#And I think it engages them on a front they're not actually fighting I think it's bad tactics to pretend they're serious as it were

[atleastpleasetelephone]

Nights of Endless Love Part 26

A fic set in Vegas in 1971 at the start of Elvis' first residency that year, where he meets a Vegas showgirl who isn't interested. Smutty, fluffy, angsty drama.

To catch up with the other parts, go here. As always, thanks go to @vintagepresley for the idea in the first place and continued inspo! And many thanks to @eapep for her editing skills!

18 and over only.

Pairing: Elvis + OC - Mia, a Vegas showgirl

Wordcount: 3.3K ish

TW: Drug abuse, health issues, angry!Elvis, a little bit of violence, crying, oral (f receiving), then much fluff.

A/N: This is the final part! I fully sobbed when I finished writing this. It's been a real labour of love and I will miss Mia and Elvis and their little world. Not to say that we might not go back and see how they're doing from time to time, but for now this is the end of their story.

“I’m so tired. Elvis this schedule is impossible.” Mia collapses down onto the sofa, still in her stage outfit. They’re more than half way through the stint in Tahoe, and she only has a two hour break before she’s due back on stage again. Things have got worse since she started going on with him to do a song or two in the middle of his set. 

“It’s not impossible. You just need one of these shots,” he looks over to Dr Nick. “Nick, give her a shot.”

Dr Nick moves warily over to Mia. She pulls a face and puts her hand out to stop him. “Dr Nick do not give her a shot. She has autonomy over her own body.”

Elvis is standing over the other side of the room, still in his jumpsuit, sodden with sweat. One of his legs is jiggling about and he's fiddling incessantly with one of his big rings. Two of the tell-tale signs that Nick had been in here giving him a shot before the second show. As if she didn’t know already.

“Well don’t blame me if you can’t hack it.”

Mia stands up, annoyed now. “If I can’t hack it? You’re the one taking enough pharmaceuticals to floor an elephant.”

Dr Nick moves from foot to foot awkwardly. Mia wasn’t often in the room when he was treating Elvis, but he’d already got the impression she wasn’t keen on all of the drugs. He isn’t keen on all of the drugs either, but Elvis will only find someone else if he stops prescribing. He’s never seen them fight before, and he would like to get out before it turns nasty. He knows Elvis has a temper.

Elvis starts moving towards her in that ominous way he has, his lip curling, blowing furious air out of his nose. “I need them. This is none of your damn business woman.”

“None of my business! I’m only living with you and engaged to marry you!”

“Well maybe you need to learn to do as you’re told.” He grabs one of her arms and starts trying to manoeuvre her towards Nick, who is looking quite alarmed by this point. Mia wriggles and tries to get him off her. She sees his other hand coming to grab her and aims a kick at one of his shins. “Ow!” He almost shrieks. She uses the opportunity to pull her arm free and then slaps him across the face for good measure.

“You are not the boss of me!” She screams.

“You come back here,” he hisses as she stands, panting in front of him. 

She thinks that she hasn’t actually gone anywhere and he could grab her from here if he really wanted to.

“I’m not having a damn shot, Elvis. I’m sick of seeing you take all this stuff. I’m sick of waking up in the night and checking if you’re still breathing. I’m sick of worrying about you all the time. I want you to rest,” she finds herself faltering, holding back tears. “I love you.”

He closes the gap between them, and for a moment she can’t tell if he’s going to kiss her or hit her. He pushes her the few steps back it takes to hit the wall, and then his mouth is on hers, his tongue pushing insistently into her mouth, his hands grabbing her arms and pressing them against the wall next to her head. Somewhere that sounds like a million miles away she hears the clunk of the door. Nick must’ve finally had enough.

“Baby I love you too,” he says, when he finally comes up for air. “I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you.”

He starts slowly unzipping her catsuit, kissing her newly exposed skin as he goes. He stops briefly to pay her nipples some attention, but it’s clear where he’s headed, as he presses kisses to her stomach and slides the zipper down all of the way to where it finishes between her legs. She gasps when he first licks her clit, firmly and repeatedly, looking down to see him on his knees in front of her, worshipfully. His tongue dips down lower, tasting her properly, his lips and chin slick with her juices. She whines, desperate for more contact.

“Put your leg on my shoulder baby,” he says, the words buzzing against her.

She does, feeling his fingers spreading her cunt so he can better access it, lapping at her, pushing his tongue inside. His thumb moves to rub her clit as he carries on licking, the fingers of his other hand digging into the skin of her thigh and ass. She moans, grabbing her breasts and rubbing her nipples. She’s so turned on even just at the sight of him kneeling in front of her like this, burying his face in her cunt, licking and sucking like his life depends on it.

He moves to suck on her clit now, looking up at her as he does it, his hair soaked with sweat from the show earlier and her arousal all over his face. He slides a finger inside her and curls it slightly, waiting to hear her reaction. She groans, feeling him hit that spot inside of her and wriggling to try and get more contact from his tongue.

“Hold my head Mimi. Do whatever you want with me.”

She shivers at the words. She loves it when he tells her to use him like this. 

“Another finger…please,” she just about manages.

He nods and slips a second finger inside her.

She reaches down and takes hold of his head, fingers digging into his damp hair. She starts to roll her hips so that her clit rubs against his tongue, holding onto him gently and then as the pleasure starts to build she finds herself gripping him desperately, pushing her cunt into his face, not really caring anymore if he can breathe. She’s so close now, all she can think of is reaching that high. As her orgasm washes over her she grips his head even more tightly, crying out and feeling tears falling down her cheeks. She shakes and cries, finally letting him go and sliding down the wall, somehow getting her leg off his shoulder and ending up sitting in a little pile at the bottom of it.

“Fuck, honey.” Elvis is beet red, and he’s taking great gasping breaths.

She looks over at him, and realises she might’ve actually been suffocating him. “Oh shit. Are you alright?”

“Honey. You’re crying.” 

Mia laughs, even though she’s still crying. “I’m crying, you’re nearly suffocated, this is all going great.”

He moves to try and kiss her and she holds her hands up in front of her face. “Ahh. Wash your face!”

He laughs and grabs her arms, pinning them to her sides. “No,” he replies, kissing her on the mouth. She can feel the slickness of his lips, covered in her juices, and taste herself on his tongue. “If you’re going to smother me the least you can do is kiss me afterwards.”

She laughs, and then he pulls her into his arms, leaning against the wall himself. “Baby why were you crying? I thought you were enjoying yourself.”

“I just felt overwhelmed. I love you so much and I really want this to work, but it’s just fucking exhausting. I’m sorry I nearly killed you.”

He chuckles into her ear. “It’s okay, I asked for it. In more ways than one. And I love it when you’re so uninhibited like that, especially all over my face.”

She squeals. It smells like sex and sweat all around her. They really need to shower before the next show.

He nuzzles her neck. “I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have got mad at you. You’re right, we can’t carry on like this. But I don’t know what else to do.”

***

They somehow finish the Tahoe commitment but tell Jerry and the Colonel that there’s no way they can keep up that level of work. It was what they’d suspected would happen, and although the Colonel has his views on how many shows Elvis and Mia should do, for once he keeps his mouth shut. Jerry has been a good influence on him from that perspective. He’s learning how to diversify, has even thought of taking on one or two more clients. Jerry suggests one show a night is more reasonable, tours could be longer but there would be more gaps between dates and fewer residencies. Mia and Elvis both agree, and leave the meeting somewhat relieved. 

Mia knows the amount of shows isn’t the only problem though, and so she decides to broach something with Elvis as she watches him rubbing his belly and grimacing.

“What do you think about checking yourself into a hospital?”

Elvis almost jumps. “What? There’s nothing wrong with me!”

Mia puts her hand on top of his. “You’re not in any pain just now?”

He sighs. “Okay, but… hospital?”

“Please. For me. I’ll stay in there with you. We can order in whatever food you want. But I think you need to go and get checked out, and… maybe you need to come off some of what you’ve been taking.” 

She’s very nervous about the last part of the sentence. He’s never taken interference in the drugs he takes very well in the past. She had thought she wouldn’t interfere in that part of his life, but the shows at Tahoe showed her that she had to. She watches his face twist into a variety of different expressions, as if he’s having a not-very-internal battle with himself. 

“You’ll stay with me the whole time? Even if they want to do things to me? Look for stuff? You’ll be there? You promise?” He’s starting to sound a little panicked, but it seems like the agreeable Elvis has won this time. 

“Yes. I won’t let them throw me out of the room. I’ll be there with you the whole time I promise.”

He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “Okay then.”

***

Mia keeps her word. They check into the hospital together and she’s there holding his hand as they do blood tests, check his blood pressure, put drops in his eyes. When they tell him he needs a colonoscopy he looks at her and she tells him it will be okay and she will hold his hands and talk to him the whole time. He nods like a frightened child but does whatever she says. They slowly take him off the complicated mixture of pharmaceuticals he’s been taking since he was in the army, working out exactly what he needs rather than what he wants. Mia stays up a lot of the nights, lying in the bed with him, stroking his hair and wiping his brow as he sweats and twists and turns uncomfortably in his sleep. With the best will in the world, his withdrawal is still horrible and he begs her to let him take something for it, crying in her arms. 

A week after they first got there, he’s sat up in bed as she lays dozing after another tumultuous night. 

“Hi there.” A voice Mia can’t quite place, deep and sonorous. She tries to ignore it, but Elvis’ response makes that impossible.

“Lawrence! It’s been so long!” 

Elvis is feeling good for the first time since he checked into the hospital, and seeing Larry has made him genuinely excited, dropping the book he was reading and sitting up properly in bed. All of this jostles Mia so much she sits up again with a groan. 

“How’re you doing, man?” Larry asks, sitting down on the armchair in the room. 

“Great. So much better. They’ve taken me off a lot of things and… I do feel good for a change, Larry. They’re bringing me all these fresh fruits and vegetables and Mia is helping me decide which ones I like.”

He looks over at Mia, whose hair is absolutely everywhere, eyes barely open, looking like she needs to sleep for a week. He strokes her face. “Baby, why don’t you go to the room across the hall and get some proper sleep?”

The hospital staff had reserved them another room in case Mia wanted to sleep somewhere separately sometimes, but she hasn’t left his side for the whole week. 

“You sure?” She replies, groggily. 

“Of course, Angel. Larry can keep me company for a while and you look like you need to sleep somewhere comfy.”

She nods and shuffles off across the corridor. 

“I hear you’re getting married?”

Elvis grins. “Yeah. When the divorce is finalised with Cilla, we certainly are.”

“I’m so pleased for you Elvis. Things really seem to be turning out well lately.”

Elvis is beaming. Things were turning out well. He has an idea to make them even better. “Say, you wanna be my best man?”

Larry is taken aback. They hadn’t been in touch much recently, a hair cut here and there and a few chats, but nothing like the intensity of their relationship previously. He’d been wondering if they were just drifting apart. 

“I’d be honoured!”

Elvis reaches across to shake the other man’s hand, firmly. “Wonderful. I’m sure Mia will be pleased too.”

***

Mia had never thought she’d be so nervous on her wedding day. What is there to be nervous about? Fluffing up the words? Tripping over her dress and falling on her face? Actually, both of those seem like pretty bad options. She smooths her dress down and looks at herself in the mirror. Life on the road hasn’t exactly stopped the ageing process. If anything, it’s accelerated it. She had her grey hairs dyed back to brown in readiness for today, there’s a lot of strong elastic holding her not-so-little belly in and a face full of make-up hides her tired eyes and wrinkles. But she finds somehow that she doesn’t mind so much any more. Elvis’ hair is still white and he is completely unapologetic about it. He gets his reading glasses out when he needs to and he ignores the jibes from the guys. They worship one another’s bodies, no matter whether they find wrinkles or extra fat there. Elvis is particularly delighted by the fact that she’s put on a little extra weight on her ass, kissing and kneading it at every opportunity. Every morning he tells her how beautiful she is, or sings Mia In The Morning, no matter how many times she hits him with a pillow and tells him to shut up. The tests at the hospital showed that he has a problem with his intestine that makes his belly swell from time to time, and Mia makes sure to show him how much she loves him whenever it happens. He’s given up trying to push her away when she pushes his shirt up and kisses him all over. In fact, he almost looks forward to it.

Mia smiles at her reflection. It had been one helluva year. When she’d started 1971, performing on that stage in the Tropicana, she had no idea things would turn out like this. That she’d be getting ready to marry one of the most famous men in the world. That she’d be so in love with him.

“You ready?” Amanda asks. Mia had to spend an entire drunken day catching her up on everything that had happened over the past couple of months, but she was the only person she wanted as her maid of honour. 

“As I’ll ever be.”

Her dad walks into the room, blinking back tears at how beautiful she looks in her dress. 

“Time to go, pumpkin?”

Mia nods and takes his arm. Elvis had encouraged her to get back in contact with her parents, so she’d invited them to the show when they visited her hometown. She was surprised when they came, and even more surprised how proud they were of her. She suspects it has something to do with Elvis, who put on the world’s biggest charm-offensive when he met them, and who of course they loved instantly. Her dad was over the moon when she asked him to give her away at the wedding. 

