such one time. That way, if he’s gonna complain he only has himself to blame.

Who takes the longest to shower?

Maddy, for cleaning herself - Tabasco just hangs out using up the hot water, though.

Who spends the most time in the bathroom?

Overall–Maddy, at least managing her hair. She starts wearing her hair naturally as an adult, but it still takes time.

Miscellaneous:

Is money a problem?

As teens - somewhat. Because they’re children hahaha. Maddy doesn’t have a real job, and Tabasco only works in the summer.

As adults - it’s better; Tabasco works for his money and is proud of that. Maddy is as well. I was about to give an answer as if it was like… Teenage Runaway AU. Even if they did run away together (and I imagine it comes up in Tabasco’s mind often), they’d return home to PB Bay in the end.

How many cars do they own?

Just the one! But it’s a car Tabasco’s proud of.

Do they own their home or do they rent?

Own, and proud of it.

Do they live near the coast or deep in the countryside?

PB Bay, so coast.

Do they live in the city or in the country?

PB Bay, so like…. in between?

Do they enjoy their surroundings?

Mmm…. For the most part. I think Maddy yearns for more, in this scenario.

What’s their song?

Maddy’s song for Tabasco: one (you know which song this is)

Tabasco’s song for Maddy: one (and two, though in some ways it fits them both)

here’s one that makes me laugh, for reasons. anything else is pretty spoilery.

What do they do when they’re away from each other?

cry Maddy’s pretty self-sufficient, to be honest, she doesn’t need to be attached at the hip to anybody.

Where did they first meet? How did they first meet?

As children–in school, on the playground? Everyone in PB Bay kind of just knows each other.

When did they first actually meet each other and start talking like human beings? Camp Gnomewhere.

Who spends the most money when out shopping?

Maddy…. Definitely Maddy. Usually on useless crap. But Tabasco’s not much better (he just likes Quality ™ items).

Who’s more likely to flash their assets?

their “assets”? Maddy haha

Who finds it amusing when the other trips over?

Tabasco, and then he feels terrible, but then he doesn’t.

Any mental issues?

Madeleine Moon “I’m only a hop, skip, and a jump away from falling apart” Pastille? Issues? Noooo…….

Who’s terrified of bugs?

MADDY! Squeamish bb. Not that Tabasco is a fan of creepy-crawlies either, but….

Who kills the spiders around the house?

Tabasco! Maddy…. is Maddy, and someone’s gotta be strong for her.

Their favourite place?

Murder Barn I guess

Who pays the bills?

Maddy’s the one who remembers to pay things on time.

Do they have any fears for their future?

definitely, can answer this for the teen years especially.

Tabasco’s afraid that Maddy’ll realize he’s the worst. He thinks he’s the worst too, surprise surprise (and in some ways, he is; but he does care about her, and he does try his best).

Maddy’s afraid that he genuinely is the worst–that it’s all a ploy to get her to put out or something.

In the adult version of this–Tabasco’s afraid that they’ll become his parents specifically (so, a different version of the worst).

Who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner?

mmm… if they’re going out, I’d say Tabasco–he’s really not much of a cook, after all. But if it’s a fancy, homemade dinner, that’s all on Maddy.

Who uses up all of the hot water?

Tabasco. Maddy appreciates a warm shower, but he likes it hot.

Who’s the tallest?

Tabasco–I have to grab my height note sometime, but I listed Maddy as being about 5′5″, and Tabasco as 6′1″.

Who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other?

Maddy’s much more likely to stick her head over the top and try to scare him before hopping in, tbh.

Who wanders around in their underwear?

both of them, one of them on purpose when its just them. what are clothes anyway???

Who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio?

Maddy sings along with the radio even when she doesn’t realize.

What do they tease each other about?

”Princess”

Who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times?

To be honest, they’re both pretty… trendy? Tabasco secretly enjoys dressing well, and Maddy enjoys dressing him up too so.

Do they have mutual friends?

I would say…. Before dating, Tabasco didn’t necessarily have real, close friends. He had teammates (dude bros), and there were the Heathers, but within PB Bay? Not too many friends. Maddy came with a built-in support system, which he co-opted. (minus OJ–maybe in the future?)

