#early grandpa status

[way-too-cool-raybot]

Had an discussion with my friend about this so;

[taffywabbit]

every time dilbert gets mentioned in a conversation/post i think about how hilarious it is that scott adams turned out to be such a deranged alt-right fuckwit, considering the fact that his comics indisputably radicalized me against capitalism as a kid and probably did so earlier than anything else

like there IS some pretty iffy stuff in dilbert for sure (particularly a lot of casual misogyny and xenophobia), and it definitely increased over time as the author got more edgy and self-important. i don't think i read anything from later than like 2003 and it was already starting to get pretty unreadable by then - LONG before he started openly being a turbo-racist podcaster weirdo. but the earlier stuff (especially before there were a lot of established recurring characters or running gags) was largely just a satirical cartoon focused on how corporations are evil and exploitative, and how you'd have to be completely detached from reality to truly enjoy working for them, and how trying to climb the ladder of success is a futile pursuit within a capitalist society where the upper class needs to keep pulling that ladder up behind them to keep the rest of us in our place and maintain their own status. it was basically vent art by a guy stuck working in mind-numbing desk jobs, who barely knew how to draw but just wanted to get his thoughts out and reach other people who were frustrated in the same ways he was. it's really weird but also fascinating to compare that to how it (and adams himself) ended up in the long run

i don't think it was particularly funny most of the time, and when it did have actual jokes, they were often pretty mean-spirited and/or cynical. i don't remember more than one or two specific bits from the comic that actually ever made me laugh, and i read a LOT of them as a kid (my grandpa had a massive collection of newspaper comic compilation books at his house that he'd let me look through and borrow stuff from - this is also how i discovered garfield and calvin & hobbes). but i DO remember having it instilled in me from an early age that there was nothing really exciting or praiseworthy about grinding your life away for a company that profits off your skilled labor and gives you pennies in return - which is especially noteworthy considering i was also raised by mormons, who are famously all about that "nobility in suffering" and "work your way to heaven" type bullshit. i'm genuinely unsure how this happened

anyways i think scott adams would probably piss his pants and explode if he ever took a break from peddling his psychic penis hypnosis and killer burrito podcasts long enough to seriously think about any of this stuff. (and i hope he does. it would be funnier than anything he's ever written.)

[yandere-3-sagau]

Yandere!SAGAU x Secret!Creator!Reader Pt 2

Short Summary: Zhongli knows that it’s you and he can’t wait to meet you as the first one to recognize the creator and officially welcome you. (sorry there’s no intense chase yet, sort of a filler chapter)

characters: Childe, Zhongli

warning(s): ooc characters, lowkey degenerate behavior from Zhongli

word count: 1551

Previous | Next

─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: *.☽ .* : ✧.───

You manage to get home without any interruptions. Grandpa Fuyi, the farmer that took you in, noticed your heavy breathing.

He sat up in his chair, grabbing his cane. Wiping the sweat from your face, you urged him to stay seated.

“I’m alright! I just… saw a few hilichurls on my way back and got scared.”

His grey brows furrowed. “Thank archons you’re alright. It’s dangerous for you to be traveling alone. Why don’t you take a break from selling?”

“About that… I’ve been thinking of traveling.”

Grandpa Fuyi was silent for a bit.

“Did you remember your real family?”

When you had first arrived, you knew it was impossible to tell him that you’re from another world. Instead, you told him that you’re lost and have no recollection of your past.

“I knew you’d eventually want to return to your life before, but I didn’t think it’d be this soon.” He sighed shakily.

“No! That’s not it…”

Your heart breaks seeing the frail man. You can’t possibly leave him alone. But you are scared. You aren’t sure if the geo archon would come searching for you and you don’t want to involve the one person to give you shelter. You think about what your next set of actions are when Grandpa Fuyi speaks after a long strip of silence.

“Will you let me come with you?”

You are frozen in shock. He sees your reaction and continues speaking.

“I know I’m old and it’ll be difficult to travel with me, but I’ve always dreamed of visiting other nations before I pass…”

You pause, weighing out the options in your mind.

“Are you sure?” you ask. “It may be dangerous…”

“I’m sure. As long as you’re okay with it, I’d like to travel the world with you.”

He gives you a smile with such kind eyes that you can’t help but tear up as you hug him tightly. How can you abandon the one person to help you in this unfamiliar world?

The two of you prepare, quite quickly, to leave Liyue. Using your knowledge from your previous world, you create a collapsible wheelchair for Grandpa Fuyi that would make it easy to travel in. The money you made from selling your miracle vegetables is enough for the two of you to travel comfortably and is enough to last a lifetime. With your bags packed and an optimistic smile on your face, the two of you set out to head to your next destination, the land of eternity… Inazuma.

—

Early the next day, before the sun has even risen, Zhongli returns to the stall and sees that it’s not yet open and that the person he has been thinking of all night is no where to be seen.

Feeling that it is quite early, he decides to wait for you to come. He waits until the sun is high in the sky. Then he waits till the sky is purple. Despite standing for a whole day, Zhongli doesn’t move an inch from his spot.

He has to confirm it.

Even with this thought in mind, he knows deep in his heart that it it’s you. He knows that the creator has descended. Zhongli can feel it in his gut and with every fiber of his being. You’re here.

Zhongli waits for days in the same spot, neither eating nor drinking. Passersby’s stare at him as if he’s crazy and some even offer food. Zhongli refuses them all, only one thought in mind.

Creator, creator, creator… where are you?

—

It’s been a while since Childe visited Liyue other than short business trips and missions for the Fatui.

Childe is heading towards Northland Bank when he sees Zhongli, standing as still as a statue next to an empty stall.

He decides to greet him, walking over to the former geo archon.

“What are you up to?” He asks him, seeing the serious expression on his face.

“I’m waiting for someone.” Zhongli’s answers are brief, nothing but determination in his eyes.

Around him, Childe can hear the whispers of the people who pass by.

“That man is still standing there…”

“How many days has it been?”

“Is he even human?”

Childe’s eyes narrow.

What’s so important about this stall that the Geo Archon himself waits days on end for?

His eyes examine the stall closely. Nothing special stands out. However, as he is examining it, he sees a small white handkerchief poking out from behind the stall on the opposite side of where Zhongli is standing.

“Who are you waiting for?” Childe asks as he casually walks over to the handkerchief. “They must be very important for you to be waiting this long.”

Zhongli doesn’t spare him a glance. “A vegetable merchant,” he says simply. Childe rolls his eyes, discreetly picking up the handkerchief and shoving it into his pocket.

“Wow, how informative,” he says sarcastically. “Well I hate to be the one to break it to you, but if you’ve been waiting here for this long, chances are whoever you’re waiting for is long gone.”

Hearing this, Zhongli finally moves. The former geo archon was so absorbed in thoughts about what he’d say and how he’d react when he finally meets the creator that he didn’t realize how long he has actually been waiting.

“You’re right.” Zhongli wastes no more time waiting and leaves to search for them.

“Nice… just leave me hanging, no problem. I’ve been good by the way, thanks for asking!” Childe calls out to him.

As Zhongli walks to each nearby stall, asking for information about the vegetable merchant, Childe pulls out the handkerchief from his pocket.

His eyes scan over it, noticing smears of gold staining the white cloth.

Paint?

His thumb rubs over the smear, noticing that it’s a different texture than the usual paint used in Liyue.

Childe lifts the cloth to his face, taking in a deep whiff. As someone who survived the abyss and the youngest Fatui Harbringer, Childe’s senses are not to be messed with. Though it’s been days, there’s a small scent that anyone else would not have been able to recognize… but Childe, someone who has experienced his fair share of fights, is able to recognize it instantly.

… blood.

The puzzle pieces in his head click together so fast that he’s barely able to react. Childe stares at the cloth as if it’s the most special and rare artifact in all of the land of Teyvat.

A handkerchief with golden blood and the oldest archon guarding a shabby vegetable stall. Childe knows that this could only mean one thing.

The creator has descended.

With his heart beating faster than ever, Childe quickly leaves. He has to let the Tsarista know before Zhongli can find them. Childe smiles giddily, excitement filling his body.

—

After following the directions given to him by the townspeople, Zhongli finds himself in front of the small house you lived in with Grandpa Fuyi.

The wooden boards creak as he steps on the porch. Zhongli cringes, seeing the decrepit state of the small home.

Is this where their beloved creator has been staying?

Zhongli sighs. He will be sure to build you a grand palace for you to live in once he finally meets you.

He lightly knocks on the door with anticipation. A few seconds pass with no response. He knocks a bit harder and waits. After a few minutes pass of complete silence, Zhongli lets himself in.

He walks around the small home, examining it closely. Other than a small living area and kitchen, there are two small rooms. The first room he enters is lightly decorated with a few antiques littered here and there.

Were they living with someone? Zhongli asks in his head…a bit of jealousy shakes his heart. How lucky they must be to have lived with the creator…

The next room he enters is almost completely bare other than a small bed in the corner of the room. Zhongli knows immediately in his heart that it’s your’s.

The creator’s room…

Closing his eyes, he takes in a deep breath, almost as if he’s basking in your presence. It’s like he can feel you…

Zhongli walks over to the bed, sitting on top of it. His hands caress the sheets, feeling the slight roughness of the cloth beneath his fingertips.

This is where the creator slept…

He lifts the blanket up, burying his face into the cloth and breathing in deeply with the nose of a dragon. He can smell you… he pulls away after a few seconds, feeling a bit dizzy.

From what he can tell, it hasn’t been that long since you’ve left. You must be close, he thinks. He smiles with eyes filled of devotion and exhilaration.

It won’t be long before you meet, Zhongli thinks. He awaits the day he is able to kneel before your feet and officially welcome you to the land of Teyvat.

Zhongli finally leaves the small house to follow your trail before it fades. He decides not to tell a soul of his discovery, thinking that it’d be best not to release the news so as to not spark any chaos.

… but in truth… Zhongli wants to be the first one to find you. The first to welcome you and become your most trusted acolyte.

Previous | Next

(sorry guys, i know a lot of you were expecting something big. Honestly, i had no plans to continue this but i randomly had a thought about it and decided to write this. I’ve been so busy and stressed with school so it’s been a while since I’ve had time to write anything. It’s a bit plain but I hope you guys like it! Next chapter will be more intense…probably…hopefully…)

taglist:

@allblognamesaretakenlikereally @kokxm1 @leafinapuddle @probablynoposts @tonightwrites @tiffthescales @dakotali @xxxastridexxx @sparklyphantom @ursinaw @d0rmiens-fact0rem @iruiji @turningmad @moonlilliesinthegarden @java-lava @chihawari @yanderesarentagoodidea @5-stirling-heartstrings @smokey-cat @raingoesboomboom @cheritastic @rugiebugie @thelocal-idiot @minteasketches @pwisoned @blueberryhitosh1 @eliaspspspsp @extremelytoastybread @angelkazusstuff @whinnywhale @thedevioussmirk @ravenswife @goldenglow149 @a-person-with-many-likes @noisychildnut

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 265 (spoilers)

There is so much in this chapter that one could write essay after essay about its content, themes and symbolism to name a few. The best thing though is that Gege shows us that he can take the time to put deep character moments into his plot. In the last year that seemed to fall to the wayside unfortunately especially when it came to Yuji.

Yuji recreates his grandfather's hometown in the northeast of Japan to show Sukuna and Sukuna is uncharacteristically going along with it for a long time. This might be because of the special way this DE is formed, it could e.g. have a non-violence Binding Vow. Or Sukuna was just flabbergasted.

