bakerstreet | THE FAMILY MEME

THE FAMILY MEME

THE FAMILY MEME

From siblings to babies to everything in between.

♥ Post with your characters.
♥ Pick your category with RNG or not, then pick a prompt with RNG (or not!)
♥ Reply. Let's make this shit heartwarming.

and baby makes three (or four, or five..)

1. you're expecting! on purpose, on accident, whatever it is, you just saw that little pink plus of doom/joy! whether it's cravings or weird mood swings or just bonding with your spouse/crying over your deadbeat dad, you better start taking care of two.

2. congratulations! you've just brought home a bundle of joy! now what are you going to do with it. family bonding time?

3. the baby is growing up fast ~~because baby prompts are seriously hard to reply to~~ and they're already saying their first word. what's that magical moment like?

4. your kid is ridiculously precocious. alternatively, you are the ridiculously precocious kid. whether it's refusing to wear their underwear underneath their pants, only on the outside, or becoming an artist on daddy's paperwork, they're so cute you just want to shake them.

5. the other end of precocious--a temper tantrum! screaming and shouting in the middle of walmart? totally. how are you going to handle this.

6. we're off on vacation! DISNEY WORLD DISNEY WORLD DISNEY WORLD!!

7. spending a peaceful morning with your kids is pretty great, actually. making breakfast, snuggling up under the covers after a terrible nightmare; it's great bonding experience, whether your child is five or fifteen. warning: fifteen year olds might not want to snuggle so much.

sibling rivalry

1. SURPRISE YOU'RE A BIG SIBLING. Can we take it back yet?

2. what are siblings for if not for pranking? drawing on their face, whipped cream in their hand and the feather in their nose--whatever you can think of to torment your poor sibling.

3. your sibling has a significant other? say what. whose face do you have to beat in? are you excited? or really, really overprotective?

4. the dreaded back seat share. mom, he's in my space! dad, she drank my soda!

5. despite all that fighting you really do love each other. maybe you need some advice, and there's no one better to go to than someone who's been through it all before.

6. dude, stop touching my stuff! extending to everything from giving your favorite barbie doll a bob to smooching your significant other! what a stuff thief!

7. helping your baby sibling get ready for their very first prom/school dance/date/football game/cult initiation rite/what have you is one of the proudest moments of your life, admit it. you love your sibling.

domesticity at it's finest

1. so you finally found the person you want to spend your life with. time to tell them. pop that pretty question, right now, baby!

2. and when the wedding comes, you know it's going to be the happiest day of your life. have you written your own vows? reception's included--that thing was expensive! your first dance as spouses, your best friend's speech, oh god, why is your grandmother near the open bar.

3. you got in a little argument--cohabilitating is hard. but at least you're willing to make amends afterwards. hopefully. we don't want that to end in divorce! this is supposed to be happy, god.

4. you're cooking together! you've worked out this perfect rhythm in the kitchen--or maybe you haven't worked out a routine at all. order takeout and cuddle on the couch or enjoy the best meal of your life!

5. happy anniversary! a romantic getaway or a staycation. whatever it is you're going to take some personal time to enjoy each other, because god knows you deserve it.

6. celebrating a holiday together means anything from giving christmas presents to kissing at midnight on new years. it's one of the best parts (or the most stressful--thanks, christmas) of having a relationship.

7. can't get much more domestic than grocery shopping together. or any kind of shopping! maybe you're house hunting. maybe you're looking for a suit for your uncle's best friend's wedding. or maybe you just have a couple of mouths to feed and they're starting to whine.

teenagers scare the living shit out of me

shut up i have a lot of parenting feels.

1. bonding trip! road trip. fishing trip. shopping trip! whatever it is, you and your mom/dad are going to have some one on one time.

2. "mom/dad, i have something important to tell you..." you can trust them, can't you? your parents love you. they will love you no matter what
you do. maybe you should just make it sound really bad and end with a jk, i'm only pregnant. or jk, i only failed a math test.

3. as we go on we remember all the tiiimes we've had togetheeerrr....you're about to walk across the graduation stage. or down the aisle. you're all grown up and your parents are there to see it.

4. ugh, they just don't understand! why don't your parents just trust you when you're right! so they caught you sneaking out in the middle of the night. or borrowing the car keys. or generally not behaving nicely. but you know what maybe there's a reason for that and you need to slam your door to show it!

5. oh my god, what is in your internet history. oh my GOD what are these texts saying. you're racking up the phone bill with this?! awkward...

6. let's face it, at sixteen, the last thing you want to hear is the sex talk. you would rather swan dive into a pile of angry porcupines than have your mom or dad put a condom on a banana. too bad that's exactly what you're going to get. ah, the birds and the bees...

