#threads; lilia

[ladiesandwitches]

@billyktothemax

"Well, you are just full of surprises aren't you, kiddo?" Just an ordinary nameless teenager, or so they'd thought, and he'd not just been any witch, but the child of the Scarlet Witch. Quite the reputation even before he was born.

And now, here he was, in full costume (what else was she gonna call that look? It was a bit too much to just be an outfit), looking, well, still like a lost teenager, but a little more clued up on who he was. And Lilia didn't mean his name, his parents, but something much deeper, and more important.

"So, I'm guessing you're not just here to show off the new threads. Actually--" Lilia paused, looking at Billy with a hand on her hip. "How did you know I'd be here? I thought I was going to die there in that tower. If I didn't know I'd be here...how did you?"

[ladiesandwitches]

As Lilia listened to Dionysia talk, memories were triggered of her youth, of the sisterhood she had in Sicily. Her coven had been her sisters in the craft and they had been her family too, her world in many ways, for years. She remembered what it was like to have fellow witches around you, to know you had that support, that you could learn from one another, help one another.

"I had that once too," she admitted, emotion almost making her voice waver. Sometimes it felt as if she lived through the coven's deaths twice; the time she saw it, her vision of the future, and the time she lived through it, experiencing the grief first hand, knowing that precognition hadn't prevented it from happening, that no amount of divination had saved them.

And then there'd been other deaths, other losses, through the years. Friends she'd made, a sort of coven, over time, different places, different centuries, and so many of them had been killed. Captured and tortured by witch hunters before being executed for crimes they'd never even committed. Or shoved into ovens for feeding abandoned children.

"What?" Lilia blinked in disbelief, hardly comprehending what was being offered, or explained. Creating precious stones from scratch wasn't typically a gift she'd seen most witches have, and the generosity of offering money was just as rare.

"No, I can't. It's too much" And yet she wanted to. Lilia's eyes flickered over to the letter on the shelf, the one warning of an eviction. "I'm behind on rent," she forced herself to admit, the words coming out as a burst of information.

"But," Lilia added, not wanting to seem too desperate for financial support, as she smiled through the embarrassment, "let me find your names first."

"Perhaps hiding is why witches in this world survived. Still... it saddens me that we have to." Dionysia murmured. "Anyway, I appreciate your help." Though before the names were given, Lilia asked what witches had been like in her world. Dionysia thought of her answer, which further saddened her knowing they were all gone now.

"It was a sisterhood. If you were a witch and you happened to meet another, you instinctively knew you would be safe with her. Witches knew to look out for each other. If there was one in need, you helped her, plain and simple. You knew that even a stranger to you, a witch of a different coven, would welcome you with open arms as one of her own, give you a meal, a place to sleep, and anything else she could help you with. And she knew you would do the same for her."

"Likewise, I would love to help you. You mentioned bills; you shouldn't have to worry about that. Especially when I have magic that can practically create money from nothing." she spoke, proving her point by holding out her hand, a large, palm sized ruby forming within it. "The diamond necklace I'm wearing?" Dionysia pointed to the clearly expensive diamond choker around her neck. "They're real diamonds. I made that too. I can sell this ruby tomorrow to a high end jeweler and get about half a million dollars. So let me write you a check. And before you say you don't accept charity, don't think of it as that. It's looking out for each other. A witch helping another witch, like you're helping me with your abilities. Please allow me to."

[confuseuniverse]

i was just searching for screens of lilia's house and couldn't help but notice the amount of pearl curtains she owes like girl i know how much time it takes to make i see how you spend those evenings

+ lmao she's petty about the stereotypical image of witches as if her business wasn't the spitting image of the divination witch clichés

+ just a picture of her kitchen because she's cute

[ladiesandwitches]

@thehxrkness

"I have worked for centuries to beat back every stereotype, every assumption, about witches and our culture, and at every turn I hear some new wicked deed of yours that undoes it all, like that, poof!" Lilia protested. unbridled irritation filling her voice as she jabbed a finger at Agatha. "You know you're the reason people used to think I caused the storms rather than just predicting them."

