lisbetadair - Tumblr blog

[lisbetadair]

First base is violence second base is convoluted codependence third base is applying pressure to the vulnerable parts of their body to keep their entrails from spilling out

[lisbetadair]

Obligatory 'you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum that they raised me.'

Whenever I see someone complaining about production values in preschool television going down the toilet these days, I've gotta wonder: did I sleep through some era of elevated production values for preschool-targeted media? Like, sure, children's television with decent production values has always existed, but such shows have never been the median. When I was a kid the median for preschool television was some dude in a cheap Renfaire costume arguing with a sock puppet and playing the recorder. There was one set, two speaking characters (if you count the puppet), and no script at all, and by God, we liked it that way.

[lisbetadair]

Tell Gaz and Price I said pspspspspspspsppsp

and just like cats, they look at you with a perturbed expression,,

[lisbetadair]

When he hits you with the ❤️

[lisbetadair]

you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me

[lisbetadair]

same guy

[lisbetadair]

[lisbetadair]

Carepackage

[lisbetadair]

Tell Gaz and Price I said pspspspspspspsppsp

and just like cats, they look at you with a perturbed expression,,

[lisbetadair]

I have updated the following with another chapter.

Essentially, I wanted to write a hurt/comfort like Lapsus, but with the roles reversed and Soap taking care of Ghost and I decided that the only way that this would happen is if they were captured by the cartel and Ghost was tortured, obviously!

Given that I've written nothing but twee nonsense for the last two years, this is a big departure from the norm and we have finally reached the chapter where the box is opened and the dead dove is visible for all to see.

Big thanks to Discord user Goblin who read this through in advance for me.

Title: The Days That Bind Us Rating: Mature (Archive warning for Graphic Violence)

Tags: Torture, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Psychological Torture, Blood and Gore, Physical Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Interrogation

Summary: Soap and Ghost have slipped through the net cast by the Shadows, only to fall into the bloody grip of the Las Almas Cartel. With El Sin Nombre removed from the board, the knives are out amongst her successors, desperate to prove they have what it takes to rise to the top. In this violent struggle, knowledge is power, and if Soap and Ghost have information, their captors will go to any lengths to get it. (A brief divergence from canon post-Alone)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46928767

[lisbetadair]

Too many fandom debates now revolve solely around "is it canon" and leave behind the far more important question, "is it terrible"

[lisbetadair]

my brain is so filled with the Siberia outfit

thinking of his heater

no seriously why did he do that creepy smile…..Kate PLEASE keep him on a leash😭🙏

+ obligatory realism because i cant help myself… look at him

[lisbetadair]

Some more here..

[lisbetadair]

They're having a special moment before a mission ♥

[lisbetadair]

not gonna say it. but he popped into your head didn’t he

[lisbetadair]

You. You keep talking.

This post has me thinking about Simon Riley and his mum again, but also him and his brother. Just the Riley family in general, really. This may not be the most accurate in terms of the timeline from the comics and stuff but I don't care, I'm tired, I need this, please let me have this

*tagging @stuffireadandenjoy and @deeptrashwitch just cause ;)*

Simon who has spent his whole life being a shield for his little brother. Simon who has always been told to keep an eye out for Tommy. Simon who has always stepped in the way of his father's wrath for his brother.

Simon who, as he got older, started stepping in the way of their father to keep his mother safe. Simon who has always been self-sacrificing. It's just always been a part of who he is. His mother watched him grow just knowing this man will one day walk willingly into his grave if it means his family gets to know peace for once.

Once he became a teenager, he learned how to disassociate. He learned how to shut off that part of him that led to emotional outbursts like his father was so prone to. He learned how to express everything he felt with an almost robotic nature. He was just barely thirteen years old when he became bitter. Just barely a teen when he became so indifferent to his feelings and emotions.

But his mother had always called him her "gentle boy". She saw him become disassociated and detached from the fatally human side of himself. She saw him take every hit with the same blank expression. She saw his amber eyes become haunted.

But she knew the truth. She knew he did this all to protect them. To protect Tommy. To protect her. His mother. He never should have gotten to that point. She saw that he was not "sweet" like Tommy. Tommy would tell her he loved her, would bring her little flowers he found on his way home.

Simon never did.

But Simon would quietly slip into the bathroom after one of his father's rampages with a wet towel and a glass of ice water. He wouldn't say a word as he gently dabbed at his mother's cuts. He would quietly whisper to her to drink the water to calm herself. She would watch as he would quietly pick up all the pieces of broken glass, all the overturned furniture. She'd watch as he'd gently tuck his brother into bed before crawling into his.

And so, his mum knew he was "gentle". That despite his newfound bitterness and detached manner, he was still her "gentle Simon".

But she also saw the change in him when he came home from the military. When he came home and quite literally threw the monster out of their home. When he helped her pack all her stuff and move across the city. She watched him as she had all those years; quietly picking up the pieces with a low voice and gentle hands. So far unlike his father, so far detached from the man she once claimed to love.

But Simon didn't stop there. Because he always took care of his mum and brother. Never just one or the other, always both.

And she watched him drag his brother into rehab, watched him stay by Tommy's side as he got clean. She watched Simon take on so many jobs, so many responsibilities all in the name of gently picking up the pieces and putting their broken family back together.

