#i just realized its already been a year. since it came out. meaning its probably been a year. since i watched it.

[tokagrem]

Spiderverse genuinely ruined movies for me im never excited to go anymore because my brains like "its not spiderverse what is the point"

[faeryarchives]

in sickness and in health

knowing that being the only student aside from grim in such dormitory, it's hard to take care and clean the place while you are sick and grim is panicking in the corner crying and asking them if you were dying or something so it's time for your lover to do something! note: this has been in my drafts since last year so if there is a prompt similar to mine it is pure coincidence + this is pretty long

recent fics: when your hopeless streamer gets a girlfriend (ace x reader) & don't lose me, not yet & its you, it always has been you

-‘๑’- tried to cook and clean for you but ends up in a disaster: everything was going well bc they got a list on what to do because they came prepared and ready to help! but it all became blurry but somehow them getting in the kitchen to cook made you rise from the grave (aka from bed) not risking fire hazard today 👋 picking up a broom? they know how to use one to clean of course but it ends up piling the dust near you causing you to cough some more because they keep colliding with grim who is trying to help 😔 they deserve an award for trying their best 👩🏻‍⚖️ while they weren't allowed in the kitchen, they try telling you of stories that happened while you were absent in attempt to help you get better until you fall asleep listening + leaving a kiss on your forehead before going back to their dorm to ask help or tips on what to cook for you to get better 🤍

— riddle roseheart, deuce spade, KALIM AL ASIM, rook hunt, lilia vanrouge

-‘๑’- scolds you for overworking yourself while taking care of everything: they are going to appear at your doorsteps in complete personal protective equipment with alcohol spray and a basket full of cooked food inside ... well maybe most of them would + expect some nagging from them like you shouldn't neglect yourself just to take care of others because that's not how it works love 🤬 ! even though they appear strict they are still soft when it comes to you asking them for something like giving them a hug (they would probably not do it though) or asking for seconds 🧚‍♀️ + reluctantly sings you a lullabye and after you fall asleep they would finally let down their tough persona + sit next to your bed holding your hand in theirs and caress your head, you are a tough cookie right? so go beat the sickness out of your system because they already miss your company

— jade leech, jamil viper, VIL SCHOENHEIT

-‘๑’- having a crisis: its either they never get sick or doesn't know how to take care of someone who is sick 😷 don't even joke about you dying because of your fever because it will just cause more panic please be easy on them 😭 but they will try to ask their close friends on what to do and they will do it very carefully (bonus if you were the one helping them) and they are actually good at it justtt very confused if they are doing it correctly + type to note down any changes in your fever whether it got better or worse 📝 they will shower you with things that would make you feel better - feeling cold? you can find yourselves being wrapped like a sushi with two thick blankets. feeling lonely? he knows he cannot be that near to you so he will shower you with plushies from who knows where! they won't leave until you are up and healthy again even if it means staying at ramshackle and even tending to grim

— sebek zigvolt, azul ashengrotto, IDIA SHROUD, malleus draconia

-‘๑’- gets sick with you: they know you are sick but they couldn't resist you asking for cuddles 🧍🏻‍♀️at first they would be like "no are you crazy, i don't want to get sick" but after the second one, they find themselves right next to you being the lucky plush toy for the day 🫂 will occasionally try to feed you and make you take your medicine and even alarming every 4 hours to drink but will ultimately result to the two of you falling asleep until grim wakes you up around night time realizing now TWO OF YOU are now sick 🤒 took the couple goals to the next level so expect them to be clingy because nothing is stopping them from cuddling you when he is also sick 🧍🏻‍♀️ it ends up with either trey, ruggie or jade nursing the two of you back to health 😭

— ace trappola, cater diamond, leona kingscholar, floyd leech

-‘๑’- does it perfectly: they had done it before and they will do it again 👯‍♀️ they are pretty used to taking care of someone because sometimes their family members would get sick and they are also the one taking care of them + read parenting 101 atp 🫂 being familiar in the field, they could even task grim in the way he would understand like taking note of your temp and check if it is time for your meds while your lover would go and cook meals suitable for your situation and i think they wouldn't really be so hard on you because being sick is normal and you are just human after all 🤍 instead they would focus on making you feel bettter and believe me you ARE SPOILED ROTTEN 🥺 they would probably tease you with things you can't eat but will give you just a tiny bit and will promise to give you everything when you are feeling better 😍 they are the type that will ask your classmates what they have done during your absence and collect your notes for you so just focus on healing 🫶

— epel felmier, silver, trey clover, ruggie bucchi, jack howl

[waughymommy]

MOTHER OR CHILD

Chapter 3

            “Heather, sweetheart, it’s time to wake up,” Jack said as he gently rubbed her back. Heather slowly came to. She realized she was sucking her thumb. She noticed the empty baby bottle lying on the bed and was shocked that she had switched to her thumb while she napped. The room was darker and she reckoned it was probably early evening.

            “There’s my baby girl. How was your nap sweetie?” Jack asked dotingly. Heather recoiled when as her brain registered who was sitting next to her. Her grogginess immediately turned to panic. She removed her thumb from her mouth and pulled the blanket up to her neck. Then she remembered that she was in a wet diaper. There was no escaping this situation. Jack noticed her panic and attempted to sooth her.

            Heather began to sob. “I’m so sorry Jack. I have never felt more embarrassed and I’m so sorry I kept this from you all these years. I understand if you don’t want me anymore.” Her sob grew more intense.

            “Quit that nonsense out right now. Leave you? Are you kidding me? Not in a million years. I will admit when I saw you this morning, I was shocked. I needed time to process it all which is why I called your mother to come look after you. But what I realized was how peaceful you looked. You have given me everything and been my rock. You have never wavered in your support and love for me and its time that I pay it back to you. Not to mention, you looked so damn cute,” Jack smiled as he finished the last sentence and tried to tickle her belly through the blanket.

            Heather looked up and saw the genuine love in his face. Her fears started to subside. She still felt embarrassed and had no desire to reveal the state of her diaper to him. But, then again, she probably didn’t have a choice in that matter.

            “So I have a proposition for you. You can become the baby you so clearly want to be. Now this would mean quitting your job and you would be a baby full time. What that means is that I will treat you just like a two-year-old. You will use your diaper. You would be fed, clothed and bathed like any toddler would be. I even want you to get in the habit of speaking like a child when you are at home. I would be your daddy. Now, whenever we are out, I will make sure that your outfits do not draw any unnecessary attention, but you will still be diapered. Your mother has already agreed to babysit you during the week while I’m at work. And I’ve already found some plans to build you some special furniture so that we can convert the den into a nursery. So how is this sounding?” Jack’s tone was serious, but gentle.

            Heather’s head started to spin. She had no idea what to say. She had so many questions, but she couldn’t utter a word.

            “I know the first question is whether or not we can afford to do this and the answer is yes. I ran through the budget and we will be just fine. The other thing of course to discuss is Amy,” Jack added. Heather’s eyes dimmed. She didn’t think it would be fair to subject her daughter to seeing her mother act like an infant. The offer Jack was making seemed like a dream, but could she ask that of her daughter?

            “You may be mad at me, but I called Amy on my way home and told her my proposal. Her words, not mine, ‘mom deserves all the happiness in the world and if this is what she needs, so be it.’ She asked me to tell you that she shouldn’t feel even the slightest bit of guilt or embarrassment because she loves you so much,” Jack said. “But what that means is that she will have authority over you and that includes diaper changes. I want you to think of her as your big sister. Since she knew that we were having this conversation tonight, she is staying over with a friend.” Jack added.

            Heather began to cry again. Jack seemed to have this all laid out. But was she ready to return to infancy? She would have no control, but how could she say no? It would be a major adjustment and the first weeks would be incredibly embarrassing.

            “So what do you say sweetheart?” Jack asked. Heather sat silent for a moment, but then she wiped her tears and looked up at Jack and replied, “Yes daddy.”

            “That’s my girl. So tomorrow, I want you to deliver your two-week notice. I know you are off this week, so you will complete the following week and that will be that. This will also give us time to get your nursery ready and transition to your new life. And one more thing. Tonight, I’m taking you out so that we can celebrate the start of this new chapter,” Jack said with exuberance in his voice.

            Heather smiled from ear to ear and wrapped her arms around her husband, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

            “Of course baby girl. But before we go out, we need to get you out of that wet diaper,” Jack whispered. Heather blushed. “You better get used to it sweetie, but tonight you can be a grown up,” Jack added.

            Jack pulled out some wipes and pulled the blanket offer her and examined the state of her diaper. “You really soaked this,” he chuckled. “Let me just clean you up little bit and then you can go get dressed.”

            “Um daddy?” Heather asked timidly.

            “Yes?” he said as he ripped open the tapes.

            “Um, can I wear a diaper underneath my clothes?” Jack just smiled. He tenderly changed her and patted her diapered bottom as she got up to get dressed. Jack had no clue when he woke up that morning that he would be changing diapers once again, but it was worth it to see his wife happy. Life was about to be a whole lot different.

[sturniolo04]

The Confession 4 C.S.

Fwb!Mean!Chris x Fwb!Fem!Reader

A/N: I tried something different :)

A/N: If you don't like the preadded name in my stories, you can either add your own name or not read it; it's up to you :)

*Really long you have been warned.

it has been a few days and you have been staying at Madi's house the whole time we havent hung out with the triplets since that last time when literally all of them were mad at you. Which they probably still are mad at you but you all are leaving for hawaii today so which means you have to been with the triplets for two weeks and you couldnt help but think about the deadline nick gave me you dont know how you am going to do it honestly. You sighed out as Madi came in my room

"hey how are holding up jess"

"its going to be so awkward  Madi i really fucked up because i didnt want to get hurt"

"its going to be okay plus Nate is coming i found out from matt"

"you ready to go"

Chris hasnt talked to Jess for a few days and it is killing him that he cant talk to her honestly she truly is his other half like he cant every think of a time besides now they didnt every hang out. She literally is always with him and everytime he was with her he would feel extremely safe with her and maybe it was the way she smelled like vanilla or when he would hug her or just oh my god..

