#now that she knows the eye color illusion spell she might use it on herself for fun

[brutal-nemesis]

E&T: A Night We Won’t Forget (Part 2)

I am a cat and your emotions are a ball of yarn (●'◡'●)💕 

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Ingredients: a little possessive/noncon touching (unsexy)

After that song ended, Erebus shooed Neteri off to go talk to Alina, and it was only until he found himself entirely alone that he realized that might not have been the best idea. Normally at parties, people were walking up to talk to him all the time, but here...no one even spared him a second glance. Well, he was rather hungry, and he should probably give those flatbreads Neteri suggested a try, since it’s not like they could taste bad. He wandered over to one of the food tables, scanning it for-there, that had to be them. He reached for one-

“Don’t eat that.”

“What?” Erebus looked up to see a girl about his age standing next to him, arms crossed as her green eyes bored into his.

“They’re terrible.” 

“But...I was told to eat them by my-my-uh...my sister. She said I had to eat at least five of them or I can’t say I had a good time.” He didn’t really know why sister was the first thing that came to mind, but he supposed the way Neteri doted on him was sort of sisterly, at least as far as he could guess as an only child. 

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Well she’s playing a mean trick on you, then.”

“I guess she would-well...” he could see Neteri doing that to mess with him, but they were both well aware that his tongue made anything taste good, so there wasn’t much point in trying to play a prank like that on him. He reached out and grabbed one. “I’ll take my chances. I trust her.”

“Your funeral,” she huffed, twirling a lock of her long, black hair around her finger as he took a bite. 

Despite her warning, he found it delicious, the perfect balance of spicy and sweet, and he could tell that wasn’t just because of his tongue. “This is fantastic,” he proclaimed after he swallowed. “You really don’t like it?” 

She glanced around furtively before leaning in slightly, her voice dropping in volume. “I don’t like them; I love them. Enough that I wanted all of them to myself. But you had to go and ruin that, mister…” she waved a hand expectantly.

“Uh...Erebus.”

“Mister Erebus. So now you’re in on this with me whether you like it or not. Do not tell anyone how good these are or they might end up all getting eaten and then we will both be sad all night. You feel me?”

“I get it, I get it, I wasn’t planning on telling anyone about them, anyway, since I don’t really...know anyone.”

“Of course you don’t.” He felt a bolt of fear shoot through him, did she know he was- “Nobody does at these sorts of things.” She fell silent for a moment as his anxiety subsided. “Shiori.”

“Huh?”

She sighed. “I’m Shiori. There, you know someone else now.”

“Oh. Um, it’s nice to meet you, Shiori.”

Just then, the music changed, the beat sounding a little faster. Shiori’s face broke out into a smile. “Oh yes, this is a fun song.”  Before Erebus knew what was happening, she’d grabbed his hand, pulling him slightly. “Come on, dance with me for this one.”

“Uh-alright.” He followed her to the dance floor, face flushing. Why was he even getting all nervous, he’d danced with plenty of girls in his time, and honestly there was less pressure this time since not as many people were paying attention to him, but something about her asking him to dance made his heart beat faster than it had any right to. He was able to calm himself once they started dancing, concentrating on the motions as much as he could. Shiori was quite a good dancer, a better match for him than Neteri since she wasn’t so ridiculously short. 

“So where are you from, Erebus?” Shiori asked after the song changed to a slower one.

He hesitated a second, but he decided to just tell the truth, though not all of it, in favor of getting caught in a lie. “I-I’m from Nathar. In Berké.”

“Oh, weren’t you recently conquered by Xerna? Is that why you’re here now?”

“Yes.” He fought to keep his voice calm, his expression neutral. “What about you?”

“Urtam! My fathers are merchants, though, so I’ve been all over.” Erebus nodded; they’d done trade with that small, coastal kingdom to the south.

“How cold does it get down there? Have you ever, uh, seen snow?” Part of him wanted to steer the conversation away from his life, and part of him really was curious. 

“Of course I have! It gets cold enough to snow most winters, but nothing you can’t handle, you know? Why, does it not snow in Berké?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I’ve never seen it before. I’ve always wanted to, though.”

“Huh. I usually find it annoying, myself, but I guess it is really pretty. Even once you get tired of it, you can’t help but love the sight of it blanketing everything in white.” She fell silent for a moment. “I don’t think I dislike it as much as I thought I did.”

Erebus laughed a bit. “Worth seeing, then?”

“For sure! I’ll make sure to throw some in your face if I’m with you so you can have the full experience.” She laughed at his confused face. “What, can’t handle a snowball fight?”

“Snowball fight?”

“Wow, you really are clueless. Okay, you pick up snow, make it into a ball, and then you just throw it at each other. It’s the great test of champions.” She smiled proudly. “I’ve got an impeccable record myself; I bet I’d make short work of a newbie like you.”

“I, uh, bet you could.” Oddly, he wasn’t too put-off by the possibility...At that, the song ended, and it was just then that Erebus realized how close they were standing. He felt himself turning red again-or maybe he’d been red the whole time and he was just getting redder-but soon enough she stepped back, though she didn’t let go of his hand.

“Come on, let’s get some more to eat. I didn’t get enough earlier.” After filling plates with a variety of food, including at least four of the little flatbreads each, they made their way out onto the patio. The sun had already set behind the wall of the cliff at the back of the palace, but the area was still bright, glowing lightstones set with smaller air minerals floating around up above. People milled about, but it was certainly less crowded here than it was inside. They managed to find a small, empty table and sat down to eat. Erebus tried to focus on his food, but he got caught up wondering what was prettier, the pink and gold streaks of clouds above them, or the girl sitting across from him. He...he could say that, but he didn’t know how to put it, or if it would come out right, he’d probably just embarrass himself. He’d never really tried to hit on a girl before, especially not one he didn’t know well-

“The Midnight Sun always looks so odd during twilight,” Shiori said, looking up at the cliff towering over them.

“Odd how?” Erebus had only seen it during the daytime before, when it was just some crystals set in a rock face, but now that it was starting to get dark out, it was beginning to glow, a sight he found quite captivating.

“Well, during the day, it’s a bunch of dark rocks in a wavy cliff, and at night, it’s a big shining...sun thing. But during twilight and dawn, it just looks...wrong? I don’t know...the fact that it’s glowing so faintly just seems off for some reason. Be bright or be nothing.”

“I guess that makes sense...I’ve never seen it at night, though, so I don’t know if I can judge.”

“You’ve never seen it at night?!” Shiori nearly jumped out of her seat. “So you’ve never even been here before tonight, huh?”

“Well, I...I’ve been to the city once before, but only during the day. So I’ve actually really been looking forward to being out here at night.”

“Well, in that case, let’s stay out here until it gets dark! I mean you can see it through the glass ceiling inside, but I feel like you need to be out here for the full effect.”

“Are you sure you’re alright with that? I-I don’t want to take you away from the party or the people you came here with or anything-”

She waved a hand. “Nah, I just came with my parents, and they’re off doing their own thing. Besides, I’m having fun with you!” She smiled warmly at him before glancing at the party inside. “I love just getting to know random people at these things, even if I end up never seeing them again. Because even if we’ll both forget tonight someday, it’s still fun right now, you know?”

“Yeah. I’m having a good time with you, too. So much that I...I don’t think I’ll ever forget tonight.” Erebus laughed a little as he smiled back at her, though inside he was grappling with the fact that he really would never see her again, that she would forget this night someday, that she would forget him. But it made sense, he thought, that she wouldn’t remember him over anyone else. There wasn’t really anything that made him special to her, he was just the guy she met because he ate the food she was trying to keep to herself, but part of him wanted so badly for someone to remember him like this, someone whose memory wasn’t tainted with the image of him chained to a post and screaming.

“You’re sweet.” She took one last bite of her food and stood, holding out her hand. “Come on, let’s go for a walk or something! I’ve heard this place has some cool gardens.”

“It does!” She raised an eyebrow as he took her hand and stood. “I-I saw when I visited here before. During the day.”

“Why were you in the palace?” 

“I...it’s a long story.” Thankfully, Shiori didn’t push it. They followed a path marked by the floating lightstones to one of the gardens, which ended up being the one with a large fountain (a word Erebus had learned since his trip into the city) that was full of Mydnar’s tears, brilliant blue flowers that floated on the water’s surface. Ordinarily, the fountain sprayed water straight up, but tonight, the stream split into eight and arced through the air, bouncing off of lightstones floating above the pool before raining down. Despite how beautiful it was, there weren’t too many other people here.

“Wow,” Shiori breathed, wonder glittering in her eyes. 

“Yeah.” Erebus found himself nearly speechless at the sight, and right then he was so incredibly grateful to be here, in this moment, with Shiori. He did his best to burn every detail of it into his mind, the way the water sparkled as it splashed, each delicate flower petal, the brilliance of the fading colors of sunset, Shiori’s beautiful smile, the shine of her long, dark hair, the feeling of her fingers against the back of his hand. He had to remember this, hold every little detail in his heart for forever, because the rest of forever was going to cold and empty and lonely and painful and this was maybe the last time that he’d-

“Are you alright, Erebus? You seem...sad.” Shiori looked up at him with concern as she gave his hand a squeeze.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m alright I was just thinking about...It doesn’t matter, I-” he shook his head, stepping in front of her and holding out his other hand. “Will you dance with me?”

“Of course!” She placed his hand on her hip before laying hers on his shoulder. “Although...it’s kind of hard to hear the music from here, so I’m not exactly sure what dance we should do.”

“We could just sort of...dance slow?” Erebus offered, not really wanting to go back to the party quite yet. He knew they’d have to eventually, that he’d have to return to Neteri and his cell and the table, but for now he just wanted to pretend that they’d stay here forever, that there was nothing outside of this moment. That sentiment only strengthened as Shiori nodded and held him close as they started to sway gently.

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, and part of him didn’t care. The only time he looked away from her for more than a moment was when the sun finally set, causing the Midnight Sun set in the cliff to flash brilliantly, showering them in bright crystalline light for a second before it settled to a warm, steady glow. It really was gorgeous, but the sight of that symbol alight...his chest throbbed slightly, and he turned away, doing his best to ignore it, focusing on Shiori’s warm hand in his, not cold cuffs encircling his wrists, on the sound of splashing water and quiet music, not the murmurings of a crowd, on her eyes looking at him with kindness, not with pity, of Xerna’s sun made of crystal, not metal.

They danced and laughed and walked around the garden and talked about little nothings, and he was able to forget everything but the present for once, holding onto every moment so tightly that his memories and anxieties for the future melted away, letting himself believe he was really just a regular person having a nice night, undeniably human without a care in the world. He’d go back to his home, sleep in a real bed, and when he woke up he could do as he pleased, he could see Shiori again tomorrow, and the day after, and-

“It’s getting kind of late, so we should probably head back, shouldn’t we?” Shiori’s question snapped him back to reality, and all the circumstances surrounding it. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been having a good time, but I don’t want my dads to think I went missing or something.”

“No, that makes sense; I should probably see what’s up with-with my sister, anyway. I don’t think she wanted to stay super long.” He’d known they were going to have to leave eventually, but it still killed him inside that this was over now, that he really couldn’t stay here forever. He tried to savor the last few moments of holding her hand as they walked back, hoping she didn’t feel him shaking slightly.

Once they were back inside, Erebus scanned the crowd for Neteri, which was a little difficult given how small she was, but at least he was relatively tall compared to most of the people here, so it evened out. Eventually, he spotted her just as she was saying goodbye to Alina. Once the other woman left, he waved to Neteri as her eyes wandered in his direction. Once she saw him, she smiled broadly and beckoned him over. He held up a finger and turned back to Shiori. “I see my sister so I’m going to go check in with her really quickly. I’ll be right back, just-”

“Aw, is that her? She’s so cute and tiny!” She looked back and forth between them. “You guys don’t look too much alike, huh?”

“We’re, uh, we get that a lot.”

“Well, regardless, I’d love to meet her! So let’s both-”

“N-no, that’s, um, she’s...she’s really awkward. Like really awkward and I don’t want her to say anything weird or try to embarrass me because she likes doing that so I’m just going to go talk to her really quickly and I’ll meet you right back here okay bye.” Erebus slipped away as soon as he was done talking, hoping Shiori wouldn’t follow. He knew Neteri would ruin things somehow if she talked to her, either by getting mad at her for touching her...her property without permission or unknowingly saying something that contradicted the story about himself that he’d told Shiori.

“There you are, Erebus! I was starting to get worried.” Neteri rubbed his arm, and he could somehow tell she wanted to touch him more possessively, but was restraining herself. “Why didn’t you bring your little girlfriend?” She smiled deviously, cocking her head.

“She’s not my-I didn’t want her to-”

“Aww, afraid I might steal her away?” She laughed at Erebus’s bewildered expression. “I’m just teasing, I get why you wouldn’t want her to meet me. Don’t go getting any ideas, though.” She reached up and cupped his cheek, stroking it with her thumb, and in that moment Erebus was very glad he’d said she was his sister. A gesture like that between anything but family or...or lovers...it would be weird. Still, he gently swatted her away after a moment, and she didn’t persist like usual. “Have you been having a good night?”

He smiled and nodded firmly. “I have, and not just because of those flatbreads, it’s been really…” His face fell. “It’s time to go, though, isn’t it?”

She smiled sadly. “Yeah, it is. But you can go say goodbye to her first. I’m not in a huge rush.”

“Thanks.” Erebus started to walk away, but he stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. “Did you have a good night, Neteri?”

“I did!” She blushed fiercely. “Alina and I, uh…” She clasped her hands in front of her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, I’ll tell you later.” Erebus smiled and shook his head before returning to Shiori, who had busied herself with a small plate of cream puffs. He took a deep breath as he got close, trying not to think about what saying goodbye to her meant. 

“What’s up, Erebus?” Shiori innocently looked up at him, holding out her plate. “Do you want one?”

“I-uh, sure, thanks.” It was so light and delicious and sweet, and he probably wouldn’t have something like this for a while-no, no, don’t think about it, don’t cry-

Shiori giggled. “You got cream on your nose, here.” She gently wiped it off with a handkerchief, and Erebus’s face burned red once again.

“Thanks. But, Shiori, I…” he cleared his throat, “I have to go now. Thank you for making this such an amazing night I had a lot of fun with you and I think you’re really pretty and I’m really glad I got to meet you.” He blurted it out with an embarrassing lack of eloquence, but he was too nervous and sad to do any better. Shiori didn’t seem to mind, looking up at him with a warm smile.

“I’m glad we met too, Erebus! You made this a night to remember; I had such a good time! In fact, I...” She set the plate down, turning back to him with a hopeful smile. “When can I see you again?”

Erebus froze, panic starting to worm its way into his mind. W-what was he supposed to say he wanted nothing more than to see her again but he-he-he was- “I-I would really love to meet up with you again, Shiori, I really would, but I...I can’t and I can’t explain why-it’s complicated and there’s nothing I can do.” He blinked away the tears that were rapidly forming in his eyes, fists clenching. 

Her face fell into a look of dejected confusion. “O-oh. Well, if you, uh, change your mind or whatever...how about you meet me by the fountain in the central square in three days’ time?” 

“I-okay.” His heart broke as he said it, at the thought of her waiting for him, her wanting to wait for him, scanning the crowd, her hopefulness dwindling away with the hours, but what was he supposed to say, that he didn’t want to see her again, that he didn’t like being with her, that she hadn’t made him feel normal and shamelessly happy for the first time in months, that he really wouldn’t mind just- “I won’t forget you, Shiori.” He stuck out his hand, trying to keep it steady. “And thank you again for a wonderful night.”

She took it tenderly, far more tenderly than she had any right to, and brought it up slightly. “And I won’t forget you, Erebus.” And then she leaned down, and for the briefest moment her lips were against his knuckle, and then she was gone, just like that, vanished, and he knew he would never see her again, that every fantasy he’d dreamt up over the past few hours would never come true, and maybe some part of him vanished with her, and there was another hand in his now, one that stroked him lovingly only a little more often than it held the blade that sliced his skin.

“Are you ready to go now, Erebus?”

“Y-yeah.” No no I’m not wait just another second-He curled his fingers around hers-please I don’t want this part of my life to be over I don’t want to say goodbye not yet not yet-and took one last look at the quieting party-please just one more moment I promise I’ll savor it just let me stay for a little longer-at all the smiling faces and glittering gold-I don’t want to let go I can’t I can’t why do I have to go please please let me stay here forever-the last few people on the dance floor wrapped in each other’s arms-why can’t I stay-as the rest trickled out-why does it have to end-

And then he turned around and followed Neteri, leaving the party behind. Leaving Shiori behind. Leaving his old life behind. Leaving Prince Erebus Arctas Fradier behind.

Now he was just Erebus, and he was just Neteri’s, and he’d never be anything more.

Extra -  Next→

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#i wrote something #erebus & terror #erebus #neteri #noncon touching #honestly at this point idk if its more like dubcon touching since erebus is starting to really like it when neteri touches him #its like his guilty pleasure. esp when she pets his head #yes i wrote this with the full intention of fucking destroying you. did it work #look at that erebus smiled at his reflection!!! everything in it is fake <3 #this entire thing was inspired by some picrew livi rbed where you could make two people dancing #so ofc i made erebus and neteri dancing and i was like 👁 o shit #and then it devolved into this long giant mess of bittersweetness #we get the rare holofoil neteri without her lab coat 😳 #now that she knows the eye color illusion spell she might use it on herself for fun #and FUCK we finally got to him asking her if they'd be friends if things were different (┬┬﹏┬┬) #and hey erebus gets to actually say goodbye to his old life cuz he never really had the chance to before #meet cute: she tries to trick you into not eating the good food so she can have more for herself #sorry if any of the romance stuff is weird i dont know what the fuck im doing!!! aromantic bitch hours #i simply stole all the vibes of aoi shiori and nirvana. mostly nirvana. thank you tia #but yes shiori is named that because i already associated the song with this whole thing and so when i named her it was the obvious choice #also i say that like i didnt write this while basically only listening to soundtracks produced by monaca #if you have seen me listening to banquet of death by crushing and confronting god in the forest on repeat: no you didn't <3

[heliads]

If I Can’t Have You

Based on this request: “one shot of Wanda and the reader are married and Agatha likes the reader and creates problem in their relationship. one day the reader and Wanda were fighting, the reader leaves to find Agatha who controls the reader to fall in love with her. Wanda finds the reader and removes the mind control.”

masterlist

Agnes walks down the sun-bleached sidewalk, arms full of a stack of hardbacks that most certainly were not transformed spellbooks. Of course they weren’t- she is Agnes now, not Agatha, and even nosy neighbours would never be caught dead studying incantations. She has to keep up the illusion of innocence, and that is final.

Agnes’ cheerful grin slips when her eye catches on something in the bushes. They should be drab shades of gray (they’re still stuck in the 50s, no matter how much Agnes wishes they would just change decades already), but there’s a flash of color inside them. Agnes groans. Is Wanda’s control disintegrating so quickly? Agnes gestures towards the bush ever so slightly, and the color fades back to black and white in a second, with only a flash of purple dancing around Agnes’ fingertips to show that anything had changed.

However, in the split second that Agnes’ focus had been diverted away, her tall stack of books had begun to slide out of her arms. Agnes reaches out to steady the pile once more, but it’s too late- the books cascade to the ground, spilling out over the pale concrete. Agnes kneels, ignoring the spike of heat slicing up her knees from the sunburned sidewalk, and begins to gather up the books. To her surprise, a second figure leans down beside her, picking up the scattered hardbacks as well.

When Agnes looks up, her breath catches slightly in her throat. There’s someone standing over them, sun shining out in a halo over their head. A smile flashes across their face as they hold out the remaining books. “I’m Y/N. I don’t think we’ve been able to meet before.” Agnes shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. I would have remembered you, hon. The name’s Agnes.” Y/N grins, teeth flashing in the sun. “It’s nice to meet you, Agnes. I think we’re neighbours- I live down the block with my wife, Wanda. Great to make some new friends.”

Agnes clears her throat. “Well, thank you for your help.” Y/N tilts their head in acknowledgement. “Well, I figured I might as well do something quickly. Wanda’s right down the block, and I don’t think you would have wanted her to see you summon up some purple sparks to retrieve the books.” Agnes stares. “You-” Y/N waves a hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to say anything. I saw you fix that hedge, so clearly you’re here to help. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s keep a secret for a friend. See you around, Agnes.”

With that, Y/N heads back down the sidewalk, footsteps echoing down the concrete path. Agnes is left staring. Y/N knew about the magic and Y/N is married to Wanda, yet they aren’t going to say anything? As Agnes walks back to her house, she realizes there’s a new feeling of rage bubbling up in her stomach against the red-haired witch. It’s not just envy of Wanda’s chaos magic. No, this is something different. It takes Agatha a while to realize what it is, and then it occurs to her. She’s jealous that Wanda has Y/N in her life every day.

Agatha can’t take this feeling of envy for much longer. She begins small spells targeting Wanda and Y/N’s marriage, ones that will sow seeds of discontent that will draw Y/N to Agatha instead. At first, they’re barely noticeable- traffic is bad so Y/N arrives home later and later each day, Wanda keeps forgetting to keep a space out for Y/N at the dinner table. Then, it’s time for Agatha’s magnum opus- one thunderous rain storm that forces Y/N to dash into Agatha’s house to escape the torrential showers.

Y/N only has to knock a couple of times before Agatha opens her door, quickly ushering the drenched neighbour into her house. Y/N apologizes profusely, but Agatha just shakes her head. “It’s fine, trust me. I’d rather you stay in here for a while and dry up than have to run home in this sort of weather.” She hands Y/N a blanket, which they accept gratefully, wrapping around their shoulders.

Y/N gets distracted by a bookcase in the corner of the room, a deep mahogany number with intricate carvings detailing the sides. “You have a good collection of books here. Rivals even my own.” A faint smile slips across their face as they examine the titles, a warmth in their eyes as if greeting dozens of old friends. At last, Y/N’s finger stops over one book in particular, and they carefully draw it out from amongst the others.

Agatha leans over to Y/N, curious. “Which book is that?” Y/N delicately opens the cover, poring over the detailed illustrations and long swoops of text. “Greek mythology. I’ve always been a fan.” Y/N flips through the pages, stopping before one particularly beautiful depiction of a myth. In the drawing, a goddess lies desolate over the body of a lover, roses beginning to form where blood pools from their body.

“Aphrodite and Adonis. That’s a classic. The goddess of love and the queen of the underworld both fell in love with this one mortal hero, Adonis, and they fought over him for a long time.” Agatha furrows her brow. “What happened?” Y/N shakes their head sadly. “Adonis ended up dead, killed by a boar. The stories differ over the killing- some versions say it was Ares, Aphrodite’s husband, or it could have been Persephone herself, jealous that Adonis was falling in love with her rival. Either way, he ended up dead and they both ended up unhappy.”

Y/N sighs. “There are a lot of myths like that, actually. Two gods fall for one lover and in the resulting fight, the world seems to be torn apart. Something similar happened with Hercules and the river god Achelous over Deianeira, actually. Every time, two fall in love with one, and every time, violence always follows. If one god couldn’t have their lover, then nobody could. It never made sense to me. Why tear apart the world over love? Besides, it always hurt the lover, who never had any choice in the matter. A waste, honestly.”

Y/N closes the book and glances outside the window. “Look, it stopped raining. I will stop intruding on your hospitality with my sad Greek myths and leave you to your afternoon.” Agatha starts to raise her voice to protest, to say that Y/N could never be a waste of time, but Y/N is already donning her coat and slipping out the door with a raised hand and a final declaration of gratitude.

Wanda waits for Y/N when they get home. She stands in the middle of the living room, just waiting for when her spouse walks through the door. Y/N has barely closed the door behind them when they see their wife, and their smile fades. “What’s wrong, Wanda? You look upset.” Wanda’s gaze remains steady, bordering on harsh. “I wonder why that would be. I wonder why my spouse would show up late again, especially when I asked them to be here early for dinner.”

Y/N gestures loosely at the door behind them. “I couldn’t go anywhere! It was raining so hard I could barely see two feet in front of me. Here, you can see my jacket, my hair, they’re wet-” Y/N’s voice breaks off as they reach for their coat and find it perfectly dry. They rush to the window, but there is no sign of rain. No puddles, no clouds, nothing. Y/N turns back to Wanda, a look of bewilderment fogging up their eyes.

“I have no idea what happened. I swear, it was raining, but now there’s nothing there at all.” Wanda raises an eyebrow. “Yes, that’s very convincing, isn’t it? A magically disappearing rainstorm apparent only to you.” Y/N tilts their head, irritation beginning to show. “Don’t use that tone. I would never lie to you. This is just strange. Something is happening and I can’t understand it.” They throw their arms up in frustration, but just as they raise their hands, Wanda flinches. It’s a small movement, barely there at all, but it’s enough for Y/N to notice. Instantly, all annoyance fades from their face, replaced by swift betrayal.

“You flinched- you thought I would-” Y/N’s voice is quiet, barely there at all. Wanda shakes her head fervently. “I didn’t mean that. It was an accident.” Y/N looks back at their wife, expression bleak. “It wasn’t an accident, though. You thought I would hit you? You truly think so little of me?” Y/N turns around, grabbing their coat from the door once more. “I think I should go. I think that would be best for both of us.”

Wanda reaches out to stop Y/N from leaving, but her spouse has already disappeared through the front door. A quiet gasp comes from the stairs behind Wanda, and she turns to see Billy and Tommy clustered together on the stairs, twin looks of horror on their faces. Billy is the first to speak. “Are they leaving us?” Wanda rushes over to them, hurrying in her apologies. “Of course not. Everyone has disagreements, you know? It’s impossible to be perfectly happy forever. Y/N is going to come back very soon, and we’re going to talk things out again. That’s what makes us love each other, you know. We always come back to each other in the end.”

Wanda’s voice is light and untroubled, but her children still don’t look entirely convinced. In fact, Wanda doesn’t even look convinced herself. After Billy and Tommy retreat back upstairs to their rooms, Wanda walks slowly to the kitchen and sits down at the table, placing her head in her hands. What has she done? What if Y/N really doesn’t come back?

Y/N regrets storming out of the house as soon as the front door closes behind them. They want nothing more than to go back inside and apologize, but they’ve always had too much pride to swallow. So, they walk out of their house, heading out into the street. Maybe they’ll go into town for a while, shoot the breeze and cool down, and then come back home and make things right. Y/N has never been able to stay away from Wanda for too long, especially during an argument. That’s what made them work so well together- they always returned to each other.

However, Y/N hasn’t gone more than a couple of feet down the road when someone walks up to them. Y/N glances over, recognizing Agnes. “Look, I’m sorry but I don’t really want to talk right now. I’ve already messed things up with Wanda, I think it’s best that I stay by myself for a while.” Agatha’s smile doesn’t falter for a second. “Of course you want to come with me, hon. You love me.” 

Y/N frowns, but with a wave of Agatha’s hand a violet streak flashes across Y/N’s eyes and a relaxed smile spreads across their face. “I do love you.” Agatha holds out her hand, and Y/N takes it without a second’s hesitation. Agatha glances over at Y/N, considering them. “Actually, I think we need one more spell. I can’t have Wanda recognizing you, after all.” Agatha murmurs a spell under her breath, and Y/N’s features ripple and change into an entirely different face. Even if Wanda happened to see Y/N walking with Agatha, she would have no idea who they were.

Wanda is growing more uneasy as the hours pass by. Y/N should have returned by now, they should have made up by now. The fact that they aren’t here tells Wanda that something is wrong. Wanda knows it must be the aftereffects of the argument, but yet there’s something in the back of her head telling Wanda that there might be some foul play. After a while, Tommy slips into the room, pausing as he walks by Wanda.

“Are you still looking for Y/N?” Wanda nods, then frowns at Tommy’s tone. “What do you mean, still? Do you know where she is?” Tommy shakes his head, but he hesitates slightly. Wanda jumps on this uncertainty like a lion. “Tommy, love, I need you to tell me where Y/N is. We both know something isn’t right, don’t we? This is really important.”

Tommy still deliberates, but after frantic glances from Wanda he finally relents. “I was running past Agnes’ house and I saw someone in there. I had never seen them before, and Billy says that nobody new has come into town. It didn’t look like Y/N, but it was still strange.” Wanda swoops forward, pressing a kiss to Tommy’s forehead. “Thank you so much for telling me. I’ll go look into that right away. Stay here with Billy, alright? I’ll be back in a second.”

The methodical rhythm of Wanda’s boots echoes down the street as she heads purposefully to Agnes’ house. She knocks a couple of times before the door opens, and Wanda is face to face with an utterly unfamiliar person. Wanda blinks in confusion. “Hi, I’m Wanda. I was looking for someone.” The stranger in Agnes’ house smiles. “Well, come on inside. Maybe you’ll find them here.”

Wanda nods, following the stranger inside. “What’s your name, by the way?” Wanda asks, and the stranger just looks at her. “I wasn’t given a name.” There’s a moment of tension, like the stranger is almost begging Wanda to realize something, but then their face smooths over and everything returns to normal. Wanda is shown to a seat in the living room, and she stares around Agnes’ house. She reaches out with her mind, searching for Y/N, but nothing happens.