She can feel herself shaking as they walk slowly down the aisle to meet the man standing at the end of it. Elvis is shaking too, he’s asked Larry approximately 15 times already whether he still has the rings, and until he saw her for himself a few moments ago, he had completely convinced himself that Mia wasn’t coming. The walk is interminable for both of them, Elvis sweating and worrying about stuttering his vows and Mia concentrating on not falling over her own dress. When she finally gets there and they turn to face one another, holding each other’s hands tightly, they both let out shaky breaths. And then they realise what they’ve done and both giggle. It’s like the rest of the world completely disappears when they look at one another. Until, that is, the celebrant starts to speak. 

“In the presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we have come together to witness the marriage of Elvis and Mia, to pray for God’s blessing on them, to share their joy and to celebrate their love.”

Despite their fears, the ceremony goes smoothly. Larry hands over the rings. No-one declares a reason they can’t get married, and neither of them mess up their vows. Elvis stutters a little but it just makes Mia love him more, if that were possible. They kiss passionately when they’re told they’re now man and wife, and little Lisa-Marie is the first person to start throwing confetti. Mia briefly wonders if it’s odd to have your husband’s ex-wife as one of your bridesmaids, but then decides she doesn’t care. Priscilla is still such a good friend to her, she’d even helped to pick out Mia’s dress. 

The party that follows goes on well into the night. It starts with a first dance to actual Jackie Wilson performing (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher, and sometime around midnight Mia finds herself still in her wedding dress, trying to teach Red West how to rumba. 

“Never thought you’d last, you know.” He says into her ear as she tries in vain to get him to stop standing on her feet. 

“Oh really?” She laughs back, pushing his hip with hers. 

“No. Thought he’d have enough of you being so bossy.”

“You should be concentrating or you won’t get any better.”

Red looks up at her. “I’m not really trying to get better, I’m enjoying you manhandling me if I’m honest.”

Mia bursts out laughing, shoving him back and away from her. “I’ll tell my husband you said that.”

“You’ll tell your husband he said, what?” 

Elvis is suddenly behind her, his arms around her waist. She leans back against him and smirks. “Red West is trying to get close to me, husband.”

“Oh, is that so, wife?”

“Hmm yes. But I wouldn’t worry about him, I’m not interested.” She spins around in his arms and puts hers around his neck. “I just feel sorry for him.”

Elvis looks up at her and chuckles, humming with pleasure as she leans her forehead down against his. “He is pathetic, you’re right.”

Red rolls his eyes and huffs, wandering off to find someone else to annoy. 

“How is my beautiful wife?” Elvis asks her as they sway back and forth to the music. 

“I’ve never been better. How is my handsome husband?”

“I’ve never been happier. Today has been perfect. You’re perfect. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“I can’t wait either, lover.”

The band starts playing From A Jack To A King.

From a Jack to a King / From loneliness to a wedding ring / I played an Ace and I won a Queen / And walked away with your heart

***

Taglist:

Please let me know if you want to be added or removed:

@vintagepresley @arg-xoxo @from-memphis-with-love @msamarican @blursedblegh @returntopresley @another-identityofmine @eapep @everythingelvispresley @i-r-i-n-a-a @sissylittlefeather @arrolyn1114 @jhoneybees @cattcb @polksaladava @lookingforrainbows @jkdaddy01 @ccab @epthedream69 @lustnhim @elvisslut @pomtherine @that-hotdog

[simplyreveries]

Dorm Leaders watching their S/O beat up someone that shit talked them. And they do it without a scratch and walk off to them like nothing happened, and the only reason why they noticed was because of some blood on their uniforms

riddle rosehearts

the look on his FACE when he sees you straight up sucker punch someone for calling him names, most likely some student in his dorm telling him off frustrated and badmouthing riddle to their friends. he was speechless??? like??? he quickly regains his composure and manages to have you and the other (more so you) back off before anything more happens and it escalates. he may even temporarily use his magic on you two as a swift warning.

riddle will remove it once the student is gone and scold you for doing and resorting to such violence… though yes it was good that you had, good intentions with him and mind he’ll huff and tell you that is not how to do it! he’ll end up rambling in a flustered moment after having that happen and because out of defense? he's never felt that before or had someone to do that for him really.

he’ll ask and wonder if aces stubborn and fighting tendencies are rubbing off on you, he’d know as he GOT hit by him before. he’ll exclaim and be like “I told you, dear, they're a bad influence on you tsk..!” hehehe. he makes an effort to keep you strayed and quickly moved away if some situation like this occurs, especially after knowing just how far you are willing to go for him… after he’s gone on long enough to you about how that wasn't a good idea, you swore you could've seen a hint of a smile on him.

leona kingscholar

leona is used to hearing some sort of snarky hushed comments about him from other students, thinking he doesn't have such a keen sense of hearing, at times. he really could care less and mostly likely will not be caught thinking about it even later on. there were times where maybe yes, they would sting him slightly but that was when he was younger and, in the castle, hear comments regarding him and his place beside his brother. once again, he has gotten used to these kinds of things and finds it rather pointless to dwell on. he doesn't want to pity himself.

but… you are kind of the opposite when to him and he actually is genuinely shocked for once when he sees you getting personal and physical with some random octavinelle student that made some snide comment about him. leona had always known that you had an overprotective and forward flare to you— hell he loved that about you, but he actually was not expecting that one bit.

he will grab your arm and stop you from going any further from terrorizing this poor student, he’ll grumble what “an idiot” you are for getting yourself into such a mess, for a mere comment towards him. he’ll have some smirk on his face, he doesn't seem to be taking this seriously one bit.

azul ashengrotto

like leona he has had to learn to “toughen up” and learn to ignore them (though he does most likely take them to heart at times) he holds his front and persona ever the same remaining unbothered and frankly ignorant. he is quite used to others talking poorly especially as his reputation is poor among various students haha. but he doesn't seem to care, he is quite happy to see his business grow actually.

azul seems a little taken off-guard when you start a whole fight with not one but a group of students??? l mean, most violence he is used to is from the twins to some student who’s defiant to fulfill or deal with the effects of their deal. when he is past the initial surprise, he stops you and tells you to only ignore them, azul will claim its foolish to engage. he tries to keep a fake “oh terribly sorry about that...” to the students to make sure they won't do anything. if something were to happen though because you decided to pick a fight out of his defense, he could always send someone like floyd, not you!

not going to lie though, moving away he did feel a sense of pride knowing that you're someone that's so willing to go such lengths for him, not to mention, he's impressed. you’ll still find him going on and telling you that you shouldn't be doing that, it could lead you into some larger mess with other troublesome students. but he’ll chuckle and tell you he finds it endearing.

kalim al-asim

kalim is pretty liked for the most part by other students and his dorm, minus the whole fiasco that happened during his chapter. he is just the kind of person that wants to be able to get everyone's approval and he’ll stubbornly keep being persistent. however, in a school like nrc where they're so many people the opposite he is bound to get annoyed, mean comment from someone. SO, when you decide to take that extra personally, he is so??!! he is not one for violence like ever...

after he sees how willing you are to defend him by literally fighting the student, he absolutely will quickly get in between you two and stop the situation before it even begins to escalate, trying to make light of it all with a nervous smile and laugh, he doesn't want to see you or the other person fighting!

he'll look over you all worried, he doesn't want you or anyone to be hurt, especially on his own behalf. he just has this shocked and bewildered expression as he does so, like he is flattered and thinks it's nice that you care for him but not so aggressively! haha.

vil schoenheit

this man is a celebrity…. words do not affect him. he is really used to comments online but also around him during his school life, though he is surprised there are some so bold to be expressive about their thoughts of someone like him. he doesn't think much of them, at most shooting them some glare or even an unamused look from him. if he’s particularly stressed or upset about something beforehand he won't hesitate to throw his own comment as well.

he is shocked but carefully removes you before things get any sorts of serious after you decide to start that. the last thing he would want is for you to be hurt in some sort of silly reason, as he doesn't seem to care about what others think of him. if anything, vil would only be more concerned about you than that unpleasant student. he does know quite the temper and stubbornness you can get; he’ll move you by the arms away if he has to.

vil would look like he is frustrated but his face is just painted with concern for you— he’ll stubbornly bring you to his room and make you sit down in front of his vanity, leaving the student way being (frankly surprised that you decided to sucker punch them for talking ill of vil). vil will carefully tend to your hands, shaking his head. he’ll kiss your knuckles when he’s done, get your uniform cleaned and warn you not to do something like that again!

idia shroud

if idias feeling mean back (most of the time) he’ll probably just do something scummy to the person online and call it a day. but at the end of the day, he avoids people like the plague, so this happening is rare— he isn't exactly the most confrontational person either, unlike you who willingly get into the student's face getting slightly physical about to jump in and defend your boyfriend. that is until the student runs off.

he freezes and pauses for a moment, really unable to stop staring at you as the whole situation unfolding in front really trying to register what you just did. then he would give off his weird little snicker and giggle, after witnessing the whole thing, he finds it amusing that you're able to do that to some student, knowing you're a human— the magicless one yet you're able to do something like that for him??

honestly, he loves it, you've opened his eyes and made him realize that he is definitely attracted to that lmao. yet he groans when you go on and still fired up about the student, he’ll tell you it's too much of a trouble to do these kinds of things.

malleus draconia

he is quite used to hushed whispers and looks from passing students, though it is discouraging because he doesn't want that from others— there's another part of malleus if he's upset or feelings particularly spiteful for it… he could get really intimidating himself, no doubt about it, if he really wanted to. he never does anything too bad, but he sometimes messes with others if he is in the mood. at the end of the day though, he is used to sebek quickly charging up ready to defend his honor at any moment of the day and telling him calmly to let them be.

nevertheless, he is genuinely surprised when you suddenly are willing to fight people literally for him. he finds it entertaining at first but then when he realizes you're being serious and get tough with a particular student he's like OH. with the quick move his hand, he’ll quickly move you and pull you away with some magic and prevent you or the student form doing anything else.

he’ll have some amused look on his face, as he remembers the face on the student when you were about to swing at him. as he lightheartedly scolds you for being so rough and doing something that could end with you getting hurt.

[signanothername]

if it's not too much, can i ask how you headcanon the murder time trio? since they're not exactly "canon" to any of the stories from their respective original artists, it's interesting to see how different people interpret them :)) tbh, i do feel like, from nightmare's pov, having more personal henchmen seems... risky in a way, as that means exposing killer to other outside influences that he can't fully control. like, what if killer starts to have ideas (organizing a henchmen union for example lol) - new people are interesting, something new for sure? does nightmare have to provide for these new henchmen now too?? so many factors to consider! unless these henchmen are more part-time than full-time lol.

i also think that, individually, the murder time trio might not get along with each other at all. they are (or were?) all sanses, but they have developed different moralities that canonically can clash with each other. the only way i think they can work well together is if they don't know each other's backstories. they function well with a wet blanket of mysteries, and i headcanon that's how nightmare is able to control them. he has all the cards, and he can play their emotions well, either to make them get along with each other, or to sow distrust among each other as well.

ANON I LOVE HOW YOU THINK

To me personally, i take my interpretation by looking at each of the Trio individually with their stories and then try and string together how they’d act around each other

Killer just honestly wouldn’t care about the others’ stories or past or anything like that, so when it comes to Murder or Horror, Killer he has no problem with them and would get along with them pretty well

Aside him being an absolute bitch to them at times, Killer wouldn’t hold much hostility towards them, and any harsh or offensive comments he makes towards them would only be because he felt like it, Killer has no reason for doing what he does, he just does it cause he can

However, Killer is definitely the type to value his privacy, and any questions or comments that might disrespect said privacy, would definitely escalate to Killer fighting whoever pressed him about matters they don’t understand or have the right to know, he simply doesn’t like to be pushed around, and he’s one with a lot of secrets, and he wouldn’t let Horror or Murder get their nonexistent noses into his business, like know how people always portray Nightmare to always be like “my room is off limits”?? Take that and actually apply it to Killer, Killer’s room, belongings (especially his weapons), and thoughts/personal life are all off limits

Ironically, Killer doesn’t hold that same respect of privacy when it comes to the other two, he’d definitely and especially not respect their personal spaces and would probably be super touchy with them, Murder and Horror hate to be touched but Killer does it anyway (Murder and Horror don’t realize Killer does that not just to be annoying but because he’s reassuring himself that they’re real, that they are indeed in front of him and not just another figment of his fucked up mind, not that he’d ever tell them that tho)

Murder on the other hand, definitely hates being on Nightmare’s team, he has no interest in serving Nightmare, he only cares about his own AU, so i can see him be the quiet loner who just doesn’t engage much with Killer or Horror

However, I can still see Murder feeling ok with Horror, but definitely not liking Killer in the slightest, cause while Murder is deluded to think that he killed everyone in his AU cause he “had to” to get his LV higher to be able to Kill the human and supposedly save everyone from resets, to him, Killer only had done the same thing but only for fun, that Killer is no better than the human, so I can see Murder treading carefully around Killer and just overall being cautious around him, especially with the amount of Determination Killer holds, it’s much greater than his and that fact downright disgusts him, cause how many times has Killer killed those in his AU to have his very soul deformed like that, not that Murder would be outwardly hostile towards Killer, but mucv like Killer, simply passive aggressive

I feel like Murder is the one that would always pry into Killer’s “off limits” area, he’s not curious or interested, he just simply hates Killer for being a monster with many faces (Can Murder even call him a monster when his soul doesn’t represent that of a monster?)

