#what 224 years will do to a guy | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

liyawritesss · 1 year ago

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ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ, ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀᴇᴇᴢᴇ

Characters: MCU!Shuri Udaku x!Black!Fem!Reader

Type: Fic

Word Count: 11.8k

Synopsis: It’s your sister’s 25th birthday, and she invited you over for the extravagant birthday bash. However, there’s only one problem. Shuri has never met your family. She also isn’t aware of their past mistreatment of you. So when your parents begin to make jabs at you on what is supposed to be a joyous event, Shuri might have to apologize to your sister for what is to come next.

Warnings: cursing, mentions of verbal + physical abuse, mentions of severe anxiety, a very angry Shuri shuts shit down, shitty parents, dysfunctional family dynamics

A/N: So....this came about after watching a clip of Love & Hip Hop ATL, where in the clip one of the guys on the show was confronting his mother about the mistreatment and neglect he got as a kid and how his mother took all her frustrations out on him when he had nothing to do with what she was going through. That video touched exceptionally close to home so I wanted to writing for such an event but with Shuri, as I think for someone who is quite family oriented (or who appears to be), she would definitely have a few choice words to say to parents like that. Plus, I wanted to provide comfort to those going through similar situations as teenagers and young adults with their own parents. So I hope that this brings comfort to some of you, as it has done to me when writing it.

Song Suggestions: "Naked" & "Everything" by Ella Mai, "Let Me Down Slowly" by Alec Benjamin ft. Alessia Cara, "Let It Go" by James Bay, "Losin' Control" by Russ, "Control" by Zoe Wees, "You're Not Here" by Cynthia Erivo, "You Let Me Down" by Alessia Cara

Tags: @6-noir @playhousedistee @shuririsdefenseattorney @shuriszn @venusdraco @wrendermedone @writingintheshadowsforever @mbakuetshurisprincess @verachii @slytherin-34 @the_lesbian-fangirl @h34rtsformilli @strangefishflapturtle @cuddl3s4shur1 @shuriislut @dejaonline @babyboiboyega @badass-dora-milaje @inmyheadimobsessed @aaliyg @cafehyunji @chunkybabygorl @rosielovesfamily @lulu-network @nichole-224 @niyahwrites @lppriceisright @blacksapphhicmaddonna @pantherheart @marsfunzon22

Note: there are some of you that for some reason tumblr won't let me tag, so I apologize in advance.

The closer you were to pulling up to your sister’s home, the harder it was becoming for you to breathe.

It wasn’t like you were ignorant enough to believe you could escape this. You’d always known, deep down inside, that one day, you’d have to face them again. Yet, here you were, tucked into the smooth tan leather of Shuri’s car, hiding the fact that you were on the verge of an anxiety attack, and your girlfriend to the left of you filled with positive anticipation to meet your family.

Your sister, Alex, was turning twenty-five today. It is a big celebration for your bloodline, and though much of the original purpose of the celebration had been lost due to oral passing, the general belief was that the lucky lady who’d survive to her twenty-fifth birthday was to be guaranteed a long, fulfilling life.

Of course your sister would have a long, fulfilling life. Alex was a woman of greatness. She’d worked hard in school, got into an amazing college, met a handsome guy who she’d married as soon as she landed her first official big-girl job at some law firm in your home city. There wasn’t a doubt in your mind that Alex was guaranteed for greatness.

Alex was…perfect.

You didn’t want to go. As much as you knew it would have hurt her to not have her sister at her side for her big day, Alex would’ve understood. You never liked the elaborate, extravagant lifestyle. You were a simple girl with simple pleasures, who led a simple life and wanted nothing more than to live simply.

Though, that seems contradictory, since about a year ago, you found yourself gaining the attention and affections of the very Queen of Wakanda. How you managed that feat, you would never know.

It was Shuri who had found the invitation. She was visiting you during an monthly check up at one of the outreach facilities posted in your town, when she had inevitably seen the pretty invitation sitting on your kitchen island. It was all written in cursive, no doubt the product of your sister’s perfect penmanship, and most of all, it was addressed to you and Shuri.

You’d only told Alex of your relationship after the six month mark. You wanted to be certain that such a relationship would last; though, now that you thought back on it, what good would it have done Shuri to play you? Her intentions and integrity were clear the first day she had introduced herself to you. She’d never given you any reason to not trust her, and yet, you had still doubted her. It was a period of time you regretted most, and yet, Shuri still loved you. And in realizing that she would continue to do so, even after seeing the ugly parts of you, you allowed yourself to truly love her back.

Shuri was ecstatic to go. She wanted to meet your sister in person, having only ever seen each other through video calls and communicated through text. And with Shuri’s pretty brown doe-eyes that had always been a weakness to you, you couldn’t say no.

And now, here you were, gripping the door handle tightly as you released tight breathes, wondering if it would have been beneficial to sit Shuri down and tell her the reason why your eyes showed a glimpse of dread when she’d picked up that invitation.

“Darling?” The Queen’s voice cuts through the cloudiness that fogs your brain, grounding you in a way only her honey-laced voice could do. “Are you alright?”

No, you want to say, turn the car around, take me home. I don’t want to go there-

“Yeah, just a bit tired.”

Shuri looks at you quizzingly. You have not been acting as yourself since the day she’d stopped by your apartment. Since, she’d been trying to pinpoint the cause, but to no avail. Even after a year together, she still found you hard to read sometimes. It was endearing to her, a challenge she greatly accepted as part of the packaged deal that came with your relationship.

However, she couldn’t deny that this time, things felt…different.

There’s a melodic beeping that comes from the vehicle, and the red flashing on the dash panel alerts Shuri that the car is running out of gas. And not a second later, a familiar voice speaks from the surround-sound speakers:

Panther, the vehicle is reaching low fuel. It would be wise to refuel soon. There is a petrol station approximately ten miles ahead. Fuel here is priced at four ninety-seven per gallon.

“Thank you, Griot,” Shuri hums, turning to you, “we shall stop there. Fill up on gas and get some snacks. You haven’t eaten much today, my love.”

Though you fix your lips to protest Shuri’s ever so keen observation, the way her hand slips over your thigh, her open palm meeting your skin through the large hole in your ripped jeans, it’s almost enough to have you relent. “I did eat; at breakfast.”

“Which was eight hours ago,” Shuri reminds you, “almost nine, once we arrive at your sisters. I’m sure there will still be room for the food if you just have one bag of chips to hold you over.”

You hate how well Shuri knows you. It makes it hard to hide things with her keen perception and observation skills. Though, you suppose those traits all come with the territory of being The Black Panther.

A sigh escapes your lips, and the lack of a reply worries Shuri. Yet, she does not push. Instead, her thumb continues to swipe in soothing strokes along the smooth skin of your thigh as she continues to drive to the designated gas station.

All of five minutes pass until it comes into view. When Shuri parks at one of the gas lanes, she fishes into her pocket for her wallet. From it she produces a black card, and hands it to you. “Fifty should bring it back up,” the Queen says, “and a bag of chips for you should do the same.”

“Shuri, I said I’m fine-”

“Darling.” Shuri’s tone is firm, yet gentle, and leaves no room for argument. So all you can do is press a kiss to her cheek - a practice routine of mundane intimacy that brings you both pleasure - before exiting the car and walking towards the entrance of the gas station.

Shuri sits back in her seat, a sigh pushing past her lips. She’s not quite sure what to make of your behavior.

In the year that the two of you have been dating, never once did you bring up the topic of your family. Shuri didn’t even know you had a sister until six months ago. Alex reminded her much of Nakia in some sense - powerful and self made, and in that regard, she was glad that you had some semblance of family you could reach out to.

Your parents, however, were another story. A story you had well avoided, and as of recently as a few months ago, downright refused to talk about. It became quite clear that it was a touchy subject for you, so Shuri didn’t pry. However, she could not deny that part of her grew…heated, at the unpleasant thoughts that plagued her mind when it came to the reason for the non-existent relationship between you and them.

“Griot.”

“Yes, Panther?”

“What were my beloved’s vitals during the ride?”

A beat passes, as Griot computes.

“(Y/N)’s heart rate had been jumping from one hundred forty-five to one hundred seventy beats per minute. Her grip on the door was strong enough to break a thin glass cup. It appears (Y/N) was on the verge of an anxiety attack, but had been fighting it off for the duration of your journey.”

Shuri curses under her breath, more or less to herself at the information that had been relayed to her.

“She has been on edge all morning,” Shuri says aloud, “I did not ask, for fear of triggering her, but I cannot allow her to feel threatened.”

Shuri knows your triggers like the back of her hand. She’s learned to speak in a level tone to avoid startlement; she’s learned to make her presence known when entering your space; and most importantly, she reassures you, letting you know each and every day how much she loves you, how much she treasure your existence in her life, and how she vows to hold your heart with the utmost care in the world.

Shuri is the smartest person in the world, and yet, she cannot decipher the reason behind her lover’s heightened emotions. If it weren’t for the fact that she was focused on figuring out why you were like this, and how to calm you down, she’d surely find the thought embarrassing.

“Might I speak freely, Panther?”

A hum rumbles from Shuri’s throat as a sign for the artificial intelligence to continue.

“(Y/N)’s vitals have been heighted since one week ago,” Griot points out, “around the same time she had received the invitation to her sister’s birthday party. It would be safe to assume that these two instances have a correlation with one another.”

“You are insinuating that Alex’s birthday party is somehow the cause of my love’s anxiety spiking?”

“Perhaps not the party, but rather, who will be there, Panther.”

Silence fills the car as Shuri takes in the information given to her. Though, she doesn’t have much to think on it, as she spots your figure exiting the sticker-covered glass door of the gas station, a black plastic bag in hand, of which she hopes holds the snacks she had requested of you to get for yourself. She exits the car and takes hold of the gas nozzle, opening up the tiny door and unscrewing the protection cap, and slots the nozzle into the car to fill with fuel.

A few moments pass before Shuri returns to the car, having placed the nozzle back in it’s place and secured the gas compartment. Her black card rests on the arm rest, which she slips back into her wallet as the corner of her eyes catches you with something in your hand - something that’s not a bag of chips.

“I thought I told you chips, darling?” Shuri asks as she starts up the car again.

“I got chips!” You respond. “I wanted a Twix, too.”

Your free hand fishes into the black plastic back to produce a bottle of water for Shuri, slotting it into the cup holder.

“What is this?” Shuri asks, gesturing to the water bottle.

“You were thirsty,” You point out.

Shuri indeed was thirsty. She can’t help the smile that paints her lips soon after, taking the water bottle into her hand, unscrewing the cap, and taking a swig of the water.

“Are you sure you’re alright, my love?” Shuri asks once more after setting the water back down, preparing to put the car into motion.

To busy chewing on the cookie-chocolate-caramel treat, you opt for nodding your head, a short ‘mhm’ to accompany it.

As much as Shuri wanted to question further, she knew nothing would come of it. So she slips her hand back onto your thigh, presses down on the gas, and rolls out of the gas station, the conversation with Griot filing back into her mind as she drives down the long strip of highway.

“My parents are gonna come.”

You’d said it the second Shuri had parked into the driveway of your sister’s home. With each second that passed on the way there, your chest kept growing tighter and tighter. You thought that maybe if you focused on Shuri’s touch on you, or her low singing voice when Tems starts to flood the car with her hypnotic, warm and swelling voice, that maybe you would be able to calm down and not worry her. It usually worked, but perhaps because this instance was due to the fact that you would be seeing your parents for the first time in years, what was usually the cure for your attacks did very little to help.

Shuri pauses as the words leave your lips, and for a moment, it looks as if she is cross. And while she has every right to be, you hope that it isn’t at you.

You should have told her before the two of you left, as you thought to do. It plagued your mind when you were in the shower, when you were fixing your hair, when you were choosing your outfit. And Shuri had been in the same apartment with you the entire time. You had ample enough time to tell her and yet…you didn’t. You couldn’t.

You know Shuri. She would try to remain calm and collected for you, to not show her anger, because of course she would be angry either way. The car ride would have been in silence, the air thickening with each mile crossed from one city to the other. But you would know that she was upset. She should be upset now because you just dropped this bomb on her and-

“Beloved,” the Queen mutters to you, bringing you from your thoughts once more, “look at me.”

Your head turns to face Shuri. She’s put the car into park, one arm leaning on the arm rest, the other reaching over to soothe your nerves by caressing your outer thigh. She looks at you with a softness that relieves some of the pressure on your chest stunting your breathing. Her gaze tells you that she is not cross with you.

“Hey,” she says, “I am not upset with you.” And the reassurance helps you unclench the fists your hands have balled into.

She doesn’t speak again until she’s certain that your breathing has evened out, as opposed to the harsh and forced inhale-exhale pattern from before. “Is there…anything I should know?”

You tear your eyes away, but Shuri’s gaze remains firm. Consistency is key, she’s learned, when it comes to you confiding in her. Her eyes are your safe space, you will return to them. And you do, after a short moment, trying to gather your mind together.

“They’re not nice people,” you confess, eyes hesitantly returning to hers, “they’ll try and woo you and shit, but don’t fall for it. They ain’t shit.”

“Okay,” Shuri hums, “and…is there anything I can do? For you?”

“Um,” a shaky breath racks through your throat, as you speak, “they’re not here now. Alex texted me that, so I should be fine, but when they get here…j-just, don’t leave me alone.”

“I will not leave you alone.” Shuri assures. Her hand gathers yours into hers, your palms rendered chilly from cold sweat. “I promise.”

Gathering your hands into hers, Shuri brings them to her lips and presses a kiss to them. She then reaches over to press a kiss to your lips, of which you reciprocate gladly.

“Thank you for talking to me about this,” the Queen commends, “and telling me how to best take care of you. I know it is not easy-”

“I hate it-” you correct, which brings a grin to Shuri’s lips and a chuckle from her throat, because yes, she knows you hate it.

“-but you are doing it, and I am very proud of you for it.”

It’s sincere, Shuri’s praise. It’s still not easy for you to digest it, but you know her love is not transactional, conditional. She means what she says, and you know her love for you is unconditional and unyielding.

She loves you.

She is proud of you.

The pressure on your chest becomes lighter.

Upon exiting the car, you’re approached by your sister, Alex, who had seen the two of you pull into the driveway and wanted to be the first person you’d engage with. You’re not shocked when you see her eyes glassy looking - it’s been years since you two last saw each other face to face.

Alex is hesitant when approaching you - she wants to envelop you in the most bone-crushing hug she can muster, because she misses you and it has been so long since she’d held her baby sister. Though all it takes is for you to outstretch your arms to her, and Alex embraces you in the way she had been dreaming of.

“Oh, mama,” Alex breathes as she pulls away to get a better look at you. You notice the youthfulness in her face and the life in her eyes. She looks happy, “look at you. All grown up. My baby sissy is all grown ‘nd shit.”

It’s heartfelt, her words, and they make you smile. Alex turns to look at Shuri, who’s chosen to stand to the side to witness the sisterly reunion without interrupting. “And you have a girlfriend? You have to tell me how this happened.”

“By complete accident,” you say, as Shuri steps up. Her hand presses into the small of your back, encouraging you while she holds the other out to greet Alex officially, “but I guess anything can happen when you spill coffee on someone in the middle of a morning rush.”

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Alex.” Shuri says.

Alex shakes Shuri’s hand, and the Queen notes the hesitance in the older sister's movements. “Well, it’s not every day you meet the queen of a country. Much less, a queen of a country that’s also my sister’s girlfriend.”

“Well, I hope not to bring too much excitement with my titles,” says Shuri, “I am more than alright with being just Shuri.”

She sincerely hoped that she could just remain Shuri. For if a situation arises that she would have to act in the manner of either of her titles - Queen or Black Panther - she could not promise that the birthday celebration would remain a splendor.

An hour passes before either of you know it. You’ve found entertainment amongst the younger cousins who all gawk at your girlfriend, who sits not too far away. Shuri has a cup of punch in hand as she watches you chase the children around the yard, a small smile on her lips. It’s as if you are reliving a part of your childhood you’ve missed, the way you seem so content with the children. It all but warms her heart.

“So,” Alex’s voice interrupts Shuri’s not so discreet admiration of her girlfriend, nearly making the Queen jump, “you and my sister?”

“Ah,” Shuri breathes, looking down into her cup as a rush of heat travels up her dark skin, “me and your sister.”

“I’m not gonna go into the whole interrogation thing, grilling you on if you’re treating her right,” Alex says, “I see how you look at her. If that ain’t the look of someone in love, then I’on know what is.”

Shuri chuckles at that, because she knows that Alex’s observations are true. In fact she has no idea just how correct her observation is.

Shuri leans forward in her seat, elbows propped up on her knees as she finds your figure amidst the mess of kids once again. Her necklace dangles from her neck, the gold contrasting against her black tee that nearly meets the fabric of her ripped blue jeans with her hunched over position.

“(Y/N) is…the ray of sunlight one sees after a long, dark night,” the Queen hums fondly, “and had I known my gods would send me such a woman, I would have prepared myself better.”

Alex smiles warmly. She can tell the strong connection between you and Shuri is pure and unadulterated. It warms her heart beyond comparison.

“Thank you for coming, truly,” Alex says, “I was almost worried she wouldn’t, since our parents would be here and everything.”

And at the mention of them, Shuri finds her jaw tightening just the slightest.

