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askatriangleandastar · 21 days

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What're your thoughts on the new Spooky Month episode?

(Doodle to match your icon, also because this one has me by the NECK) Thoughts in particular for as much as I can below

OOOOOOOOUGGHH DETER AND HIS MOM. FUCK, THE H U G S BIT HURTS MY HEART EVERY TIME IT IS VISCERALLY EFFECTIVE PELO YOU MONSTER ❤️

Moloch is so threatening I GASPED as we finally got to see him achieve Leg Rights and dud he ever put them to WORK running like that all over town!!

Gregor was incredible and competent and despite being opposing to the norm of how the kids go about things, a net positive for the town. His entrapment/death/conversion to what the cult put him through in the ending is an endangerment to the safety of everyone. That he really did care and want to protect the kids was sweet, and while harsh his reality check to Lila was something she's had coming.

I WAS RIGHT ABOUT SO MANY THINGS GOING INTO THIS I WAS SO EXCITED!!!!! Not beating the witch allegations in the slightest and still with so many questions and wonder.

I love how much we learn and yet how much there is to learn. Connections that are only half-given and have to be speculated and discovered with the ARG and background inferences. I still need to go over the frames and take in all the background characters. I don't know how far into November this is set but it's not long enough for Lila.

Getting the feeling that the Theives Duo were hired to go through the house yet settle on the attic, to nab THE DAD'S STUFF given its all strewn about the house after they get whooped, and then the New Grounds Ending confirms it had me shaking. Had me wondering if that's what BOB was sent to do initially in the very first epsiode, but when Lila ran into him he was gonna get a snack. That the cult members backed off at mentioning the spider and the Candy Dealer notes them as having been lucky + the picture revealled of it having been the Dad's (plus Pelo mentioning it has eaten people before) is making thoughts mimic a windows 98 trying to run the Sims.

The Gregor and Moloch ship those working on the show go for and snuck reference to in the show. The "and they've never been married but they are SO divorced" vibes of their interaction here, how Moloch called him by name and would have only ever lied in the past due to Gregor not having Moloch's in kind [the devil a deciever to any word said] hooooo I don't go there but it's next door and it looks fun!

The foreshadowing with the drawings done with Dexter and it's accuracy + Pelo drawing Moloch possessing a lot of characters + also doing so with Eyes + the Other Drawing = F E A R AND EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!

THE EYES IN THE BUCKET STILL LOOK LIKE DEXTER'S AND ARE ACTIVELY MOVING (especially in the Ending Spider Scene) HE IS STILL THERE AND TRAPPED AND AAAAAAAAAA!AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

The Ooga Booga Jumpscare was fascinating and done super duper well!!!! Wanna make a whole breakdown about why and how it worked better than any other so far. There are some layers and misdirection and it's built up really well! Plus what looks like a version of her on Jaune's TV foreshadowing what's gonna happen like it did before with Bob.

It makes me wonder if there's more parallels to Moloch based in the line "I can be ANYWHERE now!" After scaring the Audience. I have a theory that a part of his possession tactic is Fear. To enter someone's body who isn't willing they need to fear him and he can only get one such victim at a time (hence why only Roy and not the whole Hatzgang at once vs Skid and Pump at the same time with no difficulty as they let him in). It's why he Stalks and Stares (Patty, Ignacio) and consistently when we get to be around for when he goes for it, he *roars*. Not bite and claw but roars. He's put off and doesn't enter those that have no fear of him (Gregor, Rick, Ignacio) and I think it's because he CAN'T. It's why even when at his weakest he roared at Gregor. To break the chant, the concentration, to make the wounded and bleeding enemy falter and fear and let him in with that response of weakness. It fails, of course, but hoooo with anyone less devoted I don't think it would have.

BRICK TO THE HEAD. THE COWARDS. THEY GOTTA AMBUSH THIS OLD GUY EVEN WHEN HE'S ALREADY LIMPING TO STAND A CHANCE THATS HILARIOUS.

The way Pump was distracted from opening up and being vulnerable with his sister and kept happy by the toy and the lie, while Skid has no such escape as his own heart to heart is burdened further by the sobs of his mom in a home that is no longer in any illusion safe with a shattered door and evidence of earlier break-in everywhere. These 2 have been diverging in small ways in their outlook on things for awhile now, but this episode's ending and scenes about parents, about knowing more and less than each other (The way Skid didn't know about Moloch not running but Pump did and how Skid started to ask what he meant, how Skid still associates all Happy Fellas as Stabby while Pump could see it was Dexter-specific because he could **see** through to what Dexter WAS according to the notes... if Gregor hadn't interrupted there may have been Words. Going forward, it feels like they're going to again.)

IGNACIO AND THE ILLEGAL GUN OF COMEDIC CONTRAST

I cannot stress enough how much Kevin feels like he's being pushed further and further towards a total breakdown and that he NEEDS a coworker to help like Radford [AAAAAAAAAAA THEATRE MAN RETURNS I WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE HIM HE PLAYS OFF KEVIN SO SO WELL AAAAA] It's not an if so much as a When with the way his vision is Scribblifying so much (a treat for the eyes tho) and while he CAN cool off if nothing goes immediately wrong its just gonna keep going wrong.

Roy is having problems and given his parents and vibe of his family plus his contact to Skid and Pump, guessing it's likely tied to how it's status quo isn't sitting well and the need for escape with friends. Parents who are present yet Not in how it matters and how they're needed by the child. So glad he's willing to open up at all (the contrast from the second episode is staggering) but like Kevin it feels like he's building up to a bigger breakdown.

It is for Susie's safety and well being that she never met Moloch and yet she might well have been a huge fan given her enjoyment of demons! Have to wonder how she'd react to seeing the ashen form of Moloch in the attic if she ever went digging for what's been going on herself.

Ignacio may be any number of things and the picture with the dad is making me run in circles around the room I am seething with th3 need to shake him even though he'd shoot me point blank. Speaking of, the fact that he was carrying it on his person with taking out the trash and how he used it genuinely made me think that if Skid and Pump bothered him one more time he was going to pop 'em where they stood the same way he was so unbothered and at the ready I was wheezing XD

Why does the portrait have a diamond why does it have only ONE diamond why is it like that despite looking like it's the one for the old mansion we glimpsed in the second epsiode what the hell is with the mannequin and SHY DOES IT HAVE A FACE IN THE HELL CREDITS CARD

The oath Gregor uses portraying a Lord yet not a Father yet maintaining The Son, as well as a Sacred Sky, has me going no-clip on my chair. I am Not Normal about this and I cannot pretend to be I need the implications of this world's religions being impacted with Eyes having been ever-present STAT and the horror of the cult not being to a different God but the same as Gregor's, simply met by a bridge of heresy to meet mortals with the divine while still of flesh and bone and claim of Death....

I thought Evermore was bribing the hobos to blow up the church but now... now it feels more likely to be either Bob's place (seeing his corpse wheeled in the soundtrack video + that Patty was about to cut into him again when the kids interrupted+ Evermore asking for a specific body to be moved) OR the Mansion (not being invited into any cult and wanting John to shut up about it so he gets an unofficial, literal backalley deal going for some nobodies with no credibility to do the work for him). Evermore is the kind of vain who'd spill that he was in an exclusive group to brag and is also wonderfully insufferable with his blatant ego; the idea that he ISN'T part of the cult and his not knowing and terrible mayor strats only benifit the cult so they don't bother with the risk of somone in power knowing about them and his denial that somone as important as him would EVER be excluded if there WAS one which must mean there ISN'T just has such a good punchline and I hope it's true I really do.

THEY SHARE A VA, IS THE MASCOT GUY THE SAME CHARACTER AS THE BOB COSPLAYER CAUSE HIS BAD LUCK AND MISFORTUNE FEEL SIMILAR! Also the happy fella furthest left moves its eyes after the kids so uh. So uh they might've been on the money to destroy them cause looks like one is already possessed by Something and it also gives greater legitimacy to the internment of the one in The Candy Tube of Shame at Kevin's workplace gosh they're STILL BEING SOLD if they become A Problem beyond Dexter and that's when we get to meet Robert's little sister who has one....

The way Pelo has explained how Moloch got stuck and how the possession works means we KNOW Patty was tethered to her body and unable to do anything except watch as Moloch used her to kill (any by the mess and lack of remains) eat Michelle (mom's name in description cast list) to regain some power and begin to sate the prolonged hunger Moloch has been trapped in. It's how he was able to perfectly mimic her and Dexter. It's why her lower half is coated with so much blood it may as well be dyed the color. It's no wonder she's adamant to have a gun! Glad to see evidence of her still actively working with John and Jack on the mystery in the ARG images too.

That doctor, Mort, I don't know who he was talking with but while he's sus as hell I'm not so sure he was taking the call we see Ignacio make. There isn't a reason to be informing him about the priest, even if bother WERE in the cult- going straight to the mourge and opening with asking if the body had been moved feels like it was a micromanage from Evermore to be sure that what he asked for is happening in a timely way. Have to wonder if he's going to take Patty's place now with having a distinct full name and reoccurance in the episode as he does for 3 scenes.

Gosh I love the soundtrack I've been looping the playlist for it while writing all this, again, not well, so so many thoughts. This isn't even all of them but it's past 1 am I have been typing for over an hour gonna pause it at the realization that something DID curse the Candy Corner for the holy water to have worked as well as the fact that the red head kid, Lucky was super cursed for what we now know as LEGIT HOLY WATER to have had such an effect on him. It wasn't boiled it was in that pot to get as many of the kids crowding as possible, as we see the bottles only effectively splash a single person. A friend mentioned Gregor may not even directly see Lucky given the behavior towards the child is abnormal and as we see here he IS normal towards children, even with costumes he sees as mockery of the lord, so ignoring him crumpled on the ground and the siezing on the doorstep are strange outliers. ALSO LEARING ABoUT GREGOR'S FULL NAME AND THE MEANING AND THE RELEVANCE OF THE ANGEL WINGS IN THE CREDITS AAAAAAAAAAAA!! So much thought and care went into this, I love this series so much, thank you for asking my thoughts on it! ^^))

#Octa Talk #spooky month #spooky month 6 #spooky month hollow sorrows #So so so SO much happened this was such a great episode so glad they took their time #Gregor was such a surprise favorite for the main cast #I was Not Emotionally Ready for The Moment the gas mask came off I squawked I will not lie #The horrors (affectionate) are getting more threatening and I am here for it #RICK #Lila needs a new house she's still holding onto to do much and it's going to bury her alive if it doesn't suffocate her first #Streber IS alive oh wowie zowie my au is ESPECIALLY dark now ha ha!!#Those babies were gonna get MUNCHED if Michelle hadn't come across Patty gosh the tension of Moloch looking down at them all asleep #SHE WAS A CAT LADY AND HE LOVED HER A A A A A A A A AA AA A #SHE WAS RHE ONE TO GIVE THE NEWS THAT PHOTO FOR THE MISSING PERSONS REPORT AAAAAAA #I will never be free this story is too compelling XD

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otteli2000 · 9 months

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Okay so my Resident Evil Chreon! AU

Here's some world building:

-Chris and Leon met at some point through Claire and it was love at first sight. They ended up in the bathroom of bar they were in and they haven't let go of each other since. They moved with each other within a matter of weeks and got married soon because life is too short to not be with the one you love

-Jill was never controlled by Weskher. She and Carlos got married after Racoon City and later had twin girls (Because Carlos is such a girldad). Jill is still working with Chris at the BSAA while Carlos, after the death of his whole platoon, decided to retire. He's now a househusband and a stay-at-home dad and he LOVES it

-Claire and Rebecca also are together in this universe because I said so

Now, onto the actual story, during a mission, Leon gets hurt, bad, and almost dies. Of course, he survives but he messed up his leg and the doctors force him to retire which leads him to basically being a caged lion in his and Chris' apartment; pacing around with nothing to do because he already cleaned everything. Twice.

