#ariel now you know full well what you were like as a kid stop playing

[sukibenders]

Percy Jackson being the uncle to Uma and Ariel is so funny. Like I know those family reunions be a blast.

[ducknotinarow]

[07 Raph, Summer and Don uwu]

Now that Donatello was playing the role of Uncle as well, he was able to get his revenge. So when Casey was at work, and Raph taking care of Summer, Don waited until Raph was distracted, had his shell turned, and made his move. Breaking into homes and sticking to the shadows was something they all did well. Summer cradled in his arms, Don was in and out of their home without a noise. Don't worry though Raphael, Donatello left a note.

At his own home, Donatello had Summer and Ariel, grinning as he watched them play. They were a little too young for him to start showing them experiments - but oh, when they could walk and talk, he's going to totally show them some science.

And when Raph inevitably showed up, Donatello decided he was going to be the bastard this time, smiling their way, as if butter couldn't melt,

"I thought you could use a break, I know how difficult it is looking after the hatchlings after all."

Neither of them were hatched, it's just what Donatello ended up calling the little munchkins,

"I mean, are you really going to break up them up - that's cold Raph."

Oh yeah, he's throwing everything back. They really were twins,

"Can't believe you'd be so cruel."

| Muse Interaction

Raphael had their little Summer child bundled up in blankets, even as she fussed slightly trying to her legs out free from the blankets. Once she had learned to use them she never quite let them being trapped away like so small little babbles being made as Raph at least kept a good hold on her in his arms. She was a bit to focused on getting free to take in the fact Casey was heading off to work. Raph at least was standing near the door to the apartment idly talking back and forth with Casey. Well aware they didn't want to go to work they wanted to be home with the new addition to their lives. After the worst case of baby fever had hit the pair. making them talk the idea over and over. Going from maybe one day we'll have this to they really truly wanted to have a baby all their own. Hypothetical children spoken about random names dropped here and there as they would let those conversation go on to long. To kidnapping their niece Ariel just to get the fix of a baby. Even if it meant they were going to be more running away from Donnie then playing with the baby. That part was fun to.

Shifting Summer in his hold to hold her up to look at Casey now, telling her to tell her Dad bye now. Summer idly stared up to her Dad taking in blue eyes of his before smiling and waving her arms around. Raph just eating up watching the mister tough Casey Jones melt at the sight of their kid, baby talk falling out from his mouth as he told her he would be back. Before Casey turned attention back to Raph telling him the same. Raph acted like that did hit his heart just a little to square in the center. Before shutting the door and turning attention back on to Summer. Letting her tiny little fingers curl around one of his own squeezing it as tight as she seemed to be able to before her free hand reached up and made a grab for his mask. High squeal let out as she tug on the soft fabric dragging it down to get a good look at Raph's reaming green eye. Raph didn't flinch away or tell her to stop he just chuckled to himself.

Sometimes he took off to the lair with Summer when it was the two of them. It was a good system Casey took off to work when he had to go in. And Raph got to spend all day basically playing with Summer. Family wasn't ever a dream or wish he wanted. But those moments by the door telling Casey bye, Summer being his excuse cause of Course had to make sure she knew Dad was leaving. Taking pictures for Casey of her since he had to miss out. Switching off when Casey got back home cause course Casey needed his fill of baby time once he was home. Sometimes full switch in roles if Raph had to join his brothers on something going on. It just gave him more reason to think a bit more before he acted so they could keep this little routine going. Raph liked being a Dad that's kind of all he knew, he could see why Donnie seemed to treasure it all so much. Really did become a full time thing uh? Raph had been making Casey's place more and more his home as well. Staying days at time sometimes never leaving still there by the time Casey came home. Once Summer came around? He pretty much never left. Outside visiting a time or two.

All of Summer's stuff was at home after all, her crib, her favorite toys all the stuff she liked to get into that she shouldn't like Casey's golf bag of blunt weapons he used to stomp the wannabes with. Summer soon started to fuss a little more and Raph just chuckled again.

"yeah yeah I know, don' 'ike bein' confined" Stepping over to the living room where her play mat always stayed set up. Setting her down just under the toys that hung over head that she right away tried to grab for. Hans garbing the first stuff toy they could tugging it down and giggling the whole time. "never stop do ya uh?" Raph asks playful poking her stomach before he reclaimed his mask and started to set it back over his face before moving to step away. "Sit tight slugger" his way of telling her he'd be right back she was bound to grow hungry soon and whine for her favorite toy that was left in her crib. His eyes were only take off of her for all of a solid four minutes at best so he could grab her hockey player teddy bear and get a bottle ready for her.

But that was all the time needed for Donatello to go and pull a little reverse on Raphael. Aware of his twin's current daily routine seemed to pin point the right time to make himself at home. Summer seemed aware of her self leaving the ground. The baby slightly grew quite as she turned to look at Donatello, not scared or spooked. She knew the other creatures that resembled her papa. But when she didn't see the red her paper worse, her lip quivered a little bit as she reached up and grabbed at their purple mask tugging it down in her fuss only to pause when getting the glimpse of green in his own eyes though she started to settle down and moved to pat his snout any sign of a cry dying out. She knew the green of her papa' Raph's eye and it was like that even if it was mixed with brown. Making it far easier for Don to take off with her. Summer unaware of what was going on simply settled in her uncles hold and happily looked around once they were outside.

In time for Raph to come back to the living room with a missing baby and a open wide window. Face would panic or snap over the fact his and Casey's baby was suddenly gone. But thanks to Summer's little habit he found purple cloth left on the floor beside her play mat and he knew what happened. Only one of them would been able to sneak in her so easily after all. Though Raph couldn't help but feel annoyed he knew all too well why Don did this.

" You're fuckin' petty ass bitch Don." he simply sighs out as he make his way inside of Don and Von's own place tossing thier mask over at them before he went to cross his arms infront of his plastron, holding Summers little stuff bear by the paw so it hung over his arm. Uncaring if they didn't like the language he went and used. Summer grew uo around it after all and beside Ariel heard it a lot when with Raph and Casey as is.

Sighing well shifting his attention down to where summer was happily sat on the ground with her cousin. They two of them babbling nonesense but you swear they were holding a whole conversation between. As Ariel held tightly on to her mermaid doll that once belong to Donatello. Summer seeming to try and take it from her.

"I thought you could use a break, I know how difficult it is looking after the hatchlings after all."

"Hatcklings?" Raph soon questions "I though Airel came outta Von?" Not seeming to catch it was just a term of endearment and not a factual statement.

"I mean, are you really going to break up them up - that's cold Raph."

Raph just huff and moved to bent down now as he hand Summer her bear so she would stop trying to take her cousins doll away last thing they needed was a baby fight to break out. Raph was pretty sure Summer would win anyway. All well keeping his twin on ignore he knew what theynwere doing. He was simply paying back some revenge Raphael's way.

"Can't believe you'd be so cruel."

"Don I already called ya a petty bitch don' prove my point here." Despite his statement he moved to be beside his brother, because even if he wanted to take Summer and go home just because they pissed him off anf royally annoyed him well Don had a point it would be kind of cruel.

Summer now having her own favorite toy and Ariel's doll safe from being stolen seemed to make their play far more peaceful before the possible fight was about to break out. Raph did smile a little, watching them letting Don's little stunt brush over his shoulders now. "They gonna be jus' as bad as us ya know 'hat 'ight?" He brings up suddenly "glued to the hip, more trouble together 'han apart, bring out the worst and best outta the other?"

Of course thier kids were bound to be close with how close the pair of them were. But even if that moment was nice and sweet Raoh still swiftly punched his brother in the shoulder. Not one his little light hello taps no a an actual punch aiming to hurt his brother with the action. "That don' mean ya get to jus' steal my kid cause ya a petty ass bitch though. Jus' means imma hav'ta get ya back again."

Because, it's okay when Raphael steals Don's baby but not the other way around. Smirking at the expression Don had aimed his way cause he knew they had a similar line of thought in mind about what Raphael threatened. "Could've jus' asked me ta come over I know you miss me but really Don? Using the girls as an excuse?" This was Don's doing stole hos kod so now he's gonna be annoying. "I mean I know I'm ya favorite but can just talk to me." Not anywhere near being Don as he gives a purposely annoying voice when speaking as Donnie. "Hey Raphie come hang out wit' me 'm lonely since ya went an' started a family too." Just because Donnie was getting pay back meant Raoh was going to let Donnie enjoy it.

[d-criss-news]

Nine Songs: Darren Criss

When Disney, Phantom Planet and Mr Hudson collide: Glee star, Emmy and Golden Globe winner and musician Darren Criss talks Andrew Wright through the pivotal songs in his life and the unexpected ways they found him.

“When we are younger, our gateway drugs to a lot of popular things don’t come from the sexiest of places. It’s up to you how proactive you want to be with your curiosity from there, and how far down the rabbit hole you want to go, if you go down at all.”

Choosing the songs that define you is a tricky business to say the least, especially when the power of song has provided an ongoing soundtrack to your life. “When you’re as avid a music consumer as musical artists are, trying to pin down Nine Songs is difficult,” Darren Criss laughs. So much so, his final choices only really crystallise as our conversation draws to its close. “It’s hard for me not to see the value and joy in literally everything,” he explains. “The curse of the creative person is that your ideas and your interests always move way faster than your body can execute.”

Criss is a creative par excellence. As well as his Emmy and Golden Globe winning performance in The Assassination of Gianni Versace, where he played serial killer Andrew Cunanan, to his upcoming role in Muppets Haunted Mansion Halloween special as The Caretaker, he’s also a prolific musician. Criss enjoyed a decadent musical consumption since childhood, so “this was a bit of an archaeological dig,” he admits. As such, everything from jazz standards, to 808s, punk rock, ‘90s teen pop, and musical numbers are excavated in the course of our extemporaneous journey through the music he loves.

Equally on his mind is how to go about approaching the task of creating his Nine Songs, full stop. “The interesting social experiment is: Are my answers going to be songs that actually shaped my life and were formative to me as an artist? Are they songs that were formative to me as a human being? Or am I picking songs that I think represent who I am to people that do not know me? All three of those things aren’t necessarily the same thing.”

He reaches a conclusion of sorts. “For the purposes of making some kind of decision, I’m gonna lean less into trying to look cool to your very cool readership, and more into the literal, ‘What made me think about music in a different way? And hit me in a very emotional way?’ I think that’s probably the healthiest route.”

Embracing the accessibility that characterises Criss’ picks - or at times the initial touchpoints that led him to them - are something he vacillates over during our chat. “I’ve seen a lot of other people’s Nine Songs and they’re super cool. It’s like Leonard Cohen B-sides and old opera records and stuff. I’m gonna be pretty honest with the pop culture zeitgeist of how I grew up but explain why there is so much value in those moments.” His contemplation continues into the next day, Criss’s publicist passes on his regrets at being tentative to admit how he encountered one of his song choices via the Shrek soundtrack.

A yearning to reinterpret accessibility and the value attached to it drives Criss, however. He tells me that a festival performance that applied the anarchic verve of punk rock to a more refined Great American Songbook number remoulded his perception of music entirely. His love of the fusion of these two genres in particular symbolises the salient musical backdrops of his childhood - the guitar bands he played in with friends, and his musical theatre endeavours that led him to Broadway and multiple Ryan Murphy juggernauts, including his breakthrough playing Blaine Anderson in Glee.

Criss employs these contrasting musical lexicons, and other areas in between, on Masquerade, his new EP. Comprising five stand-alone “character-driven” singles, it sees Criss donning different musical personas. “I’m leaning into people that might know me as an actor,” he explains. “Because if actors can do Shakespeare, romantic comedy, and then do a horror movie and wear a prosthetic nose and a wig, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just do that with music.” The song “walk of shame” draws on jazz-standard chords interlaced with hip-hop production, “i can’t dance” looks to new-wave, and “for a night like this” is the product of Criss’ goal to create the ultimate end-of-the-night crowd-pleaser for a new-year bash, wedding or bar mitzvah. “This is all of the parts of me as a lifelong fan of these genres, trying my hand at servicing the pieces of them that I love.”

“I really love all styles of music and understanding what makes them unique and special and what makes them really pop. There are so many things that really make things sing - for lack of a better verb - and I like acknowledging those things and celebrating those things.”

“So, let’s begin. I have runners up and shit, and I have artists, I don’t just have the songs, so we might have to pick them as we go.”

“Part of Your World” by Jodi Benson

“When people read this, they’ll go ‘That’s cute, he likes Disney songs’, but it’s more profound than that. Some of the most formative pieces of music to hit me at a very early age would have been any of the songs that were coming from ‘The Disney renaissance.’ The early-mid ‘90s explosion of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and The Beast.

"One of the through lines between the three of those musicals was Howard Ashman, who is one of my all-time heroes. Dramaturg, songwriter - he really was the voice behind what made those songs great. I have always loved Howard’s lyrical sensibility and also Alan Menken, his partner who wrote these songs with him. There was a musical structure to a lot of the songs which I would unconsciously pick up in my own songwriting, not just musically, but the idea that not only did somebody make these songs, but they wrote them for a story.

“There’s a clip of Howard Ashman vocal directing Jodi Benson, who was the original voice of Ariel. It’s a wonderful example of his genius, where not only was he songwriting but he was storytelling in the way he would tell her how to perform it, and you can really see the song coming to life in that clip. That’s when you cross the street from ‘It’s a song’ to ‘This is an experience.’

"There are certain ingredients that are required to elevate music that goes beyond just a nice melody, a beautiful orchestration and a good voice. There are things that are required to really give a performance a characterisation, context and a vulnerability, that he architects in real-time with Jodi Benson. You see that what he’s doing is what makes the record so special, and that’s something that’s always been inspiring to me.”

“MMMBop” by Hanson

“I think my love of Hanson was because some people didn’t like it, so I was like ‘Fuck you, I like this, how do you feel about it?’ But this is difficult for me, because you know, I’m speaking to The Line of Best Fit and we’re trying to be cool! Although, do you know what’s cool? Being accessible! Writing a pop hit when you are 10 years old. Being in a band with your brothers and you’re all below the age of 15, you have a record contract where you are writing, producing and performing songs that are doing well.

“I was 10 years old when their first album Middle of Nowhere came out, and I remember reading somewhere that there were these kids that had a record. At the time, I was playing guitar and I was writing songs, but in my mind I was a kid, and that was it. I couldn’t be on the radio; you had to be a grown up to do this.

"This was the first time where I realised ‘Holy shit, kids can do stuff!’ It’s the value of seeing yourself in the media - that’s a whole other conversation to talk about - but there’s an immense value in feeling like there’s a piece of you out in the zeitgeist and doing well because it’s encouraging. You go, ‘Holy shit, maybe I can do this as well.'

“When you see children doing things, you’re ‘Wow, this is so cute and fabulous’, but then when you actually look at it you go, ‘This is miles above what most people in this age group are capable of,’ and that’s all I saw, because I was in the same age group and I was so inspired by that. This whole album was really a turning point for me, where I was like, ‘I can do this, I can do music too, because these guys can.'

“Ooh La La” by Faces

“This song really blew my mind. It became my own theme. It’s that ‘Make your heart sing’, nostalgic moment when you’re a teenager, driving in the car listening to it, playing guitar with your friends and you’re singing “I wish that I knew what I know now / When I was younger.” You’re like, ‘because I’m an adult now, I’m 15-years-old. If I only knew what I know now.’

“I was doing theatre from a young age and I was part of a young conservatory called A.C.T. in San Francisco. By way of somebody who knew somebody, I had an audition for a movie. As a kid not being near New York or Los Angeles it was really exciting, and this audition was for a film called ‘Max Fischer’, which would become the movie Rushmore, which would become one of my favourite movies of all time by the now very distinguished Wes Anderson.

“Separate from my own objective love of Wes Anderson, when this movie came out I was just around the age of getting into my own sort of identity with music, but also movies - indie movies - and trying to assert who I was. So, I see this movie Rushmore and I love it. I love the soundtrack, I love it so much, it’s one of my favourite albums ever. This song is the end sequence, and the way it made me feel - the vocals on it, I could play it on guitar and it was part of a cool movie - it really represented a lot in my life.

“And because of the acting thing, and Rushmore being great - it’s about this kid in high-school who's misunderstood but has his own agenda - everything about it was just so fucking cool to me. To this day, I cite that song as one of my favourite records of all time.”

“Recently Distressed” by Phantom Planet

“A guy that really formed the way I would sing and write songs is Alex Greenwald, the frontman of Phantom Planet. I went to see Phantom Planet because I loved Rushmore and I found out that Jason Schwartzman [who had been cast as Max Fischer] was also the drummer for a band called Phantom Planet.

"So, when I saw their name on the bill I went, but I didn't know their music. I was barely 14, but their set blew my mind. It was Rock and Roll, but I loved Alex Greenwald’s voice. I loved everything, and I would follow their career from there. I always tell people that my voice is a combination of me trying to be Alex Greenwald, Paul McCartney and Rufus Wainwright, but failing. Alex was incredibly formative for me.

“One of their biggest records was a little while after I first saw them, which was the song for The O.C., "California." That was more of an Elvis Costello thing, and they employed a lot of stuff that sounded to me like The Beatles and a lot of ‘60s mod/pop-rock. But later they would employ things from Fugazi, Radiohead and harder shit, and that eclecticism, again, only accelerated my love for Phantom Planet.

“Recently Distressed” is from their 1998 album Phantom Planet Is Missing. This was a cool rock song that employed these George [Harrison] and Paul [McCartney] background vocals and included all of the things that I loved. It was harder but melodic and employed minor 4th chords and more complicated chords than I was used to. I had grown up with power chords - which are very Gregorian - on a lot of alt. punk rock, like Green Day or Nirvana, and if Kurt Cobain was using power chords then that’s how I was playing guitar. Hearing this music was like ‘Oh, I’m using full chords, not sevenths, minor 4th chords, diminished chords’, shit that I would learn to use more and more.

“When you haven’t experienced much, anything that gives a hint towards possibility, even though it’s probably always been there, you’re like, ‘I like this, I’ve always kind of liked this, but it’s very encouraging to hear somebody else do it and it’s gonna make me reconsider my possibilities.’ That was literally the moment that my power chords turned into full barre chords.”

“Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” by Rufus Wainwright

“I forgot the other day how I got into Rufus Wainwright, because all of this stuff I was getting into quite young. It’s like when I talk to 11-13 year olds, it’s funny to think that this was when I was really starting to build my musical identity. But then I remembered, and I didn’t want to say because I didn’t want to sound uncool, because he is such a revered artist who exists in a much cooler place than what I’m about to say.

“I loved soundtracks and I would always buy soundtracks for movies that had cool playlists. I had the Shrek soundtrack, and there’s a cover of Leonard Cohen’s seminal “Hallelujah” that Rufus does and he smashes it, and I’m like, ‘Who the fuck is Rufus Wainwright? What a beautiful voice.’ Then I saw that he was going to be at the Virgin Megastore in San Francisco one week, so I go and he’s there promoting his new album Poses. I remember I didn’t have enough money to buy the album that day, so I had him sign my sneaker and I saved that shoe.

“The first song on Poses was “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, which is a very dark and reflective song about his own battles with addiction, but he’s singing it over this really beautiful, whimsical song that has a lot of really great wordplay. I always love when artists, especially lyricists, can encapsulate an idea with not exactly what they’re talking about. The song’s called “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, it’s not called “Addiction”. Its talking about things that he craved and how that’s representative of other things that he’s gone through. There was a sophistication and elegance to that that I really gravitated towards, that I didn’t possess but wanted to shoot for. So when I saw him, that was a big one for me and he would also continue to influence me later in my life.

“I’ve become friends with Rufus since. I’ve performed with him and we’ve made records together, which is crazy. His songwriting was very complex and punk-rock, but he had this classic cabaret voice, the kind of voice that I don’t have. I was fascinated that there was somebody that could write this really dark material but have such elegance on top of it. He was virtuosic on the piano, which I thought was very cool because musicianship is always the thing that gets me going the most about artists.

“You know what? People say, ‘Don’t meet your heroes.' I completely disagree. Chase the living fuck out of your heroes. I’ve spent a lifetime doing so, it’s made me a better artist, and I’ve sometimes got to meet them and work with them. I’ve worked on music with Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet. I’ve performed with Hanson. I’ve performed those Disney songs with Alan Menken at The Hollywood Bowl.

"This is all because there are people that I love who I have put on my vision board, and the things that they have done are the things that are bringing me to them. So it is nuts, but at the same time you’re like, ‘Well, what else did you think would happen?’ They did stuff that some part of me connected with, so obviously there’s a magnetic pull towards that person.

“Rufus Wainwright is one of my absolute favourite artists of all time and like I said, me trying to sing like him and failing is a big part of my own journey as an artist.”

“3x5” by John Mayer

“John Mayer’s another guy that came around when I was 15. I heard a song of his on a middle-of-the-night, singer/songwriter college radio show. This is where I used to get music. You would listen to these carefully curated playlists that you wouldn’t be able to hear anywhere else, and the host played “No Such Thing”, a new song by this young kid who had just dropped out of Berklee College of Music - John Mayer.

“I’m listening to this song and I’m like, ‘Not only is this guitar playing really interesting, but the lyrical value and everything that is going on here ticks all the boxes.' It was jazz, but it was pop. And he did something that all these other guys and girls I’ve mentioned did. They made something very unique and very accessible.

“I immediately went out to buy this album, Room For Squares, and I listened to it over and over again. It was an album that was really formative for me. "3x5” is a really beautiful song that employs a lot of chord structures and melodies that blew my fucking mind at the time, and it made me wish that I could write songs like that.

