#ronnie grim

[spookylovesart]

Grim Fandango self insert oc yahooo

[heidismagblog]

[q-starhalo]

Reset!Bad, as expected, is pretty different from our regular Bad so here's everything that we didn't really know before! :D

Ghosties/Grim Reaper:

★ We'll first start off with the ghosties and grim reaper stuff. Bad can obviously see us, a fact we've been knew, but he's confused on WHY we're following him and why we won't leave him alone. Meaning that we haven't followed him for that long as it seems. Apparently, we told him that we're stuck and about a barrier? Which can support the fact that the feds can control death or that it wasn't until recent years that we've started following him or other theories about it. He also thought that Pomme and Dapper might've been grim reapers or perhaps mediums since the ghosties were also surrounding them.

Senses (?):

★ In the first few minutes of seeing reset!Bad, he says that he can sense his dead body nearby. Meaning that Bad, through other cycles, is able to find his own body, see what he had on him, and also try to see what killed him by physical scars, wounds, potion effects, etc. unless his body has already regenerated (which in this case, it already has). Along with that, he can feel his presence if he's been somewhere (for a long time?) in a different cycle as seen when he went into the basement of his house. This also means that this helps him figure out if a place is safe/dangerous along with also feeling if there's been a powerful presence to see if there's something/someone he should be cautious of.

Memories:

★ We know Bad can remember up until 1880/1980 (?) and the last 50-ish years are missing/a blur. And we also know that he remembers Foolish and Skeppy, in which he kept asking for Skeppy and if they've seen him around. Though, he doesn't water, especially rivers ("at least it's not a river!" when they were going to spawn by sea) and doesn't like the fact that his house is near the ocean too. To us, this isn't surprising but it's also really weird since he's never had much of a problem with bodies of water. Either he remembers the Euphrates River really well now since his memory is more clearer or something else?

Another new thing is a fear of Wardens, as we can see by his reaction towards the Warden plush they have. We saw the day before that Bad was in the Deep Dark next to a portal, along with at the beginning of yesterday's stream, there's the sounds of the Deep Dark + portal sounds. So, we can assume that Bad might've had to fight the Warden. Or maybe, there's another event that happened in the past with Bad and the Warden/Deep Dark. Including to this, he got really quiet when he saw the pillagers at the mall and then acted as if that didn't happen, which is odd to say the least (perhaps since Dapper died to them and Bad died screaming for Dapper to run, he now feels scared of them?)

Personality:

★ reset!Bad seems more energized and obviously has a clearer mind. He also seems to have way more social anxiety than we last saw him (or at least shows it more) but he is still outgoing. He seems really stressed about the fact that he's stuck on the island, especially that Skeppy isn't there with him. He's still very much a goblin and tries to steal anything that looks shiny to him and he's still really silly and goofy and acts like a cartoon character.

Little things to point out:

★ Bad is hungrier then we've ever seen him, even eating his own body.

★ Bad asked if dapple duo has seen four people riding horses from Heaven in which they have not. He also seems to be questioning something about how if he's here and Foolish is here then.....?

★ He's been really caring towards the eggs, even if he doesn't know who/what they exactly are.

★ Bad said that Cucurucho looked familiar. Um.

★ Along with that, he seems to sort of like Cucurucho (though, it's solely because he seems friendly and they gave him candy after the interview). He doesn't like the red tie bunny servant (Donny Ronnie) though which is good.

★ Bad has died to magic and rabies before?.....

★ He hasn't questioned why he's "roomies" with a 10 and 9 month old dragon egg.

★ Ghosts are apparently tamed by using dirt and rocks?........ (chat ghosties, are you all fine?)

★ He's allergic to expired milk!

★ The tower reminds him of something (Heaven? Or maybe something else?).

★ He still can't read very well.

★ And he still has weak ankles.

Questions:

★ Why can't the ghosties move on? Because the feds control death? But then where did we come from?

★ What's up with the Warden. Please. What's up with that?

★ What's up with the fear of bodies of water? Is the memory of being stuck under the Euphrates River or destroying Atlantis that clear in his head?

[laundrybiscuits]

(part 3 of the not-hallmark fic, now tentatively titled grace coming out of the void)

It’s not too long before Robin tumbles through the door in a whirlwind of apologies.

“Don’t worry about it,” says Steve, wrapping her up in a bear hug. “Eddie kept me company.”

It’s true, actually. There’d been a few minutes of awkward silence, before Eddie’d visibly steeled himself and started making small talk with the grim determination of a general heading into battle. It would’ve been funny if it hadn’t made Steve feel like dirt just a little bit.

He’s trying, Steve had told himself firmly. Yeah, it sucked that Eddie clearly still had some kind of problem with him, but if he was willing to try this hard to get over it…well, the least Steve could do was try, too.

So they’d filled each other in on all the stupid unimportant details of their lives, the stuff that was easy to talk about, and gradually the talking got easier. They’d never been strangers, not really, but somehow over the years it had gotten so Steve could forget that Eddie was fun to be around. There hadn’t always been a weird sour feeling in Steve’s stomach that had to be ignored; there was Eddie’s hands looping in big descriptive shapes as he described some new student who has absolutely no idea why she’s in my class, Steve, I swear someone’s blackmailing the kid to be there, she just shows up and like, grimly struggles through whatever I give her. Won’t even tell me what she wants to play, and I’ve tried everything. I arranged Cyndi fuckin’ Lauper for this kid, Steve!

Eddie’s face, relaxed and bright-eyed, never happier than when he’s telling a story. The way Eddie cares so much about every little thing. Just being around him feels like sitting at a fireplace, soaking in the warmth and light. And when Steve manages to make him laugh, it feels like winning the damn lottery.

So they’ve managed to get on pretty well in Robin’s absence. Steve’s hoping it doesn’t take them another few years before they can have a real conversation again, like some kind of timer that needs to reset.

“Good,” says Robin. “Because you two are like my favorite people, and it would really suck if you couldn’t get along.”

“Favorite people?” Eddie drawls, raising an eyebrow. “Can’t wait to tell Ronnie that.”

“Oh my god, don’t you dare!” Robin shoves at his shoulder until he moves over so she can squeeze onto the couch with them.

“Am I finally going to get to meet the famous Veronica?” asks Steve. Robin’s been going on about her for a while, but he knows the relationship hasn’t been official for that long. So it’s fine, it’s normal that he hasn’t met his best friend’s girlfriend yet, and Eddie has.

“Yeah, of course,” says Robin. “She’ll be here in like an hour to set up for the party.”

Of course there’s a party. From what Steve hears, Robin and Eddie seem to be constantly throwing parties and having people over, a rotating cast of quirky personalities with artistic inclinations and improbable backstories.

This one’s not even really a party, Robin assures him; it’s just the new girlfriend plus a couple local friends. Or, one local friend and one Hawkinsite who’s in town for the holidays.

“You remember Jeff, right?” says Robin.

“Oh sure, Jeff, yeah,” says Steve. “And the other one’s…Hannah?”

“Helen, she’s an artist who’s been working with Eddie on an installation. She’s great, you’ll love Helen.”

———

Steve does not love Helen.

“Wait, it’s true?” Helen cuts in. “People actually thought Ed was a cult leader? Our Ed?”

Steve breathes through the flicker of annoyance. Eddie doesn’t belong to Hawkins anymore.

“Yeah,” he says. “It’s, you know, a small town. Folks were just scared, is all.”

“Aww,” she coos. “It’s just so tough to imagine anyone being scared of this guy.” She ruffles Eddie’s hair and Eddie slaps her away, laughing.

“Yeah, it was a whole torches-and-pitchforks thing,” Eddie says. “I met this guy when I was on the run from some villagers who wanted to burn me at the stake. Me! Can you imagine?”

Steve huffs, amused. “Think I remember something about that meeting. Something like…you threatening me with a broken bottle at my neck? Ring any bells for you, Ed?”

“Wait…that’s not how you got those scars, is it?” Helen’s looking a little more hesitant, like she finally realizes there’s something here she can’t ever understand. Steve’s viciously pleased about it, then tries not to be. He doesn’t like strangers talking about all that shit like they can relate or something.

