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twignotstick · 8 months ago

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Flowers for Venus

She's here~ 🩵

Note: This story is based on @cupcakeslushie 's Empyrean Weeping au. These characters are not my own, and this story is in no way canon to the main story. I really made a lot of assumptions here, so this must be emphasized.

Tags: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, ROTTMNT, Venus de Milo (TMNT), NOT MY CHARACTERS, Empyrean Weeping AU, experimentation, mental issues, perspective shifting, intentionally written to be confusing or leave out information at times, they are all family your honor

Warnings (if there's anything I should add here, tell me please!): childhood trauma, abandonment issues, physical violence, repeated mentions of medical(?) procedures

Words: 6,472 🪦

Summary: Venus had one person in her life, and that was what mattered. Until she didn't.

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

“I'm going to fix your body.”

The young turtle gazed up into the glass chamber before him, observing the mangled, underdeveloped, and weak body within. The vitals displayed around it were at acceptable levels; nowhere near as good as needed to survive out of the chamber, but acceptable considering the circumstances.

Not acceptable to the young turtle in front of it.

“You should be out here, learning with me. Being my sister. So I'm going to fix you.”

The turtle within the chamber did not stir- only breathed, as blood was forcefully pumped through its nonfunctional veins.

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

“Huginn and Muninn helped me find more books to help you!”

Three- he had realized that the body in the chamber may not yet know his name, and so he introduced himself not long ago- bounced on the balls of his feet. He had one book clutched close to his chest, with others strewn about the workspace he had made around the chamber.

“Yokai biologists have very interesting methods! I plan on attempting some of them soon- Pops said he is going to get me some more materials before I try. He said that Witch Town will probably have what I need. The fusion of biology and mysticism is incredible! Oh! Oh! And!”

He dropped the book that he was holding on the floor carelessly, tripping over his own feet as he ran over to a table to show the body's closed eyes another. This one was thicker.

“Muninn says that this one was written by a human! ‘Mary Shelley’. It's called ‘Frankenstein’. I believe that's a name too- the surname of the main character. I haven't read it yet, because I haven't had time to. However, maybe with your improved cognitive function as of recently, it could be beneficial for me to read it to you!”

Three got no response, but he could have sworn that a part of the body's brain scan spiked.

“I can't start now. I have to finish my work on the developmental errors in your lower arm, but as soon as I finish that and find what I need to find, I'll start! I'm really curious about human literature.”

Three got to work, as the mind within the chamber grew curious.

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

She didn't quite know what time it was, but she knew what was supposed to happen at this time. The voice was supposed to make noises in the room- Three, that was his name- and he was supposed to talk to her. Her? She thought that sounded right.

Three had told her about pronouns. He had said that since she was biologically female, it was assumed that she would go by she and her. Just like he was male, and went by he and him.

He had said that her name was Five.

Even so, Three liked calling her Vee, justifying it with the reason that they “matched”. Five didn't quite understand where the name came from; perhaps how her name was spelled? F-I-V-E, that was what Three had told her. T-H-R-E-E, that was his. But he spelled Vee as V-E-E. Maybe that's why they matched. Both had two E's in their name.

Their names were numbers too. One, two, three, four, five. She wondered why she was Five, and he was Three. Where were One, Two, and Four? Were they there, but she couldn't hear them? Was Pops another name for One? Pops and One weren't anything alike. She wished she could ask all the questions she had in her mind.

She wished she could see. Maybe that would explain why Three hadn't spoken yet.

Just when she was starting to believe that he may not speak to her this time, Three made noise. She couldn't see, but he stumbled through the door and sat down in a chair near her with a smile on his face. He looked at her, she could feel it.

“I'm sorry I'm home late, Vee. I met a new friend today! But don't tell Pops. He's a human.”

Five knew that word. Weren't those bad?

“Timothy isn't like other humans, though. He's nice! He showed me some insects and told me their names. Surface bugs are very different from normal ones! I think I might ask Huginn and Muninn to retrieve me some books on surface entomology. I can tell them that it's biological research.”

Entomology. That's a big word. What does that mean?

“Entomology means the study of insects, by the way. It's a very interesting branch of science. Timothy said he has books that tell him the names of different insects at his house. Oh, and a house is where humans usually live. Not a lab, like we live in. Or… a glass chamber, like you live in! Though, technically your chamber is within the lab.”

The lab. She wondered what the lab looked like.

“I think that I may be able to replace your eyes soon. I've been developing a prototype, hopefully it shouldn't take me too long to finish! From there, I just have to work really hard to get your other physical errors fixed, and then you can come out here! Maybe I can even bring you to meet Timothy!”

Timothy. That was a nice name. Not as good as Three or Vee, though. They matched. Though, maybe Timothy matched too. She didn't know how to spell Timothy yet.

Maybe they could match anyway.

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

Three stumbled in today. Vee couldn't see it, of course, but Three had tripped, holding in tears. His chest just wouldn't stop hurting. Pops had said he could walk it off, so that is what he tried to do.

He couldn't walk much longer, falling to the floor in front of Vee's chamber. She enjoyed hearing the sound of his breathing, but she never liked it when he breathed this heavily. That meant he was hurt and crying. That meant Pops had done an experiment or a test. That meant Three didn't have the power to work on her body. He would always apologize for that. Of course, that never stopped him. She always heard him working.

“...V-Vee…”

That is her name. He loves to remind her of that.

“M-maybe…” Three gasped deeply, holding the breath for longer than he should before slowly releasing it. “Maybe if… I finish you… he w-won't do this to m-me anymo-ore…”

Vee couldn't feel his eyes on her. Until she could.

“I've shown him y-your guts alr-ready, though… maybe he won't won't w-want to v-vi…vivi…”

That's not how he's supposed to say her name. It's Vee.

“...Vee? Vee~”

That's right.

“Veeveeveevee…”

Is that right?

The mumbling of her name faded away, turning into slow rasping breaths.

She didn't want him to be hurt and crying anymore.

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

“I want to make you as strong as One is. Or, at least, he should be. I haven't met One. Or Two. Or Four. But Pops says that it's impossible for you to be that strong. You're a box turtle, designed for defense. Anyhow, it's more important that I develop your muscle mass enough for you to stand independently first.”

Vee wondered what One, Two, and Four sounded like. Maybe their voices were jumpy and squeaky like Three's was now. Maybe they were sweet, like his was before. She wondered what Pops sounded like.

“Four is a box turtle like you. He developed properly, but don't feel bad! He got stolen away, so really, he got the short end of the stick! You're living the life of luxury.”

So many types of turtle. Did that mean they couldn't match anymore?

“I showed Timothy some sketches of my work with you. He got this really weird look on his face, and I thought he might not believe that I could fix you. But, he promised that he did believe in me! And he said he can't wait to meet you!”

Surely, he was just jealous of Three's hard work.

“I'm still working on your eyes. They're causing me more problems than I thought they would, but I think I'm getting closer to a functional product! It's just taking a while to find a good base that can survive the transfer.”

Eyes. One more sense. He taught her the five: touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing. She had hearing- or at least, she believed she did. She didn't know what else this could be. To have two senses would be marvelous.

Three's voice went away, leaving a rubbing sound. He had told her what that was. It meant he was “rubbing his hands together”. It was a “nervous habit”.

“Pops told me… he told me that talking to you was ‘fueling my delusion’. I know that, logically, you're comatose. Your body isn't supposed to work right now, for the sake of your life.”

That made sense. She was hurt. Three said that if she came out of her coma as she was now, she would die. Dying wasn't a good thing.

“But I really want you to hear me. Even subconsciously. So- so that way, when you do wake up, we'll already be friends! A-and you'll already know so much about me, so I just need to know about you!”

That sounded nice. Vee wanted to tell him about herself. Maybe she'd know just what that meant by the time she got the chance.

“I promise I'm going to fix you soon. It'll be no problem!”

Vee liked that.

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

Three was hurt and crying again. But this time, he didn't come to collapse by her chamber. He was far away, in the workspace. Vee didn't want him to be hurt and crying anymore. Three had said that hurt could mean dying. Three couldn't die yet. Vee still had to tell him everything about herself.

He wasn't even saying her name this time. He was saying the human's. He was hard to hear, so quiet, so far.

Timothy.

I'm sorry, Timothy.

What does that mean?

I'm so, so sorry.

What does that mean, Three?

Please, Tim.

Three?

Please forgive me.

I'm sorry.

I'm so, so sorry.

Three?

Three, please. She wants to understand. She wants to know you.

I want to know you. Talk to me, please. Tell me everything. Tell me about Mary Shelley. Tell me about entomology. Tell me about One. Tell me about Two. Tell me about Four. Tell me about Pops. Tell me what you're working on. Tell me how you want me to be better already so I can hold your hand and talk back. Let me hold your hand.

Tell me what's wrong.

“---ee? Vee, I'm ---y, I'm here, plea--- calm down. I'm here, please. Do I need- do I need to sedate her? I-”

He's not crying anymore. He's talking to her.

“Vee? Five?”

That's right.

“Should I read to you? W-Would you like that?”

She would.

“P-progress report 13. May 23rd. It happened today. Algernon bit me.”

Flowers for Algernon. Surface literature. Of course he would read surface literature now. He was just thinking of Timothy.

Every time Three would read this specific story to her, he would explain that the first few progress reports were intentionally written with poor spelling and grammar. He would spend the whole time explaining the correct way to write the sentences, up until the writing became legible. Then, when the writing returned to its sorry state, he would resume his corrections.

“I visited the lab to see him as I do occasionally, and when I took him out of his cage, he snapped at my hand.”

Vee knew the end of this story.

“I put him back and watched him for a while. He was unusually disturbed and vicious.”

It never ended nicely. They always had to die.

“May 24th. Burt, who is in charge of the experimental animals, tells me that Algernon is changing.”

She didn't want anyone else to die.

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

Something was different. Where once there was a lack of anything, now there was something. Something Vee didn't have the knowledge to understand just yet. She couldn't understand light. She couldn't understand color. Now, it was right in front of her.

A blur of a color she didn't know the name of, green, with a dash of another, purple. Three's voice came from it.

“Eyelids are open. Should be working. Just one last test-”

Three grabbed a small blur- a silver flashlight- and shined it into her eyes. Her muscles instinctively tried to close her eyelids, but there just wasn't enough power behind it. They stayed open enough for Three to see the pupils constrict.

“Yes. Yes! YES! They work! Yes!”

Three sounded happy. That was good. Maybe he looked happy, too. Vee didn't know what happy looked like yet.

“...I have to show Pops. I have to show Pops! Wait! Stay right there!”

Three left the room, and Vee thought deeply. “They work”. Three had said that her eyes “didn't work yet” before. So that must mean that they work now. That meant that she was seeing. This was what she had been looking forward to ever since Three had attempted to explain the abstract concept of seeing.

This was it.

Those colors. The nameless ones that she didn't know- the ones she didn't even know how to identify as colors- that was Three. That was the face of the voice who had been her only comfort for all of time. That was the face of the person she wanted to comfort. The voice that she heard crying and hurting. The person she wanted to hold the hand of.

The door to the room opened again, and Three returned with a taller figure. Vee had never heard him before, she was sure of that when he got close for her to hear his breathing. Maybe she could have seen him before. He was tall, and covered with new colors. She couldn't name them, but they were gold, blue, and magenta.

“Look! Look! Her eyes are functional now! They constrict and dilate! Watch!”

Three held the light to her eyes once more, and her pupils shrank again.

The new voice only grunted.

