#gonna print out his face and stick it onto cardboard and use that as a mask | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

brokenjardaantech · 3 years

Text

absorbance of the deep (chapter 1: first contact)

written for a mermay prompts challenge. my prompt is ‘monochromatic.’

rated: M

relationships: simarkus, simon & josh & north, simon & daniel as twins

summary:

simon was the quiet son of a lighthouse keeper in a small seaside village. his other half was the sea. no one knew exactly what was happening, but he had his friends, he had his twin brother, he had the ocean - and to him, that was enough.

also on ao3

---

It started long before Simon was aware of his connection with the sea.

Back then, he was still loved by his parents. Back then, he was still blissfully unaware of how different he was from other people.

Back then, someone still cared when he went missing.

He of course had no recollection of the incident himself, being a baby when it happened, and all he knew came from his twin brother’s retelling of the event which he had learnt from their parents who decided that Simon’s lack of speech meant that he didn’t understand words at all even though he spent most of his time at home doing his own work or reading books reserved for people older than him. ‘Hag put us on the goddamned floor,’ Simon remembered the quiet fury of his twin brother as he paced in their shared bedroom. ‘God knows why she would do that. You could barely crawl, and either she forgot to fucking close the door or you somehow managed to open the fucking thing on your own, the next thing she saw after finally finishing cooking lunch was that there was only me, the door to the pier was open, and you were gone. They thought you were gone for good.’

Simon remembered turning his gaze towards the small stack of paper he was holding and rubbing the corner of. It was a copy of the newspaper article from the day he was found on the beach completely soaked in saltwater but very alive, one that took over most of the pages of the large sheet of inked newsprint they call the local newspaper found in the library and therefore required a few sheets of normal paper to photocopy the entire thing double-sided. Little Simon rescued from the beach! was printed at the very top below the name of the newspaper, and the article documented not only the facts - despite the sensationalised title - but also included a lot of interviews of the search and rescue team which seemed to care a lot about his survival and whereabouts, most of which Daniel and North firmly believed to be no more than a show. Simon believed them because he was never a good judge of people’s intentions.

‘Half of the town thought you were really dead, the other half kept searching just for you to be washed up the beach in the middle of the fucking night and being discovered only the morning after,’ Daniel continued talking and pacing, and Simon had to look away because the movement was making him dizzy. ‘The rest you can find in the article. I’m not gonna waste my time reading aloud.’

Simon grabbed the worn dictionary, flipping to the pages with the words he wanted to convey and pointing his finger at them. but - how - about - dad - and - mum?

‘No fucking idea. Dad said Mum was hysterical.’

The rest Simon forgot because he was tired and he hadn’t been paying attention, and he supposed that it didn’t matter anyway because they stopped caring when he grew up from the easy, quiet baby to the too-quiet toddler who wouldn’t play with other children and scratched his own arms when things became too much. At first, the other children he went to school with left him alone with his sticks and stones which he assembled into shapes resembling the marine animals he remembered from the worn picture books in the kindergarten’s library. He didn’t necessarily understand the words, but the pictures were soft, the fishies were cute, the soft edge of the cardboard felt good in his hands, and they reminded him of a home he yearned for but never had, his obsession with the ocean starting when he was young. It was during these quiet times that another boy of his age approached him.

‘What are you doing?’ the other boy asked. He was dragging a bag filled with books behind him.

Simon flipped his own book open until he found the page of the octopus he was trying to recreate with his collection of seashells that he found on the beach and a few sticks he found on the dirt in the garden behind the kindergarten, pointing first at the specific octopus he was assembling (there were five of them, he counted), then at the imitation on the ground. He hoped the other boy understood what he meant. He wouldn’t want him to scream in his ear and make them hurt just like the others. For some reason, they thought it would help him hear them better while in fact it was doing the exact opposite. He could hear them well enough; he just didn’t want to speak.

‘Are you building the octopus?’

Simon nodded.

‘May I watch you?’

Another nod, and the two of them sat on the same piece of log as Simon bent down once more to rummage in his collection of pebbles and seashells to complete his octopus, this time with an audience consisting of one single boy already a bit taller than himself. Halfway through the recreation, his companion retrieved a book, one with the same thickness but thinner pages and much more words, but Simon, engrossed in his project, didn’t seem to notice at all, having been sucked into his own world and become completely oblivious to his surroundings, and he only straightened himself as much as his uncooperative limbs could after the octopus was complete. Josh noticed it and put down his book just to be swatted by Simon’s flailing hand that felt like, ‘Look at my work.’

And to two boys, it was a work of art. With dirt as his canvas and random pebbles and sticks and leaves and seashells as his palette, Simon somehow manages to fit them together into a puzzle more detailed than the drawing he based it on, the different colours of nature somehow managing to form a harmonious combination of browns and whites and oranges and green. ‘It’s pretty,’ Josh commented. ‘I like it.’

Simon’s face blushed pink. Tilting his head to one side, he seemed to study his artwork intently for a few seconds before struggling with the zippers of his backpack as if he wanted to open them, and when it was evident that he wouldn’t be able to accomplish the task himself, Josh offered to help him, and he unzipped it quickly just for Simon to snatch the bag back and scoop every single piece of nature he used to construct the octopus with inside.

‘What are you doing?’ Josh was shocked, but still he zipped up the bag because he didn’t want the contents to spill out. He would be sad if one of the seashells got lost.

Simon hopped off the log he was sitting on and dragged the backpack behind him instead of putting it on. A few steps towards the other side of the park, and then he turned around, beckoned the other boy to follow him with a wave of his hand, his blue eyes still glued onto the ground.

‘Where are you going?’

Simon pointed towards a familiar direction.

‘You’re going to the beach?’

A nod.

‘Okay. Let me pack up.’

By ‘pack up,’ he meant carefully placing his book in his bag, and soon the two boys were dragging their respective bags behind them on the road as they walked to the beach on foot unsupervised by any adults. The sky was a greyish white, the wind was strong from the upcoming rain, the sound of the sea lapping the shore was particularly loud from the silence of the village and the strength of the waves, but all the signs indicating a worsening weather were ignored, Simon determined to go to the beach and Josh too curious to back down from accompanying his potential new friend. Walking was easier when the ground underneath their feet finally changed from asphalt to soft sand, and their tiny footsteps were erased by twin tracks their bags left behind. Simon sat down abruptly just before they reached the line where dry sand gave away to wet.

‘What are you doing?’ Josh asked even though he was already sitting down.

Simon merely pushed his backpack towards the other boy. It took him a few seconds to interpret the action, but Josh got it quickly enough and unzipped the back for him. Simon then poured the contents onto the dry sand, casually shoving the bag to one side and then started reconstructing the octopus once more, and Josh was confused; if the boy wanted to make it on the beach, why didn’t he do it here directly? Why practise in the park first? But he also knew that he probably wouldn’t get an answer from the other boy so he watched the octopus materialise piece by piece instead.

Until he noticed something strange about the ocean.

See, even though they were literal children, they grew up with the sea in their view at all times, and they knew its personality and temper well. When to avoid the shore, when to avoid going out altogether, when to prepare for the worst - they learnt to watch for the subtle signs and act accordingly. But nothing, not from parents, not from school teachers, not even from teenage babysitters, could have prepared Josh for the sight of the sea lapping higher and higher around them while the sand within their ten-foot radius stayed dry as if there was an invisible dome surrounding the two of them. He turned inland and saw the tide converging in front of him, the space around his bookbag staying dry on its own, and he sought out the other boy because he was horrified, he didn’t understand. The wind was picking up. If they didn’t go now, the sea would swallow them.

‘We have to go!’ he says. ‘I don’t know what’s happening, but if we don’t, we’ll die!’

Simon continued to piece the octopus together on still-dry sand while being completely oblivious to his worsening surroundings. He didn’t seem to hear Josh at all.

‘C’mon!’ Josh tugged on Simon’s arm and received an impatient smack. ‘We need to go!’

Do not disturb him, human. Leave the devout alone.

The voice, deep and all-compassing and earth-rumbling, was as shapeless as the shrinking dry circle around them, and Josh didn’t understand, wasn’t sure if he wanted to understand. All he wanted to do now was run, but his way back was already blocked, the tide having crept up to them while the boy was trying to convince his companion to go with him, and now it was so far up that it would be impossible to escape unless he threaded through ankle-deep water. His books would be ruined.

I can provide a safe path out. But do not look back, human, or accept the consequences.

Those would’ve been big words for normal children, but Josh wasn’t normal, having read through the entire kindergarten’s library and had started inhaling the books in the small public library they had, and words were at least something he understood well; one moment he was surrounded by dark waters, and the other there was a path directing him to his bag of books and up the beach to the road, to safety, and he didn’t hesitate to run towards his bag and dragged it up the beach until he was running up the hill, the sound little feet hitting asphalt overwhelmed by the howling wind and raging sea. He spared a look back and discovered that his companion was gone, most of the beach having been swallowed by the rapidly-rising sea level.

He abandoned his new friend and he didn’t even know his name.

Horrified by his own actions, tears rolled down his cheeks as he slowed down his normal walking speed and went back to the kindergarten on foot where his teachers were waiting at the door. ‘Josh!’ one of them rushed forward and wrapped his arms around him. ‘Where were you?’

‘At - at the beach,’ he sobbed. ‘There - there was this boy with me and he’s gone!’

‘Another boy?’ a crackle of thunder, and their conversation was interrupted by a crackle of thunder. They hadn’t even noticed the streak of lightning tearing through the clouds because it was still bright, the clouds were not heavy enough to form anything other than a light rain, but it wasn’t like they cared about the inconsistencies between this rainfall and what they normally experienced anymore; all that mattered right now was that the weather was worsening, there was a child missing, and said child’s twin brother was currently -

‘WHERE IS SIMON?’ Daniel came blundering through before any teachers could grab him and clamped his tiny hands on Josh’s shoulders. ‘I’m asking you: where is Simon?’

Simon? Was it the boy’s name? Josh couldn’t think clearly. He left Simon to die. He was sorry.

‘He was at the beach,’ he didn’t know why he wasn’t screaming like the others, but as the first bucket of rain poured down the sky, he could imagine the waves sweeping Simon away, dragging him into the deep alongside the octopus he spent so much effort creating, all evidence of his existence gone, gone, gone -

‘The sea took him.’

o0o0o

In reality, young Simon was doing much better than he thought; in fact, the place he ended up with was so good that he didn’t even want to go back on land, let alone with the civilisation living on it at large, the experience edged into his mind so vividly that he can revisit it whenever he wants to even in adulthood as long as he closed his eyes. With Josh gone, he and the ocean could finally be alone with each other, and he let the waves cover him, an invisible barrier protecting him from the cold water and preserving enough air to keep him alive. He blinked, tilted his head to one side while the wave on top of his creation seemed to hesitate to touch it, holding his breath as the ocean judged him.

Don’t worry. Everything you made that doesn’t hurt us, I like.

He didn’t know what it meant back then, his mind too young to comprehend a promise as solemn as that, and neither did he know who ‘I’ was and whom ‘us’ was referring to, but looking back, it was part sincere reassurance and part lifelong vow despite, and now that he knows everything, he was glad that his love started early; it made growing up less lonely and terrifying; and despite his lack of understanding, he was immediately soothed, and he felt himself relax on the pocket of dry sand, clutching his open backpack and caressing the fabric because he thought it felt pleasant to his fingers.

I’ll give you something even better.

At last, his octopus was swept away by the waves, his offering accepted by the other half of himself that he didn’t even know existed back then, and there was no fear in his heart when the ocean enveloped him, surrounded him, carried him to the depths where everything was blue because no other colour could reach that deep. He found himself liking the colour; it wasn’t complicated like the kaleidoscope of life on land, it didn’t send needles into his eyes like the sharp reds and oranges the fishermen used to paint their boats so that they could be visible when they were out at sea, it wasn’t complicated like the subtle blue of the sky when it wasn’t covered by the clouds. This was raw, simple, the only wavelength that the ocean allowed to reach him among all others, so it must be the colour of protection as well.

He didn’t know all of these, back then, but these are some of the conclusions Simon arrived at after years of sharing his life with the ocean. What he did know was that the deep blue was a pleasant colour, one that calmed him down so much that he wanted to go to sleep right there on the soft sand of the seabed.

