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#All The Lessons I Never Learned

goatmilksoda · 1 year

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All The Lessons I Never Learned

23. Costumes and Candy

Synopsis: Loki takes Thor out costume shopping and then Thor gets to wear his costume to daycare!

Word count: 1728

Stand Alone?: 1/2

Warnings: no warnings apply

Notes: Aside from an upload schedule change, no notes apply

Read it on AO3!

“Woah…” Thor said as they walked through the grocery store.

That wasn’t exactly accurate-- Loki was walking while Thor was sitting in the cart.

“Hm?”

“‘S a lotta Halloween.”

“I guess it is.” Loki had gotten so used to it over these past years in America that he couldn’t help but feel as if it were totally normal.

“Can I trick-or-treat?”

Loki hadn’t really thought about it. “If that’s what you want to do. Do you have a costume?”

“No. I wanna be a big monsta!”

“Like a dragon?”

“No! Something scary!”

“We’ll look at costumes in a moment. What kind of candy should we get?”

“Mm…” Thor hummed as he thought about it. “Chockate.”

“The one with Kitkats or the Reeses?”

“Kvikk Lunsj?”

“So… Kitkats. That’s what they’re called here.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah. This one’s a variety pack so you’ll get to try other ones, too.”

“Okay!” Thor agreed.

“I’ll let you try some when we get home if you’re really good.”

That made the little grin.

“We do need to go downstairs now though, so can you get out of the cart for me?”

With a little bit of effort and help from Loki’s outstretched arm and stabilization of the cart, Thor was able to get out so they could go downstairs and take a look at the home and clothing section of the store, putting the cart on a track next to the escalator.

Thor, of course, couldn’t help but try to reach into the cart and found it extremely interesting, and, against his better judgment, Loki let him, and only gave him a little tap on the shoulder to show him that the escalator ride was over.

“Can I push?”

“You wanna push it?”

“Mhm!”

Thor did push the cart for a second, before trying to step up and ride on it, almost making it tip over, and forcing Loki to weigh down the other end.

There were lots of interesting decorations in the seasonal section for Thor to look at, but he didn’t seem particularly frightened of any, more just intrigued and curious if anything, even though he almost tossed a “haunted” jack-in-the-box toy on the floor after it surprised him.

“Okay costumes… costumes…Ah, here we go, costumes for littles.” Loki sorted through the racks while Thor kept trying to perch on the front of the cart. “Brother, come look with me. I’m not shopping for myself.”

“We should together costume.”

“Hm?”

“Like um, match?”

Loki did give this idea much thought. “...Let’s see what they have first. Oh! Look at this! It’s a monster!” He had pulled out a blue fuzzy costume with horns and googly looking eyes which was definitely a monster, but devoid of being from any one specific brand or property-- extremely generic. “It’s very cute.”

“I don’ wanna be cute!” Thor argued as he sifted through the princess dresses.

“You could wear one of those. I’m sure you’d make a lovely princess.”

“Silly Loki, no! I wanna be scary!”

“Well that certainly narrows it down…” Loki hummed as he tried to find things that weren’t just “baby pumpkin”, “cartoon character”, or “doctor”. “You could be a pirate. Pirates are quite scary. In fact, we might be able to make you a zombie pirate.”

Thor seemed quite intrigued by that idea, but quickly found a better idea. “How bout a skeleton?!” he asked, pulling out one that worked like footie pajamas.

“Ooh, that’s terrifying,” Loki sarcastically commented with a smile as he took it, and checked the size, holding it up to the little, knowing that it could easily be repurposed for everyday sleepwear.

“Yeah!” Thor laughed. “But Mr. Steve sayed no masks.”

“That’s fine. I can paint your face for you.”

“Kay!” Thor grinned as Loki set it into the cart. “What about you?”

“I don’t usually dress up,” Loki admitted.

Thor frowned. “No, you gotta!”

“Okay what should I be…?” Loki asked as he looked through the racks. “I’d make a good pirate.”

That made Thor laugh.

“No? What are you thinking, dear brother?”

“A kitty!”

“Hm… No, that's a bit juvenile for me. Perhaps a vampire?”

“Okay,” Thor agreed, while setting a mysterious third costume into the cart.

“What’ve you got there?”

“Mm… Taco.”

“I thought you were being a skeleton.”

He shrugged. “Skeleton taco.”

Loki raised an eyebrow before shrugging and setting the vampire costume he was looking at in the cart.

“Why aren’t you dressed up?” Thor asked the next morning

“Grown-ups only dress up in the evenings.” Loki stated.

That seemed to make Thor a little sad.

“I’ll dress up when we go out.”

“But we’re GONNA go out!”

“Work has a dress code! It’s not about what you want, child.”

Thor huffed and crossed his arms.

“But, if you sit down I’ll put on your facepaint for you.”

For the next ten minutes or so, Loki painstakingly tried to cover the preschooler’s face in paint, making the black and white illusion of a skull, and making Thor grin.

“Your makeup’s good.” Thor told him after getting up from sitting on the closed toilet lid.

“My makeup?”

“Yeah. It looks good! Scary.”

Loki looked in the mirror and frowned. He hadn’t put on any makeup yet today.

Thor’s daycare was absolutely bustling today. Not that there were more littles than usual, but for 8:30 AM, it wasn’t as sleepy as it normally was. Usually it was quiet, with one or two littles getting excited to play a game with their friends, and an equal number crying and throwing fits that they needed to leave their caregivers, but today Loki and Thor found themselves in an incredibly loud and high energy space almost immediately.

Thor’s eyes widened, but he didn’t seem overwhelmed, happily running in to join the other littles as Loki took note of the sheer amount of care which had gone into decorating the room and making it look nice. It even smelled like pumpkin-flavored frosting.

“Thor!” Sylvie yelled, running up to the skeleton boy. “Lookit my costume!” she bragged. “I’m a vampire!”

“Loki’s a vampire, too.”