“She's so close to completion now! Th-there are only a few more developmental errors, and she just needs a little more muscle mass-”

The tall figure lashed out at Three, as another color, magenta and pink, writhing, latched around Three's throat. He was held off the floor, just a few feet. His happy breathing stopped.

“You have obsessed over this project for too long. Your progress has been agonizingly slow, and this is what you have to show for it?”

A new voice. Deeper. More menacing.

Pops.

Three gasped for air, trying to respond.

“I suppose I must also involve myself. Your inefficiency up to this point will not be forgotten.”

The writhing mass slammed Three into the floor as the tall figure walked away, shutting the door behind himself.

Three heaved shaky breaths from his spot in front of Vee's chamber. He almost sounded like he was crying and hurting.

Was this what crying and hurting looked like? Curling over yourself? Was that what she was doing? She was supposed to be hurting. She didn't think she was crying, though. Could you hurt and not cry?

Could you cry and not hurt?

Three moved onto his knees, placing one hand on the glass. His face looked different, as if the light reflected off of it differently. His eyes looked at her. For the first time, she could feel and see it.

“I'm going to get you out soon. Then… then you can be here with me. And Pops will be proud. And I'll have you, my sister. Forever, and ever, and ever. And no one will take you from me.”

Three smiled, leaning against the glass and falling asleep.

That sounded nice.

-----------��️-----------

“What is this?”

Vee stood over Three at his workbench, looking down at the sketch he was working on. It looked familiar, like other ones he had made, but the notes around the margins were different.

“Oh, it's another collar for Big Mama. She has someone joining the Nexus who has some immunity to electricity, so I have to work on an alternative design…”

“How does it work?”

Three looked up at Vee as she smiled softly. She loved doing this. Getting him talking about the things he knew about.

“Okay, well, since the regular electric shock won't result in what we're going for, I have to find another method of keeping the fighter in line. So- so this collar is designed to tap straight into the nerves in the neck- focusing mainly on the more secondary nerves, but also creating a pathway to the spinal column if needed. With this, the nerves can be pinched all at once, effectively paralyzing the wearer!”

Vee looked over the sketch, resting a hand on the desk next to it. “And why is this collar shaped so differently?”

Three brightened again. “Oh, well, for one, to create a visual distinction that makes it easier for Big Mama to know what type of collar it is. But also, because the specific yokai has… no neck? Sort of? They have shoulders, but it would be somewhat easy for them to slip a standard collar off. So, alternative design! And this one can be green.”

“Very good. I'm sure Mother would appreciate the change in aesthetic.”

The stone in her pocket began to glow.

“Speak of the Devil, I suppose.”

Five slipped her mask on quickly, then answered the call. “Hello, Mother.”

“Turtley-boo! Hello! Where are you, my dear? I couldn't find you!”

“I had to deliver this week's recording to Three. I'll be returning home shortly.”

“I would hope so! Everything here is always such a tissy-tassle when you're over at that terrible place. Oh, do come home quickly, please. Your mama is getting lonely.”

Vee looked to Three, and they exchanged a soft look, even behind Vee's emotionless mask. “I'll be there in a moment, Mother.”

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

This was wrong.

This was all wrong.

She was supposed to be worried about being taken from him.

What could she do, now that he was taken from her?

Four was gone. Then Two was gone. Vee thought, surely Three wouldn't be that dumb. Three was smart. He cared about her. He wouldn't leave her.

So where was he now? On the surface, living with rats and humans.

And she was left behind. Stuck under the thumb of a spider that claimed to be her mother. Forced to witness the violent aftermath that had come when Three disappeared, as Lord Draxum berated her and her mother for letting Three get such delusional thoughts in his head. Ideas that made him weak and stupid. Hopes that his family cared for him.

But he left his family, didn't he?

She was supposed to be his sister.

And he left, in search of a family that didn't even know his name. His face. His voice. That voice was supposed to be hers. The one who took care of her. The one that fixed her.

Draxum may have caused her birth, but Three gave her life.

Didn't that matter to him?

She had been so scared of being taken from him, Vee didn't even consider the idea that he may be taken from her.

Fighting against him was something from her worst nightmares.

This couldn't be happening.

This was all wrong.

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

Empty apologies.

He left, all because of a stupid dream he had been chasing. He left the family he had because of some dumb idea of a family that he had romanticized in his head. He left her.

Maybe he never cared about her anyway. She was just a toy to pass the time.

She wasn't real, anyway. Just a monstrous body given life.

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

“Hi, Vee!”

Four approached her, sitting down cross legged on the floor beside her. He examined the blade she had been sharpening with an odd fascination.

“Where'd you get that?” He asked innocently.

“From Mother.”

Four straightened. “O-oh. Guess I shoulda… guessed that, huh?”

“Maybe.” Of course he should have. Who wouldn't recognize one of Big Mama's weapons?

“Hmm…” Four rocked back and forth, holding his feet. “Do you feel alright with me calling you Vee? I know that's what Donnie calls you, but I know he has like… a thing with names.”

“I’m Five,” she said bluntly, looking up at Four for a moment. “But I don't mind being called Vee.”

“Cool!” Four smiled, almost as sweetly as she remembered Three doing. “What's it short for?”

Vee paused and looked back up at Four. “Sorry?”

Four blinked. “...Vee. What's it short for?”

She squinted. “It stands for the roman numeral for Five. It isn't ‘short’ for anything.”

“Oh. Well, that's not right.” Four shook his head disapprovingly. “You need to match with us!”

That made Vee think. “Match?”

“Yeah!” Four shifted to sit on his knees. “See, cause I'm called Mikey. That's short for Michelangelo. He was a human artist in the Renaissance. And Raph is Raph, short for Raphael. And Leo is Leo, short for Leonardo. And Donnie is Donnie, short for Donatello!”

Vee put her blade down on the ground, giving Mikey all of her attention. “So they match because they're all artists?”

“Well, and since they're from the Renaissance, and since we've all got nicknames!” Mikey grinned. “Do you… want a name that matches with ours?”

“Yes.” Vee answered before she could really think about what she was saying. “I-I mean, I don't really need one, but-”

“Sweet!” Mikey patted his hands on the ground. “Now, what names could work… Genevieve? No, that would be Jenny… Vivian? Nah, that's not good enough. Oh!”

“What?”

“Well, I know all of our names are from artists, but, uh, what if your name was from a piece of art?”

Vee thought for a moment. It was certainly true that she wasn't like the other turtles. Obviously, her name would have to reflect that.

Though, maybe being a work of art wouldn't be so bad.

“Sure. But tell me the name before I agree to anything.”

Mikey's expression suddenly shifted to a more serious one. “Of course. How about… Venus de Milo?”

Venus de Milo.

“...what is it?”

“It's a statue from ancient Greece. She sorta got her arms ripped off, but she's still incredibly beautiful and detailed, and a very widely known masterpiece! Wait, lemme see if I've got internet-”

Mikey fumbled with his phone, desperately trying to gather some internet signal in the depths of the Hidden City. Meanwhile, Vee simmered in the thought. A statue, broken, never to be truly as it was before. And yet, it was beautiful, not just because of what it still had, but because it had lost. It had persevered. Because something so beautiful was never truly perfect. That was what allowed it to be beautiful instead.

Maybe that beauty made it perfect, anyway.

“I like it.”

Mikey's eyes flitted up from his hunch over his phone. “Oh? Great!” He corrected his posture. “How ‘bout you try it out? Introduce yourself to me!”

Vee cleared her throat, checking her own posture out of habit. “Hello, Michelangelo. My name is Venus de Milo. You may call me Vee.” She extended her hand for a handshake. Mikey met it vehemently.

“Perfect! Now, you match with all of us! Man, the teamwork and collaboration on this mission is gonna be on point!”

Venus smiled, turning the interaction around in her head.

Maybe she could be a masterpiece.

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

Donnie loved to talk. Vee always knew that. But, for too long, she had never noticed how much he loved to be listened to; to have another directly engaging in the conversation. Once she learned that, she learned that she had a love for listening.

It was sometimes hard for her to understand her own wants without comparing them to the wants of others. She loved to listen because Donnie loved to talk. She loved to spar because that made Raph happy. She loved to ask questions so Leo could explain the nonsensical movies he showed her. She loved to eat because Mikey loved to cook.

But right now, none of that really mattered. Donnie was talking, and Vee loved to listen.

“Splinter told me that I could make him, as long as I make sure he doesn't turn, like, evil or anything. Though, honestly, if a robot uprising were to happen, I think it would be smart to just accept fate.”

Donnie was cleaning up some sort of schematic on a bean bag as a movie played on the TV. Vee sat next to him, not paying attention to the film at all. Screams about hot food went in one ear and out the other.

“So these are the plans you have so far?”

“Exactly!” Donnie brightened, then slumped as he came to a realization. “He's actually based on a design I made before you got out of your chamber. P-... Draxum destroyed that one, though.”

“Oh.” Vee slumped a bit as well. “I wish I could have seen it. Maybe I'd be more helpful now with these designs.”

“Uh, y-you don't have to worry about it!” Donnie waved his arms frantically. “It was my fault you were stuck in there anyway.”

“No it wasn't.” Vee looked at him blankly. “It was Lord Draxum's fault. He made me faulty. You helped me. You fixed my body.”

Donnie flustered, scratching at his neck. “W-well, not really. I didn't even-”

“You gave me my eyes. You gave me purpose.”

He looked at his sister, hands shaking almost invisibly where they gripped his sketching paper. Something strange came to his eyes- a shimmer, one that she knew. “I-I'm-”

“If you say you're sorry one more time, I might just rip your tongue out.”

“But I am! In more words than I can say, I am! You cared about me so much, and I just left you without a second thought. No apology I can give can ever make up for that.”

Vee sighed, shaking her head, looking at Donnie with tired eyes. “You're right.”

Donnie's nervous energy evaporated and he stilled.

“No apology will ever be enough. When you apologized to me, I didn't forgive you. When you apologized to me, I hated you.”

Venus paused, questioning whether or not she should continue. When Donnie gave no reaction, she decided to.

“When you tried to explain what had happened, I hated you. When you asked for my help, invited me in, told me you wanted me back, I hated you.”

Genuine tears started to well up in custom built eyes.

“B-because… because I couldn't believe you. You left me, and that was what was real. That was what mattered.”

Donnie took a breath in, as if to add something, but ultimately decided against it.

“Part of me still doesn't believe you.”

Months of worrying. Months of waiting. Months of simmering in hatred for the one person she had convinced herself she could trust. Months of wondering, “Would he have stayed if I had been better?” Months of unbridled rage towards her creator, who couldn't have waited just a little longer to make her right. Months thinking of her other so called “brothers” who stole her brother away.

He said no one could take her from him. So why would he throw her away?

“But you showed me otherwise.”

She never knew how to put these things into words. There was something difficult about bringing her thoughts out in that way. Because of this, she could never really tell Donnie how it felt when he first showed her that room he had prepared, which he left mostly empty for her to decorate herself. She could never explain how it felt when Splinter traced her stitches, complimenting how wonderfully they framed her features. She could never properly thank Raph for expressing his admiration for her fighting style. She couldn't express the joy she felt when she saw Leo do something that would make him feel embarrassed hours later. She could never say anything more than “It’s great” when eating one of Mikey's meals, one that should make a food critic cry.

“So you don't need to apologize anymore. You showed me how you cared, and that's all that matters now.”

Vee grabbed Donnie's hand, and the two shared a wordless understanding.

You can cry and not hurt.

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

Vee woke up to the sound of someone else moving around the lair. All of her brothers were still covered in blankets around her, and a blank tarp hung on the wall stood in front of her that she vaguely remembered watching a projected video essay on before she fell into slumber. There was only one person missing from the scene…

As she pushed herself to her feet and walked into the hall, Vee came face to face with a still bonnet wearing April.

