#everything is better then tia maria

[tetsunabouquet]

My mom’s coworker gifted us a tiny bottle of Jack Daniels, but the problem is both of us loathe that shit and have no one to pass it onto. Considering I’m the one of us who holds their liquor the best, she’s given it to me wishing me luck.  God, how I detest this taste. Why do people even like this stuff? Ah well. At least it isn’t Tia Maria.  Everything is better then Tia Maria.

[hasquetzorkukudoneanythingwrong]

Codex Familia: spoiled birthday

September 24th was the day when Eduardo and Maria Hernandez were born. And as children of the lively and exciting goddess Quetzalcoatl, of course the celebration would be something to remember!

"You ready Mijitos?! Your aunt is here with the jet!" Quetz yelled out to her kids, so they can start the day's celebrations! "We have to go early so we can do everything you asked for!"

The twins were then seen running down the stairs, looking ready to go. "We're here! We're ready!" Ed said as they stopped in front of their mother.

"AYE! You two look so adorable! Oh how I missed seeing you two!" Said a new voice. It was the twins' Tia Nota! She was dressed in such fancy clothing, you'd think she was visiting royalty, tho in her eyes this day is far more important then visiting any royal. "Are you two ready for your trip?!" She asked them, enthusiastically.

Both the twins' responded to their tia with an excited "SI!" Before actually both hugging her.

"Aaawww! How I missed your hugs!" Nota said, so happy to be hugged.

"Prima, you act like you didn't see them just last week." Rex said, as he came inside the house.

"It's not my fault I cherish seeing them so much!" She said in response to her cousin.

"Ok, ok! We're wasting time! We need to go!" Quetz said so they could start moving.

"Right!" Nota said after letting go of the kids. "We ought to get going!"

The family left out of the house to see Nota's own private jet not far off. "Was this really necessary?" Rex asked her.

"Well birthdays only happen once a year!" Nota responded.

Rex then responded with "But you bring that out for their birthday, my birthday, your birthday, mi amor's bi-"

"Ok you made your point! Now let's go!" Nota said back to him.

The family sat in the jet, in what felt better than even first class flying. "Hope you don't mind it just being me! Mi amor and mis bebes have to be elsewhere! But they send love and gifts!" Nota told the family as they sat down.

"That's fine! This is already so nice! Gracias Tia!" Ed responded to Nota.

"Would rather not deal with his annoying ass" Mari said under her breath.

"What was that, mijita?" Nota asked.

"OH! Nothing! Nothing at all!" Mari answered.

The jet speeded through the skies before reaching their destination: Cancun. The previous year, they decided to visit Mexico city, this time Cancun was their pick.

Once they reached their destination, their first objective was an aquarium in the area!

"They sure put a lot of attention on the dolphins" Nota noted.

"People are still ignorant to their crimes." Mari responded.

"Aw look at the penguins!" Ed pointed out

"Aw, so cute!" Quetz exclaimed when she saw!

"Oh hey! They let you go into some of the tanks with a diving helmet!" Rex pointed out.

Excitedly, Ed ran to do just that! Before long, he was in his swim trunks with a diving helmet on in the tank with fish and rays!

Nota and Quetz snapped many photos of him with the fish swimming around. "Aw you look so happy, Mijo!" Quetz exclaimed!

"The fish seem to really like him too." Mari says, as the fish seem to school around him.

After the aquarium, they then headed towards the underground springs known as the Cenotes.

As they went down deep into the caverns, near the water they talked a bit about the Cenotes.

"These were used for ritual sacrifice, y'know!" Quetz explained to everyone. "Many skeletons have been found in the waters of these! Tho this one is clear of any thankfully"

"I heard this is because the Maya believed these were entrances to Xibalba!" Nota added.

Suddenly a long and sharp grin grew across Mari's face.

Ed noticed this and immediately knew what she was planning. "No! Don't you dar-"

"Hey there Demons! It's me! Ya girl!" She suddenly yelled out.

"Mija, I don't think you should do that." Rex tried to tell her.

"HEY GHOULS! WHY DONTCHA COME OUT ALREADY!" She taunted.

"Mija! That's not necessary!" Quetz said.

"MICTLANTECUHTLI, YOU PUNK BITCH! COME ON OUT!" Mari yelled next.

"I don't think there's any stopping her now." Nota said.

"If you don't come out! This will be my cave!" Mari yelled.

The rest of the family resigned to just letting her continue as they continued towards the water at the bottom.

"Convenient that it's just us in this particular Cenote" Rex remarked.

Eventually they reached the water, and went in for a dip. "Oh the water is really nice!" Mari remarked.

"Feels fitting she of all people would enjoy water that might lead to Xibalba" Ed said.

Eventually after the Cenote, the family went to a shopping center, Nota having the intent to buy many many many gifts for the twins!

"Just ask for whatever Mijitos! I'll buy it for you!" She said with a big smile on her face.

The twins went to many a store with their aunt, getting so many souvenirs and gifts. Nothing was too expensive for her to buy for them.

At some point Ed noticed a ball, the same kind used for the game pok-A-tok. He walked up to it and realized how nice it'd be to give it to Valentina.

Then behind him, Nota was there. "Wanna get it for your lil girlfriend?" She asked him. "That's very sweet of you!"

Ed blushed a bit, before answering. "Y-yes! I'm hoping she'd like a new ball."

"Oh I'm sure she would! So let's pick it up for her!" Nota replied to him.

Eventually the trip was over with, and it was time to head back home! Once they had reached home, a small party was set up in the yard! With food, music, some visitors and the birthday cake!

"Ah hell yeah! Bigass cake!" Mari yelled.

The two sat at the table, eating some cake slices. Eventually Ed got a text from his girlfriend. It read: "sorry I couldn't make it to the party. I'll give you your gift next time we see each other!"

Ed still smiled as he looked at it, before suddenly his eyes were covered by two hands. "Guess who" came from the owner of said hands.

"Amor?!" Ed said when he recognized Valentina's voice!

She then removed her hands before turning him completely around. "You got it! It was me!" Valentina said.

"You made it!" Ed exclaimed!

"Of course I'm gonna make it to my love's birthday! And happy birthday to you too Maria!" She then said towards Mari, who was still eating cake.

Ed hugged and kissed Valentina immediately after that. He was happy to see her there!

The small party was a blast! Plenty of great food was eaten, gifts were given and the twins were very happy!

"Probably one of the best birthdays!" Mari said as she laid down.

"I'm happy you enjoyed it so much, mija!" Quetz said.

"Now we just need to see how to match it next year" said Rex.

"I'll think of something!" Nota added

"Well we'll be looking forward to it!" Ed finished.

Bam! Birthday fic completed! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Had a struggle thinking it up, but eventually managed something I really like!

Tags!

@hasbbdoneanythingwrong @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong @haskamadoneanythingwrong @haskiaradoneanythingwrong @akampana @littleminxthings @chaldeamage-neo @exmeowstic @violette-dreams

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

🫶Writing advent calendar 2023 Day 21🫶

Prompt: Bells

Aka: 1 year old Violetta really wants to grab something she can’t reach, but her aunt misunderstands

Read on ao3 or under the cut

”Thanks for doing this, Angie,” Maria said, handing over one year old Violetta to her.

”No problem!” Angie replied, ”We’re gonna have so much fun!”

Maria needed to buy the last christmas gifts, and thus needed a quick babysitter for Violetta. Angie was more than happy to say yes.

Violetta was in the age where she liked to explore a lot, and grab absolutely everything in her sight. Angie was well aware of this, and kept a careful eye on her.

Violetta wandered into the living room, looking around at all the items. There was something in particular she noticed, and immediately took an interest of.

She tried to grab it, but Angie immediately picked her up.

”No, we don’t touch anything!”

Violetta started whining.

”There are some toys in the kitchen you can play with, while I make you a snack. Those are much more fun than everything in this room!”

She placed her down on the kitchen floor, letting her play with a toy xylophone. Violetta did enjoy the xylophone quite a bit, and was occupied for a minute at least. But then she decided to head back to the living room to examine the thing she saw earlier.

However, the second she came close to it, her aunt picked her up again.

”Are you trying to escape?” she cooed. ”Little rascal…”

Violetta started whining again, wanting to get out of Angie’s grip.

”You need to eat something and you’ll feel better.”

She put Violetta down in her high chair, giving her some orange slices.

Violetta ate them up rather quickly. She wanted out of the high chair and back to the living room.

”Woah, you’re eating fast!” Angie said. ”Those orange slices are gonna go right through you.”

Violetta tried to pull herself out of the high chair. She needed to get to the living room right now.

”Why are you fussy?” Angie asked. She lifted her out of the high chair. Violetta at first hoped she would put her down. But she didn’t. She kept her in her arms, giving her some kisses on the cheek. Violetta loved cuddles and kisses, but not right now. She needed to get to the living room! Why couldn’t her aunt understand?

She was ready to throw herself out of Angie’s grip when Angie gave in and put her down on the ground. Immediately, she ran to the living room, with Angie quickly following her.

There was a certain item she could not reach, because it was too high up. She tried to stretch her arm as far up as possible, but to no luck. She let out a frustrated whine.

That’s when Angie picked her up again. She was actually happy about it this time, because now she was closer to reaching the item. She gripped her hand, trying to grab it. She was really close…

”Oops, I see someone needs a change! Is that why you’re so fussy?”

Angie carried her away to go change her, which only made her all the more frustrated. She tried to make Angie go back, but Angie misunderstood.

”Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you out of that dirty diaper.”

Violetta didn’t know why she needed to have her diaper changed at this very moment, when there was so much more important things going on. It was like the adults needed to change you the second you used it. What was wrong with waiting for a little while?

Violetta tried to talk to Angie. However, she forgot the detail that most of her speaking was unintelligible baby talk.

"Yes, exactly," Angie chuckled.

Violetta remembered there was a handful of words she knew that they understood. She decided to say on of them.

"Tia!"

"Yes, that's me."

"Tia..." She pointed at the living room, trying to get her point across that she needed to go there now. But Angie just giggled.

"Yeah, you can talk! Can you say more things? Can you say... mama?"

Violetta could do that. But she didn't know what that had to do with anything.

"Can you say mama?" Angie repeated.

Oh, alright. We're doing this now, Violetta thought. She had to admit, she loved the way these adults shined up whenever she said words that they understood.

"Mama!"

"Good!" Angie exclaimed, tickling her. "You're so good!"

Violetta giggled. She did love making her aunt happy.

"We're done, you got a new, clean diaper! You don't seem so fussy anymore."

Well, Violetta had to admit, it did always feel better wearing a clean diaper. But now, back to business. She needed to get to the living room. Luckily, Angie carried her right back out.

She pointed at the item, trying to grab it as soon as they were close enough to it.

Angie tried to follow where she was pointing. Sadly, she misunderstood that Violetta wanted to grab an expensive vase.

"No, no... we're not gonna take that."

She put Violetta down on the floor, so that she'd not be able to reach it. Violetta went over, trying to grab the item she was actually looking for, but Angie in a dash picked all the stuff up and stored them even higher up.

"You have some nice toys you can play with instead."

Violetta started to get really frustrated now. She had been trying to grab this item for a really long time, and now it was even further away?!

She started crying.

"Vilu..." Angie sighed. She went to the kitchen to get her toy xylophone. "Look! Here's a real toy for you!"

Violetta did not want to play with it. Angie tried to figure out what to do.

"Hm... you must be tired. Maybe a nap?"

"No!" Violetta screamed. "No" was a word she had thankfully learned to say so that the adults understood.

"What is it, sweetie? What do you want?"

At that point, something that Angie put higher up on the shelf fell down. Violetta saw it, and immediately lit up.

"Oh, it's a little bell..." Angie commented, picking it up.

"Ah! Ah!" Violetta shrieked, almost stumbling as she took excited steps up to her.

"You want the bell?"

"Beh!"

"Bell. Wait, was this the thing you were trying to reach all of this time?"

She handed it over and Violetta very excitedly started to shake it.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I thought you just wanted to break stuff you saw. But you just wanted the bell..."

Violetta sat down and laughed as the bell's sound echoed through the living room.

"You're really fond of musical instruments, aren't you?" Angie remarked. She bent down and gave her niece a kiss on the head.

Sometimes I need to write Angie and Baby Vilu content to get sane

[2aish-iteru3]

Married In A Hurricane (Bonus)

Camilo Madrigal x Reader

All characters written in this story is 18+.

Since it was highly requested, here is the bonus chapter of Married In A Hurricane.

No angst, just fluff to heal the broken heart.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5(finale). Bonus.

xxxx

(Reader’s POV)

“Milo she’s going to flip out and punch me if she see’s me. Are you sure I should come with you?”I peeked around the corner to see the Santo’s residence. There I saw Maria bossing around the gardeners which made their jobs so much harder than it needed to be.

“Yes it’s okay, plus I’d love mi vida to come with me. And don’t worry, I’ll protect you if she does anything to you”He gives me a flirty smile that made my heart melt. He needs to stop or else I’ll end up as a puddle by the end of the day.

It was a few days after Camilo had professed his love towards a door, but since ended up being there I guess towards me. With that being said, the past few days have been crazy. My initial plan was to leave Encanto but things have changed since then. I am now staying for good.

It started off with telling the Madrigals about the start of Milo’s and I’s relationship. Tia Julieta and Tio Agustìn were happy to hear the news and that resulted to Camilo getting showered with aprenas. The cousins all knew about our relationship given that Dolores had heard everything go down and was relaying the information as it was happening. As for Tia Pepa and Tio Felix…lets just say the Encanto’s skies were filled with double rainbows the whole day.

The last conversation we had that day was with Abuela. We were hesitant at first since we would have to tell her that the engagement with the Santo’s would have to break off. However, after we had explained everything from my feelings and Camilo’s realization about his feelings, Abuela was quiet before giving both of us a hug.

“I am so happy to hear that”Our shoulders immediately felt lighter.

That brings us to today. The last thing we needed to do was actually break the engagement. Camilo was going to he the one to do it, I just came along for moral support. (In reality, I being cowardly. I wanted to stay home but Camilo wanted otherwise)

“Lets make this quick and easy so that we can go on our picnic date”He takes a hold of my hand followed by a gentle kiss on the cheek. My face went red as fuck.

“M-Milo!”He laughs.

“Oh mi vida you are so cute, I’m so lucky”I blushed even deeper. This boy most definitely knew how to get me, and to be honest I was loving every second of it.

Camilo shoots me another smile before walking towards Maria who opened her arms thinking that Camilo was going in for a hug. He however stops walking before he got too close. I was far enough that Maria couldn’t spot me right off the bat, but close enough to see what was happening.

I could see her progressively get angrier until it got to a point where she just looked crazy. She threw a temper tantrum for a solid 10-15 minutes before throwing the ring she wore at Camilo(who caught it before it could fall on the ground). She stomps off right after. Camilo lets out a deep sigh, I began to laugh.

“Oh dang, maybe you should have just married her!”I teased. He shook his head and stared at the ring in the palm of his hand. After a few seconds he throws it behind him, past his shoulder.

“Opps”

“Camilo! Why would you do that?!That was probably so expensive”My eyes flew towards the direction he threw it in. He shrugs.

“Yours will be better”

“I-what”

“Nothing mi pretty vida”He smirks, gives me a wink, then walks off.

Did he just..Okay yea if my face wasn’t red already. It was most definitely the same shade as a fully ripen tomato.

“CAMILO!”

xxxx

The end.

Thank you for reading this story guys! I appreciate everyone who commented and hearted the parts.

If you were wanting more angst I have another on going story being written. Called 365 Days.

Its gonna be a banger sad story. So if you have the time check it out!

Thank you for all who worried enough about me over working myself! I will definitely keep that in mind :) <3

[mixed-theater-faisty-tings]

Lovin’ Kind

Chapter One

Pairing: Riff x Latina! Summary: Catalina is Valentina’s niece and has grown up in Doc’s which also means around The Jets. She is close friends with Tony but when he goes away after The Egyptian Kings rumble she seeks friendship with the new Puertorriqueños Maria, Anita, and The Sharks. A/N: Hello!! This is my first story on here and it is just for fun. In no way is this a perfect story by a perfect author I am just having fun writing about things I like. So thank you for being here and reading! Enjoy!! Feel free to message me for tags or just to chat or even feedback! Without further ado here is Lovin’ Kind. *Disclaimer*: I will be using language presented in the film (racist slurs) and I will also have profanity when felt necessary.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Catalina Pov

“ Mija!, has terminado de prepararte para Tony?” (Are you done setting up for Tony?), I hear my Tia Valentina yell at me down the staircase. “Si Tia!”, I yell back patting out the wrinkles in the bed sheets.

After over looking everything one more time I run back up the steps excited to see my best friend again.I have practically grown up at Doc’s, when mi Papa left mi Mama, she thought it best we move to America where my Tia Valentina had found love with a white man named Doc and owned a little drug store in West Side Manhattan. Along with living here came this gang named The Jets and Tony was their leader with Riff as his second however, Tony spent the most time here and we created a friendship while I cleaned up or helped out as much as I could as a child. He was truly my only friend but, when Riff would come around it wasn’t the same, in all honesty I can tolerate Riff but I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. He has been stealing from Valentina since he was six why would I? Anyway, last year The Jets had a rumble with The Egyptian Kings which led Tony to beating a kid nearly to death and that is how he ended up upstate for the last 12 months. But today he comes home finally and I couldn’t be happier, we exchanged few letters while he was away no one knew about them I figured he needed an alliance that wasn’t Jet related.

“He is going to be here any minute. I just hope he hasn’t bumped into any of the others you know”, My tia says wiping down the counter for the fourth time in the last hour.. “It will be okay. He promised he would come here first without any pit stops and he knows we will both murder him if he doesn’t.”, I try bring light. “Aye mija, you always know what to say. Te quiero mi niña”, she places a soft kiss on my head. “Te quiero mucho tia”, I smile. “Guess you started the party without me”, a voice rings from the doorway. “Cállate estupido(shut up stupid)”, I laugh giving him a hug.

Valentina follows and we have our reunion. Tony begins to thank my Tia for allowing him to stay downstairs and for offering him a job. He caught us up on his parole rules, and telling us how he wanted to change and be a better person. He is going to back off from the Jets and the job here is so he can save money we can’t pay him much but, we try for the few chores he and I do around here. “After what happened I don’t want to fight anymore it doesn’t seem worth it. You guys know I don’t hate anyone or anything..I guess it’s just change. Riff and I have gone through so much change since we were kids that when we see something unfamiliar or feel threatened our instinct is to throw a good, hard punch. But I am learning to accept change into my life.”, he explains. “I never really thought you one of those Jets. You aren’t full of hate like the rest of them. They think that because I married a gringo it makes me a gringa and by her being my niece she is also one but neither of us are. We are both puertorriqueña and proud of it. You’re gonna be just fine Tony,”, Valentina always knows what to say. “Let me get you settled downstairs ya giant”, I ruffle up his hair heading towards the door. “Hey now leave the hair out of this.”, he chuckles following me with his few belongings “ No me digas que hacer chico blanco porque te voy a pasear el culo “ (Don’t tell me what to do white boy because I will kick your ass), I laugh racing down the steps.

I show him where he is staying it wasn’t much just a bed in our storage space really but he didn’t mind.

