#can't believe it's been 10 years since i started listening to them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

melswifeasf · 3 months

Text

Safest in your arms pt 10

previous chapter || next chapter || series page

Pairing: Georgia Miller x fem!oc

Summary: fall fest was supposed to be a fun activity for Samantha but it turned into nothing but a huge disappointment.

Warnings: (18+) MDNI, cursing, age gap relationship (18 and 30) grooming.

HALLOWEEN WAS THE BEST time of the year which all six friends could account for. they could dress slutty, get drunk and go to parties the whole weekend. it wasn't until their sophomore year they ditched the whole 'binge scary movies and stuff their faces with candy' deal and started going out instead. they had wanted to go to a party that night but none of them had planned a costume and Ellen had said she preferred her daughter to just go out on Saturday instead. Samantha didn't push it, it wasn't like her to do so.

the group of friends were in Matthews like most weekends. they were all sitting on the couch except for Natalie and Oliver who were on the floor like they had been last time they were there the last they were there. it was almost midnight and she thought by now she would be with a certain blonde but her friends were very persistent on her staying and she couldn't say no. even then that didn't stop her from texting her.

🍑 : are you gonna be at the festival

tomorrow?

S: prob? depends on if my friends

are going

S: are you?

🍑: i have to since Paul is running for

mayor again, he needs everyone in

the office with him.

S: does this mean Georgia Miller is

going to dress up?

🍑: i have to do that?

S: ofc you do, ur in the Mayors office

you kind of don't have a choice

🍑: does that mean your dressing up?

S: for the festival? no lmao.

S: i prob will later though, i think we're

going to some party

🍑: will i be able to see your costume?

S: i'll send pics;)

🍑: i'll be looking forward to it

🍑: what will your costume be?

S: idk tbh, we're all dressing up together

but they can't decide on what it should

whilst she waited for a response from the blonde she put her phone face down in her lap and turned her head to look at her friends. she was laying her head on Jades lap, her hair was being played with softly. Nia had Samanthas legs on her lap and Matthew was sitting beside the brunette with a respectable space between them. it was understandable that they wanted to keep things between them under wraps, especially considering they were still taking things slow and Oliver was overly protective when it came to Nia and her love life. she only ever had one boyfriend during her Junior year but it only last six months because Oliver would always try and scoot himself in between them. it wasn't fair, Nia never did that with him and Nat.

"i think we should go as nuns" Matthew said and looked up from his phone. they all laughed.

"the day i see you in a nun outfit will probably be the day that i die." Jade said with a chuckle.

"you putting that on would be an insult to nuns and i'm not even religious like that," Natalie said.

Matthew rolled his eyes, "okay i get it, i like sex." he shrugged. Samantha wondered if he was actually offended or if he was just acting like that because he always did. a part of her would believe he was offended, especially since the girl he currently had a thing with was sitting right beside him and listening to everything. although that shouldn't matter, Nia knew who Matthew was since the day they met and it's not like all of that knowledge would disappear now that they were figuring things out.

"more like you get around." Jade mumbled with a small chuckle making the girl in her lap slap her arm softly in warning.

"what about the avengers?" she proposed, trying her best to differ the conversation from him and to something else. "there's six of them so the numbers check out" she continued.

Oliver scrunched his nose, "i don't think any of us want to be hulk"

"or hawkeye" Nia mumbled.

Samantha sighed, "okay. any other ideas?" they had been going at it for a while now and it was starting to annoy everyone in the room. it was just hard, none of them wanted to pick something basic but there weren't that many group costumes, especially with six.

"we could all just wear purge masks" Natalie shrugged making both Samantha and Nia grimace.

"ew that's like super 2019. that is the most boring shit ever" she said shaking her head. Natalie sighed.

"okay then i don't know"

the room fell silent once more as they thought about more ideas. Matthew was on his phone searching for ideas but he seemed to be coming up with the same things over and over.

"what about toy story" Nia said making the raven girl point at her in agreement.

"i can be barbie. she's hot" she said earning a small smile from Jade.

"true." she agreed.

"holy shit," Oliver muttered making them all look at him in confusion. "Matthew and i could be Kens and you girls could be barbie." he proposed with a huge smile. that didn't sound like a bad idea at all, she doubted anyone else would think of doing that. it just surprised her that Oliver was the one to think about that over everyone else. she'd expect that from Nia or maybe even Jade but Oliver? that was something she never saw coming.

"why are you actually kind of a genius" Nia said matching her brothers grin.

"i think i'm more of a raquel though," Jade said, her lips twisted to the side as she was looking at the space in front of her in thought.

"i totally see that" Natalie nodded then gasped as she looked down at her boyfriend in excitement. "we could be Ken and Barbie from the Toy Story movie." she said happily.

Oliver's grin grew wider, "you're a genius babe" he said and the blonde shrugged sheepishly before she leaned down to press a soft kiss on the boys lips.

"i'll be howdy Ken," Matthew said, his lip curling into a smirk.

"valid, valid." Samantha nodded, "i never thought i'd see you in a cowboy costume and honestly i love that for you"

Nia frowned, "but then what would i be? i don't want to be in some horrid 80's work out jumpsuits" she said sadly.

"you could match with me" Matthew offered, his smirk gone and replaced with a small smile that everyone else in the room messed but Nia couldn't.

"yeah, you guys would look great." Natalie said to try and encourage her friend. they really needed to come to a conclusion so they could get the costumes the next morning.

"that just leaves you," Jade said looking down at Samantha.

"i'll be og barbie. you know, with the pink dress? god i'm gonna look so hot" she sighed out a bit dreamily causing them all to laugh.

"i sometimes forget how obsessed you are with yourself," Natalie chuckled.

"whatever, it's called self love." Samantha bit back and threw up her middle finger at everyone in the room.

they all started to talk about what they needed to buy which wasn't much since most of them already had clothes that could go with it. the only person who didn't was Natalie and Oliver because he needed a hawaiian shirt. Samantha figured her dad would have one though she offered to try and look for one for him. Samantha would just wear a pink dress that she already had and wear glittery eyeshadow along with pink heels to really seal the deal.

Samantha didn't feel her phone vibrate any more meaning Georgia hadn't texted her back. she tried not to overthink it, the blonde was probably asleep by now. it's not that she needed to talk to Georgia every minute of the day but the blonde had been a bit distant since the morning and she wondered if she did something wrong. the day that they hooked up Samantha and her stayed up another hour before the blonde grew tired and fell asleep, as soon as she did Samantha snuck out through the balcony. it was thankfully still slightly dark outside, the sun had just began to rise so it wasn't completely light outside. things were fine even the morning after, their dynamic didn't change but she was starting to wonder if the blonde had just now started to regret it, the reality of it all finally sinking in. the thought alone made her stomach hurt.

now that she knew what being with Georgia was like, life before her seemed so boring. nothing compared to the night they shared, the chemistry, the passion and overall it was just so fucking hot and every time she thought about it a light shade of pink would cross her features. her overthinking was cut short by Jade who locked her phone and threw it on the empty spot beside her.

"guess what i heard," she said a small smirk playing at her lips. everyone stopped to look at the girl, each of them just as confused, including Samantha who was looking at her with furrowed brows.

"what?" Oliver chuckled.

Jade looked down at Samantha, "Sophie Sanchez and your sister are talking." she said, her smirk never leaving.

"holy shit, are you for real?" Matthew laughed in slight amazement. Samantha didn't say anything as she waited for Jade to respond to him. there was no way Max was talking to someone - specifically someone she knew and wouldn't tell her. the thought alone hurt her feelings more than she thought it would.

Jade nodded, "yeah. i heard it from Kate. i think she even invited her to some party Brodie's throwing." she laughed and anyone who had common sense knew she was making fun of Max.

the raven haired girl didn't even care to comment on that. all she could think about was the fact that her sister was talking to someone and she didn't bother to loop her in. maybe she was a hypocrite considering she didn't tell the girl about her ex girlfriend but that was different, she couldn't tell Maxine because she knew it would ruin a lot of friendships and she didn't think it was fair for that to happen when all she wanted to do was to be happy. Maxine didn't have that problem, it's not like Samantha would get mad if she talked to Sophie. she just wished she was important enough in Maxs life to have been in the circle. maybe she was a shittier sister than she thought she was.

the girls mood had drastically changed and the only person who seemed to notice was Nia who began to rake her fingers through the girls hair. "you okay?" she asked softly, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

Samantha shook her head as she tried to form a smile, "yeah." she whispered.

both of them knew she was lying.

the next day the group of friends all rode together to the festival. they had all gotten everything they needed for their costume and there was a while until they needed to get ready so they decided why not go. Natalie Oliver were still parking the car seeing as there wasn't any empty parking spaces so they dropped the four friends off before driving off to try and find a space. as soon as Nia and Jade saw that there was fresh apple cider they each broke away from Matthew and Samantha leaving them on their own. they were each waiting for the two girls near the face painting station where Samantha could clearly see her sister and her friends.

what she had heard yesterday was still fresh in her heart and seeing her sister only made it sting even more. she never thought she would be left in the shadows of her sisters life and yet here she was.

she wasn't the only one overthinking though. Matthew glanced at the shorter girl briefly, his heart was beating faster than usual which he had never felt before. why was he nervous? he only felt like this before games. he sighed, "can i ask you something?" he spoke up breaking Samanthas stare in her sisters direction and directing her sight toward him.

she had an idea of what he would be asking but nodded regardless, "what's up?"

"has Nia told you anything.. about us lately?" he asked a bit hesitantly, he paused to try and get the words out without seeming too n invested.

Samantha shook her head, "about what?" she asked feigning confusion. she didn't want to throw her friends under the bus like that, especially not with the literal guy she was crushing on.

Matthew looked at her with 'seriously' look on his face. "you're her best friend and she hasn't said anything? i don't believe you" he said and crossed his arms against his chest.

the raven girl rolled her eyes, "if you already knew the answer then why'd you ask."

