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romanoffsbish · 2 years

Text

Renewed

Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader

Wanda Maximoff x Vision

Natasha x Fem!Reader x Yelena (Siblings)

Misguided Connections (Previous)

⚠️ 18+ ‼️

Smut mixed in!! | Double Strap use | Light Fingering

TW: Mind control, Violence

Natasha took a shaky breath in, while Yelena held onto her arm with an iron grip, as she pushed the doors to the lab open. Her senses were on high alert as her gaze fell on an infuriated Tony, slamming his fists into Steve's chest. Her eyes roamed around the room for your body, but her breath caught in her throat once she noticed your obvious absence.

——

Yelena insisted that she got to see you, even though Natasha knew it would do no more than to further break her heart, she reluctantly brought her to the lab. Now though, she's feeling an insatiable rage take over her body at the sight of your now empty bed.

"Where is she?" Natasha coldly barks out, successfully interrupting the men and their seemingly petty arguments.

"Yeah, Rogers, please do enlighten our resident assassins on where Y/N is." Tony angrily condescends at the super soldier.

"SHIELD took her..." Steve whispers, with his head hung low.

"Excuse me?" Yelena questions angrily, as her sorrow bubbles over into a rage to match her sisters, and she takes a step forward.

"On who's orders?" Natasha seethes, while also holding her sister back and Tony immediately replies.

"Apparently our dear old pal Fury's."

Natasha's immediately dumbfounded...

How did Fury even know you were down yet?

Why would he take you without at least consulting your sisters?

What the hell is he up to?

"Guys, we can focus on SHIELD after we've handled Vision's stone." Steve says into the shared space, while receiving a multitude of glares in return.

"Fuck Vision, and his stone!" Yelena growls, as she goes to tug on Natasha's arm, but she stands firmly in place.

"He's right." Natasha reluctantly agrees.

"How can you say that?" Yelena all but whimpers, as she drops her sisters arm as if she'd burned her by her touch.

"Y/N wouldn't have died if it wasn't for the stones safe removal Lena... We have to ensure it's destroyed properly." Natasha dejectedly replies, and Yelena sighs in reluctant agreement.

"Let's go then." Steve announces, and the entirety of the team makes their way to the quinjet, well almost everyone.

——

Once Wanda made it to Westview her eyes were brimming with a new wave of unshed tears. It was perfect, it was a quiet town, somewhat rundown, but homey nonetheless. Once she'd pulled up onto the street her heart skipped a beat, it was just as perfect.

Wanda pulled up into the driveway, and sat their in awe as she stared at the beautiful two story house. She lifted Lily's carrier out and placed her on the hood of the car, while she herself leaned against it.

"Wow, your mama sure knows the way to my heart." Wanda brokenly whispers while she surveys her surroundings, and her gaze falls to the ring on her finger.

The front yard was rather cute, as it was fenced in to Wanda's specifications. There's an already handled garden, with a multitude of crops already in bloom, bringing a brief smile to her face knowing you'd been here recently.

As she made her way up the porch steps she sat on the swing and took in the array of decorations you'd meticulously purchased. There were bird feeders, a "Welcome Home" doormat, and so much more. She chuckled as her eyes landed on the "Beware of Witch" sign you'd placed in the window. No matter how many times she'd groaned, or told you she'd hated the nickname, she now found herself pleading with the Gods just to hear you calling her 'little witch' once more.

Once she'd finally placed the key in the door, she'd found her hands were shaking, as she was completely overwhelmed by the house already. She went to push the doors open, but stilled when her phone rang, and her heart stopped at the ringtone—it was yours.

"Hello?" She shakily answers the phone, naively believing it could be you on the other end

"Wanda, I don't know why you're missing, but get your ass here now. We're leaving to destroy the godforsaken stone, and it can't be done without you." Natasha's cold voice comes through the other end, and Wanda doesn't question the angry demeanor in the slightest.

"I-I'll be there in ten." Wanda dejects, pushing the door open just enough to slip Lily's carrier inside.

She kneels down then unzips the carrier, and pets the confused cats head.

"I'll be back shortly little one, get acquainted with our new home."

She takes off into the sky, and within a matter of moments finds herself aboard the quinjet full of awaiting Avengers. Finding a seat across from the sisters, she observes them both and she sees that they look to be in the anger stage of their grief.

——

Wakanda had been a bit trickier than had been expected, as they were met with a battle almost instantly. In the end, Wanda had done exactly what she came to do—lay waste to the army of aliens that had cost her everything, and to destroy the stone that sealed your twisted fate.

Vision had attempted to talk to Wanda, but she quite literally threw him across the field and once again found herself across from the sisters on the jet. Natasha had slyly smirked at the sight, clearly finding amusement in the man's karma. Yelena found herself moving to be within the witches embrace. Wanda's heart skipped a beat at the gesture, immediately she wrapped her arm around her shoulders, and closed her eyes and relaxed against the seat.

Once they landed, Natasha went to scoop Yelena up, as she'd fallen asleep but Wanda stopped her with a gentle hand to her forearm.

"Collect your belongings, and meet me here." She mutters, slipping an address into her pocket as she takes off before Vision can even mutter her name, and Natasha finds herself doing just that.

She packed up a suitcase full of hers and Yelena's items, even swooping into your room as well and collecting pieces of you. Then she loaded the belongings into the trunk, Yelena, and Fanny into the back seat, and Liho in the front passenger as she left the compound in the dust.

Once she'd arrived she couldn't fight the smile on her face as she stepped out—you'd actually done it. She remembers all the restless nights where she'd find you up in the kitchen at 2AM, with your airpods in and a mug of reheated coffee. Blueprints for Wanda's dream house would be splayed across the counter, while you listened to your silly podcasts. You'd always shoo her away, with the promise of one day allowing her to see 'her room,' because that was your only requirement for the space—that your sisters have rooms there too.

You'd always been big on holding your sisters close, after the forced years of separation, you'd vowed to never allow that to take place again. Family had always been so foreign to the three of you, but in the end here it had also become all you'd known. The bond the three of you had will hopefully live on in the love you'd had for one another.

"Natasha, where are we?" Yelena grumbles, and Natasha's pulled from her thoughts, as she wipes away at the tears on her cheek and she turns to face her sister.

"Home." She somberly replies, pulling her confused sister out of the car, and into an abrupt hug.

Yelena burrows further into her sister's hold, as she wraps her arms around her waist.

"Home." She repeats against her chest, and Nat leans down to place a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Wanda's been observing every little thing you'd done, and her shattered heart continues to fall apart with every perfect detail. You truly encompassed everything she could've ever wanted, you just stupidly underestimated how much she needed you to make it whole.

You'd always been that way, completely insecure with your place in her life, no matter the reassurances she'd offered. She just hates that she somehow proved you right, wishing desperately that she'd had the will power to override the pull she'd had to Vision.

As she enters the room she falls back on the bed, relishing in the silky sheets you'd purchased. The sounds of crinkling brought her back to a sitting position, as she felt around for the culprit, and there was a note on the bed.

"Darling,

I'm not stupid, I'm like 90% certain you intercepted Vision from his note, as whatever pull had probably faded once I'd done what I had to. Listen to me, it's okay to move on. Promise there's no ill feelings left, I just had to act as if there was, because it would've been to suspicious if I hadn't. I died knowing you loved me wholeheartedly, I don't blame you, and I need you not to blame yourself. Vision was just as much a victim as we were my sweet girl, so please, let yourself be happy with him.

Love, yours always, Y/N Y/L/N. <3"

Her chest instantly tightens, and she slips to the floor onto her knees.

"No!" She shouts in response to your letter, as she crumples it and throws it across the room.

Her mind is instantly foggy, as the only thing she can see is flashes of your smiling face, from all your best memories together. Her senses are essentially overclouded with your familiarities. The way your lips felt against hers, the scent that was uniquely yours fills her nostrils, the way you tasted is ever present on her tongue, it's as if she can somehow hear you whispering your 'I love you's.'

Natasha entered the house, feeling almost instantly that the vibe in the house was off. Yelena traipsed in behind her, and her face dropped, as she saw a red mist flowing out from underneath a door.

"Wanda?" Natasha skeptically questions into the apparently empty space, then she notices the exact thing Yelena does and she moves to run towards the door.

Within an instant, the red surges out from underneath the door, spreading like wildfire throughout the home, and out passed it as well.

Wanda wakes up in the bed, with a pounding headache, and finds herself tensing as she feels an arm draped over her side. She opens her eyes to find your peaceful face beside her, causing a gasp to tumble passed her lips, and for your face to contort in apparent annoyance.

"Wands, my love, what is it? Did 'Lena let Fanny eat your shoes again?" You lazily muttered, as you moved your arm around to pull her closer to you.

She remained still, and quiet, not entirely trusting this supposed illusion just yet. Having no actual clue on as to how it is you're lying next to her, feeling entirely too real for it to be said illusion.

"Sweetheart, what's got you so tense?" You question, fully awake now, as you lean forward to kiss her forehead.

The action causes Wanda's body to shudder, having missed your gentle touch for what was a bit over a year now. She lunges forward and knocks her head into yours in a failed attempt at capturing your lips.

"Baby, what was that?" You laugh out, then use your hands to guide her lips to yours in a sweet kiss.

She pulls back with a giggle, and you move to sit the both of you up.

"Well, I'm up now, so what's the plans for today?" You ask her with a goofy smile, and she smirks at you with a knowing gaze.

She straddles your seated body, and pulls you in by the neck for a heated kiss.

⚠️🥵.

"Baby, it's 9AM, I'm sure my sisters are wide awake..." You murmur against her lips.

"Yeah, well sex is a must, and they knew we fucked like bunnies when they moved in." Wanda replies naturally, as if the circumstances of this ordeal were somehow anything but odd.

"Good point." You reply, as you suddenly flip the script, and lay her body flat against the bed, and attach your lips to her neck.

"Detka..." She breathily gets out, and you hum against her neck, as you continue to bite into her smooth skin, and lathe your tongue over the marks in an attempt to soothe them.

"Fuck me..." She commands, as she claps her hands together.

Suddenly, you're both naked, with her favorite strap dangling from within you. You groan at the sudden fullness you feel from the double ended strap, and she gently caresses your cheeks.

"You okay sweetheart?"

You nod, and smile lovingly at her, then move your lips to hers in a sweet kiss. Your hand gingerly explores her folds, groaning at the feeling of just how wet she already was. You use that same hand to line up the strap with her entrance, then you gently push the tip in and swallow the moans that she subsequently releases as you edge in slowly.

She scratches at your back, instigating your increase in pace, and rewarding you with the melodic sounds of her moans. Her high approaches quickly, as you suck at her sweet spot, and use your thumb to stimulate her clit. Her hips move off the bed to meet your steady thrusts, and yours stutter every now and then when the strap hits your walls just right.

"Cum with me baby." She pants against your temple, as she places an open mouthed kiss there.

Your body jolts at the sensation of Wanda's magic working on your clit, causing the strap to hit her g spot just right, as her walls clench around the strap, thus throwing her over the edge of bliss. She rapidly moves her hips to ride her orgasm out, while continuing to swirl her red wisps on your clit, and causing the strap to move at a new angle inside of you. Your body is then thrown into immense bliss within moments of Wanda's and your orgasm pours out of you, and drips down onto the sheets.

"Shit...." You groan, as your sweaty body collapses atop Wanda's and she whimpers at the deepening of the strap within her.

😇.

The two of you lie there in silence, as she traces her fingers up and down your arms, and you place the occasional kiss to her collarbone as a reminder that you're still there.

"God, I missed this..." Wanda confesses, and you chuckle against her neck.

"What? The eight hours of sleep between was too long for you?" You laugh out, and her heart clenches at the lack of memory of the night before.

"No amount of time with you will ever be enough..." She sighs out, settling on going along with your memory, as it's far less painful then what her brains remembering.

"I love you Wands..."

"I love you so much more..." She replies, and you shake your finger in her face.

"Impossible.." You sleepily mumble, as you're slowly fading out atop her chest, and she grips your body closer.

She closes her eyes, and after a few moments, reopens them to find that you're no longer in her arms. She jumps up, then begins to frantically search for you. Running down the stairs, and stopping about halfway down as she sees you petting Lily, while sipping on a mug of coffee, with the newspaper crumpling beneath her paws.

"Good afternoon darling, I see you slept well." You greet, sending her a slight wink, and she blushes at your teasing tone.

Natasha, and Yelena mindlessly make their way to the kitchen, to collect bowls of cereal and settle at the table.

"Nuh-uh, you two, Wands is making her pancakes and that's far better than your bowls of artificial colorings and sugar."

Natasha is uncharacteristically quiet, as Yelena grumbles out an 'okay mom.' You chuckle, failing to see the glare Wanda casts upon the redhead.

"What? No 'mind your business Y/L/N?'?" You playfully question Natasha, and she chokes out a simple

"Sorry, not feeling well."

Your face softens, and you reach out to feel her forehead, to find she's not really burning up.

"Well, it's not a fever, but I'll make you some tea anyways, hope that'll help." You reply, then place a kiss to her forehead and move into the kitchen, missing the tears that had escaped her eyes.

——

Back at the compound, everyone had been spending the day grieving in their own ways. Tony was in the lab, trying to track down where Fury had gone, but with little to no success.

Steve was in the gym, along with Bucky, mangling the punching bags. Bruce had taken solace on the roof, reading a book you'd gifted him on managing one's emotions, while intermittently sobbing. Pepper was informed, and was already in a baking frenzy.

Vision was sitting still in his room, not entirely accustomed to the concept of a heartbreak, but definitely feeling the adverse side effects. Without the stone, he'd become far more humanized, but he was not left without powers. He found himself still feeling phantom pulses where the stone once was, and they'd seemingly progressed in intensity as the hours drug on. He'd chosen to lie down, and found himself vividly dreaming of a hex in the town of Westview.

——

Fury had just touched down at a secret base, where he'd had your body taken to in a chilled hyperbaric chamber. Agent Coulson and Hill were there, attempting to stop the maddened man from continuing with his ill advised plans of revival.

"Sir, you remember what this did to me, it drove me crazy..." Coulson pleads with the man to let this go, to let you go...

"Yes, because we lied to you, we just won't lie to Y/N..." Fury nonchalantly states, as if the solution was always that simple.

"Sir, death is a permanent in life, I should've stopped you before, but now I know for certain it shouldn't be done."

"Stop, I've made up my mind! You of all people should want Y/N back! She's your fiancé's sister for Christ sakes!"

"That's why I'm here Nick! She's family, and this is wrong! Any number of things could go wrong in there, and you'll be at fault for all of them!" Maria seethes at her superior, as tears threaten to fall as she spares a glance over at your stilled body.

"I'm willing to accept the consequences, now, get out and return to yours bases." Fury cooly states, as he shuts the highly secured doors in their faces and the doctors begin the process.

——

As the days go on in Westview, you find yourself in a consistent cycle. You wake up, you eat breakfast with your family unit, then you and Wanda spend the day doing something new.

On Tuesday, the two of you went to a rather empty salsa dancing class, with an instructor named Herb. You laughed, you cried, and damn near pissed your pants at the obvious lack of coordination Wanda had. The redroom instilled a ballet's touch in you, so any dance had become rather easy to imitate. Wanda however, danced as if she had two left feet, so you both found the floor rather comfortable.

On Wednesday, you'd gone out to watch the stars with Wanda and Yelena. Lying on the blanket, you'd educated them about the constellations, as they were squished against your sides. Natasha stayed home, apparently complaining to Wanda that she'd still felt sick, but that she'd be more than okay alone.

On Thursday, things got weird, as you'd seen a robotic creature talking to your wife. He'd placed his hands on her hips, and your stomach twisted in knots at the sight, then you chuckled when your wife's knee met his crotch, and he'd been practically blown out of the sky.

"Darling, what did we say about using our powers to work through arguments?"

She slightly jumped at the sound of your voice, but turned in your hold and nuzzled into your chest.

"That it's more than okay to do so when they touch you without permission." She sweetly replies, staring up at you with faux eyes of innocence and you laugh at her behavior.

"I think my words got lost in translation, it's fine though, I completely approved, he never should've touched what's not his...

"Oh yeah, who's am I then?" She replies in a dangerously low tone, and you grip her hips, and lower your lips to her ear and whisper,

"Why don't we go inside and find out?" She giggles, and dragged you indoors with urgency.

——

Tony had no luck in finding Fury, but was able to pick up on an insanely large heat signature on his map, and was completely flabbergasted that SHIELD and the Avengers hadn't taken notice.

"Sir! Wanda's taken a town hostage, as well as Natasha and Yelena, and I'm appalled to say, but I think she's performed a dark ritual to resurrect Y/N." Vision shrieks as he enters the lab.

Tony had honestly intended to ignore Vision, as he'd known the synthezoid had been hung up on the little witch. The story however lined up with the asinine heat signature, so he called for a meeting of sorts to try and get this situation sorted.

What was left of the team got onto a quinjet and made their way to the outskirts of Westview. Setting up a plethora of Stark machines to attempt to contradict her power surge, and free the widows, and townspeople.

Wanda had just laid you on the bed, as she headed into the closet to collect her onslaught of toys. Your screams of agony brought her out of the closet just as quickly though, as her eyes turned a scarlet red, and she could feel an attack was underway.

"Wands... What's happening?" You whimpered out through the pain, as your body seemed to be phasing, and she flew towards the outskirts of her hex, and walked out with her hands ablaze.

"Wanda! What have you done?" Steve, ever the goody two shoes, questions the woman in horror.

"Taken my family back." She steels in response, as her hardened glare leaves no room for a challenge.

"Wanda, it's sick, to bring the dead back to life." Vision speaks up, and Wanda chuckles darkly as she wraps him up in her magic.

"Wanda.." Steve tries, she squeezes Vis that much tighter, and he gasps as the super soldier takes the obvious cue to be quiet.

"We're happy, just leave us alone, and no one has to get hurt."

"The townspeople are hurting Wanda." Vision chokes out.

"No! They're all fine! Now back off, I won't say it again." She seethes as she drops Vision to the ground, short circuits all of Stark's tech, and wanders back into the hex.

With the clap of her hands, she's back in the house, snuggled into your sleeping side, as she just chooses to hold you incredibly close.

The team stood there in utter shock, having honestly never seen Wanda so cold before.

"Welp, what's the plan then?"

"Well, sir, with my former link to the stone I find I can still get through the barriers, and when I touch people I'm able to break them free from her hold. So, I'll go in once more, and try to free Natasha, and Yelena." Vision pipes up, as Tony does his best not to roll his eyes at his offer.

"It's your funeral." Tony mutters to himself, then turns to nod in agreement, as he watches the weakened Vision making his way back towards the hex.

——

As Doctor Strange caught wind of the Westview anomaly, he had decided to retire from his vacation to pay Fury a little visit. He'd found Fury in a darkened room in a remote location, sat in a factory, beside a bed. Your body lie there seemingly as good as new, with barely a scar to allude to your heroic save.

"Director Fury, I am Doctor Stephen Strange, and I'm here to collect the girl here." He announces as he walks out of the shadows.

"Like hell you are!" Fury barks out, as he raises his gun towards the unfamiliar man.