But i feel like Murder would be in for a surprise as he talks with his Papyrus only for Killer to say something along the lines of “it seems I’m not the only one who sees my Papyrus”

I can actually see Papyrus be the only point in which Murder and Killer actually agree about something

I feel like Horror is on the same boat as Murder but to a much smaller scale, so he’s fine with Murder but would break Killer’s skull if he could, he’s still a lot less hostile towards Killer than Murder tho, he’d just engage with Killer as he’d engage with everyone else, but Killer definitely gets on his nerves with his very nonchalant yet passive aggressive attitude

I would lie if I said I don’t think Horror would feel a bit disgusted by both Killer and Murder for murdering their Papyruses, cause how could they? Papyrus is the only one they were tasked to take care of and they just Kill him off? And I can see Horror actually commenting on it, only to get a comment back from Killer about how he’s not any better than them, how he literally fed his Papyrus human meat, Horror is baffled by how on earth did Killer even manage to know that, only for Killer to be his usual secretive self and simply states that he has “his ways”

I can still see Horror forming a good friendship with Murder tho, and even forming some sorta alliance where him and Murder go “you scratch my back, i scratch yours”, very beneficial when you’re working under Nightmare

Killer is unfortunately on his own tho, especially with the fact Nightmare seems to have his eye on him 24/7, Horror and Murder try and stay away as to not end up catching Nightmare’s interest too, they don’t know why Killer seems to catch Nightmare’s fancy, but they’re glad they haven’t met the same fate and they’re not about to change that by getting closer to Killer, not only that, but I feel like Horror and Murder would definitely see Killer as the “pet” to Nightmare, his favorite “toy”, and with how Killer’s the closest to Nightmare, what’s to stop Killer from spelling their secrets or thoughts for Nightmare’s ears to hear??

It makes Killer a bit if an outcast, but Killer doesn’t really care

Not only that, I feel like Killer would definitely creep Horror and Murder out by his vast knowledge in the Metaverse and Players, and while Killer doesn’t make such creepy comments about how none of them have any true free will often, they still get to the other two to an extent

I can still see the Trio becoming friends still, but not in the same sense that is the star sanses are friends, more like the Trio are the kinda friends to try and kill each other as a form of showing affection, they’re always really mean to each other, and are definitely a bit distant, but they’re also in the same shitty circumstances under the same shitty roof under the same shitty boss, and none of them would admit it, but all of them find a bit of solace in each other’s company, cause it always means they’re not alone whenever Nightmare breaks their bones, even if the two who survived Nightmare’s wrath would only make fun of the poor bitch who faced it head on

I can also see them finding common grounds in surprising places

Horror is actually surprised to know that Killer doesn’t eat, that Killer has a problem with food just like he does

Murder is actually extremely surprised Killer seems to hate the human (at least to an extent) like he does

Killer is a bit relieved to know he isn’t the only one to killed everyone in his AU, that he isn’t the only one to gained Determination cause of it (even if he’s more severely affected by it)

The three are all relieved (not that any of them would admit it) they’re not the only one with fucked up mental health

As for Nightmare, I feel like he’d definitely have some sorta plan before he actually hires anybody, Killer isn’t hard to contain, just keep him at stage 2 and crush any hope he may have of any fantasy of him finding a better life for himself and he’d stay in line

Horror? Just threaten him with killing his brother, problem solved, he wouldn’t dare get out of line

Murder is the one i feel would be hardest for Nightmare to control, in fact, i fully believe Murder is always trying to run away to find his way back home, and so i feel like Nightmare would put Killer on babysitting duty, Killer is tasked with always watching Murder and making sure he stays in line, and while Nightmare never explicitly states it, Murder is fully aware that Killer’s watching him

It complicates things for Murder and i can imagine him actually succeeding in getting away a few times, only for Killer to find him and bring him back kicking to Nightmare’s feet

I actually like to think Nightmare’s lenient to an extent when it comes to the Murder Trio visiting their homes as long as they get back immediately once they finish whatever business they wanted taken care of, and it doesn’t get in the way of their missions, hell he’d even let them go for days at a time (Murder, however, is always dragged back by Killer, and it makes Nightmare think of how much of an ungrateful bastard Murder is)

Here’s the twist tho, Nightmare doesn’t allow them to go home out of the goodness of his heart, Nightmare simply allows it as a bit of a fancy manipulation tactic in which it would make it seem like he isn’t “too bad” (he’s so damn bad) and it would just give Horror and Murder less of a reason to plan any sort of treason against him (Killer’s too unfeeling in stage 2 to care enough to form an alliance) not that Nightmare’s worried about it, he’s more than capable to put them in their places had they dared, he simply doesn’t want to deal with such hassle when it can be easily prevented (i mean he really isn’t in the mood to find another Horror and Murder)

That however, doesn’t make any of the Trio any less expendable to Nightmare, especially Horror and Murder, Nightmare tries to always keep the same Killer around cause he just isn’t in the mood to condition whatever new Killer he gets to play by his rules again, but he definitely had a few different Killers over the years

Murder as well, he definitely was replaced with another Murder so many times (he’s the one who gets replaced the most)

I like to think Horror is the only one who never got replaced by another version of himself, cause Horror always tries his damn hardest to stay in line and keep on Nightmare’s good side, and whenever he goes on missions he’s always so very careful about how much damage he takes as to not be deemed useless by Nightmare, all motivated by his love and fear of leaving his brother behind by himself had Nightmare decided to kill him

It’s always surreal for Horror to see the Murder he formed a good friendship with to be killed off by Nightmare like he never mattered, only for Horror to be introduced to another Murder in the next morning like the presence of the previous Murder meant nothing at all, and it’s even more surreal for him to introduce himself to a new Killer or a new Murder like he never met them before, all back to square one

Killer might’ve served Nightmare the longest cause he was the first to be recruited, but Horror had always been the one to actually last the longest

[broadwaytheanimatedseries]

Okay but hear me out!

Dead On Main Revolutionary Ghost Utena AU:

Canonically, Jason focuses his rage to summon the All Blade

Ghost Prince Danny would have the Ring of Rage, but not the Crown of Fire yet

I hypothesize to you that the two are connected, and not only that, but that wearing the ring allows one to draw the All Blade out of the other. Like, literally.

Because of this, summoning the All Blade of their own accord is the mark of a ghost powerful enough to be the ghost king's betrothed, and whatever other ghosts were in the running are pushed back in line as the All Blade wielder is now at the front.

It is part of ancient ceremony that predates Pariah as Ghost King and dates all the way back to the first Royal of the infinite realms, King Lazarus.

The connection itself is no more than a pull towards each other, a fascination at most to make an easier base to build a genuine and in this case, human connection.

To become actually engaged Jason would have to willingly appear before the Ghost Prince and allow him to draw the All Blade out of him, something he is not very excited for and might actually have other lasting impact besides the engagement.

Y'see Jason isn't a halfa the way Danny is, he came back twice in a short amount of time between those two instances, and while the second time was Lazarus induced, no one really knows how he woke up in his grave and broke himself out. There are theories but Clockwork was watching and even he doesn't seem to know for sure, so it's really anyone's guess.

So what the engagement ceremony could do, potentially, is either solidify his halfa status by sheer amount of ectoplasm transfered by the act, or alternatively it could just kill him on the spot and then he'd probably become a full ghost.

Now, neither of these sound great to Jason, but he also doesn't like that a bunch of ghosts have been trying to fight him for their Prince's hand in marriage, something they can only do while the Prince is still not engaged to anyone.

Meanwhile, Danny doesn't appreciate that as soon as he came of age all these marriage proposals started being thrown at him, he's known some of these ghosts since he was a teenager so that's really weird for one, and he gets that most of them are just trying to secure their happiness and not to mention their future safety as the mortal world seems to be moving on with the anti ecto act, which had lead many a specter to retreat back to the realms, causing a lot of unrest as the realms become more crowded and politically tense between factions who have not needed to interact for a while now.

It would seem the Amity portal and even Danny fighting the ghosts and sending them back through it was the break many of the realms' denizens desperately needed, but now with that option no longer being safe, as even their king can't protect them from the GIW when they're gaining so much support from governments across the world, tensions are running high in the realms and it seems that it's every ghost for themselves.

Danny doesn't really resent any of the ghosts for doing what they feel they must to make sure they aren't destroyed in what is shaping out to be a realms wide war at this point, even as he works overtime with his council to prevent that from happening, and he understands they obviously don't expect any actual marital kind of relationship from him, which is at least a little reassuring even if the idea of being married to any of them is still very weird, but he can't help but think there could be a better solution here that he's missing.

And then he feels it, a pull telling him he's overlooked something, someone important.

It's like a fire engulfing his ice core but not burning it somehow, just as it does not cool the fire around it.

Two opposite forces meant to cancel each other out, somehow instead keeping perfect equilibrium with one another.

He talks to Frostbite and Clockwork and finds out what that pull is and takes their advice to follow it.

Jason doesn't realize he just altered the source of all his recent problems to his location as he draws the All Blade to fend off yet another "challenger to the Prince's hand" whatever the hell that means, as finally one of them was dumb enough to try to use actual magic against him.

However, he soon feels the answering pull back from Danny as the latter decides to use the power in his ring to open the portal, feeling that this candidate should at least know he's coming to talk to him.

It's almost the opposite, he feels the fire of the pit madness flaring a bit, but instead of immediately trying to spread, to threaten to consume him unless he tempers it himself, it is still burning just as strong and wild, but kept in one place by an icy chill, an aura of cold, clear fury and calm in equal measure, it doesn't thaw from the fire anymore than his fire dies from the lack of heat around it.

They sustain each other, impossibly.

So Jason and Danny finally meet and give each other the rundown of their side of things and agree that maybe the best bet to not only stop ghosts from attacking Jason and proposing to Danny, but perhaps the key to overthrowing the GIW so the realms' denizens don't have to afterlive in fear and portals can be reinstated to allow travel through the realms and back, not to mention keeping the GIW from going after Jason himself who by their definition is certainly considered an ecto entity, is in fact to go through with the Ring and Blade ceremony.

Jason, at this point, is more of Earth than Danny, who has unfortunately had to step back from his normal mortal life when he turned 18 to take care of realms business, despite still only being Prince.

He was meant to have more time but with the GIW advancing like they had been it was in the realms' best interest as well as his own that he decree the realms going no contact with humans for the foreseeable future.

It's been nearly 3 years since then and they are still getting ghosts back from parts of the world who have been avoiding humans as much as they can.

As soon as he turned 21 all this ghost marriage nonsense has has been making his job of protecting the ghosts in all the realms a lot more difficult, so when ghosts realized he didn't want to be challenged every day for his hand, they went to the next best thing, the top candidate.

Now, Phantom was saying that he's gonna marry the guy they've all been trying to defeat (and failing, to his credit, so at least he was worthy of being top pick)

A lot of them were upset or disappointed, but he explained how this arrangement could potentially help out everyone in the long run and most got on board when they heard the new plan.

Now the only problem is that getting engaged, as mentioned previously, is a ceremony that could prove dangerous to Jason and "not to be insensitive about it, but if you die and become a ghost that sorta defeats one of the main purposes of us even doing this." Danny points out.

"So what's our plan, Your Majesty?" "It's Royal Highness, I'm not king yet, thank the ancients for that." "Yeah yeah, so what are we doing, Your Royal Whinyness?" "Rude. Anyway, there's a chance you might become a full halfa during the process, that means getting a second form and a fully developed core and powers besides the All Blade, which would be better than you dying. So the best way to ensure that outcome, as much as any outcome can be guaranteed anyway, is to start the process of making you a halfa before the ceremony."

"Okay? How do we do that?" "Well, we gotta get some ecto in you - " "aren't you made of that? This better not be a pickup line" "no, not like that! I told you, this marriage doesn't have to be anything more than a contract, I'm about as thrilled about having to get married to save my people as you are about doing this to stop ghost from kicking your ass on a weekly basis." "Excuse me? I won all those fights!" "Yeah, after getting tossed into brick walls 5 times per ghost" "not every ghost tossed me into walls. Box Bitch did throw crates at me tho, that hurt." "Holyshit, Boxy is not messing around anymore huh? Well, makes sense, he's a father now. He doesn't wanna raise his little girl in these conditions. Still glad he lost, but I'm surprised Lunch Lady even agreed to him trying."

So they start Jason on his ecto diet and in the meantime the batfam is brought up to date about everything that's happening and they get to work, Batman gathers the JL to push back on the GIW's fuckery and all of Jason's siblings have an engagement party and a bachelor bash to plan. The girls decide to plan a Bachelorette party for Danny because he deserves to have a break as well.

Jason hates his stupid family, but Danny seems happy to be part of one again after so long, so he sucks it up and plays along.

It's possible that maybe while preparing and planning and helping each other and working together, Jason has gotten to know and developed a fondness for Danny.

Okay so maybe he's a sappy fuck who fell head over heels in love with him in the span of like a month, but this is still just a contract to Danny, and Jason isn't going to push for or expect anything more. Danny doesn't need that kind of stress in his life rn.

