#like god herself could come down and say screw off it doesn't matter

[archgabrielangel]

dude you could bring every piece of fact and evidence on why a characters skin and hair color literally do not matter when it comes to how they are portrayed in an on screen adaptation and people will still go "wEll shES sUppOsed to Be bLonDe" SHUT UP👏👏👏

[saintyveningstar]

If this is an uncomfortable topic or you just don’t want to do it I totally understand!!

But since you asked for requests I have a few topics(?) for mom!abby

Like if she found out about her kid struggling with sh or found them smokin weed

Or on the less depressing side her having a kid w autism

Have a great day!

Hiii anon !! I’m probably gonna use your other ideas soon but I wanted to get to the smoking weed one specifically, first

I really hope you like it because this is NOT proofread

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

"What's that smell?"

The sentence makes Absalem stop in his absolute tracks when he passes her. He'd just gotten home from being at school all day, after his extracurriculars.

When school ended he dropped Jude off to avoid her telling on him, and drove to his friend's house, the one who usually had everything — everything that was good, anyway.

He'd even changed clothes before coming home, but Abby's keen nose caught him just after walking in the house.

"What smell?" He asks, but doesn't turn to face her.

"You don't smell that?" Abby asked, sniffing the air, "Smells like ... I don't know. I don't like it."

Ellie peeks her head out from the kitchen, "What is it, Bee?"

"Do you smell that?" She asked, getting up, getting closer to Absalem.

Fuck.

He bites his lip, "I think you may be smelling gas, Mommy."

"I'm from Utah, hun. I know what gas smells like." She screws her nose up, gets closer, and Absalem backs up. "God, what is that?"

And its then that she notices his face, how it's guilt ridden, how he's making that he knows he's done something wrong, the face where he knows he's in trouble.

Abby's face steels, and she takes a step forward, Absalem takes one back. "Absalem." She says, quietly, trying to calm herself before she got really angry. "Come here."

"Mom—"

"Come here."

"O-Okay—"

"What?!"

"Yes ma'am!" He corrects, "I-I'm sorry!" he gets close enough for Abby to grab and she does, pulling him close by the collar of his jacket. She smells his jacket, and Absalem could've sworn it was the most angry he'd ever seen her.

"That better not be what I think it is, Absalem." She says, fist tightening in his jacket before retreating and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I-I'm sorry—"

"So help me." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Say it, tell me what you did."

"Ma, please—"

"Now!" She raised her voice.

"I-I lied to you."

"About what? Say it."

"I didn't have Robotics today, I wen't to Shannon's house—"

"Absalem Anderson, you better get to the point, and quick, before I stop trying to talk shit out with you, you hear me?"

"Me and him sm-smoked together. Mommy, I-I—please—!"

"Listen to me carefully, Absalem." Her voice was cold. "You're going to go to upstairs to your room, and you're not to come out until I or Mama come and get you. You don't move, you don't talk. Am I understood?"

He nods, too afraid to speak, bottom lip trembling with green eyes threatening to spill over with tears.

"I said am I understood?"

"Ye-Yes ma'am."

"Give me your phone, and your keys for that matter, since it's obvious you can't be trusted." He digs into his pockets, obeying instantly, "Now go."

"Mommy—!"

"Absalem, son." Her tone was calm again, but he knew better than to think it in earnest. "Turn around, and go upstairs to your room before I change my mind and wrap my hands around your god damn neck, yeah?"

As he was walking up the stairs, all he could think about how his mother was going to tear his ass apart when she eventually got up there.

She was going to beat his ass, and he knew that, he knew it — he was stupid enough to disobey her, even after knowing that no weed was one of her very hard boundaries.

An hour goes by before he hears her footsteps, slowed from years of weight on her shoulders. She knocked, and it must've been Ellie's footsteps that trailed behind her.

His door opened, and even though the crease in Abby's brow is deep set, she's calmed down significantly by now.

Abby closes the door behind them. "You know what you did wrong, right?"

"Yes ma'am?"

She sits down next to him, throwing her braid over her shoulder and tucking the flyaways behind her ears. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you, please."

"Mommy, Mama-- I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done it." He looked at his thighs again.

"Hey." Abby gently grabs his chin and lifts it towards her. "I don't set these boundaries for my health, Junior." she says.

"You could seriously damage your body with smoking weed, especially because of the conditions you have. And weed will disorient you, and I don't want you to be taken advantage of because you don't know how to regulate."

Ellie sits down on the other side of him, "We get you're seventeen, and you think you know it all, trust me, but you need to be being careful. It's why we had that talk in the first place. Yeah, Shannon's your friend, but you're not his, you don't know him enough to let your guard falter like that. Right?"

"Yes ma'am, right." He bites his lip, "are you gonna ... beat me?"

"Would you prefer that over having your keys taken?" Abby asked, eyebrow kicking up.

"N-No ma'am, not at all."

"Thought so." She said, "And you can have your phone at school, but once you're home it comes to me. You'll also be getting a drug test every two weeks indefinitely once this instance is out of your system, clear?"

"Yes ma'am, crystal." Absalem says, "I don't suppose you're gonna tell Daddy, are you?"

"Oh, I'm gonna, alright. He's gonna hear all about it." She says, then thinks for a moment, “And if I ever find out you doing this or anything like it again, that ass is mine, understand me?”

Absalem swallows thickly as she stares him down. “I understand, ma’am. O-Of course.”

[adh-james-version]

Years (ALICE x LILY)

Okay to preface this I see them with like a Riley/Val Dynamic

Its in the 70s (roughly) 

- - -

"Mary shes so pretty, I want to talk to her so bad." Lily said looking over at Alice who was sitting with her friends not to far in the courtyard.

"Then talk to her."

"But don't forget she's a fifth year, and we're third years."

"Age doesn't matter when I want to be her friend." Lily said as she turned back to her friends before craning her neck backwards to look towards Alice again.

Mary and Marlene exchanged a look before Marlene smirked.

"Ay, Fortescue!"

Lily turned beet red and turned her head away so fast her hair couldn't keep up.

"Yeah?" Alice replied turning her head slightly.

"Say something Lils" Mary whispered as she and Marlene held in laughter.

Alice turned away recognizing the game the girls were playing. As both girls friends laughed at them Lily made note to kill her friends and Alice made note to talk to the girl just to be nice.

One Year Later

"Hey Little Red"

"Hi Alice!"

"You trying out for Quidditch this year?"

"Oh GOD no, I'm gonna be a Mathlete though."

"Oh that's cute" Alice laughed, "You know if you ever DID want to play quidditch, I know the captain."

"We get it you're dating Frank." Lily said rolling her eyes

Alice's face screwed up, "DATING!?", she fake gagged, "No. Way. Frank is my best friend, actually no he's my brother at that."

"Really? Everyone keeps telling me that you guys are dating."

"No, trust me, we are not  dating."

"Okay, well I'm headed to the library if you want to come with?"

"Sure."

The two headed to the library and as they sat down Alice couldn't help herself from borderline staring at the redhead in front of her. 

