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colemacgrathtkz · 4 years ago

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My love will never die

Full disclosure: I just happened to think of think of the title, afterwards. "My love will never die" by "AG (feat. Claire Wyndham)" is a pretty good theme for this, in my opinion. Maybe you want to hear it? See what I mean?

Previously. Next?

[Two nights before (Empress) Luz's capture, at the convention center]

Eda guided the "New Coven" leader inside the convention center. Ignoring the breaking and entering, they stopped at the very stage Amity had her duel with Luz. Nothing but a dim green trail of light led the way. Stopping just at the center, the owl lady banged her foot on the ground.

Eda: "It's us. Open up down there."

No response

Eda: "Dang it, you two! There's no password! Stop making me look stupid and open up already."

The ground began to split as vines showed them the way.

Willow: "Just being careful."

Gus and Willow stood at the base of the opening. Tonight was the start of a new battle. Journeying further down, Lilith and King were waiting amongst the treasure trove of crystal balls.

Amity: "You found them."

Gus and Willow just stared at the ground.

Lilith: “Something’s been done to these orbs.”

The original two conspirators began loading them into a wheelbarrow. Eda handed one of them to Amity for a look.

Eda: “You really need to see this.”

[King’s crystal ball]

King and his boo boo buddy were taking a stroll in the Bonesborough library.

King: “I still say they should obey me! I brought this place so much business.”

Luz: “ This is a public library and you only published one book.”

King: “ Yeah, but I freed like thirty two other writers. I found Piniet his next bestseller.”

Luz: “I was there, you know.”

King: “ History is what I say it is!”

Luz: “Speaking of history....”

The two had been through a lot. It wasn’t easy. What with King having been caged as the empress’s pet. Anytime they’d been in the same room, King wouldn’t get any closer than six feet. Despite this, Luz made plenty of attempts to make up for what happened. This was her way of trying to make things right and get her best friend back.

Luz: “Ta dah.”

A giant book towered over the more appropriately sized literature.

Ruler’s reach 2

King: “My daring work of genius!”

Luz: “A book fit for a king. I pulled some strings and got it published. Do you like it?”

The small furry friend darted back and forth between the tomes and cardboard cutout. Finally, out of impulse, he launched himself into his buddy’s arms. Noceda almost forgot how light he was.

Luz: “I missed you, buddy.”

They tightly embraced each other for what had felt like forever ago.

Luz: “Forgive me.”

King: “Eh?”

In one swift motion, she launched King onto a page of his huge open book. In seconds, he was wrapped in green strings. A small cry echoed in the empty library as he was sucked into his own work. Luz shrunk the sequel to a normal size. Closing it, she tucked it under her arm. She didn’t enjoy any of this.

Luz: “Luzrura’s dead in your sequel. Now you can live out your dream, King, just the way you want it. Have fun living your masterpiece, without me getting in your way.”

To her, putting King in his literary fantasy; was her way of atoning.

[Eda’s crystal ball]

The empress marched on her carriage through the town. The owl beast pulled her forward down the streets. She was the appointed symbol of the new rule in the Boiling Isles. Eda was remembered as wild and unpredictable. The owl beast was the embodiment of those principles. The empress wanted to make sure her former teacher’s memory was “respected” this way. She’d enjoyed letting her run free. But she also found pleasure setting her loose on rioters. She’d parade Eda’s cursed form as her twisted symbol of liberation. The herald of a new era.

[Lilith’s crystal ball]

Lilith’s cursed form looked more like a raven beast. Chained at the center of a pit, she served little purpose other than to sharpen the Owl beast’s bloodlust. At times she’d throw the two sister in together. The empress arranged for fierce clashes. If Lilith ever seemed to get the upper hand, her majesty would yank on the raven beast’s chain.

[Amity's crystal ball]

Bonesborough had caught fire. Rebels against the empress where busy either retreating from the flames or the marching abomination army. Their general, smiling with satisfaction, carried out her empress’s will. The green haired witch was feared throughout the town. As second only to the empress herself, her power was unquestionable; as was her loyalty. A member of a high class family had become a head of this matriarch. She was exceptionally close to the human on the throne. The power shared between them was unparalleled. But the empress’s will was absolute. Her general lived for the empress.

[Luz’s crystal ball]

Luz cradled the one ball she kept for themselves. Whenever she started to doubt any of this, she looked into this future. The one she wanted more than anything. Eda sipping something warm in her mug. Willow and Gus looking around the house. Amity sitting close to Luz, with King in her lap. And, of course, Camila having this lovely time in her house. Luz’s whole family together. Just being together and having a magical time.

[Empress Luz’s crystal ball]

Whenever Luz was asleep, the empress would sneak a peek to her glorious future. There on the throne, she sat. Amity Blight stood by her side. Grinning at her only love, she was undoubtedly smitten. The human gazed out into the crowd that knelt before them. Her mother also stood before her in the throne room.

But one thing always bothered her about her glimpse into her crystal ball.

No matter what she did, no matter what who else was beside them,

Camila wasn’t smiling.

[Bonus]

Amity just stared at the orb in her hands. This vision of the possible future-no, the plan made her blood run cold. There was no denying what they had seen. No matter what they tried, the orbs wouldn’t show them anything else. Someone had locked them on to these foreseeable futures.

Amity: “....”

Eda( placing one hand on Amity’s shoulder): “It’s time, kid. We need you on this. If we’re going to take her down, we can’t make any mistakes.”

Amity: “What’s the plan?”

Eda: “You’re going to keep her from using magic. As sickenly adorable as you two are, you’re the only one who can get close enough to give her this.”

The owl witch pulled out a purple vial and a black marble.

Eda: “Lace something she’d grab with this. This little guy here is gonna keep her from casting any spells on us. Make sure you don’t get any on ya. Otherwise, you’ll be dragging your feet on this, too. Those two dweebs are going to run interference. They’ll wear her down enough for King to deliver this.”

She handed King of demons a orange squishy ball.

Eda: “We can’t risk her blocking or redirecting any sleep spells on us. Our slippery friend here’ll have to get in close and personal.”

Amity: “ You think this’ll work?”

Eda: “I made this stuff strong enough to take down four slitherbeasts. I would’ve made it six, but that seemed like overkill.”

Lilith handed her sister a green bottle.

Eda: “Lilly got us this far with that ‘special’ ingredient, last time you two met. If we can get more, it should lead us to any other nasty secrets.”

Eda realized she’d been the only one here doing any actual talking.

Eda: “You sure you’re up for this? We kind of need your head on straight when this goes down. We can’t just bring anyone on this particular job.”

Amity: “ I think I should get my brother and sister. They’re annoying, but I trust them to take this seriously. They’d be a big help.”

Eda agreed as she didn’t really know any other way to reassure her. So, once they were done here, everyone was to get some rest.

But those were the last words they’d say to anyone. For the next two days, they’d be as silent as ghosts. With what was about to happen, what they had seen, it’d haunt them in their waking hours. And then some.

Author’s note:

I’d been thinking about this one for awhile. Since Luz does want to make things right, it’d be her curse of a companion that’d twist things. Amity’s vision was actually inspired by someone else’s fanart.

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k7l4d4 · 4 years ago

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Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 6 Part 1

Hello, and once again, welcome back to Midnight Striga!! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

“And now… to test it!” Eda cried, feeding a smidge of magic into the Lacrima sitting before her. In a burst of flames, she was sent flying into the wall, a pained groan clawing its way out of her throat. A crazed grin crossed her face. “Fire! Nice! That’s 163 down, 474 to go!” She cheered, hastily scribbling the results down on a piece of paper detailing the Lacrimas in her store. Carelessly tossing the Lacrima into the appropriate pile, she started sifting through her pile, hoping to find something interesting. “I’ve already managed to identify at least 13 specific types, wonder how many more I got?” She muttered to herself. She reached for her bottle of Appleblood for a swig, only to swipe at empty air. Glancing up, she met Luz’s unimpressed gaze, holding her Appleblood just out of reach. “You mind giving that back?” She asked, annoyed at the interruption.

Luz scowled. “Yeah, no. You’ve had way too much of this stuff.” She stated, a pointed look aimed at the kitchen, where at least 10 bottles lay emptied inside. Spotting the list of recorded Lacrimas and types, Luz’s eyes widened in shock. “Holy HELL Eda! When did you sleep!?”

Eda opened her mouth, paused, and awkwardly scratched her cheek. “I don’t have to answer that.” She finally said, evasively glancing to the sides.

Sighing, Luz plopped herself down from across the older Witch. “Eda, I get that you’re hurting. But trust me, running from this is just going to hurt you.” She looked up, naked grief burning in her gaze. “Believe me, I’ve been there.”

Eda gave a bitter snort. “Oh really? You’ve been betrayed by your family, cursed by someone you trusted, respected even!, and left to rot by society? Well color me surprised.” Eda sarcastically remarked, spite apparent in her tone. Her bitterness briefly fell away, however, when a thought came to her. “And weren’t you supposed to be watching Hooty and King while King was practicing?”

Luz huffed. “Pfft! They’ll be fine!”

King panted, dropping to his knees, the crude spear clutched in his paws trembling. He glanced up at his foe, scowling in anger. Hooty loomed over him, his long, wiry body coiled around multiple boulders he had suspended in the air; boulders that King now knew from PAINFUL experience could be willfully hurled like a slingshot. Forcing himself to his feet, King pointed his weapon at Hooty, screaming, “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT? YOU REJECT WORM TURKEY!!!!” With a savage battle cry, the two demons leapt back into the fray, bloodlust burning in their eyes.

“Yeah, they’ll totally be fine.” Luz repeated, blissfully unaware of the carnage going on out in the clearing she had left the two to practice in.

“I’m surprised you aren’t a mess yourself, Miss ‘My Sister Was a Hostage For My Cooperation Who I Thought Was Dead But May Actually Be Alive.’” Eda snidely stated, earning her a frosty glare from her roommate.

Luz sighed, seriously wishing they weren’t having this conversation right now. “I,” She began, pointing to herself. “Am Compartmentalizing at the moment. Does the information that my sister may be alive hurt me? Oh, absolutely. But I’m aware enough of my limits not to do something stupid, and am planning on putting the screws to Oroboros anyway. Forcing myself to panic and scramble won’t help me, and it won’t help her, if the info turns out to be true.” She finished, pain filling her eyes. Her gaze sharpened, pushing through the hurt. “But what’s important right NOW… is the fact that you avoided going to sleep, and are drinking this early in the morning while running magic experiments!” She glanced over the spread of Lacrimas, bewildered. “What were you even doing with all these anyway?” She asked.

Eda shrugged, lifting the Lacrima she’d most recently selected upwards for Luz to see. “Testing these to see what they can do.” She blithely stated, moving to do just that. Luz’s eyes shot open in panic. With a yelp, she whipped the Lacrima out of Eda’s hands. “Hey! What was that for!?” Eda demanded, holding her lightly stinging fingers.

Sighing in relief at the in-tact shard of magic in her hands, Luz carefully set it in what she gathered was the sorted pile. “That,” She said, pointing to the Lacrima. “Is an Explosion Lacrima. If you had tested that, it would’ve blown you to pieces, and considering its proximity to the other Lacrimas, would’ve taken the house and most of the clearing with it.” She stated, somehow managing to keep her panic out of her voice, even as Eda paled at the implications of what had almost occurred. Luz turned an accusing stare towards Eda. “This is what I mean! If you wanted to know about what these Lacrima were, you could’ve just asked me! But instead you snuck down here and proceeded to haphazardly test them without any kind of safety precautions!! I mean, I get your all about independence and inherent limitlessness of magic and all, but that was reckless, even for you. What. Is. The Problem?” Luz demanded, eyes hard.

Eda’s gaze fell to the table, her nails gouging into the wood. “I trusted her.” She whispered. “For all that we didn’t get along anymore, for all that she worked for Bonehead and I hated him and her attempts to bring me in, I still trusted her. And she’s part of the reason I’m such a pariah, the reason I can’t even live in town! She took my trust… and she stomped on it.” Tears fell to the wood, a look of desolation and pain stretched across her face. She turned to Luz, a look of hopelessness scrawled across her face. “How do I even deal with that!?”

Luz looked on levelly. She understood, she honestly did. While she herself may not have felt the particular emotions Eda was dealing with, she was incredibly familiar with the loss, confusion, and hurt that came from internal conflict. “Well, the first thing you gotta do is ask yourself this: do you still love your sister?”

Eda reeled back, appalled. “What kind of question is that!? She’s my sister! Of course I still love her!” She exclaimed, gesturing wildly.

“But she betrayed you and has been lying to you for years.” Luz evenly pointed out.

Eda snorted. “Yeah kid, I’m aware of that. I haven’t forgiven her for it, I probably never will!” She said, throwing up her arms in emphasis, before she continued, her voice softening. “But she’s still my sister. She’s still the girl who looked out for me as a kid, even if she has been acting like a pompous windbag for years. Am I hurting? Yes. But I know she is too. I don’t need to hold it any further against her than that. I just want my family to stop hurting over it all.”

“Well, my best advice for you is to get some rest and deal with this one day at a time.” Luz said gently. “It may not seem like much, but getting proper rest should do wonders for helping you process this and figure out how to go forward.” She shrugged. “It did with me at least.”

