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#cw: parent death
steddieas-shegoes · 2 months
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cw: discussion of past parental death due to overdose, mention of drug use
Steve stumbled upon the article when he was helping Robin collect articles for a project for her Industry Studies course.
He didn’t think much of reading about another small time musician getting caught up with the wrong crowd, and overdosing or getting in a drunk driving accident. It seemed like a pretty common theme. It was terrible, sad, horrible, but he’d seen about 30 stories like that in the last two days and he was kind of getting numb to it all.
Until he saw the name Munson.
Until a picture of a woman with long, curly hair and Eddie’s smile stared back at him next to a headline that read: “Kentucky Country Queen Dead at 27.”
He read the article with tears in his eyes.
Elizabeth “El” Munson, a hopeful country singer and guitarist, was found dead in her home by her six year old son, Edward. The boy reportedly tried calling his father at work with no luck before finally calling his uncle, Wayne Munson.
Toxicology reports show that she overdosed on multiple illegal substances. At this time, it is believed to have been accidental and no foul play is suspected.
It has now been made clear that Elizabeth was seeking a divorce from her husband, Al Munson, but had not been successful as lawyers were unable to locate him until her funeral. Their son has been put in the care of Wayne until further notice.
Robin found him 20 minutes later, staring at the page with swollen, red eyes. She took the paper, read the article, and put it back in the files wordlessly.
“I don’t think he wants us to know,” she finally said.
She was probably right.
But Steve had grown pretty close to Eddie over the last six months, had opened up to him about his parents, his fake friends, his concussions and nightmares. Eddie had started opening up to him, too.
He thought he had, anyway.
He told him about how his mom died when he was young and his dad was awful so he moved in with Wayne. He told him about how his dad appeared every couple years looking for money or a place to stay and Wayne always turned him away.
But he never really talked about his mom, always said he barely remembered her.
Did he know what happened?
——
Steve asked Wayne the next morning.
He’d come by to pick Eddie up for a day with the kids, but Eddie hadn’t set his alarm and was still asleep.
Perfect opportunity to find out more.
“So. Eddie’s mom.”
Wayne tensed over his plate of toast and scrambled eggs. He didn’t look up, just took another bite of food.
“Does he know how she died?”
“Do you?”
“Newspaper said overdose,” Steve tapped his fingers nervously against his thigh. “Says Eddie found her.”
“Trauma messes with your memory.”
It was final, a statement that left Steve with more questions, but a certainty that he’d get no answers.
“Yeah.” He gulped. “I’ve heard.”
——
Steve doesn’t bring it up to Eddie for a while.
He figured Wayne’s reaction said a lot about what Eddie knew or would be willing to share.
But they were a little high and alone and Eddie’s hand was warm in his and his filter was broken.
“I’m sorry you had to be the one to find your mom.”
The air around them was thick. The silence was deafening.
“Me too.”
Eddie’s voice was quiet, nothing like his usual playful tone.
Steve immediately wanted to put this conversation in reverse, pretend his curiosity didn’t matter.
“I’m sorry.”
Eddie moved closer to Steve, his arm a constant pressure against Steve’s. His head leaned against Steve’s shoulder.
“Wayne doesn’t know I know how she died. He doesn’t know I know my dad gave her bad drugs, convinced her all the up and coming musicians were doing a new strain of heroin. She’d kicked him out of the house,” Eddie’s breath caught. “She shouldn’t have let him come back that day. I heard them arguing before I left for school. She told him she was finding a manager and recording an album and that she was divorcing him. I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew it was bad.”
“Eds, you don’t have to tell me.”
“I know, Stevie. But you know everything else.” Eddie’s face turned until his nose and mouth were pressed against Steve’s arm. “I went to school. Didn’t think about it. Figured my dad would be gone when I got home and might come back in a few days once they cooled off. But when I got home, he was gone and my mom’s bedroom door was closed. And I opened it and there she was.”
Steve turned so he was face to face with Eddie, cupping his jaw and rubbing his thumb along his cheek in encouragement.
“I don’t even know why I tried calling the store first. I didn’t even know if he still worked there. But then I called Wayne and it’s like he just knew.” Eddie’s eyes closed for a moment. “Don’t think he’d ever gotten to our house so quick.”
“Did he know all this?”
“He knew enough. I stayed with him and then my dad gave up his rights. Lied to the counselor about what I knew so Wayne wouldn’t freak. Kept it up for a while,” Eddie let out a small exhale that slightly resembled a laugh. “I read the article about eight years ago. A kid in my class made a joke about me being an orphan because of the drug problem in America as if he even knew what that meant and I decided to see what the newspaper reported.”
“Do you play because of her?” Steve asked.
Eddie blinked back at him.
“I play for a lot of reasons. But I started because of her, yeah,” he whispers. “You’re the first person to ask me that instead of give me that look of pity.”
“I’m sad about how it happened, but giving you pity doesn’t change it. I’d rather hear how it changed you,” Steve whispered back.
They were close, legs intertwined, hands touching bare skin under shirts and on faces and necks.
“It changed everything for me. Wayne packed us up and moved us here as soon as he legally could. Probably for the best. Well,” Eddie gave a small smile. “Definitely for the best. Wouldn’t be here with you if he hadn’t.”
“Do you ever go back?” Steve did his best to ignore the fluttering in his stomach.
“Her birthday every year. She’s got a nice spot near her mom.” Eddie bit his lip. “It’s actually coming up in a couple weeks. Maybe you could come with me?”
“Me? Are you sure?”
Eddie nodded. “If it doesn’t weird you out that I talk to her. I like to give her updates on my life, Wayne’s life, music. Think she’d find it quite funny that I bring the guy I’ve had a crush on for two years.”
It takes a minute for the words to sink in.
“Two years?” Steve’s lips curled up into a smile. “I hope I live up to expectations.”
“I think she’d like you. She’d definitely make fun of me for having a boyfriend who wears polos though.”
“Is that how you’d introduce me?”
“If you’re okay with it.” Eddie leaned his forehead against Steve’s. “I know we haven’t talked about what we-“
Steve pressed his lips to Eddie’s, nearly knocking their noses together painfully in the process.
After the initial shock, they both relaxed into the kiss.
“I’d love to go. As your boyfriend,” Steve said after pulling away for air. “What was her favorite flower?”
“Gardenias. Always wore perfume that smelled like it. Why?”
“Because I have to impress her, right?”
“You realize she’s not gonna actually see or hear you? She’s definitely dead.”
Steve snorted. “I know. But she can still have nice things. Maybe us bringing her nice things in death is a way to apologize for the not nice things she had in life.”
“You’re a pretty incredible boyfriend, sweetheart.” Eddie kissed the tip of his nose. “And you now know more than Wayne, so it’s time for a pinky promise.”
Steve giggled before holding up his pinky. “I swear I won’t tell Wayne anything.”
