Tumgik
#while human mom is focused on surprise parenting and working with what u got
just-rhys-things · 3 years
Text
Have I decided on a whim to make a matching short story for my mermaid who adopts a human baby, making one where a human adopts a mermaid baby instead?
Of course.
Is she a single, working fisher-mom who gets help from folks in town for communal childcare while she's off making that coin?
Hell yeah.
Does her 6yo keep trying to walk into the sea every night?
Yes, and she's trying really hard to make sure her kid doesn't drown
0 notes
yourmcu · 3 years
Text
Mesmerized (ii)
Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader
Request:
@lostaurorax​ said:
hii!! i love ur writing i was wondering if u could write a natasha x reader fic were reader is part of the guardians of the galaxy and they come to the compound and natasha is just starstruck but reader plays kinda hard to get and then just a bunch of fluff !
Word count: 2,551
A/n: basically a day out with Natasha. you like having her around. she likes having you around. Part 2/? (more notes at the end of the fic!)
Warnings: mostly fluff, but ending’s pretty angsty (help), some thor fluff in the beginning, jealous!nat if you squint
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Tumblr media
gif not mine!! credits to the owner^^
Tumblr media
After Natasha left your room she immediately goes straight to hers. She barely falls asleep.
She stares at the ceiling, absorbed in her own thoughts. She tries to shake away the heat rushing to her face whenever the moment you kissed her on the cheek replays on her mind. All it took is someone like you to get one of the toughest people in the compound turn into mush.
She never believes in the ‘love at first sight’ bullshit because, well, it is bullshit. It’s impossible to love someone you just met. But who knows, right? You might just be an exception.
No, Natasha frowns. I just like her... a lot. It’s different.
The next morning, her run consists of her planning out the date day with you, where she’d take you first and stuff. She stops by the front gate of the compound, suddenly worrying. She wants to impress you. But what if you don’t like what she had in store? What if you think she's boring?
You're the type of person that almost likes everything and you’d express it kindly if you don’t. Boring you should be the last thing on Natasha’s mind.
Natasha walks into the kitchen to hydrate herself but halts once she saw the mess you and Thor had all over the counters.
“Wait, hold on- no, that’s - oh god, Thor, that’s too much batter!” You smack him on the arm and laugh, tilting your head a bit to figure out how you’d get the large pancake out of the pan.
“Oops,” Thor says sheepishly, turning around to put the bowl back on the counter, noticing Natasha’s confusion. “Oh don’t worry, Natasha, we’ll clean up after we’re done.”
The mention of the redhead makes you turn as well. “Good morning, Nat.” You beam. Normally, Natasha would sent a glare to anyone who calls her that, someone who isn’t a close friend, but with you... instead of a glare her eyes light  up. Giving you a small smile, she greets you back.
“I thought you were going out?” She questions, passing by you to reach the fridge.
“We were, but IHOP’s closed, under maintenance they said,” Thor sighs and you hum in response. “It’s quite alright. I heard you guys are going out anyway-”
Natasha lowers the water bottle from her lips, staring at him. “You heard?”
You spin around to clean up after turning off the stove. ‘I didn’t tell him anything,’ you mouth to her, which makes her think Steve somehow knows of it already.
Thor lets out a laugh, grabbing the whole pan and twiddling his fork, “you two have fun.” He winks and walks out of the room.
-----
“They were so cute,” you look back at the newly engaged couple near the window of the restaurant. “And really, you didn’t have to pay. I can pay you back.”
Later that afternoon the both of you headed out. Natasha parked her car somewhere and since it was a nice day, not too hot or anything, you both strolled around the city to find a place to have brunch.
“Y/N, it’s fine. I’m the one who asked you out.” Natasha chuckles, remembering the way you pouted in there begging her to let you pay at least for your own food.
You huff, smiling. “Fine. But I’m getting you back.”
So far you were having a good time with her. You got to know each other more, she told you stories about some of the team’s missions from other countries which were relatively rare, her first encounters with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, and in return you told her some about your out-of-this-world missions with the guardians.
And no you didn’t tell her about the history of moon rocks or some shit, nor did you promise to bring her back some. Who even collects those nowadays? Natasha was more interested about your early life, on Earth, which you were thankful for. You were taken away from your father (the only parent you preferred and loved) who was pure human one day by your alien-freak of a mother which you inherited your fire powers from.
You don’t like talking about it. But with her you're surprisingly comfortable.
Natasha smirks. “So we’re going out again sometime?”
“Of course we are.” After two seconds of pure confidence you wish you didn’t say that out loud. “Well, you know, I won’t force you to something you don’t want it’s - it’s your call.”
You're in the middle of telling her about your favorite bar and diner, the one your father always takes you as a child and you even paid a visit there the last time you were on Earth.
“Huh. Isn’t that the one that just closed?” She recalls
“No, really?” You drag out the ‘no’, sighing. “They’re the best. They make their own iced tea and beer and stuff... and - oh!”
You feel something rub against your ankle: a fluffy dog who's looking up at you with its tongue out and its tail was wagging wildly. Natasha raises her eyebrows, her eyes trailing to the abandoned leash behind it.
“Hey there,” you kneel down to pet it with caution just incase its intention is to bite you. But it seems to be happy and tame. “Look, Nat, s’adorable.” Natasha chuckles briefly and starts looking around for a person who looks frantic and is finding, calling a dog. 
“This fella belongs to the animal center.” You caress the dog behind its ear while you read the information on its collar.
It isn’t that far, it seems like the dog just escaped as well because the guy running the center was unaware of its absence.
“Thanks!” Said guy smiles in appreciation, reaching out to take the leash out of your hand. Natasha’s mind is focused on how the guy looks at you for the first time. It's the exact same look she gave you that night. Mesmerized, as if it was love at first sight. She doesn’t miss how his hand brushes yours, completely intentional. “I don’t know what I’d do if you hadn’t returned him. The pups here just grew out of their mom’s milk and are very hyper. It’s a lot of work.”
You're completely oblivious to this, you’re just glad the dog is back to where he belongs.
“No problem, he’s very sweet.” You smile politely. “Are they up for adoption? It would really help you out if they were, you know, and this one here is well behaved.”
At this point Natasha’s just eyeing the guy like he’d pounce on you any minute now. He’s definitely into you and she doesn’t like it.
“You’re welcome to stop by anytime,” he grins, ignoring your suggestion. “Can I have your number?”
“Oh, I don’t have a phone...” you trail off.
“That’s right, she doesn’t.” Natasha steps in and she catches the guy off guard and surprised that the Black Widow is actually with you the whole time. Natasha intertwines her hand with yours, pleased with his dumbfounded reaction. “We’ll be on our way now.”
You didn’t expect that but you weren’t complaining. Her hands were soft, and it brought this comforting feeling you couldn’t explain. But you clear your throat once the both of you are a few blocks away from the center.
“Sorry, he gave me an off vibe,” Natasha mutters and removes her hand from yours.
“Don’t be, I appreciate you looking out,” you smiles. Her car was getting into view now. “If it helps you sleep at night though, he wasn’t my type.” You joke.
Turns out you weren’t completely oblivious.
Natasha merely scoffs, getting in the driver’s seat and starting the engine.
After the dog incident you both drove around different parts of the city. You went to a different mall to stroll around, commenting on anything you both saw that would somehow lead to a stupid story that happened at some point in your lives.
A local artsy bookstore, not gonna lie Natasha liked reading a good book when she had the time. So did you. It was nice to know that she’s the type of person who liked reading. Quill always got annoyed with you whenever he saw you reading silently in the ship (but when was he not annoyed with you?). The only ones that was willing to try and read back in space were Mantis and Gamora, bless her soul.
“These are good,” you mutter to Natasha. “All my books are on the ship, I think, but if I get to them I’ll let you read my favorite one... if you want.”
Last stop of the day. Natasha claims it’s a surprise.
“I don’t do well with surprises,” you whine, holding back a smile. “Just tell me.”
“No. And besides, we’re already here.” Natasha chuckles.
Your eyes light up on how stunning the scenery was. An edge of the cliff and below is a beach that doesn’t look like it’s visited by people everyday. The beautiful sunset, the sky made up of purple, orange and almost pink magnifies the calmness of the waves crawling gently to the shore.
“I always come here whenever I need to,” she says silently and exhales, walking over to you. “It’s the perfect place to go whenever those idiots get on my nerves.” You laugh lightly at her reasoning.
Natasha pats a spot on the grass beside her. She holds her gaze on you as you sit down, sighing. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah,” she manages to stop staring at you and look up at the sky instead. It's getting darker by the minute, the orange and pinkness started to fade as the sun went down, all of it replaced by light purple, darker shade of blue.
You're used to different colored skies. It would always vary and depend on what planet you were on, plus you always see those stars shimmering up above, so your focus is on the water and the waves. The way they move calms you.
“Thank you for today,” you murmur. “I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t expect any of this happening.”
Natasha hums. “I hope I wasn’t too boring.”
“Of course not, I think you’re very interesting and you’re fun to be with.” You say genuinely.
Once the sun is fully down and the moon had taken over the sky, the both of you get up to head back to the compound. “Eating out here would’ve been nice but Steve’s in charge with dinner, he wouldn’t be too happy if he knew we already ate.” The car ride back is silent, but the good kind. A content, comfortable one.
Okay so, your stay took more than a few weeks. 
You grew close with the amazing group of people, plus your good relationship with Natasha just kept growing and... just got better.
Thor stayed too because he didn’t have a choice, but he didn’t mind. Rocket left one pod for both of you to use that’ll send you to wherever Quill’s ship was up there. 
You and Natasha went out when you had the chance, taking turns treating each other to stuff. You learned that Thor included your books when he packed you a bag, and now Natasha was borrowing one of them.
Sometimes you’d join them on missions. You did a great job every time, not wanting to be a burden to a team you weren’t officially in. Sometimes you’d join Steve into a sparring session at the compound’s gym.
Speaking of which, he’s treating both you and Natasha as if you’re dating.
“Would you look at that, your girl managed to give me a bruise. She’s a keeper.” Steve tells Natasha.
“You totally deserve that.”
You also started sparring with Natasha. And Tony caught on with the whole ‘dating’ thing from Steve.
“Oooh, am I interrupting something here?” Tony smirks. He's going back and forth visiting the compound and coming home to his wife and daughter at their cabin. It's working out though. “I think the mat’s unsanitary. Take this to the bedroom.”
“Oh shut up, Y/N was just working on her tackling.” Natasha grunts, leaving you sprawled  on the mat, exhausted. “It’s getting sloppy. We’ll go again in a minute.”
-----
“Y/N,” The devastating tone of Natasha’s voice makes you look up. “Quill’s calling. He’s looking for you.”
“What?” She doesn’t answer but instead motions you to follow. In her office is a hologram of your fellow half-human and he looks distraught.
You step in front of the hologram so he can see you. 
“What happened to a few weeks, L/N? It’s been almost three months!” Quill says. “Look, come back, bring Thor with you. Our distress signal goes off almost every day and we can’t keep doing this without both of you.”
“Alright, how much time do I have before you lose your cool?” You reply sarcastically, but you're also worried and didn’t want to leave. You know better than to argue with the guy.
Natasha doesn’t want you to leave so suddenly. There’s limited communication between you and her once you go back up there. She grew attached to you.
Quill gives you an obvious look. “As soon as possible! Just - just get back here, please?” Then he abruptly ends the call.
You roll your eyes and left the room to pack, barely noticing Natasha hunched over, visibly sad and anxious that you’re leaving.
She loves you, and now you’re leaving without that knowledge.
You told Thor about it when he passed by the open door of your room. He didn’t look thrilled to be leaving so suddenly. After packing everything up (on his part it wasn’t that much) he offered to carry your bag for you as you said your farewells.
“Sorry guys, duty calls,” you sigh, hugging everyone. “Seeing as Tony’s not here just tell him I’ll miss him or something.”
“Will you come visit soon?” Wanda asks as she pulls away from your hug.
“Definitely.” You turn your head when Steve nudges you, nodding his head to the direction where Natasha is shifting, pacing, avoiding any eye contact.
You walk over to her. She tries holding back tears as you did. She grew attached to you and now you’re leaving. “Hey Nat,” you cup her face, trying to get her to look at you. “I’m sorry. I don’t wanna leave either, not right now, but-”
Natasha kisses you, pulling you close to her as much as possible. Tears fully streaming down her face. She’s never felt this way before, about anybody, for a long time.
