#I’m naming them Roses and Christine

[opossums-in-a-trenchcoat]

EEEEEEEEEEEE my bf won me these in a claw machine 🥹🥹🥹

They’re sooo soft and cuddly

[corruptedroses]

— Corruption

Fandom —  Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach Pairing — Glamrock Bonnie/Glamrock Freddy Summary — Damian doesn't let the things he loves go so easily. When Eliseo runs away when he's locked up for something he didn't do, all he can think is how to get him back. Content Warnings — stalking, toxic relationships, mafia au, characters use new names, pre-established world and relationships, Eliseo (Freddy) is a stripper, reuniting, mutual masturbation, blow jobs, handjobs, porn with plot (lots of plot), bit of pain kink Word Count — 10,978 words Author's Note — Commissioned piece, Alternate names are used in this version and are as followed: Damian (Glam Bon), Eliseo (Glam Fred), Christine (Glam Chica), Fergus (Funtime Freddy), Felix (Funtime Foxy)

Love is like a drug, and when you are forced to go cold turkey it hurts the most. Damian knew this more than anyone from the sting Damian knew this more than anyone since his heart had been left stinging and empty after the third mail day in prison.

It started slowly, he denied it; Eliseo probably was busy with something else, maybe he was trying to track down who had framed him… but then he didn’t visit. He was patient, and understanding, he waited in his cell, waited in the visitation room, hanging by that phone in hopes that those familiar blue eyes and caramel curls would walk in. Eliseo never came. The nagging feeling turned full bloom as the weeks went by, eating him away more and more.

The weeks blurred, and Damien found himself staring at those same four walls over and over again, waiting for that call. He bottled it down, and kept it deep inside his chest; he kept doing what he needed to do while wearing those orange jumpsuits, having his men work on getting him out. He knew he was an innocent man — he never dealt in drugs anyway — so the day he was finally released after being cleared of his name… the nightmare had only just begun.

To find a home that was devoid of the one you held close crushed you inside, a storm that brewed in the heat of summer as you found yourself on your knees. Damian’s heart had crushed and shattered, spread across the ground when there was nothing. It had been a blur when he had thrown open every door, called out all the names he knew in his heart, and searched for any sign that he wasn’t dreaming.

This was a nightmare to him, one that squeezed his lungs so tightly. Where was he, where was his lover? Eliseo’s name had fallen from his lips so many times, so many places he searched, but the smell of lavender had faded, replaced by stale, lonely air. Dust caked on surfaces, on furniture that hadn’t been used, it collected like a veil on the nightmare in his heart. He had to be somewhere, he had to be anywhere — his footsteps had stopped in the bedroom, the setting sun’s rays catching on a familiar sheen of golden metal.

There the cuff links that had promised Eliseo sat, in their velvet box, as pristine as the day he had gifted them. ‘I’m sorry’.

Eliseo was gone.

Their city was big, but not big enough. It was months later that Damian found Eliseo once more on the outskirts of the city, knowing the man couldn’t have gotten far — Eliseo had always said he never planned to leave the city given he didn’t know where else he would go, so finding him one day, as he drove around, had thrilled him like no other had before. He was still perfect, with his soft curly hair and his adorable blue eyes, Eliseo was like an angel that had descended to Earth in human form.

Seeing him surrounded by flowers only seemed to enhance that unearthly glow. Roses, peonies, daffodils, it was like looking at the perfect photograph.

A few sat in his glove box that had been taken in the weeks since that day, covered in what should be on Eliseo, yet his fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he parked across the street, watching his lover’s every move. He didn’t want to scare him more than what he should at that moment, he didn’t want to dare dream of causing his beloved distress, yet he couldn’t help himself. That shop didn’t see as much business as it would in the inner parts of the city, it didn’t provide income on some days, he felt the need to write a cheque and slipped it into the mailbox in the dead of night, the next day he had watched as Eliseo had pulled it out.

Yet he didn’t do anything with it.

He watched day in, day out, that Eliseo would have the same little beat-up car, and use the same sneakers that he noted seemed to be developing holes in their sides between the tape and staples he used to keep them from falling apart — it was like the man was ripping up the cheques and refusing to use them. ‘He’s always been like this,’ he thought to himself, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel, ‘he doesn’t usually spend much on himself.’ Frugal in spending, he remembered the many, many times that he had to force Eliseo to spend on himself, to spend a single cent that came from his card; the man hated to spend, especially other’s money, so it was obvious that he hadn’t changed from that.

Yet the memories only seemed to haunt him.

“I can’t spend this.” Eliseo’s eyes were wide when he peered into the envelope; it had been one month since Damian had finally convinced him to start dating, and it had been two since Damian had confessed his feelings to the man that he had been bottling up for years. It was only right that he wanted to give the man something to spend, something to use, but yet as the envelope was shoved back into his own hands, Damian’s brow quirked.

“How so?” Damian’s voice rippled through the office like a soft rain as he attempted to push back the envelope into Eliseo’s hands, but yet the man didn’t seem like he wanted to budge, only trying harder to keep the envelope in Damian’s hands. “I’m giving you this.”

“It’s not my money.”

“And I’m giving it to you. It makes it your money.” Damian finally forced the envelope full of banknotes finally back into Eliseo’s hands, tucking his own into the armpits of his suit as he stepped away, the brunette seeming confused on what to do with such a big stack of cash; flash it to your allies and they’re drooling, flash it to a random woman and she’ll drop her panties for you, flash it to Eliseo and the man looked like he had seen a ghost. The way his fingers ghosted over the bills, counting each in his mind, “Is five thousand too little?” Damian questioned as he watched his lover’s eyes widen.

“It’s way too much!”

“Fine…” Taking the envelope and pocketing half the bills, Damian shoved the money back into Eliseo’s hands, pocketing the rest. “Two thousand five hundred. Spend it all by the end of this week and show it to me.”

“We should’ve been married by now…” Damian muttered under his breath as he watched Eliseo, like clockwork, come from the store to water the flowers that sat outside. The apron he was wearing was ratty, worn, he could see the strings that kept it around his neck fraying and falling apart — he needed a new one, one that would match his eyes, maybe one that had a pocket on the front. He could get him a designer one, one that matched his store and—.

“Haven’t you thought about just talking to him?” Oh, Christine was in the car, he had forgotten. The white-haired woman sat in the back seat, the smell of nail polish emanating through the air as she did her nails on the leather seats of the car. She was practically his right-hand man and Eliseo’s former-best friend so, when she had heard that he had found Eliseo, it had been a nightmare to try and tell her no. Hearing as she clicked her teeth and fumbled with something in her beauty bag, Eliseo would spot Christine a mile away if he hadn’t enabled the child locks in the back. “Eliseo probably still loves you.”

Keyword: probably.

“I don’t get why you’re here…” Damian muttered, finally turning his head to stare at the woman as she prepared an aerosol can, Damian quickly snatched it away before she could even attempt it. “No hair spray.”

“You’re no fun.” Violet eyes stared at him before Christine muttered something in a tongue he couldn’t understand. The woman settled into her seat with her overly bright clothing and even louder attitude rolling off of her in waves while Damian tossed the hair spray into his passenger seat. “Being like a stalker every day isn’t helping you get any closer to him.” He knew that too, yet his thoughts were interrupted as two shoes were shoved in his face.

“Pink or green?” Both were as hideous as the other, but as he pointed to the pink one, Christine hummed and the shoes to disappear into the back seat again. “As I was saying,” she continued while Damian watched her throw the shoes on through the rear-view mirror, “you two were pinning after each other a long time — way longer than what when me and the others were around for.”

The sign flipped to closed, Damian started up the car and he fastened his seat belt then began to drive off, “it’s more complicated than that, Christine.” Damian said, making sure that Eliseo didn’t see them drive off as he headed through the streets, “either way, have you learned anything from the club?”

“Oh, yes, that’s why I’m here.” Sliding into the front seat and fastening her seat belt, Christine looked the part of the role she was about to play, skimpy leotard and all, her makeup done to whatever perfection was needed. The club they were going to didn’t just hire any dancer, they needed the best, and with Christine’s face done up and her body on display, they had accepted her and kept her. She had been careful to not cross paths with Eliseo when possible,even going as far as popping in some (dark) contacts to cover the striking colour of her eyes, which Damian could do nothing but tap on the wheel and wait for. “Eliseo has been giving the money out to everyone else in the club.”

“And you left it in his hole?”

“Yep, still did it anyway.” He could already feel the migraine coming on from this information, throwing on the brakes suddenly as he realised he was approaching a red light. “Christ! Watch out would you?”

“You should pay attention.” The words were directed more to himself than Christine. He kept driving and soon the sun dimmed over the horizon, bringing the flashing neon signs and lights of the club into view. They acted as a beacon of limited delight, a flashing sign that directed occupants to forget their loneliness and sorrows and funnel into its doors.

How sour had it been when he first discovered that this was the place his beloved spent his nights, dancing away for men who didn’t know how to appreciate Eliseo the way he did. Even if Christine reassured him that Eliseo didn’t allow anyone to touch him or get close enough to cop a feel , it didn’t ease the nerves that entangled themselves around his heart. Leering eyes, wanting hands, he could only imagine Eliseo in a tight string that barely concealed nothing, dancing around a pole and entertaining the wandering eyes. He had seen Christine perform when they first met, but never before had he imagined that Eliseo would be in the same position.

What hadn’t he given Eliseo? Did he want more power in the relationship or did he want something else? He racked his brain for hours upon hours at night as he would try and figure out what his beloved wanted and craved. What had caused him to leave the world of comfort and luxury to let men that he didn’t know ogle him? Looking at Christine who did her lipstick in the mirror, he thought about the reasons she had been in the business; power, attention, comfort, it was all those things that she had craved and more and she still didn’t stop, not even when she became his right-hand man.

“Was I ever bad to Eliseo?” Damian muttered as he finally pulled into the parking lot, cutting the engine as he sat in his seat. The confused noise that came from the woman beside him was enough to make him fully turn his head, seeing the way her eyes looked at him as she paused mid-stroke, “did he ever tell you that I was doing something wrong?”

Christine only shook her head as she began to step out of the car, swiping the velvet box that was in the middle of the seats and placing it into her handbag, “you’ll have to find out yourself. Talk to him, tonight, or I’ll drag you to him myself.” Leaving him to stew in his thoughts, Damian watched as Christine crossed the parking lot to the front doors, and was let in with a nod and a smile. That woman loved to tease and taunt, and drag people to where she wanted them to go

As he pulled the keys out of the ignition and stepped out into the dimming sun, he sucked in his lips.

Damian had to finish this game of cat and mouse; Eliseo had been running for far too long, far too far, he needed to know that he was still wanted by him — so why didn’t he want to move? Sucking in a deep breath through his nose, he leaned against the roof of his car, staring at the club’s doors. Beyond those doors, already in a room that was filling up with men and women, Eliseo would be there soon. In there, he could corner him and take him back, make him come home.

It should be as easy as negotiating a deal with someone, yet his legs felt like jello. Was it the fact that he had been dreaming of this moment for so long that his legs didn’t want to work with him, or was it the fact that he didn’t know if this would be the same boy he knew? “Fuck.” Running a hand through his curly hair, Damian cursed multiple times under his breath. Eliseo was like air, so beautiful and essential for survival, he wanted to breathe it in, he wanted to embrace him, but what if he was like smog and would harm him from the inside?

No, he had to snap out of it, he couldn’t let his worries and fears take hold of him before he even had a chance to go inside. Christine had one goal and one goal only tonight; get those cuff links to Eliseo, if he wasn’t in there then the entire plan could fall apart. With one last check in the side mirror of his car to make sure his hair was perfectly in place, Damian allowed his feet to carry him across that car park. Each step was long, calculated, and hurried, yet his heart felt like it wanted to secure itself to the ground with how heavy it felt in his chest.

Damian had seen the horrors of gun battles and survived numerous gang fights, yet the mere thought of seeing Eliseo again after all of these years? It felt like something else entirely. He had said to the other man before that he would allow himself to take a bullet before he would even think about having to hold a gun. The building seemed so much bigger now that he stood at the door.

“Identification.” The bouncer demanded, Damian, snapped out of his thoughts long enough to grab his ID from his wallet, and handed the piece of plastic to the other man, watching as he tilted down his sunglasses before looking between him and the picture. “Birthday?”

Oh, he forgot that he looked different from the man in the photo. Coughing into his fist, Damian said his birthday without needing to look at the card, the bouncer moved to the side as he allowed Damian into the building.

“Men are on the right side of the stage, women on the left.”

He knew that already based on what Christine had told him, but yet he nodded his head in acknowledgement all the same, allowing himself to slip inside the smog of carnal desire and want that thinly veiled the depression that seeped deep within the rug. It was a standard entry hall, with a carpet that had seen better days and walls that had seen much too much smoke, but yet all the same it was… quite dull. Compared to the glitz and glam he was used to due to the Aftons hold on the underbelly, this was certainly a downgrade. He dodged the eyes of the women and men that dressed themselves in what he assumed to be staff uniforms, entering out into the main room with little noise.

The stench had become stronger, choking his nostrils and lungs as he surveyed the rooms. Decent space to move about, and doors were easily accessible, the soft pink of the overhead lights barely could disguise the blood that stained the carpet. Damian scowled as he avoided what seemed to be a fresh puddle, watching as staff worked quickly to try and clean it up. This was the place that Eliseo had found himself working at. Damian could hear the poor crackle of the speakers and see chairs that had been poorly taped back together — this place was a blunder, a disgrace to the district it sat on.

No wonder Christine had called it the crack house of whore houses, it certainly deserved the name.

“First time?” Of course, the one person you never wanted to be anywhere near had to be here. The white-haired Funtime grinned up at him with those blue eyes and Damian had to resist pulling his gun out on him right there and then. “Neutral zone, can’t do shit here unless you want to be pinned by the balls to the wall, Glam.”

Fuck, he was right. Relaxing the hand that hovered near his gun, Damian allowed his jaw to tighten as Fergus pulled out the chair next to him. “I’m not planning to be here for long.”

“Your boy toy ain’t even here yet, sit, I’ll buy you a drink if you do.” Letting his eyes wander for a bit around the room, not spotting any other familiar heads of white, purple or pink, Damian slowly slid into the chair, making sure that it was as far as possible between himself and the bastard that made torture a hobby.

“I’m assuming you want to talk to me?”

“Nah,” Fergus laughed, flagging down a waitress as he wheezed out of his ugly mug, “just want to see you be uncomfortable up close — two scotches, one with extra ice.” Turning his face away to ogle at the waitress’s breasts, it gave Damian some time to compose himself, slipping a knife that sat on the table down his sleeve.

You could never let yourself be too comfortable around a Funtime. Getting one’s attention was bad enough, but, being close enough to one where you could smell the horrid stench that rolled off of them from their rotten personalities? You may as well pay the devil for a dinner date.

“Now,” Without the appeal of mounds of fat in his vision, Fergus returned to Damian, his grin showing every tooth in his mouth as he rested his hands on the table, “Did ya whore him out or did he run screaming?”

“Shut your fucking mouth.”

“Al’ght, calm your dick.” Throwing his hands up as he retracted the statement, Fergus’s blue eyes seemed to glow under the pink as he drank from his half-finished scotch, the grin never disappearing. “I’m assuming you’re fetching yer due or some shit.”

“It is none of your concern.”

“You’re sitting across from me, Fergus, surrounded by piss, blood ‘nd shit in a club that might as well be shut down by the pigs and you tell me it ain’t any of my concern, especially when ye’re dressed up like it's a date?” As the man leaned over the table, like a bear about to strike the rabbit, Fergus’s eyes bore into his soul, “be lucky nobody else has put a bullet to that temple.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Can be if you want it to be.” The chair groaned under the weight of the other man as he sat back down, looking at his watch as he checked the time. “Pretty boy should be on in two minutes. Nev’a late.”

And never late he was. When the lights dimmed and those gorgeous brown curls appeared on the dimly lit stage, it was like Damian had lost all ability to speak. And he was dressed in that pretty lingerie that Damian had bought him. Pretty in blues and purples and reds, Eliseo seemed to wear it like a fancy glove as he danced around that stage with the lights shining on him — while the outfit had been for only his eyes to see in the first place, there was something about being able to glance to the side and see the other man drool over something he couldn’t have. He watched as Fergus swished around his scotch.

“Two scotches.”

Damian eyed the glasses as they were placed down on the table and watched the waitress as she walked away before he picked up the glass that sat in front of him, sniffing at the contents before putting it back down. While on most days he would allow himself to sip at a good scotch, the smell of cinnamon that came from the glass was less than inviting, red eyes glaring at the man in front of him momentarily.

“Not drinking it?” Damian bit his tongue as Fergus spoke, though as the man shrugged and kept drinking his own, Damian felt his eyes to wander back to the stage. He could see Christine off to the side, watching as she scanned the room before letting her eyes land on him. And Fergus.

‘Are you fucking insane?’ the woman mouthed from behind that curtain, Damian watching the way her brows furrowed in confusion at the overweight man. It hadn’t been a part of the plan — neither of them had been banking on another being here, but yet as Damian looked to Fergus before back to Chica, he mouthed back ‘I have this under control’ before she retreated behind the curtain.

He didn’t have any of this under control. He had to find a way of shaking off Fergus. Looking around the room before spotting the manager of the place, having seen him plenty of times being the last to leave and the first to arrive. The walk was brisk, and quick, Fergus’s attention too enamoured by the stage to notice that Damian had left. “You the manager?”

The manager was a scrawny thing up close, couldn’t be older than twenty-five based on the acne, though as the green eyes of the other man looked him up and down before nodding, Damian bit the inside of his cheek.

“Is Eliseo available for a private meeting?” Watching the way the manager’s eyes bulged at the use of Eliseo’s real name, it looked like he saw a ghost, blinking once, twice before looking at him even closer. “I know him personally.”

