#and it's given me a Lot of thoughts on the construction of the kids-on-bikes story that i wanted Out

[banshatheblademaster]

figured out what to do about nya for the ghost swap

Ronin: - appears to be a roughed up, but humble shopkeeper somewhere in ninjago. wont take kindly to thieves and has quite a bit of combat experience. - not quite as terrible as in canon, but he does have the occasional dubious tactic for upping sales numbers, knows little scruple in that field sometimes - changes the story abotu his injured eye every time someone asks him. - takes Bansha in after she asks for work (a bit of a retcon from post 1 but bear with me) and more or less becomes her sole guardian for the time. teaches her all he knows about self defense - becomes samurai x some time after bansha saves him from the skulkin and leaves to train her newlyfound powers in the monastery. claims he does so because he doesnt trust the fate of the world to be handled by some kids, but he also worries about bansha, knowing she bites off more than she can chew quite often. - his identity is revealed to bansha first, but officially ot the rest of the group roughly by season 2. he stays for the final battle but then goes off to do his thing until season 5 - much like nya, ronin is revealed to be the master of water, and receives training from Master Preeminent while the rest of the group try to figure out how to save Morro. hes good at fighting, but kind of sucks because hes only ever learned to rely on what he thought he was capable of, not these new powers. also claims hes too old to learn new ways to fight, even if the water elemental is crucial to their victory

Nya: - rough-and-tumble girl of mysterious origins, often seen wandering around in towns. lately seems to have settled in Stiix. - uses the fact that she is underestimated a lot to her favor. will befriend people only if it benefits her, and conceals that fact pretty well. is closer in personality to canon ronin than this ronin lmao - used to travel around with her brother Kai after the disappearance of their parents. whilst trying to find them - and keeping him and his little sister alive - kai made a deal for his soul, in exchange for a foolproof way to locate their parents. - the two of them made the trip, which dragged on from weeks to months. frustrated, stressed and malnourished, kai slowly lost his mind. behind nyas back, he sold off her soul aswell to make the journey end as soon as possible. - just after a fight in which kai admitted he had no idea if they are ever going to find their parents, the two of them are ambushed - kai is killed and nya severly injured. she manages to survive, miraculously, and is nursed back to health in a hospital. - the mech arm is a construction of her own; she is just as mechanically gifted as her canon counterpart, likely as a result of travelling so much and needing to steal and fix up cars or bikes. - post-mortem, the cursed soul of kai and the other ghosts commune with her, some of them taunting her, some blaming her for her situation. it worsens her mental state further, but kai at the very least can instruct her on how to make it alone. shes long given up finding her parents at this point and lives as a vagabond, stealing, gambling and making enemies at every turn. all she wants now is to free herself of the curse, which the ghosts promise they can do, if she in turn helps with disrupting the ninjas plans to save their realm - her backstory left her with severe issues regarding trust, but she comes around to bonding with ronin while hes in training

[marypsue]

a theory of Kids On Bikes

A dirt road. An asphalt backroad. A suburban street. 

One bike zips past. Two. Three. Four.

I say, “kids on bikes”, and it’s likely a story comes to mind. E.T. The Goonies. Stand By Me. This is a theory of nostalgia as much as it is of narrative. Even new stories often place their kids within one of two decades. The Iron Giant. Super 8. Stranger Things. The kids bike eternally through nineteen fifty-something, nineteen eighty-something; through an artifice of universal childhood, universal innocence.

The base unit of kids on bikes is four. It can go up as high as seven or eight, but at that point, group cohesion begins to break down. And group cohesion is important. The kids-on-bikes story is a thesis on friendship, the kind of friends you had when you were twelve. 

The kids-on-bikes story might be set in any place, at any time, but somehow it’s always about the summer you were twelve years old. The long days, lying empty before you and rich with possibility. The intoxicating feeling of freedom. 

The summer you were twelve is a place, a moment frozen in amber, and the kids-on-bikes story is the long car ride taking you there for one shining, finite, ephemeral week of vacation. The summer you were twelve could be a week in November, or years before you were even born. The summer you were twelve could be a state you’ve never visited and likely never will. The summer you were twelve is a state of mind, and so is a story about kids on bikes.

Now and Then. Stand By Me. Kids on bikes don’t need to face fantastical monsters.

IT. N0S48U. They don’t need to be kids.

Scooby Doo. Gravity Falls. They don’t even need bikes.

It’s more than just a handful of aesthetic elements that unite them, though of course it is that too. Bikes, of course. Scabby knees and bandages. Scuffed sneakers with trailing laces. Oversized glasses with thick frames. Missing teeth, and pigtails, and shorts. Analog technology. Horizontal stripes. Scout uniforms. Pocket knives. Slime. 

Monsters. 

But it’s also a sensibility. Love - romantic and otherwise. The incredible power of friendship, of community, to forge bonds between strangers with little in common, bonds that can become stronger than the fear of death. Courage, and kindness, and the value of wonder in a world overflowing with amazing - and terrible - things that most of us, caught up in the day-to-day, never see.

The world the kids on bikes inhabit asks only whether those wonders might include the fantastical. The world the kids on bikes inhabit is the world we all inhabit, but more so. Everything is outsized. The joys, the sorrows, are too vast for one person to contain, spilling over onto endless summer skies. The colours are more saturated. The shadows are darker - and full, teeming with some nameless menace that cannot quite ever really be defined, cannot quite ever really be defeated. The edges are sharper between them.

There is a faint golden nostalgia that lies over it all, of course. Like an August evening in the hour before sunset. I never had any friends later on like the friends I had when I was twelve. The kids-on-bikes story is not written, usually, by the child. The kids-on-bikes story is written by the adult, or perhaps the child within the adult. Looking back and seeing, for the first time, the value of something they didn’t know was precious when it was still within their grasp.

And it asks us to believe that we all had that same precious thing.

But the haze of memory and wistful regret colour everything. Blur detail outside the central focus. Bestow a false innocence on the deliberate structure of a story. Nineteen fifty-something, nineteen eighty-something. Four (or more) boys and one girl. One of them is fat. One of them is black. One of them might be queer, but only as an insult. 

They live and roam in an unmarked summerland, a world without history. Cruel or kind, the world is made new for them and them alone. The world, too, is adolescent and teetering on the cusp between innocence and hard-won experience.

The unmarked is not innocent. The unremarkable is not innocent. Monsters hide in plain sight, in the world of kids on bikes. Monsters that a stolid adult world dismisses as imagination or insanity. Monsters that, for all they disappear, chameleonic, behind the camouflage of adult assumptions of reality, can - and do - kill.

The kids-on-bikes story uses metaphor as both shield and sword. David Harbour speaks on an awards show stage about standing up for the underdogs, while Jim Hopper threatens children with bodily harm and calls a traumatised woman crazy to her face. The Goonies befriend a man the world thinks is a monster for his face, while the story mocks one of their number for his size. At twelve years old, it’s easy to see when you’re being bullied. It’s harder to see when you’re being the bully.

Love - and hatred. The incredible power of friendship, of community, to forge bonds between strangers with little in common - bonds that can exclude those stuck on the outside looking in. Courage, and kindness - and abuse of strength and power, and oblivious, childish cruelty.

The kids-on-bikes story is an adolescent itself. Teetering on the cusp between innocence and hard-earned experience. The kids-on-bikes story is, I think, afraid of growing up.

And well it might be. It’s set itself up in opposition to the adult world, the world of hard realities, the world where the terrors lurking in the shadows are easily seen and recognised, where those terrors have clear forms and names that are known. Against the world that understands and is understood. Once the world is familiar, it becomes a little smaller. Once the monster is seen, once it is called by name, it loses a little of its terror. Sometimes, it becomes clear that it was never anything more than a greedy, bitter old man in a mask.

And without those shadows, without the possibility of nameless menace, there is a fear of losing that saturated, golden sunlight. There is a fear of losing the joy with the terror. 

But everyone had a summer when they were twelve. And they were not all the same summer. 

There is room, I think, to tell stories about kids on bikes that haven’t already been told. There are still sun-drenched days of glorious freedom and unending possibility, where that possibility is wider than Ray Bradbury or Stephen King could ever imagine. There are still worlds and worlds of unspoken, unspeakable monsters, nameless and menacing, lurking in those summers’ teeming shadows. There is room to grow.

And kids on bikes don’t always need to be kids.

[hotdamnhunnam]

Congrats again on 2K. i’m so happy for you ❤️

For the emojis: 🔥☕️🚧

For the character: Jax, i feel like those emojis have a Jax vibe

Thanks for your request for my Emoji Fic Fest! And thanks for the congrats! 💗

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Roadblocks Don’t Suck

Pairing: Jax Teller x F!Reader Warnings: smut, swearing, car sex (quick & rough, light choking, Jax’s leather gloves (they’re a whole kink)) Word Count: ~1.4k Emoji Prompt: 🔥☕️🚧 (key words are in bold)

Jax Teller is a lot of things. Pussy-whipped isn’t one of them, but somehow when you ask for things he gives in to a ton of them. On some level in his alpha male soul that sort of stings.

He’s in the driver’s seat grumpy and grumbling like a five-year-old. You’re really in the driver’s seat with all the power that you hold, over the prince of Charming, destined to be king.

He lights a cigarette. The little flame matches his mood flickering sharply with resentment and regret, that he had caved to what you said.

“How’s your goddamn coffee,” he snaps, bitter and full of sass. Gruffly, to hide the fact that you can turn him into such a goddamn softie.

“It’s fucking lovely,” you proclaim, taking another sip and gloating without shame. This morning you’d asked Jax to drive your car to where the two of you are headed, rather than taking his Harley as he typically prefers instead. You wanted to sit comfortably with your coffee and finish up the book you’ve almost fully read.

He doesn’t know yet you were also hoping you could give him road head.

“Fuck!” Jax suddenly rasps as he steps on the brake just when you reach the end of your book, causing you to look up out the windshield in shock. It’s just a bit of bad traffic but your man sounds as furious as if your car was hit by a damn truck. “Ugh, there’s a fucking roadblock. This shit fucking sucks.”

Jax really just can’t deal with traffic at a standstill. He is seething, heavy breathing, living proof that looks can kill.

Glimpse flashing lights and obstacles with slanted black and yellow stripes to mark construction that’s in progress up ahead. Prince Fuming grits his bright white teeth around his cigarette like he wants someone dead. Possibly you. “See, bitch if we were on my bike I could’ve just driven right through…”

“Would you just stop? Here, I’ll give you a handjob,” you decide, casting your finished paperback off to the side. Sometimes—a lot of times—you’d rather make Jax Teller cum than hear him talk. “Shut up, just sit back and enjoy your smoke and let me stroke your cock.”

“What are we, fifteen-year-old kids? You’ll grab my dick and let me grope your tits?” he laughs, as you reach in his jeans to grip and squeeze his massive shaft. “Get down and suck.”

You take your hands out of his pants and cross your arms over your chest tightly, to tell him no such luck. “Maybe I would have if you’d asked nicely, you bossy little fuck.”

“You love it when I’m bossy.” Jax is well aware that his dominance gets you wet and juicy. “Know it hits you in your kinky little pussy.”

“You don’t know shit about my kinks,” you lie.

“You think?” he challenges with a dark glimmer in his eye. The heat of hell behind his smile. Glances out the window at the standstill traffic and decides to put the car in park so he can make this goddamn ride worthwhile.

Asking nicely isn’t really Jax’s style.

You can act like you don’t want it but there’s no point in denial. Every goddamn thing about him drives you wild.

When he wants something he takes it—bends your will to fight him off and fucking breaks it—snaps a finger and you’re naked—he makes sure you want it wholeheartedly too—but that shit’s never hard to do.

He always has you spouting off a senseless stream of oh God Jesus Christ Jax yes fuck yes in two seconds or less. Knows he’s your ever-living weakness. Face you see when you scream Jesus. Knows you’re his to play with any way he pleases. Knows just what buttons to press, to get his girl to be a wet whimpering mess.

Has you spread out on the backseat, shaking in heat, as he strips off your summer dress. Stays fully clothed because he knows it’s fucking torture when he doesn’t let you cleave against the smooth skin of his chest. Settle for clutching at the leather of his vest. The leather Jax Teller wears best.

Or is it…? Though you’ve never mentioned this before, Jax saw the sparkle in those pretty eyes of yours, when you watched his hands on the steering wheel clad in his leather gloves and thought that shit’s fucking exquisite.

To be honest it’s ridiculous that he’d wear leather gloves to drive a car. Today’s ride isn’t even far. You know it’s just so he can feel more like he’s riding on his Harley and it’s dumb as fuck but you don’t care about that given what a slut you are. Jax in the leather of his kutte is hot enough—but these damn gloves… they have you seeing fucking stars…

You’d wanted him to push your head deep in his lap while you bent down to suck him off. Feeling the smooth warmth of the leather in your hair and on your cheeks as you devoured his enormous cock and showered it with love.

He’d like that very fucking much, without a doubt, but in this moment he would rather see your gorgeous glowing face than have it buried in his crotch. More in the mood to fuck your pussy than your mouth. He wants to watch, the way your inner slut is spinning out—surrenders to his touch… the way your features melt, descending into ecstasy past anything you’ve ever fucking felt… as he traces his thumb across your bottom lip with one hand while the other frames your hips—taking you in his leather grip—tight as a belt, sharp as a whip.

And it’s insane the way it makes your pussy drip. Your brain is on a fucking trip. Can leather get you fucking pregnant? On the road the traffic’s still completely stagnant, but your man will have to get back in the driver’s seat again soon once the cars begin to move. There’s not a lot of time to get into the groove. No time for fun and games and foreplay—just a frantic feral fuck here on the freeway—love and lust one and the same to make and take when you two have nothing to prove.

Outside of sex, you know that it’s your job as Jax Teller’s old lady to continually kick his ego down a couple pegs. But it’s a different fucking story when he’s hovering above you and all set to shove his meat into the aching soaking heat between your legs.

A piece of prey for him to eat. To read your body as it breaks and burns and begs. Jax is the undisputed king when he has you spread in his bed or the backseat. And as his leather-clad hand wraps around your throat you gasp at how it feels so sweet because you know what’s coming next…

He applies just the perfect pressure and oh fuck you’ve never felt such perfect pleasure.

You can feel his power pouring through the leather. You can feel it pounding through your blood, as he plows deep inside your pulsing cunt, that fucking instant, with a savage fucking grunt, rock hard as he drives home and hits a flood, ‘cause you’ve never been wetter. You’re his fucking slut. Forever.

Two or three bucks of his hips—he sucks the prayer of his name off of your lips—tightens that leather fucking grip—your grip on consciousness begins to fucking slip…

Just came undone, though this had only just begun. He spills inside you that same second and you’re both sprawled on the seat sex-dumb and drunk.

Two seconds later all the cars outside decide to fucking honk.

He really doesn’t give a fuck. You’re both so bulldozed by the love you made you probably wouldn’t notice if this steamy little car of yours got totaled by a truck. Honk all they want for all you care—the two of you are far beyond the world out there—you’re stuck in heaven with no plans to come unstuck.

Maybe try fucking one more time to piss off everyone outside and push your luck.

Jax reads your mind because it’s his. Leather glove soft around your throat now as he smiles through a cigarette-and-coffee-flavored kiss. “Maybe roadblocks don’t suck.”

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Emoji Fic Masterlist

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[riverswater]

hello! do you think you could give me a larry fic to read? like any fic at all, 50k words or so? i can’t decide what to read and i’m super indecisive aksjjsjsjs

Hiiii deaaar!! I didn't know how to choose them and I'm also very tired so have a mix of my favorite and some I've read recently 💗💫

🌻 you and you are sure together, 48k

“I’m sorry to bother you twice in one day,” Harry says, settling on Louis’ beanbag—thankfully clear of dirty socks, as Louis had become keenly aware of his room’s being a tip after Harry’s stumbling departure and had gone on one of his intermittent tidying sprees right after he’d left, which consist mostly of shoving clothes into the hamper and papers into his rucksack or one of his desk drawers. Louis’ never been all that good with cleaning. He’d skipped lunch (which is absolutely not a problem) so thankfully all the dishes are clean, including the mug he’s designated for his residents in need of tea during a crisis.

Which—right, Harry’s here. Again.

AU. The first day of fall term, Louis hits one of his residents in the face with a door. Later that day, said resident seeks refuge after a fight with his roommate.

It becomes a thing.

And then it becomes something else.

🌻 May We Stay Lost On Our Way Home, 74k

Harry thought he had a handle on things. He hasn’t gotten papped in over a month, even the most zealous of fans have given up on finding his location, the Fortress is starting to look hospitable, and Niall just learned how to make shrimp bisque. Even having a massive crush on a gorgeous mythical woodland creature was working out for him.

Most of the time.

On March 31st, Harry Styles disappears. Though many speculate, only two people know where to find him: Niall, his former guitarist, and Zayn, who follows where Niall leads.

The fact the biggest boy band in the world broke up two weeks earlier might be related to the disappearance. The fact Harry meets a fairy named Louis in the woods is a whole other matter.

(Liam is a centaur.)

🌻 We're Okay, 153k

It's funny, really, that their lives hadn't intercepted before that point. That all it took was one little thing that set off a chain reaction of circumstances which led them all to each other. But it was for the best, really, because in the end, with each other, they were all okay.

And if you asked them, the whole thing could be blamed on Liam sleeping in, for once in his life.

🌻 We The Fireworks, 103k

It’s the morning after the night before and Louis doesn’t know how on earth he made it home in one piece but he reckons it maybe has something to do with the curly-haired stranger, standing half-naked in his kitchen. The problem is that this mysterious stranger, who has a huge secret and an even huger heart, doesn’t seem to plan on leaving Louis’ life anytime soon and doesn’t seem to be able to get it into his stupidly adorable, curly head that Louis is absolutely, utterly, completely, one hundred percent beyond help. Out of reach. Lost in the night.

Or: The AU where Louis needs saving and Harry wants to save him but doesn’t want to admit that maybe he needs saving a little bit too.

🌻 Amsterdam With You, 182k

In Louis’ opinion Amsterdam is so overrated, and now that he moved here he can see all its flaws: it’s always raining (even more than in London), he’s lonely and everyone he meets is unfriendly and distant; but, above all, he misses his family like crazy, confined here. Not surprising how being hit by a bike by a curly, pensive guy is the best thing that happens to him in three months (or maybe even in 27 years).

Or: how to fall in love in a city that you hate, featuring protests, lights, books, cuddles and a whole lot of growth (and tea).

🌻 heroes of the orange skies, 30k

Louis likes bathroom walls and Sharpies, Harry likes metal, Zayn likes Liam and Liam likes Zayn, Niall is wise, and they all go to the zoo.

🌻 you came into my life, 57k

They stand around talking for a minute and then Jonathan starts to ramble, “Has there ever been, like, an unrequited gay love story in here? Like a Brokeback Mountain moment where, like, someone just fell in love and they didn’t mean to?”

Louis feels bile rise in his throat as Jonathan’s eyes sparkle, pleading for a yes. He manages to look around and see thoughtful looks on his coworkers’ faces before their heads shake no.

“Not here,” Liam says finally.

When the Queer Eye cast and crew sweep into Louis’ small town and fire station to make over his best friend and coworker Liam, Louis’ carefully constructed walls start to fall down and he has to face his fears – and the only guy he’s ever been able to see a future with.

🌻 we were promised the world (but so was everyone else), 94k

Louis and Harry are young and broke. For their daughter, they figure it out together.

🌻 Under The Shimmering Surface, 61k

Louis thinks back on his small house full of high-voltage little sisters and his messy bedroom and the neighborhood kids he’d play with when the summer nights ran long and he loved being hugged by the sun. His mind shifts to when he left, ran away and into the dark of night. His bloodlust and sex crazed life lit only by the stars and lonely moons in different phases as he skipped from one town to the next across the country.

In hindsight, falling in love doesn’t sound so bad.

aka the fic where louis is a self-indulgent vampire, harry is smart and stronger than louis knows, and Seattle is just the perfect mix of mystery and alcohol and home for the right kind of love to brew (or maybe that’s just the witch’s potions fogging up the sky)

[sourwolf-sterek32]

THIS MEANS WAR (Daryl Dixon x Reader)

Summary: It’s been nearly two years since the war with the Saviours ended. You and Daryl now ran the Sanctuary together and for once life was starting to look good. However, little did you know, your whole world was going to come crashing down around you very soon and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Jesus’ Twin Sister!Reader

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: Blood, guts, language (just usual twd warnings) 

Chapter 15-

The next four months went by in a haze. You and Daryl moved back to Alexandria with Lydia and the baby boy who you and Daryl named, Paul. It wasn't hard deciding on that name, especially since Daryl suggested it and you immediately said yes. 

You lived in the spare house next door to Aaron and Gracie's home. It was only a two-bedroom house and fairly small, but you didn't need much anyway.

A lot happened during those few months, Eugene had gotten communication up and running between all the communities, so you could talk to each other easily. Hilltop now had a council running it like Alexandria did, but you hadn't step foot back inside that community. You couldn't. It just felt wrong without, Paul. It just wasn't right to be in Hilltop without him around, it was his community. So, Daryl had gotten your quadbike from the community and bought it back to Alexandria for you, which you were grateful for. 

Although a lot had happened during those months, nothing happened at the same time. You hadn't heard or seen any of the whisperers since the day of the pikes and that scared the hell out of you. But, you weren't going to sit around and wait for them to strike first, because you knew they would attack again, it was just a matter of time. So, during those few months you came up with a plan.

You spent those months secretly planning and strategizing against the whisperers and once winter finally arrived, you made your move.

"What are ya doin'?" Daryl asked, walking into the bedroom with baby Paul sitting on his hip and you smiled at the sight before you continued to pack your backpack up with water and supplies.

"Heading to Hilltop. Magna said she found some stuff that belonged to my brother and wants me to come over and figure out what to do with it." You explained, slinging the backpack over your shoulders as you grabbed your bow that was leaning against the bed before you made your way outside and Daryl followed, his eyes widening slightly noticing that your quadbike was already parked in front of the house, loaded with a couple jerry cans of fuel and a large duffle bag.

"Ya need all that fuel just to go to Hilltop?" He asked sceptically, raising his eyebrow at you.

"No, but I'll go straight to Kingdom once I'm done. I'll meet you at Kingdom in a couple days to help transport the community to Hilltop, give some of the kids a ride on my bike so they don't have to walk." You explained and Daryl nodded.

Ezekiel had announced last week that the Kingdom had fallen. The rot and decay had set in, all their pipes had burst flooding most the houses and the houses that didn't get water damage ended up burning due to fuel leaks. The Kingdom was an amazing community, but it didn't stand a chance against the decay and Hilltops council allowed them to seek refuge at their community until they found a new place to stay.

You, Daryl, Lydia, Aaron, Michonne and a group from Hilltop were gonna head over to Kingdom and help them move everything to Hilltop, but there was something you needed to take care of before you did that, but you couldn't tell Daryl.

"Ya want me to come to Hilltop with ya? We can get Rosita to look after Paul a few days earlier." Daryl suggested and you smiled softly at his thoughtfulness and you knew Rosita wouldn't mind. She loved your son to bits and wanted to practice with him before her son or daughter is born in a few months time.

"No, it's okay. Stay here with Lydia, I'll meet you at Kingdom." You replied, walking away from the bike as you pulled Daryl into a hug, being mindful of Paul in his arms as he hugged you back.

"Be careful, alright? If ya want me to come to Hilltop, just call over the radio once ya get there 'n I'll be there within a day." He said, kissing the top of your head and you pulled away slightly before kissing his lips.

"I love you so much, Daryl. Don't ever forget that." You said, resting your forehead against his as he used his free hand to cup your cheek and pressed a gentle kiss to your lips again.