But let’s face it, you both know you loved each other. Maybe the both of you just knew that if you got together, it’ll be extremely hard for your relationship once you left. The long distance relationship thing. Even if you aren’t, it's already too painful for Natasha, like she's caught off guard or something. None of you knew that today's your last night on Earth.
“I’m gonna miss you.” Natasha whispers after pulling away.
You smile sympathetically, wiping her tears away with your thumb. “You know I’ll come back, right, pretty girl?” Natasha exhales shakily and pulls you into a hug.
“You better.”
----
I found a song for this fic-series whatever, please I’m so proud of myself the song reminds me of this story
I’M ANNOYED THAT I HAVEN’T PUT IN MUCH ABOUT THE READER’S FIRE ABILITIES IN THIS ONE BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY ANYWAY (they’re on a date she wouldn’t need it for anything)
368 notes · View notes
babygirlizz · 3 years
Text
izzie’s favorite movies and tv shows of 2020 (aka the worst year ever)
another year, another movie and tv show review. this year has, to put it simply, sucked. 2020 has been so terribly awful that sometimes the only light you can see are the absolute bangers of movies and tv shows that came out this year. with that being said, some of the movies and tv shows didn't come out in 2020. if the are mentioned in this post it is because they either: had a season come out this year, i found them this year, or they became popular this year.
SPOILERS: it may not come as a surprise but just in case you didn't realize, there will be many spoilers ahead, read at your own risk.
tw // death, suicide, drug use, mild adult language. if any of these things might trigger you, i strongly urge you not to read this post.
there is no specific order of these shows and movies, i'm just writing as they come to mind. if you enjoy any of these movies or tv shows, or if you have any suggestions for me, please let me know!
TV SHOWS
1) Santa Clarita Diet
Okay, so I know this show doesn't have anything to do with 2020. But, I found this show in 2020. I put it off for a while, thinking it wasn't my style of a show, but boy was I wrong. I loved this show. Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore) is a normal suburban wife and mom. She is a real estate agent with her husband Joel (Timothy Olyphant). She struggles with the fact that she isn't very adventurous. This all changes when she throws up an insane amount at a house showing. She then finds herself craving adventure, and craving human flesh. Yeah, she's a zombie. Not only is this show super hilarious, but it also shows the growth that they have with their characters and their family. I'm also team Abby (Liv Hewson) and Eric (Skyler Gisondo).
Tumblr media
2) Outer Banks
So, I'm from NC. And, watching this show at first bothered me because I can very obviously tell this show isn't actually filmed in the obx, and the geography isn't exact, but once I got past that, I loved it. John B (Chase Stokes) is a teenager that lives in the poor side of the outer banks. He has a friend group called the Pogues which consists of JJ (Rudy Pankow), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), and Kie (Madison Bailey). They absolutely hate the Kooks, which are the rich kids. A while after John B's dad gets lost at sea, presumed dead, the group finds some evidence that may solve the mystery, and make them rich. In the process, John B falls in love with a Kook names Sarah (Madelyn Cline) whose father Ward (Charles Esten) may have a little more to do with the mystery than he let on. Through friendship, murder, and secrets, the gang may just figure out what happened to John B's dad.
Tumblr media
3) Love, Victor
Alright. I loved loved loved Love, Simon. I also really loved the book "Simon vs. the Homosapien Agenda." So, when I heard about this show, I was so excited. Victor (Michael Cimino) is a teenage boy that moved to Creekwood with his family. He meets Felix (Anthony Turpel) who lives in his building. He also meets Mia (Rachel Hilson) and they begin dating. But, he also meets Benji (George Sear). While trying to get used to a new school, new friends, and a new relationship, Victor finds himself questioning his sexuality. With the help of Simon (Nick Robinson) and his friends, Victor finds it in himself to finally come out, and he admits his feelings, for Benji. This is such a good show, but I was so upset when season 1 ended on a cliff-hanger.
Tumblr media
4) The Haunting of Bly Manor
The sequel to The Haunting of Hill House. Now listen, haunting of hill house was an absolute banger. When I saw that Bly came out I nearly died. I was so excited. But, I was alone in my apartment and also a lil bitch. So, I had to wait a week until I was home with my family to watch it. Now, I was so excited to be scared, and there were a few jump scares and ominous moments, but this season was more centered around the story line of Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) and her new life in a foreign country. When seeing an ad for a live in job as an au pair. When she gets there, she meets the two young children she’ll be looking out for and the other workers of the house, including the gardener, Jamie (Amelia Eve). Throughout her stay at Bly she begins to notice weird behaviors from both children and by the end of the series she sacrifices herself for the children. Sadly, this story is being told by Jamie who Dani had fallen in love with during her stay at Bly. Now I was somewhat upset about the lack of horror, but was still very intrigued and drawn in by this series.
Tumblr media
5) Julie and the Phantoms
Alright, at first I was not gonna watch this show. I thought it looked a little too young and childish for me, but everyone was talking about it on twitter so I had to. I. Love. This. Show. This show centers around Julie (Madison Reyes). Julie is a teenage girl who, sadly, lost her mother. The one major thing she shared with her mom, was their love for music. Since her mothers passing, she gave up music. This is until, dead musicians from the 90′s show up in her garage. Luke (Charlie Gillespie), Alex (Owen Joyner), and Reggie (Jeremy Shada) all tragically passed away in the 90′s after eating bad street hotdogs. When Julie finds their CD in her garage, she decides to play it and they come back in ghost form. But, only she can see them. With their help, she finds her confidence to play music again. Also, she has to find away for them to stay because they’re slowly disappearing. 
Tumblr media
6) Derry Girls
Bitch. I love this show. And yeah it didn’t come out in 2020. Shut up. I found this show recently after watching the cast on the holiday special of the Great British Baking Show. I loved the actors so I had to watch the show. This show focuses on Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) a 16 year old girl that lives in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 90′s. Alongside her is her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland), her two friends Clare (Nicola Coughlan) and Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), and Michelle’s English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn). During these years, a lot of people in Ireland struggled, especially because it was during wartime. Even thought this show isn’t focused heavily around the war, it’s amazing to see these teens live a fulfilling life while struggling with the state of their country, and the lack of money that their families have. 
Tumblr media
7) Elite
HA. This show did have a season in 2020 so leave me alone. But bro, I love this show. At first, I didn’t watch it because I thought I could only watch the dubbed version in English, which I hate. I hate dubbed shows they look so weird. But, once I found out I could watch this show in Spanish, I fell in love. But, sadly, theres too damn much to talk about in one little post. It’s crazy. But basically it just follows the lives of teens in high school that are trying to survive. And no, not in the “I’m surviving high school,” sense. No, people be getting murdered. 
Tumblr media
MOVIES (tbh i didn’t find a lot of movies good this year lmk which movies u liked this year and maybe i’ll like them!)
1) All the Bright Places
After the death of her sister, Violet (Elle Fanning) is devastated. She closes herself off, and has her parents get her out of doing school work that involves working with others. But, as time goes on, they realize she may need to start to move on. Violet then meets Finch (Justice Smith) who is enamored by Violet. He suggests they do a project together. While finding and visiting some of the smallest wonders of their state, they begin to fall for each other. While you are focusing on Violet and her mental health, you tend to miss some of the signs that Finch’s mental health isn’t great either, but by the time you do, it could be too late. 
Tumblr media
2) Dangerous Lies
Hmm. This was weird for me. I had only ever seen Camila Mendes in Riverdale, and honestly, not a fan. So, Katie (Camila Mendes) and her husband Adam (Jessie T. Usher) are struggling with money. Katie decides to take a job working for an elderly man, and eventually gets her husband hired there as well. Unfortunately, he dies, but for some odd reason, leaves the house and all of his fortune, to Katie. As they get comfortable in the house, they begin to uncover some very weird and dangerous lies. 
Tumblr media
3) The Devil All the Time
Ok. Iconic. You got so many hot men in this movie. Bill Skarsgård, Sebastian Stan, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson. C’mon now. That’s crazy. But, this story is so long and in depth that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. This movie is a bit disturbing. It involves murder, sexual assault, killing of animals, and so much more so if that’s an issue for you please do not watch this movie. It was also quite long, but it was still good.
Tumblr media
4) After We Collided
Okay just listen. I was that teenager. I read wattpad stories and was, embarrassingly, addicted to After. This was not a great movie per say, but it was After. This is a sequel to the movie After. This movie centers around Tessa (Josephine Langford) and her recovery after her breakup with Hardin (Hero Fiennes Tiffin). Theres sex, alcohol, bad acting. The whole nine-yards. But c’mon, they’re so cute together.
Tumblr media
5) To All the Boys p.s. I Still Love You
Okay it was a good movie. I enjoyed it. This movie focuses on Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and her boyfriend Peter (Noah Centineo) and their relationship post the first movie. But of course relationships aren’t super steady, and John Ambrose McClaren (Jordan Fisher) shows up. Yeah, John Ambrose, from her letter. They become closer and Lara Jean has to decide who she wants to be with. Spoiler, it’s Peter. BOOOOOOO justice for John Ambrose McClaren, he deserved better. 
Tumblr media
186 notes · View notes
ad1thi · 4 years
Note
If your still doing fic recs, could u rec any soft stevetony ones?
absolutely!! this got pretty long so ive hidden most of it under a read-more so i don’t annoy people. a couple of authors feature more than once. ive tried to avoid that as much as possible, but if an author features more than once - take that as a sign that they have rly good stuff for soft stevetony
disclaimer: don’t forget to leave kudos and comments for every author!! (a disclaimer i regrettably forgot to add to previous fic rec lists but will be adding from now on)
soda pops: @starklysteve
If anybody asks, Steve would smile and say it was very romantic. Very Tony. Because if he went into any further detail, nobody would quite believe him.
Tony, on the other hand, would laugh and say that Steve’s in love with a man in a can. So, really, it wasn’t outside the natural progression of things.
me voy pa’l pueblo: @firebrands
two times steve walks away, and one time that tony walks with him.
/ or, my very fluffy take on my bingo card prompt "farewells." steve is on vacation when he meets tony.
fill for my stony bingo prompt: farewells; also for bookworminaslump on tumblr who asked for a tourist/knowledgeable local au!
Tumblr Ficlets:  @omg-just-peachy (this is 115 chapters of stevetony being soft!!)
A collection of enough tooth-rotting fluff to last a year, all in one place.
tender offerings: @omg-just-peachy
Five times Steve carried Tony to bed.
the best thing (is that it’s happening to you and me):  @captainstarkreportingforduty
Or, five times the team saw Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in love.
Sweet On You: @miniblackraven
It’s the 1940’s and Tony is working as a Donut Doll for the Red Cross. His job is to go around to various military bases and offer comfort food and conversation to homesick soldiers. He’s come to expect a lot of things in this job, but he doesn’t expect to fall in love with Captain America, the hottest most awkward soldier Tony has ever met.
Bespectacled Avengers Society (Membership of One):  @baffledkingcomposinghallelujah
Tony gets glasses. Glasses get a Tony. Steve loses his mind and walks into walls.
a flower crown for your love: @anthonyed
"There, there," Pepper cooed. "Tony likes flowers?" she said with a shred of doubt in her tone. But when Steve peered up, she's smiling her bright toothy smile. He squinted and she sighed, dropping her hand from his shoulder. "He does." she insisted. "Even more so than me."
if this was a movie: @omg-just-peachy
“One of our seniors is being generous with his time this year—by force of his own actions, but generous none the less—and he’d be happy to help you, I’m sure. Tony Stark? I’ll set something up for later this week. I think between the two of you you’ll be able to pull your average up enough to make it through to playoffs,” Coulson said, with that ever-hopeful lilt in his voice.
Or, Steve needs a calculus tutor, Tony is available, but how is Steve ever supposed to focus when he's been in love with Tony for ... his entire school life?
you take me higher than the rest (everybody else is second best): @firebrands
tumblr fill for adi & anthonydarling, who asked for "'Prank' war, but the kind to see who can make the other blush the most in public" from this prompt list
amore mio:  @brucewaynery
Tony has had it with Steve being dumb and reckless out in the field, he has a family to think about now, Steve promises him that he'll be with him, kingdom come.
(initially based on that one headcanon about Italian Tony yelling and gesticulating at Steve but Peter thinks he's doing some weird dance and tries to copy him, but it got very fluffy very quickly)
Lost My Mind in a Coffee Shop: @betheflame
“Boyo,” Bucky muttered to his best friend. “I swear to God that if you don’t ask that man for his number soon, I will create a Grindr profile for you and you will not like it.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “I am here to finish grading, not hit on men.”