“Your parents?” Shuri is beginning to put two and two together, and she doesn’t like the outcome that is unfolding from her assumptions, however careful they are.

“I…assume she’s told you about them?” Alex implies.

Shuri shakes her head lightly, taking a sip of her semi-forgotten punch. “I find myself piecing the picture together on my own…She does not talk about them.”

“That isn’t a surprise,” Alex says, “given…well, everything.”

Shuri turns her head to look at Alex. Her eyes are firm, inquisitive; Alex’s words have sparked an interest in Shuri.

”She says they aren’t good people. Is that true?”

“Depends on who you ask,” Alex replies, “to the community, their saints. To us they’re just….people.”

Shuri notes the hint of solemness that laces Alex’s voice as she speaks. “They weren’t good to either of us…but they were especially bad to (Y/N).” Alex clarifies. “You know what they say; hurt people, hurt people.”

Not when the person is your child, Shuri thinks, but keeps to herself, taking another sip of her punch. Things are starting to make sense now, and Shuri finds that perhaps she will also have to have you at her side to ground her whenever your parents decide to show up.

“So you mean to tell me you got yourself stuck in a tree, and then got angry because she tried to help you get down?”

“I was not stuck! I was admiring the view.”

“Sure you were…with tears coming down your face.”

“I think this classifies as bullying-”

Shuri had grown quite comfortable as the next hour passed. More of your family had begun to show up, a number of aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and cousins wishing Alex a happy birthday as they passed through the foyer of her house and into the backyard. Shuri couldn’t count the amount of gasps she’d heard when their eyes fell upon her, sat comfortably in the outdoor gazebo, her presence obviously a surprise to the many relatives who had come to celebrate the special birthday girl. Much more, the fact that she had you close to her side as she greeted them.

The behavior of your family members irked her. Shuri suspected that Alex had talked to each of the adults to assure that they’d be on their best behavior for the occasion, given the tight smiles and curt greetings between each of them and you. Or perhaps it was because of her own intimidating presence next to you, and the fact that she wasn’t even trying to hide the look in her eyes as she analyzed each adult that seemed to pass through.

“Babe,” you cleared your throat, “stop looking like that, you’re scaring them.”

“Looking like what?”

“Like you’re contemplating murder.”

Would it have been so bad if she was, though?

Shuri sighs as she places the red solo cup she had been nursing for a while onto the table. “Just behave, for Alex-”

“I am behaving for you,” the queen clarifies, “and your sister would say the same.”

Unable to comment any further, you released an exhale through the nose, sinking back into Shuri’s side.

“It’s guilt, y’know.” You try to reason, but Shuri had already considered that route. Perhaps there were a few who did have a guilty conscience. Shuri didn’t find herself caring if that was true or not. “They’re not bad.”

“Beloved-”

“Shuri.”

“-I am merely observing,” she says, “I promise.”

Of course Shuri was only observing. Observing the behavior of each adult family member. How they acted towards you. How very little regard was given to you. How, with the amount of bodies that have accumulated in the backyard, the gazebo area remained relatively desolate, beside the two of you, Alex, and Alex’s black and white spotted cat, who had made a home on the red painted banister.

Sure. Shuri was just observing. Definitely not questioning anything at all. Definitely not formulating words she would say to your parents if they decided to make themselves an issue.

“I’m gonna go get a shot,” you say, before propping yourself up with your hands and lifting from the cushion of the outdoor couch, “you want a refill?”

You take Shuri’s cup before she officially gives you a response. You needed a way out, to move around so that the beating in your chest could quell.

Inside there isn’t much of a party scene - it's practically empty besides a teenage family member fighting their sleep on the couch while watching an infant in the living room. The music from outside is muffled when you enter the house, and you take the time to admire the mahogany walls and deep maroon floors of the home. You could compare it to the childhood home you’ve grown up in, and you think that perhaps this was Alex’s way of healing. Recreating your shared childhood environment in a more peaceful manner.

You find the kitchen quite easily, rounding the kitchen island in pursuit of the adult punch purposefully left inside so that the underaged family members wouldn’t get it confused with the family friendly punch that rested in a big glass bowl on the party table outside. On the counter is an array of liquor choices, from fruit flavored tequila to everyone's favorite, Hennessy. You weren’t a drinker, but this far into the party, you needed some sort of incentive to get you to relax a little bit.

Once you’ve chosen your choice of liquor, you take a red solo cup, pour what you deemed to be a shot's worth, and downed it in one gulp. The burn in your throat definitely woke your senses, of which you were grateful for.

On your way towards the kitchen doorway, Shuri’s refilled solo cup in hand, the sound of familiar voices drifted to your ears from the foyer, and it made you stop dead in your tracks.

“Happy birthday baby!”

“Happy birthday, babygirl.”

“Oh, look at you, all grown up-”

It took everything in you to not drop the cup in your hand at the sound of your parents making their presence known. You backed into the kitchen again, your back finding a nearby wall to ground yourself with. Your chest began to tighten, a tight lump forming in your throat, and in that moment, your hand fished for your phone in your back pocket to text Shuri.

Kitchen. Now.

There was a light shake in your hands. You hated how just the mere sound of their voices sent you into a spiral; how much of an influence they still had on you after trying so hard to separate yourself from them. Then they had the nerve to act pleasant.

There was a growing ringing in your ears, accompanied with the muffling of surrounding noise that made you breathe harder as you tried to stabilize yourself from the very apparent anxiety attack that was waiting to crash into you. You couldn’t decipher if it was the same one from before that you had fended off by sheer will, or if this was a new, more powerful one. However, when the smell of patchouli made its way to your nose, the thought of it became seconded.

“Hey,” Shuri whispered, one hand running the length of your arm, the other taking the cup from your hand that was seconds away from meeting the floor, and settling it onto the kitchen island, “hey, I am right here.”

“They’re out there, Shuri.” You breathe out.

Something shifts in Shuri’s eyes, and you can’t quite tell what it was, but the way her grip on you tightens in the ever so slightest way lets you know she’s thinking something.

“We can leave, beloved,” Shuri begins, but you’re quick to cut her off with a shake of your head.

“No,” you say, swallowing thickly, “I can’t leave, it’s Alex’s birthday-”

“Alex will understand, love; would she really want you to risk your own self for her?”

I’ve done it for years, the little girl in you voices tiredly, what’s another evening of it?

Shuri never wants to be forceful with you. She knows you’re your own woman and can make your own decisions, even if they go against her better judgment, even if they hurt you. Which is why, against every logical bone in her body, she proposes a compromise.

“Three chances,” Shuri says, “three chances is all they have. Then we will leave. How does that sound?”

Knowing Shuri, she’ll want to throw hands at the first encounter. It was endearing, really, how hard she went for you. The extent of such craze was never explored, simply because she was always calm, cool and collected. There was a part of you that always wondered the extent of it as well.

And, in hindsight, you weren’t wrong about her.

Shuri peaks from the kitchen doorway and into the foyer, seeing Alex still entertaining the two adults, their backs turned towards the Queen, which gave her the incentive to leave while the trio were occupied.

She mutters a quick ‘let’s go’ with a gentle smile, and after a few seconds, you nod. Your hand finds her, tightly interlocking your fingers as Shuri pulls you back to the backyard gazebo. Shuri had no idea the depths she was about to breach in the layers of your estranged family, but whatever the case may be, she will not let you face it alone.

It was almost the perfect getaway, too, but apparently Shuri wasn’t fast enough in getting you out of the house. She heard the matured voice of your mother call out to you, asking if it was her other daughter, and Shuri supposed that it wasn’t meant to be taken in a demeaning way, but the queen certainly did. Perhaps it was predisposed biases, perhaps it was intentional. Either way, Shuri would make sure to take as much of the burden off you as she could.

“Mom,” you say, jaws tight, but Shuri stands close behind you, a hand on your waist, and it stabilizes you, “good to see you.”

The older woman, short in stature, with wide hips and thick arms, saw Shuri standing behind you, but whether or not she didn’t address her because she didn’t recognize the queen or because she simply didn’t care couldn’t be deciphered. “Come give me a hug-!”

“I’m good,” you hurriedly said, “just- uh, not feeling well.”

“Don’t be like that,” the deep, bolstering voice of your father chimed in; a large man with an intimidating physique. Shuri was not phased, her arm only snaked it’s way around your waist, “give your mama a hug, lil’ girl-”

“I said I’m good.” You reiterate more firmly, though there was an added incentive to clear your throat shortly afterwards to make your fib more believable. “Really; I know how easy it is for y’all to get sick.”

There was a moment of pause - and exchange of glances and a shift in energy before a light ‘humph’ came from your mother’s throat. “Well, I suppose that makes sense,” she snooted, “and I suppose that’s why your friend there is the exception-?”

“Girlfriend, actually,” Shuri interrupts, though it wasn’t planned, and surely wasn’t expected, “it is one of many perks of being the Black Panther. I do not succumb to normal colds and illnesses as easily.”

The pads of Shuri’s fingers press into your side as she steps beside you; she’s now side to side with you, face your parents with a high chin and a look you were sure she’d only pulled out when in front of important people - or people who she suspected would try to intimidate her, yet she’d still have to play nice for publicity purposes.

“Allow me to introduce myself formally,” Shuri said, holding out her hand for your mother to take; the shorter woman did just so as Shuri spoke again, “I am Queen Shuri to my people, but for tonight's festivities, I would like to remain just Shuri.”

“A queen?” Your mother breathes out in an amused chuckle, though you couldn’t tell if it was in actual amusement or in disbelief. “Well, perhaps we did do something right with her, hm, honey?”

Strike one.

Shuri’s hand then reaches out to your father, who stares at the long, brown arm outstretched before him for a moment, before taking one of his thick, meaty hands, and shaking Shuri’s tinier one. Though, the look on his face when the queen’s grip strengthened around his hand was enough to tell you his surprise and lack of proper judgment on the brown-skinned woman.

“Got a…firm grip for a lil’ lady.” He says.

“Well,” Shuri begins as she slips her hand from your fathers, “my baba and big brother always said a firm hand makes a firm leader.”

“Well, wise men they were.”

There was much to observe in the few words shared between Shuri and your parents. Your father hid very well behind the facade of a pleasant man of few words. Perhaps he was sculpted that way, by your mother or by his own parents; either one didn’t matter, only that the end result was a man with a weaker grip than the elders she held council with, and they were pushing their latter years of nineties and hundreds. Your parents looked to be in their mid-forties.

Your mother…Shuri admits that she wished her own were still alive, for the words she knew Ramonda would have for this short-stack of a woman would be more lethal than any weapon produced by her own hands. Condescension laced in her voice with a familiar tone of jealousy that she’d heard and witnessed many black mothers having towards their own daughters. It wasn’t hard to tell, Shuri thought, but perhaps when enough people ignore such a dangerous thing, the ugly nature becomes a tolerable norm.

“Well, if you will excuse us,” says the queen, “I’m going to take my beloved to sit down. She is in much need of rest.”

Shuri did not give your parents time to react, nor to object to the sudden ending to the conversation. She’d quickly pivoted your body around and walked back outside to the gazebo, a firm hand on your back and a ticking clock in her head for when the next strike would come.

Sure enough, Shuri did not have to wait long for that second strike.

After getting you back to the gazebo to take a seat, on the verge of hyperventilating from the amount of anxiety the back and forth gave you, despite the fact that you weren’t even the one talking, Alex had come with a look of disdain. Your parents were in tow, as they claimed to want to ‘have a sit down and reconnect’. Of course, Shuri didn’t buy into that bullshit. Neither did Alex. And surely, neither did you.

And yet, neither you nor Alex yet had the courage to send them off, and Shuri, keeping herself in check, had no other choice but to allow them to sit with the three of you. So now you were tucked into Shuri’s side, phone in hand as a distraction, while Alex sat on a beige-cushioned chair to your left, and your parents in a similar-fashioned loveseat to the queen’s right.

Alex was kind enough to hide her discomfort in nervous laughs and meek agreements as your mother and father raved on about your childhoods. Specifically, the accomplishments of Alex, which would have been understandable as it was her birthday, if it didn’t have to include the ‘disappointments’ of yours they had to bring into the light.

“Remember the speech competition your grammar school had, Lexi-Pooh,” your mother chimed, using the youthful nickname Alex very physically cringed over, “you won your first ever trophy then at eight years old! Oh, we were so proud of you-”

“Mom, everyone got a trophy,” Alex reminded, putting emphasis on the word ‘everyone’ as she spared a glance your way, “we were babies, and it was a participation trophy. They just didn’t want us to be left out.”

“Well, still, my baby had the best poem on that stage!”

“Mom, I literally stole that poem off the internet.” Alex reasons.

“Yeah, off DeviantArt no less,” you speak with a chuckle, remembering the nights your sister scoured the internet for a poem to read because she, for the life of her, couldn’t write her own. Which she couldn’t be faulted for, she was in third grade after all.

Alex shares a small laugh as well. “If anyone should have won that competition, it should’ve been (Y/N),” She says. “All the teachers swore up and down she was gonna be the next Lorraine Hansberry or Audre Lorde. I bet you she got some bars hidden somewhere.”

Your mother could only hum in response; “Well, we can’t all be winners, I guess.”

There was a familiar sting that ached your heart. Despite how used you were to such rhetoric coming from your mother, it didn’t make the twang in your heart any less hurtful.

“You never liked that kinda stuff anyway, (Y/N),” your mother says, “so why did you join it-”

“I do like writing,” you say sharply, “and I wanted to be like my sister. Who doesn’t wanna be like their older sister at seven years old?”

You glanced up from your phone to look between the three people sitting before you. Alex shifts in her seat, uncomfortably, slightly shaking her head as she knows what is to come.

“Or were you just so busy with your perfect princess that you ain’t have time to learn me?”

“(Y/N)!” Your mother scolds, and you feel the protective arm of Shuri’s curl around you in defense. “Hush your mouth with them lies, girl!”

Your father remains silent, as he’s always done when your mother gets this way, and Shuri sees this, and takes note of it.

“I swear, I don’t know where we went wrong with you,” your mother huffs, “lost yo’ damn manners and mind talkin’ like that.”

Your mother then turns to Shuri, sporting an apologetic look, though it is not sincere, and merely a coverup for her own outburst. “Now I know your mother taught you well and good, Shuri, about how to talk to people and behave-”

“My mother is dead.”

There is an inevitable shift in the conversation now, one that brings the eyes to Shuri as a deafening silence befalls the gazebo. Even you rise from your curled position into Shuri’s side to eye her demeanor, checking over her form to note any changes that came with the sudden mention of her mother. Yet, she is calm and collected, her eyes showing no shifts and her demeanor intact. All seemed well…on the surface, at least.

“My mother is dead, may she be at peace with the ancestors,” Shuri says, “and she is incomparable. I do not wish to speak further of her.”

A beat passes. Your hand travels to Shuri’s leg, providing a comforting touch to the woman beside you. You weren’t ignorant to the news of her family’s passing - since her father’s death, you’d had a semblance of understanding the inner turmoil she had endured. With her brother and mother gone, she was virtually alone - save for a sister-like figure and a nephew she’d only told you a little bit about in the past few months or so.

You wanted to say something, but your mother beat you to it - this time, she actually sounded somewhat apologetic for her ignorance.

“My condolences,” the woman mutters softly, clearing her throat, “I only meant that she must have had it easy raising you. You’re so well put together and polite, if only some of that would rub off on (Y/N)!”

Strike two.

“Mom, stop it,” Alex interrupts, voice firm with a scowl on her face, “you doin’ a lil’ too much now.”

“Now, your mama ain’t said nun’ wrong,” your father suddenly speaks, who had been quite the entire conversation, but suddenly decided to stick up for his woman who was clearly in the wrong, “it’s just ladies spat, y’all know how y’all do.”

“And like I said before y’all got here, I don’t want it in my house.” Alex emphasizes. “If that’s the type of time y’all on, the door is very clearly marked with an obnoxiously pink birthday banner. Period.”

There was a small swell of pride in your chest for Alex as she set her foot down to your parents. She was determined to have them behave; she wanted a classy, friendly party for her birthday celebration. Though, she would know just as well as you that even when being put in place, the audacity of your parent’s always found itself back into trouble.

Your mother mumbled out an apology, along with something along the lines of ‘got me apologizing to my child’ under her breath as well, before you cleared your throat in an attempt to cut through the tension.

“Shuri, baby,” you hummed, “don’t we have something for Alex? In the car?”

Shuri turned to look at you, eyebrows slightly furrowed, before she officially caught on to what you were insinuating.

“Yes,” the queen breathes out with a small smile, “we do have something in the car. For the birthday girl.”

Alex, too, shares the same look Shuri previously sported, with furrowed eyebrows and confusion written on her face. “M-Me? Something for me?”

“Of course!” Shuri answers. “Surely you did not think we would show up empty handed?”

Shuri’s hand rests on your leg, both as a reminder of her very physical presence as a grounding for herself, “How foolish of me to forget. I do not know what I would do without you, my darling.”

Shuri stands, offering her hand to you as well, adding on how she will need your help to retrieve it, before escorting you from the gazebo. While on your way to exit the yard, Shuri can hear Alex giving your parents a further scolding, which makes the queen smile mischievously.

