#mac and her tub

[ash5monster01]

Ground Rules

Pairing: Angus Macgyver x FemReader

Warnings: fluff, minor angst, just two first time parents trying to figure it out

Summary: Much to your dismay your shared child seems to take after Mac and his curious ways. You had heard the stories about his unique childhood and if you didn’t get it under control soon, your daughter was bound to follow right in his foot steps.

word count: 1.5k

Masterlist

When you had first started dating Mac there had never really been any rules. It wasn’t until you moved in together you finally had to put some in place. You had tripped over one to many contraptions and been a little too close to some minor explosions that had you deciding on no experiments in the house. After a minor fight he finally agreed and Mac followed that rule to the best of his abilities and you appreciated him for it.

What you had never expected was having a kid just like him. You don’t know why it never crossed your mind that it was possible for your child to have Mac’s intelligence. To be honest you wished you would’ve and you could’ve prepared yourself for all that was to come with a curious mind desperate to learn. You had heard all those stories about Mac when he was a kid, blowing up football fields and smoking out labs, but none of it ever really felt real until now. They finally felt real because your daughter had now taken it upon herself to do science experiments anywhere she can.

You had left for only ten minutes. That was it. Ten peaceful minutes to go out and do some minor yard work. She was reading a Nancy Drew book on the couch when you left but when you had returned, the eight year old girl had covered the kitchen in what looked like some sort of green foam. It takes your mind only a second to go haywire, panic setting in, fear of chemicals, and misdirected anger at your husband.

“Jackie! What is going on?” you rush towards her, making quick work of pulling her away from the mess.

“Elephant toothpaste, I saw it on TV and Dad told me how to make it” you were sure smoke was steaming out of your ears by now. As proud as you were for how smart your daughter was, these actions could become hazardous.

“Honey, I need you to tell me what exactly is in elephant toothpaste?” you ask as calmly as you can, keeping your voice even as if to not scare her off.

“Hydrogen peroxide, yeast, dish soap, water, and food coloring for some fun!” she claps excitedly, eyeing that very mixture on the kitchen counter. Now calming over the harmless ingredients you look at where she has some foam now stuck in her curly blonde hair.

“All that made a huge mess in my kitchen?” you ask, reaching for a dish towel and wiping away as much as you can in her hair.

“Well I tripled the recipe for a bigger explosion” she says as if the sentence alone doesn’t make your heart stutter. Letting out a deep sigh you stand back up and start to guide her to the bathroom.

“You definitely are you father’s daughter” you mutter, hands squeezing her shoulders.

“You should’ve seen it Mom, it was huge!” she cheers excitedly as you start down the hallway.

“Let’s get you in the bath” you tell her and she just smiles wide, clearly content with what she had just accomplished and you now had to clean up.

Once filling the tub with warm water you help your daughter step out of her elephant toothpaste splattered dress and into the bath. Offering her a bath bomb she keeps her curious mind occupied as you step out and figure out how to prepare yourself for the cleaning you had ahead of you.

“What happened here?” you find your blonde husband with an amused smile on his face, eyes scanning the green foam.

“Someone decided to make elephant toothpaste, have any idea where she got that from?” you ask crossing your arms and Mac looks up to find you are not as amused as him in this situation.

“Shit baby I’m so sorry. I didn’t think she’d actually attempt it, much less inside the house” he says walking over to you and you sigh, trying your best to not place all the blame on him.

“It’s fine, I just have to figure out how to clean it now” you say, hands reaching up to push the hair out of your face. It had already been a long day and the last thing you needed was this.

“It’s okay, I got it. I’ve done elephant toothpaste a time or two” he says, hands reaching to squeeze each of your arms, and you offer a weak smile.

“She’s gonna be trouble, just like you” you say with an accusing finger and Mac smiles before pulling you close and wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Maybe, but at least I know how to handle it. When I was blowing things up I never had anyone who understood me” Mac says and you give him a panicked look.

“I didn’t say anything about blowing things up” you tell him, head beginning to shake and Mac quickly stops you.

“I know but I happened to remove an entire football field once in my life. Maybe I can keep hers contained to a small park or something” he teases but you give him a stern look that says you’re not ready to joke about this just quite yet.

“How about no explosions and no more experiments in our home?” you say and Mac clearly mulls it over. You know he wants to cater to his daughter’s curious mind, provide her with every opportunity he could to learn, but could that be done at the expense of your kitchen?

“One explosion and experiments in the yard?” he counter offers and you sigh.

“No explosions and experiments small enough to not alert neighbors in the yard” you finalize and he nods with a grin.

“I can accept that” he says before pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. “Now where’s our little scientist, I want to applaud her”

“She’s taking a bath, you can say hi after you clean up this mess” you tell him, hands pressing against his chest and in the direction of the green foam.

“And what about you?” he asks, a small pout to his lips and you slowly press a kiss to them. The pout gone in seconds.

“I’m going to help her out of the bath and then we’re going to set some rules” you tell him and he nods, saluting you as you walk back to the bathroom to find Jackie hadn’t even washed her hair yet.

It’s only an hour later you finally have the small girl in fresh pajamas, damp hair combed, and sat between you and Mac on the couch. The Nancy Drew book from before is open on her lap and you finally give Mac a look to tell him it’s time to set some rules and create boundaries for her.

“Jackie honey?” you coo, fingers reaching to push away the book for a moment.

“Yeah Mom?” she says, half distracted and trying to chase the page as it moves away from her.

“We wanted to talk to you about your little experiment today” you tell her and Mac nodded, blue eyes finding his daughter’s matching ones.

“Yeah honey, just a quick chat” and at her father’s words she finally closes the book on her lap.

“We love that you enjoy learning new things. It’s amazing the things you already understand, but we need to set some rules” you tell her and a sad look flashes across her features in seconds.

“You made a big mess today, one that worried your Mom. So there can’t be anymore experiments in the house” Mac says and the girls is instantly defeated, a gasp leaving her mouth.

“But Dad, it was just elephant toothpaste. It wasn’t dangerous!” she whines and Mac shakes his head, staying firm and on your side.

“Yeah but your Mom didn’t know that. So there is going to be no more experiments in this house unless approved and supervised by one of us” he tells her and her lip instantly quivers as her arms cross over her chest.

“But you and Dad can do as many experiments in the yard as you want and he’s also agreed to bring you to his lab at work once a week to learn something new” you comfort the sad girl, arm wrapping around her.

“You promise?” she asks, hopeful eyes looking up at her Dad.

“Of course honey, pinky promise. We want you to grow and learn but science can be dangerous and it’s important we treat every experiment as that” he tells her and she nods even though you know she’s not entirely on board yet.

“Does that mean I have to tell you about the habitat I’m growing in my closet?” she whispers and you flash a worried look to Mac who is trying his best not to laugh.

“Well, why don’t we go find out” he says, standing and lifting the girl to dangle over his shoulder. The giggles and squeals she lets out are a stark contrast to the somber mood she was just in and you can’t help but smile as you watch them disappear down the hallway.

“Is that a toad?!” you hear Mac’s voice bellow down the hallway and you are quick to stand to your feet and rush down the hallway.

“Oh hell no”

Taglist: @mayfieldss

Comment if you want to be tagged in any upcoming Macgyver fics <3

[quitealotofsodapop]

Ended up reading this reddit thread on the silliest things people have cried/gotten emotional over whilst pregnant - now I am having ideas for my LMK aus.

Things Wukong and/or Macaque have cried over whilst carrying an Egg;

Saw a squirrel with a really short tail.

Saw a cat that was so fluffy.

Fridge door bumped their stomach (non-painfully) while opening it.

Craved a chocolate bar that was discontinued ten years ago

Scratch that; Wukong would cry over craving a very specific fruit variant that doesn't exust anymore.

One of the first times they eat Pigsy's cooking. So much love and care goes into his food. They can taste it. Pigsy was a little taken aback by the pregnant monkey(s) crying over a bowl of noodles when he saw them.

Macaqie would think he's immune to food-based mood swings, until he suddenly remembers a cinnamon-osmathus based desert Chang'e made for him when he was a cub, and start sobbing. There was only two tree species on the moon and she tried her best to make him a treat from them! Chang'e was informed of this incident, and she sent down some as a gift for her baby bro. Mac cried again.

Wukong saw a toddler trip and scrape their knee. Even though the kid was ok, Wukong got emotional over how mortal and fragile his kid would be.

Sandy showed them his new litter of foster kittens, and the kittens were so small.

Got pulled over by cops while driving and cried so hard at the thought of being in trouble that the cop let them go.

Remembered people that they hadn't apologized after a long time. Some sobbing 3am calls were made to various confused deities/demons.