“Can you not do both?” Natasha smirked. “Nearly tenured, historical genius, feels like something you should be able to multitask.”
&&&
In which Steve is a history professor and Tony's an engineering one and Bucky owns the joint where they have their meet cute.
AU-gust Chapter 7: @iam93percentstardust 
stevetony, childhood friends AU
Right Up The Road: @gottalovev
The day at the senate committee in Washington DC wasn't supposed to end with Tony and Steve transformed into animals by a baby witch. That said, the 350 miles trek back to the compound to get help promises to be quite an adventure too!
(or the adventures of Cat!Tony and Wolf!Steve - and how to readjust when you're back to human!)
i’ll take care of you: @elcorhamletlive
“Hi.”
Steve blinks. The sound of loud thunder roars outside, but he doesn’t jolt, too focused on the image in front of him to be startled by the noise.
He has no idea what to say, and he isn’t sure if the shock is because of Tony’s absolutely sodden state – his hair glued to his forehead, his clothes dripping with water, forming a small puddle in front of Steve’s door – or because he wasn’t expecting to see Tony for at least three more days.
“Hi?” he says, a little tentative, before his brain catches up to reality. In his defense, he was getting ready to sleep when Tony knocked. He looks at what Tony is holding – a wet mess that seems to have been a flower bouquet at some point. “What are you doing here?”
The Tally System:  @betheflame
Everyone on the team knew about the tally system.
Whenever Steve would save Tony - whether from a monster or from his own stupidity - he’d say, “tag”. Whenever Tony do the same, he’d say, “your turn”. Thor thought it was adorable, Clint thought it was ridiculous, Bruce refused to register an opinion.
Natasha thought it was something she could work with.
what’s mine is yours: @robertdowneyjjr
5 times Tony stole Steve’s clothes, and 1 time Steve returned the favor.
or
For a billionaire, Tony Stark really doesn't pay for a lot of what he wears.
I like Shiny Things But I’d Marry You With Paper Rings: @betheflame
Rhodey: I just confirmed with Sam that he’s going to make sure he cooks tonight and that his entire team is briefed. I’m heading over now to strategically arrange a fuck ton of ficus trees to block them from gen pop.
Pepper: They’re not getting engaged in a prison, Jimmy.
Rhodey: Tony Stark and Steve Rogers show up to Circe on a Saturday night in May and you watch every person in that restaurant turn into someone I’d rather arrest than eat with.
****
In which Tony and Steve get engaged, but they're kind of extra about it, because they are always themselves
the road to the stars: @shell-heads
Tony is seven years old when he sees the ballet for the first time and meets his future pas de deux partner.
His father is invited to sweet-talk politicians into a new weapons deal and explain his latest idea for their program, and his mom goes to catch up with old friends she hasn't seen in years, but Tony goes because his mom had smiled down at him and told him he would love it.
His mom's never wrong.
-
In which boy genius Tony Stark meets girl wonder Natasha Romanoff at the ballet, and they fit their broken little pieces together to make something beautiful on the dance floor.
Steve? He's just a dumb, awful, chaotic, extremely supportive older brother that really should just shut up and admit he likes Tony a lot more than he pretends, because Natasha only has five people in the world she likes; it only makes sense her two favorites would fall in love with one another.
They always were a little slow, though.
A Second Chance To Take it Slow: @omg-just-peachy
Tony loves his adopted son, Peter, but that doesn't stop him from wishing he had someone to do this whole parenting thing with. After a failed one night stand, Tony's parent-teacher conference with Mr. Rogers comes with quite the surprise.
Wake Up!: @randomstufffromotherblogs
Tony came home from a business trip and is woken up by his husband and their three-year old.
pull me closer to love:  @captainstakreportingforduty (part of a series)
“A Mother’s Day card? For... Tony?” Steve clarifies, and can’t help the smile on his face as six familiar little heads nod in response.
“But... guys, Tony’s not—“ he pauses and takes a breath, any explanation dying in his throat against the excited gleam in everyone’s eyes. “Why do you guys want to do that, hmm?"
compromises:  @robertpattisons (when i looked up OP on tumblr, this is the blog i was directed to - but i sincerely apologise if ive gotten it wrong)
Steve should have expected it, he really should have.
There were regulations that came with dating Tony Stark. Things that were clear and things that they needed to work through.
Things like how Steve always got strawberry ice cream, while Tony got rocky road. Or when Steve needed to get his homework done before he was down to make out - even though Tony always got his way.
Things like that were clear
all that you are is all that i’ll ever need: @natasharxmanov
Tony Stark and Steve Rogers announced their engagement on Good Morning America through Tony Stark’s previous secretary now CEO, Pepper Potts. And over this past weekend, I got the chance to sit down with them both, to visit their home and attend their gala, all to write this article about the most powerful couple in the world.
(Or, the fic in which Tony and Steve get married.)
(i won’t ever) trade my mistakes: @brucewaynery
Toddler Peter, painting a masterpiece with his dad.
aka: a dumb amount of family fluff to help you power through the week
195 notes · View notes
shytiff · 3 years
Text
Jan 2021 Wins
ive “journaled” for 6 months now. it started as small ___ wins because when you feel rly empty, even doing the bare minimum feels like a win. written down some of the wins. i think until now i’d like to keep the “win” part. a win against my shadow sometimes. a win in life. some things to be grateful for. a win for remembering it later in the future. i know some days im just basically doing nothing.  there are a lot of wars not won by me. but im still tryna ✨manifest✨
1 - woke up. watched bts’ 2021 seasons greetings. read trap city. afternoon nap. pupuy’s mbah passed away. i got DOMS in my body even though i did the barest of exercise yesterday (frail, i know). shower, matcha latte.
2 - the x banner atikah and i sent for racil post thesis defense has arrived lmaoo. mom made delicious (and sweet) fried banana. did some studying (more than usual, bcs the bar is on the floor)
3 - ate muesli, 3 risols. Kopsus coklat at flavola. Stayed there from 12-ish to 17:30 lmaooo. weekly bahas soal w/ fi. Rapat nemo
4 - first day of collab module. Barely cicil ukmppd. My mood is normal-ish but i hardly have the will to study. Dinner is fried fish with mentai sauce, potato wedges, and saladdd by mom
5 - collab module, qa presentation for rsui reps. finished reviewing tryout 2 solid. did padi pretest (got 66,5). ate chicken porridge, a bit of muesli and vsoy, tan ek tjoan bread, matcha latte, fish and chicken and potato wedges and salad, fried banana. i ate well today lol.
6 - slept during collab webinar, went to clara’s place to study osce and attended padi together. i ate well at clara’s placeee lol. ate nastar, kusuka, white kwetiaw with soup (?), and lele goreng. went back home @ 9 pm. i feel refreshed. even though we’ve half studied half mukbang all day. human interaction rly does heal me. i need human interaction more than i think. at night i dreamed about going to bali, to waterparks, seeing sea creatures, watching a movie displayed on a concert-like stage and screen at the front row. 
7 - woke up at 07:55, finished my part for collab group work. felt a bit tired today. the rest of fam went to DM, and when they were on the way back i HURRIED my way out, not even taking a shower lmaoo. got pistachio matcha latte at starbucks dm. now im more skilled in searching the best spot in a cafe to distance myself from people lmao. the matcha latte is served with some sort of pistachio cream and sprinkled with nuts on top. its like when sbux had taro matcha latte and it had purple cream on top. the pistachio taste is quite strong. reviewed TO 1 padi, sent proposals for nemo sponsorship.
8 - did syndrome try out and padi 2 web try out. studied for osce and padi @ clara’s place. wanted to order pizza since clara bought me food before, but she insisted in ordering lmaoo. so dinner is pizza hut
9 - woke up at 11.00 lmao. havent had breakfast. lunch is muesli with the brand new delishhh chocolate granola and cimory banana milk. did one shot try out, got 71. had a google meet with Prof Agus (that ethics book ghostwriting job from a year ago is not finished until now huaaa) that went from 20.00ish and finished at 22.30,,,,, reviewed syndrome try out along the way. havent made my collab self reflection hhhh. i also need to study for osce. also havent edited article for bukang solid. and there goes my saturday nooo
10 - i swear i keep waking up late lmao. Flavola w atikah, racheel later came with wawa. Kopsus coklat and ukmppd class w dr yudo. After class i just talked at flavola (and ended not studying osce at all for sunday). Went to racheel's to pray and talk some more. Hurriedly went back for booty call with fi, watched konser dies natalis first. Tryout and sum study with fi and clar that went from 20:30 to 00:10. Powered by left over kopsus and 2 snackit pia. Rip my sleeping schedule
11 - woke up at 10:30 ish, the lack of meal and horrible sleep pattern (for my standard) produced stuffy nose during the day and a bit of headache that went away for a bit after i ate. Late bfast is muesli, drank protein, ate tan ek tjoan, plus 2 brownies in the evening. Tht coaching w dr niken. Did self reflection for collab. Had dinner without rice, as usual. Ukmppd class w dr ayu. Finished reflection at 21:30 lmao (deadline is 23:55). Tryna sleep and my nose is still itchy and i sneeze a more often. i hope it goes away 2mrw
12 - DV coaching, scele tryout, took a nap before padi cause my head kind of hurts. Les padi while drinking matcha with vsoy less sugar and no added sugar. I can withstand the horrible sugarless cy matcha taste bcs theres a taste of soy. Didnt do anything else. Havent studied osce on my own until now. Astagfirullah
13 - my head still kind of aches. Its goes away when im eating. im eating so well during the weekdays that i gained 2kgs lmao. lazed around the first half of the day. padi. finally tried saint matcha and damnn its an amazing upgrade from Cy matcha. the green color is super different yall. Cy’s green looks sick and tired compared to saint matcha. the taste? immaculate (although coco deli is more fragrant). caffeine? hits. awake and feel normal? yes. messaged an ao3 author and got replied and turns out she’s making a sequel for my fav fic of hers. yay
14 - osce practice w ara ren ness. bedah and anak osce coaching. had 3 of mom’s cinnamon rolls and matcha latte for the afternoon. cicil osce DV. edited some pld articles. did nothing else basically
15 - wasted my day, didnt have the courage to study osce (i feel like i procrastinate on it bcs it feels overwhelming to me), TO FKUI 2, hurriedly reviewed to 1 before, les padi. i feel like this is the least focused im being in a les. maybe its the too few matcha powder.
16 - woke up at 9 am. breakfast is muesli. reviewed to 2 fkui w apa salahku (finished at 12 pm, there goes half of my saturday). tried fried chicken master. its good and tender but i still prefer moon chicken. 
17 - breakfast is muesli, banana and 2 martabak tahu. snack is keripik pisang aduuu wenak (and picking bits of meat cooked by mom). went to devi’s place w/ racheel silvi. brought RJ to be wrapped. we watched okay madam and its super fun, hilarious and full of twists anddd a bit of cutesy romance. just the right balance to enjoy and let the stress out. late lunch is moon chicken yay!! went home after maghrib, did to padi 6 w/ fi and matcha latte. talked about a senior’s wedding and eating healthier til 22:30
18 - To fkui 3, wasted my afternoon playing my phone, finally mustered some will to study after ashar. My progress is rly slow today. Watched hilarious jessi interview with eric, heechul. Im telling u, i thought tiktok is the funniest internet content but i was wronggg. Seeing heechul flustered is hilarious. Tried to study again at night but only learned 1 disease hiks
19 - had no idea what i did before dzuhur lmao. went to racheel’s to surprise atikah. actually napped at her place lmaoo why do i feel so sleepy. gifted rj to atikah. we ate fried chicken master and pempek on a small green table and talked. its like korean movie lmao. we talked while im simultaneously listening to padi lol.
20 - woke up at 8, chicken porridge + muesli and low sugar vsoy for breakfast. arrived at clara’s @10am. to fkui 4. reviewed it. reviewed general physical exam. finished up to padi 7. tried bombo donut. studied osce. i felt sooo dumb in osce (and clara is already super smart). superrr motivated to learn after going back home (arrived at 7) but i ended up opening youtube and drinking protein lmaooo and its suddenly 9 pm
21 - matcha latte at starbucks dm. Studied osce. Obgyn coaching w the super kind dr ilham. Les padi. Read angel buddy and played with my phone til 12 pm
22 - to fkui. padi as usual. had low motivation, so i did the tryout that day close to the actual course.
