#jack Nelson x Eva Smith

[evita-shelby]

The Wandering

summary: the Nelsons visit the Wandering Jew on Halloween and Rose makes the mistake of asking Eva to investigate the ghost as well as the strange vibe the hotel has.

cw: mentions of injuries and blood, fascism, drinking and unsafe witchcraft, cheating

rose and alfie(as well as their stories) belong to @justrainandcoffee

Their first trip after the pandemic was to London to visit Katie and her husband.

Its Halloween and because they don’t want to make things awkward with his sister and her husband ---because Eva has baby fever after seeing his baby niece---, they stay at the Wandering Jew.

They knew the owners, Rose and Alfie even if neither Jack nor Alfie could stand each other. They were more Eva and Katie’s friends than his and suddenly he and Alfie are sharing a rum bottle because Rose swears there’s a ghost in this place and Eva dabbles in witchcraft.

Jack wouldn’t lie and say he doesn’t believe her if their room and the hall it was didn’t give him a nauseating sense of déjà vu.

The painting with a red bearded knight and the lady that reminded him of Eva had been the first, then the dent on the simple candleholder felt like he’d been the one to drop it and the bed board ,to top it all off, had their initials in a heart with today’s date.

“Do you think it’s safe?” Alfie asks Jack who he assumes knows the answer as he takes another candy from the obnoxiously huge bag of Halloween candy they’d brought from the States at Rose’s request.

“Fuck if I know.” Jack takes a swig of the rum bottle having no fucking clue what this will bring.

And then they woke up alone in the waiting room with a hangover. The Hotel looked the same when he went upstairs to his room expecting to find a sleeping Eva who’s going to tease him for getting blackout drunk last night.

The door opens to reveal a medieval castle, Eva dressed exactly like the woman in the painting and talking like she’s in a Shakespearean play. And because he thought it was just a crazy sex dream, he let Princess Eva led him to the bedroom only to find himself alone and back in the hall of the Wandering Jew.

Not only that he is wearing the heavy steel armor, but the red beard he’d kill to grow out like that and even worse, completely sober.

Had to be a dream, must’ve been the rum, the candy and the takeout they had last night.

“Fucking hell, what sort of ritual did Evie do?” Alfie, dressed in simple medieval clothes, appears from a different room.

One moment they’re trying to communicate with the ghost haunting the place and the next Eva’s the princess in the painting.

She’d assumed it was a dream and didn’t stop the Knight from trying to fuck her and calling her his wife. After all, it was Jack in the armor and of course she’d be turned on by him in 17th century armor. Then she went out the door to see the rest of the castle only to find herself dressed in the same clothes the knight was supposed to be taking off her.

A little disappointing, to be honest, Knight!Jack had promised to go down on her and it’s been so long since Jack had his beard that long.

“Am I dreaming? I was just in the most beautiful cottage, and I was going to go outside to see Alfie and now I’m back here, wearing this!” Rose is still dazed from whatever she saw. “Where are we?”

“I have no fucking clue.” The witch answered wanting to know if she can go back to that fantasy she just left. Taking Rose’s hand to try something, she opens Rose’s door.

It is not the medieval cottage she’d described. This time they are in none other than the motherfucking Titanic. They don’t even have time to admire their beautiful clothes as they run behind Alfie hoping to get off the fucking boat.

But they can’t get on that boat, they came through a door and any door there would return them to dry land in the haunted hotel. In a moment of confusion, they leave Alfie Solomons and stumble out of the hotel room wearing the clothes of high society women in 1912.

If there was a way to keep them, Eva would do it in a heartbeat. Still, she throws the jewelry into the vase just in case.

“I hope the next one is in the modern world.” Jack complains as they walk back to the hall from the magical woodland they left.

They were dressed in fantasy-medieval-esque clothing, it was not the steel armor but the American’s breeches were a little too snug and he looked like fucking Fabio complete with long flowing locks while Alfie looked more comfortably dressed.

Alfie doesn’t change much; Jack just moments ago had a sick ass beard covered in his normal body hair and now he’s as smooth as a fucking dolphin.

“Next time Evie does her voodoo shit, I’m kicking the two of you out of my hotel.” Alfie stares at his hand in amazement considering he’d been bleeding sparkly red blood from the thrones because the door chucked him straight onto the thorns.

“That’s not my fault, your wife convinced her to do it.” The Bostonian points out missing his scruff and buzz cut. “Should’ve booked a normal hotel room when she wasn’t looking, could’ve been making Gina a cousin instead of trapped in fucking limbo.”

“When did Katie have a kid?” Alfie asks, thinking they’d somehow missed that thanks to the pandemic.

Jack had been wonderfully spared Laurie’s second wedding and only seen his and Caroline’s IVF journey whenever he was looking at their Instagram over Eva’s shoulder.

But of course, they had to meet the baby for the baptism ---Jack was the godfather because Laurie has no real friends--- and Eva had to bring up having one of their own. After all they were pestered by everyone about the topic and then Eva later brought it up knowing he’d agree to give it a try.

“Laurie, my half-brother in New York.” Jack clarified as they headed towards the next door.

The doors on the left were Jack’s, the doors on the right were Alfie’s, or so they figured after they walked into Alfie’s fantasy shit.

“The racist one?” the Jew asks having heard what a piece of shit Jack’s older brother is from Katie and Rose who met him once in New York.

“What other brother do I have?” Jack doesn’t bother hiding it anymore, Laurie always opened his trap and ruined every first impression anyways. “Hopefully baby Gina won’t take after him.”

They enter the door; Jack is dressed like Laurie and has more pomade in his hair than when grandpa dressed him for church on Sundays as a kid.

A tall blonde woman looking eerily like Carrie with Laurie’s bad vibes takes him by the arm and introduced him to an English couple and Ada Throne, Eva’s museum curator ex-girlfriend who happened to be Tommy Shelby’s sister. As if they hadn’t seen the fucker in Alfie’s past doors twice already.

Alfie’s swing at the man and shoves off the blonde woman beside him calling him slurs.

“Where did you even dig up this thing, uncle? I thought you wanted to fascists in your pocket?” Gina asks and Jack drags Alfie back out the door wondering where the fuck Eva was.

“Nazis! Your niece was introducing you to fucking Oswald Mosely and his bitch of a wife, Lady Hitler!” Alfie is breathing hard and reeling from what went on inside the room.

How do you even begin to explain that?

“Why do you have a crucifix?” the American points at the last thing he expected Alfred Solomons to have.

Alfie looks at the thing in confusion before tossing it as far away from him as he could.

“Cutest fucking baby I’ve seen. Makes me wanna have one.” Eva talks Rose’s ear off as they open the door to Eva’s side and reveal a horde of screaming kids at a birthday party and Jack nowhere to be found.

The witch shuts the door and opens it again several times hoping to change the scene. But it doesn’t and instead both women brace themselves because at least they can get cake out of this.

It’s loud, Eva’s being hugged by several children who look like her and Jack and the calendar says 1930.

She knows this place, it’s in Cape Cod and the home to the political family that shares her husband’s last name. And sure, Jack looks like the guy who bought it and sired seven influential people that included two presidents, but it shouldn’t mean they are the same fucking people.

For fuck's sake Eva’s family was related to them. Well, had a common ancestor, Eva is no blood relation to the Nelson family. Evita Nelson ---whom she’s named after--- was her great-grandfather, Francisco Riley’s, first cousin.

But there it is, a portrait of the family with Eva wearing the same locket she has on now. She hadn’t noticed that on every door they step through it never changes, like Rose’s ring.

“These are our past lives. The hotel isn’t haunted, it knows us.” The witch turns to her friend who looks at the ring on her hand coming to the same conclusion. “It’s trying to tell us.”

“We’re soulmates?” Rose asks her, not meaning them but meaning their two respective relationships. “Like born to find each other in every lifetime, like the movies?”

“Only one way to find out.” They leave the seaside manor and return to the hotel.

The rooms are in chronological order, starting with the Renaissance Era and now in the 1930s. Eventually they would reach the modern era, and this would fucking end on November 1st, All Soul’s Day.

“Have you noticed Rose wears the same ring and Eva the same locket?” Alfie asks having formed a new theory after they left a beach house in Margate where his ex-boyfriend shot him in the fucking face.

“Shelby appears half as much, I know the two of you fucked the prick, but that can’t mean he’s your soulmate.” Jack points out, as they take a break between doors.

Jack had gone to his and woken up in the same bed with Eva wearing nothing but the locket and teasing him for carving their names in the hotel’s bed.

It had been October 31, 1924.

Then he’d found himself appearing on a beach with Rose clutching to a barely breathing Alfie. Had Jack not hauled the injured man to his house, Alfie Solomons from the 21st century would’ve died in 1924.

“An eternal thorn in my side, then.” The Jewish man jokes and looks in the mirror to find his face whole. “How did you end up in Margate with me?”

“Opened the bathroom door at the Ritz-Carelton in 1924 to take a piss and ended up inside the house. Apparently in Halloween 1924, I came to London on business and carved our initials on the bed board drunk as hell.” The Boston native answered and looked at the clock, it was just a few minutes shy of midnight.

Before that door he’d been an Irish immigrant in New York coming home with the candleholder that fell from his hands and dented right where the one in the hotel had it. Alfie claimed there had been floating subtitles, but Jack used what little Gaelige he knew from his grandparents to get by.

But that made them figure out they’re moving towards the present from the past, and because it was getting closer to morning, they’d soon end up back in 2024.

“The distillery in 1919 became your hotel, in 1924 you sold it and moved to the wherever the fuck that beach was---” the American goes over what they’ve learned so far.

“Margate, where I got some of the things at a shop there.” Alfie supplied and added to the list, “Even Rose’s ring. Where did you buy the locket?”

“Antique shop in Boston, had our initials on the back. Jack Nelson, who I was named after, was from the South End too, had a wife named Eva, and now I’m thinking these may have been our past lives.” Now that he says it out loud it feels obvious. All of them had the same names ---except Martin Feeney--- come to think of it.

“If we weren’t stuck in this place, I would’ve told you, you’d lost it, Yankee.”

They tried to sleep and see if they woke up and yet the door tossed them in the 1980s where they look great as hell and are, apparently, anarchists.

Since the jewelry from the Titanic hadn’t disappeared ---even if Eva forgot about putting it there in the first place--- Eva tossed the lighter she took from biker!Jack to keep as a memento from this never-ending night. She had taken several things each time and ,with any luck, would get to take them all home.

“We should be getting to the end; our present selves would be born less than a decade after that.” Eva yawns and wonders how their guys are doing. She’d be surprised if they hadn’t killed each other yet.

“Have you noticed Tommy is in most of mine, and in that one from yours in the 20s?” Rose asks, worried that Tommy may be Alfie’s soulmate just as much as she is.

“Yep, I wish he weren’t, but I guess he is also part of this.” the witch didn’t feel like racking her brain about this, she was tired, she wanted Jack to make her feel small and safe and keep her from feeling cold in this fucking weather. You’d think she’d get used to the cold now that her permanent residence is in Boston, but Eva can’t live without her human space heater at night.

“Did you know he tried to bribe me to get me to leave him?” Rose admits and Eva shook her head even if it didn’t surprise her.

He had been married when they dated, his long-time friend and mother to his daughter. Eva liked him, liked his sadness and expressive eyes and when he told her he was divorced, she believed him. She’s not a homewrecker, she steers away from couples with open relationships because it never ends well for anyone, and her mother’s reputation has everyone believing Eva is exactly like her.

So, when she found out about Lizzie and all the men and women he fucked with no consideration for anyone’s feelings, Eva ended things with him and found Alfie stewing over a break up with the same fucking guy.

And now they were friends, so at least some good came out of that.

“I’m glad you didn’t take the money; Alfie deserved a happy ending.” The witch assures her Shelby’s presence doesn’t mean what the Englishwoman fears it does.

“And I’m happy you found your happy ending too.”

They wait for the antique clock to chime at midnight before trying the doors again. Hard to believe they’d only been gone one fucking hour.

And sure enough, the doors reveal their rooms exactly as they had left them earlier that night. They try them several times until both are satisfied, they won’t change before running downstairs to see if their drunk husbands are still sprawled on the floor.

Both men are awake and, surprisingly, not at each other’s throats.

“Evie, I will ban you from my fine establishment if you ever do this shit again.” Alfie swears, holding his head in his hands feeling the effects of the hangover he and Jack share.

The witch pays no mind to his threats, not when she has a vase full of trophies from their time traveling this past hour.

[zablife]

Dealer's choice 🤭

Hi Juli, tysm for the ask! I'm not sure where this came from, but I decided on a costume party when Eva and Jack are at school? (Blame this on a recent Mean Girls rewatch 🙈) I hope it makes sense and you enjoy what I've written!

Costume Party

“Awww, Evie, baby, didn’t anyone tell you this was a costume party?” Jack laughed into his cup, sloshing a bit onto his football jersey. It was a lazy attempt at a costume himself, but most partygoers had forgiven him the slight transgression considering his status in the fraternity. 

Eva rolled her eyes as she pushed off the island and sauntered closer to the man towering over her, unaffected by teasing from the most popular boy on campus. In fact, she seemed only mildly entertained by it, prodding him for a more energetic response. Palming him over his tight athletic pants, she asked breathlessly, “Is that why you’ve so cleverly decided to come dressed as a jack-in-the-box?”

“Wh-what?” he mumbled, head clouded by alcohol and desire as he glanced downward, noticing how hard he’d suddenly become beneath her skilled touch. 

Eva chuckled, “Mmmm, you’ve got nothing to hide, do you?”

Jack breathed deeply as he imagined fucking her with just that adorable little pilot's cap perched atop her head.  “I’d be glad to show you, doll,” he offered, leaning down to caress the globe of her breast. One finger lingered over her nipple, a wanton moan escaping her sultry lips.

As Jack’s other hand scrambled for purchase atop the cool granite, Eva gripped his shoulder, lips brushing his ear as she whispered, “I always let the good ones go.” The pleasure Jack had known moments earlier ceased as she relinquished her hold, shrugging nonchalantly before wandering away up the stairs. 

Jack stood motionless, confusion setting in despite the burning want in the pit of his stomach. His labored breathing drowned out the sound of her heels upon the steps as he watched her ass bounce side to side as she ascended. Then, shaking himself from the daydream of her, her realized she’d turn to wink at him from the landing with a sly smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. He knew two things in that moment, 1.) Eva Smith was a good liar and 2.) he was a fucking idiot if he didn’t follower her. 