Mum's gentle giant.

So when she saw him in that hospital bed, nearly unrecognizable from the layers of bandages and the swollen bruises, the dark circles and bloodshot look of his eyes, it nearly broke her.

Nearly.

But when she looked into his eyes, his soft brown eyes, she knew she couldn't break. That for the first time in a long time, Simon was crying.

Her gentle giant, her little soldier, her guardian, in tears and lying almost dead in a hospital bed.

The doctor had told her he's going to struggle to speak for a while until the Glasgow smile heals. But they also told her he would have a hard time writing and moving his arms with all the damage from the numerous deep gashes in his arms and chest. So she had expected to see him in his usual disassociated state, expected to look into his eyes only to realize her Simon never came home.

But here she was, standing and shaking as she watches her fierce son break. But here she is, listening to his hoarse, broken voice do its best to call for "Mum".

And so she sat at his side for as long as he was awake, and even stayed to watch him sleep. To be his mother. To keep him safe and cared for like she should have been doing for all those years. Yet all those years, it had been the reverse.

She hated herself, but knew Simon would fight tooth and nail to prove her wrong. To prove that she was a good mother, that she had done her best in the circumstances she had been trapped in. Simon who would argue she was the best mother he could ever ask for because she had always been there. Had stayed and fought every day for him and his brother. Because she was always there to hold him when he needed it most.

Simon's recovery was a bitch to get through. He struggled with letting Tommy, Beth, and his mum take care of him. He had spent what felt like his whole life taking care of them, providing and fighting. And now he was practically bed-ridden, borderline useless as he healed.

Some days were easier than others. And some days Simon struggled to communicate what he needed, what he was feeling. And he would get frustrated, which would cause flare-ups of pain, which would make him angry. But he hated getting angry, hated the way he would huff and gesture when he couldn't find the words. He knew it was frustrating for his family; they shouldn't have to deal with this.

Simon expected pity. But he never got it.

Instead he got his mum soothing him with soft whispers and gentle hands. He got his mum quietly begging him to let her take care of him like she's supposed to; she's still his mum after all.

Instead he got Tommy being the strong one. Instead he got his little brother taking the time to pay Simon back for all those years of being the tough one.

His mother couldn't look at him without feeling guilty. Without knowing he had suffered and there was nothing she could do to magically fix it all, and it hurt. Here was her gentle, self-sacrificing boy laying here in pain and so dependent on her.

But his brother looked at him like he hung the stars. To Tommy, Simon was a hero. To Tommy, Simon was the one that literally shielded him from being beaten by their own father. Simon was the one that quite literally found him near death in a drug house and dragged him out and to rehab.

To Tommy, here was a man that should be dead and buried. Yet here he was. Breathing, bleeding. To Tommy, this was something Simon needed. Simon needed a point where he was cared for, to be repaid for all the things he had done for him and Mum.

The Riley boys have never been ones for tears, especially Simon. In fact, prior to all of this mess, Tommy could count on one hand all the times he had seen his older brother cry.

But now, in so much pain, physically and emotionally, mentally drained and tortured outside of their understanding, Simon was prone to tears. And Tommy could see this hurt Simon, made him uncomfortable and made the war he waged with himself so much worse. But to Tommy, he didn't mind. To Tommy, this was just proof that under all that bitterness, all the shoved down and bottled up emotions, his savior brother was still human.

There were only a few times Tommy cried during Simon's recovery. The first being when he saw Simon in the hospital, bandaged head held between their mother's soft hands.

The second was one Simon had gotten up and made himself a cup of tea and sat back down without any assistance, without showing any sign of unbearable pain or tearing any stitches.

The third was when they were enjoying a quiet Sunday evening as a family. They had Scooby-Doo on for Joseph, it being one of the toddler's favorite shows for some reason Tommy and Beth couldn't quite figure out. The episode playing had the gang running from a mummy, and Tommy could see the clear discomfort on his brother's still bandaged face as the monster appeared on the screen. Tommy could see tears well up in Simon's eyes as Joseph looked back at him from his seat on the floor, pointing at the screen.

Beth hadn't noticed the turmoil Simon was experiencing, and had explained that the creature was a mummy and the monster. Joseph's little face turned into a pout as he stood up and walked over to where his uncle was laying on the couch, unable to move much due to being sore from physical therapy. And Joseph reached out with his little hands and put them gently on his uncle's face.

"But he not monster." And at that moment, Beth and Tommy understood what the little tyke was trying to say: that Uncle Simon looks like the character on the screen, and that he didn't think a mummy was all that scary.

And to Simon, the pure innocent love from his nephew was all he needed. He motioned to Joseph to sit with him, and soon the two had fallen asleep together on the couch, Simon's arm wrapped around his nephew and his head resting on the little boy's.

That made Tommy cry hard enough he needed to step outside for some fresh air. He cried because there was his brother he shouldn't have anymore (Simon should be dead) with a son he never should have had (Tommy should have died in that drug house).

But they were both there, all of them alive and together, because Simon Riley was too stubborn, to committed to his family to let any of them die without first knowing what real love felt like.

So as much as Mum Riley would always call Simon her gentle giant, there would be Tommy calling him a stubborn bastard.

[lisbetadair]

If you see him

It's already too late