23 - left home at 06:30 to study together in capitol. had breakfast in mcd first. thank god i ate rice + chicken and breakfast wrap cuzzzz. studied osce together w ara, ical, kelvyn, dio and kak ilonka til about 2 pm. WALKED to bk bcs my parents are there. apparently simply driving to capitol is too much for them. immediately ate muesli at 4 pm cause i didnt eat anything in capitol. did nothing else after that. did not pray maghrib together lmao somehow mom had mercy on me and let me sleep som more. mom bought sate padang but i didnt eat it. i cried in bed because as yoongi said, “this is the real you and this is the real me”. did not shower/wash my face at night bcs i felt like shit lmao rip my face (its a week before bukang photoshoot)
24 - i feel tired, lazy, and just wanted some sleep. like all that’s in me is drained. ate muesli with strawberry milk. tried fitmee beef. its better than i thought. because the noodle is chewy you spend more time to chew. also ate fried chicken and daun singkong. usually i cant wait to go to flavola but even at 12 pm i just feel like laying down. finally mustered the will to shower and go out. its raining a bit on the way. colddd. 
25 - to fkui 6, osce briefing, covid lecture (that was actually for ppds), padi
26 - spaghetti for brekkie, coaching neuro and ophthalmology, cicil osce
27 - cicil osce, the second to the last padi omg. the fastest padi ever
28 - obgyn osce practice at kak ilonka’s place (that nice kosan at forkabi) with ara, ren ness, kelvyn, dio with mannequins from og dept, tried meokja salemba that serves bulgogi rice. quite good. after arriving at home, studied neuro together with menno til about 20:45 an and i just dont have the energy lmaooo so i gave up and slept
29 - today is bukang photoshoot at bintaro. put base make up on the way. even put glue on my eyebrow. got eyebrow, eyeshadow and blush done by renata. took lots of photos. nebeng om coro afterwards to bxc to meet mom. we ate at genki sushi (renata ara kris mendel oca regan geordie eka). i missss road trips hua. did tryout fkui on the way back home. after shower and prayer proceeded to review TO with apa salahku. Last padi (havent done the questions beforehand so i sprinted it out while on the actual course). Muhasabah osce with kak widia afterwards lmao. Studied osce with clara
30 - studied osce with ara ren ness @ merra. I ate eatlah, moms muffin, kemplang, tango. I ate so welll. Its a productive sesh, neuro and infectious disease. At home i studied osce w clara til abt 22:15 ish. I feel like i miss my me time lmao its been 3 days. I can still go on w clara but i dont wanna get myself sick
31 - simul osce in the morning. Osce study with clara almira. Cicil osce alone. Played my phone at 10 pm even though i still have mental clarity post matcha latte -___-
1 note · View note
rorypcarson · 5 years
Text
Tumblr media
it’s hope??? again??? yes u read that right here’s my son rory love us this blog is so new so nothing will be in the tags i hate everything lmao anyway like this or message me to plot ily bye
triggers: car crash, drunk driving, stroke, abortion, death, depression ( mention )
╰☆╮ DACRE MONTGOMERY ─ RORY PEARSON identifies as CISMALE and uses HE/HIM pronouns. they’re a YOUTUBER/MUSICIAN, and they’re only TWENTY-TWO ! they’re said to be +CANDID, but also -DESPONDENT. i guess that’s why they’re known as THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRE in the tabloids. ( kendall schmidt, logan henderson )
did i use two btr bois as his vc??? u bet ur ass i did & i have no regrets ok anyway on to my son 
background: 
rory pearson was born and raised in fairhope, alabama.  his parents were teenagers when they had him and lived with his grandma scarlett.  his mom jean marie was ousted by her parents when she told them she was pregnant and his dad’s mom took her in with open arms.  
of course his grandma wasn’t going to let them live in the same room in her house without being married, especially with her grandbaby on the way.  so after talking with them, and his parents agreeing, they went to the courthouse and got married three months before rory came into the world.  
rory was born on april 20th, 1996 and he was without a name for six days.  his parents couldn’t decide so they named him rory wyatt vincent pearson.  he was always told that since his parents couldn’t decide on naming him after jean marie’s grandfather or greyson’s father, they picked a third name and gave him both of their names for middle names.  
when rory was two and a half years old ( not really half, it was june ?? ) his parents graduated high school and went out for a party.  unfortunately their designated driver wasn’t so sober and the group of four recent graduates crashed into another car.  
his father was in the passenger’s seat and died on impact, his mother was pronounced dead in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  
scarlett legally adopted rory after that and raised him.  she always told him stories of his parents, but avoided telling him anything about what happened to them for as long as she could.  
he was ten years old when he saw the memorial and recognized his parents from their yearbook photos and came home asking about it.  
honestly this is jumping ahead a bit but rory didn’t learn to drive until he was twenty years old.  and even now, esp now, since he lives in nyc he doesn’t drive often. 
okay when he was seventeen years old he met bethany in an airport.  he was on his way to a college interview on a connecting flight that got cancelled due to weather conditions.  they were both sitting in the same terminal so they got to talking and !!! hit it off
bro legit asked her out 5 seconds after their flights were announced to be back on
“hi yeah we just met but we’ve got two hours before your flight leaves so wanna go grab some food with me???” 
and the rest was legit history
he can remember every moment of their conversation and first date like it was yesterday. oh my god he was SO IN LOVE 
the human embodiment of the hearteyes emoji
and so the pair stayed in touch and went on a couple more dates and the boy was so gd smitten that grandma scarlett took his phone during one of their phone calls and was like “darlin if you don’t fly down here to meet me i’m going to think my grandbaby is just talking to a complete stranger on here.” 
and then bethany flew down and met scarlett and she was so excited because !!!! her grandson had a girlfriend !!!! 
grandma scarlett was the biggest supporter of anything rory did in life oh my GOD 
at his graduation it was just grandma scarlett in the crowd for him but boy did it sound like the whole crowd was cheering for him when his name was called 
anyway flash forward to he’s in college and he’s moved away to be closer to bethany.  which should not have affected his life but when he was looking at colleges fr fr after acceptances the boy chose one closer to his girl
we love a softie ok 
anyway on bethany’s 19th birthday he took her to an airport and was surprising her with a trip to disney that he’s been saving up for for MONTHS !!!! 
and at the airport he was like all jittery and nervous bc in his pocket he had an engagement ring but he did his bEST to hide it all from beth bc surprises 
not that he planned the whole thing ( he did ) but it just so happened they were in the same restaurant waiting for their flight as their first date way back when
and in the middle of dessert, the waiters singing happy birthday this boy attempts to be sly and gets down on one knee.  but didnt realize there would be someone coming up behind him to keep up the singing and he ..... kinda caused a mini avalanche of people
and he apologized and is like still on one knee and now he’s looking at bethany with a BRIGHT RED face and he had had this whole speech worked out in his mind ok but all that comes out is, “i love you, please marry me?” in like an awkward stutter because he just TOOK OUT AN ENTIRE WAITSTAFF 
somehow bethany said yes ??? and they’re engaged ??? 
oh and someone got the whole thing on camera and like that happened 
the video skyrocketed to the most viewed video entitled “i witnessed an awkward proposal???? and she still said yes?????” 
which is also lowkey how he started his youtube channel ?? 
“hi yes it’s me the guy who proposed to an olympic athlete while taking out a whole waitstaff?? i dont know why she said yes either but i love her??”
and for a long time it was mainly vlogs of him and beth and him and his friends 
okay so fast forward and rory’s graduated college with a degree in history education bc he wants to be a teacher and he’s got to fly back to alabama and miss his graduation because he got a phone call and grandma scarlett had a stroke
so the boy is freaking out but it’s fine !!! grandma goes home and he winds up staying down and now he’s trying to figure out how to be with beth, find a job in ny, but also take care of his grandma 
for a while he toys with the idea of moving grandma up to new york and helping her find a place.  so he goes back to new york to talk to beth about it and he’s freaking out and he gets home and she tells him she’s pregnant
of course he never expected to be like 20 and having a baby but ??? whatever.  now he’s freaking out because his grandma is not doing good and he’s worried about her and now he’s got to figure out what to do with a BABY ???
and bethany then tells him she wants to get an abortion and rory’s already stressed and so he flips bc of emotions and they get into a huge fight and it just winds up with him leaving and heading back to alabama and bethany in their apartment  
so rory goes home to alabama and he keeps getting notifications on social media about bethany so he just shuts his phone off and i’m talking like he goes days without touching his cell phone.  he takes a hiatus from youtube because he’s freaking out and 
two months after he’s home he seemed like scarlett was doing better so he took her to a party in town to see some of her friends and at the party scarlett had another stroke.  
she died six days later, never waking up from the medically induced coma they put her in.  
flash forward a couple more weeks after he’s working with lawyers for his grandma’s estate and rest assured scarlett pearson had nothing but her house, her garden, and her beat up corvette that her deceased husband wyatt bought her for their anniversary one year
so its a shocker to find out that scarlett pearson was worth 43.7 billion dollars 
and now that money all goes to rory because he’s her only living heir ???
so rory gets this BOATLOAD of money and the local newspaper picks it up which brings it to the national news and somehow it made international news
“local alabama boy from youtuber to billionaire overnight” 
so he kept his grandma’s house in alabama because ..... he can’t seem to let that go and why should he ?? its a good house and holds a lot of memories
but he does in fact buy a brownstone in manhattan its HUGE and he doesn’t have enough things to fill the whole space up but ??? he’s working on it slowly. 
he created a makeshift recording studio in one of the upstairs rooms and has been working on music, which is new to him ?? he was always a bit artistic but never sure enough to like try it out
oh and he’s returned to youtube, he’s got a decent following i guess 
i mean lbr he’s hot ???? and sings ??? so ??? ya know 
personality: 
okay so this is long already so im gonna keep this short n sweet
rory is a sweet boy, never really an athletic type always more focused on his studies than sports.  
spent a lot of time with his grandma and he’s very easily attached to people he’s close to.  not exactly clingy, but it’s really hard for him to let people go i guess ??? 
used to love shows like survivor and big brother and amazing race. always toyed with the idea of applying to be on amazing race but he never had anyone who would go with him, or could for that long.  
he’s a real kind hearted guy and clumsy as fuck
a bit awkward when you first meet him but ??? you warm up quickly and so does he
clumsy af as noted earlier 
kind of depressed ??? idk he’s not seeing anyone for it but post losing beth, his grandma, and like the possibility of a family in the future he’s kinda ..... morbid 
puts on a happy front for youtube
oh and he does a podcast talking about stuff with his friends idk what exactly but ?? its prob music and movies lbr
connections: 
best friend(s)--self explanatory; people who he gets along with and they’re like his ride or dies.  
nerd friends--give him someone to geek out with please he’s SUCH A NERD !!!! or someone who likes learning random things he’s got u 
musical friends--people who he met through starting to delve into music 
youtube community--give me people who !!! met through youtube and often do colabs together.  probably ppl who were shooketh when he came back and was like “bro i have 40 billion dollars????”
wealthy friend(s)--give me someone who will teach this boy how to be wealthy ??? like cause he knows nothing about that he struggled a lot growing up and with college and several part time jobs he doesnt know how to like party or anything 
idk anything else 
6 notes · View notes
nightglider124 · 5 years
Note
(it took me 84 years to find this) but Cy and BB banter of "Hold the baby like a normal person. Like a human." when first meeting Mar'i
Wheyyy, you found it in the end XD.
I’ve just had another thought of how this prompt could have been interpreted but I’m hoping I’m still in the right area with how I wrote it. Lmao.
Hope u like it, my girl
“Hold the baby like a normal person. Like a human.” 
Slowly, the door slid aside, granting access to the room beyond.They had called them up; telling them that it was okay and that Doctor Mid-nitehad left a while ago, after double checking everyone was healthy and happy.
It was so calm, with only the twinkling sound of a lullaby echoingoff the walls.
Raven stood at the head of the small group, her eyes sweepingaround until they landed on the two Titans who had oh-so recently become morethan heroes.
They had become parents.
Dick was the first to look up and smile as his eyes locked withthe empath’s. He waved them closer but held a finger to his lips, asking themto be quiet.
Raven nodded and gently pulled the two boys behind her into theroom with her. Cyborg and Beast Boy peered out from her back, hesitant andunsure of how they should act.
They soon reached the end of the infirmary bed where the newmother herself was tucked up in. She lifted her head and smiled tiredly at herfriends.
