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#your costume OOOH IS IT THE WORST THING EVER
inkykeiji · 10 months
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hi clari!! do you happen to be interested in ballet at all? i’ve been doing ballet for years now and i’ve been curious if of your iterations of touya would let reader be a dancer, for example a dance major in college? it’s such a “cute and girly” thing that i think they might like it but at the same time i could see them getting jealous of any potential duets with other men or how “revealing” the uniforms are
but either way i’d love to know what majors you originally have each of them doing since most, if not all, of your stories have the reader doing college?
hope you’re doing well!! <33
hi anon!! <3 oooh i actually love ballet so much and i will forever regret talking my mom out of enrolling me in it when i was 8!!! EEE ehehe it’s funny u ask actually because once upon a time i was writing a ballet au with dabi! i dunno if i’ll ever finish it tho hahaha >.< so since all of my readers are already enrolled in university by the time they meet touya/dabi, there’s no way he’d be able to control what their major is; they already decided on it on their own and most are at least a year or two into their studies when they first meet him, so he isn’t able to decide what it is they’re studying (which means yes, they’d be forced to ‘allow’ her to continue her dance major! no matter how much they don’t like it! they won’t be changing programs simply because their overbearing, overprotective, over-possessive boyfriend doesn’t like it).
that being said, you’re 100% right! my touyas/dabis would be totally torn between loving it because it’s so beautiful and awe-inspiring (they’re totally enraptured—enchanted—when they watch her perform) and being extremely jealous that literally anyone else gets to see their girl in such beautiful costumes dancing such beautiful numbers and that anyone gets to fucking touch their girl at all. out of my three main iterations, touya-nii would be the worst with his possessiveness and would definitely demand she never dance a pas de deux with anyone (despite the fact that she wants to, that it’s good for her career + exposure, or that her grade depends on it. tnii is way too selfish to give a fuck about any of that, and he’d much rather she stay in the corps forever—in his mind, he’s like why would she ever need to be prima anyway? when she has me? when i can provide for her? etc.)
good question! so their majors are intentionally left vague so you, the real reader, can project whatever you’d like onto them! in my mind, they study art of some form (probably literature and/or film since that’s what i studied HAHAHA but i also love the idea of studying fine arts or dance like u said!!!), with the exception of bmb reader, who in my mind studies psychology. but again, feel free to imagine them studying whatever you’d like to! i hope you’re doing fabulous, sweetpea! <3 thank u for ur question!!!
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Okay just finished watching all of Downton Abbey!! here are some thoughts. sorry for the length but I need to get this out of my system this has no particular order or reason I am just wringing out my mind like a dirty washcloth.
I feel like everybody here looooves Thomas. Probably like 90% of the Downton Abbey fanfiction on Ao3 are about Thomas. Um you guys know there are other characters in this show right? So I know it's unoriginal. But. I have to admit it. Thomas is my favourite and i love him <3
like they would be talking at dinner about Important Plot Things and Thomas is in the background serving appetizers and I'm like lol. there's Thomas. Then I'd have to rewind cuz I wasn't paying attention
but man he is so nasty at the beginning haha I think people forget that sometimes
I told my (blissfully offline) friend that I like him and she's like, why??? He's so mean???
IDK I like him BECAUSE he is mean! He's terrible and nasty and I like him for it!!
because like why should he be nice anyways? Should he be GRATEFUL to have the immense privilege of holding the door open for someone?? he's been handed an unfair lot in life and why should he be happy about it? poor little meow meow <3 <3
the costumes are sooo pretty. So glamourous! So beautiful! A real feast for the eyes. But like, it does seem all rather silly sometimes lol. Do you really need to wear a special outfit just to dinner. Do you really need so many staff to wait on five people XD
So I actually quite liked Tom's relationship with the family by the end of the series (especially him and Mary) their friendship is very sweet but Tom's arc still frustrates me soooooo much. Like oh yeah suuuure you're all about socialism and equality when you have to drive people around for a living but then you happen to marry a lady and suddenly you're all about upholding the same classist structures that once held you down. 🙄 What ever happened to your PRINCIPLES man?!! He has all the political backbone of a jellyfish. 
And like, Miss Bunting and even Miss Braithwaithe were RIGHT about Tom but they were made out to be SOOO obnoxious, like they were unreasonably painted as villains but at the core of it they were RIGHT. He WAS getting uppity. He WAS forgetting his roots.
Lord Grantham’s like "ooooh it's so sad those terrible brutal communists have been killing those poor innocent Russian aristocrats, oooh how horrifying i do not condone violence and killing" Yeah, but like... it's not as if the Russian peasants weren’t dying brutally at the hands of the rich and powerful for centuries. You weren't crying about it then.
Vera and Lavinia were like the same character to me. The same except so far the opposite it swung around to being the same. Vera was absurdly evil and Lavinia absurdly good and they both served no purpose except to be the obstacle to the One True Pairing 🙄
also Mr. Gregson's wife! Do we even learn her name? Poor lady is having a terrible time of it imprisoned in a mental hospital and literally nobody cares. :/ So much for those wedding vows, "in sickness and in health"
I think! Thomas and O'Brien's friendship is cute! so under-rated. partners in crime. they're in cahoots. >:3c Too bad it had to end like it did :(((
I think the plot with Jimmy would have been more interesting if Jimmy actually HAD led Thomas to believe he had a chance. Like if Jimmy's maybe having some weird feelings he doesn't know how to deal with. But then when push comes to shove Jimmy decides he just doesn't want to risk it and acts all offended to save his own reputation. Because as it is it felt like... a little too sudden. Or maybe I just feel too embarrassed on Thomas's behalf that he made such a mistake.
Anna and Mr. Bates. Ugh. I found their romance SO boring and tedious, so many obstacles were thrown in their way I forgot why they even wanted to be together in the first place. one of the worst subplots and they NEVER let it go
 Daisy was saying a lot of nasty things too by the end of the show honestly. But nooo Thomas is the mean one
 I feel like there is some sort of parallel that could be drawn between Ethel and Thomas. Or I'm not sure if it's a parallel but... how do I put this. If you think that Thomas's lot is unfair, then what happened to Ethel was also unfair. Because what did she do, really? The same thing I bet everyone on here wants Thomas to do. We all love Thomas but nobody really cares about Ethel. :/ idk I thought she had spunk and ambition and it's a shame they had to reduce her to a "fallen woman" subplot
it's so stupid that everyone had to get paired off at the end. Personally I don't see why Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes had to get married. oh the amatonormativity
on the other hand I think Mary and Carlisle should have married lol. XD Yeah they'd be unhappy. but they are suited for each other and it would certainly be INTERESTING haha (dunno how serious i am about this)
Edith’s outfits were always the nicest in my opinion. loved her colour scheme!
everyone's always like "oooohh noo our way of life is dying this is so sad" :((( I mean I guess?? It's sort of sad??? But ultimately. I Do Not Care about the lives of the British Aristocracy.
fun show all round
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dzthenerd490 · 9 months
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Tales: Rebirth meets Crack
The Prophet of Rebirth was meditating within his containment cell, he didn't really have much else better to do. Even if he tried using his blood to make enchanted scriptures the Foundation would just rush in and scrub it all away. He was in no rush to do so anyways, like all godly things his freedom had died by the hands of the Foundation but would soon be reborn, stronger than before. This Foundation was just another catalyst to his ascension as the holy general of the final war. 
"Oooh! Final war? What's that?" Rebirth opened his eyes only to see a strange girl in a short skirt maid costume but having a nun's coif on her head. Her eyes were pitch black and leaking this rainbow-like color that dropped from her eyes like different colored tears. Around her neck was a necklace with the upside-down symbol of peace though in this it was probably the symbol of YR. She smiled at Rebirth, making more of her rainbow-like tears fall from her eyes, which only made Rebirth raise an eyebrow at her. She then bowed to him like a maid normally would to their master.
"Greetings, I am the Holy Maid-en. Hehehe! Get it? Maid-en?"
"... Amusing. Mind telling me who you are and why you're here?"
"I am here on behalf of Zealots of Crack. Surely you've heard of us." Rebirth glared at her, he knew about them alright, and he sure didn't like them. 
"Yeah, I know you; those loose cannons that make even those Are We Cool Yet? brats scratch their heads at how insane you are. Not to mention your work is a massive insult on everything those of us that belong to actual religions stand up for."
"Your religion doesn't stand for anything; you worship no god." Rebirth stood up though he did so with grace and was actually taller than the Holy Maid-en. 
"My religion stands for the only thing that actually matters, humanity is considered a mistake by the worst gods and tools by the best. There is no happy ending for humanity despite us evolving beyond the gods. I understand our birthright as a species, my work is to simply extend the deal."
"Hm... sounds like fun, wanna tell me more when I get you outta here?" The Holy Maid-en extended her hand to Rebirth but he continued to look at her with disappointment. 
"What makes you think I'd want to go with you?"
"Because you want to escape?"
"Oh, I do, but I'm in no rush too. I'd rather go when the time is right which it currently isn't. Besides you are not one of my children, why would you want to help me unless you desire something in return?"
"Hehehe true, these SCParty poopers have lots of cool shit, even stuff your religion makes but why waste my time with that stuff when I can get one of the bigshots that made that stuff?"
"... Frankly I'm glad you didn't touch my artifacts and gifts nor the gifts of my children. But that doesn't mean I will extend that gratitude to any request you have towards me. Go back to your little group of psychopaths empty handed, because I won't be going with you." 
"Hehehe. I was kinda hoping you'd say that." The Holy Maid-en then grabbed the shoulders of Rebirth but he blew on her to get his hypnotic pheromones on her. She froze up making Rebirth thinking it worked, only for her to smile in a sadistically long grin. 
"Oooh! Hypnotize me harder daddy!" Rebirth glared at her in disgust and quickly punched her in the face. The punch did hit her hand and made her fall, but she suddenly disappeared only to suddenly grab him from behind and quickly pinned him down. 
"Sorry but I prefer foreplay on the bed!"
"I prefer foreplay with my mate! Who is much more attractive than you!" Suddenly Rebirth's body twisted, and he grabbed the Holy Maid-en's head trying to snap her neck. She teleported off of him trying to kick his head, but he grabbed her leg in anticipation and pushed her back while hurting her leg. She was stunned by the attack, allowing Rebirth to get up and rip off his shirt to show off the engraved ever shifting symbols on his flesh. The Holy Maid-en managed to collect herself and once she saw all the engraving on Rebirth, she licked her lips as if hungry and charged toward him. However, she barely got close before he slapped her across the face hard enough to bust through the door to his containment room. She flew out and landed hard on the door which slipped across the hall. emergency containment breach alarms went off, but neither of them cared.
The Holy Maid-en smiled sadistically while Rebirth continued to frown at her with disappointment. Rebirth looked around the halls and used his 12 other senses to see if there were any cameras or any other recording devices within the hallway. Once he was sure the Foundation had no eyes or ears on him, he stretched his arm out and grabbed the Holy Maid-en by the neck and raised her up. The truth was that he didn't need his Mask to manipulate his body, it's just without the mask he couldn't unleash his power to its full potential or do so very well. None of that was to say that he was useless, far from it, he earned his position as Prophet of Rebirth and leader of the Scriptures after all. 
However, despite being choked the Holy Maid-en was not scared or had panicked at all, instead she smiled as her colorful tears started flooding out of her eyes like small waterfalls. The rainbow-like water started moving like slimy living water, falling off of her and onto Rebirth's arm. It wrapped around his arm and quickly started spreading to cover as much of him as possible, which actually scared him a little. He quickly turned his other arm into an iron blade and sliced off the arm before the colorful liquid could cover his entire body.
The colorful water covered what was left of his arm as he grew a new one. Suddenly the arm started twitching around and seemingly changing. The end result was a large colorful serpent-like monster that coiled up and raised its head, hissing at him like an anaconda. 
"Oooh! I wasn't expecting that but I'm still taking it! Man, nothing like a little chaos to make the most Awesome and random shit!" The Holy Maid-en then looked behind her to see three Foundation guards behind her. Rebirth noticed there were four guards behind him as well, he quickly shifted his arms back to normal though he had a feeling it wouldn't matter in a few seconds. 
"Freeze! Put your hands up!"
"Comply or you will be shot!"
"... Hey, I have a question? Why do so many religions have snakes as a symbol but never an actual deity." Suddenly the rainbow snake started flashing in colors and phased through the walls of the hallway. 
"What the hell?! Where did that go-" Suddenly the same snake appeared but as more translucent with its colorful and slimy body being barely visible. It quickly started phasing through the security units biting their necks as it passed by. 
"Holy shit! Open fir-"
"Maybe we've taken snakes for granted, maybe they're the ones that need our real prayers, maybe it's not gods that need our faith but all the snakes of the world." Soon the four security guards behind rebirth were hit with the same attack. All the guards were now dead leaving Rebirth and the Holy Maid-en alone again. The rainbow snake phased from the walls again and turned back to its normal opaque, while wrapping itself around the Holy Maid-en's neck like a scarf. 
"But maybe that's just me losing my goddamn mind, after all, I'm just a Zealot on Crack!"
"You really don't miss an opportunity, do you?"
"A true artist never ceases to advertise what they offer."
"Yet you haven't really offered me anything."
"No, but that's mainly because you can offer me everything!" The Holy Maid-en charged at Rebirth and like a scarf threw the rainbow snake at him making it shoot forward and try to bite him. Rebirth dodged but his expression didn't change as he stretched out his arms behind him to grab the rifles from the dead security units. He fused them with his flesh turning his arms into mutant cyborg-like guns armed with bullets made from his flesh but much stronger than any bullet in existence. He started firing which quickly tore up the rainbow snake, of course the snake could have phased through the bullets but not his. Rebirth's bullets were infused with his own thaumaturgy created from ancient mekhanite and sarkite rituals allowing the bullets to hit any living organism regardless of what physical state or dimension they were in. 
"Wah?! No fair! I just got that thing today! No fair! No fair!" Holy Maid-en shook her fists like a brat not getting candy from their parents. Rebirth took the opportunity and shifted his left arm into a giant metal claw with the parts of the guns in his arms. He bashed the wall of the hallway aiming for the Holy Maid-en. She did a perfect split allowing her to flatten her body to the ground She crawled forward while laying down as low as she could yet moving extremely fast. She grabbed him and they both teleported into one of the offices of a researcher leaving her screaming in confusion. Rebirth pushed the Holy Maid-en off of her and swung his leg to kick her in the stomach. The kick landed hard but the Holy Maid-en grabbed his leg and soon they teleported to the cafeteria of the Site. 
With the alarm for containment breach still not off the cafeteria was filled with nothing but security units on standby. Though among them were also units of the elite Mobile Task Force Epsilon-11 "Nine-Tailed Fox". Rebirth quickly shifted his arms back to normal before anyone could see them and backed off to leave the Holy Maid-en surrounded.
"I'm more than happy to be escorted back to my cell! But before that I think this little troublemaker should be dealt with first."
"Hahaha! Catch me if you can SCP Flops!" While the two were talking an Epsilon-11 unit pulled out a cybernetic looking pistol with dim red lights glowing out of it, showing off its cyberpunk aesthetic. He fired a dart out of the pistol hitting her on the back, the dark quickly pierced her skin and started glowing red. It was a reality anchor dart, or an RA dart; only ever used when fighting against reality benders to keep them from using their powers, thus making them easier to contain. 
"Aurgh! Are you serious?!"
"Stand down now!"
"Get your hands up and get on your knees!"
"Do it now fucker!"
"Oooh! Kinky! But as much as I'd love to stay. I don't really think I'm on the same wavelength as your jarheads." Suddenly her skin started getting wrinkly and seemingly saggy. It was quickly revealed that this was the result of her shedding her skin off leaving nothing but her muscles. 
"At least until I get thicker skin! GET IT? HAHAHAHAHA!" In the middle of their shock, she simply disappeared. Several security units walked up to where she last was including the Epsilon-11 unit that shot her. He picked up the skin causing a security unit to gag, he then grabbed the part of her skin that had the RA dart and pulled it off, badly tearing her skin. 
"We're going to need to update these to make them stab the target deeper than just the skin."
"I'll bring it up with doctors at the DTASMW later, for now let's get SCP-ABX back into its containment cell before he starts using his anomalous abilities on us." the Security and Epsilon-11 units raised their rifles at Rebirth, he simply smiled and raised his arms calmly. 
"Be at ease, I learned my mistake from last time, I have no intention of causing you any further trouble." One of the Epsilon-11 units got behind him and slapped him on the back, Rebirth grunted in pain as he felt a stab on his back. He looked as far as he could and saw the red glowing of the RA dart, it had been stabbed on his back. Rebirth looked at the Epsilon-11 unit who shrugged at him. 
"Better safe than sorry. No use in complaining, just move it." Rebirth sighed and followed the Epsilon-11 and security units as they escorted him back to his containment cell. He made sure to absorb all the information he could about them, the weapons they were holding, and all the hallways they passed. But even as he was learning all of this, he knew that it still wasn't enough, it wasn't anywhere near the time for freedom, more time was needed.
.
SCP: HMF Tales Hub
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lookanartdweeb · 2 years
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You must atone for your sins Barnaby.....
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lady-of-the-lotus · 4 years
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Xue Yang’s Costumes
On my millionth Xue Yang rewatch, I noticed something interesting about Xue Yang’s costuming. And only on my millionth rewatch, because my usual observations on costuming is just “Oooh, pretty!” and plus the show jumps around in time. Not sure how it all holds together, but the basic idea makes sense.
In his initial introductions, he’s wearing all black, with some gold trim, a gold leaf headpiece, and mostly black robes with some black and gray inner robes (only really seen in bts photos; a shame). He commits some of his worst crimes in this outfit, slaughtering the entire Chang Clan and some rando cultivators we don't care about.
