#threads ( bree brown )

[janatm]

need you to talk to me in your love language || BRAKE

tagging: Jake Puckerman ( @trinityhq ) & Bree Brown

date & time: Thursday, November 28, 2024 at night after thanksgiving dinner

location: Bree's fancy ass apartment

warnings: none!

summary: After the Thanksgiving festivities at Puck's place, Jake and Bree head back to Bree;s place and they say what needs to be said. But the real question is how bad is the fight going to be after? Will they break up? Or will they finally hget this communication thing right.

word count: 3,826

JAKE was pleasantly surprised that Thanksgiving dinner was such a success, and lacked any real drama, but that was about to go down the drain, he was sure of it. Since the lockdown, him and Bree had essentially been dancing around their argument, and while he would have liked to chalk it up to them just being delirious in the middle of that disgusting, smelly cafeteria, he knew better. They said their goodbyes to his family, Morgan, and the Lopezes before they headed out, and he didn't even complain as Bree's car came to pick them up. The ride back to her place didn't take very long, and to say he wasn't getting anxious about this talk would be quite the understatement. They'd gone down this road countless times before, and it usually ended in them breaking up, but he was trying to be more mature now. Or at least he'd attempt to. As soon as he tugged his girl into her apartment, he kicked his shoes off by the door and then decided against taking anything else off since he didn't want to give Bree the wrong idea. "Baby girl, we need to talk." He stated as he walked over to sit down on the couch. The last thing he needed was for them to get sidetracked, which very well could happen any second, so he knew what he had to do. "Remember that fight we had in lockdown? After you saw me with your phone and I said I was trying to like hack into something?" He rambled before shaking his head. "I lied. I was going through your texts, and before you get mad, just...hear me out. I really did get a vibe from you and that one girl, and I knew you weren't gonna tell me anything, so I wanted to see for myself. I know it was wrong, but considering that I saw shit about you two going on a date and her saying some lovey dovey shit to you, my feelings and actions are slightly valid."

BREE had been thoroughly surprised by the sheer lack of drama. I mean, Thanksgiving is the holiday of drama and yet. Despite Puck, Morgan and Eva all being in the same space, with Noel, mind you, nothing. At least, nothing she'd heard about yet but she would have to see what Maya sent her tomorrow. For now, it almost seemed like Jakes suggestion of staying out of it because they can work it out themselves, wasn't ridiculous. It might even be a solid suggestion. Not that she would ever tell him that. It's best he doesn't think, she thinks, he has good suggestions. Even they were doing well, no serious fights, in what must be, a record amount of time. They had a nice ride back to her place and she intended on keeping it that way, with sex. Truthfully, she had been maybe, kind of, using sex as a way to avoid the conversation that was looming over their heads. Look, don't judge her, their conversation always ended in Jake pissing her off and then her pissing him off and if they didn't break up, they were petty and snarky at each other for two weeks, and things had just been so... peaveful. Ever since his mother showed up she felt closer to him and she didn't want to take those two steps forward just to end up eight steps back because of a conversation. So when they made it up to her apartment, she had planned on just stripping as soon as possible but before she could even get both of her shoes off he had beaten her too it. Baby girl, we need to talk. Sighing, she finished taking her shoes off. I can still save this, if I can just get my top off- her thoughts were cut off by Jake bringing up lockdown. Before she could even answer he was admitting to lying and she was already starting to see red. But then he kept going, because of course he did and she actually did hear him out. Unfortunately, it just agitated her more. "How are you going to say I wouldn't have told you anything when you didn't even bother asking to give me the opportunity to tell you anything?" She asked her voice slightly raised, already. "And if you know it was wrong, why are you already trying to absolve yourself of any responsibility! Your feelings are you feelings, fine, but your actions were absolutely not valid. Not slightly, not at all." She looked at him, livid because why was she being monitored like she was the one with a history of cheating in this relationship? Calming herself down with some deep, deep, breathing, she paced the length of her couch as she tried not to beat his ass for violating her privacy like that and then having the nerve to claim it was valid! After a minute of so she stopped pacing and just looked at him, unable to had the agitation but also sadness in her eyes. "Jake, if you can't talk to me about stuff like that, if you can't trust me to be honest with you then how is this relationship ever going to work?"

JAKE had known they were avoiding this for far too long, but that avoidance had given him ample time to accept his fault, come to terms with it, stand by his decision, but also recognize that he was wrong and that Bree was going to be pissed — and rightfully so. It was going to lead to a fight, which he was semi-prepared for now, so as soon as Bree started speaking, he simply leaned back against the couch and let her go off, nodding along as he listened to her and accepted that she was 100% right. She was usually right, and attractive as hell, when she was scolding him for something, but this time he wasn't going to get mad or just start snapping back. Instead, he kept his eyes on his woman, letting her get out every single thing she felt. Once she finally seemed to calm down and asked him a fair ass question, Jake sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not justifying what I did, and I take full responsibility for betraying your trust, again. As much as I'd like to say being stuck in that sweaty, smelly cafeteria for so long just made me delirious, I can admit that my own insecurities drove me to do what I did." He admitted with a sigh. "And I did ask you about it afterwards, and you lied like there was nothing there, they were just like family or whatever. And then what, a week later I look on that stupid website and you're admitting that you used to be in love with one of them. It doesn't excuse what I did, not at all, but all you ever do is interrogate me about what and who I've done, yet you don't tell me shit either." He pointed out. Honestly, how they were still here and in love, he didn't know, but clearly they had some work to do. "You don't trust me either, and ignoring our problems isn't helping, so...we need to talk, Bree."

BREE usually matched Jake's energy. If he was chill and calm and mature then she would be too, but for some reason right now, she was still adamant on not doing this. A part of her brain was convinced, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that she could turn this around. "I don't want to talk. Every time we talk we fight and then we break up or you say you just can't do this right now, which feels like a break up, or I block you just to text you again after a week and..." She trailed off as she brain caught up with her mouth. "...and we never talk about it. So our problems stay problems and we always end up right back here." She said that more for herself than Jake, but she could at least appreciate what her boyfriend was trying to do. Break that unending cycle and actually work through their issues so they can grow. Exhaling out a big breath she stopped her pacing again and shrugged her jacket off before hanging it off the back of the couch. Slightly agitated that he was right, Bree held back an eye roll in favor of participating in this conversation. "I didn't lie to you, Jake. There isn't anything there. She is like family to me, all of them are. I was in love with her, in high school and we fooled around but she never felt the same. By the time my first year of college ended I wasn't in love with her anymore." It hadn't even really dawned on her that she hadn't told him about any of that because it felt so far away but she could see how it would be jarring to just read about it on the internet. "In september she asked me out, you had just dumped me or whatever you want to call it, and that dude had just offered me literal money to have sex with me and in general, the whole dating scene had been more than disappointing since we broke up the first time. I just didn't feel very good about myself. I knew I could trust her to make me feel good again without her having any expectations or feeling entitled to anything. So, I accepted her date. We did kiss and then she asked me out for a second date. I said yes, but then she told me you could see herself falling in love with me and that she wanted to take her and I seriously. I told her I couldn't because I was already in love with you and that I didn't see that changing. We watched the movie she took me to see and that was the end of it." She finally finished and she found herself leaning againt her couch next to Jake as she looked at him.

JAKE was about to interrupt when Bree recanted how most of their fights usually went down, which was spot on, but he chose to stay silent for now. With their fight and the unsaid bullshit lingering in the air for over a month now, he had already planned to cut off the sex if they didn't solve this now. It would be almost impossible to hold out, but he also knew that as long as they were physical in other ways, he could manage without letting Bree think that he didn't love her, like what had happened before. But for the sake of this not turning out how all of their fights did, he remained quiet again, and sure enough, Bree started to explain things this time without downplaying it. He wasn't surprised that his suspicions were right and that there had been something there, and now it made sense why he felt like one of those weirdos was eye-fucking his girl in the cafeteria. He could be humble about being right later, but he let Bree continue before he turned a little to face her. "Fine, you didn't lie, but you left it out. Being in that cafeteria with you and them was the first time I'd ever actually seen you all together, so it was just a lot and I got suspicious seeing someone else eyeing you like that." He stated and shrugged. "I'm sorry. I should have just asked you about it instead of going through your phone." Jake admitted before he reached over and grabbed his girl's hand, pulling her right into his lap. "And for what it's worth, I didn't hide the whole sleeping with my friend thing from you, I just forgot. It was a quickie after we both vented about our exes, and then she ran back to her boy the next day, and it wasn't memorable so it honestly slipped my mind. That's the only reason I didn't tell you about it." He stated reassuringly. "But are we gonna talk about you sleeping with her boyfriend? 'Cause I thought there was only one white boy in the picture but then there was another one? We need to talk about your tastes, Bree." He teased.

BREE hadn't really thought about how, because their relationship was a secret the first time around, Jake hadn't seen her with anyone other than himself or whoever her parents had her publicly interacting with. It was the first time she was considering how, jarring, it probably was to see her so comfortable and loving toward someone that wasn't him. Which was her own fault, she should never have had their relationship so separate from everyone in her life. Letting herself get pulled into his lap, she leaned into him and instantly felt more comfortable than she had ever felt while they were- well they weren't actually fighting, which was shocking. Lord knows they had fought, and would fight, over a whole lot less. But right now, she wasn't mad. Is this what maturing felt like? Normally this explanation would sound like a really terrible excuse but she believes with everything in her, that sex with Ellie would be extremely easy to forget. Holding back a smile, she bit her bottom lip at his critism of her choice in sexual partners. "My tastes, as always, are immaculate. Because neither one of them count. I didn't chose Shep, so he can't be held against me and not to pull a you but I immediately forgot Miles even existed, let alone that I'd slept with him, until I saw him in lockdown." Before he could protest, she placed a sweet kiss on his lips. "Besides, I only slept with them because I was trying not to sleep with you. Which I was not successful in." She admitted, remembering how quickly she folded for him at that damn mixer. "Anyway, you're the only one I've wanted since the night we met. So you don't need to worry about anyone elses eyes on me. You never did." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

JAKE wasn't surprised that Bree didn't expect his list to be so short, but she shrugged anyways. "To be honest, after that shit you pulled at the mixer, I did intend on there being a lot more. But then I met Puck and Maya, moved in with them, and pointless sex wasn't really that important anymore." He had pretty much said this to Bree before, and he had meant it aside from forgetting the thing with Ellie, so at least now she knew everything. When Bree started explaining her own shit, he wasn't even sure how to feel about there being 'several women' that had apparently been with his girl, or the fact that 'several' seemed to imply that Bree had slept with more people than even he had. For how much shit she gave him even when they weren't back together, it was a little shocking that she'd clearly been busier than he had been. But when she revealed two of the women she'd slept with, Jake's eyes widened. "You slept with my friend?" He scoffed. "The woman has literally tatted my entire body, I wing woman for her, and you're telling me you slept with her months ago and both of you just said nothing?" He gasped. "And then you slept with my brother's baby mama? The same one who we now see regularly? What the fuck, Bree?"

BREE had already known that Jake chose to prioritize his new found family but she had been telling herself that he was lying. Because that made it easier for her to justify not talking to him or working through her own feelings about their relationship, how it was, how it ended and how quickly it started up again after she saw him at that mixer. Being mad at him became her armor, and at first it had felt good but eventually it just made her miserable. Ultimately, she had been hypocritical in interrogating him about every woman he even looked like he might have spoken to, while she was actively sleeping with pretty much everyone who showed an interest. Which is why when he eye went wide and she knew he was judging her, she didn't stop him or defend herself. It was wrong of her to sleep with his friend, and while she hadn't been thinking about that at the time, hell she hadn't even known, she should have said something as soon as she figured it out but instead she kept it to herself. Santana, well, that was several levels of bad. "I know. I know. I should've told you, I didn't know when I slept with them who they were to you but eventually I did and I just... I was scared that you wouldn't forgive me and that I'd lose you." That was most of the truth, but since they were doing this, she might as well give the whole truth. He probably already knew anyway. "I also didn't want to be the bad guy. But I was the bad guy and I should have take accountability for that." That fear started to rise up, that this would be the thing that broke them. That she would be the one to ruin it beyond repair. "Can you forgive me?" She asked, her eyes big and pleading.

JAKE didn't even know how to process all of this right at the moment, not with Bree sitting on his lap and seeming mostly genuine with her explanation and her pleas. If there was one thing going around, it was people sleeping with friends or whatever of the people they were dating or fucking, so he figured it made sense that she'd ended up in bed with people that had some sort of tie to him. And he could be pissed, sure, but they were in a better place, so why should he take them back to square one? Staring back into her eyes at her question, he sighed. "You know, it's not so much that you're being the bad guy when you eventually come clean." He pointed out. "I believe you. About not knowing who they were beforehand." He nodded. Had he wished she'd said something when she realized it? Obviously. But it was done and they were here now, so he just shrugged. "I forgive you. But starting today, we are done keeping secrets. If we're gonna do this and try to make this work, we have to be completely honest with one another at all times." It was a big ask for them, but Jake knew that at this point, they truly had no other choice if they were getting back together — officially, anyways. "Is there anyone else I specifically need to know about? Did you sleep with Morgan, Eva, Noel, my sister, anyone else related to any of us?" He questioned curiously. "And just so we're clear, I haven't." He confirmed.

BREE felt an immense sense of relief as he said he forgave her and she could tell he meant it. This mature side of Jake was incredibly endearing and it was motivating. Not that she would admit to being immature, but she was petty and manipulative and passive aggressive and she could be cold, she wasn't called the ice queen for nothing. But this whole, mature, honest and forgiving Jake was really bringing out her own maturity and warmth and joy. So, when he said they needed to keep up this energy for the duration of their relationship, she found herself immediately nodding in agreement. "Yes, sir." She said with a smile as she kissed his cheek. "Morgan is basically another older brother, so ew definitely not. In the spirit of honesty, I tried to sleep with Eva, even took her class but then the whole throuple thing happened. I've met Noel like twice and the extent of my communication with Ali is her sending me memes I do not understand. As for anyone else..." Leaning back a little to think about his question, she knew it probably looked some kind of way that she couldn't immediately say no, but she just wanted to run through the list of people to make sure. "No, I have no slept with anyone else related to you or our inner circle." Leaning in again, she kissed him. "I just wanted to get over you and when not talking to you didn't work I thought sleeping around in front of your face would. It didn't, obviously and it just made me miss you more, to be honest. Which was very embarrassing to me. Point is, I'm sorry for being a bitch after the whole mixer hook up thing. In the future, I'll just talk to you or let you talk instead of cutting you out and then trying to use you for sex or whatever I was doing."

JAKE nodded at the kiss to his cheek. He didn't know if they could truly stick to being honest with one another but for once, he was fucking tired of their back and forth bickering and wanted to try and make it work as best as he could now. Maybe it was he fact that they'd argued more than enough in the last six months, but his change of heart was here to stay, mostly. When Bree started going through the list of people in his circle that she hadn't slept with, he wasn't surprised that she'd tried to sleep with Eva. Hell, he would have if not for his brother tapping that first. Accepting another kiss, he nodded. "For starters, Ali's memes or even her texts will never make sense. I think she's cleaned up her act but my sister's...my sister. And I can't blame you for trying to sleep with Eva, but let's just not sleep with anyone connected to each other ever again." It was fair, and it would hopefully keep them in a good place so why not? "Babe, you can stop apologizing for that. I forgave you a long time ago, especially since you kept letting me tap that ass anyways." Jake winked. "But I'm sorry for everything I did too, baby. And now that we've cleared everything up, we are in fact not ending this how you expected us to: no fighting, and no more breaking up. I'd ask you for your opinion, but as of now, we are officially back together and it's staying that way. Even if we do fight after tonight, oh well — we can take some time to get some air and cool off, but no more breaking up." Jake decided as she playfully slapped Bree's ass. "Now, if we're done talking, we can go have sex. All night long."

[multifairyus]

Hobie and Grandma Brown Headcannons

Shout out to @brown-spider for their recent post on Hobie’s family and Grandma headcannon. These are questions that need answers and it’s been stewing in my mind so here goes my first contribution to the fandom:

I personally headcannon Hobie to be Jamaican British. The silly reason is cuz Bree Runway's ATM works with it, the interesting reason is him knowing/speaking Patois to a select few of the resistance members...the language was made in resistance, so it makes sense to me thematically?

Anyway his Grandma (or another older woman he is protective of but I want him to have familial community) is somewhere relatively safe in his universe. And he stops by to drop off groceries, check in and get a plate since she couldn't eat it all himself and he's still too skinny!

I like the idea that Grandma is aware and accepting of his alternative look. Maybe one of the few from his family/culture who does.

If she's SUPER cool then she deffo made him one of those crochet crop tops oh what a SLAY??

Imagine him swinging in a fight with the Arachkids in summer or something in a punk crochet fit?! "oh this? Grahhny made it for me. She even put a 'lil spider in there too. Special innit??" And he is just CHEESING

Though, I do also like the idea of Hobie taking out a few of his piercings when he goes to see her, out of respect. Mans does not do authority, or consistency, or respectability politics….but that's his Grandma mate!! She’d have a heart attack if she saw all that, what do you want from him?!

(Side note on alternative Hobie accessories… Hobie with glasses, reading some Audrey Lorde..? Just thought I'd drop that gem for the fan artists to consider)

But he more so “tones down” his look cuz doesn't want his sharp edges and lose ends of his get up to mess with the litter of fiber arts works she has in her tiny flat.