"Calm down, this is the only way to save her sisters, as well as a town of unsuspecting people." The wizard clarifies, and Fury's stance adjusts to allow him room to speak, but doesn't lower his gun.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Look, Wanda's magic took over her as the grief became too much. The link the group of them shared to the stone, somehow allowed her to manifest a hex that Y/N's seemingly alive in. The illusions spread across a whole town, the Avengers have already failed to get through to her, this will be the only way. The people are suffering, all her pent up grief is weighing them down."

Fury sighed, as he lowered the gun, then dropped into the seat beside your bed again.

"I'm not sure if seeing her will help..."

"Why's that?"

"She's had to have memories removed, and forgone to make this work. The surgeons didn't inform me on as to what exactly before moving forward, but she had to lose her memories of anything connected to the stone... So, Wanda's essentially been erased..."

"Look, it's worth a shot right?" Doctor Strange urges, as he's seen this anomaly only ending with you by his side.

——

Vision had made his way back to the house, trudging through cautiously to avoid Wanda's prying eyes. He arrived to find Yelena and Natasha outside, working in the yard, looking like mindless drones.

"You're not supposed to be here." Yelena greets the man, and he curses his reflective nature, leaving him nearly impossible to hide.

"Miss Belova, let me help you."

"No, I don't need help!"

"Wait, you're not being controlled?"

"Not anymore..."

"So you're just okay with all of this?"

"You wouldn't understand, but Y/N... She's everything to me, and if you'd only been able to feel the pain Wanda is in, you'd leave her be." Yelena dejectedly responds, and Vision looks on to see the emptiness in Natasha's eyes.

He approaches her, and as he goes to free her, realizing she's still under the control, he's interrupted.

"Hey! Don't touch my sister you freak! First my wife, and now my sister? What are you? Some robotic pervert?" You seethe, as you run down the stairs to shove him.

Wanda hears you from the kitchen and runs out to try and intercept the synthezoid, as she's been exhaustively fighting to keep Natasha's spirit at bay for the last few days now. Vision was able to lightly tap at Natasha's temple before Wanda had thrown him across the yard.

For the first night of the hex, Natasha had laid in her bed, as was part of her designed schedule. She'd heard your voice and internally combusted at the prospect of seeing you once more, she was excited beyond belief. The pained thoughts of Wanda's she'd been forced to experience were honestly nothing, as she'd been feeling the same grief since seeing your eyes drain of their life. It was actually almost a relief for her to feel a pain outside of her own.

Once she'd actually seen you her heart clenched, she immediately thought of the town you'd all resided in. The last thing you'd want in your death is for a town of people to be subjected to the agonizing grief the women of the house were feeling. She'd pleaded with Wanda telepathically to let it go, to set everyone free, but the protests fell on deaf ears. Natasha quickly was able to deduce that Wanda actually had no idea on what was taking place here.

Natasha stumbled at the sudden resurgence of her body and all of its functions. You immediately ran over to her, catching her and watching as her eyes filled with tears and her lip quivered slightly.

"Wanda! You have to stop this!" Natasha shouts, while clinging to your body for support.

"Natasha..." Wanda warns through gritted teeth, as her hands suddenly surround in mists of red.

Yelena's eyes survey the scene, as she see your confused face, Natasha's broken one, and Wanda's determined stance.

"What's going on here?" You mutter

"Y/N, go inside." Wanda commands.

"No, Natasha's clearly not feeling well, I'm not just leaving her. Plus, you're all clearly hiding something, what did the robot want?!"

"Y/N, all of this isn't real... You died..." Natasha whimpers out to you, and you swiftly move the both of you to avoid the red energy thrown at her.

"Wanda! Enough! What is she talking about?"

"Y/N, please, go inside..."

Yelena runs over to the both of you, as she throws her arms around you.

"No! Natasha, explain.."

"I don't know how, but Wanda's powers brought you here, but not without a heavy price."

"Stop it!" Wanda cries out, as she falls to her knees.

"What's the price?"

"Her grief, it's immense, and it's all anyone stuck in this town feels. They're trapped inside their own minds, in agonizing pain, as Wanda's pained thoughts are just looping." Natasha tiredly explains, and your face seems to contort in a sort of understanding.

It makes sense—it really does, your memories are always muddled when you try to think back on your life outside of this town.

"Wanda..."

"No! Everyone's fine! I'm going to fix this baby! We can be happy..." She pleads, and you stare down at her with saddened eyes.

Vision stupidly re-emerges and Wanda's already frazzled state leads to her raging response.

"Wanda, darling, you have to listen to them." He pleads, trying his hardest to get through to her.

"SHUT UP! You, this is all your god damn fault! I hate you! You never should've been created, your existence has served to bring me nothing but pain. So, now it's your turn to finally understand just how much!" She seethes, as her body lifts from the ground to level with him as he's also airborne.

You attempted to escort your sisters indoors, but Yelena refused to let you go and Natasha wasn't going to coward away.

"Wanda, sweetheart, please come down..." You gently shout up her way, but she doesn't pay you any mind as she throws energy balls at the synthezoid.

He dodges them, slowly inching closer to her, until finally he's got her in his grasp. He yanks her towards him, as she thrashes in his arms. He tries to place a gentle kiss to her temple for comfort, but then he shrieks out in pain as a massive energy ball is throwing him back.

"Really? You think your embrace would magically heal me? As if it's not what led to her demise in the first place?"

You hear her words, looking to your sisters for clarification but you find their glazed over eyes and decide pressing them for information would be more than they're capable of in this moment. Tasha smiles as you kiss her forehead, then Lena does the same, but then her face falls as you shoved her into the redheads arms.

"Wanda Maximoff! Get your ass down here and explain yourself." Your harsh tone causes the witch to flinch, but then she returns to face you.

"Baby.."

"No, Wanda... Explain yourself, did you cheat on me then I go on like a mission?"

"It's so much more complicated than that... I-I had no choice."

You scoff, and watch her face fall, deja vu taking over as she remembers your unofficial break up.

"Everyone has a choice Wanda, you don't just fall into someone's lap."

"It wasn't a choice! It was some twisted destiny pact, that tied all of us to that damn mind stone... I-I-I would never have done anything to hurt you, I just wanted to love you. I still do, please let me..."

"Oh Wanda... Sweet girl, you have to let me go." You coo, with a bittersweet smile, as you take in her words, and reach your hands up to cup her face.

"No..."

"Darling, whatever this is, it isn't real... We'll never be able to have the life we wanted, and no amount of pretending will make this real. I'm dead, this version of me, though magnificent—truly, your powers have truly evolved my dear—it just isn't real. I'm sorry I didn't give you a happily ever after, but I'm glad that whatever I did allowed my three favorite girls to stay alive..."

Wanda was in absolute hysterics, as her body was shaking, and your thumbs worked tirelessly to wipe her tears away. You gave up on the tears, then leaned forward to place your lips to hers in an attempt to ground her.

Her hands clung to your biceps, as she held you firmly in place, every fiber of her being willing this to be real—it all just felt so right. The kiss was sloppy, and full of tears from both ends. You pulled back to smile at her, then her face dropped as you screamed in pain and a massive hole took place where your abdomen should be. Vision stood there with a grim smile upon his face, having clearly just used one of Tony’s blasters on your illusion’s body.

“She’s not real darling, but I, I’m as real as they come…” He sickeningly mutters, and Wanda’s remaining calmness leaves her body at once.

Natasha and Yelena had bolted off the porch, and stood beside Wanda’s trembling body. The anger surged throughout all of them, as your screams brought Natasha back to the other day when she’d actually lost you. This might not actually be you, but it shares your likeness, and there’s no way in hell she’s letting the robot off for hurting you—not again!

They charged up their widow bites, that Wanda had manifested for them, and shoots them off at the man. Wanda helps to throw the photon blaster from his grasp, then leaves the sisters to handle him, whilst she drops to the ground to cradle your face.

“Darling, you have to let me go… Set everyone free, it’s going to be okay—I promise.”

“No, it’s not… I-I can’t do this alone.”

“That’s the beauty of it all Wands, look around, you’re not alone. You have my badass sisters by your side, and then there’s also the team… I’d avoid that robot though if I were you, he seems a tad bit obsessed…”

She sadly chuckled at your playful words, and leaned her forehead to yours, craving the serenity that having you close always brought to her.

“I love you, and I know that no matter what happened between us, that I died loving you.”

…

“Because, loving you—Wanda Maximoff, was the easiest choice I’d ever made.”

“I-I can’t do it.”

You smile widely at your former lover, with the most reassuring gaze you could muster, while stroking her cheek with your thumb, trying your best to ease her through the now painful goodbye you’d always wanted to avoid for her.

“Please don’t go…” Yelena cries out, as she runs over and drops besides the two of you in hysterics. Then you realize there were more hearts at stake here than just the one intimately tied to yours.

“Shh.. Moi prekrasnyye sestry, you’re going to be just fine. All of you are, I’ll go on to live on in your hearts. Just pay extra close attention to your surroundings, and know that when you see a shooting star up in the sky, that’ll be me saying hello. When you’re walking through Central Park and a butterfly passes you by, that’ll be me whispering out an I love you. If you find a hummingbird swirling around you, just know that’s me trying to embrace you. I’m certain that we’ll see each other again one day, and until then I need you all to keep living. Live on for me, and don’t be afraid of all life has to offer… It’s more than okay to move on, I’d never want you to be stuck in the past over silly old me. I am certain that I did what I did knowing that you’d all be fine, this is just the hardest part, where you have to let go. Don’t cry over the what if’s, it’ll get you nowhere my dears, just hold on to all our good times, and don’t be hesitant to have more. You all deserve a happily ever after, so go out there and make life your bitch! She owes you all some relief.” (My beautiful sisters)

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” She cries out, as she leans her head on your chest.

“Think back really hard for me Lena, and I’m certain you’ll see the exact moment where I said my goodbyes. I’d never have willingly left any of you behind without some sort of goodbye…” You mutter, while placing a chaste kiss to the crown of her head.

She whimpers as she remembers the kiss you’d left on her forehead, and your whispers of I love you. She’d thought you were being a tad bit dramatic at the time, but now she knows why.

Wanda’s epiphany had hit her once she saw your limp body on the metal frame, that your audible utterance of goodbye, and the hug was your bittersweet way of bidding her farewell.

Natasha’s goodbye was far less subtle, and astronomically more painful, but she also wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. To be able to see you off as death kissed your eyelids, and as you took your final shaky breath; to be able to hold you close one final time—to offer you that fleeting comfort her hugs had always brought you. You truly were the better half of her heart, and she’d send you off knowing that.

The women watch on as the town around them slowly returns back to its original state. The once bright buildings, and lively forestry began to fade into worn down ones on the brink of collapse, and dead shrubbery had started to cloud their vision. Wanda was cupping your face between her hands, as Lena’s face is to your chest, and Natasha’s hand grips yours for what will now be her final chance, as her eyes are tightly shut, unwilling to watch you disappear again.

“Poka my ne vstretimsya snova moi dorogiye” Are the last words you mutter before you fade away into nonexistence.

(Until we meet again my darlings)

“Tasha?”

Natasha whips her head to the side in absolute astonishment, having heard your small voice coming from the left of her. Your unconscious illusion based body was no longer laying on the ground before her as the hex had literally just faded. She felt as your hand disappeared from hers, so she just about faints when she sees you standing with a vaguely familiar looking man.

You were stood there besides Doctor Strange, whom you’d only just met, after he told you that a town of people were desperately depending on you to save them. You were skeptical at first, but found the will to help once you’d discovered your sisters were involved, and Fury had confirmed it for you.

You’d seen the tale end of the fight take place, and saw as the gorgeous brunette crying over what appeared to be a clone of you. Your heart hurt for her, seeing the pained look on her face as she’d stared down at you, as you willed your mind to fill you in on exactly why. Sure, Strange and Fury gave you a summarized version of recent events, clueing you in on as to why this hex had even formed in the first place. The idea that this woman had loved you so much, that your death led to others pain had actually warmed your heart in a way. You’d obviously never want something of the sort to take place, but knowing you were loved enough by her that she’d managed to lose control brought upon that twisted comfort.

Instead of approaching the mess, Strange had decided you’d be better on the outskirts of it all. He’d not told Fury this, but your re-emerging in the town was never meant to end the hex, but instead to provide hope in the hearts of your loved ones. To serve more as a preventative measure for the witch, who was obviously down bad, in a way granting you two a new intertwined destiny—one that will serve to hold off the emergence of the Scarlet Witch.

Natasha and Yelena were quick to their feet, running to embrace you, knowing deep down that this wasn’t some illusion. Something about the way your features expressed how lost you were told them that this was truly you. Wanda however stayed on her knees, with her fists clenched and eyes firmly shut. Willing for this newfound illusion of you to just fade away, not at all having it in her to lose you once more.

Your sisters were absolute disasters in your embrace, as you felt their tears trailing down your neck as they soaked up into your shirt.

“I’m here, I’m really here… I’m sorry I left you two behind…” You whisper, while rubbing comforting circles into their backs.

Wanda could hear your thoughts, they were just so loud, as you battled with your memories. Her heart shattered when she realized that whatever brought you back, had erased her. She stood on two shaky legs, prepared to fly off, hoping that if she just got far away from you, that you’d stay safe.

You however had other plans, as you’d told your sisters you needed a minute, and you’d swiftly walked over to her. Your gentle grip on her shoulder caused her body to shudder, and for a new wave of sobs to attempt to rack her body, but she held them at bay.

“Wanda…” You gently whispered her name, with an air of uncertainty, and her heart shattered at this unfamiliar tension.

“It’s okay, I understand that whatever brought you back did you the absolute pleasure of forgetting me.”

“I’m sorry, for whatever it’s worth… I could see how much my death hurt you, and I’m really trying so hard to remember you.”

“It’s probably for the best that you forget me.” She bitterly chuckles out, while trying to shake your grip, but you instead pulled her into your embrace.

“Now, I just don’t think I can agree with that… A love like ours, that would lead me to make the ultimate sacrifice, and lead you to entrap a town of people as your grief overpowered you doesn’t seem worth forgoing. We have the chance to start fresh, make our bond everlasting, and far less doomed. Why would you run from that?”

“I don’t want to hurt you again Y/N/N.”

You smiled at the nickname she’d used, and your heart swelled at the familiarity your body felt along with it.

“I might not remember you Wanda, but I can tell that you’d never hurt me intentionally. Deep down, I know the love I had for you is still in here, I can feel this immense connection to you.”

“That same connection is what got you killed.”

“Yeah, but it’s also led us to this exact moment, who’s to say we can’t rewrite our story?”

You abruptly stepped away from her, and she stared at your back with an amused gaze, immediately feeling that you were up to something.

“Hi, I’m Y/N Y/L/N, I saw you from across the way and couldn’t help but to make my way over. You’re absolutely breathtaking, is there any chance that you’d be willing to go out with me sometime? I know this diner that serves amazing pancakes in Brooklyn…” You ramble on in ‘greeting,’ turning to face her and flashing her that same goofy smile she’d fallen in love with all those years ago.

Her stomach erupts with butterflies, as her heart then skips a beat in her chest, and she knows now that there’s no way in hell she’s leaving you behind. She decides that is a blessing she won’t overlook, allowing you two a chance to fall in love again, without the pain of the past to weigh you down.

“Wanda Maximoff, and I’d love nothing more than to accompany you to get some pancakes.” She beams, as she accepts your extended hand, and chuckles as you whisper a ‘yes’ under your breath in self congratulations.

“Mind if my sisters tag along?”

“Not at all…” Wanda assures you, with a sweet smile, and you grasp her hand to pull her towards your sisters, as you guys step over the unconscious robot’s body on the ground.

Sometimes life affords you with ample opportunities to start anew, and it’s up to you to embrace the change, or to remain stagnant in your misery.

——————————————————

Tagged you if you’d commented/reblogged with comments 🥺

@mrs-wandamaximoff @meurgen

@etheriaaly @sheisnotalone

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@holiday-house-of-m @tchallasbff

7,514 Words.

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moonslove7 · 3 years

Text

His Yearly Burden

(Remus Lupin x reader)

Summary: It’s Remus’s 23rd Birthday and you take matters into your own hands.

“Please, don’t do anything for my birthday, you give me enough with just putting up with me and my nonsense.”

Remus said while holding you tightly in his arms, you played lazily with his hair, “Mhm, yep...” You murmured, trying not to give away the fact you had planned for Sirius and James to come to the cottage the next day and help prepare for his special day of the year. Eventually you two drifted off into a deep sleep, cuddled tightly together.

At 10am you woke up, finding Remus with his arm and leg hooked around you, you smiled at the sight but sighed when realising it would soon have to end, you would have to ask the birthday boy to go out to get something or do shopping so his friends could sneak in with the party goodies. After five more minutes you slowly and gently took Remus’s arm and grabbed a pillow, and changed your waist with the pillow which he started to grab and when you had stood up and out of bed he curled around the pillow, sighing very quietly before going back to dream land, snoring quietly.

Smiling one last time at him you quietly got to work, got dressed and then walked out into the kitchen, hiding the milk and other food products you had just incase he got suspicious and looked himself, after half an hour a sleepy Remus walked into the kitchen, with a blanket around him, yawning with barely open eyes.

“Morning Pup.” He said while walking around to you and wrapping the blanket around both of you, making you giggle as he reached down to peck your lips, your hands going to hold his cheeks, rubbing your thumbs slowly on his face looking at the somehow still tired man, “Morning Moony,” You replied, pushing your forehead towards his, he sighed as he felt the peacefulness of the late morning, with the bird singing in the background.

“I need you to get some groceries, I made a list.” You said making Remus furrow his eyebrows, “... Why do I need to go?” He questioned, glancing into your eyes and then around the kitchen. “Because you usually do, and I was going to give you money to get some more chocolate.” You tried to bribe him, he raised an eyebrow at your answer, hummed and then nodded dropping his eyebrow and then walked over to the counter still clutching the blanket to himself he read the list, “I swear I got milk yesterday...” He mumbled while turning around to check the fridge, which held no milk bottle inside it.

“I guess you didn’t babe, anywho, I’ll be changing the bird feeder if you need me.” You said, making an excuse to leave so he wouldn’t question you anymore, you picked up the bird seed mix and took it outside, you two didn’t really have a garden but you both treated the forest like it, you even brought a bird food holder and a little wooden bird house. After another half an hour past Remus had gone out, the door banging loudly as he closed it, sighing he started the walk to the local shops.

Meanwhile you ran back into the house, checking the time it was amazingly just about time when his best friends should be around, you noted to yourself to ask them how they knew how long it would take him to leave the house, and then there was a knock at the door, Opening it of course it was Sirius and James, both holding multiple bags of things, Opening the door wider you welcomed them inside James was grinning at the thought of the plan, remembering how back at hogwarts they would usually hold a small party like this for Remus’s birthday no matter how much he begged them not to, they felt he deserved to know for at least one day a year he was worth celebrating, no matter what he was.

“Alright, James gets started on the décor, I am in charge of snacks you know taste testing and all that, (Y/n) keep an eye out for Moons,” Sirius directed, already munching on a sweet from one of the bags, shaking your head with a smile you stood near the window, “You know I can help right?” You mentioned, Sirius stopped in thought for a minute, “You can set up his birthday cake, you baked it right?” He asked which you nodded to and went off into the kitchen, the cake was baked but you didn’t have fun little decorating bits on it which surprisingly Sirius had walked with you into the kitchen and dropped some chocolate related stuff next to the cake for you to decorate. “Thanks Sirius, hopefully it takes him enough time for us to set this all up.” You hoped, Sirius nodded in agreement, and so the decorating commenced.

