#Iris actually had triplets but it was too much for me so here we are

[simstuition]

Juni & Ezra Bailey <3

Arrived just in time for Winterfest!

[extremelyblackandwhite]

Steve’s reaction for finding out that they are gonna have a boy. Ik he loves his girls but he would just be so happy that one mother man is gonna be in the house “FINALLY”

pairing: steve kemp x dark!reader

warnings: 18+ topics (under 18 year olds do NOT interact/reader)

part of toxic

Steve was excited about this. She was pregnant once more, something that neither one of them had expected or planned for; yet here she was, four months pregnant and struggling to get out of bed to go to their next ultrasound. It was mid November and the weather was too unforgiving for her to get out of bed, besides, it wasn't this often the two of them got to sleep in. Usually they would've been waken up by one of five girls calling out for breakfast, but this morning they got to sleep in. Steve had taken the girls to spend some time with her parents so Y/N could rest; which meant the two were acting just like they had back when she was pregnant with Daisy. However, the excitement had a bittersweetness to it. Y/N had made it clear this was their last child until all of them or half of them were in university. He was gonna miss having babies in the house. Daisy was now eight, Rose was six and the triplets were almost three. They were all toddlers and children now, there was no baby and this was gonna be their last one for a good fifteen years.

   - At least it's only one baby. - she caressed her tummy. - This one is very calm, all the time.

   - So, what are we gonna call her? I was thinking Iris or maybe Poppy.

   - I like Poppy. Poppy Kemp. Maybe the girls can pick her middle name. 

Steve leaned over to kiss her, before distributing several kisses all over her beautiful face. She was much more calm this time, possibly because it was gonna be her last pregnancy and after carrying three babies, carrying one was a piece of cake. Steve helped her out of bed and into her clothes before driving her to the clinic. She was no longer expecting anything new, merely enjoying being near Steve while they looked at their baby in the ultrasound. 

    - Do you wanna know the gender today? 

    - Another girl. - Steve smiled at Y/N.

    - Actually, Dr. Kemp, your wife is pregnant ... with a boy.

Y/N’s jaw dropped as she heard the word. Boy, a baby boy. She had no clue about boys or even how to raise a boy. God, she didn’t even know how to pick a right boy for herself; she had a cheating ex-husband and a husband with weird appetites. How was she gonna raise a boy? And what if he was like Steve? She couldn’t have another person like Steve walking around in the world, he was already slightly crazy as he was. While she was stressing about raising a boy, Steve was over the moon, even hugging the poor nurse as she printed him a copy of the ultrasound. 

   - A boy! - he yelled out in joy as they entered the car. - We’re having a boy!

   - I don’t know anything about boys. - she rubbed her belly. - We don’t have anything set for boys. All our baby clothes are for girls. 

   - My love ...

   - What if he turns out like you? Oh my god, you’re gonna take our son to bonding trips to the cabin! You’re not allowed!

   - My love. - he laughed, holding her hands. - It’s a boy, that’s the only difference. Besides, if there’s any of our kids that’s likely to be as insane as we ...

   - You. - she corrected.

   - As me. - he sighed, raising his hands. - If there’s any of them likely to be as insane as me it’s Ivy. She cut her teddy bear’s head off because he kidnapped Barbie. 

   - I don’t even have a name figured out for a boy or how to give him any boy talks. What toys do boys even like? Wait, what do boys wear? What if he turns out like the Barber’s kid? 

   - Y/N, it’ll be fine. Unless you haven’t noticed, I am a boy.

   - Yes, and look at how you turned out. 

   - We can do this. - he kissed her forehead. - We will do this and we’ll be as good as we’ve been. 

[saedii-gilwraeth-simp]

Zila and Nari, arriving to their thirties, have a lot of debates about whether to have a child or not.

Because, on one hand we have Zila, who doesn't know how to deal with children (or the majority of people) and is scared shitless by the idea of messing up or ending up leaving them by having some accident, seeing that her and Nari have a really important position and, probably receive some threats by radical terrans and Betraskans.

On the other hand, we have Nari, who grew up surrounded by a big family, and always wanted to have one herself, and is also pretty convinced that her wife would be amazing at being a parent.

(I just think about this a bit too much, ok?)

Okay so here is the thing, Zila is not great with babies/really small children. They tend to be a little bit too much for her, especially before they can talk and their only form of communication is crying/screaming. However, once they hit the talking and "soaking up knowledge like sponges" stage, Zila has got this because facts and things that can be taught come super easy to her.

Nari sees this about her and knows that she wants to watch Zila teach and love their own children, so she broaches a compromise that they could adopt kids who are a little bit older, which Zila, despite her worries about their jobs and all that it would add to their plates, agrees to, because she actually loves the thought of raising kids with Nari.

They adopted triplets. Initially they had only wanted one but Zila had an instant connection with a young girl who turned out to be a triplet and neither thought it right to seperate them, especially since their parents died fighting in the war when they were babies and they had only had each other in the system for years.

Which is how Isla, Iris and Ilio grow the Kim-Madran family from 2 to 5. They are adopted at 6 years old and are, as expected, very energetic. They love learning things and singing and dancing and they bring immense joy to Zila and Nari's home. Ilio and Isla both prefer Zila and can usually be found in her workshop with her while Iris hangs out with Nari, who she thinks is so calm, cool and collected.

Anyway, if y'all want more on the Kim-Madrans, let me know!

[thelanguageoflovers]

Pointe Shoes & Perfect Moments - Chapter 1

Lucy Eleanora Kippen is a Bully

“God, don’t we have to deal with that girls’ basketball team starting today?” Lucy asked, voice muffled by the bobby pins held between her teeth.

“Ugh, you’re right,” Amber huffed, rolling her eyes as she pinned her hair. “It’ll be fun to watch them fall during center, though.”

“I personally can’t wait for petit allegro with them.” Lucy shoved another pin into her hair. “Ready? Madame Pullman can and will kill if we’re late of the girls’ first day.”

“Yeah, I suppose this is as flat as it’ll go,” Amber said, frowning as she examined her hair.

“Turn around.” Lucy took the pins from Amber, carefully flattening her hair against her head and spraying them both with hairspray.

“Pullman lets us wear warmups for barre, right?” Amber asked, grabbing her bag and water bottle.

“Yep!” Lucy pulled on her shrug to emphasize her point, fixing the way her ballet skirt sat on her hips. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” They left their room together, jogging out of the dorms and across campus. Lucy held the door open for Amber, dropping it when she saw one of the basketball players rushing toward the building. It slammed with a resounding thunk. Amber and Lucy snickered as they turned left toward studio 107.

They dropped their bags on the floor of the studio, pulling on canvas flats and taking their rightful places at the front of the barre. They stretched and vaguely worked their way through several tendu exercises as students trickled into the classroom, including about 5 of the basketball players from Grant. The girl Lucy had dropped the door for made her way into the room as the Kippens watched her in the mirror. Madame Pullman entered the room at precisely 9:00 am, clapping to get the room’s attention.

“No warmups at the barre today, girls,” she said. “No grumbling, either. You came to the School of American Ballet to work, not to wallow in your comfortable clothing. I want you in flats and skirts. Now, please.”

The ballerinas all sighed, tossing their shrugs, leg warmers, and shorts toward their bags and swapping them for ballet skirts. The basketball team followed their lead before joining them at the barre, looking around nervously.

