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idontknowwhatimdoinglol · 1 year

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Robbie x reader (falling for the villain) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

you never liked fighting much you would always avoid fights and hangout with your brother or Demetri until Eli or hawk now had joined cobra kai at first, you didn't mind and even liked the confidence it gave him but the when he started to become a jerk you lost any liking you had to it the last straw was when he broke Demetri's arm you had made the decision to stay with moon his ex but still your best friend he would constantly text you or talk to you at school but you always walked away or ignore him this lasted awhile but then one day you got a text from Miguel saying that hawk had joined eaglefang and had changed his attitude after talking to moon about it you had started talking to your brother again and things were good until he came to the dojo one day with his mohawk shaved you were so mad at that moment you weren't thinking straight so you got in your car ignoring the protests of the others and drove to cobra kais dojo to confront them "hello" you shout but with no reply "i know someone's here the door was open so come out" you shout again but still no reply "i said co-" you begin to shout again but are interrupted by a boy coming from the back room "who the hell are you?" he asks scratching his neck, yawning as if he had just woken up "I'm y/n Moskowitz i believe you know my brother" you say standing up straighter to look more intimidating "ya i know him payed him a visit earlier but he never mentioned having a sister specially not one as hot as you" he flirts you roll yours eyes at it "you seriously wanna flirt with me after what you did" you shout angrily "relax it'll grow back" he says annoyed at the situation "y/n get out here" you hear Miguel shout from outside "looks like big brothers to chicken to get you himself" Robbie says with a chuckle "this isn't over" you say "sure I'm Robbie by the way" he introduces but gets another eye roll in return "I'm not interested" you say before leaving the dojo.

it had been a few weeks since your encounter with Robbie and much to your disliking you couldn't get him out of your head but you needed to all you did every time you thought about him was remind yourself of all the awful things he had done but it never worked for long other than that you had spent most of your time trying to convince your brother to regain his confidence "come on Eli the hair doesn't make you hawk you and that tattoo of yours that you refuse to tell mom about does" you say he just continues playing his game "you know you've been acting weird yourself lately" he says "don't change the subject" you say with a slight blush as thoughts about Robbie come to mind "hey my peeps what's up" Demetri says sitting on the couch next to hawk "my sisters got a crush' hawk says earning a soft punch to the shoulder from you "oo so whos the lucky guy" he asks "no one and besides i couldn't be with him anyways he's not good for me" you say "don't talk like i mean look at me I'm dating the girl who totured us for years and were fine" Demetri says "i guess your right but what should i do" you ask "confront him" hawk says still focusing on his game "and while you do that ill focus on cheering this guy up" Demetri says putting his arm around hawk.

you had gone to the skate park to look for Robbie after remembering some girls at school talking about the bad boy hottie that hangs around there you assumed it was him and lucky for you, you were right "HEY" you yell to get his attention which it works he gets off his board and walks over to you "you know not all of our meetings have to begin with you yelling" he says "whatever i need to talk to you" you admit hiding the blush on your face with your hand "i see left an impression" he says with a laugh "but you shouldn't have you hurt people i care about i should hate you" you say with a slight raise in your voice "is that what you think you should do or is it what everyone else wants you to do" he asks "i-" you go to respond but stop and think about it, to be honest, you never had a grudge with Robbie it was your brother that hated him so you just assumed he was horrible "i don't know" you say "let me prove that I'm not a monster meet me here this Saturday" he says and walks away.

you hated yourself for doing this i mean this guy was evil a total text book villain kind of in ways you tried convincing your self out of doing it but you couldn't you went to the park on Saturday and met up with him "didn't think you would come" he says "well i did so now that i am you have to keep your promise to show that you different than what they say" you say "of course come on" he says taking you to the highest part of the skate course "see would someone so evil do this" he says gesturing to the mini picnic "wait this isn't you shoeing me your different your tricking me into a date" you shout "you still said you would give me a chance" he says you groan but sit down anyway "you know this is one of my favorite spots" he says "why so you can show off and get girls" you say sipping your juice box "haha no actually its because you can see the stars" he says pointing up to the sky you couldn't help but smile at his sweetness after awhile you had to go home but before you left you exchanged numbers.

you and Robbie had texted almost everyday since your "date" and decided that after the all valley you would announce your relationship to your friends today you and Robbie had gone on a date to this new ice-cream shop in Encino "you sure they wont see us here" he says "please all of them are at the movies right now so we have at least an hour" you say taking another bite of your ice-cream "are you sure because that looks a lot like Miguel" Robbie says you whip your head around to see Miguel, hawk and some of the other myagifang group ordering "crap it must've ended early" you say ducking down in your booth trying stay out of site "y/n what the hell" hawk says coming over to your table "hey bro" you say pretending as if you weren't on a date with his rival "your going out with him" he asks you don't answer "answer me" he shouts pulling you towards him "hey leave her alone" Robbie says standing up aswell "stay the hell out of this" Miguel says pushing him away "guys we can explain" you try to say but are cut off by hawk "we? so your a couple now" he says both you and Robbie go silent not wanting to cause anymore attention to yourself hawk just rolls his eyes and grabs your wrist tightly dragging you away as Miguel and the others keep Robbie from following.

when you got home hawk took your phone the second you went to text Robbie "hey give that back" you say trying to get it back but failing since he is stronger than you "I cant believe it you've been talking for weeks after everything he has done you run out and fall for him" he says clearly pissed "Eli I cant help it he isn't as evil as you make him seem you know of you only got to know him you could-" you start "we could what be friends? he almost killed Miguel, he broke Demetris's arm and went after me he's a villain why can you see that you idiot" he says "Eli-" you try to say only to be cut off again "how could you do this to me betray me like this I thought you cared about me" he says his eyes tearing up "of course I care about you Eli your my brother but I also care about Robbie" you admit "if you really cared about me you would end it" hawk says before storming off to his own room leaving you with a choice to make family or love.

finally, it was the day of the tournament and you hadn't talked to Robbie since the ice cream shop so when you saw him you didn't really know how to react "Hey" he says "hi" you say "so how are you" he asks "I'm ok how about you" you ask "nervous but good" he says "sorry I haven't texted things got kind of heated" you say "kind of guessed so how bad did it get after you left" he asks "he told me that you're a horrible villain who I cant love" you start "and he gave me the choice between you or him" you finish "oh so what's your choice" he says with a frown but you just smiled slightly and pulled him into a kiss "does that answer your question" you say breaking the kiss "your kidding right" hawk says from the doorway of the room "you heard her she wants me" Robbie says "whatever your both traitors then" he says before walking away "I got to go" Robbie says "ill be cheering" you say pulling him into another kiss "good luck" you say pulling away.

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#robbie #robbiekeene #cobra kai fanfic #cobra kai #hawk #elimoskowitz #cobra kai x reader #miyagi do #eagle fang karate #miguel diaz #demetri alexopoulos

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rappaccini · 9 months

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arachnophobia ch4 notes

title

from "undertaker", by nova twins

opening quote

from everything everywhere all at once, directed by daniels

this is the mentor-confrontation chapter. jess is aware that she's failing gwen, and has chosen to keep doing so and justify it. miguel has no fucking clue. and peter actually recognizes that he fucked up. the former two are the ones to watch out for.

jess

gwen is now a spider-gwen. we're halfway through the story, so it's time for her to embrace that distinction. and to use it to break apart her sense of closeness with jess.

we're at the bargaining stage of the seven stages of grief. this chapter is about gwen talking to three mentors who essentially hold her life in her hands, trying to see if she can come to terms with them, and concluding it isn't possible.

pav called jess. he's a nice kid who trusts the society, and being a friend of gwen's, he's probably had a lot of interactions with her. when he gets worried about gwen, he calls her foster mom.

and jess called miguel.

gwen saw jess as a mother from the moment she blurted out 'can you adopt me' in the guggenheim. she's a teenage girl whose own mother died when she was young, who's constantly searching for specifically female role models.

i've always really wondered about how nueva york feels about the tower of dimension-hopping spiders downtown. probably a lot of conspiracy theories.

gwen's spider-sense is reminding her of earth-65a's cindy moon and sue storm. more on this later.

jess is capable of genuine maternal concern towards gwen. she's just also capable of shutting it down.

jess did the bare minimum of not leaving a teenager alone with her dad while he's pointing a gun at her, and then proceeded to do nothing but neglect her after the fact. gwen has to sleep over at hobie's, so she hasn't even found this girl a place to stay.

in the comics, roxxon is the slimy energy corporation responsible for the spider that bit gwen. she was at a political protest against them when it happened.

timeline note: gwen's been at the society for seven-going-on-eight months, to atsv's five.

'the wrong spider-woman' ... subconsciously, gwen wants to speak to earth-8 gwen.

some jessicas do have pheromones. no clue if 404 jess does.

another important lesson for gwen to learn: not all women support each other simply on the basis of their gender.

jess's origin here is mostly fabrication. comics-jess's origin is honestly so convoluted it was difficult to make sense of. i kept the bit about her father experimenting on her to save her from an illness-- felt like a girl who spent her whole childhood in and out of hospitals would turn into a thrill-seeker once she's finally healthy. so in my mind, jess got the bike and put on the mask to make up for lost time.

and jess is often a spy or agent in her depictions; 404-jess still has those positive associations with the government, given how one of their projects saved her life.

404-gwen's the girl with cancer glimpsed in chapter 1.

jessica drew in the comics doesn't have a gwen; her existence here is all made up for the fic. the death needed to fit jess's hospital backstory, give her some level of agency in causing it, while still making it ultimately out of her control. ergo, jess gets the serum, gwen does not. and like any gwen death: jess does feel responsible, and gwen isn't even given any say in it.

"it was a mercy" girl no the fuck it wasn't.

jess is like any other spider-man, making her gwen's death the most important thing about her.

and jess's issues with gwen are also personal. she isn't the girl jess was best friends with, and she's not happy about it.

every time a gwen is saved by her spider, the narrative tends to sling some bullshit about how ~we would have been better off if she died~ -- so jess very much regrets taking gwen out of 65b.

there are so many different jessica drews. she's a difficult character to pin down because of it. makes you wonder what made miguel want a jess as his right hand, and what made this jess accept.

in my mind, it's that, apart from her preexisting sense of loyalty to shady government/policing structures, she wants that consistency he provides. she wants to be the definitive jess, so if she's in his inner circle, he'll be persuaded to adjust the narrative in her favor.

and jess can't see eye to eye with gwen. all jess wants is what gwen technically has-- a clear-cut purpose in the story that everyone agrees on and finds important. she can't relate to gwen resenting that purpose.

another callback to gwen's best female villains: they're women who want what she has. cindy moon in earth-65 created the radioactive spider and is angry that gwen got powers instead of her, and considers her unworthy of it. sue storm wants the fame and acclaim ghost-spider has as the biggest hero in nyc, and believes she's too ugly and problematic to have such a platform, so she blackmails her into fleeing the universe (... not that the comics ever follow up on that).

65b gwen's three and a half years into being spider-woman, yet she hasn't even had her identity revealed to her dad yet. by that time, 65a gwen had not only revealed it to her father, but been depowered, venomized, exposed, arrested and been to prison. gwen b's taking an oddly long time to meet her canon events.

her supporting cast is also smaller-- there's no harry osborn, for one. and there's no murdock to send the rhino to attack her dad, which is how her identity's exposed to him in the comics. had to point that out.

gwen b is much more... palatable than gwen a. she's a graceful dancer, not a clumsy bruiser. she's sixteen, not nineteen. she's level-headed, not temperamental. she loved her peter back and he died as a mistake; he wasn't a borderline incel who she beat to death. she's capable of infiltrating visions academy and fucking alchemax. she's strategic and level-headed, and doesn't go cracking nearly as many puns and burns or giving emotional speeches.

all of which probably make her more appealing to the society than her comics-alternative.

jess's goal was keeping gwen from slipping off that pedestal. she failed.

the captain gwen stacy is an invention for the fic. just felt like a permutation that'd show up.

jess's method of catching gwen is all in her words.

jess cares, but not enough. she'll tell gwen there are others like her, but won't protect her from miguel.... but she'll still act like she will to save face.

gwen needed a little closure with pav, even if it's just asking jess to let him know she's okay with him.

peter b

the society's fucking giant. probably an intimidation tactic.

peter b also knows-- i imagine the inner circle are all aware gwen's being sent home. he is not okay with it, and wants to get gwen's side of things.

he's also trying to be a dad here.

in the comics, gwen and peter-616 go for hot dogs. little nod to that too.

you really do have to wonder how pete responded to learning that all his exes formed a band and are dating each other.

and a hint of that spider-man entitlement bubbles up, assuming all the girls do is talk and write about him.

i assume peter b's dealt with clones in his world already.

i'm also guessing he's a stay at home dad, simply bc of how complicated having a baby who can wallcrawl would be.

peter b has to be the halfway point in this fic. he's the original peter who dropped gwen, the source of this death curse. and he's the first spider-man to acknowledge that he does not have the answers as to how to deal with this problem.

peter and miles are still in contact. so everything gwen says here WILL get back to him.

one of the central problems with miles and gwen as a couple in the comics is that the relationship is based on the idea of gwen avoiding her problems by attaching herself to a guy, and miles pursuing gwen because she's a way to assimilate into respectable spider-man-ness. their awful date issue happened during a time where marvel was just throwing peter's leftovers at miles to try and make him stick. his leftover villains and rewarmed plotlines. and his old girlfriend.

recontextualized here: miles's crush was genuine to start, but it was still shallow. he barely knows her! he had a year and a half to project anything he wanted onto her, so what IS left at this point except for the aesthetic of her, in his mind? and then when he gets to the society, all he hears is 'you have to be just like peter', so he puts two and two together, and decides that he should get with gwen simply because it'll make him a more legitimate spider-man.