Dark circles painted her under eyes and her skin was a little palerthan they were used to. Dick stroked her damp, red hair and pushed some behindher ear so it was out of her clammy face,
The three Titans all stared at her and what she held in her arms.
Her grin widened as she noticed their sincere interest in thebundle, clutched to her chest. Starfire looked back down at her newborn baby,dropping a small, soft kiss to its forehead.
Dick watched her, a look of pride and relief on his face and hereached to rest his hand upon her thigh, covered by white sheets.
Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy all looked to be on the edge of theirseats, awaiting details about their newest little team mate.
Their leader ran a hand through his scruffy black locks andsmirked at them, “A girl.” He whispered,
The elation spread over each of their faces like a sprung leak.Raven didn’t need to tap into her powers to feel how joyful everyone was; theemotion being that strong.
“Her name?” Raven wondered, inching closer to have a peek,
Starfire beamed up as the sorceress came to stand by her side, “Mar’i.”
Raven nodded, smiling at her answer, “Beautiful. Well done,Star… Dick…” She commented, leaning down to kiss Starfire’s cheek.
Dick chuckled and sat back in the chair he was perched upon, “Hey,it was all Star. She did the hard work.”
Starfire turned her head to her love, “Not true. I would neverhave been able to do it without your constant support, Richard.”
He smiled lovingly at her and briefly stood, pressing his lips tohers in a brief kiss.
The Princess shifted and eyed each of her friends, “So… whowould like their first cuddle with Mar’i?”
Cyborg and Beast Boy lit up immediately and began shoving at eachother,
“Me!” Beast Boy hissed,
“Shut it, me first!” Cyborg challenged,
Dick and Starfire blinked at the two boys whilst Raven merelyrolled her eyes. Everything was always a bickering contest with them.
“Um…” Starfire murmured, looking to Dick to make a decision,
The new father cleared his throat and stood up, his leader facemaking an appearance, “Guys.”
Stopping, they both looked at Dick, awaiting his answer on whowould get to hold her first.
“Uh… Beast Boy?” He shrugged, not seeing why it mattered whowent first,
The changeling grinned and gave his best friend the finger whilstCyborg crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Beast Boy.
He got ready, rolling his shoulders back and stretching his armsout.
Dick scooped up his daughter from Starfire’s arms and pulled her blanketaround her little body some more, ensuring she was warm and secure. He walkedover to Beast Boy, his blue eyes boring into his forest green ones,
“Beast Boy, do not dropher.” He stated, “Or I’ll kick your ass all the way to Tamaran. Okay?”
Beast Boy gulped and scowled at the former boy wonder, “Wow, wayto put pressure on me, Dick.”
He shrugged and carefully passed his baby girl over to his friend.Beast Boy swallowed the lump in his throat and felt his skin get hot, growingnervous.
In his uncertainty, Beast Boy held her in his hands. His armscurved upwards like he was catching a football and the sleeping Mar’i laidacross his open palms. Beast Boy’s brows furrowed in concentration and he wentcompletely silent.
The position was awkward but he was so afraid to move so he stayedfrozen in place, just staring at her chubby cheeks and her fluffy black hair.
Raven stepped towards him, her brows raised as she considered him.He was biting his lip and shook slightly.
“Gar… breathe…” She murmured,
He puffed out a breath and focused on his girlfriend, staring athim like he was insane, “She’s… just so tiny and I don’t want to wake her…”
Starfire smiled sympathetically, “You will not hurt her, Garfield.”
Relaxing a bit, his shoulders slumped but he went on alertstraight after as Mar’i started to wriggle and whimper, clearly uncomfortablewith the lack of affection.
Cyborg rolled his human eye and came to stand beside his friend, “Dude,you’re holding her wrong.”
“Shut up, Cyborg. This is fine.” Beast Boy argued,
The half robot wagged his finger at him, “Nuh uh, that’s why she’sstartin’ to cry.”
“I’m fine, dude! You’re putting me off!” He whined at him,
Cyborg held out his arms, “Give ‘er to me and I’ll show you.”
Beast Boy pouted at him in defiance before he sighed and turnedhis body so he was facing Cyborg and he gently moved Mar’i from his hands toCyborg’s arms.
But, just as he made to let go of her, she yawned and rolled.Cyborg’s eye widened and he reacted suddenly so that she wouldn’t slip from hisgrasp, leading to Mar’i laying in yet another peculiar position.
The baby lay along the length of his forearm, her head leaningagainst the palm of his metal hand. Cyborg furrowed his brows as he stared downat the little girl. She snuggled her face against the back of his wrist andmewled.
He groaned, “Damn it, B-”
Beast Boy made a shocked face, “What!? That wasn’t me! Looks likeyou can’t hold her properly either.” He hushed,
Cyborg glared at him but refrained from lashing out inretaliation. Several times, he tried to move her around so he could cuddle herbut she started to cry in protest so he stayed still to avoid upsetting thenewborn.
His green friend lifted his nose and crossed his arms, “Looks likeyou’re not much better.”
“Well, I haven’t exactly spent much time around babies.” Hegrowled, “And it seems neither have you, so I’d stay quiet, green bean.”
Dick scratched the back of his neck and stepped forward,intervening, “Guys, just hold the babylike a normal person. Like a human.”
“We are!” The boys grumbled in unison,
Their leader frowned and put his hands on his hips, “Not really.Gar, you’re holding her like you’d hold a mouse and Vic, you’re holding herlike she’s a football.”
“Ha! At least I was holding her like you’d hold a living thing.”Beast Boy crowed,
“Please. Your way couldhave led her to fall to the ground.” Cyborg bickered,
The two continued back and forth, snipping at each other andtrying to prove who the better uncle would be. Starfire shared an exasperatedlook with Dick; an argument between their friends was the last thing theywanted after giving birth to their child.
Raven caught the parents’ looks to one another and clicked her tongue.This pissing contest between the two of them would have to stop. It waschildish and it was neither the time nor the place.
With that, her hand became encased in her black energy and thesame glow lifted Mar’i from Cyborg’s arms.
“Hey!” He complained, not ready to let her go yet,
Raven shot him a look that quietened him almost immediately. Shelevitated Mar’i over to her, cradling her in her arms, with her head supportedand her small body curled against Raven’s chest.
Starfire’s expression softened and she smiled at how naturallyRaven took to holding Mar’i. She was always the voice of reason, after all.
Lifting her indigo eyes from the gorgeous girl, Raven lookedpointedly at Cyborg and Beast Boy,
“This is the way youhold a baby, you pinheads.” She told them, her tone tart,
The boys turned their heads, looking at each other before theyboth threw in the towel and slumped. Cyborg smiled as he watched Raven,surprised at her loving nature towards the infant.
Beast Boy grinned, his fang pointing out and he sauntered closerto Raven,
“You look all mom-ready with a baby in your arms, Rae.” He toldher, hinting,
Raven raised an eyebrow at him and scoffed, “Not with the way youhold them. You need some serious improvement before we even consider it.”
The changeling blinked indignantly before he huffed at her, withCyborg cracking up in laughter from the end of the bed.
59 notes · View notes
Text
Missing Pieces, part 3
Welcome back. When last you were here, I was molting and got framed for petty theft. Onward.
After we got the crystal swan back from Charlie, we brought it back to the Autumn Court and told the freehold as a whole about Charlie and what he was doing. The Autumn Court was super grateful that we got the Token back and they all started treating us more warmly afterwards. It was a good feeling – I’d been really unhappy about the whole framed-for-theft thing, but getting the swan back was a way to prove myself to the Court I planned on pledging loyalty to. The Dagda also re-scheduled our pledging ceremony for the next major event, which was going to be the Winter Formal. No, I’m not joking. That’s actually what it’s called.
At any rate, about a week after we got the swan back, Yova came up with an idea that we were all on board with: namely, throwing a surprise belated birthday party for Pam. Pam had had a bit of a rough patch getting back to the mortal world and had been throwing herself into her work at the restaurant, and we hadn’t had much of a chance to see her. We all split up the responsibilities: Bella got some flowers for decorating, Day got the booze, Yova called in some favors to get catering done, and I handled the cake and offered to host. We also all got some presents for Pam: Yova and I went in on a specialty stand mixer for her and Day, much to my surprise, asked me to come with him to help him pick out some gifts. He got her a really nice apron and oven mitt set and a hardy African violet, something that could make it through the upstate winters. It was actually kind of nice spending some time with Day. He was so worried about getting something nice for Pam and I was pleasantly surprised that he trusted my taste enough to help him. (His first instinct was to get Pam a fifth of Wild Turkey and a pack of Virginia Slims. I had to gently tell him that something that was good enough for his mom wasn’t good enough for Pam.)
A couple of days before the party, Bella started feeling sick and ended up not able to make it. A couple of years in Arcadia didn’t do much for our immune systems and each of us got laid up with a cold or two in the month we got back, but Bella ended up with full-on influenza. She sent the flowers over along with about eighty thousand million bajillion sad emojis. Day and Yova came over to my apartment about an hour before showtime. Yova dropped off the catering and started decorating with a ton of fairy lights. Day plunked his ample behind down on my poor secondhand sofa and tried (and failed miserably) to fold napkins. Yova decided that it would be a better use of his time to sample the mocktails she was making and tried to get him to keep his damn socks off of my coffee table. I had no time for any of this because I was racing the clock to get the cake ready before Day went to pick up Pam.
At her place, Pam was just settling in and trying to relax after a long day of work. She was reading up on some chemistry articles that she’d been meaning to take a look at, but as she did, she felt something nudging at the back of her head, an intrusive thought. She managed to keep it at bay, at least until Day picked her up (leaning on the horn of Yova’s crappy pickup) and took her back to my place. She’d been told we were just going to be watching The Great British Baking Show (shut up, it’s awesome and you know it) and having some snacks, so she was pretty gobsmacked when we all yelled, “Surprise!”
Now, this next part I’m going to chalk up to ignorance. You see, it’s hard to understand, even looking the way we do, that we’re not human anymore and things that we wouldn’t normally struggle with can cause serious moments of reckoning. For me as a Beast, it’s if I accidentally hurt somebody without thinking about it. Yova as a Fairest can’t handle it if she leads somebody into danger or if her inaction causes somebody problems. Day as an Ogre gets very upset if somebody who he doesn’t think is an enemy runs from him or is very scared by him. Bella as a Darkling goes bonkers when she finds out something she previously thought was true isn’t. And Pam? Well. Wizened really, really, really don’t like being surprised.
To Pam’s credit, she managed to hold it together pretty well, even though I could see that her smile was a little tighter than I was used to seeing. It turns out that she wasn’t really focused on us. The thought she was trying to push back from earlier got through and was taking over her whole conscious. All she kept seeing was a red ribbon with a silver bell hanging over her daughter’s bed. After she managed to clear that from her head, she was touched when we told her that we wanted to celebrate her birthday because of everything she did for us. I pulled out the cake and Yova pulled out the crappy guitar she’d managed to bring back from Arcadia in true battle-bard style and we all did our best to not make “Happy Birthday to You” sound like the funeral dirge it is.
About halfway through singing, however, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Evain was calling me. I ducked into the kitchen as Pam was blowing out the candles on her cake (lit courtesy of Paisley, natch) and answered, asking what was up. It wasn’t Evain on the other end, however – I heard a very annoyed woman saying, “I can’t deal with him right now, you’re going to need to babysit him. I’m outside your apartment,” and she hung up. I trusted Yova with cutting the cake and slipped out and down the stairs.
When I got there, I saw a very annoyed Stella (the grouchy Autumn courtier we all saw when we got to the B&B), holding up a drunk-looking Evain. She practically threw him at me and said, “Apologies, but I have neither the time nor inclination to deal with him now. He’s your problem,” and off she sped. Evain was clearly not in a good way and I started helping him up the stairs while I texted Yova in all caps, “DISTRACT DAY. DISTRACT DAY.”
As I was helping Evain up to the second floor where my apartment was, I realized he actually wasn’t as drunk as I thought. He was drunk, for sure, but he seemed more upset than anything. I asked him what was going on and he let out a deep sigh, telling me that he couldn’t find his daughter’s picture. “It’s the last thing I had of my baby girl and it’s gone.” I told him that we could try and figure out where it went once he sobered up and he nodded.