Matthew shrugged, "i want you to be honest."

"she has."

"what did she say?" he quickly responded.

Samantha looked at him with raised brows, not at all used to seeing him this desperate. "just that you guys talked during Sophomore sleepover." she said honestly. they hadn't really spoken since and she assumed it was because they were taking things slow.

Matthew nodded, his face turning so he was looking in front of him and not directly at the shorter girl. "that's it?"

"did you want her to tell me something else?"

he shook his head. "i just.. i know she likes me and all but i don't know if she would want to actually go on a date with me." he said scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Samantha's expression softened, she now understood that it wasn't just one of his usual conquest, he actually care for Nia. "i think she'd say yes"

"really?" he asked his head snapped back toward the girl. she nodded with a gentle smile.

"yeah."

the boy couldn't contain his smile so he turned back around, "okay" he confirmed. neither of them could continue their conversation considering the sole topic of it was walking toward them with a cup in hand. she was laughing at something Jade had said and Samantha didn't miss the way the boys eyes shinned at the sight. she loved them together.

the brunette and Jade approached them, each holding a cup of cider. "want some?" Nia offered Samantha as she held her cup out but Samantha shook her head.

"im good. thanks though." she said earning a smile from the brunette as she went back to talking with Jade.

soon enough Oliver and Natalie were walking toward them hand in hand, once they were caught up with the group they walked around a bit to see what they could do. there were some activities which they participated in which really just means Oliver and Matthew would compete with one another. they spent half an hour carving a pumpkin which both looked equally as bad, none of them had the heart to tell them that though. that thankfully didn't last long since they all went toward the stage when they heard Paul begin to announce who had won the decoration competition. they all knew who the winner was even before so it was really pointless.

Samantha could see Georgia up on the stage, their eyes met for a second, each of them sharing a smile before the blonde turned to talk to her coworker. the six teens were in the crowd, half of them whispering to each other whilst Nia and Matthew were watching Samantha and the blonde exchange small glances.

"bootylicious really takes the whole costume thing seriously." Matthew said with a small smirk knowing the name he called her would annoy her.

he was right, the raven girl rolled her eyes at him. "shut up" she mumbled making both Nia and Matthew glance at one another in amusement. she looked so hopelessly in love and yet couldn't see that herself.

"best window decoration," Paul announced, a small card being pointed at him so he could read off of it. he was wearing a suit that was unbuttoned to reveal a super man costume, he was even wearing a black wig and glasses to complete the look. "goes to.. Liz Chavez" he finished earning an applause from the crowd. they watched as a trophy was brought up to Paul before her gave it away to the winner. "winner of best apple pie," Cynthia which isn't a surprise at all. "to the surprise of no one, goes to Cynthia Fuller." as they all expected. everyone began to clap once more but neither Samantha nor her friends did.

"bitch," Jade muttered under her breath making them all laugh.

"careful, the witch might hear." Matthew quickly whispered before turning back toward the front so they could watch the red head take a picture with the mayor. Samantha saw the small and cold interaction between her and Georgia when she grabbed the trophy from the blondes hand. that made a smile form on her lips, she loved that about Georgia. the camera snapped a quick picture and the redhead pulled away from the mayor and behind him on the stage.

"and now a very exciting announcement from the mayors office. we are going to be renovating the Wellsbury public library." cheers erupted from the crowd once more, even from the six teens who were glad they were finally going to do something different in the town.

not everyone had the same reaction though, Cynthia walked back up toward the front of the stage clearly upset with what she had just heard. "but the library is one of the most historic buildings." she said.

"exactly. this is why it deserves upkeep." Paul nodded. "we're gonna be adding a third floor. we are going—"

he was quickly interrupted by the red head who sounded even more upset, "upkeep? sounds like your plan is to depreciate a beloved landmark." she said in a condescending tone then reached over to snatch the mic causing it to make a slight squeaking sound making everyone cringe.

"fuck." Samantha muttered knowing whatever was going down wouldn't be good.

"what Wellsbury deserves is a mayor with a vested interest in preserving that standards in this town. i mean, first the drugs, now the library. where does it stop?" she said. cameras were snapping pictures repeatedly, each of them wanting the hot new story for the day.

"bitch needs to get laid," Nia joked earnings snickers from the group.

"someone get her a broom so she can fly away." Oliver added making his girlfriend shove him softly, not able to contain her amusement at his words.

"green gardens actually allowed us to have a surplus that far exceeds—"

"i saw Mayor Randolph last night on a date." she interrupted him, talking louder to drown his words out. murmurs erupted in the crowd causing her to nod, "yes. with his assistant" she confessed pointing at the blonde in accusation.

the crowd fell silent at her words just like Samantha felt her stomach drop, her before amused expression replaced with a blank expression. the three oblivious teens began to whisper their surprise whilst Nia and Matthew looked at their friend worriedly. they glanced at one another, each of them trying to have a silent conversation so try and figure out what to do.

Samantha's eyes locked with Georgia who looked nothing short of regretful but she quickly looked away, turning her attention to Paul making that horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach intensify. this was why she had been super distant they day before. she probably couldn't find the balls to tell her that she wanted to end things then. it shouldn't even matter, they aren't even together but that didn't take away the absolute pain she was feeling in her chest. was this what all of her one night stands felt when she didn't talk to them anymore? was this her karma?

she chuckled softly, her head shaking in disbelief. she felt stupid for ever thinking her and Georgia could be anything but a simple fuck.

"let's go." she said dryly, not even turning to look at her friends as she began to walk away from the crowd. not even Cynthia making a skeptical of herself could make her feel better and all she wanted was to get that horrible feeling out of her body and never have to talk to Georgia again. the pettiness of her words didn't matter to her, she didn't care that it had only been two months since they met, or that they only had sex once and that they never agreed to be exclusive. it was the fact that Georgia didn't tell her, the fact that she kept her in the dark and even texted her asking if she would be able to see her after she went to the halloween party because Ginny would be out til late. did she think she could just keep her little date a secret?

no, fuck her.

none of them questioned her as they walked to Oliver's car, at least not until they were actually in it. "why'd we leave? i wanted to get my face painted." Oliver said when he began to pull out of the parking space. his words earned him a slap in the back of his head from his sister who was sitting directly in the seat beside him.

"ouch, what the fuck?" he said his hand rubbing the impact to try and soothe the pain. Nia shot her brother a look through the rear view mirror which cause him to shut up a second later. Samantha wasn't paying attention to Jade and Natalie who looked extremely confused by the whole situation.

thankfully Matthew was the one who solved the problem which meant more to Samantha then she could ever really express. "Sam was having an attack." he lied. well, it wasn't a complete lie, she was having a sort of anxiety attack but it didn't have to do with the crowd around her.

"are you okay?" Jade asked quickly after, she turned her head to look at her friend with worried eyes.

Samantha nodded softly, "i'm good. i just didnt take my meds today." which also wasn't a lie. since she stayed the night at Matthews she didn't have her pills. she was planning on taking them before going to the party since she wasn't planning on drinking, the idea of driving to Georgias house drunk was incredibly irresponsible but that wasn't the case anymore and she was starting to regret it. in fact the only thing that could make her feel better at this point would be blacking out so she didn't have to think about her shitty love life. funny how she went from not having one just a month ago and now it was more complicated than ever.

#georgia miller x fem!reader #ginny and georgia #georgia miller #georgia miller x reader #ginny miller #maxine baker #marcus baker #lesbian #gxg #safest in your arms series

97 notes · View notes

fruitysoupy · 3 months

Text

100 years later I finally drew all of my AU Links

Say hello to my lads! They're going to be in a comic I've been scripting and planning for about a year now I think? I'm calling it Link and the Links, latl for short!

More info under the cut :]

(please don't tag as LU/Linked Universe!!)

The Plot

The Links find themselves in a mysterious forest that seems somewhat familiar to all of them yet none of them know where they are. Now they have to work together to find their way home. On the way they'll discover a thing or two about each other and grow closer!

The Cast

I could talk about these guys for hours, but to keep it digestible I'll make it short

A bit of info before I get into it - all of them are taken from different points in time after the end of their adventure(s)!

Birdie (Skyward Sword)

Roughly 6 hours after defeating Demise

The start of it all. Unbeknownst to himself and the others, the space they find themselves in was created out of his desire to meet the heroes after him. He feels terribly guilty about the curse and very much blames himself for the possible suffering of future heroes. His main goal is to check up on everyone and help where he can!

Grasshopper (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask)

4 days after leaving Termina

Somewhat disoriented after his journey still, he tags along simply because he thinks Birdie is an idiot who would get lost without him. He doesn't talk a whole lot but he likes listening to other people's stories

Seagull (Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass)

6 months after leaving the domain for the ocean King

He's a real genuine pirate, yarr!! Or so he'd like you to believe. He talks a great deal about his strength and bravery, but really is just afraid and terribly homesick most of the time. He wants to fit in with Tetra's and her crew's toughness so much he might go a little overboard on the act in a way that may or may not end up biting him in the butt.

Choo (Spirit Tracks)

6 months after peace returned to new Hyrule

He wouldn't call himself a hero, in fact he'd say it's a miracle he made it out alive. Self-esteem and confidence really aren't his strong suits, he often finds himself dragged along and unable to say no. He is very friendly however, and if you just give him a little space he might even open up to you.

Wolfie (Twilight Princess)

4 years after defeating Ganondorf

Left Ordon after intrusive thoughts convinced him he was a danger to his village, now works at Telma's bar as a waiter in exchange for a room. He's responsible well liked, though he's not too fond of himself. He has some complicated feelings about the whole turning into a wolf thing

Apple (A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages/Seasons and Link's Awakening)

Just a few seconds after Koholint disappeared

From one dream right into the next (sorta?) he's understandably disoriented at first. He pushes that aside pretty much immediately though, much more interested in getting to know everyone. He's a kind and soft spoken, weirdly wise sort of guy and near instantly becomes the heart of the team

Wallflower (A Link Between Worlds)

4 years after wishing upon the triforce with Zelda

Bitter doesn't even begin to describe this uh.. Pleasant fella. After being bossed around for the better part of his life he doesn't take orders from anybody and is this close to quitting his job as a blacksmith. He hates being stuck here, he hates these strange people, really there's not much he doesn't hate. But that can't be all there is to him...