“And you’ll kiss me whenever I want…”
“That’s a guarantee.”
“And you’ll let me win at Go Fish…”
“Not a chance, Eds.”
Eddie laughed. “Worth a try.”
Steve curled his pinky against Eddie’s. “So do you think she’d like me?”
“Oh. Oh god. She’d love you. You’re exactly who she’d want for me,” Eddie rolled his eyes when Steve flipped his hair back confidently. “And she’d braid your hair every night while you gossiped and sipped tea.”
“And what would you do?”
“Probably just soak it in. Appreciate having her and you around. You’ll just have to gossip with Wayne.”
“Wayne doesn’t strike me as-“
“Oh, he’s got you fooled! He’s a worse gossip than the ladies at the hair salon. Just ask him about the mailbox at the end of the road sometime. Make sure you’ve got an hour to spare.”
“Really?” Steve’s eyes lit up. “Is he home now?”
Eddie pulled Steve forward until he was flush against his front. “No and I have much better plans than gossiping with my uncle.”
“Oh?” Steve’s brow raised.
“It involves my bed and handcuffs. You in?”
“Hopefully you’re in.”
“God, you’re ridiculous. C’mon, now I’m even harder from your stupid flirting,” Eddie sat up and tugged until Steve followed. “Can’t believe this is how my night’s going.”
“Believe it, baby.”
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thevioletcaptain · 2 months
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So I've been quiet on here a lot longer than planned.
The reasons are many. The reasons are varied.
The reasons are mostly fucking horrible.
Under a cut because it's long. Check tags for content warnings.
First was the expected absence: my parents came to visit me in Los Angeles over my birthday, so I spent the first half of October showing them around whenever I wasn't working a shift at my shitty department store day-job, or in class at UCLA.
Then, almost immediately after they went back to Australia, I got a second job working as a personal assistant for a composer. This was (and is) an extremely fun and rewarding job, but meant having one more thing on my weekly schedule, which was an adjustment.
Given that until halfway through last year, I'd been out of work since I immigrated in 2019, it took a while for me to get used to having so many concurrent responsibilities, and I'd just started to get a handle on things when I got sick right before the holidays. I took many covid tests -- all negative -- and eventually determined that it was just last year's strain of flu, which I hadn't managed to find time to get the shot for due to the aforementioned super busy schedule. I'm almost positive it was thanks to a particular customer at the aforementioned shitty department store job who coughed hard enough in my direction for their germs to get through my n95.
Anyway, last year's flu was a monster, and I spent a week in bed with a fever, then several more weeks being utterly drained and with a horrendous cough to match. It took a full month for me to recover, and then in mid-January, almost as soon as I started to catch up on all the things that had fallen behind while I was sick, things got bad, then good, then worse, then better, then much, much, much worse.
Basically, it starts with my dad being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He'd told me in October when they came to see me, but the surgery was scheduled for the tail end of January.
The surgery happened on a Monday, and it was a complete success. They got it all in one go. No chemo or radiation or further treatment needed at all. I spoke to him on the phone after he woke up, and he was in good spirits. Happy to have been given the all clear by his doctors.
I told him to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds & Evil while he rested up at home, because I'm writing specs for both this year and wanted him to be able to read them and know what was going on. He's the one who got me into sci-fi and horror, after all.
He went home.
He was home for two days.
He started feeling a bit rough on the Thursday. Short of breath. No appetite. Mum took him back to the hospital, just to be safe.
Turns out he'd had a mild heart attack. They couldn't figure out why. The echocardiogram didn't show any issues with his heart.
Then over the next couple of days, his breathing got worse. They took a scan of his lungs, and found that they were extremely inflamed. They'd given him covid tests but they came back negative. We told them about a work accident he had about 20 years ago, where a switchboard he'd been working on exploded in his face, and he'd suffered from inhalation burns among other things.
They thought that maybe something during the prostate surgery had caused irritation in his already damaged lungs, which put stress on his heart and caused the mild heart attack. He's never had any issues with his lungs since that accident, but they thought that maybe he'd just adapted to the damage over the years without realizing.
They kept trying different treatments to help his lungs heal. Nothing seemed to work. His breathing kept getting worse. They had him on as much oxygen as possible without intubating him, but it wasn't enough, so over that weekend they decided that they'd need to move him to another hospital with a more specialized lung unit.
When they were preparing to do that on the Monday night, he crashed. Another heart attack. Bigger, this time. They intubated him. Sedated him. Called my mum and told her to come in right away because things looked so bad.
But then he rallied. By the morning, though he was still sedated and intubated, the doctors were confident that with the right treatment at the specialized lung unit at the other hospital, he'd be okay. He was still in a rough condition, but stable. They transferred him to the other hospital.
He was given another covid test. This one came back positive.
My mum and brother called me once it was a reasonable time in Los Angeles to let me know what was going on, and the next day my brother booked me a flight back to Australia. I had to leave for the airport about five hours after my ticket was booked.
I got to Melbourne on February 1st.
For the next two weeks, dad was intubated, sedated, and in an isolation room. Every few days, they scanned his lungs again, and they were slowly improving.
Finally, he stopped testing positive, and was moved to a regular room in the ICU. Then he healed enough for them to extubate him and wake him up.
On February 13th, he was conscious enough to squeeze my hand when we went in to see him. On February 14th, he was conscious and capable of talking enough to ask a nurse in his ward to bring him his phone, and called mum first thing in the morning to wish her a happy Valentines Day.
Two days later, on Friday 16th, his lungs looked good enough on scans that they felt it was safe to do an angiogram, which they wanted to do just to double check that there weren't any issues with his heart that they missed with the echo.
They did the test. They found massive blockages. 90% blockage in one artery; significant blockages in two others.
Even though he'd barely recovered from covid, the blockages were bad enough that they scheduled him for open heart surgery on Monday 19th. They said without surgery there was a 100% chance that the blockages would cause another massive heart attack that he would not survive. They said there was about a 20% chance that he'd have complications, but only about 4% that they'd be serious/life threatening.
Like before, the surgery went well. Triple bypass, in the end. We got a call late on Monday afternoon to say that he was in recovery and looking good. His heart was functioning perfectly. They'd bring him out of sedation that night. Keep him in the ICU one or two days just as the standard post-op procedure. He'd spend a week or so in a cardiac ward after that, then head to a physical rehab ward for a couple of weeks until he could build back the muscle mass he'd lost while sedated.
We went in to see him the next day. Tuesday 20th. His 66th birthday.
He was tired, but looked good. Color in his cheeks. He made a couple of jokes. We left after about 45 minutes because he was pretty worn out, and we wanted to let him get some rest.
But then after, that his breathing started to get bad again. By Wednesday morning, they'd switched out the oxygen prongs in his nose for a big, high-pressure mask again. They called to let us know they were going to intubate him again so he could rest while his lungs recovered a bit more.
They struggled to get the tube in.
