#not least because i get to find out cool stuff about christmas carols

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Thoughts on, Invader Zim Quarterly: Holiday Special

WEEEE WISH YOU A MERRY JINGLY WE WISH YOU A MERRY JINGLY!

Ahhhhh It’s out! I’m so excited!

But I always get excited when it has my man Membrane and my man Eric Trueheart involved with the comics. 

Also santa..   Tbh, I was excited and nervous about this quarterly. 

Excited because it has Membrane santa backstory...

But I was nervous because that it means they might bring back the santa-blob monster from the Holiday special on the TV... and The Christmas special is one of my least favorite IZ episodes...   I mean... I rewatch it occasionally, and it’s fun, but I’m just kinda used to IZ having more BITE in it’s satire if you know what I mean? The Christmas Special in the IZ universe doesn’t really say anything about the capitalism of Christmas... it’s not like IZ hasn’t made fun of capitalism before. (that’s the whole show)  The Christmas Special in the show just kinda fell flat of my expectations of what an Invader Zim episode should be....

The only thing I respect the Holiday Special for, is that it goes down the “Santa isn’t real” route in a kid’s show and sticks to it. (there’s no “real santa” that shows up and “solves everything”) All of the “Santa’s Helpers” confused the Santa mythos with the Christianity Jesus mythos. (”waiting one day for his return”) Which makes sense, since IZ is like dystopian future Suburbia Hell. I just kinda like that there’s no “real santa” that interfered to “fix everything” and that Zim himself ended up CREATING Santa when he didn’t exist previously. Like I find that kinda cool...

Other then that, I just kinda wanted something else from the Hoilday special then what I got. (It taking priority over scrapped episodes like “the trail” and “Ten minutes to doom” and “mopiness of doom” does not help it’s case in being one of my C-tier episodes...) 

So maybe this quarterly will fill the void of what I wanted out of a Holiday special? Well, let’s see. 

SPOILERS FOR THE QUARTERLY BELOW THE CUT

Ways to get Dana off-board immediately: Monster Santa is canon. 

I always never liked to view the special as canon for ways that it fell flat before.

And I had the excuse of saying that the snowman was an unreliable narrator and I could adapt it down the line in my fic as a different story. 

I just didn’t like the idea of Monster-horror-blob santa...  Like... Cool design... but he just kinda represents everything I disliked about the special...  (including the major inconsistency of when Tak’s ship got fixed...)

But then again.. I need to remember IZ’s lore isn’t as consistent as I think it is sometimes... 

Okay, fine. Monster blob santa real... what else you got for me, Holiday special?

FACE HUGGER SANTA! FACE HUGGER SANTA! I AM NOT INTO IT! 

WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?! NO. DANA HATES THIS!

Okay, kinda into it because this means that ZIM CREATED SANTA in this mythos... I am dying.... wait.. this takes place in the future then...soo...?

haoFhaGHAOhfgg 

It was all a dream?!  

GOOD.

my heart couldn’t take it if horror-santa was real... 

Also... that nightcap and bed... Does this mean we’re going to have an Invader Zim Christmas Carol?!?!?! I know that’s been adapted a schmillion times but I would be so into that.... 

Also... Flying... hamm...

Good ol’ Zim... Repressing those memories...  

Also this being the THIRD ETF reference in a quarterly, It can be very safe to say the Quarterly issues take place after the events of ETF.

Clembrane exists in the Quarterly, Membrane has robot arms, Zim remembers this (kinda)  Yeah this is definately ETF verse and it’s here to stay. 

Christmas Carol?! I’m down for this... and I can’t help but notice their claws look familiar

OH HOLY HELL I WAS RIGHT! THESE GUYS! I LOVE THESE GUYS?!

Why are you here tho?

I’m a bit lost on why these guys wanta take over the earth, but they’re hilarious so I’m just glad they’re here.

Also...   The Christmas Special is Schrodinger's Christmas... did it happen, or was it a dream, or the tales of a lunatic snowman... I guess I’ll never know. 

The issue goes on for an IZ Christmas Carol parody (heck yea) and the visions are all hilarious and I’m not gonna spoil them here... but...

Eric.... this is terrifying..........thanks I hate it. 

TINY DIB THOUGH! GHAOGHAHGAHAHA

THIS IS GREAT

THE MORE DIB SUFFERS THE MORE I LOVE IT!

“Though I am Dib and sickly father”

I’m dying XDDDDD

Also... What the fuck is Zim’s reaction here... 

I find it funny that Zim has put Dib into simulated realities before... (in the show and comics) and in the show, Dib is all powerful and in the comics, Dib is just himself and Zim is his brother..

But seeing a simulated Dib all weak and pathetic and chronically ill BOTHERS ZIM?!?!

That’s... well that’s interesting. 

Thought he’d laugh at this honestly, but he seems greatly annoyed... 

I CHANGED MY MIND! THIS IS THE BEST THING! 

(those who know me know why I’m dying over this)

YES!!!

ZIM DOESN’T LIKE WHEN PEOPLE FEEL BAD FOR HIM OR PITY HIM! 

(which confirms like a lot of my hcs and adds spicy kindling to my au much mad respect) 

This I find interesting...  Zim complepative over his lonely/abandoned grave. It’s like he really doesn’t know how to feel. It’s more of a numbness then a sadness. Or he noticed how empty his life is... 

He feels lonely and empty about it...  which tracks considering how Zim’s greatest fear in the Trial was to be deleted and never be remembered by anyone. 

I don’t know... This panel makes me feel things...

Johnen: Haha. Zim’s not that deep a character.

Eric: Hey for the Christmas special, let’s have Zim parody a Christmas carol and feel lonely staring at his own empty grave when he realizes no one cares about him or misses him.

Johnen: Cool. Do it. 

What are you two assholes doing to me, man?! I have feelings! 

AND ONCE AGAIN!

Zim hates pity and people feeling bad and sorry for him. 

Man this makes me so sad...  And it really feels like this issue looked into my brain again, cause I have some plans relating to Zim not wanting sympathy or pity from anyone later down the line (okay I’ll shut up about my au. We’re talking Zim here)

And of course, Zim breaks everything like he usually does. (this time on purpose)

Also nice callback that Zim remembered that Dib said he liked his boots one time in the Poop-wizard issue. 

Also, it ends? I guess this quarterly has a few shorter stories this time... which I’m fine with. 

Also, Zim should consider Green and Blue like D-list friends at this point and just invite them in for some fundip or something (come on, Zim, it’s Christmas.....) 

GASP!?!?!

LITTLE MEMBRANE!!!

AND GRANDPARENTS CONFIRMED!!! 

Wait... so his Parents are scientists too? Is that why he always wanted to be a scientist?

But then wait.... If Membrane inherited Membrane Labs from his parents... Why is HIS FACE the brand of the Company?..... There’s so much Membrane-face brand merch in the show. (it decorates his home..) 

Like even if they were dead, if his parents founded Membrane labs, I feel they’d still be the face. of the company... (that’s how a lot of corporate faces are these days... they show some old dead guy who made the company as opposed to the son who inherited the Company.... Like everyone knows who Walt Disney/Mickey Mouse is, but unless you pay close attention to that kinda thing, not everyone knows who the current chairman or CEO is in the modern age....)

I just find that a bit odd. 

Anyways... I feel people can still do what they want with Membrane’s parents and get away with it. I’m not changing my “his parents were farmers” headcanon. Sorry comic..

BUT I LOVE THEIR DESIGNS.

I love how Membrane looks a lot like his mother, and his father is just BUFF GAZ with a pipe.... Truely legends. 

GASP!!!

COLLEGEBRANE COLLEGEBRANE COLLEGEBRANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOOKOUT DIB, THIS IS YOUR FUTURE!

I FUCKING LOVE HOW OILY HE LOOKS.. AND IT ADDS UP CAUSE...

The Membrane Men when they don’t shower or bathe in months.....

Someone help these two.

(thank god Membrane got better at personal hygiene.) 

Also Teenbrane STILL has his human arms and not his robo-arms.

This means he loses his arms later in life...  YUSH HORRAY FOR HEADCANNONS BEING VALIDATED!

He didn’t lose his arms in a shark accident when he was a KID! It happened WAY LATER!

NICE!

OH MY GOD HE IS BABY!

HE IS SO SHY AND ACKWARD! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

I LOVE HIM!

He is just... all sweat and hiding his work but also very passionate and spiteful. 

Like you can see who he grew up to become, and you can also see how a kid like Dib came out of a man like him...

But I love social anxiety awkward early twenties/late teens Membrane... He is a baby! 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

MEMBRANE ;w;

Basically, Membrane knows that Santa isn’t real, but he doesn’t want to be mad at his parents so he harbors a grudge on Santa instead... THAT’S SO SWEET I’M CRYING  TTmTT

LIKE THAT IS SO SWEET AND I’M CRYING!

(also I love how me and Ceph understand Membrane’s character too well that the gesture he does in the 2nd panel here are reminisant of our fic so many times... Like we have his mannerisms down and I love when the mask slips from Membrane and we get to see a real person... augh soo good) 

WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO MAKE MY MAN THIS SAD?! ONLY I CAN MAKE HIM SAD!

MEMBRANE TTMTT

AUUUGHH

Also probably guessing the parents are dead...   I’m just laughing at their designs... 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Yes you are, Professor Membrane... Don’t let anyone tell you different. (actually, please do) Well, I mean,  At least you’re trying and get progressively better.

(also... this probably means everytime Dib has asked his Dad for a dangerous weapon to fight Zim with, Membrane just gives it to him no questions asked and I’m doing a MAJOR concern about this man’s parenting skills... get help please good sir!) 

Also, Dib really saved the day again here (like he did in Dib’s big day)

Dib called about destroying santa when Membrane was in one of his lowest points...  He hides it really well...   Especially from his children..

Ah..  I loved that one.

But I’m a huge Membrane Simp though.

I did find the stuff about Membrane’s parents a little weird... like I said regarding how Membrane’s face is the brand of Membrane labs...

Could be true that they were other scientists and that Membrane founded Membrane labs later... but that seems highly unlikely... 

Also... Why does the house look that hug when in the christmas special, it looked kinda like...well... just not that, and kinda more humble from the interior and not some big rocket lab...

So yeah... AMAZING character building for Membrane (which I eat up)

Hilarious Grandparent Designs. But I still prefer @esthyradler​ ‘s Grandparents. The superior Grandparents.

Anyways... The Quarterly was GREAT! 

I kinda find it funny the Zim story is the weaker one of the two again... But I honestly blame the Christmas Horror blob connection and the Christmas Carol parody. 

Or maybe my Membrane Bias is clouding my mind here.  I do have Zim bias but sometimes Zim can frustrate me. There’s just so many times Zim can do and say the same things you know? Zim is my baby, but sometimes his denial and annoyance with everyone can be very predictable at points. Zim was just way more fun in the last quarterly than this one. 

With Membrane it’s more of a blank slate what to do with him cause he ony started really mattering as a character since ETF. Yes, I do love show Membrane, but I admit he wasn’t exactly a character then. More of a presence and excuse for why Dib had access to lab equipment. With Dib’s Dilemma and this Hoilday special, the Quarterly folks seem determined to turn him into a fully realized character with the rest of the cast and I’m extremely excited to hear that!

(Computer issue/backstory WHEN?!) 

I don’t really have ratings or systems for these but hope you liked my thoughts.

Merry Christmas everyone.

#Invader Zim #invader zim quarterly #IZ comics #IZ comics Spoilers #danachan's rants #Professor Membrane

[f00tball-imagines]

Clandestine Meetings - James Rodríguez

Player: James Rodríguez

Word count: 1.280

Prompt: “Hello, can the next swap sunday projects be another part of Illciit Affairs (for you) and a sequel to Mirrorball (for Laura)? ✨” (Request by Anon)

A/N: Another Swap Sunday, another angsty James piece! ✨💗 This story is a sequel to @alltoolewin’s Mad Woman-inspired imagine 🥰 If you’re new here, you should read my Illicit Affairs fic first, though! 💖

His name lights up on my phone screen. Which lights up my pitch black bedroom. James pink heartlet-purple heartlet-sparkly heartlet. Because a single red one would have been inappropriate. I know damn well that my name in his phone isn't even a name. Just my first initial. Not even a full stop after it. A lonesome letter. Because apparently, that's much less suspicious. 

James pink heartlet-purple heartlet-sparkly heartlet wants to know whether I'm still awake at this ungodly hour. After not talking to me for two whole weeks. "Yes," I type into the message box. I'm a fucking fool for texting back. I hit send. I hit my head against the wall. I'm in love with a married man who's kicking a ball around for a living. Who possibly can't and won't love anything or anyone that isn't his daughter. I'm a fucking mess. Please, James, get a pair of glasses, another one, a better one. What do you even want from me? I can't drink from a can unless someone's asking the waiter for a straw. I can't ask waiters for straws because I'm goddamn shy. I can't. I just can't. So why can't James find himself someone better?

My phone vibrates twice. Three simple letters. A "W", a "Y" and a "D". And a lonely question mark. I don't know who's teaching him English slang, abbreviations, the cool stuff. I don't even know why he's pretending to be cool. As I said, the man kicks a ball around for a living. That's not cool. That's fucking weird, now that I'm thinking about it. 

"Nothing." What would I be doing at three in the morning? I spend my nights staring at my ceiling unless we're having sex. He knows that. "You?" Did I ask out of common courtesy or do I really want to know what's keeping him awake tonight? 

He replies right away. "I'm in bed, I just can't fall asleep."

"Try drinking some tea. That helps."

He sends me an emoji, the facepalming one. I have to laugh, I really cannot help it, but I do find it hilarious when grown-ass men unironically use anything more than just a normal smiley or the occasional thumbs up. James pink heartlet-purple heartlet-sparkly heartlet ups the ante then. "You're a pain in the ass, princesa."

"You're a pain in-" I stop in my tracks. In my fucking vagina. I delete what I've written so far, just to type it out again. "You're a pain in general, Jamesito." I find myself giggling into the darkness. "My aches are developing aches because of you." I add the one emoji with the bandaged head, then I hit send.

"Want me to kiss it better?" It should've been "you're a pain in my vagina". Definitely. 

"James, you're being silly. It's half past three. Go to sleep."

"Told you I'm fucking restless. Talk to me." Pouty puppy-eyed emoji. Dude, please!

I sigh, putting the phone down for a second. Yeah, sure. All of a sudden, I'm interesting again. Because there isn't anything else to entertain him. Of course. I should've known. "What about?" My text immediately is marked as read, homeboy isn't even closing our chat in-between messages it seems. I should be flattered, but instead, I just feel like there's something weird about this. Like, why don't you talk to your wife? Why aren't you on video call with your daughter? It's barely nine in Medellín, I know that. Of course I know that, I've pinned Colombia's local time to my home screen. 

"Can I call you?"

You have a fucking phone in your hand. You certainly can. "No. Come over." I hate myself for putting myself through that. I hope he's got somewhere to be in the morning. I can't help but wish for him to turn me down.

"Now?"

Now... Now it's my turn to send him a facepalming emoji. No. Next Christmas, dummy.

"Okay," he replies after a split second. Okay, I'm coming over? Okay, cool, a stupid little emoji? Okay, fuck off? Okay what? Another second passes. Buzz buzz. "I'll be there in ten."

"Drive safe," my fingers type out. Crash that fucking car. After running me over, of course. End our misery. Please and thank you. I roll out of bed to put on some pants. He can deal with my washed out tee, he's seen worse. My naked body, for example. I stumble into the bathroom to pile on mascara, to take the fluffy, pink scrunchie out of my hair, to wash the thin film of cold sweat off my forehead. I don't know nervousness when it comes to him. There's just... anxiety. Every time we have one of our little fall-outs, my amount of working braincells gets reduced by two.

I sit down on the toilet lid to catch my breath. I'm gonna get dicked down and then discarded. It's okay, I'm used to it. I'm a one-trick-pony. But I'm just so good at that one trick that James keeps on crawling back to me. The pinkish polish on my nails is starting to chip, so I decide to adorn my fingers with a few rings to distract from that. They look cheap, they were cheap, but I consider them cute, so it's alright. 

I don't like texting after my autocorrect has dubbed him Hummus not once, not twice, but several times. He doesn't like calling as his stutter tends to get worse on the phone. So this is nice. The real thing is always nice. "I missed you," he rasps with his arms still wrapped around my torso. "I missed you, too," I whisper back. Lies. I spent a long, long time cursing his name, relatively sure that I would never be moaning it again, that we were over and done. "I still haven't said Happy New Year," he states the obvious. We haven't spoken since Christmas. "No," I confirm, shaking my head. It was the worst New Year's Eve of my life. I've seen the pictures Daniela had posted on her Instagram. At least James has had a great time, apparently. 

"Sorry. I thought I should leave you alone." Yes. Because that's the easy way out. "But... Happy New Year. I guess."

"Thanks. To you, too." It truly feels like New Year's. Waiting for the big something, just to end up disappointed because the big something turns out to be some underwhelming bullshit. "Better late than never." There's still snow on the streets, so it's alright, I guess.

"Yes."

"You're fucking annoying, James."

"Oh. Why?" And fucking stupid as well.

"Did you really come over to stand around in my hallway and wish me a Happy New Year? What are you? A caroler?"

"You told me to come."

"I'm not used to you doing as you're told." I force a laugh. I'm not used to niceties and such. I'm used to... the bad stuff.

He just shrugs. He's so unbelievably apathetic, I hate it! "You have the place to yourself tonight?"

"No. You're here with me." I know quite well that he was referring to my roommate. Who, in fact, is staying with her boyfriend for the weekend. I know quite well that he only asked because he is the furthest thing from an exhibitionist I could imagine. 

"Ah. Yes. True." So damn stupid! I wish I could get up and leave. But I'm already standing and there's no way to escape my own apartment. "Well?" I ask in an awful attempt to make conversation. Well, he's gonna fuck me. He's gonna break my heart once again and I'm gonna like that. We've been there before. And we're gonna be there time and time again.

#soccer imagines #soccer #soccer imagine #football #football imagines #football imagine #james rodriguez #james rodríguez #james rodriguez imagine #james rodríguez imagine #james rodriguez fanfic #mine #my writing #swap sunday #request #requested by anon #everton #fc everton #everton fc #illicit affairs #mad woman #colombia nt #colombia national team #angst

[melodyalanaroster]

To answer some Fanfic Questions...

So, this is my response to @broxklynn‘s post... I decided to make this its own post... So that It can be properly answered.

