#Armouriam

[commanderbuffy]

(I tried submitting at first but maybe it didn’t go through idk how to use this website anymore lmao)

I hope you like it ❤️ it’s supposed to be the part where Kit goes back to the gym and Jade sees her again for the first time in a while, and remembers their happy moments

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD THIS IS AMAZING AND I HAVE NO WORDS. just WOW WOW WOW OWOW 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[onlyshestandsthere]

What are some of your favourite willow fics to read? also were there any other writers that inspired you?

Oh that's a hard one to answer, there's so many.

I love Armouriam by @commanderbuffy, and really any of her published fics.

I'll be the sweetest thing to ever scare you by @spybrarian lives in my mind rent free, Wyrm Jade for life.

Network Connectivity Issues by @acre-of-wheat is so beloved by me, I would die for cam Kit.

Any of @swashbucklery OT3 fics are fantastic, and I also have such a soft spot for their cowboy au.

These are just a couple, there's plenty more but I'm on the move at the moment and can't put them all.

As for writers, all the gang in the Tanthamore discord have been such an inspiration, usually for angst but also for fluff. I highly doubt I'd have written much of anything if I hadn't joined that group.

[evodevo-geekmonkey]

uuuhm you mentioned a few fics in my post and I need you to link me to all of them. pretty pls? it's for my sanity I think you said something about amnesia fic and one where Jade is Elora?

thank you <3

OOOOOO, of course, :D I'm gonna give you a list <3

Jade is Elora fic. Truly awesome. Well written and such a cool concept

This is probably one of my favourites ever. Defeating the Wyrm, fighting together, getting married on the battlefield. It's a comfort fic I've read it like a dozen times.

Bone Reaver Jade and Kit alternate universe. Really fun new dynamic. ( THE WEIGHT WE CARRY by digitalflute)

Armouriam - THE AMNESIA FIC - modern day, Kit and Jade own a weapons gym and then Kit gets amnesia and it's really awesome (I mean sad) and the angst is so good and the fluff is too and it's so well written (also check out 650ft sq by the same author if you like modern stuff) (I just assume everyone knows these but adding just in case)

Another alternate universe where Kit ran away. I love this one, it's so pretty? Kit has a bit of a different personality (a bit more mature I think... or just self destructive) but it's so good (this is the sequel to escaping fate) (But I haven't read that one haha)

Oneshot where Kit comforts Jade after Ballentine at Nockmaar. So lovely and tender <3 (LIFE IS A BAD DREAM by isabrella)

Super sweet moment between them after the end of season 1. Kit taking off the Cuirass but mostly just them being together and cute and a bit of sexy stuff too haha. also one I go back to a lot.

Honestly, I've only read snippets so far (because I can't do anything normally) but it seems really good. Seems like mostly just if Kit and Jade got their shit together early and were navigating being in love before the series?

This one's mine lol so you don't have to read it I'm just shamelessly adding it at the end of the list. Post series - The crew goes back to Nockmaar to look for a weapon and no one has a good time haha.

[commanderbuffy]

ARMOURIAM - a tanthamore fic (now complete)

The Final Chapter

Armouriam’s One Year Anniversary

Two months had passed since the worst day of Jade’s life. Today was supposed to be the best. Kit had promised as much a year ago. She’d gifted her girlfriend the jade stone necklace that now lay like a cold memory on her own chest, and Kit had promised that 365 days later, she’d get down on one knee.

A foolish, naive, hopeful Jade still wishes for it to happen. She wishes that she’ll walk out of the bedroom to find Kit covered in flour, attempting Elora’s buttered muffin recipe or frying bacon. She wishes that when she walks downstairs to the gym, Kit will be in an archery lane, shooting arrows instead of turning on the lights and opening the gym. She hopes that when she closes, Kit will take her hand, and lead her up stairs, that they’ll start to get changed into something nice for dinner, only to forgo the plans altogether in favor of skin sliding against skin. She wishes for Kit’s question to spill over kiss-swollen lips as she kneels beside their bed.