His lungs were deteriorating badly. He kept getting worse. We couldn't go in to see him because they were working on him all day.
At 9pm we got a call to say that he was just getting worse. They had him on 100% oxygen. He just wasn't absorbing it. His entire body was under massive strain. They were doing everything they could, but he just wasn't improving.
They said we should go in right away.
We got there by 10pm. My brother and his wife arrived about the same time. We went in to see him. He didn't look good. He looked pale. But he was warm, and he'd come back from the brink before, and we were sure he could do it again. We stayed with him for about an hour, and left not long after 11pm. Went back to my brother's place because they live closer to the hospital.
We were there about half an hour before they called us again. Just after midnight. He was gone.
That was about a week and a half ago, now. It still doesn't feel real. He was only 66. He hadn't even retired yet. He was working full time up until the week before Christmas, and had planned on going back to work a few days a week after he'd recovered from surgery. He never had any heart trouble, or lung trouble. He was active. He was fine.
My wife Zel and her mom flew in a couple of days after it happened. I barely remember anything from the past two weeks. Everything just feels fake.
I've been trying to write something to say at the funeral, which we've finally been able to arrange for next week -- it was delayed because we had to wait for dad to be released by the coroner. I don't think I'll be able to do it.
Anyway. That's where I've been.
It'll probably be a little while longer before I'm around here much, let alone posting with any regularity, because I'll be in Australia helping my mum & and my brother sort everything out. I have no idea how long I'll be dealing with stuff, or when I'll be able to make words cooperate enough to post anything, but I'll be back eventually.
I'm trying to keep an eye on Discord (I'm violetmatter over there) so you can find me there if you want. But yeah, I just wanted to let you guys know why I've been so quiet.
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anaberrry · 13 days
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Hey.
Arthur Bennett seeing anything lovely and thinking about how lovely his family was.
Arthur Bennett seeing a happy couple and thinking about how happy his parents used to be.
Arthur Bennett seeing a toy and thinking of how much his siblings would love it.
Arthur Bennett seeing anything he loves and wishing he could give that love to his family.
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krethes · 7 months
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(Continuing my efforts to break out of my writer's block...sad Remus & Lily content)
It's hard, seeing someone you love—the first person you ever loved—in pain. He wasn't used to it, not like Lily was. She saw him in misery every month, visited him in the Hospital Wing with a sack of sweets and a thermos of heavily honeyed tea for his scream-raw throat. But Lily never let her hurt show, not when Snape betrayed her confidence, not when people called her names, not when Death Eaters fired off lethal curses around her. 
But she's in his arms now, broken, sobbing. It's not quiet. It's loud and gasping and a deep, unending pain, and Remus knows it. Knows it so keenly, he can barely stand to be here with her. But he must. He will. No one can bear this alone. Remus had Sirius. Lily normally has James. But they're on a Mission, and even the news of his wife's mother dying was not reason enough for Dumbledore to bring James home early. 
What a load of shit. 
Remus has long since started to see the heartlessness behind their general. Perhaps it's necessary. Perhaps it's what they need to do to win against a ruthless, genocidal maniac. Or perhaps he's just too focused on the mechanics and not the cogs making it run. 
His shirt is soaked with salty tears, and Remus would do anything to lessen her pain. He gathers Lily closer, kisses the top of her head, her forehead, her cheeks, and briefly, chastely, her lips. She tastes like salty tears, too. It's not sexual. It's just…comfort. She sighs against his mouth and buries her face into his neck after a few seconds, crying silently now save for a hiccup or two. 
Remus rubs her back in soothing circles, though it seems pointless. He can't do anything to help. A cheering charm would only force laughter and a smile, but her heart would still be breaking behind it, a hollow, jagged mockery of the true emotion. 
"What am I supposed to do?" she whispers when the sun has gone down and the moon rises, fat and heavy in the sky. It's not full, but close, and Remus hopes Sirius will make it back before then. Make it back at all. Lily's voice is frail and torn, hoarse from her crying. Her scent is sour, misery and anguish and fear, but Remus doesn't shy away from it, overwhelming as it is. 
"I don't really have an answer for you, love," Remus admits. His mother died a few months ago and he still wakes up with wet, tear-streaked cheeks. He still thinks about visiting her in Dover, but remembers she's buried in the neighboring town as he's pulling on his coat. And his dad, well…he's fucked off to Merlin knows where. Left behind an absolute mess in the house, vanished into thin air. Maybe he's dead, like Lily's dad. Maybe he's just trying to disappear. Remus wants to, sometimes. Just get up and run and run, outrun the horrors that plague him.
They've lost so much this year. Friends, family, sleep, innocence. Remus has committed sins he can't even tell Sirius about, and the knowledge of that haunts him like a ghost. 
Lily is quiet for a long time, but Remus senses she has something she wants to say. "Your dad…" She clears her throat and looks up at Remus, her fair eyelashes clumped together, cheeks wet. "His library, he-"
"Lily." Remus cuts her off with a sharp shake of his head. "No, it's not-"
"It's not fair! I don't- I won't…I wouldn't do anything, I just… I just want to know if it's possible."
Remus sighs and rests his chin on her head. "It's possible." He'd read through everything. The loose leaves of parchment scattered around his dad's library that spoke of reanimation, resurrection. Necromancy. The theory was sound. Remus immediately checked that his mother's remains were still undisturbed after, and was relieved that his dad hadn't gone through with it. Or hadn't yet. 
"Can I just-" Lily bites her lower lip and pulls back to look up at him again. "Please? I just… to pretend. Just for a little while. That I could…that she could be here."
Remus closes his eyes, fighting the drowning pull of her grief. He's never been good at saying no to her, and has been even more rubbish at denying the allure of the darker magics. They both share that, the appreciation for the mysterious, the forbidden. Maybe it's how they were raised. Maybe it's the dark creature in Remus. Who's to say. 
"... Alright. Get your coat. I'll show you everything."
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lavishresilience · 3 months
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𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓: @castlesfallen!
not  being  around  conrad  felt  like  her  heart  was  about  to  burst  at  any  second.  he  was  the  main  reason  why  she  loved  coming  to  this  beach  house  every  single  summer.   now  that  their  relationship  felt  even  the  slightest  bit  ruined  made  her  feel  just  as  worse  as  she  did  prior.  ruining  a  brotherly  bond  between  two  brothers?  she'd  never  want  to  do  that.  not  intentionally,  anyway.  they  all needed  each  other.  especially  at  a  time  such  as  this.  with  susannah  being  gone  and  the  beach  house  almost  being  taken  away from them ..  they  needed  to  stick  together.  now  more  than  ever.  belly  was  doing  her  best  to  be  able  to  remain  hopeful and optimistic throughout this.  ❛❛you  know  that  i'm  here  for  you  right?  whatever  you  need.  just  name  it  and  i'll  be  there.  i  loved  this  beach  house  too  and  i'd  do  anything  to  be  able  to  help  you  guys  save  it.  there's  too  many  memories  that  were  made  here  to  just  let  it  be  thrown  away  like  that.  we  can't  give  up yet,  conrad.❜❜
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wodnes--coyotl · 3 months
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ive always been too young for thhis shit and i still am
gonna binge watch the practice or something b/c i cant
my dad went in for idk a consultation or something but they wont let him go home. he will be in isolated chemo for 30 days but we thought theyd give him a few days.. but its too urgent. i didnt even know they did urgent chemo like this.
i dont think his prognosis is great but idk. he said it's like 50/50. if the chemo fails he probably only has a few months, idk.
