#cause the nerd is Jacob Hopkins

[godofdystopia]

Sashannarcy Week Day 3: Jealousy

Another day, another entry in @phrogfrommars Sashannarcy week! This time it’s jealousy.

While hosting a booth at Comic Con, a particularly smitten fan decides to ask out Marcy in front of everyone. Sasha and Anne take exception to this.

words: 2.4k. slightly longer now

“Thank you and enjoy the rest of the Con!” Marcy said to the leaving family.

The teenage girls, about the same age that she was when she was thrown into amphibia, thanked her for the autographs and ran off to check out a Demon Slayer merch booth, with the father chuckling as he walked off after them.

Marcy leaned back into her chair and just sighed with contentment. She’d managed her childhood dream: she had her own booth at Comic Con! She liked to believe that it was for her growing talents as an artist even though she knew it was probably for the ‘Helped save the entire world at 13’ thing.

She knew she had fans though, cause after the news died down about one of the LA Saviors writing her own webcomic, and the deluge of people who read it to get close to her had faded, what was left was apparently a pretty sizeable fanbase of people who just… liked her work because it was good.

She fought down the urge to start handflapping in excitement again, last time she’d knocked over her laptop and the stack of informational fliers about how to start your own webcomic she’d brought with her.

She remembered the first few people who had shown up to the booth in homemade merch of her webcomic: One elderly man leaning on a cane he’d carved to resemble the staff of Malekith the Arch-Magister, The incredibly muscular woman who had on a pretty good replica of Warlord Tormund’s face paint and warhammer, a couple who were cosplaying as Lady Olivia and her faithful knight Ser Yunnan (She couldn’t resist!) and two twins dressed up like Gelamir the Golden King and Horace the False Hero.

She’d cried, she’d actually cried at that. Anne and Sasha had to hold her for a few minutes just because she wouldn’t stop crying from happiness. It was almost as bad as when Anne and Sasha proposed.

Almost.

She leaned, looked at the ceiling above, and just let the noise wash over her.

Here she was, married to the loves of her life, with a job that let her physically manifest her endless imagination into the world, and people actually enjoyed what she wrote.

She wished she could take thirteen year old her by the shoulders and shake her, telling her that things will get better and she doesn’t have to go into medical science like her parents, her teachers, and everyone else want her to.

… oh, and to hurry up and confess to Anne and Sasha already, cause if she didn't she'd end up getting stabbed in the back by an evil salamander who gaslights her into believing he’s her new dad.

Speaking of Anne and Sasha… ‘Where are those two?’

They’d wandered off to go get some refreshments but surely they should have had them by now? How long were the lines for the refreshments?

“Oh my god, you’re Marcy Wu!”

The excited shout drew Marcy out of her thinking and she sat back up in her chair, putting a smile back on for yet another fan.

He was pretty nondescript: Brown tousled hair, five o’clock shadow, glasses, and a brown tweed jacket over a blue sweater. He looked friendly enough, and had something behind his back that he was clearly fumbling with.

“Yep, little old Marcy: That’s me!” She said cheerily, reaching over to grab a pen. “Do you want an Autograph?”

“No, I… Well, actually yes I would.” He looked a little embarrassed as she offered a gentle smile, writing out her name like she had so many times now. “But I would also like to ask you something?”

Marcy just smiled and waited for him to continue.

“I would like you…” He got down on one knee and thrust out a bouquet of roses. “... to go out with me!” He shouted the last bit loudly, causing a few heads to turn towards them.

Marcy just blinked owlishly, staring at the man like he had grown a bunch of new heads and started talking in tongues.

“Bwuh?”

“I’ve been a fan of yours since you saved the world! I followed all your socials-”

‘Okay, that’s a bit weird, but nice I think…?’ Marcy thought to herself as her smile turned increasingly awkward.

“I’ve been sending you fan mail for a whole year!”

‘Wait, that was him?’ Marcy thought, now creeped out.

“I’ve even wrote this twenty seven page essay on why you should go out with me and-”

“OKAY!” Marcy yelled, wanting this conversation to be over but not wanting to be rude. “Uh, thank you but I'm good. Anyway, uh here’s an autograph. Next plea-”

“To help convince you, I have prepared-” He reached into his pocket and pulled out an I-phone. “-A serenade!” He fiddled with the phone for a bit, and then cheesy upbeat music began to play.

He then, to Marcy’s absolute horror, began to sing.

‘Oh my frog.’ Marcy thought to herself. ‘This is worse than getting stabbed. I wish Andrias was around to stab me again.’

