#ch; Laurel

[moondust-bard]

Hi starsong

Can you give me a metaphor to describe each of your blorbos?

A fun fact about me is I had to ask for clarification in regards to the term ‘blorbo’. If I’m understanding correctly, a blorbo is any character— be them from an established fandom or your own work— one daydreams about, fixates on, or otherwise turns their mind to for the purposes of escapism and entertainment.

While contemplating this new-to-me word, I encountered a post lamenting the dominance of male-aligned blorbos in fandom spaces. Apparently, it’s more common to see people openly obsess over such characters. I figured I’d do my part to further the female-aligned blorbo agenda by sharing with you the twelve “princesses” from my urban fantasy fairytale retelling.

Without further ado, here are the metaphors I thought up to describe the twelve “princesses” of the story.

Elowyn is that first crisp, dark breath of autumn breaking through the bright summer haze

Juniper is a crowded bar colored by cigarette smoke, strong liquor, and the glow of crooked neon signs

Holly is the warmth of fresh baked bread lovingly shaped by steady hands

Linden is the ruthless precision of a disciplined artist after decades spent honing their craft

Laurel is a steaming mug of curative tea sipped on a stormy night spent curled up in bed

Rowan is a bold, burning flame of determination in the quiet gloom of despair

Acacia is a sturdy, stolid mountain among flimsy, frantic reeds

Cassia is glossier than the pages of a fashion magazine— the wide, white-toothed grin and flutter of thick, black eyelashes she offers the crush of paparazzi just as artificial

Myrtle is every bit the coiled serpent— poised, beautiful, and unmistakably deadly

Olivia is owlish in her large, round reading glasses, her thin frame perched upon the window seat, an open book clutched in her hands

Willow is that first vivid swirl of paint on a stark, blank canvas

Hazel is a cheery shaft of golden sunshine shattering the dull morning’s fog

At first, I had the idea to compare each of the sisters to their sacred animal. In Faerie, each being has one, the identity of which depends on birth details and some religion-based world-building derails. After writing a few of the above metaphors, however, I changed my mind. The sisters’ sacred animals will remain a mystery for now. One or two did slip through, though…

Belatedly, I realize you tricked me into writing, Sleepy. Was that your scheme all along? Because it so worked.

[amnyatas]

doodled sappho bc i wanted to make sure i got my vision across vs what i have to work with ingame

[cursed-yoyo]

@atimeodyssey

Laurel Cinnamon

a princess diary

[vicontheinternet]

I would like to know how every fanfic writer who wrote a story about the cw’s Oliver queen having a kid and portraying laurel as the devil incarnate because they ship felt when it was revealed in the show that he had actually had an illegitimate child on laurel and she wasn’t the one that got mad over it it was the person they propped up and made the ever so will pseudo mother figure had a problem with it.

[jubatuslucifer]

Tagged: Two Truths and a Lie

Tagged by: @athenswrites (Thank you for tagging me!)

Tagging: Anyone who sees this because I need more writing friends!

Rules: make a poll listing three facts about an OC of your choice. One of the facts is a lie. Let your followers vote for the one they think is the lie.

[vellichor-virgo]

last line tag xxxiii

still around! steadily squirrelling away tags for when i’m a little less busy. this one is from @oh-no-another-idea, thanks for the tag! :)

here’s the ending from a recent little song challenge piece i wrote a few days ago featuring my favourite girl laurel 

(extended for a shred of context // tw: brief unreality & mention of strangling):

“Laur?”

All at once, everything disappears—the pressure crushing her throat, the second reflection in the mirror. Laurel gasps in a breath, her hand flying to her neck. For a moment she expects to see bruises in the glass, but the skin of her throat is pale, untouched. It doesn’t even hurt. 

The only thing out of place is the jagged black line of liquid eyeliner running down the side of her face, like a crack in a doll’s porcelain cheek. 

“Laur?” Piper says again from the doorway, frowning now. “You okay?”

Turning back to the mirror, Laurel looks herself in the eye and takes in one slow, deep breath. Straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin. Reaches for a tissue—her hand trembling only slightly—and wipes the black mark off her cheek in one clean swipe.

“Perfect,” she says to Piper. “Just let me do my other wing, and I’ll be ready to go.”

i’ll tag @akindofmagictoo @cream-and-tea @talesofsorrowandofruin @rose-bookblood @zmwrites and whoever else wants to share some recent writing :)

[killinbills]

What aesthetics would all (and I mean all if you could 🙏) of your characters be? Like clean girl, rockstar gf, etc? 🩵🩵

oh god let me think

laurel dark academia

briar pink pilates princess but like… without the pilates lol

livvy dark academia too tbh

emilia camila dunne core (this is an aesthetic i personally think we all should enforce). that or whimsigoth

holly reputation era (again. not really an aesthetic but go w it lol)

mia rockstar’s girlfriend ofc ofc — or whimsigoth (i love whimsigoth)

izzy 00s but in a devon lee carlson vlog/bratz kind of way

ruby final girl in a jen’s body femme fatale way

[dxsole]

real quick... every day is a fucking headache with you, innit? laurel 4 carmilla!!