It wasn’t a complete lie for escape, however. Shuri was nice enough to buy a gift for your sister for her birthday, though it wasn’t anything massive, and despite your constant jokes of it, wasn’t a pair of kimoyo earrings (though, from Alex’s birthday outfit, she could tell that she was a jewelry girl, and a pair of earrings probably would have sufficed better).

“I’m starting to understand why you never told me about your parents,” Shuri says in a breathless scoff, pressing a button on her beads to pop open the trunk of her car, “infuriating doesn’t even begin to describe them.”

“Are you okay?” You ask in all seriousness. “The..comment about your mom, I mean.”

How could you be worried of her feelings when she’d just had to watch your mother berate you in front of her? Shuri wonders this as she turns from the open trunk of the car to face you again. Though, she supposes that from that interaction, you were more used to centering others and their emotions than yourself. Although it caused an ache in her heart, the revelation made sense of previous actions between the two of you.

“What I said was true,” the queen replies, “though I admit, perhaps there was a bite in my tongue.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t curse her out.”

“Well…I do have a promise to keep to Alex.” Shuri says in a soft laugh. “I do not want to be the cause of her birthday being ruined. Your parents are making it fairly hard to do that, however.”

Shuri closes the trunk of the car, the tiny bag holding Alex’s gift inside being set on top of it as the queen leans against the sleek black vehicle. She invites you into her embrace, pulling you between her legs and resting her hands on your hips; yours make their way onto her shoulders, a weak smile on your face.

“That’s two strikes by my count.”

“I know.”

“We have yet to even make it to dinner.”

“I know.”

“What do you want to do, beloved?”

I don’t know anymore, you think, this is all just too much.

“Let’s…stay.”

Part of you was reluctant to leave due to wanting to experience your sister’s birthday with her. You’d all but promised that you’d come to enjoy yourself with Shuri, even if your parents made that hard. But there was also an inkling of pettiness inside of you that wanted to show the assholes your parents were to the rest of your family members (who, while had suspicions of their weird behaviors and holier-than-thou rhetoric, would rather not engage in family drama to keep peace amongst the ranks).

“I’m not letting them get the better of me,” you add on, “today is for Alex. And if they wanna make it a problem, it can be a problem.”

The look on Shuri’s face was a mix of shock and pride; she hadn’t expected you to say that, and if she were being honest with herself, she was secretly anticipating such a moment to occur. Perhaps because it would give her a chance to release the pent up frustrations that had collected within her due to your parents actions; perhaps it was because seeing you stand your ground had always been an attractive sight to her. Regardless, the small smile that spread across her face was a reflection of her hopefulness.

“One more chance, then?”

“Hopefully they make it count.”

Shuri remembers how she used to dislike family dinners.

The prospect of eating with her family irked her at a young age. Though she loved her parents and her brother dearly, her teenage self was far too absorbed in her technological advances to actively partake in the family tradition. She’d taken such a routine for granted, and now, the dinner table in the large palace she called home was barren. She barely ate there anymore, consumed by the regret of not making such precious moments a priority in her youth.

As she sits next to you at the elongated party table with the rest of your family members, she notes the same air of barrenness, but not of presence of people. It is a barrenness of love.

The behavior of certain family members began to change as the night progressed. Despite the lingering glares of your family members, many aunts and uncles approached you again, expressing their joy in seeing your presence. Perhaps it was truly the guilt that you mentioned earlier, how these extended family members were subject to the bystander syndrome, and hadn’t known how to deal with their guilty consciences for whatever reason. Perhaps these people did genuinely want to reconnect with their long lost niece, cousin, auntie. Shuri would never admit it aloud to anyone, but seeing the look of distaste upon your parents face was entertaining to say the least.

“So do you drive a space ship everywhere you go?” One of your many nephews asked the queen out of curiosity, big brown eyes and white bucked-teeth shining with glee, as he’d never seen anyone of her status before.

“Not everywhere,” Shuri answers, “only the far away places.”

“Do you go to other planets? Like Mars? Or Pluto?”

“Hmm,” the queen thinks, “I don’t think I have. I shall put that on my books and tell you about it upon my return. How does that sound, little one?”

“Awesome!”

Seeing Shuri interact with the younger children eased your tense body and racing mind. She was almost a natural with them, it seemed. You leaned into her side, your cheek squishing against her shoulder with a playful huff. “Can I have my girlfriend back, please? You’ve been askin’ her questions since we got to the table.”

“Nu-uh!” Objects the little boy. “Have not!”

“Have too, lil’ boy,” you reject, “now gon’ eat so your mama don’t yell at you.”

“Can we talk about spaceships after dinner then, Auntie Shuri?”

Shuri wasn’t sure if she should adhere to the new term, having only known the child for an hour or so, but to entertain him, she allowed it. “Sure. We can talk about spaceships after dinner.”

Thankfully, the young boy seemed to be satisfied with the compromise, and began to eat his plate of food. Shuri turns to you with an amused grin, eyebrows raised as she asks “Were you jealous of your own nephew?”

“I can be jealous if I want to,” you pout, bottom lip tucked out in protest, “lil’ shit was taking you away from me.”

Shuri laughs at your banter, both glad that you’ve somewhat relaxed, and that the evening seemed to be going well. She hoped that it would stay like this.

The clinking of metal to glass caught her attention, as well as the other partygoers. Looking towards the head of the table, Alex is standing, grasping the attention of everyone in order to speak.

“Now, we all know the reason today is such an important day, aside from the fact that it’s my birthday,” Alex begins, glancing around the table, making eye contact with each individual, “though some of the kids might not know. And since we have a newcomer with us,” she says, gesturing to Shuri, who returns a nod of acknowledgement as she speaks, “I figured now is as good of a time to talk about why we celebrate the twenty-fifth birthday of the girls in our family.”

Alex sets the glass down, clears her throat, and speaks again. “Now the story has never been written down, but anyone who has sat between Nana and Great Nana’s legs to get their hair done will know the story by heart. A generation or so before them, our family had a ‘curse’ on us girls. One of our enslaved ancestors was forced to ‘engage’ with their owner who desired a mixed child. That ancestor cursed our bloodline so that no girls would survive, and slowly our numbers began to dwindle.”

You always loved to hear this story. You were never sure why, but it had always been more than hair braiding entertainment to keep a child's attention. The raw history that your grandmother and great-grandmother passed down your line of lineage always held a special place in your heart.

“Then one thing lead to another, a generation passes, and a girl is born…and she lives old enough to run away with another slave guy she fell in love with. And that ancestor had Great Nana, who had Nana, who had mom and the aunties…who had us.”

You’d been sitting to Alex’s right when she extended her hand to you to hold. You accepted it with a warm smile. She’d done the same to your mother as well.

“Reaching twenty-five is like a right of passage. Guarantees to a long, fulfilling life. And that is what we celebrate tonight.”

There were a series of claps, cheers, whoops and hollers that erupted from the table, coming from the queen herself as well. It was indeed a remarkable retelling, she thought, and she even noticed the way that Alex posed herself as a bridge between you and your mother. She applauded the woman for still trying to reconcile, but knew that there was no hope for such a feat.

As soon as Alex sat down, your mother took a stand. “I’d like to make a toast as well.”

Shuri felt you lean just a little bit closer to her.

“My baby, oh, what can I even say?” Your mother begins, striking up a face of pride. “You were perfect since the day I first laid eyes on you. I knew you’d be destined for greatness, and I can’t be any more proud of you than I am now. My baby girl is all grown up, and I can’t wait to see more of the outstanding woman you’ve become…”

Another round of applause echoes throughout the backyard, and Shuri breathes. Though she doesn’t trust your mother one bit, the words that came from her mouth seemed very genuine-

“...and you are more than fit to carry on this tradition. My only daughter that can.”

-nevermind.

The distant crickets could be heard as your mother took her seat again, seemingly proud of her little stunt. Perhaps she thought it was something good to say, but neither you, Alex, or Shuri saw the need for the ending.

“That ending wasn’t needed, but thank you.” Alex says through gritted teeth, a sigh leaving her lips. It was much like the older woman to need the last word, and although Alex truly hoped she would behave, her own patience was waning thin with the woman and her antics.

“We have a toast as well!”

Shuri whips her head to you, brows furrowed in confusion as she whispers, “We do?”

The words leave your lips before you can actually think about what you’re about to do. Upstaging your mother had never been something you’d acted upon, although you’d fantasized about shutting her up numerous times with your own words; the courage was just never there. Perhaps it was because now you were older, or perhaps it was because you now knew that Alex was on your side, or perhaps it was because you had Shuri next to you to back you up. Whatever it was, it began surging through your veins that once were riddled and crippled with anxiety.

Nonetheless, you’re standing up, and so is Shuri, so there isn’t any backing down now. All eyes were on you.

“Sister,” you begin, reaching your hand out Alex who stands up again to be eye level with you, “I will make this quick, ‘cuz you know I hate sappy shit.”

Alex laughs a little. Her grip on your hands is comforting, and the way she looks at you is almost in a coaching matter. She hadn’t expected such a burst of confidence either, but wasn’t about to let you face it alone.

“We’ve had our…ups and down,” you say, “and there were ‘things’ happening that I blamed you for, that I pushed you away for. But you’ve always been there. You were..the only person there.”

You feel Shuri’s hand caress the small of your back for support. You feel like crying, and you're not sure the reason for it, but you push it down and continue.

“I am grateful for you, and I’m glad I came to celebrate with you…and I love you.”

The air that was once thick when you started to speak seemed to ease when you said those last three words. And again, claps and praises flew out into the air at the confession. Alex, the much more sappier of one of the two of you, tried to keep her eyes from swelling with tears, but of course it was harder for her to do so.

“Don’t you start crying,” you say playfully through the loudness of the table, “‘cus you know if you do, then I’ma start crying, and we just gon’ be two snotty nosed bitches-”

Yet you didn’t get the chance to finish, because Alex then pulls you into her embrace. It’s tight and full of love, and she gives you no choice but to sink into it. For a second, it seems like the noise drowns out as you bask in the love from your sister, and you hear a faint ‘thank you’ being whispered into your ear right as she pulls away.

“I suppose this means it is my turn,” Shuri says sheepishly, once the embrace has finished and you’ve returned right at her side. She’d been thinking of what to day this entire time, though each scenario that she had run through her head didn’t seem worthy of a quality toast to a quality woman, “I shall try to make this toast worthy of your time, Miss Birthday Girl.”

“Sitting at this table, surrounded by all of you; it reminds me of a similar family routine that I took for granted in my youth.” Shuri’s eyes gaze from person to person as she speaks. “You see, I was too absorbed in my technological advances to truly appreciate the aspects of family dinners. The mundaneness of sitting with one another and being present. I used to want to give anything to be left to my own devices. And now, I sit at the head of the same table, with no one. I am Queen of the most powerful nation in the world, and my entire family is gone.”

Another silence fills the table as everyone looks onto Shuri; her head is held high as she speaks, though, voice unwavering. She breathes when she feels your hand slip into hers.

“Alex, you are a very blessed woman to have your family here with you to celebrate a generational obstacle overcome,” the queen bids, “and for that, I propose a toast to you, and a saying from my people to yours.”

The queen picks up her red cup, and watches as each individual picks up their own, before speaking again. “To Alex, a woman of virtue and genuity. ‘Akukho mntu ngaphandle kwesidenge ophika usapho lwakhe’.”

A round of cheers sounds before everyone downs a gulp of their chosen drinks in unison, applauding Shuri for her heartfelt toast and gratitude. As the both of you sit, and light chatter begins to cover the table, your mother calls out to Shuri with a look of curiosity.

“Such a lovely quote, Shuri,” your mother says, “what does it mean?”

“Oh, the proverb,” Shuri says, “it is one my baba used to say.”

“Did he now?”

“It means ‘No one but a fool denies their family’.”

Hearing this, your gaze shifts from the food in front of you to Shuri, who sports a proud smirk as she watches your mother grow uncomfortable in her seat from the queen’s words. As if she were putting the dots together in her own head.

With Dinner done, your nephew was all too quick to pull the queen aside to continue their conversation about her fancy spaceships. While his eagerness was endearing, Shuri had to put the conversation on hold because of an important phone call that came through. You assumed that it was Ayo, a name you had heard in fleeting conversations, but knew it to be a person of importance to Shuri. A captain of her Queen’s Guard, which Shuri had respectfully asked to fall back on attending the outing with the both of you, since it was a family thing, and Shuri didn’t want Alex’s neighbors questioning why so many bald-headed women were lingering around her house.

She said she would make the call quick, five minutes at most, before stepping into the house for quiet and privacy. The loss of her presence made you slightly anxious, but you maintained your spot in the gazebo, and Alex popped in here and there. She was the host, so she had to engage with the rest of her partygoers, but you were more than grateful that she took the time out to still check in on you, despite it being her day.

You took a sip of your drink - the adult punch that had been put in the kitchen so kids couldn’t get to it - and watched the party goers enjoy themselves from the comfort of your seat. Children running around, chasing each other with sparklers; aunties and uncles dancing to the old school remix; teens making TikTok videos with dances and skits. For a moment, things were content, and everyone was happy. Normal.

For a moment, for the first time in a long time, you felt happy with your family.

“You’ve found this corner real comfortable, I see.”

The voice of your mother slips through he peaceful silence that previously covered the gazebo, and although you don’t feel it at first, your body begins to tense. She herself sports a red solo cup, though you can’t tell what’s inside of it.

She doesn’t ask to join you - just takes up a single seat across from you - and even if she were to ask, you aren’t sure if you could even mutter an answer.

“It’s been so long since you’ve left,” your mother says, “since you decided you were grown enough and left your family behind. How has life been for you?”

“Good.” You reply, short and curt, taking a sip from your drink.

“You seem more than good,” she continues, “I assume living with a queen gives you a lot of financial relief-”

“If you came over here to start shit, please don’t.” You quickly cut off. “One; my relationship is of no concern to you, but Shuri doesn’t pay for shit of mine that I have. I was good before I met her, and I’m still going good on my own.”

You weren’t sure where the sudden crossness came from, but you definitely knew it had something to do with your mother’s constant mention of Shuri, as if she held prominent importance tonight and not the other child she’d birthed. “And it’s Alex’s birthday. I’m here for her.”

Your mother scoffs at your words, “-and there you go, twistin’ my words around and making me seem like the enemy. I’m just trying to talk to you!”

“Bullshit,” you spit, rising from your seat in a quick bid to find a quick exit into an area more populated, and more importantly, away from her, “I’m not doing this with you.”

You turn to try and leave, but your mother continues to speak behind you, pushing you further, “you’re so ungrateful; after everything we’ve done for you, you can’t even show an ounce of respect to your own mother.”

In that moment your body froze on the steps of the gazebo. A dull chill awakens within you, spreading through your limbs, your skin nearly rising into goosebumps, before a wave of anger crashes in.

“Fine,” you mutter, “you wanna ‘talk’?”

You turn to face your mother once again, eyes burning holes into her face, which has the audacity to hold a look of shock. “Let’s fucking talk.”

“Oh, but where to begin?” You scoff. “Maybe lets talk about how you can’t seem to ever say one good thing about me. It’s always some backhanded comment that you can’t help to point out how amazing Alex was and how shitty I was in comparison-”

“-that is not true,” your mother tries to interject, “but you were - and still are - a difficult child-”

“-I wasn’t fucking difficult!” You shout, drawing a few pairs of eyes to you and your mother. “I wanted fucking attention that you weren’t giving me! And you thought beating me was the best way to get me to ‘stop acting out’?”

“It was discipline!”

“Oh, but Alex never needed it though, right?” You question. “Alex was just so perfect to yall. She got the best of everything while your little mistake became the punching bag you took your frustrations out on!”

The increasing shouting started to draw attention from the other partygoers, who muttered among themselves, wondering the reason for the altercation, questioning if they should intervene. And it only got worse when the sound of skin slapping skin echoed throughout the backyard, making the music that played from outdoor speakers seem quiet.

Your mother, the pious, religious, righteous woman she claimed to be, just slapped you in front of the rest of your family.

“What’s going on over here?” The voice of your father bellows as he approaches the gazebo, having only made his presence known after a few gasps from seeing your mother hit you.

“I will not be disrespected by you, you ungrateful wench,” your mother seethes, “I was a damn good mother to you, even when we fell on hard times. I raised you!”

“I was a fucking kid!” You yell back. “How does a fucking adult take their anger out on their own kid!?”

“And you,” comes your voice through gritted teeth upon seeing your father coming to console your mother, which seemed to anger you even more, “dear old dad, who never ‘picked a side’. You sat there and watched as she fucked up her own kid.”

Your voice comes out more strained, wavering at the sight of your father. The man you saw treat Alex like a literal princess while you could only ever dream of being treated as such. You knew the next words you’d say were going to push his buttons - perhaps part of you wanted a reaction from him that could show that maybe, somewhere inside of him, he cared when your mother didn’t.

“If anything you’re more of a bitch than her!”

You weren’t sure what scared you more in that moment; the loud grunt and your fathers arms menacingly reaching out towards you, or the flash of black that shot across your vision right before you closed your eyes shut, anticipating something to happen.

The silence was deafening as you felt your legs stumble back into something warm but you were too scared to open your eyes yet. Of all your senses that had been stricken with tension, the first to register with reality once again was your hearing.

