#it's been five years since I drew backgrounds

[ennonzi]

The ox cart scene 🍁

#tgcf #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #hualian #hua cheng #san lang #xie lian #tgcf ox cart scene #it's been five years since I drew backgrounds #i almost died #it's fun tho I might to it more often #(masochist thoughs

[liliacamethyst]

Web of Shadow and Light (Part III)

Sequel to Webs of Fate

Miguel O'Hara x SpiderSun Reader

words: 5.2 K

warnings: secret pregnancy trope, swearing, angst, heartbreak, grumpy/sunshine

Part I Part II Part III

The Spider-HQ echo with an unsettling symphony - a child's piercing cries and the hushed whispers of concern from some of the multiverse's bravest Spider heroes. They stand clustered around the smallest yet most powerful disturbance they've ever encountered - a baby boy. His wails have been echoing through the HQ since Miguel left the room, leaving the baby and dozens of Spider-man behind. Each cry is a call for help that pulls at their hearts, demanding attention, challenging their patience.

After much deliberation and coaxing from the rest, Miguel gave his team an ultimatum - they have until dawn to find an alternative solution, before Gabriel has to be eliminated, before the universe collapses on itself. His voice was a cold whisper when he spoke, "Figure out another way by tomorrow morning, or..." Nobody dares to complete the sentence, not even Miguel, the unsaid words hanging heavily in the air. And with that Miguel was gone, and the baby immediately started wailing and hasn’t stopped since.

Now Gwen, with her brows knitted in worry, rocks the baby with desperate gentleness. Her blue eyes are bright with unshed tears, a look of sheer helplessness painting her usually confident face. Beside her Peter B. is attempting to cheer Gabriel up but his efforts as pointless as they are endearing. The usually funny and charming Peter B seems to be losing a battle of wits with a one-year-old. It would've been humorous, had the situation been any different.

The sight of the little baby boy weeping his heart out, oblivious to the chaos his presence is causing tugs at their hearts, binding them in a collective resolution - they must protect this child. The shadows and the light, entwined in this web they’ve all been thrown into. And the clock is ticking.

Hobie scoops up the little boy, cradling him close in an attempt to soothe his relentless tears. "See, the cow says muhhhhh," he coos. His tiny cries falter, curiosity momentarily replacing distress. He gazes at Hobie with wide eyes, intrigued by the cool looking man. "And the butterfly," Hobie pauses dramatically, "well, the butterfly don’t say nothin’." He continues his little game, while rocking the baby gently in his arms. "And the pig says-"

 Miles chimes in with an eager grin, "Oink, Oink."

"Nah, bruv," Hobie laughs. “The pig says, ‘You have the right to remain silent!’”

Gabriel’s face scrunches up, and the waterworks start again. Hobie chuckles, "Fair enough, little fella. Cops make me wanna cry too."

Meanwhile Jessica Drew, clad in her black and white Spider-Woman outfit, her dark locks cascading around her shoulders, is leaning against the doorframe, half entering the room, her eyebrows raised. "Well? I assume he didn’t stop crying?“

Beside her Peter B.  with his shaggy brown hair and five o’ clock beard just shakes his head. 

“This is nuts. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING is working.“ Gwen states.

In the background, the cries of baby Gabriel cotinue, little fists flailing as he continued his tantrum. Jessica, arching an eyebrow, comments, “He’s still going at it?”

Hobie Brown, just gives her a quick nod. “Oh yeah, the kid has got a set of lungs.”

Suddenly, Pavitr Prabhakar, yelps as a makeshift toy, made out of wood and spiderwebs, hit him square in the forehead. "Ow! And one hell of arm throw."

Methodically, Jessica starts running through a mental checklist. “Diaper?”

Peter B. Parker nods. “Clean.”

“Food?” Jessica glances at Miles who holds a baby food jar and a bent spoon.

Miles, in his black and red suit, shrugs. “Kept smacking the spoon out my hand.”

“Nap?” Jessica's questions further.

The entire room answer in unison, clearly frustrated “Literally the first thing we tried.”

Pavitr smirkes at them. “Jinx.” But his joke is short-lived as Gabriels screams become even louder.

Gwen, then takes charge, “Ok, we have to do something,” her eyes flicking around the room with determination. She points to Jess, “You have to talk to Miguel. You’ve been around him the longest, maybe you can get through to him.”

Jess looks hesitant but nods.

“And Peter,” Gwen turns to Peter B who’s still juggling items in his hands, to entertain the baby and stop his crying. “Get Mayday’s toys. Maybe the baby’s just bored.”

Peter gives a thumbs up. “You got it, boss.”

“And Pav, Hobie,” Gwen instructs, her voice steady. “You need to rally the other Spider-people. We need everyone on board to protect this little guy.”

“Margo, you’re with me, girl. We are  paying our old friend Lyla a little  surprise visit. Something’s a little fishy with her.” Margo nods eagerly. 

As everyone scatters into action, Miles stands there, looking slightly lost and raising his hands. "Hey, guys, you forgot about me! What am I supposed to do? How can I help?" he calls out to the rapidly moving group.

Pav whirls around and points at Miles, "You, take care of the little guy, newbie," he says, as Hobie thrusts the still crying baby into Miles' arms.

"Great," Miles grumbles, balancing Gabriel on his hip and looking down at the squirming bundle of tears.

 He starts to bounce up and down gently, trying to imitate what he's seen in movies. The baby continues to cry, unfazed by Miles' efforts.

“Alright buddy, let’s figure this out together. I can swing through New York, so how hard can babysitting be?” Miles whispers to the baby.

Hours drag on and Gabriel's relentless cries continue to echo through the HQ. Despite his earnest attempts, Miles, armed with only his spider powers and limited babysitting experience, is unsuccessful in calming the baby. He’s tried everything he can think of – makinf funny faces, telling funny stories in a soothing tone, gently swinging him back and forth with his web-slinging skills, and even humming a little tune (it was Humble by Kendrick Lamar, but the thought counts, right?). At one point, he even tried to entertain the baby by creating animals out of webbing, but that didn’t work either. The baby is relentless, and his cries only seem to get louder. 

In the meantime in Miguel’s office, the echoing cries penetrate through the walls. Migel is sitting behind his desk looking at some documents, while Jess stands in front of him.

“Please, Miguel, it’s a baby boy. How did you imagine doing this, huh?” Jess exclaims, her voice rising. “Did you plan to build some sort of machine to just vaporize him? Or did you think of strangling him with your own bare hands? I know you’re not a monster.” But Miguel's face remains stoic, his eyes never leaving the papers on his desk.

“And look,” Jess continues, pointing vaguely in the direction of where the baby’s cries are coming from, “this baby is already older, and nothing has collapsed yet. The universe is still here.”

“I can’t risk any more lives, Jess,”Miguel responds coldly, finally looking up at her.

“But what if there is another way? We haven’t even tried everything. We have brilliant minds here. Let’s...let’s figure something out that doesn’t involve.. that,” Jess pleads, her voice softening.

Miguel looks at her for a long moment but his expression remains unreadable. The cries of the baby continue to fill the air.

Jess then turns her gaze towards Lyla, , who is stationed nearby, her holographic interface flickering with data. “Lyla, what are the kid’s powers? Run a genetics test, a DNA test. We need something to work with.” 

Lyla’s synthetic voice answers in an eerily calm tone, "I have already processed the genetic information, Jessica. Thanks very much, genius. As per my findings, the child’s power attributes remain undefined. In regards to the DNA test..."

Lyla hesitates just a fraction of a second, but enough for Miguel to notice. It's an unexpected response from an AI that's programmed to be efficient and direct. A strange tingle rises within him but he pushes it aside, refocusing on the matter at hand.

“is inconclusive.” Jess squints at Lyla. “Inconclusive? What do you mean? Is he an anomaly or not?”

“He’s an anomaly, certainly. However, the DNA analysis is...complicated,” Lyla maintains her composed tone. “Complicated how?” Jess presses on. “Just...unfamiliar and intermingled genetic markers,” Lyla responds vaguely. “The child is an enigma.”

"Miguel, please" she continues, turning back to Miguel, clearly frustrated with Lyla's vague responses that are not helping her case. Her tone is still serious, "this isn't some variation of a monster, this is a baby."

For a moment, Miguel’s gaze flickers, his usual icy aura briefly wavering. "It doesn't matter," he finally grunts, closing his eyes as if to physically shut out the argument. Jessica's voice turns unexpectedly brittle. "I didn't join the Society to kill innocent kids."

Miguel clenches his jaw hard. "We do what we have to do for the greater good. No exceptions." Jessica takes a deep breath, her next words coming out almost in a whisper. "What if there was my Gerald or a version of your-" she begins, but is quickly cut off.

"DON’T. Don't even go there, Jessica" Miguel growls, his hand forming into a tight fist. "And why the hell is it still crying?"

Jessica's gaze softens slightly. "That child, that little boy, probably misses his parents. Parents who are going through hell right now, searching for their baby." Miguel's fist tightens further, a spark of something, maybe regret, guilt,  flashing in his eyes. Jessica presses on trying one last time to convince him. "He was found in 586, right? Maybe we can reconnect with Su-" 

"No," Miguel interrupts sharply, his voice a final command. “Until tomorrow morning, Jess,” he finally says in a low voice, putting an end to Jess’ outburst. “That’s all. You can leave now.” 

There’s a heavy silence, where the only sound is Gabriel’s distant crying.

Jessica looks at Miguel, her gaze piercing. "Think about what you’re doing, Miguel," she whispers and leaves the room, closing the door softly behind her.

In the heart of the HQ, Margo sifts through the labyrinth of Lyla's concealed data. She uncovers a file that captures her attention – the baby's DNA results. "There you are," she mutters to herself, an air of triumph in her voice. As she opens the file, her eyes widen in disbelief, "Oh no…“

"What is it, Margo?" Gwen asks making her way over to Margo.

Margo's voice trembles slightly. "So, while looking through the hidden data, I found the baby's... there was a parental match."

Gwen's heart skips a beat. “I knew something was was off with Lyla. Of course she knows more. Well, who are the little guy's parents?"

Margo hesitates, then blurts out, "Miguel and Sunny."

Gwen stops dead in her tracks, her mind reeling. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"The baby's mother is Sunny, and the father is Miguel," Margo reiterates, her voice steady.

Gwen eyes widen. "But... are you sure? I know Sunny's baby. I was there when baby Gabriel was born!“

"Yes, I'm sure. There were two parental matches for the baby in the spider DNA logs:Sun Spider and Spider-Man 2099. When was the last time you saw the baby, Gwen? Babies change quickly at that age." Margo confirms. 

"Miguel and Sunny? That's not possible... how have we never noticed that there's something going on between those two?" Gwen's mind whirls with confusion.

"Oh, I noticed," Margo's voice holds a hint of smugness, "The way he was sneaking into her room at night? And the way he looked at her every time she set foot in a room, like a lovesick puppy. It was adorable. Wait, nobody else noticed?"

Gwen splutters, taken aback, "What? No, I... well, he's all 'we need to sacrifice ourselves to protect the multiverse. No more traveling for fun'" she imitates Miguel's voice with a teasing lilt, then she adds, "And Sunnys is literally the personification of a warm embrace."

Gwen's mind whirls but she continues, “ Woah, okay lets focus on the important part. I mean, I knew something was wrong with Lyla, but why... why would she do that?"  

"There's more, Gwen," Margo says, her voice shaking slightly. "I found another thing in her data. It's... it's about how she's processing information."

Gwen frowns, "What do you mean?"

Margo takes a deep breath before explaining, "In simple terms, Lyla's been teaching herself new things. She's changing, growing beyond her original programming. Her code is self-evolving."

"And the data about the baby?" Gwen asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

Margo sighs, "She's been... twisting it, making the baby seem more dangerous than it actually is."

Gwen's mind reels with this new information, the world around her seeming to tilt. "But why?" she finally manages to ask. "Why would Lyla do this?"

"I don't know, Gwen," Margo admits. "But we need to find out and warn Miguel. And soon."

Meanwhile in Miguels office, the wailing becomes louder, almost as if piercing through the walls, trying to reach something, or someone. Miguel's face betrays his discomfort, as if the cries are tugging at his walls around his heart. There's a weight on his chest, something unidentifiable that makes it hard to breathe.

Suddenly Lyla’s holographic interface hums. She begins to show the outline various strategies for eliminating the child. Her voice, analtytic but almost cheerful, fills the room. “So, we could create a temporal displacement field, effectively erasing the child from existence. Or perhaps expose him to a slow-acting molecular destabilizer..." 

 "Based on the trial," she continues unfazed by Miguel’s lack of response. "the device should work as intended, wiping out any of its DNA and trace. Be like the anomaly never existed." There's a hint of satisfaction in her words.

Miguel, until now staring blankly at the wall, finally turns towards Lyla, his complexion pale and his eyes wide.

His insides twist painfully, the mere idea of bringing harm to this innocent child becoming now unbearable.

“Stop,” Miguel chokes out.

“Apologies, Miguel. We must consider all options for preserving the multiverse. You out of all people should know that,”Lyla retorts.

But something within Miguel snaps. His ice-cold distant facade crumbles. Rising abruptly, his chair clatters loudly onto the floor.

Without saying another word, he strides out of his office. “Miguel? Are you listening? Where are you going?” Lyla calls after him, but her words are unanswered in the empty room.

Walking down the hallway, Miguel slows down as he passes the room where the infant's cries come from. He pauses when he hears Miles' pleas inside.

“Little dude, if you stop crying promise I’ll get you some cool kicks. Maybe some baby Jordans? Please, please just stop crying,” Miles pleads, his voice sounding desperate and utterly exhausted.

After a moment hesitation, Miguel pushes open the door and steps into the room. His gaze, sterner than ever, as he takes in the scene: Miles looking near defeat, his energy spent trying to soothe the wailing child, his spider suit rumpled and hair disheveled.

"Enough," Miguel comms sharply.

Miles looks up from where he's been pacing with the baby, his eyes wide like he's just been caught stealing cookies from a jar. “You,” Miguel points at Miles, who is holding the still-crying baby. His voice booms with authority. “Put him down”

Miles, slightly dumbfounded, obeys and carefully lays the child down on his makeshift bed. “I need you to return to Earth 586. Get some of his belongings - toys, blankets, anything you can find," he orders, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"But Miguel--" Miles startsbut gets cut off immediately.

"Now," he says, his red eyes flashing dangerously. Miles opens the portal hastily and disspears to your universe.

The crying has subsided to whimpers, and Miguel finds himself kneeling next to the little one, who reaches out for him. As if on autopilot, Miguel’s hands scoop him up abruptly from the bed.

"Quiet, niño. "Miguel growls at him with a  low and threatening tone. "I could just... do it right now." His irritation gets the better of him, and he bares his fangs at the little one. This sight shocks Gabriel into silence for a moment, his big, teary eyes widening at the sight. 

But then, to Miguel's surprise, the baby breaks into a fit of giggles, the sound infectious and joyous.

Gabriel suddenly mimics Miguel, baring his own little teeth – two tiny milk teeth and the beginnings of baby fangs peeking from his gums, causing Miguel to stiffen in shock.

Caught off guard Miguel's hold slips and Gabriel lands back on the web-shaped bed with a bounce. The baby's laughter ends abruptly and is replaced once more with tears and cries.

Still in shock, Miguel stumbles back a step, but Gabriel's cries soon pull him back into the present. With a sigh, he picks up the little boy yet again andGabriel immediately snuggles into the crook of Miguel’s neck, his tiny arms winding tightly around his throat.  Miguel swallows hard, unsure of what to do next. 

Then, almost instinctively, he starts to hum a tune he thought he'd long forgotten. "Tú eres mi sol de la mañana, el sol que brilla..." His voice is barely audible, the words shaky. Gabriel's little body relaxes against him, a content sigh escaping his lips followed by a quiet yawn. He nuzzles closer to Miguel, his tiny breaths falling into sync with the rhythm of the song. "...alegra todo, mi corazón," Miguel coninues softly, his mind flooding with memories. He sees a bright, lively girl with the same curious eyes as the boy in his arms. 

"Daddy," Gabriella asks, her large eyes bright with curiosity as she looks up at him, "why do you call me your morning sun? I'm not yellow."

Miguel chuckles at her innocence, his fingers gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He cradles her against his chest, looking into those eyes so full of wonder. "No, mija" he replies, his voice soft with affection "you're not yellow but you are my sunshine."

"But why?" She wrinkles her little nose, her childish curiosity making Miguel's heart fill up with love.

"Because, mijita," he begins, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple, "just like the sun, you light up my world. You chase away the darkness with your laughter and your love. You are warmth, you are joy, and just like the morning sun, you are a new beginning, a promise of a brighter day." 

Gabriella blinks up at him, her lips curving into a small, and she hides her smile in the crook of his neck. "I like that, Papi," she whispers, "Sing the song again, please?"

“brilla, conmigo, brilla que brilla, alegrandome esta cancion. Tu eres mi sol de la manana…“

Eyes closed, Miguel draws Gabriel unconsciously closer, his heart full, and for the first time he’s feeling a sense of contentment he hasn't experienced in years. 

The moment is shattered by the sound of a throat being cleared, pulling him abruptly out of his peaceful trance.

Peter B is standing in the doorway, arms loaded with various dolls. "Wow, he's finally asleep," he remarks, looking between Miguel and the now sleeping Gabriel with a relieved smile. "I was starting to think that was impossible." 

Without responding, or even sparing a glance in Peter's direction, Miguel turns away from the door and heads to the bed. He gently places the sleeping toddler down, pulling a small blanket over him. Once he's confident that Gabriel is settled, Miguel quietly leaves the room, his demeanor as frosty and aloof as ever, making no acknowledgment of Peter's presence. 

Peter B is quick on his feet, rushing after Miguel. "I brought him toys from Mayday," he blurts out. "She won't miss them. She's not too good at sharing, but I guess she won’t mind in this case."

Miguel continues his stride, not giving Peter so much as a backward glance. "Que maravilla," he mutters under his breath, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Ignoring the dismissal, Peter B. reaches out and places a hand on Miguel's arm, stopping him in his tracks. Miguel raises an eyebrow and glances back at him half-heartedly, clearly not interested in a conversation.

Peter takes a moment, his gaze intensifying. "Hey, boss," he begins, his voice shaky yet determined. "We can't let anything happen to this boy, right?" 

At Peter's words, Miguel closes his eyes and takes a deep, steadying breath.

Back on Earth 586, you're in the throes of a meltdown. Your little boy, Gabriel, is nowhere to be found. You've scoured the whole city of Nea Yorkey, every nook and cranny you can think of, but there's no trace of him anywhere. Desperation gnaws at your insides, and fury bubbles up, hot and fierce. Your mind is in turmoil, swirling with anger and fear, clouding your ability to think straight. One thing is crystal clear though: whoever dared to touch your child will pay dearly for their actions.

You're frantically trying to find a way to contact anyone from the Spider Society, while simultaneously considering every possible avenue to traverse the multiverse yourself. Alchemax - the multinational conglomerate known for its cutting-edge research and technological advancements - seems to be your only hope. As you're about to make your way there, a sound from Gabriel's room stops you in your tracks.

Your Spider senses, already on high alert due to the unexpected circumstances, seem to kick into overdrive. Every instinct within you screams that something is about to happen. Your heart pounds in your chest like a wild drum as you slowly approach the room.

Meanwhile, in Gabriel's room, Miles is having his own share of troubles. In his haste, he stumbles over a toy car that starts making an assortment of noises and brightly lit animations. "Ah, this stupid toy!" he curses under his breath.

A thought suddenly crosses his mind and he wonders aloud, "Wait, does he need a blanket?" Just as he's about to reach for a small bunny stuffed animal that lay discarded on the floor, an intense blast of sonic energy sweeps across the room.

Caught by surprise, Miles finds himself flung across the room, his back hitting the wall with a thud. Before he can even let out a gasp, a spider web shoots out, pinning him securely against the wall. There he hangs, suspended, his eyes wide with shock and confusion. His breath comes in shallow gasps as he attempts to comprehend what just happened. Well its safe to say he didn’t saw that coming.

Miles, still stuck against the wall, manages to blurt out, "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" you echo, incredulity lacing your tone. "You break into my son's room and ask me whoI am?"

Your mind races as Miles stammers, "Wait, your son's room? Wait, are you...are you a Spider-person aswell?"

Ignoring his question, you stride towards him, an aura of threat radiating off you. "Stop talking!" you command, "I ask the questions!" In your hand, a ball of solar energy forms, crackling with power and casting a glow across the room.

"Why are you here? Where is my son?" The words are more of a growl than a question, the motherly instincts in you sending waves of danger rippling across the room. "Your son is okay, please don't hurt me!" Miles pleads with a shaky fear laced voice.

Squirmy and visibly frightened, Miles stammers out his confession, "We-we took him...it was our mission... He's an anomaly...we needed to get him out of this universe, send him to his own, so it wouldn’t collapse and interfere with the multiverse...but he doesn't have one, and I'm so sorry..."

His voice dwindles to a murmur, words tumbling over one another in his haste. Amidst his ramblings, your icy inquiry slices through like a blade, "Who instructed you?"

A sharp wince contorts his face, betraying his fear. "Our boss..." he starts, his voice barely above a whisper, "Miguel... Miguel O'Hara."

The energy in your hand dissipates, leaving only shock in its place. It's almost too much to take in - the idea that Miguel, your Miguel, could have done something like this. "He's okay, we... we didn't know he was the son of a Spider-woman. I'm Miles Morales, by the way." he introduces himself, attempting to inject some normalcy into the situation.

"I'm Spider-Sun," you respond automatically, your voice sounding distant to your own ears.

"Wait … you?" Miles' eyes widen in recognition. "You're Sunny?" When you give a numb nod in response, he continues, "You look more like 'Stormy' if you ask me." Your gaze snaps to Miles, the intensity of your death glare immediately silencing his attempt at humour. "Sorry, sorry," he stammers, raising his hands in surrender. "I just...I've heard Gwen and Peter talk about you."

"They never stop talking about you," Miles continues, trying to regain his composure. "They always say you have such a radiant personality and how much they miss you. They take care of your son, don’t worry. Hes safe for now.” 

"What do you mean he's safe 'for now'?" you cut him off abruptly, your voice cold and hard. Miles gulps nervously before responding.

"Eh...we have until morning to find a solution for this...anomaly," he stammers. You interrupt him, seething with a fury that makes him cringe. "My son's name is Gabriel. He is not an 'anomaly'," you spit out the words like they are poison, hating the way they make your sweet little boy sound like some kind of mistake.

"Eh, yes, for Gabriel," Miles corrects hastily, "because, eh... if we don't find an alternative, they need to, eh...eliminate..." He trails off, speaking so quickly and softly that you almost don't catch his last word.

"ELIMINATE?????" You scream and for a split second, Miles is sure he sees your eyes blaze with a terrifying, luminating light. 

"We can stop them. We can talk to them and say it's your son," Miles says quickly, desperately hoping to calm you.

"I don't talk. Bring me to my son," you demand. Without wasting another moment, you order him to open the portal. "Y-yes, right away, Sunn... eh, Mrs. Sun, eh... Ma'am," he stammers, visibly trembling under your steely gaze.

 It takes him two shaky attempts before he manages to successfully open the portal, his hands still unsteady from the encounter.

Back at the headquarters, Peter chases after Miguel into his office. "Boss, all I'm saying is, what if Lyla is wrong?"

Miguel is pinching the bridge of his nose, a deep sigh escaping his lips. The weight of the situation is quickly becoming too overwhelming and he feels himself teetering dangerously close to his breaking point.

Just at that moment, Gwen, Pav, Margo and Hobie burst into the office, their faces set withdetermination. "Miguel, there’s something you need to know.  Please hear us out. Margo and I, we found something.Lyla is - ," Gwen starts but Miguel is quick to silence her with a raised hand.

Just as Miguel is about to speak, the lights flicker, casting an ominous glow throughout the room. Hobie looks around nervously. "Is that eh...normal?"

Peter quirks an eyebrow. "Did you forget to pay the electricity bill?" 

The lights flicker even more violently, plunging the room into a dance of shadow and light.

With a violent burst, the door is flung open, and a brilliant surge of light blinds everyone. You stand in the doorway, an ethereal aura glowing around you.

"O'Hara!" Your voice thunders through the room, heavy with wrath and revenge. As Miguel turns around to face the source of the sound, a massive, lightning-tinged sonar blast slams directly into his chest. He's pushed backward, knocked off balance before he can brace himself for the attack. He tries to recoverr, to shift into defense mode but he doesn't get the chance. You're relentless, a solar goddess in human form, hurtling blast after blast at him. Miguel has no time to regain his stance, each attack landing with more force than the last. 