1048 miles is from the insomniac games. that uncanny valley video game model style would undoubtedly creep the spiderverse-animation-style characters out.

another mention of venom: he's one of the central antagonists of the upcoming ps5 game, and venom's going to show up in this fic soon, so you need to keep being reminded of that name.

interesting that miguel centers his canon theory on peter parker's history. one has to wonder what motivated it-- my guess, there are more peter-spider-men than anyone else, so he assumes they're closer to the ideal.

and miles, in the movies, in the game, in the comics, is always held up in comparison to peter. one would think 1610b miles would learn that if he hung out with his alt selves.

gwen very much is peter's sloppy seconds. that's the whole problem with gwiles. it only exists to shove miles's story full of elements that are unique to peter, rather than letting him find his own. if miles and gwen get together, he's still trying to be like peter.

siat salt: the basis of comics-miles's attraction to gwen is that he thinks she's hot, he likes that she has powers, and he enjoys the way his friends react to him overselling their tepid romance. literally, comics-miles sees gwen as a prize.

movie miles at least has an emotional connection with her... but that's not enough to overcome the lack of time spent together, or all the pressure on him to be like peter. his feelings for her are sincere, but the relationship would always be poisoned by those external factors.

itsv salt: gwen, peter b and miles aren't an equal trio. it's miles, his mentor, and the girl who will be his love interest. it's a ninety degree angle, not a triangle. gwen and peter b do not have a deep connection. they behave like coworkers, not friends.

during itsv, why is peter treating a 15-year-old girl like she's an adult when he's mentoring a 14-year-old boy so carefully?

and since gwen landed 'last week' how exactly was she not glitching harder than peter, who was only there for a few days?

... and where was she sleeping during that time? visions is a boarding school so crowded miles had to win a lottery to get in-- there aren't any beds available.

and why was she even at visions? miles wasn't even bitten yet. and there was a spider-hero with her exact powers, who she had days to reach out to, and didn't. because she was just hanging around a middle school for no reason.

(the reason: the writers wanted to set her up as miles's love interest. that's the entire purpose of her presence in itsv.)

and how does gwen not mention or seem affected by ripeter's death? he's a second peter parker who died on her watch, and this one was a spider like her, who she had all the time to reach out to.

it'd have made far more sense if gwen is introduced at the collider, collaborating with spider-man and trying to get home, but failing.

anyway. peter b absolutely failed gwen. he did not protect or mentor her in itsv, or after she joined the society. he's complicit in all the shit miguel and jess were doing to her. it had to be brought up.

and here, peter b realizes he fucked up.

the first gwen stacy hated spider-man. spider-gwen deserves that too.

"it's okay to be selfish" is right out of the comics. issue 4 of seanan mcguire's ghost-spider run. one of the most touching modern peter parker moments in years.

applied here to a peter who's been spider-man for almost thirty years, who has a family now, it's even more crucial. finding that balance is why he was able to last.

movie salt: a girl who keeps being ordered to give up her life and autonomy to serve the story of a guy discovering that she deserves to be selfish is essential. it's far more revolutionary and genre-busting than 'i should continue to be selfless, but this time For Miles instead of For Peter'

spider-man blue is an amazing comic about peter's connection to gwen. i read it to prep for this section and can't recommend it enough. that's where peter having a box of her stuff in his attic comes from.

it was the consensus of the writers of the original comics that mary jane was the better love interest than gwen. the plan was originally for peter and gwen to remain together, but the second mj appeared, they knew it was over and needed an excuse to get rid of her. her personality was a bigger hit with readers.

the tragedy of peter and gwen isn't that they didn't end up together-- it's that they didn't get to drift apart on their own terms.

peter b tells the truth: in chapter 1, he lied about his gwen being passed out to shield gwen from the uglier details. here, he's finally ready to admit what actually happened.

and he's the first spider-man (apart from hobie) who understands that gwen wants to know who his gwen was while she was alive.

616 gwen's defining feature isn't that she's pretty, though she is. it's that she's smart. she was as smart as peter, and she was a deeply kind girl who cared deeply about her friends and family. (she was also slightly bitchy at times, fwiw) and she was the one who decided to return to new york; peter didn't make her.

65 gwen IS a lot like her-- but here peter stops himself. because it shouldn't matter if they're similar. 65 gwen should be her own person too.

peter b's dad instincts finally function, and recognize gwen as one of His Kids. however, if he prevents gwen from going into this confrontation or tries to go in with her, then it's about him redeeming himself as a father figure and not her growing. it had to be shut down.

everything gwen tells peter will get back to miles.

peter b's hug is another bookend on chapter 1. now he actually holds her like she's alive, and like she's his kid.

miguel

gwen knows she's getting sent home. she just wants to see if she can get the spider-gwen info out of him and get him to let gayatri live.

she accidentally gave him the idea to use alternate gwens as placeholders. that's coming back.

gwen's death is the backbone of the multiverse. so many alternates and what-ifs exist around her death.

the first thing miguel does in atsv is fuck up a canon event scenario-- the captain's death.

how isn't gwen the original anomaly. if gwen's death is a canon event, and there's a spider-gwen running around two years before the collider exploded, something's fishy.

fandom salt: gwen is capable of thinking and feeling and doing things that don't involve miles

offscreen miles activity: his dad's captain, and projected to die soon. he's flipping his shit. someone told him about his anomaly status and earth-42, and he's catching on that this is bullshit too.

miles's arc in atsv is perfect. i wanted to preserve it, even if it's happening offscreen and slower, and without gwen.

margo and peter b are taking on that role here.

sorry movies, but gwen and miles's relationship can't break canon. it reinforces the idea that gwen can only be spider-man's girlfriend, and that miles has to be like peter parker.

hence why miguel's invested in it. the two loose ends are tied up.

on gwen's end, if she marries miles and has kids with him, the subversiveness of her story dies. she'll never be allowed to leave his shadow again and any attempt to do so will be demonized.

the married-with-kids ending for gwiles turns her into an object to make a man more impressive. the spider-man who saves his gwen, keeps her alive and reproduces with her is the most special one, after all. it's not about her. it's about him and his legacy. anyone who wants that ending for gwen is either naive to its consequences for her, totally indifferent to it, or they DO know, and part of the appeal of this outcome is taking an independent woman, clipping her wings, and turning her into a trophy.

(miles is the first. miguel is the latter.)

earth-8 gwen is presented in canon as one of the Best Outcomes for gwen. which, to the men who wrote that storyline, no. gwen's a queer punk girl who wants to play the drums, not get married, pump out a nuclear family and become a supercop. she loves her world so much that abandoning it would break her heart. it's not a perfect future for 65 gwen, it's a miserable one.

fic-gwen has just put that together. her first impulse was to hate gwen-8 because she assumed she's complicit in trying to force gwen to be like her. now she's putting together that she's also a victim to this larger system.

there are plenty of alt-spider gwens, but not very many with any distinguishing features. five were chosen to be featured here:

trn457: ultimate cartoon-- this gwen's a young teen who makes herself a hero with tech from her dad's robocop line, choosing to be a hero even when miles already is one, and not doing so to be his sidekick or partner.

trn684: marvel rising cartoon. a diet comics gwen, aged down for the grade schoolers her show is aimed at. she's a drummer, with a skimpier design, bolder hair, and this gwen, like movies-gwen didn't kill her male best friend (a... kevin), but is assumed to by the cops. she also has gliders!

trn-18157: the marvel action comics, aimed at younger readers, where gwen is one of a plucky reporter trio trio with miles and peter. just friends! imagine that!

trn-17628, marvel spider-man 2017 cartoon. peter, miles, gwen and anya are classmates at a school for genius teens who become spiders together. gwen and anya have a gay vibe here.

earth-8311. spider-guin. the pun is great. gwen still being flightless is hilarious.

atsv gwen's penguin stuffed animal is a reference to her. and that her pink hair's a nod to her marvel rising counterpart.

all the spider-gwens, despite being from separate canons, affect each other. gwen has pink hair because marvel rising gwen did. gwen's a drummer from e65 who lost peter because comics gwen is.... and because movie-gwen is being made into miles's girlfriend, other versions of spider-gwen will probably follow suit. synergy.

which is why the girlfriendification of gwen in these movies is so awful. it's going to spread.

marvel action and msm17 gwen were chosen specifically to show that it isn't required for gwen to be spider-man's girlfriend. it was always possible for her to be just friends with miles and peter.

gwen is a symbol to the society. look at how great we are, we even raised gwen from the dead and made her one of us. and her presence makes miguel seem all the more special for being the one who did it.

the vibe between gwen and miguel is murky and fascinating. he keeps her close but treats her poorly. her father was redesigned for the movie to look more like miguel, whose defining death is now his daughter, whose name starts with a g. he is very much her father figure.

yet there are also miguels who are romantically involved with their gwens. earth-187319 is real. points for gwen for literally choosing to incinerate herself instead of date him.

like peter b, gwen exists for miguel in this gray area between daughter and girlfriend. unlike peter b, miguel can't or won't recognize gwen as her own unique entity. i think even he isn't totally sure what to do with gwen; he's using her as a gabi-replacement goldfish, but he's also very aware of other miguels whose gwens served a different role.

in my mind, he's on the verge of crossing that line. makes for eerier interactions.

adherence to canon is slowly wrecking miguel too. everyone is a victim.

perfect gwen of earth-8 is what a male writer would think is the ideal future for gwen stacy. it's what a father would want for his daughter: for her to grow up pretty, smart, polite, enter a respectable job and surround herself with respectable people. for her to marry and have the right number of kids with the safe boy he approves of, who won't challenge the status quo.

so though perfect gwen has a lot to offer the society, she's really here to be an ideal for gwen to strive towards. there's nothing scarier for a father than watching his daughter grow up and become a complicated, flawed adult.

especially watching her seek out romantic and sexual connections he doesn't approve of.

being the daughter archetype doesn't give you any more freedom or protection than being the lover.

miguel only thinks gwen's special because he's the one that protected her. it's still all about him.

and of COURSE the way gwen's punished in atsv is being sent to another male figure for punishment. it's always about which man is currently in control of gwen.

comic-gwen's most effective male villains are men who want to control, influence and own her or punish her for not using her power (... her body) in ways they approve of. just like in the comics, gwen is pressed into joining a shady organization led by a man whose name starts with the letter m (miguel, murdock) who holds her power at arms length unless she performs services for him, and has a skeevy vibe with her.

and yes, comics gwen beat the shit out of him.

'gwen yeets miguel' was the only note i had for this section in my outline.

the one person who'll do something about gwen's death is coming next chapter.

bringing back the red. and a mention of something dangerous. that's coming back too.

punching up is the answer. she's finally figured that out.

she's on her way to hobie.

another serendipitous moment: if 616 gwen stayed in london, she'd have survived. and look at that, along comes a londoner spider-man who's the only one working to secure her freedom, and who wants her to have self-definition and agency. it's too perfect.

closer quote

from jason latour's radioactive spider-gwen. this is the moment gwen-617 calls the watcher on his shit for trying to force 65 gwen to be with miles to produce the earth-8 timeline, for mocking her female supporting cast, for being angry that getting venomized didn't turn gwen into a villain. in short, for demanding she fit into a neat little box instead of become her own character.

and in context here, it refers to miguel, not being able to handle the thought of a gwen not fitting into her preconceived box.

#fanfic #arachnophobia fic

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happys-crazy-queen22 · 3 years

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A True Love The Final Chapter

Gif credit @yourwonkywriter

Taglist. @nocturnalherb16 @leaalfred. @creepers-baby-girl. @jesseswartzwelder. @writerwithasoul. @glimmerglittergirl. @ilovetaquitosmmmm. @twistnet. @baylishh. @tomhardydallasstarsgirl. @spnaquakindgdom. @mayans-mc. @lovebennycolonmiguelgalindo. @withmyteeth. @miss-nori85. @mrsmarvelous1995. @believinghurts

While Nestor talked with his men. Miguel smoked his cigar with a smile on his face. He knew the Mayans had something to do with your disappearance. But he didnt know if they took you or if you ran off with one of them. That stumped him. But he would soon find out.

"Kill them all if you have too. They're no use to me". Miguel told Nestor.

"What about the deal we had with them? Alvarez isn't going to like that".