All he says is: “Nah. That was a little later. Eddie’s the reason I lived long enough to let this—” He rubs awkwardly at his neck, fingers skidding and pulling at the ugly ridges. “—scar at all.”

“Don’t listen to Harrington, he never wants to admit he’s a fuckin’ action hero. I barely did anything except freak out and almost get murdered. He saved my life for real, like, at least three or four times—think at this point he just owns my entire ass.”

Steve is tempted to ask why Eddie’s been avoiding him for the last six or seven years, if that’s the case, but he knows that’s not totally fair. Steve’s been doing a lot of avoiding too.

“Shoot,” says Helen. She’s still got an arm tucked into Eddie’s. “We’re all very grateful, Steve.”

Instead of saying I didn’t do it for you, Steve says, “Just, uh, glad I was there. I’m…gonna get some more wine.”

Robin catches him in the narrow hall leading to the kitchen. It’s a nice apartment, yeah, but Steve thinks the layout’s weird as hell compared to the right angles and neatly aligned walls of his place back in Hawkins.

“Everything okay, dingus?” she asks. The way the hall bends, they’re sheltered from the living room. It’s a soap bubble of privacy, fragile but whole.

“How do you handle people asking about—stuff?” Steve blurts out.

“It’s actually been easier here,” says Robin thoughtfully. “Because in Hawkins, people always think they know a lot more than they do. Remember how Vickie and I used to get into those big fights?”

Steve nods. He hadn’t really understood what was going on at the time, and Robin hadn’t been great at explaining. She’d talk up a storm, get all worked up, and at the end of it, all he’d get was that she was mad and Vickie didn’t understand why.

“Well, later on I realized that they’d always kick off when Vickie said something like, I know what you mean, or I was there too. Because she didn’t, and she wasn’t. With Ronnie, it’s like…she doesn’t get it, but she knows she doesn’t get it. It’s easier with her, I guess. How did you handle it with Laura?”

Steve shakes his head. “I didn’t, I guess. But she wasn’t, y’know. The One.”

“Still holding out for that fairy tale romance, huh?” Robin smiles. She’s just teasing him; she doesn’t mean anything by it.

“I’m really not,” says Steve. “Listen, I’m gonna—” He holds up his empty glass and escapes to the kitchen.

Jeff’s there, pouring some wine into his own glass, and fills up Steve’s without being asked.

Steve nods at him in thanks. It feels a little rude to just turn around and leave immediately, so he leans against the counter and takes a drink.

“So, uh,” says Steve. “How’ve…you been? Since, uh, Hawkins.”

Jeff gives him a wry smile. He definitely knows that Steve doesn’t remember him at all. “Not bad,” he says, drumming his fingertips on the counter. “I’m just in town visiting family for the week; I’m actually at Michigan right now, studying to be a doctor. I want to specialize in geriatrics—like, taking care of old people? But right now I’m in the part where they shuttle you around to different specialties to get a taste for everything.” He makes a face. “Surgery definitely ain’t my thing.”

“Shit. A doctor, huh?” Steve shakes his head, surprised for no real reason. It’s not like he hadn’t known that people from Hawkins could be smart; hell, he’d dated Nancy Wheeler. But this seemed like the kind of smart that just didn’t fit into his memory of Hawkins High. Other than Nancy, who—last he’d heard—was still sharing an apartment with two other girls and fighting her way up the ladder of some paper in Boston, nobody he’s kept tabs on has really gotten successful in a big-city way. Like, the kind of successful that could be on a TV show.

“Yeah, I was always into science. Used to keep caterpillars in my room, see if I could get ‘em to turn into butterflies. Drove my mama crazy, ‘cause she hated having critters in the house. But I just thought it was so wild how the caterpillars could have a whole life crawling around on the ground, and then their insides just rearrange, and suddenly they can fly. I was such a dramatic little shit, I was so damn sure I’d grow wings too.” Jeff laughs. It’s surprisingly nasal for such a broad-shouldered guy, and Steve decides he likes how unselfconscious Jeff is about it.

Steve reaches out to clink their glasses together. “Hey, you did, didn’t you? Got outta Hawkins, got to chase your fancy doctor dreams.”

“Guess I did.” Jeff nods and takes a slow sip of his wine. “Look…tell me to fuck off if this is too much, huh? But I gotta ask. Why’d you stick around? Why not get outta Hawkins too? Not that we knew each other or anything, but…even from the Hellfire table, it didn’t seem like you were having the greatest time, either. At least, not by the end.”

Hellfire, right, that’s how Jeff knows Eddie. A vague, blurry memory of seeing them both in those dorky shirts is surfacing.

“It’s not too much,” says Steve. “I don’t mind you asking. Don’t know that I’ve got an answer, though. I just didn’t have a plan like you guys, I guess.”

“Buddy.” Jeff laughs in that nasal way again and claps Steve on the shoulder. “None of us had a plan. I guess I did, a little more than the rest of them, but—I thought I wanted to be an ER doc, you know? Which, damn. Definitely not my scene, as it turns out. You don’t leave your hometown because you already know what you want out of life, even if you think that’s what you’re doing.”

“Getting philosophical in the kitchen?” Eddie appears in the doorway, empty glass dangling from his fingertips. “Congrats on being a cliche, guys.” He’s smiling, and it looks real. Happiness looks good on him.

“What’re you drinking?” says Steve. “Let me top you up.”

[sledgehamur]

tag game!

rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or as many as you want) <3

not super active on here but @just-prime is very determined to change that lol. so here's a bit of dialogue from the GoWxMCU crossover fic that's been consuming my life for the past year or so that I still haven't found the courage to post. maybe one day when I have more than four chapters finished to my liking :)

I don't have any mutuals to tag so I'm just gonna tag my fav author on here @arleniansdoodles!!! I've been obsessed with their fic 'Of Atreus and Calliope' and highly recommend it if you want some super cute sibling shenanigans!

This is a bit from right after Atreus gets zapped into MCU New York and he's trying to find his way around the city.

Atreus took a few more deep breaths to ground himself before fully taking in the alley. No ladder on the side of this building so no easy way to get to the roof without flying again.  “Damn,” he sighs aloud.  I wouldn’t do that if I was you. At least . . . not dressed like that. Atreus snaps to attention as he frantically looks around for the source of the voice.  Hey, relax kid. Don’t burst a blood vessel. Now that hes paying attention, Atreus realizes the voice is echoing in his mind. “What? Who's there?” he asks to the seemingly empty alley.  Over here. To your right.  Slowly turning his head, Atreus found the source of the voice. A bird, but no bird that he’d ever seen before, perched on a large metal box that stunk like the poisonous Grim of Svartalfheim.  “Oh sorry. I didn’t realize there was anyone else here,” Atreus said. Don’t worry about it. After a beat, the strange bird craned its head towards Atreus. You’re not from around here are ya’? “Is it that obvious?” We don’t get many shiny gold flacons flyin’ around New York. More pigeon country. “New York? Pigeons? Sorry, you lost me.” Damn, you really aren’t from around here. “Nope,” Atreus pops the p at the end of the word as he looks back up toward the roof. “Can I ask you something . . . ah” the question trails off. Ronny. Shoot. “Ronny, do you know if there's any way to get in there from the roof?” he gestures to the building next to them.  Course there is. Guys always keep one of the windows popped n’case they need a smoke. Here, I’ll show ya.  “Thanks!” Atreus replies as Ronny takes off from his perch. “Um, you mind if I copy your look?” Knock yourself out kid. Doubt you could do me justice though.  Atreus takes a breath and shifts into an auburn pigeon. He races to follow Ronny up the side of the building to the roof.

bonus pigeon Atreus if anyone cares

[zemkzone]

That Rare Arctic Thunderstorm: Ch15 (on AO3)

Happy 2024, y'all!!!