And that's it! Ohana means family, kids!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

[HEY BRO LONG TIME NO SEE

... no really who are you]

[In the war that was sibling rivalry, every little thing adds up, whether it was using the last of the toothpaste, sneezing on you without covering their mouth, accidentally nudging you on their way through the hallway. But nothing, nothing compared to this.

Dave's eyes were frozen on it. The little metal canister, the one that felt so cold to the touch, the one that sometimes seemed alive on its own. It was there, in Jay's hand.

Dave's asscheeks clenched as he lifted his arm, grabbing for it again.]

Dude, give it back... right now.

[Yeah, sorry Dave, Jay is a bit of a klepto. He snatched it away because it seemed important, although he can't for the life of him figure out how.

He's also pointedly not giving it back. He turns it over in his hand, shakes it to see if there's anything inside.]

What is it?

[In a second, he pictured it, black ooze sliming out of the canister and wrapping around Jay's wrist. Little strings of tentacles forcing their way into his body through his pores. He imaged Jay falling to the ground, and then a second later, his eyeballs exploding.

Tragedy.

He imagined Jay twisting open the bottle, the expression on his face when he realized it opened, the way it sealed up seamlessly where you couldn't even tell that it twisted open to begin with. He imagined Jay pouring out two perfect, round, black pills. Pills that were somehow pulsing, breathing on their own. Pills that would in a matter of seconds, sprout legs and crawl their way up into his nostrils or worse, eat their way through his skin.

So many options.]

It's nothing. It's... uh. My ADD meds. Give them back.

[He winced, because he could see it. He knew it was going to happen. Another body wanted by the soy sauce... Jay couldn't have taken it out of Dave's pocket... the sauce found him. It went to him on its own.

He wiped the sweat off of his palms onto his jeans, then held out his hand again.]

Please.

[Good lying skills apparently don't run in the family, because Jay looks incredulous.]

So you took them out of the prescription bottle and put them in this? Are you like, not supposed to do that?

[Dave seems way too nervous about some ADD meds.]

... This isn't Ecstasy or something, is it?

[Cue some brotherly disapproval.]

It's not like that it's---

[A pause. There's something. Something he could say in this moment and change Jay's entire world, something that could either destroy his brother at a molecular level, or something that could make him suffer the same effects, the effects that Dave would suffer for the rest of his sad and pitiful life.

Not today.

Dave sighs.]

Depression meds. I thought I lost them-- you nearly gave me a panic attack. Can I get them back now, please? I really don't need to spiral into a pit of despair and confusion this week-- it'll really throw off the whole zen thing I have going on right now.

[That comes as a surprise. Jay thought Dave would escape the hopeless void his own life has spiraled into. What exactly has happened to his brother since Jay's seen him last? He leans forward, concerned.]

Wait, what happened? Are you okay?

[So close and yet so far away. He's anxious and wants to grab the bottle from Jay's hand... but that'd be too obvious. He had to keep playing this game.]

Dude... nothing. I don't want to talk about it. I didn't want to talk about it. That's why I hid them in that thing... okay?

[Wait, no, you're not getting off that easy. This is sounding entirely too familiar, like the things Jay told their parents before he stopped answering their calls. He thought he was protecting his family by distancing himself from them. But if Dave is exhibiting similar behavior...]

No, I'm serious. You have to tell me if something's wrong. Have you been sleeping okay?

[The charade slips for a fraction of a second. Dave laughs. It's short-- barely lasts a second. A brief exhale that comes off sarcastic and semi-amused.

Goddamnit. Of course he hasn't been sleeping.]

So am I, now give it back.

[Oh God. Oh God. Jay lowers the pill bottle, staring in horror.]

I-it's found you too, hasn't it?

[It's found you too.

Oh my God.

Dave's expression drops. It all drops. Right down into the pit of his stomach and he suddenly feels ill. It's found you too. The great eye is watching and the voices laugh in your ears. You're his now.

This is so fucking stupid.]

What... What do you mean it?

[Jay knows that Dave knows exactly what he's talking about. The expression says it all.

Please don't make him say it. It's so difficult to talk about out loud.]

Th-that thing. You know what I mean. It's tall and it... it can control people.

[He swallows hard.]

Why do you think I haven't been home in three years? I didn't want to get anyone else involved. Mom or Dad or... or you.

[But it's too late for that now, apparently. Jay's hands clench into fists, the cylinder cold in his palm.]

[Like it controlled him. Dave is pretty sure he just soiled himself.

Maybe it's genetics. David never wanted anyone else to get involved either. Maybe that runs in the family, too. But at least Jay is still alive. If the sauce hasn't made his brain explode through his eyes yet, that was always a good sign.

You were chosen. That's what John would say.]

I'm sorry.