“I’d need to talk to his persona— woah.” As Damian pulled out a wad of cash from his inner pocket, flashing it to the man’s face, he could see the metaphorical dollar signs that appeared in his green eyes before he snatched it, counting each bill quickly. “I’ll see what I can do, the private rooms are in the back.”

Good, Fergus can’t follow him there. Letting himself be led into the twisting hallways of the club, Damian could still smell the rotten stench from a mile away, yet it dulled the further he got from the main room. The carpet became less sticky under his feet, the lighting seemed to be better, and as he was left in the room he knew that this club put their bank on private reservations.

He couldn’t help but let himself to the wine in the bucket, not even taking a cup as he took a swing straight from the bottle. How long would it be until Fergus realised that he was gone, leaving nothing but the scotch he was meant to drink? Probably not anytime soon. Letting the stray wine that attempted to slip from his mouth be wiped away by the sleeve of his suit jacket, he inspected the label of the wine.

“Fuck…” Damian muttered, smacking his lips against his teeth as he spoke, “That’s some fine wine.” Bottled in the eighteen hundreds, no wonder why this place looked so nice in the back; it was for the rich and the elite as a cover. He could hear the thunder of applause from where he stood, signalling the end of Eliseo’s show. With the thundering vibrations that echoed through the halls, Damian’s throat tightened up; it was like his entire conscious was telling him that Eliseo may be fine here, that he was seemingly happy. “Fuck!” He cussed again, the wine bottle vibrating with the impact as he slammed it against the table in the middle of the room.

He was in this too deep now.

The door slammed open, Damian letting his eyes shoot up to look at the blazing blue that was Eliseo. Seeing him there, making eye contact with him and breathing the same air as he had made his heart feel like it was squeezed in a vice grip. His hair had grown longer, shaggy in front of his eyes as Eliseo took a few steps into the room, shutting the door behind him. It was quiet, the only thing that echoed in the room being Eliseo’s hard breaths, watching as he leaned against the wood of the door.

“Elis-.”

“Don’t talk yet.” Eliseo’s words came out harsh, stopping him in his tracks as he sucked in a deep breath. Of course, what was he thinking; they hadn’t seen each other in so long and now he was intruding on his life. He took another sip of the wine. “I should have known it was you,” Eliseo’s voice wavered as he talked, even if he had long hair that covered his eyes, there was no hiding the tears that streamed down the other man’s face as he stood there, a sheer slip covering his skin from his gaze, “how long have you been out?”

“Since June.” Even if it had been four months since Damian was released from that hell hole, there was something about how Eliseo just stared at him, keeping their distance while wearing those goddamn shoes that made him taller. Based on the door, with those heels, Eliseo was probably as tall as he was. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“I knew you would, you always do.” It didn’t stop the pain that had come with knowing that Eliseo had moved out when he was stuck in the shit hole, that he had uprooted his life to do this, but as Damian took a few steps towards the man, Eliseo didn’t even reject his touch as he placed a hand on his cheek, watching as he slowly melted his way into his hand. “I missed this…” I missed this too hung on the edge of Damian’s tongue, letting his arms slowly scoop Eliseo into his hold. It was foreign to finally hold him again, to smell his shampoo, to feel his heat.

It felt right.

“Why didn’t you come to me directly?”

“I wanted you to want me back.” Damian let his words hang in the air as the thumping of the stage echoed through the walls, his fingers holding onto Eliseo tight as they stood there. This was too easy, too simple, he had imagined Eliseo screaming, crying, kicking, yelling at him to stay away, yet Eliseo had come to him so easily, so quickly, letting him hold him in his arms like it was where he belonged — no, scratch that, it was where he belonged.

He had dreamed of those nights where they could just go back to normal, where he would come home to Eliseo in his arms… his grip grew tighter around the other man’s waist, feeling the satin that covered his form. This hadn’t been for nothing, this had been for something, and he had it back where he wanted it.

“Why did you leave?” Damian finally muttered after the silence had entrapped them whole, allowing Eliseo to pull back to look him in the eyes. Those gorgeous blues, swimming with tears, rimmed with red against his tanned skin. A painting he wanted to forever preserve.

Yet nothing could prepare Damian for the shaky words that escaped Eliseo’s mouth, ones that shattered his world and made his soul quake in a rage that he couldn’t express; “I’m no good for you, you need someone stronger, someone who wouldn’t hesitate shooting.”

“No good?” Damian repeated, already feeling the way his skin scorched in the unspoken emotions, red eyes wanting to bulge from their sockets as the pressure built up and up; who dared make Eliseo think that, to poison his brain with untruths and lies? He would murder them all. “You’re the only one who can love me the way you do.” And it was the truth. Eliseo was the only one had grown up with him, been with him through the rocks, been in his bed with him, hell, had seen him cry — yet he couldn’t stop the tears that overflowed from his own eyes as all the feelings he had been bottling up over the past few weeks finally overflowed.

“Damian?”

Burying his face into Eliseo’s hair, Damian breathed him all in; he was here, he was in his arms, the loneliness that had been gripping his heart still remained, however, crushing him, smothering him. He just needed to hold Eliseo close, to feel his heartbeat. He could feel Eliseo’s hands pressed up against him, his hands wound tightly around something, and yet he didn’t mind the feeling of something lightly poking him in the stomach. The smell of lavender and sweat invaded his senses, the feeling of Eliseo’s sweaty hair pulling him to the ground over and over again.

The music started back up in the main room, signaling the start of another performance as Damian allowed himself to pull back, to brush away the strands of hair that had settled themselves in front of Eliseo’s blue eyes so then he could look at him in all his glory. A masterpiece, a man that no other could dare dream of loving the way he did, yet as his eyes flickered down to Eliseo’s lips, seeing the way they were parted and lightly dusted with the hint of glimmering lip balm, he could not stop himself as he swooped in to have a taste. Strawberry and a hint of vanilla, he could smell it as he allowed himself to have that small taste, but yet a small taste didn’t seem to be enough for Eliseo, pulling Damian back in for another, and another.

How he had missed this too. Damian allowed his thoughts to be thrown to the wind as he pressed Eliseo against his hips, allowing the man to devour his breath, his life, and his soul as they kissed. Eliseo may be the more subdued of the two in terms of their lifestyles, but that was never the case for them in particular, allowing Eliseo to lead the kiss as he was pushed across the room, allowing the back of his knees to hit the cushioning of the couch behind him, forced to his ass as Eliseo pressed him down.

Dressed in that lingerie, staring at him like he was some sort of piece of meat, Damian had no other choice but to feel his arousal stir as he looked up at him. Fuck, that was hot.

“Waltzing back into my life,” Eliseo muttered, “making me feel all these things so easily?” Eliseo’s legs easily straddled him as he sat there hovering, those pretty blue eyes that twisted their way into Damian’s life staring down, down into his soul. The lights of the room couldn’t reach his face anymore, overshadowed by the form that was Eliseo, his brown hair dangling down as his fingers came to slowly unbutton his shirt. His tanned skin seemed to flush more as his blood began circulating. “How naughty of you.”

Damian’s shirt was ripped open once the buttons were finished, Eliseo’s fingers spreading all over the pale skin as he sucked in a breath. Same Eliseo, those same eyes, the same ones that drank in the silky and scarred skin of Damian as if it were always his first time — it was never enough, Eliseo’s lips coming to gently nibble at the junction of his neck. “Getting into the good part already?” Damian muttered, his breaths coming out in a groan as he let his hands begin to ghost Eliseo’s waist, though with two slaps his fingers were forced to find purchase in the cushions underneath him instead.

When Eliseo didn’t want to be touched, he would make sure he had control of it. He would dangle what Damian wanted right over his head, just out of his reach, make Damian work for it as he would sit there, tortured, beginning to feel the way his cock brushed on the inside of his underwear as he had to restrain himself. A little tease, a minx, just like the way he had ran away from him.

Damian wanted to touch him, to mark him, to show him who he belonged to, but yet he found himself stilled underneath his touch and gaze, letting the other man do what he wanted.

“Good boy.”

If he died right now, he would die a happy man. Eliseo’s fingers dragged down his chest, over his nipples, down and down towards his waist band before he gently dipped them underneath, baiting a breath from Damian before he pulled them out, continuing to drag them down over his pants. Was Eliseo begging to be thrown onto the cushions and have the life fucked out of him? Was he begging to be like the photographs that he had gladly defaced with his cum? Damian thought so, his mouth going dry as Eliseo finally dragged his fingers back up, unbuckling his pants before slowly dragging down the zipper.

“How long ago did you find out I worked here?” Eliseo’s words were like a slithering snake as they snuck their way into his ears, his fingertips barely ghosting over the outline of Damian’s cock, feeling the way that it rubbed against the fabric, drawing forth a small hiss that escaped his throat.

Eliseo was really doing this here now, for what reason? Damian’s mind racked itself to find the answer as he thought back onto the many days that he had spent stalking outside of Eliseo’s flower shop and the club, feeling the heat of Eliseo’s stare on his skin as he felt the piercing gaze burrow deep into his psyche.

Had he been aware all of this time? Had he been paying attention?

Licking his lips as he felt Eliseo’s fingers grasp firmly onto his cock through his briefs, Damian finally answered, “A few weeks now…” He said, hearing the way Eliseo’s chest hummed with satisfaction at the answer, though his hand didn’t move under the briefs, instead, he pulled at the waistband until the head was barely peeking out, letting a thumb run over the neglected slit. “I found out two weeks after I saw you in the flower shop.”

“So my eyes weren’t deceiving me,” Eliseo’s smile seemed to widen, a cat’s gaze now staring down at Damian as he grinned, “That was you and Christine outside the shop today.”

“Wha— fuck.” When had Eliseo gotten a hand around the shaft? He didn’t know, but feeling the way he squeezed it hard enough to cause a twinge of pain up his spine sent shivers throughout his entire body. Holding him by the dick, staring him down, Eliseo was in the prime position of power — and looked hot while doing it too. Eliseo’s fingers slowly massaged over the shaft, his fingers and hands noticeably more toned than the last time he had found himself in this position. “Eli…” He was able to softly groan, watching the way those blue eyes glittered and shined with such mirth that he swore that he was going to be swallowed whole right then and there.

“Been watching you,” Eliseo muttered, his free hand coming to the tip to swipe at the beading of pre as he slowly leaned back closer, the smell that was so intoxicatingly Eliseo filling Damian’s senses, his chest flaring with heat as he dug his nails into the seats, “you can’t hide that blue hair from me.” That god damn kitten lick, that fucking tongue ghosting out to lick at his bottom lip, it broke the man, grabbing Eliseo’s hips and throwing him down to the cushions underneath the two of them.

Eliseo may be confident when he was in control, but watching it melt away when he found himself in the bottom position was something else. He could smell and taste the nerves that bubbled to the surfaces and revelled in the look that flashed across Eliseo’s eyes as he tried to get back up, but a firm hand on the skin of his stomach was enough to make him still.

Eliseo had his fun, but now it was Damian’s turn.

Removing the hair tie that kept his corkscrew curls from his face, his hair came from the low ponytail to hang down, letting his fingers curl themselves into Eliseo’s hair as he tied it back, leaving those brown curls away from the blue eyes he wanted to stare at. “Perfect.” Eliseo may be already mostly bared for the world to see, but to see his face as he dragged his fingers down his unmarked chest? Even better.

“Dames?” Eliseo muttered, all the prior confidence in his voice gone, though as Damian’s fingers just so gently brushed over the nipples of Eliseo’s chest, he couldn’t help himself but to tug on them gently, a breathless gasp escaping from between Eliseo’s lips. He needed more. His hands ungracefully wandered over Eliseo’s body as he stole another kiss from the man, basking in the glow that came with hearing him moan directly against his lips. It never ceased to send shudders down Damian’s spine no matter how many nights he had spent with Eliseo under him, on top of him, beside him.

This man was one that he wanted to be with again, and again, and again, no matter how many times he would have to be found. Damian lost himself in the moment, his lips, his teeth, his fingers feeling every inch of Eliseo’s exposed skin, touching him, tasting him, marking him. Damian needed him to be marked, to be bitten, to be bruised, if he weren’t any of those things then how would the world know he was taken? He needed this tanned skin to speak a sinful truth, a devil’s hymn, hearing the way he stole Eliseo’s mind with each movement, feeling the way the man under him hardened in that pretty little thong that shimmered blue against his skin. Fuck, his own mind whirled as he allowed himself to finally bask in the moment. He had him in his hands, like putty.

And he didn’t have fucking lube.

“I know that face…” Eliseo muttered, his fingers coming to brush away some of the coils that framed his face, blue eyes staring down at the dark red that were his own, “don’t over think it, we’ve been in this situation before.” Too many times. Eliseo had a point, though, and he knew it with the way his blue eyes twinkled, yet his own eyes scanned over Eliseo’s body, taking in each bite and hickey that had begun to form on his skin. “Hm?” Eliseo muttered as Damian’s body slid further down his own, brows furrowing as he stayed focus on Damian.

Perfect. He wanted him to watch this. “You worked so hard up on that stage,” Damian could feel the grin grow onto his face as he spoke, his fingers slowly hooking themselves under the dainty straps that secured it to his hips, watching the way they curled as he slowly began to slide it down his legs, just enough to watch as his cock bounced from the restraints and into the open air, already beading itself with small bits of pre. Eliseo’s brain must have clicked right then and there on what was about to happen, the man sliding one of the cheap pillows to rest under his head as he watched, blue eyes shining slightly with interest. “Sit back and let me make you feel good.”

While Damian had his fair share of pleasing Eliseo with his mouth, this was the first time that it would be on a shitty couch that looked better than it felt, with Eliseo’s eyes half lidded and one of his legs coming to curl around his shoulders. Damian took a moment to appreciate the man in front of him. How gorgeous was he, with such a gorgeous stare and an even more gorgeous cock standing at attention right in front of him? It was like a work of art, especially as Damian allowed himself to lick a slow stripe on the underside, one that he could feel the way Eliseo’s thigh clenched near his head.

Perfect.

Oh so perfect.

“Damian…” Eliseo could go louder than that, he knew he could. With the music that played out in the main area and the distance they were, Damian wanted to hear that man scream his throat raw, even if it meant he would have to go hours for it.

“That’s it, that’s me.” Saliva gathered in Damian’s mouth, willing it to pool on his tongue before he spat some into his hand. Even if Eliseo muttered a soft ‘gross’ from above, he knew that it was at least better to use than nothing at all, especially as he began to slowly pump at the throbbing flesh, feeling the way it almost seemed to grow a bit more in his grasp. He was so easily pleased, no matter the time of day, yet hearing the soft gasps and whimpers that escaped Eliseo’s mouth at the sensation, he knew he hit the jackpot.

“Feels better when you do it.” Eliseo muttered just barely loud enough for him to hear, seeing the way the muscles in his belly grew taut at the struggle of not thrusting up into the warm hand that encompassed his cock. Damian could imagine all those nights where Eliseo would have to pleasure himself, probably thinking about the way he would touch him, and he couldn’t help but smile at the thought, lightly nuzzling his cheek into the thigh next to his head. “Do the thing with your thumb.”

Damian could feel his own throat vibrate slightly as he processed the request, his eyes drifting down to the darkened head of the cock in his hand, seeing the way the slit bubbled slightly with milky white that slowly mixed with the sweat on his skin. He didn’t need to even say words, placing the pad of his thumb over the slit and pushing down slightly — he would never get tired of seeing the way his back arched with that, the whine that escaped from Eliseo’s mouth in such a pretty whisper being one that he would save in his mind next to the other ones.

His own hardened shaft was beginning to chafe against his underwear and the seat under him, grunting slightly as he lifted his hips up just enough to rid himself of any fabric that could rub against it, the other massaging the slit on Eliseo, hearing the way the man uttered his name.

“That’s it, that’s my name.” He needed to taste him, to have the taste of sweat and Eliseo on his tongue, slowly replacing his hand with his mouth, he kept his eyes trained up on those gorgeous blue eyes as he took him all in. The taste, the smell, it was all him, mixed in with whatever perfume he wore that night. How had he been able to go so long without this taste on his tongue he didn’t know, but to have him now? It was a dream come true.

His heart was hammering in his chest, so full of emotion that he couldn’t place, but yet what man needed to have emotions named when he could follow the instinct of his cock? Yeah, that seemed about right.

Pretty faces, pretty emotions, he could feel how Eliseo’s fingers weaved themselves into his hair and pulled softly, Damian allowing his mouth to pull back with a satisfying pop, eyes half lidded as he stared up at the man. Eliseo’s face was flushed, sweat glistening his body in such a way that he looked like an angel laying there in a pile of sin, the lace of the underwear brushing slightly against his chin as he pressed a soft kiss to the underside of the shaft. “Yes?” Damian said, watching the way Eliseo’s mouth struggled to form words. If he wanted something, he needed to vocalise it, if he wanted it to be done, so be it. “I know you can speak, come on.” Shifting himself into a sitting position, well above Eliseo, he waited.

Yet he couldn’t stop his hands from resting upon his waist when Eliseo came to sit on his lap, the underwear brushing against his own cock and causing him to softly hiss. That felt nice, especially with the heat of their bodies, of the room, feeling the way his shirt stuck to the skin of his back as he sat there, looking up at Eliseo. “Baby?”

“It’s not fair I’m the only one feeling good.” Eliseo’s word was final, gathering some of his own spit into his palm, taking a short break from speaking. His voice was already so raw, so true, Damian able to hear the way it strained to keep itself even as Eliseo sat there, thinking carefully about his next move, “Keep me steady?” He didn’t need to ask twice, Damian’s hands anchoring the other man to the spot, one hand spreading its fingers over the small of Eliseo’s back as the other focused on his own goal.

“This position reminds me of the day I told you I love you.” Damian muttered, Eliseo’s hand pausing its movements, just barely touching both of their cocks as he waited, listening, “Apparently you wanted to fuck me so bad that you couldn’t even wait until we got back to my place.”