“You know ten years of being friends and I still don’t understand you Catalina”, he says sitting on the bed. “Yeah well ten years of being friends and I will never understand the whole gang thing. I guess we are just a couple of enigmas huh.”, I joke sitting next to him. “I really appreciate ya being there for me while I was away”, he says. “Figured you needed a friend but umm Valentina wants you to start right away. There is an inventory list on the shelves over there just count how much of everything we have and then she will tell you what she needs brought up. I will see you a little later.”, I say. “And where are you going missy?”, he asks. “I am having dinner with some other friends I made while you were away”, I explain standing up and straighten out my dark orange skirt. “That explains why you’re all dressed up. Dressed up to replace me”, he takes notice making a quick joke. “Yeah yeah I’ll see ya later buddy boy”, I mock.

He waves and I head back up to say goodbye to my Tia. She compliments my outfit telling me to be safe. I admire myself one last time in the window adjusting the short sleeves on the tan flower printed shirt. Right as I am heading out the bell of the door rings. “Hola señoritas where’s my buddy boy at”, I hear the voice I loathe more than anything. “Aye Riff you know I don’t want you in my store and you sure as hell can’t see Tony. He needs to steer clear of delinquents like you”, Valentina attempts to shoo him out of the store. “Calm it down old lady you get too rowdy and you may break a hip.”, he walks past her. “Seriously Riff, just leave Tony alone and apologize to my Tia”, I say annoyed. “Ohh is Cat prissy today”, he crosses him arms leaning against the pinball machine. “I am not prissy. I just don’t want you treating my tia like crap. It’s getting real old.”, my voice clear of agitation. “Just tell me where Tony is and I will be out of your hair”, he puts his hands up in surrender. Valentina sighs in defeat and just walks away to organize shelves. I just ignore him and leave the store heading towards my dinner.

————————————————————————————

I knock on the door softly and am greeted by a very energetic Anita, with a peppy Maria behind her. The Sharks moved into the neighborhood a little after Tony went upstate it has been nice having other Puertorriqueños around it’s really only ever been mi Tia and I after my mother died. I love Valentina more than anything but, without Tony it was lonely and it wasn’t like The Jets were going to provide me any comfort especially Riff.

“Hola! Como estas?(Hi! How are you?)”, Anita hugs me instantly. “Muy bien, y tu?” (Very good, and you?) I responded embracing the two girls. I look behind them and find Bernardo the leader of The Sharks sitting at the table looking over his boxing schedule. Boxing is how he has made his living while it isn’t ideal he has done really well for himself and Anita has a business she runs in the apartment sewing and hemming articles of clothing for others while most of the other women clean at Gimbels an expensive, fancy shop for the Americanos.

“Thank god you are here Alta, they wouldn’t stop kissing”, Maria laughs. “Alta? I thought your name was Catalina?”, Bernardo chimes in. “My full name is Catalina Altagracia De la Rosa. I hate Catalina because of some old teasing..I like to be called Altagracia or just Alta..”, I explain trying not to think about Riff’s earlier comment. “Oh okay…Anita asi que como lo descubrí. Seis niños y luego podemos llamarlo.” (Anita so I figured it out. Six kids then we can be done), he says causing Maria and I to snicker on our way into her room. “Six kids! Marry a cat”, Anita says turning back towards the stove.

Maria shuts her door and we sit on the bed. It had been a few weeks since we saw each other I have been so busy at Docs and then she picked up some shifts at Gimbels we kept missing the other. “So how is Valentina?”, she asks. “She is good, uh you remember that family friend I told you about well he moved in today.”, I explain carefully not to give too much away the last thing I need is Nardo hearing I share a living vicinity with a former Jet. “That’s nice. Nothing much around here I mean Nardo is trying to set me up with Chino pero, I am just trying to experience New York City que no?”, she let’s out a deep sigh looking out the window. She is the more adventurous one out of the two of us I’ve always just stayed behind the doors of Doc’s too scared to experience life. Bernardo would lock Maria in this apartment if he could just to protect her.

“Chino is a great guy i’m sure everything would be just fine no? New York isn’t all it is cranked out to be. The city is kicking us all out of our homes to make room for some Performing Arts Center and we have two gangs wanting territory that is being taken anyway.”, I explain. “I never said Chino wasn’t great. It is just I barely got here and my brother has Anita, his boxing he created a life here while I took care of Papi back home. I want it to be my turn to build a life maybe go to school we could take classes together you know. Bernardo es mas terco que una mula (Bernardo is more stubborn than a mule).” She fiddles with her skirt. “María, estoy seguro de que podríamos resolver algo. Si yo también tomo las clases, tal vez tu hermano y mi tía estarían más abiertos a la idea porque nos tendríamos el uno al otro. (Maria i am sure we could figure something out. If I take the classes too maybe your brother and my aunt would be more open to the idea because we would have each other). Pero let’s hope they don’t make a Shark walk us everyday.”, I say trying to lighten the mood. “Sounds like a great idea! Only a month left till classes start right?”, she asks, I nod. We start planning how to ask if we could do this. We are both 18 but between her brother and my tia it can be hard to convince them of what we think is right for ourselves.

“Chicas! Hora de comer (girls time to eat)”, Anita shouts. We both head out of the room and over to the table. “So there is going to be a dance next week at the school. Some type of social thing I guess. I could alter you girls some dresses if you’d like?”, Anita offers joining us at the table. “Really Anita you’d do that?”, I ask. “Mi hermana is going nowhere near that dance”, Bernardo says sternly. “Nardo por favor! I want to experience New York it would be my first time and what if Alta is there that’s not fair.”, Maria defends. “Come on bebe she will be safe with us and this could be a chance to set her up with Chino as her date.”, Anita tries to calm the conversation. “Fine but only if Chino goes. Maybe Junior will go with Altagracia no?’, he suggests. “That would be nice.”, Anita says. Maria and I exchange a look but figure it is our only chance at going and hesitantly agree with their set up. “Perfecto! I will go to the market tomorrow and get the things I need and you two will be surprised.”, Anita smiles.

We eat dinner in silence with a little small talk here and there either catching up or talking about Nardos next fight. I try to avoid talking about the Jets around them in an attempt to keep peace between everyone. As long as either gang doesn’t do anything stupid we should we perfectly fine.

“ Gracias por la cena estaba delicioso. Podría ayudar a limpiar?( Thanks for dinner, it was delicious. Can I help clean up)”, I ask wiping the corners of my lips of any left over food. “Si, if you and Maria want to wash dishes. Let’s not forget we need to practice our english.”, Anita says.

We gather the plates and begin dish duty. Maria became my best friend after Tony had gone upstate. She just moved her not too long before Anita introduced us. Anita comes by Doc’s to talk to my Tia sometimes and she brought Maria by one day since we were the same age they figured we would be good friends. It was nice to be around other Puerto Ricans and especially girls while I may have grown up with the Jets I never ran with them nor played into their tricks.

“I am excited for this dance! Just one week and we will be experiencing life wont we?”, Maria says. “I hope so.”, I smile at her. Once we finish cleaning up I decide it was getting late and say my goodbyes to head back to Doc’s. I leave the building, the cold air of New York City hitting my face instantly. I always loved walking in the streets at night it was the perfect temperature and all I could hear was the subtle clicks of my heel on the pavement. The stars were bright tonight and before I knew it I was back at the store my Tia ready to close up for the night. ————————————————————————————

“Hola Tia!”, I exclaim. “Hola mija how was Anitas?”, she asks. “It was good we had some Pasteles con arroz.”, I bring her into an embrace. “Sounds delicioso”, she smiles. “You go lay down I will close up and sweep.”, I smile. “Are you sure?”, she asks.

I nod. “Go get some rest okay.”. “Hasta mañana. Te quiero mucho Alta.”, She kisses my cheek and heads off. Just as I am about to lock the doors Riff emerges from Tony’s corners seemly upset. I watch his motions as he hastily runs his fingers through his hair and paces in a circle.

“Take a picture it will last longer.”, he clearly notices my gaze. “Whatever. Riff please get out so I can close up for the night.”, I say pointing at the door.

He comes close to me near the counter with his hand on his hip and smirk across his face. “Make me kitty cat.”, he says and I cringe at the name. “I’ve told you my name is Catalina you imbecile.”, I try to move away from him but his hand shoots at my waist keeping me in place. “I know you’re name but, I think cat is way better. Besides, you can’t insult me if I don’t know what it means. So where’s the warden?”, he says. “She went to bed. I told her i’d take care of the store.”, I say avoiding looking at him. His hand leaves my waist and reaches behind me. Our chests collide, his face coming a little too close to mine, my breath subtly quickening. He pulls away with a Milkway in his hand. “Five cents now.”, I demand. “Add it to my tab won’t ya doll.”, he says taking a bite of the candy bar. “You can’t keep stealing from here!”, I shout. “Fine then add it to Tony’s tab employee discount right.”, he says smugly. “Just get out Riff I can’t with you anymore.”, I sigh and face the counter. “As you wish. Here you can have my other half.” He says leaving the half eaten candy on the table before walking out of the store.

I lock up the doors and stare at the candy. Why is he so annoying? I’ve only ever tolerated him and I barely know the other Jets names. Tony always thought it better I not be involved with the gang much and frankly I was thought so too. However, the Jets took every chance they could to tease me as a Puerto Rican but nowhere near their new lows of causing mayhem with the Sharks.

“Hey what you still doing up here?’, I hear Tony say coming upstairs. “Just closing up and cleaning a bit leaves less to do in the morning. Riff just left.”, I toss the candy bar in the trash. “Yeah he was bugging me about some Jet business.”, he leans against the pinball machine Riff was leaning on just hours before. “They want their leader back..Riff tried to be you and step up but sometimes he loses control of them.”, I admit. “I know I know but I told ya I don’t wanna go back to that life.”. “How did that go over with your boy?”. “Not well he was pretty mad when he was leaving.” “Noticed that too.” “I just wish he could understand.”. “You can’t force him to.”

“He’s been there for me nearly my whole life. It’s been Tony and Riff but now we are in two different spots. However, he did mention some dance they are having I guess the Jet’s are going.”, he says causing me to jump. “The Jet’s are going to the dance next week!?”, I half ask and half panic. “Yeah why?’, he is clearly confused. “No reason just didn’t realize that the dance was for everyone thought it was just Puerto Ricans going.” I say wiping the counter. “Porto ricans? So you’re going?”, he asks. I nod and decide to admit it to him, “ Yes while you were gone I made friends with some of the Shark girls and they invited me to go and are setting me up with a Shark.”. “Do they know you are also involved with the Jets.”, he gives me stern look as if he was my big brother. “First of all I am not ‘involved’ with the Jets okay and second of all no they don’t know about you or that I am friends with you. They know I have encounters with the guys because I work here but that is it.”, I explain. “Just be careful okay I might be fine with this but there ain’t no guarantee the Jets will be.”, he sighs. “I am Puerto rican that doesn’t change because I grew up with Doc or anything like that.”, I say. “I know I just mean-“

I cut him off, “I know what you meant by it Tony but, I am tired of this. I am no gringa I am proudly puertorriqueña so I will spend time with my people and my friends if the Jets have something to say about it then I will handle it. The Sharks are harmless they don’t want to hurt anyone just like the Jets they want a home.”, I say before leaving Tony alone.

Why is it all so complicated? And why did I agree to go this dance with Junior? Why did Riff get so close to me like that? I am too tired to figure this all out right now.

@whisperofsong @theforgottenmcrmy @belenchies @riffheartsgraziella @dellaspinstales

[allhailthewicked]

Random JATP Headcannon: Reggie Pep-Talking Julie

 Disclaimer: Hey y’all there’s a lotta negative self-talk and body image stuff in this long and chonky puppy (like a dachshund). Am I just simply projecting in this headcannon? Si señores, señoras, y señoritas ...umm chile anyway so... on to the angst and fluff.

Julie is a bad bitch.

And we love that for her. But every bad bitch has a few weaknesses. Like popping balloons or falling for a ghost who died in 1995 or being afraid that you are going to lose everyone you’ve ever cared about. But there are days when Julie’s biggest weakness is her body. Then again Julie loves her body, she loves how her hair curls and how it frames her, and even though it can be a pain in the ass, she loves it. She also loves her smile and the gap between her teeth and how musical her laugh is. She loves how she can pull off a blazer and a dress and how her eyes sparkle in the sun. She loves how clear her skin is and her brows and her height and everything but some days she doesn't. But some days she looks in the mirror and cringes at what she sees.

Ha, it's funny to think that I can pull this off.

I'm too much of this and not enough that.

I don't really love how I look in this.

Maybe I should just change

These thoughts often seem to be swirling around in Julie's brain. But sadly those aren't the worse thoughts she has that award goes to thoughts like:

Luke would never fall for a lifer like you.

and

He’s way too good for you. Maybe you'll have better luck if you're prettier

Julie sighs flattening her crop top grabbing her sides before quickly opting to change into a longer looser shirt. She grabbed her phone from her nightstand shooting a text to Flynn.

Trouble #1💜: hey love! you free rn? i’m having a terrible bbd today and i need a distraction and a hug

Trouble #1💜: and maybe a good cry

Trouble #2💕: aww girlie i would love to but i’m in colorado at my aunt’s wedding reception

Trouble #1💜: oh shit. i’m sry i forgot.

Trouble #1💜: no thoughts head empty only body negativity

Trouble #1💜: how’s the wedding? did stacy cry when your aunt came down the aisle?

Trouble #2💕: don’t worry about it jules. a certain dead ghost boy has haunted your brain cells maybe you can go to him. i’m sure he’ll love the cuddles 😉😉😉

Trouble #2💕: stacy bawled btw but so did aunt hilda and dad pretended that he didn’t, but we all know he loves seeing hilda happy.

Trouble #2💕: it’s so fucking freezing. but the dress was absolutely gorgeous tho

Trouble #1💜: cuuuteee love that for them. well, i have to go guys maybe practice a song or two. but luke was kind of the one who started this. idk i’m just going to try and get through the day so i can rush back to my room and rewatch New Girl or something

Trouble #2💕: WHAT DID THAT BASTARD DO?!?!?!

Trouble #2💕: I WILL COME DOWN FROM COLORADO TO BEAT HIS ASS!!!

Trouble #1💜: He did nothing. I’m just overthinking ya know. Like I’m not worth it. He doesn’t need me. I don’t deserve him

Trouble #2💕: jules i’m going to be real with you. HONESTLY HE DOESN’T DESERVE YOU!!!! but he does look at you like you’re his source of life so don’t let this dead, paler than wonder bread boy hurt you!!! he’s so lucky to have you in his life.

Trouble #2💕: you are a gorgeous girl!!!! stunning. an absolutely beautiful, smart, and amazing person!! everybody lights up when you walk into the room. but you know who lights up the most. mr. boo-berry music man simping cute bright dead eyes looking ass.

Trouble #2💕: but maybe you should talk to alex if you don’t believe me. sadly he seems like the himbo with the most emotional knowledge. so maybe talking to him will help. but promise me you’ll take care of yourself love

Trouble #1💜: I promise. flynn imma just wear a bigger sweatshirt and pretend that i’m okay instead of feeling like I want to wrap myself in a blanket. it’ll be all good. gtg bye love you :)

Trouble #2💕 : THAT’S NOT HEALTHY!!! but please do take care of yourself. i’ll be back soon and i’ll talk to you later💕.

Julie grabs an old Orphuem hoodie that belonged to her mom, slipping it on noticing how she still hasn’t quite grown into it. Walking past her mirror one more time Julie scrunches her nose not appreciating how her tight jeans look on her. In fact, she doesn’t like how her nose looks today. 

Fuck I hate when I feel like this. Maybe Flynn is right. I should probably talk to Alex and at least try to avoid Luke. He doesn’t need to see me like this.

Sighing, she makes her way over to the garage. She opens the door only to see Reggie intensely focused on playing the riff he was working on for their new song.

“Is Luke around? I need to snatch up Alex, but I don’t want him to see me and worry,” she asked, starting to giggle when he snapped out of his trace as a small yelp left his lip.

Reggie spotted Julie’s Orpheum hoodie not noticing how much his eyes widened.

Julie cocks her head at the gaping Reginald before realizing he was staring at her hoodie. “It was my mom’s,” Julie whispered as Reggie nodded along, “she used to work there in college. Mom and her best friend, my Tia Maria were waitresses there. But I’m getting distracted, is Alex here? I just really need to talk to him and his dumb emotional availability.” 

“Well, it’s Alex and Willie’s 6-month anniversary, so I hope he’s not around here. But he’s like at the beach with Willie being all mushy.”

“Oh wow, they’re so cute together! He’s definitely seemed so happy since he met him,” Julie said, truly proud of her drummer but not completely masking her disappointment of not having anyone to talk to.

“Yeah, he's more free now. Plus it gives me and Luke the opportunity to rag on him on how easily he flushes when Willie teases him. But you don’t need to worry about lover boy or your lover boy,” he says while waggling his eyebrows at her. 

Julie sadly laughs trying to hide her face from the boy. As Reggie seemingly oblivious continued “Luke is at his parents. He’s been going more often trying to find sneaky ways to leave his song. Some unpublished songs Julie. He has never done anything like that since you went to his parent’s house with him. The closure is cathartic for him,” he whispered, putting down his bass. “He loves seeing his mom’s face light up when she finds another song. But you seem down Julie, what’s wrong?”

“Oh it’s nothing Reggie don’t worry about it,” Reggie cocks an eyebrow at her with a concerned look on his face. Julie looked away sighing, putting on her hood before continuing on, “I’m just a little under the weather and just needed someone to talk to, but it’s fine. I’ll be fine. I will be fine in a few hours. But don’t worry, and please don’t tell Luke.”

“Well Julie you can talk to me,” Reggie pauses puts down his bass putting his hands behind his head, legs cross, frowning slightly, “Believe it or not I can be a little insightful but seriously Julie you’re like my little sister and I hate to see you like this.”

Reggie taps on the spot on the couch next to him motioning for Julie to sit down.

“I’m not going to force you to tell me anything but if you need someone to talk I here when you are ready,” And with that, Reggie picked up his bass and started to work on what seems like a new song.

Together they sit in this calming silence as Reggie starts to pluck away at this melody taking notes of what chord progressions work and what doesn’t while Julie quietly points at chords. This goes on for about five minutes until Julie finally says something.

“Fine okay you need to promise me that you won’t tell Luke because he’ll try and fix this, and he’ll probably make me feel worse,” Reggie quickly nods before putting his fist out giving her a promise fist bump. Julie wetly laughs at this before taking her hood off, running her hands through her hair.

“You know for years I’ve waked up and then immediately looked in the mirror and some days I loved what I see those days are good. I love how I look and how I feel, and I’m just happy. But some days I don’t... some days I look in the mirror and I just see every single flaw I have, and I just want to hide in my bed and not let anyone see me. Some days I feel like I don’t deserve you or Luke or Alex or Flynn or even my family. I just look into the mirror, and I’m like why would anyone stand to look at me. And you know today is one of those days. When Mami was alive she would call a day like today a BBD. It was a code for bad body day or day when we would just wear matching hoodies, cuddle, and binged movies without telling Dad what was wrong. But he understood, he understood that Mami would take care of it and that she understood what I was going through. We did it so often until she you know... that I don’t know how to tell my dad about it. Like him making me hot chocolate like he used to won’t make going away,”  Julie sighed wiping the quickly forming tears from her eyes. Julie turned away from the concerned, so he couldn’t see how close she is to completely breaking down.