The stranger bustles back into the room. “Agnes is out, but she’ll be back in a little bit. Is there anything I can do for you right now?” Wanda shakes her head, standing up. “Actually, I don’t think so. I’m sorry to waste your time.” Wanda starts to head to the door, but the stranger quickly walks in front of her, blocking her path. “Are you sure? I thought you were looking for someone.” The stranger is staring at them with a look so full of pain and hope that Wanda almost has to look away. What would the stranger want Wanda to know? What would they know, except-

Then Wanda realizes, and she reaches out a tentative hand to the stranger’s temples. Wanda concentrates for a second, searching, and then she feels the spell masking the stranger’s thoughts and pulls it away like she’s removing a blindfold. Instantly, the stranger straightens up, and they shudder for a second as their face changes into a more familiar countenance. Wanda cries out in relief, wrapping her arms around Y/N, for of course it is they who stand before her. 

“I thought you were missing- I thought you hated me-” Y/N holds tight to Wanda. “No. No, I could never. I tried to go back, but then the spell hit and I couldn’t do anything.” Y/N leans back, cupping Wanda’s face gently in her palm. “I’m so glad you found me. I was so scared that you wouldn’t know it was me.” Wanda smiles bittersweetly. “I will always come back to you. Every single time.”

Wanda and Y/N leave Agatha’s house, heading quickly back to their own home, back to their twin boys who look up excitedly when they see Y/N return. Wanda and Y/N do not notice Agatha, who just arrives at her house in time to see the married couple disappear back through their own front door. Agatha glares, storming into her house to see the hated truth- Y/N is indeed gone, the spell broken. In a moment of utter rage, Agatha lets her power flow through her, murky indigo smoke pouring over the room as walls crack and glasses break.

When Agatha is at last able to control herself, she stands panting in the middle of the room. Her eyes catch on a book that had been yanked from its shelf, a book that now lies open on the ground. Agatha’s eyes widen as she takes in that familiar drawing of the goddess and the lover, from the story Y/N had been talking about earlier. Aphrodite and Adonis, forced to repeat their pain once more.

But Agatha understands it now, understands it as Y/N had never been able to fully comprehend. Why shouldn’t the gods tear apart the world? This feeling in Agatha’s chest, this empty broken rage, will never be able to subside. Y/N loves Wanda, and Wanda loves Y/N. There is no room for Agatha in that story. 

A twisted, fractured smile begins to wend its way across Agatha’s lips. Before, she had been hesitant about messing too much with Wanda’s reality, but now, all rules are gone with Y/N. If Agatha can’t have Y/N, no one else will. Wanda doesn’t stand a chance.

wanda maximoff tag list: @mycosmicparadise​ @mionemymind​ @xxxtwilightaxelxxx​    

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff imagines #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff oneshot #scarlet witch #scarlet witch imagines #scarlet witch x reader #scarlet witch oneshot #avengers #avengers imagines #avengers x reader #avengers oneshot #mcu #marvel #mcu oneshot #mcu imagines #wandavision #wandavision imagines #wandavision oneshot

[sepublic]

Season 2 Teaser for The Owl House?

           So for those of you who haven’t caught up; A few days ago, Dana released an exclusive photo of herself on Instagram, with a cryptically-blurred reflection in her window that was all too conveniently-placed;

           Now, this COULD just be some game she’s playing, but like; Reverse-image searches have yielded nothing, and it hurts no one to speculate! Thanks to @50shades-of-blue, who had the common sense to remember to flip the reflection, we have something more akin to THIS;

           This image bears a decent resemblance to a sequence from the show’s intro, in terms of structuring; We have characters divided and separated by golden bars. This points to Dana’s image being a shot from a new intro for Season 2, either one for an entire season, or a single episode. I say this, because looking at the subject matter… On the very left, we see something vaguely blue, and similar in resemblance to a bile sac;

           This could actually be the Titan’s heart, image below for reference;

           Not only that, but as Blue’s helpful tracing points out, the other two figures in the ‘slots’ bear a resemblance to Owl Mask and Kikimora, the latter having the fingers of her hand-hair splayed out, and the former appearing to take off their mask.

           What little we see of Owl Mask bears a decent-enough resemblance to the Season 2 character that Dana teased, further cementing a connection between the two. Not only that, but we get a glimpse of five (possibly six) colorful symbols above the three character slots, each likely pertaining to the Coven Heads, as shown by Blue’s earlier tracing.

           In particular, you can tell the blue symbol has the same distinctive, U-shaped horns of the Healing Head; And the green symbol bears enough resemblance to the Plant Head, with their dark-green bangs covering most of their lighter-green face. Combined with symbols that seem similar to the Construction, Beastkeeping, and Oracle Heads, the exact layout we’ve seen so far coincidentally seems to match the banner layout seen in The First Day;

           You have from left to right; The Construction, Plant, Beastkeeping, Bard, and Healing Heads! Now, if you look to the very right of the image, there also seems to be a sixth symbol, a bit lower than the others, with what appears to be a purple coloration; This is likely the Oracle Head, especially since it matches with the aforementioned placement of the banners. Now, exact positioning beside, we also know that there are three more symbols obscured, the ones for the Abominations, Potions, and Illusion Heads. If we go by the pattern established by the rest of the image, with the Heads at either end of the display being placed lower than the rest, and the rest being shown in an up-down pattern… Then it seems we more or less have the vast majority of this mysterious screenshot, with some of it blacked out!

           As others such as @preciseprose​ have suggested, there’s a good chance that this is a screen transition, hence why only a specific corner and portion is obscured; Because if this shot parallels the one seen in the Season 1 intro with Willow, Gus, and Amity, which burns away in the middle to reveal King… Then it makes sense that a similar transition would happen with this show, perhaps obscuring from the outside-in this time as a contrast.

           Now, what’s interesting is that this style of shot, once reserved for protagonists and friends/peers of Luz, is now being designated towards lesser-known antagonists associated with the Emperor’s Coven. While this could just be how the Season 2 intro works, with Gus, Willow, and Amity appearing later or earlier, likely closer to Luz; It does make me and others wonder if we’ll get a dedicated intro to the Emperor’s Coven with Belos, front-and-center! I’ve talked at enormous length in the past of Luz and Belos being parallels… And it’d match other Disney TVA shows, such as Gravity Falls, Ducktales, or Amphibia, who had villainous takeovers for their shows’ intros as well!

           This could of course allude to an episode with a heavy focus on the members of the Coven System, specifically Belos and his aides Owl Mask and Kikimora, as well as the Head witches of the Covens he appointed and presumably trusts. This is of course all fascinating and has me even MORE intrigued, but also; The placement of the Titan’s heart alongside Owl Mask and Kikimora suggests its treatment as its own character as well… Which, if it’s a giant heart, it presumably represents and operates as a stand-in for the Titan, perhaps the conduit with which Belos even speaks to it (and vice-versa?) through! AKA the Heart represents the Titan, it IS the Titan, which then suggests that this Emperor’s Coven triumvirate consists of the Titan, Owl Mask, and Kikimora…

           But that’s not the only consideration! I’ve talked before about character parallels in this show… We have Luz and Amity, Eda and Lilith, Owlbert and Lilith’s palisman. I’ve speculated on King and Kikimora being parallels, and even Hooty and Belos… But that always made me wonder; What about Willow and Gus? Do THEY have parallels, associated with the Coven System and its Emperor? And for a while I entertained Warden Wrath and Owl Mask, but lo and behold; I may be right, at least about one of those two, and also in general about parallels! Because if we compare the placements… We have the Titan and Willow, Owl Mask and Gus, and Amity and Kikimora!

           Owl Mask being a parallel to Gus is interesting, because they’re operating as a spy for Belos; And presumably, Illusionists would be great at stealth. I wouldn’t be surprised if Owl Mask used Illusions, albeit to disguise and mask their own presence; A parallel and contrast to Gus, who uses Illusions to create and draw attention and spectacle! Not only that, but it makes me wonder if Owl Mask is also a child prodigy like Gus, if they have issues with being overlooked, and as a contrast to Gus, they’ve embraced this instead of fighting against it…? And Owl Mask is sent to spy on Luz the human, perhaps a parallel to Gus’ own fascination with humans…?

           Then we’ve got Willow and the Titan’s heart. Now, this one interests me… And it makes me think about how Willow is presented with a raw, innate strength, and an uncanny ability to cast magic without summoning a circle nor glyph. I’ve talked before about Willow and Belos having parallels, as they both have distinct shots with their eyes glow green; Could this parallel stem more from a connection to the Titan, than anything else? Then as @aguigenae suggested, instead of Luz (or JUST Luz) being able to speak to the Titan… What if it was Willow? It’d re-contextualize her ability to draw onto raw, magical potential through pure emotions… And similarly, a lot of her spells draw power from the Isles itself in the form of plants, and we know the Isles as synonymous with the Titan!

           With how Belos seems to draw power and spells from the Isles, albeit with fleshy and stone formations… Perhaps Willow serves as a parallel and foil, creating constructs from the Isles as well, but in the form of plantlife! Her being able to speak to plants might provide a medium to contact the Isles they’re rooted in… And as I said before, Willow has shown an unusual ability with magic not unlike how Belos can cast magic, but through his unique form of spheres and orbs. If Willow is associated with the Titan’s heart, perhaps she could speak to it in a way that Belos can’t- Perhaps they BOTH can speak, and this will lead to a conflict with Belos, who seeks to preserve this ‘privilege’? Keep in mind that it’s Willow who openly defies Belos the most by rallying an entire crowd against him- If she’s the face of the revolution, her being able to speak to the Titan could create further parallels and odds between the two!

           Not only that, but… Talking again of Willow and the Titan’s Heart, if the two are parallels; What does this say about the Titan itself? Perhaps like Willow, it’s a being with raw magical power, easily terrifying, and with a connection to nature (as it IS nature in its case). If these characters are dark parallels, then what if the Titan was like Inner Willow, wrathful and fully exploring its dangerous power, having felt harmed and hurt, twisted…

           But what if it was also a Willow who never learned to stand up for herself? A powerful, dangerous witch… But with no true self-esteem, no believe in themselves? What if the Titan was like a Dark Willow, and this self-doubt was what allowed Belos to manipulate it? I’ve speculated before that perhaps Belos has managed to sway and influence the Titan into seeing his way as the right way to handle magic… If it was a dark parallel to Willow, perhaps the Titan is hopeless, thinking there’s nothing it can do to oppose Belos, feeling like it’s smarter than him, as a toxic friend with control; Think Anne and Sasha from Amphibia!

           We might even get a scene paralleling Willow and Amity’s first appearance, with how Amity condescendingly mocks Willow, albeit with potential, if misguided, good intentions. Perhaps Belos is like this- He’s cruel and manipulative of the Titan, but he also genuinely believes in what he’s doing, that this IS the best for the Isles, and that this is how the Titan should have its magic be utilized and taught. But, in absence of Amity, we see Willow’s true feelings of resentment and anger that have bottled up… So what if the Titan was like that with Belos, except dialed up? What if the Titan hates Belos or wants to see him defeated, but isn’t entirely sure if he’s wrong, either…

           So to get into blind speculation, what if- What if the Titan has tried to create a new champion? By going behind Belos’ back and communicating with a new, younger witch, perhaps one that reminds it of Belos before he turned corrupt… What if the Titan is contacting Luz and/or Willow? Hoping to find someone else who will actually speak for them, not just talk over as Belos possibly is doing? Maybe the Titan is trying to foster a new witch, an alternative champion to depose Belos or take over; Or have Belos and Luz/Willow compete, to prove to the Titan who has the best philosophy to magic through their own respective victories?

           And if Belos were to find out… Well, I imagine he might do something drastic to the Titan. He has control and access to its heart- Could he torture it in retaliation, perhaps causing quakes across the Isles that echo the Titan’s throes of agony? Would Belos do something drastic to prevent the Titan from helping Luz/Willow, adversely affecting the Boiling Isles in the process? Similarly, if Belos is a toxic friend to the Titan, perhaps there’s symbolism to his castle built around the Titan’s heart… Kudos to @fermented-writers-block​ for some of these ideas;

          Perhaps it could be interpreted as Belos having an iron grip over its heart, or the Titan building up walls around its heart –thanks to Belos’ encouragement- and letting in only Belos…? Alas, Belos is the one who convinces the Titan to hide itself away and let only him in, because only HE cares, only he knows best… And yet, he’s the one who helped build those walls that the Titan hides within. Ultimately, his castle MUST fall- Especially if it’s being used to exploit and manipulate the Titan’s heart in other, literal ways as well…

          Finally, let’s talk Amity and Kikimora sharing placements. There is of course the obvious implication of romantic feelings, but also… What if, instead, there was this idea of Belos being like Luz to Amity, for Kiki? For Amity, Luz was an outsider who came out of nowhere and changed her life for the better, helped her stand up for herself- What if Belos was that to Kikimora? What if he was an outsider, a human even (before he changed and decayed) that changed Kikimora’s life forever after he appeared from nowhere… The two starting to a prickly start, before truly caring for each other? As Belos encouraged Kikimora to stand up for herself, eventually culminating in her own life improving(?) as Kiki is now second only to him, the Emperor of the Boiling Isles! It might explain why he seems to trust her so much- The two genuinely care for each other and Kikimora feels like she owes everything to him…

           And, to incorporate my own analysis/speculation of Amity; Perhaps Kikimora has placed all of her sense of self-worth into Belos, about how she can help him, because only HE ever made her feel like something! What if as a toxic parallel to Luz and Amity, Kikimora has lowkey become dependent upon Belos- Who, while kind to Kikimora… Kiki still has placed all of her self-esteem not in herself, but in Belos’ approval of her. And while Belos DOES approve and provide support, it’s still dangerously dependent and shows that Kikimora can’t really stand for herself, that she needs someone else as a litmus test to judge her worth as a person.

          Finally, we know Amity is the least talented compared to Willow and Gus; Given how we have the literal Titan and Owl Mask, compared to Kikimora, who caves into Luz’s threats… It’s possible Kikimora is the least powerful amongst the Titan and Owl Mask, but has made up for it with raw determination and skill? After all, she presumably cast the magical cage that all of Luz’s efforts wouldn’t have been able to defeat. Perhaps like Amity, Kikimora had to work hard to prove herself, to earn respect; And like Amity in Episode 3, Kikimora feels a desperate need to hold onto that sense of accomplishment and superiority, and can and WILL retaliate viciously when it’s threatened. To Kikimora, she’s dedicated everything into making up for her own shortcomings, just like Amity- So she despises cheaters, or at least people who undermine that work.

           (I know what some may be thinking- Isn’t Kikimora a King parallel? Well, these parallels work in multiple ways… Amity parallels Luz, but then so too does Belos, presumably. I wouldn’t be surprised if Amity was both a parallel to Luz AND Kikimora, then.)

           And, that’s my general thoughts, analysis, and speculation, all based from this reflection we’ve seen! It’s possible Dana is trolling us, by accident or otherwise, with a videogame screenshot… But hey- It doesn’t hurt anyone if we’re wrong, I say! It’s all in good fun… Besides, if it WAS a teaser from Season 2, and we didn’t give our shot, then we’d all feel like idiots! We may as well take our chance and analyze, because- Just in case…!

#the owl house #the owl house luz #Luz noceda #the owl house belos #emperor belos #the owl house willow #willow park #the owl house gus #augustus porter #the owl house amity #amity blight #the owl house kikimora #the owl house season 2 #speculation #theory #analysis #Dana terrace

[atomicblasphemy]

Eda becomes some kind of flying taxi service

Amity: So I told Malphas he needed to have a talk with Gary about our coffee break space.

Emira: Mhmm.

Amity: I mean, for one, Gary never cleans after himself. Like, I once saw him leaving his mug dirty for over a week. A WEEK. It was disgusting. It was just sitting dare on the table for days. I didn’t want to clean it, I’m not a doormate. But it was dire and I had no choice. And don’t get me started on the fridge situation. My lunch has been getting smaller by the day and I can’t seem to figure out the culprit.

Emira: That’s nice, Mittens. Isn’t it nice, Edric?

Edric: What?

Amity: Will you guys pay attention? I need some advice on...

*Windows cracking”

Edric: What the...

Hooty: AMITY FELICITY BLIGHT! IT IS I, HOOTCIFER, HARBINGER OF THY DESTINY. COME WITH ME AND I SHALL REVEAL WHAT JOYS THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR THEE.

Amity: I... What?

Hooty: DOTH THOU DARE DEFY FATE? *Swallows Amity*

Emira: ... What just happened? Wasn’t that Eda’s house demon? You know, the one we met before Grom?

Edric: I think it was. I’m not sure though, he sounded more... ominous...

SEVERAL EMOTIONAL MOMENTS LATER

Luz: It’s early... Do you really have to go already?

Amity: Yeah... I still have to finish homework, and I have work tomorrow. But I’ll come back here tomorrow... If you’re okay with it, that is...

Luz: YES! I mean... yeah, I’d love that...

Amity: Anyway... I guess I should get going, we’re not exactly neighbors after all. See you tomorrow then.

Luz: Wait, I have an idea. *Turns around* EDA!

Eda: *Not stopping her flight practice* What?

Luz: Do you think you could give Amity a lift back to her place?

Eda: Oh? Not walking your girlfriend home? Thought you’d be more chivalrous.

Luz: *Showing that Amity’s tomato like properties are infectious* EDAAA!

Eda: Sorry, sorry. But yeah, sure. *Picks up Amity and flies away at neckbreaking speeds. She soon slows down to a more reasonable pace* So... Amity, before I give you that whole “What are your intentions?” scare there’s something I’ve been itching to ask you. What made you chose to dye your hair of all colors, and how did Odd-alia react?

Amity: Luz... Me... Girlfriend...

Eda: Ugh... Don’t make me regret making harmless fun of young love, kiddo.

ONE AWKWARD TAXI EDA FLYING SESSION LATER.

Eda: *Placing Amity on the Blight Manor’s front porch and looking at the two bewildered faces watching her* Sup. *Turns to fly away* Oh right, I guess purple here is in not in the mental state to give any explanations.

Amity: Small ceremony... Human realm... Only friends and family... Boscha is not invited...

Emira: Are you... Edalyn Clawthorne?

Eda: Last I checked I was.

Emira: You look different.

Eda: Oh right... Look, it was a very eventful night so let me start with the simpler one. King, you remember him, right? Tiny, angry, looks like a cat, was the MC at the last Grom along with Goops.

Emira and Edirc: Yeah...?

Eda: He’s harnessing all the powers of yelling. I guess all children his age kinda do that but he went above and beyond and actually learned how to make things go boom with his voice alone, and that’s why both Luz and your sister are still alive. And now I’m realizing I should probably go hide all those Death Metal records I got in human realm. Can’t risk turning my son into a weapon of mass destruction. Not yet.

Edric: That’s... nice... I guess?

Emira: How about Mittens?

Eda: Right. She and Luz are an item now. It was adorable, I called her Luz’s girlfriend then I think it finally really hit her and that made her go all catatonic on me. Sorry about that.

Edric: WHAT?

Emira: Okay, okay... So came out with it? Ed and I have some scores to settle.

Eda: I... Both, I guess? I don’t know, it was sort of at the same time. But I don’t want to spoil it for when she recovers. So I guess us three are kinda family now, huh? Tangentially at least, like you’re my nephew and niece-in-law or something like that, I don’t know.

Eda: The important thing is: there’s a huge waterway under my house and I think it is actually part of my property. Now I need to figure out a way to find out how big that place actually is without letting town hall know so my taxes won’t go up. Can’t push my tax evasion skills. I mean, can you imagine it? The Owl Lady, the most successful outlaw in Boiling Isles history: arrested for fiscal crimes.

Emira: Okay... That’s... cool.

Edric: Yeah... Not to pry though, but what happened to you?

Eda: Oh... Me? I got very high. Not on purpose. Then I became a Harpy. Also not on purpose.

Emira: ... I’m sorry but I’m not following the cause and effect relation between those thing.

Eda: Neither am I. All I remember is: Hooty spiked some cookies; I revisited that time I gauged out my dad’s eye, also not on purpose; then when I push my ex away (You know, Raine Whispers, current head of the Bard Coven, lead a small revolutionary guerrilla, now under mind control. Oh, yeah, guess they’d make to sure to keep it under wraps, anyway...)

Eda: Then it got pretty weird. I got trapped by this tall hooded sun and moon figure and I’m not sure whether that was an actual memory (I did get arrested a few time after all) or if it was just a hallucinogenics induced manifestation of the subconscious trauma of being persecuted for years by the state. Anyone’s guess to which was it.

Eda: And then I became Icarus, fell into the sea, and became a piece of paper. Then I was at the beach, the piece of paper was also there, but that’s not important... I hope... Anyway, so, my curse was there too an for a moment there I thought we were gonna play some chess, but nah.

Eda: I did have an epiphany though. The sky changed colors and now I’m a Harpy. Gotta a lot of stuff to process right.

Edric: *Wide eyed and mouth agape* Mother of Titan...

Emira: *Same as her brother* Do you... need a hug or something?

Eda: Ehh... Don’t worry, I’ll get through. I mean, I’m a badass Harpy woman now, what else could I want? I appreciate the thought though. Anyway, I’ll get going, Luz has probably been stuck in the same place ever since I left. Was nice seeing you guys. *Turns around*

Edric: WAIT, EDA.

Eda: Yeah? What is it?

Edric: Can you take me flying a little bit like you did Mittens? Pretty please?

Emira: *Elbowing her brother* EDRIC!

Edric: What? There’s a tall and friendly winged lady standing in our front porch and calling us family...

Eda: Kinda family.

Edric: Kinda family. And we only went flying, on dad’s staff mind you, like twice. And I mean, look at her. That’s clearly a person with next to no regard for speed limits or any form of flying safety. *Turns to Eda* I mean that as the highest of compliments, by the way.

Eda: *Nodding and smiling* Well, I’m not one to brag... But you’re on point there.

Edric: *Turning back to Emira* See? It will be fun. *Turns back to Eda while making puppy eyes* So, pretty pretty please?

Eda: Eh... What the heck, why not? I do need to get a better hold of this flying thing after all. Fair warning though, I only had these for about an hour, I’m not taking responsibility for any loss of limb or life. *Picks Edric up and place him on one of her shoulders and turns to Emira.* You sure you don’t wanna come with? There’s plenty of room.

Emira: ... I never said I didn’t want to...

Eda: *Placing Emira on her other shoulder* Alritty then, make sure to hold on tight to my hair, just don’t fall into it. Can’t promise I’ll find you if you do. And up we go. *Takes off at neckbreaking speed*

Eda: So... I tried that to Mittens herself, but she was too lost in elation to form coherent sentences. What’s the deal with her hair color change? Why did she pick that specific shade of... pink? Lavender? Purple? Whatever, I was a tad curious about that choice coming from one of Odd-alia’s offspring. So either of you can shed some light on it for me?

Emira: Eh, what can I say? Our little Mittens is growing up, coming out of her shell. I mean, if you told me a month that she’d have a girlfriend by now I’d call it bullshit. Though I would have guessed Luz as being the most likely candidate. In any case, I’m pretty proud of the steps our baby sister is taking, not gonna lie.

Edric: Yeah... Same. But I can’t shake the feeling that it is at least in part an act of rebellion against mom. She did always have that weird fixation with Amity’s hair after all...

Eda: Hum, I see. This actually takes me to my follow up question. How did your mom react when she saw it?

Edric: *chuckling* Oh, I thought she’d have a stroke right then and there.

Emira: Yup. Never saw mom that mad. You’d think the two of us would be the ones to cause it but nope, Mittens beat us to it. Again, I’m a proud big sister.

Eda: Hehehe Sounds about right. You two are the troublemaking type then huh?

Edric: That’s a way of putting.

Emira: We like thinking of ourselves as practical entertainers however. We are in the Illusions track so it comes with the territory. Buuut...

Edric: We indulge in some prankery every now and then, and there’s no one better at it than us.

Eda: Is that so? Ever get in trouble for it?

Edric: Sometimes... When we (kind of accidentally) cause more property damage than intended because SOMEONE botched their end of the spell and caused Bump’s office to almost go up in flames.

Emira: Awww. Ed, I told you already. Don’t beat yourself over it. Accidents happen. You’ll do better next time.

Edric: HEY!

Emira: Anyway, Eda. Why were you asking about Mittens’ hair?

Eda: Oh... You guys are going to love this. I think. Anyway, did you know that me and your parents attended Hexside at the same time?

Edric: Yeah, I remember mom seeing one of your wanted posters a while back and calling you “Ewdalyn Clownthorne” or something like that.

Eda: Ah, haven’t heard that in a minute, Titan those were the day. Anyway, as you might have guessed by now me and your mother we... had a bit of a rivalry. Unfortunately, I couldn’t top the nickname she gave me, best I could do was Odd-alia. No offense, but Blight doesn’t give much to work with in terms of puns, can’t get funnier than that. Especially when thrown at her.

Emira: None taken. And yeah. I mean, it is fun when people call us stuff like “The Blights of Hexside”. But it is kinda sad to know we’ll never get a nickname as cool as Owl Lady or Lord Calamity.

Eda: Oh, my fame still precedes me huh? You know, I think the three of us will get along just fine.

Edric and Emira: Yup, we sure will.

Eda: Anyway, flattery aside... Part of the reason why I love poking your mom with a short stick was, other than how aggravated she’d get and how surprisingly good at paying in kind she was, the fact that she was in the Oracle track. You see, that made her a challenge. And given how she would actually prank me back (successfully, mind you, I have no shame in admitting that) I feel like like we actually a weird sort of friends, or at least we reached some kind of agreement that we were fair game for each other. And trust me, she was ruthless, and very good at escalating things.

Emira: Wow...

Edric: That sounds nothing like the mom we know. Other than the ruthless or the escalation part, that is still true.

Eda: Yeah, anyway. Part of our little game was keeping it hidden. Neither your dad or my sister actually ever realized what was going on until... well, I’ll get to that.

Eda: Anyway, so some lovely day I notice how weirdly obsessed with her hair Odd-alia was. This gives me some ideas, but I know I have make this the mother of pranks, so I decided to just keep a watch, to figure out what the best way to go about it would be. And I was also making those smaller pranks, something to throw her Oracle powers off-balance, you know?

Eda: Well... Back in the day your mother wasn’t monochromatic as she is nowadays. She’d circle through all colors you can think off on her accessories (which she used an ungodly amount, and no judgement it just never seems physically possible). But I noticed that there was one very specific color that she never got anywhere near her.

Edric and Emira: No way...

Eda: And as I said, she was weirdly obsessed with her hair... And as top student of the Potions track making hair dye was child’s play for me... So... do the math... And guess what very specific color was? I may be bad at color names, but I won’t ever, EVER, forget that particular shade.

Edric and Emira: No... freaking... way...

Eda: Yes... freaking... way... I mean, seriously, the first time I saw Amity’s new hair I had to do a double take. The resemblance was just too uncanny.

Emira: And what did she do?

Eda: Well... For a couple weeks there I thought I’d have to place a restriction order on her or something like that. Ultimately the two of us, along with Lilith and Alador (they were our attorneys, no they were not qualified for the role.) sitting across from each other in a very formal looking table, signing a contract. An actual freaking contract setting clear limits to our mutual pranks, like what was off limits like her hair or my then partner, how long was the maximum period a prank could last, so on. Surprisingly enough that was Al’s idea.

Eda: And let me tell you, that was probably the toughest negotiation I ever been a part of. Shame it was not long before I dropped out so never could really put it to use. You know, sometime I think this actually made Odd-alia realize she wanted to be a business woman. I mean, before that she’d go off about how she’d join the Emperor’s Coven all the damn time.

Edric: Wow...

Emira: I second that. Really, wish I had brought something I could take notes on. You completely blown anything we ever did out of the water.

Edric: No wonder she never told us that. You know what? I think I’m dying my hair that color first thing tomorrow.

Emira: Can we tell Amity this story?

Eda: Are you two actually thinking of antagonizing her? Are you crazy? First off, she’s your mother, she holds power over you. All you’d accomplish is getting grounded. Not to mention that she has decades of experience on you, even if she wasn’t your mom, she’d demolish the two of you. No offense, you’re still young, naive, you lack guidance in the ways of the pranksters.

Edric and Emira: *Dejectedly* Ohh... You’re right...

Eda: Hey... Don’t look so gloomy. I see a lot of potential in you, in both of you. *Sighs* I can’t believe I’m gonna take more kids under my wing... But.... Have you guys ever heard of the Bad Girl Coven Initiative? We annoy our foes into submission.

Edric and Emira: WE’RE LISTENING.

Eda: Heh... We’ll get along just fine indeed.

#THE OWL HOUSE #the owl house hooty #Edric Blight #Emira Blight #amity blight #luz noceda #king clawthorne #the owl house boscha #raine whispers #I lost track of what was trying to accomplish halfway though writing this. read at your own discretion.