Puzzle (The Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link)

1,5 years after waking Zelda II

Confused, disoriented, but still happy to help and ready for adventure. Though some of the others don't really like him around he's still just as friendly to everyone. Since he struggles to communicate he tends to stay quiet. He appears to be simple minded on first glance, but he'll prove to be a valuable member of the team.

Sprout (Minish Cap)

13 years after defeating Vaati

After his grandfather died he retreated into his house and dedicated himself to improving his blacksmithing skills to live up to his grandfather's name, he was quickly forgotten by his community and faded into obscurity. Now he may be the best blacksmith in Hyrule, so good that even the royal guard hires him, but among the general castletown population he's nothing more than a forest cryptid. He only leaves the house when he has to, carefully avoiding people. Not because they disgust him, he just has a major case of social anxiety!

Squire (Breath of the Wild)

3 years pre calamity

This absolute rascal couldn't be happier about his current circumstances. These unknown woods are his playground and all of these weirdos are his friends now! Though everyone's pretty sure he's a knight trainee, he insists that he's just a stable hand for the guard. His chaotic and carefree nature surprisingly doesn't get in the way of things as he's eager to help out wherever he can, seeing the whole journey as an impromptu camping trip.

Some funfacts :]

Most of them are neurodivergent in some way!

Birdie and Seagull have ADHD, Grasshopper and Choo are autistic, Squire gets the combo platter AuDHD and Wolfie has OCD

Additionally, Birdie has auditory processing disorder and dyscalculia, and Squire has dyslexia

A few of them also have speech disorders

Choo stutters and Puzzle has cluttering speech disorder

Apple has a weak voice, so after a while his voice gets tired and gets hoarse

Choo enjoys drawings and cartography, two skills that will be very important!

One of Seagull's hobbies is photography! He takes his pictobox everywhere

Wolfie also does entertainment at the bar from time to time! He sings or does card tricks

Sprout knows HSL (hylian sign language) because his grandfather was deaf

Seagull's piratey way of talking is 100% for show and painfully inconsistent

Wolfie speaks in a thick southern (in universe ordonian) accent but he's trying hard to mask it since he moved to castletown

Wallflower absolutely hates Puzzle

Squire's special interest is horses

Birdie is a bit of a doormat so he has the ideas but Wolfie is the one to actually get them through

A number of them are blood related (has nothing to do with the colours of their names in this post, I had to reuse some because there weren't enough orz)

That's all I have for you today! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed! :]

If any of you have any questions about my Links or AU you'd like answered, my inbox is open!

Have a lovely day everyone!

#links meet au #tloz #legend of zelda #tloz fanart #tloz au #legend of zelda au #link #artists on tumblr #not lu #link and the links au #LatL au #my art #triangles #IT IS DONE FINALLY #Apologies for my handwriting also orz I tried #LatL #the lads

50 notes · View notes

lazywitchling · 1 month

Text

Alright, here we go. My review for The Dabbler's Guide to Witchcraft by Fire Lyte

Final rating: ??/10 - it broke my numbers system.

TL;DR - I like the book. I'm angry at the author. It's great for new practitioners. If you're going to get it, please get it from the Spiral House Shop, get Alex Wrekk's two witchcraft zines to go with it, and go look at/reblog/contribute to the original Dabbler's Week project.

(Also I think this is the longest review I've written yet. I'm sorry.)

This book is very good. I'm mad about that. The author is an excellent writer. I'm mad about that. I want to dislike this book but I can't, and I'm mad about that.

So let's get into the breakdown of why.

First up, a housekeeping thing: "Fire Lyte" is a pen name that I don't believe the author uses anymore, so I will be referring to him as Don Martin, the name he is using on his current projects. I know he's on TikTok, formerly of Inciting a Riot podcast, now of Head on Fire podcast.

Second, some links relevant to the review-which-is-actually-just-a-rant:

The breakdown of things I found that were taken uncredited from Tumblr

I COULD be making this up and reading it in bad faith, but this bit about 'heteronormative marriage' has my alarm bells ringing

Why I hate the title of this book

The original Dabbler's Week project links

Anyway.

I picked this book up specifically because of the title. It's been 3 years since it was published, so it took me a while, but I remember looking at that title when it was first out and thinking "Hey... the timing of this... did this person just wholesale lift the 'Dabbler' idea from Tumblr?"

The answer is: Yes, probably!

(He also summarized the Malachite Dick post from February 2020, but he actually credited Tumblr along with relevant usernames, so that's good and also made me laugh.)

But... yeah. The fact that he's crediting Tumblr from something that specifically happened in February 2020, when the original Dabbler's Week was from late January 2020 and seems to have inspired his whole book? Don, would it have killed you to mention ANYTHING about that project and the people involved?

He's very big on talking about following trails of information, listening to podcasts, listening to the podcasts of people talked about on those podcasts, reading books talked about on those podcast, and so on. But if he doesn't start off by saying "Dabbler's Week was a project issued by asksecularwitch on Tumblr", then how is anyone supposed to follow THAT chain of information, hmm? If his whole advice on finding good witchcraft resources is to follow the chain of people who are sharing information from each other, but he makes no mention of where he got the whole idea for his book, then what?

Side rant: I'm real tired of how Tumblr information is simultaneously treated as too shitty to ever bother reading or mentioning, but good enough to screenshot, repost on other sites, recite word-for-word on tiktok, and apparently write a book about.

ANYWAY. I'm angry about it. I'm gonna be angry about it. Here, please look at these links to the shenanigans that began the original Dabbler's Week, because Don certainly won't tell you about this part.

Anyway.

Some bad things:

I mean, the plagiarism. I keep hesitating to use the word 'plagiarism', because to me that seems like wholesale lifting entire works and slapping your name on them, when all Don did was fail to credit a few Tumblr users he quoted. But then again, if I did that on a research paper in college, it would be called plagiarism, so.

This book is in fact not a great guide for 'dabblers'. The point of Dabbler's Week was that if someone didn't know if they wanted to commit to witchcraft but wanted to fuck around with casting some spells for a week to try it out, there were week-long guides on things someone could do to try that. This book is not for fucking around with magic, it's for people who are already sure that they want to make this a thing in their lives. It handles some heavier topics (e.g. vetting mentors and not getting sucked into a cult) that are very very important for someone who is BEGINNING, but may be too much for someone who just says one day "lol I think I'll cast a spell for fun". A far more accurate title would have been "The Beginner's Guide to Witchcraft", but then he'd lose that punchy and marketable and googleable term 'dabbler'. (Yes, I'm going to be petty about this.)

"Wow Jes, it sounds like you really hated this book."

NO I DIDN'T, AND I'M SO MAD ABOUT THAT!

Some good things:

The author has a writing style that I enjoyed very much. This is a personal preference, but I like when books are either written so that the author is fully invisible (Bree Landwalker's books do this wonderfully), or the author is fully visible, like they're sitting at the table having a conversation with you (Kelly-Ann Maddox's 'Rebel Witch' comes to mind, as does Alex Wrekk's 'Brainscan 33: DIY Witchery'). Don Martin is the table conversation kind. That makes this book very easy to read, while also getting information across in an easily-understood sort of way.

This book fills a very necessary gap in modern witching books. It talks about the online community of witches, and a lot of the pitfalls that have come along with the bonuses of having so much witchcraft available at our social-media connected fingertips.

He gets very in depth with things like cultural appropriation. That's something that you can find in a lot of modern witch books, but Don actually spends the time breaking the concept down and explaining WHY it's harmful, HOW it affects people, and quotes people from the affected minority groups. I have seen the appropriation topic come up in a lot of the witch books I've read, but Don is the one who has covered the topic the best, imo.

He spends time on topics that I myself would have been dismissive of. The example that comes to mind is the chapter 'Can I Make Sh*t Up?' My knee jerk reaction was "Yes, you can make your own spells, you don't need to get someone else's permission. Next question." But Don goes through the full breakdown of yes you can make up your own spells, yes you can make your own correspondences, but no that doesn't mean you can just throw a water soluble crystal in your water bottle because you think it's good for cleansing.

Actually on that topic, he covers a lot of the why not just the what. It's not just 'appropriation is bad', it's 'and here's why'. It's not just 'research your herbs', it's 'here's some examples of things that can and have gone wrong.'

SPELL CANVASES! There are 11 'spell canvases' in this book, and they're pretty much all just kids/teens science experiments (e.g. dissolving an egg shell in vinegar, lighting a tea bag on fire so it flies, and using food dye to color a white flower). He does not give intentions for these spells, but gives a spell technique and then some examples of how you could apply your own purpose/intention to it as needed. It's actually pretty smart, and now I wish there was more stuff like this.

He actually explains what UPG means. Man, 'UPG' is one of those things that I keep seeing as a 'I don't know what that means and I'm to afraid to ask' blog post. When someone pops into the witchy social media circles, we can throw the term 'UPG' around as if everyone knows what it means, and forget to actually explain that it's Unverified Personal Gnosis and what that means. Don's got us covered. Good on you, Don.

The one throwaway line about why you don't have to buy fancy witch things. Tucked away in chapter 12 is this almost nothing-sentence mentioning why you shouldn't be "going broke hoping to buy your way into 'effective' magic" (pg. 161). I have seen, reblogged, probably written posts about 'No you don't need the fancy tools! You can just use whatever! But you CAN buy them if you want, you just don't NEED them.' And we've all seen those around, right? But damn, if Don didn't just get to the heart of it. You can't buy your way into skill. YES, Don, THAT!! THANK YOU.