"You let me deal with Alvarez when the time comes. Just take them out and bring me her". Miguel eyed Nestor. Nestor nodded and went to do his job. He's never seen Miguel like this before willing to kill entire club for a girl when he could have anyone. He didnt understand.

So the plan was set, Ez would take Gilly and Riz with him to Pops to look after you and your family. Angel and the others would take the bodies and the girl they paid off to Nestor at the designated place and time. It all seemed to perfect. Everyone had a gut feeling this wasnt going to work but they all knew the risks.

"You protect her. If anything happens call me. Ill be right here". Angel hugged Ez before leaving.

"Dont worry about us. You be safe".

"So I'll see you when we get back"? Angel grabbed you by your belt loop, bring you close to him.

"Not if I see you first". You both chuckled. You played with his chain on his wallet.

"I'll be alright. Dont worry". He moved your chin up with his hand.

"I'm going to worry. I just need you back home safely. I want more sneaking around". You giggled.

"Oh we'll have to sneak around, here at pops. He has ears like a dog. Plus your moms here and your grandfather. He scares me by the way". Angel chuckled wrapping his arms around you.

"Just come back to me".

"I will. I love you".

"I love you too". Angel leaned down and kissed your lips. Maybe for the last time. He kissed you long and hard. Not wanting it to end.

"I have to go". Angel released your lips and your waist, he grabbed his helmet from Ez.

You blew Angel a kiss before getting into the truck. This might be the last time you see him. It scared you. It was like going into battle and never knowing if you're coming home.

Angel and his guys road off down the street. And you in the opposite direction. You couldnt let this be what it came too. Going into the unknown. You had a plan of your own.

Getting to Pops, he met you outside and greeted you. Your grandfather took a liking to him. He was a simple man and he liked that.

"You can have my room and I'll take the couch". He offered.

"That's kind of you but I cant throw you out on the couch. I'll sleep on the couch or I can just bunk with my little sister". You said with a laugh. She hated sharing a bed when you were kids. She'd hate it worse now.

"If you're okay with that. That's fine with me". He chuckled and went inside the house.

"Hey Ez, where's the bathroom"? You asked.

"Go past the kitchen and it's your first door on the left". He said bringing in the suitcases.

"Thanks". You walked past him and headed in that direction but you made a little detour to the back door and started running. You just hoped Angel hasnt got to Nestor yet.

Angel and the others flew down the highway. The truck behind them carried three bodies. Two male and one female. With a girl passenger in front. His mind raced. He wanted this to work. He needed it to work. He was kinda second guessing his choice. Maybe he should have chose to leave. But it was to late for that. They turned off to the place they were to meet Nestor.

There stood Nestor and five of his guys. Their guns in hand.

"What took you so long"? Nestor asked before they could get off their helmets.

"Had to chase this one down. She wasnt cooperating with us". Bishop started off.

"Was Y/N there"?

"There wasnt any sign of her. Her family said they hadn't seen her in years". Angel spoke up, taking off his gloves.

"They could be lying. Has she said anything"? Nestor pointed to the girl.

"No. We dont think she can talk".

"We dont pay you for your thinking. Get her out of the truck and put her in the van. Now". Nestor ordered.

"Where do you want the others"?

"Bury them here. As long as they're dead she has no place to to go". Nestor got back into his car and waited for them to finish up.

Angel, Coco and Creeper got the bodies out while Bishop watched Nestor making sure he didn't pull something over their heads.

Nestor watched them as they unloaded. He got on the phone to call his boss but Miguel didn't pick up. He figured he was having another one of his fits. Nestor wasnt okay with taking and killing the girl as she sat beside him. He figured he would let the mayans do the dirty work and kill her as well.

"Loza". Nestor barked at the presidente. Bishop went over to the car.

"Take care of her too. We dont need her after all". Nestor opened the door for the girl and she got out.

"What do you want me to do to her"?

"Kill her. She's a witness". Nestor said coldly.

"Fine. After all that hard work and tracking her down. You just want me to kill her"? Bishop had to make it convincing.

"Yes. Bury her with the others". Nestor rolled up his window and his driver took off down the road.

That's exactly what the mayans wanted.

"Here's four thousand. Creeper will drive you where you want to go. Dont come back here dont speak of this to anyone. Okay"? Bishop handed the girl a wad of cash and sent her off to Creeper.

"You think he'll buy it"? Angel came up behind Bishop.

"Yeah. We have this in the bag. Get these bodies buried and let's head out". Bishop ordered and the others started digging.

While Angel's problems seemed to go away, you had yours. Getting back to Miguel's was hard without a car. You had to sneak everywhere. Looking behind your back and watching over your shoulder. His guys were everywhere.

But then you saw the house. You knew a secret way to get in without being seen. It was your only way in and out without Miguel finding out. Going through the woods and finding the back door you sneaked in.

No one was around, which was suspicious. No noise or anything. That's when you knew Miguel knew you were coming.

"Welcome back, Mi Amor". His voice scared you as he came up behind you.

"You look well". You sarcastically said at his appearance. The bags under his eyes. The day old clothes.

"I've been worried about you. Where have you been"? He steps forward, you step back.

"Around". You kept your answers short.

"Well, I've looked everywhere for you. No one has seen you or heard from you. So you went willingly. Because there was no ransom or demands. Just your wedding ring". Miguel tossed your wedding ring at you.

"I needed to get away. I couldn't do this any more".

"Do what? Be loved and cared for. Get everything your heart desired".

"Be afraid of living my life. I couldn't with you. You controlled everything I did. Who I saw. What I wore. Everything. No one should live like that".

"So why did you come back? Maybe to save someone"? Miguel chuckled. You knew he figured that it was a mayan but not which one.

"I came back to end this. To tell you I want out".

"It's not that easy, sweet girl. You and I are joined until death". Miguel stepped forward and grabbed your arm. Squeezing you tight. Angel was going to he pissed once he seen the bruises.

"Let go". You gritted your teeth as you clawed his hand. He pulled his hand back and slapped you across the face. That was the first time he hit you and it was going to be the last.

Miguel jerked you to him by your wrist. "I gave you everything. A nice home. A man that loves you. Nice things. Anything you wanted you got". He yelled in your face.

"Not everything. I needed freedom and I needed someone to love. I never loved you. I have hated you since I met you. That was our wedding. I dreaded to be alone with you".

"You ungrateful bitch". Miguel went to raise his hand again but you saw the gun in his waistband and grabbed for it. He saw it too and went to get it. Both of you struggled for the trigger. It simply went off. Both of you were shocked but only one was shot. The gun fell to the ground and so did Miguel. A gun shot wound to his lower abdomen. Shock on your face.

You stood over him, watching the life drain from his eyes. You knew you should call the police but why they were on his payroll. So you went to the security room and deleted all the tapes for that day. Wiped away any evidence that you were there. Looking at the house one last time, you left all your belongings. All the pictures you had of your family. Everything you had was in there. But that didnt matter. You had Angel and your family back. That's what was precious. So you headed back to Pops. Angel was probably there already. Killing Ez.

"You had one fucking job to do and you screwed it up". Angel yelled at Gilly, Ez and Riz.

They looked all over for you before Angel got back. You were a ghost in the wind. Once again.

"I'm sorry. She couldn't have gone far. She has no car". Gilly piped up but regretted it when Angel gave a death glare at him.

Angel was so angry. He fought for you and now his little brother lost you. He was worried that one of Galindos guys picked you up or worse you're dead. But all his worries changes when he saw you coming up the driveway. Something about you changed. Your hair was free flowing and you had a smile on your face. Not a care in the world.

Angel ran to you, picking you up and twirling you around in the sun. You kissed him deeply with everything you had. He was finally yours and you were finally his.

You were no longer Mrs. Galindo. You were now who ever you wanted to be. No labels. Just free. Except for Angel he was the only one that had a hold on you and you weren't going to let him go.

Gif credit @angelreyesgirl.

THANK YOU ALL 😘🥰😍

#angel reyes fic #angel reyes smut #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes #angel reyes imagine #mayans mc imagine #mayans fanfic #mayans x reader #mayans imagine #mayans angel reyes #happys-crazy-queen22 #angel reyes x reader x miguel galindo #miguel galindo fanfic #miguel galindo imagine #miguel galindo

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h0neyjaehyun · 3 years

Text

☁︎ 𝐁𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐧 ☁︎

Summary // Tali gives Jaehyun his nickname, and 127 find out Tali can speak spanish.

Characters // Talia Flores + Jung Jaehyun (ft. 127 Members and Miguel)

Era / Year // January 2017

Word Count //

Note // So the "...." when Tali is on the phone is when she pauses to hear her brother for any confusion.ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Italics // Spanish.

Tali just finished a fan signing, it went surprisingly well, some skips which she didn't really care it was expected, and luckily no sasaengs. She was at the back just resting, while on her phone.

Then she felt pressure on her lap, she looked down and saw Jaehyun laying his head on her lap look at her.

"Do you need something sir?" Tali raised her eyebrow at him. Jaehyun chuckled.

"No you just seem comfy."

"Ah okay." She shook her head playfully. She started playing with his hair since the fan sign was over and there was no need to fix make up or hair. In that process Jaehyun fell asleep. She look at him and shook her head at him again.

Then she got lost in thought. She was thinking about giving Jaehyun a nickname. Since she doesn't really call her members oppa. For example, she calls Taeyong, yongie. She looked down at him thinking of a name to call Jaehyun since she thinks there would be a better name that would suite him. She went through nicknames in english, Japanese, etc. Then she her second or third language spanish. There were cute names and also funny ones and she was just trying to figure out what suites him best.

"Take a picture it will last longer." Jaehyun said with a smirk. Tali went back to reality and scoff.

"Really omg, flirt much?"

"Only for you." He winked. Tali closed her eyes trying to compose herself.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Give me attention." Tali scoffed

"Sir, I was just trying to figure out a cute nickname for you, but apparently you wanting attention comes first." Tali said sassily. Jaehyun raised his eyebrows.

"Oh what nickname you thinkin of?" He said cheekily. Tali stopped in thought she was thinking of the two nicknames she was thinking of but chose the second one, and saved the other one for another person.

She looked at him cheekily.

"Well, I had two in mind, but I gonna go with Bon Bon."

Jaehyun was surprised at the nickname since he doesn't know what it means.

"What language is Bon Bon?"

"Its spanish."

"...wait you know spanish?" Tali mentally face palmed.

"Yes I do know spanish, now from now on Im gonna call you Bon Bon."

"What does Bon Bon mean?"

"Well, thats for me to know and for you to figure out." Tali smiled taking Jaehyun's head off her lap and running to Taeil. Jaehyun just got up and went after her.

"TALI COME BACK HERE I WANNA KNOW WHAT IT MEANS."

"NEVER"

She went behind Taeil and Winwin for protection.

"Whats happening?" Doyoung asked wondering why the two are yelling and Tali is hiding behind Taeil.

"She gave me a nickname thats in Spanish and she won't tell me what it means." Jaehyun pouted.

They looked at her in surprised.

"You know spanish?" Mark asked. Tali just looked at them all like are you kidding me.

"Yeah...its like my third or second language...why?"

"I- its just we never knew."

"You keep surprising us everyday." Johnny said wrapping his arm around her while messing up her hair.

"I still wanna know what Bon Bon mean-."

Tali's phone started ringing. She looked at it, it was her one and only twin brother. She thought out of all times.

"Wait, sorry I gotta take this." Before they could ask who it is she answer.

"Hey, yeah can we talk in spanish?....no it because the members are here and I'm worried on what you called me for since you never call me......oh the address?....I dont kn-... oh you want me to write it down." Tali looked up at the boys, seeing them amazed at her, she made a had gesture to get a pen and paper. Doyoung did and gave it to her.

"Okay, I'm ready give it too me....uh huh....uh huh okay, why are you giving me this address?....you're moving here?.... thats great...wait...you want me to help you don't you....your pain you know...yeah yeah bye see you when?.....Feburary? Wow in time for our birthday....aww your future wife...okay okay ill stop... you're modeling right?....yeah....you want me to what.....sure...fine just let me ask my manager...yeah see you bye." Tali ended the call she looked at the address and looked it up immediately. It look pretty cool. She then went straight to her manager.

"Hey you know Eric the Model, he kinda well known."

"Yeah I've seen him here and there."

"Well, he is mh brother and want me to do a photoshoot with him cause he thinks as twins will fit the concept he is modeling for."

Manager looked at her surprised, but he looked at the two side by side the do look alike...look I know they don't but just go with it.

"I didn't know he was your brother, sibling visuals, not surprising, sure yeah let me just add it to your schedule."

"Yeah okay thanks." She said.

She went back to her members.When she looked up to see her members shooketh.

"How are you so fluent."

"Its like my third or second language Mark,....I learned it from my mom."

"Wow when do we get to see your mom." Tali stopped at Haechans question.

"Probably not in a long time...she travels...a lot."

"Oh okay...so who was that on the phone?" Doyoung asked eyeing the peice of paper in her hand.

"Family, they just wanted my opinion on something."

"Ah okay." Them not completely buying it but do think its family.

"Lets go people at shower for practice." Their manger said. They started packing and once the got in the van Jaehyun sat next to her and her knowing whats coming.

