#i want to go to walmart i want to stare at the dolls...

[sweetie-sylveon]

society if i had dolls

#AHHH #i want to go to walmart i want to stare at the dolls... #i want to go to goodwill and thrift the dolls......... #i want to repaint them #i want to hold them #christmas cannottttttt come fast enough i need doll heads and doll bodies..... lord let me make hybrids please :( #this is a cry for help btw someone send me dolls for free thank you very much

[theacedragon0w0]

It's just a Doll

Sage is gifted a stuffed plushie and doesn't know how to cope with it

Kinda angst warning because Maaan Sage's self love is more empty than a Walmart parking lot at 3am and can't take what they dish out

It was your typical shopping date for the girls, Sage and Hazel on bag carrying duty while Velvette and Rosalina took charge on finding cute accessories for the two guards and themselves to match.

"I don't understand why they insist on finding 30 pairs of belts and keychains," Sage groaned, seeing Velvette and Rose cooing yet another clip on red bow that sat on a display case.

"Ah let them spoil us Bluebell, they did the same when we went to that hanging gardens and they didn't have a gift shop." Hazel nudged Sage, but her ears lowered as both saw Velvette asking the clerk about a bedazzled collar that caught her eye.

Still, Sage was still getting used to being pampered, she much rather be the one spoiling them instead. Turning their head they spotted a fuzzy item.

It was a tiger plushie, the size of a pillow and the fabric looked cuddling. Almost like instinct Sage shifted their hands so they could get a feel of the fluffy friend.

It was soft, like holding a cloud of reassuring love, it's beady eyes showing no judgment. Sage stared at the tiger and couldn't help but remember her old one she lost all those years ago.

Before she was sent here, before she was taught that she had to "grow up" and help out the house, before the person that she thought she could trust shot her in the b-

"Bluebell, you there?" Hazel touched Sage's shoulder. That's right, Hazel, one of Sage's loves, that never made her feel worthless or pathetic or weak. Sage was safe, well as safe as being a body guard for an overlord can be. But Sage sighed, placing their new aquainted friend back on the shelf.

"You've been staring at that there stuffed toy fer a while now, you know if you want it you can ask the girls to get it-"

"No! I-i mean no it's fine really! Besides what would I want a silly kids doll anyway I got you guys to cuddle with!"

Hazel, not taking the half baked excuse, reach behind Sage to grab the tiger, whistled for Rosalina and Velvette's attention before tossing the stuffed animal at their direction.

"Yo boss! Sage wants this, can you add that with all the shiny knick-knacks yall are grabbin?"

Velvette and Rosalina looked down at the stuffed tiger, completely forgetting a set of earrings that they were going to add in their bags.

"Awww, Sage we love to get you this sweetie!" Both ladies cooed.

Sage, now deep violet on their ears and face, rushed to snatch the doll away from their grasp, but Rosalina, taking advantage of her height, kepted the tiger out of Sage's reach.

Sage quickly gave up, not wanting to cause a scene, booked towards the exit, almost forgetting they were holding bags of unpaid items. Fuck!

Hazel, tailing Sage and was thankful that they didn't barge out of the store, bent her knees so she was eye level with them

"Hey, what's wrong about getting you a plushie friend?"

Sage, at this point is fighting tears, they hated this feeling, like they were a child acting out, "I said I don't need a stupid doll, it's childish and I shouldn't have grabbed it in the first place-"

Hazel, cutting off Sage by bringing them into an embrace "It's not childish to want something love, you can always ask for stuff you know?"

Sage, choked, "I know that,"

"Do you? We love you, and it's not just you go outta way to make us these amazing dishes or that you work with the other worker's for Velvette's workload, or how you help me detangle my fur, or even to entertain Rosalina herself, we love you."

Velvette and Rosalina joined in on the embrace, Sage was at a loss of words, fave burying into Hazel's fur, mumbled "you guys are too good for me, get that stupid tiger."

Hazel belongs to the pookie @puffymucher

Rosalina belongs to the other pookie @mirconreadzztuff22

#hazbin hotel oc #oc x canon #hazbin hotel velvette #oc x oc #velvette x reader

[littlesstorietime]

Daddy wasn’t kidding….

When daddy and I started talking, he said he was going to start small, and dream big. And boy did he.

Another usual weekend day. Go to the flea market, do last minute errands, things that typical adults to! Even if I’m padded while doing so…

After all errands were complete, we were on our drive home. I was strapped into my car seat, with no control since daddy put my mittens on for throwing a tantrum at Walmart since he wouldn’t get me a hot wheels, only a Barbie doll instead.

“Sweetie, you have been quiet, is everything ok?” He asks, knowing I’m not happy.

“Take these stoopid things off!” I say shouting through my paci.

Daddy does nothing, other than shake his head “Ah, ah, ah, sweetie. You know you aren’t to throw a tantrum, and now you are paying the price!” He says, making me squirm in my seat. I was trapped.

The drive felt like it took forever, but I realized we were going home. Strange since we had other errands to run.

We pull into the driveway, and into the garage. Daddy undoes the snaps to the seat, and carry’s me into the kitchen.

“Ok pumpkin, you stay right here, I’ll return in a second.” He says as he turns and walks away.

As he does, I immediately think about the potty. How I needed to use it. I urgently rush to the restroom and relieve myself, as fast as I could to not get caught.

Good news, I was safe (don’t tell daddy)! But as I was walking back to my spot, I noticed it. Through the doorway of the nursery. Was that a…

“Oh sweetheart. I wanted to show you myself, but it appears as you have seen it.” Daddy says arms crossed at the end of the hall, knowing what I had just done.

I couldn’t say anything, I was frozen. I could hear him walking down the hall, and all I could do was stare at it.

He reaches my side and directs my head to meet his.

“Let’s go have a look sweetie. Come on, daddy’s got you.”

Edited/continued!

As I walk towards the machine, I know what’s about to happen. I stop before it, and daddy stands next to it.

“Ok sweetie, crawl to me so I can undo your onsie and your diaper.”

I couldn’t move, other than me nervously shaking.

“Awe, sweetie, it’s nothing to be scared of, lots of little gurls like you use these.” He says with a cheerful tone.

“B…. But I’m a boy daddy… and that’s meant for REAL girls….” I plea, but know where it’s going.

“Sweetie. I know you say that you are, but how long have we had your little clitty locked away in it’s little prison cell? I think 6 months of being caged says otherwise honey.” He says with an evil smile.

“Daddy!….. it’s not my fault…. You won’t unlock me!” I shout, immediately regretting it.

“ENOUGH! Now, crawl over. 1” he demands.

I look down at my knees, thinking of a way out.

“TWO!” He says with a more angry tone.

I crawl to his feet, as if I’m waiting for a uppies!

He crouches down to my level, undoes my onesie, removed my diaper on one side, slides it down to my knee.

“Ok sweetie, let’s get you in position.” He says, with a big smile.

There I was, fully babied, and still caged, getting lined up for a thrusting machine….

“Daddy?” I ask.

Yes sweetie?” He replies.

“C… can we take the cage off?” Considering he normally does when he touches my bum.

“Not this time sweetheart. You need to learn that you are a baby, and babies don’t touch themselves. Only daddy does. Now, I have lubed it up, and time to do your end.” He starts rubbing my back side down.

“Ok sweetie, nice and slow, let’s get you back.”

He guided my back door to the tip, and slowly pushes me onto the machine. I whimper from it stretching my backside, which daddy smiles.

“Good gurl, babies already liking it? I haven’t even turned it on!” He says cheerfully.

Second, what felt like days, later, I hear a click. The machine sprung to life, and it went balls deep first thrust.

“It’s on a 20, minute timer, and you aren’t allowed to stop until I say. Also, don’t ask to slow it down, it’s and auto setting. Have fun sweetie. I’ll go make you a bottle for after!” He says while getting up, walking to the door, locking it, and leaving the room.

20 minutes of bum stretching, cage leaking hell….

—————————————————————————————

This is my real toy :) plan to make more things with it!

[lavenite]

.

ok i dont know if this sounds stupid but i want to get into playing dolls again. like i do it mentally but staring at the ceiling for hours on end makes me feel unproductive. i just feel that adding a physical element would be fun. PROBLEMS !!!!! for one i collect porcelain dolls. which are nice to look at. difficult to handle in play. so i would have to collect something else but NEW PROBLEM barbie dominates the play doll world. any other famous (western) dolls are just. kinda ugly imo. or too specialized in their intent. barbie is more generic and in recent years more diverse which does lend better to my characters but also i do not really want to be a barbie girl….i mean i like licca chan i think shes really cute and currently the only not western major doll brand i can think of…but also really not diverse lol….

ANOTHER PROBLEM !!!! literally all my stories with the singular notable exception of like. time and again. are set in like a vague high fantasy historical western setting. most dolls are not dressed like that so id have to make clothes lol….god idk maybe it is stupid. or maybe ill go to like walmart or some shit and see what kind of dolls i can find < i dont usually see barbie dolls at thrift stores but maybe my eyes just brush over them cause im focused on porcelain. idk. to be thought abt

#under the cut cause im embarrassed and also i ramble a lot #anyway i love dolls. got a licca chan caroline doll while in japan and she is super cute #would love to own more

[alovesongshewrote]

Lycan Subscribe - Part Two, Not Clickbait | The Four Lords HCs

i noticed that this got popular, so, in proper youtube fashion, i made a part 2.  enjoy!

Taglist: @prismarts @blixeon @mxcheese @valentimmy @chrysanthykios

Headcanons 

Ok, so like

You were fuckin weird enough with the lords, alcina’s daughters, and miranda when it was just y’all 

THEN ETHAN FUCKING WINTERS SHOWED UP

And suddenly, there’s a 30 minute video of you and the girls putting make up on Ethan 

And those 30 minutes aren’t all of it, there’s more chaos that didn’t make it into the video

Your audience would literally kill to see it, but you think it’s too fuckin funny to share

yes, ethan is tied to a chair for the entire video, why do you ask?

in the opposite direction, there’s a 30 second clip of you asking ethan if he wants to try this awesome wine that lady D keeps in her basement while you cackle maliciously 

he said no :(

There’s also a 15 minute video of you just

Following ethan around the village making national documentary style commentary 

Just fuckin

“Here we see the feral father cornered by rabid zombies.  And, oop- he’s killed them all.”

The video is called “Father in the Wilds of Romania”

You get compliments on the sfx quality 

There’s also a 46 second video of you

What else

Drinking coffee while the lords fight over ethan behind you

but you didn’t just get those 46 seconds, you got the whole family meeting

so the next week there’s the 3 minute and 37 second long remix of said fight/meeting

made by you, ofc

It’s called “Mortal Man Dick” and it’s one of the first times Heisenberg and Lady D have ever worked together on something

it has the humor of a twelve year old

“Yack, yack.  If a man’s dick is cut off- man dick, man dick, give the mortal to me, and- dick, dick, dick, dick- SO GAUCHE- bread and circuses- S H U T T H E F U C K U P”

and it’s a fan favourite 

Then there’s the compilation of 22 videos, all 9 seconds long, where you play the fuckin

Jojo to be continued music over ethan breaking shit

AND THEN

There’s also the 45 minute long video where you, moreau, angie and ethan review cheese and romance movies

and Ethan is

So confused 

He just wants to find his daughter, and yet, there he is reviewing To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before with a fish-man, a living doll, and a mildly famous youtube sensation™ 

It’s such a weird day for him

BUT HEY 

IT GETS MOREAU AND ANGIE (and therefore donna) TO LIKE HIM

AND

THE MAKE UP VIDEO GOT THE GIRLS (and therefore alcina) TO LIKE HIM 

All that’s really left is heisenberg, who already liked ethan

And one family game of uno later, that shit’s cemented 

Because ethan pulled a Draw 4 card on alcina and she low-key lost it, it was fucking hilarious 

The video is called, “YOU are the one with the f**king UNO”

It’s a direct quote from angie

It’s another fan favourite 

But yeah

After that, Ethan has all of the sibling’s favour, so they give him back his kid, and you all make a “callout” video for Miranda

The video mostly consists of y’all slam dunking her into a cardboard box and then throwing another cardboard box into a river then editing it so it looks like you threw miranda into a river in a cardboard box

You didn’t though, you just shipped her to the Umbrella bitches 

She now lives in their basement 

The video is 5 seconds long

After that, well

Ethan has joined the party 

And so has rose

Cue, like

An entire series of ethan taking you and various lords (and daniella, cassandra, and bela) to walmart on diaper runs

No one but ethan actually looks for diapers 

The shortest video in that series is a 20 second clip of Heisenberg staring at tools the way a moth looks at a flame while you say something like

“He hasn’t moved from that spot since we got here… it’s been 2 hours…”

Over top of it

The longest video was of the girls stealing your camera and trying to stay in the walmart overnight

They got distracted and ended up going to taco bell instead 

Actually, i lied, the longest video is of angie stealing your camera and successfully staying in walmart overnight 

And that was on an entirely separate occasion 

The video was half an hour long and was filled mostly with angie pranking security guards and swearing like a sailor

You don’t know whether to be proud or terrified

Of course, it isn’t all crack

Sometimes it’s sweet 

Sometimes you film the lord’s + the daughters + ethan and rose’s reactions to being hugged

You didn’t release all of those, some of them cried

They have not felt physical affection in so long, my dudes

They need more hugs

(yes, you do give them hugs without it being content related especially after that)

Also, one time you filmed yourself making Alcina tea, and it was sweet as hell

you and the video, not the tea

You also filmed yourself making a cake with her daughters

It went a little something like this

And just like that, we’re back to memes

Not for long tho, lol

One time you just sat in the middle of the woods and read scary stories until you freaked yourself out and fuckin ran to Heisenberg’s factory 

(you lasted ~42 minutes)

He didn’t get why the hell you’d do that to yourself, but he let you follow him around for a bit until you felt better

You did not get that bit on tape

Another time you did, like

A mini ghost hunt in the now mostly abandoned village 

You were doing it for the meme, but you actually heard some shit and it fuckin

Freaked you out a little bit

So you ran to castle Dimitrescu and fucking 

Hung out with Alcina for the rest of the evening

You didn’t film that either, so the video of you just huntin’ for ghosts was about an hour long

THERE WAS ALSO THE TIME YOU GOT FUCKING JUMPSCARED BY ETHAN

YOU WERE FILMING SOMETHING IN THE CASTLE, AND YOU TURNED AROUND AND HE WAS JUST

THERE

YOU DON’T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT YOU WERE FILMING, YOU JUST 

SCREECHED 

The video was 7 seconds long and funny as hell

It’s ok, tho

As revenge, you made another sneeze compilation, this one of Ethan 

He sneezes like

A dad

It’s a whole vibe

In your next sneeze comp, you add wii music

#re8 x reader #resident evil 8 x reader #alcina dimitrescu x reader #lady dimitrescu x reader #karl heisenberg x reader #heisenberg x reader #Salvatore Moreau x reader #moreau x reader #donna beneviento x reader

[coffeecakefanfics]

A sunday kind of love  Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Requests are open

Warnings: language, SMUT, adult themes, fluff.  Hopeless romantic shit pretty much

Bucky had fought with her over putting the bed right against the window at first, like I said, at first.  The two had laid curled up next to each other all day the first rain after moving into the apartment.  They laid watching the rain hit the glass and made love all day.  The view at night was his favorite though, the city lights through the high floor of the window were almost magical.  

