#also! who can guess what newt's wings are based off

[aethelar]

Newt Scamander might not know a lot about a lot of things, but he knows damn well how to spot someone disguising their wings and Percival Graves is disguising his wings.

They’re black, the wings in question, tucked neatly in against his spine. Too neatly. And too black, actually; very few black feathers are so completely, flatly black - even Tina’s dark grey wings show their blue tint in the sunlight. But Percival Graves’ wings are black. Distractingly so; they don’t look quite right, don’t reflect properly under the harshly artificial light in the interrogation room. When Graves leans forwards to press his questions, his wings lean with him at the same precise angle, held in exactly the same neatly tucked position against his spine.

Newt’s own wings shuffle and fluff behind him, the mottled brown-white feathers ruffling up as he frowns in concentration. He’s not known for keeping them still, and he knows a lot of people move their wings a lot less than he does - but even so, surely the rigid control Graves is exerting over his own would be uncomfortable? Everyone’s wings move. At least a bit. The way Graves holds his, it reminds Newt of some of the soldiers back in the war, the careful, painful way they kept them stiff and unmoving when their wings were injured.

He doesn’t think Graves’ wings are injured. He also, when Graves gets frustrated with his distracted answers and leans further forward into the light, doesn’t think the way the shadows fall on his feathers is natural.

But clearly, clearly, Newt doesn’t think at all when he raises a finger in triumph at solving the puzzle. “Ah,” he says, interrupting Graves’ latest threat. “You’ve not used enough layers. It’s why your scattering’s off.”

Silence. Even Tina’s anxious fidgeting behind him cuts off.

“I beg your pardon?” Graves rumbles, something in his tone that wasn’t there before. His wings though, they don’t move, and Newt showcases yet more of his lacking self preservation by pointing at them.

“There, see,” he says. “Your illusion’s too flat, it’s stopping you from moving them. They’re dark enough that you can get away without proper shading when you hold them still, but if you moved them it’d be obvious that they aren’t real. You need more layers for the light to reflect otherwise it won’t look right.”

Graves leans back, eyebrow raised. “Clever,” he says, half to himself. “And what does a... magizoologist know about illusions?” He pronounces magizoologist carefully, delicately. It means something, the way he says it, but Newt’s always been better at reading wings than people. Tina is frighteningly still behind him, and if Graves’ gaze were any less intent Newt would turn around to check on her.

He has the sudden feeling that he’s made a mistake.

“Only some,” he says around a suddenly dry mouth. “I, uh, I use them sometimes. For my creatures. Their habitats, the environments - um.” He shrugs. His feathers are floofed up in the beginnings of alarm. He wishes for a moment that he had an illusion running on them; Graves doesn’t seem the sort of man he wants to show weakness in front of. “I don’t know much,” he finishes.

“Enough to call a lie when you see it,” Graves says, eyes falling to half lidded. There’s something almost smug in the curve of his mouth, like one of the dragons closing in on an unsuspecting prey.

Newt is suspecting. He can’t say for certain that he isn’t prey but he’s very, very suspecting. He wants, desperately, to look behind him and check on Tina because she’s been too quiet now for too long, but he can’t look away.

“I wonder,” Graves purrs. “Tell me, Newt, what other lies can you see through?”

The feeling of magic in the air is getting thicker. It presses down on Newt, trying to force his wings back in submission, and it’s only years of practice being stubborn that keep him in place.

“I don’t know what you’re asking,” he says as carefully as he can. If anything, his defiance makes the magic coil tighter around him. Horrifyingly, it seems pleased.

“No?” Graves asks. The illusion on his back flickers; for a second, his wings are huge, arched over his head and casting Newt into shadow. “How about the lie that certain magical creatures are a danger to society and must be exterminated? You’ve been quite vocal about that one in the past.” The wings flicker again; they aren’t black. Newt can’t tell what colour they are, but they aren’t black, and they aren’t neatly held against his spine. “Or the lie that muggles take priority in territory disputes? That magical society has to draw further and further back to make space for their greed - how many magical species are at risk now because of that?”

Gold, Newt thinks. Jagged, gold feathers, bleached almost white under the interrogation room lights.

Tina, he also thinks, where the fuck is Tina.

“Or the lie,” Graves says, except it isn’t Graves, there’s only one person with wings like that and it isn’t Percival Graves, “that it’s a wizard’s responsibility to hide, to sit back and do nothing when so much of the magical world depends on us, all because we’re too afraid of being seen.”

Grindelwald’s magic is heavy against his skin, holding him in place and sliding over his neck, gentle and languid and coaxing and dangerous. His pulse thunders against it. He’s pretty sure that he and Grindelwald are the only ones left in the room, and Grindelwald’s wings are curled so far towards him that Newt is almost completely encircled by the reaching feathers. His own wings, tucked in close and bristling in fear, feel small in comparison.

“You’ve such a collection in that case of yours,” Grindelwald says, two-toned stare hot and almost possessive as it flicks over Newt. “And you’re so good at seeing through society’s lies. I hardly think you’re the sort of man to sit back and do nothing, are you?”

Newt shivers. The magic around his throat doesn’t tighten, but would it, what would it do if he said no. Yes. No? Which one means - there are too many double negatives, Newt’s not sure what the right answer is, and Grindelwald’s wings and magic are too close for him to risk giving the wrong one.

“I...” He licks his lips, but that doesn’t help the way his voice stutters. Grindelwald leans forward on his elbows, indulgent, patient. His left wing trails up to Newt’s shoulder, the feathers brushing against his chin. Newt’s creatures are relying on him and if he dies here, if Grindelwald twists his magic and Newt chokes on it, then they’re as good as lost - MACUSA won’t hesitate to destroy them.

“Hm?” Grindelwald prompts.

Newt’s creatures need him. The only answer is the one that saves them.

He tilts his head back and lets his wings fall open in submission, and Grindelwald laughs.

“Such a clever little thing,” the Dark Lord calls him, and Newt closes his eyes and hopes he made the right choice.

[boymeetsweevil]

the shape you make

Grouping: Reader x Johnny

Word Count: ~4.1k

Warnings/Themes: Halloweentown AU (again), body insecurity, slight allusions to speciesism, graphic smut, communication issues (as always), a very thirsty work friend

Summary: For both you and Johnny, there is something big holding you back from being intimate. At the yearly Harvest party, that something big becomes something known.

A/N: This fic is part of The Intimacy Anthology, and then Halloween came and ate it :) If you’re interested in the project and/or would like to see the works from the other talented artists, click the link!

“—I mean, we’re doing fine. I would say it’s perfect except for one thing.”

You frown down at the dragonling wriggling in your hands, partially in pity for him. Snickerdoodle is in for his first-ever check up and by the way he tries to burrow into the front pocket of your uniform, you can tell he’s uncomfortable. It’s likely that the coolant pills given to suppress fire during examinations are upsetting his stomach. You pat his rough belly. 

The rest of your frown is dedicated to a predicament you face with your boyfriend. 

You’ve been dating Johnny for three months. After being set up by two mutual friends who thought you’d be a good pair, you hit things off and decided to see where things would go. The issue was, while you’d had many a good conversation and even met his mother, you still hadn’t let Johnny get to know the real you. Which meant things between you felt too good to be true and you were preparing for an inevitable rebuff.

“What’s the problem again? He doesn’t want to go with you to the Harvest party?” 

Your coworker Nautilanita ruffles her wings anxiously as she hunts for the correct syringe for dragon skin and a few treats to distract Snickerdoodle. 

“No, we’re going to the Harvest party. The problem is that I want to go further with Johnny, but I don’t think I actually can.”

“Oh. That’s what I thought you said. But he’s literally perfect, so I figured I misheard you.” 

You roll your eyes. Despite being pair-bonded to another lovely griffin for almost 13 mating cycles, something about Johnny turns your friend into putty.

“I think that’s the problem. He’s hot, he’s sweet, he’s funny—”

“Ehh. I don’t think I’ve heard a great joke from him yet.”

“He’s funny in that cute, corny way.”

“Fair.” Nautilanita approaches Snickerdoodle with a dried newt and distracts him just long enough to give him the first of his vaccinations. “So, what, you don’t like perfect guys?”

“It’s not like that. It’s more like he treats me like I’m perfect.”

“Okay, did you just come here to brag?”

The flat look on Nautilanita’s face is enough to startle a laugh out of you. You’re glad for the tiny distraction and allow some nervous energy to leave you.

“You know what I mean. There’s things he doesn’t know about me that I’m pretty sure could ruin us. I’m not the perfect person he thinks I am.”

“What does not perfect mean?”

Nautilanita hands you a needle and switches places with you, scooping up Snickerdoodle. You take up a new syringe to draw some blood from between his wings for the examination. With quick work, you watch the gold liquid fill the barrel of the syringe.

“It sounds dumb when I say it out loud,” you whine while taking the blood away to the chemistry machine. Nautilanita smiles softly at you.

“That probably means it is dumb. And that you don’t have to worry about it.”

“You’ve seen Johnny, though.”

“Yes. Of course I have,” Nautilanita sighs dreamily. If it were anyone else, you might get jealous.

“He’s athletic and super buff. He’s normal. And I...”

“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you there. This is dumb. Do you think Johnny is a shallow guy?”

“Of course I don’t. I know he isn’t.”

“Then do you really think he’s gonna just drop you because you’re not 'normal’? I still don’t even get what that means.”

“No, but—”

The machine beeps and Nautilanita hands Snickerdoodle back to you to collect the sample.

“But what?”

“But I what if he doesn’t want me? What if he can’t be attracted to me?”

“Have you and Johnny kissed?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“More than once?”

“Yes.”

“And has he ever initiated a kiss?”

“Sure, lots of times.”

“Then I think he finds you attractive.”

You grimace to yourself. It sounded so easy put that way though you weren’t sure if Nautilanita even understood your worry. Maybe sitting down at that Leprechaun-run cafe after work with Nautilanita would help make your predicament clear, but at the moment you felt too exhausted. In an ideal world, it would be just as easy as Nautilanita said.

“What do you think?”

Mark holds up two button down shirts to his front for Johnny to compare. One is a saturated red and the other is a muted periwinkle blue.

“Blue one, easy.”

“Thanks. I’d ask Yeri, but she’s gonna be working almost up until the Harvest party. You’re lucky.”

“I don’t know who you’re calling lucky. I put sweat and tears into my outfits because I pick them all myself.”

“That’s bull. That one with the turtleneck and chains two weeks ago? There’s no way that was all you.”

“What? Yes it was”

Johnny tries not to eye the Harvest outfit he has laying on the chair at the other end of his room. The one that he’d recruited you into helping him with, over the duration of several days.

“Hmm. Not even when you’re shopping? Like when you’re in the fitting room and kind of flirting a little bit? Not even then?”