Reggie wrap his fettuccine arms around Julie pulling her into a warm hug that smelled like the lemon-lavender bath and body works body wash she bought him for the shower in the garage. The was comforting which led to Julie letting her guard down, shoulders shaking as she heavily sobbed into her undead friend’s shoulder as he rubbed her back. After she was seemingly cried out she looked up at Reggie, who looked wide eyed at her.

“I’m sorry I snotted all over your flannel. God that’s so disgusting. I’m just going to go to bed and just mope and watch Netflix. Thank for being a shoulder I could lean on. I’m sorry that I was just being annoying,” Julie whispered as she tried to wipe away the snot only to make a bigger mess.

"Hey hey hey it's okay Julie I can just wash it or like blame it on ghost ectoplasm. Julie do we leak ectoplasm?"

Julie laughed wetly as Reggie frantically looked to see if he was oozing before realizing that he was getting distracted. She quickly noticed the major shift in demeanor change as he seriously looked at her.

"Julie you are beautiful and I know that you don't feel like that now but you will eventually. And I know that you don't want me to fix you and I won't because I can't. And I know you might want to try to impress Luke with how you look or just think that your looks are all that Luke that think about, but I am his best friend and I know that he would be head over fucking heels gone for you. Even if you look like whatever a Jar-Jar looks like he would see you as the light of his world. He is in love with you and your soul and you deserve that love. But you deserve self love even more. Julie you are not a thing to be looked at then judged. You are a person with feelings and  personality and a story, a story to tell. Your body looks the way it does because of all the things you've experienced in life. Julie I know this all may sound meaningless coming from me but you are literally one of the strongest people I know and I know you can through. You will not be less strong if you reach out for help. You might be my favorite Molina but talking to Ray is smarter than you think and he can help. I just hate seeing my sister hurt like this," Reggie said before yelping as he noticed that Julie had started to bawl again.

"Wait Julie no I'm sorry. Was that too much. God I know you said I shouldn't try to fix things. I should've kept my dumb mouth closed and not bring up Ray. I'm sorry Julie don't cry," Reggie rambled nervously rubbing her back

“No no no no Reggie you didn’t say too much. You just shocked me honestly but like in a good way. I mean I can’t say that I will believe everything you said. But thank you Reg. Thank you I am so glad that you are in my life. You’re my favorite Peters and you are much smarter than other people give you credit for,” Julie says laughing at Reggie’s bright smile.

“I mean need them to underestimate me sometimes. But let’s watch something together to at least make your BBD a little better.”

Julie smilies quickly nodding before putting on the first episode of the Mandalorian and snuggling close to the older brother that she never had. 

Julie felt okay to say the least for the next couple of weeks her next BBD hit her. Julie sighed pushing herself off the bed looking in the mirror that is covered in encouraging notes from her Dad, Reggie, and Flynn. She sighed about to leave her room to go talk to her Dad again about what was going on before she notice a hoodie on the bed. It was a fleece lined hoodie that was left on her bed folded her bed saying ‘Uke I’m your father’ on it. 

Reggie Julie sighed shaking her head smiling as she picked up the little note that was left with it 

‘I knew that you said that you and mom had matching hoodies for your BBD’s so here’s one that we can wear together. I mean only if you want to I know it was something you and your mom did so I don’t want to butt in on a tradition. But it could be like a signal that you’re having a BBD. I don’t know it might be stupid but I hope you like it.’

Julie smiles at the slight awkwardness of the note before slipping on the hoodie

A/N: HEY IT’S ME AGAIN WITH THE ANGST FOR THE SECOND TIME IN LESS THAN A WEEK!!! Idk what it is but every time I write something for this fandom it turns into angst. Am I sadist? Ehhh wouldn’t be surprised but idk I think I went through something writing this lol. Also I’m sorry if some the dialouge is cringe I’m tired and I really wanted to post befire I got distracted. Anyway please let me know if you want to be added to my taglist down below by either replying to this post, reblogging this post, or sending me an ask! I would appreciate reblogs and feedback because I love reading your guy's comments and tags they seriously make my day!!! but it's fine if you don't want to :)

~✨My Taglist Isn’t Under the Cut Tonight Lol✨~

@poppin-peters, @sunset-bobby, @theobligatedklutz, @soupforfree, @iamthefryiestfrench-blog, @fiddlepickdouglas, @gay-ghosts-committing-crimes

[itsjustmyfantasyroom]

My heart

A surprise in this one, although the header picture gives it away! Its a long one

Warnings: SVU crimes, hostage situation, hurt detectives, medical stuff, nightmares and shock.

Enjoy x

"Come on now, you need to put the gun down. If you shoot me you'll get life. Let us go, my partner needs help he is bleeding out. Come on -you don't want it to end like this"

*BANG*

The day started just like any other, you and Rafael taking far too long to get out of bed because he wouldn't stop putting his hand up your pj shirt.

"Come to me at lunch" he was kissing you up your neck and had his hand up your shirt running his pointer finger along the base of your breasts,

"I'll see what I can do Rafi, but right now we are going to be late"

Showering and dressing for work. You walked into the bullpen to find everyone already at their desks,

"Morning Sonny"

"Morning Y/N"

"Hey Fin, Hey Amanda"

"Morning"

Liv came rushing out of her office,

"We have a situation. Get your vests I'll fill you in, in the car"

A young women game creator had been kid napped and was being held hostage. She had been sexually and physically assaulted all being live streamed. You all made your way over to an old ware house where TARU traced the live streaming. The building was surrounded. Fin and Amanda found her tided up on a lower level while you and Sonny headed up to the roof with your weapons drawn. A helicopter hovering over spotted the 2 preps on the roof both armed.

Rafael was in his office, he couldn't concentrate on work. He couldn't get you out of his mind. He had always thought in his past relationships he was happy till he wasn't. But he was wrong none of them were happy. But with you he was so happy, he didn't need to kid himself. Everything you guys had was everything he had ever wanted. He wanted nothing more than to get you into his office that lunch time and show you how much he loved you. He picked up his phone and opened it to message you:

10.40 am- Rafael: Have lunch with me Hermosa, I need to see you xx

Just as he put down his phone Carmen came rushing in not even knocking,

"Mr Barba" she ran over to the TV and turned it on.

"We are crossing over live to the scene unfolding right now. We have been informed that two armed men are holding two SVU Detectives at gun point"

It then crossed over to a picture of the roof top, Sonny and You both on your knees with your arms up in the air with two men standing in front you both, pointing their weapons at you and them wearing your bullet proof vests. All colour drained from his face. Without a word he jumped up grabbing his jacket and phone and ran out not saying a word to Carmen who was holding back tears herself.

Sonny was laying on the floor, blood rushing out of his forehead. The main perp had pistol whipped him so hard that it knocked him out when he was trying to talk them both down when they took your vests and guns. EMT rushed in as soon as Fin gave the all clear after he shot one prep in the leg and the other surrender. Amanda rushed over to you and picked you up off the ground pulling you into her arms.

"Aman- I ca-" you tried to get your breath but you just couldn't, you grabbed onto her arm so tight she thought you would leave bruises. You felt like you were drowning.

"I need help over here NOW" Amanda screamed

Sonny was on the stretcher and his head bleed under control but still unconscious. Another EMT unit came rushing in with oxygen, and slung the mask onto your face. They sat you down on the stretcher in case you passed out.

"Is she going to be ok?" Amanda was nervous, she was sitting beside you trying to keep you sitting up while the EMT looked over you.

"Yeah she is in shock, her blood pressure and oxygen are dropping" one of the EMT's answered back.

You were light headed from the lack of oxygen, you lent your head on Amamda's shoulder, grabbed her hand and closed your eyes.

"I'm going to lay her down, she needs fluids" another EMT informed Amanda.

----

"Liv, why didn't you call me" Rafael ran up to her.

"Rafa, I'm sorry, I just, I didn't think. Everything happened so fast"

Just then Sonny was rushed down into the back of the ambulance. Not even asking for permission, Rafael ran towards the building,

"BARBA STOP"

He didn't listen he just kept going making his way up to the roof, he wasn’t sure what he was going to be walking into, but that didn't stop him. As he got to the roof top he didn't even stop to take a breath. He came rushing through the doors to see you grabbing onto Amanda's hand while the EMT's were putting a drip in. Amanda noticed him out if the corner of her eye and turned to face him.

"Barba, what are you doing up here? It's a crime sence you need go"

"I'm not leaving Rollins" and he rushed over

"What happened? Is she ok?"

"She is in shock"

Amanda let go of your hand and Rafael moved into her place grabbing your hand and running his other in your hair.

"Rafi" you smiled up at him

"We have stabilised her but she needs to be monitored, we will be taking her in"

"I'll ride with her" Amanda nodded at him

----

You opened your eyes and the light hit you,

"You’re awake" Rafael was standing over you, "I'll get a nurse"

"Your blood pressure is back to normal, and your oxygen levels have gone up. I would still like to keep you here for another couple of hours"

"Thanks you Doctor" Rafael answered back as the door walked out of the room.

"Rafi, where is Sonny?"

"He is been moved to a ward, they are keeping him over night. His concussion was bad, he needed a few stitches"

"But he is ok?" your eyes filled with tears.

"Yes mi Hermosa. He is fine" Rafael kissed your cheek as the door to your room opened again.

"Y/N" Liv, Amanda and Fin came walking in.

"You’re awake" Amanda lent down and hugged you, followed by Liv.

"Fin, I want to thank you. You saved my life" you grabbed his hand.

"No drama, just another day at the office" you all laughed.

"No Fin, seriously, thank you" Rafael held out his hand and shook Fin's.

"Take tomorrow off Y/N. It's been a hard day" Liv looked down at you with a half smile.

"No I'll be fine" you gave a small smile back.

"No Hermosa, Liv is right, take tomorrow off and go back next week"

4 hours later you were discharged. Rafael wanted to take you straight home but you wanted to see Sonny before you left.

You walked into his room and his eyes were closed. His forehead was swollen and bandaged up. Rafael stayed at the door and watched. You walked over to Sonny taking his hand into yours and held it. He opened his eyes and let his eyes adjust.

"Hey Y/N" he gave you his big smile.

"You OK Sonny?" a tear fell down your cheek.

"Better now I've seen you’re OK" he pulled you in and you hugged him back.

****

"Y/N, Y/N, its OK, it's just a dream, its OK sshh I'm here" 

You were sobbing into Rafael's neck. You had a horrible nightmare.

"OH Rafi, it was horrible. Why would I be having nightmares? I didn't after Lewis"

"It was a different thing Hermosa. Just remembering the photo that was on the news makes me feel sick. But it's OK I'm here. I'll keep you safe"

****

Rafael had gone out to get some lunch, and you had just put some clothes away when your phone started to ring,

"Hey Nick, I miss you"

"Hey Y/N, I miss you too. How are you feeling?"

"I'm OK, the nightmares have started though"

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Hang on a second, I have to get the door" Nick stayed quite on the other end of the phone, you walked to the door and opened it

"OH MY GOD NICK" you squealed and jumped into his arms, wrapping your arms around his neck. He lifted you up off the floor and spun you around. Tears fell from your eyes. He put you down and put his hands on your shoulders.

"What are you doing here?"

"Barba called me and told me you needed your best friend. I got on the first flight"

He pulled you in and kissed you on top of the head.

"How long are you here for?"

"Just the weekend. Barba told me you go back to work on Monday, so I fly out Sunday night"

"I've missed you so much Nick"

"I've missed you too. Zara wasn't happy that I came without her, but Maria took her to her parents this weekend"

"Oh I miss my girl"

"She misses her Tia too. So are you going to keep me in the hall or let me come in?" He laughed, you grabbed his hand and pulled him inside towards the kitchen.

"Barba's not back yet? Hope he gets my order right" Nick scoffed.

You turned on the jug, and spun and raised your eye brows at him.

"You two actually planned this together?"

"Hard to believe right" he laughed hard

"Where are you staying?"

"Here. Barba said you had an air mattress"

"Really? Wow" 

Just then Rafael walked through the door and rounded the corner with two brown paper bags.

"Amaro, how was your flight?" Rafael gave Nick a half smile.

You rushed over to him and wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

"Yuck" Nick spat out with a laugh and you pulled away with reddened cheeks, Rafael had a pleasantly stunned look on his face.

"Thanks you Rafi, for organising this. You knew just what my heart needed" he winked back at you.

The weekend went by fast. Rafael asked for the same days off so he could be there for you. Nick wanted to go and see Sonny. You guys managed to catch him just before he was sent home.

"Jeez Y/N, I get one knock to the head and you bring your old partner back" you giggled at Sonny and wrapped your arm around his middle.

"Never Sonny, I don't want him back, your a better cook"  you stuck you tongue out at Nick, him laughing back at you.

You guys had a video call with Zara and she made Rafael promise to bring you for a visit. One night over dinner you spoke to Rafael and Nick honestly about how you were feeling after having another horrible nightmare the night before. You ended up in tears with Nick squeezing your hand tight and then Rafael pulling you into him and kissing you all over your face kissing away the tears.

Next thing the weekend was over and Nick had left. It was a tearful good bye from both of you,

"You call me if you need me, any time" he kissed your forehead, tears running down his cheeks.

"I always need you Nick. Thank you for being here for me" you hugged him tight leaving tears on his shirt.

----

You were in the study letting the air mattress down and tidying up. Rafael was standing at the door watching you. You had got frustrated because of how slow the air was coming out, so you laid on it, which made him burst laughing.

"Rafi, how long had you been standing there?" You frown up at him.

"Long enough" he smirked at you.

Once the mattress was down, he pulled you up to standing and placed his hands on your cheeks.

"Do you think you’re ready to go back to work?"

"I think so" you paused "nothing happened to me. I wasn't hurt"

"Physically" he ran his thumb over one side of your cheek

"Talking to you and Nick last night helped a lot Rafi, I didn't have a nightmare last night" he huffed at you.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive Rafi....I want to thank you for everything you have done for me over the last couple of days. Organising Nick to come, I know it must have been hard for you to find out what happened on the news. But you have done nothing but take care of me. I love you, thank you so much"

"Your my whole heart Hermosa, I love you more than anything, I would do anything for you"

[themusicplayedherlife]

Some Sugar

Prologue: The Walls Are Caving in

pairing: sugar daddy!steve rogers x reader characters: reader, reader’s family: mom and sister, may parker, peter parker, steve rogers word count: 3k+ warnings: angst, family issues, money problems summary: your family money issues are only getting worse and you don’t know what to do a/n: its hereeeee and this is part of @the-canary​‘s lyrics challenge! lol let me know what you guys think!

all || next

The nurses greet you with a smile as you pass by their station. You return their smile with one of your own, ignoring the struggle it is just to lift the corners of your lips to do so. They’re chatting excitedly about something amongst themselves, but you don’t bother stopping to check in with them, you’re only here to see your mom before heading out to pick up Esmeralda from school, anyway.

The hallways are a plain white and the lights are blinding in comparison to the fluorescent yellow in the patient rooms. The smell of strong chemicals lingering in your nose, getting stronger as you approach the room your mom is occupying.

Laughter reaches your ear as you push open her door, and you’re surprised to see Esmeralda sitting by your mom’s side, looking every bit a spitting image of you and your mom, only younger.

“Esme, what are you—“

“You’re here,” a familiar voice says from your left, and you’re even more surprised to see May and her nephew Peter sitting on the uncomfortable loveseat. “Esme said you wouldn’t be out for another couple of hours. If we had known we would have picked you up on our way here.”

“May! Peter! Hi. Yeah, I—I’m sorry. What are you doing here?” You had tried to keep your attention on May and Peter to not seem rude, but seeing your sister here instead of at school where she said she’d be is throwing you off. “I thought you had cheer-leading tryouts?”

“The pipes under the football field unexpectedly burst and flooded the field and half of the school. So cheer-leading tryouts were cancelled,” she says offhandedly and Peter nods, confirming she’s not lying. But something in the way his eyes shift from his Aunt May and your sister, and finally to you has you doubting their story. 

But there’s no way that she’d come up with such a huge lie that you can easily debunk by asking May or calling the school—she’s too smart for that. There’s a reason they’re hiding something, and Esmeralda wouldn’t hide something from you unless she thought it was necessary—is she worried about the cost? Your heart drops to your stomach knowing that might be part of it. She’s always been hyper aware of what she can and can not have, even though you try your hardest to give her everything you can to the point that you took out a loan just to pay for her school’s tuition this year. But with your mom’s hospital bills added to the pile at home, she knows you’ll be working overtime to meet due dates.

“There’s always next year,” she says with a smile on her face, trying to cheer you up—when it should be you cheering her up.

“No, postponement date?” you ask, and she pauses briefly before shaking her hand. 

“It’s at the same time as the Debate Team meeting.”

Your eyes move to your mom, who is watching you and Esmeralda with warmth in her eyes, but the small downturn of her lips tells you she’s blaming herself—again.

“Okay,” you start slowly, watching as your little sister’s face lights up. “Next year, then.” She doesn’t wave you away when you ruffle her hair.

May scoots over and pats the empty space between her and Peter. “You must be tired.”

“I’m fine, May.” Not really. You really could use a nap, maybe a whole cup of coffee sans sugar and milk. But you still trudge over to them and plop between them, laughing when Peter makes a show about being squished between the armrest and you.

You spend the rest of your break laughing at the stories Peter and your sister tell your mom about school and their friends. It’s easy to fall into a carefree mentality, to forget your worries when you’re surrounded by everyone, but it’s just as easy for it to shatter.

The alarm on your phone goes off, alerting you and everyone that playtime is over for you. With a barely concealed groan, you stand. “I should start heading out.”

“What time are you off, sweetheart?” your mom asks in her tired, gravelly voice, the machines hooked up to her frail body beeping rhythmically.

“After midnight, maybe. Depends how slow it is at the bar.” Which really means, I’ll be out at two in the morning, at best.

Her furrowed eyebrows says she doesn’t like that one bit. You don’t like it either and neither does Esmeralda. It was easier when mom was home, Esme didn’t have to spend hours alone in your shit apartment waiting for you to come home before finally feeling safe to go to sleep. But what else are you supposed to do? You need the hours and the money.

“Why doesn’t Esme stay with us for the night?” May’s voice steals your attention away from your thoughts.

“Can I? It’ll give Peter and me the chance to work on our presentation!”

“It’ll be awesome! We can stay up and watch Rogue One again and—and—I—I mean totally work on our History presentation, yep.”

You snort at the sheepish smile on Peter’s face and the glare your sister sends his way. “It’s your call, ma.”

She smiles weakly. “I think it’s fine. Thank you, May.”

May walks over to her and squeezes her hand gently. “You don’t have to thank me. You know Peter and I are always here to help. We should head out too. You need your sleep.” She turns to you with a smile. “Want us to give you a ride to work?”

“That would be great, thank you.”

The bar, known as Howlies to the regulars, was packed from the moment you arrived, surprisingly enough. Every inch of it covered by bodies sitting on the booths distributed throughout or standing in groups with their friends in hopes of finding an empty booth to claim for themselves. People ordered with a speed you had not seen since working here, but you kept up—appletinis, White Russians, Bourbon on the rocks, shots—so many orders and drinks flowing.