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Terrorizing the women Jiggy used to kill his dad is up there in show’s most disturbing moments that went way overboard why Jiggy why, and his all-black costume reflects that. Not even a hint of a softening greenish-goldish underobe like he wears in Jiggy's torture chamber. The black fits his character at that moment in the timeline.
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For the NMJ decapitation, he’s wearing mostly dark colors, with two thick dark gray accents, and the gold leaf headpiece. There's a hint of his future changes via a greenish inner robe just visible in a quick shot and the greenish tinge to the gray bands on his robe. The colors are lighter here depending on your screen, BUT it's NMJ's Empathy, and not to be trusted. His inner robe is different, and the other robe has a pinkish tinge? Chalking it up to the disordered Empathy and moving on.)
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He’s booted out of the Jin sometime after this, and is found by Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing. He’s wearing all black again, with hints of gold trim. He’s switched to a more elaborate silver scorpion-like headpiece, as if having distanced himself from the gold-headpieced Wen/Jin even before being kicked out. I wonder if he saw the writing on the wall with the Jin, or if he swapped it out after he left (it’s unclear if Jiggy had him beaten, or just kicked out and his enemies found him). 
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After living with his new family Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing for a bit of time, he’s in head-to-toe gray. He’s still a Bad Guy™, but in addition to having Xiao Xingchen kill many innocent villagers, he’s also starting to develop Actual Human Feelings Of The Non-Murderous Variety. (The duality of Man.) This is the outfit he robs the grocer in helps Xiao Xingchen shop in, has the Bonfire Soft Look in, and has XXC kill the villagers in. Still with the silver headpiece, and that inner robe is still the gold-trimmed black one, as he hasn’t let go of his old ways entirely. 
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By the time Song Lan shows up, and Xue Yang’s been living happily and peacefully in Yi City without murdering anyone for a while (going by the novel, which the Viki captions don't contradict), and he’s dressed mostly in green. I know it was likely chosen because no other major character wears non-minty Jiang green, but green is the color of life and the opposite of black in that respect (by Western standards anyway, which the show was clearly influenced by in dressing Xue Yang and WWX in black). His inner robe is olive green. He’s as soft here as he’ll ever be. Silver headpiece is still there and tbh I miss the understated gold leaf.
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And then of course it all goes to hell, and the next time we see him he’s disguised as Xiao Xingchen, yet still wearing his signature colors despite only appearing in them once before shhh green is XY’s color. He’s no longer-straight up Bad in his old I Am Divorced From This Miserable World And Murder Is Fun So Why Not? way. And he's still Not A Good Person but his entire life is now devoted to bringing Xiao Xingchen back—a display of devotion (platonic, romantic, or selfish; take your pick)—and goodness (for him—this is clearly Not An Actual Good Thing To Do... though honestly repairing XXC's soul isn't all that bad if he's willing to then set him at rest and not explore the creepy The Dead Obey agenda.) Reflecting this, he’s wearing a lot of the greenest green we’ve seen him in yet, with a thin dark gray outer robe trimmed with the old gold he can't fully give up.
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His hair is simple, no headpiece, either because he’s impersonating Xiao Xingchen or because he's evolved past the need for fancy hairdos or because he’s waiting for XXC to come back and braid his hair (let me have my headcanon). This is the outfit he dies in, struggling for one last look at the candy. (I’m still unclear on if he was involved in luring WWX to Yi City to pick his brain in CQL, or if he was wandering around as Xiao Xingchen full time and bumped into WWX, or what. Makes for sense for him to draw WWX and the others to Yi City than NHS in CQL).
Side note, green is totally his color and he has an underrated fashion sense. I’d love to see him, Jiang Cheng, and Lan Xichen on Project Runway
Bonus Wang Haoxuan: Put your collarbones away, gurl! This isn't a nightclub.
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brideofcthulhu10 · 4 years
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Behold another Lost Boys holiday special! It was between this and Valentine’s day, but honestly I love writing Christmas specials, its such a cozy time despite the high suicide rates, but lets not get into that. A BIG SHOUT OUT TO @imlostinsantacarla FOR HELPING ME EDIT MY FINAL DRAFT!
Fun Fact! My husband, David (yes, that is actually his name) actually does have the bah humbug hat I mention in the head canons. He’s a heavy metal goth so when I found it at the store I had to get it for him. And you just know if our David found that, he wouldn’t be able to resist it!
Christmas with the Boys
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Alright, so the whole touchy, feely and mushy feelings that surround even the topic of Christmas time is not something any of the boys will ever openly admit to enjoying. After all, they see themselves as these bad ass brutal killers who thrive off of death instead of holding hands and caroling with the goodie goodies of this coastal town. 
Yet, it's challenging for them not to get sucked into the glitz and glam of the holiday season. Everything is a big deal in Santa Carla. Dia De Los Muertos, Halloween, Thanksgiving- everything! But especially Christmas.
Christmas in Santa Carla dwarfs the frenzy craze of Halloween. The entirety of the boardwalk is decked out with red and green lights that are tightly wound around palm trees, red bulbous bows are wrapped tightly around street lamps, the reds and whites of velvety fabric swirl down the posts, creating the effect of candy canes. All the store windows are painted to appear frosted, or covered with painted snowmen whilst several rooftops are covered with white felt in which mimics the texture and sight of snow. Even the boats in the harbour are all extravagantly decorated in a sea of lights that parade around brightly at night in every color imaginable.
Between the dates of the 30th of November all the way to the 24th of December the city of Santa Carla hosts a plethora of wondrous events in it's annual Holiday Festival. Large green, white and red kiosks are erected, selling a wide range of baubles and treats, from delectable chocolate coated rice krispy Santa Clauses, elf candy apples caked in a plethora of dark chocolate and peppermint, to a variety of Holiday hats, masks and even hand made costumes by the many local artists. Even hand carved candles in wondrous scents of pine, mint, or spice.
Currently, David possesses a black fur Santa hat which he acquired on a night out that boasts the words "Bah Humbug" proudly sewn over the front. It's the only holiday attire he'll even humor. Last time Marko attempted to place reindeer antlers on his head, David had set them on fire roasting atop a pan of chestnuts. Now it's not to say that he's a grinch persay. Rather, the complex and intense emotions that come hand in hand with Christmas can leave him perpetually indifferent at best, disdainful at worst. The whole occasion leaves him displeased. After all, he was an orphan who had been almost eagerly abandoned by his hooker mother left to fend for himself from the beginning, and  of course never met his father. Even she could not identify which of her many clients may have been responsible. Most of his mortal life he had lived as a street rat, barely making ends meet by picking the pockets of tourists and Santa Carla citizens oblivious to the true dangers of the lower side of town. The rich and uppity classes who often snubbed their entitled noses his way would never suspect as he lurks between alleyways, leaving them cornered at knife point. It was scarce that he ever did see a kind face in the sea of those who had little interest for anyone that was not themselves. Back then it was rather uncommon for anyone to step outside their own little lives, which led to most interactions, outside of the other boys, having been met with great hostility, thus he had learned to be just as equally hostile in turn. Even the mere thought of anyone suddenly dawning a false kindness due to a certain time of year simply agitated David. It rattled him to the very core in a way very few other things did. Why bother with the lies? Couldn't people just face the very basic fact that they weren't nearly as charitable as they often deemed themselves to be? I mean, the young man had seen firsthand a family having previously snubbed a dirty homeless man with appalled disdain at the sight of his muddied clothes and dirt stained skin, only to then begin volunteering at a soup kitchen to purge whatever guilt they carried on their conscience once the holiday season began. The whole ordeal was pitiful! Nevertheless, - more so for Paul and Marko's sakes than his own -, he did humor these traditions amongst the holiday's festivities. Ruining a good time just wasn't his style. Unless they started fucking singing.
Most traditions David could tolerate, some he even enjoyed slightly; although he would never be caught dead admitting something as embarrassing as that! However, he just couldn't stand Christmas carols! They were the bain to his immortal existence. The repetitive nature of these overly cheery jingles left him covering his ears lest they nest in his brain leaving him humming the same damn melody for weeks. This was the case because the dynamic duo of dumbasses were well aware of his hatred for Rudolph the Red Nosed fuckin' roadkill! Stupid red nosed abomination. 
“OOOOOOH-,” Paul begins with cheerful mischief.
“Don’t. You. Fucking. Dare.” David seethes through tightly clenched teeth, eyes screwed shut in indignance. 
Paul hesitates. He looks at Marko. Marko looks at Paul. Wicked grins of agreement spread wide like wildfire across their faces as their master plan comes into play. Full throttle. What’s more fun than annoying the shit out of David? One on the left, the other on the opposite side of the cave on the right. This was nothing but Divine perfection if you asked the two troublesome vampires.
“OOOOOH DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW!” Paul belted out at full volume.
“IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH!” Marko followed in suit, the widest eerie grin plastered on his face.
“OVER THE HILLS WE GOOOO” Paul howled enthusiastically. 
“I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU BOTH!” David's voice hit a whole new octave it had never in all his life so far. All the while Dwayne had opted to vacate the room lest he be caught in the middle of the escalating madness with Laddie in tow. He loved these guys, but not enough to dive head first into their fuckery.
Paul thrives during the Christmas holidays! How could he not? The food, the punk rock covers of Christmas songs, the absolute babes prancing around the town in Santa hats under mistletoe?! He loved it all! You can find him sneaking under mistletoe with many sweet honeys on a constant basis, regardless of whether or not he's acquainted with them. Most do roll their eyes or laugh it off, but every once in a blue moon the guy will get a little lovin' from a beach babe in the Yuletide mood. What else could he ask for? You can bet he’ll run into the woods December first, and quite literally RIP a pine tree out of the ground to bring home like a wee carrot being plucked from the ground. The bigger the better! He may even drag Dwayne or Marko along with him if it's too big for him to carry himself. And all the boozy drinks he can concoct up? This boy is in his element! Mulled wine, spiked eggnog, candy cane vodka, butterscotch bourbon hot chocolate?! Yes! David straight up refuses to try anything that Paul creates himself (remember the concoction he made in Max's kitchen? Those poor goldfish....) which is also another reason why he has Dwayne help him. Or rather, the other boys insist the most responsible of them monitors the blonde lest he poison them with some sickly brew. That, and the fact that Dwayne's the least likely out of all of them to blow up the damn kitchen!
Dwayne is indeed the designated cook during the holiday rush, albeit a field even he tends to struggle. Avoiding the kitchen catching aflame, perfecting his craft lest he blow up the stove, leaving only a pile of ash in its wake. As previously mentioned, ever since the dreadful chain of events that lead to the unfortunate destruction of Max's kitchen, this raven haired vampire has attempted his hand at learning to use a stove properly: Although he often finds himself forgetting ingredients either in the midst of cooking or after the final product is done and he's taken a big bite. 
“Shit! I forgot the milk and eggs!” Dwayne grumbled with a mouthful of dry crumbs, a true disgrace of a cookie.
Paul always gives him crap for it of course.
“Oooh I just thought you were going for a sandy, dusty dry cookie kinda thing.”
"Yeah man, these taste like ass!" Marko would cough out in midst of choking. 
"And what, like you dumbasses could do any better," Dwayne retorts with a huff. Only Star manages to have any manners when testing his failed baking endeavors.
"Well I mean, the taste isn't that bad. Just a little dry is all."
"At least Marko wouldn't be choking to death." David would mutter from the darkest corner of the room, a little late in the conversation.
In all honesty, Dwayne's biggest motivation when it came to improving his skills was obviously Laddie. The kid never got much of a Christmas whilst living with his mom, so now that he was with the boys, he wanted to ensure that Christmas's were something that Laddie would remember for all eternity. Though granted, it is quite the mess when he was helping in the kitchen. But when the mini vamp grins from ear to ear whilst coated in flour and rapidly stirring an overflowing bowl of chunky cookie dough--the sight is too freaking cute!
Since Laddie joined the boys, they participate in Secret Santa every single year, which definitely includes Paul bursting through the entrance of the hotel as Santa on Christmas day. We won't talk about the fact that each year he almost falls flat on his face and swears, ruining the surprise for the kid. 
"Santa where are your reindeer," he'd question, to which Santa Paul scoffs
"Pff, reindeer, I don't need any fucki- Ow," cut off by a firm and covert kick to the shin from Star, Paul quickly changes his response. "Oh! Ho ho, well, you see little boy, Santa can fly too! On his, uh, uhm… magic motorcycle! Yeah, that!"
But it's okay because Laddie already KNEW (he figured it out a year or two ago after Paul's beard fell off not once, but three times), he just doesn't have the heart to tell any of them because, well Paul really gets into it. And he knows the others are playing along for his sake. But to be fair, Laddie would have to be pretty dumb to believe it was Santa. I mean, the beard Paul's wearing is hanging half off his face by this point! But anyway, just like Paul's style, the entirety of the goody two shoes schpiel is thrown out the window, replaced with sleeves that have been ripped off, muddy boots, spiked bracelets and his Metallica shirt in full view beneath his flared red coat. He calls this BIKER CLAUS!
Laddie is not a squasher of traditions! But there was the one time that David had to intervene when Paul and Dwayne thought it would be great to use Laddie as the star at the top of the tree. David practically had a heart attack. Well, that's impossible but it still felt like he was having one!  
“Ho ho ho! Now, don’t be a bitch, little David or Santa will have to give you coal.” Paul stated mockingly to David, brows furrowed. 
“Well, Santa,” David scolds, a wry smile developing on his face when setting down the eight year old now off to shake his presents beneath their behemoth of a tree. “You best be careful. You never know what's in those milk and cookies, hm?”
Each year Marko buys bird toys for the pigeons in the hotel. Well, buy is probably the wrong word. More like he liberates the stores of their stock. And then for the next six months, David has to hear the agonizing jingle of bells. David almost roasted one pigeon in particular that kept flying over him to drop the ball with a bell in it on his head. That was Paul's entertainment for the next five hours, hell, he'd try to find it if the bird lost it and give it back. Marko defends the pigeon. Between running through stores buying up surprises for his friends, he's helping Paul throw out decorations for the cave. The dollar store has some surprisingly unexpected treasures, allowing him to deck the fucking halls to the max. Tinsel here, ornaments there,  tiny light up trees to hide around the caves, a butt ton of cinnamon pine cones which he ends up throwing back and forth with Paul.
And Paul often steals his gifts or goes dumpster diving for any hidden gems. He forgets to take the tags off of them the majority of the time, which is always an indicator whether or not its new. Any time Star asks where he got them from he refuses to answer. Just gets up and walks away. But for David's gift? Well this lucky bastard has found coal in the dumpster and chucks it to David when he's not looking and he sighs deeply in disappointment because this is the third year Paul has done this. 
 "Huh? What? Who did that? Wasn't me. Somebody's throwing stuff."
Other than that he'll find a fat bag of charcoal and just tape the name David on it. David is certainly not amused. Dwayne will actually try to figure out what the others want, and has the sense to save the money taken from their previous meals. After all, they're dead, they wouldn't have much use for it anyway. He's not about to waste his hypnosis on some poor cashier. That would be a waste of time in his eyes. 
When Christmas did arrive the tree was piled with mysterious boxes crudely mashed and taped together with bows and ribbons underneath it. It's obvious which ones are from Star since those gifts are wrapped in neatly pressed paper, wound tight beneath curled ribbons that remind the boys of her hair. Marko often goes on a food run rather than allow them all to be subjected to a potentially charred turkey, no offense to Dwayne of course. So, with a table covered from end to end with copious bowls of gravy, potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, a beast of a turkey in the center packed to the brim with cornbread stuffing, the boys cram into their chairs knocking back beers and spiked cider. Keeping to their own traditions, after fattening up, they gather around the tree and play card games, just as they had over eighty years ago on that frigid night. David still slays them in poker, and Marko is an utter dark horse when it comes to blackjack. Paul insists they try Go Fish. No one ever wants to play Go Fish. Closer towards the end of the night Dwayne will slip away to Jasper's shrine and bring him a fresh glass of rum as well as unwrapping what he got him that year. While Dwayne is there, the other boys will join him - omitting Star and Laddie left unaware of the Lost Boy they'd never met - in celebrating the last hour or so of the Holiday season with their fallen comrade.
Although Christmas time is often about uncomfortable mushy moments and emotions that create deep, unfamiliar times for David. The entire ordeal becomes that for everyone of the boys and Star. But God forbid anyone who even mentions it! I mean, it's kinda obvious though considering he's spending it with the people he always called family, knee deep in traditions that are sentimental to himself and the boys. There's a fluster of emotions running rampant during this particular Holiday Season, and although the blonde brooding vampire decides to squint at it with skepticism he savors these moments, knowing like Jasper, it could all be swept away with a single ray of light or the foolish hand of a hunter. So as they sit, drunk, full, and laughing beside Jasper's grave he can't help but smile at the sentimentality of it all. Christmas is a pain in the ass, but… it's a pain he'll gladly sit through for his brothers.
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whumphoarder · 5 years
Text
Long Distance Dadding
Summary: Peter gets sick while babysitting Morgan at the lake house and Tony is a Worried Dad™ about it.
Word count: 5,172
Genre: Sickfic, whump, hurt/comfort, fluff & angst
A/N: Mega thanks to @xxx-cat-xxx and @sallyidss or beta reading and ideas <3
(This story is set about a year and a half after the snap's reversal. Peter is 18 and in college and Morgan is 6)
Link to read on Ao3
The trouble with saving the world from the largest global disaster to date, Tony finds, is that no one ever shuts up about it.