Wait, what? No. Shes fourteen, I'm sixteen, that's not okay. It's just a little sister feeling nothing serious, yeah lets leave it like that. That makes senses

 One Year Later

Lily woke up to a knocking sound on her door. Lily groggily stood up and unlocked the front door, grabbing the flowers off of the floor and placing them on the dorm living room table she glanced at the note, "To Lily Evans" Dorcas probably sent Marls some- wait what."

"Huh?"

Lily opened the letter attached to the flowers.

---

Dear Lily,

You don't know who sent you these or maybe you do  because you're clever, it's one of the many reasons I love you, although you don't know that. I love you're smile and how it brightens up my day and any room you walk into. I love your hair and how pretty and silky smooth it is, especially when you tie it up in a bun and use a pencil to hold it up. I love your bubbly but nonsense attitude and I love the way that you  are the only one who scares James and Sirius (and me if I'm honest). I love the ways that you are compassionate and I love how you are always there to listen and help anyone who needs it, even if what they need is the stone cold truth.

This is all just to say that I love you, Lily Evans, and we can't be together even if you love me back because I am too old for you right now. And I just wanted to get it off my chest even if you won't know who I am. I sincerely hope we find each other later in life. 

With Love

---

Lily was in shock and had tears in her eyes, who could this be? She scanned through the letter again looking for clues to who it was, but she came up with nothing. She grabbed the flowers smelling them. It was a mix of Lilies and a flower that Lily recognized quickly, Pink climbing flowers otherwise know as...

Oh.

Alice Roses.

Lilies tears were let loose now, there was nothing she could do, the semester ended two weeks ago and Alice had already left. Lily had no way of knowing where she was, only knowing that she was somewhere in Britain. Lily potted the flowers in her room as the tears kept flowing. Alice admitted her love and now she'd never see her again.

She knew she probably wouldn't see Alice again when term ended but this was too much to bear. She could've at least told her how she felt and now she'd lost her last chance. The tears stained her face as she locked her room door. Her pillow was soaked as she laid back down, one thing repeating over and over in her head.

She'd lost her chance.

Six Years Later

Interning at a News Station was educating for sure but it was definitely tiring.  But luckily the Station (for some reason) gave her a day off and she was taking advantage. As she walked to her favorite Coffee shop she basked in the lack of stress the day has brought. She walked in and walked up to the counter and placed her order. She turned around and walked in to a frame slightly taller than her but not by much. "Oh I'm...sorry....." 

"Little Red...? Well I guess you're not so little now."

[alisaspages]

‘Holy mother of-‘

Bucky Barnes x f!reader

Non-American (I’m going to say Canadian bc it sounds cool but it doesn't matter)

Bucky was a simple being, he was funny, goal-oriented, and knew what he wanted. The rest wasn’t something he’d wanted.

Y/N, not so much…

She was messy, told way too many dad jokes, never aimed for a goal just went with the flow of it all, and to be frank she never knew what she wanted or even what was good for her.

It changed when she met James. She’d fallen at her feet back then. Steve’s little sister, younger by two years. Naturally, he didn’t like their relationship and nearly killed Bucky over it. But he’d forgiven him pretty quickly when Bucky saved him for the millionth time that month. Being Steve’s sister, she was around the same height, and she got sick just as easily. The only difference was that she had a different father. It was quite a scandal and all she knew was that he was from Canada. Not America. When Steve got the serum she did it too so he wouldn’t go through it alone. She called herself “Captain Canada.” They fought as a team for a very long time. When Bucky died she lost herself. She let them freeze her. And told them to freeze Steve.

Now it was the 2000s. She fought with the avengers and found the love of her life again. She wanted him back so badly, she stabbed Natasha and gave her a simple flesh wound, then did the same to Steve. She knew they’d be fine, and she stalked off with Bucky. But every moment with him she ached. She missed him being between her legs no doubt. But she knew she would need to wait. Till she knew he was okay with it at least.

When they got to the apartment he’d been staying in she sat at the dining table. “Sweet place. I mean it could use a touch-up here and there but it’s nice. Can you cut Starks tracker out of my arm while we're here?” He pulled out a knife and she held her arm out “go ahead.” She offered loudly. Bucky never liked how loud she was but she couldn't help it. “I’ve got a question, do you remember who I am?” He nodded but didn’t reply, “oh my fuckers! I’m letting you cut into my arm and you can’t answer a god damn-“ he put a hand over her mouth. The metal one. It sent shivers down her spine and shot goosebumps up and down her arms. It wasn’t because of the cold, she liked his touch. Back over 70 years ago, this would have made her fall at her perfectly shaved and creamed knees. “Your name is Y/N Rogers, you’re my ex-girlfriend, and…” he trailed off dropping his arm. She kissed him quickly. “missed you.” His eyes widened, his memories flooded back. “Listen, I don’t want to kill you and I don’t want to hurt Steve.” She rose a brow softly. “Then why did you-?” He sighed loudly. “Whatever. Just come to the compound with us. We can protect you.” He grabbed a belt and put it in her mouth before he cut into her arm. She nearly screamed as he pulled out Starks tracker. He stitched her up quickly and She took it out of her mouth.

YNS POV:

“Bucky. I can still tell you anything right?” He nodded hesitantly. I needed someone to talk to and the others didn’t know me the way Bucky used to. He was my safe haven. Whether he was really Bucky or not. I knew brainwashed or not, Bucky would know not to come near me. It’s why when he saw me in the fight and choked me, he let me come with him. He knew. “I want to go back in the ice. Sure it’s fun out here… but sometimes it feels like everyone is waiting for me to screw up. To be bad. My missions give me too many nightmares…” he put a hand on my neck. “It’s going to be okay.” I gulped. “How do I know you’re my Bucky?” I didn’t want to die so it felt like a valid question. “You used to listen to Für Elise and Claire de lune while dancing with me. It’s how Steve found out we were together.” I hugged him tightly. He hugged me back and placed a little kiss on my forehead. “Come back to the compound. Please.”

This brings us to now. We walked into the common room and I saw Steve and Nat. “Look who I’ve found!” In walked the other avengers. “These are my roommates. It’s like living in a frat house but with my brother.” Bucky chuckled a little and Steve got up and hugged him. Hell could break loose right now but first I needed Bucky alone. “Can I show you my room?” I said as his metal fingers intertwined with mine. He nodded and we went in shutting the door on Steve locking him out making him walk into the door. “You better be changing your own sheets you little asshole!” I laughed “ITS YOUR WEEK TO DO LAUNDRY!” He groaned and I turned to Bucky.

Before I could say anything his lips hit mine. He wanted affection and this time when we kissed I could feel his lips. I could feel the butterflies rising and messing with me. It made me dizzy. I pushed him to my bed and straddled him grinding and feeling his boner build. Nowhere felt safer for us than when our bodies were intertwined. And after everything, we deserved to be normal for at least an hour. He let out a soft groan and ripped my suit “Tony’s gonna kill you for that.” He let out a soft “shut up.” Tearing it completely off. I saw the way his eyes lit up seeing me exposed the way I was. “Bucky stop staring and do something please.” He tossed me on my back into my bed and pulled off his clothes, stopping at his boxers. “You are still so beautiful, doll.” I blushed. Only Bucky could do that. Make me so needy and hungry just by calling me pretty.

