#día de muertos references

[cadaver-moss]

Uhh FELIZ DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS!!!!

This isn’t technically related to that whatsoever, but I’m glad I at least made something for the day :D

[spooky-month-archive]

Various references and Easter eggs in Spooky Month 5: Tender Treats

The photo of Bob where he has his thumbs up is meant to reference the real-life cannibal Ed Gein. Behind Bob is the corpse of his victim hanging upside down with a badly made cut.

Captain and Shotgun Man from Sr Pelo's 'Every StoryTime Animation' video.

Flashback scene with the old Spooky Month style

Sr Pelo's old YouTube username (123pendejos), Latino American joke (common in SM) about smelling like obo, and another Latino joke, if you read it you are cursed.

The book from episode 3 based on the song El Gran Varon/The Great Man by Willie Colón.

Skid and Pump JoJo posing (with Skid doing DIO's 'Wryyy' pose and Pump doing Jonathan Joestar's pose)

Skid and Pump doing the walk cycle from 'Every Fuckin' FPS Game' video.

Plants vs. Zombies reference

Día de Muertos/Day of the Dead themed Candy Club, with Pelo cookies and Among Us stickers.

Right: A lollipop of Sr Pelo's character Verwirrung, AntonM's character Lucy, Invincible Candy from Kirby, a reference to a character from the ENA: Dream BBQ game trailer, a skull from Zombicool on the Spooky Month team and Katz and Uno from Monster Lab by MeatCanyon.

Left: 2 of Sr Pelo's candy characters, Salad Fingers, strawberry candy, a reference to the scene in Beetlejuice (1988) where he gives a fly a candy and Top Hat from Villainous.

The Panvaso is a joke from a Mexican TV comedy called 'La Familia P. Luche'

[ssahotchnerr]

how about doing a birthday celebration with the team for aaron and he feels overwhelmed bc he’s so used to doing nothing for his birthday since haley passed and felt alone even with jack <333

celebrated

happy birthday aaron 🥹<33 cw; established relationship, mentions of haley, aaron self deprecating (it's sad - i'm sad), references to alcohol, mentions of food, hurt to comfort wc; 1.4k

about an hour or so in, you found aaron in the kitchen, half sitting-half resting against the counter. the man of the hour had been missing in action; he'd gone in search of a drink a while ago and had yet to return.

it was november second, aaron's birthday, and the first birthday you were spending with him. naturally, you wanted to go all out, for aaron to feel nothing but loved on his special day.

it wasn't a surprise party, aaron had been aware the whole time (you knew he didn't favor surprises too much), but had zero part in planning. he was only aware of the time jess were to drop over to pick up jack for the night, and the time of which the others would be arriving at the apartment. which, had been swallowed up with balloons, colorful streamers, confetti was scattered across the floor (which truthfully you were dreading picking up later, and hopefully you all wouldn't still be finding pieces for the next month), a banner was hung on the wall. his team were all in attendance, drinks were flowing, lively conversations were being had, a table of god only knew how many appetizers.

it was going nearly as perfectly as you had visualized, mind the part where aaron snuck away.

"hey, you alright?" you sidled up to him, your hand comfortably resting on his back.

aaron nodded, meeting your eyes as he lifted his drink to his lips. his eyes maintained their usual soft glow, but appeared down. "all good."

you weren't convinced, your puzzlement clear. "but you're hiding?"

"i wouldn't call it hiding." he chuckled softly, a sigh leaving him as he set his glass of whisky down. "just soaking it in? the night's been great, don't get me wrong. but it feels... strange."

you moved in front of him to wrap your arms around his middle, pulling him flush against you. "can i ask why?"

"the last time i had a banner," aaron chuckled again, a melancholiness suddenly overtaking him. "jack was practically a newborn - haley's doing."

"oh."

"yeah." aaron's hand ran up and down your back instinctively, mindlessly drawing shapes. "brings back memories."

"god i can only imagine." you sobered, tucking yourself more into his chest. your ear was pressed against him, hearing his steady heartbeat.

"i guess overwhelmed is the correct word to describe it. haley always went all out, then the divorce happened and then..." an exhale left him. "birthdays since, never did anything. i guess it was acknowledged but never celebrated. come to think of it, i don't think i've ever celebrated with the team."

as if on cue, a loud commotion came from the other room - team mid-drinking game.

once it had died down, you queried, "how come?"

aaron continued, the hand on your back rising to the surface just below your neck, finger pads pressing into your skin comfortably. "some years we were on a case, penelope hosted her Día de los Muertos parties, or everyone was still recovering from halloween. trust me, i'm sure no one would be too keen on partying again the next night. and you know me, to them, i'm not the heartfelt, full of life, approachable type. not worth it." he laughed, but it was more so an attempt to brush it off.

but it didn't sit right with you - of course it didn't. "did you ever say something about it?"

"it's okay." it wasn't, and he didn't answer your question. "i felt alone, sure, but when didn't i? i managed, and just took jack out for ice cream if i happened to be around. i don't think he ever knew the reason why, either."

you craned your head up to look at him. this surprised you. "you never told him?"

"it's," aaron paused, exhaling a breath. "complicated. he knows but he doesn't. he's young, the only dates he's technically supposed to remember at seven are christmas, halloween, his birthday." aaron shook his head, feeling almost silly. "what was i supposed to do, just out of the blue state, 'it's my birthday'?"

"well, it wouldn't have hurt. he could've made you a card, or wished you happy birthday at the bare minimum."

"i didn't want to inconvenience him-"

"aaron," you laughed sadly, your heart shattering at the same time. "he's your son."

"it's okay." there it was again. "my birthday wasn't a huge deal growing up anyway. if i wasn't as gravely punctual as i am and paid attention to the date, it most likely would pass as any other, normal day."

you fell silent; having so much to say, but having no idea how to fully express it. you just felt, sad. for him.

aaron sensed your dropping demeanor, and placed a kiss on your forehead to hopefully counter it. "it doesn't matter much now. i have you."

"but yet, you're still here rather than out there." you nudged your head towards the direction of the distant yells. "and i didn't even think about you potentially getting overwhelmed, i'm sorry. this party, it's an almost drastic change come to think of it, and i should've-"

"are you kidding?" astonishment reigned in his voice. "the fact that you went through all this - planning, coordinating, decorating - for me. it makes up for all those years alone. and i'm not just saying that because i love you." he gave you a cheeky expression, but you knew he was only playing it up to lighten the situation, despite his genuineness. "even breakfast with jack in bed this morning. i never pictured myself as the type to get breakfast in bed, stuff like that doesn't happen to me. it was really, really special, thank you."

"well, you better get used to it." a rush of air left your nose - makeshift laughter - as you thought back to earlier in the day. "not only was it a hit for you, but jack as well. he already brought up pancakes instead of waffles, with sprinkles, for next year."

a laugh shook through aaron's chest, jostling you a bit, before he fell silent, his fingers brushing through your hair soothingly.

"you deserve to be celebrated." you offered softly, the solemness reentering your heart, although it never left.

it weighed heavy on you - the man who gave you everything, who made you feel like you were everything, and who deserved it even more, defining himself as close to nothing. it was in complete aaron fashion, but you wished he wouldn't downplay, everything about himself, or make up 'rational' excuses to be okay with being overshadowed. he wasn't only meant to be there for others, to be thinking of others - he deserved happy, simple things too.

aaron's expression started to pull into one of disagreement, but you were quick to halt it. "hey, no. you deserve to be celebrated. i can't even tell you how much your existence means to me. being with you, doing life with you, seeing you be the best dad to jack and the most integral leader to the team. they value you, trust you, and you're family to them. they wouldn't be here tonight if you were some hard ass who wasn't worth it. that's not you. and i thank the stars every day you're here with me."

"honey-"

"please. say it."

nothing short of longing was cast on your face, in your eyes, and aaron were suddenly afraid that if he didn't admit so, the tears would start rolling.

he sighed, "i deserve to be celebrated."

"no, you gotta say it like you mean it."

aaron playfully rolled his eyes, but caved, his tone more forceful this time around. "i deserve to be celebrated."

"you're damn right, and you better start believing it."

aaron took a deep breath, pressing his lips to yours. "with you around, i will. thank you, i love you."

you returned the kiss, giving his chest an affectionate pat. "c'mon, let's rejoin your party."

you started exiting the kitchen, but aaron stayed put. when you looked back, another melancholy expression painted his face, and standing there, he almost looked younger for a moment.

"babe?"

"it is nice. not feeling like a drill sergeant for once."

your lips tipped into a smile as he moved closer, brushing your hands along his torso as soon as he was in reach. "they love you."

one of his rare, small but charming smiles adorned his face, brown eyes aglow. "i know."

"i love you."

aaron grabbed one of your hands, allowing you to lead him back to his party.

"i know."

[javierpena-inatacvest]

Chapter 12- I Love You. I Know.

Summary: As the end of October approaches, you and Javi learn more about celebrating Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos together. After a sleepless night, and a Halloween party at the Murphy's, Javi begins to open up to you about his past.

Word Count: 15.6K (I'm sweating)

Warnings: SMUT (18+), unprotected p in v sex (don't be silly, wrap your willy), oral (m receiving), vaginal fingering, creampie, praise kink, semi-public sex (Oh the poor Murphy's...), PTSD/Anxiety around grief, loss and Javi's past, some angst/tension, mentions of drinking/being drunk (Steve is getting PLASTERED), mentions of food/eating, SO MANY STAR WARS REFERENCES, literally this chapter made me sob while I was writing it, editing it, and re-reading it, I am SO sorry

A/N: You guys. Holy shit. This chapter really had me in my feels. This chapter was def a labor of love, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!! Thank you for as always for all you kind words, you truly, truly, TRULY have no idea how much your support means to me 😭💖 Also please don't kill me after you finish reading this chapter I PROMISE *things* are happening so soon I can literally taste it, but I needed for this chapter to happen first, and you would be silly to think that *things* didn't get its own whole ass chapter and I am just as excited as you AH

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The excitement of October’s conclusion was in the air, and the joys of getting to celebrate what you hoped would be the first of many holidays with Javi was at the forefront of your mind. While the end of summer meant school was here and your carefree days were gone until next June, October meant it was time for one of your favorite holidays- Halloween. It was one of your most cherished things to celebrate as a kid, and even still as an adult. The memories of jumping into leaf piles off your swingset with your brothers, dressing up in goofy, homemade costumes to trick-or-treat (because your mom was not about to buy 4 new sets of costumes every single year), carving pumpkins, and stealing as many of your brother’s Kit Kat bars as you could without getting caught, filled your heart with a warmth and joy that you couldn’t quite describe. While the 80 degree temperatures and lack of bright reds and yellows painted across the leaves falling from their trees was much different from the Chicago Octobers you were accustomed to, it hadn’t stopped you from heading full steam into Halloween. 

“So do you have any thoughts on what we should be for Steve and Connie’s? I have no problem going out to buy stuff for costumes, but I can already hear my mom yelling at me for wasting my money on cheaply made clothes I’m gonna wear for 5 hours when I have something perfectly good in my closet.” You rolled your eyes as you shuffled through the hangers, Javi sitting on the edge of your bed folding the laundry you were working on putting away. 

The two of you had gladly accepted the invitation from Steve and Connie to spend the weekend with them in San Antonio, as the Murphy’s planned to host a Halloween party at their house for their friends and co-workers, giving you and Javi a chance to have a fun weekend out of town together. 

“Hmmmm?” He asked, looking up at you as you grabbed a few shirts, examining them for costume potential. “We’re dressing up for this thing?” 

“Yeah, that’s like, the whole point of Halloween, dummy.” You giggled, throwing a few options on the floor before making your way over to your pants. “Didn’t you dress up as a kid for Halloween?” 

Unlike yourself, Javi had spent his whole life celebrating Día de los Muertos, Halloween having nowhere near as much relevance to him as it did to you, spending the end of October and first days of November gathering with his family to spend the day making Pan de Muerto (Day of the Dead sweet bread),  watching the parades on the streets of Downtown Laredo before visiting the cemetery where his grandparents were buried, decorating their graves in cempasúchil (marigold flowers), candles and photographs with his primos (cousins). Since his mom had passed, Javi hadn’t been home to celebrate with his family, and had almost forgone the tradition completely during his time in Colombia, the pain and loss of his mother and the solemn sadness of celebrating alone leading him to try his best to forget about the holiday all together. 

“Uh, no, not, not really. Didn’t really do Halloween, isn’t really as much of a thing down here. My family always celebrated Día de Los Muertos instead.” He replied, almost embarrassed by his answer, not wanting to damper your excitement as you dug through your closet for costumes. 

Your heart sank to your stomach, feeling awful that you hadn’t even taken into consideration that Javi's traditions around this time of year were completely different from what you were used to. The two of you had never really talked about how you wanted to celebrate future holidays, and always had wanted to make sure that the important parts of your lives were celebrated equally. Javi hadn’t said anything after you had spent the past few days putting up Halloween decorations around your apartment, and now you felt like an idiot assuming he had spent his whole life celebrating just like you. 

“Oh… Shit. Javi, I’m so sorry, if you don’t wanna do costumes, we don’t have to, you just hadn’t said anything about Día de Los Muertos so I just assumed that-” 

“Baby, it’s okay.” He pushed himself up off the bed, the width of his broad palms wrapping around your hips, trying to ease the guilt he could tell was rapidly consuming you. “You’re right, I never told you about it. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything to celebrate it, and I haven’t been home for it since I’ve gotten back from Colombia. I just- I don’t really know how to feel about it, I guess. The last time I did anything for it was before my mom died. I was never able to bring myself to do anything about it while I was gone, and I guess now I just feel really shitty that was the way I decided to handle it.” It broke your heart to see the pain in his eyes, pulling yourself closer to him as you wrapped your arms around his stomach, leaning your head against his chest. It was then, the realization had hit you too- This would be your first year of holidays without Patrick. You didn’t know as much as you would have liked to about Día de Los Muertos, but you did know that it was to celebrate the lives of loved ones you’d lost, a feeling that you and Javi were both all too familiar with. 

“Listen…” You raised your head, looking up at him, arms still intertwined around his waist. “I don’t- I don’t wanna make you do anything that you’re uncomfortable with. I guess this is the first time we’ve ever really talked about this kind of stuff. I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, Jav, and that means celebrating the things that are special to both of us. The things that are important to you are important to me too. I want our lives for us, for our future family, to be filled with all the things we care the most about, whether that means keeping old traditions or making our own new ones. It would mean a lot to me to get to celebrate Día de los Muertos with you, and if it’s okay, I would love to sprinkle in some Halloween too, because I’m fucking dying to carve a pumpkin.” 

You smiled up at him as his hand slid under your jaw, his thumb tracing across your cheek as he tried his best to hold back the tears welling in his eyes. It took everything in him to not ruin his plans, wanting to run into the bedroom, grab the ring out of his sock drawer and propose to you that very instant. Even after all this time, Javi still couldn't believe that he was the person you wanted to share the rest of your life with. That you wanted to intertwine your past, present, and future with his, to have a life, a family, together that the two of you could cherish forever. Never in a million years had he assumed he’d be anywhere close to where he was today, holding the world’s most beautiful, perfect woman in his arms, as she told him how she wanted nothing more than to build a family and spend the rest of her days with him. 

“Osita… I fucking love you so much, you know that?” He leaned in, his lips meeting yours in a soft and deep kiss, your heart racing as he pulled you in tighter. 

“Yeah, I mean, I guess, just a little bit…” You giggled, poking fun at him, considering not a day had passed since the first night he had said it that Javi hadn’t told you just how much he loved you. 

“Shut up, you dork.” He chuckled, making you squeal as he picked you up, playfully shaking you in his grasp before setting you back down. “I’d love nothing more, Hermosa. I don’t know how the fuck you’re supposed to carve a pumpkin or what the hell you have planned for these costumes, but I’m all in. I want it all with you, Osita. Thank you.” 

“Of course. For as much or as little as you want to do for Día de los Muertos, I’m all in too. I’m gonna be honest, I love Hallowen. Not as much as Christmas, but it’s a close second. It means you’re gonna have to trust me with a giant ass knife and cover yourself in pumpkin guts, though.”

“My trust is quickly starting to fade. Seriously though, what the hell are we supposed to dress up as?” He raised an eyebrow at you, nodding over to the pile of clothes you had pulled from your closet, now piled on the floor. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got some ideas.” 