As a punk Hobie's no stranger to DIY and crafting. Wouldn't be surprised if the rebellious attitude was handed down alongside the thread and needles.

I think him having an ongoing project he works on with her with her like a quilt would be SO sweet 🥹 The telly droning about the “Spider-Punk' fellow but neither of them listening, just absorbed in their work and the other's company ❤️

[breelandwalker]

Hello Bree!

Any advice how to dispose of my babies first haircut hair safely? I am afraid to do something and accidentally curse them 😩

Many thanks 😊

The good news is that curses don't happen by accident. They require deliberation and a certain amount of OOMPH to make them happen. You're not going to accidentally curse your child by tossing some swept-up hair into the trash instead of putting it into a keepsake envelope or suchlike.

That being said, I would recommend keeping a few curls if you'd like, as a memento or in case you'd like to use them for healing or protection magic later on. Generally speaking, I'd advise against burning or flushing the hair, since those are commonly-used disposal methods for baneful spells. Doing so wouldn't be an automatic curse, but I can't imagine it would be helpful.

When I was a kid, my mother used to put my hair trimmings out into our backyard, especially in the spring and summer, for the birds to use in making their nests. I found at least one or two nests in our neighborhood every year that contained little threads of honey-brown and I was always pleased to think that my cast-off hair was helping to keep the little baby birds warm.

Nowadays, if I don't keep my trimmings for gardening or magical reasons, I generally let them sit for a few days and then toss them with the garbage. There's no tradition or rule I know of that requires trimmings to sit before being discarded, that's just a personal preference. To me, it feels like it gives my essence some time to leave.

In mundane spheres, hair is swept up and discarded all the time in salons and barber shops, and to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever been accidentally cursed by this practice. So you should be fine.

Blessings on your sweet little one and I hope this helps!

[little-peril-stories]

The Prince of Thieves: As Good as Gold, and Better: Part II

Contains: annoying children; annoying men; social pressure to kiss under the mistletoe

Previous | TPOT Masterlist | Next | Read on Ao3 instead

Word count: 4000 || Approx reading time: 17 mins

Easier to understand if you've read Are You Nobody, Too?

As Good as Gold, and Better: Part II

Teaser: I can feel a gaze burning into my back, but when I turn, Henry is distracted, talking to one of his idiot friends. Sure I’m going to find Colette watching me from over her book, I glance to the corner. It’s not a stare of deep, coffee-coloured brown that’s on me, though, but a hazel-eyed one instead.

Bree

The deal is thus: one more round of preparatory Christmas baking to keep our patrons well-fed and smiling on Christmas Day, and then I am permitted to join the hullabaloo out on the floor, where everyone is busy decorating the tree Will, Jamie, Geoff, and Allan brought inside. (Well, if the way they barrelled through the door is to be believed, the former three did the hauling of the actual tree, and Allan was the one who ended up carrying all their stuff, including Will’s coat that he oh-so-wisely doffed despite the cold wind and the snow.)

I make it out of the kitchen to see Stella loudly warning the children staying at the inn that no one is to put any candles on the tree branches, and just because the fancy trees owned by rich families and royalty bear gleaming, brightly lit flames does not mean that she has to do the same. How would we all like it, she barks, if the entire inn caught fire and we were all thrown out in the snow for our own safety in the dead of night?

Even Celeste doesn’t try to stem Stella’s tirade; none of us, as it turns out, wants to burn to death on Christmas Eve, and no one puts up a fight on the matter.

“Ah, here’s Lucy now,” Celeste says, waving me over. “These lovely little lads and lasses are going to make us some beautiful ornaments to hang upon the tree. Isn’t that right, children?” She points to the table, now strewn with all the coloured paper, scissors, needles and thread, and other decorating paraphernalia.

An excitable chorus of agreement swells around us, making me smile until Celeste finishes, “And Miss Lucy’s here to keep an eye on you and help you, all right?”

Across the room, Victoria, who’s obviously listening, presses her hand to her mouth in genuine pity as mine drops open.

“How wonderful,” I manage to say. The first barrage of little hands is already tugging at my skirt.

Celeste smiles sympathetically—not quite sympathetically enough to take over the task herself, though, of course. I suppose someone does need to ensure things are running smoothly around the inn and she is perhaps a bit old to be minding little ones…but still.

“I’ll be around if you need me,” she says, which does not offer me much comfort. “Don’t let the really young ones touch the scissors or the needles.”

“You’re responsible for wiping their tears and cleaning up the blood if you do,” Stella says, whizzing past with a broom and disappearing again.

Great.

As I’m about to let myself fall into self-pity looking at the crowd of children—every single one vying for my attention—and wonder where all their parents are, I notice that a blue-eyed gaze is watching me from across the room.

“What?” I mouth impatiently. I don’t have time for Henry’s nonsense on a good day—certainly not when I’m going to spend the next two hours stringing dried apples and popcorn into garlands, or folding paper into stars and flowers while being shrieked at by a horde of children.

Instead of trying to answer through all the chaos, he just holds something up into the air.

Oh, he’s lucky I’m not anywhere close to him right now, because I am holding a very sharp pair of scissors and he ought to be very, very grateful I can’t drive them right into his hand.

Dangling from his hand: a bouquet of greenery tied in a red ribbon. Soft green leaves, thin stalks, and brilliant, round berries as white as the snow that coats the ground outside.

“Absolutely not,” I shout across the room, forgetting myself, and he flashes me that asshole grin of his. “Get it out of here!”

Colette, who is pretending to read Dickens while she coolly observes the pandemonium from the corner where she’s sitting with the others, notices me yelling and follows my gaze to Henry Bailey and his goddamn sprigs of mistletoe. Her eyebrows move upwards.

Unfortunately, the bombardment of, “Miss Lucy! Miss Lucy!” grows to be too much then, and now I have to actually be grateful to be surrounded by all the little Christmas goblins who need to me to do everything for them, because as long as I’m being climbed on by five-year-olds, Henry can’t get anywhere near me with his stupid plant or his stupid mouth.

“All right,” I say, clapping my hands in a weak attempt to look like I know how to command the attention of children. “Shall we begin?”

I can feel a gaze burning into my back, but when I turn, Henry is distracted, talking to one of his idiot friends. Sure I’m going to find Colette watching me from over her book, I glance to the corner. It’s not a stare of deep, coffee-coloured brown that’s on me, though, but a hazel-eyed one instead.

 One kid ends up on the floor and makes me yelp when she crawls right under my skirt, between my legs, all rosy-cheeked and giggling.

“Right! No, thank you!” I tug her to her feet and catch Victoria leaning against the wall, giggling helplessly at my plight. She’s supposed to be untangling the existing garlands, I think, and she’s got part of one hanging over her shoulder, but apparently my suffering is an endless well of amusement. Maybe this was her duty last year, before I was hired, and she is sympathetic but relieved to be free of it. Maybe this is some sort of rite of passage I need to survive. Somehow.

I take the little girl by the hand and guide her to the table. “What about a star?” I ask her uncertainly. “Does that sound fun?”

She gives some sort of incoherent babbling in response and reaches for the coloured paper and a pencil. With her attention on that, I can move on to the next squealing child.

There are a few older kids, thank goodness, that I pass some of the duties to, getting them to cut paper snowflakes and stars for the younger ones while I thread needles and fold paper into roses. Well…try to.

“Hey. Let us help.”

It’s so loud in here, I almost miss it. Maybe I did miss the first few times they said it, because Colette just elbows her way in and sits down, directing Will to do the same on the other side of me.

“Let me fold,” she says, not-at-all-subtly biting back a laugh and taking my sorry attempt at paper foliage right out of my hands. “You do the other stuff.”

Well. If she wants to suffer through that, I’m not going to take the opportunity away from her. I’ll happily relinquish that responsibility.

“I can do this,” Will says, picking up one of the threaded needles. He must be able to read the question in my raised eyebrows, because he says, “Hey! It’s not that hard. And I can sew. Sort of. Now. Kind of.”

Next to me, Colette snorts.

“It’s not real sewing, anyway, though, is it?” He’s going a little red, but the look on his face is earnest.

I pluck the needle from his hand. “I think I have a better idea.”

I’ll take care of making the garlands with the “help” of some of the little ones. He can be the one to lift them up and stand them on chairs sturdily enough that they don’t fall and break their necks or knock over anything that might shatter while they add their decorations to the tree.

“Brave,” Colette murmurs once we’ve set him doing that, “but pretty smart.”

“Brave?” I repeat, wincing. How is this needle so dull? This is the eighth time I’ve accidentally stabbed myself trying to string popcorn.

She nods toward Will. “Well, smart to have him do that so you don’t have to do all the heavy lifting.”

She grins conspiratorially, and I can’t help but match it. “Was it that obvious?”

“No. I just know you’re clever. Like me.” She laughs. “And brave to trust him with—well, with anything.”

My answer slips out so fast, I’ve said it before I’ve even thought it through. The words just fall out. “Of course I trust him. I trust him with my—”

The needle bites into my finger again, and I stop, hissing and checking for blood.

Still smiling, she concentrates on her folding and twisting and doesn’t give an answer.

For a few minutes, anyway.

“And Goldilocks?” She nods across the room, and I peer out through the chaos, trying to find who she means. “You trust him?”

It takes me a moment to realize who she’s talking about: a grinning, loud-mouthed figure who’s got Stella’s glare on him as well as mine and Colette’s.

Goldilocks. She’s calling Henry Goldilocks. I almost fall off my chair, giggling and silently resolving to bring the name into our next practice session to see what he says.

“Oh, he’s harmless,” I tell her when I can speak again. “I mean, he’s shameless. A ridiculous flirt.”

“You don’t say,” she says drily.

I bite my lip. Sounds like he’s tried at least a little to get her attention, too, albeit unsuccessfully. “Yeah. He’s an idiot. But he knows it, at least. And he’s all right when you get to know him. Just…irritating.”

“Are you actually friends with him?” she asks, incredulous.

“I suppose so,” I say, thinking of a bruise I’ve got on my hip from our last morning session that I still need to pay him back for.

“So you trust him, too.”

Trust him? I must, considering all the times I’ve put my bodily well-being in his hands. “Well, I suppose I trust him enough.” I shoot a dirty look his way, though, at the reminder of what new instrument of annoyance he’s brought into the inn. “I wasn’t expecting the mistletoe, though.”

“Want me to set him straight for you?”

A funny thing happens deep behind my ribcage at her words. “No…no, I can handle him. I promise.” At this, I almost want to cry, although I expect it would look strange to see me weeping into a bowl of dried oranges and popcorn just because she offered to get Henry to lay off and quit bothering me. Because maybe Colette, even just a bit, sort of cares. “But I appreciate it. Really.”

“Just say the word,” she says, leaning over a paper carnation. “He looks like he’d be fun to smack around if he stepped out of line.”

“He is,” I joke back without thinking.

Colette’s head snaps back up.

“I mean…” Shit. “You know. Telling him to back off. And stuff.”

I don’t know why I’m keeping the lessons a secret from her. I’m pretty sure she knows how to fight. She probably wouldn’t think it strange. But I find my gaze pulled to another figure in the room, all freckles and flailing elbows and big grins, and I have to wonder what he’d think if she went and told him. Not that it matters, of course. It doesn’t. But still. I wonder. Just a little.

Colette gives me a look that says she knows very well what it looks like when people are keeping secrets, but she doesn’t press the matter.

After a cursory look at the little ones to make sure no one has a sharp tool who shouldn’t have one, and no one’s crying, fighting, or making more of a mess than expected, I put my attention back on Will. I didn’t really know what I was doing when I told him to help the children put their ornaments on the tree, but he’s doing a splendid job, so much that I almost want to let my hands fall still so I can keep watching him. He’s got this great silly smile on his face every time he kneels down to talk to one of them, and even though they’re so much smaller, none of them seem the slightest bit frightened. One of the little girls—of course, it’s the one with personal space issues, the one who crawled under my legs earlier—even leaps into his arms out of sheer excitement to put her messily drawn star as high upon the tree as she can reach.

As she stretches her arm and hangs it near the top, Will looks over here too, and I’m caught staring.

Stupidly, I wave at him, not sure what else to do since it’s too late to look away, and he grins, holding my gaze with those sparkling eyes for a few extra moments before he has to bring the girl back down to the ground.

“You all right?” Colette asks lightly, and I realize one of my hands has come to rest over my heart, which is pounding in a most unseemly and ridiculous way.

“Yes,” I say quickly, reaching for another slice of dried orange. “I’m just getting tired. It’s been a busy day.”

She gives me that look again.

“I didn’t know Will liked kids,” I say.

She glances over at him, a little smile on her lips. “Why wouldn’t he? He’s nothing but a big kid himself.”

And to be fair, he seems to be having the time of his life, bouncing around and making them “fly” a little when they ask for it and laughing at the same silly things they all find amusing. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right,” she says, and she winks.

I don’t expect there will be any Christmas gifts under that tree for me tomorrow, but, even so, it sure feels like I’ve got something else, something that can’t be wrapped up in a box and ribbon. Something I didn’t have before.

And like mulled wine, warm and comforting and steeped in spices that taste like home, gratitude spills over me—for smiles and company and maybe, just maybe, newly forged friendship.

***

The other three have been hiding out in the corner for through most of the decorating, but when it comes time to crown the tree with the star, Stella takes one look around the room and lands a stare on Geoff. “You. Get over here.”

There’s only a split second of him staring back at her in surprise, and then, at the sound of Colette bursting into laughter, and at the unbudging resolution in Stella’s voice, he rises and crosses the room.

“Wow,” says one of the children, practically bug-eyed. “He’s tall.”

“I know,” Celeste says with a laugh. “That’s why we need him.”

The little girl from before, who seems to have finally found her harried-looking mother, bursts away and darts toward Geoff. “Can I do it? Please? Please? Please?”

Geoff stands helplessly, clearly not knowing what to do while she dances around him, pleading to be the one to put the star on the top of the tree. A glance at Will shows that he’s almost toppled to the floor, shaking with silent laughter, and another at Jamie shows that he has his arms crossed and is merely watching with a smile. He doesn’t notice me staring, but gives Geoff an encouraging nod.

“That okay?” Geoff asks the girl’s mother, voice low but uncertain, almost nervous.

She looks him up and down, obviously wary of his gruffness and his ridiculous height, but the daughter is clinging to his hands now, jumping up and down, and the mother has no choice but to say, “Well, all right then. If you’ll—um—if you’ll be careful.”

The girl squeals with delight as Celeste hands her the star and Geoff lifts her into the air, no step-ladder needed.

“Perfect,” Celeste says when the star is glinting atop the tree, and after Geoff has taken a moment to straighten it from the slightly drunken posture it was left in by the girl. Even Stella looks genuinely happy. She doesn’t bat Celeste’s hands away when they come to rest upon her—one on her shoulder, the other with fingers entwined with hers.

I peek back at the others, curious to see their reactions to the loveliness of the tree they chose, adorned and glittering. Will’s grinning, although for some reason he glances a few times at the clock; Jamie looks content; Allan is distracted by tending to someone’s kid who got a pine needle stick under his fingernail; Geoff is trying to slink back to Jamie’s side without being noticed; and Colette’s given up her reading ruse entirely, now openly watching Stella and Celeste with undisguised interest. It’s clear from how she’s always watching everything that goes on around here that her old habits from being IA’s information-gatherer are taking their sweet time to fade away.

“Hey, Miss Lucy.”

And, of course, now there’s this voice interrupting my thoughts.

“Yes, Mr. Bailey? What can I do for you?” Turning around brings me face to face with his red waistcoat, and I tilt my head up to frown at him, suspicious. “Where is it?”

“Where’s what?” he asked, all innocence.

“You know what.” I cross my arms. “Your damn mistletoe.”

“What damn mistletoe?”

“Henry.”

He flashes me that stupid, stupid grin. “You mean this?”

All around us, the older kids burst into cries, giggles, and oohs when he pulls it from behind his back and dangles it over my head. The younger ones don’t seem to know what it means, but buoyed by the infuriating enthusiasm of their older siblings, they join in on the excited squalling.

“We had a deal,” I say, trying to keep smiling for the sake of these goddamn children and no one else.

“Ah, yeah. We did. I recall.” But he’s still smirking. “This, though. It’s a Christmas tradition! Nothing more. And you don’t want to spit in the face of tradition, do you?”

“I hate you,” I say through gritted teeth.

He laughs, damn him. “No, you don’t.”

The kids are all shrieking now, like they’ve never seen mistletoe before, which cannot possibly be true. With my face burning, I step a little closer, aiming for his foot with mine. He dodges at the last second.

“You gotta try a little harder than that,” he says with a wink.

“Is that a challenge?”

I can’t control the way my eyes peer back, just for a second. It’s Colette who catches my eye; she has somehow commandeered Geoff away from Jamie, but she’s not looking at him while she talks. Like everyone else in this stupid inn, she’s watching Henry taunt me with those stupid fucking berries over my head.

With a sigh, I step forward and plant the most chaste kiss I can possibly manage on Henry’s cheek, this time landing a stomp on his toes.

“I’m going to make you pay for this,” I hiss in his ear.

Even though I’m sure his foot hurts, his eyes are still sparkling. “Darling, I’m counting on it.”

