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neonovember · 11 months

Note

hiiii

could you write carmy x reader where she’s a high school friend and carmy always had a crush on her (but he thought she had a crush on mikey) ???? like maybe richie brings her up, and that she’s still in town and SINGLE and carmy gets red like a tomato and ??? richie makes her visit the beef and candy almost has a heart attack?? idk give me some in love carmen !!

pretty pleaseee and thank u

so I got this request and I immediately thought of swim by chase atlantic, and specifically the line that goes;

“I’ve been drowning for a minute, your body keeps pulling me in”

And holy shit if that isn’t Carmen in his denial-in-love with a long time friend era, I don't know what is. Carmen tries too hard to forget you, but you've marked permanently, you've ruined him for anyone else so can you blame him for waiting for you all this time?

Seriously though this request was so good! I got a bit carried away and turned into a 2 part series that may or may not have drabbles added to the universe…I really hope this isn't just a load of word vomit you don't want to read lmao. I just love their dynamic so much, and also FRIDAY DINNERS AT THE BEEF IS CANON OKAY.

Golden Boy

part one of 2

warnings: miscommunication (i know i'm sorry), friends to lovers, carmen and the reader have horrible communication skills and don't know how to call, angst, anxiety

a/n: part two will be up hopefully tomorrow so look out! it may or may not include a smut scene 😈

p.s, listen to swim whilst reading this you'll thank me later

You sat hunched in the tight enclosure of the classroom desk chairs, the once loud conversations fluttering across the huddled groups of classmates and friends that stood against tables and chairs now coming to a standstill.

The air of anxious trepidation falls across the atmosphere of the damp classroom, the windows that had been opened to let the air in felt thin as you and the rest of the students you had known for half a decade waited for that familiar ring of the bell.

The bell that would solidify your last day in this classroom, in these run down halls, in the school you had first stumbled into anxious and oblivious at thirteen.

Your heart ached at the nostalgia of it, and you can't bear to cast your gaze to your friends who had begun to sniffle, like they were holding back tears, the grandfather clock your geography teacher insisted on keeping ticked on as it always did, and whilst you had spent years burning holes through the glass, willing for it to go faster, your one dying wish is for the seconds to tick by in minutes.

You weren’t ready, it ran straight through you, all this time leading up, from when you had first learnt your desire to pursue architecture till the moment you finished that last sentence on your final exams, you felt you would be filled with joy at the sound of your true departure into adulthood and college.

And yet, you felt like a kid again, learning how to ride a bicycle without the training wheels, trying to reach the fifth monkey bar, falling headfirst into the dirt ground of the field when you had thought you were more flexible then you truly were.

You didn’t want to leave, you didn't want to leave this place, this place of memories and friends and people you knew and loved. And it was as if God was listening, cause the resounding echo of the school bell rang through the halls and it was as if he said ‘fuck you anyway’.

You gather the haphazard books and papers laying across your desk, you had purposefully delayed packing in order to waste as much time in this memory as possible, before adulthood would take it away and make it something of the past. You hear your friends calling your name, and you tell them to go ahead as you make your way to your teachers desk.

“Hey Mr Jefferson” You say to your teacher has begun to bid goodbye to the leaving students

Your teacher looks up at you with a tight smile, sadness washes over the wrinkles and creases of her features, her auburn hair falling in short waves at her shoulder and her olive lipstick wearing down. You have to swallow to stop the tears from dropping. Your Geography teacher, whilst not teaching Art, had been the catapult to realizing your fascination with Architecture and design. She had even helped tell your parents, who had been set on the idea of you going into Law or Medicine or anything other than creative arts.

“You’ll do amazing, I believe it because I see how hard you try. Don’t look back at this place, leave with the door wide open and come back only when you want to design me a house” Your Teacher replies with a grin, and before you can reply shes shuffling through her drawers, before pulling out a sketchbook that has been aged and stained with use over the years.

“What’s this?” You ask, twisting the book in your hand, it was good quality, despite being old, it felt like an heirloom.

“It’s one of my sketchbooks I had during college, maybe some of my late night sketches fuelled by coffee and donuts might inspire you”

“I couldn't possible-”

“Yes you could, hell whatever you create will probably be 10 x greater than whatever is in there” Your teacher cuts you off with a chuckle, and you hug the notebook tight against your chest before hugging her goodbye.

You step into the familiar walls of your high school hallways, crowds of seniors running to find their friends and hug them for possibly the last time, test papers and report cards left trampled on the ground, it's chaos, but you love it and the sight almost pulls tears down your waterline.

You walk towards your locker, before you recognize the familiar wisps of blond curls catch your eyesight. Carmen. You considered him one of your closest friends, bonding together over a love of game** and your equal hatred of your Period 4 Calculus teacher.

Carmen didn't have much when I came to be friends, and after he met you, it didn't really get to him anymore, he had you now, and you were more than enough. Over the years you had gotten close to every part of Carmen's life, Mickey, Richie, Sugar, they were all people you regarded as family.

But there was something unsaid between the both of you, it was like there was something beyond friendship, but the embers had just gathered and had left unignited.

He’s gathering his things from his locker, shoving them into a bag in that messy way he is, and he slams the locker with a jolt.

You're standing stationary in the middle of the hallway, classmates and other seniors running by you in confusion, your friends calling your name annoyed, but it's all muffled, it all doesn't matter because it's Carm and god your heart aches so bad.

You see Carmen and he sees you, stopping a few meters away from you, and a moment of recognition washes over him as he gazes with those cerulean blues. There's grief in the way you look at each other, tears streaming down your cheek as you try to smile at him, realising this might be the last time you see him, forever, off to an Art school in New York, leaving him behind. You feel like your heart is being ripped from your chest and he shakes his head, his eyebrows scrunching up as he steps closer so that he’s only a whisper from you.

He brings his hand up, brushing a strand and tucking in behind your ear, eyes strained as he wipes your tears away painfully. He moves closer, so that his breath is against your neck and whispers

“Thought you told me you'd punch me in the stomach if I cried on the last day” Carmen whispers into your eyes with a grin that breaks through the tears that cause his eyes to swirl in colour's of waves.

His words make you laugh and cry at the same time, and you shake your head as you reach for his arm, and playfully hit your stomach with it. Carmen rests it against your waist, looking up to you in a pained expression, his eyes shift to the notebook grasped tight in your hands

“New sketchbook? That..doesn't look new” Carmen says, turning his head to examine the old book more closely.

“One of Mrs Jefferson’s, her sketches are..their fucking amazing” You sigh, running your hand across the folded spine of the sketch book.

“Thought teachers weren't meant to have favourites” Carmen shoots out, a playful grin on his lips

“Hmm, well they aren't supposed to tell you exactly” You banter with a giggle, you flick through the pages of the book, half drawn sketches in grey lead and ballpoint, Carmen tracing his fingers gently across the ingrained lines and shades.

“God you're something, you know that?” Carmen says, all of a sudden, and when you look up you realise he’s been staring at you the entire time.

“Bear..” You breathe out.

“I don't know how I'm going to-, I, it's all so much” You exhale, waving your arms around this place that has held so many memories, so much of your past kept in the creaks and cracks of plastered walls and lockers

“You're the only person in this goddamn place that's going to make something out of themselves, I bet my entire life on it Bug. You're going to do amazing, in that big city, you’re going to show em’' Carmen replies, grasping you against his touch tight. You look up at him, trying to memorise every dip and curve of his features, the curl of his hair that shone honey in the sun, those eyes that were always searching, and the small cut on his forehead where he fell off his skateboard that one summer evening.

“Don’t say goodbye”

“Okay” Your tongue feels like deadweight in your mouth. what if i never see you again?

“You say goodbye and it's the end. Just..don’t” I can't breathe carmy.

You can’t stop yourself from wrapping your arms around him, pressing your nose into his shirt to smell the scent of patchouli and cigarettes he always carried, you want to tell him to come with you, to pack an overnight bag and run with you forever, but the words don’t taste right when you try to speak and you see yourself letting him go, and turning away with a shaky step.

Turn back Carmen whispers, so softly that only the gods above and the wind around him can hear it

You feel an urge to turn back, it speaks to you from within, and before you can stop yourself, your neck cranes, turning your body to get one last look at your golden boy before time would take him forever.

Time would age him into a memory forever.

Carmen feels this tension leave his shoulders at the same time his heart shatters, you will find each other again, even if it was in another universe, where you're sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, going over groceries together with the afternoon light casting its glow across you. He will find you, he will find you and he won’t let go this time.

“Honestly Ma, it’s fine, I’ll get the movers to come in a little early”. You groan into the phone pressed to your ear, papers and unresolved bills are left scattered across your dining room table and you have this itch that's begun to turn chronic somewhere you can’t reach.

You take a moment to look around your apartment, now barren of furniture, and filled instead with boxes of badly organised stuff you've accumulated over the years. This place, albeit small, had been your home ever since you stepped out of the yellow cabbed taxi on your first day in New York, and whilst it wasn't pretty, you felt a pang of guilt leaving it all behind. These walls had seen you through it all, the late night study cram’s, the breakdowns, the accomplishments, the one night stands. You'd miss her, but maybe you were just a nostalgic person.

You’ve made a life in New York, but you felt misplaced, like pieces of yourselves were scattered across the states. Chicago kept a part of you, and it was only when you had gotten the chance to move back home, did it click. You missed your city. And you had cut your lease and emptied out the last of your savings without a second thought.

Now all that was left was tying up loose ends and making the trip down. It was funny, in a way. You had run to New York to pursue architecture, and it brought you back to the very same place you had left, there was a certain trepidation when you thought of Chicago, it held so much of your past, in its city streets and evergreen trees, and you don’t know if you were quite ready to face those memories again.

It still smelled the same. You itch your nose, sniffling against the blooming scent of cocoa and caramel from the Chicago roads, all this time, and all that you can tell is how it still smelt like maple leaves and chocolate. It was comforting, and it felt like the warm embrace of a childhood friend that had stayed sitting on the corner of your suburban street corner all this time.

“Thank you Mae, really, I got the call last minute in New York to come back here and if it weren't for you, I’d be moving back into my old bedroom at my parents” You reply, gratitude filling every word. It was true, your friend had swooped in the second you called, fixing you up with a lease and an apartment with her realtor links. She came in a clutch, and she had made you promise to never leave her again in exchange.

“Oh shush doll, of course. This is probably payment for all the times I’ve crashed at yours anyway” Mae winks, the bracelets on her wrist clinking against each other. She didn't look like a typical realtor, more like a bohemian solo-traveller with her filly skirts and auburn red hair.

“I’m not going to let a degree transform my entire wardrobe, my clothes are antiques, their heirlooms, they tell a story”

She had told you once, one late night on the rooftop of your New York apartment, sipping cheap wine and passing a blunt between you both. You wish you had known yourself as much as she did then.

She had visited you a couple times in New York, coming up for work and spending the time at yours instead of spending thousands on an Airbnb, but it had been a while since you've seen her, and all of a sudden you remember how much you missed her laugh.

“I’ve got some time to spend before it’s all hand on deck” You reply, placing the last of your boxes onto the empty wooden floor of the living room.