Grey light poured into the room as thunder clapped outside and the soft sound of rain tapped against the window.  Bucky had been awake for about a half an hour, admiring the love next to him, how her hair was starting to mat after tossing in her sleep, how her lips looked slack and relaxed, small snores creeping past them.  He admired the curve of her body under the blankets.  She stirred and turned over, leaning into him more.  He placed a chaste kiss to her forehead and closed his eyes.  Music floated in, muffled from the living room.  Y/n had insisted they buy it after Bucky found some records he liked at a local thrift shop 

“No way, I used to love Bea Wain,” Bucky’s face lit up

“Are there more?” Y/n peeked over from the books

“Let me see,” he began rummaging through the records.  His smile never faded as he continued to pull record after record. “Why are these here?” he looked at Y/n.

“Well when older people pass a lot of time their families donate their old stuff, including records, it’s sad but it lets my generation and under get to experience them,” she shrugged and began digging with him.

“Do they still make players?” 

“Of course, Pick out all of the records you want and i’ll stop by a target or walmart on the way home and buy one,” she smiled at him handing him an Etta James Record.

“You don’t have to do that doll,” his heart swole at the gesture.

“Buck, please, I want you to be able to enjoy your music the way you used to. I mean phone are great but nothing beats the crackle of a record,” she held his hand and kissed his cheek.

He smiled at the memory, thankful to have found her when he did.  They would turn it on when he had a nightmare,When they made breakfast and danced in the kitchen, on romantic diners, or on lazy mornings,pretty much any excuse they could get,  it calmed him down a bit, and for that he was grateful.

“Buck?” a tired voice pulled him from his mind.

“Morning baby,” he smiled at Y/n

“It’s raining,” she mumbled, turning her head to the window.

“Mhm” he stroked her messy hair.  She hummed in response and closed her eyes. 

“why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”

“Didn’t want to bother you, I haven’t been up long anyway” she hummed again and leaned up on her elbows. 

“I think today is a perfect day to stay in bed,” she licked her lips, a soft smile on her face.

“I think that is a great idea,” he smiled back, resting his hand on the back of her neck to bring her down to him.  Her lips were soft and plush against his.  It was slow, lazy, and had so much love behind it.  Y/n let her hands run over Buck’s chest.  The pair broke away for air.  Bucky stared up at the woman above her, pushing hair behind her ear. 

“Penny for your thoughts” she ran her finger alone his hairline gently.

“You are the most amazing woman I know,” he let his eyes catch hers, a small blush dusting her cheeks.

“Aren’t you a flirt,” she grinned at him.

“Y/n?”

“Yes buck?”

“Stay with me,” his eyes were soft, they were always soft with her.

“Of course baby, I’m not going no where,  promise,” she continued to stroke his hairline. 

“I mean forever,” he cupped her cheek.

“Buck-”

“I have something for you, but I want to know that i’m what you want.  You can walk away right now and I wont blame you I-” she pressed a tender kiss to his lips. His body went slack and his muscles relaxed.

“I’m not going anywhere James, I promised,” she let her fingers run over his left brow, down his face, over his lips and finally resting on his cheek.  He kissed her palm and held her hand while he leaned over to the night stand pulling something out.  In his hand was a small opened black velvet box.  A simple band covered half way in smaller diamonds accentuated a single bigger stone in the middle.

“James,” her eyes were wide at him.

“I know it’s not a perfect proposal, and I know you deserve better than in our bed but I can’t wait any longer. Y/n L/n, will you marry me?” his eyes were welled up.  The woman had sat up straight by now.  Her hand was covering her mouth and tears spilled over.  She swallowed the knot in her throat and held her left hand out to him.

“Yes James, I love you,” she spoke shakily.  He slid the ring onto her finger and sealed it with a kiss. She examined the ring on her finger, more tears spilling over. 

“I’m sorry, again that it was in our bed but-”

“It’s perfect Buck,” she leaned down to kiss him.  He relaxed once again.  His right hand held her face while the metal arm rested on her waist.  He slowly laid her under him, moving their lips in synch.  He let his lips trail down her jaw to her neck.  Y/n let out a shaky breath, her body getting warm.  Bucky’s movements were slow, calculated.  He hiked the shirt she wore, which was his that she’d stolen forever ago up carefully.  He drug the cold metal fingers down her stomach, stopping at her panty line. She let out a mewl and shifted under him.  He smirked before helping her out of his shirt. 

“You, doll, are an angel on earth,” he spoke softly into her ear before biting gently.  A small moan escaped her lips as he let his right hand dip below her underwear and between her folds. 

“Buck” she let out and let her head fall back as he gently rubbed her clit. 

“That’s it doll, let me hear you baby,” he husked into her ear agin and slipped a finger into her.  She tried to fight the moans, but Bucky wasn’t having it.  She let moan after moan tumble from her lips.  Bucky leaned up enough to look at her.  He slowly added another finger gaining another loud moan from her throat.  Her head was thrown back and a light sheen of sweat coated her body.  He took note of how her hair fell, how her breasts rose and fell with each ragged breath she took. She was Ethereal, an angel on earth, the best thing to happen to him. He felt her clench around his fingers.

“That’s a good girl,” he praised and quickened his pace. 

“B-Buck I- I want” she stuttered out.

“Words baby, tell me what you want,” he left a trail of kissed down her neck and onto her chest where he kitten licked her nipples. 

“I want you insi-ide of me plea-ase” she whined.

“Of course angel”  He drew his fingers from her pussy, sucking them clean.  She bit her lip as she watched.

“You always did taste so sweet for me,” he groaned and slid her panties down her legs, kissing his way down her thighs as he did so.  She sat up to help him tug his boxers down.  

“Ready doll?” he asked, lined at her entrance. She nodded.  She squealed and clutched Bucky’s arms as he suck into her.  Bucky let out a low moan right next to her ear, the sound sent waves to her core. Bucky set a slow but deep pace.  He went gentle. Leaving kisses down her throat and chest, slid his hand over her scalp, captured her lips. Her moans sweet like honey to his ears.  He snapped his hips against her pelvis. 

“Buck I- please”

“please what doll” he teased, voice a whisper.

“Please let me cum” she begged.

“go ahead baby, let go for me, let me make you feel good,” he held her hands as her orgasm tore through her, ripping moans from her throat and making her legs shake.  Bucky dropped his head, letting little growls fall from his lips as he followed her. He stilled, leaving his weight on his elbows as they relaxed through their highs. 

“I love you,” he told her, still breathless.

“I love you more James,” she kissed him, tiredly.  He slowly slid out, laying next to her.  She curled up against his side, sneaking a peek at the ring on her finger.  Bucky smirked, watching her.  He let his gaze drift out to the steady rain and thunder, let the music fill his ears, let her smell take over his nose, let her body take over his touch.  Because in that moment, nothing could hurt him, nothing else mattered, but the lazy days in bed with her 

A/N: I haven’t written smut in sooo long plz don’t come for my throat, k bye love you have a good day my sweet whores <3

#bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x reade #the avengers x reader #buckey barnes fluff

[kitkatd7]

Broken Hearts and Whiskey

Summary: Bucky’s not the same anymore. He doesn’t spend time with you at all, or keep his promises. And your done with it.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, lots of angst, drinking, my grammar errors because I didn’t fully edit

Dialogue Prompt #19. “Please! You have to let me make this right.” 

Dialogue Prompt #7: "I can't keep being your second choice, not when you're my first." 

(Prompts will be in bold)

Word Count: 1,654

A/N: This is for @imma-new-soul‘s 550 Follower Writing Challenge and @buckys-other-punk 500 Writing Challenge!! I hope y’all like it! Sorry it’s pretty sad and the ending isn’t as good as it could be :( Also this was inspired by the songs ‘Die From a Broken Heart by Maddie & Tae and Different For Girls by Dierks Bentley' Also there are a few Criminal Minds references in here😂

Masterlinst of Masterlists || Marvel Masterist || Series Masterist || part 2 

------------------

“See you later!” You call over your shoulder at Natasha and Wanda as you unlock the door to your apartment, coming home from a very successful shopping spree. Walking into your home you toe-off your shoes at the door, setting down your keys and purse. “Babe, I’m home!” You sing, excited to finally get some time with Bucky after him being gone on a mission for three weeks. “Babe?” You ask, walking into the kitchen, setting down your multiple shopping bags and taking in the empty space. Where the hell is he? After searching the bedroom, living room, even the bathroom and still coming up empty, you look to see if you missed any calls. Nope. He was supposed to be here you fume inwardly as you press the speed dial photo; both of you together at a carnival, you smiling brightly as he places a kiss on your cheek sweetly.

It goes straight to voicemail. 5 times. Now you're not even mad… just disappointed in him. He promised. On try number 6 you’re just done. “Hey, it’s me. Listen, so I don’t know where you are but- just don’t bother coming home tonight, okay? I had plans but- never mind, it doesn’t matter that much. I’ll see you later.”  Pressing the red button you throw your phone on the couch before changing into something more comfortable. It wouldn’t be so frustrating that he wasn’t here if it was a one time thing- But this is the fifth time he hasn’t come home to spend time with you after a mission.

Plopping on the couch, you press start on something mindless that you aren’t going to watch anyway before checking your phone for- well. really anything.

1 new message

Unlocking your phone quickly, you open it in high hopes, only to see Sam’s name appear and your face falls. 

Sam: Bucky said you tried to call. Is it important?

You: No… just we had plans.

You confide, knowing Sam will understand.

Sam: Oh shit. Okay, want me to tell him to come home?

You: No. It’s fine.

Sighing, you toss your phone on the other end of the couch, throwing your head back in newfound anger. Asshole. He saw your calls and didn’t even pick up the damn phone. After a year of dating, you at least deserved that. 

------------

“Hey this is y/n, I can’t come to the phone right now cuz I’m out livin’ my life! Leave it at the beep.” He hears your all too familiar voicemail through the speaker. He had helped you come up with it, you hadn’t known what to put on it. He kicks himself, knowing you weren’t actually out living your life, just dodging his calls. Not that he blamed you- He deserved it and he knew it. Calling again, he’s not surprised when he hears your voicemail again.

“Hey… Um, listen, I know I was supposed to be at your place after the mission… I just wanted to unwind with the guys and- Shit. I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t think you would mind that much, I’ll be over in a bit to make it up to you, okay?” He leaves the message and ends the call before starting his car and driving towards your apartment, guilt heavy in his stomach.

You listen to his voicemail over and over, a strange mix of rage and sorrow weighing on your heart.

Tears roll slowly down your cheeks silently as you lay curled up in a defensive ball on your bed, trying to block out the unmistakable sound of Bucky begging you to open the front door; “Babe, please open the door,” He says, fist resting gently against the frame. “I’m sorry- really, really sorry. Please let me in and we can talk about it,” He sighs, resting his head against the door in defeat. He could break the lock and go in. You both know that. But he wouldn’t do that to you- All that would do is make you fear him and that’s the last thing he wants. He slides his back down the wall til he’s sitting on the floor next to your door, his elbows on his knees and his hands in his hair; Tears gathering in his lashes. He really messed up this time.

----------

The next day you drag yourself out of bed, trying to forget last night and all the tears you shed. After a shower and breakfast, you head out the door for a coffee run before work. You stop in your tracks when you see Bucky still sitting there, eyes red from lack of sleep and regret written all over his face. He jumps up when you walk out, keys in hand, the door closing behind you. “What are you doing here?” 

“I- I came to apologize,” he murmurs, looking in your eyes.

“I don’t want to hear it,” you bite, moving to step around him but stopping when he steps to block your path.

“Bucky, I’m going to be late for work,” you say coldly, glaring at him. “Move out of the way.”

“Please doll, just let me expla-”

Huffing, you roll your eyes. “I understand perfectly, James.” You watch as he flinches a little at the use of his first name. You only use it when your really mad or really happy, and it isn’t the latter right now. “You were too busy with your beer buddies to come see your girlfriend after being gone for three weeks, but what’s new? It’s been like this for months. I guess it was naive of me to expect something else this time.” You shoulder past him as he stares at you; dumbfounded. Tears gather in your eyes as you make your way to your car in the rain. Your almost there when you feel a large hand on your arm and hear your name being whispered. You turn around and look up into his stormy eyes. You always loved his eyes- They’re always so bright and big and- Now is not the time to be thinking about his stupidly gorgeous eyes.

“Please! You have to let me make this right,” he whispers, tears forming in his eyes as well, mixing with the raindrops rolling down his face and dampening is hair. 

“Bucky…” You sigh, pulling your arm out of his grasp gently. “I don’t think you can fix this. I can't keep being your second choice, not when you're my first." You climb into your car as he stares at you as you pull out of the parking lot. He sinks to the ground on his knees, not caring that his clothes are practically soaked, or that someone might think he looks crazy. None of that matters- because your gone. His girl. Gone. He can’t breathe. The pressure weighs heavy in lungs as all the air is pushed from them and his heart shatters. It’s all he can do to draw a ragged breathe between sobs.

---------------------

You manage to hold yourself together until you pull into the starbucks parking lot. And then you totally loose it; Tears and mascara mix together and run down your cheeks as you sob into your steering wheel. It feels like your heart is being torn out of your chest. Bucky was the best thing that ever happened to you… and deep down you had feared something like this would happen, but you didn’t think it actually would. You loved him- And now he was gone. 

You trek into Walmart, heading straight for the junk food isle, not caring that you look like an absolute mess. Grabbing some much needed chocolate, chips, cookies and other coping foods, you check out, starting to cry again when the cashier gives you a pitiful look on your way out. 

Stumbling into your apartment, you throw your bags on the kitchen counter before grabbing your desired snacks and tossing them on your bed. You pull on sweatpants and one of Bucky’s hoodies, sending an ache of longing through your chest. Even changing clothes feels like more effort than you could possibly muster but you somehow manage before crawling into bed and turning on reruns of Friends before you start crying again. After 2 bags of chocolate, a bag of Doritos, a burger and french fries you grabbed on the way home, you still feel like absolute shit. Maybe this is just how it will be- Unable to get over him, unable to move on. Eventually you fall asleep from exhaustion, tear stains and left-over makeup on your face and Bucky’s pillow clutched against your chest. 

------------

Bucky ambles into the bar, sliding onto a stool with sullen eyes, ordering a shot of vodka before mumbling “Keep em coming.” 