I looked the statue up that Yuji pointed to and found the Oni kenbai dance from Iwate prefecture. On the panel it's difficult to make out what the statue represents but you can see a fan in the right hand.

This panel is an extremely important one about the point of view that Sukuna and Yuji have towards each other. For Sukuna, Yuji is barely anything; he blends into the background like a ghost, maybe reminiscent of how Sukuna might've viewed his eaten twin once in his life.

For Yuji Sukuna is not a person, there is no face to him, he's just an abomination consisting of black mass. Not even CE is presented to us like that, Sukuna is just a black distortion in space able to walk on its own.

It's good that we're given this panel so early in the chapter because it tells us what Sukuna is about and that Yuji knows it.

In Japan, the Hydrangea is used to make a sweet tea that on April 8 is poured over Buddha Statues for the Buddha bathing ceremony. This is in direct contrast to Sukuna's Bath that comes from the historic practice of throwing poisonous insect and more into a pit to make them kill each other.

Symbolically, Gege tells us that Yuji will be the one to reverse Megumi's torture that he went through. Narratively, I'd like to see the Bath have more physical affects on Megumi before it gets cleaned though.

Really funny how Yuji entices Sukuna to play crayfishing with him and I count 4 missed arrows from Yuji compared to Sukuna's bullseye hit.

Also capitalism killed Grandpa's hometown.

Whats also funny is that Yuji says that he was about 6 or 7 when they moved out of that town and that he was about 10 years before he went back there again. Boy, you're still 15.

I counted 8 dragonflies on that grassy panel with many more in the Yuji close up panel. I forgot what dragonflies represented in Japan but th symbolism appeared before in JJK, once on kid Gojo's kimono and once at the base of Megumi's domain construction.

Next we get a much needed Yuji character resolution and growth while he thinks of all the people that have died on him. We see that he did put his cog mentality behind him and that he analyzed his "proper death" wish from the very first chapter and concluded that he wanted sth else from that.

Nobara is with the others on the dead list and this looks like the final nail (ha) in the coffin that is her death but the diehards (me) can still say that Yuji merely thinks that she's dead.

Take this Sukuna panel and inject it straight into my veins 💉

There is just this visceral level of disgust and mania in Itadori Sukuna that Gege has barely shown in OriginalSukuna and absolutely didn't in Megukuna. Think of the detention center, and laughing at Yuji with Mahito together or just laughing at Yuji whenever he came out as a mouth and eye. How much I've missed that.

Can't wait to see where this will go 👀

[sayornispress]

My most recent project, and most intensive project in a long time!! Halo Effect and Soldier's Heart by @alex51324. Five books in all, totaling over 1700 pages. Details, story spoilers, and more photos under the cut - there are quite a few!

In WWI, English soldiers wrapped their pants and boots with "puttees", and the spines mimic that look. Rather than actually wrapping, or cutting the spine cloth into pieces (which I worried would fray over time, especially with the opening and closing of reading), I pleated it and sewed it to the cover cloth (which is light canvas-y green but otherwise rather plain, so I'm not including photos here). The titling is flat gold heat transfer vinyl.

The bookmark charms relate to the story, of course.

Halo Effect - I felt that Thomas was defined by his status as a footman and this sets up his massive character change throughout the series, so the first bookmark charm is a footman's button, though not a Downton-specific one.

Soldier's Heart, vol. I - This fountain pen nib is from the early twentieth century. I found in the first volume that Thomas's social network, and communication both to and from define this part of the work.

Soldier's Heart, vol. II - My dad collects WWI memorabilia, including bullets (it's in this volume that Thomas is shot). He cut a bullet down for me to use for this binding. This particular bullet is English, rather than from any of the opposing nations, since he doesn't collect those (and I was rather lucky he had even an English one) but tbh I don't have the slightest idea what the difference is.

Soldier's Heart, vol. III - Y'all this is a genuine RAMC WWI coat button. I couldn't not use it. Wholly unmodified, to be clear, so if the book ever needs rebound or anything changes, it can be removed and reused as necessary. I chose this volume for the button because I felt Thomas really come into his own as a member of the RAMC, away from the war - and because I wanted to use the bullet for the last one, and this is the only volume this button would fit on, other than the last, but that's a whole other deal.

Soldier's Heart, vol. IV - Thomas, whose father was a clockmaker, becomes a chauffeur at the end of Soldier's Heart. My first idea was to use some sort of gear that resembled a car part as a charm. I come from a long line of magpies/dragons/Gollum-like creatures, and my grandfather had, in his garage, an alarm clock that belonged to my great-great-grandfather, gathering dust, because my grandpa had been meaning to fix it and just hadn't gotten around to it yet (he'd been saying this since the mid-seventies, at least - my aunt wanted to use it, since it would have matched her quilt). Anyway, we all gathered around the dinner table to take this clock apart, which turned out to be a rather violent act involving pliers, several screwdrivers, an orbital sander, a drill press, and a hammer. I got a few gears out of the deal, and my cousin (a mechanic) selected the one that looked the most like a car part, scaled down. So. Double connection.

It's a bit difficult to tell in the photo, but the speckled edges each have two different colors, and there's, again, a reason for each choice! Each color represents something specific:

Blue - clear skies/relative calm Green - naivety/he's got things to learn Brown - the muck of war Red - blood (Thomas's and others')

Halo Effect: Green and blue Soldier's Heart, vol. I - green and brown Soldier's Heart, vol. II - brown and red Soldier's Heart, vol. III - green and red Soldier's Heart, vol. IV - red and blue

The speckling is also more intense in the middle three books.

My signature throw, as well as a close-up of the hand-sewn endbands (each volume's endbands match the speckled edges of that particular book) and a bit better look at the RAMC button, though a bit blurry.

And next to it, my metadata page and the gratitude from Halo Effect. I'm very much enjoying this metadata layout, and here's as good a place as any to give some general typesetting info:

I used IM Fell Great Primer for the body text, 11pt, 15pt leading.

Next up, the details in the letters--each character has their own handwriting, and a few are showcased here:

Syl drew a face in the margins of one of the letters with Theo, and I mimicked it for the binding. (Yes I was in fact crying as I did it)

Don't be afraid to ask if you'd like to know the names of any of the fonts - all from Google Fonts, since I do my typesetting in GDocs. I love the first one, in particular (Joey's) because I so rarely use it. I'm very happy with how they all turned out, they feel like they match the personalities well, in my opinion, though I should have made a couple a touch bigger.

---

I think that's all of my photos! I'm so so proud of how this binding turned out. It had quite a long turn-around - it's not unusual for me to have less than two weeks between reading a fic for the first time and having a bound copy on my shelf, and I read this fic for the first time over the course of nine days all the way back in March. (Which. okay. Not that long actually.)

I had a really lovely time with the binding, as well, because I got so much input from my family and friends - my dad was integral in the whole process, not only in the donation of the bullet, but also in the design of the covers in general and in answering my WWI questions, and my mom helped me pick colors for the endbands and edges. My grandpa donated a clock, and my boss helped me figure out how to get the charms attached to the ribbons, and her sister helped me with sewing, so all in all this whole experience has been so wonderful, so special. I'm so grateful for it.

[creedslove]

DESERVE IT - EPILOGUE ✨

Javier Peña x f!reader

Summary: it's our favorite couple's anniversary, they deserved a celebration and we deserved a glimpse into their lives.

• You can find the rest of this wonderful story on my MASTERLIST

Warnings: fluff, sexual tension, smut (oral m! receiving, piv), fluff and so much fluff

A/N: Hi besties, I know I promised this two weeks ago, but I wasn't in the right place to write for Javi in the last couple of weeks so I delayed this chapter a little because I didn't want to write something I didn't have feelings to add to. Luckily, Javi made his way back into my heart and the inspiration came back, so here's the result, I hope you enjoy it ❤️

8k words (I got carried away)

Javi checked his wristwatch and sighed relieved to see it was still early, he definitely didn't need to arrive late at work on his anniversary day, because that would mean he would have to compensate by staying late at the end of his shift. Which, overall, was usually very calm, as Laredo was a calm city. He barely remembered the last time he had to deal with a death, but it was probably when Leonid had a few too many at the bar and ended up crashing his truck against a cow that broke loose from one of the farms nearby. It was quite a ridiculous death but not only did the old guy die but also the cow too, and Javier as the chief of police had to show condolences to the family after treating the case with as much respect and tenacity as he would treat a murder case in Colombia.

Colombia, he always smiled whenever he thought of that country, the one he very often thought of as hell on Earth. It was nothing personal, he actually liked the country, the food, the culture and for a few years he loved the women there too, but he had ups and downs, and his downs weren't great, quite the opposite, they were traumatic, exhausting and very often made Javi dwell in a spiral of depressing thoughts and heavy drinking.

But his ups were the best, because it was Colombia that had given Javier his wife, you, and he would never trade that for anything in the world. It was that hot, distant country that had provided Javier with the love of his life, and there he was, three years after his wedding day, two kids later - Analuz Peña, two years old and nine-month-old Javier Gabriel Peña, your little Gabe - Javi could tell the whole world he was a happy married man.

Nowadays you and Javi weren't the hot gossip of Laredo anymore, of course people still did talk about the two of you, after all your husband ended up becoming a powerful man in the city and many women were envious of your status, they knew the two of you made decent money but you never spent on anything extravagant, it was a comfortable life, but what people liked to talk about was how happy you always seemed, how Javier had proved everyone wrong and took his marriage and fatherhood seriously. Besides, people had other subjects to talk about, such as how everyone had learned that Leonid, the guy who died in a crash with a cow happened to have two wives, who only learned about each other during the funeral which led the two women into a fight and Javi had to put an end to it.

Later that day, when he got home, you two had shared quite a few laughs at the odd situation, amused to know Laredo had other things to feel interested in.

Life was good for the two of you; you lived on a comfortable ranch, your husband provided to the point you didn't need to get a job, you could stay home with your kids, of course their grandpa very often spoiled them too much, but then, you couldn't complain as Chucho also spoiled you a lot. Your husband was loving, caring, handsome and still every bit of horny for you as he was when you two shared his bed every single night in a small, cramped apartment in Colombia.

It always baffled you to see how happy you became, how good life was to you, and well, even if you got down on your knees every night and thanked God for the family you were blessed with, it would probably not be enough, your babies were your life, and their daddy… wow, he was something else. You loved Javi with all your heart and you felt so proud of him for the man he became, how he overcame his fears, his traumas and was able to make you the happiest woman in the world. You two were meant to be and the clear sign of it was the beautiful family you had.

Analuz was probably the most loved little girl in the whole world, when her grandpa didn't linger around her the entire time, bringing her sliced apples, or ragdolls, or taking her to pet the animals, she was all around Javi. She loved her dada with all her little heart, always waiting up for him to arrive, even if he only got home after her bedtime and you had already tucked her in. She still waited for him, even if it was against the rules, but she needed to give Javi a hug before bed.

And your Javi simply melted. Whoever had met the infamous Agent Javier Peña during his Escobar years, could never imagine a two-year-old would have him around her tiny little finger. The man who helped to take down cartels, killed and arrested many, had to learn how to braid his daughter's soft, silky hair. He had to learn to be patient and sit through animation movies, to play with dolls and to read all the bedtime stories that had to do with fairies, princesses and mermaids.

And he did an outstanding job.