When we got back to my apartment, I peeked inside to see what was going on. Day was crouched in front of my TV, fiddling with the Wii U to try and get Netflix going, Yova was standing between him and the door and Pam was on the couch. I brought Evain in, giving Pam a pleading look to not say anything. Then I tried to pick Evain up and slip him past the living room. I managed to pick him up easy enough, but the dumbass decided he was going to try to squirm out of my arms. I was trying desperately to fight him and keep him from making a scene, but he tumbled out of my arms and I ended up going over the back of the couch with him, ending up in a pile of feathers and bark, right as Day looked over.
“What the hell is he doing here?!” Day asked, standing up and glaring. I tried to explain how Stella had just dropped Evain off with no warning and I was just planning to have him sleep off the booze in my room. Day snorted and said, “Whatever. Just keep him out of my sight.” Evain was trying to figure out what was going on and what we were celebrating. “It’s Pam’s birthday. Well, belated birthday,” I told him. “Oh. Happy birthday,” he told Pam. “Thank you!” she said.
I got Evain settled in the bedroom and got a glass of water for him. Day went out on the balcony to sulk with a platter of noshes and a beer. Paisley, sweet girl that she is, went out to sit on his shoulder and nuzzle him. Around this time, Yova noticed that there was a scrap of fabric wedged in between the couch cushions where Evain fell and she pulled it out. She and Pam both saw it was a tarnished silver bell tied at the end of a red ribbon. Pam, as you might imagine, was pretty keen on trying to find out where Evain got this, given the vision she saw earlier. She and Yova marched into my room just as I was about to head back out.
Pam asked Evain if the ribbon was his. As soon as he saw it, he about leapt over the side of the bed to grab it and shove it in his pocket. All he admitted was that it was a keepsake, but when I asked him if it had to do with why he was upset (and Yova leaned on him a bit), he wasn’t able to keep it together. “It’s all I have left of my baby girl. When I got back, I was at Wal-Mart. Trying to buy some clothes or something, I don’t even remember. And I saw her on a missing person poster. I went to her foster parents’ house and found that ribbon out in the back yard.” He told us that it was perfect that we were having a party, because the day before would have been his daughter’s twenty-fifth birthday. We were quiet for a moment, but then Pam told us about the vision she had. It seemed like it was way too much to be a coincidence.
I pulled out the refurbished laptop I’d bought off Craigslist and started trying to find any significance of red ribbons and silver bells. At first I thought about looking at fairy tales and trying to see if there was anything there. But then I stumbled across an old forum that was attached to an online game designed for pre-teens, like Neopets.
…shit. I just remembered my Neopets.
Okay, back. They were happy to see me, which is always good. Anyway, the forum thread I found was actually pretty creepy. It was for kids who were having some trouble, either because their parents were going through a divorce or they were in foster care, or something else was causing them some pain at home. The post that caught my eye was one that told other kids about a ritual where if you take a white silk ribbon and soak it in your own blood, put a silver bell on it, and ring it before you go to sleep, it will start a spell that can bring your parents back.
When I finished reading that out loud, I looked up and the other three all had the expression of horror that I’m sure was on my own face. Evain was visibly agitated and Pam started texting her Fetch on red alert. The two of them quickly started planning how they might help Pam’s daughter. At least, Evain was offering some ideas – when he tried to get up, he winced and fell back on the bed. “Listen, I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but the one of us who’s probably going to be the best at figuring out how to get to the bottom of this is Day,” I told Evain. He gave another one of those unpleasant laughs and said, “Oh, that’s rich. It’s his fault she’s gone.” We asked him what he meant and he said, “If he hadn’t arrested me, she would never have been in foster care.” Yova and I exchanged a flat look and we stepped out. “You know, just when he had me feeling sorry for him…” she said.
Pam told Yova and me that she would take care of Evain in the meantime, which meant Yova and I had to go convince Day to help us figure this out. I cut a giant slice of cake and put a couple scoops of ice cream on it and Yova grabbed a new beer out of the fridge. Yova sidled out onto the balcony and held out the beer while I held out the plate from inside the apartment (I wasn’t going to trust that ancient balcony to hold three people on it). He took one look at us and said, “Ohhhh, no. Nope, I am not taking any bribe to help him out.” Yova and I exchanged another look. “It’s not Evain we’re asking you to help…” Yova began. “It’s Pam,” I finished. That got his attention.
We went over the vision Pam had, the ribbon Evain had found where his daughter last lived, and the forum post I found. Day grabbed the cake from me and unhinged his jaw, swallowing it all in one bite. “I’ll do it, but just to help Pam,” he said. Yova looked pleased as punch and I barely got out, “It took me six hours to make that cake. Six. Hours.” “And it was well worth it,” Day said with no small amount of glee. “You didn’t even taste it! It just went straight down your gullet!” I said.
While Day and I were bickering over the etiquette of not chewing the cake your host proffers, Pam managed to get in touch with her Fetch. The Fetch said she’d confiscated the ribbon, but found something burned in an ashtray in Sierra’s room that smelled like rosemary. Pam told her Fetch about the ribbon and they agreed to keep each other filled in on everything. (A few days later, Pam got an envelope from her Fetch filled with clippings about the things that those teenagers get up to these days, don’tcha know.)
Yova suggested that we go talk with the Autumn Court about it, which was definitely the best idea any of us came up with (we won’t mention who came up with the suggestion of finding a kid in foster care and trying out the ritual with that kid). I texted Stella to let her know that we were on our way and that Evain was sleeping off the drink. I held out my hand to Paisley and told her, “Come on, girl, we’re going on a field trip.” She flittered up and settled on my shoulder with delight. I gathered everybody in my bathroom and cut open my finger, smearing some blood on the mirror. I activated my Mirror Walk contract, the same one Evain did when he took me to the Autumn Court’s lodge in the first place. The four of us linked hands and crawled through the mirror, coming out in the foyer of the lodge.
I have to admit, I felt pretty proud showing off the place to my motley. It was the first time any of them had been there and I could see they were impressed, even Day. I gave them a brief tour on the way to the library. Once there, Day, Pam, and I hit the stacks, trying to track down anything that we might be able to find about any ritual or creature that sounded like this. Yova, however, decided that turning on the charm was the right course of action. She turned the full force of her schmoozing onto Marigold, a mousey Darkling intern with Coke bottle glasses who I’d seen before but hadn’t been introduced to. Marigold was absolutely taken with Yova and Yova slipped Marigold her number, promising to take her out for coffee if she could help us with our research problem.
Marigold took Yova directly over to the stack that Day was already thumbing through. With the five of us working together, it wasn’t long until we managed to find an older file labeled “The Shepherd of Lonely Roads.” It was dusty as hell and had obviously been there a while without anyone touching it. The name of the changeling who’d compiled the report was “Creighton,” which I didn’t recognize. The file said that the Shepherd was an unknown creature – it could be fae, goblin, hedge ghost, nobody was sure. Surprisingly, the file said that the Shepherd didn’t seem antagonistic and did show some degree of empathy.
The problem we came across was that all of the information in the file was secondhand. The Shepherd only dealt with children, and even though the first portion of the rules for summoning it were in the file, nobody in the Autumn Court who’d tried was able to get it to reveal the rest of the summoning spell. What we learned was that the ribbon had to be soaked in the blood of the person wanting to summon the Shepherd and left out to dry in the full moon. You were to then tie the bell to it, hang the ribbon over your bed, and ring it once before going to sleep every night for seven nights. Some Autumn courtiers had managed to summon the Shepherd on the second night, but it always refused to answer any questions or deal with them in any way; it claimed it would only come to children who need it.
After we got that info, we talked about what we might do. Pam suggested that if it dealt with children who were missing their parents, it might be willing to at least talk to a mother who was missing her children. We figured it couldn’t hurt to try the ritual and went back through the mirror to my apartment. Evain was sitting on the couch in the living room, looking a little better, and I saw there was some food and cake missing. He thanked me for letting him crash and got up to go. Before he did, I asked him if he wanted us to help him find the picture. He says that the picture itself wasn’t anything special, just the last missing persons poster. “As long as it was up there, I figured there was somebody who still cared about her and wanted her to come home,” he said. I thought for a second and told him we could probably pull up the missing poster online and print out a copy for him to have. I went in my bedroom and got my laptop, then pulled up Google. “Okay, so what’s your daughter’s name?” I asked him. He took in a breath and said, “Cassi. Cassi Rodriguez.”
I about fell off the back of the couch where I was sitting, and from the look on Pam, Yova, and Day’s faces, they felt the same. “Um, Cassi with one I?” I asked. “Yeah,” Evain said. Yova asked, “Was her favorite movie Cinderella?” “Yeah… okay, this is getting creepy,” Evain said, looking at us with slightly narrowed eyes. “Um. Well, the good news is she’s still alive,” I said. “SHE’S WHAT?!” Evain asked, stumbling. “The bad news is she’s the right-hand changeling to a changeling gone mad with power who’s fighting the True Fae,” Yova said.
We explained to him how we knew Cassi and Yova brought us upstairs to her apartment where she’d kept the poster she’d taken with Cassi’s image on it (I did mention Yova lives in my building, right?). He took the frame and stared at it for a minute before he put the whole thing in his pocket. I could tell Yova wanted to protest, but she decided against it. I was mostly looking around at the antique shop that had thrown up in her flat and asked her, “Yova, when did you get all this crap in here? I live downstairs!” She gave me one of her damnably zen smiles and said, “Sunday is for DIY.”
Evain looked like he was feeling a lot better and told us he was going to go home and get drunk, but to celebrate the fact that his daughter was still alive and sticking it to the Gentry. “If you ever need anything, you know where to find me,” he told us before he left. And, I noticed, he and Day exchanged a nod in each other’s direction. Progress!
With Evain gone, the four of us decided to try out the ritual. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but one of the benefits to becoming a changeling is that you become a lucid dreamer: you can basically craft your dreams into what you want them to be, and even enter each other’s dreams with permission. We made a quick pledge to all protect Pam’s dreams and I witnessed it. Yova produced a mostly silk ribbon from her sewing basket and I used my Trivial Reworkings contract to turn it pure white. Pam took it and a silver bell that Yova got out of her applique basket. She cut her arm and bled into a basin, then soaked the ribbon in it and let it out to dry. I went downstairs for some pillows and blankets and Paisley and we all set up in Yova’s living room, waiting to fall asleep.
The first night, nothing happened. We all got into Pam’s dream, which to be honest looked like Audrey’s fantasy home from Little Shop of Horrors. We mostly sat around in the living room watching old game shows on the TV and awkwardly attempting conversation. The second night, however, was completely different. It started out the same, with things nice if a little awkward, but then the television went weird. The Wheel of Fortune puzzle started spelling out “TURN AROUND.” When we did, we saw that the rest of the house was gone: it was just void left. A tiny, faint green light was coming toward us. As it got closer, we could see a pale figure stepping forward slowly and with every step a viney path appeared before it.
When the Shepherd eventually reached us, it looked almost translucent, a figure of indeterminate gender wrapped in robes and carrying a crook. It looked around to the four of us. It didn’t move its lips, but we could all hear in our heads, “I see no child here.” Pam explained the situation and the Shepherd suggested that she go to her daughter. “If you do that, she’ll have no need of me.” It told us that once things were set in motion, they couldn’t be stopped. It didn’t seem like the Shepherd was interested in causing any harm: it told us that all it did was create a path between the child and its parents, but it had no control of what happened once the child entered the path.
Pam asked if it had a lot of contracts open or started and it admitted that it didn’t. “You must understand that these contracts are how I sustain myself. I cannot break them because if I did, I would cease to be. If I cease to be, then I cannot help,” it said. When she asked what the child’s end of the contract was, the Shepherd told her that the children who asked for its help made it offerings: each offering has some Glamour, and when the Shepherd got enough, it could open the way. The opening didn’t require much Glamour, so it could keep the rest for itself.
Yova brought up the point that we weren’t sure if Sierra’s path would even lead back to Pam, since Sierra was adopted. She asked the Shepherd, “When you say you get them back to their parents, is it who the child considers their parents or by blood?” “It is not always the case that they look for the one to whom they are bound by blood. I promise a way for them to know the touch of their parents once more, and in exchange, they provide me offerings,” the Shepherd told her. Yova, against all logic, decided that trying to act all dreamy to the Shepherd to get it to help us was a good idea. It just looked confused for a second before it said, “Ah. Seduction.” Dammit, Yova.