Zablife Sleepover

[justrainandcoffee]

Masterlist

Theme, date, characters

Autumn leaves (1/10): Tommy Shelby x Lucy Winters

Log cabin (3/10): Tommy Shelby x Reader

Home made cookies (5/10): Alfie & Cyril

Pumpkin picking (7/10): Esme Lee x Reader

Bonfire (9/10): Tommy Shelby & Evelyn Shelby

Coffee shop (11/10): Alfie x Tommy

Candles (13/10): James Delaney x Lorna Bow

Warm drink (14/10): Tommy Shelby & Lydia Shelby

Castle trip (15/10): Alfie Solomons x Rose Coldwell

Thunderstorm (17/10): Alfie & Allie Solomons

Open window (19/10): Tommy Shelby x Quinn Meyer

Rain walk (21/10): River Cartwright x Reader

Forest (22/10): Heaven Shelby

Black cat (23/10): Winston Ferrante-Shelby

Bakery (25/10): Cillian Murphy x Jiyan Fabris

Book shop (27/10): Tommy Shelby x Reader

Graveyard (29/10): Jack Nelson x Eva Smith

I finished them like two weeks ago and finally October is here to post them. It's all queued, hopefully Tumblr will work and post them as I ordered.

This post is also queued. If you see this, then it worked. Any idea to link the characters to the themes? 😌. Not all the characters are in the tags and I didn't want to make it obvious.

Sincerely yours... Me.

[call-sign-shark]

Bird of A Feather || Peaky Blinders x OCs

A short story for the wonderful @evita-shelby inspired by her moodboard gift Bird of A Feather.

Words: less than 1k

TW: Tommy and Heaven together (this is real warning for any HYE reader😂), allusions to drugs, overdose and sex. Ethical slur because of the show. Also this is not proof read, we die like men.

Notes: Reference to this chapter of HYE.

None of this was supposed to happen.

It was what Heaven thought when she watched her own reflection in the mirror of the ridiculously expensive suite's bathroom Mr. Shelby had booked for their stay in Boston. As she reflected on her new life, her slender fingers nervously tried to untangle the long gold and diamond earring chain Tommy had gifted her prior the trip. The vortex of her raging thoughts was so wild that she didn't hear the door opening, nor the husky and charming voice that called her name. Her body suddenly jerked when she felt one strong yet warm hand resting on her shoulder — She turned around in one vivid movement, the angelic complexions of her face only relaxing when they met with familiar turquoise eyes.

"Are you ready?" Tommy asked, one of his brow slightly arched as his piercing and ice-cold iris carefully observed the white-haired woman's features.

"Almost, but I can't seem to get rid out of this damn knot."

"Let me check." Three words again, said with the same collected tone whose deep and sultry voice sent shivers down her spine. Without wasting more saliva, Tommy brought his hands to the jewel and started to untangle it. "Don't you like it?" He broke the silence, "You always wear gold, but diamonds make a delightful echo to your crystal eyes." The thought of Tommy noticing such trivial details about her still felt odd considering how profound their mutual hatred had been for years. But Lizzie taking the kids had given them a little push.

"I do." She reassured, offering him a faint smile. They were so close that she could feel the heat radiating off him, as well as the elegant fragrances of his cologne tingling her nostrils.

"So why do you look so unhappy, ay?" He finally succeed in rearranging her earring, his calloused fingers gently grazing her reddened earlobe before finding rest on one of her cold cheeks. Tenderly. Lovingly.

"I'm just a bit anxious. I always hated big gatherings, let alone when the whole crowd is made of political figures, rich heirs and nobs." The way her lips pouted and her expression turned into a childish one as she pressed her face harder against his comforting palm snatched an amused snort from him, and yet… Tommy understood — her wild soul belonged to the forest and mountains no matter the expensive jewels and finest, seductive dresses. Heaven was not cut for this hypocritical world. The gangster leaned over her dainty frame and brought his face closer until their fiery breathe mixed and their nose touched.

“Think of them as your stupid little preys, just like you did in the forest. You might be on their territory but you are the predator here, and they should be the ones quivering with fear. Not you.” He pronounced this in intoxicating whispers that manage to lull her anxiety — or maybe it was because she was focusing on how his breath had quickened now that their mouths were so close. Batting her eyelashes, the white witch slowly nodded: they would be the real menace of the whole ballroom. Tommy drowned himself in the frost desert of her eyes for a bit, his thumb slightly pulling her fleshy lower lip down, “And if it is not enough, remember that I’ll stay by your side and keep you out of sorrow.” As he concluded, his placid face split in a wide and fierce grin that showcased his teeth. A genuine Tommy Shelby’s smile, scarcer than the rarest gem.

“And I’ll keep you out of it too.” She replied, mirroring his smile but with a more moderate one.

“That’s it, Devil.” He affectionately called the petite witch before his sweet liquored lips crashed against hers, the whisky taste blinding all her other senses and making the world outside fade to black. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck, surges of electricity cursing through her body as the infamous gangster deepened the embrace. Amidst the chaos they had left behind in Birmingham they stood, his free hand pressing on her lower back to pull her closer until his strong chest flattened her small breast and every of their curves fit snugly altogether. After all that separated them, Tommy had finally won: his brother’s beloved angel belonged to him and only him… Conquered and with her wings pinned, Heaven forgot how wrong it felt and gave in, her tongue shyly waltzing with her old enemy’s. With that wicked brother-in-law she wished to see dead not that long ago. When their mouth parted and Heaven tried to break the embrace to go back dolling herself up, Tommy grabbed her wrist firmly, pupils dilated with pride and lust.

“No. Kiss me again.” His husky voice ordered.

The whole party was probably the most boring one she had ever attended and to make her evening worst, Americans proved that their awful tastes also encompassed alcohol. Not the smallest bottle of red wine had been put on tables, only dry and bitter champagne they were proud to show off as if it was the pinnacle of the French culture. Heaven winced after the first sip and immediately put the glass back where she had taken it, hoping no one had notice her bad manners — she definitely wasn’t one of them, and navigating among the upper-class crowd was not as easy as Tommy made it look. Her mind started to form the words “Arthur would never…” but soon her heart tightened in her chest and she forced herself to chase away the thought of her beloved former husband. “Arthur is not here anymore.” Tommy’s voice echoed in her head. In truth, the lanky gangster had stopped being there the moment he relapsed in drug again, trading cocaine for opium. It had been too much and, loyal to her principles, Heaven left. Never ever she would have imagined that Arthur would be found months later in the Chinese quarters with a syringe in his arm, devoid of life. And while she was spitefully musing over and over again on these cursed memories, two vicious pair of eyes stared at her.

“She looks like she’s about to murder everyone here.” A bewitching feminine voice resounded, catching the attention of the tall American man standing next to her, “I like that.” Eva added, bringing the fine crystal of her glass to her blood-red lips to sip the fancy cocktail she had ordered. At her words, Jack’s mouth curled in a shark-like smile, the scar on his upper lip stretching as he did.

“And she’s hot.” He said, the couple giving each other a conspiratorial glance, “That’s what you were about to say, weren’t you, Goddess?” His manly hand discreetly slipped from her lower back to her ass, grabbing one of her cheeks firmly. Eva snort in reply, side-eying her cheeky husband before focusing her attention on the delicate but wild angel that was impatiently waiting for Tommy to come back from his smoke outside. Lost in her contemplation for a short while, the Mexican witch wondered how such a seraph-looking creature could wear a stare that cold. How could she radiate off something that… Unsettling? Anxiety-inducing? Threatening? She couldn’t even find the right word.

“Feeling sinful, Daddy?” The Mexican beauty, sublimed by an overtly expensive red dress, cooed with a sultry tone that would have turned the meanest man to a brainless drooling dog.

“With you? Always, Goddess.” He winked at her before leaning for a kiss on her temple but a few seconds later the two future presidential couple saw their new associate coming back to the ballroom and heading straight to the lonely white-haired brat, “So you were right, she’s Thomas Shelby’s sweetheart. The Gypsie bastard got himself a fucking pretty pussy.”

“A witch.” Eva corrected, her tone stricter as she pronounced the word, “And he’s rather handsome too. Both are highly fuckable.” She mused, her dark eyes never leaving the newlyweds.

“Well, let me introduce you to them then! After all, we’re in business together now.” Jack suggested, burying his nose in his wife’s long dark hair to relish on her enchanting perfume. Fuck — if they weren’t that busy he would have ruined her cunt in another room right now.

“Excellent idea, Jack. Introduce me to them.” Eva emphasizes on the word, finally looking at the tall American with the flames of sin dancing in her evil eyes. It was all it took for Jack to understand his wife’s intentions… And they were in total harmony with his. “I hope we could officialize our partnership with them in a more intimate and fun way than just a handshake.” As possessive as they were together — as possessive as the English and French mirror facing them — Eva foresaw their agreement about her perverse suggestion, but the truth was there was no need to be a clairvoyant witch for guessing right.

The four of them were all sinners.

[fablesfolklore]

In The Graveyard with Lilith Rose Shelby (and Jack Nelson)

This work is inspired by @zablife and her 2K celebration: An Evening at The Arrow House. The OC of Lilith Rose Shelby is my own. The characters of Scarlet Shelby, Aurora Sabini, Heaven Shelby and Eva Smith belong to @zablife, @evita-shelby and @call-sign-shark. I only mentioned them because they inspired me. Eva is only mentioned by name but I did my best to do Scarlet and Heaven justice. Thank you for inspiring me.

TW: Violence, Sexual Content, Swearing.

Lilith Rose Shelby was all grown up. She’d flown the coop and (unlike most members of the Shelby clan) had miraculously escaped the clutches of Tommy’s schemes. Some suspected that her untapped freedom had to do with her immense luck in life… but for those who knew better….it was because Thomas Shelby loved no one more than his youngest sister. No one held such an influence over the greatest gangster turned MP in all of Great Britain (and its dominions) than Lilith, no one else had the keys to his smile or to his heart. You might ask Why, then, she was allowed to roam free? Not shackled to the Arrow House as Ada had once been to the shithole in small heath. Not obligated to attend every family dinner or family meeting that Tommy threw whenever he felt like it.

       “Why?” The new Mrs Shelby kissed up Tommy’s back as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Will she not meet me?” Of all the people she desired to make a friend of in this family, Mrs Shelby wanted to make the best first impression on her mysterious good sister. Everyone spoke of her with reverence. Lilith’s name was the very essence of sorcery. Once spoken, even whispered in corridors and in dark corners, a shiver danced up one’s spine…or one’s blood spiked with adrenalin and excitement.  

Thomas bristled and stiffened, not responding. Mrs Shelby paused, a pout forming on her nervous lips. In truth, she had expected for Thomas to be eager for his new wife to meet Lilith. The siblings were so close, that she’d expected for her to have been the first person he’d have introduced her to. Instead she was met with a cagey Thomas.

       “Lilith doesn’t like Arrow House.” He deflected easily, lighting a cigarette as he stood up and wandered to the window, looking out into the foggy grey autumnal morning. He exhaled some smoke in the way that had her swooning, before he spoke again. “It reminds her of Grace.” Mrs Shelby’s heart dropped. Grace, the woman whose shadow she was forever enshrouded by. She didn’t openly wish to express her dislike of Grace or Lizzie, but she was beginning to despise them. She knew their spirits were mourned and honoured in this house…. if only by the staff and the children. It was complicated. But she hated being compared to them, hated the way the children refused to acknowledge her but would gaze in awe at the portraits of their respective mothers. It made her feel like a replacement…. nothing more. Perhaps Lilith would think the same of her. She chewed on her lip.

        “She must have loved Grace a lot.” She mused. Tommy scoffed.

        “On the contrary, Lilith hated Grace.” He licked his lips, glancing at his wife. He’d put it politely for her, spared some of the details. No one hated Grace more than Tommy’s beloved little demoness. “She disliked Lizzie as well, but for different reasons.”

        “Oh.”

        “Grace betrayed me. Lilith refused to forgive that. The only reason she refrained from dancing with joy when she died was that she loved me too much.”

        “And Lizzie?”

        “Lizzie broke John’s heart.”  Tommy spoke casually, remorselessly as though he’d had nothing to do with it.

        “I’ve not done anything to hurt anyone.” Mrs Shelby sulked, looking at the floor. Tommy strolled back over to the bed and took her into his arms.

        “Quite right.” He kissed her forehead. “Perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to invite her this weekend.”

        “But she hates the Arrow House.”

        “She’ll come for the family, and for me. The kids will be delighted to see her”

        “She’s good with them?” Her interest was piqued. Perhaps Lilith could shed light on the way to Charlie and Ruby’s hearts.

        “She dotes on them.” He smiled, a real genuine smile. “They’re mine, after all.”

*****

Mrs Shelby skipped towards Tommy, her letter filled left hand raised in triumph. Her sparkling sapphire engagement ring sparkled in the light.

     “They’re coming.” She kissed him joyously. “They’re all coming.”

     “All?” He chuckled.

     “All.” She confirmed. “And they’re all staying. Scarlet and Luca will stay in the room opposite Finn and Aurora. Alfie and Ada will stay in the room opposite Polly and Aberamma.” Tommy smiled as she babbled out her arrangements. He imagined it was a good idea that Alfie and Arthur should stay in separate wings of the house…. otherwise Ada and Heaven would be forced to intervene, and no one wanted a mess. Gina and Michael would go next to Ada and Alfie. John and Tatiana would have to be kept in the room next to Tommy and Mrs Shelby so he could keep an eye on that mad bitch. Speaking of that insane Russian duchess…. she’d have to be kept as far away from Lilith and her beloved husband, Jack Nelson. Last Christmas had been a disaster when Tatiana – having had way too much to drink – announced that herself and Lilith had been lovers for the entire year before Lilith had met Jack. Jack had hated her guts since. The children would have three whole rooms to themselves. Something Mrs Shelby wasn’t sure was appropriate, but something Tommy had insisted was necessary.

     “They all love being together.” He insisted. “And it’s not like we’re giving them the entire house.”

     “I’m still so shocked they’re all coming.” She smiled dreamily up at him. “I’ve always wanted a big family.”

     “Well, now you have one.”

     “You never told me Lilith was married.”

     “Ah.” Tommy looked sheepish. “I didn’t think she’d bring him.”