Throwing his head back, he grimaces as the bitter liquid burns its way down his throat. He knows he can’t get drunk but he’s willing to try. Anything to stop feeling like this.

The old barkeep leans on the bar behind him, looking at Bucky with an evaluating stare. 

“What was her name?” He questions gently after a moment of silence.

“Wha- How did you know?” Bucky looks up in surprise and pain, his forearms resting on the bar, holding another shot.

“Son, you can’t hide the look of love gone wrong.”

Tossing back another, Bucky looks in the shot glass like it holds all the answers before whispering your name, his voice breaking. “Did you ever love someone?” He asks brokenly.

The older man chuckles lightly at this. “I did, still do.” He holds up his left hand as proof.  “Do you wanna know the secret to love?” He asks, stepping closer.

“Why not, it’s not like I could lose anything else,” Bucky says dryly, taking yet another shot.

“Sometimes love doesn’t last and you have to let it go… but sometimes you have to fight for it. And it’s up to you to decide which you’re gonna do. So which is it?”

-----------------------

I hope you liked it! please let me know what you think!! 

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[dream-of-kpop]

Ateez Works at Walmart [1/2]

(oh boi this should be fun)

.

Mingi:

*argues with San about Lil Uzi Vert vs Kendrick Lamar on break*

Mingi: *asks an employee loudly* "DO YOU KNOW WHO LIL UZI IS??"

Mingi's job is to do pickup and delivery for customers

Followed 2 girls around the store just to get their numbers [Yes, a guy at my store really did this]

Mingi: "What's your number?"

Girl: "Dude, I don't even know you."

Mingi: "Fine, so it's like that?"

*get it? he didn't pickup nor deliver*

When he has nothing to do, he bothers Hongjoong in the Fabrics department

Well, he bothers everyone when he's bored

Mingi: "Hey wassup-"

Hongjoong: "Hey."

Mingi: "Watcha doin?"

Hongjoong: "I'm in the middle of cutting fabric for a customer."

Mingi: "That's lame, I'm gonna go scare Seonghwa, peace."

He lost interest very quickly

That explains why shit never gets done

Lost his TC (scanner), supervisor found it, then lost it again but this time it wasn't his fault

Finds packs of ham in the weirdest places

Has a bunch of papercuts, his hands just have mini-scabs all over the place

Mingi: *gets another papercut* "BRO WTF!?!?"

Confuses customers all the time

It's not his fault, the app is just not accurate at all

Pushes carts so fast that he almost runs customers over

Dances to loud rap music in the backroom when he's supposed to be working

Dropped a tomato on the floor and put it back

Mingi is doing great

Junho:

*stands for like 10 minutes trying to figure out where an item goes*

Junho: *throws it somewhere* "Fuck this shit."

Works in the toy and electronics department along with Seonghwa

It wasn't his first pick but eh, he needs to get paid

Sometimes the customers are...odd

Lady: "I know how hard it is for people like you *points to skin* but we are on your side."

Junho: *stands there awkwardly while holding a toy* "Uh ok."

Tries to dress nicely wearing gold earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings but he just ends up looking like a mess

His name tag is always backwards

Stocking toys is hard work, so he sweats like...a lot

This is the first job he's held for over a month so he can't fuck this one up

Goes to lunch with Yunho and Wooyoung everyday

Found an open box of condoms in a pile of toys

Plus someone stole the condoms

The old people in the store shouldn't piss him off but they really do

Junho: "Excuse me."

*old man stands there*

Junho: "EXCUSE ME."

*old man continues to stand there*

Junho: *turns around* "Can this bitch not hear me?"

The little kids make his day; they're so adorable

But the teens...oh boi...

He saw a random jackass just taking socks off the shelves and throwing it

Junho is so close to wanting to smack the shit out of someone but...he holds back...

Seonghwa:

*San stands there laughing at Seonghwa putting toys up*

Seonghwa: "What's so funny?"

San: "You're holding Barbie dolls."

When he's not stocking shelves with toys, he works on the carts outside

*cuts to Seonghwa standing in the rain*

Wooyoung: "Hey- are you ok? Why are you limping?"

Seonghwa: "I'm not limping, my pants are just wet."

Seonghwa also works in Electronics; a triple threat

Believe it or not, he's more friends with the managers than co-workers

Mess with him once and he could get your ass fired

Yeosang is on thin ice at this point

Seonghwa carries all that he needs in his pockets: his phone, box cutter, snack, and headphones

He mainly does this cuz he doesn't trust his co-workers anymore

Seonghwa: *looks in the fridge* "WHO ATE MY SANDWICH??"

Yeosang: "I didn't see a label on it so-"

This is why Yeosang is on thin ice btw

When customers stare at him he feels quite uncomfortable

Seonghwa: *inside his head* "Do they need my help...? I should just leave-"

When no one is looking he may or may not cuddle the stuffed bears

He has the keys to display cases for Electronics

If he's not there, you're fucked

Dude: "I need an iPad charger-"

Junho: "Ah ok, I'll be right back *runs to the backroom* SEONGHWAAAAAA-"

Seonghwa is a manager in the making

He's been told that Seventeen is banned from their store for shoplifting in the past

But Walmart doesn't really have cameras anymore so he has to keep watch

(actually no, as of now (Oct 2021) the cameras are back; too many Seventeen's are stealing so Seonghwa is on guard)

*Hoshi walks around Electronics with sunglasses and a hat on*

Seonghwa: "Sir-"

Hoshi: "I DiDn't WANNA DO IT THEY MADE ME-" *runs*

Seonghwa is still on lookout til this very day

Hongjoong:

He just got hired; It hasn't even been a week and already has someone annoying the shit out of him

*waits outside that night*

*sees car thinking it's his Uber*

Mingi: *pulls up in front of him and rolls down window* "HAHA, YOU THOUGHT I WAS YOUR RIDE?"

That someone is Mingi

Mingi keeps bothering him but he has to pretend not to care at this point

Hongjoong tried getting his schedule changed 3 times and nothing happened

He's screwed

Hongjoong: *randomly hears BTS on the Walmart radio* "Okie okie, I see y'all."

He's trying his best to save money but that shit is not working

He had a co-worker in his department he liked and would talk to...at some point he just stopped liking them

Nevermind, they're magically friends again

Tried to see his manager multiple times but they were never there

Somehow, someone spilled coffee on a bunch of calculators

Hongjoong: *looks at the calculators slowly* "WHO DID THIS?!?!?"

In general, he does weird shit when he's alone in his department

Hongjoong: *sniffs inside of a new vase* "Ah...smells like IKEA..."

He cuts fabric unevenly a lot

The back-to-school section is a disaster area

What's the point in trying anymore...?

His co-workers whisper about him

What do they whisper about him? Who the fuck knows

Customers don't understand when he says an item is unavailable

Lady (yes, again): "I saw this whiteboard on your website."

Hongjoong: "Oh that's at another store."

Lady: "I need a whiteboard like this."

Hongjoong: *checks app* "See? We don't have it."

Lady: "Can you check? I think it's hidden somewhere. I saw it at your store."

Hongjoong: "..."

He doesn't really talk to many people besides Seonghwa and Junho

Remember when he wanted his schedule changed? His hours are shorter now-

.

hyungwonthefraud

ppl just throw shit where ever and it makes me sOOoOooOo mad

pt.2

#source: dream-of-kpop #ateez #kpop #ateez au #kpop au #ateez imagines #kpop imagines #ateez hongjoong #ateez mingi #ateez junho #ateez seonghwa #kpop scenarios #ateez scenarios #kpop reactions #ateez reactions #incorrect ateez quotes #incorrect kpop quotes #ateez funny #kpop funny #kpop aus

[mosylufanfic]

Holding Out for a Hero

I’m so proud of myself, I finished a 12 Days of Killervibe prompt at the last minute!

Holding Out for a Hero

Caitlin pinched the bridge of her nose, breathing out against the burn in her eyes. No matter how she juggled the numbers, they always came out red in the end.

"Dammit, Daddy," she muttered.

The bell over the door jingled, and she jerked her head up, pasting a bright retail smile on her face. "Welcome to Jack Frost Toys!" she called out, quickly minimizing the accounting software. "Are you looking for anything specific?"

Usually they weren't. Usually, they came in, wandered around a little bit, and left. If she was lucky, they bought something before they left.

But the man standing just inside the door, snow dusting his hat and shoulders, said, "Yeah, please, I'm begging you. You're my only hope."

She cocked her head and guessed, "A . . . Star Wars toy?" There wasn't any particularly hot Star Wars toy this year that she was aware of, and she followed every toy blog and website she could find. 

He laughed, tugging his gloves off and shoving them in his pocket. "No, just a desperate nerd looking for a Puffy Penguin. My niece is three and she watches the show on repeat. I know Leo Lion is like the hot toy this year, but Maya knows what she wants. For her it's Puffy or nothin', and I couldn't tell if you had any from your website so I came down here just in case and please?" He widened his eyes at her. "Please."

Her heart melted. One of the best things about this store was seeing children find their new best friend. Second on that list was adults who cared enough about the children in their life that they moved heaven and earth to find, not just the latest hottest toy, but the toy that was just right.

She slid off her stool. "I've got some ZooFriends toys right over here. We're sold out of Leo, of course -" Everywhere was sold out of Leo. "But I've got Puffy in a variety of styles."

"Oh my god," he breathed, snatching a Puffy Penguin stuffie off the shelf and holding it as if it were the Holy Grail. "You've got them all. Elly and Slowpoke and Skyhigh - " He stared at the elephant, sloth, and giraffe toys lined up next to the penguins.

She smiled brightly. "Now this one says phrases from the show, but this one is a lot huggier if you ask me -"

"I'll take them both," he said, grabbing the talking Puffy. "Holy shit. Nowhere has ZooFriends anymore. How do you?"

She bit her lip. "Lucky, I guess." She stepped away and grabbed one of the plastic hand baskets printed with the store logo. "Would you like a basket?"

He took it. "Really? Because it's three in the afternoon on the first Saturday of December. A toy store should be wall-to-wall. Where is everybody?"

She turned away. "Amazon," she said. "Walmart. Websites, chain stores -" She shrugged and tried to laugh. "The plight of the modern small business owner. Is there anything else I can help you find?"

"I'll keep looking around," he said, studying the shelf. "So you're the owner?"

She nodded. "This store has been in my family for five generations."

He almost dropped the basket. "Five - Did they even have toys that long ago?"

"Oh, toys have been around as long as humans have had childhood! Did you know they've found marbles in Egyptian tombs? And dolls in archaeological digs. Toys are how children learn about the world, and how they start to decide their identities and practice interactions with others! They . . ." She trailed off, blushing. "Sorry, my major was psychology and I did my senior thesis on the role of play in early childhood development."

He held up a hand. "Hey, I'm the last person to shame anybody for nerding out. That's pretty awesome. You're in the right business."

"For right now, anyway," she murmured. 

"What?"

She smiled brightly. "I don't suppose you have any more nieces or nephews that need Christmas presents?"

He studied her for a moment. "Do you have any action figures?"

"Collectible or to play with?"

"Collectible?" he said hopefully.

She led him down the aisle and to the back wall. His eyes went wide. "Oh my god, you've got Max Mercury, black series." He grabbed it off the wall. "And Brainiac? This is a great section!"

She smiled. "My dad invested in these because he was hoping to bring in the collectors."

"Well, he made good choices." He picked the Braniac from its spot and turned it over in his hands, studying it closely. 

She left him to it and went back to the counter. She didn't feel like agonizing over the accounts when he was still here, so she cleaned the counter, dusted the book corner, and rearranged the ZooFriends shelf to fill in the empty spots he'd left when he took the two Puffy toys.

After half an hour, he came up to the counter with an overflowing basket, most of it action figures. With her heart singing the song of small business owners, she scanned them briskly.  His purchases came out to well over two hundred dollars. It was a drop in the bucket of her costs, of course, but it was a bigger drop than most. 

He handed her his credit card without a wince. When she ran it, his name popped up on her screen. She handed it back with the receipt. "Here you go, Mr. Ramon."

"Cisco," he said. "Please. Mr. Ramon is my pop."

"Cisco," she said. "I can wrap these if you want."

"Just the Puffys," he said. "The action figures are for me."

She grinned at him and selected a print of happy reindeer to wrap the stuffed animals. "Naturally."

He laughed self-consciously. "I'm not sure whether to be insulted or not. I promise I'm a grown-up man."

"Of course you are," she said, hands busily folding and taping. A really nicely grown-up man, too. She battled back her blush and hoped he hadn't noticed. "But I'll never look down on any adult who still likes toys."

"Well, sure, that's a good hundred and fifty dollars of my total."

"There's that," she acknowledged, setting aside the first perfectly wrapped box and picking up the second.  "But toys are important to children's imaginations. And children grow into adults, who still need their imaginations." She nodded at the Max Mercury he held. "I don't think any of us ever really outgrow the desire to be someone's hero."

"Well," he said, "you're my hero today."

She met his eyes and felt the blush rise again. "Thank you."

He grinned and accepted the bag with the two wrapped presents inside. "And come Christmas morning, I'll be Maya's hero."

She smiled. "She's lucky to have an uncle doing his best to find her the perfect present. I'm glad you came by today."

"Yeah, well, it was coming out here or spending a hundred and seventy-five dollars on eBay and hoping like hell it made it here in time." He fiddled with his wallet. "I really don't mean to be that guy, but your website is . . ."

Her face went hot and she made a business of putting away the scissors and the tape and rolling up the rest of the wrapping paper. "Archaic?"

"I was going to say behind the times," he said tactfully. "If you had web ordering, you'd be sold out of ZooFriends and a whole bunch of other stuff."

"I know," she said. "But I really haven't had the time to get a good system set up since I took over the store. I need inventory software that integrates with ecommerce and for that I need technical skills, money, and time, and I don't have any of those."

He leaned on the counter. "You don't have to tell me, but how did it get this bad? You clearly love this place and I really don't feel like you would have let it fall behind like this if you had a choice."

She chewed her lip. "My dad died in September."

Sympathy spread over his features. Not the plastic, practiced sympathy she'd seen so often, but real compassion. "I'm sorry. Was he sick?"

"He had MS," she said. "He'd had it since I was ten, and he'd always kept on top of his medication and his therapy and everything. So - " She looked down at the perfectly clean counter and wiped it off again. "So when I was away at school and he told me he was doing fine, I believed him."

"He wasn't doing fine," Cisco guessed.

She shook her head. Tears burned in her eyes again. "It probably started small. Just little things falling through the cracks. Then the cracks got bigger, more things fell through. . . ."

He nodded. "They tend to do that."

"Mhm. Then last spring, he had an assistant manager who embezzled a lot of money - "

"What!"

"They caught him!" Caitlin assured him. "But most of the money was gone, and the stress of that just sent my dad's health into a tailspin. I'd just graduated so I moved back home to take care of him."

"And I'm gonna guess you were so wrapped up in that, you didn't even realize what was going on with the store until you took over."