“I want you to think carefully about your next actions,” the queen’s voice comes out hardened and unyielding, “because I can assure you, I will not have to think about mine.”

That flash of black that had crossed your vision earlier had been Shuri. And if your eyes had been open, you yourself would have shuddered at the pure rage that was present on her face.

Shuri’s hand, albeit tiny and delicate in most cases, held your father’s wrist in a right grasp, and despite the broader man's struggles to pull free, it was futile. She was not letting him go, and neither was the intensity of her stare that held your mother’s gaze.

“If you don’t let my husband go-”

“Shut. Up.” And her words were absolute, leaving no room for question. Perhaps it was part of the authoritarian aura that she’d gained from taking on her queenship that shut your mother up, but whatever the case may have been, Shuri admits that she certainly enjoyed the look of surprise on your mother’s face.

“Alex,” Shuri says, and it now becomes clear to you that the thing you had back into was your very sister. It also became clear how tight her grip on you was, as if she were scared to let you go, “take my beloved back to my car. We will be leaving shortly.”

There’s a gentle nudge and a hushed ‘c’mon’ before you feel yourself being moved sideways, then forward, Alex doing as Shuri says and relocating you to the front of her home to get you into a safer, calmer place.

It isn’t until Shuri sees your figure disappear behind the wooden fence that she releases your father’s wrist. The man winces as he regains control of his limb, his wife bringing her hands to soothe the skin where it was beginning to turn purple from just how tight her grasp was.

Shuri turns in a slow circle, eyes scanning each and every one of the individuals who’d stood by and undoubtedly watched the scene unfold, offering no sign of intervention. “This is what your family is?” She calls out. “It is sickening.”

The guilt shines in their eyes but Shuri has none of it. To her, they are all just as guilty as your parents, for they've watched the same scene unfold many times before, and just the same, no one stood up.

The queen turns back to your parents, as she bites the inside of her cheek to control her composure. “I do not know your story,” she says, “nor do I wish to, and now, nor do I care. I only leave you with this as I leave.”

Shuri takes a step forward to your parents, jaw clenched tight and piercing eyes meeting theirs once again. “My (Y/N) will be loved…as it is clearly something neither of you could bestow upon her.”

And in the same flash of black she leaves the party, that had long gone silent, and biting her tongue so hard she thought she’d draw blood.

Exitting the back yard, Shuri comes around the front to see you and Alex sitting on the porch steps. She holds a towel to your cheek, whispering to you with care about holding the cold, wet cloth gently on your cheek to battle the inflammation. It was the first and only thing she could grab without immediately leaving your side, the green garden hose still running into the grass proof of it.

It takes everything in Shuri not to run to you, to pull you into her arms and cradle you into her embrace, to shield you from the cruelness that has surely been brought back to the forefront of your mind. There’s a pit in her stomach that churns with the pain of unease, and it eats at her as she thinks; if she had just been swifter with that call with Ayo, or better yet, not even answered at all, then you wouldn’t have been left alone, and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

Shuri grows closer and realizes that the both of you are crying, and her heart tightens in her chest. She bends down to meet you on eye level, resting a soothing hand on your leg. Alex holds her head in one hand, her other still grasped tightly onto your side, holding you close to her. Shuri finally understands what Alex meant when she talked about the varying levels of harm done to the sisters in their youth. You took the physical and verbal brunt, while Alex took the emotional.

“This was not suppose to happen.” Shuri hears Alex mutter, and the queen quickly cuts in before Alex has a chance to even say as such.

“It is not your fault, Alex,” the queen asserts, “you cannot be responsible for the actions of your parents.”

Alex looks up to Shuri, sniffling as their eyes connect. A beat passes before the older sister nods, though her jaw is still tight with tension. There’s a shift in Alex’s eyes, from sadness and regret, to a hardened security.

“I need to get my house in order,” she says, glancing to her side, and reluctantly peeling her arm from around your waist, “party’s officially over.”

Alex stands to do just as she intends, and as she leaves, Shuri grows closer to you. One hand rubs circles into your knee, the other one gently lifts your face up to meet hers. Your eyes are tired, likely due to adrenaline fatigue, but your body still shakes with a light tremble.

“I am taking you home.” She says, leaving no room for argument; even though, in your current state, you couldn’t refuse her if you wanted to. So when Shuri wraps her arms around you and lifts you to your feet, you all but lean into her warmth.

And the kiss she presses into the crown of your head provides reassurance that even after the events that have unfolded, with Shuri, you will be okay.

If you enjoyed, please leave a like, comment, and reblog for others to see! And don’t be shy to send in a request!

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wonieleles · 2 months ago

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mint chocolate shirt — track 11 : fired and restraining orders 🤞

224 words + screenshots below !

with each step towards the dreaded door, the weight of your foot felt heavier as if the resistance could change your fate. i’m so screwed. you took a deep breath, bracing yourself for the hellfire you’re about to face, before following your manager into the room.

your eyes flickered throughout the room to familiarize yourself with each new face, locking at him. a hint of confusion filled his face before immediately returning to his usual smile.

“you’re here,” the director smiled, “great, let’s start now.”

worries buzzed through your mind, and his presence only confirmed it. perhaps it was foolish to assume an idol could have the same freedom as a regular girl.

“i’m sure you’re both wondering what this meeting is for. as you may know, sunghoon and wonyoung have been the mcs for music bank this past year,” the director paused waiting for confirmation, “well, music bank has decided to replace them with the two of you. so, you will work alongside one another for the indefinite future.”

disbelief flooded the two faces, mixing with differing emotions. a dream for you, yet a nightmare for jungwon. and at that moment, jungwon wished he really was fired instead.

“i believe the two of you will be professional and deliver an excellent performance. so, i’ll leave you two to get to know each other.”

SYNOPSIS. back in 2020, jungwon accidentally bumped into a girl, causing her mint chocolate chip ice cream to stain his crisp white shirt. with no time to change, jungwon had to go to his first inkigayo performance with a huge green circle on his shirt that his members constantly tease him for. now, two years later, jungwon bumps into you again, only this time, the mint chocolate chip ice cream stains your shirt.

< previous | masterlist | next >

AUTHOR’S NOTE. ermm yes it’s been like a year since i’ve updated it but better late than never right 😁👍👍 also idk if i’ll post again so sorry for leaving you guys on a cliff hanger if it is 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

if you guys liked this, please reblog or leave a comment to let me know !!

TAGLIST IN THE REBLOGS ! all taglists are currently CLOSED. please don’t send any asks or leave any comments to join.

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alpinelogy · 2 hours ago

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Fic Writer Interview

thank you for tagging me @13834. Hopefully the tag works <3

Under the cut cause I said so much help. This took like an hour?? Probably maybe even longer

How many works do you have on ao3? 16 posted as attraqtia + 6 posted on anon + 1 one I hid because I did not like it. And an extra one on my old AO3 but I'm discounting that one lmao. Also back in the day I posted on a further unspecified fanfic archive that is not AO3 (and is still around) as well as on Wattpad and ff.net but I've forgotten my username and login to all and I refuse to admit to those anyway so...

What’s your total word count? 238,447 words. Insane

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

ether strike (313 kudos)

galaxy collapse (somebody scream) (257 kudos)

home is only a town (you're just a guest) (224 kudos)

kicked out the stage lights (you’re still performing) (222 kudos)

system’s breaking down (there’s been a glitch) (214 kudos)+ because I find it funny, 6th place is shared between fill your drink with tonic gin (this is the american dream) and universum both at 187 kudos

Do you respond to comments? Why/why not? I try to (I say as if I have responded to a comment within the past several months) but I am not very good at it. Wish i could like a comment tbh, sometimes it is a idk what to say but your comment made me smile. Also I just get so much burnout I hate it here

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? Uh... probably fill your drink with tonic gin (this is the american dream). Don't really write angsty endings but this is open ended so o7

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? Heckies there are several possibilities. Ignoring pwp cause I almost exclusively write established relationship so that is technically happy;

galaxy collapse (somebody scream) is a romcom that ends in loscar happy in a relationship. Happiest ending I've written. That being said

we found wonderland (you and i got lost in it) has a less happy ending but it is significantly angstier so it has a bigger range of emotions. Same goes for kicked out the stage lights (you're still performing). Putting them together cause they both have the roughly same setup of lost contact in an angsty way

same goes for now entering a world (from which you will never return) aka timeloop. Not a super happy ending but the amount of angst makes it feel more happy I think

finally maybe we got lost (in translation) and home is only a town (you're just a guest) are both getting together fics and they end in a happy get together. So adding those as well. They are not romcoms since there is plenty of drama and angst in both

Do you write crossovers? Uh... no rules (in breakable heavens) aka cycling au is a crossover right? I took guys from media A (F1) and put them into the universe of media B (cycling). Granted they are both sports that exist in the same universe but I think this should count as a crossover to me

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Nope. Thank fucking god. In all my close to a decade of writing never and I hope it stays that way

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yeah. Mostly established relationship pwp so I am pleading to AO3 to please add tenderhorny as a tag, most of my smut involves some (mild) kinks but also the established relationship part is important!!

Only single thread of gold (tied me to you) has explicit smut and is not pwp lmao. And yeah... that also has domestic fluff as a tag so who tf knows

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Nope. Or at least no that I know of

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No... technically. Me and kiro have been floating an idea of co-writing a fic earlier this year but we never got around to it. Kiro come back from the war (US education system) I wanna co-write that fic 🥺

That being said I would love to cowrite a fic one day, it always sounds so fun!! Any writing mutuals (or non writing mutuals who even just need an emotional support writer or anything else o7) hmu I would love to co-write a fic <3

What's your all-time favourite ship? All time including previous fandoms? Bokuaka from Haikyuu!!

F1 only? Probably Piarles actually. Or Loscar or Lolex, been leaning a lot towards Lolex recently Honorary cycling mention: pogrog. The ideas people post and the few fics on AO3... Please these two intrigue me so much

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? I am eternally scared I would never finish time travel George :(((. Really wanna write it, one of these days I will lock in I promise.

What I will never actually write? The original iteration of rbr!Oscar. Idk if I ever will write a version of it, I plotted the original version in August last year and my opinion of rbr has changed since then. I have replotted some of it few months bac but idk how I feel about rbr still lmao. But I am stealing a lot of the backstory for a Merc!Oscar AU so I suppose it works out :3c

Cycling AU also used to look very different. Tbh if anyones interested I'd love to yap about it, don't think it could ever work and it was the first thing I plotted but I have a soft spot for it :). Honestly I just really wanna talk about cycling AU, I have done so much worldbuilding for it and I adore it <3

More ideas from 2023 I will never finish: a Le Mans au for a further unspecified ship, several landoscar wips, several different takes on the pierresteban beef (one day I will write one. Just the ones I have rn will never make it out of the Google docs in their current state). Several different character studies of a driver I now hate so 😂😭

What are your writing strengths? Description I think. Being ESL and having a read a lot in English as a child means that my vocabulary is wide and messy and I am willing to stick three different words with the same meaning next to each other so lol and lmao

What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue. Idk how to even talk with people irl, does anyone think I can wrote a dialogue of two people?

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Idk I'm not a huge fan unless it is to make a point? Like if you speak the language then I suppose but idk, dont vibe with it

That being said non-English pet names when relevant (ie Piarles using pet names in French) is cute :)))

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Refuse to admit to it. Second one was Naruto asdfghj

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? PIERRESTEBAN. Like my second wip ever after cycling au was pierresteban. I have always had at least one pierresteban wip. I never managed to write one that I actually liked but one of these days they will be free. Lets see if I can finish my Brazil fic (also known as azincourt so if that spawns o7) or not

Also gewis. I always forget I have not written them yet lmao, time travel George truly lives rent free in my head :)))

And one of these days I will write a proper cycling fic, not an a with the F1 guys. I just... have a weird relationship with cycling rpf on account of growing up with the sport, but I respect the work yall do and I do have the cycling rpf tag opened in a tab on my phone. One of these days I will process my thoughts on it and then write a pogrog fic o7

What's your favourite fic you've written? Heck idk. Top 3 5 in no particular order:

galaxy collapse (somebody scream) - not that good cause its close to a year old but I adore the premise, I adore the vibes, I adore her so much. She is so fun and chill I think I could've done a better job on her in hindsight so she does not get to be No1 but my beloved

now entering a world (from which you will never return) - timeloop!! Probably if I had to say just one it would be her, a labor of love, I think some bits of my thesis of the fic (trust the people around you, it is okay to rely on them at times) are clumsily executed within the actual text and in hindsight there might be bits I wanna retcon but I do adore her a lot

we found wonderland (you and i got lost in it) - my dearly beloved first proper long fic. I still regularly think about the galex in this AU. Like no joke I have made up a very cheesy and idealized and probably lowk ooc future for them that I shall not yap on here about (re: the ooc bit) but honestly, if anyone wants to know it I am willing to yap in DMs o7

kicked out the stage lights (you’re still performing) - so fun to write!! wrote across like three or four sessions, feels like a very condensed version of wonderland and yes. I may or may not have thought of what happens after as well

home is only a town (you're just a guest) - I adore soulmate AUs a lot!! It was on my bucket list to write some day and I'm so glad I finally wrote it!! I vibe with the premise so much and the world building my beloved, so many bits to explore in just Alex and Logan's upbringing (bottom line consider the fact that Charles and Alex would have a fundamentally different relationship cause Charles' soulmate is also named Alex!! Just marinate on that) + honorary mention of no rules (in breakable heavens). I was (and still am lowk) working through a burnout so she is sorta ass but its cycling au. I adore cycling au. I don't think I can put it into words how much the cycling au means to me, one of these days I will write drabbles about the other guys. Bottom line George and Alex in that AU intrigue me

Sorry for the long ass yap asdfgh. Tagging uh... @landoisokay @lafaerie @weegreenbean @autumn816 @femmegeorge @racingliners and @kiroiimye if you by any chance open Tumblr in the next few days >:) come on come back to writing

#tag game #god I yapped so much I am so sorry

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blocked-zombieartist · 1 year ago

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More reactions to the Brothers Hawthorne

Warning: Spoilers

Have a gif to hide the spoilers

I guess I can see why people want this guy to play Jamie in the tv series. I just feel like Jamie is taller and broader tbh

Reactions!

“But then it wouldn’t be a gift from his father.” Pg. 166 Jamie, my boy, my sweet precious bean let me hug you

The fight with Rohan, pg. 190: Ma sexy Jameson 🥵

Pg. 191. “Jameson excelled at pissing people off, and he’d always been taught to play to his strengths.” Lmao

pg. 194. Oh, only three broken ribs, Jamie? ONLY THREE?? Someone help this man

pg. 204, Rohan: “I’d be wagering on the likelihood that Ms. Grambs breaks up with him within the year.” Stfu Rohan, before I beat yo ass

pg. 215: Squeak and limes. That’s all imma say lol

Pg. 217: “Tobias Davenport” oh really you little shit? How bout you rise from the dead and catch these hands bro?

pg. 224 and 225, what ifs with Acacia. My sweet Gray-Gray…

pg. 230: WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WITH THE STUFF IN THE DEPOSIT BOX???

pg. 235: Okay, so you’re telling me that that damn old man straight up and told Grayson TO HIS FACE that HE was gonna inherit everything?? I swear, if that bitch wasn’t already dead I’d kill him myself

pg. 238: WHAT THE HELL IS JAMIE’S SECRET THEN, GOOD GODS

Basically all of chapter 55: STFU EVE. Bonus, pg. 268 of chapter 55: Eve- “I’m alone.” GOOD, YOU MANIPULATE, SORRY EXCUSE FOR A DUMPSTER FIRE!!! And whose fault is it that you’re alone? 🙄🙄🙄 Disgusting

Pg. 276: AHH GRAYSON’S TICKLISH?!?! I love that, thank you JLB

chapter 60: lmao, how’s that “one track mind” working for ya now, Jamie? Ya girl distracting you a lil? Lol

pg. 307-312 I cannot believe Emily. Bloody hell, two brothers within ten seconds. Good gods, girl belonged on the streets

Pg. 318: THE KEY ON THE COVER???

pg. 336: lol, Gigi’s reaction to shirtless Nash

chapter 75: STFU IAN YOU SORRY EXCUSE YOU DO NOT DESERVE MY JAMESON

PG. 358: AVERY—“You’re better than fine.” PARALLEL TO PAGE 223 IN THE INHERITANCE GAMES?!?!? THE BATHROOM SCENE? WHEN JAMIE SAID TO HER THAT SHE IS “BETTER THAN OKAY”??? HELLO?? I jumped up to grab TIG so fast when I read that. Also: POWER COUPLE ❤️❤️❤️

All of chapter 76 really. What a climactic character.

#the inheritance games #grayson hawthorne #jameson hawthorne #nash hawthorne #avery kylie grambs #xander hawthorne #AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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im-totally-not-an-alien-2 · 2 years ago

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I posted 541 times in 2022

That's 541 more posts than 2021!