  The weeks leading up to the holidays had made for fun at home date nights, the both of you genuinely looking forward to learning about the traditions you had both held so dear to your hearts. Almost every night after work, you had done something to celebrate the events leading up to the day. You had shown Javi a few of your favorite Halloween movies, including It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Beetlejuice, and Ghostbusters, very adamantly insisting to him that those movies were about as scary as you were going to get, blaming your brothers for scarring you after forcing you to watch The Exorcist at the ripe age of 7 years old. In addition to the movies, you had told him about other funny Trick-Or-Treating stories from your childhood, Javi’s favorite being how your brothers, (being the ruthless idiots they were) paid one of their friends in all of their halloween candy to jump out of a bush dressed as a terrifying old lady to scare the absolute shit out of you, and making you quite literally pee your pants. In return Javi shared his favorite memories of cooking in the kitchen with his mom as she made Pan de Muertos for his family, the two of you even attempting to make it one of the nights after work, milling about the kitchen together as Javi told you about his family you had yet to meet, or had passed away long before you. 

After a lengthy hunt, you were able to find pumpkins, bringing them to Chucho’s house to carve them since you had nowhere to put them inside your apartment. You offered him the rest of your Pan de Muertos in exchange for a place to work on your pumpkins, and while he gladly accepted the bread, the three of you knew Chucho was always happy to have you and Javi over, regardless. 

“So tell me, mija,” Chucho spoke in between mouthfuls of sweet bread, rocking back and forth in his chair, “is there a meaning behind carving the pumpkins, or is it just for fun?” 

“Just for fun! Okay, it looks like we’re ready, you want me to show you how to do it, or just let you go for it?” You smiled at Javi, the two of you sitting cross legged on Chucho’s porch, pumpkins open in front of you. 

“You just scoop them out, right?” Javi questioned, looking into the pumpkin with an unsure grimace. “It seems like there's a lot in here, Osita. I have to get all of it out?” 

“Yeah, or else you can’t see the design when you carve it. C’mon you big baby, just stick your hand in there and pull the guts out!” You laughed, digging your hand into your pumpkin, scooping out hearty globs of pumpkin guts, slopping them into the bucket Chucho had set out for you. Reluctantly, Javi joined, you and Chucho both absolutely dying at Javi’s face as his hand met the squishy fibers inside his pumpkin. 

“Jesus, that feels fucking gross!” He laughed, shaking his head as he threw some of the seeds and strings into the trash next to him. 

“You need me to do it for you?” You giggled, flicking a pumpkin seed at him as he winced with the second handful he pulled out. 

“No, cabrón (asshole), I can do it.” Javi grumbled as he rolled his eyes at you, the both of you scooping hearty handfuls of goop. 

“You hear that, Chucho? Calling me an asshole because he’s too scared to pull out pumpkin guts.” You looked back at his dad, giving him a playful grin, his smile already wide from the enjoyment of watching the two of you. With your back turned to Javi, you hadn’t noticed the small handful of seeds he had collected in his hand, lining up his arm to aim right at the back of your head. “I can’t believe that- HEY!” You whipped your neck around, running your hand over the back of your neck, picking seeds and strings out of your hair, seeing Javi snicker to himself as your jaw dropped open in shock. “Did you seriously just throw pumpkin guts at me?!” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, must have been a ghost.” He shrugged, smirking to himself before digging his hand back into his pumpkin. 

“You see this?!” You looked back at Chucho, pointing your finger at Javi, pretending to be stern, although your laughter quickly escaped. “Absolutely ridiculous, I swear.” 

“Javier, that is no way to treat your future esposa! (Wife) No quiero mis nietos ser cubierto en calabaza! Me encantáran en cualquier caso, pero todavía! (I don’t want my future grandchildren covered in pumpkin! I will love them either way, but still!)” Chucho scolded with a smirk, you and Javi silently smiling to each other at the thought of one day doing this with your own children. Javi had tried to stop fighting off his dad’s comments about grandkids a while ago- Chucho knew just as well as the two of you that he would have his grandchildren soon enough. 

“Ella lo pído… (She asked for it…)” Javi muttered under his breath, shooting his gaze up at you as he felt cold goop hit the side of his cheek, wiping the pumpkin you had just thrown at him off with the back of his hand, watching you smirk silently to yourself as you continued to scoop out your pumpkin.

“Ahora… Estamos a mano. (And now… We’re even.)” 

The 3 of you chatted on the porch, the sky now painted a dark black, filled with twinkling constellations above as you finished carving your pumpkins. Yours, a cute ghost with a little smiley face, and Javi’s, what he had tried to convince you and Chucho was also a ghost, even though it looked more like he had just carved a squiggly hole in the middle of his. It took a little prodding and convincing, but as you all talked about how the Peña family had spent many a Día de los Muertos, you and Chucho were able to get Javi to agree to go visit his mom’s gravesite on the Sunday after you got back from Steve and Connie’s party. Chucho had even promised to keep his tias, tios, and primos (aunts, uncles, and cousins) completely out of the picture this year, wanting to give Javi all the time and space he needed to go see his mom for the first time since her funeral. He was reluctant at first, riddled with the guilt of leaving her unvisited all these years, but as he felt the gentle squeeze of your hand, your silent reassurance was all he needed to know that you would be by his side, every step of the way. As you said your goodbyes, Chucho hugged you just a little extra tighter than normal, as if to thank you for everything you had done for his son, and just how thankful he was to have you in his life, too. 

Even though the Murphy’s had very graciously offered to let you and Javi stay on Friday night as well as Saturday, both Steve and Connie very much understood when you had told them on the phone that the only thing that you wanted to do after coming home from the chaos of managing an elementary school Halloween party was take a very, very long nap. You and Javi had spent the night ordering pizza and watching Young Frankenstein, only lasting about 20 minutes into the movie before you were dead asleep, snoring against Javi’s chest, still dressed in If You Give A Mouse A Cookie costume from earlier today. Carrying you to bed and undressing you from your mouse ears and oversized overalls, Javi curled into bed next to you, pulling your body against his as he stared at the ceiling. Despite how hard he tried to fall asleep, he laid there, wide awake as ever, as his head raced with the tornado of thoughts brewing inside his brain. 

Javier Peña had never really considered himself to be an anxious person. For most of his life, he couldn’t be. For the sake of his job, the sake of his family after his Mom passed, Javi had survived the only way he had known how- Block it out, and ignore it. And so far, that strategy had seemed to bode for him pretty darn well. But that was before he had anyone who depended on him, cared about him, anyone who made his life worth living for. That was before he had met you. Now, Javi found himself at the crossroads of a moment he had been waiting for since the moment he had first laid eyes on you. Something that brought him absolute joy and sheer terror at the same time- Javier Peña was going to propose to you, and he was an anxious fucking mess. 

If that in itself wasn’t enough, things at the Laredo County Sheriff's Department had been an absolute shit show. Mexico was the only thing on anyone’s radar, making for long days and high tension at the office, trying to do anything to slow the spread of the cartel’s influence across the border. Day after day, report after report, it felt like the department was drowning in the endless shitty news of new death tolls, record breaking trafficking stats, and lack of control as cocaine moved across the Rio Grande at a groundbreaking pace. Even though he found himself even further removed from Mexico than he ever was in Colombia, he couldn’t help but feel that painful, searing wrench in his gut when he sat down to really think about it. 

You. 

Spending your lives together.

Having a family.

Protecting his wife and kids. 

The things he would do to keep you safe.

The terrible things he had done he had justified were keeping other people safe. 

The imagines of the things he wish he could unsee.

The pain and hurt he wished he could take back. 

The fear of what he was capable of doing. 

So with a knot in his chest from work, a ring hidden away in his sock drawer, and the beginnings of a plan to ask the woman he loved more than life itself to marry him, Javi coped with the weight of his stress the only way he knew how. He couldn’t fucking sleep. 

The thoughts played in his mind on repeat, torturing him with every loop around his brain. He tried his best to close his eyes, to empty his head for a moment of peace, but no matter how much he wished he could have willed himself to sleep, it was no use. By the time the alarm clock on his nightstand read 2:05 AM, Javi had completely given up on the idea of rest for the night, quietly making his way out of bed to go wander around the living room. It wasn’t long before you too were also awake, rolling over in your sleep to find Javi’s space in the bed cold and empty. Rubbing your eyes and propping yourself up against your pillow, you scanned around the darkness of your room as you came to, realizing that Javi was nowhere to be found.  Draping one of the blankets from your bed over you, you crept into the hallway, greeted by the soft light of one of the living room lamps painting shadows against the wall. 

“Javi, are you up?” Your voice still soft and sleepy, rubbing your hand along your face, squinting from the sudden brightness that lit up the room. 

“Osita, baby, did I wake you up? I'm so sorry. Go back to bed, okay?” Javi shot up from the couch, setting down whatever book he had been half focused on reading as he watched your bed headed figure meander into the living room. 

“No, it’s okay.” You grumbled, holding out your blanket covered arms for Javi to melt his body into yours, wrapping you in a tight hug. You pressed your head into the bare skin of his chest, snaking your hands around his waist as he planted his lips against the the top of your head, burying his nose in your tangled hair. “Baby, what’s going on? Why can’t you sleep? I’m worried about you, Jav.” 

“I’m… Yeah, I’m okay, Hermosa. Just a lot on my mind.” He sighed, his exhale still buried in your hair as he savored the smell of you, still lingering even in your sleepy state. 

His pause alone was enough to know okay wasn’t the word that you would use to describe Javi right now. His words were burdened and fatigued, making it clear that whatever was on his mind was weighing on him more heavily than he wanted to admit. 

“Are you sure? Javi, if you wanna talk about anything, you know I’m always here, right?” 

You wanted so desperately to pry. Everything in you had a feeling that whatever was keeping him up were entangled in the parts of his dark parts past, the last secrets holding up the final wall between the two of you. You knew from your brothers how hard it was to talk about the pain and suffering they had witnessed, and begging them to talk about it before they were ready only seemed to make it worse. Hell, after Patrick died, it felt like you didn’t sleep for weeks, and it had taken you months to open up about it. You knew Javi hurt, and as much as you wanted to, digging deeper into the things that plagued him in his restless nights wasn’t what he needed right now. Right now, he just needed someone to be there for him. 

“Is there anything I can do, Javi? I just wanna help.” The breath of your sympathetic whispers were hot against Javi’s skin, squeezing your arms to pull him as close to you as he could. He paused for a moment, letting out another deep breath as cradled the back of your head with his palm, running his hands through your hair. 

“Will- Will you stay up with me? Just a little bit longer?” His voice trembled as you turned your head to lock your eyes with his, the gentle nod of your head bringing him a moment of relief. 

“Of course, baby. Of course I’ll stay up with you. Do you wanna turn on the TV or put on a movie? Sometimes that helps me sleep.” You stretched your arms over your head, scrunching your face as you yawned before tugging your blanket tighter around your body. 

“Believe me, Hermosa, I know it does.” He let out a soft chuckle as he pressed a soft kiss against your forehead. 

“Oh shit, yeah that is true. I don’t even think I made it halfway through Young Frankenstein tonight, which is a crime. It’s such a good movie. I don’t even remember getting into bed.” You yawned again, this time taking one of your blanket covered fists to try and rub the sleep out of your eyes, forcing yourself to stay awake. 

“Well, if you give a mouse pizza and a movie after a long day at school, then she’ll probably need her boyfriend to carry her to bed because she’s so tired.” Now awake enough, Javi’s cute jab at your costume for school made you let out a little giggle, giving him a little shove with your blanket wrapped body. “Why don’t we turn the rest of it on, so you can finish watching?” 

“I don’t wanna fall asleep on you, Javi.” You grumbled, pouting up at him, considering he had just asked you to stay awake with him. 

“It’s okay. As long as I have you by me, I’ll be alright, I promise.” Reluctantly, you nodded in agreement, plopping yourself on the couch as Javi turned on the TV, rewinding the VHS tape to the point where you had fallen asleep earlier before joining you, draping his arm around your shoulder as you tucked in your knees and scooted closer to him. You sat for a few minutes in silence, letting the sounds of the movie fill the background. As you turned your head to look up at Javi, you could tell that even though his eyes were pointed at the screen, there was no way he was really watching the movie. Reaching up your hand, you ran your fingers across the length of his strong jaw, his stubble scratching against your palm, forcing him to look back at you. Your eyes met his, the sweet, chocolate brown looking back at you, with a confusing mix of exhaustion, guilt, want and helplessness. You brought your face closer to his, your lips now only inches apart as your whispers danced against his mouth, desperate to find something to ease his pain. 

“What do you need, Javi? Whatever you need, I’ll give it to you.” 

His tongue swept against his bottom lip, taking one last shaky breath before his words left his body with his exhale. 

“You. I need you.” 

His hands found their way to the bare skin of your thighs, his fingertips barely brushing against your flesh as he traced his way up to your torso, toying with the hem of one of his shirts that always looked so much better on you than him. Pressing his palm against the soft curves of your stomach, he tugged at the waistband of your sleep shorts, causing you to shift your body so he could slide them down your legs. Reaching over towards his lap, you grasped at his boxers, feeling him already half hard under the fabric as you rubbed your hand against him. Javi held your hips, slowly guiding you to straddle him as you kicked your shorts off your feet, leaving them in a pile on the ground. Slowly, you began to grind deeper into his lap, the feeling of him now fully hard beneath you. Gently prompting you to raise your arms over your head, Javi lifted your shirt, leaving you bare as he dropped it next to your shorts. 

“Is this okay?” Javi rasped, pressing languid kisses against your neck and collarbone as you ran your hands against the width of his broad shoulders. 

“Of course, baby.” Your reply low and horse as you began to drag the fabric of his boxers lower and lower, finally letting his cock spring free as his waistband pushed past. You brought your palm to your mouth, licking a long, wet strip across it before wrapping it around his length, thumbing over the precum already leaking from his tip. Javi tilted his head against the back of the couch as you twisted your wrist, stroking his cock, letting out a hushed moan before sitting back up to watch you. 

“You’re fucking perfect, Osita. I don’t deserve you.” He dug his fingertips into the soft flesh of your ass, his sweet, brown eyes locked on yours as you pressed against him, nibbling at his ear. 

“You deserve everything, Javi. I could give you everything in the world and it still wouldn’t be enough.” Javi grasped at your face, cupping your cheeks as he pressed his lips against yours in a deep, intense kiss, his voice shaky and lustful as his mouth parted with yours before he spoke. 

“I don’t need anything besides you, Osita. Eres mi todo. Estás todo lo que necesito. (You are my everything. You’re all I’ll ever need.) He shuttered, letting out a low groan as you continued to rub your hand along his length, Javi now reaching down to trace lazy circles around your clit before dipping his fingers inside your wet heat. His fullness made you whimper, wrapping tighter around his cock as you stroked him, now bucking your hips against his hand as his fingers curled, bumping against the spongy spot that made you lose control. “Does that feel good, sweet girl? Fuck, you’re so wet. 

“Mhmmmmm.” You gasped, rapidly nodding your head as his digits pulsed inside you, your cunt already drenched, desperate to feel the fullness of his dick, despite the thickness of his fingers. Carefully, you lifted your hips, moving yourself closer to him as you ran your fingers through the soft ends of his sleepy curls. Sitting up on your knees, Javi removed his hand as he watched you hover over him, his palms roaming to your hips as you guided his tip through your folds, collecting your arousal before lining him up with your entrance. His jaw went slack as you lowered down on to him, taking your time as you savored the stretch of every sweet inch until you had bottomed out at his base. 

“Fuckkk, baby.” He mewled, gently guiding his hands against your hips as you dragged yourself up along his length before headfully sinking back down, the tip of his cock bumping against your cervix with each movement. Javi nipped at your neck, trailing hot, wet kisses down your collarbone before stopping at your breasts, flicking this tongue along each of your pebbled nipples as you pushed deeper into his lap, whimpering at his touch. “My sweet girl, always taking me so well, like you were fucking made for me, baby. God, you’re so fucking gorgeous.” Javi pulled you in tighter, caging his chest against yours as his arms wrapped around the small of your back as he rested his face in the crook of your neck. “Fuck, I love you so much, Osita.” His words were desperate and needy against your bare skin, digging your fingers into his dark curls as you swirled your hips around his cock. 

“I love you too, Javi. More than anything.” You moaned as felt Javi shift his weight, thrusting upwards as he buried himself deep inside you. His fullness had you digging your nails into the nape of his neck, your body melting into his with each push and pull against each other. You could feel the all too familiar tingle creeping up your legs and through the base of your spine as Javi’s hand found its way to circle around your clit, already throbbing as the curled hair around his base brushed against your sensitive nerves. The lewd noises of your moans and tangled bodies drowned out the sounds of the TV behind you, practically hearing how wet you were as Javi cock slipped in and out of your heat, his pace pounding as he punched into you. You could feel your walls beginning to tighten around him, arousal pooling in your belly, Javi knowing you were close as you whimpered into the crook of his neck. “Fuck baby, don’t stop- ahhhh- please don’t stop, I’m so close.” 