“You were the one that told that girl that you were ‘going to fuck your ass’.” Damian’s cheeks warmed at the memory, yet his chest remained hotter still at the way Eliseo threw his head back to laugh, the absurdity of that situation dawning on him as this was the exact position the two of them had been in on that night, where lube hadn’t yet been bought and emotions ran high. “Yes, I remember that, Damian.” And just like that night, Damian placed a gentle kiss to the Adam’s apple of his throat, stealing Eliseo’s breath away.

“Still think of that ni- fuck.” And Eliseo didn’t hesitate on stealing his, Damian letting out a low groan as he felt Eliseo’s hand hold them together, beginning to slowly pump at their warm flesh. The friction was delicious, the warmth so much, Damian allowing his face to nuzzle into Eliseo’s shoulder as he muttered soft praises to whatever god was above. This man was like a holy grail, so perfect and fine and so devilishly tempting — biting into whatever apple that had been behind that smile had been the best decision he had ever made.

No one could be like Eliseo, no one could even think about coming close enough to be him. Eliseo was the only Eliseo that he cared for and loved, feeling the way his nails began to dig themselves into the flesh of his hips and back. He needed to consume his scent, his taste, him, keep him close, never let him go. Nobody could take him away from Eliseo, no one could even dream about making him feel as good as the way he did, his tanned hand around his cock, his fingers brushing against the pulse on his neck.

Those pretty moans.

Fuck, he wanted to be inside of him now. He could imagine how tight he was, nobody else having come even close to staining the inside of Eliseo with their filthy cum; it was only him that could do that, only Damian himself that could dream of being inside of Eliseo here. Only Damian could feel the pleasure that came with being so close to Eliseo, to feel his hand and cock as they were pumped away, sending shudders and shivers down his back with each moment.

“As soon as I can,” Damian began to mutter into heated skin, hearing Eliseo’s pulse against his ear, “I’m going to fucking ruin you.” His words were strained, hard to get out with the way Eliseo teased him, baited him, held him, each word threatening to turn into a moan as he spoke. He needed to say this, to hear the way Eliseo’s heart beat paused at the idea. “Need to make you take me so fucking deep.” He could picture it now, the way Eliseo would be bouncing and crying and begging him to cum, maybe even with a pretty little choker on, one that would scream his name.

“Keep going…” Eliseo begged, his own words choked as he pressed a finger down against the prominent vein on Damian’s throbbing erection, “Tell me what you would do.”

How this man drove him wild with such simple words. His lips curled upwards, his teeth nipping at a bit of skin. Frankly, Eliseo was getting off easy; they still had to walk in public, he still had to show off most of his skin, he was so lucky that even if that outfit drove him wild that Damian had some restraint. As much as he wanted to suck and bite that beautiful skin black and blue, he would rather not draw attention to the two of them.

A hand went from Eliseo’s hip, gently trailing its way up his hip, his chest, letting his thumb gently graze over a perked nipple. “I would make you feel like such a prince before you descend into a screaming, crying mess, bathe you, feed you, then I would have you on your knees before me.”

He lost the ability to think about what he was going to say next after it, each word flowing from his lips like a waterfall. Fuck the ability to think, fuck the ability to even communicate the million thoughts into one comprehensible sentence, he needed to see that face as he came. He was going to make him scream and cry and beg for him to fuck him properly, even if the whole damn club could hear them. His hand easily shoved Eliseo’s away from their cocks, taking them into his sweaty spit slicked palm as he began to pump at them, the rhythm almost non-existent beyond the need to paint Eliseo’s stomach in a mixture of their white. Eliseo’s breath was like a bear, growling, grunting, the sharp point of each hitting Damian’s skin like a sharp fang, Damian’s fingers gripping so tight yet kept moving, kept pumping, rubbing, feeling that coil build up faster than he had ever found it before.

He really was no better than an animal, a rabbit, desperate to breed, desperate to fuck, his mind pulsing with each thought that rushed through his mind. Fuck, fuck, fuck, it was too fucking good, feeling the way his own cock throbbed and twitched before he finally came to his end, barely able to contain the groan that escaped his mouth before he sealed Eliseo’s lips in a searing, scorching kiss. A few more movements of his own hand and Eliseo was right there with him, their bodies trembling in their embrace as Damian savoured the feeling of the high. As the blood began to rush back to his brain, filling it with thoughts beyond fucking, Damian’s red eyes wandered Eliseo’s shuddering form once he had pulled back, his breath pinched by the moment and heavy, taking pride in each of the bite marks that were present along his shoulders, his neck, his chest.

He looked like such a good ruined man.

“Haven’t came like that in a while.” Eliseo’s first words came out in a soft chuckle, his lips shiny, bruised and red and yet his smile was still warm, trembling hands coming to cup Damian’s cheeks as he gave him a soft kiss. Compared to all the others, the ones filled with tongue, teeth and lust, this one was soft, calm, one that allowed his eyes to flutter shut as he allowed himself to push into it, letting the moment go by in such peace. “I missed you.”

“I knew you did.”

Damian didn’t need his coat, he could just carry it on the way out. Taking the jacket of the suit he had been wearing and using it to wipe up the mess, it was like pins and needles had overtaken his entire skin as it seemed to be so sensitive, too tender to brush, his spine tingling with little shocks of pain as he did so. Thank God he had decided to clean up, hearing a few knocks at the door as the two struggled to fix themselves to something decent, the same pimply-faced man that had bought them here poked his head in.

“Ah, good, you’re not fucking the dancer.” Were the manager’s only words as he removed himself, shutting the door behind him again.

The silence was deafening for a moment, the two of them turning their heads to slowly look at each other before snickers slowly begun, full blown laughter not too far off as Eliseo’s head dropped into the crook of Damian’s shoulder, the smell of sweat and sex hanging heavily in the air all the meanwhile. “I knew he was a virgin,” Eliseo began, blue eyes twinkling with mirth as he slowly pulled back, “he doesn’t even know what it looks like.”

Time was running out, the red card that had been left on the door being the indicator. Making sure that nothing struck out as odd, the two allowed their blood to cool, their breaths to even before they even thought of stepping out of the room.

“I’ll meet you outside in ten, yeah?”

“Wouldn’t dream of missing it.”

The air was cooler now that the sun had gone down, the street lights being the only thing that illuminated the space as Damian leaned against his car, rolling the cigarette between his fingers as he muttered under his breath. Despite the years he had been smoking, it was like he was a beginner every time he rolled a stick, the tobacco always finding a way to not stay completely within the paper, making his brow twitch in frustration. “Damn it…”

“I thought you stopped smoking?”

The cigarette dropped onto the bonnet as Damian cursed, allowing himself to turn around to face Eliseo where he stood. Outside of the club, up close, Damian couldn’t help but notice that his sweater was a bit bigger than what he normally would wear, Damian’s hands balled into fists behind him. “That’s my sweater.” It had been, back when he hadn’t been the head of a mafia, back when he and Eliseo were able to have a little bit of more freedom to do what they wanted, but the sauce stain on the collar was new, Eliseo’s blue eyes seeming to pop against the maroon. Shaking his head slightly, he focused back on Eliseo’s question, feeling how his fingers began to throb with pain as he uncurled them. “Bad habit.”

Eliseo's hand raised and Damian reached for it, but Eliseo passed him to pluck the cigarette from the bonnet before working it between his fingers, the paper and tobacco melding together into one. Eliseo worked quickly and swiftly, placing the butt of it between Damian’s lips before he could even protest.

No words were needed between the two, Damian picked up his lighter before letting the embers burn, the first hit of the nicotine hitting Damian’s lungs like a tidal wave, the relief that settled into his bones spreading through his entire body. The hit of the cigarette was a high that slowly ebbed away as he allowed the smoke slowly billowed out from his nostrils, away from Eliseo who took a spot next to him. The silence passed like a ticking clock, Damian working through his cigarette, allowing his fingers to slowly work their way into Eliseo’s.

He missed nights like this.

No talking, no discussion, just allowing the two of them to bask in each other’s presence, allowing for them to just exist without talking, just touching, just looking, Damian’s thumb slowly grazing the back of Eliseo’s knuckles. Only a few minutes ago, or at least it felt like it, they were going at it like wild animals, screaming, crying, looking at each other for the first time in what felt like years. “I’m sorry.” Eliseo’s words cut through that silence, Damian’s head snapping to look down at him. Sorry? He could hear Eliseo gulp slightly, watching the way tears caught on his lashes in the starlit moonlight. “I shouldn’t have ran away. I’m a coward.”

Damian’s grip tightened slightly on Eliseo, the cigarette falling from his mouth and onto the wet concrete below, his foot stubbing out the ember as Damian forced Eliseo closer, smelling the remnants of what shampoo hadn’t been washed away by the smell of sex, smoke and whisky from the club. Damian couldn’t even make a sentence in his mind or push one from his mouth, his arms sneaking their way around Eliseo’s waist, his chin resting on top of his head.

“You don’t have to be sorry for anything,” Damian’s mouth was dry, the words slowly wavering as they came, “You weren’t born into this life.” He shouldn’t even need to have to worry about him not coming home. He could feel the veins in his neck slightly bulge as he thought about the fear that went through Eliseo’s mind every day, at the concerns that had probably bubbled up when he was in prison… Eliseo, oh Eliseo, how did he deal with it?

He could hear Eliseo breathe in, his shoulders shuddering, though as he looked up at him to speak the sounds of gunshots rang out. Screaming, rushing people and the sound of platforms hitting the concrete as a familiar head of white hair came sprinting out the front door. “Start the fucking car!” How she ran in those stripper heels, Damian didn’t know, but Christ this wasn’t something he had expected now.

“Chrissy?”

Damian’s eyes bulged as he opened the passenger door, shoving Eliseo in, throwing open one of the back doors before he slid over the bonnet of the car and into the driver’s side, jamming the keys into the ignition and hearing the car roar to life as Christine flew into the car, the door slamming right behind her. “Drive!” Tires screeched and the engine roared as Damian pulled out of the parking lot, hearing the chaotic beeps of other cars as he tore down the road, most likely leaving burn marks on the blackened road.

His left-hand side mirror was taken out by a bullet, Eliseo yelled as it shattered, shards of glass hitting the window.

“What the fuck Christine?” Damian finally shouted once he ensured he had control of the car, using a hand to shove Eliseo towards the floor, his own head low as he swerved through traffic, glancing into the rearview mirror every once in a while to look at the cars behind them, “I thought you were hanging low?”

“I was!” Christine said in a huff, her makeup running down her face from sweat as she lay in the back seat, Damian taking note of the handprint mark that had begun to form on her pale skin and the torn clothes she wore. “I wasn’t planning on getting into this situation either!”

A driver laid down their horn as Damian cut them off, the side road that cut through buildings smelling like the sewer as they drove through, Eliseo’s blue eyes staring wide up at him. Fuck, great, perfect way of being together with him only an hour after getting him back; get stuck in a possible car chase and hopefully not get your head blown off.

“Christy, what did you do?” Damian began to slow once he didn’t see anyone following them, Eliseo and Christine, who began to nervously giggle, rising further up their seats, Christine’s fake colour eyes staring at him in the rearview mirror. “Christine.”

“I may have…” Her words slowly descended into mumbles, her gaze filtering away from the mirror before Damian called her name again with more venom in his voice, Christine’s back straightening at the simple uttering of her name. Oh, he was going to kill her. “I kicked Fergus in the balls.”

Before Damian could allow the cuss words to fly, Eliseo cut in, his face turning to look at Christine with a smile as he said, “Good, been wanting to do that for a while myself.” As fast as Damian’s mouth had opened, it gaped like a fish, red eyes taking a moment to stare at Eliseo before staring back at the road, slowly driving around a cat that seemed to want to stay in the middle of the road. “He grab you?”

“Yep.”

That explained the handprint. Letting his heart settle, the roaring pound of it vibrating his chest with each thunderous beat, Damian’s fingers slowly loosened from around the wheel, the death grip he had causing them to throb as the blood flowed back into his fingertips. He didn’t know how long he had been driving until he found himself in front of his home, cutting the engine as he sat in silence for a moment, allowing the situation to simmer in his mind. That had been close, way too close, staring back at Christine in the back mirror as she slowly raised something into his view.

A phone.

“I also got some blackmail.” Watching as she flicked open the phone’s top, her eyes looking down at the screen, she began to idly tap away at the stolen phone as he turned to Eliseo, seeing how he sat in the seat, his fingers gripping onto his pants tight despite the smile that was on his face.

“Eliseo?” Damian gently cooed, reaching out to grasp his hand, watching as Eliseo’s fingers slowly released the fabric to grip onto his, giving a gentle squeeze, “I’m sorry—.”

“I was planning on quitting for a while anyway.” Eliseo cut in, blue eyes staring at him. That’s right, this wasn’t the same Eliseo that had hid behind him before he had gone to prison, this Eliseo had gone and chased his own desires and wants, had been dancing in clubs in order to make a living. This man couldn’t be scared off that easily, raising his hand to give a gentle kiss at his fingers. “I’m going to call the owner tomorrow, tell him not to roster me on anymore.” So confident, and forward, Damian could feel as his eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled.

What a man.

“So, you guys just going to stare at each other all night?” Christine’s face came into view, her contacts gone as she looked between the two men, “I’m feeling like take out, you guys want Chinese?”

“You’re buying it.”

“You’re so mean!”

Twenty minutes away, in the depths of what belonged to the Aftons, Fergus grumbled as he sat in the club, the people emptied out as Felix passed him an ice pack. “Stupid bitch…”

“Doesn’t seem that stupid if she was able to get the upper hand on you, fellow.” Felix’s golden eyes glittered in the dark as he spoke, almost seeming to dance around the space as he went to and from tables, picking up whatever scraps of food he could find, “A bit foolish to go after another esteemed gang, don’t you think?”

“Fuck off.”

Felix’s shoulders shrugged upwards as he scraped a plate of its nachos, the man not seeming to care about the hostility that came from Fergus’s throat, nor the gun that remained loaded by his side. He knew that if Fergus even thought of shooting at him that he would have to deal with Baby herself.

Though the thought of filleting the larger man was tempting, his nails were freshly manicured, holding them up to the light as he allowed himself to examine the pretty paint. “She could have done worse,” he muttered to himself, running his tongue over his bottom lip, “that woman’s as crazy as us.”

Making his way to the man, Felix finally helped Fergus to his feet, stepping over dead bodies as he helped him to the door. This place wasn’t anything special anyway, well, to Felix it wasn’t, his boots leaving trails across the floor as the blood flowed and pooled.

As long as Felix wasn’t going to get in trouble for causing chaos on what was meant to be neutral property, then he was fine with this.

[hummingbird-of-light]

Against All Odds

Part 623

McCoy

Jocelyn.

Why?

McCoy’s chest was tight as he walked quickly through the hallways and up the stairs to his room. He thought he heard someone call his name, but his mind was racing too fast to register it. His room was safety.

The bang of the door as it slammed behind him startled him from his thoughts. He hadn’t meant to slam it. It must have slipped from his fingers.

He sat on his bed and let himself fall forward, face first into his pillow. McCoy surprised himself with the growl of anger that crawled up his throat.

A moment later a hand touched him lightly on the arm.

“Don’t touch me!” he yelled as he sprang up. “Oh! Oh Scotty I’m sorry!” McCoy’s voice instantly changed from his anger as he saw the surprised and worried look on his fiancé’s face.

“I- I- I’m sorry Len,” Scotty said in a small voice.

“No! No! I’m sorry!” McCoy said, dropping to his knees in front of where Scotty was sitting on the bed. “Of course it was only you. It’s just- I’m- her.” The last word dropped from McCoy’s tongue like poison.

“It’s where she touched you,” Scotty said softly. “I remember ye telling me now.”

McCoy nodded.

“Why is she here?” McCoy let his head fall on Scotty’s lap.

“Don’t know love,” Scotty said. McCoy could feel the hesitance as Scotty’s fingers smoothed his hair.

“Everything was going to be fine finally,” McCoy whispered.

“It will be,” Scotty soothed.

“How?” McCoy asked, straightening up again. He saw the hesitance on Scotty’s face again.

“I- we have lots of people who care for us,” Scotty said slowly. “They’ll help keep her away.”

“They’re going to want to know why,” McCoy said miserably, dropping his head again. The memory from the orchard, Jocelyn’s hands on his face, her lips on his rose in his mind and he shuddered.

“Ye don’t have to tell them anything. They’ll just have to take yer word ye want nothing to do with her.”

McCoy slowly nodded. He got up and sat on the bed next to Scotty.

“She’ll have to go through me first,” Scotty said protectively. McCoy couldn’t help a chuckle.

McCoy felt calmer as he and Scotty headed down to the large dining hall for dinner. It would be a gathering of all the students as a welcome back for the new semester.

“Over there love,” Scotty said, giving McCoy’s arm a tug towards a table that held all their friends.

McCoy followed, but stopped, frozen in place as he saw who was sitting next to Christine and the last open spots.

“No,” he said quietly and reached for Scotty. “I won’t sit there.”

He saw Scotty look around the faces at the table. Jaylah waved at them and Scotty waved back. McCoy looked around the room. On the other side of the room seats were available at a table with some of the swim team and Aaron Blaten.

“I’m going over there,” McCoy pointed.

Scotty nodded. “Alright love, me too.”

McCoy saw Robbie throw Scotty a questioning glance as they turned away.

Part 624

Scotty

It was just so awkward. Scotty didn't really like anyone at the table, so he tried his best to focus on Leonard.

Some students asked them question about the engagement and the wedding, especially the girls. They tried their best to answer them politely, but from time to time, Scotty's eyes moved over to the table where their friends sat at.

He could see the others chatting away. Some were asking questions to Jocelyn, Jim was focused on Spock most of the time.

Scotty really longed to sit with his brother, but he also wanted to be there for Leonard. So all he could do was push away the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I heard that hot new chick is joining the swim team."

As soon as Scotty heard the words coming from Aaron's mouth, he turned his head to look at Leonard.