“Okay, not to sound like an ass or anything...” Tony begins, already eliciting an eye-roll from his wife, “but I’ve already been given a Nobel Peace Prize, the Congressional Medal of Honor, three Victoria Crosses—British, Australian, and Canadian—a Russian Gold Star, a Chinese Hero's Medal, the Gold Cross of Zimbabwe, and about twelve other various countries’ awards. Why do I need to go to Morocco of all places now?”
“Because they built you a monument, Tony,” Pepper explains for the third time, her tone a bit exasperated. “There’s a two-hundred foot tall statue of you in their capital city, waiting to be ceremoniously revealed.”
Raising his hands to chest height, Tony wiggles his fingers—both the flesh and prosthetic ones—in a jazz hand gesture. “Oooh...a statue,” he mocks. “I’m titillated.”
Pepper snorts. “You’d better have mustered up some titillation by the time you shake hands with the Moroccan Prime Minister this weekend.”
“This weekend?” Tony balks. “We can’t go this weekend. Morgan’s got her… uh…”—he flaps his hand, trying to recall just what tedious elementary school obligation the first-grader has coming up next—“her snowman... ball… thingy.”
Pepper raises an eyebrow in amusement. “You mean the ‘Seasonal Snowflake Sing-along’?”
His face lights up and he snaps his fingers in recognition. “That’s the one!”
“Well, you’re in luck,” she laughs sardonically. “Earlier today, Morgan’s teacher called to let me know that our daughter has flat-out refused to participate this year. Something about itchy costumes, boring songs, and ‘child talent exploitation’—did you teach her that term by the way? Because I certainly didn’t and Ms. Sanchez was pretty ruffled about it.”
Tony has to bite the inside of his mouth to keep the grin from spreading across his lips. He shrugs innocently. “You know, it’s important to start building a child’s vocabulary as early as possible. All the experts agree.”
Pepper heaves out a deep sigh, but Tony can see the smile in her eyes. She leans in and pecks his cheek with a kiss. “Go pack for Morocco, Tony. Peter already agreed to babysit. And besides”—she whispers the next part in his ear, her fingers trailing over the collar of his shirt—“I don’t know about you, but I think we could do with a weekend to ourselves…”
“Well…” Tony clears his throat, feeling himself melting under her touch. “You always did know how to make a compelling argument, Ms. Potts.”
X
“So, Morocco, huh?” Peter says with a grin as he loads his duffle bag into the backseat of the car. Tony’s parked in the loading zone just outside of Peter’s residence hall at MIT that Thursday evening. “What’s going on over there?”
“Just another stupid award ceremony,” Tony grumbles. He moves back around to the driver’s side. “Gonna cut a big red ribbon, shake metal hands with some dignitaries, attend a couple of fancy banquets, yada yada…”
Breathing out a short laugh, Peter plops down into the passenger seat. He looks a bit haggard, though Tony can’t blame him; the first semester of college is always rough. Hopefully the long-weekend away will help.
Throughout the four-hour drive to the lake house, they chat about Peter’s classes (“You know, they told us in high school that college was going to be so much stricter, Mr. Stark, but there was literally a kid in my English class who started making grilled cheese sandwiches on a hotplate and selling them during the lecture and the professor bought one”), the new people he’s been meeting (“Pretty sure my roommate is in a cult, actually...”), and extracurricular activities (“Did you know if you take fencing, archery, pistol shooting, and sailing, you can become a certified pirate?”). Eventually, they run out of things to catch up on and Peter starts looking drowsy, so Tony turns on the radio for some background music and they continue on like that for a while.
Three hours in, Tony’s forced to stop for gas. Peter is sleeping soundly, curled up in his hoodie for the whole time it takes to fill the car. For a moment, Tony’s tempted to just let him be, but given that this will likely be their last opportunity for a break until they’re home he ultimately decides against it.
“Hey Pete?” Tony says, shaking the kid’s shoulder a bit to rouse him. “Did you wanna stretch your legs or anything?”
Peter blinks awake and shifts to sit up straighter with a small groan. “How far are we?” he mutters.
“Another hour at least, but I thought we might get some late dinner too,” Tony replies. “There’s an Arby’s right across the street.”
Peter’s face screws up into a grimace. “Ugh, Arby’s is the worst. It’s like, a wad of salty meat on a bun.”
“But with sauce,” Tony points out. Seeing Peter’s expression doesn’t change, he amends, “Alright no Arby’s. McDonald’s? They’ve got a new McFlurry flavor for the holidays I think.”
Peter gives a tired shrug, then curls back up against the window. “You can just get something for yourself. I’m not very hungry.”
Tony eyes him suspiciously. “Who are you and what have you done to Peter?”
“Hilarious, Mr. Stark,” Peter deadpans. Then, after a moment, he admits, “My stomach’s kinda hurting.”
Tony’s brow furrows. “Yeah?”
Rubbing at his gut one-handedly, Peter nods. “Yeah, since lunch. Probably shouldn’t have tried convenience store sushi...”
Tony snorts a bit. “Well, they do say a key part of college is experimentation and learning from your mistakes.”
Peter huffs out a laugh. “Awesome. Maybe I’ll join Martin’s cult next.”
X
They make it the rest of the way to the lake house without incident. Morgan’s already asleep, so Peter hangs out in the kitchen chatting with Tony and Pepper for a bit before turning in to the guest bedroom for the night.
Peter seems fine the next morning, if a little groggy. Their flight to Morocco leaves at 6:30, but both kids are up at stupid o’clock in the morning to send them off.
“You’re sure you don’t wanna go to your concert thing tonight?” Tony tries one last time as he encircles Morgan in both his flesh and prosthetic arms for a goodbye hug.
She shakes her head firmly. “Every time we practice Jingle Bells, Keegan makes farting noises with his mouth and the vein in Ms. Sanchez’s neck gets really big and red,” she says. “Peter’s more fun.”
“Yeah, probably,” Tony agrees. He pecks her on the cheek before turning to Peter, who’s blinking tiredly and sipping at a mug of coffee as he leans against the kitchen island. “Now, are you sure you’re up for a whole weekend of this?” He gestures to the energetic six-year-old in front of him.
“I think we’ll manage,” Peter says with a small smile. “If she gets too crazy, I’ll just web her to the wall.”
“Hey!” Morgan complains, and Peter sticks his tongue out at her in return.
Tony chuckles. “Sure, do what you gotta do,” he allows. “Just don’t get it in her hair—hate to have to cut it off. The Valentine’s Day sing-along is up next.”
“Uuuuggghh,” Morgan groans dramatically.
X
Despite all of Tony’s protests, he has to admit that Morocco is pretty gorgeous. There are definitely worse places to be honored with a gigantic statue.
“I’m just saying, I think the chin was too big,” Tony complains as they make their way back to their hotel room following the ceremony that evening.
Huffing out a little laugh, Pepper shakes her head. “I’m sure they did their best, Tony.”
“But of all the things to get wrong, why’d it have to be the chin?” he goes on, though there’s no real heat there. “I mean, c’mon, this whole thing is about the defeat of Mr. Purple Ballsack Face—they could have a bit more sensitivity…”
While Pepper heads off to the shower, Tony glances at his watch. It’s just after one a.m. Moroccan time, meaning Peter and Morgan are probably finishing up dinner back at home. He figures that’s as good a time as any to check in, so he calls Peter’s phone.
Four rings later, a small voice that definitely doesn’t belong to the teenager answers the call. “Hello?”
Tony frowns. “Morgan?”
“Oh! Hi Daddy,” Morgan greets, her tone going much brighter. “How’s your trip going? Do you like maracas?”
Tony chuckles a bit. “Sweetheart, I keep telling you, Mommy and I are in Morocco. A maraca is a musical instrument that you shake to make noise.”
“Can you buy me one?”
“One of what?”
She giggles. “A maraca!”
“No, honey, listen to me.” Tony runs a hand over his face. Maybe Pepper was right about the whole needing a vacation thing after all. “Maracas are not Moroccan. They don’t make them here. It’s a totally different thing.”
“Oh.” There’s a beat. “Can you buy me one anyway?”
“I don’t know—we’ll see,” Tony says, shaking his head slowly. “Hey, can I talk to Peter for a sec?”
“Uh…” Morgan hesitates. “Peter can’t come to the phone right now.”
Tony frowns. “Why’s that?”
“He’s throwing up,” she says simply.
“Morgan!” he hears Peter groan irritably in the background.
“What?” she demands, speaking away from the phone now. “You told me to talk to him for you, so I am.”
“But you weren’t supposed to tell—” Peter’s voice is cut off by the sound of retching, followed by the faint sound of liquid splashing.
Tony pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why is Peter throwing up?”
“He’s sick,” Morgan reports. “We were playing before, but then he said he didn’t feel good and his stomach hurt so we were just watching Wreck-It Ralph for a while. Then I said I wanted taquitos for dinner and he threw up on my Elsa blanket. It was really gross. But he said he was sorry, so I told him it was okay.” She pauses her rambling for a second. “We can wash it, right Daddy? Like that time I spilled all the yogurt on it?”
“Yeah, I’m sure the blanket will be fine,” Tony says absently. He’s already scrolling through his calendar app to figure out just how many Moroccan obligations they have left to attend. “Can you give the phone to Peter now, please?” he requests. “And then go to the kitchen and see if you can find him a can of Sprite, okay? Maybe some crackers too.”
“Yeah, okay,” Morgan agrees.
He hears shuffling over the line, which he assumes is the phone being passed between them, immediately followed by the sound of Morgan’s footsteps hurrying out of the room. A second later, Peter’s voice croaks, “Sorry, ’m fine, Mr. Stark. And Morgan was watching another movie. Got everything…“—he swallows hard—“handled.”
Tony rolls his eyes. “Very convincing. I’m sure Elsa agrees.”
“Elsa had it coming, honestly,” Peter grouses. “Those songs always get stuck... stuck in my—” He burps sickly, and then Tony hears the phone clatter onto the tile followed by more muffled retching and splashing noises.
Tony sighs deeply, running a hand over his face. So much for vacation. He fires off a quick text to Happy: Hey, you busy tonight?
As Peter continues to retch, three dots appear on the screen indicating Happy is typing. Are you in a foreign prison again?
For the last time, Slovakia was not my fault, Tony retorts.
A second later Happy texts: Keep telling yourself that.
Tony hears the toilet flush and the sound of the phone being picked up again. Peter’s voice, shakier now, comes back over the line, “Uh… you still there?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it,” Tony says briskly. “Bathrooms have the best acoustics, you know.”
“That’s really gross...” Peter mutters.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to talk about gross right now, puke-boy,” Tony retorts as he fires off another text to Happy: Got a situation. How soon can you get to the lake house?
Happy’s reply comes a few seconds later: I’m watching Iron Chef America and doing laundry, Tony. It’s my day off.
Tony counters with, The kids are home alone and Peter just decided to reenact The Exorcist
The three dots appear, then disappear. Then they appear again a moment later, followed by a message: I can be there in 2 hours
You’re the best, boo <3, Tony shoots back. To Peter he informs, “Happy’s on his way.”
“He doesn’t have to,” Peter protests. “It’s just food poisoning or something…”
Tony scoffs. “Well, either way, someone who isn’t busy puking should probably be keeping an eye on the little troublemaker.” He pauses for a beat. “And Morgan too.”
Peter just groans.
In the background, Tony hears the telltale pattering of small feet on the tile. “I couldn’t reach the crackers, so I got you Doritos!” she announces.
Peter’s voice is hesitant. “Oh. Uh… thanks.”
There’s the sound of a crinkling bag moving closer to the phone. “They’re Cool Ranch flavor!”
Immediately, Peter starts gagging again.
Tony heaves out a sigh. It’s gonna be a long night.
X
After filling his wife in on the developments back on the home front (and being assured by Happy that he was keeping tabs on the situation as he made his way to the lake house), both Tony and Pepper decide they should try to get some shut-eye before their packed day tomorrow.
Pepper falls asleep straight away, clearly exhausted from their full day of travel and social obligations, but Tony finds himself tossing and turning on the overly-soft hotel mattress. It’s not until Happy texts that he’s safely arrived at the lake house to assume his uncle duties that Tony finally manages to drift off.
It doesn’t last long.
It’s barely 4:30 in the morning when Tony’s roused from his sleep by his phone vibrating under the pillow. He pulls the device out to see a message from Happy:
Kid’s had his appendix out already, right?
Being mindful of his sleeping wife beside him, Tony holds the phone just inside the duvet to shield the glowing screen from waking her. Yeah, before the snap, when he was 16, he replies, his mind going back to Halloween night seven years ago. A frantic and babbling Ned somehow managed to hack into Karen’s communication systems to inform Tony that Peter was more or less dying on the bathroom floor. An emergency surgery later, Peter’s been one appendix lighter ever since.
Why? Tony adds. Is it that bad?
Nah, just checking, Happy says. He says he’s alright but he’s running a fever and his stomach’s hurting a lot
Tony frowns. How high’s the fever?
Not very high. 100.9. It’s probably just a bug then
Yeah, probably, Tony agrees, despite the nagging worry in his gut. How’s Morgan taking it?
Just put her to bed, Happy reports. She kept trying to bring Peter juice pops until he finally ate one. Puked it up again ten minutes later. Don’t think nursing is her calling in life
Tony huffs out a short laugh as he types: Nope
Happy follows up with: Alright, I think I’ll try to get Sir Barfs-a-lot to bed now
Godspeed, Hap, Tony replies.
Then he slides the phone back under his pillow, pulls the covers up around his chin, and doesn’t sleep a wink.
X
“Look, I don’t like this situation any more than you do, but we can’t just bail on six dignitaries, Tony,” Pepper says in exasperation. She’s standing in front of the bathroom vanity, door ajar as she finishes straightening her hair. “We have two meetings this morning and a luncheon scheduled with the royal family at two.”
Tony runs a hand through his hair. “I know, I know…” he sighs. “I’m probably overreacting, it’s just…” he trails off.
It’s eight o’clock now, meaning the time is currently two a.m. back in New York. According to Happy’s last text, Peter managed to make it to bed around midnight and though he was still in a fair amount of pain, he hadn’t vomited for a few hours. Objectively, Happy did seem to have everything pretty well handled, but Tony still can’t shake the feeling that this might be something more than a virus.
Returning the sigh, Pepper unplugs the flat iron and sets it on the counter before walking over. “It’s just that your kid is sick, so you’re gonna be a worried dad about it anyway,” she concludes for him. “Am I right?”
“Guilty.” Tony gives her a sheepish smile. “Guess I’m getting soft in my old age...”
Pepper wraps her arms around him, pulling him close, and plants a gentle kiss to his lips. “Yeah, you are,” she agrees. “But don’t change. It’s a good look on you.”
They kiss for another few seconds before Pepper pulls back. “Well, the good news is, I’ve gotten quite good over the years at attending social obligations in your stead.” She gives his shoulders a squeeze. “You go do what you gotta do.”
X
With Pepper’s blessing, Tony leaves the jet and most of his luggage at the hotel with her, opting to just fly home in the Iron Man suit instead. It’s partly to ensure Pepper has a ride home in place, and partly so that he can shave an hour or two off the flight time. Even then, it’ll be a good five hours before he’s back, which gives him more than enough time to stress.
Sometime around the half-way point, Tony is soaring over the Atlantic when FRIDAY interrupts his thoughts. “Boss, you have an incoming call from Happy Hogan.”
“Put him through,” Tony says immediately.
A second later, Happy’s gruff voice comes over the speakers. “Got any extra sheets somewhere?” he says by way of greeting.
Tony grimaces. “So it’s one of those nights, huh?”
“Oh yeah, we’re having a blast,” Happy grumbles tiredly. His voice has a slight echo to it, indicating he’s in the bathroom. “Kid’s also wearing a pair of your pajamas now—hope you’re not too attached because the way this night’s been going, I foresee more casualties.”
Worriedly, Tony diverts more power to his thrusters. “The linen closet is in the hall by the master bedroom—should be some extra sheets in there,” he informs. “How’s his fever?”
“Holding steady around 101. He looks pretty miserable though.”
“Can I talk to him?”
“Hang on.”
There’s some movement and a few muffled words from Happy’s end before Peter’s voice rasps out a very pathetic sounding, “Yeah?”
Tony winces in sympathy. “Yikes, kid...” he says as lightly as he can manage.
“I threw up in bed,” Peter admits, his voice thick. “’m really sorry. I was tryin’ to get up, but moving made my stomach hurt more and then I just…” He trials off, sniffling slightly. “And now Happy says you’re flying home early and, and... I’m just really, really sorry.”
“Hey, hey,” Tony interrupts over the kid’s emotional rambling. “It happens, no big deal, okay? And honestly, Pepper’s much better at the whole decorum thing than I am, so the Moroccan royal family is better off with her anyway.”
A small, dismayed noise issues from Peter’s throat. “The royal family?” he whines. “Mr. Stark…”
“It’s just fancy tea with old people,” Tony assures. “Boring as hell, I promise. You’re doing me a favor.”
“God. I’ve gotta be the worst babysitter ever,” Peter moans sadly. “Zero stars on Yelp. You should give Happy my fifteen bucks an hour...”
Tony huffs out a single laugh. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him a nice fruit basket when this is over. Chocolate covered strawberries and all that.”
Over the line, Tony can hear heavy footsteps on the tile. “Sheets are changed,” Happy says, his voice muffled.
“Thanks,” Peter croaks back. Into the phone, he says, “Um, I’m gonna go back to bed now.”
Tony hums in affirmation. “That’s good. Try and sleep, alright?”
“‘Kay,” Peter says. Then, in a very small voice, he adds, “Uh...I’m really glad you’re coming home, Mr. Stark.”
Tony’s heart aches. “Yeah. I am too, kid,” he says softly.
X
By the time Tony’s boots touch down in the yard, the sun has just come up over the lake house, clearing the early morning fog. He retracts his armor and heads into the house, legs wobbly from the lengthy flight.