Wukong couldn't eat peaches for a long time due to sensory/taste aversion. One day he came home to find that Mac spent the whole day learning how to use an ice cream maker so he could make a Peach Ice Cream that didn't set off Wukong's nausea. Even made a chocolate coating that looked like peach skin. Wukong cried while devoring the whole tub before Mac could explain what he did.

And of course: saw a super sleepy, content baby monkey (their own).

[gh0stsp1d3r]

Could you maybe do an angst abt O’Hara and reader but they have a kid and in their universe the kid gets sadly killed and reader blames herself for not being able to save her while Miguel is fighting the villain but she wake up 😧 and Miguel starts to comfort her abt her dream

Promises

Soft Miguel ):, fluff and angst, miguel being the best girl dad ever, I love this song sm you guys don’t understand Mac Demarco is the best

“Alright, alright, c’mon, we gotta go back home. It’s getting late. Papa will be home.” You said, looking down at your daughter as you held hee hand.

“Yay!!” She said, and smiled.

You didn’t actually know if he’d actually be home, but it was the only way she would listen. She loved you, of course she did, but she really loved her dad.

“Mama, you don’t need to hold my hand. I’m a big girl.” She huffed. She was only 6, growing up too quick.

“Alright then, big girl.” You let go of her hand as you guys walked towards the apartment.

Once you reached it, you opened the door and Gabriella walked inside first, you shut the door and looked around the apartment. He wasn’t here.

You frowned, and sighed.

“Mama, I thought you said that Papa would be here…?” She looked at you.

“He’ll be back soon-“ as soon as you said the words, the door opened behind you. He carried a bag of groceries in with him.

“Papa!” She yelled, running up to him with a huge smile. Her growing fangs on display.

He smiled at her tiredly, picking her up. “Someone’s happy.” He laughed and kissed her forehead.

“And look at that, your fangs are growing.” He said, looking at her teeth.

“They are, and soon I’ll be just like you daddy.” She giggled as she got put down on the floor.

“Look what I got..” he pulled out a tub of ice cream, looking at you and back at Gabriella with a smirk.

——————————————————————

Miguel tucked in Gabriella, kissing her forehead again.

“Buenas noches. Que sueñes con los angelitos.”

(Good night. Sweet dreams.)

“Buenas noches. Te quiero papá.”

(Good night. I love you dad.)

He smiled and turned to leave the room. You were waiting outside the door.

You both went into your guy’s room, and slipped out of your clothes and into pajamas, which was sweatpants and an old t-shirt for him.

You both went into the bed, and talked for a while. Laughing and just enjoying each other.

“Goodnight, my love.” He mumbled.

“Goodnight.” You kissed him, and you soon fell asleep.

——-

The rain pounded on the window outside, the man holding Gabriella held a gun to her head. You cried and begged for him to stop, as the other man held his arms around your neck.

“One step and I’ll shoot her.” He said, looking at Miguel. Miguel looked at you and then back at his daughter.

He looked back at Gabi, eyes red under his mask, and fangs full on showing. He ran over to her, when a loud ‘bang!’ Was heard.

All you could see was Miguel scream “Gabi!” And then run after the man, before you woke up.

You quickly sat up, looking around and breathing heavily.

Miguel was still sleeping, and you had to just look. Just in case.

You quietly walked out to your daughters room. Heart thumping against your chest. What if the dream was a sign? What if she really isn’t there? You peeked into the door, and she was still there. Thank god.

You sighed in relief and went back to the room. Miguel started to stir when you went back into the bed. You sat up and stared at the wall for a while, just thinking. It was just a dream, but still, it could be real.

“Y/n.. What’s wrong..?” He mumbled in a raspy voice when he stirred awake, and looked at you. You looked at him.

“Nothing. I just had a dream.” You mumbled, and laid down again.

He put his arm up, and leaned his head against it.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… in the dream.. Some guy had Gabi, and then he..”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“But Gabi’s still here, isn’t she?”

“Yeah…”

“Exactly. She’s fine, and she will be fine. I’ll always be here to protect the both of you, and i’d never let anything happen to you.”

“Promise..?”

“Promise.” He smiled at you, and grabbed your cheeks, you both kissed.

“Now go back to sleep. Love you.” He said, laying down again.

“Love you.” You smiled at him, and laid down as well.

Tag list: @rayis-psychotic @scaraza @xxqueen-of-horrorxx @1eonk @whosace16 @zebralover @tzuyuzzs @luvsaluv @mxkn @deputy-videogamer

@666kpopfan @lavsluvsu @lampylamperson @notbluees @chaoticevilbakugo

[crystallizedtwilight]

After going through your sketches of the newly renovated LSB treehouse, I updated and booted up my old sims 4 (and even bought some spooky expansions just for this moment) and drafted out the treehouse! Just wanted to let you know, the designs you made are totally functional in the layout you intended!

Only difference I had to make was add a tiny kitchen on the main floor of the tree house. Bathroom with the tub went on the second floor. (Also I think it was the paranormal pack, but it had a little cauldron that is PERFECT for Shock’s room on her desk!)

Also there is an actual cauldron Shock can use for potions (from the magic realm pack) and…

I can confirm…

they can make mac and cheese in the cauldron. Which my sims of your LSB have done a few times (it’s a lot of Mac and cheese… lots of leftovers)

Sorry for the long message, just wanted to let you know your layout plans are valid and functional! 😆 in the sims!

!!!!!!!! THAT IS SO COOL!! 🤩

[humorisstoredinthetits]

The Heathers + Veronica go to Comic Con

Once a year the Heathers and Veronica go to their local Comic Con

'Local' is a stretch, its obviously not in Sherwood bc why would anyone in their right mind actually go there, so they drive to Columbus

They make a little trip out of it, none of them want to drive there, spend all day at the convention, and then drive all the way back

They take Duke's jeep bc its the only car that can hold all the crap they buy

Its around a 3 hour drive to Columbus, so they leave around noon the day before

Duke drives, her jeep is her baby and she will not let anyone else touch her under fear of death

Chandler rides shotgun, she gets carsick easily and being in the front helps with that

That leaves Veronica and Mac in the back

Chandler is a backseat driver, she is constantly criticizing Duke's driving, and if she goes even a single mph above the speed limit no one will hear the end of it

She's a massive hypocrite bc her driving is very reckless, but she insists that she knows what she is doing, unlike Duke and her 'monster truck lookin ass car'

Duke of course takes great offense to someone insulting her baby and they have a fight which lasts for five minutes at most before they get over it

Because of this Veronica and Mac bring noise cancelling headphones and nap the entire time

Chandler is also the person who makes them stop every five minutes bc she has to go the bathroom or she's hungry or whatever

By the time they get to the hotel Duke is about to kill Chandler while she's just thankful that the ride is over

They stay at some upscale hotel near the convention center

Once they settle in, they head to the pool with the attached hot tub

Chandler and Mac relax in the hot tub while Duke and Veronica take a dip in the pool

As revenge for being a pain in the ass during the car ride, Duke splashes the cold water onto Chandler and laughs while she flips out

They dry off and head back to the room, where they get to bed early

They have to wake up early to get their cosplays on

Duke and Veronica sleep together while Chandler and Mac take the other bed

Veronica set an alarm for like 3am

When it goes off she has to rush downstairs to get coffee (and tea for Mac) for her gfs so they won't be cranky

They quickly shower and get their cosplays ready

Some of the cosplays they've done include

Kessoku Band from Bocchi the Rock! (Mac was Nijika, Chandler was Kita, Veronica was Ryo, Duke was Bocchi)

Duke had to be Bocchi bc she was the only one who didn't have a character who matched with her color

The Gaang from Avatar The Last Airbender (Mac was Aang, Chandler was Katara, Veronica was Sokka, Duke was Toph)

The original animatronics from Five Nights at Freddy's (Mac was Chica, Chandler was Freddy, Veronica was Bonnie, Duke was Foxy)

Duke and Chandler fought over who got to be Foxy, Chandler said it should be her bc red is her color, but then Duke guilt tripped her and she gave in

Disney Princesses (Mac was Belle, Chandler was Aurora, Veronica was Cinderella, Duke was Mulan)

Originally they wanted to do The Wizard of Oz but then they saw Wicked and Mac really wanted to be Glinda so they went with that (Chandler was the Wizard, Veronica was Fiyero, Duke was Elphaba)

They then cross the street and head to the convention center

Once they get in they head to the Celebrity Area

The convention isn't exactly the biggest or most prestigious, but they still get a decent few celebrities

They brought a few things with them to get signed like funko pops or posters, and they'll spread out and meet who they want to

Veronica refuses to get anything signed by the anime VAs who are there bc she is a sub purist and refuses to watch dubbed

Once they finish up there they'll usually attend a few panels before heading to the Marketplace, which is where they spend most of their time