Danny has been freaking out since he met his soon to be husband because holyshit that's Red Hood, that is THE Red Hood! No wonder he passed the trial of the All Blade, and the way that fire burned around Danny's core, a fire he now recognized as the warmth answering from Jason's own, made him realize that this is way more than just a contract to him. Still, he'd been part of the realms for a lot longer than Jason ans he was their future king. Jason as part of this contract would be his equal but until the marriage was sealed, he was still technically Jason’s superior. And it didn't feel right to take adventage of that and suddenly change the terms of this deal, to make Jason in any way feel pressured by Danny's own feelings. No, this was just a contract, like Jason wanted it to be. He would keep that promise to him.

Jazz and Babs get together to help their idiot baby brothers figure out their unrequited love is actually very much mutual pining and they're just being stupid.

Anyway the marriage ceremony is a different ritual from the engagement ceremony, the All Blade wielder summons it and presents it to the wearer of the ring, who sheaths it back into the summoner's core, symbolizing that they both have power over the Blade but it belongs to its wielder, and even the king himself may not keep it without permission. The Blade as a manifestation of Jason's will.

(And as a bonus, we know Jason is a literary nerd so he recognizes and appreciates the romance novel tropes happening to him, especially in the high king's court, but he is not a weeb. So I don't think he'd recognize the Utena references happening to him. But you know who I think would? You know who is a weeb who loves swords and is soooo jealous of Todd and his husband right now? It's Damian. Damian's fucking seething that he doesn't get a magic sword. He's so pissed and it's very funny.)

[matthewswifeee]

Reunited

In which you haven't seen or spoken to the triplets in over 3 years because of your messy relationship issues. . TW: Mentions of domestic violence (Not by any of the triplets) . And btw I never proof read. .

Three years... it has been three whole years and I find myself pulling into the drive way of a very familiar house. Danny, my now ex boyfriend and I just got into a huge fight...once again.

I can't do this, I think to myself as I continue to sob in the drivers seat of my car. Maybe I should just go home now and save my self the embarrassment. "They're gonna move away and forget all about you" Danny's word replay in my head over and over. "They don't have time for you" "They're actually making something of themselves what do they need you for" "Save them the trouble of having to deal with you and all your problems" his words replay again in my head, they probably haven't even thought about me all this time, I say to myself before hitting the steering wheel and snapping myself out of my thoughts.

I can't say that I haven't done this before, sat in their drive way trying to build up the courage to show my face again, but this happens every time. I think about Danny and all the things he has imbedded in my brain about them and how they feel towards me and I chicken out and run back home to him. I always walk back into that house that is supposed to be my home and stay with the terrible man that I've built somewhat of a life with.

I look down at the shining diamond ring placed on my left hand and think, there is no way I can marry him. I've been engaged to this terrible man for almost two years and ever since he's put this ring on my finger it has all gotten worse and worse by the day. Every time I pull into this drive way I tell myself it's the last time and when I leave without getting out of the car once again I won't come back, I can't come back and ruin their lives.

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MATT'S POV:

"She's here again" Chris says looking through the curtains of our living room making Nick and I both get up to look with him. I can see her crying, she does this every time. She sits in the car and cries like something I've never seen before then she pulls her self back together and drives back off. "Come on" Nick whispers hoping that she'll actually get out of the car. "She's been there for awhile maybe tonight's the night" Chris says with hope.

We know how terrible her boyfriend is, but we also know that she always goes back to him and it's not her fault that he's found every kind of way to control and manipulate her. "Wait look" I say seeing something shining through her windshield. "No" Chris says noticing it too. "You don't think they're getting married, right" Nick says but it sorta comes out as more of a question.

"That has to be why she's here" I say, "And why she hasn't left yet" Chris adds on, she knows she can't marry him the rest of her life would be gone. We've seen the bruises every time she pulls into the driveway and it just get worse and worse, If she were to actually marry him she'd be stuck forever there's no way she would leave him.

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"Fuck" I shout trying to snap myself back into reality. I have to do this, I have to go inside... If I don't Danny is going to end up killing me. I reach for the door handle and take one last breath before opening it. I place one foot on the ground and feel myself start to tremble with anxiety and fear, I'm not scared of the boys I'm scared of them not wanting to speak to me again.

I close the car door and take yet another deep breath before pulling at the sleeves of my sweatshirt and making my way to the front door and knocking on it. I can feel my heart thumping when suddenly the door swings open reveling Matt with Chris and Nick both just a few feet behind him. I go to open my mouth and speak but all that comes out is a cry and I fall into Matt's arms.

Matt and I were always the closest, I mean we were so close to being in a relationship until I met Danny and he made me feel like Matt would never want me. He used to tell me that I would just mess up Matt's life because the boys were moving to LA and that he would be way more interested in girls out there that he would just leave me anyways. Of course I believed him I mean what other choice did I have.

"It's ok, it's ok, I got you" Matt whispers as he holds me tightly and I sob into his chest. "I can't do it anymore" I cry as I pull away from Matt and wipe my tears with the sleeves of my sweatshirt. "Hey" Chris says placing his hand on my shoulder "We're here now" he says reassuring me that every thing is going to be alright and giving me a hug. "You don't have to go back anymore" Nick says also hugging me.

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After a few hours of the boys and I catching up they offered to let me spend the night.

"You can stay in my room" Matt says as we're talking about where I was going to sleep. "I don't want to put any of you out of your bed" I say not wanting any of them to give up their room for me. "It's fine (Y/n) I really don't mind" Matt says tying to get me to accept his offer. "Matt can sleep with me that way you don't have to feel bad about his sleeping on the couch" Chris says also trying to get me to feel better about sleeping in Matt's room. "Fine" I say finally giving in.

The four of us all get ready for bed when I quickly realize I have nothing to sleep in. "Matt" I say standing in Chris' doorway and he walks over to me. "Can I borrow something to sleep in" I ask and he leads me to his room, opening the closet. "Take whatever you want" Matt says then he leaves the room. I get changed into one of Matt's t-shirts and quickly get into bed, I was so exhausted it was unbelievable. As soon as I shut my eyes my phone lights up with a text from Danny, do not look, I think to myself. After a few minutes of tossing and turning I couldn't help myself but look at all of his messages.

Baby when are you coming home

im sorry

babe

(Y/n)

Please come home

Baby please I need you

I drove past and saw your car at their house...

You know they dont want you there

They dont care about you anymore

I told you Matt and Chris are just trying to get in your pants

Thats all you are to them

You mean nothing to them they think your worthless

At least I love you come on babe

Come home it was one stupid fight

I didn't mean for this all to happen (Y/n) I love you

I wont ever do it again I promise

I went out and bought you that neckless you've been wanting

(Y/n) just come home or I will come get you

He won't ever stop, what if I just go home then maybe he'll stop all of this. Maybe if I go home this will be the time he actually changes, I think to myself. After I read all of the messages from Danny I began to feel sick to my stomach. I sit up on the edge of Matt's bed, bringing a hand to my chest to feel my heart beating at a rapid pace as my mouth starts to water I get up and bolt for the bathroom across the hall.

"Hey hey hey, I got you" Matt says rushing to my side to hold back my hair and rub my back as I'm spilling my guts into the toilet in front of us. I feel the tears start to form in my eyes again thinking about how much control Danny has over me, how he's the reason for me being like this. I was so scared of him and what he might do that it was physically making me sick. After I was done puking Matt and I sat on the bathroom floor for a minute as I tried to pull myself back together.

"Can I ask you something" Matt says and I nod my head in response. "What happened, like what made you actually come here and leave Danny" Matt asked sounding concerned yet curious at the same time, I knew he could see the bruises and scars covering my skin now that I was wearing nothing but the oversized t-shirt I borrowed from him. I take a deep breath before deciding if I was actually ready to tell Matt what happened earlier in the day. "He um... he, he hit me...again...like bad this time" I manage to choke out and I see Matt's soft expression turn even softer as he grabs my hand.

"My sister was in town this weekend and she stopped over before she had to go to her work conference and Danny he um, he got home just before she was leaving then after she left it's like the switch flipped and he became the monster again" I start to tell Matt what had happened, this story similar yet so different to the many others. I could tell Matt was listening and letting me take my time just by the expression on his face, he kept his hand placed in mine and let me continue my story. "He um... he started yelling about how I had company over and I didn't tell him, I didn't have dinner done, I didn't have on any makeup around my company and I let her see me looking disgusting" I continue on the verge of tears. "It's ok (Y/n)" Matt says in an attempt to reassure me that I was ok now. "The he-he slapped me and put his hands around my neck" I say beginning to cry. "He screamed in my face and told me that I don't deserve to be his wife, that-that I wasn't good enough to be with anyone and-and then he pushed me into the kitchen counter" I tell Matt having a flashback to the events that took place.

"You're such a worthless, stupid bitch" Danny shouts at me again as I begin to cry. "Stop fucking crying" he screams and I feel the familiar sting hit my check once more before he grabs me again by my wrists. "Stop fucking crying (Y/n) or I swear to god I will kill you" he shouts grinding his teeth as I try my best to choke back the tears.

"This is why all of your friends hate you and why your family doesn't want you because your a fucking crybaby bitch who can't do anything right" he shouts at me before hitting me once more. He drags me into our bedroom by my wrists "Since you're obviously not good for anything else you're going to do exactly what I want" Danny says unbuckling his belt. "Please no" I cry begging him not to do this again.

"You're supposed to be my fucking wife soon you have to do whatever the fuck I want" he yells at me as he pushes me down on the bed. I struggle to get his off of me but somehow, someway I do and I grab my purse and run for the door. I make it to my car and see that he surprisingly isn't following me. Today's the day I leave forever.

"I am so sorry (Y/n)" Matt says softly as he pulls me close to him as I cry. "I knew he was bad but I didn't think it was this bad" he whispers to me as he softly rubs my back. After I'm able to calm back down and stop reliving that moment that happened earlier in the night Matt and I just sit together in a peaceful silence. "Can-can you sleep with me tonight" I sorta hesitate to ask. "Yes" Matt says, he then helps me up off of the floor and we go back into his room laying down on opposite sides of the bed.

Sooo what do we think?? Should I do a part two?

Also comment to be on the tag list <3.

Have an amazing day my little sluts. mwah

[campaignskyjacks]

The more I think about piracy, the more I believe it is the most structurally sound work situation under capitalism.

Every pirate ship was a worker owned company. If you were part of the crew, you were a literal shareholder. You got paid at least one share out of whatever venture you were involved with, and you got to vote on what the ship would do and who would be captain. That's already a pretty ideal situation, but it gets better.

The Captain is paid a double share as the position was seen as difficult and important work. But that is only twice as much as your general crew. Compare that to today's CEO and it's laughable how much more reasonable it is. It goes even further than that though.

The Captain is likely actually working way more than the rest of the crew. Most pirate ships were heavily overstaffed. The general strategy was you would catch up to a prize, board their ship and have like 200 guys. Merchant ships were staffed by capitalists, so they favored lean staffing. They wanted to pay as little wage as possible to maximize profit on the cargo they were transporting. A ship that would be comfortably staffed by 40 was probably being run by 25 to 30. Pirate ships would have way more people, so if they caught up to you there would be absolutely no way you could fight them off.

All of that means pirates didn't actually have to work that hard¹. There were way more people than actual things to do on a pirate ship. Even considering the fact that there is alot to do to keep a ship running, it's diffused over so many people that you really have a lot of down time as a crew. People like the Capitain, the quartermaster, the navigator, the doctor, or the cook all got somewhere between 1.2-2 shares, but they are working so much more than the average buckaneer.

I know some of you must be thinking "well that sounds very nice but the job gets pretty ugly when you're raiding." And the answer there is sort of. Pirates most certainly engaged in some pretty unsavory work and as crew you would be on the front lines of a lot of that. However situations where crew were actually getting in fights and putting their lives in the line were not the norm. A lot of the time pirates were hitting merchant ships, which once again were really understaffed. These people aren't crazy these people are hired to do a job so they're not going to throw their lives away over a couple dozen barrels of coffee or spice. Most of the time a pirate ship would catch up with a merchant ship, raise black flags, and and the captains of each ship would negotiate a surrender. Most of the time pirates were not requesting all of the cargo because the ideal situation is being able to hit the same ship over and over. You want to skim enough cargo that whoever commissioned the merchant ship isn't going to gripe too much about cargo being lost and complain to the navy. That way your crew can have a steady stream of whatever goods coming through to keep your vessel afloat. So most pirate merchant relationships were pretty transactional. The pirates would show up the merchants would give up abortion of their goods and everybody would go on their way.

Which means most of the time your average crew didn't have to do shit!

Pirates also had benefits. Remember when I mentioned you were going to be paid out "at least" one share? Well, if you lost a limb or something in the line of duty you would be afforded bonus shares to compensate the loss. They had entire systems of calculating disability compensation based on what injuries could be expected and how they saw it affecting your life. So if something bad did happen, you'd have pay to cover it.

It gets even better than this. The name "buckaneer" comes from "barbacoa" which was a type of mobile grill that was popular aboard ships². The folks who sailed were so commonly associated with these grills that people created a nickname for the profession based on the grills they used all the time. You'd see a privateer or a pirate at Port Royal and go "oh look, it's one of those guys who barbecues all the time."