“Now, as I’m sure you all remember, we have the Grant High basketball team with us for the next month. I trust you’ll all be very courteous to them and set good examples as they study the art of ballet with us. Ladies, take your spots at the barre, please.”

The class lined up at the barres, awaiting further instruction.

“Alright, simple beginning. Two tendus devant, seconde, and derriere, then seconde again. Demi demi grande plies from first, second, and fifth. Long hold in fifth relevé, turn, hold on the other side. Then repeat the combo on the left. Good?” The ballerinas all nodded as the basketball players simply looked on in confusion. Madame Pullman signaled to the piano player, who began a soft melody.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Hit the downbeats, ladies. Faster, ladies! The company does not want to sign ballerinas with no sense of rhythm. And my basketball players- you have to be agile and flexible to be a good player.”

“God, why are we even here?” a Grant student grumbled. Madame Pullman raised her eyebrow, signaling the piano player to stop.

“Why are you here, you ask? Lucy Kippen, would you care to demonstrate why we are here today?” Madame Pullman asked.

“Of course.”

“Barres to the sides, please, ladies. We will have a center class today. Lucy, your pointe shoes.”

“What variation would you like, Madame?” Lucy asked, sitting to pull on her shoes She pulled her tights off her feet, wincing at the blisters and blood she found.

“Notice, ladies, that Ms. Kippen’s feet are bloodied, blistered, and bruised. There is a reason she is top ballerina here at SAB, and her feet tell the story. And Lucy? Queen of the Dryads.”

“Of course,” Lucy said, lacing her shoes. She pulled on a practice tutu and took her place in the corner of the room.

“Watch closely, basketball players. And ballerinas, put on your pointe shoes,” Madame Pullman said, sliding a CD into the stereo at the corner of the room and pressing play. Lucy plastered on a smile, though not before staring down the apathetic basketball players.

“Watch the amount of strength and grace with which she attacks the steps. Technically, artistically, and emotionally perfect. We are here to study strength, discipline, and perseverance. This is not a game of win or lose, as you may be used to. Ballet, ladies, is a game only comprised of winning. You must win, or you are not truly a ballerina. In basketball, there is always the promise of another game. If you lose, you will always be able to come back. You are here today to understand how it feels to never have another chance.

“Students, please join Lucy as she performs the Kitri Act III variation.” Madame Pullman switched the song, standing back and watching the ballerinas scurry to pull on their tutus and rush to the center. “Basketball players. These girls have one chance to get into the company of their dreams. One sickled foot, one rolled ankle, one too low arabesque, one imperfect step, and everything comes crashing down over them. Only two girls in this entire year should expect contracts with the company. If we’re lucky, one girl will someday become principal dancer. Statistically, it is impossible to make it as a ballerina. And yet here we are. Grant students, follow my students’ lead.”

The basketball players all moved into lines behind the ballerinas. They slowly began to follow, clumsily mimicking the way they danced.

“Ms. Driscoll, does that look like a clean line to you?” Madame Pullman asked, adjusting Buffy’s leg. “Support your standing leg more, dear. You look like you’re going to fall into Ms. Jackson at any second. Find your centers, girls! I do not want dominoes of dancers!”

Lucy gracefully finished the variation, looking to Madame Pullman for further instruction.

“Piques across the floor, please. Groups of three.” Lucy nodded, grabbing Amber and pushing in front of everyone else to be the first pair.

“Madame, can we be a pair of two?” Amber asked.

“Of course. Everyone else, I expect groups of three. Amber and Lucy, go ahead.”

“Why do they get to be a pair?” Buffy asked, turning to the ballerina she was in a group with.

“They’re the two who are bound for the company. Madame Pullman doesn’t put them with others unless she has to; she wants them to focus on ballet only,” the girl responded, sticking her hand out to shake Buffy’s. “I’m Iris.”

“Buffy… Would you by any chance be Iris McNamara?”

“Yeah?”

“Cyrus Goodman is my best friend. He’s told Andi and I about you.”

“Ah. Yeah, he’s told me about you two.”

“Hang on, if everyone knows Amber and Lucy are going to be signed, why are you guys still here?”

“Because we’re ballerinas. And we love what we do. And we paid a lot to be here. And we’re praying for an injury.”

“Wait- you want each other to get hurt?”

“...Kind of? We want everyone else to drop out of the running. Injured, quitting, running out of money, or just getting worse over time.”

“Ms. McNamara, Ms. Driscoll. No side conversations.”

“Yes, Madame Pullman,” Iris said, starting across the floor. They quickly finished the turning sequence, Buffy bumping into Lucy when the latter stopped quickly.

“Watch it, Driscoll,” Lucy snapped, glaring at them.

“Are they always like this?” Buffy asked.

“Oh, yeah. All three.”

“Three?”

“Yeah, they’re triplets. TJ just isn’t in a girls’ class, for obvious reasons.”

“And they’re all like that?”

“Oh, yeah. They’re complete bullies. I’d step around them while you’re here. The rest of us do, anyway.”

“Are they- are they mean to Cyrus?” Buffy asked quietly.

“They’re mean to everyone who isn’t bound for the company. And considering the fact that they’re the only ones who are pretty much guaranteed to get a contract, yeah. I wouldn’t worry about it, Cyrus is a good dancer. He’s got thick skin.”

“Alright ladies, good job. To the center for petit allegro. You know the combination. Grant students, follow along. We’ll do it four times on each side.”

“Four?” someone asked.

“Would you like it to be five? Get to it, ladies.” The piano player started a jaunty, challenging piece. “I want to see strong glissades, and even stronger pas de chats!”

Class lasted an hour after that; the girls were all drenched in sweat by the time they were dismissed.

“C’mon, we should get cleaned up and changed. It’s… noon. Half an hour until variations,” Lucy said, pulling Amber out of the room and rushing to the locker rooms. They both switched into white leotards and skirts, re-spraying their hair and rushing back out of the locker room.

“Hey!” TJ called from behind them.

“Teej!” Amber said, grinning at him. “How was weight training?”

“Boring, easy. The Goodman kid dropped one of his weights once, though. It was hilarious. I have technique now with Foreman. You?”

“We’ve got variations with Petrov. And the Grant High team - they’re awful, Jesus,” Amber said.

“It’s so ridiculous that we have to deal with them,” Lucy said, purposefully getting louder as they passed Buffy and the team. “Some of us actually deserve corrections. Why are they training with Advanced D? They’d probably do better with Girls Prep.”

“Honestly,” Amber agreed, shoving past Buffy with her shoulder. “Aren’t they only here because they keep losing?”

“See you later,” TJ said, nodding toward his room as Amber and Buffy started up the stairs. “Good luck with the losing team!”

“Lunch at 2:30?” Amber asked.

“Yep!” TJ called, sliding into his class with a sigh.

“Ready to watch the team absolutely butcher Kitri?” Lucy asked, grinning at Amber.

“Only if you’re ready to watch them fall out of every single they attempt,” Amber joked, looking pointedly over her shoulder at Buffy as she came up the stairs behind them

“Oh, definitely.”

Lucy winked at Amber, dropping the pair of pointe shoes in her hand and watching out of the corner of her eye as they tumbled down the stairs and smashed into Buffy’s toes. She turned around, letting Buffy hand her the pair.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “My mistake.”