Who crushed first?

Tabasco–after all, have you seen Maddy? She’s pretty, and she was out of reach…… until she wasn’t (Camp Gnomewhere). And of course–feisty. Maddy doesn’t back down from a fight. A lot to admire there. “Princess” is just his type. (additionally–he too went to the Snow Ball, I’m sure he saw The Dress, that’s just…. I think everyone had a crush on her after that).

…Maddy didn’t consider him as anything til Camp, and not even until they had been talking privately. Like, literally that scene from Beauty and the Beast. There was something there that wasn’t there before.

Any alcohol or substance related problems?

as of right now, in the timeline, no–future, maybe? Who knows?

Who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am?

Tabasco, definitely. He’s bad about… self-medicating, let’s say. And he does like to drink.

Maddy might do the same once or twice. Especially with him.

Who swears the most?

MADELEINE MOON. You’d THINK it’d be Tabasco, right? But no. Definitely Maddy…. especially around him. He likes it, though–seeing her be rough around the edges haha.

And of course, here is the picture spam you really want

though of course…. no details. just adult versions of them. and no full-on baby picture, sorry!

having played in this save the tiniest bit - Baby Girl Pastille-Sauce is spoiled by her father…. she is a daddy’s girl. They got stuck in a hug loop, and she autonomously kept asking him to play. It was pretty cute. They’re…. really cute. I took way more pictures than I should have.

Also:

someone has his priorities right in this save smdh.

#ask game #ask #pp extra

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janzz · 6 years ago

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day 3: its 3:47am on day 4 and i forgot to write my daily post

really really really trying hard to make this a habit (just for april)

so fail but lol

here’s my post for today

i went to a yoga class tonight in santa clara and it was the yogi’s first time and she was so good omg!

not quite as good as my fave instructor of all time (the bae lauren at moxie yoga in sf)

but yeah kimberly at corepower santa clara square might make me a regular!

(which honestly is super great because i went to class with norma and it was awful LOL) (she played like hardcore edm at a chill class??) (to be fair it was also a level 2 class and i was struggling a little and kimberly’s class was a level 1....)

(oh i went to whole foods in the same plaza right after and ngl im starting to really enjoy just physically being in those fancy ass supermarkets. i went to a new to me nob hill after orangetheory surprisingly also in santa clara ----theyre just nice and clean and beautiful. however spending $45 to get way less stuff than a 99 ranch or something still feels way wrong. i got bananas cashew milk chia seed refill 18 brown eggs (anthony likes the brown ones idk) natural deodorant (cause native has been sucking hard) ginger tofu mushrooms orange juice fancy sprouted bread shredded cheese actually ok when i list that all out its a decent amount for whole foods. the stuff is just smaller yknow like the presliced white mushrooms were $1 for easily like 3 or so oz less)

anyway i find this funny because when i started dating anthony in 2015 he would go to nob hill markets and always claim it was his favorite market (because the chicken he would buy from there would never go bad etc). i thought he was like idk rich af -- to be fair he went to stanford 2x and has his masters and is 2 years older so yeah he is definitely more privileged than me. like i didnt have a preference for cage free brown eggs like i never had the money to spend the extra $1 or 2 on that shit when i was slaving at starbucks AND a second office job.

its really weird how money changes your life. its 2019 and i finally hit the 100k 6 figure mark. it’s honestly been a STRUGGLE to get here, but i’ve learned a lot along the way -- primarily that you HAVE to negotiate and generally just get paid more to improve your life. anyway yeah money doesn’t solve problems but it generally reduces your mental calories and makes things way more convenient.

before when i was poorer, i would have to go out of my way to make sure i was getting the cheapest shell gasoline in the area (still gotta have standards and not give into that arco bullshit). i would never go into whole foods or places like that because my dollar had to stretch further. whenever i would go out with friends before i’d have to be SUPER mindful of what i ordered and i would be EXTRA annoyed when you go out in a group and when splitting venmo people wouldnt pay the extra gratuity and i’d factor in me covering it because as a barista and server its bs when ppl dont tip well

now -- idgaf if i go out to eat a lot or splurge when im out w friends. dropping $50-$100 randomly cause something is on clearance at lululemon is not a big deal. im not anal about my boyfriend and i splitting everything exactly 5050 down the middle cause meh whatever i dont need to be given money back for like the minimal difference. if whole foods is convenient for me to go to after a workout ill go in without batting an eyelash.