Sylvie looked at the caregiver. “Not a good one.”

Thor giggled.

“What’re you sposed to be?”

“Um... a skeleton taco?”

“Like with human pieces?!” she asked.

Thor laughed. “Yeah! For big monsters to eat!”

That gave Loki a moment to give his brother a big hug.

“Don’t get eaten okay?” Loki asked.

Thor nodded as if it were now his mission, and a very serious one he’d have to defend.

“Okay. Well, I love you very much, and I’ll see you later, alright?”

“See you later!” Thor called after him before excitedly joining his teachers and classmates for circle time.

Loki ate his lunch, once again, at the round table in the break room, waiting for his usual companion, only for Mobius to finally show up in a full, bright red, race car driver outfit.

“What are you wearing?” Loki asked, trying to hide his amusement behind his triangularly cut sandwich.

“Pfft. More like what are you not wearing? Where’s your Halloween spirit, man?”

“At home waiting to go trick-or-treating with my little brother.”

“Well you did nail the corporate zombie look.”

“Hey!”

Mobius sat down next to him and opened up his own lunch. “M’ surprised you didn’t put on more of a show.”

“Adults don’t dress up for work.”

“If you got a little you definitely do. Single, littleless, childless, adults don’t dress up for work.”

“Well there’s no use in berating me for it now! Not like I can make it appear out of thin air.”

“You’re right. I’m just playing with you, ruffling your feathers, you know… But um, I do have to tell you, Sylvie was wondering if you and Thor wanna come around for some dinner and trick-or-treating. The usual stuff.”

“Trick-or-treating? In your apartment building?”

“No, I was actually thinking of driving up to Harlem. Those old brownstones give out some good candy and there’s a parade on the way there that Sylvie likes to go watch. Thought maybe Thor would like to come.”

Loki hummed an acknowledgement. “Yeah, we’d probably be able to make that.”

“I haven’t even given you a time yet.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll be there.”

“Well I was thinking we could pick you guys up and we could get a fast-food dinner at 6-ish before going to the parade and trick-or-treating?”

“Yeah, that works,” Loki smiled a little bigger than he probably meant to. “Definitely.”

Sylvie did not cut corners with her Halloween spirit. Thor had thought he didn’t, but that was apparently only by Norwegian standards. Sylvie had only ever known American standards.

The daycare day wasn’t exactly a typical one. Not that the littles ever really sat down and had formal lessons, as they were kept to a play-based, preschool standard, but today was still somehow even more game and craft focused than usual, with a shortened circle time that focused mostly on “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, the standard nap time, and “fall festival” stations set up throughout the classroom with face painting, fall crafts, not-so-fall-themed-crafts and carnival games where littles could earn fruit snacks, raisins, or small bags of chips because, as Mr. Sam had put it, they’d be getting enough candy later that day.

Sylvie had argued that there was no such thing as “enough” candy. She also made a large effort to pull “pranks” on her classmates which ended up being… in line with her mental age of four years old today: “See? I gave you the blue marker, but you asked for the red!” and cue giggles. She also made a lot of fart noises. When she found some plastic bugs, she did her best to scatter them, with Thor’s help, around the classroom-- in the adults’ kitchen space, in the bathroom, on bookshelves, everywhere they could.

Sylvie had also tried to play the “repeating everything someone says” game but ended up getting put in time-out for it.

Even with that small setback, the day was nothing short of wonderful.

They did pumpkin collages with ripped construction paper and read a story about “Spookley the Square Pumpkin” which led to a geometry activity, and Bingo with dot pens. It was all delightful, and before Thor knew it, Loki was walking in through the door to come pick him up and take him on the train to go home.

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leos-regression-cove · 1 year

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All The Lessons I Never Learned

Chapter 28. The "Play"

Synopsis: Loki is going to a local drag show, but he can't bear to tell Mobius that, even though he needs a babysitter. So he lies, and tells his coworker that he's going to a play instead.

Word count: 4,288

Stand Alone?: Context is helpful

Warnings: the "R" slur, swearing, vomit mention, drunkenness/drinking, accidents, notes of internalized trans/homophobia

Notes: This is a harder chapter to read, but I consider it rewarding all the same. Thor and Sylvie are adorable as always, and the Loki-Mobius tension just bubbles in this story.

Read it on AO3!

“Let’s go out tonight,” Loki said.

“Tonight? Really? Loki, it’s the middle of the week,” Verity’s voice scratched on the other end of the line.

“No, I know, but isn’t that why it’s perfect? Won’t be so busy out there. There’s a show at the Barracuda. Only 5 dollars for a ticket, it’ll be great!”

“You don’t even drink anymore!”

“You don’t even get out anymore! Come on, if you’re not going to come with me I’ll just call Lorilei and I think we both know that’s not a good mix with my two month chip. We can dress up! Just like old times?”

“Can’t you take your new boyfriend?”

“Well for one, I don’t even think he’s interested in the gents.”

She laughed “the gents. Oh my god, can’t you keep talking like a normal person until we get there?”

“So you’ll go then?”

“Only if you play designated driver and let me have fun.”

“That works for me. Meet you there at… seven?”

“Seven? Jesus Christ, Loki, how old are you?”

“We both agreed it’s the middle of the week! I’m a caregiver!”

She sighed. “Yeah… Whatever.”

At the office that morning, Loki made sure to run and catch up with Mobius as the man collected reports and physical documents, made some copies, and stapled packets together. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“That depends…”

“A friend invited me out tonight-- not as a date or anything-- but I was wondering if you could maybe look after Thor for the evening?”

“What time do you want me to take him? Am I picking him up from daycare?”

“No, no. Does six work?”

“So you want me to take Sylvie home and then turn around and come pick him up?”

“The play is at seven.”

“What play is it?”

“Two Gentlemen from Verona,” Loki answered without skipping a beat.

“Really? That’s a good one. Have you seen it before?”

That wasn’t a response Loki had expected.