I’m not one to call anyone this, but I am a slut for him and I’m proud of it. With his metal hand, he massaged my left breast and the rest of him shuffled down to my heat where he licked sending waves of pleasure through me. His tongue went everywhere, covered every last bit of my heat before he started to make his way in. He knew exactly where to kiss and lick. I moaned out loudly excitement spilling out, the knot tightening inside of me. I clutched onto his hair pulling him in more. He moaned and the vibrations sent shocks through my body. The knot tightened and his tongue moved faster causing my hips to move and twitch. Noticing, he held them down and kept going and I burst, my back arched, the icky white substance started to pour and he licked it up before it could even touch my bed. I went to sit up he pushed me back down. “I don’t think so doll. You stay right there.” He yanked off his boxers and didn’t give me a second to think before he was in me. It always dumbfounded me how big he was. He definitely grew though. I won’t take anything else as an answer.

“Oh my god...” He stopped and let me adjust before I nodded. He started slowly as though to avoid hurting me. I shook my head. It hurt far too much to keep going. “Wait stop!” Fear crossed his face as he stopped abruptly. Truth be told I refused to sleep with anyone else. Just Bucky. Since he left, the guilt ate at me for not catching him “Jesus Christ what steroids are you on.” He chuckled a little “I’m not on steroids.” I smiled a little and I nodded again. To help ease the pain he kissed my neck softly "It's okay. I'm home. I won't let go of you until you're begging me to leave." His words were soothing and helped ease not only the physical pain but also the mental pain I'd been gaining all this time. He picked up the pace and the pain faded slowly turning into pleasure. "Oh... Holy mother of-" His metal arm covered my mouth. "I hate when you say that." When he uncovered my mouth I said it anyways like the weirdo I was. "big dicks and sex." He let out an annoyed groan and I moaned out loud when he shifted slightly hitting my g-spot. I clenched the bedsheets and around his cock. "Oh, Bucky... don't stop..." He smirked and went harder, one hand moving holding both your wrists over your head, and using the other to rub your clit. He started slowly and gently. "That's right princess, call daddy's name again." I knew it pissed him off when I used James but I couldn't refrain myself and he knew that. Especially when he pushed harder on my little nub. "Oh Fuck... James!" The words poured out more and more making him get closer to his high. He twitched inside of me and held himself back letting me go first. I let out one more loud moan before cumming, he leaned down releasing my wrists and moving his hands to my waist and he kissed me. Once he was sure I'd come down from my high, he pulled out and released on my stomach and chest still kissing me softly.

He flopped next to me and kissed my cheek. "You're back," I whispered still taken aback by finding him at all. "I'm scared." He replied so lowly I nearly missed it, "Me too." I muttered. "Don't be. I'm back. And I'll protect you if it's the last thing I do." I put my head on his chest and threw an arm over his torso, intertwining our legs. "Bucky, can you hold me? Please?" His arm snaked around my torso holding me as tight as he could without crushing me. "I love you." He muttered sleepily. "I love you more," I said before falling asleep listening to his heart as a reminder that he was real. That night, my nightmares weren't as bad. I will never love anyone like Bucky and I love each other."

This was long-awaited and I had no clue how to write it so I am truly sorry if it's not what you thought it would be. Also, thinking of posting a couple of my Wattpad fanfictions here?

(@liesparadise @thelightinmyshadows )

[cowsaves]

WLB - Ch 5

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4

Essie May is branded and joins the herd, after the herd join her.

"You've got to be shitting me." Dr. McCarthy puts her head in her hands.

"I already know, Amelia–"

"No, no, you've got to actually be shitting me," she says, her eyes boring holes in the floor of Shaw's office. "You fucked her, not her handler, not the rig, but you, the owner of the whole fucking enchilada. You fucked the bitch we worked so hard to make, that we only worked so fucking hard on because we needed something to show for your hand as captain of the ship."

Shaw folds his arms over his chest. "I know it's not ideal, but–"

"Of course it's not fucking ideal!" Amelia snaps, her hair coming lose from the tight bun she wrangles to the top of her head every morning. "Of course it's not, because what do you think the board's going to say if they find out she's your personal fucktoy?"

"Well, like you said, if the board finds out–"

"And they will find out! You're insane if you think they won't. With an operation like this, that is so far beyond any real legal precedence at the moment, they check every fucking nook and cranny with every visit! We're going to have to start over. Oh my god. All our work for nothing. We have to fucking put EMT299 in with the herd, and find some other difficult girl off the street, and hope we figure out what keeps her from submitting within the next two weeks without your help thank you very much and—"

"Amelia. I get it," Shaw cuts her off. "It's not... great. But honestly, is it really the end? I don't think we have to throw Essie May to the wolves because she happened to, uh, like me."

Amelia's eyes go frazzled. "Like you?! Because of your so-called efforts, EMT299 imprinted on you! She'll never be sold! She'll stay here for the rest of her days! And why, might you ask? Since you clearly don't understand the implications? Because she now thinks of you as the one who is solely responsible for her happiness and her fucking existence! Sure, she'll fuck other girls, she'll even fuck customers if they request her! But at the end of the day, she's going to be asking for you until she's blue in the face, and if she doesn't get you, she'll either go into a catatonic depression, starve herself, or lose her goddamn marbles!"

"I know, okay? I know," Shaw attempts to placate her.

Amelia gives another reckless spin in his plush desk chair. "I don't think you know a goddamn thing!"

"Alright, if I may cut in here," Tommy interjects. He pries himself from Shaw's bookshelf, stacked with photos of Shaw and his father through the ages. "Honestly? I don't see a way she didn't go about imprinting on Jay."

"You don't?" Amelia huffs. "Well, then I guess it doesn't matter! I should've seen it coming, of course! How fucking stupid of me!"

Tommy throws up his hands. "If you want me out all you gotta do is ask, because I'm not interested in taking more of this."

"No, you're staying," Shaw says. He comes to Amelia's side and stops her with a firm grip on the back of his chair. "And you're taking a walk."

"Fine!" Amelia pushes her way past Shaw and Tommy. She stomps out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Amelia is heard yelling at her staff straight down the hall, and distantly as she turns the corner. When it's clear she's given them real space, Shaw finally takes a seat at his own desk.

"Honestly, Tommy, how screwed are we?" Shaw pours two glasses of scotch. They each down a drink before Tommy answers.

"It's not ideal, I'll tell you that much. But we might be able to spin it, somehow," he scoffs.

"How... how is she getting settled in?" Shaw pivots.

"Alright. Her stall's almost ready, and she'll be branded by this afternoon. You wanna be there?"

"No," Shaw quickly shakes his head. "I think she could use some distance."

"She's been sleeping for most of the last two days, so she's not afraid to get some rest without you around, at least," Tommy sighs.

"That's...good." Shaw fills their glasses once more and rests his head on his desk. "Maybe the board will all want their own, personally broken sex pet. Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, right?"

"Yeah, I'd like to see ol' Henriette Washington down and dirty."

Shaw chokes on his scotch. "What about our dear friend Albert Oppelbaum?"

Tommy coughs up his own sip. "Old bastard wouldn't know what was fucking him through all the cataracts."

Shaw guffaws, managing not to spill his drink.