"you ready to go dude"

"hello chriss"

"uh huh yeah give me a second"

me and madi pulled up to the triplets house and you were already immediately ready for this trip to be over even though it hasnt even started yet. Me and made climbed out of my car walking over to the boys loading the van

"hi"

he states as he noticed madi's presence behind him

"hi you"

she states quietly waiting for him to be down doing what he was doing to hug him

"Jess"

"nick im so sorrry i know you are mad at me about chris and everything"

"im not mad at you i was actually hurt you didnt text me these past few days i thought you were mad at me for giving you a deadline with chris"

"no i wasnt mad and i am going to do it"

"tell him"

Nick questions you to make sure you two were on the same topic

"yeah i have to"

you sigh out slowly

"good for you and if he breaks your heart you know i am here for you"

"of course"

"hey"

Nate states as he walks up to the two

"Nathan whats up"

"hey nate"

"i feel like i havent seen you guys in years"

"it kind of has been at least a year"

"what did i miss then in that year then"

"jess likes chris"

"NICK SHUT UPP"

you exclaim quietly smacking nick's arm

"what for real"

he questions you chuckling

"no i dont"

"she does"

" Stop shut the fuck up dude"

you huff out walking away from the two running into you guessed it

"oh my god I'm sorry"

"it's whatever"

he states blowing you off completely walking away to get loaded up in the car with everyone else

"hey you good"

she asks walking up to you

"yeah um are you sitting with Matt"

you reply shaking that encounter off

"yeah you can sit with nick or Nate if you want"

"okay then"

"you guys ready we are leaving"

he shouts as everyone climbs into the van heading to the airport

Time has passed and we made it to the airport and well chris had to sit next to Matt and Madi and he wasn't too happy about it but it wasnt until she asked him to move  that he realized he would be sitting next to Jess

" oh um I can move because I know you're mad at me so I can just go over and seat with Nate"

you state uncomfortably getting up slowly and sitting next to Nate in the aisle behind

Chris wanted to stop her so bad and talk to her but he was mad at her she ignored him for Christ sake his is her best friend at least he thought he was

"whatever Jessica"

he states abruptly focusing on his phone screen in front of him

wow the full first name he is mad at me for real. you walk over and sit next to Nate letting out a big sigh

" so you and Chris"

"not here Nate and no I fucked that up"

"what how"

"it's a long story"

you state closing your eyes for take off as nate places his hand on yours. you smile at the soft contact

we finally got settled into our Airbnb in Hawaii and Matt knows his brother he is bothered by something other than the obvious of jess completely ignoring him last week but this was different

"matt can I ask you something... does Nate like have something going on with Jess or"

"No and even if they did why does it matter to you"

"I mean no it doesn't-  I just realized that I mean I thought they were something is all"

"what the fuck Chri- wait- you like her don't you"

"what the fuck matt no I don't"

he exclaims standing up from the couch they were sitting on

"okay then you don't maybe you should just talk to her"

"maybe I will where is she"

he replies giving in finally regardless to his past feelings

"maybe in her room or outside exploring with Madi"

"well I'm right here so the first one chris "

she states sitting next to matt resting her head on his shoulder

"word"

He states walking into her room which was a few feet away

"nate"

"uh hey what's up"

he greets awkwardly

"what are you doing"

"just chilling why"

"um yeah it's whatever"

"Nateee I couldn't find the the hat you were talking abou- Chris"

you trails off as she spots Chris

" uhh it's okay"

he says noticing your movement after realizing Chris was in the room

"can I talk to jess for a minute nate"

"uh sure I'll be out here with Matt and Madi"

"umm do want to sit"

"actually can we maybe walk on the beach"

"yeah sure"

you nod her head following Chris outside

you two ended up walking on the beach in complete silence. Chris was being weird he was just being completely mad at me and now he wanted to talk to you. Just 2 hours ago he couldn't stand being next to you and now this

"jess are you and Nate"

"what!!!"

you exclaim at the thought

"no Chris just friends promise"

"just asking"

"yeah no I like someone else"

you state quietly

"even though he may not want nothing to do with me at least relationship wise"

"what do you mean you're amazing anyone who wouldn't want you is fucking stupid"

"thanks Chris"

"yeah"

he trails off

"hey so listen I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for being a douche to you"

"no I'm sorry for being weird all week and even now I guess I'm such a bad best friend"

"yeah you are'

he chuckles out

"hey"

you exclaim playfully pushing your shoulder into his lightly

"but seriously I miss you Jess like hanging out with you I feel like we used to talk about everything and when you got mad at me I literally had no one else to talk to"

"I'm sorry and I missed you too"

you say quietly

"why were you even mad at me"

he asked as you freezes at the question

oh my god Jess now is your chance just say what you have always been wanting to say.. rip the bandaid off now. You stop in my tracks and go for it finally

"umm Chris I was trying now to say anything to protect myself but I was only being weird to you and mad at you I guess because I"

taglist

@mintsturniolo @wh0resstuff @dirtylittleheart333 @emely9274

@stayingstromboli @spicymuffins03

[theosconfessions]

Gorm Serneholt for @aniraklova 's The Yasmines Desire BC

Gorm is a 48 year old new york times best seller. for what you ask? well our boy here has a fancy for creating incredibly realistic romance novels that could make even hugh hefner at blush. he started off his career in the adult film industry, as every ny times best seller does, i guess. and his exploits there..and the lack of creative writing really got him thinking.... this stuff is popular anyways but if it had a proper storyline? EVEN BETTER..and then he realized people dont watch his films for the storyline. so he started creating them himself. it was his already present fanbase that helped skyrocket his first book into critical acclaim. was it actually that good? well nope. but hes since approved since then so he can stop using that d to influence people to read his writing. ANYWAYS. how he came across Yasmines BC? well his ex wifey ofc. although their marriage didnt work out they remain amicable..not just for their teenage son..but also because they started off as best friends..and thats what they will remain for the rest of their lives. his ex, evie, was scrolling through simblr one day and seen an ad for yasmines bc come up.she immediately recognized her. not just because anyone would remember a sim that gorgeous but because she once was obsessed with her show 'Talk if you can' with as big of a personality as yasmine has..she had no doubt that she could handle a probably equal big personality of Gorm. Plus she was kinda tired of his lonely self always asking her to wing man. so. :) Gorm has all of his fingers crossed he'll get a shot at love. i mean its been AWHILE. he may write romance but he sure hasnt had it in awhile.

private dl if chosen

[melminli]

drabble w/ modern bf coryo

"Let's get married."

Your boyfriend looked up kinda skeptical from his cell phone and didn't know what exactly to answer to your out of the blue question. Kind of weird since Coriolanus was usually so quick-witted, but well, it was already 11 pm, and he was probably tired. His reaction time was not at its best. "What makes you think that now? Is this another one of your trends that I don't know about?" He asked, taking a very critical approach. That question felt like a trap to him, and he definitely didn't want to step into it.

You just crossed your arms. "So you don't want to marry me?" You accused him and found it a little funny to see how stressed the usually calm Coriolanus Snow was.

He sighed. "...that's not what I said. Don't put words in my mouth." He said, somewhat exhausted, and tried to collect himself. "I just want to know where the idea came from. You never seemed interested in that sort of thing."

Your actual plan wasn't to turn everything he said around, but it was kind of fun. "Wow, so you don't think I'm serious about our relationship?" You threw into the room with a disappointed look on your face. "We've been together for 5 years Coryo, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

The accused moved his hands around nervously, searching for the right words for a few seconds. "Of course it does! I was just - I mean - I thought that - " he bubbled nervously until he realized what kind of situation he was in. This wasn't one of those conversations. Coriolanus rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Wait, what is this? What are you doing?" He asked, confused when he saw a grin spread across your face. "...you're fucking with me, aren't you?"

You playfully punched him on the shoulder. "I am. I wanted to see how you'd react." You finally admitted. "But why were you so careful? You don't have to be afraid of spending a lifetime with me, you know?" You pouted a little, whereupon he pulled you into a hug.

"I'm not afraid of it." He comforted you. "But the way you said it sounded like a threat, so don't hold it against me."

[finalgilmoregirl]

a Jess fic somehow related to winter/Christmas?

a/n : sorry for basically falling off the face of the earth lol, here’s something small i’ve had in my drafts for almost two years. no gender specified, no y/n

i’ll be home for xmas ☆ jess mariano x reader

there was nothing like the holidays. the cold weather, no school, warm drinks, and the beautiful snow that was soon to cover stars hollow. however this year's winter had been hard to enjoy ever since jess had left to california to visit his dad. you understood why he wanted to leave town of course and had been fully supportive of his plans, but now that he had actually been gone, you felt a void in your life. i mean, calls from payphones could only accomplish so much.

you thought you could handle it. its not like the two of you were completely dependent of each other, you saw each other around town almost every day and if you went a few without talking to each other, it was nothing to worry about. now, you wish you savored your time with him, maybe went on a few more dates with him.

you currently remained laid in bed, relishing in the warmth your countless blankets gave you. it was past 11 in the morning and as you didn't have school and your parents were at work already, you were in no rush to leave your solitude. that was, until your stomach reminded you of its presence and you realized you really couldn't just stay in bed all day without suffering from hunger.

slowly sitting up, you sucked in a breath as the cold air from your bedroom made its way to your body. its now or never, you thought. bracing yourself, you ran to pick up a sweater you had discarded on your desk, quickly putting it on to provide you with some heat. and after finding your slippers, you finally made your way to the kitchen.

as you prepared yourself to make a hot drink, you glanced at the calendar on your family's fridge.

december 22nd.

christmas was just days away. you of course were looking forward to it. good food, presents, classic christmas movies on every channel. but to think that you wouldn't be able to enjoy any of it with jess by your side was a bit of a disappointment. you had only been dating for around eight months, making this your first holiday season together.

what would he have gotten you? you couldn't help but wonder. clothes? cd's? something random, yet thoughtful like a candle of your favorite scent? you chuckled at the thought of jess browsing the candle aisle at a department store.

you took your drink to your room as you looked through your closet, deciding to go for a walk, maybe even picking up a pastry at luke's or the local bakery for breakfast.

picking out some warm layers you quickly got dressed, not wanting to leave your body vulnerable of the low temperature of your home.

as you laced up your winter boots, you spotted something in the corner of your eye. from underneath your bed you saw a book peaking out. as you picked it up you quickly realized that it was one of the many jess had been pushing you to read.

it was the catcher in the rye, a classic, you remember him saying as he handed it to you.

you had gotten only a few chapters in, schoolwork taking too much of your time up for you to actually enjoy it, however now seemed as a perfect time as any to continue.

you placed in in the crook of your arm as you placed the essential wallet and keys into your jacket pockets and prepared to leave your house.

you ultimately decided against going to luke’s as you approached the middle of town, knowing that jess’ absence from the restaurant would feel more prominent. you instead bought hot chocolate at the bakery and sat by the window, so you can take in the beautiful snowy view in the moments you weren’t reading.

you couldn’t help but start thinking of jess again. about how he and luke probably would have came over for christmas dinner. you’re parents were actually quite fond of them, your mother fawning over how sweet jess was to you, and your father surprisingly having a few things in common with your boyfriend’s uncle. maybe next year you thought, sighing as you took another sip.

you were two more chapters into the book before you decided to take a break, your hot chocolate being long empty. a walk sounds nice.

you plan was interrupted however, as the moment you stepped back outside, you saw him.

jess was standing on the frosty lawn of the town’s center with his back turned, looking around, looking for you. you gasped and slowly began walking towards him, maybe you were mistaken. he wasn’t supposed to be back until new years!

“jess?” you called out, and as you approached he turned at the sound of your voice, a smile forming as he saw you. the moment you realized for sure it was him you ran, almost knocking him over with the force you hugged him with.

“hey” he laughed, a small tease in his voice at your dramatic reaction.

“what are you doing here?” you asked him.

"they don't have snow in california." you chuckled at his answer, still trying to wrap your head around his presence.

"and i um", he hesitantly added on, glad your face was buried in his shoulder. "i really missed you."

you stepped back an inch, just enough to see his face and the warm color that began to shade his cheeks. his eyes traveled all over your face, taking in the features he thought about every moment he was away from you.

you smiled widely, "are you blushing?"

"what? no!" he quickly defended, eyebrows furrowing at the laugh you tried to hide at his response. "i'm just not used to the cold anymore!"

you let out a louder laugh at that, softly kissing him before placing your chin back on his shoulder as you resumed your hug.

"yeah, okay." you responded sarcastically. then sincerely, "i really missed you too."

happy holidays ☆

[rascalentertainments]

Wish Granted 🌟👩🏾🎶 (Wish Reimagined)

Chapter 6: Welcome to Rosas (Part 2)

Chapter 5

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

"Don't be shy now." Magnifico insisted.

Flazino faked a laugh badly. "Whaaaat? No, no, no. They're nobody! I mean, they're obviously somebody, but they've been here before!" he stood in front of them to block the king's view.

Magnifico raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I don't believe I've seen them around town before." He looked over Flazino's shoulder and noticed the girl in purple looked rather familiar to him.

"Oh yeah, yeah! They're from the far side of Rosas, you don't make a lot of trips there…" Flazino blurted on, making up this story as he went along.

As the apprentice continued, Star had sensed something was off about the king. He didn't seem to have a joyful vibe despite the smile on his face. And what was up with his staff?