Eda gave Luz a misty smirk. “Since when are you the adult here?” She jokingly questioned, hands folding over her chest. As she felt a familiar sensation brush against her arm, she froze. Ignoring Luz’s inquiring look, Eda roughly pushed up her sleeve, the both of them turning pale at the sight of feathers popping up along her arms. “Crap!” With a shout, Eda rushed for her cupboards, hastily throwing them open, Luz following her lead with the cabinets and drawers. There wasn’t a single potion left in the house. Eda buried her face in her hands. “I can’t believe I forgot to stock up!”

“Well, do you have somewhere you can get more!?” Luz frantically questioned. Eda shot her a look that screamed ‘duh, are you serious?’ Luz sheepishly cringed. “Okay, yeah, you probably do.”

Eda nodded tersely. “Yeah.” With a gesture, she called her staff to her, Owlbert briefly cuddling up against her cheek before solidifying into wood. “Let’s get going before I go full Owl Beast in here.”

Luz gave a sharp jerk of her head, aimed in the direction of where King and Hooty were practicing. “Do you think they’ll be okay?”

Eda gave a mostly nonchalant snort. “Those two? They’ll be fine. Hooty’s more than strong enough to look after himself, and this place, and King isn’t a helpless little fuzzball anymore.” She stated, giving Luz a proud grin, one she happily returned. With that settled, the two leapt onto the staff, taking off into the air.

As they landed in town, Luz instantly took notice of the whispers. Everyone was huddled around, shooting one another furtive looks. Uneasiness rippled through the city, clinging to every group they passed. Luz was painfully aware of the stares she got, the fear and suspicion. She fought the urge to pull in and hunker against the voices, the accusations she just knew were building. A hand on her shoulder caused her to shoot her gaze up, Eda’s awkwardly comforting face filling her vision.

“Hey, just ignore them, okay? They don’t know you.” She said soothingly, rubbing Luz’s shoulder. “I’ve had to deal with it myself plenty of times. We kicked a hornet’s nest the other day, and now people are waiting for it to sting. They’ll be on edge, you might even get a few of the angrier idiots trying to yell at you, but they’ll come around. Eventually.”

Luz gave her a shaky grin, appreciative of the support. “Thanks Eda. It means a lot.” Eda gave her a jerky nod. As they wandered deeper into the city, they brushed by a group of school-age kids, including Amity and that girl who’d been burned that first day at Hexside. The group paused, turning to look at them, uncertain whispers kicking up. Luz was honestly surprised at how little it bothered her.

As they came to a fairly innocuous looking storefront, Eda began roughly pounding on what Luz assumed was the service counter. “Open up Morton! I’ve got an emergency, and I need potions, stat!” She shouted, her fist echoing loudly against the wood.

Thumps and shouts could be heard coming from the other side, before the shutters opened, a sickly seeming Witch poking through. “Oh, sorry Eda. I was up testing poisons last night and I haven’t been feeling too well. You said you’ve got a potion emergency?”

While Luz desperately wanted to comment on him testing Poisons on himself, she was rapidly growing accustomed to the lack of care to personal safety the Isles seemed to possess in regards to its Citizens. Still, Eda seemed to trust this guy, so she wouldn’t say anything. Eda nodded sharply, pulling out a sack of snails. “Yeah. I’ve got the usual payment, so make it snappy.” She barked, roughly sliding her payment across the counter.

Morton sucked in a hissing breath, a look of regret filling his face. Eda and Luz’s own faces dropped at what they expected to come. “I’m sorry, but I’m out of Curse-Suppressant Potions at the moment. Well, I’m nearly out, I should say.” He softly admitted.

Eda slammed her hands against the counter. “Then give me what you’ve got! I don’t even care if you take the entire payment, I need potions now!!” She said frantically, a feverish look burning in her eyes.

Solemnly, Morton pulled out a single potion, the bottle visibly only half full. At Eda’s crestfallen expression, Morton shook his head. “I’m sorry, but that’s all I have left.” He remorsefully confessed. Biting his lip, he slid the potion over, along with the payment, drawing a surprised look from the two. At Eda’s look of shock, he glanced up, a surprising amount of steel in his eyes. “It wasn’t right what your sister did, and it wasn’t right for the Emperor’s Coven to lie about what happened. A lot of people are in your corner at the moment, Eda, and I’m one of them.” He gave a firm nod, pushing the potion closer.

Eda gave a faint smile, gratefully pocketing the Potion and her purse. “Thanks Mort, you’ve always been a good one.” Her grin turned cheeky. “When your not doing something stupid like testing poisons on yourself, that is.” She and Morton shared a laugh, Morton’s sounding embarrassed but unhurt.

Morton’s gaze turned to Luz, his eyes widening. “Oh! You’re that human girl!” He exclaimed. “Wait here!” He ducked down, rummaging sounds audible as he looked through his stocks. Popping back up, he slid two bottles over. “Here, a one-time only gift, on the house. A specialty poison that obstructs magic, and a pain-relief potion I made on the sly.” He gave her a cheerful wink. “I heard what you said about that group, and what they did to your family. If you’re with Eda, then you’re a good person, as far as I’m concerned.” He folded his arms, growing stern. “But don’t expect any more charity. I do have a business to run, okay?”

Eda barked out a laugh. “HA! Don’t worry Mort, we’ll be fine. But, I’m sorry to say,” She held up the bottle. “This will barely hold me over for half a day, if that.” She and Luz exchanged worried glances.

Morton gave a rueful nod. “Yeah, that’ll probably be bad.” He scratched his chin, before snapping his fingers. “I think I might know someone who can help you!” His expression shifted into one of worried thought. “But it’ll be pretty dangerous.”

Eda raised an eyebrow, before her eyes widened in realization. “Oh no, don’t tell me-”

“Yup.” Morton replied, looking grave. “The Night Market. Specifically, a guy called Grimm Hammer. He probably has what you need.”

Eda cursed. “I hate the Night Market.” She growled, giving her thanks as she led herself and Luz away from Morton’s shop. “That place is seriously scummy, even for me.”

Luz raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, let me guess, Black Market? Illegal goods and services that would bring the law down like a hammer on ripe fruit?” She guessed, clarifying at Eda’s confusion at the term she used.

Eda snorted. “Exactly.” As the two strolled along, deep in thought about their next move, a finger slowly reached out from a nearby shadow, grasping for Eda’s arm. Luz shrieked at the sight.

#the owl house #fairy tail #owl house au #fairy tail au #owl house crossover #fairy tail crossover #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #king the owl house #hooty the owl house #morton the owl house #magic

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robbyrobinson · 4 years ago

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Gods Awaken (XX)

“So you’re telling me that even though you destroyed that book Nyarlathotep got his powers back anyway?”

“Yes, Eda, that is what happened,” Luz answered solemnly.

Eda sighed. “Well, I guess that means we’re dead then.”

Luz’s eyes gleamed. “We can all agree that it is worse than my realization that my Mom wrote the Good Witch Azura books and that I’m Emperor Belos’ granddaughter.”

Eda nodded. “Yeah, that is ba-wait, what was that last part?”

Luz chuckled. “Yeah, that was my exact reaction as well.”

“Makes sense now that I think of it,” Eda noted, “but isn’t it kind of...”

“Cliche?” Luz added onto her thought.

“What is a cliché?”

Lilith interjected. “This is not the most appropriate time for a conversation of this caliber.”

The Owl Lady and the human girl nodded deciding to speak more about the revelation at a later time.

The witches of Bonesborough scrambled to obtain a state of control over the sudden wave of dark magic that rocked the town and desecrated their buildings. Houses built alongside the body of the Titan crumbled; stores were wiped clean. Most of the witches set their differences aside to use their magic to prevent debris from falling on them.

The streets were alive with the sounds of ceaseless chattering and raving over the events. Elder witches overexerted themselves with trying to use their magic spells to keep falling columns of buildings from flattening witchlings. From the destruction wrought, the sky darkened from a sudden storm. It thundered loudly as though it were a living creature. The light from the sun completely absorbed into the vast blackness of the insidious clouds.

“What is going on!?” one of the male witches yelled.

Thick, sickening black clouds rolled in silently with the currents. Due to the Boiling Isles’ equivalent of weather being a series of plagues, the witches were already dashing here and forth to get under some scrap of wood or a crude assembly of broken rocks to avoid their skin getting scorched by the acidic precipitation. The cloud loomed over the town for a couple seconds. The cloud swirled and writhed in sickly fashion until they merged together to create a large figure.

It towered over the town with its ghastly size and boding physique. It was a man, swathing with blackness even darker than the darkest of nights. He resembled a man of some high status perhaps one of the elder kings. The man had some aura to him that made the witches freeze in place out of bewilderment.

“Children of the Isles,” he announced, “it has been far too long, has it not?”

The witches looked at each other befuddled. They could sense that there was a twinge of hostility he had with the declaration.

“I see that your scholars had successfully managed to completely blight my name from the records of the Isles.”

He snapped his fingers. A large slab of rock emerged from the ground and was crafted into a throne for the large being to sit down in. He flicked his fingers drawing a huge chalice filled with apple blood. He took a large swig of the sweet nectar before speaking again.

“It is disheartening that this is the state that I left the Isles in thousands of years ago; after literally drawing into my very being and giving your ancestors magic, this is truly the gratitude that you would give me?”

After taking a long drink of the apple blood, he tossed the chalice away blissfully ignorant of the explosion it caused. “All of you are ungrateful; that ungratefulness lasting from generation to generation. Well, no more.”

Massive claws surged and bubbled on the Dark Man’s fingers. Before their eyes, he tore open a portal in the space-time continuum. The way in which he tore away reality with such ease amazed the witches but also filled them with despair. Never had they seen something of this caliber in the long history of the Boiling Isles. The sheer raw power that this tall man possessed was unnatural.

Droves of crustacean-fungus like anomalies escaped the rip in space-time. Like locusts, swarms of these creatures blotted out the sun. They came upon the citizens of Bonesborough in such frenzy and lifted them into the air. Swarm after swarm arrived to abduct more citizens and fly them to an uncertain fate.

Smirking, he opened another portal and withdrew his scepter. The large gem in the middle of it glowed and began to twist and pull reality around it. Portions of the Boiling Isles started to fade out of existence. The fabric of reality was further ripped down to the seams exposing the backdrop of the pure darkness of the void. Strange masses of tentacular monstrosities fizzled from the darkness of the void.

Before any of the witches could react, those that were captured by the winged anomalies were seized and suspended in midair. They fought against the invisible forces holding them in place, but all they could hear was the deep, sinister, shrilled laughter of their tormentors. Invisible, inky tentacles wrapped around them contributing to more frantic movement. With each movement only strengthening the monster’s grasp, sharp suckers stabbed their way through their bodies. Splintering pain flowed through their bodies as they heard the maniacal laughter of the obscure beasts and the hideous sound of their blood being greedily sucked away. Blood was visibly getting vacuumed through the tentacles of the beasts who now were shown as having no visible face rather a large mandible surrounded by endless numbers of appendages. They were becoming bloated from the blood.

The tall man looked at the chaos with a lack of interest. Stretching his arms, he drew from the ground again and mentally crafted it into a chariot. Once the chariot was made, he summoned more creatures from the void. They resembled birds, larger than the ones typically seen on the Isles roughly the size of an elephant. And yet instead of beaks and feathers, they instead had heads calling to mind a majestic horse; in the place of their feathers were slimy, oily scales of a reptile. They flew in a galloping fashion neighing in the presence of their summoner. Legions of these bizarre horses stopped in front of the chariot and were strapped in ropes. He got up from his makeshift throne and perched his large frame in the front of the chariot.

“For thousands of years ever since your ungrateful ancestors locked me away, the one thought consumed my mind; that being vengeance.”

He stared over seeing Belos’ empire at a far distance. “You are all cordially invited to a party.”

They looked at the peculiar man with worried expressions.

“Before this day is done, the Boiling Isles will be torn down brick by brick, to its smallest atom and from that level of devastation will birth a new age. Out of the ashes of the fire, I will build a new world where my acolytes will not know of what came before them and will pledge their allegiance to me and my alone.”

The witches screamed in unison again. “What do you want from us?”

He held his scepter out and twirled it at them. “My star protégé will be taking on one of your witches; consider this a good show that will satiate my boredom long enough to temporarily withhold the destruction of your world.”

He took his scepter and smacked it against the rim of his chariot. The horse monster, now recognized as being his shantaks, squealed and began to flap their massive wings. With a galloping motion, the legions of winged creatures lifted the heavy chariot off the ground and into the air.

“Come on, put your back into it,” a teacher yelled.

One of the teachers used their finger to create the illusion of a battering ram. With it, he sprinted for the entrance only for the device to fail when the dark magic holding the barrier in place rebounded on him. He was flung back landing where the guard that Nyarlathotep merged with the lockers was located.

The Abomination Teacher ordered his abomination to use its fists to punch a hole in the barrier. Like any other abomination, it followed his command, but the result was always the same. The magic wall was reducing the abomination down to the stumps of his hands forcing the abomination to temporarily become undone and then reassemble itself to try again.

“Are we going to die in here?” a student whimpered.

Principal Bump put his finger against his mouth. “Now, now, calm down, everyone: we are not going to die.”

None of the students were truthfully convinced by the Principal’s words yet they were trying to grant themselves a little sense of normalcy. The Abomination Teacher called his abomination off and he looked at the school’s principal. “Sir, is there something on your mind?”

“Could we discuss it by ourselves?”

The Abomination Teacher ordered for his servant to keep guard of the students and walked over to Principal Bump. Sternness manifested through his eyes. “What is actually going on? Who was that man?”

