#and my sister ran up to me and was like I FOUND COOL ROCKS

[beaversatemygrandma]

...I had to clean out my bag because my migraine meds somehow exploded over the bottom. And as I’m digging out like 50 pills from the depths of this little backpack, I found a rock. Not just like a plain old rock from gravel or something.

Like this gorgeous shiny white gem with green veins. I have no idea where this came from or why it’s in there, but holy shit. Fucking fantastic rock. I love it.

Now why the hell was it in my bag?

[misseviehyde]

I HAVE NEVER

It was your bullying step-brothers idea to play a game. You just wished you'd never listened...

Jordan was the bane of your life. He was stronger, taller and more attractive than you. He seemed to take a perverse delight in ruining everything in your life and when you finally got a girlfriend you could sense his jealousy.

You weren't worried though. Jenna was sweet, delightful and funny. She hated 'Alpha-Males' like Jordan and was deeply in love with you. She was best-friends with your twin sister Kate as well and the three of you got on so well.

One day the three of you were hanging out when Jordan entered the room carrying a bottle of vodka.

"Hey nerds," he grinned, "wanna play a game with me?"

"Not really Jordan, go away," sighed Kate folding her arms under her small breasts and glaring at him. "You're such a douchebag, we don't want to play anything with you."

"Awwww, what's the matter? Don't wanna have some fun?"

Placing the bottle down, Jordan opened it and grabbed four shot glasses. He poured out the vodka. "Come on losers, I'm bored and this will be fun. I bet you pathetic dweebs have never played 'I have never'."

I didn't want to play anything with Jordan, but strangely I found myself being drawn towards the shot glass the same as my girlfriend and my sister.

"That's it losers - you can't resist playing with me. In fact - you can't resist doing everything I say from now on."

A strange befuddlement seemed to throb through my head as my hand closed on the glass. I could see Jenna breathing heavily and Kate as well as they grabbed their glasses.

"Now then bitches, I'm gonna say something and if you have never done it before, you have to drink and then do the thing I'm saying."

"Th...that's not how... the game... works," groaned Jenna struggling to speak as a strange lethargy swept through her.

"It's how my version works losers - now then. I have never had my tits enhanced."

A strange tingle ran through all three of us and I found the vodka rising to my lips. I drank it and placing it down watched Jordan fill my glass back up.

The fiery vodka burned my throat and then my chest began to ache. I looked down and watched in horror as my t-shirt began to bulge and swell. My nipples were rock hard as my pectoral muscles bulged out and then became soft pliable flesh. Two round, perfect globes swelled out - big fat fake tits causing my t shirt to rip and tear. I could hear female moans next to me and saw that my sister and girlfriend were undergoing a similar transformation.

"H...how?" groaned Kate as she cupped her massive new tits. She had been relatively flat chested before, but now she had a fine pair of teenage milkers and she looked great.

"Just a little magic to spice things up," grinned Jordan. "All three of you look so much better with this big tits. Now then 'I have never shaved my pussy bare."

I felt the vodka rising to my lips again and I drank it. My cock tingled and a delicious feeling of inversion and sucking seemed to happen. My crotch was now flat and smooth - a pretty pink pussy where my cock used to be.

"Haha, this is cool," laughed Jordan. "Now then, I have never worked my booty out to become a PAWG."

All three of us drank again and my whole body ached. I could feel my ass swelling up and my body shrinking. Toned muscles rippled under my skin as my hips cracked out. I looked at Kate and Jenna - they looked like hot little gym bunnies now just like I did.

"Okay sluts - you're looking good, but we can do even better. I have never had hair extensions, fake nails, eyelashes and a tan."

My body ached and as I raised the vodka to my lips again I saw I now had cute white nails and smooth tanned skin. My short hair was now long and blonde, I could feel it tickling my shoulders. Long slutty lashes projected from my eyes and I could taste lipstick on my transformed face.

I had nearly become fully female.

"Yeah, that's it bitches - you look so much better. The bottle is nearly empty. How about one final round? I have never been a horny, popular, bitchy slut who only likes hung Alpha-males."

All three of us drank, the empy glasses tumbling from our hands as we shook and giggled. My pussy throbbed and my brain ached as I felt new urges and desires pulse through me.

I'm a slut... I'm a bitch... I'm popular. I wanna fuck Jordan, I love being a slut for him... ohhh fuck yeah.

My clothing transformed as did Kate and Jenna's. All three of us were now dressed in sexy lingerie. The three of us were mean little size queens now, sluts for bully cock. I felt my pouty pink lips twist into a dumb grin as I played with my hair.

"Like... I am sooooo drunk and I'm fucking horny. Jordan, please will you like let us suck your cock?"

Jordan smiled and unzipping his fly flopped out his big fat cock. Me and my slutty friends sank to our knees, our mouths wet. Mmmmmh, he was so good to us.

"Fuck yes. My step-sis and her slutty friends. This is such a better configuration," he crowed. "Maybe one day I'll turn you back so you can appreciate how much of a slut you were for my cock. Then I'll turn you back into this bitch - she's better than you ever were."

I had no idea what my hot step-brother was going on about. I was too busy sinking my cherry pink lips around his big cock and starting to suck as Jenna began to rim Jordan and Kate kissed and made out with him.

Glug... glug... glug...

THE END

"Mmmmmh, that's it girls - I have never had a threesome before and this is gonna be a blast..."

As I felt Jordan's cock slide deep down my slut throat, I gurgled happily. Mmmmmh, I loved playing games with him...

[zoandreez]

i know, i read her diary ┊ ➶ ｡˚ 　　° neteyam drabble

pairing: neteyam x metkayina!reader

summary: the tulkun have returned! after a quick journaling session you ran out to see your soul sister once again, not bothering to hide your journal. tuk stumbles upon it, and sees a certain someones name.

word count: 1.2k

warnings: fluff

a/n: first five paragraphs is a diary entry if you didn't catch that !!

"it had been about three and a half months since the suli family came to awa'altu for uturu, or 'a sanctuary for my family,' as toruk makto called it. excluding him and his mate, there were four of them.

"tuk, the youngest. she is a sweetheart, and she reminds me so much of tsireya when she was younger. i love catering to her like an older sister, making rock bracelets and waist beads with her, and helping her attach memories to her songcord, like her ilu's tooth, and the first shell she saw when she landed in awa'altu for the first time.

"lo'ak, the younger brother. he was a troublemaker, but had a kind soul. he is misunderstood, and i can see that. i wish ao'nung with stop picking on him, but he admits it's just an older brother instinct. he respects lo'ak, just finds his "freakish features" (earned a smack from tsireya) mockable.

"kiri, the older sister. i adore kiri, she adores me. she was an insanely quick learner, and was the first one of the four to master ilu riding. she loves the ocean as much as i do, and will go swimming with me when the ocean was cool at night to see the bioluminescence during eclipse. me, her, tsireya, and tuk made an unstoppable group.

"lastly, neteyam, the oldest brother. i like neteyam. not in the way i like the other three, no. i like.. neteyam. at least i think so. i like his beads at the ends of his braids, and that they shake every time he moves. i like his gentleman mannerism, and that he never overstepped or showed disrespect when me or tsireya was teaching him the way of water. he was pretty, even if he had a thin tail and long skinny limbs different to me. he showed me his banshee one day, and it was beautiful. just like him. i can talk to him about anything. except for this. he won't know about this. i don't think i'll ever tell him how i enjoy the spots on his face and how they frame his eyes, or the way his tail sways when he hears something funny, or that"

you stopped for a moment, shaking out your hand from consistent writing. and almost as if it was perfect timing, tsireya popped her head in the marui. "sister! the tulkun have returned!"

you perked your head at the comment, and immediately stood up. you hadn't seen your soul sister in forever. similar to your mother's soul sister, r'oa, your soul sister was also a composer of songs. you couldn't wait to hear what she had for you today.

you walked out the marui, yipping for your ilu. before you got on, you heard the familiar shout. "what's going on?" neteyam said to you. before you could answer, tsireya came from her circle of the island.

"the tulkuns have returned! our brothers and sisters are back!" she said, resulting in many yips and dives into the water. you gestured for neteyam to follow you, and smiled as you went under the water.

you dove and swam past many reuniting soul ties, before you laid eyes on your sister. you swam up to her, eagerly waving. "hello, my love!" you signed to your tulkun. "my sister. how have you been?"

"i've been great. i met a boy," you signed shyly.

"really? i have found a mate as well," your tulkun wailed, squinting as a sign of happiness.

you turned and saw neteyam, before bringing him over.

"this is neteyam," you signed, as he waved at your sister. "he doesn't know, though." you giggled.

"know what?" he signed back. you exchanged a glance with your tulkun before shrugging, and spinning with her. he watched you as you elegantly extended your body, aligning yourself with your soul sister's effortlessly. he smiled at your eagerness to be with her once again. you climbed on her back, and brought neteyam to her fin as she sped in the water. you enjoyed her fast swimming, and wanted him to experience that too.

eventually, eclipse neared. you closed your journal of your writing for the day, telling it all about how neteyam met your soul sister. you left for supper in the main pod, as tsireya told you about her soul sister's gossip.

walking to your marui after dinner, you noticed something was off. it took you a while, but it hit you.

your journal was missing.

you went straight to tsireya, who had no clue where it went. ao'nung? no clue you even had a journal. kiri hadn't seen it. neither had ronal. lo'ak was.. awfully quiet.

"lo'ak.."

"....tukhasit."

"WHAT?"

"i saw her reading something earlier when i came back from seeing payakan. while dad was cursing me out, she ran out to neteyam. so he probably has it."

your face flushed. the one person you wouldn't want to see it has probably saw it. and that was bad. calmly, you went to his room in the sully's marui. nearing it, you didn't want to be too direct, so you hid under it. treading water, you listened through the netted floors as he spoke.

"i don't know what she meant by 'he doesn't know.' i don't think she meant having a crush on me, although i wish she did." you froze. your heart was the only thing moving at this point, fluttering at his words. neteyam liked you?

"don't worry. she likes your skinny tail and fancy beads. i know, i read her diary." the familiar voice hit you. tuk? you froze as you listened. you would have been upset, but he felt the same way.

"you did?"

"mhm!" she cleared her throat before you heard pages rustling. you froze. she still has it? you had to compose your laughter as she tried her best impression of you.

"today, my soul sister met neteyam. we spoke all about how i liked him, but it was a close call. i saw him watching, so i brought him over. im not sure if he saw what i was saying about him, but he doesn't know much of the sign language anyways.

"she took the two of us for a ride. i loved hearing his laughs, and me and her exchanged a warm feeling. i think she likes neteyam too. hopefully not in the way i do. i'll elaborate later, after supper. i have got to hear what tsireya's soul sister said about lo'ak."

she slammed the book shut, and sighed. "there you have it!"

"wow.. she really likes me?" neteyam said, taking it in for a moment.

"in her words exactly, 'at least i think so.'"

"so we're reading diaries now?" you said, appearing from behind the wall. tuk shrieked, and you chased her along the beach playfully. you caught up to her and scooped her up. "you're lucky he likes me back, you'd be dead."

"do i like you?" neteyam said, popping up behind you. you dropped tuk from the sudden voice.

"shit. sorry, tuk! (i'm alright!)" you turned to neteyam. "i dont know, do you?"

"yeah, i do." he said, inching closer. your body heated up as he leaned to your ear to whisper something. "at least i think so." he grinned before turning away and leaving. you stood there for a moment, stunned.

"okay girl, go get some!" you heard tuk say, mouth stuffed with sand from when she was dropped.

"we have got to get you away from lo'ak and his slang."

a/n: this is something light, only because idk what my next part of my ao'nung series will be. i might just drop hcs and stuff like this for a while

[leviathanspain]

my cherry

fred weasley x reader

synopsis: the yule ball is coming up, and fred still can’t find the words to ask you to be his date

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

fred weasley was your best friend. he was your rock, a star at the end of a once dark tunnel.

it wasnt a surprise when you found yourself looking at him with more fondness, feeling yourself blush whenever he was near. even his own twin brother was catching on, and it seemed like only a matter of time before fred knew.

“my cherry…” fred whispered as he sat down next to you in the common room. you were flipping through a potions study guide when the redhead pulled you from your focus.

“ma chérie.” you corrected, rolling your eyes as you flipped through the page, frustrated that you had lost your concentration.

fred shrugged, “whatever. my cherry sounds better.” he hummed softly and you looked at him, “what do you want?” he normally didn’t linger when you were clearly busy. he obviously had something on his mind.

fred was nervous. he looked at you and smiled softly before he opened his mouth, “y/n, i was wondering if you- would uh-“

the doors of the common room burst open and in poured a column of random students. you and fred both turned to see buck harpis headlining the group. the golden boy from ravenclaw, it was a surprise to see him so dapper in the gryffindor common room. he was holding a huge bouquet of roses and various other flowers, a baggie of chocolate frogs, and a stack of books with a ribbon on it.

you stood up and blushed immediately as you realized buck was here for you.

the crowd of students were his support as buck bowed to you, a huge smile on his face, “darling y/n. my dazzling star in potions, the one who keeps me on my toes during quidditch games, and the only girl i would share my chocolate frogs with, would you do me the honor of attending the yule ball with me?” buck presented the flowers and set the stack of books down on the end table.

the rest of your classmates looked at you as you paused, smiling shyly. you ran to embrace buck, “yes!” and cheers ensued as buck celebrayed with you.

fred felt bile rise up in his throat as he saw the overly dramatic asking to the ball. he couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t utterly defeated that you had said yes. of course you did, it was buck harpis, even his sister had a crush on him.

you ran over to him after a professor had told everyone to run along now, dinner was soon.

fred couldn’t help but smile at you, trying to uphold his energy, “wow! what a-“

“i know right!” you interrupted him before he could even say anything. you took a big inhale of the flowers and set them down on the end table. you paused for a moment before you looked at fred, “what were you gonna say earlier?”

fred shook his head and waved a hand, “nothing. go eat, my cherry. i’ll be there soon.” you nodded, not completely sold but you went anyway.

hermione was already warming your seat as you rushed down to the dining hall. she was smiling wide and hugged you, “oh my! i heard. literally i heard the cheers from the library.” she laughed, and ron and harry who were across from you guys, nodded in unison.

you blushed, “yeah. well, it was very romantic.” you tried to play it cool but you felt an internal scream, and even when buck walked past the table, giving you a wave, as he sat down at the ravenclaw table, his friends clapped his back and congratulated him.

although, through your happiness at being asked to the dance, you felt disappointment that fred hadn’t asked you out. he had many chances, the yule ball was next week, so considering that you even got asked out was a bit of a surprise. but buck had mentioned that it took a while to get the books imported from france, all first editions.

george sat down next to you and began to grab food. you raised an eyebrow at the sightless fred, “where’s your brother?”

george pointed to ron and you rolled your eyes, “your twin brother.”

george stuffed a turkey leg into his mouth and shrugged, “said he wanted to clear his head.” that was enough to get you up, and you knew exactly where fred was clearing his head.

the stairs to the ravenclaw observatory winded you. being a quidditch player didn’t seem to help your stamina as fred could hear your wheeze from all the way at the top.

fred was already standing at the top step when you showed up. from the looks of his body language, he was angry.