For your anniversary, you and Javi decided to stay home and spend time with your family, unlike the other years, you two wouldn't go out, even if you two had the tradition of going out for a nice meal and some love making. The reason why, had been Gabe's recent teething, which made him feverish and uncomfortable. Of course all you wanted was your baby boy to be alright, but you had already gone through the same thing with Analuz when she was tiny and you knew there wasn't much you could do other than give him the medicine and cuddle your baby until he felt better.

You still felt a little upset about not going on a date for your anniversary but you would never bother Javi with that, you two made a great team, but he also worked a lot and you didn't want to exhaust him more than he already was, between the long shifts in the police station and coming home to a feverish baby.

However, showing why Javier Peña deserved the title of best husband, he had surprised you a few days before your anniversary, announcing he'd invited your aunt to spend a few weeks with you on the ranch. Unlike your mom, your aunt was a kind, loving woman who actually recognized how wonderful Javier was, and embraced your new family as part of her own; being in Laredo with you when you first gave birth to Analuz and later on Gabe, and helping you for the first few weeks, knowing how rough they were especially for new parents like you and Javi were for the first time.

Also, the fact your aunt seemed to have a crush on Chucho might or might not have had to do with the fact she accepted your husband's invitation so quickly, being on the first flight to Laredo only two days later.

What your husband didn't know was that you had also planned a small anniversary surprise for him, as your aunt kindly accepted to watch the kids pretty much the whole day, you were able to put into practice what you had thought. Javi was a simple man, he loved sex and he loved sex with you, that was a part of your relationship that didn't lack, but you knew there was an even better taste to it if it was unexpected, to everyone who took a look at Javi, they would see a respectable man and a good cop, but in the sheets, you knew damn well the beast he was. Well, you and several girls from Laredo from his younger days, way before even going to Colombia, but that didn't matter nor bothered you, as your man didn't look at anyone but you.

So, to reward Javier Peña for being the best husband you could ask for, you had to come up with a plan, a simple one but one you were sure would please him. First thing was to leave home early in the morning, even before Javi to put your plan into practice, you'd asked your aunt to watch the kids and in case your husband had asked for you, you'd told her to say you had to go into town to find things for the special night you'd have but you wouldn't take very long to return, perhaps he would think it was kind of odd, but he also knew how much you loved celebrating your anniversaries, they were simply your favorite special days, the milestones of the best thing that ever happened to you.

Parking behind the station and walking in, with the excuse your husband had asked you to organize some things on his desk, the other cops knew better than to question you, the wife of the chief of police. You chuckled at that thought and closed the blinders, so you could change into more comfortable clothes.

When Javi parked his car and entered the station, he was welcomed by a few lazy 'good mornings' here and there. As Laredo was a calm city, the law enforcement team was also… calm, if he were nice about it, and lazy as fuck, if he were honest about it. If there was something those cops didn't like doing very much, was definitely working; perhaps because things were slow and they often didn't have to deal with nerve wracking situation, but still, after all the stress Javi went through in his narcos years, he was more than thankful to be worried about neighbors' quarrels or small thefts.

"Hey chief, there's a case for you because there's a woman waiting inside" officer Danny informed absent minded and turned his attention back to the small TV they kept in the office for entertainment.

Javier sighed heavily, what could be so important for someone to come after the chief of police so early in the morning?! He was ready to carry on with his day without any bumps on the road, he even ditched his uniform - actually Javier ditched the uniform after the first month of work and stuck with the suits just like he wore whenever he needed to see Messina at the Embassy. It gave him a real nice look, according to his very horny wife, and it was more comfortable to work. That being said, Javier decided to ditch his usual, Javier Peña trademark uniform and go for his tight jeans and pink shirt. He knew what that outfit did to you, and he was hoping he would get a glimpse of your 'appreciation' for that outfit, but unfortunately you'd been gone by the time he left home.

And that low-key annoyed him, it was your anniversary after all, he thought that was a special enough occasion to have some morning fuck. So what he really didn't need was having to deal with a grumpy old lady complaining about whatever it was Javier would probably not care at all, because he assumed that was the kind of woman who would be waiting for him.

"What can I do for you, ma'am?" He asked as he opened the door and entered his room, too busy focusing on his hot steamy mug of coffee to take a look at the small couch before he had the chance to close the window.

"I'm here to press charges against my husband, chief…" your voice hit him unexpectedly some of his coffee dripped out of his mug and hit the floor, at the same time he abruptly turned around to look at you; and the expression on his handsome face was priceless: big brown eyes widened and jaw on the floor at the sight of you waiting for him in his office, wearing nothing but a nightgown.

However, it wasn't just any nightgown, it was the same one you wore the very first time you slept with him, back in Colombia, that night you watched him stumbling and struggling to open the door, with his face completely bruised after getting himself into trouble.

It had become his favorite piece of clothing and you hadn't worn it in a while, but there you were, displaying your gorgeous body with that particular outfit in honor of your anniversary. He felt his blood going towards one direction, though his heart also warmed, thinking back on how you had taken care of him that night, being so gentle and understanding of his neediness, the way he asked you to sit on his lap, how he had craved your body after playing cat and mouse for so long. The way his skin burned with fever, and yet he had never felt better, because he was finally able to have the woman he loved in his arms for the very first time.

"W-what are you doing here?" He managed to ask after catching his breath, devouring you with his eyes as you stood up and walked to him, locking the door on your way towards the man "I already told you, chief… I wanna press charges against my husband…" you licked your lips as you stood in front of Javi, your hands on his shoulder, caressing them softly and unbuttoning his shirt with a smirk

"Rosado te sale tan bien, jefe" you whispered against his lips, but instead of kissing his lips, you went for his neck, your soft kisses running through his skin and causing goosebumps on him. Javi's hands held your hips, squeezing them softly as he pressed you against his body and you chuckled at the feeling of his hardening cock against your body.

"What's wrong with your husband, ma'am?" Javi finally got into the game, licking his lips and smirking softly "word in the streets says you're happily married"

"Well, I don't actually have a complaint, he's a nice guy… but I've got my eyes on the chief of police for a while now and I can't wait to have a taste of him too" you bit your lips and pulled Javier gently towards the chair, making it clear you wanted him to sit down on his chair.

He gladly obliged and swallowed, his eyes darkening with lust the moment you unbuttoned his shirt and kissed down his neck

"You know cariño, there's people outside, we don't wanna embarrass ourselves do we?

"If you don't to embarrass yourself, I strongly suggest you shut the fuck up chief" you winked at him and opened his fly, his cock was already rock hard under his jeans because of course Javier Peña was still going commando, that was a habit he would probably never abandon.

You got on your knees in front of him, a clear sign of submission and licked your lips at the sight of his thick cock growing harder in your hands. You took it by the base, moving it up and down and feeling it throbbing, you ran your tongue through his tip, tasting him and savoring his whimpers. Javier Peña could never resist a blowjob.

"Fuck Javi, do you know how much I love your fucking cock?" You asked and felt as he wrapped his hand around your hair pulling it and clenching his jaw "oh I know it mi amor, porque eres mi puta" he smirked and you nodded with innocent eyes before sinking your head onto his lap, taking his length as long as you could down your throat and using your hands to stroke his base and caress his balls. You bobbed your head up and down, giving your husband head, just as his employees were a few meters away from the two of you, the way Javi was holding back his moans so he wouldn't be loud, you just loved the affect you had on him, he was still yours, just as you were his and neither of you could fucking resist each other.

When you felt his balls quivering under your touch, you knew he was close, it was just a matter of time for Javi to reach his bliss, so you fastened your pace, resting your hands on his thighs which shook slightly the moment his orgasm came and you welcomed his load into your mouth swallowing it like the obedient good wife you were.

Javi panted, his hands left your hair and gripped the sides of his chair, looking down at you and helping you up, pulling your body towards his and having you sitting on his lap. He hungrily kissed you, tasting himself in your lips, at the same time he calmed down. His fingers worked the straps of your gown down your shoulders and the thin cloth fell, revealing your nakedness underneath.

"Fuck cariño, you're gonna kill me, you know that?" He whispered against your skin, his lips touching your shoulder, trailing a path of affection that led to your breasts. You whimpered at the feeling of his tongue toying with your nipples, one at a time, whereas his fingers found their way down your core, spreading your soaked pussy lips apart and gently brushing against your clit. You closed your eyes at his touch, your knees still weak for Javier no matter if the years had passed and if you were a married couple, he still had the same effect on you as he did when he was just the forbidden fruit from Colombia.

The way you whimpered with pleasure caused his cock to go rock hard in no time, his fingers deep in your pussy now, seeing how prepared you were for him, so Javi lifted you up and bent you over his desk, sliding his cock into you, making you take him inch by inch as he fucked you in his police station. He played with your clit at the same place he moved his hips in sync with yours, your walls squeezing him and the sounds of skin slapping against skin were almost as obscene as the muffled pleasure sounds that came from the two of you. It didn't take long for you to cum and milking his cock at the same time, you welcomed the second load of his thick cum inside, clenching your pussy so you'd keep all of it in there. Perhaps you would also welcome baby Peña number three after that, or maybe not; it didn't really matter, you and Javi were already happy, with another kid or not.

•••

By noon, you were back home; of course you didn't want to leave Javi, but you had to, after all, he needed to work or pretend he was working, while he recovered from your morning round in his office. Besides, you two would have more time together in the evening, and by then, the kids also needed their mom, especially Gabe who was going through his teething phase. It was no secret Gabe was a mama's boy and Analuz was a daddy girl, of course your daughter loved you as much as you loved her, but no one could ever top Javier in her little heart; her grandpa Chucho came closer, as he was all the time spoiling her and doing anything she wanted, he'd loved his grandkids ever since they were tiny seeds in your womb, feeling happy and proud of the man his son became because of you.

From the moment Analuz heard the engine of your car, she rushed outside, a bolt of excitement running through her little body in hopes to see her daddy arriving, she hoped you'd bring him for lunch.

"Mommy!!!" She squealed and ran through the grass to meet you once you got out of the car, and you just admired your beautiful daughter. Whenever she ran freely through the green fields she did look like a butterfly, no wonder Javi would constantly call her 'mariposa'. She hugged you tight but her eyes wandered all over the place, in hopes to see her daddy and her disappointed face when she realized he wouldn't come for lunch, was adorable. If you had a camera, you would've snapped a picture right there, as you were sure Javi's heart would burst with love and pride to see his little mariposa so sad he wasn't around.

"I'm sorry baby, daddy is busy and he isn't coming for lunch today… did you behave well with auntie Adelaide?" Analuz nodded with her honest, beautiful brown eyes. She had so much from her dad, it was impressive. The way she sometimes pouted or how she tilted her head, it was all Javi.

"And what about Gabe?"

"Gabe cwied, mommy!" She informed quickly. Analuz had trouble saying her Rs, something common for her age which Javi confessed to you he was scared to death the day she would be able to pronounce it correctly, because that would mean his mariposita was growing up.

You nodded and picked her up, walking back inside with her and being greeted by Chucho "hey mijita! All this came up through the mail for you" he pointed at the box and the couple of letters on the table as he extended his arms for his granddaughter, who of course, didn't hesitate in going with her grandpa.

You nodded at him and promised you'd be right back, wanting to take a look at your baby boy first, your heart yearning for your kids, first your beautiful mariposa, and then your sweet Gabe. You walked into his room and found him there, sleeping peacefully in his crib, your heart clenched in your chest just at the realization of how much you loved him, he was such a sweet and well-behaved baby, he never fussed or cried unless he was in pain, and those his cheeks were reddish, you touched his soft face and breathed relieved he wasn't sick anymore. You grabbed his chubby hand and pecked it gently, not wanting to disturb your son from his peaceful sleep.