[daydream-believin]

The Never-Ending Roadtrip (waffles)

summary: (part 1) or (part 5) <- reader joins douxie on his quest to protect nari. he’ll need company wont he. (part 6) do you like waffles? also appalachia and nj trollmarket fun. next-> (part 7)

warnings: swearing, fem! reader, maybe an alcohol mention, proof reading is for squares yo

word count: 3875

a/n: i’m sorry to anyone from PA but wtf. i also have no idea why this turned out the way it did. bon apetit.

no gif im trying to test something

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Y/n looked over at Douxie. The blue of his hair was starting to fade into a duller hue. While not as bright and bold as his personality, it was still very nice to look at. This muted blue was softer, almost comforting in a way. Y/n found herself running her fingers through it. It wasn’t just the color that was soft. Like feathers in her hand, she gently caressed the strands. The duller color made him look tired, older, and the permanent bags under his eyes didn’t help. She placed her hand on his face and ran her thumb over a said eye bag. He gave her a very subdued smile in return. His sunken eyes were so beautiful. Her favorite color. Or colors, one should say. They were like an earth toned opal. Y/n’s hand drifted down his face. She used her thumb to explore his cheekbones, tracing constellations in his freckles, and finally settled on his mouth, tracing his cupid’s bow. Douxie couldn’t help but break the stoic face he was trying to hold.

“As much as I hate to ask this, and I really do, but will you please cease what you’re doing, My Love. I’m trying to drive here.”

“Yes, I would also like to ask you to stop, miss L/n. Not wrecking the ship is worth you canning your pda for a while.” Archie added.

Y/n pulled her hand back and exaggeratedly pouted. She teasingly stuck her tongue out at Archie for good measure, but couldn’t help but dissolve into a snicker right after so it wasn’t very effective. But really, it wasn’t her fault that Douxie’s beautifully sculpted face was right there and demanding to be touched. She tried to distract herself by focusing on the scenery around them. North Pennsylvania was delightful, so it’d be a shame if she spent the whole time that they flew through it looking at nothing but Douxie. There was plenty of time for her to do that the rest of her life. It’s not like she didn’t have every freckle memorized already. Every single adorable little dot. Right, Pennsylvania. Appalachia. Y/n was a little disappointed they didn’t manage to go through West Virginia, being as north as they were. She really wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Country roads.

The mountains were hard to transverse through, so Douxie took the boat up high in the clouds. A little too high. The oxygen was thin. While this didn’t affect Archie the dragon or Nari the plant goddess, Douxie and Y/n were getting a bit woozy. Neither would get altitude sickness to the point of dying, thanks to that good ol’ curse of immortality, but their minds weren’t exactly operating at high speeds here. They passed through a low hanging cloud in a puff of fog.

Though they were over it, just being in the range of Appalachia felt odd. There was a presence that clung to the mountains. Even flying high up in the air, one felt as though they were being watched. Like the thousand eyes of the forest were upon them. Looking down below, hanging over the edge like Douxie hated her to do, Y/n saw a herd of deer that might as well be ants. Watching over the herd was a bigger, or maybe closer, stag on a peak of some sort. His antlers were covered in crimson. Y/n hoped he was just shedding.

There were pathways cutting through the trees below, some roads, some manmade trails, some rivers, some troll trails, and some deer trails. Some that wound around in endless curves, some that seemed to start from nowhere and stop at nothing, some that went round and round in a circle, and some that crossed over each other, effectively creating a maze of sorts. Y/n didn’t know why, but she was glad she was above the trees and not in them. Something within her gut told her that as beautiful as the scenery was, she did not wish to experience it first-hand. The deer below were beautiful, but there was something not quite right about them. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to turn down a game of ninepins either, and she could really go for a drink.

Douxie’s brain may have been foggy, but he could certainly see Y/n hanging over the edge again, tantalizing him. He couldn’t help but imagine 174 ways for it to end badly. He’d been pretty passive about this before but now that they were so high up, he had no choice but to be up front now.

“Y/n, My Love,” Y/n turned her attention to him, which also pulled her weight more towards the boat than the sky. Good. “do you mind being back near the center of the ship? I really don’t like you draping yourself over the railing like that.”

Y/n was getting sick and tired of people always trying to keep her away from edges, advising her not to climb the mountain, telling her to stay inside when there was only a light rainstorm. She could handle it. She wasn’t a fucking porcelain doll. She was not wearing a fancy gown that suffocated her, she could speak, her lips were not perfectly painted on. And she wouldn’t shatter. “Relax, Dewdrop. I’m fine. I’m not just gonna go skydiving for kicks. If anyone has had a penchant for falling through the sky recently, it’s been you, Hisirdoux. I can catch myself with anti-gravity spells, like you taught me. Besides, we walk across tall, crumbly, ancient non-osha compliant walkways all the time. You never had a problem then.”

“Well,” He huffed, “it would be one thing if I was there next to you, but I’m not, so could you please just try to stay safe when I can’t reach you?” Y/n was taken about at how quick his tone went from annoyed to desperate. She furrowed her brows. Doux sighed, “Look, it frightens me, okay. I know that nothing will happen, but what if it does? I can’t- I can’t lose you.” His tone got even feebler in his pleading. “And there’s so many ways to lose you. Especially with the Order on our tails. Please, just give me this peace of mind for at least one thing.”

Y/n stepped away from the railing, crossing over to Douxie. He opened his arm and she nestled into his side. Pressing her head against his chest, she mumbled, “Absolutely. I’ll just—I’ll just stay here then. Next to you. I’m sorry I worried you. That was the last thing I wanted to do.”

He leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Thank you, My Darling.”

~ ~ ~

The dipped down south to go through the top of Maryland and completely through Delaware to get to the south of New Jersey, in place of just going through Philadelphia. The city of brotherly love was not on the itinerary.  Philly, and the top of New Jersey, were just too densely populated to take a magic boat through. The airspace was filled with airplanes and skyscrapers. It was easier to go the roundabout way.

As they passed between Philly and Lancaster, they went by fantastically named towns such as Paradise the city, where the girls are pretty, Bird In Hand, Blue Ball, and Intercourse. Stellar. Y/n was starting to really like Pennsylvania. It was cursed ground. She made sure to get photographic evidence of every road sign. Douxie was happy to pose with them.

They took a pit stop in a town called Peach Bottom before leaving Pennsylvania. Y/n wanted to go through New Texas, since she was curious how somewhere in the original colonies could be a new Texas, but Nari could sense a river nearby, and wanted to seek it out. Peach Bottom. It was a cozy little town with a power plant that was dumping it’s waste into the riverside it was built on. Toxic river. Fun. Y/n made Douxie explain to Nari why she couldn’t get near the river or touch any of the water. Y/n wouldn’t have been able to stay as calm as Douxie could. There was nothing happening in the rural Pennsylvanian town. Nothing special about it unless you counted their countless nuclear admissions. The locals didn’t care for strangers, and that was alright with them cause they didn’t want to be here for any more than necessary for a restroom break. Dinner could wait.

The top of Maryland was great. Lots of rivers to make it up to Nari. There was just, an incredibly large walmart near the line. Just absolutely humongous whopper walmart. A leach whose name doesn’t even deserve to be capitalized, thank you very much autocorrect.

It took less than half an hour to fly right through the top of Delaware. Hi Delaware, bye Delaware.

Soon they were on the coast of south New Jersey, headed for a sleepy town called Monty. Monty was a town along the Cohansey, split across it with quite an impressive bridge between the two sides. As soon as the bridge became visible on the skyline, Y/n grabbed Douxie’s sleeve and tugged excitedly. She looked up at him with a big smile. Rest. At last, they were going to get to rest. Y/n made herself busy calling Jim to let him know that they were there so he could call someone else to let them know that they were there and to wait by the entrance for them. Neither Douxie nor Y/n had a horngazzle on them at the moment. Y/n had had one in her possession back in Arcadia, being book club buddies with Blinky, but alas that was destroyed along with their bookstore.

They hid that damn magic boat in the forest. While they did plan on staying with the trolls for a few weeks, Douxie didn’t put it back in its glass bottle quite yet, cause they were in fact taking it into New York not tomorrow but the next day. He covered the ground around it with a few more wards than necessary. Y/n threw up an illusion spell around it, as she had been all the other times they’d just left it in the woods, and thought the wards were overkill but didn’t say anything. They started on the trek to the base of the bridge.

The troll at the entrance greeted them cordially. He was a dark green color, with two massive horns resembling those of a longhorn cow, chiseled stone tattoos, and no clothes other than a tiny loincloth which made everyone but Nari uncomfortable. He let them in with flourish, as if he’d always wanted to do this and practiced it.

“Welcome to NEW JERSEY TROLLMARKET.”

Y/n was surprised at how well the town had come along within the two months the trolls had occupied the cavern. It wasn’t the Trollmarket she had known, there was no Blinky and no library, but still marvelous. The new hearthstone glowed warmly, very much alive and not making zombies. While looking pretty similar to the old Trollmarket, with a multitude of shops and homes carved into the mineral covered walls and formations, there was a sort of human touch to it now. Claire definitely had a hand in the planning and maybe the decorative features too. Or perhaps Jim. Y/n wouldn’t put it past the boy to be the one who designed the very elaborate crystal art flower bed she was looking at. Or that weirdly steampunk bridge. Funny thing, a bridge under a bridge.

Dictatious met them soon after they came in to show them around and to where they would be staying. The tour he gave them basically just included him walking them through the main street, waving his arms to various places and vaguely saying that they were shops but not what they sold, pointing out the pub, and then took them straight to their accommodations. Since the home that had been occupied by Blinky, Jim, and Claire was now empty, they’d be staying there, with the place practically to themselves. Dictatious also lived in said home, but rarely stuck around it for long now that his brother was gone.

“Alright, here’s your nest.”

Since Dictatious still slept in the nest that he shared with Blinky, he had given them Jim and Claire’s. The nests were just rocky bowls carved into the floor of the room, with a few comfort items. Thankfully, Jim and Claire had left theirs full of pillows and a couple thick cushions they must have taken from a couch. Unconventional, but better than sleeping on literal solid rock. Speaking of couches, there were way too many couches spread across the apartment. This entire place only had two rooms, a large living area and a nestroom, and yet there were five couches. Not to mention the extra-large easy chair Dic was currently lounging in. Okay, so one of said couches was technically a love seat, but still. There was no kitchen, which was surprising due to this being Jim Lake Jr’s home, and no table besides the one that three of the sofas were gathered around and a paper-covered work desk against a corner. There were glowing crystal lamps all throughout, lighting the house. All in all, interesting interior design decisions. The kids had definitely been trying to make it a more homey human dwelling but had limited options.

Nari nestled into the nest, happy that there were no blankets to smother her. Not even a minute passed and she was out like a light. Douxie and Y/n sat on one of the couches in the nestroom, watching the veggie lady snooze. Archie made himself comfy in Douxie’s lap, who absent mindedly stroked his familiar’s fur. They were underground now. Surrounded by inorganic matter. Some of that inorganic matter could fight, would be willing to fight, would probably be disappointed if there wasn’t a fight. The little devil on Douxie’s shoulder wasn’t really having to work hard. His stomach growled. They had opted to just not stop for dinner in favor of plowing right through their trip route. It was late, and dark, and Douxie really just wanted them to have a roof over their head before midnight. And now they did.

He looked over at Y/n. They had been a couple for an entire day now and he had yet to take her on a proper date. What a bad boyfriend he was. It’s not like Archie would want to come with them or anything either, since he filled himself with birds that didn’t know what hit them while they traveled. The dragon had even caught a hawk at one point, which wasn’t as impressive as it sounds, since Archie was a much faster flyer. He would be happy to watch Nari for them, surely. And Dic had given them a horngazzle so they could come and go as they pleased. It was settled then.

“Arch, watch Nari for us, please, we’ll be back in a pinch,” He grabbed Y/n’s hand to pull her off the couch, “C’mon, My Love, we’re going on a date.”

~ ~ ~

Turns out the only thing open past midnight in small town New Jersey was a waffle house. The perfect date. Y/n had thought it funny to watch Douxie try and deactivate all the fresh wards he had put around the boat. He had to be careful where he put his feet, and it was like he was doing a silly little dance. Ward trap ballet of his own barely thought-out design. At one point he stepped backwards to admire his work, triggering the ward behind him, and Y/n had to free him from the net. Lucky it was just a net one.

Entering the waffle house, they slid into the nearest booth, the one near the jukebox. They ordered what else but waffles. The food of kings and hungover college kids. Not just plain waffles, though. Douxie got chocolate chip and Y/ got strawberry, and they were going to combine them to make chocolate covered strawberry waffles. Everyone knows chocolate covered strawberries were the most romantic food, why else would they push them so hard around Valentine’s.

Douxie leaned in with his head in his hand. “So, tell me about yourself.”

Y/n laughed, decided to play into this bit. “Oh, I’m just a California lass, on her way to New York. Things have been crazy lately. Went to a very convincing renaissance faire, I’m harboring a fugitive, my roommate keeps hitting on me. Very stressful.  Sure am lucky I came across you, Mr. Handsome.”

“Lucky indeed.” Doux snickered.

Y/n pointed to the jukebox behind Doux, which he twisted around to see. “Have you ever heard ‘Last Night I Saw Elvis At Waffle House’?”

“No?”

“Oh, it’s a banger.” She got out of the booth and put a coin in the juke, making her selection. She slid back in with a Cheshire cat grin and Doux was kind of scared now, actually. As the current song ended and the song that they were waiting for began. Well, it was a song. About seeing Elvis in a waffle house. With a country tune he supposed someone thought was catchy in order for them to have recorded this. Douxie didn’t know what he had expected.

“Uh, wow.”

“Yeah, Ain’t it something. I loved this song when I was knee high to a grasshopper. All the waffle house jams really.”

“Your aunt let someone bring you to a waffle house? That’s not very proper.” Douxie chuckled.

“Oh, no, actually. Um, this was before my dad passed and my mother, ah, slipped.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Douxie rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry I mentioned it.”

“No, no. I’m fine Dewdrop. I can talk about it, really. And, like you said the other day, I’ve been focusing on the Now Love.” The silly waffle house themed song was still playing despite the air of seriousness that had fallen over the duo. It helped keep Y/n from getting too sad and dwelling on the memories she had just brought up. It was comical, really. A waffle house song keeping her grounded. She rubbed the palm of Douxie’s hand. “I still mourn my family, but it’s been so long that the pain’s but a dull ache now. As long as I don’t think too hard about it. If anyone knows about mourning it’d be you, Doux. I can’t imagine meeting hundreds of friends over my lifetime just to watch them all grow old and die while you just have to go on living.” She paused, eyes drifting downwards, “But I suppose that’ll be my fate anyways.”

Douxie reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s actually not that bad, once you get used to it. You just have to enjoy every bit of time you get. That’s what makes other magic friends so valuable, there are some permanent players on your team.” He let his hand linger under her jaw, pulling her face closer to his, “You have me. We have each other. We’re family. We always have been.”

“So I hate to interrupt, but, waffles.” The server put the plates she had been holding down onto the table. Douxie and Y/n pulled away from each other quick as lightning, sitting up straight in their seats. “Again, sorry guys.”

“Thank you.” The two chorused to their fleeting form in embarrassment. Their faces were fire engine red. Archie was right, they did get a little carried away with the pda. It may have been 12:28am in a waffle house but they were still in public. Grabby hands needed to be kept to themselves.

After dinner, neither Doux nor Y/n could bring themselves to go home quite yet, despite the nagging feeling to return to Nari. They loitered around woods, unsure of what to do. Leaning against the parked boat, Douxie got an idea. He put on the music on his phone, turning the volume all the way up and positioning it so it’d put out a better sound the best he could. The playlist he selected was actually the one he had of songs that reminded him of his beloved. Copying what Y/n had done last night, he held out his hand.

“Come on, dance with me, My Darling.”

Douxie twirled Y/n around in the night breeze that blew through the trees. This song was much faster than the one they danced to last time, and there was more energy between them. Y/n’s laugh echoed through the forest. This was a lot of fun, she could do it all night. Honestly, she could do anything all night if it was with Douxie. He lifted her up, like she weighed nothing. Seriously, how strong was this noodle armed wizard. She threw her arms around his neck, looking down to meet his eyes, a rare thing. Y/n kissed his nose, eliciting a happy giggle from his mouth.

He should have put her back down by now. Instead, he still held her up, transfixed by her face ringed in moonlight, like a halo. She noticed the awestruck look on his face, kissing him properly, yet it did nothing to pull him out of his stupor. He had one thought running over and over in his mind. Marry me. But, he couldn’t say that. A proposal had to be special, not after a waffle house date. Their first date, mind you. He couldn’t possibly jus-

“Marry me, Dewdrop?”

Well apparently he couldn’t but she absolutely could.

It took him a moment to take in her words, shocked out of his overthinking. The biggest grin spread across his face as he giddily spun her around in his arms. He finally put her feet back on the ground, crashing his lips into hers. Y/n brought a hand up to drag through his hair and left the other to slide down his back. No battle for dominance, Douxie’s tongue was definitely the one leading here. He just couldn’t believe it. It was if she had read his mind. It was still hard for him to believe she wanted him in the first place, but this much? If this was the afterlife he must surely be in heaven. One makeout session later, Y/n rasped “So I’m guessing that’s a yes?”

“Let’s sign the papers tomorrow.”

~ ~ ~

Despite the uneasy feeling they had both had about leaving Nari alone for so long, she was perfectly fine. In fact she hadn’t even moved an inch form the spot they left her in. Like they never left at all. Archie was asleep on that couch, as peaceful as ever. They’d tell him the news in the morning.

Y/n climbed into the nest and dragged Douxie down with her. After getting comfy on the array of cushions, he opened his arms and she nestled into his chest. She could feel his hands rest on her back. Perfect. It was calming, listening to his heartbeat, being lulled to sleep with the rhythm that gave proof that her beloved was alive. A steady beat that reassured her he was there, he was there. He wouldn’t leave her again.

*** check notes for chapter illustrations lmao

#douxie x reader #douxie x y/n #hisirdoux casperan x reader #hisirdoux x reader #douxie casperan x reader #douxie imagine #douxie casperan imagine #hisirdoux casperan imagine #hisirdoux imagine #tales of arcadia x reader #douxie #toa douxie #hisirdoux casperan #toa hisirdoux #douxie casperan #my writing

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Impressions from TTM

Spoilers, spoilers everywhere. Just a big bulleted list of thoughts as I read through the graphic novel. Not a lot of detail included, so it’ll make a lot more sense if you’ve already read it yourself!

looks like Moonshadow elves cross the arms of the dead... when they have a body to bury

it’s nice to see that Rayla imagines Runaan with all his shirts, the way she last saw him

kinda looks like Rayla changed into her jammies right on her bed and dumped her clothes on that little table. maybe she’s afraid of letting the few things she actually possesses out of her sight

listen we get one little panel of Opeli in here and it’s great

Soren’s cape smacking Callum in the face, 10/10

Lujanne’s appearance out of nowhere, along with Allen’s is just adorable, she’s so sparkly. And also she can apparently just turn totally invisible with an illusion spell? Even at a new moon? Probably because of the Nexus I guess

Lujanne’s “Big strong man with big strong feelings.” She and Runaan have exactly the same type and I support them

Allen’s face when Lujanne says it aches to miss Phoe-Phoe

Callum eating off Rayla’s plate and wondering how Lujanne suspected they were a couple, hmmm

Soren and Allen bonding

Rayla warning Lujanne about hand disguises, as if that was something Runaan made very sure she knew

Rayla’s cute chaos grin when Callum’s Aspiro spell goes off is my favorite pic of her in this whole graphic novel

Lujanne’s “Oh.” afterward is my fave pic of her, too, she does not seem to handle reality well!

Bait’s tongue will never get old

Lujanne’s whole speech during Phoe-Phoe’s rebirth ritual is so touching and beautiful, my heart

Lujanne putting the newborn Moon Phoenix into Ezran’s hands, like she knows he’ll have the best connection with her

Callum’s tears as he reminds Rayla that Runaan killed Harrow, he’s trying to move on, but it hurts

Rayla’s self-soothing behavior when she has her second nightmare in the book--she must have these most every night :((((

the big symbol on the Moon Temple doors looks like a stylized Moon staff, like it’s a building for mages

Lujanne saying Rayla might not want or need the truth right after Callum mentions Runaan’s name to her, he sassily asks about her husbands and she turns it into a compliment

Callum’s big reaction to the moon opals is adorable. The only other one he’s seen was part of a pair of treasured gifts between long-time spouses, so it kinda looks like he’s all “uhh we just started dating”

also Ethari must’ve made cute metal swirly covers for the pair he and Runaan wore, since these two are undecorated--maybe he got his from Lujanne?

listen Lujanne is a hoot and all but she’s both an ally and an antagonist. Her actions are trustworthy but her advice is generally terrible. It’s an interesting parallel to how Runaan says a lot with his actions too, but he talks a lot less than Lujanne

Rayla yeeting herself into a fight just to ask Soren for a talk is 10/10 Moonshadow assassin goals

but her hood is up when she’s lurking in the trees--she might not have known where she’d find Soren and was anticipating something less fun on the feels-o-meter

Rayla in the mud again. Soren keeps making people fall in the mud

Allen’s grumpy squiggle

Callum, I love you, but you have no respect for moon opals. It’s like they wronged you in a previous life or something

that dancing elf has very long hair and shoulder pauldrons, and they start off dancing with six kneeling, watching, hooded elves around them--Moon Druids wore hoods even before they were assassins. Considering what Lujanne said about why the portal was sometimes opened, maybe those six kneeling elves are waiting under their emotion-hiding hoods to farewell a loved one who’s recently died?

can’t tell for sure but maybe the elf is dancing along the lines in the stone like they mark patterns for ritual dances, which would be the bomb

Soren and Rayla’s conversation is pretty wrenching. Seeing Soren have to struggle with what he did because it’s tangled up with Viren is rough because as a Crownguard it should just have been his duty to defend his king and he’d have nothing to feel weird about

Rayla dissociating herself from the term “assassins” and Soren dissociating from calling Viren “my father” in the same conversation is 10/10 excellent growth

Soren must know what happens to prisoners his dad gets a hold of, even if he doesn’t know the details :(((

“we captured him” and “Viren took him” seem to be talking about the Crownguard and Viren, not the brodigies and Viren

Rayla having a wooden sword at the end of the day bc she played swordfighting with Allen and Soren all day long

the panel where Rayla doesn’t say anything at all after telling Callum that she asked Soren about Runaan actually says so much, you can hear it

every time Lujanne’s white lies idea gets repeated, things get worse

Allen’s reading glasses, there must be one optician in the human village and he caters to soft kindly gentlemen of a certain age

in the moon phase montage, baby Phoe-Phoe is flying next to Ezran after one week at the Nexus. Maybe he’s paying her back by helping her learn to fly after she helped him teach Zym how to fly! Did they bond as tightly as Ezran did with Zym? I support Ezran just bonding with the most powerful flying creatures in all the land.

the irony of Callum using Lujanne’s tactics against her is amazing, but really the white lies thing is a giant ball of chaos in this story and it does not play favorites

Bait on the stone pillar during rebuilding

all the noises the Moonhenge makes are 10/10

Rayla dancing with Callum even though there’s almost no chance she’s ever done that dance before

Lujanne’s pupils going white, that is a cool effect, what’s it mean?

the black moon in the pink sky is so spooky! Is it just me or does the color scheme here kinda vibe like the space outside Aaravos’s library?

the smoky assassin squad, 10/10 creep factor, I love it

the lightning being a literal crack of doom with “CRAK-DOOM” as Katolis Castle appears, “echoes of thunder” indeed, very nice

Lujanne being mad but she can’t decide if it’s at Callum or herself

when she says pulling Rayla out now will leave her soul on one side and her body a husk. After the Insta live stream last night where we learned that soulfang serpents are Moon primal creatures, that’s... super interesting

smoky assassins go tssh in the rain like they’re still hot from being cremated, thanks I hate it

Andromeda finds Rayla first and seems closest/most aggressive so I wonder why she might hate Rayla more than the others

the assassins’ wrist bindings have gone red but they’re still attached and seem to trap the souls where they are. But all they need to be free is to perceive that Rayla completed their task, even though we know otherwise. So... would that work for killing any target? If you’re certain that you did it, does your binding fall off even if you’re wrong? eyes Pip

this must not be the actual afterlife since the spirits kind of mist up toward the moon and vanish, it’s more like a lobby, no one stays here unless they get stuck

portaling around just by shouting at villains, excellent

Rayla literally dropping a sword at the sight of the pod Viren’s in, yeah, it’s that creepy, I agree

Viren’s eyes are so black I think they’re Aaravos’s. I got a whole headcanon on Good Viren and Evil Viren for S4 now, wow

Phoe-Phoe pulling out a feather for Callum, awww my heart! This is why Ezran had to come, to bond with her so together they could save Callum and Rayla, it’s so sweet

so these humans are from the Storm Spire battle, bc that’s the Storm Spire behind Rayla and Callum on p108, with the rune-written arch. Did they die hating Rayla and Callum from the battle? Did they even know Rayla was up there? Or is pod Viren/Aaravos actually making them attack out of hatred for Viren’s death? One of these is definitely creepier and more awesome

Rayla’s confidence that Callum can and will boost her at the right moment with his magic, my heart, I love battle couples

that one panel that mirrors the Ghost Feather key art, hhhhhh

Rayla being the better swimmer, such precious irony, thanks Runaan

them holding hands and swimming upward together on the full-page panel is blessed

Lujanne pulling Rayla out of the lake with both arms gives me feels bc my grandma saved my life once

Lujanne being super soft over Rayllum, she is indeed a hopeless romantic

Rayla says “gone” about her parents and Runaan, and that’s the word Ethari used too, and I’m suddenly wondering if Ethari reached right into that pool and has always known that the lotus is half-submerged and if the sword he’s been making is for himself

I’m so glad Rayla told Callum what she saw of Viren

Rayla deceiving Callum and heading into danger alone because his life is more valuable to her than her own is exactly what Runaan did for her the night of the full moon in Katolis. I’m leaning toward her having thought this over and doing it on purpose bc she believes it’s a sign of deepest love--that Runaan’s actions and Lujanne’s words match up in her head, so she thinks it’s the right thing to do bc the mage and the assassin agree. Alas, Callum doesn’t understand the Moon arcanum yet, so he will have a different opinion. That mage and that assassin do not agree!

Rayla’s cloak has that Moon Temple symbol on its back. Is it Lujanne’s cloak? Any Moonshadow who sees it will probably know where she got it and who helped her. That could be fun!

#through the moon #through the moon spoilers #rayla #callum #rayllum #tdp allen #lujanne #ezran

[rohad93]

Moonlit Masquerade: Ch 8

On Friday Amity is tired, but she relishes every minute she spends at school and not home, because the weekend was looking to be just as exhausting. 

Blue moon masquerades are a Blight family tradition, her parents have been throwing the parties for as long as she can remember and it’s a tradition that they begin throwing these parties at sixteen. With this being the first blue moon since the twins turned sixteen it's finally time for them to do it. 

Normally the two are all about parties, but considering all the rules and protocols their parents have set for the event, any enthusiasm the twins might have had is well and truly dead before the party planning even begins.  

Now it’s just one more thing expected of them and Amity can tell how much they hate it, so she tries to help them with the planning whenever she can.

Someday it will be her turn after all. 

She also still has yet to speak to Luz since Wednesday and she feels bad about it, but facing her is too hard right now, especially when the object of her affections seems to actively pushing her toward this secret admirer she has.

She clutches her book to her chest as she walks down Hexside’s quiet and deserted hallways. 

Maybe Luz is just a pipe-dream she needs to try and forget about. She was never going to have the courage to face her and tell her how she feels, and if Luz had any inclination toward her at all she wouldn’t be advocating so hard for a mysterious stranger. 

Her lips quiver and her eyes burn but she quickly shoves it down. She is not going to cry at school, she’s a Blight!

A mantra she uses to steel herself even as she hates it. 

She shakes her head and continues on toward her locker. 

When she stops to stand in front of it the creature looks annoyed and she realizes why when it opens its mouth unprompted and sticks out its tongue.

She's started to get a little more used to these surprises but the one waiting for her this morning makes her gasp. 

Sitting there on her locker's tongue is a small maroon colored velvet box she knows immediately is a jewelry box. A piece of folded paper sitting beneath it.

She hesitates a minute before picking up the box and the note. Curiosity gets the better of her and she opens the box before anything else and stares wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape.

Nestled within the satin lining is a brooch. 

Fine lines of gold shaped to look like thorned vines twist and loop in random but pleasing patterns, overlapping each other in places. At the center of the vines is a small tear-shaped gemstone in a gold setting. She's not sure what kind, but it's a deep fuchsia color that sparkles and gleams when it catches a stray beam of light from the hallways overhead lights. 

It's beautiful and Amity is in awe of it as she pulls it from its box with hesitant fingers and holds it gently in her hand. She runs her thumb over the hard and smooth facets of the stone, feeling the different, sharp cut sides press into the pad of her thumb. 