Guess your boss’ newest advertisement method is working.

By the time you’re getting ready to close, your feet are killing you and your neck is stiff. Even bending over to pick up something or to wipe a table is a pain on your lower back. Closing up is usually easy between you and your coworkers—wiping down tables, booths, counters; washing glasses and dishes; stacking the stools and sweeping the floor; mopping and removing the sticky residue on the floors, but tonight you just want to get it over with and get home.

Cassandra Jones, your boss and owner of the bar, hands you an envelope with your tips as you’re packing up your stuff in the back room.

“Good night?” you ask her, too afraid to open it and count how much you’ve made. The last few weeks have been bad, $50 to $70 tips in total, even when having a steady flow of customers.

Her tight, chocolate curls bounce when she nods with a smile. “It’s not a lot, but it’s better than we’ve had all year.” She bumps your shoulder with hers to grab your attention. “Let me just finish up at the register and we’ll head out.”

You nod as she walks off.

Opening the envelope tentatively, you pull out fives and tens, and surprisingly enough you count $190. It’s not great, but it’s better than you’ve seen since you started working here. With what you’ve saved up from tips, maybe you’ll be able to convince Esmeralda to try out for cheer and buy her outfit? Warmth fills your chest. Maybe this is a sign that things are going to get better?

You wake up to loud knocking, a familiar squawking coming from the front door—you strain your ears to make out their voice. Aunt Maria? Fuck! You’re quick to get up and throw on some decent clothes, hopping around the apartment to get to the bathroom and brush your teeth. Careful to not get any toothpaste on your shirt, you bend down close to the sink and brush harshly as the knocking gets more and more incessant.

You quickly wash up and yell out, “Coming!” but it does nothing to calm your aunt’s rapid knocking. With a curse, you kick stray clothing under the couch and pick up dirty dishes and place them in the sink in the kitchen, where she hopefully won’t traverse into. You pick up scattered tools and place them in your tool box and then open the curtains and windows to let in some air and noise that’ll hopefully drive her away quicker.

With a deep breath, you open the door with a practiced smile to greet your aunt. “Aunt Maria! Hello! I wasn’t expecting you.”

Her cat like eyes travel up and down your body, judging your appearance like always. “Tia Magdalena,” she corrects you when she finally meets your eyes. As if her name isn’t Maria Magdalena.

“Tia, right. Sorry,” you mumble, stepping aside to let her into the apartment. “Come in, Tia Magdalena.”

She flashes you a fake smile as she saunters inside. “I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I would stop by.”

“I see.” You close the door and take another slow, deep breath before turning to her where she stands awkwardly in the middle of your small living room. “Would you like some water or juice?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Would you like to sit, then?” You offer, sitting on the ugly, green armchair your mom likes so much.

She eyes the sofa with distaste and then turns to you with another fake smile that slips from her face when you don’t smile back. “No, I’m only here for a bit.”

“Well, what can I help you with?” So you can go on your way and I won’t have to see your face again.

“With your mom in the hospital, I thought you’d be the one I should to talk to about this,” she says, reaching into her purse to pull out a thin manila folder and hands it to you. “It’s an agreement your mother and I signed during your second year at NYU.”

“An agreement?” you repeat unsure, dread starting to build up. You flip it open and your heart just about drops to the pit of your stomach as your eyes land on the bolded lettering—Loan Agreement. “Aunt—Tia Magdalena, what is this?”

She makes a displeased noise in the back of her throat. “Your mother was struggling to help you and Little Esmeralda with school supplies and clothes, so she came to me for money.”

Your eyes scan the paper and you recognize the curves of your mom’s writing—her name and signature. $8,000. 8,000 fucking dollars. She asked for 8,000 from her? How did she—She hadn’t said anything! Why would she go to your aunt of all people?!

“I gave her six years to finish paying off her debt to me, which I thought was completely doable.”

“20,300 is how much she needed to pay back?” you ask, trying to keep your voice from quivering—how could your mom have accepted that?

“I gave her what I thought was right, honey. Her credit score is just about awful and I needed some kind of reassurance for myself,” she says in a matter-of-fact, a small smirk on her face.

“She’s family, Tia. Your sister-in-law—how—how could you—“

She scoffs, dropping the pleasantries. “She chose to came to me for money. If she didn’t like it, she shouldn’t have signed.” Rolling her eyes, she takes another sweep of your apartment. “Shouldn’t you be glad I’m not charging her or sending her to court for the missing payments? I get that she’s sick, but that doesn’t mean she can skip out on payments. Seriously.” She looks at her distasteful nails, long and pointy, ready to scratch someone’s eye out. “There’s no guarantee she’s going to die, anyway.” 

She said it so spitefully, so poisonous, that you could feel it coating your own tongue, entering your bloodstream and injecting you with a searing pain and anger that you’ve never felt before. It's hot and unbearable, and you hate her! You hate her so fucking much! The paper and folder crumple at the edges from the pressure of your hands, your heart thumping loudly in your chest. “You need to leave.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, get out!” you practically scream as you stand, no longer able to contain your anger, dropping the folder onto the floor. 

She rolls her eyes again and makes her way over to the door. “The agreement period is set to end in two months, honey. If she doesn’t pay the remaining 11,000, I’m going to sue her for everything she has.” Her lips twist into a horrible sneer as her eyes roam your apartment. “Which apparently isn’t much.” 

The door slams harshly, reverberating through the walls, the picture of your family shaking at the impact and about ready to fall.

A frustrated scream rips from between your lips, hands swiping at your hair as you desperately try to get a handle on your emotions. 

You try to keep yourself composed as you walk down the halls of the hospital, ignoring the chatter around you as you make your way over to your mom’s room. You keep a tight grip on the folder in your hand and march inside her room to find her awake, eyes on the television—until they notice you by the entrance. Her eyes widen and brighten at the sight of you, but when you don’t return her smile or greeting, the light in her eyes dim. “Baby? Everything okay?”

Your mind is yelling at you to throw the contents at her, to accuse her of ruining you and Esme. Anger fanning the flames as you wonder how she could’ve let this happen? How she could’ve put Esmeralda and you in this situation? Did she not think of the consequences? How this could lead to Esmeralda losing the only home she’s ever known? Lose everything you had both worked hard to get for Esmeralda? 

But there’s an itch in your chest too, begging you to hide the contents of the folder, to leave and keep it a secret. Your mom has always been a hard worker, fighting for your family even after losing your dad in that accident, even after your brother abandoned you. She didn’t allow herself to grieve knowing she couldn’t afford to. Instead, she pushed herself forward for you and your siblings, never complaining once. She just kept going and going, overworking herself until she put herself right back into the hospital. 

She wouldn’t have signed that contract unless she deemed it necessary, unless there was no other choice. She wouldn’t do this to you or Esme on purpose. 

She wouldn’t.

You hide the folder behind your back. “I’m okay. Just a little tired.”

Her eyes water and you instinctively take a step forward, taking her thin hands in yours. “I’m sorry, baby,” she says softly. “If I—“

“Don’t,” you stop her with a squeeze, knowing she’s blaming herself for everything that’s been happening. “None of this is your fault, okay? You just focus on getting better and I’ll do the rest.”

Her lips are set in a tight, straight line, but she nods, knowing that whatever she says next, you’re not going to listen to or will wave away. Her eyes move to the beige folder you’re trying to hide behind your back. “What is that?”

“A job application,” you lie through your teeth, but to pay a fraction of what is owed to your aunt, you’re most likely going to need a third job. Or maybe you could convince Cassandra to give you more hours at the bar, or you could always pick up more shifts at the restaurant.

 “Baby,” she tries again, but you shake your head.

“I’m just thinking about it, haven’t even filled it out, yet.”

“Please don’t,” she begs you, letting go of your hand to try and cup your cheek. “You’ve already sacrificed too much for us. Stop doing things for our benefit and start doing them for you.”

You bend down, taking her hand and holding it between your cheek and hand. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you lean into her touch. “You know I can’t do that, momma.”

“I know,” her voice cracks. “I know, baby.”

She falls asleep with your hand in hers. Her breathing is steady and soft unlike the loud beeping of the machine and the television playing low in the background. She used to be such a light sleeper, any small noise waking her up at every minute, but here she is now sleeping as if the world was still (when it’s not).

You need some fresh air.

Picking up the folder, you leave her room, only looking back at her once. Would things be different if dad were still alive? If JC were still around? 

The call of your name has you pausing, Esme is watching you carefully with worried eyes. She takes in your appearance—disheveled and red, puffy eyes. “You okay?” she asks, before panic sheens over her eyes. “Is mom okay?”

You’re quick to reel her back in with a hand to her shoulder and pull her towards you. “She’s fine, Esme. Just sleeping.”

“It doesn’t get easier does it?” Her voice is low and quiet, opposite of her usual loud and cheerful self as she presses her face into the soft material of your worn out t-shirt.

“No,” you tell her truthfully, resting your cheek on the top of her head. “No, it doesn’t. But we’re here for each other, right?”

She mulls over your thoughts, eyes darkening for a moment before they brighten and she smiles.  “Always.”

You return her smile weakly. “Did you come alone?”

She takes a quick glance behind her back and nods, frowning. “No, Peter dropped me off before heading out for some outing he has with his internship. You sure you’re okay?”

You ruffle her locks and smile ruefully. “Mhmm. Stay with mom, yeah? I need to step out for a bit.”

Before she can say anything, you step around her and head towards the elevator, ignoring her call of your name. With a shaky hand, you press the button for the lobby and lean back against the metal walls of the lift, head falling back. You close your eyes and take a deep, shaky breath.

The small courtyard is strangely quiet for the early afternoon. It’s usually full of patients and their family members taking a breather, needing to smell something other than anesthetics and chemicals. But you’re glad it’s empty—you have all the space in the world to cry and be angry and sad at everything and everyone.

It’s not like you’ve thought of life as unfair—hard, maybe. But unfair? Never. You have a roof over your head, a mother and sister that love you and do what they can to help, two jobs that pay, and a best friend that although is miles away, you can call and vent to. Yes, bad things have happened—from your dad’s death, to your brother disappearing, and your mom’s cancer returning, but they were things that you got and are getting through with the people you love.

But right this moment? You feel so alone, and it’s unfair.

How is it that bad things just keep happening? Why can’t things get better before they get worse? It’s always hit after hit, never a break to just fucking breathe and live your life!

You sob into your hands, wanting nothing more than to have the whole world stop for a minute and just allow you to grieve.

“Ma’am?” A gentle male voice coaxes—deep and stern, maybe even a little worried.

You wipe away your tears harshly with the back of your hands. “Sorry. Am I being too loud? I’ll—I’ll keep it down, sir.” He doesn’t reply, instead a blue handkerchief is shoved under your eyesight by red gloves. Lifting your gaze as you take it, you’re taken aback by the man standing in front of you—Captain America?—wearing an exact replica of the one Steve Rogers used to wear in the 1940’s and the Battle of New York. “Thank you, uh, Captain?”

You had heard from a nurse that the hospital tended to hire actors to play the heroes you’ve only ever seen on TV, knowing that the kids loved seeing their favorite heroes in person, even if it’s not the actual heroes themselves. But it’s your first time seeing it since your mom has been admitted back into the hospital.

The man offers you a small smile, blue eyes softening at the sight of your blotchy face. “You’re welcome, ma’am.”

You duck your head, sniffling and wiping at your tear stained cheeks with the handkerchief.

He shuffles on his feet awkwardly before sitting down next to you. “Do you mind if I sit—well, I’ve already sat down, haven't I?” 

Your surprised chuckle comes out like a strained sob. “You’re fine.”

He flashes you a warm smile, but other than that, he’s quiet. He just sits with you in companionable silence—you should think this is uncomfortable or a little weird, having a stranger sit with you as you're trying to reel yourself in. But there’s something about this man dressed as Captain America that is soothing. It’s no wonder why the hospital hired him to keep the patients company.

“Thank you,” you whisper hoarsely, breaking the silence between you. “You didn’t have to, um, sit with me.”

He flashes you a pretty smile, blue eyes twinkling with sympathy and kindness. “It was no problem.”

Your voice falters as you hand him back the handkerchief, used only to wipe away your tears. “Here, I—ah—“

“Keep it,” he says, closing your fingers over the piece of cloth, and you frown, unsure. “I have another one at home.”

“Thank you,” you say again, sounding like a broken record, but the kind stranger doesn’t seem to mind. “I should head back inside.” He nods and stands with you. Awkwardly, you turn on your heels and walk away.

“Ma’am,” he calls out to you, and you pause, looking at him over your shoulder—he’s frowning, fiddling with the strap of his gloves, but he looks up and says, “I may not know what you’re going through, but they will get better. It might not be today, or tomorrow, but I want you to know, that I believe it eventually will.”

You stare at him, and he continues to fiddle with the strap, eyes downcast and refusing to meet yours. There’s something endearing about a flustered Captain America, actor or not. Your lips twitch with an involuntary smile. “Thanks, Cap.”

next

[bigdlittleibignlittleozzo-moved]

@sebastianshaw​ asked  A, C, G, L, P , Q, S, T, W

A: Who are their exes? Do they still keep in touch?

It sounds funny to Tony, when he says he only has two exes and they’re both women. Well how can that be? He’s a gay man, and he’s never had sex with a woman, but both of his exes are women, and both of them (rightfully) pin the downfall of their relationship on him. 

At least with Wendy, they ended somewhat amicably, even if he stood at the front of that church for two and a half hours, waiting for her, worried that something had happened to her. When her bridesmaid had shown up and told him that Wendy was calling the wedding off, it had been a relief. Tony hadn’t really wanted to be married anyhow. It was just what had been expected of him, and that was the wrong reason to get married, the wrong reason to trap someone with him, tie them down.

Jeanne... well, what could he say about the woman who had accused him of murdering her father, who had tried to get him locked in prison for a crime he hadn’t committed? He didn’t blame her at all. After everything he’d done to her, the lies that he had told her, he’d deserved to be treated the way he was, to be accused of murder, to be treated however she saw fit. Hell, if she’d wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t have blamed her. He was the reason her father was dead. 

Not being in contact with either of them was what was best for them, and him. They deserved better and he- well all he wanted was peace. He didn’t want fighting, didn’t want to feel the need to justify his actions. He’d done what he’d done, and it was terrible. He knew that. He could never take that back. Best for all of them if they just moved on.

C: If they had to pick one sport to play/watch which would it be?

Getting into football had been an accident. He’d needed to pick a sport when he was at RIMA and he hated riflery with a passion. But he could throw a ball like no one’s business, so he’d joined the football team. When he’d discovered that he was actually good at it- well it had taken care of his bullying problem almost immediately. No one wanted to bully the star quarterback, even if he was only a freshman with ADHD and behavior problems. 

Maybe that’s why he loved it so much. Football had been his sanctuary, the thing that had saved him from being harassed by the other kids. No one liked the rich kid, no matter that most of the other kids were also from well-off families. No one liked that he knew more about war than they did, despite not coming from a military family. No one liked that he was constantly making jokes, that he couldn’t hold still in class.

Oh, but they liked him on the field. When he threw that ball in a perfect spiral, everyone liked him then. That was when everyone cheered his name, wanted to be his friend. Football made him popular, in a way that he’d never thought he would be. It was amazing, how much people changed the second they discovered he was good at the sport. He just wanted to bask in it, in the praise that they heaped upon his head. It was such a nice change from the derision that was usually pointed at him, he didn’t think anyone would blame him.   

G: What was their first job? 

It was a busy Friday night. He was late to work because of the football game, the same football game that meant that they were busy. He skidded into the kitchen wearing his post-game sweatshirt and apologized in rapidfire Spanish, pulling off the sweatshirt and hanging it up, grabbing his apron instead. There was a sink full of dishes, but he was good with that. It wouldn’t take him long to wash them all up, get everything clean. He was good at that, at physical work like that. He’d had a lot of practice.

Tia Maria came and patted him on the shoulder, congratulated him on the big win, and Tony smiled at her, his entire face brightening. He loved this job, loved the family that he’d come to have here, the people he’d befriended. Between Maria and Pablo, the owners of the restaurant, he never went hungry. They were always sending him home with food, and Joaquin was always teaching him how to make new recipes when they had some downtime. There wouldn’t be any downtime tonight, but that was okay. He was ready to work. That’s what he was paid to do, after all.

L: How often do they post on their social media accounts? 

Twitter was a new thing to him, but he liked it. He could follow all his favorite actors, comment on their movies. He’d once upset Mark Hamill by mentioning the Star Wars Holiday Special, something his Nonna had gifted him with when he was six. 

He didn’t post often though. He couldn’t afford to. He was still an undercover agent, after all, and he couldn’t afford to blow his cover. Risking his job for the sake of posting a few selfies seemed dumb, childish and immature, and Tony wasn’t about to do that. It wasn’t safe, for the people that he protected when he went undercover. It was why he didn’t have a Facebook, or any other social media outlet. It wasn’t like he knew anybody he would want to keep in contact with using social media. The only frat brother he was still friends with was Steve, and they called each other on the phone, met for coffee. There wasn’t the need for social media. 

Maybe he was just old. He didn’t see the point behind these websites he would never use, though. They weren’t for him. 

P: What are their thoughts on going vegan? Could they do it?

He’d gone kosher after Ziva started working for NCIS. It was an easy change to make for him. The hardest thing to give up was shellfish, but he’d made the adjustment. It was just easier. They didn’t always label their lunches, had habits of grabbing whatever bag was in the fridge and just eating what was inside, no care for whose it was. Tony wasn’t about to make Ziva eat something that she couldn’t because he was too selfish to give up pork, too selfish to adjust his diet. 

But vegan? He had no problem with vegetables. There were certain times of the year, centered around certain Jewish holidays, where Tony didn’t cook with meat at all. But that had everything to do with the fact that Ziva was always grateful when she grabbed his lunch and it was something she could eat, saving her the trouble of having to order out, hoping that the Jewish deli had someone who could get onto the Navy Yard. They both knew McGee wasn’t going to change the way he ate, so Ziva grabbing his lunch was out of the question.

Still, vegan... as much as he loved vegetables, Tony also loved meat, loved the taste of it, the way it added flavor to his food. He had no problem with other people going vegan, that was their choice. It wasn’t the healthiest dietary choice they could make, and that was coming from the athletic nutrition courses he’d taken when he was studying for his degree, but it wasn’t the worst either. It just- it wasn’t for him. He needed proteins from meat, needed the flavor too. He respected the choices others made for their own bodies but it wasn’t for him, that was for sure.  

Q: Do they have a good luck charm they often have with them? 

It was stupid. The thing had been given to him as a joke. Holding onto it was just silly. But there it sat, on the corner of his desk where everyone could see it, where it had sat for years, since his Captain in Baltimore had given it to him. He didn’t even like Mighty Mouse, had never seen the show. So why was it that the stapler meant so much to him? He couldn’t rightfully say. But the thought of getting rid of it-

He couldn’t do it. That stapler had been there through too many rough cases, too many cases that Tony shouldn’t have solved, by all accounts, but he still had. He’d used it on too many reports that he never should’ve been able to close. Maybe it was dumb, to consider a little blue and red piece of metal and plastic his good luck charm, but he did. Some cops had their St. Michael medallions, and he respected that, but he wasn’t Catholic, and he’d never really believed in the saints. 