As you returned to the kitchen, you could listen to Analuz and Chucho, he held her, telling her all about the fun afternoon they would have along with auntie Adelaide, but she only asked about her daddy. You knew Javier would be so cocky if he heard her asking for him so much.

"So are these for me?" You asked as you saw some letters and a box over the table, seeing the red, beautiful box had a card signed by your husband and something just told you you would avoid any embarrassment if you opened it by yourself. Analuz was curiously watching it, asking you if it was a box of chocolates, eager to have one, but it was pretty obvious that coming from Javi, it wasn't anything appropriate for a toddler, however, you frowned

"Why are you asking about chocolate? You've never had any…" you always made sure to keep your kids' eating habits as healthy as possible. Tiny kids didn't need sweets if they had fruits, but at daughter's guilty silence, you could see Chucho cleared his throat

"I'm sorry mijita, I was eating a bar the other day and she walked on me and I couldn't say no… it was just a tiny piece of chocolate but if it makes it any better, my Javi was also crazy about chocolate since he was a niñito así"

A part of you felt quite frustrated at how Chucho simply did anything your daughter wanted, even if sometimes he disregarded your instructions, he didn't do it on purpose or to piss you off, of course, he just wanted to make Analuz happy and you couldn't take that away from him, not after how amazing he'd been to you and how her birth helped him and Javier to get closer again, like they hadn't been ever since your husband was a child.

"It's okay Don Chucho, I just prefer Analuz eating fruits because it's better for her health, but a tiny piece of chocolate sometimes should be fine" you smiled at him, showing you weren't angry "under one condition of course: that you bring me some chocolate too" you winked at the older man who laughed out loud and Analuz giggled happily "you'we silly mommy" she said reaching for you and hugging you gently, your mariposa just had the power to melt everyone's heart.

Chucho cleared his throat again and looked at you "so mijita, I was thinking about taking your aunt Adelaide and Analuz for an ice cream at that place near the police station, is that okay with you?"

You held back your laughter and nodded with a sweet smile. Chucho had smoothly planned out a date with your aunt, as he could simply leave Analuz with her dad and spend time alone with your aunt. There was no denying the Peña charm ran in the family. You agreed to his plan, and though Analuz was immediately overly excited about the ice cream and visiting her daddy at work, you let her grandpa deal with it, taking your box and your mail to your bedroom.

You placed them carefully on the bed and you were about to start it by the beautiful box your husband sent to you, when one of the envelopes caught your attention: the stamps were from Colombia, which was extremely odd as you hadn't spoken to anyone from there since you left everything behind and went after your happiness in Laredo. Curiosity immediately caught your attention and you opened the envelope, taking the letter in hand and reading it as quickly as you could, you recognized the handwriting before you could even finish the first sentence and the confusion as to why your ex-boyfriend Manuel Herrera had sent you a letter was increasing, he was decisive for you to leave Colombia and go after Javier, he, out of everyone, advised you to seek your happiness, following your heart, even after you'd been such a bad girlfriend to him. You didn't regret any part of your story with Javi, you were just meant to be and no one could fight that, but you know some things the two of you should've handled better, and Manu was definitely one of them. You shook your head trying to keep the guilt away and concentrated on what he had to say, reading about how his life had been in the last four years you hadn't seen each other and how things had changed. He'd congratulated you on giving birth to your two children, apologized for always saying Javier would never be a good husband to you, and broke the news that he and Colleen - the receptionist you hated and also never kept her eyes off Peña - were about to get married and already had a bun in the oven. You laughed out loud at that information, thinking of how amusing life could really be. It was funny how things fell into the right place without much effort and eventually everyone found their own way. You couldn't wait to tell Javi that he would find it as amusing as you did, and you made a mental note to write back to Manu sometime and wish him well in his new life.

Setting aside the letter, you focused on the beautiful box you'd received from your husband, you thought of Colombia again and how he would leave small chocolates or other stuff here and there on your desk and how he got you flowers for your first date, you would never exchange the life you had for anything else in the world at all, but you'd be lying if you didn't say you missed those times, the flirting, the butterfly in your stomach, the desperate touches and even the uncertainty about your future made you a little nostalgic even if it didn't make any sense. Not being able to wait any longer, you just opened the box once for all, finding a gorgeous pair of blood red lingerie. It was just so Javi you blushed like a schoolgirl, as your fingers ran through the sophisticated fabric, seeing the beautiful sparkly details and even if your husband had fucked you raw against his work desk just a couple of hours before, you felt the wetness pooling in your underwear. The little note he'd sent with the present just told you to wear it that night for him, he couldn't wait to spend some time away with you.

•••

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Analuz's happy squeals filled the police station the moment Chucho stepped inside and let go of her little hand. She'd been there so many times already, everyone at the station was used to the little girl always looking for her daddy. Javier was doing some paperwork, nose buried in files with a pen in his hand when he heard his daughter's lovely voice and stopped everything he was doing to open the door to her. His heart skipping a beat at her presence and he would never imagine that someday in his life he would experience the purest kind of love anyone could ever do: their kids' love. Analuz had been his little girl since she was born, and there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her. It was funny for anyone who could see them, how Javier turned into a completely different person around his kids. He wasn't a former DEA agent and current chief of police anymore, he was just daddy. He was the father who would keep his daughter all the time with him, who would do anything she wanted, would play with her and make her feel like the luckiest little girl in the world. He watched her running towards him, like a beautiful little mariposa flying and opened his arms, welcoming her small body into a tight hug, lifting her up and resting his forehead against hers. His daughter was so gorgeous, being a tiny version of her equality gorgeous mommy, Javi never got tired of reminding you how alike the two of you were and how beautiful his girls are, he never thought he would be this happy before but here it was: his perfect life.

Analuz giggled, wrapping her arms around her daddy's neck and snuggling him

"Miss you daddy!" She said sweetly, not letting go of him at all. "Mommy is home, painting nails wed" she informed her dad and Javi approved your choice of color internally, he was dying to see your nails matching your lingerie later, but that would be something for him to think of later, because at that moment, he sat down, letting his beautiful Analuz get comfortable in his lap and grab the first pen and paper she could see and began drawing for him. When he worked in Colombia, he very often spotted kids' drawings on other agents' desk and he never got why they were so proud of that bunch of incoherent lines scribbled all over the paper, now he just couldn't get himself to throw away any of Analuz's drawings, they seemed so precious to him, even if they didn't make sense, he knew his beautiful daughter just put a lot of effort into them, so the solution was simple: Javi got one of those empty evidence boxes and placed it by his desk, always keeping her drawings there, that way he could always take a look at them when he missed his sweet mariposa during the day. And he already had another box sorted for Gabe too, knowing it was just a matter of time before he started experimenting with his papers and crayons.

"Whewe mommy and daddy going tonight?" Analuz raised her head from her drawing and looked at Javi curiously, she'd overheard grandpa Chucho telling auntie Adelaide about how her parents would have a date even if she didn't know what it was.

"Daddy is taking mommy dancing, because today is our anniversary, a few years ago on this day, daddy married your mommy in a beautiful party on our ranch and you were already there!" Her brown eyes widened in excitement to know that information though she couldn't remember it "but you were a tiny little seed in mommy's tummy… but I loved you just the same" and then former Agent Peña went so soft, especially when Analuz dropped her pen and wrapped her skinny arms around his neck. Sometimes Javi felt his heart would burst with love, there wasn't any other explanation to it, it was simple, pure and real love.

"I wanna dance too, daddy!!!" She asked excitedly and Javi grinned, standing up from his chair and placing his daughter's small feet on top of his, at the same time he held both hands "then follow daddy's steps like this…" he calmly explained as he began taking some dance steps to an inexistent song, but it didn't matter, he smiled at how happy she got, and suddenly Javi thought of how things would be in a few more years, he thought of his daughter's first dance in her quinceñera and wondered if she would still be close to him; he really hoped so, because he didn't know what he would do with himself if his mariposita distanced herself from him just like Javi had done with his own father, he felt a wave of melancholy and immediately pulled Analuz up, hugging her as tight as possible, listening to her happy giggles and feeling his pain slowly going away. A knock on the door interrupted them when officer Danny opened it

"Excuse me, chief… we just listened in the radio a big storm is coming and the mayor is recommending everyone to go home because there's risk of flooding the roads"

Javi nodded and sighed. Storms were never good and he knew the next day would bring them a lot of work, but for the moment, he got a free pass to go home earlier to his wife and daughter.

"Alright, if my dad stops by, tell him we went home"

•••

By the time it took Javi to drive home, the weather had changed completely; the beautiful, sunny day darkened in a matter of minutes, seeming the mid-afternoon had quickly turned into night and the first raindrops hit the ground almost at the same time he parked his truck and helped Analuz out of her seatbelt. He held her against his body and the two of them rushed inside, avoiding being caught by the rain. He sighed as he didn't see Chucho's truck and felt worried about his dad, but you immediately rushed to see your husband and your daughter. Gabe was now fully awake in your arms, his fever had finally broken and he was back to being the dweet, docile little baby boy you all were used to.

"Gabe!!" Analuz squealed excitedly to see her baby brother, she loved playing with him and he gave her a big gummy smile. Javi placed his little mariposa down and picked his son, holding him against his chest and kissing all over his chubby cheeks, before getting you with a peck on the lips

"Chucho called, he's with aunt Adelaide and they both went to your uncle's ranch, it was closer and they have shelter to wait for the storm to end, if it doesn't, they'll sleep there" you raised your eyebrow and Javi gave you a knowing nod, the two of you thinking exactly the same but not saying it out loud because of the kids, but yeah, probably something would happen between his dad and your aunt.

"I'm very sorry cariño, but I don't think we'll be able to go out tonight, I know you were looking forward to celebrating our anniversary…"

You shook your head and smiled "it's not your fault Javi, it's okay, we can't go out, but we'll stay home, with our family, we'll celebrate it with our beautiful kids" you assured him, nuzzling Gabe's cheek and making him giggle.

"Let me figure something out for dinner, my love, can you watch the kids?" You asked but you knew it wasn't even necessary, Javi was a great dad and he often watched the kids because he liked to, he enjoyed spending time and playing with them, and not simply because he had to. Of course, going out would be nice, but eventually, you enjoyed the fact you had the house for your husband and yourself, the kids wouldn't take long to fall asleep, and you two could enjoy the time to be together without any interruptions or the need to watch ourselves all the time.

Javi sat on the carpet with his kids, even if back protested against it, he just made sure to be there, holding them close and helping them playing with their own toys - Analuz loved her dolls and Gabe loved blocks - he just gave them attention, spending a precious time with them while the rain poured outside. You made your family some dinner and of course it wasn't a special menu like you figured you would have with Javi if you had gone out, but you also knew you would have other opportunities for that, it was nobody's fault, the weather could be unpredictable at times and no one could fight against the nature. After everyone had eaten and he'd helped you with the dishes, you sat on the couch with Javi and the kids, the four of you snuggling with each other, as the kids played happily with each other and you admired your husband. He was so handsome, just like the first time you got to Colombia and met the infamous Agent Peña, you couldn't wrap your head around the fact he was simply gorgeously handsome and just a few years later, he would be yours and no one else's.