"So princess you gonna tell me what Bon Bon means now?"

"Hm...sorry but I think Bon Bon is gonna have to wait." She said while squishing his cheeks.

Jaehyun layed back in defeat definitely going to bother her again about it though.

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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The Loud House Reviews: The Boss Maybe/ Family Bonding

Loud House weekly coverage continues as Leni is pushed into the deep end of responsiblity and taking over Lori’s old role of babysitter while her parents are gone and promptly drowns in a sea of comedy clubs, human body parts both on screen and in the fridge, old men in holes and indoor beach volley ball.

First things first: Last week I forgot to mention Rusty’s mustache freezing off as god, wether it be the judeo-christian god, Odin, that prick Zeus, the flying spagehtti monster or one of many other gods out there. Perhaps all of them did it at once out of hatred for the little weiner. Maybe one of them finally answered my prayers which in that case, that was nice and all but there are far worse things going on i’d prefer you took care of. Also the “stuff I couldn’t fathom” turned out to be just more loudcest, because of course it did. Loudcest is like David Spade, you think it’s finally gone or isn’t doing as much but then it comes around and makes the wrong missy and you waste 90 minutes of your life thinking i’td be so bad it’s good when it’s really just boring and a waste of it’s main actress talent. I lost track of that metaphor, but Loudcest is like david spade in that people like it for reasons I can’t fathom and it hasn’t quietly faded into the background for reasons I can’t fathom, though at least david spade was funny once. So maybe Loudcest isn’t like david spade. or maybe i’ve been taking too long with this bit.

But whlie last week was a bit wonky it also had a lot to setup.. but now it’s time to see what the show does with all the setup over, and a lot of new possiblities ahead. PItter Patter!

The Boss Maybe Ah now this is exactly what I was hoping for this season. New situations brought about by the year-up and all the changes it brought, with the same old heart and humor and character progression that drew me back into the show. This is the kind of episode i love and have talked about in the past and dosen’t fall into any of the shows usual pitfalls in the process. Just great. I could end it there but I haven’t shut up before why do it now. So this episode focuses on Leni who I talked about a bit last week and easily had the best plot and in general tends to have good episodes, both before and after the show became an ensemble piece, and even in episodes without her tends to slide in just fine. She’s always a nice breath of fresh air when she shows up.

I think that’s due to a number of things. For one it’s how sweet a person she is: She’s genuinely nice, kind and well meaning. While she is dumb as a box of rocks that resemble Pauly Shore, what I like is her stupidity isn’t malicious, or overused for misery. She causes comical injuries from time to time with it but she’s quick to apologize iff she realises it and usualyly has no ill will to anybody unless provoked or fighting Lori over a dress despite them wearing the same clothes all the time. I know standard animation thing but it’s always weird to me when shows with a stock outfit for a character have a fashionista, and prefer when shows have stylish characters actually change outfits like Kim Possible did with it’s title character, Xiaolin Showdown did with Kimiko and of all things LIttlest Petshop did with Blythe. Granted Blythe is a nothing of a character but still, credit where it’s due. But I do get this is also a nick show and they givet hem the budget of 50 cents and a network memo that says “BEG US FOR MORE MONEY” written in blood, so fair enough.

That aside she’s just plesant to watch. The other factor is Liliana Mumy. If you haven’t heard of her , she’s a vetran voice actress whose been doing this on and off since she was a kid, voicing Panini on chowder as a child and later going on to voice Beth in bravest warriors among other roles. Why she only does work so ocasionaly I have no idea but when she does she’s great. She’s also the son of fellow child actor BIll Mumy, aka the guy who as a kid played Anthony Fremont from the Twilight Zone classic “It’s A Good Life”, which if you haven’t seen it is about a small child who has the power of a god and thus can banish people who are “bad”, i.e. disobey him and thus rules over a small town as a creepy and cruel despot. Oh and he can read minds so if you dare to have a thought he dosen’t like your getting banished, with no telling what that means or where anyone disappeared goes. It’s good stuff. Highly recommend it, Mumy is absolutley terrifing and a brilliant actor even at that age and I wish he’d done more as an adult. I also bring it up because Lily played his daughter when they did a sequel episode during the UPN version of the show, set decades later and showing just what the little terror was like grown up... as well as what happens when his DAUGHTER gets the power. It was also really good and worth a watch after the first one. Good stuff.

TLDR: Leni is one of my faviorites, so’s her voice actress, i’ve rambled enough about unrelated stuff at this point.

We open at the mall, where for Leni life begins after schol, that’s when we bend all the rules time to hang with all her friends in the place where she belongs!

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I mean technically she’s 17 now, but she was 16 when she started this job and none of them were 16 by the time the show ended so nyeh. This started in season 3 when the show started giving the girls not just their own stories but their own supporting casts., storylines, love intrests etc. Luna and Luaan got their romance plots with Sam and Benny, Lori got her college plot towards the end of the season, Lynn’s friends started showing up in her plots more, Luna’s mortuariy club went from assorted background friends of hers to a full fleged supporting crew, and of course Lincoln’s friend group started to become a recurring part of his plots away from his sisters.

For Leni, being one of the only three kids that could legally work at the time, another possible plot to dig into, and with Luna having way less incentive to get a 9-5 job with her music to work on and the fact we’ve seen her use said music to make money once in a blue moon, Leni was a good choice. It gave her something she was good at besides fashion, even if it’s fashion adjacent and gave us a new supporting cast for those stories: Her boss Mrs. Redinger, your standard “i’m tough by fair” type, and her new friends Fiona and Miguel, two fellow fashion savy teens played by actors i’d never heard of but who do a damn good job and play off her well, with both being a bit sarcastic but Fiona being a bit more mopey and deadpan and Miguel being a possibly but defintely gay teen. Both play off her well by being more down to earth and more wiling to be negative, but still enjoyable enough to be around you can buy them being friends with Leni and their a stellar addition to the cast. I wish, much like we’ve gotten with Liam lately, we could see more of them outside leni stories. Their a treat.

But I really like Leni’s work there. Besides the cast it puts Leni in a role of responsiblity she excels at. My only real problem is her boyfriend, maybe I dunno, Chaz, one of the ONLY love intrests from l is for love to get mentioned again and one of the more intresting ones, never shows up despite also working at hte mall and the story potetial of them working for rival stores or the same store. I mean I can’t blame them for not throwing another love intrest on the pile when they had two ongoing romance plots, but now both Luna and Luann are on steady ground with their steadies, it’s time to pull that trigger, get off hte ground and eat that horse. Also let LIncoln have one again will ya? It dosen’t have to be stella but Girl Jordan is right there, i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again.. where is she. And if not her just make one you’ve proven to actually be really good at it.

Where was I? Ah yes the mall. Leni is doing great at her job, suggesting some gloves to scoots, who ceases being skeptical when a hunky younger man of 30 something compliments her on them them chases off after him. If you don’t remember who scoots was that’s the old lady on a scooter who makes troulbe and appareltly can still get it. Good for her. Granted this is coming from someone who ships eda and stan pines still even though it’s now revealed she’s 30 but... frankly I don’t think age is a concern with her and stan can make this joke, so it evens out.

I mean he would right? I”m getting off topic even more than usual, point is Leni is doing great and her boss takes her to the break room for cake room... it’s just the one cake but can you imagine a cake room? that’s the life. Just a fridgerated room full of cake.

Turns out she’s EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH. And she didn’t have to chain squidward to an ancient battle ship to get it or anything. After some confusion, Fiona has to clarify it’s NOT her birthday because of course she does, Leni is proud. Full of cake and pride she tells her mom whose decided to reward her good job at work.. by dumping a bunch of respnosiblity on her. I kid. Rita is being somewhat resonable here. She asks Leni to take over Lori’s old role of babysitting/making sure the other 10, now 9 kids don’t burn the house down... no really she actually specifies that when leaving in the next scene. Which.. fair enough.. you have 11 kids, all likely to plug in a lot of stuff especially Luna and Lisa, said Lisa is a mad scientest who ends up nearly being the one to do it this time, Lynn has no common sense, and the younger ones who aren’t mad scientst are still reckless and vain and combattive respectivley so the odds of a house fire nearly breaking out on any given night are 1:1. But Leni in a show of self doubt that’s rare for her is scared (Though her revealing that by answering a question of how she’d feel about about babysitting the kids with “Scared” was fucking gold. I swear Lily’s deliveries are always so great. ), and while Rita assures her she’s not sure. But as I said, she is being resonable: While Leni’s not the brightest she’s kind, she’s been shown even before her recent major award she’s responsible, she’s babysat for other people’s kids, and she’s kind. I mean they COULD put Luna or Luaan in charge but while when I first read the preview blurb for this episode I was cuirous why they didn’t think of that or thought they would, this episode does a good job presenting WHY they’d do it, while other episodes fill in the gaps: Luna is a bit reckless and Luaan can get caught up in her bidness and as we know once a week goes through the green door and comes out a gamma monster fuled by the sound of her own laughter, a horrible mixture of the joker and madman.. the leader’s insane brother. I’m a huge nerd, you all know this. Leni is the right choice.

Despite her nerves Leni has little choice but to take it on and Mr. Loud proudly sees her out with ye olde english as he and Rita, with lily in a cute little knight’s helmet in tow, are going to a renisance fair to cater, with Lynn Sr needing the backup. And while you may say “what about his staff”.. their either going with and he just needs an extra pair of hands since it’ll be nuts, or some of them are staying behind to man Lynn’s Table while he’s out on his catering gig. I mean the man has plenty of time for his kids, he’s not at the restraunt 24 hours a day. Someone else has to run it when he’s gone. I asked internally why they didn’t just take them along.. then reminded myself that taking all 11 kids to the faire at once, without anyone to watch them and likely having to call in favors when jsuta s likely, Lynn Sr and Rita can take them all another day with presumibly free passes as part of the catering job as that sounds like the kinda thing he’d do. Also Senior’s into scarf’s now thanks to Leni, which I love. Looks good on him. Hank should give her a call. Ascots may be out but I think he could rock a scarf. I’ve had ventures on the brain. What follows is naturally Leni having several panic attacks as chaos naturally insues btu without Lori’s lifetime of experince dealing with it. IT’s a nice dynamic: Leni, as we’ve established, has always been sort of Lori’s sidekick, her best friend, her amigo. Sure they fight, siblings do that, but they’ll always be there for each other when it counts. SHe’s never really had to THINK without her or be without her, so throwing her into the deep end of taking care of the kids really leaves her shook. It’s a HARD job, it’s probably why the louds don’t bring in babysitters often: there are 11 kids to look after, 10 now and only 9 tonight but still a LOT of them and most of htem pretty high maintince. It was just easier with Lori because she grew up knowing each of them, knowing each of their weaknesses and putting the fear of her righteous wrath into them. They’ve spent their whole lives looking up to her, literally and figuratvely, as their big sister and respecting her as the biggest authority in the house that’s nto her parents, sometimes bigger. Those aren’t just big shoes to fill , their Galactus size and that combined with her big sister worship leaves Leni understandably scared, lost and frequently paralized with anxiety this episode. No really multiple times she just freezes and one times she screams. As someone with Anxiety disorder I related to this.. sometimes you either just break down or you just FREEZE from the stress and everything hitting you at once and have no idea how to progress while people are still barking at you to do something. It’s a lot but it was a nice touch that really added to her sympathy. And her anxiety is also understandable when she’s being hit with 80 problems at once, which i’ll tackle all at once here rather than in order as this episode has a really frentic and good pace: while it follows the formula of “Leni runs into a problem, Leni freezes, then Leni gets help from Lori twice hten mr.grouse, more on that in am inute”, the quick pace and great jokes help keep things from feeling too repetivie.

Anyways the chaos: Just from the start Lucy puts a possibly human liver in the fridge, Lana eats all the cookies then gets skunked by her pet skun, and Lola and Lynn get into a fight over 5 bucks Lynn found, and since Leni can’t just let one kill the other as nature intended she has to fix all this.. mostly by removing the smell with tomato juice and scaring off the skunk and cutting the dolar bill in half. Money dosen’t work that way as both sisters point out but frankly it’s Lola and Lynn, I don’t care who they feel.

Meanwhile two of my other faviorties get into a tiff over their room: Luaan turns it into a comedy club and kicks luna out, with Scoots and her new man returning. Again, get it girl, get it, and Leni, under Lori’s advice, pretneding to be a fire marshall.. only for Luna towarsd the end to turn it into her own rock club. Lisa creates a corossive super substance that burns a hole in the floor, Lana continues to grapple with the skunk and finally Lincoln and Clyde.. watch a scary movie despite Lucy’s warnings.. and Lucy does something else.. I think? It was a chaotic episode with a lot of set pieces so forgive me if I forgot one of them. Honestly she’s the most well behaved there.But yeah as per the cliche Lincoln and Clyde, after Leni gets the wifi fixed with Mr. Grouse’s help, they get super scared and freaked. Everyomne is freaking, the house is falling apart and Senior wants permission to wear a pinky ring via thought cloud.. which.. no man no. Scarves yes but no one looks good with a pinky ring. No one. And I say that as amporphous blob covered in hair, sweat and regrets.