Alright. I'm running out of words. This isn't a review, it's a rant. Holy shit. Let me shut up with a TL;DR

Almost without doubt, Don liked Tumblr's idea enough to write a book about it, but failed to give credit. But he's an excellent writer and covers a lot of topics that are not often written about in printed books, and to get those blogosphere-ideas onto bookshelves is invaluable. This is a good book for beginners starting out in witchcraft, but not for dabblers who just want to screw around with some spells. Do the pros outweigh the cons? Is it ethical to buy a book when the author gets royalties but the bloggers he got the idea from do not? I don't know. I can't tell you that. You'll have to weigh all this against your own moral compass and decide for yourself. My recommendation is that if you're going to buy it, please buy it from the Spiral House Shop, because if Don Martin's going to get paid for this book, Alex Wrekk should too. Buy Alex's zines. Reblog Sec's posts. Links are up at the top.

#jes vs witch books #drama in your llama #navigation: reviews

30 notes · View notes

darcylightninglewis · 5 months

Note

Good morning!!! Sorry to bother but since you are the most knowledgeable person I know about Hellcheer can I ask you if you have ever read a fic where Chrissy survives Vecna and then joins the group to defeat him? Thanks in advance and have a great day!!!

Okay, first off, you're never a bother, ever.

Secondly, I am honored by your ask. Sorry for the delayed response, it's...it's been a weird emotional exhausting few days but we're back!

Where my brain immediately went to

Chrissy and Eddie’s Infinite Mixtape by @little-scribblers-heart

What may be (to my reading knowledge) the most epic rewrite of S4, really can't recommend LovelyThings enough.

(sooner or later it comes down to fate) i might as well be the one by @majicmarker

Another great one and one of the best stream of conscious Eddie writers I've ever come across. Their fics always make me laugh.

someone reaching back for me by @enoughtotemptme

Okay, this one is gonna make you sad, but eventually very happy too! It was the first groundhog style fix its fics I read for season 4 and introduced me to the writer's work who I also can't rec enough.

EDIT

OMFG, I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T INCLUDE @hangon-silvergirl!! Thank you for pointing out my mistake, @majicmarker <33

Bonus Tracks by @hangon-silvergirl

Everything by her is amazing and this is no exception. I love it when folks use things we learn from con's in fic (like Chrissy's would be Vecna song), superb. A WIP, but off to a killer start.

Now below these are ones that have been on my Marked for Later list because I'm just in need of pure uncut fluff these days but come highly recommended.

the pleasure, the privilege, is mine. by melodicvinyl

I just love the starting premise of this one, I can see it being a thing Eddie does to make her smile or it's actually his mundane superpower that finally comes in handy. Also love their other fics too.

Linger by CircusBones

Hawkin's High 10 Year Reunion! Class of 86! Chrissy Cunningham has built a life in California, far from the demons of her youth, from her mother to Vecna. There's people who were always good to her, though. Healing might have taken her away from them, and coming back has its own challenges. This story moves between the events of 1986, and Chrissy experiencing Hawkins ten years later.

I've read their shieldshock fics and love them so I'm sure I'll love this too.

like hands that tick on a clock by theredhoodie

What if Chrissy Cunningham wasn't Vecna's first victim, but she survived instead? How would that have changed things for everyone? A ST4 shippy rewrite.

aesthetic chills by sloelimbs

"aesthetic chills" is the literal translation of frisson, which is the feeling you get when listening to a really good piece of music.

put your lips close to mine, as long as they don't touch by Percyjacksonfan3

Here's the thing about Chrissy Cunningham: she actually is the straight laced dependable good girl that everyone thinks she is. She's also, until she starts having these weird visions that make her feel like she's going out of her mind, insanely bored. Or, alternatively, the fix-it AU where Chrissy doesn't die and she and Eddie try and figure out what the hell is going on with her. And with them. Also, the usual gang is there. Eventually. Because these two need some serious help fighting demons and figuring out that they are not just friends.

If I missed an author's tumblr name please forgive me, I'm preeeetty brain dead. If I missed any fellow Hellcheerios, please drop them in the comments as I'm sure this isn't an exhaustive list. But hopefully enough to get you started babes!!

Hellcheer to canon:

#fic rec #hellcheer #eddissy #st au fic #otp: you're a freak

43 notes · View notes

apollos-boyfriend · 10 months

Note

my main beef with matpat was the kris/frisk/chara misgendering and the indie dev thing what the fuck did he do?????

like outside of those things you mean? here's the ones i'd listed/instantly came to mind. a lot of things people rag on him about are like OLD old (early 2010s, like the whole "basing pyro's sex off of weird pseudoscience), which is why i won't be listing Every issue i've had because i want to assume he's grown and changed since then, at least with those things. anyways

has a weird tendency of equating video games to real-life murders. the first time i can remember him doing it was with the first ever fnaf theory, where he said it was about the actual murder of chuck-e-cheese employees and that you played as the murderer rotting in hell. which is. weird enough. but that was 2014, nearly 10 years ago, shit happens. however. that was the only time he's done this. it happened again in 2017-2019 with petscop, equating the game to the murder of a 10 year old girl. and, to his full defense, the creator of petscop ALLEGEDLY said that he did start basing his game off of that case, but that he severely regrets it and regards it as an extremely stupid decision. that doesn't make matpat's actions any less weird, because if you realize a game is Actually tied to the killing of a real-life child, just. don't fucking comment on it. it's weird and even the creator regrets his decision to do so.

on a theory about what i think was a alleged fnaf arg, he asked for his followers to help him "discover more clues" by asking them to physically call/visit locations in the real world he believed were connected to this so-called arg. (from my knowledge, this arg doesn't exist btw.) at NO point during the writing, producing, recording, editing, etc of the video did he manage to connect the dots that, hey, doxxing real-life locations for my fans to swarm to is a Bad Fucking Idea, meanwhile every other major fnaf community rushed to shut it down the SECOND his video came out, with large reddit, twitter, etc accounts imploring for fans not to listen to him, and that similar incidents have happened in the past and led to nothing (to the point where scott cawthon himself has had to step in and tell people to knock it off). i can't remember exactly how long it took for him to take it down/call off the masses, but the fact that it even got published in the first place is honestly just inexcusable, both for him and for his team (this was june of last year)

he blamed etika's suicide on cancel culture and has never apologized. the tweet is still up, for some insane fucking reason, although multiple people both close to matpat and close to etika corrected him on completely erasing the issue of mental health (this was 2019)

and lastly, while i've heard rumors of him stealing theories for years now, the only first-hand i've seen was his hermitcraft theory. the original creator of the theory can be found here [link], alongside all his theories, evidence of theft, etc. she has never been properly credited for this, and those who tried to comment on the video to properly do so had their comments instantly deleted. (this was late 2021)

#muse talk #anon #suicide tw #child death tw #ask to tag #neg #discourse #REALLY covering all my bases here but. yeah. he's kind of a shit person #the first thing is. somehow the less abhorrent one when you put everything side by side like this #like. in the end you can watch what you watch. people say they just use his videos as background noise #which is fair. like whatever. i'm not a cop #i just personally hate his fucking guts xoxo

108 notes · View notes

randomstranger24 · 13 days

Note

I'm late catching up on all of this...

First of all, I thought I had some profound questions inside of me like, "Are you Dan Fingerman?" Then I realized what a stupid fucking question that really is. Second, I can't believe you revealed yourself! I know it's probably weird to hear this, but what a fucking gift! Nobody does that!

I originally wanted to know who you were because I felt like you truly belonged amongst a bunch of us BoC fans who were starting to feel like we were on the periphery of the actual fanbase, which had, in my opinion, become very discouraging and very cynical toward BoC, and music in general. Call it snobbery or call it entitlement, but it didn't feel good.

Then came your music...

Do you have any idea how amazing it is? I hope you do, and I hope you see that you've built a fan base of your own.

On a personal level, your music ended up becoming a nonstop soundtrack to life for me. There was an intro song, Tilt-A-Whirl, that truly fucking blew my mind. I played that thing so much that I convinced myself that I knew the song from my youth. So many other songs had creative elements that made me think, "This person gets it. We need to hang out!"

I don't want to ramble too long and take away from what you've got going but I do want to let you know that there is no reason to apologize to anyone, no reason to feel bad, and for the anxiety caused by BoC fans, I truly apologize. The core group of Random Stranger fans celebrate your work. Keep it up if you can!

So, if I need to ask a question, it's this:

Would you be open to an in-depth interview about your music and art? (I know this site serves as such but...)

Yes, I'd love to provide as much insight to anyone who wants to know and if doing an interview is one method of doing just that, then I'm happy to . Of course, without revealing too much that it blows my cover of my identity.

I am very anxious and scared that I'm goin to be sued for my shenanigans. Sued for what? I have no idea. Is it a rational fear? I don't know lol.

It makes me happy and warms my heart you enjoyed the music that much. I always knew the music belonged somewhere and I'm glad it found a home.

I realize BoC "new music releases" are very rare (probably what makes them so special) We've all been waiting so patiently. I too can be cynical at times. As it's been over 10 years since their last release, One thing I didn't want to do is to hurt any integrity of any future releases by them and I have a feeling they may release something in June. I could be totally wrong, but I didn't want the ARG from my latest shenanigans to ruin anything they might be brewing up if that makes any sense?

Well, Skyandtrails, I hope you keep in touch and I can share any future music with you and we can do an interview. Thank you so much for listening!