His stapler though. His stapler brought him luck. It brought him success. He loved his stapler. Even after it came out that the Captain was a dirty cop, Tony couldn’t get rid of his stapler. It had seen too much, had done too much for him. The stapler and he, they were a team. He wasn’t going to give up on it. It hadn’t given up on him.

S: How do they tell someone they’re sorry?

Rule 6 existed for a reason. Never say you’re sorry. So Tony had to find other ways to apologize when he screwed up, because he screwed up a lot. He couldn’t just not apologize and move on. Because while Gibbs may hate apologies, he also hated it when Tony ignored his mistakes, completely acted like everything was normal. It was a tricky game he was playing, a complicated dance, but he was figuring it out, slowly but surely.  

He didn’t apologize anymore, not after the first half dozen times those words had passed his lips. No, now he owned up to his mistakes and sucked it up when the slap came to the back of his head, biting back the wince that was inevitable. Gibbs never pulled his punches with Tony the way he did with McGee and Ziva. 

“Right boss. Won’t happen again, boss.” That’s what Gibbs wanted to hear, the only apology he would accept. It left a dirty taste in Tony’s mouth, but if that’s what Gibbs wanted, that’s what Tony would do. This wasn’t about Tony’s preferred method of apology, it was about what Gibbs wanted.

T: How quick are they to cry?

He didn’t cry after Kate died. He was emotionally drained, but he didn’t cry. He didn’t think that he could, too drained and angry at the world, at Ari, at Gibbs, at himself. He couldn’t cry. He could only think about revenge, about getting back at the bastard who had taken his partner away from him.

He did cry when Jeanne left him. He’d loved her, in his own way. Loved her as best as he could. But everything he’d ever told her had been a lie. Everything about himself, about their relationship, about all of it. It had all been a lie. How could he have loved her if he had lied to her constantly, if he hadn’t been honest with her? So why did losing her feel the way it did? He hadn’t ever slept with her but their relationship was something more, something emotional, something that he could just- it hurt to lose it. And he cried.

He wasn’t positive what he was crying for. Maybe it was the loss of Jeanne. Maybe it was the loss of himself. After all, he’d given up a lot of his own self respect and pride in order to go undercover the way he had. He’d sacrificed a lot of who he was in order to be who Jeanne knew. He didn’t even know who he was anymore, half the time. Maybe that was why he was crying. Maybe it was just the broken heart. He didn’t know anymore.    

W: Would they be starstruck if they met a celebrity? 

Growing up the way he did, he’d rubbed elbows with a lot of old money, people with names that would be recognized. He’d met a lot of people who others would consider famous, and it had been just another Tuesday for him. It wasn’t unusual for Senior to namedrop someone important, even today, wasn’t unusual for Tony himself to have connections that went beyond what a normal NCIS agent would have. He didn’t think anything of it.

He wasn’t the type to really care about somebody’s fame. Why would he, when he’d grown up around money? He’d gone to school with Frank Sinatra’s nephew, the closest he’d gotten to knowing the man himself, and he’d never once freaked out about it. The kid was a bully, and Tony hadn’t wanted anything to do with him, even if his uncle was one of the coolest singers he’d ever heard. 

Maybe it was a rich kid thing, a money thing. Maybe it was a Tony thing. Fame and money just didn’t matter to him. Not really, not anymore. Maybe they never had.  

[xxlying-from-y0u]

41 Truths People With PTSD Wish Others Understood

1. “It isn’t just war veterans who suffer from it. It’s caused by being in any traumatic situation, such as mental, physical or sexual abuse. Car accidents or watching a traumatic incident can also cause it.” — Julianne Parker Jeppesen

2. “Some days are worse than others, but those good days don’t mean we’re ‘better’ or ‘over it.’ It’s really not a thing you can just ‘get over.’ Moving past it takes time and a lot of effort.” — Madison Dakota Chamberlain

3. “We don’t do it to irritate, frustrate or otherwise incur your wrath. If we were able to turn it off or not react the ways we do, we would. Believe that.” — Julie Anderson

4. “Telling me my greatest fears aren’t real or going to happen doesn’t help me. I understand they can seem outrageous at times, but prior to my traumatic experience, had I told you something like that was going to happen, you would have said ‘no way.’” — Monika Schneider

5. “I need all the support I can get at my lowest points because that’s when I feel [the PTSD] is winning.” — Tricia Hill

6. “I cannot just ‘stop.’” — Allison Hart

7. “It has many forms, not all of which look like what you see in movies.” — Carya Cunningham-Sloan

8. “Even though it may be hard to live with my moods and my strange ways of dealing with things, it’s even harder to be me and have to live with my moods and the strange ways I do things.” — Robyn Wright

9. “Even though it’s 13 years since [my sexual assault], when I’m having a panic attack, it feels like it was 13 days ago. It isn’t in my past. It’s in my every day.” — Helen Wilson

10. “I want to be my old cheeky self again, and it’s frustrating and upsetting that I can’t get there.” — Sarah Whelan

11. “Sometimes you simply just don’t want to talk about it.” — Jen Long

12. “I have lost my sense of safety.” — Rebecca Wood

13. “Choose your words and actions wisely. You never know when your words or actions will turn into somebody’s constant nightmare.” — Manda Ree

14. “Just allow me to cry and mourn, and I will regain my composure and be OK.” — Melinda Garner

15. “Don’t corner me and don’t touch me when I’m anxious. I can’t control this. It controls me.” — Cara Pair

16. “It could take you years to actually face what has happened. And numerous more to overcome it. PTSD is not easy to deal with, much less live with.” — Carol Sides

17. “I’m not my diagnosis. I have good days and bad days, but I’m not contagious. I’m just human.” — Patrice Caraway

18. “Many of my decisions today are affected by this condition. I live with bouts of anxiety and hyper-vigilance because of my trauma.” — Michelle Pawson Rotella

19. “He didn’t have to hit me to leave a scar.” — Allison M. Rockwell

20. “I did not ask for the things that I’ve been through, and I certainly did not ask my mind to paint and repaint the pictures in flashback form.” — Michelle Groth

21. “It’s disabling.” — Johan Asketill

22. “It’s real, even if it’s hard to explain.” — Natalie Hyland

23. “It’s exhausting to fight a war inside your head every single day.” — Mickie Ann

24. “I fear everything — what happened and what could happen. I live my life with a constant slideshow of events in my head, and I still don’t know all of my triggers.” — Melissa Cote

25. “You don’t need to be afraid of me. PTSD doesn’t cause me to turn into a monster. When I’m triggered I relive my traumatic experience, but I’m still in control of myself.” — Crystal Malta

26. “It’s a never-ending battle. Sometimes you think you have it beat but then something else comes along to trigger it and you feel like you’re at square one again.” — Kristen Abbas

27. “Simple little things like a song or smell can be a trigger.” — Selina Bonser

28. “I wish society would stop using it as slang. No, you don’t have PTSD because you saw a spider and it bugged you because you saw ‘Arachnophobia’ too young. It’s not something to be trivialized, and by using it in that way you’re diminishing the struggle so many of us face in getting actual treatment and support for this disorder.” — Tia Maria

29. “I wish [others] would understand it’s not their fault and they can’t fix me. And it makes me worse when they get upset or angry about what caused my PTSD.” — Courtney Jade

30. “I hate being touched, but sometimes I’m beyond desperate for a hug.” — Nikki Vee

31. “When I pushed people away it was actually when I needed people the most.” — Cindie Anne

32. “I have scars you can’t see. I have feelings you can’t feel. I have thoughts you could never understand. When you look at me you see the same person as before, but when I look at me I see a completely different person.” — Pam Berry

33. “I’m not being overly sensitive, looking for attention or making it up. I can’t control how certain things affect me. If I could control it, believe me when I tell you that I would.” — Melissa Goodman

34. “I already hate myself, so putting me down for not being normal and judging and criticizing me because I can’t do certain things or can’t control myself does not help not even one bit.” — Jessica Turner

35. “I’m not lazy. I’m just exhausted from fighting my way through every single day.” — MiMi Love

36. “It’s hard to stay here on Earth, but I do for my daughter.” — Nicki Chapman

37. “I’m not angry all the time; I just like to be left alone. I wish there was a magic pill that gave me my patience back.” — Vikki Ob

38. “I’m not being manipulative.” — Angie Rigby 

39. “I wish people would be more sensitive. If they cringe at the thought of my experiences, imagine how I feel, having survived it and reliving it whenever my brain deems fit… I wish people would understand how terrifying it is to attempt to find help. The thought of telling your story is instant panic.” — Sandy Burkey

40. “It’s a daily battle that seems you can never win. But you have to keep fighting.” — Chris Dayy

41. “It has nothing to do with you.” — Susan Leona Winder

[burnouts3s3]

Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid, a review

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.) Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP): 50 USD Digital Copy (MSRP): 17.99 USD How much I paid: 50 USD. Animation Studio: ARMS Licensed and Localized by: Funimation Entertainment Audio: Japanese Audio with Subtitles and English Dub available.   English Cast: Kayla Hardwick as Mamori, Morgan Garrett as Mirei, Brittney Karbowski as Meifon, Janelle Lutz as Akira Hiragi, Monica Rial as Charlotte Scharsen, Roseanne Palmer as Kasumi Shigure, Tia Ballard as Rain Hasumi, Jamie Marchi as Lady J and Cynthia Cranz as Torino. Number of Episodes: 12 Episodes Length per Episode: 25 Minutes on average. 21 Without Intro and Ending song. Number of Discs: 4 Discs in Total. 2 DVD Discs and 2 Blu-ray discs. Episodes per Disc: Episodes 1-7 on the 1st DVD disc. Episodees 8-12 on the 2nd DVD disc. Episodes 1-9 on the first Blu-ray disc with Episodes 10-12 on the second Blu-ray disc along with the special features. Does this come a digital voucher to redeem?: No. This only has the Physical DVD and Blu-ray discs. Also on: Amazon Video, Funimation Now, Funimation’s streaming service that requires a subscription. Bonus Features: Textless Openings, Textless Ending and Trailers for other Funimation Licensed Shows. Episode 3 Commentary. Notable Localization Changes: Meifon, the smuggler character who wears a pink cowboy hat, is given a southern accent by her voice performer, Brittney Kowbalski.   My Personal Biases: I never really invested in the Valkyrie Drive franchise before and never played any of the games the anime is adapting. Sorry. My Verdict: Trashy, lurid, gaudy and with enough fanservice to make even the most perverted of us blush, Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid is sure to give its intending audience the happy ending they want. It’s too bad that in 12 short episodes, there’s just not enough there, emotionally or lore wise, to get invested in unless you’ve already have backhand knowledge of the games. Wait for a sale. A/N: Okay, since I don’t want the moderators to flag this post, I’m going to have to put an explicit warning here. So while I won’t post any nudity, I will have to Age restrict this post just so I don’t get any flak. Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid. a review 

Girls from all over the world have been infected with a mysterious virus known as the A Virus (Armed Virus). These girls are divided into two classes; Extars, who can transform into weapons when sexually aroused, and Liberators, who have the power to wield an Extar's weapon form, known as Liberator Arms, through a process known as Drive. These girls are brought to separate islands to spend their days completely isolated from the rest of the world until the islands' Observers, authorized by the government Organisation AAA, ostensibly deem them ready to rejoin society again. Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid follows an Extar named Mamori Tokonome who forms a partnership with the Liberator Mirei Shikishima on the island called Mermaid.(For our friends not fluent in Japanese, Tokonome shares a very similar writing as the word ‘Virgin’ in Japanese, which Togonome is.). Mamori and Mirei are caught between a conflict between the Wärter, the island’s government that lives the castle, Veste, and those fleeing it. With Governor Akira (a supposed male Liberator that’s actually female) trying to be fair, Charlotte getting delusions of grandeur and wanting to rule with an iron fist and Kasumi attempting to be fair to the girls, the Wärter is in constant conflict. Those attempting to flee join up with Ms. Torumi, a kind soul who offers shelter for girls looking for freedom. Meanwhile, a sneaky smuggler by the name of Meifon is trying to earn a profit from the war. Along the way, Mamori and Mirei meet other Liberators and Extars, such as the team Lady J and Lady Rain in which one transforms into a ridable motorcycle. Other liberators, such as Charlotte, have their own harem of Extars and arouse multiple ones to form a multi-part weapon. Let’s get this out of the way. Yes, it IS in fact Soul Eater but with Lesbians. And the show isn’t afraid of being explicit about it. We are talking full-on nudity with lots of exposed breasts flopping around, bouncing and lots and lots of shots of nipples erecting… and hardening… Christ, this makes fanservice driven series like Kannazuki no Miko or Strawberry Panic look like the chaste Maria-Sama ga Miteru. On the technical side, everything is very well done. The animation for both the action and fanservice scenes is well animated, the music flows scene to scene (even if I couldn’t really remember any pieces that stood out) and the voice acting for both the Original Japanese and English dub is well-done. So, if you’re looking for lots and lots of scenes of girls kissing each other, breasts flopping around with the viscosity of jello and scenes of action with naked girls, have I got a show for you. Story wise, I found the series rather lacking. Seasonal shows really need to be careful with their pacing. With a limited 12 episode run, VD:M is already bursting at the seams with an overly long 4 episode prologue establishing the characters, the setting, the divide between the girls going along with Charlotte and Akira’s lawful order, Kasumi’s wavering allegiance and Torumi’s group of rebels and Meifon’s smuggling between the 2 sides. There’s a sense of urgency that the peace can’t last and conflict is unavoidable. But, not so urgent that we couldn’t have two light-hearted episodes involving one girl becoming Kaiju sized and another episode with a beauty contest in a cultural festival.

Boy, this season of Attack on Titan got WEIRD. When the main big bad does rear her head near the final 4 episodes, the show does a good ‘enough’ job establishing the backstory between her and Mirei, but you get the sense that maybe, had the show paced itself better, it would mean more. Yes, the final battle with all the girls joining together at the end is impressive to look at, but emotionally, I just wasn’t feeling it. If the show were as committed to giving me emotional turning points as it was fan service, I would’ve been more impressed. The characters are also rather lacking (writing wise). While Mirei is certainly admirable and one of the most likable of the cast, Mamori doesn’t really change much (character wise). Granted, the show pays lipservice (no pun intended) to the idea that the more courageous Mamori is, the more powerful the weapon she becomes, but there’s never that moment where Mamori ‘saves’ Mirei or gives her the comfort Mirei needs like the way Himeko comforted Chikane at the end. They instead fuse to one super being. It feels like at one point Mamori was supposed to have the final turning point and be the one to rescue Mirei, but Mamori just ends up being captured and put into the damsel role again. I also liked Kasumi and her dubious allegiance with the rebels as well as Meifon, getting into all sorts of trouble for some cash. I’m told by fans of the franchise that in peripheral media, some of the other couples get more character development. For example, the team of Lady Rain and Lady J were actually on opposite sides of a war but intentionally got themselves captured just to be together or that Governor Akira actually has a female lover back on the mainland and longs to be with her. Again, I am not here to judge what’s in an appendix. What’s in the show is in the show and it’s clear the TV producers weren’t interested in those stories to begin with, so why should I?   Funimation Entertainment did the localization for the show. And for the most part, the dub script stays as close as it does to the original Japanese version. Granted, Funimation has always played it loose with dubbing scripts and this is no exception. The English script contains lots of innuendos and sex jokes to make the English viewers chuckle (i.e. “I caught and she pitched.” “Let’s go digging for treasure” “I’m gonna let it all hang out!”) Karbowski adopts a southern accent for Meifon so thick, I thought I was listening to Nico Robin from the 4Kids dub of One Piece. (I’m aware that localizers tend to translate those with Kansai dialect and give them a Southern accent and Karbowski seems to be doing this accent winking to the audience and having fun with it). Special credit should go to Janelle Lutz as Akira Hiragi, managing to perform dual roles as both masculine and feminine variations of the character. The rest of the cast does a good job voicing their perspective roles. Monica Rial does with she can with Charlotte and Cynthia Cranz as Torumi seems to especially fit the role of a motherly caretaker for lost girls. (Yes, I find the fact that one of the characters is voiced by the same performer as Chi-chi and Botan very disconcerting). THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE AUDIO WITH SUBTITLES IS AVAILABLE FOR THOSE WHO PREFER IT. The package includes the OVAs (Original Video Animation) which are short videos of each of the girls revealing motivation and backstory as well as a lot of nudity with nipples becoming more and more erect. Lots of them. What’s weird is that the OVAs are also dubbed with the cast members. Funimation didn’t even dub the OVA for Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. CAVEAT: It’s very strange that the series suddenly wants to take a more dramatic turn with emphasis on character development and history, but still plays out in a very fanservice driven anime. In some ways, I was enjoying the show more when it wasn’t really about anything and just amped the fanservice up to 11. With the exception of a few characters, I wasn’t invested in the goings on and 12 episodes is too short for me to have nostalgic feelings for Mermaid Island. For 50 USD, Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid is a bit on the steep end. While the animation, music, fight scenes and… PLOT are all well done, emotionally, it doesn’t have much to offer. Then again, I don’t expect emotional substance out of show where half the teenagers become sexually aroused and transform into weapons. Those looking for a happy ending (in both senses of the term) will enjoy this. Verdict: Wait for a sale or rental.  

[hasquetzorkukudoneanythingwrong]

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!!!

Rex and Quetzalcoatl had a pair of twins that they cared for very much. A girl named Maria, and a boy named Eduardo.

The twins were born on the 25th of September, and that date had arrived so it was time to celebrate their birthday!

In the morning, Mari was peacefully asleep.

Mari: *SNOOOOOOORE!*

Quetz, softly: mijaaaaaaa....

Mari: mmm....!

Quetz: mijaaaaaaa.....!

Mari, sleepily: mama..... I wanna..... sneeeeep......!

Quetz: but mija, it's your birthday today....!

Mari: hmmm.....

Quetz: did you hear me, mija?

Mari: *grumble* ok..... *sigh* I'm getting up already.

Mari got up, still very tired.

Mari: Da hell's my glasses?

Quetz handed her her glasses.

Mari: gracias....

Quetz: you should probably hurry, everyone else is already getting ready.

Mari: who the hell is everyone else?

Quetz: just the rest of the family.

Mari: hmmmm.... okay...... was worried I'd have to deal with a party.....

Quetz: don't worry, we know you don't enjoy those. It'll be just the family.

Mari: good....

After some time getting ready, Maria went out into the living room.

Mari, while yawning: ok.... how long will it take to get there again?

Rex: uh... not too long, maybe an hour or so on the serpent.

Ed: still crazy how fast he can be.

Quetz: well of course my familiar would be fast! It'd be a bit disappointing otherwise.

After a bit of time getting ready, the family went outside to see Quetz's pterosaur outside ready to go!

Quetz: ok everyone! Get on!

The family got onto the large flying reptile.

Rex: ok then. Now just a simple invisibility spell so we're not spotted on our way there.

Ed: radar won't work either right?

Rex: right, I've got everything covered, Mijo.

After that, the beast took off!

After some time in the air, their destination was in sight: Mexico City!

Ed: wow!

Mari: such a massive city.

Quetz: ah, it's been too long since we've been here.

Finally the pterosaur landed and they got off to go out into the city!