[grilledcheeseandguavajelly]

Everyone on the internet going “but where was Rio at the end of the episode?? Where did she go?? Why wasn’t she with the rest of the coven???” Like. BABES. There was a DEAD BODY in that house. A DEAD HUMAN BODY. There was a dead human body IN THE HOUSE. Sit on it. Think for a second. Yeah? Yeah?? Thereeee we go you go there 👏🏼👏🏼

[ladiesandwitches]

It was difficult when you were young, new to being a witch, so many aspects still to be learned, and it was even more true for someone like Billy, who had powers of creation, powers that were larger than what was usually expected. It was possible something in his mind had started the fire without realising, entirely possible he had been doing something else and this had been an unknown side-effect, an off-shoot.

And it was also possible the fire had just happened, an entirely mundane cause behind it. What mattered now was that it was out.

Lilia gave a smirk of a laugh at the safety video reference. "No wonder your dad's grilling makes you nervous," she commented, giving him a smile. "If it helps, I've never known a kitchen explode from a fire. Even when the fires were open." Gas, however, was another issue.

"And then there are spells that cause the problems, but that's--" Lilia shook her head to dismiss the whole concept. "something else."

"I doubt it started itself," Billy mumbled, but he wasn't going to argue. What should he do, ask to be in trouble? He was just trying to put it out.

"Sorry," He said, grimacing and bearing his teeth in an awkward smile. "I thought it might be a grease fire or something, all I could remember is those firefighter videos where the whole kitchen explodes."

[egophiliac]

HOW WE FEELING ABOUT THE UPCOMING NEWSS 👹👹👹

man, it's a good thing they stopped doing the episode 7 SSRs, because I'm really low on keys and gems right now and --

OH NO

[rayroseu-reblogs]

HEADPAT HEADCANON where Malleus observes the difference between Maleficia's headpat and Lilia's. For Lilia, when he pets Malleus, its more rough and kind of feels like ruffling his hair but not messy, with Maleficia, its slow and she pets from one motion only (like moving her hand from left to right).

Lilia often looks at Malleus whenever he pets him, with a cheeky smile as if congratulating a little kid even if Malleus is grown now, but Maleficia closes her eyes whenever she gives him a headpat as if to savor the moment (or my angst reason that she doesn't look bcs Malleus looks like Meleanor, its not that she hates it, but its that she doesnt want to relate Malleus with Meleanor when he's his own person, so she tries to differentiate them in her mind by memorizing what "Malleus feels like"), She also looks more calmer whenever she pets him.

Unlike Lilia who gives him a headpat to congratulate, Maleficia gives a headpat as if to soothe a child. For Malleus, It feels embarassing for Lilia to think of him as a child, but Malleus doesnt mind it when Maleficia thinks of him like that.

Lilia's headpats can be gained by doing something he'll be proud of (like getting along with humans) but Maleficia's headpats can be rare bcs she does it randomly (whenever she reminisces how she tried to hatch him or she remembers Meleanor😭) and Malleus can't pinpoint the cause of it but he welcomes it still because its one of the affection gestures that Maleficia often does

[irafuwas]

I've been ruminating all day today about why Lilia keeps such a distance from those he loves, and why he never refers to Silver as his son or to himself as Silver's father. And then I was suddenly struck by the thought that he might not think himself worthy of claiming Silver as his child, and now I need to lie down.

And you know what, why would he? He is the Great General Vanrouge of the Imperial Guard, after all. Feared by so many, and celebrated by so few. How much blood has been spilled by his hands over the centuries? How many long-forgotten nations has he wiped from the face of the planet? How many houses razed, lives ruined, families destroyed? His lot in life has always been to burn and to maim and to take, but never to keep.

Of course he wouldn't allow himself the privilege of claiming this unknowing, undoubting child as his son. Because he doesn't deserve it, and he doesn't deserve him. Not he, whose iridescent eyes pierce him deeper through his heart than any blade he's ever met; the shimmering antithesis to all the wrong he's done in this world.

No, he's simply there to watch over the child until the time comes for him return to his real family. Nothing more, nothing less. ("It's easier this way." Lilia murmurs to himself in the pitch black of their small cabin, careful to keep his voice low as the boy's small chest slowly rises and falls as he slumbers in the cot next to his. But every morning, when the pale sunlight that slips through the windows gently urges the child awake and he turns to face Lilia, his thin lips curling up into a toothy smile and his cheeks rosy from the cold, Lilia finds himself wondering more and more if he still believes that.)