Principal Bump sighed. “There is so much more behind the history of the Boiling Isles that was expunged from the records; one of them involved a figure who was probably one of the most evil beings I have ever encountered: now I fear he had returned to his full power.”

“Well, what can we possibly do about this...man?”

Principal Bump shook his head. “The magic barrier he made was designed using a powerful, dark otherworldly spell that I am afraid no ordinary witch can ever hope to make as much as a dent in it.”

Eyes widened, the Abomination Teacher spoke again. “B-but if the students find out-”

“Hush!”

Principal Bump looked behind a corner making sure that none of the other students were eavesdropping on their conversation. “We should probably keep the students occupied for a while to keep them from inciting a hysteria.”

The Abomination Teacher also gave a passing glance behind the corner. “And there is nothing we can do?”

“Aye; either Nyarlathotep returns and removes the enchantment spell he placed on the school, or”

“Or?”

“Or we could get lucky and have an Elder God come to our defense and destroy the barrier.”

The Abomination Teacher squinted his eyes. “An elder god?”

“It’s going to be a long discussion,” Principal Bump emphasized, “so listen carefully.”

Skara and some of the popular clique took their text books and slammed them on the outside. The books returned at full force towards their owners. Only Skara was able to narrowly avoid getting creamed by the books by ducking, but the same could not be said for the other girls.

“What kind of magic is this?” Skara asked aloud.

Gus scratched his chin. “Looks like something you’d see being made by the construction coven.”

He placed his hands against the wall of the barrier, pressing his palms. “Something tells me that this isn’t even the native magic common here.”

“I am getting really concerned for Luz and Amity,” Willow said. “There should be some way to contact them.”

She drew a circle in the air and retrieved her purple scroll. She tried to login to her Penstagram account, but the connection was not getting through. A few more of the students saw what Willow was doing and they to took out their scrolls to call for assistance. However, much like before, the connection was terminated.

“Somehow the magic barrier had cut us off from the outside world,” Willow observed, “we’re sitting turtle ducks now.”

As she turned away, she caught something in the corner of her eye with her peripheral vision. One of the students had a potted plant that was pitched at a window prior to their imprisonment. It appeared to be a cross between a Venus flytrap and a tomato plant. For whatever reason, likely because of it being almost tossed out the window, it had its large mandibles wrapped around a piece of the magic barrier keeping the shield from completing.

“Willow, squeeze yourself through the opening,” Gus said.

Willow looked carefully at the escape route that was seemingly pre-ordained. She then looked at Willow and the others. “Don’t worry; I’ll tell Luz what happened and maybe she and Eda can help us.”

Taking a short breath, Willow cautiously slid herself underneath the opening while ensuring to not catch the wrath of the sapient plant. Her head and shoulders successfully slid under the barrier followed by her torso. Squeezing her ribs under, she froze for a moment upon hearing a crackling sound. Purple sap was dropping onto her abdomen. Looking up to her horror, the dark magic was slicing its way ever slowly through the potted plant. It still had a strong grip on the barrier, but for how long, Willow could not say. Scrambling, Willow’s forearms bent and nudged the grass.

Grunting, Willow ben her body in a backward motion practically falling out the school with the back of her head. Now with better maneuvering, Willow quickly drew in her legs. The barrier sliced through the plant’s mandibles like a guillotine splattering its sap on the window and its sill. The school was now completely devoid of any alternative sources of escape. Willow got up on her feet and wiped the dirt off her clothes.

“Don’t worry, guys, I’ll be back!”

#the owl house #owl house #the cthulhu mythos #cthulhu mythos #nyarlathotep #owl house fanfiction #crossover fanfiction

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wexhappyxfew · 4 years ago

Note

TALK ABOUT THE THING YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT SUNFLOWER SISTER 💛💛 i know u have a thing, all writers have things. NOW TELL US, THIS IS UR INVITATION 💛💛🌻🌻

AHHHHHHHHHHH JJ, MY SUNFLOWER SISTER!! how are you today on this fine evening? drinking water and taking care of yourself? <3 THANK YOU FOR THE INVITATION AHA!! and you best bet LOL all writers, like you said, have their things! So I guess, I’ll talk about two of those things here, that I really wish to talk about: Mental-Health + Platonic Male-Female Friendships in Landslide! <3

Mental Health in Landslide

Landslide is arguably one of the darkest, most saddening fics I’ve ever written - just dealing with the topics at hand and many of the themes that are presented through - it’s heavy to take on I can agree with that. And, something that really grew to life with Natia as an OC, was her mental health that I knew could not be ignored throughout the context of this fic.

Mental Health is so extremely important in this day and age, and I always feel it’s important to advocate for Mental Health Awareness more than anything, especially with this pandemic. And I feel, writing an OC who suffers with her own mental health, is in a way, one of the qualities people can relate to.

I wrote Elizabeth Elliot in TSOS + AAPA who had ADHD and I wanted to continue to represent that in my fics, the importance of recognizing mental health.

Natia Filipska, she has severe depression. Through research, I found many people, after years of war and testing, suffered through major depression during the Second World War, many civilians, soldiers, anyone who fought, nearly anyone and I felt that was fascinating and also important to highlight. War is not kind in anyway and I feel with the horrors of that war, especially in Europe, it was bound to occur. And representing Natia in that way I felt was more appropriate than anything - fighting since Day 1, September 1st, 1939, and still fighting 5 years later when she meets Easy - I just felt it was important to show to the best of my ability, my take on Natia’s depression during the war and show how important it is to know the signs and check up on your friends.

So, I will lay it out here - Natia does in fact have severe depression. There are many events over the course of the past 5 years of her life that have brought this on and for extremely valid reasons. Some that haven’t even been mentioned yet, which I’m excited to unveil!

Natia has her own ways of showing this - extremely sad and depressive thoughts, she squints her eyes a lot, she does not have the tendency to smile much or even the will to assimilate with others, she squeezes her fists together a lot, even to make persistent fingernail marks in her palm which becomes a major topic of conversation, and she has days where she is so numb she doesn’t talk but then she breaks down from her bottled up feelings all alone and sobs her eyes out. She is is no way a hero, she makes bad decisions sometimes, she suffers the consequences, she feels the pain of so many things and she bears it all. Definitely one of the most complex characters I’ve ever written, but it’s been a pleasure.

Platonic Male-Female Friendships in Landslide

Similar to how Death’s relationship with Natia is extremely important, Natia’s platonic relationships with the men is also highly important. Romance is definitely fun more than anything, and I always manage to include it in my fics and it’s always the main thing happening at the end with postwar - you see the OC and her BoB guy together, yes! But, though there is romance evidently in Landslide, I want to show that platonic relationships mean just as much as the romantic ones do and that the love can be just as powerful!

I don’t want to give too much away, but her friendships are the most prominent thing throughout that she really needs more than anything and I want to talk about one of the important ones - George Luz. She of course befriends the others in their own ways, own strange dynamics - don’t even get me on how her and Lieb become friends or even Speirs or Lip, EVEN WINTERS, dare I say Nix or Harry? Johnny or Malarkey? Yep, they’re all interesting dynamics LOL!! But George Luz is the most important.

Of course, one may think - how does that work - they’re complete opposites? The sunshine guy who makes people laugh and the numb girl who can barely crack a smile? WELL! Not only does their radio operator nature heavily connect the two, but, an approach I took to this is, they can’t ignore each other - this isn’t training, it is in fact war and they both know war at this point and they both understand it, maybe not in the same way, but they both know war. Normally, if it were training, this would be a different approach, but they’re in war and they have no choice but to work together, even if grudges are held.

In this weeks chapter, just a tidbit, Natia mentions why she feels so well with befriending George of all people - he makes an effort to keep conversation with her, something that not many people are willing to do upon meeting her and something she can’t really change because of her mental state. But George makes that initial imprint and effort to converse with her more than anything. BUT I WON’T SAY MUCH ELSE AHH!! Just that, they’re friendship is one of my absolute favorite things to write and so extremely important to this plot!! <3

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH JJ!! This was so much fun to answer and to let me give my views out on important Landslide topics such as Platonic Relationships and Mental Health that are important focuses in the context of the story! So THANK YOU!! :)

#band of brothers #bob fic #landslide #natia filipska #george luz #mental health #mental health awareness #tw: severe depression #platonic relationships #friendships

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atomicblasphemy · 4 years ago

Text

In the sign of evil

She kept thinking of her battle with the Emperor.

Not the battle itself, or how it would play out next time around, although it would be a lie to say such thought didn’t occupy her mind. After all, she made it through him with barely enough time to save Eda, King, and that other one.

Instead, what truly kept her up at night, what truly haunted her was what she saw in that creature’s eyes. First, she saw what could only be described as pure, unadulterated evil. Something Luz, who had thus far lived a mostly comfortable life, sheltered from the true perils of both worlds she knew, was unacquainted with. In her original realm sure she saw some small glimpses of it. There was the fact that she had for a long time been ostracized by her school peers, made to feel ashamed of being who she really was. But perhaps a more appropriate name for that would be the irreflected propensity for cruelty that some children, in both realms come to think of it, seemed to be obsessed with. Nevertheless, age and the ensuing experience it brings should rid most such children of these evil seeming impulses. And here in the Boiling Isles, even if she could count with a mostly reliable source of protection in her friends and, of course, in her mentor, she had not been unscathed from the semblance of evil’s claws coming to try and reach, abduct her from safety. She could, of the top of her head name at least four names for the list of unrepentant evil doers: Adegast, Tibbles, Boscha and, of course, Lilith. Then again, if anything, Adegast was motivated by sheer spite and while that alone made that monster a threatening foe, it might not be enough for him to entirely qualify to such a strong word as evil; Tibbles was a capitalist, his motivations were simply profit, an opportunist, which meant his approach to morality may be more than a bit lax, frankly Luz wasn’t all too sure whether to call that pig like witch evil or just immoral; as for Boscha, the same as for her bullies back in the human realm applies, whether she was truly an evil doer or just a misguided kid was for time to decide; Lilith, in all frankness Luz failed to come up with any significant argument to abstain her from the title of evil doer, but given how instrumental she was on freeing Eda and King from capital punishment, and then relieving her sister of her curse, Luz ruled in favor of conceding her the benefit of doubt.

However, the Emperor’s eyes… They carried within them an aura far deeper and so much more horror inducing than all of those past experiences combined. She was in those two wholes, those all consuming voids the bottoms of depravity. Ambition corrupted to its furthest extreme. Whatever that creature was, because she held close to her the belief that no witch nor human would ever be capable of conjuring such dread in her very soul, Luz prayed it had no peers, and she wouldn’tbelieve for even the shortest of instants that its plans weren’t boorish, as he himself put it. Truly, defeating that horror was imperative, both for her own sake, as well as for life itself.

Still, none of that was what made sleep avoid her. No, she had seen something else, something other than evil, in those bottomless pits. Something about which the girl simply couldn’t help but to allow her inquisitive mind to ponder.

There was no mistaking it, she saw a glyph, one unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was intricate, one could even say that, had they been found elsewhere, that the lines and shapes therein were even beautiful, entrancing even.

Luz had replicated it in a small piece of paper, and whenever she found herself alone she would turn her gaze upon it. She knew what a Faustian bargain was, she had read about it in her literature class back at human school, but she never expected to find herself pondering whether or not make one of her own. On one hand, this could bring about the most nefarious effects and essentially grant her foe an uncontested victory, which might as well be tantamount to the destruction of both realms. On the other hand, maybe this could prove to be the source of a power to rival his own, and this could certainly be extremely useful in helping her to release everyone she knew, everyone she cared about, everyone she loved, from the agony of living under that tyrant’s ironclad fist.

She tentatively raised her finger towards the glyph, she had made several in an effort to make sure not to forget anything, down to the smallest detail. She wanted to activate it, she felt as though the risk could be worth it; she wasn’t a magical powerhouse, so whatever its effects were they wouldn’t likely be all that expressive. Right?

Still, it was to risky to do it alone. And she couldn’t jeopardize Eda’s well being further. No, that was unthinkable, luckily for her there were three young witches she knew she could count on.

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

“Luz, Amity said she would probably have to stay late in class today and its been almost half an hour.” Gus said, trying his best no to sound discouraging. “I can wait a bit longer, no problem, but maybe we should go ahead with it.”

“Yeah.” Willow spoke, equally trying to sound calming despite her nerves being entirely on edge. “Besides, we don’t what this thing does. And, I think us three should be about enough for this… experiment.”

The three of them sat on an empty classroom, four identical copies of the glyph sitting on a small desk around which the three of them stood, looking attentively at the pieces of paper. Luz couldn’t voice an answer. The decision weighed heavily on her shoulder. She rubbed her temples, hoping a solution would miraculously manifest itself. Amity’s presence, surely, would help her feel safer. After all, their bond had been growing steadily for sometime now, and having three powerful witches guarding her back was better than two. Right? Still, Gus’ and Willow’s words were sound.

She still can’t say a word, her breath coming with more difficulty now. She looks at her friends. She nods. And before either of them can stop her, she ignores her previous reservations and taps on one of the glyphs, activating it.

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

“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late. I ran into Boscha and you wouldn’t be...lieve...” Amity, having just entered the not so empty classroom, felt her words run short. The view was horrid. One of Willow’s vines hung from the ceiling, imprisoning an upside down and surprisingly bored looking Luz. Flanking her stood two figures, a red piece of cloth on which they, despite the complete absence of any sharp objects in the room, somehow had cut a vertical for going all the way up to their noses and a couple of holes for their eyes. In their hands they held wooden rulers Gus’s made ofillusion magic, long ones at that.

