#there’s the whole hair thing with sprig and ivy

[writesailingdreams]

What are your ideas on Amphibia’s idea of self-love and how it’s tackled?

I’m afraid I don’t have very in-depth thoughts (or more precisely I hadn’t thought about this idea until asked*). But from my few days brewing on it my answer is: I think it’s idea of self-love is something I would have been grateful for when I was Anne’s age and I think it’s tackled pretty well.

As an addendum, I felt only Anne really had an arc defined by discovering self-love. To me, Marcy’s arc was about coming to term with facing unpleasant things, and Sasha’s was recognizing how she wanted to be a better person/grow. I also don’t see any of the Plantars needing to learn self-love. Sprig might come closest but to me, his arc is more about finding a friend, someone who will actually like him/spend time with him, and it’s less him learning to love himself but finding the friend who will love the himself he already is pretty open about expressing/seems to like.

As to what I mean in more specifics (because of course), I’m having a hard time arranging it my head coherently. But essentially: I felt Anne’s arc to self-love was handled very gradually.

She’s starts out (Best Fronds) as very concerned with what her friends will think if she isn’t agreeable to what they say; she has to be likable, she has to be what others want her to be. But then she meets Sprig (and family) and live in Wartwood, where she has to make decisions on her own/withiut her usual friends. Wartwood is disturbed & distrustful but she earns their trust & respect (Toad Tax). Then later there’s Wally’s bit of “you can be whoever you want to be here” advice and her becoming less worried about whether she’s the “town weirdo” (Wally and Anne). Then there’s the whole Reunion bit with Sprig defending her and saying she’s a good person & brave & not going to be pushed around; she’s someone—as she has presented herself in Wartwood—of value and love (at least in the eyes of this pink frog boy. See this is why I get so emotional about these two?)

I’d say there’s less direct instances in S2a (at least nothing immediately jumps to mind), but by the time she’s there she has had some growth. I think this is most evident in her relationship with Marcy. By the end of her stay in Newtopia, she’s opened up to Sprig (and vice versus) (Hopping Mall). She’s learning to express how she feels and be okay with that. So by the time the show gets to Bessie and Microangelo (I love that ep), she’s happy with herself. (Oh, Tritonio helped, less in his ultimate goal reveal but in instilling in Anne an actually desire to work at something and see herself as worthy as be capable of working at something. Oh, and Stumpy’s statement that her parents would proud of what she did feels like it boosted some kind of ‘You’re ideas may be over the top but they come from a good place.”)

Like omg! To 13 yr old me those kinds subtle and but very clear & audial expressions of my value and worth would have been amazing. Maybe it’s okay to just be the weirdo you are. Maybe others *will* like you. Maybe someone will be your friend even if you share your weird and sentimental feelings. Aaaah! (Heck, I’m in my 30s and I’d still love this).

In that sense, to me, Anne’s self-love grew very much from the space where others (frogs) allowed her to be who she was and as she grew more expressive, she became more sure of herself and the more sure she became the more self-love was genuine. Anyway, I think it’s beautiful.

*this ask reminded me that I’ve been wanting to rewatch Amphibia; I have been reminded that I usually dig my teeth into fandom media when it’s complete, One Piece being the nearest thing to an exception and even then (1) it’s a lot easier to analyze Ace than other characters and (2) I usually narrowly focus or broadly react

#amphibia #anne boonchuy #all my feelings forever #frog friendship #spranne against the world #sprig plantar #best fronds #walls and anne #bessie and microangelo #hopping mall #toad tax #wsd replies #anonymous #now that I’m thinking of it #there’s the whole hair thing with sprig and ivy #hmmmm #typing this made me realize I’m doing this in an original story I’m writing/revising #the originals from which I’m extracting were written c. 2010 to 2018 I think? #but the friendship angle is more 2018 #bug yeah there’s some amphibia friendship emotions there apparently! #wsd shares #not edited

[aspynnwoofs]

So, now I’m really curious. What are your head canons? (Or at least some of your favorite ones, though I’m really fine with hearing the full list if you want to share.)

{Most of the stuff in this list comes into effect after the events of Amphibia unless specifically stated otherwise}

     

Marcy uses a wheelchair or crutches to get around after Amphibia (my main and favorite headcanon, but not always active depending on the situation I want her to be in)

Marcy has circular scars on her arms and legs from the Core armor and cable things from when she was possessed (nerve ports? electrical scars? :/

Marcy is insanely traumatized and can be triggered by small things TwT

Marcy has nightmares often

Marcy gets panic attacks 

Marcy does age regression sometimes, and when she does it’s adorable and Anne but mostly Sasha takes care of her :3

Sasha and Anne (but mostly Sash because I’m just like that) call Marcy lots of sweet nicknames like Marce, Mars, Marshmallow, Marbles, Marmalade, and Mars-Bars, but not Mar-Mar because that’s what Core-Anne and Core-Sasha called her in the illusions. Plus Andrias and he betrayed and stabbed her (My favorite of the nicknames is Marbles) :3 <3

Sasha is the best at comforting Marcy slash calming her down 

Marcy still feels guilty for years and years after Amphibia TwT

Marcy has small scars on her face where the helmet cut and dug into her skin

Marcy is really small and kinda skinny

Marcy was really skinny, malnourished, weak, and exhausted after being freed from the Core helmet

The Epilogue is semi canon depending on how i feel, it’s kinda like an AU

Sasha is buff {alternate wording: Sasha has a lot of muscle} (see pic at bottom if possible)

All of the three Amphibia girls are covered in scars, with Anne having the least. I’m debating whether Marcy or Sasha has more

Sasha’s main hairdo is the one she has in the Epilogue, similar to her hair is Season 3 but shorter (like the picture below)

(Not really a headcanon but still) Marcy has soft amber brown eyes, Sasha has cerulean blue eyes, and Anne has chocolate brown eyes

Sasharcy is a thing <3 <3 :D

The period of time that Marcy is in pain and screams during the possession is a good bit longer than in canon, making Andrias pretty much torture her 

Olivia and Yunan are Marcy’s newt moms <3

Grime is Sasha’s toad dad

Anne is officially a Plantar and Sprig and Polly are her siblings 

Marcy stays unconscious for a few minutes after the helmet comes off

Sasha got super scared and concerned for Marcy when she didn’t wake up immediately after the helmet came off 

(This is a maybe) Marcy gets gray hair from the strain the Core put on her body, maybe from the shocking and pain of the initial possession (plus a whole boatload of trauma)

Anne gets white hair from her death/rebirth, not much but some

Marcy’s hair got way longer during the months in the castle after her ‘death’

Sasha got fairly close with Ivy (Sundew) after they joined forces through the resistance 

Marcy didn’t get to get clean or sleep as Darcy so she’s in pretty bad condition after

Marcy gets sick often-ish

The rejuvenation tank is referred to as ’the pickle jar’

(This is small but anyway) After Andrias stabs Marcy a trickle of blood goes down her chin from the corner of her mouth (there isn’t blood all over the place because the hot nature of the sword cauterized the stab wound…unfortunately…)

The stabbing seriously messed up Marcy’s torso area

Marcy gets kind of mentally tortured when the Core took over, after she refused the false fantasy they had offered, they used the illusions to mess with her and get at her fears

Marcy wasn’t entirely sure Sasha and Anne were the real thing when saved because the Core messed with her 

Marcy was in a lot of pain after being freed from the Core, especially her head

In the AU called ‘You look too much like me’, Marcy gets sick and wounded more and longer than in the OG

Andrias did care for Marcy, just not enough to stand up to his dad for it (come on dude!)

Sasha’s ginormous back injury is NOT ignored and instead addressed properly 

Sasha has some trouble walking after the Sasha/Darcy fight because of the GIANT FLIPPING SLASH ON HER BACK!!! Seriously canon, when that kind of thing happens you can’t just say ‘she’s fiiine…’ and leave it! That wound needs consequences! She does end up fully recovered though 

Post-canon Anne has an identity crisis cause of the clone stuff and it takes a while to talk to her parents about it 

Post-canon Marcy has a guilt complex 

Sasha does become a therapist like in the Epilogue 

Anne does become a herpetologist like in the Epilogue 

You know what, Marcy can be a webtoon artist like in the Epilogue too

Marcy has memory problems because the Core was mean and messed with them >:(

Marcy is autistic, like very autistic (I can’t believe it took me so long to put this!) flappy flappy :D

Marcy is ADHD too

Sasha thinks Marcy is adorable <3

All three Amphibia girls have lots of sweet sweet trauma

They all get flashbacks sometimes, Marcy the worst

Sasha is afraid of falling (I mean after Toad Tower… it makes sense.)

Marcy has chronic pain 

That scene in Season 3a at the store where Anne and her parents are play fighting and Anne’s mom comes up behind her and FAKE STABS her with an orange sword, Anne has a bit of a breakdown because that is EXACTLY what happened to Marcy!

Anne is a lot more torn up about seemingly losing Marcy than in canon. Like dude, your friend just got murdered in front of you! The least you can do is be a bit more… i dunno what to say, but anyway! Dude!

Marcy has a couple triggers, like touching her head where the helmet was, touching her upper back and chest (especially the scars) holding her forearms where she was restrained, stuff like that

Marcy is short. It fits much better to her character and makes her cute and offers so many more shipping *cough* Sasharcy *cough* opportunities 

Marcy has problems with wearing helmets, it reminds her of the Core helmet, triggers flashbacks 

Marcy has huge issues with hurting Sasha or Anne, but mostly Sasha, because of how she hurt them as the Core, gets super worked up about it 

Time limit is dumb and stupid and the worst and i’m tired >:/

Marcy gets a bit nervous when she sees orange stuff, way more if it glows (basically Mar no like orange) because of the Core and the fire sword that practically killed her

Marcy can get tired/exhausted easily 

Sprig and Ivy have a good relationship 

Sasha and Anne care a lot about Marcy, and get worried when she gets hurt or sick or something and it’s great

Sasha is stubborn and doesn’t like to let people know when she’s not doing well 

Sasha is very good with kids

Sasha and Marcy’s parents aren’t very good parents 

Anne’s parents see Sasha and Marcy kind of like daughters

Anne’s parents make sure all three of the girls are doing okay because the other’s parents don’t 

MARCY DOESN’T MOVE please, i need her to stay where people can take care of her (and be worried about her)

Marcy’s blood fades back to red from green quickly 

Sasha will sometimes carry Marcy when needed and sometimes when it’s not, just because 

Marcy, Sasha, and Anne are really good friends, like really good 

You know what, I’m gonna say it again. TIME LIMIT IS STUPID and the worst and I want it to stop, and I’m tired again and I just want to reeeaaad…. Let me read plz TwT 

If they were to meet, Marcy and Luz would get along really well and would become nerd friends 

Marcy and Sasha are guilt buddies- basically they both can connect and relate through their feelings of guilt for the things they’ve done, allowing them to open up to each other in ways they aren’t able to with others, even Anne

Marcy uses little text emoticons like this when texting or writing- ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ hehe :)

When Marcy sleeps, she always snores softly 

Sasha is tall

Anne is also tall but not as tall

Marcy is teeny little short and adorable <3   :3

Marcy has *panic attacks* sometimes 

Sasha’s favorite sound is Marcy’s giggle because it’s adorable <3

Yulivia is super great and very existent 

Yunan likes to watch out for Marcy and stuff

Olivia is tired of being the only adult of the group (Yunan, Marcy, Andrias, and Olivia) and wishes Andrias would act like his 1000-yo self rather than a child… she loves Marcy and Yunan anyway 

Yunan and Olivia are very protective of Marcy 

Marcy sometimes calls Yulivia ‘mom’

Although… Yunan is ‘mama’ Olivia is ’mom’ Marcy is ‘newtling’ or ‘eft’ or whatever baby newts are called

Yunan and Marcy get really close

Olivia despises Andrias for what he did to Marcy >:(

After the Calamity Trio get home, they all stay at the Boonchuy’s while they recover :)

Marcy has dyspraxia (I found the term and use for Marcy in a fic, look it up if you want to know)

Yunan has dyslexia (i found this in a fic too, and for some reason it fits)

Olivia drinks ‘juice’ but doesn’t have it too often  ;)

Marcy and Mr. Boonchuy are besties and game together 

Marcy has newt moms she considers better parents than her biological parents (i mean look at a picture down below some Darcies)

Polly would commit arson if you gave her the opportunity >:D

Marcy’s skin is often cold

Sasha is super affectionate <3

When Marcy first got back from Amphibia, she got night terrors almost nightly

Sasha can be really flirty at times

Sasha and Hunter would be best buds and friend-rivals if they met

Sasha is the best after Marcy like wow, i dont even know why but shes my favorite after marce

Sasha does not blame Marcy even one bit for the scar on her back 

Marcy loves spicy food but has zero tolerance 

Not a headcanon! Matt Braly actually said this: Marcy’s favorite flavor of ice cream is mint-chocolate chip

Marcy uses glasses sometimes and looks adorable in them <3

The girls wear suits instead of dresses occasionally 

Yulivia adopts (or has) a daughter that they name Marceline but they call her Marcy, and she’s green

Yunan wags her tail when she’s happy

Yunan is bad at flirting 

Yulivia’s daughter has autism like her namesake 

Olivia gets really flustered when Yunan does things that show her muscles hehe

Yunan and Olivia have known each other for a long time 

Yunan and Olivia tease each other a lot 

Yunan calls Olivia ‘Liv’ (that one might actually be canon i’m not entirely sure)

Got this idea from a fic: Yunan eats grubhog bacon as payback/revenge

*GASP* I said I was gonna put his but I didn’t! Well I will now. (See next)

Sasha and Marcy would totally get married if they got stuck in Amphibia together without Anne (basically she didn’t come back after dying, so no shards to go back and no Anne, just Sasharcy)

Marcy doesn’t like wearing tight clothing, partially because it’d touch her scar, partially just a preference 

*snicker* Marky Wu       B)

Both Sasha and Marcy are no good at cooking, but Sasha is better at it and less likely to set anything on fire 

Anne is amazing at cooking 

Darcy is totally autistic

Anne is a cat person

Sasha is more of a dog person (wait, she actually says this in season 3b)

Marcy just loves animals, but also birds because it reminds her of Joe

Sasha and Marcy cuddle

Marcy and Sasha are in the hospital for a bit after Amphibia, Anne comes to visit as often as possible 

The Boonchuys really care about Marcy and Sasha, even though they weren’t the best friends before, and even though they made some mistakes during their time in Amphibia. The Boonchuys recognize that the two didn’t have the greatest home life and that they went through a lot in Amphibia, neither will be the same mentally or even physically because of their actions, and they have become better people.

Sprig and Polly are ADHD. Definitely.

Anne’s favorite colors are yellow and purple 

Sasha gets a tattoo of Grime’s symbol on her bicep

Sasha is bisexual (canonically!)

Anne’s only nickname for Sasha is ‘Sash’, but Sasha lets Marcy call her ‘Sashy’ and ‘Sashimi’ and ‘Sunshine’ and all other cute nicknames its so cuuuute and Sasha doesnt let anyone else call her that

(Why the actual heck do i want to use ‘him’ for Sasha? What?) {yeah no i’m just doin it}

If (pffft if) Sasha and Marcy were in a relationship, Sasha would call Marcy all the nicknames and names you call your gf like babe/baby and honey and sweetie along with all the cute affectionate nicknames Sasha has for Marcy. Sasha would be superaffectionate in all the ways, they’d be super cute together. They’d give each other little kisses a lot, on the cheek and on the head and stuff, and Sasha would be very gentle with Marcy. They’d cuddle together at night to keep nightmares away and to make them feel safer. Can you tell I think about them a lot? If not there’s nothing I can do for you. And sometimes I wonder why a quarter of the fanart i have on my phone is Sasharcy… plus most of the art I make… if it isn’t Marcy on her own it’s Sasha with her. I love it :)

The girls get therapy 

At first Marcy covers up as much skin as possible, not wanting people to see her scars. But she eventually becomes more relaxed about it, and wears more open clothing without getting self conscious (got this idea from a piece of fanart, i’ll put it below the stab pictures)

Anne’s parents are named      ‘Bee’ (Mr. B) and ‘Oum’ (Mrs. B)

The nickname that Marcy uses for Sasha most often, more often than his actual name, is Sashy

The Calamity Trio has special nicknames for each other: Sunshine, for Sasha; Moonlight, for Marcy; and Stardust for Anne

When Sasha is feeling extra romantic (even just a tiny bit) he’ll call Marcy Moonlight

Sasha and Marcy feel more at home at the Boonchuy’s than their own houses

Marcy is a physical touch love type of person and Sasha provides that for her

Polly and King would probably take over the worlds if they met

All of the people involved with everything get nightmares about it for years afterward

Sasha sometimes has dreams about losing Marcy, and sleeping/cuddling with her helps reassure him

When the Calamity Trio go back to school they don’t really talk to many people

Anne gets super famous from being on tv

Marcy’s hair loses it’s shine/glossiness after the stuff with the Core, and it takes a bit to come back

The Calamity Trio love going to the Renaissance fair, and Anne and Sasha will show off their sword skills and spar with each other

Sometimes Anne or Marcy (but mostly Anne) will eat bugs unprompted, and other people think they’re crazy

Anne loves frogs a ton

Sometimes nightmares, guilt, and memories keep Marcy from sleeping at night

I’m torn between Marcy having a really bad sleep schedule and Sasha needing to drag her to bed or having her sleep a lot to get the rest she needs to get better/stay healthy and alive 

Maybe sleep paralysis for Marcy? maybe?