**********

Anne and Sasha walked through the con, hand in hand, and fast food bags in their free hands.

Marcy hadn’t been the one to convince them to dress up like the characters she most certainly didn’t base the three main female heroines in her webcomic off of, not at all! Yeah, sure: they were all in love with one another and all had suspiciously similar lives to the ones they led in Amphibia but it’s all a coincidence!

Anne and Sasha didn’t buy it, but nor did they care. They chose to dress up because they loved Marcy.sd

Anne was clad in a bright blue tunic over a simple white long-sleeve button up, a pair of black wool pants that led down to shining golden boots that went up to her knees, but matched with a pair of similarly metallic gloves made her look like a folkish knight. A simple belt held a sword that looked quite similar to the one that Anne used in Amphibia.

Apparently, Brenda was a normal teenage girl from San Francisco who got whisked away to the shattered realm of Arvanis, where she had to use the power of found family and the heart to save not only Arvanis, but all the worlds of the multiverse. She would go on an epic, continent-spanning adventure where she found out she was chosen by destiny itself to save the world as well as her newfound family alongside her girlfriend Haley.

Totally not Anne.

Sasha, meanwhile, was clad in blackened plate and faux wolf fur. She had one pauldron that had a spike big enough to make a Chaos Space Marine feel inadequate, the other had a dragon skull that Marcy called, ‘The Skull of Tyrannus the Dread Hunger.’ Her breastplate was carved to resemble a deer’s skull like she was a Dragon Age character, with a matching pair of hip armor and her hair had a crown of knives and was curled up like Carrie Fisher.

Princess Akana was the daughter of Warlord Tormund and was also his second-in-command, While he ruled over the black tower in the Mountains of Mourne, she led his war parties to oppress the people of the kingdom of Telchis. She knew no other life until she met Brenda and Haley. There, her long hard heart began to thaw and she began to wonder if this was the life she wanted to lead. Soon, she would be forced to join forces with Brenda and Haley, alongside their friends and companions, to face the Nameless God and his army of demons. And there they would learn that love does truly bloom on the battlefield as Brenda, Haley, and Akana fell madly in love with one another.

Sasha had laughed and gave Marcy a kiss for that one, even if the girl insisted it totally wasn’t them.

Either way, the two girls had gone out of their way to dress up for their wife to surprise her, which led to lots of happy squealing. Marcy’s smile made the long nights of trying to get Sasha’s armor just right all worth it.

“Just saying, we could have gone to the Thai Go truck. Ned would be willing to hook us up.” Sasha said as she drank her boba tea.

“Did you see the line in front of that truck? I like Ned but I'm not waiting for an hour just to get some of my parents cooking.” Anne said as she walked hand in hand with her wife. “We’ll just swing by their place afterwards.”

“I want Thai food though!” Sasha complained.

“... I can make Thai food, Sash. I can do it easily.”

Sasha was about to respond when she caught sight of the weirdest thing: Some dude was taking a knee in front of Marcy’s stand and seemed to be playing music while… holding… flowers.

Oh.

Oh, Hell No.

Anne blinked at the angry expression on Sasha’s face and, turning towards what she was looking at, started snickering. “What the hell is he doing?”

“He’s flirting. With our wife!” Sasha snarled angrily.

“C’mon Sasha, it’s probably something el-”

“Oh Marcy, you’re so fine! I wanna make you miiiine! Cause you’re so pretty!”

An explosion of blue light erupted in Anne’s eyes as she suddenly went very still.

Sasha, meanwhile, didn’t even notice when her fist clenched her Boba so hard that the drink exploded.

**********

Marcy sat in her own personal hell as the excited fan continued to sing, badly, about how much he liked her and wanted her to go on a date with him.

Marcy coughed into her fist, and made sure to use the hand that had both her wedding rings on it.  He failed to notice and continued to sing badly.

“Ohhh Marcyyyyy-”

“Hey!”

Anne stomped up to the fan, her metal boots clanking on the ground as she did so. She leaned over the man, glaring at him. “That’s our Mar-Mar. We already called dibs!”

The watching crowd all began to mutter and look between her and Marcy, who had proceeded to bury her face into her hands at Anne’s comment. The couple dressed up as Queen Olivia and Sir Yunnan began to chuckle.

“Wha- You can’t call dibs on a person!” The fan, who’s nametag read ‘Jacob’ said shocked.

“Well that’s too damn bad cause me and Sasha already did!” Anne yelled, holding up her gauntleted hand to show off her wedding rings. “We got dibs. Go find your own Marcy.”