[random-storykeeper]

My OHC compilation video is here! This time, I showcase all 29 entries I’ve submitted for One Hour Compos in 2018. The cover art in the centre of the thumbnail is done by my friend catnippackets and I still can’t get over how amazing it is that she took the time to make it for me. :)

Last time I did one of these compilation videos, I made it so that the blurbs I wrote about the individual pieces was on its own, private post. I forgot you could do read mores on video posts, so this time I figured, why not just make this all public? That’s in the full post below:

OHC 482 "Connect the Dots" - When the first OHC of 2018 kicked off, I had a lot of trouble thinking of ideas on how to approach this theme. Eventually, I just settled for keeping things simple, using chiptune with a little bit of guitar to create a more pleasant little nighttime piece.

OHC 483 "Patternwork" - When I first saw the images, I wanted to be direct as possible in terms of my theme approach musically. I would use guitars as my choice of string instruments to convey the “threads” and have them repeat simple patterns with triplets going against eighth notes, taking away and adding layers as the piece went along. I exhausted almost every guitar I had in my soundfont collection and ended up having to use an electric guitar. Surprisingly, it worked out pretty well.

OHC 484 "Going Your Own Way" - I usually approach underwater themes in the same matter - sine waves with lots of release. This time, I wanted to do something a little different, but still chiptune. So I decided to focus more on having a direct melody and using square waves instead. I actually quite like the carefree melody I came up with here - sadly, I didn’t really know how to develop it any further so I ended up just repeating it a lot throughout the piece, haha.

OHC 485 "Rays and Rain" - This theme was difficult to work with. I wasn’t really sure what to interpret the pictures as. I ended up just thinking of “rain with some light coming through” and kind of went off with that in a more laidback fashion. It was this compo that I discovered that slowing down the tempo while using delay that is synchronized to the current tempo creates a cool kind of pulsating effect, which is heard at the end.

OHC 486 "Distant Hearts" - This piece was one of the few vocal entries that felt like it kind of fell into place as I went along. I actually am using an excerpt of the post compo version I did for Chips Compo, the full version which I’ll be posting to my channel some time later this year. 

OHC 487 "Drivin' 'Round the Galaxy" - Space in a car = chiptune blues? Sure...and don’t forget the high whistle with plenty of vibrato. :P

OHC 488 "Glass Curiosity" - I’m really not good at doing “rave” or dance pieces, so I decided to just focus on making something that would kind of try to capture the feeling of “losing yourself” via drinking. I mean, it’s a really basic interpretation, but towards the end, I play around a ton with the tempo as well as the filters. 

OHC 491 "From the Earth" - Whenever we get nature or plant themes, I feel like I’ve always tried to make them happy and joyous. This time, I wanted to go for a more tranquil, calmer approach. With acoustic guitar, flute, piano and violin, everything started to fall into place from there.

OHC 492 "Cybernetic Rush Hour" - At this point, I realized that my own sounds were severely limiting me, particularly in the electric department. Chiptune sounds weren’t quite cutting it for me, so I ended up booting up Harmless and taking a couple presets from there. I only barely know how to use it, unfortunately. Maybe someday, I’ll learn. The piece only started working for me when I hit those running notes at the end, but by then, time was already running out. 

OHC 493 "Routine" - One of the first things I think of when I see a bunch of machines is “conformity” and sticking closely to regular tasks. So I tried to keep the notes as even as possible and then put in some vocals. Ironically, the “just don’t come out of the blue” line really does sound like it came out of the blue lol

OHC 494 "Iris Chase" - I remember playing this one Ludum Dare game that had a red eye similar to these pictures. You would play as a person trying not to die while trapped in a room with several other people. I think the eye would kill people based on a vote and if not it would just kill people randomly. Anyways, I wanted to go with this sort of idea - a sinister eye constantly searching for the kill. I tried to play it really weird with slow pitch LFO, maybe some distortion, tritones, a gradually faster tempo. This was a lot of fun to make, and felt a bit different from what I normally was used to making, which in my opinion, was good. 

OHC 495 "Palace 9" - So I pretty much had my instrument set in mind once I saw the images - harps, violins, pizzicato strings, y’know, things that would be light and heavenly. Then I realized, I didn’t really have a good lead. Turns out, the oboe makes a great lead. Although now that I think of it, pitch bending it doesn’t sound that good haha.

OHC 496 "Paws on the Sidewalk" - Seeing fur made me automatically think of white fluffy dogs, so I decided I wanted to make a piece about taking a dog out for a walk on a pleasant sunny day. And yeah...started out with the first few notes you hear on the guitar, and just sort of went at it from there.

OHC 497 "But Only For a Moment" - I really wanted to do a ballroom dance piece for this one. Not only that, but the experience of sort of “having that first dance”, heart pumping in your chest, the pause of anticipation. Of course, it didn’t exactly turn out that way, but the idea was to set a “beautiful” scene cut short by time. How appropriate, given that this is OHC. Surprisingly, this did well in the compo. 

OHC 501 "IV Dream" - This was a weird OHC to come back to. I had never worked with a text theme before, so I was a bit taken aback here. There were so many interpretations I could go for. The one I felt the most comfortable with doing was an ocean/underwater track, but I wanted to go for something different but still water related. Then I remembered: just the week before, I was in the hospital (I burst my appendix, it infected my lower abdomen and I had to stay there for a week) and they put an IV in my hand for the antibiotics and hydration. As I was falling asleep there, I would recall the dripping sounds as the fluids made their way into my hand. I dunno, I guess that was kind of a weird approach to the theme: “I’m dreaming of flying through the sky but I’m actually just stuck here in the hospital”. Plus my voice got all messed up from the operation, so the vocals probably sound a lot worse than they normally do. :P

OHC 502 "Chipititis" - I missed making straight-up chiptune, so I made straight-up chiptune. That’s all, lol.

OHC 503 "Open Up" - I chose to go with the theme of “solitude” being a more positive theme, maybe focusing more on the calmness/meditative side of being alone and allowing yourself to be open and free in isolation. The pads in my soundfont set, as I discovered in this compo, actually work really nicely to set a fuller atmosphere. 

OHC 504 "Long Lost Reconnections" - In this compo, I tried to make a song based on a dream I had that felt real to me. Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I could fully develop the lyrics and the theme didn’t come across as well as I had hoped. 

OHC 505 "Confrontation" - Falling. How on earth are you supposed to portray this musically? I decided I would have to go with the basics: fast, descending chords. Then I hit a bass groove and decided it really needed a sax melody, so I put in that sax. By then, I decided that this piece would be about constantly falling with no end in sight, and having to come to those terms that eventually, you’ve got to land on something...right?

OHC 506 "Being Bold" - When I made this piece, I put in a definite end, and regretted it soon after hearing it in the listening party. Personally, it sounds so much better when the notes at the end don’t resolve, like in the “where does the hope go from here?” sort of way. 

OHC 509 "Forgetful Traveller" - Another one of those “hard to convey” themes. The chords had to be just right, conveying someone moving forward, but also kind of thinking that “maybe I should have gone back because I forgot something”. Well, I tried my best.

OHC 510 "Conflicting Voices in My Head" - imo this is easily one of the roughest of the vocal entries I’ve ever done. In the original compo version, I had a lot of trouble getting the vocals to be loud enough for people to actually hear them. Third time’s the charm, I hope. 