317 posts created (59%)

224 posts reblogged (41%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mikami1992

@im-totally-not-an-alien-2

@stealingyourbones

@ashoutinthedarkness

@maribatshipper

I tagged 443 of my posts in 2022

Only 18% of my posts had no tags

#danny phantom - 224 posts

#dp x dc - 209 posts

#fanfiction prompts - 197 posts

#prompts - 193 posts

#danny fenton - 190 posts

#batman - 104 posts

#the alien answers - 102 posts

#robin - 74 posts

#tim drake - 65 posts

#damian wayne - 65 posts

Longest Tag: 134 characters

#tim does not get coffee though and hes mad about it but he also really likes how the water in his tiny bird bath feels on his feathers

My Top Posts in 2022:

Au where Danny somehow managed to wipe any proof of his existence from the face of the planet, including the memories people had of him. He tells himself this was fine. Better than fine actually.

This just means that his loved ones were less likely to get hurt in the crossfire. Also Vlad is now clueless as to why he's in Amity in the first place and as Mayor no less. He resigns within a week to go back to Wisconsin after three days of nonstop blathering from Jack.

Danny basically starts living in a lake in the woods, its not like he needs to breath and he finds the water calming. Also the fish are friendly. Plus there's a cave nearby if he needed to stay in human form for whatever reason.

He had water and shelter, down now he just needed access to food unless he wanted to eat his new fish friends.

This is when Danny learned he could use the weird magical girl ring to shape-shift into other people.

So he got into the habit of transforming into one of the residents of a house and raiding the pantries.

This turned out to be a pretty open secret amongst the people of Amity Park. They knew it was Phantom, primarily because he's a terrible liar but also because people have cell phones and communicate.

This is never really an issue since no one tells the Fentons or the Feds. At least, it wasn't an issue until the Justice League came sniffing around. The people of Amity have only become more untrusting of the government as years passed and became equally as protective over thier local ghostboy. So everytime they came around no one but the Fentons would say anything to them other than, "Leave." Or "You're not wanted here." Before walking away.

It was a day like any other for Phantom. Some teens had rented out a house in town, likely to experience the most haunted town in America. Whatever. Teens always bring the best snacks.

So he transformed into the cute redheaded guy right after they left and walked past the living room towards the kitchen like he's done a dozen times before.

"Uh, Wally?" Dannys head whipped around to see the black haired teen sitting on the couch, his blue eyes wide with shock and worry. The one with a Superman t-shirt on. "Are you ok? Your heartbeat is really slow."

Danny could only think of one word to sum up this situation. Fuuuuuckk

3,268 notes - Posted June 13, 2022

Au where all the ghosts hide thier real names on instinct, not only because knowing a ghosts name gives you power over them but because you could use thier name to potentially find thier grave through magic or Google.

Once you find thier bones there's no shortage of what you could do.

Due to the nature of Embers obsession she isn't able to hide her name and during a fight she reveals to Phantom she lives in a constant state of anxiety fearing someone might find her body and use it against her

Phantom knocks on her door a week later with not only her body but her entire casket floating behind him. She's oddly touched. This is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for her. Word, of course, spreads of this and other spirits ask him to do the same for them and are willing to make deals

Another week later Batman is investigating all the robbed graves and trying to figure out wtf is going on

Edit: Yes the removal of the caskets cause the graves to sink in and thats how Batman is alerted to the issue. I had left this as an implication but felt the need to clarify due to people talking about it in the notes.

Edit 2: You could also have a grave keeper see Phantom stealing caskets and alert authorities. Whats more this is likely happening in more than just Gotham. You could also have another ghost/ a magic user see this super powerful spirit robbing graves and being like, "Well that seems ominous. I should tell someone about that."

Please forgive me for adding more, I have no control over myself

3,286 notes - Posted June 29, 2022

Au where Danny ends up in Gotham and gets saved by the birds while in human form. He starts pseudo haunting them before returning to Amity Park.

He frequently pops back in to Gotham to invisibility give gifts to the batfam.

Dick gets circus themed things that seem to move around the manor when no one is looking.

Stephanie and Tim both get comics, manga and movies from different dimensions and its only once they start looking up fandoms/ going on Twitter do they realize that these manga/movies apparently don't exist.

The same thing happens with Jason and books. The weird part is that after he finishes reading one of the books for the nth time, (the ones that he and Duke swears glow) and finally retires it to the shelf they disappear. This only happens with the glowey books though. He gets to keep the others

Damian keeps getting new swords, which everyone but him has a problem with.

Duke keeps getting things that activate his powers and he can't really make heads or tails from most of it.

Cass gets lots of soft things like stuffed animals that are nice for hugs and other sensory reasons and dance stuff. Her favorite so far is a gigantic bat in a tutu.

Barbara and Tim (he gets double i guess) both get tech stuff that they've never seen before and make a hobby of reverse engineering the new product of the week.

Alfred gets all sorts of gag gifts like an apron that says "I'm the real boss here" and a mug that has a fancy mustache on the bottom that matches his real one

Bruce gets almost exclusively much bat themed gifts.

No one is sure where the stuff is coming from (and in Jason's case where its going) but they all assume its someone else in the family doing it because its themed around both thier hero and thier personal interests. It finally comes to a head when the batfam are all out together when they come home to find a beautiful and ornate sword laying on the kitchen table for Damian and they all simultaneously realize no one had been home to put it there.

Alfred gets the shotgun while everyone else enters detectives mode.

Danny himself doesn't even realize the extent in which he's been messing with them and doesn't really think past the, "I hope they like their gifts" thing.

3,345 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

Au where Danny gets deaged by a magical artifact in the GZ and gets lost in a different dimension with Cujo. While exploring Gotham as Phantom he decides to play up the little kid routine and use his puppy friend to do it.

At this point Danny had finally trained the pup and he actually listened to him. Needless to say there's a certain flock of bats and birds who keep pestering him at night. All he's trying to do is explore the city and play with his dog. Is that so bad?

Danny doesnt usually bother hiding from them. Not much point considering he shines like a spotlight in Gothams gloom anytime he's in his phantom form. Plus Cujo is glowy and green, so that doesn't help matters.

Danny usually runs them on a wild goose chase in the name of "Tag" before disappearing. He stole Batmans cape by phasing it off of him and he now uses it as a blanket at night (its surprisingly warm), he stole another one at Red Hoods request and gave it to him, he's set up play dates between Cujo and Harleys hyenas, he's pied Joker in the face, he's pet Penguins pet penguins right in front of him, he's been trapped in an elevator with Brucie Wayne for two hours, he's had a tea party with Catwomans cats and may have broken into her apartment to do it, he's kidnapped Red Robin and made him go to the park and play on the swings with him, he's gotten into actual fights with Robin and last but not least, he came up with the Puppy Paw of Approval.

---

Nightwing stared at the kid they had been chasing every other night for the last three months now, confused. "Whats the Puppy Paw of Approval?"

The kid moved the puppy, Cujo (which Jason finds hilarious) up in front of his face, holding him there by his armpits.

The dog was making the "no thoughts head empty" face with his tongue sticking out just a smidge. Dick was tempted to coo. "The Puppy Paw of Approval is an award! Arf!" The kid said in a higher pitched pretend voice.

"Its awarded to people we really really like! Arf!"

Nightwing gasped dramatically, playing along with the boy, "You really like me that much?"

"Of course!" The boy floated over to Dick and places one of the dogs paws on the man's chest. "Da da da daaa!" The kid sang, "You now have the Puppy Paw of Approval!"

The vigilante sniffled, "I will always cherish this! Thank you!"

The kid giggled and Cujo barked at him. The little green rottweiler panted up at him with a giants smile and his little nub tail wagging a mile and minute.

God, Nightwing couldn't wait for his newest little brother to join the family.

Dick was dismayed to learn he was actually the second person to get the PPA. The first being Tim, the third being Harley and the forth being Catwoman. Ivy was apparently salty about not getting one but the kid was scared of her for some reason.

Danny makes friends with lots of people throughout the city. Scarecrow learns of the bats recruitment attempts on this boy and decides to use the fear toxin on him. This has the unexpected outcome of making the child cry.

And then the whole city was out for his head.

3,508 notes - Posted August 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Theres a new mom and pop coffee shop in Gotham that's doing pretty well. The place has a casual playful vibe but it only ever has one employee, which has lead to it having a bit of a urban myth status.

He's there through all the opening hours and no one ever sees him come or go, only the lights switching off and the teen disappearing.

It probably doesn't help that the shop has a ghost themed name.

His name tag reads, "Nightingale" and he always has a polite smile, but the few who dare to act out in his shop notice his eyes flash a particular shade of green and are suddenly overcome with the feeling that they're being stared down by a large apex predator and a sickening sense of dread.

Needless to say people behave in his shop.

Whats more is that his store shows up on county records just fine, but if you try to look into anything your computer glitches out and you can't find anything. Obviously "Nightingale" can't be the owner, he looks only 15. Some say he's a vampire, others say he's a zombie like Red Hood.

Tim doesn't care what he is because the first time he entered at night as Red Robin the guy immediately started making a coffee were he could see, made it exactly how he liked it and gave it to him before he even had the chance to order. Then he refused his money, saying it was on the house.

None of the people waiting in line argued or were upset and Tim was unsure if that was because he was a well known Gotham vigilante or it Nightingales reputation protected him.

Either way the coffee was delicious.

Tim didn't know how to feel when he found out his family was investigating the "possible runaway" who worked at the coffee shop.

3,554 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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bratshaws · 1 year ago

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through the hourglass 259. brb x oc

a/n: cuteness cuteness uwu (comments and reblogs are super welcome and encouraged!)

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: none uwu

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

/210/211/212/213/214/215/216/217/218/219/220/221/222/223/224

/225/226/227/228/229/230/231/232/233/234/235/236/237/238

/239/240/241/242/243/244/245/246/247/248/249/250/251/252

/253/254/255/256/257/258

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! )

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @novastories @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix @lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

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Rooster was busy, well,sort of. He had Nicole on his chest, basically sitting on his stomach as she sucked on her bottle. Her father was playing Call of Duty with the guys, it’s been a long while since he did anything of the sort.

Jake and Coyote were the only ones online since everyone else was at the bar.

“I thought you’d go with Bea tonight.” he hears Coyote through the headset, “Since it’s her first night back after giving birth to the kids.”

Rooster leaned back slightly on the couch, trying to get comfortable with Nicole on his chest while still holding the controller. "Yeah," he replied, "And who’d be with Nicole?"

“You could always ask her parents,” Jake adds

“Would you do that? Talk with Cyclone since he is your father in law?” silence, ‘I didn’t think so. Besides, her parents need a break from grandchildren. Plus I don’t mind staying with Nikki.”

“Wait,Nikki is there?”

Rooster looks down at his daughter who’s happily eating - holding the bottle by herself too - while keeping her eye on the…constant shooting going on in front of her, “Yeah, she’s with me.” he frowns, “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Playing a violent war game while she’s here…”

Coyote chuckled on the other end of the headset. "Yeah, probably not the best idea, Rooster," he said, his tone amused. "I mean, she's not even a year old yet, and you've got her witnessing virtual warfare."

Rooster sighed and set down his controller, carefully lifting Nicole from his chest. "You're right," he admitted. "I'll just have to stick to more baby-friendly games when she's around."

Jake chimed in with a grin in his voice. "Or you could give her a controller that's not connected and let her pretend to play. Start training her early!"

Rooster couldn't help but laugh at the suggestion. "Maybe in a few years," he replied but Nicole appeared very interested in that idea. ‘...hm.” he did place the other controller in front of her as she leaned back on the couch, her light green eyes staring down at it before she slapped her hands on it repeatedly.

The clicking and wobbling sound was enough to keep her distracted, so Rooster decided that he could go back to the game after a few seconds. She was just by his left after all. “Alright,” he says, placing the headset back on, “I’m back on it,guys.”

Rooster settled back into the game, the sounds of gunfire and explosions filling his ears as he engaged in virtual warfare with his friends. Nicole, on the other hand, was fascinated by the controller in front of her, her tiny hands batting at the buttons and joysticks. Rooster couldn't help but steal a glance at her every now and then, making sure she was content and safe.

As the game progressed, Rooster's focus shifted entirely to the action on the screen. He was deep in concentration, strategizing with Jake and Coyote as they navigated the game. The headset buzzed with their voices, coordinating their moves and communicating with the rest of their team.

Nicole, on the other hand, had grown tired of the controller and was now happily babbling to herself, seemingly entertained by the sights and sounds of the game. Rooster couldn't help but smile at her antics, even as he continued to play.

The game was intense, and the competition was fierce. Rooster's heart raced as he engaged in virtual battles, his reflexes put to the test.

At one point, Nicole decided to try her hand at crawling, and Rooster glanced down just in time to see her little hands and knees on the floor. He quickly paused the game and gently scooped her up, placing her back on his lap. "No crawling during game time, little one," he said with a chuckle, earning a gurgling response from Nicole.

Coyote's voice came through the headset. "Everything okay over there, Rooster?"

Rooster nodded, his attention divided between the game and Nicole. "Yeah, just a baby on the move," he replied. "I've got it under control."

Jake laughed. "You're in for a whole new level of multitasking, my friend."

“Why?” he asks, setting Nicole next to him, ‘Jake Jr. being a handful?”

“Still can’t believe you naked your son after you.”

“Shut up,Coyote. Also yes, he’s barely a few weeks old and he’s…loud.” Jake replies just as he shoots a few other enemies “A few days ago he started crying and when I went to check on him, nothing was wrong. He just stopped when Evelyn showed up.”

Rooster chuckled at Jake's comment. "Sounds like he knows how to keep you on your toes," he said, his eyes darting back to the game screen as he resumed playing. "And hey, he's just following in his old man's footsteps, causing a ruckus."

Coyote chimedin. "Must be a family trait, then," he said, his character in the game providing covering fire for Rooster's advance. "Also Jake Jr. is a mama’s boy, that’s obvious.”

“I hate you two.”

“Love you too,Jake.”

With the conversation being so light, Rooster didn’t want to ruin with what he wanted to ask. In fact, he pondered if he should…but what happened between Mark and McAllister bothered him to no end, he really wanted his friends’ opinions on it.

Coyote's character was in the middle of a firefight when Rooster finally broached the topic. "Hey, guys," he began tentatively, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Coyote glanced at Rooster's character on the screen while still keeping his trigger finger busy. "Shoot, what's on your mind, Rooster?" he snorts “Get it? Shoot,hahah.”

Jake, on the other hand, was fully engaged in the game, tossing grenades and taking down enemies with precision. "Yeah, man, spill the beans," he said, his focus unwavering.

Rooster took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. "So, you remember Mark Halton, right?" he began, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb Nicole, who was now attempting to stack her building blocks on the couch.

"Of course," Coyote replied. "Who doesn’t?"

"Well, something weird happened the other day. He invited Bea and me to dinner at his place with his wife, Miranda. It was...odd. But I told you guys about that already, it’s about him trying to befriend McAllister and the other recruits."

Coyote’s character popping out from cover to take out an enemy. "What's the deal with this guy, anyway? There's something fishy going on."

Rooster nodded, his character in the game moving cautiously through a virtual warzone as he continued to explain. "Yeah, that's the thing. It's not just the dinner itself; it's the way he's been acting. And McAllister said that he thought him and I were friends."

Jake snorted over the headset “Yeah,right," he commented. "Why would he be so interested in McAllister and the others? And what's in it for him?"

"That's what I can't figure out," Rooster admitted, his character's movements mirroring his contemplation, he just kept himself hidden for the time being. "I mean, it could be harmless, but something about it just feels off."

Coyote took a moment to reload his virtual weapon before responding. "I don’t think it’s like that man. Didn’t you also say he was kind of hounding Mav too?"

Rooster leaned back on his couch, rubbing his temples. "Yeah. He was. Mav was…he didn’t like it,” his uncle used other words but wouldn’t be too far behind, “You guys know how he is, he doesn’t like the whole fanfare about his accomplishments.”

Coyote's character moved in-game, expertly dodging enemy fire as he spoke. "Yeah, Mav's always been low-key about stuff. Doesn't like the spotlight."

Jake's character was still dishing out damage left and right. "So, this Halton dude is all over the place, trying to buddy up with Mav and inviting you guys for dinner. What's his game, though?"

"That's the million-dollar question," Rooster replied, his virtual character sneaking up behind an enemy and taking them down with a silent takedown. "He's been acting really friendly, but it feels forced, you know? And he's got this way of making you feel like you owe him something."

Coyote hummed , taking cover behind a virtual crate. "I get it. Like he's buttering you up for something, but you're not sure what."

“I…guess?” Rooster says quietly, “But I don’t get it, he’s been hounding me,Mav and everyone else for weeks now…and Miranda annoys Bea to now end, I have to say, she even talked back to that woman at dinner.”

Coyote's character expertly maneuvered through the warzone, taking down enemies left and right. "Yeah, that Miranda woman sounds like a piece of work," he commented, his voice filled with irritation. "I can't stand people who think they're better than everyone else."

Rooster's character was providing cover fire as he responded, his mind still troubled by the situation. "I don't know, guys. It's all just so strange. He acts like we're old buddies or something, but I barely know the guy."

Jake’s character tossed another grenade, taking out a group of virtual enemies. "You should be careful, man," he cautioned. "Don’t give them too much ground to maneuver."

Rooster nodded in agreement, his character switching to a sniper rifle as they moved to a vantage point. "Yeah, I've got that feeling too," he admitted. "But what could he possibly want from us? We're just regular people living our lives."

Coyote’s character led the charge again, pushing forward in the game. "Well, we're not just regular people, Rooster. You're a respected officer in the Navy, Mav is a decorated war hero, and we're all part of a tight-knit community. Maybe he's after connections or something."