[Was he? David was never sure. It just meant there was one more person to worry about, one more person to---

Dave's eyes drop to Jay's hand, the hand gripping the cylinder, watching a very small ooze of black drip out between his fingers.

No.

He flinches, watching it pool on the floor in front of them, expand, writhing on its own. He steps back.]

Jay...

[Jay drops his gaze from Dave to the dripping puddle on the floor.

And yep, it is definitely moving.

Jay drops the cylinder and jumps backward. He makes a grab for the camera, which he left on a nearby ledge. He needs to get this on film.]

Dave, I thought you said that was medicine!

[If Jay was a normal human being, he might have realized that turning to grab his camera only gave the stuff ample time to strike. Spikes shot out from the puddle, aimed to pierce both of them like arrows. Dave took a hit in the shoulder, the black shit ripping through his shirt and pushing itself into his pores.

He screamed, collapsing to the ground, his opposite hand clenched and clawing at his shoulder.]

[But Jay is not a normal human being. So he just barely gets the sentient black ooze on camera before it attacks them both. It feels something akin to getting blasted with shrapnel in the leg. ... Well. He thinks. Never having been blasted with shrapnel before.

Regardless. He doesn't scream like Dave, and actually makes a decent attempt to reach his brother – and do what, he's not sure – but it's pointless. The pain in his leg is excruciating, and a few seconds later he's also on the ground, dropping the camera as he goes.

When he wakes up later, he will be completely unsurprised to find that the camera's batteries are dead.]

[It's an inexplicable feeling-- like every molecule in Dave's body was screaming and yet he'd suddenly found himself extremely... calm. Zen. Flying the lotus to the end of the cosmos.

He's the first to sit up, scooting closer to look at Jay who remains unmoving on the floor.]

Jay... Jay...

[He nudges him with his foot before couching beside him.]

[He gives a shallow cough and stirs. When he turns his head, the world seems to shift with him. He opens his eyes, squinting against the light, sees his brother.

Things are different. He just can't quite place what yet.

It might have to do with the fact that for the first time in years he doesn't feel on the verge of panic.]

Dave? What – happened?

[A hand goes groping for his camera, and he tries to sit up.]

[He's watching his brother closely, aware of every move he aims to make. Aware that the shirt he's wearing was gifted to him by their mother three Christmases ago, that she'd found it on a clearance rack in Sears, and that once, while Jay was wearing it, a hungover guy in his school puked on his shoulder.

Jay's hand went reaching for the camera and Dave immediately slapped it away. There was no time for games.]

The Sauce got you, come on, sit up.

Edited 2013-02-23 17:43 (UTC)

[Did he just say the Sauce? But suddenly it makes perfect sense. The dripping black liquid. Not depression medication as advertised, something entirely more sinister. And Jay isn't even surprised when Dave slaps his hand and the fabric of the universe seems to vibrate with his fingers. He knows the camera batteries are dead, anyway.

He knows other things, too.

He stares at his brother, finding himself in a sitting position. And stares.]

I know what you dreamt last night.

[...]

Dave, why do I know what you dreamt last night?

[Dave froze... not because of the strangeness involved in another man knowing his dreams, not at all. That was a normal side-effect of the sauce. No. Dave froze because last night he had a very sexy dream where he was Batman and several female villains wearing next-to-nothing tied him up and talked dirty to him. He had to wrestle them to the ground in a puddle of what he guessed was chocolate syrup. That's right. Soak that in, Jay.]

Side-effects, you're okay, ri--

[He stops mid-sentence. Why would he have asked that question? If he knew what the sauce was, if the great eye was watching him too, well, he'd know all about the side-effects.

Dave was never particularly religious. Raised catholic, went to church with his parents out of habit, believed enough to get by, but wasn't one to really practice it. Yet here and now, watching his brother scrambling to put together the pieces and undergo the same fear that he once had, he found himself saying a little prayer in his head. Pleading with the big man upstairs to not let him explode.]

Side effects of what?

[Jay staggers to his feet, grabbing for the video camera out of habit. But as if the details of Dave's dream wasn't disturbing enough, he can suddenly see how all the parts of his camera were manufactured and fit together somewhere in an Asian country and shipped to America. He stares at it, and then back to Dave.]

Wh-what is going on?

[Is this what going crazy feels like? Has he finally crossed the threshold into full-on hallucinations?]

Soy Sauce... Jay? [The look Dave gives his brother is irritated, yet concerned, and his arm shoots out to smack Jay's hand away from the camera once more.]

Cut it out--- why are you even trying to film this anyway?

[He jerks the camera away from Dave's hand.]

I film everything. It's easier that way. The batteries are dead, anyway, so leave it.

And I still have no idea what you're talking about.

THE FAMILY MEME

yeah idek

i got this bro

PERFECT, you're beautiful

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)