FULL FIC LINK HERE

Caitlin’s life had taken unexpected turns in the last two years. After the particle accelerator explosion, she’d grieved the loss of her fiancé by burying herself in work within the broken remains of what had once been a renowned scientific institution. Months later, when she’d been at her lowest, she’d been given two mysterious coma patients to care for. Nearly a year after the explosion, the Flash and Captain Cold were born. Impossible, improbable things became her new normal. She worked with metahumans to defend the city against other metahumans. She got her fiancé back, and he was now her husband. She’d also gained an extended found family. And learned things about herself she wasn’t sure she wanted—was ready—to know. She put that uncomfortable thought aside as Professor Stein and Hartley stepped into the morgue and closed the doors behind them. “Does Lyla have everything she needs?” she asked. “They’re as comfortable as they can be,” Professor Stein replied with a tight smile. “Considering that they’re in a room with a portal to another dimension, guarding an evil telepathic gorilla in a medically induced coma,” Hartley amended. Caitlin shuddered. She still couldn’t wrap her head around how the captive primate she’d once spent hours monitoring, playing with, and taking care of had become something out of a nightmare. On the way from the airfield, Lyla had kept the details to a minimum, but Caitlin had guessed the worst from the agent’s grim expression. Ronnie, wrapped in an emergency foil blanket, rubbed her shoulder from the seat to her left as Cisco grimaced on her right. Grodd wasn’t their most pressing concern now, though. From the way Barry was rubbing his fingers and rocking back on his feet, their latest dilemma was the farthest thing from simple. “I take it you haven’t told this lot about Leonard and the Eye of Calm.” The strange British magician who’d introduced himself as John Constantine rolled his shoulders and passed a transparent glass sphere between his hands. “No,” Barry replied in the guiltiest tone Caitlin had ever heard. He wouldn’t look anyone in the eye. “Len and I kept it to ourselves.” “What’s this eye thing?” Ronnie asked, pulling his blanket even tighter around his himself. “It sounds like the title of an Indiana Jones movie.”  Harry, a hoodie and baseball cap firmly covering his head in case someone walked in, snorted loudly from where he’d been looking at metahuman remains in the drawers. “It sounds like another secret that shouldn’t have been one.” “This has nothing to do with you!” Barry snapped, uncharacteristically explosive. His arms were vibrating as he rounded on Constantine. “And this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t given Len that magic necklace in the first place!”

READ THE REST OF THE CHAPTER HERE

[papieworkzz]

Picnic (Riddle Rosehearts x Reader)

summary: It was spring break! And since it was a sunny day outside, you and Riddle decided to have a picnic together! (Plus, this will contain my OC: Ronnie, in it.)

Genre: fluff

It was spring break. And the students at NRC are enjoying it by many ways such as: hangging out with friends, minding their own buisness, etc. Many were being lazy and doing nothing but on their phone all day.

But this wasn’t the case for you and your boyfriend, Riddle. He had been planning this a week before the annual spring break was held. And now, he had proposed the idea to you and you were happy to accept his dates with you. Wether it’s in a fancy restaurant, or just chilling at home.

As you were getting ready for the date and fixing your outfit, a knock on the door was heard. Well, it must have been Riddle isn’t it? You opened the door to your dorm and there he was. Standing there with a bouquet of tulips in his arms, “For you, my dear..!” He exclaimed as he handed the bouquet to you. You blushed when he handed you out gifts, i mean, look at your dorm! It’s practically filled with stuff Riddle gave to you since your first date.

You took the bouquet from him, “Thank you, Housewarden Riddle.” You thanked him. He blushed by just you calling him by “Housewarden Riddle”. It made his heart flushed at how formal you were reffering him to, even though, he know’s your joking, “Anyways, should we go, love?” He asked, “We shall.” You replied. And you went to somewhere outside of the campus. Hoping that Grim doesn't do anything stupid so Ramshackle dorm doesn't turn into ashes

You both arrived at some park. It was filled with happy families, happy couples, and happy friends. Oh, and some woodland creatures doing their things.

“This is a nice spot, don’t you think Riddle?” You asked as you were standing under a tree. It has a great view of the park if you ask me! Riddle agreed and so you set up the picnic area and some food to go with it. Some were made by you and some you bought while you were outside of the campus. Oh, and all of them were in these cute lunchboxes that you so happen to have.

As you and Riddle were eating, a squirrel had landded on your shoulders, the squirrel was probably chilling on that branch which happens to be the branch you were sitting under.

You squealed when the squirrel latched onto your shoulder, making Riddle turned his head very quick, "What's wrong, (Y/N)?!" He panicked. But that panick peeled off his skin when he saw a squirrel on your shoulder, "Haha, no worries, Riddle. I'm fine." You said as you put down your food and held the squirrel in your hands.

Riddle blushed at your cute actions. He's grateful to have someone like you. But then the squirrel did the unthinkable, the squirrel took a big chunk of your cheesecake and left like some raccoon. You sighed, "Well, atleast i have another quarter i can eat to myself!" You exclaimed, but you sound sad about it. But none the less, you brushed it off as if it was nothing.

Riddle wanted to compliment you on the scene where you held the squirrel into your hands. Your warm smile is like an angel that is smiling right infront of his eyes, "Your cute today, (Y/N)." Riddle said under his breath. You heard it, but decided not to say anything more and kept on eating while talking about stuff with him.

You and Riddle went on a stroll after the picnic. Since it was so early to go back to campus, you decided to have a stroll instead. Then you meet up with a friend along the way, "Oh, Ronnie!" You shouted from afar. Gosh, you hope it wasn't another person just like Ronnie...! "Oh, (Y/N)!" He shouted back and went closer to you. He took a good look at you and Riddle and smirked to himself, "Wow, you guys are on a date, hm?" He teased. Both of you blushed at his words, even though he already knew since he was one of your closest friends and you tell him almost everything.

"Yes. Yes we are, Ronnie..." Riddle said in a sheepish voice while holding your hand. Gosh, now you blushed even more at what he did. That simple action of his never fails to embarass you in a cute way, “Hey, can i get a photo of you for my new scratchbook theme? The theme is love by the way.” He announced. Well, can you get any redder than Spanish tomatoes?

You chuckled and said yes. Riddle also agreed to do so, “Ok, now just smile and-” Click! He got a photo of you and Riddle together. Sitting on a bench. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Just kidding, you both were there just smiling to the camera.

“Ok, guys i think that’s all. Thanks for your help.” Ronnie said as he slowly walks away. Well, that was something. But that doesn’t matter. You and Riddle walked a whole loop around the park and you decided that it’s time to go back to campus.

Now you and Riddle are now cuddling together as Riddle is reading a book he originally wanted to read on the picnic date but he ended up not. So he is now reading it to you like a mother reading her child a bed time story. And like evry bed time story, surely the child falls asleep. And so you did. His voice was so soothing to the point where you fell asleep, and Riddle can only admire you while slowly falling asleep too.

Grim felt like he’s sleeping with two disgusting people. Even though he’s doing his own business. He doesn’t enjoy Riddle’s presense. Ever.

[hopeamarsu]

Whumptober Day 8: Everything Hurts and I'm Dying

Whumptober masterlist

Ronnie Peterson x gn!reader

Rating: Mature

Word count: 677

Warnings: Zombie apocalypse, reunion, zombie attack, allusion to death and killing

Summary: Life after a zombie apocalypse was lonely. Or was it?

Stomach Pain | Head Trauma | Back from the Dead

The virus that got its start from Centerville spread throughout the country almost overnight. Two months later, no corner of the continent was safe and the undead roamed everywhere, demanding the last thing they had wanted when alive and cutting through everything in their way to get to it. 

Safe havens were set up by the military but for the most part, it was unbelievably hard to get into one of them unless you had the money to buy your way in. The poor and unfortunate were left to defend themselves while the rich barricaded themselves in. Nothing had changed even in the event of a zombie apocalypse. 

Some people banded together, others worked alone. It was a nasty business out there, no laws and no honor among survivors. If you weren’t eaten by zombies, there was a good chance a fellow survivor would cut you down to gain something or nothing. So for the most part, you were on your own. Never staying long in one place and always carrying just the essentials, hopping from one abandoned house to the other for shelter. 