When Marcy sees Andrias again she has a panic attack, complete with flashbacks 

The Calamity Trio have tiny flecks of their gem color in their eyes

Marcy is a really good artist and draws a whole lot 

Sasha loves Marcy

Marcy loves Sasha

(oh i was supposed to put something else? sorry i got sidetracked by shipping and i’ll just get back to it-)

Sasha loves Marcy’s art and thinks she’s amazing

Marcy draws Sasha sometimes 

Sasha and Anne both think Marcy is pretty much the most adorable person ever 

Marcy and Sasha may have both had a crush on Anne before, but then they looked at each other (you know how i feel about what happened after)

I like the headcanon of Ally being Marcy’s older sister so i think i’ll use that sometimes 

if i did anything swear related Sasha would swear way more than the the other two. Anne would cuss sometimes, but avoids it most of the time. Marcy just doesn’t, unless in a super severe situation, and when she does it startles Sasha a ton (hehe)

before Amphibia, Marcy was super naive and cheerful and happy and very visibly autistic in a lovable way most of the time, and that virtually disappeared after everything that happened to her. but then, months after getting back, Marcy starts to show that side of herself again, and it makes Sasha and Anne so happy they feel like crying when they realize 

I think the Calamity Trio would have PTSD, but i don’t really know what that means so take it with a grain of salt 

Marcy thinks Sasha looks hot in his toad armor

Marcy very much does not forgive Andrias, he def does not deserve it

Felicia Sundew knows medical stuff and can treat injuries 

Marcy cannot tell when someone is being sarcastic or ungenuine, she just can’t tell the difference, so Sasha makes his jokes extra obvious and points it out to her when someone else does it so she can understand 

Sasha loves making Marcy happy, it’s his favorite thing ever to see that the things she went through didn’t break her, and that she is still happy despite everything 

Sasha and Marcy are really good at making each other feel loved 

Anne can be aro/ace so i can leave her out of the ship 

Anne ships Sasharcy

Sasha and Sprig get along sort of but won’t admit it 

Maddie and Marcy are besties 

when Maddie found out what happened to Marcy from Sasha she was devastated and swore vengeance on Andrias

Sasha is really frogging sappy

#ooookay #that took way too long to break up #amphibia #my headcanons #i hope it doesn’t take you TOO long to read it #i had to break it up into a bunch of sections because of the block character limit #THANK YOU FOR ASKING #oh also a ton of it is me talking to myself as well

[thenightslayers-musings]

Another Reunion

Half of the Amphibians there jumped up in shock, Half of those standing had pulled out some sort of weapon.

It was the traditional Wartwood reception to anything hidden in the dark, seeing her friends and adoptive family pointing weapons toward her made her feel nostalgic, fighting back the tears she almost failed to see Polly leaping towards her, a wrench raised high about to smash her head in.

A Smile appeared on Anne's face, Polly was still Polly, the young pink frog leaped at her with the wrench raised high.

Anne caught her and held the small frog in the air, Polly of course refused to stop fighting, she was cussing who she thought was a monster, demanding that she be let go.

"Polly," said Anne laughing, it's me."

Polly stopped trashing and looked at her, the anger turned to shock.

"A…Anne?" Said the small frog girl, her voice wavering.

"Yeah it's me, I-" Anne didn't finish her sentence when Polly wormed herself free and jumped wrapping her arms around Anne's neck, the smaller frog buried her head on Anne's shoulders.

"I'm sorry," said Polly weeping, "I'm sorry I.. I.. started to forget you, I'm…"

Anne hugged her tighter, "it's okay Polly, it's okay."

“Anne, Is it you.” said the voice of Hop Pop

Anne looked at the older orange frog, there were some liver spots on him now but he was still her adoptive grandfather.

“Hey, H.P, You did say it was okay for me to stop by.”

That was all it took for the patriarch of the Plantars to start running towards Anne, however, he started to trip, Anne leapt out and caught him before he hit the floor.

“Are you okay?” said Anne terrified for the older Plantar.

“Yeah, I just, Anne I thought… I thought I wouldn’t live to see you again.”

Anne felt the old frog's tears fall on her arms, now she hugged him even tight, “Remember what  you said, We’re family we always find a way back to each other.”

Anne sat there as she held on to the two most important frogs in the world to her, however, it quickly became apparent that there was a Plantar missing.

“Sprig?” she called out. And saw the frog boy sitting on the stump, his eyes were closed

…

The moment he heard the voice he closed his eyes

It was another nightmare, a cruel nightmare, this whole day it had to be.

He knew where he was.

He was back on the boat with Ivy, her sleeping next to him, that’s the only thing it could be, after all, it made sense, he missed Anne so his mind would have a course created a perfect scenario where he would get to talk about all the things he loved about her, Where he would help his sister come to terms with Anne's disappearance, Where he would talk to Hop Pop, where he got to praise her in front of the strangers and tell her story to the town that loved her, Of course, he was a dream.

He heard his Sister and grandfather reuniting with Anne, it was everything he wanted them to feel, That’s when he heard the voice calling for him.

“Sprig?”

“No,” said Sprig.

“What,” said dream Anne her voice shaking.

“I know what this is, It’s another dream and I accept that, You’re not here.”

“Sprig please it’s…”

“I’m not going to open my eyes because I know you’re not real you're just a figment of someone I miss.”

“Sprig, It’s me, please open your eyes.”

“No I want the idea of you being back in my life to last a little longer,” said Sprig.

Everything was quiet for a moment Sprig briefly thought that the dream was over.

That theory died the moment he felt something hit him hard on the shoulder, he fell off his stump and landed on the grass, he opened his eyes to see a human standing there.

She was taller, the same size as most of the adult humans Sprig had met, She had Anne's skin, her hair was clean though now in a pony tail, Her shirt was Green and her shorts were light cream, she was wearing two boots, If this was Anne she had changed a lot.

But the look on her face and the look in her eyes brought it all back, She was smiling, that smile that always reminded him of she cared for him, he saw in the times he knew that she was truly happy.

“Friend Punch,” she said sheepishly.

The realization hit him like a Snail going over fifty.

It was her.

It was her.

The most important person in his world had returned and had just punched him in the shoulder

“Anne,” he said his voice shaking like a leaf.

“Hey Sprig, It’s been…”

Sprig Launched at Anne's chest, he wrapped himself around her neck burying his face into her shoulder, Anne fell to the ground her eyes widened in shock.

Sprig I…”

He looked up at her, crying, “I Missed you, I missed you so much, How did you get back.

“We made a portal, It shouldn’t have done this but… Oh, Frog I’ve missed you, buddy,” said Anne crying, she held on to her best friend tighter than ever, Hop Pop and Polly joined in, and the rest of the frogs walked around and cheered, Anne, didn’t hear them she was too busy, holding on to her family.

The only one who didn’t was Ivy, who was scared of what the future would bring.

#anne boonchuy #amphibia #amphibia fanfictoin #Sprig Plantar #Polly Plant #hop pop plantar

[subject665]

We don't talk about Darcy. An Encanto song parody.

The song plays during Addison's and Sprig's investigation into The COREs' connection to the New Continent...and the only person who can tell them anything about it is The Core themselves. But until now Addison didn't know that Darcy existed...

Anne: We don't talk about Darcy, no, no, no! We don't talk about Darcy... It was my 24th Birthday Sasha:(it was her 24th Birthday day) Anne: We were getting ready and there wasn't a cloud in the sky Sasha:(No clouds allowed in the sky) Anne: Darcy walks in with a mischievous grin Sasha:(thunder!) Anne: Are you telling this story or am I? Sasha: (I'm sorry, Anna Bear, go on)

Anne: Darcy says "it looks like rain" Sasha:(why did they tell us?) Anne: In doing so, they flood my brain Sasha:(Anne's parents, get the umbrellas) Anne: Celebrating in a hurricane Sasha:(what a joyous day but anyway)

Anne and Sasha: We don't talk about Darcy, no, no, no! We don't talk about Darcy

Marcy: Grew to live in fear of Darcy stuttering and stumbling I could always hear them sort of muttering and mumbling I associate them with the sound of falling sand It's a heavy lift, with a gift so humbling Always left Dad and the family fumbling Grappling with things they couldn't understand Do you understand?

Ivan(Kid Marcy and Darcy babysit): A seven-foot frame, frogs along their back When they call your name, it all fades to black Yeah, they see your dreams and feast on your screams

Everyone: We don't talk about Darcy, no, no, no! We don't talk about Darcy!

Flashback!Maggie: They told me my frog would die And the next day, dead! Flashback!Dadcy: They told me I'd grow a gut And just like they said! Hop Pop: They said that all my hair would disappear Now, look at my head! Everyone: Oh no! Everyone: Your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read

Anne: They told me that the life of my dreams Would be promised and someday be mine Chorus:(mine) Sasha: They told me that my power would grow Like the grapes that thrive on a vine Marcy: They told me that the girls of my dreams Would be just out of reach, betrothed to each other It's like I hear them (hey wit) now (I want not a sound out of you!) I can hear them now

Addison and Sprig: Oh, Darcy Yeah, about that Darcy We really need to know about Darcy Give us the truth, and the whole truth, Darcy Polly:(Sprig, your Girlfriend's here!)

Ivan: A seven-foot frame Anne and Sasha:(it was Anne's/my birthday, it was) Ivan: Frogs along their back Anne and Sasha:(Anne's/My Birthday, we were getting ready) When They call your name Anne and Sasha:(and there wasn't a cloud) It all fades to black Anne and Sasha:(in the sky, no clouds allowed) Yeah, they see your dreams Anne and Sasha:(in the sky, Darcy walks in with) And feast on your screams Anne and Sasha:(a mischievous grin, thunder!) We don't talk about Darcy! (are you telling this story or am I?) Hop Pop:(Hey, Ivy's on her way)

Chorus: A seven-foot frame (they say it looks) Frogs along their back (like rain) When they call your name (in doing so, they flood my) It all fades to black (my brain) Yeah, they see your dreams (getting elebrating in a) And feasts on your screams (hurricane) We don't talk about Darcy! Addison and Sprig:(why did we talk about Darcy?!) Chorus: Not a word about Darcy! Darcy: (you shouldn't talk about whose listening....)

#amphibia #amphibia darcy #anne sasha and marcy #hop pop amphibia #sprig plantar #OC amphibia #amphibia au #amphibia spoilers

[muffinlance]

So my friends and i came up with a sort of AU where people sprout flowers in their hair when they feel any sort of love. So anyways, ahklut crew teases Zuko about how many blue family flowers have been growing in his hair the longer he stays on the ship.

This puts his Season One hair into a whole new perspective.

---

Uncle's hair has dried flowers: his wife's panda lily, Lu Ten's dragon ivy. Everyone knows that dead flowers aren't as fragile as they seem, but he has the crewmen carry an umbrella over him when it rains, anyway. Carefully, he combs around them every morning. Leaves from the vine, Zuko hears him crooning sometimes, even though Lu Ten won't ever lose his leaves. He won't grow any new ones, either.

(Tucked away under his greying strands, still too close to the scalp to be easily seen, a bud has been growing for years. Iroh does not pressure it to bloom, but he does look forward to the occasion.)

(And then a storm, and the Dragon of the West realizes there is no way to tell a dead bloom from a live one without prying its petals open, and this he cannot do. A dead bloom can never heal.)

The Akhlut's crew find the Fire Prince's shaved head profane. When he's caught stealing razors, they crack down. Stubble grows around the black ponytail. Flowers don't.

(At thirteen, the Fire Lord set a hand on Zuko's face, and burned Ursa's sheltering rose bramble away. It would have grown back if she was alive.)

("It would have grown back if she still loved you," Azula corrects him, and he's never sure if it was a fever dream that placed her next to his sick bed, or if she really was there, her precise flames as good as any garden shears as she burned his fire lily from above her ear.)

"Whose is that?" Toklo asks, delighted and too loud, when he catches sight of the little sprig of blue flowers that are only visible when the Fire Prince lets his hair down to wash.

"No one," Zuko says, loudly. "My little sister," he says, more quietly.

Uncle's white jade flower is too large, too showy, it sticks out as it curls above his head. He snips it off between his fingers each morning, but it never stops trying to come back.

The crewmen, their own heads in ruckus and unashamed bloom, watch his daily pruning with distaste. No one ever catches what the Fire Lord's flower looks like; they can never catch him pruning it.

(They assume it's there to be pruned.)

(Zuko would like to know what his father's love looks like, too.)

His outrage at Toklo's snowdrops peaking their way through his black fuzz is as hilarious as it is worrying.

("Don't get attached, Toklo," they warn.

"But warm water," says their youngest crewmember, who has never seen a reason to be stingy with his love.)

The Fire Prince shouts and steams. The snowdrops shake quite merrily in his rage. He doesn't pluck them.

He doesn't pluck Kustaa's grudging little cloudberry flowers, either.

"Are you loving me to spite me?" the Fire Prince accuses.

"Yes," says Kustaa, who parted his hair specifically to show off the new little bud trying so hard to hide.

They don't give the boy to the Earth Kingdom. They forget to scowl while they teach him how to do new things. They stop threatening him, mostly. That shouldn't be all it takes for those little buds to start spreading among the crew.

(The Wani's crew had them, too. Back when the prince was a shouty little thirteen year old monster, they'd taken it as a sign that things would soon get better. Things did not get better. Most of them forgot about those under-developed buds, except on the odd occasion when their combs would jar against them.)

Then they fight a Fire Navy ship, and find the prince curled up as far as he can get from the man he's killed. Kustaa holds him as he shakes, a fire lily in full bloom on his head. It would look ridiculous, if it didn't look so much like blood.

He's not the prince for long after that.

His hair isn't so barren of flowers for long after that, either. Eventually, he even lets his real uncle's bloom find its place among the rest. It doesn't look so overbearing, when it's not so alone.

"I miss him," The boy admits, as they sit on the main mast (as one does).

Somewhere far, but not too far, a tired old man passes his mirror, and catches the impossible flash of something new. A red fire lily, finally unfurled into bloom.

"Zuko," he says.

This neatly accelerates his plans for active treason.

#elsewhere #the Princess Azula begins to set a court fashion for hats #(to hide her complete lack of flowers the courtiers whisper where they think she can't hear) #(a safer whisper than the brilliant crimson truth tucked above her right ear) #(when she looks in the mirror now) #(she can tell mother to shut up) #(it's a big dumb flower from a big Dum-Dum) #Garden Head AU #like Radiohead #but not #Salvage #Garden Salvage

[brb-screaming-over-amphibia]

Theories +Wishlist for s3

(these were made before the sneak peak and poster so some is confirmed/non-canon sorry!) Theories:

-I’m thinking that the first ep of Amphibia will have the Plantar family trying to cheer up Anne/get her mind off of things for a bit by going to places she likes (but they keep backfiring bc they’re places she, Sasha, and Marcy all went to) -At the end though, it has Anne find a way to really talk about how she’s feeling and acknowledge that one fun trip to the mall isn’t going to solve everything and that she’s still going to have moments where she’s sad and dealing with her grief but she can always count on her family and friends to be there for her when she needs them -(+ a bonus: don’t forget to live in the moment and appreciate what you have right now moments bc I feel like that’s a huge theme that will be there throughout the season)

-Sasha’s parents are neglectful (I’m thinking they might be rich and busy so that’s why, possibly controlling too), I just think it makes a lot of sense regarding her personality and attitude  -them being divorced would make sense too!

-Beach episode!!! BEACH EPISODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (maybe have parallels to Best Fronds???? 👀)

-An episode where Anne tries to find a way to control/channel her powers and at the end a huge attack or something big happens and the Plantars are in danger so she activates them instinctively and figures out how activate them at will

-The Plantars being confused about the names of places (Sprig: ”The Big Apple? But there’s no Big Apple?? And you thought Wartwood was a weird name!”)

-Frobo coming back bc OFC HE IS but i still feel like something bad will happen to him like i feel like there’s some kinda catch but,,,,idk man,,,,,let the big metal baby man be happy and okay -polly saving the day with her legs!!! like,,,,who knows what she can do now,,,,,,,with all this,,,,,,,,,,power,,, -for the christmas ep: maybe Anne missing her friends and wishing they were there? i feel like they probably spent every christmas together ;;; and maybe! sprig and the fam is trying to take her mind off of it! -anne using up her powers and the frog fam + her parents (maybe, depends on when they find out) having to remind her that she’s just a kid and she needs to rest too!!!! set boundaries!!!!!  -and on that topic, i feel like anne would blame herself for a lot of what happened too and she keeps pushing herself to save everyone because she couldn’t save Marcy and Sasha but a core theme of the season is to accept that it wasn’t your fault and responsibility (kinda contrasting earlier lessons in s1 and 2 where it was the opposite) and her frog fam + parents (??) will have to help her learn this lesson -IDK THIS IS A LOOSE IDEA but what if!!! Anne has healing powers!!! It’d match her nature aesthetic and also help with the final battle?? Maybe its easier to heal herself than others????? -anne is more protective of sprig + frog fam (??) bc of true colors?? if they do this i will cry

Wishlist:

-more flashbacks of the trio!!! pls!!!! 