1. How and why did you start to write? Is there some kind of story behind it?

I started writing in general when I was in elementary school... Back when I just had a Platform 9 3/4 journal, not many friends, recess, and a desire to immerse myself in the world of Harry Potter. I enjoyed writing, and even joined the Writer’s Club in High School (but I eventually left to join Anime Club and Divergent Thinking Society). As for writing MCL fanfiction, I began writing Sam’s and Alana’s stories as early as when I first got into the fandom, back in 2013. Alana’s story started out as “A Fresh Start”, had a one shot called “When I Wake”, then turned into “Let The Dawn Be Broken”, and is now “The Melancholy Of Melody Alana Roster”. The final product barely has any hints of the first 3... In fact, Sam’s story, “Fighting Darkness”, has been completely debunked due to what I’ve decided to canonize in “The Melancholy Of Melody Alana Roster”. Writing MCL fanfiction has been a major help in distracting me from the depression that was caused by family issues, severe abuse, Stockholm Syndrome, my mom’s disease and her death, as well as working at several shitty jobs. Writing has helped me escape reality and keep myself sane enough to not be a black hole of hate, anger, and sadness to my friends and boyfriend.

2. What do you struggle the most with your writing?

There are 2 major things I struggle with... 1 is Timing. I often set deadlines for myself that I never meet and it makes me so frustrated that I miss them... There are currently things in my drafts that were meant to be “Holiday Specials” for Valentine’s Day and Halloween 2020 that are still unfinished... It makes me feel like I’m letting my readers down, when its more of me letting myself down... The other thing is Inspiration. Because I hate my job, I often think about Alana’s story in an effort to not be completely consumed by the fact that I do hate my work... Due to that, I often come up with ideas for my story that I think are FANTASTIC for my story... But, by the time I get home, I’m either in too much pain or too tired to write, or I’ve forgotten the ideas...

3. What is your favorite genre to write?

I love writing Romance with a bit of Slice of Life and a hint of Action/Adventure... 

4. Slowburn or “Flame”/PWP?

Slow burn any day.

5. How do you overcome writer’s block?

If I absolutely can’t write... I work on other stuff I need to do... Typically, something around the house, or something online I need to do... I also look for cool stuff to add to wish lists... I’ll occasionally play videogames or read comic books... In an effort to subvert writer’s block, I like having multiple chapters in my drafts at once. If I’m not in the mood to work on one chapter, I can work on a different one.

6. What kind of thing you dislike the most, when reading a fanfiction? (for example: particular plot, grammar mistakes)

One thing that makes me upset (and it makes me madder when I do this) is misspelling... Especially when it looks like its almost blatant... You have autocorrect, USE IT! Or when a fanfic is so awful, yet the author acts like their work is a gift from god... I don’t mind a “bad” fanfiction... Hell, the concept of “My Immortal” is so bad that its hilarious... But Fifty Shades did a lot of damage and E.L. James acts like she’s bigger than Jesus... Seriously, she wrote Twilight fanfiction, changed some minor details and names, people who have no knowledge of BDSM ate it up, and she acts like she’s a “Sex and Relationship Guru”...

7. What’s the biggest issue for you, when writing a Beemoov fanfiction?

The biggest issue for me is finding out when to allow for Beemoov’s writing and placement to take place in my story. I don’t like a lot of the events of UL and LL, so I’m often finding myself in a position where I have to watch video playthroughs and go “Okay, how can I omit this character, but keep this scene?”. I’ve had to do that A LOT with Alexy and Rosalaya.... Although, to a certain extent, I’ll often cut their scenes out altogether. I really hate what Beemoov did to them. They were great characters in HSL, but became utter shit in UL and stayed shit in LL. To make up for Beemoov’s writing style, I’ve created my own characters, added in old characters (like Kentin and Armin), added in bits from the manga (like Viktor, Severina and their fathers), and gone off on my own storyline. The Melancholy Of Melody Alana Roster is close to MCL at times, but often veers off onto its own road.

8. Have you ever created a character based on person in real life? (celebrity, someone that you know, etc)

YES!!! A LOT of characters in my story are based on real people! Alana’s step-father, Nate Films, is closely based on Nathan Fillion. A lot of her family members are based on members of my own family, just changed a bit to fit the story. Lynne Roster, Alana’s mom, is what I had always dreamed my own mom would be... Hell, Alana’s cat, Sylvester, is based on my own childhood cat, Luna.

9. How do you feel about your own characters? Do you think of them as your babies or have rather love-hate relationship with them? (And, do you have favorite one?)

I love most of my characters. I do hate 3 in particular... But, you’re supposed to hate, or at least not respect, them... That’s why I poured my hatred into them... Those 3 are Carol, Kai and Azrael. Carol has aspects of my abuser in her. You’ll see more of her when I finally post the HSL related chapters... And understand what I mean... Kai is based on one of my real life cousins that I’ve not been happy with for years (the one who my bf has deemed “the family failure”). You mainly see him in the Cousin Mels chapters, and in the Christmas Special... Azrael is the one who is seen the most in the UL chapters, and she is a main adversary for Alana. She is the one who broke her the most, the one who ended Alana’s relationship with Nathaniel, the one who truly traumatized her. As for ones I love... The one I love the most is Alana... I know, she’s a reflection of me, so that’s kind of vain... But, she’s a part of me. When I do finish her story and am at the point where I need to say “Goodbye”, it will hurt....

10. Enemies-to-lovers or friends/bestfriends-to lovers?

Definitely friends/best friends to lovers. I also like toying with what happens when best friends turn to lovers, but circumstance parts them and one moves on...

11. Is it easy for you to get inside your character’s head? Can you empathize with them? Is there’s some similarities between you and your main character?

It is VERY easy for me to get into Alana’s head... Like I said in #9, she is a reflection of me. She looks and acts like how I’d like to in a lot of situations... Her life is more interesting, traumatized, and more well off than mine... But, she is still me in major ways...

12. Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing?

Definitely my boyfriend. He doesn’t really understand the game itself... But, he likes how happy it makes me and he respects how much of my heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears that I’ve poured into writing my story. He loves listening to me read passages from it to him while I’m working. He gives me advice and his opinion is highly valued... My family knows I’m writing a large story, and have seen some of the images that I’ve gotten commissioned, but they don’t really know or care about the game. They do respect the fact that I am writing. They love the fact that I’m slightly following in my mom’s footsteps in that regard (she wrote 3 books and several poems). My online friends have been very supportive as well! I’m constantly updating them on what I’ve worked on each day in my Discord Server and the words of encouragement always help.

13. How do you handle criticism?

Not well. Due to the abuse and family issues mentioned in #1, for a good amount of my life, I’ve gotten nothing but harsh criticism... So, now that I’m away from all that, at 26 years old, I’m just now getting to a point where I’m starting to take it better... But, I’ve got a long way to go.

14. Do you like giving your characters trauma? Why/why not?

I hate sounding like a sadist... But, I’m going to anyway, so fuck it... Yes. I have done awful things to Alana over the years. In A Fresh Start, she got sexually assaulted and ostracized. In When I Wake, she gets into a car crash, put into a coma, and in her dream state murdered by Francis in front of Nathaniel. In Let The Dawn Be Broken, the plan was for her to end a war. In “The Melancholy of Melody Alana Roster”, her childhood cat dies, her mom gets sick, she gets abused by Carol, her best friends get ripped away from her for a bit, she gets sent to a country halfway around the world alone, she gets assaulted and ultimately turned into a weapon of mass destruction.... I’ve even thought of killing her mom off at one point... But decided against it...

Now, granted, A Fresh Start and Let The Dawn Be Broken never saw completion, but happy endings were planned for them...

I do this, all while giving Alana happy endings in each story because “If Alana can go through utter hell and make it through, then so can I.”... I know, I’m “god” in that regard and I can control how Alana’s life is.... But, the fact that in my writing, she ends up standing tall, happy, with everything she wants, after everything she goes through does make me feel better.... 

15. Are you proud of yourself? When you look at first piece you wrote and compare it to the latest one?

Yes. If you look at A Fresh Start, you can tell it was written by someone fresh out of High School. There’s no real depth to it. Let The Dawn Be Broken isn’t much better... But, The Melancholy of Melody Alana Roster has become my magnum opus. It is the largest piece I have EVER written, and will probably remain the largest piece I write. I am very proud of what I have created... And when its last word is written, and I am ready to get it made for it’s place on my shelf, I will feel very bittersweet about it... That being said, my original plan for a sequel involving Nathaniel’s and Alana’s daughter, Aurora, has been discarded. I don’t believe Aurora could ever have as much of my heart that her parents do...

And there you have it! Some insight into my world, writing, and history!

#my candy love #my candy love fanfiction #mcl fanfic #mcl fanfiction #fanfic #mcl #mcl alana #mcl alana roster #alana roster #melody alana roster #melodyalanaroster #the melancholy of melody alana roster #mclhsl #mclul #mclll #amor doce #amour sucre #sweet amoris #Sweet kiss #sweet love #Sweet flirt #sweet crush #cdm #cdmu #Corazon de Melon #corazon de bombon #slodki flirt #dolce flirt #writing #fan fiction

[imherongraystairstrash]

So I want to first say that I am absolutely positively 100% in love with your fanfics. I am a huge sucker for anything remotely involving family fluff and you always deliver. I’m also very much loved your platonic Will and Gabriel fill that you posted so I’m going to give you maybe a little bit of a different ask.

It’s pretty clear that by the time of A Lightwood Christmas Carol Will and Gideon have settled into a brotherly relationship, I mean you can see evidence of that in Clockwork Princess even. What I want to see, and if you’re willing to write it, is the first time Gideon pulled rank, so to speak, over Will, by acting like an overprotective older brother, which Will would have no experience with, even if he has seen Gideon act that way towards Gabriel. Prompts 2 and/or 19 would probably be applicable for this, but if you think something else works better, or you don’t want to write it at all, that’s fine too, I know it’s a weird ask, I’m just in love with family fluff, especially from TID/TLH.

(It seems like all the attention gets put on the major pairings sometimes and everything else falls by the wayside, which is why I love your stuff)

Goodness! Where do you get these incredible ideas? Thank you so much for this wonderful request! I had a grand time writing it!

Prompts: “I don’t think so.” & “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

Characters: Will Herondale & Gideon Lightwood (platonic)

Notes: This takes place after someone insults Tessa in front of Will

Red hot anger pulsed through Will’s veins. his face flushed from the cold as he threw open the doors, stepped out of the threshold and strode down the street. The night air didn’t do anything to cool his anger. He vaguely recalled hearing the door open again and the sound of footsteps crunching on the snow. 

“Where the hell are you going?” He heard Gideon say from behind him.

“Out.” Will said, the wind howling in his ear and blowing his hair to the side.

“And what, might I ask, are you going to do while you’re out?” Gideon yelled out at him, so that his voice could be heard.

“Have a nice talk with a little someone.”

Will felt something grab him from the collar of his coat, pulling him back so that he was rooted to a spot. He turned and found Gideon’s intense green eyes boring into his own. 

“I don’t think so.” He said, quietly but not, by any means, weak.

“Release me.”

“Not until you promise to go back inside the second I do.” 

Will rolled his eyes. “I promise.”

“Did you honestly believe that would work on me?”

Will clenched his teeth. 

“Let go of me, Gideon.” 

“No.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do. You aren’t my father or brother or—”

“William.” Gideon said, his mouth set. “I may not be your blood, and I know I am not Jem, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. And it also doesn’t mean I won’t tackle you to the floor the second you try to go after that man after I release you.” 

Will didn’t understand why Gideon was doing this simply because “he cared”. It was annoying.

“He was asking for it, Gideon. He was provoking a fight, and you know it just as well as I do.” Will pointed out. 

“Does that mean you go after him? Does that mean you let him win?”

“You’re one to talk.” Will spat out. “How many fights have you gotten into in the past?”

“Too many.” Gideon said, looking down and then back up at Will. “That’s why I’m making sure you don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

“This isn’t a mistake. Did you even hear what he said?”

“I did.”

“And you want me to do nothing?” Will scoffed. Gideon was out of his mind.

“Do you think it doesn’t kill me when they say the same things about Sophie? Do you really think it’s easy for me to stand by? I despise it. But do you know why I ignore it?”

Will shook his head, feeling a tiny bit small.

“Because I would rather spend my energy with Sophie, then waste it all on those pathetic lots. Think about Tessa, Will. Do you think she’d want this? Do you think it will make her feel good about herself?”

Will didn’t say anything because he truly hadn’t thought about it that way. How could he forget about Tessa? His Tessa?

“It’s going to make her feel worse.” Gideon said quietly. “And if there’s one thing you and I have in common, it’s that if we caused them to feel worse, it would tear us apart.”

Gideon’s hand was still on his jacket collar, but it felt lighter. Almost like Gideon was placing his hand on Will’s neck.

“Why do you care, Gideon? Why now?” Will asked, still a bit angry, but less so.

“Why now?” Gideon released an irritated breath. “Will, I’ve cared since I began living in the institute after my father disowned me. I care more now. You’re like a brother to me.”

“A brother?” Will asked quietly.

“An annoying, impulsive brother who needs to be restrained before he does something he’ll regret.”

Will didn’t smile, because he wasn’t sure he could, but he held Gideon’s gaze steadily. Tentatively, the older boy released his hold on Will, as though he were afraid he would bolt. Will just stayed were he was, looking down at his shoes. 

“Thank you.” Will finally said.

“For what?”

“For caring.”

“Don’t thank people for caring, Will. Not only can we not help it, but we do it because you give us reason to care.” Gideon said.

Will considered Gideon. Did he truly think of him as a brother? That was perhaps the part that got to him the most from this moment. Having a sister was different from having a brother. Will had never had a brother; he used to play rough with Cecily when they were children, but his mother would always scold him. You can’t play with your sister that way Gwilim or you will break her, Linette would say. Will didn’t want to break his sister, so he stopped play fighting with her like he used to. And though he loved his sisters, he wasn’t allowed to have much fun with them. Of course, Cecily and he would sometimes run down the hills where their mother or the maids couldn’t find them, and play fight, but it wasn’t fun when you had to restrain yourself. You will protect your sisters when you’re older, won’t you Gwilim? Mrs. York, their neighbor, once asked him. Will considered her question, and almost asked but who’ll protect me? but didn’t.

Now, he looked at Gideon. A brother. Jem had been a brother, more than a brother actually, but Gideon being like his older brother and not his equal felt different. A different kind of affection, but one he could still rely on. Perhaps he was thinking too far into this. 

“Will?” Gideon asked, looking questioningly at the stillness of the other. 

“Did you really mean it?” Will asked quickly, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “Do you really think of me as a younger brother?”

Gideon looked startled. “I–I do. Of course I do.” 

Will smiled despite himself. Maybe he could get used to having an older brother. “Does that mean I’m a pain in your arse?” He asked.

Gideon rolled his eyes. “I don’t know who’s worse, you of Gabriel. You both feel like my children. Barbara gives me less work than the pair of you.”

“Ah, well. At least you bring you joy.”

“At least you bring me joy.” Gideon agreed as they turned and walked back to the house.

...

Tagging: @livvyheronstairs @hitheresomeoneusingthus @tsccreatorsnet @aceofjesper @fictionally-fantastic @stxr-thxif @celias @atla-lok143 @rinadragomir @youngreckless @julemmaes @cupcakesandkittens @no-scones-allowed @forjordelia

Send me a message of comment on this fic if you want to be tagged in the future! You don’t have to like or comment if I tag you, it’s just so that you can be notified when I post a fic.

#gideon lightwood #will herondale #will and gideon #Lightwood #herondale #tsc fanfic #tid fanfic #the infernal device #the infernal devices one shot #tid fanfiction #william herondale #platonic tid #tlh #the shadowhunter chronicles fanfiction

[artificialqueens]

Let the Love be Your Life (Branjie) - Athena2

Summary: After their kid doesn’t know one of their favorite movies, Brooke and Vanessa have a little movie marathon introducing favorite movies to them.

A/N: This is a Christmas gift for Writ because they’re the absolute best. It also fulfills the prompt ‘List’ for Ficmas over @writethehousedown, so you can find it there as well! It’s pretty much pure fluff and I hope you enjoy! I’d appreciate any feedback you have!

Also, thank you to everyone who’s read and commented on my fics this past year. It’s been a really hard year for most of us, and sharing my stories with you made it a little brighter for me, and I hope for you as well.

Title from Mother from Carole and Tuesday.

—

“Brooke, can you get me a bowl?” Vanessa calls over from the stove, where she’s stirring a pot of rice.

“As you wish.” Brooke snorts after she says it, trading smiles with Vanessa. One of their favorite movies, and the first couples costume they did all those years ago for Nina’s world-famous–or at least city-famous–Halloween party, where there was always full catering, a DJ, and at least one rumored celebrity hidden behind a mask. One person isn’t smiling though, and it’s their kid, pausing table-setting to stare at them.

“‘As you wish?’” Sam repeats in confusion. “What is this, the Middle Ages?”

Brooke’s mouth falls open. “What? No, it’s from a movie.”

“Oh.” Sam shrugs and goes back to setting the table, clearly unimpressed.

Vanessa is nowhere near as calm, her wooden spoon clattering on the counter. “Brooke, our child doesn’t know The Princess Bride!” She leaves the stove to stand by Brooke, shaking her head in outrage.

“We’ve officially failed as parents,” Brooke agrees.

Sam rolls their eyes. “It’s just some old movie, right?”

“‘Some old movie,’” Vanessa mutters under her breath. “‘Some old movie.’ Brooke, we gotta fix this.”

Brooke nods. She and Vanessa have always let Sam be themself, reading and watching stuff freely, as long as it wasn’t too dark or upsetting. But in all that, they must have forgotten to show Sam all the movies they had wanted to, the movies that Brooke and Vanessa love.

When Vanessa got stuck on bed rest towards the end of her pregnancy, she watched movies to pass the time, and Brooke joined her when she could, rubbing Vanessa’s aching back and massaging her shoulders, doing anything she could to make her more comfortable. They talked about all the movies they wanted to watch after their baby was born, the things they wanted to do and memories they wanted to make as a family. They had even made a list of movies, but it got lost somewhere in the chaos of having a new baby. Sam might be nine now, but they can still make those memories, and Brooke claps her hands. “We need a movie marathon!”

Vanessa jumps up and down. “Yeah! This week, we’re gonna watch a bunch of movies! Sammy’s on winter break, it’s perfect! We can do one every night! Peter Pan, and the Peanuts, and Muppets Christmas Carol–”

“Jurassic Park,” Brooke adds, grabbing a notebook and pen. “And Star Wars, and Matilda … my movies are way better than yours, babe.”

“Nuh-uh!” Vanessa yells. “Mine are classics!”

“I guess Sam will be the judge of that, then.” Brooke grins.

“They will be, and you can do dishes for a week when they like mine better,” Vanessa says, raising her eyebrow mischievously.

“What do I get if I win?” Brooke asks. It better be something good, something Vanessa hates as much as Brooke hates doing dishes.

Vanessa thinks. “I’ll do the laundry for a week.”

Vanessa hates folding clothes since she does it all day in her boutique. Brooke doesn’t mind laundry, exactly, but she’ll happily let Vanessa take over and fold the endless amounts of clothes for a week.

“Deal.” Brooke smiles, all thoughts of rivalry gone and replaced with excitement of the memories they’ll make.