Yova at least had the good sense to change gears and she and Pam both started talking with the Shepherd, asking it for help. Pam brought up her work with the foster kids she was volunteering with and started talking to it about wanting to help. It told us about some of the children it came into contact with and how they would share their feelings and worries with it. “Even if I cannot understand human sentiment the ways you do, I still feel like I am doing something worthwhile,” it said. It seemed to consider for a moment, then said, “I promise children a way to feel their parents’ touch. Can you give me that?” Pam asked what it meant and it clarified that if she could provide it with a touch that it could deliver to Sierra, it could do so without opening the path.
Yova had an idea about sending Sierra an invitation to a theater program for kids and that Yova could give Pam a spot as a volunteer. “Thanksgiving Break is coming up. I can put some feelers out. Kids from all over the country come to those camps,” Yova told her. Pam was completely overjoyed and hugged Yova tight. Yova asked the Shepherd if that would suffice and it told her it would, but that it still had to deliver a message. At that, I tore out a page from my journal where I was taking all of the notes and handed it to Yova along with my pen, telling her to engrave an invitation. She did so with her fanciest handwriting and Pam signed off, including a reference to a nickname she had for Sierra. The Shepherd took it and – seemed pleased? It’s hard to get a read on an extraplanar being, but it did seem to approve of what we were doing. It said it would deliver the invitation to Sierra and wouldn’t open its own way for her before it departed.
Shortly after that, we all woke up and Yova told us that she loved us dearly but that we had to get the hell out of her apartment. And so I think I’ll wrap it here for now. When next we come back, Bella’d recovered from her bout with the flu and you’ll find out what further messes we managed to get ourselves embroiled in. Until then, stay safe, and if an Ogre is coming for a party, may you invest in one of those giant ten-pound tubs of Cheeto balls.
1 note · View note
do u think yuasa will do devilman lady now ?
In my opinion, you say… Short answer is no because if Yuasa ever does a Crybaby sequel, which I bet it won’t happen for several reasons, it wouldn’t even be able to get called Devilman Lady anymore.
And it has a lot to do with the changes the characters when through in Crybaby.
Let’s begin with this friend.
Tumblr media
In the manga, Akira was about to renounce to fight for humankind after having his hopes and dreams eventually crushed in battles and other events. The last straw was finding a group of humans torturing people (including the Makimura’s parents) with the excuse of those being demons when they already knew they were torturing innocent humans. They even try to calm Akira down once he arrives in his Devilman form saying he had nothing to worry because they hadn’t touched anyone from his race (demons). 
Tumblr media
Akira then ponders about everything that has happened until then and about his last conversation with Satan.Thinking about Miki, he decides to keep fighting so he can at least give her a world where she still can live… just to find out she’s been killed meanwhile. And not by a demon’s hand: by their own neighbours, those they probably had know for entire years. Humans. Crying while holding her severed head Akira promises to fight Satan to death until only one of them is left standing. Not anymore to save humans but of pure fury and resentment. 
Tumblr media Tumblr media
He’s moved by pride, even. The same pride he thought it was so stupid to save before. That “spirit” which felt so much like some of Ryo’s weird ideas (who’s also torn apart between his unconscious true mission, his fake mission he’s slowly giving up in and sees futile, and trying not get Akira dead). Akira slapped/kicked Ryo repeteadly after hearing him saying such things… and one single volume later he’s effectively with his Devilman army not moving a single finger to save any human in Earth and just focusing on preparing for the last battle against Satan, guided by what’s now his pride as a Devilman. 
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
In Crybaby there’s no 20-year timeskip. Because Akira never renounced to his humanity and to fight for them (even with Miki’s death! who had the plus of being his childhood friend this time!) their extinction seems to be also a consequence of the battle instead of just humans killing themselves like in the manga in both murders and suicides. Akira had every intention of saving them no matter what he had to do.
Crybaby’s Akira is some ideal and noble figure instead of the simple and common boy who gets dragged into a difficult situation as the manga one was (and thus reacts like a common human would in such a situation). Crybaby’s portrayal is not only borderline surreal, it also makes Lady to follow it up highly unlikely. Crybaby is just ‘Main Character tries to defeat Bad Guy who actually had feelings !! what a tweest!!! also he fails’. 
Akira has very few reasons to forgive Ryo (if he has at all). In the manga they were both to blame in the end, it was kind of Nagai’s point for the antiwar theme, and he saw Ryo regretting and crying over him.
Crybaby? Not so much. He doesn’t even get to see him regretting before, you know, he dies. Yuasa adapted Neo Devilman for Crybaby to use it in the last episode, putting flashbacks of Ryo and Akira in their good days while the battle kept happening. Can you guess which one scene from that episode Nagai drew he didn’t put? 
Tumblr media Tumblr media
… Duh.
You can’t even make the point of that scene coming later (just like it did for the manga: it was added in Neo and Lady, and I don’t know if the deluxe version of the original Devilman manga) because as I pointed out earlier he purposely added an adapted version of the rest of the episode already. So if he wanted to put Akira there reacting he would have, in a quick blackscreen whispering before the credits or something, or right before showing the world remaking itself/being remade.
I put into question if Akira was still holding any positive feeling for Ryo in the last episode of Crybaby instead of plain hate. He claims his tears have all dried up so he can’t even cry for Ryo anymore. Despite he listens to Ryo (sorta) and even began a conversation in the manga (that ended up being Ryo’s monologue but oh well) before he dies, as he doesn’t instantanely does it for the same reason he could survive Sirene after losing a lot of blood and a limb, this Akira… didn’t utter a word, didn’t give a single thought. I mean, he IS a really emphatic person, and there’s the baton symbolism, but it’s… hard to see. Ryo’s betrayal came with his memories of Satan so it was a clean cut in the manga, and thus it had that impact and mixed feelings. Afterrecovering his memories Ryo’s almost like a different person. Even in Lady atfirst Akira seems conflicted by this, as he tries to separate both switchingbetween both names. It’s understandable. In a way he probably felt Satan had killed his bestfriend. But Crybaby’s Ryo betrayed Akira’s trust so repeatedly I don’t think it was as much of a surprise for him. He doesn’t look that conflicted.
Of course Akira could forgive Satan/Ryo in the end but that would feel terribly forced. 
And now let’s go to our other important character in the manga sequel, Satan. Jun and Lan, particularly Jun, would be so… different. Jun is a really good girl who tries her best for humankind which I… can’t really see a guy who already was killing humans and calling them scum in the first episode doing. You’ll say ‘it was the Black Sabbath, there was no other way around!’. Alright, I can concede you that (even if this Ryo wasn’t under such high pressure and wasn’t literally stoned and being pointed out by Akira on how he was acting too different from his usual self). But then explain the rest of Ryo’s murderings in the next episodes honestly, because those happen BEFORE he recovers his memories of being Satan. Lan would be easier to adapt (she’s still ‘nicer’ than Crybaby Ryo) but Jun… I really don’t know how they would. What’s more, Satan’s reasons to oppose God are completely different. In the manga he did it to prevent demons from dying; in contrast, in Crybaby he did it because God was “cold” or something? There’s not really a reason, his dialogue was very vague and he found the demons later. So how would it translate in a Crybaby sequel following Lady? The last battle against God, if Satan makes Akira join him, would be for… what? The lulz? I’ve got no idea. The whole deal with God is different and I have no idea how they’d adapt his role or even the Lady’s ending as it is (his doing is really prominent in that manga, you just don’t know until what extent until later volumes). It really, REALLY, depended on his characterization in the original. And then there’s the whole arc inherited from Mao Dante that’s pretty important for certain events to happen, and also needs for God to be the plain villain.
Another point is that Crybaby Ryo doesn’t actually understand Akira. From the time Ryo throws Akira money to pay a hooker to the time he opens his arms trying to receive Akira joining him when Akira’s still holding Miki’s head, even after hearing from his mouth Akira loved her so much and that he had lost everything because of him… He can’t understand his emotions or even acknowledge their existence, therefore by no means he can understand the emotions of others. And this includes Akira. Instead of comforting Akira after, you know, his parents were killed, Ryo just takes Akira’s mom (?) mobile phone to save Akira’s pictures she had while he still has the real thing in the same room crying his eyes out during this exchange. Not to mention how he pressured Akira (‘if you don’t kill it [Jinmen], I’ll do it!’) shortly before that. Or how he spied on Akira’s conversations with other people. Or how he tried to kill Miki few days after they were reunited again. And in general just trying to make Akira dance at his tune. Stuff like that seriously made me cringe. And it’s just so important for those two to be in the same page for Lady to work. If it doesn’t…
Ryo’s a polar opposite for Akira this time, who’s over empathic in this adaptation. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Akira already knew Ryo loved him way before Ryo himself acknowledged such feeling considering he already knew Ryo was crying internally in the scene with the dead kitten (though I believe Ryo felt bad at seeing how sad Akira was instead of feeling bad for the kitten itself: he’s not that fond of animals this time… or anything that isn’t Akira for that matter) and that’s why he still stayed by his side despite being… like that. Of course they still have good times sometimes, like the scene in the pool, or when Ryo tried to protect Akira from bullies when they were kids so they would gave Akira his shoes back, but they just… fall short for me.
And I’m not even getting into all the new characters that were introduced and should appear at least… somewhere? So we can see they’re getting reincarnated like Miki did meanwhile the Devilmen are in Hell, and conclude them. Which role would Miki get here? She had gotten a bigger role in Crybaby so it would be odd if they were to show her just for like two minutes (it already felt odd in the manga though I appreciated she was actually living a normal and happy life). It could be nice to make her become a Devilman and work near Jun I guess, like the other Devilmen that worked for H.A. Now that would be a nice touch. Probably one of the few good things I could see getting out of this.
And, in conclusion, now we’ve come this far, after alterating all of what I’ve mentioned (and more I’ll be forgetting, I’m writing this quickly)… then what’s the point?
No, I’m not seeing it. Sorry. Devilman Crybaby deviated too much from the original manga for a sequel following the events of Devilman Lady faithfully. The concept of Violence Jack seems more feasible but you’d have to rework it a lot too, as it’s a crossover manga more than it’s an actual sequel. I mean the idea of Satan creating a world that ends up being his self-inflicted punishment. I don’t know, maybe it was the last scene increasing the drama and making him not realize/regret his mistake in something that wasn’t related to Akira what makes me think VJ would work better (even if it vastly changed too).
It sucks because when I saw Crybaby announced I had hopes for a Lady adaptation, one that followed the manga while fixing its prominent issues.
I’ve also heard Crybaby hasn’t exactly been as well received in Japan. And I guess I should look that up more thoroughly. I just got this, and only because it was such a fuss it reached Yuasa’s personal Twitter account. So I can’t say much else.
126 notes · View notes
“In 2017, after receiving a bone marrow transplant, my eight-year-old daughter Grace and I lived in the isolation ward at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Her immune system had been intentionally destroyed with chemo and radiation so that her body would accept the transplanted cells. Thank God, the procedure was successful and after four months in strict isolation, we were allowed to come home.
That’s when life became truly terrifying for me. Her doctors projected it would take six to nine months for her new immune system to heal. Until then any contact with germs, viruses, mold, mildew or spores could be deadly to her. Except for medical care, Grace and I lived in social isolation. For six months straight. 
I wanted to share what we learned as a family from our experiences while you and your family, and the rest of America, live in partial or complete social isolation during the CoronaVirus-19 crisis. 
Worst Case Scenario The hospital's child life specialist’s advice seemed so counterintuitive that we ignored it at first. She told us to keep disciplining our kids as if everything was normal. There should be extra compassion and flexibility, she said, but the basic rules need to stay in place. She was right.
Kids can piece together snippets of news, emotions, and changes in their environment. If you let go of the family rules they will conclude that you’ve given up all hope of them growing up into respectful, responsible adults in the future. They’ll give up hope, believing that you’ve given up hope for them to have a future. 
So don’t be tempted to let everything slide. I know you might be just barely holding on, but keep the rules they already know (and don’t be tempted to add new ones). You might need to change how you implement the consequences, but as much as you can, keep the normalcy that rules bring for your kids.
Tell No Lies Here’s another counterintuitive one, especially if you have young children. Grace was four when she was diagnosed with cancer the first time. The child life specialist told us that she was old enough to know the truth, in an age-appropriate way. 
So we explained cancer to her. We told her before she got procedures. We explained that her hair would fall out, and that allowed us to help her mentally prepare. When we didn’t know what was age-appropriate, we waited for her to ask. Anything she asked we answered honestly.