“Didn’t know you were such a hoe, Mark.”

"I have layers,” is all he says with flushing cheeks.

He’s glad Mark didn’t notice he avoided the question because the truth is that he’s never had such a moment with you. He’d like to, though. He’d like to be able to take you shopping with him, like normal couples do. Maybe you’d manage to sneak into the fitting rooms and give him a stack of things you’d want to see him in. Maybe half the time he’d come out shirtless just to see your reaction. Maybe at the end he’d pull you into the fitting room with him after one too many appreciative glances from you. But he can’t.

You’ve actually never seen him shirtless. Despite the fact that his thoughts sometimes go that direction when at the gym. Despite the fact that all his friends, Mark included, seem to think he’s already long since seen you bare and bared himself for you.

“You okay?” Mark asks when the minutes have ticked by and the conversation has screeched to a halt.

“Yeah, yeah. Just thinking.”

“What about?”

“What if, just as a scenario, we hadn’t done anything other than kiss.”

Mark’s eyes widen in the middle of folding his shirts and though he tries to hide the reaction, Johnny catches it.

“You mean you and—”

“Yeah.”

“So, just a peck or...”

“No! It’s definitely gotten, uh, intense. But I haven’t ever taken off my clothes in front of her or anything.”

Mark tilts his head, eyes narrowed above Johnny’s head. “Because you don’t want to?”

“That’s the thing. I do. But I’m pretty sure I’m not her usual...type.”

“Have you gone through a catalogue of her past relationships and found her type?”

“No, but—”

“Has she said she doesn’t like certain things about you?”

“...No.”

“Then why do you think that?”

“Well—”

The chimes of an alarm on his phone interrupt his explanation. Johnny turns off the alarm and gets up to the bathroom. He leaves the door open, not worried about privacy in the company of his best friend. Over the sound of running water and the aerosol of shaving cream leaving its canister he continues.

“I don’t want to make things awkward for her.”

“I mean, if you want her to look at you that way, that’s important. Even if she does have a type.”

“Right,” Johnny mumbles while running his razor under the tap. 

Mark comes to lean against the doorframe of the bathroom to hear better. Johnny’s lips purse at Mark’s reflection in the mirror. He feels torn.

“And if you’re wrong, then you can just move forward.”

“Right.” 

Right?

This year, the Harvest party is being hosted at the mayor’s house instead of at a corporate venue. There are probably hundreds of guests on the property all milling about and giving you a calming sense of anonymity. Johnny texted you earlier that evening telling you where you could find him when you finally left the vet clinic and made it to the party.

A few friends stop you to make small talk and instead of telling them you have to go meet Johnny, you let them delay you. A nymph from work brings you to the large kitchen to eat some rare berries she brought. Another friend from work ushers you onto the main floor to spin you a few times while a song that you like plays.

When the song changes, you exchange goodbyes and stumble off from them. Unfortunately, you bump into Nautilanita, who you had also technically been avoiding.

“Look who it is,” Nautilanita‘s talons curve dangerously around the stem of a wine glass.

“Oh, hey.”

“Guess who I ran into half an hour ago.”

“Who?”

“Guess.”

“Johnny?”

“Mhm. Your boyfriend,” Nautilanita snaps. “Why was he asking me where you were? I had to lie and say you got held back at work.”

“You weren’t required to do that,” you point out. Nautilanita narrows slitted eyes at you.

“I’m guessing you haven’t sat down and talked with him yet.”

“I haven’t. I do plan to, though. I’m just...”

“Nervous?”

You nod and suddenly Nautilanita is grabbing your arm and pulling you over to a darker corner of the house. There’s a group of people huddled loosely near the basement door, light smoke wafting up from where their heads are craned down.

“What are we doing?”

“Getting you some extra courage.”

“Nautilanita,” you hiss before darting your heard around your surroundings. “Did you forget we have weekly drug tests at work?”

“I’m not getting you drugs. I’m getting you some courage. It’s legal, I think.”

You stand off from the group, confused, as Nautilanita chats with the lady in the middle of the huddle. A witch, based off the purple ring she wears. The witch reaches into her bag when Nautilanita does actually ask for courage by name. Nautilanita returns with a small bag of bright yellow orbs that flash welcomingly in the low lighting.

“Open.”

You open your mouth obediently and chew the little rubbery yellow ball until it bursts into your mouth. It tastes a bit like dish soap but you swallow it.

“How long does this last?”

“10 minutes.”

“You mean I only have 10 minutes to find him and tell him everything?”

“Well, 9 minutes and 55 seconds now.”

You push past Nautilanita to circle back through the crowd and climb the staircase to where Johnny said he’d be on the second floor. He’s not in the billiard room at the end of the hall, but someone there points you toward one fo the guest rooms. When you find him he’s sitting in an arm chair in a corner guest room, scrolling on his phone when you enter abruptly.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” he puts his phone down and makes his way over to you. “Why are you out of breath?”

“I, uh, ran up the stairs.”

“You ran up the stairs to see little ol’ me?”

Johnny’s smile is bright and genuine and suddenly you feel a rush of something. It must be the courage. You throw yourself into his waiting arms and press your face to his chest. He should know, you think. He deserves to know.

You’re about to pull away and confess to him, but then he’s lifting your chin with a finger. His smiles bleeds into his eyes and softens into something you think you could swim in. He leans down and catches your mouth in a kiss.

Instead of worrying about the courage running out, you focus on the kiss. With your eyes closed you can properly lose yourself in the feeling of the hard muscle under his soft sweater. The sweater he chose after frantic consultation with you. 

Emboldened by the way you relax into him, Johnny pushes further into your space. His bangs tickle your face when he swivels his head and presses a fuller kiss to your lips. Warm hands creep a slow path up from the flare of your hips to the hem of your work shirt. His breath hitches a little in a puff against your cheek when you push up into him and kiss him harder. His hands come to anchor himself on your lower torso again. This time your movements have pulled your work shirt up to expose your stomach. 

The drag of the skin of his fingers on your lower back has you yanking yourself back with darting eyes and a shaky smile. It pains you to ruin the momentum of the moment, but you know that if you don’t explain yourself before your clothes are supposed to come off, you don’t know how things will end. You’re not expecting to look up and find Johnny’s eyes filled with something that looks akin to fear. 

“Shit—I’m sorry.” He rocks back on his heels and lets his gaze bounce around the corners of your face looking for a cue. “Should we talk about this?” 

You think about the 10 minutes you have, and how much of it could possibly be left.

“Y-yeah.”

You gravitate towards the guest bed and he follows with a flop.

“I hope you know I don’t want to pressure you into anything,” he offers.

“I know you weren’t. It was just getting kinda heavy there for a second.”

“And you don’t want that to happen.”

“I want to make sure you still want to.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because...I haven’t been totally honest with you.”

Johnny can feel the prick of sweat at his hairline and across his shoulders. He kind of wishes you would just tell him you know what he’s hiding so he can begin to adjust. He knows it’s not what Mark would suggest, but he doesn’t want to lose you.

“I know humans say they like magical folk, but being friends with the magicals and being with them is really different.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“And even if they really are fine with us, they probably still would prefer to be with other humans.”

He nods, and then replays your words in his head. You said ‘us’.

“Maybe you wondered why it’s taken us so long to be physical”

“I have, honestly. But that doesn’t mean you should rush to do that.”

“Well, it’s not because I really needed more time. It’s because I didn’t have the courage to before. I didn’t want you to see me like a monster from those old books.”

“Wait, are you saying you’re—”

Before he can finish his sentence, you reach for the buttons of your work shirt and undo them as quickly as you can with shaking fingers and courage long since run out. As the shirt loses its structure and falls away, he can see more of your skin than he ever has before.

Scattered in patches across your abdomen, breasts, and even your back are teal scales that reflect his shocked expression back at him in dozens of little frames with the clarity of a polished gem.

“I’m actually not human. I come from a long line of water sprites.”

The tears of shame in your eyes, another first sight for him, are the same iridescent teal and leave subtle crystalline streaks on their way down your cheeks.

He doesn’t mean to, but he can’t find actual words, and the laugh seems to jump from his throat. Low bubbling first it then grows as the seconds pass by. You look up from the bedspread because you can’t believe your ears. This isn’t at all how you imagined he’d react. He holds up a hand. He knows how bad the reaction is but he can’t help it.

When the laughter begins to subside a moment later, he attends to his own shirt. He hikes the material up over his head and reveals smooth skin. You’re not sure what’s going on at first, but then he removes the silver earrings he wears every day and fur begins to sprout from his torso, his forearms, around his face. His canines and nails lengthen before your eyes to sharp points. And suddenly you understand.

“I bought these from a witch who specializes in werewolf magic the day before our first date,” he reaches over and places the small silver hoops into the palm of your hand.

You look down at the jewelry and then back up at your boyfriend’s face. You’re surprised to see that he looks different, though not because of the sudden lycanthropic transformation. There’s a lightness in his eyes and length in his spine that makes you realize just how much his secret was weighing on him.

No words leave your mouth as you crawl into his space. A small smile graces his lips and he lays on his back to make room for you. You kiss him once more and you’re shocked at how different it feels to do so without a secret smothering everything. As you part his lips, Johnny lays his hands on your skin gently. When you don’t withdraw, he lets his hands wander. 

His palms skim over the cold patches of scales like he’s trying to warm them. He likes the juxtaposition of the warmth from your skin and the cool brilliance of your scales. He likes the way they pattern on you, lining your spine and sloping over your roundnesses. He kiss parts he can reach on your shoulder and when you stop to let him move more, his kisses follow the trail below your collarbone and between your breasts. When he tentatively swipes his tongue over them, you sigh and sink more fully into his lap.

You pull at the thick hair hear the nape of his neck and redirect him back to your mouth. It doesn’t escape you that your bare torsos are constantly brushing. Your nipples harden when he hugs you to him and shivers at the cool patches meeting his skin.

“Are we going to?”

“Do you want to,” his breath puffs against the side of your jaw.

“Please.”

The press of your rocking hips against his reminds him of just how much clothing there’s still left to remove and how much skin there still is to marvel at. After switching positions, he has you on your back and makes a start on removing your pants. He makes quick work of them by trailing a claw under the stubborn button. When the slacks are gone, he looks over the splashes of blue on the inside of your right thigh, spilling over the front of both your shins, wrapping around your left ankle.

He starts there, with a simple kiss to the sparkle on your ankle and then continues. Like skipping a stone through cerulean waters, he kisses over your shins and makes his leisurely way over the hill of your knee. His tongue makes an appearance at your right thigh, where you had been praying for it. He lingers there until he’s certain the area is no longer untouched. There’s an urge to mark up the other thigh as well so there’s some symmetry. He follows the urge with your hand fisting in the thick strands of his hair the whole time.