Two years ago she’d eloped with Jack Nelson, the last man on earth Tommy had thought suitable or good enough for Lilith. Jack Nelson was everything Tommy (ironically) hated. He was unfaithful, violent, a fascistic Irish American and he was the most obnoxious, ambitious, cunning bastard he’d ever encountered…It was like looking in an ever so slightly warped mirror. His dislike of the American hadn’t stopped Lilith marrying him though…And yet somehow, the marriage worked. Jack followed the little Shelby witch round like a lost puppy, salivating whenever she looked at him. It was like she held some sort of magical enchantment over him. The loved up pair made Thomas feel a little bit sick. Mrs Shelby smiled teasingly.

      “You can’t stand him, can you?”

      “He’s not good enough for her.” He grouched. “But for some unfathomable reason, he makes her happy. That’s enough for me.” From the way he gritted his teeth it seemed like that hardest thing he’d ever had to say.

      “Everyone thinks you’re a big bad gangster…but I know you’re really just a big softy.”

      “Don’t go telling everyone, ey.” He laughed, “I have a reputation to uphold.” Wrapping his arms around her waist he hoisted her up onto the table, taking her lips with his own. Someone coughed. Tommy turned to see Mary, the maid.

       “The house is all prepared for the guests, Mr Shelby.”

        “Thank you, Mary. That will be all.” She nodded, turning to leave but not before she eyed Mrs Shelby with frigid, calculating eyes. Thomas didn’t seem to notice though as he shifted his attention back to Mrs Shelby as his fingers slid beneath the hem of her dress.

*****

They were nothing like she expected. None of them. Polly arrived first, gliding in like the image of sophistication, barely glancing at Mrs Shelby. Aberamma following closely at her heels. He grunted in greeting, simply tilting his head after removing his hat. Arthur and Heaven arrived at the same time as Scarlet and Luca. Arthur’s greeting had been sweet. He seemed to like her, spluttering over his words to greet her. His hands shook and his eyes looked a little wild. But he meant well. Heaven waltzed in behind him, looking like an angel in her white fur coat. The snow haired beauty’s presence seemed to ease Arthur’s nervousness. He wrapped his arm around her waist as she held out her hand for Mrs Shelby to shake.

     “You must be Heaven.” Mrs Shelby stuttered, transfixed by her crystalline eyes.

     “Pleasure.” Heaven’s eyes slid to Tommy and her expression instantly shifted to a predatory one. “Bastard.” She acknowledged with a cat like smile.

      “Yes. He is.” Scarlet stated as she sauntered through, pushing her way past them and following Polly into the drawing room.

      “You’re not going to say hello, Tesoro?” Luca paused in the hallway, smiling at Mary as she took his hat and coat.

       “There’s no point in greeting Tommy’s latest victim. Knowing him, she won’t last the year.” Scarlet called back. Tommy watched Mrs Shelby’s confidence dissipate momentarily. Headlights glowed in the driveway.

       “Heaven, why don’t you take Arthur and Luca into the drawing room.” Tommy suggested. Heaven’s icy eyes hardened before narrowing at him. Her lips parted in order to respond in a somewhat poisonous manner but Mrs Shelby stepped forward and whispered to her.

       “I wouldn’t normally agree with Tommy but Alfie’s just arrived.” Heaven observed the mouse like woman Tommy had married for a moment before she nodded, escorting her husband and brother in law to the drawing room. Music blared as the door opened and Mrs Shelby could see the reflection of Scarlet in the large mirror as she turned the gramophone up.

       “SHALOM Thomas!” Roared the bear of a man as he wandered in. Ada rolled her eyes beside him. She hugged Thomas tightly before embracing Mrs Shelby, much to her surprise.

       “I hope they’ve not been too scathing to you.” She whispered. “Don’t worry, they’ll warm to you with time.” She pulled back and smiled. “This is my son, Karl, my daughter, Elizabeth and this,” She brushed her hand over her swollen midsection as Alfie beamed with joy. “Is baby Solomons.” Tommy paled as she spoke, only just noticing the pregnancy.

        “Jesus Christ.” He muttered beneath his breath.  Mrs Shelby held his hand and gave it a squeeze as she spoke.

        “You’d better head on in before he has a stroke.”

Tommy had just about recovered when the door to the drawing room opened and he heard Arthur exclaim.

         “Fookin’ hell Ada! You bloody kept that quiet, din’t ya?!”

Finn and Aurora Sabini arrived next. Polite and jovial as ever, though Aurora didn’t appear to like the way the youngest Shelby boy looked at his new sister in law. John, Tatiana, Michael and Gina all arrived together. Lawrence ran in from the cold, zooming in circles around Tommy and Mrs Shelby before running past them to the drawing room, banging on the door and yelling “Granma, Granma!”

       “My boy!” Polly called in joy as she came out and greeted him, swooping down and collecting him in her arms before slipping back inside. Gina made a noise of disgust.

       “Thomas.” She acknowledged.

       “Regina.” She scowled as he full named her.

       “So this is you’re newest whore?” She studied Mrs Shelby with critical eyes. “She doesn’t look like much, I’m surprised you’re so taken with her.”

        “She’s worth ten of you, Regina.” He snapped.

       “Michael.” Mrs Shelby smiled warmly. “Thank you for coming.”

        “It’s nice to see you again, love. I hope he’s treating you right.”

        “He is. Very Much.”

        “I took the liberty of bringing a wedding gift. It’s out the front.”

        “That’s very generous of you. Really, you didn’t have to.”

        “Yes, Michael. You didn’t have to.” Gina snapped before stalking off to the drawing room and loudly demanding a drink. Michael winked at Mrs Shelby, smirked at Tommy and left them to it. He turned to greet John and Tatiana and froze.

      “Fuck!” He fumed. “What the fuck are you wearing?!” He looked at John. “What the fuck is she wearing John-boy!”

      “Don’t worry, Thomas.” Tatiana purred sensually. “It’s not for you…or your wife.” She stepped around him, the thin scrap of material she called a dress clinging to her figure. “Tatiana Petrovna Shelby, delighted to make your acquaintance.” Mrs Shelby blushed and stepped closer to Tommy as the Russian duchess invaded her space. Grabbing her jaw, Tatiana kissed both of Mrs Shelby’s cheeks.”

       “She’d got a beautiful neck, Thomas. I can see why you like her.” She paused. “And that ring!” She snatched Mrs Shelby’s hand, admiring the sapphire encrusted in diamonds. She tutted. “I would have thought you’d learned your lesson with sapphires.”

       “They’re a particular favourite of my wife’s.”

       “Grace liked sapphires too.” Tatiana smirked, her dark eyes flickering madly in the candle-light. “Is Lilith here yet?” She changed the subject.

       “Is she the reason you’re dressed like a whore?” Tommy took a swig of the amber liquid in his tumbler. “You not bothered by this John?”

       “As long as I’m the only man she fucks, doesn’t matter to me.” He joked.

       “It’ll only ever be you Johnny.” Tatiana turned and kissed him.

       “Aye, John-boy. As long as you’re a Shelby, she’s not picky.”

       “What’s that supposed to mean?” Mrs Shelby asked, nervously glancing at Tommy.

       “It means that before she chose me, she was fucking Tommy…until she got bored of him.” John answered. 

         “Are we interupptin’ somethin’?” Came Uncle Charlie’s deep gravelly voice. He stopped short to shake Tommy’s hand, flanked by Johnny Doggs, Isiah and Curly. Curly smiled bashfully at Mrs Shelby and handed her some flowers. She blushed.

         “Thank you Curly.”

         “How’re you findin’ us so far, petal?” Johnny Doggs asked loudly.

         “So far I’m struggling to find someone who likes both of us. Polly, Aurora and Gina dislike me, everyone else has a gripe with Tommy.” Johnny Doggs barked out a laugh. “Welcome to the clan!”

          “Families.” Isiah scoffed. “Who’d have em?”

*****

Lilith Rose Shelby was the most beautiful creature Mrs Shelby had ever seen. So beautiful, that the air rocketed out of her lungs when she first saw her. They heard Jack first as he escorted her up the steps and held the door open for her. She looked like a goddess, draped in silk. Tommy was fascinated that Jack never once looked away from her. His only greeting to the new Mrs Shelby was a nod and a smirk. He sneered at Tommy before his attention gravitated back to his wife. She had the most beguiling dark eyes Mrs Shelby had ever seen. They were like pools of endless night. Lilith catapulted herself into Tommy, who embraced her tightly and inhaled her scent. Pomegranate and dark amber. She relaxed into him. Releasing her, Tommy cupped his baby sister’s face in his hands and looked at her for a moment.

     “You grow more and more beautiful every time I see you.” He smiled.

     “Brother.” She spoke quietly….and she sounded like magic. Soft and sensual. “You look well.” She beamed at him. And Mrs Shelby’s heart fluttered at her smile. Jack snaked a hand around Lilith’s waist and pulled her back against him.

      “Shelby.” Jack acknowledged. “Married again? You can’t seem to get em’ to stay, can ya?”

      “Nelson.” Tommy spoke evenly. “I can keep women just fine. In fact, I’ve never had to cross a continent and steal a woman away to make her mine. I suppose that means I have better luck than you.” Lilith covered Jack’s hand with her own.

     “Or,” She interrupted loudly, “It simply means that I was special enough that he had to travel all this way to find me.” Mrs Shelby watched, fascinated as both men melted at Lilith words. Jack kissed Lilith’s forehead and Tommy smiled.

    “Could be.” He agreed. Lilith stepped away from Jack and turned her attention to Mrs Shelby. All the noise fell away. She couldn’t hear anything. Apart from the sound of her blood pulsing through her at a rapid speed. She glanced at her husband, and watched his beautiful lips move as he spoke to Lilith and Jack. She watched Lilith study her, eyes raking over her in an unreadable manner. Mrs Shelby’s finger twitched as Lilith’s eyes pause over her engagement ring, her full soft lips quirking into a small smile for a moment before it vanishes. Mrs Shelby gasped, startled when Lilith unexpectedly stepped forward and smiled at her. Lilith took Mrs Shelby’s left hand in both of hers. Her thumb brushed over the sapphire. Her eyes pierced into Mrs Shelby’s hypnotically and Mrs Shelby found herself transfixed as Thomas brushed a hand up and down her back, comfortingly…. obliviously.

      “Sister.” Lilith tested the word on her tongue as she surveyed Mrs Shelby. “You’ll be good to him, yes?” She sounded so innocent. So angelic. Her eyes held no malice. Mrs Shelby stuttered.

      “Y-Yes. I shall try to be all that he deserves.”

Lilith beamed at her and released her hand. Mrs Shelby’s ring finger throbbed momentarily as she watched her fascinating sister turn and enter the drawing room with Jack. She saw through the reflection in the mirror as Polly embraced her niece tightly and was startled to see Lilith’s reflection gazing predatorily through the looking glass at her.

*****

Dinner was a fucking disaster. It had been nothing like she had hoped. Perhaps she was just projecting her own fears but it seemed that none of them liked her…. even the ones who appeared to. It seemed as though they were watching her every move with a pre-existing negative judgement. She was guilty to them, of something. The problem was she didn’t know what and she didn’t know how to change that. Tommy had enough to deal with, especially after Tatiana had goaded Jack into a row and she was swearing at him in Russian. Arthur had had way too much to drink. Scarlet was screaming at Tommy for something he’d done years ago and Luca was trying desperately to calm her down. She turned to look at Michael, who was in a heated discussion with Gina…and Aurora kept throwing her dirty looks.  In the end she’d left the table, claiming to check on dessert. She’d just found a quiet alcove to take a few moments when someone touched her shoulder. She jolted and turned to see Lilith.

    “Feeling overwhelmed?” Her voice was so soft, sympathy swirled in her onyx eyes.

    “A little.”

A lot. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

    “I know. We can be a lot to handle.” She looked out into the darkened garden. “Why don’t we go for a walk.” She suggested. “Take a moment to ourselves.” Mrs Shelby’s heart soared at the prospect of having a moment alone with someone who might actually like her and in doing so, might sway the opinion of the others. She nodded and took Lilith’s offered arm as the two of them stepped out into the cool autumn air.

It hadn’t been long since they had returned from their honeymoon and so Mrs Shelby hadn’t yet had time to explore the grounds of the Arrow House properly. In the dark murkiness of the evening she couldn’t really see where she was going and clutched on to Lilith’s bare arm a little closer for security. She smelt dizzyingly alluring. Away from all the smoke and whiskey the magic of her perfumed the air in a wonderful way. 

    “How did you meet my brother, if you don’t mind me asking?”

    “Da’s one of his employees at Shelby Company ltd. I met Tommy when I brought Da his lunch.”

    “How…. quaint.”

Mrs Shelby wasn’t paying attention. She was too bust staring at the purple love bites littering Lilith’s creamy throat. Lilith flushed and giggled when she noticed.

    “I’m sorry, I should have covered up more, Jack can get carried away some times.”

    “He’s very fond of you.”

    “And I, him.” Lilith patted Mrs Shelby’s hand. “I never expected to find Jack. But he’s my better half. As Heaven is Arthur’s and Luca is Scarlet’s. We were worried Thomas would never find someone….worthy.” Lilith stopped her movements and released Mrs Shelby’s arm. For the first time, Mrs Shelby noticed her surroundings. Lilith had brought her to the churchyard close to the Arrow House. She turned, only just able to see the outline of it looming in the moonlight. She shivered, looking back to Lilith who was now staring at something in front of her. “Thomas has very specific needs.” Her voice had lost all of its warmth. Mrs Shelby’s mouth ran dry as she read the names on the gravestones in front of her.

Grace Burgess Shelby.

Daughter, Mother, Beloved Wife.

Elizabeth Stark Shelby

Mother, wife, friend. Lost to childbirth.

Something rustled behind them. Lilith turned and smiled adoringly as Jack stepped out of the shadows. Mrs Shelby wondered how he had known where to find them. “You have to be a certain kind of person to survive in this family. Don’t you, my love?”

    “Ya got that right. It’s an honour to love a Shelby…to be prepared to kill and die for them.”

“Thomas needs a fighter.” Lilith reached out and caressed Mrs Shelby’s cheek. “You didn’t fight tonight. You fled, little mouse.” Lilith tutted and stepped closer, so close, Mrs Shelby could feel Lilith’s sweet, warm breath burning against her flesh. “How can I trust that you’ll fulfil him?” Lilith shook her head, looking sad, disappointed even. Jack brushed his wife’s hair off her shoulder, exposing her flesh. He pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck. Mrs Shelby watched Lilith relax a little. “You’re not good enough for him.” Lilith purred softly, Jack’s lips and tongue trailed down Lilith’s neck as she spoke. “Neither of them were, either.” She glanced to the gravestones behind her. “I was lucky with Lizzie; God took care of her. But I had to intervene with Grace.”