“what’s wrong?” you asked fred, who scoffed. “what’s wrong?” he mocked your tone and shook his head, “it’s you. it’s him. it’s all wrong.” fred was practically hissing the words out.

you raised your eyebrows, “are you mad? you’re mad that buck asked me to the yule ball?” the questions astounded you. you didn’t even know that fred even cared that much.

“yes! im enraged! why did you say yes? hmm? it’s buck harpis for gods sake! we used to make fun of him during our first year!” fred was yelling now, and you felt yourself flinch slightly.

fred didn’t seem to notice as he shook his head, “i was going to ask you to go with me, before he came into the common room with his conviently cheering crowd.”

“i-“ you faltered for words, but fred shook his head, “i’m sorry that i didn’t do a grand gesture for your attention like he did. im a weasley, im sorry i cant give you what you deserve, y/n.”

you shook your head, “no, you don’t get to do this to me, fred. i- i spent years pining after you, years suffering in your shadow as you dated and paraded yourself around like a whore!” you spat out the last word and you felt your eyes brim with tears, “it’s not my fault that suddenly you figured out how you felt about me.” you stepped back and sniffled, watching fred at a loss for words you continued, “i came up here to comfort you, talk to you and be your friend. i had been so used to being just your friend that now it makes you mad when i ask what’s wrong? i don’t want any part of that if that’s how it’s going to be from now on, passive aggressive behavior. im done, weasley.” you stepped back onto the steps and even though you felt winded, you found yourself practically running down the steps.

fred was heartbroken. all he wanted to do was apologize for being so stupid. how could he be so blind? all these years of loving him and you stayed quiet? yet fred couldn’t take it for merely a day that someone else had asked you out. the immature voice in his head had said that no one had asked you out ever before, why would they now to the dance? but he was wrong, buck was just the one who got lucky.

dancing with buck was a dream, but it wasn’t your perfect dream. the perfect dream was sitting at a table with his last minute date, sulking as he tried not to be obvious to his staring at you and your date. but every so often, you’d find his eyes wandering to yours.

“i’m thirsty.” you muttered to buck and he nodded, “i’ll be back.” and he spun you off the dance floor.

you walked over to fred, who had also conviently sent his date for drinks.

“i need to talk to you.” you whispered and fred got up, reluctantly.

you grabbed fred’s hand and looked behind you as you pulled his just outside the hall.

fred raised his eyebrows at you and you rolled your eyes. you grabbed his face and kissed him. passionately and roughly as you had always hoped to do. fred fell into the kiss, and grabbed your hands just on top of his, his tongue melted into yours.

it got hot and heavy for a few minutes until you tore yourself off him for some air. “i’ll see you later.” you whispered.

fred gulped, “yeah, of course.” as you walked away he spun you back around, “see you later, ma chérie.” laying another kiss on you, you realized that his french was perfect, and you blushed, opening the door to the great hall.

[rogueshadow1124]

DEADLY SILENT

[BATFAMILY IMAGINE SERIES]

Platonic¡Jason Todd x Batsis!Reader, slight platonic¡Dick Grayson x Batsis!Reader

Summary: Over a year ago to this day Jason died, his younger sister found him at the scene but was too late to be able to stop his death- she ended up blaming herself and vowed to visit his grave...

Word count: roughly 1805

Warning: mature language, mentions weapons/some violence.

The youngest Wayne, strolled through the graveyard that was set a light by the neutral tones that seeped out of the lampposts nearby. Y/N made this a weekly occurrence, she couldnt seem to push away the thought of her older brother not being here anymore, she couldnt come to terms with the fact that he was indeed gone.

She came to a stop at the grave she visited everytime she had a chance to. Jason Todd, a loving brother and son forever in our hearts and never to be forgotten, 1990-2012. Y/N had always admired her older brothers but more so Jason as they were the closest and had a similar persona, when she found out he died a year ago to this day she completely broke and nobody knew for sure if she could be fixed.

"Its been a year Jay, a whole goddamn fucking year." The girl dropped to her knees, reaching towards the ga stone to set a hand upon it. "I'm hurting Jaybird, everything hurts so much and I dont know how to stop the pain. I dont even think its curable, I'm broken, I've become a unrecognizable person." Her head dropped, tears seeped out of her eyes and dripped down the curve of her cheek, trailing down her neck. "Dick said I needed to speak to someone, maybe a therapist but I refused. Bruce- he's given up. Alfred's trying to keep us together but it's not working. We need you- I need you."

A buzzing echoed through the air as her phone started to vibrate in her pocket, she let out a heavy breath while reaching down to grasp it and see that Dick was calling. Her thumb swiped across the screen to accept the call before pulling it up to her ear.

"Y/N/N where are you?" His voice rumbled through the other end of the device, he sounded panicked yet calm at the same time.

"Dont worry Dick I'm not gonna do anything stupid okay I'm just doing a usual weekly round, I need space, I need you all to stop treating like I'm still a child and let me mourn in my own damn way. I can handle myself, maybe it doesnt seem like it but I'm still here arent I?" She let out a sob at the end, her hands shaking as she let out a laboured breath this time, closing her eyes in an attempt to calm herself.

"Y/N can you come back home, theres something really important we need to discuss..."

"What part of 'I need to be alone' dont you understand Richard?" She heard her brother sigh on before the sound of a few things being knocked over and then Bruce scolding someone in a hushed tone. "I'm going now."

"No, wait. Y/N!" She ended the call, placing her phone back in her pocket. Her head tilted back up to look at the grave infront of her, her thoughts ran wild in her head as she tried to figure what she could possibly say next. In reality she was speaking to nobody, there was nothing but silence but she felt a huge amount of relief lift from her when she 'spoke' to Jason.

Her eyes then narrowed in frustration, hands coming up to tug at her hair while more tears blurred her vision and suffocated the soft surface of her face. Small, audiable cries passed her lips in distress and sadness, her body shaking from her crying and the slight chill of the cool midnight air that flew within the atmosphere.

Y/N hated the feeling of loneliness. With Jason being gone that's exactly how she felt, sure she had her other brother but Jason was the one she confided in, he was her protector. He reassured her, he was her shoulder to cry on, he was her rock and without her rock she had nothing to go back to, to lean on when she needed comfort-

She pushed herself up to stand on her feet, looking down at the gravestone before spinning on her heel and speeding down the narrow paths. Her hands came up to pull the hood of her jacket over her head, trailing down to slip into her pockets that were the only source of heat to radiate through her hands to stop them from becoming numb on this cold night.

The cars whizzed passed on the Gotham roads, horns blaring and tires screeching as they sped by.

Y/N only ever came out at night, it was a time where she could set free from her mind- not fully but it was relieving while it lasted. She hated the silence that surrounded her daily, though she all but loved it at the same time. When it was silent she would drown in her own thoughts however if someone broke the silence they would ask the same questions and suggest what could help her.

A hand shout out from her left, hauling her into an alleyway. She yelped at the sudden force, her back cracked slightly when she was slammed into the brick wall behind her making a groan slip from her lips. Her deep blue orbs, that now seemed to be duller than ever peered up at the attacker- dressed in fully back and had a light grey mask covering their face.

"Y/N Wayne." Came a male voice, sounding quite sinister.

"Who's asking." She replied dryly, leaning back into the wall as the male tightens his grip on her shoulders.

"My boss. Your father seems to have upset him and he doesnt take things like that lightly sweetheart." The man pulled a gun from his back pocket, bringing it up to hover over her face, the cool metal sliding it up to the bridge of her nose to rest against her forehead.

"Do it. Kill me." Her words never faltered which surprised the man, her hand raised to grasp the gun and pull it further towards her head, eyes crossing as she peered up at the gun.

"Oh, who would have thought. The Y/N Wayne begging for death." The man teased, tilting his head to the side as dark eyes pierced her own through the holes in the mask.

"I've got nothing left to loose. I'm miserable. Do it, just pull the trigger. Do it!" She pushed forwards as the mans finger went to pull at the trigger, eyes screwing shut as a rush of anticipation ran through her veins as she waited for the quick way out of life. It never came.

Her eyes peeled open to see another person, a metallic looking red helmet hid his whole head, a brown leather jacket along with a black shirt and dark, tight fitted jeans and a pair of matted jet black combat boots. The new comer held the attacker up by his throat as he rithed under his grip, hands clutching onto the gloved hands that wrapped around his neck.

"You're so dead." The red masked vigilante grumbled out in anger, his hands tightened around the other males neck making breathing a hard task to do before the attacker slowly grew limp in his arms and was dropped to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?!" The girl whispered shouted, looking him up and down. Her eyes trailed to the man on the floor who lay unconscious- maybe, possibly dead. She fell back against the wall, hands by her side as she threw her head back and sighed.

"What do you think you were doing Y/N?!"

"How the fuck do you know my name?" She stood back to her full height eyeing the vigilante with a puffy red eyes from when she had been crying not so long ago. She watched as a gloved hand moved up and hooked under the metal helmet, tugging at it so it revealed a face. A very familiar one at that. "No. Please. Oh- no."

"Y/N/N I know this seems weird right now okay, let me explain." Jason spoke, holding his hands out to her as she shook her head repeatedly and whispered a bunch of 'No's' and 'this isn't real'.

"Your dead, yo-your supposed to be dead. I-I saw your body, I didnt make it in time." She sobbed out loudly, looking directly at the 'replica' of her older brother. Her brows furrowed and her lip wobbled as she continued to cry uncontrollably. "A year ago today, we found you dead!"

"I-I was resurrected months ago Y/N, I'm here. I'm real. I promise." Jason stepped forwards slowly, pulling the broken girl into his embrace. The sound of a motorcycle revving sounded in the background making the no longer dead Jason look over his shoulder to see Dick in his nightwing costume.

"Did you find her, please tell me you found her." Dicks voice echoed within the alley, breathing out a breath of relief when jason moved his form to reveal the crying girl. "Oh thank god."

A slap suddenly came to fill the secondary of silence along with a Yelp. One of Jason's hands flung up to cup his burning cheek while his eyes met with Y/N's fiery gaze, her hands set on her hips as she continued to sniffle, tears still venturing down her cheeks.

"Y-your telling me you've been alive for months?!"

"W-well yeah, I-" he tried to respond but was near to immediately cut off by his younger sister raising her hand and waving it around.

"I-I'm miserable. Broken even, for a whole fucking year I was and your telling me you have been alive for a few months. I saw your body Jason, I was the first to find you and I completely broke when I knew I could have done something to prevent your 'death'." Her voice became softer as she relived the memory, images flashed through her mind as she recalled what she had seen when she found him dead.

"Y/N I've told you millions of times it wasnt your fault. Nobody could have stopped it from happening." Dick stepped to stand beside Jason so both of them were infront of her, a small smile etched onto his lips when she rammed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest.

"But what if I could have prevented it Dick?"

"Theres no way you could have sweetheart." Jason stated, running a hand through her messy locks that splayed upon her head wildly.

"I love you Jaybird, so much. I missed you." She turned around and attatched herself to Jason, jumped in his arms which made him laugh as he caught her and she wrapped around him like a koala bear.

"I missed you too, little bird."

[hearts401]

Some Talking, Some Thinking, and a lot of Loose Ends

Did this on a whim in class but I’ve had thre idea for a while. First time writing Tony too so!!! Yippee!!!

Once Gregory actually found Evan, Ellis and Tony both decided to hang back.

Of course they’d be uncomfortable, He told himself, they don’t know him as well as I do.

So, Gregory Emily continued on alone. It was good, he wanted to talk to Evan anyways, and he was sure his friend didn’t want to spill his guts to Gregory’s friends. Assuming he’d spill his guts at all. Which Gregory wasn’t forcing him to, but it’d be nice if he opened up a little.

It’s been a long time since Evan had shut him out like this.

Eventually he found him crouched by a small stream, chucking rocks into it aimlessly. When he noticed Gregory, he frowned, but shifted over so he could sit beside him.

“Hey.” Gregory said.

“Hi.”

He let his eyes hover on Evan for a moment, “Are you okay? That looked like it hurt.”

Evan glanced at him, “Getting punched?” Gregory nodded, “Well, I mean, it did, but I don’t think it’ll do much more than bruise. Nothing I’m new to. Did you know Mike once pushed me down the stairs when we were little?”

Gregory blinked.

“What!?”

Evan tossed another rock into the water, watching it splash, “Why’d you follow me anyways?”

“Because you got punched in the face? And I care about you?” Gregory said, “Why do you think?”

Evan laughed at that, “Fair, fair,” he said, “but uh… I really don’t need you to do that for me.”