Sleep well, starlight.

Unbeknownst to him, his other half was still wide awake protecting his land-dwelling counterpart. The current changed to maintain the temperature of the tiny body at the bottom of the sea, the sea animals were instructed to stay off course so as to not disturb his slumber, and the earth also slowed down in case the pressure would become too much and frighten the fragile heart of a human child. It also got to work, finishing millions of years worth of progress in mere hours to create a safe haven for Simon, and he was carried there so gently that not once did he stir while he rode the waves without him knowing, and when he woke up, he was lying on a bed of soft but dry moss located in a cave of stone walls and soft sand. His parents and his twin weren’t there to urge him to wake up so he basked in the warmth that seemed to radiate from the pale sand as he listened to the sound of running water nearby. He would discover upon his second visit to the cave that it was the murmurs of an underwater stream feeding a hot spring near the end of the cave.

Time to get back, starlight.

He wasn’t in the position to judge or protest so he let the sea carry him back to his home on the surface. He couldn’t quite swim in the ocean yet and had a tendency to walk back into the water no matter how much inland the waves placed him; eventually they settled on putting him back on the pier outside his parents’ house/lighthouse, and although it was too close to the surface civilisation for their liking, it at least kept young Simon out of the water at last because he remembered jumping off the pier on his own and then landing into the water with his stomach first and the pain wasn’t something he would want to repeat. It was dark still when he was sent back to the surface and he didn’t want to be away from the sea yet, so with his tiny feet dangling off the side of the pier, he lay on the wood for hours watching the stars twinkle in sync with the dark waters kissing the beach glowing silvery in the moonlight, and then having to close his eyes as the sun painted the horizon a fiery orange and the clouds a deep purple. The sea stayed the same, however, the greyish-blue waves too choppy to glisten under the sunlight. The wind picked up as the land absorbed the energy from the sun and started heating the air, and that was how his parents found him: unconscious at the edge of the pier behind their house, a soft breeze smelling of the ocean feeding the fire burning what remained of his mind away.

#simarkus #dbh simon #dbh josh #dbh daniel #dbh #detroit become human #detroit: become human

7 notes · View notes

captainsassmanes · 4 years

Text

Part 4 to this

Michael woke up feeling like he’d been hit in the head with a hammer. His mouth was so dry it took effort to remove his tongue from the roof of his mouth. Refusing to open his eyes, he buried his head further into the pillows, remembering where he was and choosing to stay in the safety of Alex’s scent for just a little while longer.

The sound of nails tapping against cardboard had his eyes snapping open.

Maria looked beautiful, if not a little tired. The sunlight was streaming in through the blinds, painting her golden, glowing where she sat. Michael lay clutching the blanket while he scanned through every excuse he could think of to explain what she was seeing, why he was there.

“You’re a mess.”

Her voice was calm, but her eyes were sad as she stared at him, making his cheeks flush red. He could only imagine what he looked like.

All he could do was nod and force himself to shuffle into a seated position. He kept his eyes on his hands, fidgeting with the oversized blue comforter, sweaty curls sticking to the back of his neck.

He cleared his throat and risked a quick glance at Maria who remained unmoved with the same, even expression. “How did you know where to find me?”

Sipping her coffee, she tilted her head and licked her lips. “Liz called me. She said you ran out of the diner, really upset. We searched all over last night, tried a few of your regular spots. Kyle suggested this place.”

Michael scoffed. “Traitor.”

Maria shook her head. “Not really. It was like pulling fucking teeth to get it out of him.”

The corner of his mouth lifted, imagining Valenti having a moral dilemma on his behalf.

“Doesn’t explain why you’re here, though.”

Michael wasn’t ready for the conversation. He was exhausted and confused but still riding an underlying buzz of fear. Without time to prepare and with Maria’s dark eyes trying to dig into his soul, the truth was the only option.

“Alex left. Again.”

Maria nodded, the set of her mouth relaxing some.

“I didn’t want him to go.”

She leaned over placing her hand on his arm, gently moving her thumb back and forth over the muscle there. “Me neither. None of us did, babe.”

Michael shook his head. He couldn’t think of the right words, couldn’t figure out how to say what he was feeling. Frustration clawed at his insides.

“But you lied to me.”

He held his breath and looked to Maria whose hand still rested on his arm, albeit with a slightly tighter grip. “For years now you’ve made it seem as though you and Alex had a high school thing, hooked up a few times on and off over the years.”

“We did!”

“But that wasn’t all, Michael.” He lost the eye contact, anxiety creeping up his spine. “When I realized I had feelings for you, I beat myself up for weeks. Weeks! I went back and forth, turned it over and over in my head. I wanted to be happy, to have someone in my life who loved me, who wanted me, who took care of me now and then. But how could I do that to Alex? How could I risk losing my best friend?”

She put her coffee down on the bedside table, hands visibly shaking as she regained her composure. “I made my choices, but I used your bullshit as a comfort, Michael. I was able to hide behind the fact that Alex’s feelings for you were one sided, had been for a long time. That you didn’t love him, you loved me, and he’d eventually get over it. Like you did.”

A tear landed on his arm where Maria’s hand had rested moments before. He stared at the wetness, spreading, making the hair on his arm a shade darker.

“You loved him. You still do.”

Michael wiped the dampness on his arm onto the blanket, sniffing and willing away a sudden wave of nausea.

Long, lean fingers pulled at his t-shirt. He watched Maria’s face brighten with a smile. “I bought him this. Gave it to him when he came back home for the first time, years ago. Stupid gag gift.” Michael looked down noticing the shirt he grabbed last night had a picture of a smoking Martian with the caption your planet or mine?

He groaned before tossing his head back and covering his eyes with his arms.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what, Michael? For which part?”

Banging his head lightly against the headboard, he mumbled, “for hurting you. For denying the truth. For letting everything get so out of hand. For letting everyone down. Again.”

The room was quiet, Michael’s breathing and the birds happily chirping outside the only noises to be heard.

“Why propose?”

Michael smiled. “Because I love you. You make me happy.”

Maria shook her head. “That makes no sense.”

He sat up higher and twisted his body to see her clearly. “You’re amazing and I’m lucky you ever looked at me twice. I’ve been happy, Maria. You made me happy.”

Maria bit her lip as a tear slid down her cheek, mascara drawing a line in its stead. “I was happy, too. But I’m no one’s second choice.”

He reached out and wiped away her tear. “I’m so sorry, Maria. My history with him is so…complicated. I don’t even know-”

“When I was little, I thought I was gonna marry Alex. Did I ever tell you that?”

Michael chuckled, relieved by the interruption and shook his head.

Maria smiled, too, pushing away another stray tear and wiping her hand on her skirt. “Yeah. I thought he was perfect. Smart but rebellious. Handsome but with his own style. There was no one else like Alex. He was amazing. Is amazing.”

She leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees. “He told me, months ago when this all started, that he couldn’t be angry with me for falling for you. He said it was easy.”

Michael blinked, surprised that Alex would say such a thing. Maria rolled her eyes. “I don’t know that I would say that but…”

They both laughed, Michael’s chest filled with warmth for them both.

“Michael?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s easy to fall for Alex Manes, too.” She slid her hand into his and tucked a piece of paper between his fingers before she stood and grabbed her coffee, throwing her purse over her shoulder.

He turned it over and realized it was a photo, printed on ordinary paper, worn and fuzzy. Michael couldn’t remember taking it, but it was the two of them, him and Alex, faces too close to the camera, but all smiles with their eyes closed in laughter, happiness radiating from them both.

“Where did you get this?”

Maria tipped her head. “I was looking for a tissue. It was in the drawer. Next to his bed.”

Michael’s mouth fell open, but he quickly closed it, biting his lip hard to hold back the sob threatening to burst out.

“You’re an asshole, Guerin. Stay away from the Pony for a while, alright? I need time.”

Michael nodded, that familiar feeling of regret and shame pulling at his throat.

“Now get your ass out of that bed. Shower, shave and put some clean clothes on. If you’re not on the road for Texas in the next hour, I’ll call Isobel.”

She turned, moving toward the door, but stopped suddenly. “If you hurt him anymore, I’ll kill you.”

With that she was out the door.

Michael allowed himself ten minutes to cry. Cry for the end of his relationship, for hurting Maria, for deceiving so many people, himself included. For losing Alex.

But he got his ass up, dried his tears with that ridiculous alien shirt and did exactly as DeLuca told him to.

#Roswell New Mexico #malex fic #michael x maria #my fic #angst

85 notes · View notes

onceuponadetectivedemigod · 5 years

Text

The Wedding

Part Three (The reception)

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader

@jayrami3

Prompt: 17 and 18

“God you are acting more dramatic than Rog in the man on fire video.”

“Calm down! We are getting married today!”

“Shit! You aren’t supposed to see me! You doomed us!”

The Reception

You and Ben decided to stay in the room you got ready in for a few minutes before joining your friends and family back outside. You both just wanted some piece and quiet for a minute.

"I can't believe I can finally call you my wife." Ben was glowing with love and pride. You were sat on the couch while he was in the bathroom, looking at you through the mirror as he reapplied his aftershave.

"I prefer Mrs. Jones over just wife. Gives it more meaning. Gives me your name." you said smiling. He started to walk over to you and he leaned down and kissed you. He plopped down on the couch next to you and cupped your face with his hands.

"God, you are just so beautiful." he said before he kissed you again.

"Sorry, Mrs. JONES you are so beautiful." he pulled away smiling.

"We should probably go and say hi to our guests. Hear the speeches. You know all the fun jazz. Get piss drunk." you giggled. He stood up and held his hand out for you to grab.

"Shall we then?" he smiled.

"Then, we shall." you spoke dramatically.

You started out towards the door. He laced your hand in his as you opened the door and headed downstairs. Everyone was outside and it looked like Joe and Jonathan were doing some weird dance routine. You opened the door and everyone started clapping.

You walked over to your table next to your bridesmaids and his groomsmen. You sat down in the middle next to him. Joe picked up the microphone.

"So, Mr. and Mrs. Jones Hardy everyone!" everyone started clapping again. Jonathan also grabbed a microphone and you knew this was about to embarrass both of you.

"So as you all know, Ben has been my best friend since we were in 2nd grade. So now that he is finally here, looking at Y/N, I am here to say I have been preparing this speech since 2nd grade and Joe is going to help me." Jonathan started.

"GOOD GOD PLEASE DON'T." Ben shouted at him.

"Too late mate, I'm doing it." Jonathan spoke.

"So in second grade, it was the second week of school, I had just moved and was new, Ben decided to come up to me and I thought, GOOD A FRIEND TO MAKE, but no. He slapped me. He grabbed my pencil and walked away. And I just stood there with my mouth open in shock. What I'm trying to say Y/N, is when he met you, he didn't slap you or steal your pencil so BEN WHAT THE FUCK?" Jonathan looked at you and at Ben.

"Anyway after day we became friends because I figured keep friends close and enemies closer but I actually fell for him, in the friend way. You, Y/N, I remember him telling me you literally fell for him. Off a 3 step ladder. Luckily he was there you catch you. But when I jumped off a house and broke my leg, he just laughed." He continued.

"I also remember in high school Ben could've gotten any girl he wanted. But he never did. He said 'I want to wait for a girl who truly falls for me. Not one who has some little crush.' Well you really did. Hard. I heard you twisted your ankle. Did it hurt? When you fell into his arms? I wouldn't know, Ben never caught me."

"THAT'S A BLOODY LIE AND YOU KNOW IT!" Ben shouted.

"Okay fine. He caught... Up to me when we would race around the block. I remember the day he met you Y/N. He spoke about how funny it was when you fell but he said you had the most beautiful eyes. Then when he walked into your work just to see if he could catch you again. He asked your number and then immediately called me. He took you to dinner and told me 'That was the worst first date I've ever been on. She probably hates me. But I really like her.' Then you called him, asked him when the next day he was free was. I saw him go from sad and fearful to the happiest he'd ever been. Up until that point of course. I think seeing him cry like a baby today beats that."

"I thought he was crying because he knew that he had blown it with me." Joe chimed in.

