#Two Stone Bangle

[theangrycomet-art]

Glamrock Foxy and his Crew

While I don't think I'll have anything with Foxy for my Glamrock Kids- multiplayer au thing, I do have ideas for him.

TLDR: Cap'n Foxy served as the Pizzaplex's unofficial babysitter before the Superstar Daycare was built. Between this and his increasingly popular theater show (Cap'n Foxy's Pirate Adventure), it was decided he would be given two additional crewmates, Bangle and Bitty.

Serving as an extra pair of eyes and ears for Foxy, they help out in the theater show as well as fulfill duties the other animatronics are too large for, such as finding lost kids or helping run scavenger hunts across the Pizzaplex.

The Chaos Twins also live up to their Pirate heritage (much to everyone's chragrin) and have particularly sticky fingers.

COMMISSIONS OPEN

I choose to believe that Cap'n Foxy is normally a part of the pizzaplex, but during the events of the game was temporarily moved to a separate location to run shows there.

Cap'n Foxy is in charge of Pirate's Cove in addition to the Pirate Adventure Show.

The Pirate Adventure show's served as entertainment between the Glamrock concerts as well as a draw in for the older audience

shows ranged from thrilling acrobatics feats to comedic high sea adventures

these occasionally would have guest stars, most commonly Monty (this slowed down when he became an official Glamrock as opposed to the understudy)

there was a running joke where Foxy would accuse Monty of eating his hand and Monty would deny it with increasingly absurd alibis

he'd also assist Chica in her water show (Chica of the Sea) before that was shut down, serving as the villain

his hook can be exchanged for a hidden foldable sword hidden in back behind his coat in addition to a regular sword for his hand

he has two functioning eyes, tho the right one is typically only after flash photography (allowing him a quicker recovery time)

despite him being an older model, he is the fastest of the animatronics (excluding perhaps Bonnie)

before the Superstar Daycare was built, Pirates Cove was where parents would leave their younger kids for the day

likes puzzles- has a small stash hidden in his "room" in Pirate's Cove that he'll break out on occasion

HATES Parts and Service with a burning passion

it got to the point where he learned how to repair himself (and the others to a limited extent) just so he didn't have to go

with his increased popularity (and increased children being dropped off at Pirate's Cove, it was decided that Foxy was to be given "crewmates"

no one consulted him on this- Bangle and Bitty were just presented to him one weekend

Bangle and Bitty serve as Foxy's extra eyes in Pirate's Cove in addition to being his assistants in addition to being genia pigs for potential upgrades in the other animatronics

their smaller size allows them to access hiding places kids like to stow away in*

they also can be sent through out the pizzaplex to help out with the other attractions (Fazzerblast, Raceway, Gator Golf, etc) when they get overcrowded with guests

this requires a costume change per area

however, they have a programming bug: the only person (human or animatronic) they have to listen to is Foxy himself. Foxy thinks this is hilarious

Bangle

the unoffical "bard" of the group, Bangle is the one to provide the extra dramatic music in the middle of a show** when necessary

they can connect their instruments to a small speaker in their chest cavity

their voice box has the most range of vocals (prototype to Chica's), allowing them to fill different roles for the show as well, though they commonly work as Bitty's straight man

this has led to some confusion with guests as to whether or not they are supposed to be a male or a female (the answer is Yes.)

their joints have a unique locking system

any part of their body can be easily removed or reinstalled when unlocked (when locked they are slight less sturdy than a typical endo's joints but serve their purpose)

they can connect to them wirelessly and still have (limited) control

has a running gag on the show of "falling apart" particularly when they are stressed out or worried

occasionally takes off head and makes fun of shakespeare

is not fond of toddlers or infants

outside of shows, is given free roam of the Pizzaplex as a rule (so long as Pirate's Cove isn't too busy)

LOVES photobombing guest's pictures with Bitty

Left eye had to be replaced early on after they lost it mid-show (crashed a touch too hard into the stage set). That eye is far more sensitve to light, being designed for btter night vision

Bitty

smallest of all the animatronics in the Pizzplex (excluding Mini Musicman and perhaps Helpy if he counts)

they work with Bangle to bring the kids upstage and get them involved

Bitty rarely speaks of their own accord

typically they express themselves through sound effects projected from their chest speaker

Additionally, they can connect to the pizzaplex intercom system and have a microphone that allows stead or security to make impromptu announcements wherever they are out

through this they can make fake impromptu announcements through out the pizzaplex in any of the other Animatronic’s voices

eyes were upgraded to have better night vision and depth perception after crashing into Bangle too many times on a landing during Pirate Adventure's dimmer lit shows. (these were the prototypes for Roxy's eyes)

increases light sensitivity BUT their aim and accuracy has never been better

thinks Roxy is cool and so regularly steals her makeup

the pirate obsessed with treasure, Bitty has a bad habit of stealing things from both their fellow animatronics and the staff

they have hidey-holes across the pizzaplex crammed to the brim with stuff ranging from anywhere to staff badges to Freddy's top hat to enormous bags of Faz tokens

fond of riddles, if answered correctly they give out prizes (usually a large bag of faztokens but if a guest gives a particularly clever/funny answer they'll give them rarer items)

____________________________

*see? they smol

**like this guy

[chaaistained]

what’s in my bag — kpop dr .•°

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cannot begin to describe how long this took me T^T so i hope you like it !! anyway, here is what’s in my bag in my kpop/clarity dr !!!

my bag is the adidas original pu biker bag !! i got it from an adidas campaign that clarity did. one thing to note is that i’m scripting there are two versions and ver 2 has longer straps bcs i’m more comfortable with that !!

on the front of the bag i’ve got some decor!! some small little things to personalise it hshshs :

⟢ my mum’s claw clip — she gave it to me when she came to visit, i’ve got it clipped onto one of the straps

⟢ a carabiner from sabrina carpenter — it has the engraving “You Are My Lucky Star”, i’ve attached a few charms to it :

•⟢ a lucky 7 ball — i love the number 7, i love that shade of red and the number itself reminds me of enhypen (who i’m a huge fan of!!)

•⟢ a light stick keychain — i’ve just used the enhypen light stick as an example but in actuality, it’s clarity’s light stick aka the claridome, i’m matching with my members !!

•⟢ the purple candy store series sonny angel — also matching with my members bcs this series has our designated colours !!

next up are the exterior pockets !!

in side pocket 1 i have :

⟢ my keys — obvious necessity of course, i’ve got my car keys, my house/dorm, and then some company keys : the music studio, dance studio, recording studio and my locker. attached onto the keys are two key rings :

•⟢ a little mushroom — from the day i landed in south korea after being accepted into fantagio ent. as a trainee!! i needed to get smth to commemorate it bcs i’m nothing if not sentimental

•⟢ a resin orchid flower charm with bronzite, cherry quartz and pearl beads — a gift from jungwon !! it was during a secret santa that we did with the other 04’ idols in our friend group

⟢ three lippies :

•⟢ a clarins plum lip oil , a burt’s bees coconut & pear lip balm and a burt’s bees cucumber and mint lip balm — super niche flavours of lip balm but i can’t lie, they’re my absolute favourites

⟢ a tiny perfume — jasmine and sandalwood scented ofcs

⟢ a small shell shaped jewellery box — usually i’d take off any jewellery i’m wearing when i get tired or overstimulated, it can fit quite a lot of things including earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets (that aren’t solid like bangles), but even if i’m wearing all my jewellery, it serves the purpose of housing my guitar picks

in the front pocket i have : my snacks!!

⟢ two packs of jumpy’s — a little treat from enhypen’s jake when he ordered a bunch of aussie snacks

⟢ warheads — i love sour things so i’ve always got a pack on me

⟢ sour blueberry bubblegum — this isn’t always in my bag but if i can find this specific brand and flavour, i def have it with me (another sour one)

⟢ chai tea sachets — god forbid whatever hotel we’re staying at doesn’t have chai

⟢ mint strips bcs obvs

in side pocket 2 i have :

⟢ two sets of headphones — my beats fit pro bluetooth headphones in grey, and my apple wired headphones that i keep just in case my bluetooth’s lose charge, and to stop them from getting tangled, the wired headphones live in this little shell trinket box

⟢ a tiny vial of moon water — it’s cute, it’s spiritual, it’s shaped like a star, what more can i say?

⟢ a capo — i got it as a gift from enhypen’s jay !!

⟢ a lace draw string bag full of crystals — a citrine tumble, a tigers eye tumble, a labradorite tumble, a flower agate palm stone and a raw herkimer diamond

ok here comes the main pocket !!

⟢ yes, i’ve got two phones — a personal phone and a work phone :

•⟢ my personal phone is the iphone 11 in purple — it has a polaroid of clarity during our tour in sydney !! it was taken by our manager and i keep it in the case

•⟢ my work phone is the iphone 14 in baby blue — it has a tiny little teddy bear charm attached to it’s clear case, i got the charm from a lumino (our fandom name!!)

⟢ a portable charger bcs obvs

⟢ my current read — i always have a book on me, and i tend to read multiple books so i’ll have ebooks on both phones as well as a physical book in my bag aksjdjs, my current read is The God Of Small Things by Arundathi Roy, a gift from my dad !!

⟢ two notebooks, each for a different purpose :

•⟢ my journal — the brown leather book, embossed with prints of flowers, a few sticker stamps that i got as a gift from vicki’s stamp collection, it’s a mess of a mind dump, a complete amalgamation of thoughts, un-curated, unfiltered, and extremely authentic, the notebook itself was part of a birthday present from my members !!

•⟢ my lyric book — the little red notebook that i found at a corner store in some nook of london, i got it during our first world tour and have been using it as the place to go when i get random inspiration

⟢ a tiny teddy bear plush toy — i got it from my little brother when i visited home again after a long time

⟢ a digital camera — i got it from enhypen’s sunghoon on my twentieth birthday bcs not only was i an official adult but it was also nearing the end of our mc-ing contract

⟢ finally, i’ve got four seperate pouches inside the main pocket :

•⟢ my makeup pouch — a vivienne westwood red pouch that i bought with my own money . and then i became an ambassador like, a week later.. all i had to do was wait a week.. typical

•⟢ my hygienics pouch — got it from a lumino during a fansign !! they said it reminded them of regulus and they knew i was a huge regulus stan so they got it for me ??? i cried

•⟢ my pencil case — i’ve had it since predebut, never want to get rid of it, i actively mended it when the zipper came loose once .. it’s staying with me till the end i fear

•⟢ my wallet — idek where i got this, it just showed up one day in my closet and i just ran with it, surprisingly fits everything i need tho

in my makeup pouch i have :

⟢ a beautiful compact mirror — i got this from chris aka stray kid’s bang chan aka my big cousin!!