-flashback of Anne meeting Marcy for the first time?? PLEASE???

-BABY PICTURES OF ANNE!!!! PLS!!!

-Anne going through the five stages of grief (i think if this were to happen, it’d be very subtle but it’d be good to teach to people that it’s okay and that people will mourn in different ways and for different amounts of time!)

-I do love the Sasha’s hair au where she cuts it off Mulan style bc HAIR SYMBOLISM!!! but i still really like the hair she has right now ;;  I’d be happy either way though!

-reoccurring gags with the Plantar family meeting real frogs,,,there’s so much potential,,,,,

-LIKE WHAT IF SPRIG ADOPTED A FROG DJFGHSJD (this would be such a weird Goofy and Pluto situation djfgsdjhfgsdj)

-Marcy being freed not too late into the season!! I miss her and I don’t want to see her having a lot less screentime ;;;; (this is rough bc of pacing and stuff like that, I feel like i’d be happy if she was in 7 eps, in person)

-Anne using humor to cope with her TRAUMA (F)

-Anne getting THERAPY BC SHE NEEDS IT

-Anne missing eating bugs in her food (IT’D BE SUCH A FUNNY REOCCURING GAG)

-Flashbacks or family pictures or SOMETHING, ANYTHING regarding Sprig and Polly’s parents!

-The Plantar’s having a way to be able to see Anne regularly after they head home!! BC OTHERWISE I WON’T BE OKAY

-the iconic picture of the trio coming back up again! its been a HOT MINUTE since we’ve seen it and i’d LOVE to see it used in a SUPER emotionally charged scene like!!! what if!!! it was able to bring back Marcy from her possessed form!!!!! 

-flashback scenes in the finale detailing all of anne + marcy + sasha’s adventures showing how much this whole ordeal has changed them and those around them!!! i will cry!!!!

-Valeriana coming back to help anne and the trio!!!! heck, a ton of the people who anne helped throughout the show coming back to help her!!!!! I WILL SOB!!!!!!

-MORE OF HOP POP CALLING ANNE HIS GRANDDAUGHTER/FAMILY I WILL LIE ON THE FLOOR AND SOB -anne’s mom mothering sprig and polly BC THEY NEVER HAD THAT AND THEY DESERVE IT, I WILL ABSOLUTELY BREAK  D O W N -MORE YOUNG ANNE AND HER PARENTS FLASHBACKS/MENTIONS/PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -NEW OUTFITS FOR ANNE/THE TRIO??? i just want the good fanart please -also, sprig coping with his homesickness with Anne and them comforting each other bc they now both know how each other feel ;;;; (also sprig’s probably worried about wartwood and everyone in amphibia bc of Andriass so hah a  that’s great) -BABY DOMINO???????? FLASHBACK TO ANNE FINDING DOMINO??????????? FLASHBACK ABOUT DOMINO MISSING ANNE EPISODE?????????????? those will all kill me instantly, without fail -i would LOVE to have at least a moment where Anne’s mom talks about how it was like before Anne came back, i mean!!! it’s been almost 6 months!!!!! poor thing!!! -IVY AND SASHA BECOMING BESTIES!!!!! IT’D COMPLETE THE FROG TRIO BESTIE TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -the calamity trio patching up each others’ wounds, idk if this could happen but i just WANT IT (fan content is okay too 👀) -more owl house references, thank you

#my stuff #amphibia #amphibia spoilers #amphibia true colors spoilers #amphibia season 2 spoilers #anne boonchuy #sasha waybright #marcy wu #sprig plantar #polly plantar #hop pop plantar

[animationnut]

Of Broken Spirits and Renewed Hope

Spoilers for True Colors.

Rating: K+ Summary: Three human girls arrived in Amphibia. Only one made it back home. Note: If Google has any degree of accuracy, นางฟ้า is Thai for angel.

“Home.”

Anne felt her vocal cords vibrate in her throat, felt her tongue curve around the syllable of the word, felt her lips as they moved to accommodate her vocal cords and her tongue. But she was speaking from instinct, not intent, as her brain swam in a haze of mixed colours—green, pink and blue, and the orange glow of a blazing sword—

Anne could feel herself wavering on the edge, practically see the black abyss threatening to swallow her whole, but three harsh coughs interrupted her dark spiral.

“What’s that smell?” rasped Polly, covering her nose as she wheezed. Her gags racked her small form and Hop Pop quickly whipped a handkerchief from his pocket, using it to cover Polly’s face.

The buzzing in Anne’s ears stopped and the world exploded with sound and sensation.

Dozens of horns blared from commuters who were impatient and annoyed with traffic that should have been as familiar to them as the back of their hands. Heat seared Anne’s exposed skin as the metal of the vehicle they were lying on burned from the exposure to the Californian sun. Exhaust rose in black clouds, sour and noxious, burning Anne’s nose and making her eyes water.

There was the click of the car door opening and Anne snapped her head around. The portly man gazed blankly at her as his mind struggled to comprehend what he was witnessing. With a boggled expression, he looked between the girl wearing an armoured chest plate and the three large, anthropomorphic frogs sitting next to her.

“Hi,” chirped Anne, managing to sound upbeat and cheerful. “Sorry, dude. We’ll just be on our way.”

“Where did you come from?” he asked. Anne couldn’t identify his dialect, but his accent coupled with the maple leaf-shaped air freshener and his outfit screamed ‘tourist’. “And what the heck are those?”

Sprig opened his mouth, no doubt to introduce himself, but Anne seized the Plantars in a one-arm hold, squeezing just tightly enough for speech to be difficult. “Sorry,” she repeated, using her free hand to snag the strap of her backpack.

She slid down the hood and if it weren’t for months of walking over sticks, stones and hard, uneven ground, the hot asphalt seeping through her worn-out sock might have crumpled her. But she ignored the pain as she swung her bag over her shoulder. The weight of Frobo’s deactivated head nearly sent her sprawling, but she regained her balance and took off running.

She weaved her way through the bumper-to-bumper traffic, climbing over vans and sports cars and SUVs, ignoring the shouts and curses aimed her way by the disgruntled owners. She reached the metal barrier that separated the embankment from the freeway and she hoisted herself over it.

They tumbled down the grassy slope and Anne sprinted through the trees. The sounds of human civilization eventually quieted and Anne halted her sprint when she registered Sprig smacking at her arm.

She quickly let them go and they dropped to the ground. Anne’s knees buckled as the adrenaline drained right out of her. Her mind was a mess of thoughts and her lungs felt like they were going to collapse.

The flaming blade piercing through Marcy’s chest. The stunned expression in Marcy’s eyes, the way all colour faded from her face. The tears that spilled down her cheeks, and the final words that tumbled from her mouth as her eyes rolled back into her head.

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

Anne’s agonized scream was promptly choked by the vomit that filled her mouth.

Hop Pop was by her side in an instant, hands gripping her shoulders as she hunched over and hacked into the grass. Her throat burned and her limbs trembled, the sight of Marcy falling lifeless and the sound of Sasha’s horrified howl haunting her.

The sobs that pealed out of her came from somewhere deep inside the girl. They were filled with pure loss and devastation and it echoed amongst the towering trees. Tears poured down Anne’s face, snot leaked from her nose as she cried and her fists pounded into the grass as emotion overcame her.

“Marcy!” she wailed. “Marcy, nooooo! Maaaaarcyyyy!”

Hop Pop wound his arms securely around her neck and pulled her close. Sprig and Polly clung to her, and all of his grandchildren were in a state of grief, tears glimmering on their skin and their small bodies shaking.

Hop Pop swallowed back his own sadness. As traumatizing as it had been to see a child slain in front of his eyes, he had to be strong for his family. He stroked Anne’s hair, patted Sprig and Polly’s heads, and gave comfort not with words but his presence.

Anne cried herself hoarse. When she found she had run out of tears to shed, she weakly sat up and wiped at her face. “It’s not fair,” she said croakily. “Hop Pop, it’s not fair.”

“I know, kiddo. I’m so sorry.” Hop Pop rubbed his thumb gently over Anne’s knuckles.

“She sacrificed herself to save us,” said Sprig, squeezing his eyes shut against the swell of despair. “Her and Sasha.”

Anne gave a distraught moan, her head bowing slightly as the weight of two worlds crushed against her shoulders.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” ordered Hop Pop, and Anne reluctantly lifted her chin. “We don’t know what happened to Sasha. She’s a tough one. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“We don’t know that!” shouted Anne, her voice cracking. “Marcy should have been fine, but she isn’t! She’s dead, and Sasha might be too! This isn’t how it was supposed to go! We were supposed to come home together!”

She began to dry heave, stress and panic and grief clenching tight around her heart and making her feel sick. Hop Pop grabbed her face with both hands and stared steadily into her wet eyes. “Breathe with me. In and out.”

Anne’s first attempts resulted in strangled gasps, but eventually she gained control of her breathing. “I don’t know what to do,” she whimpered.

“We worry about that later,” said Hop Pop firmly.

“But what about Andrias? And if Sasha is still alive—”

“Anne, right now, none of us are in a state to do much of anything,” said Hop Pop calmly. “To be honest, I don’t know if we can do anything.”

Anne blinked at him before realization hit. “The music box is still in Amphibia.”

Polly was crestfallen. “Does that mean we’ll never be able to go home?”

“What about Bessie and MicroAngelo?” asked Sprig desperately. “And Ivy! I didn’t get to say goodbye to Ivy!”

“Hush,” said Hop Pop soothingly, pulling Sprig and Polly into his arms. “The townspeople will take care of our snails, and I’m sure Ivy will understand, Sprig. As for going back home, I don’t know.” He let out a heavy sigh, feeling every year of his existence weigh down his bones. “Maybe we can figure something out. But if we can’t, we have each other. Home is where we are, even if we aren’t in Wartwood.”

He swept his eyes over his grandchildren, biological and adopted, and saw the words provided little peace in the moment of intense sorrow. But he knew they would come to appreciate how fortuitous it was that they returned to Anne’s world as a family, even when the losses they suffered hung darkly over their thoughts.

Anne was staring numbly at the ground and Hop Pop tugged lightly at her elbow. She fell easily into his embrace, as if she were made of nothing but feathers, and her forehead rested against the top of his head. For a moment they just stayed there, Anne’s body radiating warmth and causing Polly and Sprig to nestle closer to her, seeking her familiar heat.

Polly was the first one to hear the musical twinkling. She blinked over at Anne’s backpack. “Anne, your bag is singing.”

Anne slowly turned to follow Polly’s gaze, and it took her several seconds to register the noise. Suddenly it was as if a live wire had touched her and jolted to action, shrieking, “My phone!”

The Plantars were jostled as she dove for her bag. She ripped Frobo’s head out and Polly said furiously, “Hey! Don’t treat him like he’s junk!”

But Anne barely heard her. She plunged her hand into her bag, the bristles of her brush and points of her bobby pins sticking her flesh. Her fingers wrapped around her phone and she yanked it out.

Her text alert, which she hadn’t heard in months, was jarring to her ears. The notification center on her phone was being flooded by dozens and dozens of texts, missed calls and voicemail alerts. They poured in so fast Anne was only able to glimpse the names attached before they were replaced by another batch of notifications.

The majority of the texts were from Sasha, Marcy and Anne’s parents. There were a couple from the local police station, which caused Anne’s stomach to grow cold with fear. She hadn’t even considered the consequences of literally disappearing off the face of the Earth.

And then her phone froze, unable to keep up with the backlog of messages coming in all at once. Frustrated, Anne stabbed at her screen with her finger, but it was no use.

Her eyes fell upon the last text to make it to her notification center. It was from her mother.

Oh, นางฟ้า, your father and I miss you so much. We pray for a sign that you and the girls are alive, and that you will return home soon.

“Oh, Mommy,” whispered Anne, her fingers digging into the rubber material of her phone case.

Hop Pop approached and set a hand against her back. “Let’s go see your parents,” he said softly.

“But I don’t even know what to say to them,” she said helplessly. “I don’t know if they’ll understand. It’s…the things I’ve been through, the things we’ve been through, they don’t happen here. Not ever.”

“Well, we’re here to help you explain things,” said Sprig earnestly.

“Yeah, I’m…I think I might need some time to prepare them for you three,” muttered Anne. “They are so gonna freak out.” She glanced back at her frozen screen, and her heart plummeted as she read the most recent message from Marcy’s father. “Oh, how do I tell them?” she said in despair. “How do I tell Sasha’s parents that I had to leave her behind? How do I tell Marcy’s parents that their daughter is…is…”

Her voice wobbled and her eyes started to sting once more. Anne wanted to cry, but she didn’t have the energy nor the water for proper tears. Hop Pop gently set her phone back in her bag, which Anne allowed without protest. He laced his fingers with hers and said, “We’ll tell them the truth, Anne. That’s all we can do. We’ll tell ‘em how brave their daughters are.”

Anne gave a sniff. She tugged her hand free from Hop Pop’s grasp so she could rub at her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, for sure.”

She took a few minutes to gather herself, to try and clumsily sort through the heavy emotions swirling in her chest. She wanted to mourn, but there wasn’t time. She had to see her parents, had to tell them what happened.

“So, how long have you been gone?” asked Polly in a small voice, embarrassed by her earlier outburst. “Does time work the same way here?”

“Um…I don’t know.” Anne gestured to her pink backpack, where her phone was once again nestled safely inside. “It froze on me, so I can’t check the calendar or anything. And I didn’t get to see the dates on the first few rounds of texts.” She looked over to see the pollywog nuzzling Frobo’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Polly. I shouldn’t have thrown him around like that.”

“S’okay,” mumbled Polly. “I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m just really sad and upset right now.”

“Me too.” Anne leaned over and brought Polly into her arms, pressing a gentle kiss against her head. “I’m sorry, Polly. Maybe we can fix him.”

“Yeah,” piped up Sprig. “He just needs a new body, right? When we get home, we can go back to that weird machine place and get him a fresh one.”

Polly perked up at that. “Yeah…yeah!” she said. “If we keep his head safe, we can rebuild him!”

There was hope in her eyes. It glimmered and shone and Anne found herself hypnotized by it.

Something flickered in her heart.

“Until then, we’ll do what we can here.”

Hop Pop, Polly and Sprig looked at her in surprise. The teen’s chin was set, her mouth settled in a determined line. “Anne?” ventured her best friend. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not just going to sit here and wait,” said Anne. Her own hope ignited, and the spark soon blazed throughout her whole being. “I’m not gonna just do nothing.” She set Polly down and stood, her fists clenched by her sides. “You’re right, Hop Pop. Sasha’s fine. Marcy…Marcy made the mistake of turning her back to Andrias, but that wasn’t her fault. Sasha won’t do that. She’ll find a way to take the box from that monster and open the portal again.

“But until she figures that out, I gotta do my part. That music box came to Earth somehow. The thrift store where Marcy found it, they had a wardrobe with the Amphibia symbol engraved into the wood. And Marcy knew what the box could do, which meant she found some information about it somewhere.”

She thought about Wartwood, her home away from home. She thought about Wally, Mrs. Croaker, Archie, Bessie, MicroAngelo, Toadstool, Toadie, Loggle, Ivy, Sylvia, Felicia, Stumpy, Maddie and the rest of her friends from the humble country town. She thought about Sasha, who despite her need for control and her habit of lying to get what she wanted, came through for her friends in the end.

She thought about Marcy.

She had tricked them into leaving their parents, their lives, and trapping them in a world so beyond imagination that Anne never in a million years would have dreamed it up. She had done it because she was so scared to lose the friends she loved most, so desperate to stay with Sasha and Anne forever.

She had been inconsiderate. She had been selfish.

So had Anne. So had Sasha. Marcy didn’t deserve to die for her mistakes—none of them did. They were just three teen girls who sometimes did stupid, stupid things.

But they cared about each other—Anne believed that. Even if it was misguided, even if it was manipulative, she knew Sasha and Marcy cared about her—they sometimes just went about it in all the wrong ways.

And even though Marcy was the reason they were in this mess in the first place, and even though Sasha’s trickery was the reason Anne didn’t initially believe her about Andrias, she cared about them, too.

Right now, it didn’t matter if she wasn’t sure if she still wanted to be friends with Sasha after all she had done. It didn’t matter that she still stung over Marcy’s own manipulative scheme to take her friends away from everything they ever knew.

However complicated her emotions currently were, it didn’t mean she couldn’t still care about the two girls she’d shared her most precious memories with.

She was going to find a way to get back to Amphibia. She was going to save her friends. She was going to bring her frog family back home. She was going to save Amphibia and countless other worlds from Andrias’ tyranny.

She wouldn’t let anyone else she loved die by his hands.

“We’re not helpless!” she said fiercely. “We won’t let him make us helpless! We’re gonna stop him!”

Her pupils and irises illuminated a bright blue.

“They did it again!” exclaimed Polly.

Anne blinked and the colour of her eyes returned to normal. “What?”

“Your eyes! They did the funny light-up thing! Are you gonna turn blue again?”

Anne flexed her fingers, but she didn’t feel numb or tingly, like she had when Andrias had thrown Sprig out the window. “No, I don’t think so.” She glanced down at her hands, brow furrowed. “To be honest, I have no idea how that happened. I don’t even really remember it? I mean, I know what I did, but it felt like I wasn’t in my body while I was doing it.”

Sprig looked between Polly and Anne in confusion. “I clearly missed something when I was falling to my death.”

