#the only thing i would change about the wild life finale would be the snails. cause snail deaths are kind of boring sorry. but i get it.

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

it's controversial to say this i guess but i genuinely believe last life was the least interesting life series season and youre all lying to me about enjoying it

[mikavlcs]

Rebels and Renegades

Pairing: Wednesday Addams x reader

Summary: Becoming best friends with a sentient hand brings many much-needed changes to your life, the biggest being the very girl he arrived at Nevermore with.

Warnings: this is so stupid, reader is incredibly unserious, many attempts at comedy, TERRIBLE pacing, bad writing, cursing, this doesn’t correlate properly with the timeline of the show but idc

Word count: 6.6k (sorry, this got very out of hand...get it?)

Notes: this is trash but it’s fun so who cares. this is entirely for @clexa-is-forever aka thing’s biggest fan. despite my writer’s block, i still had fun writing this. hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

If someone told you at the beginning of the school year that your best friend would be a sentient disembodied limb, you would’ve laughed in their face.

Not because you thought it would be too ridiculous or nonsensical, but because in your mind, it was far too interesting for what Nevermore Academy had to offer.

See, you were initially excited to transfer to Nevermore. To get away from the shallow depths of normie public school and be around people like you. But alas, it was too good to be true—or, maybe, you had gotten your hopes up too high.

Because it turned out that fantastical mythical creatures like vampires, werewolves, and sirens actually weren’t too dissimilar from their normie counterparts. They didn’t care about excitement or adventure or fun, they cared about partying and drinking and dating.

This duality created an atmosphere of contradictions. There were people with literal snakes for hair but also those stupid cliques of popular kids that liked to pick on people for no reason. Werewolves transformed into energetic beasts and prowled the woods together every full moon, but students’ biggest concerns were whom they were gonna ask to the school dance.

It was all strange and supernatural yet shockingly normal. And extraordinarily boring.

The disappointment you felt upon this discovery was immeasurable. It appeared that no matter how far you ran, you could never escape the clutches of adolescent desires and drama.

But there was nowhere else for you to go. This was it, your parents told you that definitively. So you resigned yourself to your fate and settled into life at Nevermore.

Months passed at a snail’s pace. Around the middle of the semester, a new student transferred in. Because nothing of substance happens, she was the talk of the town for a solid two weeks before her scheduled arrival, but you didn’t care.

You would admit that after finally seeing her, your interest was piqued. She certainly fit the murderer vibe. With her pallid complexation and dark eyes, she looked straight out of a black & white horror film, even complete with a black uniform instead of the standard purple (which you were so jealous of).

Temptation pulled at your chest whenever you saw her, but you decided to leave her alone. This school had disappointed you enough, you weren’t sure how you’d be able to handle even more. The decision to keep your distance was made and instead, you let your imagination run wild without the probable barriers of reality to inhibit it. 

Little did you know that only one day after the new girl transferred in, she inadvertently changed the course of your life at Nevermore forever. 

Advanced Gorgon Sciences, your last class of the day, had just ended and you were wandering campus wondering what you were going to do with your free time. You were contemplating going into Jericho when something smacked your cheek.

Pausing, you glanced down and found the offending object to be a small pebble. You followed its rough trajectory up to a ledge on your left and saw something scurrying across it. Against, your nonexistent better judgment, you moved closer and…

You blinked once, then twice, narrowed your eyes.

It was a hand—literally just a hand, cut off at the wrist but still scuttling and scurrying around with no problem.

So, you were definitely losing your mind. Honestly, it was about damn time.

Having nothing better to do, you decided to lean into the madness and approach the hand. At the sound of your footsteps, it turned and…looked at you? You weren’t sure, but it acknowledged your presence with a friendly wave.

You waved back, a laugh bubbling up in your throat as you hoisted yourself up to sit on the ledge.

Once you were up, you saw that the hand was fiddling with a makeshift slingshot, struggling to simultaneously keep it upright while loading and aiming it. His plight was fairly obvious and considering his circumstance, you couldn’t help but feel for him.

Abandoning the slingshot, the hand crawled over to you and started tapping insistently. It took much more brain power than it ought to for you to realize that he was trying to speak to you.

“Sorry, I don’t understand…that,” you apologized with a grimace. But an idea came to mind a moment later. “Can you write?”

The hand gave you a thumbs up. You dug around your backpack and pulled out a notebook along with a pen, flipping it open to an empty page and slid it over, setting the pen down on top. He picked up the pen and got to work, pushing the notebook back toward you a minute later.

Curious, you looked at the messy scrawl below.

Sorry, was aiming for the guy behind you.

You nodded understandingly. “It’s fine. Could I ask why you’re launching pebbles at students?”

You waited once more as he scribbled his answer and peered down when he pushed the paper over.

For fun.

Again, you nodded. You could respect that.

“Well, do you mind if I join you?” you asked, nodding toward the slingshot. “I’d imagine it would be a lot easier to aim with an extra pair of hands. And the accompanying body,” you added awkwardly at the end, hoping it wouldn’t offend the little guy.

Thankfully it didn’t. He gave you an excited thumbs up, scuttling back over to the slingshot while you scooted over. While he loaded another pebble into the pouch, you scanned the area below for your next victim.

Your eye snagged on a vampire for no real reason other than the fact that he just kinda looked like an asshole.

You pointed to him below. “How about him?”

Thing gave you another thumbs up. Nodding, you held the slingshot in place while Thing drew the pebble back and let it fly.

The shriek that came from your victim almost made you blow your cover. You grabbed Thing and hurriedly crawled back to where you were both out of sight, barely containing your giggles. Once the coast was clear, you cracked, pitching forward with your laughter as Thing drummed his fingers against your arm in what you assumed was amusement.

“That was amazing!” You looked down at him, smirked. “Wanna do another one?”

He tapped your hand enthusiastically, making your smile widen.

Thus was the beginning of an amazing friendship. Well, amazing for you and Thing—not for the rest of Nevermore.

The two of you were a match made in hell. Together you brainstormed a plethora of good pranks to pull on unsuspecting students and teachers.

Putting spiders (fake or otherwise) in students’ lockers. Setting glitter traps on top of classroom doors so whichever unlucky soul walks through first gets showered in glitter. Slipping mentos into people’s sodas. Setting trip wires to watch people faceplant around campus and many more.

It was glorious. Your own personal reign of terror, even.

Principal Weems had her suspicions, but no matter how many times she tried to catch you in the act, you slipped through her fingers. And without proof, her hands were tied. So you and your companion were free to keep enjoying your schemes so long as you were discreet.

For the first time since you enrolled, days passed by in what felt like minutes, the personification of the saying time flies when you’re having fun.

Through it all, you often wondered where the little guy was when he wasn’t with you. You hoped that he wasn’t causing too much mischief without you. He was your partner in crime, after all.

Two weeks in, you decided to ask him at breakfast.

The two of you were at your usual table in the corner of the cafeteria. You were ranting about an upcoming Lycanthrope History test while Thing was launching the grapes you gave him to play with at nearby tables. After your rant, you finally gave in to your curiosity.

“So, what exactly are you doing at Nevermore? I know this place houses some strange students but, something tells me you’re not here to learn.”

He flicked a grape with precise aim, nailing a gorgon right on the forehead before giving you a series of taps. Your face scrunched in confusion.

“Babysitting? Babysitting who?”

Nothing could have prepared you for his answer.

“Wednesday Addams?!”

Your voice came out much louder than intended, turning a few heads around the cafeteria and making Thing jump. You didn’t care, plowing forward in your questioning.

“You’re ‘babysitting’ the school’s homicidal maniac?”

His stance straightened, his nonverbal tone somehow indignant as he corrected you.

You gave him a pointed look. “Attempted homicide isn’t much better, buddy.”

He seemed to contemplate flicking another grape, but seeing Miss Thornhill looking around, he chose not to. Instead, he drummed his fingers inquisitively at you, teasingly waggling his fingers at the end. You gave him another sharp look, insulted by his implication.

“Scared? What, no! This is amazing news,” you exclaimed. Then, an idea arose. “Hey, do you think she’d let us borrow any of her stuff for pranks?”

Thing mournfully shook his wrist. You let out a deep sigh, slumping over again. “Yeah, I guess I should’ve expected that answer.”

Wednesday didn’t really come up in conversation after that. You asked a few more times about her willingness to let you borrow her things, but after receiving the same answer, you gave up. Your paths had yet to cross, and you assumed that it would stay that way. But the universe seemed to have other plans.

The first time you formally met her was about a month after she transferred.

It was an appropriately cloudy day and you and Thing had just successfully completed a heist. You were in the Weathervane, both gushing over the fact that you had managed to steal fifteen scented lotions from Jericho’s local Bed, Bath & Body Works when a sharp voice interrupted you.

“So this is who you’ve been running off with these past few weeks.”

Both you and Thing flinched, looking up to see the Wednesday Addams staring down at you and your partner.

Offering a wave, you said, “Hey, Wednesday. Want a scented lotion?”

She ignored you completely. Her eyes barely scanned your figure before she was turning her full attention to Thing, her arms crossing over her chest in vindication.

“I knew you had to have an accomplice. You’re nowhere near nimble enough to properly set a trip wire by yourself.”

Thing slumped, obviously disheartened by the statement, but before you could defend his honor, your mind caught on something else.

“Wait…” You looked over at Thing, offended. “Have you been taking full credit for our pranks this entire time?”

Sheepish, Thing bowed, giving your hand an apologetic pat. You moved it away, crossing your own arms over your chest.

“Since this is your first offense, I’ll forgive you. But do it again and I’m keeping all of the profits from our future heists, got it?”

Thing jumped in alarm, tapping urgently. You smiled. “Good.”

Wednesday looked between you both, clearly unimpressed. You decided to take your shot again.

“You know, the lotion offer still stands.” You rifled through the lotions, taking note of their scents, and glanced back up with an apologetic look. “Though, we don’t have one that smells like stage 4 human decomposition, sorry.”

Again, she just stared blankly. You swore you saw her eye twitch but still, she said nothing and glared at Thing.

“Be back at the dorm by 7.”

With that, she turned and marched out of the café, leaving everyone in her path to fearfully stumble out of her way. Both of you watched, rapt, as she slammed the café door open and nearly nailed an approaching customer in the face.

Once she was out of sight, you turned to Thing. “Y’know, I think that went well, buddy.”

Thing said nothing.

You thought that would be the end of it, and honestly, you would’ve been fine if it had been. You made a good first impression and she now knew you existed. A double win!

But again, it seemed that someone had other plans—though this time it wasn’t the universe, but Thing.

Now that you and Wednesday had been semi-acquainted, Thing began inviting you to their dorm for hangouts frequently (because it was “his dorm too” …you didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise). This set a few things in motion.

First, you met Wednesday’s roommate, Enid.

Enid was nice. A little hyper, like she was on a permanent sugar rush, but sweet, nonetheless. She gave you free manicures and skincare advice, and even let you borrow some things for pranks, so you hadn’t a single bad thing to say about her.

Second, you found out that you were very bad at scaling buildings.

Due to both curfew and Wednesday’s usual disapproval of your presence, Thing insisted on smuggling you in. By throwing a rope down to your balcony for you to climb. And…let’s just say that it’s a miracle you even survived the first time.

And finally, most importantly, you and Wednesday began to grow closer.

Only by about a centimeter, but progress was progress. And through sheer willpower and repeated exposure, you wormed your way into the tolerance stage, which is farther than most people who came into contact with Wednesday got, so you were proud.

She wasn’t warmer per se, but the sight of you in her dorm was no longer met with a throwing knife, just a death glare and some tentative (mostly one-sided) conversation if she was in a good mood. It was a big win.

Now that she wasn’t orchestrating any attempts on your life, you grew…not protective, but defensive of her, and Enid for that matter. Enid was your friend and Wednesday was…Wednesday. Willingly or not, they were part of your small circle.

So when a werewolf insulted Wednesday right to her face the day before the Poe Cup, well who could blame you for getting a little revenge?

You overheard him call Wednesday a frigid bitch, and he was right, but he didn’t have to say it like it was a bad thing. In retaliation, you and Thing gave him a special surprise involving shampoo and some of Enid’s hair dye that you were very excited to see the next day.

And it didn’t disappoint. Seeing the flash of bright pink amongst the Furs, and a matching flush of embarrassment that was nearly the same color was the highlight of your day.

At least it was until the Black Cats emerged from their tents.

Given your positioning, you were only able to see them once they started climbing into their canoe, and needless to say that the team’s roster shocked you. There were a few girls you didn’t recognize up front, then Enid and, as her co-pilot in the back, Wednesday.

Your jaw dropped. Because not only was she competing in the competition, but she was also wearing a skintight black catsuit, complete with ears and a tail.

The laugh you let out was so loud that it startled the surrounding crowd. You felt something poking your leg, and looking down, you found Thing standing by your feet. You bent down, glancing over to the Black Cat’s boat.

“Hey, you helping out Wednesday and Enid?”

He bowed in confirmation. Nodding, you stuck out a hand.

“Punch at least one siren for me, alright bud?”

He shook your hand firmly, a promise to fulfill your wish, and crawled off to the boat.

The event itself was rather dull. With the way Enid explained it, you were expecting something a bit more grandiose, but in reality, it was just standing around and watching for boats. Boring.

But hey, it gave you a half-day of classes, so who were you to complain?

The results though, were much more interesting.

For the first time in decades, the trophy went to Ophelia Hall. You were happy, not because you had any buried school spirit, but because you knew how much Enid wanted this. Seeing the fish get knocked down a peg was a nice bonus.

Afterward, you pushed through the crowd to try and find Enid so you could personally congratulate her, but before you could spot her, you bumped into her co-pilot. Literally.

Blindly, you steadied the smaller girl by the shoulders, a sorry on the tip of your tongue, but it got swallowed down as you were crudely reminded of her current state of dress. You tore your eyes from her outfit and dropped your hands back to your side, meeting her glare with what you prayed was a straight face.

“Hey, Wends. Congrats on the win! Love the outfit by the way,” you said, trying your absolute hardest not to crack a smile. The large ears were making that exceptionally hard, however.

She scowled. “Don’t call me that and for your information, I was forced to wear this.”

You nodded, not trusting yourself to say anything without laughing. Thankfully, it seemed Wednesday wasn’t finished speaking anyway.

“I noticed that werewolf’s hair is now a rather putrid shade of pink,” she said. “Did you perhaps have something to do with that?”

Once again, you found yourself unsuccessfully fighting off a smile. “I can neither confirm nor deny your suspicions. But it suits him, don’t you think?”

Before she could respond, a soaking wet Thing pulled on your pant leg and excitedly began recounting what happened. You bent down again, nodding along with his story, and beamed at him once he finished.

“Right in the eye?” you reiterated, and Thing confirmed. “That’s awesome. I knew I could count on you.” You gave him a quick high five then scooped him up, drying him off on your uniform and setting him on your shoulder.

You stood back up and saw that Wednesday was still there, staring at you so intently that you were sure she was somehow looking straight through you.

Cocking your head to the side, you went to ask if she was alright, but that must’ve knocked her from her stupor because, without another word, she spun on her heel and walked off, leaving you to stare at the spot she just occupied, thoroughly bewildered.

“That was weird,” you commented. Thing gave an agreeing pat.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t question her about it since you didn’t get the chance to speak with her again until exactly three days later.

It was just after dinner. Thing invited you over to help prepare a new scheme, and who were you to say no to the little guy?

Enid was visiting Yoko in the infirmary and Wednesday was nowhere to be seen, so it was just you and Thing, sitting by the window hard at work.

You tied the water balloon in your hand and held it in front of you, giving it a contemplative look. “You’re sure these will only give them bad rashes, right?”

The only response you received was a shrug, which was good enough for you, so you picked up the next one and got to filling it up. Not one to work in silence, you voiced a thought you’d been holding in for a while.

“So, do you breathe? Like, would be able to drown if you stayed under the water for too long?”

Thing shook his wrist matter of factly. You gasped.

“That’s so cool.” The flustered thuds you heard after made you chuckle.

Satisfied, you went back to filling balloons, but your head popped up only a minute later, another burning question on your mind. “If you can’t eat or drink, then what physically sustains you to keep you alive?”

Without missing a beat, Thing tapped out his answer.

“The misery of others?” You snorted. “Yeah, I guess that tracks.”

Conversation lapsed into quiet as you both focused on your tasks, and your mind wandered.

You wondered where Wednesday was. The hour just after dinner was her designated writing hour, and it was very unusual for her to be missing it.

You hoped that she’d be back soon, even if she only glared at you the rest of the night. Just seeing her would be enough to satisfy you.

Because in a somewhat cruel twist of irony, you were now falling victim to the very same feelings you mocked others for getting caught up in, and even more brutal was the fact that you didn’t mind all too much. Mostly because it was Wednesday.

Now, you were no poet or writer. You weren’t going to wax poetic and spew a thousand grandiose metaphors about how her eyes resembled that of a starless sky, no.

Wednesday was really pretty and genuinely interesting, and she looked at you like a predator wanting to tear apart its prey. And really, that’s all it took for you to dive right off that cliff’s edge into infatuation.

There was a certain excitement in knowing that she could dismember you with surgical precision if you ever went just a little too far, an irresistible thrill to be found in constantly toeing that line. Like walking a tightrope with life and death teetering on a knife’s edge—the perfect counterbalance to the endless loop of monotonous boredom your life had seemingly fallen into before her and Thing’s arrival.

The sound of the door opening interrupted your train of thought, and you whipped your head just in time to see Wednesday stride in with a book cradled in her arms and her usual annoyed expression adorning her features.

You perked up, and out the corner of your eye, you saw Thing do the same.

“Hey! How’s Nevermore’s resident tiny terror doing today?”

“Call me that again and I will disembowel you,” came her cheerful reply. You snorted.

“Uh-huh.” You finished tying the last balloon and looked back up, seeing Wednesday eyeing your prep work with distaste.

“Are those water balloons?” she asked, clearly unimpressed.

“Yep. They’re filled with holy water so we can throw them at the vampires who were teasing Enid last week for not being able to shift.” You grinned. Wednesday’s eyes widened a fraction.

“That’s insane,” she commented. Then after a beat, “Make sure to film it on your cellular device so I can watch as well.

“Of course,” you assured her, giving a dramatic bow as well. She rolled her eyes, and you watched her resign to her desk. Unable to contain your curiosity, you piped back up, “So what took you so long? I was expecting you to come in and kick me out hours ago.”

Her reply was instantaneous. “I discovered a secret passageway in the school, committed theft, and became the target of an attempted kidnapping.”

A twinge of jealousy pierced your gut. How come she always got to do the fun stuff? You quickly shook it off, focusing on the first thing she said.

“A secret passageway?” you asked, already thinking of ways to possibly utilize the space for you and Thing.

“Yes, I solved a riddle and uncovered a passageway hidden behind the Edgar Allen Poe statue in the quad.”

The Edgar Allen Poe statue… Recognition sparked, and the pieces slotted together, some of your prior jealousy abating.

“Ohh, you got kidnapped in the Nightshade’s Library?”

Finally, she looked at you, gaze so sharp it could’ve cut you in two. “How do you know about that?”

You and Thing shared an unsubtle sideways glance.

“Uh—”

“So what fingers do you do it with? Thumb and ring finger or thumb and middle finger?”

The pressing question was delivered in a whisper. It was late—at least an hour after lights out, but Thing promised to teach you how to snap before he left for his dorm.

So to avoid being caught, you and the appendage were tucked into the corner of a small hall that branched off from the quad. You were hunched against a tall Edgar Allen Poe statue while your companion stood next to you.

Thing waggled his fingers and pointedly put his thumb against his middle finger. You nodded and copied his movements, rubbing the fingers together to get a feel for it.

“So I just…”

You pressed the fingers together and made the snapping motion a few times in quick succession, beaming up at him when you managed to produce a few low sounds.

Suddenly, a deep rumble emanated from the ground beneath you as the statue you were seated on began to shift. You leapt to your feet, quickly grabbing Thing and placing him on your shoulder. You both watched, baffled, as the statue moved to reveal a long winding staircase.

Taking in a breath, you shared a look with Thing then looked back to the open pathway.

“Holy shit!”

“No reason,” you said far too quickly to be believable. Before she could question you further, you cleared your throat and moved on. “Did you have fun?”

“No. They were imbeciles that didn’t even know the basics of the art of abduction. It was pitiful.”

You frowned. “Oh. Sorry about that. I hope the next one is better.”

Wednesday shot you a strange look, studying you carefully before mumbling out a barely audible thank you, and turning back to her desk.

Since you were finished with the balloons, you slumped back against the window. There was nothing to do, so you couldn’t be blamed for the way your eyes drifted back to Wednesday’s hunched form. Nosiness tugged at you. You wanted to know more about what she stole and why, and a glance at Thing told you that he did too.

Extending your arm for him to climb, you waited until he rested securely on your shoulder before heading to Wednesday’s desk to see what she was up to.

Lying flat on the wood before her was the book, opened to an illustration. On the left page was what looked to be a pilgrim extending a staff toward the figure on the right, who somewhat resembled Wednesday. You squinted. Scratch that, the girl on the right looked exactly like Wednesday.

“Is this what you stole?”

“Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t look over my shoulder like that.”

Her words went in one ear and out the other, your mind too busy trying to decipher the meaning of the drawing to actually listen. Finally, the identity of the mystery pilgrim clicked, and you asked, “Why’d someone draw you in a picture with Crackstone?”

Her head whipped over to you, all complaints of you being there gone. “You know who this is?”

“Yeah,” you answered, “Joseph Crackstone. He’s like, Jericho’s chief colonizer. Founded the whole town or something.”

She didn’t respond, seeming to take in the information, but you didn’t want the conversation to die quite yet, so you carried on.

“Outreach Day is next week, are you excited? I, for one, am pumped to do menial work for no pay.”

“No, I’m not,” she said, then appeared to rethink her answer. “Actually yes, but not because of the forced child labor. I already have plans to further my investigation in Jericho.”

You perked up, leaning forward to try and catch her eyes. “Can I come?”

She didn’t even bother looking back at you when she answered, hard and firm.

“No.”

-

“Thanks for letting me come along, Wends!”

Wednesday clenched her jaw, expelling a sharp breath through her nose. This was the third time you’d said that in the past four hours, and while she was able to ignore the other two, the addition of that stupid nickname made holding herself back a third time impossible.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that? And you’re only here because someone,” she sent Thing a murderous glare, “refused to cooperate without your agonizing presence.”

Your eyes widened, darting over to the hand resting on your shoulder. “Really?”

Thing gave a shy wave. A wide smile spread across your cheeks in response.

“Well thanks for advocating for me, bud. It means a lot,” you said with a hand over your heart, sounding far too cheerful for someone that just chased a dangerous monster.

Wednesday didn’t bother dignifying you with any more responses, turning back to the woods ahead. But that got her thinking.