💭 DO YOU THINK ABOUT ME SO HARD IT HURTS? | Not Accepting.

The sympathy and gullibility of her ancestor didn't seem to seep into Laurel's genes, which is a crying shame. "You shouldn't say such things. I have a delicate disposition and you'll upset me."

And, even worse, "Someone might think you hate me."

[darius-1]

"I'm the Justice you can't run from."

black canary per episode ★ 3.10 left behind 

[rastronomicals]

12:54 AM EST December 25, 2023:

John Mayall & Bluesbreakers -   "Somebody's Acting Like A Child" From the album Blues From Laurel Canyon (November 1968)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

File under: Featuring Mick Taylor

[moondust-bard]

It’s Laurel’s birthday!

[brainrottingg]

Laurel, waking up feeling energised and rejuvenated after a good night's sleep: Good morning, Vas! Wow! We woke up at the same time!

Avas, chronic insomniac, who’s been awake all night: *nods in sleep deprivation*

[jubatuslucifer]

I don't wanna get too spoilery, so I'll keep it basic.

LAUREL

Laurel's mom is dead, died saving her and her brother. Her father doted upon her until her mother died then started distancing himself afterward since she looks a lot like someone that hurt a friend. Their relationship basically ended after she was turned into a werewolf. Her and her stepmother hate each other.

BETH

Beth's mother has a lot of Expectations so their relationship is very strained and her relationship with her father is even worse that the one with her mother since he spent her whole childhood looking for a cure for her and doing some very shady shit to do it.

STILES

Stiles' mom died when she was young, their relationship was great until the disease got to her and she started fearing her daughter, believing she was a monster and trying to kill her. Her relationship with her dad is also great! There was a rough patch for a while after her mom died, but they made it through stronger than ever.

how did your oc and their parents get along?

[jubatuslucifer]

laurel evans — bad moon

darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good.

[yallthemwitches]

A Quiet Moment

Sirius thought he was going to get a moment to relax alone in the dorms for once--but all the best laid plans...

For Jily Kinktober Day 9: Accidental Voyeurism.

I thought about resting on my laurels and just posting a excerpt of Ch. 16 of Catch the Wind ( or any of my Snape POV jily fics basically...), but then I've also been toying with a James/Lily/Sirius story for a while---so consider this a soft launch (but don't get too excited---this is very much still just a jily smut fic) ;)

AO3 here

Sirius didn’t get quiet moments often. He did it to himself really, filling his days with endless pranks, music, banter—anything possible to drown out the otherwise existential dread that haunted him in a nearly endless cycle. Noise, chaos, and sarcasm were what he was good at—being silent was not. 

He sat on his bed, completely knackered. The full moon the night before had been a hell of a time, complete with a loose Moony wreaking havoc throughout the forbidden forest. He owed it to himself to shirk off classes, opting for the first time in his life to relax a bit. He wondered if he was doing a good job as he tried to focus on his book, barely keeping his eyes open.

Pounding feet echoed from the stairwell, rousing him from near sleep before the door crashed open. A curtain covered his view, but through the break in the fabric he could make out the untidy hair of James, arms wrapped and clawing around a red headed girl with green eyes.

What the fuck. What the FUCK.

He had known that Evans was starting to warm up to him, fuck, James reminded him every waking second how she now laughed at his jokes and lingered in the halls to talk to him. Sirius had even acknowledged how she had gradually migrated herself nearby during meals, capable of leaning in for a cheeky comment or two about whatever the lads were blathering on about. But this ...Sirius fancied himself a very observant person, but this was coming completely out of left field. 

The couple barreled into the room, James guiding their feet while continuing to kiss, mouth open. Lily let herself be led, curling her hands into his hair and making soft moans when James reached over to cup her arse. 

“This one’s mine.” James nodded towards his disheveled bed and Lily broke her mouth free, taking a moment to regard the space theoretically known as his side of the room. 

“A bed? You spoil me, Potter.” She leaned into his mouth which had begun to trail down her neck. 

“Maybe if we told people about us we could come here more often,” There was a hint of sadness to his teasing. Sirius could see Lily’s brow furrow for a second, but she softened as James' hands wrapped around her middle, pulling her body to sit on the edge of the mattress. 

“ Prat,” She said it through a smile and James caught her lips. “In any event, we don’t have much time do we?”