Rex: man, this place brings back memories!

Ed: so, where to first anyways?

Quetz: it's up to you guys

Mari: breakfast!

Rex: ok yeah, should probably eat first

*stomachs were growling*

The family went to a nice restaurant for their breakfast.

Quetz: mija, those are a lot of pancakes...

Mari: si, and?

Rex: your mother is just a bit concerned for you is all.

Mari: hmmm, sounds unnecessary.

Rex: also Ed, is that enough bacon?

Ed: hmmm.... maybe.

After breakfast, there were still many things that could be done.

First thing, was visiting the old site of Teotihuacan.

Quetz: *sigh* it's been a very long time.....

Mari: looks kinda.... decrepit.

Rex: kinda par for the course with old ruins and shit.

Ed: ....is there a ball court?

Quetz: si, but I doubt we're allowed to play these days.

Ed: awww....

Next stop, was the Aquarium.

Mari: Shork

Ed: Shork

Rex: ya real fascinated by those sharks huh?

Quetz: don't ya wanna see the penguins?

Ed: Penguins?!?!

Rex: also piranhas.

Mari: PIRANHAS?!?!?!

Next was the Zoo

Rex: mi corazon, it's just a random Jaguar. There's no need to cause a scene.

Quetz: I CAN SEE MY STUPID BROTHER TAUNTING ME THROUGH IT'S EYES!!!!

Mari: Mamá, not every Jaguar is Tio Tez.

Ed: we're gonna get kicked out if you don't stop.....

Rex: really hope there aren't any spiders too.

Another fun site, was the museum.

Ed: so..... this is Piedra del Sol?

Quetz: si

Mari: but... so is your noble phantasm?

Quetz: si

Ed: ....how does that work?

Rex: don't ask too many questions about this kinda stuff. You'll get it eventually.

Finally, it was getting a bit late. So it was time to return home.

Mari: we getting the presents now?!?!?

Rex: si, si. You relax will ya?

Ed: you already know she can be a bit greedy.

Quetz: it's better that you try to relax that, Mija.

When they finally got home, a Large assortment of presents were waiting for them.

Mari: Hell yeah!

Ed: hmmmmmm......

Mari: let's see.... which one first....

Mari first grabbed one with.... very unique wrapping, eyes and other odd things decorated the paper.

When she unwrapped it, what was inside was a plush wolf

Mari: AAAWWW!!!

Ed, opening a similar box, got a plush Narwhal.

Ed: oooooh!

And the horn started to glow

Ed: huh

Rex: ....that's a sword

Quetz: it's definitely a sword

Mari: also, my plush smells poisonous.

Rex: well.... that's par for the course for your Tia Quinny.

Next were.... slot machines?

Ed: so we just... pull them?

Quetz: I guess so?

The twins pull the levers of the slot machines.

The machines spun their slots for a time, until finally stopping on 3 symbols that looked like present boxes. Then out of the machines, popped out tickets for both kids.

Mari: oh

Ed: huh

From Mari's popped out VIP tickets to a Music Festival.

Mari: POG

And from Ed's popped out, a soccer season pass.

Ed: oh word?!

And finally, matching tickets for the two, for "5 hours of use of the Mooncell" from BB

Mari: ......

Ed: .......

Quetz: well that sure is.... interesting.

After that, was another box. Wrapped in blue wrapping paper. The two unwrapped it, and inside were two gecko eggs. Along with incubators and everything necessary to raise lizards. With a lil tag saying "from Calamity" (Chalchiuhtlicue)

Mari: LIZARD

Ed: they're cute!

Next were two VERY big gifts wrapped in bone patterned wrapping.

Mari: gimme!

After Mari unwrapped the gift, what she found was a VERY large obsidian Hammer.

Mari: ah hell yeah!

SLAM

Ed: damn.... ok.

For Ed, was a large Obsidian Club.

Ed: oh fuck, ok.

Rex: there a reason Xolotl decided to give such gifts?

Quetz: good question.....

Then a very deep and loud *CROAK* was heard

Ed: FROGE

Then hopping out, was a very VERY large bullfrog. About a foot and a half in length!

Ed: OH HE'S A LARGE LAD!

Mari: damn.

Rex: mija, look behind that tree.

Mari: hmm?

When Mari looked, she saw a Huge car! Modeled after the Batmobile!

(Tho, with bat theming replaced with skulls)

Mari: HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!

After latching onto the car, Mari was very happy.

Mari: finally.......! I can drive!

Quetz: can we trust her with that?

Rex: we'll play it by ear.

And in a small package near the center of the pile. Was a first aid kit, with a note.

"Happy birthday you two, hope you enjoy the car and frog. And don't forget to stay safe with the first aid kit love, Florence, Julius and Eva."

Mari: awwww.....

Ed: so sweeet....

There were many other presents from friends and family alike, more toys, clothes, even laptops too.

Then it was finally time for Rex and Quetz's presents for the kids.

Boom

Mari: the hell?

Then, out of the trees of the nearby jungle, came a large animal. A dinosaur known as Giganotosaurus.

Mari: oh...!

The creature stomped up to the family, until it stopped in front of Mari.

Mari: holy crap.....

Rex: now you have your own divine familiar too, Mija!

Mari: oh shit!

Quetz: si, wasn't sure why you didn't get one the same time as Ed's Pliosaur, but now we got you one!

Mari: finally!

Quetz: and for Mijo, it may not be as big. But since you already got your Pliosaur. We got you this instead.

In Quetz's hands, was what looked to be an electric eel. Tho it glittered with green sparkles, not unlike that of jade.

Ed: whoa, he's an odd lil guy.

Rex: he's very special too. He's not just any electric eel. But a divine construct at that!

Quetz: si, his name is Onotlachin. The storm fish.

Ed: hot damn!

Ed held the lil guy in his hands, and felt the energy within the fish. It also seemed perfectly fine without water.

Ed: he's amazing, gracias!

Mari: si! Gracias for this!

Rex: no problem you two!

Quetz: si, anything for mis hijos!

A/N: and there's the birthday story. Sorry it came out a bit late. Things happened irl. Hopefully everyone likes it! And the festivities can still continue on throughout the weekend and even longer if anyone wants to celebrate with us.

Tags

@hasbbdoneanythingwrong @havetheavengersdoneanythingwrong @hasspartacusdoneanythingwrong @haskamadoneanythingwrong @exmeowstic @grievouslyxorvia @panyum @witch-of-chaldea @chaldeamage-neo @hasnightingaledoneanythingwrong @renmeo @writer-and-artist27

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

Descendants OC Compilation Part 1

Yes, another post to outline my Descendants, but now with all faceclaims and titles - this is mostly for my own reference but of course feel free to enjoy!  Also this will hopefully help me keep track of which OCs to make proper introductions for so feel free to tell me your favourites! 

Avalon Le Fay in King And Lionheart (fc. Emma Dumont): Daughter of Merlin and Morgana Le Fay (mixing disney with bbc’s merlin)

Nimue, daughter of Arthur and Gwen, and Avalon Le Fay, daughter or Merlin and Morgana, had always been thick as thieves, and had always been ready to declare war on Auradon.  Ever since the formation of the Isle, King Adam and the Fairy Godmother had been insisting that Morgana was still a villain, and therefore belonged on the Isle, and once Avalon was born, she agreed–so long as her daughter could stay in Camelot.  When Arthur was killed barely a year later, Merlin and Gwen partnered up to raise their daughters and run a kingdom, until the girls would be old enough to do so themselves.  Of course Auradon never trusted the one kingdom that refused to unite, and insisted that the girls be sent to Auradon prep, and so they went–reluctant as could be. Everything was fine, mostly–the other princesses looked down on Nimue’s love of swordfighting, and Avalon was never seen as anything but a villain kid, but they still had each other.  They could tolerate it all, biding their time. But at sixteen years of age, everything they’d ever planned gets thrown for a loop when it’s declared that four children from the Isle would be moving to Auradon. crossover with @seaweedhufflepuffocs​

Maria Frollo in Long Live The Queen (fc. Hazelle/Bellamie): Daughter of Claude Frollo

Maria Frollo hated her father.  It wasn’t an uncommon sentiment on the Isle, but it was still true.  She hated him.  More than she’d ever hated anyone.  Lucky for her, she met Queenie and Helena in the marketplace one day and found herself being taken under their wings.  She knows that she isn’t tough, not like they are, but if there’s one thing she learned from her father, it was how to rain hellfire down on her enemies

Queenie in Long Live The Queen (fc. Darya Lebedeva): Daughter of the Queen Of Hearts

First there was Mal, then there was Uma.  Mal defected, turned good; Uma had a martyr complex without the brains to do, well, anything.  Now they’re gone, and there’s a new queen in town.  Queenie, along with her right hand man Helena, and their loyal supporter Maria, is running the show now.  And if anyone crosses her, she knows what to do; off with their heads 

Helena in Long Live The Queen (fc. Kimmy Schram): Daughter of Hades

Living on the Isle wasn’t easy, but there was something particularly difficult about it for a goddess.  Her dad couldn’t be kept on the Isle–they’d tried, no one died anymore, he was allowed to return to the Underworld.  But when Helena was born, she was cast away to join the rest of the Villains and their children, forced to fend for herself.  Being a goddess had its advantages too, she was able to survive and rise up with no problem.  Soon she was the right hand to the newest queen, and hell would freeze before she let anyone take that away from them.

Elise Charming in Enchanted (fc. Lili Reinhart): Daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming

Elise is Chad’s twin sister and polar opposite (well other than being preppy and a cheerleader).  She truly believes in second chances and is super excited for the VKs to come to Auradon?  And definitely falls in love with Evie but thinks that Evie is straight

Finley Rider in Stolen Heart (Fc. Virginia Gardner): Daughter of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider

Her name is Princess Finley Ryder - Corona is officially part of Auradon but they still have their own royal line.  When she was ten she was at some fancy gala party at the museum and got really bored, and got caught stealing Jafar’s staff (no one noticed that she also got both lamps) and she gets sent to the Isle on one of the shipping barges, and the first person she meets is Jay.  Once they’re a bit closer and she’s been officially accepted into the VK circle, she tells him that she still has both of the lamps, Jay makes her promise not to tell anyone else and they’ll keep them as a last resort bargaining stool.  And then they get summoned to auradon (she’s not supposed to go but Jay convinces Jafar who convinces Maleficent who “convinces” the driver) and she has to face the people who exiled her

Princess Isabelle in Tale As Old As Time (fc. Danielle Campbell): Daughter of Belle and Adam

Ben’s twin sister, who is actually the firstborn.  She believes that she should be the queen (and so does Belle) but her father insists on Ben because Isabelle is significantly harder to control.  Her endgame love interest was going to be Mal but now I’m torn between Mal and Audrey for her.

Violet Kingsleigh in Up The Rabbit Hole (fc. Meg Donnelly): Daughter of Alice and the Hatter

Violet Kingston loved growing up in Wonderland, she really did.  She loved spending mornings in her aunt’s - the queen’s - gardens; she loved fighting lessons with her parents and reading with Absolem; she loved playing with the Tweedles and hide and seek with Chess; and, of course, she adored her dad’s infamous tea parties.  Yes, Violet loved everything about Wonderland.  Especially that it wasn’t in Auradon.  It was perfect.  And then the queen is cursed, and all of Wonderland knows that Auradon is to blame.  But they can’t declare war without proof, so suddenly their young princess is being sent to Auradon prep to investigate.  Violet knows her mission.  Violet is absolutely and entirely focused.  Violet is most definitely not prepared for the boy-king to have invited a group of teenagers from the Isle Of The Lost to start school on the same day as her.

Harley Hook in Lost Girl (fc. India Eisley): Daughter of Captain Hook

Harley Hook was a pirate, through and through.  Always at her brother’s side, always with Uma and the crew, always near her beloved Gil, Harley Hook was a pirate.  And as a pirate, she absolutely hated Mal’s gang.  They thought that they were so much better than anyone, just because of Mal’s mom - big whoop, it’s not like Maleficent could even use magic on the Isle.  So yeah, Harley hated the VKs, her loyalty was to the crew, and she was never seen away from Harry or Gil.  And then the princeling decides to bring children of some of the worst villains to Auradon: Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos.  And Harley.  Harley couldn’t be more furious at being taken away from her crew, or at being sent to Auradon, or at being forced to work with the VKs to get Fairy Godmother’s wand.  But she knows that if she wants to get back to the Isle, back to her family, she needs that barrier down as much as they do.  She’s just not sure that they can cooperate long enough for that.

Francie Facilier in Shadow Tales (fc. tentatively Amandla Stenberg): Daughter of Doctor Facilier

Why is it that people on the Isle only ever talk about Celia Facilier?  Well according to her, it’s because she’s the superior sister; according to Francie Facillier, it’s because she choses to fade into the shadows from which she came.  Francie knows everything about everyone, knows every corner of the Isle, even knows how to get off of it.  But even though she’s supposed to be evil, she’s not quite evil enough to force anyone else to listen to the villains lament on their glory days, on when they were the most feared in all the land.  Whatever, big deal, who cares?  Maybe the Beast-King should have left them all dead.  But he didn’t, no way of changing it now, so maybe it’s time for Francie to put all of her knowledge to work and crown herself Queen of the Isle.

Lani in One Foot In The Sea (And One On The Shore) (fc. Madelaine Petsch): Daughter of Melody

Melody’s daughter, the first second generation child to be born, and to go to Auradon Prep.  She’s half part of Auradon (because of Eric’s kingdom) but also Atlantian which is still separated, and she’s trying to unite the two but is being torn apart by it

Trina Tremaine in I’m Still Here (fc. Lana Condor):  Daughter of Lady Tremaine

a daughter of Lady Tremaine, much younger than the other two, only a couple of years older than Dizzy.  She and Dizzy are extremely close but are separated when she’s brought to Auradon.  Probably also treated badly by Lady Tremaine, ends up becoming quite close with Cinderella during that first family day where everything went wrong.

Rosabelle in The Rose Has Her Thorns (fc. Zoey Deutch): Daughter of Gaston

A daughter of Gaston, Gil’s little sister, Ben decides that he can’t bring other VKs and not the child of his parents own villain, so Rosabelle gets brought to Auradon.  I don’t know much but I’ve decided that she becomes quite close with Belle (I think that she would have been majorly mistreated by Gaston and Belle can tell as soon as they meet) and Adam really hates that.  Her hair is naturally blonde (like Gil’s) but she dyes it on the Isle.

Titania aka Tia in Two Roads Diverged (fc. Emily Rudd): Daughter of Fairy Godmother

in a slight AU where the Beast is honestly really dark, FG has twin daughters and he forces her to send one to the Isle (I’m not sure if it’s specifically because they’d be magic or if there’s a one child rule because he doesn’t want anyone being able to overthrow him) but FG hides her away somewhere instead?  Or she does go to the Isle but then escapes in D3 when the VKs and Pirates leave after visiting Hades.  I have very little plot beyond that but in D3 when Jane and co find the statue of FG, Jane thinks of getting the wand, but when she goes in she sees this girl taking it (and not being stopped by the shield because she has the same blood) and discovers that she has a twin, and then they overthrow the beast or something - introduces herself to everybody as Tia because of the power of real names

Noelle in Only Love, Only Hate (fc. Kiernan Shipka): Daughter of Elsa

Absolutely hates Auradon because they tried to send Elsa to the Isle, but is forced to attend Auradon Prep for political reasons and she and Ben fall in love, kind of a Romeo & Juliet vibe - title comes from the Romeo And Juliet quote “my only love sprung from my only hate”

Myra Frollo in Hellfire (fc. Elle Fanning): daughter of Claude Frollo and Cinderella (nonconsensual). 

Because of the Beast’s hatred of magic and the time period of both Hunchback and BATB, Frollo is not sent to the Isle (the Beast claims that he’s a hero for his valiant effort to protect the city from witchcraft). Frollo assaults Cinderella, and Myra is the result. Beast grants Frollo custody but she occasionally gets to spend time with her mom. She’s very close with both Cinderella and Chad, but not Prince Charming. Chad knows that her father is abusive and it’s a big part of why he is so opposed to VKs coming to Auradon - if Frollo isn’t considered bad enough for the Isle then how horrible must those villains and their kids be

Lyssa in One Last Hope (fc. Vanessa Morgan): Daughter of Meg and Hercules

daughter of Hercules who the fates predicted would be evil and is therefore sent to the isle as an infant and is raised by Hades but then Ben includes her in the group being brought to Auradon

Charity in A Twist In Truth (fc. Sabrina Carpenter): daughter of Belle and Prince Charming

Doesn’t know that Adam isn’t her father until a curse is placed on his bloodline and she realizes that she’s unaffected

Faith in The Hands Of Fate (fc. Paris Berelc): daughter of the Fates (their scissors are seen in the Villain Room of the museum) who was raised on the Isle

Blair in A Change Of Fate (fc. Adelaide Kane): Merida’s adopted daughter

Looked down on by the rest of Auradon because she doesn’t have the proper bloodline)

Cheryl in Daughter Of The Devil (fc. Margaret Qualley): daughter of Chernabog

Gloria in Mother Knows Best (fc. Camila Mendes): Daughter of Mother Gothel

Hannah in Wish I Were Here (fc. Kat McNamara): Daughter of Hans

Hannah never knew who her mom was, and knows that her dad has no magical abilities whatsoever, but when she steps foot into Auradon she discovers that she can do magic and finds herself on a quest to learn the truth about her past

Sonya White in Ties That Bind (fc. Grace Phipps): Daughter of Snow White (in the same series as NAME and Name)

Sonya and Snow both consider Evie family and Sonya is determined to do whatever she can to help Evie - including getting the wand

Anissa Radcliffe in Ties That Bind (fc. Maia Mitchell): A daughter of Anita and Roger Radliffe, from the same series as Sonya and Layla

Layla in Ties That Bind (fc. Naomi Scott): A daughter of Aladdin and Jasmine, from the same series as Sonya and Anissa

Casseopia in Where I’m Meant To Be (fc. Mackenzie Foy): Daughter of Meg and Hercules

Raised on Olympus by Hera and Zeus, their demand after Hercules turned down godhood, and recently sent to Auradon Prep

Isadora Darling in Second Star To The Left  (fc. Olivia Holt): Daughter of Jane Darling

After Adam became king of Auradon, he had Fairy Godmother put up a barrier around Neverland, just like the one around the Isle, but no one knows where it is - somehow, Isadora finds it and makes it to the other side.

Maisie in Who Is The Monster (And Who Is The Man) (fc. tbd - open to suggestions): (full name Margaret), daughter of Esmeralda and Phoebus.

Because of his hatred of magic and the time period of both Hunchback and BATB, the Beast sends Esmeralda to the Isle (a few years after the villains, when she’s three months pregnant). She names her daughter Margaret because it was the name that Phoebus wanted. When Ben finds out that she’s on the Isle, he thinks it’s absolute bullshit and immediate includes Maisie in the kids to be brought to Auradon

Hayden in Dying Is An Art (fc. tbd, open to suggestions with purple, green, or blue hair): Daughter of Maleficent and Hades, raised by Hades

Forever Tag List: @themildestofwriters​ @gottaenjoythelittlethingzz​ @dancerdramatic14​ @seaweedhufflepuffocs​ @iceandwaterfairytail​ @agb-random @foxesandmagic - want to be added to the forever/fandom/character tag lists for fics or all content?  shoot me an ask!