Also, they were fucking queer. You've probably already heard that the term "matey" was a form of piratical gay marriage. If you designated someone else on the crew as your mate, if you died your share would go to them. I have to acknowledge that there is a slight chance that this isn't a 100% gay practice, there are conceivably reasons that someone might identify another person as their mate that doesn't have to do with romance or sex. Not a lot of pirates were literate and not many of them kept records of day-to-day life that really survived for historians to document. We can guess but in most circumstances we don't know for sure. But come on, grow the fuck up. These seadogs were banging.

Piracy and the type of sailing adjacent to piracy was a way for a person to make a life for themselves very far away from most of European society. And because of the way gender roles existed at the time, it's pretty much only men hanging out with men. If you happen to have desires that are unpopular at that time which involve other men, this is a pretty good situation for you.

So yeah piracy is a worker owned endeavor with reasonable compensation for management, benefits, frequent barbecues, and plenty of downtime to have all the queer sex you want.

It's one one those things that only exists because of capitalism, but as a response and a rebuke to it. These were endeavors that were so much more reasonable and fair then the legitimate businesses operating at the time.

And yes there were horrors. There was fighting and killing, torture, and worse. That is what the capitalists and colonizers would like us to remember. These things did really happen. However part of that was an effort to preserve and defend this better life people had made for themselves. To keep it alive inspire of the corporations and nations who would exploit or destroy their way of life.

So yeah, there was a lot about piracy that was violent and fucked up. But the truly wild thing is that it probably made more sense for the people involved then whatever you do right now. The next time you get bummed about your job or place in the world remember that piracy makes more sense.

Then go eat some barbecue and have queer sex.

¹This means in OFMD when Izzy was being a little piss baby about the Stede's crew not working hard enough he was 1000% wrong that's how the vast majority of pirates live their lives.

²Worth mentioning that these grills were originally used by native people, so this cool thing was adopted/appropriated by sailors. It did not originate with them.

[kritischetheologie]

yay the ultimatum is coming back🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

I don't actually remember what number this was, but somebody asked for it last night, and then I totally deleted my draft, so here we go again.

(Previously, in Episodd 8, the final trial marriages proceeded toward their inevitable conclusion...)

Episode 9: Decision Day

On the final morning, Alex wakes up alone, in the hotel room he's been occupying since the night he and George called it quits. Production set him up with it for the remainder of the time of the show, like a holding pen for assholes.

He probably slept the easiest of any of them, spared the anxiety over what will happen. He got what he wanted, and he knows it's for the best. Now George can find someone who fits into his plans, someone who isn't terrified of the idea of someone else counting on him.

For the first time in maybe his entire life, Alex has no idea what he's going to do next. He has nobody to answer to, or take care of, now that the last of his siblings is a full-grown adult with a degree and a (ok, part-time) job. He can do whatever he wants. He doesn't really know how to do that.

He can go to brunch, maybe, and only order one thing, instead of getting a sweet and a savory to share, so George can have a little bit of both. He can figure out which brunch dish is worth eating a whole plate of.

He's going to be ok. He has to be.

--

Lando wakes up alone, because production has them in hotel rooms for the last night, like they're heading to a wedding, or something, and it's bad luck to see your groom before the wedding.

A production van drops him off in some garden, somewhere, where Daniel is waiting under a gazebo, which only intensifies the wedding vibes. He's all dressed up, in a suit and everything, and looks so nervous Lando feels like he'll throw up just looking at him.

"Hey," he says quietly. There's a ring box tenting in the front of Daniel's trousers. If Lando had different intentions he'd make a joke, ask if Daniel is happy to see him. Fuck, this is going to he harder than he thought.

"OK, I have to say something," he says, before Daniel can do something stupid like get down on one knee. "I'm sorry about this whole thing," he says, gesturing to the cameras, the gazebos, all of it. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this, I shouldn't have pressured you into getting engaged, and I definitely shouldn't have done all that and then decided I don't actually want to marry you after all. So yeah. Sorry. Please don't propose."

"Oh, thank fucking god," Daniel says, relief crashing over his face. "OK, amazing, cool. We should be friends, yeah? Bros? Thanks a million Lando, you're a real one."

Lando tilts his head to look at Daniel, really look at him. "You know," he says, "somehow this is more offensive than the time I asked you to marry me and you said 'no'."

--

There's something satisfying to waking up alone, Lewis thinks, like sore muscles after a tough workout. Well-deserved pain. He's broken Seb's heart too many times to count, now, and somehow, Seb refuses to give up on him, on the beautiful dream of the life they could have together. No matter how hard Lewis tries to convince him that it's not real, that it couldn't be. That he's the type of person who's better off with an asshole like Nico instead.

There's a ring on the bedside table that Lewis picked out, from the selection they offered him. The illusion of choice. He leaves it behind to get into a van, to be driven to where Seb is waiting for him.

They sit quietly together, both of Seb's hands held in Lewis's, so small they disappear below his fingers. "I need you to know," Lewis begins, "that if it was ever going to be anyone, it would have been you."

Seb's blue eyes stare straight into him. "Then why can't it be?" he asks. "What is it about the idea of marriage that scares you so fucking much that you'd rather lose me then do it?"

"Do you really wanna have this fight again, man?" Lewis asks. "Fuck, you know my reasons. It's a bourgeois institution based on private property and the ownership of women. It's a promise no one can make, because you might change, or I might, and maybe if you really love someone you shouldn't ask them not to, you know? It's a guarantee that we end up resenting each other, eventually, because all it is is a promise not to leave you if I want to. Why would you ask that of me?"

"Because I love you!" Seb says. "I love you, and I want to know that you won't just wake up one morning and not love me anymore, or that if you do, we'll work on it. I want to have something bigger than us, and bring the people who love us into it, and I don't want to have to beg you, or fight you, or fuck somebody else to convince you that you should want that too."

"Of course I'll fucking work on it," Lewis says. "You think I'm just going to quit on you, just because we didn't say some words, get some jewelry? Do you really think so fucking little of my love for you that you need some piece of paper to prove it?"

"It should be enough that I want it!" Seb says. "It should be enough that it matters to me!"

"And it should be enough that I love you," Lewis retorts. "But I guess it isn't."

"I guess it isn't." Seb says.

"So is that it, then?" Lewis asks. "You're really going to walk away from me, from us, from everything we've fucking built?"

"No, Lewis," Seb says, with a quiet cruelty that reminds Lewis, for an insane moment, of Nico. "You are."

--

Nico picks out the biggest, most "fuck you" diamond the show has to offer, which is still smaller than the one Jenson got him. He hopes it's still sitting in a drawer somewhere. They'll look good in their rings, he thinks. Gorgeous and flashy, the type of couple who deserve to be traveling in first class together. This is what they both deserve.

Jenson is there waiting for him, like he'd always imagined. He'd fucked up the first time, gotten stupid, imagined there was a better option out there, but Jenson is gorgeous, and lets Nico do whatever he wants, and they're going to live happily ever after. They're going to be the only happy couple to make it out of the show, he's sure.

Nico doesn't bother with a speech-- speeches are for The Bachelor, and this is the fucking Ultimatum. Jenson backed him into a corner, he caved, the least he can do is keep some of his dignity. He makes sure the cameras are at an angle where his blue eyes will look angelic, looking up at Jenson, as he kneels.

"Jenson, will you marry me?" he asks.

There's a very, very long pause. When Jenson popped the question, Nico had shrieked, "WHAT?" at the top of his lungs, because he hadn't been expecting it-- he hadn't even gotten a manicure, for Christ's sake.

The pause is worse.

"God, if you'd asked me a month ago, baby," Jenson says.

Nico stays on the ground, because there's dirt on the knee of his white linen trousers, and it'll look fucking stupid if he has to do the rest of this conversation with it showing. "Ok," he says. "But I'm asking you now. Will you marry me?"

"Yeah, so, like I said," Jenson says. He's pathetic when he's trying not to upset people. Nico would have liked him more if he'd been more willing to upset him. "If you'd asked me a month ago, I would have said yes."

"Ok," Nico says. "So say yes now, and we can get out of this ridiculous place."

"That's the thing," Jenson says. "Oh, will you get up, babe? This is stupid with you kneeling."

"This is stupid no matter where I am," Nico says. He refuses to brush off his knees as he stands. "This whole thing is stupid." It was never going to be worth the Instagram followers. How did he even let Jenson talk him into it in the first place?

"And that's exactly why I can't marry you," Jenson says. "You think everything is beneath you, even me."

"I don't think that about everything," Nico protests. "It's not my fault that most things are."

Jenson sighs. "I hope you find someone, someday, who actually makes you happy," he says.

--

Max wakes up missing Daniel and feeling horrible about it. He has every morning, since their trial marriage ended, but maybe that's just life? He hadn't dated anyone before Charles asked him out in college. Maybe this is just what having an ex is like, and Daniel will just always be That Ex like the one his sister has, the one she can't ever be in the same room as, Or Else.

Max had never believed in happily ever after, or in getting swept away, or in promises. Charles taught him to believe in promises. Daniel showed him that getting swept away was real, too. But if you can only have the one with one person, and the other with someone else, then how can happily ever after be real?

It doesn't matter. Charles is real, and solid, his anchor. Daniel makes him feel unmoored, like gravity no longer operates, like his organs are being pulled into the sky and all he can do is hope that he follows them. You can't live like that. You can't build a home in the sky. Max can build a home with Charles. That's what he'd wanted all along.

The ring Charles picked out is simple, classic. A strong, reliable band, like their bond, the only reliable thing in Max's life. Charles has tears in his eyes as he proposes, and so does Max. Neither of them asks why.

"You two are so beautiful," the producer tells them, as they're kissing. "I almost hate to interrupt. But Max, there's someone here to talk to you."

Max turns and sees Daniel, his curls still unkempt despite the carefully buttoned white shirt, the black suit, every beloved tattoo covered except the ones on his hands. Max can't breathe, seeing him, until he smiles, his face going wide, Max's spreading helplessly to mirror it. "Hiya, Maxy," Daniel says. "Can we talk?"

Max nods, feeling Charle's hand slip out of his as he turns away to follow Daniel down the gravel path leading down from the gazebo.

[Episode 9, part 2, to follow]

[stuckonmain]

2012 Donnie x reader Incorrect Quotes

Got a request to do a Donnie version of this Raph x reaader post, so here it is lol

Side note, I did this with 2012 Dee in mind, but most versions should work fine.

***

(Y/N): I’ve been dropping them the most insanely obvious hints for like a year now. No response.

Donnie: Wow. They sound stupid.

(Y/N): But they’re not. They’re really smart actually. Just dense.

Donnie: Maybe you need to be more obvious? Like, I don’t know… “Hey! I love you!”

(Y/N): I guess you’re right. Hey Donnie, I love you.

Donnie: See! Just say that!

(Y/N): Holy fucking shit.

Donnie: If that flies over their head then, sorry (Y/N), but they're too dumb for you.

(Y/N): Donnie.

***

(Y/N): Am I right, Donnie?

Donnie: I’m almost certain you’re not, but to be fair, I wasn’t listening.

***

(Y/N): Donnie, you love me, right?

Donnie: Normally I’d say yes without hesitation, but I feel like this is going somewhere I won’t like.

***

Mikey: Ooh, somebody has a cru-ush

Donnie: Pfft, I don’t have a crush on (Y/N) I just think they’re cool, it’s not like I stay up at night thinking about them.

*Later that night*

Donnie, very much awake: Uh oh.

***

Donnie: *pretending to joke* So when are you going to go out with me?

(Y/N): I don't know. When are you going to ask me to?

Later..

Leo: And you just ran away?!

Donnie: I didn't expect them to flirt back!

***

(Y/N): Ugh, crushes are so dumb.

Donnie: I know. Whenever I’m near the person I like I just start acting stupid.

(Y/N): But you’re always acting stupid?

Donnie: ...

Donnie: Yeah, don’t think about that too hard.

***

Donnie: Did (Y/N) just tell me they loved me for the first time?

Leo: Yeah, they did.

Donnie: And did I just do finger guns back?

Leo: Yeah, you did.

***

Donnie: So you're looking for information on this thing, huh? Well, I feel like it must be from far away.

(Y/N): What makes you say that?

Donnie: If it's something even I don't know about, then I'm sure nobody else must have a clue. So it's gotta be from some faraway place. Impeccable reasoning, isn't it?

(Y/N): Donnie... You don't have a clue about this thing, do you?

Donnie: *screams in anger*

***

Donnie: I don't need to go to bed. I'm not tired, I'll be fine.

(Y/N): But, darling, I'll be so lonely without you. Come curl up in my arms so I can feel whole 

again.

Donnie: O-oh. Well. Are you trying to seduce me into healthy sleeping patterns??

(Y/N): Is it working?

***

Donnie: I’ve never been in a snowball fight before. I don’t know the rules.

(Y/N): What?

Donnie: Is there a point system, or is it to the death?

***

Donnie: There's no way they like me back.

April: (Y/N) would throw themself in front of a moving car for you.

Donnie: (Y/N) would throw themself in front of a moving car for fun.