The starboy's thoughts halted when he felt something tighten around his arm. He looked to his right and saw Asha's expression had changed. She wasn't happy to see the King at all. She looked as if she was hiding her fear, but Star could see it in her eyes. Asha was terrified of Magnifico.

She saw Flazino use a hand signal behind his back to tell them go, quickly.

"Star, we need to go. Right now." she whispered to him.

Star wanted to keep looking around town, but the fear in her eyes made him change his mind. "All right." He responded. For the first time, he was taking this seriously. He picked up Valentino, who was slightly shaking.

They quietly backed away, careful not to make a noise to alert the king.

"…So they were just passing by. They're probably gone by now!" Flazino raised his voice slightly in hopes the two of them had finally left.

The king's eyes looked up and the two leaving, his suspicions were confirmed.

"Ah, I see. What a shame. I'll have to meet them later on." Magnifico shook his head in pretend disappointment. "I came down see how some of my loyal subjects are doing. You know, really get to know everyone. Speaking of which, I have something in mind for you."

"Um…me, sir?" Flazino asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I've realized that I've neglected my duties as your teacher. Its time that you had more…advanced training." he said with a smile as green fire emitted from his hand.

"Y-you're actually going to train me? I mean, advance my training?" The boy had been waiting for this moment for years, but…the Hamlet mattered more. "Sir, I don't know how to say this, but-" he started as he rubbed his arm.

"No need to thank me, Figaro!" Magnifico exclaimed as he put an arm around the teen and laughed.

"It's Flazino…" He muttered, but the king continued on like his apprentice hadn't even spoken.

"You can thank my darling wife Amaya for that once she returns! She caught on to that and insisted I take extra care of you for our next lesson!" the king explained as they headed back to the castle.

"Uh, sure. But can we make it a short lesson? I really have other duties to take care of." Flazino said as he threw blue powder behind his shoulder while the king wasn't looking. The smoke traveled from his hand and slithered on the ground like a snake and traveled through the crowd.

•◌•◌•★•◌•◌••◌•◌•★•◌•◌••◌•◌•★•◌•◌••◌•◌•★•◌•◌••◌•◌•★•◌

We end up going all the way back to the Hamlet, with the people already out doing their morning routines.

Sabino slept a little later than normal since the incident last night and needed the extra rest. Now that he felt refreshed, he took a deep breath, and was ready for a new day.

The old man hadn't seen Asha yet, but assumed she was already out finding inspiration for sketches. So he went out by himself. Sabino greets a few of the neighbors, one of which was leading some of the livestock to the nearby river.

Sabino waves to the man with a smile and continues towards the water well, but he over hears a conversation.

"I'm telling you, one of the squirrels said 'Good morning' to me!" A man told his wife who putting out the laundry. She rolled her eyes. "Next you'll be telling me a bear when asked for a pot of honey."

"THAT HAPPENED TOO!" the husband exclaimed.

Sabino hoped the guy wasn't going senile at such a young age, not even he heard something like that. He walked over to his usual spot at the well and noticed it felt different when he got there. He felt a hint of such joy from that spot, just like he did last night.

The camera shows beneath his feet there's a very faint glow from the leftover stardust. "What in the…?" He started, but was interrupted by Sakina's call.

"Sabino! Have you seen Asha? I've been looking for her all morning, but I haven't seen her. Valentino is missing too." Her voice had a slight panic in it.

The man grabbed her hand gently. "Now, now. Don't worry, I'm sure she's around here. Perhaps she went a little further in the forest than usual. You know how she tries to find new things here."

"Actually, she left here last night." A kid's voice chimed in.

The two of them looked around for the speaker, but no-one was near. "Down here!" The voice spoke again.

Sabino and Sakina looked down and saw a small grey rabbit looking back at them. It waved its little paw at them and said "Hi there!"

"…."

"Sakina, I fear that I'm finally losing my mind." Sabino said, still in shock of the talking rabbit.

"….We might both be losing it, saba." Sakina responded, the same as Sabino.

The rabbit laughed. He hopped onto the well so they could see him better. "Last night Asha was singing to the star in the sky, and it then came down, turned into a guy, and made us all talk! Then he sang a song too and then he said he wanted to help her save the kingdom, and then he turned into a horse and they ran off to a place called Rosas. It sounds fun!"

The two of them stared at the rabbit for a few moments. Then Sakina fainted.

"Is she okay?" The rabbit asked, concerned.

"Well….I guess she took my request rather quickly." Sabino laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh dear…."

Cutting back to Asha and Star, they continued in the opposite direction. Asha finally breathed after they were far away enough. "That was too close. If he knew who we were…" her voice trailed off, not wanting think about what could've happened next.

She took out her sketchbook and started flipping through pages. "Looks like talking to Flazino won't work. They might be onto us already."

"So then, what do we do now?" Star asked, slightly distracted by the passerbys.

"Luckily I wrote down a little map here based on how Flaz described this place to me. I just hope its accurate enough..." She hoped.

The three of them slowly continued, with Star and Valentino following Asha closely. The little goat kept watch in case a guard or Sabor was near. A quick shot from the rooftops showed something moving quickly across the screen.

We quickly cut to a shot at feet level where the smoke is quickly catching up to the trio, sliding between several people.

Goingg back to the trio, Asha studied her map. "First, we'll need to get to the back of the castle somehow."

Behind her, Star quickly moved out of the way of a woman pushing a wheelbarrow full of stacks of flour. "Whoops! Sorry about that, buddy! Coming through with a delivery!" she had quite a chipper voice and whistled while she worked.

"Wow, she seems happy!" Star noted.

Asha continued looking through her book. "There should be a secret entrance somewhere around here, but we'll have to go further and try to circle around so we don't alert any guards."

Someone tapped Star on the shoulder. He turned and saw a girl holding a few daffodils in her hands. She looked a bit shy as she avoided making eye contact with him. "Um, I'd like to ask for you for a favor." she spoke in a soft, whisper-like tone. "Since you were kind enough to take the last of the flowers I couldn't sell, would you mind giving these to a boy named Safi?"

Star took the flowers and gave them a sniff. "Aw, sure! By the way who-" he looked up and the girl seemed to vanish into thin air.

"No need to be bashful! I don't mind doing it!" Star yelled, hoping that wherever she was, she heard him.

Asha quickly ran back to Star. "What are you doing?! Do you want to get us caught?" she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

Before they proceeded further, a tall lanky blonde stepped in front of them. "Hey, you guys must be new around here! How about I give you a free show? The name's Dairo, by the way." He offered as he pulled a few colored balls from his pockets. He began to juggle them effortlessly in the air.

Asha had completely ignored him. Star on other hand... "Yeah, sure!" Valentino groaned and tried to push him away from the stranger.

"All right, prepare to be amazed!" The tall teen started to increase the amount of balls from 4 to 7 and was slowly walking backwards. "How you like this?"

Star had sparkles in his eyes. "IS THIS EARTH MAGIC?! I LOVE IT!"

"Hehe! Well, I'd like to think so- Whoawhoawhoa! Yaaah-hoo-hoo-hooey!!!"

Dario had stepped on a empty glass battle on the ground and was rapidly going backwards, still juggling the balls. He eventually went so far backwards he ended up falling into a barrel of water. "I'm okay!" he assured the concerned bystanders and gave a thumbs up.

Asha sighed as she let go of Star's hand. "What a dope. I can't wait to get out of this place. No one minds their own business." she grumbled.

"You know, I get what you've told me about that guy stealing wishes. But….is it really that bad?" Star asked in sincerity.

Asha looked at Star in surprise. "What?"

"I mean aside from a few of them looking sleepy a lot, this place looks great! And you're surrounded by tons of people and try something new all the time!"

Asha scoffed. "You can't be serious! My family had to run away from this place because of him!" She slightly raised her voice. "Don't be fooled by all this. That man and his wife are pure evil, and the sooner we take them down, the better."

Star didn't quite understand, but he went along anyway. "Sorry. I guess I was just thinking that this was better than where I was before now."

"How could this be better than being in space where you had the freedom to go where you wanted?" Asha argued.

"Because....at least I'm not alone like I was up there..." Star hesitated. His smile faltered as his eyes casted downwards. We see the glow in his hair completely faded.

Valentino looked up in concern. "Baaaah?"

Asha''s expression softened. She never thought about how Star felt up there. She just assumed he was just as happy in space as he is on Earth. But bringing it up seemed to bother him. Now she understood why he was so excited in the city. Seeing him down like this...it really bothered her.

She stepped a bit closer and reached a hand out to his face. He looked up to her, with widened eyes.

(Thanks to @ishadow246 for this little doodle, it was perfect for this! Just pretend he has a hood here, K? 😅)

"I'm sorry, I-" she started, but then a small cloud of blue smoke appeared in front of her face.

Both of them jumped and exclaimed in fear, Valentino hid behind Star's legs.

(imagine this, but blue)

"Sorry about that, Asha. Magnifico is practically breathing down my neck right now." The smoke had two cartoonish eyes and a mouth, while the voice coming out was Flazino's. "Glad I learned this communication spell last month. I guess he did teach me one useful thing." The voice sounded a bit like he was in a large room with an echo.

"Could've waited a few more minutes, but all right..." Star mumbled.

"Does this mean you can actually help us? I did draw out a map, but I'm not sure if its totally accurate." Asha said as she showed the blue cloud the pages of her book.

It took a brief look and smiled. "Actually, its pretty spot on, nice going! But it'll be a different story once you're inside. The king keeps the wishes in a room at the top of the castle."

The smoke then floated up as it took a look of the path leading to the castle. The coast looked mostly clear, with only a few guards around.

"I'll take you there, but you'll have to be quick. Mags has been acting strange since that big light last night, and he might be getting suspicious." he warned them.

Star and Asha shared a knowing glance. "You think he's talking about me?" He whispered to her.

The two of them quickly followed the blue ball down a path that led away from the town square. They could see the castle getting closer into view. The camera then cuts to a faraway shot where we see something large moving quickly across the rooftops.

"When we get inside, you'll have to be quiet, the guards doubled since last night." Flazino continued. "Once you're in his study, there's a big door that leads to the Wish Chamber, but you can't open it unless-"

The voice was cut off by a large animal that pounced onto the blue cloud. It came down so quickly, the three of them barely had time to react.

The lynx held the ball in his paw and began to squeeze it. "Sabor! No, no, no, bad kitty! Bad-" POOF!

The smoke ball disappeared and nothing but blue ash was left in his paws. The lynx slowly turned his head towards Star and Asha with devilish grin.

It flashes back to Flazino who's eyes were glowing blue until the connection was gone. "Nonono, that's not good. Not good." he started to panic as he began to look for the ingredients in the lab to make another spell.

"Is something troubling you?" Magnifico asked from behind him. His staff was beginning the glow, just like his eyes. "Perhaps you lost touch with someone?" He teased as he pointed his staff at Flazino's back.

The boy was too afraid to look back, but he knew the man had an evil grin.

Jumping right back outside, from around the corner, Amaya elegantly stepped into view. "Well, well, if it isn't the brave little girl and boy, or should I say starboy?" she let out a small chuckle.

The two of them took a step back in horror, with Valentino still hiding behind them.

"How-how did you...?" Asha couldn't even finish. They were so far ahead of her. How did she find them?!

She spread her arms as if she was inviting them in for a hug. "I see you made it quite far. But I'm afraid your journey stops here. Welcome to Rosas, my dears!" The queen's eyes glow green as she finishes.

Star could only said one thing. "Oh shtars-"

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

FINAL THOUGHTS

Wow, its been a loooong time, hasn't it? Looks like most of the fandom was on break and working on their rewrites at the same time, lol. There were times I felt like the dog that was left alone for a few hours and I just went crazy by going into all my friends AUs and then my own stuff. I think was actually shorter than planned.