You crept around one such shelter, casing the place before entering. You didn't hear any moaning or groaning, so the place might be safe. But you needed to make sure of that before stepping inside. Peeking through the windows, you didn’t see much inside but it looked relatively clean. Abandoned most likely before anything drastic had gone down in the house. One final walk around later you decided it was safe enough and picked your way inside. 

Opening the door, you were met with a barrel of a gun and an angry looking… Ronnie Peterson? You blinked, unsure of what you were seeing. “Ronnie?” 

This had to be a mirage, a final fuck you from God or whatever deity looked after this nightmare. A final glimpse at the man you had been falling in love with and who had been on ground zero when the outbreak happened. The man you knew was loyal to a fault and had no doubt tried to help others escape Centerville while remaining behind to battle, finally succumbing to the horde. The man whose demise you had cried over night after night while trying not to join him in darkness prematurely. 

“Sweetie?” His voice was ragged and rusty. His gun wobbled a bit until he seemed to blink back into reality, his big brown eyes growing wide behind cracked glasses. With a clank, the gun dropped to the ground and he pulled you into his arms, kissing you with ferocity your sweet, gentle Ronnie had never displayed before. 

The kiss told you everything. How much he hurt everywhere, how he felt like he’d been slowly dying, unsure of your fate. How he battled and raged, tried to find information about you while killing more and more. How he felt like this was the first free breath he’d taken since that night, because you were alive and in his arms. 

You responded in kind, telling him without words how you loved him, how you had missed him and how grateful you were of this miracle of him returning to you from being dead. That kiss might’ve lasted for a decade had it not been for the groaning and moaning in the distance.

Quickly, both of you detangled and faced the open door. A horde of four zombies were headed your way. 

Ronnie bent down, picking up the gun from the ground. He then pulled out a machete from beside the door, eyes still glued on the driveway and the horde advancing slowly. You followed his lead, picking your own weapons from your person, a grim grin on your lips. It was a small group, you could take this on. And with your lost and found lover by your side, you’d take on the world with him. 

“Ready, sweetie?” Ronnie mumbled and you nodded, lip curling in defiance. 

With a final look to confirm you’d meet on the other side of the battle, both of you charged forward, weapons drawn. 

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

Here’s the new AU I thought up! A Robin Hood AU with a twist!! Ronnie and Jake were engaged/married before he’s sent off to the Crusades/a medieval conquest. She promises to stay faithful to him until the day she leaves this earth. Well, that’s put to the rest very soon after Jake is sent off because he’s reported to Ronnie as having died in battle.

Soon after, the sleazy lord in the neighboring village takes an interest in Ronnie and tries to force her to marry him. After he goes too far, Ronnie with her trusty fellow ladies Natasha and Catherine take off to the woods, where they’ve heard tale of the legendary Robin Hood and his Merry Band of Thieves, aka Pete and Co.

The ladies are immediately taken into the fold due to Pete having served with Goose and knowing that he died saving Pete’s life in battle.

Time goes on, and word slowly reaches them that there is a mysterious man setting siege to the corrupt lords’ properties all over the area. It’s rumored that he works with the Grim Reaper himself since no one sees him until it’s too late.

It’s ya boy, Jake and Javy, setting fire to the men who separated him from his love, Ronnie. He was also told that Ronnie had died, but the sleazy lord told him that to try and kill Jake in an emotional frenzy. Instead, Jake started a rampage to lash out at those who sent him on the crusade.

Our two favorite lovers are eventually reunited, and the first thing they do is Ronnie gently cups Jake’s cheeks, strokes her thumbs across his face, and whispers, I knew I would see you again. Before they kiss.

MA'AM MA'AM HOLY SHIT MA'AM I AM ASCENDING

i am more than willing to expand and discuss further with you M cause uh.......Oh My. I freaking love Robin Hood, any version. And the subversion that it's Mav that's the robin hood figure is top tear. he's already got his maid marian in penny, and the cycle is beginning to repeat itself and that is FASCINATING.

and "I know I would see you again" my HEART CAN'T TAKE IT like??? they thought the other was dead??? I am weeping, screaming, throwing up????

also just the thought of this Ronnie (ignore the other two jamokes, this is a still from romeo and juliet):

is filling me with the upmost delight

thank you so much for sending this in M you queen

[mariacallous]

Love in the Time of Fentanyl begins with an overdose. A man collapses in the street, lying unconscious. Two harm reduction workers named Ronnie and Dana administer naloxone and oxygen; they arrive on the scene long before paramedics. “Talk to us, come on bud,” Ronnie says. Dana counts out the man’s pulse. Soon, he rouses, and they help him sit up as an ambulance approaches. 

It’s a gripping scene—and all too familiar. If you’ve seen a documentary about addiction before, you’ve seen something like this. There is no shortage of drug footage already out in the world. You can find it on every streaming platform, even Disney+. Or flip around on basic cable: A&E’s Intervention is in its 24th season. You could spend weeks with it playing continuously in the background and never run out of fresh episodes. Why watch another addiction documentary, then, another onscreen overdose? 

Ronnie and Dana, that’s why. The volunteers are the story here, the thing we haven’t seen before. Love in the Time of Fentanyl, which premieres today on PBS, is an atypical entry into the bloated addiction documentary canon because of its narrow focus on a grassroots harm reduction effort. Director Colin Askey doesn’t gloss over the frequently-grim reality of serious substance use disorders—hence the overdose opening—but he insists on the humanity of drug users and the communities they call home. 

So many of the stories we tell about the overdose epidemic focus on the bad actors responsible for making it worse, as well as the plight of first responders and the families and friends affected by addiction. While those are important stories to tell, Love in the Time of Fentanyl distinguishes itself by choosing to highlight efforts that are often overlooked, efforts from drug users themselves, as well as their neighbors and friends who embrace a harm-reductionist approach to mitigating this public health crisis. 

The film is set at the Overdose Prevention Society, a space in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighborhood. In Vancouver, as in most North American cities, fentanyl has eclipsed heroin as the dominant opioid sold on the street. While the overdose crisis is continent-wide, it has ravaged the Downtown Eastside in an especially vicious way. The neighborhood, sandwiched between affluent areas of an incredibly wealthy city, has a long history of social activism, as well as a disproportionately high number of residents experiencing homelessness, poverty, and substance use disorders. It is often at the forefront of harm reduction efforts like the OPS, which offers its community a space to test their drugs, pick up clean needles, and use their substances of choice with supervision, to ensure no lives are lost. 

Love in the Time of Fentanyl follows a handful of OPS leaders, including the burly, gentle Ronnie and cheerful former treeplanter Dana, as well as its activist founder, Sarah, and the maternal, meal-cooking Norma. Askey previously lived in Vancouver and grew close with people working in harm reduction on the Downtown Eastside (including his now-wife). This familiarity offers an intimate vantage: His subjects allow him into their homes, to film their most vulnerable moments. The clearest storyline belongs to Ronnie, a Jesus-bearded bear of a man with a roadie’s wardrobe and a heart of gold; as the film unfolds, he struggles with burnout, weary after years of working on the front lines of a seemingly never-ending crisis.

Askey’s affectionate but restrained approach to his subjects reminded me of Michael Dominic’s 2002 documentary Sunshine Hotel, another observational portrait of people living on the margins of society. It follows the residents of a single-room occupancy hotel in the Bowery, letting them tell their stories in their own words. In Love in the Time of Fentanyl, there are no voice-overs or talking heads. Instead, Askey allows day-to-day life in the space to unfold, capturing the camaraderie amid the chaos at OPS. They hold safety meetings, say prayers, crack jokes, and strum guitars. Murals brighten the indoor walls and alleyways outside the building; a dog named Zelda nuzzles into laps. 

“I didn’t want it to just be about the tragedy and the deaths that were happening in the community,” Askey says. “Most people haven’t been in these places, and I wanted to push people past their comfort zones and their preconceived notions of who these people are and what these sites do.” 