“Oh, it was so cool, Sprig! Anne went all glowy, and she was using blue magic, and she was flying! She nearly beat the snot out of Andrias!” said Polly excitedly.

The words reverberated through Anne’s mind; She nearly beat the snot out of Andrias.

She could beat him. She was still connected to her stone, and that fact seemed to cause Andrias great unease.

“Do you think you’d be able to use those powers again, Anne?” asked Hop Pop, following her same train of thought.

“I’ll learn,” said Anne firmly. “I’ll figure it out. Once I get control of my powers, Andrias won’t stand a chance.”

There was no question of whether or not she’d be able to gain control of her newfound abilities—she had to. It was her best bet to defeat Amphibia’s king.

Sprig tilted his head to the side. “Do you know what activated them in the first place?”

Anne regarded him, intense warmth and adoration bubbling in her stomach, and she gave a soft smile. “You. When he threw you out the window, I thought you were dead, and I was so angry.”

At a momentary loss for words, Sprig’s eyes filled with touched tears and he jumped into her arms. “Oh, Anne.”

“I love you,” said Anne passionately. She lowered to her knees and brought Hop Pop and Polly into her steel embrace. “I love all of you. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”

“We love you too,” said Hop Pop tenderly, lightly running his fingers through her curly hair. “That’s what we’ve got over Andrias—love for one another. Pardon the sappiness of it, but that’s what we’ll use to beat him.”

“It’s not sappy at all,” said Anne. “It’s the truth.” She gave them one more tight squeeze before setting them back down. She grabbed her backpack, swinging it over her shoulders, and she picked up Frobo’s head. “Come on. I’ve kept Mom and Dad waiting long enough. I can’t wait for you guys to meet each other.”

They headed back to the freeway, where Anne hoped one of the stuck commuters would be willing to lend her their cell phone so she could call her parents to pick them up. As they made their way up the littered slope, Anne closed her eyes briefly.

Hang on, Wartwood. I’m coming back for you. Do what you can until I get there, Sasha. I know you can do it—you never give up.

A lump swelled in her throat, and she swallowed back a sob.

We won’t let him win, Marcy. I promise we won’t. You saved us, and I’m so sorry I couldn’t return the favour.

A breeze kicked up, ruffling her thick, curly hair, and in the caress of the wind she swore she could hear a carefree giggle and a sweet summons of Anna-Banana. She let out a slow breath, and a lone tear spilled from the corner of her eye and trailed down her cheek.

I forgive you, Mar-Mar. I forgive you.

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #true colors #amphibia fanfic #true colors fanfic #anne boonchuy #sprig plantar #hop pop plantar #polly plantar #grief #mourning #angst #hurt/comfort #byanimationnut #tw death #death

[citadelspires]

Amphibia Oneshot Thing(I Never Claimed To Be Good At Titles)

I had an idea for a fun little story thing while I was at work over the weekend, and decided to take the time to write it up into this. In all honesty this is ridiculously self indulgent, and I wrote it late at night with no editing, beta reading, or even just looking back over it once I finished. Essentially I wrote this entirely for myself and just threw it on here in the hopes maybe a few other people might enjoy it like I do. That’s all I gotta say up front so just, here you go. (this is a long one so most of the story will be under a cut).

Anne found herself wandering around a lot of parks these days. After all her time inAmphibia sitting around in her house only made her anxious, and the city was just dull. So she would sit in the areas with the most foliage, where it always felt the most comfortable. Like one of her old adventures could come find her any second. Like she could pretend her friends were just around the corner and surely if she waited just one more second Marcy would come tumbling out of those bushes, launching right away into a rambling speech about a new plant she'd found, the perfect mix of adorable passion and somewhat interesting information that would always make Anne smile.

She knew that wasn't going to happen. She'd known and tried to force herself to get used to the idea, but even as her miserable daydream was interrupted by the rustling of the very bushes she'd imagined, she hoped for a second maybe she'd imagined it all. She hadn't of course, and the boy who pushed his way out of the bushes was anything but her Marcy. Even so, he must have noticed her solemn expression, because he immediately walked over to where she sat with a look of concern on his face.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Anne was surprised by the question for a moment, then again, she realized, she probably did look pretty miserable, moping around in the dirt in a random park. She was tempted to give an offhanded reply of dismissal, she was fine and his concern was almost certainly just a polite formality. But she was never good at following through with all that smile and say Im fine stuff.

"I've been better," she sighed.

The boy in front of her frowned, and took a seat beside her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Anne blinked in surprise, not expecting that reaction. She took a second glance at the kid, wondering what his deal was. He looked a few years younger than her, probably about Sprig's age, dressed for wandering around the woods. He looked like a kid who liked an adventure, maybe that's why Anne felt like she might be able to talk to him. She couldn't say everything of course, god knows she'd need a full time therapist for all her turmoil, but maybe she could simplify it a little bit, dance around the truth slightly. Besides, the more she thought about it the more the idea of talking to a regular kid sounded nice.

"Well," she began, searching for each word and phrase carefully, "a while ago, me and my friends found this weird place. It was scary at first, and I was nervous for a bit, but after a while I grew to love it a lot. I think- I know my friends felt the same. It was a really magical place, but it, uh, well its not around anymore. And I feel like I left a part of myself with it." Anne suddenly became overwhelmingly aware that she had just poured her heart out to a random stranger, and probably sounded insane on top of it, "Ugggh I sound stupid, nevermind kid just ignore me, thanks for trying though."

She started to get up and walk away but the boy jumped up at the same time.

"Wait, hold on. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but from the sound of it, I think I kind of get it. I've got a pretty magical place of my own, I can't imagine loosing it. I know it's not the same but, I could take you there, if that would help?"

Anne turned back to look, not sure why this kid was so eager to help, until she saw the look on his face. He just looked like a kid who wanted to help, just for the sake of being nice. In that moment he reminded her of Sprig again, and she couldn't help it, she laughed.

"Seriously? You don't even know me. You sure?"

The boy shrugged and smiled. "There's lots of cool people I don't know yet. And you seem nice. So," he reached out his hand, "my name's Craig, nice to meet you."

As weird as this was, Anne had seen weirder, so sure, why not. She took the boy's hand.

"Call me Anne."

---

As they walked Anne started to wonder where this weird kid was taking her. Sure “magical place” in her situation was fairly literal, but she didn’t think she was exactly in the most common position for a kid. Or really for anyone for that matter. Still, the boy seemed pretty excited about it, so she figured she’d give it a shot. Better than moping around in some random bushes all day. Who knows, maybe she could even get her hopes up a little bit there would at least be something cool out there.

‘Something cool’ turned out to be a tree stump. Anne wasn’t sure if the kid was serious or not when they first got to the clearing, but based on the way he jumped up on the tree base and spread his arms wide.

“Welcome to the stump!”

Anne stared at him for a few seconds, not sure how to respond. Before bursting into laughter. She just couldn’t help it. There had been so much buildup, all for, apparently a regular tree stump. Craig crossed his arms and spoke up.

“Hey, I know it doesn’t look like much, but you haven’t seen anything yet, watch this!”

Whatever he was about to do, though, was cut off by a battle cry and a flash of orange hair flying at Anne from the trees. It was pure instinct, really, when Anne dove behind cover of the stump screaming,

“It’s an ambush!”

She realized her mistake a few short seconds later. Ivy Sundew literally could not be here. So, with no small amount of hesitation, she peeked over the edge of the stump to see a small girl pointing a homemade sword at her while trying to cover up a pouting expression. Anne could vaguely make out the girl muttering under her breath about how “noble warriors don’t ‘ambush.’“

“So, uh, are you gonna put the sword down orrr...”

Anne trailed off as the girl gave her a weary glance and muttered something about ‘intruders.’ It was at this point that Craig, who seemed to have tripped and fallen off the stump in the chaos, also poked his head back up and called out,

“Kelsey, wait! She’s with me!”

The short girl’s demeanor changed immediately.

“Oh, cool! Hi Craig, hi new girl, sorry I attacked you, I thought you were a devilish intruder.”

“Don’t worry about it, I get randomly attacked a lot, it happens.”

The girl, Kelsey, apparently, looked over Anne again, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“You do? Do you need a heroic guardian to protect you?”

Well, Anne noted, maybe this girl wasn’t so similar to Ivy after all. Though she still got the feeling the two of them would get along exceptionally well. She gave Kelsey a grateful smile, but shrugged off the offer.

“Nah, I’m good.”

Kelsey nodded, seeming to finally relax, though she did pause for a moment and stare off into the distance, though to Anne it seemed more like she was probably just gazing into the depths of a random tree. She gave Craig a curious look, but he only waved it off, apparently this was just how things worked with Kelsey. Noted. When she came back down to earth Craig was waiting with a question,

“Where’s J.P.?”

“Oh he found a butterfly and then chased it into a mud puddle. It was close though so I went on ahead.” Her tone of voice suddenly changed into a much more dramatic one. “He and I both had our own battles to fight.” Before immediately going back to her normal one. “But he should be right behind me.”

Sure enough it was at  that moment another boy crawled out from the foliage outlining the clearing. This one already in a considerably messier state than either of the kids Anne had met so far. He wandered over to the stump, repeating the tale Kelsey had just told them, this time with a much higher focus on the mud puddle. He didn’t seem to notice Anne at all until she cleared her throat and waved hello. The boy, J.P. she assumed, immediately jumped with an exclamation of surprise.

“Relax J.P. she’s cool.”

Anne was a little pleased to notice this reassurance came from Kelsey this time, and didn’t miss the way Craig nodded in agreement.

“She was off by herself so I thought we could give her a tour of the creek.”

That last bit caught Anne off guard, just a bit. Up till this point she had just been assuming Craig had took her here to see the stump and his friends. She wasn’t sure how much more exciting one creek could be, but after all her time in Amphibia she wasn’t one for making too many assumptions about that kind of thing. Turning her focus back to J.P. she noticed how he looked her up and down with squinted eyes, before seeming to focus on the leaves and sticks that had (again?! seriously?!) gotten tangled in her hair, and nodding sagely.

“Good call Craig! I like her style.”

As J.P. immediately began to inspect the ground for his own leaf, which he immediately deposited snugly in his, much shorter, hair, Craig waved Anne over to the stump, where he’d rolled out a large piece of paper.

“This,” he announced proudly, “is my map of the creek!”

Anne wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but a fully detailed expansive rendition of what must have been a really large area of land, complete with notations of inhabitants, activities, landmarks, and literally anything else one could find to write down, had not been it. She gave a low whistle of appreciation. Man Marcy would’ve loved this.

Craig beamed at her show of awe, allowing himself a pleased, “drew the whole thing myself” before asking, “So, where do you wanna see first?”

---

After that, Anne was pulled around the creek to all sorts of locations, each one more intricate than the last. There was an entire colony of kids in these woods, a civilization even. Even on Amphibia she had never seen anything quite like it. It was wild, and, kinda cool? The more she saw the more she started to get what Craig meant. The whole place had its own feeling to it that didn’t quite mesh with any of the surrounding area. After a while, she was even able to push (most of) the weight that had been on her shoulders for so long to the back of her mind.

Which wasn’t to say that her time in Amphibia left her completely. In all likelihood it was more inclined to have already made her a primary target for whispers and gossip to all the kids there. Though she never would’ve expected it before she’d gotten flown away from earth so long ago, she was kinda an expert at being in the woods now. Though she did slip up once or twice. For one dangerous moment there she was mortified that everyone would think she was insane when, upon being shown to the trading tree she had casually remarked,

“I don’t see why you need a whole place to trade for snacks when there are so many perfectly good bugs to eat out here.”

In her defense, she also preferred a good bag of chips over tiny dirt critters, but what could she say, she’d gotten used to a lot of weird things. While her immediate first reaction upon the words escaping her mouth had been to play it off as a lame joke(especially considering the way all the kids stared at her, some in horror, some in awe, at least one clearly wondering to themselves why they didn’t think of that first, the clearing totally silent save one kid who apparently didn’t get the memo and loudly exclaimed something Anne thought sounded like “my candy!”) her backup plan ended up being totally unnecessary as J.P. just started laughing, confidently proclaiming,

“I told y’all, she fits right in here”

And sure, maybe that made Anne smile just a little bit.

After that they had a few more people to meet, including a few girls prancing around a big open field, one of whom blushed slightly as she informed J.P. that she liked his leaf, to which J.P. gave a cheerful giggle and a thanks. (Anne considered it one of her foremost signs of character development that she didn’t break out any magazines as soon as they got back to the stump). But eventually things started to wind down, and the trio of friends, along with their new straggler, made it back to the little home base.

Anne took a few minutes to discuss the finer points of exploring woods with Craig, who had been eager to talk about it since they’d gone out earlier, while out of the corner of her eye Anne watched Kelsey do mock battle with an imagined enemy.

“You know, my little brother is much better at this stuff than I am, maybe you’d like to meet him sometime?” Though she’d posed the question to Craig, she didn’t bother to wait for an answer, as she saw Kelsey perform another made up sword move, and something occurred to her. “Hold that thought.”

Walking over to Kelsey, Anne continued to watch her form, confident enough based on where she was swinging and where her eyes were trained on that she had a pretty good idea of what the fake enemy the other girl was fighting might look like. Eventually she offered,

“You’re pretty good, but if you’re fighting something that much bigger than you, you’re gonna want to switch up your strategy a little bit.”

Without waiting for Kelsey’s reaction Anne grabbed a stick off the ground and performed a demonstration of a few moves she’d picked up in Amphibia. Though sword fighting was never something she had expected to be proficient at, she couldn’t deny that at this point she’d picked up a decent amount of skill. Once she’d finished her quick combo demonstration she turned to where Kelsey was standing, a little surprised to see a look of pure awe on the younger girl’s face, before she shouted,

“YOU KNOW HOW TO USE A REAL SWORD??????”

Anne grinned sheepishly at her excitement. “Uhhh, yeah, a little bit I guess?”

She’d barely gotten the words out before Kesley was on her, begging her to show more moves or better yet, spar with her. Anne waited for the tirade of excitement to slow down before smiling and offering,

“Sure I guess I could, but honestly my little sis knows way more about this fighting stuff than I do. If you want someone to practice with she’s your best bet. I could bring her out here some time, if you’d like.”

Kelsey’s excited nodding was interrupted by an instrument Anne couldn’t quite place, and suddenly the smaller girl’s shoulders fell in disappointment, before immediately perking back up again.

“That’s dinner, but you can bring her tomorrow! I’ll see you then!”

She waved goodbye as she rushed off, as did J.P. though with considerably less rushing, leaving just Anne and Craig, who seemed to also be on his way out. Anne figured that was just one more of the natural ways of the creek. As he left, though, Craig paused for a moment.

“I’m not sure where your special place was, but this is a pretty good one for a lot of kids here. I hope you had fun, I know we did. See you around Anne?”

Anne could tell the last bit was phrased as a question, and she paused to think, if only for a moment. Sure this was no Amphibia, and sure a lot of the stuff that had happened since Craig had tumbled out of those bushes was pretty weird. And maybe she did feel a little guilty that she was off playing around while her friends in Amphibia were, well... But still, for the first time since her birthday, Anne had gone one day where she actually felt like the 13 year old kid she was. Sooner or later she could blow their minds with magic powers and frog siblings, but for now, she was just Anne, she was just a kid. She gave a grateful smile.

“See you around, Craig of the Creek.”

#don't ask me where this came from #I was just doin work and stuff and thinking to myself #and I just went #'you know what would be fun' #at first I was a little worried it would be weird to have anne hanging out with kids several years younger than her #but then I remembered the central focus of the entire show is Anne's friendship with a kid several years younger than her #tbh this whole piece of writing has inspired an entire au in me #where after everything winds down for the amphibia trio they pseudo-adopt the craig of the creek trio as their little siblings #and then four years later the cotc kids find their own way into amphibia #where the amphibia trio are like well established in that world at this ponit #so like craig lands in newtopia and heccin #important government person marcy just walks up like #'craig bro why are you here' #and craig just #'why am i here?! why are you here?!!! you didn't say anything about this?!' #i dunno i just think it would be fun #this whole thing is hella self indulgent anyway so like why not #amphibia #craig of the creek #anne boonchuy #writing #citadel writes #fanfic #yes an actual piece of writing on this blog #y'all know that au thing where steven works at the mystery shack after su:f? #this is my version of that I guess

[sepublic]

The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers/A Day at the Aquarium!

           That last episode HURT y’all. All the callbacks, from the Zapapedes, to Vegetter Robo… Like, that whole specifically-shaped-coral montage was hilarious and all, but it also kind of hurt! But at the same time it was validating, like you went through all of these silly, hilarious, and heartwarming adventures together… And now you’re looking back! These kinds of episodes and whatnot in stories ALWAYS get to me. There’s this sense of progress, but also a journey coming to a close, and the show writers know how to GET to me!

           I really liked how A Day at the Aquarium focused on the Plantars trying to make one more happy memory, trying not to get sad… It’s like how some people believe that one should celebrate that something happened, instead of grieving over the loss! But inevitably, in order to make room for happiness, there ALSO has to be room for grief… And I really love this show for the quiet, subdued little moments and lessons like these. Just simple little life-lessons that seem so obvious at first-glance, but it’s actually getting the guts to implement them in practice that’s really the work!