He finds Morgan and Happy sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. The six-year-old immediately jumps up to greet him.
“Daddy!” she exclaims, racing over. Tony stoops down and wraps his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.
“Hey pumpkin,” he greets, planting a kiss on her forehead. “You’re up early.”
She shrugs. “I didn’t wanna sleep anymore. I wanted to see if Peter was better.”
“Is he?” Tony asks.
Morgan shrugs again. “I dunno, he was sleeping and Uncle Happy said I couldn’t wake him up ‘cus he’s sick. So we were gonna make pancakes, but Uncle Happy couldn’t find the pancake flipper,” she says with a pout. “So he was gonna use a fork. But then he dropped the eggs on the floor and they got broken and he said a bad word and now we’re eating cereal instead.”
His eyes flick up to Happy, who’s finishing off a bowl of raisin bran and looking at least as exhausted as Tony feels.
Since Peter is still sleeping, Happy and Morgan head out to feed Gerald and run some errands while Tony heads to his own room for a quick shower and change of clothes. Once he’s done, he pours himself a cup of coffee and heads to the guest room where he finds Peter curled up in bed, a lined trash can beside him.
“Aw, kid…” Tony breathes out as he approaches the bed. Even in his sleep, Peter’s brow is beaded with sweat and his face is pinched in pain.
He straightens out the kid’s covers and watches him for a few moments, taking in the rise and fall of his chest and his fever-flushed cheeks before sinking down into an armchair beside the bed.
Only a few minutes into his silent vigil, the combination of jet lag and sleepless nights catches up with him and Tony finds himself nodding off.
X
It’s the sound of whimpering that pulls Tony from his sleep thirty minutes later. His eyelids flutter open to see Peter curled up on the bed, arms circled around his stomach and eyes red and wet with tears.
“Whoa, whoa, hey,” Tony says in alarm. He quickly moves over to sit on the edge of Peter’s mattress, a hand on the kid’s shoulder, but the movement of the bed only makes Peter moan. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Stomach r-really hurts,” Peter manages to choke out. “‘S like, stabbing me.”
A fresh wave of worry washes over Tony. “Where does it hurt?” he asks. Cautiously, Peter hovers a hand over his lower right side, causing Tony’s eyes to widen. “Kid...” he begins.
“But-But it can’t be that!” Peter protests. “I already had it out. It’s gone, it’s—” He cuts himself off with a groan, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Does it feel like it though?” Tony presses. “Like your appendix did?”
Without opening his eyes, Peter nods hesitantly. “Yeah, exactly like that. But it can’t be,” he insists, sounding like he’s trying to convince himself as much as his mentor. “It’s gone.”
“True, but you’ve got plenty of other organs in there that could be going haywire,” Tony points out. He makes a beckoning gesture at Peter’s stomach. “Let me see.”
Reluctantly, Peter lifts the hem of his shirt up to expose his abdomen. His lower belly appears slightly swollen and the skin is flushed a light pink. As carefully as he can manage, Tony presses his fingertips to a spot about four inches down diagonally to the right of the kid’s navel.
Peter instantly gasps. He clamps a hand around Tony’s wrist, startling him. “Stop, stop, please,” he begs.
“Okay, okay,” Tony says, quickly releasing the pressure. But rather than relieving the pain, Peter cries out and curls even more into himself.
“That’s it—we’re going to the hospital,” Tony decides, already pulling out his phone to fire off a text to Happy. “Appendix or not, this is obviously something.”
Tellingly, Peter doesn’t argue. He just squeezes his eyes shut and gives a teary nod.
It takes a few minutes just to get the kid to uncurl enough to sit up, and then once he is up, he’s so nauseous that it’s another several minutes of hanging over the trash can and swallowing convulsively before he manages to get to his feet. The walk to the car is slow and shaky, with Tony bearing most of his weight. Thankfully, they’re less than half an hour from the lake house to the nearest SHIELD base, and they are equipped with a full Medical facility—something that definitely factored into Tony’s decision to purchase this particular property.
(Retired or not, he’s still a goddamn worrywart.)
Peter is lying curled up in the backseat, and Tony keeps stealing glances at him through the rearview mirror. The kid whimpers quietly with each bump in the road and every turn elicits a low moan.
“Almost there, kiddo,” Tony promises him. “Just fifteen more minutes.”
But only three minutes later, he hears Peter inhale a sharp breath, then suddenly go quiet.
“Pete? Still with me?” Tony asks worriedly, glancing up at the mirror. He’s half-expecting to see that the kid’s passed out, but instead finds Peter looking infinitely less tense than he did a moment ago.
“Yeah,” Peter breathes out. “It just hurt really bad for a second, but then it stopped hurting? Not all the way, but it’s a lot better now. Like, a lot better.”
Tony’s heart drops as one thought screams in his mind: something fucking ruptured.  
“That’s, uh… that’s good Peter,” he says shakily as he presses the gas pedal to the floor. “Just hang in there, okay?”
X
A gurney is waiting for Peter outside when they pull into the SHIELD base and he is immediately rushed to an examination room. But when the test results are inconclusive and his fever spikes to nearly 104, the doctors decide that exploratory surgery is their best bet to figure out what’s going on.
Tony spends most of the next three hours in the waiting room on his phone. First, he manages to get a hold of May in the middle of her shift. He gives her the lowdown while simultaneously sending a wildly expensive Uber to pick her up and drive her to the base.
Next, he calls Happy, who is currently at an indoor butterfly farm with his awe-struck niece. “Fucking knew something was wrong,” Happy sighs in response when Tony tells him.
Morgan talks to him for a few minutes, expressing both her heartfelt concern for Peter and the overwhelming joy she experienced when a very pretty purple butterfly landed on her arm a few minutes ago.
Tony can’t help but love her for it. Morgan might come across calloused or unfazed at times, but between the blip’s reversal, the defeat of Thanos, and seeing her dad’s long and arduous recovery process following the loss of his arm, she’s lived through more trauma in her six years than most people do in several decades. He’s glad that she’s usually able to find happiness regardless.
It’s around that time that Tony’s adrenaline fades enough for him to realize just how much his wrist is aching from where Peter grabbed it and rolls up his sleeve to reveal purple bruises. He’s pretty sure nothing is broken, but quietly gets an ice pack from the nurse anyway to press to the injury, sick at the thought of how much Peter had to be hurting to do that.
Tony calls Pepper—who has just finished up her royal luncheon—and finally lets himself fluster out properly.
She manages to talk him down from the panic attack that’s threatening to overtake him just in time for the doors leading back into the OR to swing open and Bruce to emerge.
“I’ll call you back, Pep,” Tony ends the call abruptly. Then hurries over to his friend, stomach in knots. “How’d it go? Is he alright?” he asks anxiously.
Holding up a hand, Bruce clears his throat, a little awkwardly. “Okay, first of all, I’d just like to say that the surgeons are just finishing up and Peter is, for the most part, fine.”
Tony instantly breathes out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank god…”
“But, uh, for the second thing...” Bruce goes on, gesturing to one of the waiting room chairs. “You might want to sit down.”
X
“It grew back?!” Peter balks at them.
It’s been about five hours since his surgery now and the kid is finally lucid enough to take part in the absurd medical conversation surrounding his unprecedented case. Bruce, Tony, and May attempted to explain the situation earlier, but Peter hadn’t been able to keep up and ended up nodding off straight into his jello cup, so they’re on round two now.
“Well… sort of,” Bruce explains, adjusting his glasses. “When you got un-blipped, your cells were reconstructed, same as everyone else who came back. But since your mutated DNA regenerates your cells at an expedited rate, they somehow took that process a step further and managed to restore your body to, uh…” He flaps a hand, searching for the correct term.
“...to factory settings,” Tony finishes for him. He huffs humorously. “Congrats, kid. You’ve gotta be the only person in history to have their appendix burst twice.”
Peter groans. “Awesome. Parker Luck strikes again...”
May tuts and hits his shoulder playfully.
“You’ll be on heavy antibiotics for a while,” Bruce continues. “Luckily, the rupture occurred very close to the time of your surgery, so peritonitis didn’t have time to set in yet. The surgeons flushed out your abdominal cavity as best they could and hopefully the combination of the medication and your enhanced healing will be enough to prevent another infection.”
“So don’t jinx it,” May concludes firmly. She ruffles her nephew’s curls.
Morgan and Happy appear in the doorway a few moments later. Tony gets up, ready to remind the little girl that she needs to be gentle with Peter since he’s still recovering, but it seems as though Happy’s already given her that talk because rather than bounding over, she tiptoes into the room, arms held behind her back.
“Hi Peter,” Morgan greets. “Does your tummy feel better now?”
“Yeah, a lot,” Peter assures her with a small smile. “Thanks.”
“Good.” From behind her back, she produces a colorful wooden instrument and shakes it. “Uncle Happy and I bought you a Morocco!”
Running a hand over his face, Tony lets out a long sigh.
God, he loves these kids.
Link to all my fics!
If you're interested in reading the full story of the first time Peter's appendix ruptured, check out my previous work: Ned the Dumbwaiter
Or, for more sick Peter at the lake house with Tony and Morgan, try: Dad Level: 3000
Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated <33
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saleintothe90s · 4 years
Text
422. ”Carrie” (May 12 - May 15 1988)
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I adore reading about flops. One of my favorite flops to read about is Carrie the musical. A doomed production from the start. Millions of dollars wasted. Bad costumes. Filler songs.
Similar to my Simpsons season 10 review, I wanna give something to the worst aspects of the show. With Simpsons, bad episodes were awarded Marge’s homemade Pepsi. For Carrie, I think I’m going to give the bad parts the “Vending Machine Maxi Pad” award. 
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As most anybody who follows Broadway flops knows, clips from Carrie are scarce and are in poor condition on YouTube. Most of the actual clips are from when the show was in test productions in Stratford Upon Avon, but the music has been replaced with the Broadway soundboard.  So, keep that in mind. Most of the time you can’t even make out what’s going on. Here’s the closest copy of the entire show I could find on YouTube, from the Sratford Upon Avon production. 
I know people bash the musical, and sometimes it’s rightfully so, but two things are consistent: Linzi Hateley who played Carrie, and that orchestra that is on.point. Check out the overture.
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(source)
The show begins with girls cheering in gym class in the beginning of an aerobics lesson?  The white gym shorts look like diapers. That’s the first of many costume mistakes. 
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The song is a banger, I love Darlene Love playing the gym teacher, she’s my favorite part of the song. The only part that is cringey to me is when the girls sing “I go CrAzZyyyyy” and they get on the ground and dance like a toddler having a temper tantrum in a Toys R Us. Since the audio quality is so bad in these clips, I thought at one point the girls were singing about not being caught picking their nose, no, the lyric is:
Bought the clothes, did my nose,
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Near the end of the song, the girls are on these rising rafters? It took me for-ever to realize that they were simulating a cheerleader pyramid, and that Carrie had snuck in near the end of the number to be on the bottom of the pyramid. Oh, and she causes it to fall and someone tells her to eat shit. 
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“Dream On” is the song that the girls sing while in the showers. Why yes, it does look like they’re in the nude due to the poor quality of the video.  The song is ok, it gives total night driving home from the mall in the late 80s early 90s vibes.  Although one girl says the line, “Six foot three and he's in his forties!”. WHAT. 
Carrie breaks those vibes at around 3:44 by screaming that she’s bleeding. When Miss Gardener slaps Carrie, a cymbal plays. I love it.
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I like to imagine that when the girls threw the tampons and pads at Carrie, some flew into the audience. 
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“Carrie” is shrill at first, and then it turns into a bit of snoozefest. Linzi sings the name “Carrie” about 458 times. 
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Betty Buckley who previously had played the original Grizabella in Cats. and who played the gym teacher in the original movie plays Carrie’s mom. Her song, “Open Your Heart” is pretty good. It’s a nice little break before mom goes bottoms up on Carrie for getting her period (”And Eve Was Weak” [Stratford version with Barbara Cook]):
Carrie: I was in the shower and...
Mom: You’re forbidden from showering with the other girls...
Carrie: I started to bleed!
While Carrie spends the rest of the night in a cellar, the popular girls are at the drive-in. Now, this musical cost over $7 million dollars 1, but yet this was the best set they could think of for a drive-in movie theater: 
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It looks like something out of a high school play -- which I guess makes a little sense since they are high schoolers? I’m grabbing at straws here. It cost so much money to put Carrie on, what’s a few more dollars to have two real hollowed out cars on stage, one with Chris (in the red) & Billy (in black) in it, and the other with Sue (pink leggings) and Tommy (purple windbreaker)? 
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“Don’t Waste the Moon” is the song sung at the drive-in, with Sue having regrets about throwing tampons at Carrie in the beginning of the song. The song is very 1980s, and it kind of doesn’t fit in the musical. Gene Anthony Ray’s (Billy) talent is wasted here. 
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It’s time for some “Evening Prayers” for Carrie where she discusses with God her new telekinesis powers. Meanwhile Carrie’s mom is being a worrywort. During the Stratford production, Carrie’s mom is in a rocking chair over there looking like Whistler’s Mother. 
“You’re going to tell Carrie that you’re sorry!” belts out Miss Gardner. In the musical, Chris seems more obsessed with torturing Carrie than in the movie or book if that’s even possible. Sue is like, “What did she even do to you?”. Even Billy asked earlier, “Who the hell is Carrie White?”. 
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Oooof. Seeing the gym teacher try to cheer Carrie up by singing a song about the prom (”Unsuspecting Hearts”) and how she could go too is patronizing. Even if its sung by Darlene Love. 
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“Do Me a Favor” might be the most infamous song from the musical. It’s the song I see referred to the most when I read bad reviews. For some reason Chris is wearing a metallic red bodysuit and Sue is wearing a light pink bodysuit. Are they supposed to be that cliche devil and the angel on the shoulder thing? 
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Chris looks like Evil Homer! 
I’m going be the unpopular opinion here and say that I love the song! The erratic dancing also fits with the song. 
Carrie tells her mom before “I Remember How Those Boys Would Dance” that Tommy is sweet and polite, but the audience doesn’t know that. Tommy is barely a character in this production. In the end, Carrie uses her powers to shut her mama up.
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From what I gather in “Out for Blood” (audio) where Chris and Billy go looking for a pig to kill, the chorus dancers are the pigs? The video quality is so poor. Chris had another crazy ass red outfit on, some sort of shiny red skirt and a crop top. The costumes in this are just horrible. It was like the wardrobe budget was $50. 
This song is so.so.bad. It reminds me of whenever Rocko from Rocko’s Modern Life would see a movie trailer or a parody of something on TV for some reason?! Or the “gotta get that Reptar song” from Rugrats when the kids saw Reptar on ice. Especially when the chorus tells Billy to kill the pig: 
CHORUS Cha! Kill the pig, pig, pig! CHRIS Go! CHORUS Kill 'im, kill 'im, kill, kill! We'll make him bleed! CHRIS Go! CHORUS Get the blood, blood, blood Oooh, blood! CHRIS Oh, baby show... CHORUS Kill the pig, make 'im bleed Let's get the blood, that's all we need!
Sue’s song “It Hurts to be Strong” is a bit of a throw-away. It gets a vending machine maxi pad award. Moving on. It’s filler  
In “I’m Not Alone”, Carrie sings while using her powers to move things around in her room. What things? I don’t know the video quality was so bad. That’s another thing! The sets are nonexistent! I wouldn’t know we were in Carrie’s room unless the Playbill told me. It’s another forgettable song. Three in a row!
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Betty Buckley saves the day in, “When There’s No One”, a sad song about facing life without Carrie being her subordinate. 
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I don’t understand the prom dresses in “Wotta Night”, they’re all garish giant white numbers that make the actresses look about 20 pounds heaver.  The guys look like that Rio doll from Jem. The costume designer couldn’t just go to Alexanders or A&S and buy prom dresses? You know, why am I even asking at this point. We all saw what Chris has been wearing this whole time. There is a disco ball thrown aside in the corner instead of hanging up. More on that later.
The song sounds way too much like that song “Rock on” by David Essex.  Automatic Vending Machine Maxi Pad. 
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Here’s a cute rehearsal clip I found of “Heaven”, the song sung while the Prom Queen and King ballots are being counted. Unfortunately, the audio is bad. Chris is there to remind us that she’s still out for blood.
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Finally, finally it’s time for Carrie the prom queen to get drenched with blood -- but the thing is, due to microphone technology back then, Carrie really couldn’t have blood dumped on her. Chris and Billy just run up to her and half ass pour the bucket at her. Could the set designer not suspend the bucket from above the stage? Is that also why the disco ball is thrown in the corner? I don’t even think she has stage blood on her during “The Destruction”, (which is the best song from the musical).  I think a red spotlight over Carrie signifies the blood.
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I think Linzi is really only truly covered in blood for press shots. 
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Anyway, the Destruction, I love it when she screeches “DOESN’T ANYBODY EVER GET IT RIGHT??! DOESN’T ANYBODY THINK THAT I HEAR?!” It’s the best. I could listen to it all day and I almost did the other day. 
Due the poor video quality, I can’t really tell how the prom-goers are dying. They’re kinda just twitching there in the laser light or slamming themselves against the clear barrier that descended from the stage to signify Carrie closing the doors to the gym. 
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After Carie kills everybody, this giant white staircase descends and covers up the gym. I read somewhere, I forgot where, that its supposed to be the school stairs? We’re led to believe that Carrie’s crazy mom ran to the school. The first time I saw it, I thought that it was Carrie and her mom getting ready to go to heaven. I thought maybe someone over at the set department took the classic song too literally. 
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It appears that while the stairs are descending, Carrie smears stage blood on her. 