“Oh, morning, Vee!” April greeted energetically. “What're you doing up already?”

“This is a normal time to wake up, isn't it? You're awake.”

April hummed. “I guess you're right. I'm just used to the guys sleeping in super late. You hungry?”

Vee nodded, following April silently into the kitchen. Just a short time ago, she would have wanted to cut April's head off, purely because of her human existence. Now, she felt a strange, foreign comfort around the human. Not quite like she felt with her brother, or her other brothers, but something akin to it.

April started loading up the toaster, grabbing some spreads and setting them out on the counter.

“Got any plans today, Miss Milo?”

Vee chuckled. “It's Miss de Milo, and, uh, no. You got any plans, Miss Neil?”

April laughed in turn. “Actually, I do. And since you don't have any, I was hoping you might help me out with mine.”

Vee nodded, letting her continue.

“I brought some stuff from my place to do a spa day, slash makeover day. Figured you might want to join in.”

Vee thought for a moment. “I know what a spa day is, but what is a ‘makeover’?”

“Well, it's like,” she hesitated, “it's when you put on a ton of makeup and wear fancy clothes and stuff. Not because you're not pretty, but it's just… it's a way of making yourself feel good, y'know? You've worn makeup before, right?”

“No.” Vee shrank slightly. “Mother said that it would be a lost cause. That's why she gave me the mask instead.”

“Oh.” April shook her head, scrunching her nose. “Oh, no, no. That's not gonna work. You are going to be pampered, Miss de Milo. That is an order.”

April strode out of the kitchen, and Vee followed slowly behind. Before she could see where April had gone, there was the telltale sound of a pillow being thrown into someone's face.

“Owf- wha- hey! What was that for?” Leo grumbled through the grogginess of waking up.

“We've got a busy day ahead, boys! Gotta eat breakfast so we can get to work!”

“Busy day?” Mikey asked, slightly more cognizant than Leo. “What are we doing?”

“Makeovers. All of us!”

Vee finally caught sight of April in the hallway of the living room as she saw Donnie jumping up from where he was laying. “Are we gonna do nails?!” He shouted excitedly, running up in front of April. “Can I pick the colors?”

“Of course you can, bud. Just go eat some toast first,” April responded, patting his shoulder.

Donnie hurried to the kitchen followed by his brothers, who were all still wiping the sleep from their eyes. After that, breakfast went quickly.

Raph drug a stool into the bathroom in front of the mirror, where Vee was instructed to sit. Soon, she was surrounded by her brothers and April, with a large makeup bag in the human's hands. She put the bag down on the counter, taking out a liquid foundation in the perfect hue for Vee's skin.

“Where do you even find this stuff? Party City?” Leo asked, taking out another foundation from the bag that matched his own skin.

“No,” April scoffed, preparing her workspace, “I get it online. Its makeup, not face paint. It just happens to be green. Are you complaining?”

“No, ma'am.” Leo quickly shut himself up.

“Good. Now, let's get some jobs set straight.” April started gesturing to the brothers one by one. “Donnie, you're in charge of picking colors out, and themes. Mike, you're executing Donnie's ideas, because his hands are way too shaky. Raph, my bag's in the other room, go pick something out. You'll know what I mean when you get there. And Leo, you're in charge of music and talking. Tea spilling, gossip, whatever.”

All of the turtles nodded in response, and Raph walked out to find April's bag.

“Now, Vee.” April put her hands on Vee's shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes. “You just sit here, close your eyes, and relax. We've got it all handled.”

“Okay.” Vee hesitated, closing her eyes slowly, before shooting them open again. “Wait!”

April hummed, hovering the makeup sponge she had prepared in the air.

“Can you, uh… can you leave my stitches? Not cover them up, I mean.” She couldn't help casting a glance at Donnie, who gave a timid smile.

April relaxed. “Course, Vee. Now, close your eyes and let us work our magic!”

Vee complied, and she found herself surrounded by sounds. A strange nostalgia filled her chest.

“What we thinking, D?”

“How about, uh… this?”

“Ooo! Perfect! Can I get, uh… that one first?... Thanks! Okay Vee, I'm gonna grab your hand now. It's gonna be cold!”

“What am I supposed to even talk about? I don't have any tea.”

No need for sight. Hearing those voices, comforting her. With a slight drone of music alongside.

“How about your date with Usagi?”

“Wh- April! It wasn't a date!”

“Hey! No shoving! This is a delicate art, Leo!”

“Ugh, fine.” Another shove.

“Hey! No shoving me either! I didn't even say anything!”

“Yeah, but April's busy, Mikey's busy, and you gave me a weird look.”

“I gave you a normal look. You obviously went on a date. Vee, you know?”

Vee laughed just a bit, trying not to move and disturb April's work. “Donnie's right. It was pretty clearly a date.”

“No, it wasn't!”

“Just tell us what you did, Leo.”

Unlike before, she had other senses. But somehow, removing this one made her feel comfortable. Knowing that someone else was taking care of her felt so good.

When she felt Donnie's scar covered, calloused hand grab onto hers, the comfort felt warmer.

“We didn't even-”

“Hey, April? How's this one?”

“I think it's great, but how ‘bout you ask Mister Manicure?”

“Oh. Mike?”

“That's perfect, Raph! You got any accessories?”

“Maybe in my room… lemme go check.”

The sound of heavy footfalls walking away.

“Alright, I'm gonna be working on your eyelids, so it's gonna feel a little weird. Just try to stay loose.”

“Ooo, you are gonna look so good!”

Vee allowed the sound to envelop her entirely.

“Listen, we didn't go on a date, we aren't even a thing anyways.”

“I'm going to fix your body.”

“Usagi would be very hurt it he heard that. You wanna tell him, D?”

“You should be out here, learning with me.”

“I can text him right away-”

“NO!”

“Being my sister.”

“Just admit it, Leo! You're down bad for the bunny!”

“He still hasn't admitted that?”

“No, Raph! Because I'm not ‘down bad��!”

“So I'm going to fix you.”

“Okay, keep the volume down. I gotta concentrate…”

Time passed shapelessly. Vee interacted in the conversation when asked, but otherwise, she let the noise flow over herself. Before she knew it, she was being told to stand up and having fabric pulled onto her arms, with a ribbon being tied over her shell.

“Okay, okay, just a few more touches-”

“You've been doing ‘a few more touches’ for five minutes, Donnie. She looks great!”

“SHH! Don't rush perfection, Nardo.”

Vee blushed. “You really think I look perfect?”

She felt Donnie's eyes on her. “You always have.”

Mikey awed. “Okay, okay, okay, now you can look!”

Vee opened her eyes, just as Donnie moved to the side so she could see herself in the mirror. She saw that the fabric put on her was a dress, very light blue and with flowery embroidery patterning on the bottom of the knee-length skirt. Her claws were painted with pastel colors, with a light blue backdrop behind white daisies, each having an undertone of a different color: reddish-pink, blue, orange, purple, yellow, and green. On her face, a soft blue eyeshadow was put on her eyelids, with small painted daisies incorporated into her eyeliner. Similar flowery bows were placed down the length of her braided mask tails. Donnie quickly shuffled behind her to put a necklace on her neck, with a daisy shaped pendant.

Vee found herself speechless, staring at the stranger that had been pulled out of her own skin.

“Is it alright?” April asked hesitantly.

As she rubbed her lips together, Vee forced herself to look up at the ceiling. She waved her hands at her face.

“Oh- Oh! Its waterproof! You're good!”

“It is?!” Vee squeaked, struggling to hold herself together.

“Yeah, yeah, it is!”

“That's s-so cool!” Vee finally let her tears loose, still waving at her face while nervously laughing.

“You like it? Do you like the flowers? It was Donnie's idea!” Mikey asked, beaming as bright as the sun.

“Yes! Yes, I do, thank you!” Vee paused in her flapping to look over her hands again, and the dress, and her face.

Her flowers.

When she looked to Donnie, he looked as if he couldn't be happier.

“Well that's good, cause they cost me my dignity,” Leo groaned, despite the smirk on his face. “By the way, I call next.”

April patted his shell. “Alright, Leo. We'll make you pretty so you can look good for Usagi.”

“Great, because I- Wait! HEY!”

Vee was laughing loudly now, wiping her tears delicately with a single finger. The argument slowly turned back into background noise, as Leo sat on the stool instead, squabbling far too much for April's liking. Donnie recruited Vee for color picking and inspiration searching.

And so Vee let herself exist there, not worrying about mattering or being wanted. Not worrying about if the one she cared about was hurt or crying. Not longing for another sense to experience the world with. Not questioning if she may be taken away for good. Not asking if she really had a family. Not wondering if she did something wrong, or if she even had the right to call herself alive. Not waiting for someone to talk to her.

She had her flowers, and words could never compare.

○●○●○●○

Finally, she is here. I went a little wild on this. There are just so many parts of Vee's story that I can't wait to see. She's my little brainworm 💖

I'm glad that I can get this out before the @tmntaucompetition ends, especially since EW is in the finale. Go vote for them!!! I love them so dearly :)

I'm going to edit the first chapter of my own iteration, (currently titled Second Shot), and post that soon. I simply must get my boys out into the world, especially after discovering @dluebirb's TMNT AU family reunion. Lord knows they need friends.

GO VOTE IN THE TMNT AU COMP! AAH!

Broken Brothers (and How to Fix Them)

#tmnt #tmnt au #rottmnt #tmnt fanfiction #teenage mutant ninja turtles #save rottmnt #unpause rottmnt #tmnt au propaganda #tmnt separated au #fanfiction #fanfic #twig writes

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battyaboutbooksreviews · 5 months ago

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🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in August 2024 🌈

🌈 Good afternoon, my bookish bats! Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Happy reading!

[ Text list below ⤵ ]

❓What was the last queer book you read?