Chris, obviously, is pretty worried about his husband and talks about it with Jill who suggests for them to move into the house next to her and Carlos. It's already up to sale but it's pretty and cheap so it won't stay on sale for long so Chris buys it right away without talking to Leon who is pretty pissed once he tells him. They argue but when he finally, and reluctantly, agrees to visit their new house, he agrees it was too good of an opportunity to pass on.

Of course, right next door, Carlos is basically vibrating with excitement because he finally got someone to bother and he fully intends to show Leon that staying home isn't such a bad thing.

So as soon as Chris and Leon are settled in, Carlos starts dragging him to all kind of activities; taking the twins to the park, local football matches, community events like barbecues.

And at first, Leon complains everytime because that's just who he is but eventually, he's the one who takes the initiative to go over to Jill and Carlos' house to ask him what they're doing today (Carlos tackles him into a hug, laughing like a maniac).

So Leon takes on some hobbies like gardening which he doesn't suck at as much as he thought. He's even pretty good at it, enraging the local Karen when his garden wins a prize in the neighborhood contest.

Leon comes to realize that being a civilian again doesn't suck as much as he thought and that retirement might be the best thing that could have happened to him (Beside Chris of course)

Chris is super grateful because it finally feels like he's getting the old Leon back (He buys Carlos the most expensive bottle of whiskey on the market)

And then one day, as they're getting to bed, Chris can see something is bothering Leon so he asks him what's wrong.

"What do you think of having kids?"

And Chris absolutely did NOT see this coming. At all. Leon had never been much of a fan of kids before (Except for Jill and Carlos' daughters because they're just too cute to resist) so he's pretty surprised by his husband's question but he can't deny how warm and fuzzy the image of the two of them makes him feel inside.

They start looking into adoption the very next day and Carlos burst into tears a few months later when they ask him to be their son's godfather (He doesn't even deny it unlike Jill who pretends she didn't tear up when they asked her to be the godmother)

Claire complains to Chris that as his sister, shouldn't she have had dibs on being his kid's godmother? The next year, Chris and Leon adopt again, a girl this time, and they name Claire their daughter's godmother

So this is it. Sorry for clogging the tags with this fluff-fest, I just needed to get it out of my head ❤️

#resident evil #chreon #leon kennedy #chris redfield #I have a Mpreg version for those who are interested

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theangrypomeranian · 3 months

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Can we hear about the zekina sugar baby au!

(i just screamed "oh god" into my hands lmaoooo) so this one is inspired by a Fexi fic i read a while back. basically Tina is downing in student loan debt (so relatable lmao) and her bestie Jimmy Jr. is a sugar baby who has been trying to convince her to get into the business so that she can get some money to pay it off. she finally agrees and is matched up with Zeke, who comes from new money and needs a fake girlfriend to get his mom off his back about dating and not being alone. they end up falling in love and there's a lot of smut lol. there's not a whole lot to this one but here's a snippet:

He poked his head out and frowned at her. “This is a job, Tina. Don’t be judgemental.” “I’m not!” She held up her hands in surrender then lowered them back down to her lap. “I guess I just can’t see anyone wanting to pay for my company.” “Girl, shut up.” He rolled his eyes at her. “Anyone would be lucky to spend time with you, I keep telling you! You’d make bank, T. You’re hot!” He pulled himself back into his room, calling to her, “Some guy would be super excited to show off his hot girlfriend at a gala, deck you out in diamonds and designer!” Tina sighed and rolled her eyes fondly. “I just don’t think I’m sugar baby material. I’m not that hot–” “Tina Ruth Belcher, you shut your mouth before I slap you!” “Sorry, sorry.” Not wanting to risk him actually coming out and slapping her, she resigned herself to silence as she checked her bank account. And winced. Yikes. Looks like her phone bill and her loan payment had come out this week. Looks like she’d be eating ramen again for the next few weeks. Jimmy came out of his room and frowned when he saw the look on her face. “Uh oh. What is it?” “I’m broke. Again.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, one hand raising to rub her temples as she felt a headache coming on. “Getting really tired of fighting starvation.” “I’m sure if you talked to your dad, he would give you a raise–” “No,” she shook her head, opening her eyes and giving the boy a firm look. “I’m not going to bother him with this. I knew what I was in for when I took the loan out.” “You thought you’d have someone to help you pay it,” Jimmy Jr. argued, crossing his arms and frowning at her. “I could lend you some money–” “No.” Here they went again, he tried this argument every month. Didn’t he ever give up? “You need your money, I’m not going to take it.”

#pom answers #hey caroline #wip game #zekina #sugar baby au #there's so much tina/jj brotp in this fic #like what i have written out is literally just them being goofs with each other and i love it #i will eventually pick this one back up #thanks for the ask!

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jrvanfleet · 2 years

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Times You’ll Remember Well - j.t.k

pairing: jake x f. reader (dad!jake)

content warning: none except there’s so much domestic Jake your heart might just fall out of your chest…

word count: 1.8k (just a short lil blurb for ya)

Jake’s back from tour, soaking up the time with you and your two kids. The four of you spend a day hiking and enjoying the Tennessee sun.

—————

“Dadddddyyy,” your daughter called from the living room. Jake was standing in the kitchen, two lunch boxes in front of him, cutting the crusts off two sandwiches.

“What my love,” he called back, putting the sandwiches in baggies and placing them into their respective lunch boxes.

“Daddy, I need helpppp,” she yelled, sounding frustrated as Jake stepped away from his task and walked out of the room, following her little voice.

He found his three-year-old daughter sitting on the floor next to the couch, wrestling with the laces of her new hiking boots. They were tan with purple trim and purple laces. When she had seen them in the store, her eyes had grown wide and she’d twisted in Jake’s arms to reach for the shoes, telling him that if she wore them, she would get “Purple Powers” which was a special magic that made her super strong and able to go on any adventure, no matter how hard. Jake had laughed and kissed her cheek, silently thanking the universe for his child’s imagination. He didn’t care that the shoes were on the more expensive side or the fact that she’d grow out of them in six months no doubt, he simply placed them in the cart.

“Daddy I can’t do it,” she pouted as he crouched next to her on the floor, tugging one of her feet into his lap.

“It’s okay, bug. Here, let me show you.” He tightened up the laces, folding them into a bow and tying a knot. “See?”

“Now I try,” she insisted, always little-miss-independent. She pulled at the laces of her other shoe, guided by Jake’s steady hands as he helped her tie the bow. “Daddy! Daddy! I have all the Purple Power now!” Jake chuckled to himself as he watched her stomp around the couch, lost in her own little imaginary world.

He headed back into kitchen, finishing up the rest of the lunches and setting them up the kitchen island so you wouldn’t forget them on your way out.

Jake was super excited for the day. He’d been home from tour for a few weeks, soaking up all the time with you and the kids and today he had planned a family hike. The trail he’d chosen wasn’t too difficult, especially since you had two kids under 3, but it was one of your favorites, with lush trees and a perfect lookout point at the top.

His thoughts for the day ahead were interrupted when he heard, “Daddddyy!” ringing through the house again.

“Yes bug,” He called but before he could go to find her, she ran into the kitchen nearly running smack into him. Using her momentum, Jake swung her into his arms, propping her up on his hip.

“Daddy, I need your help again.”

“Anything, my love.”

“Mommy said she would put my hair into two piggies but she makes them too tight. Can you put my hair into piggies?” Her eyes grew wide as she made a pouty face that she knew he would do anything for.

Jake chuckled again at how absolutely wrapped around her finger he was.

“Two piggies coming right up, bug.” He carried her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Setting her down on the sink counter in the master bath, he looked through the drawers for his daughter’s sparkly purple hairbrush.

“Where’s your brush? I thought I saw it yesterday.” Jake asked her. She shrugged, kicking her feet against the counter cabinets.

Sighing, he picked her up again and said, “Okay then, let’s go ask mommy.”

He looked for you in the master bedroom, but finding that it was empty he knew that you were probably getting your two year old son ready for the day. Sure enough, when he stepped into the hallway he could hear you talking to your son in a soft voice.

“Hey sugar,” he said, leaning against the doorframe, “have you seen bug’s hairbrush?”

Your son’s little hands gripped the sleeves of your shirt as you helped him step into a pair of comfy khaki joggers.

“It should be in her room next to Mr. Tiger. I think they were playing hairdresser yesterday,” you replied, looking up briefly and smiling at your husband.

Your daughter’s face lit up as she wiggled from Jake’s arms. “Mr. Tiger has it! Mr. Tiger has it!”

He followed her into the room next door to find her digging in her pile of stuffed animals all piled on top of her twin bed.

“I found it daddy!” she exclaimed, her head popping up between a teddy bear and a squishmallow that was nearly half her size.

“Alright, well let’s hop to it buggy, we need to get going.”

It only took Jake a few minutes to brush through his daughters characteristically Kiszka tangles and put her hair into two pigtails on the top of her head.

“Okay,” he said holding up two different accessories, “do you want the green butterflies or the purple bows?”

“PURPLE! PURPLE! PURPLE!”

He could’ve guessed. The girl knew what she liked. Jake clipped the bows into her hair and leaned down to kiss her cheek lightly.

“All done. Do you want to go see if mommy and your brother are ready to go?”

She excitedly jumped down from the counter calling out, “Mommy! Mommy! Daddy says we’ve got to go!”

Getting out of the house with two kids… A much more difficult feat than you or Jake would’ve ever expected, but after a few minutes of gathering backpacks, waterbottles, and the lunch boxes, you found yourself buckling your daughter into her car seat.

“Wow, look at these bows!” you said, pushing back a small stray hair behind her ear. “Did daddy put these in for you?”

“Yes, but I picked them out!” she grinned back at you.

You loved her happiness. Everyday she reminded you of the best parts of you and Jake, but with her own unique flare that made her light up any room she entered.

Once everyone was buckled in and ready to go you hopped in the passenger seat. Jake pulled out of the driveway and onto the road, laying a hand on your thigh and lovingly running his thumb over your leg.

It took thirty minutes to reach the start of the trail, the kids talking back and forth nonstop. Before you knew it, you were unbuckling the carseat straps and collecting everything to head on your way.

You and Jake each had a backpack that held everything you needed for your family's little adventure and your daughter had a little one that just held her waterbottle and the small stuffed animal she insisted on bringing from home. Your son, though he could walk just fine, just wanted to focus on holding Jake’s hand as the four of you started down the trail.

You were thankful the hike wasn’t difficult because it took about twice as long to make your way along the path with a toddler and a firecracker asking questions a mile a minute.

The majority of the hike was spent navigating over tree roots and identifying every Tennessee-native plant you came across. The latter was your daughter’s new favorite game. She couldn’t get enough of testing her father’s flora knowledge and would ask nearly every five steps, “What's this one called daddy?”

The whole family would stop to investigate, looking at the delicate flowers or the thin waving stems as Jake would rub his pointer finger and thumb over his chin and answer, “It looks like Eastern Blue Stars,” or “Thimbleweed”. When she asked about plants he didn’t know he simply responded, “Let’s take a picture of it buggy and Uncle Sammy can tell us later.”

After nearly an hour of the game, the sun was high in the sky, warming you but the light breeze kept you from getting too hot. You enjoyed the sun and the fresh air almost as much as you just basked in the joy that was uninturruped family time. The kids began exploring under the strict ground rule of staying close to you and Jake and always staying on the trail. Their independent adventure gave you and Jake time to talk, his fingers laced with your own. You talked about everything from what you were going to make for dinner later to the prank that Sam and Danny pulled on Josh in the studio last week. It was a perfect afternoon. Jake was entirely relaxed and completely in his element. There were no bags under his eyes like there had been the night he’d gotten home from tour, the extended weeks at home giving him a rejuvenated glow that made you smile everytime you looked at him.