“Oh yeah? Can’t believe you’re gonna design a whole building on Michigan Av’, your a fucking inspiration Bug” Mae sighs in adoration, and you giggle, the feeling of embarrassment filling you at the mention of your reason back home.

You never got used to the praise and adoration you received over the years, despite your many accolades and awards, you still felt like that hopelessly broke architect student giving up lunch to pay rent. You didn’t remember when things started to change. When did things start to change?

“You know, if you’ve got time, you should check out the Farmers Market near River North” Mae replies, whilst flicking through her phone

“The one on Division Street?” You reply, you had a faint memory of the long strip of stalls filled with fresh produce, food and the rest of the little trinkets that were sold since you were born on the pleated table cloth of sheltered booths.

“That’s the one, this guy named Samson? Makes the best fucking bearclaw in the entire United States. Tell him you're a friend of mine and he'll hook you up…you know since you can't afford it” Mae replies playfully, and you roll your eyes with a laugh.

“Yeah yeah, you hook up with him or something?” You poke back, Mae had the tendency to know everyone in Chicago, from the mailman to the old woman you’d see feeding the bids on a park bench.

“Yeah, actually I did. Not like you could relate, how long has it been, hm?” Mae replies, stepping forward to whisper down at your pants.

“I’m so sorry she hasn't been taking care of you. What are you, mummify her?” Mae looks up from her crouched position with a raised eyebrow.

“Ugh, you know I've been too busy to think about that. She’s gonna have to be patient” You reply, you don’t want to think about how long it has actually been, since you've had any type of release. But the tension has begun to weigh on your shoulders as time went on and you fear it might become something you can’t ignore.

You begin to move some boxes into your bedroom, thanks to your planning your large furniture such as your bed and coach, had been moved into the apartment before the rest of the things had got here, so at least you wouldn't be sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Changing into a pair of dark jeans and a short sleeve top, you loop an embroidered handbag onto your shoulder.

“So, you coming?” You call to Mae, who’s begun to fill your fridge with the groceries she's swung by with.

“Sure would Bug, but got a call to come in. I’ll come by again later this evening though?” Mae replies, with a grunt as she lifts the 2 litre bottle of milk onto one of the drive shelves.

“Yes please, I’m dying for a glass of wine”

“And a blunt” Mae replies, snickering at the way you roll your eyes at her.

Mae offers to drop you off, but you wave her off, telling her you wanted to see a little more of your hometown. You needed some fresh air that wasn't the coffee and smoke scent of the New York streets.

The walk to the Farmers market was a short one, but you felt like you were wading through a current. By the way the memories of your past began to resurface as you passed the streets and shops. Every corner holds a part of you, and you have to rush by your old school to stop the pang of pain that surprises you. You weren't an emotional person, but god it was almost as if you were hanging by a thread the second you touched down on Chicago.

What was causing this? You felt like you were holding your breath as you stepped through the fallen autumn leaves marking the sidewalk, the gentle sun on your back, what were you waiting for?

You tear yourself from your thoughts momentarily when you catch the looming buildings that had been built on ions ago, the infrastructure of Chicago still enamoured you, in a way that couldn't be beaten by even New York’s impossible skyscrapers.

There was a charm to it, each of the buildings felt like you were stepping into a different decade, they had been the stepping stones to a lot of the infrastructure and architecture that spread into other cities. You felt like you were at the start of it all every time your eyes trailed across the facade and arcades of the century old stone buildings.

Without realising, you had finally made it to the Farmers Market, the constant stream of people coming in and out with boxes of produce or hauling wooden antiques with very audible grunts. You can’t stop the smile stretching your face as you step through the embroidered banner at the front of the street.

Despite the many different stalls and food around you, you don't feel overstimulated. This was your home, you felt like you belonged, like a name scratched into wet cement, remaining ingrained for years no matter the seasons that came.

You go over the haphazard list of things you wanted to look for in your mind, but you're caught off guard by a stall that seemed to be huddled by patrons. You step towards it, and as people move aside you see the blooming flowers and carefully wrapped banquets in woven wooden baskets to the side of the stall. A short woman with light brown curls is standing at the front, taking down orders with a grin, whilst a rather tall man behind her makes quick work to wrap delicate orders into soft brown parchment paper tied with string.

And all of a sudden the need to buy pink tulips becomes your first priority. The woman at the front looks familiar, but you can't quite put your finger on where you've seen her, but as you walk up to the front her face morphs into familiar as she looks up at you in surprise.

“As I live and breathe” She says your name with a screech and it's her voice that pulls her name to your mouth. Adeline, a close friend from senior year who’d taught you how to crochet and pick a lock.

“Bug? How've you been? What brings you back to town?” Ade replies after telling the man behind her your order without you even saying a thing.

“Tulips, pink ones right?” Ade grins, and you have to let out a chuckle at how you haven't changed even a little.

“Got invited to join in designing a new building on Michigan Avenue, so I'll be back for a while-”

“Michigan Avenue? Holy shit Bug! You’re making moves, knew you always were special” Adeline replies with a gushing smile and you rush to reply with the same adoration

“Are you kidding, look at this line” You motion to the increasing line of people forming at Adeline's stall.

“People love their flowers” Adeline replies with a shrug before you shake your head vehemently

“No, they love your flowers, and for good reason, look at these” You gush, pressing your face into the bundle of tulips that had been handed to you.

“They only look that good because Henry's so good at wrapping them” Adeline replies with a laugh, her eyes flicking to the brown haired man dressed in corduroy behind her. A look passes between them that tells you there was more than love between them.

“Henry huh?” You reply with a grin, and the man is quick to introduce himself, and you don’t ignore the cold press of an encrusted band on his ring finger as he shakes your hand with a soft smile.

And it's as if Adeline reads your mind and she slips her left hand in yours, looking up at you with a teary grin.

“Yes, yes I know, I should've called, and I’m so sorry-”

You press yourself against her, leaning over the stall to wrap your arms around her. You whisper words of congratulation, shutting down any words that hinted at you being mad at her.

It wasn't her fault, it should be you she's mad at, you hadn’t really made that much of an effort to keep in contact with your friends back at home, and the reality of it weighed on you heavy now, you had missed so many milestones of your loved ones, all to chase your own dreams in New York.

You felt like you were constantly playing catch up, and you couldn't lie when a strange feeling crept up at the thought of your friends moving on with life. You were so incredibly happy for Adeline, and you were even more elated when she had told you of the Wedding in April that you had to come to.

But that didn't stop that same strange feeling of being behind everyone else, you had spent so long climbing the ladder to wear what you wear now, relationships and love weren't even a thought, you filled your nights with studying and drawing and the occasional fling, but nothing more. And now doubts had begun to creep in, had you missed out?

Watching everyone around you get married and have kids whilst you were still drawing buildings in that same sketchbook your teacher had given you 8 years ago. You’re not looking as you walk past the many stalls of the Farmers market, and it is your thoughts again that causes you to accidentally stumble into the hard muscle of a man back. You feel yourself falling, before arm's reach out, grabbing you quickly to stop you from ending flat on your face.

You breath out a sigh of relief, shaking a head at your clumsiness

“God, ‘m so sorry, I’ve just been in my head, I wasn’t looking where i was going-”

“Holy fuck” Your quick to spit an apologetic thanks, you haven't even looked up to see who you've dubbed into, and when the sound of surprise meets your ease you look up, only to be remain stone faced with your mouth left open.

“Richie?” You say, the shock of it is still in the air. You hadn't expected to see him in Chicago, or maybe you did and it was sooner than you thought.

“When did you get back? Holy shit, thought we wouldn't see you again” Richie replies with a smile

“Yeah uh, came down for some work for a little while. How, uh How are things” You reply with a squeak, you can’t bear to say what you're thinking and Richie nods, a look of acknowledgement in his face. Mickey’s death had shaken you, it had changed you in its own way, and you still grief him, it still hurts when Richie's face kinda falls and melts at the reminder of his best friend's death.

“After, uh, after Mickey, he had left the restaurant, you know, the Beef?” You nod in agreement, the hazy memory of the sandwich shop on the corner of Chicago's, busiest streets, you stomach rumbles at the thought of one of those sandwiches you'd down in less than a minute during your high school years.

“Yeah well, get this, he left it to Carmen. And honestly, I was hesitant at first, real hesitant, I love him, but god, he's a self centred ass coming in like he knew everything, spewing the bullshit CDC shit he learnt up in the big apple? He changed things, and you know how I feel about change, but he made it better, I can;t lie, and you better not tell him this, but the Beef actually..” Richie’s familiar rambles are muffled to your ears, the only thing you can hear is Carmen.

Everything zones out as you scrunch your eyebrows, wincing almost, at the pain and it shocks you, it shocks you how the very name of him still brings back those memories. You still hurt the same way you did the day you left him.

You must have looked out of it, as Richie shakes your shoulder, anchoring you back to the present, and you have to swallow back the bite of pain that bleeds through your chest.

“Did you hear what I said? The Beef’s holding a little family dinner tomorrow, shutting down the shop early, inviting only friends and family, it’ll be like a little reunion for you! You have to come” Richie replies, and you nod trying to seem present.

Carmen took over the Beef? He was in New York? What?

Your mind is scattered with the uproar of questions you have, the thought of Carmen, the memory of him is like a fresh wound. It un tethered and opens up a thread of thoughts and emotions you had thought you bottled up and threw deep into the ocean.

“You, you still talk to him right? Ya’ll were pretty close growing up, like fucking thieves attached to the hip if i can remember” Richie chuckles, fondly remembering the two of you.

You cough back, smiling up at him as you trying to reply coherently

“Yeah, uh sometimes you know” You lie

No. You haven't spoken to him since you left, and it feels like your tongue falls dead when you try to say his name again. You hadn't called and he hadn't picked up. Carmen told you not to say goodbye, but the truth was it had been the end of you even before you had both realised.

You had spent years pretending like Carmen not calling you, not making an effort to see you after everything didn’t burn, but the reality of it had marked you in a way that felt eternal.

“So you're coming, yeah? You and Carmen can finally catch up” Richie replies with a smile, and look of something passes through his eyes before it leaves, and you have to smile back with a nod, like you and Carmen were still close, like you don't feel that he might turn you away or scream at you the second he saw you, like you weren't both irrevocably in love with each other.

Bear. You missed him, you are shocked by how much you do, you thought bottling up your memories and emotions about him and stuffing them so far back into your mind you forgot would actually change anything. There had always been this lingering thought, at the recesses of your mind, the last thing you imagined before you fell asleep, the feeling that filled you the second you came back to Chicago, it was all Carmen, it was all your golden boy.

And now you would have to see him, in less than a day you would be in the same room as Carmen Berzatto, you don't want to say it, you don't want to speak it into acknowledgement but deep down, you wanted to see him again.

Beyond it all, you both were bonded in friendship, sharing something you didn't even have with Adeline or Mae, and you had felt like a part of yourself was missing each day that went passed without hearing from him. Had he forgotten you? Had it been as hard for him to go on with life? He had been in New York for christ sake, he didn't even think to visit you, that thought alone made you want to run back home and never come out.