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ Failure to Comply - Sarah Cavar 🧡 I Spit On Your Celluloid - Heidi Honeycutt 💛 You're Embarrassing Yourself - Desiree Akhavan 💚 Death of the Hero - Briona Johnson 💙 Between Dragons and Their Wrath - Devin Madson 💜 The Crimson Crown - Heather Walter ❤️ Sacrificial Animals - Kailee Pedersen 🧡 Oath of Fire - K. Arsenault Rivera 💛 The Palace of Eros - Caro De Robertis 💙 This Ravenous Fate - Hayley Dennings 💜 Mistress of Lies - K.M. Enright 🌈 Wolf Bite - T.J. Nichols

❤️ In the Valley, A Shadow - Samantha Tano 🧡 Follow My Lead - Adrian J. Smith 💛 The Last Woman I Kissed - Venetia Di Pierro 💚 Full Shift - Jennifer Dugan & Kristen Seaton 💙 Hers for the Weekend - Helena Greer 💜 Come Out, Come Out - Natalie C. Parker ❤️ Rules for Ghosting - Shelly Jay Shore 🧡 How to Leave the House - Nathan Newman 💛 Plot Twist - Carmen Sereno 💙 On the Far Side of a Crescendo - Kalyn Hazel 💜 Tiny Oblivions and Mutual Self Destructions - Maxwell I. Gold 🌈 Daylan and the River of Secrets - Edd Tello

❤️ The Italy Letters - Vi Khi Nao 🧡 The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie - Lee Wind 💚 The House Where Death Lives - Alex Brown 💙 Ash's Cabin - Jen Wang 💜 The Avian Hourglass - Lindsey Drager ❤️ The Heart Wants - Krystina Rivers 🧡 A Grand Love - Janna Barkin 💛 You Can't Go Home Again - Jeanette Bears 💜 Libertad - Bessie Flores Zaldivar 🌈 Her Golden Coast - Anat Deracine

❤️ Mighty Millie Novak - Elizabeth Holden 💛 Rise and Divine - Lana Harper 💚 Dying for You - L Flowers 💙 I'll Have What He's Having - Adib Khorram 💜 Changing Her Tune - Amanda Kabak ❤️ Monogamy? In this Economy? - Laura Boyle 🧡 The Rainbow Age of Television - Sayna Maci Warner 💛 Medusa of the Roses - Navid Sinaki 💙 Confounding Oaths - Alexis Hall 💜 Idol Lives - K.T. Salvo 🌈 Brother's Keeper - Quinn Cameron

❤️ Key Lime Sky - Al Hess 🧡 Crushing It - Erin Becker 💛 The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou 💚 Not for the Faint of Heart - Lex Croucher 💙 Tasting Temptation - JJ Arias 💜 Ami - S. Jae-Jones ❤️ You're the Problem, It's You - Emma R. Alban 🧡 Cubs & Campfires - Dylan Drakes 💛 The Dark We Know - Wen-yi Lee 💙 Practical Rules for Cursed Witches - Kayla Cottingham 💜 Riyati Rebirth - Kalani Shimizu 🌈 The Brujos of Borderland High - Gume Laurel III

❤️ A Bánh Mì for Two - Trinity Nguyen 🧡 Dance of the Starlit Sea - Kiana Krystle 💛 Scattered Snows, to the North - Carl Phillips 💚 Beyond a World Apart - Caitlin Myers 💙 Don't Let It Break Your Heart - Maggie Horne 💜 Nothing Heals Me Like You Do - Harper Bliss ❤️ How It All Ends - Emma Hunsinger 🧡 How Do I Sexy? - Mx. Nillin Lore 💛 The Palace of Eros - Caro De Robertis 💙 Prince of the Palisades - Julian Winters 💜 Better Left Buried - Mary E. Roach 🌈 Back to Back - Jo Fletcher

❤️ DITCHLAPSE / [REALLY AFRAID] - Tommy Wyatt 🧡 The Love Archives: Bonus Scenes & Excerpts for Palestine - Various 💛 Guardian: Zhen Hun - Ying Priest 💚 The Sunforge - Sascha Stronach 💙 Queering Reproductive Justice - Candace Bond-Theriault 💜 Gender Explained - Diane Ehrensaft & Michelle Jurkiewicz ❤️ The Unlikely Pair - Jax Calder 🧡 In Universes - Emet North 💛 We Love the Nightlife - Rachel Koller Croft 💙 Lessons from Cruising - Martin Goodman 💜 Wild Ginger in the Rhubarb - Eule Grey 🌈 Not My Circus - Delicia Niami

❤️ Asunder - Kerstin Hall 🧡 The Phoenix Keeper - S.A. MacLean 💛 Encounters with James Baldwin - Various 💚 Verity's Game - Jennifer Giacalone 💙 Hunt Me! I Crave the Chase - Fae Quin 💜 The Audacity Omnibus - Carmen Loup ❤️ Haunted to Death - Frank Anthony Polito 🧡 Blood Orange - Paige Grunewald 💛 The Bad Things We Did - Chris Archeske 💙 Dark Restraint - Katee Robert 💜 Worth the Wait - Kenna White 🌈 The Maid and the Crocodile - Jordan Ifueko

❤️ Loving Corrections - Adrienne Maree Brown 🧡 The Last Witch in Edinburgh - Marielle Thompson 💛 The Duchess of Kokora - Nikhil Prabala 💚 The Scales of Seduction - Rien Gray 💙 Survival Is a Promise - Alexis Pauline Gumbs 💜 Loka - S.B. Divya ❤️ The Every Body Book of Consent - Rachel E Simon 🧡 Southern Lights - Liz Arncliffe 💛 Then Things Went Dark - Bea Fitzgerald 💙 Death at Morning House - Maureen Johnson 💜 The Last Doorbell - William Parker 🌈 The Pairing - Casey McQuiston

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stormingfrost · 2 months ago

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Wonders of the Invisible World

Tags: Body horror, major character death, Implied/Referenced child abuse, original characters, pitch/sandy, Katherine/nightlight

summary:

Through hundreds of years of strange things happening all over the world, finally someone sees. The Bennett family is now at the forefront of every children's tale - except, now, they learn that these tales are not only real, but much, much darker than they first thought.

For @rotg-halloween day eleven: Transmogrify

Read it on AO3

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 /13

chapter eleven: Transmogrify

under cut

Bunny looked down at the scene in front of him. Margret Overland held the body of her brother, which oddly enough, wasn’t a corpse anymore. Five humans gathered around her. Katherine Salazar sat a short distance away from them, bound with magic and looking unbelievably irritable. Two wolves circled her.

“You’ll kill him,” she was saying. “I’m sorry but he will die if he doesn’t get a pure soul.”

Bunny hopped down, shivering from the cold. He landed behind the group, towering over them.

Katherine locked eyes with him. Her eyes widened, a sheepish look painting her face.

“Excuse me,” Bunny said. The five humans jumped, turning around to face him.

“Giant bunny,” One of the women said. “Mary.” She nudged the Witch. Mary turned around, looking at Bunny with a grief-stricken expression.

Just like he’d first met her.

Bunny knelt, his kilt protecting his legs from the snow.

“Let me look at him, Mary.”

Mary held her brother closer to her, maybe on instinct.

“You’re not going to eat him, are you?” One of the children asked. “You’ve got forward-facing eyes. You’re a predator species.”

“So are you,” Bunny replied. The boy decided that it was an acceptable answer.

Mary hesitantly shifted her brother over to Bunny’s lap. Bunny sifted through his sporran, grabbing an ornate bottle. He lifted the boy’s head, giving him it to drink.

“That will stabilize the body for a while. We will have to get the others to restore him. I cannot do it myself.”

“Restore him? You mean Nightlight?” Katherine asked. Bunny regarded her.

“We’ll see. Why is she-“

“She tried to kill the girl in exchange for Nightlight’s life,” Mary said. Bunny looked at Katherine, disbelief making its way through him. Katherine looked down.

“It was the only way I could help him,” she said quietly. “I couldn’t bear the corpse any longer. I’m sorry.”

Bunny shook his head, standing up and carrying the boy.

“We will need to gather everyone together. First, we will need a warmer place.”

“Katherine, did you happen to see anything?” Shadowbent asked, his fangs in her face, almost teasingly. She winced.

“Yeah. There’s a cabin we were headed to.”

Mary and the human witch sent out a message, and the humans watched as he and Mary prepared for the spell. Katherine, less sullen, sat next to the fireplace.

“I’m sorry about taking Sophie,” she said to one of the women. “I… I’m so sorry.”

The woman shook her head.

“What’s done is done. Prove you will never do it again and leave us alone.” Katherine nodded.

Shadowbent wrapped a blanket around the boy. He smiled softly at Mary.

Bunny looked down at his hands, watching as plants grew around him. New life. Flowers cracked open the wooden floors of the abandoned cabin they were in.

“You might want to tie him down,” he said. Mary looked up, alarmed.

“Will it hurt him?” Bunny nodded.

The man whistled.

“That’s our cue to get the kids out of here, right?” The humans went upstairs.

Tooth was the first to show up, flying around the boy. Then Sandy and Pitch. North stood outside, his giant eye peeking in, the stars making it seem like the cabin was floating in space.

“Doesn’t this spell have dire consequences?” Tooth asked. “This will not be good for anyone.”

“If we contain it, then nothing will happen.”

They circled the table where the boy lay. They pushed it towards the window so that North could join in.

They interlocked hands, Tooth, and Sandy reaching outside to hold North’s finger. Katherine watched, quiet hope flaming in her eyes. Mary seemed less enthusiastic, dreading the worst.

“Let’s do this,” she said.

The spell was simple for what it was. Just a two-word incantation. The power it drew from was the hard part. Sharing the brunt of the spell made it easier, but it still was painful.

The body on the table woke up. It was unclear who was occupying it, as the only thing that the spell did was send pain into the boy’s mind. The screaming started after a few minutes. The fighting against the bounds started after five.

Bunny watched as Mary grimaced, grief seeping into everyone else. Katherine hovered around them, a worried look on her face.

One of them will not be happy with the result. Only one soul would survive.

Mary closed her eyes, trying to focus on the spell.

Suddenly, the cabin was gone. They floated, still together. The boy hadn’t stopped his visceral screams. Bunny looked around, dread looming in his stomach.

They didn’t contain it. They couldn’t stop it. The spell was out of control.

They pushed forward, repeating the incantation.

Then they were back in the cabin. The boy stopped screaming, instead lying limp on the table and panting.

Bunny approached him.

“What’s your name?” He asked. The boy looked up at him, eyes full of tears.

“Jack,” he cried. “My name is Jack. Please help me.”

Mary rushed over, nearly knocking Bunny over.

“Jack!”

Katherine stared at them for a moment before walking out of the cabin.

“We let him out.”

Bunny turned to Tooth. Pitch scoffed.

“All that and he returns to be a human.” Sandy elbowed his partner.

“There’s no going back,” North said from the window. “We cannot stop what will happen.”

“Maybe they will.” Sandy nodded to the stairs, where the humans peeked at them.

“They’re the ones who started this mess. It only seems right they end it.”

They left, leaving as quickly as they came. The boy was of no interest to them anymore.

Bunny watched as Mary helped Jack up, turning to the humans.

“This is Jack. He’s my brother.” Jack looked at them.

“I know you,” he said. “You… you helped me. I think.” He pulled the blanket around him.

New life. New chances.

Bunny nodded, seeing his work complete. He tapped on the floor, dropping into a tunnel and leaving them.

#rotghalloween2024 #rise of the guardians #rotg #e. aster bunnymund #jack frost #pitch black #sanderson mansnoozie #toothiana #guardians of childhood #nicholas st. north #katherine shalazar #i accidentally made Katherine the antagonist whoops #it just happened idk #And yes I made Bunny have a kilt and no one can stop me from doing it

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labselkie · 3 months ago

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Day 19 - Potion

i’ve been working on this one since day one! it can technically be anywhere in their timeline, but it’s fine,, also skyliv likers stay tuned muwahaha

“Marie, honey, you know I don’t make silly things like potions,” Agatha snickers, sitting at her small dinner table. Marie was across the room, standing in the kitchen with her back turned as she prepared two cups of tea. Her wings moved in time with her gentle nodding.

“I’m sure it’s beneath you, but,” Agatha sat up at Marie’s words, she knew that any time the mutant trailed off, she was in for a few minutes of rambling. This time, however, Marie just turned cautiously, holding a cheap mug with a witch pun on its side in one hand and a smaller teacup with some flower decals in the other. She only continues when she steps forward and gently places the cups down, “When you freed me from the Hex, wasn’t that a potion?”

Agatha pulls her own mug closer, tapping the ceramic with sharp, dark nails. She frowned, waiting for Marie to take a seat before answering. “No, it wasn’t.”

Marie takes a sip of her tea, a totally normal blend she made herself. “But it was a liquid, it was a weird color, and it had magic properties- Isn’t that the exact definition?”

Contrasting Marie’s almost dainty sip, Agatha just downs a gulp, looking back to the mutant like a tired teacher with coffee, “Absolutely not.”

Marie tilted her head faintly, giving her a small smile. She nods, gesturing for the witch to go on.