But the kitchen is empty and Jade opens the gym all alone.

[commanderbuffy]

Armouriam ch. 8 snippet - “neck”

Out of the corner of her eye, Kit sees Scorpia rushing towards them, but she returns her focus to the girl shaking in front of her.

Jade’s eyes dark back and forth, unfocused. Almost unseeing.

“Jade, it’s okay,” Kit says, too loudly, she thinks.

Jade sinks to the ground in a heap, as if she doesn’t have the capacity to keep standing, her body more focused on shaking and breathing quick breaths. Hyperventilating.

Kit immediately drops to the floor beside Jade, wincing as her knees hit hard on the ground. The sound seems to widen the fear in Jade’s eyes.

She must be having a panic attack, Kit realizes. Kit lines their right thighs together so that she’s facing Jade and gently grabs her shoulders.

“Jade, it’s okay. I’m okay. Nothing happened. You’re having a panic attack.”

Briefly, Jade’s eyes meet Kit’s, still unfocused. She’s vibrating, shaking her head.

Kit’s cheeks are wet, she realizes.

“It’s okay,” Kit croaks, feeling completely out of her depth. She braces one hand against Jade’s neck, the other at her jaw, trying to stop her head.

Her words don’t seem to be helping, reassuring Jade that she escaped unharmed. Impulsively, Kit leans forward, presses her lips to Jade’s. They’re soft, Kit thinks. And wet. From my tears.

Oh.

Jade’s shaking stops a moment later, exchanged for lips pressing back against Kit’s.

A dark basement.

Strobing lights.

Sweat-soaked skin.

A remix of a Taylor Swift song.

Her fingers, tangling in curls.

Kit gasps against Jade’s lips, but Jade doesn’t seem to notice. She continues to kiss with a fervent energy, as if she’s afraid it isn’t real and if she were to stop, Kit would disappear. Arms tug Kit closer. As if Jade needs to feel all of Kit.

Kit tries to lean back, but Jade has a vice grip on the front of her shirt.

“Jade,” Kit manages to say, finally pulling her lips off Jade’s. “It’s okay. I’m here.” She presses their foreheads together, “I’m not going anywhere.”

[commanderbuffy]

I love that Kit sensed Jade’s eyes on her as she left the hospital and even remarked on having the same jumper as the sleeping person in the corner.

Will that ever be addressed again? Like will she realise that was Jade?

No plans on including it again in chapter 13, but here, take this bonus scene. I’d say it takes place a couple weeks after chapter 12

Kit wasn’t generally great at household tasks, but Jade was always exhausted when she came home from her therapy sessions, and Kit knew how excited she would be at their clothes clean and folded and fresh sheets on the bed.

So, she decides to go all out. Instead of just grabbing the hamper and sheets, she washes bath towels and kitchen towels, all the stray clothes that had fallen to the bottom of the closet, and even their duvet cover.

Once everything is clean and dry, she wrestles the duvet onto the bed and folds the rest of the laundry. Kit had stripped her own shirt off while washing the clothes and picks a sweater off the top of the folded pile. It’s one she can’t remember the last time she’s worn. She remembers it too, from before. It’s a light blue sweater she’d bought at the mall with Elora their freshman fall. It is pilling and worn in, but still soft when she pulls it over her head.

The door to the apartment opens just as Kit finishes putting away the folded towels. She walks out of the bathroom and greets Jade with a long, tight hug.

“How’d it go today?” Kit asks.

“Fine,” Jade shrugs. “Exhausting, but as expected. Glad to be home with you.” Jade pulls away and kisses Kit softly. “I’m gonna shower, then maybe we order Chinese or something and watch a movie?”

“Sounds perfect, I’ll put the order in while you shower.”

Jade starts to walk off and pauses, staring at the sweat so stretched out that it’s falling off Kit’s shoulder. “Where did you find that?” She asks.

“This?” Kit pulls at the sleeves, “Just in the closet. Didn’t think I’d still have it all these years later.”