“It’s my first time,” he lied.

“Good way to spend a well earned night out.”

In the elevator down from Thor’s daycare, Loki explained to the little one that he’d be going over to Sylvie’s this evening. “Do you know what you’re going to pack?”

“Mjollnir… and my big blankie!”

“The big one, hm? And do you know what I need to pack for you? Are you going to try to use the potty tonight? Or is Mobius going to be changing nappies?”

Thor’s face flushed. “I’ll be big! I promise!”

When they got home, Loki made sure to pack both in the bag, just in case, before helping Thor fold up his blanket, prepare his toothbrush, and put together his pacifier in its sanitary pouch.

Finally, Loki stood up, “So now’s the fun part: I’m going to go start getting ready, and you’re going to pick out some clothes, and some toys you want to share with Sylvie,” he said, with a smile and tone that was less than genuine.

The second he stepped out the door, he dashed back to his own room, shutting the door and frantically began to strip and start his transformation. Or, as he preferred once he got started, her transformation.

She latched her bra after adjusting her chestplate, and took a moment to admire herself in the mirror before slipping on some tights, and a cocktail dress.

She opened her bedroom door just a crack and peeked out of it, just to make sure Thor was still distracted, and then, slithered to the bathroom, locking the door, and took out a zippered bag from underneath the sink.

There was a thump while she was doing her mascara, “Thor?” she called. “Put your luggage in the living room so it’s ready when mr. Mobius gets here!”

A few minutes later, she popped her lips and clipped on some earrings before opening the door again, rezipping her makeup case, and stuffing it back under the sink behind the nappies and towels.

“Thor? You heard me, right?” she asked.

She opened his nursery door. The suitcase was still there, and so was the day bag, blanket and pillow, but there was no Thor.

“Thor?” she asked again. She checked the living room, the kitchen, still no Thor.

She finally came back to her room and there he was, standing next to a very messy open chest of clothes, attempting to put on a pair of sequinned, colorful, bell bottom pants.

“Can I wear these?” he asked, giggling. “They’re really ugly!”

Loki took a breath, trying not to look too mortified. “You have some fun clothes, why not wear your own?”

“I don’t have any sparkles!” he argued.

“I didn’t think you liked looking like a girl.”

“I like looking pretty, like you do!”

“Alright,” she sighed, “we’ll try it soon. But for now, you’re a big strong boy for Mobius and Sylvie, right?”

“Yup! And you’re the bestest big little sister!” He hugged her.

She tilted her head away to avoid smudging her makeup. Then, pulled away. “When Mr. Mobius comes by, what do you tell him?”

“You’re taking a shower and busy,” Thor recited.

“Right and, what else?”

“You’re my bestest brother, not sister.”

“Very good.”

And with that, Loki helped her brother put back on his own clothes, set all his things by the door in a neat little pile, and instructed him to answer the door when the bell rings.

Then, she shut herself in her room and took inventory of the mess that the little one had made, refolding and organizing her clothes more thoughtfully than she ever had before and feeling mighty thankful he hadn’t found it at a time when her breast form or hip pads had been inside.

There was a knock on the door.

Thor pressed his face right against the peephole. “Hello, Sylvie! Hello Mr. Mobius!” he yelled before opening it.

“Hey, Thor! Where’s your brother, buddy?” Mobius asked.

“He’s on the potty.”

“I am NOT!” Loki yelled, muffledly. She could hardly be heard from the living room.

Mobius walked towards the closed bedroom door before knocking on it. “Are you busy?” he asked. “You got time to talk about tonight?”

“I-- I’m about to get into the shower, so you must understand that I’m running very late. Can we text later?”

“How about we don’t and you just tell me what I need to know. Thor’s your little brother, isn’t he? C’mon. At least tell me if he’s got any allergies or medications? And while you’re at it, what time you want to come pick him up, wouldn’t hurt.”

Loki frowned while sitting criss-crossed by the door. “No allergies. No medications. But… you know he’s not potty trained, right?”

“I did catch that earlier. Is it training pants tonight? Do I need to remind him to go?”

“Yes… I think. Try that.”

“Alright and what time are you coming to pick him up?”

Loki didn’t answer.

“Loki, how late am I staying up?”

“I don’t know! Eleven?”

“Thank you,” he said with a little bit of exasperation. “Now go get in your shower and have fun at that show. It’s a good one. Alright?” He slapped the door twice before turning away.

Loki kept her ear pressed to the door.

“You ready to go, bud?” Mobius asked. The rustle of a duffle bag was audible.

“Yeah! Are we gonna go to a restaurant?”

“No,” Sylvie interjected. Her voice had been a constant, humming presence since she had arrived, but like Thor’s, her childish jargon had faded into the background. This was the first time Loki had actually listened. “Papa’s making sloppy joes!”

“What is that?” Thor asked.

“They’re like hamburgers but… wet.”

Mobius laughed. “Yeah… kind of.”

Then, the door slammed and they were gone.

“Hey bud, can you hold my hand while we’re crossing the road?” Mobius asked.

Thor had a thumb in his mouth as he absently watched the world around him.

“Oh no, you’re not a baby today, are you?” Sylvie asked. “Because I’m a big girl and I wanted to have a big girl sleepover.”

“Thor’s not sleeping over,” Mobius informed her.

“And I’m not a baby!” Thor added.

“He’s just a little nervous, hun, it’s scary going somewhere without your caregiver for the first time.”

“Oh…” Sylvie added. She seemed confused by the statement.

“Do you remember the first day I took you to daycare? How much you cr--”

“--Um, Thor, what should we play?” she asked.

“Mh… Theater,” he suggested. “Loki likes theater. That's where sh- he’s going tonight. He taked me to the puppet theater one time.”

A smile immediately burst onto her face and she bubbled with excitement. “Papa, you’ll play with us because you like theater… right?”

“Yeah, of course I will.”

“And you’ll come see the play?” she asked.