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cyazurai · 2 years
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Journal,
It isn’t easier the second time.
I got the call. Dad this time. In his sleep.
I thought I was ready, after Mom. We’d talked about it - he’d even told me about leaving everything to me and the kids. But it felt so far away. I thought I had at least another ten years.
Why? Why?
I’m sorry, I have to go. Mireya doesn’t know why I’m crying. I need to comfort her.
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heniareth · 2 years
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hope i'm not too late to the party to ask for a 🪞for astala
Ooooh hello!! :D You're always welcome to the party, late or early or whenever ^^ A wizard is never late and so on and so forth. In one of your comments on AO3 you mentioned that it looked like Astala had a real complicated relationship with her mother, fraught with lots of conflicting emotions. And, let me tell you: you are so right. Here's some lyrics to illustrate that.
And I’m so proud of you
And when they laugh at us
You’ll feel my fingers down your back
And when you scream "I’m not alright!"
And throw my picture at the wall
"You were supposed to be my light
And keep me safe against them all
How could you leave me here?" you’ll scream
And louder, I’ll scream back to you from that unknown
And say
"I know you’re strong enough
I know you’re strong enough
I know you’re strong enough to do this on your (...) own."
The song is, again, Welly Boots by The Amazing Devil. That song is so juicy in terms of what it tells you about a relationship. The short (sorry, it got long) version of what I headcanon happened with Adaia is this (you know most of this, so I apologize for repeating myself. I started writing, then discovered I'd already told you this, but if it's okay I'm gonna keep the rant):
⚠CW⚠ for discussion of a parent's death
Adaia was part of Loghain's Nightelves, discharged without any type of compensation, became a smuggler and was generally very defiant of the authority of Denerim's city guards. They got the bead on her and it became personal; they wanted to bring her down. They caught some of her people first (something which I've detailed in the last bit of the answer to this ask) but that didn't intimidate Adaia. I imagine Cyrion begged her to stop, not to carry her weapons, to keep her head down and to not call attention to herself by making trouble. Adaia argued that a life lived in fear wasn't worth living, that carrying weapons was her Maker-given right and that she would not bow to the whims of some shem guards with an ego as blown as a ship's sails in the storm. Well, we all know how that ends. Adaia disappeared. Astala had a terribly hard time dealing with the knowledge that her mother continued everything that called the guards' attention to her despite the risk and ended up making her half an orphan. It's a weird case of not being able to blame the shem because of course the humans would do something to her mother; that's what humans do. It's the same with her blaming herself for the purge in the Alienage; the shem were the ones who purged it, but she was the one who gave them an excuse to do so. She knows better than that. Her mom knew better than that. And thus she's bitter and angry and very deep down just a nine-year-old who wants her mother back.
Of course, Astala has a terribly biased perspective on her mothers' disappearance. The feelings are still too big to even look at them for too long, let alone try to unravel them. And now there's a Blight afoot, so... Idk, I'll see how it goes with her and all of this
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themonsterthing · 1 month
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Creative Nonfiction Class Writing
Movement: 
My mother and I have always loved each other, but when my father died, I was just hitting adulthood, therefore informing the arc of movement we would move through to get to know each other as adults, peers. I became very suddenly not her child anymore, I became her support. I was thrust suddenly from youth into helping our family survive - helping my mother take care of herself, take care of my siblings. There were certain things that just fell by the wayside in her grief - the bills, the cars - but making sure there was food to eat, dishes were done, was a thing I could help with. 
I could give my mother the freedom to grieve, at least for a moment. She was my mother, and I could give her space.
When I was thirty, I almost died, and I became essentially a newborn again. I went from someone who had been living independently for almost a decade, my mother’s ridiculous wild child, to needing a doctor’s help in doing every little thing, and my mother was there, assisting the medical staff. Literally holding my head up, in certain cases, as we did physical therapy. (I apparently have a very heavy head.) She modified her house so that if I never walked again, talked again, she could take care of me, her eldest. 
I was her daughter, and she could give me room to be a child. Her child.
In our lives, my mother and I have now gone through so many roles for each other, and I am fondest of the one we are at now: family. Cheerleaders. Confidants. 
Friends.
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schnuffel-danny · 6 months
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The info is right there on his wikipedia page, Danny, you really have no excuses for this one
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puppetmaster13u · 4 months
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Prompt 136
 There is a small child floating in the Watchtower. 
They’re visibly not human, a too-big cloak of purple (what shade no one knows, all they can describe about the cloak is purple, nothing else) hanging from them as big Lazarus-green eyes glare down in something of a pout. The child huffs, blowing white hair out of their face despite it shimmering and shifting on its own already. 
How the child, inhuman or not, found their way into the Watchtower- without setting off an alarm no less- is a concern. A very large concern, but it can wait because there is a four-year old (if the child is the equivalent of a human child that is) at oldest staring down at them. 
 “Do you know where the speedsters are?” the child piped up after an awkward stare-down, none of the league members present quite sure what to do in this situation. It was probably around time to call Batman… or they could call Flash instead. 
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fluentmoviequoter · 2 months
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Keep Living with Me
Requested Here!
Pairing: Tim Bradford x Andersen!cop!reader (r's mom is Captain Zoe Andersen)
Summary: You fell in love with Tim Bradford quickly, and he receives your mother's blessing to propose. After you watch your mother's murder, his plans are thrown off and he gives you a place to heal.
Warnings: spoilers for ep 1x16 "Greenlight," parental death (Captain Zoe Andersen), grief, panic attacks, nightmares. comfort at the end! not proofread
Word Count: 4.6k+ words
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“Good mornin’,” Wade greets as he enters roll call. “Before we get started let’s give a warm welcome to our newest Andersen. Welcome, all the way from Chicago! I know your mom is here so we’re all too scared to give you any grief, but I hope LA treats you well.”
“Thank you, sir,” you reply, nodding to the officers beside you.
“Andersen?” Tim whispers.
“Captain Andersen’s daughter,” Bishop answers. “She was working her way toward detective in Chicago but transferred a few weeks ago. Wanted to be closer to her mom, from what I’ve heard.”
“Meaning that if you want to lay some Bradford charm on her, you’d have to answer to your boss,” Angela adds.
“Cute,” Tim replies, giving Angela a fake smile.