“Oh, hey there Amity. Can you… maybe… help me… please?” Luz whimpered at the only friend of hers currently in the room.

“What… is going… on here…?”

“BLIGHT. BLIGHT. We are so glad you are here. We were expecting you, yes, we knew you would come eventually. How could you not be here, we were expecting you, after all?”

The only way Amity could describe the unfolding scene was as an outbreak of evil. Her once estranged friend had a manic grin on her lips, not unlike that sported by Gus. Their voices, normally so friendly were tinged by something that scared her to her core. Something underlying withing it. No, they hadn’t such sepulchral voices as the ones she heard when they spoke. She couldn’t begin to understand the scene. They were her friends, they had forgiven her past undoings. More importantly, they were Luz’s closest friends in the Boiling Isles. It was all unfathomable.

“Seriously, what in the Titan’s ever loving Isles is happening? Why is Luz tied up? And what is up with those weird masks?”

Luz, seemingly having recovered some amount of fortitude was the first one to answer.

“Oh… Well… You see… Mistakes were made today… We were waiting for you, but I decided to just go ahead with that glyph experiment I told you about and… Now they are evil… Yup, their psyches are totally corrupted… My bad.”

“What?”

“And these, dear Blight, are the unholy evil shrouds with which we hide our identities.” Willow, still sounding ominous, continued with the explanation, pointing her index finger at the rag covering face. “With those none will able to stop as we ascend.”

“What?”

“Yes, dear Blight. Look, we even made one for you too... Actually it was for this ungrateful, unambitious… uhhh… she was going on and on about how ‘no, that’s not who you are’, ‘no, those smell really, really bad’” Gus continued, stopping to shake his head with disapproving eyes at Luz, who simply answered by rolling her own eyes in annoyance. “Anyway, we trust you, dear Blight, will not be as short sighted as this fool. Join us, dear Blight. Join us on our quest for power.”

“Ok, first of all, please stop calling me dear Blight, you sound just like Lilith when I was still under her wing. Second, I still don’t know what any of you are talking about.” Amity, recovering some semblance of sense finally managed to produce a coherent sentence. Two actually.

“Ah yes, dear Blight. We haven’t told you of our plans, have we?” Willow answered as the faint sound of Amity’s huff could be heard. “We shall take over the world, and we want you to join us. Soon the Boiling Isles, nay all the realms, shall tremble at the sound of our mighty RRROOOAAARRRS.” She actually made justice to that last word.

“Why? Willow, Gus… Why would you guys ever want to do something like that? Also… HOW?” She shoots wide eyed glances at the upside down Luz, who was now swinging back and forth, whether trying to loosen the grip of Willow’s vines or just to amuse herself Amity couldn’t tell. “Did… Did the glyph awaken some hidden power within them?”

“Nope.”

“Really?”

“Yup… I mean, look at these things. Don’t you think they would have done better than that if it did? Like, Gus didn’t even conjure a couple of swords for crying out loud.”

“SILENCE, TRAITOR.” Gus yelled as he whacked Luz over the head with his illusion wooden ruler. “Now, dear Blight, you asked how we intend to achieve such, admittedly, ambitious goals. The answer is simple, dear Blight. By overthrowing that lowly Emperor and seizing the throne for ourselves. How else would achieve the power we so deeply crave?”

“Again… How exactly do you plan on doing that?”

They let out a loud “Ehh” while shrugging.

“We’ll figure it out as we go.” Willow attempted. “Besides, that’s where you come in, dear Blight. You were always the top student of this proud institution, were you not? You shall be the planner, I shall be the raw muscle, and Gus the charisma. We will make such formidable, unstoppable force, you’ll see.” Lifting that red rag with the hand not holding her weapon, Willow proceeded. “Now, put this on and join us, dear Blight.”

Amity sighed once. Then again. Rubbing her temples with both her hands she tried to process all that she learned since entering this forsaken room. She looked her the eyes of horror that took over her possessed friends. Raised both her hands in a deceivingly amicable gesture that actually aimed at eventually disarming the two of them. She, unlike them, had a plan.

“Now, guys. Why don’t we all calm down, talk this out? Willow, you could start by letting Luz loose.” Amity spoke, slowly walking towards Willow and Gus. Luz was still swinging back and forth to the point Amity actually began to believe it was out of sheer boredom, the again, she knew the girl had been in direr straits before. Gus’ and Willow’s began showing the faintest signs of suspicion. “I mean, think about it, you guys don’t even have a plan. And I really can’t help you with this one. But more importantly, this isn’t who you OUCH! What did you do that for?”

“BLASPHEMER!” Gus, having just beaten Amity over the head, yelled. The witchling’s strike actually felt like metal as the weapon collided with Amity’s.skull “How dare you, loathsome Blight, mock the brilliance of our design? THOU SHALL KNOW OUR WRATH!”

And, like that, Gus and Willow raised their weapons, to which Amity responded by bravely running in the opposite direction, looking at Luz in hopes of the girl offering her a solution, she just shrugged.

“I don’t know... all I did was activate the glyph and things started escalating pretty quickly.”

Amity thought of her short life. Had she had time to make up for her numerous mistakes? What would her family make of her demise? She, honestly, expected a more glorious death, perhaps even fighting the Emperor alongside Luz. Definitely, not by the hands of Gus and the girl she tormented and allowed others to torment for years, but maybe that was fitting.

She thought of Luz, she hadn’t had the opportunity to confess her feelings to her quite yet and that’s something she’d soon take to her grave. Until then, she would cherish every interaction, every word exchanged between herself and the human.

And then, two thoughts came to her. Although she possibly had just suffered blunt force trauma, this was done through the use of an illusion. A magical spell. Likewise, Luz was hanging from artificially, magically, created vines. Magic. They were all students of magic. Including herself.

Quickly turning around she summoned one of her largest abominations to date between her assailants and herself. Noticing the threat, Willow and Gus promptly shifted targets.

Progress was undeniably made.

But still, she had a job to do, and she just then noticed that amid the battle somehow a fire had started in one of the room’s corners. She had two jobs to do.

The other thing that had crossed the witchling’s mind, directly resulting from those last words Luz had told her. The glyphs. There were still three of the accursed things sitting on that small desk. A burst of brilliance commanding her to move forth. She held one glyph in each hand, admiring the design for a brief instant. It may be a long shot, but she was short on options. She took a deep breath, bracing all her determination. She had to save her friends, all of them, but especially Luz. She let out the closest thing she could think of for a half decent battle cry.

“TILL WAR!”

And she hit Gus and Willow with that mysterious magic. Now, she could only wait.

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

Willow woke up, a weird smell assaulting her face. Her last memories were of being with Luz and Gus, as they went through with the glyph related experiment. She was laying on the hardwood floor, next to her Gus also seemed to be recovering his senses. Her headed ached, and judging by the grunts so did Gus’.

But that wasn’t the most surprising part of the scene. That title rested with the abomination happily waving at her while, horizontally, holding a vine wrapped Luz over its head. She, smiled at them cheerfully. Next to them a small fire raged.

“Hey, you guys are up, thought it’d take longer. Anyway, still hellbent on overthrowing all known existence?”

“Wha… What are you talking about? What happened here?”

“Wait, I refuse to answer without today’s hero’s presence.”

As if on cue, a flustered Amity carrying a witch bucket - not to be mistaken with a human bucket - filled with water broke through the door with a loud bang. She quickly made her way to where the fire burned, making short work of killing it.

She turned around to face the newly conscious duo.

“Willow!” She exclaimed pointing at Luz. Willow quickly liberated the human, who immediately jumped towards Amity, planting a kiss on her cheek.

“My hero. And here I thought I was supposed to be the fearless champion.”

Normally, the way her pale face so easily reddened after virtually any amount of physical exertion was a constant source of embarrassment for Amity. Now, however, she was thankful for it.

“So...” Gus, finally speaking, broke the moment. “Can you two please explain what happened?”

Amity and Luz shared a troubled glance.

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

That had been probably the most uncanny conversation any of them had ever had.

“So, I think its safe to assume that this is some kind of dark magic glyph that turns everyone present, except the one who activated, it totally evil.” Gus said, pointing at the piece of paper on Amity’s hand. The girls nodded.

“That’s kind of like a curse isn’t it? I mean, if it wasn’t then Luz would have turned evil too, right?” Willow continued.

“Humm… Maybe… then that’d mean that the Emperor is cursed, so we could try to look into a way of reverting it... I don’t know.” Luz, rubbing her chin in an attempt to give off her most scholarly look, hypothesized.

“That is possible, but I don’t think it would be worth it. I mean, look what happened today, this kind of magic seems really dangerous. I vote against us looking into it any further.” Amity countered their arguments. The others, after some reflection, voiced their agreement. She continued, looking at Luz for permission. “So… Can I destroy this?” Luz nodded.

Her blood ran cold. As she performed the motions of ripping it a terrible accident happened.

She tapped the glyph. It activated. -------------------------------- @johnnysfire hope an eleventh hour entry is still acceptable

#johnnyspromptchallenge

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endless-vall · 5 years ago

Text

Old friends - Thomas x Isobel (MC) fanfic

Summary: Isobel and Thomas used to be childhood best friends, but lost touch after she moved at the age of fourteen. Now, moving back to Goldcliffe, Isobel wasn’t expecting to see Thomas again. But sometimes surprises turn to be the best things in your life.

Author’s note: I know the ‘childhood best friends’ trope is so cliche’, But I’ve never actually got the chance to write one. So here’s one ~

This is going to be a series (not exactly a story with chapters, but it is reccomended to read all parts for a better understanding of the story). This is the first one, hope you’ll enjoy it!

Isobel strolled through the department store isles, furrowing her eyebrows when she couldn’t find the school supplies she had to get for Zoey.

“Let’s see,” She scanned the shelves in front of her for something, anything to cross off her list.

Finally - a five section binder appeared before her eyes like the savior she needed. At least this trip to the store wasn’t a complete waste of time.

And she was in luck, it was the very last binder on that shelf.

With a victory smile Isobel strode off towards the shelf and rose to her tiptoes, grabbing the binder just as another hand grabbed at it from the other side.

“Hey, I was going to--” She starts to argue, turning towards the man who grabbed her binder a second before she could call it hers, but stopped in her tracks when she realized the figure standing in front of her looked familiar. Too familiar to be a coincidence.

In mere moments, her eyes scanned the charming man standing in front of her, his eyes having a familiar glint she couldn’t put her finger on.

“Wait--” Her eyes widened with realization. “Tom?!”

There he was, her childhood best friend, Thomas Mendez, standing in front of her.

He certainly was much more handsom than she remembered him, but he was still her adorable nerdy Tom.

“Izzy?!” Realization hit him too, and before they could completely process the situation, they both wrapped their arms around each other and colided into a tight hug.

After what felt like forever, not that Isobel was complaining, they finally broke apart.

She needed that hug, if she was being honest, and it seemed Thomas needed it too.

“I can’t believe it. It’s been what... Fifteen years?” Thomas asked, shaking his head and looking her over again, as if he was trying to check she was real.

“Almost sixteen, yeah,” She was barely able to believe it herself.

She knew that Thomas lived somewhere around this area, but she haven’t really given it thought with work, the move, and Zoey on her mind 24/7. She certainly wasn’t expecting to just run into him like that.

“Time sure flys.” Thomas nodded, trying to find the balance between once being best friends, and now barely knowing each other. They were now completely different people than they were when she last seen him - at the age of fourteen.

“It does. And still, it feels like just yesterday we were playing under that pine tree, or sneaking off to aunt Hilda’s house after hours, just to eat some freshly baked cookies and listen to her stories.” Isobel reminisced.

Thomas laughed warmly. “Oh god, you’re right. I haven’t had cookies that good in YEARS.” Now they were laughing together.

“Well, you can definitely keep the binder,” Thomas finally let go of it, and Isobel tossed it into her shopping bag.

“What are you doing here in Goldcliffe anyway?” Thomas asks her, as they started walking together with him showing her around all the good places for school supplies.

“I... Just moved here, actually.” She admits, suddenly catching herself blushing a little.

Why was she blushing at him?

It was just Thomas. they were friends since day one at the first grade.

“You moved back here?” Thomas didn’t hide the smile forming on his face.

“Yeah, my daughter, Zoey, got accepted to Bernhardt, and since it’s such a good school, I decided it was worth to move back. Although being back here does bring back all kinds of memories.” Isobel got lost in thought for a moment.

“Good memories, I hope?” Thomas peeked at her and caught her off guard. He was almost blushing himself, as if he was asking some unspoken question.

“Oh, definitely good, of course. But also some sad ones like having to move, and say goodbye to all my friends and start over someplace else.” Isobel explained.

When she was fourteen, her father got a job offer in a different town, far away from Goldcliffe, and the entire family moved. She haven’t really been to Goldcliffe since, but when she met Guy at College they hit it off by striking a conversation about Goldcliffe, and how they never met back there.

Thinking about it now, Isobel was glad she never ran into Guy while she lived at Goldcliffe, and that couldn’t ruin her memories of this place.

“Well, it looks like you did a wonderful job. You say you have a daughter, Zoey? Right? I bet she’s as brilliant as you are.” Thomas throws another thing from Isobel’s shopping list into her bag, and ticks some off his list as well.

“She’s much more briliant than I ever was. She’s honestly the best thing in my life.” Isobel beams whenever she talks about Zoey, and this time is no different.