She sighed. "Got it in one." She mustered up a smile. "I didn’t mean to dump that on you. It's bad now, but things will come around. They always do. The holidays are the best time of year to be a toy seller."

"Yeah," he said. "They sure are." He smiled back and gathered his purchases. "I'll tell people about this place."

"Great," she said. "Here's my card, by the way."

"Caitlin Snow," he read off the little rectangle of cardstock. 

"That's me. Let me know if you have any particular collectibles you'd like me to obtain."

"Hmm?" He was looking at his phone. "Uh, yeah, if I think of any, I'll give you a shout. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," she echoed, watching him leave. The jingle of the bell over the door echoed in the toy store's emptiness.

**

Walking back around the building to his car, Cisco snapped a pic of the business card Caitlin Snow had given him. Then he dialed a number on his phone and wedged it between his shoulder and his ear as he pulled on his gloves. "Hey, Iris? Got a moment?"

"Hi, Cisco. Half a moment. My editor's breathing down my neck again about finding some heartwarming story to fill up Sunday space."

"Yeah, I remember you mentioning that. What would you say to a struggling fifth-generation local toy store owner who just took over the business after her dad's death, carries everything from ZooFriends stuffies to high-end collectibles, and knows toys backwards and forwards?"

Iris paused and he could practically hear the gears clicking. "Tell me more."

**

A week before Christmas, Cisco finally found a good excuse to drop by Jack Frost Toys again. With the name of a rare collectible action figure in his pocket, he turned into the parking lot and found it jam packed. He finally managed to wedge his little car into a space half on the gravel and climb out.

This was a good sign, right?

When he walked in the front door, the girl behind the counter wasn't Caitlin. "Welcome to Jack Frost Toys!" she called out before returning her attention to the grandma-looking lady at her counter. "We absolutely do gift certificates. How much would you like that for?"

The place was transformed. There was no other word for it.

When he'd come in the last time, it had been neat and bright and colorful, but empty and somehow sad. Now there were people in every aisle, voices ringing off the rafters. He cut down the doll aisle and almost stepped on a kid sprawled out on his belly, leafing through a colorful picture book. A little girl was staring at the Barbies as if she were deciding the fate of nations. A couple of moms were talking to each other over the Lego sets.

"It's just such a cute little place! It was getting so run-down there for awhile, but this new owner’s really spruced it up."

"I used to come here when I was Mandy's age and it always seemed like the most magical place to me. I'd forgotten all about it, honestly, but we're coming back."

Cisco smiled to himself and edged around them to the collectibles wall. 

The door to the stock room opened and Caitlin came out, arms loaded down with what seemed to be flat-folded gift boxes. She stopped short when she saw Cisco. "Hi!"

"Hey," he said, smiling at her. She was wearing reindeer antlers and her hair was up in a bouncy ponytail. "You're busy."

"We are! I'm sorry, I've got to -"

"Yeah, go ahead."

She went to the front counter and stashed the gift boxes underneath. "Allegra," she said to the girl who'd greeted Cisco as he came in. "I just got off the phone with our supplier and they'll have more wrap here tomorrow. Can we hold out?"

"It'll be tight, but we should be okay."

"Great. I'll be back to cover your break in a few minutes, okay?"

"Take your time, I'm good."

Caitlin edged back around the counter and paused to check in with the moms. She considered their questions, looked around, and plucked a few sturdy wooden toys from a lower shelf. "I really like this designer for the textures they incorporate," she explained. "Babies enjoy being able to experience different kinds of material as they explore the toy, and it stimulates their brain development. Have a look at these. I'll be right here if you have any questions."

"Thanks so much."

She beamed and moved on. 

Cisco watched her consult with the little Barbie lover and pick out a second book for the reader, as well as four or five other small interactions. It was like watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel or Einstein doing calculations on a chalkboard. She was in her element.

She came around the end of the aisle and spotted him again. Her face lit up. "I'm so glad you came by again." She threw her arms around him.

"Uh," he said. "Hi again to you too." He gave her a quick hug back.

She pulled away, blushing. "Sorry. I - I just wanted to thank you. I know the article in the paper was your doing." 

"Oh," he said. "No, that was nothing. I just called up a friend. She's the one who did the interview and that great photo - "

 Iris had been savvy enough to pose Caitlin by her display of the coveted ZooFriends toys. Cisco had noticed how bare the shelf looked now. 

" - and you were the one who made this shop so amazing that once people knew it was still here, they came."

"But none of it would have happened if you hadn't put it in motion. You said I was your hero that day for having the Puffys, but you’re my hero now.

“Pshaw,” he said. “Like you said, nobody grows out of that.”

“But not everybody does something. So. Thank you."

"Well, you're welcome." He looked around. "So you're doing pretty good, it looks like."

She nodded, beaming. "People started coming in after that article, and PalmerTech asked me to purchase toys in bulk for the families at their company holiday party. All my part-time workers are doing as many hours as they can, and I'll be able to pay the rent for January and February, and if it keeps going like this, I can hire somebody to revamp the inventory system for ecommerce." 

She ran out of breath and panted for a moment, her eyes bright.

Cisco had to smile back at her. "That's amazing."

She nodded. "I mean, we're still competing with Walmart and Amazon, and we still took a real hit from what Jay did. So we're not out of the woods, but this - " She looked around, eyes still bright. "This is going to give us some breathing room.   

"I'm really glad."

She turned her smile back on him and stole his breath. "Sorry, I'm just chattering away, and - did you come by looking for something else? Another collectible?"

"Ah - well, I was planning to ask about the limited edition Star Wars figures they're talking about for next year."

"I don't think I'm going to be able to order any of those until March, but I can definitely get your contact information."

"Oh. Okay, sure. But actually it was an excuse."

Her brows crinkled. "An excuse?"

"I really wanted to come by and see if you wanted to go get coffee or something. Sometime." He looked around. "I mean, maybe not right now because it's still December and you're slammed, which is great, but - "

"I'd like that."

His stomach filled up with warmth, like drinking an entire mug of hot chocolate. "You would?"

"Very much." 

They smiled shyly at each other until Allegra called out, "Caitlin? A little help?" She had a line that stretched halfway down the doll aisle.

"Oh!" Caitlin said. "Uh, I should - "

"Yeah! Go. I'll hang around until you're free, and then I'll get your phone number."

"Okay." She gave him one last smile before rushing up to the counter and opening up a register. "I can help who's next over here! Oh, sweetheart, that's a great choice. Your best friend is going to love it."

Cisco watched her for a moment, smiling to himself, and then turned to browse the collectibles. She'd been right, he mused. The holidays really were the best time of year to be a toy seller.

FINIS

#Cisco Ramon #Caitlin Snow #killervibe #12daysofkv20 #mosylufanfic lives up to her damn name #fluff #toy store AU #I know December is retail hell #allow me this fluff okay #the flash

[creativeskullcreations]

Outside chapter 17: Dinner at Home

New chapter, new plot. Plus got to see a little bit of Danny in this 'verse. :D

And plans are in motion now. What's gonna happen? Stick around to find out.

Stacy sighed as she got into the truck, undoing the professional looking bun her hair was in. Scout popped out of her bag when she set it in the passenger seat, gasping over-dramatically.

"Oh stop that. You're fine." Stacy told her, buckling herself in. She started the car, and got ready to back out of the parking spot.

"Says you! You aren't spending eight hours a day in a fucking bubble!" The puppet flopped out of the bag. "Are we going home yet?"

"No, we've gotta go grocery shopping." Scout groaned and threw one arm over her eyes.

"Aw man. I hate Walmart." She grumbled. "There's always too many kids staring at me."

"It'll be fine. We can go look at movies again before we get the food."

"Okay fine." Scout climbed up the door to look out the window. "But I want Pop Tarts this time! Real ones!"

"I think I can do that." Stacy agreed as she pulled into the parking lot. She reached over and grabbed her wallet before grabbing Scout, letting her settle into the hood of her jacket as they entered the store.

They checked movies, though there was nothing new out yet that they hadn't seen, and then went on to collect the items on Stacy's list. A quick checkout later and they were finally on their way home. It could not have come soon enough for Scout.

The way home from Walmart wasn't too long, maybe a ten minute drive on a bad day. So they got home quick enough, and Scout watched as Stacy started to juggle the many bags. She ended up having to sting them onto her prosthetic in order to get them all into the house, but did succeed in getting all the bags to the kitchen.

Will was downstairs, as he usually was at this time of day. Though, whether he was working on computers or his... hobby, was anyone's guess. Scout certainly wasn't going to go down there to check, either way. Instead she Jumped to her room, which was almost more of a closet with how small it was. But, it held a bed(in her own size!), a charging station for the Switch, and sometimes Stacy's laptop when she could be bothered to drag it in there. The walls were lined with multiple shelves  with rope ladders connecting them, giving her a lot of storage space. Most of it was still empty, but she had collected a few things over the past several months.

Including clothes, apparently. Stacy had expressed concern with Scout running around with Mortimer's face on her shirt, and had enlisted Lisa to make her some new ones. Not that Scout could take her "shirt" off, of course, but she could wear other ones over it. Her favorite so far was a green one that said "eat dick and die". It was the best one, no contest, but Stacy wouldn't let her wear it outside the house.

"It's crude, and while I know you love that stuff it's not a good idea to wear that to my job. Someone could go to HR about it." Her Host had told her. Scout thought that was just stupid, but had agreed not to wear it to the workplace.

Stacy, meanwhile, worked on putting groceries away. It was good practice for her arm, especially in not crushing the groceries. She managed to mangle to bread only a little bit this time,  and figured she was probably doing better than she usually did. Scout reappeared a moment later, wearing the green shirt Lisa had made her. She handed over the Pop Tarts to the puppet, who immediately tore into the box to grab one of the foil packets.

"It's almost suppertime, so don't eat too many of those." Stacy warned her, only to be met by a muffled grunt in response. She sighed, and just collected the stuff she needed; Kraft macs n cheese, premade burger patties, and some green beans for a vegetable. Maybe not the best dinner, but Will was still working and they needed some food.

As she got the stove going, a pan of water for the mac set up, and the pan for the burgers got oiled. She selected three patties and put the rest back in the freezer for another day while things heated up. The beans she dumped in a  third pan on the back of the stove, adding a bit of salt for taste.

Scout watched all of this while softly crunching on the Pop Tarts. Months in the Host World, and she still didn't understand why Stacy wanted to cook. It was much easier and quicker to just grab one of the snacks laying around. Then again, maybe it had to do with that "nutrition" shit Will had told her about once.

As Stacy cooked she started typing out a message to Will on her phone, mostly to let him know dinner was done. He may have been just right in the basement, but she didn't want to go down there if she didn't have to. But as things finished cooking and she started to set the table, Will still hadn't come upstairs or even answered her text. And so, with a sigh, she covered the food and made her way downstairs.

"Will? It's time for dinner." She called as she reached the bottom of the stairs. No answer, but the muffled beat of heavy metal and the high pitched whine of a buzz-saw. She went through the door and was greeted with a mess. A wooden doll was stretched on the exam table in the middle, and Will was standing over it with the buzz-saw, shouting over the pounding music and whining noise.

"Hey, bitch! Make your boyfriend turn it down!" A red haired doll in a welded shut dog crate yelled over the music. She ignored it and instead punched a nearby gong with her metal fist. The resulting metal bang startled Will enough that he almost dropped the saw. He looked over and, once he spotted her, rushed to shut everything down.

"Yeah babe?" He asked, like he hadn't been threatening a sentient doll. The puppet in question was gagged, but sending a quite fierce death-glare at him.

"It's dinner time. Finish up here and come up, I made burgers." She told him, smiling a little as his face lit up.

"Score!" He quickly shoved the saw away before turning to take the doll off the table and put it into a cage. It swapped it's glare to her as he shoved it inside the crate, but Stacy just stared stonily back at it.

"Yeah, you keep trying that buddy. Nothing stops these two assholes. Ow!" The red headed doll sent Stacy his own death glare as she kicked his cage, knocking him over.

"Keep quiet." She growled out, not even looking at him. "Be thankful you're not tied up too."

"Yeah yeah. Go back to your favorite toy, Bitch." He huffed out. "Can't believe you keep that thing living up there with ya. If you had any kind of integrity, she'd be down here, in a cage, with the rest of us. Ow! Fuckin' shit would you stop that?!"

"Chucky, be quiet." A nearby doll in a ripped wedding dress scolded. "You know better than to antagonize her."

"What, it's true! That thing up there is just like us, but she gets to live in the lap of luxury! Hey!"

Stacy propped a foot up on the cage, tipping it onto it's edge and leaning down to glare at the toy inside. "You wanna stop talking now? Or do you want me to come back down here after dinner, Mr. Ray?"

The dolls said nothing more and Stacy righted the cage as Will finished up. The went back upstairs, locking the door behind them.

On the table was Scout, with half a burger patty in her mouth. She froze when the two Hosts walked into the room.

"Scout, seriously?" Stacy asked. "You're supposed to wait for us before you start eating."

Scout spat out the half eaten patty. "You were taking too long. I wanted to eat."

"You still should have waited. We only took a couple of minutes."

"But I didn't want to wait."

Stacy just sighed, and grabbed a bun out of the bag to squirt some ketchup onto. This was a fight just not worth getting into, especially when it wouldn't change anything.

Instead they made up their buns and sides, and were sat down to eat. Will prayed, and Stacy waited for him to be done before digging in. Scout didn't even wait, and just finished off her meat patty before digging into the macs and cheese.

The trio ate in silence, too hungry to talk at first. But eventually Stacy swallowed a bit, and decided she was sick of the quiet.

"So, you make any progress with the Gardner job?" She asked Will. Doll torturer or not, he did still have a "real" job, same as her.

"Eh, a little. Gotta ask who usually uses the computer, though. It's full of viruses from porn sites."

"Ew. Do they have a kid, or just a really stupid adult?"

"They've got a twelve year old girl, so she's the most likely suspect." Will swallowed another bite. "Miss Gardner is always away and working, like, three jobs so it's gotta be the kid or a friend she has."

"Who would go on a porn site? It's just naked sweaty Hosts, they're gross."

"Uh..." Stacy wondered how to handle this. And then wondered if Scout had ever gone on one of those sites, to know about that part. "It's... just a thing. Some people like to look at." She coughed. "Don't question it."

"Sure." Scout comped down on a green bean, and Stacy gave a soft sigh of relief. Scout was bad enough with her language already, and Stacy didn't want to risk her learning more words and terms.

Dinner ended soon after that, with Will loading the new dishwasher when everyone was done eating. He went back downstairs to finish up what he'd been doing. Stacy and Scout meanwhile went to play video-games. Well, Stacy played, while Scout watched her do quests from her lap.

"Go down that tunnel! Go! The left!" Scout pointed forcefully, waving her arms when she was ignored.