—

i. The Princess Bride

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Brooke stands in front of the TV, making sure Vanessa and Sam are settled on the couch with pillows and blankets and the cats, canyon-sized bowl of popcorn and cupcakes from Brooke’s sister Kameron’s bakery all ready for the night.

“Ready!” Vanessa yells. Brooke presses play, and Vanessa opens her arms for Brooke to snuggle into as the movie starts.

“At least you two aren’t wearing your costumes,” Sam teases. Vanessa and Brooke have probably been a little too eager in showing Sam that picture over the years, but Vanessa looked like a literal princess in her red Princess Buttercup dress, Brooke was the perfect Westley, and they got compliments through the entire party, so sue them for showing off. Vanessa still remembers the cool silk flowing around her and warming her hand on the soft bit of skin revealed by Brooke’s shirt.

“Don’t think we weren’t tempted,” Vanessa says. “They’re in the attic somewhere, I bet I could still fit in that dress–”

“Do we need to pause it already?” Brooke asks, and Vanessa swats at her before snuggling back down and watching the movie.

Vanessa finds herself watching her family more than the movie, watching Brooke’s eyes widen and her lips stretch into a grin like she’s never seen it before. Then she turns to Sam, who really has never seen it before. They’re skeptical at first, face blank, but then their brown eyes–so warm and expressive, like Vanessa’s–light up when the Dread Pirate Roberts reveals himself to be Westley. By the end, their smile is huge.

“You liked it, huh?” Vanessa asks.

Sam looks down. “I guess,” they say, and Vanessa knows their nine-year-old heart can’t quite admit something their parents like is cool, but it’s a start, and she’s counting this as a win in both her and Brooke’s column.

“Well, I’m ready for tomorrow!” Vanessa yells, pulling Brooke in for a kiss.

—

ii. Star Wars

Brooke knows the baby Yoda ugly sweater and Star Wars pajama pants are overkill, but she can’t help it. From the moment she first saw the movie as a seven-year-old, all she wanted was to be a Jedi like Luke and save the galaxy. She and Kameron made lightsabers out of foam swords and spray paint, and they ran around their background slicing through enemies and saving the day. Kameron had even made truffles decorated like the Death Star when Brooke told her what they were watching, her brown eyes warm with memories of their Jedi days.

Brooke doesn’t know whether this movie thing between her and Vanessa is a contest, but if it is, she doesn’t really care about it for this movie. She just wants to watch it with her kid, hope they find the same joy in it that she did.

Sam seems to be enjoying the truffles at least, and they shove another one in their mouth. “Aunt Kam’s stuff is so good,” they say with their mouth full, and Brooke agrees.

The music blasts and opening crawl creeps onto the screen, and Brooke grins, even when Vanessa rolls her eyes fondly and asks her continual question of why everyone else has such ‘weird-ass names’ and Luke’s is normal.

Brooke didn’t think anything would be better than the first time she saw it, in their living room with salty popcorn burning her lips and Kameron next to her, but watching it now, with her wife at her side and their kid on the other couch watching with wide eyes, just might be even better. She never thought she would have this life, a family around her like this, and she pulls Vanessa little closer, breathing in the familiar scent of her coconut shampoo.

Sam is grinning when the movie ends, and warmth rushes through Brooke’s chest, that her kid enjoyed something that means a lot to Brooke.

“That’s my favorite one so far,” they say sheepishly, and Brooke lets out a whoop.

“All right, all right, it’s only been two movies so far,” Vanessa says. “We’re goin’ to Neverland tomorrow, and then we’ll see what’s better.”

—-

iii. Peter Pan

Vanessa feels like a professor as she stands in front of the TV, Sam and Brooke staring at her expectantly.

“Is this a presentation?” Brooke teases. “Should I take notes?”

“Oh please, you’re the one who loves presentations,” Vanessa says fondly. “No presentation–this movie did make me want to go into design, though. Oh! And it was the first sign that I was bi. Little kid me didn’t know if she wanted a flying boyfriend or a fairy girlfriend more.” Vanessa grins dreamily. She can still remember her heart fluttering the same way when she looked at Peter and his coppery hair as it did when she watched Tinkerbell pout, how it all made sense when she was seventeen and fully realized that she was bi for the first time.

“Start the movie, Ma!” Sam yells.

Vanessa does, then instantly pauses it, turning to Sam with worries in her mind. “Don’t get any stupid ideas from this movie, now!” she warns. “Don’t go flying around with people who show up in your window, no matter how cute they are! And Wendy was a child, acting all grown, Lord help us when you become a teenager–”

“Okay, Ness,” Brooke soothes, motioning for Vanessa to sit with her and pulling her into a hug when she does.

“I promise I won’t fly around with people in my window,” Sam says, and Vanessa smiles, reaching over and ruffling their brown waves.

“You better not,” Vanessa says, leaning back into Brooke, her wife still as cozy to cuddle with as she’s always been.

Vanessa’s dancing in place and belting out all the songs in no time. She’s known all the words since she was six, when she would perform the whole movie in her living room or sing them to herself as she drew fierce pirate coats and sparkly fairies with striped wings, and they’ve refused to leave her brain, even if she wishes she could have that space for something useful like where she put her phone.

Brooke’s not much of a singer, but she hums along, and when Sam’s soft voice hesitantly joins Vanessa’s, she knows the night is a success.

—

iv. Matilda

It’s not as action-packed as her other favorite movies on the list, but as a shy kid who always had her nose in a book, Brooke’s always had a soft spot for Matilda. After she had to accept that becoming a Jedi wasn’t a viable career path, it had been Matilda that gave her the idea to become a librarian. She could surround herself with books all day, and help people find the book they were looking for, introducing them to whole new worlds through the pages, just like she does with each bedtime story for Sam every night.

“This is a movie about a kid with magic powers, right?” Sam asks.

“Right,” Vanessa says, “and Mommy loves it because she’s a big nerd.”

“Hey!” Brooke protests, but Vanessa is laughing and giving her a warm hug.

“You know I love you for it,” Vanessa says simply, and Brooke hugs her back and knows it’s true.

It’s nice to watch a movie she hasn’t seen since she was a kid and find it still makes her smile the same way, still gives her the same hope at seeing a shy girl who loved books the way she did—and still does. Brooke has never been the confident, outgoing kid in so many movies. She was quiet and kept to herself, and Matilda gave her a world where she could be the hero. She hopes Sam always feels that way too, always knows that they can be the hero.

When the credits roll, Sam declares that it’s not their favorite off the list, but Brooke doesn’t mind.

—-

v. Peanuts

“Why are these even on the list?” Sam asks as Vanessa fiddles with the TV. “I’ve seen all the Peanuts movies.”

“And you’ll see them again!” Vanessa yells. “This is different. They’re official now, on the list and everything.” She starts the Easter special and shuts down all the arguments, biting into a peanut butter cookie.

“All right, all right.” Sam gives in, but they’re not complaining. Sam once tried to make Riley dance like Snoopy, and Vanessa knows they love these movies just as much as she does.

“This is another thing that got me into fashion,” Vanessa says. “Because I didn’t know why they always wore the same boring old clothes in all the movies, so I drew them wearing some new ones.”

“Of course you did.” Brooke grins.

“Well, I had to jazz those outfits up! They’ve been wearing the same clothes forever!” Vanessa laughs. She’s always wanted people to wear clothes they feel like themselves in, and somewhere in between drawing new outfits for cartoon characters, she decided that was what she wanted to do, and it’s what she still does with her own little boutique, just up the street from the library where Brooke works. She loves getting to help people pick out the perfect outfit, watching them smile as they come out feeling as good as they had hoped.

She leans back as Charlie Brown and the others take them through all the seasons, from Easter to Halloween to Thanksgiving and finally Christmas, where Vanessa reaches for tissues and even Sam pretends they have dust in their eye. Vanessa always wanted to fight the other kids for being so mean to Charlie, and even as an adult, the urge is still there.

When the movie’s done, an idea pops into Vanessa’s hand. She whips out her phone and brings up the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, yanking Brooke into the middle of the room and pulling her into a dance while Sam twirls around with Riley, cats watching from the couch, unimpressed.

“Ness, you’re making me dizzy,” Brooke giggles as Vanessa spins her faster and faster, until they almost crash into the Christmas tree.

Sam is cackling next to them, and Vanessa slows up, pressing her chest close to Brooke’s and melting as Brooke places a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

It’s her favorite movie night by far.

—

vi. Jurassic Park

All her movies on the list are special, but this one just might be the most special for Brooke. Because this is what she and Vanessa watched on their first date.

Brooke had started her first job at the library the same summer Vanessa started doing formal design sketches for a portfolio. She came to the library to get fashion books for ideas, and Brooke secretly hoped she would come back in every day, so they could make small talk and maybe she could say something funny to see Vanessa smile again. And almost every day, Vanessa came back.

Summer was half over and Brooke thought they would do nothing but talk with a library desk between them when Vanessa finally asked her to a movie in the park, both of them giggling as they set the date because they were finally going out after weeks of flirting and smiling and wondering if feelings were reciprocated. A dinosaur movie might not have been the most romantic choice for a first date, but they curled up together on a plaid blanket and let their fingers meet in the bag of buttery popcorn, and when Vanessa gave her a soft kiss as the end theme song played, Brooke knew she was the one.

She looks at her wife now, humming along to the opening theme and eating the dinosaur sugar cookie Kameron made, and knows that she’s still the one.

They snuggle up together and make dinosaur noises that cause Sam to look at them in annoyance, but it only makes them laugh harder.

They watch on the edge of their seats even though they know the ending, and Sam does the same, jumping every time a dinosaur pops out. When the end theme plays softly as the characters escape in the helicopter, Vanessa has tears in her eyes. Brooke’s not a big cryer–the last time she cried was probably when Sam was still a baby–but her eyes pool with dampness too, until she and Vanessa are holding each other and half-laughing, half-crying, because this movie is what brought them together.

“What are you doing?” Sam asks in alarm. “Why are you crying over a dinosaur movie?”

Brooke and Vanessa just laugh and exchange a soft kiss.

—

vii. The Muppet Christmas Carol

Christmas has always been Vanessa’s favorite holiday. As a kid, she fought her brothers every day to move the little Christmas tree counter on their Advent calendar, her excitement only growing as the day grew nearer. She’d just make it through the extra-long church service, and then she was free to play with her cousins and stuff herself with cookie after cookie and wake with the sunrise Christmas morning to jump in her parents’ bed.

Only now that she has her own child jumping in her and Brooke’s bed at an ungodly hour each Christmas does she realize why her parents would groan so loudly and what a little demon she must have been.

But her and Brooke don’t mind–they both love it, really, love all their traditions. There are the cookies they bake all month, the toy drive they help with at Sam’s school, and then Vanessa’s turn bringing Sam shopping to buy Brooke’s present and Brooke’s turn taking Sam to buy Vanessa’s present. The weekend after Thanksgiving, when they’re still stuffed with leftovers, the tree goes up, the three of them passing ornaments around while Vanessa narrates the history of how they got each one and almost falls on the tree trying to prove to Brooke that she can reach the tall branches. The tree is her favorite part, with the rainbow lights twinkling and the shining star looking over them. The tree is extra bright tonight, Christmas just days away, as Vanessa starts one of her favorite Christmas movies.

“This was my favorite to watch when I was pregnant with you,” Vanessa says to Sam. “The doctor said I had to go on bed rest, and I was so mad because it was almost Christmas and I wanted to do stuff. This was the next best thing.” She still remembers those long days, the pain in her back and hips and shoulders combined with the sadness of not being able to hang up lights or bake cookies or do much of anything. The Muppets at least made her smile, gave her a piece of Christmas she could have while stuck in bed. And when Sam was born perfectly healthy in January, she knew it had all been worth it.

“I swear, I heard Kermit in my sleep for weeks,” Brooke says, rolling her eyes but smiling anyway.

“You love Kermit and you know it,” Vanessa says.

Brooke just snorts, but Vanessa knows she’s right.

Vanessa knows most of the words—she really did watch this movie a ridiculous amount of times when she was pregnant—and finds her mouth moving along with the characters. The movie still makes her just as happy as it did when she was stuck in bed, makes her love Christmas and her family that much more. It doesn’t mean she’s forgotten the bet though, and the credits have just started to roll when Vanessa leaps from the couch and turns to Sam. “So?” she asks expectantly.

“So what?” Sam asks casually.

Vanessa huffs. “So, whose movies did you like better? Mine, right? Say mine.”

“No way.” Brooke pops up behind her. “Mine were way better.”

Sam just rolls their eyes. “Come on, you know I can’t pick between you two. You’re both my favorite.”

Vanessa melts then, pulling Sam into a bone-crushing hug, Brooke wrapping her arms around both of them.

“I guess we’ll just split the house stuff next week,” Vanessa says.

“You mean like we already do anyway?” Brooke snorts, holding them tighter.

Vanessa just smiles. She has her family, and tomorrow is their holiday party with all their friends, and then Christmas with her family and Brooke’s family, and her smile deepens. She watches the snow fall softly outside and knows this will be the best Christmas ever.

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #branjie #lesbian au #fluff #athena2 #concrit welcome #submission

[lovelyirony]

Hhhhhhnggggg I thought of something and I think you can make it beautiful. "Being your father is more important to me than being their friend."

thank you! 

If you had told Tony Stark that he would be a father figure some day, he would’ve laughed in your face. Because Tony Stark is not a figure for anything besides perhaps business or alcoholism. 

But then Iron Man. 

But then Avengers. 

But then...everything. 

The first time he really considers himself a father figure is when he gets emailed from Harley who starts it off with “why is your email embarrassingly easy to hack? Anyway I want to ask you about this robot thing. I’m not saying I’m building it but if I would be doing so what would I need.” 

Tony emails back: 

“When you hack into my email all of my employees who work in the encryption networks get an alert and put you on the ‘watch-for-this’ list. Basically all about employment. Anyway, suppose you are building this (and you are, because you’re a punk)...you need some copper wiring and I’ll send you the other stuff.” 

Harley and Tony pull up a sort of correspondence over email. And then Harley demands to have his number because “no one uses email anymore except for clothing companies, and you are not supplying me with any good deals on shirts.” 

(Tony absolutely does deny that he loves this kid when Rhodey catches them talking on the phone.) 

He also says he’s just providing a learning opportunity when Harley and his sister get to come to New York for a summer. 

“It’s because you like kids,” Rhodey says. “And you like Harley because he’s as much of a little shit as you are.” 

“False, he’s even more so. He built a potato gun and aimed it at me the first time we met.” 

“And you probably made some wise-ass remark about him or what have you. I wanna meet him.” 

Harley is an asshole. 

(Tony’s glad to have him.) 

His sister is sweet. Lily likes to learn about the world and the different connections between countries. Tony has no doubt that she has a career with the UN and makes sure to subtly get her books about political science and cool historical events. 

They don’t mention the distinct lack of the Avengers, at least until they’re at the dinner table and Tony’s picking at broccoli. 

“So, when are you going to recruit new members?” Harley asks, looking directly at him. He’s one of the few people in Tony’s life that can look at him directly now. He’s never shied away from that, and he can appreciate it. 

“Why would I recruit new members?” 

“We still need the Avengers. Besides, maybe you can find someone who doesn’t have as lame a costume as Captain America.” 

Tony snorts, taking his plate to the sink. 

“I’ll think about it.” 

He thinks long and he thinks hard that night. Tony’s not an idiot when it comes to the team’s whereabouts. They need somewhere where they are untouchable by anyone. 

And where better than a country with a long reputation of being a total recluse? 

He’ll have to ask King T’Challa if they also put coffee grounds down the sink. 

But they do need a team. And he remembers in the letter that Steve sent that he said that the Avengers were perhaps more of a family for Tony than for Steve. 

Yeah. It shows. Shows by the way Natasha, Clint, and Wanda all left with him. Shows how they’re family because no one’s there for Tony when he’s gasping for air from Steve’s shield crashing down on his chest, cracking. 

(He said that the shield didn’t belong to Steve. He wasn’t wrong. That shield doesn’t belong to Steve, because it’s not a belonging. It’s simply...Steve.) 

So. Family. Tony needs to find a new one. Or just new teammates. 

He talks to Rhodey, who agrees to be an overseer or who shows up. 

-

Rhodey asks about Spider-Man. 

“He’s on reserves only,” Tony says. “I can’t have him get hurt.” 

Peter’s a great kid. One of the best there is, most likely. (Just don’t ever ask Tony to say that out loud.) 

And he’s been itching to test out some new micro-fabric that has to do with defensive techniques that Tony’s been toying with, and this is the perfect time to introduce Peter to Harley. 

Harley’s soft, worn t-shirts contrast with the bright, punny shirts that Peter almost always wears. Peter talks a mile a minute while Harley really only says what he has to. 

At first, Tony isn’t sure if they’re going to get along. Harley’s not one for enthusiastic, jumpy people and hates going into New York City for literally anything. 

(“You’re supposed to come for dinner! We’re only eating with Pepper!” 

“I literally do not care. I saw a rat and I saw a person who was wearing neon orange. I am not dealing with this.”) 

But Peter is surprisingly savage when he wants to be, and they bond over roasting Tony within an inch of his life. 

“I literally cannot believe you,” Tony says. “You go from stuttering to roasting me over my shoe choice.” 

“Mr. Stark, those are quite possibly the ugliest shoes you could wear to this event,” Peter stresses. “You’re wearing a suit and bright orange shoes.” 

“Yes! It’s called being unique.” 

“It’s called ‘you’re about to get roasted by every magazine and social media account’,” Harley answers, not even looking up from his project. “Change your shoes.” 

“I’m Iron Man. I can handle a little fashion roasting.” 

“Yeah but you should have better taste,” Harley deadpans. “Go with the silver shoes. They’re not terrible.” Tony pouts but changes into the shoes. 

Harley and Peter send him both an article about “the unique, amazingly quirky style of one Tony Stark,” with captions that mean the same thing: told you so. 

It’s sad when Harley has to go back home with Lily. Tony promises them that they can spend every summer upstate if their mother is okay with it. Lily gives him a friendship bracelet before they fly and no, Tony does not Cry Actual Buckets. 

Peter’s summer is about to end, and Tony’s getting on him about last minute AP homework. 

“What do you mean you didn’t have time to finish up your AP History diorama? You spent all of last weekend googling military conspiracy theories! You have had time!” 

“Okay, that’s fair, but still--” 

Tony sends Harley and Lily care packages and letters. They send him back letters about the school day, what’s going on in the community, and Lily tends to “tell on” her brother about his own projects. 

“She didn’t have to tell you I was building a flying motorbike,” Harley whines. “Or that I couldn’t modulate it.” 

“Yeah, but she knows that you need someone to bounce ideas off of. So you could’ve easily talked to Peter or myself.” 

(The motorbike works and Tony has to plead with Harley not to use it to get to New York. 

“Feasibly if I could up the speed, Lily and I could be there in six hours so--” 

“Don’t you dare!”) 

Peter drops by all the time to check in on the progress of the new Avengers. They’ve contacted one of Rhodey’s “friends,” Carol Danvers. 