The reprise of “Carrie’ is so much better than the original. Carrie stops her mom’s heart cold mid song. Then she slins down the stairs and Sue catches her. In an interview on playbill.com, Betty Buckley says that on opening night (I don’t know if she meant the first preview, or the official opening night), there were boos from the audience at the end, but cheers for Linzi and herself. I believe it. Betty and Linzi were amazing. Darlene Love was amazing. The rough scenes are the scenes with the school kids. They’re awful, in the words of my boy Jay Sherman, “they’re awful I tell you. aw.ful.” 
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(relevant prom .gif) 
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1. Rothstein, Mervyn. “After Seven Years And $7 Million, ‘Carrie’ Is a Kinetic Memory (Published 1988).” The New York Times, May 17, 1988, sec. Theater. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/17/theater/after-seven-years-and-7-million-carrie-is-a-kinetic-memory.html.
New York City Broadway reviews on the news in NYC for Carrie.  That first reviewer, Stuart Klein, I love him. I’ve watched several of his reviews on flops on YouTube. Joel Sigel who was the Good Morning America film reviewer is here too. 
Archive of Betty Buckley interview. 
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iwritethat · 5 years
Text
Tim Drake: Sister, Sister
Tim Drake x Sister!reader
A/N: This beautiful idea was all down to @comicsgirlimagines who is truly wonderful and an incredible writer also (check them out), credit goes to them for their support and talks when writing this.
Thank you @comicsgirlimagines ♥️
>>>>——————————>
It was ironic, everything around was designed to perfection, to be exactly what you wanted and needed to maintain a positive existence as a reward for your past choices on Earth.
Yes, Heaven may've been perfect and brought you endless happiness but you were conscious enough to find the faults, for a start your brother was absent - which of course was a blessing, you didn't want him to join you for as long as possible, he had his whole life to live after all. It was entrancing, tuning in to the life events of Tim Drake on occasion, your little brother had certainly taken an interesting path - currently he fought with his new brothers, the League of Assassins were after Damian again and it automatically became a family emergency.
They hopped from rooftop to rooftop, battling various members with each vigilante fighting their own battles yet managing to lend assistance when able. However as you watched on, Red Robin seemed to be doubled down - more assassins were upcoming and he was the first standing in their way. You began to panic, was there even a way to get down there?! You'd looked into such things before as soon as you learned of his hobby, sure you were dead but people constantly connected with the spirit world - such a phenomena should work both ways. Or at least it was a theory under construction at the moment.
———
Another down, then another, and another. It became routine, but with repetitive strain came exhaustion and before Tim could react he'd made what was soon to be a fatal mistake, he should’ve ducked the blade gunning for his throat but instead was a millisecond too late to react. His body falling short of available counters and it was then he realised, this was it - after everything, this was finally how he’d go out. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, he’d aided more people than he ever thought possible but surely there were things he’d miss out on like having the opportunity to become a father, get married or even see Gotham make progress as a city. Regardless, he had made his peace with that and he’d closed his eyes in acceptance ready for whatever awaited him in the afterlife.
It was a split second - he never thought the white light actually existed but it flashed behind his eyelids rather sporadically and suddenly the breath was knocked out of lungs and it felt as though his head collided with concrete.
"Jeez I'll be back soon, don't worry." His sister gave an exasperated sigh, hands on her hips as her little brother tugged at her backpack.
"But (Y/n)! Please let me come with you!" Tim pleaded, successfully halting her in her tracks.
"No way kiddo, you'll probably fall off of the mountain. But hey, no matter how far apart we are, I'll always look out for you. Okay?" She smiled, tousling his hair as he accepted her justification.
"You promise?"
"I pinky promise."
"Hmm, see you when you get back loser." Tim mischievously commented, his sister rolled her eyes with a sarcastic "Oh haha." before heading off on her rock climbing trip.
That was the last time he'd laid eyes on her, unbeknownst to him at the time. And yet, this light, this warm familiar presence brought back such memories - of that day, of the news, of the funeral...
So then, how is it that he could hear her voice so clearly?
"Get up Tim! C'mon loser, I don't know how long I've got!" It was dangerously loud, demanding almost and it made him consider how things hadn’t changed much.
Tim was coming to, clenching his eyes shut in order to adjust to the bright glow that shrouded the area as he sat up with a squint.
"Argh, (Y/n) what the-?"
The figure kneeling down beside him was easily recognisable, having not aged in the years that had passed without her but the concerned expression she wore was contagious.
"No time to explain, magic spiritual existence or whatever but please get up. Here's your staff." You pulled him to his feet, albeit Tim remained dazed with these developments and stumbled against your figure with a groan. His staff was pushed into his chest and it was only now - dream or not - he spoke his true feelings.
"I missed you, so much..."
“I know...” The sincerity in his voice only made you feel guilty, the accident wasn’t your fault but you still left him and that was a weight you’d carried since you’d died.
Tim was slowly adjusting, finding what seemed to be a brief flash of wings behind you but that must’ve been from hitting his head so hard considering he now stood on the opposing rooftop to previously. Recalling the last moments his hand shot to his throat, more than shocked when his fingers remained absent of blood and his breathing was perfectly normal ignoring the quickness of it, next he looked back to where he was standing beforehand only to find bodies of assassins littering the roof and battles continuing over the street.
“Am I dead?”
“What? No. I’m dead, you’re alive.” You quickly corrected with furrowed brows and a sigh, flicking his forehead as he pushed your hand away in retaliation.
Although he paused, the familiarity of sibling like antics hitting him with an unwanted wave of nostalgia and he looked at you again - really looked. Saw past the golden glow, saw past the perfect skin and any evidence of scathes or aging. It was you but ethereal, you weren’t alive, you weren’t staying and you definitely weren’t coming back to life. That was what made him embrace you, arms wrapping around your torso so tightly that if alive then breathing would be a problem but you didn’t care, his face buried in your hair whilst you held back emotional whimpers. For however long you had been gifted, you’d say goodbye properly this time.
“I’m sorry for breaking my promise, so sorry, please please forgive me Tim -“
“Yo-you didn’t break it idiot.” It was such a soft whisper, an attempt to comfort you even if he didn’t understand your reasoning for profuse apologies.
“I didn’t come home, I left you alone and that’s the worst thing I could’ve done as your sister!” You defended, justifying your beliefs and pulling away from Tim who offered a soft smile amidst his watery eyes.
“You promised that no matter how far apart we are, you’d always look out for me and you have. (Y/n) you saved my life just now - how many people have the willpower to come back from the grave to do that? But you did that for me, you kept your promise.” Tim assured, wiping your tears away before hugging you once more.
“I’m proud of you y’know, kicking names and taking ass.” You weakly laughed, parting to punch his shoulder once regaining your composure.
“So you keep up with the times in the afterlife huh?”
“It gets boring up there okay? Speaking of, you should get back to fighting beside your family - who I love by the way.” You happily informed, gesturing over time the members of the Batfamily fighting various battles with a sad knowing smile.
Tim noticed the sorrow in your irises, the way you turned back to him like it was the last time you’d be with each other and it probably was but he simply sighed and placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder.
“You’re still my favourite sibling and as such I guess I should take your advice.” Tim softly commented and with an understanding nod a bright light engulfed his form once more.
This time he’d landed in the most heated area of the fight, landing executed perfectly with an immense rupture of light knocking out every enemy on impact. Tim stood, his family turning to him awestruck at the amount of unfathomable controlled power that originated from his form and how exactly he’d seemingly beamed over out of thin air.
“Later Timbers, and by the way I think you should stop crushing on Steph and ask her out already.” Your voice remained, albeit fleeting, as was your figure standing beside him overlooking your handiwork.
“Wha- you can’t know all of my business zombie!” He went to knock your upper arm, fingers phasing straight through your body and you both mirrored sympathetic expressions, a knowing and meaningful exchange enough to say what words couldn’t.
“I’m so happy for you Tim, stay alive okay?” And with that your figure faded into blissful golden stardust that spiralled into wind up toward the matte sky until they’d disappeared from Tim’s line of sight.
“Goodbye (Y/n)...”
——
“What was that out there Tim? A new gadget?” Bruce questioned his former partner once they returned to the Batcave whilst Tim got out his phone with an absentminded smile.
“My sister.”
“You have a sister, why didn’t you ever mention it?” Dick now inquired, walking in step beside him.
“Because you’d want to meet her and that’s, that’s impossible but her name was (Y/n). Here, this was us a few years ago.” Tim answered honestly, the implications easily read by his family who remained respectfully quiet until Tim handed Dick his phone which displayed a picture of the two of you. The others gathering around out of curiosity.
“Damn she’s hot.” Jason casually commented, reviving a facepalm from Cass and chiding from an irritated Damian.
“Todd, that’s completely irrelevent!”
“She has standards Jay sorry, but, she really likes you guys.” Tim smugly replied, his last words laced with underlying gratitude whilst Jason received over dramatic ‘ooohs’ from the rest of the family after that smart burn. Although Tim saw the contentment on each of them, that despite not knowing you, they had your blessing as his new family which was a very sacred thing in their opinion.
Once he’d regained his own space, he began typing a message he never thought he’d write until after your encounter.
Tim: [Hey Steph, I’ve been told I need to act on things so I was wondering if you wanted to go out this weekend? Not in costume, just as you and I.]
Stephanie: [About time Tim, who do I have to thank for your sudden confidence haha?]
Tim gave a relieved smile at the positive reply, looking up to the sky before asking with a proud yet considerate tone.
“You happy now?”
He would’ve said the sun broke through the cloudy sky of Gotham for a few seconds, golden rays bathing the Manor grounds and his skin - but that was probably unrelated coincidence...
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abzzz3 · 5 years
Text
No Strings Attached (Chris Evans x Reader)
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Summary: Requested by @my-name-is-alice-ayers (Part 1 of 2) - You and Tom have been broken up for a few months now and it’s taking a toll on both of you. At least Chris has always been by your side when you need him and one night you need it more that usual.
Words: 1,444
Warnings: Mentions of sex and masturbation, heavy kissing, I think that’s all
Notes: This is the first fic I’ve done in quite a while so my apologies if I’m pretty rusty, but I hope to be doing heaps more in the near future
---------------------------------------------------------------
“Now, (Y/N), what has it been like working so closely with Tom since your break-up? Especially since it’s come out that he has started dating Taylor Swift” The interviewer asked
You had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes at this question, this was at least the 8th time you had been asked this since starting this press tour for Avengers: Infinity War. Instead, you put on a honey sweet smile and answered the question the exact same way you have already.
“It honestly hasn’t changed the way we work together, Tom is still one of my best friends and he totally understood that right now I just want to put all my energy into my career. I’ve been really lucky with that, and Taylor is such a lucky woman to have him. And I mean, hey, worst comes to worst we all end up single in the end and I get another banger of an album to listen to by her.” You joked, all three of you laughing
Truth is, you hated seeing those two together. It was no secret between Tom and yourself that you both hated not being together, but you knew and explained to him that you have been working your whole life to reach the point you were currently at in the film industry, and wanted to do whatever you could to continue this amazing streak of movies you were currently having.
The interview ended pretty soon after that and Chris Evans and yourself left the room together, finally being done with your joint interviews for the day.
“Come on (Y/N), let’s go get you a drink” Chris says, wrapping an arm around you “I know the perfect spot”
You smiled up at him but said nothing. Chris has been there for you throughout all of this, your rock that you’ve been able to lean on no matter how busy he was.
. . . . . . . . .
“Okay, you have to tell me, did you ever have sex in costume?” Chris asked, half hiding his snickers behind his beer bottle
You snorted, leaning back into your bar stool and tilting your head back as though you were about to fall into a laughing fit.
“No, never! Neither of us would have been able to pull our bottoms off without help from the costume crew!”
“What about the good ol’ bump and grind?” Chris wiggled his eyebrows and then raised them half way up his forehead when he saw you go beet red “Oooh, there was a lot wasn’t there?”
“Shut up Chris, a woman has needs” You tried to defend yourself, not daring to look around the bar to see if anyone was watching or listening in.
The bar was in the basement of an old industrial style building, it was dark, covered in old number plates and advertising boards. The only people currently in there were middle aged and elderly men in biker outfits and young couples not wanting to be caught together.
“You, the Enchantress slash seductress, have needs?! I never . . .” Chris mocked shock
You laughed and elbowed him “Come on, I need some food” you said, hopping off the stool and grabbing your jacket
Chris smiled widely, jumped off the stool and headed to the door with you. The walk back to the hotel was a short one, with the sky overhead blanketed in dark blue velvet with starts scattered all across with their own special sparkles, though most of the sky was obstructed by multi-storey buildings. It made the view all that much more special, like humans had forgotten to appreciate the beautiful world we have been gifted and just wanted to reach higher for their own self-accomplishment but never wanted to actually look up.
“What are you thinking about?” Chris asked, gazing across at you with a small smile on his face
You walked inside the hotel lobby and headed for the elevator together
“Just how lucky we are to have such beautiful skies and nature, and how so many seem to not give it a second thought and take so much for granted” You answered
“You do love to think about happy things, don’t you?” Chris smirked
“You know where I’m coming from though, right? We’re destroying this world and each other with hatred and greed, while there are communities out there who don’t have clean water or education.” You rambled, getting obviously passionate
“You and Tom really are so similar” Chris commented as you walked out of the elevator and onto your floor
“I hope you’re only talking about good things”
You spun around, a little dizzy from the number of drinks you had had this afternoon, and saw Tom standing behind you. You both looked at each other and your mouth went dry while your palms went sweaty.
“Of course, I was just saying that both you and (Y/N) are so passionate about making sure this planet isn’t abused and everyone has the same opportunities” Chris explained, his usual smile plastered across his face
“I think our first all-nighter conversation was something along those lines, wasn’t it (Y/N)?” Tom looked over at you
“Y-yes, specifically our time working with UNICEF overseas” You agreed “I’m sure you and Taylor have all-nighters too, though” You smiled and headed towards your room, without another word
You picked up the hotel room phone and was greeted with reception
“Hello, how can I help you?” They asked
“Hi, could I please have a large bowl of chips and some garlic bread brought up to room 405?”
“Of course ma’am, is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Actually could you please also bring up two extra pillows?” You had a feeling you would be wanting to cuddle something or surround yourself with pillows tonight.
“Of course, I’ll be able to get those up to you in 20 minutes, is that okay?”
“That’s perfect, thank you very much and have a good night” You thanked
“You too ma’am, thank you again for choosing to stay with us”
You put the phone down just as Chris walked in
“Sorry about that, I ordered food for us” You said, looking over at him while you sat on the bed
“You don’t need to apologise (Y/N), I get what you’re going through” Chris replied, sitting next to you and putting his hand on your leg “You know I’m here for you”
You looked over at Chris, your faces not far from each other
“You know, I haven’t slept properly since Tom and I split” you mumbled to yourself and chuckled a little, after a moment
“What’s so funny?” Chris asked
“I’m just thinking about what I used to do some nights when I couldn’t sleep”
“What did you do?” Chris asked
“ . . . relax . . . privately . . .” you chose your words carefully, not wanting to say outright that you used to masturbate if you couldn’t sleep, but also wanted Chris to be able connect the dots.
It’s not like you hadn’t tried in recent months but it was either too soon after the break up or it just didn’t work.
“You mean you haven’t . . . since . . .?” Chris asked, watching you closely
“No” You answered simply, looking up at him
You both looked at each other in silence and you weren’t sure if it was the booze, the fatigue, the lighting or just the fact that you were actually looking at Chris now but you suddenly found Chris very attractive and wanted nothing more than to forget about Tom and everything else outside your hotel room, and that included the food you were waiting on.
“Can I . . . kiss you?” you whispered, lightly brushing Chris’s lips with your finger tips
“If you’re sure you want to and it’s not the alcohol speaking”
“Come on, you’ve seen me drunk before Chris, you know I’m fully aware of what I’m doing” You smiled, leaning in and kissing him.
First softly, then passionately, and it wasn’t long before Chris was kissing you back. You shifted yourself onto his lap and ran your fingers through his hair, while he placed his hands on your hips. The kissing began to become more passionate and feverish as you both began to be more needy for the other’s touch.
Then you were both shocked apart by the sound of a knock on your hotel door room.
“Room Service” Someone called from the other side of the door
You and Chris both laughed as you got off him and headed towards the door
“Let’s put this on pause”
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amyscascadingtabs · 5 years
Text
it’s you and me, there’s nothing like this
hey @cheddar-the-dog!!! i am your writer for the b99 2019 fall fic exchange! i apologise for waiting until the last minute to write this, eheh, but it's here now! i chose your prompt "the season of spooky stuff and one of them hating everything horror related and one being the protector" and took the freedom of incorporating it into this little thing. hope you enjoy! ❤︎
thank you to @b99fandomevents for organizing this :)
happy halloween to you all! i do not and have never really celebrated it, but last year i did go to a halloween theme park and it was AWESOME, and i definitely thought it'd be the kind of thing jake and amy would do together.
read on ao3
2015
The first time Jake had tried to bring Amy to the Halloween theme park, she had started out skeptical about the idea.
“Just because we’re dating now doesn’t mean I like Halloween,” she remarked over breakfast as he suggested his plan for their shared Saturday off. “I still think it's a ridiculous holiday.”
“So… the best kind of holiday.”
She rolled her eyes over the edge of the coffee cup. “Can't you go to this park with Charles?”
“I don’t want to go with Charles! I want to go with my adorable girlfriend, who, by the way, is looking stunning in that outfit.” He pointed to what was definitely his flannel currently being donned by Amy, who had paired it with pajama pants and a fuzzy blanket from his couch wrapped around her shoulders. “Also, does this mean you’re stealing my clothes now?”