You couldn't bare the possibility of exposing yourself to such heartache, to the chance of being rejected by the very person who you forever longed for. You were always searching for him, looking through crowds to see the familiar curl of his brown hair, or the scent he carried, ears always leaning in, trying to see if it would catch his syrupy baritone voice.

The two of you were forever connected, like the roots of trees spanning miles under the Earth. The kind of companionship that transcended time and space, and god did you want to feel the sharp edge of his jaw between your hands.

You couldn't stop it now, Richie had opened something you kept locked and sunk for a reason, and now it felt like you would break if you didn't see Carmen. Even if it would break you, even if it was the one thing in this world that would destroy you,

You had to see your golden boy.

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griffin-girl-r · 7 months

Text

My mom's other girl

Created: 06.11.2022

Finished: 26.12.2022

Edited: 13.09.2023

Age: 7

Word count: 2,370

Warnings: None

Request: Yes (Tumblr user)

Pairing: WandaNat

Note: This is a Mama!Wanda story and it's the only one I will write for Wanda in this context.

Summary: Wanda introduces her girlfriend to her daughter for the first time.

—

You patiently waited while swinging your legs for your mom to tell you the big news she was dying to tell you for quite some while.

Wanda had been in an official relationship with Natasha for almost 8 months but she hadn't introduced her to you until now because she wanted to make sure Natasha would be a permanent feat in her life and then, of course, in yours. She didn't want her little baby to get attached to someone who would later leave them alone and heartbroken.

Wanda couldn't bear the thought of her little girl suffering because she wasn't able to choose wisely the persons she introduced in your life.

But Wanda was sure this time that Natasha was that one person she had been looking for her entire life.

Wanda could feel it.

Truth be told, Wanda felt the same way about your father as she felt about Natasha.

But unfortunately he passed away and Wanda thought she would never love again.

That was until Natasha asked her out for dinner and she said yes.

The rest is history.

—

"Mommy, can you please say what you have to say already!" You whined bored, pulling Wanda out of her own thoughts

Your mom kneeled down in front of you and placed her hands on your knees as she gave you a small unsure smile.

Wanda cleared her throat and then took a deep breath in "Look, baby girl... What mommy has to tell you it's very important and for certain things to continue I'll need your permission, sweetheart, because no one will ever be as important to me as you are."

You slightly nodded not being fully sure about what she was going to say next.

"So a few months ago, mommy started going out with one of her coworkers." Wanda slowly explained as she carefully watched your reaction "Her name is Natasha and she's a really nice and kind girl that makes me feel happy just like your daddy used to do."

The witch took a moment to silently think about the words she was going to say next.

"So I invited her to come over for dinner so you could meet her and see if maybe you'll like her to be around here more..." Wanda raised her shoulders as her voice pitched a little at the end of the sentence

"Sure..." You shrugged "That's all, Mommy?"

Wanda nodded "Yes, baby, that was all."

You stood up and walked over to your dolls and toys that were patiently waiting for you on the carpet in the middle of the room.

"She took it better than I expected." Wanda quietly mumbled under her breath

Your mom stood up too, kissed your head, and walked to the kitchen to start getting everything ready for tonight.

—

You were watching cartoons in the living room when you heard the doorbell ring.

"Y/N, sweetheart, can you open the door, please?" Wanda shouted from her room where she was still getting ready

Wanda felt that Natasha was the one at the door, otherwise she would have never let you open that door alone without her being there.

"Yes, Mommy!" You shouted back as you quickly made your way towards the door

Opening it, you found standing there a beautiful woman with the brightest red hair you have ever seen.

"Hello there!" Natasha smiled nervously at you

"Hi!" You beamed up "I think you are Mommy's friend?" You thought for a second about her name really hard "Umm... Natacha?"

Natasha silently giggled "It's Natasha with an 's' but yes, that's me, little one. And you must be Y/N. Your mom talks all the time about you."

"She does?" You smiled widely

Natasha nodded "She does."

Remembering that you were supposed to let the redhead in, you slightly moved aside to make way for her to step inside.

Natasha softly smiled at you as she entered the house.

"Do you want to watch cartoons?" You asked hopefully

"Sure... I can do that." Natasha unsurely answered

You were way too comfortable around strangers but Natasha was grateful that you weren't ignoring her.

"Where's your mom?" Natasha asked looking around the room

"Oh, Mommy is in her room." You looked up at Natasha "She's still getting ready." You whispered then giggled

Natasha quietly chuckled.

"Before she comes here I have something for you." The woman said

"You do?" You started jumping up and down excited "What is it, Natty?"

Natasha smiled at the nickname you gave her and right then and there she decided she always wanted to hear you calling her 'Natty'.

Natasha pulled out from behind her a cute brown teddy bear and, bending down, she held it in front of you "I don't know if you like bears or stuffed toys at all but I hope you'll like my little gift."

You looked at the bear for a second and Natasha was starting to get worried that you didn't like her present.

But suddenly a big smile formed on your face and you quickly grabbed the teddy bear from her hand, hugging it tightly.

"I love it!" You excitedly smiled at the woman in front of you "Thank you so much, Natty!"

Natasha smiled widely at you and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding until now.

But much to her surprise, you jumped in her arms without a warning and hugged her tight.

The redhead was taken aback by your hug and for a second she stood frozen in place.

Coming back to her senses, Natasha gently wrapped her arms around you "You're very welcome, sweetheart." She smiled

Natasha wasn't the only person you took by surprise with your hug.

Wanda who just then was making her way downstairs to greet Natasha, stopped at the middle of the staircase and silently steared at you and Natasha gently hugging each other.

And at that moment Wanda knew that you and Natasha would get perfectly along. All her worries have been for nothing.

—

"Look at my two favorite persons in the entire multiverse getting along so well." Your mom's cheerful tone made you break the hug between Natasha and you "Hi, Nat!" Wanda greeted the spy with a warm smile as she took the last few steps and started walking in the direction her girlfriend was

"Hi, Wands!" Natasha smiled back softly but did not try to make any move on kissing Wanda since you were in the room too "You look absolutely amazing tonight."

Wanda blushed "I could say the same thing about you, Miss Romanoff."

Natasha smirked "Don't even get me started... "Mommy"."

Wanda blushed harder at Natasha's words, the pink on her cheeks turning into a dark red.

"Yeah... She's my mommy. Why do you ask, Natty?" You innocently asked Natasha with a look of pure confusion on your face

"Oh for no reason at all, Y/N." Natasha silently giggled

"I get that now you're my mom's other girl but only I'm allowed to call her 'mommy' okay?" You stated with a hint of possessiveness in your little high-pitched voice

"Of course, I'm only your mommy, baby." Wanda said as she quickly tried to change the subject "But how about we go eat?! Hmm?! I made your favorite."

Your's and Natasha's faces light up and without any hesitation, both of you said at the same time "Pasta with chicken?!"

Then as quick as the wide smiles appeared on your faces just as quickly they faded away as you and Natasha turned to look at each other, utter confusion written all over your faces.

Wanda let out a loud laugh that she couldn't hide "Yes, you silly girls. I made pasta with chicken. Now let's go eat before it gets cold."

Picking you up and putting you on her hip, Wanda broke the confused staring contest between her daughter and her girlfriend and guided Natasha towards the kitchen while carrying you in her arms.

Natasha shook her head as she tried to hide the smile that had appeared on her face.

Who would have guessed she would get along so well with her girlfriend's daughter from the first moment they met?

Surely not her.

—

The dinner went on smoothly and you and Natasha seemed to have so many things in common.

Much to Wanda's delight you and Natasha were forming a fast and strong bond.

You three laughed, shared stories, and told silly jokes throughout the dinner.

But everything has an end and sadly this beautiful evening was coming to an end too.

—

Natasha helped Wanda wash the dishes, ignoring Wanda's loud protests about how she was the guest tonight and shouldn't help her.

After that, Wanda called you to come and say goodbye to Natasha as the older woman was about to go back home.

You left your spot where you were sitting on the carpet in the living room watching cartoons and hesitantly made your way towards the front door where your mom was handing Natasha her jacket, dragging your feet in the process.

If you were being honest, you didn't want Natasha to leave. She was so much fun and you now loved her so much.

You couldn't allow her to leave.

"Natty?" You shily called the woman who was about to put her jacket on

"Yes, Y/N?" Natasha softly answered trying to look at your face but you refused to look up from the ground

"Do you really have to leave?" Your voice broke as you tried to keep in the tears that were about to leave your eyes

Natasha shared a confused glance with Wanda as if asking the witch what was going on.

Wanda just lifted her shoulders as a response to Natasha's confused look then shifted her worried gaze down at you.

"Well yes, little witch." Natasha answered cautiously "It's time for me to go back to my home. It's late and you and your mommy need to go to bed but if you want I can stop by tomorrow."

You sadly nodded unsatisfied by the answer you just got "I thought that now that you and mommy were married you'll stay here..."

Wanda softly placed a hand on your shoulder "Baby we talked about this. Me and Natasha aren't married. She's just my girlfriend. It's only normal that she comes and goes."

"Listen, kid." Natasha placed her hands on your arms "Me and Wanda are not married yet. We still need time to get to know each other better and you and I also need time to know each other better. I'd love to stay but it's too soon."

Natasha gently lifted your chin with her fingers only to see your little face tear strained, instantly making her heart drop.

Wanda went to reach and wipe your tears away but before she got the chance, Natasha had already pulled you in a tight hug.

You wrapped your legs around her waist as Natasha picked you up, refusing to let go of you.

The sight in front of her made Wanda's heart melt in an instant. Her two girls hugging and comforting each other.

"Please stay, Mama!" You cried on Natasha's shoulder

Natasha's side-to-side rocking stopped as well as her breathing.

Wanda freezing in the place she was watching you two interact from.

"What did you just call me?" Natasha's voice waved full of emotions

"Please don't leave me, Mama!" You cried again "Stay..."

Natasha's grip on you tightened and she gently put her head on top of yours "I'll stay, baby girl. If you want me to stay, Mama will stay."

She let a few tears escape her eyes before kissing the top of your head.

Wanda was about to break the moment between Natasha and you knowing that you usually threw this type of tantrum when you were really tired and she wasn't blaming you, it was a long day for you after all.

Just before the brunette got the chance to take you from Natasha, the redhead softly started singing a song that Wanda only guessed it was a Russian lullaby.

Totally ignoring her girlfriend, Natasha made her way towards the couch and sat down while she kept singing and gently rocking you from side to side.

She then and there decided that she never wanted to hear you calling her 'Natty' again.

She always and forever wanted to hear you call her 'Mama' and she was ready to do whatever was necessary to stay in your and your mother's lives.

Wanda wanted to be the one that was comforting her baby but she knew that Natasha, as well as you, needed this moment together.

—

You were fast asleep in Natasha's arms, still tightly clinging to her shirt even in your sleep, as Natasha gently lay down on the couch with you on top of her, tucking the bear she got you under your arm as kept humming.

