#the other family

[writer-ann-artist]

The Devil's Ángel

°•~☆~•°

°•~☆~•°

"Are you sure it's a good idea for me to come down?"

"Of course, mi ángel, besides, I haven't seen my niñito yet."

"Ok Hiram, I'll see you soon. Te quiero."

"Te quiero, mi ángel."

Yes, I am in a relationship with Hiram Lodge. Yes, Harmine knows about me, Veronica, too. The family has accepted me as Hiram's girlfriend, but now he has asked me to come live in Riverdale with him.

°•~☆~•°

"Oh mi ángel, I've missed you." Hiram hugs me and kisses my hair line.

"I've missed you too." His eyes rest on the baby carrier.

"Is he awake?"

"Last I checked, no, but you can still see him." Hiram opens the carrier softly and just stares in awe.

"He has your eyes, ángel." I hug his waist, and he hugs me back.

"I was thinking he looked alot like you."

"What did you decide his name would be?"

"Ronnie Hiram Lodge."

"Beautiful."

"Anna, what a surprise. Hiram didn't tell me you were visiting." Hiram moves to hold my hand in his.

"Actually, I had asked Anna to move here." The look he was giving Harmine clearly said it was no debatable.

"Oh well, I'm sure Veronica will be enjoying your company."

"Speaking of, do you mind picking her up after school?"

"I don't want to intrude Hiram."

"Nonsense ángel, besides me and Harmine have a previous engagement."

"Okay Hiram."

°•~☆~•°

I waited outside Veronica's school deciding to surprise her instead. When I see her I wave and she waves back. She walks over with her friends.

"Anna, what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry I didn't call, I wanted to surprise you. I even have a surprise for you."

"Oh, is it expensive?" I laugh and open the rear car door.

"Yes, he is." Veronica gasps and awes.

"You can hold him V." She picks him up and cradles him. I turn to her friends and introduce myself.

"I'm Anna."

"Archie."

"Betty."

"Jughead."

"Pleasure to meet you all. Oh, and this is Ronnie."

"Oh Anna, you shouldn't have." We talk for abit and decide on going to a nice little diner.

"Oh, I love this."

"I knew you would." We sit at a booth with Archie, V, and me on one side. Jughead and Betty were on the other side with Ronnie in Betty's lap.

"He's so gorgeous."

"Thank you, Betty."

"Now, I'm curious. Who's the father?" I hesitate, not knowing what to say. V slaps Archie's arm, and Jughead and Betty pay closer attention to Ronnie.

"You don't have to answer that Anna."

"It's fine, though I'm sure you all know the answer already." I look around and see there faces. They definitely know. Betty speaks first.

"We don't want to come off as judgy, but V loves you so we do to right guys." She looks to the boys and they nod agreeing.

"That's very kind of you, I wouldn't want to ruin your group V."

"Anna you could never." We finish lunch and I take V home.

"I'm sorry again for Archie."

"V it's okay, I get it. The boy is pretty but he's not all there." We laugh as we enter the apartment.

"Miss Lodge, and Miss Heart it's good to see you."

"Andre, good to see you too."

"My girls, and boy." Hiram reaches us kissing V's head and picking up Ronnie.

"Your apartment is right beside ours."

"Oh Hiram, you didn't have to. I could settle for a little home in the suburbs."

"But I want you close to me ángel." I can see this comment makes V uncomfortable.

"Let's go put Ronnie to sleep. I had a great time with you V." I kiss V's cheek as we depart.

°•~☆~•°

In the apartment Hiram is rocking Ronnie to sleep as I prepare for bed.

"Ángel, are you okay?"

"I am, I just. That comment you made downstairs made Veronica uncomfortable. I mean, can you imagine how it feels when your dad is bringing his girlfriend home." He had set Ronnie in his crib and came behind me to hold me.

"It's ok, Mia will understand." I turn in his arms.

"She shouldn't have to Hiram. I'm the girlfriend, I should be the one keeping my distance." Hiram holds my hand in his hands and looks into my eyes.

"I don't want that anymore. I want you in my life, ángel. I want us to be a family."

"You have a family Hiram."

"Who says can't have both?"

"What are you doing to me Hiram?"

"It's alright, now let's get to bed. We know you need the rest."

[cemeterything]

are we still doing this because i have a late submission

[theshadowrealmitself]

I like to think that Vulcans who come to understand that Humans just can’t try to process emotions the same way as them, it’s just healthiest to let it out in harmless ways, decide that venting and stuff should be taken just as seriously as Vulcan’s meditation time, and will encourage the Humans around them to complain about what’s upsetting them

People who are used to aloof Vulcans who avoid Humans at all cost running into one comforting a Human

“-and then they said my cheesecake was subpar, and they didn’t even bring a dish!!!”

“The purpose of this event was that every participant brings a food item of sorts, correct?”

“Yeah!!”

“And they did not follow this rule while insulting dishes that were brought?”

“Mostly just my dish but yeah >:(“

“How illogical”

“That’s what I’m saying!!!”