“Johnny,” you groan when he takes too long trying to mirror the pattern of your scales with small nips to your skin. “When I asked if we were going to have sex, I was asking about today.”

“Sure, I’ve got you.”

He pats your thigh in a placating gesture, and then slides your underwear off at an obnoxiously slow pace with a shit-eating grin. You try your hardest to level a glare at him, but you break eye contact to gasp when he slides a gentle finger between your folds with no prior mention. You briefly consider just letting him continue, but you’re chasing a very specific sensation.

You rake your nails up the part of his back that you can reach, parting some of the fur there. The shiver that wracks through his whole back has you biting your lip in an attempt to stifle laughter. But it also has him shifting so he can hover over you, his hips occupying the place his shoulders once did. While he balances his weight on his knees and one hand, he uses the other hand to get just free enough from his pants.

He replaces his hand when the button, zipper, and the waist of his pants and underwear bunch around his lower thighs. You reach down before he can do anything else and see what he’s working with. Johnny releases a shaky breath while you feel him up, trace the trail of hair that run from his stomach to his groin. Your other hand runs up his arm in an idle fashion. It’s unintentional but, still, the feeling of your nails running over his skin feels like a live current, even through the fur.

The concentration he exhibits is clear as his head lolls forward. You stop your exploration and nudge him into action with a squeeze of your thighs. He still leans down to plant a kiss on your lips before hooking one hand under your back and around a thigh and shifting so you’re seated in his lap once more. You lower yourself onto him fully and begin rocking. You had been ready to take him early on but you’re wet enough to surprise him. He fights the instinct to pitch up into the wet heat until he’s sure you won’t mind.

When you start to get a bit frustrated with the angle, you push him back and brace yourself on either side of his chest. He lets out a long moan as you ride him, fangs glinting when he throws his head back. His hands come to pull you down onto him more firmly. He doesn’t realize that the prick of his claws on the swatch of scales that adorn your hip spurs you on as well. Each downward snap of your hips he meets halfway until he can feel the tell-tale signs of his orgasm coming. He’s not expecting you to reach down and brush a fingertip against the tip of one of his fangs. Carefully so you don’t cut yourself while you continue to bounce against him, you brush your finger across his lips. He’s not sure why, but it sets him over the edge and he spills into you.

You watch the way his face contorts with the pleasure and ache to join him. Grabbing one of clawed hands, you bring it to the apex of your thighs and he quickly guesses your need. He does his best to rub at your clit while the edges of orgasm fade away from his peripheral vision. It’s just slick enough to get you there, and you finish soon after his fog lifts.

The first thing you do is collapse onto him as you recover. Johnny tries to take deep breaths that you can match and eventually the two of you are letting out twin exhales. When you’re able to, you lift yourself just enough to kiss him again. This time it’s one soft singularity.

He sighs against your lips, and when he pulls back there’s a bemused smile on his face.

“I can’t believe you thought I was human.”

“Yeah,” you close your eyes. “I don’t know how we managed to fool each other for so long.”

“I was actually shaving five times a day since the first date.”

The thought makes you smile when you think back on all the times he would go to the bathroom and come back with a pink face.

“Now I’m sure you can guess why I never washed dishes at your place.”

“Would you get more scales,” he asks while brushing his thumb over the apple of your cheek.

“Close. My fingers would turn blue and web.” You wiggle them for effect.

“You know what? I don’t even think either of us actually said we were human. I guess we just assumed.”

You nod and wonder how things would have been if you came out earlier. The idea of surprising a Johnny that thought you were human on the 2nd date with webbed fingers makes you break your composure. He must follow your train of thought because he begins laughing too, shaking the two of you with the force. When you quiet down again, there’s a heavy calm settled in your ribcage. You suppose this is what courage can bring. Johnny rubs your back as you start to nod off. The last thought you have is that you’ll have to remember thank Nautilanita.

[selfshipstuff]

💡 give me all the fandoms ~Audrey

SBDJSJS ALL OF THEM???? I MEAN I GUESS IF YOU'RE SURE??

@tsundere-doods

ARROWVERSE (The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl)

In all Arrowverse AUs, my SI is a metahuman from Earth-1 with energy-based powers. I primarily exercise control over electricity, movement, and gravity, but with practice I could probably expand my repertoire to include light, heat, elasticity, radioactivity, sound-- all sorts of things. During my time on Teams Flash and Arrow, I go by the moniker Switchboard, and then in my Team Arson AU, Lonnie and Astra (@astralshipper) call me Sparks. 

In The Flash, my primary f/o is Cisco Ramon, and we have that best friends to lovers thing going on. I also love Becky Sharpe, although I don’t talk about her much! She’s girlfren, and I’m poly with the two of them in my Flash-centric Arrowverse AU-- she’s not dead, hush, I save her life and canon can eat my entire ass tbh.

I don’t have a romantic f/o on Arrow, but John Diggle is like a brother to me. I don’t have an AU that focuses solely on Team Arrow, because it’s not a primary thing for me, but when I’m on the team, it’s because I’m taking a break from Team Flash.

In my Supergirl-centric AU, instead of joining Team Arrow after leaving Team Flash, I actually use some of Cisco’s tech to hop on over to Earth-38 to make a new life for myself. Eventually, I end up helping out Team Supergirl, because once you start superheroing it’s not really something that has an off switch, and that’s how I meet Winn Schott. He and I click almost immediately and we have a best friends to lovers type thing similar to what Cisco and I had. I also have a small crush on both Lena Luthor and Mon-El, but I haven’t decided if I’m gonna do anything about it yet.

Finally, there’s the Team Arson AU, which isn’t really based on any of the shows in particular, but rather on one of the villains of Arrow: specifically, Lonnie Machin. This AU starts after I leave Team Arrow because of Oliver, John, and Felicity’s actions toward the newer team members; incensed by the hypocrisy of my fellow heroes, I run into Astra (@astralshipper) and Lonnie, who have turned into sort of an anti-hero team, and I join forces with them. This sometimes leads to problems when my ex-teammates come after us, but we handle it.

And last but not least, I actually forgot to mention, but there is an offshoot AU of the Team Arson storyline; it doesn’t have a catchy name, so I just call it the Team Arson and Michael AU, because it’s essentially the same thing as the regular Team Arson one except it incorporates Michael Collins from The Uniques as a new hero. In this AU, I eventually leave Team Arson to form a power-couple duo with Michael and go back to being a hero, mostly.

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER (A:TLA)

Not totally sure what my whole deal is going to be here, but I’m definitely an airbender. I know in canon they’re wiped out, but I’m just saying, there could definitely be a few in hiding; who’s to say all of them were at the air temples when the Fire Nation attacked? The air nomads were a highly mobile people, so yeah, while those were the hubs of activity, I don’t see it being where every single one of them would’ve been. 

Anyway, I don’t have a romantic f/o in this series, but the Gaang in general is just a little family I’d like to be a part of. In particular, Aang has little brother vibes, and I’m definitely gonna take him under my wing; I think it would be good for him to have another airbender around, and it would be cool to see how a traditional air nomad would interact with one whose views and values have been shaped by a century of other cultures dominating the world. It’s definitely sad, because cultural loss is a huge part of genocide, but it would be neat to see how the surviving families passed down that culture and mixed it with that of the world around them. Like, it would be a little bit of home for Aang, but also sort of like... a hope for something new, I guess? I dunno, I’m spitballing here

CRIMINAL MINDS

My SI timeline isn't the most well-defined for this one yet, but one thing I've decided on is that I pretty much end up adopting, fostering, and taking in kids that need help. Currently, it's sort of just... been the kids that are victimized during the team's cases, but that's a byproduct of the source material rather than a conscious decision.

In Criminal Minds, I ship with Spencer Reid and Emily Prentiss, who are my boyfriend and girlfriend, respectively; we’re poly, but they’re not dating each other. They are queerplatonic, though! Fun fact, I’ve adopted Hotch and Rossi as my dads; Hotch is the primary father figure, and Rossi was kind of like, uncle vibes? Until I realized how much romantic tension there is between the two of them, and now he’s like, stepdad. Hotch already sees Spencer as a son, and he’s close with Emily, so this works out really well.  

EVER AFTER HIGH

In EAH, I’m the eldest child of the White Rabbit-- yes, the one you know from the story of Alice in Wonderland. (Don’t ask how that works, because I don’t know.) Anyway, I was born and raised in Wonderland, along with my younger sister, Bunny. (Yes, her name is Bunny Rabbit.) Things were alright until sometime in my early teens when the Evil Queen tried to basically destroy the world of wonder; it was crazy and chaotic, and very few Wonderland folk managed to escape to Ever After before the Brothers Grimm closed the portals between the two worlds. I was among the handful that escaped: my sister, father, and friends were not. I was all alone in an unfamiliar world, and man, was that scary. Luckily, I was still school-aged, so it was easy enough to get a place to stay at the Grimms’ school-- Ever After High. 

I’ve got crushes on Raven Queen, Alistair Wonderland, Dexter Charming, Chase Redford, Northwind, and Cedar Wood, but no established romance.

HARRY POTTER

Okay, so there are a few different timelines and AUs for this franchise. We’ll start with the most established one. Obviously, I’ve got the obligatory AU where I’m there for everything from the very beginning, but there’s also one I thought of back in middle school which goes something like this: I’m newly orphaned, so I’ve been sent to live with a relative in the UK. It’s the year of the Quidditch World Cup, not that I know anything about it, because my parents were Muggles and so is the great-aunt-twice-removed or whomever it is I now live with. I’m out for a walk, trying to clear my head and familiarize myself with the new neighborhood; out the back of the house, there’s a forest in the distance, hills, and marshland which seem suitably spooky and melancholy for my mood, so I head out exploring that way. After a while, I hear noise, like celebration and shouting, so I head over to check it out and stumble across the tent-grounds for the World Cup. 

Obviously, it’s a lot to take in at once, because it’s clearly magic-- but I’ve always believed in magic, in a sense. So I just grin and start exploring, getting friendly with the kids my age in the area, lie to the adults when they ask where my parents are (”oh, our tent is over there”) and nobody even thinks twice about my accent because people from all over the world are here for the event. Of course, I’m only 15, and eventually I run into one of the people who actually coordinates the grounds, so I’m found out fairly easily; cut to me being interrogated and scared half to death by the magical authorities before who else but Dumbledore swoops in and quietly talks to them. It’s a lot, and it’s too quiet for me to hear all of it, but I manage to take away something about me obviously being magic if I found the place-- and then suddenly, this old man is offering his hand and escorting me out, telling me about a whole other world I didn’t know I could be a part of. 

I do go to Hogwarts, and I have to do a LOT of remedial studying to catch up to the other students, but it helps that I love to read about magic and studying over the summer isn’t a problem. 