When Natasha's humming chased down, Wanda started making her way to the couch ready to apologize to her girlfriend for her daughter's tantrum and take you up to your room before leading Natasha once again to the door.

Wanda's worried look turned into a big smile and she sighted in reliefe when she saw that Natasha was also asleep, the redhead's arms securely wrapped around Wanda's daughter.

The witch quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and took a picture of her girls sleeping while hugging one another.

After the picture was taken, Wanda quietly took a blanket and covered you and Nat with it then gently kissed Natasha's forehead and the back of your head.

"My girls..." Wanda whispered with a smile on her face "I love you both so much."

—

This wasn't the usual "First bring your girlfriend home to meet your daughter night" she expected.

No.

It was something much better than a regular first dinner.

It was the first family evening spent together.

Wanda knew for sure now that this was the sight she wanted to see every night from now on before falling asleep and every morning after waking up for the rest of her life.

And, for sure, starting from that night Natasha never left her girls again.

#mama nat #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x daughter!reader #natasha x daughter!reader #natasha's child #natasha's kid #natasha romanoff x teen!reader #natasha x teen reader #natasha x baby!reader #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x daughter!reader

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quizmasterfred · 3 months

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13 in 'The God Complex'

I saw a Reddit post a while ago asking 'what episode would you like to see a different Doctor tackle', and now it's been ages but i had some thoughts, and can't stop thinking about it, and just desperately need to write them down somewhere so here if you're seeing this: sorry, you've got to deal with my ramblings now.

This could replace ‘Legend of the Sea Devils’ wholesale. It was most people's least favourite centenary special, so hopefully we’re not losing much. OR, if you want to wrangle 4 specials in that year, it comes between ‘Eve of the Daleks’ and LotSD, which I’ll elaborate on later.

Arrival:

13 genuinely intends to follow through with “that moment on the beach where you tell me everything”, directly says as much at the end of EotD. Instead of fobbing it off with “whatever happened to the lost treasure of the Flor de la Mar”, they ARE going to San Munrohvar, which Yaz is ecstatic about.

In the OG God Complex (quick reminder: 11/Amy/Rory originally), it’s Amy’s faith in the Doctor which brings them there, and it’s the same now. Except it’s not just the generic faith of a particularly attached companion, it’s the exact specific moment of Yaz knowing she’s about to get that conversation.

Her faith is both restored, and about to be rewarded. After years of asking, and wondering, and being fobbed off, finally the Doctor is opening up. And right after Yaz’s coming out to Dan? Wow - what if!

They aren’t there because Yaz “has faith in the Doctor”, they’re there now because in the exact moment the TARDIS launched, that faith was higher and more intense that it has ever been.

Dan:

Common complaint is that Dan’s a bit of a blank slate – Diane, Liverpool, nice bloke. Fun moments, but not enough time to really develop as a character. I’m not going to make a spectacular reveal here and give him an amazing arc, but at the very least we have a chance to make that blank-slatedness really work. He takes on Rory’s role in the story:

13’s Room:

We never see 11’s room, only hear the TARDIS’ cloister bell as he looks in. The implication, of course, is that he’s afraid of dying – permanently. Trenzalore, no more regenerations. Very nice and subtle for 11’s arc/personality – the old man disguising himself as a 20-something.

13 has a very different problem: she’s the Timeless Child, she’s been alive for potentially a billion years before her memories begin, and she’s still regenerating. 11 is afraid of regenerations running out; 13 is afraid they’ll never run out.

It’s harder to convey my idea here with just a noise, not showing the inside of the room itself, so I will describe what I imagine the room to look like, but if there’s a way to do this without showing the viewer, that’d obviously be great.

Her room is a field of graves: “Susan Foreman”, “Sarah-Jane Smith”, “Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart”, “Donna Noble”, “Amy + Rory Williams” (an exact copy of the grave from ‘The Angels take Manhattan’), “Clara Oswald”, River('s Screwdriver/Neural Relay sitting on a Library server?), “Bill Potts”, “Yasmin Khan”, even one written in Gallifreyan (could be inferred to be the Master, but not directly stated). Only a brief look, but enough for someone to pause it and read a bunch of companions’ names.

Many are faded, symbolising a fear that one day she’ll be so old with so many lost loved ones, there simply won’t be room for all of them, and she’ll starting to forget their names and faces. Thousands more we can’t read, the people she’s yet to meet across all her future lives, and they will age and die all the same. In the centre, she’s still there. Alive, young, never dying. Maybe it’s not even Jodie standing there – maybe it’s Ncuti Gatwa, or some completely other actor: ‘generic future self’.

This is the moment of tragedy for her. After her own chat with Dan, the fireworks, seeing Sarah + Nick happy, she had decided to give it a try with Yaz. But seeing this room is what changes that. This is the moment she says to herself:

In OG, this happens immediately after 11 effectively invites Rita to join the crew, but maybe we can swap these around. So 13 sees this, completely psyches herself out of pursuing a relationship with Yaz, knows in her heart that her biggest fear is losing more and more and more people, but seeing Rita being a little bit brilliant again makes 13 invite her along anyway. She can’t help it – a clever little human working their way in, no matter what. Bittersweet.

Speaking of:

Rita:

Another young Muslim woman who’s a little bit brilliant and a little bit too brave? In all of time and space, it’s a bit weird for a bottle episode to have someone who, on the face of it, is basically a carbon copy of our main companion, right? We’ll see.

13 gets along with Rita just as 11 did. Maybe Dan is the butt of the ‘with regret, you’re fired’ joke. Maybe in a moment alone, Dan can crack a line to Rita that ‘she’s got a thing for clever Muslim gals’. But of course, most importantly, Rita and Yaz have a bit of bonding over their shared faith. Rita mentions ‘Jahannam’ in the OG, and we can use that to get some insight to Yaz’s faith. We know she’s practicing-enough to visit a Mosque (mentioned in Rosa), but really we get very little exploration of what Islam truly means to her throughout Chibnall’s run. Give Yaz something personal that isn’t tied to the Doctor, y’know.

Then, the phone call when Rita is about to die. Like 11, 13 tries to talk her into coming back: maybe she can save her, she really wants to save her. She can’t convince Rita, but Yaz takes the phone off of her. Two young women of the same religion have a heart-to-heart about faith and rapture and Jahannam. They both start off thinking Yaz was brought here for the same reason Rita was (and the viewer does too) – stealing their religion from them.

BUT, Rita gradually realises that isn’t true for Yaz. She realises that Yaz’s faith in the Doctor is stronger: “if you come back, the Doctor can save [you/us]”. That brief, shining moment of beauty that Yaz felt when the Doctor confirmed she would follow through on ‘tell[ing] you everything’ was so powerful, it eclipsed her religious faith. Not forever, she hasn’t become an atheist, but the novelty, the cocktail of love, and rewarded patience, and anticipation, and trust – for a tiny moment, it out-shone her other faith, and that’s why the TARDIS was pulled in by the eponymous God Complex.

Maybe Rita says it explicitly, or maybe she doesn’t. Either way, Yaz also realises what Rita has seen, but the Doctor isn’t privy to Rita’s side of the conversation (because… phone). They hang up, turn off the cameras, and Rita dies. If Yaz hadn’t let the Doctor take over her life and heart, could she have saved Rita? Did someone die because she failed as a Muslim? (Obviously the answer is no – that’s not how faith/religion works, and Rita was dead anyway because that is how the minotaur works, but the point is Yaz has a total crisis here)

As with the OG, the very next scene is the Doctor’s ‘I figured it out’ moment.

Yaz is hit with a whole fresh wave of guilt. The whole reason they’re here, the thing that killed Rita – and the Doctor agrees with that assessment (the Doctor couldn’t hear Rita, so this obviously isn’t actually the Doctor saying ‘you’re right, you got her killed’ – the Doctor would never think or say something like that – but that’s what it feels like to Yaz).

Yaz’s Room:

Now this is what’s really beautiful about the change from 11 to 13. Amy and Yaz’s rooms are the same thing. Amy’s is a little girl waiting by a window for her Raggedy Man to come back; abandoned. Yaz’s is a young woman in a basic white TARDIS console room, surrounded by sticky notes and sheets of paper, after hundreds of failed attempts to make it fly, waiting for the Doctor to come back from Gallifrey; abandoned.

[Quick side-note: the moment between Amy and Gibbis where she says ‘I thought that room was for me’ about the Weeping Angels still works for Yaz. In her only meeting with the Angels, what was the result? They took the Doctor away from her for 3 years]

11’s speech to Amy, tearing down the image of him in her head – saving her life by pretending he can’t – absolutely stunning. But 13 has even more to work with here: Amy/Rory, Clara (died because she became too much like the Doctor – hello Yaz), River. The added tragedy of breaking not just a friend, but someone who is actively in love with her and who she shares those feelings for, and the only way to save Yaz’s life is to shatter those feelings.

AND: Bill. "Remember that man who tried to kill you, Graham, and Ryan in a plane crash the instant he met you? The man who tried to kill us all on Gallifrey, and is ultimately the reason I left you, vanishing for 10 months? The man you’re most afraid of, of every villain we’ve met together? I TRIED TO HELP HIM. I put his redemption above Bill and Nardole’s safety because ‘[he’s] the only one person that I’ve ever met who’s even remotely like me’ (direct quote, btw(!) – ‘World Enough and Time’), and it got her mercilessly killed and converted. That’s the sort of person I am, and now I’m about to get you killed too."

Falling Action:

Because Yaz is a little bit brilliant, and coming into her own as “becoming like the Doctor”, like Clara did, she later works out that the speech in her room was ‘the plan all along^TM’ to get rid of the minotaur, and starts to patch herself up by telling herself that the Doctor didn’t really mean not to trust her. So Yaz presses, once again, asking for the Doctor to tell her something about herself.

The Doctor, of course, actually was being genuine, because her own room – the field of graves – scared her that much. 11 rebuffs Amy’s question, continuing with his exposition about the prison. 13 does the same to Yaz. The episode started with Yaz being elated that the Doctor would finally open up, and ends with 13 reverting back to closed-off, and refusing to answer a personal question. Because 13 saw what was in her room, and decided, against everything they both wanted 45 minutes ago, that she can’t fix herself. So back in the box it goes.

Then:

From 11’s perspective, this could be perceived as bittersweet. He’s still afraid of death, but at least there’s someone here and now commiserating with him. Maybe it would be a gift, and maybe he can accept it in time, and go to Trenzalore in peace. But for 13, it’s just bitter. 'Yes, it would be a gift – if only I could ever have it. But at least I can grant it to you.'

We can either do the beach scene now, ‘can’t fix myself’…

(and then in my ideal world, alter Power of the Doctor to give us a slightly happier end / opening up / explaining 13's hotel room / Thasmin kiss, because god knows us gays need someone to throw us a bone – but that’s not important right now, not relevant to 13!GodComplex)

Or this is where the Doctor goes ‘let’s fuck about looking for the Flor de la Mar’, cue LotSD. Again we see the contrast between her genuine intent to be honest with Yaz 45 minutes ago vs fobbing it off now. Yaz’s heart is broken for real, just after she managed to convince herself that the Doctor’s speech in the hotel room was all a trick.