After two hours there was banners all around the little cottage saying happy birthday, balloons all over the place, some popped on the floor due to James and Sirius having a ‘balloon fight’ while blowing them up, the dinner table was littered with plates full of chocolates, crisps and other snacks, the cake sitting at the front of it all, ‘happy birthday Remus!’ written in chocolate icing with candles. It seemed like a basic birthday party for many but for the boys this was more than enough for their Moony.

“HES HERE” James shouted and then ran to the hallway along with you and Sirius running behind him, when the door opened Remus was about to say he was back when his ears were ambushed with a very loud “HAPPY BIRTHDAY REMUS!” He stepped back a little, shocked at the yelling and the words that were being yelled. “Guys... I told you not to,” He whined with a pout as he closed the door and walked further towards you guys with his shopping bags, which you instantly took, “You think we would give up the opportunity to celebrate our Moony? You must be daft,” James said, you took the bags into the kitchen, you already put the milk and other things back in their places, little did you know Remus had trailed slowly after you into the kitchen. he noticed there was suddenly two lots of milk and he dramatically gasped, ”I knew it! You were up to something!” He looked betrayed which made you laugh, stepping towards him you held his face in your hands making him pout even more you pecked his face with your kisses exaggerating the smooching noise to make him laugh, “you’re so sneaky but cute..” He whispered to himself though you heard. “And you Mister deserved to spend this day enjoying yourself, not hating yourself.” You replied making him look at the floor and then back to you, “... I know you and the idiots mean well, but I just feel like you’re all celebrating the monster that I am.” He confessed making you sigh and shake your head, “You’re not a monster, were celebrating you Remus, not Moony, not the wolf you turn into every full moon, just you. You and your ridiculously cute jumpers and cardigans. Not Moony.” He nodded, closing his eyes and letting his head rest against yours, “Now, let’s get this party on the road birthday boy,” You said, clutching his hand to yours, “I love you so much and I’ll scream at the moon myself if you do not enjoy this birthday, you deserve nothing but happiness my love.” You continued making Remus snicker at the thought of you screaming at the moon for what it did to him, you were always so protective of him and it felt nice, nice that someone wanted to protect and love him, not harm and insult him in his moments of what he called weakness.

“OMG YOU GUYS HAVE ABBA-”

Sirius’s voice shouted from the Livingroom, you guessed he had found the music player and suddenly the beginning of Dancing Queen was playing,’ oh what a birthday this would be’ you and Remus thought to yourselves, not prepared to witness Sirius singing loudly to ABBA while James was on the floor laughing to near tears while cheering him on...

If you guys want a pt.2 tell me thanks for reading!

#remus lupin #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin fluff #remus j lupin #remus john lupin #remus lupin imagine #remus lupin x male reader #harry potter #sirius black #james potter #hogwarts

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writernomore · 3 years

Text

The Blood Ball

Please do not publish my work/ content to different websites and platforms, I only post my work here on tumblr and wattpad.

A/n: This wasn't Proofread because I had been tired and just wrapped this out after writing it on word, also to inform you guys that reader would use he/they pronouns.

Male!Reader

It was pretty much a normal day for you on the Dream smp, you had some minimal chores to do around your base before having to go do other stuff collecting resources for a big project you had been working on, it was a little party, you wanted to celebrate stuff with old friends and new ones where everyone can get along.

Adjusting your armor and such checking your bookbag which you filled with things that were certainly not books inside it if it was closed securely so that none of your things fall out.

Grabbing your axe you walk to your table to grab a list full of materials you needed to gather, you already did your farming and fed your animals and pets so you were okay and set for the day to go gathering materials for the party you were planning .

Going to the door you turn the knob and open it, raising an arm to shield your eyes from the sun, you were going to step forward when a letter was on your doormat, glancing around you don't find anyone.

He picked up the letter and examined it from the front of the letter and to the back of it, the back had his name written in cursive and there was a red wax seal on the letter.

Opening it they were greeted with an invitation, to a banquet.

Dear Y/n ,

We are here to inform you that you have been cordially invited to the Red Banquet.

We hope to see you there along with our other friends!

P.s. Please dress in red attire.

Your friend,

Badboyhalo

He put back the invitation inside the envelope and had pocketed it inside their book bag, and took note to look at their formal clothing later after gathering materials.

Y/n hadn't been hanging out with Bad lately or his friends from the Eggpire because he was suspicious of their actions, they avoided Bad because of Bad constantly trying to persuade and convince him to visit the egg.

They agreed back then but the following had happened wasn't very pleasant, they trapped him inside the egg and told him about how the egg wanted him on their side and how it already had a hold on him, He was trapped there for 14 hours breathing heavily and feeling the pressure of the walls moving and closing in on him.

Sam saved him after he found out Y/n was trapped inside the egg, Y/n was clinging on to Sam for dear life as if they let go of him the egg would get them again Puffy brought Y/n home while Sam had to confront Bad and the others about it.

Y/n now hated the sight of the egg or anything that included it.

He shivered at the memory and just went to close his door and went to gather some wood because they were running out on birch logs.

They also had to go mining for some more stone, and finally find a place to build where he would hold the party.

He would have to also go to the cow farm and gather plenty of milk to make cakes.

Taking out a note book he wrote down what he needed and how many of it he would have to get.

-------------------------------------------------

Putting down their bag on their table they went to their chest they had placed specifically for the materials for the party.

They also had gathered a bunch f sugar cane to make paper since they ran out of paper back then to make more books to write in, they always wrote a lot during free time and they had already filled about three books so it was about time they restocked on materials.

Taking the sugar cane they went to the crafting table and turn them into paper for the invitations they will send soon, it was nice that he was invited to the Red Banquet he needed a break from all the constant material gathering they did whether it was when someone asked him a favor or it was that he needed to let out some steam by focusing his tension on his pickaxe or axe trying to tire himself out.

Wiping sweat from his forehead he finished crafting the sugar cane into paper, placing the stack of paper on the crafting table he went to the straps of his armor and went to place it on his armor stand, he took note that he needed to start mending his armor since it was starting to be worn down.

Walking back to the crafting table he took the papers and placed them in his bag from his kitchen table, going to the cupboards he retrieved a glass and field it with water and took some potatoes out from a chest he placed them in the furnace and while waiting he went to his chest room to check on his materials seeing if anything needed of restocking.

Grabbing some wheat he went back to the kitchen placed down the wheat on the table and went to retrieve his potatoes and munched on them and drank another glass of water before taking the wheat and go outside to feed his animals before going to retreat for the night.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

-*Day of the Banquet *-

Opening his eyes he groaned bringing a hand to run through his hair, standing up he went to fix his bed and go out to the kitchen to prepare something to eat then he had feed his animals so they wouldn't starve for the day while he was gone.

Going to one of his chests he took 2 eggs 3 pieces of bacon and took out some bread, going to the kitchen with food in-hand he took out a pan from his cupboard he placed it on top of the stove and started it, he cracked the eggs and put them on the pan hearing the sizzle of the eggs he placed the bacon along with the eggs, going back to the kitchen cupboard he took out a plate, glass and fork and placing them on the kitchen table.

Pouring himself some juice in his glass he took a bite out of his bread, taking the eggs and bacon out of the pan and placing them on his plate he placed the pan inside the sink.

Stabbing the eggs and bacon with his fork he brought them to his mouth and chewed his food while looking out of his kitchen window.

Finishing he also went to place the dish in the sink and took a sponge from it's container and went to turn on the sink to wash his dishes because he didn't like leaving his dirty dishes around because he was living alone, but sometimes the minors would come and trash his place after eating snacks and telling stories, long story short the minors saw him as of a big brother figure because he helps them alot especially when they get in trouble with the adults in the smp.

Kids would be kids you know? Someone has to look out for them.

Chuckling he finished up cleaning his dishes and went to grab a cloth to dry the dishes and place them down on a dish rack and wipe his wet hands with the kitchen towel.

Going outside the kitchen he went inside his chest room to grab some wheat for his sheep, yeah I guess I haven’t mentioned he loves caring for sheep did I? well now you get to know what animals he took care of all this time, he cared for all of his sheep like they were his children, like how Ghostbur had an attachment to Friend, why he chose to care for a bunch of sheep? He just thinks they were cute.

Opening the gate, he was greeted with the sheep going to him hoping for head rubs, he pets the soft fur of the sheep he made his way to place the wheat on the feeder as soon he finished placing it the sheep went eat the wheat, opening the gate he grabbed a bucket and filled it with water to pour water in the water feeder.

Closing the gate, he went outside the barn and went inside his house to freshen up, going to the bathroom he took his toothbrush and toothpaste and began to brush his teeth, his face had some scars from previous wars in the smp, Y/n was pretty involved with the war he always sided with the minors he made a promise to protect them and not let anything bad happened to them, not after the…accident, shaking his head he spits out the toothpaste.

The whole incident with Tommy being trapped in the prison and being killed by Dream made Y/n much more overprotective towards the younger smp members, he knows they can protect themselves but it’s just a constant battle with his instincts of making sure they were safe and weren’t harmed.

Gathering water with his hands he splashed it in his face and grabbed a towel to dry his face with.

After he went to take off the shirt he wore to bed and went to his bedroom and grab a black button up shirt to wear underneath his red suit, buttoning up he too off his night shorts and grabbed his pants from his closet and put them on.

He grabbed his red jacket and put it on buttoning the 2 buttons and running his hands through the clothes smoothening it out, grabbing his gloves he put them on and took his black earrings from his night stand, looking at himself from the mirror of his bathroom he ran a hand through his hair to fix it.

Examining himself he stuffed his hands into his pocket contemplating if this was really a good choice, he could bring something for a backup plan if anything went rouge during the Red Banquet.

The Eggpire shouldn’t be trusted.

Don’t go.

It’s dangerous.

The voices in his head were fighting with each other whether Y/n should go or not, shaking his head he looked back up to the mirror and turned on his heel and twisting the door knob opening and closing the door once he was outside.

Walking to where people would have to wait for the Banquet to start Y/n was fiddling with his black earrings, back then in the old days of the smp Y/n was good friends with the Dream Team, he hung out with them and the earrings he had currently Sapnap and Dream had them too, he didn’t know if they still had them since he wasn’t able to catch up with them.

Y/n hasn’t visited in Dream so long after what he did to Tommy because he kept his distance with him.

Arriving to the destination he saw Niki, Hannah and Puffy there along with Fundy, Eret and Hbomb.

Walking a bit faster he went to the group of people and greeted with a bright smile “Hello Everyone!” he said.

“Y/n! Well, don’t you look dapper today.” Puffy said putting a hand on her hip, looking down at Puffy Y/n gently took her hand and kissed the back of it “Puffy, looking gorgeous as ever.” “You Flatter me Y/n.”

“I see you went all out.” A voice said looking behind him Eret is there looking at Y/n with arms crossed and a smirk on his face “I see you did too.” “Looking stunning as ever, Eret.” Y/n went to do the same thing to Eret by kissing the back of their hand.

“Aren’t you a big flirt.” Puffy says as Y/n turns around and scratches the back of his neck.

“The Banquet would start shortly, now if you come with me…” Antfrost says, their attention going to him as people follow him down to where the Banquet would be held, there is a hallway where one room branches from it to the left where there is the coat room, Y/n sees Sam “Well don’t you look nice Sam!” He says.

“And you’re looking rather red today Y/n.” he says smiling to the man, nodding Y/n follows the rest of the guests to an open area.

It was all red…

R E D…………….

Shaking his head he looks around, vines coming up from the ceiling blood vines and all that but there is a wooden pathway that would lead to a dance floor, looking around they see the others chatting amongst themselves.

Turning around they see Foolish just coming out from the entrance they walk over to Foolish and greet him.

“Foolish! You look so handsome!” They say looking at Foolish with admiration in his eyes “Thank you Y/n! You look very nice too.” Foolish says chuckling.

“Shall we?” Extending a hand to Foolish they walk to the others laughing “Foolish!” Puffy extend her arms and hugged her son “Don’t you look dapper!” she says smiling up at her son.

After everyone had finished greeting each other they go over to the open area where there was a booth where songs were playing next to it there was a table with drinks, grabbing himself a glass Y/n downed the glass and hummed relishing the taste as the liquid goes down their throat.

Looking around they went to catch up with the others attending the party, laughing at patting George on the back for finally being in time and attending the party Y/n missed talking with George and they talk about how they should hang together just the two of them again some time like they used to back then when everything was normal between everyone before all the wars and explosions started.

"Y/n! You came!" A familiar voice says from behind them.

Turning away their attention from George they are greeted by Bad a smile slowly making it's way to his face he hugs Bad and he turns the gesture by hugging back pulling away he says "Ofcourse I would! It's been long since we all came together!"

"Well I see you're wearing all red." Bad says looking him up and down with the red suit he adorned for the evening "Yeah! Fortunately I had a red suit lying around for some reason." he says scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, George I told you to wear red!" Bad says placing his hands on his hips George could only shrug and laugh, shaking his head Bad chuckles "Well, I hope you guys are enjoying yourselves food will be served soon and we'll do a toast later on, just call Me, Ant or Ponk if you need anything have a good evening to the two of you!" Bad says before turning around and went to interact with the other guests.

*-*

Sitting on one of the chairs laid out along with the long table with plates and glasses, you sit next to Foolish the two of you talk about recent projects the two of you are thinking of doing and about the mansion Foolish was building for Tubbo and Ranboo, you told him to take breaks from time to time and not to exhaust himself while building.

Then the clinking of a spoon against a glass wine cup catching everyone's attention, all focused to the front of the table where Ponk, Bad, and Ant stood.

Clearing his throat.

"Friends, it is an honor to be here with you all today as a community."

Bad says with arms extending to gesture to everyone seated at the table.

"I wanted to invite everyone here to unite us as a whole, to unite this server amongst all the fighting and all the wars we are still a big family and see each other as such."

"And if anyone would like to say a speech please rise and say what you would love to say." Bad said as he took a seat.

“I guess I could go then.” Foolish said.

“Go ahead Foolish.” Bad says.

Foolish takes his glass and holds it on one off his hands “Well, for starters it’s nice to let by gones be by gones, and that sure you may have done some violent stuff back in the past and all of those stuff with the vines and uh..blowing up my summer home.”

“But! Here’s to being given the fourth fifth chance!” Foolish raises his glass and downs it, before sitting down as everyone raises there glass and clap.

“Will anyone else like to go next?” Bad questions.

“I guess I could go next.” Eret says standing up from her seat.

“Oh! Eret, go ahead,”

“So as the Monarch of this server it is awesome to see how the smp is being reunified again and see how we aren’t going to have to worry about fighting on opposing sides.”

As people clapped and Bad called on to ask who love to go next everything was muffled and a sudden ringing was inside Y/n’s head, he clenched his fist and closed his eyes a bit to try and soothe this pounding headache, but alas their effort to was to no avail, a voice started talking in their head, a voice they have not heard of before from the usual voices they heard of.

You really think he could like a person like you?

What?

You heard me

I don’t understand…

You poor thing, thinking that the person he holds close most would return their feelings in return…

What are you going on about?

You think Foolish would reciprocate your feelings?

How do you know about Foolish?

Let’s not go to the matter of how I know but of how I could help you with this situation of yours…

Why would I want your help?

I know you wouldn’t want my help but if you join me maybe I could help you with your love problem, just as long you joined me in the Eggpire….

No, Why would I do that?

……

I don’t want to help you or need or want you help either!

…Then it cannot be helped…

What do you mean?

As Y/n said that red vines were attacking them and restraining their limbs.

They went to scream but their mouth was soon shut forcibly.

Muffled shouts and pleas were landed on deaf ears as Y/n struggled to break free from the vines.

As everything went black for them.

*~-_-~*

As Puffy went to open the chest she had planned to fill with armor and weapons if anything were to go wrong during the Banquet she stared at the now empty chest.

“Oh, Were you looking for this?”

As Puffy lifted her head to look at Bad at what he meant, he along with Ant, Ponk and Hannah were wearing the armor she had stored in the chest.

“What?”

As in cue Y/n stood up from his seat and walked towards the group of four with his head cast down and faced them, Bad put a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

“I’m sorry Puffy, I had to tell them..” Hannah says smiling at Puffy.

“What? But-“ Foolish stutters “Y/n? you’re with them?” Foolish says looking in horror as he stares at Y/n.

As Y/n lifted his head gasps of disbelief and horror were heard, Niki places a hand over her mouth as everyone looks at their friend who now had deep red eyes and his neck had vines running up his neck.

Foolish sees as his friend was standing in front of him his eyes holding no emotion in them as if he was staring at the void their (s/c) had turned gray.

Letting out a shaky breath Foolish shakes his head and looks away because if he were to stare longer he might break into tears.

“You told them about the armor, Hannah?” Sam says.

“I had to tell them, it was the only way.”

Sam glances at his friend, they were perfectly fine a while ago what caused this to happen? Furrowing his eyebrows he mentally took a note to help bring Y/n back to normal.

“Time to go to the main eve-“ before Bad could continue he was cut off by Sam.

“Tragic you told them about the armor well, good thing I had another plan up my sleeve because I didn’t trust you.” Sam says glaring at Hannah as Puffy looks at Sam and nods.

"We can all agree that this whole thing with the egg has gone long enough, and I'm tired of all the fighting so why not blow the egg up for good?"

Sam says walking to the vines and lifting it up to reveal a lever.

The Eggpire watches in confusion on what Same meant.

“So why not blow it up with an amount of tnt that it cannot survive.”

Tnt comes falling down on the egg and start to blow up smoke covering the egg from the explosion but once the smoke cleared it revealed the egg covered in crying obsidian, the crying obsidian slowly fades and it reavels the egg unharmed, they stare in confusion.

Why is the egg still okay?

Why isn’t it blown up?

Bad laughs and says “Did you think tnt would work after that little stunt Quackity tried to pull?” “We took some planning and some preparing so that we wouldn’t have issues with the egg about tnt anymore.” He added.

“Y/n?” Puffy asked looking at him ecpectingly to react or say something but alas they were greeted with nothing just a hollow shell of their friend.

Putting a hand on Y/n’s shoulder Bad said “Don’t worry about him the egg would take really good care of Y/n, so you wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.”

No please! Help me!

“Now if you would follow me, we could start the…Summary executions.” Bad says smiling.

He walks up the platform with Y/n following in suite gripping a diamond axe in one hand.

“What!?”

“No! What about the speeches man! What were they all about!?” Fundy asks.

“Those speeches were to lure you into a false sense of hope and security.” Bad deadpanned.

“You see in order for the egg to hatch it needs something and this something is we’ll be taking from each and one of you, you see the egg needs energy.”

“And that energy in particular is absorbed into the egg when people die near it and that is the roles you guys will be fulfilling!”

“So now one by one-“ once again Bad was cut off by someone.

“You’re a monster.”

“Excuse me?” Bad raises a brow.

“We trusted you.” Eret says clenching their fist.

“You are one to talk to about trust!” Ponk says angry at the person in front of them.

“That’s all in the past now.” Eret says looking down.

“I changed since then, I know better to not break other people trust anymore.”