"I love ya too, baby." He whispered before you leant down and kissed Paul's forehead causing the baby boy to squirm slightly in his sleep and you smiled before looking at Daryl once last time. You took in his features and the half smile plastered on his lips as you stared at him like it was the last time you'd ever see him, because deep down you knew it was a high possibility, but it'd be worth it. If you got take Alpha down and get justice for your twin brother, it would be worth it.

You mounted your quadbike, readjusting your bow over your shoulder as you bought the bike to life, glancing over at Daryl one last time as he gave you a small wave and you nodded back before you rode off towards the large gate of Alexandria.

-

"Lydia, you awake?" You asked, knocking on the young girls bedroom door quietly. You knew she would be awake, she only went to bed five minutes ago, but you figured you should probably knock and ask first to respect the girls privacy, hell you were teenager once, you knew what it was like.

"Yeah, come in." She called out and you slowly opened the door spotting her sitting on the bed with her legs crossed as she fiddled with a small novel in her lap that Daryl had given her a few days ago.

"I need you to tell me everything you know and everything you can remember about where the Whisperers go during winter. They can't stay in this area when the winter hits, it gets too cold." You explained causing the girl to frown slightly at the unexpected question and you sighed walking over to her as you sat down on the edge of her bed. "Please, we both know that this isn't the last we'll be seeing of your mother and I won't let anyone else I care about die to the hands of her and her people-"

"There's a camp we... they always go back to during winter." Lydia said cutting you off, shocking you slightly that she didn't hesitate to tell you this stuff, but you weren't going to complain. "It's about 80 miles east near, you can't miss it. She keeps the herd of walkers milling around in a large canyon or quarry or valley type thing. The herd can only get out the quarry by two dirt tracks that go up, it makes them easier to control especially since it's cold so not many whisperers are needed to be out in that weather to control them." Lydia explained and you sat there, writing it all down on a small note pad as she continued to explain to you how their shift work worked.

You asked her a few more questions and she answered in a lot more detail than you thought she would, but Alpha killed Henry and you were pretty sure any feelings she had towards her mother were long gone now.

The following few weeks, you and Lydia would stay up late as she talked to you about the whisperers winter camp and anything else that she could think of while you wrote it down and started planning out the best route on a map to get to the camp. Lydia, was more than happy to help you and promised not to tell anyone about it, although she seemed confused that you didn't want Daryl to know what you were planning, but she kept quiet in exchange for you to tell her bedtime stories at night.

You'd tell her stories from your life before, stories about growing up in a group home with your brother or working as a construction worker without having any qualifications or even earlier on during the start of all of this with the group at the farm and prison. Lydia really enjoyed your stories and you knew it helped her sleep, which was something you had all struggled with lately.

-

You pulled up to the front of Hilltop's gates, the workers in the vegetable garden all waving happily at you and you waved back while you sat on your bike waiting.

A few minutes later the front gate opened as Magna and Yumiko came out riding on the back of a horse together. Yumiko sitting on the back with her compound bow, similar to yours hung over her back, while Magna sat at the front.

"You two sure about this? It's not too late to pull out, I'd understand." You said, standing up on your quadbike so you were level with the two of them as they stopped the horse beside you and they nodded.

"We're sure. Alpha has to pay for what she did, let's go." Magna responded and with that the three of you took off down the road in the direction of your next pitstop.

It took a couple hours, but you eventually reached Carol's old house that she had taken refuge in for a while back during the war with the Saviours. The house hadn't changed much at all since you last saw it, but you weren't there for the house.

"She should be here soon." You said, turning off your bike as you jumped off and grabbed one of the jerry cans to refill the gas tank while Magna and Yumiko gave the horse some food and water while you waited.

The three of you were leaning against the fence to the house, passing a can of beans amongst each other to eat before the familiar sound of horse hooves hitting the bitumen filled the air and you looked down the road spotting Carol on the horse trotting in your direction.

"Sorry I'm late, couldn't slip away from Ezekiel earlier." She apologised as you threw her a water bottle and she caught it easily taking a sip before throwing it back to you.

"That's fine, did you bring it?" You asked and Carol nodded as she motioned towards the gun case that she had strapped to her back along with her recurve bow and quiver of arrows and you grinned.

"Do you have the bullets? I could only get away with taking two magazines." The older woman said as you began to mount your bike while Magna and Yumiko climbed back onto their horse.

"Sure do. Let's get going, hopefully we'll get there before dark." You said and the three woman all nodded in agreement before you took off down the road. You took the lead while the others followed you down the various roads and cutting through the woods when you needed to.

You had memorised the route on the map, you knew every turn, every bridge, every town, you had memorised everything during the past few months, so you didn't even need to look at the map while you rode.

-

You were walking around the community with Paul sitting in the stroller you had gotten from Michonne who didn't need it anymore. You had just giving your son a bottle an hour ago, but he still refused to go sleep so you decided on taking him for a walk which usually worked to put him to sleep.

"Eugene." You called out, spotting the man walk out the church and turned in your direction once he heard your voice as you quickly walked over to him, pushing the stroller in front of you.

"Hello." The man answered, glancing down at Paul in the stroller smiling softly at the little boy before he looked back towards you, noticing something slightly off. "Something wrong?"

"No, I just need to ask you a favour, but you can't mention it to anyone." You said, glancing around making sure that nobody else was around before you looked back towards the other man. "If I got the materials and supplies needed, can you make me some bullets?"

"I don't see why not. I already make bullets for the other communities, what calibre and how many?" He asked curiously as he fiddled with his long pony tail that was getting longer and longer each time you saw him.

".50 calibre and I need you to make as many as you can in three months." You explained causing him to frown slightly at you and he opened his mouth to say something before you cut him off. "Don't ask questions, just trust me, please. I need it and you can't tell anyone, not even Rosita." You said and Eugene just nodded in agreement before a familiar voice spoke up.

"Did I just hear my name?" Rosita called out causing you to jump slightly because you didn't hear or see her coming as you turned around to find her walking towards the two of you.

"Yeah, I need to ask you something in private." You said, glancing back to Eugene who stood there dumbly for a few seconds before it clicked.

"Right, that's my cue to leave. Have a nice day and I will give you a list of what supplies I'll need." The man said and you nodded watching as he walked off just as Rosita reached your side, waving to the man before she crouched down in front of the stroller and smiled brightly at Paul.

"What's up?" She asked, keeping her voice low so she didn't wake the baby as she stood back up and looked over at you.

"This is going to sound random and probably crazy, but do you still have some of those explosives from the war with the Saviours?" You asked, knowing full well that if there were sticks of dynamite left over that Rosita would know where they were.

The woman stared at your for a few seconds, her hands crossing over her chest as she contemplated what to say before she sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, why?" She asked, looking at you sceptically which was fair enough because the last time a stick of dynamite was used was when Rick blew up the bridge.

"I can't tell you why... It's just... Do you trust me?" You asked, rubbing your face with your hands as you tried to figure out what to say. Eugene never asked any questions, he probably didn't really care and even if he did he must have figured it was better to not know details, but Rosita was different. She liked to know everything, she liked to know what people were doing and that wasn't a bad thing because you were the same. You didn't like being kept in the dark, so you understood the woman's curiosity, but you couldn't tell her about your plan. She was pregnant, she had family, you didn't want to get her caught up in the middle of it.

"Of course, I trust you." She answered instantly, flicking one of her braids over her shoulder as she looked at you in confusion.

"Then trust me on this. I need those explosive for something." You said, biting your lip as you stared at the other woman who sighed, glancing back down at Paul's sleeping form before she nodded.

"I hope I don't regret this, come on." Rosita said nodding for you to follow her as you grabbed the stroller and began to follow her down the street. 

-

You, Carol, Magna and Yumiko rode for the rest of the day and camped in the small cabin that you had located weeks earlier. It had one bedroom and a bathroom, but the rest of the cabin was one big large room with the living area and kitchen in one. You had already set up four sleeping bags along the floor with a pile of blankets sitting the couch in case any of you needed the extra layers.

"You really have planned this." Carol commented as the group of you walked into the cabin as the other women took in the sleeping bags and supplies scattered along the bench and you just nodded, dropping your bow and duffle bag on the table. "Do you think this will work?" Carol asked, shutting the front door behind her.

"Been planning it for over three months, it will work." You reassured, although there was a small voice in the back of your head saying that it might not, that it might all come unravelled if even the slightest detail Lydia had told you wasn't true or even if the whisperers don't go back to their usual winter camp, then all of this was for nothing.

"So, in the morning we leave on foot and head towards the valley, quarry thing? That's where Alpha is keeping her herd, right?" Magna asked as she sat down on the couch, kicking her legs up and resting them over Yumiko's lap and you nodded.

"I know Lydia wouldn't lie to you, but how do you know that Alpha won't change her winter routine?" Yumiko asked and you just shrugged your shoulders. You didn't know. But, she had been doing the same winter routine for the past four years according to Lydia, so you figured it was your best bet.

"I don't, but this is the only thing I could think of because sooner or later the Whisperers will come back even if we agree to her boarders and don't cross them. She will still come back, they always do." You answered and the others all nodded in agreement as you unzipped the duffle bag and pulled out the bundles of arrows you had made.

"How'd you make all these without Daryl getting suspicious?" Carol questioned, staring at all the arrows as you handed her a bundle of the ones with longer shafts that suited her recurve bow better and handed Yumiko the other bundle.

"Whenever he went out hunting, I made them. He's caught me making them a few times, but I'd just say that I broke a few and needed spares." You answered and Carol nodded with an impressed expression because she knew how hard it was to keep secrets from Daryl, he was the most observant person you knew and he could read you like a book. You were kind of shocked you managed to keep him in the dark about this whole plan because you knew if he found out then he would want to come, but you couldn't let him come. You couldn't risk losing him too.

You moved the last bundle of arrows in the bag to the side as you began to pull out the full magazine of .50 calibre bullets for the semi-automatic sniper rifle that Carol had borrowed from Kingdoms armoury.

"I got 10 magazines full of bullets, along with a bunch of loose bullets in this bag since I couldn't find enough magazines. We won't be running out of ammo anytime soon, do you guys remember the plan?" You asked, shoving the magazines into a backpack that you already had inside the cabin so it was easier to carry over your back rather than the duffle bag.

"Yep. You three with your bows and I get the sniper. The whisperers won't know what hit them." Magna responded with a grin as she looked over at the sniper bag leaning against the wall and you smiled at the happy expression on the woman's face before you began getting your sleeping bag ready. 

-

NEXT CHAPTER

-

A/N- Link to Masterlist in bio. I will reblog with my Daryl Dixon tag list, if you want to be added just comment below. 

Well as you can tell from this point on I go away from the shows canon and create my own ending to the Whisperers, so stay tuned because it’s about to get interesting. 

Anyway, until next time stay safe everyone and have a great day xx

[raquellmurillo]

I totally agree with you. They made it looked like Raquel is just a hindrance on the plans of Professor. Without her, the story most likely will just stay the same. So much hateee. Raquel can do better!!! Where the fuck is Raquel Murillo!!!!

Didn’t they just???

Apart from all the problematic issues with her being involved in the heist... they really made her the hindrance.

Firstly, I don’t understand the whole point of them not being in Madrid. Because, Sergio had to be there in s1&2, just in case things went wrong, especially with cars, evidence, ya know all the little bits. I understand there are no protocols to check outside a given area... wouldn’t it make more sense to play it the other way around? To make police think they’re in, say, Barcelona, “because there are no protocols to check outside given area”; which would make the police think they’re really clever, as they’ve figured out that the professor is trying to base himself elsewhere. Why not have Marsella riding that bike around another large city....?

Because you see, I’d understand if that actually was a crucial part; they could by no means be in Madrid... but all of s4 was based in Madrid, yet no one bothered to look there (well apart from Alicia who tracked him from cctv cameras.... like give this woman a raise! But that would also assume Sergio is stupid enough to drive straight to his “secret hideout”, rather than leave the car say a few streets away and walking........ he is really down to his last brain cell, isn’t he??? Or the writers are lmao) so it seems a bit pointless to be as far away from the heist, especially, since like, Sergio hasn’t been caught in Madrid (well by the teams of thousands looking for him, since now they’ve even got a trail to follow) and as this amazing technique of being further away got them caught a lot faster? Wouldn’t it be better to start off in Madrid and run if they got caught there? Still being able to direct the heist but not from the comfort of a nearby location? Didn’t it sorta look like they were trying to catch them? 

It leaves a few plot holes, ya know... the whole epicenter plan (oh I was perhaps distracted when first hearing it lmaoo ;D) ---- that assumes they’re caught in a forest tho (?) - what if the got tracked an hour before on the beach...??? It seemed the plot was written for the action, rather than the action for the plot - all the things that were planned in s1&2 were only for inside the mint (!!!!) and all the things outside of the heist - the really stressful bits of Sergio threatening Russians etc. - were improvised, because they were fully aware that otherwise it would seem so unnatural; they weren’t protocol things that could be planned or predicted. I know now things have changed etc. but this amazing idea with the location was meant to solve all their issues. The plan of ‘in case they got caught’ was so ugh because it was clearly not written as a response to the situation, but almost in order to cause the situation. It would have made more sense to not have the epicenter plan, as it would’ve looked as if they didn’t expect to be caught in the middle of a forest lmao Sergio is a genius of improvisation, not a psychic (!!!!) It would have been amazing if they were in that ambulance and Sergio was like “think, think, think; a tree!! omg we gonna fool them wifey”. Not.... a few months before; “they’re not gonna catch us...... but if they do, it’ll defo be in a forest - I can sense it!!” --- plan epicenter on the beach --- “okay Raquel, you’re gonna bury yourself in the sand and hope the dogs don’t dig you up”; I mean, they couldn’t have predicted that, which made it so obvious (now looking back) that they planned Raquel to be a hindrance, rather than something actually going wrong causing a genuine, unplanned, improvised reaction (...not to mention --- let her climb the motherfucking tree, you cowards!!!!!) Nah, but seriously, it looked as if the only thing that Sergio calculated was that she would be a hindrance lmaooo 

So, the million dollar question; why not keep them locked up in that abandoned warehouse whilst Marsella flies from one city to another confusing the police? Because the implications of Sergio happily doing all the shit from his secret non moving base in Madrid, are that the police aren’t able to track him. At all. Despite still negotiating? Even without having Marsella cycling around all the time. Also despite having constant gatherings of Serbian, I assume, criminals, mafia.... Imagine if the police is tracking one of the people Sergio hires anyhow, for like, idk drug trafficking- and they break into Sergio’s hide out thinking they’ve managed to find some drug den.... but to their disappointment it’s just Sergio lmao

The point being, I think they wanted to write it for action rather than plot. Having Raquel and Sergio back in a s1&2 type set up, could possibly be seen as repetitive, viewer wise.... WHich I think is just laziness; they’d have to write some conflict scenes, delve into more detail. We only got, what, one, two scenes of Raquel and Sergio both negotiating.... wouldn’t it have been more fun to continue this? Have Alicia slide in more and more personal details of Raquel’s life; legit doing her tent interview with Raquel over the phone? Imagine her calling him a nut job, saying something like, “he could’ve been trying to kill your family for all you know...” and Raquel just rolling her eyes and hanging up ---- to see a very very distressed Sergio lmaooo 

I know they’re the lead couple but let’s not be afraid of well written conflict, for the sake of sorting some shit out -- I love them, but for the sake of poor Raquel, let them be together as they are, not as what they think they are. Let’s forget about the glory for a second. In s1&2 everyone loved them because they were able to overcome the fact that they’re on different sides; this time, instead of writing them as madly in love, let’s take a step to tackle them as characters who make their bond stronger by accepting their weaknesses ~ give Sergio his ‘Imma kill this old woman and man who just woke up from a coma to make sure they don’t fuck up the plan’ attitude back; Gandia should be dead! The rule was ‘no killing of innocent kids so the public opinion doesn’t push the police to enter’, not ‘let’s not kill this guy who is a government trained assassin so amnesty international considers me as their next president’ lmaooo PLS let them be themselves, and MAKE them deal with them ‘being themselves’. Raquel is the goodie goodie and Sergio is the wanna be goodie goodie - or goodie for the show - Make him make some radical decisions; make Raquel question them; MAKE her be his voice of reason. (like in s3, when she questioned the Rio/Tokyo thing; that one argument was as far as they were willing to take it, but at least they tried). Make an interesting conflict by making Alicia try to prove to Raquel, that Sergio is who he is, and Sergio not doing anything in his favour to prove the contrary. Make Raquel realise that there is a lot of truth in what Alicia is saying; if she is going to love him, it should depend on her making this informed decision of loving him as he is. 

Instead of one big argument, gradually build it up. It seemed like they wanted to shove everything into that scene; little by little, and lets not get them all so upset and shout some dramatic lines at each other ya know. Instead of the “I thought we were in love...” -- my wonderful negotiator wouldn't go there omg, let her @@@@ himmm; “shut the fuck up, you ain’t gonna get anywhere with those umbrella statements, because tell me again, what did you beat me at?”, “Didn’t tell me to come along??? Well, you didn’t fucking stop me either.”, “Now, we’ve reached the conclusion that I beat you and you didn’t give enough of a shit about me to stop me from coming as vengeance was so much more important you didn’t think you could lose your new family; go the fuck back in and tell Tokyo to not fucking do that to the boy.” LETS NOT BE AFRAID OF MAKING SERGIO THE BAD GUY AND HAVE RAQUEL PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE. Like she put the people in the police tent in their place, a countless amount of times, especially in terms of her ex etc. The “you’re my first love” thing was cute, but it seemed like throwing words at the wind and turning the issue around; “you’re right, I’m sorry, I was so obsessed thinking about my brother I didn’t realise how much I was hurting you, you’re right about the whole Tokyo thing too” etc..... constructive relationship building; apologising for the actual thing, rather than avoiding a conversation about it and blaming ones behavior on ‘being new to the situation’ (that’s a red flag, no? A lil.....) character progress, still having fierce Raquel who isn’t just gonna let Sergio put her down like that, considering she is risking her life for him, meaning she ought to get some say........

Because the lines Alicia says have a lot of truth in them, especially for an audience who is aware of everything; Raquel denying them or saying some stupid comments really makes her seem idk sometimes even stupid. Like babe, he was going to kill your mother and best friend and now he is risking your life, shut the fuck up. Of course, it is not in bad intention, but Sergio’s manner of loving is a very selfish one. Let her acknowledge this. Don’t be afraid of writing her as a strong character who isn’t afraid of loving someone despite their flaws, because deep down she knows he loves her, and it’s okay for it not to be perfect. Because not allowing her to see this, makes her seem like she is so blindly in love with him; it really fucks up the characterisation. 

... because without this, she is stripped of her very strong characterisation, and simply reduced to a love interest. But the show seems so be so fucking in love with the professor they are afraid to give him this edge he had before. Because sorting Raquel’s character out would require them to write Sergio as the maniac obsessed with his plan rather than the next president of Amnesty International lmao  

I had another three paragraphs about the plan etc. but imma put them in a different ask, so enjoy this wonderful Milan Kundera quote instead; 

“Love is by definition an unmerited gift; being loved without meriting it is the very proof of real love. If a woman tells me: I love you because you're intelligent, because you're decent, because you buy me gifts, because you don't chase women, because you do the dishes, then I'm disappointed; such love seems a rather self-interested business. How much finer it is to hear: I'm crazy about you even though you're neither intelligent nor decent, even though you're a liar, an egotist, a bastard.”

[donaldresslerfanfic]

House Hunting.

Rating: M

Warnings: Strong Language, Sexual Content.

Word Count: 4301

Donald Ressler X OC Maggie Waters.

Chapter: Sixty-Seven.

Chapter Index

Story on Wattpad

Ressler.

I've  always thought that the phrase "happy wife, happy life" was nothing but nonsense. I didn't undestrand how the wellbeing of someone else could affect yours so much, we were all responsible for our own happiness in the end.

It wasn't until I met, dated and eventually married Maggie that I understood the truth within that sentence. She could instantly twist the general energy of her surroundings depending if she was happy or sad.

I confirmed this statement when she got pregnant, even though some other things were happening to me, I was still very happy and as thrilled as her, when she neared down to the labor and she was insufferable, I felt that way too, and everything around me felt bad, felt negative.

So, now that we'd brought our baby home, she was just... I don't know how to describe her. I was also excited to have her, a baby really did change everything, but Maggie, she was in a trance of sorts.

She had Alma on her arms everyday, all day, she wouldn't put her down. If she had to go to the bathroom eventually she'd  left her in the crib and didn't  pick her up afterwards, but if Alma so much as sighed in discomfort she'd  pick her up and carry her. I also got to carry her a lot and I understood why she liked to have  her so much, she was like this little ball of I don't  know what and once she touched you it was electrifying, I loved having her on my chest... I just loved the baby in general.

Maggie also had a constant smile on her face when she looked down at Alma, I'd taken a lot of pictures of them both because I couldn't think of another two people who were more perfect  than them.

Mags had also recovered spectacularly which only made me admire her more. Between her and my mom staying at the house for a week after Alma was born it was a surprisingly easy transition from two to three people. Ethan had assured me I had no idea how bad it was going to get. Looking now at Mags cuddling Alma on her chest, her cheek pressed against the top of her head as she quietly patted her back, I didn't know how things could go bad.

I smiled down at them and sat next to her on the couch, I'd  just returned from leaving my mom at the airport for her to catch a quick fly back home. I had my laptop on my hand and placed it on my lap whilst sitting next to her.

I gave her a quick look, she was looking at me with a little twist of her eyebrow as she smirked a little.

"What are you doing?" She asked. I opened a few tabs and showed them to her "Oh my God" she whispered as she looked at the computer "your mom just left and your daughter has been born for barely a week, and you already want to move us out of the house"

"Precisely because she's tiny and doesn't make much of a fuss I want to move us out, when she gets bigger is going to be more difficult."

I motioned at the screen and selected a few houses.

"I want one with just one floor, the stairs are getting annoying" I selected a few things and filtered the results "does it have to be in that neighborhood?"

"It's the best neighborhood there is, I've researched it"

"Researched it" she repeated mocking me a little "the houses are expensive there"

"Don't look at the prices" I dismissed and selected a few, we spent maybe one hour looking at all the houses, the space, the bedrooms, I knew we would need to go and actually see some, but we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted.

We'd swapped items and I was now holding Alma as Mags was searching the houses. I don't know if it was a good or a bad thing to search houses with an architect, she threw around some phrases like the insulation is horrible, the floor is not good for heavy transit, the electric wiring sucks, I don't know how she knew those things just from looking at pictures but I didn't dare to question her or doubt her.

"I think this one is a really good one, it's big and the distribution is very good, it has some space for my office, the baby room, you can have an office right here, the master bedroom is abnormally big, walk-in closet sounds amazing, specially for you"

"For me?" I interrupted "you have more clothes than I do."

"Yeah but your suits take more space, and you have more shoes than I"

"No I don't"

"Yeah, you do, I've counted" she assured me with a little smile. Alma began to stir in my arms and I had to stand up to rock her, something I'd learned very quickly, to keep the baby calm you have to rock her all the time.  "And it doesn't have a big back garden, that's good because I can't be bothered to keep a back garden"

"Where's she gonna play?" She gave me a look at then at Alma.

"Inside" she replied, I tsked my tongue.

"She's not going to play inside, she has to have some things outside, I've already looked for a swing set, and a tree house"

I saw Maggie chuckle, then hold her stomach as she frowned.

"Stop, I can't laugh still" she left the computer on the couch and leaned back "listen I appreciate you being so excited but you're getting too far ahead with everything. She's not going on a swing set for at least two more years"

"Don't tell me what to do" I mocked her, she always threw that card around when I asked her not to do something, something meaningless like to not buy me things.