“It’s not yours anymore,” Jade says quickly, then slower, clarifying, “I mean, I kinda claimed it. One of the first nights I stayed over yours freshman year. And it’s just…I haven’t worn it since you left the hospital.”

And suddenly, Kit is remembering that last day. Remembering Airk rolling her out. Remembering eyes on her back. Remembering turning and seeing a figure in this very sweater.

“You were there.”

“I was always there.”

[commanderbuffy]

Armouriam Ch. 12 snippet

Kit snuggles deeper into Jade’s embrace as the couch nests around them. Kit takes Jade’s right hand and begins to trace her palm with a delicate touch that is so gentle it causes Jade to close her eyes.

“Elora and I went to a palm reader freshman year,” Kit says. “Did I ever tell you about that?”

Jade tries to think back, and she doesn’t remember Kit ever mentioning it. “I don’t think so.”

“It was during finals that fall. It was all total BS. I’m pretty sure the palm reader was just a senior in need of some beer money, but she showed us what each of the lines on your hand represent.” She traces over the lines on Jade’s palm one at a time, starting from the top line down. “Marriage, love, head, life…” she then drags a finger vertically down the center, “fate.”

“What do all those lines say about me?” Jade asks. She doesn’t care either way if Kit reads her palm or not. All she cares about is the weight of the girl against her and listening to the words (any words, really) fall out of her mouth. The pad of Kit’s finger spreads a warmth through Jade as she traces the love line with reverence. Jade presses a content kiss behind Kit’s ear.

“It says that you’re loyal, strong, and intelligent…and gay.” Kit laughs. As she does, she sinks deeper into Jade until it feels like the line between where one of them ends and the other begins has been totally erased.

Jade doesn’t think she’s felt true, contented happiness like this in over a year. It’s what she wants for their future. She doesn’t feel the weight of their past on her, not in that moment. Instead, she feels the promise of their future.

Jade slips her hand out of Kit’s and fingers the leather cord at her neck. Kit twists her head, confused as to why Jade let go of her hand. Then, in one motion, Jade removes the cord from her neck and slips it over the messy mop of hair in front of her. She finds Kit’s hand at her side and places it on top of the jade stone now resting back home on Kit’s breast bone. She intertwines their fingers so that, together, they’re holding the stone.

“Jade, I…” Kit starts, but Jade interrupts her. She needs Kit to know. She needs to say the words that are bubbling up inside of her and pushing their way free. The truth.

“I need to tell you something.”

[commanderbuffy]

Like other anon, I would be interested in knowing what you think their first impressions were of each other when they first met/saw each other in class (even if it’s not part of the actual story). Besides the obvious of “damn she’s HOT!”. Also, do you have a HC for Jade’s reaction to Kit’s haircut? However she reacted had Kit pretty excited and got her to finally share more about Jade with Elora. 😊

Sure, why not. I had no plans to include the scene of Jade seeing Kit's haircut in college, but here it is:

Jade checks her phone for the third time. Kit was nearly twenty minutes late. She’d randomly been assigned Kit as a partner for a half-semester long project, and they’d hit it off immediately, finding a quick manner that they could lobby back and forth in person and over text. Jade had started to come to the conclusion that Kit was quickly becoming her best friend after only weeks of knowing her.

And her best friend had a tendency for being late.

Finally, twenty-five minutes are their planned meeting time, the door to the stairs swings up on the seventh floor of Nockmaar library. Kit hurries in, all bundled in a heavy coat, scarf and hat covered in snow.

“Is it snowing?” Jade asks. It hadn’t been snowing when she’d last been out, but she’d also been in the library all day.

“What gave it away?” Kit grins a wide, toothy grin that warms Jade’s belly.

Along with realizing that Kit was becoming her best friend, Jade had also realized quickly (or, pretty much immediately), that she absolutely had a crush on the other girl.

Kit swings her bag onto the chair across from Jade and starts stripping off her snow clothes.