“A potion requires specific ingredients, and proper procedure. What you had was just tea with a curse on it.” Agatha motions around to nothing in particular, all before reaching out and tapping the thin lip with her pointer. “The cup in particular.”

A crackling spark flashes from her finger, the faintest flicker of violet shining where she touches. Agatha just smiles, and she keeps her finger there as she takes another drink. Marie’s eyes widened as she watched, almost entranced.

“Must’ve taken you a while, huh? To make a spell to break someone out.” She looks back up, but quickly straightens herself up and shakes her head, “I mean, not that it would be difficult to a witch of your caliber-“

Agatha spits out some of her drink, the sudden sound immediately devolving into sharp laughter. Marie’s feathers ruffled, her ear-wings pressing back like a nervous dog’s.

“Sorry! Marie, god-“ Agatha snorts a bit, trying to calm her laughter by quickly bringing a hand over her mouth. “Really sucking up this morning, huh? Are you that scared of me?”

Marie jolts up, lips parting as she tightens her hold on the teacup. “No, of course not!” She seems to curl into herself some, her tone defensive as she closes her wings when she raises her cup.

“But you should be, don’t drink that,” The witch’s tone shifts instantly, coming out much colder. A faint smile begins to spread at Marie’s reaction, the puffing of her wings, the way she almost drops the cup. She even let out a little squeak.

“Unless you wanna take a nap later, it’s a small sleep spell.” Agatha shrugs, gesturing to the cup and bringing the other arm to drape over the back of her chair. Marie glances up, brows furrowed and shoulders raised. She pushes the little cup away, holding her wings over her shoulders.

“N- No, I’m alright,” She mumbles, turning her eyes to the ground. The witch just laughs, leaning back in her seat with her hands on the edge.

“Come on! Can you take a joke? Just one, for meeeeee?” Agatha sits back up, and she puts her elbows on the table as she brings her head forward.

Marie curls into herself when she’s nervous, her wings lie like a blanket around her arms, and the feathers in her hair puff up. “Come on-“ Her voice is small, but she can’t help but laugh as her heart skips. Agatha’s enthusiasm was infectious, and it never failed to melt Marie’s nervous demeanor.

“Here,” Agatha reaches out and takes Marie’s cup; she daintily lifts it, lightheartedly mocking the mutant before sticking out her pinkie. She takes a sip from the opposite side, smiling when she pulls the cup away. “Goodness, are you sure this isn’t just sugar?”

“Wait! But won’t you-“ Marie reaches out, but she’s stopped by the witch laughing and putting the teacup back down.

“It isn’t potent, go on. We can have a day off.” Agatha pushes it back forward, and her smile softens.

#selfship #self ship #selfship writing #self ship writing #oc x canon #f/o community #f/o #yumejoshi #yumeship #꒰ა Tongues & Teeth ໒꒱#canon 🪽

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witchesoz · 20 days ago

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The Wicked Witches of the West (9)

There is only one direct adaptation of the novel-Wicked Witch who gained an autonomy and a fame able to rival with the MGM-Witch. I am speaking of course of the Wicked Witch of The Wiz: Evillene of the West.

Evillene gained life in the original 70s Detroit/Broadway musical "The Wiz", played by Mabel King. Already you had a VERY iconic outfit - a crazy hairdo like the Good Witches, but all dressed in black with violent red highlights (as opposed to the soft blue or pastel pink of the Good Witches) ; a large body highlighted by the equally large dress (which is quite interesting as the Wicked Witch of the West is VERY rarely depicted as fat), and of course the iconic eyes-on-the-chest symbolizing Evillene's constant surveillance over her enslaved subjects.

Later, this enormous stage success was adapted as a... divisive though cult movie let's say, 1978's The Wiz in which Mabel King took back her role for the witch Evillene, but with quite a stylistic change. Instead of black, her dominant color became red. The aggressive, hostile makeup was replaced with caricatural prosthetic echoing the ones worn by Hamilton to deform her face as the Wicked Witch. The dress became a clunky accumulation and an overload of ornaments, reflecting Evillene's nature as a massively wealthy hoarder mixing riches with junk - see the caricatural headwear made of several crowns piled up together in a helmet. The choice of red was notably to clash with the outfit of the Good Witches, who both wore blue (blue and red being the two "dominant" colors on each side of the green of the Wizard in the color spectrum).

Another important actress who embodied Evillene in her "early days" is Ella Mitchell - she first played the role after Mabel King, in the 1976 version of the show, and then took back the role for the 1984 and 1992 versions of the musical. Due to crossing over the decades, her Evillene went through various costumes. From one mimicking Mabel King's one in the 70s, to her 80s outfit which had more of a "cute evil" thing going on - she still was an evil witch dressed in black and purple but was ornated with butterflies, snowflake-shaped flowers and other leafy, "natural" jewels - all the way to the 90s one where she had a more "stereotypical" children fiction witch look, with an abundance of bats, skulls, spiderwebs and other "Halloween-y" symbols on her costume.

I unfortunately cannot list all of the actresses of Evillene and productions of "The Wiz", because there's a very rich history in there - so I'll limit myself to two more examples.

On one side Mary J. Blige's portrayal of Evillene in "The Wiz Live!", which is another example of - yes I am still going on about it - the glamorization of the Wicked Witch of the West, as Evillene becomes a statuesque, dominating beauty and her dark, bizarre dress looks more like futuristic evil haute-couture.

On the other, Melody A. Betts in the recent 2024 production of "The Wiz". In this production all of the witches are dressed in various shades of yellow, but as opposed to the light and gold yellow of the Good Witches, Evillene's shades are darker yellow and a lot of oranges, reflecting a strong fire motif for her character. You also note a shift in terms of style, as the witch has a more "proper upper-class lady caricature" vibe going on (the collar ornaments evoking a pearl necklace, the gloves, the hairdo).

#the wicked witches of the west #wicked witch of the west #evillene #the wiz #the wicked witch of the west

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ginevralinton · 1 year ago

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@its-a-hare-pom-pom thank you for the tag!!

Favourite colour and why? blue - it reminds me of the sea, it feels calm and sad but happy too. I like the sound of the word. I also love pink, because it's a happy and bright.

Five comfort movies: i don't really watch movies...

Favourite season and why? winter! i like when it's cold and you can wrap up in blankets; i like those really cold mornings and cold nights and the frost and ice; less people are out when you go to parks/outdoor places; there are several things that can't happen in winter and those things give me anxiety; i have work and while it's stressful, it's not intense like other parts of the year

Favourite book(s): Villette by Charlotte Bronte, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte are my top three

favourite aesthetic(s)and why? I think 'cottagecore' is pretty cute, or like, space aesthetics or 'arty' ones - oh, and like, horribly gaudy rainbow ones. Idk all the proper names but those ones just appeal to me

Favourite genre and why? It depends on what it is, but I'll talk about books because TV tastes are just - random. With books, I like 'literary' fiction, classics, historical fiction and short stories too? I guess I like the analyse stuff when I read, to look at the layers and structures, and I find those genres lean more easily towards that.

Favourite clothes style: honestly shifts between girly dresses and fluffy coats to dungarees, oversized shirts and DMs

Favourite music genres: most of my favourite artists fit under the 'indie' category somewhere

Favourite artists: Florence and the Machine, The Killers, The Wombats, King Princess

Favourite song(s): King by Florence and the Machine and Battle Born by The Killers

Favourite fandoms: BBC Ghosts ❤

Hobbies: writing, drawing, reading, walking

Care language you give: acts of service, I guess? or being a willing listener? idk

Care language you like to receive: willing listeners?

Are you an introvert/extrovert/ambivert: introvert

Morning or night person? i'm less anxious in the morning but i'm also awake most of the night so...

City, country or suburbs and why? suburbs. basically, i like where i live, the balance between having green space but also having easy access to towns/shops/cities

Favourite time of day and why? between 8:30 and 9:30pm, because day anxiety is over and night anxiety hasn't fully begun

Do you have any religious beliefs(don’t have to answer if not comfortable)? not really

What does your ideal family look like to you? me, a gf and many many guinea pigs? maybe a daschund (if i get over the fear of dogs)? and friends too? (and ofc some of my actual family now)

Dream future: no idea, can't see a thing

Dream place to visit: I'd love to go to Geneva, Brussels or Iceland, but realistically, I'd just like to go back to Haworth or Lulworth (or, lbr, the Isle of Wight)

Favourite type of nature: I like flowers, the sea and cliff tops

Favourite habitat (eg jungle, desert, tundra etc): the ocean and forests

How would you describe yourself in 4 words: awkward, anxious, serious, creative?

If you could be another thing on earth what would it be: something inanimate, like a rock

Favourite type of weather: sunny but cool (or snow, but i feel bad for saying that 😁)

If you could travel anywhere right now where would it be: Haworth

Do you have any fears (serious or otherwise): everything? dogs, house fires, burglary, the future, people in those mascot costumes, social interactions etc.

Dream job: who knows

Would you be a pirate/vampire/cowboy/astronaut/werewolf/wizard/witch/knight/cryptid and why? cowboy, i guess. i like the hats

I'll tag @sonnet-of-anarchy @thelastplantagenet @thatgordongirl @breitzbachbea @athelstan-anglecyning if you want to do it

#tag

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devil-doll13 · 2 years ago

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Moodboard Masterlist 📸

Slashers:

Brahms Heelshire

My OCs:

Abigail Williams

Witches’ Valley ⚡️ (medieval au)

Of Blood And Wine 🍷

Saturnine 🪐

Nurse’s Office 🧸 (orphanage au w/ Selena & Odile)

Death, Judgement & Three of Swords 🃏

Judith “Jude” Bell

Dawnrazor 🌅

Gold Dust Woman ⚜️

In Our Angelhood 👼

Mary On A Cross ✝️

I’d Make A Deal With God ⛪️

Death, Judgement & Three of Swords 🃏

Zachariah “Zach” Johnson

Demon Cleaner 👿

Psalm 23 📖

Dawnrazor 🌅

Cold Case In Harlem 🗞️

Death, Judgement & Three of Swords 🃏

Drinks of Choice (Zach & Cathryn) 🩸

Maxwell “Max” Holt

Givin’ The Dog A Bone 🦴

Living After Midnight 🌉

I Was A Teenage Werewolf 🕹️

Things’ll Work Out Just Fine 🐕

Strange Girl ✨ (Max x Izzy)

We Will Need Some Pizza Too 🍕(Max And Cylas)

The Fool, The Moon & Five of Cups 🃏

Ciarán 🗡️

Deathrider 💀

Adam 🌱

Treehugger 🌳

Mountains of Mars 🌋

Brand New Person 🌿

Nox Library 📚

Item 411-1

Other People’s OCs:

I’ll Be Seeing You 🕊️ (Tilly Maynard belonging to @flower-crowned-lady)

Why Don’t You Do Right? 💋 (Lauren Hayworth belonging to @flower-crowned-lady)

Caged Bird 🐦 (Anansi belonging to @flower-crowned-lady)

Ready To Blow 🔪 (Cylas Kier belonging to @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better)

Fascination Street 🌹(Manon “Doe Eyes” Driftwood belonging to @myers-meadow)

When The Sun Hits ☀️ (Eleonora Mason belonging to @rottent33th

They Say I’m Sick 🦇 (Olivier Benoit belonging to @rottent33th)

Snake Dance 🐍 (Griffin Marks belonging to @rottent33th)

By The Sea 🌊 (Calder Beachum belonging to @rottent33th)

Postscript🦞(Calder Beachum belonging to @rottent33th)

Graveflower 🪦 (Milo Vess belonging to @slaasherslut)

Graveyard Shift�� (Milo Vess belonging to @slaasherslut)

Poltergeist 👻 (Milo Vess belonging to @slaasherslut)

Ouroboros ⚕️(Mischa belonging to @myers-meadow)

Luna 🌕 (Selena “Ghost” Firefly belonging to @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better)

Persephone 🦢 (Odile belonging to @solmints-messyocdiary)

Black Cathedral ⛪️ (The Priest belonging to @solmints-messyocdiary)

By Moots:

Abigail Williams

The Devil’s Mark 🖤 (by @rottent33th)

Shadow Dancer 🔮 (by @slaasherslut)

Abby x Knight!Clay 🗡️ (by @rottent33th, medieval au)

Style Moodboard Request (done by @myers-meadow)

Judith “Jude” Bell

Style Moodboard Request (done by @myers-meadow)

Maxwell “Max” Holt

Hunted Down 🐾 (by @rottent33th)

#moodboard #masterlist #my stuff

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birdmitosis · 9 months ago

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VESSEL NAMES VESSEL NAAAAMES

I have not done the Chapter III vessels because tbh in a Human AU, which is what I come up with names for, I feel like the Chapter III vessels are just... potential next stages/character development from the Chapter II ones.