Gregory leaned over and grabbed a rock of his own, skipping it across the water.

Evan whooped when it went for about five skips, “That’s so cool! Mike tried to teach me how to do it, but I never got the hang of it.”

Gregory stared at him, “You’re avoiding the situation.”

“Have you considered that’s why I ran away?”

Gregory paused, taken aback by the sudden, somewhat snappy remark, “I know that’s why you ran away. I also know that’s not helping anybody.”

“I don’t need to help anybody.”

“Can’t you at least help yourself?”

Evan went quiet.

“You have been doing nothing but avoiding us and apparently lying to us,” he did his best to ignore how Evan flinched at that, “then you show up to my house bleeding out and refuse to tell us who did it and we have to get the answer out of your asshole brother who won’t even try to help you, you’re running yourself into the dirt and we’re all sick of it.”

Evan slowly turned to stare at him, “You sound like Michael,” He mumbled, “but you’re right…”

Gregory looked at the ground, “That was mean…”

“Yeah.”

“But I’m only a little sorry.”

“That’s okay. I’m only a little sorry too.”

Tony didn’t know what to think. On one hand, they solved the mystery! Hurray! But on the other hand, they… Didn’t. Something was wrong. Something was missing. William and Elizabeth, William and Elizabeth, William and Elizabeth… It wasn’t clicking. He never got a good look at his attacker, not to mention they had been wearing a suit, but still, it didn’t feel right. He’d been referring to his attacker as a woman, because he’d thought she was a woman, but William wasn’t a woman. You’d think he’d know enough to let it go and leave it be, you’d think he’d learned his lesson, but Tony Becker didn’t do lessons, he did mysteries. And this mystery was far from solved.

Plus, who was he if not the detective? He’s gotta make himself useful unless he wants to get dragged into the Afton’s business. Which he didn’t.

And then there was Greg’s sister, Vanessa. He could go with the obvious answer: She’s dead. But what if she wasn’t? What if there was more to think about? And it was clear there was more to William’s motives than just being insane, but what were they?

He pondered this for a while, walking aimlessly beside Ellis, who was just staring at him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He asked, turning to his friend.

Ellis shrugged, “You have that face. That ‘Tony Becker has a mystery to solve’ face. Which means you think Evan’s brother was lying?”

“Not that I think he was lying, more that I think he doesn’t know everything,” He said, “and also, the person who attacked me was a girl, I thought.”

“Elizabeth is a girl.” Ellis pointed out.

Tony blinked at him, “Elizabeth would have been, like, 8,” he said.

Ellis frowned, “Right, sorry.”

Tony turned away from him again, “I don’t get it. The only connection I can make is to… Vanessa… she would’ve been about the right age, right?”

Ellis scoffed, “Let Greg catch you saying his sister tried to kill you, see how that goes for you.”

Tony frowned, “I’m just brainstorming,” he said defensively, “I’m not accusing her, I just brought it up because I think it might be connected.”

“And I think you’re looking too far into this,” Ellis muttered, “isn’t snooping around what got you caught in the first place? Haven’t you learned?”

“I don’t have anything to learn! I am getting close to something I can feel it… The question is what.”

“I think you’re nuts,” Ellis said, “but I might as well hear you out. What’s your next story then, Tarbell?”

Tony laughed at the nickname, “Seriously? What, are we middle schoolers again?”

“What? It might be fun; we could get Greg in on it too. What was his name? Rabbit?”

“Dr. Rabbit. Or Rab.”

“Speaking of Greg, should we…?” Ellis motioned with his hands.

“Check on them? Tony filled in for him.

Ellis nodded, “Just in case, you know.”

Tony knew Ellis was just bored of being here with nobody other than Tony. Tony could be boring when he was thinking, and he knew that, but he wished Ellis could at least try to take this seriously. He seemed to like to treat everything like a joke, and Tony was growing sick of it. But it wasn’t the time for that. Maybe they could talk about it later.

The two of them walked back to where Gregory and Evan were, but Tony paused, and he put an arm out in front of Ellis to stop him as well.

The two were talking in hushed voices, and Tony couldn’t quite catch most of it, which was driving Tony nuts.

Ellis gave Tony a disapproving look, probably annoyed by his attempt to eavesdrop, before pushing past him, “Hey, guys!” he says, “How’s it going?”

Evan jumped at the sound, “Oh, hey.”

“Hi,” Gregory said, “What’s up?”

“Just checking up on you,” Ellis said, sitting beside him, “Oh shit, Afton, that’s a nasty bruise.”

Evan frowned, “Is it? What am I supposed to tell my dad?”

“You could tell him Michael punched you,” Gregory shrugged, “he’d believe that, wouldn’t he?”

“I’m not throwing my brother under the bus for that!” Evan said, “That- I can’t do that!”

“Mike’s not even there, what can your dad do?” Tony asked, “If you tell him Sammy did it, it’ll cause problems for Henry.”

Evan looks at the ground.

“For what it’s worth, I’m not mad about you lying to us,” Tony said, “frustrated, yes, but not mad. It’s nice that you were looking out for us.”

Evan blinks up at him, opening and closing his mouth in shock, “I- uhm- I’m sorry for lying. And uh… thanks…”

Ellis reaches behind Gregory to pull Evan closer to the two of them in a weird side-hug, “Plus, the cat’s out of the bag,” he said, “now we can focus on being a team, eh?”

Evan smiled at him.

“Yeah.”

[heaven-s-black-box]

Stony Beach- Skywalker Family

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Recovery date: July 16th, 2022

Description: In which Anakin never became Vader and the Skywalker's go to a beach with no sand (of course).

Notes: An entry from my 2022 research project into the universe of Star Wars. You can find the next entry here.

Word count: 681

Back to directory

“Carefull, the rocks could be sharp!” Anakin called as Luke and Leia wobbled across the beach.

The Skywalker family was taking a small vacation on a nice little planet full of rocky beaches. Perfect, in Anakin’s opinion, because it let the twins go to a beach without him having to deal with sand. There were many things Anakin would compromise for his twins, but right now sand was not one of them.

Padme would join them later, having to finish up some peace talks with the seperatist aligned government on behalf of the republic. It was rocky, but the separatists and republic had found common ground in being manipulated by the sith.

But she would join them soon and had promised to bring lunch.

“Dad! Dad! Look at this cool rock,” Leia grinned, running back up the beach, waving the rock in the air.

Luke was hunched over by the edge of the water, poking around in the shallows, while Leia stopped halfway to pick up another rock. One in each hand, she stuck them both as close to Anakin’s face as possible.

He bent down, crouching in front of her and letting her point out things she noticed.

“It looks all glittery, and this one is two colors. Can I give them to mommy?”

“I think she’ll love them,” he smiled, ruffling her hair.

“Ah!” Luke wailed.

Anakin jumped up, Luke didn’t yell often, and found his son cradling his hand and running towards him.

“There-”he sniffled, trying not to cry, “there was a thing, and-and it had pincers, and it pinched me!”

Sighing in relief, Anakin picked Luke up and gently took his hand. He turned it over a few times, checking for broken skin, and only found slight irritation.

“Well, I don’t see any blood, let’s get some ice from the cooler, okay?”

Luke nodded, wiping at his face with his other hand, as Leia reached up on her toes to pat his back.

Awkwardly, Anakin crouched down and opened the cooler. As he picked and wrapped an ice cube in one of Padme’s handkerchiefs, Leia snagged two juice bottles and handed one to Luke. Anakin put the ice on Luke’s finger while he chewed on his straw, and Leia went back down the beach. 

“Leia, don’t go poking the animals, okay?”

“Okay!”

“You want to stay here for a bit or go back to playing?” He asked, kissing Luke’s temple.

“I’m gonna go play with Leia,” he mumbled, hopping down from Anakin’s knee and running back to his sister.

He sighed.

“They never stop moving, do they?” He asked, looking back over his shoulder at Padme as she poked out from behind a rock.

She smiled, holding up a small basket.

“Like someone else I know.” Padme handed him the basket and took a seat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as they watched the twins stand in the tide. “This is nice.”

“It is.”

He smiled, kissing the top of her head and watching Leia try and splash Luke with water.

“Do you think, if we hadn’t had the twins, you would’ve stayed?”

“With the temple?”

“Mhm.”

“No, Obi-Wan was right, I’m too emotional.”

“Ani…”

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing, it’s helped me before. It kept me fighting, drove me to be better and never give up on my friends. But then I almost gave in, to Palpatine and the dark side, all because I wanted to save you and the twins.” 

He sighed. This was a conversation they needed to have, but he wasn’t used to being able to be open. 

“The council was willing to look past that, they offered to help you.”

“They have their own problems, no one trusts the jedi after their role in the clone wars, they didn’t need the added weight of this. Besides, it’s not the jedi way.”

He opened his mouth to say something else, when Luke and Leia spotted Padme and ran over.

“Let’s finish this later,” he whispered, as Padme sat up and opened her arms to catch the twins.

[xxiamtiebrousxx]

Hi! Uuuh I've been reading your stories for a while now and I was wondering if I could request a platonic TF2 mercenaries with a Gopnik S/O? A gopnik is basically a young and spunky Russian hoodlum, they're like scout except russian so they're annoying in some ways but still kind and quirky, if the mercs are tired or annoyed S/O usually brings something of a "Peace Offering" or well something small like a cool rock or maybe a bag of food just so the mercs don't get mad at them, S/O is chill out of battle and become friends with the mercenaries up until the mercs ask about their family lofe which suddenly S/O turns cold nd very hostile, they'll snap at the mercs until the topic is changed, its as if the very mention of fmily triggers them

One day after a long while of knowing the mercs or when S/O is drunk they spill their childhood, they had to live through poverty with their family in russia with their parents and baby sister but one day when trying to escape the country they are sent to a gulag, spending a couple of years there until they're 13 when their father gets killed during a revolt S/O, their mum and baby sister escape to the U.S, but both their mother and sister end up dying during the trip so S/O is the only one to make it to the states, their story his the mercenaries in the feels but it hits Heavy the hardest, seeing this spunky, funny and tough Gopnik cry while telling their story

You can ignore this if its to angsty I just got this idea a few minutes ago so I was wondering if you could do it

This was a little hard to write but enjoyable!

Mercs x Gopnik! Reader

A/n: Sorry if it seems I'm stereotyping, I'm not. I did a little bit of research on the internet. If there's anything incorrect, please let me know so I can correct it! WARNING: A bit angsty

Scout:

Scout found you wrestling with someone in an alley. He stopped to watch. You beat them down and took back the bread you had stolen. Scout stopped you. You cursed at him in Russian, kicked both his shins and ran away. The following day, Scout was waiting for you in the alley. You were careful to approach him. You didn’t know who he was and you didn’t trust him either. What if he was here to steal something from you or worse? You were ready to snatch his wallet away from him and run for the hills when all of a sudden, Scout pulled out some money.

“Go buy you some lunch,” he said. He stuffed the dollar bills in your hand and left. After that, you kept coming back. On some days, Scout wouldn’t be there. You thought you did something wrong, like insulting his hair or something. Probably you joke around too much about him being fatherless and he got hurt, emotionally. You didn’t like talking much about family since yours was gone. On your way to the base, you found a sparkling rock and took it. You found out he was merc long ago, but you didn’t mind. Scout was surprised you managed to find him. He rambled about your arrival, a bit annoyed about this. To shut him up about coming onto a dangerous battlefield, you gave him the rock. The plan actually worked and he shut up.

Since Scout agreed to create an allowance for you, you spent the money on paying bills and booze. He’d come over to check on you. You were rambling in Russian about something. Scout chuckled. “Enough booze for you,” he said. You smacked his hand away.

“Nyet,” you answered. “I need more.” You gulped down the last drops and wiped your mouth. “Scout, have I ever told you about how my father used liquor to clean our wounds since we couldn’t afford medical alcohol?” Now this was strange. You never, and Scout knew you never, talked about your family. During your time living in Russia, you had a baby sister, mother and father. You were poor and couldn’t afford much. Your father was part of a revolution that failed. You and your family ended up getting thrown into a gulag. Scout held your hand as you started to cry.

“We don’t have to continue, you know,” he said. You shook your head. You had to finish the story. When you were thirteen years old, your father got killed in another revolt. You managed to escape with your mother and sister. Your destination was the US, but they never made it. As a punk, you sure cried hard. Scout hugged you all night until you calmed down. He never left your side.

Soldier:

Soldier was minding his business when he heard you arguing with the baker. He was just here to pick up some bread. Soldier was not about to walk into a fight. He would join in it if it got physical, but he wouldn’t walk in on it. You slammed the entrance door and gave the baker an unkind word in Russian. Soldier didn’t think much about what just happened, but he noticed your hand reach for his back pocket. He felt a small tug and you ran off with his wallet. Soldier was furious. Engineer tried to calm him down but he was so bent on revenge, he managed to find you. His intentions changed when he saw the conditions you were living in. To help out with the rent, Soldier moved in. It took some persuasion, but you let it happen.As revenge though, you annoyed Soldier as much as you could.

“Ugh, who covered the toilet seat in mayo?!?” Soldier exclaimed. He came out of the bathroom.

“Eto byl ne ya (It wasn’t me),” you replied. Soldier fumed with anger and marched into his room, slamming the door. You did cover the toilet in mayo. You knocked on Soldier’s door after five hours of waiting for him to come out.

“Go away!” he yelled.

“I brought bread and a bucket,” you answered. It was a peace offering to make up for the mayo. The door opened. Soldier’s hand reached out for the bread and bucket, which you gave him. He calmed down. Yes, you were annoying, but you were also caring. Even if you got drunk a lot. He took care of you. Especially when you got emotional. You never liked talking about your family. Today was different. You started bawling and filling the room with tears.

“Hey, what’s wrong, cupcake?” he asked.