And so we watch Ronnie brush his teeth and tie his sneakers; we watch Sarah gab on the phone. While Askey clearly has affection for his subjects, he presents them plainly, without proselytizing for their cause or romanticizing their lives. The closest he gets to instilling the film with a thesis is when his camera lingers on these quotidian moments. The message is hard to miss: These are normal people. 

Ah, but normal people can do things that are hard to watch. Not all the people who work at the OPS also use its services, but some of them do, and Askey does not avoid this fact. Just as he holds long shots of his subjects going about their humdrum daily routines, he also shows what it looks like to be a functioning drug user. 

This is not pleasant viewing. Even people who support overdose prevention sites might watch the scene where Dana straightens up after hours through their fingers. He carefully places chairs on top of desks, making sure everything is in order. He whistles as he works. Then he looks in the mirror in front of one of the desks, takes out a syringe and injects himself in a vein in his neck. The camera stays steadily on his reflection until he is finished. Dana resumes cleaning, closes up, and heads home. 

“I wanted to let people have the full picture, as much as I could,” Askey told me, when I asked about his decision to include injection footage. It felt dishonest not to show drug use in a documentary about people trying to make drug use safer, after all. Although I hated watching those scenes, they’re a necessary part of why Love in the Time of Fentanyl is such a vital movie. It’s not trying to sanitize the image of overdose prevention spaces. “I don’t think the film answers many questions. It’s more my hope that it could help people ask the right questions,” Askey says. 

One such question might be: Why aren’t these spaces more commonplace in the United States? New York opened the country’s first space in 2021; so far, just like OPS, it has saved lives. In an era where the overdose crisis continues to accelerate, it is bizarre that this successful initiative has spurred so few imitators to open their doors. Other efforts to open similar spaces elsewhere in the country have been stymied because of how politicized anything to do with fentanyl has become. In California, for example, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a 2022 bill authorizing pilot programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland. 

Opponents of overdose prevention spaces argue that they will encourage drug use. The film captures the mundane, pragmatic reality of these spaces, how they are neither glamorously hedonistic nor hellishly depraved, and certainly nothing to fear. Although Love in the Time of Fentanyl is not meant to evangelize, its warts-and-all depiction could be the key to changing minds. 

[hi-im-greenjunipertree]

Lol, so this is basically an explanation for the headcanon(s) I have for the Dobbs siblings via a whole analysis of the games and realistic situations. I randomly think up entire backstories for the most obsure characters. But I know you'll understand because I was the anon who had the 'Lisa Conspiracy'! Hope you like what my brain cooked up!

After seeing both canon and fanon interpretations of the Dobbs siblings (mostly Sally, for that matter), I feel like reading in between the lines leads to a pretty grim situation for them, at least in my opinion. After listening to Sally's voicelines in the character section of the '97 and '98 games specifically, she says that 'she is very mature for her age'. which causes me to imagine that the reason her and Ronny's dynamic is how it's shown in the games is because at one point Sally had to mentally or emotionally mature more quickly than her peers. And with how little is said about their parents, I can still imagine that their parents are not really the BEST for them. I'm not saying they are totally abusive, because I doubt such a serious thing would be on the back-burner in a sports video game for kids. I just think they are negligent in the sense that they could possibly believe that it is the older sibling's job to take care of the younger sibling. And that they don't think or are aware of how this can take a toll on Sally and Ronny.

When listening to Sally's voicelines in any game that she is in, she is either asking about, scolding or going on about how 'fragile' Ronny is, She also talks down to the player the way someone her age would believe a person of authority would (for comedic purposes, but it is also related to my point, so I'll include it) and once again talks about how mature and responsible she is. While she may be too young to understand that taking on parental responsibilities as a CHILD isn't exactly a good thing, I headcanon that she hides her anxious and unheard feelings about her parents and having to take care of Ronny. which could lead to potential negative feelings towards Ronny??

For Ronny, However, I headcanon that he is too young to understand the place that Sally was put in, and instead views her as an overly annoying older sister, which is why he tries to rebel so much as he can for someone as young as he is.

Hi anon,

Yeah I 110% agree with a lot of this. I can honestly see Sally (and Ronny to an extent) dealing with something like this, based on in-game lore (and headcanons). I would imagine that the parents are either slightly negligent, or they are too busy to raise two kids (they probably both have jobs), or both, so they just end up putting most, if not all, of their responsibilities into Sally's hands. That probably explains why Sally is so bossy towards him, aside from the fact that she is a kid; in a way, she probably takes out some of her stress on Ronny by bossing him around, which leads to a domino effect-type thing where Ronny finds Sally "mean" and wants to avoid being around her. This headcanon makes the Dobbs siblings' lore much darker in hindsight.

I also think that several of the characters deal with some form of trauma in different ways, and the Dobbs siblings are FAR from being an exception. I have also heard some people say that the Delvecchios also deal with trauma.

Thank you so much for sharing this headcanon, anon!

(And again, the Lisa headcanon makes sense too!)

(also my apologies if my response is poorly worded.)

[lucero-is-here]

NOW I KNOW I HAVE RICHARD HEADCANONS TO POST- BUT PLEASE LET ME-

(The work below was written by me, do not steal anything I have written or you will be dealt with)

TW: Blood, death

You step into the morgue…Paying the coroner of the Concordian Flying Squad a visit…The room is cold and the air is stale…The scent of iron lingered in the air, the scent only getting stronger the further you stepped into the room…your eyes couldn’t help but rest on the small trails of blood splatter on the floor…and in the far end of the room, you see a tall, slender man, raising a scalpel in the air before he brought it down onto what you believed was a dead body.

You felt your stomach churn as you heard the slight sounds of the sharp blade slicing through skin…How a drop of blood immediately found it’s way onto the floor…You hasten your footsteps, the tension killing you! Your ears ringing, your heart pounding so hard against your chest you swore you heard a crack from your ribs! You clenched your eyes tight, as you slowly open them to lay eyes on the coroner…His blood stained coat reaching the back of his knees… his navy greyish blhe slacks and dark brown boots…his disheveled brown hair…More blood splattered onto the floor…and you could see the body of a man laying straight on the metal table…But no that can’t be!

You haven’t had any murders to solve lately- but most importantly…You never sent Richard any bodies!

Who? Who was this man Richard was dissecting open on his operating table? Where did he get this man?

You shakily approach Richard, your shoes clacking against the wooden floors of the morgue, until he turned around. He had blood splatter all on his blue shirt…The red carnation pinned to his right shined brightly. His hand grasped a scalpel tightly. While a bloodied scalpel was grasped tightly in his hands. He gave you an unsettling grin…as he motioned you to take a look at the body.

Every part of you said no…But your legs moved towards the operating table as Richard moved aside to give you space to stand. You tried to shut your eyes…But grim curiosity got the better of you, as your eyes remained wide open. You looked down onto the body…A rather young looking man laid lifeless on the metal table. His chest had been sliced open for autopsy…as a beautiful dark blue jacket with suns, moons, stars clouds on it covered his arms and shoulders…Underneath you could see a black turtleneck…jeans with suns, moons and stars on them..the man’s skin was pale and cold…He had fluffy white hair which gently hugged his pale cheeks…Long white eyelashes…

You were feeling awfully sorry, as you stares at the man, reaching your hand out to touch him…When all of a sudden his eyes shot open, revealing a set of eyes…Changing from a rich dark brown to a starry dark blue…His lips curved into a smile as he got up and stares at you, giving you a small smile. Richard gave an applause.

“Hello~! Did we scare you?”

The man asked excitedly, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he stared at you. Richard was applauding, bursting into hearty laughter.

You found yourself standing there, after being completely fooled by the two men.

(The young man who you probably thought was dead is my OC/self-insert who goes by several names. For now though…Refer to both me and this OC as Lucero or Ronnie)

[magicalara]

What do you mean a robot STOLE MY JOB???

