#feat. my horrible digital handwriting

[becauseimrichandican]

The lovely @mcnuggyy did a huge art meme for poly ships which can be found here. Since I can't art I settled on collaging the ones that worked and labeling them for the Caesar/Cornelia/Calpurnia OT3 that I've dubbed Triple C. If anybody would like to draw any of these for me I'd happily pay you.

[actress4him]

Whumptober 2023 - Day 9 - Obsession

Hey look, another piece for this series! Amazing!

This one doesn't really have any plot, but it takes place sometime after she gets back home from the hotel and before Oliver starts texting her all the time. Thank you to Nox for helping me brainstorm this idea!

Taglist: @justplainwhump , @whump-ventures

Masterlist

No. 9: “Learning everything ain't what it seems, that's the thing about these days.” | Polaroid

Contains: referenced parental death, referenced broken ribs, grief

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There’s an album full of old photos buried in the recesses of her closet. It’s one of the only things she has left from her old life. She never had much in the way of mementos or sentimental items, anyway, and she got rid of almost everything that could tie Cady Graham to Cadence West when she moved. She’s never even shown the photos to Janaysia and Devin, some irrational fear that it might somehow put them in danger holding her back. 

But sometimes, on days like today when she needs comfort or catharsis or something else that she can’t quite name, she pulls out the album, locks the bedroom door, and sits cross-legged on the bed to look through it. 

Her dad was obsessed with this Polaroid camera he found in his parents’ attic when she was a kid. Film was expensive, so there aren’t the copious amounts of pictures that most people take today, but there’s at least one from every birthday, Christmas, and other special occasions, and a few everyday moments scattered in between. On the bottom, white portion of every photo, he’d scribbled the date and a short description in his near-illegible handwriting. 

‘Cadence’s 5th birthday at the park’

‘Cadydid’s first day of school’

‘A new bike for my big girl’

The photos continue into her teen years, the years when she thought she knew everything and that her goofy dad and his stupid Polaroids were so annoying. Everyone else was starting to move to digital, but no, he just had to keep up with his obsession of instant-print, horrible quality photos. Her moods swung back and forth at random, so in some pictures she’s actually smiling, and having a good time, while in others it’s obvious that the smile is forced, merely appeasing her dad. 

There’s one picture in particular that’s always been her favorite. It’s one of very few in the album that her dad is actually in. Their faces are smooshed together, nearly identical eyes and noses side by side, and the framing is all off. Her dad’s ear and half his cheek are cut off by the edge of the photo. It was his attempt at a ‘selfie’, a much more difficult feat without a front-facing camera, and he was being so ridiculous while trying to make it happen that she was laughing aloud when he finally took it. 

That girl in that photo was so innocent, so naïve. She wanted to grow up so badly. Having to do what an adult said instead of going off and living her own life was such a horrible tragedy, or so she thought back then. 

If only she knew. If only she realized how short the time she had left with that precious man was. If only she understood how absolutely horrible life could actually be. Cady presses a hand to her mouth, stifling a sob. She would give anything to go back to those days, back to that moment. Back to when she didn’t know pain, when the worst thing that happened to her was not being allowed to date or go to a co-ed party. 

Back to when her dad was her protector and hero. 

Her finger traces the edges of the photo, carefully swiping across his label - ‘Me and my girl’. She sucks in a shaky breath, hand pressed into her still-healing ribs, and rubs tears away with her sweater sleeve. 

“I miss you, dad.”