“That album was a huge turning point in the way I played the guitar, because it was the first time in my life where I would look up tabs. Up until this point in my life, if I heard a song I could play it instantly. It was like a party trick, I would get how it worked if I heard it, because most of the songs I would hear on the radio - especially those that involved a guitar - were [centred around] power chords. And now I’m hearing all of these ninth chords and thirteenths, and I’m like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ So I’d have to look up tabs.

“I think any young artist can attest to this - when you try and learn other people’s shit, it’s the best tool for educating yourself. Playing other people’s music really helps you lock in what your own style is. Trying to learn these songs - and sometimes pulling it off and sometimes not - really changed the way that my hands moved around the guitar and considered chords and voicings that I’d never really thought of.

“There’s another tie to musical theatre here, where I remember seeing Audra McDonald, who is a very venerated theatre actor, and she did a cabaret. If you’re familiar with cabaret culture, it’s more about performing the story of the songs – ‘Life is a cabaret’. She did a John Mayer song because she thought it was from a musical theatre show, and I was so tickled by this, because I was like ‘Yeah, if you really think about it, I don’t think he knows this and I don’t think his fan base even thinks about this, but there’s a number of his songs that feel very theatrical in the way that the lyrics play with each other and the way the chords move’.

"When I saw this I thought, ‘That is why I like John Mayer’, because yes, he’s an amazing guitar player, but he’s also a really strong songwriter.”

“Cabaret” by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

“Also, around this time growing up in San Francisco, as a guitar player playing music with your buddies, the number one thing that you play is punk rock. There are different parts of the spectrum of punk rock, there's the NOFX, Swingin’ Utters, like real punk, punk. And then there’s the pop-punk thing that was happening at the same time, which was also equally influential - blink-182 and Green Day.

“Fat Mike was the frontman of NOFX. I loved NOFX, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were a supergroup of different members from different punk bands, of which Fat Mike was one of the main architects. They would cover songs and turn them into punk rock songs. They have an album of hits from the ‘60s, and they also have an album called Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: Are a Drag, and that record is just a tonne of musical theatre covers that are done through punk rock.

“That was completely in line with everything I loved at this time of my life but didn’t really know how to articulate. I loved punk rock but I also really loved musical theatre. Not only the performative element of it, but there was a real musicality to musical theatre that wasn’t as present in some of the other shit that was popular at the time, just harmonically, or where chords would go. There was a sophistication I loved that seemed to not exist in punk rock.

“Then hearing Fat Mike at The Warped Tour going ‘Alright, which one of you Motherfuckers loves Julie Andrews?’ and hearing a mixed bag of reactions, because people were ‘What? I was not expecting that from you, sir?’ And then they start playing “My Favourite Things”, a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song which is very accessible, but sophisticated nonetheless. And I am just living. I’m like, ‘This has got the attitude and simplicity of punk rock, but the sophistication of a beautiful song.’

“That was the first time in my life where I went, ‘It’s just all music. All these categories and boxes are completely arbitrary.’ So I thought, ‘I can do that.' I was playing power chords in punk bands but I realised that you can take chords and make them into other rhythms and voicings and have the same song. I could take a punk song and make it jazz. I could take a jazz song and make it country. So, quite providentially, I would end up on Glee, where they took popular songs and would sometimes do their own versions.

“By that point, I had been doing this my whole life. The first time this ever became a possibility for me was seeing Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and that way of thinking about music and genre. I’ve put that into Masquerade, and it’s all born from that moment of ‘Oh my God, nothing has to be one thing. It’s just about how you look at it.'

“Cabaret” is from a pretty famous musical that I would’ve probably heard about later in life, but I first heard that song as a punk song and then I went back and heard the original. It doesn’t matter how these things happen, the inspiration happens and then you can go from there. But Me First and The Gimme Gimmes were a huge gateway drug and I play “Cabaret” now every year at my festival. That’s why the festival is called Elsie Fest, because it covers the song.”

“Modern Nature” by Sondre Lerche

“One of the great joys of being a younger brother is that you get to inherit the music of your elders. My brother and I were both really proactive consumers of music, so we would share stuff with each other all the time. But then he would come home from college, which is like coming home from a music festival essentially, right? He was in a new time zone with new people, so he’d bring home these mix CDs that he’d made from people that he’d heard about, and he brings home this guy named Sondre Lerche.

“Hearing this guy blew my mind, because he also was using jazz chords and drawing on musical theatre. Musical theatre’s a massive category, so I can’t just say that musical theatre sounds like one thing, but when I say this, I’m referring to The American Songbook, the jazz standard songbook. “Modern Nature” was a duet that I would go on to play many times with one of my oldest musical collaborators, Charlene Kaye. When we got to college and we both found out that we loved this guy.

“There was a much more whimsical way to how he wrote these songs. And what’s crazy is that loving this guy meant that we also loved Rufus Wainwright, that we also loved these other artists. But Sondre was the first time I considered that I loved that type of music, but I didn’t know that you could be a singer/songwriter and put out music that sounded like it.

“I don’t know if ‘twee’ is the right word to use, but with “Modern Nature” there was a playfulness about it, and again, a musicality that I really gravitated towards. There is a through line - there was a sophistication that was accessible, and me trying to learn those songs did make me rethink the way that I was writing music. The structures were weird and different and I liked that.

“To this day, I find myself writing songs that I think might be difficult for people to ingest, because they’re a little too left of centre, and I realise that I’m trying to write like Sondre Lerche, or I’m unconsciously just copying him.”

“Everything Happens to Me” by Mr Hudson & The Library

“I was in an H&M in Stockholm when I was 21, and I heard this really cool groove and the lyric was “Why must I always play the clown?” It was sung with a really thick British accent, had an 808 feel on it, and lyrically it had an attitude. Who would say something that sounds so like you’re in a Gilbert & Sullivan musical, but it feels hard? It was cool.

“I went home and looked this up and it was off the record A Tale of Two Cities by Mr Hudson and the Library, which would really, really fuck me up. I bought the album immediately because I loved this song. I had to order it on the internet because I couldn’t find it. It was doing well in England and he was on the festival circuit in the early-mid 2000s, but the first song on the album was a musical theatre cover with 808s.

“It was a pared-down, sort of a hip-hop version of “On The Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady, and I’m like ‘No fucking way, this guy gets where my head is.’ I’d thought about punk rock musical theatre, but I never thought about 808s and 909s scoring these beautiful songs. I go down the track list and he has “Everything Happens to Me”, which is another very famous standard, and he had this really cool, what we would now call chill-hop, ‘study beats’ version of this song. I was like, ‘This is it. This guy gets that good music is good music and you can reinterpret it to offer it as a new song.’

“I would later become great friends with Mr Hudson. I got to meet him years later when I was with Columbia Records, and they said to me ‘Who do you want to meet?’ He was at the top of my list. I went to London and we’ve been friends ever since and have created all kinds of music together.

“He told me a story where Tyler the Creator went up to him once at Coachella and said, ‘Oh man, “Everything Happens To Me”, that’s like my song.’ We both wondered if Tyler the Creator knew that it was a Chet Baker cover. And we were thinking how cool it is that you can offer these songs to a new audience through a different lens. Tyler’s a smart guy, he’s very cultured, and I’m sure he did know. But it’s more the idea that if someone experienced this song and didn’t know that it was a cover, and this is like the first time they ever get to experience it.

“Mr Hudson would go on to do his own thing with Kanye and was on 808s & Heartbreak and has had his own career. I think “Supernova” was a hit in the UK, it didn’t really cross over here to The States, but before that moment for him, that Mr Hudson and The Library album changed my life. People use that phrase willy-nilly, but this literally was a turning point in my life. It all had to do with the same thing that happened with these other songs, where I saw someone do what I always wanted to do but didn’t really know how to pull off. Where he had this fusing of old songs delivered through a contemporary lens, but also laced it with his own original material that also employed the things that made that old songwriting interesting.

“It’s like changing the font of a great essay but finding the font and figuring out that that font is its own art form. He really displayed that marvellously on this.”

The Masquerade EP is out now

[leossmoonn]

Helping Hand [Kol Mikaelson]

masterlist 

pairing - kol mikaelson x fem!reader

type - fluff

note/ request - “hey can i request a kol fluff where the reader and him babysit her sister's babies and they prefer kol” this was so cute, enjoy!

summary - kol helps you babysit and you both learn the kids prefer kol

warnings / includes - children (jkk i hate love kids), flirting, kissing

————

*gif isn’t mine*

Babysitting was supposed to be easy. You loved babysitting. You did lots in your youth. You worked very well with kids. Well, at least that’s what you thought before your sister dropped her kids off. 

“Lacey needs to be in bed by 7, otherwise she just won’t sleep the rest of the night. The only thing Noah will eat are chicken tenders. You have those right? Try to get him to eat some carrots, too, okay? Thanks,” Your sister, Monica, said.

She handed you a duffle bag full of baby supplies and games for Noah. 

“Oh, and Noah likes to watch Paw Patrol, but if you want him to calm down, put on Aladdin or The Little Mermaid. He likes the monkey and Ariel. Oh! And-”

“I got it, Mon. I used to babysit when we were younger, remember?” You said. 

“Right, right. Okay, well if you need to know anything else there’s a little folder Dan and I put together.”

“Noted. I doubt I’ll need it, though,” you chuckled. 

“You probably will,” Monica laughed breathily. She then bent down to Noah.”Be good for Aunt Y/n, okay, my loves? Mommy and Daddy will be back in the morning.” She got back up and kissed Lacey on the cheek, causing the baby to babble.  

“Bye, Mommy!” Noah exclaimed. 

“Bye, honey!” Monica waved. She then left, picking up her dress and heading over to her car.

“Have fun!” You shouted as the drove away. You then shut the door and smiled at the baby in your arm and the 5 year old on the ground. 

“Hey, so what do you guys wanna do?” You asked. 

Noah looked around, spotting your cat. “Kitty!” He shouted, running full speed to the cat. 

“Oh, Noah, please don’t! Hazel doesn’t like it when people run at her!” You exclaimed, running over to him with Lacey still in your arms.

You saw Hazel jump to the ground and run upstairs. Noah pouted and looked to you. 

“Kitty didn’t wanna play,” he said. “Well, cats generally don’t like to play with people they don’t know, Noah. Why don’t we watch some TV and play with some of your toys. Kitty might come out if we are calm,” you smiled at him. 

“No! I want Kitty now!” Noah screamed, running up stairs. 

“Noah!” You shouted. You went to run after him, but Lacey giggled in your arms, reminding you that you had another kid to look after. 

“Alright uh, why don’t we put you in your playpen, okay?” You suggested. 

Lacey babbled again in reply. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” you smiled. 

You carried her to your living room where Dan, Monica’s husband, had set up the playpen. You set Lacey in, setting in a few toys. You then turned on a baby monitor, setting it right beside the playpen. You took another monitor and clipped it to your pants so you were able to hear Lacey at all times. You then started to go upstairs, hoping that Hazel didn’t attack Noah. 

“Hazel? Noah?” You called out. 

“Are those your other partners, darling? I don’t think I agreed to an open relationship with you,” a sexy, Australian voice sounded from behind you. 

You stopped in your track, holding the railing as you turned around. 

“Kol?! What are you doing here?” You asked, a big smile on your face. 

“Well, I was taking a stroll around the neighbourhood and couldn’t help but be curious as to why there were two children being thrown into your house,” he explained with a smile. 

You chuckled and climbed back down the stairs, walking over to him. “They’re my sister’s. That one is Lacey,” you said, pointing to the baby in the playpen. 

“Oh, my. She is adorable!” Kol exclaimed, walking over to the baby. 

“Yeah, she is,” you nodded. “I uh, I have to go and check on Noah. He’s my sister’s 5 year-old. He was chasing Hazel.”

“Want me to help?” Kol asked. 

“No, it’s okay. I got this. I’m great with kids,” you reassured. 

“Oh, I bet,” Kol smirked. “What?” You asked, crossing your arms around your chest. 

“Nothing, nothing. Now go, I’ll stay with Lacey,” Kol smiled. 

“Alright,” you sighed, turning around on your heel. 

You ran up the stairs, going straight to your bedroom, knowing that that’s where Hazel liked to hide. You busted through the door, groaning as you saw Noah on his stomach, reaching under your bed. 

“Hey, Noah, leave Hazel alone, okay?” You asked. 

“I want to see see Kitty!” Noah exclaimed. “Well, Kitty needs to some to adjust you,” you explained. 

“Why?” Noah asked. “Because cats are shy and reserved, unlike dogs who like people,” you answered. 

“C’mon, why don’t we go and get you a snack,” you suggested, getting on your knees.

“I’m not hungry,” Noah grumbled. “Then how about we watch a movie? Your mom told me you like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, right?” 

“Yeah, but I wanna play with Kitty,” Noah said. 

You rolled your eyes, your irritation building. “You have to let her come to you okay. I know it’s a little annoying, but that’s just how cats are.”

“Noah, why don’t we go and play with your trains,” Kol said from your doorway. 

Your head snapped up to him, glaring. “I told you I got this.” “Yeah, it sure sounds like it, darling,” Kol chuckled. He got down next to you, smiling at Noah. 

“Who are you?” Noah asked, looking at him.

“I am Kol. Y/n’s boyfriend. I didn’t realise she was watching you and your sister today,” Kol smiled.

“Yeah, she’s my Aunt,” Noah said. “I know, she told me. So, what is the problem you are having here?” Kol asked. 

“I want to pet Kitty, but she’s hiding,” Noah pouted. 

“Ah, well cats are pus-”

“Kol!” You slapped his arm. Kol rolled his eyes, “Cats are annoying. I prefer dogs, myself. Why don’t we just bring your toys up here and wait until the cat comes out?”

“Okay!” Noah smiled. He got up to get his toys from downstairs. 

You scoffed, “Why does he listen to you and not me?”

“Because boys listen to other boys. Unless it’s their mother,” Kol explained. 

“Wow, so even 5 year-olds are sexist?” You asked jokingly. “No, not like that,” Kol rolled his eyes. 

“Mhm,” you hummed. “Well let me get Lacey since we are staying up here.”

“No, no. Why don’t I deal with Noah, you go and watch Lacey,” Kol said. 

“Hm, alright. You have fun in your little boy’s club,” you smirked, getting up. 

“Will do,” Kol smiled at you. He got up with you, putting his hand on your waist and pulling you in. 

“Kol, no,” you giggled. “Just one kiss, love,” Kol said, looking deeply into your eyes. 

You sighed, knowing you wouldn’t be able to resist him. You put your arms around his neck, leaning up to press your lips against his. You melted into him immediately, kissing him chastely. You pulled away after a few moments, hearing Noah’s footsteps approach your room. 

“Have fun, gorgeous,” Kol winked at you. “Will do,” you chuckled.

You went downstairs, going over to Lacey who was standing up in her playpen. 

“Wow, you’re stronger than I thought,” you chuckled. You went to the duffle bag, pulling out the folder Dan and her made. You went to Lacey’s feeding schedule and looked at the clock. 

“Looks like it’s time for dinner,” you smiled. 

You got out the bottle of breast milk that Monica had packed and heated it up, going back over to Lacey. You set the bottle on the coffee table, grabbing Lacey out of her playpen and laying her down in your arms. You then grabbed the bottle and attempted the feed her, but she kept resisting.

“C’mon, Lacey. I know you’re hungry,” you said. “I know I’m not your mom, so it’s a little weird, but you can trust me.”

Lacey looked up at you, smiling and giggling. Her little hands reached out for the bottle. You breathed out in relief. 

“That’s it, good girl, Lacey,” you cooed as you put the bottle gently in her mouth. 

She drank for a good few moments before she pulled away. 

“All done?” You asked as if she could answer. You set the bottle down, lifting Lacey up gently. 

“Okay, do you wanna be burped?” You asked again. 

Lacey looked up a you, a mischievous grin on her lips. 

“What is that looks for?” You giggled, lifting her up to your shoulder. 

As you were would to get a cloth, Lacey then spit up on your shoulder and in your hair. 

“Oh, shi-sugar!” You exclaimed. “I must have fed you too much, I’m sorry,” you apologised to the squealing baby. 

You set Lacey down in her playpen, going over to your kitchen to get a washcloth. You came back to the living room to find Kol with Noah in his arms. 

“I heard you shout, you okay?” Kol asked. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just got spit up on, though,” you groaned, gesturing to your hair that was now sticky due to your sister’s breast milk. 

“Yikes. You must have fed her too much,” Kol said. 

“Well obviously,” you rolled your eyes. “It’s been a while since I’ve taken care of a baby, you know?”

Kol chuckled, “Are you sure you’re prepared for this?”

“Yes. I am CPR and First Aid certification. I have the Pediatrician’s number. I took 10 baby-sitting classes when I was 16 so I was able to do baby-sitting as a business, so I’m pretty prepared. It’s just some kids are more difficult than other’s,” you shrugged. 

“Wow, I never knew you did all that to be able to watch children,” Kol said, genuinely surprised. 

“Yeah, well, if a kid dies on your hands, you can go to jail,” you sighed. 

“Americans are so weird. Back in the day, if a child died while you were taking care of them, it probably means they were weak and didn't deserve to live,” Kol remarked. 

“Don’t say that in front of the kids!” You scolded. “And yeah, that was in like, ancient times. I’m glad it’s changed.”

“Are you calling me ancient?” Kol asked. “Hm… yeah,” you smirked. 

“How rude. I know why these kids don’t like you, then,” Kol teased. 

“Who’s the rude one now?” You challenged, going to your laundry room to put the washcloth in the dirty basket. 

You came back to Kol and Noah sitting on the couch with Lacey on Kol’s lap. 

“I think you have competition, babe,” Kol laughed. “Well, she’s cuter than me, so I’ll let it pass,” you laughed, sitting down with him. 

“Can we watch little mermaid?” Noah asked. 

“Yeah, of course, buddy,” you nodded. You turned on the TV, going to Disney+ and starting the movie. 

“Did you guys get to see Hazel?” You asked. 

“No,” Noah shook his head sadly. “Aw, well, I’m sure she’ll come out now that we’ve given her space,” you reassured. 

“Yay!” Noah exclaimed.  You couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. You watched half of the movie before you started to feel tired. You had your head on Kol’s shoulder and your arm locked with his. Kol had one of his hands on your knee, his other on Lacey’s back and supporting her as she was sleeping on Kol’s chest. 

As you felt yourself start to doze off, Noah then started to talk.

“I’m hungry,” he whined.  You yawned and sat up. “Do you want chicken fingers? I’ll fix some for you.”

“Yeah!” Noah smiled at you and nodded. 

You went to get up, but Kol’s hand on your thigh brought you back down. 

“What are you doing?” You looked to him. “Let me do it. You’ve been running around trying to take care of these children,” Kol said. 

You rolled your eyes. “I’m fine. And I’ve barely done anything.”

“Yes, you have. And I can tell you were about to fall asleep before Noah announced his hunger. Let me do this,” Kol insisted. 

“Ugh, fine. What about Lacey?” You asked, gesturing to the sleeping baby. 

“You can have her,” he said, picking her up and setting her on your lap. 

“Alright,” you sighed, taking Lacey into your arms. 

“I’ll be back,” Kol said. You smiled up at him and nodded, turning your attention back to the movie. 

Not even a minute later, Lacey started to cry. 

“Oh, no. Lacey, what’s wrong?” You asked. 

As she wailed, she pointed to Kol, who was placing fries on a baking pan. 

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me,” you muttered. “I’ll be back, Noah.”

Noah nodded, his eyes focused on the movie. You got up, taking Lacey with you. 

“What’s up?” Kol asked as he set the pan in the oven. 

“You seriously didn’t hear her crying,” you gestured to the sniffling baby. 

“I did, I just thought Noah did something,” Kol shrugged. 

“Hm, nope. She wants you,” you said. Kol shut the oven with a smile. 

“Really? I feel so honoured.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just take the baby. I feel bad enough she spit on me. I don't want her to keep crying because she doesn’t want me to hold her,” you frowned, holding Lacey up. 

“Maybe she needs her diaper changed,” Kol suggested.

“No, I changed her diaper in the beginning of the movie, remember?” You said. 

“Yes, but babies poop and pee all the time. Let’s check,” he said and held up Lacey to his nose. 

“Oh, yeah, she needs to be changed,” Kol cringed, handing her to you. 

“What! Why me?” You asked. “Well, because she obviously wasn’t crying because of you,” Kol said. 

“She’s gonna pee on me. I know it,” you said, taking the baby back.

“That’d be funny,” Kol chuckled. 

You glared at him, making him apologise. 

“Sorry. Fine, I’ll stand there with you. I’ve never changed a baby’s diaper, anyways,” Kol said. 

“Yeah, and you probably never will,” you sighed. Kol frowned, “Well, you never know. We can always adopt.”

You smiled, “Yeah, true.”

You two went to the living room, grabbing the duffle bag and going to the bathroom. You cleaned up Lacey successfully, Kol clapping. 

“Wow, I would never be able to do that,” Kol said. 

“Next time I’ll give you a chance,” you smirked, lifting Lacey back up. 

“Alright, let's go back and relax,” you said. Kol nodded and walked with you to the living room. 

You were pleasantly surprised to see Hazel there next to Noah.

“I see you’ve got the Kitty,” you smiled. 

“Yeah! She likes me,” Noah giggled. “I bet she does,” you nodded.  “Kol, can we play with the trains?” Noah asked. 

“Yeah, of course, buddy,” Kol smiled. You went to the couch with Lacey, Lacey sitting up and babbling while pointing to Kol. 

“I think someone wants you, babe,” you chucked.

Kol got up and took Lacey, setting her down on the floor in-between his legs. 

“Need any help?” You asked laying down on the couch. 

“Nope,” Kol said. “Okay,” you sighed, closing your eyes. 

And before you knew it, you were fast asleep. Kol smiled fondly at you, getting up quickly and placing a blanket over you. He then grabbed all the pillows and another blanket, creating a little play space for Lacey. 