  “B-but we’re happy.” Mrs Shelby spluttered, fear creeping into her voice every second longer that she spent in Lilith’s presence.

   “For now. Until he realises that you’re not enough for him.” She paused, relishing in the look of despair on Mrs Shelby’s features. “Don’t worry. He’ll be happier than ever with Eva. They’ll be perfect together.” Jack hummed in agreement with his beloved and imprinted his teeth in a perfect love bite into her neck as she slid home a beautiful carved and somewhat bejewelled blade into Mrs Shelby’s sternum. Mrs Shelby gasped in pain, a sharp sound leaving her soft lips. “She’s earned him, you haven’t.” Lilith continued as she twisted the hilt, a horrible tearing noise was heard before Lilith let go. Mrs Shelby staggered back and fell back against the willow tree overhanging the makeshift graveyard.  Lilith looked down at her blood spattered fingers. Lifting them to her face she licked one, smearing her lips in the substance. Greedily, Jack took her fingers and painted his own mouth with them. Lilith spun in Jack’s arms, giggling and moaning as their lips fused, unbuckling his belt. She murmured something to him and he acquiesced without question, sitting and leaning back against Grace’s headstone. Lilith slipped her dress over her head until she was wearing barely anything in the coldness of the autumn night. She straddled Jack, kissing him deeply before sliding down onto him in the ghostly glow of the full moon.

Mrs Shelby heaved, opening her mouth. She tried to call for help but no sound emerged. Instead she found herself mute, only coughing and spluttering on the crimson blood as it tried to liberate itself from her mouth. Her vision grew blurry for a moment as tears gathered and obscured her sight.

And then she saw them.

The ghosts of Grace Burgess and Lizzie Stark, both completely drenched in blood and staring in horror, not at her but at Lilith and Jack, as he flipped his wife over and took her like an animal. Lizzie’s expression was melancholic. Her hair loose and wild, eyes ceaselessly spilling tears and her mouth agape in silent cries of agony. Her body had been slit open from chest to lower abdomen and still, even in death, she was bleeding. Grace stood beside her still in the gown she wore the night she was murdered. the bullet wound on her chest still wept even though she didn’t. Her face was curiously, disturbingly calm. The sapphire around her neck pulsed and throbbed and pulsed and throbbed. And suddenly Grace wasn’t looking at Lilith and Jack anymore, her pale grey eyes locking onto her second replacement. Mrs Shelby found herself growing shivery and yet unable to move, unable to scramble backwards as the sapphire whispered to her over and over some kind of spell in Romani. The curse…. she recalled hazily as she forced her limbs in an attempt to move. Tommy believed it had been cursed by the Russians. Mrs Shelby’s fingers dug into the soil as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Every movement was excruciating in both pain and in effort. Her eyes fluttered closed in exhaustion and the spell of the sapphire seemed to sing louder and louder, it’s feminine voice echoing seductively in her ears. She realised it was coming not only from the necklace Grace’s ghost wore, but also from the ring on her engagement finger. Struggling, she tried desperately to remove it. But to no avail, it was as though it had fused to her flesh, strangling her finger.

Mrs Shelby’s eyes snapped open. Just in time to see the ghost of Grace stood over her.

“I should feel sorry for you.” Grace whispered. “You’re a victim of this family, just like me.” She paused, licking her discoloured corpse lips. Grace heard it too. She heard that it was Lilith’s voice cursing her inside the blue sapphires, not Tatiana’s. “And Tommy does love you.” There was a moment of silence. “But… I’ve come to realise something.” Grace leaned down and kissed Mrs Shelby’s lips, her ghostly fingers coming up to wrap around Mrs Shelby’s throat. “If I can’t have Tommy…” Grace murmured as she pulled back looking deeply into Mrs Shelby’s eyes.

Her grip tightened...and tightened…and tightened. Mrs Shelby choked and spluttered, her body convulsing. The last thing she saw was Lilith’s dark eyes staring at her over Jack’s shoulder, her nails digging into his back as he held her to him. And Grace’s hoarse voice looming over her.

“Then no one can.”  

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Jumping on the bandwagon with this one! Shout out to @justrainandcoffee for finding this! Also tagging my other Hunger Games AU peeps @evita-shelby, @call-sign-shark, @peakyswritings, and @lunarubra!

Simulation can be found here!

The Bloodbath

As the tributes stand on their podiums, the horn sounds.

Freddie Thorne runs away from the Cornucopia.

Aveline Young runs away from the Cornucopia.

Arthur Shelby runs away from the Cornucopia.

Heaven Lavey grabs a backpack and retreats.

Jack Nelson finds a backpack full of camping equipment.

Tommy Shelby runs away from the Cornucopia.

Luca Changretta runs away from the Cornucopia.

Gina Nelson grabs a backpack, not realizing it is empty.

May Carleton, Michael Gray, and Polly Gray get into a fight. Polly Gray triumphantly kills them both.

Johnny Dogs runs away from the Cornucopia.

Charlie Strong snatches a bottle of alcohol and a rag.

Lucy Winters runs away from the Cornucopia.

Alfie Solomons scares Johanna Mason away from the cornucopia.

Finn Shelby runs away from the Cornucopia.

Grace Burgess takes a handful of throwing knives.

John Shelby and Rose Coldwell fight for a bag. Rose Coldwell gives up and retreats.

Isiah Jesus and Ada Shelby fight for a bag. Ada Shelby gives up and retreats.

Eva Smith snatches a bottle of alcohol and a rag.

Nina Ferrante clutches a first aid kit and runs away.

Day 1

Gina Nelson camouflauges herself in the bushes.

Alfie Solomons stalks Johanna Mason.

Rose Coldwell goes hunting.

Nina Ferrante runs away from Jack Nelson.

Grace Burgess tries to spear fish with a trident.

Eva Smith receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor.

Luca Changretta runs away from Freddie Thorne.

Ada Shelby receives clean water from an unknown sponsor.

Arthur Shelby diverts Lucy Winters's attention and runs away.

Finn Shelby scares Johnny Dogs off.

Charlie Strong questions his sanity.

John Shelby, Tommy Shelby, and Polly Gray hunt for other tributes.

Aveline Young pushes Isiah Jesus off a cliff during a knife fight.

Heaven Lavey hunts for other tributes.

Fallen Tributes

3 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

May Carleton District 4 Michael Gray District 3 Isiah Jesus District 11

Night 1

Heaven Lavey, Jack Nelson, and Aveline Young sleep in shifts.

Charlie Strong screams for help.

Finn Shelby receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor.

Johnny Dogs questions his sanity.

Alfie Solomons loses sight of where he is.

Polly Gray tends to Freddie Thorne's wounds.

Luca Changretta receives an explosive from an unknown sponsor.

Johanna Mason receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor.

Eva Smith and Ada Shelby tell stories about themselves to each other.

Tommy Shelby and Lucy Winters huddle for warmth.

Grace Burgess thinks about home.

John Shelby cooks his food before putting his fire out.

Nina Ferrante, Rose Coldwell, Gina Nelson, and Arthur Shelby tell each other ghost stories to lighten the mood.

*slams hands on desk* Lucy x Tommy is canon you guys my babies are cuddling sajfhsdjkgfhsd 😭😭😭

Day 2

Charlie Strong questions his sanity.

Ada Shelby, Freddie Thorne, Aveline Young, Johnny Dogs, and Polly Gray hunt for other tributes.

Rose Coldwell collects fruit from a tree.

Tommy Shelby and Gina Nelson work together for the day.

Alfie Solomons camouflauges himself in the bushes.

Grace Burgess tries to spear fish with a trident.

Arthur Shelby runs away from Jack Nelson.

Johanna Mason scares Lucy Winters off.

Nina Ferrante, Finn Shelby, Eva Smith, and Heaven Lavey hunt for other tributes.

Luca Changretta hunts for other tributes.

John Shelby makes a wooden spear.

Night 2

Johnny Dogs fends Polly Gray, Grace Burgess, and Luca Changretta away from his fire.

Nina Ferrante stabs Freddie Thorne in the back with a trident.

Finn Shelby overpowers Heaven Lavey, killing her.

Alfie Solomons and Aveline Young sleep in shifts.

Lucy Winters decapitates Rose Coldwell with a sword.

Tommy Shelby screams for help.

Jack Nelson goes to sleep.

Johanna Mason receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor.

Arthur Shelby tends to Charlie Strong's wounds.

Ada Shelby, John Shelby, and Eva Smith sleep in shifts.

Gina Nelson attempts to start a fire, but is unsuccessful.

@call-sign-shark Finn overpowering Heaven has got to be the most hilariously ooc things I've ever heard. As if he would ever actually stand a chance against her. And @justrainandcoffee oh my god please tell Rosie that Lucy is SO SORRY she doesn't know what came over her 🫣

Day 3

Gina Nelson scares Grace Burgess off.

Nina Ferrante tends to Finn Shelby's wounds.

Arthur Shelby receives an explosive from an unknown sponsor.

Charlie Strong bashes Luca Changretta's head in with a mace.

Ada Shelby hunts for other tributes.

Johnny Dogs goes hunting.

Tommy Shelby diverts John Shelby's attention and runs away.

Aveline Young defeats Polly Gray in a fight, but spares her life.

Lucy Winters receives an explosive from an unknown sponsor.

Eva Smith sees smoke rising in the distance, but decides not to investigate.

Jack Nelson and Johanna Mason work together to drown Alfie Solomons.

Fallen Tributes

5 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Freddie Thorne District 5 Heaven Lavey District 7 Rose Coldwell District 8 Luca Changretta District 1 Alfie Solomons District 9

Night 3

Charlie Strong thinks about home.

Eva Smith, Tommy Shelby, and Jack Nelson sleep in shifts.

John Shelby sees a fire, but stays hidden.

Polly Gray questions her sanity.

Nina Ferrante climbs a tree to rest.

Lucy Winters passes out from exhaustion.

Aveline Young screams for help.

Grace Burgess, Finn Shelby, Gina Nelson, and Johanna Mason sleep in shifts.

Ada Shelby receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor.

Arthur Shelby sets up camp for the night.

Johnny Dogs questions his sanity.

Day 4

Johnny Dogs, Ada Shelby, Lucy Winters, John Shelby, and Arthur Shelby hunt for other tributes.

Aveline Young constructs a shack.

Grace Burgess travels to higher ground.

Eva Smith is pricked by thorns while picking berries.

Polly Gray travels to higher ground.

Tommy Shelby and Johanna Mason fight Gina Nelson and Jack Nelson. Gina Nelson and Jack Nelson survive.

Nina Ferrante kills Charlie Strong for his supplies.

Finn Shelby explores the arena.

Fallen Tributes

3 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Tommy Shelby District 12 Johanna Mason District 7 Charlie Strong District 4

Night 4

Aveline Young bleeds out due to untreated injuries.

Arthur Shelby receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor.

Lucy Winters, Finn Shelby, Grace Burgess, Polly Gray, and John Shelby sleep in shifts.

Gina Nelson and Johnny Dogs talk about the tributes still alive.

Nina Ferrante tries to treat her infection.

Ada Shelby dies from thirst.

Eva Smith and Jack Nelson tell stories about themselves to each other.

@evita-shelby Do I sense something potentially happening between Eva and Jack? 👀

Day 5

John Shelby stalks Lucy Winters.

Gina Nelson constructs a shack.

Polly Gray severely slices Nina Ferrante with a sword.

Grace Burgess fishes.

Finn Shelby attacks Jack Nelson, but he manages to escape.

Eva Smith questions her sanity.

Johnny Dogs dies from thirst.

Arthur Shelby makes a slingshot.

Fallen Tributes

4 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Aveline Young District 11 Ada Shelby District 6 Nina Ferrante District 9 Johnny Dogs District 10

Night 5

Finn Shelby and Gina Nelson talk about the tributes still alive.

Arthur Shelby, Polly Gray, and Grace Burgess get into a fight. Grace Burgess triumphantly kills them both.

Lucy Winters forces John Shelby to kill Eva Smith or Jack Nelson. He decides to kill Eva Smith.

The Feast

The cornucopia is replenished with food, supplies, weapons, and memoirs from the tributes' families.

Gina Nelson decides not to go to The Feast.

John Shelby decides not to go to The Feast.

Finn Shelby decides not to go to The Feast.

Jack Nelson and Grace Burgess get into a fight over raw meat, but Jack Nelson gives up and runs away.

Lucy Winters decides not to go to The Feast.

Day 6

Gina Nelson discovers a river.

John Shelby goes hunting.

Grace Burgess attacks Jack Nelson, but he manages to escape.

Finn Shelby sprains his ankle while running away from Lucy Winters.

Arena Event

Monkey mutts fill the arena.

Lucy Winters dies from internal bleeding caused by a monkey mutt.

Grace Burgess dies from internal bleeding caused by a monkey mutt.

Gina Nelson uses Finn Shelby as a shield from the monkey mutts.

John Shelby survives.

Jack Nelson survives.

Noooo my girl 😭 At least she made it pretty far!

Fallen Tributes

6 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Arthur Shelby District 6 Polly Gray District 3 Eva Smith District 10 Lucy Winters District 12 Grace Burgess District 1 Finn Shelby District 8

Night 6

John Shelby receives clean water from an unknown sponsor.

Gina Nelson destroys Jack Nelson's supplies while he is asleep.

Day 7

John Shelby shoots an arrow into Jack Nelson's head.

Gina Nelson cannot handle the circumstances and commits suicide.

Fallen Tributes

2 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Jack Nelson District 2 Gina Nelson District 2

The Winner

The winner is John Shelby from District 5!

