#shout out to my grandma who introduced me to her

[swaggypsyduck]

MASHALLAH IS CORRECT 🗣️🗣️

tiktok cred: @lixlenna

[jhoneybees]

I love your writing and the effort you put into it, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to share one shot of (Any year) Elvis with a Mexican reader. Specifically, one of him and his mama being invited to a party (birthday, reunion, or any type of party with family). This would be the first time Elvis gets to meet the readers. 

Also, I just genuinely think Gladys would enjoy the little chisme that goes on in the kitchen as the grandma's and tías cook.  Just a bunch of wholesome fluff!

Oh thank you! Yes I'm willing to share! This one was quite a challenge to do because I know nothing about Mexicans so please forgive me if I used the wrong Spanish words and this is more of a blurb so...please forgive me on that too😭

Fiesta

Characters: 50s!Elvis X Mexican!reader

Warnings/triggers: Probably nothing!

Author's note: Pétalo means petal, Tía means aunty, Tío means uncle, Sobrina means niece, Sobrino means nephew, Hermana means sister, Hijo means son, Feliz Cumpleaños means Happy birthday 🤧

_____________________________________________

Elvis has always been so polite and caring towards your family and when you first introduced him to your parents in ‘56 he instantly became the favourite. Out of all your brothers and sisters’ partners, Elvis won the spot of definite future son in law.

Your parents absolutely adore him, it’s not because he’s the upcoming celebrity but because of how well he treats you. Elvis would pick you up from your house for dates with a massive bouquet of flowers in his hand every single time and as much as you love the gifts, you tried to tell him to not spend so much on you but he kept insisting. He just loves watching you and your parents' reaction to the expensive things he would give you. Flowers, jewellery, clothes, anything.

Elvis would never forget to give your mamá something either, no, no, no, he’d give her the most beautiful things which you thought your papá would feel somewhat jealous of but no, he absolutely loves it!

Today is one of those days, Elvis has a lovely gift and he and his mama are dressed up to attend your mamá’s birthday party.

Your parents haven’t met Elvis’ parents yet and you weren’t going to lie, you’re a little nervous. Your family is very loving and welcoming when it comes to new members and Elvis’ parents are wonderful but you just can’t help it.

What if it’s not like that at all when he arrives?

“That must be your boyfriend!” Your aunty gasps in delight at the sound of the front door bell, you bite your bottom lip preparing yourself for some sort of disaster as you put down a plate of Chilaquiles.

“Quickly, you have to come and introduce us!” stumbling a little when your aunty drags you out of the kitchen into the living room. “Todas! Y/n’s boyfriend’s here!” She shouts, calling all the tías, tíos, sobrinas and sobrinos from all corners of the house. Holding onto your arm tightly with an excited smile on her face as your papá opens the front door.

“Hello.” Elvis grins, leaning to one side to peek inside of the house as your cousins scrabble around you to see who’s arrived.

“Ah! Pétalo, he’s handsome!” Your other aunty cheers.

Then in a blink, all of your family usher Elvis and his mama inside, the tios happily shaking hands and the tias greeting and complimenting Gladys. Your heart smiles at the delighted cheers and laughs.

“Hermana, look how tall he is! He must be really strong.”

“Could easily lift two of us up onto his shoulders!” The tias giggle.

“He reminds me of my late husband!”

“How could you think that? Your late husband wasn’t this handsome.”

“What do you mean? He was american!”

“Hermana, how long have you been living in America? 20 years? Not all Americans look like that!” The others argue.

You groan in embarrassment, hiding your face in your hands at how your aunties are all over Elvis and Gladys.

“Todas! Todas! You’re going to scare them if you keep latching onto them like that!” Your mamá clicks her tongue with an amused smile on her face. Walking calmly through the sea of people to gasp and squeal seeing Gladys. “Hello, you must be Gladys!” Excitedly grabbing her hands and admiring her hair and skin. “Oh mi, you’re beautiful!”

Gladys smiles shyly, thanking your mother politely before her eyes turn to look at Elvis. “Oh, my hijo!”

You smile gently, watching Elvis chuckle and laugh as he bends down to hug. “Hello mamá.” He replies, carefully putting a nicely wrapped up jewellery box in her hands, grinning at how her eyes soften. “Feliz cumpleaños to the birthday girl.”

You’re quite surprised how well Elvis pronounced happy birthday in spanish, you would often teach him a few words whenever he wants to impress your parents.

“Aww my son…Come! Come! I made Camote, your favourite!”

Elvis nods with a laugh and with a delicate push, he says to take his mama to the kitchen and show her.

“Hi baby.” He turns to you, his eyes sparkling with joy at the sight of you. Slowly sliding his arms around your waist to be closer to you and seeing out of the corner of his eye, he sees your cousins watch with open mouths and he smirks, suddenly attacks your neck with playful kisses and growls.

“Ai! Elvis! Stop that!” You gasp in a hushed tone, hearing the little kids snicker. You start to laugh too, pushing him away you shake your head in disbelief. Kissing him a little when he hums for one you scrunch your nose at the youngest ones watching. “All of you, go away. This is adult stuff.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so!”

“OooOoo Pétalo’s going to give her boyfriend kisses!” One jokes with a cute giggle.

“Go!” You order again and this time they all begin to pile out.

“How’s my baby, hm?” Elvis asks with a cheeky deep voice, his hands sliding up your waist to the sides of your breasts. Chuckling as you rest your arms around his neck.

“Good, how was your trip here?”

“It was good-”

“Lunch is ready, lovebirds! Come and eat before it’s all gone!” Your Tía calls making both of you laugh.

“Yes, Tía!” Elvis answers back with a big smile.

You really do wish Elvis would become your family's son in law, he's perfect to you.

“C’mon, Pétalo. Let's go.”

[judes-hoe]

Family Time ~ TAA66

Parrings ~ Trent Alexander-Arnold x reader

Summary ~ Trent knows your parents and siblings, but what happens when he goes to your grandparents(dad’s side) house for Christmas, and meets the rest of your crazy family.

Warnings ~ none

A/N ~ just to clarify that this will be kinda about my dads side of the family and I will be using my family’s names, Sid you don’t want to read it don’t, also I do live in the united states so it’ll kinda be like you and Trent going to visit for the weekend. Also she wanted me to tag her and I said I would @formulalfc <3

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

You and Trent were currently on your way to your grandmas house.

You had asked Trent if he could come with you for a weekend to fly to the United States, so you could do Christmas with your family. It’s be his first time meeting, your dad’s side of the family. You’ll admit that it was a little hectic sometimes, I mean your dad has 3 brothers so, you have a lot of cousins. But Trent had asked klopp to take the weekend to go and that he’d be back Sunday in the afternoon. So klopp agreed and here you are, in a car with your sister and her husband, driving to your grandparents.

Your sister and her husband were talking so I look over at Trent. “You nervous” you asked Trent taking his hand to hold. “Yeah a little, you always talk about how hectic it can get” he says with a smile. “It’s fine they’ll love you” you spoke with a smile. “My grandma loves everyone” you said.

Trent knows your family, like mom and dad and your sibling. He’s never met any of your grandparents, so when you said like your uncles and their kids will be there and if everyone is there, they’ll probably be like 15 people in your grandparents house.

~~~

After about an hour, you finally arrived to your grandparents house. “When we get in I’ll introduce you to everyone, then we can just sit on the couch and chill” you told him, he just nodded back. You walked into the house after your sister Savannah, and her husband Boyd.

When you and Trent take your shoes off you see your mom and dad first. “Hey mom, hey dad” you spoke hugging them both, then they went and hugged Trent. I walk over to my grandma who was looking for something. “Hi nene, this is my boyfriend Trent” you said hugging her. “Hey my lovely granddaughter, nice to meet you Trent” she said hugging him as well to which he hugged back with a smile. “Nice to meet you” he said softly.

You walk over to the dining room table we’re most of your uncles and aunts were. “Hi everyone” you spoke going around and hugging them. “This is my boyfriend Trent” you said to which they all said hi and said their names.

“Okay I’ll take you to meet all my cousins come here” you said and Trent follows you like a dog. “So this is, Anissa and her boyfriend Ethan, this is Anissa brother Jalen and his Wife Kalyne, this is Anissa and Jalen’s brother Logan, This is Ellah and her brother Gio, then this is Christian and his sisters jewl, Avery, and raven” you spoke going around introducing Trent to all of your cousins. “Nice to meet all of your” he said.

After you had introduced Trent to everyone, you took a seat on the couch and he sat next to you. “So what do you think, I know it’s a lot of people” you look at him laughing softly. “It’s a lot of people but they seem cool” he said kissing you cheek.

You and Trent sat there on the couch, you held his hand between the both of you. Your cousins coming to talk once in awhile. “Dinner ready if you wanna eat” my grandma shouts out. “Do you wanna go eat” you asked Trent. “If you want I’ll get food and you can eat some stuff off my plate, I know klopp probably doesn’t want you eating kinda unhealthy food” you spoke before he could answer. “That’s fine, but I love when you pay attention too what I can and can’t eat my love” he said kissing you before getting up.

You got a plate of food, before sitting next to Trent at a table with all your cousins. “You’re not gonna eat Trent” my dad had called out seeing Trent didn’t have a plate. “No, I got a game the day after we get back to England so coach doesn’t want me to really eat anything that might not be good for me” he told my dad. “But I’m gonna eat some food off of her plate” he added. “Alright bud I was just checking” my dad said sitting at the table next to us.

While we all ate, Trent ate some stuff off your plate. You and Trent went to go and sit on the couch as your grandma said it was time to open gifts. Trent had pulled you in his lap so there was room for other people. All the other kids got fifty dollars while younger kids got 4-5 gifts.

Your sister, her husband, you, and Trent all said our goodbyes and got in the car to head back to my sisters house.

After and hour car ride, you and Trent went to the guest bedroom, changing into pajamas before getting into bed. “So how’d you like meeting the rest of my family” you asked him while rubbing up and down his arm. “It was nice, they seem nice and chill, but god I love your family drama” he said giving you a kiss after. “Alright let’s go to sleep my love we have a very early flight” he said kissing my forehead before pulling you close to his chest. “I love you” you said kissing right over his heart. “I love you too princess” he mumbled in your hair.

~~~~~~~~

[uchu-no-bashira]

The Cookout - Gyomei Head!Canon w/OC!Kiana

Authors note: This was a very self-indulgent Head canon that got waaay too long and was too much fun for me. The scenarios could have gone on and on, but I had to stop eventually lmfao. Enjoy, or don't. i know I did! LMFAO. Head Canon beneath the cut.

When they got married, Gyomei had no idea how different his life would be. That isn’t to say that it was in a negative way, but it was definitely something that he wasn’t used to. Needless to say, he was apprehensive about the four day stay at Kiana’s family home; they wanted to celebrate, with a cook-out, of course.

“Is… He crying?” Kiana’s sister would ask when he’s introduced, his prayer beads tightened in one hand while Kiana grips his other hand.

“He is! He’s tearful and sensitive in the best way.” She says, the smile on her face was so large that Gyomei could see it. But something about that grip on his hand, and the happiness in her words, made meeting her family a little more comforting.

Gyomei’s heart crumbles to bits when he feels a firm hand palm his bicep - he could tell from the imperishable grip that it had to be the hand of a father, or at least a very protective older brother.

He wasn’t expecting his height to be so cherished, loved, and made fun of all at the same time. It was a strange experience.

“Damn, Gyomei!"

He's startled when he bumps into a smaller body while walking through the door.

"You know ya ass can’t fit through the door with me!” Kiana’s sibling would giggle before immediately turning to him with a hand on his forearm and stating, “Just playin’.”

Gyomei was absolutely shocked when he was greeted warmly by everyone in the house when he walked in. Normally, it’s a pretty casual thing to say “I’m back” and receive a “Welcome back.” But Kiana’s family was different…

“Tadaima… Ah.” He remembers that none of them speak Japanese, and tears up.

Okaerimas!!” Kiana would shout, causing a few glances from the family.

Imagine his surprise when they took an interest in his language because of that one interaction.

Gyomei wasn’t expecting to feel so welcomed by a group of people that didn’t share the same culture as him. Even more shocked when they all tried to learn things to accommodate him. It was very polite.

Gyomei’s favorite thing is family functions. Something about his Kiana and her family getting together brought him a sense of joy.

“Who this lil’ Asian boy?~” Kiana’s grandma would ask with a lifted brow.

“Nana, this is my husband and his name is Gyomei..” Kiana would respond - respectfully of course. She ain't wanna get slapped in the mouth. Gyomei could sense that this woman was the progenitor, and that title held much weight. Silence was his only option.

“Ooookayy!~ He cute! Tall too! Mhm, and strong! You hit the lottery with this one!! Back in my day he coulda been used to hoe an acre-long field!....” She continues, causing an apologetic Kiana to whisper ‘I’m so sorry, honey.’

Gyomei couldn’t forget the way he was brought to life by the scent of food alone in the mornings. He’d never smelled such a combination of things…

“What are those, love?” He’d ask curiously, mouth practically watering.

“I’ll feed it to you and let you figure it out~” Kiana would whisper - poorly.

“AWWWWWWWW!~”

Gyomei never knew that biscuits and gravy could go so well together, or fish and grits, or chicken and waffles, watermelon with salt or sugar. What a variety of odd combinations to make an amalgamation of wonderful flavors.

“You eat like this at home, Gyo?” Nana would ask, giving him his nth serving of whatever it was he was eating.

“Mm-mm.” He responds, steadily placing more food in his mouth with more grace than anyone else, struggling to keep his demeanor calm as he tries not to shovel food in his mouth like Kiana.

“Kiana! Start feedin’ that baby! He can’t live off scraps!” She scolds with her hands on her hips, brow furrowed and lips curled.

From that point on, every other Sunday, Gyomei would perk up - anticipating his return to a family that showed him hospitality on a level he thought comfortable and familial.

“It’s nice being invited to the cook-out, ain't it babe?

With a blush, Gyomei nods once. He understood that being invited to "The cookout" was more than just the bringing of good food. It was the integration of him into a family that wanted him there.

[popculturebuffet]

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Retrospective Chapter 10: The Invader of Fort Duckburg "It'll Be a Dark Day When I Give in To a Mere Superpower"

And we're back. For those of you newer around here a few years ago in the middle of my ducktales fevor, I started a retrospective of one of my favorite comic books of all time: The 12 part epic the Life and Times of Scrooge Mcduck, covering Scrooge's rise from a shoeshine in glasgow barely scraping by to the Richest Duck in the World and what he gained and lost along the way. I had a ton of fun covering this one but sadly.. I eventually gave up. I felt the years had piled up too much and i'd never get back to finishing it.