Anger flushed over the prince's face and a grim smile formed on his lips.

"Of course she would. What else to expect?"

All eyes fell on Leonard, when the others heard the annoyed undertone the voice held.

"You know her? Something wrong with her?" Aaron asked.

"Well, if you don't want your life to be ruined, you better stay away from that stupid, lying-"

"Len," Scotty said warningly, grabbing his love's hand. When Leonard looked at him, the Scotsman shook his head only the slightest bit.

Not here. Not now. Blasphemy would only make things worse.

Leonard just huffed and focused on his food again.

"Ooo, tell us more," one of the girls said, but the prince stayed quiet for the rest of the dinner.

When they were finished and about to leave the room, Scotty and Leonard were stopped by a familiar voice.

"Wait!"

They turned around to see Christine. However, she wasn't alone. Someone was at her side.

"What?" Leonard spat the word out and Christine's face darkened even more.

"What is your problem, Leonard? I don't understand-"

"Yeah, well, you will never understand as long as that girl is around you!"

Without waiting for a reply, Leonard ran off, leaving Scotty behind. Christine turned to him, looking quite helpless.

"Scotty?"

The Scotsman's eyes moved from Christine to Jocelyn and back.

"I cannae tell ye anything, lassie. Just trust me when I say that Leonard is right. He doesn't want anything to do with that girl. And ye shouldn't either."

At first, Christine's eyes widened in shock, then shock turned into anger.

"What the hell, Scotty? You expect me to exclude someone new without giving me any good reason? That's hardly fair, don't you think?"

Scotty's eyes moved over to Jocelyn. He couldn't stand that faked sadness on her face.

"Oh, I'm sure there are enough stucked-up students to take care of her. It doesn't have to be us."

When he looked back at Christine, he could see that her eyes had narrowed in confusion.

"Oh, is that what this is about? You don't like her because she's rich?"

At that, Scotty just laughed humorlessly.

"Nae, ye know I don't judge people by their status."

Unlike that girl did.

"I just know that I have to keep her away from Leonard."

"What's gotten into you, Scotty?! It's not like you to-"

Christine was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"It's okay, Christine. Please stop fighting. It's not his fault."

Both, Scotty and Christine, looked at Jocelyn in surprise.

"Who knows what Leonard told him?"

The Scotsman's hands clenched to fists. What? Was that bitch implying that Leonard was a liar?

"He told me enough. And I believe him."

Jocelyn's eyes fell on him. There was pity in them.

"Of course you do. He is your fiancé, after all. You've gotta be at your partner's side."

She reached out to touch Scotty, but he quickly backed away.

"I'm just sorry that he manipulates you."

That was enough! How dare she talk about Leonard like that?!

Without another word, Scotty turned around, ignoring Christine's calls. He didn't want to finish this stupid talk! He needed to be there for Leonard.

He found his love in their room, lying on the bed once again.

"Mo gràdh-"

Before he could say more, there was a knock on the door.

Annoyed, Scotty turned around and opened it.

"What?!"

But it wasn't Christine in front of it. It was Robbie. He looked at his brother, one eyebrow raised.

"So... someone mind explaining to me what the hell is going on?"

Scotty looked over his shoulder at his fiancé. Was Leonard ready to tell Robbie?

[arecomicsevengood]

Matt Wagner’s GRENDEL

Late last year I got the urge to read a great deal more of Matt Wagner’s Grendel comics than I had before, basically precipitated by two things. One, a few that I had read were really good. The first Batman/Grendel crossover is surprisingly dense, balancing a great deal of characters and plot threads by having them run in parallel. A two part story that ran in issues 16 and 17 of the Comico series, initially brought to my attention by Frank Santoro talking them up, is maybe even better. Two, it has recently struck me that many of the creator-owned comics Dark Horse was publishing in the nineties were seemingly under-read or under-appreciated: The Frank Miller/Dave Gibbons Martha Washington series being maybe the most prominent example of a comic by major creators that’s basically never discussed. It is very easy to be an “art comics” reader and never think about Hellboy and Concrete, even if you’re the type that checks out older superhero comics fairly regularly. If you like Alan Moore or any of the British comics writers who worked extensively at Vertigo or 2000 AD, you might have avoided the works from the publisher that spent the nineties being associated with licensed comics. This also would’ve entailed missing a lot of manga, but people were proud of their ignorance of that world of comics too.

If you have never read Grendel, or are only peripherally aware of it, the main thing you should know is how weird it is. It begins with a short miniseries about a guy named Hunter Rose who’s a brilliant criminal mastermind who dresses up in a mask and calls himself Grendel. This original three-issue miniseries is from 1983 and has never been reprinted, and is basically dismissed by its author.

The ongoing Grendel series that started coming out a few years later begins with a lady, Christine Spar, who has written a book about Grendel, the criminal mastermind who adopted her mom. Through the course of the first year of the series, she begins dressing up in the mask and running afoul of the police. It slowly becomes apparent that Grendel is not so much a mask, a character one plays, but a demonic spirit of aggression that possesses people, destroying them, but in the process bolstering its own myth and therefore increasing in power. There is an omnibus called Devil’s Legacy which follows several people as they become possessed by this spirit. I am pretty sure the last few issues in this story leap hundreds of years into the future.

That said, I’m not certain what the omnibus editions contain because I tracked down older printings of the story. Comico went bankrupt after printing forty issues of Grendel, and while Matt Wagner owned the character and was able to continue the story at Dark Horse, the original color film was lost, and the recolored versions of the first twelve issues of the series in particular looked egregious to me, based on the scans I had seen online, compared to the very eighties, sorta Patrick Nagel, style of the flat coloring that seemed to match the work of the artists, the Pander Brothers. I assume the Devil’s Legacy omnibus contains recolored versions of the first 23 issues of the Comico issues.

Mireault recolors the story, drawn by Matt Wagner, from issues 16 and 17 I found so appealing. The initial color palette is extremely limited, and some people writing into the letter column complained. It is extremely cool to see the editor Diana Schutz explain that the style is influenced by the work of Chantal Montellier and Alex Varenne. One thing that’s fascinating about the comic to me is how much it is in dialogue with the larger world of comics, although perhaps not in ways that would’ve been apparent at the time: Joe Matt colors issues, Seth (circa Mister X) writes in, Wagner was doing cover paintings for First Comics’ Lone Wolf And Cub reprints after Miller left. It doesn’t feel so hermetically sealed within a self-flattering world as the way comics often do now.

By issue 24, the series takes place in the far future, and I found this chunk of the series a bit of a slog, due in the part to the art of John K. Snyder, which is extremely not my thing. Also, it’s science-fiction story taking place hundreds of years in the future that is actually about the era in which it is written, and its timescale for complete societal collapse seems way off. It’s also largely about religious corruption, but within a fictional world where the Catholic Church holds a vast amount of sway, this seems like an extremely dated concern at this point in time. Also, and I should’ve mentioned this earlier, one of the major ongoing plot threads in Grendel, that nonetheless doesn’t come up all the time, is the presence of vampires.

Wagner continues to experiment as a writer and as a storyteller. The last chunk of the Comico storyline is drawn entirely by Tim Sale, but with each issue split into two different storytelling approaches. One relays a vast amount of exposition with illustration meant to inspired by Japanese woodcuts, the other is more traditional comics about vampires. I like Tim Sale’s work, and it’s nice to see it in a context other than those blockbuster Jeph Loeb collaborations. In keeping with the book’s sense of the wider world of comics, the choices of artistic collaborators, often near the start of their careers, is pretty interesting.

That becomes more pronounced once the series enters the nineties, and Wagner starts having other people write miniseries under the Grendel Tales banner. Ho Che Anderson, Teddy Kristiansen, and Paul Grist all draw chunks. I love Paul Grist’s work, and even if the story (written by Steve Seagle) is not as good as the work he would write for himself, it looks good with Bernie Mireault providing painted color, and there seems to be enough of an understanding of how cartooning works to know that he should letter the comic as well.

The letter columns remain interesting, both in terms of who writes in (Chris Pitzer, future founder of Adhouse Books) and in the addition of recommended reading from Wagner and Schutz: We get recommendations for The Batman Adventures by Kelley Puckett and Mike Parobeck, Paul Pope’s The Ballad Of Doctor Richardson, David Lapham’s Stray Bullets, Acme Novelty Library, Jason Lutes’ Jar Of Fools, Joe Sacco’s Palestine. Schutz says that Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett would make a good Grendel comic.

And the whole Dark Horse run commences with Pat McEown drawing a ten-issue series called Grendel: War Child, with initial covers by Simon Bisley. This is a chunk that is fairly easy to read, action-movie in its beats and approach to an issue. At this point in the story, the far futre, the Grendel of the title is a robot, running across the planet. This is the last thing Wagner writes before the Grendel Tales series begins in earnest. McEown would write and draw Grendel Tales: Homecoming, with coloring and lettering by Dave Cooper. Dave Cooper’s Weasel series would later host McEown’s short story “No Escape,” but McEown mostly works as a storyboard artist, although his graphic novel Hair Shirt was released in 2010 to some acclaim. I haven’t read it, but do think he made a strong Grendel artist.

Grendel, like Hellboy, attracted very strong artists to work with an artist they admire, and nowhere is this more clear than in a series of anthologies published using a black, white, and red color scheme. The red, in most cases, adds very little, but basically every mainstream-ish comics artist whose work I appreciate pops up for a turn. John Paul Leon, Cliff Chiang, Kelley Jones, Duncan Fegredo, Guy Davis kick in an eight-pager. All of this work is collected now in Grendel Omnibus Volume One: Hunter Rose, filled with retellings and fleshing out of the character’s initial iteration now left to languish. There is also a lengthy miniseries, Behold The Devil, from 2008, drawn by Matt Wagner collected within that volume. This story concerns Hunter Rose performing an exorcism to confront the creature that possesses him, and seeing a glimpse of the future -- all of the stories and volumes I’ve outlined above -- in a piece that feels like it’s maybe stolen from the conclusion of From Hell.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that Grendel Tales also brought the Croatian creators Darko Macan and Edvin Biukovic to American comics, with Biukovic lettering his work for maximum impact. This story was widely acclaimed, garnered its creators Eisner awards and work on other properties. I would need to check the exact timing, but this might’ve been what led Macan to work with his countryman Igor Kordey on American comics as well. This also might’ve been the first Grendel comic I read, having been talked-up as self-contained, but the mythos is vast and I am due for a reread of it.

After War Child (and a series of back-up stories by Matt Wagner that ran in Grendel Tales) there was a prose novel, Past Prime, written by Greg Rucka, that continues to move the timeline forward, that I believe is collected in the fourth Omnibus volume. There was also just recently a series called Devil’s Odyssey Wagner wrote and drew and had his son color, that is now in a separate hardcover volume. I haven’t read either of these, nor have I read Wagner’s recent stories where the Hunter Rose Grendel meets The Shadow.

The comic is far too inconsistent to be considered a masterpiece, and also too vast for casual engagement. I am writing this post in part because it feels insane that I read it at all, despite most of it being very good. It’s a genre work too challenging to be appreciated as straight-forward fun. It is, like The Maxx, both confusing from an adult perspective but likely life-changing to a teen. (One letter comes from a kid who says he started reading it at nine and is thirteen now and wishes the comic didn’t have a label that said “Not For Children” on it because some retailers won’t sell it to him: That kid rules, but I also really like the “not for children” label.) There is a small drawing of Grendel in the CF sketchbook Sediment and it is easy to see him vibing on the comic: When considered in the abstract, it is plainly very cool.

[casautism]

a deep dive into my dean winchester playlist

(this is not all of them, there’s so many zeppelin references that i might explode trying to get all of them)

as far as song choice goes, i either picked my favorites, or ones I thought applied to dean best !

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

S1E01 - pilot

sam goes through dean’s cassette collection and lists mötorhead, metallica, and black sabbath

motörhead [orgasmatron / overkill]

metallica [creeping death / metal militia]

black sabbath [sabbath bloody sabbath / neon knights]

other motörhead references include… S10E22, S14E19

other metallica references include… S1E4, S4E12

other black sabbath references include… S2E18, S10E22, S11E11

☆ ☆ ☆

S1E10 - asylum

dean introduces himself as nigel tufnel (of spinal tap)

[stonehenge / hell hole]

☆ ☆ ☆

S1E11 - scarecrow

dean introduces himself as john bonham (led zeppelin’s late drummer)

[ramble on / traveling riverside blues] <- also listed as his favorite songs in S4E18

other zeppelin references include… S3E5, S5E5, S8E16, and probably like 30 others

☆ ☆ ☆

S1E14 - nightmare

dean introduces him and sam as “father simmons and father frehley” (gene simmons and ace frehley of kiss)

[rock and roll all nite / detroit rock city]

other kiss references include… S10E18

☆ ☆ ☆

S1E17 - hell house

dean recognizes the symbols drawn from a blue öyster cult record

[then came the last days of may / (don’t fear) the reaper]

☆ ☆ ☆

S2E09 - croatoan

the boys pose as us marshals billy gibbons and frank beards (zz top)

[gimme all your lovin / sharp dressed man]

☆ ☆ ☆

S3E16 - no rest for the wicked

dean uses a license with the name “hagar” (sammy hagar of van halen)

[jump / runnin with the devil]

☆ ☆ ☆

S4E5 - monster movie

the boys use the aliases “agent angus and agent young” (angus young of ac/dc)

[hells bells / thunderstruck]

☆ ☆ ☆

S4E6 - yellow fever

sam and dean use the aliases “tyler and perry” (steven tyler and joe perry of aerosmith)

[same old song and dance / walk this way]

☆ ☆ ☆

S5E14 - my bloody valentine

the boys use the aliases cliff and marley (famous reggae musicians jimmy cliff and bob marley)

[I Can See Clearly Now / You Can Get It If You Really Want]

[Could You Be Loved / Get Up, Stand Up]

☆ ☆ ☆

S8E2 - what’s up, tiger mommy?

dean introduces himself as sam as “agents neil and sixx” (vince neil and nikki sixx of mötley crüe)

[Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) / Bastard]

☆ ☆ ☆

S8E4 - bitten

the boys identify themselves as “special agents rose and hudson” (saul hudson (slash) and axl rose of guns n’ roses)

[november rain / paradise city]

☆ ☆ ☆

S8E8 - hunteri heroici

team free will uses the aliases “nash, crosby, and stills” (graham nash, david crosby, and stephen stills, famous folk rock musicians)

[I Used To Be A King / Better Days]

[Immigration Man / I’d Swear There Was Somebody Here]

[Love The One You’re With / Rock and Roll Crazies]

☆ ☆ ☆

In S8E17 - goodbye stranger

the boys use the aliases “tandy and lynne” (richard tandy and jeff lynne of electric light orchestra)

[Mr. Blue Sky / Telephone Line]

☆ ☆ ☆

S9E14 - captives

the boys use the aliases “nicks and mcvie” (stevie nicks and christine mcvie of fleetwood mac)

[Landslide / Dreams]

☆ ☆ ☆

S10E13 - halt & catch fire

sam and dean use the aliases “cobain and grohl” (kurt cobain and dave grohl of nirvana)

[About A Girl / Where Did You Sleep Last Night]

☆ ☆ ☆

S10E14 - the executioners song

sam and dean use the aliases “moore and ranaldo” (thursten moore and lee ranaldo of sonic youth)

[Teen Age Riot / Superstar]

☆ ☆ ☆

S10E19 - the werther project

dean goes undercover as a member of the neighborhood watch using the name dwight twilley

[I’m On Fire / Looking For The Magic]

☆ ☆ ☆

S10E22 - the prisoner

the sherrif finds an id using the name freddie mercury (of queen)

[the show must go on / somebody to love]

☆ ☆ ☆

S11E4 - baby

dean uses the alias “agent walsh” (joe walsh of the eagles)

[Hotel California / Life In The Fast Lane]

☆ ☆ ☆

S11E13 - love hurts

dean uses the alias “agent weller” (paul weller of the jam)

[Town Called Malice / In The City]

☆ ☆ ☆

S11E20 - don’t call me shurley

sam and dean use the aliases “agent greer and ehart” (billy greer and phil ehart of kansas)

[carry on wayward son / play the game tonight]

☆ ☆ ☆

—————————

that was a lot. the complete list is can be found here !

i should have a “deep dive into my sam winchester playlist” coming soon !