“I just miss my sem'ya (family) so much,” you cried. You dove into your story. Your family couldn’t afford anything. You lived in the dumps, but got by. There was hope you were going to make it to a new life. You helped save up to leave but you and your family got thrown into a gulag. It was hard. You used to be happy and cheerful once, but the gulag changed you. Your father joined some men who were planning to escape. During the revolt, he died, but you escaped with your mother and sister. They didn’t make it far though. Halfway during the trip, they succumbed to their sicknesses. You had to make it to the US alone. “And that’s why I don’t open up,” you said through tears. Soldier patted your back.

“Don’t worry my little comrade, I won’t let anyone take you away,” he said, hugging you.

Pyro:

You were trying to outrun some gangsters that were chasing you. You owed them some money you never paid back. You jumped over the fence that surrounded the base and landed on Pyro. You begged him desperately not to be burned. He scared away the gangsters and offered you a place to stay in case they came back. It was an offer you wished you could’ve denied but was forced to take. Pyro was very gentle and caring with you. You tried to scare him off with your annoying self but it didn’t work. Trying to scare him off with some cool tricks, like blowing fire out of your mouth using a match and vodka, didn’t scare him off. Pyro was amazed by that trick.

“B'yus' ob zaklad, ya drakon v drugoy zhizni (I bet I’m a dragon in another life),” you said. Pyro nodded his head. “Vhat do you think, podzhigatel (firebug)?” Pyro was a fun fella to talk to. He took interest in everything you said or brought him, like a geode you found lying around on the battlefield. He enjoyed it when you brought him flammable things. One thing he would constantly ask was about your family. You told him to shut up about it. You were mean about it. Pyro knew you were holding something back. You found you passed out on the couch, a bottle of scrumpy in hand.

“Mmph (Y/n drinks)?” Pyro took the bottle out of your hand. You mumbled something, turning to the other side.

“Pochemu ty dolzhen byl uyti (Why did you have to go)?” you asked. “Mama? Papa?” Now this was interesting. Was this the secret you refused to tell Pyro? He sat down next to you. You told your whole story as you slept. Your father used to be wealthy until he lost it all. He struggled to make ends meet. You tried your best to keep everything moving on. You were thrown into a gulag for crimes against the government. Your family soon followed. For years you suffered there, blaming yourself for everything. Your father didn’t like how you beat yourself up about that and led an unsuccessful revolt. He granted you, your mother and baby sister’s escape. You made it to the Americas. Not your first choice, but it was good. Until they got sick. It was hard to take care of your mother and sister. You turned to the mafia for money and help. You tried to get medical attention for them, but it didn’t work out. Your mother and sister died. And you owed money. If it wasn’t for Pyro, you would’ve been killed.

“Mmmph mmph,” he mumbled. Pyro stood up from the couch and gave you a kiss on your forehead. When you woke up, you found the same geode Pyro had given you on the coffee table with a note that read, “Stay strong.”

Demo:

You both met at the bar. Demoman was just walking in when you kicked some drunk to the otherside of the room. You had started a bar fight and got away. Demo followed you through the back door. It was just a distraction to get free booze without getting caught. To keep Demo silent, you gave him half your earnings. You hoped to never see Demoman again after that, but he kept coming back. It got annoying. He would always ask for an equal share. You were selfish, you didn’t want to share. At first, you stood up on a crate and raised some bottles over your head. Demo, half drunk, couldn’t reach for the bottles. But you’d always give him his share and run away.

“Bye, you one-eyed korol’ (king)!” you would always yell. Heavy taught Demo the meaning behind his nickname. He’d always wonder why’d you call him king.

“Heya.”

“Privet (hello).” You and Demoman quickly became friends over the course of two months. He’d ramble about his mom back in Scotland, which angered you. You always asked him to shut up about his family. One night at the bar, Demo had to carry you home. You had him come over once or twice in the past and this happened several times. He knew what to do. “Mama…” you groaned. This was strange. You never mentioned or called out for your parents. People eyed Demo. You were crying now. He didn’t want to seem suspicious, so he made the trip back home quick.

“Wake up Y/n,” he said. Your eyes fluttered open. They were red from crying. “What’s wrong?” Demo asked.

“It’s uh, nothing,” you replied.

“C’mon lad, you can tell me.” You sighed.

“They uh, they’ve been dead for a long time.” You told Demo what happened. Your parents used to be rich until they lost it all. You used to be a weak child who got sick all the time. It got worse when you and your family were thrown into a gulag. It was hard there. You were constantly sick. Your father knew you wouldn’t survive. He, alongside your mother, managed to pull an elaborate plan and escaped. You were thirteen when you and thousands escaped. Your mother and father were shot by guards and never made it out. It was just you and your little sister. This time, you weren’t the one sick. She was struck with terrible sickness. She could’ve made it to America, but she didn’t. She passed away before you arrived at New Mexico’s border. Now you were here being comforted by Demoman. He was a good friend.

Heavy:

Heavy knew immediately what your situation was. You were caught sneaking around on the base’s premises. You were a good fighter. You struggled your way out before Heavy came in and gave you a big squeeze that finally defeated you. He was a good hugger. Heavy promised to look after you and make sure you didn’t get into more trouble. You tried to escape several times with no hope. You even touched Sasha! This got annoying quickly. Heavy was stressed out more than usual. You felt bad. This man was working hard to make sure you had a somewhat perfect life. You decided to make it up to Heavy.

“Vot, ya poluchil eto dlya vas (Here, I got this for you),” you said, holding out your hand. In your hand was a small package. Heavy took the gift from your hand. Inside the package was a small glowing orb. You stole it from Merasmus and got away safely. The orb could grant anyone protection.

“Spasbio (thank you), Y/n,” Heavy replied. You smirked.

“I hate spheres,” you said. “Vhy do they even exist? There’s no point.” Heavy laughed at your joke. You were funny when you weren’t annoying Heavy. You were actually good at repairing weapons. You were now allowed to touch any of Heavy’s guns to fix them.

There were times when Heavy would write to his family. You would get very hostile, sometimes you were just angry. Heavy had a hunch you had some reason behind your drop-of-a-hat anger. One day, Heavy caught you crying. It was just after he finished sending mail to his family. He sat down on the bed next to you and patted your back. He noticed a photo in your hand.

“Mozhete li vy skazat' mne, chto sluchilos' (Can you tell me what’s wrong)?” he asked.

“No, I don’t want to tell you,” you replied. Heavy sighed.

“Let me guess, was it a gulag that took them?” he asked. You looked away. “Y/n, Otvet' mne (answer me).”

“It vas,” you answered quietly. Your father was a thief. It wasn’t his fault though. He needed to steal to provide for his family. He was trying to escape the country, but got caught and as punishment, you and your family were thrown into a gulag. You worked many nights and days. You were only a child. Your sister was born there without knowing what the real world was like. Your father blamed himself for your misfortunes. Several men in the gulag planned a revolt. He was killed in the battle. You escaped with your mother and sister. You were only thirteen and you were fourteen when your remaining family died. You had to make it to America alone.

Heavy was crying when you finished your story. He knew what it was like to lose someone. He knew what it was like to suffer there. Heavy hugged you. He would never allow someone to hurt you again.

Engineer:

Engineer wasn’t expecting to get his wallet stolen while shopping at the hardware store. You had gone in, seeing Engy had a wad of money stuck in his pocket. He wasn’t paying attention. You kept your distance and pretended to look at stuff. Engineer didn’t notice you in time when you stole his wallet. A punk like you wouldn’t get away with it. Engineer spent days trying to find you. He found you arguing with a group of people. You flipped them off and cursed in Russian. You were injured from a fight you previously had before arguing with the gang.

“Hey partner,” Engineer said. You stopped in your tracks, rolling your eyes.

“Vhat do you want?” you asked, turning around. “U menya net vremeni, tak chto sdelay eto bystro (I don’t have time so make it quick).”

“Can Ah get my money back?” he asked. You laughed, wiping a tear. 

“Oh, leetle man, I already used it,” you answered. “But, if you want, I can get it back for you.” And indeed you did. After two weeks, you got Engineer back his money. You had made a profit shining shoes and snatching loose change off your customers. Engineer was quite surprised. He thought you were just going to run off and never return. “Schastliv, inzhener (Happy, engineer)?” You began to bring Engineer things. You’d sneak onto the battlefield to give him screws he could use or paintings you put on his sentries.

“So, do you have any family?” This was a question that made you punch a dispenser hard.

“Don’t ask that again,” you growled. Engineer was taken aback. You were usually chill and goofy, not hostile. He was curious though. Why did the mention of family anger you? He kept asking and asking and asking, until one day you finally snapped. “Otlichno! Ty khochesh' znat'? Nu, ugadayte chto! Moya sem'ya mertva (Fine! You want to know? Well, guess what! My family is dead)!”  you yelled. Tears streamed down your cheeks. Engineer had poked the beehive. The Texan gave you a hug as you cried into his shoulder. You wailed about how you lived your entire life poor. Your parents worked hard to escape. Patrol guards caught you leaving and threw you into a gulag. Your parents tried to break you out but they got thrown into the gulag as well. You worked hard, devising a plan to escape, but never actually put it in motion. Your father found the plans and put it into motion. He escaped with you, but died due to his wounds. Your mother made sure you and your sister were on the boat out of there. You kept in touch with her, but your mother soon passed away from sickness. You and your sister lived in New Mexico for a while. There was a shooting though and your sister was killed. You were alone, until you met Engineer. He patted your back and dried your tears.

“There, there, honeybee,” he said in a calming voice. “Ain’t no one gonna hurt ya anymore.”

Medic:

“Otpusti menya, sumasshedshiy doktor (Let me go, you insane doctor)!” Medic carried your screaming self over his shoulder. He had caught you stealing medicine from his cabinet and selling it on the streets as drugs. He was very angry. You never thought you would get caught, but now the entire team watched as you kicked your arms and legs while being carried to the medbay. Medic decided to take you on as an apprentice so you could make up for how much medicine you stole. You didn’t like it one bit. You were dragged along to battles. 

“Watch and learn,” Medic would always say. While he went off to harvest organs, you went off to search for cool stuff. You “found” some delicious baked goods and brought it back to Medic as a snack. He appreciated this. Unfortunately, you got caught stealing the food and you were almost thrown in jail. You cracked your knuckles, rolled up your sleeves, and learned how to bake. Medic enjoyed eating your treats.

“Baking is a whisky business,” you said with a smile. You always cracked jokes about your baking (or Medic’s medical license) that had him laughing loudly all the time. All boozed up, you were funnier. But even boozed up, you told secrets you never wanted to tell anyone. Medic would never mention the word “family.” The first time he said it, you freaked out. He dared to never mention or ask about your family ever again, until one particular night. Medic was returning late from a last minute mission. You were drinking a little too much that night.

“Guten abend (Good evening), Y/n,” he said, closing the medbay door. He had finished telling Scout good night.

“Znayete, vy kak odna bol'shaya sem'ya (You know, you are like one big family),” you slurred. “You’re lucky.”

“Vhat do jou mean?” Tears started welling up in your eyes.

“I-I used to have family too,” you said. You were crying out an ocean now. Medic rushed over and started patting your back.

“Calm down Y/n,” he said. “Vhat happened?” You explained you used to live in a gulag. Your mother had to take care of your sickly father. He wasn’t working and your mother couldn’t get a job. The family couldn’t pay off debts and so you were forced to work in a gulag. You were thirteen when your father and mother worked together to bust the family out. Your father was the distraction while your mother took you and your sister out of the country. Your father was killed in the action. Your mother was wounded, so was your sister. They never left the country. You were on your own. Medic handed you a tissue. “Don’t cry,” he whispered softly. He wiped your tears. “Jou have me now, I won’t let anything happen to Jou, I swear.”

Sniper:

Sniper went into town to get some takeout for the team. They were getting ravenous for food. You were lying in an alley, wounded. You had previously fought a gang that owed you money. You lost the fight, but at least you got your money back. Sniper was walking back when he noticed you on the ground. Your stomach was rumbling loudly, that’s the first thing he noticed. You were wiggling your limp body to the trash can, hoping you could lift yourself up from there. Sniper approached you. You looked up at the hunter and frowned.

“Chto vam nuzhno (what do you need)?” you asked.

“Need help?” Sniper asked. You shook your head. Your stomach roared again. “Seems you’re hungry, mate.” You noticed the food in his hand.

“Give me a fry, will you?” you asked. Sniper grabbed you by the hand and pulled you to your feet. You ate everyone’s food on the way back to the base. From there, Medic tended to your wounds. Sniper returned you back home. He never thought you’d find out where he worked and visit him. He was scouting the area with his scope when he found you roaming around, a lunch box in hand. He waved you up to his nest. You apparently brought Sniper homemade food to make up for the dinner he gave you. You came every afternoon with food. Sometimes it was takeout or leftovers from the previous meals. In your lunch box were words scratched into it. It read “Priyatnogo obeda. Lyubite mamu i papu (Have a delightful lunch. Love mama and papa).” Sniper asked you about the writing. You got angry and threw the lunch box at the wall. It was damaged a bit. Sniper had it repaired for you.

“Hey, mate, it’s me,” he said. It took two weeks to get it fixed and now he was returning it to you. You opened the door and hunched against the doorway.

“Vhat?” you asked. You looked at the lunch box in Sniper’s hand. “Come in.” There were bottles of beer littered everywhere. You were drunk. “Oh hey, you have Mama and Papa.” You took the lunch box out of Sniper’s hand. You started sniffing. “I haven’t seen them in forever…” You started to cry. “It’s been so long,” you sobbed. Sniper awkwardly hugged you.

“Do you need to talk?” he asked. He didn’t know how to deal with these kinds of situations. You started wailing about your life. It didn’t seem like it, but you grew up poor as a child. You were happy, with your family. Life seemed perfect. But then you and your family were placed in a gulag. You had to work to pay off your debts. You tried to make the best of it. There was a revolt planned by other workers. Your father didn’t want anything to do with it. You used the attack to your advantage. Your father made sure your mother, sister, and you escaped. That was the last time you saw him. Your mother carried you and your sister to freedom. She didn’t make the trip. Your sister died just as you arrived in America. You never wanted to go back. Sniper sighed. “We don’t need to talk about this if you want,” he said. You wiped a tear. A heavy burden was lifted off your shoulders.