She gave me a little smile and leaned in to kiss my lips quietly.

"Okay, we'll look for one with the big garden, but you're going to maintain it" she pointed at me threateningly.

"I already keep the garden here"

"Well, you're used to it then" I followed her to the kitchen, leaving Alma in a little crib we had downstairs. Mags and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen/living room, so we had one little crib down here, it was a simple one and it didn't take much space, we only put her in the crib in her room when we were heading to bed.

"Playing outside boosts the inmune system and increases confidence."

"Yeah, I get it, I used to play outside too" my mom had left us quite a bit of already cooked food, I silently thanked her for that. "You just went from 0 to a 100 so fast. Are you seriously going to get her a tree house?"

"Why not?" I shrugged, Maggie let out a little smile and placed the food in the oven, then leaned in to me, I hugged her by the shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"I wouldn't have asked for anyone better than you to have kids with" she said muffled in my chest, I smiled and kissed her forehead again.

"Right back at you love"

We stood there, hugging eachother for a little while, out of all the things I'd read, one that was very important, at least for me, was the part about support and contention of the mom, Mags was still my everything and even though I'd added another person under my care, taking care of Maggie was taking care of the both of them.

We spent the rest of the night and the following day looking for houses, I was still a little grateful to the task force and to Reddington for giving me the spare time to take care of my new family, but I was getting a little restless. There had been times where I didn't have to work, but I had been stalled for 3 months now. I'd noticed that I'd fallen into another routine that didn't quite accomodate to my work, and that worried me a little. I also began to worry a bit too much about Maggie and I eventually going back to work, I didn't wanted anyone I didn't completely trust near my daughter, and the list of people I trusted was very very short, I knew we'd have to get her a babysitter as soon as Maggie could go back to work, I hated the idea already.

In the meantime between Mags and I being out of work, she still reviewed some things from the hotel and the casino, the construction was nearing down the it's completion and she was still on top of everything, it would be pretty unlike her not to be.

At the end of the first week we started to have family around, Maggie had her sister around and the kids were so amazed at the baby.

Within the end of the second week, I was taking Maggie to see a a few of  the we'd picked, I'd made sure that they were all in a very nice neighborhood I'd seen, it was a little far away from my work and Mag's, but the place was so amazingly secured I was willing to take the risk, it was fenced, it had security, cameras,  just about everything, on the way there we saw what you'd expect to see in a high-class neighborhood, people running, kids in bikes, people with their dogs.

"Aw" I heard Maggie say as she looked back. "Look at that doggy" I felt her eyes look at me from the passenger side. "Did you look?"

"I didn't, I hated dogs"

"You don't" she said, I gave her a quick look and a smile.

"I do cupcake, especially that one your sister has, the rat with legs, hate that one"

"It's a Pomeranian-"

"Hideous" I interrupted.

"Her name is Dutchess"

"They're a nightmare"

"And when she has babies, Madison said she'll give us one"

"Absolutely not" I said parking the car in the cul de sac.

I got off the car and was finally able to see the disbelief look Maggie was giving me presumably this whole time. I felt the keys in my pocket to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything, then met Maggie on the other side of the car were she was taking Alma out with her baby carrier, we had one that had a handle on top and it moved around to carry her in the basinet or to adjust  it to the back of the car.

"This is a thing" she declared as I took the carrier from her and she closed the door. It had been a while since she'd given birth but I didn't wanted her to do any sort of heavy lifting just yet.

I held her by the hand and pulled her to the front of the house.

"We'll talk about that later, for now" I motioned at the house with my hand, the one that was holding hers. "What do you think?"

We stood there for maybe a full minute whilst Maggie looked at the house.

"It's really nice, I don't like the houses that have the peaked roofs, and this one has a modern look to it, also, the big window panes are amazing, lots of natural light throughout the day, kind of a pain in the ass during winter because the glass is very-"

I knew that she was going to be like this, it was kind of her job to review the structure of the building and to look at every single thing in a house or a building, at the same time I wished she wasn't so critical about everything because it made this house hunting travesty that, a travesty.

"I get it" it said after she finished "but do you like it?"

"Oh yeah, I love it" she said with a nod. "Let's see the inside"

Inside the house, it was the reaction and behavior I was expecting of a person who is going to check out a new house.

She walked around looking at the house, the space, the rooms, the floor, the walls, then almost died when she checked the in suite bedroom and bathroom. Partially because it was a good and big bathroom, and partially because the bathtub had a curtain and I thought it would be funny to scare her.

In a millisecond it took me to pull the curtain open and stomp behind her she let out a little scream and buckled her arms to her side, as soon as she realized it was me when I hugged her from behind she began to laugh nervously, I kissed her cheek and joined her in her laugh, though she didn't have time enough time to calm down because Alma began to cry from behind us, I'd left her carrier in the naked bed of the room. Maggie quickly dashed past me and took her in her arms.

"I'm sorry I woke you up" she said as she cradled her on her chest and shushed her "daddy scared me" she said with another little chuckle.

We made our way out of the bedroom and checked the garage, it fitted both our cars perfectly.

"So, what's the verdict on this one?" I said locking the door behind me and looking at Mags, she was still holding Alma and by the looks of her she needed to be fed because she was doing that thing babies do when they have their pacifier, like a little muffled mumble to indicate that even though they had the pacifier they were about to start bawling.

"I like it a lot, the distribution is great, the spaces aren't too big or too small and the room that has the glass panel looking to the back garden? I'm in love with that one" she said over her shoulder. I opened the door and left the carrier in the seat on the back, Maggie sat down in the other side. "I'm going to feed her on the way there"

I closed the door and got in the driver seat. The other house was 5 more blocks inside the neighborhood. I liked this one because if something happened, like we get attacked or robbed, it's a major trek back to the entrance and the perps could be easily intercepted in between, the place also had a little guard post and healthcare post near this house, and those always came in handy. Needless to say, because of all this advantages this house was more expensive than the last one.

"So, about the dog" she resumed "she needs to have a dog"

"By the law, kids only need to have health, education, free life, protection, and live in an environment that enables all these rights" I looked at her in the rearview mirror "I didn't read 'dog' in the children's rights panflet"

"But pets are important to children, they stimulate their sense of social interaction and responsibility"

"So does school"

"Don" she whined, I looked at her again through the mirror and saw her pouting at me, I chuckled and turned left in the street where the house was "I want a puppy"

"You have a human puppy right there" I parked in the driveway and stopped the car. I looked back at her and Alma, she was craddling to her chest as she fed her, Maggie looked at me and pouted again. "That doesn't work anymore"

Maggie looked down at Alma again and made sure she was sleeping before she pulled her away from her chest and into the carrier again. I got off the car and made the same procedure again of taking the baby out of the car.

"Oh this is the McKenzie house" she said from the other side of the car. I walked around it as I activated the alarm.

"The McKenzie house?"

"Yeah, I did some work on it" when I got next to her I felt her hand slip into mine, together we walked up the stairs and opened the door. "I already know I like this house, the best part? The bathroom upstairs has a big walk-in shower and it has an hidro-massage system in the shower wall for your back"

We walked inside and it was my turn to be surprised, even though it wasn't furnished, the house was great, and I hoped Maggie would end up liking it because I could see myself living here. Everything was modern, the kitchen appliances were "slick" as Maggie would call them, it even had an incinerator in the corner of the kitchen island, it was a nice touch. The house had in-floor heating which I liked because Maggie tended to get sick a lot in the winter.

We'd split up because Maggie wanted to check out the house and Alma wasn't feeling the carrier anymore, so I had to ditch that and hold her.

I walked inside of one of the bedrooms to look at it, it had a decent size and the walls were painted pink, which made me decide that it was going to be Alma's room when we moved here.

"What do you think?" Alma was now awake, but I knew that it wouldn't last long, I was still holding her to my chest, I looked down at smiled, she was the cutest thing I'd ever seen "this could be your room. For your room in general I was thinking, you know-" I motioned at the space "the bed, and a doll house here, your mom says she's going the build you a tent, like a tipi tent, but also I want a whole wall painted with washable paint, so you can draw on it with markers. That's going to be a problem because you in your little kid mind are going to think that if painting in one wall is fine you're going to want to paint in all the others that are not fine but-"

"What are you doing?" Maggie called from behind me, I turned around, watched her little frown.

"You've so rudely interrupted my explanation to her about the room"

"Okay, I'm sorry" she said with a stiffled laugh.

"What's up?" I walked to her, Maggie took all the time in the world to look at Alma, smile at her, then leaned in to kiss her little cheek a few times.

"How about we get to the painful part where you tell me how much the house costs, because it's pretty obvious we can't afford it and I don't even know why where here"

I gave Maggie a little smirk.

"I don't know if 'we' can afford it, but you can"

She blinked at me once, then frowned and looked at me in disbelief.

"Am I..." She stressed the word "rich? And I didn't know?"

"Well, you are, and you do know. Your tax reports in the last years, specifically the one were you worked with Reddington..."

"I know what I did with my tax reports" she interrupted me. She continued to frown at me, then crossed her arms at her chest. "And you're okay with me buying this house with money I laundered when I worked with Reddington?"

"There's a lot of things I'm not okay with, but we already live in a house Reddington bought for you, so, why not upgrade?"

Maggie had always been very expressive with her hands and her facial expressions, I loved her when with just a little frown and a little shake of her hand she explained her whole though process.

"You-" she pointed at me "first thing, we are going to buy the house because" she gave me a fast shake of her head "I'm not going to say no if you agree but-" she pointed at me again "you're going back home, and get on a suit and go back to do your thing because your whole-" she motioned at me and my attire "polo shirt and leather jacket persona-"

I chuckled and interrupted her with a fast kiss on her lips.

"It's not you and one of us has to be the one with the principles" she continued.

I reflected a little on that phrase because she was right, and she was already the one with the direct affiliation with Reddington.

"I objectively reviewed your tax reports and your earnings and I don't see a possible in on you, and no possible conection with Reddington. You've done the laundering so meticulously and patiently that it would be stupid to doubt where the funds came from if not from your day job. I wouldn't have aimed this high if I hadn't calculated this play and it's outcomes"

Maggie gave me a little look, one that told me that she wanted to tell me something, make a comment or a witty remark, but then another one of her facial expressions told me she didn't really wanted to get in a fight with me, and she was willing to let it go.

"And I haven't compromised my principles, I'm not the one going to jail if something happens" I joked, she gave me another look to tell me that it wasn't funny, but snuck her hand on her back pocket to retrieve her phone.

"Okay, I can call my accountant and have him call the realtor and all that" she gave me a little look to make sure that I wasn't going to be backing out on the house, I just gave her a nod and  watched as she typed a quick message to someone.

When she finished, we headed out of the bedroom and out of the house, I heard her type on her phone answering to texts and things while I secured Alma in her seat and in the back of the car. Once I sat in the driver's seat and a secured my seatbelt Maggie spoke again.

"I meant what I said" I looked at her as I turned the car on and turned it on gear.

"About me going back to work?"

"About you being the one with the principles" I began to drive slowly through the neighborhood towards the exit "I don't want you to think that you're compromised forever because of the whole fixer situation, you're still good"

One of my hands slipped from the steering wheel and landed on her thigh, Maggie's hand quickly found mine.

"I only care about what you think about me, and you accepting my mistakes and what's to come. In return I accept you as you are and the deals you've made and who you've made them with" I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't see in terms of black and white anymore, like what is right and what's wrong. I mean you have the money from Reddington but so do many other people, and they live comfortable lives and no one is squeaky clean anymore... Reddington got the president of the United States to pardon Keen, so... Why should I even bother"

"Because it's who you are" she replied quickly "you're an agent, and you bring people to Justice"

I smiled to myself and parked the car almost at the entrance, I pulled on the hand break and looked at her.

"Okay, you completely glossed over the fact that I killed the National Security Advisor and I will gloss over the fact that we're going to buy a house with money that you laundered from jobs you did to the fourth most wanted criminal in America, we're even, and we can't commit any more crimes, deal?"

She chuckled at me and shook her head in disbelief.

"Okay, deal" she unbuckle her seatbelt to lean over me and kiss me, but stopped a few inches short "but wait, can we put this in effect next week? Because I still need to deal with your ex"

[ohnoboho]

a little sugar, a little spice (pt. 1)

Oh hello again, dear readers! @misty-the-mysterious, this is for you, lovely! Based upon your fluff prompt “I didn’t agree to this much adorableness” from approximately five billion years ago. 

Summary: Logan, the optometrist, is awful at giving gifts. Most years, he doesn’t even try, but when he does, a trail of happenstance leads him to a bakery that will open his eyes like never before. You like bad puns, fluff, and cliches? Great, dig in, because they are all baked right in to this story. Get your fill(ing). Sorry, I’ll stop.

“Loooogan! No cookies today?! How the hell am I supposed to make it through the day without that sweet, sweet chocolate?” Roman draped himself lazily across his friend’s desk, knocking a pair of glasses onto the floor.

“Tsk, Roman!” Logan huffed, snatching the glasses up quickly and studying the lenses carefully. “The last thing you need is sugar. These are Mrs. Hubbard’s new glasses and you can be the one to explain to her what happened if they are scratched.” He glared down at the other man and swiped at the lenses with a cloth.

Roman peeled himself from the desk slowly and threw an arm across his eyes dramatically. “Oh, Mrs. Hubbard would absolutely understand once I explained my tragic collapse due to chocolate withdrawal.” Under his hand, he winked cheekily. “She’s a fellow cacao-lover.”

“Why would you even know that? How is that relevant?”

“Well, because, unlike you, Dr. Grump, many people actually enjoy some small talk as they have to sit and wait for you to do whatever it is you do back here. I know lots of things about your patients. Do you want to know who is getting divorced?”

“Jesus, Ro, no.” Logan couldn’t help but laugh a little as he gingerly placed the glasses and case back on his desk. He didn’t even have to look up to know the smug smile that Roman wore; it was a familiar feeling. A distant beeping cut into their conversation. “Isn’t that the phone ringing? You keep up this poor job performance and I’ll have to fire you.” The tone was serious, but the teasing glint in his eyes gave him away.

“You wouldn’t last a week without me, specs.” Roman shot back with a barking laugh as he slipped back through the door.

Logan pushed his glasses further up his nose with a scoff and returned to the stack of form piled up on his desk. Prescription forms, inventory forms, new patient forms, claim filing forms. Before, he all but cherished that time of day. After their dizzying lunchtime rush of patients, Logan could retreat back to the calm of his office and turn his mind off with paperwork. The slick glide of his pen, the mechanical repetition of signatures, the effortless organization. Now, the absent tapping of his pen filled the little room. He puzzled at how empty his desk looked without cookies. He let his head drop onto the stack of papers with a groan.

Three weeks prior, the chain reaction leading to the cookies had been set in place by a spring rain. Logan had traced it back often in his mind. It had been a morning like many others, but in the mental motion picture he played back again and again and again, he found those markers of change. Little pinpoints that would eventually lead him to those cookies.

It had rained that morning as Logan rode his bike to work. It often did that time of year. No different than any day, except the construction next door forced him to find a different place to park his bike. He found a suitable, covered bike rack across the street. Pinpoint one.

Roman barged into the office particularly boisterously that morning. Logan groaned quietly as he closed the drawer he had been filing away papers in. Fifteen minutes of quiet that morning, not too bad. His hand was already on the doorknob when an unfamiliar sound gave him pause. Roman was giggling. Not laughing or cackling like he normally did, but giggling. Logan frowned. From the other side of the door, Roman’s voice lilted and rang. There was talk of some kind of dinner plans at an exotic sounding restaurant with the mystery person on the phone. Roman said he was excited for the champagne with gold flakes the person would definitely be bringing him, since it was his birthday, and giggled once more. Pinpoint two.

Possible Gift Ideas for Roman De la Vega. Logan found himself staring down at the empty list again. Three patients had come and gone. Simple check-ups, which, unfortunately, gave his mind plenty of room to continue to agonize over this strange thought. He had never given Roman a birthday gift before. After all their years of knowing each other, they had just come to an understanding. Logan was terrible at giving gifts and even worse at receiving gifts. Casual birthday dinners and rounds of drinks had always been fine. So why was it suddenly not fine this year? Pinpoint three.

By the end of the day, the list was still empty and Logan had turned to Google to tell him what to get his own best friend for a birthday gift. He nearly hurled the monitor across the room when Roman popped his head through the door to say goodnight. They shared an awkward goodbye. When the door finally closed, Logan slumped down onto his desk with a frustrated groan. Graduating third in his class from Pacific U. apparently proved nothing about his intellect if he couldn’t figure out something as simple as the perfect gift for Roman. After angrily scrolling through blog post after blog post about gifting watches and sports memorabilia, he finally gave up and slunk out the front door. Pinpoint four.

This trail of pins all lead up to the faithful moment when Logan, struggling to unwrap the lock from his bike, looked up to curse whoever might be “up there” and suddenly noticed the shop in front of the bike rack. It was a bakery, warm and inviting as they usually are, with a large chalkboard sign in the window that had caught his eye. Delicate pastel flowers and smiling pastries curled around the edges encircling the beautiful, curling calligraphy of possibly the worst collection of puns Logan had ever seen. “Knead a loaf-ly gift for your sweetie pie? Crumb on in and check out our hot-crossed buns!” And that was the last pinpoint.

Small bronze bells above the door frame tinkled as Logan pushed the door open slowly. The air that was kicked up around his feet seemed to dance lazily about, heavily aromatic with some spice he couldn’t place. Logan remembered thinking the place was like a reverse TARDIS, so much smaller than it seemed on the outside, as he bumped into a table stacked tall with vibrant boxes of intricately painted chocolates. In every available space, there were mismatched pieces of furniture covered in baskets, boxes, and dishes displaying a dizzying array of goodies. Even more, lush plants of all shapes and sizes squeezed in corners and draped atop shelves. Logan found himself drifting in small circles, lost in the waves of colors, more colors than he had ever seen in once place. By all logic, it should have been overwhelming, but it was something else. Charming, maybe, or whimsical, he thought as he studied a row of glassy chocolate planets under a glass dome. They seems to catch and shimmer in the light as he tilted his head from side to side slowly.

“Umm… can I help you with anything?”

Logan rocketed up and scrambled to adjust his tie. One wayward elbow jostled a nearby shelf; a pit thudded down into his stomach as the flower pot at the top tipped dangerously towards the edge. Two pale, delicate hands shot forward to steady it, replacing it gently with a extra tender tap.

“I’m- I’m very sorry. This place is very crowded. Many objects in here. I shall have to keep a better eye on my elbows. I apologize.”  Logan stuttered awkwardly as he spoke, clutching the offending joint in one hand.

“It’s fine. There is a lot of junk in here.” The other man shrugged as he spoke, shifting his dark hoodie further up on his shoulders. His flat composure told Logan that kind of thing happened often. “So, do you, like, need anything?” He asked again.

“Oh, uh, I just noticed the sign in the window…”

“And you ‘kneaded’ a gift for your ‘sweetie pie’?”

Logan flushed brightly at the slightly mocking tone and the dark smirk of the other man. Stupid, he knew it was stupid, and now this man knew how stupid he was for being pulled in by a sign filled with puns. “I-I’ll just go.”

“No, no, geez, I’m sorry. I was just kidding. I just have to look at that silly sign every day and I swear it’s stuck in my brain.” The man chuckled sheepishly, rubbing comically at his forehead like he was trying to scrub the bad puns out of his memory. 

Logan sighed in hesitant relief and chuckled too. “Yeah, that sign was...something. I just need a gift for a friend.”

“Sure, totally. Let me go get our baker. You’re lucky you caught him in, he’s a master at gifts. And awful puns.”

Logan nodded a silent thank you as he disappeared back behind the counter. The big glass case at the counter was bursting with the golden glow of pastries and Logan stepped closer to examine them as he waited. The goodies seemed to crowd up against the glass, vying for his attention as they glistened and shone. Rows of plump cream puffs, pillowy croissants, and glistening fruit tarts filled his vision in a sugary hurricane. His stomach seemed to whine as it reminded him of how empty it was. A few muffled footsteps on the other side of the case brought Logan back from his pastry daze. He straightened up slowly this time, making sure to move cautiously as he pushed his glasses farther up his nose. By the time the baker came out from around the corner, Logan had positioned himself, casually perusing a basket of what seemed to be handmade potholders.

“Hi, welcome in to For Goodness Bakes! I’m Patton. Virgil said we might need some help today?”

“Ah, yes, I’m Logan and I need a gahh…ift.” Logan could hear the gears of his brain falter and screech against each other as he glanced up. For a moment, he was sure he had somehow stumbled into a cartoon world as the man that stood in front of him surely wasn’t from the real world. From the unruly mess of silky curls to the tri-colored sweater tucked under his bright pink apron. The wide, charming grin and his impossibly smooth, tawny skin. The bakery seemed to be built around him, a perfect, cozy habitat. When Patton giggled at Logan’s stumbled words, it took a tremendous amount of willpower to stop himself from turning and sprinting out the front door.

“A gift? That’s great! Would you like some suggestions?” Patton smiled warmly, reaching up to flip a stubborn curl from his face. But before Logan could even answer, the baker gasped sharply.  “Oh, sugar sprinkles! Hold that thought!”

“I’ve already got the chocolate for the almond horns going, Pat.” Virgil called from around the corner, answering the request before Patton could even put it into words.

“God bless you, you fantastic, little shadow bunny!” Patton called back around the corner. His only response an unintelligible grumble. “I would definitely lose each and every one of my remaining marbles if I didn’t have that delightful cupcake.”

“Sorry, did he say almond horns?”

Patton nodded vigorously, curling bouncing. “Yes, I had a customer request them specially for her daughter birthday. It’s my first time making them, but they aren’t coming out quite right. I think I’m missing something.” The small frown that crinkled his lips made Logan’s pulse leap.

“Are you using marzipan or almond paste?”

“Almond paste.”

“Well, I don’t want to tell you how to do your job, of course. I mean, nevermind, it’s unimportant. You probably don’t want to hear any of my feelings- I mean, advice.” Inside his mind, Logan pleaded with his mouth to just stop talking. That was a new thought.

“Oh, jam tarts, my grammaw always said ‘everybody got love and recipes and we should learn to share both of them more’!” Patton chuckled fondly, pushing his hands into the pockets of his apron and rocking back on his heels.

Logan barely managed to croak out his answer. “Rosewater.”

“What’s that you said?”

“Marzipan is traditionally made with rosewater, while almond paste isn’t. The rosewater will add another flavor to them, which could be what you think you are missing. My grandfather would make almond horns for holidays when I was a kid. I would consider them my favorite sweet, but not many places around here seem to make them.”

Patton clapped his hands together under his chin; his eyes dancing in a way that reminded Logan of a mad scientist or a crazed artist. “OH! FANTASTIC! Viiiiirge, remind me to go get rosewater from home in an hour!”

“I’m not Siri, Patton...”

“Please, compadre pal friendo?”

“Yeah, fine....”

“Thanks, puff pastry! Wow, and thank you. Logan. What fantastic timing you have wandering in here at just the right time to help me out of my little dilemma like some kind of baking fairy godfather!  I’ve got to do something for you… What could I do…. Wait! You needed help with something!”

“Yes, a gift for my friend.”

“Right, right, right, yes, yes, yes.” Patton tapped the frame of his glasses, old plastic lenses with a few small cracks in big wire frames, Logan couldn’t help but notice. “All right, what kinds of things does your friend like?”

Logan shifted his weight from foot to foot awkwardly. The question he had been dreading. “Let’s see…” Tapping his phone awake, Logan studied the tiny list he had managed to scrape together. “He drinks far too much coffee, so that’s one thing.... He always says his favorite holiday is the day after Valentine’s days for some reason. I don’t really know if that counts. His favorite color is red possibly. And he sings. A lot. Is that helpful? I’m not sure how this all works.”