⟢ a lighter — found it online and immediately had to get it bcs it looks so pretty, i’m not a smoker necessarily but i just like having a lighter, i’ve got a couple friends who smoke and it comes in handy, plus i can use it for candles

⟢ some actual makeup products, shock horror :

•⟢ a kiko clear gloss — i’m partial to tinted glosses but i like having the option

•⟢ tinted burt’s bees lip balm in plum — same thing here

•⟢ a bobbi brown concealer, a rare beauty highlighter and a diamond clear mascara — i unfortunately don’t wear makeup in my cr bcs i have ridiculously sensitive skin so i have no clue abt the shades or the quality of these products T^T i just know i need to have them ahshdjsjsk

⟢ a comb — i can’t go to sleep without at least brushing the ends of my hair, i don’t know, anyway i got it from india at the local markets and it’s very pretty

⟢ hair ties bcs obvs — i would have also put scrunchies or smth but knowing me, i’d probably mooch off of aining’s scrunchies (just like in this reality >.<)

in my hygienics pouch i have :

⟢ a lot of obvs necessities — kleenex, deodorant, hand sanitiser, moisturiser, bandaids, pads

⟢ vaseline — dry skin is a bitch but i vow to conquer it

⟢ eye serum — idk what i’d do without it like do y’all understand how bright and arid those stage lights are??

⟢ sun screen — this isn’t in the obvs section bcs this is specifically australian made sunscreen, spf 50+ i even use it in this reality

⟢ meds — vitamins, anti histamines, anxiety pills

in my pencil case i have :

⟢ 0.35 black ink pens — for the life of me i could not find the brand name but i have these exact pens in every reality, i worship them, they are glorious

⟢ a silver mechanical pencil — same deal, the one in this reality i’ve had since 2019 i believe? and i couldn’t find a pic of this but i also have a small pack of lead as well

⟢ erasers — snoopy/peanuts themed bcs i adore that franchise and i unfortunately buy things just bcs they’re peanuts themed..

⟢ a small love note from jungwon !! — passed to me between the hallways of an award show, right before enha left for tour, i don’t think he knows that i’ve kept it

in my wallet i have :

⟢ my cards — yes i have a black card, yes i use it whenever i can, yes i can feel the stares every time

⟢ cash and coins — coming from a regular middle class lifestyle means i never get out of the habit of keeping physical money on me, ya know, just in case

⟢ perfume scent testers/cards — idk they’re fun to keep, gives my wallet a funky yet intoxicating scent, i keep adding new ones every time i go to the perfume section, even if i don’t buy anything

⟢ a queen of spades card from a deck with indian artwork — i got it as a gift from a lumino, and it was so thoughtful bcs the queen of spades is actually linked to clarity lore, specifically my lore in our groups concept, plus, it’s an indian queen !!!

⟢ a tiny passport photo of baby me — one of those sentimental things that my parents gave me before i left to start training, i always keep it with me as a reminder; anytime i’m mean to myself or forget to ignore the negative comments i may get, i’m actually hurting that little girl right there, she doesn’t deserve that, so i don’t deserve it

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there’s a lot i didn’t add bcs it wouldn’t realistically fit, and also i’ve got my manager to carry some stuff for us — more makeup, vlogging equipment, more toiletries, etc etc .. anyway!! this took ages so i really hope this does well 🥲🤞🏽

chaai brews; tea assortments — dr archive

2025 © chaaistained

[taylorswiftstyle]

MTV Video Music Awards | September 11, 2024

Monse Fall/Winter 2024 custom

For Future Reference Vintage 'Omega Chain' - no longer available

Rainbow K Jewelry ‘Diamond Horn Earring’ - € 7215.00 Ali Weiss Jewelry ‘Baby Pave Hoop With 2 Diamond Drop’ - $375.00 Grown Brilliance ‘Emerald and Heart Lab Grown Diamond Two Stone Stud Earrings’ - $1,895.00

Lizzie Mandler Jewelry ‘Pave Knife Edge Bracelet’ - $13,665.00 Mateo New York ‘Carabiner Bracelet’ - $300.00 Mateo New York ‘Lock Link Bracelet’ - $350.00 Rainbow K Jewelry ‘Diamond Horn Bangle’ - €18,575.00

Ali Weiss Jewelry ‘Thin Gold Band With 5 Diamonds’ - $650.00 Jade Ruzzo ‘Tennessee Drop Ring in Demantoid Garnet’ - $5,600.00 Retrouvai ‘Platinum Magna Ring’ - price upon request Grown Brilliance‘Marquise Lab Grown Diamond Eternity Band’ - $2,190.00

A brief moment of pride for me because I happened to predict a different look from this exact same collection for the MTV VMAs. I'll take the win! Taylor changed partway through the show, shedding her tartan Dior look for a party look that was easier for her to dance in but still retained a high shine award show appeal. While Taylor's look is obviously custom, the tapestry alien print and buckle detail are clear riffs from the Monse FW2024 runway. This was a fun and flirty mid-show change that reminded me of her strategy at the 2022 MTV EMAs. Though for that award show, there was a clearer throughline between both her looks as they were by the same designer - David Koma. Here, there isn't as obvious a connect between the two aesthetics. Although perhaps it's the notion of translating older notions of art into surreal, modern takes. With Dior, an ode to the secret messages Mary Queen of Scots embroidered in her clothes and with this Monse look, reimagining the antique tapestry to feature futuristic visions of alien invasion. Which feels very "Down Bad" in imagery.

For her second look of the evening, Taylor swapped out her singular pair of Lorraine Schwartz earrings (a go-to jeweler for her red carpet looks) and tapped into one of her style pillars: indie designers.

The mix of metals feels very Taylor - she often swaps between gold and silver and looks equally great in both, lucky her. Though I did most appreciate the silver tying in to the buckle detail on her Monse dress.

Of all her jewels, the piece that most caught my eye is Jade Ruzzo's ‘Tennessee’ ring. I spoke to the designer and she described the Tennessee as her “signature” collection, inspired by her late father who was a drummer. “I designed the Tennessee ring, the first piece from the collection, while in Tennessee,” she told me. “Tennessee has a heart and soul that I felt I could literally hear a beat to - it felt like it moved.” Jade translated the kinetic energy she felt in the city into a hand bezel ring with hanging gemstones that create a subtle movement - “as if [the stones] are dancing on each piece.” She added, “I wanted the movement to be subtle enough that it felt Iike soft steady music throughout the day.“ What an appropriate thing for Taylor, who calls Tennessee her home, to wear.

Photo by John Shearer via Getty Images

[velvetbeeez]

𝑌o𝑢r𝑠 𝑒t𝑒r𝑛a𝑙l𝑦… 𝓥𝖆𝖒𝖕𝖎𝖗𝖊 𝖉𝖗 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖔

Born to mourn, to dream...but to never sleep

౨ৎ . . .

In the midst of a harsh cold thunderstorm on a moonless night there echoed a cry of a babe, a princess. her first cry was a prophecy, bitter as truth and sharp as a firefly's light. The astrologers folded their charts in silence. Her fate, written in bone and sand, could not be rewritten.

They raised her in silk, mahogany, gold & silence…Her eyes learnt to read men’s smile before she could learn to write. By five, she walks around the castle, tracing her footsteps so she never gets lost, by ten she falls into a monotonous pattern of life, by 13, she weeps like a widow. Lost in a loop.

Her father, the king, with firm words set in stone, and laws thrown like worn out clothes, promises her to the son of a noble, a rich young man, loud- voiced, drunk on his own shadow, pride as swollen as the sun. The match was sacred, sealed by wax, turmeric and trembling hands of mothers…

Despite that, In the hollow of her heart, something rings, and chimes. She was made for more…

As the monsoon calls for the yearly festival of seven days, It brings the scent of wet earth, of rebirth, of things buried long ago rising in the night. But this year, the sky carries more than rain. It carries something heavy, humming low in her marrow. Hope. Something so forbidden, so out of touch for her. Dreams, in which she hears an unknown yet familiar voice, sees a hazy, inviting face… nightmares she calls them. The seven day festival begins, and with it, the gates of the city swings open like a wound. Boats drift in from distant lands. The air is brought to life with music, spice, and foreign tongues. Her father’s castle is brimming with guests from across the lands and seas. That is when she sees him.

Pale as twilight, with eyes like flaming emeralds, too alive, too cold. He calls himself Edmund from Greece, but she knows lies when she hears them. Something changes when his eyes land on her. It feels like he has forever been there, watching her from the shadows…

He speaks to her first beneath the silks of the spice pavilion. His voice is too even, too knowing. She replies with clipped words and sharpened stares, but his smile lingers like a wound that refuses to bleed. He plays the game with an elegance that infuriates her, his subtle flirtations, the ways he twists her own words to fluster her, the way he tilts his head when she pretends not to see him, the lazy grace with which he spars words as though born to it.

She despises him because he makes her forget the chains she had learnt to wear on her wrists like bangles. She despises him because he makes her stumble, stutter and lose the stillness in herself that she had mastered for years.

A day or two later, a duel takes place in the silence and privacy of the secluded weapons’ room. Clashes of swords ring in the castle…an attempt to push him away. But his cold sharp sword lands on curve on her neck, a kiss of ice.

She tries to forget but forgetfulness is not a luxury cursed daughters can afford.

The days pass slowly, painfully, with burning of hearts and stolen glances.

Then, on the seventh evening, the stars were dimmer. The winds were sharper, the whispers were louder. The world turns.

Her fiance, bloated with drink and bruised pride, finds her alone in the moonlit balcony. Words turn to fists. Her voice breaks. Her wrist bleed against the golden railings. And then, snap, something inside her shatters like a mirror. A knife. a scream. Silence haunts.

She runs. Wherever her steps take her. Past the festival fires, past the textile stalls, the spice lingering in the air, the music, the ghost of her past self.

The river waits for her, endless, blue, cold and deep. It calls to her. She wades in…or tries to.

And he is there. Edmund. He holds her. Promises an eternity, freedom, and his devotion. Offers her his world. His icy, dead heart.

She should recoil, turn back, run to her father’s palace, fall at his feet, sob and beg for forgiveness. But she does not. That life is not for her. She carries the weight of stars beneath her ribs.

So, under the weeping clouds, he sinks his canines into her slender naked neck. Gently. Like a prayer. Sealing a pact written before the dawn of time.

They vanish into the midnight. Travelling along with the stars.

The people searched for their princess for long, some say she drowned in the river, some say she lives like a commoner in some hut. Some say she was a witch who burned in her own sins.

But she travels the world with her immortal lover. Castles in Transylvania, markets in Tokyo, pyramids in Egypt, crowns in England. It is all theirs.

No one knows about them. No one wants to. Some creatures are meant to be unknown, to never be found, to bask forever in their own sacredness.

[sare11aa11eras]

Daenerys Missandei Irri and Jhiqui!

[Image Description: A full-length drawing of four people, Daenerys Targaryen, Missandei of Naath, and Dany’s two Dothraki handmaidens, Irri and Jhiqui. They are standing progressively farther back from the viewer. Daenerys stands in profile, walking forward, talking to someone. Missandei and Jhiqui have their bodies facing the viewer, Irri is angled slightly to the right side of the drawing. Missandei, Irri, and Jhiqui look at Daenerys. They are standing on a red carpet against a blank background.