Jake chimed in after killing a few more people "That could be it. Maybe he sees us as a way to climb some social or career ladder."

Rooster's character took out an enemy sniper with a well-placed shot. "It's possible, but it still doesn't explain the weird dinner invitation and all the other stuff. And why is he so fixated on McAllister and the other recruits?"

“Hell if I know.”

“Well,” Coyote begins “You lead McAllister’s squad at the last mission when uhhh…Jaws and Raptor fucked up.”

"Yeah," he responded thoughtfully, "I unfortunately remember that day.."

Jake's character managed to kill three people in one go and he couldn’t help the delighted ‘woo!’ before he spoke again. "Doesn’t make a lot of sense honestly.”

“It doesn’t.” Rooster agrees, sighing through his nose while looking over at Nicole. His daughter was still happily playing with her blocks on the couch, with Eleanor coming over to sniff her before she trotted off to bark at the door, “Seems too much, I mean,we both are pilots. We are both in the Navy…what else would there be to talk about? Do you…guys think he’s jealous?

“Maybe.”

“Yeah,maybe. I mean, I won’t lie Rooster, he did try to talk to everyone at some point,isn’t that right Jake?” Jake hums positively on the headset “And we don’t really know how to talk to the guy, especially since we heard from you that he has family on the higher ups. Do we even know who it could be?’

The virtual battleground around them was a chaotic mix of explosions, gunfire, and shouts, but their discussion carried on uninterrupted through their headsets.

Chaos everywhere it seemed.

"Yeah, you're right," Rooster replied, his character maintaining a vigilant watch over the battlefield. "It's strange how he's so… fixated is all."

Coyote then asked, “...you guys think he’s going to join us in the coming deployment?”

Silence for a few seconds.

Then Jake replies with “I guess so? I haven’t seen anything in the file though.”

“Lovely.” Rooster mutters while moving the joystick about, “I mean,I’ll be doing my job like I always do but, he better not act how he did at dinner.” he says, “Him and his wife already bothered me and Bea enough.” he then sighs, checking the time and then looking back at Nicole, “Guys, quick break,Nikki has to eat.”

“Yeah,me too man.”

“I have to check on the little man.” Jake says, his voice growing distant but he kept explaining how Jake Jr. was a bit fussy that night. Rooster, once he’s done playing, stretches his arms above his head and groans happily, rubbing his face with both hands before looking back at Nicole.

She was still happily playing, bottle empty and forgotten by her side as she balances the blocks on the futon, only looking back when she felt eyes on her, “Dada!” she giggles, then points at the ‘sculpture’ she just made with pride…and a lot of baby noises.

"Hey there, birdie," Rooster cooed, brushing a lock of hair from Nicole's face. "You're quite the artist, aren't you?Just like mama." He admired the block arrangement she had crafted, feigning astonishment with a playful gasp. Nicole giggled in response, her bright eyes filled with joy.

"Yeah, you've got some serious talent," Rooster continued, grinning as he played along with her. "I think you've outdone Picasso with this one, sweetheart." he frowns, “Did Picasso sculpt? I gotta ask Bea when she gets back. But now-” he picks Nicole up and stands from the couch,”Time for your dinner, baby girl.”

Rooster cradled Nicole in his arms as he made his way to the kitchen, leaving behind the virtual battlefield.

Rooster gently set Nicole down in her high chair, strapping her in securely. Her small hands reached out, grasping at the colorful toys hanging from the tray of the chair, a little world of her own.

As Rooster prepared Nicole's dinner, he couldn't help but check his phone for any message from Bea. He was aware it was about time for her break, so they could talk a little bit before she got back to work.

Roos (20:08)

Hey :) <3

Roos (20:08)

Just wanted to check on you,gorgeous. Everything good there?

Her message popped a few seconds after

Bea (20:09)

Hi Roos! Everything is great! The bar is packed but I’m not as rusty as I thought i was.I’m still serving people as before ! How are you and Nikki? Everything alright?

Roos (20:10)

We're good over here, gorgeous. Nicole just created a masterpiece with her building blocks, and now she's eagerly waiting for her dinner. How's the crowd at the bar tonight? Any interesting stories?

Bea (20:11)

Haha, sounds like you two are having fun! Oh, you know, the usual mix of characters at the bar. There's a group of regulars playing darts in the corner, and there's this guy who keeps insisting he can sing like Sinatra and trying to touch the piano. It's always entertaining, that's for sure.

Rooster couldn't help but smile at Bea's response. Even though they were physically apart, it felt like she was right there with him, sharing the little moments of their lives.

Or maybe,just maybe, he was clingy and needed his wife.

Roos (20:13)

I wish I could be there to hear Sinatra wannabe and tell him to not touch the piano because that’s my thing. Nicole misses her mama, though. She keeps pointing at your picture on the fridge and saying, "Mama."

Bea (20:15)

Aww, my heart! Tell Nicole that Mama misses her too, and I'll be home before she knows it.

As Rooster finished preparing Nicole's dinner—a small bowl of mashed sweet potatoes and peas— he glanced at Nicole and whispered, "Mama will be home soon, baby girl." Nicole responded with a toothy grin, her eyes still fixated on the colorful toys.

Roos (20:17)

I'll be sure to pass on the message. Can't wait for you to be back home with us. By the way, did Picasso sculpt anything? You are the one with a degree in visual arts and you are smart with that part.

Bea (20:19)

Yes, he had a few done. Why?

Roos (20:21)

I called Nikki Picasso and I didn’t even know if I should,heh.

Bea (20:23)

Haha! Well, Picasso is a pretty cool nickname, I must say. Maybe she'll be the next artistic genius in the family.

Roos (20:25)

Wouldn't be surprised if she was. She's got her mama's talent, that's for sure.

Bea (20:27)

Flatterer. Anything else going on?

Roos (20:29)

Well, besides Nicole's newfound talent as a block architect, not much happening on my end. Just the usual work stuff, you know how it is. But I just played some Call of Duty with the guys…and yeah that’s it.

Beatrice hummed on the other end and he knew she didn’t believe him, he still had to share about what Mark did at the base when she gets back.

Bea (20:29)

Well,alright…hey,can you come pick me up? Shells is leaving early and she was my ride until then.

Roos (20:29)

Um,yes?Absolutely. I miss you so much :)

Bea (20:30)

You are too cute…see you soon then?

Roos (20:30)

You bet gorgeous ;)

#bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x oc #top gun maverick #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw x named reader #tgm oc #tgm fic #tgm fanfiction

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heartlandians · 8 months ago

Text

Filling Empty Spaces (Amy/Mitch), part 224

Mitch and Amy find an unexpected connection due to absent lovers. Set around season 11->.

A/N: I didn’t have a beta for this story, so hopefully there won’t be too many grammar errors.

****

The deck at the back of Leah's house continued the homely feel the house had had. When Mitch stepped out first to keep the door open for her, he could tell from the way that it had been maintained and set up that this was a spot the couple living in the house liked to spend a lot of their time at and maybe entertain some guests too.

Even though the rectangle shape was simple, Leah and Brett had divided the space wisely by having the two ends serve different needs.

They had a couch with big cushions and two folding chairs in the other end around a small table, further from the door, where various big plants in their earthy-colored pots helped divide the space but also provided some privacy for conversations you could have way pass your bed time.

On the other end, closer to where he was now standing, Mitch could see a heavy looking table made out of wood and one long patio bench on each side, allowing six people to dine out, if needed.

Next to them, they had a grill.

"Do you use that a lot?" Mitch asked out of a personal curiosity, nodding toward the grill, when Leah walked over to the dining table and set the tray on it.

She glanced at the thing and nodded. "When Brett's home, yeah. He loves having people over for barbecue. I try to take it a little lighter with meat these days."

"Sounds like my kind of guy", Mitch said with a smile and sat down while Leah served them the lemonade.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, her head tilted toward him.

"Well, I actually have a beef business with this other, local cowboy", he explained. "A rodeo legend, actually."

Leah's lips curved into a smile. "So, wait... Am I understanding this right... You never left Hudson?" she checked, surprised.

From what she could remember, Mitch had always talked about doing a bit of traveling after school, before he would be ready to settle down anywhere. He had been a small town boy at heart, but Leah had always thought maybe the world would change his mind.

"Well, I left", Mitch corrected her, "but I came back."

"Your dad must be happy", Leah said, gesturing Mitch to take his glass when the lemonade had been poured. "The Saddle Road Ranch's story continues."

Mitch hummed. "Oh, he probably would have been, if that had been what had happened", he agreed. "But... it's more complicated than that."

Leah sat down when she had poured herself the drink as well. She cradled the glass and enjoyed its faint cold feel against her palms while she examined Mitch's face.

"Complicated, how?" she was curious.

"I was away, overseas, when my dad had to make the big decision to sell the ranch", Mitch shared. "I guess he was always hoping that I would be the one to take over, even though he never really vocalized it, but even though I was a little lost after high school, he knew that ranching wasn't my plan, hence why I pursued other things."

Leah nodded. "I see..."

"Of course when I came back to help him with the downsizing, I felt... sad. But not because I had not taken that chance, more like because... that was my childhood home. My roots", Mitch recapped.

Leah nodded, looking down. "I get that. -- Yet, here you are, living the cowboy life again?" she continued the conversation, eyeing Mitch's look that clearly gave away his lifestyle.

Mitch let out a laugh, spreading his arms a little bit, as if to promote it too.

"Yeah, here I am. Funny how life works. You spend years and years thinking the ranching life isn't for you and then you live a little, but end up coming back and loving every second of it...."

"I guess you have to know what you'd be missing out before you can decide you aren't actually missing out much?" she offered.

Mitch shrugged. "Guess so."

"So, you have your own ranch now then?" Leah checked.

"No. I have a house, but I lease the land. I have a horse, though. Well, two horses, but the other one is keeping my horse company", Mitch explained. "He's not an active working horse."

"Gosh, this takes me back..." Leah said, shaking her head as she reminisced those days of their teenage years and the ranching lifestyle of Hudson. "Riding and all that. I haven't done that in ages... I remember liking it, but... I guess the horse girl life just wasn't for me overall."

Mitch looked around. "Well, you never know. You have a lot of grassland here; horse would fit right in", he added with a wink.

"Oh no, I think we're happy with just having a dog", Leah insisted, the smile never leaving her face, "and with the baby on the way, it's about to get busy."

Mitch nodded. "Yeah, for sure."

"What about you? Any kids?" Leah asked.

"Oh, no", Mitch shook his head and taking a sip of the drink.

"Anyone special, at least?" she teased him.

Mitch couldn't bury his smile, so it wasn't hard for Leah to read him.

"That's a yes", she concluded, but figured since he had not said anything, maybe he wanted to keep that under wraps. "How are your parents then?"

Mitch inhaled deeply, thinking about what to say.

Her mom and dad had always liked Leah, so the question wasn't just out of politeness, he knew, as Leah had spent a lot of time at the ranch, getting familiar with their way of life and simultaneously pretty much becoming part of the family.

"They're good now. Living in a condo in Calgary", Mitch summarized. "My mom... she, uh, she had a stroke few years ago."

"Oh, no..." Worry colored Leah's face. "Is she-- is she okay?"

"Yeah, she is now", he assured. "That was the reason why they had to sell the ranch and why I came back and... well, it was just a messy stage in my life overall", he added before he would get into any type of long-winded explanation, "but... she uses a wheelchair now. She's not as active as she used to be, but still pretty sharp."

"I'm glad she survived", Leah said. She fiddled her glass, feeling like it was an appropriate time to update Mitch about her parents too. "I lost my dad to cancer six years ago. So it's just me and mom now."

"Oh... I'm sorry for your loss", Mitch extended his condolences.

Leah nodded. "Thanks. It all happened so suddenly; he got the diagnosis and within months... he was gone. Still hard to believe it sometimes."

"Yeah, I bet", he said, feeling like he knew something about that too.

Almost like reading his mind, Leah decided to change the subject, but still keeping it in the family. Unfortunately she was unknowingly keeping it in the passed on family members.

"You and Zach still up to no good?" Leah guessed as it almost sounded like nothing had really changed in Mitch's life, even though he had apparently taken few side steps to try things out.

Mitch felt like the air from his lungs suddenly got clogged.

His face turned stony, and he cleared his throat.

"Uh, actually, no..." Mitch said, feeling the catch-up taking a turn, but maybe Leah deserved to know, seeing she and Zach had once been friends too. "He... He actually died few years ago."

Leah placed down the glass with a slow movement, as if she was scared to break the moment. Her expression was shocked, but she was trying to hold it back a little bit.

"Oh... I'm-- I had no idea. I'm really sorry to hear that, Mitch. I know how close you were."

Mitch nodded. "Thanks."

A pregnant pause fell between them, and Leah knew that response all too well as it was something she often came across with whenever she told people about her dad's passing.

She knew from her own experience that she didn't really like dwelling in the sad, the suffering or the loss - the last moments - but instead loved whenever people told her memories about her father she had not heard before.

She even loved the stories that she had heard million times in the past but that helped keep him alive in her memories - and also in other people's minds.

Those comforting thoughts.

The worst part about losing someone you had loved was the fear of forgetting them.

So, she decided a similar approach with this as well.

"Whenever I thought of you, I thought of Zach too", Leah hummed softly, thinking back warmly to Mitch's cousin who had always felt more like his brother. "Every time it snows, I think about that time we tied fastening straps at the back of a truck and sat down on a that... slippery kind of rubber tire that made skiing behind the truck easy..." she tried to describe the situation and it instantly sparked a reaction in Mitch as well.

"Oh yeah, and that one time the engine cut off abruptly, and Zach just kept going", Mitch recalled, letting out a laugh, but then crinkled his brows. "We really thought he was a goner..."

"Oh my god, yes!" Leah remembered and almost gasped, still remembering watching if Zach was going to make it through the rearview mirror. "I don't know how we survived from some of the things we did..."

"Yeah, we could have seriously gotten hurt so many times", Mitch agreed.

"And it was always you two boneheads that came up with the ideas. You were inseparable...'' Leah hummed.

"That's how I always thought of us too", Mitch admitted, looking down at the lemonade. "Or... in most cases, where Zach went, I'd follow. And yeah, maybe there were few times that it was me who came up with some stupid idea and I didn't have to convince him too much to join... But turns out there's one thing that can separate us..."

Leah nodded, studying Mitch's expression.

"How are you handling that?" she asked with concern.

Mitch put down the glass and opened his palms a little bit, almost like gesturing that he didn't really have words.

"It depends. It's a strange feeling... Like this hole in me, always, with everything I do, but then... life has been built around it. It never went away, but things just... kept moving forward. I didn't think they would, but they did. In a way it's sad."

Leah nodded, understanding that.

"Like my first birthday after his passing", Mitch recalled, "it was like I refused to age, because... then we wouldn't be doing that together. I'd become older, but he never would. -- Like I said, we always did everything together - and suddenly we didn't. He stayed back-- no matter what, I never let that happen when he was alive; if he got in trouble, I was willing to get in trouble too, just so he wouldn't have to do that alone. But now... there is a division; almost like life in two acts."

Leah nodded.

"Did you get any support in the grieving process?" she wondered.

"I mean, yeah... I had Melanie, but then sometimes I just wanted that grief to be... private and sort of isolated myself with it. Everyone's grief is personal because he meant such different things for us all. Besides, she had enough to deal with that as it was", Mitch shared, sighing.

"You still keep in touch with Mel?"

Mitch nodded. "Oh yeah, we're still close. If I want to talk about him, that's who I talk to. I think - besides Zach's parents - he was the closest to us two, so... it's like a shared cut we try to mend together."

"That's good", Leah stated. "I'm glad you're not alone with that."

"Yeah", Mitch agreed. "Anyway, I didn't mean to make this meeting so grim..."

"No, it's fine", Leah assured, "I've learned that grief and loss is part of life just as much as happiness and every other experience is too. The call line I work for deals with a similar thing, so I'm sort of... used to it - if I can say that. It's better to talk about it than not."

"Oh?" Mitch welcomed the slight shift in the conversation and took his glass to have a sip. The sparkly taste of the lemon burned his lips.

Leah nodded, thinking about what to say before she continued.

"Well, I can't tell the details, because it's confidental, but after I got help myself, I wanted to pay that forward and help others", Leah explained. "Sometimes it's easiest to tell about your experience to someone who doesn't even know who you are."

Without meaning it, the conversation had arrived to a place that gave Mitch an opening to bring up the reason why he had thought about seeing Leah again in the first place.

No matter how much he would have prepped himself for this, he didn't think he would ever know the right thing to say.

"When you say you got help yourself... are you talking about the loss of your dad, or...?" Mitch asked carefully.

Leah's eyes focused on his.

"I mean I got help long before that", she explained. "Due to... what happened to me in high school."

The atmosphere changed slightly, but neither of them seemed like they were in a hurry to back down, even though the state of this unresolved situation lingered between them.

It was as if they were both trying to have a faith in each other in this moment, hoping they would proceed with the empathy the situation called for.

Mitch was glad it had been Leah who had brought it up, because then it would be on her terms, and he didn't have to risk triggering her.

"Actually... I've thought about that a lot. Over the years, but... lately again", Mitch confessed. "I don't like how things ended between us. I feel like... I let you down."