“Alright, you sit right there and if you fall, the pillows will be there to support you,” he said. 

He then started to play with Noah. 

“How long?” Noah asked. “How long what?” Kol asked. 

Noah pointed to you and then back at him.

Kol chuckled. “Oh, I see. Well, we’ve known each other as friends for 2 years. I asked her ask out 2 years ago and we’ve been dating ever since.”

“Do you love her?” Noah asked, looking up at Kol with big, innocent eyes.  

Kol chuckled, staring at you as he spoke. “Yeah, I love her. I love her a lot.”

Noah giggled. “My daddy says ‘i love you’ to us and my mommy every night.”

“He’s a good man,” Kol said. Noah nodded, going back to playing with his trains. 

You woke up 2 hours later to faint singing and a dark room. 

“Kol?” You called out once you got more awake. You looked around the room, starting to panic once you realised Noah and Lacey weren’t in the room. 

“Noah? Lacey?” You called out. As you started to get up, Kol walked into the room. 

“Kol? Where are the kids? I-I accidentally fell asleep,” you breathed out. 

Kol gave you a smile and walked over to you, wrapping his arms around you.

“The children are fine, darling. They’re both sleeping,” he explained, pressing a soft kiss to your head. 

“Oh,” you chuckled. You looked up at him with a thankful smile. “Thank you so much for helping today. I’m afraid my baby sitting skills are a little rusty.”

Kol shrugged with a smile, “No worries. I like helping you and spending time with you. Plus, I have discovered I’m actually good at taking care of children.”

“You are. Who would’ve known under all that murder-vampire-ness, you would have a soft spot for kids,” you smiled. 

“I also have a soft spot for you,” Kol said, setting his hands on your hips and leaning in. 

“Oh, is that so?” You smirked, entangling your fingers in his hair, 

“Mhm,” Kol hummed, pressing his lips to your’s. 

————

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[wellimaginethat]

Double Trouble

Pairing: Jay Halstead x (female) Reader

Requested?: Yes

Word Count: 1649

Author’s Note: So I played around with different ways to go with this one. I’m not a huge fan of the ‘incapable dad’ troupe, so I tried my best to avoid that while still fulfilling the request.

Trigger Warning(s): Mention of Drinking, Mention of past Partying

Disclaimer: I don’t owe nor am I affiliated with any of the Chicago shows, I just like to play with the characters

Summary: You and Jay are married and have twin daughters. You go away for a bachelorette party, leaving Jay to take care of the twins by himself and let’s just say that they’re a bit of a handful...

Y/N = Your Name

“Alright, are you sure you’re not forgetting anything?” Jay asked you, worried that you were forgetting something for your weekend trip.

“I’m sure, I got everything packed. You sure you and the kids will be okay?” You asked your husband gently, not wanting to seem like you didn’t think he was capable of taking care of your twins, you knew he was, at least for short periods of time, but you were the one that took care of them for the most part given the hours Jay worked.

“We’ll be fine.” Jay assured you, placing a kiss to your cheek.

You furrowed your brow. “You better give me a better kiss than that to say goodbye, you won’t see me for two days.” You huffed.

Jay chuckled and gently wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you close to him and kissing you passionately.

When the two of you finally broke away, you smirked. “Much better.” You kissed him once more before pulling away from him and walking out the door to your apartment, pulling your suitcase behind you.

Jay had wanted to help you but he needed to stay behind because of the kids, so he watched you as you walked down the hall before shutting the door and heading into the living room. “Who’s ready for a fun weekend?” he asked your twin four year olds.

Ariel jumped up. “Me!” She shouted happily.

But within twenty four hours that all changed.

Jay didn’t want to call you, but with one twin ready to fight him and the other throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of the living room, he was at his wits end. He didn’t want to bother you because you were away on a girls weekend for your best friend’s bachelorette party and he knew that you hadn’t really been out since the twins were born, especially not with all of your best girl friends.

You were about your third drink in when Jay’s call rang through and you picked up the phone. “Hey baby, how’s things going?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I don’t know how you do this everyday. Ariel wants to fight me and Aurora is having a full blown meltdown in the middle of the living room and I don’t know what to do.” Jay told you in a rushed panicked voice, but he was trying to remain calm.

You perked up at that. “Woah, what?” You asked before it registered. “Do you need me to come home? I’m only a couple hours away, I could be there-” “No, just...tell me what to do.” Jay said, not wanting your weekend to be totally ruined.

You took a deep breath. “Okay, if you get Aurora to calm down, then Ariel will stop trying to fight you. All you need to do is figure out what upset her and fix it.”

“How do I do that? I tried asking her what was wrong and all she did was scream and cry more.” Your heart hurt hearing how upset Jay was, you knew he felt like he was failing as a father and you knew it wasn’t really his fault that he didn’t know how to do this.

“You need to pick her up and cuddle her until she calms down enough to talk. While you’re cuddling her, tell her in a soft voice that she’s okay and kinda rock her like you would a baby. It’s the only way to calm her down.” You said softly.

“You sure that’ll work?” Jay asked, unsure.

“I’m certain.” You told him. “I’ll stay on the phone with you while you try. If that doesn’t work then hand her the phone and I’ll talk to her.”

You could hear Jay moving and heard him set his phone down, you could barely hear what was going on in the background but you could hear him trying to calm Aurora down.

Within a few minutes the phone was picked back up. “Okay, it worked but I can’t fix what’s wrong.”

“Well what’s wrong?” You asked softly, worried.

“She misses you.” Jay told you and you could hear the heartbreak in his voice.

“I want mommy!” You heard in the background.

You sighed softly. “Put her on the phone.” You said in the softest voice possible. You heard the phone being shifted and assumed that your daughter now had it. “Aurora? Baby girl?”

“Mommy?” You heard her gasp.

“Yeah, it’s me sweetheart.” You said softly. “Hey, daddy said you were upset?”

“Yeah, I miss you.” Aurora told you in the saddest little voice.

“I’ll be home tomorrow honey.” You said softly. “Can you and your sister be good for daddy until then?”

“Yeah.” Aurora said slowly. “I think so.”

“Okay good. Will you give the phone to your sister?” You asked softly.

“Uh-huh.” Aurora said. “Ariel, mommy wants to talk to you.”

Again the phone was jostled. “Mommy?”

“Hi sweetie.” You said softly. “Can you do me a favor and not fight your dad? He’s doing the best he can.”

“But he upset Aurora.” Ariel told you and you could practically see her pout.

“No, Aurora is upset because I’m not there.” You sighed.

“When are you coming home?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.” You told her softly. “Can you keep your sister calm for me until then?”

“Uh-huh.” Ariel told you with sheer confidence. “I can do that.”

“Alright, hand the phone to daddy please.” You told her.

“Babe?” Jay’s voice came on the phone. “How the hell do you do that?”

You laughed softly. “It’s just that I’m there everyday all day with them.” You said softly, one of the perks of being able to work from home.

“Yeah, I know.” Jay sighed, defeated. “Hey. Don’t do that.” You tell him softly but firmly, knowing exactly what was going through his heads. “Our girls love and adore you, Jay. They’re just not used to it being only you there.”

“I’m trying.” Jay sighed again.

“I know you are, and you’re doing a good job, baby.” You tell him honestly. “I’m proud of you. You’re doing great.”

“Hardly.” Jay snorted, and you could practically see him roll his eyes.

“Stop it.” You tell him, but there’s a smile in your voice. “You’re a good dad and they love you. You’ve got this.”

“I love you.” Jay told you. You smiled. “I love you too. I’ll be home tomorrow night, okay?” “You should really stay for the whole weekend, Y/N.” Jay told you. “You haven’t seen your friends in months and haven’t gotten to really party since before the girls were born, and I think I can handle this now.”

“You sure?” You asked, warily.

“I’m sure.” Jay assured you.

“How about I call you tomorrow and we’ll decide then?” You asked, still worried

“Okay. I love you.” Jay said softly. “Have fun, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“I love you too.” You smiled widely before hanging up the phone.

You didn’t get any more calls that night or the next day until it was time for you to start getting ready to leave if you were going to go home. So you decided to call Jay.

“Hey babe, how’s everything going?” Jay answered in a happy tone.

“Great, I was going to ask you that.”

Jay took a deep breath. “The girls are doing great, we haven’t had any more issues.”

“Really? That’s great.” You were honestly happy to hear that, you knew Jay was completely capable of taking care of your two little ones but you also knew that they could be a handful at times.

“Yeah, so again I think you should stay the weekend, have fun.” Jay told you softly.

You furrowed your brow and smirked a bit. “Trying to keep me away?”

“What? No.” Jay was quick to answer. “I just want you to have some fun.”

You looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Jay, listen, I need to get out of here. I love my friends, but they’re way too wild for me now.” You could hear him laugh on the other end of the phone. “This isn’t funny!”

“You need an excuse to get out of partying? This coming from the woman that, when I met her, could and would stay out until three am every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night and get up the next morning like it was nothing?”

“Shut up, I’ve changed.” You huffed into the phone, pouting a bit.

Jay laughed again, finding your whine adorable. “If you’re not having fun then you should come home. The girls and I miss you like crazy, I just wanted you to stay because I thought you were having fun.”

“Well, I am but I’m not, if that makes sense.” You told him honestly. “I love seeing them, but I feel like we’re at different points in our lives now. Maybe in a few years when they’re all settled down we can get together.”

“When they’re all the types to go to bed at eight?”

“When they can’t drink half a bottle of vodka and still want more vodka.” You told him with a snort. “I feel like I’m being a buzzkill here.”

“Then come home.” Jay told you like it was obvious.

“I don’t wanna hurt anyone’s feelings.” You whined quietly into the phone.

Jay snorted. “Just tell them that there was an emergency at home. That your husband can’t handle your kids and you need to rush home to get the glitter out of his hair.”

You smiled at the idea of that. “Do you really have glitter in your hair?” you asked, suppressing the urge to laugh at the idea.

“Maybe a little bit.” You could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke.

“Okay. I’ll be home in a few hours.” You told him softly. “I love you.”

“I love you too, babe.”

[babiemingoo]

fantasy faire || yoon jeonghan

summary: [apart of the seventeen stars to the right series] jeonghan figures babysitting his niece at disneyland can’t be that bad, but it definitely gets better when he finds out you’re the cast member assisting his niece’s favorite princess, cinderella.

genre: fluff, cutie uncle!jeonghan || wc: 2.3k

a/n: yes I did take too long to post this and yes I did go overboard... i’m sorry

I’m definitely the only college kid that has to spend their Saturdays like this, Jeonghan thinks to himself for the second time that month. When he had spent all those nights in high school imagining the crazy parties and wild events he’d attend on his Saturdays in college, there was never any 4 year old niece involved, and definitely no Disneyland either. Yet here he was, his right pointer and middle fingers wrapped tightly around his niece’s hand as she tugs him towards the opening gates of the amusement park. Despite the fact that he did want to go out day drinking with his friends like normal college students did, he also couldn’t complain too much. A free year pass to Disneyland and getting paid just to spend the day with his niece every week? There’s worse things to do on a Saturday.

Still, Jeonghan curses his need for money in the back of his head when a mere 15 seconds after stepping into the park his niece won’t stop begging him to go to the Royal Hall, of all places. “Uncle Hannie pleaseee you told me last time that you’d let me meet Cinderella!” He tries not to groan at the way his niece looks up at him, eyes pleading and much too big for his dwindling resolve.

“Why do you want to go there?! Don’t you want to, like, ride Space Mountain or something?” Jeonghan complains to her as they walk down Main Street, wearing matching Mickey and Minnie Disney ears while weaving through the overwhelming crowds of families and couples.

His niece lets out a whine just as they pass some teenager asking her parents for pictures in front of the castle, “I want to meet Cinderella! She’s my favorite! Uncle Hannie pleaseee!” Her walking halts and she begins to stomp her feet in protest. “You’re such a meanie, you told me last time we came that we would see Cinderella and the time before that and the first time and-”

“Fine!” Jeonghan thought he was first at a lot of things in life, but his niece definitely has him beat in the whining and persistence departments, “We can go see Cinderella at the Royal Hall, but only once today okay? We’re not going over and over again.”

His niece pouts, but doesn’t complain further as she makes her way to the left where the hall was located. Disneyland was always fun - it was Disneyland - but Jeonghan wishes he could enjoy it to it’s full potential rather than being dragged around to visit people in costumes and watching the same shows over and over again.

-----

The boy watches as his niece makes small conversation with the cast member dressed as Ariel. They had to wait in line for 45 minutes to get into the meet and greet and his niece only looks half amused when the princess asks her if she’s met any new fish friends lately. Jeonghan doesn’t say much during their interaction aside from taking a few pictures to show his aunt later and thanking the cast members for their time. 

Almost immediately after Ariel bids her goodbyes, the little girl goes taking off around the corner, calling out a, “Cinderelly Cinderelly!” in excitement. Jeonghan rushes to keep up, and right as he rounds the corner himself he sees his niece happily jumping into the arms of the woman dressed in blue. 

He already knows this is going to take twice as long as Ariel’s meet and greet did; his niece is already spewing off about how she wants her own castle with a mouse named Gus Gus and a carriage shaped like a pumpkin. With a slight puff Jeonghan makes his way to stand next to the cast attendant with Cinderella and for the first time today it’s his heart that goes pumping with excitement.

You stand next to the pillar with a smile watching the interaction between the princess and Jeonghan’s niece. You loved your job of attending to the princesses at the Royal Hall - the way a few magical minutes in someone’s day always makes the tiring hours more than worth it. You beam as Jeonghan’s niece claps her hands while speaking to Cinderella, questioning her on whether or not the King and Queen of the kingdom forced her to eat broccoli, too.

Since starting your job at Disneyland, there were many days where you and your favorite coworker would talk after a shift to discuss the cute guys that would funnel in and out of the parks. Turning to look at the man who came into your area with the little girl, you knew today would be one of those days. “Is she your sister?” You decide to ask, you know, for good measure. He technically looked old enough to have a child around the girl’s age, but you learned the hard way it’s better not to assume.

“Niece,” He answers with a small smile once he settles next to you. Jeonghan lets a few moments pass as he watches his niece happily bounce next to the princess, but in the corner of his eye he’s watching you. You were probably one of the cutest people he’s ever seen - if not the cutest. Knowing he only has a limited amount of time before the family on the other side of the wall moves on to get their meeting with Cinderella, the man attempts to strike up a conversation, “My sister makes me bring her to Disneyland every Saturday.”

“Every Saturday?!” Your eyes get wide, turning to fully face the man, “Did you have to buy an annual pass for that?”

“Nah, they pay for it.” The boy decides to face you completely in response while rubbing his fingers together, “My sister married well.” For a split second he wonders if he should’ve lied and said he did pay for it all himself - to impress you or something.

Your mouth opens to reply, but you’re quickly distracted when you catch the two girls posing for a picture. Despite your desire to talk to the cute guy, you know you’re technically still on the clock, so you cut the conversation in favor of taking pictures of his niece with her favorite princess. Jeonghan decides to do the same and pulls out his phone for pictures, but really, his attention is on you the entire time.

-----

When his niece first begged to meet Cinderella, Jeonghan fully prepared to tell her every week following that they can’t go the Royal Hall for whatever made up reason and somehow convince her to go on a ride instead.

However, with the thought of you, the cute cast member replaying on his mind like a loop, he doesn’t complain for a second when his niece asks to see the princess in blue. In fact, it’s become a habit to head straight to the left whenever they enter the parks. Sometimes Jeonghan even takes his niece through the meet and greet twice if she behaves well (but she doesn’t really have to do anything. He just wants an excuse to see you again).

With their new routine in play, you and Jeonghan become more and more familiar with each other. You learn each other’s names, where the two of you go to school, and even things as in depth as Jeonghan’s love for basketball and the story of how you came to work for Disney. He figures out that your shift ends at 3pm every Saturday and he always seems to make it at least once before you’re off. Coming to Disneyland goes from babysitting his niece to borderline using the little girl as an excuse to talk to you. The bond you two create is simple, and definitely unexpected from your job of working with families and couples more often than not, but it’s special; even magical in a way.

So when Jeonghan’s niece makes a move to go right instead of left one Spring Saturday, Jeonghan nearly gets whiplash, “What are you doing? Don’t you want to go to the Royal Hall?”

To his surprise, the little girl shakes her head and points towards Tomorrowland, “Can we try Space Mountain instead?”

For once in his life, Jeonghan is rendered speechless. His niece never turned down an opportunity to go see her favorite princess. He does nothing but blink at her for a bit, trying to understand her sudden fixation with the opposite end of the park, until he’s pulled back to reality by her tugging on his hand again, “Do you want to see Cinderella later, then?”

Jeonghan’s okay with going on the ride first - as long as they get into the Royal Hall by 3pm. “No,” His niece suddenly answers and the boy can only imagine how high his eyebrows raise, “I don’t really like Cinderella anymore.”

“You what?!” Jeonghan drops down to the girl’s eye level to shake her shoulders dramatically, “What do you mean you don’t like Cinderella?! She’s your favorite!”

“Not anymore, I watched Frozen yesterday and Elsa’s dress is prettier. She’s my favorite now!” He’s sure this could go in a Youtube compilation of Top 10 Anime Betrayals, “I wanna go see Elsa today instead!”

“Screw Elsa!” Jeonghan forgets for a second just where he is, catching a middle aged mom in the corner of his eye covering her daughter’s ears. Clearing his throat and bringing his tone down, he continues, “You like Cinderella, okay? When we get back to your house later tonight we can watch all the Cinderella movies and I’ll even buy you a doll today! But we're not going to see Elsa! We’re seeing Cinderella!”

The small girl, as expected, isn’t very happy with his demands. She begins to stomp and whine like that first day he took her to meet the princess, and although she got the best of him that time, it’s not happening today. “Why can’t we see Elsa?!”

“Because-” Jeonghan pauses to bring his voice down once again, “Cinderella’s friend is really, really cute, okay? And Uncle Hannie really wants to get their phone number. So, we’re going to see Cinderella and later on when Cinderella’s cute friend doesn’t have to work anymore we can go see Elsa, I promise.” With his pinky stretched out, he’s hoping his explanation suffices. His niece was young and maybe she won’t understand just how desperately he wants those two or three minutes with you every week; but it’s worth a shot. 

For a second, she does nothing but stare at his outstretched hand, almost as if she’s weighing her options. Then, with a small smile, she lifts her small hand to meet his and hooks their pinkies together, “Okay.”

-----

Today, Cinderella is placed at the end of the Royal Hall, and Jeonghan’s sure that his niece knows exactly what she’s doing when she nearly flies through the first two princesses with little to no conversation. He decides not to point it out though, and just goes through the routine of taking a picture and thanking the workers.

Jeonghan wonders how the interaction between his niece and Cinderella will go; will she pretend to be interested? Will she tell Cinderella that she’s found a new favorite? Or, worst of all: will she take nearly no time with the princess, and Jeonghan will be forced to talk to you for less than a second before having to leave?

Surprisingly, his niece does none of the three. Without even sparing Cinderella a glance, she immediately marches over to you standing in your usual spot against the pillar and says, “My Uncle thinks you’re cute.”

Silence. Jeonghan, despite being a naturally confident guy, doesn’t know what to do when you look up from his niece with an amused smile. Even Cinderella seems to lose character for a few moments when she slaps her hand over her mouth to conceal her laugh. Before Jeonghan can open his mouth to redeem himself, you look back down at his niece, “Oh? Does he?”

“Yes! I told Uncle Hannie I wanted to meet Elsa today but he made me come here because he said you’re really cute and he wants your phone number,” The girl replies and Jeonghan wonders where kids learn this stuff. “Can you give him your phone number so I can see Elsa now?”

 Jeonghan sighs. This would happen to him. It’s probably karma for using his innocent niece as a way to talk to you. What is he even supposed to say now? Breaking into an awkward smile, he grabs his niece by the shoulder and shrugs, “Uh, kids, right?” Damn kids.

You laugh for a few seconds before lowering down to his niece’s level and grinning at the girl, “Tell your Uncle, that I think he’s really, really cute,” You spare a glance at the man briefly, “And that I’m flattered he’d like to get my phone number. But it’s against the Disneyland rules for me to give it to him.”

Of course it is, he thinks to himself. Leave it to the happiest place on Earth to ruin his chances with you. Jeonghan’s about to nod in understanding and motion for his niece to (very quickly) finish her meet and greet and he can stuff his face with churros for the rest of the day. But before he can make any sort of moves you continue, “However… If you and your Uncle were to see me at the castle around 3:30 after my shift today… I’m sure Mickey wouldn’t mind, right?”

“He wouldn’t!” His niece answers happily before jumping up and down, facing Jeonghan to say, “Can we see Elsa before then?!”

Chuckling (mostly to mask his sigh of relief and excitement), Jeonghan nods and points to Cinderella across the room, “Finish saying hi to Cinderella and I’ll take you to meet Elsa right after this.”

The little girl squeals in happiness before running over to the woman in blue, who he knows is giving him a knowing look. Jeonghan fits into his spot next to you, whispering through a smile, “So… churros at 3:30 then?”

You beam at him, nodding, “It’s a date.”

[five-rivers]

Glowsticks

Sneaking in before midnight on Halloween~

This is another continuation of Exhumed.

.

.

.

McGee had talked to several people about the strangely popular gravestone.  What he had learned made him feel sick.  Literally. He wanted to throw up.  First, the person buried there was the kid that had been found in the park.  Second, the locals had made him into a cult figure practically overnight.  

Or, at least, a tourist trap figure.  These people had no shame.  

On the other hand… Didn’t they say that Daily person was in charge of cults?  Did Amity Park have a cult problem on top of everything else that was going on?  Was the cult the problem, the root problem?  If there even was an actual cult…

Cults were dangerous and took vicious advantage of legal loopholes.  Maybe he should call the FBI.  They were the ones that were supposed to deal with cults.  