Bad stares at Eret and open his mouth to talk “You know what? Eret, I think you’d be the perfect person to…sacrifice first!”

*~-_-~*

In darkness Y/n stood there bound in vines.

Watching as their body is controlled and is doing things they didn’t want to and had no will in what is currently happening.

Please someone…

…./n

…..Y/n..

Y/n!

Y/n gasps and looks up from their kneeling position they are greeted by two entities the one to the left was all white with yellow eyes looking down at him and the other one to the right was all black with white eyes looking at the vines constricting them.

Are you okay dear?

I..I think so?

Helos dear, can you help him with the vines?

I’m already on it.

Being freed from the vines Y/n looked up at the entity in front of him their hand outstretched which he gratefully took helping him stand up.

A shout was heard and they looked to see that a sword was being raised and lowered.

Wincing Y/n put a hand to his head trying to soothe his headache, how does he gain control to his body again?

We can help you with gaining control again.

Looking at the white entity he says “What?”

She said to gain control of your body from this red things influence dingus

The other entity says hitting Y/n upside his head.

Helos!

What!?

*~-_-~*

Gasping Y/n gasps desperate for air feeling his neck as if he was being chocked looking over at everyone they see Puffy with tears in her eyes and everyone staring somewhere.

Looking to what everyone was looking at they see blood and…Foolish’ body..?

Foolish’ body was slowly disappearing leaving yellow dust.

Furrowing his brows and his grip tightening his hold on the diamond axe “WHAT THE HELL!?” he shouts catching the attention of everyone in the room to see Y/n back to normal again.

“Oh! Hello Y/n, had a pleasant nap?” Bad asks him innocently.

“Hm no matter whether you’re awake or not from the influence we would go back to you once this is over ,now , who should we execute next?” Bad asks.

As Bad and the others were deciding who to execute Y/n loosened and tightened his grip on the axe and slowly backed away from the four shaking his head, he could feel the pounding sensation going on in his head and he can’t take it anymore.

Dropping his axe he sits down and puts his head in his hands, no one is going to trust him ever again.

A hand was placed on his shoulder and he was greeted with Fundy looking down at him with a worried expression “Are you okay?” he asks.

“To be honest? No, I’m not.” He says looking at Bad.

As he went over who they could kill out of nowhere Quackity came from a wall and landed in the room.

Quackity calls Bad’s name and tells him to stop.

“Relax Bad, Relax” Quackity says smiling at Bad “I know what you’re doing here, but stop right now, stop.”

“Oh my gosh, look at what you’ve done here, Bad this is impressive.” Quackity says looking over the room and the egg.

“You have to stop Bad.”

“Stop?” Bad repeats.

“This whole egg thing is getting way out of control, you just killed a man is this what you wanted? Is this what you wanted to do all along? Killing innocent people?” Quackity says putting on enchanted armor.

Bad scoffs “You think putting on armor would scare us away and make us stop? Why do you think we went through all of this effort?”

“All of this is for the egg and for what the egg could give us.” Bad says “ So don’t get in our way.” Bad growls.

“You can’t stop us because we’re to powerful.”

“Look at what you’ve done bad.” Quackity says gesturing to the whole room “You’ve trapped all these, these innocent people.” He says shakily.

“And what you’ve discussed as a party?”

“Just look at this Bad, What have they done to you?” “I’m telling you, you’re a pawn for power.”

Quackity rambled on about how the egg doesn’t care about him and that how it doesn’t mean anything, while the Others looked at the egg Quackity gives Puffy a golden apple and a netherite axe quickly hiding them in her inventory whilst Quackity talked.

“How about we stop playing games Bad?” Quackity suggests.

“I can’t you know I can’t.” “You’re not like this Bad.”

“If I stop, then I can’t have what I need.”

“The last chance Bad.” Quackity warns “You and your buddies drop your weapons, leave and let these people go.”

“Or what?” Antfrost asks.

“I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to Bad.”

“No.”

“No, How about you drop your weapons and prepare.” Bad says loading up his crossbow and points it at Quackity.

“Because Quackity if you wanted to stop us, you should have brought more than yourself, Quackity.”

Quackity’s grin widened and he let out an airy chuckle “Guess what Bad? I did. In fact I brought the next best thing, I brought my Biggest enemy.”

Quackity laughs “I’m not alone.”

“Alright Quackity where is this egg?” “It’s right here.” Technoblade walks in though the gap in the wall where Quackity had dropped in bringing along an army of dogs with him.

Y/n stared at all the dogs dropping in, and went to stand up steadily grabbing the axe he had set down but stopped when a hand was placed on his shoulder turning around with furrowed brows he sees Fundy looking at him and shaking his head as in telling him not to.

Which he behaved and just sat back down with a huff he couldn’t fight right now he needed to stop the headache.

“Not only that I crossed the entire lands looking for the best mercenary I could find, because guess what? I couldn’t take you alone so I got the two best fighter in the entire server to help me out with this, so Welcome him Bad!” Quackity cheers.

“What?”

“Purpled!” And on time Purpled had busted in through where Technoblade and Quackity busted in through not so long ago.

“What!? We hired you to take out Puffy and you joined the enemies side!?” Bad shouts at the young man.

“To be frank Bad, Quackity just had the better price.” Purpled says shrugging.

Bad huffs before looking to Techno “And Techno! You and Quackity are enemies, Why would you side with him?” Bad questions.

“Listen, I didn’t want to work with him either but this, this egg is going to far it’s warping peoples mind and it won’t stop till it influences the entire server.” Techno says before getting his dog off the magma block before it kills itself mumbling something to himself.

“And this egg stands for everything for everything I stand against as an Anarchist and if I don’t stop it now, it would be the end of the world.” He says before taking out his rocket launcher “So yeah, I’m working with Quackity.” Techno answers the Demon.

“No, We still out number you it’s 4 against – “ before Bad could finish that sentence as if in cue Puffy takes a strength potion and screams “Antfrost you’re dead!” before charging at Antfrost with axe in hand surprising him and the others “Puffy stop!” Bad calls out.

She swings her axe at Antfrost hitting him and went to hit him again but the clang of His sword coming in contact with the axe was heard, Puffy was quick retract the axe and killed Antfrost with the final blow with the axe to his abdomen.

It was then that Quackity shouts “Attack!” that swords coming in contact with each other wolves attacking and biting the opposing side and arrows being shot.

“Save us!” Fundy screams.

The Dogs went after Ponk and attacked him growling at the one armed man as Techno launched more rockets causing explosions of color “Bad! I’ve always told you that this egg brings nothing but trouble, trouble I tell you.” Quackity “I’m done with fucking games.”

“This is not going to end here Quackity.” Bad screams.

At this point Y/n had already stood up “Get him!” Screams Fundy, all he could do is look at his fox friend and sigh shaking his friend.

“Retreat!” Bad yells.

“What?” Y/n says under his breath.

They see that Bad had dug out a tunnel leading out to an escape route “What? No!”

People run up to the platform and to see the tunnel “Stay here, don’t go after them.” Quackity instructed.

“Purpled I want you to go ahead and track them.” Quackity orders Purpled.

“They’re not going to get away with this.” “Is everyone okay?”

“No.” Y/n deadpans “I don’t know, we just got lured into this place no one had no idea.” Fundy exclaims.

You rub his back and he just buries his head in your shoulder sighing in frustration.

A hand was placed on your shoulder and you turn to see Sam “Are you… doing alright? You in there and not being controlled right now ?”

You give him a tired smile and shook your head no, he nods and rubs your shoulder.

Purpled had returned and told Quackity that it was a Labyrinth down where they escaped “Shit, did we really just lose them?”

“I’ll build a prison for the egg.” Sam states.

“No, Sam there has got to be a way to destroy it right?”

“I’ll try to find another way but for now I’ll lock it up till I find a way how to get rid of this thing.” Sam says looking the egg up and down.

After Sam and Quackity discuss about containing the egg Quackity asks everyone if they’re okay.

“Hey, Y/n” He hums in response “You don’t look to well, your looking a little under the weather.” Quackity says looking worriedly at his friend.

“Yeah, just feeling a bit rough after being..” He stops talking and just gestures to himself by twirling his fingers around his head and points to the egg “Okay..uh just hang in there.” Quackity pats him on the shoulder “Well then I hope hanging by a thread counts.” Y/n jokes snickering at himself.

Leave him alone it’s how he’s coping right now.

“Okay, our objective right now is to get these people out of here, we’re going to get them out through where we came through okay everyone , Purpled you go ahead and lead these people out of here.” “Alright.” Purpled says.

As everyone was being carefully escorted inside the opening Techno, Quackity and Purpled entered through.

As they had finally ascended up to the surface everyone was so happy, having gobe out of that hell hole.

Breathing in the air Y/n looked up at the sky and decided to say goodbye to everyone and said they were going to head home to sleep.

Walking to the direction of their house they thought maybe they shouldn’t throw a party at the moment.

When his house was in sight he sped up and went to run to his home opening the door and slamming it close.

Looking around he took in the surrounding and quiet atmosphere he ran a hand through his hair messing it up even more.

He began to unbutton his suit jacket and take it off walking to his bedroom and plopped into his bed and buried himself within the comforters.

He was to late…

He wasn’t able to save Foolish in time…

He can’t let something like that happen again…

I couldn’t protect Foolish but I could protect others to prevent them from dying to the hands of the egg or anything that wanted to harm them, even if it costed his life.

Closing his eyes, he swore to protect the other people he holds dear.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again, sorry that this story isn't proofread I tried rushing this So I'll be able to get this story out as soon as possible.

Anyways, I intended to have had publish this a few more days later but I just decided against it.

Anyhow, If you like my writing why not consider and give me a follow and donate to my ko-fi? It would mean a lot to me! :D

#mcyt x reader #mcyt #x reader #dream smp #dreamsmp x reader #foolish x reader #foolish gamers #captain puffy #eggpire #red banquet

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wholesomemendes · 4 years

Text

Basket Full of Love

Summary: After buying a new house, you and Shawn are at a flower nursery to decorate the outside and lots of love ensues.

Author’s Note: This is literally just fluff. That’s it. Fluff on fluff. I got this idea when I was buying flowers with my mom the other day and all I could do was picture this happening. She’s short (only 1.4k), but she’s sweet so I hope you guys like it. As always, please tell me what you think, any feedback is appreciated!

“Shawn, which one do you like better?”

At the sound of your voice your husband turns his head away from where he was admiring a bundle of pretty, pink peonies and makes his way towards where you were comparing two hanging baskets. He wraps his arms around your middle, letting his head come to rest on your shoulder, “Which ones am I looking at?”

You pointed at two baskets filled with an arrangement of red begonias and other white flowers with hints of yellow in them, “These two right here. I’m thinking of hanging one of them on the back porch next to the birdfeeder.”

Shawn stared at them, examining all of the bright colors with furrowed brows, “But baby, they’re the same thing.”

“No they’re not,” you huffed, pointing at each of them, “This one obviously has more begonias so the color stands out more, but this one seems to have more buds.”

“A-what? A bedona?”

You laughed at his words causing him to squeeze you a little tighter and press a kiss to your forehead, “A be-go-nia is this pretty little red flower right here.” You leaned forward slightly to gently touch the gorgeous petals, rubbing one between the pads of your fingers.

“Oh, a be-go-nia.”

You let out a small giggle at how he was sounding out the word, but still turned around nonetheless and placed a kiss on his cheek, “That’s it, bubs. You’ve got it.” He contemplated his decision for a few more moments before pointing at the one on the right.

“I like that one, the red in it looks nicer.”

“Perfect, then we’ll get that one.” You stood on your tiptoes in an attempt to reach the hook, smiling to yourself when Shawn placed one hand on your waist and reached above you to help grab it instead. You mumbled out a thank you as you kissed his bicep lightly while he put the new basket into your cart.

“Alright, are you ready to go?”

“What? No, we still need to get two baskets for the top of the steps in the front and some flowers to plant in the garden in front of the main entrance and then there’s…”

“Ok, ok I get it, lots of flowers,” he sighed, resting his head on his arms that were on the cart which was already filled with three other assorted plants, “Why do we need so many?”

“Shawn, we literally just bought a house. That means you need to decorate a bit outside, you know, make it presentable. The perennials your mom has in her garden didn’t just grow by themselves.”

Your husband groaned again, lifting his head to face you this time, “Babe, you know I have no idea what you’re talking about when you spit out all of these big flower words.”

“Perennials are the flowers that rebloom every year without you needing to replant them. Annuals are the flowers that die before the winter season.”

“So why don’t you just buy all perenals or whatever the heck they’re called so you don’t have to replant them every year?”

“Perennials and because you want to change it up a little bit! It’d be boring to have the same flowers every year.” Pushing him playfully out of the way, you grabbed the cart and headed towards some of the perennials you wanted to plant in the front garden, Shawn trailing behind you like a lost puppy. One of the flower labels caught your attention a few rows down and you gravitated towards it immediately, “Shawn, look! Daylilies!”

“And…?”

“Andddd these attract hummingbirds! Wouldn’t it be cute to see some hummingbirds around the house? We could even put up a hummingbird feeder!”

A smile broke out on Shawn’s face at your excited state and he placed his lips on top of your head, mumbling into your hair, “That sounds great, love. Anything to put a smile on your face.”

You smiled up at him before grabbing a couple trays of the soon to be beautiful flowers and placing them in your cart. You could tell Shawn was becoming antsy to go home because he was either pulling out his phone more than usual or being extra clingy, a telltale sign of his boredom. “Hey bubs,” you snapped him out of the trance he was in on his phone, “Why don’t you go pick something out? Whatever you want to get.”

“Anything?” he asked, a bright smile taking up his face.

“Anything, just please don’t pick something that will ruin the outside of our house.”

“I won't, I promise, I’ll pick out the prettiest flowers for you.” He placed his hand under your chin so he could peck your lips quickly before he ran off somewhere in the nursery to, what you could only assume was, cause trouble.

Two baskets and a handful of trays later you were satisfied with your cart, the only thing missing being your giant of a husband that was still somehow on the hunt for his special flowers. “Is this flower for sale?” a deep voice whispered into your ear, causing you to jump from the fright. You immediately recognized the voice and bright chuckle as your husband’s and you turned around, meeting his mischievous grin.

“What took you so long, bubs? Pick out anything good?”

“Mhm, but nothing as beautiful as this flower right in front of me.”

You blushed at his words, lightly pushing his chest to hide your red cheeks, but his muscular body didn’t move an inch, “‘M not a flower.”

“You could be though,” he smiled at you, hands coming to your waist to pull you closer to his body, “You’re as gorgeous as one and you smell just as good, too.”

“Oh stop it, I’m your wife now. You don’t need to shower me in compliments anymore.”

“Doesn’t matter, I’m always gonna give you loads of compliments cause you’re my girl and you deserve them.” He leaned in to place a searing kiss onto your lips, gripping your hips tighter to bring you flush against him.

“Shawn,” you mumbled against his lips when he tried to deepen it, “People.”

He pulled away unwillingly, a small pout on his face, “What? I can’t kiss my wife now?”

“You can...back home. Now why don’t you show me these flowers you got.”

“Oh right! Flowers, yes.” Moving to turn around to where he had placed the basket on the ground, he held it up for you with a proud grin adorning his lips, “Ok, so I had to get some help from one of the workers, but I got it. Basically, it’s a basket full of love!” He pointed to a handful of white flowers on one side, “These ones are supposed to symbolize everlasting love, which you know, made me think of us and it’s supposed to represent fertility and motherhood which I think will be helpful for the future.” You looked at him with tear filled eyes, not knowing how the man who wanted nothing to do with flowers earlier had managed to find the perfect array of them that also happened to be so meaningful. “The dark red ones mean love and affection as well and the rest of them in here don’t really mean anything, but I think they’re super beautiful.” You wouldn’t think that the mix of orange blossoms and red carnations would look as pleasing to the eye as they did, but you thought that the meaning behind them made them that more beautiful to you. “So? What do you think?”

“What do I think? Shawn, I-” you leaned your head back in an attempt to keep the tears at bay- “I don’t know what to say, they’re absolutely perfect. I don’t deserve you, bubs.”

“Awe baby, don’t cry,” he cooed, wrapping you up in his arms, “I love you, you’re the one I don’t deserve.”

“You can’t say that, you just made me cry in the middle of a nursery.” You sniffled one last time before placing your lips on his, holding him tight against you.

“I thought you said no kisses in public,” Shawn mumbled against your lips, but not making any move to pull away from you.

You detached your lips from his and cocked an eyebrow at him, “Do you not want to kiss me right now?”

“Hell no, get back here,” and with that you melted into his arms, a basket full of love leaning against the two of you.

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beelzebubisbestwaifu · 4 years

Text

Flowers for my boys (pt 6)

Coffee/Flower shop AU

Demons x reader - gender neutral, fluff, Barbatos is here and he’s smoother than jazz, Cute Diavolo

Identifying demons is far easier than previously suspected. Their names are often strange and unlike the names of the normal human world. Which is how the young florist had identified the quiet young man who entered her shop weeks prior. His eyes serious and his posture formal as he meandered the shop with a scrutinizing gaze.

“Barbatos” was the name he gave when (y/n) asked cheerfully, his lips curving into a soft smile as he looks away from the handmade birdhouses across the shop. Light filtering in from the window illuminated the streak of teal in his hair, his eyes wise and calm.

“I’m quite interested in these birdhouses and feeders,” Barbatos hums, walking close and leaning on the cash counter.

“Oh?” (y/n) hums, smiling cheerfully “What kind of birds are you trying to attract.” The demon chuckles, casting a wink to the lovely florist.

“Nothing from this world,” Barbatos hums, “I was hoping to have some things custom made.” The idea of a commission sparking joy in the human’s ribcage.

“Of course of course,” (y/n) chuckles, grabbing a sheet of paper to sketch out the design, “What kind of designs do you want?”

“I’d actually like to help you build it,” Barbatos rumbles, carefully sketching out a birdhouse on the paper with a blue pen. The two chat idly as they plan out the little houses and feeders. The sun filtering in cheerfully.

***

Now, as Barbatos carefully paints on the designs to the tiny Victorian-esque birdhouse on the workbench, there’s a sweet smile on his face. A warm calm had long since fallen over the duo as they finish the little details on the small houses and feeders.

“Would you like to help me hang these?” Barbatos hums, adjusting his loose-necked turtleneck sweater a bit. Wearing casual clothes was a surprise to (y/n), but the demon had insisted on wearing something a tad more comfortable.

“Oh,” (y/n) blushes, “Where?”

“Diavolo’s castle, in the Devildom.”

Surprise and shock coats the human’s features as they look up from the palette of acrylic colors. The duo blush a little when their eyes meet, the surprise from the human fueling the look.

“You want...me to come to the Devildom?” (y/n) asks, their eyes wide in surprise.

“Yes,” Barbatos nods, “Diavolo has many flower species he’d like you to see. It could be a good chance to include you in our culture.” The florist nods, dabbing on the last few dots of paint onto the birdhouse.

“I’m honored,” they nod a bit, smiling as Barbatos slips them a small slip of parchment, “What’s this?”

“A packing list,” Barbatos hums, “The Devildom is often wild and strange, I personally want you to be prepared for anything.” A smile stretches across (y/n)’s lips as they look over the list.

