rileysmiley

[rileysmiley]

Oh. She had focused so much on getting Varian to admit exactly what about Christmas bothered him that Riley hadn’t given any thought to whether or not the answer was something she could even fix. What had she expected, that he’d say he just really hated the exploitative conditions the elves were subjected to in Santa’s workshop and she’d assure him that the North Pole had very humane labor laws? Of course not. This was something real, and serious, that required sensitivity. “I’m sorry,” she replied immediately, blinking as she considered whether to drop the topic completely or try to console him. What would make him more comfortable? “Do you want to talk about it?”

Varian groaned, Riley’s response being exactly what he was fearing it’ll be yet one in which he wasn’t surprised to hear. "Why do you hate Christmas?” —Why did she feel the need to know? Why couldn’t she just accept his answer for what it is and drop it for both their sakes? Because she’s as stubborn as he was, that’s why, he thought. It would’ve been truly aggravating for him if he didn’t also secretly admired her persistence. Riley’s persistence was one of the qualities in which Varian liked most about her, along with her desire in wanting to know things, yet another quality in which they both shared. But at this very moment, he wished she wasn’t so curious to know about his dislike for the jolly holiday that was Christmas. He then sighed. But he knew her really well, the brunette wasn’t going to drop it unless he begged her to. “Because…..It was on Christmas day was when my mom disappeared.” 

[rileysmiley]

If none of the previous ones did, that answer should have definitely been the one at which Riley threw her hands up and decided it was no use continuing to try to convince Varian. Some people just didn’t like certain things, and contrary to the attempts to broaden their horizons, pushing them could only make them dig their heels in harder and resist changing their mind even more. Unfortunately, Riley’s heels were already dug in on her side of the tug-of-war rope, and she was too stubborn to let it go and surrender. “I’m hearing that,” she said. “What I’m not hearing is why. Why do you hate Christmas? I’d stop bugging you about it if you just told me why!” Until she was given a real reason, she was just seeing his dislike of the holiday as Grinch-adjacent and Scrooge-reminiscent (before their reconciliation and character growth—which was the whole point of those stories. Maybe she needed to introduce him to them…)

He should’ve known that she wouldn’t accept his reasonings. Varian tried to reject Riley’s offer as nicely as he could without going into farther details to why he couldn’t go, but alas— she still questioned him in spite of that. Admittedly, that did cause some annoyance within him as he frowned, but then he shook his head at her. “Because I don’t like Christmas.” The alchemist had ended up putting it bluntly. Perhaps now she would let the topic drop as Riley wouldn’t try to force him to attend a gathering during a Holiday he didn’t enjoy, would she? Actually, as he thought it over some more, Varian inwardly groaned as Riley would in fact still attempt to convince him to go. Most likely she would think that he’ll need to attend a Christmas party that he’ll actually enjoy for him to like the holiday. But if only she knew it wasn’t just the holiday itself that Varian didn’t quite like, but rather the events that occurred during that specific time of the year. 

[rileysmiley]

“Because we’re together in every universe,” Riley insisted as Maya tried to tease her by suggesting their jumbo cat plushie selves might not be together. As undeniable proof of their lifelong and universe-transcending bond, she let go of her with one hand to show their friendship ring, a call neither was able (or allowed) to resist as she said, “Lightning.” When Maya clasped her hand and followed her lightning up with thunder, she beamed proudly. And then put her hand on the blonde’s head, softly patting it as the girl referenced her extra jumbo-ness. They had been five inches apart since Riley’s tween growth spurt, when Maya stopped growing, but the height difference never got old. Riley Superklutz and her Short Little Stack of Pancakes against the world. With the suggestion of going out and getting some tacos, she finally let go of Maya. “Yay!” Just thinking about them had really given her a craving. “Lead the way, you little taco-eating plushie cat, you!” 

As the brunette threw her arms around her and pulled her into a hug, the blonde chuckled before wrapping her arms around her best friend and hugging her back. Maya had been spouting out complete nonsense as she went, yet she knew Riley would have loved everything she said. It was a world with jumbo plushie shaped cats as people! What’s there not to go crazy over? “And what makes you think that we’re together in that universe, huh? I only mentioned there being a version of all of us but not once did I say you and me were in it together.” Despite her words, there was a teasing smile on the blonde’s face, thinking to herself how there isn’t a universe where the two of them weren’t together. Or like Riley said, if they weren’t, they’ll find each other so that way they can be together— Maya will always find a way to stay within Riley’s orbit. “If you can’t find me, I’ll make sure to find you though. You’ll be extra jumbo because of your tallness so you’ll be easy to find.” She once again laughed, puling away just a little yet not enough to completely leave the brunette’s arms. “If you want tacos, then let’s go and get some tacos, Rils’. Maybe that’s all the cat plushies eat within that universe— tacos!” 