But yeah, at long last we got Chapter 6! I'll admit this was a little harder to write this one. One because I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and write, and two I've had a ton of art to make on the side when I can. So now more of my characters can get some art! Now for this one, I had A LOT going on, mostly because there's so much I want to tell, and this story will probably be about 20 chapters or less. That's usually the length of my stories, even in non-fan work, so strap in.

So not only did we get the rest of teens (which will fully assemble later on) more of a focus later after Star has his first confrontation with Mags here. We also get more of Flazino, who's got his own storyline at this rate, lol. As you can see he can perform a bit if magic himself, but only small doses. (really playing into the double agent thing now, I'm really surprised how quickly he got fans)

His entire mood between chapters 5 & 6 (I'm sure he's fine…):

(George here is pretty much the base of WG!Flazino so it fits)

And I had to gave you a sprinkling of ship teasing with Asha and Star. I say sprinkle because the ship's gonna get stronger in the next chapters. Chapter 7 will be LONG, and we need a point where Asha can sleep, she's just been going nonstop and might end up like Flazino if she's not careful.

I'll give you some details on what's coming next: Dahlia and the teens will all come back in Chapter 7, and we'll see how she knows Asha. Our first magic battle between Star and Mags who finally meet, that traitor amongst us scene from the original film, Flaz needing therapy and of course SHIPPING!!

As for things outside this chapter, I'm posting a DTIYS challenge finally, so I hope you'll like to join it!

Thanks for reading!

@signed-sapphire @oh-shtars @annymation @chillwildwave

@uva124 @ishadow246 @tumblingdownthefoxden @your-ne1ghbor

@mythartist21 @gracebethartacc @emptyblog7 @spectator-zee

@lazytitans-world @emillyverse @flicklikesstuff @kenihewa

@snackara @wings-of-sapphire @natsuki208

[twst-drabbles]

Idia 6

Summary: Idia’s been gaming for three days straight and Ortho’s had enough. But, since his brother was no longer listening to him, he called you, the janitor, to take care of the job.

(Anyone missed the Janitor AU? I did.)

Idia had no plan. When he saw you, the janitor storm through his dorm and trigger his sensors that someone was coming close to his place, his mind went empty then became full with the realization that there was nothing he could do.

See, Idia doesn’t really think it was that big of a deal. Gaming for about three days straight was the normal for him, especially when you’re trying to grind in an MMO event and empty the store of all its goodies. He’s been doing that for years already. He’s proud that he doesn’t have the stamina of a regular noob.

…well he does, but that’s mostly for the physical stuff. Idia dumped all his stats into fine motor reflexes and a resistance to eyestrain. The only skills that matter when in gaming mode.

Anyways, your presence and that sure way of walking that is only present in the walk cycle of a 3D boss told him that Ortho is finally fed up with him. It’s not his fault that Ortho talked to him while he was in the middle of a battle! He had to give his full concentration because half the guild was missing for a holiday celebration!

…okay maybe it was his fault but Ortho should know by now that when Idia is in the zone, he is in it. Words just do not register if they’re not coming from voice chat. All Idia knows is that Ortho was there, said something about the janitor and that’s about it.

Don’t go looking in too deep why he heard anything about the janitor and not anything else. He can’t help it. All of the NPCs just wouldn’t stop talking about them after their fight with Headmage Crowley. A fight that he saw.

Say what you want but they have a mean grip on them. A nice mean grip… Wait! Pause! Not right now!

Point is, the janitor is coming because Ortho said enough is enough and since Idia has been sitting in this chair with rare bathroom breaks, his legs are absolute jelly. He couldn’t run even if he wanted to and he’s currently grinding for a rare weapon material. He needs it before the rate up ends!

He’s stuck!

And then, his doom slams open the door.

“Alright,” you scratched the back of your head, sighing like being in his room was a pain to be in, probably is, just look at the mess, “No hard feelings, Housewarden Idia. Just repaying a favor to Ortho. Just a small warning: I will be carrying you out of here.”

“…what?”

A potato chip fell from his lips and suddenly you were in front of him. He dropped his controller just as you heaved him over your shoulder like he weighted nothing more than a feathered pillow.

“Huh,” you bounced him and Idia could only peep, feeling the way your back and shoulder muscles flexed against his stomach, “wow, you really don’t weigh that much.”

Idia tried to say something but his tongue was tied up with so many notes he felt he was going to choke on it. The only noise that came out of him was this weird gag and he had to cover his mouth. What did he expect? The first phase of a boss battle always has some kind of debuff or status effect at play.

“And out we go,” and you, of course, are completely unaffected by this unnatural situation! How?!

Wait, but what about his grinding?

“Wait!” The words finally dislodged from his throat and he reached out to his PC, “I have to finish it! I need to finish grinding before the event ends!”

You listened, but you only replied with a “You really just ignored my warning, huh? Too bad.”

No! Why must you be so cruel?!

[oxensun]

The Intro To The Intro to Spirit Work

I have some anecdotes and some advice. When I was a kid, I could not figure out for the life of me why this kept happening. If I was, for example, wrestling with a really stuck jar lid. I could be fighting with it, and fighting with it, trying all the tricks, cold water, tapping it on the counter -- anything. And then the moment I hit defeat, still arguing with the jar in my hands, I would waddle over to my mom and as it was in the process of coming out of my mouth; "Can you open this ja-"

The seal would break. Holding the jar in one hand and the lid in the other, my mom would just stare at me. And that was it and I'd be like oh okay sick, thanks, the universe? This was a regular occurrence for me. It came to the point where I started asking for help out loud even if no one was home to hear me, and usually it was well received.

This is how I have been working with spirits since I was like 10 years old. I genuinely believe it's this easy, and while proclivity naturally varies person to person, I do think this is something most people experience and just don't even realize. When spirit workers complain about how vague and subtle the spirit world can be, this is what we mean. Its like if you asked someone to interact with light. Light rays are just here! Sometimes you get a a glorious view of rays beaming through a part in the clouds on a gloomy day, but for the most part it's just here doing its thing not even taking mind in what I am doing.

Working with spirits is like asking a fish about water. Water is an integral facet of being a fish. A fish struggles to identify water because its all he knows! A fish knows nothing of land as he cannot survive there. Interacting with spirits is similar to feeling your emotions while also being aware of them. They're here all the time and most people do not even realize that it's spirits they are interacting with. This is the bright side, but this is also the bad news at the same time lol. It means that without a doubt, if you're considering working with spirits, its because a spirit asked you to and something in the spirit world wants your attention. Congratulations, you are already working with spirits.

The practice, now, becomes noticing and translating what spirits have to say to you. This is where most people take a wrong turn. This is not something you can force. Think of it as a bird friend. If you move too quickly or too abruptly, you'll scare her. If your emotional world is too tumultuous and you struggle to keep it still and gentle, it will interrupt your connection. Mindfulness, self-awareness, and meditation are the bread and butter of spirit work. If you are self-aware, you can discern, "is this message coming from inside the house? Is my empathy activating? Or is this something outside myself making itself known?" The better you understand your own inner workings, the easier it is to filter out that noise.

Sometimes its helpful to imagine a spirit as a virus in your prediction. Its probably not going to be malicious like a virus but bear with me. Due to previous experience, I had no expectation that an 8 year old would be able to open this jar, but when I reached out with my voice for assistance, it didn't even need to reach another alive person before that call was received. My entire childhood, every time this happened I would freeze in shock and awe. It was weird. According to what I know of physics, it seems unlikely that this would be the course of events. But something different happened that I was not able to anticipate.

I was on vacation with a friend and we were visiting a historical Civil War cemetery in Virginia. As is customary, I brought them to greet what I understood to be the eldest grave, one of a young Black girl born a slave during the very early 1800s. The grave marker was unique, as in it seemed haphazard and makeshift. As we were taking it in, my friend pulled out their phone to take a picture. Immediately something in me turned sour, and they couldn't see me how we were standing, but I kind of grimaced. I wasn't intending on stopping them, I was content with observing. Then I watched them start to put their phone down.

The feeling I had gotten, I can only describe as, seen. The thought came into my head that, "Wait a minute, did they hear me? Does she get it?" My grimace fell and I was left almost puzzled instead. I did not feel personally attached to this thought. It did not feel like it came from inside the house. It carried the same tone as if I was standing in line eavesdropping on the people around me. Their phone came back up and she took the picture and we left.

I am completely convinced that, while unconfirmed because I didn't have any tools with me, we heard to a spirit for sure, possibly the spirit of that little girl. I genuinely felt like I had overheard two people having a conversation.

"Can I take a picture?" "No! This is my home! Be respectful!" "Oh, okay sorry." "Wait you can hear me? Well I didn't know you were cool. Maybe in that case, its okay."

I spoke to my friend about this and they said when they took their phone out, they had felt something along the lines of, "Well maybe I don't have to take a photo of everything we come across," and that's when they lowered their camera. But then they said something changed. I felt a spirit changed their mind and gave them permission. This stands out to me because we both experienced it. We both felt that energy shift. I was not upset at my friend for taking a million pictures, even if I don't relate, so I don't feel this emotion was mine. I didn't feel my friend change their mind mid-thought because, well to be honest they don't do that lol. They are not exactly the mindful type, and they don't really love having original thoughts or using their intuition.

TLDR; This is the part that I am trying to drive home. When you're first beginning, its hard to notice spirits. And then there's the phase where everything feels like it could be a spirit or a sign. Which is entirely possible! But also not every spirit is trying to get your attention or has something to say to you just like not everybody at the grocery store is immediately your best friend. Sometimes you'll bump into a spirit just long enough for you both to diverge paths without even noticing. When you don't yet know what to look for, spirits sometimes can manifest similarly to your own emotions (I'm convinced that's because this is how we interact with our own spirits on the daily, but that's another post). A feeling. The difference to look out for is it's source. If you're feeling angry and upset or sad and hopeless seemingly out of nowhere with little to no prompting, consider if its a spirit. If you suddenly feel warm compassion lying motionlessly on your bed, consider if it's an ancestor's spirit touching you. If you violently get the urge to acquire a ukulele when you've never played an instrument before in your life, maybe that's Apollo reaching out to you. If the source is murky, dig deeper.

My other take away for you is to ask. Literally ask your question out loud. "Are there any spirits here? Who are you? What's your name? Do you have a message for me? Is this tarot card even or odd? Can I take a picture? Will you help me open this jar?"

[qoldenskies]

Yello

I just found your fic series yesterday and I have been seriously enjoying it. I mean, not the psychological trauma part, but just how well written it is. I love how your mind works.

But no spoilers! I read Miner's eulogy, but I've only gotten to chapter 7 of Clipped Wings.

Anyway, I came here to say that since this is definitely before the movie and will definitely affect how the timeline of the show coincides with everything, I've come to see just how much of the movie actually does intertwine with the story, and how it affects how I view some of the scenes now.

Of course, I have no idea when he's gonna get better enough to where he's gonna be fighting alongside them on missions again. And the ark with Shredder and the Krang is definitely coming soon in the timeline of their lives right now. Buuuut, I do expect for us to maybe have some "just cause" because there is no way that they're gonna be leaving the lair anytime soon unless for just for getting stuff for Donnie. I mean, do we really think they're worried about the FOOT CLAN right now? We can act like all that is many months or many years from now because Donnie is definitely not gonna be okay by then.

So, anyway, whenever any of that ends up happening in this world, I like to think about the Krang bus and Technodrome scenes from the movie. In both instances, Donnie loses his battle shell. He protects Mikey with it and has to lose it to be able to control the ship with his bare back. Which, like, ow? Seeing the movie through the eyes of this story, there are definitely a lot of places that just would not exist because of the condition of Donnie. But god.