James sank to his knees. She opened her legs enough to let him slot between them as he kissed her from the inner kneecap upwards, grazing his teeth and leaving pink lines against creamy skin. 

“Merlin Lily, please let me taste you. It’s been—”

“It’s been one day! Not even!” Lily chastised, looking more pleased than annoyed. 

“Don’t worry,” Sirius saw James’ hand disappear under her skirt and she breathed out a high pitched oh, “I’ll fuck you however you want, just let me lick you first.”

She didn’t need to answer, under his hand she was turning into a complete putty, melting like wax in a flame. Sirius hadn’t realized that he had moved into a craning position, trying to peek out of the tiny space where the fabric of the poster bed opened. 

Fuck—what the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I watching this? Am I mental?

James pushed Lily up onto the bed, crawling after her all while not separating his mouth from the inside of her upper thigh. Lily watched, mouth agape and eyes blown, legs angled open giving Sirius a clear shot now of soaked knickers under her skirt. 

She grabbed at his cheek, motioning for him to stop for a moment, then flipped herself onto all fours.

“Like this—we both always come quicker this way.”

James let out a deep fuck and rose up onto his knees behind her. He flipped up her skirt, grabbing a handful of her ass and squeezing. 

“Fucking Merlin, how are you so beautiful.”

Both hands were on her ass now and she pushed into the bulge of his crotch, eliciting a guttural moan. A hand raised off her ass and slammed down. Sirius could tell it wasn’t a painful slap, but it was a slap all the same. James froze up, looking down at the red now blooming on her cheek.

“Oh fuck, Lily I’m so sorry. It just happened, I—”

“Do it again.”

Sirius couldn’t see his eyes at this angle, but he knew his mate enough to know the exact dopey expression bursting onto his face. 

“Yeah?”

“Please, again.”

James lifted his hand again and smacked it down in the same place he had before. Lily let out a soft squeal at the impact, her ass bouncing lightly. 

“ Merlin Fuck, oh shit, that’s so hot,” James babbled, completely mesmerized by how each spank made her ass move under his hand. 

Sirius felt completely out of body, stuck in some sort of purgatory of morals which he was already not the best at maneuvering. Am I being punished?  

He tried to level with himself, weighing the options. Ok-fuck, what would the lads do in this situation? Peter would probably watch also–that little freak, but Remus? Would he scream? Close his eyes and cry? Ah fuck how am I not prepared for this. 

During his inner turmoil, James had crouched down so his mouth was level to Lily’s center. He held her knickers out of the way against her ass with a finger while his tongue started to lap at her. Facing at an angle, Sirius couldn’t tell if he was happy that he was unable to get a full view of James’ work, but if Lily’s response was any indication, he was doing a brilliant job. 

Her hands curled into the bed sheets. With every bob of his head, she let out a mewling cry, lengthening his name until it sounded more like a note than a word. She reached a hand behind her, grabbing into his hair to push his face further between her legs. The action made her back arch dramatically and she used her other hand to fondle a breast still hidden underneath her uniform. 

If it wasn’t already apparent before, there was no ambiguity about it now. This was not by any means their first foray into shagging each other. James lifted his head, locking eyes with her with a glistening mouth. 

“Come for me—come on my mouth. I can feel you’re close. Shit, I need to fuck you soon, Lily. You look too fucking fit, I’m barely holding on.”

He burrowed his head back into her and she let out a cry. 

“Just like that—you’re incredible James. Yes, baby.”

And she was coming. Through it all, Sirius reflected that he really never thought much about watching someone as they climaxed until now. Of course, he had seen someone do it before, but he hadn’t thought to really pay attention to the complete physical shift that occurred. He watched in fascination as Lily’s face scrunched up, all muscles taut before her whole body released like a blank slate. Her mouth hung loose and her eyes stared straight at everything and nothing all at once. 

James continued to lap at her through her shudders, then scrambled into a kneeling position. His cock was weeping as it pressed against her wet center. 

“I’m sorry, I need to be inside you now—fuck I love it when you come on my mouth—”

It took no effort for him to slide into her. His pace was quick and jagged, head bowed forward already teetering towards his own end. 

“I’m sorry–I’m not going to last very long—shit how do you always taste so good. ”

He was slamming into her and the noises of their conjoined bodies echoed through the room. Lily threw her body back against his, head turned to watch him over her shoulder.

“Come for me—I want to feel you come inside me—please—”

Sirius watched as James’ body shuddered, forehead craning all the way to make contact with her back. He let out a string of curses riddled with her name as she kept the rhythm of their hips for the both of them. It was only until the two collapsed that Sirius realized his mouth was wide open and hand had instinctively moved to his groin. 