When he looked up from his phone, the baker was gone. Logan took surprised step backwards and looked around in confusion. A quiet tapping helped him spot Patton again. Standing up on his tiptoes, Logan could just see the top of the other’s head where he knelt on the other side of the glass case. His plump fingers rapped quickly against the surface as he glanced over the pastries inside. He seemed to be muttering rapidly to himself.

“So, is he extra?” Patton called up to him.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Your friend? Is he fun, fab, fancy? Extravagant? A little dramatic maybe?”

Logan chuckled a little. “Yes, very much so.”

“Does he dress well?”

“Does that help you pick what kind of pastry he’d like?”

“Oh, absolutely, sugarcane! Is he fashionable? And is it like classically fashionable or more modern and trendy kind of fashionable?”

Logan tried to picture Roman in his mind. His face came through clearly, with his trademark smug grin and bright amber eyes, but when he tried to imagine an outfit, it was just a blur. Was that something people really noticed? He furrowed his brow. “He, um, wears blazers often, I suppose? And he went to that large fashion convention in New York one year, I think.” That was all he could manage.

“New York Fashion Week? He must be a bit of a trail-blazer then, eh?” Patton laughed to himself as he popped up from behind the case, his head barely clearing the top. “Okay, I’ve got some ideas bouncing around in the ole’ noggin for a gift. When do you need this gift by?” He leaned his arm on the top of the glass case and rested his chin on his wrist. His fingers left a smudge of flour across his nose. Logan pretended to intensely consider the calendar app on his phone.

“Is tomorrow too soon? I apologize for the short notice. I will pay any extra fees you need.”

Patton waved him off with a shake of his hand and a cheery wink. “No way, muffin, not for my baking fairy godfather. I’ll have it ready tomorrow morning for you, okie dokie?”

“Yes, that would be perfect. Thank you for accommodating me.”

“Oh, cream puffs, it’s nothing. But now you’ve got to swiss roll on outta here, ami-dough, because I’ve got baking to do!”

“Wow.” Logan whispered, looking up at Patton with a mixture of awe and terror on his face. “That was truly, truly awful.”

The other man only gave a silly shrug in response and shooed him out.

As the door to the bakery swung shut behind him and Logan stood in the heavy night drizzle, he didn’t feel cold at all. In fact, he felt positively warm. As he rode home, he made a mental note to check his temperature when he got home. Logan mumbled to the buzzing streetlamps he hoped he hadn’t caught anything.

But, of course, Logan hadn’t known then that he was the one that was caught.

[majorxmaggiexboy]

i recently remembered a film my brother and i watched several times as children, and that got me thinking about the other stuff we would watch. most of which seems kind of weird on reflection. we don’t actually have any of these anymore, so just for funsicles i’m trying to think of the films and see if i can remember any of the details before actually googling them.

     Live Action

Two Brothers - a couple of tiger cubs are captured by poachers or something and separated from each other. one is trained to perform in the circus and is also fed candy by some guy, the circusmaster is an absolute [censored]. the tiger learns to jump through fire which is important later. the other cub is given to a little boy (TERRIBLE IDEA) and is a pet for a while until he’s sold to someone else. the tigers are eventually reunited but then they’re chased by people with guns who try to trap them by setting things on fire BUT because the first tiger learned not to be scared of fire he shows his brother how to jump through it and they escape and are reunited with this other tiger that has a hole in her ear from a really close call with poachers. i think she’s their mom.

Gunther and the Paper Brigade - idk if it was knock-off Newsies or what but like there’s this kid named Gunther whose brother keeps an ant farm and said the line “did you know that all the ants in the world would weigh as much as all the people in the world?” and i think they’d just moved to a new house but Gunther joins some kind of newspaper group and at first he is AWFUL at delivering papers like he just slings em any ol’ place but then he gets into a sort of war with a bully and i think somebody orally siphoned some gasoline at one point and the brother’s ants definitely came into play and in the end Gunther was really good at delivering papers. He rode a bike. at one point he’s hanging out at the mall pretty often for some reason and his brother teases him about it.

Ben Wagner - Uhhh family moves to new town, kid has an older sister and a younger sister, there’s a freaky adult at the school who said the line “Wagner. Waaaagner. I’ve got it. The name is now set. in my. brain....,,..”  Benny’s miserable for some reason but he meets a kind of mysterious girl who takes him to visit her elderly relative but to get there they have to walk across a log that’s across a river/waterfall type of situation. the elderly relative says something to the effect that if they all stand on one side of the house it’ll tip over. Ben regularly visits these people. His dad gives him some chores but he half-arses all of them and the dad walks him around to each thing (like the car that was supposed to be washed, the garage that was supposed to be tidied, w/e) and goes “you did a lousy job”. The older sister wants money for something but hasn’t saved up her allowance so she demands money from Ben and says the line “I bet you have tons of money squirreled away”. He goes to visit the mysterious girl and her relative but his little sister follows him and falls off the log bridge so he jumps in the water to save her and he manages it but then they’re both in the hospital.

No More Baths - Guy runs a club for kids and has some rules in place specifically to keep the kids safe but one kid breaks the rules and winds up getting himself hurt so the guy who just wanted to do nice things for the community kids gets straight up ARRESTED and his dog is put in the pound and the whole thing was some racially-motivated bull and the kids aren’t having it so they protest by refusing to bathe and i think they get to testify at the guy’s hearing too and anyway he wins so then the kids go play in some water bc they haven’t washed in weeks.

Goosebumps: Night in Terror Tower: Some dude is a little too enthusiastic about explaining to two children how the Rack works “It stretched, annnd streeettched, unTIL HIS BOOOOOOOOONES, WERE PUUULLLLLLLLED...poP. Right Out Of Their Sockets. :) “ and then those kids get chased around by some dude who wants to kill them or something. they try to buy a bus pass but they have medieval currency and the girl’s like “Our parents wouldn’t give us play money” but then they wind up in like actual medieval England. I think the girl’s name was Sidney.

Bunch of Assorted Wildlife Documentaries: idk there was a thing about an elephant painting and a lot to do with dolphins idk i think there was a bit of Steve Irwin in there too

     Cartoons

The Gallivants - like Divergent but with very Orange ants who are assigned a career? or pick out a career? but when they reach adulthood they’re all supposed to develop something called a “kabump” which is like an extra segment for their creepy insect bodies. They wear shoes and their limbs can have either pink stripes or blue stripes. they might wear gloves? anyway the protagonist is named something like “Shando” and he doesn’t develop his “kabump” on time so it’s scandalous. His friends desert him or something.  I think he wanted to be a musician and so makes himself a fake kabump but he plays the saxophone a little too vigorously or something and makes it come off, at which point he’s shamed and rejected by literally everyone but at some point he also tries to work in construction but accidentally breaks stuff and is told “You’re not a Con-struct. You’re a DE-STRUCT.” then he wanders around in a labyrinthine cave fighting a two-headed creature called something like, The VanterViper that wants to kill all the baby ants or something at i think in the end he’s appointed like official Mom of all the babies or something of that nature

The Ugly Duckling - Standard retelling of the classic tale, this one was created almost exclusively to sell Crayola products i’m pretty sure. This version has a baby swan just trying to live his best life but then a bunch of [redacted] sing at his adoptive mom about how “one bad apple spoils the batch” and he either runs away or gets kicked out. then he runs into a mouse who wears boots and has red hair and she proceeds to call him “Ugly” as if that’s his name, for the entire rest of the movie. He winds up inside a house at one point and two freaky looking cats sing at him about the importance of having “a high IQ” i think a church burns down and he saves the mouse? over the course of the film he gets more and more swan-like in appearance and maybe works for a theater for a little while and then everyone loves him.

Scamper - a bunch of penguins are trying to hatch their eggs but then they’re attacked by...something....and one penguin feels bad about losing some eggs so he takes someone else’s but then admits what he did and returns the egg to its real parents and everyone mourns the loss of their children while being grateful for the survivors. when the eggs hatch there’s like a little pink penguin and a little bluish penguin and they’re friends, they’re learning to slide during Penguin School but then they get captured and wind up on a boat and there’s a dog. They eat really tasty-looking crackers out of bags and are terrorized by the ship’s crew until they manage to escape and find their way back home to their grieving parents.

Willy the Sparrow - a sick (literally and figuratively) young boy has fun bullying a cat and being a [redacted] to birds but then an elderly woman turns him into a sparrow to teach him a lesson. He meets other birds, all of whom have decidedly human heads of hair, including an old man sparrow who teaches him to fly. he winds up challenging the former child-leader-of-the-sparrows for power using his human smarts to amaze them all and eventually leads an attack on the cat who rightfully holds a massive grudge against him. idk he like helps them find food or something and then gets turned back into a human maybe

The Seventh Brother - a young child is moving to a new place and brings her puppy, but somehow his carrier is knocked out of the car??? or something?? and he winds up lost in the forest but is rescued by a large family of rabbits who teach him how to act like a rabbit. He saves one of them from being carried off by a bird but then begins to die of malnutrition as dogs can’t live on the same diet as rabbits for any length of time. also, he rescues a former tormentor from a creepy-as-hell predator and is badly wounded in the process, prompting the rabbits to band together to get him home to his owner. they succeed and he’s pretty much cured by one (1) bowl of puppy food.

Some Blue’s Clues Special: idk whatever’s the one with the treble-clef and the treasure hunt where the ‘treasure’ turned out to be Steve’s grandma’s cookies that you can tell the exact taste and smell of just by looking at them and also the grandma made an appearance too

That Weird Puppet Cat in the Hat Thing with the grouchy bird who had to be taught how to play pretend but then was pushed into a panic attack when the group was playing pirates and he imagined it too vividly so then they explained that he could change the story at any time and also at one point they played a game called “pass the yawn” and the bird just went OFF more than once

Some cartoon, i think it was Anastasia, where at one point someone’s taking some stuff away and the girl says what on reflection i think might have been “My luggage!” but at the time i thought was “my lungs!” and i spent the whole movie thinking they done straight up confiscated the girl’s lungs.

The Swan Princess - and i remember nothing except the way Odette would say “Darren!” and the fact that she spent a lot of time as a bird and there was a puffin. also Darren was one of my early crushes purely because i liked his name.

The Secrets of NIHM 2: main character’s name was Timothy and was one of the first characters i mentally fanfic’d about. there was some song that was like “Just! say! Yes!” where i think he was being pressured to do drugs or be experimented on or something but mostly i remember him singing “I am my father’s son” and me being so confused thinking “well yeah?? Who else’s son could you be???”

idk some Thumbalina thing all i remember is “Deary! Marry the Mole!”

Friggin’ Barbie Rapunzel there was a purple(?) dragon and Rapunzel liked to paint and that movie was where i learned the word “adequate” and i’m still mad at that woman for being so rude like lady. who raised you. where are your manners. i think the dad dragon wanted the purple dragon to hate humans or something idk

some other film where there was a very definitely purple dragon but i can’t remember any details so it’s just going to haunt me forever but it was like a small-ish purple dragon.

[pagesoflauren]

A Thousand Years (vampire!Jack x reader AU) - Chapter 18

Chapter 17 Masterlist

Oxton held an eerie air for Jack. Saying he hadn’t been home in years was an understatement. He had never thought he’d ever come back.

It was Y/N’s idea to try to find his family, maybe invite them to the wedding. Jack told her the likeliness of finding them was slim; he had no connections to them after he left.

The streets are just as he remembers them, though they’re all been paved over with concrete instead of remaining the same cobblestone paths he used to walk. Many of the store fronts had been remodeled to look more modern, though the interiors look the same from what he can see through the windows. He points out different buildings and what they were, who owned them or lived in them; little anecdotes about the town he once called home.

“And…this is my street. My house is there,” he says, pointing to a small house at the corner of a crossroad.

“You think anybody’s still there?”

“Maybe,” he shrugs, “or maybe they knew my family. People don’t really move around here.”

They yield to cars slowly passing by and move to the side at the sounds of bike bells ringing.

“Can’t do it,” Jack mumbles, hand shaking at his side. Y/N knocks her knuckles against the door; metal now, though Jack remembers when it was wood.

A man in his mid-40s answers. “May I help you?”

Y/N looks quickly at Jack, answering for him when he doesn’t say anything. “Hi,” she begins, introducing herself, “and this is my fiancé, Jack. Jack Lowden.”

“Jack Lowden?” the man repeats astoundedly, closing the door slightly. Jack can make out his figure looking at something on the wall before he reopens the door. “Jack Andrew Lowden? Born 1850? Son of Jacqui and Gordon I?”

“The first?” Jack echoes, “Nobody was named after him.”

“Yes, they were,” the man smiles, holding out his hand, “I’m Gordon Lowden IV. I’m your great-great-great grandnephew.”

Jack and Y/N were welcomed in with sounds of excitement, people instantly recognizing his face. It had been nailed in the hallway leading to the door, per his parents’ request so that they’d be able to recognize him if he ever came back.

Jack met Gordon’s family: his wife, Michelle, and his children, Rachel, Max and Hannah. A dinner invitation was immediately sent out and almost everyone invited was accepted. People had been eager to meet him since hearing about the vampire in the family, though they had always been told to not keep their hopes up. Now he was there, in the flesh, and it was just like meeting Y/N’s little cousins all over again; lots of questions about how he lives as a vampire, why he doesn’t talk like Dracula and whether or not he turns into a bat. Y/N found some friends in his great-great-great-great nieces and nephews around her age.

They make it a point to mention the wedding, telling them the ballpark dates to keep clear if they can.

“It’s kind of why we’re here,” Y/N explains, “I feel like he should have some of his family there, even if he doesn’t know them. But, we’re so happy for have been welcomed by you. He’s so happy.”

“Well, I’m sure his parents would’ve been happy to see him,” Gordon III says, “Papa always said they were looking for him.”

“Were they?”

“Yes. That’s why his picture is there, so that if and when he came back, whoever answered the door would be able to recognize him. It was the only way I got the house, and the only way Gordon got the house from me.”

Y/N glances at her fiancé, the man who believed his parents hated him, talking animatedly with his distant relatives, some that were around his age. He politely sips on a beer, smiling and laughing with them as they all share stories. He winks are her and she waves, pocketing the information his great-great grandnephew had given her to tell him later.

They leave with promises to return the next day for lunch, with the “aunts” coordinating plans for a dinner party at a restaurant back in Edinburgh, where Jack and Y/N were staying.

That night, Y/N lays in bed fiddling with Jack’s fingers as her eyes droop.

“Great uncle Gordon III told me his father said your parents were looking for you.”

Jack scoffs somewhat bitterly. “I don’t think that’s true.”

“What does he have to gain by lying about that, Jack?”

He looks thoughtful before shrugging, feeling ashamed he’d even think that.

“I think we should visit the cemetery tomorrow. Pay our respects. Only if you want.”

He thinks for a moment, before he nods.

“We should get white lilies. Those were mum’s favorite.”

“Here it is,” Gordon says as he opens the gate to the mausoleum. Y/N grabs Jack’s hand with her free hand, her other arm cradling the bouquets of lilies they had bought before coming here.

Jack had been there before; he’d visited his own grandparents in the marble building. Their graves hadn’t been moved, cemented into the wall permanently. He blindly reaches behind him and Y/N knows what he’s asking for, placing the flowers his in hand as she steps back to let him pay his respects.

She begins looking around, calculating ages and trying to construct a family tree in her mind. When she looks at him, his eyes are darting from name to name, recognizing all his relatives that he had grown up with, some of those who were still small kids when he left. The lilies fall out of his hand and it looks like his knees are buckling.

“Jack,” Y/N says gently, “Jack, do you want to sit down?”

He doesn’t look at her. His eyes are fixated on the two graves next to each other. He does manage to nod, sinking to the marble bench as Y/N holds his arm in an attempt to support him.

Y/N sits next to him, ready to retract her arm but remaining pliant to Jack when he grabs at her hands.

“Need…need you here. Need you close,” he breathes, voice shaky as he takes it all in.

“Okay.”

She listens as he tells her who’s who, adding little anecdotes about them.

“There’s…there’s James, he was only a boy when I left and now—“

He chokes on his words, sobbing as all the feelings of loss wash over him like a tidal wave. All the memories he never made, the birthdays he missed and the weddings he should’ve been there for, they were all gone in a puff of smoke the minute his parents turned him away.

Y/N brings him into her chest, cradling him as he lets out a cry of anguish. Her eyes squeeze shut as she tries to comfort him, though she’s overcome with a sense of empathy, her own tears spilling over her eyelids.

He calms down after a long while, sobs dwindling down to sniffles as Y/N kisses his forehead. He closes his eyes appreciatively when she kisses his cheek and nudges her nose into his neck.

He squeezes her hand before getting up, slowly getting up to pay his respects to his parents. He gathers the remaining lilies in his hands, laying two across the graves. He wipes his tears again when a marble tile on the wall catches his attention.

Jack Andrew Lowden Beloved Son and Friend 1850 —

There’s a piece of yellowing paper wedged between the tile and the wall. Jack carefully pries it out, unfolding it with shaky hands. He recognizes his father’s handwriting.

December 3rd, 1918

My dear son, my Jack,

I do not know the chances that you will find this. I know you may feel spited after what your mother and I did, after what we said to do. We saw your name in the newspaper. There was an article about immortals fighting alongside mortal men in the war. We rejoiced in knowing you were still alive, and hoped to find you. Regrettably, your mother took ill. It was the White Plague. I feel as though I will not be able to live much longer without her.

I want you to know that your mother and I love you very much. We missed you every day after you left; you took parts of our hearts and we much regretted turning you away. We are so sorry. I will not expect forgiveness from you, whether you come in person or you read this letter, whenever that may be.

I hope to see you again, my son. I know I may not meet you in the next life. Should you decide to move on from this world, please know your mother and I will be waiting eagerly to meet you.

His signature curls at the bottom of the page. Jack folds the piece of paper and turns around to look at his fiancee.

“Will you hold onto this for me?”

“Yes,” she says, beginning to unzip her purse.

“Please, you have to keep it safe.”

“I will.”

Jack watches her delicately hold the letter in her hands, stashing it away in her wallet.

As they walk back to the front gates of the cemetery, Jack stops at a familiar grave, seeing flashes of memories: carrying the coffin on his shoulder, tears falling down his face as he said his final goodbyes, kissing a freshly bloomed pink rose before tossing it into the grave. His chest feels heavy with emotion.

Y/N comes to stand next to him, taking his hand and reading the name on the grave.

Alice Margaret Hamilton Daughter of Henry and Margaret Hamilton Sister of Ronald, Maisie and Benjamin 1852-1868

“Who was she?”

Jack heaves a sigh before quietly responding, “She was my girlfriend.”

Y/N does the math to calculate her age. She was two years younger than Jack, passing away when she was only sixteen.

“What-what happened?”

“Cholera. I wasn’t allowed to see her until she passed. We wrote so many letters to her, my parents and I. I was so sure I’d marry her, but she was sick.”

“I’m…I’m so sorry, Jack,” she says, her eyes blurring with tears.

“That’s why I worry so much for you. I just don’t want you to get sick.”

Y/N doesn’t say anything, tears falling as she takes one of the remaining lilies and laying it on her grave. She feels grief for what was lost: dreams and hopes of a young girl. She cries for the heartbreak Jack must’ve felt, her own heart hurting. She’s not bitter, there’s no room for that.

Jack presses kisses to her face and wipes her tears with his thumb, holding her as he cries himself.

After composing themselves and continuing the rest of the way out of the cemetery, Jack chuckles.

“You know,” he starts, squeezing her hand so she’ll look at him, “you look like her a bit.”

Y/N smiles. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

tagging: @albionscastle

[sainadazai]

Chapter 3

Returning home that day, you had a new sense of determination. You weren't sure if it was different than that of this morning, considering you really did think you could make friends, but you hoped it was. Todoroki may have been one of the least approachable people in class that day, but for some reason you knew he'd be the easiest to talk to. Well, once you got him to acknowledge your existence.

As you swung open the door to the single story home, you were greeted by the sight of your mother, shuffling through bills at the kitchen table. She didn't seem upset with it, though, rather content in her chore. You admired your mother for that, always being content no matter what. Sending her a quick wave, you march down the hall to your room. You might not have looked it, but all those tests got you tired, let alone all the people trying to speak to you. They seemed nice enough, now that you could think back on it, why did you feel so scared at the time?

Tomorrow would be different, though, because now, you had a plan. The stone faced boy, shoto todoroki, was going to be your first friend. Or at least acquaintance.

You really just needed a nap, maybe some laying down peacefully on your bed to forget the disaster you acted like earlier. However, your cat had other plans. Mochi was perched happily in the center of your bed, curled up as cats do and looking way too adorable to be mad at. YOu cooed at her being so infuriatingly cute. Why couldn't you just go to bed peacefully as she does?

"Ahh, mom come here!" you whisper-yelled marching your way back to the kitchen.

"What, darling? Is it your quirk again?" she shouted excitedly, not moving from her spot.

"NO!Better!"

Her face contorted into a grin as you re-entered the room. "Oh? What could possibly be better than the great metallic's quirk?" she teased your nickname.

Ever since you were little you had been planning to be a pro, that came with lots of different possible hero names. Two years ago, Metallic came into the mix, as your dad suggested you use a more simple name.

"Mochi can, mom."

She giggled a bit, gesturing her hands to the handles of her wheelchair. " You'll have to take me then, I'm not sure Mochi is enough to sheel all the way away from my bills.." she continued to chuckle as you grumbled, but happily went behind her to push her forward.

"Hold on tight, then!"

"Wait, Y/N."

It was too late, you went zooming through the halls, giggling joyously as your mother laughed in fear. She knew you wouldn't let her fall, but she hated the feeling of needing to be picked up by her daughter and hauled into her chair. It made her feel unbelievably helpless.

"Woohoo!"

"Y/n, you passed your room."

"Oh, right, thanks mom!"

Backtracking a couple feet, you swung your room door open, revealing your little cat all fluffed up on your bed, eyes staring at you in alarm at your volume.

"I think you scarred her, hon."

"Shh, isn't she so cute, though? When I came home she was all cuddled up in my blankets."

"Yes, that cat is my favorite child, she is always quiet..." your mom mumbled, smirking although you couldn't see from behind her.

"Hey!"

"Ah, your right, maybe your brother too.." she faux pondered.

You pouted, not knowing if she was joking or not.

"Just kidding I love you all! But seriously hon I need to do the bills."

"Okay, want me to wheel you back?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm sure you're tired after school, go move that cat over and get a nap in before your dad gets home."

You were skeptical about letting her go back on her own, it wasn't more than twenty feet away, but you were protective of your mother. Seeing her even at the chance of pain was unbearable. Maybe it was the attachment that comes with her and dad being your only friends since day one, or your heroic nature, but her suffering was almost more painful to you.

She had always relentlessly assured you that she felt no pain in her legs, but it still always felt like it would. Especially when you were younger and first noticed how she could barely stand. See, when mom and dad met, dad had been an aspiring hero, while mom wanted to be a chef. Neither of them went to U.A, but he was in a hero course, while she was in general studies. It worked out for the most part, too. Dad had gotten his hero license at 18 and mom her first job at a small restaurant.

Didn't last, though. One day while mom was out shopping in the city, a large villain attack occurred. All might have come to fight with an unknown villain who seemed to fare quite scarily against him.

During the fight, however, moms legs were crushed under a fallen building, damaging many nerves and breaking bones. All might saved her that day, kept her from bleeding out and got her to a hospital safely, but the damage was very painful.

Mom never blamed that villain for her pain, or anyone for that matter. Once she began healing and started physical therapy, she had almost completely forgotten the pain of it all. Then, when she had you, she promised her husband that she would try her best to stand and walk and move for you. So her daughter always had someone to play with. Dad didn't like that, though. He wanted her to be safe, and not in pain.