           Lemme tell you, I was DELIGHTED by the Aquarium episode! I’ll get onto the Sleepover episode shortly after, that was also amazing… But right now I’m fresh off the feels of the Aquarium episode. I half-expected to see the return of the seashell that Sprig gave to Ivy… But that’s not important honestly, I feel like THAT would’ve really wrecked me! But let me tell you, that climax? That callback to the FIRST episode, to our first proper Spranne Against the World adventure, at the lake? Hop Pop finally learning the truth but he’s just too sad to do anything about it?! UGH that hit hard, that hit SO hard man! Way harder than I expected it to, I was laughing and triumphant and sad all at once, and legit afraid that the group would be split up… And I CHEERED when I saw Wanda the Water Snake and recognized her species!

           But that callback to those first few episodes, Sprig and Anne whacking those stingrays away? Polly employing her spitting skills? Like I said, it’s all of the callbacks that make the journey worth it, all of the small moments… It reminds me of a point I made a while back, about how there’s no ‘filler’, that every little thing contributes to this show’s themes and feelings of family, of private little moments and in-jokes! Also the humor was top-notch as always, I love the gag with the Sting Rays and the ‘faces’ beneath them, people in this show REALLY like their aquatic and amphibious animals and it shows! And the gag about the Stingrays being freed and that one dude who’s happy, but predictably, the Plantars get banned?

           UGH the humor in this episode was top-notch! Small little moments like these, it’s the tiny little moments…! And then when Anne is leaving Newtopia, seeing Doris, Priscilla the Killa and her daughter Pearl, the alligator, etc.! I was HOLLERING, like our memories at Newtopia were even more recent and young but it felt so validating about a journey of various connections made, a lot of them one-time but still meaningful, different memories! I’m a sucker for episodes where memories get flung back at you, like it really IS a final goodbye…

           And this episode hurts even MORE, when you remember that two nights ago or so, Sprig was already mourning the loss of his mother, who he never got to know, with Anne- Somebody he DID get to know! So seeing him realize he’ll lose her in this episode makes it hurt so much more… And I love Marcy, being so mature and letting Anne be happy, getting to go back to Wartwood! I miss that place, will we get episodes of the trip back? Or will we finally return? Regardless, I’m going to miss Newtopia, our time there was brief yet gorgeous…!

           And Marcy! Marcy, trying to be so ‘logical’ over emotions, I wonder if this is something that caused issues with her and Anne in the past? Perhaps she was never good with emotions, and/or being hurt in the past led to her trying to prioritize being ‘logical’ to cope! But I also have to wonder, what with Andrias’ proposition… Is Marcy going to want to stay in Amphibia, but also keep Anne and Sasha with her? In the past I mused about the idea of the way back to Earth involving all three girls leaving, or none at all… So Marcy prevents Sasha and Anne from leaving, so she can stay in Amphibia!

           But this? The idea that Marcy doesn’t just want to be in Amphibia, she wants to keep Sasha and Anne with her… She’s tired of going along with what others want, and wants to prioritize HER desires just this once! UGH that’s brilliant! As for Andrias…

           …Well. Dialing back to the previous episode, we saw that torn painting with what appeared to be Andrias, a toad, and maybe a young frog? Are they a daughter, sibling, and/or loved one? Did they DIE, were the bodies of the other two in that crypt?! We know Andrias is pretty old, so this could’ve happened a long while ago… Was there some incident involving the Calamity Box, or not? Andrias didn’t seem to know about it until recently, so probably not. Or maybe those two did their own thing and got sent to Earth?

           What does it say, that the caste system exists now? Were they friends before, or during…? Andrias speaks of loss, is he trying to get his friends back, or keep the ‘new ones’ he’s made…? Is he going to be some sort of dark parallel to Marcy, and what does that say about the young frog and Toad? Will Andrias’ old friends parallel Anne and Sasha respectively?

           Those polyp-plankton-ghost things were terrifying… It seems having light shined directly onto them, by virtue of their reflection, causes them to go solid; So maybe they’re partially photo-synthetic? Not gonna lie I DID get bad vibes from that crypt, I agree with Marcy and Anne, it felt like we were desecrating some hallowed grounds, but also lowkey stumbling across the dark secrets and more-than-literal skeletons in the closest of the royal family? In particular that underground greenhouse, what was up with that, and was that a Moss Man!? Is the same kind of energy used for the Calamity Box, also used for the ancient automatons of the past?! Can it be used as a life-force to sustain things? I’m just speculating mindlessly here though…. Maybe the nutrients from the decomposing bodies help to sustain the growth, but even then…!

           This episode clearly helped to set up some dark secrets that will be told later on. Does the royal family have some sort of ancient secrets, some mad scientists here or there? Could this connect to the Plantars? Did the Plantars and THEIR unusual past lead to Yunnan, possibly a member of their family, joining the ranks of the royals? We know Emma the Newt was an ancestor, after all…

           On a lighter note, seeing Lady Olivia get scribbled on was hilarious in this episode, as well as her in general…! And I love the gag of Anne just NOW realizing the leaves in her hair, implying that she regularly tries to get them out, but somehow they still just. Get there. And what about the robot?! It seemed unwilling to head into Newtopia, is it because of ancient programming, or is the water hazardous? If so, now that the Plantars are leaving Newtopia, surely they’re about to run into it, right? Or will the robot come into Newtopia, just as they leave, leaving Marcy and Andrias to deal with it???

           Also, it’s mentioned that the Calamity Box was used to access other worlds, and we can see some that don’t look like Earth… Will we briefly get a glimpse into those, as well as what Matt Braly said about lands beyond Amphibia being a spoiler? Earth is drawn almost broken off from a pattern… Dumb idea, but what if the Calamity Box was used to unite these worlds together, and Earth is different in that it never got the chance; Possibly because the Calamity Box ran out of power? And obviously we have a decent idea as to where that missing power is, but it seems that recharge stations also still exist… Which accounts for all of the OTHER ancient automatons!

           Andrias said his ancestors were ‘explorers and scientists’, but let’s be real here. They were PROBABLY also conquerers, and maybe that’s why the Calamity Box was depowered, to prevent them from taking other worlds! I’ll have to see what others have decoded, but in the meantime, what we see here is VERY fascinating, and I’ll have to check up on future episode synopses to get a better idea of this show’s trajectory now that we’re leaving Newtopia… One thing’s for sure, we see a volcano in that book, so the one temple Andrias and Marcy know about is probably there; And it’s where we’ll have our confrontation with Sasha and Grime! How will Yunnan play into this, I wonder… Will certain truths of the Royal Family come to light, will the Plantars have to choose between the Toads, and Newts? Will Anne have to choose between Sasha and Marcy?!

#amphibia #amphibia anne #anne boonchuy #amphibia sprig #sprig plantar #amphibia marcy #marcy wu #amphibia andrias #king andrias #speculation

[ao3porcelainstorm]

poison ivy & stinging nettles 1

'A Case of Poison Ivy and Stinging Nettles'

“Very original title, John,” Sherlock snorted. John glared up at his friend, his fingers hovering over the keyboard.

"The whole case was about betrayal, plants, and pharmaceuticals," he shot back. "It's a clever title." "What about chemistry? There was plenty of chemistry." "Our client was a botanist," John rolled his eyes and continued typing at the laptop. "Don't worry, there's plenty of mention of your glorious prowess with chemical reactions."

On Ao3 

Pairing: Sherlock/OFC 

Rated: M

Warnings: eventual violence, torture, swears, adult themes (no explicit smut)

Chapter 2

Chapter 1- Amelia 

~~~

Unlike most cases on this blog, Sherlock and I stumbled into this one quite accidentally.

Sherlock had made Mrs. Hudson upset, and when I revealed that it was her birthday, I quickly ushered him to the nearest florist.

That was where we met Amelia Brenner, the first person I'd ever known that spoke the language of the flowers fluently.

~~~

Amelia Brenner disliked the rain that so often plagued London. If she had a choice in the matter, she would have been back home, probably sunbathing on the rooftop of her Brooklyn apartment. Unfortunately, life had a cruel sense of humor, and that led to Amelia's present circumstances.

She often lamented that she was the one being punished for having done right by society, but the brief periods of sunshine that occasionally peaked through the London skyline, reminded her that this wasn't the all terrible exile she'd convinced herself it was.

Today, was one of those rare, beautiful, days.

And there were two grown men in the front of her flower shop bickering over which flowers they needed to purchase to appease their landlady.

“Roses are safe,” she suggested, eyes trailing to the clear sky outside longingly. “Red and yellow are happiness and excitement. Just yellow mean friendship.”

“I didn't realize flowers had their own language,” the shorter gentleman turned around with a nervous chuckle. He looked out of place, and clearly overwhelmed, but no so much as the dark-hair man beside him.

“Perfect, that'll do,” the second man shot in, visibly annoyed at the entire situation.

Amelia was just as eager to get the men out of her shop, and quickly moved to the side of the shop where she stored her roses in a refrigerator.

“Shouldn't we get her something more meaningful?” the shorter man asked, as Amelia's fingers nearly touch the stem of the yellow roses. She froze, throwing on a bright smile and turning around.

“Do you know what her favorite flowers are? We could add them to the rose bouquet,” she suggested, a passing child and their laughing friends running by with ice cream reminded her of her urgency to close up early for the day.

“God if I know,” the brunette shrugged impatiently. “John, you remember pointless things like that. Why don't you know?”

“You've known her longer, Sherlock,” the blonde, John, shot back. “Not once, have you gotten her a birthday present?”

“It didn't seem important,” he muttered, turning his attention to the numerous displays sitting in the shop window.

“I'm sorry, my friend is a bit difficult when it comes to any semblance of intimacy or emotional attachment,” John shot his turned away friend a scowl before approaching Amelia. “Are there any flowers that mean, 'beloved friend', or something similar?”

Amelia paused, half-tempted to just grab the yellow roses, but John seemed earnest in his request, despite the difficult behavior his friend was displaying.

“You know what...” Amelia moved toward a different section of the store where she had various flowers set in plastic vases for “do-it-yourself” bouquets. “Tell me about your landlady.”

“She's an older woman,” John started, hesitating slightly. “Very kind. Always has a cup of tea ready for you on a bad day.”

“Nosy, likes invading your personal space,” Sherlock chimed in.

“It's because you do things like shoot bullets through walls,” John reminded him tersely. “She gets concerned.”

Amelia plucked a few coreopsis, orange geraniums, and a large sunflower. Grabbing a few sprigs of sage and some Queen Anne's lace for accents, she moved to the main counter and dug through her drawers for a crystal vase she'd seen laying around.

It didn't take long for her to take the random assortment of flowers and turn them into a gorgeous display of yellows and orange. The white accents of the lace, pulled the whole thing together in a practical, tasteful way.

“What do they all mean?” John asked, glancing up from the card Amelia had given him to fill out and attach to the bouquet.

“Queen Anne's lace means sanctuary,” Amelia lightly touched the small white flowers. “A short sunflower means adoration, geraniums mean true friendship, sage means wisdom, and corepsis mean always cheerful.”

“That's perfect,” John practically beamed up at her, signing both his and Sherlock's name to the bottom of the card.

Amelia rang up his purchase, giving the men a small discount because she felt a little bad about their circumstances. Especially, once John went into more detail about exactly what it was his friend had done (something about a snippy comment about the woman's sweater).

“You said a short sunflower means adoration, what does a tall one mean?” Sherlock spoke up, looking quite uncomfortable as John shoved the vase into his hands.

Amelia had to bite her bottom lip to keep down the giggle that wanted to erupt with her response. She swallowed it down, turning it into a cough before coolly responding.

“Haughtiness.”

John snorted a laugh and ushered Sherlock out of the store before the taller man could make a comment. He thanked Amelia again over his shoulder and was gone in a flash.

Amelia quickly ran to the front door, flipping over the open sign to “closed”, and locked it in place. She looked at her watch and calculated she had about three hours until the sun began to set, giving her plenty of time to sit in the green house she'd constructed on the roof, and take in a bit of the sunshine with her plants.

She tided up the shop, humming an excited tune under her breath while she cashed out the register and wiped down the counters. All was going smoothly until a very urgent visitor began pounding at her front door.

Thinking she'd forgotten an order, or perhaps John or Sherlock had dropped something, she unlocked the door and swung it open.

What Amelia hadn't anticipated was the front end of a pistol to bed shoved into her chest and a group of three men to storm into her tiny space.

The last man in quickly closed the door behind him, while the other two started pulling down blinds, the gun still trained on a stunned Amelia.

“Can I help you?” she stammered, her hands up in defense, trying to think of an escape plan through the fear and adrenaline coursing through her veins. The backdoor was too far. There weren't any nearby windows.

She was stuck.

One of the men kicked down a display. Gerbera daisies scattered across the floor in a splash of color that the man quickly stepped on, and twisted his foot. He chuckled at Amelia's face, distorted in distress at the careless handling of the flowers she'd dedicated her free time to.

“The data set,” the man with the gun snarled. Amelia noticed he was missing a front tooth, and that had distracted her considerably. He fired a bullet near her feet, repeating his question.

“I have no idea what that means,” she whimpered in response. The men were working their way around the shop, kicking over display, stomping on flowers, and pouring lighter fluid over their destroyed remains.

“Don't play dumb sweetheart, it's not a good look,” he stepped closer, pressing the tip of the weapon into her cheek. “The data set with the clinical trial results. A mutual friend wants it back.”

Amelia continued feigning ignorance, despite knowing precisely what data set he was referring to. It was safely tucked away in a deposit box, across town, under an assumed name.

“I just deal in flowers,” she insisted, a small sob pulling from her chest as they continued to demolished her little shop. “If you look to the bottom of your boots, that's the pretty stuff you're destroying.”

“Don't get cheeky with me,” the man with the gun snapped back. "An American in London, setting up shop just after the biggest data breach in Chemco's history..."

“And what are you going to do about it? Shoot me?” Amelia regretted the words the instant they left her mouth. The small wave of confidence immediately fading while he moved forward. He pulled his hand back and hit her across the face with the end of his weapon.

“Am I interrupting something?” a voice asked, just familiar enough where Amelia caught her breath when she identified the source.

The king of sunflowers himself, standing in the doorway with his arms folded over his chest.

Sherlock Holmes.

“You'd be wise to turn around and pretend you haven't seen a thing,” the man with the gun aimed it toward Sherlock with a wicked grin. “This doesn't have to involve you.”

“I see,” he hummed, his eyes trailing over the scene, falling on Amelia and what she assumed was a large bruise forming under her eye. “Unfortunately, I left my mobile at the register, so if someone would be so inclined?”

The man closest to Amelia threw an elbow in her side, shoving her toward the register.

“Go on then,” he hissed, his weapon still aimed at the newcomer.

Amelia practically jumped at the touch, slowly edging her way toward the register. There was no cell phone left behind. No one had time to ask questions, because during the lull in the room, Sherlock moved.

With a crack, he smashed a large vase over the man with the gun. The goon collapsed on the floor with a grunt, the other two men moving into action with swinging fists.

Sherlock dodged the attacks, throwing one man into the counter top and knocking the other to the floor unconscious with a swift punch.

He looked up at Amelia, brow arched in question.

“Why does it smell like petrol?” he asked, an instant before one of the men tossed a lighter across the floor to Amelia's destroyed daisies.

Amelia bounded across the space in a flurry, catching him by the waist, and tackling him through the shop's open door to the busy street outside. She rolled across the ground, only being caught by the shoulder before hitting the curb.

It didn't take long for the shop to erupt into flames, the lighter fluid speeding up the consumption which the plants happily provided.

Dazed, Amelia and Sherlock gaped from outside as smoke billowed from the building.

Pedestrians screamed or stopped to get a better look. Somewhere in her muddled mind, Amelia heard someone calling the fire department.

“There's a green house on the roof,” Sherlock murmured. “Do you have fertilizer in the building?”

She sure did. Right by the register and tucked away in the workroom. She was going to bring it up that day.

Amelia's eyes widened at the realization, and it didn't take her new companion long to determine the answer.

Practically lifting her from their position, he dragged her stumbling across the street just as the first explosion sounded through the block, sending glass shattering across the area.

Dropping to the ground, covered in soot, small cuts, and dirt, Amelia looked to him and sighed.

“Thanks,” she said, resting her head against the brick building they ended on, and watching what little happiness she'd obtained burn to the ground. Go figure.

Fire sirens wailed through the block, firemen ushered passerby's out of the way, and before long, Sherlock and Amelia were scooped up by EMTs.

When she was patched up, an officer took her to Scotland Yard for a statement.

Amelia told the officers investigating that it had been a robbery gone wrong. No, she didn't know why they wanted to destroy her shop. She grew daisies and wrapped roses, why would she understand why they threw lighter fluid around the place? Of course it was reasonable that fertilizer was in a flower shop. She grew her own flowers after all.

Eventually, she was released from Scotland Yard, exhausted from the day, but with no where to go, considering her apartment was above the shop.

She had money in the bank, but her debit card and ID had been under the register when the shop caught fire. It was going to take some time before she could get what she needed to book out a hotel room. One of the officers had given her an address to a hostel they recommended to fire victims until things were settled, but the idea of something so public made Amelia nervous. She already wasn't thrilled that the news had covered the fire.

“Why lie to the police?” a baritone voice asked over her shoulder. Amelia nearly jumped out of her skin at the presence, whipping her head around and finding Sherlock standing a few meters away.