In some AUs, I’m poly with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley; in others, I’m with Fred and George Weasley. Sirius Black ends up taking me under his wing along with Harry, and he doesn’t die in my canon-- neither does Fred, Remus Lupin, or Tonks.

I also have a pretty big crush on Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but I haven’t got my AU timeline figured out for him yet.

MCU

Agents of SHIELD: This show is a separate AU from my other Marvel stories, but I have the same energy powers as usual. Basically, I’m an Inhuman on SHIELD’s watchlist for a long time, even before they know what Inhumans are; unlike some of the other individuals on the list, I’m friendly, cooperative. I consult on cases from time to time, mostly as needed until Phil Coulson starts putting together his dream team: that’s when he reaches out to me, asks me to be a permanent consultant to his team. I’m sort of hesitant, because permanence is restrictive when it comes to organizations like his, but I agree on my own terms. I find myself fitting in and warming up to the team more than I thought I would, and I even find myself crushing on Fitz and-- to a lesser extent-- Skye. When she gets her powers, it’s frickin’ neat as hell, but I end up fighting with the team for treating her so poorly afterward. 

Spider-Man (Tom Holland): Originally, I’m not even in New York, but rent in our area is going up, and the frequency with which certain areas in NY get destroyed leads to their rent actually being more appealing in an attempt to get people to move back. So, with everything going on, my family weighs their options and we move. It’s the end of summer when we get there, and it’s a different school district, so they make me take all sorts of tests to see where I’ll best fit in-- eventually, they put me into some prestigious school my parents are thrilled about and which I’ve never heard of. Of course, I’m much more thrilled after the first week or so: the classes are more engaging, and the students seem to know their stuff. Other than the classist rich kids, it’s paradise for nerds! And that’s before I develop a crush on a classmate (Peter Parker) and start paying attention to news about a local superhero. Around this time is when my powers start to show themselves; sparks fly, literally, and I find myself getting done with things faster than anyone else. It all comes to a head when, on my way home from school, someone falls from the upper floor of a building and I somehow manage to slow their fall so they land safely. Thoroughly freaked out, I start experimenting with my powers, seeing what I can do-- eventually, I put together my own suit and start helping out the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. (We end up dating out of costume.)

MIRACULOUS LADYBUG

So, in the ML universe, I’m an American exchange student in Paris, and I end up figuring out the identities of the local heroes fairly quickly, which leads me to help out in the crises a lot more. After a while of this, Master Fu decides to gift me with the Mouse Miraculous, which has a different power than in canon, because I developed this before the debut of Kwami Buster and honestly I kind of think Multimouse has a stupid power? Anyway, as Souris Gris, I have the power of stealth. I realize pretty quickly that my accent is gonna be an easy identifier, so I take up Langue des Signes (French Sign Language, or LSF) to use while transformed-- as a bonus, it adds to the stealth thing. Meanwhile, as my civilian self, I’m still adjusting to using conversational and situational French 24/7.

Adrien Agreste (also known as Chat Noir) is my primary f/o from this, but there’s also an AU where we’re poly with Marinette Dupain-Cheng (also known as Ladybug), who we’re both dating. 

OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB (OHSHC)

Okay, in the past with this one I’ve 100% focused on the romance, so I’m gonna make something up on the spot. I still would’ve been born to a lower middle-class family in Midwestern America-- flyover country-- but at some point in my youth, a family member wins the lottery-- literally, and not just as a figure of speech. It’s a big one, and instead of spending it, they invest; as I grow up, things start to look up for us. I’m a creative kid, and I’m bugging my parents to let me design and make my own books, games, and toys. Eventually, they cave, and that’s the story of how I become a “self-made” millionaire. 

At first, the products only really sell in North America, until a knock-off line comes out in Japan, and we release them there to curb the competition. The sales skyrocket in the Japanese isles and surrounding countries, so sometime in my preteens, my family moves to Japan to better oversee the majority of the business. After a lot of private tutoring and language classes, I beg my parents to let me go to a real school. Now, my parents, who are quickly becoming the snooty rich folks they used to curse, take some convincing, but we finally agree as long as they choose the school, which is how I end up enrolled at Ouran Academy. 

I eventually find myself meeting the host club and befriending them, which... also leads to me dating Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, the notorious twins. We’re all lowkey crushing on Haruhi, but none of us do anything about it. 

THE UNIQUES

I still haven’t decided how I end up on the team to begin with, but I do know that my powers are pretty much the same in The Uniques as they are in the Arrowverse. (This is mostly because that’s my default when it comes to superpowers. Energy powers are frickin’ neat, okay?) Again, they primarily cover electricity, movement, and gravity, but in this universe I also have a little more experience bending light and manipulating heat. 

One of my f/os from this is also mentioned in the Arrowverse section because of an AU, and that’s Michael Collins. He and Scout are my boyfriends, and they’re best buds. The rest of the team (the New Guard) are our best friends, so they’re platonic f/os.

WALKYVERSE (It’s Walky!, Shortpacked!)

Technically, the Walkyverse also includes Roomies!, which comes before It’s Walky! sequentially, but I don’t even really think about that part of the comic tbh. Basically, I’m an alien abductee, so I have powers-- neat!-- and I’m an agent of SEMME-- less neat. We’re a secret government agency fighting a hostile race of aliens known only as “aliens”, which I guess are separate from other extraterrestrial races because Martians are specified as a separate race within the comic...? Anyway. I’m a SEMME agent, and I have enhanced abilities like super-strength due to my status as an abductee. Originally, I was a part of a different squad, but a mission went south, leaving me as the only surviving member. 

By the time the retrieval unit showed up, most of my teammates were already dead, and I was just barely holding up a fallen building which would have crushed me had I let go. Upon my return to SEMME HQ, I was asked to wait outside an office for a moment while the Big Boss and some poor agent tasked with debriefing him duked it out behind the closed doors. There were whispers about me, being the sole survivor of my unit and having held up a building, and people had their suspicions, but it didn’t matter. The fact was that I was the only agent that had made it through a suicide mission, which is a feat in and of itself, disregarding the valuable intel I had gathered; Big Boss eventually reassigned me to Squad 128, the most infamously effective team on payroll, and sent me off to get checked out by medical. 

My main f/o in Walkyverse is Mike Warner, a fellow SEMME agent and abductee. I’m also FWB with the titular character before he gets married-- David Walkerton (Walky)-- and Marcie. 

[our-smooty]

Flowerbeds and Fertile Soil: Chapter 6

Fandom: Good Omens

Rating: Explicit

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens, )Anathema Device/Newton Pulsifer

Tags:  Kidfic, Mpreg kind of, they can choose to present however so idk, Crowley Has A Vulva (Good Omens), Crowley Has A Penis (Good Omens), Aziraphale Has A Penis (Good Omens), Aziraphale Has A Vulva (Good Omens), OCs Galor, parenting, using your snake form to avoid confrontation, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pregnancy, if I missed a tag lemme know

Summary: They could do anything, go anywhere, all without the worry of Above or Bellow making a fuss. Even so, they mostly kept to their little patch of Eden, their cottage and garden and the simple life they’d carved out among the locals. Aziraphale opened a book shop in town, where he only occasionally sold any books (and the ones he did sell, were all modern and stocked specifically for that purpose). Crowley focused his attentions on the garden, and if he occasionally helped their elderly neighbour with her disobedient willow tree, then that was a secret no one needed to know. Lately, however, they had both been feeling rather restless, unbeknownst to each other. Aziraphale tried reorganizing his store, changing the way he tied his bowtie and even ate pizza –something he considered to be far too messy for him personally. Crowley had branched out into birdwatching, and then car maintenance (the human way), and even reading. Nothing scratched the itch for either of them.

Ao3 Link

My Ko-Fi

They ended up calling Anathema. She took it pretty well, and Crowley had the suspicion that she’d expected it in that weird witchy way of hers. She instructed Aziraphale to get Crowley into bed with some crackers and water, and for him to nibble on those until he was feeling better. Crowley complained that he almost never ate anything, being an immortal demon, but decided to try it out anyway, if only because being sick was a new and frankly frightening experience he wanted to be over and done with as soon as possible. And to his chagrin, I actually did help. 

Aziraphale hovered around anxiously, asking over and over again if there was anything Crowley needed, and fluffing the pillows, and fussing with the comforters. Crowley let him do it because who didn’t like to be pampered once and a while? Charlotte and Annabella had crawled into bed too with a few of their dolls and were currently reenacting the scene from the kitchen in great detail. It was honestly so domestic he wanted to throw up all over again, or maybe that was just the morning sickness coming back. 

“Comfortable?” Aziraphale asked, once again re-fluffing the pillow behind Crowley’s back. “Do you need anything else. More water? Tea? A different type of crackers? I can go down to the shop and--”

Crowley leaned over--carefully so he wouldn’t upset the delicate balance in his stomach--and grabbed Aziraphale’s hand. “I’m alright, but I’d be better if you joined us.” He gave Azirpahale a crooked, slightly fragile smile. To tell the truth, he was feeling pretty overwhelmed and more than a little nervous, having all this come crashing down when they were supposed to be enjoying a fun day at the park. Crowley glanced over at the girls playing at the foot of the bed. He needed to keep it together for them if nothing else. 

“Oh well if you insist.”Aziraphale sat on the edge of the bed, then folded himself carefully into the space between Crowley and the kids. “You’re sure you’re alright?”

Crowley shrugged. “Happens to humans all the time when they’re expecting, you heard Anathema. Guess I’ll have to get used to it.” He was trying not to think about it too hard. They’d been going at it like rabbits for the past month with the express purpose of this but now that it was happening Crowley was honestly freaking out a little bit. “You know, I think I did something to my back while I was hunched over that sink, you think you could…?”

“Of course my dear. Scoot up a bit then.” Crowley did, and Aziraphale began the massage. He hadn’t actually done anything to his back, but he knew his angel needed something to do with his hands and this sounded like the most mutually beneficial activity they could get up to with the poppets around. And Crowley had gone nearly 6000 years with minimal contact from well... anyone so this wasn’t exactly a hardship. Not the exciting day out at the park he’d planned but also not the worst day (though he’d live through the apocalypse and thinking Aziraphale was dead so his standards might have been warped).

“That’s nice angel, maybe a little further down, near the wings? Ah, yeah,” Crowley moaned happily, twitching said appendages in the not-quite-there space they resided in. “I always forget how good you are at this.”

“Wings?” Lottie asked, consequently losing interest in her doll and crawling over the bedspread to sit in Crowley’s lap. “You have wings Uncle Crowley?”

“Uhh.” They hadn’t exactly hidden the fact they were supernatural in front of the girls. Normally there would have been concerns about them telling other humans about them, but they were children who often said strange things. The few times Bella had said something of that sort to another human they usually wrote it off as the excited ramblings of a three-year-old. And Lottie was getting to the age where she was beginning to catch on that her uncles were a bit different and actually enjoyed keeping the secret. But neither being had shown the girls their more… ethereal bits so far because honestly how do you explain giant wings to humans who were only just out of babyhood? 