So he hung up his cape and got a job in construction, given the family quirk it suited him well. With that, he could spend more time with you and your mother, looking after both of you.

That didn't stop the pain from getting to her, though, and the nerves going numb. Leaving her completely unable to walk now, but she wouldn't trade those years when you were little for anything. She just loved you too much to mind her own pain.

Smiling at the memory of the story your parents used to tell you, you fell asleep with one arm around mochi.

-

Todoroki never minded other kids. He spent most of his life training with his father, though he couldn't say he liked his father all that much either. Kids his age had a habit of making him jealous though, even if their lives weren't perfect, they didn't have endeavour for a father.

Still, mow he stood in his home bathroom, looking at his face in the mirror, practicing how to speak to you. Wondering what might male you smile.

It was stupid, really. He had been speaking all his life, words weren't all that hard, but he guessed je might have to try a little harder on these ones.

"Hello, im shoto."

No, you already knew that, you would probably think he is dumb.

"How does your quirk work?"

Metal, obviously. How could anyone have missed that after yesterday. Maybe if he tried to relate to you? But how could someone like him relate to you? You looked so pure, maybe not the happiest, but you didn't seem like you'd been to hell and back.

He thought you were likely just the nervous type, an overthinker.

"Hi, y/n."

"I'm sure that would work.."

Shoto's head jolted to the open bathroom door and he saw fuyumi standing there. He didn't know her well, but they lived together so he should have shut the door.

"What do you mean?" he questioned, not sure that was the right one at all.

"Brother, I don't know who you want to talk to, but, it's best if you speak in the moment, all you have to say is hi."

"Maybe to normal people." he spoke, still stone faced, not believing he would work.

"So this person isn't normal?"

"No, she apologizes too much."

Fuyumi laughed a bit, "What does that mean?"

"Well, after observing her today, I think if I said hi, she would just say sorry.." he pondered, imagining your cute face flustering and stuttering and putting an apology.

"Oh my, well I guess I'll leave you t0 it then."

"Um, thanks?"

-

School the next day was exciting for both of you. You, being ready to train and learn and make friends, and he to use his well rehearsed conversational skills. Little did the two of you know the dramatic training that would take place all but the second day of school. It wasn't like anything to be expected, the day started out with a simple english class led by present mic.

Having arrived barely on time due to the crazy long bike ride, you had no time to become friends with todoroki. However, upon first entering the school, you met the smart and pretty girl from the day before. It seemed she was still curious about your quirk, but this morning she was mindful of your anxiety.

Her movements were soft and her voice was calm and quiet as she questioned you on the way to class. The way she treated you was very settling, it made the brisk walk towards class 1-A just a bit easier today. No one had ever really spoken to you like that.  Kids at your old school opted to ignore you because you were always busy anyways, or tease you for being sheltered and as they would say "innocent." You were not.

All of the things middle schoolers seemed to fancy were just irrelevant to your career as a hero, it made no sense to indulge them. So, given that history, this sweet girl, who had a habit of pulling and twisting the ends of her skirt, had made you feel ecstatic. Yaoyorozu had actually changed her demeanor to accommodate you, she really was too caring.

"Now, which of these four sentences contains a mistake?"

You weren't paying attention, to say the least. English and learning could wait for a time when the boy next to you wasn't looking so endearing. Today you learned he has different colored eyes as well, beautiful cerulean blue on one side and dark grey on the other. It was odd of you to be staring, even more odd at this boy you barely know, but something about that blue in his eye was so familiar, you just couldn't place it. Not to mention the burn scar residing around it.

It would be rude to ask, but you really were curious. Suppose that's a topic to remember when you know him better-if you know him better.

The class went by in a haze as you tried to find another pair of those blue eyes in your memory, but to no avail.

Then, you quietly shuffled down the halls to the lunch room. The line for lunch was very long, so you it was nerve racking to enter, but you wandered up and made your way there. Once you had your lunch, you took a long inhale, treasuring the steam of the rice that warmed your face.

The table's seemed mostly occupied, but you had to remind yourself there were probably no assigned groups. Everyone was new. Everyone was confused about where to sit. Or maybe they weren't? Maybe they made friends on the first day while you were busy apologizing...

"Hey, y/n, I still have some questions if you wanna sit with me?"

Startled by the voice, you jumped, the food on your tray doing a quick bounce to mimic you. The voice was recognized quickly, though, as the girl you'd spoken to earlier. It wouldn't hurt for todoroki to be your second friend, would it?

Turning over your shoulder you shot a half-assed smile at her to mask the sudden discomfort. She really was right behind you, had she been there the whole time?

You walked to a table in a corner, following her, and noticed a couple other girls there. It wasn't a new idea that in school settings, people often linked to stick with their own gender. It was just a bit of a shock that they could all bond so quickly over something so miniscule as being female.

In life your mom and dad had always equally been your best friends, it's an odd example but the dynamic is similar to if they were kids, too. That led you to believe there wasn't much difference between hanging around girls or guys. You wouldn't complain, anyone talking to you here was a blessing. Well, maybe not the yelling one.

"So, um, you had more questions?" you look up at momo warily.

Her face brightens in excitement as she pulls out a piece of paper. It seemed to be a list, had she been preparing questions? Geez, no need to make you feel special.

"So, you used your blood yesterday and somehow applied ample force to it to hurl a ball to an exact distance, care to um elaborate?"

The rice was just about to reach your mouth, but you paused, for her sake. Best to answer, then eat, although it smells delicious.

"Oh, well, you acknowledged earlier that my quirk has to do with metal, the medical term would be ferrokinesis. So, I was just manipulating small particles of iron, without unbonding them from my blood."

"Woahh, I totally didn't even know blood was like that..." Mina, the pink haired girl spoke, shaking her head and bouncing her beautiful curls as she did so.

Seeing her distraction, you shoved an ungodly amount of rice into your mouth, feeling a bit more comfortable already. Your cheeks squished out like a chipmunks and you chewed the best you could to both savor the flavor, and not choke.

"So you could do that with other people's blood?"

Mouth still full of food, you continued to answer casually.

"Well, I suppose I could.." you continued to chomp, voice slightly muffled by the rice in your cheeks,"but I'm not sure that'd be vewy hewoic of me."

E/c eyes glanced up at them casually to scope their opinions on your words, but the girls were too busy cooing at how adorable you were. Their sudden change of emotion caused an embarrassment trigger to go off in your mind. Cheeks heating up, but not showing any red. Eyes widening, you quickly swallowed the last of your rice, and sputtered out an apology for your disrespect.

"Oh gosh, it's rude to talk your mouth full, I'm sorry. My mother usually finds it funny because of the way my voice changes, but you're not my mom, haha. Wait!Um no she doest say that, um, I-"

"It's okay, you're adorable, and please don't say sorry, okay?" The girl with the sound quirk, and stylish hair spoke.

"Oh, um, yeah.."

-

Hero basic training. The moment of the day you'd been anticipating. Come to U.A. for the hero course, and this is the time of day you will always look forward to.

"I AM HERE!" You heard a voice boom from the doorway.

Sure enough, there he was. The number one pro hero, All Might himself. He was cool, but you preferred endeavour or best jeanist. It was just, he was so flashy, and people always depended on him for relief or safety, it didn't make sense. What happens when eventually, he is out of commission? Heroes that didn't worry about being some beacon of hope might be less comforting, but at least they'd get the job done now, and be easier to let go of later.

These thoughts, however, did not change the fact that you did still revere him. Who wouldn't? It All Might.

He went on a spiel about today's training, being ridiculously loud. Today wouldn't fight training, and it seemed the boy next to you was indifferent about that, but you, you were excited. This was what your quirk did best. Not to brag, but you'd say you have about a 7/10 chance of beating almost anyone in this class in hand to hand or quirk on quirk combat.

After all, you sacrificed your childhood to pursue it.

"But one of the most important things about being a hero is looking good-" The walls suddenly protrude outwards, causing your body to stiffen. Oh. It was the costumes. How exciting.

"Get yourselves suited up, and then meet me at training ground beta."

You happily obliged, rushing to grab your case and to change, this would most definitely be a fun training day!

[sardonicnihilism]

A Biography of the Woman Who Never Was

Part 3 The Young Adult

Chapter 30

Shannon and Sam sat on the hood of her car, looking out over the view. They were parked in a clearing overlooking the ridge of the mountains. It was approaching evening, and from where they sat, they could see the transition lines in the sky. Blue closet to the ground, golden bands of clouds sectioning off the layers of red, orange, and pink, hazy purple above that, and the blackened night sky crowning all of that. It was like looking at time itself. Bellow the sky lines, was a sea of green tree tops, stretching into the far horizon.

"Mate! This is gorgeous!" Sam said in awe.

"Don't you have views like this in Australia?" Shannon asked, somewhat amused and proud at the same time.

"Not where I'm from. We got the beach. But after awhile, all the sunsets look the same. This is something else."

"Well, I've never seen a beach sunset before, so it'd be new to me, but, yeah, this is pretty amazing." Shannon was pleased that this place was having the effect on him that she had been hoping for.

"How'd you ever find this place?"

"My one aunt lives over the ridge here. I saw it when I was driving past to visit one day. I come up here to think sometimes; clear my head. There's horse trails over there I sometimes walk in the daytime."

"Well thank you for sharing this with me. I'm unbelievably grateful and humbled."

They both continued to look out over the ridge and watch as the night sky slowly melted down over the other layers, taking them over.

Sam began to have a gnawing sensation in his conscience. He bowed his head and spoke softly. "You know, Dan warned me about you. He said you were a spooky girl. That you were dangerous."

Shannon just shrugged, never turning her gaze away from the horizon. "I'm not surprised. It's a reputation I got honestly. I'm not even sure I regret it. It has its advantages and disadvantages; like most things in life I suppose."

By now, Shannon was almost hypnotized by the night sky. It's infinite blackness called to her and her mental barriers started breaking down.

"I love horror. Horror novels, movies, short stories, I even read the reprints of the old EC horror comics. My favorite type of horror is cosmic horror.

"Cosmic horror is about how humans are an insignificant speck in an indifferent and even malevolent universe, controlled by things we couldn't possibly understand and would go insane if we tried."

Sam turned his head to Shannon. "Is that what you believe?" He asked worryingly.

Shannon shrugged again. "I'm a Christian. I believe that the universe was created by a just and loving god, who'll one day come down, make everything perfect, raise the dead, and we'll all live forever with perfect, beautiful bodies. At least I think so. That's what I tell myself. That's what I want to believe.

"Except, that's not what I see. How could a just and loving god sit back and watch His children die? Either by there or natural causes? Why would He create a reality with diseases, earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters? How could He sit back and watch war, murder, rape?

"I was born the illegitimate offspring of an alcoholic mother from a one night stand. She was physically and emotionally abusive. One night, when I was about five, her boyfriend at the time, came into my room and molested me. Thanks to him, I knew what cum tasted like. I eventually went to live with my biological aunt who I call mom because she actually did the fucking job of raising me, but my sister remained with my birth mother.

"I was severely, morbidly obese for most of my life. I was picked on, hit, ostracized from all others. The only friend I had, used me and almost let me drown. Meanwhile, I lived with my grandmother who was quite literally insane. She pissed and shit in a bucket beside her bed. Sometimes I would wake up during the night and see her just looking in at me like some ghost.

"One time I tried to kill myself by slitting my wrists. When I got out of the hospital, my one uncle asked what I did. I told him. He asked how. I showed him the scars going across my wrists. He said, 'oh no, that's not how you do it. You got to cut down your forearm, not across '. I told him I'd try to remember that for next and he responded that he was just trying to help.

"I eventually got mixed up with a bunch of self proclaimed witches. They told me I was a natural witch. I started learning witchcraft underneath them. Then, one night, I did a vision quest ritual with them. They gave this sour, red liquid, and I had a vision where I was proclaimed the new Lilith and Shub Ni' gureth. Millions of horrible creatures tore out of my body, each becoming a new universe, because all universes are born of pain. Then what was left of me was devoured by Azathoth. When I woke up, I was terrified. I told them I didn't want to go any further, so they kicked me out.

"I tried to rededicate myself to my faith, but I started hearing voices and seeing things; shadows and specters, just outside my view. I started hearing other noises and things seemed to move on their own. I never feel alone. No matter where I am, it always feels like millions of eyes are looking at me, watching me, waiting to pounce.

"It got so bad, I started believing I was an angelic warrior and this was God testing me. I started carrying a dagger around with me everywhere. One night, I attacked my mother and almost killed a homeless man. I think. I can't be sure if he was real or not. All that right before I started school.

"When I started, everyone I met, I talked about witchcraft and demons too. I scared a lot of people. Traumatized a couple. So, yeah, I am a creepy girl. I'm still trying to find out about the book the coven used, 'The Book of Forgotten Nightmares'. So far, I can't find anything on it. I figure that's either because it doesn't exist or it's so obscure, no one knows about.

"And God sat back and saw all of that and did nothing to intervene. How could He do that? Why would he do that? Maybe because if He does exist, He's not benevolent. Maybe He's a sadist. Or maybe he doesn't exist at all. Maybe we all are just a dream in the mind of Azathoth and the most merciful thing he could do is wake up."

Shannon suddenly realized everything she had said and bowed her head in embarrassment. "Sorry. I guess I scared you off now."

To her surprise, Sam softly said, "No."

Shannon looked at him in shock and noticed that he, now, was too, looking off into the night horizon.

"Me dad was a drunk. He started out ok, owned his own business, only the occasional drink with the lads on the weekends. Then the business started to fail, he started drinking more, becoming violent. More so to mum than me sister and I, but we still got our share.

"Our next door neighbor, he had always been nice to me. I thought of him like a friend, like an uncle, hell, like a bloody father. One day, he says he has a bike for me in his house. I walk in, he shuts the door behind me, next thing I know, he's on me and then in me. Eventually he gets me to start bringing my sister over and he makes us 'perform' while he videos us for him and his pedo friends.

"One night, Dad gets extra wasted. Starts beating on all of us. Mum says she's had enough and tells him she's leaving with the kids. He goes, gets his shotgun, lines us up against the wall and says he's gonna kill us and himself. Mum says he might be evil enough to kill us but he's too chicken shit to pop himself and he's not man enough to survive prison. So he throws us out.

"We go to Mum's mum and dad's but they say that we're an embarrassment and she made her bed and now she had to lie in it. Luckily there was a women's shelter nearby and they took us in. We lived there for about a month before Mum found a job and a place to live. Never saw Dad again after that. I heard he got remarried and has a new family now. Good on him if he did, but I can't give a rat's ass about him.

"I had dreamed of being a professional dancer. Trained nearly all me life for it. Then, one day, I realized that if I ever did get famous, the tabloids would go digging and knowing that there's pictures and videos of me, out there, somewhere, being forced to rape my sister, I couldn't take the chance, and gave up on that dream."

Shannon just stared at Sam in horror. "So you know," she said slowly and methodically, watching her words carefully, "the world is a cruel and indifferent place, set up to destroy us and drive us insane. It truly is best to never have existed at all."

Sam suddenly spun around and looked at her in shock. "No! To the contrary. Life isn't fair but it's not unfair either. Life is just a series of physical and chemical reactions. Fairness is a human construct we try to impose on nature. But that's the thing, it's up to us to say what is fair, to hash it out, to make life fair for us.

"I don't regret being born. I'm glad I'm alive. Sure me life ain't be easy, but it hasn't been all bad. There's been a lot of good too. Even in the darkest night, there's still light. Life is a tapestry. Like all tapestries, there's light colors and dark, but all together, they form a beautiful picture. We just have to learn to appreciate it."

Shannon shook her head and smiled. "I don't know if I should hug you or punch you for being so wonderfully naive."

"Well, if I have choice, I know which one I'd pick, especially given those arms of yours."

Shannon laughed and said, You dork!", and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Not that's its my business, but what made you go this route?"

"What, the muscles? Well, like I said, I was morbidly obese as a kid. Larger muscles burn more calories. Also, it makes men think twice before trying anything. I mean, you could be 300 pounds of pure muscle, a black belt in every martial art, and a champion boxer, but if you're out cold because someone spiked your drink, it doesn't matter, but, still, they see how big I am, it causes them to think twice. The best way for prey to avoid a predator is to become one herself."

"Fair enough," Sam said and they both turned to look at the night sky.

For the first time in a long time, Shannon didn't just see the infinite darkness but the billions of stars within. Each one giving out unfathomable heat and light. Even with all that, they couldn't dispell the darkness but, each, in their own way causing it to retreat just a little bit and in the process, shine that much brighter.

It was then she thought about how far away those stars were - hundreds, thousands, millions of light years away. Surely some of those had burned out long ago; dead, yet their light still shone, going on forever. She started to fell like she was on the verge of a profound epiphany when she suddenly farted. A loud, long, rumbling fart.

Both Shannon and Sam started busting out laughing. Maybe in the end, the only true and appropriate response to the eternal infinite is just to let one rip and laugh your ass of about it. It's not like the universe is going to mind.

[pyrewriter]

Memento

"The leaves are turning, it makes this city so colorful" Fe' said taking a sip from her mug.

"That they are" Adrien replied filling another pint for one of the regulars. Business was slow that night and school had let out early due to an Akuma attack, unfortunately it had mysteriously cleansed itself before Ladybug could capture it and reverse the damage. This wasn't the first time such a thing had occurred ,in fact it was the fifth, ever since about half a month ago attacks would abruptly stop. Because of this the damage and injuries caused by these attacks would remain but as far as anyone could tell these occurrences were random. 

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

He looked up from his work, "You know the answer to that, just gotta be quicker and more careful from now on that's all" he explained.      

She sighed heavily "I know, I just don't like seeing you wrapped in bandages when we meet" she said, then lowering her voice "I may have only fought one but it was enough know" she told him. Adrien looked down inspecting the wraps that covered his arms, one of his legs, and the better part of his torso. Were it not for the magic of his transformation the injuries he sustained regularly would be crippling but with it they became minor. Fe' was right though and he knew it, even if it was only once she had been thrashed pretty hard by Private Eye. Difference was, his were across his body ranging from bruises to shallow flesh wounds so to prevent infection ,among other reasons, Milo had him wrap himself thoroughly.

"Well it could be worse" he said shrugging as he grabbed a plate of food and moved to serve it.

Fe' shook her head "Just don't go adding any unnecessary scars ok" she told him standing to leave.

"Tab?" he called as she reached the door.

"Tab" she replied. 

The night went by slowly which gave him time to think and talk to the previous wielders with little interference. It had been quite some time since Lauren had passed and he had warned Hawkmoth and tensions have been high since the others saw him holding Penumbra by the neck. Adrien couldn't exactly blame Ladybug for being concerned about his mental state however as he had become standoffish since then. In truth it was not his intent to come off as such, he was simply preoccupied with his thoughts that often drifted to the hospital. After putting his friend to rest Adrien visited the hospital as Chat to talk to members of the staff that were Cheshire, he had them ask terminally Ill patients if they had a hero they wanted to see.

Since then his thoughts had a tendency to wonder how many hoped that Chat Noir would hear their plight and come to visit them, he voiced this to his precursors. So far he had met a number of people ,young and old, that were ecstatic to see the cat themed hero walk into their room. After weeks of discussion they had come to a decision that to honor those who have passed and those that inevitably will pass. Once the decision was made he spoke with the hospital higher ups about constructing a garden courtyard with a centerpiece to act as a memento. But It wasn't until recently however while taking a stroll through the streets that they had finally come up with a way to do so. 

"Alright last call, I'm closing it down early tonight" Milo announced as midnight approached then turning to his adoptive nephew "Kid, go get some sleep".

Adrien put his hands up in protest "You know it takes more than a few cuts and bruises to take me out" he argued. 

Milo shook his head retorting "Yeah I do but I also know that you've got a lot on your mind, take the weekend off to sort it out". With a sigh and chuckle Adrien served the drink he was holding and went to the back thanking his uncle as he went to change. 

"Well what now?" Plagg asked echoing Adrien's own thought, they didn't know what to do now since normally work would use their time and the artist they needed to visit was probably asleep. "Fe' might still be awake, we could see Belial while we're there" he offered trying to think of ways to burn the hours they had until morning. 

Adrien mulled the idea over for a moment, it was either that or run the risk of Marinette spotting him in the usual spot which would have him up for a while. "I'm sure Belial would be excited to see his fellow feline friend" he said smiling slightly beneath his mask. He took his bike to the parking garage dropping off the helmets on the way out and walked the rest of the way to Fe's place. When he arrived he noticed that the door was unlocked, "Plagg, Claws Out" he whispered as the worst case scenario immediately ran through his head. Opening the door slowly with his gloves and mask removed he entered the apartment, there were no signs of a struggle in the living room. Sweeping the apartment he found nothing until he moved the bedroom where he found Fe' sleeping sprawled face down across the bed with Belial resting on her back. 

He sighed heavily letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding then ,quietly, made a clicking sound calling Belial to him. The cat awoke instantly, gently stepped off Fe' before leaping down from the bed to trot over to purring and rubbing his head against him in affection. Picking up his fuzzy companion Adrien placed him on his shoulder, he was about to leave to let Fe' sleep but it was cold and she clearly threw herself onto the bed. He took a moment to place her under the covers being careful not to wake her then ,leaving a note for her, took his leave locking the door behind him on her way out. Casting a glance upward he didn't see any lights coming from either the balcony he slept beneath or Mari's room, clear indicators she was asleep.  

De-transforming and starting the climb he was glad she was asleep already, he wasn't in the mood to go through another round of questioning that beat around a bush. Apparently she had been worried sick after hearing he had gone on the run again. She would ask about what happened and if he wanted to talk or questioned him about why his attitude had changed so suddenly. At some point he had let a mention of Juleka slip out which prompted Marinette to ask their friend what her connection to Chat was. 

"Chat visited my cousin in the hospital pretty regularly for a while until he was chased by that Akuma, the day LB and him caught it he came back but he was too late" Juleka explained. At the time she couldn't find the strength to tell what else happened and as much as Marinette wanted to know what happened she didn't press the issue. Asking Chat about specifics of what happened that day proved to be fruitless as well ,his answer was cryptic, something about failing to keep a promise but fulfilling a vow and a final wish. She had since given up pursuing answers about what happened and what he did but still talked to him every chance she got even going out of her way sometimes. 

Stirring, Adrien opened his eyes and found himself back in a hospital room surrounded by figures ,some familiar while others he didn't recognize, all looking at him. Though they did not possess eyes or mouths he could feel their stares, their questions burning burrowing into him "Why weren't you there when I needed you". Each voice was one he had heard before, his brother, his mother, friends from his life in the before Paris, Lauren. He struggled to silence them and wake up but he had no body to shake himself free with leaving him as little more than a presence in this nightmare. As it continued the figures began to approach him closing in until they completely dominated the space around him.

He struggled harder but his efforts were proving to be for naught, he was moments from conceding and letting the guilt torment him when he felt something. The sensation was enough to trigger his sense of self preservation which overpowered his want to concede and a wave radiated out from his presence. Falling silent the figures morphed into one "Can't die yet, too much to pay for, too many to  honor" it said in a voice mimicking his. Opening his real eyes now made it clear it was sunrise ,he had slept in, and someone was clambering to his left.

A voice that was unmistakable as Chloe' shouted concerned from above "Marinette, what on earth are you doing!?". Adrien cocked his head to see that one of his friends and old classmate was climbing down from her balcony onto the sheer part of the roof. While turning himself to get a better look and ask the same question as Chloe' he failed to see the foot planted next to him and he bumped it. Marinette was not expecting him to move so the resulting panic caused her to lose what little footing she had. 