"No, that's where we came from." Stacy sighed, annoyed yet also a little amused. "Would you rather be the one playing?"

"No. I can't hold the controller." The Puppet waved her off before suddenly yelling. "You're not looting the bodies!"

"And you won't shut up." The Host muttered, looting a single body before going back to chasing the objective. "Are you sure you don't want to play?"

"How would I even fucking do that? Don't answer that."

"Okay." Stacy fought a few more Drauger. She thought about mentioning that she wouldn't really mind it, if Scout wanted to play, but decided against it. The body swap was still a sore subject, and she didn't want to ruin the good mood.

A ping from her phone, and she paused the game to answer a text from her brother. Being the nosy Puppet that she is, Scout tried to see what she was typing. "Who's that? I thought you didn't have friends."

"It's my younger brother, Danny. Doc wanted me to talk to him more, so I am."

Scout blinked. "You have a brother?" She thought back, tried to think if she'd ever seen any pictures of Stacy's family, but couldn't remember. Will she knew had a picture of his mother, but other than that neither Host talked about their families that much.

"Yeah." A couple of swipes, and she lowered the phone to show the Puppet a photo of a younger boy. He had the same reddish hair she did, but with much paler skin and brighter blue eyes. He was also wearing an absolutely atrocious looking sweater. "He's about eight or nine years younger than me, depending on who's had a birthday at that point."

"Oh..." Scout stared at the picture. "Why is he wearing headphones?"

"Those are part of his cochlear implants. He's deaf." She swiped back over to messaging to finish her text. "But he got the surgery at a young enough age that you pretty much can't tell. He's just got a little bit of a weird sounding accent."

"Oh, cool." Stacy finished her text and went back to the game, Scout watching quietly this time. "I have a brother."

Stacy fumbled an attack, but recovered quickly enough that she didn't die. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah. And three sisters." She squirmed a little, playing with the hem of her shirt. "... They probably all have Hosts by now. They were a lot better at... fitting in, than I was."

"Oh." Stacy paused the game, considering. "I'm... uh, do you you wanna talk about it?"

"Nah. I just thought you should know about them." She settled back, and Stacy unpaused the game. "I doubt I'm ever going to see them again, anyways. They were all assholes."

"Sounds like it, if they were able to "fit in" over there."

-------

Canon huffed, doing her best to try and suck in air. This was the... she didn't know how many times she'd been almost torn apart by the spells Mortimer was working on. Not really, of course, but it certainly felt like it. Like there was a scalpel carefully slicing into each stitch, cutting the small threads one by one.

"Hmm, looks like things are going well. I think I'm just about done with this spell." The magician commented, ignoring how the smaller Puppet lay limply on the floor. "Yes this plan has come together splendidly! Soon your sister will be right where she ought to be."

"... Great..." She groaned, trying to force herself upright. She failed, falling back to the floor with a soft thump. "I... can't... wait..." She had to finish the rhyme, at least, no matter how much it hurt.

"Indeed." He smirked, then grabbed a phone off the wall. "Oh Riley, we're just about ready to start! All we're missing now is the star! So gather your tools and a henchman, and go warm up the car."

"Preparations have already begun!" She relayed with an excited giggle. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

#hello puppets #outside #fanfiction #stacy stein #scout #riley ruckus #canon #will carson #mortimer handee

[casual-eumetazoa]

thanks for the prompt @confused-android​ ! oof, took me longer to write this than i thought (or actually it took me like an hour but i postponed it till my exams were almost over). first - the word “enthralled”? i vibe with it. second - this kinda turned into a vaguely brotzly piece with some autism acceptance on the side, hope that’s okay. third… hope you like this! so here goes

———————

The Case of the Stolen Flower Basket (as dubbed, unofficially, by Dirk) started out on a more relaxed note than most of their cases: in a flowershop, with a stolen basket. A basket, mind you, that was stolen in broad daylight from a closed room, under mysterious circumstances.

It also started with Dirk ending up in a flowershop, accidentally, while he was trying to find an ice-cream place. And it wasn’t even a case then, as much as Dirk’s brief but intense obsession with closed room mysteries, but I digress.

Point is, a basket was missing, a basket thief was at large, and the holistic crew of the holistic detective agency found themselves in a huge abandoned storing space, following up on a “lead”. Todd, Dirk and Farah walked the damp bleak corridors, opening any block that seemed suspicious. Most of them did, and most contained a truly bizarre collection of items.

One was filled up entirely with broken IKEA furniture. One was stuffed to the brim with an assortment of left shoes. And, perhaps most unsettling, one consisted of nothing but headless dolls of various shapes and sizes, along with some disfigured plush animals.

-What the hell was this place? – Todd wondered, prying open yet another door.

Behind it was an empty space, containing exactly one chair with exactly one empty jar perched on the edge of its seat.

-The warehouse of a profoundly odd collector. – Dirk proclaimed. – He… had an excess of money, and wanted to collect things, but the normal things people collect like stamps or candy wrappers were too boring for him, so he did this instead.

-Found anything important? – Farah’s voice echoed against the crumbling walls.

-Yes! – Dirk yelled back.

-No. – Todd corrected, then turned back to Dirk. – An eccentric collector then huh? – Evidently, he had decided to entertain Dirk’s guess. – What about this one then?

He pointed at the nearest door and immediately proceeded to kick it down. It was meant to be a slight push, but instead the door caved in completely, slipping off its hinges and crashing against the floor with a deafening metal rumble.

-Sorry! – Todd bit his lip.

He saw Dirk wince and then almost shrivel up at the sound, arms pulled suddenly towards his chest, as if trying to protect himself from the noise.

Noises. Dirk did not do well with them. And Todd knew that all too well.

-Sorry. – He repeated. – I didn’t mean to do… that.

-It’s fine. – Dirk mumbled, trying his best to shake off the feeling and get back into investigative mood. – What’s in it then?

They stepped over the dilapidated door and into the tight storage space. Inside it were a few pieces of old furniture, half a dozen sealed boxes, at least a whole heap of sawdust, and…

-Todd! – Dirk really did try to tone down the enthusiasm, but alas. ��� Look!

First, Todd noticed Dirk’s flapping arms, and the smile on his face, and felt his own lips stretch into a grin. Only then he turned to check what was in there, and realized that the wall of the storage space was lined up with various musical instruments. Guitars, mostly; electric, acoustic, even toy ones…

-It’s your thing! – Dirk beamed.

-Yeah. – Todd agreed. – It’s my thing.

He approached the wall and picked up one of the guitars.

-It’s expensive. – He declared, and checked the instrument for any signs of wear and tear. – And new. Damn. – He went slowly through the collection. – Well, these aren’t the very top of the chain, but they’re fancier than I used to have.

He took one of the electric guitars – a slick, bright red beauty – and held it gently in his hands. He hadn’t played guitar since he bashed his last one against the wall of the Ridgley building… that happened less than a year prior, and yet it seemed a lifetime away.

-Can we take some? – Dirk asked, then, not waiting for a reply, picked out one of the guitars at random. – They’re no-ones so it doesn’t count as stealing.

-I guess I could take one or two. – Todd agreed. – They’re as good as thrown out at this point. No use for them collecting dust in here.

-Where the hell are you two? – Farah’s voice chimed through the corridor.

-Over here! – Dirk shouted back.

-Ugh. – Todd muttered. – I have to pick now. Wait. Actually… - He looked at the guitar he had in his hands, then the one Dirk was still holding, and smiled with the corner of his mouth. – Those two are good. Let’s go.

-Guys. – Farah nearly avoided a collision with the broken door as she entered the storage space. – You should see this. Now. – She paused. – I think I found a skeleton.

The guitars were then stashed in the corner, and waited patiently for their new owner to crawl on all fours into a basement, poke some human bones with a stick, and emerge – dusty, exhausted, and deeply confused.

*

The evening was slow and peaceful. While Farah was busy making phone calls and trying to arrange for someone to examine, discretely and unofficially, a mysterious unidentified skeleton, Todd and Dirk stayed in Todd’s apartment. Or, rather, at the apartment that used to be Todd’s. He didn’t remember the last time he had a dinner there, and besides, Dirk spent more nights than not in the guest bedroom, so it was really their apartment.

-Do you have any ideas about how the basket connects to the skeleton yet? – Todd asked, placing two cups of tea on the table.

He didn’t have to ask Dirk what he wanted; he knew his (rather narrow) range of food and drink preferences by heart.

-Not a clue. – Dirk admitted, and raised his gaze to the ceiling, staring attentively at some smudge. – I think we should go to Claire’s house.

-Why the owner’s house? – Todd asked.

-Feels relevant. – Dirk shrugged, eyes still focused on the smudge. – Oh. – He turned in his seat suddenly. – The guitars! Can you play for me?

Todd sighed. He anticipated this happening.

-Well, - he said, - I can’t play the electric one cause you need equipment for it and we didn’t steal any, and I haven’t played an acoustic guitar in like two years, but…

-I don’t care if it’s not your best or some equally stupid excuse. – Dirk interrupted him. – You know I’ll be impressed no matter what.

Todd laughed shortly, and nodded. It was true – Dirk was impressed and excited by seemingly everything, from the fluffy blanket assortment at Walmart (he had to touch every. single. one.) to the Sacred Wisdom shared with him by Todd that the number on the package of pasta tells you how long it will take to cook it. Dirk was also somehow oblivious to his own talents, insisting that connecting eleven entirely unrelated pieces of information into a complete narrative was “simple” and “obvious”.

-Fine. – Todd caved in, and got up to fetch the acoustic guitar. – But I probably won’t know the cords of the songs you like.

Considering that Dirk mostly listened to obscure European rock music, 80s pop, and Disney soundtracks, it was hardly surprising.

-Not tuned at all, probably. – Todd, the guitar now in hands, returned to his seat and gave the strings a test stroke. – Yep. – He nodded. – Gimme a few minutes.

He tuned the guitar as best as he could, and tapped his fingers on the table, trying to decide what to play. Dirk had watched him with curiosity and was now sipping his tea, waiting for the music to start. Todd paused, took a deep breath in, and began to play the first song that he was sure he remembered – “Behind Blue Eyes”.

The music flowed; Todd focused on the movement of his fingers, on the vibration of the string, and the metal at his fingertips. He sang the words softly, almost as an afterthought. He had forgotten how good it felt to make music happen. The song was in the air, brought to life by the motion of his hands, and the night was young, and he was lost in the moment. He skipped the electric guitar solo and went straight to the final reprise of the chorus.

Then the music stopped, and silence fell on his shoulders. He kept quiet, not saying anything, waiting for Dirk to react. That is when Todd realized that Dirk wasn’t talking – and Dirk was always talking. He talked over movies, and news on the TV, and shop assistants and, on one memorable occasion, over a talking parrot. It’s not that he was rude - it’s just that his head was so full of words, constantly, that they had to be let out.

But Dirk wasn’t talking now. Now he simply sat in his place, eyes transfixed on Todd’s hands, blinking.

-Are you okay? – Todd asked.

There was a pause.

-Mmm? – Dirk blinked faster and looked up, meeting Todd’s gaze, startled slightly, as if waking up from a pleasant dream. – Yes. Yes of course I’m okay.

-You kinda zoned out a little bit.

-I did?

-Yeah.

-You play really good music. – Dirk smiled softly.

-Thanks. – Todd smiled back.

-It’s nice to not be… attacked by sound for a change. – Dirk added.  – Can you… keep, playing, please?

-Sure. – Todd replied. -I mean, I don’t remember that many songs, and…

He remembered enough songs for a whole mini-at-home concert.

*

It doesn’t end there.

Together, they spend many an evening consumed by music, music brought to life by Todd, for Dirk, specifically for Dirk, and for him only. Todd plays everything – every song he has ever loved, acoustic versions of Mexican Funeral pieces, approximate renditions of whatever is on the radio these days…

Dirk makes requests. Todd googles guitar tabs and practices while Dirk is still asleep, in the ungodly early hours of the morning, sitting on the windowsill of the apartment block while people leave for first shifts at work. He has performed in front of huge crowds, and music journalists, and many girls (and guys…) he was trying to impress – but nothing has ever felt as personal, crucial, tender, as playing for Dirk.

The skeleton is identified, and the stolen basket is discovered. The convoluted twists and turns of the story, which involves a near-extinct flower, a 77-year-old Russian spy and an actual African prince, come to their natural close. The excitement and danger are over, if only for a brief respite, and peace is restored. A new case will arrive soon enough… but until then, they have their tiny apartment, and Todd has his guitars, and music lingers in the air, and Dirk is enthralled with the music, still and speechless in his seat.

They look at each other, and they understand each other precisely, and, for once in his life, Dirk has no words, and needs no words, and wants nothing else but to listen. God knows, his life is never safe or simple, but now Todd is here, and the world is really not that bad, and he is happy.

The Earth continues to spin. New bizarre, perplexing and astonishing things will happen. Songs will be played, and words will be said in time. Maybe, in part at least, because someone ran, and never looked back, and left behind all their belongings, even their very expensive guitars…

Sometimes – most of the times – the Universe wants them to help it. But, on this occasion, it is gracious enough to help them in return.

#dghda #dirk gently's holistic detective agency #dirk gently #brotzly #autistic!dirk #actuallyautistic #dghda fanfic #paradox nerd post

[blackrosesfanfic]

Chapter 239

Next morning

Trey

I roll over staring at Caden. Why is he in this bed with me? He rolls his naked butt over trying to get a better look at me. I smile. He had smiled once he saw that it was me. I don't know where my mind went but it wasn't right. My son's couldn't ever do without me. They look for me. Wait for me. Get excited to see me.

"Son?" I say grabbing Caden.

"Yes."

I chuckle. "Morning Lane."

He hits the bottom of the bed. "I go see Rose tomorrow."

"You are?"

"Yeah, Mommy take me to see Grandma Rose. Her is."

I smile. He lying. Cammie didn't say that. Lane cuts his eyes towards the bathroom then he drops down out of sight. I lean up looking over the bed at what he is doing. He just had a bunch of cards on the floor. Nothing else.

"Daylan." Cammie snaps.

"I don't know, Mommy."

She sucks her teeth. "What did I say?"

"I don't know." He repeats.

"Pippi?" Lonnie says tapping on the door. "Got you an outfit. Put it on and meet me on the beach. See if you still got it."

He hangs a Walmart bag on the doorknob then he closes the door without hearing an answer. Lane runs to the door grabbing the bag. He digs through the bag.

"My toy?" He whines. "Papa? My toy?"

"Lane!"

He throws the bag behind him going out of the door crying. That's between him and whoever said his name out there. Little bratty butt boy. I glance down at Caden he was sleeping hard. I lay him down by my legs. His eyes pop open and look directly at me. He pouts. I pick him back up.

"Tremaine?"

"Jayla, Baby."

She smacks the bag picking it up. "Do I act like my son? Why does he act like that?"

I chuckle. "Baby, why you mad at the bag?"