Why had she let you come anyways?

There was no good reason that came to mind. You were insufferable. The human embodiment of vexation and foolishness and petulance. You were, in essence, all the traits she disliked in the general human race given physical form.

And yet, she had allowed you to come along.

Yes, Thing asked her time and time again to permit your presence, but instead of threatening his life like she should have done, she gave in with the silent promise of revenge.

It made no sense. You pushed boundaries, disobeyed orders, and disregarded her threats and insults with a garish smile like they were no more than a joke heard in passing.

And only now did she realize that she found it far less irritating than she did when she first met you.

The answer to why was unclear, but Wednesday wasn’t sure if that was because she was genuinely unsure of the reasoning behind her decision or because she didn’t want to figure it out.

Your annoying voice thankfully halted her mind’s trajectory.

“Of course, you’re my favorite Addams. You’re my best friend, the only other five-fingered appendage I’ll ever need in my life. Plus, Wednesday hates me so there’s no competition.”

Wednesday was once again stunned by the inane conversations you and Thing have on a daily basis. Some of the talks she’d overheard in the past months could be unironically described as mind-numbing.

Deciding to have some fun to pass the time, she turned to fully face you, running her eyes over your form before speaking.

“I don’t hate you.”

She watched your eyes go wide and you looked at her with some odd form of hope. The corners of her lips twitched.

“I despise you. There’s a difference.”

Your head dropped exaggeratedly, but when you looked up again there was a smile on your face, making any notion of hers disappear.

She couldn’t stand that—the way you were never put off by anything she had to say.

Enid had the same tendency to shrug off her threats, but even she was unnerved when she first met Wednesday. But not you. Wednesday couldn’t think of a single time when anything she said, threat or otherwise, made you uncomfortable or fearful, and there was seldom anything that got under her skin more.

“That was mean, Wednesday. Really mean.” She noticed Thing say something on your shoulder and you gave a playful gasp in response. “Don’t laugh, Thing. That wasn’t funny,” you said, even though you were giggling yourself.

At the sight and sound of your laughter, something strange happened. Something combusted within her, and the flames spread, licking her sternum with an uncomfortable intensity. Like someone crudely lit a match and let it fall inside of her chest, allowing the fire to wreak havoc on her insides. It was unpleasant.

Even more unpleasant was the knowledge that this was not the first time this had happened. And that was but another in the long list of reasons why she shouldn’t have permitted your presence today.

She faced forward abruptly and kept walking, but you entered her peripheral moments later, no doubt ready to bother her with something.

As always, she was proven correct. “Hey, so you said that Crackstone was in that vision with your ancestor, right? And he killed a bunch of outcasts?”

“Correct.”

That mischievous smile she had come to recognize spread across your face, pulling your lips up at a slightly uneven angle.

“What do you say we get a little revenge?”

“And how exactly do you propose we get revenge on a pilgrim that died centuries ago?” she inquired skeptically.

You hummed. “Undecided but you go on ahead and just let the masterminds cook for a bit. I promise we’ll come up with something great.”

You and Thing flashed her a simultaneous thumbs-up, to which she just blinked. Not needing to be told twice, she started walking again, leaving you both to linger behind. Once there was a sufficient distance between you and her, she slowed slightly.

Though she had just made a vital discovery for her case, she figured this brief period of quiet would be better spent unpacking that persistent internal conflagration that flared whenever you were near.

Deigning to use her tried and true investigative process, she tried to start from the beginning, to gather all the information she had and prepare it for analysis, but she immediately got lost because truthfully, she couldn’t pinpoint the start of your assimilation into her daily routine.

Her…acquaintanceship with you made little sense, even to her. Especially to her. The same could also be said about her budding friendship? with Enid, but that was easier to parse.

Enid was her roommate; someone she quite literally couldn’t avoid since they lived together. But you weren’t. You were Thing’s friend, sure, but that didn’t answer the question of why Wednesday was becoming entangled with you as well.

However, looking at it from a logical perspective, it somewhat made sense.

A mutual penchant for mischief and practical jokes is what drew you and Thing together. In that same vein, she supposed that your insatiable appetite for adventure and her unquenchable thirst for triumph put you both on a collision course that neither of you could prevent. Especially in such a creatively stagnant climate as Nevermore.

A rebel and a renegade—two of a kind. You understood her and, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she understood you.

She just didn’t know how to interpret the unexpected side effects that came with that mutual understanding.

(That was a lie, she realized. Somewhere deep down she knew, but she didn’t want it to mean what she thought it might. After all, she couldn’t possibly be letting someone like you turn her into an apostate to her own beliefs and morals…right?

She thought back to what she said to her mother on her first day, how hypocritical her words looked in the face of this dilemma. God, how pitiful of a circumstance she found herself in.)

Either way, Wednesday had allowed the sparks to ignite, and she knew that any chance she had of tempering the subsequent wildfire it caused was lessening with every moment she knowingly spent with you in her space.

Part of her didn’t want to anyway.

Approaching voices behind her caught her attention. Focusing on the present once more, she listened in.

“That’s an awesome idea, right?” she heard you say lowly.

Wednesday rolled her eyes. Everything was either cool, awesome, or amazing to you. She desperately needed to expand your vocabulary if you were going to be sticking around. For her sanity.

Wet footsteps neared, and you ran ahead of Wednesday, turning to face her with a demeanor resembling that of an excitable puppy. She sped up her pace, but you matched it, even while walking backward.

“Ok, Wednesday, plan secured. You know what I need?”

“A thesaurus?”

You blinked, brows furrowed, then shrugged. “Yeah, probably but I was actually gonna say that I need gasoline, and matches.”

“Well, there’s a hardware store a block down from the Weathervane, you could get gasoline from there. I have the matches covered.”

“Oh?” Your eyebrow quirked, a grin appearing along with it. “You have matches on you?”

“Of course. I carry a box with me everywhere I go.”

Your smile widened.

Wednesday ignored the flames ravaging her organs and asked, “Are you going to tell me what this ‘plan’ is?”

“And ruin the surprise? No. All I’m gonna say is that you should have another song prepared for the unveiling.”

She narrowly avoided rolling her eyes again. Given the materials you needed, Wednesday had a good idea of what you were planning anyway, and thankfully, she had just the song in mind.

The three of you parted ways as you reentered the town proper, you and Thing running off to gather supplies, and Wednesday, after handing her matches over, headed into the square to prepare her cello.

Unsurprisingly, she was the first person there. She sat in the seat by her cello, languidly checking its strings more out of a need for something to do than because she needed to. Her cello was always perfectly tuned.

It didn’t take very long for you to follow, running into the square with a canister of gasoline and a bag of what looked to be gunpowder. She heard a low “let’s blow this fucker back to hell, Thing” before you split up, Thing pouring the gasoline in the base of the statue while you created a trail of black powder from the statue to behind the bleachers.

Wednesday watched you, the familiar feeling of being proven right tugging her lips upward. If nothing else, your flair for the dramatic was commendable.

You both finished and took refuge behind the bleachers just as people started filing in for the ceremony. As the normie high school band set up behind her, she took note of how nobody looked particularly enthused to be here (besides Enid, who would somehow find a way to be excited to watch paint dry).  

Soon, the ceremony was underway, and it was as underwhelming as Wednesday expected it to be. Just a plethora of fake smiles, stale claps, and off-key notes from the laughingstock of a “band” performing with her.

An explosion might not even be enough to resuscitate the audience at this point.

Once the fountain was turned on, Wednesday sent a sideways glance to you and you nodded, signaling something to Thing on the ground below. A trail of smoke and the telltale sound of burning gunpowder followed and Wednesday felt her dead heart begin to pick up pace at the thought of the coming anarchy.

Finally, the looming bronze figure burst into a brilliant ball of flame, the sound of the blast washing away the wretched off-key notes of the incompetent band behind her.

As the panic began to set in, her fingers moved on their own, relishing the familiar feel of the aching, discordant cords of Vivaldi’s Winter.

In moments, Jericho’s empty streets were flooded with people running in terror as sirens wailed in the distance. The harmonious screams that erupted from both outcasts and normies alike were almost more pleasant to her ears than the song that she was playing.

Principal Weems glared at her from afar, eyes narrowed in brewing suspicion, and Wednesday stared right back, lips coiling into a poisonous smile.

Tearing her eyes away from the principal, she peered through the haze of the smoke toward the bleachers. You were watching her with wide, awestruck eyes and a smile. You only looked away briefly to give Thing a fist bump before turning back toward her, but her gaze never faltered from you. Even with all of the glorious chaos happening around her.

That horrible, detestable feeling in her chest returned with a vengeance, blazing brighter than the raging fire to her right. But in this moment, she welcomed it, let it fuel her as the music reached its climax.

As the warm orange glow of the flames reflected off the raw excitement and amazement in your eyes and her treacherous song came to its end, Wednesday recognized that perhaps neither hatred nor disdain was quite the right word to describe how she felt for you after all.

And perhaps becoming a heretic and a hypocrite wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world after all (though it would certainly be close). 

[loveaurapearl]

Wild Life Mechanics

Hey guys, I was thinking about the Mechanics of Wild Life and the theory that the previous winners create the next game. The first thing I want to say is that while Cleo is a winner and we should respect the queen, it's clear that Wild Life wasn't created by her. While she is chaotic and loves to burn things, Wild Life is not a game she would make. She's pretty level-headed and only burns people's bases if they make her mad. She would not choose the next game to have random effects each session. Scar, on the other hand, is completely crazy and would have the games be so chaotic. Sure, Grian and the other Watchers are the ones who decide the game and how it functions, its clear that the winner has some input on how the game is created. Scar even mentioned in his first episode that he and others suggested ideas to implement into the game. He just wasn't sure if Grian put those ideas into use. It's just funny that the mechanics that Grian decided to use directly relate to Scar and the struggles he goes through. And I will be analyzing each Wild Card that we know of for now. (This will be outdated tomorrow since a new episode will come out. But I don't want the idea to disappear from my head, so I'm writing this now.)

The first session had the Shrink and Grow Wildcard and it relates to Scar's sensation of scale. While Scar is 6 ft tall and has known the feeling of being tall, for most of his time, he's in a wheelchair at around 4 ft tall and thus, he is also small. We saw that immediately with small Scar during Real life. Scar is both a tall man, and also small, just like session one's Wildcard where you can be both big or small. And for most of Scar's session, he tries to be in the middle. Just be his regular, Minecraft self, since he doesn't want to be reminded of relatity.

The second session was about having your food randomized and having to eat things like dirt and rocks. This relates to the fact that... well... Scar can't eat like a normal person anymore. Scar can only 'eat' through a tube and has to constantly make sure the food is mush. He also fantasizes about eating people. c!Scar is a cannibal and so when the watchers changed what he and the other lifers could eat, his brain couldn't handle that truth and just assumed they just couldn't eat. It was only thanks to Grian that he and his team managed to survive.

The third session was the snail and it was pretty simple what was happening. Scar had been tormented by the Snails in Hermitcraft and now they transferred over to the life series. The watchers made them into one-shotters because it would hurt Scar more since he's already not great at staying alive.

The fourth Session relates to the fact that Scar is pretty slow when making videos because of his illness. Scar starts off slow, but once he gets going, it's hard for him to stop. He mentioned tons of times that he tends to forget how long he should be on the computer and thus ends up being on a project for hours. Usually ending some episodes while it's like 1 in the morning for him.

And finally, session 5's gimmick was the Quizmaster, which relates to the fact that Scar is constantly reminiscing on the past. Mostly third life, double life, limited life, and secret life. Scar has been haunting people's posts and remembering the past. He got a good chunk of questions right. It was only the Last Life questions he didn't know completely since he was so sick during Last Life that he had to miss a session because of his real-world illness. Like he knew the horn Jimmy used in Double Life, but he couldn't remember the name because he's bad at remembering names.

Now, none of these gimmicks were meant to relate to Scar. After all, Grian created all the gimmicks. Its just funny how all of these gimmicks able to be connected to Scar. Grian truly is Scar's soulmate. Also, the fact that yellow and red names can kill dark green lives to get health back and has been compared to cannibalism is funny because I can connect this to Scar since c!Scar is a cannibal. He would totally implement the idea of adding some kind of cannibalism into the games. It is my headcannon that Scar was the one who had the random lives and life trade mechanic in Last Life while Grian put in the Boogeyman mechanic since Grian AND Scar both won Third Life. It's just a shame most people, including Scar, don't remember that Third Life was a double victory. So yeah. Scar is the only winner who won two games. Scott doesn't count because he didn't win Double life. He gave up the game to Pearl and she is the sole winner of Double life while Scott got second. Just wanted put idea up.

[totallynotokguys]

Wild Life: The Great Test

With every wild card I've asked myself, how could Grian potentially use these wild cards for a future season?

Let me back up a bit. In my mind Wild Life is a proof of concept. A hypothesis being tested out for everyone to see and analyse. Can Grian work together with multiple different sides of the Minecraft community to make something wild? How far can he go with bringing his vision to life? Will his friends find it fun? How will the audience receive it?

(p.s. I just typed in wild and the snail emoji showed up as a suggestion. I've never used this emoji in my life EXCUSE ME! Phone how are you doing tha-)

I know there have been complaints and its not the favourite season for most people, but I think it accomplished its goals. The developer, designers, musicians, programs, artists, mcyters all worked together to make something so special and cool like oh my gosh the things they pulled off! And the fun Grian's (stop changing his name to groan spellcheck!) friends had, you can hear it in their voices and I love what Skizz and Impulse said on their podcast it was a blast for me to watch and a blast for them to any and all the great moments that came out of it (plus several of my favourite blorbos placing the highest they've ever placed in a season let's go!) was just so good I'm so happy.

The only thing I didn't like were unavoidable considering the nature of Wild Life as testing grounds. First, it felt disjointed. There's something about previous seasons that seems smooth to me, each episode flowing easy into the next with an overarching theme connecting them together (especially with limited and secret life). This is something that Wild Life cannot help as it's theme is literally experiments. Each episode is a separate experiment to test out how people will interact with this one mechanic. Some tests went better that others and each let the team (everyone, developers, content creators, artist- EVERYONE, guys) walk away with valuable data (snails too fast oops, really funny stuff came out of that slow mo one, food way more deadly than thought, look how each person used their superpowers wow didn't think of that application).

But the good thing about data collecting is you don't just gather it for funsies. There is a greater purpose behind it. A future goal.

My other problem is how short it was. Not the overall season, we all know seven episodes is the norm (Double Life you are my favourite but man were you short). No, I mean the wild cards. I wanted more than one episode with the size changing or the superheroes! Loved what the CCs did with those and would have loved to see them play around with them more!

But again, this season was a test. Imagine if Grian had dedicated a whole season to one wild card and it turned out his friends hated it. He'd be crushed! So Grian tested the waters to see which card his friends thrived with and which were just meh.

Side note: Of course they loved them all because Grian is their friend and this season was basically a gift and they'd never spurn a gift from a friend. They are all good friends who care about each other this is why we love the life cast! Even if they wouldn't have liked it, the fact that it came from Grian and he worked so hard on it maked it special to them.

Ever get a gift that you never would have gotten for yourself but suddenly because it came from someonewho cares for you and you can just tell they put a lot of thought into it so it's the best thing in the world and you end up cherishing it forever? Yeah, sign of a good friendship. What a wonderful feeling.

Go watch Imp and Skizz podcast wild life recap and you'll see. Grian literally says it each wild card was like giving a Christmas present.

Finally, what my whole speal has been leading up to. Wild Life is a test, a gateway to something greater. Grian has a team greater than ever before, new ideas and concepts that have been tested, and full support from his friends (and he's got my support as well as the majority of the fandom o let's go!). He is definitely going to be cooking with these new ingredients.

And because I am always starved for more life series content I'm going to be going through my favorite wild cards to see if I can turn them into full seasons! Maybe even predict future seasons while I'm at it (a person can dream, Herald!)

See you maybe then or maybe never. Either works!

[sakuracyanide]

independent & selective zoisite of sailor moon. 90s canon-based with ample headcanon. multiverse. multiship. not spoiler free. do not interact if under 21. written by iri, established April 2024. personals can follow but do not interact with these posts, it interferes with tracking.

i. character focused, not ship focused. whether or not i ship a thing is largely based on if i feel our writing and characters click. i am multship and do not practice exclusivity on my blogs.

ii. i have precious little free and want to keep my non-work spaces chill and fun. we are smashing barbies together, please remember that. i work pretty hard to curate a chill space online which means i will unfollow for things like excessive negativity or serious real world topics being discussed w/o trigger warnings or under a cut. your blog is your space and i won't argue with you about how to run it, i take full responsibility for my online experience. unfollowing is very rarely personal & i'll still play with folks i break mutuals with, i just don't want to be sidelined by triggering content.

iii. speaking of little free time, activity will range from lightning fast to a snail's pace depending on how much i have going on in my offline life.

iv. if we're mutuals feel free to hit up my messenger. discord is available on request so long as you're chill with me forgetting to reply for 8000 years.

v. i have a lot of headcanons & use a mix of all canons, but the main version of the character i play is the 90s one. with that said i can veer into other canons (such as pgsm, musicals, etc) but please note that i only ship ami/zoisite as platonic soulmates.

vi. most importantly - i'm down to change or pivot direction to keep things fun in any thread.

vii. t feels important to mention have a medical issue that affects my memory so i would appreciate patience if i forget things. i don't mind being reminded to reply if something has been sitting for a long time! my short term memory and general sense of time is shot but i will wake up in a cold sweat six months later and remember i forgot to do something.

likewise, i genuinely do not remember if i have followed someone or not unless we interact often so i'd suggest blocking rather than softblocking if you don't want me refollowing. i don't take it personal, your space & your rules.

verses.

golden dreams. golden kingdom. set in the golden kingdom. a high-fantasy drama where i run wild with my headcanons. zoisite is madly in love with kunzite but is repressing it.

in the dark of the night. dark kingdom. 90s anime timeline.

the moonlight carries the mesasge of love. revival. after galaxia has been dealt with and metallia has been quelled, the reborn shitennou finally awake to their true power - their curses finally broken. marion, the reborn zoisite, makes his way from russia to japan and there - has to figure out how to make amends to the price he twice betrayed, and the guardians he tried to kill.

fragmentary abyss. honkai. one of diamond's four 'assistants', known for both his beauty and exceptional ruthlessness. zoisite has only ever known life in the ipc, and while he bears a stone name (and stone fragments) he is not considered to be a stoneheart.

all four of diamond's assistants are vidyadhara... though were may be the better tense. while all four were once high elders this is a title they can no longer hold. and the vidyadhara do not claim them as kin.

you see, these four were thought lost after the vidyadhara had to flee their homeland. their pearls were shattered, though it is difficult to know if this shattering occurred upon their deaths or if they were stolen and shattered in the attempt. there is no one left alive who can tell the true tale, and the men themselves hold but vague concepts of who and what they once were.

in time these fragments appeared on the black market, before finally falling into the hands of the IPC. they were pieced back together using fragments of cornerstones. they are not recognized by the vidyadhara as the same beings they once were and are viewed as abominations - the breathing equivalent of zombies. though they have access to many of the abilities now lost (shapeshifting, full dragon transformation, mastery of elements) they are unable to use cloud hymn magic and it is unknown if their mangled pearls will allow them to revive should they die again.

the sun goes out. genshin. in a past life, "zoisite" was the szhneznaya god dazhbog, who was said to rule over fire and the sun. dazhbog took many forms - a black tortise, a fire-breathing horse, a beautiful man and an equally beautiful woman. all imagery associated with this god has been lost to time, save for the descendants of his most devoted and the entities long-lived enough to remember his quick wit and sharp smile.

during the archon war, dazhbog aided the cryo archon and gained a new dominion - war. the god was known as a fierce combatant, unrelenting and unwilling to call defeat. he achieved victory at any cost - and, as he would go on to tell others, that cost was very nearly his soul itself. when the dust settled his kingdom was decimated, and he had lost the will to rule as a god after witnessing the cruelty that his kind inflicted upon their own. dazhbog left this homeland and ventured to khanri'ah with his three closest friends, believing that the time of gods was done and it was time to entrust the future of the world to mankind. the four of them took human form and worked as guardians to the royal family. they served as loyal guardians to the kingdom.

which... ultimately proved to be their downfall.

dazhbog became infected with forbidden knowledge. there was still enough of him to save, though what survived was but a fragment. dazhbog and his fellow gods faded from existence, 'reborn' centuries later as ostensibly human children. he was found abandoned at the foot of a the rubble of a long forgotten god, and was raised by handlers to be an assassin.

each reincarnated guardian bears the scars of what they had witnessed that day - for dazhbog, renamed zoisite, this manifested in his left eye. no longer did it bare the star-shaped pupils of his chosen human guise, it now looked like a nova. multiple pupils all within one gaze, the mark of one who had glimpsed truth not meant to be known.

zoisite was raised within the fatui, and due to his great talent and thirst for knwoledge, was sent on a mission as a spy (how active he is depends largely on who he's threading with) to sumeru where has been living since he was about thirteen. he's a scholar in spantamad as is well on his way to becoming sage.

he has a unique talent for magic, allowing him to use all elements offensively. it's rumored that his distorted eye (which he claims to be blind in, opting to cover it with his hair) grants him sight beyond sight. in truth, his abilities allow him to tug at the fabric of the reality.

a question of duty .final fantasy vii. a member of the turks, "zoisite" joined shinra with the intentions of becoming a SOLDIER as all young boys do. when this fell through, the young man was instead recruited by the turks.

hailing from cosmo canyon, zoisite has a surprising connection to the earth - if you trace his lineage back far enough, you'll find cetra. but not nearly enough to hear the planet's call. even if he could, the young man's thirst for power dwarfs his sense of duty to it.

[copperbora]

Meet Purrling Reef, aka the 13.5 gallon Fluval Evo reef aquarium that I forgot to tell you all about before: in today's episode: in which Moby scares the sh-! out of me (he's good at that.)

This is Moby, my baby Amphiprion ocellaris clownfish, who, providing that he survives my relative incompetence may live 15+ years. Clownfish are known for being quite hardy fish and people used to use them to cycle their aquariums which is now recognized by many reef aquarists as mild animal cruelty. (Therefore I cycled Purrling Reef using pure ammonia instead.) Along with my (probably female) yellow watchman goby Clyde, Moby has been in Purrling Reef for about a month now.

Things are going well; ammonia is at 0 ppm, nitrates are usually at 0 ppm, phosphates are usually at .25 ppm, salinity is stable at 1.025, and my PH hovers at a somewhat soft but okay 7-7.5. Having at last gotten through the worst of the summer heat and having finally figured out how to set up my inkbird temperature properly, Purrling Reef's waters stay a comfy 25°C (78°F,) all day and night long.

Things are going well, so naturally Moby opted to scare the crap out of me this morning by acting like he was dying.

WTF MOBY.