The extra worry that Mikey has about Donnie's shell? The protectiveness? The question of "are you sure?" before he takes it off?

The part where him and Mikey are trapped in the Turtle Tank? The utter terror on Donnie's face, in the fetal position, the fear of being crushed and suffocated, just like in the closet...

When Raph comes out of that cocoon swinging at Leo? The same way he did at Donnie? Donnie having to his big brother in that state again, with pure rage in his eyes? Rage at his family? Raph not being in control of himself? DOING EXACTLY WHAT HE DID TO DONNIE TO LEO???

MY GOD

There's probably many other parallels and little things that I haven't thought of yet, but that's what first comes to me. I don't know if you already realized the things and even wrote some things based off of the information we have from the movie. Anyway, I just wanted to vent that out. This au has me in a chokehold. Kudos ❤️

THE MOVIEEEEEE YEAHHHH there's been a bunch of talk about how the movie would go in CC since i have no plans to cover it, but hrhghhh i could really see some of those scenes recontextualized by what donnie goes through here. although personally i think raph being kraangified would hit him a lot harder than it would donnie, who wouldn't have the same kind of proximity to it. because raph has a lot of trauma from what he ended up doing to donnie, and doing it to ANOTHER one of his little brothers would SERIOUSLY mess him up. some people have asked if the choking in particular was an intentional parallel and my answer is actually nope, it was just an extension of the whole uhhh canary/breath metaphor, that and all the damage to his chest (even when raph let go he couldn't breathe!!!). but it would hit a lot harder with the movie's events in mind, its the second time raph would do that to one of his brothers!! oh my god he would be so fucking guilty!!!!!!! man...

someone hassss written their interpretation of a part of it, with the idea that donnie's the one to jump into the prison dimension because it works better than leo arc-wise >:3 (hi seasidefantasies im plugging your fic again. still insane about it) you dont have to be caught up to CW in order to read it, it doesnt contain any major spoilers!!! oooh you wanna read it so bad oooooh (hypnotizing you)

honestly since CW is planned to end on new years 2022 i kind of see everything in BN:NY and forward just being pushed back quite a while, not for any huge canon reasons it just makes more sense logically. since everything around the S2 finale/with the shredder just kinda HAPPENS to them, i could see BN:NY happening at pretty much any point they're all out of the lair together lmao, and once some stuff works out i dont think donnie will want to stay cooped up forever, he's gonna be kind of desperate to be "normal" for the sake of making his family feel better even to his own detriment i feel. i cant say anything too big about the changes because there's some stuff with ninpo that hasnt been revealed in the story, but ultimately i dont think it'd be all that different!! the destruction of the lair would be more cathartic than anything else at least lmao

[where-did-the-groove-go]

Okay, so I've been lucky enough to encounter a Volkswagen Thing irl on more than one occasion since constantly keeping an eye out for them in the past couple years, after first becoming aware of their existence as what Ron still stubbornly drives to this day. Actually, the first one I saw was a VERY lucky sighting, but I didn't even realize it was a Thing until afterwards. Because I'd been looking for something that looked like Ron's car. Not THIS:

That's the Acapulco Thing, which was briefly sold in 1974--only about 400 of them--after being designed to shuttle guests around at a couple of high-end beach resorts in Mexico. In retrospect I probably should've realized a lot sooner, because my reaction upon seeing it had been "What the heck is that THING?!" It dawned on me a couple days later, just because you'd be hard-pressed to find any other car that boxy, though a quick Google image search hadn't pulled up any with the surrey top.

(My second Thing sighting was much more as expected and obvious; it even had a decal plastered on its side which read "The Thing".)

Several months later, thanks to the Boss Accountant showdown being posted here, I found out that the Thing is a relatively rare car. Which prompted me to spend a few days fixated on reading about them. Then I was finally able to put a name to the Acapulco variant.

Something else I learned... Turns out that if you're anywhere near LA and you see a Thing that looks like Ron's, it almost definitely is.

(I say "near LA" only because I doubt Ron is doing any serious roadtripping in it these days.)

A bit of backstory: the Thing was advertised as a fun car. A beach cruiser, a safari car. Aimed at surfers and hippies and other adventurous types. It's a convertible. The windshield folds down. The doors can be taken off.

That's not the impression I initially had of the Thing, and perhaps with good reason: Ron's is a bit unique even among Things. For one, it has the less common factory hardtop on it, instead of the convertible one. Additionally, in 1974, black was not a stock color for Things. They only came in colors suitable for 1974: orange, yellow, white, and avocado green. Which means that more than likely, Ron specifically wanted his black (because of course he did), and would've had to go out of his way to get it repainted or find one that had already been repainted. A full repainting job is no small feat for a Thing because a lot of the metal is exposed inside the car, meaning that everything has to come out of it to have the interior repainted--and we can see that Ron's has.

Anyway, I just think that makes it all the more poetic. Not only does Ron's car reflect his personality in being "a little bit out of the ordinary", but his black utilitarian ride is a brightly colored beach-mobile in disguise. Nothing more fitting for a guy whose crisp shirts and ties and slicked-back hair and quiet demeanor would never belie it now but one of his formative experiences was spending the 1960s surfing.

So if you're ever feeling sad, just remember that Ron is driving the same car as the Acapulco Thing.

[bayfics]

Sweetest Lie

Description: What's a girl gotta do to keep her crush close to her at all time? Pretend that you're okay with being just friends of course.

Paring: Song Mingi x OC (College AU)

Disclaimer: This is a first person-pov. Girl is a blondie. She's naive and witty and everything but your typical strong-minded girl. Don't come at me.

Word Count: 3,394

Ch. 1 (Was supposed to have this as a one-shot, but it kept getting longer so now I have to do a second chapter)

——————————-

Song Mingi. He’s entering through the door. 

Song Mingi? Why is he coming towards me? 

Song Mingi!? Why is he kissing me right now!? 

My eyes snap open the moment my knees hit the floor, a loud thud resonating in my room. “Shit.” I mumbled as the pain from my knees began to do its job. It was only a matter of seconds when one of my roommates was bound to get alerted by my falling from the bed.  

“Eunhae?”  

Told ya so. 

“Eunhae, are you okay?” Sarang, my long-time friend inquired from behind the door. We first met in middle school, just two nerds trying to stay away from mean little bitches who were too insecure about themselves to admit it, so they bullied other girls. I guess you can say that was how we became so close: finding solace in each other.  

I hated middle school.  

Well, not entirely. Not when Song Mingi was there as well.  

Talking about him, I'm still trying to see if I dreamt about him, or if he really showed up last night at the club. If he was there, how the heck did he know that I was there, and why did he even come when he was supposed to be out with his friends as well? And if I dreamt about him, why the heck would I do that knowing that I don’t ever want anything to do with him anymore? 

“I’m gonna come in.” Demanded Sarang as she pry open the door. It wasn’t until she gasped when I realized that I was still sprawled out on the floor, half of my face smashed to the ground. “Oh, my god, are you okay?”  

Before I knew it, Sarang was already helping me back up to my bed. “Thank you,” I sighed, my head spinning and hurting at the same time. I definitely need to stop drinking. I clearly cannot hold my alcohol that well.  

“Lay down, Eunhae. Just give me a second, let me go get you some water or electrolytes if we have any.” I can tell that she wanted to laugh from the smile on her face, but she was holding it in pretty well. Either way, I’m sure I’ll probably hear it from her later.  

“What happened last night,” I try to ask, but with my dry throat my voice came out hoarse and raspy. Barely making any sound. Sarang heard me anyway. 

“Well,” Sarang began but was stopped by another voice coming from behind her. 

“Well, well, well. Look who’s finally up.” Came Bomi’s voice. Unlike Sarang, I met Bomi during my first year of college when we became housemates. It was hard to get along with her at first because she was a little snarky bitch. But after a few arguments and hair pulling, we were able to make up and become civilized. Also, it was thanks to Sarang who sat us down and made us choose between education or living on the streets. Of course we chose the latter. Now, after two years of living together we’ve been closer than ever. “Girl, you got so wasted last night you were trying to fight everyone. Been a minute since I've seen you like that. I kind of missed her.” She laughed, her snarky little laugh.  

I sighed loudly, my head still spinning and hurting. I covered my face with the blanket then, finally concluding that the sun was probably part of the reason why my headache wouldn’t go away. It had been so long since I’ve drink so much, and I only ever drink when I’m stress with school or work or life. Yesterday was about life. Life because of a certain someone that I’m still not sure if I dreamt about him or if he really showed up at the club.  

Sarang’s footsteps made their way back to my room before I even realize she was gone. She set the tray of water on my nightstand and uncovered the blanket from my face. I winced at the sudden sunlight, feeling the headache again. 

“Here, drink some water. I also brought some pain killers, eat it to take away your pain.” Sarang suggested. She was the mother of our house. A single mother. And Bomi and I were like her two love child whom her ex-husband left behind to tend to. Honestly though, I think so far, she’s doing an amazing job. Bomi and I are never late to school or work because we have her here to remind us. We stopped fighting like cats and dogs because she was here to always break us apart. And we always got home safe from drinking because she was always there to take us home. I just know one day she was going to be the best mom ever. However, today she was my personal caretaker. I seriously don’t think I will know what to do if she and I ever separated. 

After taking the medication and downing the whole cup of water, I lay back down. Instead of covering my face this time, I stared up at the ceiling. The thought of Mingi and I kissing came flooding back to me. I need to know if it was really a dream or not.  

“Anyways...” came Sarang’s squeaky voice. My eyes instantly darted to her pretty little face; she only ever sounds like that when something happened. Her hands were place above one another. Bomi, on the other hand, was grinning micheviously.  

“What?” I finally had the courage to say. “Something happened last night, huh?” 

“Well,” was the only thing Sarang was able to muster out before Bomi took over and began telling me the whole thing.  

Apparently, I got really wasted last night and called Mingi to yell at him. Not only that, but I also cried my heart out to him. I can feel my face start to feel warm at the thought of crying to Song Mingi, or better yet, pouring my heart out. I groan. So, my dream wasn’t a dream, and it did happen. 

“Does - does that mean he really showed up at the club?” I ask and they nod. 

“And I really poured my heart out to him?” They nod agian. 

“And,” I paused, not wanting to ask. “And we kissed?” Only Sarang nod this time.  

“Actually, YOU kissed him.” Bomi said instead, and I screamed into the blanket. 

“I can’t believe it,” I cried out. “Why did you guys let me do that?” 

“First of all,” Bomi cut in. “I tried to tell you. I even took away your phone, but you started getting angry. I didn’t want us getting kicked out, so I gave it back.” she shrugged her shoulders, and I couldn’t even be mad at her.  

I knew I was in the wrong.  

I shut my eyes tight; the flashbacks were finally starting to hit me all at once. Of course, Mingi came over to the night club, it was because I forced him to! I hated myself. I finally had the courage to tell him how I felt, and it was while I was flat out drunk. How was I going to face him now? 

Unable to say anything, I just screamed into the blanket some more. My self-esteem breaking down slowly and slowly each time I replay Bomi’s words in my head. The thought of being bury myself six feet to the ground infiltrating my head. How am I ever going to face him again?  

I always thought this little crush towards Song Mingi would disappear after middle school, but it lasted up to the end of high school as well. It didn’t help that we both got accepted to the same college as well. It was as if God was playing games with my love life. I even started dating someone to get over him; however, that didn’t last long. The asshole had the audacity to cheat on me with an ex of his when I was the one who gave him a chance.  