My unrealistic attempts at doing all of kuroshitcember might have failed, but I am here for day 5! The prompt of the day is: Fast forward a century or so, and the Grim Reaper Dispatch’s collection system has switched to AI and other complex technologies. How good are the grim reapers at this? How do thy feel about it?

Rather than do a story, I’m just gonna spew my thoughts into headcannons so yeah enjoy!

The rest of the masterlist is here and thank you to @eemoo1o-animoo​ for creating it 😊

- So basically, it stands like this: William hates it, Ronald doesn’t mind it, Grelle loves it, and Othello tries to make it better and do experiments.

- Essentially the reactions go a little something like William trying to get around but ultimately failing because his patience for loading screens is thin, Ronnie isn’t an expert by any means, but he knows his way around the settings, Grelle knows the ins and outs of social media websites, games, anything related to the camera, and how to trick the phone into thinking you are in a different time zone, and Othello is a total geek about it all and knows literally everything about everything. Othello and Grelle are the most excited about the switch up (Othello because ✨science✨ and Grelle because ✨less paperwork✨). William is least excited because he likes the old fashioned way where he knows he isn’t making any mistakes, thank you very much. Ronnie’s there in the middle like “yeah it’s stupid and takes too long sometimes, but it’s generally more efficient”. If Alan and Eric were alive here, Eric would be in the same boat as Ronnie and Alan would either be a total geek about it like Othello or hate it like William, no in between. Moreover, is Undertaker were here, he’d just straight up refuse to use it. Like, he would not use it at all. Malicious compliance at its finest like you want a word doc with his notes? Okay here’s a word doc with a picture attached of all of his hand-written notes.

- To go more in depth on how I think the office was modernized, I like to think that it’s kinda like how it has been for us. It started out with just those boxy computers and now there’s literal robots. Even more threatening, I think that the little pocket universe that the dispatch is in is even more advanced than we are which means it is perfectly reasonable for me to believe that they have fully fledged androids a la detroit: become human style (great game btw highly recommend)

- The title makes a little more sense now that the androids have been mentioned huh? Anyways

- At first, as the paper was taken away slowly and everything was made more digitized, even people who act like cranky grandpas that are fed up with technology (coughWilliamcoughcough) could deal with it. Sure, it took a bit of adjusting, but the whole process was essentially the same just with a lot more emails and a little less human interaction when sending off documents. Nothing too extreme you know

- But then the bots were brought in

- It took the littler jobs at first, doing work that librarians usually would and bringing people things- stuff like that. But then, then, Othello got an idea: what if the droids could reap souls just like other reapers?

- Obviously, this was a long term thing. Othello’s smart, but you can’t build Rome in a day and Othello can’t replace all of the dispatch in a night. And even if when he does make it, he only shows Grelle because he trusts her most lol

- Grelle’s reaction: “What do you mean a robot STOLE MY JOB????”

- Yeah she’s not too happy lol. She knows Othello only means well but she’s also watched a playthrough of Detroit: Become Human and knows it won’t end well so she makes sure that Othello shuts it down. It’s a cool idea in theory, but it isn’t as safe or practical as just having a real reaper on the job. He doesn’t mind shutting it down, he might be a mad scientist but he isn’t that mad. 

- And for my Sascha and Ludger lovers: Sascha absolutely LOVES all of the improvements to the camera as well as how easy it is to get any and all information at the touch of a screen. Ludger likes it, but also knows it has flaws and so tries not to rely on it too too much. For example, he takes handwritten notes and then just types them up later on the computer, he likes it better that way and encourages Sascha does the same.

[hobbit-in-kuroshitsuji]

Kuroshitcember 2022 Prompt Nr. 5

Prompt: Fast forward a century or so, and the Grim Reaper Dispatch’s collection system has switched to AI and other complex technologies. How good are the grim reapers at this? How do they feel about it?

You can find all prompts here!

All of these will be uploaded/archived to this blog's Ao3 eventually

Summary: In a modern era filled with smart watches, smartphones and modern technology... one grim reaper struggles to adapt. But at least he has his found family to help him. CW: a cookie for every time I write poor Ronald being late to work like... I don't even HC him as someone who is late THAT often?? anyway... no CW XD it's all silliness within this modern AU

(I don't think I did as much of a modern AU as was suggested in the prompt but this is the best my brain could produce <3 )

Ronald rushed into the office building, eyes glued down at his watch. He tapped the screen, flicked to the unread messages tab, and started slowly scrolling. His feet carried him through the office, waving at the right time when he blindly greeted his fellow reapers, too occupied by the little screen.

He was two minutes late. The time showing on his watch seemed to glare at him, but he couldn’t do too much about it now. He was, however, checking to make sure William hadn’t sent an angry email yet.

Othello wrapped an arm around Ronald’s shoulders once he arrived at the right floor, enveloped in a half-hug the second the elevator doors let off their signature ‘ting’.

“You’re late.”

“I know,” Ronald sighed. “Has he noticed?”

Othello fixed Ronald with a look. The silence prompted Ronald to look away from his watch and up to his fellow reaper. The ‘are you serious’ look that was on Othello’s face said it all. “Good luck,” Othello voiced with a final pat to Ronald’s shoulder before leaving him to his fate.

Taking a deep breath, Ronald pushed the glass door open to reveal a room with no one but William and Grelle left.

Grelle, of course, hanging back to talk to William, who for once offered her some attention.

“Did I miss it?” Ronald asked with wide eyes.

“Of course you did,” William scoffed in indignation. “The room is empty. What other logical conclusion could you have made?”

“Sorry, sir-“

“Oh don’t stress about it, Ronnie-boy,” Grelle complained with a wave of her hand, annoyed Ronald was taking William’s attention from her. The man still stood at the far end of the room, in front of a little podium. Behind him, the screens were all still lit up, showing satellite images of England. Grelle was lounging in one of the front rows, as usual. “It’s all recorded, you can catch up on your lunch break.”

William huffed, as if Grelle had just offended him personally. Taking a deep breath, William lifted his chin and touches his glasses: “The use of technology in such a fashion only serves to slow us grim reapers down further. It promotes tardiness if there are no consequences to-“

“Yeah yeah,” Grelle interrupted, taking her phone out to check her makeup (and take some selfies). “Whatever you say.”

There was another deep breath taken on William’s end, then he busied himself by collecting the papers on his podium.

“Sir…” Ronald sighed in amusement, trying his best to make William forget Ronald’s mishap. “Did the department not give you a replacement tablet?”

William pursed his lips. “No.”

That was a lie. William always pursed his lips when lying – it was a tell. The man was a horrible liar, more prone to telling too much of the truth than actually offering a gentle lie to shield someone’s emotions.

“Right,” Ronald said with a chuckle. “Did you get frustrated with it and throw it to the floor? Again?”

William stared over at Ronald with a look that was meant to be authoritative and annoyed, but the use of it as defence against Ronald’s apparent correct deduction only offered a comical effect to the situation at hand – and Ronald chuckled again.

“I much prefer the old ways of working.”

“The old ways of working meant heaps of paper everywhere that needed to be filed correctly because there were no do-overs. This new system allows for-“

“Tardiness,” William finished, holding the notes for his morning debrief in his arms as he walked down from the podium and glared at the two reapers present: one obsessively scrolling down TikTok, and the other complaining about the old ways. “If you are exempt from making mistakes, how will you ever learn to work properly, efficiently, and without delays?”

A shrug was all William was given.

“Precisely. I absolutely loathe these new ways but no matter how many complaints I send in, management simply refuses to change anything.”

“The new reapers don’t seem to mind.” That had been the wrong thing to say to William as the man scoffed and fixed his glasses twice.

Twice.

Twice meant William had been close to scolding Ronald.

“The newly assigned grim reapers come from an age I do not even pretend to comprehend.”

“Oh this age isn’t so bad. This Lady Gaga person makes things much better, William dear,” Grelle interjected. “You should go to a concert.”

“Lady who?” William asked with a quirked brow.

“Sir…” Ronald bit his bottom lip. “Would it help if I came up with another little song to help you sort out how to work the tablet? Like I did with the heating? The minus button makes it go cold, cold, cold. The plus button –“

“Yes, you’ve quite made your point, Knox.” There was no glare, only an embarrassed look sent up to the heavens as a silent prayer left William.