Gwen makes to step forward, her instincts screaming at her to intervene, but Peter grabs her arm, pulling her back. "That's Sunny," he says, his voice a mixture of awe and concern. Hobie's eyes widen comically. He cocks his head, a smirk playing on his lips. "Our Sunny, eh? Blimey, I never knew she had it in her. That rebellious firecracker," he mutters, a distinct note of admiration creeping into his typically laid-back British drawl.

Miles bursts into the room, breathless and disheveled. He stumbles towards Gwen, his voice hurried and concerned, "I tried to stop her, but she was...she was furious. Woahhh, I've never seen Miguel get beaten like this before."

And he wasn't exaggerating. Miguel was fighting back, his fangs bared, his claws out and ready but he was no match for your rage-fueled attacks. You were right up in his face, delivering punch after punch at a brutal pace

"Where's my son, O’Hara? What have you done to him?" you demand, your voice cutting through the chaos like a blade.

At your words, Miguel's movements falter. His defense wavers, and he barely manages to gasp out, "Your son?" He doesn't dodge your next blow, doesn't attempt to shield himself or strike back. Instead, he allows you to continue.

Miguel is shocked. His reflexes kick in as he sees the next punch coming and he grabs your wrist, halting your next powerful punch aimed for his face. He locks eyes with you, his gaze holding an emotion you've never seen in him before. Is it fear? No, it's much deeper, more profound.

As he stares at you, your luminescent eyes gradually lose their fiery intensity, shifting back to their human form.

"I... I didn't know," Miguel stammers, his voice a trembling whisper. "Lo – lo siento. I – I didn’t know.”

His breaths are ragged, and you can see a war waging inside him.

"But...how?How didn’t I know?" His voice is choked, your wrist still securely in his grip. “Your son?” Miguel continues,his voice is barely above a whisper. His eyes search yours and all he sees is raw, untamed anger with an aching pain that pierces his soul.

“Yes, MY son!” your voice echoes through the room like a whip. “Did you think that you could just take him from me? That I wouldn't come for him?”

Miguel’s grip on your wrist loosens as he stumbles back. His heart feels like it’s about to explode as realization dawns on him. The dark curls, the small fangs the baby had bared at him –pieces of a puzzle start falling into place. His own blood runs cold.

“Where is he, Miguel? Where’s myGabriel?” your voice breaks as you say the name, and it feels like another punch to Miguel's gut.

“Gabr...” Miguel chokes. “No... no...”

His voice is barely audible, the air knocked out of him by the significance of the name. His knees buckle, and he falls on the floor. "NO."

“You, who I thought would protect any child, wanted to eliminate my – our – flesh and blood!” Tears, full of anger and hurt, stream down your face, but your voice doesn't waver one bit. 

Miguel, still on the floor, looks up at you with tear-streaked cheeks. “I didn’t know. I swear on my life, on Gabriella’s memory. I-I wanted to do the right thing. I- I never, -Lo siento.” 

There’s a moment of tense silence as you look down at the shattered man before you,the love of your life, the father of your child, who almost made the most horrifying, unforgivable mistake.

Just then, from another room, the faint sound of a baby's cries pierce through the heavy atmosphere. You abruptly yank your wrist out of his grasp and towards the door to leave.

Your heart clenches as you break into a run, following the pitiful cries. You don’t look back.

Miguel remains on his knees. He doenst follow you, he doesn’t dare to move, anchored by the crushing weight of what he's done, as the sounds of Gabriel's cries fade into the background.

"Gabriel," he whispers, the name escaping his lips like a vow. A promise of redemption. And with that single word, Miguel knows he'll move heaven and earth to protect his child.

Part 4 "Webs of Redemption"

Hello, you wonderful souls! I want to say a big thank you for your patience and kind words about this series. I really appreciate each of your sweet comments and messages – they mean so much to me. Thank you all for the insightful ideas and suggestions you contributed for part 3. I've incorporated as many of your concepts as I could because they're simply brilliant. I'm eager to hear more of your thoughts, criticisms, and proposals for part 4. I also want to give a special thanks to Jess, @wolfjessedragon . Her inspiration and amazing ideas were the driving force behind Part 3, and I couldn't have written it without her! love you guys, keep being awesome!

#miguel ohara #spiderman 2099 #miguel x reader #across the spiderverse #miguel x you #miguel o hara #atsv miguel #miguel o hara x reader #spider man #miguel o'hara #oscar isaac fanfiction #oscar isaac #oscar isaac imagine #miguel o hara x y/n #miguel ohara imagine #miguel o hara smut #spiderman 2099 spiderverse #spiderman into the spiderverse #miguel o hara x you #miguel spiderman #miguel o hara fanart

[kitkat238984]

Love Means A Free Babysitter

Summary: As a single mother of a three-year-old, you are constantly struggling to keep him under control, and boy are you glad Tyler was there at Rampage when you needed help. It worked out better than you expected.

TW: An annoyingly adorable child. You either love him or you hate him.

“Asher! Wait for me, please! Don’t run off!” You called for your three-year-old son who thought it would be a fun idea to make you chase him around backstage. 

The babysitter you’d hired had cancelled a mere hour before she was due to arrive at the hotel, so you made a quick call to Tony Khan’s team to ask if you could bring your son to Rampage and he reluctantly agreed so long as you kept him under control. 

“Oh yes of course. I promise you he’s an angel. You won’t even notice he’s here”. 

An ear-piercing shriek echoed through the hall you were running through and you ignored the shocked, puzzled looks thrown your way. So much for being unnoticeable. It probably would have been easier to catch up with him if you weren’t carrying all his toys, snacks, his blanket, your own water bottle, and your gym bag with your ring gear in. 

“Asher…”, you warned. “If you don’t stop running, mommy will be very angry with you”. Still nothing. You swore this kid had as much energy as if he’d drank dozens of energy drinks and eaten a bowlful of sugar. 

If everyone here didn’t know you were one of the professional wrestlers, they would most likely mistake you for a crazed fan. 

You didn’t take your eyes off Asher for one second, cautious of where he was running to, not wanting to find him somehow running through somewhere and into the arena. 

However, you gave an audible sigh of relief when a figure appeared from around the corner, causing Asher to bump into their legs and ultimately stopping him in his tracks, now wordlessly gazing up at the person’s face. 

As you drew closer you realised that the person your son had crashed into was Hook - or Tyler as you and some others preferred to call him - who returned the intent gaze into your child’s eyes, but his eyes filled with perplexion as he glanced around him trying to figure out where this random kid came from. 

“Uhh…”, he uttered before you closed the distance and placed your hand over Asher’s shoulder and pulled him away from your coworker. 

“Tyler, I’m so sorry about him. I’ve been trying to catch up with him for five minutes already and he just won’t stay still”. You managed to speak whilst catching your breath, proving difficult with everything you were holding as well as keeping Asher at bay who was now clinging and leaning against your leg. 

“Uh it’s cool. What’s with the kid?” He asked with no hesitation. 

You could see the obvious bewilderment in his features, glancing back and forth between yourself and Asher, and giggled before answering his question. 

“This is Asher. My son”, you told him, and he responded with five seconds of lip-mimed stuttering until speaking up again. 

“Since when were you a mom? You’ve never said anything before”. 

It was true that you’d never told Tyler before that you had a young child to take care of, but that was only reasoned with the fact that you never spoke to one another all that much. The closest you’d get to a conversation would be a few remarks on someone’s match in the viewing room or in one of the locker rooms. Your paths simply never seemed to cross naturally very often. 

“Since three years ago. I fell pregnant at eighteen, gave birth at nineteen, and now I’m a very tired mother and professional wrestler”. 

Hook felt he needed more than just a couple of seconds between bombshells to wrap his head around this discovery. You were a mom of a three-year-old boy. You were younger than him and had somehow managed to climb up the ladder of success into AEW whilst carrying around a baby in the background. 

He felt a sudden rush of respect that he’d never had before. Truthfully, he always thought you had a few screws in your head loose as you always scurried about everywhere and constantly looked like you had somewhere you needed to be. It had never the slightest bit bothered him and it never made him think any less of you, but now knowing there was a reason behind your madness made him feel guilty for thinking such things about you. 

“Can’t the father look after him?” he asked. 

“Oh um no”, you told him plainly. “He left me when he found out I was pregnant. Thought he was too important to deal with a child”. 

Then he felt worse than ever. You were a single mom, juggling everything all at once. How were you even sane? 

Frustration was visible in Tyler’s demeanour, evident in his clenched fists, pressing into his thighs and a small wrinkle in his nose which did not go unnoticed by you. 

“I’m kind of glad he left actually”, you continued. “I was trying to find a way out for months. He wasn’t a very nice person and would have been an even worse dad”. 

He appeared to relax slightly and you were thankful that he hadn’t burst into some fit of rage, however, what confused you was that he was angry in the first place after telling him about your ex. 

You hadn’t realised he cared so much about single mothers, let alone care about yourself. You wouldn’t exactly call Tyler a close friend so it surprised you that he would… well… actually give a damn. Whatever his reason for caring was, it brought you happiness that he felt the same way you did when your ex told you he was leaving you. 

“Anyway”, you snapped out of your thoughts. “We’d better get going if I actually want to fight tonight”. 

“The show doesn’t start for like four hours”. 

“It will take that long”. 

Hook gave you a questioned look before stuffing his hands back into the pocket of his hoodie and putting one of his earbuds in his ear. 

“I might see you later then. Good luck with uh… that…” He nodded towards Asher beside you and walked away behind you. 

“Thanks?” Was he scared of Asher or something? 

Taking advantage of the opening in front of him to continue causing chaos, you found yourself running after Asher yet again. 

“I swear that child is on steroids”, you huffed. 

—

Before even having gone in the ring yet, it felt like it had been the most stressful match day of your life, and you were waiting patiently in the viewing room with Asher standing in between your legs whilst you were handing him surprise tickle attacks. 

At least he wasn’t running wildly and screaming. 

You weren’t alone in the room as Hook was sitting on the opposite side with his earphones in and distracted by whatever was happening on the screen. You were a bit too preoccupied with your son to notice anything, even the frequent glances Hook gave the both of you. All you really knew and cared about at that moment was that you were to have a quick match with Saraya and that you were going to win. 

“Hey hey hey, Asher”, you addressed your littlun to get his attention. “When mommy’s done here we’re going back to the hotel and you, mister, are going straight to bed. Okay? So you’ve got to be a good boy”. 

“I am a good boy”, he said, nodding his head. 

“Good”. You kissed his head and reached down to Asher’s bag to pull out a bag of carrot sticks since it had been a while since he ate his dinner. 

As you were doing so, the door to the viewing room opened and you spun your head to see - as you expected - one of the producers. “Y/n, you’re needed now”. 

“Alright. I’ll be there in just a minute”. 

You quickly gave Asher his carrot sticks and got him to settle on a chair with his ipad so he should have been fine there for a while, however, you didn’t feel comfortable just leaving him alone the way he was. You had hoped that someone around you would be available, but one look at Hook made you feel… reluctant. 

As funny as it was that he called your son ‘that’, you shamedly didn’t have much faith in his babysitting abilities, and you didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. 

But in all honesty, you didn’t care too much. You were sure he wouldn’t let anything bad happen which was all you needed to know, and taking another look at Asher, he seemed pretty absorbed in his game so… 

“Hey, Tyler”, you called and he raised an eyebrow up at you. “Can you look after Asher for me? I won’t be long and he’ll be good. Thanks. Bye. I owe you”. 

He was in safe hands. 

Rushing to get out of there, you kissed Asher’s head and ran through the door to get to your match, leaving a dumbfounded Hook staring at the empty doorway where you were just standing.

‘What the fuck just happened?’ He thought. 

Hook unfortunately knew absolutely nothing about children and so felt very awkward about the situation he was forced in, however, he thought maybe if he kept completely silent and didn’t move then the kid wouldn’t notice he was there and that his mom had disappeared. 

Of course, that didn’t last long. After a couple of minutes, Asher’s head poked up and looked for his mom but found only the man with the fluffy hair staring at his phone. 

“Where’s mommy?” he asked, which attracted Hook’s attention. 

Here goes nothing. “She’s in the ring. She’ll be back soon”. 

“What’s a ring?” 

“It’s where people go to fight”. 

Asher looked puzzled and tilted his head to the side as if he were a puppy. 

“Mommy said no fighting. That’s not good”. 

“Well your mommy fights. Everyone here fights”. 

“Mommy doesn’t fight”. He began aggressively shaking his head. “Mommy’s a good girl”. 

A smirk turned into a chuckle at the thought of you telling your own child that fighting is naughty and there you were on the screen throwing someone’s head against the padding of a corner post. 

“I think mommy’s cappin’. Look up there”. He pointed to the screen where you were now being thrown onto the canvas with Saraya’s foot making contact with the arms that covered your head. 

Hook had assumed Asher would feel offended that you had lied to him yet think what you were doing was cool like he had when he first saw his dad wrestle, but when he looked over, what he feared would happen, happened. He was never good with kids so making one cry caused him probably the most panic he’s ever felt, even more than when he’s been pinned and desperately tried to find an outing. 

“Hey hey, kid, don’t cry. Your mom’s fine. She’s not getting hurt”, he said, rushing to Asher’s side, crouching to his level and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

“I don’t like it”. 

Asher’s whines alone were enough to make Hook’s heart break. What would you say if you knew he’d just made your son cry? 

He needed to fix this before you came back. He needed to fix this now. Fast. 

“Uhh it’s only pretend. It’s not real. They’re just… tickling each other”. 

“Tickling? Why are they tickling?” 

“Because it’s fun. They uh tickle each other until one of them gets too tired to carry on”. 

That’d have to do. At least the tears had stopped now. 

“Mommy being tickled?” 

“Sure”. 

“I want to do that”. He pointed to the TV and stared at Hook with large hopeful eyes. 

It wasn’t his position to start play-fighting with your son, let alone being the one to tell him what you do for a living, but the thought of a little kid wanting him to teach him wrestling made him forget about all that. He wanted to teach your kid the child-friendly version of wrestling and that was what he was going to do. 

“Alright. So have you ever had a tickle fight before?” He nodded. “Well it’s just that but you have to try and get me on the floor and for me to stay there for three seconds. Can you do that?” 

He nodded again with a gigantic smile that brought Hook some pride. He was about to guide Asher to the first move, but he beat him to it, flinging himself at Tyler who in turn flew back and hit the ground. 

His instinct would have been to push him off, but he had to restrain himself from being aggressive. 

In fact, he almost laughed when Asher made a poor attempt to tickle his neck. Three-year-olds were apparently terrible ticklers. 

“One two three”, the small person said, clearly not knowing how long one second is yet with how fast he was, but Hook went along with it anyway. 

“Heeeyyy I want a rematch. I wasn’t ready”. 

Hook surprised himself with how well he was with Asher and how easy it was to get along. It was pretty amusing how innocent and naive he was. He honestly thought that he could tell the kid anything and he’d believe him. 

Whilst ‘fighting’, he also noticed elements of Asher’s appearance and behaviour, small habits that easily resembled you. The little sparkle in his E/C eyes were the complete replica of your own, and the dimples in his cheeks was something he’d seen before many times when you’ve laughed at something someone said. 

There were parts about Asher that didn’t quite match, like the hair colour was completely different to yours which he presumed was from the dickhead ex-boyfriend. However, Hook didn’t hate the way it looked on Asher like he thought it should. It suited him and brought out the good in something wicked. 

He didn’t want to sound like a creep and say he’d been staring at you long enough to notice all these little things about you, but… well yeah he’d been staring. Truthfully, he thought you were a beautiful, sexy sight to behold which is why he was so surprised to see you with a child. 

How had he not noticed? 

How the fuck did you manage to carry that for nine months?! You looked fucking incredible for someone who had given birth and it only gave him another thing to love about you, that you were strong-willed and ambitious enough to make it this far with a baby. 

Again he was pinned to the floor on his front with Asher sitting on his back. If anyone saw Hook in that moment - pretend screaming and waving his arms and legs as if he was struggling - he would probably die of embarrassment. He had a cool reputation to keep up. But with his head facing away from the door, he didn’t notice that you were standing in the doorway enjoying the show from the sidelines. 

You couldn’t stop yourself from smiling at this sight for two reasons: you were happy Asher seemed to be having a great time (and would sleep really easily that night), and the smugness you felt seeing Tyler’s complete personality change from what you’ve ever known from him. 

“Ahh you’ve pinned me”, he cried. “Remember the count. Remember the count”. 

Asher giggled and counted to three on his fingers. As much as you wanted to continue watching the cute show, you knew you had to make yourself known. 

“Ding! Ding! Ding!” you called out and both boys whipped their heads to the sound of your voice. 

“Mommyyyyy!” Asher immediately jumped off Tyler’s back and ran to you, tightly wrapping his arms around your legs, a sign of affection which you kindly returned. 

“Have you two been having fun?” you asked. 

“Yeah! Yeah! I just learning wrestling”. 

“Oh really now? And who’s been teaching you that?” 

Asher looked back and pointed to Hook who was now sitting up and leaning against the chairs, running his hands through his hair trying to fix it. 

“Tyler taught you now, did he? How about you play with your cars for a bit and calm down, yeah? I think Tyler’s tired”. 

You and he knew that was all but the truth, but Asher had to come down from his energy surge somehow. 

“You told him? Really?” you asked, walking towards the chairs Hook was pulling himself onto and sitting beside him. 

“In my defence, I didn’t know you were trying to keep him away from fighting and I may have accidentally made him cry”. 

You gasped and your mouth stayed gaped open for a long few seconds before playfully slapping him on the arm. “How dare you make my son cry? You really are cold-hearted. And it’s not that I was keeping him away from it, I just don’t want him growing up thinking he can solve things with aggression. I mean, he still doesn’t fully understand the difference between right and wrong”. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry”. 

You chuckled lightly at his apology. “Don’t be. It was sweet watching him doing what we do”. 

“I thought the same. If he keeps that up he’s looking at a good future career ahead of him”. 

You nodded and watched as Asher so cluelessly played with his cars around the room, occasionally driving the toy cars across both your laps. 

“How do you make it look so easy?” 

The question took you by surprise and you unintentionally scoffed. “Easy? You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” 

“What I mean is”, he corrected, “is that you’re a fucking good-” 

“Language…” 

“Right. Sorry. You’re a great mom, and even though you’ve probably struggled, you’ve had incredible success. I just wanna know how you do it”. 

You took a deep breath, knowing this was going to be a looooong night. “Well… truthfully… I’m a hot mess. I don’t sleep. When I first found out I was pregnant and Asher’s dad left me, I was so sure I’d get an abortion, but then I went to the clinic and had a scan and realised I had a helpless child living inside of me and I wouldn’t let it down by taking away its chance at life. Although at least once a week I stay up all night crying, regretting every life choice I’ve made, when I wake up to this beauty I’m proud to call my son, I become slightly more disgusted with myself that I even dared to think about giving up”. 

You had to force yourself to breathe after that confession. You completely shocked yourself because you’d never really had the chance to talk to anyone about what went through your mind almost on a daily basis and yet here you were, telling Tyler everything in one go as if he were your damned therapist. 

“God I didn’t mean to spill everything out like that”, you told him. 

“Ah  don’t worry. You shouldn’t hate yourself so much for it, though. Can’t imagine what crazy shit- uh stuff you’ve gone through. I bet all single mothers have gone through the same as you”. 

You sent him a heartwarming smile and he sent the same but in smirk form which you never knew was possible without looking like a complete jackass. 

It still wasn’t possible. He looked dorky but you loved it nonetheless. 

“Do you want kids?” you asked. 

“Whoa ask me out to dinner first”. 

You tried to hide the laughter that was begging to come out from that cheesy line with a shake of your head, but you knew it was no use. 

“Me? Kids? Nah. At least not now. I wouldn’t even know where to start with being a dad. I’ve never really been around younger kids being an only child and all. It’s not like I could just drag a wife and kid around with me everywhere I go. I’m not father material”. 

Your heart dropped at hearing his admission, because you yourself had thought the exact same thing when you were pregnant. You remember how frightened you were of being alone or having no one there as the role-model you so desperately needed. 

But how were you to know how rewarding it all was in the end? 

“Well I understand where you’re coming from but you’re wrong. Very wrong. When I walked in here and saw you and Asher, I would have been easily convinced that you’ve been hiding three kids back home. You’d be an awesome dad”. 

“Ha… thanks, but it still feels like it’s off the cards for me. My job just doesn’t work well with having a family. It sucks but it’s the truth”. 

“And what about me? Do you think I teleport from place to place? Of course not. Asher and I take a few days once or twice a month to go home where he sees his friends, and we don’t let the constant travelling stop us from doing the things that mean the most to us. Which goes for you too”. 

Your words truly touched Tyler’s heart. His parents had told him so many times that it was possible to have a family life and still do pro wrestling, but he still never quite believed it. He wanted to be there for his future wife and children whenever they needed him at any time of the day, not just the occasional weekend when he had time off. 

Hearing your story and how you’ve coped with all the madness in your life finally broke that barrier that’s stopped him from believing he had to choose between a career and a family. Tyler was only twenty-four and had a long time ahead of him for his plans, but he knew where he wanted to start his future - well he knew who he wanted to start it with. 

He had no idea how long he’d been staring at you, but he was happy you were staring back. 

‘There it is’, he thought. The same shine in your eyes as the one he saw in Asher’s earlier. It took everything in his willpower not to devour your lips right there and then. Who cares if the kid saw? He’d find out eventually that kissing was quite normal between a man and a woman. 

“Hey”, he began talking, snapping you both out of your trance. “Can you make time in your busy schedule for a date tomorrow? About 12?” 

You bit your lip to prevent you from grinning like some psycho serial killer and managed to nod which brought a broad smile to his own face. 

“That is if I can find another babysitter by then”. 

“Bring Asher along. We can go to the park and get something to eat”. 

Your heart warmed at the thoughtful gesture. “I wouldn’t want to invade your plans with a three-year-old”. 

“You wouldn’t. I promise”. 

“Then yeah. Yeah, I’d love to go on a date with you”. 

“Perfect”. 

Tyler asked for your number which you willingly gave him and he sent a text to make sure you weren’t messing with him. 

“Alright, Asher. Say goodbye to Tyler”. 

Asher turned around and waved to your date. “Bye, Tyleeer!” 

“Bye, Asher. See you tomorrow”. 

“See you tomorrow”, he replied, not fully understanding what was actually happening tomorrow. Sweet. 

— 

When you got back to the hotel, you thought that the roles might have been reversed because you were exhausted from the long day and you could have passed out in the elevator, whereas Asher was straight on the small bed laid out for him and bouncing up and down like it were a trampoline. 

“Hey calm down. It’s time for bed. It’s been a very busy day and it’s very very late”. 

“I want to play wrestling”. 

“We can play wrestling tomorrow with Tyler. I’m sure he’ll play with you again if you bother him enough”. 

“No. I want to play with you”. 

You sighed deeply, just wanting to flop on the bed and let sleep overcome you. It was almost midnight which definitely shouldn’t have been a time a toddler was still awake at, and you were sure he’d end up waking you at stupid o'clock in the morning. 

Maybe one game wouldn’t hurt. He had such a confusing and stressful day. 

“Alright. One time then straight to bed”. 

He giggled before launching himself at you from the bed and you quickly caught him so he wouldn’t drop, but you still pretended to fall backwards on the bed. You were confused as to why Asher was fidgeting so much, but you carried on playing nonetheless and switched positions, rolling him over and throwing yourself over his torso, pinning him down. 

He had to learn to lose the hard way. 

“Nooo! Stop!” he cried. Thinking you might have hurt him, you quickly got off and scanned his face for any sign of pain. 

“What’s wrong?” you asked. 

“You doing it wrong!” 

“Wrong? How am I doing it wrong?” 

“That’s not how you do it”. 

“Then tell me how to do it”. 

Now he was sulking. Typical behaviour. You weren��t going to get a word out of him until you knew what he wanted. 

“Let’s just go to bed then”. 

“NOOOOO!” he screamed. 

“You’re tired. Come on”. 

“I not tired! I want to play wrestling!” he crossed his arms. You’d been through this situation before. Maybe if you just slept he would forget about it and go to sleep himself. 

“I want to play wrestling!” he screamed again. 

A lightbulb felt like it turned on in your head at the genius but probably the most logical idea. You hoped he wasn’t asleep yet but there was a slim chance that he was. 

“Heeey, Tyler”, you spoke into the phone. “Can I ask you a real quick question?” 