"Workout clothes?" She snaps. "He just assume I..."

"Mommy, shoes." Lane says coming in the room acting like they heavy. "Papa said put you shoes on. Now."

Cammie storms out without saying anything. Lane goes about his business. Whatever business that might be. He obviously not upset so he got what he wanted. I lean back cuddling Caden. Let them run about doing stuff. Me and Caden gonna sleep.

"Daddy open." Lane says now at the bed.

"Lane, I told you I would open it." Cammie says nicely from across the room.

"Daddy open it." Lane says pushing something closer to me.

I sit up leaving Caden in the bed. He stays sleep.

"Lane, I love you." Cammie says.

"Love you, Mommy." He says then runs over to her. "Come give you kisses?"

She sucks her teeth. "I thought you said you didn't know what I said, Daylan. You knew what I said all along. Why you acting like that?"

He grabs her neck shoving his face into hers. They just stay like that as I open the mini pancakes in a bag. I feel them. They were warm. I guess he got them from somebody. They had cooked them.

"Jay, Lonnie said stop being a chicken." Rollie says. "Aye, Trey. They cooked breakfast. Fucking Charleston's finest in the kitchen. So she thinks."

Rollie puts a big monster truck down on the floor. I sigh. We left that shit in Georgia for a damn reason. Why the fuck they go and buy him a new monster truck? It turns him into a monster. Loud and energetic. He let's go of Cammie spinning around happy.

"My truck." He sings.

"Rollie." Cammie whines.

Rollie shrugs. "Debra, yo mama, ordered it offline cause Lane said he lost it at the other house. He said real house I think."

"Spoiled by the other family too?" I laugh as both Cammie and Lane leave out. Cammie is going to her mother to fuss about that truck.

"And you seen Cammie?"

I laugh. "Aye, she asked me if Lane acts like her like she wants me to kill myself."

"Pause." Rollie says stepping in the room. "You not thinking..."

"Man, fuck you. Make a joke out of everything."

Rollie shrugs. "If you need to talk about your feelings."

"Let's talk about you growing up in that family getting everything you want and getting bullied for making all A's in school until you..."

"What you say, Mama?" He says walking out the room.

I laugh then lay down with Caden. I don't know my wife's family like I thought. I might not know my damn wife like I thought. She hid her family and now it seems like for no reason. Nothing is like she said it was or I assumed. I never cared about who raised her and who she wanted to impress.

"Caden?" I say looking at him as he kicks me. He stops staring at me then he start kicking me again. "You know your name?"

"Daddy." Lane says at the door. "You eat your food?"

I pick Caden up. "I'm coming."

"Thank you, sir." JJ giggles from the hallway. "Lane, that you truck? Lane?"

"JJ!" Lane yells. "Go get you... JJ come here."

I step into the hall. Lane is sitting on the truck. JJ was running down the hall. Lane gets up running after him. He grabs JJ as JJ stops and slams into him. They both fall out on the floor.

"Lane!" JJ snaps getting up. "Ouch. I telling."

"No." Lane cries.

JJ helps Lane up. "Okay. Okay. I not tell. You sorry?"

"Grandma got you truck."

"For me?"

Lane runs towards Debra's room. Please don't have two trucks. I walk into her room behind the boys. She had two more boxes opening them. This lady had 3 fucking monster trucks. I shake my head walking out. Cammie must not have seen that. They about to tear this house up with those trucks.

Cammie

"So I feel bad about how I acted." Amber says as I walk pass her. "I don't think you should leave cause of... sorry."

I fold my arms across my chest. "Nobody worried about you and your bratty ass."

"Me bratty, Camilla? Okay."

"Eww." I say walking out of the house onto the patio.

"Good morning." Lonnie says.

I cross my arms. "I run on the beach all the time."

"I run in heels all the time."

"And you look ridiculous." I say walking away.

"Rollie?" Lonnie says surprised. "Good morning."

I turn around looking to see where Rollie was. He was standing on the other side of the pool with Jordan. Rollie looks at Lonnie then he looks at me. I smile at him. He nods his head up towards the sky.

"Sup?" Rollie says.

"Jordan?" Lonnie says once again surprised. "Morning, Doll."

"Good morning, Pop." She says sad. "I lost my favorite shoes."

Lonnie nods. "Maybe Lane has seen them. He is a jokester. A very clever one."

Jordan jumps over the chair she was near. "I bet you Lane has them."

"It's always difficult to talk about personal issues with people who should already know how you feel." Lonnie says then he starts walking towards the beach. "How long has it been?"

"Since?"

He smirks. "Since I beat your ass and ran longer than you?"

I laugh. "Lame. Never."

He starts jogging down the beach. I don't remember the last time that we went running. Last time we ran I was about to start my sophomore year in college. We used to go on daily runs during the summer. We started a year after he married my mother. Lonnie has always just been there. Never trying to be my father just always trying to help me through whatever I was going through. He became my dance couch even though he couldn't tap his finger on beat. He carried my equipment and shined my boats when I was on the marching band. He cheered for me even after cursing my coach out for making us wear hooker clothes and doing slutty dances. I stop running. He throws his hands up in the air.

"Less than a mile!" He cheers.

"I got Mommy issues." I say crossing my arms to hold my breasts.

He continues to do a two step. "Hell yeah for karma. Getting old and responsibilities."

"Shut up." I say turning back to the house.

"What happened?" He asks coming up as I start to cry.

He hugs me. "Too harsh? We softened up too?"

"No Lame-o." I cry. "Get off of me."

"Can't talk?"

"I was thinking about life and everything that... How could he be so stupid Lonnie? I would do anything to stop my son from feeling like I did. I went as far as keeping his father from him cause I didn't want him to feel like I felt. How could he selfishly set out to make my son feel like that? Just so stupid."

Lonnie rubs my shoulder. "Men are weak baby. Women hype us up. Give us more credit and responsibility than we are capable of. He is stupid for misjudging his ability. But you can't blame him for being human. We not perfect. That's why we need God."

"We really talking about church right now?"

"When the last time you been as a family? I am inviting you to church cause that's your answer. God. No man is going to fix your problem. You need God. Your husband needs forgiveness that only God can give him. Being so weak. You can only fix a wound temporarily but it takes God to heal a wound that deep."

I suck my teeth. "Should I say Amen? Choir?"

He chuckles hitting my arms. "Stop being a faggot. Let's run another mile."

"Did you call me a faggot?" I yell.

"A queer? Maybe I need to pray."

"You do. You cant say those words like that." I snap walking back to the house. "I can't do this. I didn't pump first. You go pray."

He claps his hands behind me. "With your husband?"

I glance back at him. "He is a religious person, Lame. Maybe he will pray with you."

"I will invite myself to talk with him about his problems. Instruct him on a plan to get back in church. Give him a prayer."

"You do that Frank." I shrug.

He catches up with me. "I'm really here because I heard about what happened a few years ago. I mean I heard about your husband last night. It seems like a lot to dump on a person but we have to talk about it. I suggest..."

"I pray?"

"No. Give me the names." He says like duh.

I shake my head. "No."

"Because your husband is famous?"

"Because they are famous." I say low. "It's too much. They have lawyers and public reps that make sure stuff like that stays hidden. No."

He puts his hands on his hips. "They don't know me."

"I said no."

"I'll do it my way, Pippi. So you don't want my prayer?"

"Be my husband's preacher. You creepy."

He laughs unnecessarily hard. "Lane told me to shut up with my long prayer."

"When did my baby say that?"

"I was on the phone with a member of the church praying for her father this morning. He said Pop, don't take a long time. Be quiet."

I roll my eyes and start walking. "Y'all let my baby say whatever his grown self wants. He is 2. That was disrespectful."

"I supposed to do what to him for expressing himself? He didn't want to hear my prayer about being sick."

"Like you beat your daughter. Pop why is she in Georgia not raising her daughter? Her bad daughter at that?"

He sucks his teeth. "I gave her to God."

"God the one gave her to you. No take backs. She your daughter. She needs to raise her child herself. When I finish with this dancing show I'm going to get that little girl and straighten her butt out. Nobody act like they can handle her."

"Congratulations on that. I saw your commercial and I recorded. Played it for the church. We going to have a night dedicated to your show. Make revival short."

I roll my eyes. "Don't make God mad at me."

"He gone be mad cause Imma be praying while watching."

"You really, Lame."

He giggles like I gave him a compliment. I keep walking towards the house.

[onthepyre]

heat

this is the third time ive posted this fic if it doesn't work ill try again next week or something

romantic prinxiety, 1.2k, human neighbors au, lots of swearing, discussion of capitalism, and way too much romantic tension

By all means, it should've been a peaceful Saturday evening.  It almost was — Virgil was snuggled up under a blanket with a mug of chamomile tea when he heard the heater make an awful clunking noise, then shut off completely.

"Goddamnit!"  He placed his mug on the end table next to him and rose to investigate, knowing that there was nothing he could do but wanting to see the problem for himself anyways.  "This is the second time this month," he grumbled as he pulled on the nearest pair of shoes he could find. Virgil marched down the hall of the apartment building, passing window after snow-covered window, wishing he had been able to find a bigger, better-managed complex.  Sure, maybe he wouldn't be able to chat with his landlord whenever he wanted, but at least it would be under more public scrutiny than the shitty six-unit brick monstrosity he found himself calling home.

Along with the tiny building came less restrictions on its tenants.  There was nobody in the front lobby to stop Virgil from walking down the basement stairs to look at the furnace.  Their front lobby wasn't even a lobby, it was what used to be a living room with a single, mangled couch and a TV from the 1980s.  It fit in well with the rest of the building.

After staring at it for at least fifteen minutes, Virgil couldn't find anything wrong with the furnace (which wasn't saying much, considering didn't have the slightest clue how it worked), and he knew his landlord wouldn't pick up his phone until tomorrow morning, so with a sigh and only a small amount of grumbling, he dragged himself back upstairs.

He was not expecting to find another resident at his door.

Roman Santos, in all his bedheaded glory, stood with a blanket around his shoulders and his forehead almost pressed to Virgil's door.  He didn't see Virgil approach, and turned at lighting speed when asked what he was doing.

His answer nearly blended into one word.  "The heat shut off and I don't want to bother Patton and everyone else is kinda scary and I'm cold but if two of us are in the same room there's more body heat can I please come inside I brought blankets?"

"Roman, I did not understand a word of what you just said, but it's late and I'm cold too, so yeah, sure, come on in."

"Thank you so much I-"

"I don't want to hear it."  Virgil stepped in front of Roman and opened the door.  "Go sit down, I'm making hot chocolate. My tea's probably cold by now."  

Roman shuffled over to the sofa, curled up in a corner, and began creating a nest from the mountain of blankets that he had brought with him.  As Virgil poured milk into the last clean mugs he had left, he heard Roman mumbling to himself — something about utility bills and stupid but at least-

The microwave beeped.  Virgil glared, silently cursing it for interrupting his eavesdropping session.  He dumped a lazy guesstimate of three tablespoons of hot chocolate powder into the milk and stirred, noting that Roman had stopped talking.

"It's Walmart brand, hope you weren't expecting better," Virgil said as he handed Roman the alligator-shaped mug.

"Absolutely not, thank you so much."

They sipped in silence for a bit before Roman noticed that Virgil wasn't cocooned in blankets.

"Aren't you cold?"

Virgil shrugged.  "Yeah, but not that cold.  At least it's like, 20 degrees, last year this happened when it was below zero.  And I'm cold all the time. This isn't that different."

Roman apparently didn't think that was an acceptable answer, because he kicked one end of his blankets over to Virgil.

Virgil smiled a small thanks.  "So," he continued, "What were you saying earlier? While I was in the kitchen?"

He wasn't sure if it was the cold or a blush, but Roman's cheeks turned a soft pink.  "Just — I think it's stupid we have to pay utilities when they don't even work half the time."

"Overthrow the bourgeoisie and then you won't have to anymore."  Virgil grinned, quietly hoping Roman wasn't a fucking capitalist, and for a second it seemed like maybe he was, but then:

"What the fuck is a bourgeoisie?"  

Virgil nearly laughed, but pushed it down because this was only, like, the third real conversation he had ever had with Roman and actually he's pretty cute and making cute boys feel stupid made Virgil feel bad.

"The upper class," Virgil replied, only smirking a little bit.

"Then hell yes, I'm willing to overthrow the bourgeoisie, let's go."

They stared at each other, smiling, for just a little bit too long, and Virgil got desperate and, only panicking a little, asked if Roman wanted to watch a movie.

"Only if it's Coraline," Roman decided, somehow smiling wider.

"Wait, you like Coraline?"

"It's my favorite movie!  The deeply rooted fear of dolls I have from watching it when I was ten makes it even better."

"I feel called out."  Turning to the end table next to him, Virgil asked, "Wait, where's the remote?"  Not waiting for a response, he groaned and went to look for it.

When he returned, Roman had moved himself to the middle of the couch.  He patted the spot directly next to him. "The closer we sit, the warmer we'll be."  When Virgil hesitated, he added, "I promise I won't fall in love with you or anything."  

Virgil sat down reluctantly, technically agreeing with the point but still feeling weird about it — probably for different reasons than Roman thought.  He opened Netflix, glad to focus on something that wasn't his adorable neighbor sitting inches away.

Which proved to be a challenge when Roman hesitantly slipped his arm around Virgil's shoulders.

"If this makes you uncomfortable I can-"

"No, you're fine.  You're right, we'll be warmer."  Carefully, he placed his head on Roman's shoulder as the opening credits played and he tried to ignore his rapidly beating heart.

By the end of the movie Virgil was nearly asleep and warmer than he had ever been in his life.  He looked over at Roman, who smiled back.

"Guess I oughta go home now," he said, beginning to stand.

"You can stay if you want," Virgil countered.  "You probably should so neither of us freeze to death."

"But where-" would I sleep.  Virgil silently finished the question as the realization hit Roman.  "Are you sure? Like, 100%, you're okay with cuddling with me all night to keep us from freezing?"

Using up all the courage he had left, Virgil said, "Yeah, sure."  And then Roman nodded, and they stared at each other for what seemed like eternity before Virgil stood up and led Roman to his bedroom.

He flipped on the light for a moment so Roman could find the bed, then shut it off again.

"Hope you aren't scared of the dark," Virgil said.

"You're here to protect me."

Virgil was glad the lights were off so Roman couldn't see his blush.

He laid down, turned towards Roman, and waited for him to do something.

He reached out and pulled Virgil to his chest, his movements slow and nervous.  Virgil slid his arm around Roman's waist and his leg over Roman's. He drifted off slowly, but surely, and just as he was on the edge of sleep, he felt Roman's face against the top of his head.  It wasn't necessarily a kiss, but to Virgil it felt the same.

He fell asleep more comfortable than he'd been in a long time.