Reacting in an instant Adrien grabbed her arm with his own, saving her from plummeting four stories, unfortunately he only caught her with one arm and now he was on his stomach. "You might want to leave the climbing to me, Purr-ncess" he said calmly feeling her grip tighten as she dangled. Chloe' watched from above while Marinette's parents ,Tom and Sabine, looked on from below holding each other and their breath. As he prepared himself to help her he cast his gaze about searching for a place but the roof was too sheer and the other window was around the corner. Grunting with the effort he pulled her up slowly until he could re-position and get his feet under him all the while holding tight. With his feet under him he was able to masterfully hoist her up and move aside at the same time letting her land beside him with ease, as if stepping off an invisible platform. 

Marinette hugged him suddenly, "Thank you, oh my goodness thank you" she told him breathing heavily and holding him tight. 

"You're welcome but uh, you might want to get back on the balcony before you go thanking me" looking up he called "Choe', you mind helping her up?". 

Chloe' leaned over the railing "Grab my hand, Mari" she called back. Grabbing his friend by the waist Adrien lifted her just enough for her to reach Chloe's hand. The girls managed to get her back over the railing and onto the balcony where they embraced each other, holding one another close and lovingly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that was stupid" Marinette blabbed apologetically. 

 Doing her best to calm her Chloe' said all she could "It's fine, you're ok and that's all that matters to me. I don't know what I'd do without you".   

Adrien looked down from his perch at Marinette's parents, "She's good" he said giving a thumbs up. The news made them both visibly sigh and relax in each other's arms as they let go of their breath before rushing inside. A tapping on his chest reminded him he needed to be somewhere else, calling Belial he transformed "Plagg, Claws Out". Turning he gave a small salute to his friends "Glad you're ok but try to leave the dangerous stuff to me, see you ladies around" he told them. Tom and Sabine burst through the balcony hatch, fumbling over themselves to reach their daughter. "That's my cue" he said, leaping away as he headed for the Eiffel Tower to try and catch Ladybug, leaving the family to sort themselves out. 

Chat was confused upon arriving at the tower and finding no one, giving his partner a call got him voice mail as a reply. Knowing that trying again would be pointless he decided to patrol Paris solo just to be sure that one of them did it. As he finished and returned to the tower Ladybug arrived just as he was about to send a message. "Ah, bonjour Ladybug, looks like we were both running a tad late today" he said looking at an imaginary watch on his wrist. 

"Bonjour Chatton, sorry for running so late, did you patrol already?" 

"Just finished actually ,don't worry about it, I got some personal business to attend to" he explained "Catch you tonight?".

Ladybug wanted to thank him for saving her earlier that morning but she didn't know how to without making it sound like she was stalking him. Instead she thanked him for what she could "See you tonight and thanks for doing patrol, I've got civilian stuff to take care of too". Chat replied with a salute before launching away prompting Ladybug to return home where she wanted to spend the day with her loved ones. When she was home and de-transformed she had to sneak into her bathroom to make sure her family wouldn't get suspicious. Flushing the toilet and washing her hands for good measure Marinette was greeted by a flying bear hug from Choe'.

Chat made his way toward the studio of the artist he meant to talk with the night before, Theo Barbot. As he got closer the large shutters that served as the building's front door was open and upbeat pop music was coming from inside. Looking in Chat saw Theo dancing to the music like nobody was watching and to his credit he had rhythm. "Hey!" Chat called over the music to get the artist attention. 

Theo stopped cold mid-song in a ridiculous pose, slowly he turned to see the cat themed hero standing in his doorway with another feline sitting on his shoulder. Keeping his pose and without breaking eye contact he clapped twice and the music stopped "Chat Noir, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked. 

"Well I came to commission you for a project but now I just want to teach you how to dance, nice rhythm by the way" Chat explained. *BEEP BEEP* looking to his ring he groaned "Plagg, Claw In". Theo was surprised by not just the surprise visit from a hero of Paris ,and the one he once impersonated at that, but also the fact that he de-transformed in front of him. 

"Wh-wha-what-uh do you need me for?" Theo asked trying to ignore the awkward situation that just unfolded.

Adrien left his smile behind as he walked further into the studio toward a couch set off to one side "As I said, I came for a commission" he repeated with a level tone. 

"I see, what would you have of me Chat Noir, Black Cat of Paris, the Original Grinner, and Hero?" 

Leaning forward Adrien explained "I need you for a statue to go in front of the hospital ,a big one, and you're the only artist I know that can make it with the detail I need". 

Theo mumbled to himself as he walked to a nearby table grabbing a notebook and began scribbling in it. Belial jumped from Adriens shoulder and strode over to the artist, weaving between his legs as he paced "Hello, Minou" he said without breaking stride. "I'm gonna need some more specifics if I'm gonna make this", the two of them worked out the dimensions of the statue over the course of a couple hours. 

"You sure you're ok with helping me, you might catch some flak for this" Adrien asked. 

Grabbing a straw to chew on Theo looked at his former nemesis "If they throw stones at a glass house they better be ready to walk over the shards they create". 

Adrien chuckled at that "hehe wise words" he pulled his phone out and saw it was almost lunch "I need to go so I'll leave you to your work and thank you again". Standing he called Belial who quickly jumped to his shoulder "Plagg, Claws Out" he moved to leave but a comment from Theo stopped him. 

"I need a pose for the memento, dealers choice" he said with a sketchbook in hand, back still to the artist Chat silently raised his left arm displaying the pink silk ribbon tied around his wrist. He held the pose for only a few seconds but it was long enough for Theo to scribble a rough sketch, he could work out the details as he went. "It might take a while but feel free to drop by anytime to see how things are going" Theo called as Chat walked out. 

Chat made his way to the parking garage to get his bike so he could ride to pick up Fe' for lunch. He wanted to tell her the good news and thank her for supporting him. At the same time Marinette was helping bake in the back while Chloe' took orders which she seemed to enjoy greatly. All together they were a well oiled machine limited only by the speed at which their pastries baked. Chloe' had tried to help with the baking and while she was learning she felt as though she slowed the others down so she stuck to working the front. 

The week rolled by with fewer than normal akuma attacks but each of them were dealt with before they could do much damage or they cleansed themselves. This in-turn allowed repair of already existing damage and the construction of the hospital courtyard to go uninterrupted. Unfortunately that luck didn't last long as attacks became increasingly malicious and deliberate in nature thanks to Hawkmoth seeming to find a handful of "favorites" to akumatize. A few of them ,two or three, sought help from the Cheshire and have not been targeted since getting it, however there were still individuals who either outright refused or ran from help. 

Neither Ladybug nor Chat knew why this was the case and the city government was debating intervention to make an attempt to stem these repeat offenders. Ladybug was against the idea of outside authorities detaining and charging akumatized victims but was reluctant to get involved in the politics. Chat on the other hand was more vocal in his stance against outsiders but for completely different reasons, Chief among them being related to Lila's possible involvement. She had been revealed as a villain several times now and ,according to more than a few keen-eyed Cheshire, had been seen more than a few times near places where attacks had taken place. 

Chat decided it was best not to get Ladybug involved considering the past his partner and Lila shared but if she was involved something was going on behind the scenes. Despite all this though Paris life was almost unchanged from what it was when Akumas were random, Adrien's friends had been staying in touch ever since he gave them a way to call for him. Even if it was just to check in on him and it was thanks to these visits that he was able to watch as the tightly knit group grew somehow closer with everyone supporting everyone.      

Time seemed to flow like water as Chat's life fell into a sort of rhythm of patrols, work, attacks, and visits from friends or to the hospital. Occasionally he would stop by Theo's studio to see how if there was anything he could do for the artist, save for modeling however there wasn't much he could do. October flew by ,thankfully without incident on Halloween, and in early November construction of both the hospital courtyard and Theo had finished his work. 

That same week the piece was moved in and the unavailing was held. There was no ceremony, no appearance by the Mayor Mr Bourgeois, nor press to broadcast the dedication but for those in attendance it was better this way. The weather was cooling but not cold, a breeze barely strong enough to move the leaves swirled them placidly across the stone paths through the garden. The trees ,not quite bare, rustled gently as they shed the last of their leaves adding to the already blanketing multi colored collection that carpeted the ground. The attendees stood gathered in front of the covered piece, when all were ready the covering was removed. It was Chat Noir standing not triumphantly but in a salute, one arm raised with a clenched fist displaying a ribbon sculpted to look like it flowed in the wind. 

Details on the main body such as the smile on the jacket, the wisps on the mask and the face entirely were left undefined as per Chat's request. At the foot of the base was a plaque that read "In honor of those who fight in battles everyday that no one can see. For the ones who have gone unremembered, for those who's plights were never heard by the ones they admired and aspired to be. This garden and statue are a memento to you, you will never be forgotten. Each ribbon upon this is a memento to a life that was taken by circumstances beyond their own control. The first of which is to Lauren who was a survivor to the end, who never let the world drag her down and spat in the face gloom. May you guide and watch over for you are now free -Chat Noir". 

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[themowrites]

One-Shot: Bet is a Bet.

+ I would like to thank @dayjavoo1 for giving me the opportunity of bringing her prompt to life. I hope I executed it properly. Thank you again and readers enjoy! Constructive and Positive feedback is always welcomed. -Mo

“So, baby let's just turn down the lights. And close the door. Oh, I love that dress. But you won't need it anymore. No, you won't need it no more. Let's just kiss 'til we're naked, baby. Versace on the floor. Oh, take it off for me, for me, for me, for me now, girl.” -Bruno Mars (Versace on the Floor).

No man could be proud of moments like this, it was quite embarrassing in fact. He had to keep up with his end of the deal, he wouldn’t go back on his word he wasn’t that kind of guy. But now as he stood here before her he surely wished he could renege or maybe go back in time and change the stakes on the bet itself. Now as he thought about it, his bet was nowhere near as embarrassing as hers had turned out to be. He guessed he deserved it the bet itself was silly. But it was sad to say that he still hadn’t pulled through even with that notion. Shaking his head Samuel looked to his wife of twelve years in the chair before him, she was so amused and elated to see him in this state it almost made him want to renege anyway.

“Okay, okay, okay. How about this, how about we bet on this since you know so much Mrs. Evans” Samuel said with a wide grin. “I don’t know why you doubt me so much. I am the man. I know I can do this and there is nothing to it, but to do it” he joked “how about that?” he asked her with a grin.

Mercedes looked to her husband and she chuckled sipping down her tea “you want to bet me, on something you and I both know you won’t be able to do successfully?” she asked. Samuel truly had Mercedes amused, and that was saying the least. Their daughter had just become a woman, and though they knew this day was coming they hadn’t truly thought much about it. But now that the day was finally here and she was upstairs in agony Mercedes was curious to see what her husband would do to contribute to this new transition in their teen daughter’s life.

“Chloe loves me, we are more than daughter and father. We are best friends Mercedes. She’s the only kid and she’s been up under us since the day you popped her out. I can do this. You just put your money where your mouth is?” he said as leaned against the large island in their kitchen.

Mercedes snorted “you know what, for a man who nearly passed out while I was giving birth, you are surely talking a lot of trash right now” she told him giving him a knowing look. “Chloe was six when she fell for the first time from her bike. She was at your parents’ house and I was at work. You went over there to make sure our baby had no broken bones or substantial injuries. When you got there, I got another phone call saying the both of you were crying…. but you want to bet me?” she asked pointing to herself before she tossed her head back laughing loudly as large curls bounced around her. “You will lose” she said happily as she walked over towards the plastic bags filled with items their daughter needed.

“Oh God here you go” Samuel replied waving her off “you bring up that story for everything. Both of those stories. And I have you know, I didn’t almost faint. You squeezed my hard so hard I thought you had broken it and that sent me to my knees! I have witnesses, your mother was there” he argued. “And!” he added lifting up a finger “I was not crying it was allergy season that is my story and I am sticking to it” he rushed out leaning back in the tall chair he was sitting in.

As he replied back to her Mercedes couldn’t contain the booming laugh that left her full lips, her husband was so full of himself honestly. He was more protective of their little girl than she was, and that was saying a lot. Chloe’s feet hadn’t even touched the ground until she was five thanks to her father. She had him wrapped around more than a finger and it was amusing to see him try to pretend that that wasn’t a fact. Mercedes shook her head slowly before she pushed the bags over to him. “Well then Mr. Evans, I bet that you can’t go upstairs and teach or tell rather… our daughter what a menstrual cycle is, why women have one, and what to do with these” she said gesturing the bag. “And, the bet itself is… you’d have to” she said thinking to herself long and hard, she squinted looking up to the ceiling as she tried to find a really good thing to bet on. After a few minutes, she concluded “I bet you to strip for me… on a pole” she said slyly as she looked to him with a wicked grin.

Samuel watched his wife and sighed, she was telling the truth through and through his daughter couldn’t get a nose bleed without him almost going into cardiac arrest about it, but he couldn’t help it. She was his angel, his baby, the reason he breathed aside from his wife. Everything he thought he never needed came forth the day she was born and he as well as his wife’s life had been made whole ever since. But hearing it from her made him sound like a bigger softy than he was allowing her to credit him for. However, she stated her bet and what he’d have to do, he chuckled at her, oh he would definitely win this little game she was playing. “Okay and if I do this and win. I get you to skinny deep with me in the backyard, hot tub or pool doesn’t matter. And you have to stay in their longer than twenty minutes, despite if anyone sees us or not. Unless it’s Chloe and they we get the hell out of there and tuck in roll into your garden. Deal?” he added quickly.

Mercedes looked to her husband again leaning against the counter as he spoke and she wiggled her brows a bit before she says “deal” lifting her tea mug she got up and tossed hair over her shoulder. “I got this in the bag” she told him as she grabbed a hand full of folders off the kitchen table. “I will be in the home office, I have a large case load this week” she said with each swish of her hips as she moved up the stairs barefoot in nothing but her robe and the undies she was sporting beneath the thick fabric.

Samuel watched his wife as she walked away and he nodded “mhm” she said popping his lips as he watched her disappear up the stairs. Samuel opened the bag and saw the variety before him scrunching his face. He knew what his wife wore, he’d been married enough and made enough runs to know so. However, seeing it before him now knowing his daughter would soon be wearing tampons? Sent shivers down his spine slowly, it was okay for his thirty-eight-year-old wife to wear them, she was supposed to but his baby girl? “Shit” he breathed as he licked his lips slowly, he took the time to quickly read all of the packaging so he could explain everything to Chloe properly. The last thing he wanted was to lose the bet. However, he was more concerned with the fact that his wife doubted his abilities to educate their daughter on this subject. After a few minutes had passed he finally lifted the bag off the counter, stood up and moved upstairs towards Chloe’s bedroom. He knocked twice on her door once she reached and he let himself in after a few seconds.

If death had a close relative, cramps were it. Chloe had no idea how horrible having a period was, what was the deal with women bodies’ to make this happen once a month. She was suffering and didn’t know what to do. Her mother had given her some tablets to take almost an hour ago and she swore she’d faded in and out of consciousness twice since then. She could faintly hear her mother laughing downstairs but she couldn’t imagine what comedy was bringing her to do so. Didn’t she know she was dying up here. Why didn’t her mother just come kill her now and take her out of her misery. As she heard the knock at her door she continued to lay wrapped up into a tight ball beneath her covers, as her father walked in.

Samuel saw the outline of his baby under her covers, he felt bad a twinge of pain shot through his heart seeing her this way. However, he walked in and he sat himself on her bed stretching his long legs. “Baby girl mommy and I got some things for you and I want to tell you how to use them” he said easy enough. Maybe he could do this after all, he thought to himself. So far so good, and he read the directions on each box. He’d be done before he knew it.

Chloe felt the dip in her bed and she leaned up hearing her father’s voice, pulling the covers from over her body she sighed heavily looking towards the bags in her father’s hand. Nodding her head, she looked to him crazily for a second before she asked him curiously “um, why isn’t mommy here talking to me about this stuff?” she asked as she moved to sit upright her hand rubbing against her cramping stomach.

Samuel pursed his lips slightly “you don’t think your old man can tell you about this stuff? ‘Cause I’m a man, I’m not supposed to know about the stuff women go through?” he asked her.

At her father’s words Chloe’s eyebrows raised to her hairline and she shifted. “That’s not exactly what I meant dad. But… lay it on me I guess” she shrugged to him as she rested her chin on her knee cap as she pulled her legs to herself.

“That’s what I thought” Samuel said as he looked to her before he simply pulled a box out of the bag. “These are maxi pads…” he said handing them over “uh the box says that you unwrap them and adhere them to the inside of your panties” he said slowly “and the wings fold in the opposite direction so it doesn’t move” he told her nodding his head.

Chloe looked to the box and she looked it over taking it in as well as the directions. “So, it just drips down into this thing and I wear it like a diaper or something?” she asked him. At the moment, her mother had given her one of her tampons, she wasn’t used to it and the feeling of it was extremely weird and uncomfortable at times but it was something she had to wear for the moment. They had to go shopping for her and this is what they brought back she assumed.

Samuel looked to her and cleared his throat “sure” he said nodding “if you want to put it like that” he told her. “Just an option. Your mommy got you these too” he said brining out some more tampons. “You know how to use these already I guess” he said truly hoping she used the pads instead when the time came for her to use something regularly. “Have any questions?” he asked her, thinking maybe he could get out of the other stuff and still tell his wife he had done it, causing him to win the bet after all. “Oh” he said after a thought came to mind “these are panty liners, which are smaller maxi pads. You can use these towards the end of things” he said offering her a simple smile as he sat them before her.

Chloe looked at each individual box and she took the diagrams in as her father spoke, she guessed she doubted him because right now he did seem to know what he was talking about for the most part. Thinking about the question he asked she looked to him and nodded “yes, can you please tell me why I am dying and bleeding out to death?” she said as she rested her head back down.

Samuel had nailed it, he did exactly what his wife assumed he couldn’t. He was a jack of all trades, and his wife would have to respect that. This he’d enjoy to the fullest; but when Chloe’s mouth opened again and she asked him what exactly caused them Samuel cursed mentally. The thing he wanted to avoid had come up and he licked his lips thinking to himself. “It’s simple to grasp. Women have a cycle ever month to get rid to eggs that weren’t fertilized” Samuel told her as he moved to stand up. That would settle that and he knew it would.

His explanation was simple but it wasn’t detailed at all “details dad” she said with a tired sigh. “What is my body actually doing? And what eggs are you talking about? Like babies?” she asked confused. Her mother had tried to talk to her about sex at one point of time, but she had made it awkward and shooed her mother away never having asked her about it again. She knew women made the children of course, but she didn’t really know how the male’s played a part physically aside from the act of sex itself. And now sitting here, she wanted to know why women had to get rid of eggs that weren’t fertilized? Whatever that meant.

As she went on to ask him for details on the matter, Samuel’s stomach begin to hurt. No way could he have this talk, he had already had it in his mind that his wife would have the sex talk with his daughter and that would be that. But here he was being pressured by the somewhat teen girl. She truly just became a teen, and now even he was beginning to doubt himself. He sat back down anyhow and placed the bags on the floor near her bed. “Women produce eggs to make children. Men fertilize them. When...” he paused “we guys don’t, those have to be replaced with new ones. Out with the old in with the new” he said. “There you have it. It’s natural. Mother nature they say” and he got up again quickly.

Chloe nodded her head before she asked her father “so mommy has one every month too?” she said her curious mind realizing that she and her mother now had more in common then she had thought before. As a child, you don’t think about these little details but now it had hit her, after all that is how she had gotten on Earth anyway.

Samuel shoved his hands in his pockets as he was trying to run out just out of fear, his mind was no longer on the bet he was losing so badly at. He hissed “hot damn” he said loudly in her room it was the one thing that would connect all the pieces for her if he truly answered the question. But he couldn’t, if he told his daughter that some months her mother went without one, maybe. She’d ask why, and then he’d have to tell her that her mother was on birth control. And then knowing his bright child she’d ask more questions. Which would all boil down to him telling her they didn’t want any more children and that all of this revolved sex, sex was the culprit in the end of it all. When it was said and done, this all connect and that was the common denominator. He couldn’t do it. “Look baby ask your mother, okay” he said with a gracious smile. “I have got to take the trash out before she kills me anyway” he said excusing himself so quickly he was sure dust was floating behind his large feet as he rushed down the hall towards his wife.

Chloe looked to her father as he cursed, she didn’t know what that meant but she’d wait and see. When he told her to talk to her mother she frowned slightly, she thought he could make it through the talk but clearly, he was disturbed. As he rushed off she laid back against her pillow groaning somewhat, she was starting to feel a little better. Maybe the medication was working, anyhow the bed is where she’d remain for the rest of the day.

Mercedes looked over each folder slowly, minutes had passed one after the other and she presume her husband had done what she asked and won the bet. It was beyond a bet though, she wanted to see if he could actually separate the strong feelings he had about their little girl turning into woman. She was testing him, trying to see if he could handle the tough things in case she wasn’t around. He’s proven her wrong, so there was some skinny-dipping madness in her future, sadly. When she heard footsteps moving down the hall, she slid her glasses off and sat them down looking towards the door. When Samuel approached she asked, “how did it go?” inquisitively.

Samuel opened the door to the office, he shook his head “I couldn’t do it. You won, she started asking questions I just didn’t feel comfortable answering. So, you are going to have to do it for the both of us” he said tucking his lips in.

Mercedes titled her head and she smiled faintly before she moved to stand up from her seat. Moving around the desk she kissed his cheek, on her tippy toes she looked to him. “At least you tried” she said sympathetically. “You know how she is, she’s beyond curious. And…” she dragged out. “I warned you, or told you so… which ever suits you best” she giggled. “I’ll talk to her in depth later” she told him.

He looked down to his wife, that kiss was a I told you so kiss. She’d won, after all through and through she knew her man. Samuel rested his hand on the small of her back, rubbing it as she spoke. He growled slightly at her little joke before he caressed her thick side. “Fine, I admit you are better when it comes to those things” he said. “So… I guess… a bet is a bet” he said sucking his teeth.

“Do you need a little music to be played for you, or are you just going to wing it?” Mercedes asked as she crossed one leg over the other. Sipping from her glass or wine she smiled up at her husband, he stood before her in nothing but his boxers. His hands were gripping the pole she purchased just for him. He had suggested or implied that one day he’d get her to do this exact thing and she found it funny to return the favor, hell with no doubt in her mind she knew he was going to lose the damn bet. Who didn’t? She had to go back a day later and explain everything he couldn’t and then some. Their daughter was at the age where she needed to know everything that came along with sex and being a woman, she always wished her husband and she both would be able to explain to her or at least separately but the most he could do was explain what the diagram showed on the side of her feminine product boxes. Shaking her head at the thought she sipped from the glass again, and here it was the day she’d been waiting for. Two weeks after losing the bet and finding a portable stripper pole off the internet Samuel was standing before her in all of his glory ready to show her exactly what his father, or mother? Had gave him.

Samuel squinted at her, she was enjoying this way more than he anticipated or liked. He shook his head before he said, “I have my own music actually” the attitude he sported was matter-of-fact. He moved to his Iphone, placed it on his speaker and began to play some music. He walked back over to the pole in the middle of their large room and he held on to it. He wasn’t homophobic but the thought of him swinging on this was truly making him sick. He looked to her as she sipped her glass of wine and he walked to the other side of the pole. Swallowing hard he didn’t know what to do. How did people do this for a living he’d never understand he felt like a piece of meat and she was the ferocious lion stalking her prey. “I can’t do this” he told her shaking his head. “I can’t”.

She watched him as he turned his music and awkwardly moved back to the pole, she raised any eyebrow as she continued to watch. Once he told her he couldn’t do this, she sat her glass down “you have to, a bet is a bet” she repeated.