No one notices me trampling his toes or whispering threats, of course; the kids are all too busy losing their minds, along with someone else. Throwing his head back, laughing his ass off, Henry lets out a victorious whoop, then kisses me in matching chasteness on my cheek, and it’s only because he doesn’t try to steal a real kiss that I don’t sock him right in the stomach and show off all he’s taught me in front of everyone.

My heart’s pounding, I realize when he pulls away, but it has nothing to do with Henry’s lips against my cheek.

Victoria, looking sulkier than she did before, tries to nudge through the crowd, and I grab her hand. “Hey! Look!” I cry dramatically. “Mistletoe!”

And I switch places with her, so she’s now standing with Henry instead of me, and she’s giving me a look of pure joy, all sullenness instantly banished, and Henry’s rolling his eyes but also seeming to say, Well, may as well, and he kisses her, too, making her squeal and eliciting a round of cheers from his friends.

“Merry Christmas, you annoying bastard,” I say, quietly enough that no one can hear me—it wouldn’t do to scandalize the children, after all—but maybe, with any luck, he’ll read my lips and get the hint.

I glance at the corner, where Colette is clutching Geoff’s arm and suppressing a laugh with her lips squeezed together. Jamie’s stone faced. Allan looks confused.

Will is gone.

***

I don’t think my feet have ever hurt so much. This is the thought that keeps repeating in my head as I stumble upstairs to mine and Victoria’s room. Actually, it’s just my room tonight, because after she finished work, she departed to spend the night with her family so she can wake up with them on Christmas morning. I asked her once why she lives here with Stella and Celeste if her family’s not that far away, and she just said they lived too far out of town that the journey every day wouldn’t have been worthwhile. I figured I’d just take her word for it, but if I had a choice between living with Stella and not, well…

I’m almost up the stairs when a familiar voice breaks through the quiet.

“Will, are you even listening?”

Seems that when he disappeared earlier, he just came straight back up here.

“Mmm hmm,” he responds, or that’s what it sounds like, anyway. It’s quiet, almost inaudible, and unmistakably the voice of a man who is not listening at all.

Another voice. Jamie’s. Faintly concerned and quieter than Colette’s. “I guess none of us are getting any sleep tonight, huh?”

“You can do whatever you want,” Will mumbles back. “It’s not finished.”

“Looks finished.” That one’s Geoff, all rumble and thinly disguised amusement.

“Well, it’s not.”

Eavesdropping is wrong, but my curiosity burns a little. Well, a lot. Not finished what? Is “it” the reason he ran off, away from the mistletoe and the tree and the Henry Bailey debacle? Did he even see any of that?

Not that I care, of course.

“I still think you should listen,” says Colette. “I’m going to keep going now.”

“Okay,” he grumbles. “Hurry up, then.”

A soft grunt and the faintest thud make me wonder if she didn’t throw a pillow right at his head.

“‘And yet I should have dearly liked, I own,’” Colette reads after Will’s cursing has died down, “‘to have touched her lips; to have questioned her, that she might have opened them; to have looked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes, and never raised a blush; to have let loose waves of hair, an inch of which would be a keepsake beyond price: in short, I should have liked, I do confess, to have had the lightest licence of a child, and yet to have been man enough to know its value.’”

There’s a moment of silence as she pauses, a silence that seems to contain every possible emotion, breathless and urgent, as it rolls through the air.

Then…

“You’re a goddamn busybody, Colette.” It’s not Will who tells her off, even though he was the one whose attention was being requested; it’s Jamie. “I know what you’re—”

But someone’s laughing—no, more than one person. At least two. Colette, for sure, and if my ears don’t deceive me, Geoff.

“What are you so worked up about? I’m just reading. It’s right here! Look.” I can only assume she’s pointing to her page. “He didn’t hear a damn word, anyway.”

And it certainly seems like it; there’s not even a hint of a reaction from Will, except for, “The hell is so funny?”

“If it’s worth anything,” Allan’s voice says, “I’m not sure I’m comprehending, either.”

Colette says, “Oh, you’re both hopeless. Never let it be said that I didn’t at least try,” and then she’s back to reading A Christmas Carol and there’s nothing interesting left to listen in on except for Dickens’ beautiful prose.

I back away from their door, guilt already swarming all over me about the eavesdropping but warring with the strangest feeling, fuzzy and muddled to say the least, that there were two people meant to hear that passage, and while one of them did not, the other, quite possibly, heard it loud and clear as the tolling bells of midnight, heralding the arrival of Christmas Day.

Previous | TPOT Masterlist | Next

[ser-rctslcyer]

them showering your face with kisses to wake you up.

with the ranger? 🥺

Title: Euphonic

Pairing: Aragorn x Transmasc! Elf! Reader

Word Count: 536

Request: 68. them showering your face with kisses to wake you up. 

Warnings: Domestic Fluff, Pre-Canon

A/N: For you my love <33 Also the translations may not be fully correct but shhhh 

Translations:  melethel - sweetheart | hannon allen - thank you | meleth nîn - my love |

You were faintly lucid as your dreamt. 

You could tell your body was asleep, as everything around you felt like an endless silk blanket you could float in. It was cozy, pleasant even, as your thoughts threaded into fantasies of adventure and you felt like you could drift in forever. Rest like this didn’t come often in your line of work, so it was refreshing to have a chance like this. 

It wasn’t until soft nudging that you began to awake from your slumber. Your brows knitted as you struggled to discern what was brushing against you at first; until you felt the faint breath fan over your face. Your brain slowly becomes conscious of the feather-like kisses being placed over your face. They were tender, pressed gently over your eyelid, and trailed over your cheek, to the corner of your lips. Sighing in contentment, your ears perked at the sound of your name being repeated delicately over and over again. It was melodic, bleeding into your slumber yet at the same time luring you awake. A sense of warmth washed over you at the disembodied voice chanting your name; fondness and safety wrapping itself around your heart. The voice grew louder yet remained supple, and suddenly only one face came to mind. 

Aragorn. 

“Melethel,” he whispered, dragging his lips tenderly over your jaw; another myriad of kisses followed suit. A small gasp escaped past your lips, your eyes opening to dark brown strands and sky blue gently looking at you. 

“You need to get up,” he murmured, trailing his hand over your side. You grumbled weakly, bumping your nose against his cheek and he hummed delightfully back. He sat up straight and you looked at him, upon all his glory. His cloak already draw taunt over him, and his swords were already pulled over his shoulder. 

“How do you believe I want to get up when you spoil me like this, hm?” you yawned, chest leaping at his quiet laughter.

“For the promise of more spoiling later,” he grinned, cupping your cheek.

“But why can’t I have it now?” you pouted, and he leaned down to press his lips to your temple.

“Because there are things to do and I wish for my husband to accompany me,” he clarified, before kissing you sweetly. A soft whine left you as he pulled away, a pride smile on his face.

“You are lucky you’re so convincing.”

“Hannon allen.”

He stood up, extending his hand out to help you to your feet. You both worked in tandem to fold up the bedroll you shared before you went off to get dressed.

“Doing a two weeks journey is three days,” you spoke as you fastened your belt, putting your knives through the hoops, “so absurd.”

“Shadows stretch their reach far beyond the crevasses of the dark. The faster we get there the better,” he explained, helping you onto your horse. 

“I know, I know.”

“I will make it up to you,” he promised, patting your leg before hopping onto his own horse. 

“You always do,” you smiled before the two walked to the edge of the forest, the open hills greeting you. “To Bree then?”

“To Bree, meleth nîn.”

[nellie-elizabeth]

Outlander: The Happiest Place on Earth (7x02)

Dang, I'm honestly incredibly surprised about some stuff in this episode!

Cons:

As an overall note, this episode just felt incredibly crowded with incident. The fact that the episode in which we learn the end of the Christie storyline, with Allan telling his story and meeting his fateful end, is also the episode in which Brianna and Roger have a baby, discover Mandy's health problem, and leave, and is the episode where we meet adult William for the first time, and is the episode with the fire that's been built up for several seasons... it's just so much to happen all at once! I feel like especially the start of the episode with Allan, coupled with last week's revelations from Tom Christie, all belong to an earlier plot thread that really should have been resolved separately from the Brianna and Roger leaving story, and the Wendigo Donner/fire story.

Mainly, I'm surprised that Roger and Bree are actually going into the future at all, with their kids. That whole plot development in the books is incredibly important, but I thought after they hinted at it and then bailed back last season, they were just going to skip over it entirely. A lot of plot happens in these books, I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd given this whole thing a pass. I am excited to see how it plays out, I guess, but it does make the fact that they decided to go and then changed their minds before, kind of ridiculous.

A couple of small complaints that I keep making... the voiceover still feels clunky in some places, and the actress playing Brianna is an undeniably weak point in terms of performance. There were moments where she did well this episode, but other moments where she felt stilted and out of place.

As a last complaint, part of this is that it's been a while since I've read some of the books, but the whole circumstances around the fire just felt messy and out of the blue? At first we had Wendigo showing up demanding gemstones with his gang of reprobates, but then suddenly Mrs. Bug is involved and shouting about the gold? It was incoherent and strange and made for a shocking episode end, but maybe too shocking, given everything else going on beforehand.

Pros:

I will say though, despite the somewhat muddied ending, I do think Wendigo Donner is a fascinating figure. I loved the sinister nature of his presence in the house, and when Claire told Jamie his name, and Jamie immediately lunged for him, furious, having heard of his involvement with the Browns... that was good stuff.

In all, I did think all the sappy stuff with Bree, Roger, Claire, and Jamie and the kids worked really well. First we get to see Claire and Jamie so excited about their new granddaughter, each telling her what they'll teach her as she grows older - Claire will teach her medicine, Jamie will teach her to ride a horse. And then when it's revealed she has a heart condition, the dawning realization that the one thing they have left to offer her is a way back to the 20th century... it really is heartbreaking. The goodbye moments had everything. Super cheesy declarations of affection and lasting love from everybody. Jamie saying he's proud of Roger Mac. Bree telling her dad about Disneyland and saying that he's magical to her. Jamie and Claire embracing their grandson and telling him goodbye. It was a real tearjerker all around.

And I really loved the aftermath with Jamie and Claire too, that sense of life going on, but the weight of their grief hitting them so seriously. Jamie says a line straight from the book about how he will try and go on for Claire's sake, but for his own, he would not. They have been permanently separated from their family, and it's a real tragedy for them all to grapple with. The scene where Claire goes kind of frantic and jumps Jamie, but then breaks down and cries as they contemplate all the people they've lost... that really got to me.

Despite feeling weird as a pacing thing, I did think that the Allan Christie reveal was well-acted and written, the visceral disgust on Claire's face was very clear. And Ian's decision to kill Allan felt so true to his character and what we know of all he's been through. Ian is a character I love from the books but I feel a little less connected to in his show version, but the scene of him and Claire burying Allan together felt like a really strong moment for him.

I've saved the Lord John and William stuff for last, because of course I have. We only get one brief scene with William so far, so it's a little too soon to tell what to think of him, but I love that Brianna just can't stop smiling like a loon when meeting her older brother for the first (and only, as far as she knows) time. And Lord John being so pleased to see her, but also being baffled by her rather forward suggestion that they tell the Ninth Earl of Ellesmere the truth about his parentage, was really funny.

And then of course pardon me while I go on way too long about that John and Jamie scene because my goodness. I don't know how to explain the difference between the vibes here and in the books, because it's hard to pin it down... in some ways I enjoy John a lot more as a character from the books, just because we don't get to spend enough time with him on the show to fully appreciate his nuance, but on the other hand, what we do see of him on the show, I do enjoy a lot. In the books, the vibe between these two men is very complicated. Jamie feels a deep gratitude and affection for John because he has raised William, and he is also aware of John's feelings for him, and so does his best to be respectful and kind while also not being false to his own feelings on the matter. In the show, I swear to god, the vibe is like... they're wistful exes who still love each other but know their love can never be. It's so insane to me that in this scene they're calling each other by first names, and gently regretting that the war must put them at odds, and John placing the gem into Jamie's hands and curling his fingers over his palm... that's romance, okay?

It's so funny because I don't even ship them, I just think it's fascinating that the show has decided to lean in really hard on the idea of there being this fraught, extra tension to this relationship, that these two men love each other in a way that is in some ways indefinable. They essentially share the love of a parent for their child, in William, which positions them as having a partnership all their own. It's such a fascinating dynamic and I can't think of another fictional relationship that I feel this way about. I don't want Jamie to have romantic/sexual feelings for John, but I want him to have... "you are my co-parent and you're such a good dad to our child" thoughts about him, which he canonically does, kind of? Like, John making that joke about "we should be discussing suitable wives for William, not suitable regiments." You should, John? Why on earth would Jamie Fraser actually be involved in those discussions? It's so funny.

And such a tragic, beautiful moment. It happens via letter in the books, Jamie telling John that they must sever all ties. So I was very pleased to see it happen in person here. The lingering shots on both men's faces after they've parted, thinking it likely to be for the very last time... man, in whatever form it takes, Jamie Fraser and Lord John Grey love each other very deeply, and I'm very into it.

That's where I'll stop for now. I was pretty legitimately surprised at Bree and Roger taking off into the future, and I can't wait to see how that plays out in the coming weeks!

8/10

[kissofthemuses]

MORGAN

FULL NAME: Morgan Rowlands SPECIES: witch OCCUPATION: student/healer/holistic healer FANDOM: Sweep

       PHYSICAL

FACECLAIM: Troian Bellisario                        Katharine Mcphee PRONOUNS: she/her AGE: 17/18, 34 BIRTHDATE: November 23 HAIR: brown EYES: brown HEIGHT: 5'7″ ORIENTATION: demisexual, heteromantic

         RELATIONSHIPS

MOTHER: Mary Grace Rowlands (Adoptive), Meave Riordan (birth- deceased) FATHER: Sean Rowlands (adoptive), Ciaran Macewan (birth) Siblings: Mary Kathleen Rowlands (adoptive), Killian MacEwan (half-brother), Kyle MacEwan (half-brother), Iona MacEwan (half-sister)

       PERSONALITY

MBTI:   ENFP-T   / “Campaigner” ALIGNMENT: lawful good TEMPERAMENT: sanguine ENNEAGRAM: type 2

Morgan is a kind soul with a desire to heal anyone who is in any kind of pain. But, she's shy and, often, self-depricating; she doesn't have low self esteem but, she doesn't see herself as anything special. Actually, much of her life, she felt like she didn't quite fit in with her family. She's generally a studious person with a thirst for knowledge for those things that interested her.

She's been accused, on many occasions, of not being able to see the 'big picture'. And that's true because she tends to focus on what's affecting her and those around her, in the moment. That's not to say she's selfish, she just doesn't really have the ability to step back and examing the situation as a whole. Especially because she is so emotionally driven. Much of the time, she lets her heart rule her head, and this has gotten her into a lot of trouble. She's also extremely stubborn, and, once she sets her mind to something, she will pursue it until it's very end (unless something drastic happens to change her course).

   OTHER

POWERS: Pyrokenisis, shapeshifting (animal forms, mainly a wolf), scrying, spell creation and casting. LIKES: reading, divination, tea-making, karaoke, research, traveling, sharing what she’s learned, dancing by herself, warm cookies DISLIKES: feeling weak, fire, sleep paralysis, injustice, bullying, being alone, her own heart,

       TAGS

Threads Headcanons Musings Inspo

           BACKSTORY

Morgan Rowlands was born on November 23rd, to Maeve Riordan and Ciaran MacEwan. Though her mother's partner Angus Bramson believed he was her father, a belief Maeve did not correct. Fearing attack by Ciaran, Maeve and Angus gave her up for adoption when she was around 8 months old. Soon after, Ciaran killed them by locking them up in a building and setting it on fire.

She then was adopted by Mary Grace and Sean Rowlands. two years later, her parents had a biological daughter named Mary Kathleen Rowlands. When Morgan was 8, her parents nicknamed her Molly, after they learned of the death of her biological mother and presumed father. Though the Rowlands did not fully understand the exact circumstances of Maeve and Angus's death, they were aware that real magick was somehow involved, and they hoped the nickname would deflect anyone who wished her harm

Morgan lived in Widow's Vale, New York and was a high-school junior when she was introduced to Wicca by Cal Blaire (the new boy in town). The two developed an emotional relationship which only grew stronger when Morgan discovered her heritage, powers, and family origins.

It wasn't long until a Seeker from the International Council of Witches showed up in Widow's Vale to stop Cal and his mother, Selene Belltower, from performing dark magick. Not fully understanding the situation, and completely taken by Cal, Morgan almost killed Hunter while trying to protect Cal. However, Cal's intentions to get Morgan to join the dark side soon became apparent, and Morgan refused him. Cal, apparently, fully realized his feelings for her and tried to "save her" by killing her. He locked her in a hidden, magic room behind his poolhouse and set it on fire. Morgan escaped death thanks to Hunter, and her best friends Bree and Robbie.

This was the start of Morgan's trust in Hunter and, slowly, she found herself falling for him. With his help, Morgan learned more of her heritage and powers. It is with him that she found her birth father, Ciaran MacEwan, a powerful black witch. At Hunter's behest, Morgan got close to her father so that Hunter can bind Ciaran's magic and render him unable to harm anyone else ever again. Part of her hated to do it, but, she knew it was the right thing to do. 