Terrified for his life I promptly did a water change and dosed the tank with Seachem Prime (which detoxifies ammonia as well as chemicals like chlorine,) then Seachem Stress Guard (which soothes fish.) My ammonia was at zero but I thought that the Prime was a good idea anyway.

Moby promptly stopped looking like he wanted to be crab food, so I went to work; when I came home he was back to his annoying ol' habit of chilling by the filter outflow.

WHY FISH.

After testing all of my water parameters again and finding that all seems well I turned my attention to my newest addition to my reef: Spook the Halloween Hermit crab. I actually call him Captain Spook because he is rather overwhelmingly the least useless member of my cleanup crew. Usually, since I got him he clams up at my approach, sucking as much of his body as he can into the enormous conch snail shell which he adopted as his mobile home.

Chances are he murdered the original inhabitant of this shell.

Today though Spook decided not to spook at my approach which I have two theiries for:

1. The vast anti-Keplar fortifications that I set out around the aquarium double-sided tape traps are working! Yay! (Keplar must not be scaring my aquarium inhabitants as much anymore.)

2. My water is still screwed up so Spook is feeling weird. Given that I have only been at this for like three months... yeah, I can't ignore this possibility.

It was rather remarkable getting to see his white carapace up close for once. While it reminded me that he is in fact a sea bug, but I refuse to hold this against me due to his janitorial awesomeness and the fact that he is much less anxiety inducing than Moby. (Although I live in fear of him eating one of my two puny dwarf hermit crabs.

I can't wait until I can adopt more livestock; Purrling Reef definitely has a job opening available for an emerald crab! (Captain Spook does not like salad.)

Also, here's

Also, here's Clyde the yellow watchman giby who would like me to mention her job a for a pistol shrimp; in the wild watchman gobies live with these shrimp.

If she gets a pistol shrimp friend maybe she'll coe out of her den more often.

[3laxx]

Maternal Feelings

There she was.

Her tiny granddaughter.

She had a bit lighter skin than Luz and just about Amity’s hair color. And she was so damn tiny.

Eda found herself getting scared, suddenly. This was a really small kid. This was like, a stupidly small child. She would not hold that baby for any number of snails.

---

Eda meets her newborn grandddaughter for the first time.

I don't know man I'm just chucking out words rn like I'm running from something.

But I had this thought of Eda meeting a very small child and my stupid brain was like "We can do that instead of sleeping" xD

So yeah, have this incredibly fluffy oneshot about Eda coming to terms with her Momma feelings and adjusting to being a grandma.

I just really wanted Eda to get emotional over a baby

Don't even ask Idk

Have fun reading! <3

Ao3 / FF.net

---

Eda had never been the most maternal.

Not in her youth, not when she had found King, and not when she had sort of adopted and sheltered Luz until she had graduated and been able to stand on her own two feet.

Not when King had taken her name and not when Amity had asked her for Luz’s hand, which had in truth just been a mockery of her parents’ traditions and had given Eda nothing more than an excuse to drink some apple blood with her future daughter-in-law.

Of course, she had seen Luz as a daughter at some point, had called herself her mother, had cared for her.

She had made their meals, had helped Luz with the homework – even if that had disgusted her – she had taught Luz and King everything she knew, she had tucked King in, cared for Luz when she had gotten sick or sad. She had of course done everything in her power to make sure her kids were content and happy.

That didn’t mean she had felt as though she was a mother. She had liked pretending to be the sort of crazy aunt, in charge of all the bad decisions.

But she had never seen herself as maternal.

Well, she supposed that came from not really setting any rules. When she had been younger, she had always been under the impression that mothers had to set rules, educate their children, and raise them. She had never really raised King or Luz.

She had just sort of made them laugh, given them food, and then they hadn’t left anymore. Like the free-loaders they were. Kind of like pests, actually.

It had always made them laugh if she had called them that. It had made her laugh.

Because she loved them, of course. She didn’t know love alone could turn her, the irresponsible, free-spirited wild witch a mother.

She supposed she had been a mother for King and Luz. Without setting rules, without all the raising stuff. She supposed her kids had turned her the littlest bit maternal.

Was it normal for friends to stay up at night and change the cold applications on Luz’s forehead in the hopes of bringing her fever down? Was it called caring and loving when she went out of her way to get King’s favorite toy, to get Luz the food she could actually digest, to make sure King was free of fleas and bathed and tucked in at night?

Did it make her a mother if she risked her own life to ensure they could lead a happy life?

Eda never knew the line between loving, as friends, and maternal.

Raine had started calling her out on her maternal feelings once she got the littlest bit protective of Luz.

Well, it wasn’t her fault that everything made her jump after Belos had almost – had, in fact – killed Luz on the day of unity. It wasn’t her fault that she woke up at night in a cold sweat, rushing to check on her daughter in the room next to hers sleeping peacefully, only to return to a sleepy Raine dazedly grinning at her with a smug, shit-eating expression of “Told you so”.

Every time, they would roll over their mattress in her nest and wrap an arm around her waist and tell her she was such a sweet mother.

Well, she was. She was the Momma of the Owl House.

But maternal?

Eda supposed she was.

After all, even if friends would do the same as her, a mother would make sure everything stayed safe and protected in her house. Making sure there was food on the table that Luz could eat. Making sure King was feeling loved, despite having discovered his past.

Making sure Luz had all her school materials, spending money on icky, stupid books. Giving her an allowance. Keeping her and King safe.

Well, Eda had never really tried finding a definition for maternal. All the love she had gained for King and Luz had just been that to her – love. And it had been enough.

She had loved calling herself Momma and had loved treating Luz like her daughter and King like her son, and she had loved calling them her kids. She just supposed the word itself – maternal – didn’t exactly describe what she was. She, herself, as Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, an agent of chaos and the most daring criminal history had ever seen.

She had just assumed a mother wouldn’t call herself these titles.

Seemed like her view of a mother had been wrong.

Any person could be a mother, a parent, a father, or anything remotely close to this. And she supposed, caring for Luz and King, taking them in, giving them food, kind of did make her a maternal person, while never losing her pride as a criminal and generally irresponsible person.

A mother.

Well, whatever a mother was, or whatever maternal feelings were, or whatever she defined herself at and whatever she did for Luz and King.

Here she found herself, fidgeting next to her spouse, her excited teenage son in tow who was already towering over her height, in front of the healer’s coven building.

Whatever a mother was, she would probably feel that way. Well, Camila – Luz’s other mother – next to her other side was buzzing in excitement just as much as she was. The two women exchanged a glance before Camila gave her a small smile and she felt Raine taking her hand.

King gave a groan when he finally placed his claws on Eda’s and Camila’s shoulders and pushed them up the three steps into the main entrance, rolling his eyes.

After Belos had been taken down – after he had actually very much killed Luz, Eda had just brought her back to life – Luz and her friends had taken on graduation while the Boiling Isles had experienced a change in the government. Covens were no longer used to steal or limit magic. Instead, they had been used as a way to form a working parliament, with an elected group of government heads. After the gang had graduated, Luz had worked towards getting a way back home while helping establish a stable government form from the makeshift temporary one they had managed to create after Belos’ defeat. Luz had actually helped them quite a bit by telling of experiences made in the human realm, where politics were apparently a lot more twisted than here on the Isles.

Eda and Lilith had been elected as part of the group forming the government, even if Eda had dropped out after one or two periods, while her sister had taken charge like it had been the most natural thing for her.

Discovering that politics hadn’t really been up to her alley – she was way more interested in rebellions than anything else – she had begun building a legal business since she didn’t have to fear being captured anymore. It had gone pretty well.

Raine had started working in the government as well as Amity, while Luz had started working to mastering all forms of glyphs she could find, admitting her studies to the academics, and shortly after, had been offered to become a teacher at Hexside by Bump to teach magicless witches and demons glyph magic.

After traveling the Isles and working on her studies, Luz had accepted and finally settled down with Amity. It really hadn’t been a surprise to Eda when Amity had come to her and Raine with a ring and asked them to marry Eda’s daughter.

After already asking Camila that is.

Eda faintly felt King pushing her into the cool building that smelled like disinfectant – a nifty cleaning drug from the human realm that Luz had introduced them to – before hearing herself asking the receptionist where the room of the Noceda-Blights was.

A kind of bored-looking demon sighed and looked the room number up in the list, before pointing them in the direction. Again, Eda’s feet felt like they had been planted into the tiles below her.

Only after Raine gave her a light push, she moved again.

So, the world now had some sort of order. Nobody was forced into covens anymore, and the coven seals had been removed, setting the magic free again.

Raine and she had married shortly after her daughter had accepted Amity’s proposal, and now, ten years after Luz had first set foot on the Boiling Isles chasing after her book, Eda found herself feeling more maternal than ever. Whatever that meant.

Her hands were fidgety, and not even Raine’s steadying grip could calm her. Camila tried not to look around too much, even after so many years of knowing the Boiling Isles and having visited her daughter regularly, she still wasn’t used to all of it.

Stopping in front of their room, Eda tried breathing through. King sighed again, but Raine shot him a glare and he shut up. At least her spouse understood that this was a big step for her. Looking to her side, Camila tried another smile and Eda nodded at her.

“If you want to, you and King can go ahead. I’ll-… I still need a minute.”

More than willing, Camila accepted. She knocked, and upon hearing Luz’s call, she stepped in. Eda shuffled to the side to let King through, so he could duck through the doorframe and maneuver his broad shoulders in without hitting anything. The door closed and Eda breathed through once more, feeling Raine’s grip tightening.

“How do you feel?”

Shooting them a grin, Eda turned, shrugging and trying to play it cool, “Old, honestly.”

Laughing, Raine pulled her aside to the row of chairs and made her sit down.

“No, I mean, how do you feel about Luz and Amity?”, they tried again and Eda sighed, staring at the blank wooden door with the small eighteen next to it.

“… Proud. I’m proud of them for making this commitment.”, looking back to Raine, she added, “And kind of scared. I haven’t really been the most-… Well, involved.”

Unimpressed, Raine lifted an eyebrow.

“… You’re kidding, right?”

Groaning, Eda shrugged again and leaned back, before closing her eyes, resting her head against the wall.

“I-… I never made the commitment they made. King has his father and Luz has her mother. I was more a friend to them than a mom. Sure, I liked seeing myself that way, and they liked seeing themselves as my kids, but-… It was fun having them. King had always been mostly independent and Luz was already a teenager when I met her. I’ve never-… Well, been around-…”

Raine softly placed their hand on Eda’s hands that she had folded in her lap and when she opened her eyes again, the gaze of her spouse was humored.

“Come on, Eda. How hard can it be to be a not-grandmother?”, at the joke, Eda groaned, “It’s not much different to being a not-mom to your kids.”

Grumbling, she got up again before straightening her back and nodding.

“You know what, you’re right. That kid is family now and whoever the hell cares what a mother or a grandmother is.”

A little confused, Raine got up after her and pumped a fist, albeit half-heartedly.

“That’s the spirit?”, they laughed and Eda huffed, before knocking and getting her own call to be let in.

The room was warm and humid. Eda let in Raine and quickly closed the door after them, not to let too much of the warmth escape, before turning back to her daughter.

Luz looked tired when she approached them.

Well, that wasn’t a surprise, given that she and Amity had arrived in the hospital two days ago before their little daughter had been born just this morning in the earliest hours. She had probably been awake all this time to be there for Amity.

Giving Eda a big hug, she nuzzled her face into the crook of her mother’s neck, before deeply breathing out. Eda could tell that Luz had just overcome a big step for herself.

“… I’m glad you’re here…”, she breathed and Eda wrapped her arms around the now-grown woman, tilting her own head into the embrace. The younger witch snuggled close while Raine squeezed past them to join Camila and King around the crib next to Amity’s bed.

Eda tried so hard not to cry.

This was a happy occasion and she would sure as hell not shed a tear about this. Just when she pressed a little kiss to Luz’s head, a tear rolled into her dark curls as well. Well, there went this promise.

“I’m proud of you, kid.”, she whispered and Luz held her tighter, smiling against her neck, “I’m so, so proud of you. If you ever need some help, I’ll do my damn best to provide.”

Sniffling, Luz nodded, before parting from her.

The exhaustion was evident on her face. She wiped her cheek before Eda placed a hand on her shoulder and caught her gaze. They exchanged a silent smile, then she looked up and around her daughter to her future daughter-in-law on the bed, obviously exhausted as well.

Amity gave a small wave, but it was obvious to see she was under the influence of some strong sedatives. That was the logical thing to do, Eda supposed, to keep her from acting protective over her child while all her family and friends wanted to meet the newest family member.

Witches only carried six months until giving birth, before incubating their pup for another three months. Which was why this room was so damn hot.

But upon giving birth, new mothers would also become a lot more protective of their pups than humans would. Luz had been new to all of this and Eda had had to educate her on the reproduction of witches, because Amity had been too busy laughing. Well, Eda had laughed as well, but not as hard as Luz’s fiancé.

Looking back to her daughter, she finally noticed the bandage she was wearing around one hand. Smirking, she gestured to that.

“Don’t tell me your weak nerd arms gave in.”, she joked and Luz huffed, rubbing the bandage with the healing sticker.

“Amity just had to transform her hand into a damn abomination while in labor. Seriously, who even does that? She sliced my hand right in half.”, grumbling, she looked back to her fiancé and gave her a small smile before looking back to Eda, “I almost missed the birth because the healers had to patch me up first. But there won’t even be a scar because they had my hand reattached just a second after it happened.”

Still grinning, Eda punched her shoulder, then Luz leaned closer to her, lowering her voice.

“Just don’t tell Mami. She’d lose her cool.”

Shaking her head and laughing, Eda walked past her.

“I won’t, don’t worry.”, after making her way around the bed, she sat down on the edge and caught Amity’s dazed gaze, taking her hand after permission, “Hey Minty. How’re you feeling?”

“… ’M good.”, the young witch slurred, trying a small smile, before breathing through and looking to the side where she kept her pup in view, “… Tired.”

Eda nodded, cupping her hand with both of hers, before softly patting the back of her hand.

“Lily will be here this afternoon to look after you two. Your siblings are still in Latissa on Government business, they asked me to tell you because they couldn’t get a hold of you. But they’ll be back tomorrow.”

She could tell that was a lot of information for Amity to process so she made a note to tell Luz as well. Leaving the witch to try and observe the room again – probably to make sure it stayed safe for her pup – she turned to the crib now finally.

There she was.

Her tiny granddaughter.

She had a bit lighter skin than Luz and just about Amity’s hair color. And she was so damn tiny.

Eda found herself getting scared, suddenly. This was a really small kid. This was like, a stupidly small child. She would not hold that baby for any number of snails.

Camila seemed a lot more comfortable around the baby, though. She had respected Luz’s wish to leave her in her crib for the time being, so Amity could get used to so many people around her pup so suddenly, but she was already reaching in and brushing the tiny thing over her cheek.

Well, okay, that seemed easy enough. Eda could do that, someday, when the kid was like twelve or something.

King and Luz were talking about something while Raine looked just about as amazed by the small creature as Camila was.

Sensing their amazement and figuring that Raine didn’t exactly have that much experience with children, either, Camila took the hand of Eda’s spouse and guided them down into the crib, brushing their knuckles against the incredibly soft skin of the baby’s cheek.

Amity didn’t even flinch at that. Either the sedatives were really strong or she felt incredibly comfortable with the people in the room. Looking back to the young witch, Eda confirmed the latter. Through half-lidded eyes, Amity was leaning back against the pillow, her other hand that was not held by Eda draped across her belly, while she was calmly watching Camila guiding Raine’s hand against the infant’s cheek.

She wondered how much Amity had actually adopted Luz’s family as her own once her parents had been imprisoned for their crimes against the public.

Judging by her calm reaction, she didn’t mind them being around her and her loved ones in the slightest, even in the now starting incubation period. Finally, Luz leaned around King and reached into the crib to lift her little daughter up and cradling her close to her chest. The baby didn’t even wake up, which made Eda chuckle.

“She’s got your sleeping habits, kid.”

Amity’s hand in hers shook when she started laughing alongside the older witch and Luz flushed in deep red when her mother confirmed.

“Sometimes, not even me shaking her would wake her up to school.”, Camila added and Luz huffed, bopping the infant in her arms.

“You guys are being mean to me in front of my daughter.”, she tried pouting, but King deadpanned.

“In front of your sleeping daughter. She won’t hear any of this.”

They started laughing again while Luz couldn’t suppress a little smile herself while looking down at the infant. When they had all quieted down a little, Luz pressed a soft kiss to her daughter’s forehead, before approaching Camila. Shooting a gaze towards Amity first to ask her permission, she then placed the baby in her mother’s arms and kept her hand cupped on the baby’s head, smiling.

“That’s your abuelita, mija.”, Luz mumbled softly and Eda almost felt her own heart breaking with the light sniffle Camila gave. After all these years of calling Luz her mija, Luz starting to use that label for her own daughter now made the human tear up.

While Camila greeted the little pup, Eda turned back to Amity whose head was softly nicking every time her eyelids fell. She had to be exhausted.

Tugging on her hand, Eda got her attention, then she lightly pushed the crib away to get up and adjust Amity’s pillow for her.

“C’mon, let’s get you lying down. We’ll take care of your pup.”

A sleepy gaze crossed with Eda’s but before Amity could object, the older witch was already adjusting the settings of the mattress to be flat again, before helping Amity lie down on her side.

“You can stay awake for as long as you want, but you should be comfortable with it at least.”, shooting her a grateful gaze, the younger witch yawned, then she adjusted the blanket around her future daughter-in-law and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry about your pup, okay? Luz is taking care of her.”

That seemed to soothe Amity. She mumbled a soft “thank you” towards Eda and curled up a little, before continuing to watch the scene before her, the blinking of her eyelids already getting slower.

When Eda turned back to Camila, she discovered that Luz had taken her daughter back already and was safely cradling her before going around the crib and catching Eda’s gaze.

She knew that Luz wanted her to say hi, too.

“Luz, I’m not so sure about holding-”

Chuckling, her daughter adjusted the baby, before taking Eda’s hand.

“You can greet them like this first if you don’t wanna hold her. Or you can sit down if you like.”

Huffing, Eda fidgeted shortly, before rubbing her hands together and breathing through.

“Just, uh-… Sitting would be nice. I’m-… Holding the bat kids was an entirely different thing, you know? They could fly. Your kid can’t fly.”

Luz had to laugh at Eda’s rambling, pulling on her hand, she ushered King out of the chair by the window, before letting her adoptive mother sit down in it. Camila helped out by placing a pillow on Eda’s lap, then she was all set. Luz studied her face again.

“If you’re too nervous, you don’t have to hold her. I can hold her over your lap if you want to.”

Trying to wave her off, Eda forced a laugh.

“Pfft, you can just say you don’t trust me holding a baby, kid.”, she tried to joke around, but Luz just gave her a smile.

“If you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to. That’s all I’m saying.”

But Eda wanted to. She definitely did kind of want to hold the tiny fragile baby that Luz had made together with her fiancé. Even if she was nervous and a little bit scared and so amazed by how small such a tiny thing could actually be, she did kind of want to hold that baby. Patting the pillow, she finally breathed through, then she opened her arms.

“Okay, I’m ready. Bring it, kid.”

Smirking at her antics, Luz leaned in and kneeled, then she slowly placed the baby in Eda’s arms. It was so tiny. It was so stupidly tiny, it wasn’t even as long as Eda’s forearm. Hiccupping, the older witch instinctively cradled the tiny, tiny infant in her arms and a warm feeling overcame her.

A really warm feeling.

If that was maternal feelings, then Eda swore she was going to be the best dang grandmother she could be for that child.

She brushed over her temple and the baby squirmed slightly. Apparently, she had woken up sometime during Camila holding her and was now kind of fighting against the snug swaddle blanket she was trapped in. Eda didn’t even notice she had tears in her eyes when she already felt the first tear rolling down her cheek.

“Wow… You’re my granddaughter now, hm?”, she asked and that tiny thing yawned, her arms struggling in the swaddle, before softly smacking her incredibly small lips. Eda found herself smiling immediately, “Titan, that’s new.”

Luz’s hands undid the blanket that was wrapped around the baby, then Eda laughed tearily when the infant stretched, her absolutely tiny fists stretching up to her face and rubbing her cheeks. She was apparently waking up and while she knew that incubating infants didn’t open their eyes yet, she found herself wondering what eye color the child would have. Adjusting the baby, she cradled them closer, then she smuggled a finger into the fist and giggled in delight when the baby grabbed it, despite not wanting to open the fist at first.

Looking up to Luz, who was still kneeling in front of her, she managed a smile, her teary expression probably matching the one on her daughter’s face.

“She’s perfect, Luz. But, let’s be honest, you two made a stupidly small baby.”

Laughing under tears, Luz nodded then she brushed over her daughter’s head and pressed a small kiss to her forehead to which the baby responded with a huff.

“Yeah, when I first held her, I was so scared she’d just slip right through my arms. But I think Amity would have killed me if I had so much as stumbled so I concentrated really hard not to let that happen.”

Eda’s gaze shot up from her granddaughter to her future daughter-in-law who was calling from the bed, her words slurred from the sedatives and sleepiness, but still very much poised if needed.

“… You better not drop our child, Luz.”

Raine had to laugh at that and went to soothe the new mother, while Eda turned back to the baby in her arms with a smile.

“Titan she’s small…”

The following few minutes were pretty much filled with tearful giggles and a very excited King who almost knocked the crib over when Luz called him to say hi as well. When Eda and King had calmed down a little, Camila had taken Luz outside for a little mother-daughter walk in the nearby park and King had gone with them for snacks. The older witch got up and carried the baby back to the crib, smiling when she lifted them up to her face. Resting her forehead against theirs, she kept like this for a moment, before stopping in front of the crib.

Amity had fallen asleep by now, even if she was flinching with every littlest sound her daughter made, so Eda looked over to Raine.

“Wanna hold the baby, too?”, she asked and Raine blushed.

“I’d-… I’d rather wait until she’s a little bit older.”, she admitted and Eda nodded before still gesturing her spouse over. Raine got up from the edge of Amity’s bed and joined Eda, putting an arm around her waist while Eda still cradled the baby close, taking care not to jostle her too much.

She yawned again and from the corner of her eyes, Eda saw Amity’s eyes opening, unfocused and probably very much still asleep but still attentive to her daughter. Chuckling, she turned back to Raine.

“Boy, I’m sure glad I only had two adoptive children.”

Shrugging, Raine caught the baby’s fist with their free hand and tickled their tiny fingers, but she wouldn’t open her hand this time.

“I’m sure you would’ve made a great biological mother as well. As you’re already a great adoptive mother, too.”

Shrugging, Eda brushed over her temple again, leaning into Raine.

“Nah, I’m glad I never had a baby. I don’t think I would’ve wanted to go through that.”