it is weird tho being poor and then having money -- like ill go to lululemon but absolutely CANNOT buy anything full price. i still like watching movies but 99% of the time go on discount days cause spending $20 when i could spend $9 feels wrong. whenever i do basic things with my boyfriend, like going to the grocery store or mall, i’m most definitely the most cost conscious -- checking against the value per oz, whereas he just picks whatever and gives no thoughts to it (i think he makes like 240k a year thereabouts, definitely more than double but i dont know the specifics). i drive a 2015 toyota corolla le he drives a nicer but still affordable more luxury sedan hyundai sonata souped up with seat warmers navigation and he’s installed a dash cam and stuff. my car is definitely a commuter car that’s just one level up from the s basic model. when i htink about buying a new car i dont know if i could buy a lexus but yet i sometimes think about getting a tesla instead of a prius

another weird one is getting mad at myself for leaving reusable grocery bags LITERALLY in the trunk and then having to pay the $0.10 per bag. I’ve easily spent at least $15 on bags prob. Before i would be kicking myself hard cause i’d need to pinch pennies. another thing that ive noticed makes me feel “rich” is i can sustain my craft coffee/boba habit just fine and not give a fuck. before i got more mindful of it i htink my my coffee boba budget was like $100 a month. ive always loved craft coffee, but it has to be RIGHT if i was gonna spend $6. when i was living w my parents in san diego going to a new coffee shop and driving up to encinitas or whatever was like THE trip. now i get philz off my mobile app whenever i head out of class or if im feeling like it and its not that special

but yeah, im not rich by any means but it was huge to go from like $16 an hour at my office job/$15.70?? w/ benefits I think that was my starbucks shift supervisor rate/annual salaries of 20k ish to $39k at a law firm in downtown sac (grossly underpaid but at least rent was only $300 at a family friends) back to the law firm job up to $70k. there i got a raise at the same job from 70 to 80k and then 80k to 86.

THEN cause i was privileged enough to have been able to save money making more when i hated my job i just up and quit (i think i had like no more than 5k in savings at the time --it wouldve been more but i spent 3k on prk/lasik). anyway yeah i was lucky af and got a new job in a month -- and the offer for this job was 100k base, 10k bonus, some amount of stock (i still suck at this stuff) and a stupid amount of perks like $1000 gym reimbursement and basically free health insurance -- if i annualize all my pay+perks, assuming i get my full bonus, its prob like 120k.

so i have like 5x ed my income in 4 years since graduating from college.

the crazy part is people that were more privileged than me STARTED at 100k as new grads, including 401ks and what not. im lucky becuase i started mine back when i was 18 at starbucks.

income inequality and access to knowledge/resources has become something ive become more aware about and passionate about over time. me and my boyfriend clashed a lot earlier i think because we literally were in different planes of our lives and income levels. we’ve been together 3 years, but have known each other for 4. we broke up for 1 year in between -- and yeah ngl had i never improved myself or actually reached my income/earning potential we likely would not have gotten back together. additionally him supporting me when we got back together raised me out of not the poverty level but yeah we met and i made 39k. i took the plunge and moved out to sf for myself and lets be real for him too and made 70k which was a huge jump. and in a short 15 months or so i jumped again to 100k base.

im never gonna make as much as he does (men/women blah we can get into that) but yeah even having access to money adjacently is so powerful. anthony never outright gave me money and im too much of a hardass independent person that ive NEVER borrowed money from him, never intend to. i really vehemently despise the idea of free loading but because of him just being around yeah my life has been improved.