“You changed your mind already? I thought I would have had at least tomorrow’s date before you decided you didn’t like me”, he responded, his voice slightly muffled through the speaker. 

“Oh, no nothing like that. I haven’t dated in like five years. I need tomorrow. I just wanted to know how you played wrestling earlier”. 

You could imagine the perplexed look swept across his features. “Do I wanna know why?” 

“I think you’ve created Asher’s new favourite game and he keeps saying I’m doing it wrong”. 

“Well, are you tickling him?” 

“Tickling? You tickled him? You?” 

“Yeah, let's not tell anyone”. 

You almost burst out laughing at the all mighty Hook secretly being a softie and embarrassed the way he was then. 

“Oh believe me, I’m going to tell Ricky tomorrow and the word that you’re a secret teddy bear will have reached everyone’s ears before the week is over”. 

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow. Now go to bed”. 

“Thank you so much. Goodnight”. 

“Night”. 

You felt yourself swooning at his thoughtfulness and you understood why all those girls fawned over him and his unlikely charm. 

“Right. Now I know how to play, how about we start the game again?” 

— 

“Eminem is not better than Snoop Dogg. You’re insane”. 

You snickered, relishing in the satisfaction you had from teasing Tyler. 

“Eminem’s songs tell a story. Snoop Dogg just says a bunch of random shit”. 

“What’s storytelling about two trailer-park girls going round the outside, huh?” 

“Ah you got me there”. 

The three of you were walking down a trail down the side of the park, Asher running ahead of you hitting every tree he could see with a stick. You took a side glance at Tyler who was gazing off into the distance at your son. You thought it was pretty adorable that he was growing a liking to Asher, particularly after the awkwardness he possessed around him when they first met. 

A laugh escaped your lips which drew the attention of Tyle who whipped his head to face you. “What’s so funny?” 

“What happened to the guy who didn’t like kids?” 

“Ah he’s growing on me”. 

“I’m glad. Because he’ll be tagging around to a few of our dates”. 

He stopped in his tracks whilst you continued walking but turned around once you noticed he wasn’t catching you up. 

Had you put him off by inadvertedly inviting a third wheel? 

“What makes you think there are more dates?” 

Oh thank fuck. 

“Well, aren't there?” 

He let out a sly chuckle as you moved closer to him, mirroring his smirk, and he instinctively rested his hands on your hips. 

Tyler felt his fingertips tingle at the touch of you. It was like his hands had finally found their destined home. 

“I guess you’ll just have to find out”. 

His lips captured yours in craving and you felt in the small but powerful gesture all the longing he had for you and your lips. Both yours and his lips massaged each other and your body fell into complete ecstasy. 

Until the little monster ruined the moment… 

“Why are you kissing?” You pulled away and smiled at Asher’s innocence. 

“It doesn’t matter, sweetie. Come on, let’s keep going”. 

“I don’t want to. My legs hurt. Pick me up?”. 

You looked at Asher in disbelief. You’d seen this child practically run marathons without stopping and somehow an hour at the park has him too tired to stand? You weren’t believing it for a second. Besides, as strong as you were, the kid was heavy. 

“You’re too big to pick up now. You’re a big boy”. 

“Pick me uuuuup!” 

“I told you no”. 

Ah there was the grumpiness again, his arms flailing everywhere and foot stomping on the ground. You sent him a stern look that you held for all of five seconds before Tyler decided to speak up. 

“Hey, do you want to sit on my shoulders?” 

“Yeah!” 

Hook knelt down whilst Asher climbed up his back and swung his legs over his shoulders, Tyler’s arms securely holding them in place so he wouldn’t fall backward. 

You rolled your eyes and you all continued walking down the path - with the exception of Asher, of course. 

It was a beautiful sight, you had to admit to yourself, but he was a cheeky mother fucker. 

“You’re a bad influence, you know that?” 

He chuckled at your comment for he knew you were telling the truth, but he loved the drama. 

“First, you make Asher cry, then you teach him wrestling, and now you’re his personal chauffeur. I hope you’re happy”. 

“Oh I’m more than happy, baby”. 

You couldn’t have agreed more. You had hope that this situation would progress into something much more wonderful than it already felt. 

THE END. 

#hook aew #hook x reader #aew #aew fanfiction #hook x you #hook x y/n #hook fanfiction #hook imagine #all elite wrestling #reader insert

[bokutosbiceps]

activities

gojo satoru x f!reader | fluff + smut | 2.9k words

summary: you may or may not have forgotten about reservations that satoru made for your first anniversary…but you find something better at home anyways.

warnings: cursing (both in dialogue + narrative), ass groping, fingering, cunnilingus, oral sex (male receiving + female receiving), multiple orgasms, vaginal/penetrative sex

a/n: it took everything in my power to not make gojo’s nickname jojo. we’ll call him satoru…for now 😉 also i think this is the dirtiest thing i’ve ever written. i’m going to confession tmrw.

18+ MDNI

The sun felt so nice on your legs that you had pushed your cozy blanket aside and changed into shorts before laying back out on the couch, resting your laptop on your tummy and scrolling absently through various social media sites and articles that piqued your interest.

Satoru had gone to Jujutsu High to “tie up some loose ends” so he could come back to your place early to spend the rest of the evening with you, since it was your very first anniversary. One year with the idiot, and you had never been happier.

A gentle vibration on your butt brought you out of your social media daze and you arched your back to fish your phone out of your pocket. You answered the call, you already knew who it was.

“Hey, schnookums.” Satoru lilted, drawing out the disgusting pet name for emphasis. You frowned.

“I thought we agreed you would stop calling me that, Gojo-san.” You drew out his last name to bother him. He whined.

“Baby, I told you not to call me that! You sound like one of my students.” Satoru’s cheery tone returned. “Fine, I’ll stop calling you schnookums. How about…sweetie? Sweetheart? My love? My everything?” 

“What happened to babe? Baby?”

“We’ve been a couple for a year and you know what they say about relationships after the first year…it’s all downhill from here.”

“Do they even say—?”

“Anyways, I thought new nicknames would spice things up a bit!” You could practically hear Satoru smiling over the phone. You figured he was heading back to your place since you could hear the throaty roar of his car as he no doubt was speeding down the roads in Tokyo, after “tying up his loose ends”. You knew this meant he had had another meeting with Yaga, to discuss his behavior. He was just as much a troublemaker as any of his students, probably even moreso.

“I will continue to call you babes. You can call me whatever you like…as long as it’s not—”

“Late for dinner!” Satoru laughed, you heard him snap in the background and just knew he had thrown up finger guns at the road. You dragged your hand down your face, smiling nonetheless.

“I was gonna say as long as you don’t call me schnookums.” You sat up a little bit, adjusting your laptop on your tummy and continuing to scroll absentmindedly. “Also, keep your hands on the wheel. Could you imagine if you died in a car accident because you were doing finger guns at nothing?” You giggled a little bit.

“Wah, you know me too well, sweetheart!” Satoru chuckled. “Anyways, I'll be by you in about ten. Be ready, okay? I love you.” You mumbled a reciprocation and ended the call, pushing your phone back into your pocket and diving back into the virtual world.

Barely five minutes later, you jolted as the front door opened and Satoru bolted into your apartment, making a beeline for the bathroom down the hall. He placed a quick kiss on your forehead before continuing his race to the bathroom.

“I just have to use the bathroom real quick then we can—” Satoru stopped, hand on the bathroom door knob, staring at you. “What are you doing?”

“I was just waiting for you to get back?” You closed your laptop and sat up straight, relishing in the sight of him. He was wearing a white button up with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black dress pants, and his dark shades. This was his usual outfit when he wasn’t wearing Jujutsu High’s uniform or casual streetwear, but he still looked delectable. 

“I told you to be ready.” He chuckled and shook his head, entering the bathroom. You waited for him to come out and watched him as he approached the couch and peered down at you over his shades. “What am I gonna do with you, babycakes?”

“Can you please fill me in on what’s going on?” You stared up at him, wide eyed and bottom lip jutting out just a touch. Satoru couldn't even pretend like he was mad at you.

“It's our one year anniversary.” He started slowly, you nodded, pressing him to continue. “I told you about those reservations I made at that Sugar Factory place downtown. Y’know, the place where they, like, blow sugar to make it look like glass but it's totally edible! They bring out these huge parfaits with sparklers in ‘em and all the waiters sing and dance—”

You reached up and grabbed Satoru’s hand, squeezing it tightly to signal to him that you got the memo. He pauses and looks down at you sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, honey, I totally forgot. I thought we’d be spending the night in. We just went to that super fancy sushi place last week. I thought that was to celebrate this!”

“Nah, that was just cuz I love you. I wanted to take you out, show you off…y’know.” Satoru smiled at you gently. “Anyways, you're not dressed and the reservation’s in, like,” Satoru checked his watch, “ten minutes.”

He looked semi-disappointed, which absolutely wrung your heart out. You wanted to hug him. You tugged on his hand to bring him closer but he flopped down on top of you, causing you to huff out a breath of air. He giggled. 

“It's okay, sweetheart. We can go for our two year anniversary!” He sat up on his knees and placed his hands on either side of your head. “You got any ideas as to what you wanna do tonight instead?” His shades started to slide down his nose so you plucked them off his face and set them on the coffee table. 

“We could order in? I'll pay. We'll get that really gross yakisoba from that little hole in the wall joint you love so much.” You placed your hands on his cheeks and brought his face closer to yours and placed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “As for activities, I’m down for whatever you wanna do.”

Satoru smiled mischievously, his bright blue eyes sparkling as he gazed down at you. He thought for a moment before smiling again. “You.”

“What?” A hot blush spreads across your nose, cheeks, and down your neck as Satoru leaned down, pressing his nose to your cheek. He pressed a kiss to it before moving to the other cheek and doing the same.

“You asked if I had any activities I wanted to do, and I said you.” He mumbled against your skin before moving to your lips and sucking on your bottom lip. He slid his tongue past your parted lips and sealed his lips to yours, running his hands down your waist, hips, and thighs to come back up and squeeze your ass.

Your hands immediately found their way to his hair and started to tug and your legs moved on their own to wrap around his waist as you returned the kiss, much to Satoru’s delight.

Satoru broke the kiss, leaning only a few centimeters away from your face. You could feel his breath fanning against your face as the two of you caught your breath and stared at each other. Without much warning, Satoru hoisted you up by your ass and slung you over his shoulder. As he marched to the bedroom, he dug his fingers underneath the crotch of your shorts and panties to slide his fingers in between your pussy lips.

“Satoru!” You squeaked, fully not expecting the sudden contact against your cunt. He smirked in satisfaction at how much of your arousal he had been able to gather on his fingers in just one swipe, inspecting the slickness that you had left on his fingers before cleaning it off with his tongue.

“So much sweeter than anything we could’ve had tonight, don’t you think?” Satoru lilted as he laid you down on the bed, pressing your back into the mattress as he kneeled above you. “Oh, how rude of me, you didn’t get a taste.” With that, Satoru expertly slid your shorts and panties off your body in one smooth motion before returning his fingers to your pussy, dipping them in and out until he had gathered a good amount of your arousal.

“Open wide, sweetheart.” He cooed, smearing your slickness against your lips. You opened your mouth obediently and sucked on his fingers, earning a moan of satisfaction from Satoru. He watched you hungrily, palming himself through his slacks as he pushed his fingers further down your throat, trying to make you choke. Another moan of pleasure escaped his throat as he watched tears spring into your eyes and felt your throat close around his fingers. He pulled his fingers out of your mouth and got to work on undoing his belt.

“I wanna choke on your cock, Satoru.” You begged, trying to help him take off his clothes. He grabbed your hands with one of his hands and placed sweet and gentle kisses to your wrists before placing them in your lap.

“Patience, love. Why don’t you work on taking that top off, hmm?” You obeyed him immediately, gripping the hem of your sweatshirt and bringing it up and over your head. Satoru felt his cock grow even harder as he watched your tits bounce out from underneath the confines of your sweater. He quickly disposed of his pants and underwear, only able to get to the third button on his shirt by the time you had gripped the base of his cock and taken his shaft into your mouth.

His hands flew to the back of your head and pushed you down his shaft further until your nose was pressed against his pelvis. His hips jerked slightly as he felt your throat close around his cock and saw your body tremble slightly as you choked. He sighed, it couldn’t get much better than this. But, yes, it could.

He gently pulled you off of his cock and shivered at the sight of your lips forming a small ‘o’ around his tip right before you parted from him. You watched him expectantly, waiting as he undid the last of the buttons on his shirt and flung it somewhere in the bedroom. He laid down on the bed and beckoned for you to come over to him. You crawled over his body and sat on his abdomen, smearing your wet pussy against his skin.

“Turn around, honey, lemme take care of you while you blow me.” Satoru made a twirling motion with his finger, his eyes filled with amusement and a smirk playing on his lips. You obeyed him for the third time that night and lifted your ass in his face to give him a full view of your pussy while you licked up the underside of his shaft. You circled his tip with your tongue and faltered a bit when you felt Satoru stuff three of his fingers into your cunt, spreading them out against your walls. You moaned against his dick and opened your mouth to take all of him in once more, willing yourself not to gag when he bucked his hips against your throat. You began to move backward to get his fingers deeper inside of you, using your hand to pump up and down his cock as your head lolled down.

Satoru’s fingers pulled out suddenly and you were about to whine in protest when you felt his hands grab your thighs and pull your pussy to his mouth, immediately latching on to your clit and sucking on it. It took all of your willpower to continue jerking him off, but your mouth hung open in pleasure, letting Satoru hear your mewls and moans of pleasure. He slid his fingers back into your pussy as he continued to eat you out.

“That’s it, baby love, you’re taking my fingers so well.” He mumbled against your clit, the vibrations sending a shockwave up your spine and to your brain, effectively pushing you over the edge. Your back arched and you pressed your forehead against Satoru’s pelvis as you came, unable to even focus on jerking him off.

Satoru grabbed you by the hips once more, unraveling you so that you were leaning against his chest and sitting on his lip. He pressed kisses to your neck and shoulder as he reached up with one hand to He sneaked two fingers back to your clit and rubbed until your thighs were shaking once more and you were begging Satoru for him to fuck you.

“Come on now, honey, help me help you.” Satoru chuckled at your exhaustion, body still limp and somewhat trembling from the two quick orgasms he had just ripped out of you. He helped you turn around so that you were facing him and straddling his hips, cunt positioned perfectly above the tip of his dick. 

You gingerly lowered yourself onto his cock, eyes rolling into the back of your head once his cock was sheathed completely inside of you. Satoru hissed at the way your walls were already clenching and fluttering around him, taking a few gentle thrusts to loosen you up a bit.

Before long, Satoru’s fingers were digging into your hips as he slammed you down on his cock to meet each of his thrusts deep inside of you. He fucked deep into you and with such vigor that you thought he might split you in half, but you held on for dear life until you thought you wouldn’t be able to take it anymore. You started to clench around him, crying out with every thrust that Satoru drove into you.

“‘Toru, I’m gonna—” You whined the rest of your sentence, too fucked out to form the words that he needed to hear you say.

“C’mon, sweetheart, I need to hear you say it.” Satoru watched as you threw your head back and arched your back while allowing your pussy to milk the cum out of his dick.

“I’m cumming…” You managed to hiss out as your third orgasm tore through your body before slumping against Satoru’s chest. He fucked you through his own orgasm, pressing hard enough on your hips to leave bruises, and moaning your name right in your ear while he filled you up.

Satoru rested his cheek against the crown of your head and ran his fingers over the crevice of your back as you both caught your breath. He held you gently as he moved to the side to pull his dick out of you, unable to keep his lewd smile from playing on his lips as he watched his cum spill from your pussy when he pulled out. 

“What are you smiling at, hmm?” You asked, exhaustion laced in every crack of your voice.

“Oh, nothing.” Once Satoru made sure that you were tucked into bed all cozy like, he got up and retrieved a washcloth to clean you up before focusing on cleaning himself up.

He let you rest for almost an hour, no sly quips or awful horrible jokes—just his arm around you and your head pressed into his chest while he cradled you.

“You hungry?” He asked quietly, rubbing your shoulder. You stirred and rolled over onto your back, peering at him out of the corner of your eye.

“Couldn’t just let us have a nice moment, huh?” You teased, mustering enough strength to sit up on your elbows.

“Hey, now, you were practically sleeping on me for almost an hour! Do you want me to starve?” Satoru leaned over and pecked your lips, an easy smirk playing on his lips. You leaned onto one of your elbows while you used your other hand to caress his face. He closed his eyes and leaned into your touch, causing your heart to melt. 

“Order the food, babes. You know my credit card information.” As soon as the words left your mouth, Satoru was up and out of bed, digging inside of the pockets of his forgotten pants to find his phone. He jumped back into bed beside you with his phone in hand.

“Best anniversary ever! I love you, y/n.” He pecked your lips once more and added a second, lingering and gentle kiss before unlocking his phone, already thinking of the yummy, slimy yakisoba he was going to order.

Satoru shot straight up in bed, staring at his phone with wide eyes. You leaned over and rested your head on his chest to see what got him so riled up after such a sweet moment. Then you saw the email from the Sugar Factory.

A $50 no-show fee has been charged to the card on file. Have a great night!

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #gojo #gojo satoru smut #gojo smut #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader smut #gojo x reader smut

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for my fanart and how I responded to someone's negative reaction of it?

Okay so some background to start. I'm (genderfluid, 18+) in a fandom that was originally a book and got a live action adaptation several years ago. The adaption is MUCH more popular than the book series and honestly very different from it (a lot of characters have different backstories, the main character doesn't have a brother in the adaption, and ages were changed) but very few people have read the book series. (Admittedly, the fandom is not very big. It's actually the smallest one I'm in, which means I'm kinda limited in the number of people to interact with) Anyways! I'm in a discord (it's 18+ tho I don't know the actual ages of anyone else involved) for this fandom and although they promote themselves as being for both book and adaptation fans, according to the roles I am one of five people of the 40+ people in the server who have read the books, so that's not a lot.

Now, for Valentine's day I made fanart of the main couple, the mc and his wife (they get married in the series. In the books they are already together in the beginning but the adaption wanted drama and decided to not have them be together in the beginning. One of the changes that I very much do not like.) They're the most popular ship in the fandom. I love them. Anyways, I shared it in the Discord for Valentines and did not get a nice reaction.

See, in the books, both characters are white, but in the adaptation the wife is black. (The mc looks different in the adaptation too, shorter and with different hair and eye color, but he's still white) I drew the book version, because that's what I like. They're my blorbos.

Another person in the server took MY art and recolored it so that the wife was black and posted it in the server with a comment about whitewashing characters of color. I told them that I didn't whitewash her and that it was really fucking rude to edit someone else's fanart. They replied that she was black, I was racist, and posted a screenshot of a Google search asking the race of the actress who plays the wife in the adaptation. I replied with a screenshot of the her books' fanwiki page and said that my fanart was of the books and if they wanted fanart of the adaptation they could make it themself. They asked how they were supposed to know it was from the books since nobody read them and they were shit. I replied that they could realize the mc AND his wife looked different, that I read the books, and they were better than the adaptation, and how would they know if the books were shit since they obviously hadn't read them?

Anyways then the mods stepped in and made us break it up. One of the mods (the only one to have read the books) dmed me and told me that they understood my frustration and that another mod was talking to the person I had been fighting with about respecting other people's work but I needed to understand that assuming I was racist and whitewashing wasn't going to be uncommon since the books weren't as popular as the adaptation and I needed to be respectful when people confronted me with this. I replied that if the other person had confronted me directly and not just assumed the worst and edited my work I would have been more respectful. The mod agreed that the other person was out of line, but the whole thing seemed to be one giant misunderstanding so neither of us were getting strikes against us this time.

Anyways, the mods added some rules about not editing people's work and a thing in the announcements channel explaining the differences between the books and the adaptation but everything in the server has been really tense especially since people in the server started vague posting on Tumblr, some people favoring me others favoring the other person. I blocked the person I fought with on Tumblr but neither them nor I were involved in the vague posting.

(also idk if it matters but I'm white, idk the ethnicity of of anyone else involved)

So! Tell me, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[f1bordeaux]

If You Cared (Part 4) | mv1

It's been years since you've indulged in a vacation. What better time is there than summer? Your family, the beach house in Italy-it seems perfect. But, for things to be just like good old times, your family needs to invite his. So of course you are having mixed feelings as the boy who broke your heart re-enters your life like nothing happened. Warnings: Suggestive content in the beginning, implied nudity, angst Pairing: Max Verstappen x Reader Word count: 2.3k Poetry style | Story style A/n: One more part left! I decided to do 5 chapters instead of only 4, so the next part is the last part. This was kinda rushed, sorry if you can tell, but I'm leaving soon and I really wanted to finish this up for you guys so you weren't waiting for two months lmao. I'll come back one day and revise it, but ur stuck with this for now. Enjoy! Part 5 will be up tomorrow <;3 Part One|Part Two|Part Three|Part Four|Part Five

“Goodnight!” You waved as your mom and dad sombered down the hall. Finally.

You ran into your room, reaching for your phone on your desk. Max’s contact was the first one to pop up. Come up. You sent.

Victoria and I are still in the living room chatting. I’m trying to get up there. He sent back immediately. 

I’ll be waiting, just come in. Don’t knock. With that, you set your phone down and cracked open your window. A thick, cold gust of wind blew in. It would rain soon, a perfect background noise for what was about to happen. You smirked thinking about it. You smirked thinking about how worked up you made Max on the yacht, just to say in the end, “You have to wait until we get home to do anything more than kiss.”

This would be fun.

The only light in the room was coming from a lamp on your desk. It created a warm, soft, dreamy atmosphere. Your sheets seemed softer than normal, your pillow seemed thicker than normal, the wood on your feet seemed colder than normal. Maybe it was the exhaustion finally setting in from the day on the boat, but your senses were heightened. You wondered what it would feel like to kiss Max again. Would it be different? Would it feel better?

Only a few more minutes would pass before your door opened so quietly that you almost didn’t notice. Max slid in through the crack, a smile on his lips. “Hello.” He said.

“Glad to see you could make it.”

“I wouldn’t pass this up for the world.” He said, sitting next to you on your bed. His arms wrapped around you, pulling your body into a tight embrace. You both fell backwards, giggling as your bodies hit the bed. At once, you both closed your eyes just basking in each other's body heat and feeling your breath on one another's skin.

Your legs dangled off the bed, and when you realized, you pulled them up and curled into Max. He just hummed softly, placing a kiss on the top of your head. It would be so easy to just fall asleep. To just postpone this until later. What if you both just…

“Hey.” He whispered.

You blinked slowly, taking in the now different view. The two of you were now laying normally on your bed, your body being held by Max still. It was raining pretty hard outside. You could hear it clearly through your open window. The lamp was off now and the alarm clock on your desk read 4:55 AM. You remembered it being only midnight.

“Hi.” You whispered back. Max drew stars on your cheek, smiling as you looked up at him with gleaming eyes. You were always so amazed by him, it didn’t take a scientist to figure that out. He could honestly say that he felt the same about you.

“We fell asleep.”

“Yeah,” You tucked your head into his chest. His shirt smelled of sunscreen and salt. “I guess we did.”

“Do you feel alright?”

You just nodded, not pulling your face away from his body. He, however, reached his hand under your chin, pulling your face just a few inches below his. Even in the dark you could see the outline of his features. You could see his lips, his beautiful eyes, his nose, his messy hair. As you studied his face, he studied yours. It was like you both got lost in one another. These moments had been more frequent lately. You enjoyed every second of them.

“If you want something, Max,” You smirked, inching closer. “Just ask.”

You watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. “Can I kiss you?”

“Anytime.”

It happened in a flash, his lips connected to yours in a rushed haze. His hand came to the small of your back pulling your pelvis into his. His other hand gripped the back of your head with such force that a small moan slipped into the kiss. Max loved it. He wanted you to do it again and again. You remained like this for only a few seconds before he flipped you onto your back, pulling away as he did so.

“God,” He whispered. “You look so good. How’d I get so lucky?”

You just looked away, hiding underneath your arm. Max pulled it away, insisting that he wanted to admire your blissed out look. The rain picked up outside. You felt so happy that you could cry. This was a moment you’d been wanting with Max since you were a teenager. Honestly, this made you have a hopeful outlook for the future. He wouldn’t have sex with you then just leave. Surely this was the beginning of something new, something you’d wanted for years.

“Can I take your shirt off?”

You nodded, lifting your arms straight up so he could slide it off. “Now yours,” You instructed.

“Yes ma’am.”