Descendants Tag List: @katiesocs

[xpuriity]

GETTING TO KNOW ROSA!!

tagged.   @redbcrn​ 💖💖💖

Name?     ❛❛  Rosa Maria~  ❜❜

Are you single?     ❛❛  Nu-uh~ I have the best boyfriend~   ❜❜

Are you happy? ❛❛  ( smiles ) Mhm ~  ❜❜

Are you angry?     ❛❛  No~  ❜❜

Are your parents still married?     ❛❛ I don’t think Pops’ was ever married..   ❜❜

NINE FACTS —–

Birth Place?     ❛❛  Foodvalten Island  ❜❜

Hair Color?     ❛❛  ( twirls one of her short curls ) it’s not pink.. but it’s also not blonde... ❜❜

Eye Color? ❛❛  They’re dark blue.  ❜❜

Birthday?     ❛❛ March 11th.  ❜❜

Mood?     ❛❛  I am happy~  ❜❜

Gender?      ❛❛  I’m a girl, of course  ❜❜

Summer or winter?     ❛❛  Winter is nice because it’s when Ace was born and all the festivities too but I don’t like the cold too much~ ( pouts )  summer is nicer because we can play on the beach! ❜❜

Morning or afternoon?     ❛❛  Morning when all the birds are singing~  ❜❜

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE —–

Are you in love?     ❛❛  ( giggles shyly )  I am!  ❜❜

Do you believe in love at first sight?     ❛❛ Of course! People can find love in all sorts of different ways! ❜❜

Who ended your last relationship?     ❛❛  I have never been with anyone else — my heart’s always belonged to one person~  ❜❜

Have you ever broken someone’s heart?     ❛❛  I certainly hope not...  ❜❜

Are you afraid of commitments?     ❛❛  ( fiddles with her promise ring ) No, there’s no reason to be.. I already know I want to be with him forever! ❜❜

Have you hugged someone within the last week?     ❛❛  ( giggles ) Of course! ❜❜

Have you ever had a secret admirer?     ❛❛  A secret admirer? Like someone leaving you love letters and flowers? Nop, never had that~ Someone once left me a secret music box for my birthday though ( touches the key around her neck and smiles fondly ) I have a pretty good guess who it is though tehehe ❜❜

Have you ever broken your own heart?     ❛❛ Mhm.. but it’s all in the past now and I am happier than ever~  ❜❜

SIX CHOICES —–

Love or lust?     ❛❛  Love!  ❜❜

Lemonade or iced tea?     ❛❛  Lemonade~ ❜❜

Cats or Dogs?     ❛❛ ( pouts ) How come birds aren’t an option?  ❜❜

A few best friends or many regular friends?     ❛❛  More friends never hurt, right? But a few close ones is nice too~  ❜❜

A wild night out or romantic night in?     ❛❛ ( blushes )  So long as you’re with the one you love, it doesn’t matter if you’re out or in, does it? ❜❜

Day or night?     ❛❛  I like the day to watch the birds.. but the night has its beauty too.. you can’t admire firefly lights during the day, after all~  ❜❜

FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS —–

Been caught sneaking out?     ❛❛ No.. I never really snuck out much, I suppose.. I didn’t want to worry Tia.. ❜❜

Fallen down/up the stairs?     ❛❛ ( chuckles awkwardly ) you’re just asking because you know I can be clumsy, right? That’s not very nice~ ❜❜

Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt?     ❛❛  Yeah.. but it’s okay now — it was always okay because I’d rather hurt than not love at all.. ❜❜

Wanted to disappear?     ❛❛  I did.. after Marineford I just..  ( tears up ) I — I thought if I disappeared.. then I could be with them again..  ❜❜

FOUR PREFERENCES —–

Smile or eyes?     ❛❛  Both ~  ❜❜

Shorter or Taller?     ❛❛  Taller ~  ❜❜

Intelligence or Attraction?     ❛❛  What about kindness? Smarts and beauty aren’t much if you’re mean~  ❜❜

Hook-up or Relationship?     ❛❛  Relationship~  ❜❜

FAMILY —–

Do you and your family get along?     ❛❛ My Tia and crew are my family... Tia and I have our differences.. but I’m grateful for her — I get along with my crew just fine though~   ❜❜

Would you say you have a “messed up life”?     ❛❛ I think.. Life’s what you make it to be..  you can focus on the mess, or you can dance through the rain~  ❜❜

Have you ever ran away from home?     ❛❛  I haven’t~  ❜❜

Have you ever gotten kicked out?     ❛❛ Tehe, does getting kicked out of restaurants and candy stores for stealing and dining and dashing count?  ❜❜

FRIENDS —–

Do you secretly hate one of your friends?    ❛❛ That doesn’t sound very friendly or nice at all..   ❜❜

Do you consider all of your friends to be good friends?     ❛❛ Mhm~ My friends are the best!  ❜❜

Who is your best friend?     ❛❛ Ace is~ He was my best friend long before he was my boyfriend — Vee and Momo too! I know I can tell them anything! ❜❜

Who knows everything about you?     ❛❛  ( giggles ) Ace knows me better than anyone!  ❜❜

[futurepurplepaladin]

When I’m With You I’m Home- Part 2

Anonymous: 11+15+73+81 for lance reuniting with an s/o he left on earth

11) “Wow, you look… amazing.”

15) ““When I’m with you, I’m home.”

73) ““Please don’t say goodbye.”

81) “Come with me.”

Phew, this took so long to write! Sorry about that! I forgot to add on the last post- this is with a fem s/o, and Im really working on writing gender neutral- Im just not used to it. So Im so sorry if this made the fic harder to read! And this DEFINTELY doesnt match the storyline from Season 7-so sorry?

Word Count: 3,468

Who: Lance x Reader

Warnings: Some cuss words in Spanish- mentions of depressio 

Hope you enjoy!!!

(not my gif- gypsyastronaut)

“Getting busy over there LAnce?” a voice taunted in front of you; the voice was undefiable as male or female- but you recognized it at once.

“Wait is that- PIDGE?” 

------

You looked over Lance’s shoulder, seeing Pidge (and Hunk) walk over in almost identical lions as Lance (Pidge was green, and Hunk was yellow). They also were wearing the strange armor.

“Y/n?!?” she called excitedly, and soon as she said that both Hunk and Pidge where running over.

“Oh my god you guys, where’d you get all the weird costume?!” You laughed, hugging both individuals.

Pidge’s short, messy hair was a little longer like Lances, but she was still the same height.

Hunk look like he had gained some muscle, and his bandana looked like it could use a good wash.

“Soo…” Pidge smirked at LAnce, “you never told us you had a girlfriend!”

“And you never told us it was her- I mean- y/n!” HUnk exclaimed, trying to be very polite (per usual).

“Well….” Lance tried to explain, giving you a nervous smile.

You smiled back, saying, “We weren’t a thing… we just kinda figured it out right now.”

Hunk and Pidge looked at each other, evil smirks on their faces. You remembered those faces- that meant they were gonna screw with someone (most likely Lance). But just as Pidge opened her mouth, you felt another “whoooosh” over you that made your hair fly forward. And then a second one flew over you 5 seconds later.

“Okay- why is there different colored lions, I thought there was only a Blue one? And is Shiro and Keith in those ones?” You asked the group quickly, anxiously waiting for their answer.

“Yeah, that should be Shiro and Keith,” Hunk answered, turning towards the spot that they landed.

Lance pondered for a second- how do you know about the Lions?

He gave you a look that you knew to well that he was confused, and you realized he caught your mistake- he couldn’t know about what you did- he CANT. You quickly left him, running to go meet with Shiro and Keith to get away from any awkward questions.

“Mr. Shirogane! Mr. Shirogane is that really you?!?” You yelled, happily excited to see your favorite teacher again- until you realized you were only wearing a breathing suit and you stopped running awkwardly.

“How have you been y/n?” He asked politely, not noticing your lack of clothing.

“Uh- pretty good-“ you said thinking “He’s hairs way different…….”

Then you noticed Keith, you were standing right beside him.

He looked moody- as usual.

“Hey Keith,” you gave a small wave, and he gave a small ‘Hey.’

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance had finally reached you, standing behind you.

“Alright- somebody tell me what’s going on?” You asked your dying question quickly, afraid that they wouldn’t answer it if you didn’t ask at once. “Why is there lions? Where did you guys go? Where did YOU GET THE ARMOR?!?l

Everyone did something different- Lance looked guilty, Pidge was still smirking at you two, Hunk was staring off at the darkening sunset, Keith looked at you as if he trying to see if you were trying to backstab them, but Shiro looked at you with seriousness and sympathy.

“Y/n,” he began, “I know your confused at all this, to be honest, we are too. We can tell you the story…. but not right now.”

“WHAT?!?” You yelled in frustration. “My best friend left -“

(“Boyfriend”, Pidge snickered)

“And all my friends were said to be dead- and you can’t tell me where you guys have been for the last year and a half?!” your frustration got the better of you, and you forgot who you were yelling at- but Shiro gave a soft smile and said, “I know this is frustrating, but promise me, You will know what happened.”

“Alright….” you complied, and Keith, thinking it was the right time to talk, “Guys, it’s getting dark, we’re gonna have to go.”

“Wait-“ You swiveled quickly to look at Lance- “you can’t go!”

Your heart throbbed to think you had to leave Lance- AGAIN- after only seeing him for about 30 minutes. You would be more heart broken than the last time.

Lance hurt seeing your face- it was as if all the guilt and worry he caused a year and half before was coming all coming to surface on your face.

“Keith- Shiro- I can’t go,” he said defiantly, “this is my home- let me stay for the night- then I’ll go.” You looked at him, hope filling your eyes again, and he smiled down at you.

“Lance you can’t, we have to get back-“ Keith started, but Shiro put a hand on his shoulder, signaling him to stop, and he finished for him.

“Lance, you can stay, I don’t see the trouble in it- but please be back before 9. We do have the meeting with the Garrison tomorrow, and we all need to be there.”

“Alright,” Lanc said gleefully, and you gave him a look he could read as if you were actually talking to him- “Meeting?”

“Just something I have to do,” he looked back, and you nodded in understanding.

You watched all the paladins leave one by one, hugging each one (except Keith, who looked extremely moody and had wrapped his arms around himself- and you were also secretly angry at him for trying to get Lance to leave), and watched as the flew into the sky and into the night, like reversed shooting stars- each one a color of the rainbow.

It was now dark, the ocean turning a dangerous indigo, and the night sky was covered in stars.

“Well- what do you want to do?” you asked Lance, grabbing his hand. You realized how good it felt to put your hand in his and wondered why it took you so long to actually confess to him. You haven't felt this happy in a long time.

Lance blushed, hoping the darkness covered up the red traveling up to his cheeks- but since his armor glowed in the dark, it illuminated his face and almost made it look worse.

“U-um...well- I just want to see my family, I've missed them so much!” you guys walked up the beach, you leading Lance back to your belongings. The sand felt cool and soft and it reminded you of the Moon Sand you and Lance used to play with as kids.

“Yeah its been awhile….” you said airly, imagining the happy faces of the McCLains when they realized their boy had came back home, and you smiled.

After Lance admitted to missing his family, it was as if a plug had come undone and he was spilling everything in a happy, home sick voice.

“Ive missed the my family so much, and especially the food. I haven't  had actual Earth food in forever! Like tacos, and pancakes, and the Spongebob ice creams from the ice cream truck with bubble gum eyes, oh and garlic knots! Man your tia used to make the best garlic knots- does she still make them- “

“Oh mierda!” you yelped.

You stopped walking, your happy bubble being popped.

“Whats wrong?” Lance asked, confused and instantly on guard.

“MY AUNT!” she had warned you not to be out so late- and it definitely looked like past 9.

“We gotta go!”

You sprinted towards your board, Lance following suit, and you ran towards the main road.

A normal walk to your house took a few minutes, but you got there at record time.- but you felt it wasn't fast enough- she was gonna be so PISSED.

You arrived at your little house, the outside being illuminated by warm yellow light streaming out through the windows. The door was open, letting in a soft breeze and the smell of garlic filled the air.

You quietly put down your board, dreading the telling to you were gonna get- and in front of LAnce. You had gotten in trouble in front of him before, but know it was different- your relationship was different. This wouldn't be only just embarrassing- you probably just start digging your grave right after.

“Wait are those… Garlic kn-mmph!” Lanc energetically yelled, and you frantically shushed him with your hand. His eyes got wide, and you whispered, “Just- stay quiet okay- I dont know what shes gonna do if shes sees you-I just tell her super gently so she doesn't have a full blown heart attack- let me handle it.” you quickly added, “Nod if you understand.”

Lance nodded in agreement, and after you realised him from your hand, he spat on the ground.

“Next time you do that,” he whispered harshly, “make sure your hands aren't covered in sand!”

You giggled quietly, angry butterflies fluttering in your stomach.

“Stop being a baby, Feo- just wait here.”

You gave him a weak smile and quietly walked up your front steps, dread building the closer you got to the door.

You slid through, and you saw your aunt’s back in the kitchen, smoke rising as she clanged pots and pans around. You swore your aunt had eyes in the back of her head, cause just as your crouched through the doorway, she turned around quickly, giving you a glare that made you flinch.

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” she bellowed in her slight Spanish accent, “YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK- IF YOU WERENT HOME IN 5 MINUTES I WAS GOING TO CALL THE POLICE! I TOLD YOU, IF YOU EVER DID THAT AGAIN YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO- Santa Maria….”

Your aunt stopped abruptly, staring not at you but at something behind you. You felt a familiar someone near you, and you stated quietly with a smile- “I got kinda side tracked.”

You looked up at Lance, seeing his soft smile, and you smiled wider.

“Lance… is i really you?” your aunt tentatively walked towards you, clutching her heart as she walked towards him.

“Yeah, its me Tia,” Lance said weakily, as if the amount of happiness in him was sapping his energy.

Your aunt screamed in glee, and put Lance into a bone crushing hug. You laughed, knowing that your aunt saw Lance as a son- you guys were like family.

She finally put Lance on ground as he rubbed his arms to get blood flow back there. “Come come, I just finished making dinner,” you aunt said, a smile etched on her face. You both walked over, seeing the silver baking sheets covered in assorted food; Lance was right, she did make garlic knots.

“Mijo, eat, your a twig!” she said affectionately to Lance, handing him a whole pan of food.

Lance licked his lip, clearing cant waiting to eat. You were hungry as well- you hadnt eaten anything all day, and the hunger had just caught up to you. You grabbed for a bread yourself, and your aunt hit your hand with a spatula.

“Ow!” you yelped, grabbing your know throbbing hand, “What was that for!”

“You were gone for 10 HOURS! No, you can wait- not until you change into something other than THAT!” she said, aiming her spatula at you like a weapon and motioning to your bathing suit.

“Its a bathing suit, Tia” you said, “its something that your suppose to wear at the beach.”

“But you need to cover up- especially around this one,” she looked at you while pointing the spatula at LAnce, who was currently stuffing his face.

“I think she looks great,” Lance said after he swallowed a huge chunk of bread, giving a smug look at your body. You blushed, feeling that maybe it would be a good time to change- your aunt had just whacked Lance on the head with the spatula and Lance gave out a yelp.

You shook your head and laughed, going into your room.

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

You turned on the light, the warm glow illuminating the walls. Your room really had no concept- it was just a mess of things that your owned and liked.

In front of you was your window, opened to let in a breeze. The lacy white curtains curled lazily in the breeze. Your closet was open, relieving a mess of shoes and shirts. The far sided wall was painted with stars and constellations, that glowed in the dark. Your bed was blue, covered in pink, green, and white assorted pillows that said “Whatever” and “Shooketh” and other wierd saying you thought were funny or just cute. The walls were covered in snapshots of star constellations and Star Wars posters. Next to your bed, was another curtain- it was red, clashing with the pastel colors of your room. Yes, your room was messy and maybe a little hard on the eyes but- you liked it. It was yours.

You stepped over clothes strewn on the floor, grabbing your phone and playing hit on your favorite playlist, not noticing the quiet voices in the kitchen.

---------

Lance had just explained to your aunt were he had been, giving her a quick run down. He didnt give her more information than he gave you- he felt it would be wrong to tell your aunt first instead of you.

“So- how has y/n and you been doin- since I….you know….” Lance asked, finishing off his 7th garlic knot.

He was worried about you- he knew you too well. The fact you guys had fought hurt him alot, but he knew it would hurt you worse.

“Ay mijo… she wasnt doing well, not at all,” she replied sadly, putting down the towel she was using to clean her hands.

“After you left, she went into a sadness. She was crazy, not the same- going around, crying, yelling at officials saying that they needed to work harder to find you. They gave her a deal and said that she could come back in the next year- how I heard she was acting, shes blessed to have a second chance”

Lance gulped dryly, noticing how dry his throat was.

“What else happened?”

Your aunt continued, “The town was just as sad as she was. Your family mijo- they were heartbroken. But y/n- you would have thought you had died. After what happened to her parents-she had already lost so much, and then losing you… I think it was too much for her.. She stayed in her room all day, never came out, and wouldnt eat. I think she barely slept. I never knew what she was doing, but that was when she put up that red curtain- I never checked what was under i. I didn't want to look into her private things…”

“A red curtain/” Lance looked up quickly, feeling more guilt washing over him. How could he do this to his family? To the girl he loved? And he never realized it?

“Si, mijo… near her bed- maybe you can talk her into showing it to you. But please-” your aunt graped LAnce’s hand with both of hers, “don't tell her I told you this. She would be so mad at me.”

“Of course,” Lance smiled sympthatically at her, patting her hands with his free one.

---------

Lance walked into your room, seeing you lay out clothes on your already messy bed. You pulled a earbud out of your ear, smiling at him.

“Been stuffing your face?” you smirked at him.

“Ha funny- but your not wrong,” he laughed weakly, watching you sadly. How could his happy-go-lucky, sassy, beautiful y/n been depressed over him a year ago? He couldn't see it- he didn't want to see it.

“I just wanted to put something on sorta nice, ya know? You know Auntie, shes crazy over looking presentable over guests- Im surprised she didnt care about what she was wearing when she saw you. What did she say about your suit thingie? That thing, not gonna lie, its a little wierd- What are you doing?”

You stopped abruptly as you turned to look at Lance. He was staring at your wall, your secret, private wall- the curtain was open-nobody was allowed to touch it- especially- him-

Silence filled your room. You felt guilt, shame, dread, and even fear fill up inside you.

“What are you doing?” The room felt still as you whispered those words harshly at him.

“I-just-y/n- what is this? How do you know about-”

Your “secret wall” was covered with a map and black and white pictures of the Blue Lion, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk on the day they had gone missing. All of them were quick snapshots, some fuzzy, some as clear as day- alot of them looked like they were from secruity cameras. All of them had red string going from one picture to another, sharpie circling important spots, and sticky notes.

Lance pulled one sticky note off, the words on it clearly spelled out ‘Voltron?”, as if the sticky note itself was confused on what it was.

“How do you know about this? y/n?” Lance’s starined voice hurt you, and it hit you like a pile of rocks. You were looking at your feet, feeling as if again your world had fallen around you. You had worked so hard to keep this a secret.