“Na samom dele, ya by khotel, chtoby vy pozvolili mne pogovorit' o nikh. Ya budu chuvstvovat' sebya luchshe (Actually, I'd like it if you let me talk about them. I'll feel better about it),” you replied. Sniper smiled and nodded.

Spy:

He was not going to deal with another punk. Scout was hard enough to deal with. You were yelling at Spy and cursing in Russian. He had bumped into you and didn’t say sorry. It was annoying. He just walked away. Unfortunately, he found you again wrestling with some other punk. Spy decided to ignore this. You were losing the battle though. You were yelling for help. Spy sighed and turned around. He stabbed the other punk and dragged him into an alley. 

“Pft, I didn’t need your help,” you said, standing up.

“Whatever,” he replied, walking away. After that, Spy made it his duty to watch over you. You knew he was there. You constantly yelled at him to leave you alone. He wouldn’t leave. Eventually, you started bringing Spy stuff you found on the streets. You found simple things, like marbles, old shoe laces, loose change (that you probably stole, Spy assumed), free gift cards (again, that you probably stole), and free, abandoned furniture! You brought it in and built forts with it. Spy proved to be an expert builder at forts. You two were like father and child. It brought back memories (and regrets). But you started to shut out Spy. He wondered why.

He found you drunk, roaming around the streets after returning home from work. This wasn’t a shocker to him. You were usually drunk. Drunker than Demoman. It worried the Spy sometimes. He didn’t mind carrying you home. “Come Y/n, you need to be home,” he said. You snatched your hand away from Spy’s grip.

“Nyet (no),” you slurred. You pointed a shaky finger at him. “You’re not my father and you never will be. My father is (Father’s name)!” you exclaimed. You started to cry. “On umer! On umer, spasaya menya (He’s dead! He died saving me).” Your father used to be a wealthy man, but he gave it all up for your mother. Your family wasn’t rich and that was okay. You didn’t see why the men dragged you away to that cold desolate place they called a gulag. Why did you have to work? Why did you have to suffer? Your father was working a small job so why did this happen? You were thirteen when you escaped with your mother and sister. You didn’t know what your father had planned out. All you remember was running away. But your sister and mother didn’t make it far before they got shot down. You were told to keep running. You never looked back. You knew you would never see your family again. Spy understood why you were ignoring him. You didn’t want to get hurt again. And he was going to make sure you weren’t going to get hurt ever again.

[thatlaylachick]

☆ a fractured fairytale post 🧚‍♀️ ✨️ ☆

Well, today was an awful day.

First off I was starving and mama made us all some of her famous porridge. I tried to dig in but mama said it needed to sit for a bit first and that maybe we should take a walk.

Blehh.

So she convinced Daddy to take a walk - she says he hasn't lost his winter weight yet, whatever that means.

Well we took a nice walk and I have to admit that even I enjoyed myself.

I found some neat rocks and we even saw some tracks of "something dangerous" Daddy said.

Well that kind of scared me a little so I begged and begged to get back home so I could eat my porridge.

Daddy liked that idea a lot so we started to head home.

When we got there those dangerous tracks led right into our door!

I was scared stiff!

Daddy went in first then mama and me.

You wouldn't believe it!

Someone was inside and it even broke my little chair!

And my PORRIDGE was gone! Mama said I could have Daddy's though. I don't think he was too happy about that but he was too busy figuring out what had happened, to care.

Then we saw that our beds were all messed up BUT - that's not the worst part - the THING was actually still in my bed!

It was a...

HUMAN.

The human which mama called a "little girl" saw us and ran away so fast it made our heads spin!

It looked scared as the dickens! I threw one of my new rocks at it as it was escaping which makes me sad because it was one of my cool new rocks!

I was real scared for a minute but then I got mad again about the chair and the porridge. And the rock.

Well, I ate Daddy's porridge so I felt better, now he's out back fixing my chair.

Mama's calling all her sisters to tell them to be on the lookout for some gross human "little girl." Ugh!

I knew we should've just eaten the porridge when it was hot.

Daddy agrees.

[orangeaurora]

Scarlet | Chapter 6

masterlist

pairing: Steve Harrington x reader!

Summary: after a falling out with her childhood best friend Nancy Wheeler due to her hatred for Steve Harrington, Y/N goes on a journey of discovering she has powers and that the goosebumps she gets around Steve Harrington aren’t actually from hatred. Though these new found powers are difficult to deal with, nothing is harder than dealing with the creatures of the upside down.

SLOW BURN AF

TW: cussing, mentions of using powers, I think that’s it for this one :)

word count: 2536

A/N: THIS CHAPTER TOOK FOREVER BUT ITS MY FAVORITE ONE 💞💞 if you would like to be a part of the tag list, lemme know! happy reading! <3

————————————————————————

Steve was nice enough to walk me back to my car once I was calmed down to drive. He was so… gentle with me. The walk was silent, but not uncomfortable. It was similar to the silence I have with Eddie at times. It’s just peaceful. When we got back to my car, Steve grabbed my arm. I flinched a little bit, I wasn’t used to his touch. “You’re gonna be alright, yeah? The kids are hanging out at the school. Dustin says they have AV club every day, so I’m counting on them being there,” I nodded, “I’ll be fine, Steve. The school is not too far. I’ll honk at you if there is a problem.” He gave me a soft nod before letting go of my arm. “Okay, I’ll see you soon. Follow close behind!” He said while walking away towards his car. “You act like I don’t know where the school is!” I yell out to him, but all he did was wave his hand at me signaling a “yeah yeah” without even turning around. I sighed as I entered my car. I sat there for a minute, allowing myself to zone out and just think for the first time since I ran out of the locker room. I felt as if life wasn’t real. I remember feeling this way the night that I got my dreadful scar, and somehow the feeling was stronger. I wanted more time to gather my thoughts but Steve started honking his horn, indicating he was getting impatient with me. I blinked rapidly to come back to reality, let out a heavy sigh, and put my car into drive.

As I drove to school, following the tail of Steve’s lover (his car), I thought about what these kids that Steve was bringing me to had to do with any of this. I knew that Will Byers went missing last year, he was the talk of the town, you had to be living under a rock to not know that he was gone. But somehow, he has even more people talking about him now that he was found alive and well. I remember the headlines in the newspaper: “The body of missing child Will Byers found in the local quarry” were plastered everywhere. And then, last year on the night that we battled the demogorgan, he was found. The town didn’t know how to explain it and let’s just say Hawkins isn’t the nicest to outcasts. I hear the words “zombie boy” being thrown around every day to describe the young boy, and it breaks my heart. I’ve talked to him a few times. There were many days that I would be hanging out with Nancy and hear her younger brother Mike and his friends down in the basement of their house. It was a comforting sound. The laughter of a group of friends who were like brothers. It was nice.

I missed the days that Mike would hug me goodbye when I would leave the Wheeler’s home. He would pull my arm down so my ear was at his level and whisper “I wish you were my sister too,” and it always tugged at my heart. I grew up without siblings, so seeing those boys meant everything to me. I hadn’t seen them for over a year and couldn’t stop thinking about how awkward this conversation at the school might become. Like, “Hey Mike, how are you? Hope all is well, oh this scar? Super cool, huh? Oh, also I have powers now!” Yep, sounds like it's going to be a great conversation.

All of these thoughts allowed my drive back to the school to go quickly, and I was parking next to Steve’s car in no time. As I turned off my car and got out, Steve followed and did the same.

“See Stevie, I made it here with no scratches,” I said in a sarcastic tone, mocking how worried he was about me driving only a few moments ago.

“Hm, no new scars either?” Steve said as he looked over my face and body. My face dropped as I rolled my eyes, “Don’t push it, Harrington,” I said as I closed my car door and began walking towards the school and Steve followed my lead. “Hey you know I’m only joking Y/N,” he looked at me with sympathy behind his eyes, “Mmhmm,” was all I could mutter out before Steve interrupted me.

“By the way, I do remember you taking me home last night,” my head shot up to look at him as I stopped in my tracks thinking that earlier he was lying just to get a reaction out of me, Steve could tell I looked offended, “bu-but only in pieces. I started remembering when I was driving into the woods. It’s all…really blurry but I remember you giving me a blanket? Did you do that?” I nodded. “Okay, yeah, so I do remember. Just…not a lot,” he seemed almost ashamed for not knowing what happened last night but I couldn’t blame him. I knew this would happen, and yet I still got upset. Part of me wanted him to know every detail of what happened last night to see if what he was saying was true, and so, like word vomit I said “You called me beautiful,” his eyes widened, “oh” he whispered under his breath. Ew. I hated this. I wasn’t trying to have a sentimental moment with him, I had enough of those with Steve Harrington for one day, but I needed him to know. I needed to lighten up the mood. I started walking again, letting him know everything was fine, “Yeah you started crying like a lil’ baby, said sorry multiple times about calling me scar face at the party, and uh told me I was beautiful,” Steve started laughing, “yeah that uh, sounds like intoxicated me for sure,” I started laughing with him, “let’s just say even though it wasn’t for you, it was quite the memorable night for me,”

“Oh yeah I bet! Not every girl gets the luxury of a night alone with the one and only. AND I called you a term of endearment? Phew, Nance better not find out,” he said in his cheeky little voice that he did as he put his hands up in surrender. I was about to come back with something snarky when I saw a young girl with beautiful auburn hair sitting outside the AV club room. She stood up super fast when she saw us approaching the door, “Do you know them? Those stupid boys?!” She asked us frantically. Steve and I looked at each other, eyebrows furrowed, then back at the girl, “If you mean Dustin and the other dummies then yeah, we are here to talk to them,” Steve said to the girl. She looked irritated and sighed, “Well good luck, they won’t let me in and if they let you in I swear,” Steve scoffed and knocked on the door and the boys voices behind the door fell silent until a “WHAT MAX?” Came out of one of their mouths. Mike. I could recognize that voice anywhere.

“What? No. Look, it’s Steve. I have Y/N with me, we need to talk to you guys,” Steve was yelling through the door to ensure the boys could hear him. “Y/N? As in Y/F/N Y/L/N?” I heard Mike question through the door before all three of us outside could hear the boy’s panicked fidgeting, and within a few seconds the door flew open and revealed an anxious looking Dustin as he fanned us all into the room and was muttering lots of “quick”s and “hurry”s. After we all scurried into the room, Dustin slammed the door behind us, and locked it as quickly as he could. Steve walked in first and went around the table that was in the middle of the room. He was standing across from me, along with Mike and Will. We all stood in a circle around the table, but Dustin was standing behind me in order to guard the door.

“Amazing timing, douchebag. Just so you know, we only opened that door for Y/N, not you, Harrington.” Mike spit out at Steve. Steve made a face to indicate that he was offended as he took a step back, “Ouch Wheeler, so much pent up anger in such a little body.” Mike squinted his eyes and put a fake smile on his face to mock Steve as I stepped in “We aren’t here to fight,” I looked at Steve and then back at Mike who now looked like a dog with its tail between their legs, “Look, something is happening and Steve thinks that you guys are the only ones that can help me.” They all looked at me, Dustin and Will looked concerned as Mike looked at all of his friends before saying “W-well what is it?” I looked at Steve, he could feel how nervous I was from across the table that was between us, he nodded his head at me, indicating an ‘it’s okay’. I took a long beat before looking back at Mike and saying “We think I have powers…” Steve scoffed at my lousy confession “THINK? No, no. This girl almost just killed me with that shit. We know she has powers.” He said as he looked at me and pointed at my hands. Lucas was the first one to speak up as he rolled his eyes, “Oh, come on. Y/N you have nothing to do with any of this. And, if you did have powers, where were you last year when we all needed help?” Mike looked upset that Lucas would question me and he hit Lucas on the arm and said, “She wouldn’t just lie, Lucas. Give her a chance to explain herself. Maybe she could show us?” Mike’s sentence ended as if he was asking me to show them at this very moment.

“NO,” Steve and I both yelled at the same time, “I-I mean… no I can’t. I quickly tried to calm my voice, “I can’t risk hurting you kids, plus I don’t even know how to use them. The feeling only comes at certain times. I-I don’t know how to control it.” I admitted while looking back and forth at all the eyes on me in the room. Will looked at me with soft eyes filled with sympathy and said, “Well, there’s gotta be something that triggers them, right? What does it feel like when you feel them coming?” This made me think for a minute until my eyes shot up to look at Steve, and then back at the kids. Steve looked confused at my sudden eye contact with him. “It’s always when I’m around um, Steve.” I didn’t want to say it, but it was the truth. My powers were only triggered when I was around, or thinking about Steve Harrington. “That’s disgusting.” I heard Dustin say from behind me. “No, no not in that way, gross. It’s when he pisses me off. Look, the first time I ever felt like that was last night. I’ve felt tingles in my fingertips before but nothing more. I took Steve home last night because he was drunk, so drunk in fact that he called me Nancy and that’s when I felt the tingles for the first time. But, they went away quick enough for me to not think anything of it,” I went on to tell them all the other times that Steve riled me up enough to trigger a reaction like that, and then told them about what happened in the woods. “Red? Just like, exploded out of you?” The auburn haired girl questioned, “Like-Like the Scarlet Witch in X-Men?” Dustin said with so much amusement in his voice that I couldn’t tell if he was excited or mocking me. Lucas scoffed. “No way, the Scarlet Witch isn’t real, and she is way too powerful to exist.”

I looked over at Mike to see if he had anything else to say. “El was powerful too, ya know? We didn’t believe her at first, we can’t make the same mistake with Y/N.” All of his friends looked at him, at Steve, and then at me. Everyone was staring at me until the weird box that the boys had on the table started moving. “Oh, shit” Dustin said as he went to grab it but Lucas smacked his hand and shook his head aggressively at him. Steve stepped forward, “Whatcha boys hiding in there, huh?”