Your body was humming in pure ecstasy as his bare skin was flush against yours. He stared at you for a few seconds, looking at your face, then your body, then your lips. He was practically drooling as he consumed the image before him. Not only was this a dream come true for you, but it was for him, too. He’d always had eyes for you, he’d always wanted to feel and kiss you. As much as he was your first crush, you were his. His first kiss was also you, even though he lied at the time and said he’d been with plenty of girls. He was determined to do things right this time, to not be idiotic or selfish, to not be doubtful or despondent.

Max kissed your neck before moving down to place small kisses on your chest. They were quick, his lips moving to another spot only seconds after attaching to the first. “Max,” You moaned, hand entwined in his hair. “Give me more.”

He looked up, a smile on his face. “More?”

You nodded. “More.”

-

“We’re going to be late!” Your mom yelled from down the hall.

Right, this was not what you were supposed to be doing. “Max, we gotta go.” You gasped, pulling away from him.

Max frowned, adjusting his tie as you walked to your desk to reapply your jewelry. “I was having fun.”

The ‘fun’ he was talking about was having you pushed into the wall of your bedroom as the two of you feverishly made out. This had become rather common in the past few days. Ever since the night on the yacht, the dynamic between the two of you had changed from best friends with a mutual crush to best friends with benefits. Max used these benefits every chance he got. Even if it was ten minutes before a big formal charity ball.

You stepped in front of the mirror to admire your outfit. A long, skin tight, wine-red dress clung to your body. There was a slit up the left leg. Your hair was up, your makeup was done perfectly, you were flawless. Max stepped into the mirror, too, his arms wrapping around your waist and his chin resting on your shoulder.

“You look stunning, baby.” Max whispered in your ear. Your skin began to rise with chills. “So good.”

“You do too, Max.” You turned to kiss him on the cheek. He wore a black suit and tie, but somehow he made the simple outfit look so complex, so elegant, so royal. “Let's go.”

He opened your door for you, extending an arm as you walked by. When the two of you walked down the stairs, everyone looked. It truly was like two members of a royal family were walking into the room. Your dad whistled, your mom and Max’s pulled out their phones to take photos, Victoria smiled, holding onto her husband, Luca and Mia shared-concerning glances? Mia-without a doubt-looked worried. Like, next level worried. Cat just got hit by a car worried.

“You two look phenomenal.” Sophie said.

“Thanks, mom.” Max responded.

The eleven of you were all dressed to impress. The cameras would surely find their way to you, tonight. This charity ball was something you attended every summer, but now that Max was a celebrity who had millions of people watching his every move, cameras were going to be present. So, you all took a little extra time to look good. Luca wondered if any girls would see his photo and ask about him. Max boosted his ego and said, “Maybe.”

When you all got there, the venue was packed. A small, round table had the name cards for you, Max, your siblings and Victoria’s family. Your parents and Sophie were elsewhere, sitting at a table with high-end contributors who were older than dust.

You were on one side of Max, his brother-in-law was on the other. Mia was on the opposite side of the table and still she carried this worrying look. Was she sick? “Mia?” You asked. “Are you alright?”

“I-um,” She looked at Max. He looked away, tapping on the table to get his little nephew's attention. “Yes. I am ok.”

“Are you sure? I can drive you home.”

“Yes, y/n. I’m alright.”

Odd. All night she would furrow her brows, frown, sigh or just be overall sad whenever you and Max whispered in each others ears, whenever his hand came to rest on your knee, whenever he fed you a piece of food, whenever you leaned into his shoulder while laughing. Luca began leaning into her, whispering something that you couldn’t quite hear.

“So, Max. You leave soon, right?” She started up.

He cleared his throat, setting his napkin on the table. “I do, yeah. Four days.”

Your heart began to pang in your chest. How could you have forgotten? The three weeks Max spent with you were almost up. You two would have to go your own ways now. You were hopeful, however. This hurt way less than the first time it happened.

“What comes next for,” Mia waved her hand between the two of you. “This?”

You sighed. Why was she being so rude? “Mia-”

“What do you mean?” Max asked.

She sipped from her wine glass, setting it back down with such force that a bit splashed out over the side. “When you go back to Monaco and she goes back to the states. What happens then? Are you gonna break her heart again?”

“Mia! Enough.” You corrected her. “What is your problem tonight-you know what, no. Not even tonight. You’ve been a bitch to Max for the past week. Why?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you explain, Max.” She turned her whole body to face Luca who sat to her right. “Or you can explain, Luca.”

Luca almost spit out his water. “Me?”

“What are you talking about?” You asked. You slowly turned to look at Max. His hand came from off your thigh to the wine glass in front of him. He downed the last of the red liquid, almost as if he was refusing to speak.

“Nobody? No takers?” Mia proceeded. “Fine then, I’ll tell y/n.”

At that moment, at that table, your summer crumbled. No longer would the sun feel as warm, would the beach feel as calming, would Elba feel as homely, would Max feel so wonderful. All the worries you had, all the wonders that plagued your mind, all of the what ifs, all of the maybes-everything came crashing down. Everything became a slew of nevers, of goodbyes, of I would just rather forget you’s.

Mia sighed. “Y/n, Luca bet Max that he wouldn’t be able to kiss you this summer. And he took it.”

“He bet what?” You asked. “What do you mean?”

“At dinner on the first night you got up to go to the bathroom. When you were gone, Luca bet Max one hundred dollars that he couldn’t get you to kiss him. Max took the bet and said that he could make it happen.”

Oh. So, was it real? Was any of it real? The first night after dinner when he sat next to you by the pool, was he just trying to win the bet? When he stayed home to watch the sunrise with you, was he just trying to win the bet? When he apologized, was it just a step in his plan to win the bet? Wherever you and him would ride together in his car, go to the beach together, play games together, fall asleep on the couch together-was it for his bet? When you first kissed, did he feel good because of you or because he knew he beat Luca?

“Max,” You practically whispered. “Tell me she’s lying.”

He said nothing. There was now this deafening silence hanging over the table. You felt sick. Why wouldn’t Max just look at you and say that it was fake, that Mia was making shit up?

“Max, please.” You begged. Tears formed in your eyes. “Why wont you say anything?”

“It’s true.” Was all he said. He didn’t look at you, he looked at Luca. So you looked at Luca. He hung his head as soon as you made eye contact with him.

“How could you-why did you-Mia. How’d you find out?” Was your next question.

“Luca was playing video games with one of his friends talking about it,” She said. “And I overheard it and made him explain it all.”

“Luca, how could you do that to me?” Your voice was so quiet, so close to breaking. “You’re my brother.”

“Y/n, I-”

You stood up, chair scratching the floor as you did so. With quick, long steps, you darted out of the dining venue. Mia was quick to follow. Max didn’t get up, neither did Luca. Not that you cared anymore. There was one thing you wanted and it wasn’t an apology from anyone, it was the first flight back to New York.

You’d done it again. He’d done it again.

Max Verstappen once again had broken your heart and didn't bother to watch you cry or attempt to apologize.

How foolish of you to fall once again.

#f1 #formula 1 #f1 fanfic #f1 requests #f1 imagine #charles leclerc #max verstappen #f1 angst #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen ff #max verstappen smut #verstappen x reader #verstappen ff #verstappen fanfic #verstappen #mv1 #mv1 x reader #mv33 #mv33 x reader #f1 smut #f1 one shot #f1 fanfiction #f1 instagram au #smut #angst #f1 series #f1 x reader #f1 fandom

[itsthislake]

CRINGETOBER! Days 14-15.

Original prompt.

Commentary under the cut:

Days 10-13: I had very few ideas and even less inspiration, so I didn't bother with these lol.

Day 14: So, how do I phrase this... In theory I had a lot of ideas and inspiration and I wanted to do a whole collage with popsicles and lolipops and whatnot because I know nothing about candycore except that it has candy in it. In practice tho I drew Lambo and slapped a candy png in the background to fit the bill before calling it a day. But! It's Lambo! The cutest, most annoying, five-year-old candy-lover to ever five-year-old! That's gotta count for something.

Day 15: I'd been looking forward to this one since the challenge dropped! Mostly because I wanted to make an animatic about these two pirates with this song and just don't have the time for it :( BUT! I could manage this drawing, which didn't quite turn out how I envisioned but that's on par for the course so whatever. The song is "The Ballad of Love and Hate" by The Avett Brothers, and it's the sweetest song. I love it. Go listen to it. (On a different note, I love Buggy so much you've no idea, so obviously I spent a good hour looking up the sluttiest poses to put him in because he deserves it, and this is the one I used as reference for this.)

Overall, I'm tired but content lol.

#cringetober #cringetober 2023 #katekyo hitman reborn #khr lambo #one piece #buggy the clown #akagami no shanks #red haired shanks #richie the lion (one piece) #lake's art

[aetherceuse]

FILE # 05062023 -> President Delacroix

Name: Lusamine Delacroix Age: 44 Height: 6'5" Date of Birth: Precise date unknown; celebrated on January 1st Hometown: Defunct city of the Ultra Ruins; paperwork lists her hometown as Cerulean City, Kanto. Current Location: Aether Paradise, Alola

Pokémon (Team): Clefable, Liligant, Bewear, Milotic, Mismagius, Alolan Persian. Additional Pokémon: Hatenna, Houndour, Nihilego, Guzzlord, Silvally. Gym Experience: Seven Indigo League badges (four from Kanto, three from Johto,) three Unovan League badges, one Hoennian League badge. No current interest in challenging any other leagues.

Education: Masters in Conservation Biology, PhD in Genetic Engineering. Business Association: Founder and President of the Aether Foundation, former board member of the Bureau of Cross-Dimensional Anomaly Investigation, BCDAI.

TRAITS

Positive: Intelligent, innovative, problem-solver, confident, patient, calm, ambitious. Negative: Manipulative, cruel, apathetic, practically emotionless, disconnected, unforgiving.

MBTI: INTJ (The Architect) Alignment: True Neutral Sexuality: Asexual

BACKGROUND

❛ You think everyone in this world is here to serve you, don't you? ❜

Lusamine was, for all intents and purposes, meant to be perfect. A brilliant mind-- a child prodigy. Her intelligent was vastly superior in comparison to her peers, and nearly every last individual her age. Her parents hoped that, with proper enrichment, and the right amount of careful path planning, that she would be an irreplaceable asset to Silph Co. and the global scientific community.

Though they had raised a genius, what came with it also-- was an apathetic, cruel madwoman.

Lusamine's origins are a classified secret; she is the first official documentation of a Faller since these individuals began to be recorded. Found at the age of five, wandering around the outskirts of Cerulean City in a daze on her own, Lusamine had fallen from an Ultra Wormhole when her home-- an alternative reality of this world-- was invaded and destroyed by Guzzlord. The entire planet had to be evacuated, and in the process, she was separated from her biological parents. However, because of the amnesia once experiences as a Faller, she has no memory of her home, or her family, at all. Only her name, Lusamine Delacroix, was kept in tact, due to her name being written on the sewn-on tag of the shirt she had been wearing when she was found.

After being discovered and placed in the care of an orphanage in Cerulean City, Lusamine quickly began to impress her caretakers and educators. Her intelligence surpassed that of the average five year old. She was capable of grasping concepts and theories that were more akin to what secondary school students were studying-- and she picked up language and mathematics with ease. Her remarkable intellect is what drew the attention of a married couple who worked for Silph Co. The two of them were incapable of having children on their own, and after fertility treatments failed, they turned to adoption. Lusamine seemed to be a perfect fit, and after several meetings and a lengthy therapy plan, she found her new home in Saffron City.

In reality-- Lusamine was adopted less out of their desire to start a family, and more so because the scientist pair was fascinated, and wanted to see what sort of results they could achieve by pushing the limits of human intelligence. And so, Lusamine was reared to be a premier student. A seemingly endless flow of education and enrichment was poured upon her; she was given state-of-the-art tools and tech in order to further her studies, and was taken from region to region with her parents in order to be taught by the "masters." Language studies in Lumiose, astronomy in Mossdeep, engineering in Nimbasa, just to name a few. By the age of 14, she had completed secondary school, and was already enrolled in college classes at the University of Saffron. At 16, she completed her first bachelors— and by the time she had turned 22, Lusamine Delacroix was already decorated with a PhD, after traveling abroad to study at the Unovan Institute of Technology in the northern stretch of the region.

Surprisingly, not everything was centered around book education! Lusamine was classically trained in Pokémon battling by Kantonian coaches. This fierce-spirited battling style still translates into her methods today, and is especially noticeable with her strategic approach to matches. Through this outlet, Lusamine’s love and appreciation for Pokémon was born, which offset her budding dislike of other people.

Success comes with sacrifice, of course. Lusamine did not have any type of social life unless it pertained to her studies. She was often seen with her parents at various conferences and summits related to the science of Pokémon, and their relationship with human society. These were rather boring to her, though she always made sure to apply herself to the best of her ability, both so that she did not let down her parents, and so that she could network for her future.

This did, unfortunately, permanently effect Lusamine’s ability to bond with other people, and began a life long struggle with connection and relationships.

From an outsider’s perspective, Lusamine had the perfect upbringing. She never wanted for anything. Money was never a struggle. She had constant mental enrichment. But, she lacked warmth in her dynamics. Neither of her parents were affectionate, nor did they have any intention of behaving as such. Every single behavior and decision that Lusamine displayed, was looked at with the scrutiny of a strict researcher. She more of a live-in controlled observational subject, more than a child. Log books were signed into and signed off of every day. Videos were taken, including a 24 hour feed in the household. Regular visits to clinics and laboratories to take blood samples and the occasional brain scan were simply a part of her routine. Everything was dictated by logic, and the scientific method, which extended into Lusamine’s outside relationships as well— other children often described her as a “creepy, dull” person to be around, and some adults found her to be an “uncomfortable” child to share space with.

To that, Lusamine hardly responded with anything beside her own disinterest— unless she saw an opportunity to observe the person interacting with her, in a similar manner to how her own adopted parents studied her. Lusamine was known to ask very specific and strange questions to her peers: ”What do you think about when you’re bored?” ”What are you afraid of?” ”What do you do when you’re afraid?” ”Are you afraid of yourself?” ”Do you think you’re a good person?”

She often found herself rehearsing scripts in her mind for human interaction. Socialization was draining, and putting on the facade of a normal person was even more exhausting. She much, much preferred the solitude of her home, and her study, and made sure she had ample excuses to be in those spaces.

Lusamine simply did not enjoy other people.

Her fascination with the cosmos came to be while she was staying in the Hoenn region for an extended period of time; one of her points of research when working on her masters in conservation, was on the migratory patterns of Tentacool and Tentacruel along the currents around the region’s islands. She had been renting out an apartment in Mossdeep City, giving her many opportunities to visit the Mossdeep Space Station. Her first glimpse through a telescope at the stars was, for all intents and purposes, a life-changing experience. A sense of familiarity and belonging that Lusamine had never experienced before, struck her to the core; from that point on, her appetite for astronomy became bottomless.

As to be expected, Lusamine became a respected member of the scientific community, and had no trouble with finding jobs once she was prepared to enter the work force. Since her parents were already longtime researchers at Silph Co., it only seemed logical that she would begin her career there. She accepted her first job when she was 20, in the division of the company that focused on conducting research on genetic disorders in certain Pokémon populations, and how these same disorders could be found manifesting in humans as well. While it made perfect sense that certain conditions could be shared— after all, humans and Pokémon originated from similar roots— this was still highly sensitive information.

— How peculiar it was, that during this time, Lusamine stumbled upon a file about herself as well.

Genesis & Biology of the Ultra Human

‘. . . intelligence and biology are just as hypothesized, displaying the unusually rapid rate of cranial development observed in previous scans, and the consistent rejection of synthetic food by the digestive system. What we have dubbed as the “Ultra Human” could be the next step in our own evolution, or, a reversion of evolution to return to roots akin to our humanoid Pokémon kin, that we are witnessing. Studies of the subject’s origins are inconclusive beyond the traces of wormhole radiation. This “Ultra Space” is currently theorized to be a dimension beyond our own. . .’

Unbeknownst to Lusamine, due to her memories being wiped once she fell through the wormhole, her biological mother was, in fact, an Ultra Human, while her biological father was more similar to the earthen humans of her current dimension. Due to this, her body existed in a state that lacked “equilibrium,” so to speak— but she still displayed the vast intelligence that Ultra Humans were known for. Along with this, unfortunately, she had also inherited an inability to consume many foods native to this world, and was immunocompromised, hence why she was consistently having her blood pulled.

The discovery was, understandably, jarring, and sparked the beginning of Lusamine’s mental downward spiral— which had already begun due to her growing lack of care and respect for other people in her community. Human beings did not seem to care about their world, and continued to make decisions that did not positively impact society, or Pokémon — rather, they continued to hinder themselves. She watched the people around her make ridiculous mistakes, because the average man refused to listen to the science, and operated from a place of emotional bias, rather than logic. She grew uncaring, and disgusted towards human beings.

Lusamine’s lowest point was when she finally realized that she functioned better alone, rather than surrounded by mediocrity, and people she could never connect with. And how COULD she connect with them? She wasn’t like them, not even on a biological level.

— But humans were terribly vital for her work. Fortunately, she was very talented at using them.

Lusamine’s research, understandably, began to lean heavily into anything, and everything, that could potentially lead her to uncovering the secrets behind Ultra Space. This led to her discovering the Bureau of Cross-Dimensional Anomaly Investigation, or, BCDAI— an international bureau that her parents had been feeding their research to.

Lusamine and BCDAI.

As the years went on, so did Lusamine’s accomplishments. The Aether Foundation was a culmination of everything that the woman was passionate about: innovation, technology, exploration, and Pokémon. It was to be headquartered at sea on an artificial island, which would come to be known as the Aether Paradise. This, of course, did not come without pushback from the Alolan government. Government officials were skeptical and rather hostile at times, towards the concept of a man-made structure being built into their territory, but after some convincing and rather flowery— manipulative words— construction went on, and Lusamine’s dream would soon come to fruition.

During the construction period, she began to network with key individuals in the scientific community: Bill, the creator of the PC Box, Professor Sada of Paldean fame, Professor Juniper— who was a peer of Lusamine’s at the end of her time in northern Unova— Doctor Colress, and of course— Mohn.

The courting of Lusamine and Mohn was romantically one-sided; Lusamine’s struggle with human connection made it difficult for her to reciprocate much, but Mohn was fascinated with the woman, and she knew that Mohn would play a major role in bolstering the influence and reach of the Aether Foundation. He had been responsible for major conservation and biological work through Sinnoh and Galar, while also holding a degree in astrophysics. The shared fascination with the universe made him a viable individual. Partnership— and later, marriage— seemed logical.

How unfortunate it is, that logic cannot replace love.

First came Mohn’s desire to have children. Lusamine resisted at first. She had no maternal instinct, nor any desire to set aside time to raise a child. It would not enhance her life, only hinder it. But he continued to insist, and Lusamine found that, perhaps, it would make sense to have a successor to her genetics. And so she made the decision to have a surrogate carry her first child— Gladion.

With this, came the repetition of a cycle that Lusamine knew very well. Of course she was going to take the opportunity to study her own child.

He was an unassuming offspring, inheriting very little of Lusamine’s Ultra Human genetics, much to her disappointment. Between the lack of physical bonding, and the already strong dissociation from emotional bonds, Lusamine quickly found herself incapable of connections with her first born— Gladion was usually left in the care of Wicke, unless he was glued to his father’s side.

Several years went on, the Aether Foundation continued to grow in size and influence. The golden trident of the foundation could be found on all of the islands of Alola, and through several different regions where other branches were founded. Technology to assist in conservation efforts and to enhance the people and Pokémon connection began to appear on the market. Aether-produced software could be found on computers throughout the community. Aether-created AI could be found on the property of the paradise. Aether-funding for research was becoming more and more sought after, and an invitation to study at the Aether Paradise was considered an honor. From their more public operations focused on improving the Alola ecosystem— to their classified projects conducted in the depths of the subterranean laboratories, there weren’t many things that Aether wasn’t partially involved in.

Structure of the Aether Foundation

Most notably, however, was Aether’s growing investment and interest in individuals who wanted to pursue research in astrophysics, especially black holes, and quantum theory. Lusamine wanted to reach the Ultra Space that had been whispered about in her file left behind at Silph Co— at first, it was out of a yearning to know about her true origins, but continued probing had yielded fascinating results. There were lifeforms similar to Pokémon beyond the rifts that Aether was able to produce, and with that, they began to record the existence of theses alien creatures, which they categorized as “Ultra Beasts.”

Poke Balls were ineffective on these strange beings, and so, Aether began to research and development of a device of their own in order to capture them for observation: the Beast Ball.

— And then came Lillie. Sweet little Lillie, in theory, would yield more successful results. Lillie was not born, she was created by the steady hand of Lusamine, in the same laboratories that the Type: Full project was being conducted in. She was, essentially, a clone of Lusamine, with some alternations made to her in the hopes of the more recessive Ultra Human genes would be inherited. And, at first when she was ‘born’, that seemed to be exactly what had been achieved. She displayed some of the recessive traits of the Ultra Human, such as the pale, nearly blue skin, and the ability to cloak herself. But unfortunately, this offspring also failed to meet Lusamine’s expectations. While she was not deemed a completely failed experiment, Lusamine had to come to accept that Lillie’s intellect would not be as remarkable as her own.

There came a point where Mohn began to push back against Lusamine’s morally unethical research. The Type: Full project was disturbing to him. He did not agree with the methods used to preserve Pokémon DNA in order to produce the splicing— the cryogenic preservation room was already full of hundreds and hundreds of species being kept on ice— and he grew increasingly concerned with Lusamine’s growing obsession around breaching the barrier between this dimension, and the others that laid beyond it. The success of Type: Full was only way that Aether would be able to defend themselves against the myriad of potential creatures that existed in “Ultra Space,” and was meant to be the most efficient creature possible. But Mohn believed that there were limits to science, and was vehemently against the project.

Lusamine no longer had a use for Mohn.

He had to go.

And so, she made the man disappear.

Of course, this woman is a constant chess player, and makes her moves very carefully. The media would never demonize a mourning wife and mother, and did not even think to pin Mohn’s disappearance on her. She cried for the cameras— and spoke with great sadness to reporters. When the news outlets left for the day, so did her false emotions.

Killing her husband was the easy part. Keeping up the facade of caring was more exhausting than anything else. And it continues to be.

As of now, Lusamine continues to bury herself in her research, entirely dedicated to it, while playing an extended game of political chess. Her associations with various organizations across the globe have been pivotal in Aether’s growth. Whether it be collecting notable students from prestigious institutions— or gathering up the broken pieces of fracture syndicates such as Team Galactic— Lusamine and the Aether Foundation are a powerhouse, situated in the middle of the sea, where she sits atop her symbolic tower, looking down upon the rest of the world.

And what are her true motives behind wanting to connect to Ultra Space? Well, her inner circle is very, very aware of her genetic experiments in the Aether laboratories the tampering of human and Ultra Beast DNA, the custody of the nebula creature, Cosmog, and the existence of the cosmic parasite, Nihilego. Alas, it will be an unfortunate day when the rest of the world finds out.

Lusamine is a cold, ruthless individual, with no regard for human life. She views all things around her as nothing but potential subjects for her experiments. Despite this, she continues to keep up her kind persona for the rest of the world to look up to, and is still a valuable, important, and powerful individual.

Are you willing to stop her, or will you become another pawn, either willing or involuntarily?

#;;Bio Page #{ This took forever holy shit. } #{ THROWS THIS AT YOU GUYS AND LAYS DOWN. }

[savedpeople]

thoughts on the dead city finale:

sucks that ginny finally tried to talk and didn’t get to

everything i didn’t want to happen, happened lol. it’s revealed that ginny’s dad was one of the five men negan killed, and negan told her this to push her away and get her to go with armstrong, and now their relationship is likely strained if not ruined. she didn’t even want to wear his shirt anymore :( but you can also tell it hurt him to tell her and that he actually cares about her more than he says (confirmed bts later.) it also bugs me bc in ginny’s eyes this most likely confirmed maggie’s “he’s a monster” from last episode

and then i was unfortunately right, in that the dama wanted negan to... lead? help her lead? honestly it’s bizarre that she decided she needed him THAT badly and making him THAT important solely based on the croat’s fanboying, without ever meeting him. and now negan’s being forced into a position where he’ll likely have to be “old negan” again. 