“We’re almost there kiddos,” Jake called behind him to your children who had become distracted by a big caterpillar crawling across a low-hanging branch. Your daughter looked up and then ran ahead of Jake as you stayed back, taking your son’s hand and helping him up a big rock step.

“Daddy I beat you!” she exclaimed, waving her arms above her head until Jake caught up with her. He immediately picked her up into a big bear hug, tickling her sides and kissing her face.

“I can’t believe it! You’re so quick! It must be all that Purple Power!” he joked as she giggled, happy with her victory.

Though you and Jake had done this hike before, the view still amazed you. As you looked out to the horizon, it seemed like you could see forever and ever, especially on such a clear and sunny day. You picked up your son and perched him on your hip as you both looked at all the tiny trees in the distance.

You looked over your shoulder to see that Jake had done the same thing, your daughter pointing outwards from his arms.

“Look daddy, those look like houses for ants!” she exclaimed, pointing at a small town pretty far out.

“Maybe you could live in one. They’re the perfect size for a bug like you!” he quipped back making her giggle uncontrollably.

“Oh daddy, you’re so silly,” you said as you walked over to a large flat rock that was the perfect size for a little picnic. “Okay, who’s hungry?”

You were answered by a chorus of “Me! Me’s!” from both kids and your husband as you began unpacking all the goodies from your backpacks. Once everyone was happily muching on sandwiches and chips you took out your phone and snapped a picture of your family with the view behind them.

You smiled as you looked up from the photo, not wanting to miss a single moment. These were the times you’d remember well.

Author’s Note: Hey hey! I hope you liked this cute lil Jakey blurb, it definitely got me in my feels while I was writing it… something about domestic Jake just makes me absolutely feral lmao.

Also, I’m thinking about making the jake!dad fics more of a unified storyline but I’m hesitant to name the kids… what do y’all think? No names?, “child’s/name”, or should I pick something? Let me know what you think and if you have any potential name ideas (though I am very partial to the “bug” nickname hehe)

As always, Love and Light and pls let us know all your ideas and suggestions! <3

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka #greta van fleet fic #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka fluff #jake kiszka x reader #jake kiszka dad #jacob kiszka

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darkspine10 · 6 months

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GF Fanfic - Dipper and Mabel Vs. The Past

Dipper and Mabel Vs. The Past (6562 words) by darkspine10

Chapters: 1/9 Fandom: Gravity Falls Rating: Teen and Up

Summary: When he was 13 years old, Dipper Pines chose to hide the truth of his incredible summer adventures from his parents. Now a parent himself, he returns with his family and sister to finally face the consequences. However, none of them expect the secret to come out in quite such a magical way.

With time running out and chaotic creatures rampaging through the city, Dipper must navigate both this crisis and the fallout from his parents' discoveries, or risk losing them forever...

Chapter 1 - Frosty Reunion

Dipper Pines had a problem.

Dipper Pines had to tell a lie.

Exhausted from the bus ride, he and Mabel had been picked up at the station by their parents. Neither his mom or dad was excited by the prospect of Mabel’s new pig companion, but weren’t able to muster any defence against her persistence. It wasn’t the first time her tenacity had worn down her parents and would be far from the last.

No, Waddles wasn’t the problem. The real problem was the letter, and not the one from Dipper’s friends promising him they’d ‘see him next summer’. If he wanted any chance of that promise being fulfilled then the next few minutes would be vital.

A few weeks ago, back before the world ended, before Weirdmageddon, before all of Bill’s plans and tricks, when the twins were still reeling from the arrival of Grunkle Ford, Mabel had penned a short letter home. It detailed Ford’s arrival and general existence, something the twins’ parents had been completely in the dark about. They’d been shocked when the letter arrived - finding out a trusted family member had been lying for 30 years would disturb anyone - but what was more concerning were all the other details. A hitherto unknown twin brother was one thing, but Mabel had decided to include much more in her letter.

The letter rested on the kitchen table, with a cutesy crayon illustration of Stan and Ford holding hands and all, while Mom and Dad sat the twins down to ask the obvious questions. “Portals? Reversed gravity?” their father asked. Mom had a concerned frown, as if trying to piece together what all this meant. She’d laid out photos Mabel had provided from one of her scrapbooks - corroborating evidence for Ford’s existence. There were shots of him with Stan and kids, reclining in the Mystery Shack’s sitting room or trekking through woodland paths.

Dipper sat in silence, contemplating where he could possibly begin to explain anything about the summer. All his parents really knew was that they’d worked at the Mystery Shack with Stan, had nearly been sent home at one point before ending up staying, and then a random brother appeared out of nowhere. It wasn’t like he could show his parents the journals; even if he had them here in Piedmont and not lost down a pit it was a lot to take in. He and Mabel had been on so many adventures in the past three months, adventures which had their fair share of risk and peril. The twins had each nearly died several times over. What would Mom and Dad say if they found out?

Mabel seemed ignorant of these concerns, gladly rambling about unicorns and mermaids and all sorts of out-of-context snippets. She’d never had to explain the strange events in Gravity Falls to any newcomers before, so the information flooded out of her in random anecdotes. “Then I made my hand super big with the shrink ray and socked him right in his eyeball!”

“Uh huh,” Dad muttered. Dipper knew he was unconvinced from the deep lines on his forehead. Mabel’s imagination was famously unmatched after all. But if his parents began to suspect, even for a second, that there was some truth to her wild claims then things might get tricky to explain. “I knew Uncle Stanford was a bit of a conman, but this-”

“Stanley,” Dipper said automatically, his first comment since being confronted with the letter. “Stanford is the, uh… new one.”

“Right… So Uncle Stan kept all this hidden from the family?”

Here Dipper felt on stable ground. The motivations that had split Stan and Ford apart were mundane enough for Mom and Dad to grapple with. He gladly recounted an abridged retelling of their childhood and falling out, opting to skim over the portal in favour of simple estrangement. That seemed to satisfy his father, who knew Stan personally from visiting him in his own childhood and occasional contact over the years since.

Mom however wanted more. Wanted to know why Mabel’s account included such oddities. She was about to answer, to give even more away about magic and the supernatural. Dipper finally made a choice and stepped in before she could speak. “Those were great games we had with the Grunkles, weren’t they, Mabel?”

“Uh, what are you talking about Dip-Dop, I was about to tell Mom all about when we time-travelled-”

He elbowed her in the side and fixed her with a stern gaze. Mabel pursed her lips, momentarily unsure, before giving a tiny nod. “Lots of crazy adventures, right sis, so much fun and games.”

“Uh, yeah. It was really… great,” Mabel said with a hint of doubt. Then the twins flashed a synchronised smile at their parents, made an excuse about unpacking, and ran off to their rooms.

After that day the matter of Mabel’s letter was swiftly forgotten, treated as nothing more than a flight of fancy from a girl known for her outlandish creativity, learning to cope with the upheaval of a sudden new relative. The twins seemed to have enjoyed their summer away and held nothing back when telling their parents all about exploring the forests or the new friends they’d made up north like Wendy and Soos. It didn’t need to go beyond that.

Dipper and Mabel both agreed this was for the best. Mr and Mrs Pines would live in blissful ignorance as long as it meant they could continue to visit the Falls every summer and investigate the paranormal in secret. They had no way of knowing how their parents would react to the information, so they weren’t going to risk finding out. All they had to do was keep the charade going, and lie to their parents every single day. Easy, Dipper thought. We’re the Mystery Twins. We can do anything.

Dipper Pines had a problem.

Dipper Pines wanted to tell the truth.

Turning the last corner through the darkened suburbs, Dipper slowed the car to a stop. He clutched the steering wheel and stared straight ahead at the perfectly ordinary house. A string of lights alternating in red and green illuminated the street. The glow was hypnotic.

“Dad? You ok?”

His clammy hands squeezed the wheel tighter before he let out a breath and eased them off. Turning to look at the other passengers squeezed into the back, straining the seating capacities of the Mini Cooper, he looked to his daughter waiting expectantly for him to answer.

“I’m… fine, Merrise. Just… taking a moment to process where we are.”

Sitting beside him in the front, Pacifica offered a sympathetic smile. “We made it, Mace. Like you planned. Home.”

715 Wildwood Avenue, Piedmont, California. The home of his and Mabel’s parents.

Dipper switched off the 80’s pop CD that had been blaring. His sister had insisted on having it play for most of the drive, to make it feel more like a family road trip. No one had been singing along for the last half an hour. Mabel had been reverently whispering as she pointed out familiar places from her childhood to her wife and niece - though in the darkness they weren’t able to make much out except indistinct blurs. They were all tightly packed together beside Wendy, Dipper and Pacifica’s baby daughter. Both Mabel and her partner, Zera, seemed eager to be free of the cramped space. They unbuckled their seatbelts as Dipper took a deep breath and addressed the group.

“Now I know we all want to get inside. 10 hours on the road is nobody’s idea of fun. But before we go in I want to set a few ground rules.”

“Uh oh,” Mabel groaned, “it’s the Dad Voice.”

"First: Perception filters are to be turned on at all times. I want no magic use under my parents’ roof, and no mention of the supernatural whatsoever. Am I understood?”

Silence filled the car. Mabel and Pacifica shared a glance. They recognised Dipper’s strict tone; he was in ‘adventure lecture mode’. Pacifica lightly touched his arm. “Mason, remember, this isn’t a dangerous scenario. We’re just staying with your parents for a few days.”

“Anyway,” Mabel said, climbing forwards and butting in between the couple. “I thought this meet-up was supposed to be ‘the one’.” Her eyes flicked towards the waiting house. “You know, all about finally telling Mom and Dad the truth about all our adventures?”

Dipper swallowed and puffed out his chest. “It will be, it will. But first we’ll take it slow. I haven’t visited Mom and Dad in nearly six years. It’s gonna take some time to settle back into routine. I want to introduce Merrise and Zera first in a normal context, then we can branch out to the…” He swallowed. “...Alien stuff. We don’t want to bombard them with everything right up front.”

“Do we really have to go through all this?” Zera asked. Her arms were folded and she scowled from the backseat.

Dipper scanned her appearance; she was covered in aqua scales, with a vibrant purple fin jutting out of her head. “I think we do.” he replied dryly. “Most humans aren’t used to amphibious offworlders from the planet S’aren!”

Merrise wiggled free of her seatbelt and pushed forwards. “But you always say that I should be happy with who I am. No-one else gets to judge me for that.” Her dark eyes pleaded with him to explain fully.

“That’s true, of course it is.” Dipper felt his voice rising, wanting the others to understand his point of view. He’d been working on this plan for the past month, building slowly to the point where he felt comfortable finally revealing the truth to his parents. “Look, I just want my parents to know you as people, without any prejudice. That means that certain parts of our lives have to be… understated. At least at first. After a few days we can work up to the big reveal.” He smiled shakily, failing to convince the sour faces in the rest of the car.

“Then what’s this for?” Pacifica clicked the glove box open and removed a leather-bound journal with a golden hand sigil adorning the cover. A number 3 was written on it in black ink. She flipped the book open to a random page showing a hovering ghost and held it for all to see. “This isn’t your usual late-night reading, is it hon?”

Dipper grabbed the book off her and slammed it closed against his chest. “That’s… backup.”

“For what?” Pacifica responded, her lip set in a line. “I saw the others you packed in the trunk. Every single one of the journals, yours and your Great Uncle’s.” She frowned. “They took up a lot of space, you realise. I could’ve packed a bigger wardrobe, but no, Mace has to bring his book collection.”

Dipper awkwardly laughed but Pacifica’s gaze didn’t waver. “Paz, don’t worry. I’m not planning on summoning a demon or something like that.”