"Glad this is so funny," Amelia says. Shaw and Tommy jump to find her returned, standing silently in the doorway. Her hair is out of place and sweat stains darken her armpits. "But I might have an actual solution."

Meanwhile, Essie May breaks from her pod for the last time. She's helped to the floor by two medical assistants, both unfamiliar faces. They tie a soft, silken lead to her neck and pull her down the hall, leading turn by turn to the branding room.

A sterile leather table waits patiently for its next appointment, hand and leg cuffs open and available. A tattoo needle and its equipment rests tableside, while the artist has their head bent over their laptop. One of the assistants coughs, and the artist finally glances up through thick, round glasses.

"Oh? Who do we have here?" They ask, their Minnesotan accent punctuating every word.

"EMT299," the other assistant answers. "Here's her forms."

"Thanks, that'll be all," the artist says, taking Essie's lead and dismissing the extra bodies. "Come back in about an hour."

"Hi dear," the artist pinches Essie's cheek and gives her a tickle under the chin. Essie blushes into it. "I'm Sal! And today, you're going to officially become part of the family! How nice!"

Sal tugs Essie gently towards the table, and removes Essie's shorts. Essie watches them go into the trash as Sal begins positioning her on the table. They lie Essie down face first, and strap her wrists and ankles into the holsters after tying Essie's lead to the pole jutting from the front wall. Essie's face fits through a hole at the top of the table, just wide enough for Sal to push a cookie into Essie's mouth.

"Now that'll make you feel a little silly while I do my work, but it won't last very long. Just to make it nice and easy!" Sal says. They prep Essie's skin while the cookie takes effect, shaving and sanitizing her.

"How we doin', dear?"

Essie can only giggle in response, and Sal knows the cookie's done its job.

They begin to tattoo, and Essie feels nothing but a light feather tickling across her asscheek. In reality, Sal tattoos Essie's initials and number up high, and a simple "SF" is circled beneath it. When they're all finished, Sal wraps the sensitive area in plastic, and releases Essie from her binds. They give the tattoo a once over, and clap their hands together with satisfaction.

"Yes, all done! The other girls are just gonna eat you up, darling," Sal says, giving Essie a smack on the other cheek.

Essie wobbles upright. "The... the other girls?"

"Oh, yes," Sal putters about as they clean their station, "so many other girls. I've branded 'em all, don't worry. You're part of a matching set!"

"So... so many?" Essie's stomach churns.

"Mhm," Sal hums. "So very many."

A knock sounds at the door and Tommy lets himself in.

"Good afternoon, Sal," he greets, "Lookin' as pleasant as ever."

Sal smacks his arm with their cleaning rag. "Oh, stop it, Tommy. You know those compliments go to my head."

Tommy chuckles and sidles up to Essie. "How'd she do?"

Sal tosses their rag from side to side. "Oh, wonderful, just like all the others. Those cookies are a real godsend. Don't know what I was doing before."

"Strugglin'?"

"Oh, you know it!"

Tommy laughs and helps Essie May to her feet. "Well, this one's off to get all cleaned up. I can trust your plastic is sealed tight against a shower?"

"Sure is, as always. You take care of that girl now, alright?" Sal says, giving Essie a kiss on the cheek as Tommy moves her towards the door.

"Like I always do," Tommy says, and tips his hat to Sal. He takes a woozy Essie May down the hall by her lead, around various twists and turns until they reach a large, communal bathroom. As Essie stumbles to a stop, he unties the lead and removes her paper shirt, throwing that in the trash as well. Tommy talks to Essie as if talking to himself. "Don't worry," he mumbles, "you'll get new clothes once you're in with the herd."

"The herd?" Essie asks, following Tommy as he moves towards a series of stalls with hose attachments where the showerheads belong. Essie finally notices he's wearing waders and galoshes.

"Yep, the herd. You'll love all the girls and they'll love you," Tommy promises. He grabs a small cart of soaps from a ledge far beyond Essie's height.

"Now, this might be a bit of a shock, but it should be warm," he warns. Tommy cranks the water up and aims the stream at Essie's feet. She squeals, but fortunately, Tommy's right and the water is warm. He slowly works the flow up inch by inch until all of her is dripping wet. Tommy hooks the hose to its clip in the wall where the spray casts over most of Essie's body, and he takes a handful of soap to her arms. Tommy works methodically, paying Essie no mind as she whines into his hands and pushes her chest against his palms. He only seems to acknowledge her as he cleans her nipples, giving the slightest smirk as Essie's head rolls back and her knees buckle, a low moan passing through her throat.

Once her upper body is done, he bends her over and dives into her pussy. Essie whines, moans, and is slick with her own fluid as Tommy scrubs her clean. "There's a good girl," he coos as she lets out the beginning of a moo. The longer he goes, the more sensitive Essie becomes, until she's lowered herself to all fours on the cold tile, panting.

"P-please, please," she whines. "I'm good, so good, I promise."

Tommy tsks. "Essie May, up tall."

Before she can realize she's following a command, Essie May is standing on her own two feet again, her head hanging politely as she waits for Tommy's next instruction.

"Good girl," he says, before regretting it. Essie May quivers in front of him, her eyelids fluttering as she presses her thighs together as tightly as she can.

Tommy sighs. "Well, the herd'll smell you plenty before they accept you as one of their own. Come on, girl." He wraps her in a wide, fuzzy pink towel, and dries her as best he can himself. On the way out of the large bathroom, he stops Essie May in front of an industrial strength fan and lets the warm air fluff her dry.

As they rejoin the elaborate hallway system, they bump straight into Shaw.

"On your way to the stalls?" Shaw asks. Essie perks up at the sound of his voice, and unknowingly gravitates toward Jason.

"Yup," Tommy agrees. "You wanna lead her?"

"No," Shaw says, "you're her handler. That's yours."

Tommy shrugs. "Suit yourself."

They walk for what feels like ages, the air smelling fresher the farther they go. Essie May wonders if she'll see the sun for the first time in a month, or touch grass that's not meant for her meal. They approach a set of barn doors, and Essie can hear the low murmur of voices on the other side. She glances to Tommy for reassurance.

Tommy takes her shoulder in one hand and pushes through the double doors with the other.

They step into rows of girls in their own stalls, each with their name and number painted on the gate door. The air inside is immediately warmer, and it flows through ventilation shafts dotted along the ceiling. The floor transitions to creaky wood, all dusted with loose strands of hay and girls' hair. Tommy walks Essie May down the aisle and she watches each girl with wide, questioning eyes. Several are in the middle of fucking themselves relentlessly against dildos bolted to the wooden wall, their mouths slick with drool and their bodies glossed in sweat. Others are curled up in mounds of cushioning hay, taking naps, while some are still eating bits of their lunch. More than anything, though, girls are being milked. Farmhands are stationed beside them, some tugging at their nipples and filling metal pails with their product. Most are flicking through reading material as pumps do their job, glancing up every now and then to make sure a girl hadn't fallen out of her mount and the machine is still moving.

Essie May eyes one of their mounts; it's much like the machine she experienced in training - a padded rest for her jaw and for her stomach, all to support her and keep her standing as spreader bars keep legs apart. Only now, a set of pumps are attached to each girl, and Essie can see slick juices wetting the insides of their thighs. She wants to be them. She has to be them. She will be them.