“Fair enough.”, Raine whispered, but their tone indicated that they had stopped listening to Eda, engrossed by the child in her arms. She softly kicked, which caused them to chuckle, before she settled back against Eda’s chest, curling in slightly and breathing through, apparently getting ready for her next nap. Raine sighed softly.

“Honestly, I’m glad I never had a baby, too. But having a grandchild is amazing.”

Grinning, Eda kissed their forehead, before carefully maneuvering the baby back into the crib and swaddling them the best she could, watching her breaths deepening and calming as she fell asleep again. Then, Eda pushed the crib next to Amity’s bed, to which the young witch immediately responded by reaching into the crib from the side and resting her hand on her daughter’s belly. Smiling, Eda took Raine into her arms and watched as both her future daughter-in-law and her granddaughter slept peacefully, leaning her head against Raine’s.

“… You’re right this is amazing.”

She already knew that this child would have the two best mothers she could ask for. And she knew that her entire family, including her furry uncle, three grandmothers, and one grandparent, and their twin uncle and aunt would do their damn best to make sure this child had everything she needed.

Smiling, Eda reached down to brush over the baby’s cheek and pulled Raine closer.

Maternal feelings or not, this was amazing.

---

Let me know if you liked it!

[thesims4blogger]

OFFICIAL BLOG: Harold Tours The Countryside in Cottage Living

The Sims team has released an official blog for The Sims 4 Cottage Living

I’m in Henford-on-Bagley!

Sul Sul… Is this how it goes? No matter. Hey there, it’s me, Harold the Llama, and before you go about wondering how a llama like myself managed to prepare a blog, I’ll have you know these nails have been trimmed to perfection to reveal the capable keyboard connoisseur that I am. But my motor skills are not what this is about! It’s about my charming home of Henford-on-Bagley.

Sim legends of old say that Henford-on-Bagley was created from the perfect mingling of earth and water… but I’m pretty sure some Sims loved the nearby Cordelia Falls and that the River Bagley runs through it in all of its glory. Hmmm, majestic.

Anywho, in order to get to know more about this charming village, we will have to visit all of its neighbourhoods. Our first stop is Finchwick, where the action happens!… Sort of… in a manner of speaking. Finchwick prides itself as a historically bustling and tight-knit community.

Finchwick is the home of the weekly – yes, weekly – fair in which locals put their skills to the test in creating the most sophisticated and delicious creations, such as pies, as well as show off their most prized animals *cough cough* myself included *cough cough* and oversized crops – trust me, the bigger the better – to be judged, as it is tradition, by the Mayor no less! Winning or just participation will get you a reward, but to be honest, it is all for bragging rights and what is better than bragging rights anyway, am I right?

This neighbourhood hosts the historic square which is also home to the busy marketplace – perfect if you love window shopping – and the village pub – ‘The Gnome’s Arms.’ The marketplace is where you’ll find Goldbloom’s Grocery Shop, home of the best produce! But don’t take it from me, try some yourself! I recommend their aubergines… that’s an eggplant for the non-locals.

Another iconic spot is the Crumplebottom’s Garden Shop, owned by Agatha Crumplebottom, and run by Agatha and Agnes! This shop will serve all of your gardening needs, as well as some extra things… not quite for gardening, but for enjoying nonetheless such as conserves and jams… mmm, jams. Now I want some crumpets and jam, the superior option to buttered crumpets – fight your chickens about it, not me. I should ask my keeper to make some… but who am I kidding, I can only eat feed for llamas (well, sometimes a treat) *sigh* A llama can dream after all. Just don’t tell Agatha if you make some, or she’ll send her gnomes to take them for sure as they are her favourites.

But, back to The Gnome! If you’re feeling quite curious or in need of a little drama for your llama, you can enter The Gnome’s Arms for a chance to listen in on the village’s gossip, history, and what is happening around it. Owned by the Scotts, Simon and Sara, this pub has been a dream come true, despite Simon running randomly into chickens – or me for that matter – along the way. This is where everyone knows everything about everyone, so take advantage of that as you visit! And their food is amazing, make sure to try their Bangers and Mash or their Beef Wellington; I hear it is fantastic. Enjoy the convivial mood by having a Henford Heart-to-Heart with or offering a Finchwick Favor to Sara, who should be minding the bar, for good measure. Sara can give you advice if you seek it, or maybe share some ghost stories if you want to know them.

If you’re in a helpful mood, you may also help Sims with village errands and learn more about their backgrounds, interests, and what they do around town! Or just for the good rewards, if that’s your bag.

Trotting along, we find Old New Henford. A fun piece of trivia for you all: it was originally named ‘Little Henford.’ However after some consideration, it was proposed that ‘New Henford’ would be better suited… more posh if you will. Unfortunately, there was a mishap with the national mapmakers and the town apparently ceased to exist for two whole weeks! Ha! Imagine that? Well, after that of course the town needed a new name and Old New Henford was picked, and here we are.

This part of the village is known for their lush estates, rolling hills, and their small – but beautiful – community garden. This neighbourhood used to be one giant property owned by the Watson family, who sold plots of it over the years. They still own a sizable estate perched at the top of the Olde Mill Hill – you can’t miss it.

You will find that this part of town is perfect to have a lot with a garden and space for livestock and oversized crops! You can always take notes as you stroll around the area and see how the townsfolk are doing with their gardens and plots.

Old New Henford is the perfect place for those that love animals like yours truly. In this neighbourhood you can find rabbits hopping about, wild birds you can sing to, and cheeky little foxen that you can befriend… but beware of their mischievous nature! They will want to surprise you and *mumbles* you’ll want to be sure your chickens are accounted for *mumbles.* This part of the town is also great for those who love to fish. Who knows, maybe someone finally will catch that wolf eel I keep hearing about.

You can even say that it is an idyllic place for a new start. Just ask Cecilia, one of our newest residents who moved in recently from the big city looking for a new life after having her heart broken. Now she shares her life with us living in a fab, refurbished barn. She loves keeping her garden, and her chickens! She is a lovely neighbour. I hope one day she finds true love. Unfortunately for Michael Bell, the local Creature Keeper, he is not her chosen one, but at least Cecilia has a long term commitment to all critters that visit for now.

Like Cecilia, if you welcome Wild Animals for visits, some can become your friends for life and even bring you gifts.

From the rolling hills of Old New Henford, we arrive at The Bramblewood.

The Bramblewood is the natural beauty of Henford-on-Bagley.These woods have a storybook-like aura that delights anyone who visits. It has long provided a picturesque place for many wild birds, rabbits, and foxen to call home, so you may find yourself among friends here including our friend Michael, our Creature Keeper, who roams the woods on most days caring for animals and plants.

It is truly a wonderful place, where you can forage Chocoberries and mushrooms, including nightcaps – some say that you can only find them at night… aptly named! The Bramblewood can be full of surprises, especially if you encounter the Isle of Volpe, named after Lord Volpe, founder of Finchwick. The Isle of Volpe is one of the most iconic hallmarks of Henford-on-Bagley, not only because of the history reflected on its ruins, but also because it is the most romantic spot in town. Generations of Sims remember their first kiss in the Isle of Volpe *love sigh*, so if you are coming with your sweetheart, you should spend some time there to experience its splendor. Just be careful not to disturb the Creature Keeper’s home. He is a gentle but private Sim.

But if romance is not something you fancy, head out for a bit of adventure and visit the Isle of Volpe Park. Run through the path that leads you to Sophie the Snail, who is always happy to take a picture. If it is calm and serenity you seek, be sure to spend some time visiting Cordelia Falls. In the end, wherever you spend your time in this part of town, it is said that the Bramblewood can change your life forever, and so far there have been no truer words to live by.

And so you see, my friend, whether you decide to come for a visit or move here to my humble countryside town, there is always something happening, something to do, something to dream about, but most importantly, know that we welcome you with open … erhm… feet!

We hope to see you soon!

Cheers!

[dahniwitchoflight]

KH: The Foreteller’s Animal Masks

This is half fun facts / half theory but basically it’s a list of which Sins/Foretellers are associated with which animals AND where the inspirations for the animal associations came from, since there’s actually a few different sources!

The first would be the Ancrene Wisse, which was a sort of field guidebook for Anchoresses (Female Abbesses/Monks/Nuns basically) containing rules of conduct and behavior 

https://www.hermitary.com/articles/ancrene.html

This goes into many things that honestly have cool thematic ties with symbolism for stuff in Kingdom Hearts, which I could honestly make a whole post in it’s own for tbh, but for here were focusing on one passage:

“The wilderness is the solitary life of the anchoress's dwelling, for just as in the wilderness there are all the wild beasts, and they will not endure men coming near but flee when they hear them, so should anchorites, above all other women, be wild in this way, and then they will be desirable, above other women, to Our Lord. 

In this wilderness are many evil beasts: the lion of pride, the snake of poisonous envy, the unicorn of anger, the bear of dead sloth, the fox of covetousness, the sow of gluttony, the scorpion with the tail of stinging lechery, that is, lust.”

So, we start out with a nice base for some of the Sin/Foretellers:

Ira - Wrath - Unicorn - Unicornis

Avaritia - Greed - Fox - Vulpes

Acedia - Sloth - Bear - Ursus

Invidia - Envy - Snake - Anguis

but then wait, here Gula/Gluttony is a Sow, a Pig, but in KH it’s a Leopard

As well as recently in KH, they’ve made it clear that Luxu/Luxuria is a Goat, not a Scorpion (As cool as a Scorpion would have been for Luxu’s emblem, but a bit too on the nose I suppose haha)

Well, interestingly enough, did you know that back when the 7 deadly sins was actually more like the 8 Evil Things once? And that they were also grouped into a Trio of their own? 

(Despair as Tristitia being the 8th one, because it’s essentially the sin of falling to sorrow/sadness or giving up, of blinding yourself to other’s troubles and causing sorrow in return or being too sorrowful to act, later it was folded into Sloth as a lack of diligence) 

But the 3 Major sin groupings was essentially the three Reasons that people would sin the deadly sins

Incontinence: Doing wrong because they couldn't help it. Or sinning from a lack of moderation or self-control.

Violence: Doing wrong because of anger, revenge or retaliation. Or sinning from by trying to force your will externally

Fraud/Corruption: Doing wrong on purpose in order to hurt other's. Or sinning from betrayal, lies and manipulation. 

These three things form a sort of Unholy Trinity in opposition with the Divine trinity of Father-Son-Holy Spirit

And, very famously, Dante’s Inferno links these three groupings to three creatures from a famous bible verse describing the destruction of humanity via it's own nature:

Jeremiah 5:6 - “Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, and a wolf from the desert shall destroy them. A leopard is watching against their cities, every one who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.”

A Lion, A Leopard and A Wolf.

Now based on Dante’s actual writing which grouping with which animal and which sins is often debated, but usually it’s roughly as follows:

Leopard of Incontinence: Gluttony, Greed, Luxuria (from Immoderation, Extravagance, Wastefulness)

Lion of Violence: Wrath, Pride (from Murder, Suicide, Squandering, Blasphemy)

Wolf of Fraud/Corruption: Envy, Sloth, Sorrow/Despair (Tristitia) (from Corruption, Thievery, Falsifier, Betrayal) (yeah... old timey people did indeed view what was essentially depression as a “willful” sin aka something people did on purpose to hurt themselves, like they drown in their sorrows willingly because of a refusal to heal themselves or as a willing corruption of their soul, nowadays if it existed would definitely be thought of a Leopard sin I’d think)

So here it’s very easy to see where Leopardos and Gula get tied together, because in KH the sin of Gluttony is lifted above the other’s in the group, which makes sense because being gluttonous for money is greed, being gluttonous for luxuries was Luxuria (or sex for lust)

And here also, the Sin of Pride/Superbia is again associated with the Lion as it is in the Ancrene Wisse (though it’s also associated with Wrath strongly as well, so no wonder MoM chose Ira to be the next leader after he was gone)

So in all likelihood, this means that the symbol of the Master of Masters is most likely a Lion of Pride, Superbia (and if he had his own union, it might be something like Leo or Panthera) 

But honestly the biggest thing that definitely makes MoM the Lion of Pride is the passage in the Ancrene Wisse that elaborates upon the Lion of Pride, describing it as having “many cubs”:

“But the author continues the animal analogies, enumerating a classification of the sins. "The lion of pride has very many cubs," he states, and enumerates them: vainglory, indignation, hypocrisy, presumption, disobedience, loquacity, blasphemy, impatience, contumacy, contention, "airs and graces." “

Reminds me of both MoM’s many apprentices or Master Xehanort’s collection in the organization

Though the REAL reason is also because did you know when KH was still being thought of and designed, Nomura actually wanted to make Sora a Half-Lion Chainsaw Wielder and we all know Sora is secretly the MoM right lol

But anyway, that explains Gula being a Leopard

So then where did all this talk of Luxu being a Goat come from?

Well one reason could be that later on as the deadly sins got solidified as just the seven of them, and as their meanings changed from umbrella terms to more specific sins, their animal interpretations also started to differ:

Avarice/Greed = Toad/Frog 

Invidia/Envy = Snake

Ira/Wrath = Lion

Acedia/Sloth = Snail

Gula/Gluttony = Pig

Luxuria/Lust = Goat

Superbia/Pride = Peacock

Also Ira with a Lion mask would be cool but can you imagine a Snail Aced or a Froggy Ava? lol

But it IS Cool to think that these “Modernized” animals could then become the emblems of the Union Leaders that inherited Ava’s legacy, since they are the newer versions of those Unions, obviously there’s no one to Inherit MoM’s legacy

But you could easily think of Ventus as the “Traitor” aka the scapeGoated 6th for the new group, leaving Frogs, Snakes, Lions, Snails and Pigs for the other five 

(I wonder who I’d put with who... Ephemer, Skuld, Lauriam, Strelitzia and Brain... the only sin associated with Death would be Wrath (As Suicide) and the “Ira” position appears to be the one who inherits the leader, and it’s theorized Strelitzia was the circled name supposed to get the Book of Prophecies

So Strelitzia = Lion/Wrath

Ephemer and Ava always seemed to be the closest and he was the one who seemed to inherit her Legacy the most so he can get Frogs/Greed

Brain is similar to Gula in how they calmly investigate issues and try to uncover the truth and got extra information than the others, so Pigs/Gluttony for him

Lauriam was the poster boy for temptation into darkness, which is what Darkness was intended when his sister Strelitzia was killed, for him to be the first to fall to rage and grief, nice Aced parallel as the one everyone suspected of falling to darkness first so he gets Snails/Sloth, fitting for the flower elemental lol

and that leave Skuld and Invi which also makes sense as the parallel for the person who tries to intervene in conflicts and mediate for the group, so Skuld gets Snake/Envy

Neat!

But anyway back to Luxu, I think Luxu is represented by the Goat not just because of the above modern listings, but also because of the special place of evil that Christian religions tend to place on Goat itself

If the Lamb is the most common symbol of Jesus Christ, the Goat has always been a symbol of the Evil of Lucifer. Sheep and Goats, despite being so similar, have always been seen as this symbolic duo. Sheep and Lambs being submissive, complacent, docile, while Goats are crazy, willful, destructive and etc likely because since they are so close in nature, they are basically seen as the Good and Evil version of the same animal, a Goat is essentially a heretical false Lamb

They are very commonly associated with the Devil/Lucifer himself and goats have always gotten the short end of stick, all the way back to the old tradition of using goats as well, scape-goats literally. The practice of singling out a particular creature or person and placing all the sin and blame onto it, and then driving it away

Luxu is singled out from the group, likely given the role of “Traitor” amongst the six of them and then is forced into essentially exile to the future by MoM where he can do nothing but watch and wait, never able to interfere or meddle with anything

And this reasoning of the Goat fits Luxu above all others.

So there we have it, finally at the end:

Ira/Wrath - Unicorn/Unicornis

Avaritia/Greed - Fox/Vulpes

Acedia/Sloth - Bear/Ursus

Invidia/Envy - Snake/Anguis

Gula/Gluttony - Leopard/Leopardus

and if Luxu and MoM had union names, (which seem to be just be taken from the genus of the animal directly) they’d likely be:

Luxuria/Lust - Goat/Caprini

Superbia/Pride - Lion/Panthera

But I think the Most Interesting Thing to glean from all of this, is going back to the 3 Groupings for the 8 evil things, can you imagine if KH ever decides to give MoM a little backstory, and a figure based on the Wolf of Fraud/Corruption, emblem of Despair came into the picture somewhere?

Something that might look a little like this?

Hey that’s interesting, isn’t this the special secret boss Dark Hide from Aqua’s Fragmentary Passage? Y’know, that journey all about Aqua falling into the pits of Despair where she then ends up fighting The First Real Pureblood Heartless she ever faces in the Realm of Darkness? Something that Aqua felt was Willfully and Intentionally Stalking her through the depths, instead of mindlessly attacking her?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQGONhqs0mU

Isn’t that interesting how all of things, they give this boss the opportunity for the player to see through it’s eyes, something very unique, and how it initially appears as a formless Darkness

And isn’t Darkness itself, given a will and a personality, now a figure in KHUX Dark Road, that has specific ties to the MoM, as Luxu describes as being a fellow student and/or old friend of MoM?

Could the Will of Despair manifested from darkness come to be a secret 8th apprentice of MoM?

Who knows, but it’s interesting how that symbolism lines up isn’t it?

[marvelfansince08love]

Jealousy Sin

Word Count: 4397

Pairing: Lou Miller x Tammy x Reader - Established Poly Relationship

Prompts “You’re so pretty” “And you are drunk, darling”, “Wait, say that again”, “Go fuck yourself,” “How about you fuck me yourself, you coward?!”, “Come on now, dear. Let’s not torture her any longer”

Warning: NSFW 18+, bad smut writing lmao. 

A/N; @existentialcrisiscat​ thank you for sending in this request and look just in time for your birthday tomorrow! I send you my best wishes and I hope you enjoy this early bday present, July babies are the best! 

Thank you @imnotasuperhero​ for reading over this! Second attempt at poly smut so enjoy the mess lmao!

Permanent Tags: @waitingfortheendtocome​ @natasha-danvers​

I do not own these pictures!

Prompts 14,16,20,39 “You know that the heart of a shrimp is located in its head and that a snail can sleep for 2 to 3 years continuously,” You excite, reciting from a ‘50 fun facts’ book Constance left lying around the lounge area of Lou’s apartment building. Your back against Tammy’s side with your legs stretched out on the sofa while she twirls a strand of your hair around her finger loosely peeking over to look at the ridiculous book. You hear Lou scoff from the open kitchen, making her way to where you are.  She hands you both a glass of wine each before grabbing a hold of your ankles and lifting them up from the sofa so she can sit close to you; your legs now stretched out across her lap. 

“That’s ridiculous babe. You read the weirdest stuff.” She teases, tickling your feet lightly making you squirm and yelp slightly at the sudden sensation making her eyes twinkle with mischief. 

“Hey! It’s true, see!” You turn the book around for her to read. 

“She’s right Lou. They are real facts,” Tammy defends teasing the older woman slightly, knowing that it’s usually you against them. You smile smugly at her as she snatches the book from you grumbling about ‘the mess that girl brings every time she’s round here’ making you and Tammy laugh. The back and forth exchange continues for some time as you all enjoy a rare peaceful night in; with another successful heist for the two woman and your new promotion underway, the lighthearted mood continues into the late night with loving kisses exchanged and sweet caresses as you all stumble into bed, tangled up in sheets and limbs as hot wet kisses are pressed on warm glistening skin. 

Being with Lou and Tammy for the past six month has been the most wonderful ride you have ever been on and you never want it to stop. 

Pure Paradise

Two weeks later 

Over the past two weeks the little bubble you three had created started to show cracks leaving you feeling insecure and down right pissed off. You see, being with two women who lead a life of crime no matter how elegantly and successfully they do it, can be difficult. Their planning has to be precise with no page left unturned, if one thing goes wrong it could mean prison for them and no one wants that. They’ve only ran one big heist since you started dating but you were in your honeymoon phase with them back then, they could do no wrong in your eyes. The less frequent phone calls and texts were justified when the two women hung the moon in your mind: 

‘It’s a big job they have. They need to focus and make sure it goes right, they still love and care for you the same, Y/N’. Debbie would remind you quietly away from the others, always aware and seeing behind the fake persona. 

“You are not going out, Y/N. That’s final.” You stand in your black turtleneck dress and heels, arms crossed in defiance. 

“Yes, I am. I’m celebrating my promotion with my colleagues whether you two like it or not.” 

“Come on, darling. Stay with us we had this reservation booked for tonight for weeks,” Tammy pleads slightly a little confused by your decline. You usually love date nights, especially when it involves the two of them and  food from your favourite restaurant. 

“Why are you being like this Y/N? You’ve been distant the last week and a half and don’t think we haven’t noticed you sneaking out of our room in the middle of the night to sleep in the guest room.” You scoff at the word ‘our’. 

‘It hasn’t been our room for the last two weeks’ You think spitefully. 

“Why do you even care Lou! You and Tammy have been so busy with each other the past two weeks, you barely noticed me leave last week for TWO DAYS Lou. It took two days for either of you to message me and then when I am here you’re both hovering over building prints and potential crew members, I understand that this isn’t something I’m a part of but you could at least act like me not being a part of this doesn’t affect our relationship!” You shout aiming your anger at both women. While Tammy has the decency to look guilty and slightly apologetic, Lou’s face turns hard and cold. 

“I’m sorry if our job has taken an importance over yours for once! We thought you understood what you were getting yourself into when we asked you to be a part of our lives Y/N, stop being a clingy brat and grow up.” Lou rages, her chest raising and falling heavily. Tammy takes a step forward to chastise Lou for her burst of anger but before she can intervene you hold up a hand indicating for Tammy to stop as you chuckle humorlessly with unushered tears, speechless. You shake your head in disbelief before grabbing your clutch and rushing for the door and heading into the night. 

***

The bar is crowded, full of warm bodies pressed closely together as the dim blue lights glow over the dance floor. You feel the rush of alcohol swarm your mind making you dizzy as you sway lightly to the beat of the sound, you notice your phone illuminate with missed calls and worried texts from your significant others. Your pissed and upset state had quickly changed once you had hit your first bottle of wine and twirled around on the dance floor with your colleagues after some time and a few tequila shots later, the fight you had with them seems miles away. You feel funny and brave as you see Tammy’s name flash on your phone and press the green icon to answer. 

“Well... hello gorgeous,” You flirt, your voice deep and slurred. 

“Y/N? I can’t hear you much. Darling, please tell me where you are so I can come and get you and bring you home to us?” You scoff at that before stumbling towards the smoking area by the front of the club. 

“Tam-Tam, I’m fine. Apparently I’m a brat and this is what brats do right?” You mock, hearing Lou sigh slightly in the background:

 ‘Is that her? Let me talk to her’ You hear Tammy hush her as if batting her hand away from the phone making you giggle. 