While they walk around people are constantly coming up to them asking to take pictures bc their cosplays are just that good

They also sometimes see Betty, Martha and JD there

Betty and Martha usually go as Wesley and Buttercup (who could've seen that coming) while JD does just the weirdest ones like Slenderman

They buy so much stuff, it's just crazy

They have to make so many trips back to the room to drop off their stuff so they're able to carry more

Chandler buys the least out of them bc she's the least nerdy, but she gets the occasional poster, figure, or the like, which is something they all get

Mac gets so many plushies

She is trying to collect a plush for every single pokemon, of which there are 1025, so she is constantly searching for the less popular ones and the ones only available in Japan

Duke and Veronica both are looking for collectibles, and they are both running ahead of the other to try and get a rare figure or funko before the other can see it

Duke is also a dice gremlin, and she can spend a good half hour looking through dice, trying to remember if she has this color or pattern already

One time Veronica bought a body pillow and Chandler was just so embarrassed that she refused to talk to Veronica for the rest of the day

Once they've scavenged the convention for all its goodies they'll return to the room and pass out as soon as they take off their cosplay

Once they wake up and have had their drinks they spend an hour trying to fit all their purchases into Duke's Jeep

It's like playing Tetris except they have to be extra careful bc if a box gets damaged then someone is gonna get mad

[elliespuns]

So 16yo Ellie and 54yo Joel live together in the normal world. They live the best-shining example of a father-daughter relationship, and yeah, well, Joel is a busy man, working out of town, and he gets this deal where he has to leave for two weeks and he can't take Ellie with him because she has school, and it's not that easy, and she's like, "Go, I'll be fine, you know me." and he's like, "Yeah, fuck I do!" and is refusing to leave, but it's hard because he needs the money, and this opportunity means more money, and more money means making Ellie's life more comfortable, and he's thinking about it, and it's fucking him up. One night he has a chat with Ellie, and she finally convinces him to go, and he's like, "Okay, but under one condition. You're calling me every two hours to tell me you didn't set our house on fire. And if by any chance you do, you call to tell me that you'd at least run outside." and she huffs a laugh and is like, "You know I'm spending almost 8 hours a day at school, right?" and he just cups her cute, freckled face in his hands and kisses her forehead, "Then cut the classes and call me from the bathroom." he jokes. They both laugh. It's decided. He's going.

The next morning, he comes to her room to tuck her in bed, kiss her head and then leaves with a heavy feeling in his heart. He will miss that girl like crazy and worry all the time. But at least he's giving her some space, right? She's 16 after all—not such a kid anymore. So he leaves her money worth two weeks of spending with a loving message pinned on the fridge for when she wakes up. "Please don't starve to death. Eat properly! Miss you already. P.S.: every TWO HOURS!"

I just had this five-second scenario entering my mind about Ellie going grocery shopping, and I'm dying because this would literally be her idea of two weeks of food supplies.

peanut butter, jelly, Frootloops, milk, mac n' cheese, Milk Duds, M & Ms, Reese's, two frozen pizzas, waffles, deodorant, big tub of ice cream, cookies, tampons, two cans of Dr Pepper, big bottle of Mountain Dew, RedBull, Sprite, apples, Oreos, chips, popcorn, muffins, pancake mix

After two weeks, Joel pulls in the driveway with a 'luckily, the house is still standing' thought in his head and then comes home to all the junk lying around the place like, "That girl is going to be the death of me, I swear."

[malrie]

for: @jasipereo, @partiallypearl what: liper as emotional cheaters but in a totally normal, not bad way! wc: 1600

-

“So, Leo, how’s Calypso?”

Hazel knew she should’ve done something before Annabeth opened her mouth, but doing so would’ve required the miraculous ability to assuage a seething daughter of Athena. Because she did not possess that, Hazel only sighed into her salad.

Getting the Seven together for their annual reunion dinner was becoming hard enough each passing year as they grew into adulthood. The Fates were now intent on making it even harder.

Leo paused in his laughter with Piper, where they sat shoulder to shoulder, his hand resting on her bare thigh. He was still smiling when he turned to Annabeth, but it slipped away slowly as soon as he saw her face. 

The hand did not move.

“Huh?” Leo asked dumbly, and Hazel could have groaned aloud if it weren’t for the fact that everyone in the room had quieted to a hush. Even Percy, Grover, and Frank had silenced their rowdy food-shoveling, breaking their unspoken competition. Will, Hazel noticed, was nudging Nico for smiling too widely at the stirring drama. It was practically by divine mercy that Reyna hadn’t been able to make it this year.

“Calypso,” Annabeth went on. “You must know her. Your girlfriend of two years? How is she, Leo?”

He wasn’t getting it. “Uh, she’s fine? She had practice tonight so she couldn’t—”

“Yeah, she couldn’t make it.” The effect of Annabeth at the head of a table was a sight, especially with a dinner knife in her throwing hand. “But you did. And you seem really happy to have made it. I wonder why that is.”

“Annabeth,” said Piper. She furrowed her brows.

“Annabeth,” said Percy, though it was done around a mouthful of chicken parmesan, so it wasn’t much help.

“You know,” continued Annabeth, unrelenting, “you’d never think you were in a loving, committed relationship by the way you’re—”

Piper stood up. Leo’s hand slid off. “Excuse us. Annabeth and I were just heading to the bathroom.”

Frank looked concerned. “Together? Wait, was it the mac n’ cheese? Will, man, you said it was lactose-free!”

“Just eat your mac, dude,” muttered Percy. He was still chewing, but doing so solemnly. He wouldn’t intervene; his survival instincts were honed to a fine point by now.

The girls had made their advance. Grover bleated into an ineffectual burp, cueing Nico into an unashamed cackle. Leo was staring at his palm. Hazel shared a concerned frown with Will, but before she could start on about how she refused to be in charge of organizing dinners for the near future, Annabeth scooped her up by the arm, forcing her to follow them down the hall.

“Why me?” Hazel whined. Her pleading went unanswered. 

As soon as the three of them shuffled into the bathroom, Piper shut the door behind them. The movement caused a couple of Estelle’s bath toys on the rim of the empty tub to fall inside it. What Hazel would do to be that three year old right about now, deep asleep in another room, blissfully ignorant of her beloved brother’s friends’ convoluted relationship dynamics.

Resigned to being an unwilling witness, Hazel sat over the fluffy blue toilet cover and dodged Piper’s elbow when the other girl crossed her arms. It was a small space.

“You can’t possibly be doing this here,” Piper said, a slight flush having come up her neck and onto her cheeks. It only made her look rather sunkissed and pretty. “I know you always found Leo annoying or something, but by now I would’ve hoped you’d gotten past that—after all we’ve been through!”

“Oh, gods,” said Annabeth, throwing her hands up. Hazel also dodged being smacked by the gesture. “This is not about me finding Leo Valdez annoying. You know I find plenty of people annoying!”

“Then why are you being like this?”

For the first time tonight, Annabeth was caught off guard. She mirrored Piper, arms coming to shield her chest. “Piper, you really don’t get it? Don’t you see what you’ve been like with him all night?”

“What I’ve been like with Leo?” Piper repeated. “What do you mean? We’ve been normal.”

Hazel had to say it: “You guys have been crazy flirting.”

“What?”

Crazy as an adverb was stolen from one of the younger campers. It didn’t feel too right on Hazel’s tongue, but she figured it was the only way to properly describe how much Leo and Piper had been all over each other tonight. A touch on the forcep. Sweeping stray hairs out of the way. Whispering jokes a breadth away from each other. It was a lot. Hazel knew they were close, attached to the waist. But after Jason’s death, year after year, they became more inseparable than ever before.

On her part, Hazel thought it was sweet that Leo and Piper had each other. Except she wasn’t stupid. She knew why Annabeth was so perturbed: Leo was already knee-deep in a solid romance with an equally zealous goddess, and Piper was basically two steps away from a proposal by her superhero-perfect, cohabitating girlfriend. That was, by many cultures’ standards, a bad sign.

“Not just tonight, Piper,” Annabeth explained. “Things have been different. I know you two have—a bond. I’m just worried. Moments like this just spring up sometimes, and it gets everybody messed up. You have to watch yourself, and not just for your sake. What would you do if some random girl just cuddled up to Shel one day and never left her side?”

The image seemed to agitate Piper, who was notoriously a possessive kind of girl. “One stab for every second she spent near her.”

Annabeth looked charmed, almost endeared. Hazel needed new friends.

“See,” said Annabeth, “it just isn’t a good feeling, right? And you and Leo… Well, if you were going to, you know, go for it—as your best friend, I really have to recommend rethinking everything first. Everything. Seriously. You’re way better than—I mean, you both are better than something this impulsive.”