"ANYWAY. Y/N What we are saying is if you would like to return him. You are gonna need a receipt, and I dont think the marriage license counts, so instead I printed a picture of his texts to me about when he stalked you at your job." He grabbed a picture off the table next to him and sat it down in front of you. You read it, laughed, and thanked him. Now it was Joe's turn.

"Okay, I haven't known Ben nearly as long as he has or even as long as Y/N. But I do know that He loves her. I know that he loves me, gwyl, and Rami more. But he does love her, Despite how it may seem in the media. I remember it was one of our first weeks on set and Y/N came to see us. We were all gathered, the cast, Y/N, and Queen. And I remember we did karaoke and he sang Faithfully by Journey to her. So, because I'm an actor, I'm going to recreate the faces I made that night." Joe started making faces at Y/N. They were mostly disgusted faces and also him sticking his tongue at Y/N.

"Then I sang him Purple Rain by Prince and somehow I won his affections for a few minutes, but Ben, Since you decided my love isn't enough for you anymore, I brought a date with me tonight."

"No. Joe... Please don't pull out-" Ben started. Joe pulled out Cardboard Ben from behind the stage.

"CARDBOARD BEN. AND YES HE CAN DIP ME BETTER THAN YOU CAN. GOODNIGHT!" Joe screamed as he grabbed onto cardboard Ben harder and went to sit down

Lucy, your sister, and your best friend got up.

"please no." you whispered.

"So instead of a speech we prepared a song." Your sister started.

"A song, that defines the essence of their relationship." your best friend said next.

"And her favorite song as well." Lucy said.

"NO!" you shouted.

"YES." Ben shouted.

The music started and it was too late. All three of them walked up to Ben as started singing Wannabe by the Spice Girls.

After they were done. You both stood up, and made your way towards the cake.

"Ben, I swear I will let you shove the cake in my face on video once we get home, but I have makeup on right now and I swear on everything you better not." you told him seriously.

"You should do it, man." Roger came up and patted him on the back.

"He will get you both killed. Try me." you said looking Roger in the eye.

"Okay, but you have to promise that there will be a video." Ben spoke up.

"I promise." you both cut the cake and fed eachother each a piece. You started to make your way to the dance floor.

"Any requests?" Roger said next to Brian and Adam Lambert.

"You guys are guests you don't have to play." you told them.

"Nonsense. We wanna play your first dance song. We will join the party after that one." Brian smiled.

"Well then, Faithfully by Journey. You know our song." Ben said.

The rock stars made their way up to the stage when a curtain fell and revealed a drum kit, gitaur, and mic stand. Everyone started to cheer and they started the song.

You pulled Ben close and started to slow dance as he sang the lyrics in your ear. You could have stayed in this moment for forever. This was your favorite part besides the I do's. Because even though there were so many people watching you, it was just you and him. You were both so caught up in the moment of just the two of you, that the building could have burned down next to you and you wouldn't have noticed or cared. You were just focused on eachother. All that mattered was you and him in that moment.

82 notes · View notes

papa-rhys · 6 years

Text

Gettin’ Off Lightly V1 (Jacob Seed X Reader)

Note: Okay, so I did two versions of this. I got inspo from the gif where Jacob stands on Rook’s hand in one of his cutscenes. You can check out the other version below. I just felt like writing some Nasty Jacob. Enjoy!

Summary: Reader had been locked in a cage for the best part of 3 days, and on top of starving them, dehydrating them, and putting them through his trials, Jacob thinks they need something extra to help get his message across.

Word count: 2109

Warnings: NON-CON, slight violence, Jacob being a prick.

You reach your hand through the bars of the cage, stretching as far as you can in an attempt to reach the quaint little music box that sits on the other side of the bars.

It’s so blatantly a trap. Jacob carries that music box with him at all times and it’s so perfectly placed on the floor outside your cage, just out of reach. There’s no way it’s a coincidence. It might as well have a cardboard box set up above it with a piece of string tied to a stick, just like in cartoons. The evil hunter would lure the poor animal in with a trail of treats and once his prey was in place, the hunter would yank the string and trap the pesky critter in the box, laughing and rubbing his hands together.

You knew Jacob was watching from somewhere, rubbing his grubby mitts together like that hunter; waiting for you to take the bait. So it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to you when his foot stopped down onto your hand, pinning it to the dirty ground.

You cry out in pain, looking up to find Jacob looking down on you with a devilishly handsome grin on his face – although, definitely more devilish than handsome, you think.

“Don’t worry, you'll be outta here soon enough,” Jacob says. ”Did you think you were free?” He asks, bending down to better look you in the eye. He removes his foot from your hand and you snatch it back, clutching it to your chest and holding it tightly in an attempt to ease the burning pain.

Jacob crouches down and there’s a few split-seconds of calm before he throws his hand between the bars and grabs hold of your face. He rises to his feet again, bringing you up with him and holding you as close to the bars as possible. You grunt and groan as his fingers dig into your cheeks, holding you in a vice grip and bruising your skin. By the time morning comes, you’ll have the impressions of fingers across your face and a boot print on the back of your hand; earning strange looks from Eli and the others next time you see them, you’re sure.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Jacob says, holding you in place. You look up at him with a frown, your face smushed as he squeezes it between his thumb and fingers. “Did you think you were free?” he asks again.

“No,” you mutter begrudgingly, barely even audible over the sound of the crickets in the grass beyond the fence of the Veteran’s Centre.

“Speak up, soldier.”

“No,” you repeat, louder and clearer.

Jacob lets go of your face and you exhale with relief, stepping back from the bars and rubbing your cheek. Jacob takes a set of keys from his pocket and selects one before unlocking the cage door with it and stepping inside. He closes the door behind him and locks it up tight, shoving the keys back into his pocket. Your nerves creep up as he walks towards you and you back up with him taking a step forward for each step that you take back. He moves toward you until you’re pressed up against the back of the cage, pinned between the bars and the mountain of a man that stands before you, with your hand palms pressed flat against his stomach, trying to keep him from getting any closer.

You swallow, risking a glance at the prisoners in the cage on either side of you; all fast asleep on the floor.

“Don’t be lookin’ at them,” Jacob smirks. “They ain’t gonna help ya.” He reaches down and unbuckles his belt, grunting softly as he does so and brushing his rough hands against your stomach as he presses his body to yours.

Your fight or flight response kicks in and in an act of bravery or sheer stupidity, you shove Jacob hard, sending him stumbling backwards. Regaining his balance, Jacob glares at you with a pure rage rising behind his eyes. He steps forward again and backhands you across the mouth.

You buckle under the force, raising your hand to your face and spitting blood onto the ground. Wiping away the excess blood with the back of your hand, you look up at Jacob once more, finding him pulling himself out of his jeans.

“You’re lucky Joseph wants you alive,” he says, grabbing hold of your wrist and using it to pull you back into place against the back of the cage. You hold onto the bars behind you with both hands – stiff as a board and begging any higher power that may be listening not to let the surrounding prisoners wake up. “You’d be in an unmarked grave right now if I had my way, but since that’s not the will of The Father, I’ll just have to find another way to have my fun with you. The way I see it, you’re gettin’ off lightly,” he adds, stroking himself slowly.

Jacob reaches down with one hand and unzips your jeans. You flinch as he violently yanks them down past your knees and you flinch again as he does the same with your underwear. You step out of them and Jacob kicks them to one side. “Arms up,” he grins sadistically, tormenting you with his jovial soldier-esque attitude. You reluctantly raise your arms into the air and he pulls your shirt off over your head and throws it to the ground with the other garments. “That’s better,” he says, his voice a low, gruff grumble. “I like to see what I’m fuckin’ while I’m fuckin’ it. Otherwise, it’s like eatin’ dinner in the dark: you don’t get the full experience and it tends to get messy.”

He puts his hand on your waist – surprisingly delicately – and spins you around on the spot to face away from him. You grip the bars tightly as Jacob bends you over and kicks your ankles apart. “Good. Stay right there and for the love of God; don’t struggle,” he orders. “Or I’ll have to get my men to hold you down and I don’t think either of us want them seein’ what happens next,” he adds, leaning in over your shoulder and speaking the words right into your ear.

With not a single ounce of care or compassion, Jacob forces his way into you. A soft groan escapes your throat as he pushes in all the way, grunting at the sensation of your walls hugging him tightly.

“Damn,” he chuckles. “You’re tighter than I expected. This might be more fun than I thought it was gonna be.”

He starts off slow, taking his sweet time and indulging in the moment; a silver lining (albeit a small one) that you’re grateful for, as it doesn’t hurt so much… not yet, at least. You adjust your grip on the bars and glance sideways at the sleeping prisoners, desperate for them to remain asleep until this is all over.

“Y’know,” Jacob starts, pushing into you slowly. “I thought you were gonna be such a burden when Joseph told me to keep you here. I thought you were gonna be just another drain on my resources. But now… Oh-ho-ho boy –” He grunts as he pushes in deeper, pushing your whole body forward. “I’m really startin’ to see the benefit of havin’ you around,” he breathes.

You allow a tear to roll down your cheek, leaving behind a wet trail on your dirty, sweaty skin as you think about what Eli and the others would think of you. What would they see if they were here, now? Another victim of Jacob Seed’s evil streak, unable to defend themselves against him? Or perhaps they’d see an ally turned traitor, jumping into bed with the enemy to save themselves from a little discomfort. You look down at your feet and let the tears fall into the dirt between them.

Jacob’s movements become increasingly harder and faster; throwing you forwards with the force of each thrust. His hands wander everywhere – grabbing onto your hips, gliding over your ribs, running up the length of your spine. They’re rough and calloused and they scratch at your soft skin as they trail over it. They eventually find their way into your hair and he twists it around his fingers, tugging hard and yanking your head backwards. “Fuck, yeah,” he says through gritted teeth. “Just like that.”

He pounds you into the bars over and over again and you begin to whimper as a familiar feeling swirls around within your stomach, turning your hands and feet numb as it threatens to spill from your lips in the form of a loud moan. You clap your hand to your mouth, stifling that moan for as long as you can before you just can’t hold it anymore.

“You wanna come?” Jacob asks, leaning in and kissing your neck. “If you wanna finish, you’re gonna have to ask for permission.”

“Fuck you,” you grunt, shaking your head, deliriously. Mind over matter, you think, trying to talk yourself down from the proverbial ledge. Just hold it in.

“What was that, sweetheart?” Jacob asks. You can hear it in his voice; the shit-eating grin that’s plastered across his wicked, self-righteous face. He’s loving every second of this and you know that if you come, he’ll never let you forget it. He’ll hold this over you for as long as you live – and you plan on living for a good few years yet.

You try your best to stand your ground, but with your orgasm getting nearer and nearer – and fearing what Jacob might do if you don’t actually ask him for permission – you bite the bullet and give in.

“Please, Jacob. Please let me come,” you beg, your breathing getting shallow and fast.

Jacob leans in and growls in your ear. “Go on, then.”

You grip the bars as tightly as possible, turning your fingers pale. “Ffffff-uck,” you cry, forcing the words out with an exhale. Your eyes roll and your legs wobble as they struggle to support your weight.

Jacob laughs behind you and he holds onto your hips for dear life, trying to prevent you from writhing around or falling to the floor. “Look at that,” he says to himself with a wide grin, leaning back to take in the view of your trembling body, quaking and convulsing – still wrapped tightly around his cock. “Ain’t that a sight for sore eyes,” he rasps, wrapping his arms around you and fucking you even harder than he has at any point in the last 10 minutes.

You rest your forehead against the cold metal bars and close your eyes, letting your body flop and be easily manipulated into whatever position Jacob wants you in.

“Fuck,” Jacob grunts to himself, quietly. “Yes, yes, yes – right there.” He gives a few more thrusts – deep and vicious – before coming inside you, shooting thick warm fluid that fills you up and drips down your thighs when he pulls out.

He steps back and admires you for a second, watching the shivering of your legs and the juddering of your shoulders as you cry, silently; still pressed against the bars of the cage.

He zips up his jeans and fastens his belt and you carefully pry your seized-up hands away from the bars and stand up straight.