The metal is cool and hefty in her fingers and her heart thuds in her chest that someone would go through all this trouble for her.

It's a common misconception among the student body that Amity Blight must be beating suitors off with a staff, but the truth is no one had ever pursued her.

Her family was highly influential and well off, everyone assumed she was above them, unattainable; so they didn't try. Not that she’d done much to change that opinion. 

Of course, when it finally does happen she's head over heels for someone as unattainable as people think she is…

With gentle fingers she puts the jewelry back in its box and finally turns her attention to the piece of paper, unfolding it.

"Amity,

When I saw this in the market I could only think of you. I hope you like it. This is my final gift as your secret admirer.

Even if you can't return my feelings, would you dance with me tomorrow night?

I'll be wearing a black and purple horned demon mask.

~Your soon-to-be-not-so-secret Admirer 

Amity's heart is thumping loudly in her chest, the meaning of the letter is clear. Her secret admirer is going to be at the masquerade tomorrow night. 

She clutches the box in her hands and bites her lip.

Maybe… this was her chance to let go of Luz… 

Her heart aches at the thought, but her mind knows that it would be the better choice. 

Luz is human and while it's rather uncertain right now if she'll ever actually leave the Boiling Isles since the only known portal has been destroyed, Amity's parents would have an aneurysm if they were to ever find out she was in a romantic relationship with a human, the Owl Lady's apprentice no less. 

Despite that, if the opportunity presented itself Amity would still leap headfirst into it without any reservations.

She's never known anyone like Luz in all her life. The girl is kindness and sunshine incarnate, something exceedingly rare in a place like the Boiling Isles. 

She’s made her a better person in the time they’ve known each other. 

Looking back now she finds it hard to believe that she ever hated her.

She looks down at the maroon box in hand and frowns, chest tight. Conflicted emotions run rampant through her mind

For all the things she loves about Luz, of which there are many, she knows that she'll never have the courage to tell her so, and Luz has made it clear in just as many ways that she doesn't see Amity in the same light, and at the end of the day, all her longing and feelings are for not if Luz doesn't return them.

But here, in the palm of her hand, she has a chance at something that might be real and not just a flight of fantasy.  

She takes a deep breath and puts the box and note in her bag and heads to class.

She doesn't see Luz at lunch, for which she is grateful but disappointed. She sits with Willow and Gus when they wave her over.

"Hey, Amity, have you seen Luz today? We missed her this morning," the plant witch asks. Amity frowns.

"No, I haven't seen her all day." 

"She must not be at school today…" Willow frowns.

That's unusual, Luz loves school. Amity wonders if she's sick, but in the back of her mind, she wonders if Luz is avoiding her.

She looks down at her lunch and is suddenly not very hungry, but she stays and chats with Gus and Willow.

~ ~ 

Luz probably should have told her friends that she decided not to go to school today in order to have more time to get ready for Saturday night, but she’s on a deadline, there was no time to go to the school to tell Gus and Willow. She really needed to get a scroll. 

She only has one real problem left.

Hiding her ears.

If either of the Clawthorne sisters had magic it would be an easy thing to cast an illusion spell over her ears, but they don't; so it's not.

She's been leafing through Eda's various magic books, searching for a practical solution to her problem.

So far, no luck.

"Ugh!" Luz groans, shelving the books and stalking to her room, grumbling under her breath. "Why couldn't I have been born with a bile sac!?" she laments, dropping face down onto her sleeping bag.

She’s running out of time and unlike the way she handles most things, no plan, full steam ahead and flying by the seat of her pants, she needs to have this figured out before the party or everything was going to be for nothing! Now wasn’t the time to sharpen her improv skills. 

She has her clothes and her mask, they were easy. She was pretty pleased with herself on that front.

“Aghhhhh” she yells into the fabric before she ran out of air and was forced to flip over onto her back. 

Her time is ticking away and she can’t waste anymore with her frustrations. With a sigh, she hauled herself up and looked around her room, spotting the book about ancient, wild magic Amity had leant her and leaned over to grab it, dragging it into her lap and flipping it open.

She quickly leafs through page after page, hope waning as the minutes turn to hours and the next thing she knows the orange rays of the sunset are leaking through her window.

She sighed and twisted around, trying to relieve the pressure in her back from sitting hunched over the heavy tome for so long.

Maybe she could wear a hat, would it be okay to wear a hat?

She tiredly flips another page and scans it quickly as she reaches for the next but stops. 

In front of her are some illustrations of witches, but unlike other images in the book, these ones have what look like glyphs drawn on their skin; tattoos maybe?

Some of the book is written in a language she knows and some of it is not, and this section is, of course, not. 

But the longer she studies it the more an idea forms.

She sets the book aside and scrambles to her bag for a pen.

With one in hand she moves back over to the book The studies it again before laying her hand flat against its pages.

Steadily she draws the illusory glyph she'd been experimenting with across the back of her hand. She observes the final product and hesitates.

This could be dangerous.

She doesn’t allow the thought to take up much more than a few seconds of her time as she slaps her other hand over the glyph and willing it to do what she wants.

Her hand is enveloped in a light blue glow and when it fades her hand is tipped with long claws, the glyph still visible on the back of her hand. 

She flexes her hand tentatively and slowly a grin begins to split her face.

“It worked… It worked!” She jumps up with an excited whoop. She licks her thumb and rubs at the ink, as soon as the circle is broken the illusion fades with the same soft blue glow as before. She takes her pen and closes the circle back up and casts the spell again, and again, her hand transforms.

Giddy energy is filling her to near bursting as she shoots out of her room and runs into the bathroom.

It's an hour later that King is banging on the bathroom door.

“Other people live here and need the bathroom!” he squeals angrily, stomping his feet.

He almost falls over when the door suddenly swings open just as he’s pounding on it.

“Weh!” He stumbles, but catches himself and looks up, ready to lay his wrath upon whoever is hogging the bathroom but stops short at the sight in front of him.

“Well? What do you think?” Luz asks excitedly, but she doesn’t wait for his answer before bolting down the hall.

“Eda, EDA!” She calls pounding down the stairs and toward the kitchen, where she can hear someone moving around. Lilith looks up from her place on the couch as the girl passes and does a double take. 

“What?” Eda grumbles looking up from the large pot of potions she’s stirring. “Where’s the fir-” she trails off when she actually sees Luz.

She looks totally the same.

Except where once her ears were round, they are now pointed like any other witch on the Boiling Isles. 

“Wha-?” Eda looks at her wide eyed.

Lilith has followed into the kitchen to get a better look at the girl.

“Fascinating, how did you accomplish this?” She leans in close to get a better look. The illusion is seamless and if she didn’t know better she would have never guessed Luz wasn’t a witch.

“Well, you know that illusion glyph I taught you?” she asks and they nod. “Well, I was looking through this book Amity gave me and it showed wild witches with glyphs drawn on their bodies. So I figured I'd give it a shot!” she grins and reaches up to flick the tips of her now pointed ears. 

Eda walks over and turns her around, brushing Luz’s dark hair out of the way, she can see that  drawn on the back of both of Luz’s ears are small illusory glyphs. The older with grins.

“Kid, you’re brilliant.” She ruffled the girl's hair and Luz beamed. 

“Thanks, Eda.” 

“And think of the scams we could pull with this!” She grins and Lillith rolls her eyes.

Luz just chuckles, not even a little surprised.

#Lumity #Amity Blight #Luz Noceda #Eda Clawthorne #Lillith Clawthorne #Gus Porter #Willow Parks #the owl house #fic #Moonlit Masquerade

[darkpoisonouslove]

Winx Club Season 8 Thoughts Part 2

Well, this is it. Last part of the last season (that has come out) and I haven’t even watched any of it (though, I have heard things). Part 1 can be found here.

8x14:

- Why is this opening with a concert scene when literally the second to last scene in the previous episode was a musical number? At least there was that cute Stella and Brandon moment after to make up for it.

- This is actually a legitimate issue but I do not expect the show to handle the fact that Sky has clashing responsibilities on his shoulders well. They’re already implying that it’s more important for him to be a Specialist rather than a prince and that is not true. Eraklyon will suffer without a good king. Though, on the other hand... how good a king would Sky be? Maybe this is better, after all. At least someone actually interested in doing the job can take over.

- They legit made Erendor a lot thinner than he originally was? And somehow ruined his design also. As well as Diaspro’s. Ugh, why is there gonna be drama with her again????????????????? How many times?!?!?! For fuck’s sake! Just let it end!

- Seriously? They’re all blaming Stella for Bloom’s gloom? Stella has the right to talk about her own relationship as well. And when the fuck have Musa and Riven ever talked? Not to mention that now Riven is trying to communicate with her but she doesn’t even want to give him a chance!

- Valtor has become more cringe than he used to be. At least the Trix seem to have become smarter. We didn’t need him to tell us who they were, however. Also, why does he think that they will not use the star for themselves.

- His new powers literally come from stolen star energy and he just said that stars are made from the sparks that witch and fairy magic are also made of. Aka his magic should be compatible with that of Winx and the Trix as well.

- Oh, great! Now they belong to him. They really didn’t have to make season 8 Valtor a Darkar 2.0 and yet, they thought it was a good idea. I just... nggggggh!

- The Wishing Star... is a woman? And wait, what... They’re saying that Valtor is over a 1000 years old now? Yeah, ‘cause a 1000-year-old sorcerer/demon will totes lose against a bunch of high-schoolers. Makes fucking sense.

- How did Stormy summon an asteroid field?

- What... the hell just happened? Don’t tell me the Star made herself fall apart in the different colors of the color spectrum and they’ll need to gather all of them in the stupid star-shaped box!

- Twinkly is back on Lumenia? Did we really need her back? And why is the star-shaped box chasing her?

- If I were Sky, I probably would be scared to tell Bloom that it is Diaspro texting. She can have terrible reactions to just the thought of Diaspro. Though, to be fair I have no idea why Sky keeps speaking to Diaspro. He has every right to just cut her off completely after what she did in seasons 3 and 6.

- Brandon, you know very well who Diaspro is! And no, I don’t care that they are giving a really crashing crash course to the new audience. This is terrible! Also, you have to love how Sky didn’t even think about calling Erendor to ask about the mission. He just took Diaspro’s word for it. Because she is sooooo trustworthy.

- I was almost right. Instead of colors they are going to be collecting Prime Stars instead. I still got the right idea, though. It is a bit... lame.

- Enchantix looks a lot less elegant and a lot more... second-hand fabric sewn together poorly. Also, I hate the fact that they had the transformation song from the first movie and not the original. And they basically used the same sequence as the one for Sirenix but they are only popping their Enchantix on instead.

- “I didn’t think it would be so easy.” Same! Finding that Compass was the easiest thing ever and it doesn’t matter that things will get heated now that the Trix are here because the Compass didn’t pose a challenge of its own.

8x15:

- I am living for the dramatic opening of this episode.

- Why aren’t the rest of Winx covering Bloom so that she can grab the Compass? Five against the Trix should be enough for her to take it.

- Really? You can’t figure out who freed them? I love that they told Bloom to ask herself. That was great!

- I was getting excited that Valtor showed up but it was just an illusion of Darcy’s. Anyway, the question that came to me involves the Trix as well so... How come they followed Winx in the box since Winx needed to use Enchantix to miniaturize?

- So it turns out that it wouldn’t have been so easy to take the Compass even though it looked that way in the beginning.

-Tecna!!!!!!!!!!!! What Musa is hearing is the key to getting the Compass, you idiot! It is important and not something to leave for later!

- They’re just gonna chase after it without paying attention to what the voice told them? Fucking amazing! And Bloom is sending her Dragon after it? I am so glad that this is not working!

- Lmaooooo @ Layla catching Bloom in a baseball glove. XD

- Why are they so fucking dumb? The whole thing is controlled by the notes Musa heard SINCE IT’S A FUCKING MUSIC BOX, NOT LIKE THERE’S MUCH TO IT! and they just need to figure out the pattern. That’s what they were told. “Only the one who listens” Come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- I love the spells they’re using, though. They seem to be more creative with their powers here and it is actually interesting enough to distract from their zero comprehension skills and abilities to make deductions.

- Oh, I love the balance thing in the labyrinth! And the Compass hitting Icy on the head was just priceless! But why are you so rude to Stormy, Icy? Don’t be like that.

- Yes, you will make the same mistakes because you are still not FUCKING listening goddammit!!!!!!!!!

- Oh, come on! Don’t tell me Bloom will be the one solving this!

- Good! It was actually Musa that fixed the whole thing. I still cannot make sense of the musical theme of this challenge in-verse but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be so I’m gonna close my eyes for that.

- Why didn’t they try to capture the Trix or something? They just let them go.

- Arken got this right in no time at all and knew it had been Valtor who had freed the Trix. Why is he the only one thinking?

- Is Valtor really going to try to pit the Trix against each other once again? God, please, tell me that they will not be falling for that this time! It is ridiculous!

- Why would Wizgiz be in a trashcan? And they just destroyed the entire classroom looking for him while I suspect he is actually truly just running late... Yep, got that right.

- Don’t tell me Bloom will see Sky with Diaspro at Red Fountain! He’s supposed to be on a mission, not at school!... Oh, good. He’s not there. But why is Bloom weeping? He is on a secret mission! It may endanger the job, him or anyone that knows anything to reveal details! Can she just not be a baby for 3 seconds?

8x16:

- HE’S ON A MISSION! HE MIGHT BE TIED UP!!!!!!! CHILL FOR A FEW MINUTES!!!

- Diaspro is actually climbing? She could just fly! But I guess they didn’t want to draw her fairy form. Don’t tell me they’re retconning her being a fairy! I will smack someone if that’s true!

- She legit threw herself off the rocks just to make sure Sky wouldn’t text Bloom? Crazy much? What if he hadn’t managed to catch you? Girl, you need some perspective! Sky is so not worth this.

- Griffin looks and sounds horrible. And why the actual hell is she exactly as tall as Faragonda?!?!?!?! She used to be half a head taller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Disguise? You call that disguise? You changed your goddamn hair color!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And what is worse - IT ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How did Stella not recognize them? You’d think that she will when she is supposed to be such an expert on fashion and makeovers! And this didn’t even have magic involved in it! (they could have changed their hair without magic is what I’m saying)

- Wait, they actually extended the Cosmix song? Is that new or did I just not notice because I’ve been skipping the transformation sequence?

- I LOVE Griffin and Faragonda’s opening! They are both showcasing the fact that they’re opposites and also being the dramatic bitches that they are and I am so here for it! Yes, this is everything I have wanted (if only it could have been in the old art style).

- The plants won’t speak to Flora? I actually like the fact that they have to work all together AND it is not convergence! This is more like it!

- No! I don’t want the Trix fighting because of Valtor again!

- Why is Stormy playing twister? XD But I love the implication that there are different tests given to anyone who enters but they all require teamwork! That is awesome! Just, please, make something good with it!

- I just thought that Winx were really gonna beat the Trix with a lot this time but it turned out they are not paying attention to their colors! This is kinda like the finale of season 2, except it doesn’t feel as dumb for some reason. Maybe because Stella is just as useful as everyone else.

- Another game? I actually like this? There is the need for logic to be applied here.

- I wish the Trix would just stop fighting! Well, it’s just Icy and Darcy. Stormy is being calm and thinking! I honestly thought that their portal would close while they were fighting but it sucked them in instead.

- They’re gonna be having more fun with the spheres again. Just like with the Compass, I have a feeling there is a catch here.

- Wait, what did Darcy do? Weren’t they supposed to work together? How did she figure that out on her own? That didn’t make sense but okay.

- I love how Valtor is actually gonna fuck himself over because he is trying to make the Trix fight but in order to find the Prime Stars they’ll need to collaborate. This is some delicious irony!

- And Winx found it!

- If I were Diaspro, I would actually have a fake map at the very least instead of a heart of me and Sky on the parchment. If he takes one look, he’ll know she’s deceiving him!

8x17:

- They’re having a test about their biggest insecurities in the episode in which they’ll be looking for the Prime Star of Confidence? And why are these things always about Stella? The Gem of Confidence back in season 5 was also on Solaria and she was the one to get it. Also, I am not thrilled about the fact that they will be pushing each star on a single girl from now on since there are six more to get after the first one that they had to get through teamwork.

- Musa’s biggest insecurity is making mistakes? They could have done something that would speak about why she is so unwilling to get back with Riven but no. Instead Bloom’s biggest insecurity is about Sky because of course it is! God forbid she has something else on the brain!

- Why are we doing the Stella and her parents’ divorce again? And in the exact same old way we have already seen it back in seasons 1 through... about 5? Issues evolve! They could have put a new spin on it!

- How is making a dress going to solve this?

- At least Stella asked for help after she figured out she can’t do it on her own! And I always love seeing Tecna and Stella moments! Stella and Musa are good too!

- We’ve seen that dress already. Stella wore it in season 6. Come on, writers!

- Ah, I see. Stella is trying to please both her parents and is not being herself aka not being confident. Fucking fantastic.

- I think Stella and Stromy passed because they were the first ones to do so and the challenge accepted them as contenders. So now they are separated form the rest because they have to handle it on their own.

- Awww, poor Stella! I think that kids of divorced parents are not the only ones that can relate to her problems! This is so heartbreaking!

- I am getting some bad vibes from Stormy over here, though... Oh. No. She actually totally rocked this because she has confidence in herself and her sisters! That was pretty awesome!

- Woooooo, the Trix actually got the second star? And they left with it?! They are actually making this interesting????? I cannot believe it!

- I absolutely love how both Winx and Stella’s parents showed her how much they love her. And Luna and Radius are not fighting! *wipes away tear* Beautiful!

8x18:

- Bloom is so not here. And Palladium really chose her even though she is distracted after Stella would injure herself because she was so eager to do the potion? Fuck you, show!

- Well, he got what was coming for him! XD And Stella got the last word. Yes, I stan that!

- Damn! I’d completely forgotten about Twinkly. And I could have had that continuing but they had to bring her back.

- If Bloom doesn’t lose her shit over the unicorns and finally stops thinking about Sky, I will be so mad. They already gave her the unicorn obsession! They are obliged to put it to good use at the very least!

- Aaaaand cringe! They had to bring back “starsome” as well.

- Oh, god. They really retconned the fact that Diaspro is a fairy, didn’t they? Otherwise, why would they give her a gadget to fly? Also, please, don’t tell me that they’re at the same place that the Winx are.

- Well, the unicorn lumens seem to imply that they’re at the same place that Bloom and the Winx are.

- See? This is why you need an actual fake map instead of just a doodle of you and Sky! Now he found out! Love how it took him a while to grasp the fact that there is no medallion as well. And wasn’t that a pendant the first time they spoke of it?

- I honestly thought he would let the lumens handle Diaspro but he didn’t. I can’t say if I’m disappointed or impressed. Or kinda both.

- At least Winx missed Diaspro and Sky and the drama that would have started. Thank everything sacred!

- So that’s what Twinkly was for. To make sure Winx don’t have to fight the other lumens. But the Trix will probably have to so that will give Winx an advantage. Just don’t tell me this will stretch for over an episode.

- I loved the way Layla was holding Stella bridal style... right until she threw her to the ground. Dammit, Layla! Be a little more patient! You know how Stella is. And you don’t have to risk breaking all her bones!

- Well, what luck that there are exactly six unicorns. I would be a little worried about Stella’s outfit because that is what allows her to travel through space. So what if it doesn’t work when it’s damaged? But damn, they’re really trying to stretch this to take up two episodes! After they retconned Stella already being a cowgirl as we’ve seen in season 1.

- Poor Stella! She has a fear of heights and her unicorn seems to be an asshole for no reason.

- Why are Sky and Diaspro still there? At least Sky is actually not letting her get away with everything just like that this time. But Diaspro’s arguments are stupid.

- THAT’S “him”? A black uni-pegasus? It looks evil but it probably isn’t. *sigh* And why didn’t Sky just fly up when he faced that rock? It would have ended eventually and he could have passed above it!

- Oh, come on! The drama will be in the next episode and that is why they were stretching out this one? W.H.Y?????? Also, how is Sky flying in the synopsis for the next ep if he broke his flying gadget? Don’t tell me he actually gets Diaspro’s and they leave her there to sulk while they go get the star? (That might actually be the one good thing coming out of all this.)

8x19:

- Of course, Bloom would fly right into Diaspro! (Well, Diaspro was screaming for help but still).

- What happened with Sky? The black unicorn was about the blast him into oblivion at the end of the previous episode but now he somehow got away? And how did Diaspro get there as well? He left her on a much smaller rock island.

- Well, of course, the black unicorn isn’t evil even though he’s just been trying to kill two people. Didn’t I tell you so?

- Ah, so Tecna fixed Sky’s gadget. I thought that would be the other option to fix it.

- I was just gonna say that the horn of the black unicorn looked chipped. Poor guy. They actually made it understandable that he was so mad.

- And Bloom is absolutely exploding. I can understand that she would be angry Sky didn’t tell her and hid the truth from her. But that was not what she was mad about. She was mad that he even WENT on the mission which is stupid because, for all she knows, it could totally be an official mission ordered by his father.

- I knew it! I knew the black unicorn would pick Diaspro. Except, I have zero idea why the hell he would do that. Why, after being hurt? Diaspro is not the most polite person and he saw that for himself. Wtf, writers? I could understand it if Diaspro had been like she was in season 2. But this?!?!?!?! And that was just,.. there? Like, there was nothing more to it. Just a loose end. We didn’t even get to see what happened with Diaspro.

- At least Bloom and Sky are actually talking about the hiding things issue. I have to say, though, that I can’t fully support Bloom because Sky is right. She freaks out over just hearing Diaspro’s name which, again, would have been a totally reasonable reaction considering Diaspro brainwashed Sky if they hadn’t COMPLETELY IGNORED THAT FACT AND PRETENDED IT HAD NEVER HAPPENED. Bloom is not mad because of how much Diaspro has hurt them both but because she doesn’t believe Sky will keep choosing her if Diaspro is around. And this is an issue SHE has to work on.

- The Trix are still bickering. But at least they look a lot more competent in this season. But did they all really think that Stormy wouldn’t have her dramatic ass entrance? If I could summon thunderstorms, I definitely would for making my entrance. Just saying.

- Layla’s morphix bubble was so powerful! I love!

- Wait, Sky and Icy will be fighting for the Prime Star while Bloom was left looking at them disappearing after she stopped her own fall like she should be able to do instead of having to be saved despite being able to fly? Wow. This is getting interesting.

- I should have known they would fuck it up! They should have left Sky and Icy to fight it out instead of having Bloom go in there and “trust” Sky to get himself out of a cage that wasn’t even closing in on him? She could have just went after Icy and freed him after she was done. There was no immediate danger for him. There was no reason for their great trust.This scene had so much damn potential and they wasted all of it. Great going!

- Why is there a musical number when the only public is the landscape (okay, and the lumens and unicorns)? This was so unnecessary. We got it that they trust each other now. Stop driving nails in our heads.

8x20:

- Dammit! I thought that they would head to Linphea right after the unicorn realm. But they’re back at Alfea? And since when is Griselda teaching about plants? That was always Palladium’s job! Wtf?!?!?!

- You’d think they already know all of this about plants considering that Butterflix was a GODDAMN NATURE TRANSFORMATION!

- Griselda is cutting them slack because of saving the universe? Yeah, right.

- How long will Stormy keep bragging about getting the Prime Star? They act like that’s the only thing she ever did. Also, why is she so hung up on being the one to bring Valtor the Prime Star? Her test was legit about her standing up to him (which went over too easily considering Valtor is supposed to have control over them since he even put his mark on them but that did not appear in the vision for a second in order to make it actually complex or something).

- Well, Miele looks younger than she used to in season 7 but they didn’t totally reverse her back into a kid. Yet, it’s stupid that they are still having the argument of “this is too dangerous for you” after season 7 and her saving them. Besides, Flora should know damn well that Miele will follow. She always does! It’s like the writers have no idea who Miele is if they aren’t having her following secretly and proving that it is not too dangerous for her to go.

- They can’t use magic in the forest? Come again? This is such bullshit. It has never been the case on Linphea. I hate it.

- Why do they have to do ballet to open a stupid gate? But I love the fact that Darcy made illusions of them to perform the dance and let the Trix pass as well. She was using her head. And her magic in a really cool way. Plus, it would have been OOC to have the Trix dancing ballet. Can you imagine? XD

- So we’re learning to plant seeds and water flowers? Since when is this one of those shows that are for ages 0-3?

- Is that... a carnivore radish or something? And yeah, Flora, that totally doesn’t look aggressive!

- When is Flora gonna stop treating Miele like she’s three after all the times she’s proven herself (I don’t care if this is a soft reboot)? Though, Miele would have been more convincing if she hadn’t thrown a tantrum and then started crying much like toddlers do.

- Of course, Darcy will use Miele. That was so damn obvious. Love how Miele didn’t even get to transform. Honestly, at this point I am not even sure whether I want Winx or the Trix to get this Prime Star. They’re all being annoying and I don’t care enough for either side to root for their victory.

- Now you’re taking Miele with? When she can’t move? Fucking sound logic!

- Ooh, I guessed that that was actually Darcy disguised as Miele a few seconds before she revealed herself. But if I were Flora, it might have been enough to regain the advantage.

- Darcy just left Miele sleeping out there in the forest? Not that evil. She could have done something much worse.

- What, Layla? Like none of you ever got tricked?

- They are really playing it as if this was Miele’s fault? Man, this season is really starting to waste opportunities which is really annoying because they actually have interesting premises. They just need to do better during the execution.

- At least I hope that Stormy will shut up about recovering a Prime Star now that Darcy has done the same. Ironic how Icy is the only one that hasn’t managed yet. But I suppose that she will also recover one for a 3 on 4 with Winx and a final battle turned cooperation for the usage of the Prime Stars.

8x21:

- At least Griselda is back to self-defense classes. Though, why the hell is she teaching them deflection spells? They should know those already! They had that lesson in season 2! And why are Knut and Kiko assisting her? Kiko has been sidelined with Knut all season! It feels like he’s not Bloom’s bunny anymore!

- Why does this show hate Kiko so much and has him getting hurt all the time? At least Bloom caught him when he got catapulted. But poor Griselda. I have to say that this is her most OOC moment yet. And she even let them go again. She didn’t have to end the entire class, though. She could have kept going with the rest of the students but once again, the world revolves around Winx.

- You want Riven to SHOW his feelings? Which he has been doing ever since he came back so, like, ALL FUCKING SEASON?!?!?!?! WOW. Fuck you, Musa!

- Whyyyy did they think the Trix wouldn’t show up on Melody? But I am glad we skipped the obligatory Valtor scene because it is unnecessary.

- Galatea doesn’t look too much like herself.

- Bullshit. Stella made them much better outfits when they went to Magix in season 3. And there were other designs that were better than these that, frankly, look pretty bland.

- Sooooo... Musa, the fairy of music, isn’t going to be in the dance competition? Are they trying to level up things? And are you seriously telling me that the Trix are going to dance? Ugh, what the hell?!

- Awwwww, look at Riven! He really wants to try and he is even opening up to the guys about his relationship problems. I love it! Idk what Musa’s stupid problem is.

- This dance competition is so dead. You can only hear Galatea. The public isn’t cheering. But aww, at Bloom catching Stella when she got yeeted off the dance floor. That was really cute.

- I guess competitiveness can make even the Trix dance. It doesn’t change the fact that the competition is still fucking dead! And their dancing feels so arhythmical and slow. The music is fucking dull and practically non-existent.

- Ho-boe doesn’t feel like himself either. And doesn’t the house look so different as well? Also, did they ever do anything that doesn’t involve music? I know they’re a musical family but they must have done something else as well!

- Tecna is killing it! But Stormy’s abundance of energy seems to give her a big advantage here. Though, I still love how confident Tecna was! I have to say that this would have been absolutely epic if the music had been intense enough to match their moves. Why did they have to do these scenes so dirty by barely having any tune to them?! If I’m watching a dance competition, I want it to be good!

- Musa and her dad are talking about Riven? And there is a Riven and Darcy confrontation?!?!?!

- Scratch that! They fucked it up in 0.3 seconds! Are you serious? This is literally Riven and Darcy’s first meeting ever since they broke up in season 1 and THIS is how it goes?! She hypnotizes him to use against Musa?!?!?! I hate this! At least let this be the end of their stupid drama.

- Why did the synopsis of the next episode instantly spoil that Stormy will win the fifth Prime Star? You just revealed all the surprise there will be next ep! Man, they really don’t know how to advertise, do they? Also, this dance battle is really stretching over two episodes?

8x22:

- Now all I wanna do is write a fic in which Darcy gets really violent and there are heavy consequences after Riven’s fight with Musa.

- Wait! “...rough and soothing combine artfully and that perfect sound will yield the Star of Harmony”? And the harp that Ho-Boe says needs to be played by two people? That’s gonna be Musa and Riven, isn’t it? And they’ll get the star which will be the twist and that is why they spoiled Stormy wins in the teaser at the end of the last episode.

- Thank you, Musa! It took you long enough! He is so obviously spelled. Though, I kinda love how Darcy was there like “You can’t resist”. This could be so dark if it weren’t a kids show. And now I wanna write it!