Now that I think about that bad memory, I did remember Mingi being there for me by listening to my rants. I’m pretty sure he was tired of me going on and on about how all guys were the same and that they only wanted one thing which was to sleep with every girl they meet. I did cry a lot that time, too though because I genuinely liked my ex and Mingi was kind enough to just sit back and listen when Sarang or Bomi were busy with their own lives.  

I think it was then when I realized my little crush was still there for Song Mingi. Or that it never actually went away. Even when I tried getting over him by seeing someone else. 

What is about him that I like so much you may ask?  

Well, as I said before; it started back in middle school. We were in the same homeroom together. He actually came on as a new transfer student in the middle of our seventh-grade year from Incheon. He didn’t look friendly, nor did he give off the vibe; however, as we got to know each other, he began showing a softer and friendlier side to him. 

Turns out, he was quite the nerd. The number of times he got caught dozing off in class did not quite add up to him still being one of the top students in our grade. He was also an anime watcher like Sarang, so the two bonded that way and that was how she introduced him to me.  

By our eighth-grade year, we got closer and my feelings for him became more real. I denied it at first as I wasn’t sure if it was because I just saw him every day and not because he was genuinely a nice person. And I was a sucker for nice people. 

At this point, he had made many friends, and we sort of stopped hanging out, but he never pretended like I didn’t exist. He never missed a ‘Hi’ or a ‘Bye’ when we walked by each other in the hallway. He’d always let me copy his homework when I needed it. And he’d always knew I wasn’t fast enough running to the drink station to grab myself a strawberry milk, so he took it upon himself to grab it for me. Doing this obviously made me liked him a lot. Who would have known it would last this long, though.  

Our high school years weren’t any different either. The only difference was that he got much taller and even more handsome. I also began having competitions as girls started to notice Mingi. The worst part was he actually ended up dating one of the girls who had a crush on him as well. 

I will always remember the feeling the day when I found out that he was dating the girl. It felt like my whole world fell apart. I cried many nights to Sarang and cursed at the sky as if it was at fault. I seriously thought they were going to last forever. Then of course, when they broke up, I was so happy I couldn’t even hide it.  

Don’t judge me on this, you would have done the same. It’s Song Mingi we’re talking about! 

Anyway, I remember talking to him about it as he was pretty upset with the whole thing. He mentioned how he actually really liked her and that she was someone he cherished a lot, but instead of feeling bad for him, I felt sad for myself. Sad, that he didn’t see me like how he saw her. A girl he liked. 

It was hard listening to him talk about another girl, but I couldn’t let a friend down. Maybe that’s why he helped me a lot too when I was going through it with mine. Maybe in a way we were meant to just be friends that comforted each other only. But thinking like this didn’t help, because at the end of the day, I was still in love with Song Mingi.  

That’s why I got blackout wasted when I saw the same girl he used to date in high school sitting with him at the cafe that was located next door to our campus. They were smiling and talking to each other with adoration in their eyes. Talking with each other as if they were happy to have met again after so many years. Smiling at each other as if their feelings were still mutual.  

I always thought that if I just have him by my side as a friend then that would be enough. I must have been so dumb for thinking that I was strong enough to do this to myself. If I liked him since middle school, what the heck was the point of thinking that being friends was enough? Now, I had to go ruined it all by drunk calling him and forcing myself on to him.  

He must think that I’m crazy by now.  

“I hope you’re not crying again,” came Bomi’s stern voice. I didn’t realize it then that both my friends had left me and came back after some time. I looked up at the girl, her hair was in pigtails now and she was dressed for the day.  

I only sighed in her presence, feeling insecure and ashamed. All the memories of Mingi only made my head hurt more than it did. And now my chest was hurting, too.  

“I’m not,” I lied. I almost did cry, but she came right on time before I could even shed a tear.  

“Good, because there’s someone here to see you. I hope you’re ready to talk.” Replied Bomi before leaving my room again for the second time today. I let her words process first before I concluded what she meant.  

Someone? Who was this someone? Don’t tell me it was Mingi.  

I stood up from my bed immediately, the sad me left in the past and now the anxious me rising. I wasn’t ready to see him, yet. I couldn’t let him see me like this. I looked in the mirror sitting on my study table and gasped at my puffy eyes-most likely from crying last night-and saw that I was dressed in only a tank top and shorts that Sarang or Bomi probably put on me while I was passed out drunk.  

It was only then when I heard footsteps coming from the stairs did I sprint to the restroom and shut it tight. “Eunhae?” and there it was; Song Mingi’s deep, sultry voice. I close my eyes, not believing why Sarang and Bomi even let him into our shared home. They were really out to get me for last night.  

I listen through the door of him walking first to my room then towards the restroom when he didn’t see me. His footsteps stopped abruptly once he was right outside, and I heard him take a deep sigh this time. He didn’t second guess if I was in the restroom or not when he began talking. 

“Look, I know you’re in there, Eunhae. If you can just come out, I would really like to talk to you. What happened last n-” 

“I’ll be out in a minute,” I cut him off, not really wanting to talk while I was hiding in the restroom. “Please, just give me a moment, I’ll be out shortly.” I assured and thank goodness that was all it took for him to step away. 

When I was done going crazy in the restroom and decided that staying in here for the rest of the day was not going to make Mingi disappear, I finally step out. Of course, I peek first to see if he was still waiting in the hallway, but once I saw that he wasn’t anywhere to be found I tiptoed to my room in hopes that he wouldn’t hear me and start making his way up the stairs again.  

One would think that I did a good job at making it to my room without anyone hearing; however, when I entered my room there Mingi was; just sitting on my bed, waiting. I yelped, not expecting him to see him. But honestly, why didn’t he go back downstairs?  

“You really thought I was going to just make my way back downstairs and let you ignore me the whole day by hiding in here, huh?” He smirked. That annoying flirty smirk he did to every girl at school. I wanted to gag, but who am I to lie? I loved his smirk as well. So, I blushed instead and turned around to not let him see my face, but he was too fast for my liking.  

Before I knew it, he had closed my door, locking me in between him and the entrance. My breath hitched in my throat when I turned back around and came face to face with Mingi. My heart began pounding so loud I believe he could have heard it too if he focused hard enough.  

He looked straight into my eyes, almost as if trying to read me, but as fast as his stern face came it left fast as well. His he pulled back from the door as if to give me space, which I didn’t need but I couldn’t let him know that. I could feel the tensions between us; something that I've felt before in the past, but never acted on it as I didn’t want to assume anything as he had always just seen me as his friend. Especially when he was meeting up with his ex-girlfriend again, too.  

“If you’re here for an apology, I would just like to say that I am sorry and I didn’t mean to call you last night.” I start off, trying to break the weird atmosphere around us. My thumbs began to fumble with each other as I continue, “I had a little too much to drink and was out of my mind. If I said some things, I want to apologize on that, too. It – It was just a joke; I was drunk and wanted to mess around with you only. You’re my friend, how can I ever think about liking you.” I chuckle this time, my anxiety eating me up.  

For a moment, I kept wondering why Sarang and Bomi were not up here as well; but after a while, I finally accepted that they really did this on purpose. They knew how I felt towards Mingi and knew that I needed to let him know that’s why they broke our number one house rule: “Never let a boy in the house. Especially YOUR ROOM.”  

Those girls are not going to hear the end of this from me. 

I am brought back to my current state when Mingi sighed. I gave him a good look and silently squirmed to myself at how good he looked in his white tee and jeans. Only a few guys can make jeans look good and Mingi was definitely one of them. He brushed his fringes back almost as if he was frustrated but it came falling back to its normal alignment.  

“So, everything was a joke?” He inquired, sounding a little hurt.  

“Yes,” I reply confidently because I couldn’t get myself to be honest. I knew he didn’t feel the same way towards me, so I couldn’t stand here and make him choose me over his girlfriend. It was already hard enough knowing that I’ve made things awkward, I didn’t want him to start thinking I should be the only girl in his life, too. What kind of friend would I be to do that? 

A stupid one that is. 

I watched the tall male in front of me pierce his lips together as if he had just gotten defeated in an argument and nod his head. He crosses his arms, a sign of him closing off, and he stares at me again. This time, a look of disappointment.  

“What?” I stupidly ask, but he just shrugs his shoulders.  

“Nothing,” Mingi scoffs. “It’s just that – I’ve always thought I knew you pretty well, but I guess I was wrong.” is all he says before walking pass me and out my room door.

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

Thank you for reading me.

[st4rgzer]

NOW PLAYING…

↳ WELCOME TO NEW YORK (1980 TV) MATT STURNIOLO

genre: fluff, with a touch of angst

cw!: cursing, fem pronouns

summary: in which the reader is, half ready, to move to new york after booking her first major gig

a/n: this is the first track and i hope ill release one every weekend, maybe more, thank you for reading!

after 7 years, no, all my life working my ass off, going to every audition I can get my hands on, reading too many scripts a day, I finally got an audition.

And the best thing, it wasn’t because of the triplets! me being friends with them, and dating one, had made it incredibly difficult to make my own image, be my own person, even though I love them, I want people to know me for me, not know me as “matt’s girlfriend” or, “that girl that hangs out with the triplets”.

The only problem about getting a major gig, it’s in New York, and it’s going to be a pretty long time rolling, so I’d have to move there, at least for a year. That means leaving thee triplets at home. Leaving Matt home, and its not like NY is next to LA or Boston, 5 hours on plane. And it´s already difficult when they have leave for LA.

“babe, c’mon, just, come, spend the night here and in the morning we can drive you to the airport” Matt wined, pulling me towards him on the sofa, he had been trying to convince me not to leave early all day, and that they were closer to the airport so they could be the ones to take me there.

“well…maybe…” I sighed, the airport anxiety making me doubt wether or not to stay tonight, well, they are closer to the airport than me…fine, I sleep better with him anyways.

“yes! see i always win” he says lifting his arms up in victory, earning a laugh from me, he may be very persistent but it was sweet to see how he celebrated when he finally won.

He tugged me towards him and I laid my head on his chest, closing my eyes in a moment of peace before I had to worry about the move.

I nearly fell asleep when his hands started caressing my hair and detangling all the knots, slowly putting me in a trance, then I came to the realization that my bags were still in my house, and sighed, taking his hand away from my hair gently and sitting up.

“I just remembered my suitcase is still in my house, we have to go get it before anything” I kneaded my forehead and breathed deep, then I felt Matt’s hand on my back.

“relax ok, I can take us there in a minute, don’t worry about anything, the important things are already being shipped to your flat and the flight leaves at 10 am, enough time to sleep in a bit or have breakfast.” he said stroking my shoulder reassuringly, I grabbed his hand and placed it on mine, sighing as I backed myself against his chest once again, grateful I had an organized boyfriend opposed to the mess I was with this kind of stuff.

We pulled up to my driveway, I fiddled with the keys before finally opening the door. I went up to my room to get my big suitcase, them I realized a staircase and a big suitcase wasn’t a good match for me, I yelled Matt’s name but I saw him already going up the stairs, probably cause he knows me too well.

“thank you” I said with a sly smile. Grabbing the other end of the suitcase to at least help a bit, though he took all the weight.

We got into the car, the sun was setting and the weather was perfect for reminiscing and being nostalgic.

I laid my head against the damp car window , I started to think if this gig was going to be my big break. Even though I’ve wanted to be an actress since I was a young child, I never liked change, I despised it even.

This was going to be a big change, I had the last month to think about it and get used to the idea, but still, the thought of me and Matt breaking up because of long distance…

I felt a hand be placed on my knee, snapping me out of my thoughts, my mouth curved up into a slight smile, I placed his hand in mine, he rubbed small circles on my knuckles, and pulled it closer to him, placing a soft kiss to them.

“I’m so happy for you, do you know that?” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at me with genuine joy. I tilted me head slightly and pursed my lips together.