“You can have a shower in the mornin’,” Jacob tells you calmly, as you slowly turn around to face him. “Wouldn’t want your legs gettin’ sticky.” You cross your arms across your chest, hoping to cover up some of your bare flesh as you stand naked in the cold midnight air.

“Th – thank you,” you pant, speaking in the meekest voice Jacob has probably ever heard.

“You’re welcome,” he says, kicking your clothes towards you. “Get dressed. You’ll freeze to death out here and I don’t wanna have to explain that one to Joseph.”

You bend down cautiously and pick up your shirt before pulling it on over your head. Jacob watches you for a few moments – a smirk still lingering on his features – before unlocking the door and stepping out of the cage. “I’ll be back to get you just before sunrise; we’ll get you showered before people start wakin’ up,” he says, closing the cage door carefully and locking it. “Get some sleep. You’ll need it for the shit I’m gonna put you through tomorrow,” he grins, shoving the keys into his jean pocket and walking away – whistling as he heads back into the main building.

You lean back against the bars and slide down until you hit the floor, throwing your head back and cursing whatever kind of God made a man like Jacob Seed.

#Jacob seed #Jacob seed x reader #far cry 5 #my writing #writing: Jacob seed

65 notes · View notes

littlepurinsesu · 6 years

Text

Mystic Party

I previously made a post about the invitations, and in this post I’m going to literally go through everything I remember about the party while it’s still fresh in my mind! ;)

A bit of a warning that this will be one heck of a long and detailed post with lots of information and images and links! This post is also going to include a lot more of my personal experiences and feelings rather than the more neutral info dumping, because this event was so major and I’m treating this a bit like a “diary entry” for myself ^___^

I’ve used subheadings to organise everything so that you can skip what you don’t care about or just read the specific part you’re interested in. *If you only want to read about the Rika and Vanderwood Route, it’s in the “SPECIAL GUEST SUJIN RI” section!

But if you’re in for the whole experience, it’s gonna be a LONG ride. So buckle up and let’s go! ;)

ARRIVING

The party was held on 23rd August from 1pm to 4pm, on the 5th floor of a fancy place that’s usually reserved for wedding receptions and other formal occasions, so we were told to dress decently :) No need to go all-out and wear a formal gown or anything (though some people really did!), but you needed to be well-dressed xD Oh, and cosplays weren’t allowed!

Lining up to enter the banquet hall!

Once you get in, the staff members will verify your identity to make sure you’re the person registered (so strict!). They also ask you to draw a card with a character on it for the “game” and give you a bunch of forms/cards needed for later and an RFA paper bag with your gifts.

Lining up to have your identity verified and to collect all the prizes and information you’ll need. Hello there, V.

Each table has a character emoji, which is also the emoji printed on your seat number card. My card had Zen’s emoji (YASSS), and my seat was in the very front row and right at the edge.

Our table. (My seat is no. 16)

A good thing because I can see things clearly and eavesdrop on the hosts/staff members/cosplayers when they’re waiting to go onstage, but a bad thing because sometimes the official photographers and news journalists try to take pictures or film stuff and block my view >.<” (Yes, there were news journalists from actual TV broadcasting stations because the event was such a big deal! :O)

GAMES

The first 50 minutes were for people to arrive, settle, buy merch, and most importantly, do the little “game” thing they prepared.

Seat card with Zen’s sparkly emoji, form for if you want to buy merch, and the card that lists the rules of the game. (Forgot to take a close-up... >.<)

Basically there are five “official cosplayers” playing the RFA members. They’ll be on the stage, and you go to the character you drew at the beginning for a short “game”. If you pass/win the game, they’ll stamp your card, and you can then go and put your card into the box corresponding to your favourite character (not necessarily the one you played the game with). The boxes will be used for raffles later where they’ll draw out names for prizes or for people to go up onstage for more “intimate” character interactions.

People playing their game with the character they got.

If you win your game, you come and put your stamped card in one of these boxes!

The card I picked out was Jaehee’s. I won’t deny that I was a bit disappointed (I DO LOVE BAEHEE I JUST LOVE THE MEN MORE DON’T KILL ME PLEASE), but after reading the instruction card and going through the game, I’m kind of glad I got her xD All characters have different games (win at paper-scissors-rock against Jumin, correctly answer a random times table question from Seven, draw a card and hope your number is bigger than Zen’s, beat Yoosung at “seaweed paper-scissors-rock”, or correctly answer Jaehee’s question about a random RFA member’s eye colour). 707′s and Jaehee’s are the only ones that weren’t left up to chance and the questions were easy, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to pass. Also, the male characters were pretty... “touchy”? For the fanservice, if you get what I mean? Like they might put their hands on your waist or bend down and talk to you really “intimately” xD

There are a bunch of standees on the right side of the stage. You line up in front of the character you’ll be playing your game with, and when they’re done with a player, you’ll be called up for your turn.

You line up like this for your turn at the mini game (which I didn’t have to do ;D)

To be honest, the “interaction with the cosplayers” thing was the part I cared for the least before coming; these characters are 2D, and no matter how good the cosplayers are, I’d personally prefer to keep them 2D in my mind xD

But then the Jaehee cosplayer personally came down the stage and approached me to ask if I needed assistance! I have no idea why or how she was allowed to leave her post and come to me? Maybe because I looked very confused, since my Chinese isn’t SUPER GOOD and the staff member explained the game rules to me very quickly and concisely ^^;; And when Jaehee saw that my card had her emoji on it, she was like, “Oh, then you’ll be interacting with me!” and explained the rules of the game to me again more slowly. By then I was pretty much like, “Eh, may as well” xD I didn’t go up the “normal” way by lining up on the right in front of the standees, because Baehee was already with me, so she literally took my hand and walked back up on the stage with me from the left side ahahaha I’m special :P The cosplayer was really nice and had a “big sister” feel, so it really was kind of like how I imagined Jaehee to be ^^

This is only a small detail, but I found it quite interesting that the cosplayer didn’t touch me until I explicitly said “Okay” to the game/interaction. I guess maybe there really are people who are uncomfortable with doing lovey-dovey and touchy stuff with strangers (since the characters are just regular people cosplaying). I found it quite nice that they were careful to respect people’s boundaries and only proceeded to touch you in any way when you’ve explicitly said yes :)

The games take place on the stage, but everyone’s doing their own thing, so it’s not like anyone was watching. Anyway, after leading me onto the stage and her position/place, Jaehee asked me who my favourite character was. Obviously Saeran isn’t an option here, so I said 707. Then she goes, “Okay, I’m going to test you! Can you tell me the colour of 707′s eyes?” And I’m like “yellow” (man, is it gold or yellow), and since the 707 cosplayer wasn’t doing their game with someone at the time, Jaehee goes, “707, come here,” points to their eyes (coloured contacts LOL) and says, “Yes, yellow! Okay, you pass!” She then leads me to the side of the stage (we were meant to leave ourselves ajksfh;asj why is Jaehee so niceee) and tells a staff member that I passed so I get my card stamped.

Then you come to this box area, and after you’ve written your in-game name and phone number on the card, you’re asked to put it into the box corresponding to the character of your choice. I knew that putting it in 707′s box would be an unwise decision, since that box would be filled with cards and you’d get a lower chance of winning anything, but Zen, my next-favourite, is almost just as popular in Taiwan xD So I went ahead and shoved my card into the 707 box anyway ahaha :P (A decision I would later regret as I didn’t win a single thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

The adorable emoji boxes! You put your stamped card into the box corresponding to your favourite character.

There were also a lot of small interactions between the cosplayers when they were idly waiting for their next player, and they were super in-character <3 Jumin brushed the huge paw-shaped cardboard sign he was holding against Zen’s hair and Zen literally flinched, patted down his hair, and turned around to glare at him xD Seven pulled at Yoosung’s suspenders and even stuck his head in to annoy and eavesdrop on Jumin when he was trying to have a serious conversation with Jaehee xD These cosplayers really know their characters well haha :D

FOOD

They also served food and drinks :) The highlight was obviously the original HONEY BUDDHA (TECHNICALLY “BUTTER”) CHIPS. I was pretty excited to finally try actual HBCs in real life, and I must say that the taste was... very oily and buttery? xD I mean, they are Honey Butter Chips, so I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the butter taste was a lot stronger than I thought it would be xD It’s nice, but I can’t imagine myself eating more than half a bag at once before I start feeling a bit gross/sick xD Seriously, how does Seven eat so much O___O

Finished my game with Baehee, and now settled with my juice and cake and Honey Buddha Chips.

OFFICIALLY STARTING

Waiting for the hosts to officially start the party!

The two hosts (more like MCs, but we all know that “MC” has a whole different meaning for MM fans, so I’m going to stick with “host” xD) are pretty popular among the Taiwanese MM fandom. They do weekly live streams/videos on the official Facebook page, where they talk about MM, upcoming events, joke around, and do raffles for MM merch. They’ve sort of become the unofficial “faces” of MM in Taiwan, and most of the Taiwanese MM fans (myself included) love them, so it was a real treat to see them in person! For this post, I’m going to call the female host “Cuby” and the male host “Fatty”, since that’s a direct translation of their Chinese nicknames (meaning “cube/square” and “fat”) and they’ve used these translations themselves at some point.

At 2pm, the lobby theme (“Mystic Chat”) finally stops playing and is replaced by Yoosung’s second theme, “Silly Smile Again”. Cuby goes onstage, talks a bit, and officially starts the party.

She then tells everyone that because this party is supposed to be “full of mysteries and surprises”, we should all check under our chairs! The chairs were covered in fancy silky fabric, so we had to dig under that. And SURPRISE! Each seat had a random sticker sheet stuck inside (the ones that come with the emoticon cushions), and it’s yours to keep! Cue intense screaming and fangirling throughout the whole room, to the point where the host had to put her mic down because she couldn’t talk over the screaming and she failed at getting us to calm down xD I got a 707 sticker sheet YASSSSS!!! (I could feel the envious stares of other people on my table hur hur nope not trading with any of you :P) And I just got the Ray stickers with my Ray emoticon cushion a few days ago ;___; Come with me, Saeyoung, I have your brother at home and I will reunite the two of you <3

The 707 stickers hidden under my chair!

After that, the opening video was played to signal the start of the party! I’ve watched that video countless times by now, but seeing it blasted through huge speakers and played on a giant screen gave me all the feels, and it was cute when Cuby cued everyone to sing along haha <3

The feelsssss ;___;

And when you think the next segment is officially starting, the lights dim again, the intro of the OP comes on once more, Cuby goes “Wth is going on?”, the big screen splits and opens, and Fatty enters with much fanfare, singing the Chinese version of the song xD

So much LOL (and yes, I will always snap a picture when Saeran shows up on the screen)

Cue everyone screaming and cheering for him (because this guy is so hilarious and therefore super popular). He even had a rose, which he threw to the girl sitting next to me. Guess I’m too close to the edge for him to bother reaching LOL

SPECIAL GUEST SUJIN RI (RIKA AND VANDERWOOD ROUTE INFO IN THIS SECTION)

They then played an exclusive video that featured all the VAs (minus Saeran, Rika, and Vanderwood), Han (the singer of the theme songs), some Cheritz staff members and Sujin Ri (founder of Cheritz and creator of Mystic Messenger) greeting and thanking Taiwanese fans. They’d teased that there would be a special guest coming to this party from Korea, and it was none other than Sujin Ri herself!!!

Sujin Ri in her adorable cherry dress <3

Sujin Ri is so cute! xD She spoke a bit of English, but most of her longer speeches and answers were in Korean, so she had a translator with her. The event planners had put together a list of questions that they knew everyone would be curious to know, and the hosts read out the questions one by one while Sujin Ri answered them onstage!