“I know, baby, I know. Let go for me, Osita. Wanna feel you soak my lap before I fuck you full of me. Cum for me baby, it’s okay, I’ve got you.” Javi’s fingers rubbed faster along your clit as you rolled your hips, sinking yourself deeper onto his cock with each thrust, your vision going white as you could feel yourself come undone. 

“Javi, Javi- fuck- Javi, Jav-ahhhhhh.” You could feel yourself gush around him, crying out his name as you reached your high, your legs shaking and fingers digging into his skin, pleasure flowing through your veins. 

“That’s it, Hermosa. Fuck, baby, I’m gonna cum too, fuck myself so deep inside you. My perfect girl. Mierda- Quiero que seas mío para siempre, mi amor. Solo tú, por siempre y para siempre. (Shit- I want you to be mine forever, my love. Only you, forever and always). Fuck me, I- fuckkkk.” Javi hissed as he buried himself deep in your hilt, spilling every drop of his spend against your walls. You could feel the mixture of the both of you dripping down your thighs, soaking Javi’s lap as you slumped into his body, your heart racing as the damp curls of his hair pressed against your shoulder. You both sat there for a moment, letting your chests rise and fall together in sync as you came to. “Fuck me, Osita. I could stay like this forever, baby.”

“You and me both. Although, I feel like that would make things awfully inconvenient for the both of us.” Your soft, sleepy giggles making Javi smile as he ran his fingers though the twisted ends of your hair. Carefully, you lifted yourself up, hissing at the loss of Javi inside you. 

“Thank you, Osita.” Javi whispered, tenderly circling his thumb along your jaw as you curled up next to him. 

“For what?” 

“Just- fuck, you’re so good to me. I don’t know what I’d do without you. So, I just- thank you. Thank you for being everything I need.” Planting a gentle kiss on your forehead, Javi pulled you tighter, holding you in his arms as you leaned against him. 

“I’ll always be here for you, Javi. I promise.” 

You hoped he knew. That he knew your words were true. That when the time came for him to open up to you, letting you into the painful past that loomed above him, that you wouldn’t run. You would be right by his side, just as you were right now. 

“Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Javi chuckled as you twisted in the passenger seat, stretching your arms over your head, scrunching your face, letting out a lengthy yawn. 

“Fuck, how long was I asleep for? How much longer do we have left? Sorry, I wasn’t planning on sleeping that long, I just wanted to take a nap for a little while we drove.” You ran your hands over your face, looking out at the bright Texas sun shining over the neat suburban neighborhood you now found yourself driving through. Javi reached over across the center console, rubbing his hand along your thigh as he chuckled to himself. 

“Baby, I knew from the moment you fell asleep you were gonna be out for the rest of the drive, it’s okay. I was just worried I was gonna have to wake you up in the Murphy’s driveway.” You grumbled as you looked over at Javi, giving him a playful swat against his arm, shaking your head, now emerging from your post nap fog. 

“Well if we weren't up fucking at 2:30 in the morning, perhaps I wouldn’t be so tired, hmmmm?” 

Javi rolled his eyes as you poked fun at how the both of you had found yourselves last night, trying to ease Javi’s sleeplessness. While your solution had worked enough to ease him back to bed, it had now left you wide awake, wondering what had been going through Javi’s head, torturing him enough to keep him up. It had also meant that the two of you had slept in much longer than you intended, leaving later than planned for Steve and Connie’s. The two of you had quickly packed your things and hit the road, stopping to grab lunch on the way before you found yourself dead asleep next to Javi for the last hour and a half of your journey to San Antonio. With only a few minutes now left in your drive, you peered out the window, admiring the houses that lined the quiet streets of the Murphy’s neighborhood. 

“This is a cute subdivision.” You smiled over at Javi, admiring the houses, charming and inviting as they were freshly decorated from Halloween. 

“Yeah, it is pretty nice.” He grinned back, wrapping his palm around your thigh, giving your leg a little squeeze. He took a deep breath, his voice now shifting in tone, becoming more shaky and nervous. “Would you uh- would you, um, wanna live in a neighborhood like this?” 

“Maybe. I don’t know, the houses are all really close together. I spent so much of my life in the city, and even at my house growing up, everything always felt so cramped. After coming here, especially after seeing your ranch, I don’t know, I would love to be somewhere with more space. But that’s a big ask, so, maybe one day if it works out, I guess.” You reached over, rubbing your hand along Javi’s arm, your soft smile meeting his tender gaze as he smirked, nodding to himself. 

“Yeah, one day.” 

Taking a last turn down one of the neighborhood streets, the two of you pulled up to the quaint two story home belonging to the Murphy’s. Turning off the ignition, Javi paused for a moment, grinning to himself as he ran the hand resting on your leg up to your face, cupping your check as his eyes roamed the length of your body, taking every inch of you in as his sweet brown eyes consumed you. “I love you, Osita.”  

“I love you too, Jav.” Both of your heads tilted, your lips gently pressing against one anothers as you traced your hand through Javi’s dark curls, pulling him closer into you. You could feel his smile against your mouth as his tongue barely swiped against your bottom lip, the two of you so lost in the moment, you hadn’t even seen Steve make his way out of the house to greet you, let alone the fact that he was now standing at the driver’s side door, hands on his hips as he watched your impromptu makeout session in Javi’s truck. 

“You two lovebirds want help bringin’ your bags in, or do I need to give you a minute?” Steve chuckled to himself as you and Javi shot up, hearts racing and faces going white hearing his distinct drawl and rapid tapping at the driver’s side window. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Javi placed one more soft kiss on your forehead before promptly turning around to flip off Steve and opening the driver’s side door. “You two are worse than a pair of horny teenagers, I swear.” You could hear Steve still snickering to himself as you exited out your side of the car, making your way over to find Javi and Steve in a tight hug, lovingly patting each other on the back. 

“Fuck off, Murph.” Javi shook his head against Steve’s embrace, pulling away to grab your two bags from the backseat. 

“Listen, I’m not the one makin’ out in my driveway.” Steve shrugged as you sheepishly emerged from your side of the truck, smiling at you as grimaced at him. 

“He started it…” You glanced over at Javi, you and Steve now both giggling as he pulled you in for a hug. 

“Of course he did, wouldn’t put anything past this old bastard. How ya doin’ sweetheart? Good to see the both of you, we’re really glad you guys could make it. 

“She’s doing great after the hour and a half nap she took on the way here.” Javi interjected, slamming the truck door behind him, slinging both of your bags over his shoulder. 

“Whatever, you meanie. In my defense, I was not planning to sleep that long, and I think Halloween exhaustion got the best of me.” You shot Javi a quick wink, trying to bite down on your lip before turning back to face Steve. 

“Listen, I don’t blame ya. I’m fuckin’ exhausted after trick-or-treating with 3 kids, let alone tryin’ to keep ‘em wrangled at school all day. I love those girls, but I don’t think I could've gotten them in my parents car fast enough when they came to pick ‘em up this morning. Here, come on in, I won’t make you stand out in the driveway all day, unless you need to make out more.” 

As you stepped into the Murphy home, you were greeted by an abundance of Halloween streamers and banners hanging in the living room and up the stairwell to the second floor, along with a few Barbie dolls and accessories scattered across the entryway, nearly stepping on one as you came through the door. You could smell the sweet scent of something baking in the kitchen as Connie came rushing through the hallway, arms outstretched to greet you and Javi. “Oh it’s so good to see you two, thank you so much for coming!” Connie squeezed you and Javi in a tight hug before she backed away, kicking one of the toys on the floor across the room. “Sorry about the Barbies, I told the girls to clean up before they left for their grandparents this morning but I think all 3 of them are still running on a sugar high from last night and that obviously didn’t happen.” 

“Thank you so much for having us! Don’t worry about it at all, I totally understand! Javi was just telling me on the way over how much he was hoping the girls had Barbies he could play with anyways!” The 3 of you laughed as Javi rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as you gave him a smirk and a little nudge. 

“Fuck, I forgot how funny she was Jav.” Steve snickered to himself, picking up one of the Barbies and tossing it across the room into one of the toy baskets along the wall. “Seriously though, we are really glad you guys could make it. Your birthday party was fun as hell, old man. Glad to be close enough to actually see each other and do stuff like this again.” 

Before Javi would respond, you all jumped, startled by the sound of the kitchen timer beeping rapidly from the other room. “Oh crap, sorry, I gotta grab the cupcakes out of the oven!” Connie grimaced apologetically, making her way back to the kitchen. 

“Do you need any help?” You asked, excited to spend more time with Connie. 

“Oh my gosh actually if you could help with frosting the cupcakes that would be amazing. I made these yesterday for Olivia and Abby’s class parties, and I had no idea it was gonna take so long and was worried I wasn’t going to have enough time for all of them before the party! Thank you!” 

“Of course!” You replied, grinning at her before following her lead to the kitchen, giving a little wave as you disappeared around the hall, looking back at Steve and Javi. “Have fun, you two.” 

Steve paused for a moment until the both of you were out of sight, waiting to forcefully slap his hand against Javi’s chest, making him groan from the unexpected pain. 

“What the fuck was that for, you jackass?” Javi winced, glaring at Steve. 

“Where the fuck’s the ring, man?! Steve hissed through gritted teeth, looking back at Javi in disappointment. “I thought you were gonna fuckin’ do it after you got back from Chicago and met her family?! I thought everything was all good with- oh shit, did something happen with the ho-” 

“Shhhhhh! You fuckin’ idiot, please, talk louder, I don’t think the people at the end of the street could hear you.” Javi looked around the corner, clenching his jaw, praying that you hadn’t heard anything from the kitchen. 

“I’m not that fuckin’ loud… Shit, what the fuck happened then?” Steve grumbled, looking over at Javi with concern. 

“Can we maybe talk about proposal plans somewhere that’s not right by the woman I’m trying to propose to?” Running his thumb over his balled fists, Javi’s eyes darted back and forth, staying on the lookout for your return. 

“Fine, fine, fine. I’ll show you where the guest room is and then you can tell me.” Steve motioned up the stairs, Javi trailing behind with both your bags draped around his shoulders

“Was I really that fuckin’ loud?” 

“…Have you heard yourself talk?” 

“So how’s everything been going at work? There definitely was a full moon sometime in the past week because things were crazy at the hospital, I’m sure they had to be equally as bad at an elementary school.” You and Connie giggled as you squeezed a dollop of orange frosting onto one of the cupcakes before taking one of the little bags to pipe on eyes and a mouth to make it look like a pumpkin. 

“Oh my god, I think it must have been on Wednesday, I had a boy cut another girl’s hair with scissors and then had to call another parent because her daughter bit another kid at recess pretending to play werewolves. I felt really bad we didn’t come last night, I was exhausted after our Halloween party, I fell asleep on poor Javi at like, 8 o’clock.” 

Although you found yourself laughing with Connie again, you couldn’t help but shake the uncomfortable feeling you had in your gut as you thought about after you had woken up in the middle of the night to find Javi wide awake and distressed. You carefully set down your spatula, taking a deep breath before glancing over at Connie, still frosting next to you. “Hey, uh, Connie? Can, um- Can I ask you something?” Connie immediately sensed the shift in your tone, putting down her cupcake. 

“Of course, honey. What’s going on?” 

“Did um, did- Did Steve ever- ever talk to you? About all the stuff that happened in Colombia? I mean like, I know you were there, but I don’t know. Sorry, I don’t know what I’m trying to ask, this is probably way too personal, I-” You could feel yourself shrinking, retracting in embarrassment at your overly intrusive question, unable to finish your thought before Connie cut you off, placing her hand on your shoulder. 

“Oh, honey…” Her eyes were filled with sympathy as they looked back at yours, letting out a sigh before she responded. “Did something happen?” You began to nod your head no, even though you could feel the words yes burning in your throat. You took another shaky breath, trying to hold back the tears now welling in your eyes as you spoke. 

“No I mean- well, yeah, I guess. Last night, I woke up and Javi wasn’t in bed. He was out in the living room and I could tell that something was bothering him. I don’t know- maybe it was nothing. I just- when my brothers came back from active duty, there were a lot of things that kind of just went unspoken. I knew it was hard for them to talk about. Charlie handled it okay, but my brother Patrick never wanted to talk to anyone about what happened, and it just- I don’t know Connie, I don’t think Javi would ever do anything stupid like he did, but- fuck- it scares me sometimes. I know Javi’s done things that he’s probably not proud of, and I get it’s part of the nature of what his job was. I don’t care. I really don’t. People do shitty things when they’re put in shitty situations. But he never talks about it. Ever. Does… Does he not trust me? I care about him so much, Con. More than anything. I get so worried about him.” 

Your tears were now streaming down your cheeks, leaving your face wet as you wiped the back of your hand across your skin to try and do some form of damage control before Connie embraced you, pulling you in for a hug, tightly wrapping her arms around you. “Oh sweetheart. Of course he trusts you. When Steve came back, he was a mess. I don’t think it really all hit him until he was finally home. I guess you’re right, it was different because I was there, but even then, there were things that happened that I didn’t know about. After begging and begging him, I finally got him to go to see someone and it really helped, but even now, there’s times where it still creeps up on him. Honey, Javi loves you so much. I didn’t think I’d ever live to see the day he was in love as he is with you. If he’s anything like Steve, he just doesn't wanna hurt you.” 

You sniffled, taking a step back to wipe your nose with your sleeve, your lip trembling as you tried to keep from crying harder than you already were. “But that’s what hurts, Connie. It hurts me to think he has to keep this from me, like I’m gonna think less of him for what he’s been through.” 

“I know. Have you talked to him about it?” Connie’s voice was gentle and sweet, rubbing her hand along your arm as she listened to what you needed to get off your chest. 

“No… I guess I should have. I never wanted to pry. I know it’s hard to talk about, I just- I wanna be there for him Connie. I don’t want him to have to do it all on his own.” You shifted your gaze to the ground, guilt washing over you. After Patrick, you couldn’t live with the idea of letting Javi try to suffer through his past alone. You loved him more than anything- and even the slightest thought of going through anything similar to what had happened to Patrick again with Javi was almost paralyzing. 

“I think the best thing you can do is to go talk to him.” Looking back up, you saw Connie smiling at you, trying to convince you that everything would be okay, even if it felt like it wasn’t. “Why don’t you go find him? Party’s starting soon anyways, you can go change into your costumes and come down wherever you’re ready. I’ll be just fine with the cupcakes, tell Steve can put himself to work frosting.” The both of you grinned as you tried to wipe your tears, nodding slowly in agreement. 

“Thanks, Connie.” You whispered into her shoulder as you pulled her in for a hug before heading up the stairs to find where Javi and Steve had gone. It didn’t take you long to find the pair, hearing their voices carry through the hallway from the slightly cracked door of the guest bedroom. You were about to knock and interrupt their conversation, stopping yourself with your fist barely touching the door as you tried to make out what they were talking about. 

“The offer was in fucking cash, too. I was trying to make it easier so I could speed up the process, but it’s been taking them so goddamn long to close on everything so I can finally go sign the fucking paperwork.” 

“That fuckin’ blows, Jav. I’m sorry. It’s not like she knows any better, though. It’ll still be a huge fuckin’ surprise, I’ll tell you that much.” 

“I know. It’s been killing me to wait this long. I just want it to be perfect, Steve. She deserves everything. Honestly, I’m kinda glad it bought me some more time. I need to find a way to get her to see it before everything’s official in case she fucking hates it.” 

“Javi. She’s not gonna hate it. Fuck it, tell her Connie and I are lookin’ for somethin’ and we wanted you two to go see it for us. I don’t know, maybe that’s too obvious. Speakin’ of which, I should probably go check to see if she needs anything before this party, I’m already in the fuckin’ dog house for forgettin’ to bring the girl’s trick-or-treatin’ bags to school, I don’t need to be in trouble for anything else.” 

What the hell were they talking about? What was Javi signing? Why was it taking so long? What the hell did it have to do with you? Wait… holy fuck. No way… Was he- 

Before you could finish your thought, you suddenly realized Steve was making his way towards the door. You quickly rapped your fist against the wood, trying to play off the fact you had been eavesdropping and make it look like you had just unassumingly made your way upstairs, not overhearing the conversation the two were just having. 

Knock, knock. 

“Hey, it’s me! Uh, Steve, Con wants to know if you can help her with the cupcakes really quick.” You pushed open the door, trying your best to smile at the suspicious pair as Steve shook his head, looking back at Javi. 

“It’s always fuckin’ somethin’. I don’t even know what I did wrong this time, I swear.” Steve held up his hands defensively, sliding his way past you in the doorway before heading downstairs, leaving you standing there awkwardly, unsure how to feel after your conversation with Connie and the one you had just overheard. 