At the first sign of the kids being sleepy, you took Gabe and Javi took Analuz, taking them to their shared bedroom. You placing your baby boy in the crib and Javi his little mariposa in bed. Gabe fell asleep easily, just like every night he was tucked in, wrapped in warm blankets and a couple of soft words from his mommy and he was happily off to dreamland. Analuz, on the other hand, could only fall asleep if her daddy told her a story, which he patiently did, no matter how tired he was, he would keep himself awake and tell her whichever stories she wanted to hear; fairies, princesses, pirates, spaceships or anything at all, he would make it up for her.

You wished your daughter goodnight and excused yourself, leaving father and daughter alone in the bedroom, Javi's hand stroked her small face, earning a lovely smile from her

"I love you daddy" she said between yawns and held his hand with her tiny one

"I love you too, mariposa, so much…" he pecked her forehead and watched as Analuz closed her little eyes and joined her brother in dreamland, the two of them being so safe and loved in the Peña family.

You turned around to see Javi walking into your living room, he had no right to look that devilish handsome in a pink shirt, but there he was: two buttons undone, strong arms exposed and tight jeans, just like your hot Colombian summer dream was. You bit your lips and smiled at him, you'd applied some red lipstick, matching your nails and the red gown you put on, over the gorgeous pair of lingerie he'd gifted you. He was dominated by the sight in front of him, you looked like a walking sin and it was all for him; he was a lucky bastard and nothing would ever change that. Taking a step closer, he placed his hands on your waist, pulling you closer and licking his lips at the sight of you;

"Fuck me cariño… How can you walk around being so goddamn gorgeous all the time?" His voice wasn't much more than a low groan and he lowered himself enough to nuzzle your cleavage, his lips ghosting over your skin. You had always looked incredible to him, but he couldn't deny how much he loved your breasts after you got pregnant, it simply drove him mad.

Javi's soft touches went for your neck, at the same time you let out a shaky breath, that man knowing his shit and how to play you.

"I'm sorry our plans got ruined, I really wanted to have taken you out, I'm not complaining about your sexy attire here…" he pointed at your body covered by some tempting pieces of cloth "but I wanted to take you out, you spend a lot of time taking care of the house, the kids, of me… I wanted you to have fun" he sighed and gave you the puppy eyes as another thunder broke outside.

"It's not your fault the worst storm to hit Laredo in years happened to be on our anniversary day, Javi… besides, you got to come home earlier, we spent some nice time with our kids and the cherry on top is that the grown-ups are out and we have the house all for ourselves" you winked and the two of you burst out laughing. You noticed Javi swayed your hips at an imaginary step, and followed it shyly, dancing to the sound of rain.

"But just out of curiosity, where would you take me?"

"I'd take you out for dinner of course, maybe that steakhouse we like or the Italian place, it would be your call, hermosa… then I'd take you out to dance, we would dance some bolero and then I'd take you to the nice hotel, get ourselves a room and rail you into morning light"

You chuckled at Javi's sentence, seeing he had planned everything perfectly for that night, it would have been definitely special, you weren't doubting that, but you also likes how it ended up, just the two of you, intimate and cozy like it had always been, since the beginning of your relationship.

"Well, the last part we can still make it happen, chief Peña… you can rail me for as long as can take me" you teased and Javi's hand immediately went down on your ass, giving you a well-deserved swat and making you squeak "in fact, I'm all ready for it, you are the one who looks overdressed…" you undid another button of his shirt "but I'm a little curious: why go out to dance?"

"I realized I was a bad boyfriend and never took you out to dance while we were in Colombia, there were so many bars you wanted to have gone and we never did…"

"You were never a bad boyfriend, Javi, never. We just didn't have time, maybe because we dated for five minutes before getting married and having kids" the two of you chuckled again at your own inside joke "you've always been the best boyfriend in the world, you were so good at it I ended up marrying you"

"Do you ever miss it? Colombia, I mean? How we were back then, how things were horrible at work, but how good we were, how there used to be only you and me in the world once we got inside our apartment…" he asked you curiously and you nodded, surprised to see Javi held as much nostalgia as you did in your hearts.

"I do… it feels it happened ages ago, we were so young back then… well, I know it's only been what, four? Five years we've met? But it was a marriage and two babies ago, and we were very different people, I miss it too, as much as I love our family, it feels kind of sad knowing these special moments won't ever come back right? I mean, this moment right here, us dancing to nothing in our living room with a baby and a toddler sleeping peacefully in the next room will only be a sweet memory in a few years and sometimes that makes me sad becau-"

Javi kissed you. He knew how you had a habit of overthinking things and he didn't want it to make you upset when you two were having a special moment together. He held you tight, as if his life depended on it and though he understood perfectly what you meant, he knew you two couldn't let the fear of time passing by and changing your lives become bigger than the joy you felt in the present. He knew you two would be together for life and you had a beautiful family, perhaps another baby could come anytime, or not, it didn't matter because you were happy as long as you had each other.

"Mi amor, I was thinking… would you like to come back? To Colombia, like on vacation? We have some extra cash and maybe the kids would enjoy it too, visiting a different country, trying new food?"

"Do you mean, Bogota?"

"Well, I was thinking of Cartagena, with the beaches, the beautiful landscape… maybe we could even renew our vows?"

"I'd like that, Javi… I really would, going back to the place where you became my Javi and showing our kids that"

"Good then, Mrs.Peña, I can't wait"

That night Javi took you to bed, like many other nights you'd spent together, but instead of railing you like he said he would, he made love to you, just like it happened on your wedding day. He treated you like a delicate flower, with so much love, affection and appreciation, he showed you how much he adored you, your body, your touch, your taste, everything about you. You were his wife, the love of his life, the mother of his precious, beautiful children and all he could do was to thank God, or destiny, or whoever was in charge of giving that undeserving man so much joy and happiness in life. When you were more than satisfied, being brought to your orgasm for the fifth time that night, he allowed himself to finish inside of you, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against yours, mumbling love words under his breath. He panted as beads of sweat formed on his forehead, your bodies pressed tight against each other's. Javier rolled on his back and pulled you to him, you resting against his chest, letting out a tired but satisfied sigh as you listened to his heartbeat. You never wanted any other kind of life, looking back at all the good and bad you went with Javier, you knew you wouldn't change one single thing, because that was what led you and Javier to what you had now, a marriage full of love and a gorgeous family.

In the middle of the night, you woke up with Analuz poking your side. She wanted to tell you Gabe woke up with a thunder and started crying, but before you could even get up, Javier was already on it, walking to the kids' room and picking up his son. He checked if Gabe needed a diaper change, but he was fine; perhaps he just needed a snuggle. He pressed his son against his chest gently and pecked his forehead, the baby sniffed and buried his face into the crook of his daddy, and by the time Javier was back to bed, Analuz was already tucked into it, so warm. You chuckled at your husband and helped him get under the blankets. It didn't take long for Javi to fall asleep with the kids and you stayed awake a little longer, admiring them. The three of them were so peaceful at that moment, and you closed your eyes, joining your family in the sweet slumber, knowing once you woke up, they'd be there for you.

You and Javi weren't the best people in the world, you've had your share of doing bad things and hurting people's feelings, but you were just human beings with flaws and qualities, and you found love in each other, both of you lost at first, but things fell into the right place even if it took a while, and soon enough it all made sense, you and Javi were meant to be and nothing could ever keep the two of you apart.

Your family and was the best thing you had and you deserved all the happiness you got.

____

A/N: this is it, besties, the final chapter of our lovely story. Thank you so so so much for all the love you've given me and this story, I hope you liked it, it came from the bottom of my heart ❤️

And this incredible, gorgeous, amazing, beautiful fanart of Javi and his daughter Analuz made by my sweet friend @bl0odymari ❤️ thank you for it honey ❤️

[nanawritesit]

Being the Unofficial Gardener of the Ouran High School Host Club Headcanons

anonymous said: “Hi! I've read your rules and i really like the ohshc thing you did so I'm going to request if that's ok? this is like an Oc without a name, Reader is the quote and unquote gardener of the host club. ( i cannot believe they just don't have a supplier when they use that many flowers i mean c'mon) Their grandpa owns a successful business selling flowers. Reader's grandpa raised them, Thats because readers mom died giving birth to them and readers dad died of cancer. (Reader used to get bullied for this since all the other kids at school thought their grandpa was going to sell them). Reader kind of has this standoffish personality. but just doesn't know how to communicate properly when you get to know them, they're actually really goofy.”

It’s true, the host club could never function without a reliable flower supplier. And lucky you, your grandfather happened to own the most successful flower business in the country. That’s how you were able to afford going to Ouran Academy.

The partnership began during your first year there. You shared a few classes with Kyoya, but you were never very close with him because of his intimidating family background.

He was also a bit intimidated to talk to you because of your closed off personality, and the rumors that had been going around about you being bought from your parents by a strange old man for garden labor didn’t help.

However one day, he decided to listen in on a conversation you were having with one of your friends. You were talking about a great sale your grandfather had made to supply flowers for a government ceremony.

He immediately felt guilty for falling victim to vicious gossip, but connected the dots about your family quickly. And of course, that got the gears in his head turning.

He was still in the early planning stages of founding the Host Club with Tamaki, and securing a trustworthy flower supplier was something they had been worried about

So, being the strategic communicator he is, he smoothly approached you and invited you over to the Ootori residence for a cup of tea

You were shocked that someone with such high status as him was interested in associating with you, but as soon as you realized it was a business proposition, you opened up a bit more

You were happy to get your grandfather another customer, especially one as wealthy as Kyoya, and soon you were making plans on what flowers and what arrangements he wanted

Fast forward to now, you’re both second years and the Host Club is thriving, you almost can’t keep up with the amount of flowers they go through

Most of the work you do is behind the scenes, so you didn’t really get to interact with any of the other club members

That was, until one day when your grandfather asked you to make a delivery to the club with a huge batch of flowers so he could attend a business meeting

You were nervous, but agreed anyway. Luckily there weren’t any guests in the music room yet, just the club members

Immediately a gush of rose petals blew in front of your face, and the sight of six handsome guys greeted you

You just stood there like a deer in the headlights

Tamaki was the first to approach you, taking your hand in his and kissing the back of it

“Ah, what a beautiful blossom that’s bloomed before us as our first guest today. Would you do me the honor of telling me your name, my princess/prince/ noble?”

“Y/N?” a voice suddenly asked. You both looked over to see Kyoya entering the room, surprised to see you but not at all displeased.

“You know each other?” Tamaki gasped.

“Yes, this is Y/N Y/L/N. They’re the grandchild of our flower supplier. It’s all thanks to them that we have enough flowers for all our events.”

All the guys immediately started crowding you, asking you a million questions at once.

You were a little overwhelmed, but just smiled politely and answered all their questions.

“You’re so lovely, it’s a wonder I haven’t seen you around the academy before.” Tamaki smirked, flirtatious as always.

“Well, I tend to hang out in the shadows. Back in middle school everyone made up rumors about me and it made me a bit of a loner.” you explained with a shy chuckle.

“Yeah, I heard your parents went bankrupt and sold you to their old loan shark to get out of debt.” Hikaru commented nonchalantly.

“Yeah, and I heard you’re an indentured servant who has to do hard physical labor everyday after school.” Kaoru added.

Tamaki immediately turned around and scolded them, waving his arms and yelling at them to be more polite in the presence of a lady/ gentleman/ noble.

“It’s okay Tamaki, I’m used to them all by now.” you chuckled. “My parents actually passed away when I was younger and left me in the care of my grandfather.”

“Y/N-chan, do you help grow the flowers too?” Honey asked excitedly, gazing up at you with huge eyes.

“Yes, I do actually! My grandfather taught me everything he knows about gardening, and it’s something I really enjoy doing!” you responded.