“Oh God” he told her as he sighed running his hands through his hair. Pulling his lip into his mouth he moved towards her, straddling her lap he grind into her hips playfully before he shook his head. “I can’t believe you have me doing this” he said taking it all as a joke.

Mercedes watched him walk over to her and as he lowered himself into her lap, rocking his hips into hers she chuckled pulling a few hundred dollar bills out of her bra she made them rain over him. She rested her hand on his but sticking her tongue out as she smacked his butt gently.

Samuel continued to dance against her awkwardly before she tossed money into the air and he looked to her crazily before he chuckled. “You are insane, I can’t do this” he said shaking his head as he got up.

Mercedes rolled her eyes slightly chuckling at him “what?” she asked though she knew he was serious. “What do you suggest you do to repay your debt?” she asked.

Samuel moved towards her and he kissed her lips sweetly “I can think of something” he said huskily against her puffy lips before he leaned in to kiss her again. His large hand gently caressing her face as he pecked her once or twice over tenderly.

Mercedes watched as he came close and she shifted in the chair, he leaned down to kiss her and she met him halfway. Leaning up she crashed her lips into his closing her eyes immediately after, he caressed her face, a simple gesture he’d always did, before he pecked her lips several times. She smiled up at him, pecking him back each time playfully.

Samuel kissed Mercedes fully against the lips one last time before he pulled away from her gently. The tall man lowered himself to her level with ease, kneeling before her he kissed her warm neck before he peppered his way down to her collar bone, across it, and to the other side of her neck kissing against it tenderly as well. His tongue jutted out licking up and down chocolate skin slowly before he moved to the other side of her neck once more, licking up and down it as he did the other side. Pulling his lips and tongue away from her neck, moving to peel her robe back exposing her lacey bra to him. He took in the sight with a groan, he loved her massive breast. Hands sliding down her thick arms he opened the robe completely, his hands pulling at her ties as he revealed the full lace boy shorts she had on. His mouth was watering at the sight.

Kissing him back a second time, Mercedes chuckled slightly at the toned man as he lowered himself before her slowly. On his knees, he leaned into kiss and lick at her neck, she smirked as he did so tilting her head back a bit to give him more access to her flesh. He assaulted her neck for a while before he pulled away finally she looked down at him, watching as he slid her robe down revealing her almost naked body to him. As he groaned she smiled through tucked lips at him, he was taking her in like she was a warm meal and he was ready to feast. Parting her legs just slightly she leaned forward taking her husband lips in and she kissed him passionately, eyes rolling shut she wrapped her arms around his neck moaning into his mouth as she forcefully stuck her tongue into his mouth roaming in soundly.

As his wife leaned into him capturing his lips again Samuel slid his hands down her back and he gripped her lower back roughly as she stuck her tongue into his mouth. Samuel closed his eyes sliding his hands down to her butt now, gripping the round mound he pulled her closer if it were even possible with their close proximity already. His tongue toyed with hers for a long while before he pulled away from her, tugging her panties down her thick thighs he discarded them before her part her legs with his hands. He could have moved to the bed for course but for now he liked the chair. He licked his lips before leaning down to lick hers as well. His tongue slid up her folds slowly and he gripped her legs in his hands keeping them parted.

Helping him remove her panties by simply lifting her hips, Mercedes nibbled her lip in anticipation for her husband as he spread her thick thighs apart. Watching him closely she dropped her head back in the chair, closing her eyes softly as he leaned in licking at her folds nice and delicately. A gush of moisture grew at the simple action; she hummed softly as he took his time offering her teasingly slow licks with his wide tongue. She looked down at him again with lust filled eyes as he continued to hold her legs open not wanting her to close them in the slightest.

Sam smiled around his mouthful, engulfing her womanhood into his mouth after teasing her with repeated licks. He allowed his tongue to dip in between her folds, sweeping back and forth, left to right. He released her, his tongue pushing deeper and deeper between her pretty brown lips before he found her clit and he circled his tongue around the button slowly, his eyes looking up to meet hers in the dimly lit bedroom.

Mercedes hummed out gently as he slid his tongue against her and she bit down on her lip gently teeth skinning into flesh. Her hands moved to cup her large breast through her lace bra as the temperature rose in the room from his actions. Her breath hitched ever so often as he circled her clit, eyes closing again as she spread her legs a little more for him, pointing her toes she sunk down in the chair.

Sam moaned against her sweet clit, being gentle with her for the time being. He lightly nibbled and sucked the button before he released and slid his tongue up and down her slit once more. His tongue circled her and he smirked before he wiggled his long tongue inside of her, flexing the muscle back and forth. Samuel felt himself getting hard as he watched her fall under his lustful spell.

Mercedes licked her dry lips gently as he continued to tease. Whimpering she shifted slightly her hands still cupping her large breast in them as he gently aroused her. Enticing her with every lick he had to offer and when he slid his tongue inside of her, she smirked at the white devil before her. Wiggling her toes lightly, she flexed them as he kept up his work. His work was toe curling but she didn’t want to cum just yet.

Samuel’s tongue stroked in and out of her and he moaned at the taste of her essence in his mouth. “Mmm.” He let out as his tongue flicked against her rigged walls. He placed his hands on her inner thighs, moving one of his hands his thumb rested against her clit as he began to gently circle it. His tongue flexed against her before digging just a little deeper, finding her spot.

“My God” Mercedes breathed out, her breath hitching again as he moved his thumb to her clit rubbing gentle circles into it. She panted softly as he continued to assault her with his tongue. She licked her lips again opening her eyes as she looked up at the ceiling moving her hips in time with him. “Mm” she whimpered softly as she moved one of her hands to grip the seat she was in as she hummed out in pure ecstasy.

Sam looked up at her, smiling as her breath hitched and her hips moved in time with his tongue he was going to bring her to her brink soon. He stroked his thick muscle in and out of her, his thumb circling her clit before he began to flick at the sensitive button. Reaching up he placed his hand over one of her large breast just as she had, giving it a rough squeeze before he tugged the cups of it down revealing it and her chocolate nipple to him.

Mercedes hummed out, moaning against her closed lips as he continued to tease her bundle of nerves. She clutched her toes a bit as his teasing caused waves of erotic pleasure to coarse through her. Mercedes bit her lip as she felt him move his mouth back to her clit to suck it gently. “Fuck” she breathed out closing her eyes again as she resisted the strong urge to close her thighs around him. Instead she moaned grabbing his hand as he rested it against breast, she laced their fingers. Holding his hand tightly as she arched her back, pushing more of herself into his mouth. “Mm, baby” she said breathlessly.

Samuel nibbled her sweet button, opening his eyes to look up at her as she gripped his hand. He placed his freehand against her hip, encouraging her to rock against him as he pushed his tongue back inside of her. He wiggled the strong muscle against her spot, rocking her against his tongue with ease as he let out a content hum. “Mmm.”

“Sam” Mercedes moaned out in pleasure as one hand gripped his and the other gripped the chair she was balancing on. “Uh,” she said sweetly into the air as he moved his hand to her hip and she continued to rock against him, her impending orgasm building as she did. She held his hand tighter as the seconds pass by, pulling it to her as she twisted her body at the feel and the sensation. Before long Mercedes was coming undone before him, she came against his tongue body shaking violently as she did, moaning his name into their bedroom as she panted out quietly.

He looked up at her as she moaned his name. He watched her as she began to come undone. As she began rocking herself, he smirked, moaning against her as well. He could feel her walls clenching around his tongue and he worked the muscle faster, stroking in and out of her with ease. He squeezed her hand back gently, his hand resting on her hip once more as she began to twist her body. He held her steady, keeping his pace as she began to cum against his tongue. He worked her over, holding her hip firmly in his hand as she shook. Samuel lifted slightly, releasing her hand as he used both hands to keep her steady on the chair, his lips wrapping around her clit as he sucked.

Mercedes moaned softly as he held her still keeping up his assault, she squirmed slightly breathlessly whimpering his name as she did. She bit her bottom lip roughly, closing her eyes and laying her head back on the chair again as she tried to shift her chubby body before him. She looked down at him finally hissing slightly as she moved her hands to his head both egging him and pushing him away.

Samuel chuckled against her as she squirmed and wiggled underneath his relentless torment. As she placed her hands on his head, he finally lifted up, smirking at her as he licked his lips clean. “Mmm.” He moaned after doing so, he began kissing his way up her body. He licked his way up her stomach, kissing up the valley of her breasts, until he was kissing her lips, his large hands stroking her thighs. “Good?” He asked her softly as he rested his forehead against hers.

Mercedes hummed out, exhaling softly as Sam finally let up and instead moved up her body. Kissing her here and there as he did, she watched him as he kissed up the valley of her breast, moving to her lips. She kissed him back moaning into their kiss tasting herself on his tongue. At his question she nodded, smirking at him. “Yes” she breathed out against his sweet lips as he rested his forehead against hers. She looked into his eyes, biting down on her lip as she moved her hands to his sides her long nails sliding across his skin.

Sam gazed into her eyes, lifting his head slightly to take her in completely a smile tugging at his lips. He rested against her, just taking her in for a moment before he asked. “Should we move this to the bed Mrs. Evans?” He didn’t necessarily have to but he wanted her to be comfortable as well. And if she wanted to he’d move their little fun to the bed itself verses the chair she was currently resting in.

Looking to him as he stared upon her, Mercedes blinked slowly at his question thinking to herself for a moment. She shook her head at him quietly she looked up into his eyes. “It’s fine” she breathed after a few minutes. She moved her hands down his hips towards his member, she stroked him through his boxers. He was already rock hard for her, she smirked at the notion.

Samuel rested above her, letting the silence surround them. He waited patiently for her answer and when she gave it to him, he nodded slowly, kissing her lips again. As her hands moved to his dick stroking it he grunted slightly at the feel. He could only hope she was about to engage in her favorite pastime. If Samuel truly loved nothing more from his wife, it was some good head. Looking to her Samuel moved to slide his boxers down, his dick jumping at attention.

After Samuel pulled his boxers down Mercedes begin to stroke him again, leaning up right in the chair as he stood before her, she gently swirled her tongue around his head slowly tucking hair behind her ear as she did. She looked up at him with a grin as her small hand held his large member in it.

As she sat up right in the chair he moved to quietly unfasten her bra tugging it to slide down her arms. Samuel gazed at her, his eyes wrapped her hand around him preparing herself to give him head. At the feel of her warm tongue against him, his eyes closed, almost rolling back.

Mercedes move to relax her throat as she pushed him into her mouth deepthroating him. He begin, to remove her bra completely and she dropped her hands simple bobbing her head against him as he tossed it aside. Once he was done she pushed him back down her throat in one swift motion and removed him slowly, repeating this movement several times as she got his dick slick with her saliva. Pulling him out completely, Mercedes shoved him back into her mouth again gagging slightly before she released him. She spat on it, the wholesome housewife, turned lawyer, Christian, and feminist spat on Samuel’s dick swirling her tongue around his shaft again before she bobbed her head up and down his length using her hand to twist her wrist in the motion with her mouth.  

Samuel hissed at the feel, groaning out as she took him deep. “Mercedes…” He moaned her name, his mouth falling open as she worked him over with her hot mouth and tongue. “Fuck baby.” He whispered softly, tentatively moving a hand to the back of her head, tangling within her curls. “That feels amazing.” He groaned using all his strength to keep his hips still to stop himself from fucking her mouth. If he didn’t know any better he would have sworn his wife was a hoe in her past life with the way she worked tricks on his dick.

Mercedes moaned around him “mm” she hummed out as he moved his hand behind her head and she continued to bob up and down against him before she pulled away. She licked around him, licking his head and down his length before she took him back into her mouth moaning all the while, she shoved him back down her throat gagging as she fucked the back of her own throat with his dick. Hand holding the base of his dick she shoved him in and out her throat hotly as he grunted and moaned out her name in return.

Samuel couldn’t look down at her. If he looked down at her, he would lose his mind. He simply couldn’t do it. However, he felt like regardless of if he looked down at her or not, he was going insane. The way her mouth worked over him and the way her tongue slid up and down his length. It was driving him crazy and then he had to do it. He opened his eyes and looked down at her, watching as she shoved his dick into her mouth. “Fuck.” He moaned out before he grabbed her. He held her by her arms and pulled her up to him. Without hesitation he captured her lips, kissing her deeply as he hummed out against her lips “Dammit Mercedes” He groaned. “Trying to make me cum?” he asked her huskily as he smacked her round bare ass.

Breathing in through her nose, Mercedes released Samuel one final time from deep down in her throat as she began to stroke him with her hand. Twisting her wrist ever so often as she moved up and down him rhythmically. When he pulled her up to him she squealed slightly from the sudden action. She kissed him back hungrily; she yearned with just as much want if not more. She bit her lip bashfully as he smacked her round ass in the now quiet room, batting her lashes she smirked evilly up at him.  

He wanted oh so badly to fuck her and make her scream but he had to calm himself down first the thought along was making his dick throb for a release. Groaning once more, Samuel decided to push her back down against the chair. He allowed his dick to press against her thigh as he moved his lips to her ear leaning over her in the chair. “I am going to tear you up” Samuel said lowly to her moving to grab her legs he lifted them up placing them over his shoulder, he leaned down into her aligning himself with her before he slid into her slowly. He filled her up inch by inch, watching her face as he did so. The feeling of being inside of her again, just about set his body on fire and he moaned her name. His hands resting on the back of the chair she was sitting on, he used his body to keep her legs up.

Mercedes looked to Sam as he moved to align himself his words both excited her and terrified her. She closed her eyes, feeling him as he pushed inside her inch by inch and Mercedes’s hands moved to the seat gripping it as he lift her legs up over his broad shoulder. The angle was killing her, here she was leaning against the unsteady chair awkwardly and he was pressed into her thick thighs holding her up with his body and his hands. She moaned softly hearing her name leave his lips and she opened her eyes looking to him gently. “Y-you’re so b-big” she told him as he slid in and out of her.

Sam pushed into her slowly, giving her all of him little by little until she was completely filled with him. At her words, he couldn’t help but to chuckle softly. “Are you okay?” He asked her softly, knowing that the angle could be putting pressure on her back in the chair. He slid out of her nice and slow only to push right back inside of her just as slowly.

Mercedes smirked knowingly and she nodded “yes”, breathing softly as he inched out of her and then right back in. She moved her hands to his hips holding him there as he slowly worked in and out of her. He was being gentle and she was grateful for it in the moment, she closed her eyes again at the feel of them reconnecting again.

Sam watched her face as he stroked her deep and slow, making sure she truly felt alright. He shifted slightly, his hands gripping the chair holding it steady. He leaned down into her kissing her forehead sweetly allowing his muscular body to rest against hers slightly bending her legs back against her own chest a little more. He captured her lips after a few second stroking her evenly. He gave her long, soft thrusts smiling softly against her plush pillowly soft lips as he planted his feet to keep his balance steady.

Mercedes felt him lean down against her pushing her legs back against her chest and the feel made her moaned out loudly closing her eyes. Feeling his rock-hard body against hers made him shiver slightly; the man was in impeccable shape. He kissed her and she moaned against his tender lips opening her eyes to look up at them but the pleasure being too much caused her to close her eyes again. Sliding her tongue into his mouth gently; she toyed with his as she breathed evenly out of her nose. She moaned again as he dipped his hips in and out hers.  

Sam felt her body shiver under his and he groaned at the feeling. His tongue tangled with hers, sucking at it as well as nibbling her lips as he worked her tenderly. He gave her one slightly harder thrust as he rolled his hips, rocking against her, his pelvis pressed directly against hers. His hands moved to her hair stroking it as he made love to her, giving her a few hard thrusts here and there.

Mercedes moaned again as Sam supplied a harder thrust in the midst of making out with her, her back arched a bit at the feel. As he stroked her hair she deepened the kiss a little more, despite the need for a deep breath she pressed the kiss on. Her hand moving to his hip pulling him closer if it were even possible as he made love to her.

Sam moaned at her moan, his lips locked with hers. Feeling her arch against him, he lifted ever so slightly before he felt her hand against his hip pulling him closer. Resting back flat against her, he kissed her deeply, ignoring the burning in his lungs. His fingers played throughout her curls as he picked up his pace just slightly. Finally, he broke their kiss, inhaling a much-needed deep breath as he gazed down at her. “I love you.” He whispered to her gently as he moved his hand to stroke her cheek.

Mercedes felt him picking up his pace a bit and she closed her eyes at the sensation. As he finally broke them apart she took a deep breath in looking to him as he told her he loved her. Blushing slightly “I love you more” she told him easily, and without hesitation. She felt him stroke her cheek and she closed her eyes again her hand still on his hip and the other holding him close.

Sam smiled at her blush and he told her again. “I love you. I have the most beautiful wife” He breathed out as he rolled his hips back and forth before he began to swivel against her. He alternated from swiveling his hips and stroking her deep. “You feel so good.” He told her gently, smirking a bit before he dropped his head to her shoulder.

Mercedes opened her eyes to look at him again, his words her heart swell in her chest. “I love you too baby” she breathed in a shaky voice both from his ministrations as well as his words. As he released her stroking her deeply dropping his head to her shoulder she groaned.

Sam nuzzled her shoulder and neck, peppering the area with tender kisses. He slid his arms around her thick frame, holding her and the back of the chair as he continued to stroke her easily; he added a few hard thrusts again, pressing another kiss to her shoulder as he did so.

Mercedes held him as he held her back; she nuzzled her face in his neck as well. “Mm” she moaned out his thrusts were clouding her mind. “Shit baby” she breathed out as he offered her a few harder thrust, kissing her shoulder. “You feel so good” she told him moving her hips against his, matching his slow grinds as she panted quietly.

Sam moaned softly against her, a smile tugging his lips slightly. He lifted his head just slightly, whispering in her ear. “So, do you.” He groaned gently as he gave her a few more particularly hard thrusts, his pace still slow, until he settled into the new rhythm, stroking her harder.

“God that feels good” she hummed out into the room, looking to the side of his face and she kissed him there. Nipping at his neck, marking him up as she did, she curled her toes slightly her thighs shaking as he changed his rhythm up a bit. Stroking her harder Mercedes lip parted babbling nonsense as he worked her, hitting her spot as he did. Mercedes moaned loudly, the unexpected moan filling the room around them.

Samuel buried his face back into her shoulder, gently nipping and sucking there as she moaned for him. He caressed her thigh, gently sliding his hand up and down her thick leg as she babbled. He shifted just slightly, angling his hips a little differently to tap her spot with each and every thrust that he had to offer. “Mmm.” He moaned himself.

“Fuck baby” Mercedes cursed as he purposely moved to hit her spot, her body jerked from the actions. Hips bucking as he moved in and out of her expertly. “Fuck” she repeated to him as he caressed her thigh in his hand, Mercedes’ back arched pushing him into her, her hips still moving against his as her face scrunched in pleasure.

Sam listened to her moans and curses of pleasure as he tapped her spot with precision. As she shifted he did too, lifting up and taking the pressure off her legs and hips, he swiveled his hips once more making sure to still tap her spot each time. “You going to cum for me baby?” He asked her softly, stroking her cheek once more.

“Y-yes” Mercedes mumbled out at his question she could feel herself getting to that point. She cupped her breast tightly in her small hands, biting down on her lip as her body rolled into his. She looked down as their body worked in time, she dropped her head back down against the chair as Sam fucked her. “Fuck, I’m so close” she told him as she moved one hand to his back scratching down it once more. Moaning his name on her tongue as she panted out.

Sam moaned himself, watching her small hands cup the breasts that he wanted to so badly to dip his head and suckle. Instead he licked his thumb and pressed it against her clit, flicking it back and forth as he began stroking her once more. Hearing her panting, he bit his lip watching as she withered beneath him.

“Shit” Mercedes let slip before she came undone beneath his strong body. She shook slightly from her orgasm, toes curled, and eyes rolled shut. She scratched down his back roughly as she moaned out loudly her pussy creaming for him. “Shit” she whimpered at the familiar feeling she got when he went entirely too hard sometimes. She moaned out again moving between them pushing his hand aside she slipped him out her pulsating pussy gasping as she squirted, gushing from her core Mercedes strummed her own clit as she rolled her body against him again mouth forming the perfect ‘O’. “Mm, fuck” she whimpered biting down on her lip. As her hips bucked and she ejaculated beneath him.

Sam felt her pussy creaming for him and he groaned, his hand gripping her thigh as she came. However, when she pushed his hand away and him, strumming herself as she gushed all over the chair and their hardwood floors, his dick twitched, growing just a little harder at the sight. “God you’re so beautiful.” He told her as he kneeled between her thighs moving to lick up her juices, his tongue lapping at her hungrily.

Mercedes groaned out as she laid against the chair feeling him between her legs. She released her lip, having dug her teeth into it hard. She grunted softly looking down at herself and her hand covered in her cum. Mercedes groaned inwardly as she moved to cup her breast again with one hand her other covered in the mess she made resting on her shaky thigh. She licked her dry lips watching as he licked her clean and she dropped her tired head back against their seat as she tried to stop her racing heart from thudding against her chest.

He lapped at her, eyes closed as he did. He licked her clean of her juices and cream with a satisfied smile. Lifting his head, he gazed at her covering her breast with her hand and he moved to grab her wrist. Pulling his fingers into his mouth he licked them clean one at a time savoring the taste of her on them. “You taste so good baby” he told her truthfully before he pulled her hand away from her breast. He leaned down as captured her nipple into his mouth and he suckled it hungrily, tongue rolling over the chocolate mound. After licking and lapping at both of her nipples, teasing her breast he moved to stand back up again. Snatching her up he moved her to the bed, he angled her in his lap slightly sliding her down on his dick, as he lifted one leg allowing her to rest back against it as he lightly began to thrust into her again.

Mercedes looked to him and she nodded at him, she smirked sweetly as he licked her hand clean of her mess. He toyed with her large breast and her nipples arousing her once more as he did. After he was done she leaned up as he pulled her up with him. As he moved her to the bed getting comfortable and moving her to hover his lap. Sliding her back down against him she moaned out. “Shit” she said at the new angle. She licked her lips again as he shifted them into the position he wanted them both, she felt him rolling his hips up into hers and she bounced lightly. “Fuck” she breathed out as she did and she stilled herself closing her eyes as she moved her hands to his shoulders, lowering her head down against him gently as she moved her hips in time with his despite how sensitive she still was.

Sam groaned at their new position, smiling at her softly. He rolled his hips upward, his hands resting against her hips. As she bounced lightly, he rested his head back against the bed, his eyes closing at the feeling. “Fuck.” He moaned himself. He rocked against her gently, knowing she was still sensitive, his own orgasm growing in the pit of his balls from the simple movements.

She rocked into Sam, swirling her full hips as she did. She continued to bounce lightly against him hearing his own moans of pleasure. She lifted her head from his, her hands still gripping his shoulder as she got into her element. Smirking she kissed his lips tenderly as she forcefully bounced. She pulled his bottom lip into her mouth tugging it lightly before she released it. “You feel amazing” she told him sweetly as she twerked her ass slightly for him. She rocked into him harder, pushing him back against the bed as she fucked him roughly.

Sam bit his lip, groaning softly as he watched her bounce against him. Once she found her rhythm he settled, his hips stilling as he allowed her to do her thing. He closed his eyes, moaning her name softly as his hands slid from her hips to her thighs, giving them a squeeze. He kissed her lips tenderly, nodding slowly as she began to twerk her ass. “God ‘Cedes, so do you.” He groaned gently as she rocked against him, pushing him into the bed roughly with her thrust.

She leaned up again, moving to place her feet beneath her. Mercedes began to lift and drop herself down against Sam harder. Mercedes placed her hands against the bed as her head rolled slowly, she rocked back and forth against him. She picked her pace up swirling her hips as she bounced, her breast bouncing with her. And she moaned his name and a bunch of nothing as she worked, never letting up.