He jumped the hand away from his cock, semi relieved he wasn’t fully hard, or else he would have some soul searching to do. He laid back on his bed and closed his eyes tight, taking deep quiet breaths. He could hear them whisper affirmations between soft kisses, and he wondered how something so utterly pornographic could fall into saccharine sweet so seamlessly. 

“That was incredible–I really needed that.”James sounded euphoric, even happier than when he had won a challenging quidditch match.

“Wound up from your adventures with your little club?” Lily snorted. There was a sound of a scuffle, Lily shrieking with laughter. “Ok, ok, I’m sorry. You’re… cohorts? Team? Cult?”

“Hey, now you are just being ridiculous.” Some more playful shrieks, then silence.

“I have potions soon.” 

“Stay,” James was doing his best whining voice. 

“Later—I promise.” Someone was moving off the bed. Sirius opened his eyes to watch Lily stand to tidy all of her clothing, smoothing down the mess of hair that framed her face.

“I don’t want to be with anyone else but you for the rest of my life.” It seemed like an awfully big thing to say after shagging a secret lover, but it was James after all—and not just him, but him with Lily. 

“I’ll hold you to it.” Her voice was soft and she didn’t elaborate. The door closed, and silence shrouded the room. 

Sirius waited. He wished that Peter or Remus would show up. That someone would do something that would break him out of the purgatory he somehow was still living in despite the event reaching its conclusion. He peeked at James who had wrapped himself in his sheets, looking as content as a newborn child. His breath slowed and his mouth started to fall open in sleep.

He took his chance. Lightly pulling back the curtain, he placed one foot onto the ground, hoping praying that James wouldn’t—

“What the fuck.”

James' eyes were wide, glaring at Sirius with more terror and shock that he had ever hoped to have directed at him in his life. 

“Please don’t ask me how long I was here.” Sirius’ hands instinctively went up in surrender. 

“How long.” James’ voice was hard, almost pained. 

He blinked, wondering why the world hated him so much. A thousand ideas sprung to mind before he landed on the one only logical enough to keep him alive to see another day. 

“Long enough to see that you are very talented, mate.”

[otmaaromanovas]

The Grand Duchesses and sweets

Scientists working with the dental remains of three of the Grand Duchesses concluded that their dental structure and fillings suggested they were “fond of sweets”.

A favourite of the Grand Duchesses in the palace was Jim Hercules, an African American servant. The Grand Duchesses’ aunt, Olga Alexandrovna, recalls how Jim would spend his “annual holiday in the States and brought back jars of guava jelly as presents for the children.” Jim also brought them other American candy, and toys for their playroom.

The head baker at the palace, Ermolaev, specialised in making pastries and confectionery, and even the yacht Standart was equipped with a confectionery kitchen. However, the children still enjoyed the novelty of foreign imported sweets. In June 1912, it was reported that “when the Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of the Emperor Nicholas of Russia, celebrates the eleventh anniversary of her birth on June 18, she will have an abundant supply of American candy. Curtis Guild Jr, American Ambassador to Russia, left New York Tuesday on the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse with a trunkful of candy for her.”

In 1916, the Governor of Tver sent the Grand Duchesses pryaniki, a sweet gingerbread cookie biscuit that the region specialised in manufacturing. Sweets were also discussed by fans of the Grand Duchesses: Dolores Sybilla Adam, a teenager from California, once wrote a fan mail letter to Olga Nikolaevna, writing “I should dearly love to make you a great big box of candy and send it to you, from your friend, away in sunny California.”

A love for sweets ran in the family. Conservators recently found a half-chewed piece of sugar paste candy hidden within the dress of the children’s aunt, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna!

Sources:

Correspondence of the Russian Grand Duchesses: Letters of the Daughters of the Last Tsar, George Hawkins, ([n.p], Independently Published, 2020) [no page numbers], letter beginning Dolores Sybilla Adam to Olga and Tatiana, Nov 25 1913, Amazon Kindle eBook

LUNCH ON THE BALCONY: Recipes from the table of Russia’s last imperial family, Helen Azar, ([n. p.], Independently Published, 2022), Ch. ‘The Confectionary’, [n. p. n] Amazon Kindle eBook

The Many Deaths of Tsar Nicholas II, Wendy Slater, (Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2007), Ch. ‘True Crime’, p. 40, Google Books eBook

Anon. ‘RomanovsOneLastDance’, ‘June 1912’, Tumblr, 25 March 2016

Nicholas and Alexandra, Robert K. Massie, (New York: Laurel, 1985), Ch. ‘The Tsar’s Village’, p. 123, archive.org eBook

Helen Azar, ‘LUNCH ON THE BALCONY: Recipes from the table of Russia’s last imperial family’, (2022), Ch. ‘The Confectionary’

Photos: Public domain, GARF, Heritage Auctions, HA.com, Russia Beyond