“like mommy and daddy coming together”

i’m glad the croat’s still around i kinda like him lmao

BUT. it’s complete bs that the answer to “how did the croat know about negan and maggie’s history” is “he randomly ran into Jerome The Random Savior (i checked and this is not someone who was seen previously in the saviors, not even as a background character) over ten years later, and jerome told him about the story of The Widow, because for some reason, out of everything negan did, maggie’s story is the only story anyone from the savior era ever talks about.” still doesn’t explain how the croat knew what maggie looked like or managed to find her new community, or how he knows negan worked with her in season 11, since jerome was long gone by then. I really hate “characters absent during important events know intimate details about those events because random character the audience never met told them about it off-screen bc the plot needs it” stuff

negan indirectly/accidentally killing luther ended up having no consequences and was never found out since everyone in luther’s group died. all it did was distract maggie from telling negan about ginny’s dino... which she ended up never telling him about. he realized she wasn’t being truthful about things but the fact that she hid the dino never comes up.

negan got stabbed in the chest/shoulder?? and he just pulled the knife out and there was no blood or tear in his jacket? dude was just entirely unaffected lol

negan also confirmed that he would’ve helped maggie anyway if she’d been honest with him from the get-go

look okay i’ll say it the negan/maggie fight scene was hot idc

armstrong lied and told the marshals he killed negan, which is nice, but will probably backfire on him later

hershel not seeming excited, relieved, grateful, or anything about maggie rescuing him. how long was he with the dama? seeing that he drew a picture of her and mentioned almost feeling safer there than at home, it almost seems like he liked being there or formed some kind of bond with her, despite her chopping one of his toes off.

their relationship makes me sad. i honestly also, sincerely find it a bit weird that they’re writing maggie as being “obsessed” with negan still? like i understand the idea of her having a hard time with looking at hershel and just being reminded of glenn, and that affecting her relationship with hershel and him being bothered by that. but hershel specifically says it feels like she only sees negan when she looks at him, not his dad. and that his whole life she’s just been looking over his shoulder waiting for negan. this feels weird to me, and is different from her being reminded of glenn and thus also what negan did, if that makes sense. she’s spent years and years away from negan, and that on top of how their relationship was at the end of season 11, this obsession being described doesn’t really make sense? you’re saying that throughout those years of finding and building communities, in private she’s still obsessing over him that noticeably? that it’s so bad that hershel thinks 5+ years later that she still cares more about “revenge” and says he felt safer in nyc with the dama? it doesn’t totally seem to line up with what we’re seeing. idk maggie deserves a better storyline than constantly revolving around negan and glenn. and vice versa for that matter. i don’t want hershel to turn out like he did in the comics.

i like that hershel seems to have creative hobbies. he’s great at drawing and i believe we saw him playing the guitar?

i don’t know how i feel about the River People, and the confirmation that there were more groups Negan once ruled over. with the whole “people are a resource” thing and negan being vehemently against simon wiping out entire communities, and all out war presumably being the first time negan got desperate enough to resort to killing everyone, what happened to the River group since they’re clearly not in the picture anymore by the time Rick’s group shows up? if they were truly unable to provide, thus negan killing someone when they fail to deliver, i don’t see negan just continuing to kill someone every week until there was no one left. so like what happened there. this is also another issue with them adding new things to negan’s pre-rick days. they do realize negan was only a leader for likely not even a year and a half? there was not that much time after lucille’s death for negan to find the sanctuary, take over, and go through a whole bunch of communities. I also don’t know whether or not i like negan offering to let the croat use lucille and be the person to “kill one” in order to get the group to submit. especially since it was said that croat was brand new to the group and didn’t even know how things worked yet?? though it’s hilarious he missed the first time. you’re embarrassing dad, dude.

quietly adding “negan is a gin man, not a brandy man” to my box of random info canon has given me, as someone who has never had a sip of alcohol in my life and therefore can do nothing with this information

“i have a funky cramp in my leg, buggin’ the shit out of me” old man (lovingly.) cramp in his leg bothering him but his shoulder that was stabbed is a-ok lol

for dama handing negan the key my notes literally just say “fckn toe in a box” lmao

they need to give us the croat’s and the dama’s real names in season 2 bc i cannot go the rest of my twd days calling them The Croat and The Dama every time they’re mentioned and i refuse to believe negan actually called him “the croat” the entire time he was at the sanctuary

if this doesn’t end in negan offing the dama and getting a second chance to lead and doing it The Right Way this time then i don’t want it

if there was more, i forgot it, and it’s nearly 4:30am so i am o u t bc I have work tomorrow

#don't r.eblog #jenwatchestwd #✘ || Excuse the shit out of my goddamn french ( ooc )

[invisibleraven]

Dress You Up In My Love

Five times Julie wore her mom's Sunset Curve shirt and one time she didn't.

Word Count: 7.2k

Relationships: Julie/Luke/Reggie, Alex & Julie, Julie & Tia Victoria, Julie & Ray

AO3 link!

Inspired by a conversation in the Canoe Crew Discord server, which spiraled into this sprawling little story, that like most of my stuff, got away from me.

Dedicated to my fellow crewmates, love all of you, it's a genuine honour to paddle alongside you. Enjoy this silly bit of fiction!

1. Alex

Alex rapped gently on Julie’s door, waiting in hopes that she would answer it. He knew he could just phase through, but after all her lectures on boundaries and Reggie’s attempt to be ‘classy’, he wasn’t taking chances. Thankfully Julie did open the door, though she looked a tad confused to see him.

“The other two are being doofuses, and Willie is working at the club tonight, can I come hang out here where it’s quiet and they won’t think to look for me?”

Julie rolled her eyes affectionately but stepped back, arm extended towards the room. “I’m studying though, so you’ll have to be quiet yourself.”

Alex mimed zipping his mouth shut before flopping onto her mustard yellow loveseat. Julie took a spot on her bed, nose already back in a text book. There was soft music playing in the background, and Alex nodded his head to the beat. Honestly, while he loved Sunset Curve’s style of rock, he also appreciated the different types of pop and dance stuff that had come out in the twenty five years since. Julie had even made him a playlist for an old phone she had lying around.

Better that than them using Carlos’ computer. Sure he knew about them now, but he still drew the line at them using his stuff.

Alex breathed a little deeper, finally letting the calm of the space wash over him, sinking deeper into the couch, and he debated having a nap. Thank goodness they were still able to sleep though eating continued to elude them. Though maybe that was for the best since it was tainted food that did them in.

He liked Julie’s room honestly. Liked the little touches of whimsy from her mountain of pillows to her plethora of lamps to all the little knick knacks she had strewn about. He remembered Olivia’s room; full of band posters on the wall, her stuff everywhere until she moved out and then it became a blank and barren guest room. He remembered staring at the pale rectangles on the wall wishing he had gone with the posters instead of being left here to fade like the paint beneath them.

He idly wonders how long it took his parents to similarly convert his own room, and quickly shakes off that train of thought. It proved best not to think of his family, he was positive they hadn’t spared him a thought since his funeral.

Well, maybe his sister had, but then again, she hadn’t come back after he told her how coming out went, barely had time for his calls when he was alive. So maybe not. He hadn’t bothered to find her since coming back either. Didn’t want her to disappoint him further.

Finally his eyes landed on Julie and he had to do a double take. Because there, blazed across her chest was the Sunset Curve logo.

Where had she gotten that?

He could see that she (or whoever gave it to her) had bedazzled the shirt, and he had to grin. Reggie had wondered about bedazzling their shirt back in the day, but the cost proved out of their sights. Plus Alex questioned the shirt surviving the process of it given their tendency to fall apart in the wash.

Reggie had been floating doing a few with the logo matching the spray painted sign in the garage before they died though. Alex had been all for that idea, loving the thought of people wearing their merch bedecked in rainbow.

Look, he had been out in the 90’s, but played that a little close to his chest because, again, it was the 90’s. Luke was out to them and his folks, but if it didn’t affect the band, he didn’t see the point of announcing it to anyone. Reggie… well Alex was fairly certain that Reggie had only very recently discovered that his attraction didn’t stop at just girls. Bobby hadn’t been interested in anyone other than aesthetically, but the less Alex thought of Bobby, the better. It still stung too much.

“Nice shirt,” Alex finally says.

Julie looks up at him, then glances down and grins. “Thanks, I found it with my mom’s stuff. Pretty comfy actually.”

“Yeah, we fought to get good quality ones, well as much as we could for broke teens. Surprised that one held up this long, they used to be done after a few good wears,” Alex replied. “I’m fairly certain Reggie owed the guy a million favours in the end regardless.”

“D-did Reggie design your logo?” Julie asked, and Alex bit back a grin at the subtle pink tinge to her cheeks. Look, he loved both of his boys, but Reggie had never been lucky in love, and with Luke failing time after time to make a move… Well maybe Julie saw the appeal in a guy who looked at her like Reggie did and openly called her an angel.

But he wasn’t getting into it until he needed to console one or both of them with sad movies and snuggles.

“Yep,” Alex said, popping the p. “Reg designed all the merch, he had the highest art grade. I mean, you’ve seen Luke’s handwriting, so no way were we trusting him with it, and I can barely manage a stick figure.”

Julie bit back a chuckle at that and then went back to her studying, but every so often Alex would catch her gazing down at the logo and toying with her curls. He grinned and shimmied into a ball, lowering his snapback over his eyes. Time to get in a nap, and hope those hopeless cases figured themselves out soon.

But he was still telling Reggie that there was a chance he had given Julie’s mom a shirt oh so long ago, just to see the reaction. Because there was no way in hell that he hadn’t done so without flirting, and that was too delicious to keep to himself.

2. Tia Victoria

When her sister dies, Victoria Alvarez vows to step up and help her brother-in-law with the kids. Ray is so lost without Rose, unable to cope with losing her so young-or at all really. The first few months Victoria pretty much moves into the Molina household, making sure the kids are fed and keeping their grades up. Signs them all up for counselling with the nice man from her Pilates class. Julie confesses she’s not the biggest fan of Dr. Turner, but she also seems in less of a funk after seeing him.

Victoria eventually goes home, restricting herself to only popping by three times a week, usually with food. Look, Ray cooks a mean bowl of spaghetti and makes a decent breakfast, but the kids can’t live on that.

She also takes the chance to finally grieve.

Yes, she had mourned and wept along with everyone else, but then she had her family to help, so she put her own feelings aside. She had been doing it for a lifetime, putting others first.

But those first few days after returning home? Victoria is selfish and breaks down in tears due to Rose’s absence.

That was over a year ago now though, and while things are still tender and oh so slowly healing, Victoria feels like it doesn't ache quite as much. Ray has learned a few new recipes, Carlos is excelling on his baseball team and apparently in math. He claims it’s because of his new Big Brother Reggie, but clams up when Victoria wants to meet the young man.

But Julie?

Julie has blossomed in the past few months. While Victoria still isn't the biggest fan of Julie’s dreams lying with the success of her band, she will admit their music is good, and Julie seems to be fully out of her funk.

That’s why Victoria is here, to see Julie, see if her band might be willing to help at the local women's shelter that Victoria volunteers at. Maybe not to play, but bands doing outreach always looks good on social media right?

Only when she enters Julie’s studio/the family garage, she freezes. Because at first glance, Victoria could have sworn she was looking at Rose at the piano. A head full of wild curls and a sweet melody playing through the air. She chokes back a sob and claps when Julie finishes, her gap tooth grin making the vision of Rose vanish in a flash.

“That was beautiful sobrina,” she says.

“Thanks tia,” Julie replies. “It’s just something I’ve been toying with for the band.”

She stands from behind the piano, stretching out her limbs and Victoria bites back a smirk. She recognizes the style of bedazzling on the shirt, recalling Rose doing it for the bands she really loved. Sitting at the table, tongue stuck out as she carefully poked each bead through, adding flourishes and adjustments as needed.

“I don’t remember Rose mentioning that band before,” Victoria says, gesturing at the shirt. It reads Sunset Curve in a swirly design, a road leading from the words. “It's definitely not a concert I took her to.”

“You went to concerts?” Julie asks.

Victoria scoffs at that. “Who do you think took your mami to her first show? Bon Jovi,” she says with a sigh. “It was her sixteenth birthday present from me. We had a great time, even if we were in the nosebleeds. Both got a shirt, your mom bedazzled them both, kept it until it fell apart. I think mine is still in storage somewhere.”

“Who else did you go see?” Julie asks, sitting on the ancient leather couch that had come with the house. Victoria sits across from her detailing all the great 80’s bands they went to see. Less after she went to college and Rose started the Petal Pushers, but they went to every show they could together. Then Rose met Ray, and Victoria lost her concert buddy.

“It was fine really,” she said with a shrug. “Some of those bands I wasn’t a huge fan of. Poison isn’t really my scene, and I wasn’t the biggest Rush fan.”

Julie giggles at that, and Victoria has no idea why it’s funny but she’s missed that laugh, so she lets it go.

“Do you still go to shows?’ Julie asks when her giggles have finally subsided.

“Not really,” Victoria replies with a wistful sigh. “Between work, volunteering, Pilates, and my family… when would I have time? I go to your shows mija, that’s enough for me.”

“W-what if we went to a show together?” Julie asks.

“To see this Sunset Curve?” Victoria asks, gesturing to her shirt.

“Oh no… they’re not… I was thinking maybe Taylor Swift?”

“I do like her stuff,” Victoria muses. “Okay, I’ll see if I can get tickets. Make it your birthday present, just like I did for your mom.”

“I’d like that,” Julie replies with a grin.

“Me too,” Victoria says, reaching out and squeezing her hand. “Now, I actually came here to ask you a favour…”

3. Luke

Luke will admit that clothes have never mattered much to him. He’s ripped the sleeves off most of his shirts, and is wearing the same pants he’s had since his last growth spurt back in the 90’s. As long as he’s covered enough not to get arrested he doesn’t really care what he’s got on.

It probably also has something to do with the fact that his wardrobe consists of whatever he had stored around the studio and had shoved into his duffel before he ran away. So his choices are limited, but beggars can’t be choosers right? Plus he’s dead, so who really cares what he wears?

But he usually notices what Julie is wearing. Her style is pretty damn cool, even if it’s violently different from what girls wore in the 90’s. Though he isn’t sad to see the death of shoulder pads. Even if most of the punk girls that hung around after their gigs wore mostly plaid and crazy prints. Luke has no idea what’s cool anymore, but he knows that Julie always looks good.

But then one afternoon as he’s writing yet another song, he has to stop and do a double take. Because Julie is wearing a Sunset Curve shirt.

Sure it’s bedazzled and cinched with a scrunchie at her waist, but the logo is there like a blast from the past, zapping him back to the afternoon in late ‘89 when Reggie showed him the design. Watching him and Bobby spray paint it on a large black drop cloth. Alex laughed his ass off as they struggled to hang it without ladders or getting the still drying paint on them.

Luke shakes himself and grins at Julie, nodding at her shirt. “Where on Earth did you get that?” he asks with a laugh.

Julie doesn’t even know what she’s wearing as she has to glance down and then blushes. “Oh, I found it with my mom’s stuff. I guess she was a fan of you guys or something? I mean she had your demo and this shirt.”

“Oh yeah, we sold them at every gig we could,” Luke replied. “Plus Reggie gave them to every cute girl he came across.”

“Reggie? Really?” Julie asks like she doesn’t believe it.

“Oh yeah, Reg was a huge flirt,” Luke replies, grinning. “Always a crooked grin and a wink for a pretty face. I think his favourite line was that the shirt was a size beautiful.”

Julie laughs at that, loud and pure, sending a shot of warmth to Luke’s heart. Gosh she’s so cute, with her little nose scrunch and twinkling eyes. He wishes he wasn’t such a coward about telling her that though. He’s always been chicken about confessing his feelings. Not wanting to ruin things between people he cared for, not wanting to be rejected by those he doesn’t.

So he stays silent and pines away until the crush fades.

Thus him not telling Julie how much he adores her.

Or Reggie how much that little chemistry joke affected him.

Luke is fine being alone romantically, really he is.

“Did that work?” Julie asks finally.

“Not often,” Luke admits. “But sometimes, yes. He had the best luck out of the three of us anyways. Not that Bobby was ever trying all that hard.”

“Yeah, Trevor came out as aro ace when he released his third album,” Julie says. “He adopted Carrie not long after.”

Luke still stings when he thinks about Bobby, but he is happy that he was able to live his truth. That doesn’t excuse what he did, in no way, but he knows how much pain it is to live in the closet from Alex, and he wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

“So was Alex handing out shirts to cute guys then?” Julie asks.

“Nah, he was too anxious to really hit on guys. I did though.”

“You?” Julie all but shrieks.

“You… know I’m not straight, right?” Luke asks.

“No! Why would I know that? You’ve never said anything!”

Luke flushed, he wasn’t big on the whole coming out thing, he just always assumed he exuded a vibe of being fairly open about his preferences. He chuckled and ruffled the back of his head. “Yeah, sorry. I’ve never been one to care about what my partner is or how they identify. I just… like everybody.”

“So you’re… pansexual?”

Luke shrugged again. “I’m not real into labels, but after Alex started questioning himself, he brought back all these flyers from some local queer associations. Pansexual seems to fit me best, but I’m cool with just being ’not straight’ or ‘queer’ or whatever.”

“Oh… cool. I’m bi,” Julie says, sitting down next to him. “Does this mean we’re a queer band now?”

“Reggie’s still straight,” Luke replies.

Julie just hums at that, and Luke wonders a bit. Thinks back to Reggie’s reaction to his little chemistry experiment. The blush, the stuttered response, the way his wide green eyes were trained on Luke’s lips for a period afterwards.

Oh.

Reggie will tell him when he’s ready he supposes. But maybe Link can drop some hints that he’d be okay with Reggie liking guys and girls. Maybe in song form. And maybe… just maybe he can be brave enough to admit to him that if there are feelings involved, well they have a whole afterlife to work them out.

“So, you wanna help me with this song?” he asks Julie. Maybe he can be brave with her too, just not right now. “It’s a bit harder than our usual stuff, but given the shirt…”

Julie rolls her eyes and gives his shoulder a shove before taking his notebook to start scrawling a melody. And with the afternoon light hitting her, in a shirt for his band, well Luke has never found her more beautiful.

4. Ray Molina

Ray Molina wouldn’t cite himself as the most perceptive man on the planet, but he did manage to pick up on more than he let on.

Like pretending not to notice when Rose would blatantly flirt with him, just to see her exasperation and then her joy when he ‘finally’ got the message and asked her out.

Or when Victoria claims she made too much food when it’s really a way to save his family the apparent horrors of his cooking. He simply thanks her and keeps her dish for the next day, happy enough with his spaghetti. Hey, the kids have never complained, especially since when they did he told them they were welcome to learn how to cook and prepare supper themselves.

Though as a side note, Carlos got pretty good at it after the disaster that was that first French dip sandwich and Julie excels at baking. Ray isn’t going to complain about either of those outcomes.

But the biggest dupe is pretending not to know about the three ghosts ‘living’ out in his garage.

Look, he loves his daughter, but Julie has not once shown interest in his work as a photographer, so he very much doubts her prowess when it comes to ‘holograms’ that can play music and interact like she claims her bandmates can.

And Ray has been around the block a few times, had a distant aunt who could commune with spirits, so it doesn’t surprise him to see the gift appear again in his bloodline.

Plus Julie is a truly terrible liar.

He’s just giving her time to tell him the truth. He and Carlos have a running bet as to when she’ll crack, and Ray has every intention on winning. Because Carlos is also a bad liar, but also a much worse secret keeper and had blabbed about the ghosts to Ray almost immediately after Julie confessed to him. Ray had ruffled his hair, told him he knew and swore his son to keep it hush hush.

“Your sister deserves something that’s just hers for a while longer mijo,” he had said.

Carlos had scowled for a moment, but then agreed. But he did confess to also getting to know all about the band. Ray learns to love them through Carlos’ stories, through their music, and most of all, from how happy they make Julie.

Even if he vows to keep his eye out on Luke’s massive crush that Julie seems to reciprocate. And the Reggie-ness of it all. All while pretending he can’t see the three teenagers milling around his house since after their Orpheum performance, and worse, not responding to their conversations.

Especially when it’s just Reggie talking to him like he’s an old friend-or the father he never had and so rightly deserved. That is harder than anything, and at night he writes the boy letters in response, storing them in the shoebox with all his letters to Rose. One day, he’ll give them to Reggie, or even better, answer back. Show that boy more than the mere scrap of affection he had gotten from his own family.

Tries his hardest not to wonder why Rose didn’t come back and sent these boys in her stead. No good can come from going down that path.

It of course, all comes to a head when Julie comes down the stairs in a very familiar shirt.

It doesn’t hurt anymore to see his daughter in Rose’s clothes, even though Ray sometimes has to pinch himself to tell the difference, Julie looks so much like her mother on the best of days, and in her old clothes, it is sometimes like a blast from the past.

But this shirt…

He remembers the night Rose came home with that shirt and a demo CD in one hand, a devastated Trevor-back then still going by Bobby-in the other. The shirt had lived in a box for a long time after that, and Ray can recall her bringing it out to bedazzle a year or two later. Trevor was long gone by then, soaring the charts with a song that made Rose scowl and flick the radio off every time she heard it.

Ray still doesn’t know the story behind that, only that she and Trevor buried the hatchet some time later, and he was a constant presence in their lives until he got too big, and then Carrie and Julie had their own falling out before Rose passed. He supposes he’ll never know the truth behind it, but he’s lost too much in his lifetime to dwell on it.

“Morning mija,” he says, offering her a plate of eggs and toast as she sits at the island.

“Morning papi,” she says, pouring herself a glass of juice, since Ray has forbidden her coffee. She already has the Alvarez height, no need stunting her growth further. Plus he’s seen what Flynn is like on sodas, he does not want to see what happens to his daughter if she were to add caffeine to her system.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you wear that one before,” he remarks, nodding at her shirt.

“Yeah, I found it buried with all of mom’s stuff and thought it looked cool,” she gives an off hand shrug but doesn’t meet his eyes.

Ray sips his coffee slowly, not saying a word. Watches Julie nibble her toast and almost slyly wave someone off in the background. Ray knows if he turned around he’d see at least one of her boys-Reggie if he was taking bets, given he usually joined them for meals, lamenting his inability to eat, but loving the family atmosphere.

Ray swears if he ever meets Reggie’s parents he’d smack them both for screwing up such a sweet and kind boy like they did.

“Your mom loved that band,” Ray finally says. “They played at some club or another she was working at, they gave her that shirt and their CD. I remember her playing it a lot for a long time afterwards. Never saw them in concert though. Always wondered why, if they broke up or something.”

He’s giving her an out, but he’s also looking right at her. Urging her to tell him the truth, once and for all.

“They… they died,” Julie almost whispers. “I looked them up afterwards. Right before they made it big, they all died. Or well almost all of them. I don’t know what happened to the member that survived.”

“I think you do mija,” he says softly.

Julie dips her head, ashamed, biting her lip. “Yeah, yeah I do.”

“Trevor never really talked about them,” Ray finally says. “Not to me at least. Maybe your mami once and a while. He found it too difficult I think. He was grieving for a long time, and then he devoted himself to making music. I guess I’m not surprised that he never brought up his old band when you guys used to talk.”

“No, he never did.” Julie almost sounds bitter when she says this, and Ray feels like there is a layer to the story he doesn’t know, but leaves it alone for now.

“I think we might still have the CD around, if you want,” Ray offers. “They were pretty good, as I recall.”

“I’ve heard it, they were,” Julie says, then sucks in a breath. Amends her statement. “They are.”

“Mija?”

Julie bites her lip, wrings her hands together. And suddenly there are three boys surrounding her, hands gripping her shoulders, offering support.

“It’s okay Jules,” Reggie says. “We’re here, no matter what.”

Ray clocks the loving look between them and oh, maybe it’s not just Luke he needs to keep an eye on. What he thought was one sided looks to be mutual, and given the fond look Luke sends the both of them… well he’s not sure if that complicates or simplifies things, but he has bigger things to worry about right now.

“You can tell him, he might be cool about it like we said,” Luke chips in.

“He’s still a dad,” Alex says with derision, but Ray can see his tiny smile. “But he’s still a pretty good one Julie.” Ray bites back his thanks at that, just waiting for Julie to speak.

“Sunset Curve died in 1995. They… they became ghosts, but they only reappeared as ghosts last year,” Julie says. “I know because I can see them. I know that sounds crazy and please don’t send me back to Dr. Turner because it’s true!”

“Breathe Julie, just tell me it all and then we can talk about all that.”

Julie takes a few deep breaths and nods. “Last year, when we were thinking about selling the house, I found their demo out in the garage…”

She launches into the tale, the boys interjecting at parts to help fill the tale. And Ray just listens. Listens to how these three lost boys literally dropped into his daughter’s life. How she can somehow make them visible, how their music saved her in so many ways.