           VERSES

SPELLBOUND (MAIN)

Morgan has graduated high school and is now starting college. She continues to study and practice magic, growing ever stronger in her powers.Pre-witched | Tag Morgan is your typical high school junior, trying to navigate school, friends, family, and life.

IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME (PJO AU)

Morgan is a daughter of Hecate, residing at Camp Half Blood during the summer and with her adopted parents the rest of the year.

TEEN WITCH (TEEN WOLF AU)

After Cal tried to burn her alive, Morgan's family decide that moving would keep her safe. Unbeknown to them, they're drawn to Beacon Hills, where even greater powers await. Morgan is a high school senior, still dealing with the emotional trauma while adjusting to a new town and school.

SOMETHING WITCHY THIS WAY COMES (HARRY POTTER AU)

INFO POST

Morgan is a supposed Muggle-born Gryffindor. Unknown to her still is that she was adopted by muggles, but her birth parents were pure-bloods. Her mother was a gifted healer and her father is an infamous Dark Wizard who murdered her birth mother and step-father. After leaving Hogwarts, Morgan become a rather noted healer, who had a reputation for being especially kind to those on the fringes of wizarding society. (Single ship with newromanticmuses's Remus)

DARK MAGICK (EVIL AU)

FULL CIRCLE (OLDER AU)

After find out about her family's dark legacy and meeting her father, one of the darkest of them all, Morgan gave into that side of her. A black witch now, Morgan is out only for herself. After the death of her beloved Hunter, Morgan can't seem to settle down. In her thirties, she moves about, continually searching for something can't quite name or find- peace.

[countrymusiclover]

28 - A Cowboy Kinda Life

Part 29

Country Rancher

Tags @whateverthecostner @rosie-posie08 @kaycejdutton @kayceduttonn @kcloveswrestling @the-morning-star-falls @kaymudd @artoldfartsandunicornhearts @hcwthewestwaswcn

Tying my hair in a braid falling down my back, I tugged on the reins of my horse feeling the wind blowing through my hair. Closing my eyes I lean back on my horse sighing in relief at this feeling of being so free. I haven't felt such freedom since we were spending our time at the summer camp. This feeling I want to hold onto for as long as possible. Dismounting my horse the tent flap gets opened revealing my husband who gave me a small smile. "Hey baby, I woke up and you were gone."

"It's fine Kayce. I just went out for a morning ride." I replied, tucking hair behind my ear wrapping my arms around his neck.

He rested his hands on my hips tugging me closer to his chest, smirking playfully. I mirror his expression knowing it would only lead to something reckless in the cowboy way. "I wanna show you somethin' while the kids are still asleep on their saddles."

Climbing back on my horse I followed him through the treeline where we rode for a little ways finding a rock ledge that reveals a huge clearing of a beautiful open field of orange and yellow. Slowly dropping off my horse Kayce tugged me down to sit beside him. He wrapped his arms around my waist kissing the crown of my head. "This spot brings me back to our summer honeymoon...I think we're getting back to that darling."

"I'd have to disagree." I teased, lifting my head to glance up into his brown eyes.

He squeezes me lightly, nuzzling his nose against mine getting my smile to grow. "Is that so. Tell me Mrs. Dutton, what exactly am I missing?"

Gently pushing him onto his back on the ground I hold myself up with my hands on either side of him. "Well we didn't really have a honeymoon since your father called us. So I think we deserve a re-do. Because I love our children, but we have four little ones and they take a lot out of me." I sighed with my hair falling in front of my eyes.

Kayce reached up tucking it behind my ear chuckling up at me rolling us over so I was the one on my back. "Oh I think I can do a re-do right here. With the woman that I love laying in the most beautiful scenery on earth.." He leans down pressing his lips onto mine where I immediately kiss him back.

Wrapping my arms and legs around him he puts his weight down on me deepening the kiss. One of my hands reaches up, knocking his black cowboy hat off his head threading my fingers into his brown curls. When I tugged on them he released a moan making me break the kiss for a split second. "Slow down cowboy. We've got time..."

"I don't want to wait Y/n. We have to live everyday to the fullest." He said in a raspy voice pressing his lips onto mine making me moan, twisting my fingers into his curls. We got so caught up in one another that we almost didn't hear the sound of another horse coming our way.

"Mom, Dad?" Bree's voice filled the air making us break away seeing her holding her younger sister on her horse staring at us slightly confused and embarrassed. "Are you two...you know?" She punched a fist into the air, blushing.

Kayce doesn't dare look me in the eye while I attempted to sit up pulling leaves out of my hair blushing myself. Everytime I look at my daughter I still see her as the eleven year old who wanted to play ranch with her grandfather and stuff her face with warm briscets. "Um - maybe. What do you need, honey?"

"Grandpa said to come find you. It's time to herd the cattle." She replied, clicking her tongue signaling her horse to go on its way back to the others.

Kayce flopped down on his black beside me running a hand down his face chuckling at me softly. Turning my head in his direction I hold myself up by my right elbow shaking my head at him. "Sometimes I wish she didn't grow up and just kept playing with ponies."

"Hey, look at it this way. She clearly knows what we were about to do. So you might not have to have the talk." He threw his hand in the air until I playfully shoved him hearing him start laughing at me.

We got back on our horses and everything actually went pretty well in regards to herding the cattle. John said he actually didn't think the whole thing would go as fast as it did. Carter, Bree and Tate were all settled up under the same tree for the night. Dallas and Elsa were running around playing roping with each other. "Got ya sissy!" He cheered making his sister trip falling on her knees getting some mud on her clothes.

"Eat dirt." She threw some dirt in his direction, sticking her tongue out. Dallas dropped his rope tackling her further into the dirt playfully wrestling with her.

Glancing over my shoulder I tilted my head up. I warned them before they both started whining over who was right. "Hey, you two. Cut it out or I'll make you go to bed early tonight!"

"Fine momma." Elsa smiled, shoving him off.

Dallas crossed his arms over his chest pushing hair out of his face. "She started it."

"He tripped me!" She started.

Dallas fought back, rising on his toes trying to be taller than her. "Tattle tail!"

Kayce came over crossing his arms over his chest glaring towards the twins backing me up. "Listen to your mother. There will be no fighting on this trip." The twins finally stopped running over to go hang out with Lioyd who wanted to show them something about his horse.

Removing my hat I leaned my back against the tree seeing the sun starting to set off in the distance of the mountains. Laying my hat on my lap Kayce wrapped his arms around me after pulling out a blanket we brought. One for the kids and the other for us to share. Turning over to face him I laid my head in the crook of his neck hearing him whisper in my ear. "I love you, Y/n. I always will. I just want you to know that in case I don't say it enough."

"I love you too Kayc, always have and always will." I mumbled under my sleepy breath snuggling into his cuddly embrace.

The next morning I didn't get woken up easily instead Kayce was shaking me awake mumbling something about a cowboy dead. Rubbing my eyes I quickly got to my feet following the direction he was leading me to find his father sitting beside the older cowboy named Emmett who had joined us on the journey. The branding was happening today and I had to bet his wife would be there. "Oh my gosh. John I, how did this happen?" Dropping down on a knee before the two cowboys Kayce and I both removed our hats in the process.

"He cuddled up on his saddle with that blanket. And we laid underneath the stars..." He took a long pause for a breath staring into my eyes. "He never opened his eyes when I came to wake him up...I couldn't have imagined a better way to go."

Wiping some tears away I watched Kayce climb back on his horse and put his head back on his head, eyeing his father. "Best way to go for a cowboy."

"Best way for anyone to go." I replied climbing back on my horse with everyone riding back to the ranch. Once we got back John immediately rushed to Emmett's wife right as I saw the camera crew focusing on them. "Oh no they don't!"

I attempted to run forward and scold them for filming such a sad moment but Kayce snagged my wrist holding me back with a warning glance. "We don't need to get involved. If they make it turn bad my dad will take care of it. Let's get something to eat." Nodding in agreement I watched John embrace the crying woman in a tight hug

Once we had gotten something to eat Kayce took the kids to get them some food too since they were busy playing a few minutes ago. Walking through the crowd of people I noticed Ryan leaning against the fence post then he climbed to sit on it to get a better view of the Abby girl who was performing on stage. "She's got you bad huh Ryan?"

"Huh - what are you talking about?" He turned his head in my direction , blushing a little.

I started laughing a little at him climbing up and sitting beside him on the fence watching everyone dancing to her song. "I've since that look on Kayce when he stares at me sometimes. The look that says you want them so bad you're just not sure you can manage it."

"The only thing I can't manage right now is...how am I supposed to get that girl on the dance floor when she's the one on stage?" He slumped his shoulders as Walker came our direction.

Jumping from the post he tipped his hat to me smiling. "Y/n, what can I do for you?"

"Actually it's for Ryan." I pointed my index finger towards the stage showing him Abby.

He nodded simply moving through the crowd before I offered my hand to Ryan. "Come on, cowboy. I'll lead you to her." He placed his hands in mine. Our hands intertwined with his other hand on my waist spinning us through the crowd.

My hair flies around as we kicked up some dust dancing in the crowd of people until I felt someone tap my shoulder. "You mind if I get a turn?" Abbu asked seeing that Walker was now on stage playing.

"It would be rude if I said no. Have fun you two." I tipped my hat at the pair moving through the crowd. Leaning my back into the fence post I scanned the crowd smiling at an event like this. Twirling my wedding ring on my finger I knew my mother in law would have loved this.

Foosteps broke through the crowd before I heard someone clear their throat making me focus my attention on my father in law. "Care for a dance, Y/n?"

'Oh John. Normally I wouldn't ask this but why aren't you asking Summer?" I smiled tucking hair behind my ear gently.

He extended his hand and I placed my hand in his letting my father in law lead me out onto the dance floor. "I asked her and she said no. So I thought I should ask my daughter in law. Plus your husband is over there dancing."

"Oh that's adorable." I chuckled following the direction towards the barn seeing him twirling Elsa and Dallas each underneath his arm.

John twirled me out and back into his chest intertwining our hands together. I always pictured him as being a good father in law and he hasn't let me down yet. "I am glad I can still lead a girl to the dance floor but I'll let someone else cut in."

"I enjoyed our time, John." I smiled feeling familiar arms wrapping around my waist from behind. John tipped his black hat to us before I spun around in those arms seeing my husband. Kayce intertwined my right hand while my other hand rests on his shoulder. He put one hand on my waist while we simply swayed side to side with Abby softly sang a song. Breaking a good end to the cowboy weekend.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[panlight]

That interview infuriates me. Meyer admits that people might be upset but plows through anyway. It's only when creating a WHITE community that she even tries to be respectful and even then she just uses the real place regardless. And I bet anything that she didn't ask any Quileutes what THEY thought about Meyer using their real tribe as a plot device.

It's like she's almost there. She almost gets that making up the history of the "real life people of La Push" is worse than the other two things, because she has that "most especially" qualifier there. Like some tiny part of her realizes that it's worse to re-write an already marginalized people's history and use it in a work that generates a lot of profit for you.

As someone else said in the notes, the other two are just places. There are countless books set in cities and towns all over the world. It's whatever. Using an actual, specific, REAL, living group of marginalized people (the Quileutes) and re-writing their whole mythology, their whole history, and othering them by making them genetic werewolves is entirely different.

And this was while she was writing New Moon where instead of being like "whoops! I shouldn't have done that. Maybe I should reach out to the Quileute people? Ask for their advice on how to portray them respectfully? Give them some of the profits?" she just doubles down and makes them even more central characters, kills off Harry Clearwater and doesn't follow through with that thread at all (it's an Indigenous character dying so Edward can misunderstand and think it's Bella's funeral), invents the whole imprinting nightmare, just, ahhhhhhh.

I get it. Twilight was based on a dream and she was just writing it for herself. No one was supposed to ever see it but her mom, her sister and herself. But you'd think once the books WERE being published that someone would be like "um, guys?" at some point. I mean apparently her agent or editor or someone LOVED Jacob and encouraged her to make him a bigger character and it never came up like "hey are we representing these people respectfully?" And while using the Quileutes the way she did at all is problematic, Twilight is the least offensive of the bunch. It gets worse with each additional book. Jacob's just a sweet kid telling a story even HE doesn't think is true in the first one. The really harmful stuff that plays on Magical Indian tropes, as well as "wild" and "sexually aggressive" brown men comes later. She was aware at the very least that the "real life people of La Push" might find it "irritating," but instead of changing course she went all in on it, and to this day (as far as I know) SM hasn't done anything to compensate. A dollar from each sale of the Bree Tanner book went to the Red Cross, so it's not as if SM is opposed to the concept.

Anyway, https://mthg.org/ . I donated again the other day, and I encourage anyone who is in a financial position to do so to, well, do so. Also, we all know Amazon is . . . not great . . . but if you DO shop there, you can shop at smile.amazon.com and choose Quileute Tribal School as your charity and they will receive a tiny donation when you buy things.

[thegoldenyearsrp]

                                   𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐃

publicado el día 27 de marzo de 2021.

→ 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐬.

Ninguna pendiente.

→ 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐳𝐨́𝐧.

Ninguna pendiente.

→ 𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚.

Ninguna pendiente.

→ 𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬.

Andromeda Tonks, Darcy Brown, Minerva MacMillan, Daisy Hookum, Molly Weasley, James Potter, Bellatrix Lestrange, Corban Yaxley, Michael Bones, Emmeline Vance, Grace Fitzgerald, Remus Lupin — 28 de marzo / semi hiatus.

Severus Snape & Natasha Selwyn — 1 de abril / semi hiatus.

→ 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞́𝐧 𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐬.

Dane Higgs.

→ 𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐝.

Mary MacDonald.

Penelope Goldstein.

Zoe Nettles.

→ 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐬.

Alecto Carrow (inactividad).

Andrea Prewett (inactividad).

Baptiste Travers (inactividad).

Benjy Fenwick (inactividad).

Bertram Aubrey (inactividad).

Edric Brown (inactividad).

Ellie Dowson (inactividad).

Frank Longbottom (inactividad).

Gilderoy Lockhart (inactividad).

Gladys Gudgeon (inactividad).

Ivan Davies (inactividad).

Jacob Davies (inactividad).

Jason Denbright (inactividad).

Lily Potter (inactividad).

Ludo Bagman (inactividad).

Rabastan Lestrange (inactividad).

Sirius Black (inactividad).

Zabrina Davies (inactividad).

Zephyr Parkinson (inactividad).

→ 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐬.

Alecto Carrow.

Andrea Prewett.

Baptiste Travers.

Benjy Fenwick.

Bertram Aubrey. 

Edric Brown.

Ellie Dowson.

Frank Longbottom. 

Gilderoy Lockhart.

Gladys Gudgeon.

Ivan Davies. 

Jacob Davies.

Jason Denbright.

Lily Potter.

Ludo Bagman.

Rabastan Lestrange.

Sirius Black.

Zabrina Davies.

Zephyr Parkinson.

→ 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐬.

Alfie Enoch.

Asa Butterfield.

Bree Kish.

Charlie Gillespie.

Dacre Montgomery.

Daniel Sharman.

Dev Patel.

Emma Mackey.

Jorge Lopez.

Kaylee Bryant.

Lili Reinhart.

Lana Condor.

Louriza Tronco.

Michael Evans Behling.

Nick Robinson.

Owen Joyner.

Jane Levy.

Reece King.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

𝐏𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐎́𝐍

orden del fénix.

Alice Longbottom (Florence Pugh).

Benjy Fenwick (Nick Robinson).

Dorcas Meadowes (Kristine Froseth).

Edgar Bones (Joe Alwyn).

Emmeline Vance (Ryan Destiny).

Fabian Prewett (Maxence Danet Fauvel).

Frank Longbottom (Dev Patel).

Gideon Prewett (Björn Mosten).

James Potter (Brenton Thwaites).

Peter Pettigrew (Michelangelo Fortuzzi).

Remus Lupin (Charlie Heaton).

Sirius Black (Charlie Gillespie).

mortifagos.

Alecto Carrow (Emma Mackey).

Amycus Carrow (Freddy Carter).

Barty Crouch Jr. (Bright Vachirawit).

Bellatrix Lestrange (Diana Silvers).

Corban Yaxley (Arón Piper).

Rabastan Lestrange (Michael Evans Behling).

Severus Snape (Avan Jogia).

cíviles.

Agatha Figg (Phoebe Dynevor).

Alastair Montague (Lorenzo Zurzolo).

Alyssa Abbott (Kim Jiwoo).

Amelia Bones (Merritt Patterson).

Andrea Prewett (Jane Levy).

Andromeda Tonks (Katherine Langford).

Aurora Rowle (Lily Collins).

Baptiste Travers (Daniel Sharman).

Bertram Aubrey (Asa Butterfield).

Brigitte Delacour (Meg Donnelly).

Cassia Clearwater (Danielle Rose Russell).

Daisy Hookum (Eleanor Tomlinson).

Dane Higgs (Alex Fitzalan).

Danny Wood (Jeong Jaehyun).

Darcy Brown (Nicola Coughlan).

Doris Purkiss (Abigail Cowen).

Edric Brown (Alfie Enoch).

Ellie Dowson (Kaylee Bryant).

Gilderoy Lockhart (Dacre Montgomery).

Gladys Gudgeon (Lana Condor).

Glenda Chittock (Elle Fanning).

Grace Fitzgerald (Kathryn Newton).

Hestia Jones (Nana Komatsu).

Isolde Higgs (Sydney Sweeney).

Ivan Davies (Thomas Brodie-Sangster).