“Excuse me?” Amelia wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly, her mind numb and tired from the days events. She just wanted a shower and a fresh change of clothes, not the second degree from this vigilante ninja detective.

“You lied to the police, you said it was a robbery,” he repeated, taking a few steps toward her, his blue eyes skimming over her face. “You're a bad liar, and that obviously wasn't a normal robbery. They were looking for something specific.”

Amelia had over heard some of the officers at the station talking about Sherlock when she revealed he had been the one who had saved her. When she asked the officer taking her statement, he just shrugged and said that he was a consultant to the Yard, but others certainly had stronger feelings about the subject.

Amelia looked around the street, largely empty aside from a few taxis and a couple walking along the sidewalk across the road.

“Fine, I'll bite,” she replied. “I'm in possession of some important research regarding a drug that's about to be finalized by the FDA and the NHS.”

“I'd venture to guess this research isn't beneficial to the company?” he asked.

“They blew up my shop and pistol whipped me,” Amelia laughed bitterly, her hand moving to touch the swollen spot on her face. “It certainly isn't rainbows and sunshine cures.”

He paused, considering her words before speaking again.

“Do you know who sent the men?” he asked, and Amelia shrugged, exhaustion continuing to creep over her. She still smelled like smoke and gasoline, her arms and clothes still ripped and black. Not that she could do anything about it.

“I'm assuming the CEO,” Amelia replied, a hint of irritation was rising in her voice as she realized how hopeless her night was going to be.

“And why would a CEO become personally involved in a bad publicity matter?” he inquired. It was a reasonable question, and Amelia might have avoided specifics but she was in no mood to play games, and it seemed this guy was going to get his answers eventually. Besides, she owed him some explanation for saving her life.

“Because she's my mother.”

Chapter 2

#sherlock #sherlock holmes #sherlock bbc #sherlock/ofc #sherlock original female character #sherlock/oc #john watson #fanfiction #sherlock fanfiction #sherlock/reader #watson

[mcivy]

Shut in analysis sorry things happened and I haven’t been able to do it:

Phone Mo: seeing the siblings as humans was crazy....is todie supposed to be a teen this whole time cuz that’s messed up.

A weird monster goes full ring on Anne/ Anna and kidnaps her friends, the beast weakness is hate (of course)

Maddie is baby

Dead end: so umm. The devil is real in amphibia huh, anyway we go full Dante and hop pop gives a ride to the frog devil who kills people.

And then he takes hop pops hair OH NO

Is there a frog god or Jesus ....

Skin deep: awwww a sprig and ivy one hehe

Sprig and ivy venture in the woods to find a creepy glass frog that steals skins, apparently it’s real ? Anyway they destroy the house and run away UWU

Then ivy shows up in the skinner mask and scares the plantars oh no !!!

The rest of the episode is poly trying to figure out a scary story; she then decides to look at the moon which doesn’t do anything, then it turns her into a spooky monster oooooo.

Not great story wise, but fantastically scary episode

#amphibia #anne boonchuy #sprig plantar #hop pop #disney #disney chanel #poly plantar

[impossiblefangirl0632]

I was @dewiidrop​ ‘s Secret Santa!  The requested prompt was “someone walking in on Rey and Ben about to share a kiss” 

I went ahead and made it Christmas-y because reasons. I made it as disgustingly fluffy as possible because I think that’s what we all need right now.

Merry Christmas!

 ~~~~~~~~~ Ben knocked on the doorframe and picked his head into his mother’s library. "Mom, Rey and I will be back in a bit"

Leia shot him a knowing smirk over the top of her book. 

"Good luck son, I'll keep your father and uncle occupied."

Ben grimaced at the thought of his dad or uncle interrupting. "Thanks. Love you."

He headed downstairs taking them 3 at a time. He stopped suddenly when Rey came into view standing next to the Christmas tree talking to Han. He had to stop and stare. She looked amazing as always, bundled up in coat, hat and scarf. 

She threw her head back laughing at one of Han’s jokes. Ben smiled at the sight, he would be grateful for every single smile and laugh from her until they were old and gray and then some.

Okay Ben, breathe, you can do this. Here we go.

"Hey, you ready?"

Rey beamed up at him and nodded. 

Ben lead her out the back door and out into Han and Leia’s yard.  The back yard had been his escape as a child, coming out here whenever the fighting got to be too much for him. 

The secluded back corner was his sanctuary. One he had happily shared with Rey the first time he brought her home. Framed in the corner by ivy-covered fences was a small patio complete with fire pit and stone benches. Tall snow-covered evergreens and a thicket of shrubs screened it from the house. New twinkling Christmas lights were strung in neat rows across the gap between the nearest pines and the fence creating a false ceiling of stars over the fire pit.

Rey gasped when she saw the lights. "Did you do this?"

"Maybe…" Ben deflected despite them both knowing who had put up the lights and shoveled the snow off. He couldn't help but be a little smug over how Rey's whole countenance had lit up when she saw them. 

He took her hand and lead her to one of the benches, surreptitiously checking to make sure the small sprig of mistletoe was still hanging over them. They worked together to quickly build a small fire in the pit before settling down on the stone bench. 

They chatted for a while about funny things they'd seen recently but the conversation strayed to Christmas traditions. Specifically what they enjoyed doing and would continue with each other in the future.

“Speaking of the future…” Ben started.

Rey looked up at him hopefully. “Yes?” It came out a little distracted as she had just caught sight of the mistletoe hanging above their heads. “Oh, Ben…”

She looked back down only to find that Ben had moved to one knee in front of her, an open ring box in his hands.

“Ben!” Rey covered her mouth in a shaking hand. “I thought you were waiting until New Years!”

He shifted slightly. “I may have intentionally mislead you a little in order to keep it a surprise. May I?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

He cleared his throat. “We both know I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth so I don’t have some great speech. I love you and I want to spend my life with you.” He took a shaky breath,  “ Will you marry me?”

Rey nodded again, choking out an overwhelmed “Yes!” 

Her smile was brighter than all of the Christmas lights combined.

He slid his grandmother’s ring onto the proper finger and stood up pulling her into a hug.

He sighed in relief, “I’ve been so nervous all day.” He confessed

“Hey,” she caressed his face, “You knew I was going to say yes, we’ve been discussing this for months.”

Ben shrugged before glancing meaningfully up at the mistletoe.

Rey laughed. “Well we can’t let that go to waste now can we?”

Ben threaded his fingers through her hair pulling her close. “I couldn’t agree more…” 

Just before their lips made contact a new voice split the still air.

 “Ben! Han sent me to-” Uncle Luke stopped short realizing he was interrupting. He stood there awkwardly for a few seconds too long before pointing over his shoulder. “Er, I’ll just, don’t mind 

me…” He ran away quickly after that. 

The crunching snow wasn’t enough to cover the sound of Leia chewing out Han inside the house.

Rey just laughed leaning her head on Ben’s broad chest. “Well, the story of how you proposed will always be interesting now,” She teased.

Ben rolled his eyes and groaned at his family’s antics. “Are you sure you want to marry into this mess of a family?”

“Completely. Now kiss me already.”

Ben was more than happy to oblige.

~~~

AO3 Link

#reylo secret santa #a very merry reylo 2019 #reylo #reylo fanfic #reylo ficlet

[toonsforkicks22]

It Takes a Village (Amphibia multi-chapter fanfiction)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I'm not really sure what got me into making this. I guess it's due to a lot of imagination after the season 1 finale "Reunion". And I think about other episodes that I loved: Lily Pad Thai, Toad Tax, Snow Day, Wally and Anne, and especially Anne of the Year. I just love how much Wartwood has grown with Anne, and how much Anne deeply cares about each and every one of them. And I guess there isn't a lot of fanfics revolving around stuff like this so I thought I'd, you know, do it. 

Chapter 1

As the Plantar siblings came to the kitchen, Hop Pop was already done making breakfast. While it took a few experiments and nearly a whole basket of eggs, he managed to perfect what was called an 'omelette'. The rather exotic smell filled the house as large helpings were served to the children. Polly immediately attacked her meal, not bothering with utensils as the incredible taste of the 'omelette' delighted her taste buds once again. Sprig, however, was unable to enjoy his as he continued glancing over at the empty seat next to him.

"Where'd she go this time?" he asked aloud, a hint of envy in his tone.

Hop Pop got into his seat, already digging into his breakfast. He pondered. "Well, I'm not sure. Girl's been doing so much this past week it's nearly impossible to keep track."

Sprig frowned. "Why does she have to go hang out with every person in town instead of her own best friend?"

"Now, boy, we talked about this," his grandfather warned him.

Since that crazy night involving the destruction of Toad Tower, it took time and rest for Anne to slowly accept the reality that she and Sasha were...definitely not friends. The Plantars and everyone else had been worried if that one moment had completely broken her. However, Anne was back to herself after a few days. In fact, she seemed more exuberant and optimistic than before.

It all started with her eagerness to help the Plantars with the gardening, putting even more effort than the entire family combined. Pull out produce, plant seeds, wash the vegetables, prepare the batch for market day, and even offered to make lunch and dinner. Just how completely enthralled she was into the tasks left the Plantars dumbfounded and confused. When Polly bluntly asked what was up, Anne merely responded that she was just happy.

They initially thought this had been forced happiness, a possible sign of her depression after the incident at the tower. But the human assured that she really was happy. That she was happy to have them as family, living in a not-boring world, and surrounded by a wonderful community.

She had definitely not been lying. All the love she felt had been put into the food she made, which the Plantars ate with glee.

The next day, she told them she was going out, having other commitments to tend to. This surprised the Plantars, and it certainly didn't sit well with Sprig that someone was taking away their 'bestie time'. They thought the work at Stumpy's was all she was interested in, but it turned she was interested in everything.

And by everything, meaning what all of Wartwood had to offer. Turned out she had been spending that particular day helping Mrs. Sundew at her cafe. Then the next day she was assisting Leopold Loggle at his wood shop. Then the next day was spending some quality time with Wally.

Every day she was doing something different, until there was that certain day of the week she would be with the Plantars. That seemed to be the only time Sprig was able have Anne to himself and no interventions from any of the citizens. It stunk.

While he moped over the fact everyone in Wartwood seemed to be spending more time with Anne than him, Hop Pop felt a bit proud at what she was doing. He admired her activeness, and could see she wanted to get in touch more with the town she lived in than just the Plantars themselves. Perhaps maybe it all started when she joined Wally on that one quest to find the Moss Man. Or maybe it was because the incident at the tower might have opened Anne's eyes, realizing who were her true companions. Certainly not that Sasha.

Sprig huffed. "I know...I know..." he muttered. "Still, she should be with me!"

"Oh, boy," Polly sighed, rolling her eyes. "Don't you have Ivy to fill in the 'Anne-less' gap?"

"She's right," Hop Pop noted. "You two are a thing now, aren't you? You can spend time with her while Anne is temporarily absent from your life. That is, unless today's the day Anne hangs out with her...Well, there's still your ex-fiancee Maddie! Oh, wait...maybe today's the day Anne hangs out with her..." He scratched his head. "Darn it! It's so hard to keep up with Anne's schedule!"

Sprig could only give him a 'Seriously?' look. _

Anne ran down the familiar path she had learned to memorize since being taken in by the Plantar family. Her head filled with memories of watching Hop Pop navigate Bessie through here. Then she recalled the times she had driven Bessie herself, which had been one of many accomplishments she had made since arriving in Wartwood.

She drank in her surroundings, the intimidating yet beautiful sight which was nature. The Thai-American couldn't believe she had thought this place was 'dead and meaningless'. Oh, how her opinion changed once she really got a taste of this world! Figuratively and literally as she thought about possibly grabbing some of that beetle jerky she liked so much later on.

With a mighty yet playful grunt, she leaped over a large rock at the side of the path. She nearly stumbled upon landing, but merely laughed it off. Not even back home had she been this lively. The city was nothing like Wartwood. Where she had grown up with tall buildings and air pollution, here there was just so much green and vegetation. And the air was much fresher than back home!

Anne took a deep breath, taking in the oxygen courtesy of so many trees surrounding her. She used to think trees were just good for paper to make manga. But it turned out they were much more significant than that (and Anne realized that she must have actually been paying attention in her Biology class).

Her smile grew ten times as the familiar village came into view. She ran faster, the view of Wartwood welcoming her. The human girl skidded to a halt in front of the pole where Polly's statue for breaking the spitting record still remained. No one could come close to taking her title. Anne grinned up at the sight of the statue, remembering how crazy that day had been. With a coy glance from left to right, she spat to the side. She giggled afterward, knowing very well the girls in school would have thought she was 'gross'.

The sounds and smells were like a blessing every time she came to this town. Frogs everywhere, businesses running, and the fact that she was a human girl in a whole new world still putting her in awe. Even after months being here, it was only recently did Anne realize just how lucky she was. That somehow, a crazy music box brought her to this enchanted place. Sure, there were the downs of being in this world like getting eaten, but at least it wasn't boring! Everything here was just so vibrant and colorful and so much alive! Back home, Anne came to the conclusion how mundane and lacking of color her neighborhood was. And the people certainly couldn't hold a candle compared to how these talking frogs thrived!

Soon she spotted the familiar bakery, where a certain young frog with hair the color of lilac awaited at the front door. Anne quickly rushed over and beamed.

"Hey, Maddie!" she greeted happily. "I'm ready to learn more about the dark arts!"

The aforementioned Amphibian gave off what, to some, looked like a creepy smile. Anne knew it was merely a smile that shared in her excitement. Both girls entered the bakery where the delicious smells of freshly baked bread greeted Anne. -----

Let me know what you think! :)

#amphibia #disney's amphibia #amphibia fanfiction #amphibia anne #amphibia sprig #anne boonchuy #sprig plantar #plantar family #DISNEYXD #disney #fanfiction #wartwood #maddie #polly plantar #hop pop

[emospritelet]

Prompt for a later chapter in Sparks: Does Ember smell/sense pregnancy and how do baby dragons respond to another pregnancy? Especially if Papa is being more obtuse than normal and Mama is just figuring out what is happening to her?

Sorry it took me so long to pick this up again, but better late than never.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

AO3 link

By Midwinter, the Dark Castle was warm and surprisingly snug, insulated by magic to keep out the bitter mountain winds and the sharp bite of frost.  Belle hummed as she decorated the Great Hall with holly and ivy, feathery crowns of mistletoe hung from doorways and chandeliers.  Rumple had even brought a tree inside again, and it stood near one of the large windows that looked out over the snow-covered grounds, awaiting the boxes of trinkets that would decorate its branches.  A few of the ornaments appeared to have gone missing, and Belle suspected that Ember had taken them, attracted by glittering gold and coloured glass beads.

Rumple himself was out, away on a deal far to the east, and while Belle enjoyed accompanying him on his travels, he had insisted she stay behind this time.  She hadn’t minded too much; it was likely he wanted to buy presents, and she was more than happy to be surprised on the day of the festival with what he would give her.

Belle tucked the last of the holly sprigs onto the mantelpiece, and sighed, knuckling the small of her back where a twinge caught.  She had been on her feet all day, and they ached, but she had insisted on decorating the Hall by hand rather than with magic.  It was an enjoyable task, but she had been up since dawn baking cookies and collecting the greenery. It was now almost suppertime, and she was desperately tired.  She had not seen Ember since lunchtime, the castle suspiciously quiet, and she was dreading what she might find when she finally tracked down the little dragon.  Ember had recently started catching and eating small rodents that found their way into the castle, and Belle had stepped in the eviscerated remains of more than one victim, much to her despair.  Rumple had said that she would soon learn to eat the things whole, but in the meantime it was a case of watching where one stepped.  Being the adoptive parent of a dragon wasn’t the easiest job in the world, especially when one’s young charge had a tendency to set things on fire when she sneezed.  

Ember was now around nine months old, too large to ride on Rumple’s shoulders (not that it stopped her trying to clamber up there when something had spooked her) and should be learning to fly soon.  Rumple had been coaxing her to spend a little more time in the East Wing, where he had cleared out one of the towers for her.  He was hoping that if she were to see the outside world from high up, she would start trying to flap her wings, but so far Ember had flatly refused to go any higher than the door outside their bedroom.

Turning on her toes, Belle called to the little dragon, but there was no response.  Frowning, she walked out of the Hall and down to the kitchens, wincing a little on her sore feet.  Ember was not curled by the stove, another favourite place of hers, and so Belle sighed and made her way wearily up the stairs, heading for the library.  It was empty too, and Belle sank onto one of the couches with a sigh of relief.  She called again, and heard a faint shriek from somewhere in the castle, but Ember did not appear, and Belle frowned, wondering what she was up to.

Since Rumple had left the castle, she had been acting strangely, sniffing suspiciously at Belle’s outstretched hand, then scampering away with a rattle of claws and swishing of her tail.  Belle had initially assumed it was the changes that had been introduced, bringing the greenery into the house and installing the tree in the Hall, but when she thought about it, Ember had been skittish for a week or two, wanting to snuggle with Rumple at his spinning wheel rather than curl up at Belle’s feet as she read.  When she did approach Belle, she would croon a little, blinking her amber eyes and flattening her body against the floor as though she wanted to make herself smaller.  It was almost as though she thought that Belle was angry at her, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Belle tapped her foot, teeth tugging at her lower lip as she pondered Ember’s strange behaviour.  She called again, more sharply, and there was another answering shriek.  It was a little louder, and Belle whistled, hearing the tapping of claws against stone tiles, changing to a rattle as Ember clambered up the wooden stairs to the library.  A red-scaled snout, gleaming with gold tints, poked around the corner.