13 notes · View notes

sunshinereddie · 1 year

Text

this is an idea i have not been able to stop thinking about literally since the moment i saw @noodles-and-tea’s basketball player eddie art (here and here) SO

imagining that eddie joins the basketball team in high school, and obviously he's the shortest. so in terms of height, he has quite the big disadvantage there, BUT he does have one advantage over everyone else on his team and pretty much every other team that they play... which is that eddie is always the most batshit insane player on the court. so sure, maybe he's not the tallest, but he IS the fastest and he WILL knock into the other team's players and he is not afraid of getting a foul and he WILL get into fights if someone he hears someone talking shit about of if someone hurts his teammates. on top of all of that, he had great aim and all his adrenaline from being in a game gives him enough strength to be able to make some really good shots- despite only being half the size as some of the other players he comes up against.

because of this, "that kaspbrak player from derry high" gets a bit of a reputation. it becomes known among the other high schools to watch out for kaspbrak, number 8- teams listen to stories about him and prepare their strategies in order to work around the "craziest player in the league".

one piece of information that is usually lost or forgotten about or purposefully left out in this reputation, though, is eddie's height. which leaves other players pretty surprised when they get to derry high for game day, immediately start scanning the home team for this infamous "kaspbrak" guy...... and they can't believe their eyes when they see that the guy wearing the number 8 jersey, the one they've all been warned about..... is 5'4.

and im also thinking that this can go 2 different ways for a reddie hc..... first, richie is either also on the derry basketball team or he's just eddie's friend and a supporter on the sidelines, and he LOVES to sit back and listen to the other team whisper and laugh about eddie's height, about how people must have been exaggerating when they were talking about how great of a player this kaspbrak guy is. richie is very entertained by all of this, because he knows that they're all gonna eat their words the minute the game starts and they see that eddie does, in fact, live up to his reputation as being the most insane player in their high school basketball league. in this case, richie has promised the team that he will keep his mouth shut before the games (richie used to get into fights with the other teams when he overheard them making fun of eddie, because how dare they) so that derry always has the element of surprise with eddie, but once the game starts and eddie easily scores their first point and absolutely shocks the other team, richie can't shut up. he is constantly hyping eddie up and shoving it in the other team's faces (and maybe gets told off once or twice by the referee for his bad language) and he will not let them forget that eddie kaspbrak, the 5'4 runt they were making fun of, is now absolutely kicking their asses.

BUTTTT,,, ON THE OTHER HAND........ where RICHIE is the one on the other team, and its HIM who laughs and jokes with his teammates about this "infamous eddie kaspbrak being shorter than my 10 year old cousin", who assumes that everyone who was spreading these rumours about kaspbrak were just trying to mess with them. but then, RICHIE is the one who immediately gets knocked on his ass by eddie seconds after the game starts, who is frozen on the ground as he watches eddie speed down the court faster than anyone richie's ever seen before, as eddie knocks his way through their tallest and strongest players and scores a point. and eddie is the one who goes and walks past richie, with a grin on his face, satisfied that he had humbled yet another asshole who judged him for his height. but richie isn't embarrassed about it, oh no- he's interested. and now, he's determined to win against kaspbrak. RIVALS TO LOVERS!!!!!!!!!!

#i've been thinking about this hc for like 2 months #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #reddie #reddie hc #reddie au #it #it au #it hc #it 2017 #it 2019

84 notes · View notes

maymeowmoo · 5 months

Text

New episode of Smg4?!?!?!? Well I'm inna writing mood soooooo.... Imma review/analysis and share my thoughts on the new episode >:) ["SMG4:SMG3's BOMB CAFE"] If you're bored feel free to read this overly detailed analysis of a 12:01 minute video! (Actually ~10:30ish)

Analyzing time! ^w^/

Smg3 being so happy abt his lil cafe is very cute. I did not expect Smg4 to be so goddam sassy in this episode but I like that they didn't get rid of their rivalry completely since u know, after so many years it would be odd for it to just disappear even if they have recently been bonding so much u<u

Still I couldn't help but feel a bit odd? Like idk if Four just desperately wanted Three to ask him for help w the coffee or what but DANG was he super into making Smg3's life harder. At 4:49 Smg4 basically goes screw it lets make Three more miserable and invites everyone. Like let bro learn overtime we don't need a Kirby Lunch Rush but with Smg3! Also Four's expressions? Dude is being SILLY on purpose u_u He continues his nuisance charade with 6:22 ("How can you not even have the unicorn frappucino?"). Like dang bro how abt u calm ur sass down and stop provoking Three even more? He does get a clear indication of Smg3's annoyance (8:51-8:52 Smg3 says "Shut up." to Four also stopping him from making another sassy remark) yet still continues. At 9:14 (Smg4:"So you admit you can't run a shop yet?") Four gives his snarky comment and all I can think of is how he intentionally made it harder for Three to run the dang shop. [Note: Tbh even someone who owned a shop would have a hard time with Smg4's Crew lets be fr.] Just like I said at the beginning of this paragraph I am starting to really believe Four wanted to be involved with Three somehow and the only way he knew how is by forcing conflict.

Characterization wise what surprised me is how even after two instances of Three yelling for the others to stop fighting they still continue on. Idk I just feel like they would've listened tbh. They were very... hyperactive I guess? The characters do act kinda like they should but it still felt odd to me for some reason. Eggdog as always has the best characterization tho, man do I like that silly egg thing. Anywho this wasn't the only thing that felt odd continuity wise. I would've thought Smg3 learnt to make proper coffee before he started up a cafe? Especially since he literally lived in a STARBUCKS??? Like I just think he would've idk tried making coffee before opening a cafe even if he didn't make any during his time in the Internet Graveyard. I did make up two explanations for this tho! One is that the dead memes (Specifically the funny lil knuckles) made the coffee during his time in the Internet Graveyard and the other is that he was just too anxiety/adrenaline ridden to make proper coffee. At the end of the day these things aren't huge issues for me but as I said before it did make me feel odd.

Smg4 getting called out for his sass was necessary for me to like this video so imma glad it happened and he doesn't just get away with his behavior. At 9:23 the realization of his silly shenanigans finally catch up to him and that means..... THE SMG34 PART OF THE EPISODE STARTS YEEHAW! Even though Smg4's and 3's confrontation felt just the tiny bit forced to me (probably Four's fault) it was so nice to see them being softer. I also really like how Three doesn't agree to Four's proposal without making some convoluted reasoning as to why this isn't just two pals helping each other out and is actually TOTALLY just a transactional thing. It feels really in character! Oh yeah since I need to put this somewhere at 9:47 Four is like "I want to help" and like... you made it harder and now you want to help? Better now then never tbh ^w^/

Jokes -> The joke at 2:27-2:34 made me chuckle ._. and that makes me somewhat disappointed in myself (You want it? Issa urs my friend is so real). 3:00 is also a joke I liked, it felt very relatable (I struggle with basic human stuff like buttons on a coffee machine also u_u aww man). 3:28-3:32 Decent joke! 4:12 having a Gmod Three bang the coffee machine was good but the sudden Pomni/Smg4 reaction wasn't for me :v (It is good for Au art tho, I've seen the Smg4 as Pomni art hehe ;P ). 5:55-6:05 Nice joke ^v^/ (Smg3 writing '1 jar of poison for Mario' was the cherry on top tbh). 6:29-6:35 just like the joke at three minutes the whole 'operating a coffee machine being like dark magic' is still funny to me. 7:35-7:38 7:45-7:46 the music that plays when the rainbow (acid) coffee is shown is cool. 8:34-8:49 The whole Tari going coo coo joke is honestly pretty unfunny ._. I did not like it :v. 10:44-10:45 'Cleaned up everything!' is such a funny pop up to put here. Joke APPROVED!

Joke wise I think this episode is actually quite solid. The one joke I really didn't like kinda puts it down but ignoring that issa cool ig :D (6,8/10)

Closing statement -> Dude Four on roller skates working at a cafe for Three? THIS IS JUST A FANFIC AT THIS POINT... and I am all for it ;D

[Note: I have no idea why I wrote this but I felt like it sooooo... YEAH! >:3 If you have any thoughts abt this ep I'd love to hear em ;o]

#smg4 #supermarioglitchy4 #smg4 smg3s bomb cafe #analysis #anons_C.A.R

20 notes · View notes

foxes-that-run · 2 months

Text

Part 1: Harry’s Heart tattoo

This post is in three parts:

When Harry got the Heart tattoo

70 Heart Kisses (1D years), and

70 Heart Kisses continued. (Solo career)

The amazing @womanexile and @this-daydream-is-dangerous-13 started this off with finding a good chunk of these. Thank you @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim for your amazing timeline help. This is by no means complete, which I think is impossible.

It’s also important to note that only Harry knows what this tattoo is about, why he kisses it or if that is for one person and who that may be. Below is a list of times he has kissed it with other events at that time. To me, many kisses appear to be about personal milestones.

youtube

22 June 2012 - Arm kiss - Harry kissed this part of his arm during ‘More than this’ at radio Disney (3:13). Some fans edit this footage, I think watching it in context seems quite different to some edits.

Many edits of this and other kisses also often cut the song out completely, Harry seems to express something he’s thinking so the song matters. When Harry introduced ‘More than This’ in the Listening Party for Up All Night he said it was his favorite song on the album and ‘a deep one’. The song is about a shy guy being sad his love interest is with someone who loves her less - wondering if it is because he is shy and he gets the courage to ask her.

Harry and Taylor had been together since 20 May 2012. 15 May Taylor wrote Run with Ed Sheeran with the lyric “there’s a heart on your sleeve, I take it when you leave and hold it for you”

10 June - Taylor wrote in her Journal: "God I've been having such a beautiful life lately. I can't believe it. It's like there's magic in the air".

15 June - Harry got the Won’t stop till we surrender tattoo, close to here on the underside of his arm, on the anniversary of Taylor having the same song as arm lyrics.

16 June - Ed had said that Harry ‘was taken’ (21 mins).

18-21 June - 1D had a week off and Harry and Taylor were in LA and then unseen. Liam and Niall did several twitcams, Louis with Eleanor everyday in LA, Zayn left LA.

21 June - their first day back at work was the blank arm kiss, both were still in LA.

23 June - the band left LA and said Harry was the best wing man with the worst luck with girls for himself. Liam called him a lonely old man and Harry looked sad. In the same interview Harry said his favorite 1D song was I Want (about a girl that wants material things) and Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody (about being lonely while touring) as his favorite of other artists.