I can't stop thinking about it, because Doctor Who has consumed my every waking moment for the last 2 months...

#13th doctor #yasmin khan #thasmin #11th doctor #amy pond #the god complex #eve of the daleks #legend of the sea devils #power of the doctor #doctor who

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cbsghostsmetasandtrevor · 2 months

Note

Saw the episode AND I took notes. 😁

*Thor chopping off Trevor's hand: 😲🤣

*No, Trevor didn't invite Carol, Sam emailed the wrong person.

*Wow, Carol died before the first commercial.

*Yeah, maybe Sam and Jay should have closed the door when doing a seance with a bunch of ghosts.

*Jay is a special guy. 🥰

*As Carol is interacting with the ghosts, their faces 😲😲😲

*Sam telling the ghosts not to talk to her because she doesn't want to appear crazy, as she talks to Carol AND definitely looks crazy.

*Carol and Pete see each other.

*Trevor not dealing with Carol's crap.

*Interesting how they explain what happened to Flower so that she doesn't have to appear. 🤨

*Which leads back to the original question: Who went to Heaven?

Next week looks interesting. Nancy and Carol fighting over Pete. 🤣🤣

Poor Trevor and his arm SLOWLY becoming whole again - Don't shoot the messenger, Thor.

OH GOOD. I was worried, I had to let the dog out and all I heard was Trevor something about emails and Sass asking if he was bragging. So I was like - that would be terrible, although it would explain trying to make up for it by yelling at Carol so much.

Carol dying so quickly so they can have Sam and the ghosts slowly figure it out...

Oh for sure - why do a seance with the door open????

LMAO, I loved that scene because they were so confused and it took them a second to like "get it".

TBF Carol was just alive like ten minutes before, but it is funny as fuck.

I really liked the reactions and them figuring it all out. It would be interesting if other ghosts were discovered that way instead of them all being there to witness it. It made it so much more interesting.

I do like Trevor being like a total lovable Ass to Carol. Because like, he probably has loyalty to Pete and sees it as defending his boy.

I do like how they dealt with the Flower thing without the actress having to be on screen.

For the last bit, a while ago, I was convinced it was Steph's BF, Ralph. Mainly because Crash says "I saw Steph sleeping away" no mention of Ralph. & that would work if they bring Steph back and she be pissed that her BF got sucked off while she was sleeping.

I really hope next episode is good for Pete, 'cause he was having a BAD day this time. Fuck, what's worse than your cheating ex dying and you have to deal with them permanently.

Side note - I actually had this idea for a Fanon ship and similar situation happening for Trevor, and I wonder if my predictions of how everyone would react (hopefully in support of their housemate) is correct.

ALSO I WANT PETE TO FUCKING LIGHT HER UP.

That is all.

Did you like it as much as I did?

#cbs ghosts #ghosts cbs #CBS ghosts Spoilers #ghosts cbs spoilers

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spilledmilkfkdies · 1 month

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Hi! First off, thank you very much for answering my earlier asks; I really appreciate that you put in the time and thought to answer my questions. Secondly, I wanted to ask, how do you think the wizards would take it if they had been sentenced to Lightrock rather than Omega? (I think I have also asked this question of another blog, but I’m kinda hooked on the idea.) Thank you very much!

Hiii again!! You're so welcome too! I love answering asks and putting some energy into them, even if that means they take me a sec sometimes djskshsj I get to it eventually stinkyexhaust if you're out there-

And to answer the second part; Honestly I kinda vibe with the idea, I think about it sometimes, briefly. But that's because I'm bias and I simply don't want them to be frozen for eternity. Or for however long the comics kept them there before making them work for some guy and eventually imprisoning them in Solaria boo boo tomato. Absolutely YOINKED them from their planet, which ig Lightrock would also do. But like. That's different.

How would they take it though? Hmmmm yeah probably beats Omega, if only because they're together and able to talk to each other. Hopefully. Unless they're separated. I think Ogron would struggle the most, he's still experiencing some very strong emotions of the angry sort- but I feel like he'd eventually be fine as long as he's with Gantlos and Anagan who are TIRED. And in mourning. Ogron will get there too. Is Lightrock the absolute perfect solution for them that will fix all their problems though? Will they straight up vibe there without any issues? No!! But I really don't think they're as kill kill destroy as modern Winx writing is trying to sneak in there, they can be civil! At least for as long as it would take to get the "yeah lol they're fine now" stamp of approval so they can be on their way, which I think is the end goal? It's a rehabilitation thing right, those aren't permanent usually, I don't think.

Y'know who really could've used Lightrock. When we give it a minute of thought.

HE. HIM. THAT THING.

You're telling me this SICK man, who had been feverishly yapping away on your couch just minutes prior, DARES to speak the words "Who says I want to recover?", proceeds to reveals big evil plan (it actually being true aside for a moment) and you decide to KILL him where he stands as he BEGS for his life?? Bit overkill tbh. Yeah imprison the other ones but just explode the dying one, kill him faster! The medical bills just weren't worth it huh

Also?? Imagine there was no evil plan, and he really was just delusional and saying shit again. Could we perhaps say? Medical malpractice? Hm?

Really if any of the 4 were to be put in Lightrock, realistically it should be him?? This was him canonically going insane fam, please get him some therapy or something he'll be fine. Probably. BONUS POINTS if they'd let him stay in the bat form, I'd really like that and I'm not getting into the logistics of it. Just make sure his wings have room to move :(( I pinky promise he won't try to fly away pls :(( I don't think he even could pls pls :(( Y'all have security measures in place :((

#shout out to the french fic that teleported him to therapy land #real af for that fr #they gave him a room and everything #it's so silly but i appreciate things like that #this one feels very rambly #i didn't sleep well sjsksk #been out and about today!!#winx club #winx season 4 #winx villains #wizards of the black circle #winx ogron #winx gantlos #winx anagan #winx duman #answered ask

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thesokovianaccords · 6 months

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(press you to) the pages of my heart

four: "come here. let me fix it."

a steggy friends to lovers au (also on ao3)

They were going to be late. Even for them.

(Though Steve would swear up and down it wasn’t his fault. Peggy would swear that he was lying.)

“It’s basically the same costume, anyway. How are you still not ready?”

“I had to send Tony an angry voice note first,” Steve shouted from his bedroom. “Really, it’s his fault we’ll be late.”

Peggy tapped their new and improved badges against the kitchen table. “Pepper’s a natural redhead. It makes more sense for them to be Mulder and Scully. Also, I somehow managed to make new badges, find realistic neuralyzers, and fix my costume before you tied your tie.”

“Well, I got into an in-depth debate with both of them over who deserved a quote-unquote ‘couple’s costume.’ That ate up some time.” Steve walked out into the living room, his eye roll audible across the apartment. “They both had lots of unsolicited opinions, so you’re welcome for sparing you from that.”

“My hero,” Peggy scoffed, grabbing their drinks and dropping next to Steve on the sofa, as he tied his shoes. “Hopefully the party will still be going when we get there.”

Steve sent her an incredulous look, and they both laughed. “Yes, right, fine. It was impossible to even think that with a straight face.”

“Sometimes I still feel hungover from their 4th of July party.”

“Ah yes, the Steve Rogers Birthday Bash, T-M,” Peggy said, holding up her hands in brackets to showcase the trademark with the aplomb it deserved. And because he always glared at her when she did it.

“Yeah, yeah, hilarious. So funny. I’m dying of laughter.” Steve pushed himself to his feet and pulled Peggy up to hers too. “Are you ready, Agent P?”

“What are you saying, Agent S? Don’t I pass muster?”

He gave her a once-over so quick she might have been insulted, if the warm weight of his gaze hadn’t pinned her in place for those few seconds. Her breath caught for an embarrassing moment as his eyes returned to hers. “You look beautiful. And deadly. Perfect, as always—except your tie is crooked.”

“It is not.” Peggy had no idea whether that was true—Steve’s compliments had thrown her for a loop, and recalibrating herself to focus on what he was actually saying was taking longer than it normally did.

He set their glasses on the coffee table and pulled her to their entryway. “Would I lie to you?”

“Yes,” she retorted, but unfortunately her tie was, in fact, listing to one side. “I swear I had it sorted—it must have gotten bored waiting for you to be ready too and decided to relax.”

Steve snorted as she loosened the knot and began to loop the fabric over itself again, but no retort came. He just watched her hands in the mirror as she pulled the long end of the tie through and tightened the knot. But once again, it hung slightly off to the side, and she groaned at her reflection. “These things are bloody impossible. I don’t know how you wear them every day.”

“It just means I have a lot of practice. Come here,” he said, dropping his hands to her shoulders and spinning her around. “Let me fix it.”

Peggy considered the possibility, with Steve’s knuckles brushing against her neck as he re-knotted her black tie, that she was dreaming. Or that she had taken complete leave of her senses. She and Steve were so often in sync—and naturally so, without any conscious thought behind it—that when they weren’t, when they seemed to be in the midst of wildly diverging experiences of the same event, Peggy felt unmoored. Speechless, even. How else could she explain Steve’s efficiency, his apparent immoveabiity, while she was left breathless at the sweep of his hands across her collar? And how was she meant to deal with this new reality, the one where she and her best friend were horribly, perhaps permanently, out of sync, and one wrong word or move could tear everything down?

Steve, oblivious to Peggy’s personal crisis, stepped back and placed his hands on her shoulders again. “There,” he said, a soft smile on his face. “Perfect. As always.”

Peggy placed a hand over the knot and cleared her throat. “As are you, Steve,” she said, relieved her voice stayed steady. “Now, let’s go save the universe. With tequila shots, preferably.”

He laughed and ran his hands down her arms, before taking a single step back. “Yes, ma’am.”

#saturdaystorkclub #steggy #steggy fic #steggyfanevents #steggy au #(press you to) the pages of my heart #thought it was time that I finally participated in one of these!#so here we go - a halloween themed friends to lovers ficlet #and they were roommates #featuring a bit of yearning and assumed unrequited pining #bc ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that's why #I cannot emphasise enough that this is unbetaed and I am getting back into the writing groove #so thank you in advance for your grace and forgiveness lmao

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liliaeth · 2 years

Text

People have talked a lot about First Kill, and how great it is as lesbian representation. And I love that for any wlw enjoying it as the young adult show it is. It's not great art, it's cheesy, and it's awesome just for that.

But the one thing I haven't seen mentioned even nearly as much, is how good it is for racial representation.

I never watched Vampire Diaries, so can't compare it to that or any of it's off shoots. (except that apparently Bonnie was done dirty, according to my tumblr feed)

I did watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, and plenty of other fantasy shows. And it's led me to notice how rarely shows like these treat characters of color, and especially black girls and women, as characters in their own right. Characters with feelings and emotions that are just as important as those of the white characters. (esp. those of white men)

Just think about the characters of color in Teen Wolf, to give a most recent example.

Yes, Scott was the main character. But if the show had one flaw, it was that it consistently treated Scott's feelings as less important than those of his white friends. Stiles, Derek, Jackson, Isaac, ... could all whine and complain about the most minor thing, and it would be treated as this big important moment.