[weolcantramp]

The Midheaven: How You Will Be Remembered

The Midheaven (MC) is commonly thought to describe one’s career path. Although this is a decent indicator of one’s overall path, it can be hard to relate to a specific career so early in one’s life. So, if you don’t relate to your Midheaven like, “Oh, you have a MC in Aries, so you’re probably going to be a police officer, solider, or athlete" then maybe try thinking of the Midheaven as how you will be remembered or what you are generally associated with. (Always trust your dominant sign to describe you the most- *a post similar to this coming soon) ✨No matter what career you decide, you will be remembered by your peers, co-workers, friends, and family by traits from the sign, aspects*, and planets* bestowed upon your 10th House.✨

♈ Aries MC: will be remembered for their courage, boldness, intimidating/unsettling nature, and/or originality. (ex. Stephen King, Meryl Streep, Kanye West, Joan of Arc, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Madalyn Murry O'Hair, Pablo Picasso, Rachel Maddow, Will Smith, Franz Kafka, Tyra Banks, Aleister Crowley, Tina Fey, Francisco de Goya, Julia Roberts, Chris Farley, Joseph Goebbels, Marvin Gaye, Iggy Pop, Kate Moss, Alfred Hitchcock, George Wallace, Hank Williams, Ayn Rand, Rob Zombie, Alexandre Dumas, John Steinbeck, Anne Frank, Twiggy, Jack Black, William Blake, Celine Dion, Galileo Galilei, Al Gore, Emmylou Harris, Las Vegas-Nevada, Manhattan-New York)

♉ Taurus MC: will be remembered for their extravagant style or possessions, their values, and/or “diva” attitude. (ex. Henry VIII, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Tina Turner, Pope Francis, Jackie Robinson, Selena Gomez, Drake, Donald Trump, Freddie Mercury, Agatha Christie, Muhammad Ali, Frida Kahlo, O. J. Simpson, Justin Timberlake, Marlene Dietrich, Malala Yousafzai, Christopher Columbus, Michael Bay, Luciano Pavarotti, Nicole Richie, Woody Allen, Marilyn Manson, Maya Angelou, Martin Scorsese, Bernie Madoff, Ringo, Josephine Baker, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sarah Palin, Josh Groban, Chris Brown, Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen, Norway)

♊ Gemini MC: will be remembered for/through words (writing, phrase, acting, thoughts, speech), their cleverness, and/or mental/emotional detachment. (ex. Jean-Jaques Rousseau, Albert Camus, Madonna, J.R.R. Tolkein, Donna Summer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Chelsea Handler, Alex Trebek, Kurt Cobain, Julie Andrews, Oscar Wilde, Jay-Z, Richard Nixon, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Tom Hanks, Kris Jenner, Walt Disney, Miss Cleo, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Hugh Hefner, Lizzie Borden, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Kathy Bates, Winston Churchill, Melissa Ethridge, Ernest Hemingway, Margaret Mitchell, Paul Simon, Greece, Tokyo-Japan)

♋ Cancer MC: will be remembered for their emotional impact, sensitivity, and/or parental care/control. (ex. Beyoncé, Matamha Gandhi, John F. Kennedy, Venus Williams, Britney Spears, Arthur Rimbaud, Elizabeth Warren, Denzel Washington, Jeffery Dahmer, Sun Yet-sen, Bob Hope, Stevie Wonder, Anderson Cooper, Cat Stevens, Anna Nicole Smith, Joe Jonas, Rock Hudson, Alice Cooper, Woodrow Wilson, Barbara Walters, T. S. Elliot, Coretta Scott King, Albert Schweitzer, Ted Cruz, Monica Lewinsky, H.P. Lovecraft, Anaïs Nin, Katie Couric, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carole King, Neil Diamond, Harper Lee, Giacomo Puccini, Sidney Poitier, September 11 attacks, United Kingdom)

♌ Leo MC: will be remembered for their theatrics, arrogance/vanity, power, and/or regality. (ex. Grace Kelly, Prince, Isaac Newton, Adolf Hitler, Katy Perry, Charlie Chaplin, Aretha Franklin, Sigmund Freud, Jacqueline Onassis-Kennedy, Stanley Kubrick, Courtney Love, Mark Twain, Chaka Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, Kathy Griffin, Jim Carrey, Alfred Nobel, Eric Clapton, Annie Oakley, Martha Stewart, Divine, Louis Pasteur, Robin Williams, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Chuck Berry, Vladimir Putin, Clint Eastwood, Missy Elliot, Frank Sinatra, Mel B, Edgar Allan Poe, Los Angeles-CA)

♍ Virgo MC: will be remembered for their scandals/controversy, never-ending toil, physicality/health and/or attention to detail. (ex. Hillary Clinton, Bruce Lee, Kim Kardashian, Ellen DeGeneres, Brad Pitt, Nelson Mandela, Bette Davis, Justin Bieber, Elvis Presley, Erykah Badu, Jimmy Page, Eartha Kitt, Leonardo de Vinci, Bob Marley, Joan Crawford, Margaret Thatcher, Eminem, Friedrich Nietzsche, David Lynch, Chaz Bono, Marlon Brando, Björk, Ozzy Osborne, Emily Brontë, Bernie Sanders, Georgia O'Keeffe, Diana Ross, Kahlil Gibran, Russia, United States)

♎ Libra MC: will be remembered for their inner/outer beauty, adaptability, and/or desire for or appearance of stability. (ex. Elton John, Jane Goodall, Malcolm X, Coco Channel, Kylie Jenner, Ronald Reagan, Princess Diana, Michelangelo, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Dylan, Winona Ryder, Jimi Hendrix, Mother Teresa, Elizabeth Taylor, Cristiano Ronaldo, Angela Merkel, Tom Brokaw, Alan Watts, Charles Darwin, Brigitte Bardot, Patti Smith, Chuck Norris, Linda Lovelace, Ray Charles, Lionel Messi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lewis Carroll, Noam Chomsky, Lucille Ball, Venice-Italy)

♏ Scorpio MC: will be remembered for their physical attractiveness, taboo activities/topics, and/or natural talent. (ex. James Joyce, Billie Holiday, Taylor Swift, Barack Obama, Carrie Fisher, Jim Morrison, Selena, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Queen Elizabeth II, Ariana Grande, Marie Curie, Anthony Hopkins, René Descartes, Nina Simone, Willem Dafoe, Paul Newman, Mariska Hargitay, Thomas Jefferson, Ray Bradbury, Joseph Stalin, Larry King, Duke Ellington, Joan Jett, Buddy Holly, Megan Fox, Johnny Knoxville, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gwen Stefani, Francis Ford Coppola, Sophia Loren, Marcus Aurelius, China)

♐ Sagittarius MC: will be remembered for their joviality​, reckless/wild free spirit, sense of humor, and/or philosophy/spirituality. (ex. Al Capone, Deepok Chopra, Shia LaBeouf, Audrey Hepburn, Harvey Milk, Johnny Cash, David Bowie, Bettie Page, Pablo Neruda, J. K. Rowling, Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson, Henry David Thoreau, Adele, Janis Joplin, Maximilien Robespierre​, Ellen Pompeo, Whitney Houston, Paul McCartney, Evel Knievel, Bruno Mars, Jimmy Fallon, Peggy Lipton, Karl Marx, George Takei, Ryan Gosling, Whoopi Goldberg, Vincent Price, Rio de Janeiro-Brazil)

♑ Capricorn MC: will be remembered for their accomplishments/legacy, conquering of odds, and/or persistence. (ex. Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington, Rihanna, Isadora Duncan, Benjamin Franklin, James Dean, Nikola Tesla, John D. Rockefeller, Serena Williams, Joan Baez, Snoop Dogg, Alexander the Great, Barbara Streisand, Ron Howard, Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler, Joan Rivers, Immanuel Kant, Queen Latifah, Johann Sebastian Bach, Walt Whitman, Che Guevara, Liza Minnelli, Amelia Earhart, Mariah Carey, John Lennon, George Lucas, Donatella Versace, Louis Armstrong, Pakistan)

♒ Aquarius MC: will be remembered for their rebellious nature, involvement in a social organization/group​, and/or unpredictability. (ex. Miley Cyrus, Tim Burton, Voltaire, Mick Jagger, Carl Sagan, Rita Hayworth, Neil Armstrong, Amy Winehouse, Pamela Anderson, Carlos Santana, Edward Snowden, Leo Tolstoy, Mae West, Orson Welles, Charlie Sheen, Eva Peron, Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Johann Kepler, Suddam Hussein, Ruby Rose, Gerard Way, Helen Mirren, Howard Stern, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley, George R. R. Martin, Kristen Stewart, Jean Piaget, Ronda Rousey, Willow Smith, Florida, India)

♓ Pisces MC: will be remembered for their delusional optimism, supernatural success, and/or they are often idolized. (ex. Vincent Van Gogh, Albert Einstein, Irene Cara, Cher, Salvador Dalí, William Shakespeare, Edie Sedgwick, Fidel Castro, Lady Gaga, Dalai Lama XIV, Steven Spielberg, George Michael, Marie Antoinette, RuPaul, Judy Garland, Michael Phelps, Sally Ride, John Cena, William Faulkner, Victoria Beckham, Lee Harvey Oswald, Douglas Adams, Jean Renoir, Buzz Aldrin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Farrah Fawcett, Osama bin Laden, Sam Cooke, Michael Jordan, Switzerland, North Korea)

[evita-shelby]

They did not know we were seeds

Chapter 1

Cw: mentions of drug abuse, death.

Tagging: @justrainandcoffee @call-sign-shark @emotionalcadaver @peakyswritings

There is something about the girl from Ten that reminds her of Lucy Gray.

Perhaps it was the colors in her blouse’s embroidery that defied the soul crushing weight of the Capitol’s boot on her district’s metaphorical neck, or that defiant smile she wore as they presented her as the chosen tribute.

She did not sing, she did not stuff a snake down a girl’s shirt, but that freckled girl with tan skin and wavy dark hair was Lucy Gray Baird come back to life. Coriolanus and Gaul have seen it too and so it falls on Tigris to protect her from their poison even if she cannot save her from the arena.

“I will style District 10, if you have any complaints about it, you may bring them to President Snow.” Tigris flashed her feline smile at her fellow stylists, already having Eva Smith’s outfits decided.

Eva Smith and her male counterpart, manage to impress the Capitol citizens with their covey-like colors, those who still remember Lucy Gray fondly are the first to sponsor her.

The Tigress knows she will lose her coveted spot, but Cinna and Portia are more than capable of holding their own now. It will be worth it, she reminds herself as she remakes Lucy Gray’s dress from memory.

Coriolanus will know she means to sever the last bond holding them together.

Tribute Eva Smith will be Snow’s greatest nightmare.

Eva doesn’t trust the tiger woman.

Nor her escort, nor her mentor who can’t seem to remember her name and calls her Maria more often than not. It wasn’t their fault, about half the girls in 10 are named Maria or Mary. Her mentor’s own daughter was named Mary, and now thinks all brown haired girls are her.

Eva Smith was just a few months shy of her eighteenth birthday the day she was reaped. All those between the ages of twelve and eighteen had to come from all corners of the district to the Justice Square and awaited their fates in their Sunday’s best.

She wore a blue skirt that reached her shins and a blouse that once belonged to her dead sister, Feli had worn it for her wedding. Spent all her savings for colorful threads from the only haberdasher who had them.

She wears fine cowboy boots even she as an apothecary’s only child can’t afford, brown leather boots with a matching belt and hat band. The rainbow ruffles of her skirt match the feathers on her hat and the embroidery in her partner’s charro outfit.

They are called beautiful by those who send them to their deaths.

At least the tiger woman knew enough to respect their district’s culture, Eva thinks as she sees the district 12 tributes dresses as miners and dusted with soot.

“You remind of someone, a girl from the districts who no one thought she’d win.” The woman smiles as docile as a kitten. But even kittens scratch, and even big cats can feign innocence just like the woman before her.

She must be lying, twelve has never had a female victor. As if sensing her skepticism, Tigris Snow clarifies it was on the early games when no one watched and most Victors too old to be alive.

Eva’s Mentor was from the 17th, she was as old as Mags Flanagan from 4. She barely remembered anything these days because she once took morphine when her only child, Mary Anne, was reaped at the last Quarter Quell and she never recovered.

“How did she win?” Eva asks. Not everyone wins by killing, some hide it out and manage to survive. Twelve’s past victor had already taken to curing his sorrows with a bottle, but he had used the forcefield in the arena to win. Perhaps this victor had a strategy.

“Someone risked everything to take her to victory.” The tiger said with nostalgia, as if that had been a sweet, beautiful thing and not a hellish nightmare. “An alliance so strong he gave up everything for her victory.”

But it was a strange strategy, to rely on an alliance so strong the male tribute chose to die for the girl. Eva knows she is charming and pretty, but she doesn’t know if that will be enough to buy her a truce with the presumed winner of this game: Laurentius Nelson, twin brother of last year’s victor.

And yet when she catches his eye at the mandatory training, Eva considers the strategy. Her mentor’s strategy was just to run and pray they don’t find you.

Who says she cannot try both?

“Call me Laurie.” He is more boy than man, even if he is exactly like his brother. Had the games come five months or so later, Eva would be the same age as them.

Laurie is tall, broad shouldered, handsome even, and his blue eyes don't have brown at their center like his brother. He has freckles and has yet to lose that boyish innocence his brother lacks. Except for that, they are identical.

He doesn’t know hunger, or necessity like even she has and yet his district trains killers. Whether they kill at the games or as peacekeepers makes no difference for them.

“Eva, but you may call me whatever you like.” she gives him her best smile and swallows the guilt she already feels for doing this.

If she lives, she may learn to trust the Tiger Woman and hate her for this.

[evita-shelby]

National Anthem

Chapter 12

Cw: miscarriage, prophetic nightmares, death, mention of kinks, some sex, angst

To those who playes 2 truths 1 lie, so sorry lol

Taglist: @thegreatdragonfruta @zablife

Jack’s smoked through tomorrow’s cigarettes trying to make sense of it. Rosie dreamt of doctors performing a lobotomy that apparently killed her, Junior dreamt he’d be shot in the head as he rode in a parade.

Laurie used to have nightmares of dying in mud and rain until he died in a trench in France in 1914. His sister Katie had dreams of coughing and choking on her own blood. Their mother once said their father had cursed blood, and that was why he got killed when he was a boy.

The gangster remembered all those times his enemies cursed his name and now wonders if curses can be passed on to children. He should talk to his wife about this, she knew more about this bullshit anyways.

“Tell me what?” speak of the devil. Wearing her velvet robe and braving the cold just to see what’s bothering him. They should be in bed, his witch trying to keep warm cuddling with him and thinking about the bungalow in Florida and that hammock in the backyard.

“Junior dreamt he died.” He could lie, he’s done it before, but he’d also like to sleep in his own bed instead of the couch tonight. Besides Eva would kill him for not telling her about this new development.