Tammy has always been the calmer mediator between you and Lou. 

‘You drive her crazy with your bratty ways Y/N’ Tam teased one evening her hand wrapped tightly around your waist as you shrugged in fake innocence  while watching Lou struggle to contain herself from across the room at her makeshift bar where she stood with Rose and Debbie, you and Tammy knew that the dress you were wearing was a little on the short side and showed your chest off beautifully driving them both wild, especially Lou. 

“Baby you know she didn’t mean it… you know how hot headed she can get,” Tammy murmurs, bringing an offended ‘hey’ out of Lou in the background. You roll your eyes and huff, knowing how right she is. 

“Why don’t you tell me where you are darling? We miss you,” Tammy confesses softly, making your heart flutter slightly. But with dutch courage in your system, you simply roll your eyes. 

“Well it doesn’t feel like you have missed me at all,” You murmur, leaning heavily against the wall of the club watching the nightlife before you. 

“You know that's not true and I’m only going to ask you this one more time Y/N. Where are you?” 

“Eye spy with my little eye, something being with L.” You giggle at your attempt of humour giggling loudly as Tammy huffs on the other side of the phone. 

“Hilarious babe, really.” 

“You're supposed to say Lamppost,silly!” You exclaim, hiccuping in between your sentence making you giggle once more.

“I’m coming to get you,” Tammy states, you can hear her moving around as if gathering her keys and heading for the door but not before hearing her and Lou argue about who’s going to get you. You sigh in defeat, knowing you have had far too much to drink and secretly want to go home so you can wrap yourself up in their warmth. 

“I’m at Russo’s.” You mumble, sulking in defeat before hanging up. Your colleague Matt pops his head out of the door scanning the smoking area, looking for you. He sees you and waves before striding over. 

“Hey Y/N! Come back inside, Lucy is bringing another round to the table. We’re celebrating in style tonight sweetheart.” You cringe subtly at the pet name before smiling weakly at him. 

“I’m actually waiting for my ride. I think I’ve reached my limit for the night.” You try to joke making him laugh a little too much, he steps closer to you and leans against the wall next to you as he lights a cigarette before offering you one. You shake your head in decline before scanning the street hoping to see Tammy’s ‘soccer mom’ car. 

“You look amazing tonight, by the way. Those two women sure are lucky.” Matt compliments, his eyes scanning you from head to toe lingering too long on your chest making you wrap your leather jacket around you, hiding from his lustful look. You step back to try and put some distance between you. 

“Oh uh, thank you and if anyone should be the lucky one it’s definitely me.” You state trying to put the point across. 

Fuck off!

“Have you ever thought of expanding this ‘little relationship’ to four people or is it a women’s only type of thing?” You gape at him in disgust as he shrugs his shoulders and smiles cheekily thinking he’s being charming. Before you can retaliate you feel a strong arm wrap around you from behind, making you smile slightly knowing that familiar pull of electricity.

“We are perfectly happy with the three of us Mr.Lawson, if you would kindly remove yourself away from my girlfriend before I send you back in there with an even higher pitched voice than before that would be much appreciated,” Tammy suggests, her voice hard and commanding making you shiver slightly at her authoritative tone. She stands tall in her heels, putting herself slightly in front of you, blocking his view of you. You watch as he gulps and stutters over his words, his face red in embarrassment as he stumbles an apology before heading back inside. You go to tease her about throwing her top energy around like that in front of others outside of the bedroom but her face shows that she’s in no laughing mood, you throw her your most doe eyed look making her sigh in defeat; never being able to stay mad at you. 

“Come on baby, let’s get you home.” She mutters into your ear as she pulls you closer to her side while guiding you over towards her car. 

You fumble around trying to get comfortable in the seat, once situated you relax against the warm seat as it heats up around you making you sigh contently. You lean your head to the side and face Tammy, taking in her soft features and full lips as the street lights hit her side profile making her look like an angel. 

“You’re so pretty,” You mumble to her, as you brush a finger across her cheek lightly and tuck a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

“And you are drunk, darling,” She teases back dismissively, although her soft smile and tinge of pink on her cheeks shows how affected she is by your statement. You grin lazily at her as you feel sleep succumb bringing you into darkness. 

***

You wake by the sound of Tammy’s whispering voice coaxing you awake. 

“Come on darling, you need to wake up. You can’t stay in here all night,” She whispers, shaking you slightly. 

“5 more minutes, mom.” You mumble, turning away from her making her laugh out loud which causes you to wake, eyes wide at your slip up. 

“Wait, say that again.” She asks, subtly getting her phone out. 

“You better put that phone away Tammy or I’m going to stay with Debbie for the night.” You threaten, knowing how jealous her and Lou get whenever Debbie flirts with you to tease her best friends; which you are more than happy to go along with. She scowls playfully. 

“Fine fine, come on then, you lightweight. We better get in before Lou sends out a search party for the both of us.” She murmurs, climbing out of her side and walking around to help you out of the car. You frown suddenly realising that it was only Tammy who came to get you. 

“Is she still really mad at me?” You ask sadly, starting to sober up slightly and relaying the fight from earlier in your head.

Tammy helps you out of the vehicle and wraps an arm around your waist before giving you a reassurance kiss on your temple. 

“Yes… but not as pissed off as she was earlier on. She… we both know we’ve been rather neglectful of you lately and we promise to make it up to you.” She confesses, her eyes showing how sorry she is. 

“I’m sorry for acting out like I did… I know how important it is to make sure the job runs smoothly, I should have been more understanding. I’m sorry Tam-Tam.’ You apologise, pecking her cheek lightly. 

You both walk steadily through the front door but stop in your tracks when you notice Lou sitting casually on one of the single chairs in the living room area, her legs spread wide in her black suit pants and white open button shirt revealing a peek of her black bra making you and Tammy gulp. 

“Lou I..” She holds her hand up, silencing your apology. 

“Did he touch you?” You frown in confusion not fully understanding her meaning.

“Who?” 

“That guy from work, did he touch you?” 

“How do you know about th-” 

“Nine-ball,” you all say in unison, although Lou and Tammy’s casual tone in answer contrasting with your pissed off one doesn’t go unnoticed by either woman. 

“You were checking up on me through the security cameras!? Nice to know that not only am I a selfish brat, I'm also an unloyal one,” You snap towards them both as Tammy reaches for your hand, making you step back. 

“You know that’s not the reason, love. We didn’t know where you were, we needed to make sure you were safe,” Lou reasons for them both while Tammy nods in agreement, moving towards the middle space between you and Lou. 

“Oh because you care so much, fuck you both and your possessive asses.” You snapped in reply.

“Trust me, you haven’t seen me possessive yet sweetheart.” She says cockily as Tammy hums in agreement, clearly staying mutual within this argument you think sarcastically. 

“Well maybe I should go back out there and find him then, let’s see the real Tammy and Lou.“ You taunt, watching as both Tammy and Lou’s eyes flash dark, making your confident smug attitude flutter slightly. 

“Go fuck yourself,”  Lou spats clearing hitting a nerve, making you retaliate. 

“How about you fuck me yourself, you coward?!” You fight back, not realising that during your heated argument Tammy had slowly made her way behind you. You watch as Lou’s tense figure deflates. Her crystal blues flash with lust, swallowing quietly knowing that look all too well; the look that haunts your wet dreams whenever you’re apart from them.

“Is that what you want Y/N, you want us to show you who you belong to?” Lou questions grinning slightly, knowing that's exactly what you want while standing from the chair and stalking over towards you. She rolls up her sleeves slowly revealing the tattoos on her forearm as Tammy stands behind you placing her hands on either side of your hip keeping you in place, smirking knowingly. You shiver in anticipation, loving when they both take control over you. 

“I dunno Lou. Do you think she deserves it after the stunt she’s pulled tonight?”  Tammy questions Lou as if you weren’t trapped between the two women as Lou creeps dangerously closer, you bite your lip trying to hold back a moan as you feel Tammy’s wet tongue trace the shell of your ear. You watch as those blue eyes grow darker as they follow the direction of Tammy’s tongue carefully. Lou presses her front against your own; chest to chest, her nose brushing over yours before moving over your cheekbone and towards your ear, you watch from the corner of your eye as Tammy and Lou share a heated kiss over your shoulder making you groan loudly. This seems to draw their attention away from each other, their matching grins doing nothing to help the creeping wave of pleasure that ignites deep within your core. 

“Oh look Tam, it seems our darling girl wants our attention. Do you think we should give it to her?” 

‘Yes!’ You scream internally. Tammy laughs and takes sympathy to your doe-eyed expression gently cupping your face and turning you slightly towards her so she can place a chaste kiss on your lips. 

“I think we should... Besides we owe her an apology, I’m sure we can make it up to her.” Tammy mutters between placing quick wet kisses along the side of your jaw and neck. With that Lou swoops in and lifts you over her shoulder making you yelp out loud causing Tammy to giggle at her girlfriend’s actions before she slaps your ass and shushes you while she races ahead up the stairs, her hips swaying showing Lou her plump behind. You hear Lou growl low at Tammy’s teasing demeanor as she follows slowly after her up the stairs mindful of you being over her shoulder.

“Oh, am I just some sort of slave that you can carry around, you caveman?” You accuse, earning you a slap on the ass. 

“Ow! Watch it Miller. You know how tender my ass is,” 

“And I can’t wait to see that gorgeous ass all red on our bed, baby.” You squirm at that making Lou chuckle. 

She carries you into your shared bedroom before slowly lowering you down making you brush fronts as your feet touch the ground. She places a tender kiss to your mouth before looking over your shoulder and grinning, her eyes filled with glee and admiration. You turn around to face the bed, understanding Lou’s expression. Sitting upright against the headboard on top of satin sheets wearing a black lingerie babydoll set is Tammy. You lick your lips at the sight of her, drinking her in. 

“Did you have this on underneath those ‘mom’ clothes?” You tease, watching her roll her eyes at your poorly timed humor, loving it nevertheless. Her smirk confirms your suspicions. You watch as she slowly makes her way towards you both crawling on her hands and knees until she reaches the bottom of the bed, she kneels tall and beckons you both closer. You follow her call like a pirate to a siren as you are about to touch her, Lou wraps an arm around you, her chin against your shoulder. 

“You are far too overdressed,” she whispers huskily into your ear, as she slowly unzips the back of your dress letting it fall to the floor in a heap before placing sweet kisses along your shoulder blades and spanking your ass hard. You close your eyes at the sensation  and the feeling of cold air hitting against your warm skin, you feel a second pair of hands skim over your front tracing light touches across your chest before wrapping gently around your neck pulling your forward an inch as full luscious lips meet your own making you both moan in unison. You open your eyes and meet deep brown pools so full of love and passion. 

“Now, who's the one overdressed?” You tease making Tammy smirk mischievously before you both draw your attention to Lou who has left staggered marks along your neck and shoulder. She pulls away slightly and smirks as she unfastens the buttons of her dress shirt, you crotch in front of her and yank her suit trousers down in one sweep letting her step of them, you kiss your way back up her body while Tammy pushes her shirt off her shoulders, leaving us all equally in some state of undressed. Tammy grabs hold of your hand and pulls you towards the bed letting you fall onto your back as she crawls to lie beside you leaving trails of kisses up your body, you eye Lou who stands tall and confident at the foot of the bed in just her briefs; her bra now discarded into the pile of clothes on the floor. She slowly makes her way onto the bed as she licks, bites and kisses her way up your leg towards your inner thigh making you moan and clench slightly. 

“You can only cum if one of us says okay baby girl.” Tammy commands softly into your ear, you whimper and nod your head in agreement as Lou pulls your panties down your leg before placing a light kiss against your wet heat making you shudder at the sensitive flesh. Before you could catch your breath Lou dives her tongue deep into your entrance, fucking you with her tongue as Tammy wraps her mouth around your sensitive nipple biting gently, making you moan out loud with pleasure. They both continue their tongue motion over and over again making your body hot and wet with need for release but with Tammy’s words swirling around in your head, you hold off from releasing your pleasure. Lou slowly removes her tongue from your wet folds and presses a kiss on your clit before soaring forward to Tammy and kissing her hard and clumsily letting her tongue tangle with hers, they both moan enjoying the taste of you. You lick your lips at the raw sight of them both above you and whine for their attention as they both look back towards you once again. 

“Come on now. Dear. Let’s not torture her any longer,” Tammy teases, pulling away from Lou’s lips.

Lou moves to your other side and lets her tongue skim across your bottom lip before pressing her pale lips more firmly against your own, you feel another pair of lips on your own; the taste of vanilla lingers on your mouth knowing Tammy has joined you both in the fight for dominance as tongues tangle and clash together. You pull apart slowly savouring the moment before Tammy moves south towards your legs, wrapping her delicate hands around your ankles and pulling you further down the bed slightly. You frown in confusion before realising she was making room for Lou to sit comfortably above you with her thighs on either side of your face, you can see her arousal from above you making you whimper in want, licking your lips eagerly. You can practically hear the smirk in her voice: 

“Always so eager baby,” she teases, lowering herself a little bit more towards your awaiting mouth. You flick the tip of your tongue over her clit making her squirm and gasp you grin smugly knowing exactly where she likes it the most before taking the sensitive bundle of nerves between your teeth and wrapping your mouth around it, sucking hard. Your mouth releases her clit momentarily as you gasp at the feeling of two cold fingers filling your entrance and curling, hitting your most sensitive spot making you cry out as Tammy picks up her pace. 

“So wet and needy tonight darling.” She mutters before diving between your legs and taking your clit into her mouth. You feel Lou’s thighs tighten a fraction around your head making you refocus back onto the enjoyable task of making Lou come. You all continue to rile each other up, picking up your pace, thrusting your tongue deeper into her heat as you grind your hips further onto Tammy’s fingers. Tammy moans as she moves to sit in between your thigh as you bend your knee just enough to add pressure against her wet folds allowing her to grind herself against your bare skin, you bring your thumb over to her clit rubbing the sensitive nerves hard making her moan loudly. The room fills with loud cries of passion as desperate bodies continue to thrust against one another, the knot in your stomach begins to become tighter, you squint your eyes trying to hold off your orgasm. 

“Come for us baby, I want to hear you scream.” Lou breathes above you as she grinds hard one more time before allowing her own release. Lou removes herself from above you and lies lazily on her side facing you both, rubbing her fingers over her heat while she watches you and Tammy continue to grind roughly against one another; your fingers working faster and deeper as you both throw your head back in pure ecstasy letting yourself ride out your orgasm on Tammy’s fingers. Tammy collapses against your glistening skin leaning her head against your shoulder as you brush your fingertips softly against her back making her purr ever so slightly. Lou moves from her position and sits upright against the headboard gesturing for you both to join her, Tammy removes herself from your lap as you crawl over to Lou’s awaiting arms and curl into her side. Tammy moves to your other side and drapes an arm over your waist resting her hand gently on Lou’s hip, brushing her thumb back and forth; resting her forehead between your shoulder blades. You feel Tammy’s warm breath against your glistening skin as she speaks softly. 

“You belong with us Y/N. Don’t ever think we don’t love you or want you...we wouldn’t be us without you” With that said, she presses a light kiss to your back while Lou hums in agreement pulling you closer, her arm reaching across locking you in between their embrace, you smile cheekily.

“So does this mean I’m still a brat?” 

A slight pinch to your hip bone is your only reply. 

[rohad93]

Moonlit Masquerade: White & Red pt 2 (Final)

Ghouls and Gowns.

It was probably the nicest formal dress shop in all The Boiling Isles, and Amity had always imagined getting her wedding dress from this shop since she was a child, since before she had even met Luz. It was well known for it’s one of a kind garments, but they booked appointments for fittings out months in advance, sometimes even a year. Getting in with less than six months' notice was an impossible task, so maybe Amity had flexed her status and reputation a little to get such a short notice reservation, she wasn’t going to tell anyone about it, especially Luz.

Willow, Emira, and Viney were waiting outside the shop when they arrived.

“Hey, Mittens!” Her sister grinned at her as they approached. “Eda, Ms. Noceda.” she nodded, smiling at the older two women.

"Hello, girls." Camila smiled at them.

"Thanks for coming." Amity smiled at the three.

“As if I’d let you do this without me.” Emira smiles at her.

"Of course!" Willow smiled.

"Wouldn't miss it," Viney agreed with a grin, crossing her arms.

"Well, we gonna do this or what?" Eda asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Amity nodded, rolling her eyes at the older, wild witch as they went into the shop.

The room was large and spacious with a few white couches arranged into a semi-circle around a raised platform with a half-circle of full-length mirrors and row upon row of dresses in every size, style, and color one could imagine.

"Ahh, Miss. Blight, you're right on time.” The well-dressed clerk with long, straight black hair clapped her hands together and smiled at them. “Feel free to walk around and pick out anything you’d like and try on, and don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” she nodded as they split up and wandered through the aisles.

“Any preferences Amity?” Willow asked, her voice carried over the racks.

“Not really… I kind of just hope I’ll know it when I see it I suppose...”

“I don’t even remember what I was wearing when I got married…” Eda’s voice calls from somewhere behind her.

“You were married?!” The younger witches shout and Eda’s chuckle comes from somewhere in the store.

“Just for twelve hours, give or take. Sometimes you have to go that extra mile for the scam.”

Amity rolled her eyes and shook her head at the woman Luz had chosen as a second mother and would be her second mother-in-law.

“Well, why don’t we pick out some options for you to try on?” Her sister’s voice sounds from somewhere off to her left among the clothes.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Amity called as she wandered up and down the aisles, it’s a little overwhelming, honestly.

This is, so far, the only thing she and Luz hadn’t decided on together. They’d picked a date, a place, a time, and already sent out invitations to everyone that really mattered to them as well as arranged for the food and cake at the after-party. It was all fairly simple as far as weddings went, neither had any interest in a big, extravagant event.

She felt a twinge in her chest. It had been well over two months and she still hadn’t heard from her father. She did her best to shove down the hurt feelings, she knew it was a high possibility that he might not come, but she had really hoped he would. She shook her head, she was shopping for her wedding dress, now was not the time to be sad, she should be happy, and she was, but there was still a twinge of sadness beneath, thinking that both her parents had all but abandoned her. She shook herself off and focused on the task at hand.

She picked a few dresses off the racks that she rather liked and met them back in front of the changing room and piled their suggestions into Amity’s arms. Her knees strained under the weight of the material, but she managed to get them back inside the dressing room. The first dress in the pile was a short, white, sheath dress, Amity wasn’t sure how she felt about it as she looked at herself in the mirror, but since it was on she may as well see what the others thought.

“I can’t believe it’s just two months away.” Willow clapped her hands together.

“Seems like just yesterday Luz was denying she even had a crush on Amity and having a conniption in the living room.” Eda chuckled wistfully. “Now they’re getting hitched.”

“When are you going to propose?” Emira huffed, crossing her arms and glancing sideways at her girlfriend who blinked owlishly at her.

“Uh....” Viney is saved by Amity coming out of the dressing room and quickly garnering all of Emira’s, and everyone else’s attention.

“What do you all think?” Amity asked, stepping out.

“It’s cute, but I don't think that’s really what you’re going for for your wedding.” Emira cocked her head.

“It’s pretty,” Willow agreed. “Maybe a little on the short side, you are pretty tall.” Willow smiled.

“Yeah, I don’t love how short it is…,” she mumbled, smoothing her hands over the stiff material.

“Luz might…,” Viney chuckled, and Amity pinked.

“Well, the color is fairly traditional…,” Camila threw in her own two cents, and can immediately tell by the confused faces the witches make that a white wedding dress isn’t something they do.

“Is white an important color in human weddings?” Willow looks at her curiously.

“Important? No, but in the human world many cultures have brides wear white, though it’s more of an old tradition, it was a way to signify their virginity.” The assembled witches are looking at her strangely.

“Why?” Viney’s face is scrunched up in confusion at such a strange and frankly, embarrassing concept.

Camila pauses a second, trying to figure out how to explain old cultural traditions to people who have very different traditions and values of their own.

“In most cultures, you aren’t meant to have sex before marriage and the white dress was a way of telling your future husband you hadn’t,” is the simplest way she can think to explain it.

“So white’s out then,” Emira grins wickedly, looking at Amity, who shoots her a withering look, if there is one thing she doesn’t want to talk about in front of her future mother-in-law, it’s having sex with her daughter.

“Definitely out,” Eda chimes in, looking tired at the very thought and Amity slaps a hand to her face.

“It’s really just worn more for the sake of tradition now, you should pick whatever color you like, Cariño.” Camila frowns, she also does not want to talk about this. She’ll always think of Luz as her baby and she does not want to talk about her in any kind of passionate embrace with the young woman in front of her, or anyone really.

“Moving on,” Amity snaps when her sister starts to open her mouth again, a grin on her face. Emira pouts as Amity disappears back into the changing room and sets aside all the white dresses that have been hung up. She’s not going to have this conversation again.

They go through a few more but Amity just can’t see herself getting married in them. She looks through them before deciding to try the last of her own picks but quickly spots a problem.

“Willow, can you come help me?” she calls and within a few seconds, Willow was popping her head in the dressing room.

“Whatcha need?”

A few minutes after Willow disappears into the dressing room she comes back out, smiling giddily before Amity comes out behind her, and Emira gasps, as Eda lets out a low whistle.

"Oh, wow." Viney blinks and Camila can't help but think how incredibly lucky her daughter is.

It's long, stretching down to just above her ankles and in that dark shade of magenta Amity is known for, all save the sleeves and shoulders that stretched from the back of her hands up to the sides of her neck in black lace, strewn with floral patterns. She catches sight of herself in the mirror and can’t help but smile to herself. She likes the way it feels and looks on her skin.

“What do you think?” Amity turns to look at them, doing a little spin, making the skirt flutter.

“Oh, I love it! The lacing in the back is cute too!” Emira gushes, looking at the dark lace that intricately zigzags across the small of her back, cinching it closed.

"It's beautiful." Willow clapped her hands and Viney nodded in agreement.

"You look wonderful, Cariño.”

“Yeah, the kid might just die when she sees you…,” Eda chuckled approvingly.

“But, do you like it?” Viney asks and Amity smiles brightly to herself as she looks in the mirror and everyone can see it in the reflection. It's obvious to all of them that Amity loves the dress if that smile on her lips is anything to go by.

“Yeah, I love this one.” she nods, trying not to let the stinging of her eyes turn to tears.

“Sounds like we got a winner to me.” Eda clapped her hands and stood from the couch.

“Yes, this is the one.” she smiled and turned to face them and the front of the shop. “I think…” There's a flash of white out of the corner of her eye and her head whips up and standing outside the glass are five figures in familiar off white cloaks and gray masks, gloved hands raised. She barely has enough time to whip up a hand, spell circle blazing to life and then there's a loud blast and the front windows explode in a shower of shattered glass and flames

Magic flies through the air into the street and people start screaming.