[aintmyjewelry]

we need to bring back inviting people over for cake and coffee. my grandma used to do that all the time and I think it's a lost art

[communistkenobi]

whenever right wing people talk about “parental rights” they are talking about property rights. they are arguing for further political and legal enshrinement of their children as their literal actual property

[brotato-chibs]

Some Wanderer and Nahida interactions!! Some of them were inspired from the fanfics I read

[felucians]

Nex Benedict's death wasn't just for being transgender, it was for being native too. 2 Spirits are revered in many native cultures and it is a native-specific identity. This wasn't just a hate crime against trans & NB individuals, this was also a hate crime against Natives of Turtle Island.

You cannot separate Nex's trans identity from their native identity - this is a case of MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2 Spirits).

Native children being killed at school is nothing new, so it's equally important to talk about Nex's native identity and being intersectional, this is a devastating tragedy for indigenous people, the queer community & especially those of us who are both indigenous and queer.

May Nex rest in peace 🪶

[uncanny-tranny]

Fat people deserve mobility aids, too. No matter if it's connected to their fatness or not, because having a mobility issue that is connected to one's fatness won't change that they're still fat and still have the issue at hand. Fat people don't deserve to "tough it out" because fatness should be this divine punishment doled out to those who "deserve" it. Fat disabled people deserve to have the peace of mind that they can exist in whatever way is most comfortable and accessible to them

[dillyt]

Great news for uninsured adults in the USA who want a COVID-19 booster! It now appears that ALL CVS locations are now active participants in the Bridge Access Program. The Bridge Access Program gives out free Covid-19 vaccinations to 18+ adults who otherwise can't afford one, so if you have a CVS near you, please go get one! For others who don't have a CVS near them, please go to vaccines.gov, click on "Find Covid-19 vaccines", fill out which vaccines you prefer (you can mix different vaccines if you have to so i reccomend just marking all of them for the age groups you need), and when the next page loads mark the "Bridge Access Program Participant" option to see only locations that are Bridge Access Program participants. Hopefully, other places that aren't CVS will start participating soon, so just check back every so often to see if there are any updates. The CDC Bridge Access Program website also has more details on what locations will be participating, but only CVS is appearing as an active participant on the vaccines.gov location finder at the moment.

[inkskinned]

probably time for this story i guess but when i was a kid there was a summer that my brother was really into making smoothies and milkshakes. part of this was that we didn't have AC and couldn't afford to run fans all day so it was kind of important to get good at making Cool Down Concoctions.

we also had a patch of mint, and he had two impressionable little sisters who had the attitude of "fuck it, might as well."

at one point, for fun, this 16 year old boy with a dream in his eye and scientific fervor in heart just wanted to see how far one could push the idea of "vanilla mint smoothie". how much vanilla extract and how much mint can go into a blender before it truly is inedible.

the answer is 3 cups of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup milk alternative, and about 50 sprigs (not leaves, whole spring) of mint. add ice and the courage of a child. idk, it was summer and we were bored.

the word i would use to describe the feeling of drinking it would maybe be "violent" or perhaps, like. "triangular." my nose felt pristine. inhaling following the first sip was like trying to sculpt a new face. i was ensconced in a mesh of horror. it was something beyond taste. for years after, i assumed those commercials that said "this is how it feels to chew five gum" were referencing the exact experience of this singular viscous smoothie.

what's worse is that we knew our mother would hate that we wasted so much vanilla extract. so we had to make it worth it. we had to actually finish the drink. it wasn't "wasting" it if we actually drank it, right? we huddled around outside in the blistering sun, gagging and passing around a single green potion, shivering with disgust. each sip was transcendent, but in a sort of non-euclidean way. i think this is where i lost my binary gender. it eroded certain parts of me in an acidic gut ecology collapse.

here's the thing about love and trust: the next day my brother made a different shake, and i drank it without complaint. it's been like 15 years. he's now a genuinely skilled cook. sometimes one of the three of us will fuck up in the kitchen or find something horrible or make a terrible smoothie mistake and then we pass it to each other, single potion bottle, and we say try it it's delicious. it always smells disgusting. and then, cerimonious, we drink it together. because that's what family does.

[slfcare]

every time you assume that others are thinking negatively of you or judging you behind your back, you are bullying yourself through them. at the end of the day, you don't know what thoughts are running through their heads unless they verbally express them to you. until then, every one of 'their' opinions about you is nothing more than your fear, and whatever assumption is born from your fear is yours to let go - not theirs to disprove.

[froody]

American trans men prior to the mid 20th century were like. I’m going to get into shootouts with the sheriff. I’m going to date 5 women at once. I’m going to drive a stage coach at 60 mph. I will be a menace to society. And I will be so sexy and cool while doing it.

[daydreamerwonderkid]

I know WFA is too OOC for some people, but I need that shit right now.

I do love seeing the Batfam beating the shit out of each other. I like how messy their relationships are and I have always loved flawed characters.

But idk, man, Batman #138 just really crossed a line for me and I need a reminder that there are other depictions of Bruce that aren't so fucking heinous.

I'll take this shit:

Over this shit:

Any. Fucking. Day.

[minimanuke]

hes a weirdo S2

[chloesimaginationthings]

The Afton family gatherings are always wild in FNAF,,

[andthebeanstalk]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.