To keep things a bit shorter than my last post;

The Shifting Mound/Default Princess: Princess (English name just meaning "princess" ofc)! Yeah, I basically collapse these two (three?) together; I think of the default Princess as Shifty's heart despite preferring the Stranger versions of the ending...

The Adversary: Adva (Hebrew name meaning "small wave, ripple") or Eda (Medieval diminutive of Edith, meaning "wealth, fortune" + "battle")

The Beast/The Den: Betrys (Welsh form of Beatrice/Beatrix, meaning "voyager, traveller"), aka Bee. Depending on the AU she might be Witch's sister, her pet cat, or they're just not related at all.

The Damsel: Daniel (Biblical name meaning "God is my judge")! TRANSMASC DAMSEL EYYYY 👉👉

The Nightmare: Mary (Biblical name that could potentially mean a LOT of different things, including "sea of bitterness"/"rebelliousness" or "beloved"/"love") or Merita (Esperanto name meaning "meritorious, worthy") (depending on if she's Spectre's sister or not)

The Prisoner: Priscila (Portuguese or Spanish name meaning "ancient")

The Razor: Raz (Hebrew name meaning "secret") or Raven (an English name after the bird, which I thought would be funny after the "look at a bird" convo). Both names are gender neutral and I like that for Razor.

The Spectre: Sprita (Esperanto name meaning "witty, lively"; ultimately also via the Latin for "breath, energy")

The Stranger: Star (English name meaning, well, the celestial body)

The Tower: Tonya (English or Russian name with, ultimately, an unknown meaning and origin, but is associated with Roman rulers and Christian saints; according to some sources it means "priceless one" or "highly praiseworthy" or has some connection to "flower")

The Witch: Wynne (Welsh name meaning "white, blessed" or Old English name meaning "friend"). Both forms are gender neutral, which again, I like for Witch.

I've seen a lot of people give names for the Voices, and as a Vessel enjoyer, I decided to give my names for them, too!

Damsel: Danielle

Prisoner: Priscilla (Pris for short)

Witch: Willow

Beast: Beatrice (Bea for short)

Tower: Diane (my thought process was basically "goddess, divine, Diana, Diane" for this one)

Adversary: Addison (Addy for short)

Nightmare: Natalie (Nat for short)

Spectre: Sienna

Razor: Zora

Stranger: Stace (gender-neutral name for a they/them princess!)

Burned Grey: Bernice

Drowned Grey: Drusilla

Thorn: Therese

Den: Demi

Apotheosis: Aphrodite (keeping with the goddess theme)

Eye of the Needle: Iris

Moment of Clarity: Clara

Wraith: Winifred (her whole vibe kinda speaks to her having an old-fashioned name, in my opinion)

Fury: Fiona (though I've also considered Alecto)

Wild: Wihelmina

#slay the princess #aus #human au #headcanons #the vessels #the princess #the shifting mound

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thisisourtriumph · 6 years ago

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Night shift has turned me into a legit slug when I’m off. Happy Friday from me and my bed 😴

#lazytown #night shift probs lmao #currently watching mary and the witch flower #its dope #my face #selfie #arw snapchat selfies still cool

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affirmthatshit · 2 months ago

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Rewatched Mary and the Witches Flower last night and I am so tempted to make a mamagic school dr like that 😭😭 I'd be an uber talented red-haired witch but I'd replace madam and dr. Dee with nicer characters. Like. Doc from back to the future instead 😭 it'd be great

#shiftblr #reality shifting #shifting #shifting community #mary and the witch's flower shifting

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babyhailey564 · 3 years ago

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“AHHH!” Jack Turner ran off, snickering as the girl he’d just pranked turned a deep red and hastily pulled her skirt back up. Okay, it was probably a little immature a prank for an 18 year old to be pulling, but it was also probably the most harmless one he does. He grimaced when he remembered taking a dump in an air vent a couple of years ago, resulting in a suspension when someone ratted him out. Pulling girls skirts down was much easier to get away with.

He stopped running when he noticed everyone around him was frozen. They weren’t glaring at him like they usually did when he pulled a prank. They were just frozen, doing whatever they had been before. “What the hell?” he whispered. He felt a tug at his shirt. The blonde haired boy tried to pull back, but it was slowly pulling him back the direction he came. He tried to take the shirt off but it fought against him. He even tried ripping it, but it was like it had become putty in his hand, stretching as far as he pulled.

He looked up and saw the girl he’d just pranked glaring at him and holding her hand out. “What the fuck?!” he whispered harshly. He now stood in front of her, his body refusing to answer his attempts to run away.

“What’s the matter Turner? Never seen a witch before?” the girl had a Cheshire grin. His mouth even refused to move. He didn’t recognise the girl, although given his reputation it wasn’t that surprising she knew him. “You want to fucking humiliate me?!” she screamed at him. Jack felt his clothing shift again. In a split second, he was over her lap with his pants and boxers pulled down. He couldn’t do or say anything as she started spanking his ass. He could feel his clothes moving still.

In his peripheral vision, he saw his sleeves cut off at the shoulder and turn into frills. The sleeves travelled down his arm and turned into gloves with frilly cuffs. What the fuck is happening?! he thought. Every spank hurt twice as much as the last. It was almost like she was getting stronger with each hit. His hair grew down within his vision and he felt his socks climb up his legs. “You want to fucking behave like an attention seeking brat, I’ll gladly make sure you’re treated like one!” the girl yelled at the top of her lungs.

He felt something forming in his mouth and hair. When she finally let him go and stood him up, he found he could move his head and eyes again. He looked down and turned even redder than the girl had before. I’m in a fucking dress?! he wanted to scream, but the thing in his mouth kept him silent still. He started breathing heavily at the sight of his now tiny dick. Whereas before he’d been quite proud of a 10 inch boner, it didn’t even look to be 4 inches now and was getting smaller. He saw his boxers climb back up his legs and start to puff out. The girl, whose name he still didn’t know, smirked at him and snapped her fingers. A mirror appeared in front of him and his heartbeat picked up.

I look like a fucking sissy! he thought. He stood there, frilly pink dress, white frilly gloves, flower headband, thigh high socks, mary jane shoes, and a pink pacifier and pink and white diaper to boot. “I think this will be a much more befitting look for you now Jackie baby” the girl laughed. She snapped her fingers again and the mirror went around to his back. He stared at it confused. Then he saw the diaper start to sag. “Aw, wooks wike the wittwe sissy made a big poo poo and didn’t even know it!” the girl teased.

Jack’s head was gently pulled back to face her. He felt her hand on his jaw, completely smooth now as if no facial hair had even developed there. He could see the hair on his arms was completely gone too. Before, he was a foot taller than her at 6'3". Now he must have shrunk to under 5 feet, making most of the students taller than him. She clapped her hands, and everyone was moving again. Except for Jack. Melody, one of the cheerleaders walked up to them. “Aw, hi Jackie. I see you’ve met the new girl” she cooed, groping the front of his diaper. Jack moaned and found himself nodding.

“I’m Melody by the way. Jackie here is the schools resident sissy. Aren’t you babykins” she cooed at him again. Jack was still not in control of his actions as he nodded and started sucking the pacifier in his mouth. He moaned as he felt his tiny member try to orgasm. But it felt much colder all of a sudden. “Did your widdwe clitty cage stop you making cummie wummies?” Melody kissed him several times.

“I’m Kacey, and I think your little sissy needs a change” the girl smirked. Melody smiled and felt the mess in his diaper.

“Does widdwe Jackie make a big poopie like the dumb little sissy baby he is?” she asked, tickling him under his chin. He could only giggle and nod. “Such a good baby sissy” she said. Melody turned to Kacey. “So I’m supposed to show you around before classes. How about we make the girls bathroom our first stop? I’m sure all the girls will be dying to change Jackies diapie!” she said.

Jack was helpless but to do as he was told. Melody took his hand and dragged him through the school, making sure to tell everyone he’d shit himself and tried to cum in his diaper. As girls in the bathroom crowded around him, he glanced at a smirking Kacey. It was just a prank!

I kept trying to reblog this but it kept crashing

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battyaboutbooksreviews · 5 months ago

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🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in August 2024 🌈

🌈 Good afternoon, my bookish bats! Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Happy reading!

❓What was the last queer book you read?

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

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lightsonparkave · 3 years ago

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HAPPY TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO LIGHTS ON PARK AVE! 🎂🎉 In celebration of LoPA’s birthday (August 22, to be exact), all of the prompts from the previous year are up for grabs.

Round 24 will end on August 31, 11:59 PM ET (what time is that for me?).

As always, you’re free to jump in whenever you’d like during the round, a wide variety of work types is accepted, and there are no minimum work requirements. Unfinished works and works for other fandom events are allowed. You can find more information about Lights on Park Ave and the participation guidelines here.