[ladiesandwitches]

Lilia could see Zelda struggling to understand, to a degree not many other people ever had, and she appreciated that, even if she knew it was futile. It was difficult to understand something so strange that you hadn't experienced yourself, especially when it was so difficult to explain, beyond words in so many ways.

Zelda was a good high priestess, Lilia could see that even if the witch herself sometimes had her doubts, questioning herself. She had the care and experience it took to have an entire coven under your leadership, to know that so many young witches looked to you for answers, for guidance. It was those same traits that Lilia knew were making Zelda so wishful to help her, to ease some of her struggles.

But it was beyond the woman's reach.

"PTSD has a cause, it has a cure, this is..." Lilia sighed, shaking her head. "Most people don't realise this, but the flow of time; it's an illusion. Centuries ago, my maestra in Sicily, she told me that it was a gift, that it was meant for something, that I was meant for something. 'My task is to see'," she quoted, throwing up her arms in a shrug, as clueless about the advice as she had been over four centuries ago. "She just never made it clear what I was supposed to be seeing."

Lilia smiled in appreciation at the pouring of drinks-- a familiar sight, and Zelda's offerings were far from cheap--as well as the offering of help.

"Just don't treat me as if I'm batty when it happens," she suggested wryly. "That usually helps."

Zelda silently listened, truly wanting to understand what this witch was against, a witch in her coven. She felt it might be all she really could do to help. By the way Lilia was explaining it sounded like her hopes of finding a solution were slim to none. And Zelda loathed that feeling.

It was just a part of who she was, always seeking answers and solutions so that she couldn't be caught out in the rain when a crisis would occur. Knowledge could keep you safe. It was a trait she unwittingly inspired in her brother. He was the smartest person she knew, and knowledge didn't keep him alive.

"It sounds almost like a.. sort of PTSD," she remarked. But it didn't appear to be doing so much harm to Lilia, which Zelda supposed they should all be grateful for.

She nodded her head, recognizing how being around their coven could create more moments, more flashes for the divination witch, being surrounded by so many lives she may or may not be able to affect.

Zelda sighed at the reassurance and decided to do what very little she could and stood, walking over to pour them both a stiff drink.

"I don't fully believe that it is fine. But it's not happening to me, so..." She trailed off with a shrug. "Is there anything I can do?"

[nicolestueck]

location: heron club time: after closing time @sntsnoialles

It wasn't unusual, for Nicole to stay at the club even after closing. The tables all cleaned and the floor swiped. There was little reason for her to stay but in the solitude and quiet of a usually loud place, Nicole found a calming comfort that she couldn't found outside. The moonlight barely streaming into the place bringing her a company she used to despise. The longing she had grown accustomed to settling in her belly at the sight of it. Even if she sometimes wished still she didn't have to succumb to the moon every month, no matter how long, the experience didn't get nicer, easier.

It was the sound of steps approaching that caught her attention, raising her eyes from the papers in front of her. Numbers and orders and a bunch of things that weren't sinking in at the moment anyway. Nicole turned right on time to catch sight of blonde hair and her nose, sharper than a human's, caught the scent of the familiar perfume, her heartbeat increasing just with the sweet aroma. Still she sighed, looked down again at the papers, cigarette in hand, she didn't bother look up as she spoke. "You're not allowed in here, you know? I think I've told you this before."

[diviningtime]

@thehxrkness

"Only you would find a way to die and still not actually be dead. Not technically anyway," Lilia added, giving the thought pause as she looked at the spectral image of her (former?) coven member. "Well, you're definitely not at peace."

But then when was Agatha ever peaceful, even when she was alive? Lilia couldn't deny that the woman had clearly never really had a chance in life, not when she had a mother who seemed to have hated her from the moment she was born, but Agatha Harkness certainly hadn't let that make her weak. Or kind for that matter. Not often anyway.

"Rio hates ghosts, doesn't she?" she asked knowingly.