As for how Leni deals with all this she leans on Lori, calling her twice, but at inportune times: during a golf game and at the library where said phone gets taken. Granted, I don’t get why she didn’t have it on silent, as I would in those situations, but then we wouldn’t have an excuse to include her and it feels necessary to show WHY Lori can’t just help all night or reassure her sister and with Lori gone the panic only intensifies. As I said she gets paralized with fear and later just outright screams.. which attracts an irate Mr Grouse, the next door neighbor who I need to watch more of’s episodes. Including 12 louds of leapin.. I know i’m way overdue on that. This december. Promise.

The old man who yells at Louds helps for a bit, helping get rid of a beach Lynn set up because she’s lynn, she has the consderation of a puppy, but eventually falls in a hole like most great heroes and most elderly people. I mean the ones up the street at the retierment home must fall in once a week. They get out of course because the assitant living mole lets them ride out as it digs into the walls. Or maybe that was just a hallucination. Eventually though the start at her job comes back as she calls the only people she has left for help: Fiona and Miguel, who are at the mall in chairs because of courser they are, and both are confused why she’s so helpless: She’s fantastic at work, she’s kind, confident and smart.. about certain things, she can do this. Besides helping her confidence with this really sweet moment they also give her a good tool for how to use said confdience from work: just treat her siblings as customers. It’s also a nice call back to how we’ve seen Leni learn way back in season 1 during “Driving Miss Hazy” we’ve seen that she can have troulble grasping things, but when you put it in terms she understands, like fashion, or shopping, or in this case helping customers with their issues, she snaps into it. She learns at her own pace in her own way, it’s why I think sh’es neurotypical, and possibly ont he spectrum like yours truly: while her stupidity isn’t part of that the unqiue way she processes things has me supscious. either way it works.

So with a new strategy Leni.. literally adresses them like shoppers, which is comedy gold. However it’s a valid strategy: besides the visualation part by getting them to form a line, instead of trying to handle 2 or 3 problems at once she simply handles them one at a time: She scares the skunk off again, shuts down both competing clubs in the older kids room, uses water to take out lisa’s universal solvant, gives Lola and Lynn 5 bucks instead of just cutting a ten in half this time, and in the sweetest moment of the episode, reads Clyde and Lincoln a childrens book to clam them down. Sure it’s a bit funny but their genuine relief and all threes adorable expressions really melt the heart.

Leni finally wins, just as her parents get home and congradulate her, Rita’s faith not misplaced. While Rita probably knew it’d be an adjustment, and frankly should’ve prepped her sooner, she knows her daughter and knows waht sh’es caapable of. Also Senior brought home meet and gives leni a turkey leg who gives it to the old man who now lives in a hole inside their house. That’s his home now. Mr Grouse is just there now. Or I wish he was. But I guess you can’t always get what you want epsecially if it’s an old man living in a hole in the loud’s living room. Someday. Final thoughts for The Boss Maybe: As you could easily tell I loved this one. Funny with a hell of an emotional core, and with great pacing espeially for a loud house episode, this was a joy to watch and easily one of the best episodes the show has done. Just a funny, breezy watch with a lot of subtext, intetional or not, regarding what we’ve seen of Leni and honestly i’m going to go with intetional. It felt really rooted in who Leni is, her relationship with lori, and her work without hitting you over the head with it. It just all flowed really well and made for a hard one to top for the season this early. I’m impressed and it gives me hope for the rest of the season.

Family Bonding

This one was.. okay. As i’ve learned the hard way from doing Amphibia when an episodes just okay it’s best to breeze through it.. but I can give it this. While it’s mostly a standard loud house episode the ending.. wasn’t predictable. That’s for sure. I mean.. it left me with only one thought really...

But i’m getting ahead of myself. The episode’s plot is standard for the most part: Lincoln’s obessed with a new spy comic book about a james bond expy.. okay so that’s what Sterling Archer did besides physical therapy for the three months between his waking up and Season 11. Anyways they soon get more exciting news from Lynn. New Neighbors! Before Rita can stop them, the rest of her family tramples over her and goes to make their aqunatince and of course be a bit overbaring with it before Rita rushes in with a spray bottle to spray them like a bad dog because frankly when your dealing with 11 people most of whom are really impuslive, sometimes dog training just works. You try raising eleven kids and see how long before your brain breaks. Anyways after introductions and the mom turning down cherry pie, you monsters, lincoln sees strange flashing lights and a device and is convinced something is up and unable to convince his family and on a spy kick, recurits clyde. Now why he dosen’t call on Stella and Zach I dunno. And yes I said Zach and not my boy Liam. I have my reasons: Stella, besides being a faviorite of mine, is a tech whiz as shown in one of the comics and in the cookie episode, and Liam is already a paranoid conspiracy nut and as we’ve seen with Dale Gribble, they can be suprisingly useful. I mean Dale is not the best on common sense but he knows goverment bilaws in and out, is skilled with a gun or a bag of pocket sand, and has danny trejo’s octavio, whose basically danny but as hired muscle instead of a master actor, on speed dial. I mean we don’t know if Zach dosen’t have a danny trejo on speed dial or not. We never asked. As for the other two while I love LIam, spying just dosen’t seem to be in his sizeable skill set and Rusty.. well rusty’s about as subtle as a man covered in screeching cats he glued to himself blowing an airhorn, while screaming the script to a micheal bay movie while doing the explosion noises himself.. which Rusty has probbbly done. The real thing i’m getting at is I don’t get why, outside of Clyde and LIam, the writers think when LIncoln has an epiosde it either just needs ot be ClyncolnMcCloud or the ENTIRE group, when one or two would do the trick. YOu CAN seperate them out. People do hang out with diffrent friends at diffrent times. I know the show’s grasp on reality is tenous at best, we got to that last week with the whole one teacher for core classes thing with schooled and this week.. again we’ll get to it in a second, but friends DO hang out seperate. We saw each member of the Lincrew, minus stella because she didn’t exist yet, doing their own thing in Racing Hearts. It’s not that complicated. It’s hard to flesht hem out when their used as one solid unit and not unresonable to just use one or two. it’s a lesson I hope the show learns eventually and hope it’s sister show learns too.

But yeah our dynamic duo spend the episode as youd’ expect; unraveling conspriacies and stalking the new family, though there are some funny bits. Besides Rita squirting her family like a cat or a dog, we have flip getting half his face shaved by a survelince drone and okay maybe just those two things. not bad bits, but the general concept of them roleplaying into mischief.. has been done before. The show’s done the detective bit before and the spy trappings really don’t change that. And you CAN do a good spy takeoff episode, this one just sin’t it and feels like your standard LIncoln and Clyde messaround with tuxedos. Which to be fair are pretty awesome but still. It’s pretty flat. The climax though? I’ll give it this.. it’s pretty entertainngi if also 100% what exactly the fuck. So our heroes are naturally caught sneaking into the neighbors house and its eems they were wrong, etc etc, exactly what we expected the new kid will hang around.. at least we have a new character. Instead.. LIncoln accidently hits a knob and unveils a panel

So yeah... turns out the new family ARE spies, just for Peach Growers and plan to wipe out all cherries in royal woods. Yup.. look I know this universe is patently insane but even for loud house, even with all of lisa’s super science... even with the slapstick but this is just.. nuts. Like i’m fine with suspending my disbelif, this show is a goofy comedy, but this is a bit much. I LOVE it for being nuts but only in a “what on spagehtti monster’s green earth were you thinking”. I get swinging for the fences but Lincoln getting into a fight with a bunch of spies after playing spy, well beating them with slapsticks and stopping their plot to elmitie cherries..t his isn’t Kids Next Door. This just.. dosen’t work. Jeff Goldblum tell em why, my brains too broken to articulate this anymore

Yeah that. It’s just a weird climax and ends iwth LIncoln vetting the new neighbors.. which does it include girl jordon? Did they just write her out? If so why? Fans liked her, you can have more than one female character in Lincoln’s friend group. Zach is replacable. You can give me whatever the fuck this was, but not an intresting friend for him who has personality already. I get 50% chad but not your decision making. Gah.

Final Thoughts for .. this. one This one really didn’t work. Besides the ending just not fitting the series specific brand of ludicrous, I mentioned KND for a reason as it made this sort of plot work fine by having it’s whole unvierse be really fucking weird and specific, it’s mostly just okay. We’ve seen this before.. well okay I haven’t watched many of the Lincoln and Clyde messarounds, but the formula’s about the same. And that dosen’t work. For one you have a HUGE swath of new possiblities: A new school, Chandler coming back, new teachers and faculity, a new principal, and Lynn and LIncoln being in the same school, and you instead just.. retread the same crap. you have 4 of lincoln’s friends other than clyde to use but don’t let them in on the fun. And most agrivating to me you move new neighbors into the neighborhood while neglecting some of your old supporting cast and have them be villians of the week instead of adding someone NEW to the neighborhood. Give one of the other kids a new friend, or give lincoln a new friend to add to his group and replace liam, shake up the dynamic with him and clyde bya dding a third or, most obviously move one of his friends INTO the neighborhood, most obviously stella since you spent so much time building her up then have her addition affect Lincoln and Clyde. Sure we’ve had an episdoe of one of his friends getting in the way of them before, but this would be diffrent. This episode is just.. not great and was a waste of my time, espespcailly after following such a stellar episode. It’s probablyt he first genuinely bad episode i’ve covered on this blog. Now that probably won’t stand, i’ve seen genuiley worse but.. as a wise penguin once said.

One last note. That Young Dylan graphic is really obnoxiou and obtrusive. It’s the second most obnoxious thing i’ve seen on this network.

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I”m out for this week. If you want more check out my Amphibia reviews, as I just finished a new one today, my other loud house reviews in the newly minted nickelodeon tab or other stuff on my other tabs, send me an ask for reviews you’d like to see or pay me to review whatver you want for 5 bucks via direct message. And check this blog Monday for the return of weekly Ducktales coverage, and next weekend for the next episode of loud house, and throughotu the week for more reviews. Until we meet again, GO TEAM VENTURE!. Play us out Mary Kate Wiles. If nothing else this episode let me use this song.

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anamarialujan · 4 years

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Saudade.

Saudade is a word in Portuguese that has no translation into other languages, and expresses the mixture of sadness, loneliness, nostalgia and happiness, which we often feel for something or someone.

“Saudade for a brother who lives far off. Saudade for a childhood waterfall. Saudade for the flavor of a fruit never to be found again. Saudade for the father who died, for the imaginary friend who never existed…

Saudade for a city. Saudade for ourselves, when we see that time doesn’t forgive us. All these saudades hurt. But the saudade that hurts the most is the one for someone beloved.”

Miguel Falabella.

Tears pricked her eyes and memories swirled in her mind.

Once she was a happy girl, running around, proudly answering the teacher's questions, playing and arriving home early to find her mother with freshly made tea for her. Mom would brush her hair before bed, and the next day she would wake her up with the smell of baked bread and a kiss.

Things changed too soon and Mom was gone, and the bread was not baked either, and the interest in answering the teacher's questions vanished as her laughter.

A tear fell on the sheet, and then another. None of that would come back. It had been too many years and winds of Aberdeen for the moments where she was a happy girl to envelop her and give her the comfort she needed. That little blonde girl never imagined everything she would suffer, the loneliness that would threaten her every moment. Now, as an adult woman, she wanted to hug that little girl that was herself and tell her to be prepared, that she should enjoy Mom more and not to make pranks, that she should run faster through the countryside and not think that goats were the worst thing that could happen to her.

Another tear fell and she tightened her knees more to her chin. She felt cold, almost the same cold when she waited for her mother nights and nights and she didn't come to cover her and tell her a story.

She thought of the cold she felt the morning she walked to the train station. Once she was a sad young woman, saying goodbye to her home and her dead parents, with the wind hitting her face and drying the tears before taking the train.

Nostalgia for her house, her village, her parents, became a custom that was not erased while she studied and tried to find her place in the world. Her life would not return, things had changed completely, she only had memories to laugh and most of the time, to cry.

She got out of bed and went to the window. From the beautiful garden of the sanatorium, almost nothing could be seen. It was a dark and closed night, like the night she entered the Mother House. Once she was a happy novice, eager to show what she knew and help people.

Poplar became her new home, so different from home that saw her born, but so her, so tucked under her flesh that now, in this unknown place full of unknown people, she missed it very much, with its good and bad things.

If she spoke, if she put into words what she was feeling, she would leave her home and her place forever, they would send her anywhere else, and she would miss, as now, her sisters, nurses, the sound of the phone shattering the silence in the night, she would miss her bike and Fred's pride every time he repairs a wheel, she would miss her patients and the grateful looks of mothers hugging their new babies.

Once she was a nun, but she didn't feel that way anymore.

Her God, the only one who accompanied her for so long when she felt lonely, was no longer there. He no longer listened to her desperate prayers. She was punished for him, she knew it, her illness was unfair and she wanted to rebel, she wanted to break her whole life and have a new one, where she didn't feel the nostalgia she felt so inside.