OHC 511 "Porcelain and Plastic" - I wanted to do a spooky, unsettling piece for this one, so I tried to make a piece about “feeling strange because you’re being watched by a bunch of old dolls in a dimly lit room and also, you might be turning into one of them”. 

OHC 512 "Rest in Victory" - Before I started the compo, I wanted to make a piece that would keep building up until it got to a sort of “grand finale”. So for this one, I tried to keep it simple, with the same set of chords repeating and just adding different layers as I went along. I had this crazy idea of putting in electric guitars and wasn’t really sure how these were going to work, but I think there’s some ideas in there that I kind of like. 

OHC 513 "Lullaby For a Needlessly Productive AllNighter" - I submitted this with a weird title because it was almost too long to be submitted properly (there’s a weird glitch on OHC where if you submit a title that is too long, it just glitches your piece out entirely). As for the piece itself, I wanted to make a lullaby that was kind of related to my own problems of wanting to stay up to constantly get stuff done. 

OHC 530 "Giants" - I missed out of OHC for several months due to one of my classes last term directly conflicting with the time that OHC ran. So I was pretty excited to return. Live entries are always more nervewracking, but they’re a little easier to set up, in a sense - plus, you get more control over the tempo and stuff. That being said, since they are done in one take, there’s a lot that can go wrong. I almost got this one down until I messed up on the last few notes, oops. 

OHC 531 "So Just (Let Me Be)" - The theme page originally showed “sjsj” as the theme, so most people started basing their pieces off this. It wasn’t until a few minutes in that the official theme was actually posted. Rather than starting a new piece entirely, I decided to just combine the two themes together. I tried to make several lines of the lyrics start with “S” and “J” then I ran out of time. 

OHC 532 "Melting Point" - When I saw the hot springs, it immediately made me think of the hot springs I went to in Japan last summer. It was one of my favourite experiences there. But yeah, I tried to grab a combination of instruments that would sort of capture the contrast between the hot and cold. Vibraphone for a bell-like sound, pizzicato strings for the forest setting, marimba for a warmer sound. Marimba worked surprisingly well for this theme, and I wasn’t the only one in the compo who thought this. 

OHC 533 "Hibernal Regret" - Didn’t really want to do a vocal entry, but I couldn’t help myself - this piece needed words, so I put them in. I tried to keep them short and simple rather than spending a huge chunk of the hour just trying to come up with meaningful lyrics. This allowed me time to process them properly and polish things up a little more. Never really thought I’d be combining winter and space, but hey, it was an interesting combination.

[ff15trashgoldenslumbers]

Since requests are open, can I get some fluff? The chocobros feeling their baby's first kick while in their s/o's belly.

I can not even start to explain as to why I was happy to write this! Like OMG, I hope I fluffed this right! Kinda did this in an AU style where the war doesn’t happen, because the gods weren’t being little butts.

~~~~~

Noctis

You loved this, you absolutely loved this! You knew how hard it was for Noctis to have to take over his Father’s legacy, who still took the throne from time to time, and within the reign of King Noctis and his Queen, within the first decade of their rule the New King and Queen were expecting their own Prince to follow in the Lucian footsteps.

Yet to lay here now, swollen like a balloon, and your husband of years resting so comfortable on you. His head curled up to rest on your tummy, an arm protectively around you and your unborn child, you couldn’t feel any more love.

“Hey,” Noctis muttered.

“Hm, something wrong?” You asked, only to feel the shift of your little one within you, and then another offend grunt from your husband. “Oh, the baby is saying hello, he reacts to the power of the Lucian Line a lot, one of the reasons I’ve been avoiding the throne room. He really likes to act up when we’re in meetings, really the only time he doesn’t do anything is when I’m sleeping.”

Noctis stared in confusion, you had often told him that your little one would squirm when hearing his, your own, or their GrandFather’s voice. Still, he never got to feel the little one, as they had often turned away and was done for the day when Daddy went to play. So now resting against you, to feel his little one, even now pressing against his face.

“Are you always so fussy?” Noctis chuckled, as he felt more movement underneath your skin.

“Oh, stop, you’re making him push against my bladder.” You giggled, as Noctis moved from you, helping you to the restroom.

It wasn’t strange to now in your spare time to have your husband resting his head against your stomach, talking to your little one, who would respond with kicks and nudges. You knew for a fact, that Noctis would spoil the little one, just like his Father had done him.

~~~~~

Prompto

You felt bloated, fat and absolutely beautiful!

Every day after work, your sunshine would come home, with new pictures, or a little stuffed animal for you and the little one that rested within you.  In the morning, you’d get a little sticky note of ways he loved you and loved spending his life with you.

So when your husband, stumbled home today after a long and rough day at work, you pulled him to the couch and had him rest his head on your lap.

“I’m sorry, your day was so bad, Honey.” You cooed, running your fingers through his hair.

“It’s fine now because I’m with my two favorite ladies.” He chuckled, nuzzling into your stomach, pressing a kiss to it.

You giggled, “Well someone has been waiting for Daddy to come home and show him something new.”

Prompto immediately popped up, worry on his face, when you reached out taking his hand, lifting your shirt, as you placed it on the center. He went to open his mouth, only to freeze, he felt it. It was gentle, but it was a small movement than another. He felt the tears in his eyes as you placed a hand on his, a smile on your face.

“She knows how much Daddy loves us.”

Prompto moved forward, resting his forehead against your shoulder, both of your hands still holding your stomach. He didn’t even attempt to hide his tears, as you pressed kiss after kiss on his cheeks. He really did love you both more than anything in this world.

~~~~~

Gladiolus

“Really?” You grunted clutching at your stomach, as you felt a sharp movement giving a slight labored breath.

“Are you alright?” Clarus asked, moving over to you.

“I’m fine, Dad.” You smiled to your Father in Law, as he and Iris moved you over to a fainting couch. “Your Grandkids know that Daddy’s late coming home.”

When you suddenly ballooned up to twice your size and learned that you were having triplets, the Amicitias made certain that you took early maternity leave, and had someone to always watch over you. Often than not Clarus as he was semi-retired, so you and your Father in law bonded rather quickly.

Still, a lot of people weren’t aware of the war constantly going through you when Daddy was gone for too long. You already knew, your three children were going to be one hell of a shield for the future heir to the throne, you just wished that they didn’t throw a tantrum every time Gladiolus stayed just 10 minutes out too late and Daddy was currently 30 minutes late and counting.

“They have their Daddy’s temper.” You giggled to Iris followed by a grunt as you received a kick to one of your organs.

“You mentioned me.”

“Gladdy.” You smiled trying to move from the couch to welcome your husband home properly, only to grunt as you were forced back down under the weight of your children. Who knew three brats in you would shift your weight of gravity, and make you as graceful as a bowl of jello.

“Sis, careful,” Iris called, catching you before you could slip off the couch, Gods bless that Amicitia strength.  

“Are you okay?” Gladiolus asked, prior to your pregnancy you had actually taken an ax to the arm and keep going to avoid one of the new recruits from getting his head chopped off. So he knew you could deal with pain, but to see you adjusting time and time again, made him worry.

“Say hi to your children, before they start a war.” You grunted, leaning back, attempting to release some of the pressure on your stomach.

“What?” Gladiolus called moving over to help you on the couch, only for you to grab his hand, placing it over your stomach. His hand once covered the entirety of your stomach, hardly reached from side to side now.

“See, Daddy’s back, stop using me as a punching bag.” You moaned, as you relaxed, your children instead of going from the rough movements to something soft at their Father’s touch. Your eyes looking to your husband, as he seemed fascinated by the movement before you noticed the tears in his eyes when you remembered, this was his first time feeling them move. “Baby?”

Gladiolus knelt, resting his forehead against your stomach, only to look up as you rested a hand on his head, “Babe.”

“They miss you when you’re gone, and they’re not the only ones.” You smiled, as he pressed a kiss to your lips, his hand still resting protectively over your stomach.

You turned to Clarus and Iris, taking their hands to feel the little ones squirming around in you now that they got the attention they wanted, “Here, they respond to Grandad and Auntie Iris as well, just not when Mommy asks for them to cut it out.”

It wasn’t often now, that when your family left, you’d get a hug or kiss from them, and a quick rub of the belly from them, stating it was for good luck, and it did ease the little ones so you didn’t mind. The three were already spoiled before they entered the world, and you couldn’t think of anything better.