“Well, he did get pretty sick, there were times I thought he wouldn’t survive it.” She admits joining him on the freezing porch. He’s banned from smoking indoors because his witch couldn’t stand the smell when she was pregnant and now the habit stuck.

“Not that, he says he saw himself as an adult waving at a crowd and being shot in the head.” Jack takes one last drag of his cigarette before handing it to his wife. Eva only smokes when shit’s too dire to take on without one or in the wonderful occasions where she came from uninterrupted sex. Too bad it’s the former.

“When I see death happen, it usually doesn’t. You didn’t die that day in your office, the neighbor’s kid didn’t get hit by a car and I have yet to die.” This was more of a reminder than an actual explanation for this. Apparently, she can only predict a real death if it’s coming for people she doesn’t like or knows well.

“You can teach him and Joey how to shoot when they’re old enough if it eases your mind.” But it isn’t a real guarantee that this applied to the kids. She admitted she was scared about losing him that day, held him tightly that night and those after as if he might die.

Fucking hell, he never thought he’d have to deal with this shit when he decided Eva was gonna be his wife that day.

“Do you regret it?” she asks fearing he might. Evie’s mind reading has become so normal to him he’s no longer surprised his witch catches on to his thoughts like that. Makes it easier to unburden himself with her, doesn’t even have to voice it half the time.

“I never have and never will, sweetheart.” Jack is a man with few regrets, he never does anything unless he wants to and when he doesn’t, he sticks with it to the bitter end. Choosing her would never be one of them.

By May Junior’s nightmares are almost forgotten. Everything goes so well it is scaring her.

They have a house in New York now, a lovely mansion too big for them with servants catering to their every whim and armed men loyal to them. Jack’s success had merited such a move and after Junior’s nightmare, he was loath to leave them behind now.

Luca Changretta was gearing for a war overseas while Jack laid out the framework for their takeover from right under his nose. Even his Family were considering killing him to prevent the White Hand from taking their place.

They were making strides in society, all the must have invites, rubbing elbows with the right people and teaching people not to fuck with them. They’ve just returned from Calvin Coolidge’s inauguration after rubbing it in their competitor’s face.

John D. Hertz had been the unlikely bastard to learn that last year. He wanted protection from the Checker Taxis and his other enemies and would’ve gotten it if his words about her hadn’t pissed off Jack. Something that had caused an attack on the company stocks with the help of their connections.

Now it was the turn of the men who owned the rights to a western movie Eva foresaw making it big.

It had started with a movie house that refused to let Eva into their establishment on their first few dates as man and wife, then the entire chain out of spite and now Jack was aiming for Hollywood after securing New England and most of the East Coast.

She hasn’t rewarded him for this achievement yet, and because nothing else has managed to get her to shake off the unsettling images, Eva decides to wake him early on his day off. He won’t mind, loves it when she makes use of his morning wood for their mutual pleasure.

Would erase the nightmare from her mind along with her refusal to have another baby so soon after Kitty. He loves breeding her, loves seeing her fat and needy and loves its when her tits are full of milk.

He's a dirty bastard, anything and everything will find its way into the blessed times they can have fantastic uninterrupted sex. The new house lets them do that more often. Sometimes they’ll lock themselves in that room far away from the family wing made just for their sexual escapades and go at it like unhinged demons.

“Nightmares again?” As expected, Jack is very amenable to a good fuck before breakfast. Their three older children were at school and Kitty was sleeping like an angel, gave her the perfect opportunity to forget what haunted her dreams.

“I want to forget them.” She admits it in between kisses knowing he won’t say no. “Help me forget them, Jack.”

“As you wish, sweetheart.”

It is to no one’s surprise that Eva finds herself pregnant by Father’s Day. She is not happy about it, there is a terribly bad feeling about this pregnancy. Eva blames it on her vanity and loss of figure, not wanting to burden him with what she saw in her reading that day.

She won’t tell him the cards say they won’t be born.

Not all pregnancies agree with her.

Though not as bad as Rosie’s, this one is one of the bad ones. The doctor hasn’t put her on bedrest ---even if he did, she’d ignore it--- but you could tell something wasn’t right by the way she carried herself.

There’s something she’s not telling him, something his witch believes he can’t tell from looking at her. Been married for six years on the dot, Jack wagers he knows her better than anyone now.

“What’s wrong, Evie?” he asks, cornering her in her powder room as she got ready for their anniversary dinner tonight.

“Fucking department store didn’t have my color again.” She grumbles after applying lipstick a shade brighter than she likes. Evie likes to make herself up like a vamp, with dark burgundy lips and darker eyes to sell the whole mystical beauty look she has.

“Eva.” He warns against her lying and gets to the point. “I know there’s something you’re not telling me. Something about the girls we’re having.”

“Nothing’s wrong, just pregnancy fucking me up. Now hurry up, we’ll be late for the reservations.” Half true.

She’s weepy and tired all the time. Her sex drive going from wanting to kick him off the bed if he breathes in her direction to seeking him out in his office as if he hadn’t fucked her before he left. Still got five months to go, a lot could happen between here and January.

The nursery is half decorated, she’d put off ordering a crib for the twins and acted as if she were tempting fate this time around.

“I tell you everything, Eva, why won’t you do the same?” he asks her as they head downstairs, she turns to give him a look for guilt tripping her about it and in the next second she missteps and falls the rest of the way down.

Jack’s too beside himself to leave her side. The fall hadn’t been too severe, no bones were broken, no lasting head injury nor internal bleeding. The babies hadn’t made it as she fell on her stomach enough times to kill the poor things.

She hadn’t been told yet, the doctors had suggested he be the one to break the news to her after seeing Eva’s medical history. Jack has no idea how he’s going to confirm that her heavy bleeding is because they lost their unborn daughters.

Two tiny little things that barely looked human inside the doctor’s receptacle. Rosie had dolls that small, he thinks as he looks away from the babies they hadn’t even considered names for yet.

“I didn’t see them in the cards, they were never going to be born.” His wife finally tells him what she was hiding for four months. Just because the cards said nine babies didn’t mean all of them would live, she explains, and he listened to what she had resigned herself to as they mourn their dead babies.

His triumph over the Black Hand on January 1926 finds him smoking in the veranda after Eva tells him she wants to try again because the cards say they’ll have a baby boy next year.

[evita-shelby]

1000 Followers

Gif by @filmgifs

Thank you all of you who follow me, who lurk, who reblog and especially those who actually talk to me.

I love you all and to celebrate this milestone we have these

💋 WWED/What would Eva do? (Where you send a question and I answer as only our favorite witch would)

💋pick a prompt from the links at the bottom to send as a request

💋send a gif or pic as a prompt

💋take Eva or any of my OCs for a spin

💋 send any gift of your choice

💋 drop into my asks for anything you feel like doing

Masterlist

Links for prompts:

One

Two

Three

[evita-shelby]

A Nelson Christmas

Smut, mdni 🔞

Jack Nelson x Eva Smith

Inspired by the wonderful @call-sign-shark Christmas gift

Cw: sex, daddy kink, power kink, mentions of usa politics of 1922/23 and use of religious imagery

For context a party boss is essentially a criminal who pretty much runs a political party partially or fully and the Nelsons have three kids by now

They don’t go home to their home in DC, no instead their driver merely takes them around the back where the White House Butler directs them up to the presidential suite.

“Florence said they need to make sure no one suspects they won’t be home tonight.” Eva brandished the keys to the kingdom and refused to let him unlock St Peter’s Gates.

“Think we can make Vice President Kennedy tonight.” The newly minted party boss and multimillionaire didn’t waste time the moment the doors shut behind them. Jack couldn’t get enough of her, even when she got as big as a house with the boys, he couldn’t stop wanting her.

I’ve bewitched you; she’d said with a grin when he confessed he was so in love with her he couldn’t keep his prick hard enough to stray.

“No, but we’ll make a duchess tonight. The Duchess of Devonshire to be exact.” The witch grinned and undressed him as they made their way to the borrowed bed.

Jack’s Midas Touch with business had him rubbing elbows with the who’s who of America, but Eva’s charm and blue blood was taking them the rest of the way.

No one could resist her, they all fell under her spell and before they knew it, First Lady Florence Harding was eating out of their hands. And as a show of their friendship and Eva’s bewitching nature, they were invited to help butter up the Mexican Delegates and keep the President’s bad health a secret.

It was a coveted invitation that took them closer and closer to their goal to become America’s kingmakers ---literally in their children’s cases--- even if it came at the cost of their Christmas traditions.

Had they been home the children would be in bed, the maid and the nanny at their parents’ homes and the Nelsons making baby number four on every available surface and position they could think of.

That first Christmas had been good, and the ones after too, but none compared to the Christmas of 1919.

Rosie had been made on the piano, keys clanging off key as he fucked Eva until the racket woke up the boys and once the boys were settled Jack fucked her on the desk in her boudoir some more. The piano had to be varnished again and the desk replaced, but the memories ---and the scratches--- his witch made will remain there forever.

The twins conceived that night they spent in the Lincoln Bedroom in the east wing. She’d moved with the agility of a dancer and Jack had exhausted his imagination and himself as he taught her every way they could fuck.

And tonight, the Duchess of Devonshire was going to be made in the bed of the current leader of the Free World.

The Hardings wanted the room to seem occupied tonight and Jack was going to make sure the world believes the President with his bad heart fucked the first lady to hell and back.

They were used to keeping quiet because of the kids, keeping the sound down was not going to be a problem. For him at least.

On her birthday he’d let her do anything she wanted with him, let her tie him up and blindfold him with the fine scarf he’d given her that morning. If anyone had seen what she was up to in the hotel room, they’d never fear him again.

Tonight, Jack’s gonna get his revenge.

“Have you been naughty this year, Mrs. Nelson?” Jack asks knowing she’s close to crying in frustration. He’d finger fucked her until she begged for his cock and he’d stopped her from cumming just to ask her this inane question.

“Hmm, doesn’t daddy like it when I’m naughty?” the witch asks as if she weren’t completely at his mercy and spread over the small breakfast table in the president’s bedroom.

She didn’t have to suck his fingers like she sucks his cock, but her petty streak demanded she pay him in kind.

“Gotta teach you some manners don’t I?” Jack removed his fingers from her wicked mouth and wiped them clean on the velvet of her dress before undoing his belt.

Wouldn’t be the first time he’s taken her across his lap and shown her the benefits of corporal punishment. Not the first time he'd used this belt on her either.

But he’s got a different sort of punishment in mind.

One involving the silk ropes tying the curtains of the four poster bed and Eva’s need to always be touching him.

Always needing to pull his hair when he goes down on her, always needing to pull him closer as he ruts inside of her like a beast, the need to interlock their hands as they make love slowly and tenderly.

The witch enjoys feeling him under her hands just as he enjoys having her completely and utterly under his control.

If the housekeeper thought the mess they made in the Lincoln bedroom ghastly, she’d croak seeing the one they’ll leave here tomorrow morning.

[evita-shelby]

They didn't know we were seeds

Chapter 11

Cw: nightmares, mentions of torture and mutilation

Taglist @emotionalcadaver @justrainandcoffee @peakyswritings @call-sign-shark

Lucy Winters belongs to @emotionalcadaver

He’s not had a good sleep since they talked.

If it's not him back in the arena with Juno and the girl from 5 trying to kill him, he’s watching Gina die in the rubble of a city or worse, being tortured to break him.

They’re all bad. He sees Eva be shot and pulled away by a cable from his arms as he reaches her farm. He sees her be tortured and having her tongue removed for her treason.

Those where he sees the people he loves be tortured are the worst.

Last night, he dreamt he’d gone to the farm and found his family all without tongues. He hadn’t known until he’d greeted Eva with a kiss and found her missing her tongue, as if she’d never had one. No one behaved out of the ordinary. They were just silent, using signs to communicate, and he was unable to understand them.

There’d been a baby crying soundlessly in Gina’s arms, an L for Laurie stitched in a yellow blanket and when Jack had picked up his imagined son, he’d found that they had all been made Avoxes.

It had been so unsettling that the victor had spent half an hour trying to get the images of it out of his head. He thinks the baby in the dream may have been caused by the dread he felt when Cecelia mentioned her baby back home and asked him how old Gina was.

It was barely dusk when he picked up the phone and dialed a number he’s known for a year, but only pretended to find out a month ago. The games had lasted nearly fifteen days this time, and while he’d been busy with his tributes, knowing they’d be mincemeat for Braun, he had avoided her in private.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” She sounds drowsy and yet alert enough to tell him she hadn’t been sleeping for as long as he had either. He doesn’t tell her about the nightmare. He didn’t want to burden her with it nor risk getting caught with information no one in 2 is supposed to know.

“I miss you.” There are few things he can say through a phone call, a few things he can freely say without arising suspicion from those spying on them. Beette had assumed he’d agreed to join them and confided that he was working on something that would allow them to communicate without interference.

Wiress, in her strange, odd way, had given him a stud earring that matched the pair she gave to Eva. Her husband had then explained what it did.

Jack never agreed to be a rebel, and yet most of them assumed he had. Oh, if the rest were like Nuts and Bolts they were fucked.

“Me too, felt so lonely back there. For a while, I thought we were over.” Eva admits her biggest fear.

“No, never.” Jack hides his fears of what could happen and instead tries his best to have the most innocuous talk with his girlfriend while setting a date for their secret weekend together.

When he gets to the farm, he makes sure Eva still has her tongue and that there is no chance in hell that she could get pregnant.

Their first anniversary is celebrated late, but to make up for it, he stays an entire week with her. The weather had been shit closing the farm and making the trek back dangerous for him, and neither had been happier to hear reports of bad weather that Friday.

He’d brought wine, chocolate, and with a cheeky grin presented a gift: skimpy lingerie he wanted her to wear for him.

They’re lying in bed together, naked as the day they were born and enjoying the thunder outside when he tells her of what the Peacekeepers do to traitors.

Eva’s gift felt too extravagant compared to his, while she had more wealth than she could imagine, things were still hard to come by even in the main city. She paid through the nose for a cowhide leather jacket lined with fine wool that matched a pair of boots he had been given by his mom on his last birthday.

“Have a recurring nightmare where they make you an Avox, not just you but a kid we have in the dream. Its not as horrific as the ones where they torture you and Gina and my folks, but somehow its just as bad.” He tries not to look at her as he speaks, as if he might see it come true the moment he looks at her. plays with her hair as he tries to push it out of his mind, and when that fails, she kisses him with a whole lot of tongue to remind him it isn’t real.