“Wait, I thought she was married to that woman?” Jacob pointed behind Anne back at the Table. Anne turned back just in time to see Sasha make her move.

“Ohh Marbles. Have I told you how beautiful you are today?” Sasha said with a smirk, sitting on the booth table and crooking Marcy’s head up towards hers with a metal clad finger. Marcy had descended into a blushing mess at this and was now spluttering incoherently.

“Every time I see you, I remember how much I love you.” Sasha, looking Jacob in the eye out of the corner of hers, leaned in and began to kiss her wife.

Marcy’s face now perfectly resembled a tomato with how red it was, and if one were to listen to her thoughts they would find that her whole mind had begun to bluescreen from the situation.

“Wha- Hey! I want to kiss her too!” Anne, blushing up a storm, managed to stomp her way over to her wives and pulled Marcy away and cupped her face with both hands. Marcy had just enough time to stammer before Anne leaned in and began to kiss her as well.

Sasha smirked before turning her head to look down at Jacob, who looked crestfallen. Her face looked so imperious that everyone watching thought she was Princess Akana brought to life. Which made sense, since for all her protestations to the latter Marcy had in fact based them on her and her wives.

“Marcy is ours. Our wife, not yours.” Sasha channeled all her training from Toad Tower and all her teenage socialite training to perfect a look of such imperious disdain that all watching grew just a little afraid of her. “Go find your own Marcy.”

Jacob, not wanting to mess with the incredibly scary blonde in very realistic looking armor, grabbed his autograph and scurried off.

Sasha waited till he was out of sight before deflating with a sigh, leaning back to look at her wives. “You okay there Mar-mar?”

Anne had finally let up on kissing her wife and stepped back just a little awkwardly, remembering how public this all was and growing just a little mortified. ‘Can’t believe I grew that jealous…’ She thought to herself embarrassed.

Marcy meanwhile, was still trying to recover from the back to back make out’s with her wives. Her face had gone beyond tomato red and was rapidly approaching fire truck red. Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out at all, or at least no sound audible to human ears. She looked between the two of them like a fish out of water, just staring.

“Hah! That was amazing!” All three girls turned to see the couple from before, the ones cosplaying as Olivia and Yunan, approaching with smirks on their face. “Took me and Cait by surprise when that guy just dropped to his knees and proposed like that! Good job staking your claim like that though, props!” The amazonian woman, dressed to the nines in a regal dress and tiara, gave them a thumbs up while her wife, and Sasha could see the ring on her finger so she knew they were married, giggled at them in her head to toe suit of green plate armor.

They walked off whispering to one another, and Sasha turned to look back at her wives.

“Well, I think that went well.”

“We- what the heck was that!?” Marcy yelled, her mind still trying to recover.

Anne rubbed her foot against the floor and looked away. “We just… we saw that guy and, well… felt a little jealous?”

“A little jealous? You both made out with me in open public after claiming me for yourselves!”

Sasha frowned a bit “How mad are you right now?”

Marcy breathed in, then breathed out, and looked them both in the eye. “I will be soo mad if you both don’t continue right now!”

Marcy tried not to laugh as she saw her wives blush up storms at that.

‘Two can play that game girls!’ She thought to herself.

[colemacgrathtkz]

Drift away

Previous. Next

[The human realm, unknown amount of time after The night house]

Luz threw on her green jacket and beanie. She packed up the empress cloak in her bag. Mostly because the empress refused to leave it behind. Her backpack contained potions and other magical essentials. This trip was supposed to be short. Just take a peek at how their mother is doing and return back to the Isles.

But having some creep be the first person she found raised a few questions. She'd seen him install cameras around the property. Originally, she'd thought he was just some stalker she could scare off. That is until she followed him to the Gravesfield historical society. She caught a glimpse of herself on the live feeds. Except she didn't recall wearing those clothes.

After "dispatching" one Jacob Hopkins, she used his very cameras to track this doppelganger. Her short trip turned into a lengthy holiday from her business in Bonesbourgh.

Neither her nor the empress wanted to leave their mother alone in this situation. But the empress was too eager to just wipe out this imposter. Luz couldn't make a move until they were both in agreement, which end up taking a while.

Staying at the museum, the two used Mr. Hopkins own credit cards to fund their own mission. The museum's "under new management" sign was still up. No one really knew him that well. On the few times visitors popped up, Luz just claimed to be part time help and her boss had stepped out or was busy elsewhere.