Enter Kev, who out of nowhere asked if he could comission the final three chapters. I happily agreed as not only can I finally finish one of the biggest works of my reviewing career, but it opens me up to do all the suplimental chapters at some point, paticuarlly "dream of a lifetime".

For now though, we're celebrating President's Day with chapter 10, my faviorite of the series and Don Rosa's too. It's largely for the same reasons: the story is tightly paced, covering only two days compared to most chapters pile of years, funny, furious, and for me at least has more of hortense, who I love dearly and who finds the love she deserves this chapter.. via a lot of shouting of course as is the McDuck/Duck Family way. Unless your these two.

Chapter 10 is the rare chapter that picks up almost exactly where we left off, with a much shorter time skip of a few weeks, skipping our heroes travels from Scotland to the US and focusing on Scrooge and his sisters as they set up his empire , here in Duckburg. What follows is a farce, a romantic comedy, an action set piece, and one of the most badass panels ever put to ink, which for this series is saying a lot.

If you'd like to catch up on the previous 9 chapters, I just complied all of them into one handy dandy post.

So go check that out if you fancy then come back here as we get scrooge vs the United States of America itself.

We open the issue with a quick recap before we pan to our heroes, puttering along their Duckburg. Part of what makes this chapter neat is seeing the town before Scrooge made it into a thriving city: here it's just a few buildings and a small farm.

As scrooge puts it "a town as big as it is wide". Our heroes are riding what could charitably be considered a car, which Scrooge got cheap and didn't read was a piece of scrap as his eyes are entirley shot at this point after the Yukon. I do like that while his eyesight fading is partially herditary, Rosa provides an explination for why it went down hill so fast: 6 years in the yukon with all that snow was hell on them. He leads his sisters up his new property with the help of a local farmer.... then back down his newly aquiried Killmule Hill

I love this gag and I applaud Don Rosa's art here. He makes a mean impact siloutte. I also didn't notice till writing this review but you also see Matilda and Scrooge's hats over the corn. Hortense would join in the gag but she hasn't got a hat bope a dope a dope dope.

The Farmer renames the hill "Killmotor Hill", for the auto age... I love that detail too. Of course it wouldn't of always been killmotor hill. Though whoever was running mules so hard up that hill they were killing them needs a swift kick.

The lady of the farm offers to rent Scrooge a shed, seeing as she owns most of the land around here and reveals herself as Elvira Duck,knee coot, sister of Casey, the man who sold Scrooge the hill in the first place and she soon introduces her family.

Yup this is Donald's family including Grandma McDuck, the character I most regret not making it into ducktales in time. Grandma McDuck is donald's sweet country grandma who reminds me of my own sweet country grandma, who spends her days working hard and yelling at donald's cousin gus to actually do some work for a change. He never does.

Humperdink is Donald's grandpa, passed int he preset, while Daphne and Eider are his aunt and uncle, all grabbed from various barks ephimera or the offical family tree he made. Daphne has golden hair, supernatural luck and the misfortune of having birthed Gladstone, while Eider is naturally Fethry's dad, who Rosa reluctnatly included in some versions of the tree as Fethry wasn't a barks creation. Me.. I don't see any harm in Fethry being included. Barks isn't the be all end all of the universe... he is damn awesome though and I respect that. case in point the names were curbed from various non barks grandma duck stories.

You might notice though I didn't mention Donald's dad. Well he was just running behind and has the calm, measured response to the accident you'd expect from Donald's father.

Yup: this folks.. is how Donald's parents met. And it's one of the best scene's in the series, especially what happens right after.

It's comedy gold, fits him perfectly , and once again seems to be the mcduck way... unless your these two

I mean does it count if it only started with ONE of them shouting? Riddle for the ages.

As for why the Woodchucks are involved they've taken old fort duckburg atop the hill as their headquarters. He shouts get off my land and they do.. but naturally an old man shouting at them isn't enough to convince these children of land ownership so worried he might be a crook, they call for help in the only way the nation knew how at the time

Yes folks there's a reason this was a president's day specail as the phone tag gets so bad THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF gets informed a "scottish billionare has taken over a military installation on the coast", a great gag. Incensed Teddy reactivates the rough riders and prepares to deal with this personally fist to face. h back when presidents could legally punch corrupt billionaires in the face. If only Biden would pass that legislation. or any legislation.

It takes a week for him to get moblized as our heroes have spent it taking the barrels up river, as Scrooge begins his lousy streak of taking advantage of his family. This will only get worse from here and is never as funny as Don Rosa thinks.

Anywho, Scrooge knocks on a homesteader's door but they refuse to answer or be helpful. Turns out it's the beagle boys, lead by the future grandpa beagle. Rosa admits making him the same character makes him 165 by the time of "A Little Something Special" but honestly this universe is JUST weird enough for that to be plausible. Not 2017 DuckTales levels of madness

But still pretty nutty. So as scrooge takes a money bath to Hortense's exasperation some guests arrive at the fort. Who is it?

Yeah the Beagles quickly kidnap hortense, having gone after Scrooge for revenge for putting them in stir back in chapter 2. THey also lock scrooge in one of his own barrels. Beofre he can break it through sheer force of pissed off, a shell breaks it... and the beagles and scrooge both have bigger problems

Scrooge's response is naturally "Get off my lawn you damn united state's navy!" which gets him blasted at. The Beagles are thankfully too busy begging scrooge to give up so they can live, leaving Scrooge to do what he does best: be badass in the most insane way possible

By godfrey I love this stupid gag.

Teddy, being the only entiity nearly as badass as scrooge , responds in kind leading to a clash for the ages

I love every part of this scene from the sheer badassery of scroog'es one liner to that final charge. And of course best of all hortense taking on an ENTIRE CALVARY and WINNING before some traditional duck flirting as is the way.. except maybe also for these two

At any rate the conflict is over: Teddy takes out the trash and one of Scrooge's greatest headaches begins in earnest

WE cut to 6 months later. So I guess it's three days but semantics. Scrooge has built his money bin and plans to fill it and while Matilda is doubtful scrooge is joyful, even giving the Woodchucks a doorknob as their calling in Teddy stopped the beagle boys. As we end the chapter we get the full sight of the greatest structure in all of duckburg and one of the most iconic locations in all of disney.

And thus we end this chapter.. and it's a laugh riot with tons of gorgeously drawn action, well done punchlines and bunches of lore stuffed in. IT's everything great about this series compacted into a tight smaller scale story... granted it's a smaller scale story that involved the entire navy and marines, but for Scrooge that's small.

Character wise since this is only maybe a week after the previous one Scrooge hasn't changed much.. but like last time you can see the cracks in his personality here and there, the darker parts that are about to consume him: He uses his sisters as free labor, yells at just about everyone and his response to every conflict is to shout at it. Granted it usually worked, but i'ts clear the more vicious sides of scrooge that never completely go away are creeping more and more into him and overshadowing the noble man he once was. they haven't completely consumed him yet.. but well that's for next time, sometime this spring or early summer.

Rather than leave on that ominous note i'd like to talk Hortense and Quackmore some more. I love them and while their chemistry's simple, they yell until they bang hard, simple, they are genuinely adorable and it's easy to see where a lot of donald comes from just watching the two: Hortense's obession with dating "a real cowboy" before meeting quackmore and sorta zoning out mid rage both have traces of Donald's own hyperfixations and tendency to leap without thinking. It's nice to sneak those subtle bits in and I applaud rosa for it.

One last thing related to the two: turns out this causeda BIG stir in italy and some other parts of europe. Rosa was suprised as , due to the family tree I mentioned, the names of donald's parents weren't a bit secret. He also took another shot at the duck comics not being big in the us, the usual Don Rosa Yells at Cloud Stuff. Point is he was shocked by it.. but me .. I get it. It's the same thing that happened when Della showed up in Ducktales. Yes a comic had given an explination and her name had been seen, and we'll see her breifly in chapter 11 of this very comic.. but we didn't really KNOW her and most things she's in are either obscure , said comic wasn't reprinted here far as I can tell, or simply a mentoin. We knew OF her bu tdidn't know her as a person.

That was the same with Hortense and Quackmore before this story: We knew of them and despite Rosa keeping it vauge for readers less familliar with the family tree, it's pretty obvious from the moment we see her grown up that Hortense is Donald's mom. Here we get to see her as a young person herself, her eccentrcities, her rage, and who she really is. We also get to see Quackmore who.. okay he's just perpetually pissed off but it's still something. There's a diffrence between a name on some suplimentary material and a character and Don Rosa created a fantastic one in hortense, to the point i'm still disapointed we never met her in the series.

Next Time: The darkest day of Scrooge's life, some attempts to recocnile na old racist story, and the hardest chapter of this comic to read. Thanks for reading.. and welcome back.

[thedawningofthehour]

"shot a fox in the ass with a bb gun" wait we need to hear about your grandma and her insane street cred

ASWDF so for starters, this lady wasn't actually my grandmother-as in, she wasn't the mother of either of my parents. She was our next-door neighbor and when my parents moved in she was like "sweet, free grandkid." She was the one who watched me and my sister when our parents were out and our pictures are up next to her pictures of her actual grandkids and great-grandkid on her shelf next to her 'company over' table. Her granddaughter was actually the babysitter I mentioned introduced me to TMNT, with VHS copies of the 1987 show. So...in short, she's basically my grandma, and she still calls herself my grandma.

So the house I grew up in had an in-ground pool. Every spring and summer, a mallard couple would come swim in it. My sister and I called them 'Mommy and Daddy duck', because I was probably like seven at the time and obviously all heterosexuals are mommies and daddies. (it was most likely not the same couple, especially considering mallards don't mate for life and this went on longer than the average mallard life expectancy, but we only ever saw one couple in there at a time save for one notable incident)

One year, Mommy and Daddy duck made their nest on the side of our house! How cute! It was right under my window, I could literally peak out and see the nest. My dad took me out there when the parents were busy swimming to look at the eggs. Eleven in all!

A few times, we were woken up in the middle of the night by loud, angry quacking. And sadly, we noticed that eggs were disappearing from the nest. We thought it was a raccoon.

So one night, grandma's out on her back porch having a smoke. All of a sudden she hears the quacks. Having heard all about this drama, she grabs her BB gun and charges outside. She sees the red tail of the fox as it scurries away, and she fires a shot into its ass while shouting curses. She was still on about it the next day, looked around the bushes for stray red hairs and muttering about the good-for-nothing egg bandit.

Sadly, Mommy and Daddy duck decided to abandon their nest after that, leaving four eggs behind. But IT DOESN'T END THERE.

Because my dad decided to hatch the eggs. He took the eggs inside, wrapped them up in towels, and put them on the heated tile floor in our basement.

What was my dad going to do with four baby ducklings? No idea! He tried to get my cockatiel (who was not much bigger than the eggs themselves) to sit on them, thinking they might imprint on her and start following her around once hatched, but she wouldn't go near these weird things for all the millet in the world. When he couldn't entice her, he tried to convince grandma to come over and be the first thing they see. His own wife would have nothing to do with this nonsense, obviously. And neither did grandma; she told him to go sit on the eggs himself. Never been one to mince words.

Sadly, the ducklings never did hatch, but we tried. I hope those mallards made a new nest and had some more success there. Without any foxes.

[persephone-is-here-omg]

Went no contact with my aunt E, and her daughters N and C. My only regret is that I didn't get to beat their asses before I did.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a person given to physical violence, hell in a lot of cases I'll bite my tongue to avoid a fight. But I have my fucking limits, and that day I reached mine.

So, yes. I did come close to kicking their teeth off because if there's one thing I don't tolerate is people talking shit about my mom when I know she's right. If the criticism is valid? Go ahead. Thing is, I know for a fact my aunt and her daughters are wrong.

This is a situation that has its roots in decades of unresolved issues. But it all came to a head when my cousin N decided she was going to introduce her boyfriend to the extended family. This, after she told multiple people that she didn't really have anything to share with us and that she didn't even want to wish our grandma a Happy New Year. Which is fine, there's been a lot less conflict since her, her mother and sister decided they were everyone's victims and the family wasn't catering to them as they felt entitle to. That's cool, but why the hypocrisy.

So, in the latest family function that took place my mom called my cousin to the side and called her out on her hypocritical behavior. My mother did not scream to her, and didn't start a scene. My cousin N, however, has always had a flair for the theatrics and immediately started screaming and shouting like a banshee. Came storming in saying she was leaving, that my mom had "disrespected" her, that she "knows herself, and she is leaving". She called my mother a flurry of colorful names, including "ungrateful". My sister and I heard, and we had enough. Let me just say they both were LUCKY my dad was there and bear hugged me, because her boyfriend would not only have had to pay for her plane ticket to Spain, he would have had to pay for a whole new set of teeth (or two).

Since that moment, I've gone no contact with them. Now, I am aware that none of that makes me look good. I am not interested in looking good, either. But if we're going to talk about ungrateful or bullying, I have so many instances where they're the ungrateful bullies.

For example, N had Hepatitis B. At the time, she was living rent free at our grandmother's house. If you hear her and her mother tell the story, everyone at my grandma's was going to let her die and no one gave a fuck. In their version, my grandma even said that she was most likely pregnant. However, the reality is that she wouldn't have even been tested for Hep B if one of my aunt's (who's a nurse) had not insisted and taken her to the hospital, she wouldn't have been admitted without that aunt, either. However, that aunt has a job that she couldn't miss and responsibilities. N's father has lived in that same town for years, he didn't go to see her even once during the whole ordeal. However, the bad ones are the ones that took her to hospital and did what they could.

Another example, E moved to that same town and stayed there for about 4 years after her daughter C had an "accident" that left her with a permanent leg injury. E did this to be able to take care of her daughter. Once C was recovered enough she moved into a smaller house where neither her mother nor sister fit in. So E and N had to rent an apartment. When 2020 rolled around, another one of my aunts went like "hey, we're in the middle of this pandemic thing. you guys should move in with me because you have no income" So they moved into this other aunt's house, lived there for almost 3 years rent free, not even had to buy their own food, no utilities. E, N and C however, claim no one ever helped them and E and N were basically homeless. Mind you this aunt that took them in even took over several major medical expenses from E.

One more example. E is a teen mom, had her oldest C, around the time she was 17/18yo. The only reason she was able to graduate high school was my mom. My mom at 14yo put up with abuse from her baby daddy's family to care of her fucking child. But this is, also, something that in their heads never happened. E, in fact, has spent almost 50 years trying to ingratiate herself with her baby daddy's family even though they mistreated her and her family. When she moved from the town, following them, they said "she doesn't need to learn anything. just send her to clean houses" Because they see cleaning houses as a lowly job, and they always have seen her as lowly and undeserving of respect.