But Scott was expected to go through enormous trauma, without complaint, and was supposed to come out of it, primarily caring for his white friends, and how the things he went through, affected the white people around him.

When Boyd died, TW made his death more about him comforting Derek that he did the right thing in biting him, than about the horror of a teenage boy dying.

Davies actively claimed that Mason was 'too good to have permanent consequences from his possession by the Beast'

We got pretty much no interactions between Scott and Hayden after Scott bit her, despite him becoming her alpha, no moment to explore how both of them felt about it. In contrast to all such scenes we got from Liam.

Peter was never called out on what he did to Scott, not even by Scott's mother, and even after Scott literally died, Melissa was more ready to speech on him on what he owed others, than to console him on what had been done to him, and what he just went through.

And that's not even starting on how they treated Kira, let out the actress playing her.

And that's just a few examples.

So when I watched First Kill, I was happily surprised to find how much better this show handled it's non white characters.

From the first episode on.

How they cut the ep in half, showing the same events from two perspectives, first Juliette's and then Calliope's. Giving equal depth and importance to introducing both of them and the different families they came from. What their parents expected of them, and what their hopes and dreams were, and why...

And that was just the first episode.

As the series continued, we learn just as much about both families, different things, sure, but the series shows us what is important to each and why.

Cal isn't expected to be the strong black girl, who is just there to look after Juliette's needs. Cal's own feelings matter just as much.

We see them both fall in love, and why. Sure there's some lust involved at first, but soon that turns to more.

Even Ben, who in any other show would just be 'the black friend', instead is fully fleshed out, and gets to call out his white best friend when he feels she's done him wrong, and when the white boy he has a crush on mistreats him, he says so and breaks it off.

Often with characters like that, (esp. in fanfic), if a char like that were replaced with a teddy bear, you wouldn't notice the difference

But here, Ben is a full fledged individual, with needs, backstory, a plotline that hopefully will be built on more next season)

Cal's brothers get to have their own personality, the studious gentle but driven and dilligent studious older brother, Theo, and the hot hardheaded and somewhat arrogant jock, Apollo.

Both who get storylines of their own. And whose feelings matter.

In this show it isn't just the Fairmonts who get to be three dimensional characters, the Burns family and their friends are equally explored, and it's sad to see just how refreshing that is. (like seriously, there are far too few shows that are like this, Black Lightning is one of the only other ones I can think of)

#first kill #calliope burns #juliette fairmont #calliope x juliette #teen wolf fandom problems #theo burns #apollo burns #talia burns #teen wolf #scott mccall defense squad

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nipahnan · 3 months

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realistically , how is it like living in japan ? i am a POC so our experiences would definitely be different .. but are you fluent in the language ? how is everyday life for you ? do you have a job there or remote work overseas in the US ? sorry for all the questions !! i'm hoping to move to japan myself eventually . ♡

Aaah I’m so happy to finally get a question, I’ve been waiting to be able to ramble about myself on here thehe :) This is gonna be a long one, so I’m sorry in advance, but I want to try and be as transparent as possible!♡

I don’t live in Tokyo, yet I have a bunch of friends who live there and who talk about their experiences very openly, so I’ll also talk about things they went through and that they observed. In general people of course need to make sure not to romanticize a country. Japan is a country like any other and a lot of people forget that. I’ve been interested in Japan since I was around 11 years old and I came to Japan knowing about it’s good and bad sides because I did research about it for years. So coming here with very realistic expectations and not thinking I’m gonna live in a fairytale, I’d say it’s great so far! :)

Of course I’ve only been here for 1 year now, but it’s definitely so much better than living in Germany. It just suits my lifestyle and general personal behavior so much better. I never felt connected to people in Germany with the way they behave and so I’m having it way easier here. I definitely aim to obtain permanent residence status one day because I really believe that I want to enjoy my life here. I definitely feel like foreigners who move to Tokyo have it so much easier than people who move somewhere else in Japan, because there’s so much more English writing or people who try and speak English since it’s full of tourists too, so it’s easier to navigate without learning any Japanese. When I first landed in Japan I literally only spoke English and I was kinda shocked since I didn’t expect that at all tbh. I actually know a few people who have lived in Japan for years without learning any Japanese and it kinda baffles me sometimes lol. I definitely recommend coming here with at least some basic Japanese and then trying to gradually learn more, that’s how I did it and it’s been working very well. Im not fluent at all yet, but im able to have conversations and I’m learning every day and that’s what counts :)

I also know a lot of people who realized how fake Tokyo can be and decide to move away from it quickly because of them getting mental problems or their mental problems worsening, considering how awful mental help in Japan is. They’re feeling very lonely, overworked, and even get bullied. It definitely depends on the workplace of course. But as long as you make sure to make genuine friendships and realize that Japanese people can be extremely blunt and that their behavior is overall quite different, you’ll have no problem with them. There’s a lot of rules and there’s no way you’re always able to remember them, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Definitely try and act according to how they act and you will be welcomed with open arms I’d say :)

I currently don’t have a job because I got hit with a very hard illness right after 3 months of living here which resulted in me almost dying that I’m still recovering from. So I didn’t have time to work with how many times I was in the hospital, yet I’m having an interview soon and I’ll hopefully be able to start work in the next month if everything works out :)

I have a spouse visa after finally marrying my partner that I’ve been with for 4 years, so that made immigrating here way easier for me of course and I definitely realize that I was very lucky to get here that way. I only had to wait 15 minutes and immediately had my visa, meanwhile a lot of people say how long they had to wait because they had a different visa and of course because the Tokyo immigration is so much fuller than the one in Nagoya.

Everyday life is very chill, it’s very quiet so as a person who is very easily irritated and overwhelmed by loud noises it’s so much better for my mental health. yet again I don’t live in Tokyo and in a very tiny town (13.11 km² big lmao) so I have to drive to Nagoya for some of the „fun“ parts.

Now for some of the VERY annoying parts.

Stares. People stare at you ALL the time. Even tho I’m white, they love staring at me like I’m some alien because I have blonde hair and stick out like a sore thumb here in my city where there’s such a tiny amount of foreigners(basically 0 lol) I’ve noticed that people usually say that old people are kind of rude to them and how nice young people are, yet for me it’s the complete opposite at times. Old people, especially old women, love randomly talking to me and are generally very nice to me. There’s this older lady who works at my local family mart and she is sooo nice to me, always giving me compliments and everything, she is so cute♡ Meanwhile young people love staring and making fun of me because they often think I don’t understand them. I get comments like „she looks cute but she’s kinda fat.“ „do you think she even understands Japanese?“ and they giggle all the time. Sometimes they also take pictures of me in the train and it feels very rude. As someone who never stood out in her hometown and always trying her best to not get any attention, it definitely hurts to suddenly hear comments like that and basically feeling like a zoo animal at times. Yet I knew this would happen so I was prepared for it and I know I just shouldn’t care about comments like that. Now idk how bad it is in Tokyo but I can imagine it’s not as awful since it’s way more diverse? Yet you still hear stories about how this also happens very often to POC and sometimes even white foreigners who just happen to have a different type of style. So it’s definitely something to keep in mind.

Also about the topic of getting called fat. Japanese people LOVE to call you fat in your face. As soon as you’re over 50kg no matter your height they will probably consider you fat. One time I had to state my weight at the hospital for a scan and the lady literally yelled „…kg???“ and then proceeded to giggle to her male coworker. Considering that coming from the hospital staff, it was definitely shocking. Especially since I was literally about to die that day? I was so shocked and felt so bad considering I gained 10kg during that time only due to steroid medication which I literally had no control over. So I’d definitely say it’s another thing to be prepared for.

Their clothing style is also pretty different from the west, you’ll see a lot of long skirts and blouses or sweaters. Tight fitting clothes or clothes showing of a lot of skin aren’t as common here and it definitely makes you stick out. One time I was wearing a tank top under a jacket and didn’t close the jacket all the way while going to get takeout and some school boys sitting at the table loudly made a comment about how giant my boobs are and didn’t stop staring and it made me insanely uncomfortable to which I immediately just closed my jacket. Most uncomfortable encounter I’ve ever had and made me stop wearing shirts that show cleavage lol.

Also there’s of course a lot of sexual harassment here, especially in Tokyo. There’s literally guys just staring at 🌽 that you can see in the reflection of the train window (I even saw that in person one time, absolutely insane) or just straight up jerkin off. They literally have posters at my train stations telling women to pay attention to their skirts because there could be someone taking pictures of your panties. So if you intend to wear short skirts you always have to wear shorts under it if you don’t want some pervert to take a panty shot of you. At this point they even have hidden cameras in their shoes which is just insane to me…

Overall, don’t believe most things those tiktok or YouTube videos from tourists tell you. They often times don’t have any knowledge about Japan or how it is to live here, often give misinformation or are just straight up romanticizing this country to the max. All my friends and me even absolutely hate these travel vloggers at this point because of how much bs they’re saying :,)

To sum it up: if you have enough knowledge about the country and the people, prepare yourself as much as possible and realize that it’s very different from what you’re probably used to, and most of all, that it’s just another country that you’ll be living in, you’ll definitely love it here! :)

I definitely could tell even more because I had so many crazy encounters already and so many cool places to talk about, but I think I’ve been talking long enough now :D

Hope my ramble was a bit helpful for you（╹◡╹）♡

#nipahnan #ramble #Personal #Q&A💕#live in Japan #Japan #living in Japan #q&a

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readychilledwine · 7 months

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Hello lovelies! Long post regarding requests below the cut 💜

Tldr located at the bottom. 💜

I currently have over 30 things in my inbox 😬

I am in the process of trying to condense similar requests down to maybe give a few people who are requesting very similar things something that covers what both parties want.

I also am just going to be just responding to some instead of giving them full fics or drabbles. There's a few that are very similar to fics I've already posted, WIPS I already have, or their ideas for things I've made multipart fics.

If it's similar to one I've posted, I'm concerned with those that I may end up almost copy and pasting with a few name changes, and that's not the content quality I want to give all of you nor the expectation I have of myself, so I will not be fulfilling those requests at the moment, but I want your ideas to be out there for someone else. If it's similar to a WIP, I'm responding with a preview of what's written. If it's an idea for an existing multipiece, you may get a little preview, or just the side eye emojis if I'm trying to keep things sneaky sneaky (like I am with Bound by Fate and Cat and Mouse)

*heavy sigh here*

Warnings for this next part - discussion things in my inbox related to requests I'm receiving for (insert several SJM males x pregnant reader)

I really don't know how to address this next part without risking some people getting upset, but I have to. If this next part upsets you, please know this is a me thing, not a you thing, and I genuinely hate saying no.

There's a few requests I'm going to let sit for a little bit or just delete, and if you are one of those people who sent them, I'm so sorry.

There's a lot that would require me to address very real fears that I, as a pregnant woman and soon to be mother, am currently dealing with, counteract, and have to watch for. I know it comes off very excuse-y because "writing is therapy," but I don't think any amount of therapy really stops a mother from being afraid for the safety and health of their child, especially a newborn who relies so heavily on you.