“A woman that cool? Simply could not have been ‘just’ a friend,” Tony says, smiling. “We’ll ask her about it later.” 

“Nope, you and your freaky Spider-Son are not asking Danvers shit,” Rhodey says. 

“He’s not my son.” 

“He might as well be, sweetheart. He’s already copying your penchant for graphic shirts and being horrible at lying.” 

“I’m not horrible at it.” 

“Yes you are,” Rhodey answers. “For example. Tell me a lie. Tell me that you hate Peter.” 

“Why would I ever tell that lie?” 

“Because you can’t. Next question. When are you going to lecture him about not stealing leftovers?” 

Tony laughs. 

- 

In all honesty, life has been going great. In Tony’s personal life, he and Pepper are going back to better terms friendship-wise. Harley is coming up for Christmas and Peter’s been planning Secret Santa with everyone who lives at the base. 

And then they hear word of a return. 

Rhodey wants to take...drastic measures. 

“We are not sending them to the moon,” Pepper says, rolling her eyes. 

“Why not?” 

“A waste of money, Jim. Honestly.” 

“True point.” 

Tony freezes when he realizes that he won’t be there in time to see them because he’s picking Harley and Lily up. 

“You take Peter with you, we’ll meet them, Rhodey says, smiling. “Nothing like a classic New York welcome, right?” 

“You are not yelling ‘fuck you’ with a bullhorn,” Tony responds, trying to hide a laugh. “I better not hear that you made international news.” 

“Then don’t turn on your TV.” 

Harley and Lily have already heard the news. Harley’s digging through his suitcase in the middle of the airport, and Tony has to flash a smile and a guilty look to a security guard in order for the TSA to lay off. 

“What are you doing, nerd?” Tony asks. 

“Trying to make a slingshot that has a bit more bite to it. You think we can pick up loose concrete rocks on the way to the base?” Harley asks. 

“No, we are not doing that. What I am doing is dropping you off at Peter’s house until I can get them somewhere to stay.” 

“You don’t owe them anything,” Lily remarks. “They broke international border rules and technically should be under government jurisdiction. You don’t have to give them a space.” 

“And yet I’m the only one good at containing,” Tony sighs. “Look, I’m sorry that this won’t be the ideal--” 

“Peter’s not at his house,” Harley answers, frowning at his phone. “Something about barricades?” 

“Oh my god,” Tony groans. “Rhodey got him. Well, in the car. How good are both of you at immediately ducking and rolling out of a car?” 

“We can still be there for you,” Harley says, annoyed. “I have a stun gun that could take down a tyrannosaurus rex.” 

“You can’t substantiate that with concrete evidence,” Lily argues. 

“I theorize that Rogers has to be weaker than a T-Rex, so I think it’s gonna be effective,” Harley responds. “Let me try it out, Tony? Please?” 

“No,” Tony says, but adds, “maybe in a week.” 

Peter is waiting inside and lights up when he sees Harley and Lily.

“Good, the holidays can really begin,” Peter jokes. “We even have the questionable side of the family in for a visit.” 

“For now,” Rhodey says, scowling. “Tony, please tell me they won’t be here for the holidays. We were supposed to pull out the decorations today.” 

“I’ll figure something out,” Tony says wearily. “Have the delegates been contacted?” 

“Marya and Joseph are on their way to deal with re-homing issues and family connections. They should be tied up with legal and personal aspects all day.” 

“Good,” Tony says. “But I do need to go greet them.” 

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Rhodey says, serious expression. “I can deal with them.” 

“You shouldn’t have to. And besides, it’ll be better coming from me. Being here for you all is more important than trying to be their friend.” 

Harley, Peter, and Lily give him a hug. 

“Don’t stay too long,” Peter says. “I made a Christmas Roulette Playlist.” 

“Why is it roulette?” 

“One Halloween song and at least one opera song. Whoever can name the song first wins the privilege of opening the first ornament for the tree.” 

“Wait up for me,” Tony says, grinning. 

It’s hard to face people you used to know. 

But Tony has a family to get back to. 

#tony stark #rhodey #pepper potts #iron fam #anyways tony's living his best life adn harley's an asshole #harley keener #peter parker #also mcu never gave harley's sister a name so i named her lily because i love her #lovelyirony writes

[writing-essence]

It Ate My Cat

Chapter Two: “King Steve”

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!reader

Warnings: language, underage drinking/smoking

Summary: You’ve known Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington since your first days moving to Hawkins. What happens when you get wrapped up in his interdimensional babysitting adventure with your younger brother?

Author’s Note: A cute filler chapter expanding on the reader’s and Steve’s previous encounters. Also, let me know if you wanna be tagged! -Milla

Ch. 1: Sheet Faced

Word Count: 1,636

September 21st, 1982

Steve Harrington’s big back to school bash was the talk of Hawkins High. You couldn’t get through half of a class without whisperings of what antics were being propositioned. Your neighbor, Amber, seemed especially enthusiastic, claiming that his parties were that of the century. You had gotten closer to Amber over the summer, and after a few nights of giggles and pranking your little brother, the older girl had decided to take you under her wing. Her first order of business was accompanying you to your first high school party, and if it had been any other week, you would have been thrilled. But you decided to shove your baggage under your bed for the night, and hopefully partying with the king of Hawkins High would be just the pick-me-up you needed.

Music blared through the house, traveling out into the fresh midnight air. Teens swirled around each other, mimicking the liquid in their plastic cups. Others opted for slashing cans and dribbling beer down their chins. The scent of cigarettes and desperation muddled around the crowd. They were acting as if this were their last night on earth, all sense was left for the trees surrounding them. It all felt like a dream. You were dizzy. People were stripping down to their underwear and diving into the pool. A commotion and splash of water pulled you from the haze.

“Hey, quit standin’ there, jump in!” A girl with copper hair insisted. She was clung to the side of a freckled boy. He smirked at your bewildered expression. You didn’t know these people, not really. Most were a year older than you at the least, and you had only heard of them. You weren’t comfortable with these people, not yet. It all seemed too sudden, and you muttered a polite decline.

“What was that freshy I didn’t hear you?” The boy let go of the giggling girl in his arms to swim closer to the edge of the pool. He pushed himself back to standing on the chilled wooden floor. “C’mon the water’s fiiiine,” he slurred, stalking closer to you.

“Hey, man, knock it off.” You heard another boy speak up, but you were too stunned to lose focus on the boy in front of you chuckling.

Before you could decline again, he lunged forward, a wicked grin on his face. You yelped as he threw you over his shoulder and jumped into the water, putting you both under. Seconds felt like minutes. You could here the muddied cheers and laughs of the other teens. Your lungs were burning, and your heart was pounding in your ears. You gasped when you reached the surface flailing to find the edge of the pool and clambering your way up the side.

The temperate September night suddenly felt freezing. You wiped the chlorine out of your eyes to be met with a stumbling Amber trying to help you up. As you got to your feet, you were better able to evaluate the girl next to you. Her rosy cheeks twinged to green as her body heaved down towards your wet shoes. Silence blanketed over the backyard. The tips of your ears felt warm as you couldn’t bear to glance down at your feet. The redheaded girl, back in her boyfriend’s arms, broke the silence with a guffaw.

“Holy shit! She jus-”

“Shut up Carol! Cool it,” it was the boy’s voice from earlier. Before the situation could escalate you managed to kick off your tainted sneakers and slipped back into the house.

You managed to find a sparsely populated corner to compose yourself. Your body shook, unclear of it was from the dripping clothes draping your body or sheer embarrassment. The laughter of the crowd still echoed in your head. This wasn’t supposed to go like this tonight. You wished you could’ve gone back in time and jumped in the pool out of your own free will. Why couldn’t you just let loose for once? You wanted to, but too many thoughts were racing laps through your head today and now you had more to add to the marathon.

“Hey uh, sorry about them,” a voice soothed. You looked up at the familiar tone from earlier outside to be met with none other than the king himself.

“I’m fine,” you squeaked, “they were just -”

“Assholes?” He cut you off, arms crossed in concern. You let out a breathy laugh feeling at ease, knowing the host was on your side. “Seriously you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” you nodded in response. “I’m uh, I guess,” you were acutely away of the shivers dancing their way up your body, “a little cold.”

Steve chuckled in response, “Henderson Right?” You nodded. “Uh-”

“Y/N,” you finished for him, a gentle smile flitted on his face.

“Y/N, c’mon,” he motioned for you to follow him out of the kitchen. You were at the entryway of his house when he started up the stairs. You hesitated, knowing his reputation. He sensed your halt as he turned back to you, apparent apprehension on your face. “I’m not gonna try anything, just offering some dry clothes,” he mused insistently. Feeling the wet denim cling to your legs less than comfortably was enough to push you up the stairs.

Down the upstairs hall, he waltzed into what you assumed to be his bedroom judging from the posters and sports trophies. You stopped outside the door feeling the comfort of the hallway. After watching him rifle through his dresser, he presented you with a pair of gray sweat pants and a navy blue sweatshirt. “Here, there’s a bathroom down the hall. When you’re decent I’ll throw your stuff in the dryer.”

Gingerly, you took the clothes exchanging a small smile. The material felt soft in your hands. You went into the bathroom, switching on the light and shutting the door behind you. Stripping off your damp clothes was no small feat. Your sweater suctioned itself to your shoulders while attempting to pull it over your head. Slipping on the dry clothes felt like heaven, you could feel warmth regaining in your fingers and toes. It wasn’t until then you glanced in the mirror to look at yourself and what reflected back was atrocious. Your hair was in disarray, tangled from your fight out of the water. Mascara trailed down your cheeks, flecks of black spotting across your face. Your face looked sunken from stress. You looked down at your outfit. Who would’ve thought you’d be standing in Steve Harrington’s clothes looking like this. You couldn’t help but laugh. You were exhausted. As the giggles continued, the bounces in your chest turned to sadness. Tears burned your chlorine tainted eyes.

“Hey, you okay in there?” Steve knocked on the door, “I got you some water.” You tried to control your ragged breathing and hoped the tears would roll back into your eyes. Before you could lock the door Steve had it open ajar glimpsing at your worse for wear state. “Shit if Tommy and Carol got to you, just ignore them they-”

“It’s not them,” you snapped wishing to forget the incident. In his hands were a plastic cup and metallic can, he gave you the former. You stood there in silence sipping the water. He tilted his head insistently. “You know when I first moved here?”

He nodded.

“My parents had split, and dad was a deadbeat. I couldn’t care less what the asshole chose to do,” a dry laugh tickled your chest, “but after years of no birthday or Christmas cards, you know what came in the mail yesterday?

“No, but I bet you’re gonna tell me,” he urged.

“A fucking wedding invitation,” a breathe choked out of your lungs. You shook your head, setting the cup on the counter, jumping up to sit next to it, “and you know? the worst part was seeing my little brother ecstatic to finally get mail from dad just to get his heart ripped out because he found a different family to actually give a shit about.”

“Shit, um,” the boy ran a hand through his mountain of brunette hair. He had obviously never been in this situation before. Not that you expected him to have weekly therapy sessions with girls crying in his bathroom. He had different kinds of sessions. He leaned back on the counter next to you deflated, “if it makes you feel any better, my dad’s an asshole too.”

“At least he’s still around,” you looked down toying at the lint on his sweatpants.

“Barely,” he scoffed. His lips pressed together and his knuckles turned white, grabbing the edge of the counter. “A year ago I saw him cheating on my mom. Before I got the balls to tell her, she’d already found out. And so all the getaway vacations so they can work on their marriage or some shit. Not that he’s great to be around when he’s home either,” he admitted.

You hardly recognized the boy next to you. Usually full of charm and charisma, his shoulders were now slumped and his head hung to the floor. He let the party boy next door facade slip away. It wasn’t easy sitting on the throne, entertaining your subjects. While it didn’t excuse Steve of sometimes being as much of an asshole as Tommy and Carol. Maybe he was more than that. You could tell he was angry but too exhausted to care anymore. You understood.

“I’m sorry,” you softly placed a hand on his.

“Me too,” he responded, looking up at you through the hair that had flopped in his face. You broke eye contact, clearing your throat.

“Well then,” you turned to your side, taking your water a smirk playing upon your lips. “Here’s to shit fathers.”

“I’ll drink to that, Henderson.”

Tags

@stiles24ever​

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington series #steve harrington x henderson!reader #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things series #stranger things masterlist

[gwenbrightly]

Ninjago Christmas Fic #1 - Decorations

Ahhh, it’s that time of year when I speed write Christmas fics because it’s fun! Crossposted from ffnet. Takes place after MOTO.

“Let’s see what everyone was able to snag for the monastery,” Lloyd suggested enthusiastically. Having never celebrated Christmas in the monastery of spinjitzu before, the ninja had been horrified to discover that Wu hadn’t thought to invest in decorations for the holiday season. Not prone to giving up easily, they had spent several days searching high and low for trees, wreaths, lights, and anything else they could get their hands on.

“Ma and pa sent some lights they swear still work properly. Left most of em outside. There’s also a bunch of garlands that look like they’re in pretty decent shape. Perks of living in a junkyard, I guess. And uh, I think this used to be an angel?” Jay stated, holding up a sparkly hunk of metal with appendages shaped vaguely like wings. He glanced sideways at it, trying to decide if it was worth keeping.  

“I… can try to fix it later, if you want?” offered Kai, “I got a lot of practice with metalworking while Nya and I were visiting mom and dad yesterday. And the whole remaking the Golden Weapons thing probably helps too, heheh.”

His sister rolled her eyes at his self satisfied smirk. Jay nodded, handing Kai the mangled decoration.  

“If you think she’s savable, go for it!”

“Speaking of mom and dad, they gave us a box of Christmas ornaments and some other stuff, too.” Nya added holding up the blue orb with swirly designs she’d just grabbed from the uppermost layer of the cardboard box she was kneeling next to.  

“We couldda brought some tinsel, too, but we decided it wouldn’t be a good idea after last year…” she continued. They all shuddered.  

“Dad convinced the tree farm that sponsors the Royal Blacksmiths to sell him a tree for super cheap. He said he’d drop it off in a little bit.” Cole informed them, not wanting to dwell on the incident.

“Dude! That’s awesome!” Exclaimed Lloyd, his eyes lighting up. The others smiled. They’d never been able to have a live tree before. Zane nodded in agreement.  

“Indeed. I’m sure it will look lovely in the living room. I managed to locate a wreath my father built. It’s made mostly from old gears, and I know that’s not very traditional, but I’d like to put it up somewhere. If you don’t mind?”

“Of course, Zane. I’m sure we can find a good place for it.” Cole assured his friend. He understood what it was like to miss a family member during this time of year.  

“Yeah. I mean this place is huge. We need all the decorations we can get!” Kai reminded them.

“We had better get started, then.” Pixal interjected, eager to finally be celebrating the holidays without being confined to a screen (or her wonderful soulmate’s head) this year.

“Heck yeah! So where should we start?” asked Nya. They glanced around at the heaps of miscellaneous decorations, considering their options.  

“Maybe we should tackle the lights outside first? I’d rather do that before it gets too cold out.” proposed Jay. Although it had not yet snowed, the weather had been growing increasingly colder.

“I vote yes to that idea. It’s usually better to test anything the Walkers give us as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary explosions. No offense, Jay.” Cole said, giving the master of lightning an apologetic grin. Jay punched his shoulder lightly.

“None taken. We do tend to end up with... Surprises pretty often when ma and pa gift us stuff.”

“Okay, then. Outside it is. Just… try to keep the dangerous hijinks to a minimum? I don’t wanna worry Uncle Wu.” Lloyd told them, heading for the front door.  

The next hour was spent watching Jay zap each strand of lights or light up decoration with his powers as he tested them to see if they worked, waiting for the inevitable explosion. Surprisingly, they made it through 5 whole strands, two light up snowman, and a reindeer before coming across their first exploding decoration. No one could be sure if the shattering of every single bulb on the rainbow strand of lights was due to Jay’s parents tampering with the wires, or the master of lightning himself sending too much electricity into it, but the display of rainbow colored shards flying through the air was impressive to say the least. After cleaning up their mess and testing the remaining decorations, the group began the actual decorating part of the process. Pixal and Zane wrapped lights around the columns that lined the entrance to the monastery, creating elaborate patterns. Cole and Jay worked together to lift an ornate sleigh complete with reindeer onto the roof via airjitzu. Meanwhile, Nya simply tried to keep Lloyd and Kai from killing each other with additional decorations. Seeing her brother wrap the green ninja in lights, she cried, “Kai no!” in exasperation.  

“Cmon, sis! You’ve gotta admit he’d make a great Christmas tree!” He defended, before launching into singing oh Lloydie tree, oh Lloydie tree, how lovely are your branches! And receiving dirty looks from his victim.  

“Listen to Nya, Kai.” Cole shouted from above them. The master of fire relented, muttering about how no one appreciated his brilliance as he unwound his brother. Their hard work was interrupted by the sounds of a (much less irritating) Christmas carol floating into the courtyard from just beyond the gate.

“We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!” Sang Lou and his quartet as they lugged a ginormous tree inside.

“Hey, pop!” Cole greeted. He left the lofty heights of the roof, followed by Jay.

“Hello, son! You’re doing a lovely job with this place!”

“Thanks!” Jay said, “You just missed the explosion!”

“… The what?” Lou started.

“So, how was your drive?” Cole inquired, cutting him off. His father gave him a strange look, but didn’t push the topic further.

“It was fine. Building that driveway was a wonderful idea. I can’t imagine how much of a hassle it would’ve been to carry this thing up so many steps.” he answered.

“It really has made life easier for all of us.” Zane agreed.  

“This tree is beautiful! Thank you so much for hooking us up!” Added Lloyd, staring admiringly at their  

“It was no trouble, Lloyd.” Lou told him, smiling warmly.  

“Wanna come inside for some hot cocoa? We were about ready to take a break anyway.” offered Cole.

“I would love to, but unfortunately we need to get going. We have a concert at the hospital to attend. Can’t disappoint the kids, you know.” the older man replied regretfully. The master of earth shrugged. Christmas was always a busy time for the Royal Blacksmiths.  

“Okay. Next time, then. Break a leg, and thanks again!”

“Goodbye son!” Lou called as his companions burst into sing again.  

“Now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding and bring some right here!”

“What even is figgy pudding?” Lloyd wondered aloud.  

“No clue.” Kai shrugged.  

“Let’s get this bad boy inside.” Prompted Jay, rubbing his hands together and grinning in a way that was only a little bit maniacal. It took a fair amount of maneuvering, but they eventually managed to get the tree situated in the living room.  

“Wow, I hope we have enough ornaments for this thing.” Nya commented. The tree looked even bigger now that it was upright.  

“We’ll think of something if we don’t. Maybe we can just put Jay to work making paper snowflakes again.” Lloyd plotted.

“I’m down for that. I don’t get why you guys think I’m the only one who’s deserving of this honor, though.” said Jay. He had never quite understood why the others were so fascinated by his ability to make paper snowflakes with such ease.