“Does Uncle Azi have wings?” Bella asked, stealing her sister’s doll and hiding it under a nearby pillow for later use. “Show me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, sweetheart. It would get rather crowded in here,” Aziraphale explained while simultaneously turning Crowley into a pile of mush with firm circular motions to the base of his spine. 

“Aw Hell angel, it can’t hurt to show them,” he said, smiling down at Lottie. Aziraphale sighed but Crowley knew he’d won; the angel was just as weak as he was when it came to the requests of their goddaughters. 

“Language, dear,” he chided before letting his own wings out with a woosh. Crowley followed, careful not to knock Aziraphale off the bed. The room was filled with the distinctly dusty-magic smell of wings brought into the physical plane and both Lottie and Bella gasped. 

“Magic!” Annabella cried, forgetting her dolls and scampering over to grab a fistful of Crowley’s feathers. He winced and pulled back reflexively, which made her little face fall. Slowly Aziraphale took her hand in his and placed it gently on the demon’s wing, showing her how to be gentle. 

“Carefully, like that dearest. Like petting a puppy.” Bella nodded, using the utmost care while playing with his primaries. Lottie joined in as well, enjoying picking through the layers and finding the tiny, downy feathers hidden beneath. Crowley couldn’t hold back a tiny laugh as their hands tickled and prodded.

“Oh sure angel, keep yours out of the way while they muss up mine,” he joked, spreading his wings out more so the girls could see the iridescence of the secondaries and tertiaries. Aziraphale went back to massaging, really getting into the muscles where his wings met his back. 

“I’ll sort them for you later if you want. Besides, I think we’re both overdue for a little preening as it is,” Aziraphale chuckled, grabbing one of his own tertiary feathers that had fallen onto the bedspread and handing it to Lottie. “We’re both moulting all over the place.”

“Are you a bird?” Lottie asked, spinning the snow-white feather in her fingers. 

“Daddy says birds are for watching and not for scaring,” Bella added sheepishly, tossing some of the loose down into the air. 

“Well for once your dad is right, what a shocker,” Crowley drawled, earning a light pinch from Aziraphale. 

“Be nice to Newton Crowley. He’s a lovely young man, if you’d made the effort to get to know him.” Crowley rolled his eyes again but didn’t reply. He honestly didn’t mind Newt and Anathema. They were alright, as far as humans went, and he’d probably miss them when their short lifespans came to an end. But that wasn’t something he liked to think about too often--or when he was sober--so he made the executive decision to change the subject. 

“Are we still going to the park?” The girls both looked up hopefully. Not even the magical reality of wings could compare to the thrill of their local children's park (the one that had been put in suspiciously close to when Charlotte had been born. Crowley had the suspicion Aziraphale had had more than a little bit to do with it). 

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, love,” Aziraphale answered. Crowley groaned and tossed his hair back dramatically. “Oh don’t be like that you were literally passed out in our kitchen not two hours ago.”

‘I’m fine now,” he pouted. Was this how the entire 9 (or however many months demon/angel babies needed to gestate), was going to be? Aziraphale being overprotective and Crowley forced to lay in bed doing nothing? “I don’t feel sick anymore and I ate all the crackers.”

“Please Uncle Azi?” Bella begged, turning her big, dark eyes on the angel and pulling off a pout so manipulative it made Crowley proud. He’d seen Anathema use the exact same look on Newt when she wanted a refill of her drink at the baby shower. 

Aziraphale’s resolve lasted all of three seconds before he nodded and withdrew his wings. “Fine. But only for an hour and only if Uncle Crowley agrees to spend most of the time sitting.”

The girls cheered, accidentally tugging at Crowley’s wings in the process. He discreetly disappeared them back into their pocket dimension and made a mental not to give them a once over that night. Monthly wing groomings were one of his favourite part of moving in together. Back before the Apocalypse Crowley had sometimes gone decades without a proper groom because demons did not--in any capacity--groom each other. Only when he’d seen Aziraphale and they’d been in the position to act friendly had he gotten a good groom in, and he cherished many of those memories. 

“I promise to take it easy angel.” He leaned back and rested his head on Aziraphale’s chest. “Girls why don’t you go get dressed while we get ready?”

Charlotte and Annabella ran off, though not before collecting the majority of the loose feathers from the blankets. Crowley watched them go with a smile before rolling over and spreading himself over his Aziraphale’s chest and shoulder. “Mmm, thanks for the back rub, angel. Really hit the spot.”

“It’s the least I can do, dear boy,” Aziraphale answered, pressing kisses to the demon’s forehead and cheeks. “You’re very cuddly, aren’t you?”

Normally Crowley would deny that fact until he was blue in the face, but right now in the bed, the sound of their goddaughters making a complete mess of their bedroom vibrating through the walls, he felt content. “Feels nice. Kinda surreal but, nice.”

“Nice is a four-letter word starlight,” Aziraphale pointed out, planting one final kiss on Crowley’s lips. “Are you sue you’re feeling alright?”

“Shut up and get me my shoes,” Crowley laughed, kissing back with fervour. “Give a demon a break I’m carrying some sort of Angelic parasite inside me and it’s turning me soft.” There it was easier to talk about if he made it into a joke. Baby steps. 

“Don’t call our child a parasite,” Aziraphale admonished with a gasp. “I suppose it’s too early to pick names, but what about a nickname?” The angel began mumbling to himself as he got ready, purposefully not going near Crowley’s shoes. 

“Ngk,” Crowley choked, blushing scarlet. “Too early, y-yeah.”

Aziraphale smiled slyly. He was enjoying this, the bastard. ‘We’ll have to think about it, won’t we? Well, get a move on dearest, the girls won’t wait forever. Do you need a hand?”

“No,” Crowley growled in what he hoped was a menacing way. Not that it worked on Aziraphale. Crowley watched him practically flounce from the room, entirely too pleased with himself. He never had handed Crowley his shoes.

After changing out of his comfortable clothes and into something more appropriately suited for playing in the park, his third skinniest pair of jeans, shiny leather shoes, and a spiffy blazer covering a deep purple t-shirt, Crowley stomped down the stairs to wait in the entry, completely ignoring the commotion from upstairs. 

“No, Annabella you may not go out in your underthings--and Charlotte what did I say about those scarves? One is plenty--! Oh bugg-blast! Don’t pull your sister’s hair!” It sounded like the girls were giving Aziraphale a run for his money. Crowley considered going back up to give him a hand, but the effort of getting dressed and down the stairs had left him a little lightheaded, so he decided to stay put. If he fainted again Aziraphale would make a big deal and probably refuse to let him leave the house for the next nine months. There was only so much he could do around the cottage grounds and he didn’t want to go completely mad. 

Upstairs things seemed to be calming down anyway. Crowley smiled as he heard one of the girls giggling, then Azirpahale’s answering chuckle. Somebody, he loved that man so much it almost made him want to be sick again, but in a good way. Feelings were confusing. Even 6000 years of experience didn’t give him any advantages. Or maybe Crowley was just a mess; that was also a distinct possibility.

“All good angel?” he asked as Aziraphale descended the steps, Bella on his hip and Lottie trailing behind him. The angel looked frazzled, but fond.

“We got there in the end, didn’t we girls?” he answered, jostling Bella and making her laugh. 

With both of them there it wasn’t as much of a struggle to get everyone’s shoes on and out the door. Crowley took Charlotte’s hand while Aziraphale walked with Bella. The park was only a few minutes walk and once they arrived both girls sped off ahead to clamber over the equipment.

“No monkey bars! Can’t have you nearly busting your heads open again!” Crowley called after them, locating a bench and sitting heavily. OK, so maybe he should have stayed in bed a little longer. His gaze shifted over to Aziraphale as the angel took a seat beside him and debated saying something.

“I have to say I’m glad we decided to come out after all. Best to enjoy these last few days of summer.” Nevermind then. Crowley wasn't going to make a fuss about nothing if the angel was enjoying himself. 

“Before everything turns all grey and slushy you mean?” Crowley hated winter. He wasn’t cold-blooded per-say, but he did usually run at a few degrees colder than most. Which made the winter particularly unpleasant. 

“We aren’t in London anymore Crowley, you know the winters here are beautiful,” Aziraphale remarked, procuring breadcrumbs from one of his pockets and scattering them for the birds. This area hadn’t had many pidgeons before they moved in, but because Aziraphale expected parks to have birds to feed (and there was no body of water large enough for ducks) there were now several groups of birds who visited daily. 

“Freezing. Wet. Full of unbearable holiday cheer. Sounds lovely,” Crowley drawled, conjuring up his own, larger chunks of bread to huck at the birds. 

“I know Christmas really isn’t your thing darling. Oh!” Aziraphale wiggled slightly. He brushed the crumbs from his hand and began running his fingers over his lips in excitement. “Next year, we’ll have a little one to celebrate with. Won’t that be exciting?”

Crowley grimaced to hide the strange way his face wanted to crumple up. “Guess so. You’re not going to make me do the whole “Santa” thing with them are you?” Crowley would never, ever admit it out loud, but the idea was… not terrible? He liked to give Aziraphale presents at Christmas, but that was because giving his angel gifts was practically ingrained in him now. And Christmas gave Crowley the excuse to go all-out more often than not. Would it be the same with the kid; would he want to dote on them as much as he did on Aziraphale? Maybe more?

“But that’s half the fun!”

“Sure, sure. Telling kids a great big man in a sweaty red suit breaks into the house and leaves them things is all well and good angel--quite demonic really--but what about what you have to tell them he’s not real?” He’d been saved that ordeal by Warlock’s parents, or more specifically his mother, who decided that six was a perfectly acceptable age to rid her child of that sort or silliness. She hadn’t intended to be mean, but Crowley had still spent the entire night with an armful of sobbing little boy.

“Hm, I guess that is a little bit of a problem. But that’s years away and humans seem to grow up fine believing in him,” Aziraphale countered, letting his fingers travel up to twirl around one of his curls. A few feet away Lottie and Bella had started making flower crowns. “Girls, what do you think about Santa Clause?”

Lottie barely looked up. “Santa Claus is a tool used by the capitalist government to force people into participating in the endless cycle of purchase and debt,” she answered automatically. “Daddy says not to tell other kids though.”

Crowley burst out laughing, knee-slapping and all. “Oh, that has Book Girl written all over it. And your face, angle!”

Aziraphale sputtered indignantly for a bit before sighing and giving a small smile. “I guess that’s one way to deal with it. Though Saint Nicholas himself wasn’t too bad. Had ale with him a few times in Greece.”