“Yeah,” said Piper, sounding fragile. “I would never… It isn’t like that with us. I mean, it’s different, that’s all. What we have is special. I can’t just let it go. Leo’s just been there through everything. But it’s never been… At least, I don’t think… I don’t know, Annabeth!”

“Oh, come here,” Annabeth said, opening her arms to Piper once she saw the other girl had begun to shed frustrated tears.

Annabeth was constantly overprotective of Piper, for answers Hazel figured neither of them really thought of addressing. Piper did seem to bring that out in people; Hazel herself once almost made the earth swallow up every mosquito in the vicinity after one bit the daughter of Aphrodite in front of her.

“Am I being that selfish?” asked Piper through a sniffle.

Somewhat mollified, Annabeth answered, “A little. Though maybe we all are, in a way. It’s not always bad to want more. We just have to know when enough’s enough. Moderation’s important, right?”

“That’s hard for me, I think,” Piper admitted.

Hazel, feeling dazed a bit at the whirlwind turn of conversation, said something if only to remind them of her presence. “So what are you going to do?”

Piper came away from Annabeth’s hug. “I’m not sure. I want to talk to him before—”

Someone banged on the bathroom door. Before the girls could react, the door gave way, having been unlocked the entire time. Nico poked his head inside. “You done being gay in here?”

“Nico!” Hazel cried. “You can’t say that!”

Her brother rolled his eyes. “I’m actually uniquely qualified to say it. Anyway, Frank and Percy are doing some stupid shit with the beer and Will doesn’t wanna go home yet. Please do not make me go back there alone.”

“What’s Leo doing?” Piper asked him.

In response, Nico shook his head. “He left. Said something about having to pick up Calypso.”

Piper half-laughed, incredulous. “Wow.”

“I’m sorry, Piper,” said Annabeth, an arm looping around Piper’s. Hazel knew Annabeth well enough to know that she wasn’t as remorseful as she sounded. Maybe it was a good thing to postpone another day—when Hazel wouldn’t have to be there to spectate.

They ended up in better spirits with Leo gone, which would have been a terrible thing to say to Leo to his face, and Hazel never would. Annabeth, gleaming, rounded on Percy to swig the rest of his drink. Grover had passed out from a food coma, and Frank and Will had dug out Annabeth’s chess set and had begun to play. Hazel wanted to talk to Leo, too, one way or the other, but she figured it was something he and Piper needed to work out themselves. They were adults now. They could do at least that.

The rest of the night, Piper tried hard to keep spirited, even though it was clear she was out of it and would be for some time. Tomorrow she was bound to catch her flight back to Tahlequah, where she could possibly push this behind her. But Hazel wasn’t the Oracle of Delphi. Things changed constantly, even when you expected them to stay exactly the same—especially then, she learned.

“I refuse to be the one to set this up again, you actual monsters,” Hazel told her dearest friends. “You all make me feel like my actual age! The second I see a premature grey hair on me, you’ll all get cursed gems in your Christmas stockings. Santa will die before getting to his milk and cookies!”

“Oh, shit,” said Will, face paling. “Sorry, Frank. There was dairy in it.”

[emmy2026]

Finally

Pairing: Tom Holland x reader

Word count: 0.9k

Summary: after years of struggling with infertility, you find out you’re pregnant

Triggers: talk of vomit, I think that’s it, if you find any more let me know

—

You were staying at Toms parents house for a few days, Tom was out with his brothers playing golf. So, it was just you, Nikki, and Dom.

You had woke up feeling sick and ended up throwing up a couple times. You had to convince Tom to even leave. After Nikki promising Tom that she would take care of you, Tom had left and promised to be back in a few hours. After beginning to feel better, you and Nikki were making some lunch when Nikki spoke.

“Have you taken a pregnancy test in the past few weeks?” she asked. You stopped cutting the carrots and looked over at her.

“No, why?” you asked, and went back to chopping the vegetables.

“You were sick this morning, and when I was making dinner last night, you said that the mac and cheese was making you sick. You normally love mac and cheese.” You had been feeling different the past few days, but you didn’t want to think it was anything.

“I don’t know.” you whispered loud enough for Nikki to hear. She stopped what she was doing at looked at you.

“You don’t know what?” she asked. You set the knife down and looked back at her.

“I don't know if I can take another one, I mean it’s been almost 2 years since we started trying and every time I see one line,” you felt a lump in your throat, and Nikki pulled me you a hug. “I don’t know if I can do it again.”

“Oh, honey. I’m not going to force you to take one, but I think you should. And if you want me to, I can be there.” we pulled out of the hug and you nodded.

“I’ll run to the store and buy a few after lunch.”

***

You were nervous, you had just taken the test and were pacing up and down the hallway. Nikki was sitting on the edge of the bathroom tub and was surprisingly calm. You had to wait 5 minutes to look at the test and get the results. You had heard that moving the test to much could throw off the result so you placed it flat on the counter and put the box over the screen.

Your hands kept finding their way down to your stomach, something felt different this time. You couldn’t explain it.

A few moments later, the door to Dom’s office opened and he stepped out. His face was bunched up in confusion. He looked into the bathroom and was consumed with more confusion.

“Is everything okay?” he asked. You nodded your head kept biting your fingernails. Dom looked back at his wife, knowing he wasn’t going to get anything from you. He looked over at the counter and saw the boxes of pregnancy tests and his face softened. Suddenly, the timer went off on your phone and you walked back into the bathroom. Now Nikki and Dom were both sitting on the edge of the bathtub while you moved the box off the test and picked it up. Once you saw, the air left your lungs, your eyes filled with tears. You had decided to get a digital test, one the says pregnant or not pregnant.

PREGNANT

Nikki got off the tub and grabbed the test from your hands. She gasped and smiled at you, you felt a tear run down your face, so overcome with emotions. You were pulled into a hug by Nikki and you sobbed into her shoulder. It was finally happened, you’re pregnant, you and Tom are going to have a baby. Nikki and Dom gave you their congratulations and you couldn’t stop smiling. The only left was to tell Tom, you knew you couldn’t keep this from him.

“How are you going to tell Tom?” Dom asked.

“I don’t know.” Your fingers went down to play with your wedding ring.

The front door downstairs opened and you heard the laughter of your husband and his brothers. It warmed your heart to see them all together. You took the test and put it into the pocket of your jeans. Dom and Nikki left the bathroom to let you clean yourself up a little bit, since there were tear tracks down your face.

Once you looked better, you made your way downstairs and joined everyone in the kitchen. Tom looked at you and got up from where he was seated at the island. His hands were placed on your face and he looked concerned.

“You alright, love?” he asked. You nodded and smiled at him.

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“You weren’t feeling good this morning, and you look like you were crying.”

“I’m okay, promise. I, uh, I actually have a surprise for you.” Tom took his hands off your face and you pulled the test out of your pocket. You handed it to him and his eyes widened.

“Are you?” he asked, you nodded and a smile appeared on his face. He pulled you into a hug and spun you around slightly. He set you down and kept hugging you. He placed a kiss on your forehead.

[bluestar22x]

Epilogue

Baby Fever - Epilogue

Series Summary: It all started with a classic case of baby fever

Pairing: Marcus Pike x F!(Wife)Reader

Rating: 18+ Series

Warnings: Family fluff - that's all you're getting, otherwise spoilers - but keep in mind all previous warnings

Word Count: 2,150(ish)

Author's Note: A peek into the Pike family's future for me and you. :)

There will be one more oneshot coming soon, so keep an eye out, but this is it for the main fic.

xxx

When you parked your car in the driveway you turned off the ignition right away and slumped back in the seat, sighing and scrubbing both your hands over your face.

It had been a long day at work. More than usual. A maid hadn't shown up for work the night before and the hotel, already short handed to begin with and at full capacity with spring break tourists, had been in utter chaos.

You'd had to split your time between your job at the front desk greeting guests and checking them in, and laundry duty, throwing loads in the washer and dryer to help the maids that had shown up. Even then they were only just catching up on the laundry by the time your shift ended.

You were exhausted, more than you'd been in a long time. Not since Rylee had started sleeping her nights, which was well past three years ago.

Three years. Where had the time gone?

You pushed open the driver's door and stepped out, smiling at the excited shouts you could hear over the day's strong winds. For the first time in months the weather was comfortably warm. You followed the sounds through the gate to your backyard, finding Marcus engaged in a very serious soccer match with the kids, Oliver kicking the ball past him into a makeshift goal (built out of two orange cones).

The ten year old boy raised his fists in the air triumphantly and Rylee ran up to him, jumping up and down excitedly. "Go Ollie!"

He grinned at her and offered a hand up for a high five which she gladly accepted, slapping his hand so hard it was loud enough to hear from where you were standing.