Holds back his rage at Trevor, at this Caleb, at the unfairness of it all.

“A-are you mad?” Julie asks when she reaches the end. The boys are still all but wrapped around her, offering her support. But they immediately let go when Ray opens his arms and Julie rushes into them. Presses a kiss to her head. “I could never be mad at you mija. Well as long as we avoid sneaking out again,” he says with a chuckle. Julie laughs weakly, looking up at him. He wipes away a tear and smiles. “Now, do your boys want to join in on this hug or are they going to stay over there like sad puppies?”

“You can see them?” Julie shrieks.

“Of course I can,” Ray says. “I think anyone who you care for can… have you not noticed?”

“I mean, I knew Flynn and Carlos could, but…” Julie turns to her boys and smiles. “They usually can’t touch them.”

“Well let’s try it anyways,” Ray says and keeps his arms open.

Reggie beams and rushes in, his form almost solid and cool, but still wavering. Luke comes next, a bit more hesitant, but his bulk is a little more solid, making Reggie the same. Alex holds back until Julie all but pulls him into the embrace and smirks as he bites back a smile. Ray can feel them under his hands. They’re colder than humans, and he can feel no breath or heartbeat, but they’re still there, solid and real under his hands.

And so the Molina family gains three new members that day, even if he knows there’s a lot to figure out. Ray just smiles and holds his new sons close, hoping this hug makes up, just a little bit for all those they hadn’t gotten in life.

5. Reggie

Reggie is sure if he digs deep enough in his old backpack that he’ll find another shirt buried there. He’s kind of tired of wearing the same three things, plus it’s a killer on Julie’s laundry. He could have sworn he kept a Sunset Curve shirt in there somewhere…

But oh, then he remembers. The night they died, he gave the last one to the incredibly cute waitress at The Orpheum. Even gave her his size beautiful line and best wink to go along with it. He idly wonders what happened to her, and if she gave Bobby her number while they were out dying in an alley. He can barely remember her face now, but that’s how it is with Reggie-he strikes out, he forgets and moves on.

Sure, he’s hit on a few girls more than once because of this, but sometimes he got lucky that second time, so no complaints.

Of course now his flirtation pool is reduced to fellow ghosts, of whom he knows very few and the small selection of lifers that can see him.

Which mostly means Julie. And well, he hasn’t tried flirting with her, but he’s made a few comments that are right on the border and delights when she blushes or giggles and then beams at him with her beautiful gap toothed smile.

But it’s not flirting because it’s so damn obvious that Luke and Julie are gaga over each other and Reggie has no chance there.

Even if Julie’s smile makes the butterflies in his stomach go wild.

Even if he was seconds away from pulling Luke into a kiss during their last mic sharing duet.

Even if his long dead heart still seems to long for them both, when his brain reminds him he can’t have either.

Reggie is just… destined to be alone it seems.

It’s cool though. He’s still friends with Luke and Julie. So he can still spend time with them, just like he still spends time with Alex now that he has Willie. Plus he can hang with Flynn who calls him eye candy but still tells him she’s not into dudes. Which is cool, because while he likes Flynn, he doesn’t want to date her either, and delights when she updates him on her flirtations with the cute girl in her Chemistry class, or her ongoing on again off again love/hate relationship with Carrie.

And Ray can see him now too which is super awesome! They cheer Carlos on at his ball games, and talk about photography and Star Wars, Reggie helps in the kitchen, and they debate whether or not to reveal themselves to Tia Victoria. They’ve landed on no for now, just because she's still half convinced the house is haunted-look Reggie is sorry about that, but it was worth it to be a good big brother to Carlos.

So what does Reggie need romance for?

But then he sees Luke and Julie walking towards the studio, the twinkle lights making them glow and he has to sigh, wanting something like that. Someone to hold hands with and talk with their heads leaned in, like discussing something banal was a secret they wanted to keep from the world. He wants that intimacy, that warmth.

He wants them.

He means, how could he not?

Luke is wearing his most threadbare cut off, arms and glimpses of pecs on display. His riotious hair is curled and cowlicked but it makes him look boyishly charming instead of messy. He has on his brightest smile, and his eyes are almost gold in the twilight.

Then there’s Julie, all soft curves and a waterfall of brown curls. Her smile is sweet and open, that tiny nose scrunch that is downright adorable making an appearance. Eyes that you could melt in. And then he can see a sliver of skin from where she has her shirt tied up in the back.

Wait.

Julie isn’t wearing just any shirt, she’s wearing a Sunset Curve shirt!

It has been bedazzled and looks sick as hell, but Reggie has no clue where she managed to find one. A garage sale maybe? He doubts any of their fans from the 90’s held onto it, even if it would be a semi-collectors item due to their tragic end.

It looks… really good on her honestly. So much so that he gives an over exaggerated whistle and a shit eating grin. “Looking good darlin’!” he shouts.

Julie blushes and grins. “Thanks! And it’s just my size-beautiful.”

Reggie flushes beet red as Luke barks out a laugh while Julie giggles with self satisfaction. “Y-you stole my line!” Reggie sputters.

“It’s not a great line, cariño,” Julie says, patting his cheek gently. “But it must have worked on someone. Maybe 25 years ago.”

“A time or two,” Reggie admits. “We had our share of fans. Was actually hoping I had one left to wear, but I gave one out the day we died, and it turns out it was the last one.”

“Oh yeah, to that waitress at The Orpheum!” Luke exclaims. “Think you used the line on her too.”

“Pity it didn’t work, you might have stayed alive,” Julie laments.

“Eh,” Reggie says with a shrug. “She was cute, but if the line had worked we never would have met you Julie. And I think I’m happier this way than with some what if named Rose.”

“Wait… Rose?” Julie questions. Pulls out her phone and shows Reggie a photo. “This Rose?”

“That’s the one!” Luke exclaims. Reggie peers at the photo and the memory rushes back. But then he looks at the photo more closely, then at Julie, and pales. They could be sisters. Or…

“Fuck.”

“You hit on my MOM!” Julie shrieks. Then starts to swear in Spanish. Luke and Reggie shrink back, watching her huff and puff as she paces, then finally stops, and faces them. “Okay, we are never mentioning this again and I may have to go burn this shirt.”

“Please don’t,” Reggie says. “It might be the only surviving one.” Then his blush returns with a vengeance. “Plus you do look really nice in it.”

“Julie always looks nice,” Luke quips. “But Reg is right boss, you are making our merch work for you.”

Julie blushes at that, almost taken off guard. Reggie wonders if this is the first time Luke has ever really complimented something about her appearance and not her talent. It does track honestly. Look, Reggie loves Luke, has since they were ten, but he also knows Luke has a one track mind, and sometimes fails to remind those he cares about that they matter to him. That they are more to him than a voice or a bassline.

“Fine, I won’t burn it-but I don’t think I can wear it for a good long time after knowing that,” Julie concedes.

“And here I was going to suggest you wear it to our next gig,” Reggie jokes.

“Because that wouldn’t have people Googling you guys and figuring out the whole ghost thing at all,” Julie snarks. “Or accusing me of using your images unlawfully.”

“Yeah, let’s maybe avoid that,” Luke says.

Reggie knows he’s thinking about his folks again. He hasn’t been back to see them since Julie gave them Unsaid Emily, and it’s partially because he worries about them seeing him or not. He squeezes Luke’s shoulder in comfort, getting an appreciative smile and nod in return.

Wanting to drive away the weird atmosphere, Reggie suggests a movie.

“Not Star Wars again,” Luke groans. Reggie slumps a little. Look, he knows they’ve binged the series a few times, but Luke can’t say anything because Reggie honestly lost count of the amount of times Luke made him sit through The Wall.

“There’s a new Marvel movie at the theatres?” Julie suggests. “I was supposed to go with Carlos, but if you guys wanna come too…”

“I thought you wanted to see that new romance movie with the girl from that TV show you liked?” Reggie asks.

“Well yeah, but I doubt either of you want to see that. I can go with Flynn, it’s fine,” Julie replies.

“I want to go,” Reggie says. “I like a good rom com just as much as I like a sci fi or super hero film.”

Julie grins at that, holding out a hand. Reggie rushes to take it and they both turn. “Luke?” she asks.

“Isn’t that like… a date movie?”

“So?” Reggie says. “Friends go on dates all the time.”

“I don’t want to go on a friend date,” Luke says.

“What do you want?” Julie asks, her voice a tinge hopeful.

“I want a real date.”

Reggie drops Julie’s hand at that, takes a step back. “Well then you two should go. Have a lovely date.” He’s about to poof out, go wallow at the beach when Julie grabs hold.

“He didn’t say he wanted a date with me.”

Luke takes his other hand, and then Julie’s. “No, I wanna take you both. On a date date.”

“Me?” Reggie squeaks.”Us?”

“If you want,” Luke says with a shrug. Like it’s no big deal that he’s asking them both out at once. That he’s not asking them to consider a three person relationship. Reggie didn’t even think they could do that, but here they were.

“Julie?” Reggie asks, turning to her. She just grins and twines their fingers together. She seems fine with the idea apparently, and that eases Reggie’s mind to near calmness.

“So whaddya say Reg?” Luke asks expectantly.

“Yes!” Reggie exclaims, his smile almost blinding. Julie whoops and then presses a lightning fast kiss to his lips, then to Luke’s, looking a little flushed but ultimately pleased as she steps back. Luke turns and gives Reggie his own peck, and a cheeky wink. And Reggie…

Feels his heart leap once more. But it doesn’t stop, pounding away in his chest. Feels the warmth of Luke’s hand in his, the steady pulse in his wrist, and then they both look at Julie.

“Wh-what just happened?” she asks.

“I-I think you brought us back to life?” Reggie guesses.

“Oh… dios mio!” Julie swears. “We have to find Alex!”

“After our date,” Luke says. “I’m sure Willie will be better at calming him down then we will and another two hours won’t hurt.”

“We can see another showing,” Reggie says. “Because if we’re alive… Alex might not be able to see Willie.” Luke swears at that, and then again when he can’t poof.

They find Alex at the skatepark, look shell shocked, holding a board for dear life. And sitting right beside him, is Willie. A solid, breathing Willie who looks equally astounded.

They all have a good laugh about it, and a million questions, but nothing can be solved immediately. So they decide on a double date, and thank goodness that Willie has cash from the club because the ticket teller will kind of notice them trying to sneak in now.

Reggie doesn’t mind that he has to worry about things like money now. He has Luke and Julie’s hands in his, and an ancient shirt to thank for it. He can’t ask for anything more.

+1. Luna Patterson Molina

Luna stifles her giggles as she hides behind the boxes in the garage. Danny will never find her and she’ll finally be the hide and seek champion!

Only after a while, her legs start to get tired, and she has to move around to stave off the pins and needles feeling that’s creeping up from her toes. In the process though, she knocks over a box, contents spilling out onto the floor.

“Shoot!” she says, scrambling to put everything back before Danny comes any closer. It’s mostly old clothes that her parents no longer fit in but they kept for sentimental reasons. There’s a tattered Poison cut off, a worn red flannel, an old Los Feliz High t-shirt in a baby blue. And a bedazzled white shirt for some band called Sunset Curve.

The name feels vaguely familiar. Buzzing in the back of Luna’s brain until she remembers the old photos of daddy and papa with Uncle Alex and some other guy they never really talk about called Bobby playing. The photos were old, looking like the ones from abuelo’s wedding and not the ones printed off from the wedding of her own parents.

But whenever she asked about that, she got told that it was a story for when she was older. Luna really hates that answer, not knowing why this story was for when she was older than six. Her parents had told her there were scary bits, but she could handle that. She hadn’t hidden her eyes or even cried during all the old Disney movies that daddy had shown her, even when Uncle Alex had during Bambi and papa even shuddered when they watched parts of The Princess and the Frog.

Heck even Danny got scared during parts of The Lion King and Luna watched without a wince! Though she did cry at parts, but that was fine, her mami told her it was fine to cry when she was sad or upset.

Game forgotten, Luna took the shirt in search of her parents. They were sitting around the kitchen table. Papa was writing again, Daddy was putting together a salad while Mami was taking a casserole dish from the oven.

“Hey moonbeam, you’re just in time to set the table!” Daddy said.

“But it’s Danny’s turn!” Luna protested.

“Yes but if you do it then he has to clear the table which is your job tonight,” Papa says with a wink. Luna purses her lip at that but nods. She hates clearing the table, so she’ll gladly put out the dishes and cutlery instead.

“Whatcha got there mija?” Mami asks, gesturing to the shirt. Luna holds it up and her mother laughs.

“Oh wow, I forgot about that.”

“How did that thing survive this long?” Daddy asks.

“Lots of care and the fact that Julie hasn’t worn it since our first date?” Papa replies.

“This was your band right?” Luna asks her fathers. “Before you met mami?”

“It was indeed little girl,” Papa replies. “Greatest band ever until Julie and the Phantoms was born!”

“Why did you change your name? Was it because mami joined?”

“Well Luna boo, that is a long story,” her mother replies. “One you’re still a little young for.”

Luna is about to stomp her foot and protest which she knows won’t help her case, but she’s not exactly rational about it when Daddy lays a gentle hand on her mom’s shoulder. “Julie… I think it’s time. She’s almost seven, Danny’s nine. They’re gonna figure it out eventually.”

Julie sighs, then nods, looking at her daughter. Looking so much like Rose, like Julie herself with sprinkles of Reggie in her, those big green eyes and freckles staring right back at her. Sees Danny come running in, all Luke with her own colouring. “I suppose you’re right. Just after supper okay?”

Luna nods and doesn’t even care when Danny tags her and proclaims the reigning hide and seek champ. Instead she hurries to set the table, determined to do it right so as to not prolong supper, and thus, the story.

But she totally dons the shirt when they’re all snuggled up on the couch. And Daddy gets a picture to send to Abuelo and Uncles Alex and Willie. She has no idea why until a few weeks later when she sees a series of photos. Her, her mami, and Abuela Rose all wearing the shirt.

And it looks just as good in every single one.

#my stuff #writing #fanfic #rukebox #peterpatterlina #julie and the phantoms

[shadowbunnydragon]

Here is a special peek into an alternate universe! One where everyone's gender is swapped! It was a lot of fun and kinda a trip to go back and rewrite previous parts of the story. I hope you all like it!

And, I hope you all like the picture WastedTimeEE drew of Marigold (the female version of Marcus) in a family photo with her mom and dad, Zelda (Zach's female alternate version) and Varun (Vanna's male form)! It came out just so gosh dang cute and sweet! You can find it here on my SoFurry page in the link below! You can also find it on Wasted's pages over there and on FurAffinity!

Found (Genderswapped Shenanigans)

By

ShadowBunnyDragon

"What's the matter, Puppy Love?" Don asked, the diminutive ram reaching up to take the large gray she-wolf's paw in his hooves. Vera looked down at her mate with a smile before letting out a sigh, her ears and tail drooping a bit.

"Sweet sawgrass, Honey Ram," she said, rubbing her temple with her free paw. "That last place... did ya see the way that guy was looking at us? Ya'd think we were drooling, snarling monsters the way he acted!"

"I know, Vera," Don said with a note of sadness in his voice, "that is to be expected. B-between us being a pred/prey couple... and my criminal history... adopting for us was never going to be easy." The ram looked down at his hooves, only to be swept up into a (near) bone crushing hug by his much larger mate.

"Honey Ram, ya've more than made up fer that. Yer a hero! Anyone who holds yer past against ya like this, ta this degree, is just bein' more stubborn than Ma can be." Don let out a surprised OOF, but recovered and started to rub his mate's arms with his hooves. "We're two mammals lookin' to give some pups a lovin' and stable home, and gettin' passed over like that... it just ain't right."

"I know, Puppy," Don said as he was set back down. He adjusted his tie and lime green sweater vest. Rather than a full suit and tie, Don had decided to dress more upscale casual, so as to leave a good impression. Vera was wearing a light blue sundress. Normally a bit more tomboyish, she too had decided that their chances would be helped by dressing up a bit. "I suppose we have no choice but to just keep pressing forward. If it's any consolation, this place seemed much more promising than the previous one when I booked our appointment. And that was after they had completed a full background check on us." Looking up at his mate, Don's heart skipped a beat when he saw the smile that grew on Vera's muzzle. He was reminded daily of just how much he loved this she-wolf. It had been five years since their tithe and the subsequent caprid ceremony, but they still acted like newlyweds.

"I really hope that there's a little pup and lamb in there that we can open our home to," Vera said, standing up straighter and smoothing out her dress.

"I'm sure we will!" Holding his hoof in her much larger paw, Vera and Don walked up the well-maintained sidewalk path, Vera spotting the sign on the manicured front lawn.

"Warm Hearts, Warm Hearth's Children's Center," she read aloud. The red brick building, not being too far from Little Rodentia, was itself a bit on the small side. From the children's drawings taped to the windows to how well-kept the property was, it gave off more of a cozy feeling, as opposed to the more austere feeling the last facility gave off. It was a very welcome contrast to the couple as they entered the front doorway.

"Welcome," said a male kangaroo with a kind smile as he entered the reception area, wearing a simple white t-shirt and jeans. Out from a nearby doorway came the excited squeals and happy laughter of children. "How can I help you?"

"W-we're the Hunter-Bellwethers. I believe that we spoke on the phone?" Don said, adjusting his glasses.

"Ah yes," the kangaroo said, heading on over to his desk and motioning for the couple to sit down in the chairs opposite it. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Hunter-Bellwether. I'm Adam Hopper, by the way, director here at Warm Hearts, Warm Hearths. You two are early, by the way."

"We're just that eager ta adopt," Vera said, still holding Don's hoof in her paw. She could feel him give her a reassuring squeeze.

"I like that," Adam said, "and if you two are here, then that means that you have been approved to adopt."

The wolf and ram could hardly believe their ears. They shared a look, both with excited grins on their faces, before looking back to Adam.

"That's wonderful news," Don said. Vera was silent, but her tail thumping her chair spoke volumes to her joy. It was then that Don spotted a small wire picture frame on the desk, containing a picture of the kangaroo before them and a tiger, both wearing white tuxedos, the latter nuzzling the former. Don had to stop himself from cooing at how precious the moment captured was, but Adam seemed to have noticed. There was a certain sparkle in his eye as he continued.

"My mate and I know how hard it can be for pred/prey couples to adopt. But I want to assure you both that you have nothing to worry about moving forward."

"Uhm," Don said, shifting a bit in his seat, "a-are you sure? I mean... y-you must know about my... past."

"Mr. Hunter-Bellwether," Adam said, taking note of how the she-wolf leaned down to hug her smaller mate, "everyone makes mistakes in their past. What is important is that you have not only been able to move past it, but even gone on to become a hero to the entire city, at great risk to yourself no less. I promise you, there is no problem here." Don and Vera both felt assured by that. "Now, moving on, you said on the phone that you would prefer children older than infants or toddlers?"

"Y-yes," Don said, feeling suddenly nervous again.

"We know that most couples tend ta adopt the really little ones more than the older pups," Vera explained, "so we were hopin' ta make a difference fer some pups more in the six ta nine age-range."

"Understandable, and you really will." Adam smiled again, quickly getting back to business. "Now, you also expressed a desire to adopt a wolf and a sheep? May I ask why that is?"

"W-well, we felt that it would probably help us to connect with them and better guide them through certain things and instincts in life. L-like the headbutting phase," Don said with a blush. He received a kiss to his forehead from Vera.

"And o'course, the howling urges," the she-wolf said simply. "But we'll still happily adopt outside our species, so it's not a dealbreaker."

"Absolutely! We just want to be parents!" Don chimed in.

Adam chuckled at that. "That's good to hear," he said, pulling out a file from his desk and opening it. He grabbed a photo and passed it to the couple. "As it just so happens, we have a trio that fits what you're looking for almost perfectly." The ram and she-wolf looked down at the photo to see three young mammals, smiling and hugging in a pose for the camera. One was a black wolf pup, wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue shorts, with bright yellow eyes. Then there was a little black-wooled ewe, in a yellow sundress. And sandwiched in between the two was... a largely furless mammal. He, as Don presumed the child was a boy, was wearing a similar shirt and shorts to the wolf pup. He had a shaggy patch of chestnut brown fur atop his head, but based on the rest of his face and arms and legs, he looked like he was otherwise devoid of any fur.

"This cute little trio think of each other as siblings, and have refused to be separated. The oldest, the little wolf boy, is Alex. He's eight. Tiffany, a sweetheart, is the ewe, and she's seven. And there in the middle is little Leon. He's six."

"Oh my... well, we only discussed having two lambs... but I don't think that three would be a problem, Puppy?" Don looked up at his mate, who was looking between him and the picture. Her tail was still wagging.

"True... three is a bigger commitment than two already was... but I ain't gunna go separatin' siblings from one another, even ones not related by blood. Though, I gotta ask, what species is little Leon? Don't get me wrong, he seems just as adorable as his brother and sister. I just never saw one of... whatever he is before," Vera said.

Adam began to rub the back of his head, looking uncomfortable. "Well, that's the thing. We don't know. We even had a sample of his DNA tested, but all we got back was an Unknown. And he doesn't match any kind of species on any registry we've been able to find. So... he's still an unknown species. And all we have to go on is that he was picked up from the streets at around age three or four."

"Oh," Don said, looking down at the picture again. "The poor little guy. He must've been so scared!"

Vera frowned at the thought of a child that young being all alone without anyone to take care of them, and let out a small whine. "Not knowin' what his species is might make it a bit harder ta relate ta him or some of the things his species goes through as they get older... but whatever he is. He and his brother and sister are more than welcome ta join our little pack... if'n they want. Right, Ramchop?"

Don looked up at his mate and, hopping up in his seat, he reached up to kiss his she-wolf on her nose.

"Of course, Puppy," Don said, handing back the photo to Adam, who kept in a snicker at how cute the couple across from him was together.

"Well, in that case, how about we introduce you two to them, and move on from there?" With an enthusiastic assent from the couple, Adam got up and led them through a short hallway into a room with some couches in it. Vera and Don took a seat on a maroon leather couch across from a navy blue one and waited while the kangaroo exited to go and get the children. Adam returned shortly afterwards, herding three young mammals into the room. Right away, Don and Vera noticed how Alex, who was wearing a red shirt with black shorts, was placing himself in front of the other two protectively, looking over at the two strange mammals with determined yellow eyes. Tiffany, who was wearing a blue dress similar to Vera's with a matching bow on her head floof, and Leon, who was in a green shirt and blue shorts, were both looking over his shoulder, soft hazel and curious deep blue respectively. Leon, despite being the youngest, seemed to be taller than his brother and sister, and was hugging a green stuffed dragon to his chest. Nervously, the three walked to the other couch and took a seat on it, huddling close together. Don and Vera both had to hold back a coo at the cuteness.

"Alex, Tiffany, Leon, this is Mr. and Mrs. Hunter-Bellwether; what do we say when we meet new people?" Adam asked in a gentle voice.

"H-hi," Tiffany spoke first. This was chorused by Leon and Alex.

"Hi there, pups!" Vera said, excited. Her tail was making a thumping sound against the couch where she sat, and that made Leon and Tiffany giggle. Alex turned to look at his siblings, before looking back at the strange couple before them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you three," Don said, beaming at the little lambs. After the initial introductions, the conversation continued, albeit a bit awkwardly at first. Don and Vera learned that Alex loved soccer, Tiffany enjoyed writing, and Leon liked to draw and explore.

"Are you going to adopt us?" Tiffany asked, putting a hoof around Leon and pulling him into a side hug. "'Cause Leon's our baby brother, and where we go, he comes with." The little ewe was polite, but very firm in her statement. Adam looked shocked and a little worriedly at Don and Vera, who both seemed to be holding back chuckles at the brave little lamb.

"Well, if y'all three don't mind the idea of us becommin' yer parents, we really would like ta adopt all three of ya," Vera said. At that, the pups seemed to relax a bit.

"You three do deserve to know that... because we're a predator and prey couple, we sometimes receive harassment for it. And... well, we just wanted to make sure you knew that, before deciding if you would like to come home with us." Don suddenly realized just how nervous he felt at that moment. Vera took his hoof in her paw and gave it another reassuring squeeze. The children huddled together on the couch, whispering to each other. Vera's ears twitched as she heard Leon's voice lightly drift over as he said "I think they're nice." Seeming to have reached a consensus, the three broke apart the huddle and, with Alex acting as the spokemammal for their group, he cleared his throat.