“Yeah, if you want me to.”

Upon arriving at the dusty little apartment, Sylvie ran into her room, and Mobius, after setting down Thor’s bags and helping him remove his boots, retreated into the kitchen to start on dinner.

“Thor! C’mon! You take forever!” Sylvie yelled from her room.

Upon being given the invitation, Thor ran and peeked his head in.

The little girl was struggling with a large tub of toys that had been taken out from under her bed and an even bigger, decorated piece of cardboard she had moved from her closet, lugging both into the living room in one trip.

“Lookit this!” she cried out while she set it up.

“Your own theater?!” he asked.

“Yep!” She moved onto the toys in her bin. “I’m going to be the dragon and the kitty, but you can play with these ones:”

Sylvie pointed at a pile of finger puppets, baby puppets, and stage puppets, all the ones that weren’t passable as stuffed animals.

“What about those?” The bin was still nearly half-full.

“We aren’t using those ones.”

“Why not?” Thor pulled a beautiful full-body puppet out, like Sylvie’s kitty and dragon. This one was a wolf.

“Because I said no.”

“Mr. Mobius?!” Thor yelled.

Mobius peeked his head out of the kitchen. “Yeah?”

“Sylvie’s not sharing!”

“Yes I am!”

Mobius stopped what he was doing and came over to take a look for himself. He loomed over the cardboard theater at the piles.

“He has a bigger pile than me! See?”

“Well, Thor, what do you want to play with? What’s the issue?”

“I wanted one of the big ones…” he murmured.

“Well, I know it’s not a puppet, but you can always bring Mjolnir out, he’d be a pretty neat character.”

“But he’s not a puppet!” Sylvie fretted.

“Well, if you wanna give him one of your fancy plushie puppets, he’ll be gentle with it, right, buddy?”

Thor nodded. “I’ll be gentle.”

Sylvie plunged her hand into the bin and pulled out a lumpy looking fox. “You can be this one.”

Thor slipped it onto his hand and experimented with its mouth and human-like arms, checking what he could move. It wasn’t as cool as Sylvie’s other puppets, but it was nice. It would suffice.

“Papa! Papa!” Sylvie shouted the second he had walked away.

This time, Mobius didn’t come back. “Yeah?” he yelled back.

“Come see our show!”

“Can we do the show after dinner?”

“Is it done?!”

“Yep!”

Sylvie dropped her puppets immediately, but gave a pitiful look back, before running to the kitchen.

Thor followed behind.

He curiously watched Mobius scoop a red, meaty substance out of a pot and onto a burger bun.

It smelled fine but… “why does it look like that?”

“It’s a sloppy joe…” Sylvie explained.

It was more of a rhetorical question anyway.

Thor was not the type to turn down a free meal whatever it was.

“It’s American food,” Sylvie told him as she sat down in her chair and patiently waited for Mobius to bring a plate over to her.

Thor copied her actions, but on his way to a chair, he set Mjolnir in her empty highchair before sitting down across from it.

“Papa says no stuffies at the table.”

“He’s not! He’s in a highchair! That’s a different table.”

“We don’t want to risk getting him gross,” Mobius said apologetically. “We’ll just pull it further away tonight.”

“No! You can’t bend the rules for him!”

“You wanna grab Rapunzel?”

Sylvie pushed out her chair and ran to go grab one of her puppets instead. “Rapunzel is busy,” she told her papa, setting the dragon behind the other leg hole.

“She’s not coming out?”

“No. She’s busy until bedtime, but she might sleepover with mr. Puzzles…” She mumbled the name of her other stuffed animal and looked over expectantly as if Thor would make fun of her for it.

After dinner, Mobius helped the littles wash their hands and began doing the dishes.

“Thor, You can run along, buddy. You wanna go rehearse with Sylvie?”

“Yeah but… I should help.”

Mobius smiled and moved over before giving Thor some rubber gloves.

“Thor!? Are you coming?!” Sylvie yelled.

“He’s helping me clean up!” Mobius yelled back. Then, in a whisper he added, “You better get back over there soon. She’s not going to wait forever.”

Thor nodded, thinking his job was done after setting some forks into the dishwasher pockets.

“Come see our play!”

“Yeah, I’m right behind you. Promise.”

Mobius sat down in front of the puppet theater as the two littles giggled and talked behind the cardboard wall, seemingly unaware that their talk could still be heard. Then, Sylvie peeked her head out from behind the screen. “Are you ready?” she asked.

“Yeah… I’m just wondering why you gave me puppets.”

“So you can play, too!” she told him.

“Me?” Mobius asked, as if this was the first time she had done this. It was apparent to Thor that this was a fairly regular occurrence, and that’s just how she played puppet theater.

“Yeah, silly!”

Mobius put a pig on his hand while Sylvie adjusted the curtains.

“Put your head down!” she whispered to Thor loudly while laying on the floor with her hand up toward the stage. It was not an especially comfortable position.

Sylvie began the story. “Once there was a big, meany dragon!”

“And a fox!” Thor tried.

“Not yet, the fox doesn’t come in yet,” Sylvie told him.

Thor put his hand down and glared at her.

“And… um… then… uh… he killed a pig for his dinner!” She took the cartoon-ish baby puppet off Mobius’ hand by clamping her dragon’s jaws around it and violently shook it in the beast’s mouth.

“And while walking home, he met a fox! A tricky fox!” she continued.

“No,” Thor interrupted. “A mighty fox!”

“Just go with it,” Mobius whispered to Sylvie.

“A mighty fox…” Sylvie repeated. “Who was also tricky!”

Thor jumped in. “And he saw the dragon and wanted pig, too!”

“I’m the narrator.”

“We’re all narrators. It’s a collaborative game, hun,” Mobius corrected her.

Sylvie scrunched up her nose under the stage where her papa couldn’t see it.

“But the dragon wouldn’t hand the pig over because dragons have big bellies!”