Daenerys wears a purple tokar with a gold fringe. She wears her dragon crown, a gold bangle, rings of various materials, a gold vambrace with purple stones, gold earrings with purple stones, and an elaborate necklace with purple stones. From the necklace and the crown dangle long strings of red and black beads. She wears an anklet and leather sandals. A few golden bells can be seen in her hair.

Missandei wears a knee-length light orchid-color dress. It hangs loosely around her. Her dress is trimmed at the hem with purple and blue beads of different lengths. She wears sandals similar to Dany’s. She wears a large V-shaped piece of jewelry similar to a collar around her neck and over her collarbones. It is gold, mostly decorated with purple stones, and a blue butterfly design. Missandei wears earrings with blue butterflies and purple, pink, and yellow stones. She wears a bracelet of alternating pink and yellow stones. Her hair is in braids to pull it away from her face, but is otherwise in an Afro-type style. She holds a tablet and writing utensil in front of her chest. She has an interested expression as she looks up from her writing towards Dany.

Irri wears Dothraki clothes. She wears long trousers, which are blue fabric with a fringed panel of leather along the inside of her leg and groin. She wears leather boots with green, white, and purple painted swirls on them. She wears a dark leather belt around her middle and a belt of gold discs over it. The central gold disc has a green stone. More blue fabric wraps around her chest, either pleated or wrappings. Over this is a painted vest, primarily decorated with blue, green, and white. On her upper arm is an armband with an illustration of a horse galloping in grass. She has leather wrappings on her wrist and opposite upper arm. She wears one visible ring. She wears a leather necklace with a triangular gold pendant and gold triangular earrings. Her hair is in at least three braids, tied off with gold beads. She has bangs. She wears a woven headband of green and blue, with jade stones. Her face is neutral.

Jhiqui also wears Dothraki clothes, although hers do not look practical for riding. Her clothes are primarily fabric of a deep raspberry color. Along the outer side of her trousers is a stripe of leather, fringed at the end, painted with pink and pale purple flowers. On her chest she wears a beaded brooch shaped like a flower, with pink petals and a green “stem”. She wears slippers, in the same material as the rest of her outfit, with a decoration of pink flowers on yellow around the heel. Her vest is laced closed over a green and gold under layer. Her vest is trimmed at the hem with gold discs. Around her middle is a dark leather belt, with a thin belt of gold discs over it. She wears a leather necklace similar to Irri’s, with a circular gold pendant with a garnet stone. Her earrings match this pendant. She wears two rings. Her arm band is gold and garnet. Her hair is worn similarly to Irri’s. She has a bracelet with chips of green jade set in silver on a leather cuff. She has a nose piercing with a gold chain that leads to her earring. She appears to be wearing rouge. She looks mildly interested in whatever is happening. End ID./]

[marzipanandminutiae]

if I visited Lily

hi

it's nice to meet you

so um. I have your bracelet. just in case you were wondering, you know. what happened to it. I'm wearing it right now

there has to be a last time you thought about it, I suppose. maybe you didn't even know, if it was before you got sick. sometimes I've wondered what the last time I thought about some piece of jewelry was, that I don't have anymore. of course, I've only lost things; had earrings fall out on the street or the train. or in the fire. not...well, you know. like you

you have a pretty stone here, by the way. simple. marble. I wonder if you would have liked it. your wedding dress was simple, the writeup I found online says. of course, simple for 1894 isn't simple for 1949, or now. maybe it's too austere for your taste. I don't mind it, and simple isn't really my thing

I never met you. we're not related. your great-granddaughter found me on Facebook, talked to me, decided out of the blue to entrust me with your family treasures. usually things just wash up like detritus on my shores, you know? as if from a shipwreck. but there were survivors on this raft, so to speak. your daughter. you.

she lived almost 100 years, your little girl. but you probably already know that. she had great taste in dolls

you probably already know that. but you might not know about the bracelet. the garnet bangle, remember? narrow, small, two rows of stones. missing a few; not enough to notice

I am wearing it and reading your name. everybody says that means something. the ancient Egyptians. Terry Pratchett. Shakespeare, that's my favorite one

"so long as men can live, or eyes can see/so long lives this, and this gives life to thee"

so anyway. that's what happened to the bracelet. you know, in case you were wondering

(thank you)

[wheelie-sick]

okay okay some people really really need to hear that when you're describing an image you're trying to get to the point of the image, not add as much detail as possible.

Case A (a real description), I want you to guess at what this is:

[ID : A screenshot of a Facebook (?) post by user Anna Jakubik Chenard in a thread/group called Weird (and Wonderful) Secondhand Finds That Just Need To Be Shared. Text reads "Searched multiple secondhand markets and found these vintage bracelets to create the perfect [descriptive word that gives this away] bangle stack". Two photos below the text show a closeup and a slightly further back shot of a wrist sporting 7 bracelets. From furthest up the arm ('bottom') to closest to the wrist ('top'), they are: A medium thick pale wood bracelet ; a thin dark bracelet with small shiny facets all along the circumference, but that overall gives the impression of being a textured dull brown or dark gray ; a slightly-rounded square-shaped warm yellow bracelet ; 3 stacked wavy-edged bracelets about the same size as the yellow that are, from bottom to top, ketchup red, mustard yellow, and light green (arguably lettuce-leaf green) ; a pale wood bracelet twice the thickness of the 'bottom' one, with shiny, clear plastic or cubic zirconia stones evenly spaced in off-set rows and the circumference.]

answer beneath the cut to prevent accidental cheating

if you guessed anything other than "a collection of bracelets that look like a hamburger when stacked together" you are wrong.

getting into too much detail often means skipping over the point. it's also just super obnoxious to listen to!!! I don't need to hear all that. get to the point.

"ID: A Facebook post with the text "Searched multiple secondhand markets and found these vintage bracelets to create the perfect hamburger bangle stack" two photos are attached of a bangle stack with a clear resemblance to a hamburger." is a much more effective description that is also a quarter of the length

longer is not better

[balrogballs]

“From a distance, the sleeping Maedhros and Elrond make small, insignificant shapes and their sorrows seem small, insignificant sorrows. Like this is not the story of nations nor of a family of terrorists and their entanglements with an empire, like all this is nothing but a story of an artisan and his craft: a small sea-story, a ghost story packaged in a children’s book, about Fëanor and his blunt bronze swords and his two gold bangles.”

- Chapter 5 of Silm postcolonial AU Prayers to Broken Stone is up!

Read on AO3.

also featuring fan-favourite Comrade Maedhros:

Elrond’s hair is spread across his face because he has carried into adulthood a fervent aversion to the concept of keeping it braided at night. Maedhros used to have to pin him between his knees, all of five and as slippery as they come, oil the ends and the roots, and remind him that if he didn’t sit still, Queen Victoria would rise from the dead and eat him up at night.

Maglor had been horrified by that particular bogeyman, as close as it had been to the time he got a letter from the boys’ head-teacher accusing Maedhros of teaching them the socialist anthem The Internationale, from “arise, ye wretched of the earth” to “the wage slave system drains our blood” — and convincing the children it was a song meant to be sung over every birthday cake.

[kaptainkassa]

cassian andor headcanons

notes: these are my personal hcs for cassian andor. just thought id share them because i never wrote them down before or anything aka;sfl;;

BACKGROUND

that man is AT LEAST 32

idgaf what a star war says he cannot be fucking 26 in rogue one

kenari was a matriarchal society

im probably incorrect but it seemed like there were more girls in the hunting troop he was in in the childhood flashback scenes

it's why he doesn't question vel being the leader of aldhani team or any female leader of a rebel mission. he's like yep that's normal.

also he was raised by maarva carassi andor like cmon

is still fluent in kenari

it's canon that he can speak other languages too so like polyglot!cassian yay

bee had the kenari language downloaded in his system before the empire wiped all public information about kenari

so he could communicate with cassian when he was first brought to ferrix

definitely helped bridge the language gap between the andors and cassian

also helped cassian learn basic

his culture is important to him for sure

i think in his spare time he tries to collect information about his home planet via old holobooks or even physical ones if he can find them

has kept his red and yellow stone necklace in a keepsake box for many years now, likes to take it out sometimes and just look at it.

his necklace connects him not only to his culture but to the few memories of his biological parents

doesn't remember his biological mother much but he remembers the sound of her bangles clinking together around her wrists and her smile

is a back sleeper. they slept in hammocks during his childhood and it's just something that always stuck with him

was definitely picked on at the sipo youth center

like fights in the recreational yard and kids trying to take whatever personal belongings he had on him at the moment

i think at first he kept to himself but over time he grew a small group of friends

safer in a group than on your own when going against the bigger gangs

youth center to military pipeline for sure

he would never see those friends again after the empire transferred him from sipo to mimban for their imperial military campaign

even though he went in as a cook, he still had to do basic training

i think he enjoyed cooking (as much as one can when the empire forces you to do it)

it's the act of providing for others that he likes

ALCOHOL

i hc ferrix as this blue collar community that works in either scrap metal plants or factories which means everyone's a hard drinker lol

like if you don't drink beer at the end of a long day wtf are you doin

there's also a sense of pride to be able to hold your own liquor

it's not a quality that cassian possesses lol

he's not a lightweight but he's def not a heavyweight either

prefers brown liquor over cheap beer tho

SAD DRUNK. MOODY. EMOTIONAL.

not talkative when drunk unless you're a close friend and it's just you two

but he def gets caught in his own depressed emotions and sulks

he's also down to fuck LMAO

SEX&RELATIONSHIPS

bisexual (we all knew this)

total slut (we all knew this too)

i don't think he particularly cares on being top or bottom. he's a true switch if you want to label him

has commitment issues

this is from bix's comment about him being with married women. the marriage forms as a barrier for him not to be too emotionally close to the other person

has definitely paid for sex from prostitutes because of this reason. it's just sex, nothing more. another barrier to prevent closeness

although he mostly did this when he was younger. i think as he got older he slept with prostitutes less, maybe once in awhile

he has also protected hookers from clients that were abusive as well. i can totally see a young cassian that is already filled with rage go apeshit at a customer that was acting violent towards a sex worker he knew

#respectsexworkers - cassian fucking andor

i could go into nsfw hcs but that should be its own post lol

since he and bix were childhood friends, at one point when they were teenagers they tried to date exclusively

they lasted 2 weeks. they took one look at each other and said this ain't for us

doesn't have a specific physical type that he's attracted to

characteristics wise i think he's into people that are confident and can pull their own weight but also someone he can be vulnerable with (he both yearns for intimacy and is afraid of it)

PHYSICAL TRAUMA

while in narkina 5 he received 2nd degree burns on his feet and hands due to the electric shock punishment he experienced

after narkina 5 those wounds healed but the electric shocks had some long term effects as well

sometimes cassian will involuntary jerk his body while he's sleeping

there are days where he'll randomly feel a painful fiery feeling on his feet and hands that will last a few moments before going away

the blaster wound he got in ep 3 left a scar on his arm that never faded away

[apothe-cary]

Rook Wednesday: Summerday

Write your Rook attending a Wedding:

Grey twiddled his fingers together, nervous, “Taash? How’s the suit fitting?”