“Hey, Osita. How’s everything goin’ down there? Sorry, we were just about to come down and- Hey, baby, you okay?” Javi stood up, concern spreading across his face from the strange scrunch in your brow as you stared at the floor. 

“Ummmm…” You froze for a moment, unsure of what to do. On the one hand, your conversation with Connie had you ready to confront Javi, to finally work up the courage to ask him about the past life he had tried his best to keep from you. But as you glanced over at him, seeing his sweet brown eyes and stupidly handsome face, remembering the discussion you had just overheard through the doorway, the other hand meant you weren’t at risk of ruining your night that the two of you had been so looking forward to, and right now, the other hand was going to have to be the one you needed to play. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good, I just- I was gonna ask you something but forgot what I was gonna say. I’m sure I’ll remember it eventually.” You smiled at Javi, neither of you completely convinced by your response. “But um, Connie said that people are gonna start getting here soon, so we can change into our costumes if you want.” A smirk slowly stretched across your cheeks as you nodded over to the black duffle bags laying on the bed. 

Javi’s grin matched yours quickly, grabbing your hips and pulling you closer against him as you giggled. “You sure we’re not gonna be the only ones dressed up?” 

“Well considering it’s a Halloween party and I literally just talked to Connie about what she and Steve are wearing downstairs, I’m gonna give it a pretty confident yes. Worst case, it just looks like you’re wearing a white shirt and vest, Mr. Solo. You stuck up, half-witted, scruffy looking nerf herder.” You raised your eyebrows, playfully poking at his chest. Javi paused, shaking his head at your quote, firing one right back at you as he bit down on his lip. 

“You just like me because I’m a scoundrel. There aren’t enough scoundrels in your life.” 

“I happen to like nice men.” 

“I am a nice man.”  

Javi cupped your face, pulling you in for a long, heavy kiss before backing away to unpack your bags, shooting you a quick wink as you rolled your eyes. Jesus, he even found a way to make Star Wars sexy. Just when you thought you couldn’t be anymore in love, Javier Peña never failed to find a way to make you realize you’d never stop falling for him. 

After putting in what felt like the 74th bobby pin into your hair after getting the last braid wrapped over your head, you gave yourself a once over in the mirror, pleasantly surprised by how well your costume had turned out. While Javi was disappointed you were adamant you were not going as Princess Leia from Return of the Jedi and showing up in front of a group of strangers at Steve and Connie’s party in her slave costume, you and Javi both agreed that Hoth Princess Leia was definitely the next best look. Staring at you with his puppy dog eyes, Javi had been adamant about waiting with you as you finished getting ready, leaning his hip against the bathroom counter, arms crossed over his chest as he watched you finish the last of your hair and makeup. 

“Okay, I think that should stay. All those years of braiding my hair for under my hockey helmet are finally coming in handy for something.” You snickered, pushing the final clip into your hair to hold it into place, giving yourself a once over in the mirror. As you looked yourself down, Javi’s eyes wandered up and down your body just as fast, practically undressing you as fast as you had put your costume on. 

“Goddamn, Osita… Fuck, you’re so hot.” 

“Me? Jesus Christ, Javi. You put Harrison Ford to shame with how fucking good you look. I like Han Solo better with a mustache anyways.” You licked your tongue against your bottom lip, running your hands along the muscles of his arms, straining against the tight henley shirt he was wearing under his vest. You were no better than Javi, practically having to force yourself to not look in his general direction while you were getting ready to prevent yourself from pouncing on him. But given the lack of chatter downstairs, and the impressive speed at which the two of you had gotten ready, you really couldn’t help yourself. Slowly, you let your hands begin to slip down his arms and across his chest, palming at the denim of his black jeans as he let out a deep groan. 

“Hermosa…” He hissed against your neck as you grasped at the bulge now growing under his pants, your other hand now making its way down to undo his belt, the clinking of the metal drowned out by Javi’s heavy panting. You began lowering your body, sliding Javi’s pants and boxers down his thighs as his cock sprang free, his tip already red and leaking with precum. You rested on your knees, face to face with his length as you wrapped your hand around him, slowly stroking him a few times. 

“This okay, Captain Solo?” You batted your lashes at him, giving him a wink before letting your spit dribble onto his cock, taking his tip into your mouth and swirling your tongue around it. Curling your fingers around his base, you began to twist your wrist, hollowing out your cheeks as you took him deeper into your mouth. 

“Oh, fuck me. Holy shit, Osita.” He moaned, tilting his head back, letting his jaw go slack as your head bobbed back and forth. He gently rested his hand along the side of your face, helping to guide you along his length as you took him deeper and deeper down your throat. “Jesus Christ, baby. Fuck, that feels so good. You look so hot, god fuckin’ dammit.” Javi’s words were labored and shaky as you started to increase your pace, wrapping your free hand around the back of his bare thigh, digging your fingertips into his leg. Feeling the pressure beginning to build in his stomach, Javi began rocking his hips, his jaw completely slack as he looked down at the sight of how well you took him in your mouth, saliva dribbling down your chin as sucked along his cock, hard and heavy on your tongue. “Fuck, Osita. I’m not gonna last much longer. Can I cum like this, baby? Fill up that- fuck- fill up that pretty little mouth of yours?”” 

You glanced up at him, nodding, your lips still wrapped around his dick, the motions of your head and wrist now becoming faster and sloppier as you watched Javi’s brow scrunch and jaw clench, a sign you knew all too well that he was moments away from coming undone. 

“Such a good fucking girl, taking me so well. Fuck, baby- shit- se sientes tan bien, estoy tan cercaaahhhhhh-” (you feel so good, I’m so closeeeee-). The hot ropes of his spend coated the back of your throat, the salty, tangy mix filling your mouth as Javi whined, giving his hips one last push as kept your lips wrapped around him, making sure that you had milked him of every last drop before releasing. Letting your spit and his release fall from the corners of your lips, you wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, smirking up at Javi’s blissed out expression. “Jesus Christ, Osita. You’re too fucking good at that. Holy shit. Lemme take care of-“ 

You held up your hand to stop him as you stood up, your gesture cutting off the rest of his sentence as you helped to pull up his jeans and boxers still resting along his thighs. “I’m allowed to give my hot ass boyfriend blowjobs without anything in return. C’mon, we better get downstairs before Steve walks in on us again.” You pressed up on your tiptoes, planting a quick kiss on Javi’s lips as he reached down to buckle his belt before the two of you tried your best to fix yourself up in the mirror to avoid the inevitable shit Steve was about to give the both of you. Giving Javi a quick nod in the mirror before turning off the light and heading out the door, he gave your ass a playful smack, making you squeal in surprise, making you turn on your heels. Resting his hand on his hip, he beamed at you, biting down on his lip. 

“Fuck, I love you.” 

“I know.” 

The Murphy’s living room had begun to pool with guests as you made your way down the stairs, looking for Steve and Connie amongst the crowd. You and Javi both grabbed a beer from the cooler at the bottom of the stairwell, quickly turning around as you heard Steve’s familiar twang approaching behind you. 

“Well I’ll be damned. You got this motherfucker in a costume? He must really love you.” Steve chuckled, shaking Javi by the shoulders. “And Star Wars too?! You asshole, how many times did I try to tell you they were good fuckin’ movies?! You shoulda dressed him up like Jabba the Hut.” You and Steve cackled as Javi rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, and what the fuck are you supposed to be? A sad pirate?” Javi jabbed, poking fun at Steve’s poorly put together costume. 

“Listen, Olivia and Abby both wanted to be the Little Mermaid, so we had two Ariel’s, Con was Ursula, Madison was the yellow fish and I didn’t wanna be that annoying ass crab, so pirate it was, asshole.” Steve retorted, punching at Javi’s arm, the two of them laughing at each other like little boys. “Alright, go enjoy yourselves lovebirds, I’ll see ya in a little bit. And Javi?”

“Yeah Murph?” 

“You really gotta start checkin’ your pants, buddy.” 

Javi’s cheeks turned red, his eyes darting down to his zipper, still all the way undone from your activities upstairs, the both of you grimacing at each other, sheepishly avoiding eye contact with Steve as he disappeared into the crowd. 

It really wasn’t a surprise to Javi how many friends the Murphy’s had already managed to make in their time since moving to San Antonio. Their house was quickly crowded with all sorts of people- Steve and Connie’s co-workers, neighbors, parents of friends Olivia and Abby had made at school, regardless of where the party goers were from, everyone had collectively agreed to make adult Halloween just as fun as any kids. You and Javi were having a great time catching up with Steve and Connie, as well as meeting some of their other close friends, one of Connie’s neighbors being an elementary school teacher, giving you two plenty to commiserate about from the hellish week it had been. It didn’t take long for the party to move outside, Steve drunkenly deciding that he needed to make a bonfire, despite adamant argument that with the amount of alcohol Steve had in his system, he was going to spontaneously combust if he got close enough to a flame. Javi, sober enough to still help his friend make rational decisions, was glad that Steve was happy to let him build the bonfire. 

“The force is strong with you, Han Solo.” You giggled, Javi wrapping his arm around your shoulder, pressing a soft kiss into your forehead as the two of you stared into the flickering orange glow of the fire pit. 

“Not strong enough to extinguish Steve if he got close enough to it. Hey, I got shit all over my hands, I’m gonna go to the bathroom and wash ‘em off. You need anything while I’m inside, Princess?” You smiled as you nudged Javi at the nickname he had been adamant about using since you had put on your costume. 

“I’m good, thank you. I’m gonna go wait over on the swingset so I don’t completely reek of bonfire later.” Javi nodded as he slid his hand down your back, giving your ass a quick squeeze before making his way through the crowd, heading towards the house. Surprised no one else had capitalized on the chance to sit down, you wandered over to the wooden playset at the corner of the Murphy’s backyard, taking a seat on one of the plastic swings, kicking your feet against the grass below. 

“Hey, there she is! How goes it, Leia?” Taking a few long strides through the yard, Steve was now quickly making his way over to you, stumbling over his own feet as he somehow managed to sit himself down on the swing next to you. You tried your best not to laugh at Steve’s drunken state, but his current antics weren’t making it very easy on you. 

“I could ask the same to you. You doin’ okay there, pirate?” 

“Fuck sweetheart, I’m doin’ fuckin’ great. Where’s the asshole?” 

“Inside, I’m sure he’ll be back out soon.” You snickered at Steve watching the beer dribble down his chin from the overly confident swig he had taken. 

“Good, I don’t need ‘em right now. You were the one I was lookin’ for.” Steve pointed in your general direction, but clearly wasn’t aware enough to hit his target head on. 

“Me?” You laughed, pointing back to yourself. 

“Yes, you. You talk to him yet?”

“About?” You paused, wondering if Steve had any inkling of the conversation you were planning to have earlier, or if he was drunkenly deciding you and Javi needed to discuss something else. 

“You know about what. I talked to Connie earlier. I figured I owed it to you to come talk to you about it, too.” 

Your heart began to race, that uncomfortable feeling once again beginning to churn in your stomach as you thought about the things you and Connie had discussed earlier. “Steve, you don’t owe me anything, I-” 

“No, I do. Hold on a second.” Steve turned away, letting out a hearty burp, pouding on his chest before facing back towards you. “Sorry, I’ve been holdin’ that in for like 10 minutes, I needed to let it out. Anyways… What was I sayin’? Oh shit, yeah, the grumpy bastard. Listen, sweetheart. I know it’s gonna fuckin’ suck,  but you gotta be the one to bring it up and talk to him about it. If I know anything about that motherfucker, it’s that he will bottle things up for way too fuckin’ long until someone gets it out of him. He’s a good guy. He says he’s not, but he is. Saved my ass more times than I can count. That job made us do some fucked up shit neither of us are fuckin’ proud of. But that doesn’t mean he gets to keep it from you. I swear to God, that asshole is so fuckin’ in love with you, it makes me sick. You make him so happy. He just doesn’t wanna fuck up the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” 

You weren’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but in that moment, all you could manage was to reach over to the swing next to you, pulling Steve in for a hug as you tried to keep your tears from staining his shirt. “Thanks, Steve.” You whispered, leaning back into your seat, using your sleeve to wipe the wetness from your cheeks. 

“I know you love him too. You deserve to know. Don’t let him be a stubborn jackass to you, okay? I’m bein’ serious. I should be the one thankin’ you though, honey. In all the years I’ve known him, I never thought I’d see ‘em this happy. I promise I won’t get this drunk at your wedding.” Steve winked, straining to push himself up out of the swing, somehow managing to catch his balance as he stumbled into the grass. 

“You do make a very inspirational drunk, Steve.” You laughed to yourself, looking up at him with a genuine smile. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome. Alright, enough sap, I’m gonna go get another fuckin’ beer, I’ll see ya around okay?” 

“Okay, maybe a water would be good for you, too.” 

“Water’s for pussies.” 

“Water’s good for people who don’t want raging hangovers tomorrow.” 

“Pirates are always drunk, so I’ll be fuckin’ fine.” 

“Whatever you say, Steve.” 

It didn’t take long for Javi to return, easily spotting his tall, broad body making his way through the crowd, beaming at you as he walked over to the swings. You tried your best to smile back at him with the uneasy pounding in your chest quickly building, feeling your heartbeat in your throat. “Hey, Hermosa. Sorry it took so long, I ended up stopping to get another drink on the-“ 

“Do- Javi, do you trust me?” 

Your words were quiet and blunt as they rolled off your tongue, your eyes peeled on your feet kicking through the grass beneath you. 

Javi’s brow immediately scrunched in confusion, completely off put by your question and demeanor. “Do I- Baby, what are you talking about? Of course I trust you? What’s going on?” Setting down his drink, he began making his way next to you in frantic, worried strides. 

“Then why won’t you talk to me about it?” Your eyes darted from the ground up to his, his sweet brown eyes swirling with confusion at the firm tone of your voice and desperation growing across your face. 

“Talk to you about what? Hermosa, what’s going on? Is everything ok-” 

“Why won’t you talk to me about Colombia?” 

 Javi took a step back. He wasn’t sure if it was out of defense, or absolute shock from the words that had just fallen out of your mouth. He stared at you for a moment, his jaw locking as you could see how hard he swallowed, trying to bide his time as he calculated his response. 

“Osita… It’s not that simple.” 

“That’s not an answer.” 

“I don’t understand why we’re talking about this. Baby, if this is because of last night, you don’t need to worry about me, can we please just drop it?” The two of you faced each other in an unspoken standoff, Javi’s hands now resting on his hips as you crossed your arms over your chest. You had tried so hard to be patient, but in the moment, it was like all of your frustration was beginning to boil over. 

“That’s exactly why we’re talking about this, Javi. Because I fucking worry about you. All the time. I’ve tried so hard to be patient. I’ve never, ever tried to get you to talk about it because I know it’s fucking hard. But last night, you’re up at 2 A.M, wandering around the apartment, and I’m begging you to tell me what’s wrong and you won’t fucking do it. I’m not an idiot, Javi. I can’t live in this weird in between space in your life where you pretend your past doesn’t exist when I know it still fucking haunts you. Why won’t you just talk to me about it?” 

Javi could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his palms sweating as they clenched in tight fists at his sides. He tried so desperately to find an answer, something, anything he could tell you to try and justify his choices. The choices he had kept from you. The choices he couldn’t forgive himself for. “Because, I- fuck- because, goddamnit, I just- I was a terrible fucking person, okay? The things I did, they were-” 

“What? Fucked up? Painful? Shitty? Of course they fucking were, Javi. You were literally in Colombia chasing down Pablo Fucking Escobar. What did you think I thought you were doing down there? Filing away paperwork? You don’t think I know that you did things you regret? That you’ve hurt people? Made choices that hurt innocent people who didn’t deserve it? I know Javi, I fucking know. I watched my brothers come back from the same goddamn thing. I tried so hard to give them space, to let them come to terms with the fucked up things they did on their own, and you know what fucking happened? One of them’s fucking dead because of it. I can’t let it happen again. I don’t care about what you did. It doesn’t make you a bad person. But you can’t try and hide it from me and pretend like it doesn’t exist. I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. But I can’t if you don’t trust me. Please trust me. Please. I love you so much, Javi. I can’t lose you.” 

Javi stood in silence, as the both of you fought the tears streaming down your cheeks. He wasn’t sure if he had just been hit in the gut with a giant sucker punch, or if the weight of the world had just been lifted off his shoulders. He truly didn’t know how to feel. He wasn’t even sure if he had heard you correctly. Did you really just tell him that you knew about the fucked up, terrible things he had done and that you didn’t care? That you still fucking loved him? All you wanted was for him to trust that you wanted to be there for him? He could feel his hands trembling and lip quivering as he tried to find the words to speak.