This is just examples of their ungratefulness, this isn't even diving in their abuse and disrespect of multiple family members. Like, I have so many fucking more stories that don't even involve me or anything they've done to me especifically.

[tricky-pockets]

I went to a rally for trans solidarity yesterday and I want to share before I forget. There were a few planned speakers and then they opened the mic to anyone who wanted to speak. A few of the people that I remember most were:

A trans guy who was in the process of coming out in his freshman year of high school. He spoke about the struggles he'd had with transphobia and its effects on his mental health but closed out by saying how glad he is that he had the support he needed to get through it. He said he's so happy to still be here - and someone in the crowd shouted "We're glad you're here too!" to enthusiastic applause.

That guy's older sibling, who's nonbinary and started their school's queer student organization. They said that no matter what opposition we face, we will always rise from the ashes. They said how much they love their little brother and how proud of him they are.

A trans woman who came out recently, who spoke about the odd blind spot some parents have - how even if they consider themselves allies in an abstract sense, they can still get stuck when it's their own kid coming out as trans. She told us to never settle for backhanded "support". She said that we deserve to be safe and loved and understood by our families - "and if your family doesn't step up for you, I will be your sister, your mom, and your auntie - you can call on me."

A queer therapist who works primarily with trans and gnc people who told us "if you can hang on to one thing, hang on to this: we can love each other more than they hate us."

A trans woman who is a professor of queer literature and history, who introduced herself with her title of Dr. because "If someone's going to call me a t-slur, it's goddamn well going to be Doctor t-slur." She told us that trans people have always been here and just our existence challenges the ideas people have that need to be challenged. The world is better with us in it, whether the world knows that or not.

A nonbinary person who found an unexpected ally in voir 70-something-year-old Catholic grandma. Voi told us "I'm pretty sure she doesn't get the whole neopronouns thing by God, she's trying. And she loves me." Voir grandma still leaves void a voicemail every year of her singing Happy Birthday (badly but with love), and takes particular care to pick out non-gendered birthday cards.

Two siblings (maybe twins?) who are both trans and in middle school, who came up to speak together. They were both so happy and full of life and all they wanted to tell us was that they love being trans and (passing the mic back and forth and laughing as they tripped over each other) "Seeing so many trans adults here-" "-we love all of you!-" "-makes us feel like we have a future ahead of us-" "-and we're so so happy to be alive and to be who we are." And if that doesn't break your heart right open, I don't know what will.

A person who only identified themself as part of the queer community came up not to speak, but to sing - they performed a short song a cappella, something I didn't recognize. I don't remember the lyrics but it was about... undefeatable hope. Irrepressible authenticity. They performed it in a voice that was heartbreakingly lovely, then gave a soft smile and gracefully departed the stage with no more words spoken. They might have been an angel. I wouldn't be surprised.

Finally, a mom came up with her tiny adorable kid. He wanted to tell us that he just turned 6 and his brother gave him this pretty dress for his birthday and he's wearing it for the first time today and did we know he was 6 whole years old? Mom told us "He's not sure about pronouns yet, but I know that we will love and support him through every step of discovering who he is. Thank you all for building a community where my kid can do what makes him happy."

I know this is a long post. I hope you read it anyway. There was so much love there. It hit me hard just how healing it can be to hear a shared struggle from someone else's lips. And it hit me even harder to see young trans people there, aware of the challenges they'll face but full of a fierce joy. I know that every single older person there would fight God to protect that joy, too.

The last person to speak was the trans woman who organized it. She told us that there have always been and always will be uncountable variations in gender. Expression of those variations is part of being human - and anything that tries to eradicate us is, on some level, in opposition to humanity. She said our struggle is linked with the struggle of every oppressed people and we have to fight for all of us.

She's right. I love you all. Take care of each other out there, okay? Protect our most vulnerable. I want us all to live and thrive and be loved.

[lolitystories]

Don't let me down 7 : Violets.

Many years ago, when Sara was a child...

“The answer to the question is…”

“B !”

Suddenly shouted a voice in the classroom.

"Yes, that's right, thank you Sara."

Said the mistress smiling at her.

Sara went back to work, very happy. If she continued to get good grades, she could go to the college she wanted after high school.

“...Tss… It’s the little nerd again, who answers…”

She heard the comment, but didn't respond.

At the end of class, she hurried to leave, on the next table was her classmate, slightly busy with her boyfriend.

“Eric, stop, everyone is watching us…”

Dana was with her boyfriend, Eric,

“Hey weirdo!”

He said, throwing his empty water bottle over her head, but she didn't turn around.

“Hey ! I'm talking to you."

“Stop… She’s going to denounce us, she’s the teachers’ little doggy…”

"Exactly…"

As soon as Sara left, Eric had a bad idea in mind, which he whispered to his girlfriend.

"We should teach her a little lesson, don't you think?"

**

"Are you sure you want to go?"

Her father asked.

"Yes ! Everyone will be there, I want to go too.

She said, overjoyed.

She put on her prettiest dress and made up, she felt pretty, happy… Ready to make friends and have fun.

His classmates had told her that they were going to have a little party, at Eric's house, everyone was invited.

They were just kids. What could go wrong ?

When she arrived, she was greeted by Dana, but everyone froze, seeing her enter. The music was cut off and the students circled around her, whispering.

"...Hello… Everybody."

They let Eric and his group pass.

"Look everybody, it's the genius of the class !"

“...”

“Tell me Sara, do you enjoy looking down on us ?”

"Eh ? No, I don’t look down on anyone…”

"Ah good ? So why do you always stay in your corner ? Do you think you have something special ? That you are better than us ?”

"No… No… I’m just… Shy…"

“I didn’t hear that well…”

“I… I…”

Sara stepped back, but the crowd prevented her from going very far.

Suddenly, she felt something cold running over her head.

"That…"

The students, began throwing paint at her face, staining her dress and her face.

"No ! Stop !”

"What ? I think it suits you quite well !”

Eric burst out laughing, and everyone did the same.

Dana and a few other students watched the scene a little further.

"...Don't you think...She's had enough ?"

“I think it goes too far…”

“And then she might tell that to our parents...”

Dana sighed and walked forward.

“...Okay, that’s it guys. It's good."

She said, stopping them.

After that, she helped her clean up in the bathroom.

“...You're not going to tell the teachers, are you? I… It wasn’t my idea.”

"I wouldn't say anything."

“...”

“I don’t want to get hit.”

“...It was just a joke, they wouldn’t have hurt you.”

“...”

**

“Hi sweetie ? How was the party ?"

"...Great."

"Really ? Did you have a water fight?”

"Yes."

“...Is this…”

"That was great mom !"

“Okay… Um, your grandma is here.”

“Great, she came to tell me again how much she hates me !?”

She said, before locking herself in her room.

At that time, she didn't know that was the last time she would speak to her.

Several years later, Dana left Eric, who was becoming too violent for her liking, to form a relationship with Gabriel. He was kind and madly in love, he did everything she wanted... But then she heard about his brother, Miguel.

“He’s a genius… And he received a scholarship to Alchemax ?”

“Yes, my brother has always had a gift, you will see, I will introduce him to you soon.”

"...I hope so."

**

Fate made her meet Sara again... And she couldn't allow her past with her to ruin her chances with Miguel.

“Sarah…”

“...”

“I'm sorry for…”

“No, it doesn’t matter, we were kids back then…”

“Yes… But that doesn’t excuse what I did to you.”

She had tears in her eyes.

“When I think back to what they did to you…”

"...It's okay... I forgive you."

“I… Would you mind if we try to be friends?”

“...”

**

Following Sara's advice, Miguel was going to try to get Dana back, but before he could even do so, he had a strange surprise at work.

“Dana ? What are you doing here ?"

“I came to visit my darling…”

“...”

“I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about Tyler.”

“Tyler ? You mean, Tyler Stone ?”

"Yes."

“But… Isn’t he a little… Old, for you ?”

She frowned.

“No, actually… He gives me everything you could never give me.”

At these words Miguel laugh.

“What’s so funny ?”

“Nothing… It’s just… I finally see what my brother meant.”

“...”

“You know… I wondered, would you even have been interested in me, if I hadn’t been approached by Alchemax.”

“I don’t know what you mean…”

“Was it me you loved ? Or what I owned ?”

“...”

“If I were nobody, if I had a job like any other, in a small house, if I was…”

"What ? If you were what ?...”

"Me…"

"...Honestly Miguel, you've always been... A coward, a terrible brother, a horrible son, a horrible boyfriend, but lately all I see..."

“...”

"Is a monster."

With these words, she left.

“I’ll come by and pick up the rest of my stuff.”

**

“Are you going to resign from Alchemax ?”

Gabriel asked him.

"Yes... There's nothing left for me there, with Sara we're going to take Stone down, if we collect all the evidence, it'll be over."

“...”

"Yes I know, it's a bad idea, I'm going to find myself with nothing, I couldn't even live in my old apartment anymore but..."

“No… This is the best idea you’ve ever had.”

“...”

“You know… For a while, I thought I had lost my brother.”

“Gabi…”

“But I’m glad to see you’re still here.”

He couldn't help but smile.

“So… Dana will probably be there tomorrow, with Stone…”

“Yes… Besides, that makes me think, I have to find a date, I don’t know with who Sara is coming.”

"It's incredible…"

Gabriel sighed.

“Yes… She quickly moved on.”

“No…I’m not talking about that.”

"What ?"

“You are a genius, maybe even one of the smartest people in the world and yet, when it comes to understanding a human being, you are truly the worst…”

“...What is that supposed to mean ?”

“First of all… You should buy some flowers.”

That same evening, there was a knock on Sara's door.

She was wearing pink pajamas with a bunny logo, her hair was tied in a bun.

“Miguel?”

He was holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

“...”

“I just thought about the fact that I never really thanked you for what you did for me these last few months...”

“...”

“I…I was wondering, do you have a date for tomorrow ?”

“...”

Oh no, he broke her.

After a few seconds, she took the bouquet and looked at it carefully.

“Thank you very much, they are beautiful.”

A tender smile lit up her face.

“Violets?”

“They made me think of you…”

She laughed and invited him in.

“Your new costume is ready if you want to try it on.”

“Thank you and sorry for bothering you every time.”

"You do not bother me."

She went to place the flowers in a vase.

**

Meanwhile... A man was running from the police. He had just committed a terrible crime, the murder of his girlfriend and several innocent witnesses.

For some time now, his life had become hell and although he tried to regain his past glory, the world itself seemed to hate him...

After being shot, he fell, which should have been fatal. But once again, he was not given the slightest respite. Even in pain.

He dragged himself until he reached the sewers. He was definitely going to die here, without anyone worrying, not even his own parents, who abandoned him after he was kicked out of college.

Even Alchemax didn't want him anymore... They all abandoned him... His friends, his girlfriend...

Oh... All that... Everything that happened to him was because of them...

It was then that a soaked article ran along the dirty water in front of him, the title was still visible...

It talked about the Alchemax reception which would take place tomorrow and the new partner of the director of the company...

“Dana?...”

**

The evening of the reception…

...Sara didn't like these kinds of evenings, it reminded her too much of the end of year party... In the stories, the young girl who is uncomfortable in her own skin becomes pretty on the night of the ball... But only in the tales…

When she opened the door, her eyes were on the floor, not daring to meet his gaze.

She wore a white dress, the color code for the party. Light makeup and her hair straightened, with a small strand hanging in front of her eyes.

When she received no response, she timidly raised her head.

Miguel looked at her with bright eyes, a light blush starting from his neck and slowly rising to his face.

“...Hey.”

He recovered.

“Hey… You look… Very beautiful.”

“Thanks, I thought I should look a little pretty tonight.”

"No…"

“...”

“You always have been.”

Saying this, he fixed her lock of hair.

“...”

Sara's throat tightened, she looked him straight in the eyes, he looked back at her.

He timidly reached out his hand to take hers.

"Are you ready ?"

"Yes."

He took her to the car.

When they arrived at the reception, Dana was in the best seat, right next to Tyler Stone. When she saw her ex arriving at Sara's side, she stared at them, but they didn't notice her all evening.

The duo did not take their eyes off each other...

During the waltz, they took advantage of the commotion to slip away. They activated the new watch that Sara and Lyla had created and in an instant, they went from their beautiful outfits, to their hero costumes.

“I’ll start on the ground floor, you take the first floor ?”

"All right."

She was about to leave, but he took her hand.

"Be careful."

She smiles at him.

"You too."

**

“Are you sure she likes violets, Lyla?”

Miguel asked.

*Yes, it’s the least you can do, after everything she’s done for you and they’re perfect!*

"For what ?"

*Nothing… I just think it’s a very nice gift. Purple is her favorite color after all.*

But she had already done her research.

In the language of flowers, “violets” also meant “I love you secretly”.

Back to masterlist - Previous chapter - Next chapter

[unikittybigbrightworldau]

Fanmade Unikingdom Citizens

I’m gonna introduce all of the supporting, minor, and background characters from Big Bright World, starting with my fanmade Unikingdom citizens.

I'll put short recaps for characters I've already introduced, like Pepper. She's my Unikitty persona, and she's wily, random, smart, and slightly spooky. She's smart enough to see right through a prank. Her family moved from the southern side of the Unikingdom to the northern side when she was 7. She would be about 11 or 12 in the show. In the Big Bright World series, which takes place about three years later, Pepper is 14 and a student at Sparklestone High School. Her favorite things to do are draw and write fanfiction. She also loves running and acting, explaining her involvement in the track and field team and the drama club. She finds it hard to sleep at night, and she's a bit sarcastic. She’d sound like me, and I would voice her.

Mabel is another citizen of the Unikingdom who moved there with her family from Botania. She is open-minded and a great listener, and she doesn't back away from going all out. She's determined to give others something to remember about her. She's very energetic, but it's hard for her to slow down. If she were in the show, she'd be about 11 years old. In Big Bright World, Mabel is a student at Central Unikingdom High School and a good friend of Unikitty's. She is a part of its marching band, and she's aiming to be drum major. She plays the piccolo and the clarinet. She sounds like Mabel from Minecraft: Story Mode, except she doesn’t have a Southern accent. 

Pheasala is a classmate of Hawkodile and Eagleator who loves to be loud. She trained with them and their class in the dojo, and she participates in their annual familial sports competitions. She likes to scream and shout a lot. She's often seen carrying around her megaphone. She's very spirited, and she cheers on the dojo family. She can fly, but she prefers not to. She sounds like Petra from MC:SM, but she’s much louder. 

Maya is smart, self-assured, and good at keeping focused on something. She's a friend of Pepper, Puppycorn and Ellie along with Annie and Ringo. Her favorite thing to learn about is math and feels confident in answering any problem she's able to. She is 10 years old. 