“But the fox wanted some so he bit the dragon!” Thor was really testing her now.

“But the dragon was mean so he roasted the little fox with his dragon breath!”

“Psst, Thor, The fox is a trickster! C’mon. He needs to do better. What can he do?” Mobius suggested. “How can you trick the big mighty dragon?”

Thor thought… and thought…

Sylvie nudged him. “You take forever! Do something!”

“Give him a chance!” Mobius tried.

But this wasn’t a part Thor was used to playing… or had ever played. Even in childhood, he had always been the dragon, or the princess, or the knight, or the king, or the… anything! But never the fox!

He didn’t know this part of the story.

“Mmh…” Thor whined. He rolled from side to side on his tummy awkwardly. “I don’t want to play anymore…” he said.

“Should we take a break?” Mobius asked.

“But it hasn’t even gotten good yet!” Sylvie complained.

“It’ll just be a couple minutes. We’ll call it intermission.”

Thor stood up. “I’m not playing this game anymore.”

Sylvie didn’t look too happy.

“You’re the big kid here,” Mobius whispered to her. “Be the big girl. We’ll play puppets again soon.” Then he raised his voice so Thor could hear. “Hey, speaking of being a big kid: Thor, remember to go use the bathroom sometime soon, alright? Now’s a good time.”

Thor got up, and took Mobius’ hand.

“Need me to go with you?” the caregiver asked.

“Yesss…” Thor answered nervously.

“Baby,” Sylvie mumbled under her breath.

Mobius shot her a disapproving look. “You gotta go, too? You’re not that much older.”

“I’m four and a half!” she answered.

Mobius opened up his other hand, for her to take, raising an eyebrow.

“No thanks…” she said, shifting from side to side.

“Sylvie?”

She didn’t respond.

“Should I get Thor all set up first and come back for you?”

“Yeah…” She answered quietly, fiddling with some plush animals.

“So, you need a new pull-up before you go in?”

“...No?” Thor said.

“I’m just gonna give you one, and if you need it, just slip it on, alright?” The adult set it on the countertop by the sink.

Thor gave it a glance as he shut the door, slowly, waiting for Mobius to suddenly insist on helping out.

“Sylvie? You wanna use my bathroom?” Mobius asked her.

She puckered her lips.

“Sylvie, I know what’s up. C’mon, roll over.” He took some paper towels and nabbed a spray bottle of cleaner out from under the sink.

The little girl furrowed her eyebrows further and mumbled.

Mobius came around the other side. How Thor hadn’t noticed, he wasn’t sure.

Sylvie rolled slightly away so Mobius could clean up the spot underneath her.

Then, he helped her up. “Alright big girl, tell me if you need the potty next time, okay?”

She humphed and crossed her arms as if it wasn’t her fault she had had an accident.

“Should we keep with the pull-ups and try again? Or do you want to go back to diapers?”

“No?!” Sylvie answered, horrified. “I’m not a baby!”

“No, I know you’re not, but if you’re gonna have an accident without saying anything, especially one like this, maybe we should think about that.”

“Nooo!” she whined. She almost screamed it.

“We don’t have to, but maybe let's try to be a little more aware next time, right?”

Mobius helped her clean up and offered her a new pull-up, to put on herself, but it didn’t really make her feel like a big girl, given the fact that he had still wiped her down and helped her with her pants and found her new ones. Stepping into her own pair of papery training pants really wasn't much, especially since he stabilized her as she did so, anyway.

“Sylvie?”

“We’re in here, Thor!” Mobius called.

Thor poked his head into Sylvie’s bedroom.

“You have different pants!”

The girl’s black leggings had been exchanged for green, pastel sweatpants.

“We’re playing dress-up,” Mobius joked.

“We are?!” Thor asked excitedly. “Loki’s good at that game.”

Loki stood at the edge of the bar. She sipped ginger ale in a champagne glass, splitting her attention between supervising Verity pounding back tequila and the amateur Dolly Parton impersonator “lip synching” on stage to a Kelly Clarkson song.

“You know that bitch up there?” Verity slurred slightly. Then, she motioned Loki closer to her and whispered in her ear. “She doesn’t even know who Dolly Parton is.”

Loki didn’t doubt that for a second.

“Alright, I think you’ve had enough.” Loki commented when she noticed Verity motioning the bartender for her sixth shot in the past hour. “Let’s make this one a glass of water instead and maybe go have a dance?”

“Fuck off, Loki. Loosen up! I’m not your… retarded-- brother, you don’t need to take care of me. I’m an adult.” She smiled as she said it.

“Don’t talk about him like that,” Loki replied, the extended rope of patience she had prepared for the night was already growing taught.

“Come one Loki, you’re not fun anymore.”

“Me? I’m not fun? Verity I invited you out to dance, see a show, and get railed in the bathroom by some strangers and you just want to sit here and drink yourself to death!”

“That’s what we always do!”

“Well, I don’t want to do that anymore. I can’t do that anymore!”

“You said I could have my fun!”

Oh my god she sounded like a drunk, angry Sylvie, not the witty and daring drinking buddy Loki had remembered. “And you know, I thought I meant it.”

Verity opened her mouth to say something as Loki set down her empty glass, and then stopped and covered her mouth.

“You’re going to puke, aren’t you?” Loki sighed.

She nodded, tearing up.

“Fuck, alright.” Loki grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the bathroom as she stumbled behind, keeping her head down in case she spewed.

She tied Verity’s hair back and stood behind her in the stall, leaning probably too hard against the flimsy walls.

Loki may not have been a human lie detector like his companion, but Verity was a bad liar when she was drunk. Even when she thought she meant every word of it. She was great with littles and always nice about Thor until this unfortunate slip of the tongue, and she apparently did need to be taken care of. Loki tried not to roll her eyes too hard as she thought about it.

“All done?” she asked.

Verity nodded and took a deep breath. “Yeah.”

Loki handed her a paper towel. “Can we get back to the show now?”