“It means your apartment is cold all the time,” she said, but her smirk made him suspect he wasn’t totally wrong, either. “Why is this so important to you, anyway?”
“You’re going to think I’m ridiculous.”
“Try me.”
“Fine,” he hummed, rubbing the nape on his neck and looking down at the table to avoid eye contact. “Because it’s technically a holiday tradition that doesn’t bring up shitty memories, and I don’t have a ton of those. I was thinking it’d be kind of nice to share one with you?” He could feel his cheeks heating as he admitted the truth. In their five months of dating, he’d already had to face more emotional vulnerability than ever before in his life, but it had yet to get easier. “Sorry. It’s, uh, stupid.”
“It’s not stupid.” Her fingers wrapped around his wrist, stroking it until he looked up at her, finding her watching him with a tenderhearted gaze that was still new to him, but never failed to make him feel safe with every fiber of his being. “It’s sweet. And okay. I’ll go with you.”
If he’d been a little bit braver, he could have told her he loved her at this moment, and thinking back at it months later, he would regret that he didn’t.
Instead, he’d simply returned her smile. “Noice. Smort.”
She rolled her eyes at him another time. He sort of found it absolutely endearing.
2019
This year, he’s not even the one to suggest their yearly visit. Amy brings it up all on her own as they’re going to bed on a Friday evening, her yawning wide before scooting closer to him, intertwining their legs and pressing kisses to the back of his neck to gain his attention.
“Do we have any plans for tomorrow, babe?”
“I don’t think so,” he mumbles, closing his eyes and just enjoying the way her lips feel against his neck, the way her hands gently rub patterns on his shoulder blades. “Anything you’re thinking about?”
“I was thinking maybe we should go to that Halloween park,” she says, and it warms his heart to hear her sounding genuinely excited at the thought. “If you want to.”
“Well, I could never say no to the Halloween park.”
“Or to me, I hope, since it’s our yearly tradition.”
“Nah, it’s harder to say no to the park,” he teases her, and she punches him hard in the elbow. “Ow! I was kidding!”
“Don’t you dare,” she laughs, pressing a kiss to the same spot. “It’s a date, then. And my goal for this year is to not get terrified by the haunted houses.”
2016
Jake had missed many things while in witness protection in Florida. His girlfriend first and foremost, but also the Nine-Nine, New York pizza, weather that wasn’t either scorching sun or heavy storms, and the Halloween park. It had been one of the dreams he’d thought about during his worst evenings of homesickness; he and Amy, walking around the overly decorated area while holding hands and looking at all the kids and adults in costumes, pointing out ones they recognized.
(“Look, Jake, that’s a tiny Harry Potter!)
(“Ames! That woman’s dressed like Holly Gennaro from Die Hard!”)
It felt like a dream to actually be back, walking hand in hand much like he’d pictured and standing in line to one of the haunted houses. It felt like home. 
“I still don’t get the point of why you would pay someone to scare you,” Amy mutters, rubbing her arms and jumping up and down on the place to keep herself warm. “The real-life world is plenty terrifying. Climate change. Racism. US Politics. I could go on and on.”
“Because it’s fun, and while the things you mentioned are hella scary, they make for awful costumes,” Jake pointed out, already shrugging off his leather jacket to drape it across her shoulders. “I mean, how would you even dress up as climate change?”
“Don’t show up to the party and claim you’re dressed as the extinction of humans due to our planet becoming inhabitable.” 
“Oooh, that’s actually pretty genius.”
“I know,” she winked. “Let’s go in and pretend to get scared by stuff that isn’t really scary, shall we?”
She’d taken back what she’d said about one minute in. The makeup and costumes of the actors were far more convincing than even Jake had expected, way better than it had been last year, and he hadn’t been able to blame Amy for the way she clutched herself to his arm as they made their way through the building. Her nails had pressed so hard through his shirt they’d almost made marks, but he hadn’t minded it. Getting to be her protector, even if only for a seven-minute walk through an amusement park’s over-budgeted version of a haunted house, felt like a privilege.
2019
She promises him at least another five times before they even get in line that this is the year she won’t get scared. She’s so confident, staring him down every time she repeats it, that eventually, he tells her he believes her. His gut feeling says otherwise, but the smug grin on his wife’s face as he tells her the white lie is cute enough to make the dishonesty worth it.
“Climate change is scarier than ever,” she declares as they step foot into the house, and he chuckles at her. “This has got nothing on it.”
She ends up taking back her self-assured statement a few minutes in for the fifth year in a row. Jake is getting truly curious about what kind of budget the park’s makeup department is working with, and he has to admit there are a few things executed well enough to make him jump. Amy squeezes his arm tightly, letting him lead their way through, and he basks in the glorious sensation of feeling like there are times when he can be her protector, too - god knows she’s good at being his when he needs it. She’s squeezing a little hard, and her nails feel a little sharper than usual, but it’s fine. 
It’s dark inside the building, but he feels her warm breath near his neck and turns around to see what she’s doing only to find someone other than Amy there; an actor with a black, hairy mask over their face that seems to have no concept of personal space whatsoever. Even though it’s what he tends to keep teasing his wife for, he yelps and bolts for the emergency exit, almost tackling a stranger on the way out.
He’s still breathing hard when Amy comes out too, laughing as she throws her arms around him.
“That was awful,” he mumbles as she tries to calm down from the giggling fit. “That was so scary. Where the hell did you go?”
“Where the hell did you go?”
“I thought I was right there with you!”
“I thought I was right there with you!”
“Let’s maybe not go back in there,” he suggests, and she shakes her head.
“Let’s maybe not.”
2017
The year they got engaged, he learned another fact about Amy Santiago - while she may have hated the haunted houses, she was a major fan of the rides. Unfortunately, this included the rides even Jake was hesitant to go on, like the attractions that went way too high up in the air and dropped way too low, way too fast. 
“Come on,” she had encouraged him, shooting him that smile that never failed to make his knees weak and pulling his arm towards the line. “It’s perfectly safe. I’ll let you hold my hand.”
“I can hold your hand on the ground,” he pouted. “I much prefer that option.”
“Come on, babe! Just one time!”
“I hate you,” he’d told her as they stood in line, repeating it as they were being strapped to their seats, making her roll her eyes both times. “I love you, but right now, I hate you.”
He’d been able to see more of Coney Island from the top of the ride than he’d ever wanted to see in his life, and then, just as he was about to freak out about the height, the ride dropped. 
The scream that ripped from his throat shocked even himself, because it was a sound of pure and utter panic, but amid that panic, he’d found beauty.
He was alive. He was a free man. He could be outside to do these kinds of things with his soon-to-be fiancée, instead of being locked in for fifteen years arrested for a bank robbery he didn’t commit, and it felt beautiful.
“Did you enjoy it?” Amy asked as they walked away from the attraction, his legs a lot shakier than her, but her hair looking way crazier than his did.
He’d grinned before cupping her face, bringing their lips together. “Weirdly, I kind of did.”
2019
Every year, he hopes she won't insist on going on the rides, that she's changed her mind just this time. Every year, he's dead wrong as she takes his hand to steer him decisively toward the ride he's learned to detest with his entire being.
“You don't think I could skip it for just one year?” He asks, gulping as he looks up at the massive construction, but Amy shakes her head.
“Tradition is tradition, babe. We’re doing this.”
“Do you have to get revenge on me every damn year just because I drag you through the haunted house?”
“You got it.”
“You are a terrible person,” he sighs, but it's impossible to keep his tone serious.
She kisses his cheek. “All is fair in Halloween theme parks, love, and war.”
“Is that the saying, really?”
Every year, he thinks he's gotten used to the horrifying attraction. Every year, he finds out he's wrong. There's no getting used to the relentless shakiness as they're taken closer and closer to the top, the tension when they are there knowing they're about to fall any second, the spine-chilling drop in his stomach when they fall.
He survives it, and he supposes every experience helps him understand why this is something people like his wife will do for fun. He feels alive, almost frightfully so, his heart pounding and breath shaking but his instincts so on edge. He feels real, and although it's hard to stand on his legs when the ride finally finishes, it's worth it when he gets to turn to Amy and find her looking genuinely impressed by him. She looks a little pale after this year’s ride, asking him if they can sit down for a few minutes afterward, but when he asks if she enjoyed it, there's no hiding her beaming grin.
2018
The year they had gotten married, they'd competed in the pentathlon games. They’d tried a few of them before, but this was the year they dialed their competitiveness up to the max, offering each other no leniency as they ran between the different game stations. Rifle shooting had been the most even, electronic darts the least - Amy claimed he’d tried to sabotage her by tickling her shortly before, making it difficult to keep her arm still - and their opinions on whether or not Jake’s moving basketball net was rigged to his disadvantage differed drastically, but through it all, they’d been enjoying themselves. It might not have seen that way to everyone else judged from their bickering and borderline unserious threats, but to Jake and Amy, this was love.
This was going back to their old rival days for a short while, to the memories of constantly trying to beat and outdo one another, before returning to reality and realizing they’d already won the greatest prize of all; each other.
(The giant stuffed frog that Jake had won at one of the stations, handed to him by a mysteriously silent employee with the name tag ‘Craig’, was a close second. It croaked if you pressed a button.)
Counting all the results together, the final conclusion was that Amy had won, and Jake laughed heartily at her as she did as expressive of a dork dance as he’d ever seen her do in public. After all, it was hard for him to feel much like a loser in anything as long as she was around. 
“Loser buys hot cider and cinnamon donuts?” She’d suggested with a kiss to the tip of his nose.
“We share bank accounts, babe.”
“It’s the gesture that counts,” she’d insisted then, and there’d been no way for him to decline.
2019
His wife is unstoppable this year as well. Jake ends up doing far worse in several stations than he knows he’s capable of, the competitiveness dialing down as he realizes there’s no way for him to win now. Instead, Jake simply watches Amy in her element. 
She’s so focused, so precise, so thought-through when she’s confident in her abilities. She’ll tuck her hair behind her ears like even a single strand could be the thing to sabotage her chances, bite her lip, stare down the task or target and tackle it right on, instinctive and calculated at the same time. 
It is moments like these when he struggles to believe there was ever a time when he wasn’t with her, a time when he wasn’t blessed with the opportunity to get to watch her like this, without any sense of guilt or inadequacy. 
She’s stellar, a piece of art much like the paintings she studied for several years at university, and he gets to live his life with her.
He gets to go to Halloween theme parks year after year with her as company. He gets to have her clutching on tight to his arm through haunted houses. He gets to sit next to her as they go on rides he thinks no sane human should be willingly exposing themselves to. He gets to be with her and hers all at once, and every year, every month, and every day, it keeps getting better.
“Did you even try to win this year?” She asks, curiously, as they’re walking towards the donut stand.
“Nah,” he shrugs. “I already won.”
“... Wow. Marriage really did a number on you when it comes to cheesiness, huh?” Her voice is teasing, but the little laugh, the tenderness in her eyes, is not.
“I have my days,” he says, placing an arm around her shoulders. “Winner buys the donuts this year?”
“A for effort, but they’re still on you.”
“Two hot ciders, two cinnamon donuts, and one box of donut holes, please.”
“Actually,” Amy pipes up as the teenaged cashier punches in their order. “I think I’ll have a hot chocolate instead.”
“Changing a winning concept,” Jake comments. “That’s bold of you.”
“Creating a new one,” she corrects him. “Gotta keep it interesting.”
~
As much as he loves all the crazy things they get up to on their visits, laughing their way through the day, Jake has to admit he loves the final part most. They’re sitting close together on a bench overlooking the water, drinking their cider and hot chocolate and enjoying the sugary baked goods while they chat about the day. It’s stress-free and allover wonderful, and it’s hard, if not unfeasible, to picture how anything could ever be better than this. 
“This is the best tradition,” Amy says, leaning her head on his shoulder as they watch parents chase their toddlers along the water’s edge, couples walking together and friend groups trying to take pictures in the half-darkness. “I hope we keep this up.”
“We’re definitely keeping it up,” he assures her. “This year was amazing. I already can’t wait for next time.”
She smiles, stroking his hair before beginning to ruffle through her right pocket for something. “Actually, next time might be a bit different.”
“What do you mean? We’re not changing this tradition, are we?”
“No,” she laughs. “We’re not. We’re just… renewing it to keep it interesting. Close your eyes.”
He does, and she instructs him to hold out his hand, so he does that, too.
She places a thin, maybe fifteen or so centimeters long, little plastic stick in his outstretched hand, and his fingers wrap around it.
“Okay, you can open them now.” 
“What’s this?”
“You might wanna read the display,” she tells him, and he unfurls his fingers to reveal a digital square and a single, life-changing word.
It takes a moment to sink in.
“No way,” he says when he can tear his eyes away from it, looking up at his wife to find her with what he hopes are happy tears in her eyes. “Are you - is this real, Ames?”
“I have like seven more of them at home,” she blushes. “So yeah, I think so.”
“Oh my god.”
“I know.”
“How long have you kept this a secret?”
“I took the first one three days ago,” she admits. “I wanted to tell you the second I found out, but then I remembered this, and I thought… maybe it could be another nice memory for the tradition.”
“It is.” He wraps her in a tight hug, pressing soft kisses to every inch of her face he can reach. “This is… wow. Just, wow.”
“That’s a pretty good summary of it.”
“This is the best visit so far,” he whispers in her ear as she takes the positive pregnancy test from him to put back. “This is the best visit ever.”
Life with Amy, and their yearly visits to the Halloween theme park, truly did have one thing in common; they both just kept getting better.
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leiascully · 4 years
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Bleak mid-winter or high summer? Shakespeare or Dickens? Do you like condiments with your food? What's the earliest memory you have. If you could play soccer, what position would you play? Satin or velvet? What's your worst habit? What's your best trait? What was the last movie you watched? Elephant or giraffe? Favourite flower? Can you rock a hat? Hotdog or hamburger? Who would play you and your wife in the biopic of your life?
Oof, those are both good in different ways!  High summer here is kind of miserable, but when I was younger, I loved it.  If I could go out and float the river right now, it might be a different story, but trapped in my house/yard during high summer is less fun than bleak midwinter (and I love the song).
Shakespeare.  Dickens doesn’t really interest me.  I haven’t even ever gotten around to watching Bleak House and we all know how much I love Gillian.
I love condiments!  Bring on the sauce.
I remember being in my crib in the house we lived in in Florida.  I must have been two or so?  Maybe a little younger or older?  But I don’t have a lot of other memories from that time.
If I could play soccer, I think I’d like to be a defender.  They’re badass and I love being reliable.  
Let’s go with velvet.  I just bought a bunch of satin and velvet for a costume and the velvet was way more fun to touch.
My worst habit is cutting people off in conversation, probably.  I do it a lot because I get too excited about talking.  
I think my best trait is my willingness to help others with things.  I’m a lot more patient than I used to be.
We watched The Old Guard yesterday and I LOVED it.  
Elephant!  I feel more akin to something round than something tall and spindly.  Plus they will bless you at temples in India and there’s nothing like getting a gentle damp noogie from an elephant.
I like so many kinds of flowers!  Roses, especially wild roses and climbing roses.  Zinnias, which I always used to grow when I was little.  Peonies because they’re so extravagant.
I occasionally wear a hat but I wouldn’t say I rock a hat.  Or most fashion, to be honest.  I go wild with it because I know I’m never going to look quite “right” so I might as well be silly.
Hamburger.  I am not partial to a hot dog.  Or mmm a really good veggie burger.  This pizza chain used to do an incredible veggie burger, but they took it off the menu.  
Oooh, who would play us?  Who can capture this mystique??  I want to be played by young Lily Tomlin.  We don’t look alike, but I’m going to flatter myself and say we have similar energy.  She is going to have to bulk up some for the role though, haha.  My wife says a fat queer Sela Ward should play her, if that exists.  
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darkpoisonouslove · 5 years
Text
Winx Club Season 2 Thoughts (4kids) Part 2
Since my thoughts are a bit scattered with this season and the post was getting long, I decided to separate them in two posts. You can find Part 1 here. This part picks up from 2x14:
- Ugh, pls no. Diaspro. Dammit.
- She’s making laws about fashion? What are this girl’s parents doing and why are they allowing this? She has them as confirmed later on in the episode so why is she making laws when she’s apparently not responsible enough to be given that power?
- Ooh, weather spells. Those look really good. I already said this but I am so happy that we get to see them have classes and learn new magic. It’s really cool and I am so totally here for it!
- Why isn’t Stella going with them?
- I can’t stand Sky’s parents. They are absolutely terrible. And the way Samara shouted at Bloom... jeez, rude! I know you’re a queen, but my god, have some fucking manners, will you? Sky turned out spectacularly considering these two are his parents. (So I might have a theory that he’s adopted.) Probably because they just left him to the servants to look after him which was most certainly his lucky day bc he was raised by good people. I am not even sorry for all this bitching. Erendor and Samara are the fucking worst and you can’t convince me otherwise.
- Also, to keep at this, he was about to introduce his girlfriend to them and they’re just there like “I hope he falls in love with Diaspro again”. Why are you such horrible people and parents?
- Seriously, Bloom? Why would he want to introduce you to his parents if he wanted Diaspro? Ugh, I can’t anymore with this.
- Oooh, nice! I see Bloom and Flora have learned some things in Griselda’s classes. And Brandon didn’t turn into shredded cheese so that was great too.
- Why the sudden change in Diaspro? I mean, not that I mind. She could be such an awesome character if they would just give her a proper arc and character development, and let it stick too. It was just weird. Might have been just Flora’s influence. I would love to believe that. And the fact that Diaspro isn’t heartless and actually listened when the Wrong Righters put things in perspective for her. Btw can we talk about how amazing her design is and how beautiful she is? (Also, Chatta don’t encourage her.)