#prinxiety #roman sanders #virgil sanders #tss #sanders siders #thomas sanders #fluff #also crack #human au #neighbors au #bed sharing #aka there was only one bed #june's writing

[victory-cookies]

It’s Curtains, For Sure!

A/N: Alternatively titled “Jonas and Poet go to Walmart”. This is a) the longest one-shot I’ve ever written (for fic or ocs) and b) the first time I’ve ever written a curtain fic story. It was fun. I hope you enjoy. Also, have I ever mentioned that Poet and Jonas are in a QPR? They’re in a QPR.

--------------------------------

“Y’know, I’m pretty sure that if hell exists, it’ll just be a really big Walmart,” Jonas muttered as he and Poet walked through the entrance to the store. “It’s so loud and crowded and bright and the people, Poet, the people can be so mean!”

Poet rolled her eyes as they walked over to the shopping carts, ignoring Jonas’ exaggeratedly woeful expression. “You didn’t have to come with me, dingus. It’s my shopping week, not yours,” they said, inserting a quarter into the nearest cart and pulling it free of its brethren. 

“And leave you to endure this torture alone? I would never!”

She snorted and began to walk towards the store proper. “Chivalrous of you.” 

“I know,” he replied, hurrying after them.

Once inside, Poet pulled out a list and scanned it. “Alright, so we need, like, the general weekly food stuff, as well as baking supplies for dessert tomorrow, laundry detergent, dish gloves, Mariah wants some yarn, I need some new makeup, and Marcus wants, and I quote, ‘a new boardgame or something because Catan is boring as shit and you all know it’, which, to be fair, he is right about. Anything I forgot?” They looked back up to see Jonas lounging in the cart. 

He shrugged. “Don’t think so? If you’re getting makeup, though, I want some too.”

“Sounds good,” they said, stuffing the list back into their pocket. “Upstairs first? We can grab the yarn and a new game or two and get everything else after.”

Jonas flashed her two thumbs up. 

There was a short pause as she looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “You gonna stay there?” she asked finally.

He grinned, ignoring the uncomfortableness of the metal pressed into his back. “Gotta find some way to have fun in here.” 

They sighed and began to push the cart through the store. 

***

It was only when they arrived at the escalators that Poet realized letting Jonas stay in the cart may have been a bad idea.

“Nuh-uh. No sir. I am all for committing fun and stupid crimes, J, but I am not letting you defile my good name by getting us banned from Walmart.”

In front of them, sandwiched between the up and down escalators, was the shopping cart conveyor, currently ferrying many a customer’s groceries between the two floors. And in Jonas’ eyes, there was a sparkle of mischief that Poet was very much familiar with. 

“You are not riding the cart escalator, Jonas.”

“Oh, c’mon—”

“No, absolutely not, they will see you and they will kick us out and we will never be allowed back into the only nearby Walmart—”

“Can’t see me if I’m invisible,” he said slyly. “Besides, even if we do get banned, you can just shapeshift into someone else and bam. Back in the Walmart, though I don’t know why you’d want that.”

They squinted, looking back and forth between Jonas and the escalators and biting back a smile. 

“I’ll buy you that cream blush you want,” he sang, his eyes sparkling brightly. 

She sighed fondly. Asshole. 

“Deal.”

Jonas pumped a fist into the air and then promptly disappeared.

Poet wheeled him over to the up conveyor and pushed the cart onto it, eyeing the “CARTS ONLY” label on its flaps and the signs above them warning against leaving children in the basket. “I hope you get stuck,” they muttered as the cart began to ascend, and they got the feeling Jonas was flipping them off (though it was hard to tell, him being invisible and all). They stepped onto the up escalator and leaned against the railing as they rode it up, watching the seeming empty cart rise beside them. Eventually, they reached the second floor and she pulled the Jonas’ ride out of the cartveyor, dragging him into a nearby aisle. 

“How was it?” she asked, the cart rattling as Jonas hopped out.

“Thrilling!” he replied, dropping his invisibility and stretching. “And see? No one’ll ever know I did it! It’s a perfect crime.”

They punched him in the arm and swung the cart around. “Sure, Jan. Now shall we get ourselves some yarn?”

***

“Wait, how the fuck does yarn work?”

Jonas shrugged. He and Poet stared at the shelves of yarn in front of them, both somewhat confused by the surprisingly large, colourful selection. “My guess is as good as yours, Poe,” he said. “Did she say how many bundles to get or anything?”

Poet pursed her lips. “I didn’t think to ask. She wants red, though.”

“Alright… but neither of us have any idea how much yarn one would need for… general knitting?”

“No clue.”

There was a moment’s pause.

“Let’s just grab lots?”

“Let’s.”

Jonas stepped forward and grabbed an armful of skeins of red yarn, tossing them into the cart. He looked towards Poet, cocking an eyebrow. “Board games?”

“Board games.”

“Cool.”

Jonas took charge of the cart, leading them into what was arguably the best section of the store. They wove through aisles upon aisles of toys, shelves stacked with dolls and toy trucks and far too many brands of surprise boxes, trying to ignore the urge to meander and fuck around with any box that made a noise when you stuck your finger through the front to press demo button. They sped by the shelving unit housing the trading cards because Jonas did not need more, he really shouldn’t, he had so many already— but like one pack couldn’t hurt, right? He tossed it on top of the bed of yarn literally lining the bottom of the cart before sighing. 

“Mariah’s gonna laugh at us, isn’t she? This is so much yarn. There’s no way she needs this much yarn, right?”

Poet shrugged. “I dunno, man. She’ll be stocked up at the very least,” she replied as they came to a stop at the boardgames section. “Anyways, what game should we get?” She picked up an Apples to Apples box, flipping it to read the back.

“Isn’t that just, like, G-rated Cards Against Humanity?”

“Yeah, kinda looks like it… how about, uh—” They grabbed another box. “Trouble?”

J shook his head. “Pretty sure we already have that one.”

“Shit.” They scanned the shelves, searching for something interesting, before they froze and silently pulled a box labelled “Pandemic” down. A Look passed between them and Jonas, and they placed the game into the cart. 

“Okay, you better be glad we don’t have a pandemic going on in this universe or I swear to god…” muttered Jonas as he began to head back towards the escalators. Poet snickered and followed. 

***

The two of them rode the escalator back down to the main floor, Poet having managed to convince Jonas to stay out of the cart this time. They began to knock out some of the more boring tasks on the list, heading over to the home goods side of the store to grab the cleaning supplies they needed before entering the food area to get the main groceries. 

“Whose idea was it to let eight teenagers live together again?” Poet asked, looking at the grocery list to see they needed ten frozen pizzas. “I feel like this isn’t healthy.”

“Eh,” Jonas replied, shrugging as he opened the freezer display to grab the aforementioned pizzas. “We haven’t died of malnutrition yet.”

“Fair.” 

They continued through the store, piling the rest of the week’s food supply into the cart. When they reached the baking aisle, Poet added what could only be described as an industrial-sized bag of chocolate chips to the stash, earning a half-puzzled, half-amused look from Jonas. 

“You never know when you might need ‘em,” they said, grabbing a bag of cake flour. 

***

It was as they bagged and tied the last of the fruits on the list that Poet began to notice how quiet  Jonas had gotten. They glanced over to see him fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist and pursed their lips. “You doin’ alright there, J?” they asked.

He looked up quickly. “Oh, yeah, I just— it’s… a lot in here, y’know? It’s...” he trailed off. 

“You wanna hit the makeup section real quick and then we can blow this popsicle stand?” 

He nodded. “That would be cool.”

They quickly made their way over to the makeup section and Poet made a beeline for the display for the cream blush Jonas had promised her while he walked over to a display of eyeshadow palettes. He deliberated for a moment before grabbing a small palette of blues and purples, wincing slightly as a baby over in the next aisle began to cry loudly. He then felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Poet, holding her blush as well as a tube of mascara and multiple eyeliners of different colours. She reached around him to grab a palette for herself before smiling at him. 

“Shall we?” she asked. 

***

The cart clattered as they rolled it out of the store, packed tightly with bags full of various necessities and absolutely-non-necessities, and Jonas sighed with relief. 

“And we’re free!” he muttered. “Free from the actual, real hell.” 

Poet pursed her lips. “I’m sorry about that,” she said.

“Nah, it’s okay,” he replied. “It didn’t get too bad, all things considering. And hey—” He put his hand on top of theirs as they pushed the cart along. “I may have actually had a little fun. It’s nice spending time with you. Also, you did help me ride the cart escalator, which slapped.”

“Oh, shush, you sappy bastard,” they laughed, grinning and turning away from him. “You’re still paying for that blush, y’know.”

“Of course,” he said, amused. He smiled, bumping into their shoulder. “Love you.”

“Love you too, idiot.” 

#my ocs #my writing #poet #jonas #putting a readmore bc looooong #and yes the title is a ts sides reference #shush #i have roman on the brain #the layout is basically the layout of my local walmart btw

[aonrivers]

Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum, and Baby Time! (TMI warning) - Part 01

Recently I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. For nine months I read articles and expectations of things to happen and to come, but honestly nothing prepared me for the truth of it all. Sure my friends told me some stuff, but nothing like what I experienced.

I’ve decided to write the nitty gritty of it all along with tips for new moms that I wish I had too. This is going to be major TMI, but when you've given birth, nothing seems like TMI anymore - especially because in the labor room you've got about ten people you've never met before (yes, even your doctor) staring at your asshole and your crotch. With introductions out of the way, are you ready? Here we go!

Part 1 of IDK how many...

Truths about being pregnant:

1) First and foremost... Officially remove negative people in your life the moment that stick says positive. This is Tip #1. I planned on doing this for months before I got pregnant but being pregnant pushed me to do it sooner. I was tired of being stressed out and having negative things told me by certain people in my life and I wasn't going to have it continue during one of the most stressful and most beautiful times of my life. I closed the door on many friendships during my first few weeks and even though it still bugs me that I had to do it, I'm glad I did and recommend others to do the same (even when you aren't pregnant). 2) Tip #2 I can offer is either before or during your pregnancy, plan a vacation. I was on vacation when I got pregnant and planned a trip with my best friend when I hit mid third trimester (would've been sooner but 2020 was a hellish year for the world). 3) I bought a belly book after a few weeks of finding out I was pregnant. My friend recommended it and it was really cool to document every week and my thoughts and post my belly bump pictures, but then second trimester hit and the book was wrong... I ignored it until the third trimester hit and it was wrong again. What was wrong with it? They claimed my trimesters started in certain weeks that were 2-3 weeks off. I Googled my trimesters and checked multiple sites - the book was wrong. So I finally said screw it and created my own. I bought a scrapbook (use a Michael's coupon, that shit is expensive) and I began to craft my own book. 4) A huge suggestion: take those belly bump pictures!! It sounds silly but it's super cool to have. Not only do you get to see your belly growing, but you can put those pictures in your scrapbook like I did. I took the same pose in the same place every Friday. Then I found a really cool app that you could put words on your images and ended up doing that for my Instagram posts. 5) My 3rd tip is make sure you have a really good relationship with your doctor and they believe in the same things you do. I think this is important because I wasn't happy with the thought of being pregnant with my normal doctor then I ended up not being happy half the time with the doctors I went to while pregnant. I wish I had that doctor patient relationship you think every pregnant lady has. I kind of had that with my crazy, beady-eyed doctor I had seen for thirteen years, but when it came time to have a child, she just didn't align with me. She was pro everything I'm not and became a little too radical for me. Be who you wanna be, believe and think what you wanna believe and think, but don't push that shit on me - and that's the direction she started going. So in the end, I left her and went with my friend's doctor... Who happened to have 5+ doctors and a midwife.... Midwife was cool and maybe two of the doctors, but the rest I wasn't a fan of. I didn't even know the doctor who I gave birth with and it was very impersonal with the doctors I saw during the checkups. For example: one doctor would come in, glance at me, talk to me while staring at the computer screen, then leave. I also didn't get ultrasounds done with them, only heartbeat checks. It just wasn't a journey with them like I thought it would be and should've had. Now speaking of those sweet black and white first photos... 6) Sonograms are beautiful things to have. I got a nice picture frame for my second trimester image and have it on my dresser with a cute doll and my childhood music box. Treasure these little pictures. Take pictures of them to keep and reprint because the ink will fade on the ones the tech gives you, but for the love of God, hide your personal information when you post them. Sonograms say your name and birthdate, along with where you got the picture taken then more information on your child. It irks me to no end when people post this online. Especially on Twitter, which is a public forum. Shit. I didn't even post that on my private Instagram. 7) Next Tip: Call insurance to confirm multiple things, such as: what's covered during pregnancy/hospital stay/postpartum, if the hospital is covered, and if your Pediatrician is in network. Just because the office says "yes we take Aetna/UHC" doesn't mean they're in network. 8) Something that I will be telling everyone I know who is pregnant (which honestly isn't many) is scourge the internet for those pregnancy sites. Most sites and stores offer sample boxes. If you start a registry, they send you one too. Try: Amazon, Babylist, BuyBuyBaby, Walmart, Target... The list goes on. Check What To Expect's website for a list of all the sample box sites. I got about ten boxes that all had great stuff inside: bottles, pacifiers, breast milk pouches, diapers, lotion/shampoo samples, wipes, pads, and a few other smaller things. I honestly haven't used any of it, but plan to soon. 9) A great tip my friend told me was to go on those breast pump sites and check to see if your insurance is covered. My insurance ended up covering up to $300 for a breast pump. Of course I went with a $300 breast pump and paid an extra $30 out of pocket to have a few more parts included in my purchase. It was a great idea and is highly recommended for new moms to take advantage of! (I went with Spectra for a few reasons... It's definitely quieter than the Medela pump (the hospital had this one), and there's a nifty nightlight on the pump handle with two settings. It's super useful and I actually use the nightlight feature every night...) 10) Another great tip is to make that baby registry and share it!! People you don't expect will buy stuff. I used Amazon and got a bunch of perks. After my shower, I bought the rest of my stuff with the discounts Amazon offers. It was 2 bulk orders where both had 15% off entire order. I also get discounts on diapers for a year or, I think, the equivalent of $600 spent. Both perks were extremely helpful. 11) FYI, pregnancy is ten months, not nine. They tell you this in articles on The Bump and What To Expect, but I figured I'd say it anyways. 12) You won't miss your period during this time. I sure don't. 21 years so far is long enough for me. 13) The nausea is real and it sucks. It gets to the point where you don't wanna try for baby number two because you're just so over it after being sick for three months straight. 14) Nausea doesn't mean you're hanging over the toilet bowl throwing up the only food that doesn't make you sick. You can just have that knot in your throat all day that's teasing you about having to throw up. Not fun. 15) Being tired is also real and I have no idea how working moms-to-be do it. I work from home, so taking power naps was easy to do. Most of the time, I couldn't keep my eyes open. And it took about three months to find out why... (see next number) 16) YOU'RE NOT ONLY GROWING A HUMAN INSIDE YOU BUT A FREAKING ORGAN TOO!! That's right folks. The placenta isn't just chilling inside you waiting for the day you get pregnant. It's growing right alongside your little baby, taking your nutrients and energy so it can form and power up your little embryo/fetus. 17) If you're a vivid dreamer like me, the dreams are definitely weird. They tell you this, but for me, my dream self becomes pregnant too. I literally went through my dreamworlds pregnant. 18) Boobs hurting is an understatement. My boobs hurt so badly from the hormones and getting ready for milk that I didn't even wanna touch them when I was showering. 19) Your boobs become hideous. I have small breast - a nearly A has been my measurement in the past, but becoming pregnant, I became a large B - probably going into a small C cup. And not only did the boob itself get bigger and veinier, but the nipples got bigger and darker (confirmed by my friends, doctor, and websites that women experience this change). I honestly don't recognize my boobs anymore. I also don't even know why I wanted bigger boobs growing up. They suck. It's not the backaches (I didn't have any while pregnant, surprisingly), it's the fact that when you sleep on your side, that boob gets crushed and goes numb. 20) Boobs leak as they start forming that first collection of milk aka colostrum. So be aware. Being braless is great but those milk stains aren't cute. And it's not like a normal wet spot either where your nipples are. It's a wet stain with a milky ring around it making it totally unattractive. 21) Your nipples will become numb aka no stimulation. At least for me. My nipples are still numb but I guess it goes without saying why (think about it). 22) On websites, they will tell you that your cervix swells and some women enjoy sex more with their new closed off vagina, but not for me. It hurt to do anything down there. My husband and I had one position available and when the bump got bigger, we became celibate. And boy does the guilt take over... So expect this to happen - you're not alone if it does. 23) Your sex drive may be gone. As I said above, I swelled up down there and it was very painful having sex. With that, the sex drive was killed. My poor hubby suffered through these nine months and continued to suffer after birth because- well I'll get to why suffering continues after birth later. 24) Craving food may not happen for you. I didn't crave anything unusual. The only thing I ate on a daily basis were two English muffins with butter. On weekly basis I had three scrambled eggs on those two English muffins. This occurred maybe 2-3 times a week. Other than that, my "cravings" were the same. I wanted Taco Bell and all the other normal stuff I ate when not pregnant. 25) Paranoia for what you're eating will definitely hit you. Guilt will too. Paranoia because you're checking Google to see if you were allowed to eat that pasta with garlic sauce; and guilt because you're eating crappy junk food and feel like you're depriving your baby of nutrients. But like my friend told me, your body provides the baby what it needs and to stop being paranoid. Also those prenatals pack a punch in vitamins. 26) This isn't really nitty gritty or a tip... it's just something I personally did while pregnant and that was - I stayed away from the foods they tell you to like the high mercury fish and cold cuts, but I ate hot dogs and medium cooked beef. But those meats were cooked 170°+ which they recommend if you wanna eat your normal foods. You can also eat cold cuts but it's highly recommended they're warmed up. These meats contain listeria which is something we can defeat by ourselves but our little babies in the womb have difficulty in doing. Another thing I did in regards to food was I stayed away from foods I was allowed to eat but made me sick when I wasn't pregnant. I just didn't want to deal with the sickness. 27) Sleep however tf you want to sleep and that's exactly what I did. Sleeping on my side is not something I do when not pregnant and certainly didn't happen while pregnant. That is, not until the last month or two. I'll elaborate... I'm a back sleeper. I slept on my back and felt my baby every night tucking into one side of my belly because it was comfortable for her. It wasn't until those last months where the weight of my baby was actually pushing on my spine and yes you can feel it. It's a heavy pain that forces you to side sleep. 28) Those pregnancy pillows are shit. Seriously. They're bulky and annoying. My friend bought me a super nice one that went under the head, down the back, and cupped between the legs and I used it for five minutes. I'll find use for it one of these days - maybe gift it to my friend who is due in April - but right now it's just taking up space downstairs. I tried the slanted pillow for my belly. That lasted a month. What did it for me was that silly "As Seen On TV" pillow. It's that white, guitar pick looking pillow you shove between your knees to keep your legs leveled and your spine straight. That's literally the only pillow that helped me when my belly got huge. My bed worked out in my favor cupping my bump. 29) Being pregnant in the summer isn't that bad. Granted I had AC/Central Air the entire time. But seriously... You know why it also wasn't so bad? I could wear tank tops and dresses. Those were my maternity clothes. I bought maternity leggings for $4 when Kohl's had them on sale. They sucked. The belly piece went over the belly nicely, but the back road my back fat in a very uncomfortable way (and I don't really have back fat). Also, flip flops were my Godsend. When my feet swelled, flip flops were all I wore. Can't do that in the colder months! 30) I basically became a heater. Probably because I gained 4lbs of blood and water and a baby and whatever else was going on in my body. I normally sleep with a fleece blanket and a comforter; even in the summer. I could only use my fleece blanket while pregnant. I was surprisingly warm enough. Which leads me to the next sleeping factor... 31) Sleeping naked was a must. Here's why... Besides being hot all the time, waistbands hurt me and shirts bugged the crap outta my body. 32) Being commando all the time was a must. It was super nice being commando. I didn't have to worry about a period making a grand entrance and the waistband and around my thighs weren't hurting. 33) A nice buying tip: the baby grows super fast. And if your baby is born in the fall or winter, chances are the stores only have summer clothes. So make sure you get those larger outfits for the months to come! 34) Ask for larger clothes for that baby shower. It'll help down the road. 35) Shaving stops when you can no longer see down there and when you can no longer bend comfortably to shave your legs. Of course that didn't stop me before I went to the hospital. I cleaned up the best I could from the belly button down, but still managed to miss that one spot on my damn kneecap! 36) Back to baby... Flutters start being felt really early. Feels like gas but it's the baby. They say 16 weeks but I was feeling the flutters at 12 weeks. After the flutters came the kicks and jabs, and the constant wondering if I had a mini Mike Tyson in my belly. Especially when my belly would convulse like she was using my organs as a punching bag. I came across only one random article that explained what that was... Hiccups. Yes, the baby gets hiccups in utero and if your baby is like mine, the damn things continue outside the womb annoying your little bundle of joy like your own hiccups annoy you. 37) Sometimes you'll panic when you don't feel the baby moving much. Babies in the womb still need sleep I was told. If you get no movement at all within 24 hours no matter what you do then definitely call your doctor. (Your doctor should tell you this during a visit.) 38) I was told this: babies hear you and mostly everything around you outside the womb. This is true. My baby would move from her comfy right side to the left just to get closer to where my husband was talking to her. 39) Third trimester is when everything starts getting real, possibly painful, and definitely the feeling of "I'm over this". They mention this on those websites and they're not joking. 40) Every night I popped two tums just to keep the acid reflux down and the heartburn away. They say major heartburn means you've got a hairy baby and they weren't kidding (more on this later). 41) Waddling actually does occur. At first I felt like I was just doing it because I'm pregnant and subconsciously I'm making fun of pregnant ladies you see in movies. But you really do waddle and wonder if your walk will ever be the same again. (Spoiler: it does.) 42) My feet and legs swelled by my 8th month. They were slowly swelling into the third trimester but it was super noticeable towards the end. But I also ran into a health issue which I'll get to later... The swelling actually hurts. It feels like you're walking on water bags and on top of that, the bottom of your feet feel like you walked all of Disney World nonstop for a week straight. Do yourself a favor and put your feet up and rest. I hardly did this. I just had so much stuff I wanted to get done and I don't like asking for help, so I did everything myself until it got to the point where my husband or mother-in-law were yelling at me. 43) Getting a cold while pregnant sucks. Coughing and blowing your nose is kind of hard because you start to worry that your upsetting your baby. Plus, now you gotta think about medicine. What's safe and should you even bother... Luckily your doctor gives a list of safe medications. 44) Swelling in the feet could be something completely different than just the normal "things to expect in your third trimester" so be aware and prepared for problems that can arise that you weren't expecting. Like what happened to me. Even though those monthly appointments turned weekly get annoying, especially when you gotta drive thirty minutes to your appointments, they're not pointless. In week 38 I had protein in my urine and my blood pressure was high. The protein was not a UTI like what I got when I conceived back in December. That protein was a glimpse into something pretty scary if not caught early during pregnancy. It's called pre-eclampsia. Luckily I was two weeks out from my due date so inducing me wasn't too big of an issue. My baby was fully grown. Only way to get rid of pre-eclampsia is to remove the placenta - hence the early birth of my baby. But some mom's aren't this lucky and lemme tell you something. This was something that was never brought up to me during my doctor visits or on the websites I visited. They don't tell you that pre-eclampsia can happen at any point or that it could come back, and possibly worse, in your next pregnancies until you've been tested positive for it. I was in the hospital for five days after giving birth. My kidneys, heart, and platelets were all affected. Thank God I'm cleared now, but knowing about this ahead of time would've been nice. I could've looked for signs which were massive swelling in legs and feet (luckily I had no headaches or blurry vision). But like I said, I was tested positive late in the game. Some mother's aren't. Part 02 will go into labor and the TMI things that go on when you're admitted into the hospital.

#pregnancy #birth #nitty gritty #blog #post #postpartum #childbirth #child #mother #new mother #mom to be

[techouspeaks]

Winx and White Washing

Does the studio really have something against darker skin folks or is it just an over exaggeration by overly sensitive fans? Let’s find out shall we?

To be honest, I’ll just get to the point. Everyone is paler in this and I mean every single one! Don’t believe me?

I mean the yes, someone pointed out that some of the background characters, specifically in World of Winx are darker, but the thing is. Everyone, regardless of them being paler, still knows what representation the two are which leads to my main point. EVERYONE IS PALER! NOT JUST AISHA, NOT JUST FLORA! EVERYONE IS PALER IN THIS! AS WELL AS THE OUTFIT COLORS!

Even Musa, who is the palest one of the bunch, seems to be whiter in season 8 that she would make milk jealous!

The only reason why people point out Aisha and Flora are paler and not even bother to notice the other Winx are paler too, is because Aisha and Flora are darker skin. It’s also not even the fact the skin is lighter, the hair and some of the outfit colors are paler too, mainly the casual outfits. The only thing really dark on the characters in season 8 is the orange, purple, pink and green, because it wasn’t enough for them to turn the Winx into Walmart Barbie Doll rejects, they wanted to blind you as well!

People have pointed out that the background characters in World of Winx, least some of them were darker, including the villain mermaids, but I think this more has to do with style too because again, ALL THE WINX are paler in that as well! 

Wouldn’t even say the colors are paler but more so faded out, with the dark being in the outfits and hair, probably to give it that classic culture look. As for why some of the background characters are darker, probably this is a stylistic choice that is actually very common in anime and Disney movies. It’s to make the main characters stand out. It’s easier to spot the main characters if the main cast are brightly colored and easy to spot amongst the darker faded backgrounds and in crowds of people. Again, if it was done out of discrimination, Aisha nor Flora would be as focused on as they were nor treated as respectful strong characters. Even with their paler coloration, everyone who knows Winx would know what representation Aisha and Flora are. so it wouldn’t even make sense to make them paler for a discriminatory reason. They can’t hide it, they know fans know these characters and shoot, with just the hair style and hair color Aisha and Flora have, people know very well what race they are representing, regardless if the skin is lighter. People automatically know it!

(In fact, honestly, I think Tecna lacks the most development in WoW if we were to really be honest. She always gets the slack. Flora and Aisha are the more popular characters.)

Also, the darker skin characters that they do have like Tiger Lily here wouldn’t be as bad ass or respectable as a character if it was done intentionally for a hateful reason. They’re still seen as strong, powerful and even wise characters and again, ALL the Winx are given this same, faded out, brighter treatment. It’s just because again, Aisha and Flora are darker, is the real reason why people complain.

I know some people will disagree or a lot will say “It’s still white washing regardless how cool they make the character!” And I say “Then guess what! They white washed all the Winx then by that logic because they’re all paler too, including most of their frickin’ clothes and if you want to ignore that, than you’re basically proving that you have some bias ideals yourself!” All the girls got the same treatment! All the Winx became paler so if it’s about equality, there’s no need to complain because even the clothing colors got washed out too!  If it was just the skin, I may reconsider this but it’s not. It’s also their hair and clothing and I know they don’t wear the same exact things as the older seasons, but like with the denim Bloom wears and what they usually wear, you can tell the color changes within the outfits.

I’m all about feminism and equality but here’s the thing. It’s important to know the difference between real prejudice intentions and what is not because so many people who claim to be feminists, end up being just as vile as the people who are really against equality and freedom. In fact, they’re on the same boat just reasons switched around. There’s too many people like that, which is why it’s important to know when something is and when something isn’t prejudice.

To me, being all the Winx got paler and faded including their hair and even clothing in World of Winx and Winx season 8, I conclude it wasn’t a racist intention. If it was just their skin that was paler, maybe but it’s not. To me, I think people are just so sensitive and want to look for something racist or prejudice that they end up seeing nothing but that, while ignoring the important facts that debunk this reasoning. 

If you honestly still think it’s white washing, go ahead and believe that and you can go ahead and say how ignorant or other colorful language you have in your vocabulary about me. (Ya see what I did there? Haha...) There’s a reason why I don’t look at notes when I post these things because I really don’t care what people say about me. I’ve been called all kinds of things under the sun and criticized as wrong for having an opinion. So what’s stopping ya? Ya’ know?

Before anyone says “I don’t understand what it means to be discriminated for my race” because that’s another one people scream at me when I don’t agree with something they believe is a race related issue, I do. I’m Asian American and Native American mix. In case you don’t realize, Asians and Native Americans are often the ones getting the most ignored and the least represented in Western culture. As well as I’ve been personally discriminated at for being biracial and so if you honestly really don’t think I understand because I simply don’t agree with you...

But I personally think that this is just a case of “oh the darker skin characters are slightly paler in a different style! Let’s riot!” and ignoring the facts staring them in the face. I’m not even joking! In Precure, people rioted for Cure Solei’s plushie being slightly lighter despite colors translate slightly differently in plush form...

So yeah, that’s what I have to say about it. I’m sure I’ve made some or a lot of people mad for disagreeing. I’m not gonna change my views for something that should be obvious. I also would like to point out that I think it’s even more pointless ranting on about it being white washing when it’s an Italian cartoon and most people moaning about it are from America, where we kinda have no power over trying to fix problems like that. Italians may have a different view on said subjects, so that’s another thing on why I am tired of the moaning. It’s not in our hands! We have absolutely no say in it! It’s not like Disney where if they make us unhappy we vote to retaliate and boycott their stuff! We’re not the main demographic for the show! Rainbow is like “Okay, we’ll let you show our crap in English!” that’s it! They can just get revenue from those in their own country alone and it’s probably cheaper that way too! 

So that’s my rant! Seeya in the next review!

#Winx #winx club #world of winx #winx 8 #winx season 8 #winx s8