[rileysmiley]

Riley still didn’t get it. The words “not one for the merry mood” just did not compute in her brain. Merriment was literally synonymous with happiness—how could he not like happiness? Even his explanation that he didn’t enjoy celebrating Christmas seemed flimsy in her opinion. Was it a religious thing? She didn’t think that mattered; she wasn’t Jewish but she’d gladly celebrate Hanukkah if invited by a friend. What could make Varian so anti-Christmas that he’d decline her attempts to share the holiday spirit with him so decisively? Without stopping to think maybe it was none of her business and accepting that Varian wasn’t going to attend any of the season’s gatherings, Riley pressed, “But why not?”

Varian sighed heavily at her comment. He can understand where her confusion was coming from. If it were any normal event on a regular given day, than the alchemist wouldn’t have minded in joining the festivities. On the contrary, he would have been ecstatic even, any excuse to fraternize and mingle with was as good as any if it meant being able to befriend others. Especially if those pertain Riley’s own band of friends— the scientist meaning to familiarize himself some more among them, yet for her little Christmas get-together, Varian has no choice but to opt out of it. “I’m just not one for the merry mood, okay?” He responded, once again refusing to elaborate on why he wasn’t. To simply put it— he just wasn’t fond of Christmas. This was the one time of the year where Varian couldn’t play up the jolly or merry mood regardless of how much he tries. And quite frankly, he barely does try because he didn’t want to. “That, and I don’t particularly enjoy celebrating Christmas altogether. Haven’t even celebrated it in years for that matter.” 

[rileysmiley]

The three times that Riley throws confetti in the air and the one time that confetti turns out to be butterflies.

[rileysmiley]

@frckledalchemiist said: "I go through six different moods at a time. I'm happy, then I’m losing my mind."

Riley’s holiday spirit slouched a little at Varian’s insistence that he didn’t want to attend any form of party, celebration, or gathering related to Christmas, but she was yet undeterred from trying to get a reason out of him as to why he was so against the season’s festivities. Prompting had thus far only resulted in avoidant non-answers, and the most he’d given her to work with was this vague explanation about his moods being mercurial. Why should that mean he couldn’t show up to the holiday party held at work, or accept her invitation to her friends’ little Secret Santa get-together? The season was about spending time with people you cared about, spreading joy and cheer—if he was feeling moody, how could a candy cane possibly make it worse? She took a deep breath in as if preparing for another speech on the merits of merriment, but let it out on a sigh. “I don’t get it. You’re okay hanging out with me, you’re okay hanging out with my friends, but add a Christmas tree and you’re losing your mind?”

[rileysmiley]

“Mayaaa, that’s the best universe!” Riley exclaimed in sing-song, throwing an arm around her best friend’s shoulders to give her a grateful squeeze for playing along with her imagination game so wonderfully. She hadn’t expected her friend to come up with something more Rileytown than she herself would have even thought of. Maya truly did know her better than she knew herself, but that was no real surprise after all their years of friendship. “But any universe where we’re together is the best universe, and I’d find you in every universe, so I guess they’re all the best,” she mused, still holding onto Maya as she tilted her head and pondered, as she tended to forget to let go of the other girl once she was wrapped around her. “But purple cat plushie universe is definitely my new favorite. I can’t believe I was gonna say getting tacos…”

“What’s alternate universe you doing right now?” -Riley ( @rileysmiley )

“Hmm, let’s see—” Crossing her legs as she leaned back against the seat from where the two of them sat at Topanga’s, the blonde made a thinking face as she pretended to think real hard. There were many wild things she could end up saying, the most craziest and insane things that could have Riley’s eyes popping out either in horror or at awe. And while it would’ve been a lot of fun to say something that could have her best friend freaking out, Maya decided to go for making the brunette at awe instead. “I’ll say I’m in the jumbo cat plushie universe where instead of humans, everyone’s a jumbo plushie shaped like cats.” The smaller of the two ultimately ended up saying as she glanced back at the taller. “Not only that, but they’re all vary in color too, and there is a version of all of us there. And yours—” with a cheeky smile on her face, Maya leaned over towards her best friend before booping a finger against Riley’s nose “is all glittery and purple!” 