***

Donnie: Do you want to play 20 Questions?

(Y/N): Sure!

(Y/N): What's your favorite color?

Donnie, laser fucking focused: Triangle. Do you like men?

***

Donnie: Look, I know you think my judgement's clouded because I like (Y/N) a little bit.

April, holding Donnie's notepad: You doodled your wedding invitation.

Donnie: No, that's our joint tombstone.

April: My mistake.

***

April: Is this your plan B?

(Y/N): Technically, this is plan P.

April: Plan P? Is there a plan M?

(Y/N): Yes, but I marry Donnie in plan M.

Donnie: I like plan M.

***

April: How the hell did you crash the car?!

(Y/N): So I was just driving today, right? And my navigation told me to go straight.

(Y/N): I was like "woah, that's homophobic". Instead, I went gay. And, THAT'S when I got into an accident.

April: ...

Donnie, with a proud smile: And THAT'S who I'm in love with, ladies and gentlemen.

***

Donnie: Where are you going?

(Y/N): To get MYSELF a birthday gift cause somebody didn't get me one!

Donnie: I told you I did! It's coming here on Friday!

Mikey, knowing full well that Donnie got (Y/N) an engagement ring: *eating popcorn*

***

Donnie, sweating: (Y/N), there’s something I need to ask you-

(Y/N): Finally! You’re proposing!

Donnie: How’d you know?

(Y/N), gently: Donnie, you’ve dropped the ring five times during dinner.

(Y/N): I even picked it up once.

***

Raph: So, are you two dating now?

Donnie & (Y/N): Yes.

Raph: Why?

Donnie: I happen to find (Y/N) very appealing.

Raph: Yeah, I can understand that. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with (Y/N).

***

(Y/N): That's ridiculous, Donnie doesn't have a crush on me.

Mikey: Yes they do.

Leo: Yes they do.

Donnie: Yes I do.

***

Donnie: We both look really good tonight.

(Y/N): You know, if you'd just said that I looked good, I would have said, "So do you."

Donnie: I couldn't take that chance.

***

Leo: Do you love Donnie?

(Y/N): Yeah, I do.

Mikey: Leo! I told you I knew it! You owe me 100 bucks!

Leo: We all love Donnie. You should've asked if they were IN love with them.

(Y/N): I thought that was implied.

Leo: ...

Mikey: ...

(Y/N), looking straight at Leo: Congrats Mikey, you just won 100 bucks.

***

Mikey: *sees (Y/N) and Donnie together*

Mikey: They're cute. I would put them on a boat.

Leo: You mean... you ship them?

***

(Y/N), texting: Donnie, will you please go to sleep?

Donnie, texting back: What makes you think you didn’t just wake me up?

(Y/N), yelling from the couch: I CAN HEAR YOU WORKING JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP!

(Y/N), texting: Just a hunch :) You goin’ to sleep soon?

Donnie, texting: I’m trying

(Y/N), yelling again: TRY HARDER I HAVE A 5:45 AM MEETING TOMORROW BITCH

(Y/N), texting: Okay, don’t stay up too late or you’ll be cranky :)

***

Donnie: (Y/N) isn’t picking up on my hints.

April: What hints have you given them?

Donnie: Well, I think about them a lot.

Donnie: And sometimes I even think about talking to them.

***

(Y/N): Why is it that I always lose things as soon as I need them?

Donnie: Actually, it's not that you lose things when you need them. You lose them a while before. It's just that you LOOK for things when you need them.

(Y/N): Okay yeah thanks Donnie, that's great but WHERE'S THE FUCKING FIRST AID KIT?

***

(Y/N): How petty can you get?

Donnie: I once edited a Wikipedia article to win an argument I was wrong about.

***

(Y/N): Why are you late?

Donnie: A technical error occurred, causing an unexpectedly long bout of unconsciousness.

(Y/N): Overslept?

Donnie: Overslept.

***

(Y/N): I’m in love with you.

Donnie: We called off the prank war last night at midnight, dork.

(Y/N): I know.

Donnie: Ah. Okay. Um. Cool. Neat. Very cool. Cool. Cool. Coolcoolcool-

[aida-sparks]

To 9-1-1: Just Take One REAL Step Toward Buddie. See What Happens.

Hello fellow 9-1-1 buddie fans! I've been mulling over season 7 and a topic close to our hearts: the possibility of buddie sailing into full-on canon territory. We've heard people say the show can't give us buddie, using the unfortunate reason that it's because the larger general audience doesn't "see" buddie as a thing. That while the buddie fandom is huge, it doesn't compare to the size of the overall viewing audience, most of which don't even engage online in the fandom and might not know about the potential of buddie as a ship.

So that's the reason we may only ever get a love story that's written entirely in the subtext of the show? No, that's not good enough. I want to believe this show of ours is daring enough to let the general audience in on things and let them make up their own minds on the matter. Give the idea of buddie canon a fighting chance. Sure, the subtle nods and secret messages woven into the show might be crystal clear to us. But casual viewers probably don't pick up on those messages nestled in the nooks and cracks where buddie has been written up till now. We need to aim for more than subtext. And definitely don't settle for that color theory. If we are to get anywhere, we need to see them start spelling it out with explicit dialogue and storyline moments for the entire audience to interpret on their own.

By this season's end, the show needs to step out of the carefully crafted, unspoken undertones they always give buddie fans, and instead they need to explicitly spell out to the casual viewing audience, 'Hey there's a strong potential that Buck and Eddie might just be more than buddies (no pun intended). It has to be well done with clear hints leading up to it, of course, not just something in a single scene that's dropped on the casual viewers' heads like a piano. But it's more than possible to do, especially using flashbacks to buddie scenes and stolen glances throughout the seasons. Think about it. Eddie wrote Buck (and Buck alone) into his will; that's no small gesture! They can weave and layer these past moments into a current storyline, building up to a revelation from Buck and/or Eddie that feels like a "Whoa!" moment for all viewers (not just the buddie shippers), like, "I didn't see it before, but it makes sense. I can see those two as something more now."

And there are many different paths the show can take to get Buck and/or Eddie to this revelation. (I have my own idea of how it might go. The options are as diverse as all our fandom theories.) But how they get there isn't the important piece. What matters is that the possibility of something potentially happening between Buck and Eddie is CRYSTAL CLEAR in the narrative! Actually written into the dialogue and storyline, in a plausible way.

The show doesn't even have to commit buddie-end-game. They just have to give them a fighting chance by putting the possibility of it out there in the plain light of day, in front of the entire audience and see how it sticks. They could shift course in future storylines if it doesn't go over well, but my honest guess is that a majority wouldn't mind buddie becoming canon at all once they're exposed to it, especially if it was written/produced well; Oliver's and Ryan's on-fire chemistry is already there to carry it through. Many would come to root for buddie, especially over another new love interest introduced so late in the series that can't match all we've seen Buck and Eddie build together. Some viewers might not care one way or the other; they might just be in for the crazy emergencies each week. So then if we the remove this perception that buddie canon would not take well with general audience, what else is stopping it? I can't think of anything.... full steam ahead!

Now, am I prepared for the heartbreaking possibility that buddie might never go full canon in the sense we hope? That we may only ever get a love story buried in the subtext, if that's the best the show is allowed to give us? Sure, but it's much harder and so unfulfilling to come to terms with that outcome if the show never gives them a real chance at it in the first place.

This long ramble is all simply to say that I'm not demanding that buddie become canon. I'm asking that the possibility of it becomes canon.

If nothing else, it would take the "delusional" and "clown" stigmas off of buddie shippers' shoulders because addressing the potential of buddie in the show tells the audience that hey, maybe there could be something there; they didn't just "see things that weren't there". I don't see this as such a heavy thing to ask for. Please let this make sense to everyone. It does in my head. lol.

[decaydanceredacted]

admin help ive been thinking about girl pete (like actual cis always-a-girl pw) and how in that universe patrick would've put like four kids in her at this point 😖😖😖

like the first time they fuck, they're kids and it's a saturday night after a shitty show in some bar. and they're in patrick's room just messing around like they always do. but the adrenaline post show or whatever has them wired and one thing leads to another and suddenly patrick has his fingers down the front of her jeans. and pete has her fingers around his and is showing him how to touch her and she's so fucking wet and needy she let's him hit it raw (because they're dumb kids and just best friends at this point and no one thought of a condom). patrick comes almost instantly because he's seventeen and it's the first time he's getting his dick wet so of course he doesn't pull out. the mere idea of pregnancy, the feeling of patrick's warm come inside and dripping out gets pete so hot she ends up flipping them and riding patrick's face into oblivion. they go to sleep wrapped in each other and have breakfast with patrick's mom like nothing happened <3

except they keep fucking through the years. maybe they don't even officially date, pete has her string of partners and one night stands and patrick has his number of girlfriends, but from time to time post show celebrations or nights at the studio or fights around the songs end up with them fucking. in the van, behind a bar, in a bathroom or in green rooms. and they always do it raw and patrick gets such a possessive kick out of it bc he knows only he gets to have pete like this. none of her boyfriends get to come inside her and rub her belly right bellow her womb tat while he's still deep inside her pussy and no one else gets to see their come dripping down her thighs.

their first kid is deffo unplanned. a drunk fuck after some record party or whatever, too horny to even think of the consequences. and ughhhhhhhhhhh what if pete is already married/engaged at this point??? does your husband know??? that the baby isn't his???????? god, another win for infidelity.

the hate sex doing folie is extra hot. not only bc it's how their arguments end up but bc he knows he's gonna leave her so there's a morbid desire of patrick to leave a bit of him in her as a reminder that she's his. meanwhile pete's thinking if she can baby trap him. it's awful on both parts and it doesn't work anyways.

baby number 2 is the reunion baby. they've been writing songs together again and they just can't help it, they end up fucking in the floor of patrick's home studio. they keep working on their shitty songs and they keep fucking and they get the band together and they have their comeback album and it's a success and truly it is like reunion sex because they can't keep their hands off each other. the pregnancy is like the culmination of everything they worked up to this point to fix, a reminder of the commitment they have to each other now and a promise to never leave again.

baby 3 i guess would be around ab/ap era? early mania??? idk it's the honeymoon baby. they've just settled and they've gotten their heads out of their asses and they know they want to expend the rest of their lives together, so baby. or maybe they have a quarantine baby???

4th baby is deffo current era. they've finally, after everything in the world and with them, found the joy in what they do. and their record is so loved and they can look at the past now and the tour has been amazing. and maybe they're aboard and having the sweetest most disgustingly sappy married sex. you know weeding rings clinking and slow caress and i love yous mumbled against skin. truly sickening in love sex. and after all these years, more than two decades jesus christ, patrick just knows how to play her like an instrument. he knows just how to flick his fingers and how to use his mouth just right to have pete under him shaking and whimpering and so wet. he gets her to come twice before he even fucks into her. and pete grabs his face and pulls him up and rubs her thumb against his beard, wet with all her slick and come, and tells him she kinda wants to have another kid. and patrick just shakes and kisses her so hard because he's been thinking about it too and there's nothing he wouldn't give to pete. all of it has always been about giving pete what she wanted since he was a kid. something about her pulling him in and wanting to do anything she asked just so she would look at him and only him.

they come back from china with a plus one.

fin.

(PSA kids don't do any of this. fucking use a condom ffs)

.

[ectonurites]

I love when comic characters have arcs about accepting that a loved one is never coming back in a universe where people regularly come back from the dead

sdgfhhkjgh comic book death is just so fascinating to me

because on the one hand yeah, it's SUPER FUNNY in the situations where the narrative doesn't at all engage with the idea of resurrection and just treats death the way it exists irl even though we as readers know damn well it doesn't...

but other approaches are what intrigue me so so SO much more

like, I think about Tim & Dick's fight around the Lazarus Pit during The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul a lot:

(Nightwing (1996) #139)

Knowing some people get to come back, being painfully aware of it (quite literally in the above example considering the like two times Tim had interacted with Jason at that point were Jason slitting his throat during Hush and then breaking into Titans Tower to beat the shit out of him in his own makeshift Robin costume), and then getting so frustrated about how unfair it can be that some come back and others don't...

The fact that when you're facing a loss, when you see someone you love die—there's this glimmer of hope that maybe they'll get to come back too, but there's no way you can really know...

Then even if they do come back, is it ever gonna be the same? (Again: Look at Jason! I am constantly annoyed by 'oughghgh Lazarus Pit Madness made him like this' fanon, but the trauma of being murdered and feeling unavenged did a fuckin' number on his psyche that's for sure!!)

And then there's this bit with Cassie & Kon I think about a lot too:

(Teen Titans Vol. 3 #88)

Like, even when a person is back in front of you—if you spent time mourning and grieving it doesn't just go away! You know that you can lose them, you did lose them, even though they're back now there's no guarantee they'll stay back.

JUST... AGH!! There is genuinely so much interesting stuff to dig into when you actually acknowledge and engage with how fucking weird of a situation it would be to live in a world like that!

[itsclydebitches]

The amount of times RWBY wants us to feel scared for the safety of characters while conveniently forgetting Aura exists is staggering. Neo attacks Ruby with the intent to kill but her Aura is still active. James almost shoots Marrow with the intent to kill but his Aura is still active. Watts hacks an Atlesian Knight to run towards Qrow, Robyn and the Ace Ops with the intent to explode but their Auras are still all active. Sure the attacks would hurt like hell but they're not gonna kill, why should I fear for their safety?