Annie is thoughtful and creative. She's also a great thinker, coming up with as many solutions as she can when she's faced with adversity. She also considers all opinions and outcomes. She likes to solve problems and mysteries and help others. She's 11 years old. 

Ringo loves to liven up the mood in a place with his tap dancing. He's charming, energetic, and very social. Once or twice, he's danced a duet with the tap dancing butterfly. He is 9 years old and a social butterfly. 

Val and Ribbon are a sister-and-brother pair of gift boxes who run a gift box shop. They also run a pawn shop and a storage facility. They spend most of their time running their store, and they're good at looking after their stuff.

Pepper's parents are named Beatrice and Calvin. Beatrice and Calvin can be protective of Pepper and her siblings, and they get quite heated up when it's time to do chores. But, they're generally relaxed people who let the kids do whatever they please. They're helpful as well. Her mom works as a photographer, and her dad works at a car wash.

The house that Pepper’s family lives in is owned by Pepper’s grandmother, Marie. She is, more specifically, Pepper’s maternal grandma. She looks after Will, Pepper and Gracey when Calvin and Beatrice aren’t home. She’s pretty sneaky and mischievous. Pepper’s grandfather has been dead for four years. 

Pepper’s older brother, William, prefers to be called Will. He used to playfully make fun of Pepper, but now, he’s laid-back and relaxed. He doesn’t mind if you want to borrow something from him. He tries to make sure that his little sisters don’t get into trouble. He’s a big fan of superhero movies, and he and Gracey try to get Pepper to watch them with them. Though Pepper’s a big fan of the H.I.V.E. Five, she’s not all that interested. 

Gracey is the youngest. While Pepper and Will are about 2-3 years apart, Gracey is about 4-5 years younger than Pepper. She’s super bouncy, and she tries her best to be a good kid. Gracey is taking dance classes, and Pepper and her family want to go to all of her recitals. She watches superhero movies with Will. 

The family’s pet chameleon, Ink, was a gift from Marie. Gracey likes to take him out of his terrarium and play with him. In fact, they take him out often since he gets the urge to run around. 

Now for the guys I haven't talked about yet! Rosa is a young axolotl girl who is sweet and soft-hearted. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and she does things at her own pace. She's trustworthy, honest and lost in thought at times. She likes to read and get lost in a good story. She's also super interested in dancing and choreography. She's very close friends with Mabel, and she considers her to be her best friend. Rosa says that Mabel's the reason she became so interested in choreography. In Big Bright World, she's part of the Central Unikingdom High color guard.

Bigbang is a sports commentator, announcer and master of ceremonies. They're outgoing and exuberant, and they live their life to the fullest. They really, really love their job, so they always get a little sad whenever a sports game they're commentating on wraps up. They'll be right with you if you need them. They're a combination of a megaphone and a speaker, so they can get loud. At home, though, they're pretty quiet, and that's because they've had to pay a ton to fix the glass on their windows. 

Princess Unear and Prince Pericorn are Unikitty and Puppycorn’s parents in the Big Bright World AU, and they were the rulers of the Unikingdom before her. Unear is a unicorn/corn hybrid, and she’s where Puppycorn gets his corn half from. Pericorn is a pink cat/unicorn hybrid like his daughter; lots of people in the royal family are, or else the castle wouldn’t be shaped the way it is. Pericorn is omni. He and Unear are both very positive towards everyone. They let Unikitty take over the kingdom when they knew she could take care of herself. They admire her efforts to make it a happier place, and they can’t wait to see what she does next. They love Puppycorn just as much; Unear lets him ride on her back. (By the way, the reason he’s a dog is because of a grandparent who is.) Unikitty and Puppycorn are still being taken care of by Richard, and their parents don’t live in the castle with them. After they stepped down from ruling the kingdom, they went to work for a cruise line.

Mabel’s parents are named Carmine and Meryl. Carmine Maples is a sharp-witted thinker who loves to soak up the sun. He’s adaptable, jolly, crafty, and good at working with a team. Meryl Maples is playful, sassy and not easily unnerved. She has a sense of grace when she moves. Mabel’s parents moved their family to the Unikingdom because they hoped they’d get lots of sunlight to nourish their leaves there. Carmine and Meryl are also a bi-for-pan couple. I think that Meryl would sound like Eda from The Owl House.

Millie Maples is Mabel’s older sister, and she’s about 3-4 years older than her. She is steadfast and right on her feet, plus super tender. Much like her dad, Millie likes to be outside. Her favorite pastimes are rafting and canoeing.

Scarlet Maples is her younger sister. She’s feisty, cheerful, and filled with willpower. Though she knows she can’t go near it, Scarlet isn’t scared of fire. She even likes to paint her face with it. 

Douglas Maples is the older one of Mabel’s younger brothers. He’s easily bothered and sensitive to most things. But, he’s super funny, and he wants to go out and show people what he’s made of. He likes to juggle. 

Max Maples is Mabel’s youngest brother and the youngest in the family. He can’t speak in sentences longer than two words yet, so he communicates mainly by saying a single word and pointing at something. 

[kpopandmusicpassion]

Berna just moved to the city and heard about a job at a human/wolf friendly cafe. She made her way to her new house that was an inheritance from her grandmother.

“You wouldn’t be Bernadette would you?” An Omega in his hybrid form asked as she unlocked the door to her new home.

She smiled. “I prefer Berna but yes I am. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too neighbor. I’m Thai and since no one here can pronounce it right I go by Ten.” He introduced himself.

“Did you want to come inside, Ten? I just have a few more boxes in the car. I’ll just buy whatever else I need after I get a job.”

“I would love to come in. Need help with the boxes?”

“Please! That would be a huge help!” She said going inside and putting the box beside the door.

She walked out to her car. “If you could take those two that would be a huge help.”

He got two boxes while she got the last three before shutting the door.

“Thank you so much!” As soon as they put down the boxes she gave him a hug which he reciprocated purring.

“Cute. You guys do purr when you’re happy. I absolutely love that!” She grinned pulling back.

“I know where you can work!” He said pulling her out of the house. She stopped to lock the house as Ten dragged her to The 7th Sense Cafe. He barged in shouting,”Taeyong! I found you your newest employee!”

“Jeez, Ten. Yell any louder and I’ll go deaf.” She said causing Ten to give her a sheepish grin.

“What are you yelling- Oh you brought a new friend.” A silvery-blonde with an extremely cute mullet came out looking at them surprised.

“This is Miss Mooning’s granddaughter Bernadette or well Berna.” Ten explained.

“Welcome, Berna. I’m Mark one of the owners.” He smiled charmingly.

She smiled back.”Nice to meet you too, Mark. I was actually planning on applying here seems Ten had the same idea.”

“Oh you were? Why?” Mark asked.

“Because this is one of the few places that serve humans and wolves alike. I got tired of sneaking food out of the restaurant at my old job to feed the wolves in the woods. There was hardly anything for them to hunt because most of the wildlife was hunted by the hunters of the town. I had to help to keep them from dying. They finally left last winter for a better home.”

The bell sounded and suddenly she was tackled. “Noona!”

She laughed hugging the wolves. “We were just talking about you since Mark wanted to know why I am interested in a job here. Hey guys.” She greeted the rest of the pack just as several more wolves walked out from the kitchen.

“Hey, Pup.” Yoongi patted her head. She swatted his hand away playfully.

“How many times have I told you not to pet me, Yoongles?” She pouted. He just rolled his eyes giving her a smirk.

“Who’s this?” A white haired wolf asked.

“I’m Bernadette Mooning.”

“You’re Miss Mooning’s granddaughter?” Taehyng asked as him, Jimin, and Jungkook gave her a group hug.

“That would explain why you you risked getting in trouble smuggling us food from your own family’s restaurant. You have a heart just as big as Miss Mooning.” Namjoon gave her a dimpled smile.

“What are you doing here, Noona? Is everything okay?” Soobin asked.

“ I inherited everything from Grandma. I was only staying in that shithole until I earned enough money to get away from that town. Then for a while I stayed because I couldn’t leave when you guys needed help. Besides I got the best family I could have asked for besides Grandma.”

“Sorry to interrupt this little reunion but Mark said you wanted a job here?” Asked a blue haired wolf.

“I am hoping to apply yes.”

“We can vouch for her, hyung!” Kai said.

“Yeah! You won’t regret hiring her! She would be a great addition!” Beomgyu added.

The blue haired wolf turned towards the elder wolves. Yoongi and the older wolves agreed with the pups.

“I don’t see why we can’t hire you today.” A brown haired wolf said.

She smiled their way stunning the wolves who are going to be her new workmates. The pups saw their looks and snicker as their elder pack mates noticed grinning.

“I’m Taeyong.” Said the blue haired wolf.

“I’m Shotaro.” A young silver haired wolf said.

“I’m Yuta.” Said a white haired wolf.

“I’m Jeno.” He has pink hair.

“I’m Johnny.” He was very tall with long orangish brown hair to his shoulders.

“I’m Renjun.” He had black and grey two toned hair.

“I’m Jaehyun.” He had red hair just a smidge shorter than Johnny.

“I’m Jaemin.” He has green hair just a smidge darker than mint green.

“Sungchan.” He had dark brown hair. Then the purple haired wolf stepped up.”Haechan.”

“Jisung.” He had dark brown hair with blonde highlights.

“Chenle.” He has black hair with red highlights.

“Berna! When can we come hang out at your house?” Kai and Taehyung asked pouting.

“Maybe this weekend you big babies.” She rolled her eyes fondly.

“Do you mind if me and the guys tag along?” Ten asked.

“You guys are always welcome. And anyone from your pack if there’s more than just you guys. Besides, we’re neighbors right, Ten?”

They talked a little more before deciding she would start work tomorrow and they headed home closing early.

~ ~ ~

That night she had 4 Omegas and 1 Beta at her door asking to sleep over.

“We can’t sleep, Noona.” Chenle pouted. She let them in locking the door as she headed upstairs with the wolves following.

“We can sleep with you right, Noona?” Haechan asked. She blinked.

“Are you guys Omegas by chance?” She asked.

“All but Chenle he’s a Beta.”

Jisung said.

“Find the bedrooms grab the covers and pillows off the beds put them in the living room then go to the bedroom closets and get more cover and pillows from there. You guys can make a nest in the living room and if you still want me to sleep with you guys I can join you in the nest if you want. I don’t have a bed big enough for all of us.” She said as they got to work. She had a feeling the boys didn’t tell anyone where they were. She called Taeyong.

“I can’t talk at the-“

“Chenle, Shotaro, Renjun, Haechan, and Jisung are here with me. They knocked on the door as I was about to head to bed. They wanted to sleep over. Haechan asked me to sleep with them so we’re getting stuff for them to make a nest with. Is that alright?”

“They came to your house. Thank God. So they’re okay? Yes that’s fine if they want to make a nest and you join them. Thank you for letting me know.”

“Of course. No problem.”

She got everything they needed before joining the wolves downstairs.

~ ~ ~

“What’s going on, Yong?” Johnny asked.

“Apparently they decided a sleepover at Berna’s was a good idea. They went over there and she’s going to let them make a nest they want her to sleep with them. I’m assuming she’s letting them make a nest in the living room so she can join them in the nest.” He explains.

“They went over to Berna’s house without telling us?” Yuta looks angry.

“Hold on she’s letting them stay and letting them build a nest so all of them can sleep together including her?” Mark asked.

“They do seem to do stuff like this when they like someone. That’s how they did me and Sungchan remember? Making a nest and all of us sleeping together?” Jaehyun asked.

The three younger Alphas told them they were going to join them.

“ you guys just want to join the cuddle pile especially since we have a new love interest don’t you?” Taeyong smirked.

“Go on.” Johnny said exasperated.

They ran to her house as the Alphas and Beta went to bed.

~ ~ ~

There was another knock at the door. The Omegas were just finishing up the nest as Berna answered the door. The Alphas walked in as she locked the door again.

“You wouldn’t mind if we joined would you?”Jeno asked her.

“I’m fine with it.” She said as Haechan made grabby hands at her since the others had got in the nest while she answered the door.

She was at the edge of the nest when Haechan pulled her into the nest cuddling with her pushing his nose into the crook of her neck.

She watched as Jaemin joined and felt him settle behind her grabbing her waist and cuddling into her back also scenting her. She saw Sungchan cuddling with Shotaro and Jisung as Jeno joined Renjun and Chenle. She was too tired to think much about the wolves currently cuddling her. She quickly fell asleep while the others talked quietly for a little bit before joining her to dream land.

~ ~ ~

The next morning Jaemin woke up to the phone and went to answer. Taeyong was letting him know they would be over in 10 minutes so he went to unlock the door. He let them know Berna and the Omegas were still asleep.When he returned Jeno had made himself comfortable behind Berna so he went to lay with the boys.

The door was opened quietly as the others made their way in Mark locking the door behind him. As upset as they were they were up too early so they joined the nest. Haechan made his way to Mark so Jaehyun took his place cuddling with Berna. They were soon back to sleep.

~ ~ ~

When she woke up she saw it was Jaehyun holding her instead of Haechan and peeking behind her it was Jeno while Jaemin was in Jeno’s previous spot and Haechan was with Mark. She then noticed Yuta,Taeyong , and Johnny on the couch watching them fondly.

When Taeyong realized she was awake he gave her a sweet smile. She just smiled back since Jaehyun and Jeno had her immobilized. Johnny chuckled saving her from the Alphas and their death grip.

“Good morning. You guys must’ve got here super early.” She said rubbing her eyes cutely.

“You are too precious.” Yuta moved to sit beside her pulling her onto his lap. She squeaked blushing hard. They chuckled and Yuta just put his arms around her so she had her head resting on his shoulder.

“What a nice picture to wake up to.” The Alphas and Haechan said as they woke up. She blushed again not looking at them.

“Cute. She’s shy.” Mark said.

Haechan woke the other 4 up. They grinned seeing Yuta with a shy Berna in his lap as he scented her.

Haechan ran over draping himself over her as she just sighed holding onto his waist so he wouldn’t fall on his ass.

“You seem a bit used to this.” Sungchan pointed out.

“When I was in that town near where BTS were living in the nearby forest I would literally drag them to my house when the weather got extremely bad. Jungkook, Taehyung, and Yeonjun liked to have me in their lap. And Jimin, Kai, and Beomgyu liked to get on me while they held me captive on their lap. They are super chaotic and absolutely insane.” She explained. The wolves all look angry not that she really noticed until Taeyong made her look at him and she saw the anger in his eyes. She was a little scared.

“Don’t let them do that anymore, understand?” He growled. She nodded her head not trusting her voice at the moment.

“Good.” Haechan got off her and Yuta gave her to Taeyong who started scenting her. Even though she was human she found being scented soothing like wolves do.

“That’s adorable! She seems to like being scented.” Jaemin cooed.