“I noticed you have a school supply list too.” She motions to his own list, her tone asking...

“Her name is Luz. She’s the light of my life, as well. I guess we still have things in common, even after all this time.” Thomas answers, still smiling although his eyes tell a little different story, but Isobel isn’t sure if she should pry.

“So you moved here with your...” But here came the question, and Isobel wasn’t able to catch herself before she sighed.

For some reason it was too easy to be herself around Thomas, even if she haven’t seen him for more than a decade.

“Her father is out of the picture... It’s just me and her. Been that way for a while now... Four years, actually.” Isobel explains, her shoulders shrugging.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m a single father too, actually.” He puts a hand over her shoulder. Somehow comforting, even though she should probably be the one comforting him.

“But Soledad-” Isobel starts to protest. Guy was a horrible person, but Soledad seemed to be an incredible woman. Isobel was actually present at Thomas and Soledad’s wedding, although she never really got to talk to him past congratulating him.

“Passed away... Two years ago. Well, passed away is putting it mildly. Killed is more appropriate.” Thomas’s expression turns angry, angrier than Isobel had ever seen him.

“Killed??” Her mouth hangs open.

“It was a car accident on paper. Unofficially? Her brakes failed. Manufacturer defect.” He explains.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry, Thomas.” She reaches for him. Now it her turn to assure him.

A few moments pass, they’re standing in silence, as Thomas draws comfort from her.

“How’s Luz taking it?” Isobel dares to ask, finally, barely audibly.

“Honestly? Not great. With my job Solded was usually the alpha-parent. Now I’m struggling to find the right words and Luz acts out in school.

We’re holding it together, but it’s not easy. But I’m sorry to dump this all on you on your first day back.” Thomas shakes his head, and tries to plaster back his smile and change the subject.

“No... No, it’s okay. I can’t imagine how hard it is to lose a spouse. Although I definitely know a lot about struggling.” Isobel resume their walking, her hand still intertwined somehow with Thomas’s.

“Thank you...” Thomas nods, and suddenly it sounds as if he can breath more easily.

“It’s good to have you back, you know?” He tells her, as they finally find the last of their supplies, and head towards the counter.

“It’s good to have a friend here, too.” Isobel smiles at him warmly.

At least she won’t feel all alone in Goldcliffe, and putting on a brave face for Zoey won’t be as hard anymore.

After finally ringing up all their supplies, Isobel turns to look for Zoey in the fantasy books isle.

Thomas is still walking alongside her, excited to meet the little one.

“You know, since we’re both single parents now... We could definitely help each other,” Thomas suggests, as they approach the isle and Zoey comes into view.

“Oh, I’m counting on that. Besides catching up and helping me find ultra-fine pens you’re definitely going to help me with this Berthardt’s crowd and stuff,” Isobel orders, and Thomas chuckles lightly.

“I’m not sure if I can really help with that, I don’t exactly fit in either, but it would definitely be a life-saving experience to hang out with you during those boring parent-meetings.”

Isobel laughs. “We’ll just have to find something else you could help me with,” She winks at him.

“And you could teach me how to braid Luz’s hair, since I can’t do that for the life of me.” Thomas answers, as Zoey finally raises her eyes and notices her mom getting closer.

“Mom!” Zoey calls excitedly and runs over.

“Was this your plan from the beggining? Did you approach me just so I could teach you how to braid your daughter’s hair?” Isobel was teasing Thomas now, raising an eyebrow coyly at him while Zoey zoomed in.

“Mayyyyyyybe” He teases back, and she punches his shoulder lightly. He laughs in return, and then they both turn to Zoey - who’s looking between them questioningly.

“Did you make a new friend?” Zoey finally asks, turning to her mother with sparks in her eyes.

It was obvious to anyone who looked at them from the side to see that that kid adored her mother just as Isobel adored her.

“It’s an old friend, actually. Zoey - I want you to meet Thomas Mendez. He was my best friend, actually, back when I lived here.” Isobel introduces them.

“Hi Zoey.” Thomas offers his hand.

Zoey shakes his hand lightly before taking a step closer to her mom. “Hi Thomas.” She says politely.

God, he wished Luz would be so polite when meeting new people. Luz would’ve offered Isobel to sword-fight her by now, or something along those lines.

“How do you like Goldcliffe so far?” He asks Zoey.

Zoey’s eyes sparkle before she starts blabbering. “Well, I have’t seen much of it, yet, but it’s huge! And my mom used to live here so it has to be awesome. Also, my new room rocks! I can’t wait to find cool things to decorate it with. Ooooh, and also-”

Isobel sends a questioning look at Thomas, but instead of looking bored or regretting he asked - Thomas listens contently and carefully. He nods and smiles along to Zoey’s story and Isobel heart warms.

She was happy to reconnect with Thomas, but she was even more happy that him and her daughter were getting along.

She had a feelings this move was going to be good for them. For all of them.

#playchoices #mother of the year #moty #thomas mendez x mc #thomas mendez #zoey day #isobel day #luz mendez #fanfic #my writing

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takingcourage · 6 years ago

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Baby Steps

Pairing: Thomas Mendez x MC

Word Count: 1,400

Summary: After an awkward end to lunch, Thomas and Allison each try to decide what comes next.

Note: It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written anything other than student feedback. Why did I decide to become a college instructor, again? In my attempts to get back into the flow of writing fiction, I decided to try something new. I’m still finishing up the next chapter of Additions, plus some drabble requests for Jaime x MC, but here’s a little bit of Thomas Mendez in the meantime.

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Sighing out the mantra, Allison yanked down her sweaty ponytail and flung the hair tie toward the cup holder. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the band slipped through the sliver of space between the center console and the seat. Biting back the oath that was ready on her tongue, she slid a hand into the crack.

Nothing but faux leather and upholstery.

“Great. Just great.” Mumbling, she glanced up just in time to slam on her brakes. A minivan swerved in from the entrance ramp, oblivious to her proximity.

Allison eased her foot back onto the gas and switched lanes. The vehicle lurched forward, its motion doing little to quell the growing pit in her stomach.

“I've got to get this out of my system before I pick up Kira.” But even with her newfound determination, the feeling didn’t go away.

She liked Thomas. Really liked him. He was quickly becoming one of the best parts of this new life she and Kira were building for themselves in Goldcliffe.

Given her history, it was little wonder that she found him so compelling. He was kind and considerate and driven: the kind of many who had integrity written over every inch of his body. And boy, is that body gorgeous, she reflected as the image of his toned physique resurfaced for the hundredth time.

But beyond all of that, he was loyal and genuine. Just the way he talked about Luz was proof of his commitment to family. Seeing their interactions had left no doubt as to his devotion and stability. Allison’s stomach rolled again, though this time it had nothing to do with the movement of the car.

She sucked her lower lip between her teeth, trying to ignore the flash of heat that came with imagining what might have happened if Thomas hadn't pushed her away. It had been years since she'd been kissed -- even longer since she'd felt safe in a man's arms the way she had in his today.

For half a second, she'd been certain he was going to follow through. The quivering breath, the way his pupils had dilated to darken his eyes, the slight parting of those pink, inviting lips...

But the kiss never came. He'd panicked and grown flustered in a way that somehow made her care about him even more. Did I overstep again? Her fingers clenched the wheel at the intrusive question.

He'd assured her once that she hadn’t strayed beyond acceptable boundaries, but that conversation felt like ages ago. In the time since, she’d flirted with him during every interaction, and he’d always returned the attention.

When he realizes I’m flirting in the first place, that is, she thought with a faint smile.

Whatever they’d shared during these past weeks, it had been enough to make her believe he was ready for more than just friendship. Clearly, something had changed today.

Pulling into the museum lot, she glanced at her phone. There were still a few minutes before she needed to head inside for Kira.

Hey, she typed, mouthing the words as her thumbs tapped them out on the tiny keyboard. Thanks again for lunch and for the run. I had a great time. We should do it again sometime, but only if you want to. I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.

She grumbled and deleted all but the first two sentences.

Next time you need someone to vent to, I'm here.

That wasn’t quite right either.

I really enjoyed today. Sorry for the awkward moment at lunch. Can we forget it happened?

The backlight dimmed as she continued staring at the words. What if bringing it up only made things worse? The last thing she needed right now was to pressure him and push him away any further. He would reach out to her when he was ready.

Mind made up, she tossed the phone into her purse, tugged the strap over her shoulder, and ventured inside.

_____

A mass of curls fell into Thomas’s eyes as he thumbed the stack of papers. He shoved the damp hair back into place with one hand, the other still searching for the cover page of the document he and Allison had retrieved from the floor. He’d been too distracted earlier to ensure that everything had made it into the pile in the correct order. Locating the appropriate page, he pulled it out and turned it face down on the desk.

It was busywork, but Thomas didn’t mind. His thoughts were too muddled to be very much use at the moment.

Soledad had always taken his pensive moods in stride. Most of the time, she’d iron the creases from his brow with a kiss before fiercely talking him out of whatever metaphorical hole he’d fallen into. She’d had a knack for driving his worries far away.

Solving problems had always been better with her. Not simpler, per se, but her methods were always more effective than his own.

It was just one of many struggles he’d been working through in the past two years. As ridiculous as it felt to admit, he’d spent a lot of that time wondering if he was still qualified to handle life on his own. After all their years of doing things together, feeling complete as an individual had become nearly impossible.

No wonder I miss her, he mused, finally coming to the end of his collating.

And he did miss her. Terribly. There were days when it physically ached to think of her.

Papers in order, Thomas sat far back into the chair. In spite of the generous cushion, his posture was rigid. The question he'd been avoiding swept back into his consciousness: What if it’s more than that?

What if he’d spent the past two years missing more than just his wife’s presence? What if the loss of companionship was every bit as visceral as the loss of her?

Until Allison, he hadn’t realized how much he craved easy conversation and camaraderie.

...Among other things, his mind wandered, eyes pulling shut again at the very recent memory of having her in his arms. On a physical and emotional level, everything had told him to kiss her. Mentally, he’d been forced to hold back.

He’d always thought that kissing another woman would make him think of kissing his wife, but today had brought him close enough to see that it simply wasn’t true. In fact, it was the stark difference between the two women that had ignited his panic.

For two years, it had been clear that he couldn’t even imagine kissing someone who wasn’t Soledad. No other woman had appeared in his dreams. No one else had been the object of his longing in the sleepless nights that had haunted him for the first year. She was the only one who ever sprang to mind when he saw other couples kiss, trying to remember what it had been like to indulge in that simple pleasure himself.

Until Allison, just the thought of kissing anyone else was unfathomable.

In the encroaching solitude of the empty office, he could finally come to grips with what had happened that afternoon. He’d been inches away from kissing another woman and he’d wanted to follow through. That fact alone had been enough to drive him away from her.

The poor woman had to wonder what was wrong with him.

Thomas’s eyes roamed over the desk before settling on his phone. As he stared into space, he composed a message in his head. Allison, I'm sorry for how things ended today. I feel like an idiot. Thanks for being patient with me.

Still, that didn’t quite capture everything he had to say.

No matter how much I like you, I can’t promise that this is ever going to get easier. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to move on. I don’t know if moving on is even possible.

Though he was starting to hope that it was, he wasn’t sure he felt ready to make such an admission to Allison. Even if he had been, it wasn’t the kind of sentiment to express through the cold, impersonal medium of a text.

He rose to get a drink of water, ignoring the phone on the other side of his desk.

That particular conversation would have to wait for another day.

#playchoices #playchoices fanfiction #mother of the year #moty #thomas mendez #thomas mendez x mc

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dillydedalus · 6 years ago

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october reading

books. i read ‘em.

the bird king, g. willow wilson ugh i’m disappointed with this - i expected it to be more about the fall of granada, rather than just taking that as a jumping-off point for a very slow story of how fatima (concubine to the last andalusian sultan) and her bff hassan (magical mapmaker) escape from lady inquisitor luz to a magical/legendary island. that’s more of an expectation mismatch, but i also found this just a bit boring and confused, didn’t like the characters or the emotional moments. 2.5/5

lanark: a life in four books, alasdair gray y’all... this is a weirdo pomo mess which gray himself describes as ‘a portrait of the artist as a frustrated young glaswegian’ (instant love), it’s about duncan thaw growing up in post-war glasgow (not a good place) and lanark, sans memories, finding himself in the city of unthank (probably The Bad Place), where the sun hardly ever shines and people grow dragonskin, but really it’s about art & cities & politics & scotland & hell. it’s completely nuts & has a chapter where the protagonist meets the author in the process of writing and there’s a chapter-long sidebar detailing all instances of plagiarism in the book (incl. the lack of influence from robert burns, more sinister than all plagiarism). it’s a bit flabby in places & could stand to be a 100-200 pages shorter, but damn. 4/5

the memory police, yoko ogawa (tr. from japanese by stephen snyder) very atmospheric, quietly disturbing magical realist(ish) book about an island on which sometimes certain things (birds, roses, ribbons, fruit) just disappear, with the inhabitants losing their memories and emotional connection to the thing. the disappearances seem to occur randomly and on their own, but the memory police makes sure that no disappeared items remain and that those who can still remember also... disappear. really liked the quiet slow dread building here, the mysterious workings of the disappearances, and the interplay between the main story and the novel the narrator is writing while worrying whether words too will soon disappear. 4/5

trick mirror: reflections on self-delusion, jia tolentino collection of nine essays about roughly, life & self-image & politics in the social media age (and its predecessor, the reality tv age), gender politics and uh scams and self-delusions. many of these essays felt vaguely like things i’d read before online (& i might have) & didn’t offer anything completely new but i liked the examinations of big wedding culture, and her take on the ‘difficult woman’ archetype of millenial feminism. tolentino in general is an engaging, sharp writer, and even when she’s writing about familiar topics, she often puts an interesting spin on things. 3.5/5

here in berlin, cristina garcía and the anglophone-berlin-books saga continues. a cuban-american woman with a mild personal crisis goes to berlin (as people w/ personal crises so often do) and there collects a variety of snapshot stories from berliners (by birth or choice or accident), mostly about world war 2 and the latin american diaspora in berlin. some of the snapshots are p interesting or bizarrely funny but mostly they retread the same ground (history, trauma, collective & personal responsibility, commemoration etc) without really saying anything new (except the connection garcía makes between the nazis and south american dictatorships). there’s also a pretty annoying attempt to create authenticity by peppering in german words and phrases which sometimes aren’t even appropriate or spelled correctly* (get a german proofreader you cowards i’ll do it for free... like wtf is ‘volkenbrot’). 2/5 *i ordered it used and got an ARC, so maybe some of these issues were fixed for the final version but lmao. volkenbrot.