If we're being generous (I'm having a good night lol) I suppose we could read moments like James vs. Marrow as shocking not because it would be a one-shot death sentence, but because he's threatening - in general - to take Marrow down. Sort of the equivalent of an IRL person raising their fists. Is that an immediate threat to the person's life? No. Are you making it clear that you're willing to fight over this while also ambiguously leaving it open how far you're willing to take things? Yeah.

You're right though, too often RWBY relies on average action threats (a pistol, an explosion, etc.) to raise the stakes without taking into account that none of that should be very scary to our protagonists. Not until their aura breaks (and we have no sense of when that will happen, despite them all supposedly carrying Scrolls to tell them. Which I get because if RWBY introduced clear thresholds of when aura breaks they'd have to actually abide by that rule). I feel the same way about characters about to fall: Ruby hanging off the airship with Neo, Ruby hanging off the cliff while fighting Cordovin, Ruby and Oscar both going down in an airship. The very first technique we're shown is a landing strategy, so how is falling from a massive height - even while taking into account other factors like, say, snagging the farm boy who never went to Huntsmen school and might need to use you as a personal parachute - meant to be taken as a serious threat?

In this regard the void of Volume 8 is actually a GREAT idea. Suddenly your landing strategy doesn't mean a thing if you have nowhere to land. Suddenly a single hit can be a threat. Not because the hit itself would seriously hurt you, but because it might knock you off the edge. I actually love the concept of Yang falling at the start of that fight, RWBY just did such a horrific job of executing it that there's nothing left for me to enjoy. Why does Yang panic like that when, as established, a single hit from Neo is not going to kill Ruby, or even seriously hurt her? Why is she jumping in front of her sister at all when the entire POINT (supposedly) of her Volume 3+ arc was to learn fight smarter, rather than relying on emotional impulsivity? (I will seriously never be over how that moment is an exact repeat of Yang trying to save Blake and yet the show doesn't seem to realize that.) Why does only Blake have a reaction to Yang "dying"? Why didn't the whole team of talented fighters with various ranged weaponry/magic/speed make a serious attempt to catch her?

All of this isn't even taking into account how Yang, as someone who powers up via taking hits, should consistently be standing her ground like she did against the mech, knowing her aura will not only save her, but give her an advantage. She's the tank. If Yang had gotten in front of Ruby with a confident, calm expression that conveyed her understanding that Neo can't one-shot her aura like Adam once did, taking the hit both to spare Ruby's aura and power her semblance as a strategic decision (give her a smirk and a taunting line like, "Thanks for the boost" before knocking Neo back), then later falls some other way after her team tries and fails to save her... that would have been so much better imo.

Yang's lack of engagement with her semblance has been especially frustrating for me after her line about how Adam "cheats." If Yang thinks it sucks that she has to take a beating to gain an edge... show her actually taking a beating to gain an edge. You know, like the show once did. It would be so badass to watch Yang getting in the way of all the attacks against her team, toeing the line between safety and breaking her own aura, before finally EXPLODING with a massive attack she's been saving up for, making that sacrifice worth it.

(Also potentially devastating if she's taking those hits with turning the tide in mind... but then she falls before she can see her plan through.)

[satancopilotsmytardis]

bdsm classification au? kind of like a/b/o dynamics but instead of being born as one of those dynamics, everyone is born as a type of dom, sub, or neutral/switch that is revealed when they are old enough?

so like some people are born as caretakers, littles, owners, pets, or other d/s dynamics (and then ofc there are some people who are a switch)

sub dabi joining up with the league to fight for sub rights alongside their cannon ideals type beat :p

So there are some immediate problems I'm seeing with this AU as set up in this ask. First of which is: I don't do traditional ABO because I think the fantasy sexism that is applied to Omegas is very unpleasant and I avoid it in my writing at all costs. Applying that sexism to a BSDM AU is extremely concerning as one of the biggest red flags in BDSM is if a Dom thinks they're better than a Sub outside of negotiated play. On that principle alone, this AU will be an extreme departure from this ask.

Additionally, I don't think having switches in this world is a good idea. If we're going to set this to a similar framework as the Omegaverse, then it would make more sense for the 'Beta' stand-in to be people who are vanilla/don't have a dom/sub designation. By doing this we can better parallel the fact that Betas do not offer the benefits of an Alpha to an Omega, or the benefits of an Omega to an Alpha, making the need to have them categorized separately more engaging.

And finally, while breaking down these categories further into play styles is interesting, it also removes the variety that many participants engage in while playing. I've met very, very few people who want to only engage in one flavor of BDSM, and I think that ignores the fun of playing in this space!

That all being said I have an AU with what I find to be a workable concept loosely based on this ask:

Dabi is a sub, Shigaraki is a dom of course. Compress, Magne, and Toga (though her designation is somewhat up in the air due to her age, she has all the markers of being a young dom) are doms, Twice and Spinner have no designations. Given this setup, Dabi is kind of spoiled for choice with easy access to doms who can keep him stable by ensuring that he doesn't go too long without being dominated, either sexually or not. It's pretty common to find him, after a long day of work where he is in a leadership position, kneeling at Magne, Compress, or Shig's feet, or doing domestic servitude tasks to keep his mind and mood stable. He's not sleeping with any of them and told them he never would, he's not interested in becoming a collared sub (not after he saw what that did to his mother who wasn't even capable of fighting back against her dom)

Things are going pretty well on that front until Shigaraki starts to notice that Dabi's on a verge of a drop after Kamino. With everything that's happened, he needs stability and security more than he thinks he does and he's not giving himself time to find it. So Shig tells him they're going on a mission, and actually brings him to a place he found that is frequented by subs and doms looking to sate their needs as anonymously as possible. Dabi does find someone who can give him what he needs to fight his drop, and goes back to find Shigaraki, only to actually find him in the middle of a session himself where he's doming a sub in a way that makes Dabi feel like he needs it again even though he just had it.

After that, he is a little more chatty with Shig, and he asks if he's ever collared a sub before and finds out that Shigaraki was told he never should since that would give someone else power over him as well-- because collaring is supposed a mutual symbol of a dynamic and a partnership, not a way to force a sub's submission-- which is news to Dabi. Things continue to move forward and they end up with the PLF.

About halfway through his treatments, Dabi asks Shig if he's found another place like the club they'd been going to to sate their instincts, knowing that the others have just been making their way through the grunts. Shig says he hasn't but he can find somewhere safe for Dabi as he won't have a designation anymore once he goes into the tank. Dabi is horrified by this and asks why Shig would give that up when he loves being a dom, and Shig tells him that this is the path he's been told he has to take to gain more power and that, at least if he does this, he will never be vulnerable and losing his mind because he can't get to a sub if he needs them.

Dabi is pretty upset about all of this and is finally forced to come to terms with the fact that he really, really wants Duster to dom him completely, that he's been fighting it for no good reason when Shigaraki has proved a hundred times over that he won't treat him like Enji did Rei. He begs to be allowed to submit to him and they end up scening . It's perfect. Shigaraki stops his treatments, and a few months later, when the League is next on the battlefield, Dabi is seen wearing a gorgeous permanent collar.

[tapedsleeves]

(primer anon) Thank you so much!! <3 <3 I write at a snail's pace so no clue when I'll actually output anything but I loved reading your post 😭 if it's not too much trouble I'd love to hear a little more on keegs and adin since they're on your ships list and I don't know much about them (also maybe nic roy since I just found out he's quebecois?? For some reason I thought marchy was the only frenchy)

Or if you can point me in a direction I can go do my own digging and give your inbox a break 😭 I'd love to know if there's any go-to articles/video series/beat reporter or something, or a good blog/tag to dig through. the official social accounts post so much it's hard to find anything when idk what to search for

I always forget that Nic Roy is quebecois until he talks! There's actually another French guy, who probably will sign somewhere else this summer, William Carrier. Nic Roy is very very quiet. But he's got a cat and put that cat in the cup. Nic is is very chill and low key. Lots of guys on VGK are. Not a lot of them are like. Super flashy guys.

Will Carrier, also french, is SO SO SO square. He helped build his own house and while they were in the montreal series in 20-21, someone peed on his front door. He watched it on the security camera.

He often helps people fix things - he's very handy. But otherwise, he's very chill and low key.

Keegan Kolesar:

Danced with Mat Barzal at Ethan Bear's wedding. butt slaps and handshakes with Jack eichel. keegan is just. A really laid back, funny, sweet guy. His biological is absent, and his step (orr adopted) dad died of COVID complications in september of 2020, so he takes his mom on the dad's trips. It's VERY sweet that he does, and everyone makes her feel really really welcome. Annabelle is our Make A Wish signing and they had quite the fight :)) Here's his POV about it. Actually if there's kids, he's going. He goes to all the charity hockey / ball tournaments and ball hockey events that VGK does in the community. Every one has Keegan in there. did post game press with a chicken ceasar wrap (misattributed to a burrito)

why i ship him wiht Jack: after Keegan's goal against the Jets on 4/22/23, Jack did this, which looked like engagement photos to me

also very important to me: him holding the drunkest karly on stage at the parade. he was SO grabby. it was LOVELY.

I think they kissed on the mouth

Here he is kissing teddy blueger

Keegan kissing Nic Hague.

I'm pretty sure he's an affectionate drunk.

Adin Hill

Adin Hill is just very sweet and loves coffee. He makes his own.

Here he is laughing at Karly saying that his hamstring was "not chillin"

he was very drunk at the parade and referenced talladega nights

they did marchy SO dirty. They sent hilly & nic hague. the two tallest guys.

wore a UNLV basketball jersey to the parade, inspiring love from vegas

also took it off

gets fighty here's another shot

absolutely beautiful ok?

His kicky feets

HE'S SO FUNNY

why i ship him with paul cotter

it has less to do with adin and more to do with Paul himself. He's a goalie appreciator.

adin and tommy are REALLY CUTE tho

despite having the same listed height, adin is taller

their hugs are soo so so so tender. I love goalie.

As far as beat reporters: Gary Lawless is our insider guy, Jesse Granger is our beat reporter for the athletic, and Ashali Vise is one of our on-air broadcasters. All of them are pretty good sources of info. All of them I've referenced for stuff. But really I know most of this just because I like. Have been around. I pay attention. You'll note that some of this is sourced from my own blog, so like. Go nuts there too if you want. If you want older stuff, @himbeaux-on-ice has a bunch of good stuff. @vgkmarc also has some really good stuff, along with @golden-knights-of-the-realm , @at-empty-tables & @sevennone . @reneserseya is really good for Jack Eichel content with some Alec Martinez thrown in for fun & @goldenmisfits is as well. @lovethygoalie knows a lot about Nic Roy iirc.

Also I will say, Dave Goucher & Shane Hnidy are a fun follow, even if they're not exactly reporters - they're super involved and also very cute.

[geddy-leesbian]

yayy Ethan and Luis both being paranoid new dads and malewife Ethan fluff

After she's done with her bottle, Luis lays back down with Rosa situated on his chest. She doesn't seem sleepy, so Luis plays with her until Ethan comes back. There's not a lot he can do with her at this point, but even the small things make his heart swell. He makes weird faces at her. She doesn't try to mimic his expressions, but she watches his face intensely. He puts his fingers in front of her face, and her tiny hands grab them.

Ethan finally comes back and gets up on the bed and kisses both on the tops of their heads. Then Luis gets an extra kiss on the cheek.

“I missed you,” Ethan says, even though he hasn't been gone very long and was only downstairs, not even outside of the house. “How are the two most important people in the world doing?”

“I've never been better. I don't have the constant aches and pains anymore, I can lay however I want, and most importantly… Now that my fingers aren't swelling, I can wear my real engagement ring,” Luis puts his hand on the back of Rosa's head, showing off the ring. He wants Ethan to know that he truly does love the heirloom ring, because he does and wouldn't have taken it off for a second if his fingers were smaller, even after their fight where they both said things they shouldn't have, the worst being related to Mia. “And our princess is still perfect, I'm still in awe that a screwup like me managed to make something perfect.”

“You're both perfect. Don't even try and argue with me that you're not right now, you can't change my mind,” For once, Luis doesn't argue. “I got the basement cleaned up, dishes from breakfast and lunch are done, laundry is done. All I'm doing until dinner is laying in bed with you. Before I get comfy, is there anything you want me to bring to you?”

“The baby carrier. I want to go for a walk,” Ethan's response to the request is an extremely skeptical look. “I know, I know, you don't want me lifting a finger yet and think the fact I've been feeding her is too much. But I just want to walk around in the yard for a few minutes. It's actually good for the healing process, getting the blood flowing. Call Rebecca if you don't believe me!”

“You want to go outside? It's winter.”

“Doesn't matter. I'll bundle Rosa up, I'll wear your jacket, it'll be okay. I'm going to go stir crazy if I don't leave the house soon, it's been weeks!” Luis can see Ethan's resolve begin to crumble. “I want some fresh air, and I bet Rosa will like it. I did as a baby. My grandfather told me I would be pretty fussy when I was inside, but taking me outside and rocking me on the porch always calmed me down. The winters there were harsher than here, and it never stopped him from taking me out.”