 “Osita… I- fuck, baby. Osita, I’m so sorry. I trust you with my fucking life. You- You don’t deserve to have to deal with with all the fucked up things I’ve done. I don’t wanna scare you away, baby. You’re the best thing that’s ever fucking happened to me and I was so terrified if you found out about the terrible person I used to be, you’d leave. It’s not fair to you, I can’t expect you to carry the weight of all the fucking things I’ve done, too. I’m so sorry.” Quietly, Javi sat down next to you on the empty swing, burying his hands in his face. Gently, you reached over, pulling his hands away, forcing him to look at you. 

“Whatever you tell me isn’t gonna scare me away. I promise. The only thing that’s gonna scare me is when you try to pretend you’re okay when you’re not. Javi… Javi, I just- I just wanna be there for you. I don’t want you to have to do it alone. I’d do anything for you. I trust you more than anyone. You’re my best friend. I just- fuck- I just want you to trust that I’ll always be there for you to. I promise.” 

And just like that, the last brick holding up the wall between you and Javier Peña collapsed. There was nothing left to run from. Nothing left to hide. After he returned home, he was a changed man. He had hated the person he had become. Maybe there was a part of him that didn’t want to be loved, because he didn’t believe that he deserved to be. But then, there was you. 

You. 

You had taken everything he had known and changed his life for the better. You had become his better half, the person he loved more than anyone in the world. You had proved he was worthy of more than just existing- you had proved to Javi that he was worth the love and happiness you had promised him from the moment you had come into his life and made it worth living for. 

“You promise?” 

“I promise. Always.” 

The way Javi grabbed you and wrapped you in his arms, grasping at the back of your shirt as he pulled you in tighter, feeling the hot breath of his silent sobs against your shoulder told you everything you needed to know. You didn’t know much, but if there was one thing you did know, it was that you loved Javier Peña more than life itself. As quickly as it had felt like your life had fallen apart, he had come into it and picked up the broken pieces to put it back together. And on an October night in San Antonio, sitting on an old wooden swing set in the Murphy’s backyard, you hoped that Javi knew that you would always be there to pick up the shattered parts of his past, too. 

You weren’t sure how many hours had passed as you sat hand in hand in the swings with Javi as you listened to anything and everything he had to say. Long after the backyard was empty, and the bonfire had faded to embers and ashes, and the only one left awake besides the two of you was Connie, trying to drag Steve back inside from the plastic lawn chair he had passed out on, you finally made your way up to bed for the best sleep the two of you had in a very, very long time. Your goodbyes to the Murphy’s had been short and sweet- Connie exhausted from the late night, and Steve barley coherent from how hungover he was, you were still both so thankful the two of you had made the journey out to see them, and the both of you, just as grateful for the sweet and supportive life long friends you knew the Murphy’s would become. Most of your drive back to Laredo was spent in a comfortable silence, the golden sunrise spilling through the windows of Javi’s truck as you cruised down the highway, Javi’s hand never leaving yours, your fingers intertwined together as his thumb gently rubbed against your soft skin and your head rested against his broad shoulder. 

“How are you feeling about seeing your mom today?” You asked, lightly squeezing his arm as you smiled up at him, now exiting off the freeway quickly approaching the cemetery where you planned to meet Chucho to celebrate Día De Los Muertos, trying your best to comfort Javi as he prepared to see his mom’s gravesite for the first time since her funeral almost a decade ago. Javi let out a quiet sigh, his grip tightening just a little tighter around your hand as he looked over at you, a surprisingly calm look flooding his face. 

“I’m actually doing okay. Better than I would have thought. I think I was always so worried that she wouldn’t be proud of me and the man I’d become after she was gone. I um- I finally think that she’d be proud of me now.” He glanced over at you, his smile soft and tender as he soaked in the reason for his pride sitting right beside him. 

You noticed Chucho’s truck as you pulled up to park along the edge of the small cemetery, Chucho excitedly waving you down as you both hopped out of the car. Walking around to Javi, you were quick to grab his hand, giving him a reassuring grip as the two of you made your way through the gravestones along the thin cobblestone path towards Chucho, already arranging the items he had collected for Lucia’s ofrenda. 

“Hola, niños.” Chucho grinned, wrapping his arms around the both of you. “I’m so glad you’re here.” 

“Thanks for letting me be a part of today, Chucho. I know… Well, I just- I’m really honored to- just, thank you.” Chucho wasted no time pulling you into your own hug, his rough and worn hands holding you by the shoulders as he looked at you with misty eyes. 

“Mija, I should be thanking you. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know if we would all be here today. Lucia’s last wish to me was that I would promise to make sure Javier was happy. Now hija, I think my sweet Lucia can rest a little easier knowing someone else has already fulfilled my promise for me.” As the two of you spoke, you hadn’t noticed as Javi had quietly stepped over to his mother’s gravestone, crouching next to it, his fingers delicately tracing along the engraved letters of her name, his other hand holding one of the marigold flowers Chucho had brought with him. The two of you watched quietly as Javi sat next to his mom, gently placing the flower on the shiny stone as he spoke. 

“Hola, mamá. Te extrañé. Siento haber tarado tanto.” (Hi mom. I missed you. I’m sorry I took so long). Javi’s voice trembled as he took a deep breath in, slowly exhaling as his hand rested on the stone, warm from the sun, shining brightly in the blue November sky. “Que estaba asustada de de verte porque estaba orgullosala de la persona en la que me había convertido. Que no quería decepcionarte. Tenía miedo mucho, mamá. Me sentí como si todo se derrumbase. solo quería olvidar. Pero entonces…” (I was scared to see you because I wasn’t proud of the person I’d become. I didn’t want to disappoint you. I was so scared, mom. I felt like I let everyone down. I just wanted to forget. But then…).  Javi turned his head, seeing you and Chucho, arm in arm, a smile growing across his face as looked back at the two people in life he loved the most. He took an extra moment to stare at you and the soft grin spread between your cheeks, basking in the comfort and warmth of the woman who had forever changed his life for the better. “Pero entonces, mamá, La conocí. Que es perfecta. Nunca supe que podías amar tanto a alguien. Ella es lo mejor que me ha pasado. La habrías amado.ella es una maestra, tambien.  A veces me pregunto qué ve en mí. No sé qué hice para merecerse. voy a pedirle que se case conmigo.Cuidaré bien de ella. Ella se merece todo lo que le pueda dar y más. Espero que estés orgulloso de mí, mamá. te echo mucho, Pero le juro a usted, al fin soy feliz. Te amo, mamá.”  (But then, mom, I met her. She is perfect. I never knew you could love someone so much. She is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You would have loved her. She’s a teacher too. Sometimes, I wonder what she sees in me. I don’t know what I did to deserve her. I’m gonna ask her to marry me. I’m gonna take such good care of her. She deserves everything I can give her and more. I hope you’re proud of me, mamá. I miss you so much, but I promise you, I’m finally happy. I love you, mom.) 

With a gentle nudge from Chucho, you softly stepped behind Javi, gently placing your hands on his shoulders before he rose up and you wrapped your arms around his waist, resting your head against his chest as he wiped away the tears welling behind his eyes. Staring down at Lucia’s gravestone, Javi ran his hand through your hair, carefully planting a kiss against your head and burying his nose in the soft waves of your hair. 

“I wish I would have had the chance to have met you, Mrs. Peña. I would have had someone else to commensurate with over all of the crazy teaching stories I’m sure the both of us have. Maria, Estelle and Linda all miss you a lot too, but I’m sure they haven’t changed a bit. Thanks for raising such a good son. I don’t know what I would do without him. I know he says that he doesn’t know what he did to deserve me, but I really think it should be the other way around. I promise I’ll look out for him.” You tried your best to smile through your soft sobs, looking up at Javi, tears streaming down his wet cheeks. It wasn’t long before Chucho had snuck up behind you, patting each of you on the back before smiling down at Lucia, too. 

“Estos dos están tan enamorados, Lucia. Tal vez más que tú y yo. Ella es una buena chica. Estoy muy contenta de que ella sea parte de nuestra familia. Finalmente tendremos a nuestros nietos, también.”  (These two are so in love, Lucia. Maybe even more than you and I. She is a great girl. I am so happy she is a part of our family. We are finally going to get our grandchildren, too). Chucho winked, nudging Javi in the side, forcing him to laugh through his tears, shaking his head at his dad’s comment. “Now, no more tears, you two. This is a happy day. Your mamá is smiling down on you, and I can almost hear here scolding me to keep you from crying anymore. C’mon, let’s decorate and eat, I even brought pozole.” 

The three of you spent the next hour decorating Lucia’s grave with bright orange and gold cempazuchitl (marigold flowers) and little Calaveras (sugar skulls) painted in bold colors and refined details, sharing and laughing about Javi’s favorite memories of his mother while snacking on the Pozole Chucho had brought to share. For the first time in a long time, Javi no longer felt guilt and grief when he thought about his mom- her memory filled him with love and joy. He wasn’t the same bitter, broken man he was when he had said his final goodbyes to his mother all those years ago. While he wished he could change the past, the reality of the present, and his future finally brought him peace, knowing he could be proud of the man he had become, thanks to you. 

As Javi helped Chucho to clean up the extra flowers and decorations he had brought, you couldn’t help yourself from reaching at the wrinkled photo you had shoved in your pocket as you had packed up to leave from the Murphy’s this morning. You carefully took it out, holding it gently in your hands as you tried to uncrinkle the edges. “You ready, Hermosa?” Javi called out, now a few steps ahead of you, making his way back towards the truck. “Hermosa?” He asked again, thinking perhaps you hadn’t heard him the first time. When he was greeted by silence again, he looked back to see you staring at the crumpled photo in your hands. 

“I um- I know that he isn’t buried here, and uh, if you don’t want me to, it’s okay- but um- is it, is it alright if I leave a couple flowers for Patrick?” You sniffed, a tear dropping down on the photo of the two of you, Patrick holding you in a headlock as you laughed with a wide, toothy grin, drowning in one of his old Blackhawks jerseys that you were so excited to wear because it belonged to him. 

“Of course, Osita. Of course it is.” Javi smiled at you softly, turning back around with the tub of leftover decorations, making his way towards you. Quietly, you walked back over to Lucia’s gravestone, carefully setting down the picture of you and Patrick next to it, putting a few marigolds over top of it so it stayed pinned in place from the warm breeze. 

“I miss you, asshole. You deserved so much better. I hope you don’t still think that I hate you. I mean, I do, but you know what I mean. Honestly, you were lucky you didn’t have to live through the Blackhawks losing in the playoffs this year, that fucking sucked. Mom and Dad and Charlie and David all miss you too. I finally went back home to see them. It still wasn’t the same without you there, but I know you don’t hurt anymore. I hope that you don’t hurt anymore. I love you, Patrick. Crack open a cold one up there for me, okay?” Trying your best to not to uncontrollably sob, you sniffled, wiping the tears running down your face as you leaned your head against Javi’s chest. He ran his hand along your back as he held you tighter, letting you take a moment to get everything out before you took a deep breath, nodding your head as if to signify to Javi and yourself that you were okay. 

“You okay, Osita? We can take all the time you need, baby.” Javi whispered, pressing a gentle kiss into your shoulder. 

“No, I’m okay. I just- I wanted to do something for him, too. Thanks, Javi. I love you.” 

“I know.” 

After several more long hugs goodbye with Chucho, you and Javi began your journey back home, marveling at the beautiful sunset, painting the sky with bright pinks and oranges and the warmth and comfort of Lucia and Patrick’s presence. You were so lost in thought staring out at the fading sky, you hadn’t even noticed that Javi had detoured from your usual route home until he had said something to you. “You okay if we make a quick pit stop on the way home, Osita?” You nodded, smiling at the golden glow covering his face. It wasn’t long until you were veering off the main road, Javi turning to make his way down a tree lined gravel pathway with a “For Sale” sign posted in front of it. 

“For sale?” You questioned, looking over at Javi before peering out your window to watch the trees lining the path pass by you as the gravel crunched under the truck’s tires.

“Yeah, uh- I was talking with Steve at the party yesterday and he- uh, one of his buddies said he was looking to get out of the city- wanted a plot of land to build on. Said he had heard good things about Laredo but didn’t have time to go check things out for himself, so I told him I would go take a look around and let Steve know what I thought.” Javi replied, trying his best to sound nonchalant as you shrugged before looking back out the window. As you reached the end of the path, the trees opened to reveal a beautiful, lush green field, the sun setting perfectly along the rolling hills of the horizon in front of you. Turning off the ignition, Javi gestured for the both of you to get out of the truck so you could go take a look around. 

“Jav… This is beautiful.” You marveld, grinning as you took in the beauty of the open space drenched in golden sunset. 

“You like it?” Javi grinned, laughing as you spun around, the gentle breeze blowing your hair in and out of your face. 

“Oh my God, yeah. Tell Steve’s friend to get on this place ASAP before I scrounge up every penny I have and sell one of my kidneys on the black market to buy it from him. There doesn’t even need to be a house, I’ll just lay in the empty field, perfectly content.” You giggled, letting out a happy sigh as you grabbed Javi’s hand, leaning your head against his arm as you admired the sun slipping away below the horizon. 

“I’ll take that as a yes then. He said he’s wanting to build a house here, do you think- do you think that he would think it’s got enough space? It’s not too far from everything? I know it’s a little farther from downtown and a longer drive to work- if uh, if he works by where we do, you don’t think that’d be a problem? For him?” Javi squeezed back, trying his best not to stumble over his words. 

“Are you kidding me? It’s literally perfect out here, Javi. Could you imagine getting to see this every night? He better put some big windows on this house so he can get all of the sunlight, oh my god, it would be so pretty. It’s not even that far from everything, and the view makes the extra drive time worth every minute. I know it’s probably a far way off, and we haven’t really talked about it, but I would love to live at a place like this someday.” 

Javi smiled to himself, looking down at you as you rested against him, soaking in every ounce of you as he shifted his arm to wrap around your waist, gently rubbing his thumb along the soft hem of your shirt before letting out a content sigh. 

“Yeah. Me too.”

Taglist: @cool-iguana @rhoorl @whyjuliaaa @bbiophiliaa @pertinentpostmortem @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @pedrobaby @fatima-marisa @beboldbebravethings @poodlebae @kittenlittle24 @3sriracha @jungchloee @perennialdoll247 @prettyinpunk85 @partyofone3413 @harriedandharassed @pedrohoe04 @theorganasolo @endlessthxxghts @blackfemalenerd

[vanadiumvalor]

☀️Solar House Shorts☀️ Happy Halloween / Feliz Día de Los Muertos from Solar House! I've been dying to make a reference to the Saturn meme for a long time…

[lm-tomatito]

What is your opinion on Mexican rep in video games, like guacamelee, burito bison, or the "fiesta de los muertos" world from rayman legends?

I'm unfamiliar with everything you mentioned except for the Rayman levels, but I guess you also mean stuff like the Mario with a sombrero? I can't speak for all mexicans but to me and the people I've met and talked to about this stuff is just fun. I actually find it pretty neat, everytime I see a reference to Mexico I get excited, being it a festivity, the music, outfits, food, even just characters that are canonically mexican in media (depending what they do and how they are written ofc). I'll be honest though, even if Día de Muertos is a very meaningful festivity here, I wish more people used different Mexico stuff and not always that lol but I still enjoy seeing it a lot

Never expected to receive a question like this, it's pretty cool tbh, might check a bit about those other games

[laviejaguardia]

Is Latino not an ethnicity????

It isn't (and it isn't a race either). Latinidad is a political identity with some sociological, cultural and historical background. What it does not have -and I cannot stress this enough- is shared genetics/common ancestry which is how I see it most referred.

Here's the definition of ethnicity from Wikipedia:

And to use roughly the same source, here's the Wikipedia disaggregation of Latin America today (which ofc I have issues with lol I'm not missing the irony of telling you "Latin America is sooo diverse" while using the "Asian" category, but I need to make do:

See what I'm getting at?

Let's continue, you can say "well I didn't mean genetics, I meant everything else"

Okay language:

Latin America includes hundreds of native languages like Quechua, Mayan, Guaraní (oficial language of Paraguay!), Aymará or Nahuatl, and always has! Without counting the beautifully mixed and improved Spanish, Portuguese (which I called Brasilero for years as a kid lol) and French, or even later additions like Welsh, Japanese, Chinese or Arabic from immigrant clusters that still speak it or are currently arriving into the continent.

So language isn't it either.