“Yeah, we all figured that, bro,” Mabel said, slumped in her seat.

“When we get around to finally spilling everything then these books will be crucial. Mom and Dad can take all the time they need to learn about our lives. The lives we chose to live without them.” That got the others to listen at last. No-one could meet his gaze. It hadn’t been Dipper’s choice alone to conceal things. Mabel had been right alongside him all the way, as had Pacifica from the moment she’d been introduced to her future parents-in-law. She had her own journal stashed in the trunk, pink with a golden llama on the cover.

Dipper slid Journal 3 into his jacket. “Though we’ve gotta make sure Mom and Dad don’t read them ahead of schedule. As far as they’re concerned these are just notebooks. But if they start browsing through they might find out about the times we went out monster hunting as teens, or our death defying first summer, or the fact their granddaughter is from outer space!”

Pacifica sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “As I always tire of saying, you don’t need a multi-step plan for social interaction.”

“Forgive me for being cautious,” he replied icily. “So much of our lives is wrapped up in this stuff. Where Zera and Merrise come from. How Ford came back. What we were doing racing around the world for a whole year, and then why we dropped off the face of it for months after that. I don’t want to come off ranting like a loony street preacher when I try to explain the basic facts of how Wendy was born: Hear all about it, alien nano machines fixed my wife’s barren womb! - and that’s a totally true description of events by the way, according to Paz.”

Mabel sneered at him. “Yeesh bro, lighten up. You’re leaping straight to the worst possible outcome. Mom and Dad aren’t going to take it that badly. I thought you wanted to talk to them,” she whispered.

“I do. But I want to do it on my own terms. Can you guys do that for me?”

Pacifica took his hand in hers. “Like Mabel said, this was your idea. So if you want to take it slow… then I guess we’ll take it slow.” She reached over and kissed him. “Now let’s go inside. It’s been getting muggy in here for the past hour and a half, ever since we passed Sacramento.”

She made to open her door but Dipper spoke. “One last thing. Zera, Merrise. Can you please turn on your perception filters?”

“Will Grandma and Grandpa really hate us that much?” Merrise asked, and Dipper already felt his heart breaking. He forced out a grimace.

“No, but… look, Mom is very high strung most of the time, and Dad, he’s super down to Earth. I don’t know how they’d react, so it’s better to play this safe. So please, can we do this my way?”

Merrise reached into her backpack by her feet and retrieved a golden medallion which she slid over her head. “Alright Dad. If you say so.” The moment the medallion was around her neck, Merrise’s features began to morph before Dipper’s eyes. Her magenta skin rapidly darkened. Her new skin tone was distinct from Pacifica and the twins but still mundane enough to pass as human. Her eyes, black pupilless pits, gained sclera and shrunk.

In the back, Zera attached a triangular earring and her features similarly morphed. Her headfin became short black hair and her scaly skin took on a brown complexion. Once the effect was complete, the two appeared completely human. A second later Dipper’s eyes blurred until the pair looked as if nothing had changed, as alien as always. This was the trick of the filter, showing a disguise to anyone unaware of Zera or Merrise’s true nature but undetectable to someone familiar with their real forms. Dipper squinted and the pair switched back and forth between alien and human before settling as the latter. He’d been training his senses to try and visualise both appearances, should a mention of their altered forms come up in conversation.

“Thanks,” he said softly to the two of them. Pacifica had already stepped out and round to unbuckle Wendy from her booster seat in the back. Merrise, swathed in an overlarge jacket and wearing Dipper’s old fur hat, was prepared for the icy blast when she opened the door. On the opposite side Mabel pulled on a bobble hat and gloves before practically tumbling out onto the sidewalk.

Dipper followed her round to the trunk and checked over their crammed-in belongings before returning Journal 3 to its crate with the other volumes. He found his latest book, number 9, decorated with a golden constellation pattern. All three of Ford’s books were safely stowed - plus one with a green cover and a golden symbol melding the six-fingered hand and the circular sigil from Stan’s fez. This came from later in life, and Ford had shared it with his brother Stan when they’d sailed around the world’s oceans exploring hotspots of mystery. With six of Dipper’s own books going back to 2012, and Pacifica’s lone journal, there were eleven journals in total, brimming with forbidden knowledge. He lifted the crate down onto the asphalt and clipped the lid on tight. While the others might not see the value in bringing these to Piedmont, Dipper considered them his secret weapon, his best chance at laying out both the course of his life and the reasons why he’d kept it so obscured until now. If he couldn’t sway his parents with his words, then maybe these writings could provide something of an unbiased history.

The others were gathered around the trunk now, dumping out their bags ready to carry them inside. Mabel was struggling to heft a plastic carrier cage that had been buried amongst the clutter. “C’mon girl, time to stretch your scales.” A tongue darted in and out of the bars.

“It’s not fair,” Merrise said, turning imploringly to her father. “Mabel got to bring her pet! Why couldn’t we bring Dee? He’ll be all lonely at home.”

Dipper put an arm around Merrise as Mabel opened the cage and stroked her pet snake, Apep. “Sorry Sixer, but after all that’s happened, in the Falls and in Salem, I’m not taking any chances with Dee. I’d like to keep the home I grew up in un-flambéed.”

“Apep’s way less dangerous,” Mabel added, despite the fact that the snake could deliver a venomous bite if provoked. “We’ll have to invest in fire-proof cladding next Christmas. You ready, Z?” Zera fumbled with a bag and stood up rigid. Mabel could already guess the reason for her loss of composure, and Zera was quick to spill the beans.

“May, are you sure your parents will be ok with us? If they know so little about your life then how will they react to you showing up with a new wife?”

Mabel put an arm around her. “It’ll be fine. I already sent Mom and Dad a bunch of emails and texts telling them all about you. Well, everything except for…” She pointed skywards and winked. Zera’s apprehension faded away and she patted Mabel on the arm. “My parents aren’t evil, just ignorant about a few, small things.”

“Hey, that reminds me.” Pacifica finished pulling out a suitcase and turned on Mabel. “If we’re doing ground rules then I have one for you. I don’t want you spouting politics all week, Mabel. This is a holiday, not an opportunity for polemics about the evils of commercialism”

“Who, me?” She dumbly replied.

“Not to sound like a wanted poster, but you’re not exactly subtle when it comes to your beliefs.”

“What, you think renowned slash infamous anarchist activist May Pines can’t keep quiet about her opinions for a few days? Perish the thought?” When Pacifica was unmoved by her dramatic words Mabel chuckled. “Ah, relax sister, I’m only pulling your leg. I love this season, all the sparkly lights, the silly traditions, sharing gifts. You never had that growing up, did you?”

“I did not. Holidays don’t add much when you’re a millionaire. Anyway, we’re wasting time out here, let’s get inside. Mason, you first?”

Dipper was surprised. He hadn’t expected to be put on the spot. He supposed it made sense; it was his plan that had brought them here after all. Hefting the journal crate he walked up the path to the door of the Pines household. Colourful decorations of reindeers lined the way.

It had been Christmas the last time he’d visited too. He and Pacifica had dropped in over New Years 2024 - explicitly avoiding Mabel who’d been present the week before. That had been back in the awful period when the twins weren’t on speaking terms, a situation mercifully reversed in the present. Dipper hoped desperately that the same could soon be said about the distant relationship with his parents.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn’t realise he’d already reached the front door. He turned and saw the others all tapping their feet, waiting for him to make a move. Pacifica in particular was almost daring him to do it, to get over his anxiety. She had Wendy wrapped in her arms while Merrise clung to her hand; his daughters who’d never met their grandparents before today. He would do this for them most of all.

He placed the crate of books down and faced the door. He attempted to project confidence. This was perfectly normal. They were his parents and he was 30 years old for chrissakes, he didn’t have to worry this much. He’d faced the end of the world half a dozen times and come through stronger. He hadn’t even been this stressed on his wedding day. Marrying Pacifica was trivial compared to blowing his biggest secret, one that had defined his entire teen years, wide open. Even deciding between ringing the doorbell or knocking was a momentous dilemma. In the end he opted to knock, wanting the solid reality of the door to tether him in the present.

A few awkward seconds passed and Dipper looked back at the expectant faces of his family while he tried to stay composed. The door was pulled inwards and, staring out from beneath bushy eyebrows, Dipper’s father stood there grinning. “Dipper!”

“Hi Dad-” He was pulled into a tight embrace, reminding him where Mabel had picked up her penchant for bone–crushing hugs. He squeezed back, finding that he’d missed the feeling of such a warm closeness with his father. Released after a few seconds, he saw his mother rushing down the hallway.

“Sorry, the meatloaf’s just gone in the oven.” She lightly hugged Dipper and beamed at him.

“Don’t worry about the cooking, Mom.” Dipper said, placing a hand on each of his parents’ shoulders. “It’s great to see both of you. It’s been way too long.”

“Same to you son,” Mr Pines said. “Although, that hair?”

Dipper picked up a strand of his messy brown hair, which had recently passed the point of being a mullet and often needed tying up in a ponytail. “It fits my personality,” he said casually, almost proud of his more rugged appearance, developed in response to his adventurous lifestyle living in Gravity Falls for the past few months. He flexed a muscle jokingly to show off some of his newly developed strength. “I’m the kind of guy who can cut down a tree and pose dramatically next to it,” he said semi-seriously.

Pacifica strode in the door behind him, trailing a suitcase which she propped up by the stairs. Carrying Wendy in one arm, she handed the case over to husband and flashed a winning smile at the Pines. “Such a pleasure to see you both,” she said to Dipper’s parents with a layer of sophisticated charm he was sure only she could display. “Mary, do you need help in the kitchen?”

“Oh, well-”

“It’s no bother, I’ve already pre-made some things for Christmas dinner. I’ll take a load off your shoulders and let you have a moment with everyone.” She winked at Dipper then sashayed down the hall.

Dipper adjusted the baby in his arms, making sure Wendy was comfortable, then grimaced at his parents. “I promise she’s gotten better at cooking since last you saw her.”

“That’ll be impressive,” Mr Pines grumbled cheerily before grinning down at Dipper’s daughter. “Isn’t she a cutie.”

“Oh yeah,” Dipper said absent-mindedly. “This is Wendy.” He handed her over gently and watched his parents dote on their infant grandaughter. Their eyes lit up with love for the innocent little girl.

“Move it or lose it, bro!” Mabel shoved Dipper out of the way and into the house, carrying Apep around her neck as was usual for her but placed her snake terrifyingly close for most people. She gave a nonchalant wave then breezed straight past her parents into the adjacent sitting room. Sitting in the corner of the room was a massive pink lump of flesh which snorted at Mabel’s presence. “Waddles, my baby!”

“Of course she goes straight for the pig,” her mother chuckled.

“We know who she really cares about around here,” Dad added. Waddles, now in his 18th year, was enjoying his twilight years in peace as a sedentary pig. Of the group, Mabel had visited her parents most frequently in the last few years, making regular trips to Piemont when her activist events allowed.

“Oh yeah,” Mabel added, slapping her forehead. “Mom, Dad, this is my wife Zera!” She said it with the casual tone of introducing a new friend she’d made in the park five minutes prior.

Zera timidly smiled and entered, appearing more nervous than Dipper had ever known from the brash alien. “Hello, Mr and Mrs Pines. I, uh, hope I’m welcome.” For a split second the perception filter flickered under Dipper’s watchful gaze. Zera’s desi features vanished to show a mosaic of shimmering scales. His chest tightened, but then she returned to looking human, with his parents not giving any indication of surprise. Zera’s disguise had only wavered under his own scrutiny.