“You said it.”
✯✯✯✯✯
“Officer Bradford,” you call, jogging to catch up to him. “I just wanted to say thanks for the assist back there. I don’t know how that second guy got past me, but I’m sorry for not paying attention.”
“It happens,” Tim offers with a shrug. “And it’s my job to have your back.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve some thanks every once in a while. I’ll let you get back to your rookie, but, seriously, thank you.”
“No problem.”
Tim doesn’t know exactly when it happened, but at some point, after you arrived in Los Angeles, he got attached to you. Now, he keeps an eye out for you and shows you a side of himself that very few people are lucky enough to meet.
Calling your name, Tim beckons you back to his side. “Let me buy you dinner? As a thanks?” he asks, squeezing his hands together nervously.
“Why would you be thanking me? You saved me,” you remind him. 
“Just-“
“I’d love to. But I’m paying,” you answer, smiling before walking away again.
“Doubtful,” he murmurs to himself before returning to his shop.
✯✯✯✯✯
Two weeks after your first date with Tim, you smile at him over your shoulder in roll call. You haven’t told anyone about your feelings, and Tim is just as happy to keep your relationship private for now – that’s something he made clear from the beginning, private not secret.
“Bradford, Andersen, the captain wants to see you,” Wade says as he enters the room. Neither you nor Tim move until he adds, “I think that means now.”
Once the door is closed behind you, you promise, “I didn’t tell her.”
“Relax,” Tim demands. “It’s probably not about us.”
He opens the door to your mother’s office, and she points for both of you to sit. Pulling your hands into your lap, you fiddle as she looks at a paper on the desk before her.
“Care to explain?” she asks.
“Explain what, ma’am?” you reply.
“You’re in here as my daughter, though I’m not thrilled to learn you and another officer are dating without my prior knowledge.”
You look at Tim, but he seems content observing this confrontation.
“Mom, I-“
“It better be a good reason,” she interrupts. “Because it’s been weeks since Tim asked me if it was allowed.”
Looking over at Tim, your mouth gapes before you accuse, “You told her!”
“I had to,” he answers. “I wasn’t dealing with her wrath, as captain or your mother.”
“So, you’re not mad?”
“Why would I be?” your mom asks. “You chose the best of them.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Tim says happily.
“Don’t think that makes you infallible,” your mother threatens. “I have a gun and I can fire you, and what I choose to do depends entirely on you.”
Tim nods severely, and they both chuckle when you release a relieved sigh.
“Congratulations,” your mom tells you. “I’m glad you’re happy, and I’ll see you both at dinner on Friday?”
Tim leads you out of the office, and you ask, “What’s Friday?”
“Probably a chance for everyone who loves you to threaten me.”
“Sounds fun.”
Tim reaches out for you, but you turn away quickly. 
“You told my mother without telling me. No hugs for you until Friday.”
Smirking, Tim replies, “Yeah, you try holding out that long.”
✯✯✯✯✯
✯✯✯✯✯
✯✯ 1 Year Later ✯✯
“I’ll be back in a few,” Tim tells you, kissing your forehead.
“Where are you going?” you ask, looking up at him from your spot on his couch.
“To get your favorite breakfast,” he answers. “Because I love you.”
“Be careful. I love you.”
After a year of dating, you and Tim easily acknowledge the depth of your feelings for one another. He makes you feel important, loved, and like the center of his world. It was easy to fall in love with Tim, yet every moment spent with him makes you happier.
While you wait on his couch, Tim heads to your favorite café. Fiddling with the box in his pocket, he smiles as he thinks of you. You’ve gotten to know him so well you have become practically impossible to surprise. (At least since he first told you he loved you, holding you close under a starry sky in the California desert.) This, though, should be the best surprise yet.
The bell over the door chimes as Tim enters, and he quickly finds the woman he’s here to meet.
“Good morning, Captain Andersen,” he greets, sitting across from her. She looks at him until he amends, “Sorry, Zoe.”
“It’s been a year, Tim, you’re going to have to get used to it at some point,” she teases.
“I will. I actually asked you to meet me here because I have a question about my future with your daughter.”
Zoe’s smile grows, sure that she knows where this is going. Tim removes the velvet box from his pocket and slides it across the table.
“I want to propose, ask your daughter to spend the rest of her life with me, but I refuse to do that without your permission. So, Zoe, my question is, will you allow me to marry your daughter? I can’t bring her half as much happiness as she brings me, but I will love her until my dying breath.”
“Tim,” Zoe begins, pressing the ring box back into his hand. “I would love to have you as a son-in-law; of course, you can marry my daughter. And if your proposal is anything like that, I can’t imagine her saying anything other than yes.”
“Is she going to cry?”
“Most likely,” Zoe answers with a laugh. “But you should get going before she gets suspicious.”
Tim stands with Zoe, pulling her into a hug as he thanks her. She reminds him that the family is having dinner together on Friday, and his standing invitation still stands.
“We’ll be there,” Tim promises. “And I’ll let you know when I pick a date.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Tim knocks on Zoe’s door a week later, entering her office and closing the door behind him. 
“I’m proposing this weekend,” he tells her, smiling as he thinks of you.
“Take it easy this week, then. You want everything to be perfect,” Zoe reminds him.
“Yes, ma’am.”
✯✯✯✯✯
“Are you okay?” you ask Tim. “You’ve been… different.”
“I’m great,” he promises. “Just ready for the weekend.”
You nod, unconvinced by his brush-off answer. Trusting Tim is easy, so you know he will tell you when he’s ready. As the day progresses, with IA reversals, celebrities, and an attempt on Nolan’s life, you’re not sure you and Tim will be able to talk about whatever bothers him.
✯✯✯✯✯
When you hear about the shots fired and the greenlight on Nolan, you don’t hesitate to meet your mother at the scene. Not telling Tim yourself wasn’t a conscious decision, simply the result of your adrenaline surging and concern for your fellow officers. Lucy is talking to Nolan as you approach, walking behind your mother, and you notice Tim standing to the side, sending him a concerned look.
“According to intelligence, you’ve bee greenlit by Southern Front,” Captain Andersen – no longer acting like your mother – announces.
“How’s a rookie get greenlit before me? I gotta step up my game,” Tim adds.
“It’s not a badge of honor, Bradford,” you reply, giving him a stern look.
“I was kidding,” he promises, his full attention on you.
Listening to the facts and learning why Nolan is being targeted, you know that finding the gang in a city as big as LA will be next to impossible. As your mom and Nolan leave, you rush to catch up with them.
“I’m coming with,” you announce.
“Officer Andersen, no,” your mom argues.
“I have more gang experience, I assisted in countless cases in Chicago. You need to let me help.”
Shaking her head, your mother gestures for you to join them. You know you’ll get yelled at, lectured, and, if you’re lucky, encounter the wrath of a concerned mother rather than an undermined captain when you get home later.