“Thank you,” The human nods, smiling. The sun sets outside the flower shop, the warmth of the day melting away into a chill pool of night. In the workshop, the pair of friends chat about the incoming trip to the Devildom.

***

Stepping through the portal, the first thing to grace (y/n) is a beautiful hall, the far end appearing to be some sort of meeting space. Tapestries hang from the walls, the scent of ancient secrets fluttering into the air and sinking into their lungs.

“Woah...” (y/n) gasps, holding their crate of items close to their chest, “Where are we?”

“The meeting room at RAD,” Barbatos hums, holding (y/n)’s bags for them, “It’s for the student council.” The duo meander out of the room, (y/n) wide-eyed and amazed as they walk out of the school into the courtyard. Gorgeous pillars and walkways stretch out in front of the duo as they walk off towards a destination unknown to (y/n).

Pathways stretch out in front of them, the streets and buildings winding around as though the very ground is alive. The ancient feeling rising from the ground and seeping into (y/n)’s bones chills them deeply. There’s an ancient archaic knowledge in the soil here, the feeling of knowledge far unknown to mankind sinking in as one walks among the stone walls.

There, in the distance, looms a beautiful castle. The towers stretching into the sky in graceful spears. Lovely beautiful golden walls and gleaming gates.

“Woah,” (y/n) gasps, “Who the heck lives there?”

“Diavolo,” Barbatos hums, leading the young human up the steps and towards the front door, “We can take the shortcut through the castle, to ensure your time is not wasted.” Swiftly, as though he’s merely an animatronic moving along a preset track, Barbatos walks along the beautiful hallways. His head is held high, his body slender and graceful. A catlike man stalking along a dominion he knows better than himself.

“It’s so lovely here,” (y/n) hums, staring wide-eyed around at the beautiful artwork lining the halls, “I’m grateful for the chance to see everything.”

“One can only see so much in their lifetime,” Barbatos smiles serenely, holding (y/n)’s bags in one arm and carefully taking the crate from the human’s hands.

“I guess that’s true.”

“It is,” He hums, beautiful eyes meeting theirs, “So I’m glad I was lucky enough to meet your acquaintance.” A blush flashes across (y/n)’s face, the sweet gaze of Barbatos tenderly warming the space between them.

“O-Oh my!” They blush, looking away bashfully, “Thank you.” Making their way into the courtyard, Barbatos casually sets down the bags before tucking the crate under his left arm.

“May I?” Barbatos offers the crook of his arm, smiling softly, “The steps can be a tad slippery.” (y/n) blushes, holding the crook of the demon’s arm and walking with him into the beautiful gardens. A sense of domestic bliss washes over the duo as the walk like young lovers into the garden. In (y/n)’s mind blossoms images they had seen in their teen years. Black and white photos of young couples of all age, sex, and race, walking hand-in-hand as though the world contains no wrong.

Barbatos casts his human companion small smiles as he comes to stop before a gorgeous willow tree. The branches of which hang low and lovely. The demon butler sets down the crate, stretching his arms out for a moment as his human companion looks around.

“Hey, why’d you bring my stuff here?” They ask, brow raised questioningly. Barbatos gives a wink, grin pulled over his beautiful lips.

“Well the brothers don’t fare well with sharing,” he explains, smiling, “So we wanted to make sure you didn’t end up mobbed by those wild boys.” A chuckle shakes through (y/n)’s ribs as they carefully hang a birdhouse.

“Aww,” (y/n) smiles, carefully adjusting the small treebranches so that they wont be damaged, “It’s nice to be so loved. You guys are so sweet!” Barbatos chuckles, letting silence fall over the duo as they begin hanging the birdhouses and feeders. The demon fills the strange birdfeeders with a strange sort of birdseed, his smile never fading from his soft-looking lips.

“Barbatos, have you brought (y/n) down to-” Diavolo rounds the corner, cheer in his eyes as he sees the pair under the tree, “(y/l/n)! You’re here! How wonderful.” The lord walks up close, his smile growing wide as he examines the birdhouses.

“Hi Dio,” (y/n) giggles, watching the demon carefully look over the details of the handmade woodwork.

“You two made these?” Diavolo smiles, “That’s amazing!” The prince pulls his human guest into his arms, giving them a hearty squeeze before carefully pulling back.

“Thank you, sir,” Barbatos nods, filling the final birdfeeder.

“I’m glad someone respects my work,” (y/n) blushes, rubbing their arm sheepishly.

“Well....” Diavolo hums, “I suppose we’ve put if off for long enough.” The demons fall into a stone-faced look, their eyes locking for a mere moment.

“Your lodging...” Barbatos begins, however, Diavolo is quick to stop him.

“You’ll be staying in the House of Lamentation,” The prince begins, “....with the seven demon brothers: Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and Belphegor.” Barbatos steps forward, his eyes looking like those of a war-worn old man.

“And they don’t know you’re coming to stay the week.”

#Obey me #swd #shall we date #obey me swd #obey me shall we date #Flowers for my boys

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hellyeahomeland · 4 years

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“Catch and Release”: an HYH recap

LOL I guess we need to discuss these new opening credits? It’s a real throwback, incorporating some of the more famous images from the first few years of the show, especially young Carrie (also I don’t remember the maze as much the last few years but it was there, and it features heavily this year as well).

Some notable audio clips:

Saul: You had a relationship complicated enough to lie about. Carrie: Yeah, it’s complicated! I lost seven months of my life!

Saul: You will become the focus of an investigation that will define the rest of your life.

Saul: Please God, tell me you haven’t…

(had to include this cap because I’m trash)

So… this should be fun.

The episode opens right where the last one left off. Carrie is visibly disturbed by the site of Yevgeny walking out of G’ulom’s office. She wastes no time asking G’ulom what the hell they were doing there. He plays coy and says they’re just businessmen but Carrie is doing her whole righteous indignation, “New Car Smell” thing. She says he’s got to take back his comments about the POWs. There’s a pointed exchange where Carrie says they’re prisoners of war and G’ulom counters that they’re terrorists and OH MY GOD how much heavier could the Brody parallels get?? Anyway, G’ulom is very unconvinced by Carrie’s argument, which basically boils down to “please?” She seethes the whole way back to the CIA station and says her first mean thing to Jenna this episode.

Later on the phone with Saul, she asks if he knew Yevgeny was there. “Of course not,” Saul says, though I’m not really sure I believe him. But apparently they can’t do shit about this as it was part of the terms of Carrie’s release. Which I guess they forgot to mention in her debrief.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Max is talking to the DoD’s version of Siri. His Hot Marines give him all a hair tousle, which he hates (obviously), but which also seems to be some sign of good luck. The nice guy in the hat from the last episode notably does not touch his head, so I’m sure he’ll be dead in 2-4 episodes. Apparently the DoD Siri is better than the real thing because he manages to comb through some conversations of Haqqani talking to his son about ending the war. Saul says this is “black and white” evidence, because as we know everything that happens on this show is “black and white.” He’s convinced that if he could just talk to Haqqani, they could end this war together. This is one of Saul’s more insane plans but it will probably work because: Saul.

Back at the CIA, Carrie’s gotten an “anonymous tip” which is basically a name written in large block letters inside an envelope. She manages to use a computer successfully and discovers the name is of a woman who was involved in a government corruption probe that got ~mysteriously~ shut down when it uncovered actual government corruption. How quaint! Anyway, then her husband was killed in a car bomb that was probably meant for her. So she’s justifiably pissed and probably has dirt on G’ulom that Carrie could use.

Carrie proposes to Mike Dunne an operation wherein they pretend to interview her for a job while Carrie breaks into her apartment to find said dirt. Mike Dunne brilliantly suggests Jenna for the operation since apparently Jenna set up a fake NGO with all her downtime on account of not being let outside. Their conversation goes something like this:

Carrie: Wait, just last week you told me Jenna is sort of an idiot. Mike: I said she was stuck in the starting gate. That is a horse racing analogy. Carrie: [raises eyebrows] Mike: We need her idiocy to add a little drama to this otherwise straightforward operation you’ve devised.

Later, Carrie prepares with Jenna:

Carrie: I’m phrasing this next bit as a rhetorical question with an obvious answer, because I don’t actually believe you know the right answer, because you are an idiot. Jenna: I promise I’m not an idiot. Did Mike say I was a fuck-up? Carrie: No, I said that. Jenna: Oh, right. Carrie: Are you not a fuck-up? Jenna: [blank stare]

Meanwhile, Tasneem is observing the transfer of Taliban POWs from Guantanamo, including one who is carted off on a stretcher. Also Saul is nowhere to be found. Between the ambulance and the “where the FUCK is Saul” of it all, this scene has several of the same elements of the iconique ending of “A Red Wheel Barrow.” Like Carrie then, Tasneem knows something is fishy.

…and something definitely is! Saul’s not back in America like Tim Guinee says. He’s with Haqqani’s cousin, one of the released POWs, trying to convince him to hand deliver a letter to Haqqani in exchange for his immediate freedom.

Saul and Haqqani’s cousin arrive in Peshawar, where Saul hands over the letter to Haqqani, which he then reads via voiceover. It’s all very “A False Glimmer.” He pleads with Haqqani to meet with him, claiming “it’s only the men with guns who can make peace.” Which, I guess?

The next day, Carrie’s operation is a go. Samira leaves right on time for the interview with Jenna’s fake NGO and Carrie and her crew easily break into her apartment. They don’t find much, until Carrie notices a burqa with a USB sewn into the hem. Incriminating evidence sewn into fabric that is discovered at the last moment is my FAVORITE device on this show.

Carrie is victorious in her search but Jenna royally fucks up the interview, because she’s an idiot (and a fuck-up, apparently), revealing that she knows about the “audit” Samira took part in. Jenna, you literally had one job! To her credit, Samira realizes what’s going on almost instantly and then takes a photo of Jenna. We have to stan!!

Samira doesn’t get away though. They abduct her and take her back to the CIA station, cuff her, and throw a hood over her head. Carrie is enraged, claiming they’ve just traumatized her all over again and now she definitely won’t talk. After a few seasons of getting a hood thrown over her head, Carrie sympathizes.

She does her best “here’s the lay of the land” with Samira and gets her to tell her the significance of the documents on the USB drive. Samira wants G’ulom arrested and says she can wait two more years, or even twenty, to take down G’ulom. Carrie knows the best they can do is just cut him at the knees by advancing the peace deal. In the end, she convinces her.

Carrie calls Saul from a big abandoned building, location unknown, which is supposed to be an army base. Key phrase: “supposed to be.” Samira’s documents show evidence of an entirely fabricated Afghan Army battalion. That’s right, G’ulom is a scammer! He’s been funneling millions of dollars meant for the Army base into his own pocket for years. Incredulous, Carrie exclaims, “We’ve been enabling this motherfucker for 18 years! What is wrong with us?”

In Rawalpindi, Tasneem pays a visit to her retired stepfather Bunny (last seen in season four). He’s fallen asleep in his massive garden shooting squirrels with a pistol. The neighbors are complaining.

Tasneem: If you took down the bird feeders, the squirrels would stop eating the bird seeds. Bunny: I prefer this. Also, that’s not fair to the birds. Tasneem: Is this a metaphor? [Later] Tasneem: Stepdad, I think Saul is up to no good. If he talks to Haqqani directly, there could be a real breakthrough. Bunny: Unacceptable. We must control everything. Tasneem: How far am I allowed to go then? Bunny: The Americans hate us and our God. Go as fucking far as you please. Tasneem: Coolio, it’s murder time.

Wearing a nice set of gold bar earrings, Carrie is back in G’ulom’s office, presenting him with a slew of incriminating evidence about his scam. He has two hours to walk back the statements before she shares the papers with his own government, who’d likely have him killed. Finally she has leverage, but G’ulom still manages to give a menacing speech about how peace will be terrible for everyone. Carrie doesn’t relent.

Poor Max has not gotten any alone time at the Army base in Afghanistan, but he has realized that the ISI definitely know that Saul is in Peshawar. Apparently the Taliban does as well. Twist of twists, the ISI aren’t preparing to hit him, they’re preparing to hit Haqqani. Saul yells at the Taliban’s convoy to stop but it’s too late. Amid the panic, Saul is abducted again. I honestly cannot. How many times has this been? This was not the Homeland Greatest Hits I had in mind.

Later, Carrie is stomping her way through the streets of Kabul. She ends up at a bar with the rest of the crew. She says something encouraging to Jenna and orders a “soda water,” both of which are not things I would have expected Carrie to do. Mike Dunne is like, Carrie when the fuck are you gonna leave? Carrie does a cute lil’ shrug and randomly asks where the bathroom is.

That’s right, we needed Carrie alone and somewhat lost because YEVGENY IS BACK. Somehow he looks even hotter than last week. Apparently he gave the anonymous tip, which makes no sense.

Yevgeny: I thought you were gonna thank me. *wink wink* Carrie: I am so confused. Yevgeny: Who else would have done something so nice for you? *wink wink* Carrie: I am maximum confused. Yevgeny: Don’t play dumb. *wink wink* Carrie: I am more confused now than that time I saw a screensaver. Yevgeny: Hey, maybe we could go to Banana Joe’s together? *wink wink* [fades into darkness]

The episode closes somewhat awesomely with Saul, still blindfolded, entering a cement fortress. The blindfold comes off, his beard looks raggedy. I’ve seen this all before. Haqqani walks in. He’s not dead. Saul’s thanking the heavens, and then Haqqani smacks him across the face with a rifle. Cut to black. *chef’s kiss*

#homeland #an hyh recap #catch and release #*#by: sara

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huffpostarts · 4 years

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The Very Best Holiday Presents For Dogs To Eat!

We've spent the last couple months testing as well as curating the most effective holiday gifts for dogs (and their individuals)-- and today's suggestions are all presents for your dog to EAT! If I needed to guess, I think today's possibly our dogs' favored day of the gift overview!

When it concerns screening edibles, I don't rely on the dogs. They do not have one of the most critical tastes. My initial step is to evaluate components to see if it's something I really feel comfortable giving them. Currently, I'm not a person that's "all health, constantly." I such as to balance a little bit of junk food from time to time. These victors, though, all rank actually very for being nutritious-- as well as I added our preferred supplements to balance out too many Christmas cookies. I had a tough time tightening it down, so right here are our favorite seven ideal holiday presents for dogs that they can EAT!

DGP

Let's kick this off with our supplement fave. I've covered this before, and if you have a dog with joint troubles or you simply desire preventative care, this is the one for you. DGP is all about sustaining flexibility as well as versatility, as well as if your dog is already on a glucosamine-type supplement, it can be included in provide extra support. Lucas has bad hips, as well as he's beginning to get a bit older-- though he appears unaware of that-- as well as likes to play at dog daycare eventually a week. It was taking its toll on his joints, but with the DGP, he currently appears to be rather solid. I'm SUPER satisfied with this supplement, as well as my big boy is going to stay on it without a doubt!

Indigo Triple Chews

Dental health and wellness is important, yet we aren't fantastic about brushing these guys' teeth. We look for oral products that maintain their teeth clean and their mouths healthy and balanced. The Indigo Triple Chews are by FAR our faves. They're digestible as well as grain-free. They integrate benefits by consisting of antioxidants as well as probiotics with the dental treatment. But why we enjoy them: They really are durable. We've tried every sort of dental chew, and also they complete them SO fast. Also quick for just how expensive they are. These seriously last longer than any other we tried. I desired a statistics, so I offered one to Lucas prior to I took a seat to write today. It took him from 3:24 up until 3:51. In my house, that's a Christmas miracle.

Fruitables Holiday Edition: Vanilla Snowflake Flavor

So, these deals with have without a doubt the very best story to them. They are made with genuine snows! Seriously! You can watch a video of them gathering the snow. These are tiny, crunchy treats that are made with 300 snowflakes in every bag. How funny and also adorable is that?! The active ingredients are quite allergy-friendly, as well. The deals with don't contain any wheat, corn, soy, man-made shades, or preservatives. While the young boys uncommitted too much regarding those aspects, they did gobble them up! I definitely like the story and also think these would make a very sweet stocking stuffer for any kind of fortunate pup!

Zuke's.

Complete disclosure: If you have a dog who is as food sensitive as Cooper is, Zuke's have actually not been the best deals with for him. Somehow, they actually intensify his sensitive stomach. For more details about dog sensitive food then visit https://petsish.com/best-dog-food-for-sensitive-stomach/ . The large young boys, on the other hand, couldn't. get. enough. We like Zuke's for training because they have a strong smell and are easily gotten into bits. These jerky ones, though, have a lamb that we're attempting with Coop, therefore much, so excellent! The other flavors are wonderful for the other dogs. There are a couple different beef options and turkey, as well. These jerky treats-- made from completely secure meat sourced in the United States and New Zealand, instead of China-- consist of genuine meat, carrots, blueberries, apples, as well as antioxidant-rich natural herbs. We damage them right into little items to make use of when we're collaborating with the dogs outside because the solid odor keeps them engaged. These are treats we NEVER wish to run out of!

Train-Me Treats.

We do a lot of training around here, and also we use treats for nearly every little thing from normal walks the block to instructing brand-new methods to dealing with whatever Cooper's brand-new fear-of-the-moment is. To keep them interested, we have to mix up the benefits. These training treats from Crazy Dog were brand-new to me, and they've been working so well. They're soft-- a lot far better than crunchy when training-- and all listing meat as the initial ingredient. They can be found in bacon, hen, and beef flavors as well as either 4-ounce or 6-ounce bags.

Animal Naturals of Vermont supplements.

Many years earlier, we drove from DC to Indiana. After that, later, from Indiana to Louisiana. After that, once again later on, from Louisiana to Indiana. Sigh. All those miles with the dogs is rather stressful, so we had actually been acquiring Pet Naturals of Vermont calming treats. They have a HUGE range of supplements beyond the preferred soothing treats, however, and we've been using the Daily Best for Emmett (although, I believe perhaps he needs the elderly formula) as well as the Skin + Coat. They're well-formulated as well as definitely have a great flavor-- the young boys gobble them up. Perk for any person with an allergy-prone dog: The Skin + Coat version is flavored with duck, making it more widely endured!

PetSafe 2-Meal Automatic Pet Feeder.

If you reside in a multi-pet house, this may not be the Christmas present for you (unless you have a feline that has separate access from your dog or something). My herd demands being fed at a particular time. Every. Single. Day. Breakfast is at 7. Dinner is at 5. I know not everybody has pets so diligent concerning their feeding times, yet these guys firmly insist. For a while, Coop was additionally eating lunch. And, actually, Newt gets a challenge toy mid-day. Anyhow, this item would certainly be a dream if you needed to do a mid-day feeding or if you had a late meeting or supper strategies and intended to feed your family pet on schedule. For a dog like Emmett-- that takes, roughly, 15 pills a day some of which need to be timed with dishes-- this would be a lifesaver if you needed to leave early/come house late. All you do is load the feeder, established a timer, and also TA DA! Your pet is fed the right amount at the right time, even if you have to go out or are running late! $34.95 for the 2-Meal (1.5 cups per side) version (HINT: The 5 cup version is coming later on in the week!).

Barker Kitsen deal with selection-- No much longer available.