“That won’t happen. Whatever children we have won’t fear an arena nor losing their tongue. I feel it in my bones, Jack.”

Jack won’t come around until it’s personal for him, until he has no other choice but to join them. They can’t afford to wait until the 72rd game for him to see reason. There’s still four years to Gina’s 12th birthday.

What if the rebellion happens before then and he is stuck on the wrong side?

“Did you know Cece got removed from the roster because they don’t like how pregnancy changed her body?” Eva brings up after he helps her erase any trace of the man she was sold to for the evening in her shower.

Jack’s jealousy was adorable, hated when other people demanded her so much so that he’d fuck the memory of those encounters out of her head after she told her it . Likes leaving marks where only he and the clients can see it, as if too show them she doesn’t belong to them.

“Is this your way of saying you want a baby? I was hoping to be romanced into it, babe.” Jack jokes as if this will pass. Babies were serious things. Can’t return them when they come, and you can’t save them once they turn 12.

“I want you to make me fat and ugly so no one else can fuck me except you.” It’s not the best reason in the world, but it gives her a damn good reason for wanting to take the risk. She only has this month to try, they can’t afford to get pregnant before or after the games.

Game 68 wouldn’t last long. Most children had died in the first four days, but the careers had yet to find the boy from 6 while they succumbed to the new arena events made this year.

“I’m going to tell Cece you called her fat and ugly.” The career tries to change the topic, but still lets his hands wander on her wet and naked form. They were ravenous for each other, and both struggled to keep their hands off each other to pay attention to anything beyond them.

“We’ll only have to give it a try this month. If it doesn’t work, I won’t bring it up again.” She compromises knowing he’ll forget when she brings it up next year if it doesn’t take. “I want a baby, Jack. I want them to know I belong to you and only you, love.”

A month after the 69th Games, Eva finds their herself pregnant. The joy they should feel is completely smothered with terror.

“What if it fails?” Jack asks her quietly as they feel the baby kick on their second anniversary.

“It won’t, Laurie won’t ever be reaped. He will never suffer like we do.” Now she begins to comprehend why Cecelia is so hopeful because the reality is too horrible to even consider.

Laurie Smith is born in April, his paternity a mystery to everyone except those who won’t reveal their secret. He doesn’t meet his father until late May, once the coast is clear for his monthly visits.

It's the first week of June when Lucy Winters’ prediction comes true.

“I’m not gonna have a choice about this, aren’t I?” Jack is so distraught by what April brought about at home that he agrees to join them. Not just him, his mother too.

Some volunteer as young as twelve thanks to Finnick’s win years ago, and to ensure they have a fighting chance, training begins at eight years old for those who’s parents allow it. Carrie, her young mother, had been thrilled at the idea of Gina becoming a victor like her uncle that Gina had started her training last year.

His mother had been horrified at how excited Gina was at dinner that Lyme had no trouble recruiting them the next morning. Laurie’s birth had both Nelsons agreeing that the two children would be spared the arena at any cost.

“Bring your mother with you next time you visit, she should meet her grandson, Gina too, maybe we can wean her off the idea of the games.” Eva comforts him when his nightmares of the arena feature eight year old Gina fighting for her life while they watch from the mentor’s room.

“After the games, I need to convince her first.” He pressed a soft kiss on Laurie’s little head and kissed her goodbye. “See you in July.”

[evita-shelby]

National Anthem

Chapter 8

Cw: mentions of violence, murder, sex, nudity, basically same old lol

Taglist: @thegreatdragonfruta @zablife @call-sign-shark

Autumn 1920

Jack had involved Eva in his business before, but always at home where he could go on to claim it was his genius that led to his success and never his illegal ones.

“No. It wouldn’t benefit us for him to die so soon.” The witch comments after he, his right hand and Wild Bill of the White Hand Gang discuss the best way to deal with the Italians.

They had been offended by the woman sitting on his lap until she showed off her talents by making the glass in Bill Lovett's hand shatter with just her eyes.

She was his secret weapon and while the glass shattering would still have them doubt her ability, they knew better than to try and find out.

Good thing they had come home from his club. If they knew Jack allowed her to speak to him like this, they’d lose their fucking mind.

“Us?” the gangster asked, trailing his hand up her chest, caressing the soft tan skin and wrapping his hand around her neck knowing she cannot stand that. A small payback for when she called him Jackie as she goaded him into chasing her around wearing nothing but his shirt earlier.

He cannot back out of this like that, not after they threatened his family and his life a month ago. Things with Eva had improved, including her as an advisor in these things had given her a purpose beyond pretending to be the perfect American wife.

She had learned business from books, from her family and hired professors to teach her. Eva had also learned strategy during her time in the war, using her gifts to their advantage at every turn. A useful thing when it didn’t contradict him, like now.

No wonder the president and Pancho Villa had gotten tired of her, who wanted a girl telling them what to do. Jack already fights the rumors that he’s gone soft now that he’s a husband and a father.

“Changretta didn’t just come for you, he came for the both of us. If you want to win, you gotta let me play the game with you.” The witch answered masking the discomfort of having his hand on her throat with a sultry breathy tone before dropping it entirely. “Besides, the White Hand made its deal with you through Dinny Meehan not Lovett, Lovett knows you’re a threat to him and will sooner frame the Black Hand for your murder than let you run the Irish Mafia like you intend.”

The Irish of New York had posed less of a threat, choosing to ally with him than fight him. They’d agreed to join in on erasing the Black Hand out of the picture for a cut of the cake.

Especially after Sadie Meehan correctly guessed it was Bill Lovett who orchestrated Dinny’s hit and had him murdered right next to her in their own bed.

Jack would be lying if he didn’t fear his Evie suffering the same fate.

“Then what do you suggest, oh holy Pythia?” Jack didn’t trust Wild Bill nor his brother-in-law anymore as far as he could throw them and this plan to strike the Spinietta Family now that Luca’s back on American soil required a whole lot of trust.

“We wait. Solidify your gangs so when the blessed day happens you won’t even break a sweat or have to watch out for knives in your back.” She moved his hand off her neck and let it wander down the half-buttoned shirt, daring him to divest her of it entirely. Nakedness wasn’t something Eva ever felt bothered by.

Her beauty was as much as a weapon as that diamond encrusted knife she straps on her thigh.

“What did you see?” Jack’s fingers undo the first of the buttons, letting her think she’s won.

She uses sex to manipulate him, doesn’t take a genius to know it.

But he lets her, knows the witch does this to secure some power for herself. She has whatever power he gives her here, where she cannot wave her name or money around to exert her own.

Not yet anyways, the day will come when society will just have to bend its knees and realize how wrong they were to discount him.

Us, the witch’s voice seems to correct him even in his mind.

“Lovett’s getting killed by his brother-in-law in three years and Lonergan will lose the waterfront a year after that, Luca Changretta gets his brains blown out by the man Grace will kill Clive for and New York ripe for the taking that same year.” His wife leaned back on her hands and uncrossed her legs giving him an unobstructed view of herself as the shirt fell open. “I have seen all that and so much more, and if you want it to come true, you have to let me play.”

Jack snaked his arm around her waist as she slotted himself between her long legs cutting off any chances of her bolting when he reminds her what the agreed on.

She’s done it before, when he does something to displease the spoiled goddess she runs off leaving him to use his hand instead of her for release.

“You drive a good bargain, doll. But we agreed, my game my rules.” Not that he won’t take her sage advice, just incorporating it into the plan. “I will keep my plans and take your advice, I will give Changretta a reason to run back to his old man and meet his maker there. Don’t you worry about it, darling.”

March 1921

They’d lost but somehow come out on top.

There’d been some losses in the New York Mob, Luca and his men lived to see another day and yet Jack had gotten the Spinietta Family to call for a truce when he got the last Sabinis in New York to high tail it back to London.

Luca had been given the same treatment he gave Jack six years ago before Jack let him go.

Election night seems to reflect Jack and the White Hand’s offensive on the Spinietta Family.

The Republicans had won the presidency and the gubernatorial race, and yet these cocksuckers had their wives eating out of her hand.

The First Lady had been told about her clairvoyance and Calvin Coolidge had been so impressed about his future as the 30th president of the United States, that the Nelsons were becoming the must know couple in the state, if not the entire region of New England.

Everyone knew who she was, loved her so much they forgot she wasn’t a white woman and now hosts a ball for the man who thinks balls are too frivolous to have.

Jack doesn’t know why taking over society isn’t enough for her.

“Same reason you keep your gang even after no longer needing it, because it’s just not enough.” The witch whispered as they arrived at a charity ball she'd done to replace the President’s Inauguration Ball. “I am so much more than your damnably charming wife, Jack.”

As he remembers with great fondness how he made Luca beg for his life as he taught Eva how to wrap the garrote around his cock and balls, he cannot help but agree. “That you are, doll, that you are.”

The feeling of her silky hand in his as Luca held back his agony was something he’d never thought he’d enjoy so much.

Perhaps, it was a good idea to make her a fellow player in his games for power.

A/N: Dinny Meehan was the leader of the White Hang Gang, a group of Irish gangs in New York who cretaed themselves to fight of the Italian Mob, the Black Hand.

Luca and the black hand family he worked for are fictional so in this fic they take the place of the real gang.

Dinny Meehan was murdered in his home in 1920, his wife Sadie in 1923 told the fbi she believed his right hand Wild Bill Lovett had him murdered, Wild Bill in 1923 was then murdered by the Black Hand in a hit orchestrated by his brother in law Richard 'Pegleg' Lonegran. In 1925 teh White Hand lost their territory to the Black Hand.

Jack is looking into taking New York as he has secured the gangs of Boston just as Tommy sought out London after taking over Birmingham.

William Hardying was president from 1921 to 1923 when he died of a heart attack, he was a republican and succeeded by his vp, Calvin Coolidge who had been the governor of Massachusetts until 1921

[evita-shelby]

National Anthem

Chapter 4

Cw: mentions of pregnancy and childbirth. Mentions of death from childbirth and infant death

Slight Boardwalk Empire crossover

Taglist: @zablife @call-sign-shark @thegreatdragonfruta

Love is not as easy for her as one would think.

The witch likes taking things slowly, so slowly her lovers lose interest and leave.

Or have entire secret relationships with the cousin who you live with in Mexico City and most people assumed you’d marry because consanguinity isn’t still in the past especially in aristocratic families like theirs.

Jack is an attentive husband and keeps her in luxury and lets her revel in the part of her that craves blood and violence from time to time.

Eva is very fond of him and cares a great deal for him and likes the person he is in private, but she just isn’t sure if that is love or love love.

English only has one word for love. Spanish has two, querer and amar. One is stronger than the other and she can confidently say she likes him a lot(querer), the witch cannot have that same feeling to say love as in amar.

The answer to her conundrum comes as they ready the house for their first dinner with the neighbors.

There is a sweet and even tender side to him no one save Gina gets to see here. Here where they live rather richly and yet so simply that she couldn’t have it any other way.

Here where they pretend they are just another suburban couple expecting their first children in an idyllic neighborhood.

Here where they are hosting the couple next door and their son after Jack sprayed him with the gardening hose for looking at Eva’s ass ---or so he said.

Dinner had gone well.

Eva had hit it off with Helen, spoken some of her past and lied when little Bobby asked if had ever killed anyone in Mexico.

Now as they cleaned up ---despite his protests saying Alice, the maid, was hired for this--- the answer to her conundrum comes as he regales her with a childhood anecdote.

She would be lying if she wasn’t enjoying every second of this life in peace. Every second of being with him.

“I love you.” Eva says as the words come unbidden.

Had she taken longer, the twins would’ve been born.

“You’re only saying it to shut me up, darling.” He replies with that confident smile she’s come to adore.

“No, I’m saying it because I mean it.” Eva playfully flicked some soap suds toward him making him laugh.

“Took you long enough, I am fucking charm itself.”

“You don’t have to kill him, Jack.” She says after his new lackey has the audacity to flirt with her while visiting his office in Wall Street.

Really several months pregnant and Owen Sleater keeps thinking about fucking her. Eva would be flattered if it hadn’t come to annoy her.

It had started out as something Eva paid no mind to until the man started be too helpful to her. Then he started touching her, innocently at first and then lingering to the point it would be called a caress.

Jack had noticed it with displeasure, thinking about imaginative ways to rid himself of the man especially after Eva told him about Sleater’s unwanted advances.

“What do you suggest, Evie? Ringing up the Ulster volunteers I keep an eye on and leave the fucker tied with a bow for them?” he is annoyed at having to show mercy to a man who’s blood he wants to bathe in.

“Jersey, to your fellow Irishmen in Atlantic City. The republican you outbid for me.” Eva keeps it vague to make him ask why such a specific person.

Nucky Thompson had a purpose and when that was fulfilled Jack would take his crumbling empire and build up his. Nucky looked like he was on the way to greatness, like he had found a wife and a family he yearned for and as if karma didn’t have him on her list.

Owen Sleater would ruin his marriage by doing what he tried to do with her. Only Margaret Shroeder would be vulnerable enough to be swayed by his charms.

No matter, Enoch Thompson deserved it. That and so much more.

“Tell me why, and I’ll see if I can arrange it.” Jack sat back on his chair as she grew comfortable on his lap.

“He’s gonna fuck his wife.”

And sure enough, Owen Sleater is handed back to John McGarrigle after the Nelsons arrange a little accident on his new bodyguard.

It’s the twenty-ninth of May when Joseph Patrick and John Fitzgerald are born.

The morning had been perfect, and had she not been who she was, she would have used the twin bed in the nursery that had been prepared beforehand to bring these two little angels into the world.

If her new friends and neighbors had known she never planned on making use of it, they would have found it as strange as her and Jack eschewing the use of separate twin beds as all modern couples do.

Eva has a fear of giving birth at home.

Her sister, Felicidad, had died because they lived to far away from town and the doctor could not come quickly when complications arose. The baby had died less than a month after as if sharing her dead mother’s name had cursed her to join her in death

And while Eva had served as a midwife in her time as a nurse, she preferred being where an obstetrician and a surgeon would be a door away and not several miles away. Just as a safety precaution.

Thankfully, there were no complications and by noon their twin boys were sleeping in a bassinet by her bed.

“I would’ve killed them all if they’d stop me from being there with you.” He admits smiling softly at his namesake.

Just a week ago he had killed a man for calling him a potato digging bastard and yet here he was holding the smaller of the twins with such love and gentleness you’d never know his hands were drenched in blood.