“Wow. That’s cool.” Mori said flatly. Although you could tell it was sincere.

“Why haven’t you introduced us to them before, Kyoya-senpai?” Haruhi asked, turning to the vice-president.

“I didn’t mean to keep them from you, there was just never an avid opportunity. But I suppose now is a good a time as any to make the introduction.” Kyoya answered, adjusting his glasses and turning towards you. “Y/N, meet the Ouran High School Host Club.”

They each went down the line telling you their names and types, which was quite entertaining. You had heard of the club’s popularity but never gotten around to visiting them.

“I’m sorry we go through so many flowers. It must be difficult to grow so many.” Haruhi said sympathetically.

“Oh it’s no strain on the business, I actually tend to most of your club’s stock personally so that my grandfather can focus on his other sales.” you reassured her. “However, I do sometimes wish I could grow more plants. I could probably run an entire garden just for the Host Club!”

Tamaki’s eyes immediately lit up. “Y/N, that’s a marvelous idea!”

“Hm? Oh no, I was only joking…” you laughed nervously.

“Actually, that might be a useful investment.” Kyoya began, placing his fist under his chin in thought. “It would be nice to have our own garden and not have to worry about business transactions.”

“Senpai, Y/N can’t grow us an entire garden for free!” Haruhi exclaimed. You were touched that she was immediately on your side.

“Don’t be silly, we’ll pay them an adequate salary.” Kyoya told you. “And of course a small share will be given to their grandfathers business as a courtesy.”

“I want to grow lots of pink flowers!” Honey cheered, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Think of all the schemes we could pull with a whole garden of flowers at our disposal!” the twins beamed in unison, joining hands and twirling around.

“I can see it now… lush bushes of roses and hydrangeas, hanging branches of cherry blossoms and orchids, cobblestone paths lined with lillies and tulips!” Tamaki declared, striking a grand pose at the center of the room. “Get ready men, because soon the Ouran Host Club will have a brand new garden!”

You looked around at all the chaos unfolding before you. Kyoya was already typing up a budget on his computer, Mori was chasing Honey around the room as he threw handfuls of rose petals in the air, and Haruhi just stood there with her head in her hands.

“I had to make a joke, didn’t I…” you sighed to yourself.

While you were initially overwhelmed at the daunting prospect of creating an entire garden, it turned out to not be so bad. Kyoya handled most of the property scouting and landscaping with his endless business connections. You were pretty much just in charge of picking what flowers to grow and taking care of them.

And so, everyday after school, you would go to the new garden behind the building and tend to your flowers :) Your grandfather was very happy that you were making friends and spending less time at the business

Haruhi would usually come by to help you water the plants when she needed to sneak away from the chaos of the club

She loved your chill personality, and you always made her laugh and forget her stress in a second :)

You had your suspicions about her gender from the beginning, but you never really cared. You didn’t really see people as labels, just who they where on the inside. It was this mindset that actually made her comfortable enough to confide her secret in you!

Honey would sometimes come by and bring you some cakes that were leftover from the club activities, and you’d sit on a swing and eat them together <3

Sometimes he would bring Mori along, and while you were a little shy around him, you were happy to see that he was also interested in your gardening. He would often ask you what different flowers symbolized, and what kind of care certain flowers needed

The twins would come by to gather flowers for their various schemes, and would often encourage you to take a break and have some fun with them!

The three of you would run around the gardens, playing tag and hide and seek until you were all so tired you were sprawled out in the grass, panting and laughing wildly

Kaoru was happy to see Hikaru finally opening up to someone, and would sometimes try to give the two of you space to talk by yourselves

Hikaru could listen to you talk about flowers for hours and never get bored. He also liked to tuck them behind your ear, smiling at how pretty you looked <3

Tamaki always seemed to be busy tending to his numerous princesses, but every once in a while he would come by to thank you for making this all possible

And of course, he couldn’t help but flirt with you a bit :)

“All these gorgeous blossoms… and yet none of them compares to your beauty, my dear.”

You would’ve fallen for him had you not been so smart

Kyoya was probably the one you saw most often, as he was the one you knew the longest and the one who planned out most of the garden

He was always making sure you had enough equipment and starts, and discussing new arrangement ideas with you

“Are you sure it’s not too much work for you, Y/N?” he asked sincerely.

“Oh it’s not too bad, it’s not like I’m working myself to the bone.” you reassured him. “I mean yeah, it would be nice to have some help, but it would have to be from someone who understands gardening.”

“Why don’t you start a gardening club?” he proposed.

You jaw unhinged in shock. “Oh Kyoya, that’s a wonderful idea, but I don’t know the first thing about starting a club.”

“I do, and I can help you. I founded this club after all.” he smiled, adjusting his glasses.

After a few weeks of paperwork and meeting with the school board, you became the president of the Ouran High School Gardening Club :)

The guys were all so proud of you, they decided to host a ball in your honor!

You were hesitant at the idea, still a bit self conscious of all the rumors that had been spread about you in the past

But after much convincing, you agreed. The twins even got you a custom ball outfit from their mother’s fashion line!

Tamaki took his place at the foot of the staircase to greet all the guests, making your heart beat out of your chest from behind the double doors.

“Welcome princesses, princes, and nobles of Ouran Academy! Thank you so much for attending this ball in celebration of the founding of the Ouran Gardening Club! The president of this club is someone that the Host Club is very close with. In fact, if it weren’t of them, there wouldn’t be a single rose petal at any of our events. Please join me in welcoming Y/N Y/L/N!”

You then made your entrance, a light downpour of rose petals floating around you as you descended the staircase <3

You looked around to see everyone cheering for you and smiling at you admiringly. You started wondering why you ever retreated into the shadows in the first place. It was almost enough to bring a tear to your eye.

Halfway through your decent, you looked down to see all seven members of the Host Club holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers! They must have asked your grandfather what they were ;)

As you reached the bottom of the staircase, the applause ended. Then, all the guys held out their bouquets to you with warm smiles.

“Thank you for being our gardener Y/N!”

[quitealotofsodapop]

I mentioned before about my hc/theory of the Jade Emperor's true form being that of a prehistoric frog/amphibian (post here) due to him in lore being at least as old as the Carboniferous Period.

Also I thought it'd be funny for the literal King of the Universes' true form be tied to those little lucky jadeite frog statues

But I've also seen some super cool ideas regarding the mythos where Nüwa and him are related. As per research done by the amazing @dorothygale123; the Jade Emperor's origins are pretty flexible since he was made up on the spot to cover a guy's imperial butt.

My palaeontology brain likes the idea of the Jade Emperor having snake/frog features due to being so old that the lines sort of blur - snakes only evolved about early-Jurassic period from leggy lizards, and "frogs" as we know them came about a bit earlier in the mid-Triassic. It also lines up with my family tree idea of him being Nezha's grandpa + Nezha having snake features.

Also it still makes the dynamic between him and Xiwangmu hilarious;

So for Nüwa? What if she were related to the Jade Emperor, not exactly as his daughter, but something older. Like how Yaoji (Erlang's mom in later mythos) is the JE's sister, perhaps Nüwa is amongst these siblings? A family of rain/weather gods with cooled blood, and one little snake discovering that she had an amazing ability whilst playing in the primordial clay?

[sterekmpreg]

can you do stiles mpreg headcanons for me? like him preggers with eli🫶🏼☺️

FOR SURE😭 I love getting these😩 a few notes first: Derek never lost his alpha status and Scott gave him up after Derek confronted him about Stiles being his mate and never letting Scott take Stiles away from Derek's pack. Some of the people who were dead aren't dead.

LET ME HAVE MORE ASKS! but for real, feel free to ask me for more headcanons or more in detailed specific asks. I love answering them.

Stiles loves Derek adoring his pregnant stomach and Derek loves showing Stiles his Love for the full-rounded tummy. Kisses, tender touches, rubbing, stroking…. Derek does it all. He's even been caught a few times talking or singing to the bump softly early in the mornings or late into the hours of sleep.

Stiles sobs like a maniac when his jeans don't fit and the pack makes a day of buying new clothes for all so Stiles wouldn't feel singled out and they spoil the hell out of a very hormonal Stiles. The day was filled with eating, bonding, Lydia doing her well-known fashion shows in fitting rooms, and pictures. All at the expense of Derek's Bank account.

Noah, after being explained the possibility of Stiles' pregnancy through makes and mating by Peter's Education on the subject, stands and shouts “I'm gonna be a good damned grandpa!” before high-fiving every pack member he can reach.

Stiles goes into overload with the whole wolf theme. I'm talking wolf-themed onesies, bottles, binkies, hats, sweaters, baby booties, etc. And Derek, he doesn't have the heart to tell his excited mate that the dresser and closet are almost full after Stiles, Issac, and the girls go baby shopping.

The pack sometimes has a hard telling if Grandpa or the expecting parents are more eager to meet the tiny bundle of Joy that would become Elias Claude Stilinski Hale (Eli). And Noah definitely didn't help to stop Stiles with the Wolf theme because if anything he was enabling it.

Stiles has cravings for many things but his most frequent are Deer burgers, Onion rings, pickle wraps, and peanut butter milkshakes. Malia of course loves Stiles's first craving, Noah likes his son not being able the get onto him about greasy onion rings they'd eat together, Derek was glad pickle wraps were normal cravings, and Peter indulges in Peanut butter milkshakes with his favorite nephew-in-law.

Stiles has a hard time in the later months of the pregnancy and is basically left on bed rest after 8 months. Eli liked to kick Stiles all night in the bladder and on multiple occasions, Stiles would just cry after waking up and throwing his legs over the bed because everything just fucking hurt! Derek, being a good mate would wake up and help the heavily pregnant man by taking some pain as the walked to and from the bathroom and even as his mate fell asleep beside him after each slowly agonizing bathroom trip.

The Pack runs wild with the pack mom Stiles idea and can't stop making jokes about having a new “baby brother”. Erica and Issac go out of the way and get custom shirts labeled dad, mom, Grandpa, favorite uncle, big brother, big sister, etc. with everyone's name on the back if their own shirt as a cute pack idea when Stiles said he wanted to do a family photo shoot of their pack. (the shirts were a surprise for Derek and Stiles and they couldn't stop laughing as the pack forced them into their shirt for the photos.)

[sketching-shark]

Hello! I know you aren't a big fan of LMK, but there's a sideblog run by @digitalagepulao named @digitaldoeslmk that is doing a rewrite of the show by following book canon, and their ideas and art is FIRE so please have a look if you have the time. Also, I remember seeing a few lines that Sun Wukong has medical training during his years of learning. Would he count as having a degree in medicine in modern terms? How is he during childbirth? Do you think he'd be able to do a human childbirth successfully? Have a great month, enjoy your food, and don't forget to sleep early regularly!

As a matter of fact @angstandhappiness I am recently familiar with @digitaldoeslmk and let me just say WEH @digitalagepulao has done an amazing job at creating one of the most fun and interesting Monkie Kid aus out there!