“There you are!” said Belle gently.  “Come here, sweetheart!”

The snout moved, revealing large golden eyes and ears laid flat against her head.  Belle had seen that look before, and it usually meant that Ember had done something she knew she shouldn’t.

“Please tell me you didn’t eat all the cookies I made.”

A huff and a ring of bluish smoke indicated the negative.

“Good.  Then why are you cowering?  Come here.”

Ember slunk into the room, belly low to the ground, approaching Belle by an indirect, circular route that ended with her just out of reach.  Belle shook her head.

“Don’t you want to be petted?” she asked.  “What’s wrong?”

Ember shuffled forwards a little further, gently nuzzling Belle’s hand and then flattening herself against the floor, as though she was afraid she had overstepped her welcome.  It was very strange.

Pushing to her feet, Belle walked over to the shelf that housed their small but expanding collection of books on the care of dragons.  Selecting one that focused on behaviour, she slumped onto the couch again and opened it up. There had to be answers there somewhere.

x

“Nose in a book as usual, I see.”

Rumple’s voice made Belle start, and she looked up with a smile.  He was grinning at her, snow speckling his hair and the shoulders of his coat, the candlelight picking out the golden flecks on his skin as he tossed a leather sack onto one of the chairs.  A grating squeal made them both jump, and Ember tackled him in a blur of red and gold, tail swishing excitedly as she knocked him on his back.  Rumple let out a grunt of surprise, head thumping against the floor, and Belle giggled as Ember nuzzled him over and over, crooning as she rubbed her head under his chin.

“Someone missed me, it seems,” he remarked, scratching her neck and making her back foot twitch rapidly, eyes closed in pleasure.

“She’s been acting oddly,” said Belle.  “I’m glad you’re back, I wasn’t sure what to make of what I’ve been reading.”

Rumple lifted his head, eyes narrowing as he read the book title.

“Dragons: a Behavioural Study,” he said.  “What does it say?  Is she ill?”

“I don’t think so,” said Belle slowly, glancing down at the book again.  “She’s all over you, same as ever, but she’s been acting strangely towards me. Staying out of my way, crawling on her belly whenever I call her to me… It’s almost as though she thinks I’m angry with her, as though she’s trying to show deference, but she’s never been like that before.”

“Hence the book.”  He gave Ember a final scratch, pushing her off him gently and getting to his feet.  “What does it say?”

He sat beside her on the couch, and Belle handed him the book.  Ember crawled slowly around to Rumple’s end of the couch, where she settled against his legs, head on one knee.  Rumple scratched her ears absently as his eyes scanned the page.  He frowned, and read it again.

“‘Adult dragons prefer solitude and mark out their own territories, which they will defend aggressively’,” he read.  “‘Males have little involvement in the lives of their young past conception, and will be chased out of the territory of any female with a clutch of eggs or a growing brood.  Female dragons are devoted to their young, and are excellent mothers, but once the young dragons are grown sufficiently to enable them to care for themselves, it has been observed that the mother will often chase them away from her nest, so that she can prepare to breed again.  Young dragons will try to appease their mother by submissive behaviours in order to delay the process’.”

He looked puzzled.

“Does she think we’re going to throw her out, is that it?”

“Well, she’s certainly been exhibiting the behaviours mentioned,” said Belle.  “I don’t understand.  Does she think we’re going to find another baby?  It was spring when we got her, and she certainly isn’t full-grown.”

Rumple snapped the book shut, staring at her.  His breathing seemed to have quickened a little, his eyes as wide and golden as Ember’s own.

“Not a dragon, perhaps,” he said, almost to himself.  “Sweetheart, how do you feel in yourself?”

“A little tired,” admitted Belle.  “Exhausted, actually.  I’m sure it’s just the Midwinter preparations.”

“And - and is there anything else you’ve noticed?” he pressed.  “Anything at all?”

“I - oh!”  She put a hand to her mouth.  “The new moon came and went, and I didn’t bleed.  In all the excitement I’d forgotten!”

Rumple’s eyes had widened further, his breathing shallow.  The tip of his tongue wet his lips nervously, and he patted Ember’s head, getting to his feet and striding from the room.  Belle heard his feet thundering on the stairs as he went up to his workroom.  There was a crashing of glass and loud swearing, and then rapid footsteps descending once more, and he burst into the library, breathing heavily and waving a tiny vial of a potion as clear as water, if far thicker.

“Here!” he said breathlessly.

“Why didn’t you just poof yourself up there and back down, if it was so urgent?” she asked, and he paused.

“I don’t know,” he said, looking stumped, and shoved the potion at her.  “Spit in this.”

“Ew, Rumple…”

“Please!” he said desperately.  “It’s the fastest way to tell if you’re - if we’re—”

He snapped his mouth shut, as though to say the word would curse the result. Belle stood up, reaching out to squeeze his arm with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.  Inwardly her heart was thumping just as fast as his, but she took the vial from his hands, tugging out the cork stopper and putting it to her lips as she worked some saliva into her mouth.  She spat as daintily as she could, and Rumple took the vial from her, re-corking it and shaking it vigorously.  He held it up to the light, and the clear fluid inside turned a vibrant, sparkling purple.  His lower lip trembled as his eyes met hers.

“A child,” he whispered.  “A child born of true love.”

Belle felt her breath catch in her throat, tears stinging her eyes.

“Really?” she breathed.  “We’re - we’re going to have a baby?”

He tucked the vial into the pocket of his coat, opening his arms so that she could hurl herself into them with a sob of joy.  He held her close, kissing her hair, her forehead, her damp cheeks.

“Thank you, Belle,” he said softly.  “Thank you, my love.”

“I think you had something to do with it too,” she pointed out, and felt a low chuckle rumble through him.

She pulled back a little, looking up at him, and he kissed her gently before pressing his brow to hers affectionately.  Their heads turned as one towards Ember, who was curled by the end of the couch, watching them with a downcast expression.

“She must have sensed it,” said Belle.  “She must think I’m going to chase her away to make room for the new little one.  She must think I’m going to chase you away, too, which is why she’s been so eager to be near you all the time.  Poor thing!”

“Well, let’s reassure her.”

Rumple let his arms slip from around her, and they both approached Ember slowly, stopping when she began to shuffle backwards.

“Ember darling, no one’s going to chase you away,” said Belle gently, squatting on her heels.  “I love you and I love Papa.  Very, very much.  We’re a family, and we’re going to stay that way.  And when the new baby arrives, you can help look after it.”

Ember’s ears pricked up.

“You’ll have a very special job as big sister,” added Rumple seriously.  “When the baby gets big enough to walk around on its own, you can protect it from anyone that might try to harm it.”

Ember pushed up off her belly, raising her head, and edged closer.

“If anyone really threatens our baby, you may have to chase them off,” he added, making her eyes brighten further.  “Or set them on fire, I don’t care which.”

“Rumple!”

“Don’t tell me you won’t be every bit as protective of our child,” he said, and Belle smiled, letting a hand drop to her still-flat belly.

“No immolation unless it’s absolutely necessary,” she said firmly, and Rumple tutted, sharing a look with Ember.

“Mama never lets us have any fun.”

#fic: sparks #dark castle rumbelle #rumbelle fic #my fic #ember the dragon #rosefairy15 #rumbelle

[s-horne]

25. Handyman (neighbours)

“Good morning.”

Tony startled at the voice and span around. He relaxed a little when he saw who was stood there, though his cheeks coloured. “Oh,” he said, mentally berating himself for his stupidity. “Good morning.”

Steve grinned widely and Tony flushed even more. It was always the same and Tony was powerless.

He envied his neighbour so much, not only for his incredible body and his gorgeous looks, but also for his confidence. Ever since the first time that they had bumped into each other in their shared corridor, Steve had been so sure of himself, so confident in every way. They had been living opposite each other for over six months now and practically every time that they saw each other Steve would flirt outrageously.

And every time without fail Tony would blush from his head to his toes and Steve would laugh, not unkindly or mocking, before Tony all but ran away. Some days they managed a fully-fledged conversation, lasting maybe five minutes before Tony’s cheeks were a scarlet red and he tripped over his words.

Steve was wearing one of his suits though this morning and Tony couldn’t cope. So, like usual, as soon as Tony’s morning greeting had left his mouth, he turned on his heel and very calmly walked to the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him. (Steve always took the elevator, which Tony was so thankful for.)

“You idiot,” Tony berated himself as the door to the stairwell swung shut, “you complete fool.”

  It wasn’t that Tony was shy (he was); it was just that Steve was… Steve.

He was big to start with; a huge, hulking tower of muscles that made any room seem small. He was loud, too. It was a good loud, though, confident without being over-cocky and booming without being brash.

He was pretty much everything that Tony was not.

Put Tony in front of a computer or drop him in a lab and he excelled like no one had ever seen before, but place him in front of a man that he was attracted to and he froze. Froze quicker than a frozen thing in the arctic. See! Even his brain froze. And Tony didn’t like not having total brain function. That was his thing.

And Steve made that go away.

It was scary. A good scary, Tony could admit, but scary nonetheless. Tony had never really had that before, someone interested in him and for such a long time. It terrified him on a daily basis.

One day, he kept telling himself, one day he would talk for ten whole minutes and give himself a medal. Or a date.

Either one.

  /

  It was late when Tony got home that night (well, pretty early in the morning actually), and all he wanted to do was crash. Just fall into bed and sleep and sleep and sleep. The first part of his plan he managed, but the second part didn’t come so easily.

Almost as soon as he lay down, he heard a noise coming from across the corridor. It was faint, just a muffled sort of something that Tony couldn’t really decipher. He didn’t know what made him get up out of bed and head to the door, the cool tiles on the floor making his sockless toes tingle.

He could hear the noise more clearly now that the door was open, though it was still faint. It sounded a bit like crying, like someone pacing so loudly it could be heard in the corridor.

They had all learnt the hard way that their apartment walls were thin and had luckily all become good friends to hide their embarrassment. Tony was guilty of late night Netflix binges, which was nowhere near as bad as Scott from across the hall who enjoyed private time hideously loudly. Or Maria who sung so terribly that they’d had complaints from people in the streets. Wanda talked to herself in an array of languages and Sam sounded like he would break the floorboards every time he took a step.

Steve was quiet though. Usually. Tonight seemed to be an exception and Tony wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad. There was a hitching sob and the sound of a fist hitting something hard and Tony realised it was bad.

He took a steeling breath and left his apartment, slipping across the corridor until he stopped outside of Steve’s door. Once there, Tony stopped awkwardly. He wasn’t sure what he was meant to do exactly. It wasn’t like he could just knock.

What if Steve didn’t answer? What if Steve did answer?

Tony couldn’t talk to him; not face to face.

Tony had just turned on his heel to leave when he heard another sob. He couldn’t just leave. He had to try something. Who knows what it would help or hinder? But he had to try.  

  Tony knocked the door and waited. There wasn’t an answer; not that he had been expecting one. Tony sighed and took a deep breath.

“Hey.” His voice was husky and he cleared his throat before he tried again. “Hi, Steve. It’s Tony. From across the hall. I, um, I heard you – or I heard something, anyway – and I though… well, I, I thought I’d come and see if you were okay. I don’t know if you are. Are you?”

Tony didn’t get a reply and he sighed again when there was a slight cough followed by a deep sniff. “I guess not,” Tony answered himself. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong, but I know what it feels like. I, um… I’ve been there. Well, I don’t know what’s wrong, but I’ve been somewhere, somewhere not good. It was… well. It doesn’t matter. It’s not important.

“Anyway. I just… I’ll go. I doubt this helped.”

Tony turned and had just lifted his foot to take a step when there was a soft noise from inside the apartment. “Stay.”

The voice was broken, low and husky, but it was still just as beautiful as when it was calling out to Tony in a morning and laughing brightly at the flush on his cheeks.

“Oh,” Tony said in surprise. “Oh, yeah. Sure. I got nowhere to be. Literally.” Tony folded his arms over his chest and leant against the wall next to Steve’s door. “I just got home from the lab and I made no plans other than to sleep. Total crash – that was my plan. I’ve got some work to look over in the morning, but I’m dreading it.

“Do you ever get those days where you just want to stop the world? Just lock the door and hide away from everyone and everything. I get the urge more often than most, I think, but I have a feeling you know what I’m talking about.”

Tony took another break and unfolded his arms, twisting his fingers together in front of his chest and inspecting his nails. “Although this probably isn’t what you want to talk about. It’s okay though, if you’re not… well. You can talk to me. I doubt I’ll do much more than squeak and run away, but I can listen through a wall.”

There was a pause before Tony gave a slight chuckle, no humour in his tone at all. “Are you even still there? I guess you don’t want to listen to me talk about it, even if you are. I’m sorry; this is why I don’t talk to people.”

He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment as he slid down the wall until he hit the floor. “The weirdest thing happened to me at work,” he blurted out suddenly. “I was in the lab and…”

/

Tony didn’t realise how long he had been talking for until the sun had begun to rise, casting shadows and beams of light down the hallway. A huge yawn cracked Tony’s jaw when he took a break and when he went to speak again he noticed how hoarse his voice was, how sore his throat was.

“Wow,” he said as another yawn cut him off. “It’s late. Well, early I guess. Damn. Sorry about that. I know I talk a lot, but I hope…” Tony let that sentence trail off, not entirely sure how he was going to finish it anyway. “I’m going to head back to my apartment now. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow? I really hope you feel better this morning, Steve. Honest.”

Tony stood up, groaning when his stiff legs protested at the movement and tapped lightly on Steve’s door. Man, he was getting old if he couldn’t even spend a couple of hours on a hard floor. There wasn’t an answer from inside Steve’s apartment, but that also meant that he had stopped his crying.

Was any of that on Tony’s part?

“See you later, Steve.”

/

Tony sighed as he pulled open his door to see an empty corridor. It had been six days since Tony had stayed up all night talking to Steve, and he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him since. They had never gone so long without bumping into each other and they usually left for work at the same time every morning.

Maybe Steve was embarrassed. Maybe Tony had completely screwed everything up by going and talking to him. He should have just left the guy alone and not bothered to pester him, getting all up in his personal business and being nosey. It was all Tony’s fault and now he’d pushed Steve completely away.

He had ruined everything.

Typical Tony.

 And so it went. Weeks passed with no sign of Steve. Tony had really, truly fucked it. Tony would be in the stairwell and he’d hear the elevator called up to his floor, or he’d get to the foyer to see the front door swinging shut.

He was being avoided and it sucked.

 Until one seemingly normal Tuesday. It was a month since Tony had heard Steve crying and had tried to help, and he was starting to lose all hope of ever seeing the other man again. But then he opened his door and there, lying on the door mat, was a pink carnation.

Tony’s head shot up just in time to catch a flash of a person before Steve’s door slammed shut. It was enough, though, and Tony wore a smile all day.

 The next day there was a chrysanthemum – that Tony had to do quite a bit of Googling to find out that name – in a beautiful white. Over the next few days he got a yellow rose, a sprig of ivy, a purple hyacinth and a lovely-smelling sweetpea. He thought back as far as he could, but Tony couldn’t remember anyone ever buying him flowers. He’d had to fish out the vase his mom had bought him, too. He’d only used that once and that was as a makeshift cocktail glass when he’d first moved into the apartment and too many friends had come round at once. Maria would have been proud to see it being used for actual flowers instead of a hideously orange drink.

After another round or twelve of Googling, Tony was left with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers that he knew meant ‘thank you’, gratitude, appreciation and ‘sorry’. Although he hardly dared to hope, Tony was sure that they had come from Steve. Sure, Tony got a few stares on the subway, but he didn’t exactly have a queue of secret admirers around the block.

Who else could be thanking him? It had to be Steve.

But then that left more questions. What was Tony meant to do now? Was he meant to acknowledge them; was this Steve’s way of making a move and putting the ball back in Tony’s court?

Oh, man. This was hard.

  /

 Tony hated the elevator. Really hated it. It was like a metal prison that could drop you at any second. He’d seen Speed; he knew what could happen. But he had no choice now. Laden down with books, there was no way that he was walking down six flights of stairs. He was so engrossed with watching the steady ticking of the indicator showing him where the elevator was that Tony didn’t realise that someone had joined him until they cleared their throat.

Tony shot out of skin and turned to look accusingly at his companion, his glare turning into shock when he saw Steve standing there.

His mouth opened and closed a few times, nothing coming out as he continued to stare at Steve. He didn’t know what to say.

Luckily, Steve spoke for him.

“Hi.”

Tony cleared his throat and returned Steve’s hesitant smile, his voice just as soft and unsure as Steve’s had been. “Hey.”

The ping of the elevator’s arrival made them both jump and they chuckled lightly as the tension broke. Steve stepped back ever so slightly and gestured for Tony to enter first, getting a small smile in thanks.

The ride was silent, but not uncomfortable. Every couple of seconds one of the two men glanced at the other before their eyes flickered away quickly, cheeks colouring. When the doors opened in the entrance hall, Steve chewed on his lip for a moment and scuffed his feet.

“Would you, I mean… are you going to be in later?”

“Yeah,” Tony said, voice kind. “I’ll be in around 6 and I’m not going back out.”