She gave them a shy smile confirming it. Taeyong nipped her collarbone making her jump slightly at the sting. The only explanation she could come up with is that they may like her in a romantic sort of way. They or at least Taeyong was acting extremely super possessive towards her.

“Careful,Taeyong-hyung. We don’t want to scare her off.” Chenle reprimanded the Alpha. He grumbled pulling away from her neck grinning smugly as he saw the hickies he gave her.

“Don’t we have work today?” She asked suddenly.

“We need a break anyway. It won’t hurt anyone if we take a few days off.” Johnny said.

“Besides we can introduce you to the rest of the pack! Come on!” Mark unlocked the door and dragged her to their house the others following. Shotaro gave her some of his clothes to change into after her shower.

“Why do you guys smell like human?”YangYang asked curiously.

“We picked another mate.” Jisung announced.

“Another?” Jungwoo asked.

“Yup. Miss Mooning’s granddaughter Bernadette.” Renjun added.

“We finally get to meet her!” Lucas said excitedly.

Just then Berna walked down the stairs. Everyone thought she looked absolutely adorable in Shotaro’s clothes.

“Berna?” One of them asked surprised.

“Dejun? Is that you?” She hugged him tightly.

“Wait a minute! She’s the little girl who cared for you isn’t she? The one who accepted you when you transformed.” Hendry asked piecing it together.

“Seems our girl is a wolf magnet. First BTS now Xiaojun.” Jeno chuckled pulling her to his chest after the hug.

“Guess I am and honestly I kind of like it. I can help the wolves and make new friends along the way.” She says not even saying something about the “our girl” part of the Alpha’s statement.

“So she’s where the maknaes ran off to. They went to her house last night for a sleepover. I take it that’s also where the rest of you went so early in the morning.” Ten guessed.

“We did.” Chenle said proudly.

“We weren’t able to get to sleep without Noona.” Shotaro explained.

“It didn’t feel right without her. We were okay without our mates because they always scent us but we had nothing of Noona’s.” Renjun replied.

“We can talk about this later. We still have to introduce you guys to Berna.” Yuta interrupts.

“I’m Lucas!”

“I’m YangYang!”

“I’m Hendry!”

“I’m WinWin.”

“I’m Kun.”

“I’m Jungwoo.”

“I’m Taeil.”

“I’m Doyoung.”

“Hold up is that a hickey?” Lucas asked noticing her collarbone.

“Yes apparently someone,” she glared at Taeyong,”didn’t like that some of my wolf friends made me sit in their lap while another laid in mine. And I mean BTS.”

They started laughing.

“You mean Taeyong got so jealous he decided to give you hickies to prove you’re theirs!” Ten cackled.

“ Ten, hun. I have already cuddled in a nest with Haechan, Jaemin, Jeno, and Jaehyun. Taeyong and Yuta had me in their lap. Thankfully BTS explained a lot to me since these guys haven’t actually said anything about it.”Berna said as Johnny grabbed her sitting down.

“Add Johnny to the list of guys making me sit in their lap.” She huffs laying back against the Alpha’s chest as he scented her.

“I was wondering why you didn’t say anything when Jeno called you “theirs”.”Jungwoo said.

“I’ve hung out and befriended enough hybrids to realize what was going on. BTS was actually surprisingly forthcoming with hybrid knowledge.” She said as she was passed to Mark and Jaehyun.She cuddled between them as they both scented her.

The others cooed at her cuteness.

“That’s adorable! I didn’t know humans liked scenting too.” Taeil squealed. She glanced over at him giving him a sleepy smile.

“I may be one of the few humans that do. Soobin and Yoongi were the first to scent me and that was because I was in the middle of a panic attack. I don’t think I had ever calmed down so fast in my life. So when I visited with their food they would scent me which always helped with my stress.”

Mark and Jaehyun pouted. “You sure are close with them.”

“As far as I’m concerned Grandma and Grandpa were my parents. That woman was my incubator and that man was my sperm donor those things are not my family. BTS are. We were there when we needed each other. Soobin is my favorite little brother. Don’t tell Beomgyu I said that he might just kill me.”

Her mates watched her fall asleep as the others cackled. They hung out a little longer before taking her home and staying with her in the nest.

Shotaro and Renjun cuddled up to her as Yuta, Taeyong, Mark, Chenle, Sungchan,Johnny, and Jisung pouted at not getting to cuddle her. They fell asleep a few minutes later.

~ ~ ~

When she woke up she smiled before sneaking out of the Omegas’ hold before calling Ten and asking him and Dejun to come over and help her cook for the guys and the rest of the pack can join later.

When they came they also brought Kun and WinWin since they were good cooks too and loved to cook. She taught them the food she grew up eating that was from different places including Japanese sushi and Mexican food while they taught her Korean, Thai, and Chinese dishes as well as a few more Japanese. The guys woke up to the smell of delicious food.

“That explains so much! I was wondering why the house had been modified for extra people of course she’d adopted you guys.” Berna was saying.

“Yup. Oh food’s done! We’re FINALLY done!” Ten said dramatically.

“We’ll go get the others. Thanks for this Berna.” Kun said.

“You kidding? I learned so much besides I know I would’ve met the pack anyway because Ten would be demanding us to get along. It’s nice to have a proper family.” Berna grinned.

“So you don’t mind the guys claiming you as their mate?” WinWin asked. They needed to know before they left.

“Of course not. I may be slightly attached to them already myself. I just don’t like their possessive streak when it comes to BTS. Those guys are family and nothing more. I’m still waiting for Yeonjun to fess up to Soobin and then there’s Namjoon and Yoongi who are still dancing around each other. At this point I’m about to confess for them.” She huffed in annoyance.

They laughed before WinWin and Kun left to bring the rest of the pack over.

“Come on guys!” Ten hollered.

They walked in to see her roll her eyes at Ten before asking them to set the table and get drinks and napkins set.

“I was told- Is that sushi?” Yuta asked as he barged in the rest close behind.

“Yup. I love sushi. It was a must especially knowing you and Shotaro are the only Japanese members. The guys taught me some new Japanese dishes too. So it’s a huge win in my book.”

As they sat down to eat Mark dragged her plate over pulling her into his lap as they started eating. She just sighed not even surprised at this point as she stared eating while in his lap. They all had so much fun. She was a great addition to the pack.

~ ~ ~

They were finally back to work. She saw BTS come in and marched over.

“Do any of you have mates yet?” She demanded.

“No. Why?” Jin asked suspiciously.

“Soobin and Yeonjun like each other. Be mates already! Same for V and Hobi, Jungkook, Yoongi, & Namjoon. Jin and Jimin and the 3 maknaes. Your crush returns your feelings. Every damn one of you confided in me. The pining is over. If I need to I’ll get my pack to drag y’all to my house and lock you guys in until you guys have fucked.” Berna said. Haechan and Taeyong watched on amused.

“Did you say your pack?”

“You have a pack now?”

“Since when?”

“Are they nice?”

“Are you happy?”

“What are they like?”

“When can we meet them?”

“Does that mean Noona has a mate?”

“Are they treating you right?”

“Do we need to give them a talk?”

“They haven’t forced you into anything have they?”

“Are you okay with being in a pack?”

“I just told you that you can finally mate the love of your life and all you’re worried about is my pack?” She asked in disbelief.

Johnny came out giving her a back hug. “You have nothing to worry about. NCT is her pack. If my mates and I hadn’t already claimed her as ours Ten would have made her a part of the pack.”

“You claimed her?” V looked furious.

“Not like that, dumbo. The whole possessive skinship thing.” Berna said.

“Is that a HICKEY?” Jin screeched.

“Taeyong didn’t take to the fact some of you made me sit in your lap while someone else sat in mine. They never actually said anything until Jeno told NCT I was theirs but I had already seen the signs y’all told me about before then.”

They all gaped when Ten (who had been eavesdropping) stomped out yelling,” Go mate idiots! She literally just told on all of y’all and I will help her enforce that whole lock you guys in a room till y’all fuck if we have to!”

They all ran out blushing like crazy.

[suguwuus]

★ ARC 1 (snippet)

dawg dont ask me for context i just need to post this to send to my girls. hai guys :3 not proofread towards the end and im eepy

"...do you want some?"

"no."

"are you hungry? i can buy another one for you."

"no."

chewing his slice of pizza that he bought, jared thought to hold out the bag of doughnuts he had also gotten, but thought better of it. maybe his grandparents would like it instead. "don't eat while standing up," his grandma had told him when he was younger. "it will give you gas, make your stomach have air inside."

eating while walking in the streets didn't save him any dignity, either, but he wanted to get back to HQ as quick as possible, trailing after the girl in front of him who walked swiftly.

the lieutenant, as they called her, was hard to read. she reminded jared of those class presidents at his boarding school, tight-lipped and perpetually bent down at whatever writing materials they held; however, if it was possible for someone his age to be even stiffer, that was what the lieutenant was.

at first, he couldn't believe she was actually a lieutenant. was it a code name? a pseudonym? if there was a whole worldwide organization of these "invocators", they would be secretive. maybe quinn wasn't her actual name? the girl did seem to look irritated when the general called her that. yes, that was probably it.

the general, the man with the clever eyes and the one who laughed at jared's comment about his last name ("yes, i'm a retired drill sergeant"), he could believe that was an actual general. he looked old enough to have a child about jared's age, sporting greying hairs and battle scars. he had this air of superiority—maybe smugness, too—along with this warm prickly feeling that would caress jared in a way that would make him shudder whenever he looked at him.

"that's the patron deity watching you," the general explained. he took jared's hand and traced something on the back of his palm, something that felt complex and didn't involve letters, numbers, or basic shapes. "you're a newcomer. and as the general, i'm its eyes. it sees you through me."

jared had run out of time to ask what exactly what was watching him. by the time he had gotten his hand back they were descending into the subways and running their hands along the storage room wall looking for a latch.

after that, they had entered the headquarters, a twisting, untamed area under the earth that had people of all kinds scattered around. it was quiet aside from the occasional rumble or shout. the floors were stone and marble. the walls were of the same material, but jared found that if he looked at them for too long the many grooves in the cold surface resembling ants' nests would twist and convulse, giving him a pinching migraine and disorienting him for a good few minutes.

there were tunnels here, desks laid out there, flashes of light in one corner and something writhing in the other. it didn't seem like a very organized or definite space, yet people there acted like it was. jared couldn't comprehend it at first, and he was starting to get dizzy from swivelling his head around so much.

he nodded along as antonio laguardia led him through the headquarters, explaining about entities and invocations and eldritch gods and whatever else he said was involved, until he got to this one ominous-looking wooden door. it was black and had several important-looking symbols carved into it, and it seemed to suck all the light out of the hallway despite the panels of what looked like glowing glass above their heads.

the general told jared to wait outside. he did as he was told as laguardia entered. when he came back out, he introduced the boy to this...child. that was a child. out of the office came a little girl almost a head shorter than jared, stony-faced and bundled up in layers of clothes.

the same little girl was now leading him down the first alley they had come across; opposing jared's prepared route to go back to the subways.

"follow me," she had said, overtaking him. she was very hard to read, indeed, like a robot, she displayed a very small range of emotions, if she showed any at all—she spoke quickly without bias in her statements, and she had this tone that made her sound like she expected nothing but immediate action to every command. was this really a lieutenant or an arrogant young girl?

she had her back turned to him as he followed her into the alley. she stopped about twenty steps in and waved a hand in the air as jared waited.

she always had her back turned to him, so he couldn't get a proper glimpse at her face. but she seemed to have olive skin and a permanent glare. her skin on her hands and face, which was all jared could really see, had a tinge of gray to it; either she was sick or just lacking in sunny days. he had only met her eyes once, and she looked at him with eyes that held an intensity that should have belonged to someone that was general laguardia's age. jared could tell she knew things. but he couldn't believe she was of a high rank. not yet, at least.

"hey, how old are you again?" he asked, putting the crust of his pizza in a nearby overflowing trash bin. "uh, lieutenant."

"it doesn't matter." she stepped forward, and then she was gone. the air rippled where she had been.

jared blinked. that was definitely magic or something of the sort. he stood frozen in place, his head twitching as if his body was torn between moving to look for her or being paralyzed with panic. okay. fine. magic was real—yes, of course this supernatural shit was real, what else could explain the shadow watching him for a month already—and the lieutenant explained when asked, but if she didn't explain something as bizarre as disappearing, that meant something was going on, and jared was involved in that something, maybe he should follow immediately—

he stepped through, and for a terrifying moment he was weightless and soulless and nothing— and then he was back on solid ground.

he assumed the lieutenant had transported him to some kind of training room; after all, that was what the general said he'd be doing after he had gotten a snack and the basic introduction to the league.

he couldn't tell whether he was underground or somewhere high up. fog loomed around both him and the girl, and the ceiling seemed impossibly high, growing dark as jared squinted upwards. he couldn't see any walls as the space faded into nothingness, only pillars stretching up here and there, and it was quite dim. he had no idea where the light came from, but he could see.

he was still holding his bag of doughnuts. he didn't want to put it down. the ground looked like gray slushy marshland except for where he stood; it felt as hard as marble under his feet. his head swam with confusion.

the lieutenant stood a few feet away from him, arms at her sides, a blank expression on her round face. she looked at him as if she was expecting something from him. "go ahead," she said plainly.

jared blinked. "and...do what?" his voice sounded hollow in this strange nowhere, like he was in a sealed box.

"show me what you can do so i can build up your abilities."

jared adjusted his grip on the paper bag. "i, uh, don't know how to do anything. i was never taught."

"it will come naturally. put that down," the lieutenant said, eyes flitting to the paper bag. slowly, hesitantly, he put it down. it didn't sink into the ground with a wet noise as he thought it would, but the ground turned solid under it, perfectly flat and level. no mystery liquid seeped into the paper as far as he could tell.

it was a bit unsettling how her eyes bore into him. she wasn't as childish as he thought she would be. her gaze was so intense; jared half-expected to hear her stiff voice in his head. she was so quick to answer, so quick to act, like a busy working man. jared decided he wanted to stay on her good side. was she patient? he hadn't tested that yet, but it seemed she didn't like staying idle.

he raised his hand. "how old are you? i'd just like to get to know my, uh, mentor, you know? to have a proper, ah, student-teacher relationship—"

"you don't need to know my age to be taught."

fair enough. he would believe she was lieutenant if he saw her in action. he would find a way to make her prove it. a title is just a title and he had time to kill.

jared let out a sigh and pushed his hair away from his eyes. "i've never done anything like this before. can you teach me? what're the basics, at least? i need a starting point, you know."

the lieutenant stretched a hand out to the fog. tendrils of it snaked around her wrist then slithered down to her feet, where they flashed orange. suddenly there was a fire in front of them, but instead of crackles of wood or any source of fuel it was whispers of humans and something else that jared heard. it was hot, and then it was gone. the orange faded and retreated into the fog.

next, the lieutenant murmured something jared could and also couldn't understand—the words were unfamiliar but he somehow knew it was a calling. something scaly and indefinite was curled around the girl, its hundred legs bent all the wrong ways, some of it was dissipating rapidly, some of it was grabbing onto the girl's clothes like weak pincers, it had no mouth nor eyes but jared felt it look at him and knew it was smiling, or baring its teeth—yet the lieutenant seemed unbothered. jared couldn't exactly see what it was; if he tried to look it was gone, but he could feel its presence and its outline in blood-red lines. as quickly as it had gotten there, it disappeared.

jared shuffled his feet uncomfortably. he had started to feel clammy. "i saw that."