✯✯✯✯✯
“K-9 unit already swept the property,” Zoe says as she leads you and Nolan into his place.
“Uh, no, Ben left for New York yesterday. So, what’s happening here?” he replies.
“The DA approved a VARDA alarm. It bypasses 911, sends a red alert to all the cops in the area.”
“So, what’s next?”
“That’s up to you.”
“I mean, I can’t just go to work, right? I’d be endangering everyone who came within five feet of me.”
“Being a cop is being at risk.”
“You’re saying I should just report for duty, act like nothing happened?”
“I think we tell the criminals what to do, not the other way around.”
“No matter the consequences?”
“No matter the consequences. But, look, it’s up to you. No one is gonna judge you either way.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Nolan, this isn’t about bravery. You have a family. Any cop who’s ever worn a badge understands that. It seems the system is up and armed. We have a unit parked out front. Try to get some sleep.”
“I’ll stay,” you offer. “And I’m sure West and Chen are on their way.”
“You call me if anything happens,” your mom demands. “And make sure West and Chen know that, too.”
✯✯✯✯✯
The next day, when you and Nolan enter the station, Tim gives Nolan a nod of approval. The rest of the officers break into a round of applause, and Tim’s eyes move to yours.
“You need to be careful,” Tim mouths.
“I promise,” you reply silently. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Riding in the backseat of the shop, you listen to your mom and Nolan while thinking about Tim. Being careful has always been a priority, but knowing that you risk not going home to the man you love puts everything into perspective.
The radio comes on as dispatch announces, “7-Adam-15, possible 459 in progress, 1936 Kristol Lane.”
“7-Adam-15, show us responding,” Nolan responds. “I hate this. Feels like everyone’s fighting my battle for me.”
“City still needs policing,” your mom points out.
An engine revs behind you, and you glance out of the back window, quickly noticing the nondescript van behind you. “Uh, mom?”
She nods once, removing her gun from its holster as the van moves into the lane beside the shop. You and Nolan similarly prepare to defend yourselves. The van sits beside the shop momentarily before turning onto another road.
“Uh, that was…” Nolan begins.
“Exilirating,” your mom finishes.
“I was gonna say ‘terrifying.’”
“What if we meet in the middle and say ‘dangerous,’” you recommend.
“That’s a good choice too.”
“7-Adam-15, go to channel 2 for Sergeant Grey.”
“Andersen,” Zoe calls after switching to the proper channel.
“It worked,” Wade says. “Midas forced Cole to lift the greenlight.”
“I guess you are back to being just another rookie,” Zoe tells Nolan as he takes a deep breath.
“But maybe keep your guard up for a few more days,” you suggest. “Just because there’s no greenlight doesn’t mean you’re safe.”
“Does this mean this little partnership is over?” Nolan asks.
“We got a burglary call to take,” Zoe answers with a smile.
✯✯✯✯✯
Following your mom and Nolan into the open door of the burglary location, you take the left side as your mother goes straight, and Nolan goes right. Nolan turns off a radio before a flashbang is thrown into the room. You cover your ears and move toward an assailant before he throws you onto the floor, taking advantage of your disorientation as another man sticks a cattle prod to Nolan’s chest. You’re unsure where your mother is, but as your eyes close, you hope she proves she’s always been the best cop in your family.
✯✯✯✯✯
You regain consciousness first, but the men don’t seem to care about you as they watch Nolan. Handcuffed to wooden chairs with your backs to the pool, you don’t have many options to break free, so you can only hope that your fellow officers have noticed how much time has passed since you radioed a code 6 upon arrival.
Nolan groans as he wakes, and you can’t warn him to stay quiet before he’s noticed.
“Look who’s awake,” Cole says as he turns toward Nolan, holding up the electrical prod. “Packs quite a kick, doesn’t it? It’s got four times the voltage as LAPD uses. Could probably cook the eyeball right out of your skull.”
Leaning back, Nolan replies, “Look, look, I did not intend to disrespect Astrid, okay? Or you, okay? And I would be happy to apologize.”
“Too late for that now. Only way this ends is with you dead.”
Your mom chuckles, and your head snaps toward her as she continues, “Yeah, I, uh, I’d heard that you were dumb, but it is shocking to see it in person.”
“Dumb?” Cole repeats.
“Dumb,” you say with your mother.
“Who lured you into an ambush with a false surrender?”
“Does your father know that it was false? Huh, junior? I can’t imagine that revelation’s gonna go too well, huh?”
“I think it’ll go fine.”
“Oh, he’s dubmer that I thought. What’s my rank?”
“What?”
“Her rank, idiot,” you interject. “You should be able to tell by her uniform.”
“Who cares?”
“I have a feeling you will.”
“You put a hit out on a rookie,” your mom adds. “But two bars and a badge that says ‘Captain’? You’ve just crossed a line that anybody with half a brain would run screaming from. A line that even your father might whack you for crossing. Understood? So, let me tell you how this is gonna go. You and your little goonies are gonna-“
Cole lunges forward, pressing the prod against her. You pull against your restraints as she yells in pain.
“Hey! Cole! No!” Nolan yells. “Hurt me! Right? I’m the one you want hurt, right? Killing me, that’s trouble you can handle, okay? But not her. You need to let her go.”
“Do you think I’m dumb, too?”
“No.”
Cole looks back and forth between Nolan and your mother. When he moves toward her, you and Nolan yell, “No!” but can’t stop him from kicking her chair into the pool.
“No! No! No!” Nolan chants, fighting the handcuffs.
While you pull as hard as you can, attempting to break free, you begin tipping your chair back toward the water.
“If the line’s already been crossed, then there’s no going back. Which means non of you are walking out of here. As long as your bodies never turn up, the murder can’t be pinned on me,” Cole says.
Twisting in your chair, moving onto two chair legs, you watch your mother struggle underwater through blurry eyes, your vision affected by your tears.
“No, you’re wrong,” Nolan answers before offering to make a video apologizing to Astrid. “Just get her out first. Right now,” he adds after Cole agrees.
“No, you got to make the video first. Come one!”
“Nolan!” you grunt, hoping he makes this quick.
Turning back to look at the pool, you think your mother’s arm is free, and as she swims to the surface, pulling one of Cole’s “goonies” into the water, Nolan tips his chair to tackle Cole to the ground. You move toward the other man, unconcerned, when he points a gun at you. Headbutting him once you’re on the ground, you flinch when a gunshot sounds in the pool.
“No, no, no,” you repeat lowly, turning toward the water’s edge.
Your mom raises over the edge, shooting the man standing above you.
“Mom, no!” you warn as Cole reaches for his gun.
You and Nolan struggle against the cuffs, and when a bullet hits your mom’s neck, time seems to slow down. She presses a hand to the wound before she lowers back into the water.
“No!” you scream, your voice cracking with emotion. “No, no, stay up!”