26 June - Harry was seen crying outside what is said to be a radio station.

1 July - (a week after Harry and Taylor were last together) Taylor was first seen with Connor Kennedy. Harry then started being pictured on random dates.

So the arm kiss during a song about a shy guy’s love being with the wrong guy followed the band saying he had had some terrible luck with ladies then Taylor started publicly dating Connor.

Heart Tattoo

Taylor was last seen with Connor 19 August, Harry got Never Gonna Dance Tattoo 2 days later. By 4 September 1D and Taylor were both in LA for VMA rehearsals, the public saw the first photo of them together.

24 September - Harry tells Nick Grimshaw they are filming tour screens for 3 days. Neither love banner nor heart tattoo in the tour screens.

25 September- Harry gets the Love Banner Tattoo (covered by the left sparrow in Nov). It is assumed the Heart Tattoo also, because it’s not in the tour screens.

26 September - Niall told Nick Grimshaw they had a press day. Harry's heart tattoo can be seen on Chart Show TV, seems to be not filled or still healing. The band do a lot of interviews that day, at some point Harry gets moved so his arm is away from the camera and in some his arm is cut off the frame. The videos are used by many outlets throughout October and November.

27 September - Entertainment on demand is first to run where the Tattoo is visible.

30 September - Harry MIA and Taylor in Paris to film Begin Again

1- 15 October - in London together, 1D and Taylor both perform Teen Choice Awards

17 October - Harry posted pink and blue heart tattoo photo. Taylor also shared a lover journal entry for October 17, 2012, LA where she wrote this Love lyrics.

See 2012 Timeline

Tattoo meaning

We don’t know the meaning. To me, having kissed his bare arm in this place hints that it was planned, I think the timing may have been purposeful, as several tattoos seem to be. Perhaps he achieved the goal in “more than this” (Overcome shyness to be with his partner). Harry also seems to have meaning in when he kisses the right arm. I wonder if some of those are about a different partner or because he was not dating Taylor. Harry also kissed ‘Things I can’ after some break ups. The kisses on the anatomical heart seem to have a similar meaning to the first heart, but maybe a more mature love. He had also kissed the anchor.

Songs

The next 2 posts are a timeline of 70 times Harry has kissed his arm (actually 77 for a 10% margin of other tattoos/arm and coughs). Harry has kissed his heart in more than 30 songs. In this list, You and I, Sweet Creature and Two Ghosts/Falling have the most kisses. Followed by LOML, Night Changes, and Last First Kiss. The most heart kisses are actually in 2022, followed by 2014, in tie for third is 2015 and 2021.

The marker heart

A well trodden but poorly referenced story is that on the X-factor Tour (February - April 2011) Harry once had a heart drawn in marker on his arm.

The earliest I can find this photo posted is here in a group of photos on 7 July 2011. It is taken in a dressing room, you can see Lou Teasdale in the background, her name is on his chest and Lou has the same tattoo. Lou’s then boyfriend Tom Aitken also has this tattoo.

Tom tattooed Harry’s “Never Gonna Dance” the month before Harry got the heart and said that Lou’s Heart was first and that ‘Harry’s is kind of diff. It’s quite a popular one’. They also drew it on their baby in marker.

Other members of 1D have heart tattoos in a different place or design, this post is about why matching tattoos ….match.

I’ve read “when Harry turned 18 he got it tattooed”. Harry got the Star when he turned 18, this was 8 months and 17 tattoos later. He got the tattoo at a time that was meaningful to him.

In the 2011 timeline there’s fair indication Harry and Taylor knew each other then anyway.

Taylor also had a marker heart on her foot on the Debut CD. In this interview she talked about getting it tattooed if Debut went double platinum, (now x7, but she didn’t.) However I don’t think either marker heart has special meaning other than Harry planned this tattoo.

Run, a song Taylor and Ed wrote in May 2012 about Harry refers to a Heart on your sleeve also:

#haylor #harry styles #Youtube #tattoo kiss #harry's tattoos

14 notes · View notes

colderdrafts · 1 year

Text

10: The Real Fight

The Great Assembly, gender neutral reader x monster (male naga). Sfw. Tw violence/mutilation. Previous Next

Lunchtime at the company is always a hectic experience. 12.30, the clock says, and, as if on cue, Irwin's head pops up at the side of your cubicle.

"You need to eat," he says. "Let's go!"

Though, some days Irwin doesn't want the cafeteria food, and drags you by the wrist outside to get something from a street vendor. Today was one of those days.

"You know Barney will skin us alive if we don't make it back on time, right?" you ask him.

Irwin struts next to you seemingly without a care in the world, the bag containing your lunch - two sandwiches - swinging idly by his side. He interlocks his free arm with yours playfully.

"You can go ahead and turn of your worry wartedness for a moment,” he chuckles. “We'll be back before boss man even notices we're gone."

"That's what you said the last time."

"And this time I'm right!"

Irwin pulls you down to the park in the middle of the city. The trees gently sway in the late summer breeze, and the big lake in the middle of the park sparkles in the sun. You sit on the grass close to it, staring out over the water, eating in companionable silence for a bit.

"So, how are things?" Irwin asks. "You grown accustomed to office life yet? Finished the whole apartment project?"

You nod and swallow your mouthful. "Yep. Can't believe it's already been almost half a year."

"I'm glad you stuck around! It was so boring before you got here. Literally none of our coworkers would do things like this with me," Irwin gestures vaguely around and pouts. "Everyone else thinks I'm annoying."

"I mean, it's not like you're giving me much choice," you grin.

"Not the point!" he waves it off, leans in and boops your nose. "And I know you actually like things like this, don't deny it!"

It is true. Irwin has an almost uncanny ability to figure out things you might find fun or pleasant and provide them. Maybe it's his way of showing he cares. In return, you manage to help him keep structured a little bit more, and keep him company.

Mons and hums walk through the park, and the pleasant sounds of idle chatter fills the air, though not enough to feel crowded. It's a pleasant summer's day, and people aim to utilize it.

Irwin wraps up the paper of his finished sandwich. He plops backwards, and sprawls out on the grass like a starfish, tilting his face up against the sun.

"This is the best," he sighs contentedly.

You watch him fondly for a moment. Over this past half year Irwin has quickly inserted himself as a stability in your life - someone you can rely on. Since you landed the job at the company, packed up and moved away from the past, you've truly needed that sort of presence. Leaving behind everything you know is not for the faint hearted, and new beginnings are as terrifying as they are exciting.

"Well? Get down here!" Irwin grunts impatiently, reaching for you with his eyes closed.

You chuckle at his neediness and lie down against his side, resting your head on his chest. He wraps an arm around you, and you relax into him.

"You alright?" he asks after a beat. You know what he's referring to.

"Yeah," you say.

He squeezes you reassuringly, and you enjoy listening to his heart beating for a bit.

Suddenly Irwin’s phone starts ringing, upbeat tune rudely disturbing the peace. Irwin huffs in annoyance.

"I'm on break!" he whines, but pulls it out with his free hand. He sighs. "Dad, I'll call you later," he mumbles, swiping to dismiss the call.

"Is that a new sticker?" you ask, noticing indeed his sticker-covered case has a new contender - this time, a small frog.

"Yep! He's my buddy," Irwin says, and buts his chin against the top of your head. "Just like you."

You snort at the cheesy remark. "Adorable."

"Anything for the Nr. 1 office friend!"

You settle again, but it's not long until his phone goes off yet another time and Irwin groans, exasperated. He doesn't bother swiping the call off, and the cheery ring-tone filters through he air. You laugh, as you've done so many other times with him.

Irwin has single-handedly made sure your transition into this new beginning was just a little less scary and a lot less lonely. And you'll forever be grateful to him for that.

Mira has stiffened at the sound of Irwin’s phone ringing, and very, very slowly turns her head to you. Her eyes gleam in the dark.

The dull voice in your phone politely telling you you're on voicemail echoes through your mind as you take a step back.

“Now, now – let’s calm down,” Mira says, slowly standing up.

“Why- why do you have Irwin’s phone?” you demand, pointing your flashlight at her like it’s a weapon.

Mira smiles gently with her palms outstretched, as if trying to pacify you.

“I found it! I didn’t want to worry you more, so I didn’t mention it.. I’m sorry,” she says, gingerly stepping closer.

You grit your teeth.

What department is she from?

It bugs me I don’t remember seeing her name on the list.

The cleaning staff isn’t attending this conference.

Could it be possible you forgot her name?

“Stay the hell away from me,” you try to sound firm and curse internally when your voice quivers.

Your hands are shaking.

Mira sighs, and her demeanor changes. Her usually soft and open body language shifts like she’s taking off an emotional coat, and she becomes stoic. She regards you like an impatient parent would a toddler throwing a tantrum.

“Easy now. Irwin’s fine, and you’ll be too,” she says sugary sweet, and steps closer. “Just come here, we can sort this out.”

“Get back!” you yell, swinging the flashlight in her direction.

She looks at you, unimpressed. “We both know you’re at a significant disadvantage here, tiny,” she grins wolfishly, and you shiver. “It’s dark, you’re alone, and all you’ve got is a flashlight. If you just come quietly with me, everything will be just fine. We’ll take great care of you.”

You take a step back, keeping her at a distance. “’We’? Who’s we?”

“We,” she smiles, “are missing someone who’s just like you. And we,” she steps a bit closer, “will be happy to take you in with open arms.”

“You’re a trafficker,” you realize out loud, barely a whisper.

Mira shakes her head, calmly thwarting your attempts at keeping the distance by following after you.

“Aw, that’s such a harsh word. I just bring families together, and I know a very nice family that wants a hum just like you. You should count yourself lucky. Not everyone gets a chance like this!”

“What did you do with Irwin?!”