He took a deep breath, pulling himself together. No.  This was his case.  His job. He didn’t know that there was a cult involved, not yet.  Besides, it didn’t matter if they were religious so long as they were breaking the law.  Yeah.  

“Are you okay?”

McGee almost jumped out of his skin, his hand twitching towards his firearm before he realized that the person who snuck up on him was a kid.  The kid from earlier, to be precise.

The boy’s eyes narrowed.  “Were you about to pull a gun on me?” he asked.  

“No,” said McGee.  

The boy blinked, suspicion still evident on his face. “You’ve got to be more careful with guns,” he said.  “There’s no reason to go for one just because someone surprised you.”

McGee didn’t grace that with a response.  “What are you doing here, anyway?  Weren’t you across town, earlier?”

“Yeah.  So were you,” said the boy.  Danny. His name was Danny Fenton.  “Why are you here?”

“I asked first.”

“You shouldn’t ask questions you aren’t willing to answer yourself.”

What the hell was up with this kid?  “I’m just trying to get a better feel for the town.”

“Hm,” said Danny.  “I help out here at the cemetery, sometimes.  Got to lay all those ghosts to rest, you know?”

“Don’t you think that’s a little much?” snapped McGee. “Death isn’t supposed to be a roadside attraction.”

“Oh, don’t worry.  We take death very seriously around here,” assured Danny.  “But seriously.  I do help out.  The caretaker lets me take that stuff away when it gets to be too much.”  He nodded at the blank headstone and all the offerings around it.  “Mom likes the flowers.  Jazz is making a collage of some of the cards.  You know.  Stuff like that.”  He shrugged, angling himself away from McGee.  “Someone left a tiny copy of the Tempest once.  In one of those teeny tiny books.  Post.  It had that one passage from Ariel’s Song decorated.  It was nice.  I liked it.”

“What?”

“Ariel’s Song.  Full fathom five thy father lies;/Of his bones are coral made;/Those are pearls that were his eyes;/Nothing of him that doth fade,/But doth suffer a sea-change/Into something rich and strange. Shakespeare.  I think it’s supposed to be a commentary on ghosts, but the guy in the play isn’t actually dead, people just think he is.  So, I’m not really sure how to take it.  You’re a detective, right?  What do you think?”

McGee stared at the teenager. The kid who was buried there was his age.  “This isn’t a joke,” said McGee.  “A person is dead.”

Danny tilted his head. “I’m not joking?”

“How are you even connected to all of this?”  McGee waved his hand, frustrated.  

“I just told you how I’m connected to the cemetery.  If you mean the town…  Well, I do live here.”

“Why do Patterson and Collins know you?”

“I know everyone,” said Danny.  He started backing away.  “You should go get something to eat soon, if you don’t want to be late.”  He turned and disappeared in the crowd.  

What the hell.

.

McGee did not go to get food. He went back to the station.  He had some questions to ask Cameron Daily, and he got the impression that the man was the kind of person to practically live at work.  

When he opened the door, though, he had to stop.

“What is this?” he asked, loudly.  

“Glowsticks,” said one of the secretaries.  “You have seen them before, right?”

“Yes, but why?”

As much as the police department had been infested with Christmas decorations before, it was now covered with glowsticks of all varieties.  

The secretary shrugged. “You’ll find out.  And, no, this isn’t hazing.”  She broke a new glowstick with a snap.

“Right,” said McGee.  “Where’s Daily?”

“Cameron Daily is in the computer bay,” said the secretary, pointing.

“Thanks,” grunted McGee, once again wondering why there was a separate computer bay when everyone had their own desks, computers, and, in some cases, additional laptops.  

Screw it, he might as well ask.  

“Hey, Daily.”

“Mm?”

“Why’s there a separate computer bay?”

“Oh, it’s shielded,” said Daily.  

“Shielded.”

“Yep.  No signals, and the Fentons did some pretty neat stuff to the walls.  Bunch of, ehm, nasty hackers.  We learned our lesson, eventually.”

“The Fentons.”

“Yeah.  And Foley did the firewalls.”

“They’re the ones who did the computer filing system.”

“Uhuh.  Kids are geniuses.  The parents aren’t too shoddy, either.”

“The—” No.  There was no way.  “Are they the same Fentons that hunt ghosts?”

“Yeah.  You wouldn’t think it to look at them, but apparently they live off of their patents.  Made a bunch of fiddly little things that every other mass production factory in the country uses.  Also, they own a toilet paper company.  Not my favorite brand, but it isn’t the worst, honestly.  Kind of wish we’d buy it here, but, no, we get that gross single ply. I swear, that stuff should be classified as a crime against humanity.”

“You let the ghost hunters deal with your computer security.”

“Oh, I know that tone. You met them, huh?”

“Just the kid.”

Daily looked up at McGee over the computer.  “What?”

“I only met the kid. Danny.”

Slowly, Daily uncurled from his hunch in front of the computer.  The man was taller than McGee thought.

“Then what’s your issue? Danny’s a good kid.”

A good kid whose parents were allowed to run roughshod over the town, who was allowed to steal from graveyards, and knew all of the police officers.  For some reason.  

“I heard you’re in charge of monitoring the cult?”

Daily snorted.  “You make it sound like there’s just one.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, after all the ghosts, most religions had to modernize, you know?”

Oh, god, this was part of the tourist trap.  Or the tourist trap was part of this.  Did they recruit from people who actually believed this nonsense?

“There’s more than one cult?”

“Yep.”

“Sounds like quite a job.”

“Eh.  I’m mostly just keeping track of their online activity.”

“So, how are the Fentons involved?”

“They aren’t.  They’re pretty areligious, overall.  Danny’s been almost kidnapped a few times, though.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Kidnapped.  By a cult.”

“Cults.  Gotta remember the plural, man.  Cults.”  Daily was hunching again.  “But, hey, if you’re interested in the subject, I can give you a thorough run-through of this new group that started up last week.  Their philosophy is wild.  I can’t even tell you—”

“Hey.  You’re early,” said Patterson, leaning through the door, her braid swinging.  “Great. Have you eaten?”

“Yes,” lied McGee.  

“Get better at lying,” said Patterson.  “Come on, let’s go.”

.

Patterson and Collins weren’t the only ones there.  In fact, there were more people in the station than there had been that morning. All with glowsticks.  Said glowsticks were being loaded into unmarked cars while office staff and police officers whispered back and forth.

“Did you get the green stuff?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. Gave me more than enough.” Glowing green milk jugs were loaded into a car.  The car McGee would be riding in with Collins and Patterson.

‘Green stuff.’  Was this some kind of bizarre drug smuggling ring? McGee had fallen behind in drug slang, if so.  ‘Green stuff.’  Were they lacing it with glowstick fluid?

Never before had he felt so lost on a case.  Amity Park was messed up.  

“You’ve got the howlers hooked up?” asked Collins.

“I asked Daily to do it this morning.”

“But did he do it?”

“I mean, it looks like it. Are the howlers really that important?”

McGee had no idea what was going on.  

The cars all started off in a group.  Their car was the last to leave and soon peeled off to trundle slowly down back roads.  

“You probably have questions,” said Collins.

“You could say that,” said McGee.  

“You’ve been a good sport about them,” observed Collins.  

“So,” said McGee, drawing out the word.  “What is this about?”

Patterson swallowed a laugh. “Ever hear of the Men in Black?”

“Look, I’m humoring the ghosts.  Conspiracy theories are where I draw the line.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it’ll stick.  Anyway, here in Amity Park, we deal with their less intelligent cousins.  The Guys in White!”

“That’s not their actual name,” said Collins, glancing back over his shoulder.  “But, well, their appearance fits.”

“Alright, let’s say I believe you.  What does this have to do with the jugs of glowstick fluid in the trunk?”

“Oh, that’s not glowstick fluid,” said Patterson.  “It’s waste from the reactor that powers the town.”

“Don’t worry,” said Collins, hastily, the car swerving somewhat.  “It’s completely harmless!  Not radioactive at all!”

“That’s not what—” started Patterson.  

“You absolutely will not get cancer from it!”

McGee raised a hand.  “You have nuclear reactor fluid in the trunk?”

“It isn’t nuclear reaction fluid,” protested Patterson.  “It’s—"

“Back on track,” interrupted Collins.  

“Yeah.  Anyway.  It’ll trip the Guys in White’s sensors—”

“Eventually,” Collins grumbled.  

“—so we can lead them on a chase.”

“And…  why do we want to do this?”

“Because it’s a quiet month,” said Patterson.  “Don’t want the Guys to get antsy.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means what it means. You’ll see in January.”

McGee looked between his two ‘partners.’  “Are you trying to get me to quit?”

“Because you’re a spy for the county?” asked Patterson.  “Oh, no, never.”

Before McGee could process that statement, the car’s radio crackled to life.  

“We’ve got a class-3 northbound on Orion at 35 miles per hour.  Ectosignature suggests an amorphiform ghost—”

“Hah!” shouted Patterson. “That’s us!  Punch it!”  She twisted the dial on the radio as Collins slammed his foot into the accelerator.  “Bogey to Redrum!  We’ve got followers!”

“Copy, Bogey, this is Redrum. We need a few more minutes to set up. Can you stay out of sight?”

“The hell?”

The radio crackled.  “Forgot you had the new guy!  Don’t shake him up too much, okay?  Over.”

“Copy.  Collins you catch that?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m taking Pan and Laurel.  The holiday tour.”

“Ooh, good choice.” Patterson held up the radio again. “Yeah, we can manage.  Over.”

Collins went faster. For the next several minutes McGee occupied himself with not throwing up.  He succeeded.  Barely.

“Bogey, this Cam,” said the voice of Daily, “followers are gaining.  They’re on Brassica, just passing High Street.  Triggered the speed cameras.  Over.”

“How many and what type? Over.”

“Three gliders.  Don’t think they’ve spotted you yet, though. Over.”

Gliders?  Who did these people think they were kidding?

“Copy, over,” said Patterson. “Not like those guys care about speeders, though,” she muttered.  McGee could barely hear her over the beating of his own heart.

“Sharp right, brace yourselves,” said Collins, split seconds before matching action to words.

“Redrum to bogey, we’re moving out now, over.”

“Copy.  We’re on our way.  Over.  Head to the park, Collins.”

“Gotcha.”

It didn’t seem possible, but Collins somehow pushed the car to go even faster.  Then, just as quickly as the whole ridiculous thing had begun, the car skidded to a halt in a parking lot.  Seeing his chance, McGee clawed at the door handle and dragged himself out onto the pavement.  

Collins and Patterson, meanwhile, were pulling the almost-certainly-toxic waste out of the trunk and launching it into the glowstick-filled woods with—

“Is that a bazooka?” demanded McGee, so far past his wit’s end that he couldn’t even see it anymore.

“Nah, just a modified T-shirt canon,” said Patterson, stowing the object away again.  “Fentonworks special.”

“I don’t believe you,” said McGee.  

Three – Three things – McGee did not want to call them gliders – raced overhead, jets roaring and wind whistling.  They came to a stop approximately where the ‘reactor waste’ had fallen.  

“What the hell?” whispered McGee, passionately.  

“Come on,” said Collins.  “Time for us to go.”

“Yeah, better to spectate from afar,” agreed Patterson.

“I agree,” said a third voice.

“Oh, Danny,” said Patterson.  “Didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

The boy walked into McGee’s field of view and glanced down at him before shrugging.  “Couldn’t sleep.”  He looked up, at the park.  “Thanks for this.”

“Had to get them to blow this month’s budget somehow,” said Collins.  “But, really, we should all go before the fireworks start.”

Danny sighed.  “Hope they don’t blow up the fountain again.  It just got fixed.”

“Same,” said Patterson.

“Well, see you later.”

“Yep, we’ve got that wellness check tomorrow,” said Collins. “You don’t have any excuse to forget, this time.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said the teen, waving over his shoulder as he walked straight into the dark.

“What,” said McGee.  

“That’s just Danny for you,” said Collins.  “Great kid.  Super creepy.”

“Yeah.”

“How’d he even know we’re here?” asked McGee, trying to keep his voice even.  

“He did give us that eeeeehhhhhhh—reactor waste,” said Patterson.  “Come on, get up, we’ve got to—”

A small explosion sounded from the park.  

“Seriously.  I don’t want to have to pick you up.”

“I’d wind up doing most of the lifting,” grumbled Collins, who was sliding into the driver’s seat.

Patterson put her hands on her hips.  “Excuse you?”

There was another, larger explosion.  McGee climbed back into the car.

As they drove, he realized that no one had made fun of his name. Not even once.  

Amity Park was weird.  

[im-in-love-with-pizza-bites]

It Takes A Village Chapter 13

Chris Evans x Pregnant!Daughter!Reader

Series Master List

Series summary: You find out that you're pregnant. After being kicked out of your mom's house you go to live full time with your Dad who you only saw once every few months. Will he react badly to you being a mom at such a young age?

Chapter Summary: You find out the genders of the babies and tell your family and friends. You also announce their names.

Series Warnings: swearing, fighting with a parent, teen pregnancy, speak of abortion.

Chapter Warnings: Teen Pregnancy

You sat in class paying attention to what the teacher was talking about. You didn't understand it but might as well listen. After school was your one of the most important doctor appointments you'll probably ever have. You were getting to find out the babies' genders. Your dad already gave you his prediction of, one girls one boy, Scott told you his last time you saw him, he thinks you'll have boys, you were hoping for boys, mainly cause the names you picked for them you fell in love with. You were gonna ask for your friends prediction at lunch which was next. You already had a plan on how to tell everyone the genders of the babies. You made it known the babies were gonna be named after Disney characters so you really just planned on sending your friends gifs with said characters then at dinner tonight since you were going over to your grandma's you'd just tell them the names. The press had also taken a break from talking about you and the babies so you were back on Instagram, not posting really you just posted stories, usually of dodger and how adorably protective of you, you also blocked you're mom as well as Jake.

You sat at lunch laughing with your friends before Leah brought up the babies. "I think it's gonna be all girls." She said.

"Yeah, both girls." Naomi agreed.

"All boys." Oscar said smiling at you.

"What about you two?" You asked Naomi and Marcus.

"Boys." Mark said agreeing with his brother.

"One boy and one girl." Liam told you

"What about you they're your kids do you have like hidden knowledge?" Oscar asked.

"That's not how it works." Marcus said.

"I'm hoping for boys so I don't have to choose who I name the baby after." You explained.

"Oh."

---

You were at your appointment. "Would you like to know the genders?" The doctor asked.

"Yes please! But can you not put them on the big screen? I don't want my dad knowing when he comes back in."

"Okay... Looks like your have two baby boys!" She announced. Your dad wasn't in the room, he left to used the restroom and you wanted him to also find out just through the names like the rest of your family.

"Really! Great, my dad and uncle both wanted me to name a baby after them." You said giggling.

"Oh do you already have names picked out?" She asked as she kept doing the check up.

"Yeah I had Ar-" You stopped talking as Chris knocked.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

"What's the genders?" Chris asked smiling at you.

"Nope you get to find out the same time as everyone else!"

"They're all healthy though." The doctor assured.

"Well that's all that matters." Chris smiles.

---

You sat in the car, Chris nagging you to try and get the gender but you just shrugged him off before texting your friends, admittedly you probably should've told your family first but you were too excited. Oscar and Marcus were bragging about how they were right. Liam said he was close. The girls and Oscar were gushing over how adorable the names are. Chris was driving the two of you home to get dodger then you were going to your grandma's.

"I'll get Dodger wait in the car bubba." Chris said getting out of the car.

Soon you made it to your grandma's house. Scott was the only one there.

"Was I right?" He asked.

"Can't tell you." You said.

"It's o and n her phone! Get it." Chris said loudly as he entered the living room, laughing as you and Scott began play wrestling over you phone. Not full-on wrestling more of you pushing him away as you held your phone as far from him as possible, which was with some difficulty as he's a bit bigger than you.

"Dad!! Help me!!" You whined. Chris smirked walking over and snatching your phone. He clicked on but was quickly stopped when he realized your phone had a passcode. "Ha!" You laughed snatching your phone back.

"Come on the wait is killing us! Can you at least tell us which one of us your gonna name the baby after if it's only one boy?" Chris asked.

"Dad your acting like a child." You teased rolling your eyes as your aunt, her husband, and their kids come in. Almost immediately the kids were hugging you asking the genders. "What do you guys predict they are?" You asked.

"Girls!" Stella exclaimed.

"Boys." Ethan said. Subtly your smile grew but no one seemed to notice.

"One boy one girl!" Miles said.

"Good guesses." You smiled, looking at your aunt and uncle. "Hi!"

"Hey kiddo." Ryan said ruffling your hair before sitting on the couch next to his youngest brother in law.

"Hey n/n." Carly smiled at you taking a seat next to Chris.

"What do you guys predict? Dad thinks it's one girls one boy, uncle Scott thinks boys, grandma thinks boys. Oh and I texted grandpa and he thinks girls." You said smiling

"One girl one boy." Ryan told you. You looked at carly.

"Girls."

"Can we know yet?" Miles whined.

"Aunt Shanna isn't here yet." You said. You looked away not noticing how Chris told the kids to steal your phone so he could try to figure out your passcode or find a way go unlock it with your finger without you noticing. Ethan grabbed it handing it to Chris as the four of them messed with your phone. Scott peaked over whispering something too Chris. You turned around looking at them .

"Hey! Give it back!" You said reaching for it but Chris quickly handed it to Miles and told him to run.  Miles ran off while the other four of them held you back from running after him. Laughter filled the room as you broke free following after Miles, Ethan, Stella and Dodger behind you trying to stop you. Well Dodger didn't know what was happening he just didn't like you running.

"Woah watch it kiddos!" Your grandma said as you four ran through the kitchen, a chorus of "sorry Gramma!" Was heard before you were out of the kitchen.

"Miles please!" You whined running after him.

"No!" The four of you made it back into the living room and, Miles handed the phone too Scott who quickly gave it to Chris who tried 3000 which didn't work.

"Did you really think I did a marvel reference as my phone passcode?" You asked laughing snatching the phone back playfully glaring at the two men.

"Scott's idea!" Chris blamed. The living room was filled with laughter as you settled down Dodger found his spot on your lap glaring at you for what you could only assume was for running around.

"Can you give a hint?" Stella asked.

"N-" you began but was cut off when Shanna walked in.

"Hi!"

"Yes! Now y/n can tell us!" Miles ran over dragging Shanna over to the couch making everyone laugh. Your grandma stepped into the living smiling at her kids before looking at you expectantly.

"Okay fine, the babies are boys!" You announced.

"I was right!" Ethan exclaimed.

"So was I." Scott said giving Ethan a high-five.

"What's their names?" Stella asked.

"Flynn and Felix." You said.

"After Flynn rider!" Miles exclaimed smiling.

"They're good names." You dad said. You smiled as he pulled into his side.

"What were the other name options?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, Ariel and Aurora. I said they'd be Disney themed I meant it." You said.

"Both of your kids are named after animated characters." Ethan pointed out.

"It's only a matter of time before Tangled gets a live-action version." You said.

"They're great names... But which one is named after me?" Scott asked. You giggled.

"Flynn Scott, and Felix Christopher." You said the full names except last name as you didn't know who's last name you'd use yet.

"Cute, well dinner's done." Lisa said smiling.

You all went to the table, the table was full of laughs nothing could be much better than this. You did of course tell your grandpa the next day, but today was about this. You and your cousins were laughing and messing around at one end of the table while the adults talked at the other end. Undoubtedly the adults were looking at you four smiling.

A/n: I was gonna name one of the boys Eric after Prince Eric from The little mermaid but I'm 90% sure I know a Eric and I try my best to not name my characters names people I know have. It only failed once cause I forgot about my second cousins. So and one of them shares a name with a character in this fic. (I'm not close with my cousins or second cousins that's how I forgot.)

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Hibiscus Kisses {1}

Chris Evans x OFC Ajali Rambaue AU {Ah-Jah-Lee, Ram-Bow}

Warning: Plot Heavy, Cursing, 

Words: 6.1k

Summary: Ajali decides on a rash decision to go on a Disney cruise, not for her love of Disney, but because she needs time to figure things out after things get even more complicated in her complicated life. She only expected peace, quiet, tropical drinks, and an overabundance of Disney songs. What she got was more than she bargained for when the cruise of a lifetime on the brand new ship Enchantment turned into a nightmare. The only saving grace is that she’s not the only one living through the nightmare. Can Ajali survive the test of a lifetime and the dangers ahead of her, and better yet, will she finally be able to live a little?

Note: Hey, hey, hey, guys! So here we are trying something different/new. I hope you enjoy this. 🤞🏽 Please feel free to tell me what you think. I’m super excited to explore this one with you all. 🤗 Also, what do you guys think of the title? What does it make you think of?

As always, thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed this, please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG! ❤️❤️

I appreciate each and every one of your guys’ support and love!

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

**Very Interactive**

***French Language Incorporated w/translations according to Google***

“Yes, mom, I packed my charger and my vitamins. Oh my god, of course, I have my scarf. Mom!”

 Your mother continued to press you about things any woman would never forget packing. This was how she was normally. Almost morning, she would make her routine calls. First to your sister Atali, then to you. When she made it to you, she’d ask if you ate, and of course, by the time she called you, you were usually at work or on your way to it, and you wouldn’t have eaten. Then she’d ask you why you hadn’t eaten, to which she’d go back and forth with you about the importance of eating a well-balanced meal. Somehow that would lead to her asking how you expected to find the one when you didn’t eat enough. It was a never-ending thing with her. She was obsessed with you and your sister finding the one.

You understood. Your parents had been married for well over two decades, and they were still disgustingly in love. There was also no one like your dad, so you understood. They both saw what a catch they both were. After she told you the story of how she finessed your dad and got married in record time, it always turned into focus on you finding someone to marry. No matter how many times you told her that even though marriage was great and all, you weren’t in any hurry, it never registered.