“No, Cap-“ Nolan calls.
“Mom!”
Nolan breaks his chair and dives into the pool as you watch helplessly. 
“Come on,” Nolan repeats, beginning chest compressions.
“Nolan,” you whisper, sobbing against the wet concrete beneath you. “It’s too late.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Nolan tells you to stay still while he breaks your chair, but with your attention on your mom, that should be the least of his concerns. He frees you, pulling one end of the handcuffs away from the chair so you can move.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers.
“It- it isn’t your fault.”
You begin crying again, looking at the bloody water as you kick the pieces of the chair away from you. Releasing a pained yell, you move to your knees, sitting beside your mom as sirens approach.
Nolan is beside you, unmoving, until Wade places a hand on his shoulder. Tim rushes to your side, kneeling beside you as he pulls you up.
“It was Cole,” Nolan says.
Tim leads you away from the pool as the coroner moves your mom into a flag-covered coffin. As you follow the procession through the line of officers, you stop beside Tim, waiting for his nod before you continue.
After the coroner leaves and Wade dismisses everyone with instructions to find Cade, you avoid looking at Tim. You can’t fall apart until you catch her killer. 
✯✯✯✯✯
When you walk into roll call the following morning, Bishop offers you her seat, and you gladly take the place beside Tim. He slides the black strap over your badge before taking your hand under the table. You stay behind the roadblock, letting Nolan and Tim approach Cole to make the arrest. Once he is in cuffs and in the back of a shop, you holster your weapon and keep your eyes on Tim.
He rushes to you, pulling you into his arms, holding you close as you cling to him.
“I’m sorry,” Tim says against your hair. “Do you want to go with them?”
Shaking your head, you move toward Tim’s shop, and Lucy nods as she finds another ride back to the station.
“I- I don’t know what I’m supposed to do without her, Tim,” you say when you’re alone.
“The hurt never goes away, but it lessens,” Tim promises. “And I’m right here.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Somehow, you manage to get through the funeral without falling apart. The moment you prepare to go home, to begin a life without her, that changes. You freeze on the sidewalk, looking back to the headstone.
“C’mon,” Tim murmurs as he approaches you. “You’re not staying alone tonight.”
“I can’t do this, Tim.”
“Yes, you can. Look at me. She loved you, and she wanted you to live and love, and do what you wanted to do. Do not let that monster take your life, too.”
Tim cups your cheeks, kissing your forehead as you nod.
“I’m sorry.”
 “Don’t apologize. It- I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but you’re not alone, okay?”
“I know,” you whisper. “Thank you.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Tim holds you against his chest until you fall asleep, but you don’t get much rest before a nightmare wakes you. Slipping out of Tim’s arms, you walk into his backyard and close the door behind you. Sitting on his deck, you feel like you’re back in Cole’s yard, frozen and unable to do anything more than scream. Why didn’t you take action like Nolan? Get the gun somehow before Cole got away from Nolan? … Why didn’t you save your mother?
Pressing your hand against your mouth, you attempt to silence your cries, but you should have realized that Tim would notice the moment you left his side. He closes the patio door softly, sitting beside you.
“Can I come closer?” he asks softly.
You shake your head quickly, and your thoughts spiral. So many things could have been done differently, and maybe this is a sign that you should have never come to Los Angeles, never have become a cop and that you are the reason she is dead.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Tim calls, demanding your attention as he grabs your hand. “Breathe. Breathe with me.”
As Tim grounds you, you crawl toward him, letting him hold you as you fall apart in his arms. Crying into his chest, you eventually fall asleep again, and Tim whispers a promise that he will always be here for you.
✯✯✯✯✯
The first few weeks are the hardest as reality sets in, and you relive the moment. Tim never leaves your side, though, offering a hand to hold, a shoulder to cry on, or a reminder that you are not to blame. As the time between tears grows longer and you can look at pictures of her and smile, you decide you’re ready to return to work.
“Are you sure? If you need more time, that is completely understandable,” Tim replies.
“I’m sure. You told me not to let Cole take my life, and I’m ready to start living again.”
“Still room for me?” Tim asks with a smile.
“Loads of room for you,” you promise, leaning against him.
“Then I’ll be by your side the whole time.”
So, when you walk into work three months later, you assume that Tim is responsible for the round of applause and the “Welcome Back” banner hanging in the bullpen. You and Tim are both surprised by how easily you return to the station, smiling as you greet your friends and able to walk past your mom’s office with nothing more than a sad smile. 
✯✯✯✯✯
After practically moving into Tim’s house after the funeral, you know where everything is. So, when he spills a drink while watching the game, unable to draw his eyes from the screen, he asks you to get him some dry clothes.
“Sure thing,” you reply, smiling at him.
Tim yells when his team scores, and you shake your head in loving amusement as you enter his closet. Moving a small basket to get a shirt from behind it, you accidentally knock something onto the floor. When you stand after picking it up, you realize that it’s a jewelry box. Opening it, you see the one thing you didn’t expect.
In the other room, one of the teams calls a time-out, and commercials begin playing. Tim realizes that you’ve been in the bedroom for a while, so he stands, stretching as he sets out to check on you.
“Did you fall into a-“ he begins, freezing when he sees you staring at the engagement ring.
“Sorry,” you say, snapping out of your shocked stupor as you close the box and put the ring back. “I knocked it off and didn’t think, uh, here’s a clean shirt.”
Tim grabs your hands rather than the shirt, stopping you before you can walk around him.
“I’ve had it for a while,” Tim explains. “I just- I could never find the right time to ask.”
Wiping a tear from your cheek, you press the shirt against Tim’s chest and ask, “Can you get dressed, please?”
“For what?”
“I need a hug, but you’re really wet.”
Tim laughs, changing right beside you before pulling you toward the bed. He rolls onto his side, looking at your face as you reach for him.
“What about the game?” you whisper.
“Who needs a game when I have you?”
“Well, if you’re not using the tv,” you begin, trailing off.
Tim sighs, kissing your cheek as he reaches over you for the remote. He turns on your favorite movie, inviting you to lay against his chest as you cuddle against him.
“Yes,” you say a few minutes later.
“Yes what?” Tim asks, looking down at you.
You pause the movie, rolling toward Tim to look up at him as you lay your chin against his chest. “If you proposed, I would say yes. No matter when or where.”
Tim smiles, and you decide to watch him rather than the movie.
Considering what his proposal may be like, you whisper, “I wish my mom was here.”
“A few months ago, I left to get breakfast, and then I was acting different the rest of the week. Do you remember that?” Tim asks. You nod, and he continues, “I went to see your mom that day. I showed her the ring and asked for her permission to propose. She told me that I had her blessing and she’d love to have me as a son-in-law.”
Tim smiles as he remembers Zoe's excitement after learning about his plans.
“I was going to propose the weekend that – that she died.”
“She loved you,” you remind him as he brushes his thumbs over your cheeks.