wilder girls, rory power this is annihilation as YA, set on an island called raxter where a mysterious illness called the tox has taken over, transforming the wilderness, the animals (deers grow canines y’all), and most of all the girls at raxter boarding school. the narrator’s eye has fused shut & something is growing under it, her friend has grown an extra spine, other girls have gills or claws. less fortunate girls (and most of the teachers) just die. there was a lot i liked about this, especially the tox and the ambivalent relationships the girls have to their changed bodies, but the last third just... eh. also, like, i like tumblr monster-girl poetics as much as the next person, but this is really overdoing it. 2.5/5

nach mitternacht (after midnight), irmgard keun KEUN HYPE TRAIN!!! this one’s super interesting because it’s the first novel keun wrote in exile, published 1937 and set at around the same time. the protagonist, sanne, is a naive and politically uneducated 19-year-old who is repeatedly & very dramatically confronted with the political reality she lives in, first when her aunt denounces her to the gestapo and later when her boyfriend franz is arrested. for most of the (very short) novel, sanne is observing and not quite understanding the increasing legal discrimination against jews, culture of paranoia and denouncement, and glorification of fascist ideology, which makes for a very disturbing reading experience, especially with the reader’s retrospective knowledge, but the climax is truly nightmarish & devastating. 4/5

children of god, mary doria russell the sequel to the sparrow, which i read & loved earlier this year. in this one, emilio sandoz, still in recovery from the trauma of his first trip to the planet rakhat, is forced to return there (bc the pope thinks it’s god’s will lol) and finds the planet changed after decades (space travel makes time weird) of revolution and civil war. i liked this but it’s not as good as the sparrow, the characters (except my man emilio) aren’t as interesting & well-developed and the dual timeline structure isn’t as well-executed but hey. there’s some closure for emilio & that made me hella emosh. 3.5/5

the wilful princess & the piebald prince, robin hobb a novella telling the true (?) story of charger farseer, the piebald prince, a historical figure that has great influence on the six duchies of fitz’s time, especially regarding the treatment of the witted (people who can magically bond with aninmals) and how fitz is framed & reviled as the ‘witted bastard’. this was cool & i enjoyed how it twists the story, but it’s not worth reading if you haven’t read the main series. 3/5

the inheritance, robin hobb/megan lindholm collection of short stories by hobb under her two pseudonyms - i mostly skipped the lindholm ones (sorry), but the three hobb ones were really really good. the first is about the first expeditions into the rain wilds (i love the cursed shores so much & wish there was a full trilogy about the first settlers there), the second is about bingtown & wizardwood, the third is about how sometimes you gotta kill your abusive ex & if you’re lucky, your cat will help you do it. it’s great & the cat is called marmelade. 4/5 for the hobb stories only

unholy land, lavie tidhar alternate history + multiple realities + high-concept pulp - lior tirosh, a pulp author (it’s meta) returns to his homeland, the jewish state palestina, established in east africa in the early 20th century, and there becomes involved in... rival plots to destroy/stabilise the borders between the worlds, not only between this alternate one and our real one, which tirosh seems to occasionally slip into, but all the million others, including one where the moon broke. love the concept, but this is so vague & confusing on so many points and the ending so abrupt that i was left kinda frustrated & unsatisfied (also bc we never find out much more about the world where the moon broke). 3.5/5

tigermilch (tiger milk), stefanie de velasco german ya book about two teen girls growing up in a poor neighbourhood in berlin. nini’s father is absent, her mother depressed, while jameelah’s father died in iraq and her mother is worried that they might be deported, and their bosnian friend amir’s sister is dating a serb. it’s some pretty harrowing stuff & it’s good to see Issues (TM) addressed in german ya in a way that doesn’t feel super didactic & preachy, but ultimately i’m really not the target audience here. 3/5

sea monsters, chloe aridjis

weirdo brainy dreamy novella about a girl in 80s mexico running away from mexico city to the beach because she’s looking for ukrainian circus dwarfs (???). i liked a lot about this (atmosphere, poetic & mythical allusions, a lot of the writing, the depictions of mexico city and the weird beach culture are both really cool) but a lot of the time this was so dreamy that i just kinda zoned out. 3/5

i am currently reading emma by jane austen bc i forgot about my monthly austen project until the last few days of the month lol & one of the hugo long list anthologies. the one with the cool fox on it.

#the books i read #long post

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virtuissimo · 6 years ago

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Pride by Ibi Zoboi (Review)

This book is a modern retelling of the Jane Austen’s seminal classic Pride & Prejudice. Zuri Luz Benitez is a black Haitian-Dominican teenager in her senior year of high school whose identity is constructed around her life in Bushwick, a neighborhood with a tight community that is going through aggressive gentrification. Across the street, in one of the new gentrified houses, the Darcy family moves in, including twins Ainsley and Darius, two rich private-school boys sticking out like a fish out of water.

Zoboi’s adaptation creates amazing parallels when compared one-to-one with P&P, but it can’t hold its own very well. The writing is a simplistic and the characterization for most of the named characters is extremely one-dimensional. I was taken a bit by surprise when I found it in the youth section, and the simple writing makes me confused about the age of the intended audience. In any case, I didn’t have a bad time reading this, but I was expecting a lot more than I got.

To expand a little on the intended audience, I think my confusion is mostly because of the conflicting styles. On one hand, Zoboi’s prose is very simple and almost hamfisted in how she handles her characters and story. Other than some nice and age-appropriate poetry from Zuri herself, the rest of the book isn’t very elegant in writing quality. So I said to myself, ok I found it in the youth section. It’s intended for a younger audience. However, all the central characters are in their senior year of high school, and there are numerous allusions to sex and cusses that I’m not sure would fly in middle fiction. I think those who are in this reading level will find the characters too old and teenagery, while those who are the main character’s ages will find the prose to be lacking. Zuri in specific is a voracious reader, and she herself would not have the patience to enjoy reading this book which is far below her reading level.

It’s easier to read this book for what it’s supposed to be saying rather than what it is saying, if that makes any sense. For instance, Darius when he first shows up is quiet and doesn’t offer much information about himself, but he also wasn’t very rude or belligerent upon first impression. I know “prejudice” is half the thing, but Zuri really jumps the gun and kind of started the whole feud in the first place. It just wasn’t that believable that he was some jerk who deserved her hatred like it was with Elizabeth Bennet, and similarly it wasn’t very believable when she later learns that she just misinterpreted his social awkwardness.

Also, I thought it was interesting that the title removed the “prejudice” when to me that seemed like a much bigger aspect of this version than in Austen’s work. For instance, Darius makes a number of disparaging remarks about Bushwick and its “ghetto” people, but even before he makes these remarks Zuri already “hates” him based on stuff she made up about him in her head. And then later, when they begin to get closer, she actually never confronts him about his prejudice and just. Forgives and forgets.

She also forgives and forgets when it comes to Ainsley and Janae. This bothered me a lot more than some of my other nitpicking because it actually changes one of the important themes of P&P. Not that Zoboi doesn’t have the right to alter thematic elements—she absolutely does! But the theme of family and the fact that Zuri would do ANYTHING for her sisters is told to the reader through a lot of exposition, but we don’t actually see it. The moment in the car when she finds out that Darius split up Ainsley and Janae is really representative of that for me. She got angry in the moment, but she never actually investigates to find out WHY he did it like Elizabeth in P&P. On that note, later on when she forgives him, she never asks him to account for it again.

In fact, character motivation and appropriate emotional buildup was a recurring issue in this book. Nothing hit quite like I think Zoboi intended them to.

The talk on gentrification and class difference is good tho. Perhaps incomplete, but there’s only so much space. They really show how class plays a role in a variety of different circumstances and scenarios, and I think Zoboi succeeds here where others have failed.

Some of the parallels that I liked:

- Warren and Colin took me OUT when they first appeared. You can really see what Zoboi thinks about Mr. Wickham and Mr. Collins from the original lol.

- The tour of Howard instead of touring the Darcy home was very interesting to me. I think it was a great introduction to how she wasn’t expecting her world to expand so much, and that there’s a lot of different experiences in the world that she’s missing, and she gets introduced to this idea by people who AREN’T Darius and Ainsley. I really liked that.

- The leopard print and “inappropriate dress” that the Benitez family wore to the Darcy cocktail party. It seems like a good way to show how respectability politics still play into the modern day, and it added a bit of character to the Benitez family as a prototypical Latinx family that I really enjoyed.

- The Warren and Georgia situation was also a good way to translate this into the modern day.

- P&P: In order to avoid scandal, Darcy pays for a marriage between a 16 year old and a 20-something known scumbag, and this is seen as a good thing because it saved the Bennet family. Zoboi’s Pride: Darius beats the shit out of Warren. I REALLY CRIED, THIS IS WHAT I WANT OUT OF AN ADAPTATION.

Things I didn’t like so much:

- Ainsley x Janae is treated like a veeery minor side story instead of being a secondary plot. One of the big things in P&P is that Jane and Bingley are the prototypical pure love story and they think they are the main characters. Ainsley and Janae are not given much space to breathe in the narrative, and their relationship comes across as an afterthought instead of as one of the principal plot threads.

- The diversion with Darius’ grandmother was also thrown in there like an afterthought. It didn’t add much to the story other than showing that Darius will side with Zuri when push comes to shove. It still felt like it took up a lot more time than it needed to if the grandmother wasn’t going to appear again at the end of the book like in the original. If it’s role to the plot was going to be minimized like that, I don’t really understand why it was included at all.

- Charlise and Colin as a pair also felt out of place. In the original, Mr. Collins and Charlotte weren’t a major part of the story, but they contributed to the narrative that Austen wanted to tell about marriage and the different types of marriages that exist in English society at the time. Charlise and Colin don’t really have that effect on the story at all. Both characters are completely irrelevant to the plot (except Colin in the last possible moment), and they’re only really there to BE an adaptation.

- Some of the plot beats were rearranged. I didn’t mind this so much since any number of directorial decisions are valid so long as the have a positive impact on the adaptation’s goal, but I didn’t really see how they added much.

One thing I REALLY liked was the addition of Madrina. I’m not sure if she’s a reference to something I don’t remember from the text or a completely original addition, but I thought she made for some really interesting moments. I especially loved how much connection Zuri felt with her Orisha worship and that they called her “daughter of Ochun.” I would change NOTHING about this, it was pure and really sweet.

One adaptation I WISH Zoboi had made was to have Zuri call out Darius’ hypocrisy. In P&P, the Bennetts are certainly in a different social class from Darcy and the Bingleys, but they’re ultimately still property owners in Britain. The stakes are different here. Darius keeps talking about how things in his life aren’t perfect just because he’s rich (which is absolutely true, especially when Zoboi starts getting into his experience as a black teenager surrounded by white classmates), but he is STILL not really understanding the difference in experience between himself and Zuri. The thing is, although she’s not right to judge Darius’ whole personality, she absolutely IS right about a lot of his privilege at the very beginning, but she kind of lets that go after a while. Zuri confronts Darius about his wealth many times, but to me at least it doesn’t really seem like she was able to convince him that his whole outlook on life is fundamentally different because of his wealth. Idk maybe I’m grasping at straws here. I just wish that Darius had actually talked about like . trying to persuade his parents to donate more to charity, or doing community service, or idk DISTRIBUTING THE WEALTH. Darius doesn’t change much in the story. At the beginning, he’s like “sorry im rich but lmfao you’re being mean to me!” and then at the end he is like “I am simply a rich boy, I cannot change this” which is barely a difference at all.

Anyways. I really didn’t hate this book. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did, which is why I have all these criticisms about it.

I recommend this to anyone who wants to read a thoughtprovoking discussion on class through the lens of one of history’s most overrated love stories (speaking as someone who loves P&P: yea it’s overrated). Read it for Zuri and Darius, who are totally different people from Elizabeth and Darcy. Read it for nostalgia, because even though I don’t know what it feels like to be one of 5 Afrolatine kids in Bushwick, I Felt that family affection.

3/5 for having great ideas but not such great execution.

#book review #ibi zoboi #pride ibi zoboi #pride and prejudice #p&p #my post

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sepublic · 4 years ago

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Eda and Willow

All right, but @megadan94 brought to my attention that Eda and Lilith parallel Willow and Amity, and I’m kind of caught up over this idea?