"... So long as me, my brother, and my sister can all stay together... then yes," Alex said, starting off sounding confident and strong, but his voice breaking a little at the end there, his little tail tucking itself as his ears started to droop a bit. Vera felt an urge to go over and give the pup a hug, but restrained herself. Instead, she and Don excitedly grinned and spoke with the children for almost another half an hour. When it was time for them to go, Adam led the children away, returning to see the couple out, and assure them that from that point onward, the adoption process was going to be much quicker. In a few more days, the couple would be able to take their children home with them. Walking back out and towards the minivan they had gotten, the she-wolf stopped and swept her mate up into another hug, which he was of course happy to return.

"This is really happening, Honey Ram," Vera said "it's like a dream!"

"I know, Puppy," Don said, suddenly finding himself sitting on Vera's shoulder. He let out an involuntary laugh-bleat. "We're about to become parents! Oh! There is so much we need to do now!"

"I know, darlin'! We gotta start clearin' out a third room, and triple check that the house is safe fer pups. And then we should probably hit up a toy store or two, and we'll need ta get a third bed for Leon, and then--" Vera was cut off by Don grabbing her head and turning it towards him. His lips met hers, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around him. Breaking apart, she felt a bit calmer, although her tail felt like it might just go ahead and break off from how hard it was wagging.

"Y'know, Honey Ram," Vera said as they continued to their car, now a husky tone to her voice, "when we get home, just because we're adoptin', that doesn't mean we can't try the old fashioned way to have yet another pup runnin' around with the three we're already gettin'." As the two buckled up, with Vera in the driver's seat, she leaned over and began to nuzzle the now-blushing Don, who had to remove his fogged-up glasses.

"I do believe that you make a very valid point, Puppy Love," he said, turning to look up at his mate with love and adoration in his eyes, that were mirrored in the bright green ones looking back at him. The two shared another kiss just as Vera turned the key in the ignition.

* * *

"Thankfully she was brought in when she was. The injury to the leg was beginning to show signs of infection," Doctor Catson said, adjusting her glasses as she looked up at Doreen. The lynx was consulting a chart, a slight frown on her muzzle. "If she had been out there much longer, she'd be potentially looking at a major infection. Which, when considering how malnourished she is, and her living conditions..." she trailed off, not needing to spell it out to the law she-wolf.

"Accordin' to my daughter and her mate, the two did some poking around the areas they believed she was livin'. Apparently she's been living off of foragin' and creek water, and some kinda canned foods. Sleepin' outside, I'm surprised she didn't get pneumonia, considerin' how wet and cold it's been lately."

"It's a miracle she was found when she was... but there's something else." Doctor Catson's small frown was now much more pronounced. This made Doreen pause.

"What is it, Layla?"

"Based... on her behavior, as well as some physical scarring, I believe that she had been subjected to physical abuse," the lynx said, her ears drooping.

Doreen grimaced but nodded, having had a similar thought based on how terrified the girl had been. Not to mention how she jumped from even the slightest noise or whenever someone spoke.

"Ya mentioned scarring?"

Layla nodded, shuffling her documents a bit, holding out a couple of photos to the white she-wolf. Doreen looked them over.

"There's scarring on the backs of her paws, but those pale in comparison to the ones on her back."

Doreen saw for herself in the picture, the small series of faded pink lines going down the backs of the child's paws. It was when she looked at the photo of her back that caused Doreen to wince, and even let out a whine. The child's back was a crisscross network of much larger, more fervent-looking scars that were much more pronounced, and nearly covered the entirety of her back. Doreen handed the photos back, a sick feeling in her gut.

"Know what coulda done something like that?" Doreen asked, a few ideas of her own in the back of her mind.

"Well, a knife or even a claw is not entirely out of the realm of possibility. However, it is in my opinion that the injuries to her back were caused by a whip."

Doreen winced again, the idea of those having been scars from a whip having been a theory that she was hoping had not been the case. After confirming that Child Services had been contacted, Doreen started to head towards the room that the mystery mammal was in, an idea beginning to take root in her mind. She quietly opened the door, entering with a practiced warm smile on her muzzle, taking slow and deliberate steps so as not to spook her.

"Now, Pup," Doreen said as she settled into the chair by the hospital bed. She looked at the older mystery mammal, who sat there in a hospital gown, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked upon the older law she-wolf with blue eyes filled with worry and fear. Doreen tok some solace in the fact that the girl was no longer shivering. "How about we start with somethin' simple, like yer name?"

"M-my name?" the young girl asked, scooting a little bit away on the bed, looking confused.

"Yep. Mine's Doreen." She gave what she hoped was a comforting smile.

"U-uh..." The girl looked away as she started to speak, now trying to make her voice sound deeper. "M-Marcus."

Doreen sighed and shook her head, internally muttering something about Pups not being good at lying. "Sorry, Pup, but yer gunna have ta do better than that."

Flinching a little, the furless mammal looked to be mulling it over. "Uh... I m-meant to say... my name's Eli?" Doreen just looked at her with an unamused, half-lidded stare. "B-Barry," she squeaked out, the falsetto now gone. After a moment of silence, she hanged her head, realizing the jig was up, and looked Doreen in the eyes. "M-my name is a-actually... Marigold."

Doreen's tail started to wag as her frown broke into a happy smile. "See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"... I g-guess not," Marigold said, gulping audibly.

"Now, mind tellin' me why you tried ta claim y'all were a boy?"

"... B-because p-people always said b-bad things happen to girls when they go into the 'system'," Marigold said.

"I promise that nothin's gunna happen ta ya so long as I'm around, Miss Marigold. Ya can count on that," Doreen said with a wag of her tail. "Now, how old are ya?"

"... 18."

Doreen sighed and just silently sat there, staring at the girl. Marigold fidgeted and squirmed before sighing.

"I j-just turned 12," she said, now a look of pleading in her eyes. "P-please don't p-put me in the system! I can take care of myself!"

"Oh, can ya now?" Doreen asked, pointedly looking to the bandage wrapped around the girl's calf. "'Cause according ta the doctor, that little injury there was close ta becomin' infected. And also, from the tests they ran, yer pretty underweight. How long were you out in the woods?"

"Uh... m-maybe a month?"

"And ya were by yerself that whole time?"

Marigold just nodded silently at that, a couple silent tears streaming down her pale cheeks. The sight hurt the she-wolf's heart. Looking at the vulnerable, frightened young girl sitting there, Doreen couldn't help thinking about her own girls. The idea of any one of them, being left alone at such a young age, to fend for themselves in the wilderness, made Doreen want to howl in anger and sorrow.

"Where are yer parents?" Doreen asked. Seeing how the girl began to hyperventilate at that question, once she calmed back down, the she-wolf decided to hold off on questioning further in that area for the time being. Noticing how the girl kept nodding off, Doreen smiled.

"Ya know, yer not the first of yer species I've encountered," Doreen said, taking note of the look of worry in the girl's eyes.

"I-I'm not?"

"Nope. My daughter and her mate actually adopted a group of pups not too long ago, and the youngest, my little grandson Leon, is one of yer species. And he's just the sweetest little guy. But the thing of it is... he doesn't know what yer species is called, and no one we've been askin' seems to have encountered anyone like y'all before either. So I was wonderin' iffin' you could tell me what yer species' name is?"

"... H-human," Marigold said in a faint voice, looking very confused.

"Uman? Mind spellin' that fer me?" Marigold did, after stifling a yawn.

"Okay, you've answered enough questions so far, missy. Right now it looks ta me like you could use some shuteye," Doreen said. While her mate Addy was the more emotional and nurturing of their tithing, she still had mothering skills she had developed after raising seven pups. The older she-wolf gently took the blanket and pulled it up over Marigold. The furless young mammal seemed surprised at first, before letting out a big yawn and laying down.

"Uhm... th-thank you, sheriff," Marigold said in a sleepy voice.

"Yer welcome, Marigold. Now, we'll be nearby if ya need us. I promise, ya ain't gunna be alone anymore," Doreen said softly as she exited the room. Walking out into the waiting area, she had to hold back a snort. She saw Yuki sitting with her arms crossed, looking annoyed, with a large quartz crystal sitting on her head. Right next to her was Undine, who was slowly waving another, smaller crystal, looking like an amethyst, around Yuki's head.

"This will align your chakras and help alleviate some of that stress I am sensing coming off you, Yuke." Doreen held back a chuckle at the sight of her daughters, the two younger black she-wolves oblivious to their mother's amusement. It was while looking around that Doreen spotted just the russet-and gray-colored she-wolf she was looking for, currently talking on her phone.

"Zelda," Doreen said, getting her attention. Zelda saw that her mother was motioning for her to follow, so she made quick work of hanging up and entering an empty room right behind Doreen. With the door closed, the white wolf looked upon her daughter with a smile on her muzzle.

"So what's happenin' with the girl, Ma?" Zelda asked.

"Well, that's what I wanted ta talk to ya about, Hun," Doreen started, a sly smile on her muzzle. "See, as ya can tell, she's had a bit of a rough go o' thangs, and is now all alone. And I personally hate the idea of her just goin' ta some foster home where she will be the only known member of her species. And, what's more, Vera and Don haven't been able to uncover any information about Leon's species, so it wouldn't really be a benefit fer anyone fer the poor gal ta just be shipped off to who knows where and surrounded by strangers. At least here we've been able to build a rapport..."

At that, Zelda's ears perked up and her tail started to wag. "So you and Pa are gunna take her in!"

Doreen chuckled at that. "Well, I'm sure Addy would be more than happy ta. But, we're makin' some... alterations at the ranch."

"So Don and Vera then?"

"I'd be willin' ta bet good money that they'd be willin' ta as well, but with the new pups 'n all, they don't really got that much space..."

"But, then, who else? Yuki and Adamo have barely enough time fer themselves over in Seaotter, and... wait a sec, Ma. Hold the phone!"

"What? You and Varun have that big 'ol house all ta yerselves, plus I know that Addy would just love to have another grandpup nearby ta dote on and spoil."

"Yeah, but," Zelda said, now looking thoughtful.

"Plus she's gunna need some stability with a good, permanent home. And you and Varun said ya were both talkin' 'bout adoptin'."

"... I'll have ta talk with Varun about this first," Zelda said, sounding like her mind was elsewhere, her tail starting to wag. Doreen bit down on a smirk, knowing that her daughter had already been sold on the idea.

"Absolutely! You go on and think what I said over and talk to yer mate." Doreen watched Zelda head out the door to look for the large tiger, and waited until she was out of earshot before pulling out her phone. Tapping on it, she dialed up a number. The other end rang a few times before it was picked up.

"Hey, Xena, I'm so sorry, Sweetheart, I know ya and Melly are enjoyin' some much needed R and R, but Zelda and Varun really need yer help right now. See, they decided ta become foster parents. Yes, that's right, the pup we found in the woods."

Elsewhere in the hospital, Zelda had found her mate sitting with the other Hunter boys (as they like to call themselves), with Tarin having been sitting on his head. Seeing his mate wanting a word alone, he had plucked the black-furred fox tod off his head, and instead deposited the small canid onto the head of a certain hyena.

"Hey! My head ain't no jungle-gym!" Adamo barked out in his Barx accent. Varun chuckled as he walked off so he and Zelda could speak. Of all the things he had been expecting, what came out of his she-wolf's mouth was not one of them.

"You want us to become foster parents to that poor girl?" he asked, scratching his chin.

"I know it's sudden, but we need ta act now! She needs stability and Ma and Pa can't provide it 'cause... well, Ma didn't elaborate as ta why she and Pa can't do it, but the point still stands!"

"Hmm," Varun looked to be deep in thought as Zelda continued.

"Plus, Don and Vera need all the help they can get in understanding all they can about Leon's species. And on top of that we've both agreed that we want to adopt. Granted, we thought about getting a feline or a canid child, but I think we could provide an excellent home for her and--"

"I agree," Varun said, his deep and soft voice cutting off the she-wolf mid-explanation.

"... Huh?" Zelda was stunned.

Varun chuffed happily and smiled at his mate, his tail swishing as he wrapped his powerful arms around her waist, making her blush as he nuzzled the top of her head.

"I'll admit I'm a little nervous about becoming a father, even a foster father. But... I like the idea of opening our home to the poor girl. And with Mama and Papa Hunter being nearby, it's not like we would be truly on our own."

Zelda's tail became a blur of joy, fighting back the urge to howl in pure excitement. She had been warned twice before if she did so in the hospital again that she would be given a fine. "I know we're probably gunna have ta take it slow... but I'm just so excited at the idea! Us, having a daughter!" The two shared a long and passionate kiss.

* * *

Morning sunlight cascaded through the bedroom window, bathing everything it touched in a warm golden glow. This included the cuddled up forms of Vera and Don, the former of which was practically encircling the latter with her body. Slowly, the two began to stir. Don's eyes fluttered open as he buried his face in his mate's neck ruff, while Vera affectionately nuzzled his head floof.

"Mornin', Floofy," Vera said with a smile, her tail thumping the bed.

"Good morning, Puppy," Don replied with a yawn and a smile.

Vera looked her mate over as she stretched a little. "Ya had the dream again, didn't'cha?"

The ram winced and nodded. "Y-yes, but instead of it just being Diana and my m-mother, there were also what I think my subconscious decided were what adult humans looked like for my dream. Only instead of looking more like Marigold or just a taller Leon, they had long gangly arms with many different joints, and could unhinge their jaws. And they kept trying to take Leon away with them." Don shuddered at the memory of the dream, feeling comfort from Vera gently pulling him closer.

"Hey, now, that's never gunna happen, Darlin'," Vera said, looking Don in the eye. "Leon, just like his brother and sister, is our pup, and no one is gunna take any of them from us."

"I know, Puppy Love... but a part of me just can't stop worrying."

"That's just you being a good dad." Vera smiled and kissed her ram on his nose, making him blush and let out a happy bleat. Don snickered and reached up into Vera's ruff, easily finding the spot he was looking for and scratching it. Vera's right leg immediately started to twitch as her tongue lolled out and she rolled over, unable to stop herself. Don stopped when he heard some giggling coming from their bedroom door. Vera's ears twitching at the sound, the two turned to look and saw their children poking their heads through, only to suddenly dart back out having been caught.

"Am I correct to believe that some little lambs decided to peek in on Mommy and Daddy this morning?" Don called out with a smile on his muzzle. There were some giggles outside the door, before the children apparently composed themselves, and opened it properly. In they came, with Alex in the lead carrying a tray with food on it, followed close behind by Tiffany, who was cuddling her new wolf plush named Mrs. Sniffy, and Leon, who was carrying a relaxing Sir Callibrie in his arms, the little lizard looking about and letting out a content chirp. The children were still all in their pj's, Alex in his soccer-themed pajamas, Tiffany in her yellow nightgown, and Leon wearing his much-too-large for him black Samurai Snakes t-shirt over gray pajama bottoms.

"Happy birthday, Daddy!" the little human boy called out in excitement.

"Uh... w-we thought you might like breakfast in bed?" Alex said, looking away and trying to sound casual, but his perked up ears and slowly wagging tail were a dead giveaway for his anticipation. Don let out a coo at the cuteness before him as Vera chuckled and the two disentangled to allow the children to approach.

"Well now, that sounds so thoughtful," the ram said, grabbing his glasses from the bedside table and putting them on. Alex carefully, but quickly walked over to set the tray down in front of Don. "Now, what do we have here? Oh! Why, is that a fruit salad I spy?" Seeing Alex blush beneath his dark fur while looking away was a dead giveaway to Don. "Do I have you to thank for this thoughtful and tasty-looking salad, Alex?"

"Uh... w-well... yeah," Alex smiled as Don took a few bits of the cubed honeydew and mango, popping a strawberry in his mouth as well.

"It's delicious, thank you, Alex," Don said, leaning over and pulling his oldest son into a hug. The young wolf let out a surprised yip, but was quick to return the hug, now blushing more.

"And what's this little treat here?" Vera asked, pointing to two pieces of toast that appeared to have some kind of black frosting spread over them, with a white face drawn on, and plenty of black and white and purple sprinkles.

"I made Pirate Toast!" Leon said proudly, setting a squirming Sir Callibrie down on the bed, who darted over to Dawn and up his arm, coming to rest on his head floof, curling up to relax once again.

"Pirate Toast? Now that sounds adventurous," Don said, picking up a slice. "Did you design them to look like little pirate flags?" He smiled when Leon proudly nodded. "You are such a little artist! They look just like the real thing... only toastier!" That got a giggle from the lambs.

"I used the vanilla cake frosting I found in the cupboard, and didja know that if you mix the red, green, and blue food colorings together in it, it turns black?"

"I certainly didn't," Vera said, scooping Leon and Tiffany into her arms and setting them on her lap, her tail thumping. "What else is in it?"

"Well, I also added some sprinkles I found," Leon said as Don took a big bite of his toast, "and some red glitter!" Don froze at that, immediately feeling the tiny pieces of decorative plastic in his mouth. Vera looked to be holding back a snicker while Don continued to chew his bite, giving it a swallow while Leon looked on with joy in his eyes.

"Ah, so you did. Well... that is truly delicious, buddy, thank you." Don was quick to grab the glass of cloudy dark liquid and take a sip. It had a sweet, citrusy taste to it. "Oh my, this is lovely. What is this juice?"

"I made you Outer Space Juice, Daddy!" Tiffany squeaked.

"Now what's all in Outer Space Juice, sweetie-pie?" Vera asked, looking down at the ewe in her lap. Tiffany gazed back up at her mother with a bright smile.

"It's cranberry juice with the powdered orange drink for Astronauts mixed in! Though I wanted to pour some Deep Space Cocoa Spheres in, Alex said not to." Tiffany was very matter-of-factly about her response, letting out a giggle when Vera gave both her and her little brother a loving squeeze.

"We can make some more juice and fruit salads and pirate toast for everybody," Leon chimed in, prompting Vera to stand up, setting the two of her younger pups on her shoulders.

"Why don't I come down and help y'all with that, honey?"

"'Kay, Mommy!" Leon reached over and wrapped his little arms around her neck. The she-wolf's tail started to wag while she looked at her mate and gave him a wink. Don looked relieved as, with Leon watching, he hesitantly took another bite of the pirate toast. With the younger lambs now out of the room and down the stairs, Don sighed with relief and let out a chuckle. He then looked over to Alex, who was shuffling uncomfortably on his paws.

"Something wrong, Alex?" Don asked.

"Uh... I guess while I was busy keeping the cereal out of the juice, I musta missed Leon getting the glitter... sorry," Alex said, only to find himself being hugged again.

"There's nothing to apologize for, son," Don said with a warm and gentle smile. "That was a lovely breakfast."

Down in the kitchen, Leon was in the middle of making up some more batches of pirate toast, with Vera 'making sure thangs ran smoothly'. When Leon wasn't looking, she grabbed the jar of glitter and dumped it down the sink drain.

"Aw, shucks, honey," Vera said, feigning disappointment. "It looks like we're all out of glitter."

"Awww! But pirate toast needs glitter!" Leon looked contemplative. "I guess I'll just have to borrow some of Tiffany's glitter glue in a little bit."

Vera left Leon at the counter and took the little ewe who had been mixing some more glasses of juice together aside, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Alright, darlin', I'll give ya five bucks if ya can hide the glitter glue in yer room from Leon."

"Why, Mommy?" Tiffany whispered back.

"Uh... th-there's a glitter shortage and we need ta preserve as much as we can?"

"I'm on it!" Tiffany said, quickly running off.

"Where'd Tiffany go?" Leon asked, looking up at Vera with wide blue eyes.

"Er... she went ta go see if she can get ya that glitter glue ya mentioned. But she thinks it might be lost."

"Oh no!" Leon whined in disappointment. Vera was quick to wrap a loving arm around his shoulders.

"It's okay, sugar-pie! Pirate toast can still be great even iffin' we're outta glitter of any kind." She kissed the top of his headfur, making her little boy giggle.

"Okay, Mommy!" And with that, Leon dove right back into it, using some of the frosting he had separated and not added any food coloring to it to draw the skull and crossbones on the toast.

* * *

The sun had just dipped below the horizon, the twilight slowly giving way to the growing dark. Varun sat leaning up against a tree, looking at the first twinkling stars beginning to show, letting out a contented sigh. The large tiger's ears twitched at the sound of approaching footsteps. His tail swished as he smiled at his mate sidling up next to him. Varun slipped an arm around Zelda's waist as she leaned into his powerful frame.

"Yer just so sweet with Marigold!" Zelda said, her tail a happy blur. "She looked like she was havin' a lot of fun playin' catch!" She thought back to how nervous their foster pup had been when they'd first brought her home, always walking on eggshells around the two of them. It had broken her heart how often the girl would flinch whenever someone spoke to her.

"It did seem to help her come out of her shell a bit," Varun chuckled. "I'm actually thinking about teaching her how to play baseball. We've got a bat in addition to the gloves."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Zelda felt like she could howl. "I just love havin' a little girl ta dote on and do Mother-Daughter thangs with!"

Varun chuckled. He had found Zelda's adoration of Marigold adorable, especially since the girl didn't seem to have had any positive female role models, at least based on how much she went out of her way to try and please Zelda. He had found that the girl had seemed especially nervous around him at first, though Varun had taken the initiative to help break the ice by playing some games with her. She had seemed very confused about how the Z-Box One worked as well as video games as a whole, but starting with a simple game of catch, he had found the young girl had started to open up.

"I never took you for much of a girly-girl," Varun teased, kissing Zelda's nose. She rolled her eyes and waved a dismissive paw.

"Oh hush. I'm just as feminine as the next gal. It's just that li'l Marigold desperately needs some TLC and somethin' we could both bond over."

"Like dress shopping?" Varun chuckled, taking note of the light green sundress his mate was wearing, and how it was a similar shade of green as their uniform shirts. Zelda just rolled her eyes.

"We were out in town today and I saw her lookin' in the display windows. 'Course I took her inside so we could find somethin' she'd like... the fact that she and I got matchin' dresses, the exception bein' hers needed to be tailored a bit so that it didn't have a tail hole in the back, was just a happy coincidence." Zelda blushed a little, though her tail continued to wag. Varun let out a happy chuff, and held her tighter.

"Of course, my love," he said, looking around. "Where is Marigold, anyway?"

"Oh, she said she was feelin' a little worn from the day, what with goin' out with me, and then that cute little pie caper Leon went and solved," Zelda said with a slight giggle. "I still can't believe that Tarin tried to frame that cute li'l lizard of Leon's... or how well he figured it all out."

"Mama Doreen certainly seemed excited by his detective work."

"Don't let Vera hear ya say that," Zelda giggled, "she's so worried that Ma will try and push policin' on him that she's tryin' ta clamp down on anythang of the sort around her pups."

Varun looked off in the distance, stiffening suddenly. "Zelda, you said that Marigold was going to rest, correct?"

"Yeah, why darlin'?" Zelda asked, confused.

"Because I just saw her climbing out of her bedroom window with that little case in her arms, running off into the forest," Varun said simply.

"What?!" Zelda jerked around and, sure enough, she could just make out a figure running away from their house and deeper into the trees. Without a work, she grabbed her mate's paw, and started to drag him through the trees after them. "Somethin's gotta be wrong! And what if she hurts herself again like when we first found her?!"

"My love, please try and calm down, I'm sure that everything's fine," Varun said in an attempt to reassure his mate, but with a pit of worry forming in his own gut regardless. They stopped not too far from their house, near the edge of a small clearing with a stump near the center. Varun and Zelda were hiding behind a tree as Marigold was looking around, a worried expression on her face. She was still wearing the same green sundress from earlier, it taking on an ethereal glow in the fading twilight as the light of the full moon was beginning to shine. All around, fireflies were starting to take flight.

"We gotta be quiet, or else she'll hear us," Zelda said from where she was crouched.

"So whatcha think she's up to?" Tarin asked, poking his head up from a bush to Zelda's left.

"I'm not really sure yet, we just saw her runnin' off and... Tarin? What're ya doin' here?" Zelda asked, looking down at the black-furred fox tod who was smiling casually back up at her.

"I saw you both running off into the woods and decided ta see what was happening. I figured that it might be something fun."

Zelda rolled her eyes while Varun had to choke down a chuckle at the antics of his unofficial brother, as all the 'Hunter Boys' liked to think of themselves.

"Tarin, ya ain't s'posed ta be here, now git!" Zelda hissed.

"Who ain't s'posed ta be here?" Tyra asked. The arctic she-wolf scooped up her mate and set him on her shoulders.

"T-Tyra?!"

"What? I saw my cute little ball of fluff run off inta the woods, naturally I'd follow him," Tyra said as Tarin rested his head on hers.