“No-nothing!” They all said in unison as the girl holding her skateboard rolled her eyes. Mike picked up the microphone on the table and held it up like a weapon as the box fell on its side. “Don’t hurt him!” Dustin said. Him? “Only if he attacks.” Mike responded. “Guys, what is in that box?” I questioned as Steve came from around the table to stand by my side. “Just open it already!” Lucas yelled. “You idiots, what is in there?!” Steve asked affirmatively, demanding an answer. Dustin rolled his eyes, grabbed a little remote from the table, and opened the box to reveal a slimy, tiny looking creature. “Holy…shit.” Lucas, Steve, and I all said in unison. The creature started to crawl towards Dustin and in front of the 7 pairs of eyes in the room, sprouted an extra set of legs. “Oh, shit!” Lucas screamed as Mike went to hit the tiny monster with the microphone. But, he missed and the creature started running towards the closed door. I don’t know what came over me, it wasn’t Steve this time but suddenly all the kids' attention left the creature, as they all looked at me. Steve grabbed my shoulders and stepped in front of me to hide me from the kids.

“Y/N, your eyes, stop.” I started to blink rapidly to try and get it to go away but that thing was still in the room with us and I was terrified. It was like my arm had a mind of its own as it flew upwards towards the door, and the same red glowing ball of energy that hit the tree in the woods earlier, came out of my palms and caused the door to the AV club to fling open, allowing the creature to escape. “Y/N, snap out of it, look at me.” Steve shook me a little bit as I blinked one last time, looked at him, then at the kids in the room with me and just whispered “I’m so sorry…” but the boys had already started running towards the creature before I finished getting my words out. “What was that?” Steve asked, still holding onto my shoulders. “Dart!” Mike yelled, annoyed. “And because you brought her here, he escaped.” Mike was never hostile towards me, it was a terrible feeling to see him upset with me. “Well, why did you attack him?!” Dusting argued with Mike. Mike ignored his question as he yelled a quick, “Come on!” to his friends and we watched them all split up to look for…Dart.

tags; (thank you for supporting) @mochminnie @smellanieeee @pinkangelskies @alexa4040 @tattooedkiss13

[vannahmontannah]

flowers in the rain

READ THE REST ON WATTPAD @ VANNAHMONTANNAH

I found myself in the media lately. These blogs are giving me a platform and I'm not used to this, but I am with Zuri. This is all new, like how does she deal with this? The fans have found my social media started to follow me everywhere! This is becoming too much. I even saw some comments, talking about some "oh he just with her for clout" what the fuck is ya even talking about? Real talk, bruh! It's like a whirlwind of attention that I never asked for, but somehow landed in. I never imagined that my private life would become public fodder for the masses. Zuri has been a rock throughout this madness, showing me how to navigate this new world with grace and poise. The constant scrutiny and judgment from strangers has left me feeling exposed and vulnerable in ways I never anticipated. The sudden influx of followers and comments has made me question the authenticity of my relationships and the intentions of those around me. It's a surreal experience that I am still trying to make sense of, all while trying to stay true to myself amidst the chaos.

"Baby girl?"

"Yes?"

"Uh, I've been getting too much attention lately. It's like I'm blowing up overnight,"

"You know how blogs are once they find out some shit,"

"Type shit. Some people saying I'm with you for clout,"

"They don't know what they're talking about. Just ignore them, babe. So, are you ready for today?"

"Actually, now I'm kind of nervous,"

"What? All that stuff you were talking about how your family is gonna love me and now you're nervous? I should be the one nervous!" She shouted.

"I know, but I don't know what they may say or think, like it's a new experience for me in a long time,"

"Duke, just relax. Let's just breathe and calm our nerves. Everything is gonna be okay! I'll just be myself and be respectful. Besides, it's just your mom and your sister, right?"

"And my grandmother,"

"Oh..."

"What's wrong?"

"It's one thing to meet the mom, but the grandmother? That's a different story. Now I'm nervous,"

"That's why I got nervous too. My mom ran her mouth and said she wanted me to introduce you to my grandma. I don't mind, it's just that I wasn't really ready, but my grandma said she would love to meet you,"

"Well, let me be on my best behavior,"

"I know it's last minute, but it would really mean a lot to me if you would just give into it,"

"I am. Who doesn't love the grandmother's? I've been preparing for the day I get to meet your family and today is that day and one step closer to your heart,"

"Another step deeper in my heart,"

I grabbed her hands and kissed the back of it. I gave her a kiss on her cheek and we both started out the door. Milo is out with Michael for the week, so I have some free time.

On the drive to my mother's house, my heart was pounding. I didn't know what to expect at all. I haven't brought a girl around my family in three years and I'm not sure what it will bring this time. We made it to my mom's house and I took a deep breath. Zuri was all giggly inside and was ready to meet everybody. Well, if she's cool, then I'm cool. I got out the car and walked over to let her out. I grabbed her hand and guided her to the front door. As we approached the entrance, I couldn't help but wonder how my family would react to her, hoping that they would see what I saw in her - a kind and genuine person.

This is it," I said. "Come on, let's go, I rang the doorbell twice, waiting for an answer. Naomi answered the door and instantly smiled.

"Hey! Hi, how are you?"

"I'm great! How are you?" Zuri asked.

"I'm good. It's nice to see you again!"

"Thank you. This house is gorgeous!"

So far, so good.

"Duke talk about you a lot! I think my brother's in love or whatever,"

"As he should be! As he should!"

"Back in the day, he used to date girls with gaps and crooked teeth-"

"No, I did not!" I interrupted. They were both laughing, but I was dead ass serious. Not that it's a problem with having imperfect teeth, but that was not true. I got her ass later on.

"Ma! Where you at? Come and get yo daughter,"

"Hey, baby" She said, hugging me. "Oh, look who we have here,"

"Hello," Zuri smiled.

"Hi! You can make yourself at home. You don't have to be so stiff around us,"

"Just kind of nervous,"

"You don't have to be nervous around us. If you're a friend of my children, you're a friend of the family. I got some food coming out soon and we can all chill out on the patio,"

"Thank you,"

"So, I heard a lot about you. Duke tells me you're moving back home,"

"I am. I never wanted to move anyway, really. I just had to do what I really wanted to do and that was follow my heart...go back where I was comfortable at,"

"I know that's right. If you feel uncomfortable somewhere, then you don't need to be there,"

"You know, it's crazy how life works out sometimes. I never thought I'd be back here, but here I am,"

"Well, we're glad to have you back. Family's always important, you know?"

"Absolutely. I missed mines guys a lot. It feels good to be back. I feel like I never really left,"

"That's the best feeling, isn't it? When you come back home and everything just falls back into place,"

"It really is. I'm looking forward to spending more time here with all of you,"

"We're looking forward to it too. Now, let's go grab some food and catch up some more,"

"Sounds perfect. Let's do it."

Within the next hour, Zuri became comfortable with my mom and sister. My grandmother had arrived and she had joined us on the patio. She's 78 and still driving! How? I don't know. She never really got a chance to meet my last girl, so hopefully this will do. Zuri was nice and respectful and she even help my granny set up her new watch. I don't know why she even got all of that! You are 78! She made my grandmother smile and laugh and she even told Zuri her laugh was cute. This is going so great right now.

"Well, Zuri it was certainly nice meeting you. With your cute self," my grandmother complimented.

"It was a pleasure meeting you as well,"

"You're so well-mannered and respectful. Thanks for fixing my watch. My son bought it for me,"

"What you gone do with that smart thing?"

"Wear it," she laughed. "I gotta get going. I am tired,"

"You be careful on that road, mom," my mom said.

"I will baby. Imma call you when I'm at home,"

I helped her out to her car and made sure she pulled off safe. I always walk my grandmother to her car because I enjoy doing it. I try to spend every chance I get wit her because she's getting older and I cherish her. I walked back inside to my family and over heard my mom and Zuri talking.

"Well, Zuri...why do you like my son so much?"

"The sensation he evokes in me is akin to undergoing a profound transformation; it's like becoming a woman reborn. With every gesture, word, and smile, he instills in me a sense of refreshment, as if my soul has been newly awakened to the joys of existence. The warmth of his presence envelops me, making the world seem brighter, more vivid, and imbued with hope. It's a peculiarly uplifting feeling, one that cascades through my veins, infusing me with an unwavering sense of confidence and vitality. Never before have I felt so deeply understood, so thoroughly cherished. His laughter has become my most cherished melody, a symphony that resonates with every fiber of my being. Each day with him unfolds like a newly discovered chapter of happiness, revealing depths of emotion I hadn't known were possible. Perhaps, this overwhelming tide of affection and admiration that sweeps through me is what they call being fully in love. Yes, maybe I am fully in love with him, for he has the extraordinary ability to transform ordinary moments into memories that dance gracefully in the corridors of my heart. To be loved by him is to see the mundane through a lens of wonder, to feel perpetually reborn under the gentle touch of his love," Zuri said to my mother as she expressed her feelings in the deepest way possible.

"That was so beautiful...I have never heard someone give a detailed answer like that describing my baby. I raised him right--well, at least I think so," she laughed. "My son was a free spirit; he was always outside, playing with friends and his cousins, and he would go on adventures and such. He was gonna be something. I don't do disrespectful kids. I made sure he was the most presentable child there was. " 

She reminisced about the days when I would come home covered in dirt and grinning from ear to ear after a day of exploring the neighborhood. She fondly recalled the times I would spend hours building forts and playing make-believe with my friends, my imagination running wild. Despite my mischievous antics, she knew that I had a good heart and a kind soul. As she watched me grow, she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in the young man I was becoming.

"Sounds like he was very active,"

"Oh, yes! Especially when he got older and the girls were coming from every which way. Lately, before he met you, he's been all alone and...I was wondering what is going on? Is my son lonely? I guess he was just waiting on the right one or whatever, but you came along and...he getting checked in hospitals, he was getting love sick, and he was just down! I'm so glad you came along and knocked my son off his feet. He seems much happier than his last one,"

"What happened?"

"She was just a mean woman. Begged for money, spoiled, rude. She stressed my son out! I did not like that girl!"

"He don't have to worry about that anymore,"

"I know now. It's like you were the spark to everything,"

Hearing this conversation made me fall in love with Zuri more than I already was. The depth of their insight, and the genuine warmth radiating from their words touched a chord deep within me. The undeniable sincerity and vulnerability they shared unveiled new layers of their character, showcasing a profound beauty that was both captivating and inspiring. This deepened connection felt like discovering a hidden treasure, one that made my affection for Zuri grow stronger and more profound with every passing moment.

[fan-fantasies]

Rockin’ Willy’s

A/N: okay so this is a super specific thing to mine and Breezy’s childhoods. There was a store in our now closed mall called rockin Willy’s where you could buy music and incense and jewelry and a whole bunch of cool shit. And they had this super cool black light poster room that I’d beg my gramma to take me into and that whole store is just giving me Eddie vibes. So please enjoy taking a little dive into my childhood!

Pairing: Eddie x reader (could be gender neutral)

Warnings: mentions of drugs, maybe a swear?

This isn’t like my usual stuff, but it’s something near and dear to my heart so I hope you still like it!

Please comment and reblog :)

You watched as throngs of people walked through the mall outside your store. Well- it wasn’t your store, but you worked there enough that it should be. You knew the owner intended for you to take it over when he was ready to retire but you were getting tired of waiting for that day- part of you worried that the store wouldn’t last much longer.

Rock music was the newest focus on the media, and not for positive reasons. Satanic panic had swept the nation and small minded people bought into it. And where were there smaller minds than the ones found in Hawkins?

You knew it was going to be another slow night so you lit your favorite incense and put on a Twisted Sister album. You figured it would be a good way to pass the time while you did inventory. You ended up getting lost in your “devil music” so you didn’t hear when someone actually entered the store.

“Excuse me? Hello?”

“Oh shit, my bad!” You jumped out of your skin when you heard the voice. You turned around and immediately froze when you saw one of the prettiest guys you’d ever laid eyes on.

He wasn’t one of the normal Neanderthals of Hawkins but rather someone who looked like he had a personality. He had fluffy hair and deep brown eyes. The rings on his fingers caught the light just right as he tapped his fingers on the counter. You didn’t realize you had been staring when he cleared his throat. But it was okay because he was staring too.

He wasn’t expecting to see such a beautiful creature turn around when he walked up to the counter. All the air left his lungs and his palms got sweaty.

“What can I help you with?” You tried to act natural while you cleaned up your inventory papers.

“I was told this place was pretty cool so I thought I’d stop in. Any recommendations on what I should check out first?”

“Me well that depends what you’re into?”

“Metal, I’m in a band actually. And I’m a dungeon master,” Eddie said. He hadn’t been lying when he said he was told the place was cool, but he was also told about the hottie working there. He didn’t believe his friends when they had told him- hot and cool? No way.

“Oh Dungeons and Dragons, right? Yeah, we have some stuff for that! And music, obviously- shirts, incense, posters. You wouldn’t happen to be Eddie, would you?” You asked. A few of your only frequent customers had talked about their DnD club before and mentioned their badass dungeon master.

“Y-yeah, that’s me,” he smiled awkwardly.

“Gareth and Jeff are always talking you up. They said you’re one hell of a guitar player too,” you told him. “Maybe I could come to one of your shows if you have any?”

“That would be great! Yeah!” Eddie coughed and toned down his rather embarrassing excitement. “I’ll let you know when we have one.”

“Sweet! Well, why don’t you take a look around and see if there’s anything you like. I’ll be here if you need me,” you smiled. He nodded and ran to the back of the store.

He definitely did find something in that store that he liked and it was you. Gorgeous, cool, and interested in his band? You were too good to be true.

After that night, Eddie became a frequent customer. He spent almost all of his dealing money on the cool new shit you’d show him each week. He wasn’t gonna complain though; he’d spend every last dime he had just to watch your eyes light up as you talked to him about music or your favorite new scent of incense.