"Easy on Ollie, Ry," Marcus said as the boy winced.

"Sorry," she apologized quickly before darting for the ball.

It was then Marcus noticed you standing by the gate and he told the kids to play amongst themselves before joining you.

"How was work?"

"Busy," you replied. "How was your day off?"

He briefly kissed you on the lips before answering. "Good. Good. We might have emptied the ice cream container though."

"Marcus!" You gaped at him. "That was supposed to last us another three days." It had been a fairly large tub.

He shrugged helplessly. "They were still hungry after the mac n' cheese."

"They're always hungry," you reminded him, shaking your head. What did you expect? He had a hard time telling the kids no, especially when they were hungry. Knowing him he'd probably given them the ice cream before dinner.

"I'll pick up some more on my way back home from work tomorrow," Marcus promised, stroking the bottom of your back. Even through the knitted cotton of your work shirt you could feel the warmth of his hand and it helped you relax.

"Thanks," you said gratefully.

"Of course," he murmured.

"How'd Ollie do at school today?" you asked.

Though many schools had a vacation at the moment, spring vacation wasn't for another week for your kids' school.

"No fights today," Marcus informed you. "In fact, Ollie told me he'd like to go see a movie next week with his new friend, Alex Jackson. Promised me his parents would be watching them."

"And their background?" you questioned, knowingly.

"Clean," he said. "But we should still meet them first."

"Of course, papa bear." You smiled. You liked to tease him about how protective he was of the kids, but you were the same.

Oliver had only been yours for a year, including the time you'd spent fostering him, but you both loved him as fiercely as you would've if you'd known him his whole life.

The start had been rough. He'd been from a neglectful home and wasn't used to any rules or much affection, so he'd quickly labeled you and Marcus as overbearing, but he'd slowly adjusted. His school life was rougher for longer though, and he still had a ways to go. He'd been a loner at first, and recently had gotten into several fights, not one for letting anything he considered wrong slide. That included pushing a bully into a locker for shoving the books out of a fellow classmates' hands. He'd nearly gotten himself expelled, but luckily the principle was a bit more sympathetic towards adopted kids.

At least Ollie fights on the good side, you'd thought, though you'd never say the words out loud. Parents weren't supposed to be okay in the slightest with their kids using physical means to fight off other kids. So you were told.

"Saved you some leftovers," Marcus told you.

"Perfect." You weren't being sarcastic. You loved mac n' cheese, even reheated.

You walked over to the kids to greet them, Rylee giving you a big ol' hug, then went inside to eat.

With the stress of work beginning to roll off your shoulders, the memories of a few impatient guests fading away, you realized you were starving.

You dumped a healthy portion of the mac n' cheese stored away in the fridge into a bowl and shoved it into the microwave to heat up for a couple minutes as you glanced around.

The house wasn't too much of a mess. Marcus had done the dishes. Most of Rylee's toys were put away. The place just really needed a dusting. Soon. On the weekend. Not tonight. Definitely not tonight.

The microwave beeped and you quickly yanked the bowl out of it with kitchen mitts. You didn't even sit down to gobble it up, but you did use a fork.

You were putting the bowl in the dishwasher when Marcus and the kids came in for the night. Ollie got ready for bed on his own and Marcus helped Rylee, though she was getting pretty good at her routine too.

She was growing up way too fast. Just like how her curly hair grew out too fast. She'd need another haircut soon, before it fell below her middle back. She didn't like it too long.

Once she was ready for bed you joined her in her bedroom, in an extension tacked onto the old house. It was your turn to read her a bedtime story.

"What would you like me to read you tonight?" you inquired as you sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Clifford!" Rylee exclaimed, shoving one of her Clifford the Big Red Dog books into your hands. It was the one about him as a puppy. Her favorite.

You could probably have told her the story without looking at the words, but you did anyway as she buried herself under her blankets and pulled her very own Clifford (a stuffed toy red dog) into her arms.

"Hi, I'm Emily Elizabeth, and this is Clifford, my big red dog," you began.

You showed Rylee every page you flipped through until you noticed that she'd nodded off, looking as angelic as ever (though she wasn't always). You read a little longer until you were sure she was completely out then quietly put the book down on top of her bookshelf and turned off the lamp beside her bed.

Afterwards you left for the master bedroom where Marcus was waiting, scrolling through his phone while sitting at the desk in the corner of the room.

"What ya looking at?" you quizzed.

"Case stuff," he informed you.

"Marcus..."

He sighed heavily. "I know; I know. Work stays at work. But this case is really baffling everyone."

"And you thought Google would have the answers?" you teased.

"Maybe."

You bent down to give him a peck on the cheek. "Get ready for bed. We have plans."

"You're not too tired?"

"You'll be doing most of the work."

He laughed and grabbed a hold of your right hand, pressing his lips to your palm. "Sounds good."

As unromantic as it may seem, you and Marcus had to set aside time to be romantic with each other some weeks. Your lives were just that hectic at certain times of the year. But you'd learned to be okay with it, to even like it. It wasn't that difficult to deal with the lack of spontaneity when you had to resort to putting aside time together. You were still deeply attracted to your husband and daydreamed at work about him when things got slow.

The worst part was when you didn't have the time or energy. When your body was at odds with you. This wasn't one of those nights though. You weren't that tired.

You left Marcus for your bathroom, slipping into one of his t-shirts that you borrowed on a regular basis for these kind of nights, for when you didn't feel like wearing lingerie, as you did so.

While you were closed up in there, getting ready for the rest of the night, you checked to make sure you weren't bleeding yet, since you were due for your period soon, wiping yourself with a tissue.

Nothing.

Strange. Lately it'd been consistently at the end of the 3rd week of the month, but you were several days past that mark.

Your mind immediately drew back to the morning, when you'd had to forego a traditional bra in favor of an undershirt with a built in one because your breasts had hurt in them. It happened sometimes, but knowing that you were late...

You reached under the bathroom sink for a pack of pregnancy tests and rushed to take them, knowing pretty soon Marcus would wonder why you weren't out yet.

As you placed the two tests in the sink he knocked on the door. You slipped back into the bedroom, a little excited and nervous, like every time you took a pregnancy test.

You weren't as sure as the first time if Marcus would be as happy as you about this. You were both so busy, if the pregnancy test was positive, you'd only be busier. And this wasn't planned like the first time. You hadn't exactly been careful, but you hadn't really discussed having another baby together in a long time.

You'd taken up the "if it happens, it happens" attitude a year after Rylee was born but it hadn't happened for over two years. You'd been convinced you couldn't have anymore kids in that manner.

You were doubting it even as you waited for the tests, but you wanted to tell Marcus anyway, just in case.

"What's up, honey?" he inquired with concern, recognizing the conflicting emotions written on your face.

"I've been off today and I'm late, so I decided to take a couple pregnancy tests," you informed him. "Probably won't be positive, but I figured best to be safe. Never know. They should be ready in a few minutes."

Marcus nodded in understanding and pulled you to him. "You know I'll be happy either way, right?"

You smiled widely at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. And it's the same for me. I'm perfectly satisfied with our lives, having two wonderful kids. But I wouldn't say no to one more. Just...we're so busy already."

"We'll make it work," he promised you. "I thought the same thing when I was single."

You snorted. "True."

Almost everyone complained about how little time there was in a day, and yet you'd always found time for what mattered. It was just about narrowing down what was in that category.

You checked the alarm by the bed. "It's been long enough."

You led him into the bathroom and you peered down at the tests together.

They were both positive, clear as day.

You and Marcus glanced at each other, mouths both hanging open before the grins formed.

You reached out to him and he wound his arms around you, kissing you on the cheek briefly before letting you tuck your head into the crook of his neck as his hands started rubbing your back, up and down along your spine.

"Looks like we're going to be busier," you said and he chuckled, his chest rising and falling strongly against yours.

"Looks like we have something to celebrate tonight," he added, kissing the top of your head.

You leaned back and beamed up at him. "Good thing we have time set aside for it."

"Oh?" He moved his hands to your waist and you guided one of them further down, under the t-shirt.

He hissed when he didn't feel any fabric underneath, just you. "Shit, you're not wearing anything else, are you?"

You shook your head. "Not worth it. Saves time."

He captured your mouth in a searing kiss, his hands on both sides of your face, cradling it, and you parted your lips to let him in as he backed away towards the bed, with you closely following.

For as long as you could you'd stay embraced in his arms, your lover, your husband, the father of your children.

You'd never have enough time, but you'd take all the time you got.

xxx

Tagged: @amyispxnk @harriedandharassed

xxx

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

xxx

[kezzplayssims]

Eliza Pancakes

So, I made over Eliza a few times before I was happy with her. Then I was watching Charlotte Dobre on YouTube and got inspired.