“Because you’re better at it than we are and we like the way they look.” Nya stated simply, hanging the ornament she’d discovered earlier on the tree. Jay leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“Thanks, sweetie.”

Kai rolled his eyes at them and set about digging through the boxes looking for more ornaments. He pulled out anything that looked like it was still functional, tossing a few broken ones into the garbage.  

“This one is neat!”

“Oooh shiny!” Lloyd noted. He snatched the ornament from Kai before he could protest. The master of fire decided it wasn’t worth fighting and returned to his rummaging. Kai managed to protect a few of the ornaments from Lloyd’s watchful eye, sneaking them onto the tree when he wasn’t looking.  

“Wait… how did that get there?” Lloyd asked, finally noticing one of the extra sparkly ornaments Kai had hidden from him.  

“I swear Lloyd, you’re as bad as a cat when you get like this.” Nya told him, stifling a smile.  

“Like what?” he replied innocently. Cole watched Lloyd stare longingly at another ornament.  

“All oooh shiny every time you see something cool.”  

“Nah, I’m pretty sure that stems from having a dragon for a grandmother.” Lloyd reminded them.

“Hmmm that’s a good point.” Confirmed Zane.

“Kai, I am almost completely certain that Santa was not intended to be a part of this nativity!” Pixal scolded, frantically trying to prevent the master of fire from ruining the decoration he was currently setting out on the mantle.

“Well, he is now!” Kai retorted, not caring about historical accuracy. Pixal sighed loudly.

“Can we at least discuss fixing the sheep so they don’t look like they’re fighting to the death?”

“Gee, Pix! It’s not like they’re real,” he reminded her indignantly before smiling a devious smile, “Hmmm I should add one of Lloyd’s dragon figurines...”

“Kai no! That is the most horrible idea ever.” she protested, horrified.  

“What you call horrible I call brilliant!”

“Okaaay maybe it’s time for a break before Uncle Wu comes in here and questions our collective sanity again.” Lloyd said awkwardly pushing between the irate ninja and samurai.  

“There’s hot cocoa in the kitchen, remember?” added Nya.  

“Hmmm okay, sure. Hot cocoa does sound good.” Kai admitted (totally not planning on sneaking back later to mess with the nativity some more).  

“Yeah! Let’s go eat way too much whipped cream and marshmallows!” agreed Jay.  

“Looks like we’re off to another chaotic Christmas.” Lloyd commented to Nya as they headed for refreshments.  

“Yeah, but you know you love it.” She told him with a laugh. The blonde shrugged, saying,  

“I do. Somehow this never gets old.”

“That’s the magic of Christmas for you. Or… something like that, anyway. Now cmon, let’s get some hot coco before the others drink it all.”

#ninjago fanfiction #my fics #ninjago christmas #decorating #its the most wonderful time of the year #decorations and mayhem #ninjago #Kai's an idiot basically the entire time #Pixal doesn't approve of the way he builds nativities #okay yes I included that #don't judge

[benisasoftboi]

Tales From A Christmas Carol(s)

I work props at a local amateur theatre, and we just finished our run of A Christmas Carol - 19 shows in just under two weeks, massive cast of both adults and children. I was there for 15 of the performances, plus rehearsals. I’ll miss the cast and crew very much - wonderful people, the lot of them - but I never want to hear a word about ghosts and making merry and Tiny-bloody-Tim ever again. 

Here’s some stories that the audience didn’t get to see:

So the first thing I have to talk about is the Cursed Prop. Here he is, at first dress rehearsal:

Someone in the cast named him Dead Tom. He stayed on stage right, where I worked, and played the role of Scrooge’s corpse during a Christmas Yet To Come scene (hidden under a blanket, luckily for the audience). We all hated Dead Tom for being the scariest part of the whole production - except the kids, who were oddly entranced by him. I once watched one reverently stare at him, and then reach forward to gently caress his face. Spooky as hell. As the show went on, and he had to be dragged about every night, he got a bit worse for wear, and by the final performance looked like this:

Someone (*cough* me) accidentally kicked him in the face during the final rehearsal, which is why that dent is there. Surprisingly, doing this didn’t doom the show by unleashing an ancient evil. I suspect it instead explains the UK general election result. Sorry, everyone

Working props can be really fun because unlike a lot of other backstage jobs, you get to spend a lot of time with the actors - you come to personally rely on each other, which leads to a weird, but special bond. Like the girl who played Belle (Scrooge’s ex-girlfriend), who relied on me to help her with a quick change at the end of Act 1 - I had to button a cape around her neck, which is really difficult to do under pressure (I’ve always admired quick changes, but now I am in absolute reverence of some famous ones having experienced the pressure of it first hand). I am very grateful she trusted me with the task - and also quite surprised I never accidentally groped her, considering how often my hands were frantically moving about in that area

However - actors are also useless and cannot ever be trusted with anything, it must be said. We had this plate of (real!) jellies that went on stage for a party scene, it looked like this:

(They look better on stage). I would cover them with a sheet of foil, and a note reading ‘DO NOT TOUCH’, as they were fairly delicate. The first night, the note went missing. I later found it on the other side of the stage, meaning some one must have carried it across. And it also means that some smart-arse touched the DO NOT TOUCH sign. Never found out who it was

On the last night, I figured they knew the rules by now. I didn’t have to cover up the jellies, they’d seen the sign for two weeks, I’d be throwing them away in an hour anyway - I could trust them to leave them alone for one more act. I leave them out, turn around for five seconds, and turn back to discover the actors taking it in turns to SLAP the jellies

Actors are despicable creatures and I hate them (I don’t <3)

There’s always one prop the actors consistently forget to return. In this show, there was a set of pocket watches that people would constantly leave in costume pockets. At one point we had three shows in a row where a different person forgot each time. This was perhaps my punishment for getting bored in rehearsals and setting all the clock hands to 6 and 9

We had a few props that were spares, in case something went missing or got broken. One was a bowler hat. On the last night, as it clearly wouldn’t be needed, I wore it the whole show, just for fun. Someone told me I looked ‘effortlessly cool’, which is the only time that has ever been said about me

There were a lot of kids in this show, and they were really sweet, and often more well-behaved than the grown-ups. I had to skip both sets of performances on the Thursdays for other commitments, and one of them told me he missed me while I was gone, and my soul ascended

Another time, we were doing a matinee for a school group, who were being very rowdy. One of the kids came over to me, gestured in the direction of the audience, and said ‘I hate children’. I nodded and handed him his prop, while internally losing it because sweetheart, you are children

That same day, the actor playing Christmas Past lost his wig - he had to walk through a curtain, and it got pulled off. Cue laughter from audience. He handled it very well, though. The wig wasn’t used again in any performance after that, which I think was actually for the best, with the costume and make-up he actually kind of looked spookier without it 

Another school group wolf-whistled Scrooge at the end - kids are wild

I had to spend a lot of time coming back and forth from the theatre’s props room due to those jellies I mentioned earlier needing to stay in the fridge when not in use. Props rooms are where all the most recently or soon to be used props are kept (we’ve got like five other rooms and a whole basement for stuff that’s not in use), and they’re the best. You never know what you’re going to find, and you spot something new every time. It can range from weird:

To creepy:

To very funny if you’re on your tenth performance of A Christmas-goddamn-Carol and you barely slept last night and you have a highly immature sense of humour:

I would watch the absolute hell out of a Night At The Museum spin-off set in a theatre props storage

Being an amateur theatre, everyone involved with these shows is, well, an amateur. A lot of people still like to jokingly call themselves professionals, though, usually under one of two circumstances - the first is when no one really feels like being there, but we’ve got to do it, we’re professionals, *self-deprecating laughter*, and the second when someone gets caught doing something silly

For me, the latter happened a few times during my favourite part of my role in this show - decorating the scooter. For some reason, this version of A Christmas Carol featured a boy on a scooter who would ride through various scenes. The scooter was then gifted to Tiny Tim at the end (I don’t get it, but whatever). Throughout most of the show, it was just a scooter, but before the last time it came on, I would decorate it like this:

Now, it had to be ridden across the stage, so it was very important that the decorations didn’t all come off. So of course, I would be required to make certain of that, surely? And what better way to do so than by riding it around the back corridors while everyone’s on stage? Right? It’s a very professional thing to do, is how I explained it every time someone caught me

Scooters are fun and more adults should have them

At the end of the show, the whole cast is on stage and ‘snow’ falls from the ‘sky’, and everyone cheers as the curtain falls. One matinee, the snow failed, and we spent the wait until the evening show unsure whether they’d be able to fix it. When it did fall at the end of the performance, the cheers the actors let out were, unbeknownst to the audience that night, actually 100% genuine - I could hear the difference, having listened to it every night for a week. Which was why I spent the entirety of bows that evening silently laughing my absolute arse off

To be a little cheesy - these past few weeks have been some of the best of my life. If anyone out there has just moved, or is moving to a new city, and is looking to socialise a bit, you could do worse than joining up with a local theatre. Best case scenario, you end up like me, and have a great (if repetitive) time with a group of lovely people. And worst case? You at least get really good at quoting long sections of plays. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with someone who can do that?  

#long post #theatre #theater #a christmas carol #christmas #misc #storytime #cursed #personal #happy christmas if you celebrate it #happy day anyway if you don't

[eldritchsurveys]

684.

1. Do you like architecture? If so, do you have a favourite style or structure that you’d like to make note? >> I do like architecture, but it’s a passing admiration more than a formal interest where I know the names of styles and shit. I mostly love skyscrapers and other modern structures (and cathedrals, as far as older structures are concerned). My favourite building, the one that sparks joy in my black heart every time I see it, is One World Trade Center. Oh, but you know what else is fucking cool? Sedlec Ossuary. 2. What is one thing you look forward to this winter? >> The one thing in winter that I look forward to is the end. 3. Are you allergic to anything? How do you cope with your allergies? >> No. 4. What is one of your favourite words, in any language, and why? >> Chiaroscura is a cool word.

5. How would you describe this year? Was it pleasant, satisfying, or tumultuous…? >> Well, like, it’s only the beginning of March. So far it’s mostly been... you know, winter.

6. What is one thing that has been on your mind lately? >> Just a jumble of stuff, I guess. Nothing that sticks out. 7. Is there a picture you could share that is something you find aesthetically pleasing? >> I’m not in the mood to go looking for one.

8. Do you think others consider you very observant? Do you agree? >> Yeah, because I am observant. 9. Do you celebrate a winter holiday? If so, which holiday? >> I celebrate Christmas.

10. Are there any traditions that you look forward to doing? >> Sure, like going to Frankenmuth, putting up the tree, buying presents. Watching Christmas movies and listening to carols. Going to see TSO, if we get to go this year (we had to skip last year because of money). 11. Where is the farthest you’ve traveled on foot? >> Er... I have no idea. A few miles, probably. 12. Are there any clothes or items that you have and are embarrassed to wear or show in public? >> No. I do have clothing that I don’t want to wear in public, either because I’ve earmarked it in my mind as “house clothing” and therefore feels uncomfortable to wear anywhere but at home, or because -- despite the fact that I like the garment itself! -- it’s dysphoria-inducing. But I wouldn’t consider that “embarrassment”. 13. Are there any songs that you perhaps like but avoid because it makes you sad when heard? >> I felt that way about Unchained Melody for at least 10 years. I think I’m about over it now.

14. Do you like the area that you live in? What do you like or dislike about the area? >> No. I just don’t like it. I feel no connection to it despite having been here for 4 years. It doesn’t suit me and I don’t suit it. Sometimes it’s just like that. 15. What do you think is the best way to keep hair healthy? >> Aside from the obvious answer of “washing it”, the specifics depend on one’s hair type and whether it’s processed and so on. 16. Do you have a memory of when you really thought that you have lucked out on something? If so, what was it? >> I mean, I feel that way about a lot of things, considering I’m trained to believe I don’t deserve shit. 17. If you have apps on your mobile phone, which one do you use the most? >> CloudLibrary, Reddit Is Fun, and Spotify. 18. What month do you think was most stressful to you and why? >> Like, in general? Or this year? I mean, none of them, really? 19. Which do you like better: fantasy or science fiction novels? Why? >> I don’t have a preference. I like both, and what I like best is a combination of both. 20. Do you like opossums? Do you think it is ethically right for others to keep opossums as pets? >> Yes, I think opossums are adorable. I don’t understand the need some people apparently feel to keep non-domesticated animals as pets, period. 21. What is your favourite unhealthy drink that you like to consume (if you have one, that is)? >> Alcohol? 22. When was the last time someone asked you a huge favour or advice? Do you get asked often by this person? >> I can’t remember the last time anyone asked me for anything. 23. Do you know your birthstone? What is it and do you like it or do you prefer another kind of gemstone? >> I think it’s emerald. I really don’t care about birthstones.

#surveys #survey #random survey

[scifrey]

My Very Spoilery Endgame Review - What I Liked, What Annoyed Me, and Two Questions I Am Left With

I was very satisfied and enjoyed it very much. The theater burst into applause in several instances and it was great to celebrate the end of an era with fellow fans.

Now for the spoilery critiques and praise.

My favorite moments were:

Thor reconciling his self-image and self-worth with his mother

“I’m still worthy.”

Loki escaping and (hopefully) living in at least one timeline - because if Steve went back to “trim the branches” then this means he returned the Tesseract to 1970. Which means the branch where Loki snagged the Tesseract and was not imprisoned on Asgard may have endured*. 

Ken Jeong’s cameo.

Stan Lee’s cameo.

Banner coming to terms with who and what he is and living comfortably with the Hulk.

Basically everyone really leaning into the self-love  and self-value by the end of the film.

“That is America’s Ass”.

“I could do this all day.” “Yeah, I know.”

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

“Ha! I knew it!”

“I am Iron Man.”

Scott finding Cassie alive.

Wong’s exasperated reply to Strange’s “Is that everyone?”

Nebula’s redemption. This is a princess (as Squidward calls Thanos “sire”) who saves her own damn self.

How the thing that gave the game away to Thanos was actually really clever and well executed; this wasn’t a “heroes are just stupid this one time” (like how Quill screwed the pooch in Infinity War when they had the damn glove). It was something that I genuinely hadn’t thought of, and I assume no one, not even Nebula, would have thought of. It worked. And it worked well.

All the ladies supporting Carol in the final battle - which was awesome but also felt a bit like the moment was added only so the Russos could check it off a “don’t piss off the feminists” list.

How the final battle set it up well for the next phase - I liked how the Glove Relay was from an OG Avenger (Hawkeye) to the new Avengers - Black Panther, Spider-man, and Captain Marvel.

“I love you 3000″.

Falcon!Cap - finally! Yay!

The sound of the armor that started it all being forged as the endcap of the credits.

However.

I wish Bucky and Steve had also had a meaningful moment at the end, like Steve and Sam, something that made it clear that even though Steve was older now, he was no less Bucky’s best pal. 

I'm very, very annoyed that they Fridged Natasha. I mean, I get it. Someone had to die. And we all knew Hawkeye was going to go back to his family, so it wouldn’t be him. And I do love how they did the death, how Nat and Clint fought with one another to the be the one to make the sacrifice. And her death would have been especially cheap if Bruce had just Snapped her Back. I get it.

And if there wasn’t a long history of Fridging female character to ensure the male ones have enough Man-Pain to have a character arc and impetus to be a hero, then you know what? This would have been a really moving sacrifice. It would have really worked.

But there is. And in light of that, it’s left me... itchy. Uncomfortable. Because in the context of the film alone it was a great death. But in the context of the history of comic book narratives, it sucked.

Also, what does this mean for the Black Widow movie? Will it actually be a prequel? Will it be Budapest? And if it is Budapest, will they use the same actors, or cast new, younger ones?

I also don't understand the narrative reason why they had to make so many fat jokes around Thor.

I mean, yeah, it makes sense he was depressed and stopped taking care of his heath, and self-medicated with booze and food. This was a strong and meaningful narrative and I really liked that he was given the opportunity to mourn, to question his purpose, to become more than just muscles and a hammer in terms of character construction. That he could grieve and struggle, and be filled with crippling regret that kept him indoors and hiding, and filled self-loathing.

 As a character choice it made sense. And I liked that he was still a powerful warrior while chubby, and that he didn’t magically become slim again when he suited up. It was wonderful to see him be no less powerful, dangerous, dedicated, and no less kick ass while sporting a keg instead of a sixpack. 

But they leaned awfully hard on that “fat joke” button and by the time Rhodey said “Cheez Whiz?” I was over it. Its got tedious and frankly a bit insulting.

Teasing someone for suffering because he lost literally everyone he loved is not cool. The jokes fell flat, for good reason. They were cruel.

And when the Russos announced that they had included the MCU's first openly gay character I was hoping that it would be a main character, not some rando dude in a talk therapy meeting. I wanted Bucky and Sam to confess feelings, or Bucky to Steve even if Steve couldn’t return them, or Valkyrie to at least have a wife in New Asgard, or something.

But TBH it didn't surprise me that they made it some nameless dude in group support. Like J.K. Rowling, the Russos are happy to queerbait but too cowardly to commit, and they always have been. I’d be annoyed but it’s not worth the energy. 

At least when the guy mentioned his boyfriend it was a “no big deal” mention, and nobody made a “are you cool with this, Cap?” thing to really point out that ooooo, this dude is queer.

But those are my only gripes. The rest of it was thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying.

Especially all the little call backs. The "I am Iron Man" and “I could do this all day” stuff - it felt like little gifts to the fandom.

However, I have two questions.

1) When people were Snapped Back, were they Snapped to their previous exact geographical location? Because if so, what about people who had been in transit? Did people who were Snapped Away while in a plane just... appear mid-sky and plummet to their deaths? Were people on spaceships Snapped Back into the void of cold space? We saw in Infinity War that helicopters crashed into city streets - the pilot, that means, was Snapped Away. When that pilot came back, where did he come back? Did Bruce think to Snap them all into safe places? (I mean, I assume the Stones accounted for Spacial Drift and the location of planets in orbit... maybe it accounted for people who would have Snapped Back into deadly situations?)

2) I do love that Steve and Peggy got their life together At that point Pegs would have been like... at least 10 years older than Steve? Maybe 15? What would her neighbors think of Sugar Momma Peggy Carter and her Very Much Younger (Looking) Husband?

Did she introduce him to anyone? Did they have neighborhood BBQs? At that point everyone would have known who Captain America/Steve Rogers was so did no one recognize him? What did they say? (Did we get Beardy Steve back???) They had kids, canonically, so was Steve able to attend their T-BAll games and school plays?

One assumes that Sugar Baby Steve would have been the House Husband, because Pegs was running Shield and Steve was out of the game. He’d never be able to show his face at SHIELD because Howard would recognize him, and so would Arnim Zola, so HYDRA would have known that Captain America survived and I imagine they would have given anything to get him into the Chair.

It makes me think that Sugar Baby House Husband Steve would have been very isolated and possibly lonely. Maybe he had a few neighbor friends, but can you image how torturous it must have been to live so privately? To know that Bucky was out there suffering and being tortured and brainwashed and that he couldn’t do anything about it? He couldn’t go save his best pal?