“Nothing! Nothing, he’s perfectly safe. I’ll take you to him, just please calm down-”

She tries to close the distance between you, and you take several steps back, swinging the flashlight in her direction again.

“Don’t you fucking touch me!” you yell. “Stay the fuck away from me!”

Mira sighs. “I was hoping we could settle this quietly, but alas.”

She doesn't even give you a millisecond before she dives for you, and you spin on your heels and start sprinting.

You dash through the woods, no concern for your direction, as you hear the pounding steps of Mira giving chase.

“You can’t run forever!” she laughs. “I’ll get you eventually anyway, so why not just stop now and spare the time?”

Adrenaline is pumping through your blood, urging you on as you don’t feel how tired you are, and the forest wooshes past you in a blur. Your lungs are burning as you run, and when you suddenly feel a hot breath on the back of your neck you yelp, and feel your feet being swept from underneath you. You crash to the floor, skittering to a halt, groaning in pain as you accidentally put weight on your injured arm.

Mira pants heavily, and crouches in front of you on the ground.

“Phew, gotta hand it to ya. You’re quick!” she watches with a smile as you stumble to your feet and take a few steps back.

She stands up.

“Now, I’ve got all night for a game of tag. You, however, look like you’re getting tired,” her face contorts in concern, but you can see through it now. Her face holds a certain viciousness that she doesn't bother to hide anymore.

You glance around in a panic, looking for something, anything, to help you.

“So, what’s it gonna be? You wanna go for round two, or do you wanna come along?” Mira asks patiently, just watching you. “You know I am more than capable keeping you safe. Nothing bad will happen, I promise!”

You turn your flashlight from side to side, until your eyes catch something very briefly shining golden in the dark.

You try not to let your eyes widen to tip Mira off, as you flash the light back. You find the golden reflection again, and you could almost cry. You’d recognize that annoyingly pretty color anywhere. You’ve spent the past couple of days being scowled at by it.

Amren is currently hiding in the brushes a ways behind Mira, tense and his face contorted in that vicious rage you saw him display earlier. He soundlessly, slowly, lifts his hand and waves to you to him in a beckoning motion, glaring holes into Mira’s back.

“Well?” Mira says again.

“Fuck you,” you spit, and fake left. When she lunges to grab you, you spin right, narrowly dodging out of her grip, but not before she manages to get a claw raking over you cheek as you rush past her.

You ignore the pain and storm toward Amren, dashing past him with Mira close behind.

You hear Mira let out a startled yip followed by a ferocious hiss as Amren’s ambush worked, and he forcefully barrels into her with a smack that sends her flying through the dark. There's a dull thud as Mira lands a ways away, and she scrambles back to her feet.

Amren rushes to your side, coiling the edge of his tail around your legs and rising himself up in a terrifying threat posture that would send the devil running. He almost knocks you off balance in the hurry, and you have to steady yourself with your palms against his lower back.

Mira stops and stares at him. There’s a brief flash of reluctance in her face, but she quickly resolves it in a determined growl.

“My my, so now you decide to show up,” she mocks, shaking her head in disapproval. “And where were you when your little hum friend here almost got eaten just before, hmm? Honestly, you just don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone, do you?”

Amren's tail slightly tightens around your legs.

Mira bares her teeth, testing her weight side to side. It’s like she trying to figure out what side to go to better get at you.

Amren matches her movements as she does, blocking her path to you, just ferociously hissing at her. No words. Poised high and ready to strike in an instant, you can’t see his face from where you’re standing, but the way Mira’s hackles are raised tells you more than enough.

Mira regards him for an odd second. "So that's how it is," she mumbles. Her gaze lands on you, and she smiles warmly. “This’ll only be a second, promise. Stay right there.”

Mira plops down on her haunches and then, like a loaded springtrap, launches herself at Amren with her fangs bared and claws at the ready.

Amren quickly pushes you out of the way with his tail, and lunges forward as well, colliding with her.

Mira’s jaw locks around Amren’s arm and he grunts, rising on his tail, lifting her in the air, before leaning forward and barreling toward the ground to crush her. Mira lets go last second, and rolls out of the way as Amren’s fists collides where her head was just a millisecond earlier. The ground shakes with the force of the impact.

Amren snarls, and slithers to one side as Mira lunges again, raking her claws over his tail. He swipes the floor with it, using the powerful swing to send Mira flying once again. She crashes into a tree and gasps, momentarily laying still on the ground. Amren doesn’t let up and goes for her once again, arms outstretched and jaws open wide.

You spot Mira’s eyes snap open as he does so, and her muscles tense in anticipation.

“Wait-!” you call, but too late.

Mira deftly rolls out of the way and Amren only barely manages to turn before stumbling into the tree. Mira uses his stagger to get behind him, and hops onto his back, locking her arm around his throat and her legs around his torso.

Amren gags loudly as Mira starts strangling him.

He rakes his claws over her arms, gaping for breath, tossing and turning in an effort to pry her off. He crashes his back against the tree to squash Mira like a bug, and though she grunts in pain, she stubbornly keeps her hold on his throat.

“Die, you meddling prick,” she seethes, tightening her grip.

Amren curls around himself as he’s strangled, an awful gagging sound filling the air. He tries to get his tail around Mira, but she uses her heels to deliver a powerful blow to his stomach, and he keels over in pain.

You’ve been watching from the sides, frozen in place, and a terrifying thought dawns on you on this crude display of power.

Amren is losing.

If you don’t do something, he will.

Gripping the flashlight, you sprint toward the pair struggling on the ground.

Mira doesn't see you coming, as she’s currently busy with strangling Amren, and you first manage to knock her over the head with your flashlight. As she grunts and turns to look back, you snake the light around her throat and, ignoring the searing pain in your injured arm, put your arms on both sides of it and pull.

Now Mira starts gagging as you pull her backwards, pretty much copying exactly what she was doing to Amren, forcing her to loosen her grip in an effort to shake you off.

“BREATHE!” you roar at Amren, wrapping your legs around Mira’s middle as she pries loose of him to get rid of you.

He coughs and spits, heaving in big gulps of air.

Mira snarls and, using Amren’s back for footing, kicks off of him, sending you flying backwards and landing hard on your back with Mira’s full weight on top of you.

She knocks the wind out of you, and your grip around her loosens.

She quickly breaks free of your arms and turns on her knees and palms, pinning you to the ground.

“Bad hum,” she snarls in your face, and you watch in shock as her jaws open, presumably to bite it off.

A pair of clawed hands grabs both her ears and roughly forces her head down into the ground next to you before she does so, giving you time to roll away from underneath her.

Apparently your little stunt gave Amren the opening he needed.

Mira whines in pain, but the sound is cut short as Amren, with well-practiced and deadly precision, so fast his body becomes a blur of movement, starts coiling his tail around her body, locking her in place.

Mira’s eyes widen in terror as she realizes what’s happening, and she desperately start struggling against him, whining and snarling. It's futile, however, as Amren lets out a ferocious hiss and rests his palms on the ground to keep balanced while his lower body works to firmly trap her.

Mira’s eyes locks on you, and she pathetically whines, begging for your help.

Then Amren starts constricting her.

You watch, stunned, as Mira’s face contracts in pain, her mouth agape desperate for air, her arms and legs locked in awkward positions sticking out between Amren’s coils.

You stifle a cry in surprise when you suddenly hear a loud crack, and Mira’s eyes widen and tears sting her eyes from the pain, but she doesn’t scream – she can’t make a sound.

Crack.

Soon enough her eyes start to bulge and drool falls from her maw as Amren is slowly crushing her, bone for bone, his eyes hard and darkened, his face contorted in that terrifying raging grimace with all of his teeth bared.

Mira tries to pierce her claws trough the tough skin of Amren’s tail in a last desperate attempt to pry him off, and he responds with another gnarly hiss, oblivious to the pain, and you hear another crack.

You watch as Mira’s life is slowly crushed out of her body, and the sight is too much. You can’t bear it.

“Stop,” you whisper, staring into Mira’s bulging eyes.

Amren doesn’t hear you. His face portrays nothing but malice.

Crack.

“Stop,” you say a bit louder, and when he doesn’t listen you grab his face to get his attention.

Crack.

“Stop! AMREN, STOP!”

You scream it into his face and his head snaps up at your voice. His eyes somewhat soften as he looks at you puzzled. He looks down at Mira, like he’s not sure what he was doing, but then stares back up at you.

He takes in your terrified expression, tears falling yet again, your face bloodied and your shaking hands on his cheeks.

“Stop,” you whimper again.

Something changes in Amren’s face as suddenly he looks scared, and he immediately loosens his grip. Mira starts coughing and heaving for air, and lets out a hoarse pitiful whine.

Amren takes in a shuddering breath. “Tiny, I-hrk!”

He’s cut off and grunts in pain when Mira’s teeth are suddenly buried in one of his coils, and before he can regain his grip, she has wriggled out of it.

Mira, panicked, kicks off and away from Amren, landing clumsily on her back. She quickly rolls over on all four, and scrambles toward the brush with her tail between her legs. She clutches her middle protectively and vanishes in between the trees. In a matter of seconds, she's gone.

You breathe hard, staring after her.

You then look to Amren, who’s still just staring at you.

“I- I didn’t-” he trails off, lacking the words. His voice is hoarse after Mira’s onslaught on his throat. “I didn’t mean to-”

You open and close your mouth. “Mira’s a trafficker,” you whisper.

Amren stares at you and nods.

“She tried to kidnap me and kill you.”

He nods again. He scans your face and slowly raises his hand, reaching for it. His eyes widen as you recoil per reflex, and he quickly pulls back.

“I – I don’t – this isn’t me,” he stutters, searching your expression, looking for any reprieve, any understanding.

You stare at him, not knowing who this person is. He had looked like he was ready to really crush her, a single bone at a time, slowly and painfully, prolonging her demise almost sadistically.