Loki watched the clock throughout the night, and did not dance as much as she had hoped to. Instead, they sat at a front-and-center table they stole from a bachelorette party, drinking mocktails as the headliner queens performed, and then, the second that the set was over, she didn’t ask about the attractive women and men surrounding them, nor did she suggest going to another bar. She didn’t even linger. She stood up, put her hand out for Verity to stabilize herself with, and called a cab. If Verity hadn’t been struggling to even walk, she would have considered calling two.

Loki arrived at Mobius’ apartment over an hour earlier than he had promised. His makeup had been wiped in the cab, and his dress had been changed out for a formal tuxedo to keep up the appearance that he had been to a play the second he got home, leaving the glittery dress on the back of the couch, heels kicked under the coffee table, and tights on underneath his dress pants. He knocked on the door with the back of his hand.

Mobius didn’t even say hello when he ushered Loki inside.

Loki began to ask a question but was cut off quickly.

“They’re asleep,” Mobius reassured him, letting Loki take a look at the sleeping littles on the couch. “But… Can I talk to you privately?”

Loki stiffened. “Sure,” he answered, trying not to hold his breath.

Mobius shut the door behind them in his bedroom. It was nice. Roomy compared to the rest of the crowded apartment.

“So, I get it if you don’t want to tell me but… where did you really go?”

“What do you mean? I told you, I went to see a play. Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen from Verona!”

“Loki, I know that play closed two weeks ago!”

“How do you know I didn’t just go to a different theater?”

“Because you just said that.”

“Why is me asking you about your ex-wife weird and creepy but when I go see a play with my dear friend it’s suddenly okay for you to stalk me back?”

“Because that didn’t involve you! I never asked you to do anything. I’m watching your little for free and you felt the need to lie to me. What were you doing?”

“I… I went to a show at a bar with a friend! I didn’t even drink! I was just--”

Mobius suddenly turned on a light and looked at Loki closely, as if inspecting him. Then, he softened. “Oh,” he said again. He smiled, as if it was all very silly. “I know where you went. Can I see the napkin in your pocket?” he asked.

“What?”

“The napkin, balled up in your pocket?”

Loki went bright red and pulled it out. Had it even been visible? Why hadn’t he just tossed it out earlier?

“The Barracuda. On 45th?” Mobius sounded friendly again, and just as fascinated as he had that morning when Loki had told him about Shakespeare. “Did you dress up?”

Loki hesitated.

“Aw, don’t tell me you didn’t dress up! C’mon, Loki! You live in Manhattan, you’re a caregiver, and you’re going to tell me you passed up a free ticket?”

“I dressed up! Just look at the lipstick stains.”

Mobius flipped the napkin over, observing the blots of black.

“You’ve been there before?” Loki asked, trying to fill the silence.

“Yeah. A couple times,” he admitted. “It’s been a while.”

He handed the napkin back to Loki, to stuff into his pocket. “Jeez, sorry I spooked you. I didn’t mean for this to go the way it did…”

“What did you expect?”

“I dunno, I just didn’t like that you lied to me. What else was I supposed to do?”

“Does that mean we’re even now?” Loki asked, letting a small smile begin to shine through.

“...Yeah, we’re even.”

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dollarstoreartsupplies · 2 months

Text

forever thinking about johanna shooting fogg and what it says for both her and anthony as characters

because the whole show, from the very first scene, we've been set up to see anthony and sweeney as parallels of one another; anthony is sweeney back when he was benjamin, he's full of hope, he's in love (with a woman who looks almost identical to lucy), and then he gets that love brutally ripped away by judge turpin

in 'no place like london' sweeney says: "you are young, life has been kind to you-- you will learn" and by the point in the show where anthony is going to rescue johanna we're almost inclined to agree with him

except anthony cannot shoot the gun, he's not like sweeney in that he cannot kill another person even if it was to save someone he loved. anthony is never going to become sweeney todd.

and then we realize that we've been looking at the wrong person the whole show, and it's so obvious it's laughable: johanna shoots the gun.

johanna who has been raised to be silent and obedient and perfect, johanna who, without knowing the half of it, has had everything taken away from her by judge turpin, her mother, her father, and her freedom. johanna who we've been led to believe is the lucy to anthony's sweeney.

she is fully justified in shooting fogg, no one could fault her for it, but she doesn't even hesitate.

in that moment she is her father's daughter.

that isn't to say that I think johanna is going to go on a killing spree after the musical, obviously, but it's such a fascinating scene in terms of their development: because despite it all anthony is still the same, and because of it all johanna is not

anthony is the last bit of hope left in the story, and johanna is the last bit of sweeney

#welcome back to probably-incoherent-and-meaning-Nothing-of-substance Sondheim analysis time #god I fucking love johanna #I saw the show last night and it's ROTATING in my BRAIN #johanna barker #sweeney todd #Anthony hope #something about Anthony still being gentle and Johanna being forced to learn how to be strong just ughghghghgh #Anthony will be able to care for her and help her recover in a way sweeney would not have been able to do for Lucy at the end of the show #and Johanna will never allow herself to be pushed around as she had before #and it's heartbreaking #but also..... not?#like its lessons they never should have had to learn but now that they have they can move forward #I could talk for like a million hours for how toby works into this all too but just ghjfkjdlks #it says it all in Anthony's last name: hope

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blueskittlesart · 8 months

Note

do you have any thoughts on zelda not staying as a dragon? me personally I like it and am very cool with it mostly because I think zelda should get to be happy forever (and because I'm smart enough to know she changed back because of recall and not some ambiguous power of love lmao) but a lot of people seem to dislike that it made the draconification inconsequential?

i think there's like. some valid concerns surrounding inconsequentiality/"curing" the physical problems characters have as a way of giving them a "happy ending" but I think those concerns don't necessarily apply to totk in the way people seem to be applying them, especially irt zelda's draconification and link's arm.

most of the time when the criticism of this "magic cure" trope is applied to media, it's because the trope is used as a cure-all to erase a character's suffering or trauma and make them "normal" again, and often ignores the character development or themes of the story in favor of giving the character a happy ending. I don't think that applies to totk, though, because the "curing" link and zelda experience is both within the realm of possibility given the worldbuilding present in the game (recall could easily have done it, as you mentioned) AND thematically consistent with the rest of the game. One of if not the most important central themes of totk is the idea of failure and second chances. we see a hyrule that has been given a second chance after link's initial failure with the calamity brought it to the brink of destruction. we see characters who were deeply unhappy and entrenched in the shame of their precalamity mistakes like purah and zelda become active, beloved members of their communities. we see the people of lurelin village take back and rebuild their destroyed home. we watch this kingdom and its people make an unprecedented comeback after a century of struggle and ruin.