~ ~

Luz hummed to herself, quickly filling orders and trading them for snails while Calliban laid around her neck dozing, his flickering tail tickling her ear. Mochuelo had grown bored of the market and returned to his staff, holstered safely across her back.

The buzzing is still a quiet constant, but she manages to drown it out, for the most part, keeping herself busy, hocking potions to every passerby with an enthusiasm that would make a car salesman green with envy.

It was busier earlier but the market has thinned some now and Luz is leaning on her stand, chin in one hand and scratching Calliban's head with the other as he growled contentedly. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, picking up an elixir and rolling the round bottle around in her palm, trying to still her anxious energy. The market is quiet today until it isn’t.

It was faint at first, a dull, distant noise. She didn't notice till a sudden stampede of people were running past her stand screaming and shouting that a group of loyalists were attacking the garment district of the market. Luz froze and the potion held in her hand fell from her limp grip, shattering as it hit the ground at her feet. Her whole body starts to seize up as cold dread spreads through her.

The constant, nagging anxiousness that had been whispering at the back of her mind all day comes roaring to the forefront, unable to be ignored and Luz is flooded with panic, all she could think of was the last time she had stood in this market during a similar situation; panic and bedlam erupting around her.

Suddenly she’s there again.

The market is in flames and people are screaming as they run past her, smashing into her shoulders and stampeding all over each other in their panic, trying to escape imminent death in the approaching legion of white-cloaked loyalists that are systematically making their way through the district, killing anyone who does not kneel or run.

There are at least a hundred of them marching down the main aisle of the market, tearing the stands apart and burning them down as they execute anyone who tries to stop them. They aren’t looking for anything or even stealing, they’re just destroying.

There are too many people for her to fire off any spells and more importantly, somewhere beyond the line of approaching loyalists, was Amity, she’d been meeting a contact, alone, and is now behind the enemy line, and panic wells up in her, threatening to overflow. She takes off running and jumps on her staff, flying overhead, dodging and spinning through the sky as the air fills with shots of fire and loud crackling bolts of lightning that make her hair stand on end as they strike to close for comfort through the air near her head. She manages to get past the advancing force and behind them are stragglers, still destroying the market and blasting holes in the permanent buildings and another emotion rises up to join her panic. That’s one thing about the war that Luz had never expected to bring out in her: hot, indignant, frothing rage.

Belos would rather destroy the Isles than lose his Iron grip on them, and now that they had pushed his forces back to the chest, he was doing just that. How many innocent witches, adults, and children had she seen slaughtered without a second thought by those wearing the off-white cloaks and gray masks? Too many to ever forget or to forgive, but right now, she can’t stop the bedlam going on below, to try would be suicide by herself, and it kills her inside to do nothing, but the best she can hope for is to find Amity and get out of here to muster their forces waiting to the south where they had been preparing to storm the castle for the last two weeks.

She has to find her, quickly, they were less conspicuous apart so Luz had walked around the market while Amity went to meet their contact from the castle near the entrance to the night market, now as she flew over the market, eyes desperately moving over all the people running panicked through the market, flames, and smoke obscuring her sight, she wished she had insisted that she stay with her.

Her teeth grit together as her eyes flicker from one gruesome section of the market to the next. Bodies are lying in the streets like bits of discarded trash and the stands and tents are burning like dry kindling, their crackling and popping fires fueled by spiteful magic, accompanied by a chorus of screams that thumps in her ears, a high pitched concerto in this death song. It’s not the first time she’s heard it, and it probably won’t be the last. Her eyes water from the smoke as she flies over the market, searching.

“Where are you, where are you, where are you!?” Is her one screaming thought as her heart pounds in her chest.

Suddenly, near the entrance to the night market, her eyes fall on a shakingly standing figure with bright, dual-colored hair but all Luz can see is the bright crimson staining her white cloak as a squadron of loyalists closes in on her.

She doesn’t feel her mouth open or even recognizes the screaming voice that rips out of her own throat.

“Amity!”

Luz jerks suddenly, the buzzing has turned to loud static crackling across her body, shooting in electric bursts that make her twitch with pain as tense numbness that only makes her feel more panicked spreads through her body with cold dread. She can’t even feel Calliban rubbing himself against her neck, trying to quell the sudden panic he can feel radiating off her like the heat from the flames in her memories, feels the ghost of on her skin. Her heart is hammering in her ears and she grabs her staff off her back and jumps over the counter and is flying in the direction of the dress shop she knows Amity was going to. She has to see her, has to see with her own two eyes, know that’s she’s okay, has to, has to!

~ ~ ~

Amity scowled to herself as she ducked behind the overturned couch, spinning a circle and jumping up, flinging a wind spell that sent the group of loyalists stumbling backward as the gale-force winds pushed them back out toward the street, Viney, and Emira following up with a blast of fire, while vines have burst out of the ground to create a wall between them and their attackers.

“Loyalists!” Eda spat.

“What are they doing here?” Willow frowns, throwing out another vine at an approaching loyalist, flinging them across the room like a sack of meat, before they hit the wall with a bang and fall to the floor, unmoving.

“They want me if I had to guess,” Amity grits out between her teeth.

There are only six in the shop and three already lay motionless on the floor. When Belos had finally laid dead, those who had supported him scattered to the winds, the majority of people just gave up and moved on, accepting the new order, but some splinter groups remained loyal to the tyrant emperor, even in death.

Amity jumped up, sending an abomination leaping through the air to pounce on one, crushing him beneath its weight. His comrade being crushed to death distracts the fifth long enough for Eda to send a bolt of lightning flying straight into their chest with her staff.

“Still got it!” Eda grinned as the loyalist's body lay smoking on the ground. Camila gave her a look. “What?”

The shop quieted and slowly they moved out from behind Willow's barrier to inspect the damage.

Amity frowned, looking around, frantically, the rest of the girls are looking for anymore, it seems they got them all. They cautiously move around the shop, careful of the broken glass, furniture, and turned over wracks of formal wear that lay singed or in ashes on the floor, checking to make sure the loyalists laying on the floor are really dead or unconscious. Movement out of the corner of her eye makes Eda turn to look.

“On your six!” Eda shouts from the other side of the shop and they turn to find a last masked loyalist, as he jumped out from behind a display on the sidewalk outside the doors, dark red spell circle already completed and about to fire a spell right at Amity when a scream makes them and the loyalist turn to look, and suddenly Luz flies into sight and is still airborne when she rips her staff out from under her and whips it back, still flying through the air and swinging with all her might. A sickening crunch fills the air as her staff crashes into them and the loyalists’ mask goes flying, clattering to the ground with a splatter of blood as they’re flung back from the vicious blow and hit the ground in an unmoving heap. Luz stumbles as she hits the ground but stays standing, panting heavily, staff clutched tightly in her white-knuckled grip, and face pulled back in a manic snarl.

The women are frozen as they look at Luz

Camila’s mouth hangs open in horror, as it had been nearly since the attack had started, but especially now, as she looks at her baby, panting and standing hunched over the fallen attacker, trembling, and looking crazed.

Emira actually comes out of it first and is quickly shoving Amity into the dressing room, out of her fiancée's sight.

“Wha- Em! What are you doing!?” She shouts at her as she pushes her behind the door.

“She can’t see you in that before the wedding!” Emira reminds as she locks the door behind them.

“Is that really important right now?!” Amity yells at her sister.

“Change quickly!” Emira helps her quickly start unlacing the back.

“Kid, what are you doing here?” Eda calls as she quickly walks up to Luz and the second she turns to look at her, she knows Luz is only barely there. Her pupils are blown wide and she’s looking around frantically and not seeing her fiancée, which only makes the panic in her eyes double. Eda clenches her jaw, hissing expletives under her breath; she’s having an episode.

“Where’s Amity?!” Even if everyone hadn’t immediately seen the crazed look on her face, they hear the panic and alarm in her voice the second she speaks, as does Amity in the dressing room, and after how Luz had been this morning she knows exactly what is happening outside the dressing room.

“Hurry!” Amity barks at her sister who unlaces her as fast as her fingers can manage, swearing under her breath at the complicated backing.

“Stupid fucking lace!” Emira spits.

“Calm down, she’s fine, Luz, we promise,” Viney tries, scooting closer, slowly, she too knows what is happening and Luz is liable to bolt for the changing room, and while she doesn’t care one way or the other if Luz sees Amity in her dress, they don’t need her ripping the door off the hinges to a half-dressed or undressed Amity.

“No, No! I have to see her now, I have to!” She’s shaking her head and her eyes are starting to glaze over, body quaking with visible tremors.

“Luz, relax, Amity is fine, she’s just changing.” Willow holds up her hands as she carefully approaches her friend who is clearly having a panic attack. They all had seen it happen before, just after the war, just once, but it was enough to always remember, and Willow had her own specters from the war, after all. They all did and knew what behavior to look for, and right now, Luz was a glowing beacon of distress.

Wide, brown eyes whip to the changing room, and predictably, she bolts forward, so do Viney and Willow, grabbing her in their tight grips

Luz growls, immediately trying to break free, kicking and screaming and it’s all Willow and Viney can do to keep her still as her staff clatters to the floor as she pushes at their hands.

“Let go!” she snarls, she’s past hearing anything they say until she sees Amity with her own eyes, heart pounding in her ears. Nothing else will ease the hands of panic wrapped chokingly around her throat and dipping into her chest to squeeze her heart, threatening to pop it.

“Mija, it’s okay…!” Camila starts but Eda puts a hand on her shoulder and gives her a look she can’t really describe.

“She can’t hear you, she’s having an… episode,” Eda says quietly and Camila blinks.

“Episode?” Camila asks, eyes back on Luz, she holds her hands over her mouth as Luz thrashes wildly in Willow and Viney’s grasp. Eda scowls to herself, watching Luz panic in her friend’s grip, writhing and screaming. She’s seen Luz have episodes before, exactly twice since the war had ended, they had been hard to watch, but even by those standards, this one is bad. She’d already been feeling off this morning, but the attack from one of the remaining loyalist splinter groups had triggered an epic meltdown in the human.

Eda quietly explains this quickly to Camila who comes to a startling realization, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

“She has PTSD…,” Camila chokes, chest aching as her baby is still screaming and fighting against her closest friends who can barely contain her, they fear using magic to hold her will only make her thrash and fight harder, maybe hurt herself.

“Luz, please, it’s okay!” Willow clutches her friend tightly, she hurts for her, and Viney grimaces, arms looped through Luz’s while Willow clings to her waist as she bucks and strains against them.

“ARGHHH!” Luz threw her head back and the loud, high-pitched, wailing sound that rips out of her throat has no words, but the agony it carries is visceral and they can all feel it echo in the core of their beings. Inside the dressing room, Emira feels a cold chill go up her spine at the sound. Luz is howling as though someone has died and Amity is nearly in tears.

Finally, she turns and bursts out of the dressing room, Emira yelling back at her.

“Amity, your shirt!” she yells.

She ignores her and dashes around the corner, barefoot, and only half-dressed in her pants and bra. She was dressed enough, she couldn’t stand listening to Luz’s anguished wails that cut deep into her heart another second.

“Luz, it’s okay!” she hurried forward and the second Luz’s eyes land on her the fight drains out of her like rushing water. Viney and Willow step back as she launched herself at Amity, who grunts as her fiancée grabs her in a bone-crushing embrace. She can feel her whole body shaking

“You’re okay, you’re okay…,” Luz chokes on her gurgled words before she finally burst into tears, burying her face in Amity’s neck, wailing, her nails are digging painfully into the skin of Amity’s back but she barely notices it as she runs her fingers through Luz’s hair as her knees buckle and she carefully lowers Luz and herself both to the floor, mindful of the glass still scattered across the floor.

“I’m okay,” she whispers back softly, squeezing back. “It’s okay, love, everything is alright," she coos softly into her ear.

Emira comes out of the dressing room with the dress carefully folded and in its box and glanced worriedly at them as she walks past to the counter, the others join her, leaving the couple alone on the floor, trying hard to ignore the sounds of Luz’s muffled sobbing or Amity’s mumbled words of comfort.

“We’ll take this,” she tells the still cowering clerk behind the counter.

“You fought off the loyalists, just take it,” the witch insists, shoving it back to them.

"Amity won't want us to do that…," Willow says quietly, frowning.

"She won't complain this time," Eda decides for them, taking the box off the counter and walking out the door. "Come on, let's give the kids a few minutes."

They follow Eda out, Camila does so reluctantly, glancing over her shoulder at her daughter, curled up tightly in Amity’s arms on the floor.

“Everything is alright,” Amity mumbles, burying her face in her weeping lover’s hair, tears dripping down her own cheeks. “It's okay, Luz.” she shoves as much conviction into these words as possible, willing Luz to believe them.

It takes a good half hour before Luz can stop crying and squeezing Amity tightly against her. The panic that had choked her and clouded her mind has ebbed away, receding to the same quiet buzzing it had been before. She can feel Calliban still wrapped around her neck, his warm scaly body scrapes her neck as he moves, trying to comfort her.

She sniffles and takes a shaky breath.

“Mierda… I’m sorry,” she finally manages to say. “… people were running and screaming through the market and I...I...”

“Shhh, don’t be sorry,” Amity says, cutting her off gently as she cards her fingers through her hair, gently scratching her scalp. “I know, I understand,” she feels Luz go limp against her before she pulled back to look at her and Amity reached up to wipe away the remains of any tears still sliding down Luz's flushed cheeks. “Are you okay enough to go home?” she asks and Luz lets out a shaky breath but nods.

“Yeah” she nodded.

“Good, I still need to finish getting dressed…” Amity tells her and Luz blinks, finally really looking at Amity and noticing her less than fully dressed state.

“¡Ay Dios mio! Lo siento mucho, Amor.” Luz grimaced, pulling her cloak off her shoulders with still shaky hands and draped it over Amity, who smiled softly at her.

"It's alright, Luz," she assured her as they stood and Amity disappeared back into the dressing room for a few minutes before coming back out fully dressed and Luz's cloak in hand.

She laid it back across her shoulders before meeting the others, still standing outside the shop.

"Hey, Kid. You okay?" Eda asked once they appeared.

"I'll be okay…just… sorry…" she gives a tired shrug. Now that the panicked energy has left her she's exhausted.

"Mija, why didn't you tell me you had PTSD?" Camila asks her, and Luz blinks.

"Oh… I never thought about it, yeah… I guess I do…" Luz frowned.

"What's PTSD?" Emira blinks.

Camila spends the next hour explaining to the witches what PTSD is and by the time the day is done, several of them leave knowing a little more about themselves now than they did before.

Emira and Viney leave on Puddles and Willow makes her own goodbyes as well, before leaving for home.

Eda takes Camila and the dress back to the house with promises to start on dinner.

Amity goes with Luz to pack up her stall in the market. She can tell that Luz is drained but she's also avoiding Amity's gaze, which makes her frown. She reached over and rubbed her arm.

"I know this is a stupid question, but are you okay?" she asks.

"Yeah… I just feel like I ruined your dress thing." Luz frowned and Amity's eyes widened.

"No, Luz, those loyalists did that, you didn't ruin anything." Amity takes hold of both her arms and forces her to face her.

"I don't think my showing up and acting like a lunatic helped things,” Luz grunted, eyes trained on the ground. That wouldn’t do. Amity reached up and gently took hold of her chin. Luz didn’t resist as she lifted her head to lock eyes with her.

“Hey, I understand, you know I do. That… panic just takes hold of you and it’s all you can do to hold yourself together, I get it. I feel that way some days too. When sounds are too loud and lights are too bright, it feels like you can’t breathe…,” she lets go of her chin to gently cup one of Luz’s warm cheeks. “I know, just like I know when I’m having those days you're there for me, and I'll be there for you. Today was hard, and some days will be, but it’s okay, we’ll get through them, together.” she smiled and Luz sighed heavily through her nose as she reached up to press her hand over hers and turned her head to press a kiss to Amity’s palm.

“Together,” Luz agreed.

They make quick work of closing up her stand and head home on Amity’s staff. Luz lays her head tiredly on Amity’s shoulder the whole way, arms wrapped around her waist, drawing comfort from the warm body pressed to hers.

They have dinner with her moms and Lilith, King doing a lot to lighten the mood when he climbs on the table and tries to steal food from Eda’s plate, triggering a massive food fight before Amity takes Camila back through the portal, while Luz sits tiredly on the couch.

“You doing okay, Kid?” Eda plops down next to her and Luz sighs.

“I guess, just tired, and I feel like I made a fool of myself in front of everyone today,” she grumbled.

“Ah, don’t worry about that, everyone understands, especially after Cam explained the whole PTSD thing, honestly, I think most people that fought in the war got a little of it, I know sometimes Lily is kind of tense...er than usual anyway. You and Amity, you did a lot of fighting, saw a lot of tough stuff. I’d be more concerned if you two weren’t affected. I mean, you two were the ones that killed Belos too.”

Luz flinched at that, eyes squeezing shut

“I don’t want to talk about that today.” Luz turned her head away and Eda frowned but nodded to herself.

“Sure, Kid.”

“Also, since when did Mami become ‘Cam’?” Luz turned back to face her, brow cocked and Eda grinned.

“We've been talking.” she shrugged. Luz wasn’t sure she liked the way Eda was grinning about that. She was ecstatic they were getting along, but maybe better than she had anticipated.

“About what?”

“All kinds of stuff, mostly you, but lots of stuff, see?” she pointed to the family photo wall and for the first time, Luz noticed some new additions and groaned when her eyes fell on a slew of her baby photos that had definitely not been there before.

“She’s been coming to have tea time with me and Lily, we trade photos.” Eda grinned.

“Of course she has,” luz groaned and Eda cackled. “I’m gonna go lay down,” Luz mumbled, hauling herself to her feet. “Night.” she waved as she climbed the stairs.

“Night, Kid.”

It’s all luz can do to kick off her shoes and lay her staff and pouches on the desk before flopping back into bed with a sigh, eyes closed.

She’s not sure how long she lays there but after a while, she hears the bedroom door open and closes softly, followed by light, quiet steps she’d recognize anywhere. She listens to Amity move about their bedroom quietly for a few minutes before the bed dips and she slots herself against Luz’s side, arm draped over her waist and head on her shoulder.

“Are you awake?” is the quiet question and Luz hums affirmatively.

“Just trying to relax…,” she mumbled with a sigh.

“Maybe I can help…” is the quiet, lilted reply and Luz can’t help but laugh, eyes opening as she turned on her side to face Amity, brown meeting gold.

“Tempting, but I don’t have it in me tonight.” she grinned and Amity grins back at her and shrugs.

“Thought I’d offer.”

Luz chuckled and pulled her closer, foreheads touching.

“This is fine,” she murmurs, eyes closing again. Amity hums against her and they lay there quietly for a while. The buzzing has finally quieted, leaving her in wonderful, blissful silence, muscles finally full relaxing.

Till a quiet tapping makes her eyes pop open to stare into Amity’s, gold eyes silently telling her that she hears it too.

Luz props herself up on one arm and looks around their room, the tapping starts again and she catches a tiny shadow outside the window through the stained glass.

She growls, eyes narrowing but then Amity raises a finger and casts a spell circle, the window swings open, and sitting on the windowsill is a snake.

A dark purple and black cobra with gold eyes and Amity sat up immediately.

“A snake?” Luz blinks as it slithers into the room, a rolled-up piece of parchment held in its curled tail.

“It’s Thrasus... my dad’s palisman…,” Amity mumbled, reaching down to let the cobra slither up her arm, it looked at her expectantly and she ran a finger over his smooth, scaled head before taking the paper held in his tail.

“What’s it say?” Luz leaned in over her shoulder to see the paper.

Amity bit her lip, eyes scanning the paper quickly as her eyes glazed over.

“He’s coming…,” she mumbled after a moment. “He’s coming to the wedding.” she smiled to herself and Luz squeezed her shoulders.

“That’s great, mi amor!” Luz grinned.

“Yeah…,” Amity mumbled, still smiling to herself.

“...We should sit him next to mom..” Luz laughed after a moment and Amity snorted, turning to smack her with the paper.

“Titan, no!” she laughed.

[lo-55]

Lightning In A Bottle Ch. 3

Ace had been in Alabasta for all of a week, looking for his brother. Luffy should be arriving anytime now, if he didn’t get sidetracked when he was in Drum Kingdom. 

...okay, so maybe Ace would have to wait around for a couple extra days. It was possible he should have just stayed in Drum and waited for Luffy there, in the cold and the snow, but he knew that he made the locals uncomfortable. They hadn’t realized he was a pirate, but the snow had melted off of his skin and coat and rolled off of him like rain. It made them weary. They knew there was something unnatural about this stranger that had come to them, asking so many questions about a man who had nearly destroyed their kingdom. 

Teach left a trail of destruction in his wake, and Ace did his best to follow it, but it seemed like that was all he was able to do. Follow the trail.  

And now he had to stop following Teach for a hot minute to wait on a perpetually tardy brother. There were a couple of leads about Teach and his slowly growing crew in Alabasta, but none of them were near enough to the port for Ace to investigate and get back in time to meet up with Luffy. 

So he was stuck in town, cooling his heels. 

That was fine, Ace had started to learn patience. He could hang out in town, look for leads, and wait for Luffy to show up. He hadn’t seen him in almost three years now, after all. A lot had changed. Luffy was a captain of an up-and-coming crew, Ace had joined the Whitebeards, and hundreds of smaller things that they needed to share with each other. 

Ace wanted to tell Luffy that he’d finally met Shanks (and just how the hell had Luffy gotten the hat of an emperor? Honestly), and he wanted to tell him about his adventures in Paradise and the New World, and all about his crew. He just knew Luffy would get a kick out of Deus. In all actuality Ace had a whole laundry list of things he wanted to tell Luffy, everything from getting stranded and eating a devil fruit to being forcefully adopted by Whitebeard. And wasn’t that just the most ironic thing? Luffy, and to a lesser extend Sabo, had basically forced Ace to accept their friendship and later their brotherhood, and Whitebeard had literally kidnapped Ace and swatted every attempt on his life away until Ace finally gave in and let himself be adopted. 

In retrospect, Ace should have recognized the stubborn streak in his captain. It was exactly like Luffy’s. 

So he was content to wait, and when Smoker showed up he thought he would get a good fight to keep himself entertained for a while, even if he would rather finish his lunch. 

He gave Smoker the chance to turn and walk away, but Marine’s were damn stubborn. Ace was halfway out of his seat, heat simmering under his skin. 

Then something slammed him through a half a dozen walls and his fight with Smoker was forgotten. 

Ace actually blacked out for a minute before he picked upself up out of the rubble, a headache starting to throb behind his eyes. All he wanted to do was find his little brother before he went back to hunting that damned traitor. Was that too much to ask? Did touble have to shadow him every minute of every day? 

Of course it did. 

“Just who in the goddamn- Sorry, enjoy your dinner,” he bowed quickly to a family in one house while he picked his way through the rubble. “Who in the goddamn Blue’s is picking fights!” 