A sound of grunts could be heard from the dressing room, “Itchy. I- can’t wear this. What if Harding hates it?”

Grey leaned against the wall, “Harding loves everything on you. I think that’s just your nerves talking.”

“Nerves? What nerves?! I don’t have nerves…” Taash came out the dressing room, the white suit fitting them well with sleeve cut outs to have their arms show, gold embellishments along the suit, their tie crooked and messily tied, their poor face flushed clearly nervous.

“It’s okay to be nervous. This is a new step for both you and Harding.” Grey approached Taash, adjusting their tie, them grumbling but not denying their words. “Besides I got something for you to help ease those nerves. I know…your mother can’t be here for this so I’ll do this for you because you mean that much to me.” Grey went slightly somber as Taash nodded, listening to his words

“My adoptive mother told me, every partner needs these things for their big day. Something old..to represent your history and heritage.” Grey helped tie Taash bindings in a yellow color to match the gold. They let out a grateful grunt.

“Something New.” Grey put a gold pendant on Taash Tie, two gem stones matching the shade of Taash and Hardings eyes. Taash immediately realizing what the gems symbolized, smiled just a bit.

“Something Borrowed, this one is from Emmerich.” Grey set a gold bangle on Taash wrists, nodding.

“Something blue, mama said it’s suppose to symbolize love but…I think it matches your specific love with Harding.” Grey put the blue rose into their suit pocket, eyes watering just a tad.

“Are you crying?!” Taash almost laughed but couldn’t help but feel grateful.

“Hey! It’s like sending my sibling off. I’m emotional over this shit.” Grey let out a huff

Taash smiled, “Thank you, grey. Means a lot.”

“Of course. Now let’s get you to your bride.” Grey Pat Taash back as they walked to the ceremony together.

[yournameyn]

Soil, Soul, Skin Part IV: His Intent...

In Progress Series Masterpost

Post Breakout, In Jackson, post the events of S1 of the HBO series.

Slowwwww Burn; Longing; Yearning; Joel simping for age appropriate OC (I needed it, okay?)

Pure romance, INTENSE fluff (for now) Rated PG (for now). Character Histories, Conversation, Slight teasing, Intense yearning, lots of feeling talk.

Joel experiences a ray of sunshine touch his nearly-stone-cold heart. The ray is an actual woman - Raina - whose mere presence shifts something inside Joel. He’s not had a great history with women but he can’t let a woman like her go by…

Direct continuation of Part Three

Part Four: His Intent - Within a week, it is clear to Joel that Raina is the woman for him but at a crucial moment of closeness, he realises he's already made a mistake - one that he cannot risk this connection with... he has to make his intention with her clear.

The metallic jingling of the strainer & the pebbles rustling against it, the chatter of the volunteers, created a kind of symphony. Joel loved having Raina by his side. He noticed the clanging of her bangle against the metal of the strainer were the most soothing notes in this symphony for him. He had to keep looking away from her for fear of making his fascination too obvious although he did suspect that boat had sailed. Maybe he was imagining things but Joel thought he saw Min Young glaring at him for a second. He didn’t have time to mull over it because the next moment both Raina & Joel glanced at each other at the very same moment. Raina chuckled. It eased the embarrassment of the moment. Joel tried to control the tremble in his heart as he asked, “So… Raina… that’s…?” “Indian. I came here back in 2002. Seems like another life…” “Did you have a family? I understand if you don’ wanna—”

Raina’s nod interrupted Joel, “I got married really really young… my husband Raman & my daughter Rumi… she’d have been 28 if she was alive today…” “I’m sorry…” “Thanks…” “I had a daughter too…” the words that came out of him surprised Joel too. He never spoke about Sarah, let alone with someone he didn’t fully know. But, as seemed to keep happening in front of Raina, there was no stopping the flow of his heart, “Sarah. It was a military officer, he’d just gotten an order… her leg was hurt so I was carryin’ her…” Joel tried to stop himself from speaking more, this was jarring for him, saying so much, in such public view. He suddenly slid his stool back & left saying, “I’m sorry…” 

Joel went to the backyard of the school. It used to be a deserted parking area but now it was being dug up, to be a garden. Thankfully it was empty right now. Joel caught his breath but couldn’t stop tears rolling down his face. He wiped them off. Within a moment, he heard a shuffling behind him and felt Raina come sit on the stairs of the empty lot, next to him. She offered her story as a path for him to reveal his, “I'd just returned from home & I was calling out for Raman… he worked from home & looked after our 2 year old. I went to make tea… sometimes I wonder if I’d have looked for them a second earlier maybe I could have had one last glimpse… they’d already… turned… when I saw them. I think it was during their evening walk… Both of them came after me… I know it wasn’t them but… I did what I had to do to survive. I stabbed my husband. I stabbed my two-year-old. That’s my hurt locker…” “Your… hurtlock…?” “It’s a Min-thing… but now we all use it at Washy… a hurt locker is like a memory that we keep replaying… like keyless lock that we can’t not carry. No matter how I look at it, how I try to process it, I can’t change it… Its a fact that I have to live with. And its not one that I can ever leave behind… I find it helps to talk about it, show it, to the ones who are alive now… the people you care about…” Joel nodded… he didn’t feel pressured to tell her his story & yet he did. It flowed even more, now that they were alone. He told her about Sarah, how smart she was… about how her mother had left but how happy the father-daughter duo of them had been. “I shouldn’t have taken her for granted like I did… I should have held her lower… maybe then the bullet would have hit me.” Raina nodded. Everyone in this post infected world knew what it was like to have a regret like that. Joel liked that she didn’t tell him he shouldn’t think like that. That he shouldn’t talk about things that he couldn’t change. Time was, he would have said these very words. But he couldn’t say them to her. She knew better. By some miracle, it seemed like Raina’s lock-thing didn’t weigh heavy on her. He looked at her with a question in his eyes. She answered with a sweet, polite smile. A smile that said, ‘All in good time…’ 

Joel took another moment to sit next to her before asking, “Should we…?” Raina smiled warmly & nodded. But right before she got up, Raina wiped the tears off Joel’s face with both her hands. Without another word, she walked back into the class. Joel hadn’t even realised when his tears had betrayed him & fallen, in front of her. 

After an awkward minute, Joel walked back into the soil straining. It looked sort of looked like a sewing circle… people sitting around working on something together while talking, singing. Most of them didn’t realise they were smiling. His father didn’t like Joel & Tommy doing womanly things like that but now, Joel just wondered if it was because it must have reminded his dad too much of their mom. Joel was glad to be able to join the circle now. He was glad that Raina had still saved the seat next to her. 

That week flew by. Joel visited the school every day. He took up the evening patrol & delegated more than he ever had in his entire life - pre or post outbreak. Tommy looked at him sideways, knowing full well what was occupying Joel’s days. Ellie rolled her eyes whenever she passed him by at the school. She never told him what she worked on in there, only that he shouldn’t ask & he should leave the school by 5PM, before she comes in. Like any dutiful father, Joel had no option but to obey his surly teenage daughter. He was smiling more & more these days. He woke up with renewed energy, to meet Raina, to talk to her every day. He longed for the moment when he wouldn’t need to leave his house to see her. It was a long way away because even though Joel had asked Raina to the spring dance, even though she’d said yes, they had not been romantic in any way. The only time they’d touched was when she had wiped his tears on the stairs that day. Even then, she was gone before Joel could realise what had happened. 

‘Thats okay… Good, even.’ Thought Joel. He was getting time to know her. Just the other day, as they were mixing the soil in buckets of water, he asked her why her group called themselves ‘Washy’. 

Raina had chuckled out loud, bashfully, “I forget not everyone knows… it must seem weird to you…” Joel smiled his confession, ‘Yeah… a little’ 

Raina explained, “I was a student training to be a teacher before the outbreak. It was a great program... Washington DC High School. I know Min & Lila from back then. Min was majoring in English. Lila majored in Chemistry. I was—”

“An art major…” 

Raina laughed as she stirred the soil into water, arms deep in the sludgy mud, “How did you know?”, she asked sarcastically. She went on to tell him the origin story of the name, “DC Fedra had boarded up in our school. That’s where we found each other again. And uh… we’ve stuck together ever since. After everything that went down, we… we just tried to save every kid we could. One of the kids we ended up saving one night was another one of our batchmate's younger brother - Yoshi Hamada, he was only 5 - it was at the peak of the outbreak but he made us laugh so much when he ran to us yelling, ‘WashyDC!’… that’s what he’d called the school when he accompanied his mother at drop off. He recognised us. He must have been 3 or 4 when he’d seen us first. Can you imagine? I think it was a miracle… To see this 5 year old kid who’d been hiding, struggling to survive…  When I saw him run to us like that… it gave us something to live for. That’s just what we became… a sort of make-shift travelling school… more like a travelling circus… but there couldn’t be a better name for us than WashyDC.” “And Yoshi… he’s…?” “Oh he met this girl when we were holed up in Illinois… when he was 20 & he fell in love, he decided to go with her group... We’ve been trying to reach them… I hope he’s…” Raina nodded to shake away her anxieties, “He knows how to survive…” She looked at him with a soft smile on her face, “It’s tough… being a parent who’s not a parent, huh…” 

Joel had just looked at her with a mixture of shock & awe. As though she were a magician who’d just shown him a card trick.

Joel only really knew one thing - that there was a reservoir of desire building up inside of him - fast. How long it would take for the dam of awkwardness & courtesy to contain the current of his longings - he couldn’t tell.

But even he couldn’t guess what this day was to bring - 

Tommy & a few other guys were accompanying Joel to school today. Raina had mentioned she was going to look for four or five long tables to spread the wet clay & let it dry off. Joel had taken it upon himself to build her these tables. But to deliver them before Raina set out in search meant that he had to reach out for help. He asked Tommy & a couple of guys that were into woodwork to help him out. They all had different favours to ask - some wanted cigarettes, others wanted easier shifts or duties. One idiot even asked if Joel could arrange a date with Ellie. It had taken all the power that Tommy had to stop Joel from giving that cocky young man a black eye. Meanwhile Raina had obviously noticed how regularly Joel was coming in to school. He’d ask her questions. Glance at her. He’d asked her out to the Spring Dance. She half expected him to ask her out on a date. But when that hadn’t happened, she went back to not believing it - that a man as gorgeous & loyal as Joel Miller could like her. 

Lila told her she really needed to work on her limiting beliefs. Min was behaving more & more aloof with her. Clearly he didn’t like all this talk around Joel but he couldn’t let Raina go on thinking this rubbish so he just got up from the breakfast table where this conversation was taking place & emphatically said, “Raina Raman Mukherjee, this man would have to do only good in this life & the next to remotely deserve you. You’re gorgeous & brilliant & I know you know it & I know you doubt it sometimes & I’m really sorry for being the one who fed the doubts inside you, even if it was for a day. You can have any man or woman you want. Not that any of these Wyoming folk deserve you.” Min Young made his speech & left the room.