Jacob Davies (Owen Joyner).

Jason Denbright (Reece King).

Jonathan Nott (Tyler Young).

Kenta Akiyama (Nakamoto Yuta).

Lorcan d’Eath (Harry Styles).

Lucy Karoonda Wood (Josefine Frida Pettersen).

Ludo Bagman (Jorge Lopez).

Mafalda Hopkirk (Geraldine Viswanathan).

Mary MacDonald (Bae Suzy).

Michael Bones (Nicholas Hoult).

Mina Lima (Moon Gayoung).

Minerva MacMillan (Laura Harrier).

Molly Weasley (Karen Gillan).

Narcissa Malfoy (Sasha Luss).

Natasha Selwyn (Anya Chalotra).

Penelope Goldstein (Madelaine Petsch).

Rosalind Bungs (Freya Mavor).

Scarlett Travers (Halston Sage).

Ted Tonks (Dylan Sprouse).

Tiberius McLaggen (Zethphan Smith Gneist).

Zabrina Davies (Lili Rinhart).

Zephyr Parkinson (Louriza Tronco).

Zoe Nettles (Kat McNamara).

TOTAL: 68 personajes ocupados.

¡Buenas a todes, pequeñes! Aquí dejamos el recuento de la semana. Recuerden que nos encontramos en la ambientación de varios eventos y es plausible abrir starters y threads dentro de los mismos. Si cuentan con un starter abierto, por favor no lo dejen inactivo, he observado y me han comentado que algunes usuaries no tienen threads por contestar dada la falta de respuesta a los starters. Cualquier error que lleguen a notar, no duden en comunicarse con nosotras. ¡Saludos y cuídense mucho!

𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒐́𝒏.

[janatm]

back to the streets || CLUSTERFUCK

tagging: Morgan Weston, Eva Anderson, Jake Puckerman, Bree Brown and Noah Puckerman

date & time: September 26, 2024 sometime in the afternoon

location: PSU campus Professor Anderson's classroom

warnings: none, just two besties being homies

summary: Morgan brings Jake along for some moral support while he attempts to apologize to Eva, Eva decided to make a lesson out of Morgan's post, Bree is there because she's in the class and Puck shoes up for a little razzle dale. Turns out Jake and Bree are still broken up and not so are the throuple.

word count: 6,741

MORGAN's heart was beating hard underneath the denim shirt as he stepped through the doors of the classroom. Before this, he'd had a quick peptalk with Jake about how to do this, and he'd asked him to wait outside, for Morgan to return. Taking his cowboy hat off, the tall man saw Eva in the other end of the classroom, and he cleared his throat softly, not wanting to scare her, but also wanting her attention. "Hey," he said, not being able to give her a wave, because of his other arm being in the sling, but desperately wanting to. "So, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for-" Morgan was quickly interrupted by a loud group of students, entering the classroom and sitting down at the tables.

EVA was in the process of preparing her material for her next class when she heard someone clearing their throat, and she was expecting to see one of her students when she glanced over, yet that wasn't what she saw. She hadn't been sure whether Morgan had actually injured himself or not so she was slightly relieved to see him in a sling now. It sucked that he was hurt, sure, but she was still pissed and wasn't about to fold just because of it. Luckily some students came in next, so she just shrugged at him. "Either leave or take a seat, Mr. Weston." She stated sternly.

BREE was looking at her phone on the way to the class where she was the lesson, willing zhake to text her back. Getting annoyed at the lack of communication from him, she put her phone back in her tote and when she looked up to turn the corner to the lecture room, she saw the last person she would have imagined to be standing outside of her class. "Jake?" She asked stopping in front of him. "Did you kniw I was in this class or- why are you here?"

JAKE didn't know why he was still standing out here as students were walking into the classroom, but Morgan hadn't come back out yet so he was assuming the man's groveling hadn't panned out yet. If he wanted to stay and beg her for her forgiveness in front of her students, that was his damn business, but he wasn't sure how long he was supposed to be waiting. And he would have complained if he hadn't spotted Bree as she said his name. "Shit." He muttered to himself as she approached him. "I didn't even know you had Professor Anderson's class at this time, so no. I'm here for...moral support, I guess? I gave Morgan tips on how to apologize to her, so I'm just waiting for him to finish so I can take his bike for a spin." He shrugged. "You should probably go on in.."

MORGAN looked slightly defeated as all the students came in, and even more so at Eva's harsh tone. He gulped hard and nodded, looking around and hoping Jake would be there in the crowd. He had the choice of leaving or staying, and he had to think fast; something he wasn't great at. "I- yeah, two seconds," he begged, quickly running through the crowd and up to the door. His cowboy hat found his head again, and he was slightly surprised to see Bree standing there too. "Hey, Bree," he quickly greeted her before grabbing a hold of Jake's arm. "Man, you gotta come in with me, we gotta- we need to sit down, come, please!" He urged, and dragged him into the room to find a seat. Somehow, the only row available was right at the front.

JAKE was about to let out a sigh of relief when he heard Morgan's voice, assuming he was just greeting Bree before they made their getaway, but that excitement was short lived the second his arm was grabbed. "Huh?" He blinked, sure that he was hearing this wrong. Why was he being dragged into this again? He didn't know, but he didn't have time to register any of it as he was being dragged into the classroom. "Morgan, what the hell?" He whispered, noting the only open seats at the front row. "Dude, this isn't even my drama. You're dragging the wrong Puckerman in here!"

MORGAN moved through the people who were finding their seats, in order to get to the front row. "Just do this for me, please?" Morgan begged in a whisper, turning to Jake briefly. "I'll give you my motorcycle if you do this for me." He reasoned, and moved to sit down, looking around at all the students who were getting out their notebooks and laptops, knowing he didn't have anything with him and must've looked out of place. He gulped hard, took the hat off again, and turned to face Eva, ready for the class to start.

JAKE didn't want to sit through a lecture that wasn't one of his own, and especially not when it was the professor his brother and Morgan were doing whatever the hell they were doing with, but the promise of the bike was good enough to change his mind. "Deal. And if you try to renege on this deal, I'm breaking your little love fest up." He warned as he went ahead and sat down right next to Morgan.

EVA was slightly surprised that Morgan had dragged the younger Puckerman into her classroom with him, but that explained the apology he'd been trying to give before he was interrupted. But with him in her class, she decided to pivot her lesson for the day. "Ms. Brown, come sit up here. We're gonna table my lecture about your brand for today." She stated as she grabbed her laptop and hooked it up to the projector, instantly pulling up Morgan's little thirst trap. "Since we have some guests in class, today's lesson will be on how not to market something." She stated before she smirked over at Morgan.

MORGAN reached into the pocket of his jeans and grabbed the keys to the bike and put them into Jake's hands; the deal was already done, Jake was staying and Morgan was one motorcycle down. His eyes stayed on Eva though, as he watched her move about, like the Goddess she was, and it wasn't until she looked over at him with her smirk that he realized what was going on, tearing his eyes away from her, and connecting with the projector and his post on the social media platform. His cheeks started burning, and he knew that he was turning bright red, and he closed his eyes in pure defeat as he sunk deeper and deeper into his seat. This was how Eva wanted to get revenge, and Morgan still didn't know what for, but he was sure he was about to find out!

BREE had to admit she was a little disappointed (read. a lot disappointed) that Jake wasn't there to make some kind of gesture to/for her. But that disappointment was replaced with confusion as he explained and then even more confusion when Morgan appeared and dragged her ex into the classroom. Since when did Jake know Morgan well enough to offer him moral support and moral support for what? Hearing Eva- Professor Anderson, call her to sit down and announce the lesson plan change, she walking to the front where she always sat and motioned for Jake to move down one. Something told her sitting between these two was for the best.

PUCK thought he could catch Eva before her class started, maybe make out, they could both cop a feel or two. Was he in duty? Yeah, but if something went down or he was needed his walkie and his earpiece would start getting real loud. The door to her room was open so he assumed he had good timing, but as he approached he saw her at the front and a whole bunch of students. Man, she looked so good up there, sexy as fuck how did anyone pay attention? Something caught his eye in the front row. Is that Jake? but Bree was next to him so maybe- is that Morgan? Yeah, nah, whatever the fuck was going on he did not need to be a part of it. Just as he was gonna dip he caught Eva's eye. Shit.

EVA knew this was probably some form of inappropriate given the throuple’s obvious situationship flaws, but it also wasn’t in her nature to care either. Her class was here to learn about proper communication techniques, and she worked much better with real life examples so this was fitting. Almost as fitting as when she happened to look towards her still open classroom door and spotted Puck — and she didn’t believe in coincidences so this had to be some sort of sign. “Stop right there, Mr. Puckerman — Noah. You’re already here, so please shut my door behind you and then come join the rest of the peanut gallery.” She stated as she motioned to the front row where the rest of her guests were.

JAKE’s eyes widened when he heard his brother’s name, and when he looked over at the door and saw Puck standing there, he was sure this was some sort of karma for the throuple. “Bree..” He whispered as he lightly tapped his ex’s leg. “You think Professor Anderson will get mad if I record this? I need to get this on camera so I can show Ali and Maya later.” He chuckled.

PUCK knew leaving now would just land him in even more trouble than he was already, apparently, in with the professor. So he accepted his fate, gave a "Yes, ma'am." Making his way to the front he sat on the other side of Morgan, leaning into him to speak lowly. "Dude, the fuck did you do and why am I in trouble for it too?"

BREE was pretty interested to see how all of this was going to shake out. Watchung the dynamic between the professor, the security guard and the cowboy, she now knew who Morgan's lovers were and my God was that an image. Turning to look at Jake as he spoke she couldn't see why not. "Given her vibe right now, she might want to see the video herself." Bree also thought having the ability to rewatch this lesson might benefit Jake's uncommunicative ass.

MORGAN couldn't imagine anything worse. Eva was pulling a whole lecture out of her ass, using Morgan as an example on how to not communicate, and everyone would know about it. At least mostly everyone. One person wouldn't get lectured, which was great for Morgan because he really didn't need to know- the cowboy turned his head, and saw Puck in the doorway, instantly groaning and sinking even further into his seat. He was pretty much almost on the floor as he side-eyed his lover making his way to sit down next to him. He didn't know what to answer, so instead, he just brought the cowboy hat up to hide the face that was as red as a ripe tomato in july.

PUCK kind of wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. But even he could tell this was somehow a whole lot of serious wrapped up in a kinda funny package. Being mindful of the cowboy's shoulder, he pat his leg and leaned in again. "Hidin your face is gonna make it worse, man. You better look her in the eye for this."

MORGAN felt the pat on his leg from Puck and swallowed hard as he nodded. Of course the other man was right. It was better to just take it straight on the chin. So he slowly lowered the cowboy hat, sat up, and cleared his throat, telling himself that he would survive this, and he'd be fine - the fake confidence helped a lot, and he was ready to hear about what he'd done wrong, as he kept his eyes peeled on Eva

EVA rolled her eyes once Morgan gave her his undivided attention, and then she turned towards her actual class. "Okay class, who wants to tell me what's wrong with this post?" She asked, and as per her class rules, answers started being called out. "It's giving..thirsty." "Yeah, dude is basically asking for somebody to come over and have sex with him." "He would've been better off just asking who was DTF." "He said masseuse because he wanted a happy ending." "Dude probably wasn't even hurt." Her class validating her interpretation of the post would have stroked her ego if she wasn't still mad, so she just nodded as she walked over and stood in front of the man of the hour. "As you can all see, he is really injured — unless that sling is just for show. But by reading this post, not a single one of you genuinely believed it, and does anyone know why that is?" She asked, and she was surprised to see Jake sitting up in his seat.

JAKE shrugged as he gave Eva his attention. "The man didn't know his audience. As someone who kinda knows the dude, I don't think he meant for it to be a thirst trap, but he also didn't take into account that half of the people on social media see a dude that looks like him posting something like that and their minds go straight to the gutter." He pointed out before leaned up to look at Morgan, and then at Puck. "See how easy it was to pick up on the lesson? Maybe y'all do need to enroll and take this class." He joked.

MORGAN listened to all of the reasons that had Eva acting the way she had, and it finally clicked for him. Of course, it was the post itself and how, in a moment of pure weakness and desperation for help, he hadn't represented himself in the most modest way, and therefore probably not the most truthful way either. He bit the inside of his cheek, fully understanding everything. Even Jake understood before he did - and then continued to throw him under the bus. He leaned in over the table slightly, looking past Bree, eyes connecting with Jake's, and a whisper came out. "I want those keys back." He said sternly before leaning back again, and hesitantingly raising his good arm, so he could talk. "Like Jake said, I didn't mean for it to be a thirst trap - I didn't even think it could be, given how pathetic I was; I mean, what's sexy 'bout that?" Morgan started, turning to look at the students around him, to defend himself, before turning back around to face Eva. "That post was a legit question - the way that a dogwalker would ask where the nearest park is, or a surfer would ask where the best waves are at," His voice was soft and gentle, his eyebrows furrowing. "I genuinely had no idea it could be interpreted as me whoring myself out, but I get it now. It wasn't very thought-out." But why did it have Eva act that way though? He was tempted to ask that question in front of the class, but he figured it'd be better to have it be on a one-on-one basis with her.

BREE damn near rolled her eyes as Jake spoke because this is probably the most she'd heard his voice in a month and it annoyed her to no end that for this he could listen and communicate. But when he came to her suddenly he's on mute. Listening to him and Eva though, she realized she hadn't taken Morgan's post that way, but even she mentioned his two lovers being good options. So clearly, even subconsciously she had seen at least a little of what everyone else was see. She did pat his leg for comfort while he was being eviscerated by the class, the professor and Jake, of all people. She felt bad for him, being in the spotlight wasn't all that fun and she knew that.

PUCK listened as everyone piled on to the man next to him. It was actually kinda funny, like it shouldn't be but he did sputter out a laigh at one point. Look he tried to hold it back but the situation was fucking insane. As Morgan defended himself, he knew that was usually not the way to go, but he did manage to understand Eva's perspctive in the end, but like the man was actually injured. Eva knew that, and even if she didn't why was she so damn mad? I mean, she wasn't wearing those heels and that dress for them the other night, so why's she still so pissed. Raising his hand, he spoke. "What does it matter though? Like why're you mad at it? You his girlfriend. 'Cause if dude is single then isn't he allowed to be thirsty on main?"

EVA should have expected Morgan to defend himself and be just as fucking genuine and dumb as she knew him to be. If there was one thing she could always count on when it came to both him and Puck, it was that they were so fucking dumb when it came to certain things, and she usually liked it. But with this incident? Not so much. But she had to admit that she could believe him now that he'd explained himself, and maybe she should have just asked him from the jump instead of chewing him out. It was too late for that now though, and then before she could add on to what Jake had said, the other Puckerman decided to chime in — and just like that, Eva was seeing red again. Luckily that damn kid who had flirted with her the first day of class decided to interrupt before she could snap at Puck. "If Professor Anderson was his girl, he'd be a damn fool to be horny for anyone else. And you're coming at her a little too hard so pipe down, Paul Blart." He chuckled, and Eva had to bite back a smirk at that. "Okay, okay...the point here is that the message in this post was lost and came off as if he were selling himself. And in this class, the first thing my students are learning is the important of effective communication — a lesson even some of today's guests need to learn." She sassed with an eye roll. "And on that note, we're gonna end class early today. Everyone except for the idiots on the first row can go." Eva decided.

JAKE raised a brow as the students started to get up and head out, glancing down the row at the idiots. "So, she means her unofficial boyfriends, right? Not me?" He asked before he glanced at Bree. "She wasn't talking about you either, I don't think, so we should head out, just to be safe. 'Cause I don't wanna be here for...whatever she's gonna do to them."

BREE scoffed, "I thought you wanted to get it all on camera, don't back out now, Little Puck." Okay she had an attitude because she realized this asshole has managed to communicate enough to form a whole friendship with Morgan. Sit there through, whatever point Eva was trying to prove, just to be moral support to Morgan and yes, it pissed her off that she didn't think he would do the same for her. Hell, he hadn't even cared that she went out in public with him. Something that apparently matter so much to him before. The man had moved on from her and she was allowed to have attitude about it.

PUCK didn't have time for this. Whatever this was, it was between Morgan and Eva and had exactly zero to do with him. Not to mention he was on the clock, so despite Eva's words he stood up, flipping off the kid that called him Paul Blart, that Eva let call him that and when pretty much everyone had filed out, he looked at the others and Eva. "Yeah, I'm good. Whatever this shit is, ain't got nothing to do with me. As mall cop as I might be, it is my job and I actually need it. So have fun with.... all of this." Looking over at his brother and Bree, he spoke to them. "I'd leave if I were you, they're definitely the type to fuck it out. Unless y'all are into that, they might not mind an audience." He made to leave.

EVA rolled her eyes at Puck being dramatic, as per usual. He was on the clock anyways but it wasn’t about him, so she didn’t even know why the fuck he had so much to say in Morgan’s defense right now, but she also didn’t care. Once most of the students had cleared out, she shrugged. “Nobody is fucking anything out. I don’t even know what your issue is, Noah, but—” She paused as Jake waved his hands at her.

JAKE was already seeing how left this was about to go and he didn’t need to hear anything about fucking. “Dude, all of y’all need to chill out.” He groaned. “Bro, you’re not a mall cop, and you’re coming at Eva like she did something to you too so clearly all three of y’all need to talk. And this thing y’all are doing is messy like this anyways, and those are Maya’s words too.”