There’s that idea that a perceived power disparity separated the two… In Lilith’s case, she saw herself as weaker than Eda. Amity saw Willow as weaker than her, or at least her parents fed this idea into her head and used it as justification, until even Amity began to believe in it… At least to the point where I believe Amity low-key began to blame Willow for not being strong enough to be her friend. Obviously the parallels aren’t one-to-one here, but they never were amongst various character’s compared and contrasted relationships…

Additionally, you have Eda and Willow as being innately talented and powerful, much moreso than Lilith and Amity! Lilith talks a lot about having to work smart to keep up, and Amity of course likely has her own natural skill as well; But it’s not as much as Willow’s, and it’s not enough to keep up with her parents’ incessant expectations, so she really has to invest so much time and energy into being the absolute best. Amity and Lilith, of course, also want to be in the Emperor’s Coven- Well, Lilith wanted to and then WAS, but now she’s left and is open to realizing how much it truly sucked in retrospect. Amity and Lilith both have a lot of genuine skill and talent; But they constantly feel the need to be better regardless, because they’re always compared to someone who’s naturally better…

In this scenario, we have Lilith comparing herself to Eda, competing for that spot in the Emperor’s Coven- And then we have Amity likely being set up against Emira and Edric. It’s a mutual feeling of never being good enough, and not being able to recognize your own worth… Likewise, Eda and Willow are incredibly powerful, although both were restricted by the Coven System, and left unable to really explore their talents. Eda couldn’t pursue all forms of magic, Willow was stuck in Abominations… It’s only by an act of defiance to the rules that they’re ultimately given the chance to explore themselves. Eda and Willow also arguably have a nurturing side to them, compared to others in the show; Eda has her motherly instincts with the Bat Queen’s children, and Luz and King for that matter… While Willow is incredibly nurturing to her plants, and encourages the best growth out of them.

Eda and Willow encourage others to be the best they can be; And you can make that comparison between them and Luz, who plays a HUGE role in both of their lives, too! And while it’s not overt, and possibly more speculation than actual canon… It’s worth noting that even with Willow’s past issues with Amity, she never really brings them up, nor does she get in the way of Luz’s friendship with her. Maybe she might’ve brought it up out of potential concern for Luz; But otherwise, Willow didn’t want to impose her own experiences onto Luz’s, and she wanted Luz to form her own opinions on the subject.

And that’s… A LOT like Eda’s stance on Luz, joining Hexside! Hexside hurt and traumatized Eda, just as Amity did to Willow- But Eda still recognizes the worth of Hexside and what it has to offer, just as Willow knows that Amity isn’t inherently terrible and was a good friend in her own way. Eda and Willow know that Hexside and Amity mean a lot to Luz, and they don’t want to get in the way of that; At least, they don’t want Luz to get hurt. But they also recognize that their experiences may not be universal, that things may have changed- And sometimes they won’t until you put a step forward and let your loved one participate. Eda and Willow have rightful reservations about the institution/person that Luz wants to engage with…

But in the end, they decide that Luz deserves the right to form her own opinion. They don’t want to hypocritically impose their own will onto others, and tell them what to do; Not after going through the same, with Eda and Willow oppressed by the Coven System respectively. And by letting Luz engage with the institution/person that hurt them… It enables Eda and Willow to make amends through Luz, and emerge so much happier as a result! By letting Luz do what she wants, Eda manages to change Hexside for the better, and Willow also does the same to Amity- They both indirectly help the thing that hurt them, and ensure that nobody else is hurt by it either! Eda and Willow just don’t want others to be hurt like they were… And by being emotionally mature and recognizing this, they open the true opportunity to protect not just Luz, but really anyone who would interact with Hexside/Amity…

It also allows Eda and Willow to make peace with a painful past, too! Because Eda DID enjoy her time at Hexside, she had fun with Grudgby and loved learning, even if a lot of her curriculum wasn’t exactly legal… And Willow truly enjoyed Amity and cared for her and vice-versa, just as Bump really wanted the best for Eda, he was just scared by Belos! Just as Amity wanted the best for Willow, but she felt pressured by her parents… One way or another, Eda and Willow recognize the circumstances behind their split as a bit more complicated and nuanced than the other person being terrible- And this applies to Eda recognizing that Lilith was also indoctrinated by the Coven System herself. Which, coupled with their sisterhood and Lilith’s change of heart, prompts Eda to make the steps to forgive her… Or at least make amends.

This is all making me imagine Eda being hesitant about Luz and Lilith interacting later down the line- But possibly not wanting to get in the way of either of them. Because she sees how much happier the two of them are for it, she doesn’t want to unproductively bring up old pains if it only means causing a rift… And Eda knows that Lilith could really benefit from some new connections, and by getting to know Luz, Lilith can respect her surrogate daughter and better understand Eda’s own decisions in life. Obviously I can see Eda being hesitant- But she just wants the best for people in the end.

Then, you have Eda and Willow being ostracized. Bullied, treated as lesser, having their status as Witches questioned; Eda is called the Owl Lady, no doubt treated as a freakish monster, and loses her magical ability as the curse progresses. Willow is called Half-a-Witch and repeatedly bullied and tormented, until she really begins to form a negative view of herself, if Inner Willow’s raging state in Understanding Willow is any indication… Both Eda and Willow have a crisis of self-identity, of how they perceive themselves. But ultimately, Eda learns to overcome this, while Willow does so as well- Especially with Luz’s help! Both of them have also become rebels to the Coven System in their own way… Eda’s reasons are obvious. It took a while for Willow- But after seeing the injustice done onto Eda of all people, fittingly enough… She takes a stance.

Willow rallies an entire crowd at the Conformatorium to vouch for Eda’s release, thereby planting the seeds of revolution (ba-dum tsss) in a way that Eda always wanted to as a kid, but never quite could… Up until Luz arrived. When Luz the outlier arrives, she really changes things for the better, and spurs Eda and Willow to put themselves out there, to be themselves- To believe in old passions and connections they miss, while also learning to grow as individuals too! Eda learns to connect with society again, ultimately leading to her having a hand in making a change through Luz; And Willow learns to stand up for herself, recognize the injustice of Belos, and lead a protest!

They can both be powerful leaders and symbols of rebellion in their own right, so it’s appropriate that Eda and Willow serve as focal points for the revolution’s beginning in the season finale… Eda’s treatment being an example of what’s wrong with the Coven System, and Willow pointing this out to others. Willow recognizes Eda for who she is, and while a lot of this is no doubt influenced by Eda’s connection to Luz… It’s with Luz that I see Eda and Willow potentially connecting with one another more, later down the line. Maybe they have a discussion or at least see the similarities; I can see Eda thanking Willow or feeling indebted in her own subtle way, while being proud of Willow’s rebellion and encouraging it. Eda inspired Willow in her own way… And really, who’s to say Willow doesn’t inspire Eda, too?

Willow’s friendship with Luz shows Eda that there’s a lot Hexside can offer the girl; Interactions with kids her age, to name one of them! And Willow vouching for Eda shows that Eda is a worthwhile person… The protest leads Eda to realize she DID leave an impact, that others appreciate her, and it’s not just Luz or King that like Eda! Even this rando kid appreciates Eda… It was Eda who brought Luz to the Boiling Isles in the end, and it was Eda’s maturity that led to Luz getting to hang out with Willow more at Hexside. Willow appreciates Eda for who she is for Luz, and how this indirectly led to Luz’s impact on Willow; And the same could be seen vice-versa, too! Eda doesn’t care much for Willow, but Luz does, so who is she to judge- Luz deserves to interact with other kids her age, make connections with the students! And it’s all just bringing me back to Really Small Problems, how Eda includes Willow as among being her ‘dumb kids’…

Obviously Willow already has two loving fathers who are married to one another- But hey, who’s to say Eda can’t be a fun aunt to her? The more the merrier… I’d love to see Eda and Willow, subtly if not openly, recognize a shared solidarity and kinship among them. Maybe Eda says that she knows how Willow felt, when Willow brings up past frustrations with the Coven System; And I’m just enjoying that one time Eda pulled Willow’s hood over her head at Covention! Maybe Eda can teach Willow to really revel in and embrace herself, to unapologetically practice self-love, the way Eda learned. In some ways, Willow is like Eda as a kid- But things turned out better for her, than they did for Eda in the past… And Eda, she’s glad and happy for this, that nobody else has to go through what she did! And Willow can show her that, hey, things can turn out better for Eda too- Not just for the present, but even retroactively with old mistakes and grievances addressed.

#the owl house #owl house #the owl house willow #willow park #willow wednesday #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #meta

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friendlyneighborhoodwhateve-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Comma after dearest // A Lin-Manuel Miranda Imagine

Here am I, yet again, a brazilian teenager writing about a man almost twice my age. Anyway, I always dedicate my stuff to my friends but this time I’d like to dedicate this to the writers that inspire me to keep on writing, so thank you: @alexanderhamllton , for being a great writer and one of the brazilian people out there that I (sort of?) look up to. @fragmentofmymind , you are so incredible, I still cant believe you follow me and @lookaroundlookaroundhowlucky , my friend you are incredible beyond words.

My other stuff is here!

Requests are always open!

Word Count: 4030, like wth????? This is the biggest thing I have ever written???? I am not even sorry though.

Warnings: None???? Maybe a curse word or two?? Some (a lot) inacurracies on his persnal life??? And a cheesy-ass plot?? But I like it very much. Also, please take note that this happens before Lin’s Ham days, other than that, have fun.

The italicized parts are flashbacks.

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Lin stared at his phone in exasperation, thinking just what he was going to do about the promise he made to his mother. The text stared up at him accusingly from his cellphone screen. I can’t wait to meet your girlfriend.

You and Lin had met a few years ago through college, you were a STEM major with an affinity for the arts, it had been like that since high school. The day you met was still fresh in your mind.

It was a rainy early summer day in the campus, your mind still reeling from the knowledge that you were finally a senior. This time next year you would be wearing a dress and holding your diploma, hopefully with an internship underway. As your feet carried you, your ears prickled with the sound of music coming from a semi open door. With a will of its own, your body entered the auditory.

In the stage, a scrawny looking guy singed as if his life depended on it. Every note, every riff, every time he opened his mouth made you feel something that had been gone for a long time. There were other people equally as talented on the stage with him, they must be the theater group your brain thought. Suddenly they sang one last note and the stage lights were killed, in an instant reflex your hands clapped, the small bit of their presentation had touched you immensely.

“Who is there?” A voice called from the now lit stage.

“Ah, it’s just me.” You stepped in to the part of the theater that was now full of light, your cheeks already burning from the embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to intrude, sorry, it’s just you guys are really talented.”

Lin was taken aback by your statement; appreciating art was nothing to be sorry for. He was also mesmerized by you, the way your hair was in an extremely messy ponytail, your shirt that had once been carefully tucked into the skirt you wore now slightly askew, the way your bag seemed to be almost bursting at the seams due to the plethora of papers you carried, these little details made his heart feel something new.

“There is nothing to be sorry for. Art is made to be seen and appreciated”

Something held your feet in place, maybe it was the fact that the guy was now approaching you; his eyes had a shine to them that made you want to be by his side for eternity.

“Hi, I’m Lin-Manuel Miranda but Lin is just fine, I don’t think I have ever seen you around?” The sentence ended with a questioning tone, prompting you to answer.

“I am (Y/N), (Y/N) (Y/L/N) from Biochemistry, I don’t come to this part of campus often.”

“You should, want to get some coffee?”

“Why not?”

He remembered how the mutual love for coffee had brought you both together, and he remembered clear as day the promise you made days later, days that had been spent practically glued to each other’s side because neither of you had ever felt such a strong connection to anyone, when you split for the summer.

Do not hesitate to call me at any time, Miranda. I mean it, it doesn’t matter what happens. His fingers dialed the number he knew by heart before his brain even processed what was happening.

“Sir Miranda, to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice on this fine evening?” You had been working on the lab for a few hours now, even though you were in charge it was your duty to set a good example, when Lin called.

“Lady (Y/L/N), I think you might need to sit down for this one”

“Okay, give me a minute.” While he nervously ran a hand through his ever growing hair, you wrapped up the cultures you had been working on and went to your office, once you had sat down comfortably, the conversation continued. “Go on, now.”

“Imighthavesaidtomymomwearedating.” His words rushed out one after the other, turning into an unintelligible heap.

“Honey,” the nickname began to be used after you watched Mamma Mia together. “breathe.” You waited until you heard the sound of his exhale before continuing. “Now please try to speak the word separately.”

“I might have told my mom we are dating.” His voice became smaller as he spoke.

“Elaborate.” The word sent him into one of his famous rants.

“So I was texting my mom about thanksgiving and I said you might be tagging along. Wait let me read the texts to you, first I asked “Is it okay if I bring someone” and she responded with “Of course”, now this is where I got very distracted by a dog passing by and forgot to read the next text because I only replied with “(Y/N) and I are looking forward to it.” But I should have read what she said because she asked “Is it finally a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?” and now my entire family probably thinks we are together?”

His rant was endearing and you didn’t even manage to be mad at him.

“Well, I love your mom and her food; I am not skipping out on Dona Luz’s famous thanksgiving dinner so… “

“So I am stuck with you as my girlfriend for a week? Neat.”

After a bit more of small talk you hanged up. Immediately after you dialed Pippa, Jas, Ari and Renée calling a girl’s night on the following Friday.

“Why the hell did you suggest it?” Ari seemed to not grasp why you had suggested fake dating Lin for a week.