“Of course dear, come in out of the cold,” Mrs Pines said. “Mabel’s been so cagey telling us about you up until now,” she said enthusiastically, though Dipper noticed a slight narrowing of her brow. Even after all this time Mabel’s reputation for frequent romances was still something his mother was legitimately judgy about. Mr Pines on the other hand slapped her on the back and congratulated her about the wedding, saying something about finally tying his daughter down.

Zera chatted amiably for a few moments, before going to kneel beside Mabel and her pets. Apep and Waddles were snuggled close together, sleeping in the glow of a nearby Christmas tree while the couple watched on. Wendy yawned in her grandmother’s arms and Dipper took her back. “Poor little lamb’s as tuckered out as I am.” He gave a little laugh, finally starting to feel at ease.

Maybe this all wouldn’t be so bad. If Pacifica could breeze in like a socialite and Mabel still had the ability to treat everything like a harmless game, then maybe he could relax about the heavy stuff too.

“And who’s this?” his mother said. Dipper spun around. Standing out in the cold, clutching her hands together, Merrise was still lingering on the porch. She had an apprehensive expression and seemed wary about entering into the glow that covered the front porch.

“Come on Merrise, it’s ok.” Dipper took her hand and helped her step inside. “This is our other daughter. Merrise, say hello to your grandparents.”

“Um, hello.” Her eyes kept to the floor.

Dipper rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s, uh, not used to social situations yet.”

“That’s alright, neither’s Mabel,” Dad said with a hearty laugh. Mabel stuck out her tongue at him, but Merrise’s grip still felt clammy in Dipper’s palm.

Mrs Pines got down on one knee to face Merrise at eye level. “Hello there dear. It’s alright, we won’t bite. Here, I’m Mary.” She offered out her hand and gingerly Merrise accepted the handshake. Mom gasped slightly. “How about that? Six fingers.” Dipper felt the shutters guarding his secrets come crashing back down inside him. Even the perception filter couldn’t hide that quirk of Merrise’s anatomy. His daughter looked like she’d been accused of something and Dipper’s heart twisted up without anything he could say to make things easier. “Well, I’m sure you’ll fit in with our family in no time,” his mother said, guiding her into the sitting room with her aunts.

“You ok, Mace?” his father said, noticing his anxious expression. “You’ll want some help unpacking I suppose. Here, I’ll take this box.”

Dad went to pick up the journal crate but Dipper’s swift reflexes cut him off. “No, I’ve got this one. Thanks Dad, you can help the girls get the rest of the stuff out of the car. We’re gonna have a great Christmas.” Dipper gritted his teeth and set off upstairs with the crate in hand, leaving his confused father behind. Inwardly he cursed. If this is how he reacted to his parents noticing one small facet of Merrise, how on Earth would he cope with the stress of revealing the existence of an entire second life? Wrapped up in internally critiquing himself, Dipper failed to notice the golden light seeping out of the crate in his arms. Something flickered between the pages of the journals, bringing light to long buried secrets.

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“This’ll be great, like a sleepover, only we’re married!” Mabel had to shout to be heard over the incessant sound of air pumping into her and Zera’s inflatable beds down in the sitting room beside Waddles’ mat. Dipper had already conked out immediately in his old bedroom, which he was sharing with Pacifica alongside a cot for Wendy. Merrise was taking Mabel’s old room, which left the couple sleeping on the floor.

Zera didn’t seem to mind, enjoying the opportunity to wander around the twins’ old home and marvel at framed photos and little souvenirs the family had collected. The mantlepiece was adorned with trinkets from the vacations the Pines had used to go on together before the twins’ first summer in Gravity Falls. Little snowglobes sat beside fridge magnets from every other museum or theme park on the West Coast. After 2012 there was a dropoff in mementos from these family trips. The twins had never quite reconnected with their mundane lives in the same way.

Mabel’s phone buzzed in the pocket of the black cat onesie she’d chosen for pyjamas. “Ooh, lemme get that. Dad, can you help Zera with the second bed?”

“You got it pumpkin,” he said, grunting as he unplugged the hose from the fully inflated airbed.

Zera watched her wife pace around, engrossed in the call with a tail flopping around behind her. She chuckled at the sight and failed to hide a small blush.

“I hope you’ve made an honest woman of my daughter,” Mr Pines said, and Zera immediately stood to attention.

“Oh, yes sir, I have,” Zera said. “No dishonesty from me, that’s for sure.” Mabel heard this and flashed a wink in her direction. Zera only blushed brighter.

Mabel put a finger in one ear, trying to drown out the sound of the pump again. “Yeah, 3 tons of the stuff. I want it delivered by the 6th. Thanks. Yeah. You too, bye.”

“What was that all about, May?” her father asked as she ended the call.

“Nothing,” she said in a highly suspicious way. “Just a little project I have planned back home for the new year. Don’t tell Dipper or Pacifica.”

He shrugged. “If you say so. Whatever you have planned, I'm sure it’ll be hard to miss.” The second airbed was ready so he started packing the pump away. “There. You two newlyweds get the finest honeymoon suite of all: the Pines family living room. Isn’t it grand?”

“Yes Mr Pines, all ship-shape around here,” Zera said, standing rigid.

He slapped his daughter-in-law on the back, taking her breath away. “Now now, there’s no need for formality. We’re all Pines here.” She relaxed her posture and went to test out the springiness of her bed. “Yes, you two don’t have to worry about anything. Over this holiday period Mary and I will make it as relaxing as humanly possible.”

“Thanks.” Zera smiled at Mabel. “I hope I make a good impression.”

“Of course my dear.” Mr Pines sidled over to Mabel and lightly nudged her in the ribs. “Although you couldn’t have married a millionaire like Dip?” he whispered

“Daaaad’” Mabel groaned, embarrassed in a way she hadn’t felt in years.

Seeing that her mood hadn’t darkened too much at the jab, he continued. “I’m just saying, your brother got extremely lucky with dear Pacifica.”

“I’m a disgraced millionaire I think you’ll find.” Pacifica stuck her head around the doorway. “Mason’s out like a light already, poor thing. That’s what ten hours of driving’ll do to you. Wendy too, all very peaceful. She’s too tired to put up a fuss. You lovebirds all set?”

“Definitely,” Mabel said, “I can sleep anywhere.” She flopped down onto her bed with a force that threatened to burst it, covering it up with a grin.

Zera tapped a finger to her chin before nodding. “You know I think I was once a millionaire briefly. Then I lost it all on roulette.”

“A gambler, are you?” Mr Pines asked and Mabel felt her heart leap in her throat.

“Oh sure,” Zera said, missing Mabel’s frantic signals to stop talking. “In fact, you might say May and I met in a casino.”

“Really?” Mr Pines raised an eyebrow while Mabel slumped down in shame. She didn’t want to bring up any of the real facts about how they’d met Zera, mainly because that story involved alien cops, magic temples, and thieves from beyond the stars. But even the basics seemed incriminating in some way.

“Or at least reconnected in one,” Zera continued obliviously. “May was passing through and I was in the middle of this high stakes game, a lot of money on the line…”

Pacifica on the other hand had picked up on Mabel’s distress, so coughed into her fist. “Gee, is that the time? I’d better check on Merrise before she goes to sleep.” She stretched her arms and placed a conspiratorial hand on Zera’s shoulder. “Try not to ramble on too long about all that romance stuff. You don’t wanna bore your hosts.”

Zera’s eyes widened and she subtly nodded. “Oh, right. Well, uh, it was a dull anecdote anyway.” Mabel breathed a sigh of relief as Pacifica left and Mr Pines seemed placated. “There are plenty of reasons how we met, but who we are is more important. Mabel is very sweet, and kind even to people who probably don’t deserve it. But she also doesn’t take anything lying down, always fighting to make the world a better place in some small way. She makes me prouder of who I am. You could say that’s why we got together.”

Mr Pines grunted in affirmation. “Hmmph, well as long as you’re not one of those Greenpeace hippy types my daughter seems to gravitate towards that’s alright with me.”

Mabel rolled her eyes, but grinned. Despite her long list of romances she’d never really managed to introduce any of them to her parents. Even back then she hadn’t been a particularly self-conscious kid, but with all her short flings and eclectic taste in partners she’d never found ‘the one’ to bring home for polite conversation. Zera passing the vibe check with her father wasn’t something she’d expected to be a problem, but it was nice all the same that he accepted her in his own begrudging way. She chuckled to herself, imagining the reaction if Zera was in her true form. Dad would probably freak out. Might be worth it to help Dipper skip over all his angst.

“There it is!” Merrise scurried into the room and dived into the pile of bags the group had dumped inside earlier. She grabbed a small llama plushie and clutched it to her chest. She wore one of Mabel’s old sleeping shirts, a few sizes too big and hanging loosely on her taller frame.

“Ah, you all set for bed Merrise?” Mr Pines asked. “Am I saying that right?”

“You stress the second syllable. Like: Me-rrise.”

“Sorta like Merry, but she doesn’t like being called that,” Mabel added, receiving a scowl from her niece in return.

Mr Pines tried out the name a few times until he was satisfied with the pronunciation. “Merrise. Nice name. Not heard it before. If you don’t mind me asking, where is it from?”

“From? From my… birth parents,” she offered, confused by the question.

“No, I mean,” he struggled with his words. “Where does it originate as a name?”

“Dad!” Mabel interjected. “You can’t go round asking people where they’re from like that.”

He held up his hands in apology “Sorry, sorry, touchy subject.” There was a frosty silence in the room only punctured when Zera leant on her bed, making a squeak. Rubbing his arm, Mr Pines said, “I’m just trying to learn more about you, Merrise. Since you’re part of the family now, and I don’t want to say anything that might make you uncomfortable. So in the future I’ll try not to make any mistakes like that again.”

“I- thank you,” Merrise quietly said. “Night everyone.” The others all said goodnight and Merrise shuffled back upstairs.

Mr Pines thumbed at the door and followed. “Ahem, I’ll go check if your mother’s ready for bed. Goodnight Mabel, Zera.”

The couple shared a glance. “Well, that could’ve gone better,” Zera muttered. Mabel stayed silent and laid back on her airbed.

Zera was right. Suddenly Dipper’s worries didn’t seem so abstract. Her dad was trying to get to know Zera and Merrise, but the thundering awkwardness of his attempt only left Mabel regretting the whole endeavour. Maybe with time both he and Mom would avoid any difficult questions, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before something unravelled the truth.

Mabel groaned. It had always seemed simple in the past, laid out like one of Dipper’s overly complex plans. ‘Mom and Dad finding out about the Journals = No more adventures’. That was the equation he’d laid out. So she’d given no further thoughts to it and gone on enjoying her teen years exploring magical mysteries.

But there were factors she’d failed to consider, like how keeping such a big part of herself hidden would create an inevitable distance from her parents, or how the weight of disobedience would fade as she and Dipper grew older and found their independence. Then there were her own activities, activism across the globe, the sort of things that got her put on government watchlists. Mom and Dad already knew the gist of that time of her life - they could hardly miss her face on nightly news reports - choosing not to pry any deeper into the unsavoury details. If they could handle ‘May Pines: global disruptor’, then what harm would the truth about Zera and Merrise cause now?

She knew one answer: it would reveal her as a liar. Dipper didn’t get that, thought it was still all about the magic and portals. That stuff wasn’t what mattered, Mabel realised. It was the idea that she couldn’t even trust her Dad about the most important things of all. She’d had the chance to watch her father cheerily chat with his granddaughter and didn’t want to burst the bubble yet.

Zera had noticed Mabel’s distress and laid down with one arm around her. Lying there, Mabel anticipated that whatever happened the next few days were going to be tricky to navigate. At least she had someone to rely on, she thought as Zera kissed her on the cheek. They could worry about her parents in the morning. As Zera got up to get into bed, Mabel surprised her with a kiss of her own and dragged her back down. Simple pleasures could help her forget her worries for one night.