I'm honestly really appreciative of the though and care they've put into a version of the lego show where JTTW happened according to Wu Cheng'en's version, and particularly the way this means that A) Sun Wukong is a genuinely good mentor & that therefore there's many a lovely shifu-tudi moment between him and MK (plus SWK is his book canon size here so that's an automatic improvement over LMK canon lmao), B) Red Son gets more time in the spotlight both as a character and as a source of insights into the histories of the JTTW canon characters, and C) the stakes aren't of the constant end-of-the-universe levels & therefore MK gets a Fucking Break from the Horrors & also gets to make a lot more friends in stuff like a theater group.

tbh I was pretty delighted by this plot idea @digitalagepulao put out where MK is getting ready for a theatrical production of Havoc in Heaven where he's playing Sun Wukong but then both the actor and the understudy who played Erlang Shen got ill, & that this was resolved by MK getting SWK to play his one-time nemesis. That's a really fun idea for a number of reasons, not the least being it seems like a great scenario for the Monkey King to have actually understandable stage fright & some genuine conversations about his past & what he learned from his experiences BUT ALSO for it being a great way for Monkie Kid to give a respectful nod to past retellings of Xiyouji even while letting MK & co. shine.

In conclusion people should definitely check out @digitaldoeslmk.

As for the second part of this ask, you probably couldn't say that the Monkey King has anything like a contemporary medical degree going strictly by Xiyouji canon, but he does prove himself to be a clever primate when it comes to medicine! Honestly it could make for a kind of funny JTTW future story where SWK goes through medical school to get an MD so that he can be an officially licensed doctor in the 21st century lol. And while we never see SWK helping someone with pregnancy or childbirth in the og classic (discounting the mpreg arc lmao), his status as both an extremely old communal grandpa who's seen a lot and a protector of children seem to both suggest that he'd be pretty good at assisting in childbirth for humans, monkeys, and yaoguai alike.

Enjoy your food and sleep too!

[ladylooch]

Lio & Lucie

A/N: Lio Meier & Lucie Hischier grew up thick as thieves. They may be cousins, but their relationship molded into a fierce, sibling- type of love growing up in New Jersey, and later, Switzerland. When Lio is drafted first overall by the Devils, he heads back to the US to live his dream. Lucie isn't far behind. Although she was known as a wild child the year before, she quickly settles back into life in her home country. While Lio sleeps his way through the five boroughs, Lucie finds herself falling for Lio's teammate, Connor Wood. Follow their shenanigans of being young, semi-famous, and figuring it out as they go.

Lucie's Parents are from this AU.

Lio's Parents are from this AU.

Connor's parents are coming soon.

Series Status: Open for requests

The Early Blurbs: The First Blurb | Cousin Ties | Fight about Felix | Lucie's friends at lunch | Lio Defending his mom| When Lucie threw the party | When Nico found out about the party | Lucie keeps Lio's secret | Lio's Draft Party | Lucie arrives at NYU | Lio sets Lucie straight | Lio's questionable girlfriend | Lio's one hit wonder | When Nico Saved Lucie

Enter Connor Wood: How Connor bagged Lucie | Connor & Lucie's first date| Swiss German connection | When Connor learned Swiss German | Friends with bennies | Picking up Lucie | The Hischiers & Connor | The Hughes | The Hughes Pt 2 | | Connor's Tats | Connor's style of play | The first time they broke up | Covering for Lio | Wanna make you a daddy | Lio & his girls | Lio's Queen | When Timo sees Lio fall in love | Timo & Lio pt 2 | When Lio Hurt Sav | How Lio Moves on | Lake Day in Switzerland | Lake Day pt 2 | Family Vacation | Lio's Chippy Game | When they broke up the second time | 2nd break up pt 2 |

Lucie & Connor & Stell: The Proposal | When Lucie told Lio she's pregnant | Lio come get your girl | Lio taking care of pregnant Lucie How Lio found himself in a threesome |Connor during the 2nd break up | LuLu loves you (2nd break up) | When Con and Lu make up- the 2nd time | Con & Lucie's Wedding | FaceTime with Connor | Connor & Stell | Bribing Connor | Stell Sick | Con's Cup Party | Con's Cup Party pt 2 (18+) | Con's Cup Party Pt 3 | Con in the Crib | When Lucie got pregnant | Grandpa Nico | Why you got an attitude (18+) Halloween | Connor and the Rangers | Stella's Interview |

Lio & Stell | Lio & Stell pt 2 | Lio & Stell pt 3 | Lio & Stell Pt 4 | Lio. Stell pt 5 |

Lio & Sav: Lucie Scolds Lio about Sav | Why Lio acts out | Why Lio Acts Out pt 2 | When Sav found someone else | When Save found someone else pt 2 | Lio talks shit about Sav's choices | Flowers for Sav | When Lio tries | Lio & Savannah | Team's reaction to Lio & Sav| Jealous Lio

Get to know Lucie: Languages | First Time | Her relationship with Con | Hobbies | How her dad set the bar HIGH | What Nico Thought of Connor | Baby Stell | Con's Trade | Shoe lace | Kinks | Con with his girls | MY WIFE |

More in the Archive tag here.

We also split up Lucie and Lio's stories in 2024.

To Follow more Lio and Sav, continue here.

To Follow more Lucie and Connor, continue here.

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Cartoon Network era of shows, who is your favorite character from each of the early 2010s Check It renaissance era shows you've seen like: Regular Show, Sym Bionic Titan, Robotomy, The Problem Solverz, The Amazing World of Gumball, Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, Ben 10 Omniverse, Uncle Grandpa, Steven Universe, and Clarence?

Regular Show: CJ... besides being cute she's a fun character and was a good match for Mordecai.. then he fucking blew it in an incident i've never quite gotten over and will cover at some point if anyone's intrested, though till I do Sarcastic Chorus has covered mordecai fumbling the ball well. Overall the show itself is great, aside from season 6. The Romance Stuff can be drawn out when your not talking about Rigleen, but it's got great comedy, good batshit insanity and ends on a high note. It's an all time classic and like adventure time left a mark on animation. It's succesor close enough was even better and go seek it out since it's hard to find offically because warner bros fucking blows.

Sym Bionic Titan: Octus, brian poshen's best role and one of the best designs i've seen. The show itself was treated oh so shittily and i'ts nice Gennendy now has more of a blank check over at cartoon network (Still need to watch more of Unicorn: Warriors Eternal) as they owe him after canceling this. Still a good show and I hope he can continue it someday.

The Problem Solverz: no faviorites, didn't like this one. Almost forgot to include it. Next.

Robotmy: Don't really have a faviorite character but I did last this one. Like Titan deserved better and that's a bit of a theme at times during this era: some shows got the runs they deserved, others died fast

Gumball; Penny. I liked her first design and her unshelled one was a nice twist. She also serves as a nice contrast to her boyfriends nonsense and i'm glad they pulled the trigger on that fast. Carie is a close second. As for this show I honestly need to see more as I simply lost touch when I stopped having cable and didn't catch up on streaming. But it's an excellent show. While I hated it's sticking to the status quo, in hindsight it dosen't: both the boys get girlfriends in stand out episodes, their grandma gets married, richard's dad comes back, change does happen it's just more on the simpsons scale of "it's gradual". I"m happy it's coming back and to see a movie eventually.

Secret Mountain Fort Awesome: I got nothing. I didn't really watch this one, wasn't intrested, what I saw wasn't good. Next.

Ben 10 Omniverse: Rook Mothefucking Blonko. For all the ups and down with the series, he was a worthy partner to ben, a fun character and a nice contrast being the more reserved by the book badass normal to Ben's empowered moron. One of the series best additions, bring him back whenever it returns. Have child him adventure with ben I don't care. As for the show as a whole.. it's a fucking mess. It has some really good stuff like the initial arc, Blox (My faviorite transformation of this era), and some good one off episodes... but also a lot of wacky nonsense. The show tried to restroe some of the og continuity the alien era ignored, which is good on paper but in practice left the franchise a spiraling mess, brought back some characters without properly reintroducing them (Though bringing lucy back was a good move and she was fantastic), and had a ton of ships for ben but settled on the worst option, making him a harem protaganist for no real reason. Some arcs were good, some eps were good, a lot of it is garbage, and the design work is excellent. It's not horrible but it is a hot mess of a show and a weird note to end the og continuity on.

Uncle Grandpa: Pizza Steve. This show was alright: Id idn't like it at first but it grew on me a little, though I just kinda drifted from it. As batshit insane as the idea was, I did like the steven universe crossover as it somehow worked and has some of the best pearl moments series wide. Otherwise the series is alright and probably worth another look.

Steven Universe: Garnet. The series has a LOT of great characters (Pearl and Greg are close seconds and thirds), but Garnet is a throughly intresting character, a kind leader and a good mom to steven with one of the most badass musical numbers in all of animation. Pearl again is a very close second being a nicely flawed character. The series as a whole.. is one of my faviorite cartoons of all time if not my faviorite. It's one I need to rewatch: beautifully animated, paced decently (Far from perfectly but looking at the bigger picture now it's over, not nearly as bad as it's rep was. It spaced out story moments with life just happening). The cast is memorable and charming as hell, the fight scenes some of the best in western animatoin and animation period, and the finale while rushed due to rebecca having to take a seasons worth of finale material and compress it into a few extra episodes she had to beg cartoon network for, is utterly satisfying. Steven Unvierse Future: While this one is a bit later might as well get it out of the way. I love this one. I get why some don't, it's divisive, to me it feels like a valid deconstruction of Steven's trauma, an epilogue that shows what having this savior complex thrust on him, this need to fix grown adults, would do to the poor boy and ends with him finding his own life. It's bleak as hell in places, but it ends on a note of hope and humanity that makes the jouney worht it.

Clarence: Sumo whose some classic tom kenny and usually pretty fun. A weird note to end on as while Steven Universe, like adventure time before, changed animation, where as CN kinda buried Clarence after it's creator's public breakdown and like Gumball I lost touch eventually. That being said.. Clarence is excellent. The crew rebounded well, the characters are charming and it's a nice slice of life show. I wish Jeff was less of a jerk, but otherwise it's a really fun show with a really kind protagonist.

[fair-night-starry-tears]

Prefects learning the history of bird man statue in Headmistress Darling au

- in Cafeteria -

Isabelle: yeah. And that statue though.

Ace: what about it?

Estella: who’s he?

Deuce: ….. uhhh…?

Haru: you don’t know, do you?

Ace: oh we know. It’s just….. a very huge topic…..

Deuce: yeah, it was over the news over years ago….

Drew: what happened?

Ace: uhhh….. we don’t have the proper details…. But uh, talk to Mr. Trein. He’s old to know it up close. It was a huge deal back then.

Ophelia: how so?

Deuce: just ask the professor….. wow, you guys don’t even know that.

Freya: know what?

Ace: it’s- *hears someone* oh, Deuce let’s go!

Deuce: r-right! *leaves with Ace*

Minako: okay…. That was suspicious as fuck, right?

Freya: oh definitely.

Tsukii: mhmm!

- to Trein class -

Trein: *grading papers*

Minako: *kicks door*

Trein: *spooked grandpa noises*

Freya: okay maybe not scare the only person who has the answers to what we have to ask.

Trein: I suppose it’s about the statue?

Estella: okay, I’m leaving….. after the explanation.

Trein: *sighs* that statue. Is the supposed. You say…. Corpse of the previous headmaster.

All Prefect’s: what?!

Trein: it happened about thirty years ago. Before Headmistress Crowley taken over. The last headmage was her father, a caring single man who rose this girl to the ideal image of the perfect daughter. But, tragedy struck. In the form of a lunatic man who lead a cult known as the Mages of Light attacked the school grounds. However, to this. It costed the previous headmage his life. His daughter, didn’t thought straight as a young fletching. You see, Headmistress Crowley cold demeanor and emptiness is the result of this tragedy. From a young age, she became headmistress. Graduating her classes few years early, and taken over. Of course, the last staff pleaded her to reconsider. But, how can we? When she can only think of grief and despair. As caring she is to students and her family. She can be quite a calloused woman when upset. She is truly kind, but, the more you see her eyes. You wonder, is she still alive inside. Or did she too died along side her father years ago?