[rileysmiley]

TOP 100 SHIPS OF ALL TIME: #12. riley matthews and maya hart (girl meets world)

[rileysmiley]

Riley was so attuned to the fact that she had never made Shego laugh before, she noticed the slight puff of air that passed for one when you were alone and read something or watched a video that was kind of funny but not full giggle funny. It wasn’t a laugh, a chuckle, or even a snicker, but it was something and she would take it as a win. She broke out into a smile even as Shego mocked her word choice and questioned her ability to have fun without alcohol. “I could drink if I wanted to,” she answered, because first of all she was old enough, and she was also very susceptible to peer pressure, despite her dad’s best teachings and whether Shego knew it or not. But second of all, she didn’t need any substances to have a good time, because…“There’s so much going on here! Music, dancing, friends, Halloween, dresses, masks…The better question is how could you not have fun?”

✖ ✖ ✖ 

The verbiage the girl used almost cracked Shego but she was able to bring her focus back so she didn't flat out laugh in her face. Maybe if she had some of the 'naughty punch' she wouldn't be so boring Shego thought as she held back her chuckle. Besides, the joint she'd smoked earlier with Peter was really starting to settle in so that she could space out from her normal intensity. "Don't tell me you just called it that." The raven-haired girl released a breath with the undertone of a laugh instead, giving her head a gentle shake. "Let me guess, you don't drink "naughty juice" either," she asked using air quotes to highlight her distaste for the nickname. "How do you have fun at shit like this then? Because I know you aren't partaking the devil's lettuce if that's how you refer to alcohol."

[rileysmiley]

[rileysmiley]

@frckledalchemiist

With only the last episode left to watch of the show Riley had been catching Varian up on for the past several months, they had planned to attend the Halloween ball together and finish the night off by viewing the finale. Riley was more than eager to see his reaction to the major, mind-blowing plot twist, but the party tonight provided plenty enough distraction that it wasn’t the only thing occupying her mind and she was actually able to live without obsessing over the fact that they were so close to finishing the show. “Varian! I got one for you,” she sing-songed as she slipped a headband with black boppers shaped like bats onto his head. The bats had little purple gems for eyes which matched her own spider boppers. “Do you love them?” she asked, even though he’d hardly gotten a glimpse of the accessory before she decorated him with it.

[rileysmiley]

The question seemed to be a bigger ask than Riley had anticipated, Bubbles needing to think long and hard about it before agreeing to the request. She met her with an uncharacteristically serious gaze, which Riley held with wide eyes as she waited for the one condition under which her friend would teach her. And then it turned out to be as simple as doing a duet with her, which should not only be fun, but easy-peasy…once she actually learned how to play. With Bubbles as her teacher, though, she was sure she couldn’t fail. Riley returned her smile, glad that the girl had clearly just been teasing about taking this so seriously. “You’ve got yourself a deal, teach! But…maybe we could start with an easy song? Until I get the hang of it.”

“Hmm, I don’t know.” Pressing her lips together to masked a look of being deep into thought, Bubbles then shifted her gaze away from her friend and settled them onto her drum set instead. As a musician who has been in the music playing game for a good amount of years now (since since she was five to be exact), anyone knows how attached one can be when it comes to borrowing off their instruments to others. But she wasn’t being asked to lend her drums, instead Riley wanted to learn how to play on them. And seeing how this was one of her besties in the entire world who was asking Bubbles this, how can the brunette refuse? “Okay, I’ll teach you how to play! But only on one condition!” The superheronie gave in, now giving her face a serious look in which she held onto for a few good seconds. That was when a smile bloomed into her face before snapping her fingers at Riley. “You’ll have to do a duet with me once you know how and you’ll need to know how to play the entire song at that!” 

[rileysmiley]

@shcwnhunter (from here):

“I’m not avoiding you,” Anyone with eyes could see Shawn was doing exactly that. Deep down, he was aware of it but he also believed that he didn't owe anyone his time. He moved on his own schedule and however he wanted, he didn’t want to subject himself to do anything he didn’t have to do. It was a bit tricky to do that though when it came to the wishes of Cory Matthews. Shawn was well aware of his friend’s wanting for him to meet and get to know Riley but he figured that just meant a quick conversation, small talk, at the most. “I see you all the time now when I visit your dad and if I were avoiding you then I wouldn’t be visiting him as much.”

“Then why don’t you look me in the eyes when you talk to me?” Riley was not letting him get away with his denial of the obvious truth. While it was true enough that they were technically in the same place often, and Shawn could go further out of his way not to be around her at all by not coming by to visit her dad, or by not offering any greetings when they did meet—the fact that none of their conversations had ever gone any deeper than surface level small talk hadn’t escaped her notice. This man was her dad’s Maya, his best friend and soulmate (besides Topanga of course) but she for all she felt she knew about him, they might as well be perfect strangers. No mention of the Uncle Shawn label she was meant to refer to him by.