She barely touched the frozen glass of the window, still standing there, freezing. She missed him. If she felt so sad and lonely right now, it was because she missed him fiercely, because she needed to see his hands and eyes that were sometimes sad, sometimes cheerful, sometimes green and sometimes brown. Of everything she missed and would continue to miss, everything she felt nostalgic about, he was the most important thing. Because she didn't know what he was doing, what he felt, thought or dreamed, and she was so far away, so sick, so lonely. She couldn't tell him that she knew she had a heart because it hurt with every beat, but that her soul was completely with him.

Lying in her icy bed, she cried for the last time for what she had and lost, and for what she dreamed and could not have.

#call the midwife #turnadette #sister bernadette #patrick turner #my fanfiction

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sweetiepie08 · 6 years

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Get Cool (Chap 1)

Based on @sharpace‘s knife shoe au.

Miguel loves to skate and he loves competing at skating, but he wishes he had more chances to skate with the rest of his team. The opportunity arises when his team is invited to perform a group routine at a charity showcase. However, when half his team suddenly falls ill, they are forced to either pull their performance or combine with their rivals, the De la Cruz team.

Chapter 1. Chapter 2.

“Get off our ice!”

“You only want this time because you know it’s our time!”

“I will not stand for such accusations!”

“You’re just trying to keep us from practicing for L.A.!”

“What are you implying?”

“I’m implying nothing! I’m stating it out right, saboteur!”

Miguel sighed and sunk his face further into his hands. Every. Single. Time. He and his team sat on the bleachers while their coaches bickered about rink times. You’d think by now there’d be a time slot sign-up list or something. Why couldn’t they just skate?

He glanced over at Team De la Cruz. They looked just as bored as he did. Though, he noticed a few kids were missing. Sick? Injury? It didn’t matter.

This was going to go the way it always went. They’d argue until the rink manager came out and forced them to compromise. One team would get to practice while the other team waited around for their turn. Their coaches would glare & make snide remarks at each other. He’d ride home with Tío Héctor & Tía Imelda grumbling about “that De la Cruz.” Then they’d get to do it all over again the next day. At least it was Friday. They had a whole two days before they had to sit through this again.

Oh look, here he comes now. A sweaty, balding man walked up to the rink wall. The coaches skated over to him and, after much complaining and arm flailing, Ernesto slinked back to his team, glaring, while the Riveras called their team onto the ice. Miguel predicted this outcome too. De la Cruz had the ice first yesterday, so naturally it was their turn.

“You guys have schoolwork?” Ernesto grumbled to his team. They all nodded in reply. “Well go do it. They’ve got the ice until four.”

Miguel put on his skates and joined his team on the ice. Finally… Just once he’d like to have a practice that didn’t have time dedicated to drama.

[-]

After practice, Miguel waited on a bench while Héctor and Imelda talked to the rink manager about time slots. Yet another thing he wished they didn’t have to waste time on. At least twice a week, the rink manager threated to kick out both teams, but they all knew these threats were empty. It’d be bad publicity for everyone and no one wanted that.

“Well if that’s the way you want it!”

Miguel turned to see Ernesto holding a phone to his ear and his face turning red.

“Just see if you can find a better trainer. Don’t come crawling back to me.” He ended the call, muttered a few curse words, and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

Yeesh, Miguel did not envy the De la Cruz team.

“Did we lose another one?” asked Marco, De la Cuz’s star pupil, who’d been sitting close by.

“Never mind that,” Ernesto growled, running a hand over his face. “Just get on the ice.”

Marco and Ernesto stepped into the rink. Geez, what was that all about? Miguel wondered. He didn’t have time to think on it as his teammates, Juan, Arturo, and David, approached him.

“Oye, Miguel,” called Juan as he got closer. “You sure you can’t come to my sleepover tonight? My mom still says it’s okay.”

“Sorry, it’s my Abuelita’s birthday. My family’s going out to eat to celebrate.”

“Too bad,” added Arturo, “it’s gonna be fun.”

Miguel sighed and glanced over at Héctor & Imelda who were finishing up their conversaTion with the rink manager. “Sorry, guys. Maybe next time.”

“Okay then. See you at practice,” said David. They all said goodbye and the three boys walked away. Miguel watched as the boys jumped into Juan’s mother’s minivan and drove away, wishing he was in that car, too. It wasn’t Abuelita’s birthday that was the problem. He wouldn’t mind missing the sleepover so much if he got to hang out with his friends on a regular basis. But there always seemed to be some excuse about why he couldn’t go. Just once, Miguel wished he could join in on the fun.

“Ready to go Chamaco?” A hand landed on the top of Miguel’s head. He looked up to see his Tío Héctor smiling down at him. “Don’t want to keep your Abuelita waiting, do we?”

You’ve got no problem keeping me waiting. Miguel bit his tongue for even thinking that. His family already made sacrifices so he could compete. It really wasn’t fair to ask any more of them. “Sure,” he said, smiling himself. “Let’s Go.”

[-]

Monday morning rolled around. Miguel sat eating his breakfast while he listened to Tía Imelda field yet another phone call. This one was the third one this morning and they all went about the same.

“Alright, tell David we hope he feels better soon. Okay, bye.” Imelda hung up the phone and sighed.

Héctor frowned. “David, too?”

“What’s going on?” Miguel asked between bites.

Héctor and Imelda gave each other a look. Oh no, not that look. Adults always gave each other that look right before delivering some bad news.

“It seems Arturo and David slept over at Juan’s over the weekend,” Héctor said.

“Yeah, I knew that.”

“Well, apparently Juan’s little sister had the flu, but she wasn’t showing symptoms yet,” Imelda continued. “The boys all caught it too. I told them to sit out for 2 weeks so it doesn’t spread to the rest of the team.”

“Two weeks? But what about the charity showcase?” He’d been looking forward to it. It was being put on by the Make-A-Wish foundation and they invited skaters from all over the world to be a part of it. Normally he skated solos but for the showcase, he’d be part of a group routine. He was supposed to get to spend more time with his teammates. He was supposed to get to skate without worrying about having to outscore the De la Cruz team. He was supposed to have fun. But they needed at least six skaters to participate in the group showcase, and if they were missing three…

“I’m sorry, Chamaco. Juan, Arturo, and David aren’t going to have enough practice time before the showcase. It looks like we have to pull out.”

“No!” Miguel shouted, slamming his hand on the table. “I want to skate! There must be some way we can still go!”

“I’m sorry, Miguel,” Imelda said. “There’ll be other shows.”

“Not like this!” Miguel wished he didn’t sound as whiney as he did, but he couldn’t help it. “I was going to get to skate with my friends for once.”

“Look, nothing’s set in stone yet,” Héctor added. “Let’s just have a good practice today, and we’ll see what happens.”

Miguel crossed his arms and sunk down in his chair. He hated when adults said ‘we’ll see.’ Did they really think he didn’t know what that actually meant?

“Now, finish your breakfast.” Imelda had her coach voice on. She would hear no more complaining. “We need to get to practice.”

[-]

Practice started with the same old shtick: De la Cruz and the Riveras arguing over rink time. Once again, Miguel and his teammates were left waiting in the bleachers.

“So, we’re really pulling out?” Carlos asked.

Miguel nodded bitterly. “He said, ‘We’ll see.’”

The entire team groaned in unison. “We’ll see?” Antonio grumbled. “Do they think we’re stupid? We know what that means.”

Miguel nodded and glanced over at De la Cruz’s team. There were only three of them. The team had six only two weeks ago. Plus, there was that call he overheard on Friday. Were kids leaving De la Cruz’s team? If that was the case, they’d have to pull out too.

A light bulb went off in Miguel’s head. “Hey, guys,” He said, turning back to his teammates. “I think I know how we can stay in the showcase after all.”

“How?”

“The De la Cruz team.”

“What?” Antonio scoffed. “Are you crazy? Why would they help us?”

“Well, I was just thinking, since they have three skaters and we have three skaters…”

“But they might not go for it,” Carlos argued.

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask,” Miguel said, getting up.

“Asking in general, maybe, but asking them?”

Miguel rolled his eyes and started over. What was there to be scared of? Marco was mean sometimes, sure, but he wasn’t a monster. The De la Cruz team were just kids like them; kids who loved to skate. And if they said no, at least they tried, right?

As Miguel approached the De la Cruz team, Marco peaked over the sunglasses which he, for some reason, insisted on wearing indoors. Miguel heard Marco mutter “This ought to be good,” to his teammates, but pretended he hadn’t heard.

“Hi,” Miguel started off with a friendly smile, “my team and I were just talking and we noticed there’s only three of you.”

“Wow, you counted all the way to three?” Marco sneered. “Someone’s been watching his Plaza Sésamo.”

“Actually, it’s just called Sésamo now.” Miguel realizes his mistake when the De la Cruz team bursts into laughter. “My little cousins watch it. They’re five,” he said, attempting to recover, but he knew he’d already lost. The boys only laugh harder and Miguel felt the heat rising to his cheeks. “Anyway, I was thinking…”

“Oye! What’s Elmo up to these days?” One of the boys threw out.

Just ignore him. “I was thinking since you have three skaters and we have three skaters…”

“Did Conde Contar teach you how to add?” Another boy said.

Miguel gritted his teeth and looked away. Is this really worth it? “You know what, forget it,” he huffed and stormed off.

“Have fun with Abelardo!” one of the boys called after him, sending the rest of the team into hysterics all over again.

“Oye, Rivera!”

Miguel stopped at the sound of Marco’s voice. “What do you want?” he sighed turning around.

“Look, I think I know where you were going with that,” Macro said as he ran up to Miguel. “I noticed there were only three of your team, too.”

“Yeah, three of our teammates got the flu,” Miguel answered.

“And neither of our teams can go to the showcase with only three.”

Was this really happening? Were he and Marco really on the same page? “That’s why I was going to ask to team up.”

“I thought so,” Marco said with a nod. “What makes you think our coaches will go for it?”

They both looked over at their arguing coaches. Imelda and Ernesto were getting in each others’ faces. Héctor had his hand on Imelda’s shoulder, a subtle way to pull her back in case she decided to punch Ernesto in the nose…again.

Miguel put on his best optimistic smile. “Well, I’m sure if we told them we all agreed on the idea and told them we really wanted to perform…”

He was met with a roll of the eyes and a dismissive puff of air from Marco.

“Or, we could just forget the whole idea.” Miguel turned sharply and began walking back to his team. He wasn’t sure this would work, but if Marco chased him down the first time…

“Wait,” Marco called after him.

Miguel stopped and tried to fight down the cocky grin creeping to his lips. “Yes?”

Marco chewed on his bottom lip and glanced back and forth between Miguel and the coaches. Finally, he turned back to his team and demanded, “Justo, get out your phone.”

Justo crinkled his eyebrows and shot a look at the rest of his other teammate. “Why?” he asked, taking his phone out of his skating bag.

Marco marched up to him and the phone. “Because, I’m about to break into Coach’s email and I don’t want him to see it on my phone.”

Miguel looked over Marco’s shoulder as the other boy opened the email app and typed in Ernesto’s username and password. He scrolled past emails from parents, reporters, skating officials, and at least a couple dozen from some lady written in English. Finally, Marco stopped on the showcase invitation. He opened the email and clicked the link. “It doesn’t say anything about not teaming up. We might have to reregister under a new name, but that’s about it.”

“That’s it?

“That’s what I just said.” Marco tossed the phone back to Justo who scrambled to catch it. “We’d better ask, like, now, though. Registration closes today.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” asked Martín, the other De la Cruz team member.

“We’re teaming up with the Rivera team.” Marco’s answer left no room for discussion.

“Wait, we’re really teaming up?”

Miguel turned around to see Carlos and Antonio hovering behind him. “Well, if we want to perform, this might be the only option. If you guys are all down, we can get our coaches on board too.”

Carlos and Antonio deliberated for a second, then responded with a nod. Justo and Martin still looked unsure, but Marco shot them a glare and they agreed.

“Good, then it’s settled,” Marco declared. He dragged Miguel down from the bleachers and over to the rink side where the coaches were still fighting.

“Tío Héctor,” Miguel said, interrupting some insult Ernesto was about to launch.

“One second, Chamaco,” Héctor replied, still glaring at Ernesto. “We’re figuring this out.”

“Actually, while you guys were fighting,” Marco sneered, “we figured something out,”

All three coaches stopped, shot each other confused looks, then turned back to the kids. “What?” Héctor asked.

“What do you mean?” Imelda added.

“Neither of our teams have enough to perform at the showcase,” Marco began.

“Marco,” Ernesto hissed, “what are you doing spreading that around?”

“But, if we combine our teams, we’ll have enough skaters,” Miguel finished.

“We just need you guys to not kill each other for a month,” Marco added.

“We already looked it up. It’s not against any of the rules.”

Héctor and Imelda stared at each other in a way which made Miguel suspect telepathy existed. “It does make sense…” Héctor conceded.

“Did the rest of your teammates agree to this?” Imelda asked.