“So, I was thinking we should start by…” Jade’s words trail off as Kit pulls her beanie off her head and shakes out her hair. Hair that just yesterday had been well past Kit’s shoulders, yet now was cut short and shaggy. Her heart did a full on somersault down into her stomach. That crush? Yeah, she was a goner. She was already attracted to Kit’s insane facial structure, the dimple in her one cheek, and the easy way she carried her body. But with her haircut? She looked like a goddamn Disney prince.

“Your…your hair,” Jade finally sputters.

“What about it?” Kit asks, feigning ignorance for only a moment, unable to hide her own grin. She flashes a devilish grin that barely hides a blush. “What do you think?”

Jade gives her a once-over. “It’s very Flynn Rider,” Jade says. “In a very devil-may-care, hot way.” And this time it’s Jade who blushes and quickly turns the conversation to their assignment.

[commanderbuffy]

Armouriam Ch. 4 (snippet)

You voted for Kit’s Bathroom. Ask and you shall receive. Leave it to you all to even (accidentally) pick the only option that wasn’t pure fluff. Enjoy! (full chapter coming Sunday)

Kit doesn't remember the last time that she recognized the girl in the mirror as herself. In the months following her accident, Kit had stared at herself for hours, trying to force recognition. The girl who looked back at her was five years older, jawline more defined, but she was also damaged and scarred, a long, raggedy thing ran from her eyebrow down the side of her face and behind her ear. It was a pale line now, but it wasn't the physical that Kit struggled with.

Deep down, she knew there was a girl inside her who had died the day of the accident. A girl she herself felt she never got to know. And yet, everyone around her mourned her.

Kit groans, trying to shake it away. But as she looks in the mirror, just barely fogging with the heat of the running shower, she begs to see a glimpse of that dead girl. The girl left behind, a casualty of a freak accident and a six-day coma.

Her hair had been short when she'd woken up.

Kit realizes it suddenly. She hadn't thought about it before. It had been uneven too, to account for her wounds, so she'd just assumed it had been cut in the hospital.

But Kit had always wanted to cut her hair short, even as a teenager. What if that dead girl had been brave enough to do it?

Could she brave?

All she ever wanted was to be brave (and to be loved).

Impulsivity had once been second nature to her and it rears its head once again. Kit runs to her room, and grabs a pair of (probably dull) scissors.

With one hand, Kit fists a lock towards the front of her face. She measures it to her ear to start and slides the scissors along the dark strands.

She doesn’t look at her hair as she cuts. Instead, she looks at the girl in the mirror. And as she snaps the scissors closed, she recognizes her. That girl in the mirror, eyes gleaming with mischief and glee. The girl that maybe wasn't dead after all.

[commanderbuffy]

Does Kit ever get sad when Jade mentions something from their early years that she doesn't remember? Just reading that sweater snippet when Jade said that she had stolen it one of the first nights they had been together, it made me feel really sad for Kit because she doesn't remember it. It's only a little thing but so much of a relationship is little things, and Jade has those but she doesn't.

Ask and you shall receive. Set roughly 8-9 months after the end of chapter 12

They’re wine drunk curled up together under three different blankets on a cold, winter night, their building’s heat a bit on the fritz. Imagine Me & You is playing on the TV, but neither of them are really watching it. Kit lays with her back to Jade’s chest while Jade absentmindedly plays with the short strands of Kit’s hair.

“Do you remember when we went to that winery senior fall in the middle of midterms?” Jade asks. As a general rule, she avoids the phrase ‘do you remember when’ when it came to anything pre-accident, but she’s a little tipsy and doesn’t have full faculty over her brain cells. It isn’t until she feels Kit tense beneath her that she realizes her mistake.

“No,” Kit says after several long moments of thinking, of racking through the rolodex of memories that she’s regained over the past year. A memory of an afternoon spent at a winery is nowhere to be found. “Why?”

“I was just thinking about it. It’s not even particularly special day, but I was just thinking about it.”