You were also growing quite fond of the metalhead. The first time you saw his band play really sealed the deal for you. Watching the way his fingers danced with his guitar strings mesmerized you and you weren’t sure you could ever tear your eyes away. That was until they found his plump lips, moving along with the words of the song.

You were both head over heels for one another but neither of you were gutsy enough to make the first move.

Jeff and Gareth always got a kick out of watching the two of you interact and teasing Eddie about it the day after. He would usually just roll his eyes and hide behind his hair, his heart skipping a beat when Jeff mentioned how you looked like you were fawning over him too.

After a few more weeks of the will-they, won’t-they bullshit, you decided to take a chance and make a move.

Eddie came into the shop about 30 minutes before closing, as per usual. He would always stay after and help you clean up, stating that it was the least he could do for pestering you so close to closing.

“(Y/N)?” He yelled when he didn’t see you when he entered.

“Hey, Eds! I’m back here!” You called from the back of the shop. It had been closed off recently for some renovations, a secret that you had yet to reveal to Eddie.

“Hey, there you are,” he smiled softly when he found you straightening out a few folded shirts.

“How’s it goin, rockstar?” You asked with a smirk.

“Oh you know, same old same old. Dealing to the popular kids who hate my guts during the day but always come back for more at night,” he said with a sad laugh. You knew he played tough for everyone else and pretended that the teasing didn’t get to him, but that would get exhausting for anyone.

“Hm well I think I may have something to brighten your day,” you said.

“Just being here is enough to do that,” he replied.

“Well if that’s the case, I guess you don’t wanna see what they’ve been working on back there,” you said, pointing to the taped up plastic blocking off the project.

“Wait, are you serious?” He asked, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

“Dead serious, Munson.”

“We’ll lead the way,” he said, bowing out of the way for you. You just laughed and shook your head as you walked by him.

You pulled back the plastic to reveal a large hole in the wall in the shape of a clown’s mouth. It was completely dark on the inside.

“What in the hell?”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” You smirked. You grabbed his hand and pulled him into the mystery room. The plastic fell back down, eliminating any light that could get in.

“Is this where you kill me?”

“Shut up,” you laughed.

You flipped a switch and a black light illuminated the walls- walls that were covered in glowing posters. Every inch of the walls and ceiling was covered in a cool new poster. Some were scary, some musical, a few were littered with varying psychedelic mushrooms.

You looked over at Eddie who just studied the room with his jaw slightly dropped, staring with awe.

“Isn’t it something?” You asked with a huge grin. He finally looked at you, struck with your beauty in the glowing light.

“Yeah, sure is,” he said breathlessly, but he wasn’t talking about the posters.

The two of you stared into each other’s eyes for a minute before you decided to close the gap between you with a quick kiss. Eddie wasn’t even sure it was real, it ended as soon as it began. He decided to find out though by pressing his lips to yours again, this time in a slower, sweeter kiss. You melted into him, instantly feeling at ease.

“God, I’ve been wanting to do that for forever,” he sighed happily as he pulled away.

“We definitely should’ve done that ages ago,” you laughed.

“Guess we have some lost time to make up for then, huh?”

He pulled you in for another head-spinning kiss. You made a quick mental note to thank Jeff and Gareth for telling Eddie to check out your store… and for telling you to make a move because if they had to deal with Eddie being a lovesick puppy for one more day they’d die.

Yeah, you had plenty to thank them for.

—————————

Taglist: Taglist: @mellomadness @munsaniac @thebookbakery @mrsdarcyinlovewithbuckybarnes @rafecameronswhore @dootys @tiredwritersworld @lily-sinclair-2006 @dylanobriens-love @moonbeampillgoth @lady-hellfire-1985 @lagataprrr @whore-of-many-hot-men @crimsonsabbath @moldy-khunt @wheaty-melon

[oregano-writes]

Tartaglia's 5-Step Plan for Wooing Morax- Chapter 7: Morepesok

Childe dismissed the cart driver as he reached the outskirts of Morepesok. As he took his bags and began the long walk to his childhood home, he noticed how the forests never seemed to change, no matter how long he was gone. He couldn’t tell if it was comforting or not- on one hand, stability was not something easily accessed by Harbingers, but on the other, it felt like the town didn’t need him– like he was an unnecessary accessory, one that was pleasant while it was around but not missed when it was gone.

He paused his musings when he reached the door of the old house. There didn’t seem to be anyone inside, so he entered, taking off his coat and setting his bags down on the ground. He rummaged through the top one until he found what he was looking for– a small box containing the gifts he had brought for Anthon, Tonia and Teucer. He had been diligent about sending them presents every week or so, but his coming home was a special occasion, and as Teucer would remind him, ‘Special occasions require special gifts!’.

Childe– or rather, Ajax– smiled. Nobody knew he was coming home, so his family was undoubtedly going to be thrilled to see him. Well, his siblings would, at least– his parents were more wary of him. Everyone was civil for the most part, though– his brother Matvey being the one notable exception– and wouldn’t say anything in front of the younger ones.

Ajax heard talking outside the door, before it swung open, revealing his oldest sister, Inessa, and his three younger siblings.

“Anthon, for the last time, you can’t just skip class whenever you forget to do your– Ajax?

Ajax smiled. “Didn’t expect me to come back so soon?”

“Big brother!” Teucer ran at him, grabbing him in a bear hug. Tonia and Anthon joined in a moment later, Ajax getting crushed under a mountain of fluffy jackets and red hair. 

“It’s good to see you too,” Ajax laughed. “Inessa, anything happen while I was gone?”

She smiled. “Mira and I just got engaged, and moving out has been taking up a good bit of time. Luckily, these guys are more than happy to help,” she said, gesturing to Tonia, Anthon and Teucer.

“You too? Geez, at this rate, I’m going to be the only single one left in a few months. What, with you getting married, Lena’s new boyfriend, and Nikolai living in Fontaine, it’ll just be me and the little guys. And Matvey, I guess.”

Inessa looked a bit confused at that. “Nobody told you?”

“Told me what?”

“Matvey’s engaged to that baker girl, Sofia. He has been for months– you really didn’t know?”

Ajax smiled apologetically. “It must have slipped my mind.”

He didn’t even tell me about his engagement?

──────── ✧ ────────

He and Matvey were close when they were younger, Matvey being only a year older than Ajax himself. He had been one of Ajax’s only friends. They went fishing together, listened to adventure stories together, went playing in the woods together– his mother used to say they were practically joined at the hip.

That is, until one trip into the woods resulted in Ajax falling through a break in the land, disappearing for days.

When he finally escaped, collapsing on the doorstep of the house, battered and bloody, it had been Matvey who got him to a doctor, Matvey who stayed by his side while his wounds were painstakingly repaired.

Even then, Ajax knew the kindness wouldn’t last forever.

──────── ✧ ────────

Teucer and Anthon each had a million questions about Ajax’s time in Liyue– ‘What’s the food like?’ ‘Did you see any cool rock monsters?’ ‘Do the people eat rocks?’

‘Are the people made of rocks?’. There were a lot, and he struggled to answer them all, but it was Tonia who (unwittingly) decided to be mean to him that day.

“So, Ajax, did you meet anyone in Liyue?” The question was accompanied by over-the-top eyebrow wiggling.

“Uh–” Childe flushed slightly at the memory of Zhongli’s promise before he left– “I don’t– not like that?”

Tonia gave him a suspicious look. “So there was someone?”

“Um– no? Not really?”

“Aw, c’mon, you don’t have to be shy!” she exclaimed. “Just spit it out!”

“He didn’t– I mean, there was a guy, but nothing actually happened.”

“Oh? Do you mean that one consultant guy you mentioned in your letter? What’s he like?” she asked, eyes lighting up in interest.

Ajax sighed. “He was smart, pretty, and way out of my league, Tonia.” He accentuated this point by flicking her lightly on the nose. “Men like that are better left in fairytales.”

“You’re no fun!” Tonia pouted. “And besides, how could some dusty old academic be out of your league? You’re kind, and smart, and plus, it’s not like your toy seller job pays badly.”

Ajax glanced nervously towards his two younger brothers, but they had evidently been uninterested by talk of romance and had instead moved on to trying to guess what was in the box he had brought by shaking it from various angles. “Tonia, please be more careful,” he sighed.

Tonia rolled her eyes. “They’re going to figure out some time, Ajax.”

“Yeah.”

──────── ✧ ────────

When Ajax woke up, his side full of stitches and his head woozy from anesthetic, the first thing he noticed– besides the stark lack of Abyss surrounding him– was Matvey’s concerned expression as he started to get up.

“Ajax, sit back down. You’ll pop a stitch.”

Ajax rolled his eyes. “It barely hurts.”

Matvey gave him a horrified look. “Ajax, you almost bled out on the porch. What happened to you? Where were you?”

Ajax looked away. “It’s not important. What matters is that I’m back now, and I’m fine.”

“Ajax. Listen to me. Just tell me what happened. It’s been three days, Ajax.”

Ajax blinked. “Three months, you mean?”

Matvey’s expression morphed from concern to confusion. “What are you talking about? You disappeared three days ago. Not months.”

“I… oh. Alright.”

“Please, Ajax. Just tell me what happened.”

Ajax looked away. “You… you wouldn’t like it.”

“Ajax.”

He kept his eves trained on the ground.

“What did you do?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Like hell it isn’t! Do you have any idea how worried we were? I thought you were dead!”

Ajax froze.

“We’ve all seen that shiny new vision at your hip, Ajax. You really expect me to think that you got that doing nothing? Do you think I’m stupid?”

“No, I would never!”

Matvey looked at him, expression steeling over. “The old Ajax would have told me.” With that, he picked his coat off of its hanger, collecting his things. “The doctor says you should stay in bed for at least another two days. Hopefully, you’ll be able to tell everyone where you were when you get out.”

“Two days? Come on, can’t you cut a guy some slack?”

Matvey sighed. “Goodbye, Ajax.” He did not slam the door when he left– there were other patients in the building, of course– but he did shut it with a decidedly frustrated clunk.

──────── ✧ ────────

Later that night, after Ajax had given out his presents to the children (A ruin guard kite for Teucer, a Liyuean go set for Anthon, and a pair of earrings and matching bracelet for Tonia) and Inessa had gone home, the door opened again. This time, it was Lena coming home with his parents, the three of them laughing together, seemingly about the recent affairs of one of the locals Ajax hadn’t seen in years.

“Ajax?”

“In the flesh,” he replied with a smile.

Lena ran over to tackle-hug him, while his parents exchanged wary glances.

“It’s so good to see you! Anthon here was half afraid you would like Liyue too much and never come back!”

At the look Ajax sent him, Anthon looked at the ground and sighed. “I didn’t say it like that exactly. And besides, isn’t that what Nikolai did?”

Lena reached over to pat him on the head. “Well, Nikolai is a chronic homebody and even more chronic nerd. Our dear Ajax would never abandon us for plays and concerts, isn’t that right?”

“Of course. It would take at least a good restaurant or two to keep me from leaving.”

Lena punched him on the arm. “What Ajax means to say is that he would never abandon us like that.”

“Speaking of ditching us, where’s Matvey? I thought he was coming over today?” Tonia interjected.

Ajax had heard his footsteps when he entered through the back door. Even now, he avoided Ajax whenever he was home.

“I don’t know, Tonia.”

──────── ✧ ────────

Ajax did not end up staying at the hospital for the next two days. He left as soon as he had a moment away from the constant supervision of the doctors. Things with Matvey didn’t improve, but the situation didn’t really fall apart until Ajax got involved with the Fatui. He had finally snapped, getting into a fight with a group of local Fatui agents. However, when they called for backup, instead of being killed for his treason, he was recruited. When he told his family the news, the only one who wasn’t surprised was Matvey. He took Ajax aside right before the Fatui came to pick him up.

“I don’t know who you are,” he had said, “but you aren’t Ajax. Ajax never came back from the woods, did he?”

That was the last time Matvey ever called him by his real name. From then on, he was always Tartaglia– if Matvey spoke to him at all.

[foodandfolklore]

The Talking Eggs

While perhaps not classified as a Fairytale, I came across Robert San Souci's Children's Story of The Talking Eggs. First Published in 1989. This Author has since passed away in 2014, but it really embodies the feeling of fairytales. I would not be surprised if he took inspiration from other fairytales. I myself see some themes from other folktales. If you can find the original 1989 storybook, I encourage you to give it a read. I think the illustrations are lovely and we were finally in a time period where visual depictions of black people are not just offensive stereotypes. However, it was also a time where children's illustrations were not as diverse as they are today. So despite it being a very magic filled, wacky tale, the pictures are much more serious and realistic looking.

Back in the old days there was a widow with two daughters named Rose and Blanche. They lived on a farm so poor, it looked like the tail end of bad luck. They raised a few chickens, some beans, and a little cotton to get by.

Rose, the older sister, was cross and mean and didn't know beans from bird's eggs. Blanche was sweet and kind and sharp as forty crickets. But their mother liked Rose the best, because they were alike as two peas in a pod -- bad-tempered, sharp-tongued, and always putting on airs.

The mother made Blanche do all the work around the place. She had to iron the clothes each morning using an old iron filled with hot coals, chop cotton in the afternoon, and string the beans for supper. While she'd be doing these chores, her mama and sister would sit side by side in rocking chairs on the shady porch, fanning themselves and talking foolishness about getting rish and moving to the city, where they could go to fancy balls wearing trail-train dresses and lots of jewels.

One hot day the mother sent Blanche to the well to fetch a bucket of water. When the girl got there, she found an old woman wrapped in a raggedy black shawl, near fainting with the heat.

"Please, child, give me a sip of water," the old woman said. "I'm 'bout to die of thirst."

"Yes, aunty," said Blanche, rinsing out her bucket and dipping up some clean, cool well water. "Drink what you need."