Finally, after who knows how long, the empress appeared to have a cooler head.

Ironically, Luz grew more agitated as time went on. They believed they had a fair enough grasp on the Noceda family routine. Until the doppelganger appeared on be uneasy about something. She was spotted sneaking out at night and covering up more around Camila.

Her identity as a basilisk was caught on video. Her majesty had read up on basilisk while staying at the New Coven HQ.

Now, homecoming was a go.

[Human realm, the forest]

Fearing the basilisk would smell them, they used potions and other small magical items as bait. Sure enough, being a "nerd" paid off. The serpent like creature was caught on a line, close to where Luz originally ran off to.

Luz: "So, you definitely know about how to find magic. That's good. Oh, before I forget. I'm Luz, Camila's real daughter. And..."

She zipped right up and clamped Vee's mouth shut. The young girl's hand had a mighty grip. Weak nerd arms aren't what this human is packing.

Luz: "I'm not alone here. Between the two of us, my friends would say, I'm the reasonable one. So, don't say the wrong thing, please. I really just came back to check on my mom."

Vee just stared up in fear. This was a human. But up close, she could detect a strong sense of magic coming from her. But how come she didn't get a whiff of it until just now.

Luz: "I'm going to let you talk now, ok? And when I do, you're going to answer my questions. You get what I'm putting down?"

The basilisk nodded.

Luz removed her hand and stepped back.

Luz: "Who are you? Why are you pretending to be me?"

Vee: "I'm num... Vee. My name's Vee. And I'm just looking for a place to belong."

Time went on and Luz was brought up to speed on Vee's situation. Apparently, after

Belos' death, the basilisk program was buried as well. No one showed up, most likely thinking they'd perish on their own. But Vee alongside others managed to escape. The commotion caused by Luz's banishment attracted attention of other basilisks. After catching the aftermath of that moment, the basilisks kept searching for anything of the banished empress witch. Vee just so happened to find the portal Luz used when the empress returned. The one inside the grom tree. Not wanting to waste any time, she dove for it as it was closing. Through shared information, Vee heard rumor the empress being human. But rumor also had it, humans cannot do magic. A couple of pictures( aka old wanted posters) painted a decent enough picture for Vee to copy. She would run into Camila, by chance. The story Vee spun was that she had memory loss after being captive for so long. Camila has been kind and didn't want to press too hard for details. She just seemed happy to have her daughter back. After that, it was just a matter of adjusting to human life in Connecticut. She figured if Luz Noceda wasn't here by now, maybe she didn't want this life?

The more Vee briefed Luz on what had happened so far, this sense of emptiness consumed her. All this time, she'd been trying to rush things.

Luz: "I've hurt my friends, my family, my... Amity. I thought... if I could finish ASAP, then I could show them. This would be worth it, all of it."

Bitter anger rose as she failed to get a grip on these emotions.

Luz: "I'm stuck with her! But at least, at the end, it'll all be worth it! Right?! I'm not... hurting people isn't worth it unless..."

When did she put "unless" in that sentence?

Luz: "Mom?"

Luz started walking, but a vision of her partner blocked her path.

Empress: "What about her?"

Luz didn't even bother with that question, walking through the hallucination.

Luz: "I just... need to go home."

[Noceda household]

Just before heading inside the Noceda household, Luz tucked her long bangs under her beanie. She remembered Vee kept "Luz" hair short.

Her mother was in the kitchen. She danced to "I need to know" like no one was watching.

Luz(voice breaking): "Hey, mom. I'm back."

She tried to keep it together as she uttered those words.

Camila: "Mija, when did you go? I thought you were in your room?"

She came close to breaking down, right then and there. But she sat down and caught herself. Her mother scooted her chair next to the troubled teen.

Camila: "¿Qué pasa? I won't know unless you tell me?"

Suddenly, resentment towards her mother began to rise up. Was it the empress? Luz tried to shut it down, but it was too late. The empress swiped control right out from under her. She lifted her head, tears still resting on her eyes.

Empress(growling): "You never did get your own daughter, huh?"

The empress didn't want to reveal the slight red glow in her eyes. She was Luz's fears, doubts, insecurities, and anger given voice. She was too upset and too tired of Luz holding her back so many times.

Camila was caught off guard by her daughter's growl. Meanwhile, Luz was back to how things used to be. The empress in the driver's seat, while she's screaming for others to get away.

Empress(agitated): "You never did understand the daughter you got, right? You never knew how many times I really tried to be me? That one day everyone, even you, would accept me. For every bit that I am, weird and all."