Q: “Why did you create this game? How did you come up with the script?” A: It was a long answer, but she basically said that she took a long break after her first two games and was wondering if she should continue. She then decided to make a mobile game, and wanted it to be more “relatable” for players, so came up with the idea of a messaging app! She also said something about how she really likes watching American shows and dramas, so a lot of her inspiration came from those. One of the hosts joked that American movies often have hackers, so maybe that’s why MM has a hacker (or two) :P

Q: Will there be a chance to release a Rika Route? A: She basically said something like (paraphrased), “The Taiwanese version hasn’t released V’s and Unknown’s stories yet, but they have been released in Korea [she didn’t say internationally, for some reason] and lots of Rika’s secrets were revealed. There will be more in the future, so please look forward to it.” The reactions were mixed, just like with the international fandom. Some people were frowning and shaking their heads, but there were definitely some people who cheered and clapped lol. Guess Rika is a controversial character in every country xD (Fatty revealed in the Facebook Live After Party that when he asked her, “Yes? Or no?” she replied, “Maybe!”) But yeah, her answer was vague and her words in no way confirm a Rika Route. But to me, just the fact that the party planners chose and put this question in the script seems to be a pretty clear indication that it’s probably going to happen...? Like, why tease something that isn’t going to be an actual thing? I dunno, maybe it’s just me reading too much into it and trying to be smart, so don’t quote me on an official confirmation for a Rika Route; I’m just relaying what I heard and sharing my own interpretation ^^;;

Q: Will there be a chance for the VAs to come to Taiwan? A: “Yes!” Short and sweet, so I take that as a sign that there might be more official MM events in Taiwan in the future! (My poor wallet...)

Q: Will there be plushie merchandise released in the future? A: Possibly! Again, not a direct confirmation, but just like with the Rika Route question, I take that as a pretty good sign that it might happen since they bothered to mention it! Dunno if it will be released internationally or be another Taiwan-only merch, though... (Either way, my wallet is crying again.)

Q: Please release LINE stickers with sound! A: “Good idea!” (in English!) Taiwanese people use the messaging app LINE a lot, and although there’s been two official MM sticker sets released, a lot of people have been wanting a version that has the characters’ voices (like how it is in the game).

Then they said there was time for ONE question from ONE fan in the audience, and a girl’s arm shot up so quickly that she was picked before I even had a chance to move my hand lmao xD But no worries, because it turns out that her question is exactly what I was going to ask! She takes the mic and speaks the holy words, “Will you consider making a Vanderwood Route?” CUE THE INSANE SCREAMS OF A BANQUET HALL-FULL OF THIRSTY MCS. INCLUDING ME. Seriously, the reaction was IMMEDIATE and the screams were RIDICULOUSLY LOUD. I hope the volume and intensity was enough to convince Sujin Ri that Vanderwood really is that popular and how much we really would love to have his route ;___; And her answer was basically (again, paraphrased), “Vanderwood wasn’t even meant to be an official character, but we ended up adding him into the game. I never expected him to get so popular, and since everyone loves him so much, I will take note of this and discuss with the company the possibility of making a route for him in the future.” NO OTHER WORDS NEEDED. EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO CRY TEARS OF JOY. THERE IS HOPE. And it’s even better because we now know for sure that the creator herself is the one who heard us and said those words ;___;

They then drew out some names for fans to go up and receive a gift and take a group photo with Sujin Ri. Two fans got a set of cards (game CGs) with the VAs’ autographs, and three fans got the official RFA badge set!

COSPLAYERS

So the official cosplayers had left the room after the games and were away during all this. After Sujin Ri left the stage and took her seat at her table, the hosts “officially” welcomed the cosplayers in for the first time!

(They’re just cosplayers and they’re actually all female, but for the purpose of this post, I’m just going to use the pronoun of the character they’re portraying and use the characters’ names as though they really are the character.)

They enter one by one with a rose and give it to a random fan. No chance for me because they entered through the aisle in the middle of the hall and I’m right at the edge at the front xD Jumin gave his rose normally, Jaehee didn’t give hers away (I’ll explain why later), Seven and Yoosung threw theirs to reach fans that were further back (still not far enough for me T_T), and Zen got down on his knee Zen-style and handed it to a lucky fan.

The RFA members (well, cosplayers) are formally introduced for the first time!

Once they’re all onstage, the members introduce themselves one by one (which was when I found out that they were all women as soon as they spoke xD) and answer some quick questions from the hosts. While it wasn’t top-notch acting or anything, the cosplayers were very much in character the whole time. The way they stood, their expressions, their manner of speech, their interactions with each other, everything was just like the character they were supposed to be, so props to them for that!

Jumin was asked why he didn’t bring Elizabeth the 3rd! Just as he was about to start talking, 707 cuts in and says, “Yeah, where’s Elly? Why didn’t you bring my Elly? She’s mine!” xD Jumin basically brushed him off (”She’s not yours!”) and said it’s because there’s a flu going around and he didn’t want her to get sick =^.^= The hosts kept jokingly begging him to please not purchase and merge their company with C&R xDDD Jumin also said that he’d like Zen to model for his cat food commercial, and the look on Zen’s face was priceless LOL xD (Zen said only if either the cat is put in plastic wrap or they just get a fake 3D cat instead xD)

Jaehee was asked why she still had her rose with her, and she said it’s because she wants to give it to Zen!!! It was super cute, and Yoosung and Seven were making love heart gestures behind them when she gave the rose to him xD But then Zen asked if he could give the rose to “one of the ladies down there” LOL WAY TO SHATTER BAEHEE’S HEART ZEN YOU AKSDJFHA;SKJ XDDD

Zen asking to give Jaehee’s rose to a fan. ZEN WHY XD

They chose a Jaehee fan from the crowd (a middle-aged man!!!) and Jaehee and Zen handed the rose to him together, which was really cute :) Jaehee also complained about her boss’ cat’s fur getting everywhere, that she was still using tape to get rid of them before coming in xD The hosts asked her if she realised her boss was standing right beside her, and she asked him for a raise. Jumin said, “For what you said just then, no.” xDDD They also asked her if she recommends any cafes. Jaehee said that while she enjoys Starbucks, the cafe she recommends is “The Who”, which is the one that has the MM collaboration going on right now lololol not-so-subtle advertising ;)

707 teased Fatty and said that he knows everything about him, and started listing his personal info, like his job, his height etc. But when he was about to reveal his weight, Fatty apologised for teasing and questioning “God Seven’s” abilities as a hacker and begged for forgiveness LOL xD

Yoosung was asked about his future plans, like whether or not he was planning to continue working for Jumin’s company. Yoosung said that rather than a career, he’s more interested in being a good husband ;) He wants to find a kind and pretty wife and have three kids, and even revealed the names he wants to give them xD (They’re all to do with stars, since Yoosung’s name means “Shooting Star” ^^) Such a cutie, and very Yoosung-like <3

Zen was last, and they asked him what he thought about Jumin LOL xD He admitted that he used to hate him, but now he thinks he’s actually a pretty nice guy ^^ The hosts then asked the two to “hug and make up” OMG. Cue the fangirl screams xD I feel like they know about the JuZen ship and are fueling it a bit xD Jumin walked towards Zen with his arms out, and Zen reluctantly went in for the hug xD They literally twirled around on the spot, with Zen keeping his hands OFF Jumin’s back despite having his arms around him, and the hug ended when Seven tried to put their heads together and make them kiss LOLLL. Seven and Yoosung were cheering and making love heart gestures (THEY SHIP IT), while Jaehee was filming it on her phone xD

JuZen huggles!!! (featuring shippy YooSeven and fangirl Jaehee)

After that, they basically had all the characters draw cards from those five emoji boxes, and the people chosen would go up onstage and draw a random ball with a number on it. Each number comes with some cheesy/romantic interaction (e.g. a romantic dance, holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes for 10 seconds, a hug and a pat on the head, being fed Pocky etc.), and the player would then do this with their character while everyone watches in envy. I won’t upload any photos of these moments to respect the privacy of the fans, but I will and have cropped out YooSeven in the background mirroring the romantic moments with each other! It’s like they’re all aware of the fandom’s main ships and are fueling them xD

YooSeven dances and snuggles!!!

One of Seven’s fans picked out “being fed Pocky”, but being God Seven, he immediately said, “I don’t want any of that! *signals a staff member* Could you bring that over for me? The one I brought myself!” What else could he be talking about xD

707 awkwardly struggling to open a Honey Buddha Chip bag onstage xD

They also get to take a polaroid pic with the cosplayer at the end. And since Fatty is known to be really generous and is always “adding more” to raffles and games, he allowed like at least another 10 or so fans to be drawn for a polaroid with a character of their choice :)

And Jaehee herself also asked if she could have a polaroid with Zen! xD

Zen and Jaehee posing for a polaroid, featuring an unamused Jumin.

By the way, Cuby is a HUGE Jumin fangirl and she got a turn with the Jumin, too! xD

"Ju-Jumin... I... I’m willing to raise Elizabeth the 3rd with you—KYAAAAHHH~~~” (That’s exactly what she said ;D)

They then got Sujin Ri to come onstage again and draw more lucky winners who’ll receive the card set with the VAs’ autographs. Fatty also drew a bunch of people to win a Taiwan-exclusive cushion (or the space cushion for 707 because they ran out of his Taiwan cushions). Amazing that there were so many things drawn at random and I didn’t manage to get a single one LOLLL XD

I managed to snap a picture of the cosplayers as they were leaving the stage for a break. They literally walked right by me (because of the convenient position of my seat), and Jumin and Yoosung even waved and posed xD

CHARITY AUCTION

It was later revealed that a part of the money they raised for this party would be donated to an official animal protection association in Taiwan, just like how the RFA parties are for a good cause ^^ They even played a video about the association we were donating to (lots of sad and abandoned puppies ;___;) complete with “I Miss Happy Rika” as background music.

Additionally, they bring on three extra standees for auction, and all the money from the auction would be donated to charity, too! I love MM but I don’t want a standee LOL so I just sat back and watched xD They only had Yoosung, Jumin, and Zen, and I got a picture of the prices they were each sold for (all in NTD):

I’m still shook that the Zen standee was able to sell for NT$9900!!!!! That’s like... *throws it into Google to convert* $322-ish USD!!!!! Insane but also very impressive! :D (Wonder how much a 707 standee could have gone for if they offered one haha)

Sujin Ri was so happy, and said that they would be sending them some kind of official donator’s badge from Korea for contributing to a good cause <3 The host even said that it’s amazing and really beautiful how a simple mobile game can grow to the point where so many people come together and do things to make the world a better place ^^ <333

ENDING

After the auctions, the party came to an end ;___; They played “Like the Sun in the Sky” as the ED and listed all the people who helped to make the party happen. But then they said that “special thanks” go to the fans who attended, and literally typed out ALL of our names in the credits! <3 The hosts picked out random names to read, like “Thank you _____! Thank you _____!” including mine, so I guess that was the only thing I got picked for today LOL XD

Cuby reading out my name!

After that, they have an ending screen with the SNSplus and Cheritz logos, and when you think it’s all over, Fatty enters from the right of the screen (turns out to be a video) and tells us that they’re going to be releasing a big confetti ball to signify the end (one of those giant balls that explode and then confetti falls out).

A wild Fatty appears!

I was expecting a huge ball to explode in the middle of the hall or on the screen, but when the Fatty in the video says “GO!” instead we get “I just got your messages!” again. Turns out he TROLLED US, and instead, they played a self-made, absolutely hilarious and utterly stupid but amazing “music video” of Fatty himself singing the OP XDDD Needless to say, the entire room was a laughing MESS XDDDDD

(Not sure how interested the international fandom would be because Fatty really is more of a Taiwanese MM fandom favourite, but if you are, there will be a link at the end of this post with appropriate timestamps for anyone who would like to witness this... glorious mistake of a video xDDD)

They also ended the event by taking a big group photo together! I managed to get pretty close to the front because my seat was so close to the photo spot already xD

All hosts, cosplayers, important guests, and 150-ish attendees! (Credits to the official Taiwanese Mystic Messenger Facebook Page.)