"Thank you, child," said the old woman when she'd taken swallow after swallow of water. "You got a spirit of do-right in your soul. God is gonna bless you." Then she walked away down the path that led to the deep woods.

When Blanche got back to the cabin, her mother and sister hollered at her for taking so long.

"This water's so warm, it's near boilin'," shouted Rose, and she dumped the bucket out on the porch.

"Here your poor sister's near dyin' for a drop of cool water," her mother screamed, "and you can't even bring her that little thing."

Then the two of them scolded and hit Blanche until the frightened girl ran away into the woods. She began to cry, since she didn't have anywhere to go, and she was scared to go home.

Suddenly, around a bend in the path came the old woman in the raggedy black shawl. When she saw Blanche, she asked kindly, "What's made you cry so, you poor child?"

"Mama and sister Rose lit into me for something that wasn't my fault," said Blanche, rubbing tears off her cheek. "Now I'm afraid to go home."

"Hush, child! Stop your crying. You come on home with me. I'll give you supper and a clean bed. But you got to promise you won't laugh at anything you see."

Blanche gave her word of honor that she wouldn't laugh. Then the old woman took her by the hand and led her deep into the backwoods. As they walked along the narrow path, bramble bushes and tree branches opened wide in front of them, and closed up behind them.

Soon the came to the old woman's tumble-down shack. A cow with two heads, and horns like corkscrews, peered over a fence at Blanche and brayed like a mule. She reckoned it was a pretty strange sight, but didn't say anything, not wanting to hurt the old woman's feelings.

Next, she saw that the yard in front of the cabin was filled with chickens of every color. Some were hopping about on one leg, some running about on three or four or even more. These chickens didn't cluck, but whistled like mockingbirds. But strange as all this was, Blanche stuck by her promise not to laugh.

When they got inside the cabin, the old woman said, "Light the fire, child, and cook us some supper." So Blanche fetched kindling from the woodpile outside the back door.

The old woman sat down near the fireplace and took off her head. She set it on her knees like a pumpkin. First she combed out her gray hair, then she plaited it into two long braids. Blanche got pretty scared at this. But the woman had been nothing but kind to her, so she just went on lighting the fire.

After a bit the old woman put her head back on her shoulders and looked at herself in a sliver of a mirror nailed to the cabin wall. "Um-m-m-hum!" she said, nodding. "That's better."

Then she gave Blanche an old beef bone and said, "Put this in the pot for supper."

Now Blanche was near starving, and the bone looked like a pretty sad meal for the two of them, but she did what the old woman said. "Shall I boil it for soup, aunty?" she asked.

"Look at the pot, child!" the old woman said, laughing.

The pot was filled with thick stew, bubbling away.

Next the woman gave Blanche only one grain of rice and told her to grind it in the stone mortar. Feeling mighty foolish Blanche began to pound the grain with the heavy stone pestle. In a moment the mortar was overflowing with rice.

When they had finished supper, the old woman said, "It's a fine moonshiny night, child. Come with me."

They sat themselves down on the back porch steps. After a time dozens of rabbits came out of the underbrush and formed a circle in the yard. The men rabbits all had frock-tail coats, and the lady rabbits had little trail-train dresses. They danced, standing on their hind feet, hopping about. One big rabbit played a banjo, and the old woman hummed along with it.

Blanche kept time by clapping along. The rabbits did a square dance, a Virgina reel, and even a cakewalk. The girl felt so happy, she never wanted to leave. She sat and clapped until she fell asleep, and the old woman carried her inside and put her to bed.

When Blanche got up the next morning, the old woman told her, "Go milk my cow."

The girl did what she was told and the two-headed cow with the curly horns gave her a bucket of the sweetest milk she'd ever tasted. They had it with their morning coffee.

"You gotta go home now, child," the old woman said to Blanche, who was washing the breakfast dishes. "But I tell you, things will be better from here on out. And since you are such a good girl, I got a present for you.

"Go out to the chicken house. Any eggs that say, 'Take me,' you go ahead and take. But if you hear any say, 'Don't take me,' you leave them be. When you get near home, throw those eggs one after another over your left shoulder so they break in the road behind you. Then you'll get a surprise."

When Blanch got to the little chicken house, she found all the nests filled with eggs. Half were gold or silver or covered with jewels; half looked no different from the eggs she got from her chickens back home.

All the plain eggs told her, "Take me." All the fancy ones cried, "Don't take me." she wished she could take just one gold or silver or jeweled egg, but she did what the old woman told her and only scooped up the plain ones.

She and the old woman waved good-bye to each other, then Blanche went on her way. Partway home she began to toss the eggs one at the time over her left shoulder. All sorts of wonderful things spilled out of the eggs: now diamonds and rubies, now gold and silver coins, now pretty silk dresses and dainty satin shoes. There was even a handsome carriage that grew in a wink from the size of a matchbox -- and a fine brown-and-white pony that sprouted from the size of a cricket to draw it.

Blanche loaded all these lovey things into the carriage and rode the rest of the way home like a grand lady.

When she got back to the cabin, her mother and sister just gawked at her new finery. "Where did you get all these things?" her mother asked, making Rose help Blanche carry the treasures inside. That evening the mother cooked dinner for the first time since Blanche was old enough to hold a skillet. All the time telling Blanche what a sweet daughter she was, her mama got the girl to tell about the old woman and the cabin in the woods and the talking eggs.

When Blanche was asleep, the mother grabbed Rose and told her, "You gotta go into the woods tomorrow mornin' and find that old aunty. Then you'll get some of those talkin' eggs for yourse'f so's you can have fine dresses and jewels like your sister. When you get back, I'll chase Blanche off and keep her things myse'f. Then we'll go to the city and be fine ladies like we was meant to be."

"Can't we just run her off tonight so's I don't have to go pokin' through the woods lookin' for some crazy ol' aunty?" Rose whined.

"There's not near enough for two," her mother said, getting angry. "You do as I say and don't be so contrary."

So the next morning Rose set out drag-foot into the woods. She dawdled mostly, but soon met the old woman in her raggedy black shawl.

"My sweet little sister Blanche tol' me you got a real pretty house an' all," said Rose. "I'd 'presciate to see it."

"You can come with me if you've a mind to," said the old woman, "but you got to promise not to laugh at whatever you see."

"I swear," said Rose.

So the old woman led her through the bramble bushes and tree branches into the deep woods.

When they got near the cabin Rose saw the two-headed cow that braid like a mule and the funny looking chickens that sang like mocking birds.

"If there ever was a sight, that's one! That's the stupiest thing in the world!" Rose laughed and laughed until she nearly fell down.

"M-hmh," said the old woman, shaking her head.

Once inside, Rose complained when she was asked to start the fire, but she made more smoke than flame. The old woman gave her an old bone to put in the pot for supper.

"That's gunna make a mighty poor meal." Rose said, crossly. She dropped the bone in the pot, but the bone remained a bone.

Next, the old woman gave her a single grain of rice to grind in the morter.

"This sad speck won't hardly feed a fly." Rose said. She wouldn't lift the pestle, so no rice was made at all. Thin soup for supper was all they had.

"Mm-hmm." The old lady said.

Rose went to bed hungry. All night long she heard mice scratching under the floor and screech owls clawing at the window.

In the morning the old woman told her to milk the cow. Rose did, but she made fun of the two-headed creature and all she got was a little sour milk not fit for drinking. So they had their breakfast coffee without any cream.

When the old woman lifted her head off her shoulders to brush her hair, quick as a wink Rose grabbed that head and said, "I'm not gonna put you back t'gether 'til you give me presents like my sister got."

"Ah, child, you're a wicked girl," said the old woman's head, "but I got to have my body back, so I'll tell you what to do.

"Go to the chicken house and take those eggs that say, 'Take me.' But leave be the ones that cry 'Don't take me.' Then you toss those eggs over your right shoulder when you're on your way home."

To be sure the old woman wasn't playing her a trick, Rose set the old woman's head out on the porch while her body sat groping around the cabin. Then she ran to the chicken house. Inside, all the plain eggs cried, "Take me," while all the gold and silver and jeweled ones said "Don't take me."

"You think I'm fool enough to listen to you an pass up the prettiest ones? not on your life!" So she grabbed all of the gold and silver and jeweled eggs that kept yelling, "Don't take me," and off she ran into the woods with them.

As soon as she was out of sight of the old woman's cabin, she tossed the eggs over her right shoulder as fast as she could. But out of the shells came clouds of whip snakes, toads, frogs, yellow jackets, and a big, old, gray wolf. These began to chase after her like pig after a pumpkin.

Hollering bloody murder Rose ran all the way to her mother's cabin. When the woman was the swarm f things chasing her daughter, she tried to rescue her with a broom. But the wasps and wolf and all other creatures wouldn't be chased off, so mother and daughter high-tailed it to the woods, with all the animals following.

When they returned home, angry and sore and stung and covered with mud, the found Blanche had gone to the city to live like a grand lady -- though she remained as kind and generous as always.

For the rest of their lives, Rose and her mother tried to find the strange old woman's cabin and the talking eggs, but they never could find the place again.

[miloscat]

[Review] Subnautica: Below Zero (PS5)

A really COOL expansquel.

I liked the original Subnautica a lot, an expansive underwater survival exploration game. This standalone expansion/sequel is a bit tighter and more focused, with a smaller map and more of a storyline. A new polar setting on the same planet brings with it a new set of fauna and flora, both docile and dangerous, as well as new temperature management mechanics. The big sub is gone, but there’s new tricks, tools, vehicles, and features to keep things fresh while you investigate the biomes and mysteries of planet 4546B, the activity of ancient aliens, and the machinations of more recent humans.

The first game has a hapless protagonist, simply caught up in the events of a crash; I liked that this time around Robin has more of a personal stake and motivation for coming to the planet by choice, to investigate the suspicious death of her sister. Threads from the first game are followed up on, you meet other living people, and even make a personal connection to the enigmatic alien race who left so many structures behind. It makes the experience more involving than Subnautica’s passive story, although it does lack something of the urgency of the first game’s unfolding scenario and progressive events.

Among the new biomes with their hauntingly beautiful alien seascapes and deadly dangers is an expanded above-ground area. The new hoverbike vehicle helps you traverse a tundra zone while being menaced by croco-bears and giant death worms. This is where keeping warm is especially important, with new items to mitigate the always-imminent hypothermia, although when you’re equipped with knowledge and the right tools it’s pretty easy to stay warm. It’s also not an issue at all underwater, so there’s a clear split for when you ever need to worry about it; this could have been integrated better honestly.

The game also has many user-friendly additions: above ground there’s frequent plants, geysers, and caves to warm you, and underwater there’s new fish, plants, and even rock formations that can refill your air. And with only a few crashed ship parts to delve into, I rarely found myself in the desperate straits the first game imposed on me; I think I only died once! There’s a tension here between being a rock-hard survival challenge and a more accessible adventure game, with this game leaning more to the latter while the first was closer to the former. Which game you prefer will depend on on your own views on this dichotomy.

Both are still very similar though. This is clearly a follow-up to what the first game was doing—just with some tweaks and additions—and it’s a very successful one at that. I even ran into the same problem that I did on my Subnautica playthrough, where I missed stumbling on a very important location and went through the entire rest of the game without advancing a prominent quest line! This is the downside to an open-ended and non-linear structure. Thankfully after completing the main quest the dev tools unlocked and I was able to warp anywhere to check out what I’d missed. Finally, although the controls are still a bit fiddly on console, on a technical level this is more stable than my experience with the original game, with only one instance where the world tiles didn’t load which lead to losing half an hour of progress. Save often, people!

[saintflint]

top 5 memories (that's you're comfortable sharing ofc)

this took me so long to narrow down, but in the end i chose moments i haven’t really thought about in a long time <3

1: more recently, sometime last fall i think, my sister and her daughter and i all went to the beach together. it was late afternoon and the day was grey and misty so the water was that comforting silver and the waves were so gentle. i rolled up my pants as much as i could (they kept falling down no matter what i did) and jumped in, kicking the water up at myself and splashing loudly. nothing particularly special or significant about that day except that i laughed so much while i was there with them, longer than i had in a long time.

2: my childhood best friend pulling me into a “tango” and dancing with me in the hallway of our highschool homeschooling site. so many of my memories with him are tinged with sadness since we don’t talk anymore but that moment was so random, so stupid and silly (i don’t even remember what he said except that i was laughing the whole time) that i can look back on it with a smile instead of with loss.

3: my college solo workshop. the assignment was to pick a song and sing it before the entire class (over 50 students at least) and then work through it in front of them with the instructors. that year was a year that i was still so extremely self conscious about myself (the year i came out as bi actually) and i remember being so nervous and frustrated with myself while i was up there for most of it. but as i finished the song for the last time, i just looked down and sang to my friends and they were all smiling so wide at me, all of them. when i finished, the whole room stood and applauded and i crumpled over, covering my face and crying while they cheered. when i got off the stage, i immediately ran straight into the arms of my closest friend there and crush at the time and he practically lifted me up as he hugged me and whispered, “there you are.” it was one of first times i truly felt seen and i was happy to be.

4: mid-2020, my siblings and my dad and our closest friend (practically the big brother i never had) dale all went down to a creek near our house. it was super full and the water was so clear and everything was so green and golden. it was kinda busy so me and dale went ahead to the very end, the water all the way past our knees and dramatically humming the lord of the rings theme out loud the whole time as he worked our way over slippery rocks and huge branches. we found so many cool rocks and idk it was just such a peaceful, good time.

5: last year, so many moments with my last preschool class before moving on to my current job. that place had a lot of downsides, the biggest being i couldn’t be transparent as my truest self, but i loved my two year-olds and they loved me and saw me as i really am the whole time. one of the best moments of them all though, my student faith was sitting with me in the afternoon and telling me that she thought another teacher was “so beautiful,” and i asked her teasing if she thought i was beautiful too. and very seriously she answered no, but that i was handsome like a prince.