[rileysmiley]

“I signed you up! Just pick a song you know the words to; the screen has the lyrics but it’s still hard to follow along if you don’t know them already,” Riley said, as if it was all that simple and she wasn’t effectively pushing Kelsi off a ledge and out her comfort zone with both hands. She knew very well what she was doing and hoped that by downplaying the whole situation as no sweat, she could trick her friend’s brain into believing it too. Maybe it was a little too much for a first time, even if she was sure the girl had it in her to sing a solo. "Do you wanna do a duet?" Riley worried about drowning Kelsi’s voice out entirely if they sang together, but if it got her more comfortable to take the stage in the first place, perhaps that was the right move.

“Huh?” Kelsi wanted to laugh off the joke she wished was going on but she knew Riley well enough by now to know that she was being serious about the invitation, much to Kelsi’s dismay since she wasn’t usually one to put herself front and center. Maybe under circumstances where she had time to prepare would she be able to muster some courage to go up there alone but an impromptu performance in front of strangers was not the place she was going to magically conjure up a stage presence like bolder people she knew. Her head shook fervently as the other held the microphone in front of her, “But I didn’t sign up.” She took the microphone to be polite but she still wasn’t sure if she was really going to go up there. “I-I don’t even know what song I could do.”

[rileysmiley]

“Oh, thank god,” Riley said, sighing in relief as Mir brought out the safety gear. She was trying to play it cool, but sometimes it was okay to admit that you were a klutz and needed extra padding to get through life! She started putting on the knee pads first and even almost lost her balance standing on one leg at a time to slip them on. Steadying herself with a hand on Miriam’s shoulder, she mused, “Maybe I’ll actually be really good at this and surprise the world. You know? Secret skill unlocked.” (Riley was still waiting for one of those to show up; she couldn't have seriously gotten zero special talents.) She finished up with the elbow pads. “Now what?”

Miriam loves to share their love of skateboarding with friends. Even if some of her friends weren't as coordinated as she was, she still had fun teaching them how to ride and helping out! Although, now that they were here and Riley was ready to ride, Mir wondered if this was a good idea or not. "Hmmm ... I usually just stick to my helmet, but maybe we should take extra precaution this time." Luckily, Mir had their gear with them in preparation, unzipping their bag and handing Riley some of the elbow and knee pads. "Try these out."

[rileysmiley]

Despite the (understandable) assumption that Riley was utterly oblivious to social cues, she could in fact tell when people didn’t like her—most especially when they told her outright that they had no intention of being her friend, as Shego had already done. She was just stubborn enough (or maybe “delusional” was the trending word) to think that with enough time and effort, she could change that opinion. Not being liked by someone wasn’t going to make Riley stop liking them, so she greeted Shego happily as usual upon finding her at the ball, and it seemed that perhaps at long last, she was starting to see the woman warm up to her. She asked if she’d tried the punch instead of telling her to get lost! “Not yet! Is it—” Riley had been about to ask if it was good, but the question about whether she was allowed to drink stopped her. She glanced around furtively before leaning in and lowering her voice. “Is it naughty punch?”

who: @rileysmiley where: the halloween masquerade party

After the edible started to hit and she'd gotten her first drink in hand there stood a chance that she would be approachable that evening. That didn't mean she was going around starting any conversations but a few had found their way to her. Some were people she knew from Hopper's and others were those that were sunshine embodied. First and foremost was Riley who never seemed to take the hint that Shego didn't want to be friends or talk at any given time. Still, tonight she was feeling better than normal due to the substances in her system. When she was approached instead of immediately snapping back she stood quietly and listened to her greeting. "Have you tried the punch?" Shego asked, knowing it had been spiked earlier though she wasn't entirely sure with what. If anyone needed more energy it wasn't Riley. "Or are you not allowed to drink yet?" It was meant to be a dig but knowing the girl Shego thought it would go over her head.

[rileysmiley]

@nobodylikemir

It had been a long time since Riley had been near a skateboard with the intent to ride. She was known among her peers as a super-klutz for good reason, and people as clumsy as her didn’t usually do so well with unstable surfaces…or flat ground as long as she had her own feet to trip over. But Miriam was basically an expert, so she felt totally, completely safe under their watch. “So do we use knee pads, elbow pads, helmets? What’s the vibe on safety gear?” Geez, she was reminding herself of her dad who had sometimes seemed more inclined to wrap her in bubble wrap than let her do anything that could result in her getting injured. Or having fun. "Okay, let's just do it!"