PHOTO TIME

After that, they said that they would allow a few minuets for people to take pictures with cosplayers, with each other, of the venue, basically anything. But unlike almost everyone who immediately STAMPEDED to line up for the cosplayers (especially 707), I raced to look for Sujin Ri!!! There were quite a few other people going for her, too, and she was taking photos with fans and signing people’s merch and stuff. I was able to speak to her in English, and simply asked, “Can I please take a photo with you?” She was super nice, and so was her translator, who ended up taking all the pictures for everyone who lined up xD Before I left, she told me, “Thank you for playing!” Ahhh she’s so cute <333

Major fangirling!!! (Yes, that is me in the white dress. I have officially revealed my face >_<)

I then went and selfie-d with the two hosts (because why not? :D), and then selfie-d with the standees for a second time. Yes, I am literally more interested in standees than cosplayers... To me, the standees were more “like” the characters? They’re 2D anyway, so I prefer to keep them that way rather than pretending that a person who isn’t them, is xD

And even after I was done with the standees there was still time. On my way back to my seat to clean up my belongings, I literally JUST SO HAPPENED to walk past the place that was the end of 707′s line. At this point, I kinda thought to myself, “I already paid for this party and I’m literally already standing in the queue, so may as well.” xDDD I did end up taking a selfie with the 707 cosplayer! I even decided to just go with it and asked him for a hug, too, and he told me to be careful on my way home :) Two possible responses: “Awww what a nice cosplayer she is ^^” and “OMGGGG I TOOK A SELFIE WITH SEVEN AND HUGGED HIM AND HE TOLD ME TO BE CAREFUL ASD;KFJAHS;KJDA” May as well fully immerse myself in the experience and choose the latter ahahaha :P

After that, you were free to leave or make any final purchases at the merchandise section. The merch didn’t really appeal to me, so I only took pictures.

Cup holders and washi tape! They’re cute, but not really things I need or particularly want. I’m happy with just my Ray emoticon cushion and rubber keychain for now ^^

The RFA members are also standing at the exit and seeing everyone off!

Jumin even helped the fan who bid for his standee to bring it out of the hall. What a gentleman <3

Jumin waved goodbye to me as I was leaving, and 707 waved back when I turned for one last look ^^

GIFTS

I only really opened the paper bag once I got home, and inside were the gifts they promised!

The bag is huge!

You get a random big cookie with an RFA member’s face on it! I got a Jumin, and I would like to ask how anyone thinks I will be okay with eating this ;___;

My Juju cookie <3 You will eventually end up in my tummy ;~;

You also get a poster set that’s limited to this party only (there is no other way to get them)! I thought we would be getting one poster with all the characters, but no, they gave us five posters, one character each, separately :O

This is basically all the stuff I came home with haha <3

Overall, was it worth it? Yes, I think so ^^

The ticket was pretty expensive and the purchasing process was crazy and stressful, but I think it was worth the money and effort spent. The party was a lot more grand and fancy than I expected, and you could tell that they really did put a lot of effort into making it a really extravagant event. I did not come in expecting to meet Sujin Ri, and revealing that a lot of the money would be going to charity also made the party so much more meaningful <3 (I’m sure the RFA would be proud ;D) Of course, the experience would probably have been more unforgettable and rewarding if I had actually gotten drawn for just ONE of the many lucky draws they had LOL but I still had a great time and I’m just thankful that I got to attend such a fun and wonderful event <333

Not sure if they’ll be holding another one of these parties in other cities in Taiwan (or maybe in Hong Kong and Macau), but I’m pretty sure that this isn’t the last of these MM Taiwan events xD I hope my wallet can take it :P

Here is the official compilation video with footage from the party (featuring my embarrassing self being filmed selfie-ing with a 707 standee OH GOD WHY.) The caption on the video post also has a link to a Google Drive where you can look at some clearer photos taken by their staff members!

And here’s the “Mystic After Party” live video hosted by Cuby and Fatty. (Go to 2:20 [as in 2:20 REMAINING of the video, so about 40:35 minutes in] if you’re interested in watching Fatty’s music video xD Please imagine this video coming on with the shook-ness of a troll surprise when you’re expecting a confetti ball to pop out instead >.>)

If you’re still reading, I APPLAUD YOU :O LET’S BE FRIENDS! No, seriously, thank you for taking interest and reading until the end; I am so sorry that it’s so insanely long ^^;;

All posts on Mystic Messenger events in Taiwan can be found under my #mmtaiwan tag!

Check out my Saeran x MC fic: Waiting for Spring And my Choi Brothers fic: Of Roses and Resets

*All photos belong to me unless otherwise stated. Please do not repost without my permission!

90 notes · View notes

cianmars · 7 years

Photo

Kiddo Chapter 22 FF (X)

Emma woke up, yet again led upon her father's chest, in almost the same position she had awoken the day before. She had clearly moved in her sleep to lay fully upon his chest, it was way more comfortable than any other place she had slept before even her parents' bed which was already incredibly comfortable, she felt tiny when she realised that she fit entirely on David's chest with space but she was surprised when this just made her feel safer being able to be protected by her daddy. She was getting used to waking up surrounded by her family, suddenly her room seemed much too far away and it was darker than her parents room which always seemed to have at least one light source, but most of all she liked having her parents cuddling her – her parents clearly didn't mind her cuddling them so she refused to be ashamed by it.

She stretched and yawned, she felt a large hand she recognised as her mother's touching her forehead, and an even larger hand she realised was David's rubbing her back as she snuggled close to him. She brought her fist to her eyes and rubbed her eyes open, yawning again, she blinked blearily as she looked over at her mother.

"Good morning Em, how are you feeling?" Mary Margaret asked lovingly as Emma woke a little more.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty." David smirked down at his daughter, he and Mary Margaret had been awake for hours and were having a bit of a lazy day with Neal having woken them both up, they had just been watching the news and some shows they had recorded while playing and talking to Emma. David sat up with Emma still curled on his chest, he had tried to sit a little earlier on but Emma had made grumbling noises whenever he did and putting her down was out of the question, not that he wanted too he'd rather have to stay lying down than wake Emma.

Emma yawned yet again as she opened her mouth to answer her mommy. "I feel better."

Mary Margaret smiled looking down at the girl. "Good, your temperature's gone down too, you must be on the mend. You still have to rest, but-"

"- I get to leave the bed?" She asked with childish excitement, she never thought that she'd feel so excited about being able to go around the loft, even if the bed was comforting during the night.

Mary Margaret and David both chuckled, their faces lit up at the sight of their daughter's happiness at such a simple thing, they could defiantly see the resemblance between Emma and Neal when Emma smiled like that. Normally Neal was excited like that when he saw his bottle when David was feeding him, though thinking about it, that was very much like Emma too.

"Yes," Mary Margaret quickly pressed a kiss to the top of Emma's head, "you can get out of bed, but you still have to rest." She gently added "And we have Regina, Henry, and that lady Regina told me about, Elsa, coming later one, remember?"

Emma frowned but nodded, she knew that Regina coming would mean having to see the memories of her past, but her parents needed to see it and so did she. "Did Ashley come here at night time?" She asked trying to remember if that was real or a dream.

"She's called Ella now, sweetie." Mary Margaret gently reminded her gently. "She was one of the people who changed her name after we came back from the Enchanted Forest. She and Thomas, Sean, brought around some of Alexandra's old things and some other things from people at the Mommy and Me group."

"Oh." Emma replied remembering her parents telling her after the second curse broke. She looked up at her mother. She was a little surprised that people wanted to help her out by giving her things, she tried to ignore the hope that there would be some toys, would her parents care if she played with them if there were some around? She put the new/used things down to people liking her mother and father. A new thought pinged into her head. "Are you gonna change your name too?"

Mary Margaret looked a little surprised at that question. She made the motion of brushing some hair from her daughter's face but there was no hair there to brush, it was just comforting for both the mother and daughter, as they both thought for a moment. "How would you feel if I did?" She asked instead, she knew David liked both names, though he joked that it would be much easier to spell Snow on birthday and anniversary cards. Although it was ultimately it was up to her she still wanted to know how those closest to her felt about it.

Emma thought for less than a half second, then shrugged, her composure showing it clearly was not a big deal. "Doesn't really matter, mommy, I don't call you that anyway."

Mary Margaret felt her heart swell, and her mouth split into a huge smile, clearly Emma was sticking with calling them 'mommy and daddy' and Mary Margaret would be lying if she claimed she didn't think that that was the best version of her name so far.

"Can we get up now?" Emma asked excitedly.

Mary Margaret grinned at Emma who was wiggling in David's arms with excitement. "Sure baby." She said gently she looked at David who was also looking very amused at Emma's excitement which was making Neal start to wiggle. "Do you want to swap?" She asked her husband nodding down to Neal, she knew David loved holding Emma, but he also loved hold Neal who was growing quickly and who David hadn't been able to hold yet that day as he normally would.

"Sure." David pressed a kiss to the top of Emma's head, then gave Mary Margaret a wicked grin, there was a glint in his eye and he watched Mary Margaret move Neal over to one of her arms and side of her lap, she could read him like a book. David suddenly lifted Emma high into the air above their heads saying "Blast off!" He was immensely proud of himself when Emma erupted into giggles.

He made her twirl in the air as she giggled he listened to his wife laughing at both Emma's adorable reaction and how Neal as squealing and babbling up at his big sister. David made Emma go up and down, several times, she was twirled in the air again before David shook her playfully. "Crash landing!" He said as dramatically as he had announced the lift off.

He set her down onto Mary Margaret's lap. He gave his wife a quick kiss, he could feel her smile against his own, their shared heart was beating fast with joy at Emma's childlike behaviour – it was bizarre to have her acting like that, but she was truly happy.

It was only then that they were able to realise how much the pressure of being 'The Saviour' affected her, they had asked her before, but she had always claimed she was fine then would avoid them until she could make herself seem less stress. Her giggling as David pretended she was a rocket was so carefree that they couldn't help but hope even just a little bit that they could keep her as carefree, and therefore as little, as she was now.

He shared a look with Mary Margaret and knew that she was thinking the same thing, they both felt a little guilty, but at the same time they knew what would happen would happen. Regina had said that she had explained Emma's predicament to Elsa, who had learnt a lot about different magical things and types of magic in her quest to control her own, but the Queen hadn't come up with any ideas yet – she was looking forward to meeting Emma to see if she could come up any ideas, but also so David and Mary Margaret could help her try to find where her sister was.

Mary Margaret squeezed Emma in her arms as soon as David had taken Neal into his, and cuddled the baby to his chest, taking to him. Mary Margaret looked down into her little girls' big green eyes, who was staring up at her with a giddy look from the game, Mary Margaret was filled with joy just looking at her. "Do you want to help me sort through some of the stuff Ella brought around last night? There's rather a lot, and I'm sure that you'll want to get rid of anything you don't like…" she teased rubbing her nose against Emma's as Emma giggled again, "though I did spy a couple of princess dresses…"

"Noooo mommy!" Emma cried, as though she was being tortured, though she couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice. She felt what she could only describe as being younger, in a vague sort of way. It was a weird feeling, but she was happy, not just with how amusing David's games and Mary Margaret's teasing was, but she felt closer to her parents and she didn't want to be apart from them even a little bit. "Can we go now? Please?"

Mary Margaret smiled and looked at her husband to see if he was ready to get up, he told her that he was going to get himself and Neal changed then start some breakfast off, they knew Neal would need another feed in just under an hour so David was keen for Mary Margaret to spend some time with Emma before she had to feed Neal. "Okay sweetie, let's go, we'll get you changed after breakfast." She pulled on her own dressing gown, then Emma's, before standing up with Emma in her arms, she felt the need to keep Emma close to him just as she did with Neal.

~OUAT~

In the main part of the loft there were cardboard boxes and big bags with characters on from Tangled, and Moana, and other Disney animated movies printed in bright colours on the noisy plastic. There were so many things that it was a little overwhelming for Emma, they were all for her, it was overwhelming enough that her mother had bought her things (enough for the short amount of time they thought that Emma would only be deaged then turned back), let alone things from strangers.

"These were Alex-sand-…" She realised that she was taking forever to sound out the girl's name, it was too many syllables and therefore too complicated, so quickly shorted it. "These were all Alex's?"