You people, I'm in love. Can you be in love with a family pet merchant? I sure am! This online store is devoted to "under-the-radar items," which implies you're going to discover something NEW in their shop. I seriously enjoyed poking around, as well as I check out family pet items all-the-live-long day! From their objective: "The business's goal is to assist quality-minded pet owners make premium item choices to keep their family pets healthy and satisfied, while providing arising as well as unknown brands nationwide direct exposure as a circulation source for their products." As I claimed, I'm in love! They sent us a lot of deals with to try: Raw Bistro free-range bison liver and flaxseed deals with, natural pleasant potato treats from 2 Dogs Treats, Bixbi's Skin and Coat chicken bust jerky, as well as Scrappy Moo deals with. Not one of those deals with was a flop. We enjoyed them ALL. (Cooper can even consume the bison! Yippee!) And the product packaging is incredibly cute. Incorporated with the fantastic goal, I'm head over heels!

#dog food

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fanficshiddles · 5 years

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The monster within, Chapter 13

Things were… Well, not really changing with Loki and I. Though part of me was getting antsy, perhaps a bit of cabin fever.

Every time I suggested we went to the village, so I could call my parents or we could just wander around and look at the few shops there, Loki would come up with an excuse not to go yet. Telling me we would go in a few days, but that never seemed to come.

He was super attentive with me, almost to the point of obsessive. Which again, I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not really. I still didn’t feel comfortable going further with him than just kisses and cuddles, but he never pressured me into doing more, to my relief. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t feel ready, there was something in the back of my mind that just wouldn’t let me relax in that way yet.

Perhaps I was still getting used to Asgardian Loki, after being so used to him as a frost giant.

‘I’m going to the village to get us a few supplies. I won’t be long. You should stay here and rest, love. I’ve heard there’s some goings on too, so I will investigate that.’ Loki said as a haze of green shrouded him and his Asgardian clothing turned into mortal clothes.

‘I’ve been resting for weeks now, Loki. Can’t I come with you? I’ve been dying to see the village.’ I put my arms around his waist and fluttered my eyelashes up at him.

He smirked down at me and kissed the tip of my nose. ‘No, love. It’s safer for you to stay here. I’m worried in-case Tom has tracked us down. Once I find out what’s going on in the village, and it’s safe, then I’ll take you there next week.’

I rolled my eyes and sighed. ‘Alright, fine. But I’m going to go for a walk, I want to see if the deer are there again.’

Loki frowned. ‘No, stay inside. If Tom is in the area, it might not be safe to go out.’

‘Alright. You’re too paranoid though.’

‘Your safety is worth being paranoid over, love.’ He cupped my face in his hands. ‘I won’t be long. Once I come back, then we can go for a walk together, alright?’

‘Ok.’ I nodded.

He gave me a sweet, loving kiss before leaving. Vanishing right on front of my eyes.

‘Show off.’ I muttered with a smile.

Flopping down on the sofa with a sigh, I thought about what to do until he returned. But I couldn’t think of anything to do. I really wanted to go outside. What was the point of us having gained our freedom back if we couldn’t enjoy it? We couldn’t live in fear for the rest of our lives.

So I got up again, grabbed my coat and went outside. Loki would probably be at least half an hour, so I’d just wander around nearby until he got back. Then we could go further.

I locked the door when I left and made my way towards where the squirrels normally were, it wasn’t too far from the cabin. I saw them running up and down the tree, gathering nuts from the feeder that Loki and I had put up the other day to help feed them.

There was a large rock nearby so I sat down to watch them quietly. They were so damn cute, scurrying around and playing together. It actually made me feel warm and fuzzy inside thinking that I actually lived here. I could come out and watch these little guys every day if I wanted to.

Once the squirrels disappeared higher up into the trees, I got up and had a small wander around. Then I heard footsteps rushing towards me. I turned around to see Loki coming towards me, looking half scared yet half angry too.

‘Tanya!’ He growled when he reached me, he grabbed my upper arms tightly. ‘I told you to stay inside!’

I was startled at the tone of voice he used and the way he had approached me and was gripping my arms. ‘Loki! I just came outside for a walk, it’s ok.’

‘No! It is not ok! I told you to stay inside!’ He grabbed my wrist and started leading me back to the cabin. ‘Lucky for you, the ruckus in the village isn’t Tom. But still, you could have put yourself in danger. For what? A walk?’

‘Loki, stop. You’re scaring me.’ I tried tugging my hand away, but his grip around my wrist tightened.

I was ignored until we got back inside the cabin. Only then did he let me go. I glared up at him, appalled at how he was acting.

‘What the hell?’ I snapped, stepping back from him a bit.

‘I told you stay inside until I returned.’ He chastised.

‘I wasn’t that far from the cabin, Loki. I get you’re worried about Tom finding us, but he won’t. We are in the middle of nowhere!’ I flailed my arms about.

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose before replying. ‘I just panicked. When I came back here to find you missing, so many bad things ran through my mind. Please, don’t scare me like that again.’ Loki picked up my hands and cradled them before bringing them up to his lips.

‘Sorry, I didn’t think. But I’m fine.’ I assured him with a smile.

The following day, I really wanted to go into the village. But Loki still wasn’t keen.

‘Why don’t you want me going there?’ I asked, sitting down next to him on the sofa.

‘It’s just risky, love. Your face is plastered all over the newspapers. Your parents must be involved with Tom now, since he has a photo.’ Loki frowned in concern, then he pulled me onto his lap.

‘All the more reason for me to contact them! So I can tell them the truth. They could come visit us, see for themselves. Meet you, get to know you. Learn that you’re not the monster Tom is making you out to be.’ I cupped his cheek softly.

He placed his hand over mine and closed his eyes, sighing. ‘I don’t know, sweetheart. If you tell your parents where we are, then Tom might follow. He might be keeping a close eye on them, hoping they would lead him right to us.’

I wanted to say you worry too much, but I didn’t think that would go down very well…

‘I do see where you’re coming from. But my parents would be ecstatic to be grandparents. I know they’d want to know that I am safe too. Surely a quick trip into the village won’t do any harm. Please, Loki.’ I finished with a kiss on his lips, hoping to sweeten him up.

‘No, Tanya. It’s too dangerous.’ He said firmly, his tone sounded all final.

But I wasn’t so sure, I couldn’t shake this weird feeling off.

Why was I starting to feel like I was being trapped all over again? But part of me thought that was ridiculous to even consider. After all, Loki was as much a victim as I had been.

Although, later that day I was really starting to question it…

Loki was having an afternoon nap and I decided to go for a walk. But when I went to leave, the door was locked. I looked high and low for the key, but couldn’t find it anywhere. Normally we left it above the door on the small ledge, but it wasn’t there…

I quietly went to the bedroom door, Loki was still sound asleep. I couldn’t shake the horrible, twisting feeling in my stomach.

Glancing around the room, I couldn’t see anything obvious as to where the key might be. Backing away, I went back to the porch and had another search. Loki’s Midgardian coat was hanging up, so I searched the pockets but still nothing.

Then I was startled by the firm voice behind me.

‘Trying to escape, are we?’

#The monster within #fan fiction #Tom Hiddleston #Loki

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solsticexolos · 5 years

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I'm super attracted to orloffs as a breed, their beards and their spotting and coloration are all so charming. Can you tell me a bit about their husbandry needs? Do their beards need any special attention?

Oh boy! (I love Orloff questions)

So the spotting is on the spangled variety specifically, the most common and traditionally “most beautiful” variety.

As far as chickens go purebred Russian Orloffs are comparatively easy to keep breed. They use food very well, the feed-to-energy conversion is excellent. Mine don’t eat nearly as much as you’d expect a bird their size to. This is a very hardy breed. Of course there will be individuals that are not (I don’t include birds to illness in my program), but overall these guys are just ridiculously healthy. They are not hurt by parasites the way other birds are, most illnesses they fight off before I even realize they were ill at all (and usually the only way I notice is that our other breeds will get sick.) They’re tough, but it isn’t even that they hide illness, it’s that they’re not particularly prone to it. Now if any of mine have something bothering them they do seek me out and complain until I address it. If they aren’t feeling well it is pretty obvious. So health wise they’re pretty easy. The hens are wide-bodied and they process nutrients well which means that egg problems should not arise. Both cocks and hens pack on weight readily, but they do not seem prone to obesity at all. They are VERY active, they want to run around and forage and play, and when unable to they will take to entertain themselves by preening each other’s beards out, which is very annoying to deal with when you’re trying to prepare birds for show…that is really my only complaint with the beards. If you want to keep the beards in-tact it’s best to make sure they always have access to outdoors to stimulate their minds. Overall they keep their beards very clean, minus my sweet angel, Wade, who is the filthiest bird on this planet. Her beard, while totally intact, is currently encased in mud. That’s just a Wade thing, though. Soggy beards do seem to be very tasty looking to other chickens, so I prefer to use “poultry nipples,” and the chickens seem to like them, too. Getting a beard wet in winter is dangerous for all chickens, but Orloffs have a bit of a buffer in that instead of the feathers sitting right on the throat the beard actually is attached to a dewlap (and extra fold of skin below the jaw). However still not good to have a wet beard in winter, so keeping conditions dry and warm is a must for any chicken.

The one health problem I have noticed is that thanks to their very dense plumage they attract lice, but that is very easy to take care of, just provide good coarse sand for dustbathing and it isn’t an issue. Right behind the head seems to be the most problematic area, so I just check everyone regularly and use bird-specific mite/lice spray whenever needed. Orloffs take cold-hardy very seriously. Small and flat strawberry comb. Thick, gorgeous plumage. Plush and jiggly beards and muffs. Short, stout beak. They handle cold and unpleasant conditions like no other breed. Mine would complain this winter if they didn’t get outside as long as it was above zero (I made them stay inside until it was above freezing though, they can handle it but doesn’t mean they need to.) They also can handle heat fairly well thanks to having those long unfeathered legs and having enough comb surface-area to thermoregulate. Setting a tub of water out in the shade on hot days will help them stay cool, as most will happily stand in water when available.

The Russian Orloff breed has some peculiar traits that are observed across the breed- a love for water (or mud, in Wade’s case), and a love for “spicy” food. Whether it be peppers or venomous insects they just really love anything spicy or pointy. Mine are expert wasp/bee/hornet/ant/centipede eaters. I don’t encourage it, they just love those pointy/bitey bugs. I bet it’s because they have feathers all over their face so they’re well protected from any bites/stings. Plus their “eagle like” beak (should be stout and well curved) is very strong so it snaps right through whatever they’re trying to eat.

Now that I’ve mentioned the beak…Orloffs are a very old breed (~400 years as far as we can tell.) They almost died out at one point and drastic measures were taken in order to increase the population. Measures including a huge amount of inbreeding and outcrossing of not-great-breed-choices to try to preserve them. While it worked, the breed is still recovering from a huge loss of genetic diversity and a restricted genepool. So scissor-beak crops up more often than anyone would like. Good news is that in recent years thanks to aggressive culling by those preserving the breed the cases of congenitive scissor-beak have declined dramatically in the past decade. Most breeders now haven’t seen a case in their lines for a very, very long time.

For special considerations in housing remember that the fully grown roosters average 27″ tall, and 8 pounds. So pens/coops have to be tall enough to allow for them to stretch to their full height and be able to perch (I’d rec a minimum of 4 feet tall for a pen.) Because they are heavy and long-legged you do not want perches to be too high to avoid any foot damage. Most of them can clear a 5 foot tall fence with ease, and they’re very confident so will gladly jump fences if it suits them. While not hyper-intelligent like some breeds (our bantams are a lot more clever haha) they are incredibly curious and love figuring things out and solving puzzles and engaging in play. Make sure they have ways to entertain themselves, at least with simple foraging (lots of yard time), or puzzle feeders and the like.

If you spend time in the Orloff breeder community you’ll probably see people compare them to puppies and it is pretty spot-on. Not as destructive maybe, but oh my gods they want to be fully involved in whatever their people are doing! They love humans, but only their humans, they do not trust strangers. They’ll avoid/run away from strangers, some roosters will even try to drive them away from the flock. With familiar people, though, they’re just big lovable babies. Mine follow me all over the place, I have to watch where I step because there might be an Orloff under my feet! Most of them also like to chase my cane as I walk, it is very cute (Wade hates my cane, she yells at it.) They seem a lot happier when I spend time with them, when their familiar people are not around they do seem to become stressed/more skittish. I have three hens I recently took in from an abusive situation and they were pretty wary of people at first. Now I can pick them up and pet them without any fuss. They’re not quite to the point of demanding snuggles yet, like those I’ve had longer, but they are now starting to demand I acknowledge them.

Mixed flocks are fine for Orloffs, they get along splendidly with other breeds of all sorts of sizes. Young roosters are very boisterous and are best in a bachelor pen until they mature. Orloffs are a slow-growing breed, though they lay rather young at just 5 to 6 months old, they are not done growing until 2 years old.

There really isn’t anything I don’t like about my Russian Orloffs. I’ve had many, many different breeds of chickens and the Orloffs are definitely my absolute favorite. When I’ve checked in with folks I’ve sold some to they always tell me how amazed they are with the breed and how wonderfully friendly they are. They do not really need much in the way of special consideration simply because they’re hardier than a lot of other breeds. The big thing is size, they’re not small birds, but they are slow-growing after about 6 months old. They lay 3 to 4 beautiful little eggs a week (small compared to their size.) The roosters are like the hens in how sweet and silly they are. The beard doesn’t really need special care, just know they may pluck it out of their flock-mates if they’re bored.

My final advice is a BIG one, get your Orloffs from a recognized member of the Russian Orloff Society (either of Britain or of the USA and Canada, depending on where you are of course.) Those are the folks who are constantly working on improving the breed and keeping them as hardy and lovely as they should be.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask! I…I really love Russian Orloffs.

Thank you for the ask!

#anon #ask #russian orloff #russian orloffs #text #long post #chickenblr

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realtagwhywrites · 6 years

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despicable

Alrighty, this is for @lesbian-asui Ash, this shit is getting added here too :’)) i love you so much and nothing will change that, uh, i would die for you, even tho we live so fuckin far apart :( but yeah, enjoy this, it’s trash but ur not :))

For the rest of y’all, depressed and suicidal thoughts are a high warning, don’t read if you can’t handle that

it’s on AO3 here if you wanna read it there

Pairings: none but a tad of gay thoughts Rating: Teen content Summary:

Midoriya Izuku is someone with an enormous heart, encompassing the world, and yet, he remains as empty as a corpse, as sad and lonely as a rainy day.

He's despicable

One day you will understand Why I pushed you away as I am And you will find a better man than I am Trust, I'm doing you a favor, doing you a favor Despicable I'm just a bottom feeder

- Despicable, Grandson

Midoriya Izuku is perfectly fine, on the outside, he’s the picture of a healthy youth with just a little too much stress on his plate. He smiles and he smiles and smiles until the edges of his cheeks hurt but that’s what All Might does, he never is not smiling, always reassuring those who find comfort in it. So, as the mantle for All Might’s new power, it’s his duty to always be smiling as well.

He doesn’t talk about the hours when he’s by himself because well- he’s never alone any more. Just because when he was younger he pulled the blade out of his mum’s razor and-

Because he doesn’t do that, not anymore.

(There are other ways to punish himself for being a useless, quirkless, good for not-)

So Izuku smiles, he smiles his way through primary school despite the sheer pressure that Kacchan puts on him. He’s a quirkless idiot, not going to get anywhere in life, will never be a hero.

He’s always wanted to be the kind of hero that makes people smile, that makes people feel safe. Ever since he saw All Might appear on the TV, saving people, inspiring younger generations, he just- he has to do that.

It’s before U.A that Kacchan tells him to kill himself and he wants to scream, if he were to kill himself, right here, right now. The consequences? Probably not much, but he wants to scream and cry to Kacchan of how could you be so dumb?

(And another insidious part of him whispers that maybe he should just listen to Kacchan after all, Kacchan knows best right? He's better than you in every as-)

“Midoriya! Don’t forget lunch today!” Iida says, chopping his hands with the vigour of his usual composure.

It’s a Sunday at the Heights Alliance and the three have gotten the permission to go out for a small lunch. So, today, he can’t kill himself you see? He has a lunch with his friends and that means that he has to be alive for that.

Maybe later.

That’s what he’s been telling himself for a while now, that there’s a new movie he’s wanted to see, that a new song is coming out- excuses, excuses. The voice that lives in his ear like a snake seems to be some rendition of Kacchan for some funny reason.

Does anyone know? No, he’s too good of an actor he thinks.

Idly, he wonders if there’s a universe in which he became an actor – he’d be good at it.

Sometimes, the days where the hours stretch on and on, a timeless basis for him to ponder about all of the little what-ifs buried deep within the plasticine presence of his personality. Would his mum be alright? Would the world be safer considering Mirio-senpai would’ve gotten One For All? Probably.

Those are the days he concerns people most about, most healthy people – aside for maybe Tokoyami - don’t while the day away with stupid fantasies.

But you see, he can’t die, not without handing his quirk over to Mirio-senpai. He can’t die without knowing that Todoroki, Uraraka and Iida would be alright without him. He can’t die because his mother would be fucking devastated.

“Hey Midoriya.” Todoroki peels off from his doorframe as he exits his room, bearing a barely noticeable frown etched upon his face. “You still going out for lunch?”

“Yeah, with Uraraka and Iida.” He smiles so widely it hurts his cheeks.

“Hmm, do you want to spar when you get back?” Todoroki asks and something flutters within his deadened chest because Todoroki wants to spar with him.

“Of course Todoroki, do you have permission off Aizawa-sensei?”

“Mm, I’ll get that while you three are out.” Todoroki says and turns away.

He turns away from the retreating form of Todoroki, he’s so cute and kind to Midoriya. He likes to think that if he wasn’t so broken and empty inside, he’d like to date Todoroki.

“Hey guys!” He calls out across the common room to Iida and Uraraka.

They might only be going out for ramen – but they don’t usually get lunches out due to the persevering diligence of the League of Villains. Luckily for them, Midnight and Present Mic were going out anyway, with the permission to be in the same ramen bar with them, they were finally allowed out of the Height’s Alliance.

“Fff, how are you two going with All Might’s assignment?” Uraraka huffs out as they walk down the street, Yamada-sensei and Nemuri-sensei trailing behind them – barely inconspicuous – as their escort.

“I’ll admit, it was a little more challenging than I would have thought from All Might-sensei but it has been fruitful to learn about the different costume groups of the world.” Iida says with a small smile. “I hope you’ve been taking it seriously Uraraka.”

“Of course mum.” Uraraka pats Iida’s arm, causing him to splutter for a moment.

Izuku laughs at them, “I dunno Uraraka, I agree with Iida, it’s fascinating to learn who makes our suits so dexterous to move in. Especially the materials used to accommodate for different quirks…”

The trio talk about whatever the hell they want while they order their ramen, a complication Izuku hadn’t considered was that he was not that hungry, he had simply ordered as a force of habit. Now, staring at the source of all difficulties within his life, the scent of the broth wafting to his nose.

Inhaling shakily he takes a sip, remembering that Uraraka and Iida would be concerned if he didn’t eat. It’s okay, he can make up for the moment of weakness later.

Maybe one day, somebody will realise that his smiles are fake and his words are dripping in saccharine, they might figure how tightly he clings to the things he still has to do, the things he can’t give up in this world.

Maybe one day he’ll be able to look Kacchan in the eye and ask him why he thought it was a good idea to instil thoughts of terror within his head.