Ace finally climbed back through the first hole he’d made with his head. 

“Hey!” he shouted into the restaurant. 

A familiar face blinked at him from the spot at the counter he’d held himself only a few minutes before. Ace’s anger evaporated instantly. 

“Lu-ouch!” 

He was slammed face first into the ground by a gloved hand while Smoker leapfrogged over him. 

“Strawhat!” 

Ace glared at the broken stucco wall under his face. He could feel his eye twitching in annoyance. Just who did Smoker think he was, ignoring Ace for his brother! And how did they know each other? 

“I've been looking for you, Strawhat. So you did come to alabasta. Quit eating!”

Ace could have told him that was a futile thing to say. Luffy would stop eating the day he died. 

Ace slowly picked himself out of the rubble and resecurred his hat. He looked up in time to see Luffy shovel the entire table’s worth of food into his mouth and grab the hand of a girl sitting next to him that Ace didn’t recognize. Her red hair was a wild mane around her head and she looked bruised and scuffed up. 

“Run!” Luffy shouted around his food, and bolted for the door. The girl yelped and threw something at the chef that clinked like a bag of coins. 

Oh good. That meant Ace didn’t have to pay. Which he was totally gonna do, honest . 

...Eh, he was a pirate. 

 “Luffy! Wait! It’s me!” Ace scrambled to his feet and went after them quickly. 

Luffy dragged the girl through the streets of Nanohana, with Smoker on their tail and Ace right behind them. There was something a little too familiar about sprinting after Luffy after he’d managed to get himself in trouble while Ace wasn’t looking. 

Luffy had to let go of his companion when a girl came at them with a sword so he could jump onto a rooftop out of the way. Ace was almost mad, Luffy was immune to bullets and fists but he could still be cut! But, of course, the little Marine wielding the sword didn’t come even close to Lu. 

 To her credit, Luffy’s girl drew a short sword from her side and blocked the attack easily. She held her weapon with the comfortable grip of someone who knew their way around a fight. Ace hadn’t noticed it before but her haki was a small step above most people’s he’d seen in Paradise. She must had had some training with it. 

 Good. Then he didn’t need to rescue Luffy’s swordwoman. 

 Ace landed next to the two. 

 “Excuse me, ladies,” he said politely, startling both of them into looking away from their crossed blades to Ace instead. He tipped his hat towards them, then the building that Luffy had jumped up onto. He was blocked from it by their swords. “I have to catch up with my brother now.”  

“Uh, sure,” said the marine girl. They pulled their blades away to make a path for him. It was amazing how people responded to polite requests. . 

“Why are you telling us this…?” the redhead countered, looking confused. Ace noted that her eyes were as red as her hair. She faltered when she got a good look at his face. “Hey, hold on-!”  

“Sorry, I can’t,” Ace waved to them and shot over the rooftops, after his brother and Smoker.

He was pretty sure that girl recognized him. He wasn’t surprised, his face had been plastered all over every inn and tavern in the Grandline for a while, and he was pretty well known as the Second Division Commander.   

If she was with Luffy, he’d no doubt see her again later. 

Idly, Ace wondered if Luffy’s crew knew what they’d signed on for when they agreed to sail with him. Or if Luffy had even given them a choice. 

Ace laughed to himself and picked up the pace. They’d figure it out.

Ace wanted to spend more time with Luffy. He wanted to spend at least a night with him, and drink and talk about everything that had happened in the last three years. He wanted to grab him and check him for injuries, wanted to tell him about his own mistakes and help him prevent making the same ones as Captain. 

But. 

But, he had to go. With Teach still on the loose and his blood debt unpaid, Ace coudln’t stay with his little brother any longer than he had, not without the excuse of waiting for him. He didn’t know all the details about what they were doing in the kingdom of Alabasta, nevermind why they had the princess of that same kingdom travelling with them these days, but it was just going to have to be, in Luffy’s words, a mystery. 

At least, that’s what he thought. 

While the crew set up to leave the Going Merry at the mouth of the river Ace excused himself to make a call. 

He sat in the seat of Striker, with his shell-phone in hand. It only took a few rings for a familiar voice to pick up on the otherside. 

“Whitebeard pirates, this is Izou speaking.” 

“Izou, hey, it’s Ace. Is Pops around?” 

“Ace! Let me get him, hold on.”

The sound of footsteps and muffled shouting followed, and in a minute Izou was replaced. 

“Ace, my son, how are you?” 

“I’m good,” Ace felt himself start to smile. “I haven’t caught up to Teach yet, but I’m getting close. I’m with my brother’s crew right now.” 

“Ah ha, the infamous Luffy.” 

Ace’s smile grew. He’d been rabid when it came to showing everyone Luffy’s first bounty. He’d gone to Blenheim and asked him for all the information they could get a hold of when it came to Luffy’s new crew. So he knew about Nami, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji. Nami had a reputation among East Blue pirates, Usopp was fucking Yasopp’s son, Zoro was a bounty hunter with a decent name for himself, and as it happened Pop’s was old friends with Sanji’s father, Zeff. 

“Yeah. He looks good. He’s just as goofy as he’s ever been, and he picked up a couple of extra crew mates. He’s a doctor, thank the Blues. Tony Tony Chopper. I think he’d a raccoon zoan, or maybe a Mink. I didn’t ask. It seemed rude. And a swordswoman he picked up here in Alabasta. Roche Nao. She’s pretty quick on her feet.” 

“Wait.” 

Ace paused. “Yeah?” He’d never heard that tone in Pops’ voice before. 

“You said Roche Nao. Does she have red hair? And eyes?” 

Ace cocked his head. The snail reflected the hard set of Pops’ jaw and the wildness in his eyes. 

“She does. Do you know her?” 

“... Listen to me now Son. I need you to stay with the Strawhat’s. Teach can wait, you have to keep an eye on Nao. We’ll meet you on Sabaody when your brother’s crew arrives. Do you understand?” 

“Wait, what?! But Teach-” 

“I understand how you feel about Teach,” Pops’ voice gentled for Ace. “But this is something I have to ask of you. If the government get’s ahold of that girl, what awaits her is a fate far worse than death.” 

“She’s like you, son.” 

Ace sucked in through his teeth. Like him? How? 

“Can I count on you to guard her from the navy?” 

“I’ll bring more attention to them,” Ace warned. The idea of shelving his hunt for Teach was bitter on his tongue, but if Pops said he needed Ace to guard this girl, he would. “How do you know her, anyhow?” 

“It isn’t a story for a den den. When we meet again, I’ll tell you everything, if Nao hasn’t done it herself. Just promise me, Ace.” 

Ace swallowed his irritation about Teach. This was something Pops was asking of him. Something important to him on a personal level beyond what even Teach had done. 

“I promise. I’ll do everything I can to keep her from getting arrested.” 

The Den Den relaxed. 

“Thank you. I’ll see you soon, son.” 

“Yeah. I’ll see you then Pops.” 

Now Ace just had to find an excuse to stay with the Strawhats. He’d heard a very vague rumor about someone pretending to be Blackbeard in Yuba. He could start with that, and then find another reason to stay later on. He doubted that Nao would appreciate him puppy guarding her. 

She’d said it herself. She was her own captain. 

[xbellaxcarolinax]

Forging A Heart (Ivar the Boneless) Apollo

Pairing: Ivar x Artemis (OFC)

Word Count: 1784

Warnings: Non-graphic childbirth, corny

Broken Bone

...

Her labor pains began in the late afternoon as she was taking a stroll with Hvitserk. The sun began to set as they walked by the beach. The sun’s rays did little to warm the city as the waves of the sea pushed the winds upon them.

Hvitserk thought a small amount of sun would do her good, though Ivar complained that she was too far along to be strolling about. Artemis agreed to the outing, happily looping her arm with her brother in law, much too tired of being cooped up in her chambers. It was the first time she decided she would rather be in the cold than by the hearth.

She had the pace of a snail now, but Hvitserk didn't mind. He smiled knowing a mindless stroll brought her glee.

They made simple small talk, mostly Hvitserk explaining his new lover. Artemis knew of the girl and has met her a few times in formal settings. Her name was Thora, a pretty thing with pretty features, light hair, and a moderate height. She was happy for him, but before she could say anything more, she doubled over in pain, panting at the sensation of the blooming ache attacking her abdomen. Looking down, a wetness pooled upon the sand.

Panicked, Hvitserk latches on to her smaller frame as she almost collapses from the pain. He barked out orders to the nearby guards that patrolled the town.

"Summon the midwife! And alert the King his child is to be born!"

Artemis was laid upon the bed, now stripped of it’s furs, sweat clinging to her skin. She gripped the sheets tightly, groaning and whimpering at the labor pains that attacked her body. She was terrified despite the midwife's babbling words of reassurance.

Women came in to swarm her chambers, the midwife, Alva, Brenna the healer, and Aria along with Geirdis scurrying about to prepare the room for the birth. Artemis watches her, chest rapidly rising and falling before another great pain takes over. This was the moment she had been fearing for what felt like ages. There was no avoiding it now.

Aria takes a seat beside her, wiping her glistening face with a damp cloth. 

"I have seen the birth of babies many times before, and I assure you, this will go smoothly." The red head mutters to her, though that did nothing to ease her mind. Artemis was in a panic, more so than Hvitserk had been on the beach. Her legs trembled before her and it was obvious in her silence that she needed comfort. Geirdis goes to sit on her other side, grabbing her clammy hand..

Barking could be heard from the hall, along with Asa's whining to enter the chamber, making Artemis grow uneasy. The midwife and healer continue moving about the room, preparing herbs and other necessities, though Artemis hardly paid them mind. The only thing she could focus on was the pain that paralyzed her every few minutes.

"Where is Ivar?!"Artemis roars, her grip on Geirdis's hand now fierce, causing the girl to wince. Before anyone could answer her, Ivar comes stumbling in, eyes wild as he barked out something about providing her with every comfort needed.

All the women greeted their king formally, but he ignored them, limping over to his wife panting on their bed. She had equally wild eyes, and Ivar could see the fear swimming within her dark chestnut eyes. He motions for Geirdis to remove herself, and he takes her place sitting beside his wife, already reaching forward to grasp her shaking hand.

"I am here, baby bird." He mutters as he places kisses on her hand, rubbing his calloused thumb over her clammy skin. Artemis was unlike anything he'd ever seen, and rightfully so. He feared for her life as much as she did, though he did a better job of masking it.

"I'm afraid, Ivar." She whispers out a shaky breath before squeezing his hand tightly at another burst of pain, "Your child will rip right through me." 

"Do not be afraid. Frigg is with you in these moments." Once Artemis began to get hysterical, Ivar roared to the midwife and healer that they were to guard her life, or else they must forfeit their own. He'd see to it. Usually she scolded him when he roused people into fear with threats, but at that moment, she didn't care. She would let him threaten the world if it meant the pain would stop.

She was quickly given an herbal tea to calm her nerves, and it was enough for her to calmly listen to Ivar who wished to distract her from her labor pains until their child was truly ready to enter Midgard.

"Tell me about your brother." He says to her suddenly, his sad eyes watching her moan in discomfort after another crippling pain wreaked through her. She turns to look at him, confusion written all over her face.

"What?" She pants out.

"Your brother, you've never told me about him." His plan seemed to work if only a bit, and he watched her think as she always did, searching her mind for distant memories, “What was his name?’

"...Apollo." She says the name quietly, her breathing finally settling with the help of the tea.

"Apollo?"

"God of the sun, twin brother to Artemis." Ivar smiles at the knowledge. How fitting.

"He was named for the sun and you for the moon." Artemis nods. 

"What did he look like?" Ivar continues in his distactions, wincing at her tightening grip as she fights against the pain. His wife was undeniably strong.

"H-he had dark curly hair, but not so dark as mine is. A bit like yours really," She breathes in slowly, releasing the breath along with her tight grip. "But our eyes were the same." Ivar hums, happy he was successful in straying her mind.

"What was he like?"

"He was...like a ray of sun. Always happy, always bright. Even in death's grip, he smiled." She was exhausted, that much was clear when she tossed her head back and closed her eyes. 

"Was he a good blacksmith?" Artemis suddenly shoots up from her position, lurching forward as she groans through a particularly nasty contraction. She grips both Ivar's and Aria's hands fiercely, tears starting to leak from her eyes. 

The midwife immediately pushes her thin sleeping shift up to her knees, checking for any changes."The child is not yet ready to come out." 

Artemis wanted to scream, but she opted for light sobbing instead, her body already exhausted but nowhere near the exhaustion that was to come. Ivar reacted quickly, cradling her head against his chest as he began to hum that lullaby he was so fond of. He stops when her cries turn into sniffles before continuing.

"Was he a good blacksmith, my love?" He tries again, smoothing her damp hair back. She sniffles, rubbing her cheek over his soft tunic before finding the strength to speak.

"He was incredible." She pants against him, "He was my father's prodigy." 

"What happened to him?" 

"He caught ill. They said it was from plague, but I never understood how. My father and I did not catch." Ivar listens, continuing to run his hand down the length of her messily braided hair.

"Was he young?"

"He was my age now when he passed. I was only 10 summers."

"And that's when you began the family trade." Artemis nods, eyes still closed, taking great comfort in his gentle touches. Alva and Breena watched their King and Queen in shock. Never had they seen their King display such affection before. This, of course, was normal for Gierdis and Aria, who watched their relationship blossom.

"Whatever skills Apollo learned, I learned as well." She shakes her head, smiling weakly, "If he only knew his sister took up a man's trade. He'd laugh." Ivar chuckles at this. He was always impressed with his wife's skill. She excelled at it far better than he ever did.

"I think he'd be proud." He answers with a smile.

...

After a long and strenuous labor, their daughter was born in the early morning, just as the sun began to rise. In 9 days time, the infant would be officially named and recognized by her father as his heir. 

She was a tiny thing, and thankfully healthy, with the smallest tuff of brown spiraling hair that was her father’s and chestnut eyes belonging to her mother. She was calm now, cleaned up by both Alva and Brenna, and placed lovingly in her exhausted mother's arms. Aria and Geirdis coo at the child, getting one last glance at the baby girl before the women left the King and Queen on their own with their daughter.

Ivar had stars in his eyes. He stares at his wife and child with such fascination and love, still unable to believe that he was able to have a child. And what a beauty she was.

Artemis held the swaddled child close to her bosom as she was taught by the midwife, using her finger to lightly trace over her daughter's small features.

"Is she healthy?" Ivar's voice wavers, "Are her legs-" 

"She's fine," She interrupts him, feeling the little kicks through the blanket, "And she's beautiful," A tired smile stretches over her face, "How you fought to come into this world little one." She kisses her daughter gently on the cheek before glancing at her husband. He seemed frozen in place.

"Come," Artemis says to him, "Hold your daughter." Placing the whimpering baby into his arms, she watches Ivar interact with his daughter. He hesitated, afraid of holding her for fear of crushing her little body. She was such a small thing in his large arms.

Ivar couldn't find the words to express all the emotions bursting within him. With glossy eyes he watches the tiny thing take even breaths, her little eyes fluttering with sleep. Snuggling against her father's chest, she sleeps comfortably in his arms.

"She has so much of you." His voice cracks and he swallows thickly, moving to gently place a kiss on his sleeping child's brow.

"And so much of her father." Artemis replies sleepily, happily burrowing into the warmth of the furs that were placed back on the bed. 

"I know what I wish her name to be," Ivar says suddenly, his gaze so intense despite the glossiness of his eyes, "With your approval, of course."

"Already?" She yawns, "What about the naming ceremony?" 

"Sól." She furrows her brows.

"Hmm?"

"Her name. It should be Sól."

"Sun?"

"Yes. She has risen with the sun,” Ivar says, “It will honor our goddess and your fallen brother. She will be the light of our lives, our sun." He finishes confidently, smiling down at his little girl. As he looks at her miniature features, a large wave of emotion hits him again. In that moment he vows to protect her from the cruelty of their world.

Artemis remains quiet, watching Ivar stare lovingly at their baby. She smiles, her heart beating for the fierce love of her husband and daughter.

"Sól," She repeats the name, "It is perfect."

...

@heavenly1927 @didiintheblog @leilabeaux @jzr201 @inforapound @a-mess-of-fandoms @rastakami23 @ostra814 @zumzum96

[danyka-fendyr]

5 Times Dick Grayson Tried To Ask You Out and the 1 Time He Didn’t Have To

Well, everyone, I’m sick, I’m incredibly tired, and this is way shorter than it should be, but you know what? My darling @lexxierave requested this and I am going to get it done tonight even if it kills me, which!!!! It well might. But it will all be worth it, for my muse.

Description: Dick Grayson keeps trying to ask you out and keeps meeting with varying degrees of failure. What will happen when external forces get involved though?

Warnings: None. Fluff all the way.

Wordcount: idk man I’m going to be running a fever imminently do you think I can even read the words blurring on my screen I’m about to start typing with my eyes closed (no seriously I just looked away from my computer screen for a second and my head started spinning and everything went sort of blurry and there was this fuzzy imprint of the glow messing around behind my eyes it was wILD)

The first time Dick Grayson tries to ask you out, it does not go well. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as that’s how these things usually go, but Dick fancies himself an exception to the rules. He is smooth, suave, whelmed, traut! These sorts of things just don’t happen to him. But apparently, they do now.

It started out fine. He complimented your outfit first. That always went over well. Smiled at you very smoothly, because yes he was nervous, but he was also trained to lie by the world’s greatest detective. And then, just as he was asking what your plans for the weekend were, there was an interruption. A small, dark-haired, very angry interruption.

“Grayson!”

Oh no. That...could not be good.

“Grayson! I need your help at once!”

“What is it, Damian?” Dick was doing his best to be compassionate towards the kid and to be a good big brother but now was really not the time.

“We must leave at once. I have just been informed that there is an animal shelter downtown with a surplus of kittens that need adopting.” Damian’s hands were planted firmly on his hips, trying to make his slight stature take up more space.

“Dames, do you think it could maybe wait, I’m-”

“We must leave at once Grayson! These kittens are in a crisis. There is no waiting!”

“Okay, here we go,” Dick mumbled under his breath, looking up to offer you an apologetic smile. “Hey, I have to go save some kittens. Could we maybe finish this later?”

You couldn’t help but smile back. “Sure. Good luck with the kittens.”

“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”

Dick was a little upset, but it was no problem. It was only the first time. Things would go great next time.

Things did not go great the next time.

Dick tried. He really tried. He figured casual was still the way to go, since more flashy methods were likely to backfire on him, and he didn’t want to risk that what with the complications of last time. You were both standing in the manor kitchen talking when he broached the subject.

“So Y/N, there’s another one of my Dad’s endless galas coming up, and I was wondering if-”

“Oh, I am going!” You cut him off. “Damian asked me if he could ‘escort’ me. Isn’t that adorable? We were talking about pets and I said I’m a dog person and a cat person because they’re both great and deserve love and he said I was, ‘quite adequate’. He’s such a sweet little guy.”

“Yeah. Sweet.” Dick might have to have a serious talk with Damian.

Third time’s the charm. That’s what everyone said right? There was no way this could go wrong. Not this time.

This time, Dick went elaborate. Because, well...because he could. At this point, he had nothing to lose. The plan was pretty clear cut. He would use the spare key to your house you had given him, sneak in in the early morning, make you breakfast, and then express his sentiments that he would like to make you breakfast again under very different circumstances. 

What could go wrong?

“Grayson, are those pancakes?”

How. How was he even here? This was more than improbably. This should be impossible. There was no way this was happening to him. Not again.

“Damian, why are you here?” Dick turned his back to your stovetop where he was indeed making pancakes so that he could better see Damian in your doorway.

“Sometimes I come over to Y/L/N’s to do sunrise yoga with her. You should try it sometime Grayson. It really aligns the body and soul. I find it helps me keep my temper in check.”

If it helped keep your temper in check, Dick might need to try it.

Well, if nothing else could be said for this attempt, at least you had liked the pancakes.

This time, Dick was going to write to you. If he wrote out his request, there was no way it could be interrupted. Nothing Damian could do could possibly intercept this heartfelt, beautiful email. It was no love letter, but it was less likely to be intercepted than the actual snail mail alternative. Dick was 3 seconds away from hitting send-3 seconds-when the power cut out, causing his computer to crash and all the lights in the building to go off. When the backup generator kicked in a few moments later, the email it had taken him hours to write was gone, erased completely.

That was it. What had even happened? Before he could ask further though, the obvious answer appeared in the form of Damian in his doorway, hair sticking up in every direction.

“Apologies for any inconvenience Grayson. Drake and I were having a brief altercation and the powerbox may have become involved. I assure you it will not happen again in the future. Next time I will be certain not to miss.”

He was moving back to Bludhaven.

Okay, well, if the third time wasn’t the charm, maybe the fifth time was. Or maybe it was just really, extremely cursed. Maybe he was just really, extremely cursed. Any way you sliced it, Dick Grayson wasn’t a quitter. He would keep trying until he had you.

This time, there was no mistaking it. The rose petals leading upstairs to where he waited for you were a clear sign of romance. The second you got to the manor and saw them, following them upstairs, he would have you. All he had to do was wait.

But...he waited. And then he waited some more. For hours he waited, not moving from his spot, because he had invited you here. You should be up here, by all logic and reason. Maybe traffic had just gotten really bad?

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He headed downstairs to go see what exactly was happening, only to find the house was empty except for Damian reading on the couch.

“Damian, did Y/N come by earlier?”

“Yes. She was looking for you but said she could come back later.” Damian flipped a page in his book.

“But...didn’t she see the rose petals?”

“Oh, those were for her? Unfortunately, Batcow has a strange liking for rose petals and ate them while I wasn’t looking. How unfortunate.”

Okay, that was it.

Dick sat down on the couch at Damian’s feet, stealing the book out of his hands. “Listen, Dames. I know that chances are, you’re not doing this to give me grief. You’re a good kid. But I have been trying to ask Y/N out for months, and every time so far. every. single. time. You have somehow interrupted. So could you please just...try to keep the chaos to a minimum. Please? For me?”

Damian stared at him curiously before a realization seemed to set in. “Oh, is that what that was? A mating ritual? I assumed you were attempting to explain to her that you could no longer be friends, which I could not allow because Y/L/N is a very valuable asset.” Translation? Damian thought you were enjoyable to be around. “I suppose you may carry on as you were then. I shall not interfere anymore.”

Dick wanted to be mad at him for doing it on purpose. He really, really did. But the thing was...if the kid had thought he was keeping you in his life, he supposed he couldn’t be mad about that. Or at least, not mad forever.