"because i let you see it. do it now."

jared stared hard at nothing. then he shut his eyes, holding his palms out. this is how all the movies do it.

no. you look ridiculous.

he furrowed his brows and sighed. "i won't know where to start. give me instructions. please?"

the girl was awfully still; jared found the silence uncanny, like he was the only living thing in this endless room. without blinking, she spoke. "the gods are always watching. this space exists under their watch. headquarters is an extension of their power. they are from another realm. you are an invocator like the rest of us. essence from their realm can exist in humans, as well, and once those two mix you are born with abilities beyond human comprehension. most languages cannot describe it and naked eyes cannot see it. so feel it. you start by letting the building take you."

"letting—what?"

"do not think of anything else. just allow it to."

jared blinked rapidly as he saw fog curl around his shoulders. that was probably the building waiting for a signal, waiting for his consent. that's polite, he thought. okay, come in. please don't kill me.

he thought he heard a chuckle.

he tried to push his doubts away and shut his mental mouth, pictured giving into whatever was in the fog. and then he was weightless again.

he couldn't see anything but twisting and writhing and transforming and whooshing and he didn't know what it was but there was movement and sound and a third thing that was so vast and so complicated he was sure he had blinked out of existence. he was being thrown around. he was being squeezed. he was being killed, then reborn, then he was light, then he was dark, and then he was being stretched across galaxies. none of it hurt, but it was still too much. too little, he was too heavy then too light and then both at the same time. he wanted to scream. did he still have a mouth? he tried, he looked for his lips and then his tongue and then—

he was back in the dim foggy room, the lieutenant standing a bit closer to him now.

he retched. "i'm gonna vomit!"

nothing came out.

when he was done heaving, he got up, dusting nonexistent dirt off his jeans. he cleared his throat, looking down at the lieutenant. "what's next?"

up close, she still looked younger. she was probably malnourished. she had bags under her eyes and her hair was stringy and brushed the top of her shoulders. she was wrapped up in clothes that didn't look her size—jackets, sweaters, a scarf, worn socks and pants that had started to fray. he wondered how she could stay so still under all those layers while he felt a bit suffocated in the airless room.

he saw no pity not humor nor disappointment in her eyes. her lips were pale, he made a mental note to offer her water afterwards. "that's just a glimpse into the realm of the eldritch gods. as an invocator, you're permanently connected to both the human world and theirs. go back into it. take some of that power and bring it back here."

"how?"

"you should know how."

jared couldn't find it it him to get frustrated. after all, he was used to independence; he taught himself how to live a fair amount. but this time he had no other teacher to observe from, no metaphors to help him picture it. was there a door? or was he treading a line like a tightrope? was there something in him like a gateway? or could he picture himself as a shapeshifter?

he put those possibilities aside and saved it for another day. he cursed in his mind and tried again.

movement. so much movement and so many things around him. not things; not really alive, not dead, either. they existed as concepts that were yet to be put into words. he had no hands. no voice, maybe not even a mind because somehow he felt the absence of a brain. he tried to reach out. no response. were these things supposed to respond? did they feel him as he felt them? he couldn't tell.

he tried the first idea that came to mind: to coax them. he tried to lie.

come here, he tried to signal them, send a message with whatever he had left of his being. i have what you want. i have what you need. i'll take you somewhere.

he wasn't sure if they had desires. not sure if they could understand him. did they care about the empty bargains he offered? he felt a sensation similar to the one he felt around the general, except he had no physical form to receive it. did they see him?

he regained his physical form, crouching with his hands over his ears. he stumbled back, the ground of the foggy room soft like memory foam against his elbows. he was back on earth with the lieutenant. she was standing where she had always been. the air beside her twisted and shrieked like metal being crushed. the lieutenant was watching it closely.

when whatever jared did wore off and the threats of reality went still, she turned to him. "do it again," she ordered. "with intent this time."

and he did, again and again and again. at first he started off unstable, failing multiple times from breaking focus and fear of never coming back to where his physical body was. but that fear was what kept him going. he didn't know what he was facing, what he was reaching out to or what else could have been on the other side of things, but now that his interest was piqued there was no going back.

most of it was a haze. things that human eyes couldn't process and shapes that didn't really make dimensional sense. most of it was felt by jared instead of seen; it was a strange state to be in.

jared did as he was told, collecting bits of what he could take from the other realm and bringing it back to the room his other self was in. he tried shaping it or giving it form. eventually he sped up, having only flashes of those incomprehensible beings and then coming back immediately after. he was able to warp one of the pillars scattered around the endless room, and he succeeded in shrouding himself in darkness (useful only when he was doing it to others and not cutting off his own sense of sight).

the lieutenant watched him like a hawk throughout it all, crossing her arms after a while and then uncrossing them minutes later. otherwise she stood still, only following jared when he strayed too far from her. she said nothing but short, straightforward sentences whenever he kept repeating mistakes, pointing them out so he could correct them.

she really didn't act like a person. she didn't fidget. jared wasn't sure if she breathed, or if she needed to. something about her was just gloomy and unsettling. he started to wonder if she was just some doll or hologram that general laguardia conjured up.

jared had three points made about the lieutenant.

one: her name was quinn. that much he could get out of her, but it didn't really count since he only heard laguardia say it earlier.

two: he cared about her age so much because of his reluctance to believe she was in such a position. she was surely younger than him, but probably knew a lot more and had a way older mentality. that he could be sure of. maybe she was just short. the world was wide and while jared had the advantage of being slender (thank your mama for that, hm? his grandfather had said once he hit a growth spurt in 4th grade. she was tall, too. long legs. your baba would have wanted you to join races in school.) for his age, he knew that some people were really just vertically challenged.

three: if he had the honor of having someone as special and significant as the lieutenant of a unit as his mentor, he would have to get comfortable before he started trying his best. and to get comfortable, he would have to at least try to ease up the girl, make her see that he wasn't just some fumbling clueless boy. she was his best chance at a friend in this organization; and they'd likely be stuck together in jared's future visits, too.

indeed, the lieutenant was a tough nut to crack, but jared couldn't help but pick people apart.

curiously, time seemed to be immeasurable in the foggy room. jared didn't grow tired, either. not physically, at least. he would have loved something to lean on, but that only crossed his mind once. he was too busy trying to master whatever it is he was doing—invocations, they called it. when the lieutenant called him out of nowhere, though, she told him time was up.

he was both weightless and impossibly heavy again, and then he was back at headquarters, this time back in front of the big wooden door which he assumed to be her office. his paper bag of doughnuts for his grandparents was back in his hand, and the most he got as an aftereffect from his previous activities was a buzz in the back of his mind and another feeling of being watched.

"let me know if you're going to pledge to this house," the lieutenant told him, before retreating back into her room. that was it. no "meet me here next time" or "good job today", nothing. guess she had a lot on her plate.

jared wandered the tunnels for a while, trying to figure out the layout of the place. everyone there seemed to be working or training, holding papers or odd-looking items. they all dressed in mostly dark clothes, heavy looking pendants resting on their chests or rings with intricate patterns adorning their fingers. they spoke english, but sometimes if jared listened hard enough he'd hear then speak another language to some invisible force. a lot went unseen here, he realized.

he bumped into general laguardia. he seemed a bit disheveled, so all he did was pat jared on the back and point him to the nearest exit. "you're welcome any time," he called out, digging in his pockets as he spoke. "just ask for quinn, she'll take care of it!"

an hour later, jared found himself at his grandparents' dinner table, staring at the wood, both peckish and a bit shaken. he half-expected the table's surface to start moving like the headquarters' walls.

"are you going to eat some of this tonight?" his grandmother asked, holding up a container of yesterday's dinner.

he nodded and stretched. "yeah, i'll take the rest of it back to the dorm, is that okay?"

"all of it? you can eat it before it spoils?" his grandfather cocked a brow as he put a pot away.

"i'm a growing boy," jared said matter-of-factly.

[thejyliekenner]

Some people would say, and when I say “some,” those are the ones who are lucky, privileged, and mentally stable, “I want to have the relationship like my parents’”. Well, hey, good for you. I see that you don’t have any childhood trauma. Or maybe you do, but that’s just that one instance when your parents were supposed to pick you up at school and they were five minutes late, or you didn’t get the color you want for a bag, or, maybe, it was just that one instance that your parents prepared you a big party for your birthday and you didn’t like the flavor of your cake. Tragic.

Not me. Definitely not me. I’m far, way far from that. In fact, I’m the complete opposite. If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering what my parents could have done for me to be writing about them in my autobiography, a requirement for a psychiatric rotation. I swear, I’m afraid I could be one of the patients.

I don’t know why I started thinking about my parents when our leader told us to make an autobiography. He said it should start to when your parents met—to by the time you were conceived and your mother push you out of her—to where you are right now. That’s a lot. My mind wander back to what my parents told me and my siblings how they met. This how it goes according to them.

It was circa 1994, at a restaurant in Malate, my father was singing on stage. He was an entertainer at that time. My mother and her cousins were sitting in front of the stage. They said they had a mutual friend so things escalated, they were introduced to each other and went on dates. My father would go to my mother’s house after every shift and bring her food, bring flowers, court her, stuff like that. My father would relentlessly visit my mother almost every night even when my grandma at that time was against it. I mean, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t like a man ten years older than your daughter courting her, right? So, yeah. I get you, ‘La. And, maybe after a few months, my mother finally agreed to have a relationship with him. Kudos to my father, the moves were effective. The courting was traditional and full of effort. That’s how they met. I wonder what that feels like.

After 2 years of being in a relationship, my mother got pregnant. That event is what made them get married. A civil marriage. I remember my mother telling me that when she got pregnant, my grandma was so angry she humiliated my father shouting the teleserye calibrated lines like, “Anong ipapakain mo sa anak ko?!”, “Magpakasal kayo!”, the whole package, the works. And then they did.

After a year later, I popped out of my mother’s vagina. It was October 7th, 1997. I was born on a Tuesday. I wasn’t sure about the exact time but how cool would that be if I actually knew what time I was born? I could probably tell what my day would be based on my horoscope. Anyway, as a woman of science, I actually don’t believe about that kinds of stuff. I just thought it was cool.

I was a smart kid. I know. I know I am. All my life, I studied at public schools because we didn’t have money for the private ones. In my elementary years, I was always a top student. I’m always in higher sections, and I always say to my mother, “Ma, yayaman tayo.” which, until this day, I haven’t fulfill. Yet. YET. I’m not losing hope. My mother was always proud of me, I know she is. She wasn’t that kind of mother who attends PTA meetings every month in school but she’s always there for recognitions. She’s always there whenever I actually receive a medal. She said she wouldn’t waste time on non-sense issues inside our classroom and would just give a contribution if one of our electric fans stopped working.

I reached high school, again, in a public school. There is where I met my friends. We were ten I think? We were unstoppable, we drank, we smoked. It was fun. Three of them are still my friends until now. They’re my only friends. The group just shattered when we separated in college. After college, conflicts with relationships, work, money, just made us all realize that we actually cannot stay friends anymore. Well, one of them is a sex offender apologist, one was so problematic whenever she’s sad, you should be sad too. So, I just distanced myself. I cut off people who are toxic to me without a doubt. You know, I always think it’s so easy for me to cut off people out my life thinking that they’re toxic. But, what if, I’m actually the problem?

I passed the entrance examination at PLM and I went there as a scholar. I was proud of myself because that success is one of the first things I actually owned. I made that. My high school teachers were so shocked that me and few of my cliques passed the sought-after entrance exam of the year. I swear, the day after the results came out, I was walking down the hallway like I own the damn place. Those teacher cannot say anything about me anymore, I passed the exam. Their valedictorian didn’t even get in.

I took up Mass Communication and loved it. I took it because I am fond of writing. This material is one of the evidences. I thought this course will make me grow. I think it did, at some way. But, the growth I really noticed was when I started working. After I graduated with this degree, I realized it demands creativity. You will earn money with this course if you are creative. But I’m not creative. So, I struggled to find jobs related from what I took. I loved writing but I cannot just write boring pieces for newspapers. After a month or two, I decided to change my path and I applied for the biggest pharmaceutical chains in the country. I got in.

I worked as a pharmacy assistant for three years before I got into nursing school. This work made me grow as a person because I got to meet new people, new problems, new experiences. It’s different from my degree, obviously, I was required to study medications and customer service. I was good at my job, I always earn incentives and I have the most sales. I have the most customers—middle aged men who are craving for attention of 20 year olds. I subtlety flirt with them so they would buy thirty thousand worth of medicines under my sales. Even those they don’t actually need.

Now, I’m nursing school writing this autobiography. I wouldn’t tell much how I ended up taking up a new degree again because that’s another story, that’s another five-hundred-word essay minimum. All I know is I’m glad I made this decision, I’m struggling mentally, physically, but I love the title. I’m going to be a nurse someday, a USRN, rather. It’s all worth it. I think it’s my first time to feel that my family is genuinely proud of me. Maybe because they’re just thinking I’m about to earn dollars pretty soon.

I started this prose stating how I didn’t get the luxury of life. My parents’ story and how We all have different interpretation of luxury. For me, money is luxury, travel is luxury, I appreciate everything I have right now. I might have undiagnosed depression but

[carminaxrye]

❝ don’t worry. i’ll protect you. ❞  

Horizon: Forbidden West

Protect her? Carmina couldn't help but stop and look at Linny when she said that. All along she had been pacing back and forth, wondering how to convince this woman who had been her mother to run away with her, and here she was trying to convince her to come back to Eden.

"Protect me? Linny, I love you, but you couldn't protect yourself inside that place!" The teenager kept her voice as low as she could in a pseudo-shout, trying to convey just how preposterous this sounded. For years she had thought this lady was her mother and New Eden was the only world that mattered ... until some sinner had known her name and told her about Nick and Kim, told her of the family she was stolen from and introduced her to them. She owed Wheaty so much for that.