I don't even need to get into traditions c'mon look at Carnaval in Brasil, día de los muertos in Ecuador, an 9 de julio in Argentina and tell me those are all the same. Look at empanadas, tacos, humitas, pizza brasilera, tequeños, asado, sudados, etc

Religion? Argentina alone has the second biggest Islamic and Jewish populations in America after the US. Sure Christianity is paramount given the invasion and imposition by Catholic monarchies by the Spanish and Portuguese, but to say it's the only religion is to spit in the face of again, hundreds of native people's whose religions have been systematically erased since 1492. It is also quite reductive to only take institutionalised religions as valid forms of worship, or to ignore the fact that most Catholicism here would give European orthodox Catholics a stroke.

Now, history and social treatment, here's where the good stuff is.

Independencias:

These all look super different but these are processes and most of them took place in the first 3 decades of the 1800s so they're not that far off. These were carried out with an idea of hermandad. They used to be virreynatos under the same rule, we (patriotas) were all getting independence from the same monarch power (realistas). There was a lot of collaboration between administrations and armies. This was a decision from the leaders of the time, to seek strength in numbers.

The fact that we had to gain independence is a point of contact as well. At that time "patria" was understood as the desire to be independent, there were no neat lines to separate the territories. At this point in history you'll find lots of key people like San Martín, Juana Azurduy and Bolivar talking about "pueblos americanos" as a way to claim independence from imperialist/colonial European rule. (Brasil had a different history with the Portuguese court moving there)

The term Latin America or Latinoamérica came by a little later, the earliest it's been found used is 1856 by a politician from Chile, as you can see, the context it is used in is purely political.

Historically, the term when used by Americans is heavily tied to a way to gather strength in solidarity for independence and rejection of foreign imperialist aspirations, from the United States, France, Spain, etc etc.

I think latinidad is in a way a self fulfilled prophecy, we were invaded and as such "unified" where before were hundreds of different peoples. We took that very same unification and made it ours, in part because the rest of the world insists on putting us all in the same bag (included with things like the School of the Americas in the 1960s-1980s where all of Latinamerica was deemed safer for the US to be ruled by genocidal military governments than democracies that smelled just a little communist. Spoiler! it wasn't safer for us who had to actually live under them)

I reject the idea of latinidad as an ethnicity because it stems from the idea of "la raza latina" which is very very racist ("latinos" were the white Europeans from Romance language countries aka Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, there was a clear hierarchy there usual to the era that still affects our social and economic framework). It's reductive and it pretends to obscure and muddle a very clear and deliberate political choice that is to identify as latinoamerican.

This also applies to the latin people who emigrate to the US and their descendants, both the ones fixing the lawns and the ones emigrating without need of a visa to work a stable 9-5. Even if it seems only the first ones get the name.

So what's latinidad? It's whatever we say it is, hope this helps ✌️

[i-write-sin-not-tragedy]

O! It's actually really interesting question, what insects would the cast be? Cause I never thought in depth about it before, so please share your ideas and thoughts! — the bird anon

I have just the core four thought out so far, but!!

Angel - Jumping Spider (obviously)

Everytime i see someone say he looks nothing like a spider i lose my mind bc yall clearly have never seen a Regal Jumping Spider before!!!!! Viv based him off a jumping spider, and as soon as you see one, you go . Oh, okay! Yeah suddenly his design makes sense. They're fluffy! Covered in stripes! With two big main eyes surrounded by smaller ones! They can even be pink and white!!!

Charlie - Monarch Butterfly

I feel like this one speaks for its self, a butterfly overall is incredibly fitting for her, but especially a monarch. The royalty reference as well as the color pallette!

ALSO in certain Mexican cultures, they're often used during Día de Los Muertos to symbolize the spirits of the dead, or in some as a guiding figure who leads souls to the afterlife!

They symbolize transformation, strength, and endurance.

Vaggie - Wasp

everyone says moth (i could go on a rant about that bc she was never a moth. The "moth demon" thing was part of her beta design and clearly isn't canon anymore yet everyone keeps using it for her and its one of my little pet peeves lol) but hear me out *a Wasp*

It has the sorta army/drone association that the Angels have, as well as being nearly all female!!! And the territorial/protective aspect suits her really well

Alastor- Preying Mantis ( a red orchid mantis to be specific!)

Mantis are lowkey kinda fucked up LOL cannibalistic (although thats not that uncommon in the insect world) but these ones can be particularly brutal. This ones a little more based on vibes than anything else, but i think it really suits him. (Also the whole killing males on sight thing is hilarious and very in character imo)

Some places as view them as a sign of bad luck or as an omen, which i think he would love lol

They're rare to see, loving to stay hidden. I've only seen one once! Which considering Alastors love of staying in the shadows, seems fitting to me!

[randompasserbyer]

I think it's hilarious that someone in a Pokémon discord got pissed and blocked me because I said that Skeledirge has Día De Los Muertos references on it because "Paldea is in Spain, not Mexico".

[kadextra]

I couldn’t watch the q!Bad lore stream live today and don’t feel like putting a bunch of vodblogs in the main tag, so I’m gonna try something new and put it all in one massive post

so if you missed seeing me on the dash and wanna read about me maybe losing my mind (depending on what happens as I watch) here ya go :D

WAIT WHAT??? Q!BAD IN LIMBO DEATH LIMINAL SPACE AGAIN AT THE START OF STREAM?????

MY GUY THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH YOU‼️‼️‼️

oh there’s a second him that’s so trippy. he doesn’t recognize himself again, they’re walking together.

THIS IS SO COOL OH MY GOD?!?!?!? now they are digging in the sand??

ah so the corpse of… also himself is still at the deserted village, but its decomposed into a skeleton now. interesting DONT DRINK THE POISONED WATER NOT AGAIN ok good phew. good confirmation this is not a loop, there is new stuff happening that didn’t last time

dude this is so awesome he is cooking so hard. I’m gonna rewatch this whole part again later, I really love surreal stuff like this

nevermind it might actually be a loop? we went back right to where we were at the start. why does he keep sitting outside of the temple, and doesn’t go inside?

TOP FUNNEL 🕺🕺🕺

and we’re back. he can’t remember how to use the warp stone again :( the memory book is not in his hotbar uh oh.

Hi Ben o/

he doesn’t know the eggxhibition… you built this man, I’m gonna cry. NOOO HE DOESNT KNOW BOBBY IS DEAD AGAINNNNN

POMME. “MY DAUGHTER” WAAAAAHHH

“too early to put this up” <- referring to the día de los muertos decor. dude what time and day are you in

he found the egg hospital!!! oh no now he’s looking around erratically. I think he’s panicking :(((( and once again picked some flowers to self-soothe :((( god the flowers are so special to him, they seem to be like his main grounding thing. q!forever doesn’t even know the impact he made

he’s home!!!

dark matter by the vulture lab door uh? a knight armor guy sweeping??? is that a ghost??? what just happened?

oh god the vulture lab

IT WAS A GHOST THE ARMOR IS THERE AND THE BROOM IS IN THE CHEST. possessed armor that’s fun! :D

DAPPERRRRRRRRRR DAPPER MY BABY IS AWAKE AND ALIVE

dapper looks so horrible omg also her name is lowercased?

vacation. sure

“I didn’t get to keep it (the eye guy) as a pet.” yeah that’s definitely dapper.

also he doesn’t want to wear armor like the new eggs that’s weird

T E A. and q!bad’s memory is still fudged.

dapper your dad is very sick….

he remembers its been 2 months dapper has been gone! :0 DAPPER WAS NOT IN PURGATORY THE WHOLE TIME??? JUST A FEW DAYS???? EXPLAIN WHY NOW

q!bad keeps forgetting what they’re doing, and then goes off and does something else….. I don’t know if dapper fully realizes what’s going on, maybe she’s just too tired themselves to pay close attention to her dad?

“Since when did we have a farm?” Buddy.

PHILZA IS SOOOOO HAPPY TO SEE DAPPER LETS GOOO

“we hid him (dapper) underground, we weren’t sure if the island was safe” We? you and…? cucurucho?

DAPPER GOT YEETED INTO THE BOAT AHAHAHA

oh they really did get launched by the nuke and hit the boat I knew it. also I see you…. zooming into the back wound when phil said “you made it in one piece”

PRIVILEGED LOBSTER IS BACK REJOICE

chayanne was who led the eggs to leave? huh. chayanne you’ve got some explaining to do

not them talking about the eye guy’s snatched waist 💀💀💀💀 tbh they did slay

philza wants to beat up the eye guy and elquackity I support him so much

dapper hitting his dad off the top of the wall we’re so back!!!

ETOILES SEEING DAPPER and then fell off the wall LMAOOO

q!bad forgot that he forgot his memory

(I am so engrossed in the conversations I am forgetting to write things here lol)

“can we teach etoiles to cope” (with losing to the code) then they make him break a sign with 1s and 0s on it and he logs LMAO

q!bad just mentally zoned out and stared once again at flowers….. oh. the coughing :(

pomme was the leader when the eggs went surviving in the wilderness :3 that’s my girl!!!!!!

everyone just bouncing on the trampoline and chit-chatting is so sweet, I missed this <3

dapper is so based all the time

roier seeing dapper again awwwww

ough I really really missed dapper’s out of pocket jokes :(((

“I’ll get cleaned up for tomorrow, I’m sure it’ll turn out fine!” *hits F5* “I need pomme and the rest of the eggs to wake up, and I’ll probably feel right as rain…” haha stop it q!bad I don’t like this!!!!! 😃

he just said he didnt know a church was built here. now they’re at the graveyard talking about how he saw the dead eggs at día de los muertos </3 sobs sobs

Q!MAX T-T I miss you king o7

“learning how to raise the dead might come in handy” “we will worry about that later” ??? Please Stop That!

CODEBREAKERS JUMPSCARE

“I kinda won in this whole situation!” (the eggs being back) Sure bud. You aren’t dying or anything. You definitely have not entered limbo twice.

DAPPER PUTTING FLOWERS BY EACH EGG IN THE HOSPITAL. THE CROWN BY CHAYANNE GAHHHH AUGHHH GGUGHHG 💥💥💥

honey for smelly richas :3

q!bad saying dapper will like bagi and that she’s a really good friend, and will be his aunt. cries and punches a hole into the wall

More Coughing 👁️ dapper please help your father he needs serious medical attention.

BAD FORGOT ABOUT THE GHOSTIES THIS WHOLE TIME. BUT WE ARE FREE ONCE MORE!!

quit saying things are going to be okay I know you are jinxing something and it’s scary. there is a giant hole in your head and your back is turning green.

they’re going to see the prison and courtroom!!

WHAT DID HE JUST SAY

“forever for the crime of looking too handsome I sentence you to 10 years in prison!” UNPROMPTED? I know what you are 🏳️‍🌈‼️

I CANT DO THIS

FINALLY THE BIRTHDAY PARTY CELEBRATION FOR DAPPER. so many nights. so many nights where we’d watch him sit awake, crying at that table. waiting, waiting for something that would never come. but now it’s here. I’m in anguish

“once the eggs wake up we’ll have a big birthday party! a big ol birthday party. yep. a party.” why did you say that with such a weird tone sir?

DAPPER BURYING THEMSELVES WHEN HE FOUND OUT ALL THE MACHINES BROKE KKKKKKK

he reintroduced skeppy to dapper…

he is explaining the great furniture stealing to dapper. who was there when it happened and already knows. “my memory hasn’t been very good lately, I think.” Yeah You Think? I wonder q!bad forgot he’s the one who stole it all?

DAPPER IS BACK TIME

the child is locked outside

PFFT HES CHAINSAWING THE DOOR <3333 AND HAS AN ELEPHANT

yes dapper be salty at your dad for accidentally locking you out

REAL DAPPER TIME!!!!!!!

the sunshine recording omg. he played it for company the entire time they were alone… AAAAAAAAAAAAAUGHH HGHGHGHHGHGHGHGHGHHHGHGHGHGGHHGHFHFHGGFHFGHHHGHHBSBENFMFKS

dapper doesn’t know why q!bad is blue 😀 he doesn’t know…….. haha head in hands

they are going to visit Niki :3

OHHH HER REACTION TO DAPPER <333 she’s such a sweetheart. have I ever said how much I love niki? she was so great in purgatory, and earlier today I got to watch her meet empanada and bond over baking and sweets <3

nice look at the head wound from the inside

q!bad’s been so insistent on dapper going to the eye doctor, I have heard him say this so much over the last several days. even in his memory lapses he remembers it. Why? mr. colorblind YOU need to go to the eye doctor. go hospital.

yeah the alien ships from the map do look like eyes don’t they

based niki her favorite animal is elephants :3 SHUT UP Q!BAD YOU DEMON don’t eat the elephants

the hungriest little guy on the island strikes again

I’m just chilling listening rn, bad dapper and niki are so late night podcast vibes

perry the schnabeltier

TREASURE PLANET >>>>

in the dark of the night is kind of a q!bad song ngl

let’s go a washing machine in dapper’s lab :D oh that was a weird pause in the middle of your sentence bad :D

dapper is running on the ceiling!! they are so talented!

OH MY GOD.

SUNSHINE

bawling my eyes out hold on

the 3 months where q!bad has been so depressed and suffering just went flashing through my mind. every time he had sang the song in a teary broken voice, with nobody across from him listening. in the graveyard as a rainstorm raged above. but now his sunshine is back… hit me like a truck

they are gonna sleep hugging together tonight :’3

“I know it seems I’ve been out of character (since the beginning of the stream) but trust me, I haven’t. I’ve been in character this whole time…”

“Goodbye, see you tomorrow ….I’m sure everything is going to be just fine. :)”

I’m scared

—

well I guess this is the end of my vodblogging lore post!!! I hope it was fun to read jfjdjshdh it was just the thoughts I Would have posted if I was liveblogging. my eyes are still watery :’)

see you all tomorrow for whatever horrors await

[concorp]

Sleep, Dreaming, the Minecraft Multiverse, and QSMP.

If you watched the Hermitcraft + Empires 2 Crossover, you likely know about Pixlriffs’ world hopping theory, and how it was pretty much confirmed as true through both intentional and circumstantial evidence on both SMPs.

If you don’t know, it goes something like this: Sleep, Dreaming, and Logging On and Off a server are all interconnected. The way players travel between worlds is a form of sleep, their dreams physically bringing them between realities. Players may or may not be aware of this, some can fully control it, while others memories are partially or fully separated between the worlds they travel between.

If you’re a QSMP viewer, I think you can already tell how this might apply here. Players being offline is very often referred to as them being asleep. Many go to their beds and lie in them to end stream and log off.

While not intentionally being used in this case, the sleep-world hopping theory ultimately can apply all throughout the minecraft multiverse.

Of course this very very very likely won’t ever be canon. This comes from a whole other series. But I feel the use of this theory can be used to explain several phenomena on the QSMP we so far don’t have proper answers to.

- Players long absences, ability to sleep for a very long time. The “logging off” form of sleep is different from normal sleep. Where the players consciousness nor body no longer resides within the server, and thus, when within that state, they can choose to access others instead, even if they no longer remember it when they return.

- Dan and Spreen’s permanent disappearances. They are both dead according to the federation, but we did not see their bodies. We also did not see them during Día de los Muertos. They did not die traditional deaths. They simply logged off and never woke up in that version of reality again.

- Phil’s dream of his hardcore world, and it happening simultaneous to the QSMP. Something occurred in that birdhouse that allowed q!Phil to be aware of his own waking reality in another world, even if normally he doesn’t have the ability to consciously be aware of it while on the QSMP.

I personally love the whole concept of the theory and how it applies to so much on Hermitcraft and Empires, even retroactively. I think it works amazingly well when applied to the QSMP, and definitely will be thinking of things in terms of it, even if it or something like it never does become canon in any capacity.

[newsiesficchallenges]

Halloween! (Newsies’ Version)

Welcome to the Halloween! (Newsies’ Version) Event Week! The week begins October 17 and ends October 31 at midnight.

The theme for this week is Halloween and all other related holidays and concepts- Día de los Muertos, All Souls Day; witches, pumpkins, candy- any of these things may be featured, along with the characters and concept of the Newsies fandom!  

Acceptable submissions for the week include written works, artwork, playlists, and moodboards (if interested in submitting a creation of another variation, please refer to the rules/FAQ or ask moderators). 

The collection will be posted October 10 on AO3! You may submit finished works to this collection before October 17, but they will not be announced or displayed until the week officially begins. 

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask! 

FAQ

Rules

[adobe-outdesign]

Could you review Skeledirge? I love how many references are in that design.

Crocalor basically keeps the same good things Fuecoco has going on—same doofy expression, white face, and round body. It also clearly still only has two braincells, keeping with the personality of Fuecoco as well.

Visually, it does a pretty decent job of connecting to Skeledirge. The additional markings on the body lead into Skeledrige's various colorful markings, the body shape is starting to become a little more quadrupedal, and the sombrero (which is more Mexican than Spanish, but it did originate in Spain so I guess I'll give them a pass) leads into the bird, what with it looking like an egg with a nest around it. This also serves to give it something of its own to build an identity around, so it doesn't just serve as a transition with nothing unique around it.