“See?” Lila said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Min Young, the king of nonchalance, had just middle named her & apologised in front of the whole room. Raina had to begin to believe… She really wanted Joel to ask her out. At this point, actually, she just really wanted Joel to throw her over his shoulder like one of the soil bags & bang her into the headboard until she saw god. Raina blushed at her own dirty mind. She didn’t want to take the lead but she knew what she could do to inspire Joel to. She decided on a dress that was the perfect mix of innocence & sex. It seemed like a perfectly simple black dress but with Raina’s full curves & the almost-too-deep square neck, it was just dangerous enough. When Min saw her, he lit up. The dress worked on Min Young without fail, but he forgot that Raina wasn’t wearing it for him today. He was always quick to forget that he’d lost that privilege. He was too engrossed thinking about the dress… well, it was never the dress, more about how it made Raina feel in it, she loved feeling like she was one inch away from revealing too much. When Lila saw Raina ready to leave, she wolf whistled & said, “God save Joel Miller…” Raina just coolly replied, “She’s decided to bless him today.”

Later that day, she received the confirmation her heart had needed. What she didn’t know was just how fast things were going to happen in one day - Raina eyes went wide when she saw five men carrying the tables in what was slowly but surely becoming her pottery studio. When she saw Joel carry in the last one, she wanted to jump up on him and kiss him all over that gruffy scruffy face. She didn’t though, considering there were five other men in the room. Raina offered them all seats & thanked them profusely.

When she caught Joel’s eyes, she saw him smiling more fully than she ever had. It shocked herself, even, just how she loved that smile on his face with an almost violent intensity. Seeing Joel, wiping his sweat, sitting on the stool was apparently too much for her desire. Raina had to go out to the water filter under the guise of getting some water for the men who’d brought her the tables. Joel had loved seeing that wide-eyed, kid in a candy-store look on Raina’s face when he’d brought the tables in. When she saw him, he could almost hear her say, ‘You… I knew it would be you…’ with so much love in her eyes. He made a silent resolve to ask her out for a date today. He’d planned it all out. 

Raina returned with a pitcher of water and seven glasses. The men thanked her. Joel hated the fact that he had to bring all these men because of the tables & now they were all looking at his woman. 

Raina looked gorgeous everyday but today… today… something about her seemed… carnal. She was wearing just a normal, plain black dress but the way she carried it, the way it accentuated her curves & her tattoos - it looked more like she was wearing a secret. A secret that was asking to be revealed.  Joel needed to stretch all the seams of that dress & see his woman, have her right here, on one of the tables he’d built for her. The problem was Joel knew all these other men were also picking up on the secret of the dress… and he hated of them thinking about her that way. He began to herd the men out of the class, reminding them of their shifts & duties - including Tommy, who didn’t take kindly to this second class treatment from his brother. He wanted to take the opportunity to tease Joel a little more - so he stalled. 

“Didn’t you have something to ask, Caleb?”, Tommy reminded one of the men. Caleb did have something to ask - he wanted to skip today evening’s patrol. Joel rushed this discussion by immediately saying yes. 

“That’s so sweet. But then, Joel, who’s going to take his place?” Tommy exaggerated, like a dumb little kid.

“I’ll take his place.” Joel said, who wanted to kick these idiots out as soon as possible. “Oh bless your heart, Joel Miller, isn’t he just… so generous?” Tommy looked at Raina who was smiling now because it was too obvious what was happening. 

Joel was getting annoyed now & Tommy was leaving but just before exiting the classroom, he turned & said to Raina, “You know… I think Joel has changed because…” Tommy took a very deliberate pause, “he’s shifted from workin’ with cement to workin’ with soil… he just can’t stop talking about it!”

This annoyed Joel enough to slap a hard one on his brother’s back but made Raina laugh out loud. Tommy finally got the hint & it hurt. He left saying a very loud ‘Bye!’ to both of them. Joel turned to look at Raina, still embarrassed about what his brother had implied. Raina smiled softly, “I think it’s true though…” Joel looked at her with a question. “Working with soil… with clay… it helps us… bloom…” she answered. Joel nodded. He had thought about everything except how he was going to actually ask her, once they were alone. The air was thick with potential which interfered with the smooth functioning of his brain. Joel was trying to work that little part out when Raina interrupted his thoughts, “Hey… I have something to show you.”, as she walked out of the classroom.

Joel looked shocked.

Raina guessed what he could have been thinking & blushed fiercely, “No, Joel! It’s an exhibit!” 

Joel blushed too but he relaxed in the knowledge that Raina understood what he was too shy to say. He smiled at her, teasingly, “I didn’ say nothin’” She had given herself away… she bit her cheeks to stop herself from blushing & smiling, “It’s Ellie’s drawings… It took me weeks to convince her to do a showcase… she might even begin teaching!” The feral mood shifted at the mention of Ellie. Both Joel & Raina were glad to discover that this would be their failsafe, whenever… if ever they needed to hold their desires back. Joel was reluctant, “Um… she’s told me not to…” Raina was walking ahead, leading the way to another classroom but she whipped around to face Joel to tease him, walking backwards, “I didn’t think you were so square, Joel Miller, d’you really listen to everything you’re told?” Joel smiled & stepped beside Raina, scared she might fall walking backward, “So… how is Ellie, what does she do here?”

Raina loved having him beside her, “Ellie is… absolutely wonderful. She was a little reluctant, cynical to come into the school…which is understandable, of course. We have Dina to thank for that… she pushed Ellie to come in & now Ellie is a regular, she loves working with charcoal, she’s really gifted…” Joel switched to parent-mode & was really happy to hear that, “She loves to draw… But… I was a little troubled that she drew all those moths… someone told me they’re a symbol of death… I dunno…”

Raina was in teacher-mode herself now & explained, “Expressing anything is better than letting it fester… Don’t worry about it… Ellie is happy as she can be. Plus, you’re the parent, you’re always gonna be in last consideration. It’s easy to share new things with strangers… but when it’s with someone whose opinion we really care about… its scary. Ellie is still… becoming…”

The image of Ellie & Kat suddenly popped into Joel’s imagination & he confessed, “I didn’t know… she liked girls… I don’ know if she’s uh a…” 

Raina looked at him with a lot of compassion in her eyes, “Joel… Ellie’s definitely gay.”

Joel stopped for a minute & unconsciously scratched his head. A look of worry flashed on Raina’s brow, “I hope… that’s not a problem…”

Joel discovered just how much of a backseat his own worries took when this newer pair of big, black eyes looked tense, “Oh no… I’m fine with that… as long as she’s okay…” 

Raina looked relieved & that made Joel’s heart feel warm again. She smiled warmly, “Think about it this way, when she’s ready for it, you won’t be giving her away, you’ll be welcoming another daughter…” 

The thought made something bloom in Joel. The last few decades had chipped away at the part of him that wished about a future but this image, of Ellie’s wedding - with her (more accurately) in a suit than a dress - getting married to some wonderful girl who would become part of his little family… it made him not just want to tempt fate but challenge it. He would do anything for his baby girl. 

Raina didn’t notice this little moment that Joel was having with himself & led him toward a room as she went on blabbering, “I bet its going to be Dina…” 

“What?!” snapped Joel…

Raina was alarmed, “No… they haven’t begun dating—”

“Dina?”, interrupted Joel, shocked to his core. 

In that moment Raina began to understand just how thick Joel was when it came to matters of the heart. That did explain why he hadn’t asked her out, he was scared. Something she understood all too well. She tried to be gentle with the man who’d made her dream of an art school, a pottery studio a reality, “Next time you’re with them, maybe notice how she looks at Dina…? It’ll still be a while… In the meantime, we’re here…” Before Joel could form another thought, Raina opened the door to their apparent destination, “This is Ellie’s Exhibit…” 

Joel didn’t fully process what Raina said - neither about Dina nor about the exhibit being Ellie’s but it was plenty clear when she opened the door - Joel could see the little girl Ellie was and the woman she was slowly becoming, a palimpsest, all in one place, all over papers & canvasses & cloths drying out. Joel had seen enough of Ellie’s little doodles to know her style of drawing. And this room was bursting with it. Mostly black & white, there were drawings of moths & butterflies, ferns & beautiful curling leaves, a few portraits of herself & others with moths flying around them, a few skull-drawings. There was one painting that was on the biggest canvas there… a man & a young girl walking away, toward clear blue skies & green grassy knolls with giraffes loitering, leaving behind a long road. The building in the foreground looked a little like… Joel put his hand in the centre of his chest when he saw the little tattered sign on the road that said, ‘Salt Lake City Hospital’. To Joel, this painting, the fact that Ellie had taken the time & effort to not just sketch but also paint this… it meant maybe, just maybe, she understood him, his choices. Maybe she could never forgive him for what he had done but maybe some part of her was glad to be able to walk ahead, live on in this life, with him by her side. His heart was thumping in his chest. His hand went to the centre of his chest, as a way of calming himself. He noticed Raina was not anywhere near him. He didn’t really like that but it freed him to have this moment, the pain & the joy, for himself. 

Raina knew the man in the painting was Joel & understood this was a private moment. She stepped behind, pretending to be interested in an artwork in the other corner of the room. She thought she heard a sniffle but didn’t dare disturb the moment Joel was having. It had only been inside of a week but it felt like she already knew him. 

Raina tried to rationalise that feeling thinking it was because she knew Ellie. The same gruff, grumpy attitude which melted with the smallest hint of genuine love & affection… Joel was only slightly more resistant to smiling than Ellie. But to see him smile today, that had been as special as seeing a reticent, traumatised kid slowly open up. As the teacher part of her retreated, leaving the Parent in a private moment with their Child’s art, the Woman part of Raina reminded her - ‘Joel Miller likes you so much, his brother was teasing him about it…’ 

Raina wondered if there would be a date or more… She had always garnered attention from the opposite sex but it was hard for her to believe it till things became physically evident. And even then, doubts would surface & unnerve her. 

Why was it so hard for her to believe when an objectively gorgeous, red-blooded, oh-so-masculine man was interested in her? Raina was nearing her 40s now & she was still affected by the culture when she was in her 20s & how it had led her to believe that she couldn’t possibly be desirable. 

The 90s were a strange decade to grow up in - the culture was all about ‘heroin-chic’ & no matter how much she dieted, Raina never understood how ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’. Strange how despite everything that had happened in the last two decades, she hadn’t forgotten what a random supermodel has said - probably because she had bought into it, believed the skinny woman who was being paid millions of dollars to promote an unhealthy, unrealistic image of beauty. So much that it had coaxed her to hate herself. 

‘No… no.’, Raina convinced herself she was finally, FINALLY, okay with her healthy, very curvy body, that she should describe as the ‘butter & ghee’ chic. She wore shorts & crop tops in the summer, letting her soft belly feel the air felt fucking fabulous. She wore dresses now that she hadn’t been able to allow herself to wear in her 20s. 

Like today, the little number she wore made the men around her astutely aware of just how much power her body & her spirit held.

And yet, the voice of the culture, of how women are ‘supposed’ to look was still lodged somewhere in her psyche, like a piece of shrapnel. She wondered how she would ever get it out… maybe Joel could help with it. Min-Young had initially really helped her with that, before he fucked it up. They were once a couple. But after that, Raina had had an on-again, off-again kind of casual-ish thing with him. When he saw her leaving her room today, she realised now, he looked at her with ripe desire. He’d told her she looked good - which probably meant that he would try to start something up again, later that night. MinYoung had hurt her, but even today, with his little speech, he made sure Raina knew she was a great person.