Here are all 149 prompts. Go crazy and have fun! 🎈

ROUND 13: TIME

A quote about being infinite in the present moment from The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Vellichor,” the the strange wistfulness of used bookstores

“How long is forever?” dialogue from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

“Time” - Hans Zimmer (Inception OST)

A quote and gifset from Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016) about the nonlinear structure of time

Agnès Varda’s portraits when she was 20, 36, and 80 years old

A John Irving quote about what time does to the people who matter to us

Ten traveling back to see Rose on New Year’s Day in 2005 before he dies and reincarnates in Doctor Who

Future inventions in 2015 as seen in Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future Part II (1989)

A quote about what time does for wounds

ROUND 14: LIMINALITY

A photoset of various liminal spaces

Illustration of a black cat in front of a red-lit house with the caption, “They say no one is living here—but the lights come on, once every year”

A photoset of Victorian-era spirit photography, an art form that attempted to capture the ghost of a deceased loved one

Information on the famous Mojave phone booth, a lone telephone booth in the middle of the desert that received calls from all over the world

Rosemary Ellen Guiley’s The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits Third Edition’s definition of “witching hour”

Illustration of a ghost train on an abandoned trestle bridge in the Pacific Northwest

A quote by Isabel Allende about spirits coming out at night in the library

Gifset of the spirit world in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001)

Illustration of a neon roadside sign of a motel that only appears at night by a long-forgotten highway

“Pacific Coast Highway” - Kavinsky

A gifset quote from The Twilight Zone (1959)

Scenery from Twin Peaks season 1 (1990)

A quote about something shifting into a strange, new place inside of a person from Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

ROUND 15: LOSS

A quote about being lost and found by someone special by Sue Zhao

A photo of the Mildred, wrecked off Gurnard’s Head, Cornwall in 1912

A quote about ephemerality and the beauty of it from Troy (2004)

Two paintings of people visiting ruins by Caspar David Friedrich

A quote about desire and loss by Lara Mimosa Montes

A photo of an overgrown, abandoned conservatory

A passage about what disappears and what remains in ruins from Suicide by Édouard Levé

Dialogue about gratitude for people who aren’t meant to stay in your life but shape who you are from BoJack Horseman

A scene from Fleabag where the Priest chooses God over Fleabag and gently tells Fleabag that her love for him will pass before they part ways

A prayer to St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things, people, and souls

Oscar Wilde’s tomb in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, covered in lipstick kisses from admirers

Photos of a cemetery statue in Austria, wrapped in branches and dead leaves, holding a single flower

ROUND 16: DEVOTION/SERVICE

A gifset of Kevin on the phone, telling Chiron he’ll cook food for him from Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight (2016)

Buttercup’s monologue to Westley about how she would do anything for him from The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Gifs of Merlin saying that he was born to serve Arthur from BBC’s Merlin

An excerpt about giving all of oneself to someone despite what it costs from House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

A gifset of various times Jaime and Brienne demonstrate their loyalty to and love for each other in Game of Thrones

A gifset of all the different ways Cliff is there for Rick in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

A gifset of Nadia deciding to be by Alan’s side no matter what in Russian Doll

“Devotion” - Ocean Vuong

A gifset of Bond comforting a traumatized Vesper in the shower in Casino Royale (2006)

A gifset of Sookhee refusing to leave Hideko, saying her job is to look after her in Park Chanwook’s The Handmaiden (2016)

ROUND 17: DREAMS

A dreamscape gifset and quote about repressed thoughts in dreams and the Internet from Satoshi Kon’s Paprika (2006)

A gifset of Mitsuha and Taki finally meeting in their own bodies in a dream from Shinkai Makoto’s Kimi no Na wa (Your Name) (2016)

A quote by Tinker Bell telling Peter Pan where he can find her and where she’ll always love him in Steven Spielberg’s Hook (1991)

The scene where Keating tells his students that poetry, beauty, romance, and love give life meaning in Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society (1989)

An animated illustration of a storefront called “Hauntings” with a flickering “99¢ dreams” neon sign

Various dreamscape scenes and a quote about ideas being the most resilient parasite from Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010)

A quote about how all living beings must dream to survive reality from The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

A comic about people we love taking turns to visit us in dreams every night

Lovers and Sleeping Couple, two drawings by Egon Schiele

A quote about belief in a better world by Robert Frobisher to his lover, Rufus Sixsmith, in Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

A quote about the feeling of falling in love lingering when you wake up from a dream in Alexis Dos Santos’s Unmade Beds (2009)

A photo of subway graffiti by an unknown author insisting that they’ll never give up making the world a better place to live in

ROUND 18: PHYSICAL TOUCH

A scene about how to return a stolen kiss from Daniel Ribeiro’s The Way He Looks (2014)

A line about kissing someone the way a flower opens from “I Know Someone” by Mary Oliver

A gifset focusing on showing affection and care through hands from Park Chanwook’s The Handmaiden (2016)

A passage about two people leaving invisible marks on each other through the accumulation of touches over the years from A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Two conversations about never being touched before and only being touched by one person from Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight (2016)

Going from yearning to touch someone but stopping oneself to being allowed to touch them from Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy

Moving art of two bodies made of stars and the cosmos embracing

A quote about maintaining sanity by touching someone but being separated despite proximity from The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

A line about proving that one still exists and is real through touch from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Different touches between Villanelle and Eve expressing violence, threat, sexual tension, comfort, and companionship in Killing Eve

A juxtaposition of two scenes from Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000) of Su Li-zhen rejecting and accepting Chow Mo-wan’s hand

A compilation of marble sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Syd (Chris Evans) trailing kisses down London’s back in London (2005)

ROUND 19: IMMORTALITY

James Baldwin talking about how art helps you discover that people before you have experienced the same thing as you and you are not alone

Dr. Brand saying that love transcends time and space in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014)

Nadia and Alan meeting for the first time as they’re about to die and relive the same day again in Russian Doll

The loneliness of losing everyone by having a long life as expressed by Ten in Doctor Who

The doomed eternal time loop romance of Simon and Alisha from Misfits

A quote by Edvard Munch about becoming eternal through the flowers that grow from his body after death

Nagai Kei recalling the traffic accident that killed him and triggered his immortality, making him one of the rare persecuted humans to possess the power, in Ajin

A collection of moments from Jay Russell’s Tuck Everlasting (2002)

A quote by Mary Wollstonecraft hoping for something that lasts inside the heart

Various scenes with Jack Harkness from Doctor Who

Aya telling Asou-kun to live on and live forever as she nears the end of her life in 1 Litre of Tears

An excerpt about the immortalization of the self through love from “Love of the Wolf” in Hélène Cixous’s Stigmata

A collection of scenes from the Black Mirror episode “San Junipero”

Naoko telling Toru to always remember her and remember that she existed in Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Dom explaining to Ariadne that he uses the PASIV to dream as it’s the only way that he can be with his wife and children in Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010)

ROUND 20: POETRY

“I’m Going Back to Minnesota Where Sadness Makes Sense” - Danez Smith

A line about wanting to forget how much you loved someone and then actually forgetting from Bluets by Maggie Nelson

“Perhaps the World Ends Here” - Joy Harjo

“In Time” - W. S. Merwin

“By Small and Small: Midnight to Four A.M.” - Jack Gilbert

“Magdalene: The Addict” - Marie Howe

“Wild Geese” - Mary Oliver

“Morphology 2″ - CJ Scruton

“20″ from Moscow in the Plague Year by Marina Tsvetaeva

“To Hold” - Li-Young Lee

ROUND 21: LONGING

“I Loved You Before I Was Born” - Li-Young Lee

A poem about longing for someone through worlds by Izumi Shikibu

A gifset of Marianne and Héloïse falling in love from Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

“Make Me Feel” - Janelle Monáe

A quote about living in longing being better than realizing that longing from 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

“I Want You” - Mitski

Orpheus and Eurydice in Hades - Friedrich Heinrich Füger

Long definition of the word “saudade”

Definition of the word “hiraeth”

“Something About Us” - Daft Punk

Two lines about burning quietly from the poem “The Pillowcase” by Annelyse Gelman

A conversation about wanting each other after decades of separation from Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory (2019)

A Hanahaki disease mood board

“Shrike” - Hozier

Two lines about wanting someone to return from Herakles by Euripides

“Love of My Life” - Queen

“Eyes, Nose, Lips” - Taeyang

A screenshot of Kathy and Tommy holding onto each other desperately from Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go (2010) and a quote from Kazuo Ishiguro’s eponymous novel

ROUND 22: YOUTH

“Perfect Places” - Lorde

A piece about realizing you’ll never be this young again, but it’s the first time you’re this old by Kalyn Roseanne Livernois

A conversation between Neil and Mr. Keating about Neil feeling trapped and unable to live the life he wants because of his father from Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society (1989)

An excerpt about being too young to know how to love properly from Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” - Arctic Monkeys

Elio’s father telling Elio not to try to rid himself of his sorrow and pain—and with that joy—which he feels so strongly because he’s so young from Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

A quote about how everything feels final to young people because they’re experiencing it for the first time from Middlemarch by George Eliot

Lara Jean telling Peter that she had to make it seem like she liked him to deal with her love letter fiasco in Susan Johnson’s To All the Boys I Loved Before (2018)

Rue and Jules dancing together and partying it up in Euphoria

“Le Plongeoir” by Laurent Roch

A quote about being pushed into adulthood and not being ready from Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

A photo of a roller rink illuminated by pink and purple lights

Pastel photo series of Coney Island by Mijoo Kim and Minjin Kang

“Hips Don’t Lie” - Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean

“Young Dumb & Broke” - Khalid

Different moments accompanied by the letter to Mr. Vernon at the end of detention from John Hughes’s The Breakfast Club (1985)

Various scenes and a quote about growing up and realizing life isn’t like a fairy tale from Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Stills of the young lesbian couple in love from the music video of “You Know” - Jaurim

Lines by Effy about her emotional and mental struggles from Skins

Nathan chiding the group for not taking advantage of their superpowers as young offenders from Misfits

ROUND 23: HEDONISM

A passage about giving into passion and losing control from The Secret History by Donna Tartt

“Thot Shit” - Megan Thee Stallion

An aesthetic photoset of the Greek god Dionysus

A quote about living for ecstasy rather than balance from From a Journal of Love by Anaïs Nin

A photo of an anonymous person in nothing but a silk robe and lingerie

A photo of Donatella Versace lounging in a chair, surrounded by shirtless, muscular men sunbathing around her in Capri, Italy in 1994

An aesthetic photoset based on The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The music video for “Heartless” by The Weeknd

A plea for summer to never end from Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

“Plastic Love” - Mariya Takeuchi

A gifset from the music video of “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, a continuation of the “Heartless” music video

“XS” - Rina Sawayama

A gifset from the music video of “Body” by Mino

Photos of people dancing at the legendary Studio 54

Photos and a description of the party scene at Studio 54

Chris Evans and Evan Rachel Wood hooking up in a car in the “Gucci Guilty Black” commercial

#stevetony #steve/tony #superhusbands #stony #stevetony prompts #stony prompts #lightsonparkave #round 24

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scriveyner · 3 years ago

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then they begin: 26 (2022)

then they begin 27/36 wc: 2661 rated: M

May 15th

Masayoshi dreamed of higanbana, and the moon full over a field of blood-red flowers; a girl he didn’t recognize in an unfamiliar school uniform—and Gotou, face crumpled in a very specific kind of heartbreak….

Masayoshi woke, and he wasn’t in Gotou’s bed.

He stared at an unfamiliar ceiling, patterned with the dying light of day, and thought, if I’m dead, that’s a really boring ceiling for the afterlife. He touched his face with one hand, and as he shifted, he realized that he wasn’t in a bed at all, but laid out on a couch with a thin blanket over his lap. He sat up slowly, head heavy, looking around the strange room in confusion.

There was an open window that let in daylight and sound—fresh, cool air, the distant sound of pedestrian traffic—a desk and some bookshelf with some large brown boxes piled about, and many opaque canisters on racks around the room. Masayoshi’s attention was drawn by the door behind the couch opening, and a girl walked through. “Oh,” she said, a little surprised, hesitating. “I didn’t expect you to be up already.”

“Where am I?” Masayoshi asked. “Am I dead?”

She blinked at him.

After a moment she laughed freely and closed the door behind her. She didn’t look to be much older than Mari, her dark hair pulled back into a high, professional ponytail with several streaks of teal dyed in. “No such luck yet, Hazama-san,” she said, putting the container she was carrying on the desk and leaning against it. “How do you feel?”

He touched his head, a little startled at the question—and realized that the exhaustion that had laid over him like a weighted blanked the last few weeks had evaporated like it never was. “Awake,” he said.

“Good.” She tapped her fingernails on the canister, and they dinged off the metal. “It was touch and go there for a moment.” She moved around a stack of boxes and stopped in front of Masayoshi, and before he could react reached out and grabbed his wrist. He went to jerk his arm away and she touched two fingers to the pulse on his wrist, and the green lines appeared, startlingly vivid in the daylight. “I can’t remove the taint, but I can at least help bind it.” Pink seemed to emanate from her fingertip, wrapping around the green for a moment, before both colors faded into his skin and were gone.