- Even Sky admitted his parents are terrible. “They’re not usually that nice”? Boy, I feel so sorry for you, Sky.
2x15:
- Damn, I love how Musa defeated Stormy! And those were the runes Palladium taught them about. That’s awesome! I love!
- Wow. That was some makeover there with Stormy.
- Brandon is giving out kisses? And Stella agreed to that? Wow, okay. Stella is feeling very generous today. XD
- Poor Musa! It’s hard when parents are being like that. I get that he is still grieving but damn, that doesn’t mean he should make her cry. And threatening her to withdraw her from Alfea and her friends. That’s just cruel.
- Ahh, some clarity has finally been shed into the princess matter. So she’s unofficially a princess. Okay. I got it now.
- Aww, that dream seemed pretty bad. Poor baby. And that part about “everything in me is music” and her resolve to do what she loves... I’m fucking crying! *sobs* Why is it that Musa and Layla always get the rawest arcs?
- Wow, Codatorta is all black-tie? XD
- Seriously, how did Stella let her go out on stage with that outfit?
- Why do they always have to use their parents against them? I am so mad about this. But awwwwwwwww at the singing part! And look, Riven is hyping people up. And he met her dad. And her dad is okay with her singing. Awwww! (Just so you know, I am still crying.)
- You gotta love the animation mistakes, though. Faragonda started out next to Saladin, then she was a seat away, and then she moved over an entire row. Nice one! Why is no one looking for continuity?
- Aww, Stella and Layla hugging Musa. And then the song with Stella was cute!
2x16:
- I couldn’t find the 4kids version of 2x16 (meaning I couldn’t be bothered to look for it more extensively because it was late and, of course, I will watch the creepiest episode right before going to bed) so I watched the RAI dub and I won’t be going into any detail here. This is pretty much the one episode that has been sealed into my brain ever since I was little. I always loved it because it was so nicely creepy (though, I am not sure how exactly I handled it when I was a child (I’m not exactly big on horror if you haven’t grasped it already since the episode isn’t really that scary but I still find the part with the “three sisters” kinda scary with the way they talk and Winx being cornered by them)). I liked the way the legend was built and that with the mirrors cracking was actually kinda cool. Also, I love the moment everyone starts fawning over Winx’s “costumes” and Mitzi can’t get any attention. And yeah, good lesson that the way you read the signs may not be true to what they’re actually pointing to.
2x17:
- (I already talked quite a bit for 2x17 and 2x18 last year when I rewatched them so I will not go into that much detail about them either... Or will I?)
- And even despite that, I absolutely can’t not mention that scene with Griffin and Faragonda in the beginning of 2x17 bc it is so goddamn dramatic and extra and Griffin just teleported to Alfea to make a 20-second scene (I counted them because, yes, I am that obsessed with this scene) and then disappeared again. I love!
- Lol, Ediltrude and Zarathustra, I can’t. They are so obviously sisters. I don’t get it, though. If Cloud Tower doesn’t take well to intruders, why did it let the Trix take over it and was kinda helping them even before they started sending energy in its veins? Is it because they’re witches and studied there so it doesn’t consider them intruders? Also, I love how the thing about Cloud Tower being a living organism has never come up before nor did it ever again.
- Aww, poor Mirta. But hey, she and Lucy finally fixed that friendship. That was actually kinda cute. I liked it. Lucy didn’t have to be such a bitch even if she was feeling betrayed but I actually get it so... All is well when it ends well, right?
- Stormy really doesn’t know how to manage her emotions, does she? Someone get her some therapy, please. She’s going to explode if she keeps bottling everything up.
- Aww, poor Lucy. The way Stormy blasted her. I feel really bad for her. And she was so scared (rightfully so). Somebody help her. (and get her therapy too)
- I am not really a fan of the catfight spell idea. I think they could’ve just let Winx disagree simply because they disagreed. They are friends but they can have different opinions. They don’t have to be under a spell to have a reason to argue.
- Oh, so Griffin can sense there’s someone at her door but she can’t fucking tell when some other shit is happening at her school. Makes total sense.
- Poor Lucy, though. She was so scared.
- What the heck was Stella doing anyway? She was just sitting around without doing shit. Was that the genius plan, hon?
- Okay, why did Bloom decide she could handle the Trix on her own when all of Winx couldn’t really beat them together?
- Yeah, Griffin can put a spell that the Trix can’t get through around the Heart of Cloud Tower but she can’t send her own energy into its veins to make Cloud Tower itself kick them out. Makes perfect sense.
- Layla and Musa actually teaming up with the witches was really cool. And they would’ve won too if the Trix didn’t get the statues to fight for them. (I actually liked the witch lounge btw.)
- Seriously, look at the Trix’s powers. How do Winx keep getting away from them? Darcy can legit blind people with that optical darkness spell. How have they not won with ease yet? But yeah, why destroy her immediately when we can wait for her friends to show up and save her? Sounds good.
2x18:
- “Is that Miss Griffin?” Can’t you see? Of course, it is.
- I gotta say that at least she was smart enough not to put the Codex with the Heart. Because as we saw, that was way too easy to figure out
.- “Forget about them” Yeah, so they can try and kill you. Nice one, Flora!
- Why is Stella so bitchy in these episodes? What is the problem, Stella? Why can’t you just chill? Aaaand... Now they’re trapped. Great!
- Can we talk about the fact that Griffin’s plan saved all their lives? So yeah, “wicked”. Right. Never mind they would’ve died otherwise. Although, why the hell didn’t she take the other teachers with her? Surely that would’ve made getting control of the tower back easier. Why doesn’t anyone do anything smart dammit?
- So Darcy can make herself look like Griffin but she can’t make herself sound like Griffin? Is that it? That’s what I’m getting from this scene because she didn’t try to talk to Lucy and Mirta.
- “We’re in the classroom that belongs to that weird witch teacher.” Which one? I think they all fall under that category so you’re going to have to be a bit more specific.
.- Poor witches. Getting eaten by their own school. I hope Griffin will get them some therapy after that.
- Oh yeah, now the Trix are stronger. Even though they were losing against Layla and Musa in the previous episode.
- How will going back to their dorm rooms help when the entire tower is going insane? This doesn’t make any sense.
- Oh, look! Just a simple deduction was all it took to figure out the location of the Codex. Easy peasy, right?
- Yeah, let’s do convergence when we don’t fucking know what we’re trying to do. Nice one, you guys! Also, poor Discorda. But why does Cloud Tower have a pixie? This is so weird. Though, kinda good I guess since they’d been trying to make out the witches all evil and having a pixie there is a step in the right direction.
2x19:
- Yeah, just keep blasting without focusing your energy. ‘Cause that’s totally effective. Also, ugh, why Avalon again?
- Aww, Bloom saw Marion and Oritel. And of course she doesn’t remember the dark force in her dream. It would’ve been so easy.
- Why the hell would Bloom listen to Locket, you know? (I mean, she had a point about Locket trying to look into people’s hearts but still.)
- Poor Timmy. He doesn’t know what to do and now that. At least he’s not mad at Bloom. (In all fairness, it wasn’t her fault.)
- And that makeover didn’t do much good. But of course not, when Avalon lied to them about what they should do.
- Bloom, I know you’re not yourself, but for the love of everything sacred, stop destroying the books! This is hurting me!
- Damn, she got shrunk. And is still causing trouble.
- Oh, that chase in the pages of the book was actually kinda cool.
- I think Winx should have just put their everything into stopping her earlier. i know they didn’t want to fight her but it was obvious they wouldn’t be able to get through to her and that she was spelled big time.
- That with the pixie kiss was kinda weird but cute. And yeah, sure, Bloom is grateful to Locket for sticking with her but still won’t listen to her about Avalon. Will it kill you to be a little more mindful of the man?
2x20:
- Okay, that vacation idea was so random. Although it looks like it was necessary. They just didn’t stop fighting.
- Yeah, sure the boys can’t socialize. Who is even watching to make sure that they won’t? Please.
- Ugh, Avalon, the absolute bitch. Of course he’s pretending to be poisoned.
- Aww, that Riven and Sky friendship moment was really cute. And Sky lying to him about Musa but then hitting the actual tree Riven was warning him about. XD And Layla beat them both, lol.
- Palladium blushing like that at Avalon. Hmm... I wonder what he needed that love potion for. I hope he knows that that isn’t exactly ethical.
- Okay, so how the hell did they have time to sew their suits together? That just doesn’t make sense but okay. At least they stopped fighting.
- And of course, why the hell would anyone tell them that such a thing as Charmix exists? That is totally not relevant. Not to mention that they should’ve gotten it earlier. Bloom should have gotten hers back in season 1 when she learned who she was and accepted it and Musa should have gotten her at the concert in Red Fountain. But of course, that only appears now. I mean, makes total sense.
2x21:
- Yeah, it’s a realm free of magic but because your Gloomix multiplies your magic, you’ll still have some. That’s just... not how it works. If it’s a realm free of magic, there shouldn’t be any magic. Otherwise, it simply is a realm that consumes your powers but if you can find a way to keep them above a certain level, you can still have them.
- Okay, but if I was Layla, I would feel bad about Stella feeling bad but I wouldn’t blame myself. She couldn’t have known. It’s not that she’s bad at friendship. But hey, at least Stella told her how she feels and she got her Charmix.
- Okay, yeah, Darcy has the power of mindcontrol but they still haven’t won. Yeah, makes perfect sense.
- Aww, it was sweet of Brandon to talk to Musa about Riven. And she told him how she felt and got her own Charmix. That was cute.
- “My lips kinda hurt.” Smooth one, Brandon.
- And they’re at the edge of a cliff now. Damn what a (literal) cliffhanger of an ending.
- Oh, no. Poor Layla just fell off the cliff like that. And now she can’t climb back.
2x22:
- Well, at least the Charmix reloads itself quickly. Even if it also gets exhausted quickly.
- Aww, Layla also got her Charmix. That was actually a very heartfelt moment. It almost made me cry.
- And Tecna finally admitted her feelings for Timmy. Now if only Flora can do the same with Helia.
2x23:
- Aww, the pixies are sick. Poor babies.
- Real Avalon at last. Fucking finally. Also, that spell was super freaky but it’s got me thinking about what you’d have to do to perform it... And now I’m getting ideas here.
- Oh, they’re getting special training for the Charmix now? Never mind that they weren’t even told that thing existed. Makes so much sense. (I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore.)
- I know Faragonda was trying to encourage Flora but it felt more like she was scolding her and was being disappointed by her tbh.
- Awww, Griselda said she’s proud of Flora! That is so cute! Also, I love how even Griselda can see that Helia is so into Flora but Flora herself can’t.
- Oh, pixies are born from the flower of life? That’s... kind of weird but okay.
- Flora finally told him! Great! I can’t help it at the moment when she yelled after him and then was like “Opps, he heard me. What do I do now?” XD And she also got her Charmix. That’s gotta be one of the best days for her.
- You mean Faragonda never asked to see the letter she sent to Avalon even though she is well aware Darkar is out there and is doing literally everything to get his hands on the Codex? My god, what epic dumbassery, I can’t. Seriously, they could’ve just handed him the Codex, it wouldn’t have been much worse than what they’re doing now.
- What does he want? Gee, I don’t know. The Trix were after Bloom and Avalon’s been preying on Bloom since the very beginning (and they even figured out he was the one who turned her evil) but what the hell could he want? Beats the hell out of me. At least Tecna finally put it together. And, of course, it is too late.
- Poor Stella, running around with that glass of water like that.
2x24:
- Aww, the pixies want to go too. That’s... probably not the best idea but it’s not like they can do anything about it.
- Poor Brandon! I think Sky would be scared, too, if he’d been through what happened to Brandon. (Not that he wasn’t already. XD)
- Tecna a few episodes ago: “Just because I come from a technology-based realm doesn’t mean that I don’t have emotions.” Tecna in this ep: “Consider me your new computer.” Amazing.
- Aww, that dragon was kinda cool. Too bad it tried to kill them.
- Oh, look! Flora’s got this! Nice! And we saw her Charmix.
- Brandon probably shouldn’t have said that about Sponses (did I even get his name right?) But they were in luck there with Sky’s attack taking out both Amentia and the guard.
- Okay, Stella’s plan wasn’t completely solid but they still pulled off that emergency take-off so... that’s okay.
- And Bloom is dark now. He just literally sent darkness into her heart, wtf.
2x25:
- Oh, damn! The Trix really upgraded these monsters. But now they’re drained, I kinda feel bad for them. I know they’re evil but dammit, they worked for their rewards and they aren’t going to get anything because Darkar is like that. Why is he so obsessed with Bloom? This is getting creepy again.
- Awww, Riven is being so supportive and such a team player! I love this! Can we let this fucking stick goddammit?!
- Oh, damn! Helia absolutely pulled off that rescue! Nice!
- Awwwwww, Griselda being there like “Our kids” is literally the most adorable thing ever! I love. And thank fucking god Faragonda finally decided to go help. It was about damn time. (Especially considering the stupidity with Avalon. (I am still not over that.))
- Hey, the convergence is working this time! Cool!
- Aww, Saladin can’t go with them bc of health issues. :/ (Though, pretty convenient that they had to take Codatorta considering what happened later on.)
- That goodbye was so cute! Brandon with that cheesy line! XD And Helia and Flora’s first kiss! But hey, what do you mean Tecna and Timmy don’t get a kiss? I know they already kissed once but give them a proper goodbye at least. And I am absolutely ready to cry over Riven and Musa!!!! He finally admitted his feelings! And that hug! I also liked the Layla and Sky moment, however short it was.
- Damn, Kerborg is... That thing. I liked him more as a... bat (thingy?). And they are in trouble but at least the teachers showed up on time this time. (kind of)
2x26:
- Yeah, “completely under control”, sure.
- “The ultimate power couple”? Um... Ew?!
- And they’re splitting up. But eh, it all works out so... good for them.
- I gotta admit I am not a fan of that thing with the colors that Stella did. It felt like she couldn’t be useful for anything else so they just shoved that in there. Nice one, you guys. Also, what do you mean that they don’t have straight As? After the shit they go through, how can anyone write them any mark different than A tbh? I mean, they saved the universe. What more do you want from them?
- The boys are catching up with them, too. Nice.
- “His confidence is bigger than his abilities,” Well, yeah, you’re not wrong there. XD Also, aww, damn! :/ They just killed Kerborg. So sad! (Alexa play Despacito.)
- Oh, damn! That Trix convergence is... creepy. But kinda cool. I like it.
- Riven sacrificed himself for Musa! (Could’ve just pushed her out of the way but anyway.)
- And Sky dropped the L word. And it had the desired effect. His speech was actually rather cute. I liked that part about him feeling the goodness of her heart when she healed him back in Red Fountain.
- Griffin and Faragonda’s shield is holding up well. Their convergence is also super powerful.
- Speaking of convergence, that was some amazing sync between Winx. And they wiped him off the face of the universe. I love how nobody is talking about the fact that they just killed a guy. Granted a very possessed guy, but still.
- Aww, Faragonda and Griffin toasting together was so cute. “Griffy”. I can’t. XD Same for Codatorta and Knut arm wrestling.
- I am so happy for Layla and that she finally has friends. Also, look at her being all matchmaker with Riven and Musa. Aww, and Piff said her first word!
- Tecna and Timmy and Helia and Flora were so cute! And of course we can’t forget about Stella and Brandon who are the king and queen of cheesy romance. XD (I love them! They are so made for each other.)
- Aww, Bloom gave Kiko little wings! That was so adorable. Also, good to see him again. And I do believe that was her first kiss with Sky (honestly, I don’t pay much attention to them). But they just had to hijack the photo like that.
This season was definitely better than I expected. Did it have a shitton of stuff that didn’t make sense? Well, yes. But was it engaging? Mostly. I would’ve loved it more if Avalon and Darker weren’t pissing me off so much but there was some solid action and heartfelt moments. Also, Layla is really cool and I’m glad they decided to include her and that she found her place in the group. I don’t really love the Charmix as much as I used to when I was little but damn if the Gloomix doesn’t still rock hard! And you gotta love the actual classes we got to see! So I actually liked this quite a lot.
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forestwater87 · 6 years
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Odd question. If you were doing a wing fic (shorthand: everyone has some kind of wings on their back; up to you if they're always out or if they can be banished and summoned at will) for Camp Camp, what kind of wings would the cast have?
Oooh I love wing fics! Hmmm, let’s see . . . 
David’s would be a little small for his age/size, and he’d probably be kind of embarrassed about that. He can still fly just fine with them -- which he’d say, defensively, if anyone pointed them out -- and they’re very fluffy, white, with little speckles of green flecked throughout.
Now I know most wing fics stick with feathered wings, but it did occur to me that some sort of insectlike wings -- all delicate-looking and iridescent like the surface of a bubble -- would also suit him very well. They’d be a bit more natural and forest-y, but would still have that element of embarrassment and shyness (he was probably called “fairy” a lot growing up, and it’d be a sore spot for him).
That being said, the idea of David having massive wings was suggested by @ciphernetics​, and I must admit that the idea of him either wrapping them around people to protect or comfort them is super cute. Also in a protective moment he could like fwoosh, out they come to shield the campers and it’d be badass. It’s not my preferred hc for him, but there are some lovely ways to play with it.
Gwen’s would be . . . serviceable. Dull, easily overlooked, probably some shade of gray or that kind of dun mousy brown that looks greyish in the right light, bigger than David’s but neither unusually large or small, not especially fluffy but not kind of molted the way some sick people’s are . . . they’re just sort of there. (She was probably nicknamed Pigeon by a lot of people, both as an affectionate term and a derogatory one. And like pigeons’ wings, there are little patches of color among her wings that are hard to see unless you’re looking for them it’s a metaphor get it? aren’t I clever ohoho)
Campbell’s are humongous. The biggest wings ever. He is a mountain of a man, with massive pure-white wings. Some people are convinced he genetically modified them somehow, and they do have this uncanny radioactive glow in the dark but don’t worry about that, it’s perfectly natural and not at all suspicious!