“Do you think we’ll- survive the long distance…?” I looked down, guilt lingering in my voice, It was my fault I was moving to NY, I took the job, if the relationship went down the drain…I wouldn’t help to think it was my doing.

“What? That’s stupid, of course we will, Its not like you’re moving to a whole other country, phones exist, planes do as well” He insisted, tilting my head up to meet my line of view.

“trust me, okay? I’m a professional at the whole moving stuff…” He saw I was still unsure.

“baby I wouldn’t care if you moved to a whole other continent, I’d still book the flight every weekend to come see you” He said, gently moving a strand of hair out of my face, he wanted me to look at him, and I did. I half-smiled at him, feeling a bit more sure about the move thanks to his pep talk.

I realized I didn’t recognize where we were heading to, turning confused to Matt as he kept his eyes on the rode.

“Matt, where are we going? As far as I know, your house isn’t in a forest” I shook my head when he didn’t respond, scoffing as I laid back into the carseat.

As we parked in a rocky spot, he got out and went ‘round the car to open my door, what a gentlemen.

“What? are you gonna murder me out here or…?” I laughed as I got out of the vehicle, closing the door behind me. I was shut up as he placed a hand on my cheek, pulling me closer, and planting a sweet kiss onto my lips.

“oh?” I grinned, resting my hands over his shoulders, he grabbed one gently and led me in front of the car.

“ok, so, you know how I decorated my room all foresty?” He finally spoke, turning so he could make eye contact with me, I nodded.

“well, that’s cause the woods, mountains, they help calm me down, ease my anxiety and worries about things. After our first argument I came here, to clear my head. I come here a lot, and…I thought maybe it would help you a little? at least give you some peace of mind for while…”

He said, sweet words spewing from his mouth, I could’ve melted then and there. God, he was thoughtful. I smiled at him so widely, pecking his lips gently, I then peppered his cheeks and forehead with some more, he was right, this WAS giving me peace of mind. There was a slight fog surrounding the trees, and a soft breeze.

“thank you, Matt, this means a lot, like, really” I sighed as he opened his arms and held me, I closed my eyes at the smell of his cologne and the soft fabric of his plaid flannel.

“anything for you, lovely. I just wanted to give you a good afternoon to end with before the exhausting week that awaits you” He said kissing the top of my head and resting his chin there.

Hours passed. We were crossed legged, sat on the ground, watching the sky get darker and darker, contemplating as the stars slowly appeared.

My head was rested on his shoulder, his arm intertwined with mine, and his head laid back on the front of the car. It was simple and sweet, but better than anything I could’ve asked for.

It was silent, the comfort of our company being enough substitute for meaningless conversation. He sighed, contempt, we both knew the night was coming to an end, as I still wanted to get in at least 9 hours of sleep.

“do you think we should go now? its getting a bit late” he said stroking the palm of my hand.

“mhm, it is” I hummed, I gave him one more kiss before getting up and grabbing the makeshift blanket beneath us.

We drove to the car humming songs on the radio, his hands always resting either on my knee, my thigh, or my hand.

As the car pulled into the garage, Nick and Chris’s voices were heard, I think they were screaming something along the lines of “fucking finally”

We both looked at each other and sighed, holding in a laugh as he turned the doorknob, we were greeted with an angry blonde haired boy and a hyperactive Chris.

“where the fuck were you guys?! we wanted to do a going away movie party for tonight!” Nick yelled, he breathed and tried to calm himself, me and Matt were delighted watching the scene unfold.

“I took y/n somewhere.” he smirked slyly at him. Nick scoffed, he wasn’t too mad, after all, they were going to see me just next week.

After some more banter and such, Matt and I headed up to his room. He had his hand intertwined with mine and wasn’t dropping it anytime soon.

“m’lady” he said with a country accent, that always earned a chuckle out of me, opening the door for me, following behind. I sighed, letting myself fall onto the soft sheets of his bed.

He laid down next to me, as routine, I placed my head on his chest, he wrapped his arm languidly around my waist, pulling me close.

“im tired” I yawned and felt the vibrations from his chest as he laughed.

“of course you are, we’ve had a busy day, huh? He said kissing my hair softly, rubbing small shapes on the exposed skin of my waist.

I nodded, closing my eyes, sighing, I grew more tired every heartbeat of his I felt from his chest, the lullaby of his heart clearing my mind.

He felt I drifted off, he kissed the top of my head once again and whispered goodnight.

“I love you.”

“i love you too” I mumbled.

I recounted the previous moments in our day, everything from the starbucks he bought me when picking me up, to watching the sun set in his favorite place, with his favorite person.

Im scared of new beginnings, but New York can’t be so bad, right?

…

‘welcome to New York’ The big sign I was met with read, people were hustling and seemed like they had somewhere to go, I could here sirens blaring and people yelling “taxi!” I smiled. Everyone here wants something more. I guess I maybe could get used to this.

taglist: @dwntwn-strnlo @iha8you @lovelysturniolo @gabbylovesreading @hedgehogperalta @iloveneilperry @stvrni0lo @sturniolol @stvrniolo @sturniololoverr @oneirophobic (nicole idk if you wanna be added or not, tell me if you want me to take you off😭) @gaytoadwithapopsicle (same for you)

reblogs and likes are appreciated!

[ravenclair]

In the Shadow of You | Hogwarts Legacy

☆ Summary | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

☆ Available on Wattpad

Chapter 9: Hallows

(Word count: 2,067)

You sat at the fountain in the Bell Tower courtyard and told Sebastian everything that had been going on since being back at Hogwarts. The nightmares, the Legilimens, the lessons with Professor Sharp. He sat quietly and listened through it all, just like this summer on the Hogsmeade bridge.

You even confessed about the silence from your ancient magic and how you had been scared to use it again.

"...but I guess I have no choice, now," you sighed. "I need to regain control of my ancient magic if I'm going to defeat this Legilimens."

"It'll probably greatly aid in your Occlumency, too, if you can manipulate it into a mental shield," Sebastian suggested. "Or if you could imbue it into the locket to make Fig's protective charm more powerful...we'll have to do some further research into Legilimency and enchantments."

You whirled to Sebastian and shook your head. "No, no, you swore off anything to do with the Dark Arts. I already feel bad enough talking to you about it."

"Legilimency is hardly dark magic," Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Besides, I have no intention of learning it myself. This is strictly to help you, so it gets a pass."

You shot him a hard look but relented. "I can't believe I managed to perform Legilimency...it wasn't a pleasant feeling."

"I wouldn't think so," Sebastian shivered, both from the thought of Legilimency and the brisk night air. "I have no interest in poking around in another's mind. No telling what you'd find in there."

"I saw what looked like a wand, that must be what they're looking for," you said. "I know I've seen its shape before, but I can't place it."

Sebastian stifled a yawn. You'd been sitting out here for a while now, and it was well past curfew. "If only these heroic quests came with some bloody directions and a map..."

A map...

You shot up. "Sebastian, you're brilliant!"

"Uh, thanks?" He responded, raising an eyebrow at you. "I mean, I know, and it's great to hear you say so, but why–"

"Meet me outside the History of Magic classroom tomorrow after dinner. There's someone I'd like to introduce you to."

⋆｡°✩

As you walked through the halls between classes the next day, you bumped into someone as they rounded the corner.

"Pardon me," you murmured, staggering backward.

"My apologies," an unknown voice said at the same time. They had an odd accent and you looked up to see none other than the mysterious Gryffindor Seeker.

The seventh year Ilvermorny transfer...an American...

He was tall and lean. His dark hair was slicked back in an elegant fashion, but a few pieces fell freely. His green eyes observed you cautiously.

You both just stared at each other in silence.

"You're...the new Ilvermorny transfer, aren't you?" You asked politely.

"Did the accent give it away?" He joked. "Uh, yes, that's me. I'm Emrys."

"Emrys, as in Merlin?" You said in fascination.

He chuckled and scratched his cheek. "Yes, embarrassingly enough–no relation, though. My mother was an admirer."

Was, you noted. You quickly changed the topic.

"How're you enjoying Hogwarts? I'd imagine it's quite different here in Scotland than in the Americas."

"I actually travelled here a lot growing up, so I'm familiar with the area," Emrys replied. "I have family in Godric's Hollow."

Godric's Hollow...he comes from a wizarding family, then...

"But it's nice to be here permanently," he continued. "I've always wanted to attend Hogwarts, even if it's just for one year. It's definitely been an adjustment, though."

You nodded in understanding. "I can sympathize...I just started here last fall, as a fifth year."

"You started wizarding school as a fifth year?" Emrys said, astonished. "I've never heard of such a thing, even at Ilvermorny..."

Realization washed over his features.

"Wait a moment, you're Hogwarts' Savior!" he laughed. "I thought you'd be taller."

You cringed at the title. "So you've heard the rumors, then?"

Emrys smirked at you, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. "Well, when you're a hero, people tend to sing your praises. They say you encountered a dragon, is that true?"

"Multiple, actually," you chuckled, adjusting the books in your arms. "It's kind of a long story."

"I'd love to hear it sometime," the Gryffindor replied, pushing off the wall. "See you around, Savior."

With a parting nod, Emrys continued past you. You rounded the corner, resuming your own path and cursed whoever came up with that ridiculous nickname.

⋆｡°✩

"So, who is it we're meeting? It better not be Professor Binns," Sebastian called out as you walked toward him.

"No, he'd bore us both to death," you laughed and gestured for him to follow you.

You both walked downstairs, past the sleeping dragon statue, and into the Bell Tower dungeons.

"I don't think I've been down here before..." Sebastian said as you continued to walk deeper into the dungeons.

"I'm not sure anyone else has," you answered. "I discovered it last year, with...Professor Fig. Think of it as my Undercroft."

Eventually, you came to the ornate arched doorway.

You pushed open the heavy doors and heard Sebastian gasp, "This is much more grand than the Undercroft."

"This is the Map Chamber," you declared, gesturing to the space. "It's where I met with the Keepers last year."

"The Keepers? That's who you're introducing me to?" Sebastian said in alarm.

"Don't worry, they're nice," you smirked at him, patting his shoulder. "They're also just portraits."

You walked down the stairs, across the map-floor, to the left-most portrait. Sebastian followed, surveying the chamber in quiet awe.

"Professor Fitzgerald?" You called to the empty portrait.

After a lingering moment, the former headmistress appeared. "It is good to see you, young friend. I was aware of the new school term starting from my portrait in the headmaster's office and wondered if we'd be seeing each other again.

"However, I do hope your visit doesn't suggest trouble is afoot," Niamh concluded.

Sebastian gulped at her towering image and leaned to you to whisper, "Now that's a portrait."

"And who is this?" Niamh questioned when she noticed Sebastian's presence.

"This is Sebastian Sallow, a close friend," you introduced. "He knows...about what happened last year. He helped me find the triptych and Isidora's memory."

Sebastian inclined his head, "Nice to meet you, Professor Fitzgerald."

"Unfortunately, our visit is due to some trouble at Hogwarts," you admitted to the former headmistress. You explained what had been going on with the Legilimens, and how you had discovered what he was searching for.

"This wand...I believe you showed it to me before, Professor, during your trial," you concluded.

Her portrait's expression was grave.

"The Elder Wand..." she sighed. "The most powerful wand to ever exist. If this Legilimens seeks it...this is a most precarious situation, indeed."

"Does it actually exist?" Sebastian asked, stunned. "I thought that the Hallows were just an old fable."

"The Hallows?" you turned to him, confused.

"The Deathly Hallows," Niamh confirmed. "The three artifacts I showed you during my trial. When united, one can become the Master of Death."

"The Cloak of Invisibility, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand," Sebastian explained further. "I read about them in The Tale of the Three Brothers, when I was searching for a cure for Anne. I was convinced it was just a children's story, so I never pursued them."