 “Mom, I have everything I need. It is just supposed to be a two-week cruise.”

 “You’d be surprised the things you realize you left once you’re at sea. Then it will be too late,” Cynthia, your mother warned.

 “Then I’ll just buy it. Mom, I’m not going to the middle of nowhere. I am going on a huge ship from one of the world’s most reputable companies. I am positive they have every possible thing I could want to buy onboard. Plus, when we dock at ports, I’ll be able to buy much more.”

 “You’re always buying. Gah, I blame your father. He spoiled you and your sister rotten.”

 “I am not spoiled. It’s not like I haven’t worked for my money. Yes, daddy helped me set up my company, but I got where I am today because of me,” you professed.

 “I know, sweetheart, you don’t have to preach to the choir. All I’m saying is your daddy’s wealth only helped spoil you and Lali more. I saw it in you at the playground the most. You always wanted what the other kids were playing with. If it was a ball, you tried to take it. If it were the swings, you’d overtake it, toys in the sandbox my goodness those kids would end up with sand in their eyes and you alone with the toys.”

 “Some would call that persistence, hardworking, and assertive.”

 Your mother laughed then tsked.

 “I’m surprised that when you were in high school, I never got a call about you getting into a fight because you stole some girl’s boyfriend.”

 You pursed your lips, but as you were going to open your mouth to respond, your phone vibrated, signaling a notification.

 “Hang on, mom.”

 You thanked the Lyft driver for helping with your bags then checked your phone.

 MSG Javii: I’ve been calling you all night. Come on, Chaton (kitten). You have to talk to me at some point. Tu me manques (I miss you).

 You sighed and rolled your eyes. He had some nerve, you thought.

 “Ajali, hello!”

 “Yes, mom, I’m here. Sorry. I was getting my bags together.”

 “So, you’re really doing this?”

 “Yes, mom. Why wouldn’t I?”

 “Who goes on a cruise alone? What about the man I heard in the background of our call a few weeks ago? Why not go with him?”

 You rolled your eyes again, thinking about that man in the background a few weeks ago who was on your shit list.

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It was the tv,” you lied.

 “Ajali--,” your mother began before you cut her off.

 “—Plus, mom, it’s a Disney cruise,” you stressed.

 “Exactly. The people who go on Disney cruises are families, wives, husbands, kids. You are neither of them and have nether of them.”

 You balanced your phone on your shoulder and rolled your luggage toward the designated pier.

 “I just need some time to myself to clear my head and destress. Two weeks.”

 “Ignore your mother, my petal. You take the time you need. I’ve told you, and your sister working is important, but living is just as important. You don’t live to work; you work to live,” your father said.

 “Thank you, daddy.”

 “Plus, maybe you will find a worthy man on this cruise while you’re living,” your father slid in.

 “Oh god, not you too, daddy.”

 “We are unified in this, Lulu. He may wear the pants, but I control the buttons and the zipper if you know what I mean.”

 You tasted vomit in your mouth.

 “Eck! That is disgusting, mother. On that note, I gotta go.”

 “Wait, wait, enjoy yourself, my petal. We love you.”

 “Love you too, daddy, love you, mom.”

 With that, you ended the call and continued to walk toward Pier eighty-one. You passed families with rowdy children who looked like they couldn’t wait to get ice cream wasted, couples who looked as if they couldn’t wait to get to their suites and even elderly couples who were dressed to the nines for vacation, including already applied sunscreen and sunhats. Despite what your mother thought, Disney cruises were for everyone.

 You’d purposely chosen Disney because you didn’t want to be around other couples who were loved up and nauseatingly adorable, spewing love in the air. You wanted to be as far from that as possible. Love was the last thing on your mind. You were going on this cruise to get away from it. Your phone vibrated and went off twice.

 MSG Atali: Have you made your getaway yet?

 You stopped rolling and went to reply.

 MSG: Almost. I’m walking to the boarding line now.

MSG Atali: I think you’re doing the right thing. Space and time. In two weeks you’ll know what you want to do. I hope it’s what we talked about.

MSG: I know, Lali, I know.

MSG Atali: Have some fun too. It’s Disney.

 You could picture her face as you read it. She was probably cheesing at this very minute.

 MSG: Thank you for looking after the company while I’m gone.

MSG Atali: Boo, you know it’s my company too, right. Don’t worry; our clients will be taken care of. I’ve got it covered.

 You knew she did. Atali was the older one and had always acted like it, even though she was only nine months older. You knew she could take care of things on her own while you were away.

 MSG: I know, still. Thank you.

MSG Atali: You’re welcome, Lulu. Call me later. Margaret Bailey’s appointment is next. Apparently, she’s throwing some party, and she wants to be the envy of everyone.

MSG: Eck, you have your work cut out for you. Bye.

 As you were putting your phone away, another message came in.

 MSG Javii: Chaton (kitten), call me, please. Don’t you think you’re dragging this out a little?

 You almost said, “are you stupid” out loud. The man had some nerve. Dragging it out? You rolled your eyes as another message came in.

 MSG Javii: Je t’aime (I love you).

 Just like that, you melted. He was playing on the fact that your father was French, and the language itself was a favorite of yours. He was not a stupid man; he was a smart businessman.

 MSG Javii: I’m sorry. I know we’ve talked about it, but you have to give me more time. Please.

Unbelievable, you thought as you exited your messages and stuck your phone into your back pocket. You turned and ran smack dab into someone’s hard body.

 “Shit. I’m so sorry,” you rushed out even as you were falling back.

 A pair of strong arms grabbed you and firmly held you, preventing your fall.

“It’s okay, you’re lucky I don’t mind beautiful women bumping into me,” a deep masculine voice said. You knew it was a man, but you couldn’t see his face even though he looked to be well over six feet. His head was dipped low, and the hat he wore over hair that fell to his neck was so low you couldn’t see anything but the full beard that showed off a chiseled jawline.

 He set you right side up and slowly brought his hands from your arms back to his side. “Stay safe out there,” he said before he walked off.

 You stood there for a few moments, then looked back to where he’d walked and watched him saunter away. He had a slight dip to the way he walked that could either be seen as a happy go lucky type of thing or something that said he had some sort of swagger. Before you stared any longer, you sprang into motion with wheeling your luggage to the growing line to board the ship. Thankfully the line went quickly thanks to the ten different lanes that had ship staffers ready and eager to help guests.

 When it was your turn, a friendly-looking woman with a trendy bob cut explained what to do. While she talked, her smile never fell, but you didn’t really pay attention because her uniform was so distracting. She had on a purple and green hat that had mermaid scales and Ariel printed all over it. This hat matched the shirt and skirt combo she wore. Her shirt was two-toned, on one side was Ariel’s face, and on the other was mermaid scales while her skirt was plain white. It looked like The Little Mermaid threw up all over her. You didn’t expect anything else; it was a Disney cruise after all.

 After doing all the check-in steps, such as handing off your rolling luggage to the ship porters and taking a photo for your provided identification wrist band that the crew will use to identify you and your indicated needs, you boarded the ship. All the friendly faces you passed all looked happy to welcome you to Disney Cruises and to direct you to where you wanted to go. The noise inside was much louder inside than it was out. The kids that looked excited outside looked downright jubilant inside as they posed for pictures with life-sized Disney characters and got welcome ice cream treats.

 You were even tempted to take a picture or two, but you decided against it. What you did not decide against was ice cream. You took an offered vanilla cone and kept on your way, looking around the ship as the other guests did. From your research, this was the best-rated cruise this year. It was a newer Disney ship and one that cost over ten million dollars to design and build. Everyone said it was the Rolls Royce of Disney cruises.

From what you saw with the décor looked to have cost a fortune. There was glass, fancy lights, and marble everywhere. It was clear they didn’t skimp on funding and clear that they had the comfort and luxury in mind. There were plants around the central atrium that gave off that tropical vacation vibe and even paintings and pictures hanging on the walls that further pushed the agenda that this was supposed to be a fun time for all.

 The more you walked around looking at different areas, the more you were impressed. If the gathering areas looked this upscale, you were even more excited to see your suite.

 “Can I help you with anything, ma’am?”

 You shook your head and smiled at the man wearing Hans all over him. “I’m all right, thank you.”

 The next thirty minutes or so were spent walking around while following the map in your hand. You found and noted where the spa, library, on-ship garden, movie theater, bowling alley, tropical setting wave pool, and best restaurants and bars were. You had every intention of soaking up all the luxury that you’d paid top dollar for. When you saw a few amenities that you hadn’t expected, your jaw dropped. You had no idea why there was an ice skating rink or an indoor sky flying dome that had the tallest clear tube you’d ever seen. You didn’t know who’d designed this cruise, but you knew it must have cost millions. You were sure you wouldn’t be getting in that sky flying dome.

 When you finally got the alert that your suite was ready, it was well after one in the afternoon. The walk among the crowds was noisy. Everyone was either talking about what they wanted to do first, how enormous and beautiful the ship was, or making a plan for the cruise duration. In between all the chatter, there of course, were the screams and cries of babies and toddlers who were already losing their shit.

 This is what you’d expected when you decided on this Disney cruise over another like Carnival or Norwegian. You knew that the other passengers would be of a specific age range leaning on the younger and family-oriented side, which meant you wouldn’t have to fight off unwanted suitors who tried to shoot their shot. It also meant that you wouldn’t have to deal with any sort of drama that usually happened on a cruise with young adults all looking to hook up. That was not what you needed right now. You wanted to stay as far away from hooking up or eligible men that had blue eyes or a perfect head of hair, or abs that were chiseled by Michelangelo himself, or an ass that would make a mannequin jealous.

 On the elevator ride to your floor, you caught the eye of an adorable little boy with a complete head of luscious dark locks and doe eyes with an unmeasurable depth. His smile was innocent. Every time your eyes met his, he hid behind his mother. When you looked away, he looked back at you. After two or three playful back and forth glances, which had him becoming more adorable, you surprised him by not looking away. When he realized it, his squeal was so childlike and filled with so much glee that everyone on the elevator had to giggle. Over the next several minutes, the passengers on the elevator got off group by group until it was just a few people remaining.

 “Sixth floor,” the elevator attendant announced.

 You made your way through the door but gave the adorable boy a look. “Have a fun cruise, cutie,” you said with a wink before the doors closed with the sound of his giggles. You looked at your phone to remind yourself which room was yours, then glanced at the numbers on the wall that directed you where to go. The dinging sound of an elevator brought your attention down the hall to your right to see one man walk off. His hat was dipped down low, but you noticed his face was buried in his phone before he turned and walked in the opposite direction of you.

 Focusing on the signs on the door, you walked down the left side of the aisle. It didn’t take you long to realize your room was at the end of the hall. Once you reached it, you glanced back to see the same man with his tipped low hat. It looked like the same man from before outside the ship. It couldn’t be, you thought. The odds were not that small. As you opened your door, you saw him disappear into the room at the opposite end of the hall.

 Once you walked inside, you immediately thought that this was what you got when you had Atali handle the arrangements. The theme of the room was clearly sky blue. The couch in the living area was a satin, silky sky blue that looked as if it was plush and comfortable. It matched the blue and grain colored carpet before it perfectly, and the abstract blown glass art on the wall. The colors all worked together to give you a sense of peace. It wouldn't have been something you’d chosen because, unlike Atali, you liked to keep things as low maintenance as possible. Just because your family had money doesn’t mean you had to look or behave as if you did.

 When you walked into the bedroom portion of the stateroom, you saw your suitcases waiting for you in the far left corner of the room. The sunlight pouring in from the screened balcony bathed the room in a beautiful, cheerful yellow that was so inviting that once you kicked off your shoes, you had to step out into it. The temperature was not blazing hot because it was just the middle of April in New York, and that meant a mix of chilly and warm days with the occasional possible snow shower. The salty air of the sea was one of your favorite smells. You remembered when your father took your family to France on your yearly family vacation. As a child, you loved the beach and the salt of the sea. When you became an adult, nothing had changed.

 Not realizing how long you remained on the balcony, an intercom announcement came on.

 “Attention passengers, this is Lucas Albright, one of your captains. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you aboard this Disney Enchantment Cruise.”

 He paused, and you could hear the uproar of cheers and claps from over the intercom as well as in the halls and neighboring staterooms.

 “We are all excited to host you on this two and a half week christening journey from New York. I say christening because you lot are the first to travel on this brand new ship. This is her maiden voyage.”

 More cheers and applause came for what felt like forever.

 “We will be on this beautiful vessel for two days, at which time we dock in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic at approximately eleven o’clock in the morning, where you can enjoy plenty of the excursions and activities for the day.”

 Again applause followed. Everyone was undoubtedly excited about this cruise. You tried to get out of your funk and onboard the excitement train.

 “We will then set sail again, leaving port at ten o’clock that evening and moving on to two days at sea until we reach our second destination of Port of Grand Turk in beautiful Turks & Caicos. At that time, we dock at eleven 0’clock and lift anchors at ten o’clock. From the beautiful Turks & Caicos, we will be at sea for two days until we reach the tropical breezes of the British Virgin Islands!”

 You were already making some mental plans for everything you wanted to do at each port.

 “After spending out eleven o’clock to ten o’clock time there. We set sail to the glorious white sandy beaches of—Arrrruuuba!”

 At that time, the classic Beach Boys song Kokomo came on at the Aruba part. It was so corny, but everyone seemed to love it. You shook your head as the short clip of the song played loudly until it was lowered to play in the background.

 “Again, we’re docking at eleven o’clock to set sail again at ten o’clock. We are then at sea for three more days until we get to Ocho Rios, Jamaaaaica!”

 As he spoke, you went around the room, placing things you’d need and freshening yourself up. When he finally finished giving the itinerary, you were situated and checking the schedule of events for the day. All in all, it was set to be an action packed seventeen days at sea. Atali must have chosen this length because she knew seven or ten days would not be enough time.

 “All right, ladies, gentlemen, kids, and big kids, I hope to see you all at the welcome mingle we’ve scheduled to begin within the next twenty minutes or so, at which time we will lift anchors and say sayonara to New York and aloha to the seven seas.”

 He had a voice for radio or a game show. It was velvety deep, just what many women seemed to like these days. You grabbed your phone and crossbody bag and walked out of your room. You had a mission before you lifted anchor. Everyone was still abuzz with talk of the itinerary as more of the beach boys played over the ship speaker system. Vacation vibes were in full effect. Once you got to the media area, you promptly purchased your airtime so your cell would be able to work while at sea. You knew your mother would have a heart attack if you went two days without checking in with her. You didn’t think it was because she was that attached to her children though, you knew it was her motherly duty to remain up in the tea, so she felt continuously connected. As she got older and older, you realized it more and more.

 As soon as that mission was completed, you made your way to the top deck where the mingle was being held. As you stepped out into the sun, you marveled at just how extravagant Disney had chosen to go with this ship. Several feet before you stretching obscenely high into the air, you saw something that looked like a rollercoaster. There were plenty of other passengers pointing to it and excitedly chattering about it. You made a mental note to stay as far away from it as possible. Who would think to ride an insanely high rollercoaster on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean?

 Slowly you walked around the deck, cordially smiling at those you passed. You passed a bar area and took one of the prepared cocktails, and proceeded to find a good spot at the side of the ship to watch them lift anchor. After several minutes of searching and bumping into all the excited kids and passengers who were posing for pictures with friends, family, and Disney staff, you found an excellent spot to press your back against.

 Across the way, a familiar hat caught your eye. It was him, you thought. He always kept his head low and tried to steer away from big crowds. It was strange to you considering he’d chosen to get on a cruise ship filled with hundreds of people. He wouldn’t be able to escape the crowds. Your eyes followed him as he walked to another bar to grab one of the drinks there. As he did, he joked with the bartender, and it was then you saw a flash of his pearly smile. You couldn’t tell if he was attractive or not, mostly since all you’d gotten were glimpses of pieces of his face. Part of you wanted him to take off the stupid hat so you could be sure, but the other part—the sensible part that remembered why you’d chosen a Disney cruise slapped your ass back into focus.

 “Welcome, Disney guests!”

 In response, everyone around you screamed, clapped, cheered, and stomped so loudly the sound could have rivaled that of a rave.

 “We are pleased to welcome you once again!”

 As one of the staff members continued to speak about the ship procedures, expectations, highlights, amenities, and more, you continued to look around the deck, taking in all the grandeur before you. It didn’t take long to get lost in the directory you held. Again you took note of where everything was that you wanted to experience and even went as far as to make a plan of what you wanted to eat each night. Between you and Atali, you were the planner. You liked things to make sense and liked them to be stable and constantly reliable. You hated the erraticness of people and impulsivity. You always tried to steer as far from it as possible.

 By the time the speeches were finished, you’d had three drinks and were working on your fourth. The vibration of your phone brought your attention to it.

 MSG Javii: Chaton?

 You rolled your eyes and sighed out a little louder than you intended. What attracted you to him in the first place was what was annoying you right now. His persistence. You sat in a nearby seat and stared at the text exchange and thought of what you wanted to reply. Five minutes passed with you not typing one word. The truth was you didn’t know what to say. You were that jumbled up. The stress of it all was making your head hurt. You rubbed your brow and began your message.

 MSG: I need some time away.

 Instantly a message came back.

 MSG Javii: From me?

 Bobbing your head from side to side, you tried to make a quick decision.

 MSG: From this—us.

 MSG Javii: Chaton, say what you mean. You know I prefer directness. Do you mean from me?

 MSG: Yes.

 A few minutes passed before he sent another message. You wondered if you’d hurt him. Part of you didn’t want to hurt him, but the other part wanted him to suffer and see what it was like to be without you. Maybe then he’d start appreciating what he had.

 MSG: I just need to figure some things out.

MSG Javii: Are you breaking up with me, Chaton?

 The name was killing you, and you were sure he knew it. Every time he called you “chaton,” it made your belly flutter.

 MSG: I just need time and space, Javii.

MSG Javii: I love you. You know that, right? I love you more than anything.

MSG: If that were true, I’d be there right now instead of where I am. I have to go.

 You closed your messages and sighed out again.

 “Mm, I can easily read that expression, and if any man causes brow or forehead wrinkles, he isn’t the one.”

 Your head snapped to your right to see an older woman sitting there. She wore a straw hat atop her long red hair that looked close to that of Lucille Ball’s. The hue of her hair complimented her bronze and gold complexion. Her makeup was expertly done, as was her purple painted nails that pinched the straw that was at the corner of her mouth, a mouth that was painted perfectly accentuating her cupid’s bow lips. She was gorgeous.

 “Uh--,” you began as she continued.

 “The only one who is worth it is the one who gives you cheek wrinkles and smile creases.”

You grinned to yourself and took a sip from your glass that was resting on the table between you.

 “Trust me. I’ve dated plenty of men, ones who cause both, ones who cause one more than the other and ones who only cause one—the bad ones.” She motioned to the space between her eyebrows, symbolizing stress wrinkles from furrowing your brows.

 “I have yet to meet one who only causes smile creases,” she finished.

 You shrugged and looked glanced back to your phone before you put it on the table face down.

 “Maybe that one doesn’t exist on this Earth,” you countered.

 “A skeptic, I see. You’re one of those women who don’t believe in the one, right?”

 After scoffing, you looked at her. “I don’t know what I believe. Once upon a time, I did then---things got complicated.”

 The woman placed her drink down and nudged her fist underneath her chin, giving you her complete attention.

 “Oh, complications are the joys of life, darling. Nothing is ever cut and dry or so simple and steady. I say go for the ride but make sure you hand on for the bumps.”

 You contemplated her words. There was some logic there, but once she said nothing was simple or steady, you had to admit your heart skipped a beat. You hated when things weren’t simple. You took your glass again and finished its contents. At the same time, your eye found the man who’d caught you maybe an hour ago. You watched as he walked closer to where you were seated and caught another glimpse of his face before he passed you.

 From beside you, you heard the woman whistle.

 “I wouldn’t mind going for a ride with that one.”

 Your laugh was loud and couldn’t be stopped. You shook your head at her, but she didn’t look one bit embarrassed or remorseful.

 “It’s a cruse darling, a vacation. Now’s the time to live a little—or a lot,” she said, finishing with an exaggerated wink.

 This woman was inadvertently suggesting you let your hoe flag fly for the duration of the cruise. She reminded you of your aunt Josephine from your father’s side. As a French woman, she definitely embodied the French lifestyle of only living once and to live life right the first time. You’d spent countless hours with her listening to her stories of her travels, boyfriends, escapades. You and Atali always loved to live vicariously through her. That was until Atali came of age and decided to live just like her.

 You sat with this woman who introduced herself as Genevieve and listened to her stories of life and love. Usually, you hated speaking to strangers, but she didn’t feel like one. She felt like a kindred spirit, a much more carefree spirit but still kindred the same. You didn’t realize that two hours had almost passed with the two of you sipping cocktails and giggling. When you said your goodbyes, you wandered around the ship, taking in all it had to offer. You peeked in on activities that were already underway and scoped out other places you could disappear in.

 You made it back to your room in time to shower, change, and put on a lite layer of makeup before you made it to dinner at one of the forty restaurants. Once you walked into the restaurant, the atmosphere screamed luxury though it was not opulently done. It still looked family-friendly, but it was done in a way that let you know that you were meant to feel important by the décor alone.

 At the bottom of the long stairs, you quickly looked around, trying to find an empty table. When you’d zeroed in on one, you saw a hand waving you down—the hand of the same woman from before, Genevieve. Why not, you thought to yourself before you began to cross the dining area toward her. Within a few steps, you ran right into a body that felt like a brick wall. You could feel your body falling backward, but in the nick of time, a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped around your back, holding you in place.