She had slept with a lot of men… post-infection. But thankfully she no longer associated being chosen with being beautiful. She tried not to think about the heady high of being able to choose any man she wanted because they all wanted her… well, at least her body. Which is why she had to be sure of the kind of man she wanted. This life was hard as it is, she didn’t want to be hurt unnecessarily. She was happy, so so grateful for her life in Jackson, with her Washy Family. And yet, something about this beautifully gruff man made her want to change her amazing life. Extend her family, herself, to comfort him, love him, be a soft spot for him in this prickly world. 

Meanwhile, Joel had his heart full watching the painting of himself & Ellie walking out & away from Salt Lake City. He was now taking in the rest of the room, there were portraits that he didn’t recognise - a girl in a green headband, behind what seemed like a carousel captioned ‘Riley’. Some Portraits he did recognise - Sam, the little boy they had met in Kansas City. There were sketches of Kat, Maria, Ray & of course, there were multiple sketches of  Dina. 

Joel felt so much - he couldn’t recognise all of his own feelings. Ellie had grown up so much… she was going to fall in love, get married, have an exhibit of all her beautiful drawings?! Maybe teach a class? Maybe have a kid of her own someday? He didn’t know how it could go but he knew he’d like to be there for all of it. With her at his side…

Joel thought of Raina & it annoyed him how far she was standing from him. He appreciated the private moment he had with the painting but now he just wanted to pull her into his arms & listen to everything she had to say… It was strange, just how much she felt like his already. Joel called out to her but she was too deep in her thoughts as Joel walked over to her. He took a moment to admire her before he called her name again… Raina was yanked out of her pondering when Joel came close to her, to catch her attention. She apologised but Joel shook his head like he won’t have any of that… not today… he looked into her eyes, traces of tears still somewhat visible, “Thank you… for this… I had no idea Ellie was drawin’ again…”

Raina was genuinely happy, “Thank you… for everything…”

Joel whispered, “You… have no idea how much you… what all this… what it means to me…” There was a moment that both of them expected, they knew where it would take them if they let it… Joel looked at her & both of them felt the other’s breath hitch. He saw passion but also fear. That’s when he understood the mistake he’d made with her, with most of the women he’d come close to loving. He couldn’t do the same with her. He wouldn’t. He didn’t make his intention known. She needed to see that he hadn’t been helping her out of lust, with the intent of starting something in her school, behind closed doors, like it was a dirty secret. Raina, too loved his gaze on her but was she silently resolving to refuse Joel if he came on to her in this moment. Yes, she wanted his lust, sure, but only if it came with his love.  Joel moved toward her, sensing a fear, a sudden rigidity appear inside Raina. He would talk to her about it later. Now, he needed to show her. Joel opened the door of the classroom & held it for her. He was proud of himself for asking out this gorgeous, brilliant woman but when he understood that he hadn’t made his intention clear… it killed him that he’d already taken her for granted. That was part of the fear that she felt, the doubt he saw flicker in her eyes just now. 

Raina moved close to him as she left to the room, a quiet relief flooding her senses. Joel got a slight whiff of her fragrance… before he could even wonder whether the slightly musky, scent of rain was an actual perfume, she moved away, exiting the room. Ray walked ahead, expecting Joel to join her but he took another moment, to look at her… 

The wild blonde who made his heart ache… those big black eyes, that golden brown skin with all the tattoos that he wanted to trace over with his fingers… Joel couldn’t believe how intensely he longed to hold her… all of her… how much he wanted to be held by her. And to think of how she had given Ellie the space, the encouragement to pour out into her art… God knows that kid carried a burden but Raina’s guidance had helped to ease something within her, something had eased between the adoptive father & daughter duo - to think that Raina was at the centre of that, she was the reason - 

Joel couldn’t stop himself… 

Raina felt so good that Joel hadn’t walked toward her, to start something that seemed sort of illicit, hidden away. She had felt a strange kind of trust on this man & Joel Miller had proved her innate trust true & right. She had walked dangerously close to Joel, as she walked out of Ellie’s class. She breathed easy with the choice that Joel made, with the choice her heart had apparently already made. In the fraction of a second, she took in the musk & leather & horse scent on him and she wanted to stay there, pressed up to him, drinking it in… but of course that would be weird so she had been normal & walked ahead, hoping he would join her side… So she could wonder whether to let their hands touch as they walked but it was a minute before she felt him walk up to her & suddenly… Almost as if Joel couldn’t stop himself…

He reached out for her hand & pulled her close to him. For a fraction of a second even Joel himself was surprised at what he had done. He loved the little half gasp, half moan that had just escaped Raina’s lips, when he’d held her. It was as if his hands had a mind of their own, one hand wound itself around her waist, the other was slowly caressing her palm, guiding it to hold on to his neck. As she slowly accustomed herself to him, her hands on his shoulder and at the nape of his neck, Joel just breathed her in, unabashedly. His right hand joined his left, at her waist, softly brushing the small of her back. 

Raina felt pleasure, of course, but she also felt relief… she didn’t know what it was about but something inside her just surrendered to Joel. Perhaps it was the fact that he’d been ready to claim her out in the open & not just behind closed doors - a few metres & a doorway made all the difference in the world. She laid her head on his shoulders & breathed him in, letting it get to her head, her heart, letting it vibrate all the way to her core.

Joel whispered softly, “Raina…I… I shoulda told you before… I need you Raina… all of you… You’ve changed everything… I want… wanna know you, wanna love all of you… Raina, wanna build a life with you… if you would—” She held him close, tight & whispered one word that made it known that no more words were required, “Yes. Yes, Joel, Yes.” 

Part Five: The Crack

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

A/N - I'm kinda sorry that at the end of 5k words all you have is a hug and also I'm kinda not...? There's just an intense longing that I love & all the same I also love the pwps and the smut and the sex that comes in on page 2. But I guess this is just who I am when I'm the one writing. Anyway - tell me what you guys thought! Taglist is open! Thank you for reading!

[ragingcrier]

inconsequential, slightly unsentimental | two.

⋆

Grace stares up at the ceiling of her bedroom, putting her cig out in the ashtray on her bedside table. She can hear her mum clattering around in the kitchen downstairs. Liam hadn’t come back, probably ran off thinking that gang was after him. Her mum was sad about it, she didn’t know why. He’s a fucking tosser, and he’s thankfully gone because of her. She smirks as she sits up, stretching languidly.

The sound of tapping against her window draws her attention, watching as a small stone hits against it. She walks over, opening it out, peeking down. A grin overtakes her features as her blue eyes fall upon Cook.

‘Did you bring it?’ She asks.

‘Of course I did, princess,’ he pulls the little baggie out of his pocket, shaking it in his hand before putting it back in. ‘Now you gonna let me in or what?’

‘Door’s unlocked, just be nice to mum when you go in and she won’t care.’

‘Cheers, darling.’ Grace can hear him downstairs, shutting the door behind himself. She can hear his grin through his voice, ‘evening, Ms Keene.’ Then she hears the sound of his steps on the stairs, then it’s her door. Then she sees him, clad in a navy-blue polo shirt, dark trousers. His hair dusts across his forehead, large smile plastered across his face.

He takes her in too. The pyjama shorts she has on exposing most of her legs. Her tantalising collarbone exposed by the black spaghetti strap tank top she has on. ‘Doesn’t really look like your dressed for a party, princess.’

Grace observes the way his brow raises as she takes a step closer to him, eyes drifting down to stare at her chest. She leans forward, lips close. His head tilts forwards slightly, a silent plea. ‘Not yet,’ she whispers, hand securing what it was fiddling to find. Stepping back, she holds the baggie in her hand, having gotten it out of his pocket while he was rightfully distracted. He holds his hands up in a sort of what-the-fuck gesture, mouth open and about to protest.

‘I thought you could help me choose.’ She steps over to her bed, laid out are two different outfits. He looks over, whistling as he imagines her in either of them.

‘Wear the blue, match with the Cookie-monster,’ he smirks.

‘Never say that again.’

‘Either way, it’s gotta be the skirt, darling,’ Cook steps up behind her as she reaches for the top. ‘Give us easy access.’

Grace turns to face him, holding the baggie of white powder up in front of his face. ‘Keep yourself busy while I get ready, yeah?’

He smirks down at her, snatching the baggie out of her hand. He moves to sit on her bed, watching with a smirk as she walks into her ensuite. He opens the bag, gathering a bit of powder onto his finger and bringing it up to his nose, rubbing the leftover onto his gums.

Grace steps back into the room, pulling bangles onto her wrists. Cook gathers more powder on his finger, stepping up real close to her as he lifts it to her nose. He doesn’t look away from her eyes as she breathes it in. His hand grips her jaw, firm, yet soft as his finger pushes into her mouth, rubbing along her top gum. He leans down, lips centimetres from hers when she pulls back with a cheeky grin.

He licks his lips as he looks her up and down like she’s forbidden fruit. A month they’d known each other now, seen each other at least three times a week. Still, she hadn’t let him have her, and somehow, instead of moving onto the next one like he normally would, it only enticed him more.

‘Party time,’ she whispers. Their eyes never look away from each other’s as her lips press to his cheek briefly.

‘After you, darling.’ Cook gestures to the door, his hand on the small of her back. His eyes drift to her bottom as she walks out, a large smirk on his lips as he follows.

⋆

The two climb down the ladder into the underground, by this point the drugs and alcohol they’d taken on the way had kicked in full swing. Cook’s hands were gentle on Grace’s hips as he pushes her towards the dancefloor. They giggle for no reason, an effect of his Uncle Keith’s special blend. He is close behind her; she can feel the hard plane of his chest up against her back, his hands on her hips as he sways them side to side. 

Cook’s lips brush down the expanse of her neck, placing an open-mouthed kiss onto her shoulder before a playful nip of his teeth. It felt like it was only them in this whole place, like the crowd was a figment of imagination. There’s another soft kiss to her neck before she hears his voice, his hands pulling back from her hips.

‘I’m gonna go take a piss, yeah?’

‘Have fun,’ Grace nods at him, her body still swaying with the music, the drugs clouding her system.

‘Don’t disappear on me, princess.’

Grace dances by herself for a few moments until she feels a presence behind her again, they’re grabbing her hips and swaying with her. But it feels different. This person is taller than Cook, the muscles of their front less defined. They grab her, pulling her back against them, she tries to pull away, but they hold firm. Turning in their grasp she starts to push at the man, but he laughs.

‘Loosen up, gorgeous, we’re all here for some fun.’

‘Get off, prick!’ She shouts, pushing at him harder. His hold doesn’t budge. Grace brings up her knee with all the force she can while drunk and high. The man curls over momentarily, yelling, infuriated.