“Just a couple minutes,” Ethan concedes. “And I'll be the one wearing it, you're taking it easy and walking slowly.”

“Yes!” Luis says, careful not to be loud enough to upset Rosa. Ethan moves the small basket currently functioning as Rosa's wardrobe onto the bed, where Luis can reach. Then Ethan leaves the room to get the carrier. Luis starts focusing on her again and whispers. “Can you do me a favor? Be good to Daddy. Don't cry when he takes you from me. He isn't a stranger. He's loved you since the day I told him I was going to have you, even though I screwed things up so bad that I was sure he'd leave me and not want anything to do with you.”

Luis keeps rambling while he gets her dressed in a toasty warm outfit. He doesn't bother getting himself dressed; they're not going out in public, just the secluded backyard, so Ethan's hoodie and sweatpants is fine.

Ethan comes back empty-handed, no baby carrier. Luis looks at him, a little confused.

“I realized something, I don't want you on the stairs yet.”

“Don't treat me like I'm made of glass! I want to go outside and feel up to it, I don't have any stitches, there is no reason for me to be on bed rest. I am going outside, with or without you!” The sharpness and volume of Luis's voice disturbs Rosa and she starts crying. Luis's voice immediately softens and he holds her closer to his chest. “Don't you cry, everything is okay. I'm a little upset at Daddy right now, but he means well, he just wants to protect me.”

“Hey, honey?” Ethan starts, sitting down on the bed and putting his arm around Luis's back. Ethan's weapon holster presses against Luis's thigh when he sits down, reminding him of how dedicated he is to protecting his fiancé and daughter. He wants to go outside, but he'll yield if Ethan really doesn't want him to. “You cut me off. I said I don't want you on the stairs. I was just going to tell you to put Rose in her bassinet so I could carry you down the stairs, then go back up to get her. I know you are stubborn enough to go outside on your own, but I'm not letting that happen, we'll all go out together.”

“Oh,” Luis's face flushes with embarrassment as he realizes how unnecessary his outburst was. He reluctantly sets her in her bassinet. His paranoia hates the thought of her being out of his sight for even a second, but he knows Ethan's paranoia hates the thought of Luis being up and moving around before he's fully healed. If Ethan is willing to put aside his paranoia to let Luis walk around, Luis is willing to put aside his to let Ethan carry him. “I'm sorry for freaking out on you.”

“It's okay, you had a baby yesterday, you've got some free passes for emotional outbursts. Holding anything you say against you right now wouldn't be fair. I'm impressed this is the worst you've been,” Ethan reassures. “Ready to be carried?”

“I always am. I still love that you can just pick me up like I weigh nothing.”

Luis still lets out a sigh of relief when Ethan comes into the living room with a still crying Rosa, who he passes to Luis before starting to get the carrier on. She stops crying immediately. While Luis does feel bad that Ethan hasn't gotten any magical newborn bonding time, a part of him can't help but love being her favorite person. He'd been so afraid that she'd hate him; Luis was the screwed up mess that didn't seem in any way ready for a baby and refused to even try to accept he was having one for seven months, Ethan was the perfect family man that longed for a baby for years and bought everything a newborn would need the day after Luis finally told him about the pregnancy, when Luis hadn't even thought about the fact that babies need things. It just seemed like a given that the baby would prefer Ethan Winters, effortlessly perfect fiancé and father to the eternal screwup Luis Serra. Her preference for Luis and zero interest in Ethan was truly a curveball he never saw coming. He's sure it'll eventually even out, but he'll bask in the joy of being the favorite while he can.

Luis can't believe he ever doubted his ability to parent. Rosa starts crying when they leave the bedroom, and it takes every ounce of willpower in Luis's body to not start flailing around to escape Ethan's arms to run and comfort his baby. She's okay. If you can hear her, you know she's okay, no one is taking her away. Ethan will go get her in just a couple minutes.

Luis fusses over the carrier with one hand, his other arm cradling Rosa, making sure everything is on properly before placing her into it. He talks and sings as he does, knowing she's not going to appreciate being separated from her favorite person yet again.She doesn't seem as relaxed as she is when Luis is holding her, but she doesn't start crying again, so that's a small victory.

Luis gets a small pang of homesickness when he finally opens the back door. It's so ugly in the yard- there had been a beautiful blanket of snow over everything a few days ago, but now a lot of it has melted. It's just an ugly barren landscape of yellow grass with a few sad piles of snow. Valdelobos was an ugly, horrible place in so many ways. Valdelobos winters were brutal, they meant going to bed hungry and cold most nights, but they were at least beautiful. None of this half assed snow, the whole landscape was always beautifully transformed by the snow and frost.

Ethan still manages to give Luis a little bit of princess treatment, insisting they walk with their arms linked, just in case Luis is overestimating himself and isn't ready to be up and moving around without some support. Luis doesn't mind, he likes leaning on Ethan's shoulder and looking down at Rosa. It makes the homesickness go away, all he can think about is how perfect she is. She doesn't go to sleep, she keeps her head turned sideways, trying to look at her surroundings instead of keeping her face to Ethan's chest.

“You were right.” Ethan says eventually.

“About what?”

“You said she'd like the fresh air too, this is the longest I've been able to have her without her melting down wanting to go back to you.”

“Oh. Yeah,” They walk a few more steps before Luis starts feeling winded. “I hate to cut your bonding short, but I'm beat. Walking across a yard is exhausting when you've barely left your bed for two long months…”

“I'm sure it is,” Ethan turns to start heading back to the house. “You think she'll let me read to her inside? You could hold her.”

“Yeah. We'll try that, and you can do the next feeding, that should help a lot. I fell in love with you for so many reasons, but your insistence on feeding me constantly was definitely the first thing, what got your foot in the door of my heart. She's a good eater, chugs her bottles at a champion pace,” Deep down, Luis finds her eating worrying. The large appetite and the way she's a lot more alert and aware of her surroundings than a one day old should… Growing and maturing at a quicker pace could easily be related to the mold. But Luis can't bring himself to think about it too much right now, he's too happy for it to drag his mood down, instead pretending it's purely a good thing, that his baby is just a genius. “If you're giving the bottles, you'll be her best friend in no time.”

“Should I go ahead and take her upstairs and then come back for you?”

“No, I'm fine on the couch until bedtime. I could use a change of scenery. Just go and get something to read,” Luis slips his jacket off and takes Rosa back from the carrier. “Will you be more of a daddy's girl now that Daddy was who took you on a fun walk outside?”

Luis gets the unnecessary clothing layers off and positions her sitting up in his lap, and Ethan sits down right next to him, opening a picture book and propping it up on their laps where they can all see it. It's not just any book, it's a pop-up book. Rosa is enthralled, smiling and reaching out a tiny hand to start grabbing at the cardboard animals that are popping up out of the pages.There's a look of concern on Ethan's face– he was very prepared for fatherhood and must be well-read enough to know that a baby this young shouldn't be reaching for objects yet. She should be looking at faces intensely, maybe looking at the book's pictures, but not trying to grab at anything. She probably shouldn't even be awake and happy right now, she hasn't slept since before her last bottle.

And Ethan has shown enough concern and awareness of his infection that he's surely making the same connection Luis did, that her acting beyond her age is less her just being a genius and more related to her father being made of mold when she was conceived. But he wipes the concern off his face and says nothing, instead shifting his gaze to the book and beginning to read aloud.

She's asleep by the end of the book. Luis adjusts so she's cradled in his arms, not propped upright.

“If you want a nap, just say the word and I'll take her. But if you don't, I'm not going to fight and insist on taking her. It would be fighting a losing battle.”

“You know me so well,” Luis agrees, before grabbing the TV remote and passing it to Ethan. “Find us a Christmas movie. I still need to be educated on the America way to celebrate. All we did in Valdelobos was little presents and all the religious nonsense.”

“You do. It's a lot more fun here, especially with kids. I'll ask Chris to bring us a tree and some ornaments. I'm not leaving you two alone long enough to get any of it myself. We should pick out some presents to order too. She's too young to really understand any of it, but I still want to wrap some presents for her and leave them under the tree,” Ethan stops and thinks for a moment before he keeps talking. “To be paranoid, we probably shouldn't have any baby things shipped directly here?”

“You know, I wouldn't say you're being paranoid. It's a very justified concern,” Luis affirms. “Bet we could talk Claire into going out for us. Get a catalog and circle things or just a plain old list to give her so she can buy everything. I know her and Sherry like Christmas shopping, they've tried to get me things every year, she wouldn't mind. Then we wouldn't have to worry about shipping or anything.”

“She said she wanted me to call her tonight and update her on how you're doing, I'll ask then.”

“Perfect.”

Ethan finally turns the TV on and flips through channels until he gets to a decent movie. Then he sets the remote aside and turns his attention to Luis and Rosa, pressing his body against Luis's and stretching an arm out behind his back. His other hand gently strokes Rosa's cheek a couple times and then rests on Luis's thigh. While he'd like more physical affection with his little miracle, he doesn't want to risk waking her up.

Luis tries to focus on the TV, but his eyes keep going to Ethan, who looks deep in thought.

“Mi regalo, what are you thinking about?”

“You,” Ethan answers immediately. “I'm glad you wanted to go outside. I was really worried about you during the pregnancy. Not just because you felt so awful physically… You were in bed constantly. I was worried your depression would get bad again, like when I first met you and you never left the house. I'm really glad you wanted out today, it's good for your mind. As soon as we stop being paranoid enough that we can handle letting Claire babysit for a few hours, I'm taking you out on a nice date.”

“That'll be a long time. We might even be married first! That'll be easier, Rosa will be the flower girl, in a carrier with one of us the whole time, then we won't be worrying about her.”

“Having a baby, then getting married, then going out on a date. We really botched the order.”

“And taking it slow, we shat the bed there. We're just not built to do things the right way, and that's okay, we still ended up with a perfect baby. I love you, Ethan.”

“I love you too. And I love our little Rosa María. More than anything. I'll always be there for you, and for her. Protecting you both from everything,” Ethan looks back down at Rosa, and dares to stroke her cheek again, and holds one of her hands too. “If anyone so much as touches a hair on that perfect little head, I'll make sure they regret it.”

[lilasboudoir]

France is very close to have a fascist as prime minister.

Art by Léo Chérel

How so?

- Last month, we had the european parliament elections. The far right scored a crazy amount of seats. In France, the far right had the best score.

- So the pyroman that some people refer to as our president decided to dissolve our national assembly and run new elections right after the results.

- He gave the other political party not even a month to run a campain which is very anti-democratic. He hoped with so few time, the leftist wouldn't have time to unionize.

- Well, jokes on him because unionize they did. It's called the NFP for "Nouveau Front Populaire" as "New Popular Front". It's a reference to a party of 1936 created by Leon Blum, a famous socialist in France.

- But our medias are runned by crazy biollionaires like Bolloré who wants nothing more than to make the far right win. So there is a huge propaganda on our TV and radio about how the NFP is dangerous. I mean, they even argue than to protect the jews, the far right is better than the left (the far right party in France was made by some ex-Waffen-SS but never mind) and people believe it! A lot of people think NFP is antisemitic and the reason is: because they defended Palestine and called out the genocide that is actually going on (so it would mean that they're against Israel and so, against the jews. Yeah, I know). This is the level of misinformation our main medias are in.

- If the far right win this elections, the president will name a far right prime minister, because it is a tradition in France. And because Emmanuel Macron isn't the barrier against the far right that he claims to be.

-

Now, how are you affected by this even if you're not french?

The RN (our far right party) is pro-Israel and don't condone them for the genocide they're perpetrating. In fact, they see it as legitimate defence and they will give money and weapons to Israel so they can keep going with their atrocities.

They are close to Vladimir Poutine (do I have to say more in this context with the war going on in Ukraine?)

They plan to desobey european laws. If the Europe try to interfere too much, they will certainly plan for a Frexit.

France is a member of a lot of international organisations in which they have a lot of power. Do I have to elaborate how devastating that would be?

If you're worried for disabled people, black people, LGBTQIA+ people, women, poor people accross the world know that they will suffer a lot more if the RN gain power.

The RN don't give a flying fuck about ecology.

-

How can you help?

Spread the word.

If you know french people, talk to them, tell them to go vote for NFP.

If they're not convinced, tell them to watch this videos :

How to recognize a fascist

How the RN is going to screw french economy

How the RN program is unrealistic and dangerous

How our medias are corrupted by the rich to make us think the far right is a viable option with the help of the Atlas Network

Tell them to read and/or listen to independent professional medias like Mediapart, Blast, Reporterre or Basta! and to support them if they can. Those medias did a lot of work to call out corrupted politicians. They don't have an agenda, they just want to inform. They're not owned by billionaires and so, can give informations as they see fit without any risk of professional threats from their boss. They are the most reliable sources of information in France and yet, too few people get informations from them.

Tell them to go unionize in syndicates, or to engage in a party or in an association because we need to fight now and after the elections and we can't stay alone in those fights. And while you're at it, do so as well because I'm sure you will need to fight in your own country. Times are tought for everyone. - Thank you very much for your attention and for your help.