"Sounds ta me like youse was thinkin' of maybe gettin' up ta somethin' naughty out here in da woods, away from where anybody could see or hear yas," Adamo said, stepping from behind a tree, the male hyena grinning with a toothpick in his mouth.

"Adamo?!" Zelda clapped a paw to her forehead. Removing it, she saw Yuki standing there, trying to look bored.

"We were makin' out when ya two started yappin' about Zelda bein' a girly-girl and then heard ya decide ta chase after Marigold," the black she-wolf growled as Adamo squeezed her side.

"Yeah, and we wanted ta make sure dat youse wasn't gunna go and invade that goil's proivacy," Adamo said, looking pointedly at Zelda, whol was wringing her paws.

"I thought that she might be tryin' ta run away or somethin'... I just wanted ta make sure she was safe! That's my puppy after all!" Zelda blushed, clearly flustered. Adamo pulled her into a hug to comfort her.

"She was probably drawn to this spot thanks to all the positive energies that emanate from it," Undine's voice could be heard up above. Looking up, everyone saw her sitting on a tree branch with Melvin laying in her lap.

"It is a pretty peaceful spot," the male honey badger said, looking up at the stars through the canopy. He was holding a bowl of popcorn in his claws.

"What, did a memo go out or somethin'?!" Zelda asked, exasperated.

"Now now, sweetie," Adrian said, inexplicably standing next to a very surprised Adamo and Yuki, with an embarrassed-looking Doreen standing next to her. "As it just so happens, this here spot is a favorite fer yer Ma and me fer our little picnics."

"Well, they start out as picnics," Doreen said, wrapping her arms around Adrian's waist, making the older gray wolf wag his tail and chuckle.

"Ma! We didn't need ta hear 'bout that!" Vera said from right next to Zelda, making the auburn she-wolf whip around. She saw Don perched on his mate's shoulders.

"Okay, is everyone we know here in the woods tonight?!" Zelda demanded. Right then, as if on cue, Gareth tumbled to the ground nearby, Winnie in his arms, Xena and Melanie tangled up in the gangly giraffe's legs.

"Oi! You two! What's the big idea about scamperin' in between me legs?!"

"It wasn't our fault that you didn't look where you were walking," Xena pointed out, adjusting her glasses. Standing up and brushing herself off, she reached down and scooped Melanie up into her arms, the two kissing. "Are you alright, Butterball?"

"I'm just fine, Fluffytail," Melanie said, putting her arms around her mate's neck, all the while Winnie was helping her own mate to his shakey hooves.

"No need to fret over me, love," Gareth said, leaning his head and neck down to smile at the she-wolf he was lucky to have found.

"Hey, that just seemed like a nasty fall, that's all," Winnie said, her tail swishing.

"Can y'all just keep it down! I'm amazed that Marigold hasn't heard all y'all!" Zelda quietly snapped. Everyone grew silent at that, and looked out into the clearing. Marigold was kneeling next to the stump, where she had set her case down on it and opened it. From inside, she pulled out a photograph.

"Hey, Ryan," they could hear the girl's soft voice float over on the gentle breeze. "I just... I remembered that today is... was... your birthday... and I just wanted to let you know that I'm keeping my promise." Her voice hitched a little, but she composed herself. "I'm still moving forward, b-big brother... I m-miss you so much." She wiped a tear from her cheek, before she stood up and pulled out a well-cared for violin from inside the case. She tested the strings to make sure they were in tune before taking a stance.

"Happy birthday, Ryan," she said, raising the bow to the strings. Then, she began to play. As the tune began to ring out gently in the clearing, sounding like a bouncy and fun folk tune, Marigold began to sway and twirl, spinning on her feet. As the music picked up the pace, but the tone became something more melancholic, Zelda realized that not only was Marigold skilled at playing her fiddle, but she also had some training in ballet. With each new song, the girl would dance and pirouette, leap and spin-turn, and perform other moves that Zelda didn't know the names of. She and the rest of the family watched, entranced and silent, at this little concert that the newest addition to their family was putting on, for her brother who, most of them guessed based on what they had overheard, was no longer alive. The full weight of what this moment must represent to her foster daughter suddenly hit Zelda, just as Marigold seemed to be slowing down in both the dancing and her playing.

"S-sweet sawgrass," Zelda said as Marigold seemed to be finishing on a long, mournful note. "W-we all can't let her know we saw this!"

"Truly a great invasion of her privacy," Xena mused, only to suddenly be pushed by Zelda.

"Enough musin', we gotta move, now," she barked as quietly as she could. Everyone started to head back the way they had all come, when there was a sudden loud CLICK. Turning, they all saw that Marigold had returned everything to her case and snapped the latch shut. She got up and proceeded to walk back to the house... which was in the same direction everyone in the family sans Vera and Don's pups were in at that moment. Scrambling, the Hunters and their mates ran through the trees and underbrush, avoiding the scant trail like the plague. Everyone darted around to the other side of Zelda and Varun's house. Varun stealthily peeked out from around the corner, watching as Marigold was looking all around, before trying to stealthily climb back in through her bedroom window. A few very loud thumps later, and she was back inside, none the wiser. Varun released the breath he had no idea he had been holding, all the while Zelda was making everyone swear that they wouldn't say a thing to Marigold about this.

"B-but," Undine whined, holding up her camera, "it was so in line with the natural energies of the clearing! Folks would be so energized and helped by seeing the video I took of it!

And here it is! The peek into the genderswapped AU of Found! I might do another in the future, but holy crap did this one take a bit of time! I hope everyone is having a great summer!

#zootopia #adoption #foundfamily #found #zootopia2electricboogaloo #human #genderswap

[ducklooney]

5, 21, 22, 23 for asking and yes, what do you like to draw in terms of have you been passionate about ducks for a long time?

Oh, hi. Hmm…good questions, although you asked a little too much. Also, the questions have been changed under the ordinal letters of the alphabet rather than numbers, but never mind. I'm going!

5. (E) My blog started four and a half years ago (next year it will be five years since I've been on Tumblr), mostly out of dissatisfaction, and to join a new collective that has similar interests as me. Interestingly, I joined when it was Donald's 85th birthday. XD Yeah, I already enjoyed the Ducktales reboot back then (even though it disappointed me in a lot of things at the time), I was still sad that no one mentioned the other Duck media, especially when we talk about the comics, Quack Pack, The Legend of The Three Caballeros and I wanted to take that job into my own hands. So I posted various posts about other Donald Duck media and let me tell you, I succeeded in that. Unfortunately, due to numerous obligations related to the university and at home, there were times and often when I was away for a long time. Still, I'm grateful to the Ducktales reboot for reawakening my feelings of nostalgia and re-reading the Donald Duck comics I used to read when I was a little boy.

21. (U) Actually I am, but more that I am a Christian believer and that I believe in God the Creator, as well as in Jesus who saved us from our sins, as well as in the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I study and read the Bible and go to church. But I'm not a fanatical believer, plus I don't force anyone to believe what I believe. Everyone has the right to their own religion. But I don't like it when my faith is abused through bad mockery and attacks on being a believer.

22. (V) I don't know if you mean the person I love or me personally, but I will answer both. I like in a person who is very pleasant and kind, who likes to draw and respect others and someone who is close to me. And I like to draw, read, write, and sometimes ride my bike outside, when the weather is nice.

23. (W) I don't like it when someone copies me without asking me, without me being mentioned, I don't like it when they insult and when they lie, I especially don't like it when someone insults me in dirty ways, as well as abuses my name as something worst. And I don't like sweet-talking people, I don't like it when someone blocks me, just because we have different views, and I don't like it when someone breaks their promises (either mine or someone else's). And I don't like it when someone insults my religion.

And this particular question, to answer you, I've been drawing since I was young, certainly when I went to school, but I didn't like to draw and I often had terrible drawings. I'm talking about when I drew in the traditional way. I think I have the hardest time painting with water colors. As for drawing itself, and coming back to it, I started four years ago, unfortunately I drew mostly very badly, but over time I learned some methods (and now I practice) and perfected it. If you look at my first drawings and my current drawings, you will see a big difference. I try my best though. Now I need to practice drawing and coloring backgrounds as well as portraits. And as for the ducks, well, I've been watching the classic shorts and reading the comics since I was a kid, but when I was in my teens, I stopped. Yes, I watched a lot of cartoons. In return, the Ducktales reboot is ironically credited, and I've come to love the comics more than before, even collecting those comics. Either online or I buy them. However, I prefer the classics the most, because it is still the best that will always remain. The Legend of The Three Caballeros and re-watching Quack Pack and other cartoons made me even more devoted to ducks.

I hope I satisfied you with your answers. And yes, I tell others to feel free to ask me, if you are interested in something. And yes, those are my opinions and sorry if anyone is offended by this, it's not my intention, just stating my views.

And yes, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

#ask #ducksinspaceadventure #question #my answers #my opinions #my blog #tumblr #ask game

[eyes-blazing]

Emrys-Aiden Ris Lokison

Emrys Roleplays

Face Claim: Drew Roy

Age: 20

Birthday: September 18th

Orientation: Pansexual(preference male)

Height: 6 Foot 4 Inches

Eye Color: Green

Species: Demi-God

Main Verse: Marvel MCU

Distinguishing Marks: 7 Tattoos(info on them upon requests) and three lobe piercings on his left ear and two lobe piercing on his right.

MCU Verse-

Main ship with: Nate Sanders at @agentsanders

Main Loki @brokenandlonelysouls

Emrys Lokison was born September 18th just outside of New York City. As the Son of Loki and a Warrior from another demention he spent the first 8 years of his life living and training in Asgard with his twin sister Pyira. But after an incident involving bullies and perminate scarring Loki and Emrys mother Sera decided it would be safer for Emrys and Pyira on Earth.

By the time Emrys was thirteen years old he had become addicted to drugs and met the person who he then thought would be the love of his life. The person he thought he would be with forever. But one foolish mistake ended that, and his loves life, leaving Emrys broken and alone.

After five years of training under various influences Emrys became a master marksman and strong enough to know that he’d be able handle almost anything the world threw at him. Using his fathers glamor spell he hides the scars that he is ashamed off and went out into the world to try and loose the ghosts that haunt him.

DC Verse-

Emrys Harper was never a normal boy, he always knew it. He could always feel his "father" inside of him.

The women who gave birth to Emrys was genetic scientist, and a crazy one at that. Convinced that the Joker was the perfect man she stole the Clowns blood from a crime scene and used it to create a clone of the Joker with in her own body. But the child didn't turn out as expected.

Emrys resented his "father", resented the insanity that he had inherited, resented his mother for trying to bring it out of him. So he fought it, learned to control it, got his "mother" locked away in Arkham.

Emrys Harper was never a normal boy, he always knew it. He wasn't going to let his "Father" win.

Shadowhunter/TMI Verse-

Emrys Harper was born four hundred and seventy three years ago with the black and feathered wings on his back and a mother who hated him. He spent his childhood locked in a barn, watching humanity through the cracks in the wall. Learning what they were like, learning what their weaknesses were, learning all he could about how to kill them.

When he turned 18 his mother set fire to the barn, tried to burn the demon out of him. That only enraged him. He lashed out with every bit of magic he had, decemating the family farm.

When he woke he was surrounded by Shadowhunters, they said he was a danger. A threat. They said he was powerful and he couldn't very well argue.

It took one hundred years for his "penance" to be paid, one hundred years to be released from their prisons, and since then...he's wandered.

Emrys Harper never found a home.

(Mun Note: Sometimes I will play Emrys as a fallen angel in this verse, I will let you know if that is what I’m planning on before doing it)

Teen Wolf Verse-

Main ship with: Scott McCall at @mccallofthewild

The youngest son born into a large Kitsune Skulk. A fire type kitsune who chafed against the rules.

Emrys Harper left home almost the minute he turned 18, only stopping in Becon Hills because...well it was interesting.

(Mun note: This is my most changing verse. It really depends on your muse and what we discuss as to what Emrys background will be. I apologize in advance.)

Decendance Verse

Emrys Teach is the only son of Blackbeard and a siren. He grew up keeping himself away from the rest of the island and the other kids his own age due to the constantly renenfored idea that he was not wanted. His father had at one point been a good father but with the death of his wife(a side affect of Blackbeards own magic) he slowly lost control on his drinking and rage, taking it out of his young son. Emrys inherited his fathers storm magic, though he doesn't have a good control over it as of yet and each time a lightning strom happens he can "feel it under his skin". He has a few lichtenberg scars from when he has been struck.

(If Emrys is still on the island then he is aware of the magic in him but can't do anything with it. If he's off the island then he can feel it but has no control)

[jupitersrising]

akjdnvadsjvn I've been posting so much in the last two days but BUT hear me out. I just posted a Darius/Brooklynn SotF fic yesterday(?) here and, and uh well I'm almost done with my Sammy SotF character study I've been working on since July!!! So yeah, it's been a productive week. Expect that to be coming out within the next week! I just have to finish up two sections but I think it's rounding out to be about 14k words! The playlist for that is here, I spent way, way too much time curating it. Anyways rant over.

I lied. Ok, Survival of the Fittest does have at least another month before I update it. I have to finish one chapter of a jwcc fic I have out. I have 4 chapters of a Nancy-centric Stranger Things fic to finish and another jargyle fic to finish which might take a while. I have a Drew Tanaka-centric PJO fic too.

(I also have some other fics I might put out before I start updating SotF again that have been sitting in my drafts for months which is why I released like two fics in a within four days this week)

One: A modern/no dinosaur Darius/Brooklynn/Ben coffee shop au with a twist or two with background Sammy/Yaz and lots of fluff.

Two: An angsty Darius/Ben future-fic with dinosaurs and lots of secrets (not as planned as my other fics). Where the kids haven't spoken for the last four or five years, I can't remember the exact number but are forced to work together when Mae gathers them on the island it all began on.

Three: An Alice Fortesque/Narcissa Black with queer platonic partner nonbinary Frank Longbottom fic taking place before and at the beginning of the war where they live in a cottage together before everything goes to shit.

Four: (Pt2? A continuation of the above?) During and post the first and second war, toxic murder wives Narcissa/Mrs. Zabini trying to balance the good, the bad, and their own beliefs of the war. With some murder along the way...definitely more...hot and heavy compared to my other fics

Five: A Mystery Incorporated Fic about how they all met and became friends and as they got older. Featuring chronically ill Shaggy and service-dog in training scooby doo, autistic Fred, and definitely not witchcraft. No siree, witches aren't real...right????

Not sure if all of those are gonna come out before I post SotF again, but they've been sitting in my drafts for a while and I figured I'd post about them in case anyone was interested :) (I'm really excited at the coffee shop au, that one is really far along and I love it. Did I mention bumpy was an emotional support stray cat that's desperately trying to get these idiots to realize they're in love with each other)

(Also sorry if there are any random 'u' in this, the u on my keyboard is acting weird and jumping into place I didn't type and where it should be)

#jwcc #sammy gutierrez #camp cretaceous #sotf updates #ao3 fanfic #fanfic #darius bowman #brooklynn jwcc #other mentioned fandoms: #pjo #mauraders #stranger things #mystery inc

[freebooter4ever]

Are the lines on your drawings stylistic choices or are they measurement/guiding lines? Either way, they are cool, but just wondered. I dont understand drawing at all, might as well be a magic spell to me. I was looking at the pencil (?) sketch of Malkin with the cheesecutter hat on.

i, uh, definitely did not google 'cheesecutter hat' until after i saved out these images. :/ sorry about that. if you'd like the other one broken down, i can do that too lol. my reading comprehension when im tired is kinda lazy i just saw 'cheese' and imediately thought 'omelette'. SO here's the 1) initial sketch, 2) 'clean' sketch, and 3) final lines for the omelette boy drawing instead:

also i have had a cumulative of about 9 ish hrs of sleep total for the past two days so keep that in mind for if this explanation makes no sense, its not my fault. :( anyway! the way i draw definitely has changed over the years but currently im really trying to focus on the line i "see" rather than the one that is actually "there". i've been applying this to my writing for years (story vs happening truth) and you know it never occurred to me that i could do it in my drawings too till like...a few years ago. in general these lines seem to form the planes of the subject. if you google 'stanford bunny' you can find an easy example of a 3D surface turned into triangles. I do this too - see things in relative triangle proportions, except i've been doing it long before i knew how computers worked. i cant begin to tell you how long d*sney and cartooning's obsession with round building blocks of anatomical structure fucked with my brain until i finally decided i could cast that teaching aside completely.

ANYWAY sorry off subject again. so we have these sketchy under lines, and usually as im trying to find the proportions and form of the subject these lines end up being where the light/shadow hits. here i saved out the 1) 'flat colors', 2) the 'light', and 3) the 'shadow' parts on their own (i lightened the background for the 'shadow' so its easier to see):

the light is like four or five 'overlay' layers of pale yellow/orange. you can see how each of these layers follow one of those sketchy lines i did initially. and the same with the shadow but instead its a dark red color set to 'multiply' for each layer. and when you combine everything together you get:

some bullshit :). anyway you know that anniversary edition of beauty and the beast that featured the version previewed to nyc audiences in 1990 with the glen ke*ne sketchy keyframe animation of the beast's transformation? i watched that - must have been sometime after i graduated college - and i felt robbed that THAT version was never presented as a final piece. the 'unclean' drawings had so much more life and movement and intensity to them. tldr i like the messy lines, i hate 'inking' with a passion (HATE. IT.), and when i finally allowed myself to stop giving a fuck drawing became way more interesting. but my art is shit and i will never be glen k*ane so i dont really feel like the best advocate for this "style". alas. there was this one artist on tumblr who i fucking loved whose sketches were SPECTACULAR but the asshole racists in the m*c*ha*nz*o fandom bullied her off tumblr and ive never been able to find her art anywhere else since. she was also very negative about her 'unclean' sketches and it made me so sad. there was also this other artist whose sketches were awe inspiring but all she drew was p*rn and well...we all know what happened on tumblr in december 2018.

also i 100% stole the lighting scheme from The Bear which is currently one of the most gorgeous shows on television right now in my opinion

im really really sorry if this makes no sense, if im feeling motivated maybe i'll try again when my brain is fully functioning but with the actual 'cheesecutter hat' doodle ^_^

#thank you #wip #where in the world did that hat get the name cheesecutter from???? #i guess it does look vaguely cheese wedge like #theres such a fine line between different hat forms #like those 1920s styles especially i mean #for some reason i always thought that style was called the *directors* hat #and then the more round and floppy version walt wore in the 1920s was called either newsboy or cabby hat #i searched for a version of walt's hat for YEARS #and didnt end up finding one until i moved to los angeles and stepped into go*rin bros hat shop in old pas #which is actually the same company geno uses for his trucker hat i think #that hat shop sadly closed :( i dont know why #they just sell online now i guess

[heartsburstintofire13ghosts]

I. The Beginning

A/N: The official first chapter of Hearts Burst Into Fire. This one is a little squishy with sweetness but I could not help it. 

This story will have a school shooting in it, just be forewarned. I will put a trigger warning for that, so you can read past it. 

It will have sexual content, violence, mentions of wounds, parental affection, ghost friendships, and language. 

With that said, on we go!

Also, just a little background, there will be odd little tidbits of information that link Royce and Sam together from the beginning. So, keep an eye out. 

I have had this story on the backburner for five years. As such, Ellie is Russian. Which was how I originally had it written. She also has another daughter, mentioned in this chapter. 

Gotta hold on easy as I let you go.

Gonna tell you how much I love you, though you think you already know.

I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm.

You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born.

You're beautiful baby from the outside in.

Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again.

Go on, take on this whole world.

But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.

“My Little Girl”

By Tim McGraw

Saturday, October 24th, 1997

Andrew Mahoney’s Junkyard

Andrew watched with shock as the wet, blood splattered infant was gently wrapped in blankets by his son, the tiny creature looking like a football in his giant hands. The mother, Ellie, stared up, sweaty and exhausted with a smile on her face as she watched Horace interact with his daughter. 

His daughter. 

The word in his mind drew Andrew up short.

Horace, the son he had kept hidden most of his life to protect him, had not only managed to attract a woman who looked past his flaws, but had managed to knock her up.

Horace was a father. 

More importantly, he was a grandfather. 

Regaining his senses, he walked forward and pushed some of Ellie’s sweaty hair off of her forehead. She had been in labor for 72 hours but had refused to go to the hospital. While Andrew had been suspicious that she was hiding - or running - away from something, he had not pressed. 

Afterall, what could a pretty girl like her be hiding from?

He glanced over at his granddaughter. She was pale, Horace having managed to clean the newborn goo off of her body. She stared up at her father with the most startling green eyes Andrew had ever seen, a dusting of wine red hair atop her tiny head. 

After a moment, she reached up and pressed her tiny fingers toward Horace’s malformed cheek and he turned his head, pressing a soft kiss to her little palm, still careful in his movements, fully aware of his abnormal strength. 

After twenty seven years of being able to bench press mini vans, he had gotten used to having to actively concentrate to keep from harming anyone. 

“She’s not ugly,” his voice always had a deep timber to it, almost like an echo. “Like me.”

Ellie’s face darkened as she heard his words. It was at moments like this that Andrew saw something not so innocent behind those doe eyes of hers. Something hidden. 

Something dangerous.

“You are not ugly, Horace.”

She said it with so much sincerity and finality that Horace almost believed it. Despite people thinking he was dumb, he knew from two years with Ellie that love tended to blind people to your flaws. Ellie did not see his deformities because she loved him. Deformities his own mother could not look past. 

Horace inhaled sharply through his teeth as pain, hard and fast, struck his finger, a harsh snap startling everyone in the room, including the small child in his arms, who was staring in shock at the bent finger in her tiny grasp. 

Within seconds, her small face scrunched up and she began to wail. Horace looked panicked and Ellie reached up for the child, taking her gently. 

“Shhh, solnyshka,” she soothed, shocking both men with a clearly Russian accent. “You didn’t mean to hurt your daddy.”

Ellie gently nudged her daughter to her chest, a robe concealing her modesty as the tiny child began to nurse. 

“Samara.”

She blinked up at Horace, realizing that in all the hustle and bustle of being pregnant and making sure Dana was mentally well enough for her to be away from her for an indeterminate amount of time, she had forgotten to pick out a name for her daughter. 

At the thought of Dana, she grew somber. It was odd to look as young as Ellie did and have a twenty two year old daughter. Especially when Ellie was physically twenty two herself. She had been for some time.

"Her name should be Samara."

Ellie nodded, breaking free from her reverie. She shook away the thought of having to leave Horace behind one day and decided to focus on the here and now.

“Our little Samara Rose.”

She pressed her lips gently to Samara’s head, inhaling that aroma that was so uniquely a new baby smell. The smell of the moon and every dream you’ve ever had, her mother described it. At the thought of her mother, she began to sing the lullaby from her childhood. The same one she would always sing to Dana. 

Horace watched Ellie and Samara as they bonded upon the make-shift bed he and his father had made in the office of the junkyard. It wasn’t perfect. But it was clean, the smell of the hospital grade cleaner he had stolen still stinging his nostrils. 

His angel and his little girl. 

Saturday, October 11th, 1997

Vacant Lot

Madison, Ohio

Royce Clayton’s pale blue eyes snapped open as the sound of a baby crying echoed in his ears. An image bloomed in his mind. A tiny pink bundle. Vibrant, almost glowing green eyes, a sprinkling of deep red hair upon a small head. 

Thoughts of a girl that had haunted his dreams for years before his death snapped to the forefront of his mind as if they had never faded. Vivid. Colorful. As clear as any film he had ever seen. 

The girl that had driven him to the brink of insanity as he had tried to will her into reality in life, turning to dangerous sports for distraction, and developing an anger issue due to her non-existence. The ego, however, had been all his. 

How unfair it was that she had been born now and not then. Not when he was alive. Whole. Handsome.

His fists clenched at his sides. Even if he wanted to track her down when she was older - which, given the mental and otherworldly connection they seemed to share, did not seem like it would be a particularly difficult task - he would not be able to bring himself to kill her. 

No matter how many years he had been dead, none of his victims had ever been female and he did not plan on breaking that track record. 

He let out a snort and closed his eyes again, allowing his consciousness to drift off and connect with hers. Even a baby’s thoughts were better than the boring reality of his endless purgatory. 

A/N: And that’s a wrap for this chapter. I like adding more depth to previously one-dimensional characters. It was implied in his ghost file that Horace was not always insane. He only snapped after his father died. 

And honestly, the thought of him with a tiny child just warms my heart in an odd, not so easily described way. 

#thir13en ghosts #thirteen ghosts #13 ghosts #in which horace is a father #and a pretty damn good one too #the juggernaut #horace mahoney #the torn prince #royce clayton #Youtube