“And I love you.”
✯✯✯✯✯
“Get dressed,” Tim whispers in your ear as the movie ends.
“What?”
“Put clothes on. Unless you want to go to dinner wearing that,” Tim replies, gesturing to your well-loved pajamas. “Not that you don’t look beautiful, of course.”
“Move,” you mumble, pushing past him to reach the dresser he emptied for you after the funeral.
As he drives you to dinner, you watch Tim’s profile, feeling like the luckiest, most loved woman ever. He stops at a park, exiting beside a tree covered in fairy lights. Walking to the passenger door, he takes your hand and helps you out of the truck.
“Tim, what is this?” you ask.
“Something I should’ve done before,” he begins, kneeling. He looks into your eyes, reflecting the lights above you as he speaks. When you say yes, crying just as Zoe said you would, Tim stands, pulling you into his arms before sliding the ring onto your finger.
✯✯✯✯✯
“Hi,” you greet, lowering to sit in the grass. You look at the sparkling ring on your finger and smile. “Tim proposed. I- I wouldn’t have seen it coming if I hadn’t found it in the closet.”
The wind blows, wrapping around you like a comforting hug.
“He told me that he went to see you and you gave him your blessing. I know you loved him, and you knew how much I loved him, but… sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve him. He singlehandedly held me together after that day with Cole. And I don’t want to receive more than I give.” Leaning toward the headstone, you read your mother’s name and ask, “What do I do to show him I love him?”
“He knows,” Tim answers, approaching with flowers. “May I join?”
You smile, inviting Tim to sit with you at your mother’s grave. He lays the flowers against her headstone before wrapping his arm around your shoulder.
“What are we talking about?” he asks.
“Us.”
“That’s my favorite topic.”
As you fall back into conversation with your mom, and Tim joins you, you feel like your mom is sitting across from you. With her love and Tim’s, plus all the love you have to give, you know you will be okay. Great even, you think as you lean against Tim, and the sun glints off the ring on your left hand.
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scatterbrainedbot · 4 months
Note
Hello :D
You're so cool
Anyway have you thought that in your rat sons au Splinter might outlive the boys?
You're very cool :D love your stuff dude
(tw for some blood, light gore, implied overdose (kinda??))
hi copper!!! this is a fantastic question!
so obviously typical irl rats have far shorter lifespans than the average irl tortoise. according to google (yes, be awed by my spectacularly in-depth wealth of research) the average pet rat lives between 2-4 years ish, and the oldest on record lived to be about 7. meanwhile, an African spurred tortoise (Splinter's species) averages more around a 50ish year lifespan in captivity, tho is suspected to possibly exceed 75 or more in the wild.
Now, the mutation does give us a lot of wiggle room for playing with these numbers. For the rat sons boys, id say their natural lifespan probably clocks in at about 45-55 years old? definitely not old by human standards, but not young young either. (though, its also important to note that the boys were exposed to the mutagen just days after being born.)
For Splinter, meanwhile, aging is slightly more complicated. He lived the vast majority of his life as a regular normal African spurred tortoise (well, non-mutated at least. there were perhaps some shenanigans of a more mystical variety going on before he was mutated, but thats a separate matter) He was about 70ish i think? when the boys were born and they were all exposed to the mutagen. so he is already distinctly an old man turtle papa. id guess he'd probably still have another eh lets say 25-30 years after his mutation. he could probably push it a little farther even with some mystic nonsense, but when push comes to shove id say his 'natural' post-mutation lifespan would put his death like a solid decade or two before his sons.
of course, the tricky part of the matter is that theres no way for Splinter to know any of this. theres no way for him to know how the mutation affected them all, or if it even affected them all in the same way. especially since the boys dont show many physical signs of mutation for the first few years, and just kinda look like normal rats, (albeit with a more human sort of intelligence) — what sort of health standard do you hold them to? what if they simply dont show external signs of sickness or old age anymore? how do you actually know if something is wrong?
for a while there Splinter is very worried that one of his babies will just essentially reach the end of their normal rat lifespan, fall and not get up again.
so mostly, he just tries to live in the moment, enjoying whatever time he does have with his little ones, taking each day as a gift <3
still,
that fear
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never
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really
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goes
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away.....
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steddieas-shegoes · 4 months
Text
even with the hole
for @steddiemicrofic prompt 'hole' (yes, again) rated t | wc: 404 | cw: implied and brief mention of child abuse, implied parental death (in the past) | tags: getting together, first kiss, angst with a happy ending
📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷
The cigarette burned a hole through the picture, the last remaining image Eddie had of his mom.
His dad was crying, mostly out of anger, fear. His glossed-over eyes kept glancing at Eddie sobbing a few feet away, begging for him to stop.
It felt cruel that the last time he saw his dad was also the last time he saw his mom.
The picture in his wallet when Eddie nearly died had a hole where a woman should be. Steve could tell that much.
He wasn't trying to be nosy, he just needed to try to get his driver's license out so they could confirm his information for the ER nurse. The picture fell out when he pulled cards and slips of paper out of the front pocket of his wallet.
He quickly slipped it into his own pocket so they wouldn't see it or take it, and handed over the things they needed.
But the more he looked at the picture, the more confused he got.
In the picture, Eddie was no older than four or five, sitting in a woman's lap while she showed him a chord on a guitar. Some of the top of Eddie's head had been burned off along with the woman's entire face.
Steve may not know much about Eddie, but it was pretty obvious this person was important to him.
He hoped he got the chance to ask about it.
He waited. Eddie woke up to a lot of questions, about what happened, how he was, where did it hurt. Steve didn't wanna add to it.
Days later, Steve managed to stick around after visiting hours were over.
Eddie was tired, but insisted on the company.
Steve pulled the picture from his pocket and watched Eddie's face go through a series of complicated emotions.
"I didn't want this to go missing. Seems important," he said.
"Yeah," Eddie nodded, gulped.
"She taught you guitar?"
"She tried. I was still too young. Wayne taught me."
Steve placed his hand on top of Eddie's. "You remember our first grade play?" Steve handed him another picture. "She was there."
Eddie looked down and saw his mom.
"How?"
"Nancy knows how to find anything," Steve shrugged.
Eddie let the tears fall. "Kinda wanna kiss you."
"Wouldn't say no."
"Pretty unsexy to kiss while I'm crying, don't ya think?"
Steve leaned in and pressed his lips to Eddie's. "Not to me, Eds."
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manyunhappygreenies · 4 months
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"IF your mother was still alive, we would not be here at all."
dad of war but make it shadow and silver.
PLEASE DONT TAG AS SHIP TY
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cyazurai · 2 years
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Journal
I don’t know what to do
what do you do when your world is falling apart
coming apart on itself
my mom died
she was in a car accident and she didnt make it journal she’s not okay Im not okay
I got the call when I was in a temple, Im not even there for dad, my flight isnt for several days, what do I do
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