That Peggy could never bring him to the SHIELD Christmas party, to visit her new baby godson Anthony, never attend anything with him.

And it makes me think Steve had to vanish from her life right when his earlier self entered it so like... as soon as she started getting sick enough with Alzheimer's he had to leave. 

Because that’s when younger Steve came into her life, and started visiting her in the nursing home. 

But he had to abandon her when she needed him most, and that is very tragic. How did Steve reconcile that with himself? Especially with returning to a future where she was dead and his friends were alive and he didn’t need to be the Secret Sugar Baby House Husband any more?

All in all, it was very enjoyable and I will watch it again. 

And I look forward to the FanFic.

* This means that Loki in that branch also likely did not participate in the battle against the Dark Elves. His character growth in that moment was likely delayed, but I believe he ultimately would have processed his extreme confusion, self-loathing, and hatred of his betrayal by his “family” Thor enough to join forces with him against the destruction of the universe when it mattered. Perhaps having the extra time to do so might have even served him better.  I don’t know if this means Odin chose to die and Hela was released, thus triggering the destruction of Asgard. I don’t know what this would have meant for Ragnarock - possibly with Odin as the King when he died the defenses would have been better (though I argue the culture and peace of Asgard thrived under Loki, especially with his dismantling of the Empire and the valuing of the Arts) and they would have saved Asgard or at least not lost so many.

And if Asgard had not survived, perhaps in this version something different may have happened, and Loki wouldn’t on the survivor ship. Perhaps he was on a different ship. Perhaps he wasn’t present for the battle at all and in a completely different part of the universe.

If he was elsewhere this means 

a) The Asgardian survivors would have lived because Thanos wouldn’t have targeted the ship, and Thor would have been less self-loathing. 

b) When Thanos found Loki with the Tesseract in this branch, it’s likely Loki was able to ingratiate himself to Thanos and gave the Stone to him without Thor there to tip his hand toward an immediate betrayal murder attempt. I subscribe to the theory that Loki was just as mind-controlled during The Avengers and the Battle of New York as Barton (though I wouldn’t call Loki totally innocent in everything) and that he had been suffering from extreme mental health issues following his unsuccessful attempted suicide. In this case, he would be willing to play the long game to get his revenge on his abuser Thanos. Then, later, hopefully, he joins Thor’s side to save the universe against Thanos (as he did against the Dark Elves)- betraying Thanos and perhaps stopping the Snap before it happened in that timeline. Or if not stopping the Snap, perhaps being a part of the new Avengers if he survived it, or joining in the final battle if he was Snapped Away.

Anyway - I have lots of Loki Thoughts. Feel free to adopt any Plot Bunnies this may have generated in reading this. 

#Avengers: Endgame #Review #spoilters #Endgame #Avengers #Storytelling #Loki #Endgame Loki #head cannon #theories #loki theory

[seungcheolsbodyharness]

heart shaped: II

wc: 3.2k

summary: you and jihoon discuss relationships - not just the fake one between the two of you, but those of your past, and find out you have more in common than you might have thought. you have your first “date” at jihoon’s carnival, where soyoung and woomin tag along.

genre: fake dating, fluff, minor angst

part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 || part 5 || finale (in progress)

“so, i think we should talk about boundaries.”

you’re sitting in a cafe with jihoon a few days later, the day before his christmas festival. he looks up at you over the rim of his cup, eyebrows raised, nodding slightly for you to continue.

“so, how do you feel about physical affection? obviously since we’re only ‘newly dating’, i doubt anyone with any sense will ask us to kiss. but stuff like, you know, holding hands, hugging - are you okay with that?” you break off a piece of the cookie you’d bought and chew slowly, waiting for his response.

“ah, well, i guess if we have to?” he shrugs and scratches at the back of his head, ears red.

he’s cute when he’s nervous, you think.

“well, only when we’re out where people we know could see us, you know what i mean? i’m not saying that if we like, decide to hang out just you and i, we have to hold hands and cuddle and all that. i mean…” you trail off, tracing the rim of your mug with the tip of your finger. jihoon watches the movement, then looks up and sees the crumbs gathered under your bottom lip.

without thinking, he moves forward and wipes them off. it startles you, only for a second, but it’s enough to have him quickly retracting his hand and looking desperately away from you. “sorry.” he mumbles, cheeks red.

“no, no jihoon, don’t be, that was very...very boyfriend-like. i guess what i was going to say is that whether people believe us or not will be based on what they know about our past relationships.”

jihoon raises an eyebrow, “how so?”

“well, like, my last boyfriend and i were super touchy; always holding hands, hugging, or just, yknow, touching each other somehow. we also used a lot of pet names, but that was mostly his thing, so soyoung won’t get weird if we don’t do that. what about you?”

jihoon runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. “well, my last girlfriend was pretty clingy, but like, in the sense that she used to like practically hang off of me every chance she got, so i’m okay with like, casual touching i guess. and i uh,” jihoon looks down at his hands, interest suddenly drawn by something under his nails. “i liked calling her baby.”

“oh, that’s cute!” you laugh. “so we’re all good when it comes to that then. i think we should probably go out together at least once a week, and then post cute couple things on insta, that way people aren’t like ‘wow, are you guys really dating? what was your last date?’, that kind of thing.”

“you seem to know an awful lot about fooling people into thinking you’re in a relationship.”

you know he doesn’t mean it with any sort of malice. you know this, that it’s just a quip, but it doesn’t keep the clenching pain from your chest as you frown, just a small one, and shrug. “well, you get pretty good at it when you have to convince yourself, too.” you take a deep breath, and you smile to show jihoon that you’re fine. his horrified expression doesn’t fade, though and you reach out to take his hand. “it’s okay, jihoon. you didn’t know.”

“when my girlfriend broke up with me,” he blurts, hoping to trade your discomfort for his own, “she told me it was because she didn’t love me anymore.” he takes a deep breath of his own and then continues. “i didn’t find out until later that she’d been cheating on me. when - when she’d broken up with me i had asked if there was someone else, and she’d lied, and told me there wasn’t. so.”

your heart breaks a little, hearing this. “how - how did you find out?”

he closes his eyes for a moment, clenches them shut and you almost tell him to nevermind, you don’t need to know. he opens them again and he looks tired. “after it all happened, i stopped following her on social media, unfriended her and everything so i wouldn’t have to see if and when she got into a new relationship. then, a month or so after, she posted a picture of her and that guy on some romantic fucking outing, and captioned it ‘happy six months, baby’. mutual friends of ours commented on it calling her out and someone sent me a screenshot of it because i guess they thought i should know. six months. she’d been seeing him for five months before she decided she should get rid of me.”

correction: your heart shatters for jihoon.

“i’m so, so sorry to hear that jihoon.” you reach out your other hand so that you’re holding both of his, interlocking your fingers. “i may be your fake girlfriend, but i promise i’ll treat you well.”

he smiles, softly, and nods. “i may be your fake boyfriend, but at least i won’t make you second-guess the way you feel.”

you smile. everything is going to be fine.

it takes about an hour of desperate reasoning with soyoung over the phone before she forgives you for not telling her about your new ‘relationship’ with jihoon. she eventually relents that it would, in fact, have been easier to deal with if it hadn’t worked out. you would have been able to brush it all off as you not even realizing the whole thing was a set up in the first place.

“so, i did good this time, right? i finally set you up with someone you like~” soyoung sing songs to you over the speaker. you’re glad she isn’t there to see you roll your eyes.

“oh yeah soyoung, this is really going to up your success rate. one good guy out of like, fifteen.” you scroll through instagram as soyoung laughs, pleased to see how many people have left sweet comments on your photo of jihoon, as well as the one you’d posted afterwards of your hand intertwined with his.

“you know i just want you to be happy. after everything he put you through, i just want you to be happy like you used to be. that’s all.” the change in soyoung’s tone is overlayed with worry and concern, and you sigh. “so, you’re going to the festival with him right? he invited me and woomin so it’ll be like a cute double date! and i can make sure he’s treating you how he should.”

you laugh, now, the idea of small, bubbly soyoung intimidating anyone is something you’re dying to see. “yeah, i’m gonna be there. i helped him bake those cookies, i wanna see if they’re neighborhood-mom approved.”

soyoung giggles. “oh, i’m sure they will be. i’ll see you there, then?”

“you bet.”

jihoon picks you up promptly, right at two, just as he said he would. you’re not quite ready, so you invite him in to sit for a while as he waits.

“sorry about this.” you call from your bathroom, putting the finishing touches to your makeup and moving to the bed to lace and tie your boots.

“no, no it’s fine.” jihoon answers from your kitchen, smiling softly at you as you make your way out to him. “you look nice.”

you grin at him, bright and wide, doing a little curtsy that makes you both giggle. “thank you. you’re not half-bad yourself.”

jihoon’s giggles turn into a cough and his face flushes, and you run towards him, quickly grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and pressing it into his hands. he drinks it greedily and waves off your concern. “s-sorry. some air went down the wrong pipe, or something.”

you let out a relieved little huff. “i’m just glad you’re okay. should we go?”

jihoon nods and leads you out to his car. the two of you spend the ride in what you think is comfortable silence until jihoon mumbles, “do you mind if i put on some music?”

“oh, damn, of course jihoon! it’s your car, after all. driver picks the music and all that.” you lean over the console to pat his thigh and smile at him, pulling back your arm. “go ahead and play something.”

jihoon hands you his phone, unlocked, and instructs you on how to connect the phone to the bluetooth so he can focus on driving. he then directs you to the playlist he wants, and says that just anything is fine. the car fills with soft piano music that fades into strings and then, surprisingly, the beat drops into something more….techno.

you bop your head along to the beat, and jihoon smirks. “do you like it?”

“yeah! it’s different. it’s cool.” you notice that jihoon is tapping the steering wheel to the beat as he drives, and the two of you continue to listen as jihoon drives the rest of the way to the carnival. he parks in what you assume is his neighborhood ballpark, and as you get out of the car you can hear christmas carols blaring from somewhere up ahead.

jihoon comes around the front of the car to meet you. “ready?” he asks. he scratches his cheek with a mitten-clad finger, pulling his hat down farther around his ears.

you nod and stick out your hand, waiting for him to take it. he looks down at it and blinks, almost as if he’s forgotten entirely that he’d have to do this. you push your hand at him again, this time with emphasis, and he laughs as he takes it into his own.

the two of you walk towards the festival, where there are numerous different booths set up around the perimeter of a baseball field, with the center occupied by a small stage and seating.

“so….” jihoon squeezes your hand. “are you hungry, or do you wanna play some games, first?”

you clutch at your chest with your free hand, gasping. “are you gonna win me a prize, jihoon? the biggest stuffed animal in the whole place?”

he bites his lip to stifle his laughter and then nods. “if that’s what you want, then sure.” he hesitates for a second before adding, “baby.”

something in your stomach does a happy little flip when he says that, and you swing your joined hands between you as he leads you over to one of the numerous game booths. there, swinging from the top of the prizes is a huge stuffed fish.

“jihoon.” you gasp, this time genuinely. “jihoon i have to have that fish.” his gaze follows the direction your finger leads to, and he laughs.

“okay, baby. you got it.”

jihoon wins you the fish. he also wins you an equally large stuffed heart, numerous smaller animals, and a giftcard to one of the nicer steakhouses downtown. by the time woomin and soyoung arrive, you’ve picked a favorite of the stuffed prizes and already helped jihoon place the rest in his car.

being with jihoon is easy, you notice. it’s nice. knowing it isn’t real makes everything so much easier. it makes it natural.

so natural, apparently, that soyoung spends barely any time grilling jihoon about his intentions. maybe she trusts him more because he’s family, being woomin’s cousin; maybe it’s because they’ve met a few times already and soyoung is already familiar with him.

whatever the reason is, you’re grateful she doesn’t pry.

“so.” soyoung asks as the four of you walk slowly around the festival, “what’s going on in the center, there? with the stage?”

“uh, a couple things, actually. there was a couple different groups doing carols and other christmas songs, there was a silent auction this morning, and tonight is a uh. a talent show.” jihoon scratches the back of his head and you look up at him.

“you gonna be in it, hoon?” woomin asks around a mouthful of dumpling. soyoung smacks him lightly on the arm, giggling when he goes “what?”

“uh, yeah, actually. i have this new piece i’ve been working on so i figured i’d give it a shot here before i take it to anyone at work.”

woomin nods and you squeeze jihoon’s arm. he looks at you and smiles sheepishly. “you didn’t tell me that.” you say quietly.

jihoon shrugs. “i would have, eventually. we still have an hour before it starts anyway.”

you nod, appeased, and lay your head on his shoulder. the four of you huddle around one of the heaters dotting the grounds and you watch as woomin and soyoung flirt and tease each other, constantly giggling and exchanging kisses.

“baby.” jihoon whispers, “there’s something i wanted to show you.”

you turn to him, surprised, but you nod and wave goodbye for the time being to your friends.

jihoon leads you back towards the cocoa stand and orders two cups, handing one to you. you sip at it slowly, relishing the heat, but still you wonder what jihoon wanted to show you. he takes your hand again, and leads you into one of the empty dugouts, gesturing for you to sit.

“does it make you uncomfortable?” he asks, swallowing a sip of his drink. “i know you must be happy for soyoung, but it must be hard seeing them happy when your own happiness got...ripped away.”

your eyes go wide and you chew your lip before you nod. “it’s not as bad as it used to be though. when him and i first broke up, soyoung wouldn’t let woomin anywhere near me because she was worried seeing her with him would just make me more upset.” you kick at a small pile of snow and sigh. “and i mean, she was right. i was so bitter in the beginning. it’s easier now, i guess, but it’s still…”

“it can be a lot.” jihoon supplies. “i get it.”

you nod, saying nothing. jihoon, just as wordlessly, reaches out for your hand. you lean your head onto his shoulder again and the two of you sit quietly together until jihoon checks the time and tells you that it’s time to go.

much like the talent shows of your childhood, not all of the participants are truly talented, but that’s what makes it fun. interspersed with people who are very good - the magic show is very impressive, actually - but you’re mostly excited to see jihoon. you’re not surprised when the mc announces him as the final act of the night, and you clutch the small stuffed microphone he'd won for you tightly in anticipation. jihoon comes onto the stage and immediately commands attention. he’s changed clothes, and it almost looks like he has makeup on, now. he’s stunning, you think.

and then he settles himself at the piano and begins to sing, and you’re stunned yourself. jihoon’s voice is beautiful, ethereal, and you’re blown away. the melody is soft and sweet, melancholic, and your heart aches. the words are moving and emotional and a little desperate, and your eyes sting with tears against the cold winter air.

he comes back to your small group later, changed back to his clothes from earlier and carrying a few small, plastic parcels in his hands. he hands one to each of you and keeps one for himself, and chuckles nervously. “so. how was it?”

woomin and soyoung give him earnest praise and then he turns to you, sees that your eyes are still wet, and he chuckles again, a very nervous “ha….ha...that bad, huh?”

you shake your head at him and pull him into your arms, wrapping them around his neck and holding tight. “that was beautiful.” you whisper, throat heavy with the threat of tears. “absolutely incredible, jihoon.”

he nods slowly as his arms finally react to your embrace and wrap around your waist. “thank you.” he whispers back. you pull away from him and wipe at your eyes, and his hand reaches out to wipe the trails from your cheeks, a smile on his face.

soyoung and woomin bid the two of you goodnight, and once they’ve gone you turn to jihoon. “how about dinner somewhere indoors?”

he groans and throws his head back, making you laugh. “you have no idea how badly i want that. how does pizza sound?”

“heavenly.”

jihoon takes you to the pizza place he likes to go to after work, a small place nestled among coffee shops and fashion stores. it smells incredible, and better yet is how warm it is, both of you shedding layers as you settle into the booth.

you’re both quiet as you eat, savoring both the warmth of the food and that of the restaurant.

“so.” you say as you reach for another slice. “i think today went well.”

jihoon hums, mouth full. he swallows and sips at his coffee before he responds. “i think so too. they both seem pretty convinced.”

you nod. “yeah, but we can’t call it off yet.” you’re about to continue but jihoon sputters something about how he hadn’t been thinking that, and you laugh. “it’s alright, jihoon. i was just kinda...thinking out loud. i think after new years, maybe? sometime after that. then people will feel like we really ‘gave it our best’ and won’t hound us too much.”

“that sounds good.” jihoon nods, though he’s not really paying attention.

“or maybe that’s too soon. the end of january would put as at about a month, but if we go longer, then valentine’s day will come into play. i mean, i dunno, i guess having someone to fake-date for valentine’s would be nice.” you trail off and take a bite of your pizza. when you look up, you notice jihoon staring at you, eyes soft. you raise your eyebrows at him, and he’s so surprised at having been caught that he chokes, seemingly on nothing.

“i - i um - we can do this as long as you think is necessary, i guess?” he takes a sip from his water, takes a deep breath, and continues. “i’m not exactly beating them off with a stick, so to speak.”

you hum, playing with a napkin. “i’ll keep that in mind, i guess. do you have plans for new years?”

jihoon shakes his head. “not yet, i assumed woomin and soyoung would be doing a thing again and i’d go to that. unless you wanted to do something?”

“no,” you wave him off, “i had the same idea, actually. besides, it’ll be good for us to go out together, you know? ‘couple style’.” he laughs at your air quotes and you laugh too. you like being with jihoon. it feels comfortable.

he drives you home and without thinking, you take his hand. if he seems startled, you miss it, focused instead on picking something from his playlist. he watches you fondly from the corner of his eye, one finger tapping rhythmically against the steering wheel.

he walks you to your door, where you thank him and hug him goodbye.

jihoon walks back to his car, drives home, and sits down on his bed, head in hands. he wonders what you would have done if he’d kissed you.

he shakes the thought from his head, and tries to sleep.

tries.

#lee jihoon #seventeen #seventeen woozi #svt woozi #seventeen imagines #woozi imagines #seventeen fluff #woozi fluff #seventeen scenarios #lemon drop

[soldrawss]

Don't read unless you have watched the new episode. But the whole time I watched it I was thinking how it pretty wild that your comic and the episode are basically the same.

 OK I HAVE FINALLY WATCHED THE EPISODE AND BOY WHOO HOO HOWDY I’M GONNA INCLUDE MY THOUGHTS UNDER THE CUT BECAUSE I KNOW A FEW OTHERS HAVE YET TO SEE IT AS WELL AND I DON’T WANT TO SPOIL ANYTHING BUT WHOO LETS GO BABES

SO first off I’m just gonna say that I LOVED the episode. Really and truly honestly I did.  I don’t think there were any major things that I didn’t like tbh. It was such a truthfully wholesome episode. And I’m actually happy with the amount of screen time we got with Scrooge and his insight with Christmas. 