~~~~~

Ignis

“Iggy, love can you…”  You started, as you husband quickly sprung up, already on his way.

“At once my loves.”

“Thank you.”

Ignis could never understand just why you had gone from not being rather fond of truffles to them being one of the items that you craved so often, that you had woken him up in the middle of the night to have him spread you some on toast. Now the man had a small stockpile in the house, he actually had truffle oil and spread all over the Citadel as well, and even on his person, even some of the others carried some from time to time.

So he moved back into your now shared office in the Citadel until you delivered the baby, where you were cooped up, having still walked the Citadel halls, refusing to be put on maternity leave until the last possible moment. Your pita bread, it had to be pita bread and truffle sauce at this time of day, in hand as he looked to you sitting in his large comfy chair, you were hardly showing, everyone thought you early on, and not the months so far along already.

This still did not stop your husband from spoiling you even more.

“Thank you, my love.” You cooed, as he sat it down before you while pressing a kiss to your forehead, before he could leave back to his desk you reached out taking his hand, “Wait  wait, someone else wants to thank you too.”

Ignis stared in confusion before he felt the light flutters of movement underneath his palm. “Darling?”

“Our little one seems to really love Papa’s cooking and not just the truffles.” You giggled, before providing a stern face, “And wants to listen to something other than classical, they’ve kicked off the headphones twice today.”

Ignis chuckled as he knelt before you, leaning forward to press a kiss to your stomach, an action that began the moment you both were expecting. “I shall see what I can do.”

You glanced down to your stomach, “See little one, Papa is going to spoil you, so tell him “Thank you”.”

Ignis felt the slight movement underneath his fingers, “You are most welcome.” He then looked to you, “And thank you for being the most amazing wife and mother.”

“Only for an amazing husband and father.” You cooed, pulling him up for a kiss, grunting as you felt your little one kick. “Okay, okay, I’ll eat. Promise we won’t spoil this one too much.”

Ignis chuckled, pressing another kiss to your forehead, “I can not make any promises.”

[nightingveilxo]

The Film “Stay” and How it Brings Things in Sherlock Together

Right after TFP aired, I did this short meta about how the deaths and accidents in Sherrinford looked staged, and by that I mean they had too little blood, angles were wrong, etc. I was annoyed, because I started off the episode aware that Eurus’s eyes were the wrong color; not the contact lens issue, I mean the little actress playing Eurus had brown eyes while adult Eurus was revealed to have blue, which didn’t make sense. Unless something else was wrong, like little Eurus suddenly appearing in 221B, and the trio suddenly appearing on the beach (as mentioned in TLD), outside the old Holmes residence.

In March, I was working on meta about repeating events, and how to work through things or stage them to look a certain way. It narrowed down to the editing, lighting, and directing choices--throwing in many film, tv, and lit references, in order to create possibly two seasons of content. I say possibly, because I watched S4, hoping it would explain things that still made no sense in S3 (wrong dates, Sherlock taking over the blog, and repeating things off the blog). It just got stranger in S4, and I still don’t know if we’re going to end up back in the aftermath of TRF or HLV. I will say though, that if you follow the plot, flickering lights, disappearing people and objects, staging, camera, and directing choices in Stay, S4 of Sherlock will make a lot more sense. I didn’t know that many people when I did my original meta, and wasn’t aware people hadn’t seen Stay. I was glad it seemed to help a few people.

The image at the top if from the film Stay. It says Forgive Me over and over again, because Henry (Sherlock) not THoB Henry Knight, but that works too, because he also lost his parents in a traumatic event, writes it about his guilt over those deaths. Henry Knight was also a Sherlock mirror, and it’s possible that it was his parents that died in a traumatic way (based on evidence in TEH that I’ve already covered), causing the rift between Sherlock and Mycroft (or possibly their father having an affair). Henry’s been suicidal for quite some time, and the whole of Stay revolves around his traumatized brain trying to make sense of things in his last minutes alive. Compare that with the note John receives, because some of us contemplated that it was actually meant to represent the note Sherlock didn’t leave in TRF. “Ordinary” is also what John says about Sherlock’s parents in TEH, and it’s the word Mary uses about having a life with John.

Note the line from Stay about suicide. Naomi Watts’ character is speaking to Sam (John), a plaid-and jumper wearing, bicycle-riding therapist who was standing in for Henry’s regular therapist or so it appears. She’s tried suicide before, and she’s quoting Henry’s favorite artist, who also took his own life. It’s important to note that Lila tells Sam (John) he can’t understand being in the kind of pain that she knew, and that Henry seems to be experiencing. It’s the same sort of idea that many of us have had about how John treats Sherlock in S3 and 4, without having been in his shoes. Lila does mention how there is too much beauty in the world to end things, though...

Compare this with Sherlock in TLD, speaking from his own experience with taking his life in TRF.

(Part of this is a direct quote from ACD canon The Veiled Lodger--)

Sherlock: Your life is not your own.  Keep your hands off it, do you hear me?

Sherlock: “Taking your own life.”  Interesting expression.  Taking it from who?  Oh, once it’s over, it’s not you who’ll miss it. (Resting one hand on the railing, he looks westwards along the river towards the London Aquarium.  In a brief cut-away, a pistol fires towards the camera, then there’s a brief shot of the exterior of the Aquarium as the gunshot echoes and then smoke rises from the end of the pistol.   Sherlock now has both hands on the railing as he continues to gaze along the river.) Sherlock: Your own death is something that happens to everybody else. (Faith has looked in the direction he’s looking but now turns to face him again.  He lowers his head, his back to her.) Sherlock: Your life is not your own.  (His voice becomes strained.)  Keep your hands off it. (As he looks down, it’s as if he and the railing are suspended in mid-air with no ground or river below them.  His feet are not touching anything.) ( x )

This is important, because all the events that actually happened in Stay, take place on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Henry is in hell. Sherlock: I’m burning up. (See more below). Mary: Sherlock, go to hell. Mycroft: I can give you a map reference for hell. ER number 999 becomes 666.

We also have The Burning Child (a story told by Freud, who was brought up in TAB and all of S4), which is told by Henry’s father. It’s repeated, just like The Merchant story is in S4 of Sherlock. In Henry’s case, the father is manifesting as blind, because he possibly never took notice of his son or his art. Remember the idea that was going around for awhile that John had been shot in the eye, and was blind? It’s also why I sometimes refer to people (esp Mary in S4) as manifestations, thoughtforms or compilations of various people.