- Dammit, Musa! You have your stupid Enchantix in this season! Use your goddamn fairy dust! Or any other kind of magic! And you’re really so damn surprised that it is Darcy?! It was obvious!

- That was the big idea? That Riven is “finally” proving his feelings by refusing to hurt her? Gee. And that’s how the battle between Riven and Musa and Darcy is going to go down? With some stupid formless monsters?

- Well, of course, Bloom beat Icy. But I suspect that Layla is gonna lose against Stormy so it doesn’t matter much.

- You’re now starting to get used to fighting alongside Riven even though he’s been gone a year and they were together for 4 years before that and fought together for about 5-6 years? Really? And that was the big battle with Darcy? They all had about 3 movements!

- Why is Bloom still in this? They should have given us Layla vs Stormy! We know Layla is the best at dancing (or tied with Musa).

- Why doesn’t Ho-Boe know how they met? They used to date for years before Riven left!

- When have you ever felt harmony in your relationship, Riven? Don’t start lying now! And why does he know how to play the harp? I saw this coming but it still kinda doesn’t make sense!

- Finally! The Layla vs Stormy dancing duel we deserved! And the music is more lively now! At last!

- Oh, come on! That’s how Stormy beat Layla?! By distracting her?!?!?! I wanted it to be a fair fight. And why the hell is there goo or jello or whatever falling on Layla? This is terrible. You wouldn’t catch me taking part in that dancing contest. Not to mention that they competed in vain. Although, it was a nice touch to have them misinterpret the riddle.

- Okay, but Riven is definitely not the rough part in that “rough and soothing” combo. He has been nothing but amazing all season while Musa has been pouting and whining!

- The sad thing is that the Trix would have gotten the star if Stormy hadn’t blabbed to Layla where Darcy was. But her cheating came back to bite her in the ass.

- It would have been nice if Musa had saved Riven instead of having Bloom melt him.

- Oh, Riven is a part of the band now? But seriously, will we ever see them talking? Like, actually communicating which is always where their problems lie? Of course not. Why would that be important?

- They’re really saying that Layla is more impulsive than Bloom? Yeah, fuck that big time! Also, don’t tell me that the last star will be obtained by all six Winx again and that is why they will be combining Tecna and Layla in the next ep. Or even worse - by Winx and the Trix together.

8x23:

- “An ounce more or less won’t matter”? That is so not like Layla! It is more like Stella and even Bloom! What the hell? I hate what they’re doing just to set up their stupid conflict for this episode!

- Okay, that shot with the Trix sitting all over Valtor’s throne was pretty cool! And I actually like the fact that he is not exploding at them about the fact that their last mission failed. That was a nice change of pace! Also, digging Darcy and Stormy taking over the throne and the way Valtor is collecting the Prime Stars when he doesn’t have the box. It is... symbolic.

- Be my guest, Flora, and get between Stella and her tanning!

- Reasonable question, Stella! I was also gonna ask why the hell there are corals on dry land. And the Compass is going all crazy.

- Oh, goodie! Hawaiian lumens. In case we’d forgotten about the first half of the season. Which I honestly had.

- Bloom, you really have no other choice but to split up because Tecna and Layla will kill each other otherwise. And yes, Stella sure doesn’t sound distracted now. Only panicky and possibly on the verge of becoming hysterical over the volcano.

- You mean, this isn’t Valtor creating the lava gollems? At least it’s implied that there is one for each girl so the split-up doesn’t put them at a disadvantage.

- Poor Stella, being used as bait. And they just made more of the monsters. I guess her shining personality is not going to be enough to spare the others the notice.

- Did Valtor actually say “boo”? Wow, okay.

- How is a shell the symmetry between light and shadow? It is on the land and not halfway between land and sea! This was absolute bullshit! Meanwhile, Stella and Bloom are getting overwhelmed back there at the volcano against six opponents!

- Valtor cut in just in time! I thought his presence would have been useless. But he upgraded to adapt to his “inability” to touch the Prime Stars even though the source of his magic is literally stars in this season!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just cannot even anymore.

- Yeah, and this bullshit choice again between two things that are important. We’re using this for the third time in ten episodes! Really need to come up with something else over here.

- And we didn’t even see Bloom and Stella really do anything. This episode is put together in a horrible way. Plus, how the fuck are you getting in a volcano that is already erupting! I would have loved for Bloom to use her Dragon Fire here because at least that would have made sense instead of this bullshit we got!

- At least we got that cute Layla and Tecna hug!

8x24:

- Tecna turning into a sheep seemed OOC. And Flora choosing a tiger? Why didn’t she just stop chasing after “Stella” when she saw she was scaring the poor thing? That was unnecessary.

- Stella skipped classes to write homework? And why the hell did Wizgiz give everyone homework when it was obvious that they didn’t know about Stella’s deception?

- Icy could have played that *dramatic pause* cooler. She was being obviously panicky about going to Diamond. She’s better at pretending than this. And her keeping a crystal flower? Waaaay OOC. I don’t care if it is about her dead/lost sister which they totally pulled out of nowhere to make her “relatable”.

- Shouldn’t Sky have asked if he can come along instead of just tail them? He can help resolve things faster... or he can become the reason for their defeat.

- The architecture on Diamond looks kinda... Russian (which would make sense if they’re trying to parallel Siberia with the frozen land). But I am dying at the idea of Icy being Russian. XD

- What trees, Bloom? Where did you see trees? Everything is deep frozen!

- Don’t tell me that fox is Icy’s sister. That will be too dumb.

- Well, of course Bloom doesn’t like Icy’s home planet. How could she? That would have been too mature a notion for the writers. After all, she must hate everything icy.

- What temper? That fox has legit not done anything. Also, it has got to have something to do with Icy. Look at its eyes! And now Icy is attacking Stormy because of it?

- Aaaaand now we’re getting a flashback. You have to love how they made it look like Icy is the little sister when she’s not, And I hate how they made her younger and “untainted” self so different! Like, dammit, a tragic backstory does change you but you need to keep something from your core personality! She is being a totally different person and this totally came out of nowhere! I hate it!

- Took Sky long enough to catch up. Why is he the one saving the fox? And Icy totally went nuts here. This is more like her but still... the dissonance between season 1 and this... Why?

- I knew he was gonna fuck up this whole thing.

- Damn, the fox is looking so lovingly at Icy. It might as well be her sister. But it may just be one of those foxes we saw that isn’t aging because of the ice that appears to be magical. I still can’t decide what they’re doing here.

- Why the fuck do they need Sirenix? But I have to say that Crystal Sirenix (which they totally just made up here because that was never actually a thing and would have been nice to have been mentioned when Daphne was using elemental magic in season 6 since she is the Nymph of Sirenix) looks better than ordinary Sirenix. Except for the... capes? The animators need to consult Edna Mode!

8x25:

- Sky is actually fine? Well, in the very real danger of drowning but still fine-r than I thought he would be. Sky, think about yourself. Bloom is not the one that is this fucking close to dying!

- Aaaaand... she saved him. He wasn’t even underwater that long! Why wasn’t he waking up?! Man, the Dragon Fire healing is getting annoying.

- Yes, spend time together while putting yourself in mortal danger. Sounds like fun times! You can even be buried together!

- Sky is supposed to be a Specialist aka capable of handling himself. And how many times is Tecna gonna be fixing his gear? Though, I am at least glad that Icy’s first instinct was to damage his flying gadget.

- So the fox is her sister. Fucking great! Why are they alone and talking about leaving? Where the fuck are their parents? Also, how does that fit in with the fact that the Trix are descendants of the Ancestral Witches?

- Firing all my thoughts here at high velocity: Who the fuck is that? We don’t get a name? Fucking splendid! Why is Sapphire still transformed? Icy is super powerful at this point and if the Shaman Witch is so powerful, why the hell hasn’t she conquered any other realm? Why does she need a whole planet that is completely frozen? Where is she now? What the fuck is up with all of this? And what happened to Icy’s mother? Was Icy a witch all along? Her being so “obedient” in that flashback is so totes OOC. I hate all of this. And we didn’t need the parallel between Bloom and Icy.

- Icy saying that the Trix are “friends maybe” and the the only real sister she has is Sapphire? Worst moment of the whole season! How fucking dare you?! I never thought that they were related by blood but that didn’t mean that they weren’t sisters!

- Yes, Stormy, tell everyone else (aka Winx) where you are! Or bury all three of you in an avalanche. Such planning! Much consideration!

- Icy, stop being a wimp! Yes, this is all hard but she is not behaving like herself at all! You need to get it together if you want to help your sis, girl! And how do you plan on getting the power to save your sister without the Star to bring to Valtor?

- Why is the Star going in the box? Oh, it’s not. But I hate the implication that only “sisterly” love can get the Star. Icy has been sisters with Darcy and Stormy since season 1 and Winx are all like sisters as well! Fuck that! Also, why is it that this one could have only been earned by two blood sisters? That means that Winx didn’t have the chance to take it at all! This is really stupid!

- The Trix are free now? How did that happen? And Sapphire is back aga- Oh, wait, no! Wtf????? Do they even know what they’re doing anymore? This is becoming such a mess! And why is the finale only one episode long when we wasted two episodes on 3-4 of the Stars? This is stupid!

8x26:

- What the fuck are these things? “Brothers from the Dark Dimension”? What the absolute honest genuine fuck? Why have these things never been introduced if they have always been a part of his plan? What the fuck, writers? You just sent the whole structure of the season to hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How was any of this a good decision?!?!?!?!

- The Trix just showed up at Alfea? And Kiko is beating them single-pawed-ly? Why? But I like the idea of the Trix at Alfea.

- Oh, it was actually Winx. This is part of the plan for beating Valtor, isn’t it? Damn, I was just getting hyped that the Trix decided to work with Winx to fix this whole mess and make sure Valtor won’t trap them again once they disobey.

- Is Icy going to give him the star? Oh, no. She wants to challenge him to get the other Stars. Goddammit! But I love how excited Darcy is about getting to explore more of her illusion powers! Also, Icy both being grateful that they’re with her but telling them to save themselves if things get rough? THAT HUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stormy was so ready to cry! Ugh, that was so amazing! Almost enough to make up for the bullshit they said about them not being sisters!

- They didn’t feel it? That was like a goddamn earthquake!

- I have a question, though. Why didn’t the Trix try to take on Winx? That implies that Valtor is weaker than Winx. But at least the Winx’ plan is actually pretty good.

- Why isn’t Stella Darcy, Layla Icy and Musa Stormy? They could have covered if they needed to use their powers! Stella could have dimmed the light as if Darcy is using her darkness powers. And the other could have pretended to be Stormy and Icy as well!

- Okay, but Winx’ voices are still the same! Why can’t Valtor tell that it’s not them? He’s literally so not paying attention and they fucked up with the spell because it is incomplete!

- And now the plan went to hell because Bloom decided to crash the party! Great going! So it was all for nothing.

- Now Valtor is back in his demon form? That was a curse his mothers put on him and Bloom destroyed that form in 3x26! But at least the remake looks better than the original!

- Why would Valtor destroy the universe? Where is he gonna go after that? Also, what the fuck? You’re making this Icy’s motivation?!?!?! For helping the Winx?!?!?!?!?!?! THE TRIX LITERALLY WERE ABOUT TO DESTROY THE MAGIC UNIVERSE IN SEASON 1 AND IT WAS THEIR ORIGINAL PLAN! NOW SHE’S LIKE “I WON’T WATCH ANOTHER WORLD GET DESTROYED”???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? FUCK ALL OF THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Is it only me or does this really remind of 3x25? Because the writers were probably trying to cash in even more nostalgia?

- If they don’t bring Icy’s world back, it will be really stupid because that was why she was even doing any of all this (according to this whole season).

- They wished for a power-up? I’m sorry, a power-up driven by how noble they are? The bullshit is unreal. I cannot even.

- No one cares about all the lumens! They should have given the Trix something for their trouble after all of this bullshit and used the screen time in a better way.

- OH, COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY GET A CONSTELLATION NOW?!?!?!?!? THEY WOULD HAVE NEVER WON WITHOUT THE TRIX WHO WERE LEFT WITH A BIG DAMN ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (except for being freed, that is)

- In my book this is the absolute worst finale this show has ever had! It contradicted everything we know about certain characters as well as events from previous seasons, had a theme that sucked completely and had Winx make a seemingly selfless wish that actually seems super shady, gave them glory they do not deserve, introduced a new plot point at the beginning of the very last episode, fucked over the Trix (or at least Icy), did not tie up their loose ends and just completely failed to be thrilling in any way because everything was upside down! I cannot even.

This season started out so well. The first three episodes were extremely promising and had the writers kept their streak, this season could have risen to the levels of the first seasons or even surpassed them. However, things quickly started derailing. First, just lightly and then totally going off the rails. The two halves of the season felt super disconnected, the villain plan sucked, Valtor was destroyed as a character (and as a villain) and the Trix were just... what happened there? The new backstory Icy was given was dreadful because of how much it contradicted what we know about all three of the Trix and it destroyed their sense of unity by obviously placing the narrative emphasis on her not just as the leader but as the one that is most important of the three. The second half got stupider and stupider until it reached a finale that just didn’t logic in any correct way. There was so much wasted potential here that it is unreal. Season 7 had nothing going on but it did not enrage me as much as this one (and especially the last few episodes) because there wasn’t so much absolute waste of perfectly good opportunities. Season 6 retains it’s place as the worst season in my book but the end of season 8 annoyed me enough to make me feel like I could put it over season 7 for worst of the series.

#winx club #winx bloom #winx musa #winx stella #winx flora #winx layla #winx tecna #winx sky #winx riven #bloom x sky #musa x riven #winx diaspro #winx icy #winx darcy #winx stormy #trix #winx valtor #winx faragonda #winx griselda #winx griffin #winx club season 8 #review #thoughts #part 2

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Hello! As promised, here's a little something that I wrote originally for a challenge that I participated in. Any and all feedback is welcome. It was really fun to do this, and I might consider maybe doing more for it if there's an interest for it. Well, without further ado, all aboard!

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Deep in the heart of the forest, there was a small cottage. Blending almost seamlessly into trees, the magic surrounding the area further helping to hide its presence from unwanted visitors, lived a young witch. She worked tirelessly to perfect her magic, growing in the arts of healing, love, and illusion. However, still being young, her magic was still wild and untamed.

She stirred her cauldron, deep in thought, as she re-read the spell over and over, trying to make sure that this time it would be successful.

"OK, so far everything seems good, no explosions or anything yet. All that's left, is adding a four leaf clover that still has drops of the morning dew on it."

With a flick of her slender wrist, her cauldron continued to stir on its own while she looked around for her last ingredient, her deep, wine colored dress gently flowing behind her.

"Come on where is it? I know I put it here somewhere...."

Her amber eyes flitted around her shelf littered with clear jars of herbs and oddities, her wild, ruby hair dancing with her frantic movements. She reached further into the middle shelf, gently moving aside medicinal herbs along the way.

"It should be here..."

She strained her reach further, forcing her toes to precariously balance her against the shelf until....

"Aha! Gotcha! Oh whoa whoa whoa!"

Just as she clasped the jar that held the clover, the shelf decided that was the opportune time to test gravity. Swaying back and forth dangerously, she flailed her arms, hoping to get some grasp of magic to balance out the shelf and herself again. Gritting her teeth, she willed her magic to work, to save her potion.

"Geez, it's so heavy....oh no!"

Just as she gently pushed the shelf back into place, a small jar containing strands of midnight fur from a cat, fell from the top shelf, diving right to her potion. She threw out her hand, hoping to use her magic to catch it, but forgot that was the hand that had the four leaf clover. She could only watch in horror as the jars crashed into each other, intertwining and sprinkling together into the cauldron. The potion turned from a mint green into a light, almost lavender purple, the smoke billowing out in black clouds. It seemed to fill her entire home, forcing its way out through any open airway or crack to the world outside like a giant beacon, until it just stopped with a quiet hiss.

She slumped down to the floor, tears filling her eyes.

"No, that was supposed to show me where there are others like me, and to help me control my magic. Now its ruined, and who knows how long until I can find another clover."

She wept helplessly on the floor, her tears pooling on the floor. Her magic, swirled around her, almost comforting her, until they were interrupted by a sharp tapping on the window. She looked up in surprise to see a large raven, black as a starlets night, sitting on her windowsill. She stared at it curiously, wiping her tears away.

"Hey there little fellow, what are you doing all the way out-"

Her words were cut off as the raven spread its wings and flew in, heading straight towards her. Her magic flared up again, but seemed to be pushed away by the Raven's wings and it flew ever closer to her until its beak, gently touched her forehead. A kiss.

She had no time to process as suddenly her purple colored magic was mixing with a charcoal colored magic. The raven seemed to grow larger, taking on a different form, the beak still kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes tight admist the dazzling magic until a rough, but soft voice spoke.

"You have nothing to fear now. I am here for you. I'll help you."

She now noticed how she was embraced in strong arms, clothed in the same black as the Ravens feathers were. Looking up, she took in every detail. His strong physique, his warm earthy smell, the muscles that so tenderly held her, his black curly locks that framed his face. What took her breath away, was his eyes. Blue as sky, and while they showed such kindness, they showed such painful loneliness as well. This man, was a wizard. Another one of her kind. He tenderly stroked her hair.

"I'm glad that I happened to be practicing my flying when I noticed your signal for help. Don't worry, you'll be just fine now."

He released her and bowed elegantly. He raised his head, taking her hand in his as he softly kissed it, those blue eyes staring intently at her.

"I am Aarick, the Raven, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

#short fiction #short story #original content #cottage witch #raven #wizard #magicfolk #witchcraft #writing #writing challenge

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust (rewrite) CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 29/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: M NOTES/WARNINGS:  This is a rewrite of the original work of the same name.  Also on AO3 here

Loki looked horrified when he realized what he had done.  “I’m so sorry, darling. This is all new to me-” he tried to explain quickly.  He looked ashamed of what he’d done, how he’d messed up the one rule she’d given him.  At least he had the decency to look ashamed.  

Sig continued to glare at him again.  She finally broke free and turned to the others with panic and anger in her eyes.  “Get to the horses and be ready to ride out.  Now. I’ve got to get this closed,” she snarled at them.  There was no time to be nice.  Not with the doorway still open.  Not with what Loki had done. “Every single fae hunting me will know exactly what doorway we’re at,” she reminded them all for the reason for the rule about no names.  The others rushed to prepare the horses and mounted while she worked on closing the doorway.  

Loki wisely remained silent as she worked.  He knew she was rightly pissed at him.  More at the situation than him, though.  It was a simple mistake.  It was just a potentially deadly simple mistake.

Sig drew a wickedly sharp blade, this one much larger than the belt knife she had been using for this.  This blade was one of her battle blades and as long as her forearm.  She gripped the dagger carefully and draw a long line down her arm, wincing in pain as she cut deeper and longer than she had for any other doorway.  There was no time to pussyfoot around about this doorway.  She had to close it.  Fast.  She heard Loki’s gasp in sympathy and horror at her pain and what she was doing.  He didn’t approve.  It wasn’t his choice.  

Not this time.  

She gathered more blood, more power to shut this doorway as fast as possible.  She ignored the drain, even as she shivered from drawing so much power at once from the power of her blood.  She slammed the doorway shut as fast and hard as she could.  She was not taking any chances.  She drew even more power to charm the area to keep any new doorways from being created here for a long, long time.  

She turned to face the others with the same panicky edge to her tone and expression.  “We’ve got to move on.  Now. It’s not safe here,” she told them firmly and started back to the horses on shaky legs, ignoring that she was still bleeding. 

Loki stopped her, his hands on her shoulders, steadying her.  “Wait just a moment, darling,” he told her, though she was nearly too dazed with power drain to understand or comprehend what he was saying.  He held her to him while his glowing green hand went over the bleeding wound on her arm, sealing it so it would stop bleeding.  Once the bleeding had stopped, Loki’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and he rushed her over to her horses.  Everyone else was mounted already. She swung into the saddle of her horse, focused on getting the Hel out of there.  “We have to go, now,” Loki directed the others.  

“They shouldn’t be able to come through here.   I spelled the area to block more gates, but…” Sig wasn’t thinking clearly due to exhaustion and power drain.  It was safer to get out of there, just in case.  Loki nodded in understanding and she could see he was feeling guilt for his slip up.  For the pain he was causing her to clean up his mistake.  

Sig kicked her mare into a gallop, terrified of being caught there.  She trusted the others to catch up and keep up.  Loki caught up with her quickly.  The others followed just behind.  

She finally consented to slow the headlong panicked gallop once they were out of her ability to sense the clearing.  She sighed in relief.  “We should be far enough away now,” she told the others softly.   She was visibly wilting as the adrenaline rush of terror finally wore off.  

Loki looked over at her, extremely concerned over her state.  She was holding onto the saddle-horn to keep on her horse’s back and trusting that the others would lead her safely to her next destination.  She was too drained to do anything for herself.  Blood magic was draining enough, it took magic from the user’s body, and the user’s life-force if too much blood magic was used.  She’d drawn the heat from her body, drawn on her fae power, and the exhaustion was bone-numbing as she sat shivering in her horse’s saddle.  Loki rode closer and reached out his hand with a cloak in his hands.  It was green and fur-lined.  And she was sure it belonged to Loki.  She reached out a shaky hand to take it and managed to drape it over herself.  “We must find an inn or tavern, now.  She’s in bad shape,” Loki told the others as she went back to staring listlessly at the pommel of her horse’s saddle, her colors had faded again.

Thor consulted the map, judging their location after Sig’s panicky headlong gallop.  “There’s a village not far from here,” he told Loki.

“Then let’s go. She needs to rest, desperately.” They could all hear the fear and worry in Loki’s voice as he spoke.  

Thor led the way to the village.  Everyone looked concerned at how listless and exhausted Sig looked.  She was drained even more than usual from closing that doorway.  She was wilted and it seemed her vibrancy was diminished, her very colors faded.  

“You two might want to figure out how to break her illusion spell on you.  You look like fae,” Sif reminded Thor and Loki.  Sig hadn’t had an opportunity to remove the illusions from them. 

“I can try it,” Loki told Sif. He was the master magician of Asgard after all.  This was in his realm of abilities.  He looked to Sigyn.  “Sig?” she blearily looked over at him.  “Sig, what do I have to do break her illusion?” he asked once he could get her attention.  

She blinked quickly and tried to focus on the words to make them form a coherent sentence.  Really, it was amazing she was staying on her horse.  “You can dispel it just like any other illusion.  I cast it with your magic,” she told him softly. She hoped her words made sense.  They seemed to, since Loki focused for a moment and the illusions on him and Thor both shattered so they looked like themselves again. 

Sig was mostly asleep in the saddle by the time she reached the village.  She only half-woke when the horses stopped in front of the tavern.  She didn’t wake enough to notice any of what was going on around her.  Loki dismounted and helped her down from her horse. He immediately swept her up into his arms.  She yelped a protest.  “You’re dead on your feet, love.  And it’s my fault.  Let me take care of you,” Loki told her gently. 

Her head crashed onto his shoulder, too exhausted to fight him.  

 The innkeeper gave Loki a room, which he carried her to quickly and tucked her into bed gently, tucking the blankets and warming spells around her.  He kissed her forehead.  “Rest, darling.  I will watch over you,” he bid her softly.  She nodded and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.  

#Loki #Lover #Submitted fic #submission #Soulbonds and Fairy Dust #chapter 29 #nekoamamori #rewrite

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Promises Not Kept  *Tommy Shelby*

Summary: Tommy Shelby made a promise to Jonah Ward while in the war. A promise he didn't keep. But it comes to haunt him when he tries to drown out his sorrows with a young woman.

Fic warnings: Prostitution, violence, swearing, pretty much everything to do with Peaky Blinders

      The youngest girl, Bessie, a petite redhead was the first with the news. She came scampering into the shared room where the girls would freshen up between clients. Late, as usual, she had a wild look in her eyes.

           “Tha’s Thomas Shelby in the lobby.” She gasped out and clutched at her coat. Stray snowflakes melted in her fiery hair. “He’s back.”

           The rest of the girls were stirred up into a frenzy at the news.

           “Again?”

           “He’s already had me ‘fore, might be comin’ back for me.”

           “Fuckin’ pays well don’t he?”

           Bea, the eldest and most experienced out of the bunch blew out a drag of smoke. “’Course he does. The Shelbys own Birmingham and that means they’re fuckin’ dangerous.’ She glared at the hopeful eyed girls. “None of you should be makin’ ties with that lot. Best to stay unseen.”

           “Still, he’ll be wantin’ a fuck.” Teresa shrugged and eyed herself in the mirror as she applied lipstick. "I ain't gonna turn him or his money down."

           “Don’t you worry,” Bea turned to the young woman on her left. “He doesn’t pick blonde girls.”

           Leah chewed on her lower lip and glanced at the vanity mirror next to her. Indeed, she had honey-colored hair, which usually did her well in her line of business.

           Leah was twenty-five, a prime age for a London prostitute. Not too green but not worn out either. She found herself prostituting after a long drawn out mess of increasingly worse luck. Since 1918, she had been stuck in a downward spiral.

           It could always be worse, that’s what she reminded herself every time she woke up. She wasn’t starving on the streets but she did feel like a piece of her died every single time she closed her eyes.

           “Leah?” Billy stuck his head into the room. He was a good man, a hotel employee who was paid extra to introduce clients to the girls. The madam handled the rest of the transactions. But it was a classier transaction up front. The hotel provided a luxurious setting for the wealthy clientele who sought out the harem of girls. Women who were touted as much more than those of seedy whorehouses, although that’s where they all originated. The illusion that the ten women were hand-picked goddesses, submissive in nature (unless a man preferred the roles reversed).

           Respectful. Discreet. Beautiful. Expensive.

           For Leah, the titillating façade wore off fast. She was still a whore. Men faked their love and affection or they didn’t even bother. Despite the money, Leah always felt used. Yet she blamed herself. The naïve daughter of a chemist. Now just a whore.

           “Mr. Shelby’s requested someone new,” Billy informed her.

           The other girls went quiet for a moment. Teresa looked irked. “She’s the only one he hasn’t fucked yet?”

           Billy, a quiet man, who looked out for the girls well being, nodded in confirmation.

           “He doesn’t like blondes.” Bea retorted protectively. “He hardly even looked at Rose. Send Teresa out.”

           Leah’s face went ashen. The Shelbys were not people she wanted to be involved with.

           “He insisted.”

           She swallowed and stood. “S’okay, Bea.” She faked a smile and touched the older woman’s arm. “How’d I look?”

           “Perfect.” Bea nodded but looked visibly worried.

           The other girls watched as Leah stood, tightening the ties around her peach-colored dressing gown. She followed Billy down the hall to one of the nicer suites.

           “He’s inside.”

           She nodded. “Thank you, Billy.” Her voice was quiet as she stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. Nerves rattled her bones. The Shelby name was not one to be taken lightly. Leah remembered hearing about them when she worked in a brothel a couple of years back.

           Crazy gypsy bastards.

           Fucking animals.

           Bloodthirsty.

           Harsh words that she’d never heard when describing an entire family. But perhaps they weren’t wrong because the Shelbys only became more and more powerful. They were a force to be reckoned with, especially if you resided in Britain’s underworld. Leah did and had for some time. But she had her limits.

           “Right, f’ya got heels on, you can take ‘em off.” Tommy was standing by the window, his back to Leah. A half-finished cigarette clenched between his lips. A thin haze of smoke already hung over the room.

           Swallowing, Leah reached down to remove the heels from her feet. She was so focused on the straps she didn’t notice he’d turned around. When she set the shoes aside, she straightened up and came face-to-face with the most dangerous man in Birmingham.

           His eyes were like the coldest winter, much worse than the blustery December evening outside the hotel. He was thin, average height, and sculpted with sharp edges. Everything from his dark hair to his clean-shaven face was pristine. His three-piece-suit wasn’t an uncommon sight for clients but he just seemed more refined. It masked his deeds but intimidation remained.

           He was beautiful there was no denying that. But he had several, if not dozens, of ghosts haunting him. Hanging over his shoulder. Never letting him forget. His hardened stare was hypnotizing but fear-inducing all the while.

           “You’re blonde.” His voice was quiet, deep, like thunder in the far distance.

           Leah didn’t know how to respond. She only nodded. “Yes, Mr. Shelby.”

           He stared at her for a moment. It was nearly unbearable being under the scrutiny of the calculating man. He drew the cigarette from his mouth and parted his lips slightly to release thin wisps of smoke. “Right,” It appeared he’d made up his mind. He shrugged his coat off and tossed it to the side. He averted his gaze from her and began removing the small bits and trappings of a wealthy man. Cufflinks, arm garter, pocket-watch, and finally his glasses.

           Leah was frozen in her spot. Typically, she was outgoing when it came to clients. The more special she made them feel, the more they would pay. But Tommy’s presence was terrifying.

           His eyes flicked up to her in slight annoyance when she didn’t move a muscle. He cleared his throat and made a curt gesture towards the bed, prompting her to move.