‘You fucking slag!’ He moves to grab her again, but she blinks… and he’s on the ground with a flash of blue. Then he’s being pummelled. Cook punches him again and again, taking a few hits himself. People stand around and watch; her arms wrap around his from behind, pulling him back with all the strength she can muster.

‘Come on! Come on then!’ Cook shouts, breaking out of Grace’s hold to grab the man by the collar.

Grace notices two large men approaching through the crowd, grasping at Cook again she pulls. ‘Cook, come on! Leave it now!”

‘I’ll fucking cut your hands off,’ he spits in the man’s face.

‘Fuck sake, James!’ She crouches down, cupping his face. His hands loosen on the man’s collar, his eyes meeting hers. ‘We need to go.’

Cook seems to finally register the two men heading their way, big, clad in tracksuits. Grabbing Grace by the hand, he starts pushing through the crowd, pulling her behind him. They climb the ladder quickly, running out onto the streets of Bristol, they pant heavily. Only a brief second of eye contact is made before they’re both grinning and giggling.

She watches as Cook throws his head back in laughter, blood trickling from his nose. His knuckles are bruised and red, blood of his own mixed with the recipient of his punches. It’s smudged slightly against his blue polo. Her shoulders rise and fall as she stops laughing, catching her breath. Her heart jumps as she takes him in, and all she can think is well fucking shit.

Grace shakes off the feeling as she reaches up to his nose, inspecting the damage. Thankfully it is just bleeding, not broken. Cook’s smile evens out at the touch of her fingers, falling into a neutral yet soft expression as he gazes down at her.

‘Did he hurt you?’

‘I believe the Cookie Monster got to him before he could…’ Grace’s hand falls back to her side.

They stare at each other for a moment, words unspoken.

‘Yeah, he did,’ a grin overtakes Cook’s face.

⋆

Grace turns to Cook as they enter her front door, finger over her lip, instructing the boisterous bloke to remain quiet because her mum is sleeping. They move up the stairs as quietly as possible, which isn’t easy when you’ve been drinking and drugging, though they were both very much coming down from it now. She shuts her door behind them, her hand on Cook’s arm as she gets him to sit on the end of her bed.

She exits briefly into her ensuite before appearing again, wet flannel in hand. Using her leg, she nudges his apart to stand between them, free hand coming up to cup his jaw while the other wipes at the blood coating his skin.

Cook’s brows furrow at the sensation of his quickening heart before they relax again at the gentle press of the warm flannel. Without a thought to it, his hands run up the sides of her thighs before settling on her hips, his touch uncharacteristically soft. It confuses his own mind as to why he isn’t pulling her onto him or making crude jokes.

‘You can stay here tonight—you’re not really in a state to go home…’ Grace’s voice comes out soft, almost like a whisper, unusually so.

‘You could of just said you wanted me in your bed, princess.’ He grins, his usual irreverent humour making a comeback.

Grace shakes her head as she grabs his hand from her hip, she places the wet flannel into it, letting him clean off his own knuckles and arms.

‘Give me your shirt.’

‘Huh?’ His head snaps up, speechless for once in his life.

‘Give me your shirt… so I can wash it. Blood stains you know.’

Cook smirks, staring her down as he lifts his shirt over his head, handing it to her. She makes no comment, but her eyes do briefly fall down to the hard plane of his toned chest and abdomen, tracing the lines of his tattoo. Turning on her heels, she moves off towards the laundry.

When she returns, Cook is splayed out on her bed, already asleep somehow. A soft smile overtakes her features as she takes in the sight of him. He looks so peaceful, so gentle. One arm lays across her pillows while the other rests on his chest, it rises and falls slowly with his breathing. With quiet movements, Grace changes into a pair of pyjama shorts and a large t-shirt. She brushes her teeth too, unable to go to bed without doing so. Washing off her makeup though, she’d worry about that in the morning.

She climbs onto the bed beside him, sighing as he takes up majority of the mattress. She can’t help herself as her fingers move up to brush through the hair that falls over his forehead. Shuffling to lay down, Grace faces him, having to use his arm as a pillow thanks to his position. Her eyes drift close as she listens to his light breathing and occasional snore. The warmth of him beside her seeps into her very being, unfamiliar, but not unwelcomed as she finally gets a good night rest for the first time in forever.

[crispyadorablepotatochip]

ecco la primavera by myself, chapter one!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66573907/chapters/171723715

Fandom: Death Becomes Her (primarily musical)

Ships: Madeline Ashton/Helen Sharp, Madeline Ashton/Viola Van Horn

Word Count: 1,829 words

Tags: Alternate Universe—Vampirism, Vampire Turning, Blood Drinking, Fainting

Fic summary:

“Viola bends her head low to the pad of Madeline’s finger. Slowly, she extends her tongue to taste the bead of blood that swells there. The sensation is rough, but sends a thrill down her spine. Behind them, the dogs growl and whimper.”

—OR—

Viola Van Horn grants Madeline Ashton the gift of vampirism.

The full chapter one is on Tumblr below!

The castle Van Horn is definitely creepy, Madeline thinks.

If the entrance and hallways are off-putting, the main room is even more so. Along the corners stand four painted marble figures—each so lifelike and exquisite that Madeline would find them beautiful if not for their subjects. A satyr with wild eyes, on all fours, grinding straw between his molars. A maid pulling her skirt to gather rotting fruit on the floor. An old beggar holding up an empty goblet with a wreath of bare poplar branches encircling his head. Then, the most striking: two naked women intertwined with each other to form the branches of a great tree. The scratches on their wrists, their necks, their inner elbows and thighs blur into the natural contours of bark, and amongst the leaves and hair, flowers bloom indiscriminately. Violets, poppies, roses, bluebells. No matter how Madeline turns her head, she can never make perfect contact with the statues’ gazes.

The stone walls are covered in thin silk drapes, which layer over stained-glass windows so the light filters through in shades of pale violet and gold. There is no dust anywhere visible. They must pay the cleaning people a fortune to maintain it all. But Madeline gets the sense that it simply remains clean without intervention. If she were to return in a hundred years’ time, the room would stay exactly as it is: paint unfaded, carpets pristine, the curtains still gently swaying in the absence of wind.

The man keeping her company on the velvet couch tickles the stomach of a cat in his arms. “Gitchee gitchee goo,” he squeals, then kisses its forehead.

“Excuse me,” Madeline says. “Is Viola going to be here soon?”

He replies, “Oh, yes. She just likes to make an entrance. Just like you do, my little sweetums!”

For a moment Madeline thinks he’s talking about her, and feels happily flattered before she realizes he’s addressing the cat again. (Well, she can’t really blame him. It’s an adorable creature. Speckled, just like the one Helen used to keep in their dorm.)

Then, suddenly, the cat begins to hiss and thrash. The man turns to the entrance. “She’s here,” he says—ominously, in Madeline’s opinion.

The wooden doors open to reveal a gorgeous woman dressed in something that can only arguably be called a gown. The purple fabric overlaps down her arms and legs in scalloped circles like a hundred petals, meeting near her pelvic bone where she wears a belt made of pale joints. (Marble again—or is it bone?) The material glows against her dark, bare midriff. Beside her stand a twin pair of growling Doberman hounds, who direct their attention towards the cat.

The woman smiles and says, “Harry, give us privacy.”

With only that, the man jumps up from the couch and scurries out, taking his agitated cat with him. Madeline understands why. The air stands still with static at her mere presence.

“I have known many names,” the woman announces, and raises her arms majestically. The bangles on her wrists glitter when they catch the light. “But you may call me Viola Van Horn.”

“Sure,” Madeline says, then winces at her own casual tone, dissonant to the castle’s aura of gravity.

Viola holds up a finger. “No,” she says. “Do not censor yourself. Here we live freely.”

Madeline nods; she’s never had to be told twice to do what she wants. She asks, “So, how does this work? Do I pay you first, or…? Oh, please tell me the recovery time isn’t long for whatever it is you do.”

Viola laughs—high, lovely, but it carries within it the crackle of lightning. “There is no recovery for initiation. Nor any price. You are here because my loyal…” She pauses. “My friend beckoned you. He, and I, saw your potential to become one of us. It is a gift.”

She steps toward Madeline and examines her face with her long nails. They trace across her sagging neck, her wrinkled forehead, the long gulch of her nasolabial folds. Every insecurity, every flaw. Madeline knows they exist, but shame rises again at their exposure. She’s been on stage before and in front of a thousand cameras. Why does this feel more intimate than all of those crowds combined?

“You were beautiful once,” Viola whispers, “but you fade.”

Madeline holds her breath, entranced.

The woman says, “I cannot heal you.”

“Then why am I even here?” Madeline says, turning her head to twist out of Viola’s grasp. The spell between them breaks. “No, I’ve wasted my time. Goodbye, Viola, or whoever you are.” She begins to collect her jacket and bag to leave, but Viola stops her with a firm hand on her wrist.

“Forgive me,” she says, and Madeline cannot help herself but to follow the order. “I cannot heal you, but this can.”

Viola retrieves a bottle from somewhere between the folds of her clothing pressed against her smooth skin. The shape of the bottle is geometric like rough-cut gemstones. Inside, a liquid shines, more purple than anything Madeline’s ever seen. Mesmerizing. She sits down upon the couch and places the bottle between the curves of her naked thighs where the fabric slips off them.

Then Viola turns over Madeline’s hand and withdraws a silver dagger from somewhere else on her person. Suddenly, she pricks the edge of a finger—to Madeline’s annoyed cry of alarm. “Shush,” she says, and Madeline quiets. Putting the knife back, she opens the lid of the bottle and raises it carefully above the hand.

The wrinkled, spotted, ugly hand. How Viola can stand to touch it, Madeline hardly knows. But then a drop of shining potion falls down from the lip of the bottle—and it’s beautiful again. No, more than that: the tension in her joints disappears entirely. A heady rush. Madeline can do whatever she wants with it now. She could play the piano, or pet a cat, or dazzle a crowd again. She even could, if she were brave enough, pull the back of Viola’s head in closer.

At that thought, she startles and looks up again at Viola—who has an expression as if she understands exactly what Madeline’s imagined. She bends her head low to the pad of Madeline’s finger. Slowly, she extends her tongue to taste the bead of blood that swells there. The sensation is rough, but sends a thrill down her spine. Behind them, the dogs growl and whimper.

When Viola raises up again, licking her lips, Madeline asks, “So, is this like a kink thing?”

Swiftly, a response. “No.”

Madeline doesn’t know why, but she’s a little disappointed. At least a few of the Hollywood orgys she’s attended have started with a bit of blood-drinking—although she’s always been the only woman there. (Maybe that’s something to think about on the way home.)

“Now, listen. I give beauty,” Viola says. “I give power. But I do not give life.” She flashes an unsettling smile. Madeline wonders what lip gloss she uses, what intoxicating perfume she wears; somehow, all these aspects which make Viola so uncomfortably entrancing seem unaffected but deliberate. Like every morning she wakes up, she chooses to be exactly as she’s meant to be.

Madeline wants that. Or to be around it, even—to turn over in bed and see Viola’s exquisite face next to her, satisfied with simply the sight of it. But the fact that she’s allowed into this sacred place is a gift in itself. Her whole career, really, has led to the moment: the biggest strings she could ever pull, to meet the most important person she could ever impress.