A slight flicker of red hue flashed on her fists, under the table.

Empress(practically screaming): "That camp... that's what you wanted, right? You wanted to make me someone else's problem, right? I'm too much for anyone to handle. Everyone just wants to be rid of me. Everyone'll just keep their distance until I'm gone. The world'll be a happier place without me, right?!"

Luz begged the empress not to hurt their mother. She could feel experience everything the other was feeling in that moment.

Empress(gritting their teeth): "And now, after all this time, I feel like hurting is all I'm going to know."

Camila stayed quiet shortly after that. She then gently got up and reached for something on the counter.

Camila(speaking softly): "I really thought, after you came back, the worst was over. But that was just me kidding myself. I guess we both had our fantasies. I had nightmares of you in danger. I worried about finding you cut and bruised out in the night. Then, I'd know I was awake because of my tears. I woke up from one nightmare and started the same one, over again. I used have one about you not being able to make friends, back before you disappeared. I missed the days when that was my worst fear."

She placed a small aluminum swan in front of her daughter.

Camila: "I know you threw out the old ones. But I was kind of hoping you'd be a little more impressed. I wanted to amaze you with how good I got at making these. Something we could share together. But whatever happened, it changed you alot from who you used to be. And I still love you regardless. You've made some new friends. But I can still see you constantly looking over your shoulder. I didn't want to pry. But if we're opening up, why now? What happened, mija?"

The empress did something unexpected. She grabbed Luz and tossed her behind the wheel. It took her a moment to process that she was back in control.

Luz: "I... hurt a friend. Someone special to me. I was doing some stupid stuff and people got hurt."

Camila: "Starting up our old ways?"

Luz: "Just trying to find my way back."

Camila: "I've seen your friends. I'm sure you both can figure something out. But it can't be just one of you doing it on your own. Remember what I told you?"

Luz: "Nada funcionara a menos que lo haga funcionara."

Camila: "Hurting is a lot of life. But it isn't the only thing. You're a strong girl. I've seen you get back up, time after time. You just never quit. Honestly, I doubt you even know when to, if ever. But, no, never think the world's better off without you. At least, my world isn't. My world isn't all light. But it isn't all dark, either. There are days I hope I make you proud. Because everyday you were with me, I couldn't think of a better name for you. Luz, you're the brightest light I've ever seen in this world. I'm sorry I didn't see that huge shadow following you. It's true what they say. The brighter the light, the darker the darkness. I thought I lucked out with you. Because you shine a light so bright, people in space could see it. Even now, things are different from how they used to be. Hurting isn't all you're going to know. Just like how people aren't always going to run away from you."

The Nocedas embraced in what felt like a long time coming.

Camila: "You already admitted to doing something wrong. But now you remember that you're a human being. Both of you are going to make mistakes. And, yeah, I made a lot of them, too. But right now, I just want to hug you until you're ready. So, whatever you want to say, go for it."

She didn't say anything. She just held on and let the tears flow as they might.

Later, while Camila was asleep, Luz snuck in with a pair of memory tweezers.

Luz(whispering): " I really hope these things work in the human realm."

Empress: "Probably should have tested them on that curator guy."

They pulled the memory of last night and held it in their hand.

Luz: "Te amo, mama. I can't repay you for everything you've done for me. Not just yet. But I can at least let you live with the daughter you always wanted. Just a bit longer..."

Conflicted about burning it, they decided to let chance decide what to do with it. One coin flip later, they walked back towards Vee.

[Human realm, the forest]

Still tighted up and frightened, the basilisk saw the young girl approach. Luz grabbed her backpack and pulled out a crystal ball.

Luz: "Mom likes you so much, she doesn't even realize I've been gone. I'm so different; she could tell in an instant I wasn't you."

Vee was still shocked that she couldn't get a whiff of Luz's magic. She could smell the items in her bag, but nothing from the girl 6 feet from her.

Luz: " You get to be mom's kid for a while longer. But you better not get the wrong idea. I'll be back after I make things right. If anything happens to her, my partner is going to make you pay."

The human girl glanced to the side.

Luz: "She has something to say to you. If you mess up, she wants you to look into the crystal ball."

A crimson aura surrounded the latina. Vee couldn't miss the strongest sensation of magic, flooding her nose. Out of fear, she grabbed the ball. It just happened to be the only thing within reach.

Empress: "I have just four words for you."

Vee shrieked at the vision inside. The orb was set to show its beholder a petrifying possibility.

Empress: "Give me some ideas."