Jason and Tommy stop at a stall in the middle of the row. Essie May's name is painted across the stall door in thick, red letters. They push the door ajar to let Essie peak inside. It looks much the same as every other stall in the barn, yet there's a small golden star painted on one of the posts. Jason rolls his eyes.

"Because of me?" he asks.

Tommy raises an eyebrow. "Because of her. You work that hard on a cow for four weeks, you want everyone to know which one."

"Oh, of course," Jason says, scratching the back of his neck. He shuffles around Essie and looks at the girls that will become her neighbors. "How do you wanna do this?" he asks. "First five, then ten, and so on?"

Tommy ropes Essie's lead to the post of her stall. He looks closely at the girls surrounding them. "We boxed her in with our best behaved bunch, obviously. We've got RTJ292, WIP220, SBL105. These were some of our highest OSS scores and they've been here at least six months to a year. They're a fine place to start the introductions. You might want to take a seat up there though."

"Right, right," Shaw agrees. He takes himself back to the seats pressed against the far wall, chairs that were once lifeguard stations but have been repurposed. The more distance between Shaw and the rush, the better.

"Alright, ladies," Tommy addresses the girls in the nearby pens. Two who were sleeping begin to wake. They're sniffing the air, drawing as close to Essie as their stalls allow. Their eyes are dilated as if intoxicated by the scent, a scent Essie can't seem to find herself. She glances between their hungry faces and breaks a nervous sweat.

"Essie, this is Winnie right here," Tommy says, bumping the gate of the nearest pen. The girl inside boasts at least a triple-D cup, a small waist, and plump thighs. Her hair is a stringy, wavy blonde, and her green eyes are attached solely to Essie. "Winnie, say hello."

Winnie moans in her pen, a sound both aggressive and desperate.

Tommy moves to the pen straight across from Essie's. "And this is good ol' Sarah Beth."

Inside, a girl with Winnie's body shape but long, dark brown hair looks at Essie with the same desire. She huffs in her pen, pressing her body against the wooden frame and struggling with whether to reach over her stall or not.

"Shaw, we're starting off with two, to keep it small," Tommy yells. Shaw nods in response. "Gals, come meet your new friend."

Essie tries to back away as she watches Tommy unlatch Winnie and Sarah Beth's gates. They move toward her swiftly, their noses pressed against her skin before Essie can flee. She squeals, and gets about four feet from where she started before the lead tugs on her neck.

"Woah, woah, girl," Tommy slows. He forces his way between the three, and pushes Essie closer to her post. "Don't let yourself get choked out, c'mon, now."

With that, he backs away again, leaning against Sarah Beth's stall to supervise. Essie continues a panicked whine as Winnie's nose is pressed against her body and she takes deep, heavy inhales. As she monopolizes Essie's neck, Sarah Beth takes it upon herself to pry Essie's legs apart and get into the fresh scent of her cunt.

Winnie hums appreciatively as she licks up the side of Essie's neck, and her hands paw at Essie's chest. Essie lets out a hot gasp, and tries to pry Winnie from her body. She doesn't try for long, though, as Winnie moves her mouth to Essie's nipples instead. Essie melts and falls against her stall fence for support.

Sarah Beth takes the opportunity to lick through Essie's pussy, to force her way into Essie's folds and drive her tongue inside. Essie's breath comes fast and hard as the two work to get the full taste of her body. Essie slides down the wooden post to the ground, and Winnie and Sarah Beth follow her down.

Winnie comes away from her chest with a frustrated pout.

"No milk?" she asks, wiping the drool from her mouth.

Essie can barely register the question. She gasps, "W...what? Milk?"

"No milk yet," Winnie tells Sarah Beth. Sarah Beth pries herself free from Essie and her thighs, confused and grimacing.

"Let me taste," Sarah Beth says. They crawl over Essie's limp, drenched body, and take a turn at the other's position. Essie whimpers louder and louder as Winnie swirls her tongue around her clit, and Sarah Beth tugs at Essie's freshly scrubbed nipples.

As they work, Tommy lets three other girls free of their pens, all moving quickly to Essie in a blur. One presses her lips to Essie's frantically, drinking in every kiss. Another rubs Essie up and down, tickling Essie in all her most sensitive spots and leaving her twitching under their hands. The other simply kisses up all over Essie's body, tasting as much of her skin as she can around the other four girls. The cows work tirelessly to taste and touch and feel as much of Essie as they can, Essie ascending above any sensation she has ever known. Winnie leans forward and continues to tie her tongue around Essie's clit, but begins thrusting her fingers inside Essie simultaneously. Essie's mouth hangs open, too overwhelmed to make a sound, as her first orgasm ricochets through her body. Essie falls completely slack, but this does not deter the herd.

They move, constantly alternating with one another, until five other girls join them and they are pushed aside. Tommy guides the first five back into their pens as they are replaced by new members of the herd, new members who touch and test Essie May just as the others did. Essie cums again, and again, and again, as their hands and mouths continuously overstimulate her. Essie can barely breathe as she is brought to orgasm over and over. The next five are rotated out again, and another five come to taste her. The pattern continues for hours, an unknown amount of time to Essie as she sees nothing but the vents circulating in the ceiling and stars dancing in her vision on a continuous loop.

In hour six, they come to the last group of five. Essie struggles to breathe, to sit up, to feel. Her head is light and empty, all thoughts lost so many rotations ago. Tommy looks at the checklist on his clipboard. He names the final five cows, "...and HVA290, one of our newest gals, but our highest producer."

That cow is Harper. She looks at Essie's weak, nearly unconscious body with a cold eye. The others are quick to dive in frantically, stimulating Essie's body as drool leaks out the side of her mouth. Harper waits until she's cumming once again, Essie's body racked with convulsions, and Harper thrusts her fingers inside. Essie moans and lunges forward as much as her weakened body can, lightly throwing her hands forward, grappling for this new girl. Harper thrusts over and over, pumping quicker with each pass, and leans across her body to suck at Essie's chest. Essie's whine passes through her like thin air escaping a balloon, as Harper brings her to another mind-breaking orgasm more quickly than any before. Then, again. She palms Essie's clit until Essie is cumming against her hand for the third time. She looks down at Essie, her eyes rolling in her head and her body drenched in her fluids and the wetness of hundreds of other girls, and spits into her open mouth. Essie swallows in shock, and Harper spanks her across her cunt. Essie's yelp turns into a heady moan, dissolving beneath Harper's harsh hands.

Shaw and Tommy exchange a nervous eye, and as Essie nearly gasps for Harper to strike her one more time, Tommy drags Harper from Essie's body, and corrals her with the other four girls back into their stalls.

Shaw hoists Essie over his shoulder, grunting with the effort, and deposits her swiftly into the soft hay bedding at the back of her stall. Essie May is desperate to catch her own breath, yet her hands wander down to her cunt. She limply dips her finger in the outpouring of cum and wetness, struggling as if she's still trying to get herself off.

Shaw and Tommy share a chuckle.

"She's going to make quite the pet," Tommy says, elbowing Jason in the side.

"If we can keep up with her," Jason laughs.