#dipper pines #mabel pines #pacifica nortwest #Mr and Mrs Pines #Dipper and Mabel's parents #gravity falls #gravity falls fanfic #ao3 fanfic

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circusmothman · 1 year

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“I’m sure you’ll love it there! We got a big house with lots of cool stuff, I got tons of toys we could share, and dad has like a billion books! We could even play outside in the garden.”

March - “Fresh starts”

Aaaaand I’m back with the third part of the monthly OTP prompt, and of course I had to squish it in the last day hhhhh. Also for those who noticed, I have not made a dedicated drawing for February but me and @ulqlume let our Vday collab count for that one since it was one of the offered themes. I do intend to still make something for one of the other February prompts though when I get the time.

But yes the theme I chose for this month ended up fitting perfectly for one of my favorite AU’s of these two. Namely, the Mercy AU. This is a massive canon divergence AU in which Indrel and Mircea (Atrax’s true birthname) meet during childhood, which then results in Mircea being adopted by the Velastryl family and growing up with Indrel in his homeland. This scene is in fact them sitting in the carriage on their journey back to Kharasta. Indrel is super excited about having made a new friend, while Mircea is still internally quite nervous about the whole thing but trying to appear positive.

The two meet while Indrel and his family were visiting Mircea’s home kingdom, Cania, during a diplomatic business trip. Indrel was exploring the city with his mother when he smelled blood and followed the trail to find the young spiderling hiding in an alley. He was able to coax Mircea to come with him to have his wound taken care of, and within the next few days plans were made to take the boy back home with them. As Mircea himself claimed to be an orphan. In truth Indrel’s parents knew there was more to that story, but Shade (the mother) had quickly grown attached to the boy and had quite a few concerns regarding his state. It took a long time of living with them for Mircea to finally open up about his past and reveal the truth of who he was and what happened to him, but by that point he had become a full part of the family and was surrounded by all the love and support he needed.

This AU is basically just a very self-indulgent “good timeline” that removes the majority of the trauma Mircea suffered during his life. Unfortunately the early childhood damage prevails and still affects him, but the worst of what happens during his story and leads to him becoming Atrax, has been avoided. Although that also means that the Mircea of this story and good ol canon Atrax are honestly like night and day in terms of behavior. But I love em both equally regardless and it’s that affection that drove the making of this AU that just gave him a far better life from nearly the start. In canon however that meeting never could have happened as the two of them were actually born almost a thousand years apart, and instead Indrel showed up in Aizsaule while Atrax was at his worst and managed to pull him out of that pit over the course of many lifetimes and a lot of persistence. But whether canon or any of the many AUs we have for them so far, these two always become quite inseparable and enrich each other’s lives considerably. They are just meant to be and we love them for that <3

#hollow knight #hollow knight oc #my oc #friend's oc #hk indrel #hk atrax #hk mircea #spoodermoffs #Mercy AU #otp prompt 2023 #also look at how heccin cute the baby spooder issss <3<3<3

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dearmrsawyer · 1 year

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i feel like i've finally organised myself a good tv schedule each week! 2020 ruined more than global health it also stripped me of all my favourite shows lol so this year i decided i need to find myself a new collecton of shows to keep me company. i need more in my life than streaming shows that drop like 6 episodes one day a year and only run for 2 or 3 seasons. the current tv landscape is my hell!!!!! i want to spend at least half the year with characters watching them go on both important and unimportant adventures, how else am i supposed to get to KNOW them! anyways i feel like i have succedded and am super happy with the shows i get to spend time with every week:

The Rookie: wanted to check it out because Nathan Fillion is always a good time and he's still a good time! It's fun, i like all the characters a lot, and it feels like a show that's still in its prime at season 5 so i'm hoping its around for a few more years :)

The Winchesters: good god its SOOOO good. I didn't know what to expect of it, i was pretty confident/excited since i knew Jensen was behind it, and he brought on one of Supernatural's best writers to showrun it, but you still just never truly know what to expect, but from episode 1 it was the highlight of my week i LOVE it omg. Jensen said it was picked up for 13 episodes and he's hoping they'll order a longer season 1, and so do i because i want to consume this show.

Walker: my weekly fix of Jared Padalecki plays a dad :') The thing i like about Walker is how relaxed i am watching it rofl, i'm not overly emotionally invested, i just get to tune in, see what the family's up to, watch Jared parent some kids, and relax at the end of the week. Desperately needed a show like that!

Walker Independence: the new spin off set in the old West which i wasn't sure what to make of but is SO good! I'm enjoying it so much, it took me by surprise lol. also it's v fun to have a period piece to watch, there's still a gap that Reign left behind but even though this is as different a period as you can get, it's kind of doing it for me!

Big Sky: Had literally never heard of this until it was announced Jensen would be on it, i decided not to catch up on the earlier seasons but just jump in with him, and it seems like the kind of show you can do that with. Tbh i wouldn't keep watching it if Jensen wasn't on it, it's not super engaging, but i have a very good time whenever he's on screen so this is a fun little interlude to add to my roster for the next month or two!

shows like the flash (about to finish 😭), a million little things (a new venture i found as they announced the next will be their last season 😭😭) and superman & lois (also a recent venture that is NOT ending and i'm going to stick with!) aren't coming back til the new year. my life feels so much more like it's on track when i have a clear schedule of tv during the week, i feel more like myself than i have for a year 😂

#it feels good to still have most of my week taken up by CW shows lol i never want that to change #its especially having them all spread out through the week :)#one on monday two on wednesday and two on friday!#have to admit i still haven't watched the 13th doctor's final ep from a couple of weeks ago #i was on grandparent duty the weekend it aired but since then i haven't had the heart to see it 😭 i don't wanna say goodbye to herrrr #anyway i love tv #tp

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achliegh · 2 years

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The Major League

Masterlist

TW: Food, swearing, first date, if there are more please let me know.

Baseball Boys meeting and falling in Love

What could go wrong… ;)

Beta: @punkkkkboi

Most Characters belong to: @lumosinlovelove

James and Lily’s house, Hogwarts 2020

How was James so good at this game? It’s such a weird thing to be good at. Sirius was sitting on the couch, Lily was right next to him while their curly haired friend sat on the floor playing Octo-Dad. It was the weirdest game Sirius has ever laid eyes on. He and Lily were sharing some popcorn with various things added to it to add some interesting textures. Like gummy bears and m&ms. Lily also had a single serving tub of cream cheese for some reason. He didn’t ask.

Remus was due to show up sometime soon, they were all hanging out today because Lily wanted to see Sirius and Remus get along for her own two eyes. Sirius wasn’t super stoked about it, but watchin James play a game where he was an octopus was pretty funny.

They were watching him for a while, he was getting so frustrated, screaming at the screen in spanish when he would lose. His face was so red and his hair was wild from him running his fingers through it. Lily just watched, smiling at her beloved husband. Giving him suggestions that she knew would get him to mess up. Eventually James gave up and curled up on the couch with his head in Lily’s lap to pout.

“Stupid game.” He had his mouth full of popcorn and was just staring forward as he grumbled. “I could have beat it!”

“You were pretty good at it, rather impressive.” Sirius takes James' old spot on the floor and picks up his controller to go back to the main menu to find a new game to play.

“I’m here! I brought dinner!” Remus walks in the door carrying a couple to-go boxes from the cafe the four of them always go to and maneuvers his way over to the dining room table. Setting them out one to every chair. “Pick the right chair and you get the right order, I have no idea what Sirius always ordered so I just got what he ate last time.” Remus sneaks a peak into a box and sits at that chair as everyone else files in.

“I think I got James’.” Lily is looking in the box she sat in front of and deciding whether or not she should eat it or trade for her usual. “I’ll keep it, a Hot-Beef sandwich sounds food-I mean good.” She blinks a couple times. “Am I far enough along to claim pregnancy brain?”

“You’re asking the wrong people, Red” James laughs at Remus’ comment and kisses her hand, opening his box to find her food. He was never a fan of these fancy sandwiches but he would make due for her.

“I need to hang out with Ink more often, you three are clueless.” She smiles at the three completely different looks she's getting. Sirius is offended, James is alarmed and Remus is agreeing as he nods his head.

“I haven’t seen Ink in a couple of months, what's she up to?” Lily and Ink have been best friends since elementary school. They were inseparable all throughout school, Ink was Lily’s maid of honor in her wedding and even gave her and James the tattoos on their ring fingers that they have so when they aren’t wearing their rings for work people still know they are taken.

“She's great actually, she has officially opened her own shop! Her and Marlene are running it together with Mary and I think they are hiring a new person here soon! Her name is Andy I think?”

“Andromeda!? Whoa wait a second.” Sirius wipes his face with his napkin. “Andy is my cousin, she was exiled from the family for some secret reason and I haven’t seen her in years!”

“Well she is working at Ink’s shop so you can come and see her!” Lily smiles brightly at him and he returns it, feeling rather excited at the thought of seeing his cousin again.

“What's the name of the shop?”

“Olive and Otto, it's named after her late parents so be respectful.” She shoots him a warning glance.

“Your family throws people out of the family?” Remus looks at Sirius with a bewildered look.

“Yeah, it comes with the old world views and rumors in the tribe.”

“Can I ask which tribe you’re from?” Remus doesn’t know a lot about Native culture at all so he wasn’t sure what was acceptable to ask and what wasn’t. He genuinely wanted to know more though.

“Well, we were given the name Navajo by Eurpoeans but we call ourselves Dine’.” He looks at Remus and takes a drink from his straw. Remus nods and they keep eating, having silence fall over the two of them.

“I think I remember you talking about her.” James looks at Sirius. “That was right after we painted the school mascot statue thing pink, right?” Sirius starts laughing and nodding.

“Those two weeks of dentition were worth it. Dumbledicks face was priceless.” Sirius and James launch into a conversation about all the shit they did at school. Remus didn’t go to the same school as these three so he has no idea what they have done.

“What about the time we stole all the teachers' copies of textbooks from the lounge and sold them to students for $50.”

“Or the time we wore the girls' uniforms because your pants had a hole in the knee and were told to change so we stole Lily and Ink’s skirts from their dorms!”

“You guys lived in dorms?” Remus breaks up the conversation looking at them confused. “Did you go to Illvermorny? The private school downtown?” All three nod. “Wow.”

“What school did you go to?” Sirius thought Remus went to their school but it's so big he just never knew he existed.

“I went to Rowena School for Delinquent Boys…”

“You were a delinquent?” Silence and then laughter bursting out of Sirius.

“Yes, I got in trouble for arson when I got mixed up with the wrong people so, yeah I was a delinquent. My parents never understood why I was sent there after one crime but.” He shrugs. “My guess is because I came from a poor neighborhood but who knows.” He takes a bite of his bread that he dipped in his soup.

“Well it does explain your scar a bit, it makes you look… not scary but I don’t think most people would mess with you.”

“I got it before I got in trouble, playing baseball with rocks when I was in middle school. It gave me my second concussion, if I get one more then I can’t play sports so… don’t touch me above the shoulder…. Unless you’re Lily.” He smiles when Lily winks at him.

“Oh I didn’t know.”

“Never told you.” Remus smirks at Sirius and it annoys him.

“How did you meet James and Lily?” He just goes back to picking at his food with his cheek resting in the palm of his hand, resting his elbow on the table.

“I met James at a camp, I think it was our junior year?” James nods. “James had just moved here and went to the Batters Up camp, I think it was held at Greenhouse stadium? Anyway, he was getting made fun of by some brat from Sytherin and I stood up for him. Then I went to his house for dinner and probably ate the most I have ever eaten in my entire life.” He closes his togo box because he's done with his food and picks up his cup to drink his sweet tea. “Lily I met at a museum, the Divination one on 58th street. I was there with my school on a weekend and she was our tour guide, we started talking about how dumb the measuam was before talking about what books we were reading and then we were friends. That was after I met James, so I heard her complain about him a lot.”