But, not now when it feels like he’ll never be able to breathe easy from the weight of too many people counting on him.

He's despicable.

#midoriya izuku #tw depression #tw suicidal thougghts #tw self-harm #depressed midoriya izuku #boku no hero academia #bnha #bnha fanfiction #boku no hero academia fanfiction #fanfiction #my hero academia #mha #iida tenya #uraraka ochako #todoroki shouto

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sweet-star-cookie · 6 years

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Stolen again aha

1. Describe and inside joke with little to no context

“Bean”, “Muffin”, “Noodle”, “Cinnamon Roll” and “Star-shaped Sugar Cookie” are all terms that have been used to describe me in any given situation. It’s like a bakery up in here.

2. Describe something that makes you happy

Finishing a piece of art and feeling really happy rather than doubtful about it after, or finding something new to completely lose myself in, like a new game or TV show. Both are really good feelings, especially if I can share with my friends.

3. What’s the funniest joke you know by heart?

Myself.

... Too soon?

I actually don’t consider myself that humorous so I have no idea what to put here, sadly. I wish I was funnier in a linguistic sense but outside of sarcasm and my reactions to things I’ve got nothing. My friends seem to find entertainment in it though. Entertainment in my emotional suffering while watching fictional content, that is. (love you guys)

4. What’s the craziest conversation you’ve overheard?

Not really a conversation I guess but outside my window some people walked by and all I hear is “I FUCKING LOVE PARADES” and no following response. You hear a lot of things from the surface when you live in a dragon’s lair basement.

5. What’s your favourite song at the moment?

I have several at any given moment based on what I find in my YouTube subscriptions, but if I were to pick one right now I guess it would be Flashin’ Like I’m Gatsby by Atom Smith, it’s an electroswing hop track. For a slower track right now I’d pick First Things First by Neon Trees. That and the entire Owlboy OST by Jonathan Geer. Quality content.

6. What languages do you wish you could speak?

Japanese and French probably. Japanese for anime/manga purposes and French because I’m in Canada and I used to love learning French in school.

7. Describe your idea of a ‘perfect day’

Oh boy time to crank out some radical, overly detailed hypotheticals. -cracks knuckles-

I wake up at a decent hour, well rested for the first time in forever, no anxiety or depression clawing at the walls of my brain. I had a dream that night that was either interesting enough to right down or gives me an idea for a character design. I get out of my bedroom in my own apartment, and greet my two cats who are likely named after my characters and have subsequent Warrior cat names as well.

Sunlight comes in through the sliding doors, the cats watch the birds on the feeder outside on the balcony. I see some of my favourites there to meet us: cardinals, blue jays, maybe an oriole or a hummingbird depending on the season. If it’s winter, snow is gently falling, with no wind to whip it around. I live in a small enough town or city that the view out the window is of more organic scenery rather than concrete, maybe there’s a river or a body of water nearby and it’s at least relatively quiet.

I stay in my comfortable clothes for a while as I mull over the idea I have in my head and make breakfast (or lunch, depending on the time), listening to music as I make it. Maybe pancakes with bacon, strawberries on the side. Or if I’m feeling like a sandwich I’ll have a BLT. I don’t feel sick after eating it so close to waking up like I usually do.

Suddenly, the design I had clicks into a viable story. The ideas start flowing, and I’m completely taken into my imagination, reality doesn’t exist for a little while as I dive headfirst into this world of new if unclear possibilities. I write and draw things for it, likely pacing around the room and talking to myself to work things out. Much to the confusion of my cats, I’m sure.

I make something viable enough to post, and I feel excited enough to rant about it to my heart’s content, no fear. Feeling satisfied in my endeavours, I get to work on what I need to do that day, like making a comic page for the week and making a new design for Redbubble. If I have freelance work to do, that takes priority, knowing that I’ll need the evening to get together with my friends.

I wear my favourite colours, hat and scarf probably with a star on it somewhere, I feel cute but comfortable, no inhibitions about what I look like for once. We go out to eat (knowing my friends it’s probably sushi), maybe see a new animated movie that’s out and analyze the heck out of it. We laugh and talk for hours, a complete unit of solidarity in our combined friendship. I hear they’re all doing well in their endeavours, and I’m immensely proud of them.

I get back home in the evening, greeting my cats once again. The stars are out, and I stargaze for a little bit. I come back in and relax on the couch to watch TV or play a video game of some kind, probably scroll through my social feeds / check messages. I see pictures of the time out with my friends and I’m actually in them this time.

I get a message from whoever I consider to be my best friend, either from after the hangout if they were there or from earlier. We start chatting about art we’re making or ideas we have, bouncing them off left and right and encouraging each other the whole way. If we’re old friends, it’ll feel like it did back in grade school with our late night Facebook chats.

I go to bed feeling happy, and probably with at least one of my cats sleeping on me in a precarious spot. It doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep, aside from maybe the ideas still flowing. If so, I take some time to read or something down and then sleep, not too concerned about what’ll happen tomorrow.

8. What’s the worst movie trope in your opinion?

The first one that comes to mind for me is the “liar revealed” plot, overused and often a lazy source for conflict in the third act. I also hate forced romance in general but I’m not sure if that’s consider a trope or something broader. This applies to TV shows too.

9. What made you laugh the hardest ever in your life?

Hysterical laughter at reckless hours of the morning is what allowed me to survive college and the apocalypse that was 2016, so there are quite a few moments. One of them happened during a particularly bad bout of depression while I was alone in Toronto for the summer. Out of morbid curiosity I watched a shitty theatre rip of the Emoji Movie online to kill time while I couldn’t sleep (don’t ever do that, not recommended). Then my friend sends me her drawing of Spyro to make me feel better (important note: she doesn’t draw dragons) with a funny caption and I lose my fucking mind. Just... gone, immediately. After the soul-sucking depravity of that movie and my depression combined I’ll bet anything was funny. At that point I didn’t even care if I was being loud at whatever time it was at night I was WHEEZING. Bless my friend.

10. What animal is the most majestic?

All.

(though I am partial to dragons, cats and birds)

11. If you could afford everything, what kind of clothes would you wear?

I’ve noticed I often dress myself like a character designer would when it comes to colour coordination (hard to turn that part of my brain off lol), so I guess I would continue doing that but tailor it even more to that idea. That and fandom shirts all the time. And custom cosplay outfits that I could commission from other people, of both my fave characters and my own OCs. I make armour designs a lot so that would be so much fun. If I were a bolder personality I would probably wear the cosplays in public and see how many people notice, or see if it makes a kid excitedly point at me. If I could act I would recite a quote or two for them. It would be quite the game with something more subtle, and you get that one fan on the subway coming out of the woodwork like “...are you dressed like _____ from ______?”.

#stole from my buddy again lmao #long post #this was fun #if you want to do this go ahead!#i don't really tag aha #text

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sussex-nature-lover · 3 years

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Tuesday 29th December 2020

My Bird List Again. Parts 3 & 4

♦ outside links are indicated by bold type - none are affiliated to this blog

Guest Photograph - Two Jays out of the window in South London. I’m assured there were four but as is the way, two took off. Photo Credit: Ms NW tE

♦ Faces in Things. Now I’ve circled the Jays I can see a cartoon character with unruly hair. First thought was a cheeky Ostrich’s head, but Crow thinks he can see a cute Badger. Now I can see both.

Brought Forward 24 species

Yesterday I listed the every day birds in our garden and those we can guarantee to see most days, definitely every week, plus the new spots for this year. Next up is

GARDEN REGULARS:

These are the birds we see frequently but not necessarily every day or this time of year

Song Thrush

If you followed my Blog earlier in the year you’ll recall the calamitous tale of ‘Tracey’ who tried to nest in our porch, firstly on the top of - and with some gentle encouragement, later inside - the open fronted nest box. We called her Tracey after the artist best known for her ‘messy bed’ Sadly the nest came to nothing except a very watchable experience, but we have seen youngsters who if not from Tracy, someone else got it right this year.

Song Thrush are seen here most weeks but we can’t depend on it being so. What I could depend on through early Spring was that one had taken over from the Blackbird and was giving me wakeup calls from the very early hours. It’s annoying to be disturbed so early, but also kind of comforting to have your regulars out there making their presence known.

Wren

Strangely for such a cute little bird I don’t have anything much to say, certainly no personal stories. They’re around, but very low key. I know them best for their upturned tail and unfeasibly loud voice. Sorry no photo, must rectify that, this one’s from the WildlifeTrusts.org site

Stock Dove

Of all the birds I’ve ever seen the Stock Dove is the biggest revelation to me. Until I had my eyes replaced I thought they were plain monotone grey birds. When I could see properly WOW WOW WOW. They have so many tones, they’re so beautiful and the pink, emerald-jade and purple hues are outstanding when they catch the sunshine. This realisation is one of the most incredible sights of my life and both that initial memory and every new viewing always will be.

Collared Dove

One of the above is not a Collared Dove - nope, not buying it even if you have got your best collar on mate

To be fair, I almost put the Stock and Collared Doves in the every day/reliable category, but on balance I don’t think they’re quite there at this time of year. We do see them most days and the charming Collared ones always come in pairs - just like me and Crow.

Green Woodpecker

My ant-eaters. Not seen on the same basis as the Great Spotteds but they live here and breed successfully. Quite stately birds with beautiful plumage I love to see the brief flash of yellow underwing as they whizz through the garden and to hear their laughing ‘yaffle’

Similar to GSWs you can tell the sex by the red or plain black colouring. In the Greens it’s on the ‘moustache’ area - see male above with red: females have black. On the GSs it’s plain black heads for females and a red patch at the nape of the neck for males.

Magpie

Comical birds. We seem to have less here than we did. The most I’ve ever seen was a huge flock on the Common in Tunbridge Wells. It’s called the Common but it has the main road going through it and where I saw them was no more than a large patch of grass and trees. The other side is more typical common land, steep and heath-like.

One year we were highly entertained by garden resident DJ (after DJ Spoony) so called as he created a cache of goodies gathered from around the garden much like a Bower Bird decorates its nest. DJ just kept his treasures amongst the leaves at the base of the palm and included a plastic spoon that we used to put out cat food for the hedgehogs...it took us a while to locate.

Common Buzzard

This photo is from the field now known as Babs’ Field directly across the lane from our house. It’s a big field so this is a very long zoom. We saw a huge Buzzard down the lane just yesterday actually. A lot of sightings recently.

Goldfinch

A standing joke in our house - so, so hard for me to capture a picture of them they tormented me and then all of a sudden this Summer they started coming into the garden more and I got photos on fences, verges and wires down the lane too.

Pied Wagtail

Has bred in the porch nest box years ago, had two successful broods. We watched them fledge down on to the log pile. Favourite nestling was The Bunter - guess why? Maybe that was the one who grew up to be The Inspector patrolling the seed and shooing everyone away just because he could.

Grey Wagtail

Usually flies in for a very quick drink and off again, or perches on the corner of the roof by our bedroom briefly.

Sparrowhawk

Nicknamed for both sexes is Sid (Vicious after the punk rock singer)

These two are males. We know their favourite places in the garden. On the fence between us and next door with an eye line to the feeders; on the posts around the decking, perched on a spade or on the bird bath.

Female below.

Total 11

INFREQUENT VISITORS:

Swallow

All around the local area, once very welcome guests and residents in our front porch.

I also once found one in Ms NW tE’s bedroom and had absolutely no idea how it could’ve got there. This was long before the nesting. I assume it must’ve found a way under the eaves where there’s a fitted wardrobe built in. It wasn’t panicking at all.

Swift

Sorry no picture, too high overhead. This one below courtesy of the Wildlife Trust site. Along with Swallows and Housemartins a lovely sign of Summer.

Greenfinch

A very welcome returner this year and they bred, which is brilliant news

Juvenile

Bullfinch

Sadly not seen any at all this year, which is unusual. Doesn’t mean they haven’t been and we’ve missed them though

Mistle Thrush

We have seen them, but no photos as yet.

I can’t tell the difference between a Song and Mistle Thrush, I ask for an expert ID. The RSPB says Mistle Thrush are

Medium-sized birds, they’re our largest thrush Chunky and pot-bellied Tawny brown and grey backs with a creamy white speckled front Whiteish cheeks Bold and bullish

and their song is somewhere between Song Thrush and Blackbird. That said we seem to have some Song Thrush here whose songs have evolved (as they do) This might help, although I think in real life it’s less clear cut. I obviously need more practice.

Jay

The Jay is so shy and has a fairly comical looking face. They live in the woods but we rarely see them in the garden and any photo is snatched very hurriedly, hence the quality of this one. They don’t need to come into the garden though as the woods are full of Oak trees and so their favourite food supply and places to cache it, is right there for them.

Kestrel

Usually seen up at the farm where we saw her a lot with her babies, this mother of two came into our garden in the Summer.

Common Gull

Rather unclear it was very low light inside the kitchen and this was grabbed with my phone. The last few days we have seen hundreds of Gulls: they’ve come inland to the fields due to the inclement weather I guess.

Nightingale

Definitely heard and confirmed by our neighbour and the local farmer, however, I can’t hand on heart say I’ve spotted them by eye. I think they should be included here though as we more than likely have seen them as well as heard them. I know where they hang out for sure and it’s steps away (see below) The problem for me is that they’re quite insignificant looking if you’re not primed to spot one.

Photo credit Bird Guides on line

ONE OFFS IN THE GARDEN:

Mallard

Two males and a female decided to reside in our garden one summer. We called them Max, Paddy and Holy Mary - a Phoenix Nights reference from the TV series.

Heron

Occasionally seen overhead, has investigated our garden pond. Not that we’ve got any fish, which is why it probably hasn’t been back. We see them fly by sometimes and definitely up at the ponds. When the one was in our garden I was struck by its size and prehistoric look, of course they look much bigger in a domestic garden than when you see them in a wider setting.

Below is my own photo of a Heron, but at Richmond, not at our pond.

Turtle Dove

2006 was a good year. We had the Ducks and a few sightings of the Dove. I think it stopped by the following year too but can’t be absolutely sure.

Yellowhammer 2014

Just the once on the patio right in front of us, it was quite a surprise.

This is not actually my photo, which is mislaid for now. It’s generic so can’t attribute it.

Woodcock 2019

The Woodcock was a complete shock. I spotted something out of the side window and because of the colouring thought it was a strange female Pheasant, until I saw its bill. Wooaaah!

ONE OFFS IN THE AREA:

Kingfisher down at the bridge

Mixed flock of Geese including White and Grey Lag - in Babs the Buzzard’s field

Sub Category just out of interest and not counted

REPORTED BY MY NEIGHBOUR:

Visual of a Cuckoo, which we’ve only heard and not seen for sure. We possibly saw one at the farm, but didn’t confirm for certain.

Goldcrest. I’m jealous

+ 2

REGULARS AT THE FARM:

Little Owl

White Dove

Coot

Moorhen

Canada Goose

Various Ducks such as Grebe, not including Mallard mentioned above

TOTAL = 57+ species spotted at home and 2 others on the one off list seen adjacent to our garden.

Plus Tawny Owl, heard frequently but can’t promise to have a sighting as yet.

Decoration from the Christmas Trees in Standen Courtyard

a lovely hand stitched heart with wild flowers. Let’s hope the Roadside Verges campaign and sensible strimming season grows stronger next year.

Christmas Music of Choice is the Piano Guys

with a very clever Christmas medley and visuals

youtube

#bird list garden Christmas Decorations Carols

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austinpanda · 6 years

Text

Dad Letter 080418

8 April, 2018

Dear Dad--

Happy next Sunday! Also, I hope you're enjoying the nice winter we're having this spring. Zach and I got up around 5:30, just naturally, because that's how we do that, apparently. I never aspired to be someone who was asleep by 9:00 pm Saturday night, but it does make early Sunday morning nice. It's fun to be awake before anyone else in the apartment complex, to have the whole world to ourselves for an hour or two. Coffee, letter to Dad, relaxation.

I saw a good movie yesterday! It's called Isle of Dogs, made by the same guy who did such weird but excellent films as The Royal Tennenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and some others of less consistent quality, but still good. He probably has one of the most distinctive directing styles of anyone else making movies today. Lots of tableau shots, as I call them, shots where everyone's arranged neatly in the frame and it looks like a painting. (Think The Ten Commandments. No one moves around too freely, everyone is posed.) He's also really big on complex, choreographed tracking shots (where the camera is rolling down a track), and tilt shots (swinging up or down), and pan shots (swinging the camera side to side). His films all have a specific color palette. A lot of directors do that, and it can be used to wonderful effect. Pardons for going on. I do love it when a director knows what the hell he's doing, and has the creative control to coordinate so many different thoughtful elements in composing the film.

So, Isle of Dogs. It's about Japan in the future, where all dogs have been banished to an island covered with trash because of a strain of dog flu, and a boy who steals a single-engine plane to fly there and find his long lost dog. If it sounds cute, it's not remotely cute, it's kind of amazing. And it's certainly incredible to look at. I'll include some stills from the movie so you can see what I mean about the way he composes shots, and the way everyone is positioned to give each shot balance and draw your eye to the right place (wherever the director wants it to go).

Otherwise, things are going well. I've had a few hummingbird visits at my feeders, but not as many as I expect I'll get later in the spring. You know hummingbirds can come with a whole rainbow of bright, iridescent feathers, making them look like gemstones. Not in Austin, though! The ones here look like they were all designed by the Israeli military; they're mostly drab shades of brown or green.

Apropos of nothing, there's a song you should probably hear on YouTube if you're able! It's called Done with Bonaparte, by Mark Knopfler. You may not know that you know Mark Knopfler, but you know him, and you like him! He was the front man in Dire Straights and he also did movie soundtracks, such as the soundtrack for Wag the Dog. Anyway, the song Done with Bonaparte seems to be about someone who's tired of fighting for Napoleon. The song has always been a favorite of mine, mostly because Mark Knopfler can write the HELL out of some songs, and because he's one of the few people attempting to write popular music who gives a shit about making his lyrics not only make sense, but tell a good story as well. Too many song writers from my generation write lyrics that do nothing but rhyme, and that not very well. Here are some lyrics from Done with Bonaparte:

What dreams he made for us to dream Spanish skies, Egyptian sands The world was ours, we marched upon Our little Corporal's command And I lost an eye at Austerlitz The sabre slash yet gives me pain My one true love awaits me still The flower of the Aquitaine Shit, I can't write stuff that good. When the lyrics actually mean something, and you get to discover it organically from repeated listening, it makes the experience better. In short, smart music makers (just like smart film makers) make better entertainment than stupid ones. My humble opinion. Also, I'm tired of America's anti-intellectualism. Smart is sexy, damnit!

Oh, Mark Knopfler also did a song called Boom Like That, which I listened to about a hundred times before I figured out that it was about Ray Kroc, who founded McDonald's, and what a cynical and cut-throat business model he created. I love finding out that a song I already enjoy has a lot of meanings that I'd missed before. It's like finding out your best friend is also your long-lost cousin, who happens to have a Lamborghini he wants to give to a truly worthy recipient.

More next week. Take care. :)

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madlori · 7 years

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Hockey, the FAQ edition

As a follow-up to my Hockey Quick and Dirty post, I present this, a list of questions I have been asked by friends and family members and random people on the interwebs.