[kimchokejin]

music tag games 🎶

is it cheating to put them all in one post when everyone’s doing it?

thank you to everyone who tagged me i had a full day’s worth of music recs to listen to and bts songs to revisit happy hondadays to ME!

game #1: using your spotify top 100 playlist, shuffle 10 songs and tag 10 people.

thank you @cordiallyfuturedwight @wistfulocean and @seoksao​ for the tag! 💕

i will give the number they were on my list as well

99. Jackie Onassis by Sammy Rae & The Friends

51. Wild Roses by Jack Van Cleaf

73. Stick Season by Noah Kahan

92. New Shapes (feat. Christine and the Queens and Carolin Polachek) by Charli XCX

80. First Thing to Go by Hayley Williams

70. Mic Drop (Steve Aoki Remix) - Full Length Edition by BTS

88. religion (u can lay your hands on me) by Shura

63. No Blueberries by DPR IAN, DPR LIVE, CL

89. Lights by BTS

8. Vibez by ZAYN

game #2 (sponsored by kim taehyung): 💛 choose an artist you like and use the name of their songs to answer this as close to the truth as possible!

tagged by @cordiallyfuturedwight @jiminsproof @blueside-hobi @wistfulocean @seoksao​ thank you you guys are so creative these were so fun to read!

name of the artist: Halsey (it was working too well i had to go for it)

what is your gender: I am not a woman, I’m a god (“i’m god” - kim taehyung)

describe yourself: Ashley (you don’t need to be entertained. i’m entertaining myself)

how do you feel: Alone (but in a good way, an “i needed this” way 😌)

if you could go anywhere, where would it be: Roman Holiday

describe your best friend: Darling 🥰

your favourite time of day: 3am

if your life was a tv show, what would it be called: Still Learning

what is life to you: Hurricane, Heaven in Hiding

relationship status: Bad at Love 😬

what do you fear: Strangers (”i’m a little shy” - kim taehyung), Devil in Me (”i’m a bad boy” - kim taehyung)

game #3: share your top 5 current songs

tagged by @clutterbugs thank you emma!!! i feel like i get to use the free space in scrabble

1. Kiss in My Heart by Junk Fujiyama

i discovered this song a while back on a city pop playlist i think? and it’s been stuck in my head recently (even before indigo!) so i’ve been playing it. it’s just a fun happy song, it sounds like the artist is smiling as he’s singing it

2. ILLELLA by MAMAMOO

another super fun song and i didn’t think it was possible but i am gayer because of it. i have so many feelings about this i will have to hold myself back but i am v i b r a t i n g something’s about to break

3. girl like me by Blessing

this song is acoustic but i think also r&b influenced? i like how the lyrics are somewhat specific but the insecurity is she’s talking about is still super relatable to a lot of people and the singer’s voice is kind of unique

4. complex (demo) by Katie Gregson-MacLeod

this song is just kinda heartbreaking tbh at the end of the day it’s your typical woman trying to “save” a man who's too far gone to spare her a second thought story but the vocals really carry the emotion across in a way i don’t hear all the time so i think it’s worth a listen if you...want to feel sad

5. Ketchum, ID by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus

i have been in a folksy mood lately and i think a few julien baker/phoebe bridgers/lucy daucus songs came up in my listening and that reminded me about this album. this is my favorite song from it. i think the line “i am never anywhere anywhere i go, when i’m home i’m never there long enough to know” is just really hitting for me rn? i also can’t get over how this is the last song on the album they ended the whole album with

BONUS GAME! i wasn’t tagged in this but i wanted to share this while i’m here in case anyone was interested in doing this for themselves. if you have spotify this bot will judge you for your music taste. it’s like the anti-spotify wrapped. this is what they had to say about mine:

i will tag @joon-rkive, @cheekyquokka, @mutedstring​, @jinsquishes​, @senor-hoberto​ and anyone who tagged me in one game but hasn’t been tagged in one of the others (does that make sense?). no pressure just if any of the games interest you 💕 feel free to ignore me!!!

[myevilmouse]

Tag I’m It

Tag 10 People You Want To Get To Know Better

Thank you for the tag @hobbit0fhobbiton​!

Three ships:

Luke/Mara...ah just let the hero be fuckin happy, you know?

Thryce (Thrawn/Pryce)...my evil OTP

Braime (Brienne/Jaime)...enemies to lovers *chef’s kiss*  Damn I shipped them SO HARD IT WAS THE ONLY REASON I WATCHED

First ever ship: I was, like you, totally smitten with Christine and the Phantom but I do think my first ever ship was Briar Rose/Prince Philip cause I’m Old.

Last song/album: We had on some German music television marathon and they played something that made me change the channel but I think the name of the thing was “Charlie Brown” and it was a “new release.”  It was not good at all so sorry I am not going to google the artist...

If I could say last music I listened to that I liked...husband is watching Fury Road and the whole last 10 minutes, those strings here at the end are quite lovely. *googles composer* Ok Tom Holkenborg, you get the shout out!  (too bad the film didn’t deserve this score haha sorry not a fan)

Last movie: Kinda funny considering your username @hobbit0fhobbiton​ but HBO was showing Return of the King today and it’s one of those films I can’t turn off if I catch it...

It was the lighting of the beacons scene, I mean, c’mon cinema doesn’t get better really.

Currently reading: Just finished Elevation by Stephen King (novella is generous--more like a long short story)

Currently watching: Terminator Dark Fate is on the telly and I love me a good action film so it’s my current background noise.

Last thing you wrote/are writing right now: The last things I wrote were two drabbles:  one about “sparring with Luke” and one about "art gallery with Thrawn” (those were prompts from helpful third parties).  Last thing I published on AO3 is my Luke/Hera ship pioneer Sound Recognition, and it’s a short little thing but I like it!

Thank you again so much for the tag!  It’s fun to write something while I wait for my muse to wake up! 🤗💙

[andrewmoocow]

Little Homeworld Life chapter 23: Eye of the Beholder (originally posted on May 29, 2023)

AN: Took me a long while, but Squaridot has her own episode at long last! Unfortunately, it'll be one of the last two fun slice of life episodes we'll get, the second being the one after this, before we move onto the finale of Little Homeworld and inevitably, the start of this universe's 12-chapter grand finale "Steven Universe Snake Eyes". Yeah, if Ronaldo's outburst last episode was any indication, combined with the final scene of the last episode of Black Pearl Brigade, we shall finally meet the Snake People, or Sneople, face to face. However, what I have planned has yet to come. In the meantime, have some Peridot-brand shenanigans in probably a much shorter chapter than usual.

Synopsis: Squaridot learns about meep morps from Peridot.

Cast:

Shelby Rabara as Squaridot, Peridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Laz, Zuli

Gal Gadot as Desert Glass

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, The Black Pearl Brigade, Yellow Pearl

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Superfan Rose, Hippie Rose, Shy Rose, Carnelian, Skinny Jasper

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Casey Lee Williams as Cat's Eye

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Featuring Nolan North as Ross Roberts

--

"Howdy folks, my name is Ross Roberts, and welcome to this week's installment of The Wonders of Creativity." A painter in a ridiculously huge afro said in an incredibly soothing voice to his viewers at home. Viewers like Squaridot, for example, who was watching the program very intently. "For this episode, we're going to paint a nice little picture of a cozy cabin in the woods. That's right." The host began his demonstration by showing off each of his paints as he stuck his brush in them. "Now then, we're just going to start with a little Virtuous Viridian for the grass. Can't have a forest without grass."

"Fascinating." Squaridot muttered in wonder as Ross Roberts continued painting his forest scene and giving instructions overly relaxingly.

"I do declare; we're making some good progress so far." Ross stated after he finished painting the grass, some happy little trees, and the beginnings of a bright sun in the sky." He then dabbed his brush in some blue, which he dubbed Blue Angels. "Now then, let's add some Blue Angels into the mix to form a clear summer sky." Unfortunately, Ross lost his grip and accidentally spilled his entire pallet onto his canvas, much to Squaridot's shock and dismay. "Whoo, that did not go the way I wanted it to!" he exclaimed at his own clumsiness before turning to his viewer with a shrug. "But that's okay. Oftentimes in art, you make mistakes, but they can also be opportunities to learn. I may not have gotten the painting I wanted, but I can still make something new out of it."

"Like what?" Squaridot asked Ross, even though he could not answer, before he pulled out a paintball gun from off-screen and fired it at his canvas, stunning Squaridot as the canvas was utterly pelted with paintballs. "WOW!"

"There now, that ain't so bad." Ross declared serenely. "Now then, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, folks. So from all of us here, I'd like to wish you a happy painting; God bless us, everyone, and remember, hugs, not drugs." The program then ended, leaving Squaridot amazed at how Ross Roberts was so calm the entire episode.

"That was so interesting!" Squaridot gasped to herself. "I never realized how you can do literally anything with art! I must tell somebody about this." Luckily, she knew exactly who to tell about her experience.

--

"Not bad, you guys." Lapis complimented her sculpting students' work elsewhere in Little Homeworld. "Hey, if you want, you can submit your work to a meep morp show we're putting on later today."

"Excellent." Black Rutile declared while creating a sculpture of herself from clay. "I've been constantly pondering building a statue to myself in honor of how amazing I am, and I must display it for all to see."

"Boy, you're as conceited as ever." Peridot stuck her tongue out at Black Rutile before seeing Squaridot rush up to her. "Oh, Squaridot, good day to you."

"Peridot, I come to tell you something that I really want to do!" Squaridot exclaimed eagerly. "I want to do some art!"

"Oh, took you long enough!" Peridot laughed heartily at her squarer counterpart. "Though Lapis and I prefer to call them meep morps, we're okay if you insist on calling it art."

"Good to see a fellow artist among us," Lapis added. "What made you want to pursue it, Square?"

"I was just binging episodes upon episodes of Ross Roberts' The Wonders of Creativity," Squaridot answered. "I've just been suckered into how soothing the host's voice was."

"Yeah, that is definitely a big draw of the program," Peridot stated with a hand on Squaridot's shoulder. "But on a related subject, let's talk about all the different kinds of meep morps you can do! For example, Lapis teaches sculpting, but there's also painting, drawing, literature, photography, and music. Or you can do what we do and throw random things together to make something new."

"Hey, that reminds me," Squaridot replied. "what made you two pursue art, and why do you call it meep morps?"

"Well, I chose to call them meep morps because I thought it would be funny," Lapis revealed. "I mean, just those words together kept making me laugh, and it just stuck."

"As for how we got into artwork, that's quite a tale," Peridot added. "You see, it all started when we were making ourselves home at the barn."

--

"Well, Lapis, how are you doing remaking this old barn?" Peridot asked Lapis while the two were busy remodeling the barn to fit their needs. Earlier that day, Lapis had tossed a truck into the wall above the big doors as a way of venting her frustrations with Jasper, and that gave Peridot the idea to spruce up the place instead of leaving it to be devoured by the numerous termites lurking there.

"Coming along nicely," Lapis replied while lifting up the silo with a pair of water arms and positioning it at the side of the barn. "You're good to go now!"

"Excellent!" Peridot declared before she welded the silo into the wall with her tools. "That should do the trick; the barn's exterior has officially been overhauled. Now what to do about the inside?"

"Not sure if we really need a fridge or heating or something," Lapis observed the current status of their pet project. "What do you think?"

"I don't know; maybe some art could do," Peridot suggested before pulling out her tablet and looking up art pieces online. "Unfortunately, a lot of these seem ridiculously expensive. I mean, this old Japanese painting of an orange fire ninja fighting a blue ice ninja is worth $1,081,992! Do you know how much that's worth in Minerals?!"

"Beats me; I was never really up to date on the Gem economy." Lapis shrugged while Peridot crunched the Gem equivalent of such a price.

"About 89,1006 minerals!" Peridot yelled in response and shoved her tablet in Lapis's face. "We don't have that kind of money!"

"So, are you suggesting we make some ourselves?" Lapis suggested. "What ideas do you have?"

"I'm glad you asked." Peridot proclaimed as she looked around the farm. "There's just so much we can do with all this old junk lying around. Plus, it could be a good, and less dangerous, way of coping with stress."

"Yeah, I like the sound of that meep morp." Lapis agreed before she started laughing. "Oh my stars, why did I think that?!" she chuckled. "It's just such a funny word!"

"That did sound pretty funny!" Peridot added while rolling on the grass in amusement. "Why don't we start calling out art pieces meep morps?!"

"Yeah, great idea!" Lapis continued laughing before she realized what she and Peridot just did. "Wait, what?"

--

Back in the present and later in the day, Squaridot had begun work on her own meep morp to enter into the art show with help from Peridot, Lapis, Laz, and Zuli. For her first attempt, she had constructed a perfect replica of her old Attack Pod from back when she was a servant of Hessonite. "Well, what do you think? Not bad for my first attempt, huh?"

"Yeah, not half bad," Peridot responded while knocking on the replica Attack Pod. "It looks almost like the real thing!"

"That's because it is!" Squaridot proclaimed. "Well, partially the real thing. Do you know that whole Ship of Theseus thing? Well, I basically took what I could find of the original Attack Pod and replaced everything that was broken! In a way, I basically rebuilt it."

"Yeah, but how much of the original is still left, I wonder?" Zuli asked quizzically.

"Let's not get too deep into this." Laz stopped Zuli's philosophizing in its tracks before she knocked on the statue. "You sure this isn't going to turn on at any moment and go on a rampage?"

"Oh nonsense, I took very special precautions to ensure such a thing won't happen!" Squaridot exclaimed nervously before the machine suddenly activated. "Oh no."

"TARGET CONFIRMED; INITIATE ASSAULT." The Attack Pod droned as it fired away at its surroundings, causing nearby Gems to panic while Squaridot awkwardly shuffled away.

"No, wait, come back!" Peridot yelled as she chased after the Attack Pod.

"Wait here, Squaridot, we'll handle this," Lapis said as she flew up and followed Peridot to stop the Pod.

"So, very special precaution, eh?" Laz smirked at a very nervous Squaridot.

"I'm so sorry for all of this." Squaridot meekly apologized.

"Don't worry, squirt," Zuli cheered Squaridot up. "Hopefully, we can find some other form of art that won't start destroying everything in sight!"

--

Once Peridot and Lapis stopped the rampaging Attack Pod, they returned to training Squaridot in the ways of meep morps. This time, they sat her in front of an easel with a set of paints. "Okay, so what do you want me to do now?" Squaridot asked.

"Anything, ah doy!" Lapis advised Squaridot. "That's the beauty of painting; you can basically do whatever you want. Then again, the same goes for all kinds of art."

"Anything I want, huh? Then anything you shall get!" Squaridot declared as she got to work on her painting. When she finished, however, Peridot and the Lapides quickly noticed how familiar the smiling woman she painted was. "How do you like it?"

"Hate to break it to you, but that's already been done." Laz gave her critiques.

"But on the plus side, I love how you perfectly recreated it." Zuli added politely.

"Wait, you mean to tell me someone already painted this?!" Squaridot complained before she threw her finished painting away and started anew. "I must find something else to paint, something way more original!"

"Don't get so discouraged; you'll find your footing." Peridot calmed Squaridot's nerves before discovering that the other Peridot had now completed a painting of a human man with two pairs of his arms and legs superimposed on him and spread apart. "See, you're getting good at it!"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I've seen that one before too," Lapis added while resisting the urge to laugh at the nude man Squaridot just created. "Try another!"

"Will do!" Squaridot declared before painting what looked like a massive tidal wave looming over three boats in a storm. "No!" she complained before throwing it away and painting what looked like a beautiful starry night. "No!"

"What are they doing?" Jasper muttered as she and White Topaz watched Squaridot paint the day away.

"Looks like Squaridot is painting." White Topaz observed. "Should we go help her? She's looking really distressed."

"Naw, this is something she has to do herself." Jasper coldly replied before walking away from her girlfriend. "Come on, Paz, let's check up on the rest of the entrants."

For what felt like hours, Squaridot accidentally recreated famous paintings only to throw them out and start again. Feeling increasingly discouraged, she eventually gave up and threw her pallet on the canvas.

"Hey, this looks good!" Lapis pointed out.

"No, this is exactly what Ross Roberts did!" Squaridot complained before throwing that canvas away as well. "What else can we do?"

--

Another kind of meep-morping that Squaridot attempted was sculpting, and she had Lapis and Peridot serve as her models. She hoped beyond belief that things would go right this time, that the Attack Pod wouldn't show up again, or she'd end up ripping off some other famous artwork.

"Good, good," Squaridot muttered to herself while looking over at Lapis posing with Peridot on her lap. "Not bad so far. Ooh, this is looking fantastic!"

"Maybe this won't fail this time," Laz said hopefully as Squaridot finished her sculpture and presented it to her models.

"How does it look?" Squaridot asked eagerly while presenting her finished product to the two Gems.

"Hey, not bad!" Lapis complimented Squaridot's sculpture, relieved that nothing will go wrong for once. "I really like how you captured Peridot's energy here."

"Oh, finally!" Squaridot sighed in relief when she realized something. "But I think it could be better."

"Oh lord, it's good enough!" Laz snapped at Squaridot's negative self-talk. "You did good enough!"

"Hey Laz, calm down!" Zuli tried to settle Laz's anger. "Though really, it's not like you're going to accidentally drop it on the ground and ruin it."

"Well, I am far more careful than that," Squaridot said while gently putting the sculpture down, only to step on it accidentally. "Great." She muttered disdainfully before walking away. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to deal with artist's block now."

"Squaridot, wait!" Peridot yelled and chased after the other Peridot. "You can't just give up that easily!"

"I'm not giving up; I just need new ideas!" Squaridot clarified and took a deep breath. "Would you like to know what I was doing after you saved me from the ship?"

"I don't know. What?" Peridot asked.

"I joined Black Rutile," Squaridot answered, much to Peridot's surprise. "No, it's not what you think! I was only with her for a few months before Hessonite found me! Let me explain. Initiate super wavy flashback effect!"

--

Almost immediately after being saved by the Crystal Gems from Hessonite's warship and being brought up to speed on Era 3, Squaridot was scooped up by Morganite during the early stages of the Rutile Rebels' formation to hopefully indoctrinate another victim of the Crystal Gems' oppression into their cause.

During their time together, Morganite helped Squaridot develop and master her ferrokinetic abilities, and they built many of Black Rutile's war machines and technology together, such as surveillance drones, dropships, and weapons of mass destruction. However, Squaridot felt that Black Rutile wasn't really fighting for the good of all Gems; she was just an angry bigot who refused to let go of her past.

"How has your training been progressing, 4E3M-7ZY?" Morganite asked Squaridot one evening while the Peridot was in the middle of meditation. "I hope you've been keeping up on your education."

"I'm doing well, Morganite," Squaridot answered. "Black Rutile's nuclear fusion device is almost done; we must make some final touches. Once it's done, we can finally use it to force the Decapodians into servitude."

"Excellent work, Peridot," Morganite said with a smile and a pat on Squaridot's head. "I knew we could put your genius to good use." Suddenly, security alarms began going off, signifying that an intruder may have entered the facility. "What's going on?"

"Morganite, we have a break-in!" a Ruby soldier declared from the other side of the room. "That Hessonite just laid siege to our base and is taking down every Gem in sight!"

"Her again?!" Morganite growled before she turned to Squaridot. "You stay here; I'll deal with her!"

"That won't be necessary, Morganite," Hessonite said as she suddenly appeared behind the renegade designer and prepared to strike. Still, Morganite thought fast and made Hessonite's sword collide with her Rejuvenator. "Stop what you're doing right now, and come quietly!"