Within a few seconds Crowley had gathered himself enough to sit back up, now leaning heavily towards Aziraphale in companionable closeness. “Sure sure. Of course, you’ve shared drinks with literal Santa Claus.”

“Charlotte stop putting grass in your sister's hair please!” Aziraphale scolded, making like he was going to get up if she didn’t stop. Of course, she listened immediately, knowing that any further misbehaviour would mean the end of their park trip, but Crowley also saw her steal a few flowers from Bella’s pile during the distraction. He’d have to keep an eye on her at this rate. “That’s the sort of thing we’ll need to decide on, isn’t it. To tell them about Santa, or what to do about school bullies…”

Crowley groaned. “Do we have to talk about this now? For somebody's sake I’ve barely been...you know… for six weeks going by what Anathema said. Can’t we talk about all that later?” Not to mention he’d only known for a few hours and was still adjusting to that particular piece of information. 

Every once and a while since this morning Crowley found himself resting his hand on his stomach, subconsciously looking for a bump that wouldn’t be there for weeks, if not months. The idea that there was actually something growing inside him was as weird as it was exciting and for once, Aziraphale was the one moving too fast. Crowley needed time to process all of this but between the angel and the girls, he didn’t think he was going to get much.

“We can stop, if you like. But I do hope you’re up to having this discussion soon. I have to admit, I’m very excited, if a little nervy about the whole business.” Nervy was one way of putting what Crowley was feeling. A right state, too. He just wanted some peace and quiet on this nice park bench while he sorted through some stuff, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to ask for that without sounding like a massive arsehole.

“Nervy, yeah. We can talk about it in a bit?” There that wasn’t too bad right? About as non-committal and non-confrontational as possible. And if it was really a problem and Aziraphale needed to talk well then Crowley would just have to deal with it somehow because there was no way he giving Aziraphale a reason to be cross with him and force himself to go through this alone. “The little monsters will be gone in what, 2 weeks, 3 tops? We can talk then.”

Aziraphale looked like he was going to complain, but stopped himself. He met Crowley’s eyes through the lenses of his sunglasses and Crowley must have been giving off enough signals of stress that the angel picked up on them. “I’ve been pushing again, haven’t I?”

“A bit,” Crowley said with the best casual affect he could muster while simultaneously thanking Someone that Aziraphale remembered from their last argument that he could be a bit pushy when he got excited. And that Crowley was not his usual cool, “water off a duck’s back” self when it came to this issue. 

“Sorry again love. I got a little carried away, what with just finding out and then you getting sick it’s been a rather big day.” Crowley’s head bobbed in sympathy then ducked towards Aziraphale again. This time he went all the way past casual leaning to resting his head on the angel’s shoulder. Luckily, his smell was either being blown away by the wind, or whatever sort of episode Crowley had been experiencing was finished. Which was good because he really, really wanted to sneak a cuddle in. 

“S’OK, I should’ve said something.”

Aziraphale hummed against Crowley’s hair. “At least this discussion didn’t end in you leaving in a huff.”

“Or you running off to get lost in your books.” Lottie had wandered away from Bella towards the swings, though Crowley was sure she wouldn’t be alone for long. She was too social for that, not to mention her sister was a bit of a clinger. 

“That too. How are you feeling now? Not too hot out for you is it?” Crowley resisted the urge to roll his eyes, all too aware that they had only just avoided another fight.

“Stop your fussing, I’m fine. Told you how many times now?” It was mostly the truth. Since the slight dizzy spell after the stairs he’d been feeling fine. He knew enough about human pregnancy to know that morning sickness was a common enough thing. The angel was making a huge deal out of nothing. 

Aziraphale tutted, but still squeezed Crowley around the shoulders where his arm lay. “Yes, yes, I know. You cannot fault me for worrying, I love you so.”

“Ngk,” Crowley answered, watching as Lottie helped her little sister, who had, in fact, followed her promptly, onto a swing. “Love you too, even when you bother me.”

They spent the rest of the early afternoon in the park. Eventually Crowley got up to help Lottie try out the monkey bars safely while Aziraphale took Bella home for a nap. Or for “storytime”, since telling a three-year-old to take a nap was just about the worst thing you could do. Crowley had agreed they wouldn’t stay longer than half-an-hour and that he would call the second he felt off. But nausea didn’t come back, and Charlotte managed to get half-way across by herself without Crowley having to intervene and everything was good.

[zach-the-fox]

Furiends Episode 7: Broken

The hospital lobby is bustling with animals crammed in the seats by the front desk. Eren snuggles up against Silus as the newt wraps two of his arms around him. Niji sits still, reading a comic book, while Navy twiddles away on her phone. They stop and look toward the dog, who approaches them.

“How’s your mother?” Navy asks. “She doing okay?”

“She’s fine,” Sally says with a frown. “She’ll be in the hospital for a couple of weeks… This whole thing will be rough to deal with…”

“If you need a place to stay, Silus and I wouldn’t mind,” Eren tells her. “We’ve got enough room for you and your mother.”

“I appreciate your generosity, but it’s not necessary. I’ve got a-” She narrows one eye and looks at the group. “Hey, wait! Where’s Zach and Emmy?” The others turn and take notice as well. “You guys didn’t see them go off or anything?”

“We were more concerned about you and your mother,” Niji utters. “We didn’t know they weren’t with us.”

She looks to the front entrance and spots the fox and warthog outside. “Oh, there they are!” Sally spots black soot and ash all over their bodies. “What in the world?” The dog heads up to them. The others follow her out. “What happened with you two? Where were you, and why are you covered in-” She sniffs them. “Soot and ash?!”

“I proceeded into the ruins of your old home,” Zach starts. “Emmy followed me in to see too, and… you are going to be surprised at what we found.” He turns to Emmy.

The warthog pulls out her phone and shows the dog a picture of broken glass and a burnt rag by the side of the house. “We found this by the side of the house. Zach drew near to it when we smelled a strong scent, which brought us to here. Zach identified the scent to be kerosene, a flammable liquid. This is basically a Molotov cocktail…”

“I know what a Molotov is,” Sally barks. “So… someone set the house on fire deliberately… Who would-” Her paws clench as well as her eyebrows. “Team Rescuers! They did this! They set my house on fire! They’re doing this to get back at us!”

“We don’t know that, Sally,” Emmy tells her. “Although, it is possible. Team Rescuers did say they would go back to their base, yet we don’t know where they went after they left. It’s also possible that they would do that to frame Zach, or make him feel the urge to leave.”

“I’m sorry about your house,” Zach says. “Are you going to be all right?”

“Of course, Zach,” Sally responds. “I’m going to call my sister and explain to her what happened. She’ll take mom and I in for sure.”

“What about me? Can I stay with you guys?”

“I’m afraid there’s no room for you at my sister’s house.”

“Oh…” Zach’s ears droop. “I guess that means I’m homeless again, right?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Silus says. He places two hands on his shoulder. “You can stay with Eren and I if you want. We have a spare bedroom in our apartment. We’ll make sure you’re looked after.” Eren agrees with his boyfriend.

Zach looks at them. “Thank you…”

“Meanwhile,” begins Emmy. “We should really be on the lookout for those Team Rescue-jerks. If we suspect they burned down Sally’s house, they may come after us as well.”

“You know what we should do?” begins Navy. “We should scope out the neighborhood. Find the ones responsible for Sally’s house.”

“Can we do that somewhere else?” Eren suggests. “I don’t think I feel comfortable around these people.” The gang looks around as a crowd of people gather by them.

“What’s going on?” Niji asks. “What’s up with everyone?”

“Flawed Fox!” calls a voice in the crowd to Zach. “How could you?!”

“Team Rescuers was right about you!” yells another. “You are nothing but flawed! Nothing!”

“Hold on!” Emmy shouts. “What’s the matter with you all? What are you blaming Zach for?”

An animal approaches the group. “He’s destroyed our town, disrupted our heroes, and has burned an innocent’s house! He’s nothing but trouble!” Zach, ears drooped and eyes wide open, steps backwards with fear. Eren stops him by getting beside him, while Silus puts two arms around him for comfort.

Sally gets in front of them. “Zach had nothing to do with any of that! You have no right to blame him for everything! Besides, where is your proof that he’s done those things?!”

“Team Rescuers informed us of his dastardly deeds!” Another animal of the crowd cries. “They’re the protectors of the town! They’ve told us everything!”

“What makes you think they’re right?” Navy demands. “Zach hasn’t done any of those bad things!”

“Yeah!” adds Emmy. “He’s been with us the whole time! How dare you blame him for things he didn’t do!”

“Can it!” orders another one of the crowd members. “We know you people are in on this, too!”

“What?!” calls out Sally. “In on what?! Zach’s our friend! He’s had a rough past and continues to struggle moving forward, but we’re supporting him! We did nothing to you!”

The crowd becomes rowdier. “You traitors!” another yells. “He’s brainwashed you all!”

“You will die alongside the flawed fox!”

Silus picks up Eren and Zach with his arms. “We have to get out of here! These people are going to tear us apart!”

“Right behind you, Big Newt!” Niji utters. The gang bolts away from the front of the hospital with the crowd tailing them. They run, faster and faster, as the yells and cries of the mob continue from behind them. The gang gets chased out of town and into a field nearby. Ducking into a ditch within the farm, the gang remains hidden until the screaming animals run past, assuming they’ve passed through. When the mob has vanished, the friends come out of hiding and dusts themselves off.

“Phew,” comments Navy. “That was close… Who would’ve thought people would become agitated quickly…”?

Silus places the deer and fox down. “Sorry about that, Zach. Just thought I’d help you move.”

“It’s okay,” Zach tells him. “I appreciate it…” He turns to the others. “And, I appreciate you guys sticking up for me… No one has ever done that before…”

“We’re your friends, Zach,” Emmy says, walking up to him and putting her hoof on his belly. “That’s what we do. It’s too bad that everyone will be after us, now…”

“Great,” Sally starts. “Now the whole town thinks Zach’s the cause of all the bad things… Not only that, but now they think we were in on it, too…”

“Oh no,” Zach comments. “This isn’t good… I could get you guys in trouble… I didn’t mean to-”

“Don’t say another word, Zach,” Sally barks at him. “It isn’t your fault. You didn’t destroy the town or burn my house down. Those animals are out of their minds. However, it does mean we’re labeled as enemies…”

“W-what do we do now?” asks Eren. “We’re wanted by everyone in Heroto…”

“What made them angry with us?!” Navy utters. “How could they have known we did something wrong?!”

“Somebody has tipped them off,” a voice from the shadows nearby speaks. The gang turns and notices the robed figure. “They have been notified by an unknown source, but they’re being lied to.”

“Wait, I know you…” Zach steps forward. “You were my aide… Back when I was in the orphanage… I am glad to see you…”

“I am glad to see you again, too, Young Zach. However, I am not here for a personal visit. I have been following your case after you’ve been evicted, and someone else has been, too.”