Eliza Pancakes (nee Hastings)

Aged 29 years old

Traits- Neat, High Maintenance, Short Tempered, Jealous and Nosy.

The Hastings family aim to be seen as Upper Class but they are not. Catherine and Glenn Hastings thought their daughters would be successful in some high profile careers and they could live off their success. Eliza studied Communications at University and her younger sister, Erina studied Medicine. Unfortunately shortly after she graduated, Erina was struck by lightning and died. Now all the pressure of her parents expectations is on Eliza and, with the grief of losing her sister, Eliza crumpled under the stress.

Eliza met Bob in High School. They had nothing in common and weren't close friends but they kept in touch when Eliza went to University and Bob started working in the culinary industry as a dishwasher. When he heard about her sisters passing, Bob made and brought Eliza a dish of his famous (to him anyway) mac and cheese as comfort food. Maybe he'd always had a bit of a crush on her, but anyway they bonded over shared feelings of depression and worthlessness. Bob and Eliza got married and Bob and his siblings became Eliza's family. Now, a few years on, they may not be 'in love' with each other (they still sleep in separate rooms) but they have a lot of love for each other and are a close family. Bob brings a lot of calm and laughter into Eliza's life when she is manic with anxiety and in turn, she encourages Bob to try new things and leave the house when he is depressed.

As for Eliza's career- she is a 'Content Creator' and SimsTuber. That's where the inspiration from Charlotte Dobre comes in. Physically, I gave Eliza a bigger mouth like Charlotte and I think their voices would be similar. I can totally see Eliza making videos like Charlotte; AITA and Bridezilla reactions. Eliza would be very judgmental and love the drama and pettiness. She doesn't make any of her own content, just reacts and talks about other peoples tiktoks, posts and videos.

With her outfits- Eliza still likes a lot of green, it looks good with her copper hair. The black gown is something she keeps in her closet in the hopes that she is invited to one of Bella Goth's soirée's (it'll never happen). The wedding dress is from her and Bob's wedding, she keeps it and when she is feeling particularly down she will put it on and eat a tub of ice-cream while watching 'Say Yes to the Dress' and judging all the dress choices. Her sleep/lounge wear is a grubby old hoodie and thick wooly socks that she wears when she and Bob are curled up on the couch watching movies together. It is when they are at their most honest with each other and themselves. She takes tennis lessons at the Country Club in the hopes to rub shoulders with Nancy Landgraab but she can't afford to get anywhere near the private courts. She had a little cabana built in her suburban backyard next to the pool so she dresses like shes on vacation and takes selfies for her simstagram.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Is there any romance where the couple bath together?

Yes!

Princess by Gaelen Foley has a lovely scene where Darius and Serafina bathe together shortly after they hook up for the first time. They didn't go all the way~ because she's a princess and he's a kitchen boy bodyguard, but she's very overwrought about everything (she had a Big Day) so he holds her in the tub and it's very cute and hot.

The Duke by Gaelen Foley also has a scene wherein the heroine is in the bath and the hero like... helps her bathe? And then he helps her with other things while she is standing (and he is on his knees), still in the tub, so it counts.

Fantasy-wise, there's Charissa Weaks's Witch Walker series (not standalones). In the second book, Alexus and Raina go to these special pool hot spring things to bathe after a long journey, and they wash each other's hair and stuff. Tbh, they were definitely doing ALL OF IT in their little tents during the journey, so. What's super hot about this too is that they ran out of birth control during the journey (fantasy potions lmao) and the new doses haven't kicked in yet, so they have to... finds some workarounds...

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto is a contemporary romance with a REALLY good tub scene. The heroine is a high-strung overworked wedding planner, and she and the hero are kind of in a casual borderline FWB "what are we" situationship. He... helps her relax.

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley has a scene where Isabella is in the tub and Mac walks in. He does some things. When the maid comes in he wipes his face off with a towel. So he wasn't in the tub, technically, but he did get pretty wet.

Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt has the infamous scene where Bridget is in the tub and Valentine is watching her and going on about her toes and stuff. He does not get in the tub. Scandalous Desires also has a scene where Mickey is in the tub and Silence comes over and he makes her ~feel him. So neither one is a mutual bath situation, but thought I'd mention it.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe has an amazing bath scene after Nellie and Lockwood first hook up, where she's like "I don't want a relationship" and he's like "for sure I am on the same page now let's cuddle in the bathtub while we tell each other our deepest darkest emotional secrets". He is.... RIDICULOUS.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood has an extended, very very good bath scene.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole has another "not bathing together but he's watching" scene which is AGAIN fantastic. The hero and heroine are SUPER ENEMIES (he has her imprisoned and wants to annihilate all supernatural creatures, she is a supernatural creature) but as it turns out, they were lovers in SEVERAL past lives. And she remembers this, because she actually never died and is immortal, but he, the reincarnated one, can't. So she bathes and talks about all the things they did in his past lives while he sits there, gripping the chair to keep from jumping her... and then he starts telling her what he'd do to her in THIS life...

American Royalty by Tracey Livesay has a scene where the heroine is in the bath... the hero isn't, I think, but it's another one where he's like "while I'm here om nom nom".

The Music of Love by S.M. LaViolette has an ANGRY BATHTUB BANG scene. The hero and heroine are married but on the outs (she is also pregnant, which is why they're married lmao) during a trip to visit his family. So they're at this inn, and she's in the bathtub, and she's been Lustfully Watching Him Undress sneakily... And he walks in and.... It is SOOOOO GOOD. But also hilarious, because they're mostly just incredibly mad at each other throughout.

A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell has the leads' first time in a bathtub (I mean, it begins in a bathtub) with what begins as a definitely not innocent bath. They're on a bicycle race together, so they stop in an inn and Things Happen. They also do it in a Victorian bathing machine later lmao

Once More, My Darling Rogue by Lorraine Heath has a bathing scene, I believe. I can't remember exactly what happens, but I'm pretty sure it leads up to this as the hero makes the heroine wash his back as a part of like, her job lmao.

Lisa Kleypas has scenes where the hero "tends" to the heroine in an afterglow bath in Seduce Me at Sunrise and Love in the Afternoon, but I'm not sure if they fully get in the bathtubs. Or just their hands.

[no-truth-left]

1.028 - Take a shower

“That sounds amazing,” she sighs. The grime and sweat clinging to her skin feels like it's from more than just an afternoon's outing. Her skin crawls at the thought of finally being clean again.

“Guest suite's right that way,” Jethro says, pointing down a hall. “My sister's clothes are still there, so feel free to borrow what you want.”

A sister? Chie wants to pry, but the shower calls her name. With a word of thanks, she slips into the guest room. It's small, quaint, and clean (clean if she ignores the water damage, the peeling paint, and damaged ceiling fan. There's no dust, and the bed linens look freshly laundered). A plain brown comforter on a full-sized bed, a yellowing dresser set, and an empty wall shelf are all that decorate the tiny room.

Chie sets her bag on the bed and pulls a pair of underwear, basketball shorts, and a tank top from a drawer. They smell musty, but are far cleaner than her own clothes. Toiletries and clothes in hand, Chie enters the bathroom. The worn tiles and scratched tub detail a battle, almost lost, against mildew and tub stains. From the spots she can see, she assumes the war is ongoing.

A short shower, then, Chie decides as she turns the knobs. The shower head rattles ominously before spitting out luke-warm water, and Chie steps in, sighing as sweat and sea salt rinse off. The water quickly turns cold, and Chie focuses on scrubbing the feeling of scales off herself.

Once done, Chie dresses and joins Jethro in the kitchen. Chipped plates hold a block of macaroni-and-something-else casserole with steamed, wilty vegetables on the side. She sits at the table, chasing away mental images of katsu chicken curry and fried rice. She's hungry enough that she doesn't care what she eats so long as it's edible.

“It looks great,” Chie says as Jethro sets the plate and silverware down.

“Thanks. It's a tuna mac casserole. My mom used to make it.”

[maybeimamuppet]

34 and 46 for mcnamawyer 👀

hahahaha ha hahaha. hi nonnie :)

34 macaronnie “if you keep looking at me like that we won’t make it to a bed.”

It’s a quiet day.

Raining outside, air conditioner thrumming, The Princess Bride playing faintly from the TV for the umpteenth time. Veronica and Mac sit side by side, their legs pressed together beneath a plush blanket.

Veronica glances at her girlfriend once again. She’s lost count of how many times she’s found looking at her more interesting than the movie. Heather hasn’t noticed, so she continues.

“Cut it out,” Heather murmurs, slipping a few pieces of popcorn between her lips. Maybe she has.

“What?” Veronica asks innocently. “I’m not doing anything.”

“You’re looking at me,” Heather continues, leaning her head back against the plush couch cushions.