If his face had been eluding you all day, it was not anymore. The eyes you stared into were blue enough that the sea you sailed would be envious. His lips were so red that an apple would want a rematch for bragging rights and his face so symmetrical that even the perfect line of symmetry didn’t seem perfect enough when next to him. The man was gorgeous. You watched his eyes roam your face as if he was in no rush, wanting to take in every detail. What felt like minutes was probably only seconds before he set you upright. As you were prepared to speak, he smiled, and the action had you feeling like you’d been hit in the head at the same time as your gut.

 “Twice in one day. What’re the odds? Are you okay?”

 Rather than speaking, you nodded.

 “Are you sure?”

 “Yes, thank you. I’m—I’m sorry,” you stuttered.

 “Nah, forget about it. No harm, no foul.”

 From behind him, you could see Genevie giving you a look that said she wanted to know what was being said and who he was.

 “I uh—I was going that way,” you said, nodding your head to behind him.

 “And me that way.” He nodded behind you. “Stay safe out there,” he uttered before he walked off in the direction you’d just come from, giving you the opportunity to walk to Genevieve.

 The look on her face needed no words to along with it, but she still spoke.

 “Is that the same snack from before?”

 You nodded and nearly snorted out, hearing her use the word.

 “What’s his name?”

 “No idea, but I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before. I just—can’t place it.”

 “I don’t know how. I’d never forget a face like that.”

 She had a point; he had an unforgettable face, one that stayed with you and possibly could haunt your nights. You bet he got whatever he wanted and whoever he wanted. As dinner progressed, you had your choice of different appetizers, entrees, drinks, and desserts. If one wanted Scandinavian food, they could get it, or southern food it was within reach. As you ate, you listened to more of Genevieve’s stories. She told you about the men she’d dated, the things she’d seen in her years, and lessons she’d learned from those men. The moral you learned from her stories was love often, love hard, and love entirely because while you’d remember the pain, you’d remember the love more.

 As you ate and listened to her, you couldn’t help but think of the reason you were on this cruise in the first place. You were not running to love but from it. If you were to listen to Genevieve, you should have stayed your ass in New York and gone to Javii. If you listened to her, you’d probably spend another year living in sin. By the end of dinner, you’d met three other women all within the same age range as you, but they all were in different times of their lives. One was newlywed, and on her honeymoon, the second married a year and expecting her first child and the third long married with three children.

 It was an interesting look at alternate timelines for you. Any of them could have ended up being you if you’d only made different choices. Part of you wondered which one you wanted to be more, your natural self, or one of the three possibilities.

 After dinner, you made your way to one of the theaters to watch the planned show for the night. It was a re-enactment of The Little Mermaid, and the audience was filled with little ones who clapped and cheered throughout. You were surprised at how well the staff performed. They could have easily been true broadway stars. A little more than halfway through the show, you found the stranger with the deep eyes across the room. He was sitting alone, just watching the show with a relaxed look on his face. He looked as if he were genuinely enjoying it. Your curiosity was piqued as to why he was sitting alone watching The Little Mermaid on a ship full of people and why he didn’t seem to be bothered to make acquaintances. Who came on a cruise alone? Once you thought it, you wanted to laugh at yourself. You were the one to come on a cruise alone.

 As you were about to look away, his eyes found yours. At first, they looked empty as if he were looking right through you. Then after a few moments, there was a spark in them. You watched him raise his glass to you with a soft smile teasing his lips. Realizing you’d been caught looking, you curtly nodded back then looked to the stage to focus on the show.

 Two in the morning. That was the time when you finally made it back to your room. Festivities were going on all around the ship. No one seemed as if they wanted to go back to their rooms. There was something for everyone. The little ones had endless activities, including a sleepover with their favorite Disney characters, where they were set to have plenty of fun for the night. There was a mixer set up like a rave on the opposite side of the ship for the adults. From the things you saw when you scoped it out, you were sure a few siblings were going to be conceived tonight.

 As you scanned your bracelet and opened your door, you looked back to see the stranger again. He was looking directly down at you. You gave him a head salute and disappeared inside your room. After a quick shower, you found your way to your balcony to watch the waves roll by with a glass of wine. It was the perfect end to the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***If you want to be tagged/untagged please SEND AN ASK SO IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO KEEP TRACK OF. Thank you for reading!!!  

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[wisherbysharlight]

WHAT IF... SANDERS SIDES BUT MAKE IT A TROPEY TEEN BEACH AU

Endgame!LAMP. Dukeceit, Remile

Just 2k stream of consciousness words from a plunny that grew legs TW for v slight underage drinking, one joking mention of violence, and a non-specific discussion of intrusive thoughts

-Janus has just moved there because his parents wanted to start a new "adventure" and he is a Stereotypical Teenager. Very "ugh MOM I wanna go back to my FRIENDS for my LAST SUMMER BEFORE COLLEGE"(most of his friends suck. He should not spend time with them. He does not know this)

His Parents buy him a surfboard and tell him to try it out as a way to get him to Shut Up

Hes a Skater Boy(cue music) so he picks it up super fast from like,,, youtube videos

 -He gets told to Get a Job if he wants to like, keep buying surf gear?

All the local kids work at like one restaurant/yacht club type place right on the beach

Janus gets hired as a host

 -Logan is a beach badge checker, Patton, Roman, and Remus are beachfront restaurant waiters but Roman just Really Wants To Surf, Emile and Virgil are Lifeguards, and Remy is a bartender

 -Janus is Very Good At Customer Service because Fake Smiles

Patton recognizes this Immediately

He shows him the Rage Closet which is a tiny room with an arm chair that locks from the inside where you can punch a pillow on your break when it gets to be Too Much

-Janus is Attached now and there is no getting rid of him

Patton Fully Endorses this and introduces him to the rest of the group

Janus Knows Immediately that LAMP is In Love but says nothing because he aint no snitch

-Remus surfs, but he also always wear a thong while doing it

Roman wears a full wetsuit and somehow still gets Board Rash. Remus is somehow immune and it infuriates him

 -Janus, not knowing that the twins live right on the beach cuz they are RichTM: Hey Ree I kinda wanna learn how to surf would you be able to teach me 

Remus, who religiously watches Janus surf every morning, but is absolutely willing to play this game: Yeah absolutely

Patton, later: “lets rinse off at the twins they’re right here” Janus: theyre.... What?!

 -Meanwhile, elsewhere, Virgil and Roman are double teaming Logan to drag him into the water with them cuz he’s pouting about losing a debate with their manager about how he didn’t really be mean to the dudebro who wanted to get his buddies onto the beach without paying, he was just enforcing the rules. And if the dude was so offended by Logan’s Very Accurate Dragging that he complained to management then, well, that’s his problem not Logan’s

 -Logan is never without a book. Ever. And its always a different book. Janus is starting to think he owns a library

One day he is just... reading a Physics textbook. Not taking notes or anything. Just reading. 

Roman is Very Very Alarmed by this because he is Gay and Math is Scary

"Roman I'm also gay that is not a determining factor"

"Yeah but you can't drive"

"...fair"

 -the first time janus has a shift with the twins, he cant stop staring, not just because hes like,,, super attracted to Remus but also because they are like Chaos Incarnate and yet somehow get the most tips??? He doesn't understand???

It's just cuz they are both Huge Flirts and Flatterers and the patrons dont care that they're not-so-subtly beating the shit out of each other right there on the dining floor because theyre just so charming

 -one of the bartenders gets aggressively snapped at by a customer and called "sweetheart" and before Janus can even begin to react Remy is there, sunglasses off, fire in his eyes, telling them to settle their bill and get the fuck out

Janus, used to City Restaurants- "Wont you get in trouble with the owner?!"

Remy, who knows Nothing Else But This- "What?? Not likely I only did it cuz Thomathy wasnt here to do it himself"

 -the restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday so that is the Pseudo Weekend for the staff where everyone hangs out at the beach

Emile and Virgil take Tuesdays off but still work Monday’s cuz they feel better being the one watching over their friends

 -Roman, staring at Virgil on the lifeguard stand: ugh he’s so pretty I almost wish I was drowning just so he could give me cpr 

Janus: you wanna potentially get your ribs broken just for lip contact? 

Remy, staring at Emile on the lifeguard stand: listen, if that’s what it takes, I’ll take it

Remus, immediately going up to the lifeguard stand because he has 0 impulse control: hey my brother and cousin want you to break their ribs 

Virgil and Emile: excuse me?????

 -Patton will literally spend hours in the water. Logan physically drags him out to put sunscreen on him every two hours to the minute. Patton does not admit that he purposely "forgets" just so Logan will do so

Logan is Dark and has never used sunscreen ever but Patton is so pale and he just gets so concerned about him. Patton thinks its adorable

He has pages of research on proper spf determination.

Roman and Remus use spf 15 just on their faces and have never once burned in their lives

Logan wants to submit them for scientific study because that shouldnt be possible

Virgil calls Logan out on the fact that he also should be wearing sunscreen and Logan like... blue screens he cant believe in all his research he missed that

 -Patton is like... a ridiculously strong swimmer. Virgil still has a heart attack every time he goes for laps when there is the slightest hint of an undertow

Patton Knows This so he tries to stay in Virgil's sight line for the most part if there is an undertow. Or just dives over the waves again and again.

His nickname is Ariel. He thinks its just cuz of the swimming and the fact hes a red head. LAP all separately also tack on that its the swimming, the red hair, and the hnng pretty 10/10 would follow out to sea ala Prince Eric

 -first beach bonfire Janus goes to Remy is Fully In Emile's Lap like... half an hour in

he has had like maybe a sip of a beer

Remus says he still claims this is because he is a Clingy Drunk

no one will call him on it, least of all Emile

 -there is truth or dare. Roman may or may not skinny dip you have no proof

 -Logan gets infuriated that he cannot roast a marshmallow properly

Patton does it perfectly every single time but its ok cuz he shares and Logan eats it right from his fingers and Roman and Virgil are just in the background Trying and Failing not to be the Most Jealous

Patton thinks theyre upset they didn't get marshmallows and makes some for them too and there is lots of Significant Eye Contact involved

Janus is going to spontaneously combust if they don't get their shit together

 -Janus is out walking on the beach one night on a full moon cuz he cant sleep with everything so quiet around here when he sees a bright green patch out in the water and goes ...wait

he calls out to Remus and he comes into shore and is like "waves are perfect at night you should join me" so janus goes back and gets his board and they surf and chat for like the entire night

Janus finds out Remus couldn't sleep cuz intrusive thoughts were keeping him awake

Janus listens and doesn't judge, just lets Remus talk it out

They go back to shore and fall asleep on the sand next to each other like mid sentence still talking, now about whatever creative business idea Remus had, and get woken up by Logan's morning rounds like "come on guys you know you're not allowed to sleep out here" but they dont care theyre both just *blushing emoji*

-Logan Always Has A Notebook right? And a regular book he reads. And everyone assumes they are like Notions and Observations, but no, it’s actually blank paper and he uses it to sketch and then one day he leaves it behind and someone either Virgil or Patton finds it and flips through it and it’s all sketches of them and Roman and they’re like??? Actually really good? Anyway that’s how they find out Logan is actually minoring in art even though he’s majoring in something Very STEM 

And he never told his best friends because like almost all his pre college art is Them and he doesn’t want to be caught having Feelings and by the time it gets to college it’s been too long and he can’t tell them now 

Roman takes one of the sketches of him surfing and makes it his profile picture on All Social Media He Has and Logan is so flustered he nearly breaks his damn phone

Patton is so offended he didn’t get invited to Logan’s first showcase that he doesn’t talk to him for like two whole hours 

Virgil quietly asks if there is any art of all four of them, finds out there is, and makes a print and keeps it on his bedside table

 -They are all Pining Outwardly Now and its Worse

 -Remus : you have known them since pre-k please ask them out I beg of you 

Roman: You just dont get it 

Remus: I asked Janus out after 4 weeks what is your problem

 Emile: Virgil, I love you, you are my Partner in Anti-Drowning but you are so stupid 

Virgil: What???? All I said is that you and Remy are really cute and I'd love to be in a relationship like that 

Emile: I am not a violent person, Virgil, but I have the strong urge to smack you

 Patton, in the Rage Closet: They're all just so hOT and ReSPEctFUL 

Janus, waiting for his turn, trying to act like he cant hear him: I Am Looking Elsewhere

 Logan: I just don't understand why they were more upset that I didn't tell them than that I'd been making art of them for years?? Shouldn't that second part be worse??

Remy, who has been partial to Every Single One Of AMP Waxing Poetic About Logan: Yeah, no idea /s

 -the twins get into a surfing competition as a pair and everyone goes to see them and support them

Thomas airs the competition on every tv in the restaurant cuz he’s Proud of his Bois

They WIN cuz they are Creative and Talented and came up with all sorts of crazy tricks while they were fucking around in the water but it earns them Major Bonus Points for originality

 -Roman does the run off the podium and into Love’s arms trope with just like... whoever’s closest lets go Patton because he is a Waif and forced himself up front so he can see

The other two are Devastated because well shit but then Roman pushes through the crowd, still holding Patton’s hand, and gives them this smile and is like “remember in like second grade when we said we’d do everything together and made a pact on this beach”

Analogical: uhhhhhh yeah

Roman: holding you both to it. No take backs. This counts. Now kiss me, dammit, we WON and they DO MANY TIMES AND ITS REAL CUTE

 -Meanwhile dukeceit have Mysteriously Disappeared and No One wants to be the ones to go find them. They show back up, eventually. Janus has a branch in his hair and remus' hair is sticking straight up and when he opens his mouth roman glares at him and tells him in no uncertain terms that they do not want to know

 AnYWaY these are my children and I will gladly answer any questions about them. I left out Janus Backstory and Creativitwins Angst and Many Individual LAMP Scenes and Remile/Dukeceit getting together and Epilogue but can absolutely provide such things on request

[mila-dans]

Kiss and Tell: Sweet Nothings

Chapter one of “Kiss and Tell”

Pairing: Sam x Reader

Word Count: 2487

Summary: What happens when a Winchester winds up with a curse on his hands? Or more specifically, on his lips? Only chaos, comedy, and cuteness ensues. 

Just So You Know: This series will have seven chapters which have already be written and posted regularly. It’s small and sweet but I really hope you enjoy it nonetheless. My apologies for, most likely, many mistakes. Let me know what you think! (Gif credit to the wonderous: @oneshoeshort​)

“You’re kidding right?!” 

“Nope, Sam’s silent for 24 hours!”

“Awesome!”

“Hell yeah it is! Now we don’t have to listen to him geek out over whatever it is that he does which I usually tune out.”

“This is incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before.”

“Me either!”

You and Dean looked over to Sam who well, if looks could kill…

“Aw,” Dean started to say, reaching across the war room table to pat Sam on his shoulder. “It’s alright Sammy, only a day long. You’ll even be asleep half the time anyhow!”

“Shame though,” you let out.

“Tsk, tsk, yeah. Such a shame.” Dean shook his head and Sam’s bitch face turned into one that was happy to recognize that his best friend and brother finally understood that this was not a joke.

“I mean, think if it lasted a week!”

“Exactly!” Dean went on and the two of you broke out in laughter as Sam threw his hands up in the air with a face full of defeat.

“Oh come on, Sam,” you started, having trouble holding back a smile. “Quit being so sour about it. It could be much worse.”

“Yeah, and weren’t you the one who said, ‘It’s okay, I know what I’m doing,’ when you decided to mess around with magic?” Dean stated and you hummed in agreement. Sam rolled his eyes, clenching his jaw as he huffed. “You know, I do have to admit, usually it’s the witch herself that casts a curse or hexes someone but you,” he started to chuckle, “You did this all on your own buddy boy!”

You and Dean continued to laugh with glee as you watched the youngest Winchester’s cheeks turn red in embarrassment. 

“Listen honey,” you continued to add on to the roasting, “You always claim that you are Mr. Perfect who never ever screws up, always pinning bad situations on us two, so we are gonna enjoy this for as long as we can!”

“Hell yeah we are!” Dean shouts, reaching over towards you for a high five which you happily return. Sam tries to speak but it comes out as grunts which only causes you and Dean to continue into another fit of giggles, tears starting to form in your eyes.

Sam stood up from his seat and came over to you, hovering over your shoulder in an agitated manner as you wiped the water streaming down your eyes, trying to catch a breath. 

“What?” You let out in an exhale as your eyes met his. This was the most you’d laughed in a long long time and just seeing how pissed he was was the cherry on top of the sundae. You didn’t even like cherries but you sure as hell liked this. 

He stood still, waiting for you to stop laughing, long enough for him to ‘speak.’ You looked at him, waiting for him to open his mouth just so you could burst again. He raised his eyebrow at you and threw up his hands. Whatever charades he was playing, the only thing it was doing was making Dean belly laugh.

“Alright, alright,” you took a deep breath and finally tried to help sort out whatever Sam was trying to ‘not say.’ “What is it, Sam?” You asked and were met with him doing some sort of sign language to which you just shook your head. “Sam! I do--I don’t know sign language!”

“Yeah, so just,” Dean spoke, trying to search for something, “Here.” He handed his brother a pen and paper and Sam took it quickly, writing down his words.

“What can I do to get rid of the hex?” The paper read as Sam held it in front of both of yours faces. You and Dean looked to the tall long haired man and smiled.

“Sorry, hot shot,” Dean answered. “You either wait out the 24 hours or pass the curse to someone else.” Sam threw his head back in a sigh then went to write down something else.

“How?” Was written on the paper.

“You gotta kiss someone.” 

Sam went to feel the bridge of his nose as he scrunched up his face in stress. You couldn’t help but smile. Your best friend, Sam Winchester, was speechless for a whole day. Oh what fun.

“You’ll manage,” Dean grinned and let out another chuckle while Sam’s bitch face was turned up to bitch level one-thousand. You pitied the poor soul for a moment before he looked at you with impatient eyes. There was a moment of silence between the three of you as you put two and two together.

…

“Oh hell no!” You shouted. “No way are you kissing me little Winchester!” Sam tried to speak in defense but of course came up blank. You rolled your eyes and Dean started up laughing again. “I can’t believe you’d actually consider making me get the curse just so you could speak!”

“Sammy, you sly dog! Is this your way of finally getting Y/n to kiss you?!”

Sam’s face turned bright red and you were positive yours were turning as well. 

“I know that you liked her but this is a cheap shot! Even for me!” Dean continued. He started laughing and you started to smile big at the thought of Sam liking you. No way was that true. Sam was Sam and you were Y/n. Bestfriends. That’s all. Or at least what you had to tell yourself every time the idea of wanting something more entered your mind.

Sam was quick to stand up and stomp out of the room in further embarrassment, leaving you and Dean chuckling in response.

“His face was priceless!” The older brother stated. You tried to laugh rather than pause and go into detail about his previous statement about the other thing that would only confuse you so much more.

“Yeah,” you let out, unsure of the situation. You shook your head and brushed it off as nothing then stood up from the table. “I’m gonna go check on our little voiceless Ariel.”

“No, do--don’t associate him with Ariel! That’s gross! I like her!” Dean muttered as you left the room.

-------------------------------------------

“Can I come in?” You asked as your knuckles hit Sam’s door frame. You didn’t hear a response but then it set in as you chuckled at yourself. “Oh right,” you said, opening the door then pulling it shut behind you. “I forgot.” You smiled.

Sam was sitting up on his bed, back against the headboard with his arms crossed as you gave him a grin. He glared at you with his big hazel eyes and you just trudged over to his bed, falling on top of him and the mattress. You stretched out your limbs knowing that you were annoying him but he couldn’t do much about it, letting you get the chance to take advantage of the situation. 

“So,” you started to speak as you crawled over him as he stayed still with a frown on his face. “How’s your day going?” You smiled, enjoying the situation. He let out a huff and decided to break eye contact with you, ever so dramatically, and look somewhere else in the room. “Wha?! Look at me! Don’t look over there!” You shouted, watching him lick his lips almost mockingly, knowing that it made you mad when someone didn’t look you in the eyes. “Look at me! I’m talking to you!”

You sat in his lap, looking straight in his face, waiting for him to look at yours. He kept turning his head every which way just to annoy you. You’d be lying if you said it wasn’t working. You and Sam knew each other long enough that you picked up a thing or two of how to piss the other one off. And one thing that pissed Sam off was when you played with his hair or cuddled up close with him. God knows why. If it were you, having someone play with your hair or have their arms around you would be like a little slice of paradise. But in this case, you wanted to make him mad.

“Oh look at that,” you said nonchalantly. “Your hair looks so soft! I wonder what it feels like?!” You giggled as you saw the corners of Sam’s mouth form into a reluctant smile. You pried his arms from their crossed position, blocking his chest, and then wrapped your legs around his waist knowing full and well that he was bound to break. You knew what you were doing. He knew what you were doing. The only thing left to do was make him give up and smile. 

You moved closer to him, showing the absolute biggest smile on your face as you began to move your fingers through his hair. You weren’t lying about it being soft. It was so very soft that you often got jealous because he wouldn’t ever tell you what shampoo and conditioner he used. You were so close to getting him to give in.

He continued to stare off into the distance, clenching his jaw to the point where it was about to pop, doing all he could to not look at you.

“I asked you how your day was, Sammy.”

There it is.

Sam’s eyes went from glaring at the wall to looking straight into your own. You tried to keep a straight face for as long as you could. You knew that you had him in your clutches now.

“What?” You asked innocently, tilting your head to the side. He raised his eyebrow at you, knowing that you knew exactly what he knew. You let a moment slip by as you fiddled with the strands of his hair and propped your arms on his shoulders. “What is it… Sammy?”

You stared blankly into his face, getting inches away, doing what you could to make him break. He shook his head no and you raised your eyebrows in question.

“What is it, Sammy?”

His eyes were about to pop out of his head. He shook his head no again.

“Sammy?”

No.