"Never; she has come too far to give up now!" Morganite retorted before turning back to Squaridot. "What are you waiting for, Peridot? Leave now!"

"Wait, Peridot?!" Hessonite exclaimed. "Which Peridot?"

"Peridot Facet-4E3M Cut-7ZY." Squaridot reintroduced herself to Hessonite. "Fancy seeing you again, Hessonite. How have you been doing?"

"Ever since I helped Steven stop Demantoid and Pyrope, a lot of vigilante work fighting rebel Gems," Hessonite stated before knocking the Rejuvenator out of Morganite's hand. "Morganite was but one of the Gems I've been tracking down."

"Don't think about taking her away from me!" Morganite said while backflipping away. "This Peridot is but one of the innocent Gems that I saved from being brainwashed by the Crystal Gems, and I won't let you capture another!"

"I was not brainwashed!" Squaridot exclaimed. "They simply offered me a new life, and I simply turned it down for now."

"Well, what do you say, Peridot," Hessonite replied. "still willing to accept a second chance?"

"Don't listen to her; it's a trap!" Morganite begged Squaridot. "Just go away so Hessonite and I can talk one-to-one." She then pointed at Hessonite. "Just you and me and my GUARDS!" At Morganite's command, an army of Jasper and Amethyst guards burst into Morganite's chamber to assist their boss against the intruder. "Seize the traitor to the old ways!"

"One Morganite and nineteen Quartzes against little old me sounds like pretty bad odds," Hessonite observed just as Squaridot walked up beside her, wielding a pipe.

"Yeah, for them." Squaridot declared as the two charged into battle against the guards. "And by the way, call me Squaridot."

"If you say so," Hessonite replied.

--

"So, after defeating the guards and escaping, Hessonite decided to take me in as one of her sidekicks." Squaridot finished explaining her flashback to Peridot. "As you can observe, I didn't stick around long enough to absorb Black Rutile's manifesto, which leads us to today."

"Now, what does that have to do with our current situation?" Peridot asked. "And why didn't I hear about this before now, and yet this is being treated like this has always happened?"

"What I'm trying to say is that just like how Hessonite gave me a new approach, I need a new approach again right now," Squaridot said before a familiar voice began echoing through her mind.

"Oftentimes in art, you make mistakes, but they can also be opportunities to learn. I may not have gotten the painting I wanted, but I can still make something new out of it." Squaridot imagined a floating Ross Roberts head appearing on her shoulder, repeating the lesson he learned from his painting mistake before slowly fading away. "Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes, mistakes…."

"Wait a second, that's it!" Squaridot proclaimed excitedly. "I made so many mistakes today, but what if I can do something with all those mistakes?!"

"That's a stellar idea!" Peridot replied. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Just some voices in my head reminding me of what I heard earlier," Squaridot answered. "Been happening a lot lately."

"That's what we call using your head, Squaridot." A wrinkly green face with a male voice in Squaridot's head agreed.

"You have a good idea there." Another green face with a female voice added.

"WESLEY." A strange robotic voice declared.

--

Later that day, the art show had finally begun with Gems from all over Little Homeworld coming over to display the meep morps they spent that day creating, ranging from paintings to statues, photographs, and more; everybody had a method of art that they wanted to show off.

"And here we have this magnanimous statue dedicated to me." Black Rutile explained the bronze statue of herself holding one hand out while the other was holding the hand of Aquamarine as the two stood on top of Steven's dead body. "I consider this a monument to the idea of perseverance and how in the face of seemingly impossible odds, truth, justice, and a better tomorrow will always find a way."

"Oh, that's nothing; witness my statue!" Desert Glass proclaimed while making her sand sculpture of herself animate itself through her movements. "Try and beat that."

"Guys, this doesn't need to be a competition." Chest Rose said while she, Navy Rose, and Shoulder Rose demonstrated their meep morp, which was made up of various objects, all stuck together to make a collage. "I gathered up all the materials."

"So that's what happened to the trash bags!" Amethyst exclaimed, pointing out some of the items used for the Roses' piece.

"As for our piece, we'd like to show off pictures of all our previous adventures," Nacre said before she and the Black Pearl Brigade presented photos of their bounty-hunting adventures, ranging from their showdown with Mr. Manco on Sergione-29, meeting Sylvia Spectre, vacationing on Kyukanza, and many more.

"We truly had some glorious adventures." Braids declared.

"Some you may not have even heard of before, like this one," Cap added before presenting a picture of an adventure to the planet Yorha. "Sculder felt really at home here, but he had to choose between living among his fellow machines or sticking with us."

"But eventually, after we convinced the Yorhans to get off their shiny metal asses and help stop Andesine, they realized that Sculder's real home was on the Servant," Pony stated while the Pearls' robot companion Sculder gave a thumbs up.

"I simply painted this picture of a number 2 pencil for my artwork." Teal Zircon said before pulling a tarp off her painting of a pencil and holding a pencil in her hands to compare. "I don't know why I painted this, but it helped me remember that the most important thing in life is to use a number 2 pencil." She then angrily growled, "Number 2!"

"That is certainly a unique idea for art." Garnet raised an eyebrow. "Pearls, what did you do?"

"Our piece was far more refined than all of this!" Yellow Pearl boasted as she, Blue Pearl, and Volleyball presented a tribute to the struggles Pearls faced in the old days. "We dub this piece Little Rebellions. Carnelian and her Jasper friend helped us with this one."

"Thanks for giving us credit!" Skinny Jasper exclaimed as she and Carnelian clapped.

"Woo, go, Pearls!" Carnelian whooped.

"And finally, let's see what Squaridot did." White Topaz stated while turning to Squaridot, who replied by pulling off a tarp revealing an amalgamation of all her attempts at art thus far. Her paintings now decorated the arms and legs of the subdued Attack Pod, and at the top was her destroyed sculpture of Peridot & Lapis. "Ooh, this looks neat! What do you call this one?"

"I call my piece "Mistakes," after an epiphany I had from my continued attempts at meep morps." Squaridot explained. "I got it from an episode of The Wonders of Creativity with Ross Roberts, and he made a mistake just like me when making meep morps, but he could take it in stride because he says they can also be opportunities to learn. I may not have gotten the painting I wanted, but I can still make something new out of it."

"That is really profound." IQ gasped in awe as everybody started clapping.

"Not bad little Peridot, not bad at all." Tails agreed with IQ.

"Please, Holly, and could do better than that." Cat's Eye confidently stated.

"Don't get too cocky, Cat." Holly Blue advised.

"We're so proud of you." Peridot and the three Lapises said in unison.

As Squaridot began taking a bow for her efforts, she noticed Morganite standing among the applauding Gems, who then gave her an approving nod. The two may have parted ways, but Squaridot still saw that Morganite held some respect for her.

But hidden in the crowd, Black Rutile used the applause to further her devious plots. A quick trip with the Warp Pad allowed her to steal some Gem shards left over from the Diamonds' dismantling of the Cluster and the various Cluster experiments. In particular, Black Rutile got her hands on the fragments of a Phoenix Lapis Lazuli, an Emerald, two Citrines, and a Demantoid, which she knew would be perfect for adding to her forces and satisfying the needs of one of her subordinates.

--

I told you this would be shorter than usual. I mean, it's probably a given since the final two chapters of the series will probably be far longer. But on another subject, next chapter will be the last fun one before we get into the more serious stuff because we'll be heading to the Olympics! Well, not really the Olympics, those are far later in real life, these are basically the Olympics at home. I'm getting ahead of myself, see you next week.

[rockzone]

Dion - Girl Friends

Release Date: 8 Mar 2024

'Girl Friends' is the new album from rock and blues legend Dion. It finds him collaborating with a stellar array of female musicians.

Ahead of the album, he released online videos for the tracks “Soul Force” with Susan Tedeschi and “An American Hero” with Carlene Carter. Dion’s other collaborators on the album are Rory Block, Shemekia Copeland, Debbie Davies, Randi Fishenfeld, Sue Foley, Christine Ohlman, Maggie Rose, Joanne Shaw Taylor and Valerie Tyson.

The album is emblematic of Dion’s renewed creative output over the past few years continuing a storied career that now touches eight decades. He kicked off this decade with 2020’s 'Blues With Friends' and followed with 2021’s 'Stomping Ground'.

Girl Friends includes a commentary by Dion titled “The Feminine Genius” in which he notes, “I write about my preoccupations, and I know no better preoccupation than the female of the species. A friend of mine is a philosopher, and he talks often about ‘the feminine genius’ - the undeniable difference that’s in women and the difference that they make in the world. I’m grateful to my friend for giving it a name, because the fact has always been plain to me, but I could never put it into words.”

Dion observes, “I’ve noticed that men play a different tune when there are women in the room -  and it’s a different kind of jam when women are in the mix. I don’t know why this is so, but it is. Maybe we men, at some primitive level, are competing for their attention. As I said, I don’t know why or how. I do know it makes better music and we’re all better for it.

“I wanted the best music possible. So, I wrote up a batch of duets for me and my ‘girl friends,’ the women who inhabit my headphones - the women who make me turn up the volume when they drop into my radio. I invited them to join me, one by one, and here they are, wailing on the guitar and into the microphone. You’ll hear the feminine genius in every groove of this record, and you won’t forget any of it”.

[seaoflove07]

Love Planted a Rose 🌹

~ Dark ~

• Artwork by The Drawables •

Full Art Cover and Story Description, Here.

OCXCanon. 🔪 Azusa & Christine’s Story. 🌹

Fan Fiction Written by Me.

Fandom: Diabolik Lovers.

⚠️⚠️ Self-harm and Mention of drowning. ⚠️

The Mukami Mansion. Friday Night.

- The scene starts in Azusa’s Bedroom -

Monologue

I feel sad and disappointed.

The Princess I've been dreaming about,

For the past three weeks,

She suddenly stopped visiting my dreams,

Since Wednesday.

I miss her beautiful smile and the way I felt,

When I was near her.

But who will want a piece of trash like me?

Now here I am left behind and abandoned again.

Even in my dreams, they leave me.

That's how my life has always been,

Since childhood,

And that's how it's always going to be.

Being alive truly feels meaningless.

At least sleeping was better,

When the princess appeared in my dreams.

Even if it wasn't a reality,

She made me happy.

I can breathe and move my body,

But I am dead inside.

Pain is the only proof that I’m alive.

- Azusa cuts his arm -

Staring at the bloody wound.

Azusa: “Justin… she left… you did warn me… this was going to happen…”

… …

“Please… stop laughing at me…”

(While Justin continued to laugh and mock me. I couldn't help to remember the first time I dreamt about the princess…)

Flashback

Azusa was walking through the most beautiful forest he had ever seen. Full of sunlight, nice trees, a field of wildflowers, and vibrant plants could be seen in every corner. He also saw many butterflies, bees, dragonflies, and bunnies hopping like little froggies. The air smelled like fresh flowers. As he kept walking he heard laughter and a flute from a distance. When he got closer to the sounds he stopped in his tracks. He sees three women dancing in a circle holding hands. They all were wearing the same type of dress, and ribbons around their waist, but each one had a different color. They had flower crowns on their heads and were dancing barefoot. He could hear a flute clearly but didn't see anyone playing it. Azusa kept watching silently. The woman with the long blonde hair, with the white dress and blue ribbon caught his attention, and he couldn't stop staring at her. She was a true beauty. The way she was dancing with so much freedom and peacefulness. She notices him and locks her eyes on him while still dancing. Azusa's heart starts beating. When the flute stopped playing the three women clapped and cheered. A minute later the blonde beauty comes walking towards Azusa.

Princess: “Hello, welcome to our forest. What is your name?”

Azusa: (She has the most beautiful smile he had ever seen…)

“Azusa… Mukami… what is… your name…?”

Princess: “It's a secret. Let's go somewhere else to talk. Follow me.”

*TimeSkip*

- They Arrived at a Waterfall River -

Princess: “Much better. The view of clear waters with the sound of the Waterfall is so peaceful. Isn't it beautiful? This is my favorite river. Here I spend most of my time.”

Azusa: “It is lovely… but you are more… beautiful… than this river…”

She giggles.

Princess: “Well look who's being charming.”

Azusa: “Can I ask you something…?”

Princess: “Sure.”

Azusa: “Can you please hit me… I'll take anything… it doesn't matter… how painful it is…”

She gives him a flirty smile.

Princess: “Do you know, Azusa? That I am the Princess of the water from this forest?”

Azusa: “Eh…? I see… It will be… an honor… to receive pain… from a princess…Fufu…”

The princess gets closer to Azusa, placing her hands on his chest and locking her gaze on his. For a moment Azusa held his breath, he was lost in her brown eyes that had passion in them.

Princess: “They say drowning is very painful… the struggle to get air. It amuses me all the time when I'm drowning someone… So since you want to feel pain, will you let me drown you… Azusa?”

He wraps his arms around her waist without thinking, pulling her body closer to his.

Azusa: “Yes… I'll take any type of pain... from you… Princess…”

She smiled.

Princess: “Good boy...”

Pulling his sweater softly, she starts walking backward slowly, leading him toward the water. Both still have their eyes locked on each other.

As they got in the water, Azusa gripped her hips hard. A little moan escaped her mouth.

Princess: “If you thought that was gonna hurt me. Then you were wrong. It actually felt good.”

Azusa: “Then we are the same kind… I knew it…”

She giggles.

Princess: “You and I are very different… you enjoy pain, while I enjoy killing whoever dares step foot into my forest.”

She pressed her lips to his. Kissing him gently.

“Are you ready to go deep in these waters with me, Azusa?”

He opens his eyes.

Azusa: “Yes… I'll go anywhere with you… I am yours… Princess…”

She gave him a sinister look.

Princess: “There is no turning back now.”

With a strong force, she pulled him down deep into the waters with her.

Flashback Ends

Azusa smiled.

Azusa: “That dream felt real… and… the feeling of drowning… felt amazing… Fufu… I will never… forget her…”

*TimeSkip*

- Christine Arrived at the Mukami’s Mansion -

Christine: (Wow! Dad was right, this mansion is huge! I can’t imagine how beautiful it must be inside…)

Christine grabs her luggage and walks to the door. The driver helped her bring the rest of her luggage and left them near the door.

Christine: “Thank you.”

Driver: “Enjoy the rest of your night.”

He walks back to the car and drives off.

Christine starts feeling nervous. She inhales a small breath and rings the doorbell. A few seconds later, a young man with dark hair and grayish-blue eyes opened the door.

Young Man: “You must be Christine-san, we've been expecting you. You may come in.”

She walks inside the mansion with her two big luggage.

Christine: “Mr, can you help me with the rest of my luggage?”

Young Man: “Mr!? My name is Mukami Ruki. Why did you bring so much luggage? I’m pretty sure you brought unnecessary useless things.”

Christine: (How rude!..)

“Apologies Ruki. I brought a lot of things because I will be staying here for three months, and I wanted to be prepared.”

Ruki: “Hmph… I see, very well. I will help you just this once.”

He grabs her other two luggage.

“Come follow me, I’ll take you to your room.”

*TimeSkip*

Ruki: “This will be your room. Next to the bedside table, I left your work instructions. Make sure you read it completely. You start tomorrow night.”

Christine: “Thank you.”

(I'm not impressed with the style of this room. But that is ok, I won't complain. Since I'm gonna live here for three months, I will style it to my liking…)

“Ruki, I don't see any other door in the room. I thought I was gonna have my own personal bathroom.”

Ruki: “What makes you think that you're entitled to have your own bathroom?”

Christine: “Huh? This doesn't have to do with being entitled. Mr. Karlheinz told my Dad that I would have my own bathroom.”

Ruki: “This will be your room and that is final. If you don't like it then you can sleep in the dungeon for all I care.”

Christine: “Why are you being so rude!? Are you one of the workers here?” 

Ruki: “Rude? Hmph... You better be careful how you talk to me next time. I am one of the masters.”

Christine: “Oh, so you are one of Mr. Karlheinz son’s... I’m sorry for raising my voice.”

… …

“Can I meet my coworkers?”

Ruki: “Listen here, Livestock. It's just me and my younger brothers, nobody else lives here but us. No maids or butlers are staying with us in this manor. We do have familiars around that help us out with some of our chores.” 

Christine: “How is that possible? With a big mansion like this one! Also, what are familiars? So you're saying, I’ll be living here alone with just men!? Nobody told me this! Besides It will be hard to do all the work by myself and…!”

- Ruki pins her against the wall - 

Christine: “What the hell are you doing!? Let go of me!”

Ruki: “You are too noisy! I should punish you for your loudness.”

- Christine starts pushing him -

He pushed her back on the wall hard.

Ruki: “Enough!”

… …

He takes a strand of her long blonde hair and strokes it.

“I wonder, what plan he has with you. There is nothing special about you and you seem like a shallow woman.”

*Sniff, Sniff*

“What's this!?”

He smells her neck.

Ruki: “Your scent… Is kinda similar to Eve's.”

Christine Froze.

Christine: (Her heart starts beating fast! This was too much! She didn't even know this man. His body was pressed against hers and he was smelling her! But… I should stay calm to not make this situation worse…)

Christine: “Who’s Eve? And can you please let go of me?”

He lets go of her and moves back.

Ruki: “Never mind about that. Make sure you read the form and get some rest. Tomorrow you start working here. Be on time tardiness is unacceptable. I may take my leave now.”

Once he left, Christine ran to the door and locked it.