Samuel opened his eyes, watching as she took her pleasure and gave him his. He watched her as she bounced and rocked against him, finding her groove again and it was definitely a sight to see. He could see the spark and the passion rising in her eyes and it turned him on even more. His dick twitched inside of her and he groaned deeply, his hand sliding back to her hips as he caressed her sides. “Fuck baby.” He groaned for her. “That feels so good.” He told her as he slid his hands around to cup her ass before he dipped his head and began pressing kisses to the tops of her breasts.

“Mmmm” Mercedes moaned out loudly, she swirled her hip down against Sam hitting her spot as she did. And she began to bounce against him again rocking from left to right ever so often as she practically fucked herself. Her hand moving to Samuel’s head of hair, she closed her eyes. “Shit” she panted as she continued to drop down against him repeatedly.

Sam growled softly as he began to thrust upward once more, matching her as she rocked and bounced against him. Feeling her hand on his head, he lifted up and kissed across her collarbone and neck, until he was sucking there, leaving a love-mark as he began panting himself. “Fuck…” He groaned as he closed his eyes again. “So close.” He told her as he gripped her ass in his hands, thrusting against her thrusts.

She felt him as his hips began to push up into hers, matching her thrust and she cried out slightly. “God” she said as he marked her kissing, sucking, and biting at her flesh. Mercedes gripped his arm dropping her head, mounds of curls falling as she did. She rocked into him determine to get him off in the same way he’d done for her. “Cum with me baby” she told him gripping his face in her hand, making him look at her as she continued to twerk her ass for him, hips working feverishly. She hissed slightly as she felt her orgasm building once more. Mercedes licked her lips “cum with me baby” she whimpered as her body began to shake above him this time around.

Samuel moaned her name softly, his hands holding her tight as he moved right along with her, the both of them reaching for the same stars. At her words, he nodded, panting roughly. As she grabbed his face, he opened his eyes looking at her. He gazed into her eyes green one’s searching brown, searching them with a small smirk on his face even as a moan passed his lips. “Shit…” he growled, his hips bucking as she began shaking and his eyes fluttered, but he fought to keep them open as he came, shooting his seed deep inside of her.

Mercedes watched Sam looking down at him until she no longer could and she closed her eyes dropping her head against his shoulder as they came together. She felt him filling her up with his seed and she came, creaming him again as she panted softly. Groans left her one by one as she willed herself not to stroke her clit again. She breathed out a shaky breath as she shivered above him. “Mm” she released as she rocked her hips to a stop. Her body going limp against him as she tiredly exhaled. She moved her hands to his shoulders again as she turned her face to his neck lovingly kissing it.

Sam came hard, his body jerking slightly as he did. His eyes closed and he let out a breathy moan of Mercedes’ name, as he rested back against the bed once more. “Shit baby.” He whispered softly, feeling her pussy cream him a second time. He breathed in and out deeply, opening his eyes to gaze at her as she shivered above him. His hips stopped moving against hers and he licked his dry lips. “A bet worth making indeed…” he told her as she rested against him, face in his shoulder. He wrapped her up in his arms, gently lifting her off of his now flaccid member and laid her down beside him as he rolled over against her licking his lips. Cuddling her close to him, arms wrapping around her body protectively.

“I’s say so…” Mercedes said tiredly as Sam moved to pull her down into the bed now. She laid there on her side as he cuddled up to her and she breathed out softly as she wrapped his arms around her protectively. She hummed softly before a small purr left the happily fucked woman lips, a smile gracing it as well. She wasn’t sure how this little bet would work out, but you didn’t call it a gamble for nothing.

[iamnotaprepper]

Making an emergency plan- The “Immediately After”

I’m including a lot of detail in this, because it’s something I think and talk about a lot, and I believe it’s one of the easiest and most important part of disaster planning. How often do “easy” and “important” go together?  Not often. But this post is long, and if you want the very basic short version check out the Red Cross Ready site.  It’s got a great template to get you started. For more details on a plan and some really good information, I highly recommend the Ready.gov site on planning.  However, these are both general for anywhere in the country and any type of disaster. There are a lot of earthquake and Portland specific details that are worth thinking about, so what’s below is basically an outline of my thought process for my plan.

Why Make A Plan?

It doesn’t matter what vague notions you have about what you would do after a natural disaster (grab the toddler right before she’s smashed by the toppling bus?  Outrun the lava in the Ferrari you were able to hotwire in the pressure of the last possible second?  Put on your sunglasses and walk coolly away as the building blows up behind you?)  Forget the movies.  It’s going to be scary, and you’re going to be freaking out about where the hell your family is and if they’re okay.  If your family doesn’t have a plan of where to meet and how to get there, you’ll be running all over the city trying to track people down, possibly just missing each other, wasting time and energy and worry that could be better spent elsewhere.

Remember the days before cell phones and how hard it was to meet up with people?  That’s the situation we’re likely going to be in. Talking with your family- even if you don’t physically practice your plan- and discussing best/worst case scenarios will hugely increase the chances that everyone in your family will survive the disaster1.  

If an earthquake happens in the middle of the night, getting your family together and knowing where everybody is should be pretty straightforward.  Mid-day on a Tuesday is a different story.  Most of the things we’re going to think through here involve times when everybody’s away from home, because that can be a logistical challenge.

 The Situation

If there’s a major quake on the Cascadia fault, there are a couple of things likely to happen.

1)      If cell phone towers are still standing and functioning, the system is going to be so overloaded that you’re not going to be able to call anyone.  Landlines will be hit or miss.  The (potentially) good news is that even if power is out, the equipment that sends text messages from towers can operate on batteries for up to four hours, and text messages can get through often when calls can’t.  This isn’t a guarantee, but it’s a good possibility you should plan on taking advantage of.  (Note to self: teach Dad to text).

2)      Bridges are likely to come down.  This is (obviously) going to be a problem for Portland.  Tillikum and the new Sellwood bridges are the most likely to still be standing.  The other bridges may or may not be crossable depending on the type of shaking (vertical vs horizontal, periodicity, etc) and the severity of the quake.  Even if the bridges are still standing, it is pretty likely they will not be allowing people to drive over them.

Note for Portlanders: Do not include swimming the river as part of your plan.  The river is going to be full of debris from down bridges, potentially flooding water from upstream dams, and even with The Big Pipe is very likely to be carrying all kinds of communicable diseases we don’t need after a disaster.

3)      Buildings will come down.  This is especially true in downtown, which is full of unreinforced masonry.  Check it out here.  Other buildings will come down too, depending on the type and severity of the quake and the age and construction of the building.  

4)      Roads may or may not be drivable.  Traffic will be terrible.  Emergency vehicles will be trying to get through.  Plan on doing some walking.

 Kids

If you have kids but wish you didn’t, you’re never going to have a better opportunity to go back to your pre-child days of lazy weekend mornings, a clean house, exotic vacations, and regular romantic evenings with your partner.  Obviously I would never advocate for this but I’m just throwing it out there.

If you love your kids and want to keep them, they’re going to be the center priority of your post-earthquake plan.  My family is two able-bodied adults and no kids, so we’re each expected to make our own way to the meeting place.  However, SCHOOLS AND DAYCARES WILL NOT LET CHILDREN LEAVE THE PREMISE WITHOUT AN ADULT WITH PRIOR PICKUP-APPROVAL.  Does your kid go to some private hippie school? Screw it, I don’t know what their policy is, I don’t even have kids.  But I’d bet dollars to doughnuts they’re not going to be allowed to walk home, even if you only live two blocks away and they normally walk to school. Does your neighbor also have a kid at the school, and you’re stuck on the other side of the river and it would be oh-so-convenient to have your neighbor pick up the kid?  Tough luck, because you didn’t put your neighbor on the pre-approval list and all the phones are down.  Actually the Portland Public School website specifically asks you to put neighbors on your pickup list.  

Given that your kids are stuck at school or daycare until you get there, that’s going to be your first stop.  Consider:

1)      Does your school have a disaster communications plan?  Sign up for alerts.

2)      Who is going to be able to get to the school fastest?  In Portland, which side of the river you’re on during school hours is going to be a key factor.

3)      If you (and partner, if applicable) work far from the school, who is the best option to pick up your kid?  Do you have a family member, friend, or neighbor who works near your school, or lives near the school and is home during the day?  Don’t choose somebody with kids in a different school (don’t be a monster and ask someone to prioritize your kids over their own, seriously).  

4)      Ask this person if they’re willing to take on that responsibility, and then include them in your family planning and make sure they’re on the approved list to pick up your children.

5)      Find out if your school has a different evacuation location from the school. Usually it’s the field, if the school has a field.  In Portland the school fields or evacuation location are not always right next to the school.

6)      Remember that teachers, administrators, and school staff have families of their own. They are kind, generous, and responsible people who are not going to want to wait 12 hours for you to pick up your kid because you didn’t think this through.

 What to include in your plan (with some examples)

1)      Your meeting place.  Think about where it makes sense to meet.  If everyone in your family goes to school and works close to each other, it might make more sense to meet someplace central, or at the school, rather than home.  For us, it’s our house, especially since J’s work location moves around.

2)      A backup meeting place.  What if your home or street is on fire, underwater, or otherwise unsafe?  Your backup location should be close to your primary location so it’s easy to get to get to, but far enough that it’s not subject to the same problem (if your house underwater, the neighbor’s house is probably not going to be a good meeting space either).  Ours is a local park- it’s close and has open spaces, so it’s not likely to be completely destroyed by an earthquake.

3)      Is everyone waiting around the meeting place or are there other places or people you’ll need to get to?  I’m likely to get home before J, and since I’m on the NET team, I’ll be checking in at home, gathering the pets, getting my NET kit together, and then taking off for NET duties.  To let J know that I’ve made it home, we have this little kit in a hidden place outside the house:

This should make it possible for me to leave a note along the lines of “11:00, I’m alive and well, checking in for NET, be back in 4 hours.”  J can then leave me a check-in note, and then has the option of finding me at the NET meeting place, taking part in other community efforts like BEECN, or waiting at the house.

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of Rite in the Rain or other all-weather paper.

Remember, checking to see if texting is possible should be step 1 for communications. You’re going to feel a lot better if you know your family members are alive, even if it takes hours or even days to see them in person.

4)      How are people getting to the meeting place?  Figure out a best/worse case scenario.  The best case scenario for me is that I can ride my bike home.  The less attractive scenario is that the roads are so bad or filled with debris that I have to walk (it’s 4.5 miles, so that’s reasonable). For J, it’s going to depend on where he’s working that day and what bridges are up and crossable.  With kids, this needs to include how you’re getting to pick them up, and to the meeting location after that.

5)      A contact person who is outside of the disaster zone.  If you live in Portland, don’t pick someone in Seattle or northern California. Sometimes local communications are more difficult than out-of-state.  After the Northridge Quake, my family in southern California couldn’t call each other, but they could call us in Oregon.  We were a check-in point so everyone could find out that everyone else in the family was okay.  Our contact person is my mother-in-law on the east coast.

6)      What if it’s impossible to get to the meeting place?  If you live in NE but commute to Hillsboro, it could be a serious challenge to get home, but your family is still going to want to know you’re okay. This is a difficult question and I don’t have a single good answer.  If texting is possible, that’s obviously the best choice.  The out-of-state contact is going to be important here.  BEECN sites may be the best option, if you can check in there and your family knows where their nearest site is (although personal communications will not be a priority at BEECN sites).

7)      Other than your immediate family, are there others who need to be included in your plan? Remember that there are going to be geographic restrictions to this question.  If your brother’s wife’s second cousin lives in Salem and you’re in Portland, she can’t be part of your immediate post-disaster plan.  If you’ve got loved ones within a reasonable distance, consider including them- especially if they’re likely to be relying on you (especially the elderly).

Every additional person to a plan exponentially increases the complication and how hard it’s going to be to carry out.  One of the best things you can do is encourage your friends and extended family to have their own plans, so you can do less worrying about others and focus on your immediate family.  

 My Most Commonly Encountered FAQs

How do we include the possibility of injury into our plan?

This is an excellent question.  If J is downtown with a broken leg, he’s obviously not going to be able to walk the 5-6 miles home.  If we can text each other, that’ll make it easier to know what’s going on.  If we can’t text, each of us just has to carry out our part of the plan with the assumption the other will catch up when they can.  If you’ve got kids, if you can’t confirm with another parent/adult that they’re picking up the kids, it might be best to plan on each parent (or adult) to stop by the pickup location rather than relying on a single person.

 We’re just going to evacuate from the city.  Where should we plan on evacuating to?

I’m not sure why people ask me this all the time.  I’m smart but I’m not a fortune teller. I’m also not planning on leaving the city in the immediate aftermath, since we’ve got community obligations.  At any rate, evacuation is not a plan.  You’re still going to have to get your family together in one place to load everyone up in the car and you’re still going to need some basic supplies.  I’ll talk more about this in a later post about the 3 day post-disaster plan.

 What will the government be doing after an earthquake?

Local, state, and federal governments have disaster plans, but please be realistic about what’s going to be possible.  Again, I’ll talk more about this in a later post, but for the immediate finding-your-family after a disaster, the city of Portland is not going to personally assign you an expert to help you track down your kids.  Plan on relying on your own plan.

 How can I prepare for an earthquake when it’s just too awful to think about?  

A lot of people have a head-in-the-sand policy when it comes to disaster preparedness.  Trust me, I know about this as a high anxiety person. However, you’ll find that taking some of the basic steps (talking about how you’ll find your family, not necessarily stockpiling two years of supplies) will relieve some of the background stress every time “the big one” comes up in conversation and will give you a bit of control over the situation.  This is true with kids, as well.  If you’ve got kids in the public school system here in Oregon, they know about earthquakes.  Don’t treat it like a vague and impossibly scary event, treat it like a potentially scary event that you can plan for.  I’m not going to say it’ll do wonders for your mental health, but you’ll feel better.

 1Actually I’m not doing citations, I’m writing this for your benefit and it’s not academic. Just trust me, I’ve read a lot about this and it’s true.

/

[captainignatiuspigheart]

Another week, another near-sun tan. This week I’ve seen a friend in person (what the actual fuck?) and found a new direction for exercise. That sounds pretty good, right? It was extremely disconcerting to meet up with a person in real life – I’ve begun to feel a little like all my friends who have long assured me that they’ve met their best friends purely online – but three hours sitting in the local park in a government-approved triangle was lovely. I’ve been seeing others largely as things to be avoided as they blunder towards me, breathing heavily with no sense of physical distance. Apart from the postman and chin tilts to neighbours it’s the most human experience I’ve had of late. I also attended a properly fun Zoom birthday party too (thanks Mr Ben!), so clearly we’re getting used to these things.

Heading out in the direction of Dovecote Lane park eventually sent me that way on my bike too. I’ve found exercise really hard for the last couple of months. I’ve always relied on cycling to work (and the swim at the halfway point) for a few miles in each direction to keep me fit without feeling like I was doing exercise, and it’s been pretty good for keeping me fit and able to eat and drink what I like. Well fuck you very much lockdown, that’s been properly trashed. Cycling in an aimless circle round university park or Beeston has been quite cack, and while jogging on the spot clearly burns calories it’s too tedious. So I’ve started cycling out to Attenborough Nature Reserve. It’s not especially far, but I’ve rarely explored round there, so I’m enjoying heading off down a road with no clue where it goes. It’s not made me late for work… yet. Even when I didn’t sleep at all on Thursday night I got up and went for an explore before work. Must be good!

In between late night walks around Beeston, drinking too much and watching TV, we’ve continued our slow build of the LEGO Brick Bank. It’s quite lovely.

I’ve also finally returned to LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga on our Wii. I’m up to 30-something per cent and enjoying it enormously. I have discovered though that our TV really can’t handle proper dark contrast on a sunny day, so I’m dying a lot by falling off edges I can’t see. There have been a few levels where I’ve had to stand right in front of the TV (in sport mode), and just hoped I’d find the exit to a room. Still, I’ve got Indy and General Grievous to hop around and smash stuff, so I’m happy.

Oh yeah, and another bootleg Mando arrived this week – with shiny beskar armour! Baby Yoda will have his Mister Shiny Helmet. Nicely, he comes with a screwdriver accessory which I assume is supposed to be the tracking fob. There is something in me compelling me to acquire more of these guys… I’ve also just got the Armourer, but pics of her will have to wait till I’ve crafted a custom cloak. What is wrong with me…?

  Watching: Hollywood

OK, so this should have been in last week’s post, but I’d forgotten that we’d watched it. That’s no indication of how good it is, everything belongs to the neverwhen at the moment. Plus we caned through it in three nights. This is a very strange show, offering us an alternate Hollywood of the 1950s in which the reviled minorities of the day can actually get a foothold in the industry. The show nails the golden era vibe, from movie producer boardrooms to the grim/delightful gas station gigolos. Over the first couple of episodes the show draws together the flailing careers of half a dozen interesting and purposely diverse young Hollywood hopefuls and then sets them together in a movie, despite, or perhaps because of, their race, gender and sexuality – all things that would have killed their careers in real Hollywood. It’s a very pleasing show; the acting is great, from the keen Jack Castello moonlighting as an escort from the aforementioned gas station (it and its owner, Ernie West, are an absolute highlight), aspiring black actor Camille, Archie the black and gay screenwriter who finds himself in a relationship with Rock Hudson (also a delight, and terrible actor in a fantastic screentest montage), and the awesome double act of Hollywood execs Dick Samuels and Ellen Kincaid, plus the quite distressing sleazy and manipulative agent Henry, played with soiled glee by Jim Parsons. 

It’s really good fun, and a moving story – each success feels wonderful, and Hollywood getting behind this gang is immensely satisfying, as is the acceptance and coming out of various characters at all levels of the business. For me, it remained jarring however, for just how unreal the situation is compared to Hollywood of the ’50s – it never escaped its own unlikeliness. Most certainly worth a watch.

Doing: We Are What We Overcome – Live Specials

We’re continuing to livestream every other Monday on Facebook, this time on trying to be aware of our mental health states, as well as that of others. I feel like we’re getting better at this live babbling thing. It feels less awkward now. We’ll be streaming to Facebook next on Monday 1 June, and you can watch em all right here.

Reading: The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

I’ve been through another couple of weeks of struggling to read properly, or at least as quickly as I enjoy. After discarding half a dozen books less than one chapter in, I finally prised open my book cupboard and pulled out the first pretty thing I could find. It was this! A pleasing and sharply written story of a boy traumatised into silence by an event in his childhood (which is only fully revealed toward the end, and works very nicely),  a lad who discovers he has two talents, drawing and lock picking…  We’re given two main story threads to skip between: his life as the lock artist led by a series of pagers offering jobs that he responds to, and how he got into all this trouble in the first place. They’re both peculiarly endearing, and that’s partly down to the charming internal monologue which carries through all of his interactions, since he does indeed remain mute throughout. He’s funny, and sweet, enough of an outsider through his selective mutism to have a cynical eye, and yet through his silence other people just trust him. Including proper big bad criminal types. It all ends rather badly, but we’re told that from the beginning. His lengthy infatuation and distance romance via comic book pages that he and his sort-of girlfriend exchange is genuinely delightful. This is fast-paced and fun, with a harsh shade of real darkness in both his past and future.

Reading: Transformers vol. 1: The World in Your Eyes

This was a hard read for me. I’m a huge fan of IDW’s previous Transformers continuity, which ran for an extraordinary thirteen years (a feat that I don’t think any other Western comic series, still less one based on a toy line, has achieved), taking us from the brutal finale of the Autobot-Decepticon war through to peace time, with wonderful characters, alternating humour with dark political wranglings. This new reboot has quite a lot to live up to… 

We’re taken millions of years back to Cybertron pre-war, introducing us to the sights through the eyes of newly forged Rubble, who’s being shown round by Bumblebee. Of course, it’s the worst possible time to show a new kid round, as the tensions between the establishment and Megatron’s “Ascenticons” are just now bleeding over into violence. It’s a lovely Cybertron, one we’ve only glimpsed before in flashbacks (or, memorably, time travel), and it’s a thriving world with vast architecture, travel and commerce. A successful world, which for what feels like the first time, has organic alien races living alongside the Transformers. It’s sad to think it’ll all be ripped apart soon…

It’s a very pretty comic, but is incredibly slow moving, even for the first chapter introducing a rebooted world. I suspect I’m finding it hard going from the well-established characters of the last continuity to seeing them all reshuffled and now filling different roles. It’s a cool era to set the story in though, and I think it’s got promise.

Building: LEGO Ninjago 70736 Attack of the Morro Dragon

I love Ninjago’s dragons and the insane aesthics the range has pursued down the years, giving us both traditionalish ninjas and dragons, but also Mad Max dieselpunk, enormous mechs, and more recently Tron-style arcade stuff. Bonkers. Oh, and also the stunning Ninjago City builds and the even wilder designs from The LEGO Ninjago Movie.

This set’s a little older, and like most of the Ninjago line I only pick them up when they’re quite severely discounted. Obviously it was the glow in the dark colours that appealed to me most of all, and those lovely wings. It’s a satisfying assembly, with a mini temple build, sky bikes (or something, I don’t really follow the stories), a couple of ninjas and three more of these evil ninjas with transparent legs and heads. Oh, and two ghosts. I’ve already put them somewhere but it’s the dragon I was interested in.

This is actually a smaller set than I thought it was, and comes together very quickly indeed. Despite being larger, and having more pieces than Master Wu’s dragon (a fantastic LEGO set), it’s a shorter build all round. The construction is like many of the others, a combination of big crunchy joints and the little Mixels ones for legs, wings and tail. I always enjoy the design of the dragon head itself, which gives the beastie a lot of character. The chin horn is oddly satisfying! All the glow in the dark pieces give the dragon its lovely roiling curves, but leave it sadly inflexible. It’s a dragon I’d love to coil around a building, but that’s gonna take a severe re-engineering of its body. It’s rather striking, and I imagine this one will remain constructed for quite a while, at least until I want to plunder its glowing parts.

And just because I liked it…

Watching: Never Have I Ever 

We watched this in a single night… I’m always thrilled to stumble across shows with under half-hour episode lengths at present. This is a pretty straightforward US highschool outsider tale, from the somewhat unusual perspective of an Indian-American family. That’s a pretty familiar trope in UK TV, and was very welcome in the even-more-familiar US high school setting. I’m not sure that there’s anything exceptional here, but it’s warmly told, with a number of fun and occasionally over the top performances, all solidly conforming to our expectations of a high school drama. I had some trouble figuring out how old the characters were supposed to be as it’s the usual casting combo of girls who must be in their twenties, but look about 14, and guys who are plainly in their mid-thirties. No wonder kids are so confused these days etc. As usual it’s the vibe between the BFFs that makes this fun to watch, particularly drama-queen Ramona Wong (wonderfully and worryingly odd in the lamentably cancelled Santa Clarita Diet). As filled with diversity and coming out stories as you could hope for, this is plenty of fun, if not especially memorable. Oh yeah, and it’s narrated by John McEnroe. Yes, the tennis player. 

Doing: MissImp’s Virtual Improv Drop-In – “Specific and True” with Terje Brevick

Continuing our mission to bring you improv from everywhere, this week’s episode features Norwegian improviser, Terje Brevick, with fun games and a good reminder of the value of details and honesty in improv.

Last Week – a really busy week! Featuring another mental health livestream, books: The Lock Artist & Transformers vol 1, TV: Hollywood & Never Have I Ever, LEGO: Morro dragon and MORE. Sleep now please. #books #tv #lego #stuff https://wp.me/pbprdx-8EZ Another week, another near-sun tan. This week I’ve seen a friend in person (what the actual fuck?) and found a new direction for exercise.