But he had mentioned his teenager crush too, a girl called Linny whose grandma was wreaking havoc on those Highwaymen. Linny was Faith, she knew that, and she knew the horrid life Linny had with Aaron. "You need to leave,"

"- come with me now, you'll be safe I swear. Wheaty is in Prosperity with my mom and dad." She reached out and caught one of Linny's hands with her two hands, clutching her desperately. "Please ... let me protect you this time. You can't go back to him."

[somethingconsistent]

Dead Mom.

Shout out to my lactation consultant for introducing me to this song. Special shout out to the verse below that would’ve absolutely wrecked me if I had heard it in the early days of my grief. Let’s be serious the birth of this beautiful girl has had my nicely knitted up emotion wounds completely flayed and exposed again. There was no comfort I craved more than that of my mother through labor and in recovery. The first week every day I thought of how no one around me knew what I needed the way my mother would have. I wouldn’t have had to ask her to do things she would’ve known. Maybe that’s me putting her on a pedestal, as I so often do with the dead. But if there was one thing my mother was an absolute expert in, it was making sure that someone was cared for. I’d even love to fight with her. I’d love to be annoyed that she wouldn’t just let me be. I’d love to be annoyed that she brought groceries again or mopped the floor again. Or ran a half a load of laundry when it could’ve waited. There is no love like a mothers love, there’s no equal or comparison. I’m so lucky to have so many people in my life that are trying to help. I’m especially lucky to have a partner who is willing to do the hard and messy parts of newborn life so I can focus on healing and feeding her. I’m lucky to have a neighbor and sister who feeds us and loves us and comes by just to drop food and get a hug from me, not to see the baby. I don’t know what I’d do without kat.

I’ve had ten years almost to adjust to life without a mother. A little over ten days to adjust to life as being a mother. I say often that 22 years with mom was worth 40 or 50 years with someone who was less than she was. But I still had so much to learn. I still wish I had more time. I tell Penelope in the middle of the night about how much Grandma Terri would’ve loved her. And how insufferable my dad would’ve been about how perfect she was. He would’ve shown pictures of her to anyone who gave him the opportunity.

Hey Mom, Dead Mom

I need a little help here

I'm prob'ly talking to myself here

But Dead Mom I gotta ask

Are you really in the ground?

Cause I feel you all around me

Are you here, Dead Mom?

Dead Mom

Dead Mom

I'm tired of trying to iron out my creases

I'm a bunch of broken pieces

It was you who made me whole

Every day Dad's staring at me

Like all "hurry up get happy

Move along

Forget about your mom"

Cause Daddy's in denial

Daddy doesn't wanna feel

He wants me to smile

And clap like a performing seal

Ignored it for a while

But Daddy's lost his mind for real

You won't believe the mess that we've become

You're my home

My destination

And I'm your clone

Your strange creation

You held my hand

And life came easy

Now jokes don't land

And no one sees me

Nothing seems to fit

Mamma, is this it?

Are you receiving?

I want something to believe in

Or I'm done

Take me where my soul can run

Or I'll be in my bedroom

Wake me when I'm twenty one

Daddy's moving forward

Daddy didn't lose a mom

Mamma won't you send a sign?

I'm running out of hope and time

A plague of mice, a lightning strike

Or drop a nuclear bomb

No more playing Daddy's game

I'll go insane if things don't change

Whatever it takes to make him say your name

Dead Mom

[helloalycia]

a girl friend // rory gilmore

summary: Rory wants to come out to her grandparents, but you and Lorelai aren't so sure that's the best idea.

warning/s: mentions of homophobic parents and neglecting your kids, kind of a sad one in that sense tbh

author's note: this has been sitting in my drafts for over 2 years! so i thought i would finally post it lol, if there happens to be any rory fans out there still. god knows her character pissed me off post season 2, but that's the beauty of fanfiction, you can write her however you want! it's kinda bad compared to my recent stuff because it's 2 years old, so sorry about that 😂

also in this, just pretend you have a gender neutral name as that's the point in the start. you'll know what i mean when you read lol

masterlist / wattpad

"You guys ready for this?" Lorelai asked as we reached the infamous Gilmore residence.

I glanced at Rory, who reassured me instantly with that beautiful smile of hers. I looked back to her mother and nodded, hoping I looked calmer than I felt.

"I think so," I said, breathing out a little. "They can't be that bad, right?"

Lorelai snorted as Rory shoved her mother a little. They both smiled apologetically before Lorelai knocked on the door, neither answering my question. I didn't feel any better.

Rory and I had come out with our relationship to Lorelai a few weeks ago, to which she was completely accepting of. A little surprised about her daughter's sexuality, but accepting nonetheless. And she didn't seem to hate me which was always a good sign.

Now we were meeting the grandparents. Though, not in the way I expected. Rory wanted to come out to her grandparents as she did with Lorelai, but Lorelai knew her parents better than anyone and was convinced that wasn't a good idea. And with my own personal history of getting booted out the house and practically disowned by my own parents, I didn't want Rory getting treated the same by those she loved.

So, Lorelai figured it was better to introduce me as one of Rory's Yale pals so I could charm them first before revealing the big news. Though I wasn't sure when exactly the 'big news' would be revealed. Either way, I felt a lot of pressure tonight.

Lorelai knocked on the front door and I gulped down the lump in my throat as I waited. I felt Rory's hand slip into mine, squeezing it gently for reassurance. I glanced her way and smiled gratefully, to which she nodded. The door opened though, and her hand left mine.

"...I'll get it myself, it's not like I'm paying you or anything!" the woman, presumably Rory's grandmother, shouted behind her as she opened the door. Her posture straightened up and a smile was on her face as she looked to her family and I. "Lorelai, Rory, lovely to see you again."

"I'm sure it is, mom," Lorelai said with a forced smile, hugging her mother.

"Hey, grandma," Rory greeted with a hug.

As both Gilmores entered the house, I received a confused stare from Rory's grandma.

"Uh, hi," I said, smiling awkwardly. Lorelai said she told her I was coming...?

"Are you Y/N?" she asked, looking me up and down.

I suddenly felt self-conscious. "Yes, ma'am. Y/N Y/L/N."

"Mom, I told you last week about Rory's new Yale friend, Y/N," Lorelai explained to her mother as I stood there, smiling awkwardly.

"But Y/N is a boy's name," she said, looking to Lorelai. "I expected a boy."

Rory, who was blushing a little, said, "Grandma, Y/N can be a girl's name, too."

"But you said 'he' on the phone," she continued to Lorelai. "You gave me the impression Y/N was a boy."

I shuffled uncomfortably and Lorelai seemed to notice.

"Well, mom, you must have misheard because Y/N is a girl and waiting to come in."

Rory's grandma sighed before looking to me. "I guess so. Well, welcome, Y/N. It's nice to meet one of Rory's Yale friends. I'm Emily."

I chewed the inside of my cheek nervously, noting how this wasn't going well and I hadn't even stepped inside yet.

"Thanks, I've heard a lot about you, Emily. Rory speaks very highly of you and your husband." I offered a small smile.

Emily merely nodded and stepped aside to let me in. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she closed the door behind me. Rory nodded my way, as if to say 'it's okay', and I found myself stressing just a tiny bit more for whatever was to come.

"Let me take your jackets," Emily said, and the three of us gave her our jackets to hang up. "You can get settled in the living-room for drinks."

"Come on, Y/N, it's through here," Rory said, and I felt a lot more comfortable when she was by my side and we were walking into the living-room. Though, from behind me, I could hear Emily mumbling something to Lorelai.

"I thought Rory was bringing a boy to dinner, you know, like a new boyfriend," she thought she whispered, but I heard loud and clear.

"No, mom, Y/N is just a friend," Lorelai replied, before jokingly adding, "I'm sure Rory won't mind switching sides for your sake, though."

"Oh, don't be so silly, Lorelai," Emily scoffed.

Rory put her hand on my back to lead me to the sofa, and I felt her rub it slightly, with reassurance. She must have heard, too.

We both took a seat as Lorelai did so on the other chair.

"Rory's grandfather is just finishing up a business call and should be down soon. What drink would you like whilst we wait?" Emily said, already at the drinks cart.

"I'll be fine with just a wat–" I began, but stopped when Lorelai and Rory shook their heads frantically. Emily turned around and waited for me to finish. "...just a vodka martini...?"

Emily raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless and got to work. I breathed out as Rory squeezed my leg supportively. I wasn't really fond of alcohol, but if it meant winning over Emily Gilmore, then so be it.

"Can I get the same, mom, but with gin instead?" Lorelai asked.

"I'll have something fruity, grandma," Rory added.

It went quiet for a moment, as Emily prepared the drinks, and I sat there trying to think of things to say to Emily at dinner. The little confidence I had left dropped as soon as I walked through the door.

"So, mom, how's the club?" Lorelai made some conversation.

"Doing fine, as usual," Emily responded, sounding a little bored. Though that could have just been her normal voice, I wasn't sure.

She returned and handed out the drinks before taking a seat with her own. An awkward silence took over again and I had to keep a smile plastered on my lips every time Emily glanced my way.

"So, Y/N, what are you studying at Yale?" Emily finally spoke, vaguely interested in me.

Feeling a little relieved that this wasn't a tricky question, I relaxed and answered, "English. I'm hoping to teach it in the future."

"Straight A's this one," Lorelai added with a playful smile.

Emily wasn't amused.

"And how did you and Rory meet?" she asked, though it felt a little like an interrogation. Maybe she didn't like me because I wasn't the boyfriend she expected.

"The paper," I responded with a nod. "I thought it would be fun to join the paper and that's when I met Rory. We worked together on our first article."

"It was about the amount of garbage cans on campus, believe it or not," Rory added with a chuckle.

Emily cracked a smile at this, before saying, "That sounds... lovely. Y/N, do your parents go to the club? I don't believe I'm familiar with your surname."

At the mention of my parents, my smile faded a little and I looked down to my hands. "Um, no, they don't."

"Well, what do they do? I'd love to meet them," Emily continued, and I looked up, forcing a smile.

Rory met my eyes and I saw her watching me apologetically. She managed to rest her hand on mine without Emily seeing and I appreciated her so much at that moment.

"They aren't from around here actually," I said, looking back to Emily and grasping Rory's hand. "They are architects. But yeah, maybe next time they're in town, I could introduce you."

Emily seemed satisfied as she took a sip of her drink. I hadn't seen her so happy all evening as she said, "That would be lovely. I look forward to it."

I nodded, flashing Rory a reassuring smile so she wouldn't be worried. My parents wouldn't dare meet Emily. Or Lorelai. Or Rory for that matter. They wouldn't even see me anymore. Not since I came out to them.

"Ah, I think I hear Richard now," Emily said, standing up. "I'll go see what's keeping him."

I nodded her way, noticing she was warming up a little now, as she left the room.

"Gosh, Y/N, I'm sorry about that," Lorelai apologised instantly. "I know that must've been hard..."

I shook my head. "No apology necessary, Lorelai. It was obvious she would ask about my parents. But it's fine. Eventually I'll tell her the truth, but right now, this is okay."

Lorelai nodded, but watched me with sympathy. Rory did the same and I resisted the urge to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Girls! It's lovely to see you both again," a male voice boomed from behind us, and we all stood up. It was Rory's grandfather, Richard, followed by a smiling Emily.

"Hey, dad," Lorelai greeted, hugging him. Rory did the same and then Richard looked to me.

"You must be Y/N, Rory's Yale friend," he said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

He put his hand out and I shook it, saying, "You too, sir. You have a lovely home."

"Call me Richard," he insisted. "And thank you, dear.”

"Dinner is ready, so if everyone could make their way to the dining room," Emily announced.

"Come on," Rory said, tugging at my hand and leading me to the dining room. I couldn't help but smile lovingly at her excitement, though my nerves still remained because so far, the night wasn't going to plan, and I knew that there was a chance it could just keep getting worse.

Thankfully, it didn't, but it wasn't a knock out either. Rory's grandparents were polite, making chatter about Rory and Yale and our degrees, and Emily eventually got over the fact that I was in fact a girl and not a boyfriend she could meet. Unfortunately for me, she did talk about boys and if I was seeing anyone, and I had to somehow tell her that I was solely focusing on my studies and couldn't in fact introduce Rory to any potential bachelors. It wasn't a fun conversation, but it moved on quite quickly.

After a pleasant-ish evening, the night came to an end and I was glad when we said our goodbyes.

"You handled that like a pro, kid," Lorelai complimented once we were by her car. She slapped me on the back gently, adding, "Even I couldn't put up with her talking about the club for that long."

I let out a shaky breath. "Thanks. She was as tough as you said she'd be."

Rory laced her fingers between mine, squeezing gently and flashing me a reassuring smile. "You did good. Thank you for coming tonight."

"Thanks for having me," I said with a small smile.

It was a tough night in more ways than one, but it was all worth it if there was even a slight chance that Rory could be comfortable amongst her family.

————————

"Rory."

She hummed as she continued typing away at her laptop, but didn't look away from the screen.

"Rory."

"One second..."

"Rory."

She didn't respond, so I sighed dramatically and rolled over, so I was under her arms. We were both sat outside, laying down on our stomachs, her writing an article and myself reading a book. I was getting kind of bored though and wanted some attention.

I looked up at her chin, hoping the discomfort of me being below her would get her attention, but still, she barely mumbled a response as she continued typing away.

I sighed again and slipped out from underneath her, before laying directly on top of her back and hugging her tightly. She let out a little chuckle and finally looked over her shoulder.

"You okay back there?" she asked teasingly, to which I hummed in response.

"I'm bored," I said, not moving from my spot. "Love me."

There was a pause before suddenly she had turned us both around so she was laying on the grass and I was on top of her. She smiled from below me, her blue eyes sparkling in the sun.

"I always do," she said, before pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

I smiled down at her, admiring how beautiful she looked, before sitting up and pulling her up with me. She leaned against the tree and motioned for me to sit before her. I crawled over and she held me from behind, resting her chin on my shoulder. I relaxed into her embrace, sighing contently.

"A quick break never hurt anyone," she spoke, adding, "and I'll never get anything done if you keep bugging me, so..."

"You love it." I laughed, craning my neck to kiss her cheek.

She smiled against my shoulder. "I know."

A peaceful silence enveloped us as we looked out onto the Yale campus. Students were milling about between classes, lecturers were strolling by without a care in the world, even some parents were about, probably to check in on their beloved children. Which reminded me...

"Your mom knows about us," I said and felt Rory nod.

"She does. Remember? We went over together and told her?"

I pursed my lips and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know. What I meant to say is, that's really cool of her, you know?"

I still wasn't over it, even though it had been a month or so since we told her.

"She's a cool mom," Rory replied, and I could tell by her voice that she was mildly confused.