It goes with this, where characters Athena and Lila are morphing, because Henry’s mind is becoming more and more unstable.

This is what Athena actually looks like, and she’s practicing Hamlet (Henry Letham anagram--we know Mycroft loves those), a play about contemplating death.

Here’s our Athena/Anthea, who is associated with marriage.

This is in Magnussen’s MP (which also looks like Mycroft’s theatre).

The number 21 comes up four times in this film, because that’s how old Henry was going to be when he committed suicide, but he fell in love with Athena. In one instance, it looks like 2121. 221B anyone?

The original meta I did associated with Stay. The rest of these images will make more sense if you view it, but I didn’t want to make this meta too long.

Henry in Sam’s office. Yes, the couch and bookshelf look like Sherlock’s chair.

The glass sphere theme, like the one Arwel bought for S4.

Twins and triplets everywhere.

Leon, Henry’s dad, and Sam playing chess. Sam also has giant chess pieces on his office desk.

Henry’s mother and Mary in T6T. Henry’s mom and Henry both have this bleeding head issue, because Henry hit his head during the car wreck. The injury is very much like the one when Sherlock goes off the roof in TRF, which is another reason why I can’t definitively say that things started getting weird in HLV.

The aquarium (although that is also from The Lady of Shanghai, as are the multiple mirror reflections in HLV)

Stairs like in Magnussen’s place.

Olive, Henry’s dog who was put down years ago, just like Redbeard was.

Empty fridge, like Mycroft’s.

MRI scans in a not-quite medical facility, similar to in Sherrinford.

When Henry visits a strip club, these scenes begin to show up on the screen behind the dancer, although the burning effect that happens when Mycroft watches his film is also referencing the film “Sinister”.

I’m going to end this here, because you really should watch Stay for yourselves. This link will bring you to it on YouTube. I’m working on two other meta for Naomi Watts films that factor into Sherlock, but you should also read

@may-shepard The Ring meta, because it’s amazing, and a second one by

@swimmingfeelsinajohnlockianpool that filled in some more information. I’ll be interested to see if we end up with a seven days scenario, since weeks = years.

More links and tags under the cut...

Lit, Film, and TV References Master Post: ( x )

*EMP/Unreliable Narrator/Alibi/Editing All Give Sherlock His Audience ( x ) (Part II of Justifying John Watson)

Justifying John Watson/Johnlock as a Player in the Drama ( x )

Time Is a Leveller & We Get Six Napoleons ( x )

*Magnussen’s MP is Mycroft’s Home Theatre ( x )

A Happy Ending or Mycroft Has Been An Idiot ( x )

Lestrade Has Been Helping All Along (Whether He Knows It or Not) ( x )

Sherlock and John Become a Unit/Couple in TLD (Or it’s their memory of doing so—TD12?) (x)

*Stories Making TEH Unreliable ( x )

More Internal Editing in S4 ( x )

In T6T, Sherlock Becomes Left-Handed and John Becomes Right-Handed, But Only When Lestrade is Present ( x )

Ajay in a Memory of Nuclear Codes ( x )

Sherlock and John Became a Couple in TLD ( x ) Part I

Sherlock Became Captain Watson’s Soldier in S4 ( x ) Part II

Stag Night Results in Culverton’s Hospital and the Morgue Scene ( x )

Eurus in Mycroft’s Home Movie Transition ( x )

@monikakrasnorada @mrskolesouniverse @ebaeschnbliah @gosherlocked @devoursjohnlock @sarahthecoat @loveismyrevolution @kateis-cakeis @holmesianscholar @sherlockshadow @tendergingergirl @sherlockians-get-bored @posh-boy-clever-boy @princesse-des-lucioles @fellshish @iris-wallpaper @antisocial-otaku @love-in-mind-palace @darlingtonsubstitution

[bffhreprise]

Best Friend For Hire Reprise, Entry 376

 I did my best not to sigh as I saw our opponents—my dad’s team from his company—arrive at the field, ready to play ball.  I felt guilty for not warning him.  He loved his baseball games, especially because his team was good by normal standards at this level.  He just had no clue what my workplace was like when he invited us.

 When he caught sight of James, he called out “James!  I hope you don’t mind playing against my team first.  Bit of a tradition to test out the new blood.”  He grinned as he held his hand out to shake James’, still confident as ever.

 I couldn’t make anything out from where I was sitting, but I could imagine my dad boasting and teasing as James smiled and calmly ribbed him back.  There was no doubt in my mind that we would be winning by a large margin.  I had numerous friends here that could single-handedly field and pitch without letting our opponents touch a plate.  This was grossly unfair, but I wasn’t going to argue with James.  There was no way to win that argument, especially when we really would be getting good practice at pretending we’re normal.

 After the two finished exchanging pleasantries, James made his way back over to our dugout, still smiling.  When we gathered up to listen at his beckoning, he said, “Grayson’s in for a surprise.  Just remember not to be too extreme.  We’re here to practice being exceptional in a more human capacity.”

 “I dunno, James.  I’m feeling rather super today.” teased Jarod, the only one here who actually was fully human.  Even he had inhuman physical abilities in our uniforms, which added to my guilt.

 My whole team was wearing a variation on our company’s enhancement suits, granting us strength, speed, heightened awareness, protection, and probably a dozen things I wasn’t even aware of with how things normally went at Best Friend For Hire.  The suits were obviously a cheat, but they were the main reason James even wanted us here.  Our goal for today was to act like extremely athletic humans instead of the fey, demon, or Slayer descendants present.  Well, I supposed Raine was also part werecat, which didn’t really make her more human.

 “No cheating.  Got it?” asked James, looking at the triplets, after dramatically rolling his eyes at Jarod’s joke.

 Achille and Heloise nodded, but Babette asked “Aren’t our uniforms cheating?”

 “No, since we’ll be wearing something similar all the time.  As I said, this is practice.” he insisted.  “Oh, Iris…” he stated after spotting me.  “Your father is going to show you what he’s got.  I warned him that you might get a homerun right off, but he laughed.”

 I sighed and said, “Homerun.  Got it.”  I couldn’t help shaking my head as I muttered “My poor dad.”

 James gave me an amused smile before saying, “Everyone, remember the miss order.  We’re not here to hit every single swing.  I’m certain he can’t pitch quite like Raine.”  The reminder was probably for Noelle, who couldn’t hope to remember anyway.  Hopefully, Aaliyah would remind her to miss just before she went up to bat.

 “Aren’t you excited!?” asked Dani when James strolled off, literally bouncing next to me on the bench.

 I shrugged.  I did love sports, but I couldn’t go into a game with absolute certainty that I’d win and still feel excited.  Unlike a normal game, none of us would be trying our best here.  The whole point was not to do anywhere near our best.

 “But baseball!  I’ve read so much of the… umm… Oh, don’t tell me.  I know the world, really.  Uh…  History!” she exclaimed, finally getting it.  She waited a moment for me to nod, making certain she was right.  “I also watched footage of games.  Aren’t sports cute!?  You get all these people excited to watch others playing a game together!  I should go to a game sometime.  I want to feel their excitement!”

 Dani just didn’t seem the same without cobalt blue hair or amethyst eyes.  Her skin was white instead of pink.  Weird.  She really did look like James and Alma’s biological daughter this way, but this still felt wrong.

 “Normally, there aren’t people like us on the field, making things more fair.” I pointed out.