“Lance- I-” you began, realizing it was a lost cause to lie- he would see right through it.

You walked towards him, Lance’s eyes covered in confusion.

“The night you left- I-I followed you. I knew where you were going. Pidge had invited me to help her at night before because she would sometimes need help with her machines, but she was good at covering up her tracks. The only thing I accidentally saw was the word “Voltron.””

“So, that night, I followed, you, to make sure you didnt do anything stupid- which you did. After the explosions, I tried to follow you, but you had already were gone after I recovered from the sound. I went inside to maybe find you, see if you went inside too- I wish I didnt- cause after that you were gone.”

“I started- feeling the Garrison was doing enough to find you. I spent months telling them my story, but they did nothing. I was- failing classes, because I was going and stealing information off the Garrison.”

Lance gasped, scolding, “y/n!”

“I know, you laughed, “bad, right? Well, they found me out one day- I was printing off a picture of something- i dont know- another snapshot of the Blue Lion? I dont know- anyway, they called me in and started inerrogating me. They realized i knew too much information, and after I said that I was going to call in the government and tell them what they were hiding- the Garrison freaked out. They let me off the hook, and said I could come back whenever I could- I think they just didnt want me to sell them out.”

“So yeah- came back home- and started doing this-” you motioned to the board. “This was all I would do. I just wanted to find you Lance.” you turned to the board, facing away from him because tears were threatening to spill.

“I was lost without you.” you voice hitched, giving away the tears that were slipping away. You felt hands around you, and grabbed them like you needed them to help you stand up. You smashed into his chest, filling yourself fall part.

“God, Lance, I couldnt think, “ you cried, “I didnt know what to do with myself. Everyday- it was the same and I couldnt do it. I couldnt do it anymore. Please dont leave. Please dont say goodbye. dont go back.” you cried, grabbing his neck like your life depended on it.

Lance’s heart gave a violent throb. He had seen you cry- but never seen you breakdown. He grabbed you tighter, knowing he had to go, there was no way out of it- but he didn't want to leave you- knowing you would be this upset and depressed-

“Come with me,” he said, so quiet you were the only that could her him.

“What?” you asked, feeling you eyes itch with puffiness.

“Come with me, the Lions are stationed at the Garrison- thats where were staying at! Y/n Im so sorry I did this to you- I hate seeing you cry….”

He pulled you into another hug, and you realized how much you loved him- he cared so much about you, and how you could have ever been angry at him for leaving made you angry at yourself. But going back to the Garrison? You were scared- so many bad things had happened there, you didnt want to relieve that again…..

“I know your scared, but itll be okay, this time Ill be by your side the whole time- I promise,” he said, almost as if he was reading your mind.

You stayed quiet, still feeling uncertain.

You pulled apart from him,, dabbing your noise with the back of your hand. “Let me think about it, kay?” you asked him, giving him a smile.

“Alright,” he replied sadly, and left your room, knowing that you would make your decision soon- you never liked to dwell on things for too long. You closed the door, locking it.

The Garrison? Again? You did miss learning about space though...and you'd be able to be with Lance and your friends again…..

You sighed, thinking, “What am I gonna do?”

----------

Lance walked out to see your aunt feverishly doing the dishes.

“Did you see it, mijo?” she asked quickly, walking towards him.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Well- what was it?” she asked fear and hope filling her eyes.

“Well, um- “ Lance started, feeling as if maybe he shouldn't be the one to tell her, he paused thinking of a way to not tell your aunt outright but not lie to her at the same time.

“Lets just say- it involves a Lion.”

And right when he said that, you had walked out, wearing something all too familiar.

You were wearing your old Garrison jacket and pants, and you had put your hair into a sleek bun.

“A blue Lion to be exact.” you smiled, looking at Lances beaming face.

-----------

Oh mierda- oh shit

Feo- ugly

------

Requests are open!

[calliopesquill]

A Year in the Life - Chapter 1

Cross-posted on AO3.

It’s been almost two years since Miguel’s adventure in the Land of the Dead. Music has been returned to the Rivera family and everything is going great. But why does Miguel keep dreaming about the bridge? And why is this strange tourist asking him about astral projection?

Nell is a graphic novel artist who has come to Santa Cecilia in search of inspiration. What she finds is a strange boy with a marigold glow and strange abilities that he is only starting to realize.

When an old grudge rears its head and Miguel is stolen back across the marigold bridge it is up to Nell and the Rivera clan to bring him back before it’s too late.

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

A Year in the Life

Chapter 1: New Arrival

Santa Cecilia was a postcard.

That was Nell’s first thought as the cab wound its way through the small town. With its colorful buildings and half-paved streets, it could have belonged in any decade at all from the last hundred and fifty years, with only a few hints of modernity. This was a place that moved at its own pace, that respected tradition as much as convenience.

This was exactly the atmosphere Nell was looking for, the perfect setting for her next novel. Well, graphic novel. With a mini-series, a stand-alone graphic novel, and a recently-complete web-series under her belt, Nell was more than eager to start her next project.

There was a kind of familial nostalgia that brought her to Mexico from her home in western Canada. Her great-grandparents had emigrated north at the turn of the century to settle in Montana. Their own children had continued the journey, living a couple of years in Vancouver before eventually settling in Kelowna. Though the small village that her ancestors had once called home no longer existed, Nell could feel the spirit of them here and hoped that the months she planned to spend in Santa Cecilia would help her reconnect with her roots as well as provide the inspiration she needed for her upcoming book.

She had the look of her grandmother when she was young, with soft brown skin and thick chestnut-colored hair. She’d gotten the color from her mom’s side, but the unruly waves of it definitely came from her dad. Most of the time she kept it tied back with some thick ribbon or in a braid of some kind, just to keep it out of her face. The light scattering of freckles that dotted her face came from his side as well. She dressed for comfort as much as style in a pair of cropped blue floral-print leggings and a white sleeveless tunic with crocheted lace insets. The sky-blue sweater she had worn for warmth on the plane was tucked away in her purse, unneeded in the heat of the late-afternoon sun.

Her fingers itched for her pencil as the taxi’s route took them through the town square, her toe tapping to the beat of the song that played through the crackling radio. The driver turned left down a street marked with a shoe, reaching to turn the music down as he did so.

Nell shifted in her seat, moving to gather her purse and carry-on, thinking they might be close, but the driver turned down another street and turned the volume back up again. His passenger gave him a strange look as she released her purse strap. What was that about?

The driver must have caught a glimpse of her expression in the rear-view mirror as he gave a casual shrug. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Pardon?”

The man shuddered and said something about “la chancela”. Whatever that meant.

Nell’s spanish was passable, the result of a few solid months of binge-studying and review with her mother’s parents. Slang, however, was something she still struggled with. She was pretty sure that a “chancela” was a sandal, but why would someone be afraid of a shoe?

The cab slowed to a stop in front of a three-story building painted a cheerful orange. Nell checked the address on her phone against the map she’d been following and smiled. She was finally here.

Nell stepped out of the car as the driver moved to the trunk to retrieve her butterfly-printed suitcase. She’d packed lightly for this leg of the trip, taking only one piece of luggage with her on the plane. The old steamer trunk that carried the rest of her things she’d shipped off a few days ago, and would be arriving later in the week.

She paid the driver, then moved to knock on the front door, trading the sunglasses that she was wearing for the regular prescription glasses that she had stashed in the case in her purse.

The woman who answered it barely came up to Nell’s chin. She was slight, almost birdlike, the image only enhanced by the bright peacock blue of her day dress. Her dark hair was streaked with grey, tied back in a loose tail.

“Siñora Montero?” Nell asked.

“Si!” The woman smiled. “Ah, you are Penelope, yes? Bienvenedo! Please, come in.”

Nell tried not to flinch at the use of her full name. “Ah, gracias. And please, call me Nell.” Only her grandparents called her Penelope. Growing up everyone else had called her “Penny”, but she decided to start going by “Nell” once she started university. But Siñora Montero had refused to call her anything but her full name since seeing her identification early on in their correspondence.

Her landlady continued to chatter cheerfully as she led her inside. “I see you made good time on your flight. My son, he lives in Mexico City, and he flies all over for work. I do not like planes. I would much rather keep my feet on the ground. Come, I will show you to your room.”

“Thank you, Siñora.”

Her landlady waved her off. “No no no. None of this formality. You will call me Tia, or Tia Caro. We are family while you stay with us.”

“Oh, um…. Okay. Gracias, Tia.”

The apartment she would be renting for the next few months was on the second floor. It was more like a bachelor’s suite, with the bedroom and living room sharing the central space, and a small kitchenette off to one side with a stove and a sink and a small refrigerator. If she needed any more space, Tia Caro told her, she was free to use the main kitchen on the ground floor. Oh, and she hoped that Nell would join them for dinner, as the tenants all ate dinner together most nights.

The furnishings were simple, with a wood-framed couch set against the end of the double bed in the center of the room, a couple of end tables, and a kitchen table with two chairs off to the side. The walls were painted bright white, contrasting with the muted orange of the floor tiles. A pair of hand-knotted rugs framed the bed, a third spread under the coffee table in front of the couch. The windows, Nell was told, could be opened, but did not have a screen. She should make sure that they were locked overnight, or if she was going out for the day.

“Ah, but you are tired after your long trip. I will leave you to settle in and you will join us for dinner tonight, si?”

‘Tired’ was a bit of an understatement. Flying was approximately equivalent to the seventh circle of Hell to someone like Nell, who was prone to debilitating motion sickness. The Gravol that she’d dosed herself with that morning had become her best friend by the end of the day, allowing her to sleep through most of the flight.

“Ah, si. Gracias, Tia Caro.”

“Ah, de nada!” Caro smiled. “Here, I will leave your keys on the counter. The square one is for the front door, and the round one is for your apartment. If you have any questions at all, I will be downstairs.”

Nell saw her landlady out and locked the door behind her. She didn’t bother unpacking, didn’t even take off her little ballet flats. She barely managed to shuffle over to the bed and fall face-down on the covers before falling into an exhausted sleep.

Nell was awoken some time later by a knock on the door. From the sound of it, they might have been knocking for a while. She surfaced blearily, rubbing her eyes with one hand, knocking her glasses askew.

“Penelope, are you awake?”

“Ah…. yeah. Si. I’m awake.” Mostly.

“Supper will be on the table in a few minutes if you want to join us downstairs.”

Nell’s stomach grumbled loudly in response. “I’ll be right down. Gracias, Si— ah… Tia Caro.”

As the sound of her landlady’s footsteps retreated down the stairs, Nell glanced around. Some time during her nap she had kicked off her shoes and wrapped herself up in the covers like a human burrito. She ran one hand absently through her hair, finding it escaping from its braid in mad, staticy frizz. Nell released the braid with a sigh, combing through the tangles with her fingers. That seemed to only make it worse so she dug her comb out of her carry-on to attempt to tame the beast before she met the rest of the residents.

She knew from earlier emails that most of the people who lived in the building were related to Caro in some way. The non-family tenants lived on the second floor with Nell.

It appeared that most of them had already gathered in the dining room by the time Nell had made her way down. She could hear them from the stairwell, a cacophony of loud voices carrying snippets of conversation that she only half-understood.

Tia Caro reigned over the kitchen with a wooden spoon and a floral-printed apron. A younger woman – her daughter? – followed behind her with a giant tray heaped with tamales that she placed in the center of the gigantic dining room table. Three young girls, the oldest maybe eight years old, were seated between their parents at one end of the table. Two older gentlemen, one with a truly impressive greying moustache, sat across from them. There was also a middle-aged couple and another older women in a white blouse and purple skirt seated next to them.

The landlady grinned when she saw her. “Ah, Penelope! You are awake! Come, come! Join us. Everyone, this is Penelope, our newest tenant. Penelope, mi familia. My daughter Esperanza and her husband, Juan, and their girls, Maria, Anabel, and Lia. Across from them is Antonio, and Carlos. My sister, Lucia, is there at the end of the table with Nico and Renata.”

Unsure how she was going to keep all of their names straight, Nell waved. “Nice to meet you all. Is there anything else that needs to be grabbed from the kitchen, Tia Caro?”

“No no, everything is here. Come, sit!” Caro insisted. “We will get to know you.”

The moment Nell sat down she found herself loaded with questions, her plate loaded with food.

“So Nell, what brings you to Santa Cecilia?” Lucia asked

“Do you have family here?”

“Of course she doesn’t, Carlos. If she did she would be staying with them.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe they don’t have room.”

“Familia es familia. There is always room.”

“Why is your accent funny?” That one from the middle of the sisters – Anabel?

“Woah, woah! One at a time,” Nell laughed. “First, please call me Nell. Penelope makes me feel like an old Victorian lady.”

“But it is such a lovely name!” Renata protested as she served herself from a plate of arroz con pollo.

“Gracias– Renata was it?”

“Si.”

“Gracias, Renata.” Nell said with a nod. “I like it too, but I feel like it’s a little mature for me, you know? For now, I think ‘Nell’ suits me better. I came to Santa Cecilia because I’m doing some research for a new project. I don’t have any family nearby, or at least none that I’m aware of.”

“You are family while you are here,” Caro said with a kind smile from across the table. “Penelope is a very talented artist.”

“A real artist or one of the ones who scribbles on a blank canvas and calls it art?” Antonio asked from behind his giant moustache, flinching away with a sharp ‘ay’ when Caro clipped the back of his head with her hand. “Just asking…”

“I’d call myself a real artist,” Nell answered evenly. “But I suppose that would depend on if you consider graphic novels to be art.”

Maria, the eldest of the girls, raised her hand as if she was in school, waving it in the air. “Ooh! Ooh! What’s a graphic novel?”

“Graphic novels are like….Como lo dices… big, fancy comic books. I have four out in total right now, and an online series that I’ve just finished that will be released in hard-copy volumes in a few weeks.”

“Chido!” The little girl declared. “Can I see? I wanna read comics!”

Nell hesitated. Her work tended to be a little more PG-13 than Maria’s parents might approve of. Shooting them a quick glance, she made a mental note to let them take a look before they let the kids read them. “Ah… I have a couple copies up in my room. But I can show you some of the pictures later if you want.”

“SI!”

Nell slept late the next morning. Having stayed up late into the night getting to know the other residents, she felt she deserved a bit of a lie-in. Today was for settling in and exploring the town where she would be living for the next few months.

And, she thought as her stomach growled at her, getting some groceries.

But first, a shower. After spending most of the day before travelling, Nell was feeling more than a little scuzzy and was eager to test out the shower in the bathroom that was opposite the kitchen. It was narrow enough that Nell could have rapped her elbows against each of the tiled walls – something she did entirely by accident while she washed the soap out of her hair.

Refreshed, Nell stepped out of the shower to dry off. Drying her hair was a battle she simply did not feel like fighting today, so she did the best she could with her towel and spent the next few minutes muttering curses as she tried to fight a comb through the tangles. Then she twisted it up out of the way in a messy ballet bun, securing it in place with a large hooked hairstick.

That done, she pulled a bottle of sunscreen from the drawer under the sink. If she didn’t want to turn into a walking sunburned freckle within five minutes of being outside, she was going to have to make sure she covered herself before she left the building. With this in mind, she double-checked her purse for the smaller, travel-sized bottle that she had packed with her.

Her outfit for the day was a split-back apricot-colored tee-shirt printed with little rainbows, paired with mint green capris and a pair of heather grey ballet flats.

As Nell double-checked her purse, she heard the chime of incoming mail on her phone, and smiled when she saw that the message was from her parents.

Hi honey!

Glad to see you’ve arrived safely. Loved the pictures of your new place. It’s so cute! I can’t wait to see how it looks once the rest of your stuff arrives.

Do you know when your trunk is supposed to get there? Dad is worried that it might get lost in transit. Do you still have your tracking number?

We have been looking up Santa Cecilia on google and it looks like such a cute little place! I am sure you will find lots of inspiration for your book there.

Dad’s been learning to use the Skype on his phone. He’s almost got the hang of it now. We will give you a call later tonight and you can give us all the details!

Have fun! Be safe.

Love,

Mom and Dad.

Nell chuckled, shaking her head as she typed out a response. Her dad was fairly helpless when it came to technology, her mom not much better. Until recently email had been the extent of their expertise. The idea of her parents im-ing or attempting a video chat was just funny.

Hi Mom,

I checked the tracking when I got up this morning. My trunk should be arriving tomorrow afternoon.

I’m heading out for groceries right now. My landlady gave me directions to the market so I’m going to grab some bruch and explore a bit this afternoon.

I will call you tonight and spam you with tourist pictures.

Love you!

Nell

Message sent, Nell tucked her phone into her purse, grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter, and headed out.

She might have gotten lost once or twice but she did eventually locate the post office, the grocery store, and a little bakery that she couldn’t resist. With a paper bag full of breakfast pastries, Nell wandered off down the street.

She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere because instead of finding the grocery store, Nell found herself in a wide stone plaza with a large wooden gazebo erected in the center. A sort of farmer’s market was set up around the perimeter against the backdrop of an old church with a tall bell tower. There were people everywhere, haggling over produce, drinking coffee at the little cafe, or catching up with their neighbours on the latest goings-on in town.

Nell immediately lamented leaving her sketchbook at home. This was exactly what she had been looking for when she came to Santa Cecilia. This sense of tradition married with modernity, and a sense of timelessness behind the daily hustle and bustle. She could spend days sketching here, capturing the imposing sweep of the bell tower, the bright paper banners that criss-crossed between the buildings.

Oh, and the music! Nell’s exposure to mariachi was fairly minimal, but there was something truly incredible about seeing a performance in person. It was the perfect backdrop to the scene.

Nell immediately wanted to get a closer look at their costumes, drawn to the contrast of the gold braid against the deep blue of their charo suits.

All except for one, a kid who looked like he might have just started high school, dressed in worn jeans and a white tee shirt. His fingers flew over the strings of a pearl-white guitar, picking out a complicated melody that blended perfectly with the other band members.

He played well, she thought. For someone so young. And given the ease of which he played off of the other musicians and engaged the small crowd that had gathered to watch them, he was no stranger to performing.

But what really caught her attention was the glow.

An aura of golden orange surrounded the boy, flaring around him as he played, visible even in the bright glare of the sun.

Well, visible to Nell at least. Seeing auras was not entirely new to her, though it wasn’t something she experienced very often. But never in her life had she been able to see one so clearly, and never under direct sunlight!

Damn, who is this kid?

The band finished with a flourish and a series of loud, ringing gritos that had Nell jolting.

How did they even make that sound?

Nell shook her head. Not important. What was supposed to be doing again? Right. Getting groceries. Well, at least she was in the right place for that.

She left the plaza a short time later, wondering if Tia Caro would let her keep some of her purchases in the main fridge as she might have overestimated how much food her little fridge would hold.

And if she got turned around a couple more times on the way back home, well the only one who would know that was her.

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

I hope you’ve enjoyed the first chapter of A Year in the Life! I’ve got a lot of fun stuff planned for this fic and my goal is to release a new chapter every week or so.

This chapter was much more Nell-centric just to give you all the chance to get to know her, and I will be introducing POV sections for Miguel and the rest of the Riveras as the story goes on.

If you want to follow the fic on AO3 as well, you can do so here.

Also I am searching for a beta reader to help me edit and to bounce ideas off of, so if you are interested please pm me and let me know!

Thanks for reading!