Christine: (What a night! This was so unexpected, What plan was Ruki talking about? I wonder if it’s a specific job position that Mr. Karlheinz wants me to do. But why I have a feeling it seems like it was something else that Ruki meant. And who is Eve? I suddenly started to feel scared…)

- The Next Night  -

Christine needs to get used to the night schedule. Before she came here she already knew that it was gonna be an all-night shift. The forms that her father gave her said that his sons are up all night due to their Night Academy. Even though they are now on summer break, the form specifies that they are used to being up all night and that they sleep in the daytime. Last night's incident with Ruki, still crosses her the wrong way, and the fact that she will be living alone with him and his brothers has her shaken up. She tried calling her dad to tell him everything, and she wanted to quit and go back home. But her cellphone signal is not working here. So right now she has no other option but to stay here until she can contact her Father. Right now it’s 6 pm. She already took a shower, and she's dressed for today. She’s wearing a flowy white summer dress with a pair of white flat shoes for her to be comfortable while she works. For jewelry, she’s only wearing her everyday gold cross necklace. She's headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. That’s her first work task. She made it to the kitchen and saw that Ruki was already there getting the food out of the fridge. 

Ruki: “Ah… Livestock, good you are on time. I like that, Come. I took out of the fridge all the stuff you need. I also left you the menu. I will be preparing the table and silverware while you prepare breakfast for us and my brothers. They should be coming down in 30 minutes.”

Christine: “Sure, I got this.”

Ruki: “You seem confident, Livestock. You better not disappoint. Here, put this apron on. Every time you're working in the kitchen, I want you to wear it. Am I clear?”

Christine: “Yes, and my name is Christine not, “Livestock”

She puts on the apron. 

Ruki: “I shall call you whatever I please. And why are you wearing a dress?”

Christine: (She so wanted to snap back at him, but she won't risk another incident like last night. Who knows what else he is capable of? So she needs to be smart and not cause any trouble…)

“The majority of the time, I like to wear dresses. Is there a dress code here?”

Ruki: “Whatever, and no there's no dress code. As long as you do your job well, I don’t see any problems with it. Now let's get started, we are already wasting time.”

Christine: “Oh, you will be working as well? Even though you are one of the masters?”

Ruki: “Listen, Livestock, just because I live here, doesn't mean I don’t do anything. My brothers and I all have our fair share of the choirs of this mansion. So stop asking questions and get to work!”

*TimeSkip*

Ruki: “Excellent job, Livestock. I didn’t expect a woman like you would be good at the kitchen.”

- Kou, Yuma, and Azusa walk into the kitchen - 

Kou: “Wow, what a beauty we have here. Is this the woman who is going to live with us for the summer?”

Ruki: “That is correct.”

Christine: “Hi, my name is Christine Melendez, is nice to meet you all. What are your names?”

Kou: “I’m Kou Mukami.”

Yuma: “Yuma Mukami.”

Azusa: “Azusa…” 

Christine: (Lavender eyes!! Like the young man from my nightmares. She starts to feel chills down her spine…)

Ruki: “Well, since we did the introductions, we can all take a seat now, and eat breakfast.”

Kou: “Woh! The food looks and smells delicious.”

He takes a bite of the pancake.

“These pancakes are delicious and fluffy.”

Ruki: “I have to say, Livestock. You did a good job with breakfast, everything is very tasty.”

Christine: “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”

- Kou and Yuma start fighting over grabbing the last pancakes and scrambled eggs -

Christine noticed that Azusa was staring at her, and he hasn't even touched his food. She also notices all the bandages around his neck and arms. The cuts on his face, and he had bad dark circles under his eyes. She wonders if he had a bad accident but she doesn't dare to ask him that.

Christine: “Azusa, is the meal not to your liking?”

Azusa: “I'm…”

Kou Interups.

Kou: “If you're not gonna eat that Azusa. I'll gladly eat it.”

He reaches out to grab his food. 

Yuma: “Oi, stop being greedy and taking other people's food!”

Ruki: “Kou, manners at the kitchen table!”

*TimeSkip*

Her first night with the Mukami brothers wasn't bad. She managed to do all the tasks that she was supposed to do with no problems. She still wants to go back home. She tried calling her Dad on her cellphone again, but no signal, and the phones here in the mansion don't work. All of them were disconnected, the phones were just there as decoration. Which she finds fishy. She is on her way to the bathroom to take a long bath, and then after she plans to go to the Rose Garden. Ruki gave her permission to take as many flowers as she wanted.

Christine: (I admit that the brothers are really handsome, but there's something off about them. They give me bad vibes like there is something dark surrounding them. Azusa's lavender eyes remind me of the young man from my nightmares. I really need to watch my back. I'm very afraid to be staying here alone with four men. I hope I'll be able to contact Dad soon. I need to get out of here as soon as possible…)

— TO BE CONTINUED —

(Prologue)

• Artwork by The Drawables •

[britishchick09]

part 1 of rewrite eristine's rooftop adventure was exactly 135 years ago today! :D

most of rooftop chapter is being cut out of the main story and repurposed into erik's pov story, so i thought i'd share the original in its third person point of view. enjoy! ;)

"Are you afraid of heights?” Christine asked.

“No. If I was, I wouldn’t have ‘Destler’ in my last name. Does it pertain to where we’re going?”

Christine opened the velvet door that led to the staircase and looked over her shoulder. “…Maybe.” she responded with a sly wink.

She didn’t say a word of their destination as they traveled to it. Erik followed her with eager- yet hesitant- curiosity. After walking through a dark staircase, Christine opened a gray door and held it open for Erik. She turned to her right, going up some small metal steps before turning right again. She was about to go up the main staircase on the rooftop when she looked back at Erik. He was still next to the door, his eyes closed as his cape fluttered in the breeze.

He looks so peaceful. Christine thought, not wanting to disturb him.

She waited for a few moments before softly asking, “Erik?”

His eyes flashed open and he looked at Christine in surprise before his expression alleviated.

“This is the first time I’ve felt fresh air in years,” he whispered. “Fourteen long years.”

He slowly joined Christine at the main staircase. Together, they rose to the highest heights of Palais Garnier. Erik’s eyes were transfixed on the hundreds of buildings in the distance. Christine gazed up at the stone pillar beside them. It seemed to touch the clouds.

“Raoul and I have seen the roof from the window, but we’ve never gone up,” Christine finally spoke. “I never imagined the full thing would be as grand as this!”

“Why didn’t you bring him?” Erik inquired, his eyes tearing away from a pegasus statue to look at her.

“Because he’s afraid of heights!”

“I’m sure he didn’t climb on the mast of his navy ship, then.”

“But he probably still shouted, ‘Land ho!’”

Erik pointed out at the buildings. “Land ho! Or, should I say, triangle ho!”

“What?” Christine asked through a laugh.

“Do you see that gray triangle over there?”

Christine squinted. She could see a squared off metal triangle in the distance.

“Oh, that’s a building!”

Erik frowned in surprise. “It is?”

“Oui! It’s called the Eiffel Tower. It’s being built for the exposition next year.”

“Huh. It’s not like any tower I’ve seen. But then again, I haven’t seen a tower- or any building that’s not in the Haussmann style- in a very long time. Isn’t the one with the green roof the Madeleine church?” Erik asked, pointing at a much smaller building closer to the opera house.

Christine nodded. “It’s amazing how we’re able to see that and the Eiffel Tower at the same time. They're so far apart from each other!”

“Incredible!” Erik smiled. “My mother would be proud of me for being so high up! She was an acrobat. A- And my father was a juggler. I usually stayed put in their caravan so no one would see me, but I was fortunate enough to see them perform a handful of times during practice. My mother would soar through the air on a trapeze and snatch things as my father juggled them,” He winked as he added, “Sometimes, she’d plant a quick kiss on his cheek! Oh, you should have seen them! They were the best performers in the circus.”

Christine could easily envision Erik’s parents performing. “I’m sure they were.”

“Oh, they definitely were. Even though we were in a circus tent, I thought my mother could touch the clouds,” Erik raised his left arm. “We barely can.”

This is the closest I’ll ever be to Papa, Christine thought, raising her arm as well. The closest Erik and I will get to our parents in Heaven until we meet them there someday.

She could see a tinge of orange in the clouds, which complimented the light blue sky. She lowered her arm at the sight of the statue before them.

Apollo lifted his huge lyre to the heart of the pale blue sky. In between the confident god of the arts were his muses. On his right was Music, whose head was turned downward as she held a tambourine on her knee. To Apollo’s left, Poetry gazed thoughtfully at the sky while holding her book and pencil. Christine and Erik could only see their flowing robes and Apollo’s lyre, which shone brighter than the gold of the Grand Foyer as it reflected the sun’s dimming light.

“So that’s Apollo’s Lyre,” Erik whispered. “It seems a bit different than in Le Nouvel Opéra.”

“Maybe because we’re seeing it from behind!” Christine remarked with a chuckle. “It’s far bigger than I could ever imagine!”

Erik went over to the statue’s stone base, craning his neck to see the shining lyre far above his head. Apollo was four times bigger than him!

“Not the tallest person in the world for once.” he remarked to himself.

“String bean!” he heard Christine call softly.

Erik turned around, surprised that she had heard him!

“The sun is setting,” she said. “Want to watch?”

With sparkling eyes, Erik eagerly sat next to Christine on one of the zinc tiles. Under the mighty protection of Apollo, they silently watched the sunset. The clouds, which had just received their gossamer robe of light orange and pale pink from the setting sun, slowly drifted by. The orange in the clouds intensified each passing second, overshadowing the pink as the sky slowly darkened to cobalt blue. Before long, the robes faded into the inky night sky.

Erik put an arm around Christine during the transformation, holding her with his cape. They rested their heads together.

“Oh… That was beautiful,” Erik whispered in wonder. “It was like a painting.”

“It was,” Christine replied before giving a wide yawn. “I’d love to explore the rest of the rooftop.”

“It sounds like you need some rest before we do more exploring,” Erik looked at the Eiffel Tower as an idea came to him. “I got it! We can return here at midnight.”

“Midnight? But that’s terribly late-”

“And exciting. The opera house is a magical place when the clock strikes twelve,” Erik smirked. “Just don’t lose your slipper before the ball.”

Christine leaned into Erik with a bright smile. “I won’t as long as you’re around!”

...

 After a few more minutes of sky gazing, Christine and Erik made their descent to Christine’s dressing room. She unlocked the door and went inside, grabbing her nightgown from her dresser. She looked back at Erik. He was standing at the doorway with uncertainty.

“Feel free to come inside,” Christine told him. “I’ll be changing behind the mirror.”

“A- Are you sure?” Erik asked. “That’s a very private matter…”

“Yes, it’s okay! As long as you don’t peek.” Christine replied with a wink.

Erik blushed. “I wouldn’t dare invade your privacy like that! Besides, there are plenty of interesting things to look at in here.”

He went over to the vanity. He picked up the photo of little Christine and her papa. The kind eyes of Daddy Daaé looked back at him, as did a slightly nervous Christine. Looking closely at the photo revealed light freckles on her face. Erik chuckled at the cute little girl before setting the photo down.

Then he made his way to the window, gazing out at the Haussmann building across the street. He had just spotted Rousseau’s on the ground floor when something caught the corner of his eye. Christine tossed her corset towards him and he picked it up, feeling the cording and minimal steel boning underneath the light pink twill fabric.

“It is flexible,” Erik said as he bent the corset a bit. “And soft.”

“It’s very comfortable,” Christine agreed. “More so than most corsets since it’s made for domestic workers. It’s called a Pretty Housemaid.”

“Huh. Should be called Pretty Singer.” Erik remarked quietly.

Christine smiled as a blush crossed her cheeks.

“You’re right, it is comfortable!” she heard Erik say a few moments later.

Christine took a peek at him. She laughed at seeing her corset on him, causing him to laugh as well. She disappeared from view as he took the loose corset off and secured the clasps. After securing the top one, he undid and put it back together. He leaned against the windowsill, playing with that clasp as Christine came out from behind the mirror in her nightgown.

“Now you’re acting like Ayesha!” she exclaimed with a giggle.

“Ayesha if she had fingers.” Erik said, snapping one last time before handing the corset to Christine.

As she put it in her dresser alongside her other clothes, Erik wandered over to the cheval mirror.

“So this is the mirror.” he said.

Christine smiled as she went over to Erik. “That’s the mirror.”

They looked at each other’s reflections for a few moments.

“You’re so short.” Erik commented.

“You’re so tall.” Christine shot back.

She reached up to touch Erik’s head, but he sat on the floor before she could.

“I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be on the other side,” he said. “It looks identical to my side, though!”

Christine giggled and sat on the divan. “Are you staying here?” “No, I’ll head back to my mirror,” Erik touched the mirror’s glass. “It’s too bad I can’t walk through it. Getting to my house would be far easier that way!”

“Or it could be a door that leads to one of the cellars.”

“This is the third floor, correct?”

Christine nodded.

“So the hypothetical door would lead to the…” Erik paused to think. “The zero cellar. B- Backstage is what I mean. You’d have to take the trap door down.”

“It’s still a long walk no matter how you get there!”

Erik smiled as he got up and grabbed Christine’s blanket. “But that’s okay. I’m plenty used to it.”

She lay down as the blanket was lowered and he tucked her into bed.

“Sleep tight, Christine,” he said softly. “But not for too long!”

[sprinkle-of-kelsey]

DROPS OF JUNIPER: CHAPTER ONE.

It hasn’t always been like this. Before, I used to be a simple college student in the middle of nowhere. Nebraska, to be exact. I had brown hair with blonde tips, crystal blue orbs, delicate peachy pink rose petals, and wore things like flannels and ripped jeans. 

And now I, Juniper Astrid Evans, was about to guest star on my first episode of The 508. It was all too much for me to handle. Home never seemed so far away before. I almost had an anxiety attack when I stepped foot into the warehouse they used for table readings. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Then I went inside to do what I needed to do, what I came all this way to do.

I was immediately greeted by the warmest of brown orbs, making me feel all cozy on such a cold January day.

“You’re the new castmate from Nebraska for season two, right?” I heard him say.

“Yeah, and you’re Will Kidd, right?” I nodded.

“You’ve got it! Midwestern actors have to stick together. Welcome to the cast, Juniper!” He cheered.

He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead as I leaned in, confused. How did he know my name?

“Your name is on the little paper plaque in front of your seat.” He said, letting go.

There I saw it. Juniper Evans, and below that, Tinsley Gerow. My character’s name. The writers told me I’d be playing the newest student, an added sister of a girl named Tessa, who was living in Boston for their latest show. Tinsley would be an incoming freshman at Mass U. I nearly screamed in delight, because I would much rather have joined this show than some new program. And now, I had my own paper plaque! I tried to play it cool, walking over to my seat, but who was I kidding? This was an opportunity of a lifetime.

Next to me was some man named Chris Novak, who had the most gorgeous long brown hair. I had seen his face before, but I couldn’t think of where or when. I didn’t watch sitcoms because my family didn’t have cable. It didn’t matter. He smiled at me when I sat down. Though I frowned because he smelled of cigarettes and booze.

“Hey.” He shyly whispered to me.

“Hey. Do you smoke?” I whispered back.

“Yeah, why?” He asked.

“You smell like it. You really shouldn’t do that. You’re gonna die.” I replied.

“You’re right. Maybe I’ll quit.” He nodded.

“Juniper, this is Chris. Chris, this is Juniper.” Will introduced from the seat across from us.

“Juniper just saved my life.” Chris smiled.

“Yeah, I have a feeling she’s gonna do that a lot. You need it.” Will winked.

Just then, I saw two girls walk in, hand-in-hand. They were laughing and their eyes remained locked on one another’s gaze, but I had no idea what they were laughing about or why they looked so close.

“Who are they?” I smiled.

“That’s Imani and Tara. They’re commonly called Imara. They’ve been together for ages now.” Will described.

“Cool!” I exclaimed.

Imani sat next to me at the table and Tara followed close behind.

“What did I miss?” Imani asked.

“Our new castmate.” Chris explained.

“This is Juniper.” Will added.

“Hi!” Imani and Tara greeted in unison.

 Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted three other girls walk hand in hand. They were giggling and laughing with one another as they walked by.

“Christine, no! That’s so mean! You’re so funny.” The blonde giggled.

With the way Amy was looking at the brunette in the middle, I guessed that she was Christine. The third quiet friend with black hair sat down first. Then the blonde. Then the brunette.

“Hi, I’m Juniper.” I said, extending a hand for her to shake.

“Mhm.” She smirked, scrunching her nose at me and shaking her head.

“Julie...” Chris warned.

“I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?” I asked.

“You’re sitting next to her boyfriend.” The blonde reminded me.

“These seats are assigned. Who are you?” I retorted.

“Amy. I’m Will’s boyfriend. Don’t get any ideas.” She told me.

“Sometimes I wonder why I’m even friends with them.” Imani groaned.

“I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.” I explained.

“Don’t pay them any attention. They’re just doing this because they’re jealous.” Tara sighed.

My crystal blue orbs began to fill up with so much water, the ocean looked like a desert by comparison. I hid my trembling rosebud petals behind my oversized sleeve so no one could see me crying.

“I’m sorry.” I cried.

“Welcome to the 508. It’s gonna be a long year.” Tara whispered.

And with a sigh, I began to realize just how long of a year it would be.

[kentuckwitch]

Books That Have Aided Me in the Development of My Craft, & a Reading List

I have to resist foundering in a ‘research and development’ stage in my practice & becoming more of an armchair witch than a practitioner. Do you struggle with that too? That said, I’ve read some amazing books that have in one or way or another helped me become a better witch and helped me do the foundational work we all have to do on our individual paths. Here are some of those, followed by a few I’m planning on reading as soon as I can get my hands on them. Have you read these? What’re your thoughts? I’d love to hear them :) And also, do you feel you sometimes get stuck or intimidated or overwhelmed with all the things we witches can do and be and become? I definitely do, and my resolution for the year is not to read and think less but to DO more.