“What? You mean… someone’s been spying on me…?”  The figure nods. “Are they the ones framing me, and making everyone think my new friends and I are the bad guys?

“They tipped Team Rescuers off, as well as all of Heroto.”

“Who’s behind all of this?”

“I’m afraid I cannot say anymore. I will say it is someone who knows you… You and your new friends should watch yourselves. If you are not careful, they will get you. I must leave, for I have more pressing matters to attend to. Farewell, Zach and friends.” The figure disappears within the shadows by backing up.

“So, someone from Zach’s past has been onto us…?” Navy spurts. “Who could it possibly be?”

“I don’t know,” Zach responds. “But now, I’m tempted to find out… We need to get to the bottom of this… We need to find out who’s been framing us…”

“How can we do that?” asks Eren. “The whole town has us on the run… There’s no way we can-”

Niji holds his head. “Ugh, I don’t feel so good… Like I’m going to…” His whole body enlarges and expands, and he becomes hairier. Everyone looks in surprise. “What the? What happened to me?!”

“Oh my god,” Emmy spurts in surprise. “You’re a werewolf!”

Niji is quickly reverted back to his old self. “Hold on!” He puts his paws on the area between his legs. “I have to use the bathroom real bad!” He runs away fast, then returns within fifteen seconds. “Phew.”

“You also have super speed!” Navy yells. “Whoa, that’s cool! How did you do that?!”

“I don’t know… But, I feel like lightning, all of a sudden…”

“Lightning,” Zach repeats. “The machine in the lab! It gave you some super powers. Then that means- Wait, I can feel someone behind me!” He turns around.

“Hey, Flawed Fox, eat this!” A passerby hurls a rock toward the fox. Zach dodges the rock fast. “I have the power to sense things around with my mind! Nice!”

Sally picks up the rock. “How about you eat this?!” She tosses the stone as fast as Zach and it hits its target. “Cool! I’ve got remarkable throwing skills!”

Navy examines her wings after feeling them tingle. “What’s with my wings?” She flaps them hard, which spawn a little tornado. “Whoa!” The little whirlwind disappears. “Wow!”

Emmy looks at her hooves. “I wonder what powers I have. Maybe I-” She notices Navy spawning another tornado, which comes right at her. “Yow!” She dodges it quickly, much quicker than she ever would. “I have… fast reflexes?”

“Wow…” Silus stares at the gang in bewilderment. “You’re all like superheroes! All you need are capes and masks and cool gadgets!”

“Actually…” Sally pulls out the purple gloves from her bag. “We still have the things we took from Team Rescuers and their manufacturer, right?” Everyone shows the other gadgets from their bags. “It actually wouldn’t be a bad idea to be superheroes based on our abilities and wearables. In fact, we should find the crook responsible for framing us.”

“How are we going to do that?” asks Niji. “The entire town has kicked us out and I’m sure they’ll hunt us down if they see us.”

“You bonehead, we’re not going back into Heroto. We need to establish a base of operations. A superhero hangout, for when we track down and take on the real villain, and maybe perhaps a place to stay while avoiding trouble. The question is, where are we going to settle?”

“I remember being out here with Team Rescuers,” Zach recalls. “There was an abandoned gas station we battled Capital Corp at nearby… I’m not sure if it’s still there or not…”

“Do you remember where it is?” Emmy queries. Zach nods. “Take us there.” Zach proceeds to lead his friends to the site he was at years ago. After a five-minute walk, the gang stands before a half-raised building with broken windows along the middle of mirror walls. A sign above the door reads “Diner” on top. Next to the diner is an open garage area, still stocked with jacks and car elevators. Next to that, a small room with a counter and shelves still intact, visible through open holes where windows existed. Attached to the diner area is a long row of doors with room numbers on it, indicating they are for beds. In front of the mechanic shop and store are pumps with the hoses still attached to them.

“Well,” Niji comments. “This place is a huge mess. I’m sure it’s seen better days.”

“May not be lovely, but it may suit our needs,” Emmy claims. She and the others enter the diner area. Dozens of booths and tables remain fixed in place, despite their scratched cushions and shattered glass along the surfaces. The counter, and everything behind it, are void of appliances and condiments.

“Neat!” Navy adds. “I love when places are abandoned and creepy. Gives quite a settling mood.”

“There’s no way I’m getting on those ruined cushions,” states Sally. “Or using anything in here.”

“We can make the place spiffy,” Eren suggests. “We’ll make sure we’re comfortable.”

“Gee, thanks. However, I’m not sure if I feel comfortable sleeping in a gutted booth, or being in a ruined diner.”

“We don’t have to,” spurts Zach. “This place has a motel attached to it. Maybe there are still some beds.”

“They’re probably ruined, too.”

“It’s not like we have much of an option, Sally,” Emmy says. “Unless you want to go back to town and risk getting pummeled for being friends with a “flawed fox”.” She quickly turns to Zach. “No offense.”

“I’m used to it,” Zach tells her.

“Well, if we’re going to be settled here, I need some of my things,” Sally claims. “Laptop, blanket, and all other essentials. Oh wait… They were destroyed in the fire… Never mind…”

“We can’t risk going back to town for any reason,” Emmy orders. “We’ll have to make do with what we have here for now. Besides, we have powers and gadgets now. That should be a start. Let’s get this place in order.” The friends waste no time splitting up and getting to work. @emmy-the-absolute-goof​ @sally-the-pack-leader​ @rainbow-strike​ @pink-unicorn-boi​ @ask-choro-mama​

[rosegoldwitchcraft]

“I’m new to witchcraft, where should I start?”

Witchcraft is incredibly flexible, so there isn’t any defined area where you need to begin -- you can start anywhere you like! There are so many different areas of witchcraft, so simply find something that interests you and start learning about it (which is so much easier in the age of the internet!). My biggest recommendation would be to use various sources, and to remember that nothing is required in witchcraft -- you don’t need to read tarot, celebrate sabbats, own a huge crystal collection, etc...these are all just different ways of practicing the craft, and it’s up to you to decide what witchcraft means to you personally! 

I’ve listed a few popular “categories” of witchcraft below and some easy, affordable ways to begin experimenting and practicing within those areas! Of course this list is by no means complete, but I hope it gives you some ideas and inspiration! 💖

🔮 Divination

Tarot is one of the most famous forms of divination, and there’s lots of ways to start practicing! If you want to buy a physical deck, there are many affordable options, such as this Rider-Waite deck in a tin that I bought when I was first starting out. You could also try using a digital tarot deck or app; the Golden Thread Tarot app is a personal favorite of mine, and it’s free! If you’re feeling especially creative, you could even experiment with making your own tarot deck. And when you’re ready to start learning the meanings of the different cards, here’s a post I wrote with some general tips and advice, and here’s a list of my favorite websites to learn how to read tarot cards.

Many forms of divination are very easy to “DIY.” You could create your own set of runes using pebbles, pieces of wood, heavy paper, etc. I actually made myself a set of penny runes inspired by this post...it took me about 30 minutes and less than 30 cents! A pendulum could simply be a pendant necklace you already own, or even a string with a rock attached. A pendulum board is optional, but doesn’t need to be fancy either -- it can easily be quickly sketched out on a piece of computer paper if you wish! And while scrying is often associated with crystal balls, a more affordable option is to practice with a dark room, a mirror, and a candle!

Finally, there are many simple forms of divination that require no special tools at all! Bibliomancy only requires a book, and is simply the practice of divining from a randomly chosen passage. Traditionally this was often done with a bible, but any book will work! And while tech witchcraft isn’t for everyone, shufflemancy can be a fun version of divination that only requires some form of music player, such as Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, etc. As you may have guessed, in shufflemancy you put your music player on shuffle, and divine based off the lyrics, title, etc. of the song that plays!

💫 Astrology

Astrology is a fascinating subject, but don’t be discouraged by how vast and complex it is! Like tarot, there is no need to learn everything at once. Start with what interests you, learn at your own pace, and I recommend taking notes on what you learn -- it’s a lot to keep track of! Thankfully, there are tons of resources out there for learning about astrology.There are many daily horoscope apps and websites out there, so try some out and see what you like. There’s also a beautiful app called SkyView that uses your phone’s camera to help you identify constellations.

When you want to get into the slightly more complex details of astrology, cafeastrology.com is one of my favorite sites. They offer features like free birth charts and basic interpretations, so I think it’s definitely worth a visit! Astrology.com and tarot.com/astrology also offer some great resources for learning the basics about sun signs, planets, houses, and elements.  

🌿 Nature and Gardening

Gardening is a classic method of practicing witchcraft. I’m sure everybody is familiar with the popular image of a witch brewing a potion in a cauldron, adding fantastical ingredients such as bat’s wings and newt’s eyes. Supposedly these are actually code names for common plants (in this case bat’s wings = holly and newt’s eyes = mustard seeds), so that those who found the recipes would give up after being unable to collect these ingredients! Here’s a lengthy list of all these code names, as well as some correspondences for most common plants. I also highly recommend checking out this tumblr post by sylvaetria that’s full of information about growing and drying herbs, correspondences, and safety!

If gardening isn’t your thing, simply being in nature can be just as magical! Taking a moment to appreciate the small details of a bird’s song, the intricacy of the leaves on a tree, or the vibrant colors of a flower is a wonderful way to recognize the beauty and magic that surrounds us on a daily basis...too often we just forget it’s there. 

🥘 Kitchen Witchcraft

Cooking has so much potential for witchcraft -- it often involves working with the elements of fire and water, and you’ll find that nearly every ingredient has a magical correspondence (and if there’s not a commonly accepted one, you may find it on your own)! All it takes is intent to make this daily activity into a ritual. Here’s a fairly comprehensive list of correspondences for reference.

Kitchen witchcraft doesn’t have to involve elaborate dishes! Make your daily cup of coffee meaningful based on the flavorings you add, and if you’re a tea drinker check out this post of the magical/health benefits of different types of tea. Or (if you’re of legal drinking age) check out this list of wine correspondences!

📜 Spells

For those looking for spells, here’s a few of my recommendations! Orriculum has a lovely collection, including some that are great for beginners and some fun pop culture spells! Sylvaetria has an enormous, wondefully organized masterlist of spells for every purpose. Finally, on witchy-woman you’ll find lots of spells and spell jars! And don’t forget about sigils -- they are a great way of channeling intent, and are especially great for beginners or secret witches. My two favorite resources are sigilathenaeum and strangesigils.

Don’t worry if you don’t have every ingredient a spell calls for -- after all, the most powerful element of any spell is intent. Feel free to substitute when needed! For example, a white candle can stand in for any color, a clear quartz for any crystal, rosemary for any herb, etc. You could also use tarot cards, sigils, or other symbols with the right correspondences to charge the spell with the energy of the missing ingredient!