“We took an informal vote.”

“I’m okay with it if they are,” Héctor said.

Imelda nodded. “It would be good team building.”

“Well, I am not,” Ernesto snapped, folding his arms firmly across his chest. “Marco, you have your reputation to think about. You need to skate with teammates that are up to your caliber.”

“But, we all compete on the same level,” Marco argued. “He’s beaten me plenty of times.”

“Yeah and he’s won over me, too,” Miguel pointed out. This was so stupid. They were comparing ranks now? When there were more important things to worry about?

That’s not the point. You’re too talented, Marco. You don’t want to be held back by…

Ernesto’s phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. He looked at it, cringed, then stuffed it back in his pocket. “You’re sure this isn’t against any rules?” Ernesto asked through gritted teeth.

“Absolutely sure,” Marco confirmed.

“You guys would just have to reregister together,” Miguel added.

Ernesto ground his teeth behind his lips. Smoke would not be out of place coming out of his ears. His head looked like might turn into a cartoon firecracker and explode. He let out a long puff of air through his nose and finally answered, “Fine.”

The answer looked like it pained him, but Miguel paid him no mind. He turned to Marco and offered a celebratory high-five which the other boy, surprisingly obliged.

Miguel could feel his grin stretching across his face as he ran up to bleachers to tell the others. Finally, he was going to get to skate for fun.

#knife shoe au #ice skating au #coco #coco au #coco fanfiction #pixar coco #miguel rivera #marco veracruz #hector rivera #imelda rivera #ernesto de la cruz #coco fandom

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meltingalphabet · 5 years

Text

What’s So Scary About Halloween? Age 20

By college, I thought I understood the rules. I thought I knew the laws instilled upon me. And in a moment of desperation, I thought I knew how to play the system.

But I was very, very wrong.

At age 20, I went to a party.

It was my junior year of college and I was struggling to fit in. People who didn’t know me looked at my deformed hand with disgust and morbid fascination, wanting to know how I lost a thumb and two fingers but not wanting to ask. They noticed my glass eyes with scrunched up noses and ill hid stares. I could see the questions form in their minds even as they bit their tongues, giving me tight lipped smiles. It didn’t help that I wouldn’t stay out long after dark and that I never drank or smoked. It’s hard to make friends when you’re afraid of everything and everyone. When you’re so damaged. So utterly broken.

I watched my freshman and sophomore roommates melt into the social stew of college, of sex and alcohol and drama, while I stood at the sidelines. No, not stood. As I hid behind bushes along the sidelines, praying no one would see me. By junior year, I lived in a small dorm room by myself where I’d eat every meal, only leaving to go to class and church.

And then I met Hayley.

Mom had always told me that sitting in the front row made you get better grades. I don’t know how founded that piece of advice was, but I listened to it all throughout high school and college. But my alarm didn’t go off that morning and I was running late. I normally get to Organic Chemistry ten to fifteen minutes early. The class was a common requirement taught by two professors: Professor Goldwick in the spring and Professor Martin in the fall. Professor Goldwick was in his late seventies and thought the 19th amendment was a temporary fluke. He was a boring asshole, but he was a tenured one. Professor Martin was younger, prettier, and actually competent at her job. Which meant that Organic Chemistry in the fall was always full beyond capacity. She was smart enough, and considerate enough, to hold extra lab classes for the spillover, but there was still only one lecture a week.

But the time I arrived, there was standing room only. I groaned as I picked my way towards the back where there was room. I sat down heavily on an empty step, frustrated with the morning’s events. I began to skim through my notes from last week when someone sat down beside me. I looked up and was faced with the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She smiled warmly at me.

“Running late?” She asked, her voice low and smooth.

I nodded dumbly, not saying a word.

She smiled. “Yeah, I normally see you sit at the front.” She pointed to my normal seat and I blushed. She giggled slightly, “sorry, that came off as creepy. I’ve just…” She paused to think, “I’ve just noticed you.” She watched my face, waiting for a response. I swallowed and gave her a half hearted smile in return before looking back down at my notes.

A hand appeared between my face and the page. “I’m Hayley.” She said. I looked up and took her hand.

“Taylor.”

I saw the question form on her forehead as she tried to register what was wrong with the handshake. What was wrong with me. Her gaze shifted down and hesitated on the large white scar over my missing fingers, but her eyes quickly lifted back to my face and she gave me a small but genuine smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Taylor.” She said as I turned to face the front of the room. My ears burned with heat and I blushed deeper. Miguel once told me that my ears grew bright red when I was horny. I know he told me that with affection but it horrified me. Like a public boner. I didn’t like my feelings being transparent.

Professor Martin began the lecture and I tried to forget about Hayley. Tried to ignore her presence beside me. The room was so crowded and she was so close. The slim space between us vibrated with electricity and the sounds of the professor’s words grew in and out of focus.

Class ended and Hayley and I began to pack our bags as students trickled out of the room. “Any fun plans for today?” She asked, picking up her pen and notebook. I paused and looked at her. She was watching me, waiting for me to respond.

“Uh, no. Not really.” I said honestly.

She smiled. “Wanna go get something to eat at the shack with me?” She tilted her head slightly with the question and my heart stopped. It was the same way Jackie used to look at me. My breath caught in my throat and I coughed awkwardly, looking around the room.

What would a normal person say? I thought, but it was too late. I was already being weird. I stood and sped out of the room without saying a word.

She called after me, her voice faltering with confusion. “Oh, uh… see you next time!”

I could think of nothing but her for the rest of the week, looking forward to Organic Chemistry as if it were Christmas. Even though I hated straying from my routines, I walked past the still empty front row and waited there in the back of the classroom, hoping she’d sit by me again. And, to my surprise, she did. She smiled and said hi before sitting down beside me. This became our new tradition every Thursday morning. She’d make small talk and at first it was mostly one sided, but slowly I was able to warm up to her. We talked about our majors, what dorm we lived in. Small things. And then one morning Hayley asked me to get a bite after class and I agreed.

We were eating chicken tenders at the shack, a fried food place on campus, when she started excitedly discussing Halloween. Only two days away, it made sense. It’s what normal people talked about. I swallowed hard, my chicken getting caught painfully in my suddenly dry throat. A little pit in my stomach began to grow.

“Are you going to Pi Kappa Alpha’s Halloween party Saturday?” Hayley asked, her eyes large and filled with childlike excitement.

The pit grew hot in my gut. “Uh… I wasn’t going to.”

She smiled at me and my knees literally went weak. “Would you like to come with me?”

The pit fell as if it were an anvil in an old cartoon. I could feel it fall down, deep into the earth and far away from me. And with it, the world. I was in a dark place. A place of shadows and the shadows were speaking. Some were calling to me and some screaming at me. Beckoning me to come, telling me to leave. Green figures with thin sharp teeth asked me to play.

There was a pressure on my shoulder and I realized it was Hayley’s hand. She was looking at me, her eyes filled with concern. I had stopped breathing. Humming filled my brain as I inhaled. My heart was racing, thumping against my chest as if it were trying to get out. I looked at Hayley and she was smiling at me. I exhaled with a sigh, the sensations falling from my body like a too tight coat. Her smile was like a life preserver, giving me something to focus on. Something to bring me back.

I heard a voice, distant and far off. “I’d love to.” It said. I didn’t think it was my voice at first. I knew I would’ve never agreed. But it was my voice and that’s what it said. It betrayed me.

Hayley wrote her number down on a piece of paper and handed it to me. “See you there.”

I knew the consequences of Halloween. I knew it was a mistake. I had intended to text her that I couldn’t make it. That I was sick. But then my thoughts would fill with Hayley’s smile and I’d find myself somewhere else. Somewhere without worry or fear. And so, filled with an optimism and hope I hadn’t had in years, I didn’t text her to cancel. Instead, I skipped class to try and think of a way to save the night. A way to avoid the wrath of Halloween.

The aisles of the store were practically empty, a ghost town on the night before Halloween. I scanned the remnants of the costumes for something useable. A nurse, a pirate, a nun. I hesitated at the last costume, but images of evil nuns and priests made me move on quickly. I was about to give up on finding a costume that was Halloween-proof when something white caught my eye. It was hiding, three plastic costume bags deep on the metal arm, no longer sorted into any particular order. I pushed aside a bag with a man in a devil’s costume on the front.

“Perfect.” I said, smiling at the costume that lay beneath.

Already drunk kids filled the frat house’s front yard as I approached. My phone buzzed in my hand with Hayley’s newest text message:

Out front. See you soon.

I looked up and immediately spotted her. She was dressed in a torn pale gown that flowed out around her. Her skin was painted grey with heavy black shadows under her eyes. Around her neck was a loose rope, tied in a noose. Her eyes lit up as she spotted me and she jogged over to where I stood. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me lightly on the cheek. I blushed as she fell away, leaving her hand on my shoulder, her body still close to mine.

“Hey.” She said as she smiled up at me. I had several inches on her and seeing those big brown eyes look up into mine sent shivers through me.

“Hey.”

We stared at each other for several seconds before I looked her up and down. “And what are you supposed to be?”

She stepped back and spun for me. “A witch!” She laughed.

I returned the laughter. “Oh, I get it. Like from the Salem witch trials. Uh… You don’t think that’s… in bad taste?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. But don’t you think witches are probably already offended by commercialized pointy hats?”

I sighed, “I guess.”

“Besides,” she said, pushing my shoulder back playfully, “I could say the same thing about you!”

I looked down at my own white gown, careful not to let my halo fall from my head in the process. “What’s wrong with my costume?”

“You don’t think Christians would be offended by you dressing up as an angel?”

I rolled my eyes. “As a Christian, I don’t find it offensive.”

She raised an eyebrow, “and how do you know I’m not a witch?” She pulled at my gown and looked up at my coyly. “As someone who worships Satan, I find your costume very offensive.”

Hayley turned and lead me into the house, now pulsing with loud music and party-goers.

The party was actually really fun. Despite drunk jocks and more slutty bees than you’d think was necessary, I enjoyed watching Hayley’s face open with excitement as she introduced me to her friends. My face and skin burned pleasantly with the first alcohol I had drank since middle school.

We left on the early side.

“It’s her first college party.” Hayley slurred as she very un-delicately stroked my face. “We don’t want to overwhelm her!”

Hayley’s friend Paul, dressed as a pokemon character I didn’t recognize, rolled his eyes at me. “Yes, Taylor seems very delicate. It’s a good thing she has you to take care of her.”

She smiled at him coyly as she pulled me into her in a faux gesture of protection. Paul winked at me and I blushed, thankful that the room we were in was dimly lit.

Hayley fell into me as she stepped off the house’s front steps and I wrapped my arm around her to steady her. She had been excitedly babbling about her dreams of going to veterinary school since we said good-bye to Paul, her words unnecessarily loud and sloppy, interrupted here and there with small violent hiccups. I patiently let her talk, relishing learning more about her.

“Wait,” she slurred, pausing and pointing at the woods beside the street. “I know a shortcut.”

I looked at the densely packed trees. “Maybe we should stick to the road.”

“No, trust me.” She said, her breath reeking of alcohol. “I take this path all the time to get to my dorm.”

“Come on, not tonight.” I said, trying to lead her away.

She giggled as she slipped from my grasp and ran into the woods.

“Hayley!” I called, but she was gone. I jogged in after her. I could hear her footsteps, loud through the dry autumn leaves. She hiccuped and giggled. I ran forward, following the sounds. And then they stopped.

My steps slowed. “Hayley?” I asked tentatively. I stopped for a second, listening for any sign of her, but the woods were silent. I began walking again, the forest tall and dark and quiet around me.

“Boo!” Hayley said as she jumped out from behind a tree.

I screamed in surprise. “Jesus Christ!” I cried, my breath hitching as I laughed in relief. “Fuck, you scared me.” My breathing calmed and my laughing turned into giggles. Hayley was looking at me intently, her smile lopsided from drink.

And then she leaned forward and kissed me. The world faded as she pushed her soft lips into mine. She pressed her body against me and electricity shot through my skin. I remember she smelled like vanilla, despite the cloud of alcohol that hung around her.

Hayley pulled away. I opened my eyes, slowly as if just waking from a deep sleep. She smiled again and laughed before whispering, “catch me if you want another kiss.” And she was off.

It took me a few seconds before I registered what she had said and I ran after her, again following the noises of her feet through the forest. And just like last time, the sounds soon stopped. I began to walk, excitement filling my lower abdomen as I eagerly waited for her to jump out again and kiss me. The thought sent tingles up my spine and back down to my inner thighs. This time, I’d kiss her deeper, taste her. This time, I’d pull her into me and never let her go.

A snapping of a stick brought me back to the present and I paused, “Hayley?”

Another stick broke, a thicker one from the sound. It was coming from above me. I looked up. The dark woods were still. I searched the branches for her. Movement caught my eye and I saw something on a thick branch several feet above my head. There wasn’t much light from the moon, but I thought I could make out shoes.

“Hayley?”

Two feet stood motionless above me.

“Hayley, is that you? What the fuck are you doing?”