Similarly, totk's gameplay is LINK's second chance, his comeback from the initial mistake of losing zelda, of specifically being unable to reach her with his injured hand when they fell. The consequences of that--the master sword's corruption, the loss of his arm, and zelda's draconification, are all supposed to SEEM irreversible, because that's how LINK initially sees them. he believes that he doomed both himself and zelda all because of that SINGLE moment in which he wasn't enough, a viewpoint which is obviously left over from the pressure he experienced to perform to an impossible standard of perfection pre-calamity. The story of totk is about deconstructing that belief and proving it wrong. the mistake he made caused harm, but it's never too late to repair things. he can fix the regional phenomena ganondorf causes and rebuild those communities. he can revitalize the master sword. he can GET ZELDA BACK, with his own arm, uninjured and able to reach her this time. no matter how impossible those things may initially seem, no matter the perceived finality of his mistakes and their consequences, there is always hope. there is always a second chance. no one person's single mistake can doom an entire kingdom for eternity. the fate of hyrule was NEVER resting on link's shoulders alone. he was never their final hope. there was always going to be an after. the whole POINT of the draconification and the loss of link's arm is that they AREN'T final. they ARE inconsequential, because they were born of one mistake and ONE MISTAKE IS NOT THE END ALL.

#like. think about the message the game sends if zelda stays a dragon. we are saying that link CAN'T come back from this mistake.#that one single split-second moment in which he made the wrong move because he had no way of knowing what to do #means that the one person who understands and supports him above all else. the one person who shares his experience and his trauma #the woman he LOVES. is gone forever with no hope of return ever and it's 100% his fault.#that's not true to the themes of botw OR totk. these games are about growth and healing and second chances.#this game was link learning that he gets a second chance. that no move he makes is the final be-all-end-all fuckup.#it removes the pressure and that's the POINT. for a character like link whose life has been DEFINED by pressure #who was taught from a horrifically young age that any wrong move on his part would KILL EVERYONE HE KNEW AND LOVED #this is such an important lesson to learn. removing that pressure/showing him that it was never actually real in the first place #is a crucial step towards healing for him.#asks #zelda analysis #totk spoilers #like i like the idea of lasting consequences dont get me wrong. <draconic features zelda enjoyer #but like. making link keep the fucking rauru arm rubs me the wrong way. the whole point is that he caught her with his own hand in the end #ugh. anyway. you get the idea

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hisui-dreamer · 3 months

Text

reminder to master chef twst jp players that:

the 20 minute ingredient gathering is the most efficient one, but find the one that matches your schedule

focus on getting sugar, eggs and fruits because they're pretty popular ingredients

use low/medium ingredients to raise skill level, only use high quality ingredients when the recipe is above 50%

try focusing on one recipe at a time

when you're done with the event, use up the rest of your ingredients for 100%, then do the recipes with the fewest ingredients

when nothing else can be made, just keep making black dishes to earn what medals you can

i hope these tips help!!

#^ tips i learnt from strategy guides and personal experience hehe #i didn't realise 20 mins was the most efficient and i kept doing 360 mins 😯😵‍💫#also the idea of using up all my ingredients to make black dishes never crossed my mind??? so many ingredients wasted😭😭😭#anyways lesson learned at least #twisted wonderland #twst master chef #twst jp

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thisisadonaldduckblognow · 11 months

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ik it’s probably a classic case of extrapolating way too much but... the way raph’s character design lines up w his whole arc and role and struggles...

like the fact that he is so so so much bigger than the others. raph is big, raph is strong, raph is steady and sturdy and he can literally pick up his entire family and carry them all at once.

and like, when raph is so big and so strong and such a reliable thing. when raph is the protector, the one calling the shots on missions, the mother hen, the first point of authority. when raph is there, overprotective, when raph (for all that his brothers poke at him not being good under pressure) always always ALWAYS comes through at the end of the day when things are serious, ALWAYS gives it everything he’s got.

his design and his learned role/behaviors in this family are just the perfect storm of why it took up to the season finale to drive home the issue.

so much of the series carries the default energy of “raph will handle it.”

raph will hold up the ceiling above you. raph will throw himself over you and take a hit and get back up and keep fighting. raph has a power that makes him even bigger and draws more attention and makes him able to carry MORE. raph will be the substitute parent. raph will be put into the mentor role through leo’s leadership arc.

and raph is big. he’s built to carry heavy loads. raph is strong. raph is bold and loud and always ready to try to push on. even if he doesn’t know what to do or what he’s doing, he won’t give up and we’ll all pull together and things will turn out okay.

(his room is full of teddy bears. he dipped out on a mission to try to take a picture of a pigeon carrying a slice of pizza. he’s terrified of being alone.

he’s just as much of a kid as his brothers are. he’s just as new and inexperienced with the things happening to them as his brothers are. but for him, for some reason, there’s like this double standard where that becomes a huge glaring flaw.)

idk this got very sloppy and uncoordinated. i’m very in my feelings about raph right now though.