You feel like you’ve seen something, something dark, buried and hidden. Amren’s terrifying ability, the nature of what he is, brandished in front of you, and now he’s desperately searching for any indication that you will push him away, run from what he can do.

“I- I know,” you say, eventually.

“I’m not- she tried to kill me -”

“I know.”

“She tried to kidnap you – I just -”

“I know,” you repeat.

He shudders, and lets out a shaky breath.

The forest is eerily quiet as you both sit and take in what just happened. Amren stares into the ground for a good while, breathing to calm himself down, and you sit next to him, your hand on his arm. His presence is grounding. Eventually, you feel his hand, cold as ice, covering yours.

“Is.. is she gone-?” you whisper, staring blindly out in the dark.

Amren glances at you, then flicks his tongue, swiveling his head around.

“Yes,” he rasps at length. “She’s gone.”

“You’re bleeding,” you note.

“Yes,” he says. “So are you.”

“We should get back to our backpacks – bandages-”

You get up, holding on to Amren’s arm, and as he notices you don’t let go he settles for slithering forward a bit lower on his tail than usually. He stops momentarily, however, and looks back.

“What’s that?” he says, lifting the tip of his tail.

You turn your flashlight over, and notice Irwin’s phone is lying in the dirt. Mira must have dropped it when she ran off.

You gingerly pick it up, staring at the obnoxious sticker covered case, a cute frog in the corner a little peeled off. A ping of grief travels through you.

You venture back in silence, once again relying on Amren’s sense of smell to get you back. You’re about ready to collapse when you spot your tent, undisturbed, in the dark.

You get to work on patching each other up, Amren hisses weakly when you rub the disinfectant over his wounds. It takes a while folding bandages along his long tail, but he does his best to uncoil it to give you easier access. Pain-wise, you don’t fare better when he holds your chin with one hand and uses the other to gently dab at the wound on your cheek.

“Quit fuzzing,” he mutters as you squirm.

“Like you were any better,” you retort.

Silence hangs for a while, then Amren opens and closes his mouth to say something. You patiently wait for him to find his words.

“Tiny-” Amren stops himself and huffs through his nose, and then actually says your name instead. It sounds foreign, coming from him. “I’m sorry.”

The words have certain weight to them, and you get the sense he's not only referring to what just transpired. He busies himself with cutting a small piece off a bandage and carefully securing it to your cheek.

“Let’s – let’s have a proper talk about what we do after some sleep,” he offers.

You nod. “I’m sorry, too.”

Finishing patching each other up, you return to your tent and bundle up, curling into a fetal position. It’s been one of the most terrifying nights of your life, and you can’t stop seeing the horrific image of Mira’s open jaws coming for your face, how she was contorted, slowly being crushed alive, the sound of Amren’s hissing, the metallic stench of blood and red eyes glowing in the dark-

You shiver, heart pounding as your brain keeps recalling the events, and wince as you arm aches.

You turn on the side, and close your eyes hoping for sleep to come silence your spiraling mind. You were almost kidnapped. This is the type of thing that only happens on the news – the type of thing you hear about, think 'that's terrible' and then go on about your business. But it happened. And here you are, lying in a tent not too far away from where you were attacked.

The tent seems cramped all of a sudden, with the wind howling through the thick plastic. You thank the stars for your trusty sleeping bag, given the very cold air you feel on your face, and how the fluff somewhat keeps you grounded.

If it hadn't been for Amren..

You sigh through your nose, recalling the horrid conversation before you stormed off. He had been right to try and stop you, though you still feel a small pit of justified rage in your stomach. Suggesting your friend is dead meat anyway so he doesn’t matter didn’t sit right with you at all, and neither did the way he grabbed you.

Though tonight's events and his solemn apology has calmed it quite a bit.

Is what you've seen tonight the reason he's acting the way he is? Consistently pushing everyone away with a venomous attitude doesn't really speak of blossoming friendship. But the way he looked at you, searching for some sort of forgiveness – it had looked so strange, and just adds to your confusion.

You hear him moving around in his own tent again, though tonight you notice his breathing comes haggard and fast, like he's just been exercising. Well, he did just fight of a madwoman coyote and sustained significant damage in the process. You feel over the bandage hiding the gnarly bite marks on your arm and wince. If you're in pain from only this, you can't imagine what Amren's feeling.

"Are you alright?" you call out.

A few seconds pass, and you suspect he's going to ignore you. Then his still strained voice cuts through the darkness.

"Yes," there's a pause where he just breathes hard, deftly proving he's lying, before he follows up with "are you?"

"Concerned for me? Now I know for a fact you aren't alright,” you jest half-heartedly. It’s reassuring to do something familiar.

There's an actual snort coming from him, though whether from humor or indignation you aren't sure. Maybe it's both. "Go to sleep, Tiny."

The anxiety hangs heavy in your chest, and you’re not sure you could follow that request no matter how much you want to. And his obvious haggard breathing is more than cause for concern. He will not in a million years tell you what's bothering him, besides the pain of course, on his own volition. So you sit up, unzip your sleeping bag and scoot to the front of your tent, almost thankful for the excuse to not be alone with your thoughts.

"What are you doing?" Amren asks.

"You won't tell me what's wrong so I'll just have to see for myself," you grumble, fumbling with the zipper to the opening of your tent.

"Just stay in your tent and go to sleep, we both need to rest," Amren protests.

"No can't do buckeroo. If you die I'll get fired for sure," you half-joke, and suppress a shiver as you head into the cold night air, and pull the sleeping bag a bit closer.

He groans exasperated. "I'm not going to die, so just-"

You open the zipper to his tent, and stare inside. He's completely coiled in on himself in the far corner. Even in the dark, you can see his entire body is trembling. The bandages on his tail have bled a bit through, though not exactly enough to cause concern.

"You look like shit," you say.

“Likewise, Tiny,” he retorts, eyeing the covered wounds on your arm and face. "Now you've seen the big bad snake in a sorry state, you happy? Go back to sleep."

He shakes his head and turns his face away from you, going deeper into his coiled tail. He's still shivering, and it dawns on you it's not just because of the cuts or loss of blood as you previously suspected.

"You're cold," you realize out loud. All this time - "Of course you are, you're cold blooded, aren't you? And you didn't bring a sleeping bag?!"

He huffs. "Never needed one. It'll take a lot more than a little chill to kill me," he speaks somewhat with the annoying self-assurance you're used to, but his voice comes out sort of sluggish. You faintly remember a crash course on grade school biology that reptiles become lethargic when they get too cold. You guess recovering from a vicious fight doesn't help matters.

"So the mornings I found you spread out in the sun, the weird moving around at night - Amren why the hell didn't you say something? I'm warm blooded, I can regulate my temperature just fine! You could have had my sleeping bag!" you scold him, scooting a bit closer.

"And what would you do, then? Would you please just look after yourself for a change?" he promptly shifts around so his back is turned to you. "Get out and go back to sleep.”

You frown at how his defensively adverse attitude has returned full force, and wonder briefly if this is a habit brought on by something else. You stare at his shivering back. His bitterness tries to hide it, but his body betrays him – you actually get the sense he might get seriously sick or worse if he keeps this up, especially when injured.

"Get bent, grumpy," you say, and close the zipper behind you.

He huffs in response, apparently thinking he's convinced you to leave, but he promptly turns to face you when you start scooting closer inside the tent.

He opens his mouth to tell you off, but before he says anything you spread open your arms, using the sleeping bag as pseudo wings, before carefully plopping down on top of his upper body, effectively covering him.

He lets out an undignified snarl in protest. "Tiny, what the hell are you-" he cuts himself off, and you feel his whole body go rigid. “Oh.”

“Better?” you grumble, settling the sleeping bag over both of you, leaning on his torso and your legs dangling over his coiled tail.

"Oh," he says again, and you feel his arms slowly snake up over your back, sending chills down your spine.

His icy hands hits some exposed skin under your shirt and you gasp.

“Nature's balls, you’re fucking freezing,” you complain, squirming as his arms follow and he pulls you into the coldest hug you’ve ever had in your life.

“You’re so warm – how the – how are you this warm?” Amren demands, as if he’s personally offended it’s a secret you’ve deliberately kept from him.

You feel his grip becoming somewhat tighter, and you think for a second that maybe you should have kept it that way.

You yelp when suddenly he forcefully pulls you close, wrapping his body around you. He buries his face in the crook of your neck, you laying flush against his torso, and him shifting around to get as much of his tail benefiting from your body heat as possible. Within seconds, he’s got you in a vice grip, shivering and seeking out your warmth like a moth to a flame.

You faintly remember from tonight’s events what he’s capable of when coiled around something, and feel you may have made a mistake.

“Ho-kay, that, that’s a little tight-” you grunt, straining uncomfortably against him.

He mumbles unintelligibly against your neck, and you feel his hand run up your back and settle at the back of your head. He shifts one again, loosening his grip ever so slightly, and you breathe a bit easier.

“Squirm around and get comfortable,” he grumbles.

You shift slightly against him, getting yourself into a less awkward position. He moves with you, and once you go still, you feel his body relaxing, and a more comforting weight settles all around you. Amren breathes deeply, and you feel his shivering slightly halting. Guess he’ll live.

Should you say something? Just an hour ago you couldn’t wait to get as far away from him as possible, yet here you are, closer than you thought was even possible with him.

"Is this alright.?" you ask after a beat.

"Hush," he says.

Tonight's event’s still haunt you, but something about this closeness soothes your racing thoughts. Laying here, with the reassuring sound of Amren’s now steady breathing and his body against yours, the gentle pressure of his coils all around you is, despite everything, making your body relax. You’re guarded from all sides and no vicious snapping jaws can reach you here.

You’re lulled into a deep sleep in Amren’s arms, and you have never felt this safe in your life.

#colderwriting #monster romance #gender neutral reader #x reader #monster lover #naga #monster x reader #hhh this was a long one #congratulations on officially getting under his skin

76 notes · View notes