"Yeah, she is," I agreed, especially because it wasn't easy knowing whether or not your girlfriend's parents would accept the fact that their daughter was bisexual.

"I'm glad you brought that up actually," Rory started, sounding serious all of a sudden, "because something has been on my mind since we told my mom."

I swivelled around so I was facing Rory to give her my full attention. I nodded to show I was listening.

Rory appeared nervous as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and avoided my eyes. "I think I wanna tell my grandparents. About us."

I bit my lip as I tried to suppress a frown. We'd already been through this.

"You sure about that? Lorelai said we should wait and–"

"But we've already waited!" she said with exasperation, before sighing. "I'm sorry, it's just, we did it how my mom said to. Introduce you as a friend and let her warm up to you. That dinner was a few weeks ago, Y/N. What's changed?"

I took her hand and stroked it gently. "Rory, I know, but if Lorelai thinks they need time, maybe they do. She does know them best after all."

Rory nodded and her eyes flickered to our hands. "I know... I just hate lying to grandma."

I smiled sadly. I hated that she had to lie, too. But I also didn't want her to ruin this one chance she had to tell her grandma and possibly lose her. I knew firsthand how that felt and I would never wish it upon Rory.

"It'll be okay," I reassured her, pulling her in for a side hug and kissing her on the forehead. "Time is what's best right now. Your grandparents love you and I'm sure they'll be fine with this."

I felt Rory nod her head on my shoulder and took this as the end of the conversation. I worried for her though. Would her grandma be okay with us?

————————

I was searching through Rory's drawer for some batteries for the TV remote when finally I came across some lying on her desk. I shook my head at how obvious they were and how I hadn't noticed, then replaced them in the remote.

"Rory, I found them!" I called, waving the TV remote in the air and heading to the living-room. But I stopped when I saw Rory shaking a little, tears coming from her eyes.

"Oh my god, Rory, what's wrong?" I asked, rushing over to her side on the couch.

She smiled through her tears, wiping away at them and shaking her head. "Nothing, nothing. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

"Rory," I began, rubbing her arm and grabbing a hand that was wiping her cheeks. "Come on. Don't hide your feelings."

She sniffled and looked down hopelessly. "I don't wanna make a big deal over this," she admitted, her voice shaky and hoarse.

I held her cheek and lifted her head so her glassy eyes met mine. "You can tell me anything," I told her knowingly.

She licked her lips and took a deep breath. "Okay... well... my grandma, she– she found out about us."

My eyes widened. "What?"

Rory frowned, more tears rolling down her cheeks. "She found out a few weeks ago. Apparently someone's parents at Yale saw us and word got out to grandma. My mom told me grandma knew and doesn't want to speak to me."

I frowned, my heart sinking. "Rory, no..."

"I– I thought–" she swallowed the lump in her throat, "I thought if I gave her time, she would finally speak to me. But she hasn't. She just keeps ignoring me. I've tried calling, texting, even emailing! But she won't reply. Y/N, she doesn't– she doesn't lo–"

"Don't say it, Rory," I cut her off, wiping away at her tears. "She does love you. She's just confused, probably.”

Rory's lip trembled as she looked down. "Why? I don't understand. I'm still me."

I pulled her in for a hug and kissed her cheek. "You are. She just doesn't see that yet... I'm so sorry for this, Rory. I didn't think she'd find out so soon. You should have told me this sooner."

Rory squeezed my hand. "I'm sorry, I know. I just didn't want to upset you..."

I forced a small smile. "I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

Rory smiled too and her eyes flickered to my lips. Before I knew it, she had leaned forward and kissed me gently, lovingly. 

"I'm sorry for worrying you," she said when pulling away. "I just can't deal with grandma ignoring me like this. I miss her."

Rory pulled her legs up on the couch and cuddled into my side. I held her close, letting her know I was there, and wondered what I could do to help. I hated that her grandmother was acting like this. I couldn't watch Rory go through what I had. Maybe I could speak to Emily somehow, get her to change her mind...

————————

I chewed on my lower lip as I waited for someone to answer the door. I was stood outside the Gilmore residence – Emily and Richard's – hoping I could talk to Emily for Rory's sake. Rory didn't know I was here and I honestly just hoped I didn't make things worse...

Finally, the door opened and revealed a maid. She was different to the one who served at dinner last time I was here. I recalled Rory saying how Emily went through maids quickly, though.

I shook my head, realising I was distracting myself, and smiled at the maid.

"Hi, I'm here to see Emily Gilmore," I said politely, ignoring the knot of nerves in my stomach.

The maid nodded. "Your name?"

I couldn't say my name because I knew Emily would slam the door in my face instantly. Or, well, she'd get her maid to.

"Oh, she'll know when she sees me," I said, forcing a smile. "Tell her it's a surprise."

The maid shrugged and disappeared for a moment. I didn't hear much, apart from Emily complaining about how surprises weren't respectful or mature. Her complaints neared the door until finally, she was stood before me.

"Hey, Mrs Gilmore," I greeted with a small smile.

Her gaze narrowed before she said, "Rita, you're not to let this girl in my house. Understood?"

The maid, Rita, nodded frantically as Emily backed up, but before Rita could shut the door on me, I jumped through the gap.

"Emily, please, just hear me out," I begged the older Gilmore as she glared in my direction.

"You can't just break into people's houses like this!" she exclaimed before clenching her jaw. "Leave this instant, Y/N."

She turned on her heel and marched away, but I only ignored the maid and followed behind her.

"I need to talk to you about Rory," I began quickly.

"Don't say another word!" Emily interrupted me instantly, turning around and making me stop at her abrupt halt. "I don't want to hear whatever you have to say. Or whatever she's made you say. I want you gone."

"Rory didn't send me here," I got out before she could say anything else. "I came to ask you to forgive her. Speak to her."

Emily narrowed her eyes again. "You don't come into my house and tell me what to do."

"Emily, she loves and misses you so much," I said, hoping her attention would stay on me. "This isn't her fault. She's still the same Rory, whether she likes girls or not. I–"

Emily groaned aloud before marching away again. I rolled my eyes and began to follow closely behind.

"You have no right to be here!" she shouted, making her way into the empty kitchen.

I ran a step after her and stopped before her, making her listen to me.

"You are the only family Rory has aside from her mom," I rambled out quickly. "She looks up to you, Emily. And you can't shut her out because she's bisexual. My parents, they... they kicked me out because I'm gay. They don't want to know who I am anymore. I only go to Yale because of a scholarship, but I still have to work 2 jobs just to stay there. I have no family anymore. I only have Rory. And the last thing I wanted was for her to lose her family like I did."

I hid my hands behind my back before Emily could see them shaking. I needed her to see my confidence. I had one chance.

Emily avoided my eyes, but I could tell I'd made her think.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you and your family, Y/N," she started, and I was hopeful for a split second, until she said, "but you don't get to dictate what happens in my family. This is between Rory and I, nobody else. Not even Lorelai. Now you need to leave before I call the police on you."

My heart sank to my stomach as she turned around and began to walk away.

"If I break up with her, will you speak to her again?" I asked, swallowing the lump that was beginning to form in my throat.

Emily paused and I stopped breathing for that moment.

"You know where the door is, Y/N," was all she said, before leaving the kitchen.

I took that as a yes and sighed shakily. It wasn't difficult to see what I needed to do now. I couldn't let Rory lose her family because of me.

————————

"Rory, it's important and I need to see you in person," I said into the phone, "where are you?"

Rory sighed over the phone. "I'm in Stars Hollow. I... I felt a bit down because of everything happening with grandma and I just needed a break with my mom."

I breathed out quietly. Of course.

"Okay, erm, can I come over?"

"Of course," she said, almost sounding a little relieved. "I miss you."

I smiled sadly. "I miss you, too, Rory. I'll see you in a bit."

The drive to Stars Hollow wasn't exactly the easiest thing I'd done in a while. Rory was hurting already and I was just going to make things worse. For now anyway. Eventually, they'd get better.

When I arrived at Lorelai's, I saw her mom was home, too. Great. Now she's gonna hate me, too.

I didn't even need to knock on the door because Rory had already opened it and pulled me inside.

"I'm glad you're here," she said, though it was slightly muffled because she was hugging me very tightly, her head tucked into my shoulder.

I returned the hug and savoured it, not knowing whether it would be my last. "How are you doing?"

She pulled away and smiled a little. "Better now."

My stomach was twisting with guilt as she dragged me to the living-room.

"Where's Lorelai?" I asked as we got comfortable on the couch.

Rory pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them as she said, "I kinda pushed her upstairs when you arrived."

I chuckled quietly. "Wow. I'm sure she loved that."

Rory chuckled, too. "Yeah, well she's been with me all day, so I think she's glad for the alone time."

My smile faded and I looked down as I was reminded why I was here.

"So, what was so important?" she asked curiously.

I blinked and tried to think back to what I practiced in the car. "Erm, well, okay... you know about my parents."

She seemed confused. "Yeah."

I avoided her eyes as I spoke, unable to meet them without feeling immensely guilty. "They've shut me out and well, I have nobody else."

"You have me," she cut in with concern, leaning forward to grab my hand and rub it with her thumb. "You know that."

I frowned. This was too difficult and getting harder the longer she stared at me with those big blue eyes of hers.

"Rory, I don't want you to have to choose between your grandparents and me when it comes to it," I came right out with it, letting go of her hand. "I can't let you go through that. Not because of me."

She frowned and shook her head. "Y/N... what are you talking about?"

I took a deep breath, trying to stop myself from tearing up, but it was too late. My vision was blurring.

"You love your grandma and she loves you," I explained. "I'm nobody. The nobody that is getting in between that. I don't want to watch you lose your family like I have. You don't deserve that. And I don't want you to have to make the choice between me or them when it comes to it. So, I'm taking the choice out of your hands."

Rory was clenching her jaw and staring back at me with watery, darkening eyes.

"I'm breaking up with you," I said, hating that my voice broke. "We're... we're over."

She didn't respond at first, her eyes were just piercing through mine emotionlessly. For a second, I thought she might have not heard me, but that was impossible.

Eventually, she shook her head. "No. You're not doing this. You don't get to do this."

I blinked and my tears finally escaped, making me suck up a deep breath. "Rory, I'm sorry."

She smiled sarcastically through her tears and I knew a rant was coming. "You're not leaving! You're not. You're just not. You can't just make my decisions for me, Y/N."

I breathed out and stood up, about to speak, but she stood up, too and glared at me.

"Why are you doing this?! You're doing what she is doing! Shutting me out!"

"Rory, please," I begged, holding her to hopefully calm her down, but she shoved me away.

"Don't 'Rory, please' me!" she mocked. "You're being so selfish right now! You know I love you and– and– I can't believe you!"

She crossed her arms and tried to contain her cries, but I could see it was getting too much for her.

"I know you hate me, but–"

"Get out."

"Okay, but I'm sorry, Ro–"

"I said get out!" she shouted, pointing to the front door. "You wanted to leave, so leave!

"Rory, I'm so sorry," I apologised, guilt eating away at me as I saw her face covered in tears. "Please understand, this is for the best."

"Get out!" she screamed, shoving me back. "Now! I don't want to see you!"

I backed up, turning around to leave, when I saw Lorelai stood at the bottom of the staircase. She looked between me and Rory, momentarily shocked.

"I'm sorry, I had to," I whispered to her, before walking to the front door.

I opened it to leave and felt my heart shatter into a million pieces when I heard Rory sobbing.

"She left, mom," she cried as I was shutting the door. "She gave up."

I closed the door and stopped for a moment, trying to wipe away my tears, but they just kept coming.

I wished at that moment, that I had my own mother to hold me and tell me it was going to be okay.

————————

Rory hasn't spoken to me since I broke up with her a week ago. I didn't expect her too, I guess, I'd broken her heart. But I missed her like crazy.

I hadn't seen her around campus, though she could have just been avoiding me. It felt strange without her there. I loved her and she was suddenly gone. It wasn't right.

Except it had to be done. I hoped her grandparents were speaking to her again. I really wished that this wasn't all for nothing. Because if Emily still wanted nothing to do with Rory, then I had just abandoned the girl I loved when she needed me the most.

I was trying to focus on some English homework I had when there was a knock on my door. I was kinda glad for the interruption because my mind was in shambles and I couldn't think without the Gilmore girl roaming my mind.

I opened the door and almost choked on my own spit when I saw who it was.

"Rory? What are you do–"

She cut me off by moving forward and pressing her lips against mine. I was surprised, as I expected her to hate me, threaten to set my flat on fire, or come yell at me some more, but here she was, kissing me.

I closed my eyes and kissed back, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her close. I had missed her so much, even if it had only been a week, and I wished I could have stayed like that forever. But she came for a reason and we both needed air.

She pulled away breathlessly and had tears slipping from her eyes, but a giant grin was on her lips.

"I love you," she spoke, resting her hand on my cheek and meeting my eyes. Not an ounce of hatred lay in her eyes, just love.

"Rory...," I began, but didn't know what to say.

She dragged me into my flat, shutting the door behind us, and pulled me into a hug.

"You fixed it," she said, not helping with my confusion. "My grandma is speaking to me again."

I smiled, feeling relieved. "Rory, oh my god, that's amazing!"

"I know," she said, intertwining her fingers in mine and holding them there. "It's because of you. She said you spoke to her. I can't believe you did that."

I felt my cheeks growing warm as she laughed, a bright, contagious laugh that I couldn't imagine hearing again until now.

"She didn't stop speaking to me because I'm bisexual, or because of you," she explained further. "She was upset at me for hiding this from her. And not trusting her to love me for who I am. She hated that she found out through other people. She thought I didn't trust her the way she trusted me."

I bit my lip to contain my happiness for her. "That's amazing. I'm so happy for you, Rory."

"You told her about your parents," she said, with disbelief. "You did that and she realised what she was doing to me. We talked it through today and made up. She doesn't care who I'm with, Y/N."

I smiled when she took a step closer to me, trying to contain my tears of joy.

"I'm so sorry for hurting you," I said, not tearing my eyes from hers. "I truly thought that was the only way. I didn't want you to go through what I did."

She used her hand to wipe away a stray tear of mine. "I know. And it's okay. I'm sorry for what I said to you, how I reacted. You were hurting, too. I just didn't see that."

"It's okay," I forgave her instantly, knowing none of us meant what happened. "...I missed you so much, Rory. I– I thought I'd never be with you again."

"Same here," she said, before chuckling to lighten the mood. "But I'm here. And you're here. And I love you so much."

"And I love you," I said, unable to contain my happiness. "Can I call you my girlfriend again?"

Her eyes flickered to my lips. "You technically never stopped, so..."

I laughed and moved forward to kiss her, hoping she knew how much I loved her and how I would do anything for her to be happy.