They watch Essie May weakly attempt to touch herself for only moments more before she drifts into an exhausted, damp unconsciousness.

Tommy shakes his head. "I'd say the herd accepts her. Another step down."

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E2; Chapter Two, The Weirdo On Maple Street - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘠/𝘯, 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯.

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Lucas, Dustin and I take our seats once we get to class.

"Oh, that can't be good." I sigh, gesturing to Mike's empty seat.

"Yeah, he's never this late," Dustin added.

"I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed," Lucas stated.

"I thought you liked his plan?"

"Yeah, but obviously it's stupid, or he'd be here."

"If his mom found out a girl spent the night—" Dustin began.

"He's in deep shit right about now."

Dustin shifted in his seat, and leaned forward, whispering loud enough for us to hear. "Hey, what if she slept naked?"

"Ugh!" My face screws into a sour, disgusted look aimed at my brother, unintentionally speaking at the same time as Lucas. "Why would she do that, Dustin?"

"Oh, my God, she didn't."

"Oh, if Mrs. Wheeler tells our parents..."

The thought of Mom finding out was enough to elicit an anxious groan from me, and I let my forehead fall against desk where I buried my face.

"No way. Mike would never rat us out."

I hesitantly looked up, making eye contact with Lucas. He gave me a reassuring smile, knowing I worry easily.

"I don't know." Dustin said warily.

"All that matters is, after school, the freak will be back in the loony bin, and we can focus on what really matters, finding Will." I frown at his specific choice of words for El, thinking back on how scared she seemed last night. I desperately want to say something, but decided against it, not wanting to get in a fight. Fighting won't get us any closer to finding Will.

|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Mike Wheeler rides his bike down the small slope of grass towards his front yard. When El refused to let Mike's mom know she was there, Mike had no choice but to resort to plan b. He had led his mom to believe that he had ridden to school when in reality he had stopped around the corner until both his parents were gone.

When he got to the driveway, he dismounted his bike and led it into the garage, however something caught his eye. He stared in awe as the once withered and frankly the most miserable looking plant he had ever seen in his life, was now a beautiful lush green and stood as tall his knees. 'How had Y/n done it?'

It took a solid moment for Mike to gather his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. He parked his bike and made his way inside.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"You want anything to drink?" Mike decided to take advantage of the empty house so that he could show El around. "We have OJ, skim milk... What else? Um, we have..."

Mike trailed off when he saw that El was more fascinated with the things in his living room, mostly his TV set.

"Oh, this is my living room. It's mostly just for watching TV."

El lightly traced her fingers around the frame of the TV as she examined it.

"Nice, right? It's a 22-inch.

That's, like, ten times bigger than Dustin's."

El turned her head and said quietly.

"Y/n."

"Well, yeah of course. Y/n too."

"Y/n. Brother?" She asked, making sure she remembered correctly.

"Yeah!" Mike smiled, then lightly shrugged. "Well, technically adopted. But yeah, they're still brothers."

El's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Ad-adopted?"

"Yeah, um, it means that he came from different parents. Mrs. Henderson adopted him because his parents were unable to take care of him. It's funny actually, Y/n is from Hawkins. Or at least that's where they found him. They didn't used to live in Hawkins; I don't know much about it cause Dustin was so young he doesn't remember any of it, but I think him and his mom were visiting family here and they just... found him, I think? I'm pretty sure that's why they moved here, or something."

El seemed to understand as she thought about it. She then turned to look at the all the pictures on top of the fireplace. She slowly walks to the fireplace and steps up onto the brick platform. She gazes at all the family photos. Particularly, the photo beside the one of Mike; of a smiling girl, a little older than herself, with long brown hair and a pink sweater.

She smiles longingly and speaks in a soft voice. "Pretty."

"I guess." Mike's face is contorted in confusion and a little in disgust.

"That's my sister Nancy. And that's baby Holly." He said as she moved to the slightly larger photo of a young baby. She then moved along to a photo with Mike, Nancy, and Holly, along with two other people she didn't recognize.

"And those are my parents. What are your parents like?" As usual, El says nothing and she steps down from the fireplace and walks up to a large green chair.

"Do they live close?" Mike continued. He notices El run her hand along the top of the plush green chair. "That's our La-Z-Boy. It's where my dad sleeps. You can try it if you want." He offers. El looked up at him, intrigued. "Yeah." He assured her, with a warm smile on his face. She cautiously sits down as Mike kneels down beside the chair. "It's fun!"

She looked to Mike, wondering what he is up to.

"Just trust me, okay?" She gives a quick nod, and braces herself, not knowing what to expect. She is taken aback by the sudden collapse of the chair, she is now laying down and the chair is rocking back and forth. She lets out a gasp, and then a nervous chuckle.

"See? Fun, right?"

With one hand on the back of the chair, and the other on the front, he brings the chair back into its default position. "Now you try."

With a small smile on her face, and feeling more confident she leans over the side and pulls the handle, letting her entire body go flying backward into a slow rock. Mike and El both look at each other and laugh gleefully.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Some random rock song on the radio that Jonathan barely recognized came to an end as Jonathan Byers drove to his dad's house. His eyes darted to the radio unit in his car for a moment as his heart fell when the familiar sound of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" rang throughout the car.

- 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

"Darlin', you got to let me know"

Jonathan is sat on the edge of the bed next to his younger brother Will. The two of them are in Will's room, bobbing their heads along to 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' by The Clash.

"Should I stay or should I go?"

"You like it?" Jonathan had to raise his voice so he could be heard over the loud song. Will looks to his older brother and grins.

"Yeah, it's cool!"

"All right, you can keep the mix if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. All the best stuff's on there. Joy Division, Bowie, Television, The Smith's... It'll totally change your life."

"Yeah, totally," Will says with a smile. However, the smile is quick to leave when the two boys hear their mother yelling on the phone.

"Where the hell are you, Lonnie?"

Will slowly turns his head to the door, listening to his mother yell at his absent father.

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it." Jonathan mimics his brother's actions and looks to the door. Finally, he gets up and walks towards the door.

"This is ridiculous! I'm so sick of your excuses.

"One day is fine and next is black"

Before Jonathan sits down, he lowers the volume on the stereo.

"He's not coming, is he?"

"Do you even like baseball?" Jonathan asks softly.

"No, but... I don't know." He shrugs sadly. "It's fun to go with him sometimes."

"Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something?"

Will shrugs his shoulders weakly. "I don't know."

"No, all right? He hasn't. He's trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay?"

Will only looks down at his feet sadly.

"Especially not him."

Will silently nods his head in understanding.

Jonathan decided to change the subject.

"But you like The Clash? For real?"

Will nods his head eagerly with a smile. "For real. Definitely."

"So... is Y/n a fan of The Clash?" Jonathan asks, genuinely curious.

A faint blush dusts Will's cheeks as he looks down at his hands. "Um, yeah, I think so."

"Maybe you should show this to him. I bet he'll like it."

"Maybe. You think?"

"Yeah, from what I know, he has great taste. He's pretty cool."

A loving smile spreads across Will's face. "Yeah, he is pretty cool."