HOWEVER. I wish it was a 45-minute special. Because I think we could have absolutely dived MUCH deeper into the relationship between 1) Younger Donald and Dewey and 2) (the most important) DONALD AND DELLA. I mean like HOLY SHIT. I have to collect my thoughts together really quick cause I’m gonna explode just going on about the sibling relationship going on there so let me backtrack really quick and start from the beginning.

First and foremost. The set up to the episode was great. The kids getting ready for Christmas. Webby’s little hug to Huey and Huey’s patient little smile back to her. Louie’s X-mas list and his “let me explain”, like yes my son, own it. Donald being his best dad self, decorating and STILL playing guitar and singing awful carols at the top of his lungs like, we stan a good good duck dad!!! Literally, everyone is top notch just being great! 

Then we get to plot. The ghosts are back in town. And they’re ready to get down and dirty and party and I LIVE for the idea that they were originally looking for a different Scrooge and that OUR Scrooge actually LOVES Christmas (And I’m so glad that we still don’t know why Scrooge has beef with Santa cause like, that’s potential for future X-Mas episodes and I’m all about having more mysteries to look forward to alright?) So we get it. Party on Scrooge lets go back in time!!!

So we’re 12 minutes in, more Scrooge stuff happens (Which I adore. Love that they brought back Goldy. Love that Young Scrooge is so passive about seeing Old Scrooge. LOVE that BEAKLY fucking FLIRTS with the GRIM REAPER SKJD;S GET IT GIRL LOVE THAT) And super double plot twist is that little jimmy cricket over here is actually like, kinda evil? Well not evil, but he’s a little-twisted buddy, which isn’t his fault, but he just wants to party and feels like everyone abandons him when once they find the true meaning of Christmas (being with family) Which Scrooge does. Which also, can we appreciate how fast it takes for Scrooge to be like, yeah I’m bored of this adventure stuff, can I just go home to my family now? It may have just been the episode time frame but IDK man, I feel like he’s growing from once being bitter to becoming that good old family man again. Good, good old man, I love him. 

ANYWAY- NOW LETS GET DOWN TO THE JUICY HALF OF THE EPISODE AND THE HALF THE EVERYONE WANTS MORE OF INCLUDING MYSELF

OK So here we see Dewey hitch a ride on grims cloak and fall into let’s say around 25+ years in the past. The FIRST thing I noticed and the first shot we get is a mere parallel to the one we see when Scrooge first falls in the past. Its a shot of the mansion. But as opposed to the shot where Scrooge falls during a Christmas where his mansion is LIT the fuck up with lights and sounds and color and LIFE, Dewey sees it dark and practically dead, but still recognizably the Mc’Duck Mansion. One of the next shots we see takes place inside, and we see the mansion (remember this duck is a billionaire) with the wallpaper peeling and the walls cracking and hardly lit and it looks absolutely deserted and kinda uncared for which BREAKS MY HEART OK!!! 

(But I’m so glad I at least got the scene right where Dewey’s first interaction with Donald is through his music and that Dewey could guess it was Donald through his Voice™!!! Also, should have thought of Bluey. That was SO much better than Deuteronomy. But oh well! Got the fake family part right! And the fact that Donald knew she was out back looking fo Santa and was trying to catch Santa for Scrooge. That last part wasn’t in the comic, but that was going to be the original idea for part 4 and FUCK YEAH I WAS ON A ROLL)

And ohhhh when Donald says this is the most confusing family! Ouufff that hit me so hard!!! Cause like, honestly, in canon, Donald is SO proud of his heritage and family line. He’s the only Disney character to really even HAVE a family tree, are you kidding me?

Also Dewey just Yeeting himself out a window with Donald’s guitar as Leverage was such a good idea I wish I would have thought of it and I’m SO ANGRY that I didn’t but I guess if I had then technically I would have been a mind reader or actually stealing from the show so good job me for NOT doing that but I at least got them Escaping out the window part down so WOOP FOR that!

ALSO DONALD JUST STRAIGHT UP LICKING THE TREE! WONDERFUL GOOD BOY AND LIKE!!! AND LIKE!!! OK I kinda played around with the idea that Donald kinda just does stuff without explanation and when someone asks we gives off these weird oneliners that don’t really answer the question of WHY he did/was doing the thing in the first place is something I absolutely live for and both his interactions within my comic and in the show are so parallel with one another that I’m actually mind freaked right now I want to scream I fucking love these kids ok?!?!?

So I could probably live for the next 30 years off of just Dewey and Donald just talking to each other like, it was probably only 40 seconds of conversation, but I lived for every second like it was the only thing that mattered!!! Just Dewey being so Hecking Excited to learn more about Della from someone willing to talk to him without any trauma™ and I LOVED how Donald never outrightly admitted that Della wasn’t Amazing or Awesome (Dewey said it at least twice when referring to Della) and just changed the subject. Like, true sibling love. (I would have also accepted if he had called her a nerd or a geek or something similar because they are siblings after all, like jeezus the whole episode was mostly about their fight like, anything is great, give me them sibling dynamics)

OK AND THEN THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

DELLA MY SWEET BABY GIRL APPEARS AND SHE IS MY EVERYTHING

OK honestly I was gonna draw her with a bit more messy hair but OTHERWISE SHE’S PERFECT. AND HER’S AND DONALDS IMMEDIATE BICKERING IS MY FAVORITE EVER. (And tbh her reaction to them NOT being Santa clause and honestly that entire net scene was also gonna be my reaction so don’t be surprised when you see that in upcoming continuation of my comic) (Also her calling Dewey a Dummy, is ACE)

So their whole fight scene going on. The whole Dumbella incident. You can just FEEL the sibling energy off of it. I ate that shit up SO FAST. I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. (I WANT SO MUCH MORE OF THAT STUFF PLEASE DT CREW GIVE US A FLASHBACK EPISODE OF THE COUSINS I NEEEEEEED IT) If you’ve ever had a sibling then you KNOW. You know that look when Della got when Donald called her Dumbella. The No, not until you apologize she gave back. The FOR WHAT?? The endless back and forth that would have continued onward for a LONG time if they weren’t in impending doom. Man that’s the shit right there. That’s really all I wanted I could have had a full 45 minutes of just THAT right there. Just these kids being siblings.

(Also, Donald outing himself about the toothbrush and combat boots, he’s so gonna pay for that later I can feel it in my bones and I live for these moments kids)

AND THEN WE GET THE FIRST HEARTBREAKER OF THE NIGHT FOLKS, when Dewey figures out why Della’s so peeved at Donald (rightfully so) and it’s just!!! It’s just so good that all Della really wanted was to spend time with Donald and make a memory of it and catch Santa together and folks I would be lying to you and to God and to our Lord and savior Carl Barks if I said that I didn’t cry, these siblings are so good. (And the fact that Dewey also made a quick connection to himself, like, ohhh yeah I need to also be better and apologize to MY family and give MY Donald a hug when I get home)

NOW SHIT GETS REAL!!! The way Donald and Della land after getting free from the net. These kids were BORN for adventuring. This isn’t their first rodeo and this is what I want to see more of!!! Donald and Della as the fighting duo!!! (Dewey totally face planted my smol blue bean I love you) Della gets into fighting position ready to go, and Donald flips his hair back outta the way like so cool and nonchalantly LIKE DREAM TEAM SO COOL I LOVE THEEEEEMMMM!!! aND THEN when they find out the Wendigo is after Scrooge, They’re all like, “of, yeah, duh, Its always scrooge,” and then IMMEDIATELY GO AFTER HIM IN PERFECT FIGHTING SYNC LIKE THESE ARE 10-YEAR-OLDS AND THEY FIGHT LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN FIGHTING ON SCROOGE’S BEHALF FOR YEARS AND IM!!! (there’s so much fanfic potential here i’m screaming) And Dewey’s kinda just standing back like, Woah nelly, CAUSE LOOK AT THESE DUCK CHILDREN GO!!! LOOK AT MY LITTLE FIGHTING REBEL KIDS I ;KLD’KLASJ’F I LOVE THEM!!!

(Also, shout out to the last episode, in which we see that Donald kept the broken guitar under hammock all those years, he never could manage to through the thing away, i love this temperamental kid so much guys i’m crying again) But I’m glad we got to see Wee angry Donald!!! That was a fun thing I’m glad they put that in!!!

And now for the final! I’M glad Donald apologized rightly and straight away and wholeheartedly! That’s the good boy I know and Love! And Dewey going in for the hug!!! So sweet!!! But also!!! Della like, immediately figuring out that Dewey was from the future, I kinda like that! I wasn’t going to do it, but I like it! Love how smart she is and just how nonchalant they both are about it cause hey, have you MET their family? I like how they say Ducks, too. Not Mc’Ducks. Like, Scrooge is Weird and they do all sorts of crazy stuff with him, but you haven’t SEEN crazy till you’ve met the hick side of the family.

And then it’s like, just like that, they’re gone! And ouufff boy that was not the goodbye I was expecting but sometimes goodbyes are like that and that’s ok and I respect the out the DT crew took cause it flowed so nicely and well but boy did it hurt. (Can you imagine Donald and Della coming back with THEN Scrooge with this whole explanation to find nothing there and Scrooge being like???? Ack you kids leave me alone I hate Christmas as it is I don’t need you all playing tricks on me with fake Wendigos and family members from the futures when I have important things to do bah humbug or something and Donald and Della just have to live with this knowledge but at least they have each other and are closer for the better!!!) Because then Scrooge was there and THEN DEWEY WAS CRYING AND THERE’S JUST SO MANY EMOTIONS CAN YOU IMAGINE ALL THE EMOTIONS THIS KID IS GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW AND HE JUST WANTS TO GO HOME AND SEE HIS UNCLE DONALD AND BROTHERS AND WEBBY AND JUST BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AND ACK.

AND GOSH WAS THE DONALD DEWEY HUG JUST SO GOOD AS WELL AS THE DOGPILE LITERALLY GIVE ME ALL THE HUGS, I WANT THEM ALL THIS IS SUCH A WHOLE GOOD EPISODE!!! All in all, 10/10 Was very good. Could I have loved more of just about EVERYTHING? yes, but I can make my own content if I need to fulfill my wishes. Overall, there was nothing that disappointed me, which was so good. I wasn’t let down by the interpretations of the characters, the morals, or how the storyline went. Could we have made it into a 45-minute episode and just like, extended every conversation? Yes. But plot? Solid. Characters? Solid. Relations? Super solid. Did Sol cry? She did and she will again cause she just loves these good characters so hecking much!!! Donald is my all time favorite Disney character on the planet and just the fact that he gets so much love and attention and just all the beautiful backstory and rick history is such a beautiful gift that just keeps on giving! 

Also, FULL Disclosure, Im gonna continue part 3, 4 and 5 of my version of how I thought this episode was gonna go. Simply because, well, I liked it. And I think you all will like it to.  

#long post #my thoughts #on this epside #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales spoilers #donald duck #della duck #dewey duck #guys holy shit

[twdmusicboxmystery]

9x13: TTD Clues

Okay, so I said yesterday that TTD yielded some good stuff, and it did. This won’t be terribly long, but it’s very exciting.

We often get interesting details from the quiz questions because tptb often put questions in that emphasize details they want us to know, that we don’t necessarily pick up simply from watching the episode. That was definitely true of this past week.

One quiz question asked what was NOT in Connie’s emergency stash of supplies in the building they went into. The answer was flashlights. Of course lights and flashlights = Beth. We even had her majorly associated with a flashlight in Still. While there are a lot of parallels between her and Connie, there are also a few anti-parallels, so I’m kinda thinking no flashlights = no Beth.

The second question was better, though. It was merely some dialogue the Highwaymen used when they came to rescue Tara’s group, so that wasn’t anything huge. But after that, there was a quote from tptb saying that when they cast the leader of the Highwaymen, they were looking for a “pirate Santa Clause whose eyes are dangerous.”

That’s REALLY jumping out at us for a few reasons. First, because it’s kind of an odd description for this actor. Yeah, he’s got a beard, but I don’t think many people look at him and think Santa Clause. They might if his beard was white, but it’s not. Plenty of men on TWD have had full beards (Rick anyone?) and with the exception of Hershel, who specifically did have a white beard, none of them were really thought of as Santa Clause types.

But there’s another reason that’s leaping out at us. Do you now what it is yet? Remember Daryl’s “I Nevers” in Still. Most of them have since come true in some way on the show (Details HERE). And one of them was “I ain’t never got nothing from Santa Clause.” Because of the St. Nicholas/Pickle stories, where St. Nicholas resurrects 3 dead people, we’ve always assumed that the thing Daryl would get from Santa Clause would be Beth coming back to him.

Now tptb are calling this dude Santa Clause. 

We already know from spoilers that we’ll probably see some snow at the end of the season, so there already might be a Christmas-type theme going on. And then there’s the fact that I mentioned yesterday that this dude wears a sheriff-type hat. So this is already promising. If “Santa” gives Daryl Beth for Christmas, I’m thinking this guy will be the one to tell him where she is.

And for the record, it doesn’t negate anything else we’ve thought about her coming through Negan or the Whisperers in some way. I still think her arc will be very entwined with both, but something about this guy and his Santa-ness will play into it too.

We can also read into the pirate theme (because “pirate Santa Clause”). Pirates suggest water and ship themes, and we’ve obviously seen a lot of those types of symbols around Beth as well.

Finally, did you notice in the same note above, his name is Ozzie? As in...the Wizard of Oz(zie)? If he actually represents the character of Oz, then he’s the one who knows how to get Beth--I mean Dorothy--home to her family. Just saying. 

Oh, but that is not all concerning the Highwaymen. That is not all.

One of the behind-the-scenes notes, they said the note the Highwaymen sent to Carol and Ezekiel really did have a list of demands on it. It wasn’t just a blank sheet of paper or anything. (Again, they had to tell us this because we didn’t actually see what was written on the note in the episode.) Some of the things they said they wanted were “40 paperback books – fiction – no romance novels.” Um…ROMANCE NOVELS!!!

So yet another tie to Beth. And, if we’re being honest, also more evidence that Carzekiel has a similar arc coming soon. We’re not sure what the 40 represents. Someone in my group suggested it points back to S4, where the original “damn romance novel” line was heard, courtesy of Daryl. I also think it could be a biblical number. In the bible, 40 is a number showing a period of intense trials. The Children of Israel wandered in the wildness for 40 years. Christ was temped in the wilderness for 40 days, etc. So yeah. Pretty cool.

The final, major thing that happened on TTD is that they did ask Lauren Ridloff (who plays Connie) about all the talk of Daryl and Connie. She started out by joking about a shower scene between the two. I’m sure that encouraged some of the shippers, but you have to understand the context.

1. She said it with a huge grin on her face, but then said, “No, but seriously…” and then continued with the next part of what she said. Which means by definition, she wasn’t being serious about the shower scene.

2. This is at least the third time I can remember someone mentioning a shower scene when it comes to Daryl or Daryl’s love life. I can’t remember exactly which seasons or episodes it happened on, but it was always on TD. I want to say maybe the season finale of S7, but I’m not positive. And another time, maybe in conjunction with the idea of Daryl and Jesus. Every time, it was just a joke. It obviously didn’t happen those other times, and it won’t happen now with Connie either. It’s almost because their go-to line when talking about a possible love interest for Daryl.

But more importantly is what came after the “No, but seriously…” Lauren pretty much shut down the idea of Connie and Daryl, at least for the time being. She said the relationship is more like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Feel free to look up the reference for more details if you aren’t familiar. It’s an American western about two outlaws who are best friends and partners in crime. 

(Btw, the outlaw theme is huge right now on the show; we’ve been discussing it a lot in my group lately. Obviously the highwaymen are part of the outlaw theme. This reference by Lauren is too.) 

Now, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid were both straight men, so obviously there was no romance there, which is part of what Lauren was trying to convey, I think. But more than that, the relationship is very much a sympatico, kumbaya type. Like they’re always of like minds and can practically read each other’s thoughts and will always have one another’s backs. That’s how Lauren is describing Daryl and Connie’s relationship, which I think is pretty accurate to what we’ve seen.

Could it change in the future? Technically, sure, but we know TWD plans WAY far ahead so they can foreshadow things, and we haven’t seen anything at all that foreshadows romance between these two.

I do want to mention that they did a poll asking who shipped Daryl and Connie and it ended up being 80% of those who took the poll. On the one hand, you could argue that those who took the poll aren’t representative of the entire fandom, but I don’t actually think it’s a problem for TD even if it do. Because I don’t think 80% are hardcore shippers specifically of Daryl with Connie. I think it shows that most people just genuinely want Daryl to have a love interest and to find happiness (which is sweet).

And I honestly think that number would rise higher, to 90% or 95%, if it’s Beth, because there’s ALREADY a history established there that people ALREADY shipped several seasons past.

Okay, I think that’s it for TTD. Exciting stuff! ;D

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[sociallyacceptablemadness]

Writer Meme

Tagged by @crackinglamb, tagging my Wombats @eluvisen, @scorpio-skies, @ariejul, @mrninjapineapple

Q: What is your coffee order?

Nice and strong with honey and hazelnut.

Q: What is the coolest thing you’ve ever done?

Heck if I know.  The stuff I think is cool may not be to everyone.  I went to Comic Con a few years ago and met my favorite author as well as the guys who voiced the Ninja Turtles in the 80s cartoon.  I once lost my metro card in London, had no cash or cards on me, and had to walk from Waterloo station all the way to my hotel in north London using just a tourist map from the information kiosk.  I have four cats.  I taught my son and myself ASL when he was about a year old because he has a speech delay and has trouble communicating verbally.  When i taught middle school I wrote and directed a 10-minute version of A Christmas Carol for my class to present at our Christmas play.  

Most days, I am a boring old public school teacher who scrolls Tumblr, reads, and plays video games when I’m not being a mom and wife.

Q: Who has been your biggest mentor?

My mother has had a huge influence on me and pretty much every aspect of my life.  But I don’t count any one particular person as my mentor - I’ve been more of a “learn a little from a lot” person.

Q: What has been your most memorable writing project?

My second fic, Unfinished Business.  I loved it and it was so fun and heart-wrenching to write.

Q: What does your writing path look like, from the earliest days until now?

As a kid, I wrote stories on legal paper and in composition journals.  I kept a journal throughout middle and high school and still do.  A lot of my earliest “novels” were typed on WordPad and saved on floppy disks.  Nowadays I use Google Docs for almost everything.

Q: What is your favourite part about writing?

Like most writers, I love seeing what I think up made into something concrete.  It’s cool and satisfying in a way you don’t understand until you’ve done it.

Q: What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m almost always the first one up at home.  Breakfast and coffee, then on the road to school.  I teach three classes a day (two 9th grade English, 1 advanced 10th grade English) so I do a lot of talking, a lot of walking, and a lot of reading.  Usually at least one meeting a week, whether that’s a department meeting, staff meeting, professional development, or parent-teacher conference.  My kids leave at 1:30 and I go home around 2:30 most days.  After that I usually have a normal afternoon/evening of shopping, napping, cooking, playing, writing, and/or hanging out with my 5yo.  I plan lessons and grade later at night if I’m behind, and at any moment I am probably in some sort of conversation with my Wombats on Discord.