Niamh nodded and said, "They are real, and so is their power. The Elder Wand shows loyalty to any witch or wizard who disarms its previous owner. If this Legilimens is searching for it and believes you to be its current Master, you must be careful."

"But...what makes them believe I have the wand?" You pondered aloud.

"That, you will have to discover on your own," Niamh shook her head. "The only thing I have heard from the whisperings of other portraits is this: the last known owner of the Elder Wand was a wizard named Loxias.

"He's since been defeated, but no one is certain by whom," Niamh went on. "If I discover anything more, I will be sure to let you know."

"Thank you, Professor Fitzgerald," you said gratefully.

"Remain vigilant," Niamh warned. "The Deathly Hallows will only attract danger."

⋆｡°✩

Sebastian and yourself sat in the Undercroft, mulling over what Professor Fitzgerald had shared earlier in the week. You had spent the last few days collecting any information you could find in the library about the Deathly Hallows, which wasn't much.

You rubbed your eyes, tired. You'd had another nightmare last night, about a dark figure shattering your mind. Not a particularly comforting omen.

Perhaps I should ask Nurse Blainey for a stronger sleeping tonic...

"We're getting nowhere with this," Sebastian sighed in frustration. "Maybe we should start asking around, see if anyone knows anything about Loxias."

"That might attract unwanted attention," you replied, already having considered that yourself.

Sebastian closed the book he was reading. "Maybe, but it could be worth it. Maybe it would attract some wanted attention, someone that could help."

He had a fair point. The only other option was waiting around for the Legilimens to attack and hope you could use Legilimency on him again to learn more.

"I've got to get to practice, want to come watch?" Sebastian asked as he stood and stretched his back.

You shook your head. "I'm meeting with Natty and Garreth in the library to work on our Potions essay. After his last one became ashes, I think Garreth's a bit more motivated."

Sebastian laughed and bid you farewell. You collected your things and headed to the library.

Once you arrived, you saw the two Gryffindors at a table towards the back of the first floor, books already strewn across it.

"Hello," you greeted as you sat across from the pair. "How're the scrolls coming along?"

"Not good," Garreth groaned, head resting on the table. "I thought writing an essay on Felix Felicis might actually be interesting, but...it's still schoolwork. Which is boring."

"He's barely written half a page, and we've been here for over an hour," Natty clarified.

"I'd rather be playing quidditch," was his retort.

The three of you worked the next half hour in comfortable silence, until Garreth spoke again.

"By the way, have you met the new transfer student? He was at quidditch tryouts the other day, playing Seeker for our house."

"I have, actually," you replied as you finished inking your paragraph. "We ran into each other in between classes the other day. Emrys, right?"

Natty nodded, "The two of us have had lots to discuss, coming from similar situations and all of that. He is very kind."

"We spoke rather briefly, but he mentioned he has family in Godric's Hollow," you said.

"He and his father moved there over the summer to live with his grandparents," Garreth chimed in. "His father's originally from England, but took a job as a professor at Ilvermorny. Not sure why they ended up back here, though."

You all resumed your work before you spoke once more.

"Have either of you heard anything about a new wandmaker in London?" you asked. "Sirona said Mr. Ollivander was peeved about it back in Hogsmeade."

"My dad was telling me about that this summer, actually!" Garreth exclaimed, obviously excited for another distraction from his schoolwork. "Says the fellow is barely twenty years old, crafting wands. He's from Germany, goes by the name of Mykew Gregorovitch.

"He's already got a good reputation, though," Garreth went on, hand propping up his chin. "Some of my friends back home in London say his wands are pretty powerful."

You hummed a response and stored the information away for later.

⋆｡°✩

You trudged up the stairs of the Grand Staircase, hand hurting and full of ink stains. You had stayed late in the library to finish your essay and some other assignments, until Scribner kicked you out for curfew.

Natty and Garreth had left earlier for dinner in the Great Hall, but you hadn't had much of an appetite. You were waiting for the moving stairs to lead you toward Ravenclaw Tower, when you heard a small voice whispering.

"Psst, you there," it said.

You whirled around, but there were no other students about.

"On your left!"

You looked to the wall and came face-to-face with a landscape oil painting. Peeking out between the grass at the foreground was the watercolor image of a fairy.

You blinked at it in surprise. "Are you...talking to me?"

"Obviously," the small fairy said in a cheeky manner. "The former headmistress sends word: find the tombs of Arcus and Livius."

"Who's that?" you replied.

"How should I know?" the fairy hissed, clearly annoyed.

It retreated back into the painted grass without another word. 

[jennyyy007]

LITTLE LAMB 🩸 ੈ♡˳

Cw: vampire whumper, human whumpee, cruel whumper, creepy whumper, horror, medieval setting, kidnapping

———————————————————————

“Goodbye mama! I will return soon!”

Whumpee reassures cheerfully as they close the gardens gate and start walking over the small path leading into the woods.

It’s their little sisters birthday tomorrow and their mother asked them to pick some berries in the woods.

Tightly gripping the big basket they start skipping over into the deep woods.

It’s a beautifully sunny day, butterflies swim in the air, flowers started blooming almost everywhere since this spring started. This really doesn’t feel like a chore for Whumpee, but a break from all of the exhausting tasks at the bakery.

Whumpee keeps walking along the path before spotting the first raspberry bush by its side. They quickly hurry over to it, starting to pick the berries and carefully throwing them in the basket to not squish them up.

It’s so much fun!

Too much fun…

Whumpee quickly turns around as they hear some ruffling in a bush behind them. Almost dropping the basket, they quickly move to check who their secret stalker is.

“Hello?..”

They say, their voice slightly shaking in the process as they hold their basket tightly in their hand. A little bit more movement can be seen in the bush before-

Oh…

A small bunny reveals itself before playfully hopping away, disappearing behind a tree…

Whumpees stomach grumbles at that sight. They’re pretty hungry by now-

bang!

Loud thundering hits, making the already a little startled whumpee jump. The realization hits now, as they look around themselves…

where are they?

———————————————————————

Heavy raindrops pour down on the poor whumpee as they keep trying to find a way home. They have no idea where they came from, having been busy looking for berries for probably three or more hours.

The woods only seems to grow deeper as they run. There has to be some-

Ouch. Whumpee stumbled over a tree root, crashing down on the floor. Dropping their basket and accidentally breaking it while all the berries spill over the ground.

No- no no that was their Mothers favorite basket!

But as they try to get up, another realization hits in that process.

“Ahh!”

Whumpee twisted their ankle pretty badly. Tears start to build up in their eyes as they catch all their bravery together and get up, leaving the basket behind before starting to stumble their way. They still have no idea where home is, but staying in this forest overnight is definitely not a good idea. There could be wolves or bears…

Or worse.

After stumbling a little farther they notice something in the distance… a light.. no. A house! Of course it’s not a good idea to just head to a random house in the middle of the woods… but a house means that someone lives there and maybe there’s a town close.

Whumpee would rather stay at a strange persons house than get slaughtered by a hungry bear.

The shivering whumpee reaches the door before quickly knocking on it. It only takes a few seconds before the door swings open, like the person behind it was waiting for them.

As whumpee looks up they see a man. With raven black hair and brown eyes.. that in a specific lighting clould appear red.. he’s quite tall, probably two heads taller than whumpee.

“Good evening child. What can I do for you?”

Child? The man looks five.. maybe ten years older than them.

“G-good evening sir- I-I wanted to ask if- maybe I could have some.. s-some shelter overnight? I got.. lost in the woods and- m-my ankle twisted as well..”

Whumper looks down at the pathetic figure of a person. Shivering and dripping all over their front porch, their clothes covered in dirt and grass from the fall and there is even a small scratch on their knee… god..

“Oh but of course darling! Please, step inside I can’t have you get yourself in any danger out here!”

They say, stepping to the side to let them enter, smiling softly at them as they do so before closing the door again. Maybe a tiny bit too roughly, since they made another small jump… or maybe they’re just a frightened little lamb.

“Would you like to take a bath young one? I can provide you clothes and something to feast on if you’d like? You do look a little thin”

He says smiling as he steps past them, looking in their eyes. Whumpee makes a small nod.

“Y-yes please sir that- would be very nice“

The man makes a quick nod before stepping further down the hallway… a very beautiful hallway whumpee must say. The whole house… or.. mansion is architected in a pretty gothic style, no big lights just small candles along the walls or on shelves.

Whumper keeps motioning whumpee to follow them further up some stairs by the end of the hallway. As they reach the second floor whumper leads them to a bathroom. A giant one, which you would expect from a castle. There’s a big mirror, a large tub and a shower even.

The man walks over to the tub before setting the temperature warm and turning the water on before grabbing a bottle of lavender bubble bath. His favorite. And pouring it inside.

“Here you go darling. I will head out to prepare your dinner now. If you need anything, please call for me”

He says before leaving whumpee alone in the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

Whumpee sighs, relieved that they’re safe now. They quickly strip off their wet and dirty clothes before stumbling over to the tub, sitting inside.

Their ankle still hurts a little… but for some reason it already feels better.

Ahh… this is nice…

They think to themselves as they relax in the tub.

———————————————————————

“Goodnight child. Have sweet dreams.”

Whumper says before closing the door of the guest room and everything goes silent.

Except for the cracking of the fireplace, the whole atmosphere is so relaxing…

Whumpee moves to blow out the candle standing on the bedside table before they lay down, pulling the blanket over their shoulder.

Just a few minutes later.. as they were about to drift off to sleep, they hear a scream, making them shoot up.

They just imagined that right? It sounded so real…

Another one.

The high pitched, bloodcurdling scream of a woman. It came from downstairs..

whumpee quickly pushes the blanket off before setting a foot down on the floor, and a second one, getting up. Huh?… Their ankle feels completely fine. It doesn’t even hurt in the slightest. Odd…

Doesn’t matter- Whumpee quickly makes their way to the door, ripping it open before hurrying down the stairs, to the big hallway.

And as they reach the bottom of the stairs they see something truthly disturbing…

A woman… skinny… pale… wearing only a ripped, covered in blood, night gown. Similar to the clothing, provided by whumper, whumpee is wearing currently.

She stumbles closer before collapsing on the floor and whumpee immediately hurries to get over to the lady.

“Ma’am are you okay?! W-what happened?”

They ask as they try to help her up, without success… The lady looks like she’s been drained of her blood until near death… but as whumpee observes her face a little longer… they realize something… So-

“Sophie. Where do you think you’re-

Oh… Hello whumpee”

Whumpers voice sends chills down whumpees spine as they look up, seeing the man standing in front of them. His eyes glowing bright red…

“W-what- what h-happened?”

Whumpee says as they look at the woman in their arms. She doesn’t have much longer… and whumpee knows…

She was the towns librarian. A beautiful passionate woman… until she disappeared. Nobody knew where she went…

“Vam- vamp- d-drank m- my- me-“

The man just glares down at the two, resisting the urge to taste whumpees blood. Which’s sweet, honeylike smell he could already pick up miles before they even knocked on whumpers door.

“S-sophie- s-stay with me please-… sophie?…”

She’s dead… she’s actually dead… o-oh lord how- how did this happen they don’t understand!

“Oh… my poor Sophie… Your blood really was great.. Good that a new kettle came just in time…”

Whumper says, looking in whumpees eyes now. They look so frightened… so pathetic… so… delicious”

Whumpee suddenly starts to feel severely lightheaded, like looking in whumpers eyes was poisonous…

Just a few seconds later they loose grip on Sophies body before dropping to their side as everything goes black.

“See you soon little lamb…”

———————————————————————

Short story but part twooo??

@a-living-canvas @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees @theforeverdyingperson