Amused, Ronald watched William leave in a hurry, having forgotten all about Ronald’s tardiness that morning.

And without telling Ronald ‘no’ in regards to the memory song, which only meant they helped which only meant… William used them. Ronald spent the rest of the morning coming up with one for William’s tablet issues.

This modern age proved difficult for some reapers, but at least they all had each other to help.

__ taglist: @eemoo1o-animoo

[mosylufanfic]

The Proposal

A prompt taken from @dailyau, submitted by @yellowmagicalgirl, because I sure do love me an arranged marriage, no matter who’s arranging it.

Send me a NaNo prompt!

The Proposal

The sound of the key in the door made Caitlin look up from her latest attempt to convince her daughter to eat. "Cisco? You're early."

"Hey," her neighbor said, coming with a drinks carrier and setting it on the table. "Yeah. I, uh, I called out from work today."

"Called out," she echoed. "Are you feeling okay?" She almost got up and felt his forehead, but he looked fine. 

"No, I'm fine. I swear. I just had a last-minute appointment."

"With who?"

Cisco never called out from work. Just like her, he needed every penny, including the money she insisted on paying him for looking after her thirteen-month-old daughter in the evenings while she worked. Although he kept telling her that he'd pay her for the chance to hang out with Eva. 

"Tee!" the baby squealed, drumming her hands flat on the high chair's tray. "Teetee!"

"Hiiiii, punkin," he crooned to the baby. "Hiiiii, whatcha got for num-nums today?" He leaned down to peer at the little jar of baby food on the table. "Pumpkin? Really? Grim, Caitlin."

"You're the only one who calls her that. Anyway, she loves it."

Eva squealed and shoved her fingers into the blob of orange puree on the tray, smearing it everywhere. 

"Sure, to finger-paint," Cisco said. 

"No, sweetie, the spoon, use the spoon." Caitlin picked up the baby size spoon and guided it to Eva's fingers. She grabbed the spoon and started whacking the tray with it.

Cisco snorted with laughter. 

"Stop, she needs to eat something before I leave."

"Hey, Tio's here," he said, pulling up a chair. "I'm on it. Go get changed for work."

"I have - " She checked the time. "Forty-five minutes before I need to leave."

"Yeah, I know, but I gotta talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"Go get changed first. Don't worry. It's not bad." He swiped a finger through the smear of pumpkin on the tray and popped it in his mouth. "Mmmm. See that, Evita? Num num pumpkin."

Eva babbled happily and imitated him. Caitlin opened her mouth to say, The spoon - and then thought, never mind, it's more important she gets fed. She went to her bedroom. 

Even though he'd said it was all right, Caitlin fretted as she changed into her work clothes. What did he mean, not bad? Maybe he'd gotten a better job and couldn't look after Eva anymore. Maybe he was moving. Maybe - 

She shook her head. She'd survived the car crash that had killed her husband and brought Eva into the world nearly two months early. She'd survived letting go of her lifelong dream of being a doctor, because Eva was more important. She even survived working at a seedy bar every night. Whatever Cisco had to tell her, she could survive.

By the time she finished her hair and makeup, Eva had eaten her fill and Cisco was cleaning her up. He was so good with her, Caitlin thought. He and Ronnie had been buddies since they'd moved in, and he'd been over so often in those dark days right after Ronnie's death and Eva's birth. She was pretty sure she would have lost her mind without him, both from grief and from the stress of her baby in the hospital. 

It worked out that his coffee-shop gig and her bartending job were almost perfectly opposite each other. He took care of Eva in the evenings, and when she got home, she would slip into his apartment, pick up the baby, and take her home. What would she do without that arrangement?

What a lot of other young mothers did, she lectured herself. Find childcare and keep moving.

"Mama," Eva said, stretching out her chubby little arms toward her. "Mamamamama."

She came in and kissed her hair. "Eva. Evavavavavava."

"Go?" Eva scowled and batted at her work clothes, the skin-tight jeans and black tank top with the bar's logo, and her push-up bra shoving her breasts nearly to her chin. She was starting to associate that with her mother leaving for the night.

"Not yet." Caitlin unhooked her from the chair and hoisted her in the air. Eva squealed and kicked.

Her happy baby. Caitlin snuggled her close for a moment before taking the two steps necessary to her tiny living room and setting Eva in the playpen with all her favorite toys.

"So," she said, sitting down at the kitchen table. 

"So," Cisco said, sitting opposite of her. "Oh, hey, here." He passed her the hazelnut latte he often brought her from work, where he got them free.

"I thought you didn't go in today."

 "I stopped by for next week's schedule and grabbed this, since I was there."

"They're not moving you to evenings, are they?"

"They'd never. I'm the only opener who's not stoned fifty percent of the time."

"So what is it?"

He fiddled with his own cup, flicking his thumbnail over the edge. "Uh, I'm not sure where to start."

"The beginning usually works."

"Smartypants." He sighed. "Okay, so I guess the beginning is, uh, my family."

"I didn't know you even had family." He was never away for holidays. They'd done Thanksgiving together two years in a row, first with Ronnie there and then with Eva. 

"I do, it's just I went low contact with them years ago. Practically no contact. But anyway, uh, my grandfather died."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He was an old assh- uh, an old jerk, like all of them." Now that Eva was starting to talk, Caitlin had asked him to watch his language. He mostly remembered. "But um, he - he was a rich old jerk. And he left me some money."

"That's amazing!"

"Don't get too excited for me yet. It has strings. Actually one big string. Huge. Like, picture a bowline on the Titanic, that's the size of this string -" 

"Cisco," she interrupted. "Focus. What's the string?"

"In order to claim it, I have to be married."

"Married?"

"And have a kid. Yeah."

"Is that even legal?"

He shrugged. "They did something lawyer-y, with a trust and stuff. I don't know. But yeah, they can do that."

"Why?"

"I did mention he was a jerk, didn't I?" He fiddled with his cup some more. "They want to control me. That's basically it. This is not a surprise, by the way. The minute I came out, it was all, 'okay, you like guys too, but why don't you just focus on dating girls? Think what people will say.' They don't seem to care who I like, really, their priority is being able to pretend to the world that I’m straight."

"That's awful."

He shrugged and flashed a brittle grin. "That's my fam!" He drank more coffee. "So, you see how this bequest is working. And, like, my first instinct was to tell them to go f- to take a flying leap, but . . . it's kind of a lot."

"How much?"

He told her.

She sucked hazelnut latte down the wrong tube, and coughed and wheezed for so long that even Eva peered at her, concerned, over the side of her playpen. "That's - that's how much he was worth?" she spluttered, carefully dabbing at her watering eyes. God, her eye makeup was probably a mess. "Your grandfather?"

"No, that's my portion of it. My brother and my pop and my uncle and his kids are getting similar chunks. But they're all safely married and reproduced."

She goggled at him. With that kind of money, he wouldn't have to work a day in his life. He could build his beloved inventions all day and all night and never have to worry about if they sold or not, he could just do whatever he wanted.

What would that kind of freedom be like?

". . . yeah," he said. "And honestly? I still kind of wanna tell them all to take a long walk off a short pier. But I feel like that's exactly what my abuelo wanted me to do, you know? So they could go, 'look, we offered.'"

"Yes," she said softly. "Yes, I see that."

"Yeah, I thought you might."

"But Cisco, you don't have any children. And you're not dating anyone. Are you?"

"Right, no. But." His eyes sparkled. "My appointment today? Was with a lawyer. And he found a loophole. Kind of."

"I knew it couldn't be legal."

"Oh, no, it's legal. Yeah, that was the first thing we talked about. But the loophole is, it doesn't say anywhere that the kid has to be biologically mine."

She frowned at him. 

He looked over into the living room, at Eva in her playpen, happily bashing blocks together. Then back at Caitlin, raising his eyebrows. "So? Will you marry me?"

"What?" she shrieked, and Eva looked up again. 