Leah tilted her head a little to the left. "What makes you say that?"

Her voice was calm, sympathetic even.

"I didn't know how to support you the way you probably needed me to", he sighed. "I know it's been years now and it's too little, too late, but..."

A hum pushed through Leah's mouth. "To be honest, I didn't even know what kind of support I needed at the time, so I couldn't have told you that even if I had tried. And I don't think you would have been able to guess that because... it took me a long time to get my voice back again."

"I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry what you had to go through", Mitch finally said, not knowing what else there was to say.

Leah was moved by it, even though for the most part she was able to speak about it in a calm manner these days.

"Thank you for saying that. I know you wanted to help, because I know how you are like, but... I wasn't in a state of mind to accept any help at that point. It's strange how our minds work", Leah shared her thoughts. "I wanted it, I needed it, but... I didn't allow myself to have it."

She looked around, trying to find a metaphor to explain it.

"It's almost like you get struck by lightning; you never think about that happening to you, but when it does, it's all you can ever think about. You lose that illusion of safety, and I don't know if you can ever really get it back. Every loud noise suddenly sends your body in a full panic mode. I didn't let anyone get close to me for a long time. My mind and body held onto that memory very strongly."

"I get that", Mitch said. "Did they ever find out who... did it?"

Leah shook her head. "No. Back then the resources were limited with that kind of stuff and, well, things of that nature were usually pinned on the victim. Besides, I feel like even if they had tracked them down, the damage had already been done; I couldn't trust anyone because my mind thought that now I knew anyone could be capable of that kind of... evil."

Listening to it made Mitch feel sad. How lonely that must have been.

Thankfully it was evident that something had changed since then.

"But now you have Brett", he brought up, almost like throwing her a life vest as she was going through the rapids of these memories.

Mitch didn't want her to drown even though he was limited in helping her.

Leah's lips curled into a warm smile. The fondness she was feeling toward her husband was beautiful to witness; even the simple mention of his name was enough to change her whole demeanor.

"Yeah. I didn't think it was possible to ever experience anything like that again, but he was so patient with me. It's been hard work, for both of us, but... I wouldn't trade any of that away", Leah summed.

Mitch nodded, but it was clear he still had questions.

"I know this is probably going to sound a little bit ignorant, but... do you feel like you've... healed?" Mitch wondered. "Because - not to compare the two, because I know they are nothing alike, but - I feel like I'm still aching from losing Zach."

Leah set the drink she had picked up while Mitch was talking back on the table and smacked her lips a little bit, thinking of what to say.

She had a theory and she wanted to test it.

"I think maybe you might confuse healing as a synonym for "feeling good" - or "feeling better"", Leah offered her take.

Mitch looked puzzled. "But... isn't it...?"

"It can be", Leah shrugged, "but... from my own experience, it's not - not always. Sometimes the process of healing is extremely painful. You might never feel good - or better."

Shaking his head, Mitch expressed the feeling of being lost. "I don't get it. Why do it then if not to feel good or better?"

"Because you have no other choice. If you want to keep living your life, you have to change things, become sound, make peace with it - call it whatever you will. Most people call it healing."

"Huh..." Mitch let out, acknowledging this was something he needed to think about more as it was hard to wrap his head around it.

"In my experience, healing is like... molting", Leah said. "And that's what I did. The process, the memories, what happened for me to get here, it didn't feel good, but... life can still be good. Other things can feel good."

Mitch watched her, seeing some kind of illuminated light behind her eyes.

"I don't know that I can ever get back that illusion of safety or escape the thought of people wanting to do bad things to other people, but... I can still live with that at the back of my mind. If I want to have the good things that I have, I have to", Leah continued. "We don't always have good options to choose, so... when I do have them, I don't take them for granted."

"So... do you think that things happen to us for a reason? Or... what doesn't kill us makes us stronger?" Mitch wondered Leah's overall view on life.

"Hell no", Leah was quick to say, shaking her head. "What doesn't kill us hurts like hell. I understand some can have those views, but... not me. I don't think I needed to go through all that in order to understand the worth of things that are good in life. I don't think suffering is valuable or the best teacher."

Mitch nodded, feeling like he had never expected this visit to take this type of turn.

"Well, you've just given me a lot to think about", he admitted, feeling a bit overwhelmed, if he was being honest.

Leah let out a laugh, understanding that this had probably been a little bit intense for Mitch all of a sudden, as it was all something she had personally grown into over the years.

"Well, you did ask..." she reminded in a jest.

Mitch joined her laugh, admitting that if he wasn't ready to have his world rocked, he shouldn't have asked.

"That's true; I did ask..."

#heartland #fanfiction #filling empty spaces

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touchreceptors · 2 years ago

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opm 179/224(jp) TL commentary

so, about the Saitama vs Tatsumaki battle in the latest chapter.

Normally, I’m tired enough at the end of the work day that when the JP OPM chapter updates drop, I'm happy to just skim the chapter and wait for the usual fan TL team to do their good work and drop the English translation the next day. Usually, I find them very decent and competent.

This time around, however, Saitama’s lines on this particular page had me sitting up a little straighter.

I thought his word choice was oddly far too chummy given his usual personality and his attitude towards people like Tatsumaki, so I decided to check the original Japanese pages again and sure enough, found that I gleaned a very different idea from the JP lines. I would definitely have translated these differently.

Let’s take a look at the 2 phrases in question.

1. “She’s not in the mood to chat at all” (JP: 全然会話になんねえーな )

The plain form of this (i.e. after you distill it from Saitama’s typical style of speech) is 全然会話にならない which is far more often representative of the sentiment “It’s impossible trying to get through to you/this person”. It literally translates to “This is not becoming a 2-way conversation at all” or "you can't have a 2-way conversation with this person"; Google “会話にならない英語” and you will see multiple suggestions along the lines of “It’s no use talking to you.”

This phrase is used to indicate that the other party is not willing to listen, usually to something important the speaker has to say. Saitama isn’t looking to have a friendly “chat”, he’s trying to make a point to Tatsumaki about not attacking other heroes and laying off his new home before that gets destroyed too. So, while the use of “chat” may help to preserve the lazy informality of his speaking style, it downplays the severity of the situation and his annoyance at her not getting his point.

I personally would’ve used “Ugh, she’s not gonna listen at all, is she” or “Ugh, talking isn’t gonna work at all, is it” or a similar variation.

2. “Guess I’ll keep her company for now” (JP: 相手しとくか)

Context is everything. Just because “keep company” is the first option in a whole list of different definitions that pops up when you do a dictionary search doesn’t mean that it’s the right definition to use for a translation/localization. Nor does it mean it’s how the phrase is most commonly used in practice.

I'd wager you don’t even need to have much RL experience in Japan or with Japanese people to know which definition should've been picked. Watch enough shonen and sports anime with the original Japanese audio and you’ll soon learn that any time there is a pair activity, game and most importantly, a fight, 相手 i.e. “aite” refers to “opponent”. In a classroom setting, being asked to “相手して” doesn’t mean to keep a student “company”, it means to take up the opposite role in pair work. I’d add that in the close to 15 years I’ve spent studying and/or speaking Japanese, and the 3.5 years spent living and working in Japan, I’ve never heard this phrase being used to mean “keep somebody company” - but since experience can also be subjective, let’s just look at what we can be certain about: context, and our own knowledge of the target language and all its nuances.

a. Context - What’s happening, and who is saying it: Are they fighting? Yes. As opponents? Yes. Is Saitama referring to their fight and a strategy he's going to take (i.e. letting her tire herself out)? Most certainly, yes. Is this line being said by the same guy who thinks of Fubuki only as an acquaintance who's always dragging him into her business against his will, the same guy who in the last frame of this very chapter is thinking to himself "Man I reeeeeaallly wanna go home"? Yes. Should you have picked a definition more related to fighting and opponents from the dictionary's MANY different options like, idk, "take on a rival" to base your translation on? Yyeeess??? Why wouldn't you have?

b. Decision-making when localizing a text: What does “keep somebody company” imply in English? Is there a better way to phrase this and make the localized script more representative of the situation and the character's intent, and less loaded with English meaning that isn't present anywhere else in the text? I mean, Saitama certainly isn't suddenly thinking about loneliness and company when he mentions the lack of buildings and people - a safer distance away from civilization he deliberately went to the trouble of bringing Tatsumaki to.

I'd take some creative/artistic license here myself to make the language less stiff, but would definitely have gone for something less distorted, like "Guess I'll keep her occupied for now". If unsure, then even a more literal "Guess I'll take her on for now" would do a very decent job of conveying Saitama's intent, staying faithful to the original language without sounding too stiff when inserted into the sentence they came up with.

But well, who'm I to talk, eh? Translators are humans, there's no way to be completely objective in any interpretation, and they still do far more work than I am willing/able to do for this manga every update. I just wonder if they were letting certain biases guide their interpretations rather more than usual this time. Suffice to say, I'll be very curious to see how the guys at Viz choose to frame this bit for the official English TLs.

#one punch man #opm manga spoilers #opm #translations #my translations #kinda

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auranovabloggers · 7 months ago

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Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling Official Lore Project

Ever since I had watched this video, I have become inspired to make a video of a similar style and vibe:

youtube

First of all, please watch this video and check out Dan's other videos. Funny guys with a passion for Fatal Fury and SNK as a whole.

With that said, I want to discuss what I am planning and working towards in the future. I want to deep dive into making a detailed character essay video regarding both Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling of Darkstalkers. While video making is not new to me as I did so in the past (roughly +10 years ago on Youtube), this will be the first time I have made a lore/character essay. Research to a higher caliber and script writing will be first times for me in video making. Understandably, there is very little in the Darkstalkers games to work with and many would say to look at the Darkstalkers wiki. However, from initial searches beyond the Fandom site, there appear to be errors or straight up made-up information on there. Not only that, but some information is also missing... which is not the fault of the people there.

As it turns out, a lot of the lore and biographies in the series are behind a language barrier that those outside of Japan can't easily access. While some would suggest using Google Translate and image recognition to get the job done, that is out of the question. That program is quite flawed in catching the nuance of the language that only a native speaker would know.

You might be asking, 'Aura, what are trying to say?' Well, what I am in the works of doing is gathering all the Japanese text from scans of official Darkstalkers guidebooks in order to fully get the scope that the developers intended for Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling. I will do my best to detail all that is uncovered to help portray a cohesive narrative about the background and story of these two sisters in Darkstalkers. But not only that, I want to also head canon and analyze that information and every aspect of them to also draw out ideas. Their style of clothing, their names, their Chinese background, etc.

But not only will I use the official lore from Japanese texts, I also intend to use this:

'What is this cover?' you may be asking. This is 'Vampire Hunter Gaiden: Lei-Lei Hen - Owaranai Haru (ヴァンパイアハンター外伝レイレイ編終わらない春)'. Translated as 'Vampire Hunter Tale: Hsien-Ko~ Endless Spring', it is written by Akihiko Ureshino (嬉野秋彦) with illustrations by Kohime Ose (桜瀬琥姫). While this is not canon to the games, it is a licensed light novel released back in 1996/1/1 that initial Google translations from Japanese wiki pages lead me to believe that I need to look into this story. There are mentions in how the personalities of the sisters, especially Mei-Ling, are similar to the Darkstalkers OVA versions of them, another licensed piece of media that released months after this novel and is one of the few rare pieces of media to leave Japan and be translated. To build a cohesive idea of who Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling are, I feel it is important that I get this novel translated and read to figure out what the writer came up with for Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling, one of the first pieces of licensed media to do so. It will certainly cost a lot of money as I have over 224 pages worth of text that must be translated, but I am willing to do it for these two characters I cherish dearly.

That, for personal Cryas Darkstalkers reasons, and because this novel inspired a doujin that means the world to me, 'Share':

Overall, the scans from the official lore, the games, this light novel, and the OVA will be used to help try to build upon 'Who are Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling? What are they like? Where did they come from? Their goals and thoughts, what are they?', along with other bits I wish to convey as I find them fun to bring up and discuss.

Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling mean the world to me, and I wish to finally give them both the justice they deserve after nearly 30 years. Speaking of 30, I am planning to try and get this project finished by March 3rd, 2025, as that is the anniversary of Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge releasing into Japanese arcades.

I'll update of my progress as time goes on, so I'll leave you with what I have so far and my other plans for the video:

The scans of the novel have been fully finished and am in the process of getting a quote.

If you wish to see the novel yourself, whether out of curiosity or because you are fluent in Japanese, I'll let you have a look:

I am intending to commission artists to help illustrate aspects of the script when the time comes. Make it feel like a group effort by the community. 😊

If any of you are aware of good video editing programs that are cheap or free, please let me know.

For now, that is all I have for you. Cheers peeps. 😎✌️

#auranovablogger #darkstalkers #mei-ling #mei ling #shao #jiangshi #hsien ko #hsien-ko #hsienko and meiling deserve better #video project #character essay #vampire hunter #japanese #plans #dear god the production costs #but it will be worth it #research #light novel #Youtube

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ginjithewanderer · 2 years ago

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A3! Web Manga Directory

List of A3! web manga chapters and character appearances.

223 - What Are You Talking About...? (ft. Tenma, Azami, Tsumugi, Azuma)

224 - Look Up (ft. Chikage, Misumi)

225 - Celebration! (ft. Kumon, Banri, Omi)

226 - Sleeping Pose Art (ft. Tsuzuru, Kazunari)

228 - Lucky Boy (ft. Sakuya, Itaru, Misumi, Sakyo)

229 - Driver's License (ft. Banri, Taichi, Tasuku, Azuma)

230 - Way of Calling (ft. Kumon, Sakyo, Sakoda)

231 - Excitement! 5th Anniversary (ft. Tenma, Yuki, Muku, Misumi, Kazunari, Kumon)

233 - Cupid of Love? (ft. Tsuzuru, Taichi, Omi)

234 - Movie-Watching With Care (ft. Citron, Sakyo, Azami, Guy)

235 - What Kind of Person is Amadate Kabuto? (ft. Banri, Matsukawa, Kabuto, Aoshi)

236 - Dismal Mistake (ft. Masumi, Kazunari, Tsumugi)

237 - Can't Have Peace (ft. Tsuzuru, Itaru, Citron, Homare, Haruto, Shift, Madoka)

238 - Derailment (ft. Matsukawa, Rento)

239 - Omi's Photography Class (ft. Omi, Tsumugi)

240 - Masumi's Birthday! (ft. Sakuya, Masumi, Tsuzuru, Itaru, Citron, Chikage, Kazunari)

241-249

250-258

259-264

265 - Fishing (ft. Sakuya, Kumon, Omi, Sakyo, Guy)

266 - Pictures (ft. Tenma, Kazunari, Banri, Azami)

267 - Not Even For Educational Purposes? (ft. Sakuya, Muku, Sakyo, Azami)

268 - Their True Form Is... (ft. Taichi, Azuma)

269 - Appliances Are Great (ft. Sakyo, Matsukawa, Kamekichi)

270 - Sumi's Shop (ft. Misumi, Guy)

271 - A Present for Omi! (ft. Taichi, Omi)

272 - Guy's Hopes (ft. Tsuzuru, Guy)

273 - Bad at Lying (ft. Misumi, Tsumugi, Tasuku)

274 - Aniki's Birthday Plans (ft. Sakoda, Ichiro)

275 - Can't Do Mornings! (ft. Kasumi, Hiro, Zen, Syu)

276 - Beards Come in All Forms (ft. Banri, Taichi, Omi, Matsukawa, Rento)

277 - All Chapters Unlocked! (ft. Sakuya, Tenma, Yuki, Banri, Omi, Sakyo, Homare, Azuma)

278 - Well-Prepared Means No Worries (ft. Juza, Tasuku)

279 - Wait Your Turn (ft. Masumi, Tenma, Kumon, Taichi, Omi)

280 - New Year's Exhaustion (ft. Itaru, Tsumugi)

281 - The Book of Homare (ft. Citron, Chikage, Muku, Omi, Homare)

282 - The Magic of a Kotatsu (ft. Tenma, Yuki, Muku, Misumi, Kazunari, Kumon, Hisoka, Azuma)

283 - Celebration☆6th Anniversary! (ft. Banri, Juza, Taichi, Omi, Sakyo, Azami)

284 - On His Palm Lies... (ft. Kumon, Hisoka)

285 - With the Wrong Person (ft. Masumi, Chikage)

286 - Guy's Data Bank (ft. Citron, Muku, Guy)

287 - Tasuku's Lively Birthday (ft. Kazunari, Azami, Tasuku)

288 - Pictures Together (ft. Muku, Misumi, Kazunari, Banri, Kamekichi)

#translation masterlist

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ricearicema · 2 years ago

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WTNV LIVEBLOG (plus doodles)

EPISODE 224 - LIMINAL SPACES

I’m very intrigued to see Finknors take on liminal spaces I bet it’s gonna be spooky as heck

Above is so ten years ago…. Ten years

Ofc Janice relaxes with liminal space compilations

Cecil is such a hip uncle 💀

Do the kids still eat popcorn?!?