PUCK couldn't believe Jake was actually setting himself up like that. "First of all, I'm not coming at anybody. There's a lot of tension between them. Always has been. This whole thing is just her refusing to admit she has actual feelings for Morgan and is mad he might be looking somewhere else when she's right there. I don't know what they've got going on with each other but it seems like it's more serious. Plus I got it on good authority they'd like to defile that desk." Puck laughed though, as he buttoned his suit jack back up. "But you trying to tell people to be less messy in their relationship is fucking hilarious. Maybe you should take your own advice. When's the last time you talked to Bree about how you feel? Or are you still playing that game where she has to bring it up first and say all the right things, probably grovel and beg before you consider acknowledging her again?" The one fucking day his walkie isn't going the fuck off.

JAKE wasn’t even sure why Puck was coming at him now, but clearly he was in a fucking mood for some reason and she didn’t get it. Nor did he get why Puck was calling him out about his shit with Bree. “We just went shopping together to spend Gabe’s money, so mind your business.” He whined. “And last I checked, I did tell her how I felt. She knows I love her, but do Eva and Morgan know how you actually feel about them? Outside of the sex?” He countered. “And regardless, all of this was about Morgan. Not you, him. But that comment about whatever is going on with them being more serious makes it sound like you’re the odd man out of this threesome shit, so you should be focused on figuring that out, bro.”

MORGAN appreciated little sign of support from Bree, but he also understood why Eva was upset, and why everyone was coming at him, the way they were. He'd sold himself in a way that wasn't fair to the people he'd been seeing; even though he'd finally realized they weren't completely exclusive, as he originally thought they were. He was about to speak up, when Puck jumped in with questions that even Morgan knew wasn't the appropriate time to ask. And then Eva replied back, dismissing the class. And then Jake jumped in. And then it became this thing between the two Puckermans for no reason. "Okay, okay, okay!" Morgan finally said, slightly raising his voice - he didn't even know he had that in him! "I think it's safe to say that we've all got a lot of stuff goin' on, and I don't think we need to be pointin' our fingers at each other, because it clearly doesn't help anything." He said, calmly but confidently. "Jake, thanks for bringing me here, feel free to go to my place, and take a motorcycle home with you." He started, dismissing the Puckerman brother before turning to the next person. "Bree, it was wonderful to see you, as always. Let me know when you're free to catch up again." He smiled at her, before turning to look at both Eva and Puck. "Let's have this talk then, the three of us."

BREE was just soaking in everything that was going on, fully intending to just sit there and watch what happened between the throuple. But Jake could leave, go communicate with whatever new bitch he was entertaining now, but also fuck him if Puck was right and he was just waiting for Bree to do and say the right things first. Why would she initiate a conversations when every time she tries he melodramatically ends the conversation. As Jake responded to his brother, Bree was just... confused. "Is that your way of saying you still love me? Because as far as I know, you did but now you don't. So maybe instead of making these grand statements to your brother you should just talk to me." Now Bree was rolling her eyes.

PUCK had never heard Morgan raise his voice before. It was pretty damn commanding, even with the sling. At the mention of Jake getting a one of Morgan's motorcycle's, Puck whipped his phone out to text his daughter, because she was absolutely not getting on the back of one of those things. By the time he sent that Morgan was looking at him and Eva insisting they all talk about whatever, except why did Puck need to be there? "Your shit with her and her shit with you is between you two. What am I suppose to do? Sit here and nod along while y'all hash it out? I've got work." Technically his shift ended in three minutes but that wasn't the fucking point.

MORGAN was starting to get annoyed, feeling like no one was listening to him or taking him seriously, and he hated it. It was just like his dad, who only liked the sound of his own voice, and never gave Morgan any time or place to say anything. "No, my shit with her is also my shit with you, Puck," Morgan said sternly, connecting his eyes with the other man to bring the point across. "This started out as just sex between the three of us, and we agreed to keep doing that, both as a threesome but also with each other, and I don't know what happened - and I don't know if it's just me - but I'm startin' to feel like there's more than just sex involved here, and we gotta start addressin' that! We can't ignore it, especially when it turns into whatever the hell this was." Morgan clenched his jaw, wanting to show everyone here that he'd learned Eva's lesson about communication.

JAKE should have expected Bree to have an opinion on what both he and Puck had said, but considering that it wasn't the most pressing matter right now, he wasn't sure why it was on the table. Nor did he feel like dealing with it today. "I have a bike to pick up and a project to go work on, so I don't have time for this today. You three have fun working your shit out, and I'll...talk to you later, Bree." He shrugged before quickly making his exit before someone tried to stop him.

EVA definitely didn't feel like doing the whole more than sex talk now (or ever), and she didn't have any other classes for the day so she didn't have a real excuse for getting out of this, but she was sure as hell about to find one. She watched Jake leave before she turned to Bree. "I'll send you some stuff to look over before our next class." She promised before she shuffled over to her desk to start gathering up her belongings. "And as for you two, I don't think we have anything else to talk about, so you can both find your way out as well."

BREE just nodded atEva's words before gathering her stuff and leaving. Mouthing a 'good luck' to Morgan. Truly and honestly, she couldn't fucking stand Jake. He really just fucking left her there, didn't give her a chance to say anything and didn't answer her question. Just basically waved her off with his disingenuous, we'll talk later. All she's tried todo for weeks is talk to him and he's made it clear time after time he's just not going to do it. So fine. They won't talk. Saves her the effort of apologizing and the embarrassment of telling him she loves him for him to just wave that off too. With that, she left.

PUCK could not believe how fucking dumb all of this this actually was. Like the fuck was this? High school? Was this the first time they were all feeling some kind of way. He was fucking tired and annoyed and just over all this shit. Could he leave? Yeah, but not before he said his fucking peace. "Hoy fuck, this is dumb." It felt pretty good to say that out loud. "Eva clearly has real feelings for you, can't figure out why she'd go through all of this shit and then still act like a 13 year old about it, but here we fucking are and Morgan obviously has actual feelings for you right back or he wouldn't have given a flying fuck that you were obviously fucking pissed at him." He said looking between the two. "And I'm just over here having feelings for the both of you like the absolute fucking moron I am. I'm sick and tired of watching you two dance around your feelings. Jusy fucking be together." He was definitely louder than he meant to be but the whole situation was exhausting and he didn't wanna sit here and deal with the shit anymore.

MORGAN felt completely defeated hearing Eva's dismissal of the two men. "Y'know, for someone teachin' 'bout communication, you sure do avoid it a lot," Morgan remarked confidently, growing tired of this game that they were playing. And it didn't help when Puck then started chiming in. The tall cowboy grew more and more offended, hearing that their conversation from the other day and everything he'd told him had been for deaf ears. Taking a moment to think through his next move, Morgan gently picked up his cowboy hat and put it on his head, exiting the row he'd been standing behind. "I don't think we're gonna make any progress 'ere," he said very calmly and nodded to himself affirmingly. "You won't talk," he said to Eva. "And you won't listen," he continued to Puck. "We're just gonna be goin' 'round and 'round, and you both seem too busy to be doin' that these days, so maybe we oughta just quit it while we're ahead of the game, huh?"

EVA didn’t know how all of this was spiraling the way that it was, but she was beyond prepared to just walk out and forget about this drama until Puck spoke up. She didn’t get why he kept leaving himself out of this equation, but when he confessed how he felt about them, her jaw dropped as she just stared at him. Everything Morgan said went out the window, so to speak, as she tried to process that bomb dropping. “Wait, whoa, let’s run that back.” She finally spoke up. “Puck…did you just say that you have feelings for both of us? Like did I just hear that correctly?”

PUCK had barely registered his own confession and had already accepted heartbreak given Morgan's words. For whatever reason he thought Eva wouldn't acknowledge anything he said. Didn't really think she'd acknowledge anything either of the men said. Just figured she'd laugh at them or something and leave, never to speak to either of them again. So imagine his shock when not only was she not leaving but she was asking him to clarify. While he really didn't want to, he figured it was out there now, ain't no point it getting shy about it now. Plus, the adrenaline was helping him power through. "Yes, Eva, I have legit, romantic, wanna be with you, kind of feelings for you and Morgan. I don't want either one if ya fucking anyone that isn't each other or me. I don't want you going on fucking dates with anyone other than each other or me. Like shit man, I wouldn't have asked you to go with me to bail my dad out if I didn't wanna be with you." He said looking at Eva before turning to look at Morgan. "Friday wouldn't have happened if I didn't wanna be with you." He wanted no confusion, no room for interpretation, because that's all there's been between the three since they started this shit. "There. Communication 101, be fucking honest."

MORGAN was ready to leave, catching a cab home to the ranch, not wanting to spend any more time not communicating. He'd expected Eva to just blow everything Puck said off, the way that Morgan had, because Puck had sounded so delusional about him being the third-wheel, he'd overlooked what Eva managed to pick up on. And then came the explanation from Puck. 'Legit romantic, wanna be with you, kind of feelings'. He didn't know what to say, he was speechless, as he took a step back, sitting on one of the desks at the front row in the empty classroom. Where was he supposed to start? What was he supposed to do? "I don't want anyone touching you, but Eva and me." He finally said to Puck, even though he'd already made that point once in a text to him. "I don't want anyone touchin' Eva, but Puck and me."

EVA's eyes widened when Puck clarified that she had in fact heard him correctly, and he didn't even hesitate to expand on it now. Honestly, she wanted nothing more than to just run out of her classroom since this was all a little too real for her, but it was too late now so instead she just put her bag down and sat on top of her desk. Puck's mention of dates and fucking other people made her question just what had been happening that she didn't know about, but she didn't even have time to focus on that before it was Morgan's turn to speak up, and that was yet another shake up for her. "Fuck." She groaned as she ran a hand through her hair. Opening up about her feelings wasn't easy for her, so Eva decided to do what she did best and deflect. "Hold on — have you two been going on dates with other people? And fucking them?" She questioned.

MORGAN didn't exactly know what to expect from Eva and her reaction to the two men admitting these things to her. Looking over at Puck briefly to try and read his emotions too, he knew that they probably could've done this in a more gentle way, but there was no turning back now. When she finally did talk up again, it wasn't about feelings or anything like that, and Morgan's eyebrows shot up, completely taken aback by the direction she was going, and the fact that she was as shocked as she was - had she not been seeing other people? Clearing his throat, he hesitated to answer, before finally choosing to do so. "Um, well, you see, Puck said he was chill with us datin' other people, so I figured that meant that y'all were also doin' that, and I was the last person not to. I didn't wanna look stupid. But I literally only went on one date. No funny business." He quickly defended himself, but figuring it would never be enough.

PUCK wasn't surprised that Eva changed the topic. Everyone knows deflection 101 and a communications professors would know more than anyone how and when to do it, and yet this was kinda obvious and sloppy. Puck wasn't sure what that ment, either she didn't feel the same or she did and was ironically unwilling to say so. Then Morgan had to go say some shit that wasn't even true, so he was gonna have to clear that up first and admit to what happened between him and Kurt which he knew was gonna derail the whole fucking thing and make him the villain in this shit... again. "That's not what I said, man. I said I was trying to be chill with the fact that y'all could date other folk if you wanted to. Don't make your date with Serena about some shit I said, because if anything, I said I didn't want that." Unfortunately that couldn't be the end of that shit, he still had to answer Eva's question. "I went out with someone a few days ago, got my dick sucked, we were gonna do more but I couldn't, didn't feel right."

EVA was deflecting, yes, but that didn’t change the fact that she was learning shit she apparently hadn’t been privy to before now that they were having this talk. She took in what Morgan said first, and then Puck’s attempt at defending himself before admitting what he’d done too, and then she found herself chewing on the inside of her cheek as she processed it all. She was slightly pissed off, or maybe more so annoyed, and she was sure nothing she had to say to them now was gonna be nice. “So let me get this straight: you two had a talk about whatever the fuck the expectations were for whatever this is, didn’t include me, and then you both went out with other people? And this was either before or after you both ghosted me for days and then showed up to give me a sex apology?“ She questioned with a roll of her eyes. “This is exactly why I don’t do feelings and relationships. Now I’m the only idiot who wasn’t fucking around with anyone else, so fuck both of you.” She huffed as she pushed herself up from her desk. “You can have each other, or whoever else you’ve been dating.”

MORGAN had apparently completely misunderstood everything, and that had probably been where it all started. Biting his lip, he knew he'd fucked up. But if Puck had feelings for them, why would he try to be cool with it, if they did want to date other people? It was all so complicated, and if Morgan's head didn't hurt before, it hurt now. And then Puck admitted to having been intimate with someone, and it wasn't just Morgan's head that hurt. It was also his heart. It was like someone had punched him right in the gut, and then kicked him in the legs to make him fall over. "You- huh. Didn't feel right." Morgan clenched his jaw, feeling the anger brewing. He was so disappointed. And then, in typical Eva fashion, she said everything that was just hitting the nail on the head. But then something within Morgan snapped. He wasn't sure what, but he knew he needed answers. He turned to Eva. "So you're tellin' me this little lecture was "just" you teaching your students, and not you being upset that I'd presented myself as a thirst trap to other people that weren't you and Puck, and gettin' back at me for it? You're tellin' me that you giving up like this - 'bout to walk out of this damn classroom, not going forward with us - ain't because you've got some sort of feelings lingering?" Morgan shook his head - it hurt, and he didn't want to do this anymore. "I'm gonna go home now." He finally decided, and walked out, leaving Puck and Eva behind.

[upthewitchypunx]

What would You put in a beginner's witch kit?

It was inevitable that someone would ask me this, right? I’m assuming this is for someone interested in my style of secular witchcraft?

I was gonna break this into two, like a dip-the-toe-in-the-water kit and then a larger kit, but I’ll just got with the whole thing:

A copy of my zine Brainscan #33 DIY Witchery (an exploration of secular witchcraft) this pretty music explains my personal trajectory, philosophy, politics, and punk in my witchcraft.

Natural Witchery by Ellen Dugan

DIY Magic by Anthony Alvarado

Grove Daughter Witchery by Bree NicGarran

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Equal Rites by Terry Prachett (and a list of all the other witch books in the Disc World series)

Modern Tarot (book) by Michelle Tea

a simple Rider Waite Colman Smith tarot deck

a link to this Rune Soup blog post about sigils

a notebook and pen

a hand written correspondence list of items that can be found in your spice cabinet and weeds found around town

Then in a big swing top mason jar I would put all this stuff:

a few smaller jars

A pen

a sharpie marker

fabric scraps

those scissors that are one piece of metal that have a loop on the back

a bunch of embroidery thread in various colors

thread and needle

sticker paper

bit of broken mirror

some rocks from my own collection: amethyst, quartz points, obsidian, smokey quarts, and whatever other stones that seem to want to go on that adventure with my friend

chime candles in white, black, red, blue, green, purple and brown

at least 3 candle holders for chime candles

a bunch of tealights

ink, maybe a simple pen that uses ink, but ink is pretty helpful as it is

oils: the mercury retrograde protection oil I make, black pepper, sage, cinnamon, clove, lemon, dragonsblood, lavender

incense: frankincense & myrrh, clove, and a few blends that I enjoy

a big piece of black cloth

some earthenware dishes

some tweezers

a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of lemonbalm from my yard

and whatever strange stuff makes itself present on the way to give my buddy this bundle of stuff: washers, literal forks found in the road, acorns, leaves, twigs, etc.

I think that is it for the ultimate witchy gift set I would I would give a friend.

Edited to add a $20 gift card to a thrift shop!

[madstone015]

Fic: Without Me

If you are offended by Emily, Aubrey, Chloe or Beca being together in various pairings, don’t read this.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16692565/chapters/39148210

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Emily looked at the marquee as it scrolled slowly. There was slight disbelief in her mind as she read “Beca Mitchell June 3rd with Special Guest Young Sparrow with DJ Dragon Nuts and Cyn’d Rose.” She sent a sad look in Chloe’s direction and received the same in return. The brunette threaded her fingers with Chloe’s to hold her hand and provided a gentle squeeze. “I’m proud of Beca… And Cynthia Rose.” Emily finally broke the silence. Chloe nodded and pulled Emily close giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

The silence settled between them again. They had their roles helping Beca build a career. Emily had written all her songs and Chloe had been Beca’s manager while Beca was starting out. The three of them traveled together, visiting the Bella’s across the country. Couch surfing to avoid hotels, going to gigs at every state fair, bigger festivals, raves and even put up a tent at Burning Man. The three of them moved to LA at Beca request. Emily was fine with it, she could write songs anywhere. Chloe was ok with it but hesitant not wanting Beca to get caught up in Hollywood glamour once she mad it big. Fortunately, Beca finally caught a big break. Unfortunately, she hit the door running. Any venue, collab, EP offers, anything and everything she took it on. Slowly, she stopped coming home. That was almost four years ago. Now, her third tour was ending in LA for her third CD launch.

They made it home with In-n-Out and some new clothes from the mall. A beat had been playing in Chloe’s head for hours. A series of sounds in the mall caught her attention. To get it out of her head she played it on the piano. She popped a fry into her mouth with a smile before she sipped her drink. Looking at Emily, seeing how her lover hunched over a pad of paper with a pen in her hand scribbling lyrics out like it was as easy as breathing, was Chloe’s favorite thing to watch.