Mary Margaret smiled pityingly down at Emma's head, making sure the girl could not see her face, it may have seemed like a lot of things but it was not just clothes but other things some of both they would find they didn't want or need and would be passed along to others who needed them. Therefore, in the piled of things there were maybe a fraction of the things Emma really should have for that season alone, Emma should have had this the first time she had been this small. She had not. "Some of them, some were things from other people in the town, from the mommy and me group Neal and I go to… is that okay?" She watched Emma nod and she realised that Emma was only in awe and not embarrassed as Mary Margaret thought she might be. "Okay, shall we get started?" She sat on the floor with her feet underneath her and was a little surprised when Emma stayed firmly on her lap, she wrapped her arm around Emma's waist and squeezed her close, she pressed a kiss to the top of her head before she let go and pulled one of the boxes closer to them to sort through. "Some of the things I already went through, I put the bigger things where they needed to go so we don't have to sort through them today, but there's still clothes and some toys and things for us to look through."

Emma stayed on her mommy's lap as they sorted through the clothes, she was relieved to see that it wasn't only really girly clothes, according to Mary Margaret Alexandra had taken after Thomas in her height so the three year old was now very tall, taller than Emma apparently as most of the clothes fit perfectly on Emma, with a few being a little big, though Emma didn't mind that. Alexandra also turned out to not be too girly, there were only some pink, flowery, glittery things, and most of those Emma found she quite liked – she had a sneaking suspicion that Ella had made sure to put things Emma would like best into the boxes, and Emma was grateful for it, she already like Ella but she found she liked her even more now.

Mary Margaret was elated being able to sort through clothes with and for Emma, she seemed much more open to the more childish clothes, which were all bright colours and animal patterns, Emma managed to dig into a bag and found a unicorn hoodie, where the hood was the head complete with a horn – Mary Margaret looked at it and could tell that it was a new piece of clothing, she felt her heart flutter, it was so like the mobile which Ella had gifted pregnant Snow with. The mobile still sat in Gold's shop, David and Mary Margaret had meant to buy it back since they had first realised it was there, but everything had simply been so busy with villains constantly around. There was also a soccer jersey for the English team that Thomas supported, as did David and by extension of Emma (liking to be like her dad though as an adult she had claimed she didn't), Mary Margaret had another suspicion that that was a new thing too and she grinned at their friends' generosity – they had done the same thing when Neal was born, she liked that they insisted on making things fair.

When she looked at the sizes of the things that fit Emma perfectly she read that they were a size smaller than she had originally bought, size two to three not three to four, it dawned on her that Emma must have shrunken a little but obviously she and David hadn't picked up on it because they were with her constantly. She also realised something else. "Emma, sweetie, let's get you changed." The pullup had clearly leaked, Emma hadn't noticed it but then David had told her that Emma had told her about her problems with learning to potty train, she was going to have to use diapers instead of pullup – which was fine by David and Mary Margaret, but she was worried it was going to upset or worry Emma.

Emma wondered why her mother suddenly said that, she normally got dressed after breakfast as she tended to get food down herself, she suddenly realised why and bit her lip. "I'm sorry." She said in a small voice.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." She told her honestly. "I think we'll get you some more absorbent diapers when we next go shopping for groceries, it won't do your skin any good if you're soaking wet, until then me and your father will just keep checking on you." She hugged her daughter close to her, rocking her a little bit to make sure she was sure that there was nothing wrong. "It's okay Emmy, you don't have to worry about anything, we'll look after you."

Emma nodded her head and placed her thumb into her mouth to comfort herself in union with her mother rocking her. "Okay." She said quietly, because she didn't trust many people, but she trusted her mother and father. "Can I wear the unicorn hoodie?"

Mary Margaret smiled at Emma accepting that she and David would look after her. "Sure sweetie." She smiled and kissed her cheek, she gently moved Emma from her lap, noting the sad look on Emma's face when she moved her – Mary Margaret had a feeling Emma was going to be a little clingy that day. "I'm just going to go get you a new pull up from my and your daddy's bedroom, I'll be back in a minute, can you find yourself some pants and a top to wear with your hoodie?"

Emma nodded her head, she could do that, she tried to ignore that with her mother was gone, and that her father still hadn't walked through from the bedroom with Neal, she also had to try very hard to resist running after them into the bedroom and refusing to leave her mother or father's side. She stood up. As she did so David walked through the curtain.

He had changed into some dark jeans, he had on a dark sapphire crew neck woollen sweater, and on his feet were socks of a similar colour and material. His hair looked a little blonder in that dark outfit, and he had a five o'clock shadow and a smile on his face as he looked at Emma with a knowing look. Neal was in his arms, looking around alert, he had grown a lot since his birth, it was scary to think that almost three months had passed since his birth, which meant that Emma had also been deaged for a week less than that. Neal was in some deep green pants with an ecru top with forest animals printed on the chest, he was kept warm with a light grey cardigan with little bear ears.

"You found the clothes you're gonna wear today kiddo?" David asked with a kind smile, he noticed that she was stood up and looked as though she was about to run after Mary Margaret, but as she noticed he and Neal she calmed and stilled. He walked over to where his daughter was and crouched down, placing Neal onto his lap, he pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "You need any help deciding? There's an awful lot of stuff in here to choose from."

Emma quickly nodded her head, she picked up the unicorn hoodie, and held it up to him. "I got this unicorn hoodie."

David grinned and took hold of it, Neal started gurgling and trying to reach for fluffy multi-coloured mane of the unicorn, David couldn't imagine the twenty-eight year old woman he first met ever picking out a unicorn hoodie but for some reason this version of his daughter didn't surprise him in the slightest. "Wow, that is cool, I think your little brother likes it a lot too."

Emma grinned and leant forward to kiss her brother. "Ow." She whined when he grabbed hold of her hair before she could move back.

David winced in sympathy and carefully untangled his son's hand from his daughter's curls. "Sorry kiddo, I should have warned you, he's suddenly really into grabbing things all of a sudden. What top do you want to wear under it? There's this swan one, a ballerina?" he laughed as she pulled a face as he held up the pink top with a silhouette of a ballerina in light blue sequins. "Okay, okay, not that one then. How about…. the Monsters Inc. top?"

Emma looked at the cream shirt with monsters from the first movie poking out of the different doors on the front. She smiled and nodded. "Yup, I like that one, I like Monsters Inc. it's funny."

"I don't think that I've watched the first movie, maybe we could watch it later on?"

"Yeah!"

David chucked and picked up some jeans which went with the shirt. "Okay, sounds like a plan kiddo, we'll watch it before dinner and then we can watch the second one after dinner – that way we're resting like your mommy wants us to do, and we have an excuse to eat loads of popcorn."

Emma nodded her head and held out her little finger to him. "Deal?"

David smirked as Neal tried to grab onto Emma's finger, instead he hooked his little finger with hers, and shook it. "Deal."

Mary Margaret walked out of her room, she had changed into her normal day clothes and had one of the pullups in her hand, she walked over to her family and crouched beside her husband. She playfully looked suspicious at her husband and daughter. "What are you three up to?"

"Nothing." David winked at Emma, he passed over Emma's clothes for the day to his wife, then ruffled Emma's hair. "Okay, me and Neal are off to cook breakfast for our girls. One super healthy bowl of oatmeal with a fruit salad and tea, and one chocolate chip pancake with a chocolate milkshake, which has vitamins and nutrients and stuff so it's totally healthy." David added that last bit pointedly towards his wife who rolled her eyes but smiled and didn't protest. He pressed a kiss to Emma's cheek then one to his wife's lips before he stood up with his son. "You know there's a present from Ella and Thomas at the top of the big Disney bag, right?"

"A present?" Emma started to rush over to see if he was telling the truth, but suddenly she was being lifted backwards to her mother's arms. "Mommy."

Mary Margaret had to force herself not to laugh at Emma's whine, or 'aw' too loudly at how adorable she was acting. "We can see what it is in a moment, let me just get you changed and dressed, then you can open whatever it is, okay?"

"Okay." Emma sighed. She let her mother get her changed, she tried to stay as still as possible while Mary Margaret did so, but it was hard enough for her at the best of times let alone when she was wiggling around trying to see where the Disney bag David had told her about was.

Eventually Mary Margaret tugged the zip on her hoodie up and pulled the hood up. She kissed her forehead between her eyebrows. "Okay, nooow we can go find that present." She giggled when Emma ran over to the bag and tried to pull out the big present from the bag. "Here let me help you." She helped Emma pull it out of the bag and placed it in one of the only clear parts of the floor. "Okay, go." She joked but she beamed as Emma started to tear off the wrapping paper. She looked over at David who was still prepping breakfast but had paused to try and settle a very fussy Neal, he walked over to his girls bouncing Neal gently so that he and Mary Margaret could watch Emma open the present before Neal would need a feed.

David stood beside Mary Margaret and squeezed her shoulder, they shared a look, this was their first opportunity to see Emma at any age opening a present, they hadn't celebrated any holidays or even Emma's birthday yet, they just kept missing all the big events in her life to be able to give her presents that they could get away with wrapping up.

Emma unwrapped the present and uncovered a Crayola art case, which was full of pens, pencils, crayons, and paper. "Woah." She breathed out looking intently at it.

David beamed, Mary Margaret was smiling too, but David's had a lot more amusement in it. "Oh, look there's a card, it must be from Ella, and Thomas."

Mary Margaret glared at her husband, she already knew what was coming, before she could send back a retort she felt Emma tapping her hand to get her attention. She quickly smiled kindly down at her.

"Can you help me? I can't open this with my poorly arm." She smiled as Mary Margaret pulled her onto her lap and opened up the envelope to reveal a card with a swan on it. "And I can't read it."

Mary Margaret kissed the top of Emma's head. "Of course, I'll read it for you, sweetie." She spotted David looking gleeful at the fact she was about to read out whatever was written inside, she'd just have to hope it was just Ella's writing inside. "Don't you have the breakfast to make?"

"I'm good here for now, I wanna hear what Thomas and Ella, particularly Thomas put." He shot her his trademark charming smile. "Anyway, Neal's going to need feeding in a couple of mins, I can't cook until after that. Now, didn't Emmy ask you to read the card."

Emma tilted her head to the side as she looked at her father. "Why're you being weird?"

"He was born like that." Mary Margaret mumbled under her breath before opening the card up. Inside was mostly Ella's nice calligraphy, but sure enough at the bottom was a slightly messier scrawl, almost as neat but distinct enough to know that it was Thomas's. It had been unavoidable considering what the present had been, she supposed, but she was an eternal optimist. "Okay, it says 'To Emma, everyone could do with releasing their artistic side, no matter their age. Love Ella, Thomas, and Alexandra.' Aw, that's sweet, and you can use it properly just as soon as your cast is off your arm."

"And that's it?"

'Hmm?"

"I don't think you read that last part, the bit that looks like Thomas definitely wrote it."

"What's it say mommy?"

Mary Margaret cracked when she looked down at Emma's big green eyes. Gods, why did her daughter have to be so adorable? "It's from Thomas he says 'Let's hope you take after your father, your mother has no artistic ability, at all.' What a jerk." She scoffed the last bit quietly.

"You can't do art? But you make pretty homes for birdies…?"

David beamed at his wife's pout, at not being naturally talented at something, which disappeared with Emma's word choice. "Your mother is very talented, there are no ends to her talent at all, she just so happens to excel best at art which has instructions."

She poked her tongue out at her husband, playfully, but he missed it as he started to rock Neal and pace a little bit to calm his crying. She squeezed Emma lovingly and kissed her cheek. "I'm going to have to feed your little brother sweetie. Are you going to be okay looking through these by yourself? There's more toys in the bag where you got that present from, you could play with some of them, or you can come with me and Neal if you still want to stay with me."

Emma bit her lip, she didn't want to intrude on her mother and brother's bonding time, plus she was rather interested in seeing what toys were in the bag. "I'll stay here."

"Okay, sweetheart, your daddy will just be in the kitchen if you need him." Neal's crying got a decibel louder and Mary Margaret carefully moved Emma from her lap so that she was sat on the floor instead. "And if you need me or just want to talk to me or anything you can come and join me." She quickly took Neal into the next room to feed him on the rocking chair in the master bedroom.

David crouched down beside Emma, he pulled up her hood, and smirked when she tugged it down once more. "Okay, I'm going to get breakfast sorted, I'm sure you're starving. You sure you're going to be okay here?" He quickly folded up some of the piles of clothes they were keeping for Emma as he spoke. "I would let you in the kitchen with me, but I don't want you getting hurt and I want to get it done quickly, but I'm sure that your mommy wouldn't mind some company."