Q: What does your writing process look like?

Kind of depends on the project.  Usually I start with an idea and begin typing something, then I plan it out in basic outline/bullet point form on the Doc I’m using.  Longer projects get planned scene by scene in OneNote.  There is almost always some degree of wailing and gnashing of teeth at my Wombats when the Muse picks up and goes on vacation in the middle of a project.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve gotten?

Just do it.  Stop procrastinating and get it done.  

Q: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?

Finished crap is better than perfect nothing.

Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to start writing?

The same thing as above - just get started.  Fear of the Blank Page is real but don’t let it cripple you.  Write bullshit long enough and gradually you’ll grow some flowers.  Find a good writer friend(s) who encourages and uplifts you while still helping you improve.  They’re hard to find but they exist.

#writing meme #sam writes

[annablack1102]

Shades of Autumn

Summary: Miranda convinces a very reluctant Negan to have some fall family fun to cheer up her cousin Sophia. 

Characters: Negan X OC , Sophia  Warnings: language, fluffy goodness Beta: my very wonderful @sarcasticrose18  A/N: This started as a request by my dear friend @scarletthart96 and turned into something more. This will be a preview to the next chapter fic that I’m working on where Sophia ends up living with her cousin, Miranda, after losing her mother, Carol. This is just a cute little one shot that is already spiraling so I hope you like it. 

Masterlist

Shades of Autumn 

“What? Fuck no.” Negan made a face at Miranda’s suggestion, not looking up from the vegetables he was chopping for whatever the fuck he was planning on making for dinner. Miranda had gotten used to not asking because he wouldn’t tell her anyways. His answer was always ‘just trust me’. And if she were being honest, she did. He was an amazing cook. Which was probably the only thing Sophia liked about him, considering she was used to Miranda’s cooking that left a lot to be desired.

“Seriously? It won’t be that bad. I’m not asking you to go square dancing or something ridiculous. Just...pumpkin patches and hayrides. You know, fall stuff.” Miranda said, watching as he met her gaze with a scowl.

“Okay, first of all I would rock square dancing. Second of all… why? Can’t we just watch a couple scary movies and call it a day?” He asked, going back to what he was cooking. Miranda scrunched her nose, trying again to figure out what it was before shaking her head.

She’d just casually mentioned wanting to do some fall activities with her fifteen year old cousin Sophia, whom she had gained guardianship of a year ago. They’d recently moved in with Negan, Miranda’s new boyfriend who just so happened to be Sophia’s softball coach and high school gym teacher. To say Sophia wasn’t handling it well would be an understatement. Sure she’d given her blessing and agreed to move in but she wasn’t all that thrilled about it. Her and Negan butted heads constantly and Miranda was just trying to get them to bond however she could.

“It would mean a lot to her. She used to do this kind of shit with her mom and me all the time and if you made an effort--”

“God damn it, I hate when you use the dead mom card.” Negan groaned and turned to look at her. “Fine. Fucking fine. We’ll do your little bullshit fall family shit. But don’t go overboard.” He said and Miranda grinned, stepping on her toes to kiss him. He wrapped his free arm around her, rolling his eyes, and continued cooking. “If you weren’t so fucking cute…” He grumbled to himself, his hand sliding down to squeeze her ass and she laughed.

She’d never admit it but when Miranda told her what she had planned, Sophia’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. Their favorite holiday had always been Halloween so they may have planned a bit more together than they probably should have. Considering Miranda did promise Negan she wouldn’t go overboard. She decided she just wouldn’t drop it all on him at once. He still complained as he drove them to the pumpkin patch a whole town over, adjusting the red scarf he wore around his neck.

“You know there’s a fucking pumpkin patch like five minutes from the house, right? Why do we have to go to this specific one?” Negan griped, fiddling with the radio again.

“Because this one’s nicer.” Miranda said as if it were obvious. He rolled his eyes but didn’t argue, finding them a parking spot.

“C’mon Scraps,” Negan said, using the nickname he’d given Sophia ages ago after she got in a fight with another girl at school and came out on top. “Let’s pick us out a good one. I assume we’re gonna be carving these fuckers.” He said, huffing an ‘oof’ as Miranda elbowed him. He of course never noticed the dirty looks from the parents when he opened his big mouth but she did. And there were plenty of kids here.

Sophia sighed and walked ahead of them, taking her sweet time finding the perfect pumpkin. In his defense, he only complained a couple times when she was overly picky about the pumpkin she wanted. “It’s just gonna rot in like a week anyways. What does it matter?” He’d said and she made a face at him and kept looking. They picked out a couple that met her standards and he paid for them. He started walking back to the car when he realized they hadn’t followed. “What?” He asked, turning around to see them looking at a sign.

“I mean… I did say something about hayrides.” Miranda said, smirking over at her man. He stared at her for a minute, trying to decide if she was being serious. When he realized she absolutely was, he sighed.

“Fine. One ride.” He agreed and went to pay for that as well.

“Why’s he gotta be such a grouch?” Sophia asked and Miranda snickered.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just gotta get into the holiday spirit. He’ll come around.” She assured her and wrapped an arm around Sophia’s shoulders, leading her over to the hayride. Negan took his spot, his pumpkin sitting at his feet, with Miranda beside him and Sophia across from them. He ignored the other family that joined them and laced his fingers with Miranda’s without even thinking about it. He didn’t miss the way Sophia rolled her eyes though and he smirked at her.

“What’s a matter, Scrappy?” He teased, throwing a handful of hay at her.

“Asshole!” Sophia gasped, brushing it out of her hair before throwing some at him as he laughed. She cheered as it got in his mouth and he sputtered it out.

“Come on guys…” Miranda sighed, giving the mom of the two boys a sympathetic look for her cousin’s language. They didn’t listen to her though and spent the rest of the ride tossing hay at each other. At least Sophia was finally having a good time.

It was almost worth the annoyed looks from the mom as her boys joined in.

Later that night they set to carving the pumpkins, something Negan apparently took very seriously. “Hey, no! Don’t throw those out.” He complained as Sophia scooped a bunch of the goop out.

“What? Why? What are you supposed to do with it?” She asked Negan, looking at him like he was crazy.

“No, the seeds. Keep the seeds. We’ll roast them later.” He said and started helping her pick them out of her pumpkin mess. Miranda sneakily took pictures of them as Negan helped her draw a scary face on her pumpkin, laughing at the way his tongue poked out in concentration.

“No, he needs more teeth!” Sophia demanded and Negan scoffed.

“He? I didn’t know pumpkins had genitals. Should I give him a dick too?” He asked, getting an elbow to the ribs from Sophia. He merely grinned and added more teeth. He watched protectively as she carved the little blade through the pumpkin for a minute before moving onto his own, turning his gaze to his favorite girl with a warm smile as he decided this wasn’t so bad after all.

A few days later, it was Miranda’s turn to say no.

“Hey, we did you’re fall shit, now it’s my turn.” Negan said over dinner that night.

“Yeah but...a haunted house?” Miranda made a face but Sophia chimed in.

“Yeah, we should go. It’d be cool.” She said, picking up her phone to look up times. She only managed to unlock it before Negan was snatching it out of her hands wordlessly. She sighed, remembering he didn’t like her on the phone at dinner. It was one of the few rules he had in his house that she’d agreed to so long as she could call him Negan instead of Coach.

“Wait, you two actually agree on something?” Miranda asked, her eyes darting between the two of them. She sighed in defeat, not wanting to ruin the moment. It was so rare that they ever were on the same side of things, mostly due to Sophia’s insane need to disagree with everything he said like the good little angsty teen she was. “Fine. We’ll go. But I’m gonna hate both of you for this.”

She watched in amazement as they actually high fived their victory.

They went after dinner that Friday night, all bundled against the cold. Negan didn’t even complain about the half an hour drive out to what he claimed was the best haunted house in the area. Miranda tried to pretend like she was okay but she was nervous about the whole thing. She despised jump scares and that’s ninety percent of the whole haunted house experience. But it was for them and she would endure it.

It wasn’t long before she was clinging to Negan’s arm though, hiding her face against the leather he wore. He of course found that hilarious and goaded Sophia into teasing her too.

“Are you really scared? This is awesome!” Sophia grinned, her eyes lighting up with excitement over all the strategically placed props and monsters. She jumped occasionally but it was usually followed by bubbling laughter as she held Negan’s other arm. She would argue because it was dark and hard to maneuver. Not because she was scared or anything.

“Yeah, seriously Miranda. This ain’t that fuckin’ scary.” Negan laughed. His laughter was cut short, however, as a chainsaw was started up beside them suddenly and he nearly pissed himself as he tugged the girls away. Then they were laughing again.

“God, I hate you guys.” Miranda groaned, her death grip on Negan’s arm only getting worse. They made it through eventually and Miranda breathed a sigh of relief as the fresh, cold air hit them again. She turned to see Negan and Sophia laughing together, gushing over all the shit they’d seen inside.

“Did you see the zombies though? I think that one chick literally didn’t have an arm.” Negan grinned down at the girl.

“Yeah! I saw that. I mean, what a way to make use of an amputation.” Sophia chuckled, practically skipping to the car. “I wanna do my makeup like the girl in the nurse’s outfit. Do you think I could get away with that at school?” She asked, holding a hand up to her neck as she recalled the blood dripping down the nurse girl.

Negan snorted. “Probably not but it’d be pretty badass. Too bad you’re too old for trick or treating.” He grinned and she frowned. “Maybe we could have a Halloween party or something. Something small.” He suggested with a shrug and she lit up.

“Seriously?” She grinned, bouncing in excitement. They spent the entire drive home talking about the gruesome decorations they could put up inside and outside the house. Sophia didn’t even care that she’d be inviting all her friends over to their teacher’s place or think about how weird it might be.

Miranda was so happy they were getting along that she felt the whole terrifying experience was worth it. Even if she hated every second of it herself.

The next night, Negan came home from the store with a lot more groceries than he’d gone in for.

“Did you shop on an empty stomach again?” Miranda sighed, starting to put things away and he chuckled. Last time he came back with way too many snacks.

“You say that like you didn’t indulge yourself and eat half my snack cakes.” Negan teased with a smirk and she shrugged, unashamed. “I walked by the bakery and they had pumpkin pies, which by the way are my favorite. I was gonna get one but homemade is always better.” He said, looking up at her. “I thought maybe I could teach Soph how to bake one.” He added with a shrug, a shred of vulnerability in his eyes that he tried to hide as he put things away.

Miranda blinked, trying not to tear up at how sweet that was. “Yeah, I’m sure she’ll love that.” She said and kissed his cheek.

“You, however, are staying the fuck out of my kitchen.” He said with a smirk and she stuck her tongue out at him.

She didn’t stay out, however, when he had all the ingredients spread out before them. Instead she took pictures with her phone while they were too busy to notice, capturing the serious look of concentration on Sophia’s face as Negan told her what to do.

They did the whole thing from scratch, the crust and all. And of course it was only a matter of time before Negan dotted Sophia’s cheeks with flour. What was surprising, however, was how Sophia just laughed it off and flicked specks of it over his black shirt. Thankfully they didn’t get in a full fledged flour fight that she would have inevitably had to clean up later because frankly they were both slobs. Instead they got back to it and Sophia was the perfect little helper, eating up everything Negan said. It was so unlike any interaction they ever had with each other that Miranda just watched in awe, sending a couple pictures of them to her parents.

The pie, of course, came out amazing. She was surprised they didn’t eat the whole thing right away.

They ended up curled up on the couch with Negan’s next brilliant idea while they ate. “Hey I did say scary movie night, did I not?” He argued when Miranda pouted.

“You know, my ideas for fall fun were way more tame than yours.” She said but allowed it anyways, snuggling into Negan’s side. Sophia was so excited that she didn’t even roll her eyes or comment on the public display of affection like she normally would.

“My mom never let me watch these. I used to have to sneak them over at Enid’s house.” She said, popping the first movie into the blu-ray player.

“Well we’re gonna have to change that. There’s a long list of classic horror flicks we’ve gotta work through.” Negan said, ignoring Miranda’s groan.

“Make sure you do that on nights I have to work, please.” She said and he smirked at her before beginning to scarf down his second slice of pie.

Miranda ended up falling asleep with her head in his lap while they stayed up until three in the morning watching scary movies, laughing at the gore together and making fun of the people and their poor decision making. She woke up to Negan carrying her to bed and tugging off her jeans.

“What time is it?” She muttered, burying her face in the pillow.

“Uhh… almost four?” Negan said sheepishly. “Guess it’s a good thing we don’t have school tomorrow.” He chuckled, climbing in beside her. She blindly scooted over until she was wrapped up in his arms. He kissed the top of her head. “Good night, baby. Hope you don’t have any nightmares.” He teased with a grin.

“Fuck you, Negan.”

A few days later, Sophia came home with a grocery bag herself after spending the day at Enid’s. Negan raised an eyebrow at it, looking up at her.

“What’s in the bag?” He asked skeptically. He took some satisfaction in the way her pale, freckled cheeks turned red as he waited for an explanation.

“Well I umm… I was thinking we could make some good use out of the fire pit out back…?” She suggested, pulling out a bag of marshmallows. Negan couldn’t stop the grin on his face if he tried.

“Fuck yeah, that may be the best idea you’ve ever had.” He teased and got up to get a fire going outside.

“After dinner.” Miranda declared, not even looking up from the book she was reading. Negan pouted.

“Buzzkill.” He grumbled, going to the kitchen instead to cook dinner for them. When it was nice and dark, not to mention chilly, outside, he went out and set it all up. They had a few folding chairs that they set up around the fire and huddled in close to the warmth. It was just cold enough at night but not too much that they were freezing their asses off. “No way Scraps. You want it to be cooked. Nice and brown.” Negan instructed.

“That’s not brown, that’s black. You burnt yours.”

“God damn it.” Negan snapped, realizing she was right. He ate it anyways, nearly burning the inside of his mouth.

“You’re such a mess.” Miranda laughed, seeing the sticky marshmallow caught in his whiskers. She leaned forward, wiping it with her thumb. Of course, he couldn’t help himself even with present company.

“Why don’t you just lick it off, baby?” He said with a smirk.

“Ugh! You’re so gross!” Sophia pretended to gag and threw a marshmallow at him.

“Hey!” Negan complained as it hit the ground. “Don’t be wasteful, Scrappy! If you’re gonna throw them, I better be able to catch it.” He said, tossing one into his mouth. She rolled her eyes and threw another one, this time waiting until he was ready for it. That turned into a competition between the two of them and him teaching her how to properly aim with a marshmallow, stating that “It’s not a fuckin’ softball, Scraps.”

Miranda had to stash a bag of marshmallows on the side so she could eat some for herself.

They did indeed have a Halloween party like Negan promised. Miranda didn’t think he’d be able to get it all set up in time with so little time to plan ahead but he managed. She found that when he was determined he could actually get a lot done. And he was pretty handy.

Plus she had a sneaking suspicion that he really wanted to make Sophia happy and that just made her heart swell.

The house looked great and he let Sophia pick the music, despite his annoyance in her taste. But then she called him old and he threw a pillow at her and Miranda had to separate them again. She helped Sophia with her costume, looking up videos on how to make the creepy throat-slit makeup she wanted so badly. They settled on a dead rock star instead though because Miranda didn’t like the length of the nurse costumes she found.

She and Negan stayed for the party. They’d originally promised to stay out of the way while still keeping an eye on things but the kids kept trying to get Negan to join in on the festivities. He ended up out back with them playing cornhole and teasing the kids for not being as good as him. Sophia didn’t even seem to mind, kind of proud that he blended so well with her friends rather than trying to embarrass her.

“This is going well.” Miranda said as he came back in to make more of the creepy slime colored punch, taste testing it for the thousandth time to make sure no little asshole tried to spike it.

“Yeah. It ain’t that bad.” He said, his eyes sweeping the room again from the kitchen. Miranda thought he was making sure the kids were behaving themselves but then his hand was on her ass, up under the skirts of her dress. “And you look sexy as fuck tonight, did I mention that?” He smirked at her, giving it a squeeze.

“A few times.” She said with a chuckle and pushed his hand away.

“Maybe you could leave the costume on later.” He grinned at her, leaning against the counter.

“You want the fangs too?” She smirked, as if she hadn’t already taken them off earlier. They were more uncomfortable than she thought they’d be.

“Fuck yeah I do.” Negan gave her a quick kiss, swatting her ass as he left the kitchen. He went out back to throw more firewood in the pit but stopped in his tracks, his blood boiling.

It was a strange feeling, something he never encountered before. The closest emotion that he could think of was jealousy but he knew that wasn’t it. No this was something deeper. A kind of anger that he knew he had no right to feel but as he watched Benjamin awkwardly put his arm around Sophia’s shoulders, he saw red.

“You okay?” Miranda asked him, stepping up beside him. He tore his gaze away to scowl at Miranda.

“How long’s that been going on?” He demanded.

“What are you--oh! Well isn’t that cute?” Miranda chuckled as she realized what he’d been looking at.

“Cute? The fuck? That’s not cute. I have half a mind to go beat that kid’s ass.” Negan growled.

“What? No, this is a good thing. Sophia’s been crushing on him for weeks. We’re happy for her.” Miranda tried to reason with him but he wasn’t having it. “What’s wrong? Why are you so upset?”

“Because that boy has his hands on my girl, that’s why.” Negan snapped, mindful enough to keep his voice down.

“Your girl?” Miranda looked at him in surprise, her heart exploding. “Okay, dad, calm down.” She chuckled and took his hand, resisting the urge to smother him. She was dying to know how long he’d seen Sophia like a daughter.

“Whatever. I’m gonna have a talk with that boy.” He decided, fully intending on scaring him off.

“Later.” Miranda squeezed his hand, stopping him from stomping over there and embarrassing Sophia. “Another day. You don’t wanna ruin her party.”

Negan sighed, knowing she was right. Sophia would be so pissed at him if he called out Ben in front of everyone. “Alright, fine. But I’m keeping an eye on them.”

Miranda beamed and hugged him tight, kissing his cheek. She was so in love with this man.

(updated my taglist. If you want on/off let me know)

@alyisdead @ask-kakashihatake @badluckgirl @band--psycho @beautyqueenforbes @blackleatherjacketz @bubbajeffrey @collette04 @daisysouthmoore  @flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash @genevievedarcygranger @hanaissupergirl   @i-am-negan-trash  @imstonecoldnegan @its-moonblr  @jessiellong1987 @judymosali @kalifornia-born @kayodex19 @letsby @lilantisocialextrovert @lolalexturnerlol  @londoncapsule @lostdarksoul6  @mely010  @mypopurribitch @ne-gans  @negansdirtygirl22   @negans-wife  @negan-the-cat  @negans-network  @prettyepiic @rose8801 @sarcasticrose18 @scarletthart96 @star017 @suddenlycrushed @teamnegansaviors @toxic-ink  @warriorqueen1991 @witchofravenclaw

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