“What, I’m not allowed to look at my girlfriend?” Veronica pouts.

“Not like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because if you keep looking at me like that we won’t make it to a bed,” Heather replies with remarkable nonchalance.

Veronica freezes. “Who says we have to?”

Heather turns her head to look at her and smiles. Veronica smiles back.

“You should be glad you’re a lot more obvious than you think,” Heather says fondly as she crawls over to her.

“Oh, best believe I am.”

46 macaronnie “hey, have you seen the… oh.”

“Mac?” Veronica calls. “Have you seen my body wash? I was gonna take a shower.”

There’s a loud series of thuds from the other bathroom, followed by an even louder series of curses. “Shit! Son of a bitch!”

“Mac?” Veronica asks again. She makes her way down the hall and carefully pushes the door open and steps into the bathroom. “Hey, have you seen the… oh.”

“Heeeey, Ronnie!” Mac greets brightly, emerging from a wall of bubbles at least four feet above the edge of the bathtub, clearly trying to act like nothing amiss is happening. “How’s it goin’?”

“Mac,” Veronica chuckles. “What the fuck is this?”

“I like a lot of bubbles,” Mac defends sheepishly.

“I can see that,” Veronica replies. “How did this happen, babe? What went wrong? When did we lose control over the bath?”

“…I ran out of my bubble bath so I borrowed some of your body wash, and then I got distracted and used, like… a lot. And now we’re here.”

“Uhhuh,” Veronica replies. “Is there any left? I’d like a shower.”

“Come join me! It’s fun in here,” Heather beckons, her arms emerging from the wall of foam and making grabby hands for her.

“You’re just stuck, aren’t you?” Veronica replies, even though she’s already unbuttoning her top and walking over to her.

“Noooo.”

“Mmhmm,” Veronica chuckles. “Guess we’ll figure that out when we get there.”

“Doesn’t it smell soooo good?” Heather asks eagerly as Veronica slips into the warm water across from her, disappearing behind a wall of blue-ish white bubbles.

“Yes, my body wash does smell pretty good,” Veronica replies. Heather smiles and splutters as she gets a mouthful of soap.

“Oh, doesn’t taste good,” she says with her tongue poked out. Veronica chuckles. Heather makes her way through the wall of foam to lounge against her.

Eventually, they’ll have to figure out how to get the bubbles down the drain, and clean the tub, and get Veronica more body wash.

But for now, all that matters is the two of them pressed together, and the sweetly artificial smell of the ocean around them.

“You’re paying for a new bottle.”

“I knoooow.”

[humorisstoredinthetits]

The Heathers + Veronica go to the Arcade

They're gaymers, get it, gay-mers

Being a small town, there isn't really that much to do in Sherwood

Besides the mall and the movie theater, the main place that people go for recreational activities is the local arcade

Yes, there somehow is still a honest-to-god arcade operating in the year 20XX

And being the incredibly irresponsible and immature people that they are, the Heathers and Veronica spend a lot of time there

It's not the biggest or best arcade out there, but it's what they have

When they arrive they head straight for the prize counter

It's the same junk you would expect at any arcade, you got your plushes, candy, Nerf guns, animal toys, etc.

They each figure out what they are aiming for and head to the token machine

Chandler used to say that they shouldn't spend that much and that they can just buy what they want on Amazon right before her gfs got 500 bucks worth of tokens each

Now she just internally sighs before also getting an absurd amount of tokens

They get so many that they bring one of those giant plastic tubs to carry all of them

They get so many, in fact, that the arcade simply does not have enough tokens to give all of them at once, and once they are done with the first batch the employees have to go and get the tokens from the machines to give back to them

They'll give out some of their tokens to the kids who are there, they really don't need all of them

Same thing with prizes, if they see that some kid is upset because they didn't get enough tickets to get what they wanted, they'll get it for them

They each have a particular style of game they gravitate towards

Veronica goes to the coin pushers

The arcade has a Spongebob, Willy Wonka and Marvel machine

She tends to go to the Willy Wonka one because even though each card individually is worth less, the complete set is worth more compared to the other two

She'll just stand in place for hours, hitting the button over and over again

She enters an almost catatonic state, hypnotized by the coins

One time Chandler came by just to check in on her and see how she was feeling, and when she tapped her on the shoulder she jumped and almost punched her

She plays it over and over and doesn't stop to play something else bc then someone might jump on and win all the cards she pushed forward

Onetime she won all of the cards out of it and when she tried to ask the employee to put more in they told her that she won all of them and that they didn't have any more to put in the machine

Then she moved on to the other two and cleaned them out as well

Duke plays games of chance

Stuff like Big Bass or that Pirate Spin Wheel one, she lives for the thrill of landing on that Big Bass Bonus

She plays them so much that she knows when the machines are about to pay out and so she'll wait, watching all of them, until she sees the signs of a pay out and rush over and get it

While she waits she'll go over to the classic cabinents, stuff like Pac-man or Galaga

Her and Chandler have a 'friendly' competition going and by friendly I mean downright vicious

If she sees that Chandler has beaten one of her high scores she will abandon all ticket-making endeavors to secure her rightful place as Queen of the Arcade

Her name on the machines is HDK and Chandler's is HCN

Speaking of Chandler, she focuses on games of skill

Stuff like Quik Drop, where you have to get all of the balls into moving cups, things where skill plays a major part in how many tickets you get

With these she can rack up a lot of tickets very quickly, her output far surpassing that of her gfs

Bc of that she feels like she can spend her time on games that don't give out tickets, like the classic arcade games

Mac isn't as ticket hungry as the others, she knows that they'll have more than enough for whatever they want to buy, so she does a little bit of everything

She is godly at Skee Ball, always landing in the 100 loop

She spends a lot of time at the claw machines, but she isn't very good at them so she usually ends up getting frustrated and walking away, before getting Chandler to come over and win whatever she was trying to get

DDR is probably her favorite, and she always drags her gfs to play with her

None of them can stand up to her might, and they usually step down breathing heavy and covered in sweat

She also holds the highest score on Pac-man, a record which Chandler and Duke have tried to beat for years but never have been able to

They usually stop around lunch time and order some food

They get two large pizzas, one for Veronica, the other for Mac and Duke to split

Chandler gets a salad bc she thinks their pizza is too greasy

Once they've spent all their tokens they put all of their tickets into the ticket eater, a process which takes close to 45 minutes to complete, and they go help the poor employee at the counter count out all of Veronica's coin pusher sets

They get an average of 200,000 tickets

They split the amount up 4 ways and each get what they want

Duke usually goes for the big expensive prizes, for example one time she was able to get a PS5

If there aren't any bigger prizes, she'll get all the nerf guns and insist upon having a nerf war when they get home

Chandler shudders at the thought of picking up nerf darts in random areas for months

One time she decided to just see how many of the 10 ticket mini army men she could get, just for fun

She ended up leaving with 5,000 of them, and they now sit in a box somewhere in her closet, just waiting for the day Duke comes up with some scheme

Mac likes going for the big stuffed animals

She has a whole collection, her room is just covered in them

Chandler tells her that she has enough and Mac says 'preposterous, you can never have too many'

She also gets the tiny animal toys

Veronica, like Duke, goes for the bigger prizes, but if they have any pokemon cards she'll get those, open them, and regret getting them because she pulled nothing

Chandler usually gives her tickets to her gfs because theres nothing she's interested in, but she occasionally gets something

One time she found this Mickey Mouse toaster that burned his face into the bread, which she thought was just fucking hilarious for some reason

She got it, expecting it to last a few weeks at most

It ended up lasting them 3 years, and they all got kinda upset when it finally stopped working

Before they leave they head into the photo booth

Chandler insists on having one normal picture and they can have two silly ones, but her gfs don't listen and always do something silly

She keeps each and every one of the photo slips

She pins them to a board in her room, and whenever she gets stressed out or angry or upset with her gfs, she goes to the board and looks at the photos and just thinks about how much she loves them, even if they can be infuriating and immature at times

[sugar-omi]

as a black girlie i wanna ramble ab how cove would be w a black s/o

he don't know nothing bout no 2 step ‼️‼️ tried ONCE and literally fell over (don't worry baby i can't do it either)

we ardy know he loves to eat, but i think he really hankers down on some soul food. put bro in front of some collard greens, baked mac n cheese and chicken and he's SET. you seen that one tiktok of the guy on thanksgiving w his black gf and his face was all in the plate? that's cove

OMG OMG HELPS YOU DO YOUR HAIR AND DECIDE YOUR NEXT STYLE IF YOU'RE INDECISIVE LIKE ME

i could ramble more but idk if you'll relate or like... enjoy it so imma stop here ;-;