when we met in 2015 in our young 20s we were in our have fun phase. i was too poor to have gone to thiings like coachella or out to a concert. he got me into music and made it easy for me to experience because he’d buy the ticket, drinks, pick me up and pay for sf parking. i would likely get dinner ahead of time or something small and generally we would switch so if he got tickets one time i’d get them next. but he ALWAYS paid for drinks and lets be real the occasional not drinks :P he had introduced me to music in such a way that i was willing to drop $800 or so on coachella + car camping + take pto days even when we were broken up 10ish months or whatever it was the first time we dated but if you think about it he likely dropped at least 1k on me during those 10 months without batting an eye lash. i made 39k at the time working in downtown sacramento and he made 90k base (maybe 115k total comp) living in SF.

despite just basic things like me being immature for 23 -- a big reason i think we broke up at the time was the income level inequality. it was both our first jobs out of school (first job out of stanford grad for him, he immediately got his masters out of undergrad). i did a round of uc davis, community, uc davis.

he told me he was breaking up with me because when we met i had originally wanted to be a lawyer and then didnt end up pursuing that path and he saw it as a lack of ambition/drive. what he didnt see was general growing up and not having access to lawyers as i grew up, just me working at this really top tier A+ law firm and feeling out of place as an asian woman working with rich WASPs. me wearing pencil skirts and having major impostor syndrome. what he did end up seeing was an insecure version of myself in our relationship with me bending over backwards to make him happy.

when i moved to sf and made 70k it definitely was a huge ego boost to make that additional 30k, but to be real, here in sf and paying more rent than i was in sac and SD/just general living being expensive 70k wasnt that much. what it did for my confidence though was priceless (i was an ea to a ceo at a tech startup). i really grew into myself and was more confident in my abilities -- and honestly a lot of that was just getting older and knowing that i was good at things, bad at certain things and i wasnt going through my quarterlife/post grad crisis anymore.

then those raises to 80k and 86k made me more ballsy. these things were obvi practiced with anthony as i had a partner to discuss and practice with/an educated thought partner. at this time anthony was making $150k base or so (after realizing he had been grossly underpaid as a PM for the 90k initial salary)

all of this set me up to basically make my position what it is now AND for it to be 100k. tbh im a glorified low level coordinator at a big company. i honest to goodness for the first three months probably worked a total of 2ish hours a day? this role should probably max out at 90k. and by max out i mean this role likely shouldve started at 75k with incremental raises to get to 90 in like 3 years. i STARTED at 100 and can likely if i play my cards right be promoted to a program manager in a year (or less). that’ll prob bump me to a base of 120 or so if i’m aggressive.

i always shitted on sf when i moved here because i hate the tech bros, the elitist ppl, the vcs who think theyre out here changing the world but seriously being surrounded by people that went to ivy leagues or the UC’s that were better than mine have honestly, like my boyfriend, just uplifted my status. something as small as casual lunch time conversation being more intellectual makes a huge difference for me re: how stimulated i feel and how much more energized ive become because of ppl around me. i def still have impostor syndrome all the time but its been so much growth from 23 to 27.

30s should be great because ill be well into my career by then and making even more and closing the gap even more w my boyfriend. its funny too cause hes 29 now AND FINALLY getting that postgrad quarter life crisis. his privilege was able to offset him to have this crisis later on in life where he made more money and could make smarter choices. privilege really is the thing that keeps on giving and im grateful to have started poor and really appreciate it. as i make more money i also care more and more to give back. if i ever do run for office in my 50s or whatever im gonna push for more access to education and arts. i had an interest in this as an undergrad but couldnt pursue it because itd be a lifetime of poverty, but yeah who knows.

dang this went long but it is really interesting when i think about money and how much its effected me. im lucky i was able to raise myself out of the level my immigrant parents brought me and my sister to. them moving out of the philippines was the best thing that ever happened to me. the second is them fronting the bill for my university education. the privilege i have is extremely special and important and i want to honor their sacrifices because im sitting on a 100k because of decades of hard work and frugality on their ends.

im fucking lucky.

we gotta pass on the resources and uplift those around us if we are fortunate.

...another rant altogether but i wish the leadership in the United States thought the same way.

(end: 4:36am, why do i do this to myself)

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