“Cool.” Steve lifted his gaze and smiled at Tony, a flash of his usual confident self shining through for a moment. “Have a good day, Tony.”

   Time seemed to move glacially slowly all day and every time Tony caught sight of a clock it was somehow still the same time as it had been when he’d last looked. He was a scientist. He knew it was not possible for time to actually stand still, but damn, did it feel like it could.

When he finally made it home, Tony could barely sit still. He felt like he might just explode with nerves, vibrate right out of skin with the anxiety. It was highly improbable that Steve had gone out of his way to set up a meeting just to yell at Tony, but who knew?

Tony didn’t.

 There was a knock at the door at 6.15 and Tony practically threw himself across his apartment to answer the door. Taking a deep and steadying breath, he pulled it open to reveal Steve.

Well. To reveal a huge bouquet of yellow roses, actually. The flowers lowered and there was Steve, his beautiful face smiling sheepishly over the blooms.

“Hi,” he said softly and Tony beamed.

“Hey. Come in?”

It was the first time that Steve had been in Tony’s apartment and Tony couldn’t help but be nervous about it. He kept his place relatively clean, but he was only a man after all and he wasn’t at home all that much anyway. There weren’t too many dishes in the sink and he had at least put away his laundry, so that was something.

He was brought out of his surveying when Steve thrust the bouquet towards him. Catching it instinctively, Tony took a deep breath and his eyes fluttered shut at the smell.

“You don’t have to say thank you, you know,” he said lightly as he crossed the open-plan floor to the kitchen.

Steve coughed. “Oh. Didn’t know you knew that’s what they meant.”

Tony threw a smile over his shoulder. “Google is my friend.”

Steve laughed and Tony noticed some of the tension leave his shoulders. Good, he thought. Steve shouldn’t feel awkward around him. Silence fell again as Tony filled up his single vase with fresh water and dumped the roses into it. He tried to arrange them, but come on. He didn’t have green thumbs, not by a long shot, but he was happy with the general shape he produced.

Steve flashed him a pleased smile when he held it up in question, so he figured he’d done okay.

“Do you want a–”

Just as Tony started to offer Steve a drink, the man turned sharply and began to talk, cutting over Tony. He snapped his mouth shut quickly and gestured for Tony to continue.

“No, please. I was only going to offer you a drink, but… you go.”

Steve sighed and dropped down onto one of the stools by the breakfast bar.

“It’s only me and my mom,” Steve started lowly, his eyes fixed on the dark counter and fingers trailing the groove left from where Rhodey had bet Tony he couldn’t make a working engine from food. He could and did, but his table had gotten a little broken in the process. Whatever. “My dad died when I was younger and we didn’t have any other family. My best friend is basically my brother and when his parents moved away, mom practically adopted him.

“So it was always just us and she, well, she’s my everything. Is that weird?”

Tony shook his head, even though Steve couldn’t see him. He didn’t think that was weird. He liked the idea, actually. It sounded nice.

“Anyway,” Steve said and it sounded like he was having difficulty swallowing something. “I got a call about a month ago. She… there was an accident. She collapsed at work and had to go to the hospital.”

Tony gasped and saw Steve huff in agreement. Wisely keeping his mouth shut, Tony reached out and placed a gentle hand on Steve’s shoulder. Not the time to feel those muscles, he chided himself, but the way that Steve relaxed so much underneath his simple touch sent a thrill down to his toes.

“She’s okay,” Steve said and Tony didn’t know why the hell he felt so much relief, so much that he could almost taste it, over some woman he didn’t even know. “She was okay by like the second week, but I lost it. I just couldn’t picture my life without her, and I freaked. That’s, well, that’s what you all overheard. Me breaking down.”

“I’m sorry.” That seemed like the biggest cop-out in the world, but Tony just couldn’t think of how else to say everything he was feeling. “I’m so sorry you went through that.”

Steve finally lifted his gaze and met Tony’s, his blue eyes flashing with determination. “You don’t know how much you helped me that night, Tony. I was completely losing it, just didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t allowed in the hospital that night and I didn’t know where to go. You helped so much; kept me grounded.

“I wanted to say thank you, but I was ashamed, I guess. It’s nothing… I know it’s not a bad thing to do, but I… Well, anyway. Bucky flew in the day after and I spent every other minute with him and my mom. But I couldn’t not say anything to you. I’m so grateful, Tony. You’re such a wonderful person.”

Tony scoffed as his cheeks heated up, trying to wave Steve away. But Steve reached out and caught his hand, not breaking their eye contact for a moment as he stared at him.

“I mean it. You’re amazing, and I couldn’t go another day without telling you. If I didn’t want you before…” Steve trailed off and Tony found himself at a total loss for words.

“You…” Oh, man. That wasn’t a word, Tony. That was a squeak. Tony cleared his throat and tried again. “Me?” Nope. Still a squeak.

Ah, fuck it. Who needed words anyway?

Tony surged forward and pressed his lips against Steve’s, taking the man completely by surprise and using it to his advantage. He swept his tongue against Steve’s bottom lip, trembling at the wonderful taste, and squeezed Steve’s hand in his. After a moment of total stillness, Steve responded.

Damn, did he respond.

Tony felt Steve’s hand reach up to cup his cheek, thumb swiping along his cheekbone as his head was tilted ever so slightly to the left. The new angle was perfect and made their lips fit together even more seamlessly, the ultimate merging of heat and wet, tongue and lip.

It was a long kiss, one that burnt from a scorching passion to a simmering embrace, sweet and seductive all at once. When it finally ended, neither man moved away. They stayed there for a long moment, Steve sitting at the breakfast bar with Tony between his legs, hands tangled in dark hair or fisted in loose material. It was impossibly sweet to just share the same breath as someone else, feeling their heartbeat against yours with no intention to take it any further.

“I like being confident,” Steve whispered, “I like having the answers and winking to make you blush.”

“I like that too,” Tony said just as softly, “well, sometimes.” Steve laughed against Tony’s lips, and wasn’t that hot? “But I also like being there for you.”

Steve was quiet, but Tony felt the gently pressure of his fingers as they tightened their grip in reply.

“You can break for me. I’ll be there to fix you up.”

“I’d like that,” Steve said. “My handyman.”

#i wrote a thing #stony september #stony au #stony fic rec #stony fic #stevetony #stevetony fic rec #stevetony fic #steve rogers #tony stark #sarah rogers #shy tony stark #confident steve rogers #getting together #angst

[gaylordepicboy]

Mark and Jack Join the Fake AH Crew (for a little while, at least).

Geoff had gathered the crew together in his spare apartment to wait for the new arrivals that would be helping them on their next heist. These men were in the same business as the crew but worked primarily solo. Both were revered in the worst ways for their chaotic yet brutally effective style. They were loose canons: trigger happy, overwhelmingly destructive, apathetic and reckless: precisely the added edge the crew needed for this mission. Due to their individual successes, the duo came at a steep price and arrived on their own terms. Geoff thought it only appropriate that the men be properly introduced (whenever it was that they arrived) and that the crew should come off as intimidatingly well organized as possible. 

 This was the infamous Fake AH Crew.

 And they had a reputation to uphold. 

There was just one problem- Geoff had forgotten that the crew members weren't accustomed to sitting in one place for long periods of time. Barely an hour had passed and Gavin was already daring Michael to fence against Jeremy: one with the fire poker and the other with the ember shovel. "Hey, why does he get the pointy one!?" Michael protested, "And I get the shovel thing!? This is fucking bullshit..."  Ryan was trying to diffuse the situation, patting the air and cooing "Boys, boys, leave the fencing to the professionals. Let's not kill each other before giving someone else the satisfaction of trying first, alright?" Jeremy crouched, posturing in a clumsily mimicked fencing position, "Think you could do better, huh?" He was eying Ryan like a mischievous puppy that wanted to play. "I could fence you with my switchblade right now, even if you actually knew the proper fire-poker wielding technique," Ryan flicked out his blade, a playful gleam in his calculating eyes, and settled into a fighting stance. Jack was making bets with Gavin on who was going to win until Michael wrestled the Brit to the ground. Geoff watched disdainfully, warning "If one of you fuckers knocks over my expensive whiskey someone is actually gonna die!"  

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. 

 Everyone stopped- Jeremy standing on the table with the poker poised above his head and Ryan below, daring a glance at the door with his open switchblade held defensively before him. Michael dropped the ember shovel, releasing a gasping Gavin from an iron choke hold, and Jack hopped down from the bar where she'd been cheering to creep up behind Geoff. "Is that them?" She whispered. "How the hell should I know, I haven't opened the goddamn door!" Geoff hissed back. "Then quit whisper-yelling at me and go open the goddamn door!" "FINE!” Geoff’s volume had graduated to a stern yell, “But when I open that door this room better be presentable as dicks!" "Yes, sir!..... Colby!" Jeremy saluted, turned, and launched the fire poker in hopes of arcing it into the rack by the fire place. The flying iron spear chipped against the surrounding brick with shriek and clattered to the ground. "Oops." Geoff heaved an exasperated sigh and muttered his way to the door, half expecting whoever was there to have left by now. The visitor certainly hadn't left, as Geoff quickly discovered; instead, he had reclined lengthwise along the railing of the stairwell's landing with one leg hanging off the side and the other firmly planted on the rail for balance. The man unclasped his hands from behind his head and turned to look at Geoff, repositioning himself like a French model on a balance beam with a self-satisfied smirk. "I figured I'd let myself in, but I didn't want to be rude and interrupt whatever you guys had going on in there. Sounded like it was getting pretty heated," The man spoke calmly, his voice like the rumble of thunder on a warm night. It was almost enough to make one forget that he had just bypassed an advanced security system and six strategically placed door locks. Geoff was already starting to feel like he'd made a monumental mistake, but it was too late to turn back now. This kid better not be more trouble than he's worth... "Well, gee, I can’t imagine what we could’ve done to deserve so much of your discretion. Or is this just how you kiss up to all your employers?" The man smiled again, "Only the ones I like." In one fluid motion, he grabbed the duffel bag lying next to him with one hand and held the railing with the other, swinging his feet over onto the ground and landing squarely in front of Geoff. "So, where's this 'crew' I've heard so much about? Rumor has it you're the most formidable gang in Los Santos, I'd hate to think you'd take all that credit for yourself." "You obviously underestimate just how much of an egomaniac I am,” Geoff retorted, “ And it's not a rumor, kid, we're the real deal. You'd better learn that pretty damn fast or this job is gonna suck, I'll tell you right now." "Heh. I think I'll be the judge of that." Geoff grimaced at the man’s flagrant arrogance, if only because it rivaled his own, "Wipe that dumbass smile off your face and follow me." Inside he was frantically praying to every deity he denied the existence of that the crew had gotten their act together. He wasn't about to be made a mockery of, especially by this pretentious delinquent.

Was he? 

Apparently, the Gods were feeling generous towards the nonbelievers that day, because waiting for him in the other room was nothing short of a miracle. The lights had been dimmed and the electric shades on the surrounding windows were closed, allowing the burning logs in the fire place to cast an eerie glow across the faces of the crew members. Gavin was reclining in the arm chair with his feet propped up on the coffee table, lazily shuffling and reshuffling his deck of gold-laced playing cards; Jeremy used the windowsill like a bench, resting his elbows on his knees and slouching so that the brim of his cowboy hat just barely covered his eyes; Ryan had thrown on his mask was now leaning against the brick of the fire place with his arms crossed; Michael took over the couch, his arms splayed out along the back cushions on either side of him, a burning cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth; Jack sat at the adjacent bar and took a long swig of the beer she had been nursing, brining it down on the marble counter with a decisive clonk when Geoff and the visitor walked in. This is just too goddamn beautiful, Geoff thought, surveying the scene, Man, I'm gonna have to do something special for this one. Maybe buy 'em some fireworks or, no, you know what? I'll get 'em the whole goddamn store!... "Well, if no one's gonna introduce themselves I guess I'll start," the man, who had for the last few seconds been impatiently shifting from foot to foot, cleared his throat, "Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier." 

 The crew members looked him up and down: from his pink- laced running sneakers to his pink and black leather jacket to his dark hair that fell to one side in a stylishly messy quiff. "Bloody well took your damn time gettin'ere din't you?" Gavin chided. "He sure did," responded Michael through smokey puffs. "Hey, hold on a second here," Jeremy held out his hand as if the Force was telling him something was off, "We aren't paying for just one ridiculously expensive criminal, so where's your friend, huh?" "Oh, don't worry, he'll be here. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," the smirk that had reemerged on Mark's face faded slightly when he noticed Ryan by the fire place. He turned to the bar, where Geoff had poured himself a glass of whiskey and motioned to Ryan with a nod of his head, "What's up with Skeletor over there? Not much of a talker, is he?" "He's probably still deciding whether or not he's going to kill you," Jack replied. "How will I know?" "You won't. But honestly, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you,” with that Jack shot Mark a pointed glance and took a disinterested swig of beer. "Riiiiiight...." Mark looked back at Ryan, who had turned his head slightly and stared back- his mask creating two endless pits of black void where his eyes would be. Mark felt an involuntary shiver creep up his spine and tried to look anywhere else. Luckily, a distracting crash followed by the sound of splintering wood and crumbling plaster erupted from the entryway. "See? What'd I tell you?" Mark's smile returned full force as he and the rest of the crew rushed out to check the damage. 

 "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" Geoff was ranting, "I DISH OUT THE MONEY TO PAY YOU TWO SCHMUCKS AND NOW I GOTTA GET A NEW DOOR!? C'MON!" "Sorry, man, but you had this placed locked up like a high security prison'r somethin'!" A figure appeared from the wreckage, batting the dust off his torn-up denim vest with one gloved hand, and dragging his own duffel bag with the other. The crew could make out a sprig of green hair escaping from beneath his gray ivy cap. "You couldn't have just KNOCKED?" Geoff cried. "Oh... Yea coulda done that, couldn't I? the man said with a chuckle, “But you knew I was here didn't ya?!" He took a second to take in the astonished faces surrounding him, "Well, ain't this a fine group a'people ya got here? Top of the mornin' to ya laddies, my name is JackSepticeye! At your service!" He bowed dramatically low and nearly tripped on the shattered remains of the door, chuckling again, "Oh dear, this is gonna be a problem now in’it?”  "No shit Sherlock!" Michael snapped. Geoff pinched the bridge of his nose, he was still seething but took a breath, coming to terms with the absolute mess in front of him. The door was the least of his problems. "You know, I'm not getting paid enough to deal with shit like this right now, and neither are any of you until we get our hands on a whole shit load of money. So, here's what we're gonna do: we're gonna go in there, sit our asses down, and have a cozy fucking chat about what we need to do to make sure this heist goes fine and dandy and that we all go home alive and, more importantly, rich. Now who's coming with me?" The tensity in the room practically created sparks in the air, but as each person remembered their shared purpose the electricity dissipated into unsettled contentment. Glances passed between the crew members, to Mark and Jack, then back again. "JackSepticeye, huh?” Jeremy stepped forward, “I'd call you Jack, but as it happens that position’s already been filled." “Hey, no worries, man, you can just call me Sam if gets confusin' for ya." "Or we could just start calling Jack 'Mum'," Gavin chimed in. "Oooh, you got yourselves a Britt, I see. We aren’t gonna have a problem now are we, bro?" "Depends,” Gavin considered, “If you'll show me how to do that little door bit I think we'll get along excellently." "Man, I like this dude!" Jack offered a high-five which Gavin accepted, and the two began chatting excitedly. 

Mark felt a tap on his shoulder and wheeled around to see a black skull in a leather jacket standing uncomfortably close behind him. "Oh, uh, hey there buddy. Sorry about the whole... "Skeletor" thing earlier. Y’know I’ll bet you're actually a really nice guy under there." In response, Ryan carefully removed his mask, exposing piercing blue eyes, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, and meticulously applied face paint. He fixed Mark with a cold stare, then looked down at the mask in his hands and scoffed, "I wouldn't go so far as to call myself nice, but I wouldn't kill you for no reason if that's any consolation." "I'll take the consolation prize if it means your less likely to kill me dead," "Yea, right. Besides, having a reason makes killing much more fun, really gets the blood pumping, you know?" "Haha... Yea uh... Totally." "Hey Ryan, quit harassing the new guy and give someone else a turn, will ya!" Michael cut in. "I wasn't harassing anyone!,” Ryan insisted, putting his hands up as if to plead innocence, “We were just having a pleasant conversation, weren't we Mark?" "Yep, no harassing going on over here! Just talking about killing...stuff,” he explained with a stiff thumbs up and a forced grin. "Well, while we're on the subject let me tell you about this one asshole I had to deal with the other day. Oh my god this guy was fucking annoying as shit!..." Eventually, the whole crew began mingling with their temporary additions rather successfully. The only fight that broke out was between Mark and Jeremy, but even that was fueled by friendly competition over who was the strongest proportionate to their height. Geoff and Jack watched like proud parents from the sidelines, marveling at the fact that the situation had deescalated without any broken bones. Somehow, the crew had found it within themselves to welcome these two into their ranks, if only for a few days. 

 And maybe, just maybe, there was a tiny sliver of a possibility that this whole thing would work out.

#markiplier #markiplier tag 2 #fahc #jacksepticeye #fake ah crew #fahc jack #fahc gavin #fahc michael #fahc ryan #fahc geoff #fahc jeremy #my art #fan fic writing