However, there are just a few visual things that bug me. The way the head connects to the back is really uncomfortable. I guess it's meant to mimic how quadrupeds' heads connect to their back, but most quadrupeds Have Necks, which is more than I can say for Crocalor here.

I also feel like the way the red arm comes out of a white area on the underbelly to look extremely awkward; it would've been much better to either not have the white stripe, or have the arm be white.

Also, that weird lump at the end of the tail is distracting, and the way it has a yellow stripe down its back but then some pointless squares coming off of that (instead of, say, no squares, or a white stripe with yellow squares) is also uncomfortable. It's got the right idea, there's just a bunch of visual oddities and tension points in there that bug me.

Skeledirge is the first animalistic quadrupedal starter evo we've had in a long time, and it is nice to have another starter in that category. I don't mind the more humanoid starters, but variety is the spice of life, and having every single starter become humanoid does get predictable after a while.

In addition to being an animalistic crocodile it also has a lot going on with in conceptually... probably a bit too much, in fact. It's got some face markings evocative of Día de Muertos (which once again is more Mexican than Spanish but whatever) and some mosaic statues in Spain. Then it also references the Egyptian plover and its mutualistic relationship to crocodiles with the bird on the snout. AND it's also a singer with the bird playing a keyboard of sorts with the snout and the flames coming out of its mouth but it also resembles a pepper a bit and it's... A Lot. I'm all for Pokemon that have a lot of inspirations, but cramming this much into one design feels like overkill. I think the mosiac-y stuff and the bird were plenty on their own.

I also think it's a bit too busy for its own good. Like, what's with all the random white markings all of the body? The underbelly makes sense and the tail tip is harmless, but then you have seemingly random white bands and stripes all over the legs and it just serves to clutter the design. I did a quick and sloppy edit job just to show what it looks like without them (edited on right; you could maybe put some white points on the bottom of the legs if you really wanted something there):

Then you also have the constant flames coming from the mouth, which just feels unnecessary and doesn't really look that great in-game (due to GameFreak being allergic to using particle textures in their models). The chest is also bizarrely square for some reason, looking like a low-poly Gamecube render.

For the record, here's my full hitlist of things that could've been refined/removed:

Get rid of the extra white markings on the legs

Get rid of the black lines on the head and chest

Make the chest smooth instead of angular

Give it a single stripe down the back instead of the tiled look

Get rid of the flames from the mouth

Make the chest markings end in a round circle and get rid of the thin lines

Considering making the claws purple to pull that color through more

And I know all that sounds really negative, but I do like this design still, and it's my favorite of the three final evos. I think the face and head look really striking and unique, the little fire bird is charming and a fun nature reference, and like I said, it's just nice to get an animal-like starter evo for the first time in a while. It's just a too much of a good thing kind of deal.

Overall: Crocalor is visually unique from its evos while transitioning between them well, even if it has a bit of visual awkwardness. Skeledirge is bogged down a bit by way too many details and general over-complication of the design that makes it busier than it needs to be, but it's also not too humanoid and unique in both appearance and concept. A solid starter line that could've been near perfect if just cleaned up a bit.

[aroaceleovaldez]

There’s a particular scene in House of Hades that I hate, because alongside just generically being... bleugh. It also doesn’t make any logical sense.

[Image ID: An excerpt from The House of Hades -

Nico sat forward. ‘I communed with the dead last night.’ He just tossed that line out there, like he was saying he got a text from a buddy. ‘I was able to learn more about what we’ll face,’ Nico continued. ‘In ancient times, the House of Hades was a major site for Greek pilgrims. They would come to speak with the dead and honour their ancestors.’ Leo frowned. ‘Sounds like Día de los Muertos. My Aunt Rosa took that stuff seriously.’ He remembered being dragged by her to the local cemetery in Houston, where they’d clean up their relatives’ gravesites and put out offerings of lemonade, cookies and fresh marigolds. Aunt Rosa would force Leo to stay for a picnic, as if hanging out with dead people were good for his appetite. Frank grunted. ‘Chinese have that, too – ancestor worship, sweeping the graves in the springtime.’ He glanced at Leo. ‘Your Aunt Rosa would’ve got along with my grandmother.’ Leo had a terrifying image of his Aunt Rosa and some old Chinese woman in wrestlers’ outfits, whaling on each other with spiked clubs. ‘Yeah,’ Leo said. ‘I’m sure they would’ve been best buds.’

end ID.]

First and foremost, I hate the trend in HoO of every time particularly one of the Argo 2 Crew reference something culturally-related, they randomly seem to dislike it for no reason or inherently speak about it like they think it’s weird/that they look down upon it. It feels very excessively Suburban White Christian American™ Perspective. I understand why Rick would try to approach discussing those subjects that way, because he’s making an assumption about the audience’s knowledge or preconceived biases about the subjects, but this format just kind of... reinforces that? Rather than challenges it at all? It’s just generally a kind of weird and poor way to go about it and doesn’t work for what he’s trying to do.

And like, that’s the Doylist perspective, but also from a Watsonian perspective it doesn’t make any sense either? Leo lived with his mom until he was like, eight. Are we meant to infer that Esperanza didn’t celebrate Día de Muertos? If that’s the case, why would only one sister celebrate but not the other? And we can’t even presume that maybe the sisters were raised apart or anything, because it’s heavily implied they were close enough that Rosa was very affected by Esperanza’s death - and especially since we’re specifically discussing Día de Muertos, we can presume Rosa would specifically visit Esperanza’s grave. So logically, Leo should have memories of celebrating Día de Muertos with his mother, which would likely be a positive memory/association for him because almost all of his memories of his mother are positive.

And even if we put all that aside, given what we’re told about Rosa and Leo, why would Rosa bring Leo along to celebrate? We’re directly told Rosa wanted nothing to do with Leo and directly blamed him for Esperanza’s death, which is why he ended up in foster care in the first place, yet here we’re told that apparently she was legally responsible for Leo long enough that they celebrated Día de Muertos while he was living with her? And okay, even if we ignore all of that or excuse it somehow; if she blamed Leo for her sister’s death to the point of kicking him out of her house, why should she take him to presumably visit Esperanza’s grave during a very positively-associated holiday?

Like, literally nothing about this makes sense. Either Leo’s family didn’t celebrate Día de Muertos at all, Leo does celebrate Día de Muertos and has positive associations with it, or if he does have any negative associations with Día de Muertos it’d likely be from his aunt actively preventing him from participating or something of the like, which is a whole different can of worms. And all that’s not even getting into the rest of the mess happening in this scene.

[icewazowski]

REQUIEM [Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley]

01| Bolivia

18+ MDNI!!!!!

cw: canon typical violence, smut, no protection used, semi-public sex, dominant simon riley, degrading, power play, size kink.

an: tall man in a skull mask goes crazy after he sees you for the first time in two years

Crowds gathered in the streets of La Paz for the annual Día de los Muertos parades. They wore skull masks, some were caricatures of what a skull was supposed to anatomically appear to be, whereas others adorned sugar skull murals painted across their faces as they paid respects. It was, definitely, one of the most beautiful celebrations I had ever witnessed internationally. I admired how they took the time to remember and respect their dead in a manner that wasn't depressing and as solemn as other countries did.

A float with a giant skeleton sat atop it appeared on the brow of the hill, and I noticed the little shack at the back of it. That's where I needed to be. I observed the crowds for a few more minutes, and then looked down at my outfit.

While it wasn't wholly practical, it helped me fit in. The plum dress reached just above my knees as I walked down the steps, the material was cinched at my waist by a black, leather corset, and the dress exposed my shoulders as the neckline was straight across my shoulders. My hair was half-up and half down as it flowed across my back, hiding the tattoo which traipsed down my spine, and I wore a half skull mask over my eyes. The sugar skull design was one I'd bought from a stall I'd passed a few hours ago, the enchanting woman had offered it across to me, referring to me as Gringa, the last thing Alejandro had once called me two years prior.

Since then, I had been working for the Americans, specifically, the Marines on a top-secret reconnaissance mission, one which only people with the highest level of clearance were privy to. I, along with two other Marines, had been tasked with intelligence gathering regarding a female SAS operator who was rumoured to be in the country. Her name was Sarah Smith, a boring name if you ask me, and she looked as boring as her name. Nothing about her profile screamed killer, and part of me wondered as I read over the file, if she was my fucking replacement. But, as I checked her skills, it just confirmed it. They wasted no time whatsoever in replacing me, and I hoped that I'd be able to return back. Though, as the months turned into years, I didn't really want to go back.

I'd settled into the 'States nicely, made some good friends, made some even better friends with benefits, and my previous life did not exist, as far as I was concerned. No one asked me about it, because none of them cared. Don't dwell on the past, sort of thing. I also had a dog now, one that I'd named Simpson, after Alex, and I wondered how his dog was doing, if he'd renamed it after finding out about what happened. Or what Ghost thought had happened.

Speaking of Ghost, he didn't exist, either. Our intelligence on him was non-existent, and we had intelligence on everyone and everything that breathed. But Ghost's file was blank, as though it never existed. I wondered if my SAS file was empty now, or if I was on some briefing item to gain intel on so that they could organise a plan to have me executed. Either way, I didn't care. Working alone was great, I liked the freedom it gave me. The only real downside was not being able to have someone watch your back, but that was something that I remedied by being on alert at all times, sure it was fucking exhausting, but I made it work.

The crowd of people walked towards me, as I trudged through them. My hand clasped my purse tight to my side, the firearm and mobile inside were heavy, but they were my only insurance here. I didn't know where the other two Marines were, and I only had a photo of either of them. If it went tits up, badly, then I had a mobile number I could text, and they'd descend on my position as though I'd just offered them oil or something.

I wrapped my hands around the railing at the rear of the float, and clambered onto the slowly moving vehicle. Día de los Muertos was the perfect place for a ghost to hide, and I fit right in. My body moved to the shack, where I was supposed to be meeting the contact at... well, right now. I shoved the door open, and was met with a man in a suit, his back was to me as he looked out the window to the people who followed the float.

"Scarecrow?" I asked him the code-word, for some reason, someone decided to make it Batman villain themed, and so the answer I was expecting was another character.

He turned to face me, "Bane." he responded, and gestured across to one of the two chairs in the room. I took the one closest to the door, and slumped down into it. When he sat in the chair I took in his appearance. A burnt orange dress shirt, one that had been rolled up at the arms to reveal two heavily tattooed arms, sat across his broad chest, and I tried not to stare at the scar on the left-hand side of his jaw which peeped from beneath the skull mask he wore. It was one of those masks you'd see airsoft players wearing, a tactical, angry looking skull mask. He wore jeans, the well fitting pair of denim clung to his muscular thighs, and he looked like the sort of person you wouldn't want to mess with, not in a million years.

He pulled his chair before me, and his hazel eyes looked oddly familiar. Or maybe he just had those sorts of eyes people recognised. "Do you have what I want?" he asked me, and the moment he spoke more than one word, was the moment my eyes subtly widened and my heart-rate sped up. He didn't realise it was me, as far as he knew, I was dead, and I'd died with him hating me.

I rifled through my bag until I found the thumb-drive, and I placed it in my open palm across for him, my bag returned to my lap, and hitched my skirt up. "Here it is, now, you hold up your end of the bargain." I responded, and disbelief crossed his face. One that said, it can't be her, she's deadbut didn't quite believe it. He pulled the side of his blazer open, and his hand dipped into the silk material. He pulled free another thumb-drive and handed it across to me. "I best get going,"

The necklace around my neck burned as I stood up, and I couldn't believe that I was stood in front of Ghost, and that I still had my necklace on, the one thing most people could identify me by. As I moved to the door, his hand encased my wrist, "What, and I don't get to see your face first?" he asked threateningly. He knew, he definitely knew. I felt the bruise appear in my wrist, and I managed to yank it free before I set off in a sprint out of the shack.

My feet hit unsteady ground when I launched myself into the crowd, and I set off into a side-street with him following me further into the alleyway. I couldn't let him know it was me, I just couldn't let him confirm it, because God knows what sort of target I'd be putting on myself if he relayed the message to other soldiers, to Laswell, I'd be done for. The bounty on my head would be exponential as I knew the ins and outs of how the SAS worked. I knew more than what they wanted me to know, and if the information got into the wrong hands, there'd be a war.

I vaulted through an open window, and trod on floral displays from within the interior of the family home, luckily no one was in, and I ran through the front door into the street filled with people. The growing crowd was good, it would provide me camouflage to escape from the man who'd want me dead or arrested. My pace slowed to a brisk walk, and my collar bones heaved with every shallow, exerted breath I took. I noticed a lone child, and held her hand as I walked alongside her in the street parade.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw him burst through the door, the mask scanned everywhere, and I knew he'd seen me. He set off into a sprint, his legs moved quicker than I think I'd ever seen the gangly fucker move, and he shoved people to the side to get to me. Sweat coated his neck and prickled at his armpits as he forced his way through the crowd, and I wasted no time in shoving the small child out of the way of the bulldozer that was Simon Riley.

No one seemed to care that he was chasing me, and I knew better than anyone how to cause a panic. My hand wrapped around my pistol in my purse, and I aimed it upwards to the sky before I pulled the trigger three times. And, it fucking worked. The crowd dispersed in a flurry of fear as they star busted in different directions into the night, their eyes were cast to the sky as fireworks exploded, and I pushed my way through to a nearby back alley.

This mission, was supposed to be simple. A matter of getting in, trade the device, and then fucking leave. It was not supposed to end up with me being chased through a Capital City during one of the busiest and most populated days of the year. But, like always, things never went to plan for me, and I had to think of an exit strategy. The roofs.

My legs pushed onwards, now completely healed from the trauma I had endured, and I approached the darkened alley. No light shone from inside it, and it got me wondering if it was a dead end, yet another place for me to be trapped as Simon Riley got what he wanted once a-fucking-gain. I couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't take my pride, not this time.

As I sprinted through the alley, my fears were confirmed, it was a dead end. Shit. I looked around so quick I nearly broke my neck, and his footsteps were fast approaching and I was running out of time. I need more time.

There was a fire escape above me, one that I could reach if I used the nearby windowsill to propel myself from, and I made the attempt. My body swung free, and my hands gripped the bottom of the fire escape, but I was too late. Simon's tattooed arms wrapped around my waist as he tackled me to the ground. Landing hard on the cobbles, I laid on my back as I watched the fireworks explode in the sky, which was quickly replaced by the mask he wore, until he pulled it from his face.

His knees were planted either side of my hips as he straddled my smaller frame with his excruciatingly large one, his entire weight was on my middle as I was left with no idea of how to get out from under him. Sure, I'd been trained in it, but the minute my eyes met his through my mask, I couldn't find it in myself to get free. Where would I even go? It's not like I could run around all night with a titan chasing me, I'd tire out before he did, and we both knew that. And, if I hid anywhere, he'd fucking find me. He's got a taste of me, and now he's practically a blood hound.

His hands were either side of my head, and he leant down to get a better look at me whilst my chest burned for air in the dress I wore. I hadn't even realised it had been dragged down to just above my bra until his eyes flitted to my cleavage, the sheen of sweat making them look more desirable than without the added moisture. "Take it off." he said, his voice commanding as he puffed for air.

My eyes stared back at him blankly. I slowly blinked, "The dress?" I replied cockily.

"The mask. Take it off, Spencer." He spat my name out like it had caused a bad taste to bloom across his tastebuds. He didn't wait for a reply, because he just removed it himself and threw it down onto the cobbled behind me. "You're supposed to be dead,"

I averted my eyes from his, "Don't call me that," I brushed off the use of my name, and I couldn't bring myself to look at him. As much as he hated me, I grew to dislike him. I thought I meant more to him than when he'd just left my body there as he perceived me to be dead. I thought he cared for me, and you don't walk away from people you care for unless they are literally six feet under the earth.

"You're supposed to be dead," he repeated.

Without thinking, I brought my legs up so they were bent at the knee and thrusted his weight upwards, which caused him to brace himself against me using his arms. My fist came down hard on the interior angle of his elbow, and folded his balance to one side before I rolled the other way and onto all fours. I started to run again, but he pounced on me, his arms wrapped around my ankles, and I landed hard on the ground. "Well," I started, out of breath as I was winded, "It is Día de los Muertos," I told him.

He tugged my body so that I was laid nearly completely under his, "Everyone thinks you died." Ghost said. His breath was hot on my ear, and I found that familiar feeling burrow into my abdomen as I wanted to give myself to him on a platter. But I still strongly disliked him. He must be at least 34 by now, depending on when his birthday was. I'd lost four months in that coma, and yet Ghost didn't give a shit to even bother make it up. And then we lost two years when he decided to leave me to die alone. "Kyle was inconsolable," he added, and I knew what he was trying to do.