We were taught that if we “white-lied” to Grace, like saying a shot wouldn’t hurt, then she would be in constant apprehension, not knowing what to expect. She wouldn’t be able to rely on us to help her navigate her crisis. If you don’t tell the truth kids will feel it but they won’t have enough information to come to logical conclusions. They’ll always assume the worst. 
And as Mr. Rogers said, “Anything that's human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.”
Don’t tread water.  As a person, and especially as a parent, don’t allow yourself to tread water during a crisis. You need to have enough physical, mental and emotional strength at all times. Especially if the Coronavirus-19 lasts more than a few weeks.
I learned that lesson the hard way, living at the children’s hospital. I thought if I ignored my basic needs it would give me more time to take care of my daughter. First I ignored my body’s gentle reminders like hunger and exhaustion. I ignored my husband and concerned friend’s suggestions. Eventually, my body’s red flags went unnoticed altogether. 
My head was just barely above the crashing waves of crisis. Anytime a new problem came, big or little, it forced me underwater and I was left holding my breath, praying I wouldn’t drown. And that’s a dangerous place for any parent to be. 
You might need to force yourself to eat and sleep. Be honest if you need help. Exercise and relax if you can. Depriving yourself during a crisis won’t solve any problems, but ignoring yourself is guaranteed to make new ones. 
Find your minimum In a parent's support group at the hospital, we were taught that every parent needs to find their minimum during a crisis. It’s the minimum thing we need every day to feel like there was a moment of caring for ourselves. A moment of small victory. Mine is to eat a piece of good chocolate every night. Another parent said they needed to drink their coffee while it was hot. Another parent needed to have a long, hot shower.  
You might need morning devotional time, or go for a walk, or make your bed, or listen to your favorite song instead of Baby Shark. Only you know your minimum, and it can’t be ignored. It must happen every day. Your minimum guarantees one victory, and in a crisis, you need at least one to keep you going.
Plant a tree. Later.  There is a time and a place to be Martha Stewart. Right now is neither. I’m a recycling, anti-plastic, organic-food kind of mom. But we’re in a crisis. And this is the right time for paper plates. I still cringe when I use them, but skipping dishes when surviving is smart. You can’t afford a fight with your spouse over the dishes. You can’t afford to run out of energy while sanitizing all surfaces, at the same as potty training the puppy, at the same time you’re not sleeping well, at the same time your daughter hits puberty, while doing the dishes. You can’t afford to burn out. 
You can afford to plant a tree later, or better yet, use bamboo paper plates now (they’re more sustainable). During a crisis, take all the shortcuts you can.  
Leave the spices alone.  When we were living in isolation at home I would find myself organizing the entire kitchen, right down to the spices. I generally hate all forms of housework, but it was my way of trying to control the only kingdom I could rule. And yes, I suppose my neatly organized kitchen made me happy for about three minutes. Then my three-year-old son would come “help” me. I’d feel even more out of control than before.
We’ve never been in total control of our lives. We know that, but it feels more threatening with the Coronavirus-19 raging around us. In times of crisis, coming to grips with that truth can be a crisis in itself. 
But trying to compensate for the loss of control takes a lot of work to maintain and it never works out well. Aggressive organizing, unrealistic expectations, codependency, or short fuses are some of the gentler outlets of trying to steal back control. Eating addiction, alcohol addiction, or drug addiction, self-harm, and abuse are the more obvious and deadly forms of it. 
When I was able to admit that I wasn’t in total control of my life, I was surprised by the weight that was lifted off my chest. I can do my part, but I can only do my part. That focuses my attention and energy to do what I can do, instead of dwell on the things I can’t.”
0 notes
yanocon-blog · 7 years
Text
Offcode - Chapter 1
**NOTE FROM THE CREATOR - I made this in Office, and there you can choose different fonts... Since that didn’t copy to here... here is a note: ANYTHING THAT IS WRITTEN LIKE THIS is actually written in Wingdings... Okay, now the story can begin...
“Aaand... there! Done!”
As the text editor in the laptop closed down, Yan laid back in his chair, stretching his arms and legs. After a extremely tirying hour, the college essay he needed to do was done and he could finally relax.
“Well, since now I don't have anything else to do, maybe I can finish it now...” - he thought to himself, while double-clicking the heart icon in the desktop. He was ready to face the final boss on yet another Undertale pacifist run. It was his third one, and he loved each one of them...
Yan was focused on the screen at that moment. He already had dinner and was back from the college about two hours ago. He studied at night, in a college near the exit of the city. It wasn't far away from his home, so he used to have dinner after 10PM. Yan lived with his parents, and didn't work, but was always trying to help everyone in every way he could. His dad worked at the city hall, and his mom was a music teacher. Yan himself was studying to become a teacher, and dreamed about one day having his own school.
The screen went white. The player defeated the final boss and destroyed the barrier once again.
That filled him with DETERMINATION...
Yan learned about Undertale a year ago, but he only got the game two months before. He was amazed that even after a year of spoilers, the game still managed to surprise him and make him laugh. Playing games on the computer wasn't on his list of “favorite things to do”. He preferred to play games on his console and on his phone, but Undertale changed that. Ever since he bought it, he went crazy about it and everything related to it. So he knew all about the different timelines and possibilities that the game offered. He told himself he'd NEVER do a genocide run, since he knew that doing that would corrupt his game, and he didn't want that.
All the characters were facing towards the sun. They were free.
“Ok, done. I should go sleep now, it's late...” - Yan said to himself. The player hold down the ESC key, ready to close the game and turn off the computer.
BUT IT REFUSED...
“Huh...? Why is it taking this long to close? Did it crash?”
The player tried again...
BUT IT REFUSED AGAIN...
“Ok, that's enough...”
The player hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, bringing the task manager up, and tried to force close the game...
But it failed...
As the player closed the task manager and attempted to hit the RESTART button, the screen suddenly turned white...
THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT
SEEMS
VERY
VERY
INTERESTING
...
A bright green light warped through the power cord of the computer and when it reached the power brick, it went through its blue LED, emitting a glaring flash for a few seconds.
When it faded, Yan almost screamed out loud (he held up because of the time). Laid down on the floor, unconciously, was...
sans...
“WHAT? Am I dreaming? It must be... this is just on my head... right? There's no way he is re... … al... ...”
He stopped when he looked at his computer screen. It was back to normal, but the game window was black and had something written on it...
WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK
“... no... it's true... sans is here...” - the thought terrified Yan. How could this even be possible?
Sans was still unconcious, so that gave time for the player to analyze him. For the most part, he was the same, but strangely his jacket wasn't blue as usual. Instead, it resembled the color of the glare that ran through the power cord. A light-green, almost as the leaves in a tree. It reminded Yan about the text in the old computers he usually sees in videos...
… the color of code …
“ugh... where am i...?” - said Sans with a lazy voice... He woke up...
At first, Sans was confused. It seems like he didn't know what happened. He looked to the sides, analyzing the room trying to identify it. He failed.
“um... Are you okay?” - the player asked.
“yeah... i am... thanks for aski...” - he stopped when he looked at Yan, in shock...
“HEEYY!!! who are you??? where are the others???” - Sans screamed, running away on his back, accidentally hitting the wall. He was panicking.
“Oh, right... My name is Yan, and you are in my room. So... I think your name is Sans, right?”
“how do you know my name? where are the others? what did you do to them?” - Sans was talking out loud and harsh. He looked mad.
“Let's just say that... I know a lot about you... and you know me too... well... not personally...” Yan was sweating... How would he explain to Sans that he lived in a world that didn't exist? And all of his friends were inside a computer? How would he react when he discovered that himself was not real?
“hey, you didn't answer my last question... i'll give you another chance... answer me or you'll regret it”
* Yan - the sweating intensifies
“... … um... … how can i put this in words... …”
* The player tried to think of something to say...
* He failed.
“that's it. bud, you're gonna have a b... ...” - Sans stopped. He started to sweat, his face was perplexed. - “... wh-what... what happened to... my... powers...? i can't use them...”
Sans looked at Yan... worried...
“wh-what have y-you... done to me? what are you?”
Yan felt his sins crawling on his back... It was the time to answer Sans... *Why do I have to do this now? Please, he still needs to believe me after that...* - the player thought to himself... - *Well, here goes nothing...*
“I haven't done anything to you... You appeared here suddenly... I don't know how this was even possible... You couldn't... You aren't supposed to... You shouldn't...”
“Y O U    S H O U L D N ' T    B E    R E A L . . .”
Sans took a step back, terrified. What did he mean with “You shouldn't be real”?
“You seem a little unsettled about what I said... Maybe you felt a chill run down your spine? Heh...” - The player was looking at Sans with a mischievous smile on his face...
Sans was unsettled. Did Yan make a joke with him? Or was it a threat? Either way, it wasn't the right moment.
Yan stopped.
“Sorry if I startled you, that wasn't the intention... I thought that since you like puns, you'd laugh... That would make this whole situation a little lighter...” - Yan said, with a sad smile in his face. He was being sincere.
“um... don't sweat about that, pal... i'm just trying to understand what's happening, i'm totally lost... how do you know i like puns? do we know each other?”
“Yeah, I know you... We've met before, but not face-to-face like that... Actually, we've met like that... but you may know me by another name... since, well... 'i am the legendary fartmaster', heh heh heh...” - Yan started to laugh... Sans halted...
“wait... did you just said my secret codework? no one knows about it, except....... …. the kid..... ….”
Sans stopped again... He started to understand what was happening. And he didn't like what he was thinking...
“are... are you... Frisk?”
“No... I'm not Frisk... and yet... at the same time... I am... As I said before... My name is Yan... I   A M   T H E   P L A Y E R . . .”
Yan was talking in a calm, serious and cold tone... Sans's thoughts started to become a reality...
“so it's you... the anomaly is you... you're the one responsible for the resets in the timeline...”
“Don't call me that, I'm not an anomaly... As i said, I am the player... Come on Sans, I know that you're a smart guy... You already understood...” - Sans flinched.
“I heard that code because you told it to me... I know about the lab behind your house in Snowdin because I went in there... I know about how you gave up on trying to go home because you said that in our dinner... And I know all that because I am the player... I bought it... I played it... Sans... It's hard for me to say that... but... YOU LIVE IN A GAME... YOU SHOULDN'T BE REAL BECAUSE YOU'RE PART OF A GAME... A GAME I PLAYED...”
Sans's expression was empty. He felt like someone had taken his SOUL and smashed it with a sledgehammer. Everything he knew, everyone he met and lived with, all of that... Nothing was real... That explained the resets, the fear of constantly going back in time... reliving those same 6 hours... It was just a few times, but that still hurts...
“... a... game...? so... everything i lived thus far... wasn't real? all of the people i know... toriel... undyne... alphys... asgore...” - Sans took a deep and depressing breath - “... my brother... me… all of us are nothing more than pieces in a game?”
“Technically yes... sorry, I didn't want to cause this on you... After all of that, you may think that I don't care about you or your friends... but... Observing your lifes really helped me understand myself... So... I want to help you.”
“why even bother... it's all just a game... it's not real... it doesn't matter...”
Yan couldn't believe on what he just heard... Sans was once again, giving up on going back to his home because, in his vision, it didn't matter...
“DON'T SAY THAT!!! Sans, you should never give up... Because there are a lot of people that really care about you... being real or not!!! And don't even try to argue with me!!! We will find out why you lost your powers and I will return you home! That's a promise!!!”
Sans looked into Yan's eyes... Those deep brown eyes staring at him, with a sparkle he would never forget about it... That was definitely the kid he knew and liked to prank with. The same kid that made his brother love the humans, the same one that saved the life of Undyne and helped Mettaton reach his dream viewer milestone, the same one that helped Alphys with his secret... the same one that destroyed the barrier and freed the monsters from the Underground...
Those sparkly eyes never ceased to amaze him... And even now, in front of the anomaly he was searching for, he still felt the same about it... That feeling was comforting...
“hey kid... you know how i am with promises... so don't even think about breaking this 'bone'... i... … i believe you...”
The player was happy. It is still a mystery what happened... But both Sans and Yan are willing to uncover this as soon as possible... but... it was late...
“WHOA, look at the time!!! It's too late!!! We should go sleep... Please Sans, stay here in my room until tomorrow... I think you shouldn't go far from me since... well... you are a skeleton... and everyone else here is a human...”
“don't sweat about that, bud... you're not going to get rid of me anytime soon... g'night...”
* You turned off the computer and the light, and laid down on your bed...
* The promise to help an old friend to go home...
* It filled you with DETERMINATION.
5 notes · View notes