Dick was a little bummed, to say the least. He had decided it would be a good idea to allow for a cooling-off period before he asked you out again. Damian or no Damian, he hadn’t been met with a lot of success in that department. He fixed his tie in front of the mirror, getting ready for the latest Wayne gala. Because heaven only knew they needed another one. For some odd reason, Damian had been particularly insistent he look his best tonight. When he had come out in his favorite flower-print button-down, Damian had shoved him back into his wardrobe and demanded he choose something classier. There were several wardrobe changes. Eventually, though, he was released to head downstairs. 

Much to his surprise, he was met by you. Dressed for the gala. Looking amazing.

“You clean up nice, Grayson.” You smiled at him.

“I...you...” 

You laughed. “Damian said something about you wanting me to go to the gala with you but not having the time to ask?”

Time really hadn’t been the issue.

“Uhhh...yeah. I’ve kind of been meaning to ask you out for a while now.”

“Really?” You blushed.

“Yeah, really. So uhh....shall we?”

“We shall.” You looped your arm through his, and you two headed off into the night.

Dick supposed he had something to thank Damian for after all. Even if the kid could be a bit of a pain.

[wonkyreads]

The Grace Year

Kim Liggett

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

All told, this book is dark at times and as rough around the edges as you’d expect, but there’s a bravery to it and to Tierney that speaks of a future where women aren’t things or pitted against each other, though in the narrative it still seems a long time coming.

There’s a brutally heavy handed quality to the first parts of this book. Imagine The Handmaid’s Tale mixed up with The Lord of the Flies and then take away a generous portion of subtlety. It made it so easy to know exactly where the book was headed and while the ending isn’t exactly what I’d expected (or honestly even something I’m sure I understand), a lot of the expected puzzle pieces showed up right when I knew to look for them. A lot of writing is formulaic, so it’s not like I’m totally upset about it. More than anything the lack of subtlety made me want to set the book down very early on for fear of the rest of the book being TOO easy to read. It got better, though, and by the end I’d almost forgotten.

The writing was clearly very well done technically, the characters were varied enough to make reading them worthwhile (Personality-wise, I mean. It could have done with some actual diversity! I can’t remember anyone being described as something other than “pale” or “ivory” which got on the nerves a bit.), and I thoroughly enjoyed the last quarter of the book.

There were a lot of little things I found annoying that cleared themselves up by the time I reached the end and there was also a ton of pacing issues. Somehow a book that is primarily action managed to slog at times; it felt like everything was moving at a snail’s pace for most of the book. I ended up skipping and having to go back to re-read huge chunks of exposition and thought, not because it was bad but because it felt like an interruption or lasted far too long to continue holding my attention. Other than that, there were a few trope-y things that weren’t great like Tierney was the only tomboy out of 33 girls, the only girl to suggest working together, and just sometimes felt a little too close to Mary Sue perfect. The mid-book romance/love thing bothered me. Sometimes things just felt too easy because they had to happen narrative-wise. Small things that add up to a larger annoyance.

Now, just a thought:

The book might have been more efficient had the beginning been a little more subtle. As it is, seeing where the plot was going was not hard, it was just a matter of what specifics would happen along the way. I think it would have been terrifying if Tierney hadn’t been convinced that the county’s ways were wrong and she hadn’t been against them from the beginning. That slow decent, that journey through madness to truth would have been utterly horrifying if she hadn’t started off already condemning the county’s ways. Letting the reader go on that journey with her would have made this book phenomenal. It wouldn’t necessarily have fixed the pacing, but it also wouldn’t have left me feeling like I should DNF the book within the first 50-100 pages.

Lastly, that ending? What?

Time for some spoilers!

First of all, the ending. I know it’s up in the air whether Tierney lives or dies but that bothers me. It changes the message one way or the other. If she lives she raises her daughter to truly be the one to take down the grace year and coaches Michael in their direction (not that he needs the help, but the man has nothing specific to go on). If she dies, it’s the end of a cycle that is symbolic in a way that is so very depressing but continues to drive home the message. If she dies, Grace grows up hearing of her wild soul and rebels for her or however Grace’s story then goes because in Tierney’s death, Grace’s future feels much less steadfast. As beautiful as Tierney’s dying at the end might be, I wanted so, so fucking badly to see her sneak into the outskirts to find Ryker’s mother (like, please, girl, my soul is begging).

Which brings me to Ryker. Boy howdy, did I have some feelings on that whole plot point. First of all, the second he spared her the first time I said to myself, “If he becomes a love interest here, I’m done.” The second time he saves her I thought, “This is just too unfulfilling.” The third time, when he pulls her from the ice and, understandably annoyed, heals her with the patience of a goddamn saint I knew that I loved him so freaking much as a character even if I still hated him as a love interest. Admittedly, as fast and insincere as their romance felt, they truly spent months cooped up together talking it out and it was easy to understand how they’d come by their emotions. The reader just wasn’t given that time (which is good because the pacing was already wrecked). By the end, I understood why he was made a love interest and I didn’t resent it. I didn’t resent him having to die. I just resent that it felt so hollow the whole time.

I think this is the last thing bugging me, though a week from now I might snap my fingers and remember something else: why the hell wouldn’t Tierney tell Michael about the grace year? Why make that the unbreakable vow out of so many? He’s kept ALL of her secrets up to that point, put himself on the line, proved over and over again to be a good man worth trusting who wants the same things Tierney does... he’s going out of his way to make a different basically blind. If she’d just tell him about the grace year truly and what it all meant, then maybe they wouldn’t have to wait for Grace the baby to grow up and do it all herself. If not he Tierney and Michael were on the same page, I can’t even imagine how much smoother life would have been.

I think what I’m truly mourning here is that while so many plot threads got their neat little bows (despite such an ambiguous end) Tierney and Michael truly don’t get theirs. It ends with “maybe they could be great” and “maybe they fall in love” and with Michael panicking out in the hall not knowing a damn thing. He was misguided in the beginning, giving Tierney her veil and not being forthright with his feelings (though he was right in the end for it, how lucky), but he truly cared for her and for change and all the girls and women being held hostage by the county. I want to see that change in him, not be told in a passing paragraph. I know this book is feminist to the core and it’s not about the men here, but more than anything I want to see that small change ripple out. I want to see Michael in charge making subtle differences with Tierney at his side, dammit!

Oof, I think I’m all ranted out now, so I’ll leave you with the part that nearly made me cry:

All of the pent up emotions caused by Tierney’s journey came to a head, for me at least, when she disrobed in the square and they revolted against her. It wasn’t when Michael stood up for her. It was when Gertrude did. And then Kiersten did. And then all of these women in the square who she’d been looking at all her life, but never truly seeing, revealed that small flower - a bloom of hope. The solidarity and meaning in that moment after so much had happened nearly broke me. It was such a beautifully orchestrated moment that it almost makes up for all of the small annoyances that built up over the pages.

“Your eyes are wide open, but you see nothing.”

Here’s to finally seeing when it matters most.

[writingmyimagines]

Liquid Courage

Billy Hargrove x Reader

Warnings: Cursing and suggestive themes

Word Count: 3.7k

Bright pink. Suddenly all you could see was the brightest, most fluorescent pink that you had ever laid eyes on and it was shoved into your face. 

You immediately drew back from the intrusion.  “What the hell?” you yelled, directed at your attacker.

Your friend Jessica started laughing so hard she nearly threw her milk up as Aaron watched on. Claire had so kindly shoved a pink flyer in your face and began to start waving it around again when you huffed out, “What is that and why do you keep smashing it into my face?”

She backed off ever so slightly, but her eyes shone as brightly as ever. “This, my dear (Y/N) is the opportunity of a lifetime.” Silence rested between you two for a moment, before you waved your hand, urging her to say something meaningful.

“This is an invite to one of Tommy’s parties tonight! I managed to snag it from Maggie who got it from Lexi who got it from Alex because I think they hooked up, who had gotten it from-”

You cut her off, grabbing her free hand and trying to calm her down for a second. She immediately took to breathing heavy, and you glanced at your other two friends for some help with her. “Claire, one thing at a time. Are you sure the invite was meant for you? I mean, we aren’t exactly the most popular people around here.”

You didn’t mean to break her optimistic heart, but it was true. The four of you often spent weekends at the record store, in the park, or just goofing off in each other’s houses. While you may have gotten drunk on a few occasions, Jessie’s dad being rather lenient with his liquor cabinet, you had never been to a party. Aaron had been to one when he had briefly dated Emily, one of Carol’s friends, but the three of you weren’t ever on the party scene.

She started frowning, furrowing her eyebrows at you, before retorting, “Of course it is, or at least, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like we’re the computer geeks or band nerds, we are attractive ladies, and Aaron, and practically all of Hawkins will be there anyways. There is quite literally nothing stopping us.”

Jessie piped in, “Honestly, it might be kind of fun? I haven’t been to a high school party and I think it’s a good idea to try before we go to college and are in way over our heads.” Ah yes, always the voice of reason.

You nodded slowly, figuring this all out. She had a point, it could be fun, really fun actually. Wild things always happened at Tommy’s parties. Hell, at the last big one before winter break, she had heard that Steve “The Hair” Harrington was dumped by Nancy Wheeler for Jonathan Byers of all people and lost his title as The King of Hawkins. Maybe something else wild would happen, and it would be nice to see it up close instead of hearing it through the grapevine for once.

Your gaze turned to Aaron who had a laidback smile on his face, “I’m in, I need to cool off after that math test today. And I’ve heard things can get pretty crazy…” he raised his eyebrows suggestively, turning towards the table of cheerleaders before you slapped him on the arm.

Claire grabbed your hand again, looking at you with big blue puppy dog eyes, “Come on (Y/N), we were supposed to have a sleepover and help watch the house while my parents go to Indianapolis for their anniversary. It’s perfect timing! Come on, please!” 

You couldn’t help the smile that crept it’s way onto your face, not really seeing a downside to it. Claire cheered and yelled a bit, before calming down so she wouldn’t bring attention to you guys. She started ranting, “Okay, you guys can all meet at my house at 6 and we can get ready and maybe even get the party started early if you know what I mean? We can help do each other’s hair and…” she went off on a tangent about the night’s plan as you felt a flutter in your chest, your heart beating faster.

Not to be dramatic, but your life had seemed so boring and stereotypical lately. School, a few clubs here and there, spending time with friends. The best thing that had happened was there was a rumor of a mall being built soon, but it was probably just a rumor. Hawkins truly was a town where nothing ever changed, but perhaps today was the day that it would.

The sun had long since set on three girls giggling in a bathroom, golden rays changing to the bright light of the stars as they readied for the night ahead.

You smiled cheekily at Jessica as you tried out a magenta lipstick on her, complementing the lavender hues on her eyes. She laughed as you smudged a bit and you heard a groan from downstairs. 

A male voice yelled up, “Would you three hurry up? I thought we were going to try and pre-game together? Not just leave me to sit on the couch and die of boredom.”

This caused more giggling to ensue, though the brunette you were just slathering lipstick onto added, “Maybe we should finish up. The party starts at 9 and we’ve already spent at least an hour getting ready.” 

Claire was busy trying to tease her hair even more in the mirror, reaching for heights not yet known. She made a hum in agreeance before waltzing out of the bathroom.

You glanced yourself once over in the somewhat frosted mirror. Your hair was styled perfectly, more hair spray than usual, but still more relaxed than not. Makeup was heavier, but no crazy colors, and your skin tight skirt made your ass look fantastic. You had to hand it to Jessie, you looked hot. 

So you quickly jogged to catch up with the two of them as you guys made your way downstairs to greet Aaron, rolling his eyes before actually glancing up at you three. He certainly looked taken aback and you felt your back straighten while a smile grew on your face.

He nodded, before commenting, “Not bad ladies, not bad at all. Now let’s get wasted.” He took out a bottle of whiskey that he had been hiding behind his back.

And an hour later, the four of you had a nice buzz going and the whiskey bottle lay empty on the floor. Aaron swiped his keys off of the desk as you all readied yourselves.

You giggled, before dragging Claire to the car, wanting to hurry up and get there already. You felt loose and free and just happy, though you couldn’t deny the heavy beat of your heart as you got closer.

There was not much talking in the car, blasting Queen instead on the way to Tommy’s. But even the radio got quiet in comparison to the booming coming out of what you could only assume was the party house. You grabbed Claire’s hand, making an excitable scream before hustling out of the car. This looked absolutely gnarly. You bit your lip in anticipation as the others got out at a snail’s pace. But finally, you were walking up, the four of you quiet, and Claire swung open the door.

The latest AC/DC song blared over some speakers as you were all hit with the stench of alcohol and sweat. People were dancing on every open space in the living room and it was hard to see past them. Everyone had a red solo cup or can in their hand and you just stood there for a moment with your mouth wide open.

Quickly though, you were pulled by your hand, dragged to the kitchen where you were rapidly handed a cup. Without giving you a second to think, Claire clinked your glass and yelled, “Cheers!” before chugging at least half of whatever drink you had. You followed suit, but made a face as nearly all you could taste in this was vodka. 

You started to put the cup down, when she pushed it closer to you, “Oh come on, we’re hardly buzzed. Tonight we let loose.” And you both made your way to the make-shift dance floor.

Minutes turned into an hour or two and things were seeming to peak. Brady was about to try and crowd surf as a few couples waltzed upstairs, whispering into each other’s ear. You danced on, drinking a beer, you think. You were pretty drunk at this point and had lost Claire in the crowd. You were also fairly sure you had seen Jessica and Aaron walk out back a while ago. But that wasn’t stopping you, especially once you heard the intro to Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics. 

Your body started swaying with the first few chords, running your hands through your hair and singing quietly to yourself. Your hips kept up perfectly with the beat and you added a few moves of your own, shaking your hair from side to side, bending down and popping back up, and without realizing, you had half of the room watching you.

It wasn’t until the dance break that you looked around, seeing quite a few boys and girls eyes on you. But you kept up, just feeling for once instead of thinking. You even mouthed the words, glancing from classmate to classmate before ocean eyes held yours. 

Your breath caught in your chest as you realized the new King of Hawkins was watching your every move. And you loved it, so you smirked, before whipping your hair back around and continuing to sway with the booming rhythm. Emboldened by the liquor running through your system, you were trying to grab the attention of Billy Hargrove. Never in your wildest dreams had you thought of talking to this boy, let alone trying to entice him. He was rude, uncaring, blunt, and undeniably hot.

It wasn’t until the music began to fade into some Foreigner song that you felt a presence behind you and hot breath on your ear. “Nice dance moves darlin’.”

You turned slowly, hips brushing as you turned around to see the blonde that was on your mind. You smiled cheekily, “Well thank you, I noticed you watching and just couldn’t help myself.”

Woah, what just came out of your mouth? Claire would not believe this. 

“Oh so you were trying for my attention then?” You kept his hard gaze, throat going a bit dry at being singled out like this. And those beautiful teal eyes just saw right through you, right into you. You had to remind yourself that he couldn’t read your thoughts, when he continued, “Well you have it, what do you want to do with it?”

He put his hand gently on your hip, squeezing lightly and looking you up and down once more. Your body felt absolutely electric. But the air here was hot, and with him this close, you weren’t sure you could bear much more heat.

You leaned into his touch, pushing his curls back as you whispered, “Maybe you want to take this outside?” Your fingertips tingled as they fell from his hair and you leaned back.

He didn’t say anything, but pulled you closer, putting his arm around your waist and guiding you to the backyard where there were significantly less people. You focused on his hot touch, able to feel the calluses on his hands on the small part of your midriff that was on display. Your mind was going crazy with fantasies. You had always dreamed of some boy stealing you off like this, but now those wild dreams had a face, and god was it good-looking. 

Eyes shifted to the two of you as you made your way to Tommy’s porch, and then the side of the house. He pushed you into the wall with just a bit of force, looking to see if anybody dared get near him. He turned back to you, tongue flicking his lips before he said, “We’re outside, now what do you want darlin’?”

Cheap vodka was flowing through your system and you giggled, watching him carefully so that his figure didn’t turn double. You bit the edge of your lip, finally processing what he had said before you purred, “You.”

His lips were on yours quicker than wildfire, and they felt like it too. Surprisingly soft lips contrasted with the scratch of his slight stubble on your cheeks. You weren’t sure if it was your breath or his that smelled overwhelmingly of alcohol, but you didn’t care as one of his hands left the wall and went back to your hip, starting to massage it.

You playfully licked his lips, gauging his response. But you didn’t have to wait, his tongue started battling yours and you couldn’t help but moan into him, grabbing back up to his golden hair. You were in heaven. 

As if underwater, you heard a voice call, “Nice one Hargrove!” and then a growl came out of his throat. You glanced up at him, blackened eyelashes batting at him, wanting nothing but his touch. He glared at one of his basketball teammates before taking your hand and walking to the front yard. You stumbled on the way, your vision getting fuzzier as you fought to keep up with him. He led you into his Camaro not a few houses down, and surprisingly he was gentle. No words were exchanged before you got into his backseat and he smirked at you, asking, “Is this what you wanted? Something a little more private?” His voice deepened to a growl again at the last few words.

You nodded quickly, making yourself dizzy although the car was already spinning. You pulled his lips back onto yours, grabbing at his signature jean jacket for balance as much as to pull him in. You made out, and it was hot.

You started trying to pull off his jacket when you missed and tried to grab the seatback, but fell from your precariously balanced position onto the carseat. Giggles erupted from your mouth as you struggled to breathe and he just looked at you for a second. “Are you okay darlin’?”

Even you, in your inebriated state, could see that he had gotten softer, not as passionate. You closed your eyes for a second and felt wildly nauseous, opening them up quickly. You tried to nod, but suddenly the slight throbbing in your head that you thought was the music became a raucous smashing. You reached for his shirt again, not saying anything, as you weren’t entirely sure you could.

He pushed your hand back down and helped you sit back up. You watched him look at you critically. Suddenly, you felt embarrassed, let down, and very very sick. He put his hand on your back gently and you pushed off from him, slamming open the car door as you vomited onto the ground. Oh god, that was awful, but at least you felt a bit better. You also figured he would kick you out the moment you stopped, but his hand went back to your back. He started rubbing in soothing circles as you vomited again, sobering up fairly quickly.

You sat there for a second, half your body out of the car, and your face flushed red. Embarrassment ran through you, white hot, making you want to start bawling and screaming simultaneously. You had made out with Billy Hargrove, only to puke outside of the side of his car and humiliate yourself for the rest of your life. Surely, on Monday, every student and their mother would know about the nobody who got so drunk she couldn’t even make out with him. 

“Really, are you okay?”

Slowly, not wanting to upset your body anymore, you glanced at him again. Your glassy orbs met his and you hated how perfect he looked. Blonde hair mussy, shirt open showing his Adonis-like body, and blue-green eyes staring into yours. You could feel your hair stick to your head from sweating and couldn’t imagine what your mouth smelled like. Oh god.

“Hey, wait just a second,” he murmured and you thought once more he would boot you out of the car. He lurched forward and grabbed some napkins from his glove box, handing them to you gently, before also sliding you a mint. He chuckled a bit as your eyes widened and eyebrows furrowed, expecting anything but this from the school’s resident jackass. “A bit too much liquor, eh?”

He sat back, the two of you now sitting quietly in his back seat and you felt your face flush once more, your senses having mostly returned. You cleaned yourself up the best you could, before you turned back to him. He was just watching you, and you stuttered out, “Hey, I am so sorry for this. Just forget it ever happened, I’ll be going.”

You headed for the door before he grabbed for your hand, he called back, “I don’t mind.” Silence, you avoiding his gaze while he searched for yours as you debated just running away from Hawkins and never looking back. He added, “I don’t think I’ve seen you before, not a party-er?”

Gears in your head ground against each other, trying to process that the most popular boy in school was trying to talk with you after you had made out with him, tried to get with him, and then puked out the side of his car. You retorted, “Yeah, I guess for a reason as we both can see.”

The two of you shared a quiet laugh and you added, “You can kick me out anytime you know.”

He laughed again, before shaking his head, “Nah, kinda nice not having to be around those shit-head morons.”

A surprised chuckle escaped your throat as your mouth lay agape, “I’m sorry, I thought those kind of people were who you liked to spend time with?”

“Bunch of artificial assholes, boring.” He looked back to you, and for the first time in a few minutes, your gaze met. And you stared at each other.

“What do you do anyway, when your not failing to hold your liquor?” You grimaced, head still throbbing, and you looked at him. “I have hobbies besides partying, something I’m not sure you can understand. I like to sing, and read books, and just act like an idiot with my friends, but we don’t always need to get drunk for that.”

He sighed, and looked down, all the while nodding. “Yeah I guess, it can be an escape though, you know?”

Woah, who was this and what had he done with Billy Hargrove, King of Hawkins, basketball star, badass with an ass? Was he serious? 

He gave a bitter laugh, before responding, “It doesn’t matter anyways, who the fuck here actually gives a shit.”

It wasn’t a question, but a statement and you couldn’t help but stare at him, wanting to see his eyes. He was glaring at his car’s carpet and your hands got clammy as you tried to think of what to say to him. He suddenly seemed upset, but not angry, like, melancholic? “I dunno, some people care, it just takes a while to find the right ones,” you wanted to encourage him.

More silence. After a while he murmured, “Maybe some people just can’t be cared about.”

Your heart broke. If someone had told you at the beginning of today you would be trying to comfort Billy fucking Hargrove after making out with him and getting sick in his car, you would’ve sent them to an institution. But here you were. Your hand reached for his back and he immediately straightened up, pushing you off.

“And some don’t want to be,” he looked forward before looking back at your unsure, frozen form. You could see him set his jaw and saw his eyes slowly lose their glisten. And you both just stared again. He had just cried, no, screamed out for help and you just sat there watching. You whispered, “And maybe those are the people that need it the most.”

You reached for his hand. He tried to move, but you held his as firmly as you could, trying to squeeze some sense into him. 

Suddenly he slammed open his car door, moving his way to the front and settling in the driver’s seat. He waited a few moments before looking back at you and calling, “You gonna come up here or do I have to grab your ass?”

You shook your head, and quickly got out, moving to the passenger’s seat per his request. He revved the car, turning on the radio, Aerosmith screaming back at you. He shouted over the radio, “Where should I drop you off?”

You started to shake your head before he cut you off, “None of that bullshit, where are you going?” 

You bit your lip again, before telling him Claire’s address. The two of you drove in silence, him staring violently ahead at the road and you stealing glances at him out of the corner of your eye. It was strange to say the least, but in a few minutes, you were outside Claire’s.

Both of you looked at each other as he parked. The Billy you had seen a few minutes earlier was gone and suddenly he was King Billy again. “Well that was very sweet of you. Thank you.”

He shrugged it off, “Don’t mention it, seriously. I’ve got a reputation.”

You laughed, seeing through his walls suddenly and acted without thinking. You leaned in, grabbing his jaw gently kissing him on the cheek. Quietly, you told him, “I care Billy.”

With that, you hurried out of the car, not looking back, and ran to Claire’s door. You opened up the door, getting inside as he sped off, tires squealing and music immediately blaring again. What a night.