I've tried multiple times to start a request that's started to affect my own dreams about my child, myself, and what my poor baby daddy would do if someone took us from him, and, to be frank, he's closed my laptop when I start doing the thousand mile stare, begin stage one of hyperventilating, and crying. He loves that you all support me, but we have spent the night talking about it, and this needs to be a temporary boundary for a little bit, and it may become a permanent one.

Again, I am so sorry, but I have to keep my emotional and mental well-being stable and safe for our daughter while she finishes baking to perfection the next couple of months. I will happily give you all nesting and warm happy pregnancy feelings and emotions. I'll address minor pregnancy angsts as well, like days with light movement, the anxiety that sets in between appointments, the fights my boyfriend and I and a ton of other expecting couples go through, but I do kindly have to ask that kidnapped pregnant readers enduring torture, kidnapped babies, killed off (via torture or death during labor) pregnant readers, and still birth requests stop coming to my inbox. I just can't handle them this late into my pregnancy.

Tldr and skipped below - Elizabeth will be going through and posting requests or responding to them. She loves requests and wants them, but she also has asked that people stop sending her requests regarding the following

Kidnapped newborns

Pregnant readers being tortured/forced into preterm labor

Pregnant reader dying during labor

Pregnant reader being murdered and the baby is taken

And my personal favorite nightmare inducing senerio- acotar male x pregnant reader with a stillborn.

Again, send requests. I love them. Please just consider if I'm actually the right person for it. Again, I am very sorry to anyone who may be disappointed now, but hopefully, I can fulfill your imagination other ways. 💜

#boundaries #readychilledwine's random thoughts and blurbs #requests #asks open #send asks #send anons

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csolarstorm · 6 months

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Thoughts on Loki, Episode 2-5: Science/Fiction

Can these characters just cool it with the dying metaphors for one second? First we get pruning, which sends people to the end of time, which is basically purgatory. Mobius gets pruned, Loki gets pruned. Sylvie feels left out so she prunes herself.

Now that pruning is old, spaghetti-fying takes its spot this season as the new way to not really die at least not permanently. Not only does p-p-poor Mr. Victor Timely "die" heroically, we can assume everyone else got spaghetti-fied in the explosion of the Temporal Loom. And then when Loki gets the gang back together in Ep. 5, they get noodle-d all over again! Not to mention the poor record store guy, whose first reaction to the incomprensible failure of spactime was to warn and/or protect Sylvie. Aw, what a guy.

I have to confess I still don't understand the Temporal Loom. It's taking raw time and weaving it into timelines, and without it...time falls apart? Without it, time is "raw" and organized time doesn't exist? Okay, then how did the universe work BEFORE the Temporal Loom? Does every universe have a TVA and a Temporal Loom literally creating their timeline? Why does the fabric of spacetime literally depend on Kang? That doesn't seem right.

It would make more sense if "raw" time is still something people can live in, and the Loom was just organizing "raw" time for He Who Remains' timeline. But after Episode 5, it's pretty clear that the literal fate of the multiverse depends on the Temporal Loom working, and I find that a bit ridiculous. Hopefully I'm missing something.

I have a theory about Loki's time jumping. We see him meeting himself at different points in time several times in the show. He really seems fractured, scattered throughout time. What if this is what it's like to be spaghetti? Maybe each of these Lokis are a single noodle of the Loki scattered through time, and each noodles looks like a snapshot of Loki, until they glitch and twist and collapse on themselves, snapping to other times like a noodle attached to another end.

Does this theory affect anything? Absolutely not.

In the next episode, Loki, the fledgling God of Stories, will attempt to rewrite the Temporal Loom explosion so they can save the TVA and all time, always, because apparently the multiverse needs the TVA to function. As he keeps trying, we are sure to see more explosions and more spaghetti before he figures it out. And that leads me to my point:

Dying and being reborn with new knowledge is such an integral theme to Loki. This new Loki is a symbolic reincarnation of the Loki that that Thanos killed. He made friends, learned humility, fell in love, seriously considered questions about the greater good, and then acknowledged his power and responsibility as a voice in the reform of the TVA.

Whenever he experiences metaphorical "death", he learns information that changes his entire paradigm. When he's pruned in the first season, he goes through his own little Divine Comedy. He learns perspective about himself from spending time with his variants. He learns about Alioth, a pivotal piece of the multiversal war. And he meets He Who Remains, who changes his entire perspective on existence.

In Season 2, Loki's rebirth after the explosion of the Temporal Loom shows him his friends and their backstories, what gives them joy and why he wants to save the TVA so badly. With this new understanding of what he really wants, he is able to control his time jumping, as if he's been reborn onto a higher plane.

The fall streaming schedule this year has been a gold mine. There was Gen V, Loki, Rick and Morty (ironically the spaghetti episode is coming up...or is it on purpose...) and now even the return of Invincible. Loki has come really close to the quality of last season, and it does a good job of doing something really different and yet thematically the same to keep a coherent and gripping show.

#Loki #mcu loki #Loki show #Loki series #Loki season two #Loki season 2 #mcu #marvel #marvel mcu

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earthstellar · 7 months

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my friend accidentally dyed her hair a colour that I have named "Rodimus Orange"

so here's a pro-tip from my punk days:

if you fuck up bleaching your hair and it turns orange and/or brassy, go get a light to medium cool tone permanent grey dye (without lightener/hydrogen peroxide)

the cool grey has the same purple undertones as most toner for blonde hair does, and it helps even out any orangey patches + tints the orangy hair a more even colour without darkening it all that much

now, this won't work in every single case, but it's a very good solution and way better than walking around with fucked up hair

the reason this orange result usually happens is when you grab a box dye that has too strong of a lightener; if you have dark brown hair and wanna go platinum blonde, for example, it might be better to get a darker blonde or even lighter brown shade with a less intense lightener (think 20 vol versus 40 vol) and then gradually lighten your hair so you don't fry it and end up going Full Rodimus

I hope this mid-90s punk knowledge will help someone out there <3

bonus: you can also do the punk thing of putting egg white in your hair as a protein conditioner and sealer if you like the post-grey dye results (as long as you aren't vegan, anyway)

honestly I think the Rodimus Orange looks good but hey, if you need to fix it, hopefully that's useful lol :')

(and if you just wanna commit to the Rodimus look, you can go Hot Rod style and slap some magenta dye on there, leaving some orange showing through for a cool multicolour warm vibe or magenta with orange/yellow highlights!)

the moral of the story: grey dye makes for good toner in some cases, and sometimes you just gotta commit to the Cybertronian speedster look

#not transformers #it really does look like Rodimus Orange though #rodimus prime

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lizard-legendarium · 8 months

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Felbrassan Elves and How weird they are

So, when I was away, I got inspired. Mainly by reading the Hobbit, that holy grail of books, and, weirdly enough, Deer. Yes, those deer. I ended up with a relatively unique type of elf I've not really seen before, but I'm sure they'll have been created before. Still, this is how I decided to run them in Felbrass, so please, give it a read and tell me what you think. I should hopefully have stats later, meaning that, if you like the sound of these elves, you can run them within your own games. Which would mean the absolute world to me to know that something I created is being enjoyed in that way. Anyway. Without further ado, let's get on with the show.

Felbrassan Elves are very different to what’s typically seen in regards to Elves in the planes. For example, the near immortality usually associated with Elves isn’t present here, with individuals usually making it to around 450ish. Furthermore, Felbrassan Elves are more than just humans with pointy ears, instead possessing deer traits, as well as bark-like skin in select areas. The hind legs are digitigrade, like that of a deer, though their legs are usually thicker due to being bipedal. Their necks are quite thick to help support the crown of antlers on their heads. The bark like skin is often covered in fur of some kind, typically from the deer they resemble most. Elven hair is often long and unkempt, being a mixture of regular hair and leaves from the tree that particular elf takes from the most. The antlers are a permanent fixture all year round, with velvet occasionally developing around the winter months. Elven barbers often have tools to remove said velvet when it develops. Both sexes possess these antlers, with each elf often decorating their antlers in some way, whether that be ceremonial paint, ornaments hammered in, or things wrapped around them. In fact, it’s often a trial of passage to become an adult to get an ornament hammered into an elf’s antlers, similar to a tattoo in other cultures. Speaking of tattoos, Elves often find it hard to acquire them due to their bodies being patchworks of fur and bark, making keeping a cohesive pattern difficult. To remedy this, furs will often be dyed with various plant based dyes, the same stuff antlers are often decorated with. Finally, elf ears are extremely long, often being three or four times longer than a human’s. These ears are typically pointing straight up, though other positions exist, such as pointing to the sides. Elves also possess slightly clawed hands, allowing for a better grip on the trees from their home forests. The three main subraces of Elf are the Oakyew, the Ashwillow and the Alderthorn. The Oakyew are the most numerous type of elf, possessing decent sized antlers, as well as typically having a reddish hue to their areas of fur. They’re also the most likely to leave the groves and glens they call home, often to trade and find out news of the outside world. As such, most Oakyew Elves end up becoming wandering bards, selling tall tales and silly stories for information and supplies. Ashwillow are the most magically inclined of the elves, but as a trade off possess the smallest set of antlers. Their fur is more light blonde in colouration. Ashwillows are usually the Kells of the elven clans, their magic granting them an edge. Finally, Alderthorn are the largest, and rarest, of the elves. Often towering over the average elf, their bodies are often very powerful, featuring the largest antlers of any elf. They often becoming the wardens of the clans, meaning they aren’t very likely to leave the clans in search of adventure. Their fur is a dark gray, reminiscent of the great elks that live across Salix. This is also the subrace in which beards are most common. Hair Growth’s a bitch.

Half-elves are…weird. Elves and humans do breed true, creating an amalgam of elf and human. Half-elves typically don’t possess as extreme features, such as antlers that can be used as weapons, bark-like skin, as long ears (typically only 1.5 to 2 times longer than a human) or even how digitigrade the legs are. Half-elves make up for this via their sheer adaptability, a trait they acquired from their human side. Furthermore, they can possess some elven traits, such as their ability to climb or their speed. Half-elves are typically not treated poorly by elven clans, especially if they are the child of a kell. Indeed, some elven clans have Half-elf Kells leading them. Humans as well don’t typically treat Half-elfs poorly either, but, of course, some bullying can occur due to people being people.

Elves have a deeply spiritual culture, with religious processions being led by Druids instead of clerics. They will revere multiple animals, with the stag and the snake being paramount among them. This is due to the cycle of regeneration that each represents. Other animals include the Boar, the Bear, the Eagle and the Salmon. Each of these animals are also represented by a God, with the Stag God and the Serpent Goddess being the joint rulers of the pantheon.

Typically, you’ll see Barbarians, Rangers, Druids, Fighters and Bards amongst them, with Oakyews mainly being the bards. They generally don’t use super advanced technology, instead choosing to use what works. However, their Ruith Fluid infused runes are often considered works of art in their own right.

The race is omnivorous, hunting and fishing most of their meat, and growing most of their crops. Hunting is typically done with spears, being an extremely important symbol of Elven culture. They’ll sometimes trade these foods for various exotic ingredients, which they will use to serve at their Clolfrec. It’s often a point of pride as to who can bring the most exotic and interesting dishes to the banquet.