“I want those too,” Kit insists, turning around to face Jade by straddling her. “I don’t just want the memories I’ve regained and the big days you’ve told me about. I want the small things too. It makes me feel incomplete, sometimes, when I realize I don’t remember what classes I took in college, or what you wore for Halloween one year, or even what condiments we kept in our fridge senior year.”

“Not many,” Jade says with a slight laugh. “Blue cheese dressing was oddly a staple, though.”

Instead of laughing the way Jade expects her to, though, Kit frowns and seems to curl into herself.

“You were really stressed about our finance midterm,” Jade says, recalling the day all those years ago. “You were convinced you were going to fail and end up having to retake the class in the spring without me. So, I decided you needed to study in a more chill environment. I took us to a winery, completely forgetting that it was like twenty degrees out. Luckily, they had an indoor tasting room where we posted up with our textbooks and studied while doing a wine tasting. That then turned into flights of wine, which turned into us getting very little studying in. Mostly, we made up ridiculous word problems for each other that didn’t even really make sense until the winery closed. We had to get Airk to come and pick us up because we were way too drunk to drive. The next morning, I was hungover for the midterm and you, no surprise, were perfectly fine and well rested. Not only did you pass the midterm, you scored higher than me.”

“We should go back,” Kit says. “Back to visit Tir Asleen U, but go back to that winery.”

“I’d like that,” Jade says, pulling Kit into a hug and planting a kiss on her forehead. “We’ll get wine drunk again and make new memories. Maybe even force Airk into picking us up as well.”

“Or,” Kit laughs, “We can be adults and get an Uber.” She snuggled close to Jade, still feeling melancholy but a little less incomplete.

[commanderbuffy]

very happy that people seem to be liking Armouriam! Working on chapter 2 now with the intent on publishing tomorrow. I’m thinking a Wednesday/Sunday release schedule from now on with slightly meatier chapters than 650. Still not sure how many chapters it will be. But chapter 2 has:

A flashback to a year before the accident

“My princess”

Airk and Jade sibling bonding

Graydon/Kit’s date going exactly how it’s supposed to go (😉)

Kit wearing a full, tight, lululemon ensemble

Kit having a thing for British accents

[commanderbuffy]

The supermarket love confession was burned on my mind

I hope you like it ❤️

WOWOWOWOW I LOVE THIS. I love how soft and gentle they are and the greens in Kit's hand! And just the casual way they're dressed really hitting home the domesticity of it all! And Kit wearing the necklace???

I love it so so much!

[commanderbuffy]

"Trick or treat!" - a deleted line you love?

Okay I’ve been looking for hours for one and couldn’t find one! How a bit of information instead?

650: almost ended on a scene of the two getting tattoos together (not matching though)

Armouriam: i almost wrote a scene where Sorsha and Jade got into a blow up argument

TTA: I almost wrote a Kit/Lili smut scene

HC: I chickened out of writing a 🍑-stuff scene. And the ground work was laid for it in an early chapter.

Camp Nockmaar: @wigster07 knows the identity of the killer(s)

Bar AU: I was originally going to write it solely from Jade’s POV

[commanderbuffy]

22?

22: Share an excerpt from your favorite scene

I had to pick one!?! This was tough! I don’t think this is my favorite in terms of my actual writing (there are others I love for the writing more) but this scene holds the thesis of Armouriam I think

Kit finds Jade in the produce section. Her back is turned as she looks through the leafy green section. ���Gross, healthy food,” she says into the redhead’s ear, causing her to jolt.

“Jesus, Kit, you scared me.”

“Just grab the kale. I hate it, but I know it’s your favorite, so I will suffer,” she teases. But Jade doesn’t laugh at her teasing. Instead, she just looks kind of stunned. “What?”

“It’s just…” Jade shakes her head. “You remembered. I mean, you remembered that from before, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Kit says. She doesn’t even know how long she’s remembered that small detail about her girlfriend, but she knows it’s from before. “I guess when it comes to my memories, the ones with you are the ones that keep seeping through.”