There's a small pause filled only with the now dulled melody of drums and guitar drifting through the air. They had talked about it before, but only vaguely, never fully addressing it and it dawned on Jonathan that there was probably still loads of fear for Will because of it. He looks down at his brother who he loved more than anything and sent him an encouraging, honest smile.

"Will, you guys are best friends. You two are just too close to ruin the friendship. Why don't you think about asking him to the arcade or something? Just the two of you, maybe come back here for some mac and cheese or something if that'd make you feel safer, and you could " he shrugs. "let him know how you feel?"

Will looked up at his brother, shocked. But his body was flushed with relief, he could feel the air in the room hitting his sweaty and clammey skin giving him chills. Not quite knowing how to handle his brothers reaction, his eyes simply fall to his hands where they fidgeting in his lap.

"But what if that does ruin the friendship? What if he doesn't feel the same way, and decides to stop hanging out with me. Or if someone finds out- I just- I just can't. I'm not ready."

"That's okay. All I'm saying is, he is way too nice to be the kind of person who would do that. And you are way too important to him. And hey, if you ever do feel ready, or you guys do go out in the future..." Jonathan trails off, sensing the awkwardness creep up. He chuckles and looks back to his brother.

"All I'm trying to say is, I'm here for you. Always."

Will smiles gratefully and Jonathan leans forward to the volume back up.

"Should I stay or should I go? So you gotta let me know, should I stay or should I go?"

- 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

[lightrises]

"Only in allowing her to pass..." — Hornet, The Radiance, and the means by which Hallownest turned its victims against each other

A quick note: I read Hollow Knight as an anti-colonialist text. As such I'll be touching on topics related to colonialism as it's depicted in the world of the game, and said analysis will reflect both a sympathetic take on The Radiance and a critique of The Pale King that won't pull its punches. If this sounds up your alley, hello and thank you for the read! Let us be sad about these bugs together.

———

So!! A while back I realized something about pre-canon that felt rather... "curious" is one way to put it, I think. To wit: for all the effort and scheming and determination The Pale King poured into trying to get rid of The Radiance, neither of his plans involved directly killing her.

Was that his long game? Well, sure, that seems clear enough. His tack changed from luring the moths away from their god and creator to a more literal form of incarceration once the infection became a factor, but at its core the end goal never really changed—The Pale King very sincerely wished to destroy Radiance via obsolescence. The Seer lends us foreshadowing to confirm as much:

[Image descriptions: Two screenshots from Hollow Knight, showing the Seer and Ghost in the Seer's alcove at the Resting Grounds. Across both screenshots, the Seer tells Ghost the following: "None of us can live forever, and so we ask those who survive to remember us. Hold something in your mind and it lives on with you, but forget it and you seal it away forever. That is the only death that matters." End description.]

(Which, by the way and given the context, talk about an extremely unsubtle allusion to cultural genocide huh!!! Whew.)

In any case, we're left with a whole bunch of machinations which build up to... well, two very roundabout attempts at committing deicide. That's kind of weird, all things considered! Why not just do the deed in one fell swoop and get it over with?

This could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the king was devoid of the means to instantly kill another higher being. Maybe his personal sense of scruples stopped him short of signing off on MURDER murder (although, y'know, the aforementioned genocide + eternal imprisonment = still cool and copasectic apparently!). Maybe the long drawn-out cruelty was the point. Maybe the idea of playing fuckign 4D chess with the circumstances was too delicious for him to pass up—that man did love to tinker and stick his claws where they sure as hell didn't belong—or maybe it was a little bit of All The Things. Who knows!!

But interrogating The Pale King's methodology on this count isn't what I'm here for, at least not really. The main reason I raise this question at all is that in her own way, Hornet did too.

"I'd urge you to take that harder path... "

See, going by The Pale King's actions and what The White Lady explicitly says, they both foresaw two outcomes wrt the infection: it can be allowed to spread, or it can be contained. At Teacher's Archives, Quirrel acknowledges the fact that Ghost is expected to do... something about this, but he doesn't elaborate on what HE thinks that's supposed to be apart from the obvious "Gotta bust into Black Egg Temple first". Hornet is the one person who presents to us—to Ghost—what's framed as a third option: confront and destroy the infection at its source.

And she doesn't bring it up like it's just another tactic for Ghost to consider, prim and indifferent to what they would do. She nudges them towards it, actively, up to the point where she throws herself into the fray against Hollow at a juncture that's uniquely dangerous to her and her alone just to make that option feasible.

Even when she's couching it in disclaimers that this is still Ghost's decision to make (and let's be fair, she's extremely not wrong about that lol), no one can pretend Hornet is unbiased. It's obvious in that buttoned-down Hornet kind of way that she is way the hell done with the increasingly tenuous stalemate that's kept Hallownest's desiccated corpse from collapsing in on itself. Personally it's hard for me not to read some Toriel Undertale-esque "My father was too entrenched in his own foolishness to pursue any course of action that would have DEFINITIVELY ended this" shade into her stance here, regardless of whether that's strictly true in canon.

And that bit—Hornet's hopes for an end to Hallownest's stasis, moreover her grim calculation of what needs to be done to get there—that's the bit I find super interesting but likewise tragic and depressing as shit, on multiple levels. In no small part because a) canon itself gestures towards Hornet feeling conflicted about the very plan she's pushing, and moreover b) she has at least two (2) damn good reasons to feel that way.

So, what do I mean by that? Let's look here first:

[Image description: A screenshot from Hollow Knight, of Hornet and Ghost inside the Temple of the Black Egg, standing in front of the unsealed egg itself. Hornet has been struck by the Dream Nail and her dialogue is displayed as follows: "... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?" End description.]

As the curtain is about to drop on things one way or another, Hornet thinks,

... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?

Now, looking at that last bit it's easy to go "Oh no, Hornet's worried that Ghost won't survive killing The Radiance!" And I do think that's part of it: Hornet is, categorically, not her father. By endgame it's clear she's not content to view her Void-borne siblings as tools to be used then disposed of. She's also well aware that as a healthy autonomous Vessel amongst the countless dead, Ghost is the only person left alive who has a fighting chance against The Radiance. Knowing someone is the only qualified candidate for the job doesn't make encouraging them to embrace a probable death sentence any less of a bitter pill to swallow, though. And odds are on that this sentiment extends to Hollow too, who IS going to die no matter what happens here. To put it bluntly, it's more than reasonable to conclude that Hornet hates the absolute fuck out of this.

But I don't think that's all there is to it either. Remember what I said earlier about The Pale King's bids for genocide? Well, it's not like the man deigned to limit his efforts to just the moth tribe.

"We do not choose our mothers... "

On top of everything else—an infected Hallownest being all she's ever known, the fact that she only exists because of the infection, the list goes on—Hornet has spent her life wedged into a position that's been uncomfortable and terminally unglamorous at best: she is both a daughter of her father's kingdom and of Deepnest.

Deepnest, which like the moths and many others was here long before the wyrm and his lady wife swanned onto the scene and the God Become Bug laid claim to everything the Light touched plus a considerable amount of change. THAT Deepnest, which has fought claw and thread to retain its sovereignty against same-said settler king, and for which Herrah not only surrendered her life but also agreed to bed her worst enemy, all in hopes of securing a viable future for her people (put a pin in that last part by the way, I'll come back to it soon).