“I know.” In her moment of need, Jack had barreled into the hospital room and dared them to pry him off her side.

He had encouraged her, yelled at her when she felt like giving up and promised to never touch her again when she complained about their boys having heads as big as his.

By the time they’d been returned to the maternity ward both witch and gangster had completely forgotten the awfulness of the birth.

“Your eyes rolled to the back of your head during that last bit, doll. Mind telling me what it was about?” He doesn’t beat around the bush; he’s been married to her long enough to know when she has a vision.

Once she fainted dead away in his arms, and one other time she drove his old model-t into a ditch.

“What do you think about doing this seven more times?” the witch asked hoping he’d say that was too many.

“Who are we to argue with the big man upstairs?” he answered with a proud smirk.

[evita-shelby]

National Anthem

Chapter 9

Cw: use of ethnic slurs, casual anti-romani racism, anglophobia, cheating, fertility issues, offscreen suicide, cuckolding/old timey version of using a sperm doner , and drama.

Taglist: @thegreatdragonfruta @zablife @call-sign-shark

June 1922

They go out to town, to some investors party standing for her company and his investment firm. Dressed to kill and walking in here like the sun orbited around them.

None of these English twats could hold a candle to them.

Paris had been fun, surrounded by eccentric rich fucks and exiles who Eva personally knew. Then when she came face to face with the girl who tried to kill her when they were sixteen, the witch proved she was as terrible as him.

The Witch smiled viciously as she settled on her next prey as they came face to face with Grace and the gangster Grace compared him too.

What’s her face had not died, but looked ready to croak once Evie was done with her. Jack cannot wait to see how she destroys the ungrateful broad who’d made moves on him while Eva tried her best to shove her onto Carrie’s group of sycophants despite Caroline hating her too.

“Dear me, does your husband know you’re back to your old habits, Mrs. Macmillan?” Eva wastes no time in embarrassing the married woman on the arm of a man who was not boring old Clive.

“You sounded taller in her stories of you, Mr. Shelby.” Jack looks down on the gypsy on the arm of the blonde who’d spent a year trying to snap up any blue blood that came near her.

He had known her type the moment he saw her, bored rich girl who only wants a man once he’s got enough cash to afford her.

Having been so curious about the man Grace sent letters too even after she married, they’d dug up everything you needed to know about Shelby and his family.

Thomas Shelby had taken longer than Jack to get where he was, but Tommy didn’t have the benefit of a man willing to teach him his tricks like a father would. But now that Shelby Brothers Limited was rising to the level of wealth Grace thinks she deserves, Tomm Shelby was being romanced in that cool way of hers.

The kind that makes you believe you are doing everything, and she is naturally coming to love you. Just like she did with Clive and this fool with her.

“Thomas, these are Mr. and Mrs. Jack Nelson. Friends of mine from New York.” She says pretending she’s not prey caught in the quarry.

“Friends of her husband.” He corrects letting him know how little they cared for the blonde who’s smiles tightly with eyes betraying the embarrassment she feels. “My wife and I were relieved when she handed in her resignation. She was my secretary at my Wall Street Office before my Evie caught on to her tricks, did she tell you that?”

If Eva’s game, they could destroy this relationship to make this boring party worth getting dressed for.

“Never heard of you, I admit, Mr. Nelson.” The shorter man admitted. He kept a cool head; one he’d gained from surviving France and everything that made people like them rise out from the muck they were born in.

Grace was a trophy, a ticket to the society that hates them, just like Eva had been. The only difference is that Jack can trust and love Eva to her bones and Tommy only loves the surface he sees because he thinks he can ignore the smell of the rot underneath the shiny surface as long as he does.

He knows all that because deep down he and this miserable fool are the same. Only difference Jack knows to vet his women before sticking it in them.

“Not surprised, Gracie here has a habit of keeping too many of them. Did you know their doctor suggested the MacMillan's find a man to make the baby and she agreed to it?” They had dinner with them a few days ago, Jack had learned that from Clive when they went out on the balcony to smoke.

Grace’s move is to deny everything, but Shelby is smart enough to see through it.

“Pray the boy takes after her, the MacMillans really hate Romani people, especially anyone related to Arthur Shelby. Your father relieved them of two hundred thousand dollars, or was it three hundred, Jack?” the witch continues grinding the blonde underneath her heel and leaving the best part unsaid, she’d seen her death.

A month after marrying the man of her dreams, she will die. A curse placed on her by Tommy Shelby’s own auntie to keep lovely Grace Burgess away from her family.

“Tell Clive we’re still on for brunch at our place before the Derby.” Jack said with a shark-like smirk and a condescending pat on Shelby’s shoulder. “Use a rubber, Shelby, the last thing you want is to get gipped.”

Her marriage to Jack has given new life to her mean streak.

Eva had struggled not being a bit mean or petty ever since she learned what fun it was to be an asshole to people she dislikes or tries any shit with her.

Grace was pretty prey, a little blonde mouse she and Jack toy with and discard for no other reason than just disliking her.

It was just something in her aura, this sense of entitlement, this innocence she claims when the people she hurts do not count as people to her, and now thinking she can have her cake and eat it too.

“We saw your darling Grace at the party last night, did she tell you?” Eva wastes no time in ruining the morning.

“Can’t be, she was at her aunt’s place for supper.” Clive answers thinking surely Eva is making a mean joke. She’s never been subtle in her dislike of her, warned him about the man she sent letters to behind his back when he went through with the wedding.

“Clive, I was hoping to do this somewhere private, but---” Jack dropped his napkin and gave her a look for making them do this now.

He wanted to preserve some of Clive’s dignity, but Eva craved chaos and destruction and seeing the woman who the universe predestined she loathe no matter what be publicly humiliated.

Maybe it was because she tried to seduce Jack away from her because she didn’t see Eva as her equal for being Mexican. Yes, it must be that, Eva hates bigots and bootlickers and Gracie was everything she loathed in a person wrapped in pretty designer clothes.

“Tell me they’re lying, that you haven’t been with that tinker you send letters to, tell me, Grace, tell me you aren’t the whore my mother thinks you are?!” Clive doesn’t shout and yet his voice is shaking and angry enough to carry throughout the café.

“Clive, I---” the blonde cannot lie, not when Tommy Shelby’s bastard grows in her womb.

She was pregnant, about five or six weeks. Got pregnant from the many times she went to the house of the woman whose husband she had imprisoned for being a Jew and a communist.

Six weeks ago, when the doctor’s fertility treatments for her began. She had wanted a child, just not with Clive. She wanted the love of the man she had in 1919, not Clive.

Tommy Shelby hadn’t wanted to continue this affair; she’d heard of May Carleton. May who trains his horse and was sweet on according to other guests she made them speak to.

It had been fun to see her learn that Shelby wasn’t hers anymore.

And now Eva was a giddy as child knowing Grace would never set foot near her ever again. Even better that when she dies in 1924, she will die knowing those who wrong Eva Nelson never live happily ever after.

“I’m sorry, Clive, I love him and I’m having his baby.” Grace admits the truth for once in her miserable life and all hell breaks loose.

Clive is found dead with Grace’s gun in his hand.

“Did you have to do that, I told you Clive was a weak man.” Jack asks as they meet the woman who cursed Grace Shelby and reveal the sordid affair her nephew’s been having with her.

Fine woman, just murdered her rapist and now enjoys her victory the way it deserves.

“She was going to tell him and make him kill himself anyways, I assumed she’d have her gun in her handbag like any sensible woman would.” Eva answered as she enjoyed the bubbly champagne, courtesy of Polly Gray.

Grace may have not shot Clive MacMillan in this timeline, but her killing him is something that will always happen. Just like her being shot a month or so after her wedding and just like Tommy Shelby destroying everything and everyone around him because he refused to let go of the Dulcinea he created in his head in 1919.

A shame it must go this way, but it has to. Don Quixote only regained his sanity once the fantasy brought him to his death.

A/N:Canon!Jack is racist full stop, here its more of a facade he puts on to keep his reputation of asshole you don't want to fuck with and mainly doing it to get ubder Tommy’s skin hence the heavy use of slurs

[evita-shelby]

They didn't know we were seeds

Chapter 8

Cw: ageism, mentions of the Dark Days

Rose and Aveline belong to @justrainandcoffee

Tagging: @justrainandcoffee @emotionalcadaver @peakyswritings @call-sign-shark

Eva puts herself to good use, using her talent for horticulture as an excuse to visit the farm and spend time there ---she did run out of space at the victor village at least that part wasn’t a lie. She plants, hires workers to raise the animals and till the fields and makes it known that all the things produced there were free to all.

Her aunt had joked and said she should try to run for office, as if they weren’t all rigged anyways. Eva could do it, if victors were allowed to use their influence for anything less ornamental, but the Capitol fears what a victor could do.

She needs a way to chart how far this trail went into Two and Eleven. There were enough ruins to provide a good enough cover, but Eva feared the beasts ---both natural and the mutts--- that roamed these borders. Even worse, what sort of hell the President would punish her with.

Eva does not risk going past the first sign of danger, especially armed with only a walking stick and small pack.

Districts were carved out in ways where you’d be in the wilds for a few stretches to deter any type of travel not sanctioned by the Capitol after the Dark Days. Her grandma remembered how towns used to be here and when the borders weren’t fenced off like that. Even the desert had towns and cities that hosted capitol and district alike.

But then the Capitol started hoarding the things the districts had and began leaving them out of the government. 13, being the more powerful district with great cities and nuclear weapons, retaliated and losing more than just the war. All dead, everything ruined and a cruel punishment to keep it from happening again.

10 had been amongst the last to rebel, their usual caution and fears of repercussions had them wait until they felt victory in their bones. If they’d known Two’s mountains were impregnable, they would’ve never rebelled.

But they had and now they’re all being punished for it 68 years later.

Eva makes her way back to the farm cautiously, careful to avoid leaving tracks that would incriminate her. She is not prepared for what she finds waiting for her on the porch.

“How?” Eva asked, fearing they’d be caught in minutes.

“You wouldn’t believe me if you knew, kid.” Tall, blonde and dressed in simple but sturdy clothing, sitting in her rocking chair to boot. Lyme, Jack’s fellow victor and mentor, had come.

“She could be our symbol.” Clemens suggests as they chat over dinner with their strange new guest.

So many traitors sitting at this table. If Shelby wanted to, he could have them all killed, but he won’t. He wasn’t Snow’s lackey like his predecessor was, he has a secret goodness he cannot hide.

Why else would he fight over Cashmere to keep her off the roster? Why else would he cover up Eva’s fling with Jack? Why else would he have the woman who took Finnick’s innocence murdered in broad daylight?

This man was one of them. She’d known it from the day she saw him.

“No, she lacks the marketability.” Plutarch Heavensbee shook his head. “She’s charming and good looking, but her story isn’t very inspiring. For fucks sake no one even bet for her, nor did she have a single sponsor.”

And while she cared for Eva, not many saw what she saw in her. Not many remember Lucy Gray Baird, especially her own district.

“Her affair with Nelson could help.” Fulvia comments only to be shot down by her boss.

“Districts hate 2, besides she killed his brother and that makes the whole thing unpalatable to everyone even us.”

Unpalatable.

Same thing Tigris was called when they fired her.

Her modifications were seen as stunning and beautiful when she was young, but when age began to take its course, she was mocked and greeted with disgusted looks even from the Capitol who once embraced her.

Coriolanus had gleefully told her why she was being fired, claimed he had received complaints from both the districts and her own protégé, Eva. The last had been a lie, Eva drunk out of her mind at the second stop of her tour had told her to her face that she loathed her for making her kill Laurie.

“She’s not your symbol because the time isn’t right yet, Heavensbee.” Shelby narrows his eyes at the word ‘unpalatable’ as well, his entire life he has been branded with that. His marriage to Grace had proved he would never be able to remove the label, not while the old families still rule. “We will worry about that later, for now we need to find ways to recruit more victors to our cause. They have sway with their own districts, most of them. So far, we have Lyme in 2, Solomons in 9 and if Lyme’s mission is a success, we may have 10 on our side.”

His idea had merit. To use the mentors and other victors to build a network of spies and agents for the rebellion they are building up, to use their influence and hatred for the system to gain followers.

An uphill battle for those in districts loyal to the capitol and a walk in the park for those who aren’t. 10 needed more pushing than its counterparts given how close they are to here, but it was not as impossible as Lyme getting her people to listen.

Jack and his mother had some standing, Atia Nelson worked inside the mountain and flirted with treason. He would join them if Eva got him to, just like Rose, the stylist for 9, convinced Alfie to meet with them despite the risks.

Aveline trusted Seeder and Chaff and the restrictions 11 had didn’t need much pushing to join them. They’d be the first to rebel just as they had done 67 years ago.

The time was coming, Tigris could feel it in her bones.

“How far does it go into your district?” Eva asks the blonde mentor who has yet to convince her to join her.

“Can’t tell until you give me your answer, Smith.” Lyme takes no shit from anyone, made her a force to be reckoned with. That combined with her training made her unmovable.

“Its not just me who dies if this fails, ma’am. I don’t follow blindly, I need to know everything and see if its worth the risk I’m taking.” Eva knows they need a better future with the games gone and Snow dead, but it’s too much of a risk.

They didn’t win the first time, what makes them think they can win on the second try?

“The dinner Mr. Shelby had you get Clemens to organize, it wasn’t just for gambling purposes. They’re all like us.” Lyme gives no hint at her patience wearing thin as she answers Eva’s questions.

“Cardew is Snow’s great-niece.” The dark haired victor points out.

“By marriage, no blood relation and whatever she’s seen behind closed doors was enough for her to join. Shelby is not like Luca, Tigris is his cousin and you don’t seem to have a problem with that.” The blonde points out.

Touché.

“Does Jack know?” Eva finally asks the question that’s burning in her mind since Lyme arrived.

“Not yet.” Maybe not ever, not if you aren’t there. Lyme doesn’t say it, but Eva can hear it just the same.

Jack may hate the games, but he has his family to think of. To join you must accept you and your family could die in the process and even that those deaths will be in vain.

The cemetery was full of brave and drunks, her grandma was fond of saying, said so when Alan volunteered in Gabriel’s place and the train took him to his death.

But Eva’s been dead since that train took her to the glittering slaughterhouse beyond the mountains, Eva’s cousins consider having children something unthinkable thanks to the games and Tigris did manage to have a winning strategy, as loath as she is to admit it.

“I agree to join you on one condition. You must bring Jack next time you visit.”