Freya: and…. The cultist? What happened to him?

Trein: ….. it was found a student thirty years ago was his son, and he was expelled permanently but. His father….. he never saw another light of day after a few weeks.

Estella: holy sh-

Trein: however, no one could say she had any involvement. Because they can never find a trace of her near. To her, she just said “divine punishment” but what others say. “It was justified revenge.” There is no answer for the case. And it remained closed for the time being. And she chose to keep her father remains, making it a total of eight statues of the most respected. Eight statues for the eight dorms.

——————————————————————————

@adrianasunderworld @mangacupcake @writing-heiress @the-weirdos-mind @skboba-stars @nproduction626 @rose-tea-and-strawberries @anxious-twisted-vampire @yukii0nna @achy-boo @abyssthing198

- Darling isn’t heartless to the Yuu’s/shows a motherly interaction with them

- the staffs are deeply scared of Darling lifeless eyes, which they cannot face her without thinking she is going to maim them

- Darling respects Trein a lot and vice versa, mainly because Trein was a guardian figure to help her be a full headmage with wisdom and acknowledgment of her own decisions (Darling: my dad died but I still got a human one to substitute my depression for a bit.)

- massive better change with no one overblotting in this au, but someone is slowly losing it.

- this is probably a come back, aka more Darling angst

- everyone knows about the attack because it was hella fucking public and Ambrose still checks on this dead inside lady to see if she’s still alive with a pulse. (Grandpa Ambrose to Darling)

[hockeystyletea]

Connor Bedard - idk if it is fair to blame his parents or anything since so much goes into raising a professional athlete, but I thought this athletic article was really interesting

https://theathletic.com/4481273/2023/05/05/connor-bedard-nhl-draft-2023/

Some points:

Connor applying for WHL exceptional status to play a year early (like what McDavid, Wright, and others had in the OHL) was something his mom didn't want him to do "Melanie Bedard shared her reservations with her son, but Connor told her how upset he’d be if she blocked his goals."

Connor talks to his dad before all of his games. When his grandfather died, the family decided that Connor should play anyways, so they all agreed not to tell him his grandfather was dead until after the game. After he found out, Connor turned down arrangements from his team to go home and be with his family “Grandpa would want me to play,” he said.

Not in this article, but he has also never had McDonalds.

There's also an interesting Toronto Star article about him: https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/opinion/2023/05/05/connor-bedard-wasnt-raised-to-be-a-hockey-phenom-he-made-that-decision-himself.html

Connor's dad is/was a logger and worked crazy hours in a dangerous setting

Melanie's quotes about applying for exceptional status are interesting here “And I said Connor, I don’t think you should do this. And I know it’s what you really want. I know. But I feel like as your mom I’m going to be taking something away from you that’s so special; just the ability to make stupid mistakes that we make, and have regret.” ... "And he said, ‘I don’t care if I go to a party,’” says Melanie. “‘This is something that I want. You can’t. As my mom you feel bad about that, but you don’t feel bad about taking away something that’s so important.’"

"Melanie [his mom] moved to Regina to be Connor’s billet the past two seasons, because nobody knew what it would be like for a kid of his calibre, and as Paddock puts it, “His whole preparations are based around perfection, and she’s the only one that knows it.”"

And during COVID, he and his sister moved to sweden so he would have someone when he played there. Apparently his sister (3 years older) would stay up all night doing her university classes, but still look after him, help with his homework, etc.

Connor also apparently already knows that he kinda has to be a robot because people will take whatever they can from him "He said, ‘You know, I’m kind of realizing in some ways I have to be just a robot. Because you know that certain people are just wanting you to say this one thing that they can pass on,’” says Melanie. “And I said to him, I feel kind of upset, but I’m also proud that you’re mature enough to be aware of that. Because it’s so important."

I need a full day to process these articles

[sissa-arrows]

Albert Camus went as far as to writes that the early settlers of Algeria had been a part of the French revolution of 1848, specifically he states they had been victims of the anti-revolutionary repression that took place in June of that year and left for Algeria as a result. However, historians challenge the notion that there was a revolutionary French working class in Algeria. According to the leading authority on the matter, historian Charles-André Julien (1891–1991), the French workers who left France for Algeria in the aftermath of the repression of June 1848 became oppressors themselves: “the workers and artisans who had survived the days of June 48 … were those who were the most ruthless against Arabs.”

Instead of attempting to speak to France’s civilizing mission (a classic argument employed by France for centuries), or the need for colonization to maintain France’s status as a great power (a more naked Realpolitik perspective which Camus employed at times), Camus describes the pied-noir settlers as revolutionaries.

I admit this one made me laugh cause the first settlers are THE CHILDREN OF THE FRENCH SOLDIERS WHO SLAUGHTERED ALGERIANS AND DECIDED TO STAY IN ALGERIA AFTERWARD. I actually had that conversation with a coworker. She is from my parents’ generation and the other day it was cold at work. A coworker from La Reunion et me mentioned that we weren’t built for this weather. At some point we told our coworker « no but we are serious. Even if we were born and raised in France studies show that it takes 3-4 generations for people to adapt to a different weather. My white coworker said « That’s why I’m cold cause my parents were born in Algeria like yours » and I replied « if your parents bodies did adapt to the weather it means that they had been there for 3-4 generations and that the first members of your family who arrived in Algeria were most likely the soldiers who slaughtered Algerians » (look she is not responsible for her parents being pied noirs she is super nice but sometimes she is like «we are the same» and I need to harshly remind her that no we are not. Her parents were settlers).

Anyway I don’t doubt that some settlers did come to flee from repression but that doesn’t change anything. I’ve had that argument with a guy who hated that I kept saying pied noirs = settlers = colonizers cause he kept saying his Spanish grandpa was in Algeria because his father had to leave repression in Spain. Okay why did your great grandpa chose Algeria instead of mainland France? Because he knew that in Algeria he would have the privilege of a white man and a settler.

A lot of settlers in Turtle Island were fleeing persecution too. Doesn’t mean they didn’t oppress and slaughter indigenous people.

Last thing I don’t know if it’s the same anon every time but if not it really looks like some people needed a place to rent about Camus. Know that my blog, my DM and ask box are a safe place to criticize settlers (not just the pied noirs)

[eien-no-gakusha]

Touken Ranbu:  The Contradictory Tale of Genji

Went in expecting fanservice and just a good time, left impressed.

Part 1/3 - Plot:

The videogame source material has a very barebones plot because it knows what it is:  a gatcha game for fujoshi to collect sword husbandos.  Basically, something evil is trying to change (Japanese) history and make the universe implode.  You, the player, are an onmyoji or priestess who is summoning famous swords like mad to save the world.  The touken danshi themselves basically have the personalities of their famous historical figure owners or forgers coupled with quirks related to random facts and legends surrounding them.  Some come with a Hachiko streak from losing their masters or their service in some darker parts of history.  (only your love can heal them!). Classic gatcha game fare.  In other words, there is a lot of room to be creative with this framework.  Just look at all the sexy derivative works spawned from the thirsty fujoshi.  This aspect of the fandom is surprisingly relevant to the plot of the musical.  Stick around and find out. 

Anyways, the plot of this specific show features a Tale of Genji crossover.  The usual evil is messing with history again and a squad of swords are dispatched to fix it.   The problem of the day is the entire Heian court has been isekai-ed into the novel Tale of Genji.  The author Murasaki Shikibu and her fans have all gotten merged with the characters of the book.  The Heian era swords are unavailable for vague reasons, leaving a bunch of young swords not forged in this era to untangle fact from fiction.

Thus, we start with team Kanesada finding themselves escorting a lady-in-waiting who explains that everyone around her has been suddenly larping Tale of Genji and she’s the only sane person left in court.  They realize they are trapped in the book and reenact all the early chapters as they figure out how to undo the curse.  Some of the more hot-tempered swords try to brute force their way out only to realize that book characters have protagonist halos to protect them from getting KOed.  At the center of this vortex, the titular character Hikaru Genji is effectively an NPC who has gained sentience a la RE:  Creators.  We learn he functions similarly to the sword boys as the embodiment of the book.  Not being a weapon, he can’t do much by way of fighting but he is unkillable and can act as dungeon master in his own story by transferring protagonist status to his victims.  In other words, Genji can possess targets to simulate his story as a substitute while he dicks off.  He uses this power to go OOC and try to retcon his own story.  This is all quite convenient for him since he has a complicated relationship with his author.  He is half reverential of her and half resentful.  This culminates in Genji ultimately killing his own author.  In the merged universe, Murasaki Shikibu and her readership have merged with the female leads of The Tale of Genji with Murasaki taking the role of the unobtainable Fujitsubo no Nyogo, Genji’s true love.  In breaking the story with literal death of the author, all hell breaks loose with Genji going rogue.

As the touken danshi dig deeper, they learn the source of this chaos was a result of toxic fan culture!  While many people enjoy Murasaki’s book and come away from it positively, a stalker fan voices his concerns that this is all vapid fiction with no value nor contribution to reality (the “wake up, loser” argument).  They debate about the point of writing “fake” stories.  While Murasaki understands the man’s point of view, she disagrees and refuses to put down her brush as this work is her passion.  The man becomes so upset he is taken over by the evil powers to cause the time rift and alter history.  His reasoning is if everyone is so obsessed with the book, they may as well live in it rather than face the real world. 

Back in the present, the touken danshi are having a bad time resolving the timeline.  They complain about needing grandpa Mikazuki’s help and keep getting possessed by Genji to reenact chapters while he escapes to cause trouble elsewhere.  However, during the final boss battle with evil Genji, the isekai-ed fangirls come to the rescue!  As they reminisce about their love of the novel (well, it would be equivalent of a serialized magazine at time of publication) and how it was therapeutic or inspiring for their real lives, they begin to return to themselves.  Now it’s important to note that Murasaki’s contemporaries did write derivative works or helped her transcribe chapters to share.  Therefore, these fangirls are effectively ancient Japanese fanfiction authors and thus have power to end Genji as much as the original author does.  But they love him as a character too much so are unable to strike the finishing blow and basically toss the responsibility to young Murasaki, Genji’s second wife who he had kidnapped as a child to groom into the perfect woman.  Unable to bear the suffering and moved by the women in his life both as characters and as his fans, Genji lowers his protagonist’s halo and accepts death.  The touken danshi are able to finally fix history and complete their mission.  When they return to modern day, they hear news that archeologists have found physical evidence that Genji existed as a historical figure and thus a conspiracy theory is born!  The touken danshi take this information with mixed emotions.

What an amazing story.  The theme was deep without being too obtuse.  The climax got meta and opened a lot of discussion about the value of fiction, derivative works, the dangers of escapism, censorship, and even spirituality.  Definitely worth a second viewing to digest all this.

There was a mini-revue number in the end where the cast performed an umbrella dance to anachronistic Touken Ranbu music.  Then the cast descended a staircase in parade order for final bows.  It was a much-needed break from the heavy and complicated plot.  It was also a small nod to the main cast’s Takarazuka roots or hina doll staging, which is a common set design when using Heian costume.  The umbrella dance reminded me of the finale Sakura dance OSK does at the end of their performances.  Perhaps this is a proud Osaka tradition.  I haven’t seen a different Touken Ranbu show (yet) so I don’t know if this is a part of the brand.