           As if a spell had been lifted, Leah began to untie the dressing gown and let it slip off her shoulders to the floor. The reaction she got confirmed what Tommy was there for. A good prostitute could get a sense of why the man was there. Despite his cold manner, he was easy to read. He hardly even glanced up when she cast her robe to the side and walked to the bed clad in lingerie. His indifference said a lot. Tommy was there to deal with an itch, perhaps to further drown out some sorrows. What he was grieving was unknown.

           He put out his cigarette and removed his waistcoat and shirt, still avoiding looking at the woman he was paying for.

           Leah reclined back against the plush pillows. Her eyes kept catching glances of him as he undressed. She knew she needed to keep her head down, not attract any attention from him. But he had such a presence it was hard to look away.

           Tommy handled the situation like anything else in his life. It was a business transaction, nothing more. He moved with such grace and certainty. His thin frame was a far cry from the brutal gangster that people labeled him as. But Leah could see the muscles flexing in his arms and chest when he got on top of her.

           “You’re a quiet one, eh?” He broke the silence again. One hand braced himself against the bed, the other slipped between them. His long fingers grazed down her stomach, catching the bits of lace of her lingerie.

           Leah looked up at him, studying his face once he was closer. He certainly looked years younger without his glasses, but there was exhaustion to his features. It seemed like he’d gone days without more than a few hours of sleep. A small nick of a scar marked his cheek. His eyes were, even more, alarming the closer he was. But his touch was surprisingly gentle at the onset.

           “Do you like having conversations with girls like me?” Leah asked quietly, wondering if she should speak more to him. She’d been a little too busy taking in his form.

           He shook his head and a hint of amusement crossed his eyes. “Try to have some decency, don’t I? M’not a monster.”

           She was quick to correct herself. “'Course not, Mr. Shelby.”

           “Call me Tommy.”

           Something struck Leah like a brick to the head. Tommy. Tommy Shelby. She could see the name written in her husband’s handwriting.

           Tommy Shelby, and his brothers, they act as though death is an old friend of theirs. None of them are scared to go to hell. Nice blokes but there’s something about them.

           Leah’s sudden realization was cut short when she felt Tommy’s finger brush over her sex. Startled out of her thoughts, she let out a hitched moan and let her eyes slide closed. He was no stranger to a woman’s body that was clear just after half a second of him touching her. It wasn’t often she was really turned on by a client. Most were inexperienced, too worried about their own pleasure, or downright awful at pleasure.

           But not Tommy Shelby. He had her breathless before he even entered her. When he did, Leah had to ground herself before she became too intoxicated off him. Her arms looped around his neck, her fingers clutching for purchase in his hair.

           He grunted softly when she knotted her fingers in his dark locks. His head dipped down as his hips snapped forward. He moved with ferocity, chasing something beyond release. There was something he needed but it was something a whore could give him. Yet he pressed on.

           Leah was unraveling at the seam. His vigor was pushing away the thoughts that had clouded her brain before. He brought her somewhere she’d long missed. An electric and primal connection.

           “Tommy…” She breathed out.

           And when he opened his eyes, Tommy felt the spark too. He didn’t see Grace, despite Leah’s blonde hair and vague likeness. There was something about the woman beneath him that rendered him breathless and devoid of all other thoughts. His grief. His anxiety. His anger. It was numbed. He could only feel her body and the warmth of her figure.

           Overwhelmed with the sensation, his thrusts stuttered and he stared at her. Disbelief and lust made his pupils blow, thinning out the icy blue.

           Leah let her hand slip to his cheek. Her lips parted like she wanted to say something but had lost all ability of speech. To solve the problem, he ducked down and kissed her. He pressed so hard into it that her lips were certain to bruise.

           Seldom did she allow a client to kiss her. And if she did, it was for more money or to maybe make a young eighteen-year-old feel special on his birthday. But Tommy wiped her brain, made her forget who she truly was, and made her long for the days she had a man to kiss her. Grateful and drunk on the feeling, she kissed him back.

           Nothing at that moment could pull them apart. Tommy only released her lips to hear her as she climaxed. Hearing her gasp out his name pushed him over the edge.

           He groaned and let the feeling wash over him like a deadly cocktail of drugs and alcohol. He felt alive but cured of all the aches and pain held in his bones. He shuddered out a breath and the ringing in his ears faded. Awareness of the room returned.

           Leah was clinging to him, still riding the waves of a release she had yet to find in years. Tommy let her hold onto him until her arms relaxed and her body unlocked.

           Her hazel eyes met his face but both were too stunned to speak. Finally, Tommy sat up and reached for a cigarette. He offered one to Leah who took one out of courtesy.

           They sat in silence for a moment. Smoke rising to the ceiling. Neither expected to find such a strong emotion in that room. It was scary for both of them and they didn’t know what to make of it.

           “Should I leave you?” Leah finally spoke.

           He swallowed hard and shook his head. “No. Not yet.” He replied quietly. There was a danger lurking. The danger of blindly falling for lust. Doing anything to fill the hole where his heart used to be. But he wasn’t about to release the feeling quite yet. He had a meeting in two hours. He was going to make use of that time. Fuck it, he’d be late.

           Tommy flicked his cigarette into the ashtray on the nightstand. He reached over and Leah let him take hers as well. Replacing the cigarette with his hand. His slender fingers lacing in with hers as he kissed her deeply. His eyes closed and he welcomed the feeling. Taking the drug and following the high blindly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

           Tommy had her for hours. Leah returned to the room in quite a state. Her hair was undone and tangled. Her lipstick was smudged to hell and Tommy had ripped her lingerie in the passion.

           When she returned, the girls all stared at her like she’d been gone for weeks. Bea stood and hurried over to her. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” She asked in a hushed voice.

           Still in a daze, Leah shook her head. “No.” She sat down and started to freshen up. Her movements were slow and delayed. She was still too caught up in the overwhelming sensations. Three hours was not enough, she craved more.

           “Leah?” Bea sat next to her.

           “Hm?”

           “I asked if you were okay.” The older woman looked concerned. “You seem…off.”

           “I’m fine, Bea.” Leah smiled. “Perfectly fine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

           That night, Tommy and Leah coped with the chance interaction. Leah returned to her rented room early in the morning and knelt by her bed. Beneath, in an old shoebox, she kept her husband’s letters. His shirt and those letters were the only things she had left of him. Losing him to the war sparked her downward spiral. She lost her best friend and the love of her life.

           It was always difficult to read his letters. She intentionally tried to put it from her mind. When she read his words and saw his name signed, she was reminded of what she once had.

           She thumbed through the parchment and finally found one of the several mentions of the Shelbys.

           Tommy Shelby, he and his family live in Birmingham. If anything were to happen to me, I think they would be able to take care of you. They’re rough around the edges but they care for their own. I’m just afraid of leaving you alone.