The Clofrelc, which, when translated, is the “Festival of Antlers”, is a festival that serves as a way to honour life and This involves a feast in honour of the gods and the bounty they offer, unarmed combat, usually using antlers and fists, and finally, games of skill and chance. The festival ends with the burning of a great bonfire made of antlers, as a way to harken new growth into the world. They don’t often write, but when they do, it’s in Ogham, a script which shares roots with Druidic. This means your average elf, assuming they were raised in an elven clan, can actually read Druidic to a degree.

They’ll commonly forgo any armour, instead relying on their bark-like hide, which can offer just as much protection as basic armour does. They’ll sometimes wear masks as well due to the shape and size of their antlers making wearing helmets impossible.

Elvish relations with other races are relatively uncommon, not because of a superiority complex, but instead because of their isolationist nature. As mentioned, Oakyew elves do travel more than your average elf, but it’s still rare to see an elf outside of the great forest homes they dwell in. When an outsider is finally trusted by the tribe, the tribe will mark their head with a substance that is a mixture of berries unique to that area. This pattern will differ depending on the abilities of the anointed, with Oakyew markings being the most common. (Alderthorn for warriors, Ashwillow for Mages, Oakyew for everyone else). They will then be known as “Antler-Friend” to the Tribe, and be treated as one of the Tribe by the members of it. If they came to them requiring help, the Tribe would do everything within their power to help them. The process to become an “Antler-Friend” can be long and arduous, but once you’re accepted as such by the tribe, you’ll be one of them…unless you do something worthy of exile.

The reason for this isolationist nature is the same reason as to why Alderthorn Elves are so rare. Up until around 400 or so years ago, Elves were hunted by wealthy nobles for sport. Due to their simpler lifestyle and their animalistic appearance, they were treated as simply animals, with their antlers being seen as great trophies to take and keep in a trophy room. Unfortunately, Alderthorns possessed extremely large antlers, similar in appearance to that of the aforementioned Great Elk. And since Salix was considered more dangerous then the home of the elves, nobles went there instead to hunt down a trophy. Around 400 years ago, passionate campaign work by Elves and “Antler-friend” alike turned the perception of elves around, instead being considered a full-fledged people. As a result, the crime of hunting an elf for sport was considered what it always had been, murder. And would be punished as such. Only relatively recently, around 20 years or so, has the Alderthorn population of elves recovered to even a fraction of what it was before.

Multiple other types of elves exist throughout the world, seemingly based upon deer and other ungulates with a similar frame and stature. Some even don’t possess antlers, instead having different adaptations to survive the ecosystems they adapted in. One constant remains, their association with trees.

Little incoherent maybe, but you get the jist of it. Like I said, should have some stats up soon, so you can bring these shy fey to your own world. Felbrassan Elf Stats:

Average sizes:

Oakyew

Height: 5’5-5’8

Weight: 65~KG

Ashwillow

Height: 5’1-5’4

Weight: 50~KG

Alderthorn

Height: 6’7-7’1

Weight: 110~KG

Age: Elves can live up to around 450 years, with the oldest recorded Elf being around 500 years old.

Size: Medium

Speed: 35ft

ABI: You have a +1 to Dexterity

Crown of Antlers: Your magnificent antlers grant you proficiency in your choice of Persuasion or Intimidation. Furthermore, your antlers can be used as a natural weapon.

Barkhide: Your Base AC is 12 + your Dexterity modifier

Fey Ancestry: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed.

Claws: Your clawed hands can act as natural weapons, which deal 1d4 slashing damage instead of the normal bludgeoning design. They also give you a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.

Fleet of foot: Your walking speed is increased by 5ft. Languages: You can speak, write and read Common and Elvish. Subraces: The three major subraces of Elves are the Alderthorn, the Ashwillow and the Oakyew

Alderthorn (Irish Elk)

ABI: You have +1 to Constitution as well as a +1 to Strength

Antlers: Your antlers deal 1d8 piercing damage

Thornhide: As a reaction, when you're hit by a melee attack, you can deal 1d4 piercing damage to the source of damage.

Vanguard Training: You have proficiency with Spears, Tridents, Shortbows and Shields.

Oakyew (Red Deer)

ABI: You have an additional +1 to Dexterity as well as a +1 to Charisma

Antlers:Your antlers deal 1d6 piercing damage Natural performer: You have proficiency in an instrument of your choice, as well as the Performance skill. Extra language: You can speak, read, and write one extra language of your choice.

Ashwillow (Whitetail Deer)

ABI: You have a +2 to your Wisdom

One with the woods: You know one cantrip of your choice from the Druid spell list. Your choice of Charisma, Wisdom or Intelligence as your spellcasting ability for it.

Antlers: Your antlers deal 1d4 piercing damage

Speech of Beast and Leaf. You have the ability to communicate in a limited manner with Beasts, Plants, and vegetation. They can understand the meaning of your words, though you have no special ability to understand them in return. You have advantage on all Charisma checks you make to influence them.

Here are the stats I had in mind for the three most common types of Felbrassan Elves. I hope these are to your liking. I'll likely make Half-Elves in a separate post, with other similar ancestries.

#dnd #dnd5e #dnd homebrew #dungeons and dragons

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medievildead · 1 year

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GoW: Hermes is Alive AU part 1 (aka my desperate attempt to put the idea I've had brewing for years into words)

When Hermes died in GoW 3, no body was left behind. This is because his soul dispursed itself into the air and the locusts. He lived on unaware with no physical form. All he could deliver was plague.

After roughly 150 years passed since his death by the hands of Kratos, his soul reformed itself when a swarm of locusts crawled into a heap of stones, and then grew into Hermes himself, who was still in agony, missing both legs, and slowly recovering from the evils of Pandora's Box (which had made him susceptible to mortal pain, of that he was still feeling a great deal of).

Upon seeing his home completely destroyed, Hermes mourned. He vowed never to forgive himself for his faliure and permanently exiled himself out of shame, and also for the fact he couldn't look at the remains of his homeland without crying and screaming vengeance on Kratos.

With Olympus gone, as well as the flame, and faith in the Olympians completely wiped out after all the destruction, Hermes basically had nothing left to live for so he had two choices; kill himself or run away and find his purpose and hopefully his vengeance.

Despite having once been a god of travel & roads, Hermes is now completely lost and doesn't know where the fuck to go. Also he still has NO fucking legs so he has to crawl everywhere (eventually he comes across a mule with golden hair to ride on so he doesn't need to crawl anymore)

In the rubble of Olympia, Hermes finds The Staff of Iris, a golden staff with a glowing orb in the centre of the staff. The orb held the magic to silence those who lie, but that's relevant later. Anyway, since Iris was a messenger, the staff assisted her in delivering messages. And now that it was in Hermes' had it was telling him to deliver something. By looking at the staff just right he could see a rainbow ribbon seemingly attached to the staff that led down a road and far beyond that. So Hermes, who had nowhere else to go, followed it.

Theres a lot of stuff that Happens while following the Ribbon but I'm still working out the writing on those bits, but eventually he ends up in Egypt.

Because Hermes is going mortal mode, he's fuckin thirsty. He sees some travellers nearby and kinda steals their pitcher of water and goes glug glug. The travellers are understandably pretty pissed off and reveal themselves to be blacksmiths, and Hermes is apologetic (to an extent) and offers his golden mule in exchange for the blacksmiths to make him a new pair of legs.

They debate on it but then accept the trade, and make Hermes a new pair of legs out of copper.

However the blacksmiths decide to punish Hermes for what he done did, so when they finish assembling and equipping his legs, they wrap them in linens dipped in magic water instead of wax, which makes the copper erode/oxidize instantly and seal to his thighs is the most painful way. Every step Hermes makes thereafter is completely painful.

(This is an older design, I'm considering leaving his legs wrapped in bandages for that Mummified Look)

Lore to be entered again at a later date but at this point Hermes attempts to continue on his journey but he noticed the rainbow ribbon has disappeared from his sights. He can't even feel it when he reaches for it anymore. He looks up miserably into the sunset and sees Thoth has appeared before him and stars spewing shit to him about destiny and letting go of the past. Hermes is dying rapidly at this point he desperately attempts to press on but he falls face down in the sand as death claims him.

Here is where Anubis comes in, he picks Hermes up and takes him to Duat to see Osiris. Again I gotta fill in a Lotta lore here but know that Thoth is like, really really insisting so hard on Hermes being a chosen one type guy. When Thoth and Anubis are judging Hermes they see into his future and see a lot of forgiveness

Relevant info, the Egyptian Gods know who Hermes is. Hermes has canonically been to Egypt before in the GoW universe. He, Thoth and Anubis know of each other. Not like, closely, but they know.

Osiris looks into his soul and sees how absolutely wicked Hermes is, all his crimes against mankind, the neglect he put towards mortals because of his selfish pride. He grants Hermes his immortality back, but as punishment he is to forever live in mortal agony as he was before, unable to die no matter what this time and his ailments will be worse. Basically he will always get sick, always be in pain from his shitty rusty legs, if his throat got slit he'd just bleed until it healed and the scar would never fade. Osiris does this so that Hermes will learn to understand how mortal man suffered under the horrible rule of Olympus.

Still though his actual skills don't go unnoticed. Osiris says that in return for being granted immortality once again, Hermes is to serve his duty in the Land of the Pharaohs. As a psychopomp he becomes a respected cohort of Anubis in Duat. As a God of liars and theives he is sentenced to be the final judge of the dead, to investigate truth, and punish those who lie (as the inventor of liars he can tell when someone's lying) by silencing them permanently with the Staff of Iris.

Also! Very important factor! He is SO ashamed of his former Olympian self that he cannot bear to acknowledge his own face. So he wears the Anoup Mask, which is a mask that was commissioned by Anubis himself, crafted carefully by Ptah, and given to him by Thoth. The mask also grants Hermes the ability to see deep into someone's soul, and can see lies or truths for what they are both when and before they are told instead of after.

Basically he becomes Hermanubis, the Pseftipompus. He doesn't go by the name Hermanubis obviously cuz thats cheap shit, he's referred as "Ermanpw" by everyone else. He hates being called Hermes and snaps at anyone who does call him that. Thoth refers to him as "Herald" or "Harbringer", while Anubis refers to him as his aide. The gods rarely refer to him by name. He is never seen by mortals without the anoup mask, hence why people assumed that the mask was just his actual head.

Also heres yet another old sketch from when shit was still being brainstormed:

(Sort of relevant, though irrelevant to the main plot of the story, Hermes and Anubis kinda become lovers briefly by complete accident. During this affair is when Anubis grants Hermes his Egyptian name, Ermanpw. Hermes digs it.)

This is just part one theres far more to this AU than just this arc I have to put into words but take this for what it is lolol

Ermanpw Unmasked ft. Locust Friends (not clickbait) ((yes his shoulder pin is the same as the one on his old chiton. It's been through a lot))

#god of war #god of war 3 #hermes #hermes gow #god of war ragnarok #gow #aaaaaaa

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