One of the feet moved forward hesitantly, as if testing the still night air, before stepping forward. I went to reach my hands out to grab her but she was in front of me so quickly. I hadn’t had a chance to move. In just a second Hayley’s eyes in line with mine. And then there was another snap, louder than before. It sounded wet, much wetter than a stick. A splintering noise that I still hear in my nightmares.

Hayley spasmed in front of me and I stepped back in surprise. The noose was around her neck, but it was no longer loose. It pressed up and into her throat. Her head was bent at a wrong angle and I could see her bones pressing into her skin where her spine had broken. Her big brown eyes bulged and her mouth was open, exposing a bloated tongue.

We weren’t that deep into the woods and students walking past soon heard my screams. They found me hugging Hayley’s lifeless form, pulling at the tight noose around her neck with my two fingers.

It was ruled a suicide.

Sometimes I think if I hadn’t blindly grabbed her, if I had actually used my bad hand to hold her and my good hand to free her, she would’ve survived. But I know it was too late.

Since that night, I have never wavered from my strict no Halloween policy. My husband Chris has been incredibly understanding. He knows about Hayley and the story I told everyone about what happened to my hand. To my eye. He thinks I have Halloween PTSD, which I guess is true. The nasty coincidences. So many horrible events on the same night, years apart. It’s understandable why I’d hate the holiday. Anyone would.

Our son, Zack, has never dressed up. He’s never gone to a Halloween party nor has he even gone trick or treating. I’ll admit, it hasn’t been easy. The other parents don��t understand. They assume I’m a religious nut. But I have to protect myself, and I have to protect Chris and Zack. I’m still plagued by the memories of Hayley’s face, her eyes bulging from their sockets. I look at my beautiful, wonderful family and I’m reminded that Hayley will never have one.

Zack turned five this year and it’s beginning to get even harder to keep him from celebrating. But I thought I had been strict enough, that I had stressed to Chris how sensitive the situation was. I thought he realized that Halloween was forbidden for a reason, even if he didn’t know what it was.

But he caved. He took Zack to a Halloween store without my knowledge and bought him a costume. I came home to my beautiful baby boy squealing with delight as he showed me what he was going to be for Halloween.

Zack’s dressing up as a black cat tonight.

I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

#nosleep #horror #scary #shortstory

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sequence2022 · 2 years

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Gabriela - Anecdote - Why

Why do I care about writing about care

It is a lot easier to study / The world’s lack of care / Than to watch it

My dreams reach / For magical realism / To survive

Since I was little, disability history has haunted me. The infanticides. The hiding away. Even in the US, nightmarish, inhumane institutions only began to phase out in the 1960s with the work of people like Eunice Kennedy Shriver. I’d hear stories and research and watch documentaries and thank God that this was past. I’d vow to help my brother and affect the world’s landscape of care in any way I could.

What I didn’t realize was that the violence against people like my brother Miguel remains ancestral. Inseparable from today. Our institutions, practices, and thoughts are only starting to shift away from paradigms of complete terror and exclusion. The kind of reimagining work people must do to create spaces of care and equity for people with all kinds of disability and illness… it is momentous. It is heavy. It is critical.

Caregiving is a big part of what it means to be someone in my family. But it is incredibly isolating.

My mother made her best friend the godmother to my brother, an incredibly holy, intimate, and maternal honor in Latin America. But then, at every birthday, she would leave his present at our door and not go inside; she wouldn’t celebrate her godson. Imagine this in an affectionate culture like ours. It broke our hearts.

Many friendships my parents have kept have either been made on the basis of shared difficulties or on the basis of “Hi I have a medical question.” It is tiring to not be seen beyond such transactions. It is even more tiring for my brother not to be seen as a whole person at all. I am thrilled when people ask about him and show genuine interest in getting to know him. Most of the time people are uncomfortable. They pity.

What I find pitiful / Is the world, how remarkable / It is that it’s fucking 2021, my brother / Is an adult, and there are exactly / 0 services for him

I will leave you with this last, more defining anecdote.

The summer before coming to Northwestern, I toured different adult daycares with my mother. Not schools. People don’t have enough people and time and resources

To care like that.

What is care

I’m still trying to find it. We came to the US hoping we would find it. But I know care is not what I saw at these different sites. Adults with all kinds of different severe disabilities and medical challenges. Few people to help. To even brush people's teeth properly: teeth rotting. Unresponsiveness. Eyes glossed, beings lost. Likely highly medicated. White walls. The air cold, not sterile but not clean. So many packed into a room, no distinction between needs. Staring at the walls. I didn’t hear joy. I strained to find life.

My mom and I cried after leaving every one. It was better for her this time - I was there. She’s had to visit these places alone.

I will too. My brother will be like my son. Always I will mourn the life he could've had, if only the world would offer care.

The only places we’ve seen that treat adults with severe disabilities like they’re people are these very few schools with beautiful resources and decorated walls like a "normal" school and places to play and. And. And waitlists longer than my list of woes about this planet’s mockery of care. These places are terribly expensive. They are not open to all. People like my brother? Too severe to be let in. They won't accommodate for him. Just in case, we're praying and waiting for him to get off the waitlists. Waiting. And even then

Who deserves care

Many people only briefly must experience the difficulty and isolation of being deemed not-useful-or-money-making-enough-for-society-to-care. Old age. Illness. My family has these experiences too. But what do you do when that kind of thing is your life’s work - to find life and care where there has never been? My family has lived on its own lonely little planet with my brother for years, far from the rest. I know many other people have had to do this as well. To sacrifice and to get to love so deeply - that other planets that are invested in, that are lived in, that are celebrated… will never feel like home.

I will find home where I find care. Unconditional care. I am looking for such a place in my writing. A beautiful place.

I’ve accepted I won’t find it otherwise.

#Gabriela #GabrielaFurtadoCoutinho

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stephenmccull · 3 years

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A Year Into the Pandemic, Three Huge Losses in One Family

In the year since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, millions of families have endured the excruciating rise and fall of the U.S. outbreak — waves of sickness that leave untold wounds long after hospitalizations ebb and infections subside.

This story also ran on NPR. It can be republished for free.

Some have borne the tragedy more than others, with multiple family members lost to covid-19 in a matter of months.

For the Aldaco family of Phoenix, it has shattered a generation of brothers.

All three men — Jose, Heriberto Jr. and Gonzalo Aldaco — were lost to covid, each at different moments in the pandemic: first in July, then December, and finally last month.

Their deaths are now among more than 530,000 in the United States, where, even as millions are vaccinated, the virus still leaves families grieving the new loss of a loved one each day.

“Those three men, they drove the family. They were like the strong pillars, the bones of the family. And now they’re all gone,” said Miguel Lerma, 31, whose grandfather Jose Aldaco raised him as his own son.

To Lerma, their deaths feel like an epic American story of resilience, courage and hard work cut short. All three came to the U.S. from Mexico and over the decades made it home for their families.

“They literally showed that you can come from nothing and struggle through all that and still build a life for yourself and your kids,” said Lerma. “It just upsets me this is the way their story has to end.”

Jose’s daughter Brenda Aldaco said that, with so many Americans gone, the magnitude of each death and its reverberations are profound.

“When you really think about each single person, each person individually, what did that person mean to someone? It’s just overwhelming. It’s overwhelming,” she said.

A Family ‘Ready to Create Memories’

Jose Aldaco, 69 when he died, arrived in the Southwest in the early ’80s when Brenda was still an infant, following his sister, Delia, and older brother, Gonzalo, who had both left Mexico not long before him.

“They came out here for a better opportunity — I don’t even want to say a more comfortable life — but a more attainable, elevated life than what they had,” said Priscilla Gomez, Jose’s niece and Delia’s daughter.

Gomez thinks of all three uncles as central figures — symbols of strength — for her and the entire extended family.

“They were so consistent, the most consistent male figures for me,” said Gomez.

Big family gatherings were a staple of life in the Aldaco households.

“Those three men, when they were in the same room, it was just a good time,” said Lerma, a dance teacher in Phoenix.

Reunions and holidays often evolved into joyous, music-filled events, where Gonzalo, the oldest, would pull out the guitar and the family would dance and sing together till the early hours of the morning.

“If it was someone’s birthday, they would sing ‘Las Mañanitas.’ … They were just always ready to create memories for us,” recalled Gomez.

Lerma said what Jose cultivated most of all was a family where love and affection was the main currency. “He’s the one who taught us to be so amorous,” said Lerma. “He was that warmth. He was that love for us.”

Wave After Wave in Arizona

After a calm spring, the pandemic hit Arizona with terrifying force — the first of two waves that would rip through a state where pandemic precautions were slow to come and quick to disappear. Lerma said his family heeded the warnings.

“We were a family that accepted the pandemic was real,” he said. “We did take it seriously.”

Jose and his wife, Virginia, lived at their daughter Brenda’s house, where they helped raise their teenage grandson.

Brenda’s father worked a few days a week at his job in a hotel restaurant, but was mostly retired. “He was perfectly able — doing yardwork, cooking every day, jogging three times a week at the park,” said Brenda.

Despite the family’s effort to stay safe, the virus found a way into their household that summer. Jose was the first to get sick, but soon all four were ill and isolating in their bedrooms.

They waited on test results. Both elders were getting worse. When the bedroom door was open, Brenda’s son would hear his grandfather.

“My son would say, ‘Mom, Abuelo doesn’t sound good. … He sounds like he’s dying,’” recalled Brenda.

She felt paralyzed, though. Her mother was adamant that she didn’t want him to go to the hospital.

Eventually, Lerma, who lives separately and did not have covid, put on a mask and came to coax Virginia and Jose to go to the hospital. Lerma found Jose lying in bed, covered in a sheet, with a sky-high fever.

“He was forcing fast breaths to try to get any air that he could into his lungs,” said Lerma. “That’s when I started freaking out and losing it.”

Virginia and Jose were admitted to the hospital. A few days later, Virginia was doing well enough to go home, but Jose’s condition only got worse.

The last time Lerma saw him it was over FaceTime, while Jose was being wheeled through the hospital to be put on life support. “Losing my dad, this is what heartbreak is,” said Lerma. “This is what the sad songs are about.”

Three Brothers — ‘Family Men’ — Gone

By the time of Jose’s death, the virus had already killed about 150,000 Americans. Like so many other families, the Aldacos were not able to have a proper funeral.

“It felt like his death was just brushed under the rug, like he’s just another statistic,” said Lerma.

Priscilla Gomez said she’ll never forget hearing her mother take the phone call when she learned of her brother’s death.

“To not be there in-person to comfort them or to hold them up when they feel like they just want to throw themselves on the ground and just sob … you feel completely helpless,” she said.

As the pandemic stretched into the winter months, a new wave of infections and deaths gripped Arizona and much of the rest of the U.S. By late December, the total U.S death toll had surpassed 300,000, and Heriberto Aldaco Jr. — the youngest, in his late 50s — was now also hospitalized with covid.

“You think you’ve gone to a particular point in your grieving, and then it’s not done — here it comes again. … Now my dad’s baby brother is sick,” said Brenda Aldaco. “Then he passes away.”

Less than two months later, yet more shattering news would come to the family.

The last remaining brother, Gonzalo Aldaco, the eldest in his early 70s, was hospitalized with covid. He died in February.

Brenda Aldaco described her father and uncles as above all else “family men.”

“They were totally and completely devoted to the people they loved — always present, always someone you could rely on,” she said.

Sometimes, she still expects her father to come home from the hospital: “It was just hard for me to even grasp the concept of ‘He’s gone’… that the three of them are now gone and under the same circumstances and within a period of six months.”

This story is from a reporting partnership between NPR and KHN.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

USE OUR CONTENT

This story can be republished for free (details).

A Year Into the Pandemic, Three Huge Losses in One Family published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

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gordonwilliamsweb · 3 years

Text

A Year Into the Pandemic, Three Huge Losses in One Family

This story also ran on NPR. It can be republished for free.

Some have borne the tragedy more than others, with multiple family members lost to covid-19 in a matter of months.

For the Aldaco family of Phoenix, it has shattered a generation of brothers.

All three men — Jose, Heriberto Jr. and Gonzalo Aldaco — were lost to covid, each at different moments in the pandemic: first in July, then December, and finally last month.

Their deaths are now among more than 530,000 in the United States, where, even as millions are vaccinated, the virus still leaves families grieving the new loss of a loved one each day.

To Lerma, their deaths feel like an epic American story of resilience, courage and hard work cut short. All three came to the U.S. from Mexico and over the decades made it home for their families.

Jose’s daughter Brenda Aldaco said that, with so many Americans gone, the magnitude of each death and its reverberations are profound.

“When you really think about each single person, each person individually, what did that person mean to someone? It’s just overwhelming. It’s overwhelming,” she said.

A Family ‘Ready to Create Memories’

Gomez thinks of all three uncles as central figures — symbols of strength — for her and the entire extended family.

“They were so consistent, the most consistent male figures for me,” said Gomez.

Big family gatherings were a staple of life in the Aldaco households.

“Those three men, when they were in the same room, it was just a good time,” said Lerma, a dance teacher in Phoenix.