“Yeah, that was before James and I started studying in the same group and after he learned ASL, which I still can’t believe he did. Especially for me.”

“I’d do anything for you.” James says before she even fully ended her sentence, making Lily’s cheeks go a bit pink as she tries not to smile.

“I know, that's why you get a haircut every month.” James starts laughing his usual loud full hearted laugh. Making Lily’s smile brighten even more. Remus wants a love like that, he wants someone who would do everything for him, someone who would look at him the way Lily and James look at each other. He wants someone he would do everything for, someone who he wouldn’t hesitate to follow everywhere.

They all went into the kitchen together, throwing out the leftovers and recycling their boxes. Making some virgin daiquiris so Lily doesn’t feel left out. She sits on the counter, James leaning his back against her between her legs as they watch Sirius and Remus argue about the ratio of ice in the drinks.

“They are going to be the bestest of friends aren't they?” Lily whispers in her husband's ear as she wiggles her hands into his front pockets.

“Oh definitely, if they don’t kill each other first.” James says back, wincing at the insults being thrown between their friends.

“No you idiot! It's half ice, a third water and a third mix!” Sirius is holding the bag of mix up in Remus’ face who is looking rather unimpressed making Sirius all the more angry.

“It's a third ice, a third water, and a third mix.” He was speaking calmly but spitting his words out like they were poison darts. “But do whatever you want, I don't care.” He waves him off and goes to stand next to James.

“No, you do it.” Sirius grabs Remus’ wrist and yanks him back, slapping the bag of mix in his hand and hopping on the counter next to Lily with his arms crossed. He has got rather hot from being angry and puts his hair up in a ponytail to keep it off his neck.

“Good, that's what I wanted.” Remus mumbles to himself and makes the drinks quickly, handing everyone their cups with metal straws and rinsing out the blender in the sink. He looks at Sirius who is drinking his daiquiri. He narrows his eyes when he finally notices Remus looking.

“Fine, it's better. Shut up.”

“What can I say, I’m always right.” He smiles to himself feeling great that he made Sirius look stupid.

He was so easy to mess with.

Three Broomsticks Coffee Shop, Hogwarts 2020

Noelle was sitting at a table waiting for Thomas to show up, she finally agreed to go on a date with him after years of him asking. She has always had an attraction towards him, he's funny, charming, respectful, and very good looking. She just never felt like it was the right time to say yes, she heavily relies on her gut feeling to make decisions and she never got that solid yes feeling when he would ask before.

Thomas and Clay came to see her after class one day, they only saw each other for a couple minutes but in those minutes Noelle felt in her gut that she should invite Thomas out for coffee. She didn’t know what it was but seeing those two bozos together made her feel something weird in her chest.

So, meeting Thomas here after practice sounded like a great idea. His practice wasn’t over until late and she just came form rehearsals herself, she was in such a hurry she grabbed her sweatpants and put them on over her tights and leotard before driving here. She chose a corner booth because she doesn’t really like a lot of attention on her and she knows Thomas just brings attention with him being the Eagles heartthrob and all.

She enjoyed listening to people's orders and guessing what they looked like. She herself was drinking an iced coffee with a little bit of stevia in it. She should probably eat something but she doesn’t have the money to buy anything right now so she would eat when she's home.

“Can I have an iced matcha latte with a blueberry muffin?”

“We are out of blueberry muffins.”

“Chocolate chip muffin then.”

“Umm, it appears we are out of those too.”

“Banana nut?”

“None.”

“Fine, I’ll just take the drink then! So much for tea and a muffin.” Noelle snorts, this guy really wanted a muffin. Since she didn’t know his name she would just call him Muffin Man. She opened her phone to text Thomas to ask where he was, ever since Clay convinced her to give Thoams her number she hasn’t regretted it. Clicking his name to open their messages a cup is sat down across from her.

An iced matcha latte…

“Oh my god!” She starts laughing while Thomas sits down. He raises an eyebrow at her but smiles his signature grin. He was wearing an old tshirt with the Cubs logo on it. She never noticed he has earrings before, maybe he doesn’t wear them when playing… or to her ballets. Maybe she's just oblivious and never noticed the small gold hoops in his ears.

“What's so funny?”

“You’re the Muffin Man!” She laughs into her hand.

“You heard all that? I just wanted a muffin.” He puts on a pout and she calms down.

“That's all I’m going to call you from now on, Muffin Man.”

“Giving me pet names already?” She feels her cheeks heat up, rolling her eyes. She tries not to let her smile show by drinking from her straw. “I should find one for you, something perfect.”

“Do as you please but yours will forever be Muffin Man.”

“Plan to be with me forever then?” He leans forwards on his forearms crossed on the table and smirks at her.

“Who says we are together?” She mirrors him, his smirk falters a second before turning into a smile.

“You asked me on the date, that has to mean something.” They both giggle a little while looking at each other, once their giggling calms down they just keep looking at each other. Taking in each other's features like it's their favorite pastime television show.

“Maybe we should actually talk instead of just stare at each other. What's your family like?” Noelle says all of this while still glancing over Thomas’ face, never changing her position. Thomas doesn’t move either, just speaks without breaking eye contact that they have now started to hold.

“I grew up living with my parents, older brother Eric and my grandma. She likes to meddle in Eric and I’s relationships. I think she will adore you. Also I have a question, why are you taller than the average woman and Logan short as hell?” Noelle breaks their staring contest by laughing again.

“Sydney and I are both really tall, we got it from our dad, I think she is 5’11 so an inch shorter than me. Logan and Aubry are both around 5’6 or 7. Also fun fact. I am the only person out of my siblings to have brown eyes.”

“Huh, so you’re the black sheep out of the family?”

“No, I think that's Logan honestly. He has never really meshed super well with everyone but he's my little brother, I protect him with everything I can.”

“My brother Eric, he's a business consultant with the ‘American dream’ life, a wife, a couple of kids, a dog, a cat, a white picket fence. He is definitely the black sheep in our family. Mom and Dad have their dentistry while my Grandma works at a fancy place. Honestly I don’t know what she does to make money.” He takes a swig of his latte.

“I never knew my grandparents on either side, all dead before I was born.”

“I’m sorry.”

“From what I heard they wouldn’t have liked any of us kids, so it's probably for the best.” Noelle starts messing with the brown braided bracelet it was a supposed gift from her grandmother to her mother. She didn’t believe it.

“Hmm, well how about we talk about something else? Like… Clay?” He mentally slaps himself in the face, why in the world would she want to talk about Clay.

“I like Clay, I need to talk to Logan about why he-”

“They talked.”

“What?”

“Clay and Logan already talked it out. Logan has feelings for Clay’s brother now and I think they might start dating soon. I think they would be cute.”

“I’ve never met Clay's brother but if he looks like Clay then I see why Logan would go after him.”

“Do I have a surprise for you!” He grabs his phone and pulls up a picture of him and Leo together, turning it to face her. “That's Leo, his brother.” Noelle just stares at the phone for a moment. Like she is fitting a puzzle together.

“One of them is adopted?”

“Both actually, adopted together from a foster home.”

“Cute. Wait, did Leo introduce you to Clay?”

“Well, he was at the same table as Logan so I just got a bit too drunk and begged Logan to help me woo you. Finn volunteered Clay to help. Apparently he was a matchmaker in their highschool.” They both let out an amused breath. Thomas decides to take a risk and reaches for her hand. He goes to just hold it but she surprises him by intertwining their fingers. He feels butterflies.

“Thomas, I want to tell you something. I need you not to make a scene about it.” Noelle looks up at him, her brown eyes sweet with a flicker of worry in them. He furrows his brows but nods. “I have actually liked you for, well if I’m being honest, since I met you that evening on the bridge.” She sees his entire face light up, squeezing her hand.

She remembers the night they met very fondly. She had just moved to Hogwarts, this was before Logan moved here for baseball. Thomas was a rookie on the Hufflepuff Hornets team. She was invited to a party and got overwhelmed by how many people were there so she decided to take a stroll around the Hufflepuff campus, stopping her walk on the walking path bridge that goes over the small creek that runs through the city.

Thinking she was alone she was telling herself to calm down when a stranger approached her. Tall man with a blinding smile, he approached her without fear and Noelle thought this was going to end badly with unspeakable things happening. Instead he told her to be careful, a lot of odd people come out to the bridge at night.

She wasn’t sure how to respond, she also couldn’t look away from the soft, kind eyes of this man. He held his hand out to her to help her find a better place for a breakdown. She took it without thinking, he led her to a little sitting area near the campus library. She let go of his hand and looked around. She noticed him staring at her and asked what was wrong. Then he introduced himself, she did the same and they sat in silence until she decided it was time to go back downtown to her dorm at the art academy. He waved her off and she never expected to see him again.

Now here she is, holding his hand once again four years later in a coffee shop with no muffins. She felt the same way she felt that night.

Safe.

#leo knut #finn o'hara #sweater weather #logan tremblay #o’knutzy #lumosinlove #the major league #coast to coast #clayton bruss #remus lupin #sirius black #regulus black #thomas walker #noelle tremblay #jackson nadeau #evgenia kanaeva

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mill3nniumforc3 · 2 months

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2023: A Year in Review: Part 1

Here we are, 11 years in a row! I started this in November, and it's now February. Things got pretty crazy at the end of the year and I just didn't have time between work, being sick with a "mystery illness" that wasn't COVID or the flu, and trying to take care of myself.

Grab your popcorn and a drink, because this is going to be a long one!

January

We left off on Ohio State losing to Georgia, me missing the ball drop for the first time in YEARS, and Russell kissing me. Was I drunk? Maybe a little. I had to work on January 1, so I couldn't go too crazy.

My department was still managerless at UGS, so Kathy and Wendi were in charge. They asked me if I could start working earlier shifts on Sundays (10-6 had been my shift for MONTHS). I said I would prefer not to open, but 8-4 would be doable since I lived 30 minutes away.

And because the cost of eggs skyrocketed thanks to the bird flu, I made it a habit to check every egg carton before loading it into the car. This became something everyone did.

January 27 was me and Russell's fifth anniversary. We didn't have the time or money to do anything huge for it, so we went to dinner at Olive Garden. I was very happy about it since our first date was at an Olive Garden. January 27th was also my paternal grandfather's 91st birthday. Whoooo!

Oh, and Tee FINALLY got her car back after crashing it in October, meaning we had two cars again.

February

Kathy announced that she was the new manager. I was probably the only one to try and be supportive, but I think we all knew that it was an impending disaster.

We actually had plans for Super Bowl Sunday this year! We went to Russell's best friend Monkey's house. I provided dessert, ready to cheer on Philadelphia because I hate Kansas City. It was a good game to watch, even though Philly lost. The commercials and halftime show are better than the game itself anyway.

My dad's birthday was on February 13th. I called him and talked for a little while.

We didn't do anything for Valentine's Day because Russell had to work.

Tee decided to do an early trade-in with her lease on February 18th. She went from a blue 2020 Nissan Rogue to a gray 2023 Nissan Rogue. While she was working on the paperwork, Russell took me to the used car lot to look at the cars, since it was about time I got my own. I found a gray Nissan Kicks that I liked, and we asked the salesperson about buying it with my credit, income, and having Russell cosign. He said it'd probably work and to come back another day since the dealership was technically closed.

February 19th was Sean's birthday. I made him a birthday card that I got everyone to sign (including Caleb, and he seemed surprised that I included him) and bought him mini cupcakes. Gotta go all out for my favorite coworker!

On February 23rd, we went to the dealership again. The Nissan Kicks I liked was still available, so we went to purchase it. It was so exciting to finally have a car that was mine!