The look Jade gives Kit disarms her, and she quickly guides them away from the produce as Jade bags up the kale. The wind through the chip aisle. They both grab Cheetos at the same time. Instead of one putting their bag back, they throw both in the cart.

Next, they stroll down the pasta aisle and debate over pasta shape.

“Spaghetti is a classic,” Jade says.

“But rotini holds meat sauce so much better,” Kit insists, winning the argument.

They reach the sauces, and Jade holds one up in each hand. “Vodka sauce or tomato and basil? I honestly have no preference. They’re both tasty.”

There’s nothing special about the question or the moment. And the fluorescent lighting isn’t particularly flattering. Everything is bright and normal. It’s all so normal. And, maybe it’s the normalcy of it all that makes the difference. Kit stares at Jade, realization dawning over her.

A realization of something that has been there all along. Yet, it’s a debate over pasta shape and a question over sauce preference that slams it into her. It’s so obvious.

“I love you,” Kit says, the words flowing out of her like she’s said them a million times. Because, hasn’t she? It’s been over a year, but that doesn’t discount the familiarity.

The jars of sauce start to slip from Jade’s grip, and Kit catches them just in time. Jade stares wide-eyed at Kit.

Kit puts the jars back on the shelf, then places her hands on Jade’s freckled cheeks, forcing her to look down at Kit. “I don’t know if it’s residual feelings from before, or the product of remembering or falling in love with you again in these past months. I don’t know where the love starts, but I’m realizing that it doesn’t matter if it’s from before or after or something in between. What matters is what’s true now. And what’s true is that I love you.”

A brilliant, wide smile breaks out across Jade’s face, and she wraps her arms around her.

“I love you too,” she says into the crook of Kit’s neck.

[commanderbuffy]

Ch. 5 Snippet - “Lap”

Two Years Ago

 “Where are you going?” Kit pouts as Jade rolls off the bed, thin sheet that had just barely covered their bare, sweat-slicked skin falling off the bed as she does. She grabs hold of Jade’s wrist, pulling her back onto their bed.

“Round two already?” Jade asks, settling herself on Kit’s lap, thighs straddling her.

“I lost count, but I’m pretty sure we’re on at least three. Maybe four.” Kit cups Jade’s freckled chin and pulls her close until their mouths brush with each breath they take. “I love you.” The words send sparks across their lips.

“I love you,” Jade echoes. Her hand drops to thumb the necklace that hangs from Kit’s neck between them. The only thing either of them is wearing. 

“I have an idea,” Kit says. She gently pushes Jade off of her so that she can sit up. 

This time it’s Jade’s turn to pout, but Kit is back in an instant. She snuggles into Jade’s side, holding out the phone that she’d just grabbed from her nightstand.  She opens the camera app and presses record, their faces and bare shoulders filling the screen.

“What’re you doing?” Jade asks with a laugh. She shifts and Kit adjusts the camera.

“Gotta keep this PG, we might want to share this video with our grandkids one day.”

“Skipping right to grandkids?”

“Yeah, well, I’m in for the grandkids, you know I’m a little iffy on the kids part.”

“You know that’s not how that…”

“Hush.” Kit plants an open-mouthed kiss on the other girl’s lips to keep her quiet. “I wanted to save for posterity, this moment.”

“What moment is that?”

“The happiest I’ve ever been. We opened our gym, and I get to come home to us. And the promises we’ve made.”

“You’re getting sappy, Kit.” Her words are teasing, but her expression is anything but. Even in profile, the video can capture the look of absolute love and adoration displayed across freckled skin. Then, quieter, huskier, “Me too.” 

Kit’s next words are an echo of the one’s Jade shared earlier that day. And they sweep the air from Jade’s lungs…

[commanderbuffy]

things found in chapter 3 of armouriam:

first date flashback

Sorsha having emotions

Kit crushing HARD

Jade’s conflicted emotions

Unplanned smut