Books I Recommend

Backwoods Witchcraft, Jake Richards

Folk Witchcraft, Roger Horne

Long Lost Friend, J.G. Gorman

The Witching Herbs, Harold Roth

The Crooked Path, Kelden

Treading the Mill, Nigel Pearson

Weave the Liminal, Laura Tempest Zakroff

Of Blood and Bones, Kate Freuler

Psychic Witch, Mat Auryn

The Witching Way of Hollow Hill, Robin Artisson

The Clovenstone Workings, Robin Artisson

The History of the Devil, R. Lowe Thompson

Mastering Herbalism, Paul Huson

The Earthwise Herbal, Matthew Wood

The Earthwise Herbal Vol. II, Matthew Wood

The Modern Herbal Dispensatory

Southern Folk Medicine, Phyllis Light

Possum Living, Dolly Freed

Shameless, Nadia Bolz-Weber

A Deed Without a Name, Lee Morgan

Besom, Stang and Sword, Orapello & Maguire

The Witch at the Forest’s Edge, Christine Grace

A Broom at Midnight, Roger Horne

Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack

The Poison Path Herbal, Coby Michael

New World Witchery, Cory Thomas Hutcheson

Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland, Lisa Schneidau

Folk Medicine of Southern Appalachia, Anthony Cavender

The Black Book of Isobel Gowdie

A Weedwife’s Remedy, Kiva Rose Hardin

Identifying and Harvesting Edible & Medicinal Herbs, ‘Wildman’ Steve Brill

Reading List for 2022

Jack Tales

Gemma Gary’s bib.

Nigel Pearson’s bib.

Thirteen Pathways of Occult Herbalism, Daniel A. Schulke

Ars Philtron, Daniel A. Schulke

Mastering Witchcraft, Paul Huson

Accounts of the ‘witch trials’ of the Americas & Europe

Books on Appalachian & Kentucky history

The Cherokee Herbal

Michael Howard’s bib.

Wild Soul Runes: Reawakening the Ancestral Feminine, Lara Veleda Vesta

Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic & Foraging for Spells, Rituals & Remedies, Rebecca Beyer

I’ll add to this list as I go back over the bibliographies of my favorites, but I’d love any recommendations you have for books that have enriched your practice. Please share! :)

[dnpanimationstudioclone]

Sweet High Guardian: Rosemary🌹⚔️

     A little while back, made my own version of High Guardian Spice, “Sweet High Guardian”, and decided to do my own versions of the characters, starting with the main protagonist herself, Rosemary.       Description:    “ Growing up with great tales of heroes saving the day with justice and love always prevailing, especially from her hero mother, “Lady Lavender” Rosemary, from a young age had very big dreams, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a Guardian. With her mother’s sword, and strong spirit, she along with her bestie Sage set for an epic journey to High Guardian Academy to finally fulfill her dreams…only to realize she did NOT exactly know what in the grog she was getting into. Despite all the usually life threatening surprises to her rosy view of being a Guardian, Rosemary refuses to give up, she’ll do whatever it takes to follow her goals. First goal, survive till graduation, and preferably after too. This will only be just a bit of what’s to come at her. ” 

 Character:        Rosemary in this version isn’t too different from her canon version, but I’m aiming more for a deconstruction of the “plucky hero magical girl”. She’s just as optimistic and even more reckless, she like her name, wears rose tinted glasses of the Guardian’s world. She lives in a Mary Sue magical hero girl fantasy, and having said fantasy constantly shattered. Nonetheless she’s very determined, no matter the odds. many around her argue wether this makes her very brave or very stupid. Maybe a bit of both.            She tries very hard, perhaps too hard to be like her mother who she hasn’t seen her since she was 10 yrs old, Rose has a very idealized but also not fully thought out idea of what a Guardian even is, the gist of it to her, being an awesome hero like her mom. She acts plucky and optimistic which she is really, but also to hide A LOT of feels she keeps in. To her, she like her mother must stay strong and hopeful, to set example and support others as a Guardian. She tries to be so many things, she overcompensates to be like her mother and doesn’t fully know what she really wants or what she's really getting into. She can also be a bit insensitive, unintentionally to how others may feel, naive and doesn’t always think things through. Nonetheless she’s a really sweet and caring girl who wants to be the best Guardian she can be, for her mother, her friends, the people of Lyngarth and beyond and for herself.

Redesign:

     I mixed the magical girl look with a knight look, as her mother looked more like a knight and it’d make sense she’d try to emulate that🛡⚔️      

     The armor she wears was her mother’s, what she herself wore back in the Academy, becoming a guardian. The symbol is suppose to be lavender petals💜            Added more colors for variety, especially with the pinks and reds💖❤️           Gave her a heart motif, added many heart shapes in her design to fit her sweet, passionate side💖          Redesigned her pigtails to curl up, to look like roses, for a more floral motif for Rosemary. Made her eyes, teal-green for that too🌹

     Gave her freckles and a tooth gap for a younger look. I saw some others like Lovesart23 add them and I think it really does fit.  https://twitter.com/Brittan63683377/status/1467904182032211968?s=20

      I made her biracial. Half Asian on her mother’s side and white on her dad’s side. Some have criticized how despite being an anime and it suppose to be promoting diversity, there’s not a lot of Asian characters in the show.    Fun Facts: 

     Headcanon VA- Christine Marie Cabanos. Also voiced Madoka Kaname from Madoka Magica.             Apart of me sees her be neurodivergent. Especially when it comes to her troubles with socializing. Since the show wants to be diverse, it’d be good to add disabled characters too.       Skills: Knows basic sword and self defence skills, high in strength, endurance and especially luck. Most would’ve been dead already in her shoes. She also knows how to bake, with her father being a baker🍰🧁

     Weaknesses: Doesn’t always think things through enough, reckless, low in strategy and communication skills and VERY clumsy. She’s also not the greatest artist🖌🎨

     Made her 15 in this version instead.

     Kept the name Rosemary because it sounds like a type of name for a “Mary Sue” character.             What do you think of her? I’d love to know💖 also happy New Year’s everyone. Please may 2022 hopefully be better🎇🎆🎊🎉      Here’s a link to the redo this version of her is based from.

https://dnpanimationstudioclone.tumblr.com/post/670781719289511936/high-guardian-spice-redo

[the-fiction-witch]

Hello You

REAL LIFE COUPLE: TBS X READER RATING: SWEET

I hurried my little feet through the busy London underground, I sipped my coffee and held my handbag tightly knowing the bustle and busyness of London can sometimes make you blind. I hopped on the tube taking a seat. As soon as I reached my usual stop I hurried away down the street I found the stage door

"Morning y/n"

"Morning Steve" I smiled hurrying into the backstage and went off to my dressing room, I put my bag on the counter and threw my reusable coffee cup on the table and set my kettle to boil to make my next coffee, I checked my clothing rail making sure all my costumes where there, I checked all my make up was where it should be, I got my dress off throwing it on the side and putting my little robe on and starting to take off my makeup doing my best to go over my songs, every so often cast mates popping in every so often to check on me. I heard a little tap on my door as I was working on putting my stage make-up on "Come in" I smiled

"Hello" I heard a familiar voice smile, as the door opened, I looked in my mirror seeing him there poking his head in my door

"Ooohh hello you" I laughed "come in"

"Thank you" He smiled slowly sneaking into my dressing room

"What are you doing here Thomas?"

"I came to visit the lovely lady in her show"

"Awww your too sweet" I smiled "I'd give you a cuddle and a kiss but I am making beautiful face night now and I also don't have on my dress yet"

"No worries, I brought you a present" he smiled revealing he had a large bouquet of roses

"For me?"

"For you, my lovely leading lady" he smiled handing them over

"awww Thomas, thank you" I smiled happily taking them "Don't I'll cry"

"Here I'll put them in the vase for you" he offered happily taking them back to put them in my little vase

"Your so sweet thank you, Thomas. how did they let you in the stage door?"

"the what now?"

"How did you get back here Thomas?"

"Oh. I just turned up and they let me in"

"really?"

"Yeah"

I grabbed my little walkie talkie unable to stop my giggles "Steve?"

"Yeah y/n?"

"did you let Thomas in the stage door?"

"Uhhh nope. haven't seen him"

"Thanks" I smiled "Lizzy?"

"Yep"

"did you let Thomas in the other stage door?"

"Uhhh nooo"

"thanks" I smiled turning it off "How did you get in?"

"I just walked to the theatre. walked in. and saw the stage and the set. followed the backstage signs found the backstage. and read your name on a board for the dressing rooms, and ta-da. Girlfriend"

"I love you so much" I giggled giving him a cuddle

"Awww Love you too" He smiled giving me a cuddle

"Sneaky boy, sneaking backstage to see me" I giggled "My own little phantom of the Oprea"

"I don't wanna be the phantom"

"Why not?"

"A horrific deformity, B living in sewers, C confirmed murderer, D and likely most damming he's like what... same age as the head ballerina lady, and Christine is what? eighteen maybe? and that's before you even go into his crazy possessiveness over a woman he taught to sing"

"I mean... your not wrong Thomas. he's not that possessive"

"He brings down a whole chandelier"

"you wouldn't bring down a chandelier for me?" I pout

"depends how expensive it was"

"He's not that bad"

"The whole of his verse in all I ask of you is my argument"

"True."

"May I lounge?"

"well know one knows you're here so yes just stick to the stage rules"

"I will little lady, you look really pretty" he laughs sitting on my sofa

"Aww thank you, you wanna wait in the wings and watch?"

"If I'm allowed"

"so long as you follow the rules yes."

"can I get to see how you do that outfit change?"

"No!" I giggled "Got to have some secrets."

"curtain in five minutes guys. Five Minutes"

"Ooohh! fuck! I need to outfit" I yelped grabbing my dress and making sure I looked fine "You coming?"

"I'll sit for the first scene and make you a coffee"

"Ummm you angel boy, Love you" I smiled cuddling him close trying not to ruin my make up and outfit

"Love you too" He laughs

"Bye-bye" I giggled giving him a kiss and grabbing my shoes and hurrying out my door

"Break a leg y/n!"

"know one in theatre really says that thomas!" I yelled back as I ran to stage

[the-13th-rose]

Welcome

So I post a lot of writing on this blog. Pretty much all of it is done on here now. Below are the tags you can search for my different pieces (as well as like. posts that reminded me of them or stuff about the stories)

#nago & the demon - My Samurai Jack fic, in which a woman named Nago seeks revenge for the destruction of her village as a child. To do so, she resurrects Demongo, a once-formidable demon who served as Aku’s right-hand-man. The fic tells a story of the pair seeking to restore Demongo’s power and becoming closer as a result.

Prologue / Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6

#kiss from a rose - A self-indulgent crossover taking place in a dream world. This fic is a self-ship experience and a journey into my own mind. It takes an often surreal tone due to the setting’s dream nature. Rose finds herself called into the woods outside of her college campus and stumbles across a dilapidated lodge. Upon entering the lodge she finds herself confined to a dream world within her own mind, populated by her most beloved, her most whimsical daydreams, her deepest desires...and her darkest fears.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

#helluva boss: in desire we trust - Upon her death, erotica writer Thorny197 finds herself in Hell, where she is promptly offered a job by the prince of lust, Asmodeus. The fic follows Thorny as she tries to adapt to her new afterlife, making meaningful connections, hooking up, getting into trouble, learning more about herself, and developing into a more confident person. (Mature readers only please! There’s lots of sexual references and it’s possible there will be actual smut in later chapters)

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2

#blosc: partners in crime - A miniseries of fics based on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, centering around NOS-4-A2 and his new henchwoman, Carmilla. 

“Carmilla” (Episode 1) / “Under My Wing” (Episode 2) / “Return of the Slayer” (Episode 3)

#reaching into thorns - a fandomless story based on a fantasy au for some of my f/os that portrays them as suitors for a princess. Princess Rose of Briarburg is being courted by a lich, a man-eating demon, a fallen god, a nøkken, and a vampire, but she’s none the wiser.

Chapter 1 / 

#the witch and the war machine - a Clone Wars fic I've wanted to write for years. Asajj Ventress and General Grievous are put to the test and must work together to survive. Gradually putting aside their differences and getting closer, when they realize what their master, Count Dooku, has been hiding from them, they begin plotting against both him and Darth Sidious.

Chapter 1 / 

You can also read this one on AO3 / Chapter 2

I’m gonna list one-off stuff I want to share here

other stuff

#selfship stuff: I am a selfshipper and have a number of romantic and platonic f/os. I’m not the jealous type and am poly with all of the romantic ones anyway, so you don’t need to worry if we share an f/o. We’re cool. They’re listed below the read more

I make stimboards now! the tag is just #stimboard. I might make one for you if requested but it depends on how I feel

I love #whump and #hurt/comfort. Both are tagged in case that bothers you but also so you can find it more easily if you want to look for it

Romantic F/Os

- Demongo (Samurai Jack) [Tag: #merchant of doom]

- The Beast (Over the Garden Wall) [Tag: #the loveliest lies of all]

- General Grievous/Qymaen jai Sheelal (Star Wars) [Tag: #i’m no errand boy] (poly with Ventress & Ronderu)

- The Horned King (The Black Cauldron) [Tag: #black-hearted devil] (poly with Maleficent)

- Christine (originally an AU version of the titular Christine from the book and film adaptation but is now pretty much a Helluva Boss succubus OC) [Tag: #let’s cruise]

- The Miner/Harry Warden (My Bloody Valentine (1981)) [Tag: #be mine 💝]

- Asajj Ventress (Star Wars) [Tag: #the bald banshee] (poly with Grievous & Ronderu)

- Asterios (Fate) [Tag: #sweet berserker]

- Hassan of the Cursed Arm (Fate) [Tag: #caring assassin]

- Yorktown (Azur Lane) [Tag: #love and liberty]

- Kurogiri/Oboro Shirakumo (My Hero Academia) [Tag: #mama i’m in love with a criminal]

- Green Mage (Everhood) [Tag: #born chaos] (poly with Drawcia)

- Licorice Cookie (Cookie Run) [Tag: #bittersweet heart]

- Millennial Tree Cookie (Cookie Run) [Tag: #tears of the millennial tree]

- Rattlesnake Jake (Rango) [Tag: #snake rattle n’ roll] (if you're the type who freaks out over ppl self-shipping with animal characters [he's obviously anthropomorphized and of human intelligence but go off I guess] he's got human and naga forms too)

- Lord Shen (Kung Fu Panda) [Tag: #ghost with a hundred eyes] (ditto of the above, he's got human and harpy forms too)

- The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come/”Future” (A Christmas Carol) [Tag: #let us spend infinite winters together]

- Anubis (various fictional interpretations of Egyptian myth, not like the actual pagan deity) [Tag: #you can trust a good boy with your heart]

- Asmodeus/”Ozzie” (Helluva Boss) [Tag: #tell me you love me in private 🎶] (poly with Fizzarolli)

- NOS-4-A2 (Buzz Lightyear of Star Command) [Tag: #love bites 🦇]

??? (When I can’t decide between friend and lover)

- Striker (Helluva Boss) [Tag: #save a horse 🐴 ride a cowboy 🐍]

- Obanai Iguro (Demon Slayer) [Tag: #the serpent blade]

- Takasu (Merman in My Tub) [Tag: #himbo of the bath]

Platonic F/Os

- No Face (Spirited Away) [Tag: #best faceless friend]

- Valtiel (Silent Hill) [Tag: #they looked like monsters to you?]

- Samhain/”Sam” (Trick ‘r Treat) [Tag: #season’s greetings 🎃🍭] (My little murder nephew)

- Fizzarolli/”Fizz” (Helluva Boss) [Tag: #send in the clown]

- Charlotte "Charlie" Emily/The Marionette (Five Nights at Freddy's) [Tag: #surprise! 🎁] (My niece who needs so many hugs)

- Mitsuri Kanroji (Demon Slayer) [Tag: #the loving blade 🍡]

- Saki Nikaido (Zombieland Saga) [Tag: #the delinquent idol]

S/I gallery

Self-inserts to me are more like characters that I simply play as. Some are heavily based on me in both appearance and personality, while others are mostly their own characters.

- Apple Cider Cookie (Cookie Run)

A scarecrow that Licorice Cookie brought to life with an experimental spell. She’s made of spiced apple bread dough with apple cider filling and caramel frosting for hair. She’s a loyal minion of Licorice Cookie and. Very hyper.

Tag: #s/i apple cider cookie

- Six-Prong Lucy (Rango)

A jackalope who works as a gun for hire and made a name for herself as a sharpshooter. Lesser known is her status as a long-time “companion” of Rattlesnake Jake.

tag: #s/i lucy

- Dr. Carmen Lugosi/”Carmilla” (Buzz Lightyear of Star Command)

A medical researcher specializing in artificial replacement parts for organics. She sought to cure her own cardiovascular disorder so that she would no longer need to rely on the microscopic nanobots in her blood. When she came across what was left of NOS-4-A2, she began trying to piece him back together, hoping she would achieve her goals by reverse-engineering Zurg’s technology. The energy vampire bit her out of reflex when he was brought back online, and infected the nanobots in her blood, which gradually caused her body to resemble a more vampiric form. Eventually, the nanobots crafted a robotic-looking metal exoskeleton from the machinery in her lab and the iron in her blood, transforming her into the vampiric cyborg, “Carmilla”. Make no mistake, she’s no victim. Though her physical change was accidental, becoming a full-blown villain was entirely her own choice. She quite likes the way she is. This reference shows her without and with her exoskeleton.

Tag: #s/i carmilla

- Helena (Over the Garden Wall)

A kind loner who lives in the Unknown and farms apples and a few other crops for a living. She mistakenly revived The Beast by lighting his lantern and mistook him for a weary traveler cursed with a monstrous appearance. Despite learning the truth, she can’t bring herself to refuse help to anyone, not even the scourge of the Unknown.

Tag: #s/i helena

- Sarah “Thorny” Hawthorne (Helluva Boss)

Protagonist of “Helluva Boss: In Desire We Trust”. A celebrated online erotica writer who had the unusual (and perhaps not completely legal) fate of being welcomed into the Lust Ring upon her untimely, isekai-style death. Employed by the prince of lust, she struggles to adjust to her new afterlife. 

Tag: #s/i thorny

- Rose (Any verse, crossovers)

This one’s literally JUST me. Nothing added or omitted. Protagonist of “Kiss From a Rose”.

Tag: #s/i rose