Also, the month of February was warmer than normal for some reason. We had a funny conversation about it at work where Isaac said the weather seemed hurricane-like. I pointed out that we had dandelions in February, so I wouldn't be surprised if we had a hurricane too.

March

Lilli got fixed on March 10th. I thankfully had the day off, so it was easy to drop her off and pick her up in a timely manner. When we went to pick her up, she was drowsy from the anesthesia still and acted like she was in pain. 30 minutes after she came home, she was acting like herself again. Silli Lilli...

March 12th was Sugar's 4th birthday. She got extra treats and a car ride.

On March 23rd while I was at work, I got a text from my mom telling me my paternal Grandpa was in the hospital after having a "possible mini-stroke." I ended up leaving 30 minutes early because I was so upset, and I was on edge for the next two days.

The afternoon of March 25th, my mom texted me again. Grandpa got released and there was no sign of stroke on the MRI. THANK GOD!

Monkey got married to his long-term girlfriend Lakyn on March 25th. Russell was a groomsman, so we spent the night of the 24th apart. It was tough because I sleep so much better when he's next to me. The next day, Tee and I drove to the wedding. We parked at the hotel we were staying at, checked in, and then walked to the venue (which was only a little ways down the road, and in the heart of UGA- that's important). Russell was outside to greet people to the wedding, and I was very happy to see him again. We hung out for a little bit before it was time to take our places for the ceremony. I had to educate Tee on wedding etiquette when she tried to sit on the aisle. "You don't sit on the aisle unless you're immediate family." She got all huffy with me, but I didn't care. The ceremony itself was beautiful, minus the nearby frat houses playing loud music (Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon was playing in the middle of a serious part, and I had to stop myself from laughing. I later learned from Russell that everyone in the wedding party had to refrain from laughter too). Monkey made everyone laugh during his vows when he read the lyrics to Never Gonna Give You Up at the end. The reception itself was pretty mid. The food was ok, the drinks were lackluster (it was a cash bar outside of the signature cocktails and White Claws), and the DJ only played songs that Lakyn picked (which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it seemed unfair to Monkey that the songs he wanted were left off the final playlist). The reception also ended at 10pm, which seemed like a waste because that meant people only danced for 90 minutes (and a chunk of that time, the sound system went out so we were singing our own songs). They apparently were going to head downtown for an after party, but we opted not to go.

March 26th was Muffin's 10th birthday. He's officially an old man.

April

April 1st was my 29th birthday! I spent it at... you guessed it, work! It wasn't that bad though. Sean bought me doughnuts, Wendi bought me chocolate chip muffins, and the day wasn't too busy. My parents also flew down to Atlanta to see me and spend a few days with me. We went to my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner and had ice cream cake at my house.

I had to work on April 2nd, but because it was a Sunday, I was off at 4pm. After I was off, we went to the mall (mainly because I needed a new pair of work shorts and JCPenney is the pair that works the best) and had dinner at Red Robin.

I was off on April 3rd, which was surprising because I'm almost never off on Mondays. My parents picked me up from my house and we went to walk around the park. After walking around for a while, we went to get something small to eat for lunch and then hung out in their hotel room for a little while. When Russell was off work, we met up with him and Tee for eat dinner at Loretta's (a local restaurant that serves homestyle food). After dinner, I said goodbye to my parents, but not for very long, since Moira's wedding was coming up.

Not much else happened in April, except April 26th was my paternal Grandma's birthday.

May

On May 4th, I got into a freak accident at work (medical TW: mentions of blood and swelling) I was unloading and staging the fulfillment center deliveries in the cooler. Suddenly, I collapsed. Even though I was fully aware of what might've happened (I tripped over a dolly that got underfoot), I was out of it when the impact happened. The very first thing I noticed as soon as I came to was I was tasting blood. I quickly ran my tongue around my mouth, and when all my teeth were still in and none felt loose, I breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. I knew I had to tell Kathy what happened. I was afraid she was going to be mad because we were pretty busy, and while she wasn't happy that I got hurt during a busy time, she made sure I took care of myself. The blood I was tasting was because my lower lip busted open (I either bit it when I fell or the lid on the container hit my face hard enough) and Kathy said my teeth looked fine. She gave me some paper towels to press on my lip to stop the bleeding and sent me to the meat department to get a bag of ice. Unfortunately, because I was probably hyped up on adrenaline and got up immediately after the fall, I didn't notice that my left knee was swollen to the size of a softball, and didn't realize it was bad until I drove home from work. I got home and I couldn't move my knee, so Russell had to help me out of my car and upstairs.

On a lighter side, apparently, Burberry got outside and nobody noticed. After Russell had me upstairs in the living room, he went to let Sugar and Lilli outside. When he opened the door, he saw a cat and said, "Hey, you look like Burberry!" When the cat let himself inside, Russell realized and shouted, "Hey, you ARE Burberry! When did you get outside??" He was soaking wet because it had been raining, but Burr didn't seem upset about it at all.

I showed up to work the next day wearing my knee brace. Kathy noticed it and asked if it was from the accident. I said yes, and Kathy asked why I didn't tell her my knee hurt. I mentioned that I didn't even notice that it hurt until I got home. She asked if I wanted to file for worker's comp, but I declined since it wasn't a big deal (and I was afraid I was going to get in trouble for some reason).

May 16th was Russell's 32nd birthday. I was off on his birthday, so we spent it together. It was also Lemmy and Rufus's 2nd birthday.

On May 19th, Kaitlyn (a family friend) graduated veterinary school with her DVM. I was so happy and proud, and very excited for her, because she had talked about wanting to be a vet since we were kids.

June

June 2nd was my mom's birthday. I called her and we talked for a while.

Lilli got her first haircut on June 13th. We got her the typical schnauzer cut, and while I thought it was cute, Russell thought it made her look like a boy. We picked a different cut for her to get from now on.

June 13th was the start of our long adventure. Russell dropped me off at work and picked me up afterwards since we planned on leaving immediately after I got off (I got off at 7pm- that's important). I placed a mobile order at Chipotle for dinner, filled my car with gas, and picked up my dinner before we hit the road. We planned to spend the night in North Carolina, about an hour north of Charlotte. We figured we'd get there by 10:30-ish, but with all the construction on I-85 in South Carolina, we ended up getting there closer to midnight. We were ready for bed when we got to the Sleep Inn.

We got up decently early on June 14th, since we still had a long ways to go to get to New Jersey. We got breakfast at Sheetz (my idea!) and topped off the tank at Kangaroo (gas was cheaper there) before starting our long journey. The trip was pretty dull and boring. When we got to Virginia, we finally got to hop on I-95. We passed King's Dominion, and Russell joked that we should've gone there instead of Six Flags. After getting past Richmond, we stopped for lunch at McDonald's. Russell got the Grimace Meal so we could try the Grimace shake, and neither of us liked it that much. The aftertaste reminded me of Fruity Pebbles, but the initial taste was pretty gross. After lunch, we got back on the road. The GPS had us bypass Washington, D.C., but the traffic was still a nightmare anyway. We were close to the Ronald Reagan Airport, so I kept calling out the different airlines I saw as they were taking off and landing. Once we finally made it out of D.C., we were on route to Baltimore. When we got there, the GPS had us get off the highway to avoid an accident. We drove past the Ravens stadium, and I flipped it off because I'm a Steelers fan. We also drove past the Orioles stadium and I wanted to flip it off too (a guy two grades below me in school played for them and deleted everyone on Facebook afterwards. I later learned he got released because he sucked HAHA), but there people next to us at that point and I didn't want to get shot. We then drove through shady backroads until the GPS had us get on I-95 again. Before leaving Maryland, we stopped at the rest stop called Maryland House to use the bathroom and get something to snack on since the McDonald's wasn't filling. When we got to Delaware, we hopped on I-295, which took us straight to New Jersey. We needed gas again after we got into New Jersey, so we stopped at Wawa. It was an experience having a gas attendant fill my car. While we there, we decided to get dinner. Once getting our food, we made our way to the Best Western for the evening. The one thing we noticed was that it reeked of weed because it's legal in New Jersey.

I woke up in the middle of the night on June 15th with my stomach hurting. I'm not much of a fast food eater to begin with, so all that grease in my stomach made me feel like shit. I got out of bed, sat on the toilet, and drank some water, convinced that I was going to vomit. After sitting for a while, I started feeling better. I laid down to go back to sleep until Russell's alarm went off. We went to get the free breakfast in the hotel, and since I still felt a little queasy, I opted to just eat some vanilla yogurt and granola. After breakfast, we made our way to Six Flags Great Adventure. As much as we were looking forward to being there, we were slightly disappointed that the top two rides in the park were closed (El Toro had been out of commission for almost a year and Kingda Ka had an incident a week before we got there. What sucks is El Toro reopened two days later). The park was busier than we had anticipated since many schools were taking field trips there, so we got Flash Passes to ensure we could ride everything. The food was very lackluster and there was next to nothing for me to eat, so I ended up having cheese fries for lunch. We saved the rides we expected to be the worst for last, which worked out well since Green Lantern hurt so bad! Nitro, Jersey Devil, and Medusa were the top 3 that I rode. Also, we got stuck on Houdini's Great Escape, which was not fun, especially since some Karen sitting by us kept asking someone to call for help. I kept telling her that the ride operators knew we were in there and would get us out as soon as they could. Her young child wasn't even panicking! We left the park around 4pm, and got dinner at Denny's. I got a veggie burger and fries. After dinner, we went to the hotel to relax for the night.

We woke up decently early on June 16th to go to Ocean City, Maryland. We drove out of New Jersey and to Pennsylvania to get breakfast at Bob Evans, and then made our way down. We had to drive backroads in Philadelphia because the bridge collapsed on I-95, but we eventually found our way back to Delaware. After driving through Delaware for a while (I never realized how long Delaware actually was since it looks so small on the map), we stopped for lunch at... McDonald's, surprise surprise. We took our lunch to go this time so we could continue the drive. We made it to Ocean City around 3pm, and I called my mom to let her know we were in the city so she could stand outside and show us where the condo was. We followed the GPS to park the car, and my mom was standing on the top floor of the condo (it was thankfully only three floors high lol). We grabbed our luggage out of the trunk of my car and walked upstairs. My mom showed us where our room was, and we dropped off our bags. The view of the beach from our condo was amazing. We relaxed in the condo for a while until we wondered what was going on for dinner. My mom reached out to Moira, and she suggested we got dinner at BLU Crabhouse & Raw Bar as a "rehearsal dinner" since it was by their hotel. Me, Russell, and Bridgid rode in my car while my parents rode by themselves (I think they intended to pick up Fiona and Zach, but they didn't want to go since they spent all day driving from Cleveland). We got Blu Crab Dip as an appetizer, and I got the Crab Cake Sandwich as my entree. I also got a Dirty Banana as a drink, and it was delightful. After dinner, me, Russell, and Bridgid stopped at Food Lion to buy a gift card for Moira and Adam. I was tempted to get an inappropriate card for their wedding, but chose to be normal and got a wedding card.

We woke up the morning on June 17th and, when we allegedly had no plans for breakfast, me and Russell went to McDonald's because they had bagels. I asked if anyone wanted anything, and at first everyone said no, but once I had my shoes on, my dad asked for a large coffee and Bridgid asked for an Oreo Frappe. I asked my mom if she wanted an unsweet tea, but she said no. After we came back with our breakfast and started eating, my mom said Moira wanted to meet up for Wedding Day breakfast at The Dough Roller. I mentioned that I could probably eat again since the bagels aren't necessarily filling, so we went to breakfast. I chose to get the Cheese & Egg Sandwich because pancakes didn't sound good for some reason.

Part 2 live now on my blog! Stupid character limit smh.

#my life #my year #2023

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