           Leah sat on the hardwood floor for a long while. She held the paper tightly. Her husband had known Tommy. The man she had just slept with. Overrun with guilt and confusion, the young woman curled up on the floor. She held the letter close to her chest and let herself cry. What kind of person was she? When had the world become too much to bear? Would she ever find the happiness she once had?

~~~~~~~~~

           Tommy stood in the foyer long past midnight. Drunk on gin and then whiskey, he’d stumbled out of his office. Arrow House was silent in the dead of night. The large rooms offered no comfort.

           Moonlight filtered in through the large windows and settled on the portrait of himself, Grace, and Charlie.

           “Fuck…” He cursed under his breath as he singed the tips of his fingers on his cigarette. He dropped it and clumsily stubbed it out with his heel into the carpet.

           His eyes looked up to Grace’s painted face. His heart wrenched and he found himself back where he’d begun that morning. Hindsight told him he was a fool for thinking something with a whore would be real. The only real thing he had was gone. He didn’t have her anymore and he never would again.

           Tommy’s face scrunched up, the pain still seeping in despite the copious amounts of alcohol. He’d have to poison himself with gin to be fully numb. It was times like that night when he wondered if he should embrace the devil.

           “Daddy?”

           Probably the only reason he ignored the demons telling him to give up, called out to him.

           Tommy raised his head and saw Charlie on the stairs landing. He clutched a teddy, concern on his small face. “Charlie, s’late.” He walked up the steps to his son.

           “Bad dreams.” The little boy pouted and reached up.

           “Alright, dad’s gotcha.” Tommy picked him up and did his best to walk a straight line back to Charlie’s bedroom. “Everything’s okay, yeah?” He tucked Charlie back into bed but the boy wouldn’t let go of him.

           “Daddy, stay.” He begged.

           Tommy sighed but gave in. “Okay.” He lay down next to his son, letting him cuddle close. “Dad’s not going anywhere. M’right here. You can go back to sleep, eh?” He murmured.

           Charlie obliged and soon fell asleep in the crook of his father’s arm. But Tommy stayed awake, staring up at the ceiling. A hollow feeling settled into him. It wasn’t unfamiliar but it wasn’t exactly welcome either. He tried to fill it with anything he possibly could. So he decided to go back to her. If Leah could fill that space even for a few hours, he’d have it. An addict through and through, Tommy just wanted to feel something other than hurt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         Friday night and men were filtering in and out of the hotel. Leah was not herself and everyone around her could tell. She was inattentive, too caught up in her own thoughts to fully interact with the world.

           “Leah? Mr. Shelby’s requested your presence.” Billy’s voice pulled her out of the haze.        

           She didn’t even acknowledge the hushed whispers of the other girls as she stood up and walked out of the room. It was like a siren’s song was luring her down the hallway, back to the room, back to Tommy’s embrace.

           He was standing near the window again. This time his eyes were on her as she entered. He crossed the room quickly with his long strides and immediately enveloped her in a searing kiss. He pressed her against the door and hooked his arms under her thighs to scoop her up.

           Everything fell to pieces. The worry and confusing guilt shattered against the floor. He didn’t offer her time to ruminate. There was no space to hold such feelings. There was no space between them. Leah locked her ankles against his back and moaned against his lips when he tugged on her lip with his teeth.

           Tommy didn’t hold back. He fucked her like the world was about to end. The itch for filling that space was unbearable. But she gave him solace. Her breathy whimpers and gasps spurred him on. Her fingernails left marks that he hoped would remain. He wanted it to last, the feeling that she elicited.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

           Leah watched the end of his cigarette burn. She was in quite a compromising position. Limbs intertwined under the hotel sheets, she rested against his chest, her fingers idly tracing the tattoo on his chest. He was holding her. It was dangerous and they both knew it.

           Swallowing the silence in her throat, Leah spoke. “I think you knew my husband.”

           Tommy lowered his cigarette, tapping the ash off in the ashtray beside him. “Is that so?” A hint of trepidation filled him. Had he killed her husband? Was she still married and he was fucking her? Both were very plausible scenarios.

           “He was a tunneler in the war.” She spoke steadily. She never spoke about her husband in the hotel. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she actually spoke to someone else about him. She was lonely, had been for years. There was no time for friends outside of the hotel and she had no family. So she had no one to talk to.

           Relief passed over Tommy. So he wasn’t crossing anyone. “In France?”

           She nodded, her hair brushing over his bare skin. “Jonah Ward. He wrote about you, at least I think it was you. Could be someone with the same name.”

           Tommy couldn’t stop the sudden reverse back into time. Emerging from the tunnel hauling the man out into the open air.

           “Tommy!” Jonah gasped out. His eyes blinked rapidly in the sunlight. “Tom…”

           “Right here. You’ll be all right. Arthur!”

           The man touched his face. Blood covered his palm. “Fucking finally got me…” He choked out a laugh. “Those tunnels. Thought I’d be done in by a German when I came here.”

           Tommy lifted the man’s shirt to find the source of the bleeding. A sickeningly large wound covered his chest. He tried to apply pressure but there didn’t seem to be any hope left for the poor man.

           “Tom, y’need to take care of my girl. My Leah. Back home…London.” Jonah grimaced and threw his head back against the muddy ground.

           “You’re going to be okay.” Tommy’s hands shook. It wasn’t the first man he saw die and it wouldn’t be the last. But he was still fairly new to watching someone die.

           “Promise me. Promise me you’ll look after her when you get back home.”

           “I-”

           “She don’t got anyone. No family. Please, Tommy.” A few tears slipped down the man’s bloodied face. “I can’t leave her alone.”

           “Y-yeah, I’ll take care of her.”

           “She’s beautiful…blonde hair. Looks like an angel.” Jonah opened his eyes and stared up at the sky. His eyes glazed over. “Oh…fucking hell…there she is now.” His voice weakened.

           Tommy glanced up at the sky but there was nothing there. It was only the hallucination of a dying man.

           “Lee…you’ve come to bring me home? I’ve missed you, love.” Jonah smiled before he coughed up blood and forced one more inhale. He twitched twice before going limp.

           Cold realization flooded over Tommy. He’d promised. He said he would take care of the woman that was curled up next to him. Was this taking care of her? Paying her for sex? He suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

           “Tommy?” Leah furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you okay?”

           He swallowed and nodded. “Yeah.” He dropped his cigarette in the ashtray and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I knew him. I knew Jonah.”

           Leah propped herself up, looking at him with renewed interest. “You did?” Maybe there was something more left of her husband. Memories from another person. Details she didn’t know.

           Tommy scratched absent-mindedly at his cheek. “I was there. I was there when he passed.”

           Leah’s chest deflated and her eyes stung with the obligatory tears she had when she thought of her husband. “W-was he in pain?” Her lower lip quivered.

           “Think he was in shock, he went peacefully.” He would lie to the widow as long as it meant shielding her from the painful truth. She didn’t need to know the gruesome details of the explosion that caused her husband’s demise.

           “Did he say anything?” A tear slipped from her brown eyes and landed on Tommy’s shoulder.

           “He spoke of you. He clearly loved you.”

           She couldn’t help but quietly cry at the news. “He was such a good man. I w-was so heartbroken.”

           Tommy bit the inside of his cheek. He felt the same grief she did. They’d both lost someone they loved so deeply it hurt. “I’m sorry…”

           “No, you don’t have to apologize.” Leah wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get emotional.” She was well aware of how mourning her late husband was a major turn off.

           But Tommy didn’t mind one bit. “I lost my wife last year.” He said quietly.

           “Oh, Tommy, I’m sorry.” She swallowed and bit her lip. “I didn’t know. M’fraid I don’t much about you.” She admitted.

           He nodded slightly and inhaled shakily. “Most people don’t. S’pose you’ve heard rumors.”

           “I didn’t want to make assumptions about you.”

           Those who didn’t make assumptions about the Shelbys would soon learn it was a mistake. It was better to be overly cautious of fire; a fool tested their luck with it.

           Tommy absent-mindedly lifted the cigarette to his lips but paused. His blue-eyes stared across the room in a daze. “I think I owe you an apology, Leah.” He cleared his throat and discarded the rest of his cigarette. Smoke still curled around him as he met her eyes.

           “For what?” She sat up next to him, letting the sheets pool around her waist. There was no point covering up for a man who tore into her only moments earlier.

           But for Tommy, seeing her bare beside him only drove home the guilt. “When your husband was dying, he asked if I would take care of you.” He wearily ran a hand over his face. “And I promised I would. There’s no excuse for breaking my promise. But now I can offer you a job or-”

           Leah went stiff and subtly pulled away from him. “Oh, Tommy, I appreciate it. But that isn’t your responsibility.” She chewed on her lip and averted her eyes. “My Jonah took care of me but he’s gone now. Don’t think I’ll ever remarry so my well-being is my responsibility, not anyone else’s.”          

           Tommy could see the sadness in her light brown eyes. “But I promised.” He insisted. “I have the means and I can give you a better-”

           Leah turned and placed her feet on the floor. “Tommy, please.” She shook her head and turned her back to him. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

           “This can’t be what you want from life.” He insisted and reached out to touch her shoulder. But he hesitated and withdrew.

           She stood and gathered her things, wrapping herself back up in the robe. “Have a good night, Mr. Shelby.” Her voice was detached and quiet. Her dignity trailed behind her. A whore who refused aid from the king of Birmingham. Jonah only wanted the best for her, but Leah would never be in debt to someone. She was raised to pay her dues and hold her own. So she did. Tommy Shelby wouldn’t carry her through life.

           “Leah,” Tommy called after her but she left and shut the door behind her. Retreating into her grief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

           Jonah Ward was a good man. Raised by a jeweler, he was educated and respectful. His father’s shop was right across from the Robinsons’ chemist shop. That’s where he met Leah Robinson. The teenagers fell hard for each other and were married when they turned eighteen. He was her best friend and never thought she would ever be apart from him.

           Then the world fell into war in and he was ripped from her arms. In 1916, Leah received a letter that told her the news. An explosion had permanently taken him. Heartache consumed her and the world seemed to darken. Leah could only guess what Jonah would say if he knew what she did to survive. After her first client, Leah got physically ill and cried. She begged Jonah for forgiveness and sentenced herself to a life of hurt.

           Tommy Shelby couldn’t pardon her for her sins. No one could.

Permanent tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @giftofdreams @biba3434 @kimmietea

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[jackawhacker]

Who You’re Meant To Be

Contains breast expansion, ass expansion, giantess growth, and cock expansion

“It’s here!” Jolyne slammed the door to our apartment, eagerly rushing inside. She rounded the corner into the living room carrying a small cardboard box.

“Please, I told you to not slam that thing, our neighbors are going to report us again.” I complained.

“You’re just being a grouch, Elaine. Our neighbors don’t care.” She retorted, sticking her tongue out at me. It was hard to take her seriously whenever we argued. Her short five foot flat stature didn’t lend much authority to what she said, and the bright smile she wore whenever we bickered made me forget about what we were talking about in the first place.

I sighed, “It’s whatever. What did you order this time?” Jolyne had a habit of draining her bank account by purchasing all sorts of baubles and trinkets that she swore had some mystical property to them. Last week it was a “scrying orb” with the forbidden ability to see into the future. That illusion was broken pretty quickly after I pointed out the “Made in China” sticker on the bottom.

“Well since you asked,” she said as she plopped down on the couch next to me, “I found a surefire way to help our…” she paused, “...situation.”

For the past couple months our sex life had been rocky to say the least. It wasn’t either of our faults, in fact the intimate moments I shared with Jolyne over our two year relationship were some of the best of my entire life. Before her I felt like I couldn’t be loved.

The main problem was my dysphoria. Being a transgender woman unable to afford hormones and being outcast by my family took a heavy toll on my psyche. I couldn’t find it in me to accept myself, let alone ask somebody else to accept me. But Jolyne made me feel loved and cared for. She looked past my lumbering, wide six and a half foot frame and my rough angular features. She loved me for who I was.

But this last month I was having more and more trouble seeing my body in a positive light. I felt disgusting. And it interfered with the sexual dynamic of our relationship. I couldn’t get over the fact that I would be trapped in this body forever, and it really killed all sexual drive in me.

Jolyne nervously pushed a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear. “I know this is a touchy subject for you, but I really think I can help.” She never failed to try and make everything easier for me. She was there every step of the way. I appreciated her genuine care, even if I did doubt whatever she had to offer. “Alright, if you think it’ll work, I’ll give it a shot.” I said.

“Really?” She bounced up and down with glee, “Thank you Elaine! I know you won’t regret it.” She began tearing open the flap on the small cardboard package. The outside had no discernible markings; no shipping labels or company logos. After she finally got it open, she reached inside and produced a small aluminum sheet with two tablets encased in plastic, similar to the kind you’d pop cough drops or aspirin out of.

“What the hell are those?” I asked, taking the mystery container. The two pills were bright pink in color, devoid of any inscriptions.

“Those,” she said proudly, “are our little miracle workers. I got them off a website called Witch’s Wares.” She took the package back, and popped out the two pills from inside. “We each take one, and after that we’re supposed to become more ideal versions for ourselves and each other.”

“Ideal selves?” I inquired. “Like more at peace or inner calm or something?” The idea of taking random drugs off the internet made me nervous, but if it was something to just mellow you out for an hour or two I wouldn’t mind taking it.

“Not exactly,” she giggled, “it’s supposed to have a more physical effect.” She cocked her eyebrow and cupped the air in front of her flat chest. “Eh? Get it?” She winked at me. I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t satisfied with her body. Ever since puberty passed her over in high school she’d been looking for ways to give herself a boost in the chest department. She had gone through a multitude of natural oils and phony spell books trying to gain a couple cup sizes. Nothing worked of course, but she took it in stride by wearing push up bras and high heels to boost her confidence.

I rolled my eyes. “Jolyne, there’s no way I’m sticking some random snake oil pill in my mouth. Who knows where they came from.”

She frowned, turning away from me in mock anger. “Well then, I guess I’ll have to take this all by myself then.” She said, quickly popping a pill into her mouth before I could respond. God damnit. I couldn’t let her do this alone. If she was poisoned then I might as well be too. “You’re the devil.” I grumbled, swallowing the other pill. The taste was surprisingly sweet, almost like it was pure sugar.

She lightly pecked my cheek. “Thanks baby. I know you’ll enjoy this.” We sat on the couch for the better part of an hour, mindlessly watching reruns on TV, waiting for our miracle drug to kick in. Jolyne anxiously looked back and forth between us the entire time, waiting with bated breath for any sign of change. My eyes remain glued on the episode of MASH playing.

Finally I paused the show and turned to Jolyne. “Listen, not to rain on your parade, but I don’t-“

She had her eyes tightly shut. Her fists were clenched, and her back was arched in either pain or pleasure. A small bead of sweat began to trickle down her forehead. I stared at her, debating whether I needed to call poison control or 911, when she finally spoke up.

“Elaine… I feel really…” she whispered.

All at once, a sudden wave of heat spread across my chest, moving its way throughout my body as I began to breathe heavier. I was overcome with a tingling sensation that seemed to gently massage every inch of my body. I was expecting some sort of bad acid trip at worst, but this didn’t feel painful at all.

“Elaine… I feel good.”

All I could do was stare at my girlfriend as she began to gently moan under her breath. Her breaths were as deep as mine, her chest rising and falling steadily. With each breath it seemed that it rose a little higher, the fabric of her buttoned top slowly being pulled tighter and tighter. I thought I was seeing things, but there was no doubt about what was happening.

She looked down and realized the same thing I had. She looked back up and smiled at me. “See? I told you baby.” She moaned through labored breaths. “Oh Elaine, I feel really warm.” Her nails dug deep into the leather armrest of the couch as she fell back into her stupor.

It was hard to tell at first, but I could slowly see the top of her head rising, inch by inch towards the ceiling. Her ass below her had begun to push against her jeans, her growing hips putting strain on the material. Her curves continued to slowly blossom outwards, creating an hourglass from her once skinny frame. Her breasts had begun to put intense pressure on the buttons of her shirt, easily growing past handfuls now. This was impossible. There’s no way this was happening. And yet she continued to change. Her face was glazed over in ecstasy, unable to form any coherent thoughts as she grew and grew. Suddenly her eyes opened. “Baby, we should stand up. Quickly, quickly!”

I managed to distract myself from this impossible scene in front of me and drag myself off the couch. The tingle inside of me slowly intensified. Why hadn’t I changed yet? What would I look like? What would she look like? Why wasn’t I more freaked out?

I could see why she wanted to stand up. Her once diminutive stature was slowly creeping higher and higher. I couldn’t believe anything I was seeing. My dick tensed against my pants, all of this had me unbelievably turned on. Her legs poked out from the hemline of her jeans, steadily growing, pushing her up taller and taller. The top of her head was level with my nose by now. Her top finally gave up its fight with her expanding tits, launching buttons across the room, her bra snapping in half as breasts the size of her head were finally released from their prison.

“Elaaaaaiiiine,” she groaned, “I’m getting...so big. So big for you.” I looked into Jolyne’s eyes as she crept up to my height, and then past it. “So big baby. I know this is what you want.” And she was right. I had never been more turned on in my entire life. Jolyne was turning into an absolute goddess in front of me.

The jeans desperately clinging on to her frame finally ripped, her monumental bottom shredding them to bits. Her curves were not only massive, but impossibly beautiful. The soft bounce of her now basketball sized breasts was mesmerizing, and every inch added to her growing frame somehow made her more and more perfect with each passing second. The woman standing in front of me was becoming something greater. She stretched upwards, her hands grazing the ceiling.

Slowly her breathing returned to normal, the last bits of her growth coming to an end. I looked on in stunned silence. All I could see was the bottom of a massive pair of flawless, bountiful tits directly in front of me. I forced myself to crane my neck up at her, and gasped. This whole time I had been focusing on her growing body, I had neglected her face. The features were all hers, but changed enough to be the envy of any model. Her lips plumped, eyes glittering. It was intoxicating. I was at a loss for words.

Jolyne softly giggled and looked down on me. Even her voice had become angelic. “I think it’s your turn, Elaine.” She said in her new smooth and sultry tones.

Almost as if on cue, the warmth inside of me began to burn hotter. Realizing I didn’t have much time before the changes set in, I quickly began pulling my top off, only to be hit with a wave of unbridled pleasure. I could hardly move.

“Oh baby don’t worry,” Jolyne cooed, “I’ll get that.” She bent down, her hulking form pressing close to me. I could feel her breasts push into me, slowly consuming the entire upper half of my body. And as if they were nothing, she ripped off my clothes and tossed them aside. “That’ll make it better for both of us.” She stood back up and hungrily licked her lips in anticipation.

I wanted to reply, but all I could do was eek out a yelp of pleasure as the intense tingling settled on my dick. I felt the heat consume my four inch length, and slowly seem to intensify my hard on. It was hard to see at first, but it became apparent that my penis was thickening, growing longer by the minute. My unimpressive rod was now average looking, around six inches now.

The heat burned in my chest, and I almost cried in joy as I dared to hope what may happen. The flesh beneath my nipples pushed out, forming small buds that began rapidly increasing in size. I felt the same heat burn in my rear, and could feel the pressure on my hips as they got wider. My thighs began to thicken and jiggle with my thrashing in pleasure. All the years of hating who I was were now melting off as I began to settle into my new body. The popping and rearranging of my body felt almost orgasmic.

“Elaine, you’re growing so fast! You’re gonna be so big!” Jolyne exclaimed. She was right, I was growing much faster than her, my tits rapidly moving from the size oranges to small melons. All I could do was moan and let the feeling wash over me. This was almost everything I could have hoped for.

I was pulled from my reverie by the slapping of my dick against my stomach. It had grown beyond the point of big, and had moved its way into practically outrageous. It slowly inched higher as my breasts grew to envelop the head. I could feel the thick pulsing shaft creep up in between my breasts and cried out in pleasure. I was practically giving myself a tit job as my breasts massaged my penis with their growth, now as big as Jolyne’s.

I looked up to her from my haze, and realized I had to look further up than before. I didn’t reach the bottom of her tits anymore, I was staring smack dab at her belly button. Had she grown more?

It dawned on me. “I’m getting… smaller.” My now completely feminine frame had been slowly dwindling. The world around me seemed to expand and shift as I lost more and more height. I smiled as I looked up at my girlfriend, slowly sinking below her hips. My titanic breasts now hung below my navel, resting on the tops of my thighs. I could feel myself falling, being pulled further and further downward. My dick burst through the top of my cleavage, achingly hard and begging for release.

I could feel the last spurts of my change coming to an end. My hands roamed all over my new body. I had curves for days. Hell, I had curves for weeks. My dick bounced and throbbed as I felt myself up, thick and leaking precum.

“Oh Elaine, you’re beautiful.” Jolyne stepped closer to me. Her thighs filled my vision. I had shrunk enough to be eye level with her knees now, the thought of which excited me greatly. She knelt down on the floor, still much taller than me even crouched. “I knew this would work. You’re who you’re supposed to be now.” She smiled warmly.

The tingling sensation had slowly left, leaving me with only one thing on my mind.

“Jolyne?”

“Yes baby?” She replied.

“Let’s go to the bedroom.”

#giantessgrowth #breastexpansion #assexpansion #tg

[initiala]

The Dark and Light Along the Sea

Hello, wow, I actually wrote something. This is a @csrolereversal fic with art provided by the lovely @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713​. 

So, uh, this fic goes some places. It’s got graphic depictions of violence, gratuitous goriness, death, destruction, body parts in places body parts shouldn’t be... It’s a Dark One Killian fic with Emma as... not quite the good little witch we’re used to her being. So if that’s not your jam, then go ahead and keep scrolling! Otherwise, please enjoy.

=============================================

Once upon a time, a little girl was stolen from a castle in the dead of night. She’d been born with magic, you see, and that magic was coveted by dark forces across the land. She knew she’d been stolen, because the woman she’d been forced to call Mother told her often while complaining about how much food she ate and the cost of clothing to keep her warm. Mother taught the little girl how to use her magic, though the kinds of spells she learned felt wrong -- slimy under her skin and a cold draft down her back with each success.

Mother didn’t like hearing that it felt wrong. The more the little girl spoke about the wrong feeling, the more she was forced to train, drowning in the feeling of wrongness until one day, finally, she snapped.

Mother looked like a doll that had been thrown across the room, her limbs at odd angles, her head bent uncomfortably.

The little girl, not so little these days, left without looking back.

She traveled far, searching for something to ease the knot of terrible feelings in her belly. Voices whispered in her mind after night fell, echoes of Mother twisting anxiety into her heart and others she couldn’t name leading her to fear she was going mad.

Seasons passed and her search remained fruitless. She grew tall and fair, slim from traveling the realm on foot, and earned her way through performing the only bits of magic she dared: illusion. She could turn a bushel of apples into a basket of snakes and back again, pull a dove from a child’s pocket, make coins vanish and reappear in her shoes. She stayed until the whispers in her mind became real in her ears, suspicious villagers or townsmen who looked a little too long at the traveling magic maid, then took off down the road, still searching for something that felt like peace.

One night, years later, the magic maid found herself in quiet port town; quite the oxymoron, she inquired at the inn as to why this wasn’t the bustling pirate haven or trading port she was used to.

“The Dark One, miss,” the old barkeep told her, setting before her a trencher of bread filled with a thick stew made from potatoes and ham and a mug of watered down ale. “Claimed the castle up the way. Doesn’t much bother us townsfolk, but his presence bothers outsiders. Anyone as wants to trade here comes and does his business quickly, then sails out again on the next tide. As fer pirates, rumor is the Dark One used to be one hisself and knows their treachery. Forbids it, see, less someone else comes to try and claim his power.”

She thought about his story as she ate slowly. She’d heard of the Dark One before, mostly as a bedtime story from Mother to warn her about how people would want to use her power for their own. The last Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, had apparently vanished a few hundred years ago and no one had seen concrete proof of his successor. Yet, allegedly, he was here, in this out of the way town, living amicably beside a town that didn’t seem to care he was there. Then again, she mused, if they’d all grown up knowing he was there and hadn’t done anything before, they probably didn’t see a need to feel afraid of him. And if it kept trouble away, all the better for them.

People around these parts, she discovered, turned in early; she considered herself lucky for having made so much coin in the last town since there would be scant opportunities for her to sing for her supper. She paid up front for two nights at the inn, giving herself a chance to rest and maybe find a cobbler to fix her boots before going somewhere without the Dark One’s shadow looming overhead. Trying not to count and recount the coins left in her purse, she retired early as well, looking forward to a night indoors with a soft bed. Maybe, she thought with a wry smile, mice and bugs would be terrified of the Dark One too, and she’d have a peaceful rest.

The candle was unlit when she got to her room, and she scowled, fumbling in the dark for the flint and steel she kept in her pouch. Sparks flew as she tried to light it, cursing under her breath the whole while; she wasn’t good at using this stupid thing for small fires, she could barely do it for a campfire out on the road-- “Why do you use that thing?” a male voice asked, the candle wick flaming to life.

She whirled, conjuring a fireball in one hand and ready to burn whoever dared come for her in the night. “Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing here?”

“Interesting questions,” the man replied, waving his hand carelessly. Her fireball vanished and she felt like the air was being squeezed from her lungs. “Some might call me hell incarnate. Others simply call me by my more colorful moniker.”

Several other candles lit around the room, giving her a better view of the man before her. He dressed simply, in either dark colors or simply black, with a long leather greatcoat and heavy boots. A hook where his left hand should have been glinted wickedly in the light. His hair fell rakishly over his forehead and one eye, slightly disheveled and looking like it had been some time since its last wash. But it was his piercing blue eyes that caught hold of her, red-rimmed and exhausted as they were, watching her with cautious interest. “The Dark One,” she said faintly.

“Ah, so you’ve heard of me. No need to answer that, I know all about your little chat with the barman downstairs. I’ve got ears and eyes all over this town, looking for people such as yourself to cross into my territory.”

“People like me?”

“Magic, love,” the Dark One said, his heavy footfalls echoing around the room as he came closer. “I could practically smell your magic the moment you crossed the border of this little place,” he continued, leaning in and breathing her in to prove his point. “Never before have I met anyone with as much raw power as you.”

She shivered, her magic reacting to him in a way that made her hair stand on end. It liked him and that frightened her -- her magic barely liked her, leaving her with those terrible feelings when Mother had trained her, fighting from her control every time she tried to use it to light a fire or performing for her own survival. She felt it wrenching from her control even now, reaching for him and twining about him like a cat. “Interesting indeed,” the Dark One murmured. “What’s your name, love?”

Mother had drilled in many things to her over the years: don’t eat so much, stop growing so fast, stop being ungrateful for the roof over your head, listen only to Mother, never do any sort of magic without exacting a price, never give anyone your name lest they have power over you. She hesitated now, and his eyes hardened. “Your name,” he said again, and she felt his power squeezing her, forcing her to obey his will.

She closed her eyes and forced her magic out, against his and whatever hold he was trying to put on her. He flew back, stopping just before he hit the wall, and when she opened her eyes again she took some satisfaction from the infuriated look on his face. “You have no power here, Dark One,” she said firmly.

But, just as quick, she felt her magic slip from her grasp as if he’d pulled the rug from under her feet. It hurt, having her magic pulled from her, and she pulled back with all her will to keep it from escaping into whatever magical trinket he was keeping in his pocket. He stared at her like he’d never seen anyone quite like her before, and the magical tug-of-war ended. She felt her magic slip back under her skin, under her control, and glared at him defiantly. “Killian,” he said finally. “If it makes you feel any better, we can trade names. Mine’s Killian.”

She kept glaring, unsure if this was some kind of Dark One trick; she didn’t know a lot about this particular Dark One, but she knew his predecessors weren’t afraid of using any sort of trickery to get what they wanted. “What do you want, Dark One?”

“Your name. And to know why someone so powerful as yourself has crossed into my domain.”

“That’s easy enough. I’m traveling.”

His eyes glinted, clearly aware she continued to dodge the question of her name. “Traveling where? And for what?”

She shrugged. “Nowhere. Everywhere.”

She felt a tendril of his magic reach out to probe hers again and she pushed it back, fixing him with a steely gaze again. The Dark One -- Killian -- regarded her again. “Your magic walks a fine line between darkness and light, a line I find interesting. The depths of the darkness you’re capable of -- and the strength of the light -- should have most of the realm after you. Is this why you travel to places like ‘nowhere’ and ‘everywhere’?” he asked, his tone mocking as he threw her answers back in her face.

“Maybe.”

“Not very forthcoming, are you?”

“With strange evil wizards who let themselves into my room? Why should I be?”

In a flash of red smoke, he was in her face again, nose brushing up against hers. She could feel his breath on her cheek when he spoke, “Because I may be the only one capable of helping you.”

She put her hands on his chest and shoved, but he didn’t budge. “Why do I need help?”

A slow grin stretched his lips, making crow’s feet around his eyes, but it did little to soften him or reassure her. “There’s darkness in you, little witch, and I sense trepidation where it’s concerned. You want the light, but don’t know how to reach it. You fear the dark, yet you’ve dabbled in it. Who taught you darkness?”

She found she couldn’t look away from his eyes, intense and oh so blue. She wondered if he could simply hold someone with his stare like this, or if there was something else at play, the same something that forced the words from her mouth, “Mother. Not my real mother, the… woman who took me.”

He blinked and she could look away, though she did so only briefly. “What happened to her? If she’d already taken you as a prize, I’d be sure she wouldn’t let you slip away so easily.”

Her throat worked but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it. Her gaze dropped to the floor, staring at the way her feet fit neatly between his wide stance. “You killed her, didn’t you?” 

She nodded.

“No controller, but no protector either. You’ve been running ever since.”

Another nod.

“Did you want to?”

She hesitated. She’s thought for years about this very question. Had she wanted to kill Mother, or had it just been some kind of unfortunate accident? Her powers slipping out of her control, spiraling from her own frustrations and fears, directed at the one person who’d sparked those feelings for her entire life?

Did she want to? Maybe, in some small, dark part of her heart.

Maybe not such a small, dark part anymore.

She met his gaze again, unsure, and an unreadable flicker of emotions crossed his face as he considered her nonanswer to his question. “Emma,” she whispered. “My name is Emma.”

=====

Once upon a time, a man fell in love with a woman. This happens often enough, you see, but this particular woman was already married. But she was desperately unhappy in her marriage and begged the man to take her away; the man happened to be a pirate, renowned and feared across the seven seas, but the man also believed in good form, and carried on with ideas of dashing rescues and the like -- what could be more dashing a rescue than a woman trapped with a man she described as a monster?

What the man didn’t know, however, was that the monster was more than what he appeared.

The monster killed her, this woman they both claimed to love, and the man swore revenge as he buried her at the bottom of the sea. He left that very day to find the tools to enact his revenge, stopping time itself while he laid out his plans. And it took years more before he finally succeeded, swiping the blade that was the key to the monster’s power and taking it for his own.

The blade and the power.

To kill the monster was to make a monster of yourself, for the power of the Dark One could only pass on to whoever slayed their predecessor. It was a terrible price to pay, but the man was too far gone into his hate and drive for revenge to care much for what happened to him next.

The power of the Dark One buzzed in his ears for decades. He locked himself away in a castle -- he may have killed the previous owners, he couldn’t remember now -- drinking himself into a stupor to quiet the voices in his head telling him how to use the darkness to his advantage. Darkness had taken the woman he loved from him, and for all he cared it could drown with her at the bottom of the sea.

Time moved differently when one was functionally immortal, he discovered, and spending most of that time drunk made it nearly impossible to tell what century it was. Occasionally he woke out of his stupor to find blood on his hands or entrails in the entryway, with no memory of how any of it got there. But the voices of the darkness whispered in his ears still and he found himself wondering if the darkness just took hold, using his body as some sort of vessel to carry out its desires.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

By the time Emma found her way into his castle, he mostly had himself under control. He’d spent years actually reading the tomes that had found their way into his collection, learning to set defenses like invisible glass walls between himself and the darkness, meditating to quiet the voices in his mind. He drank less, though it became increasingly clear that awareness of the passage of time was incredibly boring. Immortality and having no clear purpose of what to do with that time was terribly dull, and when the boredom became insufferable he would drink again, only to find himself with the same problem as before. The fragile glass that made up his protective walls was shattered every time, the darkness flowing through his defenses and dragging him down further each and every time. There were fewer mysterious body parts strewn about after these blackout periods, less blood on his hands, but sometimes treasure would find its way into his possession and he had no idea where it came from.

Once a pirate, always a pirate, the darkness would taunt, until he slammed up his defenses and shut the darkness out again.

Keeping the darkness at bay proved to be more difficult as he introduced Emma to his books on light magic. The taunts grew louder and more frequent and he found comforts at the bottom of a bottle four nights in seven. Even Emma noticed something was off with his manner, seeing as how they were the only two living creatures in the castle. After a month of him disappearing in these blackout rages, she confronted him after their lessons. “Is it me?” she asked pointedly. “Do I drive you to drink and run off somewhere? Do I need to leave?”

“No,” he said hoarsely. “Yes. I don’t know.”

“Are those answers to my questions, or is it a general statement of incompetence?”

He glared at her, the darkness whispering in his ear to silence her smart mouth permanently. “You walk a fine line, little witch.”

“Silence me then,” she said, shoving herself up in his face. “Do it. I know you can, you just haven’t yet -- I’ve seen the mess you leave when you come back. Is this your normal thing or is it just too much to be in the same fucking castle as me?”

She was right, he realized. He could kill her, but something kept him from doing so, even when he was in one of his rages. That was curious -- clearly he had no problem doing away with whatever was bothering him, but even though she was what brought the darkness out she was never the target of his ire.

Curiouser and curiouser.

“No,” he said finally. “This is something that requires… meditation, I think. And perhaps a change in your lessons.”

He would keep her from the books containing only light magic, that was all. The darkness whispered in his mind that she could be a power to rival his own, a terrible and beautiful queen at his side, if he would show her the books with the blackest of magics, but he didn’t want that. The darkness in him hated and feared her potential for light, but it was something else that drew him to her, like a moth to a candle. She wasn’t wholly tarnished, not like him, but she knew the taste of villainy and what it could do.

What do you plan to do with her? the darkness hissed, the evil imp always lurking over his shoulder. He paced in what amounted to his study, the sky full of stars and Emma slumbering somewhere below in the castle. It wanted to take her and twist her, but he refused to allow it.

For the first time in years, Killian spoke aloud to his demons. “I don’t plan to do anything. She gets what I never had in all of this: a choice.”

====

Once upon a time, a young woman lived in a castle. This wasn’t the castle of her birth, but it was a castle all the same -- drafty and enormous, far too many rooms for the only two people living in it, and full of secrets. She found many of these secrets on accident: hidden passageways, libraries full of cobweb-covered books, a treasure room full of magical artifacts that made her magic itch under her skin. Some secrets were laid in the open but never talked about: the blood on the doorstep most mornings, the hand she found in the kitchen, a collection of ears in a chest.

This should have, and would have, frightened any number of normal young women, but Emma was far from a normal young woman anymore.

She knew he was the Dark One, so finding collections of strange, arcane objects and evidence of dark doings wasn’t as outrageous as it may have been. Killian treated her well and never made threats against her -- outside of arguments, where she gave as good as she got and was rewarded with an amused smirk -- so she never felt unsafe in his presence, but the way he seemed to drink heavily and return with more strange talismans and more blood left around the castle after their lessons did bother her. If she was the cause of all this rage and theft and dark magic, why wasn’t he taking it out on her?

She shouldn’t be asking why she was still alive, but the thought nagged at her all the same.

Mother had always drilled into her to expect the worst in people, after all.

But even confronting him didn’t give her any answers, only a change in what she was given to study. Light magic left her feeling odd, like her head was stuffed with cotton and her limbs tingled like she’d touched something metal after walking on carpets in winter. It wasn’t worse than the feelings she’d had when Mother made her cast dark spells, but it still didn’t quite sit well with her. “Not a light witch or a dark wizard, just… something dull and gray in between,” Emma muttered one night, flipping a page and squinting to read the writing by the light of her candle.

“Hardly dull, sadly.”

It was Killian’s voice, but there was something different about it. She turned in her chair and he leaned against the window. He looked terrible, sallow and hollow-eyed in the candlelight, his hair matted down as if he’d been sweating through a fever. He grinned and it was unnerving, lips stretched a bit too wide and showing a few too many teeth. His skin even glistened in the light, making her wonder if he really was feverish -- could Dark Ones get sick? “He likes you,” he said, and again she tried to pinpoint what was different about his voice. “That’s the only thing keeping us from slitting your throat when you sleep -- no, that’s far too easy, we like to watch people squirm. You’d shriek, wouldn’t you? Beg for mercy, offer us whatever we like if only we’d let you live?”

There were multiple tones in his voice -- a deep baritone cracking over words, a high-pitched giggle trilling at the end of a question, a cold feminine rasp. This isn’t him, she realized. “Is this what you do?” she asked. “Take him over like he’s some kind of puppet and whisper scary bedtime stories?”

The Dark One moved so fast it was like a blur, hovering over her and pressing her back in her chair, and this close she could see the manic look in his eyes, the pinpricks his pupils had shrunk to, the redness and the deep purple splotches under his skin. “He’s weak,” they rasped -- and it had to be the voices of Dark Ones past, that’s what Mother had said, right? No one could truly kill the Dark One, only take on the mantle of all who came before? “He refuses to act as he should, dabbling in training a witch like you in light magic. He could be powerful and feared but he locks himself away like--”

“Like a terrible thing that needs to be locked away?” Emma snapped, pushing him -- them -- away. “I haven’t heard of anything as bad as the last Dark One, so apparently he’s doing a good job of that. You’re just mad you don’t get to run as free as you want, you’re like a dog tied up at the market--”

Pinned to the wall by the hand to her throat, the rest of her taunt died as she struggled to breathe. Her feet couldn’t touch the floor and she wrapped her hands around his wrist in futility. “K--Kil--”

The wicked snarl on his face only widened and for the first time she felt true fear around him. “Killian--”

His face twitched and his features relaxed into something less feral, his eyes returning to normal, then widened in shock and fear before he pulled away, letting her drop to the floor. Emma gasped, pulling in air until her chest hurt, and coughed to clear the tightness lingering around her neck. She saw his boots shuffle backwards, and then a swirl of red smoke signaled his departure, leaving her to process what had happened.

Alone.

====

Once upon a time, a man slew a monster, only to become a monster himself.

The darkness loved to play with his mind, replaying the deaths of those he loved most over and over in his memories, twisting them and making them worse than even the horrible truth had been. He saw Liam’s skin crack open and bleed black blood, darkness seeping out of his nostrils and the gurgling sounds of a man drowning in his own blood so real that Killian was no longer sure if he’d only died of dreamshade poisoning and a stopped heart. He saw himself ripping Milah’s heart from her chest and crushing it, watching her collapse lifeless onto the deck of his old ship -- worse was knowing that the previous Dark Ones shared his mind and this was entirely likely to be a true memory with his own face plastered over Rumplestiltskin’s. But there were other nights when he was treated to visions of abusing the power one had over possessing another’s heart, taking possession of her mind and her body. He didn’t know if someone could be killed while their heart remained whole and outside of their body, but the darkness showed him all the ways it could have made Milah walk willingly into her own death, by her own hand or others.