 Dani shook her head, grinning.  “That’s not true!  There are a number of therianthrope players, and Mila told me there are probably some of fey descent as well!” she exclaimed, forever ruining the fairness of all sports in my mind.

 I stared at her dumbly for several seconds, trying to come up with an argument, but Mila wouldn’t be wrong.  “Do you know which players?” I asked.

 She nodded enthusiastically and started listing names till I stopped her.

 “That’s…” I started, trying to decide whether or not I really wanted to know this.  “I guess I should have known, but wow.  That’s so unfair.” I insisted, deciding to ask Mila about some of my favorite players in different sports later.

 Suddenly hugging me from behind, Kayla said, “Don’t worry, Iris!  Things have always been this way, so nothing’s changed!”

 I reached around to tickle her, pulling her onto my lap when she released me.  “Fine, but knowing still changes things in my mind.  My mind was quite happy thinking that hard work and good strategy had still pulled off most wins.”

 “Therianthropes do work hard!  Pretending to be human isn’t easy, Iris!” insisted Dani.  “We’re just stuck holding back today.  The therianthropes have to spend countless hours each week being as normal as possible, knowing their friends might turn on them if they knew the truth.  Imagine the stress!” exclaimed Dani, staring off into the sky as the struggle surely played out in her mind.

 She did have a point.

 “I’m so glad we have James.  I’d hate not being able to use my magic ever.” added Kayla, hugging me again..

 As we talked, time didn’t take a break.  Before long, I was called to bat first and left staring down my dad.  As per the miss order, I swung low on his first pitch, missing entirely.  On the second, slightly worse pitch, I still managed to get the requested homerun, knocking the ball over the fence and trying not to feel embarrassed as I jogged the plates.  Dad was still staring back over the fence when I hit home.  I felt a little better when dad turned, smiled at me, and clapped a few times.  At least he was taking it well.

 We only scored five points by the time Brandon struck out as planned, moving us to the field.  I was on second base, but I could still see the shock in the dugout when Raine pitched.  None of Dad’s workers had ever played professional baseball, and Raine wasn’t imitating an amateur.  As she easily struck out the first three batters, I did my best not to think about what would happen if she accidentally pitched too fast, but she had grown very consistent at pitching about one hundred miles per hour during our practice.  She wouldn’t make a mistake.

 Honestly, I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea that Raine had made a castle appear behind James’ manor by accident last week.  Yes, she apparently didn’t realize she could do that, but… castle…

 “You’re on-deck, Iris!” called James, breaking me out of my thoughts.

 I nodded, grabbing my helmet and bat.  Emma had made each of us personalized bats for this, which she had assured us met regulations perfectly.  Mine was easily recognizable by the iris at the tip of the handle.  When I was up to bat, I missed, fouled, and then missed two more, taking my turn to get out.  Dad looked confused, and I couldn’t blame him.  I could have hit any of those pitches.

 Dad’s surprise only increased a few innings later when Aaliyah perfectly hit a grounder between his legs, getting her to first base after some exaggerated running.  I had been at Best Friend For Hire long enough now to know Aaliyah could be extremely graceful when she wanted to be.

 The game continued with Dad’s team only managing to graze a couple of Raine’s pitches by the time we won with forty-two runs.  After shaking hands with the shocked players, we gathered up our stuff and made our way to the Intergalactic House of Awesome Sauce, where James was treating both teams.

 The place was weird, and not just because the inside seemed a bit too big, probably some sort of optical illusion.  First, Alma had to convince the twins and triplets that they were allowed inside.  For some reason, they seemed to think something terrible would happen if they entered.  Then we got inside and the lights were really dim, probably to show off the fantastic nebula that stretched across the ceiling, moving as if it were real.  The stars even twinkled, and one of the twins pointed out what looked like a spaceship.

 We were seated dead center in the place at two long tables that looked like they were made entirely of glowing, blue glass.  I found out that James was an owner, which made sense for our seating, but I still felt like I was being stared at by some of the other tables.

 The weirdest part was getting our food shortly after we were seated without ordering anything at all.  We took a seat, and every single person was handed a dish they absolutely loved.  I would have attributed that to James being James, but Jarod told me that was just how the business did things.  No one ever ordered, they were simply given what they wanted, as if that was actually a simple thing to do.

 I rarely went anywhere to eat and knew what I wanted, but this place gave me a thin-crust, pepperoni and olive pizza with a little cheddar sprinkled in with the mozzarella and just the right amount of some fancy cheese cooked into the crust.  There was even a dash of garlic.  How would anyone outside of my family know that I liked pepperoni and olive!?  Even weirder, how did they know I like a bit of cheddar thrown in!?  Listening to comments from both teams, I was quite certain every single person received something they loved without ordering.  Every one of us had plenty of food.  Even our drinks were all matched to our tastes!  The restaurant was creepy, but their food was on par with Marco’s, which was a tremendous compliment.

 When everyone was finished, Dad’s team started heading to the door first.  “Great game, James.” he stated.  “The meal was worth the loss, but don’t think you’ll beat us by as much next time.”

 “Gave up on winning?” teased James.

 Dad shrugged and said, “I don’t know what you’re feeding your employees, but Iris never hit a homerun in her life before joining your company.  I know my daughter.  She was holding back this game.”

I sunk into my chair, deciding I needed to be more careful.

 James smiled and nodded in agreement with my Dad.  “She’s probably in the best shape of her life.  You have to realize that our athletics program has to be top notch, so we can be hired to help wherever needed.  I hope you’ll let us know if you or your company ever have need of a best friend.  I assure you that we’re equally skilled outside of athletics.”

 “Yes.  Yes, I will.” replied Dad with a smile.  Looking over at me, he asked “Want a ride home?”

 “I left my car at work, so I’ll see you later.” I told him.

 He nodded, shook James’ hand again, and headed out.

 James then looked at me and said, “Iris, you should invite your family over for dinner sometime.  I feel your father should get a better look at who he invited to his league.  Besides, he has to see that you weren’t overstating Marco’s cooking.”

 I nodded, not even surprised.  All of my family had gifts, so James probably felt comfortable sharing his company’s secret with them.  Thinking of what my family was in for, I said, “My brothers are going to go nuts.”

 James shrugged and smiled, probably looking forward to it.

[ginnyzero]

Completely Harmless Ch. 20

Completely Harmless An SSO SilverGlade Re-imagining Story (Or Fix it Fan Salt fic) By Ginny O.

When Lily and her friends wanted to buy horses and were directed to the Silverglade Manor and its myriad of problems, they didn’t expect to start a revolution. They were just a bunch a stable girls. Completely harmless. Right?

A/N: Things are only canon if I say they’re canon. Pre-Saving the Moorland Stables compliant for the most part. Posted in its entirety on my website. Posted in 2000 to 4000 word bits here. Rated T for Swearing Word Count 177,577

Chapter Twenty Work. Work. Fashion Baby.

When Agnetha heard they were going to Jorvik City (they told her as they rushed through chores. They wouldn’t have time for weeding and were dropping of chipmunks on the way to Fort Pinta’s bus station) she insisted that they were going to bring back some flowers for the main gardens. She had them on order and they could get whatever was there. It was past time they started on the first terrace rose garden. That apparently was simply an extension of the front yard rose gardens.

“Yes, Agnetha!” They said in unison as they mounted their horses and trotted off towards Fort Pinta in their Silverglade Clan Riding outfits.