Emma glanced towards the bedroom, she couldn't see her mother and brother but she knew that they were there, she looked back at her father and shook her head. "It's okay, Nee's having his breakfast…. I'm gonna see the toys."

David smiled at her and stood up. "Okay, well you have fun playing with your toys shout me if you need me, and you really can go to your mommy if you want her, she loves spending time with you and Neal doesn't mind having to share her with you so long as he gets fed." He told her, firmly yet gently, but she had already started to look in the toy bag so he just shook his head fondly and headed into the kitchen once more.

Emma started to pull out different toys and games from the bag which she was fairly convinced either belonged to, or was acquainted with, Mary Poppins, as it seemed to be endless. There were toys made to go into the bath- a tea set, bath crayons to draw on tiles, a brand new set of rubber ducks. There were loads of bricks – wooden ones, a set of smaller Legos for when she was in an older mindset, and Duplos for when she was not. There were some toy cars, and lastly a ball.

She pulled out the ball and sat back down among the rest of the toys she had pulled out of the bag. The ball was a medium size not the size of a soccer ball, but big enough to make it a little awkward to hold in her hand. It was made of a clear hard plastic, inside of it was filled with water, not completely full however, so the water sploshed around inside. In the water were multi-coloured circles like small bits of confetti made out of plastic, and one singular plastic goldfish, which moved around with the water.

Emma shook it, amused by how the fish 'swam' around, inevitably it slipped from her small hand and rolled away from her, under the table, to the chair which had become her own. She chased after it, darting under the table, and scooped up the ball. She held the ball between her cast and her chest. "Gotcha." She said triumphantly, she didn't see it but her father's eyes were on her, grinning at her pride.

She stood up properly and was about to turn when she spotted one of the new things Ella and Thomas had brought.

A cold trickle ran through her spine.

It was a booster seat, one attached to her seat, designed to make it easier for her to eat at the table, the pile of cushions had been too unstable for her to properly sit on, and David and Mary Margaret had been fine having her sat on their lap, but this was to give her a little bit of independence and in case David and Mary Margaret needed to do something away from the table while Emma was eating.

But it was more than that to Emma. She looked at the straps of the booster and a swell of emotions erupted inside of her. Fear, anger, and memories of hunger and isolation swirled inside her as she looked at the straps which were meant to stop the toddlers from falling out, but had been used on her to force her to stay sat in the booster seat in a soiled diaper and clothes, without food, or more than small sips of water her foster siblings had managed to sneak her, for two days – for refusing to eat a handful of peas which she had never liked. She could feel herself freaking out, she had a faint recollection of her mother telling her that if anything was ever wrong to go and talk to her or her father… but she couldn't think of that right then. Something came over her. The plethora of emotions were overwhelming, she knew she had to get that booster seat away from her, that was her only thought other that the messy explosion of feelings there was only one way to get out.

She threw the ball at the chair. Then ran at the chair, she pushed, and hit, and kicked the chair, screaming "No!" on repeat all the while. Her body was no her own, the hits brought no pain, she was a creature of inner feelings alone.

David's head shot around. "Emma? Emma!" He shouted, but there was no reaction, he quickly pulled the food off of the heat and raced over to his daughter. "Em! Emma, what's wrong?" But his words had no avail. He tried to get close to Emma but as he got close her arms hit him like windmills, he didn't care if she hit him, something was clearly wrong – but he didn't want to cause her to become more upset. He crouched down near her, at an arms distance away, watching his daughter's behaviour in shock. "Come on kiddo, you're going to hurt yourself, take some deep breaths."

"What on earth's going on?" Mary Margaret demanded as she rushed in to see Emma finally managing to knock the chair over, the toddler fell to the floor beside it and carried on

"Okay, that's enough, you're going to get hurt." David scooped his daughter up, he held her close to his chest, his hand on the back of her head, holding her tight so she couldn't keep lashing out. Her screams changed so they were slightly more like cries as she tried to wiggle away. "No Emma. You're either going in my arms, or mommy's arms, you're not going down."

"David what-?" Mary Margaret asked, David looked confused, but at least he had been able to see the entire thing. She had just heard the shouting and banging, luckily Neal hadn't been that hungry, she had been planning on quickly pumping the excess he hadn't drank before having breakfast, but instead she had had to quickly out him into his crib and rush over to see what was happening.

David looked lost, his mouth fell open, and his shoulders gave the slightest shrug as he stood up and swayed with Emma still in position despite her wiggling. "I have no idea, I think it's that chair, or the booster seat." He guessed looking confused at the upturned chair. "Emmy," he spoke gently to the spooked child, it was only fitting to call her that, there was nothing adult about her mindset or actions, "we're going to get rid of the booster seat, okay? Will that make it all better?" He was relieved when she managed to hear him despite her screaming cries, and nodded her head against his chest.

Mary Margaret worked quickly, she set the chair the right way, unstrapped the booster seat from the chair, then walked over to the front door of their apartment, she opened up the green door and set the booster seat down outside of it. She shut the door with the second-hand booster on the outside. She walked back over to David and Emma, she stroked Emma's golden curls, and placed her other hand on her baby's back. "It's okay Emma, baby, it's all gone."

Like a curse had been broken, Emma stopped struggling and went limp in David's arms, her cries were less fierce but they were still hysterical and it just made her sound younger.

"Here, let me." Mary Margaret asked David, she was only just audible above Emma's cries, but David passed over still crying Emma and let Mary Margaret lead the way back to the master bedroom. She had once been heartbroken that she didn't have the first idea about how to soothe her daughter, but she had learnt, and she knew could now come up with several ideas about how to help her. David had also learnt, of course, but this as something Mary Margaret desperately needed to do – the same maternal feelings she had when she heard that something was making Neal feel some form of pain stirred in her.

Emma couldn't stop herself from crying, she felt herself being passed to her mother, and her mother walking, along with her parents talking though she couldn't make out what they were saying. Her eyes were glued shut by tears, her face screwed up, and she just wanted her mommy and daddy. She reburied her head against Mary Margaret's chest as she had with David before.

Mary Margaret sat in the rocking chair trying to soothe Emma, saying soothing words Emma didn't hear, and holding her close to her chest with her hand going through her hair as they rocked. "Shhh, Emmy, it's okay. It's okay, you're safe, you're with mommy and daddy." She shared a look with David, in silent conversation,

"She sounds like Neal." David said what they had both been thinking. The type of screaming cry was so like her brother's it was impossible to tell how old she was. They knew what normally soothed their youngest baby, but they weren't sure if it'd work on Emma, or if it'd make her tantrum (which probably had a reason behind it but they weren't sure what else to call it) again. "It's worth a shot." He said gently. "The worst that could happen is it doesn't work, even then when she's called down I doubt she'll be too annoyed with us, I think she needs this."

Mary Margaret nodded in agreement with everything that he had said, it was clear that they shared a heart, they may as well have shared a brain or soul as they didn't need words, not really. She looked down at Emma's red little tear-stained face and stroked her hand down it, wiping away some the tears, and comforting her just a little. "It's okay, baby, mommy's here. Mommy's going to feed you, okay…"

Mary Margaret pulled up her top and released her breast from her maternity bra. She felt her husband's eyes watching Emma and herself intently, she could feel his worry coming off of him in waves as Emma continued to cry, but it was just the same as he was when something was wrong with Neal, or even adult Emma, so she didn't suddenly doubt their solution to soothe Emma.

She moved Emma into the correct position, then close to her, despite all this she was surprised when Emma latched on. The cries from the toddler stopped as she started to drink.

Mary Margaret looked down at her daughter who looked so unbelievable small right then, dressed in size two to three clothes with a unicorn hoodie, and drinking her milk with a couple of stray tears rolling down her cheeks, but it was clear Emma was calming down as although her eyes were still closed they weren't screwed up. Mary Margaret wouldn't be surprised if she fell back asleep soon.

Emma's mind cleared a little as she drank the sweet milk, enough to know what it was she was drinking, and how she was drinking it. But she didn't care. She wanted her mommy, and she had her, she cuddled close and drank. She felt one of David's fingers brush her cheek, wiping away the cold tear which had been slowly trickling down her face, she could hear his low voice but she was too out of it to even pay attention.

David pressed a kiss to the top of Emma's head, as she fed, from his position crouched beside the rocking chair. He then leant up to kiss his wife's crown, making her tear her eyes away from their daughter for the first time, they shared a bittersweet smile. It was good that this had soothed their daughter, they'd have to talk to her about it later, but if this was something that worked for her surely it'd be better for her to have the nutrients and things from Snow's milk whether she wanted it in a bottle or straight from the source was up to her…. But this shouldn't have been the first time that Mary Margaret had gotten to feed their baby, the first time should have been in their chambers back in the castle on the night that Emma was born. "Neal's like you, he can sleep through anything," David joked lightening the mood and halting the silence, "even that." He shook his head as he thought of what had happened.

"It was like she was completely a toddler then." Mary Margaret's voice was soft as she stroked Emma's hair. "Just the pure feelings of a two year old, for whatever reason that booster seat set her off."

David sighed but waited for his wife to switch Emma to the other breast, making the girl fuss, before he spoke once more. "Yeah… I wonder if it was a memory from her past." He sighed again, speaking even quieter as Emma started to drop off. He leant down and rubbed his shin where Emma had managed to kick him during her tantrum. "Well, whatever the reason, she's not going to be using a booster seat." He was glad that his wife nodded along with him. "But it would have come in handy, the cushions piled on the chair just aren't safe, especially now she's smaller."

"Why don't we look into getting her a highchair, we can talk to her about it later," She sighed gently and watched Emma barely awake as she drank, "it would be so much easier if we didn't have guest later on, after all this. Especially if something like this happens in front of Henry… I think it might make him loose hope in turning her back."

Her words spoke volumes. She knew the chances of Emma changing back seemed to be dwindling, it was hard to see an adult Emma suddenly appearing back after this… "We should have a meeting, in a few days, anyone who might know of a way – Gold, Belle, Regina, this Elsa person, Blue, even Hook might have an idea."

"Well, he has sailed to many different places… We can ask Tinkerbelle, and get Grumpy to ask Nova to come and talk to us." He stared at his baby girl as he spoke, he was beginning to think that this was exactly what Emma needed. A second chance. But then a sharp pain would jab into his heart, that if Emma was unable to change back, Henry would miss out on having his mother… They had to try any safe way of helping her change back – safe for her both physically and mentally. It was harsh but they had to put Emma first, Henry would understand that, he wouldn't want Emma back who was only physically her. "You stay here with her, I'll finish up our breakfasts and we can have breakfast in bed while she naps. I'll make her pancakes when she wakes up."

Mary Margaret looked at him with concern, she placed her hand on his cheek to look him in the eyes, she could see how conflicted he was. He wore his heart on his sleeve but only in front of her. She pulled him into a kiss. "We'll give her her best chance." She promised. "Whatever that may be."

"Agreed." David smiled and kissed her softly again. "I'll go get our breakfast."

"Okay, just, take it easy. I mean it David." She said when he rolled his eyes playfully. "You've been ill too, not just Emma."

David rolled his eyes again, to try and annoy her, and smirked as he stood up. He did an exaggerated bow. "Yes, your majesty."

Mary Margaret laughed gently as he left the room. She carefully pulled Emma, who was now in a deep sleep, off, and covered herself up again. She moved slowly to the bed and wrapped Emma in several blankets, but she kept her firmly in her arms. "I'll stay right with you baby, until you wake up, Mommy's not going anywhere. Mommy will keep you safe, so will daddy, I'm sure he'll tell you how he can defeat anything, even a dragon." She told her sleeping babe as she reclined back against the pillows.

Emma cuddled closer to her mother in her sleep, and kept a hold of her top, to make sure she wasn't going anywhere. Even asleep her mother's words reached her, she melted against Mary Margaret knowing she was safe in her arms, and she dreamt of a daring prince and a brave princess fighting a dragon to find their baby girl.

#ouat #mama snow #daddy charming #emma swan #david nolan #Prince Charming #snow white #mary margaret blanchard #snowing #charming family #The charmings #charming family fic #charming family feels #ouat fic #fluff #angst

7 notes · View notes