When an immortal guy tries to seem young while being like 250 years old

Cecil saying liminal in a valley girl voice is not something I expected to need so badly in my life

HE KNOWS THE MAN

WHAT HAS HE FORGOTTEN

THE MEMORIES HAVE BEEN TAKEN

The police have taken ten years on this one murder case they’re so stupid

“This is 2023” 💀

For real why would you want to leave

I wonder what a pug incident entails

Poor chefs

WHAT

Are there pinkies in flakios (Idk why I’m surprised)

Ok hold up

“We all want to be babies because if we are not babies we are responsible for what’s happening around us”

You mighta just did something ceec—

Ok but why can I do clearly see malaise as a colour in my head

THE MAN AGAIN

A VIDEO

THEY WILL TALK SO SOON

SO SOON

KEEP PLAYING THE VIDEO CECIL

omgomgomg

Why is the idea of sharing almost every thought with someone else so comforting

Thanks guys

Cecil you dumbass I think there’s a reason it won’t stop

WHAT JUST HAPPENS

WHERE THE FUCK

The weather gives liminal vibes frfr

Repetitive in a meditative way

Office hallway

He’s in the fricin backrooms

Aaaaaaaa

Malaise carpet 😶😶😶

Wait is this where he came from

Cecil is from a liminal space?!?

Where did his memories go?

When are they going to address Joseph Fink being here?

HE WAS IN THE MURALS

REMEMBER CECIL!!!

#welcome to night vale #wtnv #wtnv liveblog #episode 224

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aggimaginary · 2 years ago

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The Bad Guys season 1: Our Own Story (chapter 28) - Let's Ride!

First Previous Next

Hey guys, sorry I didn't stick to my schedule anymore. I was very busy at school and my fanart. I guess my updates might be weekly or less. I hope you'll like my new chapter here.

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Intro

Mr. Wolf: Yeah! I'm bad!

Mr. Snake: You're bad!

Ms. Tarantula: He's bad!

Mr. Hornet: She's bad!

Mr. Piranha: We're bad!

Mr. Shark: Who's bad?

The Bad Guys: Yeah! We're the Bad Guys!

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It's another day under the bridge of the 6th Street Viaduct as the Bad Guys car skid along the way. Inside the car was Wolf and Snake, but this time, Wolf wasn't doing the driving this time, it was Snake! Wolf had been teaching Snake how to drive for years. Wolf didn't want Snake or the other Bad Guys to depend on him to drive the car. He is the team driver, but he can't be at the wheel all the time. So, the next one in line would be Snake. Despite having no arms or legs, his whole body could be his legs and arms. His body is long enough to reach the pedals, the stick, and the wheel, so he might be compatible to drive.

Today, Wolf was testing Snake to drive the car as the former graded the latter's skills. Wolf held a notepad and a pen to write down Snake's grade.

While Snake was driving the car around Wolf, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet sat aside, watching the whole scene.

"Here we are again, guys,"

"Today is once again the day of Snake's driving test with Wolf.

"Let's just hope that'll be Snake's last driving test, and if Snake does not pass this one, it means another whole year of driving lessons."

Snake crashed into a pedestrian dummy made out of sack and hay with button eyes and a hat.

"What happened?" Snake asked, sticking his head out from the window to check what happened in front

"Oh, nothing, Snake, you just struck another pedestrian," Wolf shrugged, and wrote the point on the clipboard, "Minus 20 more points."

"How many does that leave me with?" Snake inquired.

"-224," Wolf answered

"How many more minutes are left in the test?"

"The test is over."

Snake slammed his fisted tail on the board, and exclaimed, That's enough time, I can make up those points!" He pulled the gear lever into reverse.

"No, Snake, you didn't hear me!" Wolf tried to explain, but the car rammed into reverse, and Wolf screamed, It's too late, Snake!" He pleaded with his best friend to stop as the car knocked over a whole row of cones, knocked through a brick wall, and crashed in front of the other Bd Guys, creating a huge dust cloud.

The Bad Guys coughed out the dust from their mouths and throats as Snake eagerly asked, "Okay, Wolf, what's my final score?"

Wolf looked down at his clipboard, and answered, "6."

Yes!" Snake clenched his tail into a fist, and grinned, "And how many do I need to pass? "6-." Wolf replied as Snake smiled proudly until his best friend continued his sentence, "-00." Snake was shocked by this, "What?"

Wolf explained clearly, "600. You need 600 to pass. You got 6".

Snake sighed sadly, "Sorry, Wolf. But it'll be alright. Besides, this means that I get to have another driving lesson for a whole another year!" he smiled while booping Wolf's nose, and slithered out of the car.

As Snake left, the other Bad Guys approached Wolf from outside of the car, checking if he was alright.

"Oh well, Wolf, I guess we have another whole year that you'll drive a car, and take us wherever we go," Tarantula smirked while standing at the open window

"Yep!" Piranha exclaimed, "That means you'll take us to the mall…"

"Or at my work at the restaurant…," Hornet added

"Or in the computer shop…," Tarantula stated.

"Or at the beach…" Shark smiled.

While the four Bad Guys ranted about the list of places they would go with Wolf driving for another year again, Wolf suddenly talked to himself in his mind, "Oh, God. Another year of teaching Snake to drive while I do the driving around here. I've got to do something to save myself. I can't be the one to drive the car for the team again. Oh, there's only one way out: a teacher's ace in the hole!" That's when Wolf had that idea as he declared, "Extra credit!"

Before Snake slithered into the tunnel where the entrance of the Bad Guys' hideout would be, he heard what Wolf said as he stopped his way before slithering back to the car, "What was that, Wolf?"

Wolf came out of the passenger seat with the other 4 Bad Guys stepped aside, and shook Snake in joy, "Extra credit, Snake! The extra credit! You still have a chance to drive."

"What's extra credit?" Shark asked.

"It's when you get credit for the things you weren't able to do before," Hornet replied.

"Exactly, Hornet," Wolf said before turning to his reptile friend, "What do you say, Snakey? You want that extra credit?"

Snake thought of it while rubbing his chin with his tail, and answered, "Oh yeah? I'm in!"

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In the Bad Guys' hideout, Snake sat down at the dining table with a paper, holding a pencil with his tail, while Wolf was standing at another side of the table, where a teacher should be with his student taking the activity.

"Now, Snake, are we ready for that extra credit?" Wolf asked.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Snake smirked.

"That's the spirit, Snakey! So all you have to do to earn your extra credit and pass the driving test, and you never have to take more lessons from me again, is to write a 10-word sentence on what you've learned from my driving class," Wolf explained.

Snake tapped the bottom of his pencil on his face while thinking, and said, "But I've learned so many things from you.

Just pick one, I don't care which. Here, I'll help you get started," Wolf cleared his throat while Snake was writing what his teacher said, "What I learned in Wolf's driving class is…" There! That's already eight words! Only two more!"

While Snake was writing with just his tail, the tip of his pencil snapped, "dang it!"

"What's wrong?" Wolf asked.

"Got to sharpen my pencil," Snake said as he sharpened the pencil with the electric sharpener.

When Snake went back to writing again, Wolf started to feel impatient waiting, until he heard a snap from a pencil. Snake sighed as he was about to sharpen his pencil, but Wolf took his pencil.

"Give me that!" He pulled out a blank pen, "Here's a pen."

"Wow! Thanks, buddy!" Snake grabbed the pen, and went back to writing. After a couple of letters, Snake put the pen down, and handed the paper to Wolf, "There."

"Fantastic, let me see it," Wolf was about to grab the paper, but Snake yanked it away from him.

"Wait, Wolf! I changed my mind!" Snake exclaimed as he crossed out his writings with the pen

" I'm sure whatever you've written is fine, just let me see," Wolf demanded, trying to be patient. Snake jumped on top of his paper, covering his work with his body, "No, Don't look! It's not ready."

Wolf was getting impatient as he tried to control his impatient anger by forming a crazy smile, "It's so simple, only 10 words! 'What I learned in Wolf's driving class is blankity, blank!'"

"I can do this! I can do this!" Snake nervously thought of the words while pointing the tip of her pen on the paper

Wolf couldn't take it anymore as he jumped on Snake, and forced him to write with the pen on the paper, "You only need two… more… words!"

The table finally collapsed and broke as Wolf fell on top of Snake. Wolf got off of Snake, and reached for the essay, "Okay, let me see what you've written."

Wolf grabbed the paper, but Snake grabbed the end of the paper.

"It's not ready yet," the reptile said

"It's okay, Snake. Show me what you've written," Wolf still got a hold of the paper.

"No!" Snake exclaimed, trying to pull the paper from Snake.

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

"Let me see it!"

As Wolf and Snake tried to pull the paper from each other, the paper was ripped in half. Seeing the paper was in half, Wolf grabbed Snake's other piece, and attempted to read it, "What I learned in Wolf's driving class is… Uh…" On the page, it said 'What I learned in Wolf's driving class is how to drive.' 'Class,' 'how' and 'drive' were crossed out, and below were pictures of a car, Snake, and a bird. Realizing that he couldn't read the essay properly, and he won't be able to finish his class with Snake in time, Wolf didn't care about the paper as he threw two pieces on the floor, "Well, the rest doesn't matter! You pass! You pass!"

"Wolf, I don't feel like I really did anything," Snake doubted himself.

"That's how extra credit is supposed to feel."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and it means you are compatible to drive just like me!"

Snake suddenly smiled that his best friend believed that he could drive on his own now, "Wow, thanks, Wolf," Snake turned around as he slithered towards his room, and spoke, "Which means, I can drive wherever a want!"

This was where Wolf realized something as Snake's words echoed in his mind. If Snake was able to drive, despite his driving skills being terrible, Wolf just imagine what would happen if Snake would indeed drove the Bad Guys car on his own.

A vision of Wolf's worries was shown that Snake was driving the car all over Los Angeles. He hit several innocent pedestrians, crashed other vehicles, and ran over partygoers in parks.

Los Angeles was on fire as citizens ran and scream in fear. Tiffany Fluffit was reporting live about the incident that Snake created with the car.

"So much destruction... this reporter asks, 'Why?'" A photo of Wolf was shown on-screen beside Tiffany, "Local consensus places the blame on this negligent, selfish teacher who–" Tiffany was then ran over by Snake. Tiffany got a chance to get up, and grunted, "Let's- not- use that take."

Wolf snapped out to reality from his horrible vision, and shook his head.

"That's preposterous. He did the extra credit. There's no need to worry. I just- I just need a nap," The leader of the Bad Guys said to himself before placing a paw on his forehead, and walking to his bedroom to rest after a long class he had with Snake. Hopefully, he'll feel better when he wakes up.

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When the early night came, Wolf woke up from his nap. He let out a big yawn as he realized he took a nap from all that stress of teaching Snake some driving lessons. He rubbed an eye with his paw, and slowly walked towards the door.

When he opened the door, the main room was so dark. But all of a sudden, the light turned on, and a loud cry was heard.

"Surprise!"

Wolf snapped awoke from tiredness when he opened his eyes to see his team holding a cake that said, "Thank you, Wolf!"

"To the greatest driving instructor ever!" Snake held up his goblet as a toast.

Wolf was really surprised to see his friends surprising him with the cake, "Whoa, guys, what is all this?!"

"This is for helping Snake drive," Hornet declared.

Wolf's frown dropped as he saw how his friends appreciated how he successfully taught Snake to drive, which was never been true.

"Wolf, we were starting to think Snake was never going to drive. But you never gave up on him, you never quit, you never took the easy way out!" Tarantula stated.

"Aww," Wolf cooed in touch.

"And, maybe someday, because of your success in helping Snake, you can help us learn how to drive too!" Piranha said.

Wolf shook his head in surprise, "Say what?"

"Yeah, so we can drive around the city independently," Shark mentioned.

"We could be free!" Hornet squealed.

"We could do whatever we want," Tarantula added.

"Yeah, whatever we want," Snake nodded in agreement before turning to Wolf and smiling at him.

Wolf just showed a fake smile, but deep inside, he was worried. If he falsely made Snake pass the driving class, he'll not only make destruction in the whole city, but Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet would end up causing the same thing if Wolf made them pass the easy way.

"No. I tricked Snake into passing the class. Now the rest of my team wants a lesson too?" Wolf said in his head nervously. The whole Bad Guys would ruin their reputation and throw themselves in jail for good. And worst, Wolf would become the worst friend and driving teacher ever!

"Maybe tomorrow, you can try driving on the street for real!" Snake suggested as Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet cheered in agreement.

But Wolf then thought, "No. I won't let it happen. I won't let my best friend or all of my friends risk their lives trying to drive. I've got to end this before it begins."

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Later at night, a dark figure snuck out of Wolf's room, and ran to the elevator with the car. It's just Wolf, wearing a black bodysuit. He pushed the down button, and the elevator doors closed.

When the elevator made it all the way down to the tunnel, the door opened, and Wolf turned the keys to start the engine before driving out of the tunnel.

What Wolf didn't know is that Snake was sleeping on the passenger seat next to work. He woke up, and felt the car moving. Something didn't feel right. The car was moving, and he wasn't behind the wheel.

Snake turned to the driver's seat, and Wolf turned around to the passenger seat where the two noticed each other, and screamed, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Wolf skid off the road for a bit, then returned to normal.

"Who are you and what are you doing with my car? And why are you wearing that black suit?!" Snake hissed while Wolf was still driving. Snake then gasped in horror, "Oh gosh, I know who you are!"

"No, you don't! You don't know who I am!" Wolf exclaimed nervously

"Yes, I do! I know that you're... a carjacker! Only me and my buddies can do such a thing! I never thought I'd have to use this pepper spray!" Snake took a pepper spray, and was supposed to spray it at Wolf, but the nozzles pointed the wrong way, it got in his eyes, and he screamed in pain, "Aaahh! Somebody help me! Somebody help me!"

Wolf then kicked Snake out of the car, "Sorry, Snake, but it was for your own good."

But to Wolf's surprise, seeing through the side mirror, Snake was hanging behind the car, biting the rear bumper.

"You'd better stop this car!" Snake demanded with his mouth still occupied from hanging on

Wolf didn't give up yet as he slammed the brake, and Snake tightened his bite on the rear bumper.

"I'm… not… letting… go! Nothing will stop me! Not even…" Snake then gasped as he saw ahead where a line of tropical palm trees that had spiky stumps, "Tropical Palm Trees?!" Snake bumped into the trees' spiky stumps, scratching and poking him along the way, but he was still in one piece, "I'm… not… letting… go… even for…" He gasped again as he saw ahead were flower bushes that can produce powder/pollen, "Flowers with pollens" Snake bumped into flower bushes as pollens flew all over his face, stinging his eyes and irritating his nose, but he tried to hold his sneeze as he was still hanging on onto the rear bumper, "If you think I'll let go for a little…" He gasped in horror to see high schoolers getting ready for prom night while waiting for their school bus at the bus stop as he approached them, "High schoolers for prom?! Oh no!"

Wolf could hear Snake screaming until it faded to silence. Realizing that he lost Snake, Wolf sighed in relief, "Looks like that got rid of him. Now for some tunes!" He turned on the radio, to play some music.

"And now back to KIIS, with all of your personal 'you won't get away with stealing my car!' hits."

Wolf thought that voice from the radio sounded familiar as he looked down at the radio. From there, the radio face opened, and Snake squeezed out of the box, and jumped on Wolf.

The two got into a giant brawl, and the car went out of control.

Two cops in a car were standing by to patrol the streets, only to see the Bad Guys Car driving in circles.

"Hey, look," One of the cops said.

The car then sped up toward the squad car. The cops screamed in fear and clutched each other.

While plummeting, Snake and Wolf were still brawling.

"Ugh! I'd never let you have this car! Not even if you were…" Snake pulled the hood of the bodysuit off, revealing who the culprit was. Snake gasped in horror to see that the carjacker was his best friend, "Wolf?"

The car crashed into the police car. Seconds later, the siren went on, activating their rights to arrest someone responsible for this.

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The next day, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet went to the visiting room in jail to check on Wolf and Snake as they talked to the two on the phone.

"So, how's it going with you two?" Tarantula asked while speaking through the phone behind the glass window.

Snake answered happily while Wolf held the phone for him "Pretty good, actually. Like we did last year in jail, it's like a jail-cation in here with my best friend."

Feeling guilty about what happened last night, ad he was the real reason he and Snake were in here in the first place, Wolf sighed, and confessed, "Uh, Snake, I'd like to… apologize. I never should have passed you. You really weren't ready."

"So, I guess I can't drive anymore, huh?" Snake guessed sadly.

Wolf wrapped an arm around Snake, and answered, "Don't worry, buddy. I'll give you a lot of time teaching you to drive once we're released."

"Speaking of release, the warden said he'll let you two go early, if you do him a favor," Shark declared.

"What's that?" Wolf asked.

"Free driving lessons!" Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet said in unison, and laughed.

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Credits:

Sam Rockwell - Mr. Wolf

Marc Maron - Mr. Snake

Craig Robinson - Mr. Shark

Anthony Ramos - Mr. Piranha

Awkwafina - Ms. Tarantula

Rhenzy Feliz - Mr. Hornet

Lilly Singh - Tiffany Fluffit

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Author Aggimaginary

Co-Author TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3

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So you're a tough guy Like it really rough guy Just can't get enough guy Chest always so puffed guy

I'm that bad type Make your mama sad type Make your girlfriend mad tight Might seduce your dad type I'm the bad guy

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This chapter is a reference to Spongebob Squarepants, No Free Rides.

Special thanks to TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3 for giving me a few ideas for this chapter.

Until next time!

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