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt raph #rise raph #rottmnt raphael #honestly i could go on forever and ever about the double standard thing where raph is concerned #like. w movie leo especially leo is learning lessons raph also had to learn in the series! making very similar mistakes!#but you never see analyses or essays pointing to those bad calls as signs that leo isn't up to the task...#(i mean there are some clear Reasons why that happens.)#(its the reason why raph and mikey are the bros who get the least content by a MILE. but. not the point of this post.)#the whole point is just the idle subconscious assumption and associations of it being fine to let raph carry everything #literally physically sure but also metaphorically #and the plight of the child who seems to Need Nothing (all children need; some sadly learn not to appear to need)#even my tags are incoherent rn clenches fists i love him so much is all #like there is a reason it takes to the series finale for him to have a proper breakdown and get actual support from his bros #and i am still mad we never got real good content for him and splinter #considering how similar their arcs ARE....#thats a whole other thing whatever

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leos-regression-cove · 1 year

Text

Human/modern AU concept where Frigga taught Loki really cheesy magic tricks at a young age and now, even though it's embarrassing, he sometimes does them for Sylvie and Thor to keep the little ones entertained.

#he's really emberassed about it too btw #agere fic inspo #all the lessons i never learned #au headcanons #loki agere #marvel agere #fandom agere

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ywpd-translations · 8 months

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Ride 740: Sugimoto driven in a corner

Pag 1

3: Pinch and crush him, Danchiku!! Crush Sugimoto-san!!

Pag 2

1: As easy as crushing dry leaves!!

Yeah, Issaa!!

Pag 4

3: You're slow

Pag 5

1: You're slow, Sugimoto-san – Bamboo Hop Shot!!

2: He's fast!!

4: He got even faster.... than the second day...

But

5: But!!

Pag 6

1: It's not so easy to crush my heart, Danchiku!!

Kuaaaaagh

Pag 7

2: The battle between those two has started!!

3: The last battle of the training camp's fourth day!! The rule is simple, whoever crosses the sensor line first wins!!

4: The serious battle between Danchiku and Sugimoto, betting the spot in the Inter High!!

5: Sugimoto....!!

6: Danchiku!!

7: But.... this battle....

Pag 8

1: That's right, Onoda

4: He.... Sugimoto understands everything

And he's fighting upon understanding that

6: He's running with that resolution

And he has no intention whatsoever of stepping aside!!

Pag 9

2: What....

I really settled this with one attack

3: It was easy

5: Kuaaagh

8: Kuaaaagh

9: …. no

Pag 10

1: Kuaaaaagh

He's still chasing after me!!

Pag 11

1: Sugimoto-san

2: Dan.... chikuu!!

3: I wonder what's this feeling

I was thinking I could win against you, and it's true that I said I could defeat you with one attack

4: But, I don't know why, but my heart is beating fast

And for some reason the corners of my mouth are pulling up

5: Maybe it's because I know we've practiced and desperately ran together until now, but when earlier I turned back and I didn't see you, I though “ah of course”, but there was also another feeling....

Pag 12

1: I thought- there's no way that that Sugimoto-san was beaten by just one attack!!

Pag 13

1: Ha

2: Kuaaagh

3: He chased me and kept going until he passed me!!

5: Dammit, even though I couldn't defeat him in one blow, right now I feel so good!!

6: I'm thinking that this is the spirit!!

Pag 14

1: Sugimoto-san!!

2: It's so hard....!!

Danchiku really got stronger than on the second day

3: But this is the basis of road racing: don't let your opponent understand how it is for you!!

4: Looks like you're having a hard time, Sugimoto-san

Pag 15

1: He noticed!!

2: But there's no way I'm giving up the lead position

Until my breath calms down, I'll keep just the right pace....

3: He jumped ahead!!

4: Can you follow!?

6: Mh

7: Easily!!

Pag 16

2: Well you're so reliable!!

Danchiku used his “Hop Shot” again

Pag 17

1: Garuaah!!

2: He left me behind!!

3: Kuaaaaagh

Keep up, Sugimoto Terufumi!!

4: Sugimoto-san, you followed!! I'm happy that we're clashing seriously now

5: Issa told me not to tell you

But I'll tell you, Sugimoto-san

6: There's another secret to my special technique “Panda Shout”

Panda Shout is....

Pag 18

1: A breathing technique

2: When humans breathe, oxygen weaves into their lungs

3: And when they work out, they need a lot of fresh oxygen

And they become conscious of their “inhaling”

4: But if they do it too much, their breathing becomes uneven and shallow, and they inhale the oxygen around their mouth that it's not “fresh air”

5: Exhaling is more important than inhaling!!

“Actively pushing out the air in your lungs”!!

6: That way, you can naturally take in a lot of “fresh air”!!

Panda Shout uses the abdominal pressure to squeeze out all the air from my lungs

Pag 19

1: It's the ultimate technique to intake oxygen!!

3: Technique to intake....!!

4: If he can accelerate even more....!!

5: I'll use it right away

Ah, and there's one more thing

Huh

6: When I use this

Pag 20

1: My acceleration with Hop Shot becomes twice as fast!!

2: Two.... ice

Please hold on tight and follow me, Sugimoto-san!!

#yowamushi pedal #yowamushi pedal translations #yowapeda #yowapeda manga #yowamushi pedal manga #yowamushi pedal spoilers #ride 740 #kabu and danchiku are being so annoying i cant help but hope they lose just so they learn a lesson asdashdjglsf #i love them though dont get me wrong- sohoku is too full of nice ppl we need some annoying brats #kabu got 100% more annoying since aoyagi (his conscience basically) left #we need someone to hold him back lmao #btw the funniest thing for me would be if danchiku wins right now and he and kabu are all 'yayyy we're goin to the ih together!'#and onoda is like 'actually no i want sugimoto on the team'#'you literally decided yourself that this stupid race btwn them was to decide whod go to the ih #'i never said i agreed and im the captain' lmao #no bt srsly onoda and the others still have the last word so #you literally never know :eyes emoji:

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