“Sammy? Sammy?” Every time you said it, you used a different tone just to make him crack. You cleared your throat to do your best Dean impression as you called out, “Sammy,” again making him smile.

“There it is!” You laughed and this time he shook his head with a grin coming from his lips. “I know how you just love being called ‘Sammy!’ Don’t you?!” He shook his head vigorously as you continued to laugh, enjoying your win. You looked into his eyes and saw a bit of a glimmer, not expecting what was to come next.

Within a moment’s notice, Sam wrapped his arms around you and took you for a spin as he pinned you down on your back. You did not like where this was going. He was not gonna do what you think he was gonna do.

“Don’t!” You warned as a smirk crossed Sam’s face. If he hated having his hair played with, or if you even hated people not looking at you in your eyes, this was the bell of the ball when it came to getting you pissed off. “Don’t you dare!” You shouted again. You tried to move but he had you stuck, unable to wiggle out of this one. “Sam, honey,” you started to plead with him as a last resort. “Don’t, I beg of you. Please little Winchester, don’t do it… SAM!”

You started to scream out loud as he did it. He did the one thing that you hated more than the devil himself.

Tickling.

“Sam! Sam--Sa--Sam! Stop it! St--Sto--It!” You tried to speak but couldn’t even get out full sentences due to the pure, genuine, laughter coming from your core. “Sa--I ca--I can’t--Let me--Sam!” You kept cackling, having a hard time keeping your eyes open as tears started streaming from them. You kept getting glances of Sam looking so joyous as he got the drop on you, knowing that you were gonna give him hell to pay, enjoying it while he could. 

It was about the longest minute of your life as you completely were at a position in which you could do nothing but cry tears of unwanted joy. Sam kept going, breaking down all your walls as your deepest and truest laugh came to the light. You hated it, hence, you hated being tickled which is exactly why Sam was doing it.

Finally, Sam let you breathe without having to gasp for air with his big hands, brushing against your sides. You took a breath as he fell with his back on the bed next to you. You turned your head as he turned his, facing each other. He gave you a big smile and you struggled to not do the same.

“I hate that you know my tickle spots,” you admitted. “I hate it with a passion.” He took a happy sigh as you continued. “I seriously hate it, it’s not fair! You are like the only person in the world that gets to hear my horrific laugh and every single day I think about killing you so that no one can bear witness to the monstrosity!”

Sam smiled even bigger as he threw his hands up in the air as a reaction to the statement. Right about now, if he could talk, he would be questioning your reasoning like always.

“I’m serious, Sam! I’m gonna kill you one day and I’m warning you now so beware the next time you decide to cruelly tickle me!” You crossed your arms in a huff and watched as Sam leaned over close to you, eyes on you, grinning, and the grin was getting infectious. You bit your lip, using all your strength to not break but then… he winked… you were gone.

“Dammit, Sammy!” You yelled with a clear smile affecting your tone as happiness filled your voice. One look from Sam and you knew his thoughts. Before he had the chance to try and tickle you again, you kicked him off of you, right where it hurt, and crawled out of his bed.

You watched as he would curse you if he had the voice, rolling around in the bed, with his face barged in the pillows. You giggled at the sight.

“Quit being dramatic, Sam. You’re not an actor, only a techie.” You claimed. Sam’s face shot up quickly and the anger radiated from his expression. Before he could move, you went to grab one of his flannels that you loved so much and headed for the door knowing that he couldn’t stop you.

“Be ready in ten,” you ordered. “You’re coming with me to run errands.”

Sam raised his arms, obviously wondering why he had to go with you.

“Because, Sammy, I said so!” You answered, running off down the halls in another fit of giggles.

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Let me know what you think and if you would like to be tagged!

Tag list for my lovely ladies: @sl33pybo1​ @captain-im-not-dead-yet​ @swallow-carrying-a-coconut​

Next Chapter: That’s All You Got?

[let-it-raines]

Ok you probably saw this coming but now I need to see Emma and Killian working together - how it works, what they do, people’s reactions, everything pretty please!? 😊 (Assuming that is what you were alluding to? 😉)

I am...behind in Catch Me If You Can extras. I had about a million and two in my head since I love this universe most of all, and then life happened and I took some time off from writing. But nevertheless, here I am with a short little extra of the two of them being commentators together! I think they’ll probably have some pretty good on-camera chemistry, don’t you? 

ao3 | here |

-/-

March 2026

“Do you think I should wear my uniform?”

“What?” Emma yells.

“Do you think I should wear my uniform?” Killian repeats, trying his hardest not to yell since Emma is one room over.

He hears Emma before he sees her, and she pops her head into the closet with her brows furrowed together and her head cocked to the side. She’s got her hair in curlers, only one eye has mascara, and her portable breast pump is attached to her. She’s a sight for sore eyes, and he couldn’t imagine a more beautiful woman if he tried.

“You’re kidding, right?” she asks, and she obviously did not find his joke funny.

Killian shrugs. “Why would I be kidding? Look at this section of the closet. It’s all my uniforms and t-shirts and joggers. I have more Yankees-branded clothes than regular clothes, and I feel like it would be fitting to wear something that paid homage to my time as a player.”

Emma’s head recoils and she shakes her head, little lines popping up on her forehead. “You’re wearing the fitted navy suit, white shirt, matching navy tie, and you have a Yankees pin to put on your lapel. Didn’t the network go over this with you?”

“No, not at all.”

Her eyes narrow, like little slits of impending death, and if she could cross her arms over her chest, she would. He knows it. “You’re fucking with me, and I don’t appreciate it.”

“Come on. I know you do, love.”

“I don’t.”

Killian sighs and walks over to her, tilting his head and curling the corners of his lips. He blinks, slowly, and stares at Emma as he waits for her to smile. When she doesn’t, he places his hands on her hips and traces his lips across her neck, gently enough to not leave a mark or any trace of his stubble. If he messes up her makeup, she likely will murder him and get away with it. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Emma.”

“Killian.”

He presses a long kiss against the lobe of her ear and runs his hand down her back. “If you don’t want to have this argument on television, I feel like now might be the time we need to have it.”

“That seems like, ah – emotional blackmail.”

Killian nips down at her ear before pulling back, dipping his head so they’re eye level as he tucks a loose strand behind her ear. “You okay?”

“Honestly?”

“Always.”

“I’m a little worried that my boobs are going to start leaking on TV and that we’re going to have no chemistry together and also that we’re going to have to stop the broadcast because MJ is having a meltdown and Jace is having a meltdown because his sister is having a meltdown. And honestly, I feel like life was a lot simpler when you were lying to me about having a shoulder injury and my ex-boyfriend and your father were creating a smear campaign against us that made national headlines and nearly ruined our lives.”

Killian chuckles. He can’t help it, and he knows his wife wants to knee him in the balls for it, but he really cannot help himself. She’s stressed, and she shouldn’t be. If anything, he should be the one shitting himself because he’s the one doing something new today. But he knows better than to say that when he’s not the one who feels like he has to balance ten different jobs at once.

Emma keeps putting everything on her shoulders, like she’s the only one who can carry the stress, but he wants to carry the burdens as well. That is how their marriage works.

“You know, when you put it like that, it makes me realize our lives have never been boring. And life was probably simpler then, but none of what you’re fearing now is going to happen.”

“Really? You can guarantee that my boobs aren’t going to leak and that our children aren’t going to have meltdowns? Margot is three months old. All she does is have meltdowns and all my boobs do is leak when I get off this stupid feeding schedule because my body is only a feeding machine right now.”

Killian tilts his head and smiles. “I can guarantee we’re going to have chemistry working together.”

Emma scoffs and rolls her eyes. “You’re just saying that because you’re happy to have a job again.”

Killian shrugs and kisses Emma’s cheek. “Well, I need something to do until Jace and MJ are old enough for me to coach all of their teams.”

“Killian Jones, former three-time World Series Champion, spends his days getting yelled at by overinvolved parents of seven-year-olds at baseball and ballet and fly fishing.”

“Doesn’t sound too different from my playing days. Also, fly fishing?”

“I didn’t want to limit them. We don’t know what their hobbies are going to be.”

“Too true, love. I have a feeling they’ll be trying everything they can get their hands on.”

Emma huffs and taps her knuckles over Killian’s chest. The smile she’s been hiding starts poking out. “Tonight, do you think we can get Mary Margaret and David to watch the kids, and you and I go on a date? Like, a real one where we get dressed up and go out and have full intentions to have sex afterward but really, we go to bed early and wake up feeling like humans again.”

“You are speaking my language.” Killian’s hand falls to Emma’s waist and inches back to give her ass a quick squeeze. “Go finish getting ready. You’re going to make me late to my first day on the job.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I might later.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

Jace wanders into the closet as Killian is buttoning his shirt – the white button down and not his jersey – and he starts a long, very detailed conversation about the pros and cons of peanut butter with peanuts and without, and Killian does his best to pay attention to him and keep him occupied as Emma gets ready. That mostly means Jace tries climbing up on the shelves and grabbing Emma’s things, and after Killian is dressed and his hair is tamed enough, he picks Jace up and takes him to get dressed. The lucky kid doesn’t have to wear a suit. He gets to wear a Yankees sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, and his hair, curly mess that it is, will never be tamed. The baby monitor on Killian’s phone goes off, telling him Margot is up from her nap, and he takes Jace with him to MJ’s nursery to get her ready as well. Ariel is watching the two of them up in the suite today, bless her, and she’ll likely watch them for every game. They wanted to hire a nanny, but Ariel insisted that there were enough people to watch all the kids during the games. That’s a lie considering they’re all old and most of them have procreated now, so the kids far outnumber the adults.

It’s like a madhouse in their suite, and Killian could barely handle it when he only had Jace.

“Hello, little love,” Killian tells MJ as he changes her out of her pajamas and into the outfit Emma laid out. “Are you ready for your first baseball game? You don’t even know how much you’re about to have to watch this game. It’s going to be your entire life, whether you like it or not.”

“Where’s Will?” Jace asks.

“Big Will or little Will?”

“Little.”

“Where’d you leave him?” Killian asks as he pulls MJ’s pants up. “You had him while eating breakfast, so he might be in the kitchen.”

“Can I go check?”

“Give me a minute.”

“Too long.”

Killian chuckles and tries hurrying to dress Margot as she squirms and moves as much as anyone as small as her can, and he keeps his eye on Jace as he goes through the books in Margot’s room. She’s got a wall of them, something Emma saw on Pinterest and wanted to do, and while they’re supposed to be displayed nicely, Jace always has other ideas.

Thankfully, Emma’s heels start clicking down the hall, and she appears in the room, a vision in a cream dress that hugs her curves and heels that will definitely distract him for the rest of the day. Killian lets out a low whistle, and she rolls her eyes. “You’re a vision, darling.”

“Pretty, Mama,” Jace agrees.

“Thank you, baby.” Emma pulls her hand out from behind her back and Will the stuffed red lobster appears. She is magical, Killian swears. “I hear you’re looking for Will.”

“Thank you,” he squeals, moving from the books and toward Emma to get the lobster.

“You guys ready to go?” Emma asks. “You look nice, babe.”

“Better than I do in my uniform?”

Emma laughs. “Well, I like your ass in both.”

“Ass,” Jace squeals, and Emma covers her mouth, eyes wide.

“We’re ruining them,” she whispers behind her hands. “I can’t believe I did that.”

Killian chuckles and picks MJ up, holding her in the crook of his arm. “Blame it on Will if Jace says it in public.”

“You’re horrible.”

“I’m not the one who is teaching our son curse words while talking about how attracted I am to my husband’s behind.”

“Let’s just go,” Emma laughs, taking MJ from him and fussing with her hair. “We’re going to be late.”

They’re not late.

They’re not even close to late. They get to the stadium ahead of time, drop the kids off with Ariel, and they have time to sneak into the clubhouse and say hello to Will, Eric, Rob, and the rest of the guys. They’re in the middle of doing press and warm-ups, and Killian has to dodge questions of his own. His time as a baseball player is over, and two years later, that’s still hard for him to accept. It’s reality, however, and he ignores the ache in his chest and threads his fingers together with Emma as they leave the clubhouse and move to the production booth to do all of their pre-game tests. Emma is a natural, and he has to remind himself this is what she’s done for years. It’s her job, and she’s damn good at it. It’s his job now, too, but this isn’t what he was meant to do. He was meant to be out on the field, not behind the glass.

That’s the past. This isn’t. It’s the here and now.

And he’s thankful to still be involved in the game that has shaped his life.

“You’re going to be great,” Emma promises, reaching over and pressing her hand over his. “We’ve done practice runs. You’ve done this before. All you have to do is talk to me and talk about baseball. That’s literally what you already do every single day.”

“Hey now, I do have things in my life I love besides you and baseball. I also enjoy my kids and baking and complaining about different aches after I’ve exercised.”

“Well, you can talk about those things too.”

“Even the time I think I pulled a muscle in my ass?”

Emma rolls her eyes and adjusts her microphone. “I know I made you feel all good about it earlier, but stop talking about your ass.”

“Actually,” Ruby says from her spot behind the camera, “I feel like that would make our ratings go up.”

Killian shakes his head and chuckles, rolling in his chair and straightening his back as Emma does the same, adjusting her dress and not-so-slightly checking to see if she’s started leaking. Just another day in the life for them. Ruby holds up her fingers, counting down to the camera starting to roll, and Killian looks at Emma, waiting for her to begin.

“Hi, my name is Emma Jones, and I’m here with a familiar face to most of you. I’m thrilled to welcome former Yankees starting pitcher, three-time World Series Champion, two-time Cy Young Award winner, an eight-time All Star, and most impressively, the father of my children and my husband, Killian Jones. He’ll be working with me all season long, and I promise you he got the job all on his own merit. It has nothing to do with any strings I’ve pulled.”

“Well, that sounds a little suspicious, love.”

“Only if you point it out.”

Killian laughs and turns away from Emma to look at the camera. “I’m thrilled to be working with Emma and the rest of the crew this season, as well as getting to mercilessly critique my former teammates. Scarlet, I’m looking at you.”

“Welcome to Opening Day,” Emma chuckles, squeezing his hand under the desk, and his racing heart settles, the beat staying in the settled place where it always is with Emma by his side. No matter how much he wants to be out on the field and no matter how much he still misses it, he cannot imagine a place where he’d rather be right now. “Let’s look at this highlight reel of last season, and then we’ll talk about all the roster changes for this season. I think it’s going to be a good one.”

-/-

-/-

CMIYC tag list: @mrtinski @bluewildcatfanatic @killianswannn @sherifemma @onepunintendid @authorarsinoe @stunningswan @eala-captian @galaxyzxstark @galadriel26 @xellewoods @mariakov81 @ultraluckycatnd @royalswan @shey-starsfury @superchocovian @sals86 @iam2307 @karenfrommisthaven @scientificapricot @ultimiflos @jamif @idristardis @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @notoriouscs @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @cs-forlife @andiirivera @jonirobinson64 @qualitycoffeethings @carpedzem @tornadoamy @captainkillianswanjones @captain-emmajones

[ginger-grimm]

Mitzy Hall Prologue

Ventured outside my comfort zone for the first time to write a prologue for my American Horror Story: Hotel plot bunny Mitzy. I hope you enjoy this.

TW: BLOOD, GORE, MURDER, MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

Mitzy Hall leaned down towards her baby girl, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “Be nice to grams, okay, sweetie?” she asked softly. She knew Ariel was too young to understand, but liked to talk to her as much as possible anyway. Ariel giggled, waving her little stuffed cat around. Mitzy smiled at her. She didn’t want to go out to her job. Not on Christmas Eve. She knew Ariel wouldn’t care but she did.

But Mitzy’s grandmother Violet was sick and she couldn’t rely on the state to help financiate their life. Someone had to pay the bills, so every night Mitzy would go out on the streets and do what she had to to ensure her family's survival. She grabbed her jacket from the chair and blew Ariel a kiss, smiling as she watched her daughter play with her toys. Mitzy took a peek into her grandmother's room.

If Violet knew what she was doing to bring more money in, she would probably beat the living shit out of her. She was already asleep, the lung cancer making her weaker by the day. Mitzy often tried to grapple with the thought of her grandmother being gone soon but until that happened she would enjoy every moment with her. She grabbed her purse and her keys and headed out the door.

----------

Mitzy closed her jacket tighter as she walked up to the doors of the Hotel Cortez. She had been walking the streets around the building for a couple of months at that point. The hotel was beautifully designed and built. The giant swinging doors alone made her feel even more poor than she already was. She wanted nothing more than just get the gig over with and get back home to Ariel and her grandmother, but these kinds of customers wanted her services for hours sometimes.

The young girl walked into the hotel. She had been walking around in stripper heels for hours and her feet were killing her. Part of her couldn’t wait to finally sit down. The hotel seemed even more grand on the inside. The architecture was beautiful and the lobby alone was decorated nicer than her house. She took a deep breath and walked up to the front desk. Mitzy didn’t know if the person behind it was trans or simply a cross-dresser, but they were dressed fabulously either way.

She gave them a hesitant smile. They gave her a bored look. “May I help you?”

“Yes, I am here to meet with someone. His name is Grant. Richard Grant,” Mitzy replied. She wanted to get it over with fast so she could get back home before Ariel woke up. “Could you give me his room number, please?”

She looked at the name tag sitting on the counter. Liz Taylor, it read. Liz sighed. “Let me check the guest book,” she said. Mitzy didn’t know if Liz was just perpetually annoyed or if she didn’t like her but the conversation was getting awkward and she just wanted it to be done. “Room 276. Try not to make too much of a mess.”

Mitzy’s mouth hung open. She didn’t know why Liz was being rude to her, but she didn’t like it. “Have I offended you somehow? Because I’m sorry if I did.”

Liz put a hand up to her heart. “Not at all, sweetheart,” she insisted. “But I’ve been seeing you walk the streets for the past couple of months. You’re too young to be doing that shit. You know that, right?”

Mitzy rolled her eyes. She had heard that more than once. And she knew it was true. “I’m aware. But the bills aren’t going to pay themselves now, aren’t they?”

“Whatever you say, darling.”

Mitzy scoffed, turning away from the counter. “Thanks for the information. Have a good night.”

“Wait!” Liz called out. Mitzy sighed but turned around to face her nonetheless. “Stay safe up there, alright? The guy seemed kind of sketchy. If you need help, just ring the front desk. Don’t say anything, just ring.”

Mitzy smiled at the woman. “Thank you. Will do,” she assured her. She walked away off to the elevator. She walked inside and pressed the button for the right floor. As the doors closed, Mitzy let out a sigh. Her heart was racing. She had never met a customer anywhere but in their cars. But he was paying extra and she needed the money. The closer she got to the floor, the more her heart started racing. Maybe she should listen to Liz and go. She was too young for this. Too stupid.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. She gulped and walked out into the hallway. The young blonde looked at her wrist watch. It was almost time to meet him and Mitzy wanted nothing more than to just run. She walked up to room 279 and knocked on the door. “Come in,” she heard a voice say. The voice sounded higher than she had expected. She opened the door and walked in, seeing a boy about her age sitting on the bed, waiting for her. “Hey,” he greeted shyly.

“Hey there,” she greeted with a fake smile and her overdramatic sultry voice. She had learned quickly to just please the men and get out. No what, if and but’s. “Nice to meet you,” she told him. Richard had been the one to call her, though his voice sounded deeper over the phone. Maybe he did that to hide his own insecurities. He was on the overweight side of the body spectrum and clearly seemed shy. He wouldn’t be the first of that kind that Mitzy had to work with. These were the kinds of guys who usually couldn’t get a woman in real life, so they got with hookers instead.

Richard got off the bed, straightening out his sweater. “You too. I didn’t know you would be so young.”

“You look pretty young yourself. Is this your first time with a professional?”

Richard chuckled nervously. "My first time in general."

Mitzy fought the urge to sigh. These were her least favorite customers. They expected too much and in the end they were always let down. Instead, she smiled sweetly and walked up to Richard. "Well, then let's make it one to remember."

Richard's breath hitched and Mitzy pushed down her feelings of disgust. She had been doing this job for almost a year but she had still not gotten over it. She had thanked the stars every day that she wasn't a virgin when she started out.

Mitzy put a hand up to his chest, having developed a routine to her job at this point. "You got the condom or do I need to get one?" she asked. Plenty of guys had demanded to go raw, citing that it felt better. But Mitzy wasn't an idiot. She wasn't looking to get pregnant again or catch something from the perverts on the streets.

Richard nodded. He seemed a little scrambled, nervous. Mitzy chalked it up to him being young and this being his first time. Lord knows she had had a full on panic attack after her first gig. "Sit down, I'll get it."

Mitzy nodded and Richard walked off into the bathroom. She sat down on the bed with a quiet sigh. "How old are you, anyway? If I may ask."

"Eighteen. How about you?" Richard asked back.

Mitzy halted for a second. Yeah he was her age but he could still be some kind of undercover worker here to bust here. She was starting to become nervous again. "Nineteen," she finally called out. It was a lie, but what did he care as long as he got his dick wet?

"You sure about that?"

Mitzy narrowed her eyes. Why did he care? Granted, she had asked first but that was more small talk to shake off her nerves. "Yeah."

"Mmmh," she heard him go. A confused expression crossed her face and she was starting to consider ringing the front desk. "Have you ever had these intrusive kinds of thoughts?"

"What?"

"You know, like, wanting to hurt someone in your family? Your friends? The neighbourhood cat."

Mitzy gulped. She would have chalked this up to him being socially awkward, playing a stupid prank on her. But she had heard stories of the hotel. It had housed plenty of killers over the years. Hell, the architect himself was an infamous serial killer. 

She slowly got off the bed, trying not to make a creaking sound. "I can't say that I have, sweetie. Why?"

"Well…" Richard trailed off. Mitzy wanted to break down and cry, but she could do that once she had gotten out of there. "I have been having these dreams. For years now. I killed a neighbours cat recently. It felt good."