1. Why doesn’t Canada have its own hockey league?

They do. The NHL is really the North American hockey league. Seven of the 31 teams are Canadian teams. The reason there are more American teams is just...well, we have more cities large enough to support a team, although there’s perpetual talk of a team returning to Hamilton, ON, which used to have a team but hasn’t in forever, or to Quebec City. Hockey was invented in Montreal and traces its origins to 1917 when four teams came together, including the Montreal Canadiens, the longest continuously-existing team in the league (the Ottawa Senators were also there in 1917 but they went away and then came back). The Boston Bruins were the first US team. There was lots of flux until 1942 when the league settled into a 25 year stretch of what is now called the Original Six teams: the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers. Those were the only teams in the league until 1967 when a massive expansion happened and they added 6 new teams. More teams were added over the years to get us to our current 31. The most recent (completed) expansion was in 2000 when the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets were added, and in 2011 the Atlanta Thrashers were moved to Winnipeg to reinvent the Jets. Now there’s the new Vegas team, too.

Which is probably more information than you wanted.

I might point out that there is such a thing as the Canadian Hockey League - but that's a major junior hockey league, for players ages 16-20 (or until they're drafted or go to college or whatever). The CHL is an umbrella organization with three member leagues, the WHL (Western Hockey League), the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) and most famously the QMJHL (the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). This last is ubiquitous enough that it's simply referred to as "The Q" (as in "Yeah, we played in the Q together."). The US doesn't really have an analagous organization, but it is also much more common for American players to go to college. The CHL leagues are major feeders for the NHL draft. The CHL leagues are, in fact, professional leagues - the players are paid. Not much, but they're paid. If you read "Check, Please!" this is a point of inaccuracy which Ngozi freely admits to screwing up - Jack Zimmermann played in the Q, but since it's a professional league, he would not have then been eligible to play NCAA hockey at Samwell. Oh well.

2. Why haven’t any modern players beaten Wayne Gretzky’s records? Lame.

Heh. Gretzky’s records will probably never be broken, but it’s not because the players now suck. It’s because changes to the game over the last 20 years, and especially since 2005, have made it all but impossible. Overall, scoring in the league has decreased about 20% since Wayne and Mario were playing. This is a combination of training (the players have a much higher level of training and experience now, making it harder to get past them and score), goalie equipment, and the salary cap (which is an entirely other topic). It is worth noting that even with adjustments for era (there’s math that can be done to correct for this effect) both Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were freakishly good.

3. Have any teams never won the Cup?

Oh yes, tons of teams have never won it. In fact of the 30 current NHL teams, a whopping 12 have never won the Cup. And then there’s the Maple Leafs, who haven’t won it in 48 years. But the team that everyone talks about on this topic is the Washington Capitals, who have been...well, at this point I’m just gonna say cursed. They’ve won the President’s Trophy (that’s for having the highest point total in the regular season) three times in the salary cap era, their captain, Alex Ovechkin, has won the goal-scoring title a totally ridiculous six times (out of the 13 years he’s played in the NHL), they tend to dominate in the regular season and then...can’t quite get there. In fact they haven’t even made it to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1998. Nobody knows how this keeps happening. The Penguins are a bit of a nemesis for them. They cannot seem to beat them in the postseason. And since they’re in the same division, the Caps will always have to go through the Penguins to get to the final, in any year that both teams qualify for the postseason.

4. What happens to the ice between games?

I LOVE THIS QUESTION because I weirdly find logistics fascinating because I am a giant nerd.

Answer: nothing! It’s still there. Arenas where hockey is played host other events as well. Many hockey teams share their arena with an NBA team - both the Rangers and the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden, and the Kings and the Lakers both play at the Staples Center. In addition, most of these arenas frequently host concerts, speeches, conventions, stuff like that. Coordinating all these schedules must be a nightmare and I'm glad I don't have to do it. I mean, the Knicks and the Rangers can't have a home game on the same night so does the NHL and the NBA work together on the schedule? I don't know. A lot of spreadsheets must be involved.

Obviously the ice surface is the most difficult to establish and maintain. They can't possibly destroy and re-make the ice between every game. So once the ice surface is created for the season, it remains there until the hockey season is over. If you've ever been to a concert or another sporting event at an arena that also hosts hockey, during the hockey season? The ice was there, just covered up. Some arenas leave the boards up, depending on what's coming in next. The nets, glass, player benches and penalty boxes are removed and seats are moved in. The ice itself is covered first with insulating rubber, then with flooring, then with whatever surface is required for the next event on the schedule. If it's an NBA game, a basketball court is smaller than a hockey rink so the court surface is brought in and the courtside seating is set up. Arena crews do this overnight superfast. They're really good at it. There are some fascinating time-lapse videos on YouTube of arena crews doing this changeover.

Here’s one of my favorites: a time-lapse video of 72 hours at Nationwide Arena (Columbus’s arena) showing them transitioning from hockey, to a concert, to basketball, and back to hockey:

https://youtu.be/sjpoTokyvVs

Once the hockey season is over, the ice surface is chiseled up and disposed of till next season. The Penguins did a cute thing this year where they let fans come in and paint messages and pictures onto the ice before it's taken up.

5. Why is Sidney Crosby considered the greatest hockey player in the world? He doesn't seem like all that.

Yeah, I know he might not, but he is. If you ask 100 hockey pros (writers, players, coaches) who the greatest player is, you'll probably get about 90% agreement, if not more. The thing about Sid is that he's great in ways that aren't casually apparent. He's not flashy (well, he can be - if he goes to one knee to shoot say your prayers - but usually not so much) and some of his most important skills aren't exciting except to other people who either play hockey or spend all their time watching it and thinking/writing about it. He's not out there doing trick shots or scoring on huge slappers. Not a lot of people are going to get all hot and bothered over puck protection skills, but that's the kind of stuff that wins games.

Sid isn't primarily a goal-scorer, although he's more than capable of scoring (he won the goal-scoring title this year, and has done it once before). He's a guy who creates offense. People who've played with him or coached him talk about his near-spooky ability to "see the ice" - hockey talk for playing chess in your head with the puck. He can see what's going to happen and know where to place himself and the puck to enable a goal to be scored, whether it's by him or one of his wingers. He's somewhat notorious for having trouble finding wingers who can play with him, and this is why - his wingers need to be good at this, too, to keep up with him, and it's not a universal skill.

Other players also talk about how difficult he is to defend because he's near impossible to knock off the puck. Part of this is...okay, let's just put it out there, it's genetics. You know how Michael Phelps is an amazing swimmer partly because he lucked into the perfect body shape for it? Sid lucked into the ideal hockey body. He has a ginormous ass and thighs like flying buttresses, plus he's short and has a low center of gravity. There are amusing YouTube compilations of defensemen trying to check him and just sort of...bouncing off. Sorry, thanks for playing.

So it's not always obvious why he's great. On the other hand, sometimes he'll do some insane shit like score by bouncing a puck off the goalie's back, passing to a teammate between his legs behind his back without looking, or streaking up the ice half off his balance and score off a one-handed backhand shot and you're like...okay yeah, I get it now.

If you want some numbers, here you go. One of the most important player stats is points per game, which is a straight-up measurement of a player's offensive power. Sidney Crosby ranks FIFTH in points per game...ALL-TIME. The only players ahead of him are Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Bobby Orr, and those four guys are basically the Mt. Rushmore of hockey. And that's WITHOUT any corrections for era (see the answer above about Gretzky's records).

Just for a little point of comparison, three current NHL players hit the 1000 point mark this season (that's a big deal). The first was Henrik Sedin. It took him 1213 games to reach that milestone. The second was Sid's main rival in the "greatest player" thing, Alex Ovechkin. It took him 880 games to hit 1000 points. Sid did it in 757 games. Only 11 players in NHL history have done it faster.

6. So...fighting is really and truly just...allowed?

For certain values of “allowed.” It happens, the refs know it’s gonna happen, a real fight is almost always somewhat planned. Players get into minor scuffles, pushy-pushy, sweary-sweary all the time - those aren’t fights. Capital-F Fights are when the gloves come off, punches are thrown, the players keep each other from piling on, the refs just sort of let them fight it out. When they’re done they’ll usually both get a penalty of some kind, either fighting or roughing.

7. Who the hell are the Habs? That...isn’t a team.

The Montreal Canadiens are called the “Habs” colloquially (it’s short for Les Habitants, the French-Canadian term for Canadiens). Several teams have nicknames. The Tampa Bay Lightning are often called the Bolts - in fact, that nickname is on their third jersey. The other teams’ nicknames are usually just the shortened form of their actual name (the Caps, the Sens, the Hawks, the Pens, etc).

8. What’s this points stuff? Why aren’t standings by W/L?

Because hockey is special and wants you to know about it. Team standings in hockey are not determined by win/loss record, but by total points. You get two points for a win, zero points for a regulation loss, but -- and here’s the difference -- you get one point for a loss in overtime. This is sometimes called the “loser point” and it’s relatively new. It’s like getting partial credit for a tie. A team’s total points is the sum of wins + OT losses. A team can have fewer wins but more points than another team if that first team had a lot of OT losses. Ties are pretty common in hockey, being generally low-scoring, and it’s well worth the effort to try and tie up the game (resulting in heart-taxing strategies like pulling the goalie) because not only could you then go on to win in OT but you’ll at least get one point just for ending regulation in a tie.

9. What’s with the tape on their socks?

Hockey gear is complicated. The players wear chest/shoulder pads, elbow pads, helmets, hockey pants (which have built-in kidney protectors), shin guards, and skates. Hockey socks are actually hip-high - they go way up underneath the pants. Here’s an image for you - pro hockey players actually wear garter belts under their pants. The socks clip to the belts to keep them up. But players also use clear tape wrapped around their shins to keep their socks in place over the top of their shinpads (which are underneath the socks). Each player has their own special way of taping their socks. And taping their sticks. And putting on their gear. And breathing, probably.

10. Hey, the goalie's buggered off again, but it's like the middle of the second period. You said that happens at the end of games.

I did say that, yeah.

So WTF?

What you're seeing is the result of a delayed penalty. That's...a whole thing.

Hit me with the thing.

Okay, you asked for it. So here's the scenario. Let's imagine a game between...oh, let's say the Capitals and the Sharks. The Capitals have the puck, they're charging toward the goal to score. But oh no, one of the Sharks trips a Capitals defenseman! Penalty! The penalty will benefit the Capitals, but they would really rather keep possession of the puck and complete their scoring opportunity. To get the power play they are now owed, they'd have to stop, change lines, have another faceoff - and sacrifice the puck possession and scoring opportunity they already have. So the penalty is delayed until the Capitals lose possession or score.

Well, that means...what, exactly? It means that the second one of the Sharks takes possession of the puck, play will be stopped and the penalty will go into effect. So the Capitals are in absolutely zero danger of being scored on right now. Play will be stopped the second they lose puck possession. So they might as well pull their goalie and put another skater on the ice, and give themselves a better chance to score, right? So that's what usually happens. A delayed penalty is like getting a little bit extra on that power play you're about to have, except you get a brief period of 6-on-5 before your 5-on-4.

You might think this happens all the time, but it really doesn't. Definitely not every game.

Well, this concludes this edition of Hockey FAQ with Lori the Hockey Noob. I welcome your questions if you have them. If I don't know the answer I'll find out.

[Support my original writing on Patreon!]

#hockey #lori talks about hockey #nhl #hockey faq #hockey info

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galacticbugman · 5 years

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My favorite Birds

Somewhere along my crazy life I became a birder long before I became really interested in insects. It was back in the year 2015 when I had to have surgery on my kidneys due to a thing I have had since birth. Anyway while I was recovering my late grandmother bought me a camera to use. That Camera was a Nikon Coolpix L830. It was the camera that would lead me down this new path as a naturalist. While I was recovering I found myself using it more and more. I would often spend time out in nature and I found myself studying birds around my home town. My aunt taught out in a small area and next to their school they had a filed and an old farm stock tank. I would spend a lot of time photographing the birds and that is how my love for birds grew. I became a birder and have been all over Texas and Arkansas and even in parts of Oklahoma looking for birds of any kind. Even after I got into the Texas Master Naturalist program and now I am still a birder and have found many cool species in just a matter of four short years. I over 170 birds species on my life list but I am going to share just a fraction of those since that would be a lot of ground to cover. So here we go with my favorite birds from 2015-2019. Here we go with... *Dramatic Voice* NUMBER ONE!

One of Texas’ most iconic birds; these little guys are not a parrot but they are related to the Northern Cardinal. Meet the Painted Bunting. This is a male that I got out at a place called the Southwest Nature Preserve. It is the place I got my start before I became a Texas Master Naturalist. These guys are so pretty with a head of royal blue, tow toned green feathers, a bright red breast they are a birder’s gateway bird. This one is one I had been searching for all my life. I finally saw my first one in 2015. It was at my feeder but I didn’t have my camera ready but this one I got in 2016 totally made up for it. These guys have one of the prettiest songs and for their tireless singing they are illegally caught in Mexico and sold as cage birds. They are a Near Threatened species unfortunately due to them being sold and put in captivity. The males are the most colorful of the two sexes. The female is an electric green color for camouflage when it is time to raise a family. She nests in a tickets of green brier which is a spiny vine that grows in most forests. They feed on a grass known as cup grass which is a Texas native grass. Some times they will feed at a feeder like the first one I ever spotted. It was one day after school and I was not having any luck with the birds so I went inside and after a while I went out to look out my den window and a male Painted Bunting eating out of my feeder that I had put mixed seed in. He ate and ate and ate. He would fly off and then come back. That was a truly special moment of my life. Now during most summers I get to see about two or three a year. Still one I am not sick of seeing. They are one that should always be on any birders watch list. They are such a striking and lovely bird.

Now on to bird *Dramatic Voice* NUMBER TWO

Next up is the endangered Loggerhead Shrike. I have been going to Tarrant County College for a while now and I get up there pretty early to go to school during the Fall and Summer. This is one that I see pretty often while arriving by the Football Stadium across the street. These guys are colored very much like the Mockingbird but they have a darker and much bolder mask, hooked beak, and a more stouter build. They are a song bird but they have a raptor like way of life. Remember that hooked beak remark? Well that is how they rip and shred their prey. However they have a slight problem; their feet are much more like a songbird than a bird-of-prey so they have a solution to dealing with this issue. They will skewer their prey on a barb or a spine on a tree, bush, or barbed wire fence. These guys will then pull apart their prey. The more they have in their tree or where they store prey the more female shrikes will consider them to be more fit to be father’s to their chicks. They are one of my favorite birds and I have even noticed some of our trees have been used as their food trees. They are a really neat bird and one that is found in open areas. They are often seen on power lines and even in trees. They will eat a lot of things such mice, snakes, bugs and frogs. They are one of the coolest birds to learn about and one of the most interesting having the best of both worlds being one half song bird and one half raptor which is only seen in one other bird which is the Northern Shrike which we do not get in Texas.

Bird NUMBER THREE!

Now why is this Coyote in the photo well because the bird coming up is the Coyotes’ greatest nemesis. Well... okay... maybe not in real life but it is in the Looney Tunes skits. Lets meet the Roadrunner.

The Greater Roadrunner is not really on the menu for the Coyote as most of Looney Tunes fans would like to think. In fact they get a long pretty well for the Roadrunner is fast and in actuality the Coyote wants stuff he can catch. The Roadrunner is a fast bird but instead of sticking out his tongue and making a *Blup* *Blup* *Blup* *MEEP! MEEP!* Sound followed by a loud ricochet sound; these guys actually sound much like a dove. Their calls can be a triple bill clap followed by a single whoop which is an alert to stay back which I have experienced first hand. They also have a sound that is a dove call that is loud by then gets softer and lower in tone but it is more of a gruff tone. I have only been able to photograph these birds three times this one here was my most recent one. This one was at a place near my school called Stella Rowan Prairie. We had just parked and my dad told me to look up and we saw it and I was able to get out and get this shot of the bird before he went into the under brush and disappeared. These are one of my favorite birds. Let me tell you they are fast but don’t believe everything you see in Hollywood productions. I love the roadrunner for many reasons one they are fast and two they are one of the funniest looking birds we have in North America. They are known to eat reptiles but are no strangers to raiding the dog dish. They will also eat insects. They are one of the fastest animals I have ever seen in the wild. You have to be very quiet to sneak up on one of these or they will quickly flee from you. They are sometimes a pain to photograph but once you do it is an experience you are not ever going to forget.

The next one is one of my favorite ducks; this is my favorite of the North American Ducks. Meet the beautiful North American Wood Duck. This is a male; just look at his beautiful plumage of green, white, and chestnut, mixed with some cream color on the side where his wings are. What a beauty! These are my favorites for the male’s calls just make my heart melt. The males when calling make a squeaky DEZEET DEZEET DEZEET! Sound. It is high and a pleasant sound. The photos don’t do these guys justice; you have to look for them and experience them in the wild. I took all of my Wood Duck photos in Fort Worth Texas. This one was taken in Fort Worth at a nice little duck pond that is not too far from the Trinity River. These guys are so beautiful and the funny thing is they don’t look real. The female of this species is nearly all gray with some white. They nest in hollows of old trees in little cavities about seventy five foot up so predators don’t get to their nests. When time to hatch the female goes to the water as her babies hatch they will fluff up and then she will start to call and they have to drop seventy-five feet down to get to her. It is kind of daunting but they have a nice cousin to land in. They are one of the most common of our ducks but in my experience I have seen very few in my life time but they are real treat to see in the wild.

One of my favorite birds of Prey will have to be the American Kestrel. I was lucky enough to be out at the exercise track out at TCC South when I saw this guy sitting on a power line. This guy would take off and it was one of the very first birds I got in flight for the first time. They are the smallest bird of prey in North America and are the smallest of our falcons. They are specialists mainly insects and other small things. They are very pretty with colors of reddish brown, a grayish blue color, black spots on the face with black spots on the wings. They are so pretty and you will almost miss them. They are very cute and they don’t really look like a bird of prey but they are and they often fall prey to other birds of prey if they are not careful. These are often found in Texas in the winter time more times than in the spring and summer.

One of most recent birds I got on my recent trip out to the Texas coast. This is the funnest bird you can ever look for down here. They look like something you will see in a Zoo and truth be told you can but like most things it is more rewarding to seek these guys out in their natural habitat. Meet the Roseate Spoonbill. These birds are naturally born white but due to the algae and the shrimps they eat they turn pink. These guys are always out in the early morning in feeding groups like the one here. I took this at a place called Indian Point Park near where we were staying. This was one of my favorite shots even though it was not that close. Any closer and they would have fled. There was a lot of stuff feeding that morning. I got a lot birds on the trip when this was took. I love birding it is very fun and rewarding. It is one of my favorite past times even though I often get side tracked and look for other things. Let is just put it this way I love to just watch wildlife and explore its beauty. Whether watching the birds of the skies, or the bugs that crawl around, the fish that swim, the plants that are so fragrant and green, the fungus that looks like it comes from another planet, the mammals that are everyone’s favorite, or the reptiles that are lesser appreciated. I love nature and all that is in it. Nature like I have said has some neat stuff to look at. It is the best thing we have; without it we could not survive. It is the life force that keeps us afloat and we must protect it for it is in danger from what we are doing to it. We must do our part and do what we can to prevent more harm to the environment. So get out an explore and make that connection. Lose yourself and discover a world of wonder.

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