OMG YES PLEASE IVE BEEN THINKING ABT THIS TOO

I do relate on the hair front (we eat like basic trash americans over here I'm ngl 💀💀💀) but like put down anything in front of cove?? he's devouring it, he won't even ask what it is he just knows it smells good n tastes even better

IVE SEEN RHAT VIDEO YOURE TALKING ABT AGES AGO N I MEANT TO SHARE IT if I find it ill add the link

I SAW ANOTHER ONE TOO the guy had sauce all over his face n he was just eating w his hands (he had like a thing of ribs or smth w a bone so that made sense lmao)

but lkke he abandoned all civilty, man's was gonna eat n he was gonna do it EFFICIENTLY it was so sweet, he even thanked her mom like 😭😭😭

I couldn't help laughing it was too funny n so cute man's was actually in heaven

but ykw every video I've seen of someone eating soul food, they devour it omfg

i saw one woman cooking for her Korean in laws n the parents had a little bit of everything n were in awe watching her cook n they. threw. DOWN

I just know they went back home a couple pounds heavier bc that food did look good af

BUT I CONSTANTLY THINK ABT COVE DOING YOUR HAIR

now I don't have very course hair, my hair is 3B but reallyyyy thick. like my classmate even said I have more edges than people have hair, which is rlly funny

but before I cut my hair it was like down to my butt, and now that I've been able to take care of it its gotten thicker

so imagine making cove detangle and wash your hair n put in product n braid it for you.

like especially when my hair was long, I wished someone would just come do my hair bc it's such a strain on my arms

so imagine cove sitting in the bathroom or in the tub w you to help with your routine, and he's so gentle that depending on your hair type you gotta tell him to be a bit rougher bc he's not getting the job done

he's just so afraid of ruining your hair or smth pls hes very paranoid rn💀😭

better to start with him putting in your products and letting him comb out your hair once you're done w detangling n stuff like that

omg he does help take your braids out

I braided my hair into micro braids n please.... I was ready to cut at the root bc that was irritating to take out. I was combing my hair n almost snatching my head off my shoulders bc I missed a braid 🪦🪦🪦

his braids are so bad omfg.... there's definitely pieces of hair sticking out

eventually though I think he becomes so good at it and before you know it he's a braid master !!

also yeah there isn't a dancing bone in his body but ykw he's gonna learn at least one move!!!!

imma have to find it but there's this old dude that rlly buckled down on one move n that's so cove I think

yout family definitely keeps pulling him in to dance and he just cant keep up.... that's the white in him /j

[roo-bastmoon]

Remembering Nana today...

Interestingly enough, it was my 93-year-old grandmother who sort of led me to BTS. Today is the second anniversary of her passing, and my rambles about that are under the cut.

So, just to give you a visual: my Nana was a lot like Rose from the Golden Girls but, like, not in any way a ditz. She was a very practical Capricorn, but she looked and spoke a lot like Betty White from that show.

Nana practically raised me. I spent literally every weekend with her, from the day I was born until my parents divorced and we moved away when I was 13. Every Friday, my folks would drop me off at her apartment, and she'd make me homemade mac and cheese for dinner and vanilla ice cream for dessert (I did NOT like to try new things). Then we'd watch Full House, Perfect Strangers, Golden Girls, and Empty Nest on TGIF. After that, it would be bath time and bed.

Fun side note: I was an extremely independent and stubborn only child. So I always insisted on bathing myself. Not wanting me to drown on her watch, Nana would sit in the bathroom with me and read me poetry while I played with my Tub Town toys. But the poetry would always be the most macabre stuff--like The Spider and the Fly, or The Wreck of the Hesperus. I am not saying I was scarred for life by this, but I'm also not saying I'm normal, either.

Anyway, those were our Friday nights. On Saturdays we'd get up at the crack of dawn to go flea marketing with her two younger sisters. She would give me $1 to spend on my "trashy treasures" -- but it was the 80s, so I could make it stretch. After that, we'd all go to a buffet lunch. Then she'd take me in the afternoons to the local library, where I would pick my books for the week.

Another side note: My parents were not big on buying toys, but I could have any books I wanted. As a young kid, I used to take a flashlight and hide in the bathtub at night so I could read past bedtime. I figured I was being super sneaky because they couldn't see the light coming from that room. But we lived in a tiny house with only one bathroom, so of COURSE they knew. Mom told me years later that they thought it was funny I was being rebellious by secretly reading YA novels in the bathroom when I was in elementary school. Nana, of course, let me stay up as late as I wanted to read. I digress.

As the years passed, even when I went out of state and the country for school, or moved across America to take jobs, Nana and I emailed every day, called once a week, kept in constant touch. When I moved back to my home state 13 years ago, I sort of became her caregiver and weekend companion.

This time it was my turn on the weekends to make her food, take her shopping, drive her around, get her books from the bookmobile. She raised me, and then for 10 years, I took care of her.

I loved my Nana. She was funny and soft-hearted and well read, but she grew up *dirt poor* and never got to see the world except through books and the TV, so she was always very humble and a bit shy. She loved me so much--she was the only person in the world who would listen to me drivel on about anything, and still be interested.

At 93-years-old, she died of a sudden heart attack on August 30, 2021. Emergency personnel were with her in her apartment, so she wasn't alone or in pain very long, but I couldn't get to her fast enough to say goodbye. Mom and I identified her later, at the hospital.

I am grateful she had a long life, and didn't suffer, and wasn't alone. But my family is very, very small. Just Nana and Mom and me. And after the whirlwind of taking care of her funeral and packing up her apartment and donating everything, suddenly there was just all this free time--these empty hours I usually filled taking care of Nana.

I just was so lost.

I started trying to read, or quilt, or watch movies. I got into some K dramas for a bit. Nothing really interested me. Then I started watching dance compilations on YouTube before bed.

And one snowy December night, I found a Steezy video where Brian Puspos was reviewing Jimin's dance style. I had no idea what it was. It was like this weird impulse--as if someone moved my finger to hover over and click that video...

You cannot imagine how every nerve-ending woke up. My brain suddenly came online. (I was a semi-pro ballet dancer as a kid, and I knew the absolute second I saw Jimin that he was a master who trained relentlessly--nobody had to point it out to me.)

For the first time in months, I FELT something other than grief.

I watched every single video of him I could. I had no idea who BTS were, didn't know anything about Kpop. But eventually I found more videos, I listened to their songs, and later I discovered Jikook, and I made online accounts and I watched RUN episodes, and I got to go see Yoongi as my first-ever concert, and now I'm making my way through In the Soop and Bon Voyage.

In fact, pretty much every day since I discovered Jimin, I've been thinking about, learning about, and trying to support Jimin and the people Jimin loves.

Jimin and BTS got me through the grief at losing the person I loved most in the world. They saw me through uterine cancer, and the surgeries, and mourning the fact that I can never be a bio mom now. They got me through the medical tests and the chronic fatigue and pain I've had for the last 4 months.

I really love our boys. I may not understand or love everything about them or their company or their industry, but loving someone doesn't mean thinking of them as demi-gods; it means being loyal even as they grow past any flaws.

To be honest, I feel like I owe Jimin my life, in a way. I was in a really, really dark place a year and a half ago. Jimin was the only joy, the only reason to keep going (besides my mom and kitties, of course).

Now I own every digital release BTS has put out--the whole discography, even the skits. I try to vote on all the apps whenever I can, and stream on premium family bundle accounts for Spotify, YouTube, and Pandora; I also do free trials for Tidal and Qobuz. II've never done any of this stuff before, never been a fan of any musicians, but I really, truly do try to return the favor.

It's a bit hyperbolic to say they "saved me" because lots of people cope with grief and illness and loneliness and it doesn't mean they just throw in the towel.

But BTS helped me stop surviving, and made me want to really live.

Plus, even when I'm too sick to go out or call up my friends, I can always get on my phone and come here, to chat with my fandom friends. I don't know most of their real names or faces or anything about their real lives, but we all love BTS; we all talk about and work together for BTS.

Nana would have loved that. (She also would have let me talk her ear off every day about Jimin and Jikook and the Tannies because that was her love language.)

Is BTS a replacement for real, genuine human interaction? No. Of course not. It is, at the end of the day, a band. Not a life.

But it also feels like getting to know 7 people I'd be honored to be friends with, if we ever met. People I want to support so they can achieve all their dreams--because they always pay it forward, too.

I sometimes wonder if Nana guided my hand to click on that video that day. Maybe she was looking down at me and thought "Ah, this will be good for her. This will be healing."

Probably not, but still, I'd like to think that. I'd like to think it was Nana who led me to the Magic Shop.

I miss her. I love her. I still can hear her voice in my head every day.

But I'm gonna be okay. (The future's gonna be okay.)

There's still so much to look forward to and work to be done. Fighting!