🍂 Sabbats

There are eight sabbats throughout the year; Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon and Samhain. Many beginner witches are hesitant to celebrate the sabbats because they think you need to be apart of a coven to do so...but this is definitely not the case! You can celebrate the sabbats on your own, and do as much or as little as you like. Here’s a post with some ideas for decorating your altar and celebrating the sabbats for solitary witches. A youtuber named Harmony Nice has also made some helpful videos about each sabbat with some history and celebration ideas, so you might want to watch those for some inspiration too!

🕯️ Candles and Crystals

First of all, there are no “required” supplies for witches...you can work with whatever you have! But if you are interested in working with some supplies, here are my personal suggestions.

Candles are a great option, because you can almost always find them at the dollar store or elsewhere for pretty cheap! Certain colors and scents have different correspondences, but a plain white candle can be substituted for any other one. There’s endless magic you can do with candles; scrying, meditation, spellwork, carving sigils into the wax, etc.

Crystals can be expensive, and depending on where you live can be hard to find. I’ve found some crystals for decent prices at local metaphysical shops and craft fairs, but if you don’t have those options you could try purchasing some online (though I highly recommend finding a source with legitimate reviews so you are sure you are getting a genuine, quality product). I think it’s best to purchase a crystal you feel drawn to, but some of my “starter” crystal suggestions would be clear quartz (which can stand in for any other crystal), amethyst, and rose quartz!

Even though this post ended up being super long (sorry!), I’ve barely scratched the surface of what you can explore in witchcraft! Once again, my main bit of advice would be to look into what interests you, gather information from multiple sources, and use what works for you. Because there’s so much information associated with witchcraft, I also recommend keeping track of what you’ve learned, and I plan on making a post soon about how to start your own book of shadows/grimoire for just this purpose!

You can find my other posts in this series of “Advice for New Witches” here. I truly hope you’ve found some of this helpful -- feel free to reach out if you have any questions, and best of luck on your journey! 💖

[bxcketbarnes]

Escape

Pairing: Thomas x Chloe

Author: @ninja-stiles

Words: 1873

Authors Note: This is for @writing-obrien because she’s Thomas af, so I wrote a little something for her! :) I want to thank @dumbass-stilinski for reading it over and helping me out a bit. Hope you enjoy it Chlo! 

Chloe’s POV

        I see the new recruits enter the cafeteria area. They look around at the people in the room and my eyes connect with one of them. He’s absolutely gorgeous, probably the most gorgeous guy in the group. He’s got brown hair that lays gently against his forehead and looks absolutely soft. I just want to run my fingers through his hair, and maybe even do other things like gripping and tugging. Alright Chloe, you haven’t even met the guy and you’re mind’s going into the gutter. He’s got these chestnut colored eyes that sparkle in the light. Light pink lips that also look fucking soft. Man I wonder what they’d feel like against my skin… While I continue to stare at this beautiful creature in front of me his eyes eventually find mine and my cheeks immediately start to turn red. I look down quickly at my food hoping he didn’t see my blush. I poke at my food with my fork thinking about the mysterious guy with beautiful chestnut eyes when someone cleared their throat snapping me out of my thoughts. I look up to see the same mysterious boy standing in front of me with a tray of food.

        “Can I uh-can I sit here?” He asks nervously.

        “O-Oh! Yes! I mean yeah, sure.” I reply kind of excitingly at first, but then tone it down.

He smiles at me taking a seat across from me picking at his food before I feel his eyes on me. I look up seeing him looking at me I smile at him lightly looking back down as a blush finds my cheeks. I rarely ever blush. How is this guy making me blush by just smiling at me. Ugh I’m falling to hard.

        “So, what’s your name?” He asks me.

        “I-I’m Chloe. You?”

        “O-Oh I’m Thomas. Do you know exactly what this place is?” He asks looking around at everyone in the room.

        “Well according to Janson it’s a safe haven, but I have my doubts.” I say and Thomas was about to say something, but was cut off by Janson himself.

        “Good evening ladies and gentleman,” everyone faces Janson and he continues, “You all know how this works. If you hear your name being called please rise in an orderly fashion and join my colleagues behind me,” he points towards the guards behind him, “where they will escort you to the eastern wing. Your new lives are about to begin.”

        “Connor, Evelyn, Justin, Peter, Alison, Squeegee, Franklin, and Abigail.” A lot of groans fill the room and Janson calms them down saying, “Now, now. Don’t get discouraged. If I could take more, I would. There’s always tomorrow, your time will come.” He leads the kids out of the room and Thomas’ eyebrows furrow together in confusion watching the kids leave. He looks over to his friends then back to me with a curious look on his face.

        “Where are they brought?”

        “I don’t know and I don’t want to. The only person who has the same suspicions as me is that guy over there.” I point to the guy who’s sitting by himself and one of Thomas’ friends call him over. Thomas nods at them looking back at me before whispering his goodbyes.

        “Whatever you do please be careful.” I tell him before he gets out of earshot. He turns around and smiles at me also giving me a quick wink before walking off with his friends. My heart rate picks up a bit and I chew on my lip as I walk back to my room.

        The next few days I haven’t seen Thomas and I’ve began to worry. I bite my nails in nervousness waiting for him to walk into the cafeteria area. He hasn’t walked through those doors ever since he had tried to get through the guards into the east wing and almost got into a fight with them. Oh god what if they killed him. I get up and leave the area and try to sneak into the area they’re roomed in. I find their door, looking through the window and the only people I see are his friends, whose names are still a mystery to me. I was about to knock on the window when a huge hand covers my mouth and a needle sticks into my neck. They pull the needle out and I start to lose consciousness with only one thing on my mind. Thomas…

        I regain consciousness and the first thing I hear is the alarms going off. My eyebrows cinch in confusion as I get off the bed I was placed in. I look around seeing guards running around the halls in search for something. I walk down one of the hallways and I was grabbed by a guard with a gun placed against my temple. I tremble in fear as he drags me towards the main exit door I see Janson with a bunch of guards around him with shields up.

        “You wouldn’t think you’d want to leave without her would you?” Janson asks and the guard holding his gun to my head moves me next to Janson and I look down the hall to see Thomas with a gun pointed at Janson and his eyes widen.

        “T-Thomas.” I whisper as my lip trembles.

        “LET HER GO.” Thomas yells angrily. The guard cocks his gun and my eyes close as a few tears slide down my cheeks. I feel the gun being pushed away from my head and I look towards Janson to see him looking angrily at the guard.

        “What do you think you’re doing? I told you we weren’t going to harm her.” Janson tells him. The guard looks at him angrily mentioning that he wanted to intimidate Thomas to surrender. As they argue I look to Thomas to see him nod his head towards his friends, a signal telling me to make a run for it. I bolt towards his friends and hear the guard that had his gun against my head fire a shot towards me but misses. I yelp passing Thomas feeling his fingers hit my back as I run by and a blonde guy pushes me behind him protecting me.

        “Open the door Janson!” Thomas yells.

        “You really don’t want me to.”

        “Open the damn door!” Thomas yells getting irritated.

        “Listen to me. I’m trying to save your life. The maze is one thing, but you kids wouldn’t last one day out in the Scorch. If the elements don’t kill you the cranks will. Thomas you have to believe me, I only want what’s best for you.”

        “Yeah let me guess, WCKD is good?” Thomas says and my eyes widen in shock and fear.

        “You’re not getting through that door, Thomas.” Janson says with a small smirk on his face and a few seconds after the door behind us opens and the kid I mentioned to Thomas is on the other side.

        “Hey guys.” He says and all of us walk through the door.

        “Thomas, come on!”

        “Let’s go!”

        “Go, go, go!” We all yell as Thomas tries to shoot his gun but it jams and he throws it.

        “Shut the main corridor door now!” Janson yells into his radio.

        “COME ON THOMAS!” I yell and he runs a little faster as the door is closing. I run my hands through my hair as I see him slide under the door making it through as the door closes a few seconds later. One of the guys bash the card reader breaking the door as Janson and his goons stand on the other side. Thomas flips them off as his friends run towards the exit.

        “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” Thomas asks me rubbing his thumb against my cheek.

        “Yeah I’m fine, physically. Mentally I’m a little terrified.” I say grabbing Thomas’ shirt and he pulls me into a hug petting my blonde hair.

        “I’m so sorry. If I knew where they were holding you I would’ve went to grab you first.” He tells me as we run towards the exit.

        “Hey. It’s okay, I’m here now.” I stop Thomas smiling up at him and he grabs my cheeks planting his lips onto mine. My eyes widen as his hands run through my golden locks and my eyes flutter shut as I grip his shirt. We hear one of his friends yell for us to hurry up and we jump apart blushing madly.

        “W-We should probably go.” Thomas says grabbing my hand as we run outside into the sand storm. The group runs to an abandoned building as we hide from WCKD. We stopped once we got completely inside and all his friends were staring at me.

        “Who are you?” A Korean man asks me.

        “Uhm I’m Chloe.” I say feeling intimidated by all the guys in Thomas’ group.

        “Chloe this is Minho, Newt, Winston, Frypan, and Aris” Thomas introduces and I wave shyly tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. They all wave back and smile at me as Thomas grabs my hand bringing me to a more private area. I shiver slightly and Thomas looks around in one of the bags on the floor finding a jacket placing it on my shoulders.

        “Thanks Thomas.” I smile and he once again places his hand against my cheek rubbing my cheekbone.

        “Can I be honest with you?” He asks me.

        “Yeah of course.” I say softly rubbing his hand that’s on my face.

        “I really, really, want to kiss you again.” He confesses as he looks into my eyes then move down towards my lips.

        “Me too. Really, really badly.” I say as our faces gravitate towards each other and our lips mesh together. I groan slightly at the feeling of his lips on mine and I melt into his chest. He wraps his arms around my lower back and I wrap my arms around his neck as my hands run through his hair. God his hair is so soft. He grips my hips as our kiss get a little rougher and his tongue darts out against my bottom lip asking for permission. I open my mouth in the kiss and our tongues fight for dominance which he ends up winning. We continued making out for a minute or two when one of his friends walked into the room.

        “Hey Thomas what are we-“ Newt asks looking up seeing up making out and we pull away quickly, “Oh sorry, was I interrupting something?”

        “Y-Yeah, but it’s fine. We need to get away from this base.” Thomas says as one of his arms stays wrapped around my waist. They start to head back towards the group when I stop him.

“Everything okay?” Thomas asks me.

“Yeah. I just wanted to tell you that although your friends were intimidating at first, I feel really safe with you guys,” I look up at him smiling, “I’m also really glad that I got to meet you.” He smiles down at me before placing a chaste kiss against my lips.

“I’m glad I met you too, because now I get to kiss you whenever I feel like it.” Thomas mentions chuckling slightly bringing his lips back to mine.