[athenamarchmain]

✧･ﾟ— CLOSED STARTER @noailles

— ATHENA’S MANHATTAN HOME ; MORNING

Despite being a master at them, social events drained Athena’s energy especially when the attendees were people she didn’t particularly like. New faces were easier to deal with, she found, and she didn’t have to maintain her false feelings on whether she liked the piece of art somebody got ten years ago that they still rabbit on about or whether she liked a dress someone had on that had clearly been worn at an engagement the previous week. Nothing irritated Athena more than having to pretend to like something, but she had to grin and bare it if she wanted something badly enough. Unfortunately that was the case last night.

The morning after a big social event was always more quiet that usual. Athena found herself staying the extra hour in bed and rose when Darcy, the maid, had set out the table for eating, complete with continental breakfast items like croissants, granola, and orange slice, as well as a fresh pot of coffee. It all looked incredibly appetising and after only consuming alcohol the night before it made her hungry, so, wrapped in her favourite dressing gown and with her hair let loose, she sat down at the table and grabbed a croissant and some butter.

By the time Athena had finished and reached for the coffee pot, her daughter made an appearance.

“Lilia,” she greeted, cracking the faintest of smiles. “Breakfast is ready; come and sit... Oh, and you must tell me what you thought of the party last night. Wasn’t it just exhausting?”

[ladiesandwitches]

Lilia pulled back a little, eyes widened, eyebrows raised, in mild and deliberate surprise at Agatha's counter point. A smirk of amusement pulled at the corner of Lilia's lips before she gave a small shrug in acceptance of the argument. While her readings had always been entirely accurate (save the times when she hid some dark truths. Experience had taught her people didn't receive bad predictions well, and usually blamed the messenger) and legitimate, any fees for calling on spirits had been an entire con.

But people wanted to speak to dead loved ones far more than they ever wanted to learn about their journey in life, and bills didn't pay themselves.

"I imagine it got even older when she used it on you," Lilia pointed out knowingly, grabbing a donut now. It had only been a day since she'd returned from The Road, and she was still starving. "Three years is a long time for any spell," she added heavily, aware that for all Agatha's crimes, being trapped within your own mind for so long was still cruel for any witch. There were other things that could have done to stop Agatha, to keep her from hurting others.

But then maybe that hadn't been the reason for the Scarlet Witch's spell.

"As of this afternoon, he already knows," Lilia told her. "He came to my shop. He was planning to take care of my effects, I suppose." She gave a small breath of a laugh, touched by how much the boy had cared in the wake of her assumed death. However, he hadn't mentioned that he had planned to sit shiva for her, something reserved only for family, and Lilia found herself warmed by the discovery. For all their complications, all their flaws and arguments, they really were a coven, weren't they? Including this woman in front of her, whether either of them liked it or not.

"He got the shock of his life when he found I was in there too." Asleep, having been more than exhausted after making her way out of where The Road had left her. There was a pause as Lilia looked at Agatha, considering everything the boy had shared with her. "Teen-- Billy, he told me what you did."

She pushed the second half of the donut in her mouth, devouring it within seconds and finishing off by sucking off the sugar from her fingertips.

Agatha hummed with a terse smile and an unfazed shrug as she watched Lilia stretch her claws. For such an empathatic intuitive witch…she sure had a lot of snark.

"Oh please, you may not steal but you're still a grifter, Calderu."

Personally, Agatha had no qualms with the whole…town filled with hostages thing. To each their own. What bugged her was the absolute waste of power…and, well, when it effected her of course.

"It was fun for a while there, but when you've seen one sitcom, you've seen them all. It gets old - fast." She said, waving a hand dismissively before picking at a loose strand of hair.

"...You know, Teen's planning on sitting shiva for you. You may want to, I don't know, mention the whole not dead thing before you find yourself reading your own obituary."

[ladiesandwitches]

@hvbris for Mina

The child entered with the same wide-eyed wonder she had seen in so many eyes. They all entered her premises with a sort of naïve expectation, hoping for Hollywood magic and horror movie readings. They were all also convinced that they were either being tormented by the past, cursed, or that they were going to be rich and famous; this one, however, seemed to be neither.

She looked to be a fan. A new age witchy wannabe perhaps?

"Welcome, welcome," Lilia began, putting on an ethereal tone to her voice, setting the scene. "You look troubled, child. Please, sit, tell me what answers you seek. Your true love perhaps? Your success? Do you wish to contact a family member?"

[unbeleveable]

open - lilia

"Which is it? Am I wispy or am I kooky?"