“Because that is as close to realty dating him as I probably am going to get.” Pippa nearly spat out her drink, if only you paid attention, you would see how the idea of being in a relationship wasn’t as farfetched to Lin as you seemed to believe.

Despite being in completely different fields of work, you had been going to Hamilton rehearsals as soon as they began. You were always the first Lin showed his drafts to, so you mingled with his other friends and co-workers a lot, resulting in the beautiful friendship you shared with these women.

You were close; they knew things even Lin didn’t know. They were the sisters you wish you had growing up instead of the girl who didn’t even acknowledge your existence. Your family relationships weren’t that great, so the Miranda household had taken to “adopt” you during holidays and such.

“I know you really like him, so we are letting you go with two conditions: the first is you let us pack your bags, God knows you would probably spend the week in pajamas otherwise.” You let out a surprised “what’s wrong with pajamas?” “And the second condition is that you must tell him how you feel.”

“Why must you do this to me? What if he doesn’t like me the same way? Everything would be so awkward and I…” I can’t lose him.

“You have known each other for more than five years, I am sure he loves you already.”

They knew how much Lin meant to you, he was your family, his family was your family, if things didn’t work out you’d be devastated. The girls spent the entire time until the trip soothing your nerves, you had some close calls with anxiety but finally the day of the trip had come. The dress Renée had picked out for you to wear hugged your body nicely, the soft floral print bringing out your skin tone in a nice way.

From Sir Miranda

To Lady (Y/L/N)

I am here, m’lady.

To Sir Miranda

From Lady (Y/L/N)

Come up, your lady awaits.

“I’m just putting my shoes on then using the bathroom real quick, can you take my bags to the car?” You yelled into the living room, the sounds of Lin taking your bags distracting you’re a second.

Breathe. He is your best friend. You have met his family countless times. You went to dinner with his mom and sister without him for Christ’s sake. You will be fine just take it as it goes. Things will work out, have faith. The mental pep talk ends just as you enter the living room.

“All of your bags are already in the trunk, Kit’s carrier is safely in the backseat and…” His sentence faded out as he took what you were dressing in.

In all of the years you had known each other, the number of times you wore dresses could be counted in his fingers. One for your grandparents funeral during college, one for graduation, one for the internship interview you had wanted really bad, one for the day you went to pick up the Kit The Cat from adoption, one for his parents wedding anniversary bash a couple of years ago, one for the inauguration of your lab, another one when he asked you to be his Tony date and right now.

The dress was perfectly appropriated for the weather but the girls had chosen a jacket to go with if necessary.

“Lady (Y/N), I must say you look incredible this fine morning.” When he didn’t know quite what to say, the man resorted to the joke you had going on for years, ever since you watched a terrible production of Romeo and Juliet at a local high school.

“Thank you, kind sir.” You spoke confidently despite not feeling the same way. Fake it until you make it.

“You know I mean it, right?”

“Of course, Lin.” All jokes aside, you could always count on him to be one hundred per cent truthful. He was the one person you trusted blindly, if it came to it, you’d even trust him with your life.

“Shall we go then?”

“Lead the way.”

His car was the same since college. You begged him to buy a new one every time this old thing ended up needing repairs but he insisted that the car had too many memories in it to be replaced. Somewhere along the road, memories began being shared to the soft voice of Louis Armstrong playing in the background.

“Hey, do you remember that time we got drunk during college?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific, darling.” You quipped back to the man behind the wheel.

“That one time you ended up jumping into the lake during winter, dragged me with you and we both ended up sick for like two weeks.”

“Ah, yes. That time.” You stroked the fur of your cat softly as the memory played like a movie in your head.

You had just turned twenty, the second semester of your final year at college had begun four days ago and you and Lin found yourselves incredibly drunk already. It wasn’t the intention, it just happened as you both walked to the most significant spot to your friendship, the park that was a little ways from campus.

“And then my mom began ranting about how they are ruining our country and I was like “Mom, you ruined our economy.” I can’t believe she acts as if I am the dumbest person in the world, I got a full scholarship in Biochemistry AND Genetics for fuck’s sake.” Today you were an angry drunk.

“Hey, you are wonderful, intelligent and a lot of other adjectives I can’t remember right now. Maybe you just need to chill a bit.”

“Yeah, I am going to chill.” Your hazy mind locked on to the almost frozen lake that was void of ducks this time of the year.

“Good.”

He had barely any time to register what was happening before you began racing the rest of the way to the water, your linked hands dragging him along. The water was so cold, it felt like little knives against your skin, your breath caught in your throat until air was around you again. Later, after a bit of splashing around, when you were walking back, Lin refused to talk to you. He got really cranky when he was cold.

“You were so angry.” You were laughing at the memory, the look in your roommates face still made you lose it even after all these years.

“I still am, we were sick for so long.” The way his hair face was being illuminated by the sun, the laughter lines around his eyes, his tousled hair weren’t helping you with your feelings. He then looked back to you with joy in his eyes and you nearly lost.

Then you look back at me and suddenly I’m helpless.

You knew just how Eliza felt in that moment.

“Oh, look! My mom is already waiting for us.”

The older woman hugged you tightly, whispering I’m so happy for you in your ear before talking to her son, Luís soon came out of the house to help Lin with the bags. Luz snatched you upstairs before anyone could even say your name.

“So, you and my brother? It is real?” You couldn’t bring yourself to lie to her.

“For this week, yes.”

“I am not even going to say anything. Just be careful, we all love you not just Lin.” Your heart swelled with the love from the Miranda family, they were everything you had wished for growing up.

You were in the kitchen, chopping some vegetables for dinner, when a pair of arms wrapped around your waist. Suddenly cutting the carrots into even pieces became a lot harder.

“Hey there, girlfriend.”

“Hey.”

Truth be told, he was even more nervous then you. He couldn’t believe his voice wasn’t wavering as hard as his heart right now. Lin watched the way your hair (that was in a half-up style) fell over your shoulder, leaving your neck slightly exposed. How he wished to just plant a kiss in that spot right now. He wished to find out the way you liked to be kissed, he wanted to find out which spots would elicit a moan out of you, he wanted to wake up by your side every morning. His fantasy was broken when you turned into his arms, face so close to his that your lips were a breath away.

“So I told your sister about us.”

“You did?” It would be so easy to kiss you right now. A bit of inclination and your lips would be joined.

“And if your mother mentions the way you finally asked me out, just go along with it. I might have made up a story about it.”

“Was it on Central Park?” His low voice sent shivers down your spine.

“Yes, on that bench we sit for coffee.” He hummed in agreement.

“Did you kiss me out of happiness?”

“I could.” Your eyes went quickly to his lips, his did the same thing.

This was happening, you were finally going to kiss the man you loved, your lips had barely brushed when Luz barged into the kitchen.

“Oh, I’m sorry but mom requests (Y/N)’s presence in the living room.” You sent a quick glance at Lin’s direction, praying to God he didn’t notice the very strong blush in your cheeks.

“What was that?” Lin felt like a kid getting scolded under his sister’s stare. “If you hurt her I swear that I will end you, hermano.” He had no doubt of the sincerity in his sister’s words. “Make a move or I will make one for you.”

He watched as you moved among his family members, fitting seamlessly into the crazy bunch that they were. He fantasized leaning against the wall, a glass of wine in his hand: you would wake up by his side, the both of you lazing about in bed (stealing a kiss or two) until you knew for sure you’d be late, arriving at the house you would be to entranced into each other to be of any help

As you went around the table, setting the knives and forks down in their places, your eyes sneaked a glance at Lin. He was wearing that beige sweater that made your knees weak (especially when he folded the sleeves up), his face lit up in a smile as he conversed with his father. Your mind went somewhere else entirely as your body continued with the actions: you’d open your eyes sleepily in the morning to see his sleeping form by your side, the both of you staying in bed until your stomachs cried for food then you’d get breakfast in a coffee on the road.

Both of you were brought back to the present when his mom called him to help with something in the kitchen, when your eyes met; it wasn’t that hard to believe a relationship might happen. You decided to freshen up a bit before dinner, maybe a shower would help calm down the mess you were feeling inside.

Luz was in the kitchen when something her mom said caught her attention.

“Yes, Camila is coming as well. She was in town and I thought why not?” The siblings met eyes, if the girl was here then the dinner would be anything but pleasant. Somehow, along the time you had known Lin, one of their cousins caught an instant dislike towards you that no one could explain. With a subtle nod from her brother, the woman discreetly went upstairs to warn you.

No one could do a thing about the unexplained hatred the girl felt because in public she was a completely sweet girl, making veiled threats and taking jabs at you.

“I am not coming down, Luz. I love your mom but I am not dealing with her on top of everything else.” Your anxiety went through the roof, breath coming out in short puffs. As your hands started to tingle, you counted on your friend to pull you out of the attack before it became too much.

“Hey, hey.” At once, it wasn’t her in front of you anymore; it was Lin’s gentle face. He had a small smile on his lips as he tried to calm you down. “Tell me five things you can see.”

“I can see Luz, I can see my suitcase, I can see Kit, I can see my blue flats and I can see the bathroom mirror.” He had some experience with helping you with anxiety crises, they usually happened after a phone call with either your mom or your sister.

“Now, four things you can touch.” The technique to calm down, despite being slightly overused, worked wonders every time.

“I can touch the bed’s covers, Kit’s fur, my cardigan and your hands.” His hands were in your lap, holding yours reassuringly.

“Three things you can hear.”

“Your voice.” I love it so much. “The tap leaking in the bathroom and your mom yelling downstairs.” You both laughed a little at the loud rambling in Spanish, the sauce had probably been left unattended to and burned.

“Almost there, two things you can smell.”

“The scent of my shampoo.” You used the same shampoo since college, the slightly lavender scent never failed to entice Lin. “and you cologne.” His cologne had the same effect on you that your shampoo had on him, both of you usually ended up with jelly legs after a hug.

“One thing you can taste.”

“Toothpaste.”

“Now, take a deep breath. She is not going to get anywhere near you tonight, I promise.”

Somehow, you both ended up sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, with Kit in his lap. Luz had disappeared downstairs to distract everyone but right now she had just entered the room again.

“Dinner’s ready and unfortunately Camila is here as well.”

At the table, you sat between the Miranda siblings, Lin’s hand holding yours under the table. You thought you’d be nervous but his hand brought a sense of calmness over your soul, as cliché as it was, your hands really did fit into each other like puzzle pieces.

“How is your mom doing?” Camila asked over her wine glass, fully knowing how the topic made you very uncomfortable.

“Probably fine, probably dead, either way, I don’t care.” Luz choked on her drink while Lin squeezed your hand. Everyone knew better than to talk about your family.

A while passed before she tried to get a rise out of you again, during that time you talked quietly to Lin about literally anything, that is, you talked when your mouth wasn’t filled with the delicious food Dona Luz had made, how could you had thought of staying up in your room?

“And your sister got married last month, no?” She just wouldn’t quit. Your sister’s wedding was even more sensitive than your mom, the wound still raw. When you were both young, you’d stay up late countless night planning your weddings, which dresses, what food but most of all, how’d you walk each other down the aisle since your father was out of the picture. That was something you didn’t have to take.

“Excuse me.” You folded the napkin from your lad and placed it on the table while standing up. “The food was very lovely but I have to go somewhere now.” Lies. You had nowhere to go but anywhere was better than being forced to remember so many broken promises. Lin grew angry at his cousin as he watched you leave; Luz was already lecturing the girl while he went after you.

In your haste, getting a coat was the last thing in your mind but it definitely should have been the first. Your bitterness at the situation increased as rain began falling lightly from the sky.

“(Y/N), wait.” Lin was chasing after you, catching up easily due to his much longer legs.

“Why? So I have to go back there? With them? I no it’s not only her, Lin. Except for you and maybe Luz, no one wants me there.” It was your sadness talking but deep down you had always felt that way. Unloved. Unwanted.

“That is not true and you know it. My mom loves you as much as, if not more, than me.”

“She pity’s me and so do you, the poor girl whose father died. Poor little thing, the mom blames her and pushes her away; the sister doesn’t even acknowledge her existence. I already have these feeling with my family, I don’t need more of it.”

You were beginning to freeze, your thin sleeved dress and ballerina flats didn’t do much to fend off the weather. Lin, on the other hand, thought you had never looked more beautiful, the moon shining on your wet hair, the rain cling to your eyelashes. He stood a foot or so away from you, not believing you still felt this way, he knew words would do nothing to reassure you so he gently placed his hands on either side of you face, staring deeply in your eyes.

“I don’t pity you, I love you.” He heard your sharp intake of breath, nevertheless he continued to talk, those were things he’d wanted to say for a while now. “I have loved you ever since the day you stepped in that theater, wearing those pajama pants. I know they were pajamas, shut up; I’m trying to be romantic here. The point is that I love and if I have to spend the rest of my life trying to convince you of it, I will.”

You had no idea of what to do; you had just heard the man you loved telling the tree words you had wanted to hear for so long. Thankfully your body acted on instinc, standing up on the tips of your toes to press your lips lightly against his.

“So, that means you love me too?” His goofy grin was even more endearing now that it was yours.

“Yes, you dummy. I love you too.”

This time it was him who pulled you into the kiss, a kiss much more passionate that the last one, one that reassured you, one that made you feel loved.

“Please feel free to kiss me like that whenever you want.”

#Lin-Manuel Miranda #lin manuel miranda #lin manuel x reader #lin manuel imagine #lin x reader #lin manuel fanfic

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