Anastasia met them at the mall and counted noses. “And that’s thirteen, excellent. Lily, be a dear, and recruit us 7 more girls from around the mall.”

Lily blinked. “Seven?”

“Seven,” Anastasia confirmed. “Off with you.” She herded the other girls up the escalator to the second floor show room where they held fashion shows every spring and fall.

Confused, Lily ran around the mall and found 7 other girls who would be delighted to help out Anastasia Silverglade because that meant being on Jorvikgram and other social media.

They were let in by the fashion police. Commander Lacroix nodded at Lily.

What were they doing here?

In the back, the stylist from The Shield Maiden was staring at Linn, Tyra, and Pauline. “All right girls, I understand it’s easy, but this has got to end. Sit.” She gestured at the stools in front of the mirrors.

The three girls sat.

“I swear, you’d be triplets except one of you is blonde.”

Tyra and Linn had the grace to flush.

The stylist pulled out their pigtails to see how much hair she had to work with. She decided to leave Linn’s hair color alone and decided that Tyra’s hair was all wrong for her skin color.

Tyra shut her eyes and squeezed them shut as the stylist put up her hair into the aluminum foil wrappers, pasting it with dye before shutting them. As Tyra’s hair set, the stylist washed her hands and went around to every girl doing their hair into various styles that were elegant and some were downright vintage.

Her assistant was running around doing makeup in everything from classic fifties, to modern in purple, to goth evening raspberry.

Franceszka Ironsaddle was running around assigning each of the girls outfits based on their hairstyle and checking for dangling strings, missing buttons, or dropped hems. (She did ask the girls to help her.) There was shoes, jewelry, gloves and everything they would need to have a complete look, all in the shades of winery purple with white and black.

When the dye was done in Tyra’s hair, it was a vibrant orange red and wavy. Tyra flushed and admitted she used product to tame the waves. The stylist gave her a stern look. “No more.”

Everyone reassured her that she looked fabulous.

Francezka clapped her hands as they were getting finishing touches (a touch of blush or bronzer here, a bit of powder there, checking shoe laces and snaps.) “Ladies. Ladies. You are snowflakes. Take deep breath, pull your shoulders back and exhale leaving shoulders alone. No droopy puddles!”

She arranged them in the order she wanted them to go.

The music started. Lights turned on.

The first girl went.

Lily was a bundle of nerves by the time her time came. It was really hard to see with all the flashing lights, but she didn’t think that the event was very full. In fact, she thought there might be only a handful of people.

She turned at the end and walked back.

Francezka had them all walk out and stand on the catwalk once they were finished.

The lights went down.

The Silverglades were the only audience; Anastasia, her mother, Aaron, and the family butler, Godfrey. Antonia and Agnetha sat there too.

Anastasia turned to her mother. “Well, mother, what do you think?” She asked, voice very tight.

Lily wanted to gape. Was Anastasia actually nervous?

Annabella Silverglade got up and went around the back of the catwalk to use the stairs as if she owned the place. (Maybe she did.) The Fashion Police opened doors for her and helped her up. She walked down the catwalk examining the outfits in detail. Her face a mask of suppressed emotions.

There seemed to be an outfit for every occasion, different riding events, gardening, more elegant clothes for well, Lily wasn’t sure what, casual clothes for taking care of the stables, dresses and skirts for parties. The theme of course was the Silverglade Clan and their emblem and roses.

Annabella got to the end. “You designed these Francezka?”

“Yes, Baroness,” Francezka sounded like she was about to faint. (Francezka was one of the Baroness’ biggest fans even if she preferred black and the Baroness preferred white.) “I was very flattered that Anastasia asked me over Madame Asp.”

Anastasia waved a hand. “Our families have been friends for decades. I knew you would understand the gravitas and elegance required to outfit those who live and work at the Silverglade Manor.”

(What Anastasia wasn’t saying was that she was farming out outfits to every designer on Jorvik for the different clubs. Madame Asp was currently far too busy designing clothes for the Jorvik Stables Singing Swans to be able to commit to the Silver Drakes. She had the designers of Jollister working on things for the Firgrove Timber Wolves and Valedale Running Bulls. One thing Anastasia could do was delegate.)

The Baroness went down the line for another sweep. The girls looked ahead and kept their eyes focused on the far wall. Even those they recruited knew not to mess with Baroness Annabella!

Annabella stopped in front of Francezka. “I’m impressed,” she said simply. “Make sure that my girls are all outfitted properly with every outfit here.” She waved a hand. “And I believe there is a building you may stock to make a shop for tourists who desire a taste of Silverglade elegance.”

Anastasia looked like she was about to faint with relief.

It was beneath Francezka’s image to look giddy, but she definitely felt giddy. “Thank you, Baroness. I’ll see that it’s done,” she breathed.

“I believe I’ve seen enough,” the Baroness said and disappeared backstage. “Anastasia, we should adjourn for the lunch you promised me.”

“Of course, mother,” Anastasia said.

The Baroness smiled at her.

They left not talking to each other but for once Anastasia radiated real happiness.

“Wow,” Lily said.

“Selfies!” Theresa shouted.

They gathered around and took pictures together and with the Fashion Police giving obvious signs of approval. They took pictures with Francezka and the Shield Maiden stylist. They giggled a lot as they sent them to Linda to put up on JorvikGram. Linda texted that she was going to spread them out as sneak peeks, and they all looked incredibly stylish.

They changed back into their regular clothes and stopped by Iris before leaving.

The other passengers gave them odd looks with all the roses that they were cradling in their laps and by their feet on the way back to Fort Pinta. But no one expressly said anything, especially after they opened the windows.

“The gardener is a slave driver,” Elsa said in a dry tone to the bus driver.

He grinned.

They collected their horses and returned to the Manor chattering to each other about being part of a fashion show and Tyra’s new hair and whether or not the make-up and hair was going to show up at Style in Silverglade Village.

Of course, Agnetha made them plant the roses before they were done for the day. And they showed her a picture of the outfit they thought she’d look the best in and would be suitable for garden work. Somehow she’d returned the manor before they did. The perils of public transportation. (She had more roses for them to plant, so she must have taken the truck and formed a convoy with Antonia’s scooter and Godfrey in the family car.)

Agnetha grunted over it but didn’t seem displeased. (She agreed and was still flummoxed on how Anastasia had convinced her to attend a fashion show away from her beloved gardens.)

Now all they had to do was wait for the boxes with the clothes to arrive!

FOR THE ACCOMPANYING IMAGES PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE MY WATERMARK AND CONTACT INFORMATION. THANK YOU. I get it. Some of you might get excited and want to see this stuff in the game, especially the clothes, tack, and pets. However, the only way I want to see this in the game is if I get paid for it. If I see it in the game and I’m not paid for it, there will be hell to pay. You think I’m salty. I’d be angry. Personally, I’m not going to send this info to SSO. If you do, leave my contact information there! Don’t give them any excuses to steal.

Now, I’ll know you haven’t read this note if you leave me comments about how ‘salty’ I am about the game and if I hate it so much I should do something else. I am doing something else. It’s called Mystic Riders MMORPG Project. Mystic Riders however is a very baby phase game. You can check out our plans on the game dev blog. (Skills, Factions, Professions, Crafting, Mini-Games, 25+ horse breeds!) If you know anyone who would be interested and has money or contacts about game making, direct them to the blog.