Mitzy hurried towards the door. She needed to get out. Go back home. Stop doing this job forever. She would be nicer, like when she was a kid. Do better. Raise her little girl. Help her grandma get better somehow. She had her hand on the knob, ready to twist it, when Richard sprinted over and clasped his hand around her wrist, twisting it so hard it nearly broke.

Mitzy shrieked. "Where do you think you're going?" Richard asked. His voice sounded different. Scarier.

"Let me go, you psycho dick!" she demanded, trying to pull her wrist from his grip. She attempted to push him away but he was too big. "Please," Mitzy whimpered. She gasped as she felt a sting in her side. She looked down. He had stabbed her.

Her mind began to race. She just wanted out. She wanted to go. He pulled out the knife. There was blood. It gushed all over her corset, turning the white fabric red. She kicked Richard in the groin. He hunched over in pain.

"Help!"

She banged on the door - over and over again. "Somebody help me please!" she screamed, her voice sounding strangled. The door was locked. She hadn't even seen him do it. She sobbed, trying to get it open. Mitzy raced over to the phone. Just ring, Liz had said. "Just ring," she whispered frantically.

She picked up the phone, her fingers bloodying the rotator as attempted to ring the front desk. Her fingers slipped and before she could get back to it Richard grabbed her from behind, tossing her tiny body onto the bed like a rag doll.

He straddled her entire frame. Mitzy fought for air. "No, please," she begged. Richard grabbed both ends of the scarf around her neck, pulling it together tightly. Her hands immediately shot up as she struggled to breath. She sobbed, the strangled sound of them turning Richard on like never before. Mitzy scratched and scratched at him until she passed out.

When she awoke again she saw her underwear discarded in the corner of the room. Her corset had been ripped off. Her eyes fluttered as she attempted to suck in some precious air. Richard chuckled at the end of the bed. "In the movies they always make it seem like strangling would kill someone quickly."

Mitzy sobbed once more. Her whole body hurt. She just wanted out. Back to Ariel. Her attempt to sit up was quickly thwarted by Richard. He held her down by the throat. Mitzy was too spent to fight back. Richard pulled the knife out of his back pocket, dragging the stainless steel across her neck, down her chest and over her stomach. "I have always wanted to do this."

He raised the knife, Mitzy's eyes widened. He stabbed away at her stomach. Mitzy let out strangled cry after strangled cry. By the time Richard was satisfied Mitzy's whole body was covered in her blood. The entire bed was covered in her blood. Richard was covered in her blood. And yet, she was still alive. Her gurgled gasps for breath coming out in raggedy heaps as she struggled to hold on. Richard chuckled. He quite enjoyed her will to live. He grabbed the scarf again, strangling her into unconsciousness.

He would repeat that process for hours. Violating her, stabbing away at her tiny body, strangling her until she passed out. Eventually, she just didn't wake up again. When he was satisfied with his work, he cleaned off all the blood on him, grabbed his stuff and headed out.

----------

Liz Taylor had been working at the Hotel Cortez for quite some time now. She had seen many gruesome murders. But none of them quite as bloody and tragic as this one.

When Richard Grant came into the lobby and handed over his keys to the room, Liz had hoped that the young prostitute from down the street was simply washing the shame off her body before returning home.

But after half an hour she still hadn't returned and Liz had gotten worried. The guy had seemed sketchy from the start and Liz had wanted to keep the girl away from him from the beginning. When the older woman stepped into the room and saw the young girls body hanging off the bed she nearly threw up.

It was a nightmarish sight. Her intestines hung from her body. The entire room was covered in her blood. She had nearly been decapitated. Liz sighed. She would have to call the cops soon but had to take care of something else first. She turned around in the hallway, watching as a bloody Mitzy came stalking down the hall, crying out for someone named Ariel.

Liz closed the door to room 276. She walked up to the ghost of the young girl. She would have to disappear before the cops got to the hotel. She sighed, knowing she was in for a long night.

TAGGING: @hughstheforcelou​ @firsthorror​ @eddysocs​ @raith-way​ @foxesandmagic​ @reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle​

[manygalaxiesinone]

Origins of Classic Tales in a Nutshell:

Little Mermaid:

Ursula: “If you give me your voice, I’ll give you human legs so you can go after the man of your dreams.” Ariel: “Alright, deal! I’m sure I’ll be able to make him love me!” -Later- Ariel: *sadly walks away from her love sharing a home with another woman back into the ocean, turning into sea foam as “Take me to the King” plays in the background*

Snow White:

Evil Queen: *Dances around in hot irons in front of a crowd* Blake: “Don’t you think this is a bit harsh?” Weiss: “She tried to kill me multiple times so she can chop up my body and devour me.” Blake: “...” *nods and backs away* Weiss: “Did I say stop?! Keep dancing!” *Shoots the queen’s iron shoes with her fire ammo, making it hot again*

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears:

Silver haired Yang: “I knew I shouldn’t have come here...” Bears: *get close to the cornered Yang* Silver haired Yang: “You’re not going to maul me, are you?” Bear 1: “Why would we do that?” Yang: “Huh?” Bear 2: “Yeah we’re mad that you broke in our home and messed up our stuff, but we’re not going to kill ya over it.” Bear 3: “We were just going to make sure you know it’s wrong to trespass. What, you think just because we’re bears that we maul everything we see?” Yang: *Nervous sweating* “Uhh...gotta go!” -jumps out the window- Bear 2: “Think she’s dead? We’re pretty high up.” Bear 1: “Eh. Who cares? Even if she lived, who’s going to believe that she broke into a house full of talking bears?”

Red Riding Hood:

Ruby: *lays in bed next to the wolf* “You know, when you said you were going to eat me, that was not what I had in mind.” Wolf: “Oh no, that part comes later.”

Jungle Book:

Baloo: “Little Britches, everything the grass touches is our jungle.” Mowgli: “Woah...” *points to the ruins* “What about that rocky place over there?” Baloo: “That’s the monkey territory. You must never go there.”

Beauty & The Beast/Cinderella:

Cinderella: “You had terrible older sisters too?” Belle: “Yup and they’ve been treating me like dirt for the longest. They even tricked me into staying away from the castle long enough for my husband to die of heartbreak once they found out how well he has been treating me.” Cinderella: “I’m sorry to hear that.” Belle: “Don’t worry. I was able to bring him back to life after pouring water on his head and confessing my love for him.” Cinderella: “Well that’s good. So, where are your sisters now?” Belle: “You know those statues that you saw at the entrance of the castle? A fairy made them like that until they see the error of their ways.” Cinderella: “Oh my.” Belle: “Speaking of sisters, what happened to yours?” Cinderella: “Well, they were going to attend my wedding as a gesture of good will...until some of my bird friends flew down and took their eyes.” Belle: “Yikes. At least my sisters have a chance to recover.”

Shrek:

Shrek: *Rides on top of Donkey like a steed* “Hurry up Donkey! We need to save the princess from that dragon!” Donkey: “How the hell with all the superpowers you got these writers didn’t bother to give you the power of flight?!” Shrek: “Think Donkey, if they did that, you probably wouldn’t be in this story at all." *uses fire breath to cook his custom kebab* “Now move.” *starts eating* Donkey: *struggles to carry Shrek on his back*

Sinbad:

Sinbad: “Oh crap, the money my father left me on his deathbed is almost all gone...welp, time to go on a high seas adventure! Who’s with me?!” Merchants: “Yay!” -Later- Sinbad: “Hey, where did everybody go? Ah well, more treasure for me.”

300:

Xerces: "Okay, we may have lost...a lot more people than expected, but in the end, we managed to make our way to Athens. Now I can take revenge on the city by destroying all of its inhabita- Kratos: "Everyone left." Xerces: "What?" Kratos: "The entire city evacuated long before you arrived. There's no one here except me, my dead family, and a few stubborn old guys."  Xerces: "Oh you've got to be kidding me." Kratos: "It gets worse." Pulls out twin blades Xerces: "Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffu-"

Pocahontas:

John Smith: “Pocahontas was bangin’ man. We totally did it when I visited her island home.” Some guy: “Wasn’t Pocahontas like 10 years old when you met her?” John Smith: *Nervous sweating* “...Uhh...” Some guy: “Congrats, you are now either a confirmed liar or pedo.”

Jack & The Beanstalk:

Jack: “You got any chicken?” Barkeep: “Naw, we’re all out of chicken.” Jack: “You got any veil?” Barkeep: “Naw, we’re all out of veil.” Jack: “You got any eggs?” Barkeep: “Naw, we’re all out of eggs.” Jack: “You got any steak?” Barkeep: “Naw, we’re all out of steak!” Jack: “You got any truffles?” Barkeep: “Naw, we’re out of truffles!” Jack: “You got any grapes?!” Barkeep: “Naw, we’re all out of grapes!” Jack: “You got any buffalo?!” Barkeep: “...Wait a minute, I’ll go check.” *leaves* Jack: “...” Barkeep: “NAW WE’RE OUT OF BUFFALO!!!”

[tracelessrp]

YONA GREENSPAN is a 21 year old FEMALE WEREWOLF, who looks a lot like SARA WAISGLASS. YONA spends time at Traceless because HER PACK IS THERE AND SHE LOVES OPEN MIC NIGHTS AT THE CAFE. SHE is known for BEING AN EXCITABLE WEREWOLF AND BANGING OUT THE TUNES.

Hometown: Nyack, New York Current Residence: Traceless Special Abilities: Yona is a werewolf, and fairly standard as it comes to abilities. Even when not shifted, she is faster and stronger than she looks, and has particularly good stamina. She has relatively good control over her shifts, and only starts to wolf out when she is really excited.

It does not seem like she has any other special abilities due to being a werewolf. However, she is moderately convinced that if she keeps trying to test out various powers, she will find another one out. She has a list of options that she has eliminated.

Apart from the supernatural stuff, Yona enjoys and has an ear for music. Her aunt and uncle put her into piano lessons when she was little, and she spent a lot of time practicing. She can pick up a guitar and get some chords down, but she doesn’t really like it as much as keys and singing. It can be difficult to get her to stop singing, and she isn’t very quiet about it.

Character Background:

tw: death, death of a mother, neglect of child

Arielle Greenspan had a one night stand after a night out with a friend of an acquaintance, and promptly put it out of mind until she realized that she was pregnant two months later. Arielle decided having a baby would be a great idea, and proceeded to get fully into baby fever. Playing it by ear, Arielle had her little girl, and shifted most of her work to home. Arielle’s younger brother Joey, completely bewildered by the concept of children, asked bluntly if the dad was in the picture. The answer was no, and Joey did not get much more information out of his sister than that.

As for the child, she had a pleasant early childhood. While Yona would color within the lines, she had an odd way of doing it. Yona wasn’t stupid, but she never had the finest grasp on common sense. She was an affectionate, exuberant little girl who she loved following her mom around, leading her Uncle Joey to call her a duckling. Joey enjoyed being the fun uncle, but he had never imagined that he would need to be anything more than that. ‘Godfather’ was supposed to just be a formality- a title to say that you wanted to be there in the kid’s life, right? He never seriously considered that he would have to lose his older sister so soon.

Joey had literally just gotten married three months ago, and had been looking forward to child-free adventures with his wife Genevieve for the foreseeable future. And now he had to worry about a kid who couldn’t be trusted not to put a fork in the electrical outlet? He seriously considered what would happen if he put up his six year old niece for adoption, but after Arielle’s funeral, Yona pouted and wouldn’t let go of his hand for two hours, so he had to keep her. Surely he could still get to go on his adventures as long as he found a good babysitter.

Yona’s childhood and adolescence were a little odd. She was always left under the care of somebody when Joey and Gen got the traveling itch, but those were often eccentric friends that were clueless about what to do with a kid. Sometimes her aunt and uncle brought her along on their adventures, and she was left to roam around European cities untethered. Joey and Gen read exactly zero parenting resources, and they were proud of it. Most nine year olds don’t receive a vibrator for their birthday without explanation, for example.

As sex-positive an environment as the Greenspan home was, Yona was left to the mercy of the American sex education program for any actual guidance. Twelve year old Yona, brimming with questions, asked the teacher if it was normal for girls going through puberty to “grow hair in weird places, feel really emotional all of a sudden, and have your body start to change?” After vehement reassurance that of course this was normal along with some arcane-looking diagrams of the human body, it took Yona three months to realize that it was in fact not normal to change into an entire wolf once a month. Her uncle and aunt agreed that this was very weird, but Gen had always been really into learning about the paranormal and mythology in general. After taking Yona to several obviously fake psychics and to meet up with some guy on Craigslist that sincerely believed that he was a werewolf but definitely wasn’t, Gen had almost given up hope.

On a trip when she was thirteen, Yona started talking randomly to a lady in a pie shop (she loved chatting with strangers and her aunt and uncle rarely stopped her).. and the woman happened to be another werewolf. Since werewolves had a good sense of smell in identifying their own kind and other supernatural species, the stranger lady asked Yona some tentative questions. Latching immediately onto this random woman she had just met (she said her name was HJ), she had a very informational and oddly calming conversation. Only after sharing more information than you should probably share with an adult stranger and promises from HJ for help finding a pack in New York agreed to join her very first pack did she grab her Aunt Gen. Unfortunately, HJ didn’t live in New York, so Yona had to join a pack with a whole bunch of strangers instead of her chill new adult friend. And the new pack was pretty nice. Yona thought that being part of a pack was way better than having to deal with the painful shifts on her own in the backyard.

Getting to join her own secret grown-up pack prompted Yona to start acting out more. She stayed out late, threw parties at the house when her aunt and uncle weren’t home, and pulled some truly epic pranks. The weirdest part was that Joey and Gen didn’t seem to notice or care. She would skip school sometimes and nobody at home would even mention it. All she wanted was to be noticed. She played up how much alcohol and drugs she was doing (basically nothing), and her aunt and uncle completely ignored it. She tried sleeping with some okay boy at her school when she was sixteen, but felt gross afterward and decided for once maybe she didn’t want every speck of attention she could get. She had been planning on telling her aunt matter-of-factly about that, but decided to keep at least that much to herself. It took Yona a full year to figure out that oh, she was interested in girls instead. Something about telling a pretty girl that she painfully turned into a big gray wolf every month made her feel insecure. It didn’t help that Yona found herself absolutely infatuated with just about every woman she met. Some crushes were deeper than others, but her feelings always felt real, exciting, and devastatingly painful. From her perspective, love was both brutal and amazing, and she wanted nothing more than to find it- even if it hurt. Still, it took Yona another year to admit out loud that she was gay (so gay), and desperate. What really pissed her off was when she came out to her uncle and aunt, only for Joey to reply with a casual, “Yeah, we’ve known since you were twelve.” Well it would have helped if someone had given her a hint!

Yona moved out of her aunt and uncle’s as soon as she had her high school diploma under her belt, and tried to figure out what she wanted to do with herself. Apparently, her mom had been on track to be some sort of superstar consultant. Most of the estate was funneled into a trust set up for Yona. Uncle Joey had told her he couldn’t figure out how any of that money stuff worked, and had done what the financial advisor guy who was in charge of the trust told him to do with the money. Yona didn’t feel like a trust fund baby or anything, but it was nice to know that even if she messed up, her mom had wanted to make sure she was okay. A lot of the time, Yona wondered if her mom would have been proud of her.

After moving out, Yona left her New York pack on good terms, and bought a motorcycle. Her aunt had shown her how to ride (it had only led to two near-wrecks), and this seemed more cinematic than buying a junker car that stood a chance of breaking down to drive across the country. She had been accepted at a couple of colleges (she’d kept her grades up well enough in spite of everything), but did not feel strongly about going to school when she felt weirdly stuck. Her aunt and uncle had never felt like parents, and she fantasized about discovering herself out west. Riding across the country (and getting hella lost in South Dakota… how was she supposed to keep the two Dakotas straight?) was a formative experience. It was a good thing that she had werewolf strength and instincts because Yona did not get any less naïve through this experience. 

Eventually, she wound up in Seattle, which Yona thought was a bit like New York through a puddle. She didn’t really know if she even liked Seattle (mostly she just didn’t get it), but she did learn that there was a super cool-seeming café that catered to people like her. Or, well, werewolves plus a whole bunch of other species that Yona had not given a thought further than “they exist” to. For some reason, the café people wouldn’t let her bring her motorcycle into the shop so that she could have it on the other side of… well, wherever she wanted to take it. Anyway, Yona decided that she liked Traceless pretty well, and also really liked the idea of getting in on those open mic nights. Traceless was a lot better than trying to get lost somewhere even more frustrating than the Dakotas, so she stuck around. She enrolled in college, and half by-accident joined a new pack. It was great! She got to see HJ again and actually be in a pack with her. A lot of the Bonfire Pack lived in a cluster of houses in Traceless, and Yona enthusiastically moved in one with HJ. To anyone that asked, HJ was her aunt, but they were also not related in any way. Her new pack was a lot more dysfunctional and much less organized than her first pack, but Yona liked it better that way. After about four years in Traceless, she was one term away from graduating in the fall term, and not sure what she planned to do with herself apart from pitching in around the pack’s camp.

(ooc: lisa, 29, she/her, pacific)

[my-arlington-academia]

Chapter 9 thoughts! 🎃👻 (Not a review in any way, I'm just gonna scream about the chapter)

First of all, you CANNOT believe how many screenshots I took. It's like 1 line out of 4 was comedic gold. I counted and I have exactly a HUNDRED screenshots.

Ariel? The backgrounds? The costumes? THEY BLEW ME AWAY! Anytime a new character appeared on screen with their outfit I was screeching 😂 Especially Karolina. She was killing it. It made me consider making another side account. Love the Alice madness returns trio: Ellie as Alice, Tyler as the mad hatter and Tegan as Cheshire cat. You really did God's work 😔✊🙏🙏

Now to the chapter in general and the writing: at the moment I only played on my Claire account! I'll do Alistair later👌

Love how we start the chapter with Tadashi ALREADY being annoyed. Dick-shaped balloons? Tadashi saying "spooky vibes"? The "WhEn WiLL yOu LeArN tHaT yOuR aCtIoNs HaVe CoNsEqUeNcEs?!?" meme but Tadashi style? Perfect.

The interactions with Claire were absolutely adorable. I thought I would panic when the first dialogue option showed up but it's Claire, so it wasn't hard to figure out! She's so sweet and I love her. The part where Scholar is praising her cooking and she's like "that's the perks of being French!" After that, how she gave Scholar a box full of cookies because she's worried about her skipping meals? CUTE. And the study group where Raquel and Axel are calling out Claire on her obvious crush? Bruh. That's some backstabbing, poor bby Claire 😖😖

Then, the next arc tease! I think it's the "FAXION" thing! So it's either Karol's arc or Neha's? Or both at the same time maybe? I'm interested: how is it gonna play out? A fashion competition where all the main 10 will somehow get involved sounds unlikely, so I guess it's like Tadashi's arc where everyone helps? Or something like that? But I have no idea what kind of problem can arise in a fashion competition 🤔

After that, we have the first illustration! Scholar is a cutie!!! Looking at herself all proud 😎 wish I had that level of self-confidence, when I pass in front of a mirror I don't even want to look at myself 😂

Then the party... Tadashi looking like he was DEAD while all the others look fabulous in their Halloween costumes... Poor Dashi. But love how he was terrified of the Arlingtonator, it's so precious that even though he's always so composed and serious he still believes in stuff like that 😆 Raquel was about to call him a p u s s y. Bruh.

I love the whole team messing with Tadashi but poor guy. He was really trying to protect his friends first before himself, he's so sweet I love him 😭

Later on, when Scholar was looking at Claire and she's like "oh yeah I was just checking you out UH- I mean the outfit! I was checking out the outfit!" I felt that cringe Scholar must've gone through 😂

Now. The next scene. The next scene took the crown for me. I LAUGHED. You guys cannot imagine how rare it is for me to audibly laugh when I'm reading something. I really stopped for a few seconds and kept staring at the screen while laughing. Andy "I CaN't WrItE cOmeDy" bruh no. The AMOUNT of happiness this gave me 😂 please, next time instead of 250 pages write 300 thank you 😌 (I'm only kidding! Serena will lose her mind)

I think I might or might not have this whole scene screenshoted. All the dialogue kills me.

"Al, consider our friendship cancelled."

"PIKI PIKI."

"Tomorrow? You're all dead to me."

This scene will stay in my mind and in my heart. Andy thank you for the amazing food 👏👏 I believe this will stay "iconic" in the fandom 😂

Then we had the party wrap up, of course I chose to play boardgames with Karol, Neha and Claire since this is Claire's account. And I gotta say, I LOVE IT. Karolina looks so happy for once, I couldn't believe it. I also love how Claire is clearly a bit chubby, I want to hug her 💖💗 (or how the internet says: "Thicc" I guess) I got the achievement "in front of MY boardgame?" or something along those lines because Karolina was complaining that Scholar and Claire are flirting 😎

Then we got the spooky stories and a terrified Tadashi begging for his life... god this better not awaken anything in me 😂

And finally the last scene with Claire... God it was so ufozkfhzuhdkdpzjrudozrydo 💗💖💕💝💘💖💗💕💝💘

Words cannot express the diabetes I got from that fricking scene...

Anyways!!! As you can see this really wasn't a review at all, just me gushing about sweet elite like always. Is anyone surprised? The only bad thing about this chapter was that it was so sweet that I wanted even more wholesomeness after it was already over 😭 and I know that next arc is going to be even harsher than Tadashi's from what the SE team told us... goodbye happy times, I'll wait for the christmas/new year chapter for more heartwarming stuff. Hopefully it's chapter 12 or 13 🤞🤞 (Well, okay, I admit I'm also looking forward to the angst. I can go through any pain if there's happiness at the end 😔✊)