“What was that?” Masayoshi breathed as she released his wrist. He looked at his arm, and made a fist with his hand, but neither color appeared on his skin at will. He looked up at her, and then around the room again, registering the absence of his other half in the daylight. “Who are you? Where’s Gotou-san?”

“Your friend had to leave,” she said. “He was upsetting the balance of things, it’s delicate work when you’re only part witchbreed.” She crossed her arms. “I’m Myojin Akino.”

“Akino-san,” Masayoshi said, still overwhelmed.

“I can’t say you’re going to be fine,” she said, returning to the canister she’d placed on the desk. “But that witch’s curse was incomplete, so we might yet find a way to combat it. You pissed off a nasty witch though, that’s complex, dark magic she put on you.”

“What did you do?” Masayoshi swung his legs off the couch, sitting up properly for the first time; as he took a deep breath he realized he felt normal. The exhaustion was gone, of course, but he hadn’t properly recognized how ill he was until the symptoms were lifted away.

“I can’t go blabbing all my secrets to a human,” she said with a wink. “But I’ll go make you some tea. You probably need to call your boyfriend, he was almost hysterical when he brought you here and really didn’t want to leave, but I insisted.”

Masayoshi suddenly very much wanted to see what that insistence was, because he couldn’t imagine Gotou being made to leave through anything other than supernatural means. He glanced at his phone on the table, and then over to Akino in the doorway, but she’d already closed it behind her.

He looked at his right hand and made a fist. Then he picked up his phone.

The battery on his phone was dead and, embarrassingly, he didn’t have Gotou’s number memorized. So as his phone sat on a spare charger he sat at the counter in the front of house, since it turned out that Masayoshi woke in the back room of a tea shop. “My family owns it,” Akino explained cheerfully, standing behind the counter and wiping things down while she brewed tea for him. “It’s out of the way and really, only open odd hours, so we don’t get a lot of business. But that’s not what we’re really here for, anyway.”

“You’re a witch,” Masayoshi said, staring at the teacup she sat before him. “Witchbreed.”

“Only half, from my mother’s side,” Akino said. “That tea is brewed specific to help with curses, so it will continue to ease the symptoms of the taint, at least temporarily. I’ve put together a canister of the leaves as well, but I don’t know how long they’ll be that effective.” She put on an apron over her outfit—which Masayoshi just now realized was not, in fact, a school uniform. She wasn’t the girl from his dream, and that left him feeling vaguely unsettled. “It’s none of my business, yah, but getting mixed up with wolves is a bad idea.”

Masayoshi turned the handle of his teacup before taking a sip, nodding his head. “I’ve been told that,” he said, a little wryly. “Many times, by Gotou-san most of all. I don’t regret it. Not one bit.”

“Good.” She leaned against the counter opposite him and tapped his right wrist with her finger. “Because this changes the world around you. It will kill you, it’s only a matter of when.”

Masayoshi’s jaw tightened but he didn’t look away from her. “I’ve been prepared for that,” he said, because he had been, ever since he started his crusade almost two years ago…but that had also been before Gotou-san.

Akino nodded her head and pushed off the counter. “There is a small chance that a counter-curse can be found to remove the taint from your blood, but then you’re just exchanging one problem for another.”

“A counter-curse,” Masayoshi said, and stared at his wrist, where Akino had tapped it. Then he lifted his head to meet her eye again. “Does Gotou-san know what?”

“I haven’t told him.”

“What is this curse?”

Akino sighed and put her chin in her hand. “Frustratingly, I don’t know, exactly. It’s similar to binding curses but it’s not one. I’ve never actually seen anything like it.” She tapped her fingers on the counter, the rapid staccato an angry sound. “It’s been sapping your life’s energy, but I can’t tell what is sapping it or where it’s going, especially with the witch who cursed you dead.” She shrugged, a little helplessly. “I’m self-taught, unfortunately. My mother didn’t even know she was part witchbreed until I inherited the power.”

“You’re self-taught?” Masayoshi blinked, surprised. “But you’re so young!”

Akino laughed. “Glad you think so.” She looked over when the bell above the door tinkled and stepped away from the bar side of the counter to greet the customers. “Drink your tea, Hazama-san. It will help.”

“Thank you,” Masayoshi said.

“Don’t thank me until you’ve seen the bill,” Akino said lightly, and walked away.

Gotou returned his call almost immediately after the first call rang to voicemail. Masayoshi was a little irritated that the first call had rang out, but when Masayoshi picked up Gotou said “oh, thank god,” and the high note of panic in Gotou’s voice twisted his stomach around in knots. “We’re on our way back, don’t move one millimeter.”

It took until Masayoshi set his phone on the counter to realize that Gotou had said “we.”

Masayoshi had moved to a table, back in the corner while Akino handled a small cluster of high school girls coming in for specially brewed tea. Gotou arrived quickly, and he wasn’t alone. “Ishihara-san,” Masayoshi yelped, standing so quickly he almost overturned the delicate café table.

The schoolgirls all glanced his way, and Akino called, “if you break my dishware that goes on the tab as well, Hazama-san!”

“Don’t scare him,” Ishihara said crossly. “That’s my job.”

Masayoshi looked between Ishihara and Akino, but Akino had returned to cashing out the few customers, so he seated himself again, hands on his knees and back straight. He glanced at Gotou, looking for some idea about what was going on and how much Ishihara already knew, because he’d been good and kept Gotou’s secret far better than he’d kept his own.

“He’s panicking,” Gotou said, sounding utterly exhausted and still, somehow, amusement crept in.

“He’s had a busy day,” Ishihara said. “Akino-chan, can we get some tea as well?”

“As long as it goes on the tab, Sumi-chan,” Akino responded in a sweet, sing-song voice.”

“Uh,” Masayoshi said, looking between them again.

“I went to school with Akino-chan,” Ishihara said, seating herself opposite Masayoshi. “She’s an old classmate, and a good friend.”

“But she’s a witch—” Masayoshi clamped his hand over his own mouth, startled, and looked over at Akino, eyes wide.

“I know,” Ishihara said.

“You know?” Masayoshi put both his hands on his knees again, looked at the table and then looked at Gotou. “What’s going on?”

“You passed out,” Gotou said quietly. “Your arm started…glowing, like it did during the Blood Moon, and you wouldn’t wake up. I didn’t know what to do, and…” he glanced at Ishihara, who nodded.

“I had just called to check on you since Gotou-kun had called you in sick again,” she said. “It took a little coaxing, but he told me everything.”

“…everything everything?”

Gotou nodded his head.

“But…”

“I knew that my good friend who doesn’t keep track of her friends’ tabs, Myojin Akino, might be able to help. It really sounded like something up her ally, with all the magic nonsense she gets into.” Ishihara raised her eyebrow at Akino, who placed two cups of fresh tea in before them.

“This is going on his tab, Sumi-chan, not yours.”

“Good.” Ishihara leaned across the table and grabbed Masayoshi by the cheek. “You,” she said, pinching his cheek out and eliciting an “ow ow ow” in response, “should have told me sooner.”

Gotou caught Ishihara’s wrist and she looked up at him in surprise but released Masayoshi. “He was protecting me,” Gotou said, and Ishihara sighed.

“I know he was. I should have put together his call-offs and getting suddenly busy around the moon phases sooner, but that’s on me.” She looked at Akino, who stood beside Gotou, holding the tray against her front. “What’s the verdict?”

“I can’t diagnose anything just yet,” she said. “It’s some kind of binding, transformative curse that was interrupted. It will require a boatload of research, so he needs to take it easy in the meantime.”

Ishihara sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say that. Elections are soon.”

“I don’t care, your star talent needs a vacation, or something.” She looked over at Masayoshi. “I don’t care what you do, just don’t go picking fights with other witches or werewolves or whatnot, keep your head down.”

“Head down,” Masayoshi repeated. “Got it.”

Gotou, who hadn’t pulled up a chair to sit, leaned over Masayoshi and put his arm over Masayoshi’s shoulders. “And you are not allowed to scare me again,” he rumbled. Masayoshi flushed pink at even the hint of such an intimate touch in front of others.

“Gotou-san,” he said.

“It’s almost dusk,” Akino said pointedly. “Won’t the moon be up soon, ookami-kun?”

“My name,” Gotou huffed, “is Gotou Hidenori.”

“His wolf-name is Kage,” Masayoshi supplied, and Gotou smacked the back of his head. “Ow! Gotou-san!”

“I knew I would regret telling you that.”

Ishihara smiled and took a sip of her tea; and Akino walked over to the store’s front window and flipped the sign over to “closed.”

“I can’t believe you knew about…” Masayoshi gestured with his hand. “All this.” He stood outside the tea shop with Ishihara, waiting on the cab to take her home. “How long have you known?”

“Depends on your definition of ‘all this’,” Ishihara said pointedly. She looked back toward the shop, where somewhere in the shadows, out of sight, Gotou skulked. He knew Gotou was back there, golden eyes reflecting the occasional passing headlights, but Ishihara had hesitated at his huge black form as he slipped out the back door, held open by Akino. “I didn’t know werewolves were an actual thing. There’s magic, and then there’s…that.”

Masayoshi put his hands in his pockets and made himself look properly contrite. “I can’t thank you enough, Ishihara-san. Gotou-san feels the same, I know. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t called.”

“Well, I can’t let my star client get so ill he won’t wake up. While there is a market for the whole Sleeping Beauty thing, I get the feeling your boyfriend wouldn’t appreciate it.” They both heard a snort from the darkness, and Masayoshi laughed as the cab pulled up to the curb and he opened the door for her.

“You sure you won’t ride with me?” she said, and Masayoshi shook his head.

“Gotou-san will walk me home.”

She frowned at him, but Masayoshi indicated his knapsack. “I’m fine for now, and I’ve slept so much. I just want to walk.”

“Okay then,” Ishihara said. “Be safe, Masayoshi.”

Gotou watched them talk softly, as Ishihara got into the cab. Masayoshi looked good, he looked normal, and that only made him feel worse at how far he’d let it go.

“The tea I gave him,” Akino said, her back turned as Gotou changed out of his clothes in the back room, just prior to moonrise. “It will help, but…”

“How bad is it?” Gotou asked, folding his shirt.

“Bad,” she said softly. “A few weeks to a few months is all I can gauge.”

He looked over his shoulder at her, her back still to him, dark ponytail hanging centered down her back and lightened by the teal strands. “There’s no cure, is there?”

“I don’t want to say there’s no hope, but…a counter-curse is going to be your best bet, I think. And they don’t call them curses lightly.” She sighed and hung her head. “And if that doesn’t work…what are you going to do?”

Masayoshi’s scent had changed again. Gotou kept pace with him, walking beside him when he could, and ducking into alleys and parks when needed. At first Masayoshi had reminded him that if he just wanted to walk beside Masayoshi that maybe they should go invest in a collar and a leash—and Gotou had snarled at the suggestion so violently it made Masayoshi laugh until he had the hiccups.

He seemed in better spirits now—and Gotou could still feel the remains of that mind-shattering panic that had consumed him earlier in the day—when Masayoshi wouldn’t wake, breathing shallowly and green lines reaching nearly to his shoulder—that feeling slowly congealed back into the solid lump that had made his stomach its home for the past month. His scent, though—he’d lost that tinge that made him smell so good, that trace of Gotou’s own scent; it had been replaced first by the acrid scent of the taint and now, overridden by the magic in the salve Akino had created.

Masayoshi fell asleep that night sitting up with his back to the wall, and Gotou laid over his lap, content under his hand; the DVD spinning back to its menu and playing softly in the background as they slept.

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#samurai flamenco #gotoyoshi #masagoto #werewolf au 2022 #multipart #ongoing

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