Emily had heard Chloe’s little melody on the piano and now it was on repeat in her head. All the time spent with Beca, playing with soundboards and mixing various songs, she could layer tracks in her head without ever touching an instrument. She envied Chloe and Aubrey's abilities with instruments. Em bobbed her head a bit, thought a moment and scribbled words down. Tell me how’s it feel sittin’ up there, Feelin so high but too far away to hold me.

Chloe had her hand in more than enough of Beca’s music after that fateful day when Beca proclaimed she was into ‘this stuff’. Seeing how remixes fell into place after the night in the pool the girls finally came together. She teased the piano keys. She sat in one of the two seats in front of the instrument. It made her almost uncomfortable without Beca beside her. Another french fry remedied that for now. She flicked the piano setting to be drums and played a little with a beat.

Emily furrowed her brows and scratched out a line she wrote after the first, You don’t have to say just what you did, I already know. She was nodding and tapping her foot to Chloe’s beat. She looked at the redhead fondly. This was how it worked, the missing element was Beca. Beca was the one who rearranged lyrics, layered the tracks, put it all together and played *their* music at the festivals. She thought back to when it was just the three of them on the open road between gigs. Beca’s face buried in the laptop while Emily wrote lyrics and Chloe drove tapping out some new little beat in her head. When Beca’s depression got too much they’d find a hotel and remind her just how much she was loved. Found you when your heart was broke. She scribbled in a new part of the page, I said I’d catch you if you fall. And if they laugh, then fuck’m all! She smiled sadly at the memory of the USO riff off and how she had to cheer Aubrey, Chloe and Beca all up.

In fact… Chloe looked like she could use some cheering up. Emily took Chloe’s hand and pulled her close threading her hand into those luscious red locks. Chloe bit her lip looking up into Emily’s eyes as she rocked up to kiss her. Emily picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. It earned her a genuine giggle from the core of Chloe's body.

Soon Chloe was naked under the exotic beauty who was kissing down her body reminding her just how much she loved Emily's attention. She was gasping and shivering under Emily’s long fingers and expert tongue. Pulling Emily up with a lengthy passionate kiss to roll them over and eagerly return the favor.

As they lay curled up together they didn’t mention the missing person in their relationship but the lyrics still bouncing around her head Emily whispered, “If I write a song… will you duet with me?” Chloe didn’t look up just continued to trace Emily’s collarbone gently, “Of course I would.” Truth be told they hadn’t sung since Beca left, they both missed it. “That is a really good idea sweetie.” Chloe grinned up at Emily’s megawatt smile and they rolled right back into making love to one another.

Emily smiled down at Chloe, running her fingers through her hair slowly. She watched the redhead nuzzle into her hip and hug her thigh tighter. She thought back on all the times Chloe had been by Beca’s side, through depression, issues with Beca’s father, the unknowns of Beca’s mother. Just running from the demons in your mind, Then I took yours and made ‘em mine, I didn’t notice 'cause my love was blind. She scribbled on her notepad. She quietly worried if this was all taking a much harder toll on the angel laying against her. Knowing full well Beca was Chloe’s soul mate, she wondered if she was enough to fill the void. I got you off your knees, Put you right back on your feet, Just so you can take advantage of me. She sighed and cuddled Chloe wondering why these feelings were resurfacing after this long.

By morning Chloe woke up to Emily hugging her so securely she could barely breathe, but she loved every second of it. There was security in being held this tight, being loved so much that a sleeping body knows to latch on. She looked over the features on Emily’s face and smiled to herself. She worried that this beautiful woman’s idol, her hero just abandon them for a career in music, but she expected this day to come. Chloe felt so much love for Emily, they really didn’t need Beca. That the longer Beca was gone, the less it all hurt and the more she was able to give the young lover.

Her phone chimed quietly and without a thought, she picked it up to put it on silent. She caught Aubrey’s name and “I’m at your-” under it. Flicking open the message, a smile slowly appeared across her face.

“Babygirl…” Chloe gently nuzzled Emily, kissing her awake enough for Emily to pull her on top and moan. With a giggle, the redhead nuzzled her young love and smiled brightly, “Guess who is here…”

Emily knew better than to say Beca, “Umm… Santa?”

Chloe whispered in her ear, “Aubrey” and Emily body vibrated under her with a deep moan. Chloe looked down at the browned eyed beauty curiously, “Oh really?”

Chuckling the brunette shrugged, “I just had a really good dream about her…” She bit her lip peeking at Chloe, “I’ve had a crush on her since we met. You all had my attention.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say…” Chloe smiled fondly, “She and I were a thing before…” feeling Emily’s lips on hers stopped whatever sadness may have started.

Emily murmured, “We haven’t seen Aubrey in ages. When she left to be a doula I really didn’t expect her to go to a different country.”

There was a quiet knock on the door when Emily opened it. Aubrey’s eyes took in the younger woman and simply dropped her bag to wrap her in a hug. She knew, they all knew, how Beca abandon everyone. Cynthia Rose didn’t abandon them or Denise the way Beca did. CR made sure Denise was included in everything, even written into every contract. Aubrey closed her eyes when she felt Emily tear up, “Shhhh Babygirl, I’m here.”

Emily hugged on tighter, “I've missed you so much.” Her voice was laced with so many memories, good and sad. The moments they shared during the USO tour, Aubrey's encouragement to keep writing, the night they spent together just after the tour, before she ran away to be a doula and before Beca and Chloe asked her to be with them. They all had a history together in one way or another. A very finely woven web of love, affection, and abandonment. Emily and Chloe were the only two who stuck together through everything, refusing to abandon the other. She squeezed Aubrey and whispered, “Please don’t leave again…”

Chloe leaned against the doorway smiling fondly. Aubrey, ever the sweetest woman on earth the moment someone fell apart in her arms. Walking up she leaned up kissing Aubrey on the lips and hugged Emily from behind while running her fingers over Aubrey’s forearms. “It's really good to see you Bree." When she felt Emily relax fully they broke apart. "C’mon ladies, let’s go inside.”

Emily grabbed Aubrey’s big bag, Chloe her smaller one, leaving Aubrey to close the door. The girls seemed to just blindly walk by Beca’s in-house studio. Aubrey saw the layers of dust on everything and watched the two women set her things in the hall.

She had seen the house enough through facetime to know where most of their things were. Heading to the kitchen she poured them each a glass of water and chuckled when Emily nuzzled up to her on one side, Chloe to the other. She kissed both women affectionately and moved them to sit down at the dining table.

To say the situation was complicated was untrue. Aubrey wanted to come back to the States, and they offered to house her. None of them expected the greeting to be like this but it was welcomed. Aubrey was hesitant when she saw Emily’s lyric pad in the middle of the table. She slid it closer, “I’m glad you started songwriting again… you are so amazing at it, Emily.” The younger woman blushed. It caused Aubrey to smile softly. Her eyes shifted to Chloe, “How are things going?”

Chloe gulped and twitched her nose slightly, “It’s been a long time. I think things still… sting for us in rare moments.” Emily gave a confirming nod. “But… 3 years is a long time. We’ve kinda taken the hint.” Tahitian blue eyes looked up from her glass to watch the blonde, “Emily and I love each other unconditionally. Maybe a moment or two... feel… incomplete but we are happy with or without her.”

Aubrey nodded, “Good. You two are gorgeous together. I’m actually jealous of both of you. I’ll be honest, I was always jealous of her. Probably why I was always so hard on her.” She blushed a little and hid behind her glass. That got Chloe to smile reminiscing about Beca’s first year in the Bella’s.

Aubrey gulped though, she was unsettled, she hummed to herself a moment before offering, “I feel I'm the reason she’s not here anymore…” That caught both Emily and Chloe’s attention. Shit. “Let me rephrase that… what I mean to say, you three were a deadly combination. I knew a music exec, sent him to see her last show, told him you were a package deal… I guess he didn’t see it that way. For that, I’m so sorry. Not that it’s any consolation… she shut me out as well.”

The brunette eased the lyric pad over to herself while listening to Aubrey and Chloe chit chat a little. Her mind was too full to really let any of their words sink in. With Aubrey’s admission, more lyrics flowed through her. You know I’m the one who put you up there, name in the sky. Does it ever get lonely? She looked outside, zoning out a little. Thinking you could live without me. She looked back at the pad. It wasn’t much, more heavy-handed scratch marks in word form than flowing lyrics. She sighed and shoved the pad away zoning back into their conversation.

The blonde looked between the two lovers and finally requested, “Let’s go somewhere.” She knew full well they needed to get out of that house, away from the ghost of Beca. Emily looked at Chloe as if for permission, to which Chloe nodded, “Of course. How could I deny either of you.” They all smiled and headed out the door.

Emily climbed in the back of the car, “Are we still going over to Jessley’s tonight?”

Aubrey laughed, “They are close by too?”

Chloe smiled at the blonde, "Yeah, it's really nice having them close." She turned to Emily, “Of course we are. We can take turns sitting out a hand so Aubrey can play too.” Reaching back to rub Emily’s thigh, making the younger woman smile fondly and kiss her cheek.

Aubrey chuckled, “What do you guys play?”

Emily shrugged, “Trump sometimes Gin. I always play with Ashley and we always win too.”  There was a pause, “And we play Mario Kart…”

Smirking Aubrey glanced at Chloe, who nodded, “It’s true… I think Jessica and I get too heart eyed watching them get so excited to pay any attention, by that time math is out the window.”

Chloe felt like she could finally take a deep breath. She didn’t even realize how freeing it felt to have Aubrey around.

Aubrey didn’t have a destination in mind, she made sure she had Emily’s notepad and snacks for all of them. Eventually, she drove them to a strip of the beach that rarely had visitors. It was too rocky to get to the sand with any sort of chair or surfboard under their arm. For them, the spot would be perfect. Helping each other felt a little like the team building exercise making all three of them laugh and giggle through it. Aubrey pulled them both in for a tender kiss. The kiss made both women smile a little brighter. This is how it’s supposed to be.

They lounged a bit. Emily got antsy though and took off her shoes to go run around the shallow surf.

Aubrey looked at Chloe, “Are you two really ok?”

Chloe squinted a little looking up at the sun then down at Emily with a small smile, “We make it. Like I said before, we love each other more than anyone could ever love another. I just have a sinking feeling we both hope the other is good enough? If that makes sense. Like I’m sure she wonders if she is good enough to fill her place and Beca’s… and I feel the same for her.”

Humming in understand Aubrey nodded, “I can understand that. Have you tried to contact her?”

“I don’t think we realized what was happening until one day… she just stopped coming home. We did try contacting her but she always claimed she was busy. We both deleted our social media because she was everywhere, new songs, interviews, people fawning over her. People were posting old pictures and tagging all of us. Paparazzi harassed us for a while but that died down after she stopped coming home.” Chloe shook her head sitting up clapping the sand off her palms, “I get it… the lifestyle is intoxicating. I wonder if she’s lonely. If she remembers what real love, not lust, feels like.”

Aubrey scooted herself behind Chloe and wrapped her arms around her. She loved letting the redhead lean back against her. Silently, she scolded herself for not being around the last 4 years. She was sorry she wasn’t around to pick up the pieces. Looking up she could see Emily’s closed mouth smile spread across her face, it was the sweetest thing she ever laid eyes on. “I think we’re being watched…”

Chloe peaked and Emily looked down instantly kicking wet sand off her foot as the water rushed away from her. The redhead smiled bright, “Appears so… She’s so gorgeous."

To Aubrey, Chloe was the definition of love and enthusiasm with sunshine for a smile and the clearest blue sky for eyes. To her, Emily was the definition of sunshine but had become slightly somber after Barden, much more down to earth. She knew Emily was just the right balance for both Beca and Chloe so she never offered to be part of the relationship. Instead, she ran away to forget them.

“So are you… you bother are amazingly gorgeous.” Aubrey kissed the side of Chloe’s head. She let out a breath and closed her eyes, she was glad neither of them could see her expression, “If she came back… would you accept her?” She watched as the vein in Chloe’s neck pounded blood like a jackhammer.

“I… I don’t know. 3 years is a long time to be asking for forgiveness.” Chloe sighed, “I think Emily and I would have to have a real discussion about it. Beca will be in town in a few days… it’s her last tour date. We didn’t go to her last 2 concerts, it just hurt too much. Yet she still sends front row tickets… backstage passes, a limo. I don’t get it.”

Aubrey held Chloe tighter, “Wow…"

Emily wandered up to them, a smile still on her face. Emily lowered herself down to straddle Chloe’s lap which also meant straddling Aubrey’s. Her fingers slide cradled the back of both their heads while she captured Aubrey in a lengthy, gentle but meaningful kiss. She hugged Chloe's head to her upper chest to listen to her heartbeat. They all knew Chloe lived for that deep rhythmic thud in someone’s chest when they were excited, happy or just plain sexual. Somehow it gave Chloe life.

Aubrey knew Emily was Chloe’s heartbeat. Emily sent her pictures of Chloe, ear over her heart, sound asleep.

They went to Ashley and Jessica’s. Aubrey was welcomed with open arms. The two women loved their old captain, no matter if she remembered their names back then or not. There was an elephant in the room though, the real question wad who all was going to Beca and CR’s concert? If anyone. Admirably, Ash and Jess went to everything Bella related. Babysitting Bella for Stacie and Flo, even taking them all out to dinner. Meeting Lily for random gigs. Hosting smaller get-togethers for all the local Bella’s to hang out. None of them could blame the couple. They were all laughs and giggles by the time the wine started flowing. Emily and Ashley were all playful pouts when Aubrey and Jessica beat the snot out of them, then Aubrey and Chloe took a turn doing it. They received kisses to mend the wounds and the brunettes made up for it in Mario Karts.

Once home Emily curled up on the couch with her lyric pad and started writing again. She was zoned, leaving Chloe and Aubrey to each other again. Aubrey nodded to the couch, and Chloe curled up on Emily’s left. The blonde rummaged around the kitchen to find ice cream and three spoons. She plopped down on Emily’s right. Both of them giggled as the brunette mindlessly took a scoop of ice cream and nibbled at it while her pencil drew words across the page. The excitement of the day made Chloe fall asleep quickly. She snored quietly against Emily’s shoulder. The brunette smiled lovingly at her, “She’s so perfect Bree… Am I good enough for her?”

Aubrey gave her the warmest smiles and pulled the side of Emily’s head toward her whispering, “You are perfect for her Em, never doubt it for a moment. She loves you more than anything in the world.” She ran her fingers through long wavy brunette locks slowly until Emily yawned. She watched as Emily scooped Chloe up in her arms and noticed Emily’s eyes flicked from Chloe to her then to the bedroom. Aubrey didn’t need the offer twice.

Emily carefully pulled off Chloe’s clothes and put on her pj shirt and shorts then carefully laid her in the middle of the bed. Moved to her dresser to change into her own shirt and shorts. Passing Aubrey in the hallway, she gave the blonde’s hand a gentle squeeze and a gentle peck on the lips. She walked around to double check the locks on the doors and windows then came back to the bedroom. She slid in on Chloe’s right and smiled when the redhead instantly clung to her, finding her favorite place for a pillow, square over Emily’s heart.

Aubrey's heart skipped a few beats. She did not expect to see Chloe cling to Emily. “That is the most precious thing in the world,” Aubrey whispered to Emily.

The younger of them smile sleepily, “She’s my everything.” They both yawned and chuckled at the action.

The blonde slid up behind Chloe and hugged both the women she’s always adored nice and tight. She felt Chloe sigh happily.

The few days passed and life was good. The tiny cloud that seemed to loom over Chloe and Emily had been lifted. Aubrey’s presence made them all feel balanced. They dusted off all of the studio equipment and both women smiled as Emily's excitement grew.

Emily got to work recording while Chloe played with the various sounds again to get a good rhythm going. Emily even invited Aubrey in on it, something about their voices simply sounded perfect together.

Like clockwork, a driver showed up and there was a knock on the door. 3 passes held out in front of him. Aubrey looked blankly at the roadie holding up the badges who was looking back at her with an equally less than enthusiastic expression. Aubrey stepped out and closed the door behind her, “Does Beca actually want us there?”

The roadie looked confused, “I’d guess, yeah.”

“Do you know who these ladies are? The ones you come here every year to give passes to.” Aubrey asked. When he lowered the passes and shook his head

She sighed, “I figured. Do you know who Chloe and Emily are?”

His eyes shot open, “THE Chloe and Emily?! The pair that Beca is with? Oh my god, she never shuts up about how amazing they are! How she owes them everything! Holy crap, I had no idea. I wish I knew that before I got here! Now I just feel like an asshole.”

“…is with…?” Aubrey perked a brow, “And I’m Aubrey.”

“Dude!” She could already tell this roadie was a Californian or hung with Beca too much. He stammered, “Wait, YOU?! You got her the final gig that brought her to the big leagues. Not even DJ Khalid could manage what your guy did for her. Man, she talks about the three of you, like, hourly on the dot.”

“…Dude.” She cleared her throat, hating the way that word tasted on her lips. Even when it was said sarcastically. “I don’t know if you are trying to be extra cordial or if you are being genuine but I have serious doubts Beca is talking, let alone missing, any of us that much.”

He looked confused.

Aubrey shook her head, “I’ll let Emily and Chloe know you are here…  and I will let you know if we want to go. Give me a moment.”