For a moment she wonders what Helen would do. Would she admire Viola similarly, if their situations were reversed? Probably so. Then again, Madeline can't imagine anyone ignoring Viola. Her strange power of attraction draws the eye down the length of her toned, bare body before one consciously notices the action. And her voice! Like smooth, rich syrup. Speaking when she means to. Silent when she doesn’t. The sound makes Madeline feel, for once, the urge to actually shut up.

Helen could never mistake Madeline for someone as perfect as Viola Van Horn. At least, not now.

Viola continues, “Those among my flock come to me because they have the will of the perennial. Nature is cruel, no? Winter arrives, the flower withers. But they survive. To join them, you must chase la primavera for as long as you exist. I cannot provide it for you.” She shifts back to a more relaxed position and traces the round top of the potion with the very tip of her long, dark nails. Idly, as if for curiosity’s sake alone, she asks, “Do you think you have what it takes to be perfect?”

“Yes,” Madeline breathes. “I’d do anything.” As she says it, it occurs to her that it’s true.

Those vivid purple eyes suddenly turn from their gaze on the bottle and latch onto hers. The mouth pursed, serious. “So you will,” Viola says slowly. It feels less like a decision and more like a declaration of a fact already known. She holds out the bottle and lifts off the top. Her hand extends outwards in offer.

Madeline grasps it immediately. Judging by the lack of condensation, the glass should be warm, but it chills her skin. Heart beating fast—her cardiologist would be worried—she lifts it to her lips.

Rosewater, cream, honey. Clear, smooth, cold. It tastes like springtime. The first drop of water after a drought. A bite of fruit after months on her sugar-free diet. (Or, the snort of Helen’s dizzying laughter. Her red lipstick. Her round breasts in that Dior dress.)

Madeline tips the bottle back instinctively in search of more liquid until Viola snatches it back. “You are greedy,” she scolds—except, for some reason, it sounds like praise instead. “I have warned you once before, but now let me clarify. Take from the world before it destroys you. Swallow it whole.”

Madeline nods. Her throat still feels coated from the inside with the thickness of the draft. Now that it lingers, the aftertaste strikes her as slightly metallic.

She doesn’t feel any different than how she used to be. In the absence of a mirror, she runs her hand over her face. Still the same wrinkles. Still the same everything. “This is ridiculous,” she complains, even though a moment before she thought she’d been drinking pure magic. “I thought you said it would heal me.”

Viola smirks. “Just wait.”

And then a sudden exhaustion sets in. Madeline’s limbs feel weighted with lead, and her heartbeat slows, slows, slows. The statues from the corners of the room seem to stare her down accusingly. She almost asks what’s happening to her, but she can’t muster the energy to speak. Instead she lies back on the couch. Her eyes droop. They shut—and Madeline slips into total darkness.

Author’s notes:

Lol I could not resist a bit of Mad/Viola content. The rest of the fic will be predominantly MadHel as usual. Given that we already have two different versions of the transformation scene from the musical and movie, I tried my best to put my own spin on it in this chapter!

Tags and warnings will be updated when I post the next chapters, bc I haven’t fully decided what I’m including besides ofc blood-drinking and graphic violence.

The title is named after “Ecco La Primavera,” a 14th century Italian song that I adore. My fav rendition rn is by the Aquila Altera ensemble.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Leave a comment if you’d like to. <3

[royalsunshinehotel]

Stones (Gawain x Reader)

A/N: Introspection from a Queen's Point of View

Cobblestones. It’s the first thing you think of when you wake that morning. 

There’s a lot more to it than that, but you rise anyway. 

He’s not here. 

The pathetic, dried-up words have been pounding in your head, dull, since your husband disappeared on the horizon with his troops. Of course he’s not here. He’s King. He has business. 

This leaves you, the Queen, to sit in your castle and ponder how, in two years of marriage, the only improvement you’d made was cobbling the streets your subjects walked upon. 

He’s not here. 

Later in the day, you planned to call upon Lady Essel, and your husband’s son Galahad. Perhaps the boy had cooled his temper since his father left. It’s not his fault he’s only nine. It’s not his fault he’s the eldest child, the heir to Camelot. It’s not your fault either. 

He’s not here. 

Gawain only wed you for access to your father’s coffers, and you had made peace with the fact that you would be decoration. 

It was a political match, until it wasn’t. Until one day, almost a year and a half ago, you’d crossed paths with your King in the courtyard, and he’d gotten the nerve to ask you about the weather. 

Fine day, is it not your Majesty? 

It’s snowing. 

And it would appear, you and your husband would become a “love match”, rare and elusive. Now if only this border dispute would stop. 

You hoped that it wouldn’t escalate, you hoped that the wealthier, more powerful kingdom wouldn’t press its luck, no one needed to die over a miscommunication. You wished for a lot of things. 

He should be here. 

Now this was just silly. You had to get up. You had to go talk to another live person. Moping in your loneliness was a luxury you did not have. Your people needed to see that you were unfazed by the absence of every man of fighting age. 

It’s fine. 

It’s not, you’re unnerved, Essel is unnerved, Galahad was a day away from having hair fall out. The people were surviving winter, unnerved. 

It’s too much. Something has to give - and it does. 

The next hours pass in something of a blur. 

Soldiers on the horizon coming home. 

Freezing wet cold against your skin. 

It doesn’t even matter. 

Not just any soldier - that one’s yours! 

You speculate, as your husband lays in your arms in the bath, long eyelashes closed. You speculate about how the people saw their Queen. 

He’s here. It doesn’t feel real. 

They saw their Queen running amongst her people, knock her husband off his horse, and drag him away to their rooms. Did they know? Did they understand what his being away did to you? 

They couldn’t, could they? 

Gawain groans as you bring your hands back to his hair, working in the soap. 

He’s here. 

You help him dry himself, and pull back the covers, safely depositing what's yours into your bed. You swear he says, “thank you,” but it was so soft, it could have been anything else. 

 He looks at you, moving his long arm, and patting next to him. His dark eyes look pitiful in the fading winter light, you’d give him whatever he wanted. For now, you ljust ay next to him. 

He moves, just a little, to be closer at your side. You’d swaddled him in the same manner you would a baby, when all he really wanted was your skin against his. 

Tomorrow. 

You muse, as Gawain begins to snore. You’d wake him tomorrow and show him how you missed him. 

He’d made you a bangle, when you first started ‘courting’, out of a fallen limb from a favorite tree he shared with you. 

You toy with the bracelet as the city goes quiet. It was everything to you. When you and your husband were dead and buried, would people even know what this silly bangle meant to you? Maybe it would just be firewood, something to get them through long and grueling winters. Maybe they’d toss your bracelet on to feed the flames. 

Would they wonder why it burns so warm?

[beneathsilverstars]

@horatiocomehome replied

ooo how about jewelry taste. dangly earrings vs studs, do they wear bracelets, rings, flashy vs elegant, etc

mirabelle has so many cute trinkets! we know she loves accessories that go ding ding, and she'll layer a ton of necklaces so they knock against each other. sometimes they all match nicely, sometimes it's eclectic chic! she adores metal charms and carved beads, especially charmingly unusual shapes like an itty bitty fork, ducky, book, etc. as well as classics like lockets and bells! she tends to fidget with rings and lose track of them, so she avoids those. post-canon she decides to stop wearing earrings, so she turns her novelty earrings into bracelet/necklace charms! and gives her more basic studs to isabeau so he'll actually own some basics.

isabeau is all about shapes and contrast, so he likes chunky beads in materials like turquoise or jasper that have different shades marbled together, metal geometric shapes, wire-wrapped stone, and unique arrangements of elements. he likes funny noises too, but will go for one complicated necklace instead of multiple single strands. he definitely tends towards statement necklaces and earrings — he used to run into trouble because he only had statement pieces, so they would clash terribly, but then he started buying more matching sets. he loves bonding earrings as a romantic, but is a little torn because there's no way any two earrings could match all of his fits...

odile is the kind of person to pick a nice look and stick to it, so there's not much variety in her accessories. she has her glasses gems, a pair of pearl studs, a pair of silver studs, and a couple sentimental rings that she keeps somewhere safe instead of wearing. we know bonding earrings are popular in ka bue but not as universal as in vaugarde; i think it would be cute if ka bue had a whole language of earrings and rings, with different gem types/cuts/colors denoting different sorts of relationships and emotions. so she's got, like, a [daughter, you are the most important thing in my life] ring from her dad, and a [lover, we change each other] ring from an ex.

siffrin is all about sentimental pieces!! it doesn't really occur to him to buy himself jewelry, but isa or mira will see him looking at something in the market and buy it for him and suddenly the aesthetic appeal that sif had mildly enjoyed doesn't matter at all compared to They Gave This To Me. siffrin tends to be drawn towards solid shades or starry dots, and smooth, swirling shapes. isa also gets them stimmy pieces like a bumpy bangle or spinny ring, and mira gets them cute things that remind her of them like star pins or kitty charms. he's just so fun to give trinkets to, even bonnie and odile have gotten him some, so he's working up quite a collection! he carefully rotates through everything, and keeps some pieces in his pockets when he can't fit everything he wants onto his body or doesn't want to wear any jewelry that day.

bonnie's bracelet is smooth wood, and they're going to be very upset the day it no longer fits over their hand. they prefer non-rock materials like wood, shells, bones, and sea glass, because that's just way more fun! they made shell necklaces with nille all the time, so many that it doesn't matter how often they lose them.

loop goes full magpie! since they don't have to buy necessities like food, they're less careful about spending money than siffrin, plus they're more desperate to capture any scrap of joy. they also have a bit of "everyone else is an npc" brain and "i am both above and beneath normal rules", so they're more comfortable with stealing than siffrin is. they like drapey chains, black and white beads, and unusual pieces. they like the pressure stim of very heavy necklaces and the clack of many bracelets. once when one of their favorites broke they procured the tools to fix it, and started modifying the stuff they own and stringing trinkets onto chains!

[getaapologist]

Dearest, Shiniest Emperor,

I really need to up my accessorizing game, but it's so confusing. How many rings is too many rings? Do I go cuffs or bangles? Do jade and ruby jewels clash? Please, help me!

My dear, dear citizen, you have come to the right place. Do not stress yourself over rules or expectations.

Do you like the piece? If the answer is yes, you wear it. 

I would not go with more than two necklaces at a time as that can get a bit precarious. I like to match my metal with the color of my clothes that day. Am I wearing gold, or silver? That influences the jewelry choices I make. Gold gets cuffs. Silver gets bangles. There’s a whole process, citizen. It can get complicated, I won’t lie to you.

Rings? On every finger. The color or size of the stones does not matter as you are wearing them to display your wealth, your power. 

My favorite of my rings is a big flat red stone that I match with Caracalla, we both have one. Do look out for it the next time you see me about.

You know what? You should come visit, bring your jewels. I will show you how they are meant to be worn. There are none that can say they were styled by me, your Emperor. Let you be the first.

Publius Septimius Geta