Once, Emma commented that he looked feverish all the time, like he was overheated and needed a cool bath. Dark Ones were hardly bothered by something as simple as the temperature, but the worst fates that could be laid upon those he’d once loved were enough to give even the most mortal of men the sweats.

Waking from his latest plunge into the darkness, seeing Emma fearful of him and being crushed by his own hand? He was willing to walk into a thousand fiery deaths if only to make up for the terrified look on her face.

He stayed away from her for a time; she didn’t leave, which was curious, but he saw her in his scrying bowl in the library, her head bent over her books and purpling marks around her neck.

He hated the sight of that. She had such a lovely neck, she --

You like her, the darkness had whispered, weeks before, and he’d vehemently denied it. He was interested in what she could become, that was all, and it was to his advantage at the time to indebt her to him. But she had a choice now, he’d promised himself. He’d freed her of the debt she never knew she’d had, removed the price of learning.

The darkness liked exacting payment from people. Was that why it had acted out, taking over in his moments of weakness, hurting her?

She was still in the library later when he slipped in, his hand in his pocket. She looked up when his footsteps grew near and it was a small comfort that she didn’t cower away from his approach. “You look better,” she commented.

“You don’t,” he said, and went behind her, draping his gift around her neck.

The diamond necklace had arrived in his treasury as most things did: with no knowledge or history of how it got there, only his bloody hand and hook and the scent of expensive perfume lingering on his clothes. But diamonds, like all gemstones, held magic well and the sheer number of them would do wonders to speed up the healing spell he’d placed on it. Emma’s hands went to it, automatically holding the chains in place as he looped them around her neck and used a bit of magic to help close the clasp. Stepping back, he noted with pleasure that the bruises were already starting to fade. 

She conjured a mirror to see the full effect and he noted how easily the magic was done; when she’d arrived, she couldn’t even conjure sugar for her tea, but this was more solid, more real, and easily broken if done incorrectly. “You’ve improved immensely,” he murmured, watching her admire the jewelry and the healing effects.

“I had a good teacher,” she said, her voice just as low.

“Emma, about the other night…”

“Don’t. I know it wasn’t you,” she said, catching his reflection’s eye.

“It doesn’t make it right,” he said. “I apologize, for harming you as well as frightening you. I…”

She shook her head. “It’s… well, we can move past it. It was something beyond your control.”

Fury built in his chest, not at her but at the circumstances of her life that made her shrug away a brush with death. He could have killed her, the power at his fingertips -- the power controlling his fingertips -- should have killed her, but something in her had broken through and found him drowning in the depths. “No, Emma,” he snapped, making her look back at him. “The darkness is afraid of you.”

“Me?” she asked, surprised.

“You. You’re… different. It’s… it doesn’t like to be challenged, only obeyed. I have been a consistent thorn in its side, refusing to do as it wants or follow orders.” He felt like he bled these words out, the darkness ripping at his defenses to keep him silent, keep him from spilling its secrets to this woman it feared so much. “It’s particularly damaging when my defenses are down, or when it can break through them. I don’t remember where I go or what I do, though I have an idea. I’m weak, especially susceptible to its control, and your challenge only made it… worse.”

“So it is my fault,” Emma said softly.

He turned her chair and knelt before her, looking at her properly for the first time in days. “No,” he said earnestly. “You… you frighten it, which is enough of a miracle on its own. It’s not your fault I was weak, that I couldn’t control it. I’d wondered why it hadn’t led me to kill you if it was so frightened of you. And I wonder still, but I believe the other night was because I refuse to let it indebt you to me when you’ve completed your training.”

He watched a thousand emotions cross her face; she’d told him how she’d grown up, enslaved to the woman she’d called Mother with fear tactics and the threat of being controlled by others for her magic. He refused to be one of the monsters in her childhood nightmares, chaining her and claiming her, using her as the darkness saw fit -- just as he’d hidden the dagger that bore his name, refusing to let others chain and claim him to be used as his jailer saw fit.

He knew what it was like to have the threat of freedom stolen from under you and refused to allow her the same fears.

“It’s afraid of me?” she asked, and he wondered when she’d taken his hand in her own; she squeezed as a flicker of wonder and fear crossed her face.

“Terrified. I don’t… I don’t know how well I can control it, but it’s why I changed your learning around. It was worse with the light magic.”

She looked away. “I see… and it would probably like it if I did more dark magic, but I can’t stand the feeling of dark magic.”

She’d like it more if she practiced more, the darkness whispered in his mind, and he wondered how often that her mother had the same thought. He gripped her hand tighter as he slammed his defenses back up, imagining a wall of glass three feet thick between himself and the demons taunting him. “You don’t have to do more dark magic. You don’t have to do anything to appease the darkness, Emma, that’s my burden to bear. In fact --” The idea struck him so suddenly that he didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it sooner. It wasn’t as if he’d formed a particular attachment to the place, and there were enough enchantments to keep it running that she would hardly notice if he’d left. “Perhaps I should be the one to leave. There are enough learning tools here to keep you busy until you feel ready to move on. You’ve been doing well on your own with the magics I can’t do, and you’re surer of yourself than you were when you came here. I can spell a few rooms to make them safe to practice in without causing havoc across the countryside.”

The more he spoke, the better an idea it became. He would leave the castle to her, let her practice and perhaps visit the port enough to reassure them the Dark One was truly gone. He knew the town suffered a bit from trade from his presence, but the threat of him had also kept the peace so no one seemed to mind all that much. Perhaps she’d simply stay, take over as the lady of the land. She’d do good here, not some insufferable white witch like those blasted fairies, but not a terrible dark queen like his demons wanted her to become -- a real person who understood there needed to be balance.

“Killian.” Emma’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he noticed the confusion in her eyes. “What are you saying, that you’d give up your home for me?”

“Well, more that I’d give it to you, let you--”

Whatever he’d been planning to say next died in his throat as she leaned forward and kissed him, and for the first time in a very long time all of the voices that haunted him fell silent. He felt normal, with no looming darkness in the back of his mind making him feel like he needed to keep looking over his shoulder, keep running, keep doing something to keep the darkness from swallowing him whole.

Like there was a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel of his life.

She started to pull away and he realized he’d done nothing but let her kiss him with no reciprocation. Well, that simply won’t do, he thought, and for once there was no response from anyone else except himself: I need to kiss her again.

And so he reached for that light, meeting her lips again, and feeling like her shine could ward even the darkest of his nightmares away.

====

Once upon a time, darkness descended from a castle tucked away, and brought light to a town by the sea. The traveling magic maid, it seemed, had staked her claim, though to what exactly the townsfolk were never quite sure. No longer did she dabble in tricks of her trade: instead, they found her hands pressed against the earth, against feverish skin and splinted limbs. She disappeared each night, back to the castle where darkness lurked, but returned each morning with a smile and a will to continue her work. What to make of her, they hardly knew, but it was the pirates, in the end, that brought shadows on the heels of her light.

Rarely had the Dark One been seen in all the years he’d festered in the castle up the way, but down he came, in answer to the maid’s call, a raging force stronger than any sea. The townsfolk stuck to the shadows while he made quick work of the pirates, trading murmured words when the maid removed her cloak and made to follow. Light turned to dark, turned water red at port, and only when the screams were silenced and their hands met did the magic in the air fizzle into something altogether gray.

The blood didn’t seem to bother her, the maid, and it went hardly noticed by the Dark One as a heavy mist crept into town, his teeth gritted all the while muttering about bad form. The maid only leaned in close, her hand on his cheek and an almost peaceful calm on his face at her touch; she whispered something that may have sounded something like home, and the red followed them up in a cloud of smoke.

And when the next dawn broke, the maid returned, with the same beatific smile on her face as always, and went back to her work keeping all but the worst darkness at bay.

#captain swan #cs ff #cs fanfic #cs role reversal #cs angst #ouat #it's angsty yeah and also just.... it's fucked up in parts

[thorcat]

LF RP Contact | WoW | Bhaal

(Art by spectr00m, https://www.deviantart.com/spectr00m/art/Bhaal-482238903)

ᛃ THE BASICS ––– –– –

Occupation: Inscription, mercenary for hire

Hobbies: Fishing, drawing, handling animals

Race: Human | Deathknight

Sexuality: Pansexual, Poly

Relationship Status: Single

Languages: Common and a little thalassian

Alignment: Chaotic good

Color-Wheel: Silver-Blue-Black

ᛃ PERSONAL ––– –– –

Residence: Mostly dwelling in her own garrison because of the quiet woods, sometimes in stormwind

Place of Work: Currently looking for work | At her own place

Birthplace: Tirisfal Glades

Fears: Rejection by other beings because of her cursed life

ᛃ APPEARANCE ––– –– –

Height: 5′4ft.

Build: Slightly toned

Age: 35

Gender: Female

Skin tone: Pale

Eye color: Ice Blue

Hair color: Silver

Body Mods: Piercings

Distinguishing Marks: Scar on her back, the killing blow she had recieved from the lich king before turning deathknight

Common Accessories: Ink and feather with a bunch of scrolls, weapons, treats for animals

(Art by Schlafmuetze, https://www.deviantart.com/schl4fmuetzesartcave/art/comission-run-forest-477850643)

ᛃ BODY LANGUAGE ––– –– –

Walk: Confident

Voice: Stern when with people, Gentle when with animals/dragons

Tics or Mannerisms: scribblings things she sees, trying to pet any animal..no matter how dangerous or massive it is

Smell: Fresh fallen snow, animal treats

Posture: Stiff and weary

Disabilities: None

ᛃ RELATIONSHIPS ––– –– –

Partner: None

Parents: Dead

Siblings: None

Children: None

Pets: Falcosaur hatchling and an emerald whelping she decided to keep as ysera died

ᛃ PERSONALITY TRAITS ––– –– –

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Addictive / In Between / Nonaddictive

ᛃ RP HOOKS ––– –– –

Runes/scrolls: If you need any, she will gladly make them to support in battle against foes or tries teaches some basics

Battle: She is able to hold a sword but horrible in fights. The woman would be thankfully to get a swordmaster (maybe a ebon blade companion) as teacher,

Drinks: Bhaal would never refuse a drink or two, to at least grand herself the little illusion of being alive

Animals: Nothing makes the woman crawl faster out of her little ice shell. For her, animals are honest and not judging.

Dragons: She never dared speaking to one of the aspects, but got a high respect for them and their brood. Meeting a dragon would be some sort of fresh encounter

(Art by Clover-Teapot, https://www.deviantart.com/clover-teapot/art/Bhaal-Chibi-Commission-509599029)

ᛃ About the Woman ––– –– –

Bhaal, born in the tirisfal glades, had always a great talent to draw and mimic the old art of runes like the kirin tor used in their spell books. During the lack of knowledge of those, a mage took the woman in to teach writing and basics about those spells..which were almost impossible to weave, but at least easy to recreate in form on scrolls.

Said talent was swiftly noticed by the prince of lodareon back there. The prince, known as arthas, was hunting down some sort of demon..a demon who had caused massive destruction and horrible outcomes around his and her own home. With a well picked expedition, sh was allowed to travel to nothrend and create those supporting scrolls who were used by the local mages to increase the defenses, heal the soldiers and cause some serious fire damages to those undead foes they had to face every day.

Soon though the prince disappeared and left the camp alone, to search something she wouldn't be able to understand. Instead she kept on creating and practiced handling a sword on the side..just in case of defense, as runes alone might not be enough in those harsh wilds. With the man's return, everyone thought that either their journey would finally find it's end and everyone able to travel home, but none of that was the case. Instead the by now twisted price slaughtered down the camp and burned the ships to ensure that no one would be able to return and give message of the horrible act. Sadly those runes sure turned out to be useless as defense and the amateur like act of holding a sword alone made the crazy driven prince only gifting her a tired smile. She was forced to share the exact same fate as the rest and the bodies got dragged to one of those cursed undead places, to wait for the most godless act ever seen.

Together with a bunch of capable soldiers, they got revived as deathknights to serve under the lich kings heavy leading tone.

While everyone went out to play it's role as pawn of the undead leader, the woman was hold back and dragged to the forges, to do what she had done best in her living times. Forcing and engraving runes...just not on paper, but on those very cursed swords, to allow the knight drawing out power of ice, corrupting plague and inner strength.

The solider fell in battle, as it turned out to be just a farce..a chess game to lure out a simple god damn person. Said person was able to beat the lich king in battle, forcing him to withdraw and allowing those under his grasp to regain their old will and eventually parts of their old memory.

It was eventually the most bitter part of the woman to wake up from a nightmare to stumble right into the next one with realization, that she would never be the same person as before. Still..till this day, she simply tries to support with her rune and little magic skills, while avoiding the living as good as she can..ashamed of her own appearance.

OOC: She is a woman, who had simply seen too much bad things in her life with a mix of betrayal and abuse of her skills and body. Bhaal is overall a gentle being, but it's hard to crack that ice shell and find and warm part. Animals are mostly the key to see a little gentle and not fake smile.

ᛃ LOOKING FOR ––– –– –

All sort of RP and people: Getting into the lore, meeting up, learning and understanding all the things are my main goal! From little chatters, to small plots, everything is possible!

ᛃ ABOUT THE MUN ––– –– –

Who I am: A pink Gecko, to licks monitors and eats steaks (35 years old mun, who shitposts alot and makes memes, to try making some ppl smile :p)

Server: Outland EU, main char (Argent dawn, alt char)

Time Zone: CEST European time Zone (Germany)

Availability: When i am online, since i work in shifts

Writing Style: Varies. I am trying to adapt to people and overwhelm them with too much text

Platforms: In Game and In Discord. On tumblr it’s more -what if- situations

(Art by Ashaton, https://www.deviantart.com/ashaton/art/Bhaal-546551901)

ᛃ Restrictions ––– –– –

Generally not up to gore/maiming/killing, especially so when not brought up beforehand.

As much as i love writing smut, i want to know the muse a little more, before engaging in any nsfw content

No Erotic or Romantic themes if you or your character are under-age or just SEEM immature.

Even less Erotic themes if you are a gome. It’s a no.

Contact: Direct Messages on Tumblr or discord Thorcatte#6253

#WoW #world of warcraft #lf rp #bhaal #roleplay #argent dawn #outland

[sadlyafanofotomegames]

A Road Paved with Bad Endings - Nightshade

You know why it takes so long to talk about Nameless Bad Endings?  Because they’re so complicated and different from each other!  There’s so many bad endings.  So.  Many.  Bad.  Endings.  So why don’t we shift gears and talk about a game that limits itself to one bad ending per boy.  Sometimes you get otome games where each ending is unique and fucked up in their own special way.  And then sometimes its just “And then they died.”  And you know what?  Those endings can be just as valid.  So lets get to these shinobis and ninjas and Naruto has corrupted my vision of ninjas permanently I am so sorry.  

Nightshade is about Enju, daughter of the Koga Clan’s leader and the sister of the Iga Clan leader.  After the Iga Clan was destroyed in a war the Koga Clan absorbed the survivors.  Because of this Enju is seen as the glue keeping the Koga and Iga Clan together, and is treasured by the villagers.  But Enju wants to be a real shinobi and go on missions like everyone else.  One day she gets her wish, and travels with her childhood friends and mentor to complete a mission.  Good news, she completed the mission!  Bad news, she gets accused of killing the ruler right after.

On the way she travels with her childhood friend and bodyguard Gekkamaru, her other childhood friend and Gekkamaru’s brother Kuroyuki, and her mentor and cousin (oh no) Chojiro, as well as meeting a cold-hearted powerful ninja from another clan, Hanzo, and a libertine totally-not-a-gentleman-thief Goemon.  Who’s going to be with Enju beyond the game of life-and-death she’s been forced into?  Or in this case, who’s going to see her literal end?

General Thoughts on This Bad End Journey

So before I get to the boys I’ll just do an overview on how choices work here.  Note that I’m playing the Switch Version.  You got the boys.  You got choices.  First four chapters you make choices that the boy you want likes and then in chapter five that’s when the route starts (though some routes start a bit early, but each route’s choices still start in Chapter 5.)  If you go to the Relationships in the Menu you’ll notice the line of boys and under each one is a line of flowers.  Every time you pick a choice a boy would like, the flowers will flash on screen and the next time you check the Relationships you’ll see the flower line begin to fill in with color.  Whoever’s flower is colored in the most until chapter 4 will begin the route in 5, and to get the good end you need to continue filling the line with color as much as possible.  Don’t fill the line by the end?  Bad Ending.

This makes it pretty simple to get the ending you want.  Quick Save, make a choice, see the flowers, good.  Make a choice, don’t see the flowers, bad, quick load.  I’d recommend Quick Saving continuously if you’re like me and can’t stop smashing buttons like I’m trying to speedrun (I can read pretty fast) because if you’re not paying attention you’ll “A” yourself right into picking the first option of a choice that popped up.  I did this more times than I would like to admit to.

On the content of the choices themselves, they’re good at connecting to the themes of each boy, so even though you can depend on the flower pop-up to keep you on the path you want you can intuitively see which choices work.  This is not true for all otome games.

The Bad Endings themselves basically all lead to the same place - dead and sad.  Enju dies, then boy.  Or boy dies, then Enju.  But each ending differentiates itself in the various flavors of how the deaths occurs and the reaction to it.  Also there’s one sad song for all the bad endings and it is a mood.  Despite the simplicity of it these endings do genuinely make me sad because Enju is a cutie and I love her and how dare you do this to her and dangit now I’m fond of the boys and now they’re sad and now I’m sad and I’m listening to a sad credit song and want to eat ice cream in a empty bathtub and cry for some reason.  So lets be sad...together.  

Spoilers for each route.  Warning for Descriptions of Death and Suicide. 

Goemon - It’s All Fun and Games Until You Need to Pretend You Betrayed a Cute Girl and Cause Her to Be So Sad She Doesn’t Stop Someone From Killing Her

Goemon is a gentleman thief archetype, who’s a player (or in this case libertine?) and steals from the rich to give to the poor.  Goemon is the only real one because he doesn't give a single fuck about cops, shinobi rules or the hierarchy, and strives not to shed blood if he can help it, AND is always good to Enju (expect when he was forced to be mean and he literally cried about it later in the good ending.)  Usually I’m not for player types, but Goemon manages to pull off being flirty and playful without coming off as pervy and careless.  It helps that there’s isn’t a Mean Girl for him to flirt with to cause conflict.  But then we near the ending of the route, where Goemon has to pull off a ploy to save Enju without being able to tell her the ploy, and it sucks.  I knew it was a ploy from the start, but you still made her be sad gosh darnit!  They managed to save the good mood of the route after that spell but just thinking about it left a sour taste in my mouth.  Unless you’re in the bad end, in which case you’ll be left with the taste of TEARS.

How to Get the Bad End 

Show distrust toward Goemon.  Goemon, lets be honest here, looks a little sus.  He pressures young ladies into going out for deserts, he’s a little flirty and doesn’t seem to take things with the right amount of seriousness, you fought him on a rooftop because he’s a notorious thief you were sent to capture, you know, it might be hard for Enju to trust him.  When Enju trusts in Goemon and is ready to have a good time (no not that kind) the two really establish a bond.  But on the road to the bad end Enju always had a seed of doubt in her mind about Goemon.

What Happens

The ploy Goemon came up with was to pretend to rejoin his old shinobi clan, the Fuma Clan, and deliver Enju to the Council of the Five Elder  (who all want to be the regent for the late rulers son but need to avenge him by killing his murderer) and then double-crossing both the Lords and his old clan and escaping with Enju with them believing she died.  Unfortunately because he’s surrounded by Fuma Clan members during this ruse he couldn’t spill the beans, thus Enju was left in the dark.  Also he faked all of her friends murders.  It’s not a great feeling to become so connected to someone only to find out that they killed all your friend and will send you to your death.  

But in the good path Enju is able to still believe in Goemon.  In the bad route...she just gives up on that line of thinking.  When they reach the palace, there’s a twist Goemon wasn’t expecting.  The late ruler’s Concubine and mother of the later ruler’s son enters before any of the Lords can debate who’ll execute her and kills Enju herself, and in her despair Enju lets her.  Goemon then releases the poison that causes people to see illusions and kill each other.  Hanzo escapes with his lord Tokugawa before it hits them.

Review

This ending fits well with Goemon because its after Enju dies because of her doubt toward him that Goemon truly betrays his beliefs.  He didn’t want to kill anymore.  He didn’t want to ever use the cruel techniques he was taught as a shinobi leader.  And then he’s left holding Enju’s body covered in blood that’s not his own, tear in one eye.  Hearing the screams of lords and servants alike killing each other due to his poison.  It’s poetic. 

Hanzo - TFW You Go From Cold to Softie But Still End Up in a Double-Suicide Because You’re Girlfriend Didn’t Fully Learn Her Own Self-Worth

So Hanzo is what the kids call, a kuudere.  He’s also the oldest, being the same age as Enju’s mom.  Enju is 16-17.  I am uncomfortable.  To be fair Goemon is also around Hanzo’s age, but Goemon doesn’t act as a tutor/guardian in the way Hanzo does, so its less noticeable.  Also...he gets real saucy in the last chapter.  Saucier than the so-called libertine.  Went from 0 to 100 real fast.  There are some parts I really love about this route, but given Hanzo’s role and age-gap I feel like this is one of those ones where I wish they left out the romance altogether, but hey this wouldn’t be an otome game without the smooching, so eh. 

How to Get the Bad End

Be pessimistic, hesitant, self-defeating, make silly mistakes.  Hanzo wants Enju to be smart and willing to improve her skills.  This entire route is really about Enju’s growth, both mental and physical, in the face of overbearing odds.  So don’t do that and you’ll end up in the bad end.  There’s a loooong gap between your last choice and where the bad end hits, and in the last chapter you don’t get any more choices.  

What happens.

When Hanzo seemingly disobeys his lord’s order to kill Enju (at least, that’s what the messenger said) he planned to commit suicide.  In the good ending Enju stops him and they move on to smooches but in the bad ending...she kills him herself so that he wouldn’t have to do it.  Then she ends her life soon after.

Review

I was honestly wasn’t expected this flavor of death from this route, but I suppose its attached to the antithesis of the route.  Hanzo, first from orders and then from heart, needed Enju to live and demanded Enju to stay alive, but in the bad end she was able to kill her own lover but didn’t learn to stay alive for herself.  It’s sad, but its a little too short for me to really sink in the tragedy.  Now if you want tragedy for the entire route, well that’s what our next boy’s for.

Chojiro - This Whole Route is a Bad Ending That the Real Bad End is Almost Cathartic

Chojiro is...*long, drawn out sigh* Enju’s cousin and mentor, whom she calls “Brother Chojiro.”  Look there’s a lot of tropes common in otome games that I just can’t get behind, but here I am still playing them.  Anyway sliding that fact back under the carpet Chojiro is another seemingly cold-hearted man, but unlike Hanzo, Chojiro already has a developed bond with Enju, and that bond makes it obvious that Chojiro’s got the fuzzies deep down.  Unfortunately a lot depends on him being a shinobi who follows the rules and orders to a T, which is awkward when yer girl becomes a fugitive after being accused of murder and you’re sent to kill her.  Again, there’s parts of this route I really like if they didn’t bother with the romance.  The thing under the carpet aside I feel like there was already an established love between the two from the get go, so to have them smooch, especially after all their friends died, is a little bit...bad timing is all I’m saying.  Now the bad ending, well, that just fits right in.

How to Get the Bad End

A good chunk of the choices made are without Chojiro present at all, but if you pick the right choice you’ll still see the flowers.  A main theme I suppose would be to get the bad end Enju emulates Chojiro.  Try to be cool and calm.  It’s not real, but its how Enju sees Chojiro.  Think of what Chojiro would do, rather than what Enju truly feels.  That’s just a loose thread though.  The path to the bad end comes mainly from how the plot of the route happens, which is Enju asking if living is really worth...all this?

What Happens

So uh, that ruler Enju was accused of murdering?  Yeah he never died.  The double was killed.  In this route at least, he set it up so that the Five Elders would play a game to see who would become the guardian.  Each of Enju’s friends, tricked into hunting down Enju at risk of losing their entire village, represented one of the five lords.  But then, in the ruler’s viewpoint, Enju managed to kill four of her friends (actually they mostly killed each other...it was actually three of them who died) and was so impressed...that he decided to bring her and Chojiro to the castle to set up a death match.  Enju’s blood is boiling.  Chojiro’s blood is boiling.  My blood is boiling.  

So what are we gonna do?  Go down in style.  Enju decides that if they both can’t live in peace, then they shouldn’t have to live while the other dies either.  She convinces Chojiro, who’s revealed to be as soft as Chojiro always told her she was, to strike her as she strikes him.  They die in each other’s arms with smiles on their faces.

Review

While the choices don’t really connect outside of whether they’re good for Enju or not, the Bad End fits like a glass slipper on this horrific tragedy.  It’s poignant that its Enju who takes the lead in how they go out, when its always been Chojiro who had to be in charge.  At the end it was like Chojiro was holding Enju’s sleeve.  Sad and beautiful...and closed off from the opportunity to escape that was so close.

Kuroyuki - Kuroyuki is a Tragedy with a Neat Scarf and Losing Enju Did Not Help

Kuroyuki was raised alongside Enju and is, FOR ONCE, around the same age as Enju.  At age 8 he was sent out on a mission and only returns now to tag along with Enju and her friends during their mission.  He’s aloof and playful, but its pretty clear he gots some secrets, and has some feelings for Enju from the beginning.  Once you get into Kuroyuki’s route he doesn’t hide that fact, up and saying that he loves Enju early on in his route.  He can act very forward (forward enough to make me act like a PTA mom and evoke the three-feet-apart rule), but when he realizes Enju’s upset he’ll quickly apologize and make pouty faces.  Despite the fact that he can be a cold-blooded killer (like all the boys except Goemon can be) and also be the most calculating, he can also be a sweetie, and it feels like he and Enju are on a more even playing field than the other boys.  Kuroyuki and Enju can be pretty childish toward each other, and it can get pretty cute.  That won’t stop the plotwist, and this bad end, coming fast to snap your heart in two.

How to Get the Bad End

Okay also Kuroyuki’s a yandere.  Probably should have said that sooner.  Anytime you’re in a yandere route the choices that lead you to the good end are basically to be sensible, because your yandere pal sure won’t.  Its the same here, though its good to show some care.  So get to the bad end...don’t be sensible.  Be reckless.  He’s says they’d live together and die together.  That’s not worrying at all!  What if I want to be with the yandere who gaslit me, mom!?  Ever thought about that!?

What Happens

So in this route, the ruler was killed for realzies this time...by Kuroyuki.  He was probably killed by Kuroyuki in every route except in Chojiro’s and Gekkamaru’s, because when he kills the ruler there’s no blood or open gash, which is a mark of his type of power.  There was a deal between the Kaga Clan (who Kuroyuki was sent to train in 8 years ago) and the Koga Clan to kill the ruler, bringing the country back into war.  There’s no use for shinobi in times of peace.  What Kuroyuki wasn’t planning was for Enju to be accused of the murder.  So uh...he basically sets it up so that he’d be the only one to save her from prison and travel with her.  He lied about her friends possibly coming after her, which even I was set to believe because I was in a couple of routes where they did come after her, which was clever.  He was spot on about Enju’s father disowning her though, even if he didn’t know it when he told her, which goes to show how much of an ass her dad is.

I need to set this all up to say after all this is revealed Kuroyuki decides that if he can’t be with her, he’ll at least make a better world for her, first by killing her ass of a dad (which, like, same.)  Coincidentally Enju, determined to find out who ordered Kuroyuki to kill the ruler to save Kuroyuki, decides to confront her dad on the matter as well.  So they both meet again while facing off her dad.  Enju wants to live and die with Kuroyuki, and in her reckless rush to protect Kuroyuki her dad stabs her.  Kuroyuki kills her dad (good) then carries Enju to a clear field.  He gives Enju the only thing he can give her at that point - a happy dream that everything turned out alright, and that he and all her friends are together and happy.  Enju dies peacefully in his arms.  He promises to join her soon.

Review

I feel like I’m going to say this every time we meet a yandere, but while I like seeing yanderes as obstacles, I don’t believe in good endings with yanderes, at least romantically.  Like if a boy can only see happiness by keeping one girl by his side with rope and a red eye that freezes your shadow so you can’t move, maybe he should, at the very least, try to connect with people other than her?  Like, maaaaaaybe take a break from each other, clear your mind?  No?  Enju wants to be with you forever now too?  Tch.  

That being said, I’m glad this was the bad end for this route, and not a yandere ending where Kuroyuki kills Enju or Enju gets trapped in an illusion so that she couldn’t escape or something.  Much as I like “WTF” bad endings this bad ending struck a chord in how...sad it is.  Hands down, this one made me cry for Enju and Kuroyuki.  Much as Kuroyuki’s got issues, he gave Enju a way to pass peacefully.  It hurt me when she closed her eyes, and it hurt me when Kuroyuki cried.

Gekkamaru - The Overprotective Childhood Friend to End All Overprotective Childhood Friends

Gekkamaru is Enju’s childhood friends and bodyguard, and is overprotective to a...concerning degree.  No matter which route you’re in he’ll come to Enju’s aid, ranging from “well that’s sweet” to “oh gawd Gekka pls calm tf down.”  So you can imagine how he acts in his own route.  Despite the over-protectiveness (though I suppose when you become a wanted criminal over-protectiveness is a welcome trait) Gakkamaru is probably the Best Boy of the whole game.  He’s earnest and a real sweetheart.  Its too bad that this route is about as tragic as Chojiro’s, except the tragedy happens gradually, over and over again, not to mention his bad end...

How to Get The Bad End 

So that whole servant-and-master thing?  Yeah it’s fine.  Gekkamaru wants to act as a servant towards Enju?  Eh, don’t worry about it.  Pick options that don’t rock the boat on their relationship.  Don’t pay attention to Gekkamaru’s growing feelings, it’s fine.  It’s fine!  Not like he’ll die or anything.  

What Happens

So he dies.  Turns out Gekkamaru’s been hypnotized not once, but twice!  Enju’s mother hypnotized him into protecting Enju at all costs, and his mother hypnotized him into want to kill Enju, due to her father killing his parents before she was born.  Enju was tricked into releasing Gekka from her mother’s spell, leaving him with the curse forcing him to attempt to Enju.  Before he could do the deed, Enju tell him she loves him.  Rather than her love breaking the curse, Gekka’s role as her servant and bodyguard wins over, and he stabs himself fatally.  Enju follows after him.

Review

This ending isn’t far off from what actually happens in the good ending, but it mattered how Gekkamaru broke the curse.  What killed him was his duty trumping both the curse AND his love.  It’s what Enju feared - that his devotion was only due to the spell, and that it would kill him.  It’s poetic, but given the roller coaster of tragedy that’s happened throughout the route it feels like just another addition to it.

Conclusion

If I were to rank these bad endings from least interesting to most interesting, I’d say Hanzo - Gekkamaru - Chojiro - Kuroyuki - Goemon.  Obviously if you’re looking at good ending ranking or best boy the ranking would be different, but that’s not what we’re here for!  This is BadEndVille babey!  Chojiro, Kuroyuki and Goemon are a bit of a toss-up, since all three of those bad endings match the character and evoke a unique sort of pain.  Hanzo and Gekkamaru’s endings are also sad, but I don’t think they’re as strong a finish as the others.  Chojiro, Kuroyuki and Goemon’s bad endings feel like a real conclusion to a tragedy, while Hanzo and Gekkamaru’s bad endings feel like a “whoopsie you killed yer boy from the top!”

Still, all the bad endings are fitting for how they occur: Enju and Her Love learned the wrong lessons.  Enju constantly has to face being hunted down by shinobi stronger than her, being abandoned by the village who treasured her and the father who never acknowledged her, and sometimes she has to face her own childhood friends.  But on the way she’s often with someone who loves her, who’s willing to carry her through.  What she needs isn’t just strength and willpower, its the desire to live.  Live even when it feels like it’d be easier for everyone if you were gone, because your life is not for others to use up and wilt.  

And in the bad end, Enju fails to learn that lesson.  She dies because she can’t see happiness in living, not without the person who loved her by her side, and doesn’t realize that there is a way out, that they can both be saved.  With Kuroyuki, they both agreed that they will live together and they will die together, and in every bad end Enju decided that dying together was the better option.

It’s the same for the boys: Goemon fails to keep his beliefs after Enju dies, Hanzo fails to save Enju because he couldn’t change his beliefs as a shinobi, Chojiro fails because he’s so certain that everything he loves with eventually wilt, Kuroyuki fails because he realizes the consequences of what he’s done too little too late, and Gekkamaru fails because he couldn’t truly see himself as anything other than a loyal servant, ready to die even if that dooms the one he serves to misery.  They all became Romeos and Juliets, too short-sighted to see the light beyond the horizon.

All this to say that if you have the time after completing the good endings for all the boys, grab some ice cream or any other sweet treat that suits you and go through these bad endings.  Let those sad feels wash over you for a bit.  Then get to those bonus stories in the extras because I THOUGHT I WAS DONE-

#a road paved with bad endings #nightshade otome #nightshade #otome game

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Internship Chapter 9: Day 4 - Emira

Author Note: Here comes the last NaNo update, since November is about to end. I’m at 48 thousand words and am halfway through writing chapter 23 out of the 35 expected. I’ll let you know when the whole thing is done.

First Chapter Previous Chapter

________________________________________________________

As Emira arrived at the Illusion Coven building, she was glad that the week was almost over.

Surprisingly, Emira beat Jen to her office. She hadn’t come any earlier than usual, if four days of trends were enough to say it was as usual, but Jen’s office was empty when she arrived.

Emira had been there a couple times at that point, but never for long enough to look around. Now that she had the opportunity, she wasn’t going to pass it up.

When Emira sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk, she could finally see what all of the clutter was on her desk.

The papers, it turned out, were full of illusion spell theory. They were scribbled across uneven lines and included drawings of what the spells might look like. The diagrams listed layers together and formed complicated spells. From these, it seemed like Jen was studying complex illusion magic, far more complex that what Emira was learning at Hexside. Either she was researching it herself or someone else had given these to her.

There were also a couple picture frames on the desk, showing a small dog beast. Its image had been captured from numerous angles and was displayed prominently. As for the trinkets, they seemed to be various items. One was a deck of cards, another a set of small red balls in metal cups. There was a coin as well. Emira wasn’t sure what they were for, or what they even were.

Emira wondered what was in the drawers, but was interrupted from her snooping by Jen’s voice. “That desk suits you.” She called from the door, causing Emira to snap her eyes up to her. Jen looked at ease, like she didn’t suspect anything was amiss.

“Oh, hey.” Emira stood slowly from the chair, playing it cool and pretending she hadn’t been about to look through Jen’s things. “Good morning.”

Jen nodded at her, leaving the door to the office open as she fully entered. “Good morning.” She returned the greeting. “I was just getting our job briefing, it’s a good one.”

Emira thought that her definition of a good job was very different than Jen’s. “What are we doing?” She still asked; maybe things would be different today.

“There’s a play being performed today and tomorrow that needs help with special effects and lighting. It’s going to require some complex magic, but I’m confident that you can handle it.” Jen said with a smile, bringing a spark of hope to Emira. Maybe this job would be good, she hoped it would be. “We have to go, so we can practice during rehearsal.” She turned to leave the office, waiting outside the door to Emira to follow.

They shut the door and weaved back through the hallways to reach the front of the building, exiting out to the city streets. Jen said it was nearby, so they would walk instead of flying. Emira didn’t mind that, as long as the weather was good.

While they walked, Emira wondered what kind of magic she’d get to do. It could be pyrotechnics, like fireballs. Another option was large colored or flashing lights, those would be fun to make. Oh but maybe it would be some subtler magic, like making something invisible and then have it appear on stage at just the right moment. All of them sounded fun; there were so many possibilities.

By the time they reached their location, a medium sized building with the word “Theater” plastered on the front of it, Emira was almost excited for the job. She followed Jen in, looking around the space as they walked through. Emira hadn’t been to this theater before, but she had passed by it numerous times.

It seemed like Jen had been there before, since she walked through the lobby and into the back of the building like she knew where she was going. They passed through the hallway to a backstage area, where Jen found a witch with a clipboard.

In both construction and in theater, the witch with the clipboard was in charge. Emira mentally chuckled at that while Jen introduced them to the witch, who turned out to be the director of the play.

“I’m glad there’s two of you, we need a lot of illusions.” The director said, scribbling something down on her clipboard. “We need some fire in act 1, not real fire just an illusion,” She clarified that like it had been an issue before. “Some confetti in act 2, and spotlight work throughout the performance.” Behind the director, witches were scurrying around with set pieces and wearing partial costumes.

Jen thought about it for a moment, glancing at Emira. “I’ll take the fire and the confetti; my coworker will handle the spotlight.” What, no that was the opposite of what Emira wanted. She wanted to make the fire, not the spotlight. She didn’t have a chance to protest before Jen continued. “Does she need to learn the movement for it?” Jen asked, which, despite being annoyed, Emira knew was a good question.

“No, we have a stage technician back there to do that. He’ll cue her with the timing too.” The director didn’t look up from her clipboard while she spoke.

Once again, it sounded like Emira was getting the worse part of the job. Doing the lighting was not nearly as impressive as special effects on stage. It would probably be super simple magic too, any illusion witch could do it.

“Alright, thank you.” Jen replied, then turned to Emira. “You should head up to the lighting, I’ll show you how to get there.” She turned back towards the front of the building, walking back the way they came. Emira followed behind sullenly, with her arms crossed.

They went all the way back to the lobby, where Jen stopped at a closed door. She pulled it open, holding it for Emira to pass. There was a winding stairwell ahead.

“It’s just up these stairs, I’ll meet you out front for lunch after rehearsal.” Jen said, waving Emira inside.

Emira entered the door with a sigh. “See you later.” She muttered, before starting her ascent up the stairs. Once the door was shut behind her, all of the light faded from the room. Emira cast a quick light spell to carry with her, illuminating each step in turn.

When she reached the top, she estimated that it had been about three floors of stairs. She didn’t know for sure though, with the way they spiraled. At the top there was another door, which luckily was unlocked when Emira tried to open it.

On the other side was a small room, maybe ten feet across, with a witch sitting inside who didn’t seem much older than Emira. He had a candle lit in the room for light, and was reading from a book that was basically just a stack of paper bound together. His head popped up at the sound of the door opening.

“I’m here to power the lights.” Emira said before he could open his mouth, looking around the room as she did. Three of the walls were solid, but one had an opening. It was door sized and seemed to lead out onto some kind of rigging.

The witch popped out of his seat, shutting his book as he did. “Great, I’ve been expecting you.” He had a cute smile, but even if he’d been closer to her age Emira wouldn’t have been interested. “The name’s Kyle.”

“Mine’s Emira.” Emira tried to put her earlier irritation aside and be polite. It wasn’t his fault she was trapped here. “I think we’ll be working together for the next couple days.”

“I expect so.” Kyle replied, stepping towards the opening in the wall. “Let me show you what we’ll be doing.” He then stepped out onto the rigging. Emira trailed behind, more cautious about going out there. It wasn’t that she was afraid of heights, but falling was not an exciting prospect. When she looked out the opening, she could see the stage and the seats below them. Maybe it had been four flights of stairs instead of three; it certainly looked like it from this height.

That was just another thing to push aside as she stepped out onto the rigging. It only extended about five feet out. Once out there, she could see one large spotlight to the left and the right. Kyle had gone right and lifted his hand to the spotlight.

“These are the lights we’ll be using.” He said, moving his hand away from the device and casting a spell. The spell caused the light to turn, changing the direction it was pointing. “I’ll tell you when to turn them on and off. The focus of the spell is these devices here.”

“Got it.” Emira replied, unable to keep the dryness out of her tone. As she suspected, this magic was almost trivial. A simple light spell would be super easy to cast and even easier to maintain. She looked down at the stage, where the stage crew was moving set pieces around. She couldn’t spot Jen, probably she was still back stage.

Kyle inched past Emira to adjust the other light. “We’ll be doing the rehearsal soon. For now, want to try the spell?”

If she was being honest, Emira would’ve said no, she did not want to try the spell. Unfortunately, now was not the time for honesty and she had already committed to being polite. She lifted her right hand to cast it, quickly drawing two spell circles. When they activated, both spotlights lit up with bright beams.

Kyle whistled, seeming to indicate that he was impressed, and redirected them around the stage. The light moved well and didn’t waver, likely due to some part of the device. “This is perfect.” Kyle said, flashing her a thumbs up.

Great, wonderful, fantastic, at least he was happy. On the stage, the crew members were looking up at the spotlights, squinting against them.

A few minutes later Kyle told her to drop the spell, so she did. They were getting ready to start the rehearsal.

Once it started, Emira didn’t pay much attention to the play. She also didn’t take special care for the lights. She just turned them on or off when told, wondering when all of this would end.

She saw Jen’s fire magic in her peripheral vision, but didn’t pay it any mind.

Next Chapter

#the owl house #the owl house fanfiction #emira blight #nano is finally almost done #i'm tired #though i didn't plan well so i have to keep writing next month too #flip writes