She went back inside and pressed the door closed with her back. Emily was in the living room with an iPod in one hand, apparently on full blast because Aubrey could hear it clearly from 15 feet away. It faded and repeated again, it was the song the three of them made together. She watched Emily’s head bob side to side as one hand moved to the words she was lip syncing.

Chloe rounded the corner to ask Aubrey something when she saw the look in Aubrey’s eyes, “It’s today isn’t it…” She just closed her eyes and sighed. She didn’t know if she had the strength to support them all today. The song had taken a lot out of her even if it did feel good to sing again. She knew Emily wanted to go just to give Beca the cd. If she had her way, she’d just give the cd to Denise for CR to give to Beca. Her eyes moved to Emily who was deep into the song, likely still in editing mode. The song was flawless and made a few cds which Emily had clutched in her hand. She walked up to Emily, leaned up kissing her softly, “Do you want to go?”

Emily paused the song, “It’s today?” Chloe gave her a confirming nod sending her mind spiraling. “If it’s ok with you guys… We can just slide this on stage or backstage and leave… But she needs to hear this.” She stood a little more determined. Watching both the blonde and redhead nod, they headed out the door.

The roadie blushed deep red, “This way ladies… feel free to have anything in the minibar in the limo. I promise tonight is Beca’s treat.”

Through the night none of them seemed to be thrilled about any of it… Dinner was paid for, though Beca wasn’t present. They were showed backstage, again, Beca wasn’t present. Emily did manage to slip the cd into the player when the roadie wasn’t looking.

They were escorted to seats front and center. They got waves and sung to by Young Sparrow and Cynthia Rose quite often. Admittedly, watching their friends perform was exciting. When Beca was set to hit the stage though, they held hands and breathes. It would be the first time in 3 years they laid eyes on Beca. They knew that Beca wouldn’t be able to see them anyway, even if there were big blue arrows on the stage pointing directly to them. The lights too blinding, music too numbing and excitement too breathtaking.

They held their breaths through most of Beca’s performance, it was flawless and beautiful, true music to their ears as it always had been. She even performed Freedom with Cynthia Rose with a dedication to the three of them. After Beca disappeared, the lights around the stadium eased on slowly and the lights on stage clicked off they looked at one another in silence. It was a visual debate, seeing how distraught or comfortable each other was. Chloe was the first to speak up, “Can we go home… I don’t want to go backstage.” Emily nodded, both looked at Aubrey who smiled calmly and nodded, “Of course.”

The roadie made sure they got to the limo safely, and to their front door once home. Emily scrunched her nose and handed him the spare cd, “I put one in the cd player in her room… but we need her to hear this. Please make sure she does.” He hugged it to his chest and nodded frantically, “Anything for you, Mrs. Emily Beale.”

She smiled hearing her full name and hugged him, “Thank you.”

He held up the cd and jogged back to the limo. It soon disappeared into the night.

They stayed up a few more hours, unwinding and talking adoringly about seeing Young Sparrow and CR perform, how the show actually was enjoyable.

A knock on the door made them all jump, Aubrey got up walking to the front door. She was flanked by Chloe and Emily. When she opened the door, it was the last person they expected. The person they looked at looked distraught, deeply depressed, tears rolling down their face.

Emily whispered harshly, Aubrey said curiously, Chloe let out a strangled word, in unison. “Beca…?”

[nellie-elizabeth]

Outlander: Never My Love (5x12)

I... Have... Issues.

Cons:

I don't want to blame the show-runners too much for the story-line with Claire, as it is lifted straight from the books. But do you know what occurred to me as I was watching this? The rape was actually completely unnecessary to the story. Like - seriously. Change nothing else. Show Claire being beaten and bloody and tied up, and it's awful and it's hard to watch and the performance is raw and honest and all that jazz.

But why rape? Why rape again? We've already had a story-line about Jamie being raped, and a story-line about Brianna being raped. At some point it's just torture porn. And the fact that she is sexually assaulted makes Jamie and the other men's journey feel like this really gross macho revenge fantasy. Again, I know this is all lifted straight from the books. And let me tell ya - it's one of my least favorite things in the books, too.

They added in this interesting thing where Claire is fantasizing about a happy life in the twentieth century with all her family around her, at Thanksgiving. So we keep cutting between Claire tied up and crying in the forest, and these happy idyllic snapshots, of Jocasta and Murtagh, Ian in a uniform, Marsali and Fergus and their kids, Claire and Jamie happy together. There were things about this idea that I liked, but I had two big problems, as well.

For one thing, the thought that the fantasy Claire escapes to is of the future, of her own time, is... really sad, isn't it? It's not poignant, it's just depressing, to think that while Claire fantasizes about Jamie and the rest of her eighteenth century family, she longs for the trappings and safety of a twentieth century existence. That's not the sense I've gotten from her character at all, that she's still missing her old life. It felt really awkward and out of place.

And secondly, why did Brianna and Roger and Jemmy die in this little fantasy escape of Claire's? I guess it has something to do with the pain she feels at not thinking she'll ever see Bree and Roger again, but it felt out of place in the fantasies, which in turn felt out of place in the scenes.

Speaking of Brianna and Roger... I already felt like last week's goodbyes with them were really tepid and unmotivated. I didn't understand why they were leaving at that exact moment. In the book, as I said, there was a very clear reason for their departure. But here, they go through the stones, and end up back where they started. Ian is startled to see them, and it turns out that when Brianna and Roger thought of home, it took them back to where they started, because the Ridge is home to them now.

Ugh. Barf. That's... way too cheesy for my taste, I'm sorry to say. And it makes last week's weirdly underwhelming goodbye... even more underwhelming. After all of that, the Mackenzies are just content to stay in the past? And it just made the plot more confusing, because this final episode wasn't about them, and their choice to stay after all. It was about rescuing Claire from Lionel Brown. So Roger shows up, Jamie is glad to see the family, but there's no time to really process it - Roger is coming along on the mission to save Claire. Why not change it up, so that Roger and Bree decide to leave, but before they can set off, the attack happens and they have to stay because Claire was taken? Then they could have a talk, after it's all over, about how they don't want to leave while things are so uncertain, and maybe they don't want to leave at all.

This season's timeline is very disjointed to me. We just saw Marsali give birth to her baby girl, right, but now she's pregnant and showing again? When was it that months passed without my noticing? Did anyone else feel some whiplash with all of that?

I'll finish off this "cons" section by circling back to a complaint I already made last week, which is that this did not feel like the natural culmination to a season of television. The Browns were barely characters, the whole subplot about Claire being Dr. Rawlings was hardly a thing. This was a season about Bonnet, about Roger almost dying (and oh boy that didn't get very much screen-time did it?), it was a season about the War of Regulation. This attack on Claire feels like it came out of nowhere and only existed to make something dramatic happen in the finale.

Pros:

Okay so I didn't actually despise this episode, despite my litany of complaints about it.

To start with, while I had some problems with the revenge fantasy aspect of Claire's rescue, I did think the fight choreography was really good and conveyed the brutality of the violence being committed. That's something Outlander very often gets right. The image of Ian and Fergus looking down on Claire as Jamie kneels beside her, so much compassion and honor for their mother-figure... that was really powerful. And Roger taking a life, the significance of that, and the way he confessed it to Brianna in the dark... all of that left quite an impact. I also love how seriously Jamie takes Claire's oath as a doctor, that she will do no harm. It's a great moment from the books that was borrowed here, where Jamie says that Claire cannot kill for herself - "it is I who kills for her."

While I question the whole point of the twentieth century fantasy stuff, it was still fun to see everyone in more modern, recognizable clothing and hair-styles. Very much of the '60's, but still. It was strange to see Marsali with the long straightened hair, and Jocasta and Claire with their conservative shortened styles. Seeing Ian and Jamie in modern garb was legitimately disconcerting, which goes to show how wonderful this show is at total immersion. The setting and time period is very solidly 1760's, and I get totally swept up in that to the point where it was really fascinating and kind of fun to see them all in this different setting.

I'll go ahead and say that Caitriona Balfe did a great job with her performance. It was hard to watch the torture porn but I did appreciate her dedication to Claire's experience, and she did a great job with some frankly clunky dialogue when she was listing all the trauma she's experienced and talking about how she won't be broken by this.

The real show-stealer of the night, though? Marsali. This is the best thing that the show-runners have changed from the book to the show. Placing Marsali in the position as Claire's protege, giving her more personal agency and more to do outside of being a wife and a mother, paying off the difficult beginning of her relationship with Claire. All of this is top-notch stuff. When Claire comes back after Jamie rescues her, we see her and Brianna embrace, and that's sweet or whatever, but I felt so much more when I saw Marsali approach, with her face all bruised, to embrace Claire. They weathered the attack together.

And then Marsali killing Lionel Brown... chills. When she said "I've taken no such oath," and then Jamie finds her and she's freaking out about killing him, asking if she'll go to Hell. There was just so much going on in that performance, so many layers to what was happening, and I was totally spell-bound.

I try not to harp on and on too much about the books vs. the show, but in this case I want to praise the show for taking out a part of the book that I hate, which is Jamie being worried that Claire might be pregnant from one of her rapists, and wanting to have sex with her right away so he can have plausible deniability that he might be the father. I am just... grateful that they didn't include this aspect in the show. It's gross. I don't want to deal with it.

In place of that we see Claire grieving what has happened to her, we see her telling Lionel Brown: "I will do you no harm," we see her breaking down but finding inner strength, and we see her curled up in the arms of her husband, taking strength from him. I really wish this story hadn't happened like this in the show, but I did appreciate the care and attention given to the aftermath.

So there you have it. This season was... disjointed at best. I really do wonder if season six will be the end of Outlander. It would make a certain amount of sense, given how many of the plot threads from the books have been excised/shortened into a more streamlined format for the show. Unfortunately, I feel like there were a lot of misses this season, and I hope they can come back with something stronger in the future!

6.5/10

[kissofthemuses]

Morgan

FULL NAME: Morgan Rowlands

SPECIES: witch

OCCUPATION: student/healer/holistic healer

FANDOM: Sweep

                                       PHYSICAL

FACECLAIM: Troian Bellisario

                        Katharine Mcphee

PRONOUNS: she/her

AGE: 17/18, 34

BIRTHDATE: November 23

HAIR: brown

EYES: brown

HEIGHT: 5'7″

ORIENTATION: bisexual

                                     RELATIONSHIPS

MOTHER: Mary Grace Rowlands (Adoptive), Meave Riordan (birth- deceased)

FATHER: Sean Rowlands (adoptive), Ciaran Macewan (birth)

Siblings: Mary Kathleen Rowlands (adoptive), Killian MacEwan (half-brother), Kyle MacEwan (half-brother), Iona MacEwan (half-sister)

                                     PERSONALITY

MBTI: ENFP-T / “Campaigner”

ALIGNMENT: lawful good

TEMPERAMENT: sanguine

ENNEAGRAM: type 2

Morgan is a kind soul with a desire to heal anyone who is in any kind of pain. But, she's shy and, often, self-depricating; she doesn't have low self esteem but, she doesn't see herself as anything special. Actually, much of her life, she felt like she didn't quite fit in with her family. She's generally a studious person with a thirst for knowledge for those things that interested her.

She's been accused, on many occasions, of not being able to see the 'big picture'. And that's true because she tends to focus on what's affecting her and those around her, in the moment. That's not to say she's selfish, she just doesn't really have the ability to step back and examing the situation as a whole. Especially because she is so emotionally driven. Much of the time, she lets her heart rule her head, and this has gotten her into a lot of trouble. She's also extremely stubborn, and, once she sets her mind to something, she will pursue it until it's very end (unless something drastic happens to change her course).

                                     OTHER

POWERS: Pyrokenisis, shapeshifting (animal forms, mainly a wolf), scrying, spell creation and casting.

LIKES: reading, divination, tea-making, karaoke, research, traveling, sharing what she’s learned, dancing by herself, warm cookies

DISLIKES: feeling weak, fire, sleep paralysis, injustice, bullying, being alone, her own heart,

                                  TAGS

Threads

Headcanons

Musings

Inspo

                                                                   BACKSTORY

Morgan Rowlands was born on November 23rd, to Maeve Riordan and Ciaran MacEwan. Though her mother's partner Angus Bramson believed he was her father, a belief Maeve did not correct. Fearing attack by Ciaran, Maeve and Angus gave her up for adoption when she was around 8 months old. Soon after, Ciaran killed them by locking them up in a building and setting it on fire.

She then was adopted by Mary Grace and Sean Rowlands. two years later, her parents had a biological daughter named Mary Kathleen Rowlands. When Morgan was 8, her parents nicknamed her Molly, after they learned of the death of her biological mother and presumed father. Though the Rowlands did not fully understand the exact circumstances of Maeve and Angus's death, they were aware that real magick was somehow involved, and they hoped the nickname would deflect anyone who wished her harm

Morgan lived in Widow's Vale, New York and was a high-school junior when she was introduced to Wicca by Cal Blaire (the new boy in town). The two developed an emotional relationship which only grew stronger when Morgan discovered her heritage, powers, and family origins.

It wasn't long until a Seeker from the International Council of Witches showed up in Widow's Vale to stop Cal and his mother, Selene Belltower, from performing dark magick. Not fully understanding the situation, and completely taken by Cal, Morgan almost killed Hunter while trying to protect Cal. However, Cal's intentions to get Morgan to join the dark side soon became apparent, and Morgan refused him. Cal, apparently, fully realized his feelings for her and tried to "save her" by killing her. He locked her in a hidden, magic room behind his poolhouse and set it on fire. Morgan escaped death thanks to Hunter, and her best friends Bree and Robbie.

This was the start of Morgan's trust in Hunter and, slowly, she found herself falling for him. With his help, Morgan learned more of her heritage and powers. It is with him that she found her birth father, Ciaran MacEwan, a powerful black witch. At Hunter's behest, Morgan got close to her father so that Hunter can bind Ciaran's magic and render him unable to harm anyone else ever again. Part of her hated to do it, but, she knew it was the right thing to do.

                                  VERSES

SPELLBOUND (MAIN)

Morgan has graduated high school and is now starting college. She continues to study and practice magic, growing ever stronger in her powers.Pre-witched | Tag Morgan is your typical high school junior, trying to navigate school, friends, family, and life.

IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME (PJO AU)

Morgan is a daughter of Hecate, residing at Camp Half Blood during the summer and with her adopted parents the rest of the year.

TEEN WITCH (TEEN WOLF AU)

After Cal tried to burn her alive, Morgan's family decide that moving would keep her safe. Unbeknown to them, they're drawn to Beacon Hills, where even greater powers await. Morgan is a high school senior, still dealing with the emotional trauma while adjusting to a new town and school.

SOMETHING WITCHY THIS WAY COMES (HARRY POTTER AU)

INFO POST

Morgan is a supposed Muggle-born Gryffindor. Unknown to her still is that she was adopted by muggles, but her birth parents were pure-bloods. Her mother was a gifted healer and her father is an infamous Dark Wizard who murdered her birth mother and step-father.

After leaving Hogwarts, Morgan become a rather noted healer, who had a reputation for being especially kind to those on the fringes of wizarding society.

(Single ship with mcsaiccfmuses's Remus)

DARK MAGICK (EVIL AU)

FULL CIRCLE (OLDER AU)

After find out about her family's dark legacy and meeting her father, one of the darkest of them all, Morgan gave into that side of her. A black witch now, Morgan is out only for herself.

After the death of her beloved Hunter, Morgan can't seem to settle down. In her thirties, she moves about, continually searching for something can't quite name or find- peace.

[krismusings]

HELLO! And welcome to my mess of a blog. This is mostly just for my musings, but because I also do a lot of discord roleplay, I would like to list my rules, and active muses here as well.

About me OOC:

Name: (Kris)tin

Age: 32

Timezone: EST

I am obsessed with Harry Styles, Austin Butler, Dua Lipa, Avan Jogia, and other pretty people that I excessively post about, so if you don’t like any of my faceclaims, I would suggest not following my mental breakdown tumblr journey.

I roleplay on discord now because tumblr sucks, and I also like the privacy of being able to reply as I can, or have time. I am not someone who is able to always reply at a speedy pace every day. Sometimes I can crank out several replies one after another when I have muse - but keep in mind I do have a life, and a lot of threads, and severe carpal tunnel. I will do my very besty best!

RULES:

1. Don’t pressure me, guilt me for replies, or take anything personal. I’m a pretty chill partner, just be patient and I in turn of course will be patient with you!

2. Please no short one sentence replies. I put a lot of thought into my replies, a lot of inner dialogue and painting the scene. I don’t expect writing perfection, or exact length matching, but I do want something to work off of.

3. If we haven’t roleplayed before, and you’re open to new writing, just message me and introduce yourself. Maybe give some writing examples, and I’ll exchange with you as well - just to make sure we’re compatible!

4. Smut is perfectly fine with me, I write a lot of it, but I also enjoy a balance! If you’re not comfortable with writing smut though, I’m prob not the best partner for you. I’m a heathen. 😂

5. I do not have any banned faceclaims, but I do have a few I’ve had bad experiences with, or may not particularly care for in real life. I’ll let you know if I’m uncomfortable with a certain FC.

6. I do use discord only now, it’s just easier to keep everything organized. Please be familiar with the format and understanding of my preference! I can still use gifs there as well, but they’re not required.

7. Have fun and love you 🥺

MUSE BIOS:

(way more to come, just lazy adding bios lol)