The fun thing about this is that they can get increasingly bedraggled as Season 3 progresses, until they’re drooping and muddy.
Quartermaster has bat wings. I don’t give a fuck if literally every other character has angel wings, QM’s are bats and that’s just the way it has to be.
I like the idea of the campers having small wings that can fit under their clothes, because they haven’t really grown in yet. I imagine maybe Nurf might be an exception, since he seems to be either older or just bigger than the other campers, but for the most part those kiddos look just like their normal selves. That being said, a few ideas of what they might look like grown up:
Max -- black, maybe a little big for his age, like a crow or raven’s wings. When he gets annoyed they puff up and slip out of his hoodie, and it’s a pain to put them back in which annoys him even more and gets them more puffy and hard to stuff back . . . it’s a constant struggle. Pity the poor kid.
Neil -- I’m torn between going with his hair color and giving him some hawklike brown-and-white wings, which I think would look nice with his coloring, and just going hog-wild and giving him wings like a bluebird because of his eyes. I think the latter would be too showy and embarrass him, but there’s something kinda cute about that too. His wings would be like his dad: impossible to ignore and much louder and more obnoxious (in his POV) than they need to be.
Nikki -- big and flecked with golden-orange. Of all the characters I think hers would have the most modifications, because as a kid/young adult she wasn’t careful with them and got them all torn up -- maybe to the point where she can’t even fly with them. But she has Neil and he’s a smart cookie, so I like to think of her wings having a vaguely-steampunk element of mechanisms and patches keeping them together.
Harrison -- white or a very light gray, like a dove’s. He paints the tips gold when he’s older as part of his illusionist costume.
Nerris -- I’m just thinking pure eastern bluebird, orange at the base and then exploding into brilliant blue. I think she’d love how flashy they are.
Ered -- Somehow I want her to have dragon wings. I have no idea why, or how, but I think it’d be extremely cool, and Ered is nothing if not cool. Especially if they’re really rare, almost unheard of, and she’s put a lot of work into transforming herself from the tomboyish freak with the demon wings and gay dads into something to be envious of. Besides, it’s easier to do sick stunts without having to worry about your feathers getting caught on stuff.
Nurf -- All right, I wanna get emo for a moment and say that his wings have been hacked either partly or entirely off by the time he’s an adult. We know he’s been abused in canon, and I think that people like that would go for the easiest target to hurt you, and that target is probably the delicate feathered things sticking out of your back. Bonus points if they’re somehow kind of girly, which coincides with his more sensitive nature and how he initially wanted to do ballet as a kid (especially since I don’t think that was well-received by his family). So, like . . . what remains are very fluffy and sweet-looking, maybe pink or pale yellow and orange or something, but they’re either little stubs he covers up all the time or they’ve got big chunks missing out of them but who’s gonna point that out to the huge guy with a pissed-off expression?
Preston -- Rainbow, like the most extravagant bird of paradise. Does he paint them himself, or are they as natural as he claims? 
Dolph -- Probably something very average and serviceable, in the brown/gray/white family, but they’re always speckled with paint because he’s not very careful with them and especially the long feathers at the bottom trail along the ground while he’s painting, or get stuck to his art if he turns around too suddenly.
Space Kid -- I’m thinking of a duck, for some reason. Partly because they’re aquatic and I just connect the ocean and space for some reason, partly because they’re very ordinary and that’s kind of how SK rolls, and partly because ducks can just flap for insane distances without getting tired (thank you Animorphs!). Space Kid is like that, I think -- very diligent, keeps his head down and gets things done, not very bright but he works so hard it makes up for a lot, and that’s why he’s going to be an astronaut someday. Mallards have those pretty green feathers, too, and I think those would look nice with Space Kid’s eyes.
Jasper -- Peacock. Obviously. He is the most garishly-dressed person in the show and his wings would match. Not that you’ll ever know, because he never gets to grow up and have real wings :( 
So those are the mains! As for some of the less-important characters, I don’t really have too many interesting ideas, but a few throwaway ones:
The Flower Scouts all have pink wings, either feathers or bug/fairy ones. I think maybe Tabii has a chunk missing from one of hers, from a fight or something, and the other girls made a patch so no one can tell and she can fly properly. Erin’s might be just slightly different colors -- one with an orangey tint, one with a blue.
A fun thing about bug wings is they could buzz when the girls are angry. So Sasha’s are basically always going, poor thing.
The Woodscouts probably have their wings bound, clipped, and constantly ready for combat flying. I’m thinking, like, the military-haircut version of wings.
Daniel’s . . . I mean, I don’t care about Daniel because he’s trash, but I do love the idea that they’re not naturally white and he dyes them. It’s my favorite Daniel hc and I need it to appear in every AU.
So that about covers it!
EXCEPT
Then I was talking with Ciphernetics about wing AUs, and I mentioned that in some wing fics (namely the awesome one by setepenre-set, though there are probably others) the wings’ size are based on how loved someone is. Which led to the below cuteness. Warning: shameless Gwenvid and Makkiel ahead, along with me insisting that Cameron Campbell isn’t the worst person in the entire world because I’m love him
Ciphernetics: Max’s wings growing during camp!Max voice: who the FUCK is loving me I specifically requested the opposite of thisDavid: You can even fit them in your hoodie anymore awwwwMax, struggling to pull it on over his wings: the hell I can't
Forestwater:(what if they come in the color of the person who loves you's hair)(so at first it's just this line of red that he knows is fucking David, goddamnit and then all of a sudden start sprouting these mint green and brown ones and my ship takes off)
Ciphernetics: Max, disgusted, throwing an auburn feather at David: get LOSTMax, looking over his shoulder in the mirror at the brown ones gathering at the tips and the mint ones scattered chaotically throughout: huh
Forestwater:Oh no what about when Nikki and Neil's start getting flecked with black, small and easily tugged out like they're ashamed of being there
Ciphernetics: The small really curly little feathery down that like to hide under other feathers(Gwen's had auburn in her wings since almost the first summer but lately it's started to overpower the rest of the colours. Not completely, it's just... Noticeable how much of it is the same colour now.)(She knew David loved people quickly and easily, it's just suddenly a lot more)(or she just wasn't paying attention)
Forestwater:What on earth would David's reaction be to suddenly finding some of Gwen's?I like the idea of her feathers being two-toned
Ciphernetics: I'd love if he's had a very small, slowly growing patch since they met (just a handful more each summer) but some event happens and suddenly there's a lotOh absolutely two tonedHey how about some angst;David's been waiting his whole life for Campbell's hair colourToday at 9:32 AMHe'd never say it but Campbell makes so many throwaway jokes about David being the son he never wanted but it rings a little hollow when there's not when one little brown/grey feather
Forestwater:until the end of season 3 when there's like . . . twoLISTEN I NEED MY TRASH GRANDPA
So that’s just a little bit of extra silliness for added angst/romance/fluff.
Hope this answer isn’t too long, but I was having fun.
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lovemesomesurveys · 5 years
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What’s your favourite horror movie? The Halloween series, Scream series (especially the 1st one), and It (especially the 2017 one and Chapter 2) are a few of my top faves.
And do you prefer the classics, new ones, or obscure ones nobody’s watched? A bit of everything.  
Do you decorate your house for Halloween? Yeah, we put a few things up. 
Any decorations, do you keep them as general decor? No, but I do have a cool iridescent skull that I could keep out year round. Hmm, I should, it’s really pretty.
If you dress up, what are you dressing up as this year? I haven’t dressed up for the past 4 years now. I’m over that part, honestly. I don’t go anywhere anyway anymore, so I see no need.
Have you ever stayed at a haunted house or castle? Nooo.
Do you believe in ghosts? I believe in the supernatural.
What is your favourite (scary) urban legend? Oooh. There’s so many. One that used to really creep me out when I was younger was the babysitter one where the killer keeps calling and it’s revealed that they’re actually calling from inside the house. :O
Any tunes you love to play especially for this holiday? The classics like Monster Mash, the Ghostbusters song, and the Addam’s Family song.
If any, what is your LEAST favourite aspect of Halloween? The temptation of all the sweets, ha. Well, that’s an issue I have now anyway because I can’t really have that stuff at the moment.
Do you still like to indulge in pumpkin spiced lattes? I don’t like them. :O I wish I did. 
Do you enjoy baking Halloween treats or scoffing the lot for yourself? I used to bake during the holidays, but I haven’t the last few years. 
Is Friday 13th REALLY that unlucky? Do you believe in any superstitions? No, but it’s still fun to acknowledge. 
Have you ever thrown eggs at somebody’s house? Are ye here troublemaker? Noo. That’s such a shitty thing to do.
What’s your favourite candy? White chocolate anything, really. Reese’s as well, the milk chocolate and white chocolate kind. Ooh, Hershey used to have a white chocolate candy bar with candy corn bits (like cookies n’ cream, but with candy corn bits) that was soooo good.
Does your county celebrate Halloween differently than in other places? My county? I think it’s pretty typical. *shrug* 
Is there an age limit for Trick or Treating? (You’re lucky if not!) There’s not like a law about it. I went trick or treating up until my teenage years to be perfectly honest. Most people tend to stop around then, I think. 
Do you prefer tricks or treats? Treats. 
For those who prefer to trick, what’s the best prank you’ve pulled so far?
What’s the worst Halloween costume you’ve seen? The best? I’ve seen a ton of creative, well put together costumes.
Do you see many bats throughout October? I’ve only ever seen one bat ever where I live. 
What’s your worst phobia? I don’t wanna think about that stuff.
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rambleonwithrosie · 6 years
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Hello my lovely thirst babies! (It's what I call my followers)
For all of you new followers hi! Welcome! Enjoy the music and stay for the cute dish that is Queen's drummer.
All you previous 200 followers know that when I hit a milestone of 50 I always do a 50 questions type thing.
This one is gonna be all Queen!
(Also thank you everybody for sending a post from 0 to 500 notes in roughly one day!)
Opinion on Freddie Mercury calling himself "Mr. Farenheit"? It's adorable and almost like a little play on words with his birth name of Farrokh
Early 80's porn star Freddie or late 80's suburban dad Freddie look? Well I guess dad Fred because I'm not a stache person and the less facial hair and the shorter the better!
Stone Cold Crazy or I'm Going Slightly Mad? Tough choice but I'm Going Slightly Mad is the one I heard first and it's one of my favorites off of Innuendo. Sheer Heart Attack would be a great album even without Stone Cold Crazy
If Freddie asked you to house sit for him would you do it? Unless the cats are somewhere else no. I'm allergic and prejudiced against cats.
Satanic Prawn Onesie from It's A Hard Life music video or Disco Ball Red Devil Romper stage costume? Anything is better than the 800 eyed abomination
Get Down Make Love or Body Language? Get Down Make Love because at least musically it has some quality even if lyrically it's utter garbage (well if you chop off the first part it's not the worst)
Freddie in I Want to Break Free video or in Radio Ga Ga? Radio Ga Ga outfits always win. Plus other than the blouse I personally wouldn't wear anything Fred has on in I Want to Break Free
Opinion of Delilah? I think even if I actually liked cats I'd still cringe at it. As it is I definitely do not enjoy it
Bohemian Rhapsody or Bicycle Race? Oooh see Bicycle Race was my fav as a kid but BoRhap is legendary... I guess Bicycle Race because nostalgia and Star Wars!
Favorite 70s Freddie outfit?
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Fat Bottomed Girls or Tear It Up? Ooh. Tear It Up. It's so delightfully naughty and grinds so hard. It's my dirty jam
Brian song you would really go all-out air-guitaring to? Tie Your Mother Down
Sail Away Sweet Sister or 39? I love the nerdiness of 39. But Sail Away Sweet Sister speaks to me and the main character of the novel I'm writing a lot. So gotta be SASS
"Hammer to Fall" or "Headlong"? Hammer to Fall probably. It's such a power jam. Not that Headlong isn't. It's also less dirty and it's on one of the best Queen albums ever
Favourite Brian solo? Oooh. Probably Tie Your Mother Down (I honestly can't recall if it has a solo. I just know it slams really hard and I live for that intro)
Briana in "I Want to Break Free" or Death in "It's a Hard Life"? Aghh. I love sassy Brianna but death is the only remotely sane looking one in Its A Hard Life
Favourite Brian solo song? I don't know a lot so Driven By You I guess
If you could spend a weekend with Brian, what would you do? Take nature hikes and talk about music and C S Lewis works and play with hedgehogs if at all possible
Would you rather stargaze with Brian or study in a science library with Brian? Stargaze for sure. I love it anyways and then he'd know all this brainy stuff that might put me to sleep but would still be fascinating
Favourite photo of Brian? I want his shawl thingy. Glam bastard.
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Is Deaky one thicc bih in your opinion? He is certainly the thickest member of Queen. Have you guy's seen his apple bottomed ass of perfection?
If you could redo John's hair for Radio Ga Ga how would you do it? Maybe spiky with gel or something. Anything to reduce the electrocuted squirrel look
Describe John Deacon using 5 foods? Celery. Tall and kind of forgotten but essential. Onions because he's so savage at times he could make you cry. Hazelnuts because his hair and he's earthy and complex. Cheese because you are what you eat. And cherries but the tart pie kind not the sweet ones.
Where would you take Deaky on vacation? Hmmm. Some place with not a lot of people. I feel South America somewhere. Maybe a beach or to Patagonia
Favourite Deaky song? You're My Best Friend timeless and sweet
If you could give Deaky a new nickname what would it be? Salty the Hermit Crab
Favorite Deaky facial expression? His soft blushy sort of modest smile. Especially in the 70s.
Favorite photo of Deaky?
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Favourite Deaky outfit?
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Favorite salty Deaky face?
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Which Monty Python sketch does Roger remind you of? The Encyclopedia Salesman because he could charm his way into somebody's house and sell them anything like the time he bs-ed that he was a Hoover vacuum salesman with I want to say John
Favourite harmonising by Roger? Probably Somebody to Love. He adds so much to those harmonies. And when they do it live it's even more noticeable but in a different way
What kind of car do you think I'm In Love with My Car is about? Whatever it is I see it as red. Probably a red Ferari. Or that's what I see and I'm sure Rog wouldn't have said no to one of those
You can have Roger do one of the (metaphorical) things to you that he mentions in "I'm in Love with My Car", what do you choose? Well giving him a thrill while my radials squeal does sound pleasant 😉😍😈
Favorite Roger Taylor solo work? Original composition it's probably Let's Get Crazy off of Fun In Space but if we're counting songs he covered Racing in the Street HANDS. DOWN! It's my fav song all time now. It and Brandy by Looking Glass
If Roger was an accessory, what would he be? Sunglasses of course 😎😎😎
"Modern Times Rock and Roll" or "Loser in the End"? Modern Times Rock N Roll. That song is not long enough. I love it.
You can talk to Roger for the rest of your life or have one night of passion with him, which do you choose? This is torture... but you didn't say I couldn't make out with him @squeezemylemon so trap there. I'm gonna talk to Rog and make out with him but no night of passion sadly. I'll still be happy kissing and chatting and being friends with a side of inspecting each other's tonsils with our tongues 😉😁😂
Favourite stage outfit of Roger's?
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You can have a three-way with two different Rogers... 1) Do you do it? 2) Which Rogers (photo examples are encouraged)? Not my thing but I'm such a thirsty bitch for Rog that in this case hell yes. Sign me up for this sandwich right here
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Brian or Freddie singing "'39"? Brian all the way baby. He has that perfect folk singer type voice
Which songs from other bands best describes each member? Brian is Bowie's 'Space Oddity'. Freddie is Elton's 'Rocket Man'. Roger's anthem has to be 'Big Spender' even if musically the style isn't him, musically he's Dancing in the Dark by Springsteen. John is Beethoven's 5th Symphony or The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel but don't ask me why
The members of Queen as characters from the Muppets? Hmm. John is one of the salty old guys from the audience. Roger/ina is miss Piggy because he's such a diva. Bri would be Kermit for somehow patiently dealing with Piggy!Rog. And I had to Google the other Muppets and found one named Pepe the King Prawn and if that isn't Freddie Mercury I don't know what is
The members of Queen as the Avengers? Brian is Director Fury (he counts as an Avenger right?) John is The Hulk, Freddie is outrageous Iron Man of course and Roger is Hawkeye full of sass quips and sex appeal
Queen as cake flavors? Freddie is Cherry Chocolate. John is Lemon. Brian is a really dark chocolate that probably has coffee flavoring to it. Roger is strawberry.
Queen as Classic Hollywood actors? I weirdly want to say Freddie as Clark Gable but I think he's more Douglas Fairbanks. Brian is Lawrence Olivier. John is William Powell. And Roger would be James Dean (he counts right?)
FMK: Rogerina, Briana, Frederika? Fuck Rogerina obvs. Briana is a suitable housewife. And as usual poor Fred gets killed. Sorry.
Which song would you have liked to have been around the composer as they created it? Well as much as I want to say a Roger song I'd be too busy distracting him for that to work so I'm gonna say Brian writing Dragon Attack
Favorite album art/cover? The Game. 1980 Rog in leather is my sexuality. Otherwise I'd probably say Sheer Heart Attack
Who or what is the (not actual) love of each band member’s life? Freddie's was the 4000 cats. Roger's amore is cars of course. John is in a committed relationship with cheese on toast. And Brian is a slut who while he's married to Red Special he goes around having affairs with badgers and faucets/taps
Thanks again @squeezemylemon and @zestysexmachinefromzanzibar for helping with all of these questions!
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