"Will you marry me?" he repeated.

"You want me to marry you to get around your grandfather's will - "

"And collect a shitload of money and say fuck you to my entire family - "

She didn't even remind him about his language. She was too lost in shock.

"Hey," he said. "Hey. I know Ronnie's only been gone a year. I know he was the love of your life. I'm not asking for anything you don't wanna give. But Caitlin, come on. Think about this. Marry me, just for a few years. We'll find a way better place to live together, and team up raising the pumpkin over there while she's still little. Then when she's older, we have an amicable divorce and stay friends. What do you say?"

This was crazy. "Cisco, I - "

"I'll give you half."

The words died in her throat.

"You could pay off all the hospital bills from the accident," he said. "You could go to med school like you wanted. You could buy a house, even. One with a yard, in a good neighborhood. And you could get Evita in one of those really good preschools. The ones that, like, send babies directly to Harvard."

She stared at him. Ronnie had proposed to her on their anniversary, both of them dressed to the nines, with candlelight and wine. Cisco had proposed to her at her kitchen table, which still had a stray smear of baby food, while she was wearing her horrible skanky work clothes. 

And there was the minor, insignificant detail that Ronnie had been proposing a life of love together. Cisco was asking her for a fake marriage, one with divorce already planned.

But among all the reasons yelling No! in her head was a tiny voice saying, But what if yes?

"I know this is nobody's fairy tale," he said. "I don't need an answer now. Soon-ish, but not right this second. Just think about it, okay? Take some time and think about it. Let me know."

"Okay," she said faintly.

She did think about it, all through her shift, while men leered at her tits and her ass, while she had to cut off drunks and fend off gropers. 

When she got home, bone-tired, she didn't go directly to Cisco's apartment like she usually did to pick up Eva. Instead, she went into her own place, opened up her computer, and looked at the program with all her bills, all her debts, all the interest compounding itself month after month.

The insurance payout from the accident was long gone. The money she'd once saved for medical school was almost down to nothing. She was treading water as hard as she could, but still sinking.

She pressed her knuckles to her mouth and thought about the ludicrous, insane number that Cisco had told her earlier that evening. How all these debts drowning her wouldn't even make a dent in it. 

Then she got up and changed clothes before going across the hall to Cisco's apartment. 

His shift usually started at five am, but he often woke up when she came over, no matter how quiet she was being. So she wasn't surprised when his bedroom door opened as she was gathering up Eva's diaper bag. 

"Hey," he said, pushing sleep-frizzy hair out of his face and adjusting his glasses. His voice was husky with tiredness. "So, chicken was a hit again at dinner but steamed broccoli was a no-go, and honestly I can't blame her. We had a little blowout situation right before bedtime, but I got her cleaned up and put her in the spare jimjams there." He gave a jaw-cracking yawn. "Bottle at bedtime, couple of stories, and she was out."

"Thank you," Caitlin said. "I want a pre-nup."

He blinked slowly, scratching his belly. "A what?"

This probably was a terrible time to be having this conversation, while she still stank of smoke from the bar and Cisco was only half awake, and they were both whispering to avoid waking the baby. But Caitlin had the feeling if she didn't do it now, with the specter of those red numbers dancing behind her eyes, she would lose her nerve. 

"A pre-nuptial agreement," she said. "If we get married. I want a pre-nup."

He squinted at her. Eva squirmed and mumbled, "M'ma," into her sheets.

"Is this a yes?" he said.

"This is me stating my terms for a yes."

He blinked again, said, "Hang on," and went into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, got out a bottle of water chilled to teeth-cracking coldness the way he liked it, and took a deep drink. When he put the cap back on, he looked a little more alert. "Okay," he said. "Pre-nup. Yeah. We can do that. You just want it down on paper? You get half and I get half?"

"I don't want half," she said. "Just enough to pay off the hospital bills and what I'll need for med school. I don't want any more."

"Hey. No. Come on. The deal was half."

"I don't want it," she said. "That's your money."

"It was my abuelo's money, and he didn't even really want me to have it."

She shook her head. "All the more reason you should keep as much as you can."

He squinted at her. "That's it? Really? Your bills and your tuition?"

"That's not a small amount. And I'll be living off you while we're married."

"No, I'll be taking care of you, because that's what married people do. And what you want is small next to what you're turning down." 

She picked at a piece of fuzz on her shirt.

"Caitlin," he said.

"I don't want them to think I'm a gold digger."

"Them who? My family? Who cares about them?"

"I just don't, that's all." That was part of it, but it wasn't all. She couldn't explain how it made her feel, Cisco thinking he needed to buy a marriage, when he could have anyone he wanted with just one of his smiles. 

He went over to the fold-up crib that had a permanent home next to his couch, reached in, and ran his hand over Eva's curls. "What about her?"

Eva mumbled, "Tee-tee."

"What about her?"

"She's my favorite baby. I wanna do something for her besides just like, room and board. Come on. Daycare? Preschool?"

She hesitated, but he had a point. Both of those could be ruinously expensive. "Daycare and schooling until I get out of residency," she said.

"How long is that?"

"She'll be well into elementary school by that time."

"Okay. Yeah. You got it. So." He adjusted his glasses and took another drink of water. "So that's it? You're in?"

Was that it? Was she really going to marry her friend for money?

Not for money. For bills paid off, medical school taken care of, and for Eva having two parents while she was young and the kind of childhood that she wasn't getting now.

She nodded. "I'm in. I'll marry you."

He came over and hugged her. It wasn't the first time. He hugged often and well. But it was the first time she thought, I'm going to marry this man, he's going to be my husband . . . as she hugged him back.

And if the sensation of his body against hers and his arms around her made her stomach flutter, well, she just wasn't going to think about that. 

He kissed her cheek, and his glasses got momentarily tangled in her hair. "Whoa," he said, working them loose. "Sorry. But thanks. Seriously, thanks so much."

"It's not like I'm not getting something out of it. Can your lawyer friend draw up the pre-nup?"

"Sure, yeah, I'll call him." He went and wrote it down on the whiteboard that normally held his grocery list. "Once we got that taken care of, what do you want? Courthouse?"

"Courthouse is fine."

"Okay. We can talk about all that tomorrow. Sorry to kick you out, but I gotta open in three hours, so - " He yawned again. 

"You're still working?" she asked, scooping Eva up and settling her against her shoulder. The baby squirmed for a moment, sighed, and clutched Caitlin's shirt in her tiny fist. 

"Much as I want to throw my apron in my manager's face, who knows how long it'll take the lawyers to shell out. Did you already quit?"

"No, of course not. I know it can take awhile," she said, thinking of how long it had taken for the insurance company to pay out after the accident. "But you hate that job."

"Not any more than you hate yours. But I got like twelve dollars in checking. I'm not quitting until that first set of zeroes hits." He came over and gently covered Eva's one exposed ear. "But I might tell Mr. Extra Dry Cappuccino to go fuck himself."

FINIS

[twsted-princess]

"This world...............it can't........exist."

(picrew linked here)

The main antagonist of the Magical Girl au arrives! This is Mifilia, a being corrupted by darkness who seeks to destroy both the normal world and the magical world. Together with her right hand Ronnie, (@fumikomiyasaki) Caesar (@terrovaniadorm) Hanami (me) and a few others they seek the crystals needed to create the greatest magic and corrupt it.

Originally she was a sweet girl living in the magic world, having a normal childhood with her dear best friend Ronnie. Chosen along with four others they swore to protect the veil keeping the two worlds separate and fighting off those with evil intentions. She adored the normal world, believing it to be just as magical as her world but she was never allowed to enter. But one day she managed to sneak it, only to see the worst of humanity. Filled with horror and rage that this world was existing depends all the evil she turned to darkness. Becoming corrupted and threatening to destroy the normal world along with the magical world, thus creating a new start the way she wants it. Her old guardian friends scarified themselves to seal her along with Ronnie away. Thousands of years passed until Grim, trying to prove himself removed the locks off of Ronnie's seal and kickstarting the story.