The words pierced through the feeling of lust, and the blade of his words twisted in my stomach. I brought my elbow backwards into his ribs, "Don't you dare bring Kyle into this." I growled. His body shifted to the side as he now laid on his back, and I wasted no time in mounting him. He was built like a tree trunk, to the point where I couldn't properly straddle him because my knees wouldn't reach the ground on both sides. I felt something hard rub against my inner thigh, and I bit back the airy gasp that threatened to escape my lips, "You left me to die!" I accused.

"Because you fucking betrayed me." his brows were furrowed, and I could map out his entire face by memory at this point, not that I would though, because I didn't want to remember the moment when we'd been close enough to do this. "You don't get to twist this around and make me the bad guy,"

His arms were either side of him, and I grappled with him until they were above his head in my grip, "I did what I had to do so that you could all survive!" my voice was raised as my body was nearly flush with his. My breasts brushed against his tight chest, and I guarantee he could probably see them in full if he looked hard enough, "You don't understand what I did that day."

"Other than kill your fiancé in cold blood?" he asked, and bucked his hips beneath me.

I sighed at the feeling of his body on mine, his hard length pressed into the place I wanted him most, "Ex-Fiancé." I corrected him, and tried to readjust my position so as to not work myself up and fall into the clutches of fucking him. "Speaking of exes, I guess since you want to fuck Sarah, we're officially over."

His eyes hardened, and he moved his body so that his erection was pressed against my clothed cunt once again, "We're not over." he stated coldly. I let go of his wrists for a second, but a second was longer than what he needed, because he managed to roll over until his legs were between mine and I was pressed to the floor under him. His eyes were dark now, and he looked as though he was about to stab me right here and now, "You're mine." he growled.

I expected a knife to plunge into my ribs, but instead, Ghost rolled his hips into mine, the friction caused my eyes to roll backwards slightly at the thought of how turned on we both were from this whole arguing and mutual-hatred thing we had ongoing, "Sir," I whined, completely out of habit. My eyes checked the alley for any lingering people, but found the streets to be empty as the night crawled in and the midnight hour dawned on us.

"Louder," he commanded, and rolled his hips into mine again, "I want the locals to hear you,"

His hand wrapped gently around my throat as his other held his bodyweight from crushing me completely, his hips rolled into mine again, and the seam of his jeans hit the nervous bud of pleasure at the apex of my cunt in a way that made me feral, "Ghost!" I gasped loudly. Wetness pooled from between my legs and soaked my underwear at the friction he was causing the pair of us to endure. I just wanted him, and then I wanted him gone.

Ghost hitched my dress up until the hem of it sat across my stomach and my lower half was completely visible. I couldn't believe we were doing this in the middle of an alleyway, where anyone could walk up and see this explicit display of dominance from the man I once loved and now despised. He withdrew himself from me, his eyes trailed down my body until he stared right at the slick which coated my underwear, "You're so fucking wet, baby." the words he spoke ingrained on my brain, and only added to the wetness between my legs, "You have no idea how much I need you," he mumbled loud enough for me to hear, and I could see him as he ran his hand along the tent in his jeans.

I pulled my dress back down and pulled my legs up in front of my chest, "You infuriate me." I said, exasperated. "You fucking left me to die alone, you abandoned me!" I yelled. Luckily, there was no one nearby, otherwise he'd end up spending a night in a cell whilst I answered questions from the Bolivian Police. "You let me bleed out, without giving a shit." I confronted, and went to slap him.

Instead, he caught my wrist with ease, "Only because you sided with Graves!" he argued back, "I sat there doused in petrol whilst you fucked him in front of me," he accused, and I had to laugh at the audacity of what he'd just said.

"Oh yeah? Did it get you all worked up watching someone else touch me?" I played along with the idea in his head, and I knew he would want to tear my throat out by the time this whole thing was over, there was no way he wouldn't, "Knowing you were all tied up whilst my ex-fiancé claimed what was his?

He shoved me backwards, and I landed on my back again. The cobbles were uncomfortable underneath my spine, and I noticed how many stars there were tonight in the sky. There must have been tonnes more that what I saw in Virginia. Ghost crawled atop of me, his body encased mine as he towered over me with his large stature. I couldn't decide if I wanted to let in to my deepest desires and fuck him right here, in the middle of an alleyway, or if I wanted to push him off me and carry on arguing.

His thumb pressed against my eyebrow, which had collided into the floor as I fell, and he brought it away, slick with crimson blood. He didn't bother to look at it as he brought it to his lips and sucked on the digit, tasting the liquid which flowed throughout me. I couldn't believe this, it felt so... bizarre. And, when he pulled his thumb away, he lowered his lips to the cut, the soft pillowy surface wrapped around the wound, and he sucked gently.

Whilst uncertain about what the fuck this was that was happening, and whether or not this was some weird hallucination, I moaned. Ghost's knee was pressed against my cunt, and I didn't even realise what I was doing until he pointed it out, "Such a pretty whore, look at you getting off on my thigh," he practically purred, and it was a sound I hadn't heard Ghost make, like ever. But I couldn't complain, because the way he did it made me rut my cunt into his jeans even more.

I whimpered as the friction built up, the wetness had saturated the material between my cunt and his thighs, which made the rubbing against him a whole lot easier, "Touch me, please," I whined at him.

A wicked smirk crossed his lips as he heard the start of my begs, oh how I'd played into his hand. In fact, I was practically eating whatever he fed me, I was blindly succumbing to his advances despite promising myself I would no longer approach him, no longer think of him, and move the fuck on. But I couldn't, and I hated myself for even wanting to fuck him, and to beg him to touch me? Jesus Christ, I wasn't fooling anyone. "Beg for me, baby," he groaned at the friction I caused between us.

Rather than give in so easily, I pulled my breasts free of the dress I wore, and pinched my already hardened nipples, the pink buds of nerves twinged something deep inside me, and ignited a dangerously hot lust inside my body, one that only Simon 'Ghost' Riley could put out. "Please, touch me sir, I need you so bad," I whined, my brain cringed in its lust-hazed state that I'd even dare to say something like that to a man who'd left me bleeding out.

"Good girl," he said, and I felt him remove himself from where I wanted to grind against. Instead, he pulled my underwear down, and pulled his own jeans down so that his hairy thigh was exposed into the night sky. He wore black boxers, as always, and they strained against his erection which looked painfully hard right now. He discarded my underwear to the side and looked at my glistening cunt, the glaze on it reflected in the light of the fireworks which still burst into the night, "I only want you, Fury," he said, and I thought back to this boring Sarah chick. The thought of someone else claiming him as theirs sickened me.

His thumb pressed into my clit, the feeling of added pressure made sounds of pleasure escape my lips, "You can only have me," I warned him. He drew sloppy, lazy circles into the bundle of nerves, and brought his meaty thigh back into contact with my cunt, "I'm the only one you need." I told him through half lidded eyes as I tried to maintain a rhythm against his

"When I'm fucking her, all I can think about is you," he grunted as I clenched my dripping hole on nothing. He sped up the movements of his thumb, the angles it cast across the bundle of nerves was more precise, more deadly as he worked in tight circles. If I wasn't so painfully enjoying this, I would be pissed off. Sure, I'd had my fair share of one night stands, but that's all they were. They didn't mean anything to me, they just satisfied a need, and after they'd given me that, they were gone. It never extended past one night.

I thought about my contact in the Metropolitan Police, if she knew about her. I wanted to ruin Sarah smith until she was dishonestly discharged for whatever the fuck I could find on her. Hell, if she had a parking offence she hadn't declared on her history checks, I would run her into the ground with it until she cried her eyes out and begged for a bullet.

My breath hitched in my throat as my orgasm built, "You are the bane of my existence," I told him.

Our bodies were dangerously close now. He towered over me, his face looked down at me whilst I laid looking up, his hands had encased my hips, and I could see the way his pupils dilated when he looked at me. My core begged for him in a way I hadn't desired someone in years. I wanted him inside me, I wanted to fuck him until my mind went blank, but at the same time he was so infuriating. And to think, after all this he'd return to Sarah as though nothing had happened.

He didn't say a word, instead his lips met mine in an angry, passionate kiss as he sought to reinstate the dominance he once felt. His hand was on the back of my neck and pulled me into his face, and I couldn't just stay on my back, so, instead, I sat up on my elbows, and allowed him to close the distance between us. Now, his length was pushed directly against my clothed entrance, and he ground down into me to work both of us up.

I moaned against him, my mind cast backwards to the last time we'd been intimate, how it was the same night I'd been awarded my Victoria Cross and my promotion, and now I was legally dead. "Sir," I moaned into his lips, the sound muted as he forced his tongue into my mouth. The muscle invaded my privacy, it forced its way into my mouth and fought my own tongue for dominance whilst he continued to roll his hips into mine.

A blinding daze crashed into my body as my orgasm hit, and my eyes rolled back into my head whilst he continued his circles. I couldn't think straight, and I didn't even attempt to silence my cries of pleasure, not even when Ghost said, "Such a pathetic whore," to me.

I whimpered into him, my arms held me up as I allowed him to touch me in ways I hadn't been touched in so long. He dipped his middle finger into my entrance, and plunged it deep inside of me. The lewd sounds of my juices coating his fingers was enough to cause a blush to creep up on my face as I breathlessly moaned.

He rocked his fingers into me, and it felt painfully claustrophobic, "You're so tight," he observed and continued to pump the digits in and out of my heat. I felt the muscles contract around him, clenching against his fingers as they built up to my premature second orgasm. And to think, I hadn't even seen his cock yet.

When I was close to my second orgasm, Ghost withdrew his fingers and watched as my hole clenched down around nothing, "So needy," he patronised, "You're clenching around nothing,"his voice was deviously low as he mocked me. I tilted my chin down, embarrassed that he'd even point that out, "Look at me when I talk to you," he said, his hands slicked with my pleasure tilted my chin upwards, and he popped his saturated thumb into my mouth, "Taste yourself," he instructed. And I did exactly that, my eyes constantly on him as I lapped every last bit of my taste from his digit.

He used his other hand to free his swelling cock from his boxers, the length sprung free and stood extended from him. I'd forgotten how big it actually was, how the girth had made my holes feel the morning after he'd fucked me for the first time, how I'd walked with a limp for a good day and a half.

My mouth watered, and he removed his thumb from my mouth, "Can I ride you?" I asked him as innocently as I possibly could. The moment I said it, he just pulled me onto him. He lowered himself to the ground so that his back was on the cobbles whilst he couldn't decide what the prettier sight of the night was, the fireworks, or me using him for my own pleasure.

His hands moved towards the base of his cock, the light springs of pubic hair tickled my legs as I tried to get comfortable under him, but I couldn't properly straddle him without losing my balance, we both knew that. He moved the tip of his cock to my entrance, the tip was already leaking that sweet sappy liquid I wanted to taste, and he held it in place whilst I lowered myself onto it.

My hand splayed across his abdomen, the muscles beneath the shirt rippled as he tensed them responding to my touch. I wanted nothing more than to be completely naked with him, for that skin-on-skin contact I'd never felt from him. One of us had always been in clothes, and when we were both fully naked, he never touched me.

Groans and gasps tumbled from my lips as I allowed his length to stretch my holes fully, the pain sprung tears into my eyes as I reacquainted myself with his cock, allowing it to fill me up as he once had years ago. "You're so, fucking, tight, Fury," he groaned, his head rolled backwards at the warmth which encased his pulsating cock.

"You're the biggest I've," I gasped as I prematurely slammed my hips into his, "had," I finished my sentence as I tried to recover from the feeling of pain which bled across me.

He brought his right hand so that it was beneath his skull, protecting him from the floor as his muscles rippled and constrained against the shirt they were prisoner to. I noticed the new sleeve in more detail now, the art was something he must have gotten when I'd been declared dead, and on it was a knife. My old Zombie Knife, my eyes were inside the blade, not my entire face, just my eyes and my eyebrows. The rest of the scene, I didn't care for. Because the thought he'd gotten that in tribute of me was enough to cause a primal, nurturing feeling to bleed through me.

He groaned in pleasure as I attempted to bounce on his cock. With every bounce, I felt our skin slap together, and the slickness to expand across his hips. My breasts heaved in the cool night air, and the scent of pyrotechnic smoke invaded my nostrils as I fucked myself using Ghost's thick cock. The sound of my pleasure crudely sloshing against his white-hot body was a sound I wanted to play over and over again.

My actions became sloppy as I struggled to maintain a pace he was satisfied with, and I got caught up with trying to satisfy myself at having something to clench down on, that Ghost propped himself up on his hands, his face reached mine from the angle he sat at, and he rolled his hips into me, his shoes slipped on the wet cobbles so that he could grind into me easier as he ravaged me. He carried on rolling his hips for what felt like a fucking eternity, "Touch yourself, show me how much you need me," he husked, his breaths plumed into speech bubbles in the frigid night air, and if his eyes were focused on my bouncing tits, I'd have pulled the dress up to preserve my body heat.

I wasted no time in bringing my middle finger to the sweet bud at the top of my dripping cunt, where I lazily traced circles on the swollen appendage. My head rolled backwards from the pleasure I gave myself as Ghost maintained his pace, his muscular arms controlled the rhythm as he bucked his hips into mine as he slid across the floor back and forth over and over until I felt my dripping hole momentarily clench around his pulsating cock. I was so close, and he knew it from the amount of appraisal which fumbled from his parted lips as he recklessly ploughed into me.

"Such a good girl," he cooed, his pace quickened as I rutted into him, my cunt had completely clenched around his mouth-watering length, and I couldn't hold back the sounds of pleasure which fell from my mouth, the crude sounds of approval as I allowed him to fuck into me, to use me until he hit his own peak. And, when he did, I felt his warm pleasure fill me up, the hot, ropes of cum dripped from my cunt onto his crotch whilst I remained on top of him, "I'm all yours," he promised.

I'm all yours I repeated the phrase in my mind. It was something primal, possessive, something that Ghost would abide blindly by, "You're mine," I replied, my voice airy as I gasped through my comedown from the waves of pleasure which had just wreaked havoc on me. The way I felt towards him now, was something dangerous, something that caused me have every waking thought filled with him, but we were on opposing sides, our causes worked against each-other. We were naturally sworn enemies.

I pulled myself off him, his cock lolloped onto his stomach as the cum smeared across the orange fabric of the shirt he wore, and I readjusted my dress. There was no point putting my underwear back on, he'd thrown it somewhere in the dark alley, and I wasn't exactly in the best of circumstances to be crawling around on my hands and knees whilst I looked for them, "If I see you again, Ghost," I said, and flattened the plum fabric down around my body in an attempt to hide the creases of where it had been hitched up, "I won't be so kind as to not kill you." I warned.

"Ditto," he replied instantly, and a cool rush of blood swarmed from my heart to my brain at the weight that word held. "I won't be too kind on you next time." he promised, and I couldn't tell whether me meant in regards to fucking me, or in regards to sparing my life.

A wicked grin split across my face, "I look forward to it," my voice was a bit too husky for my liking, but I couldn't complain. I had just fucked him, and it felt good.

But for now, Sarah Smith, wherever you are in Bolivia, I will find you, and I will fucking ruin you.

[skaianbruja]

Shit Evangelicals Believe

This is a rewrite of a previous post. I am an Exvangelical and grew up with many of the following beliefs. Others I learned about by interacting with other (mostly USAmerican) Exvangelicals

Keep in mind that not every Evangelical believes in the following. Some of these beliefs are US specific and not shared by Evangelicals living in other countries. Others are Fundamentalist specific

The Ancient Hebrews were white

Jesus was a blond haired blue eyed white man

King David was also a blue eyed white man, but there is disagreement as to whether his hair was blond or red

Palestinians and Palestine do not exist

The United States of America is the promised land and (white) USAmerican Evangelicals are God's new chosen people

USAmericanholidays such as 4th of July and Thanksgiving — especially Thanksgiving — are sacred holidays established by God himself and to oppose them is commit blasphemy

Celebrating Halloween or Día de Muertos is Devil Worship

Engaging in media about fictional witches is the same as practicing actual witchcraft and thus Devil Worship

All non-Evangelicals are Devil Worshipers (Yes this includes other Christians, particularly Catholics)

Marian apparitions are demons and the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon

Catholics are not Christians and thus must be preached to and converted

The KJV 1611 is the only valid English translation. All other English translations are either corrupted or works of the Devil

The True Church refers to literal institution and all who are not members of this specific institution — including other Evangelicals — will suffer eternal damnation

"It's a sin except when we do it"

Feel free to add to this if you're an Exvangelical