Two Worlds, One Family (Ft. An Indigenous Woman Trying Her Damndest To Work With What She's Got Versus An Imperialist Who Only Signed Up For This Because He Needed The Political Favor THAT Badly, So It's The Height Of Dysfunctional Actually). Fun times!!!!

The baggage this entails for Hornet is gnarly enough without implications made by The White Lady and the pre-canon timeline of events and even Team Cherry's dev notes that the king may well have looked at baby Hornet, gone "YOINK", then ensured she spent the lion's share of her childhood reared within the pearly auspices of his Pale Court*. That would be rather advantageous for Him Specifically after all, the potential to mold a born foe into a future ally and even have her trained in combat under the same tutelage as her doomed sibling. And far be it from him to stop a grown Hornet—his own flesh and blood too!—from making Deepnest her forever home if she so pleased. He totally wouldn't be reneging on his "fair bargain made" by doing this one simple thing until Hornet came of age, not t e c h nic c a l l y.

If that is indeed the case, there's a non-zero chance Hornet's formative years were a hot mess of cultural alienation and being a good deal more privy than most to just how much of a bastard her father could be. There's an equally non-zero chance that at some point she stood or sat within earshot as The Pale King finally, finally dropped all pretense and euphemism to name the Light for precisely what (for who) it was.

See, in conjunction with the question that started this whole dang train of thought I've been asking this one too: Does Hornet know? When she speaks of confronting "the heart of [the] infection" does she know she's talking about not just a literal person but someone very specific? The Radiance, who god though she may be shares skin in the game alongside Hornet as a native woman screwed over by the same settler king, likewise deprived of her kin and saddled with a life gone horrendously pear-shaped?

I'll assume for the sake of exploring the possibility and because I think it's a likely one anyway that yes, Hornet does know. She knows, and despite everything can't help empathizing. She might even look at Radiance and see bits and pieces both reflected and slightly inversed in her own mother: Radiance was forced to the sidelines while her people—her children, the brood she was meant to lead and care for—died out under The Pale King's rule, and it's no stretch to assume she's at least as upset about that as she has been about everything else; Herrah too took drastic measures for her people's sake, trying to head off annihilation by relegating herself to the sidelines in an act that was as much calculated risk as an attempt to find wiggle room and leverage in the face of a nasty proposition.

A calculated risk that, if things continue as they are, might well amount to nothing as the rest of Deepnest gets eaten alive by the infection. It survived The Pale King's advances for so so long, only to fall here. Herrah's sacrifice would be for naught; the other tribes—themselves the king's victims—would keep succumbing to the infection too.

And this is where things fall apart.

"... or the circumstance into which we are born."

Let's be clear: I think Hornet is wise enough to know what's what here, that all the carnage and suffering falls on her father's head for starting this slow-motion trainwreck in the first place. Hallownest wasn't always Hallownest. This domain was Radiance's home first, along with many others. It was the worm-turned-king who rolled up on the scene unsolicited and decided this was a ""'problem""" that had to be """solved""".

But the fact of the matter is that he's gone and The Radiance is here, raging, seemingly inconsolable. Above and beyond being Deepnest's rightful heir, Hornet isn't in a position to countenance more splash damage even if the grief and fury fueling it makes perfect sense. She can understand without ever bringing herself to love Radiance, and she can bend her knee to practicality even if she hates the everloving shit out of it because the fact that it "has" to end this way isn't fair.

This lends itself to one last awful conclusion: that Hornet has probably considered and (rightly or wrongly) discarded the possibility that Radiance can be saved, at least not without dragging more collateral along for the ride. If even her mother and every other enemy to the king seemed to dismiss talking Radiance down as an option way back when... well. Why should Hornet hope for any better after things have escalated so far?

Again, it's practical. A practical net good is what Hornet strives for. And again, it fucking sucks.

For extra tragedy points, this makes Hornet's extended crypticness around Ghost followed by her last minute casting about for a reason to tell them "Wait, don't; not just yet" that she never voices even more of a gut punch. She can't bring herself to burden Ghost with the context that haunts her so, least of all when it might weaken their resolve to go through with what (she thinks) needs doing.

It's the "same song, different verse" which led to the mantis tribe and Deepnest being pitted against each other: Hallownest rigged the game so that two women who could have been powerful allies—who have a mutual vested interest in driving out settler rule—wound up poised as enemies instead. And how awful is that? The king for all his being extremely fucking dead still gets the last laugh, because outside of a miracle the game never manifests Hornet can salvage what her mother started and look forward to a future where Deepnest pulls itself back from the brink if and only if The Radiance dies.

Resolution comes at the price of a completed genocide. Add two more dead siblings to the unconscionable pile thereof, while we're at it. That's what it boils down to whether or not Hornet can bear to articulate it as such, and there's no grace or even a properly bittersweet ending to wring from this clusterfuck. And that is rough.

———

* This has been better explained elsewhere, but a quick rundown: The White Lady tells Ghost that Hornet and Herrah "were permitted little time together." On its surface this can be taken to mean that Hornet was still very young when Herrah was shipped off to Eternal Dreamland—except this doesn't jive with the fact that we meet Hornet as an adult. If the stasis kicked in once the Dreamers went to their rest, which in turn halted the aging process for every living bug in Hallownest, AND before all this Hornet experienced little by the way of quality time with her birth mother... I think you can see where I'm going with this.

To top it off we've got Team Cherry weighing in ominously from their dev notes on Herrah: "As part of the agreement for her alliance and her role as a dreamer, King gave her a child (Hornet). Was she allowed to keep this child or was she taken away?" This isn't confirmation by itself of course, but given additional canon details (see above): Can I get a "yikes" in the chat fellas.

[wendystales]

Memories - lrh (Chapter Fifteen)

Memories (also on Wattpad)

Chapter Fourteen ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Chapter Sixteen

Marnie pov.

I walk into the record company, finding a very young guy at the front desk, probably the intern. Encumbered with phone calls and notes, I wait for him to finish everything before speaking. His lost eyes soon find me and he smiles sympathetically.

“Hi Marnie, Luke is in studio three.” he whispers quickly, getting back on the phone.

I smile in thanks, heading down the hallway he's pointed out. I didn't think it would be so easy. The noise coming from behind the door to studio three startles me. The boys are laughing and screaming so loud, it amazes me that no one came to complain.

I knock on the door twice, hard, to try to get their attention over that area. A guy in a cap opens the door, revealing a room with at least eight people inside.

Luke is the first to jump out of his chair, coming over to me, grinning hugely, pulling me into the room. Ash gets up too, following close behind.

“Sorry for interrupting, but I needed to talk to you.” I look at Luke, who agrees. I pull him out of the room as I hear Irwin complain.

"A disregard for my friendship. Before, she used to come here to see me, not to see you, you empty-headed bunch.”

"She never came to see you." Hood opposes.

I ignore the pre school fight, focusing on the tall blonde in front of me. I lean against the wall, letting him get closer.

Luke had spent Friday night with me, taking care of me. We also spent Saturday morning together, just existing on the couch. That was definitely a very good point for both of us and it really strengthened our relationship. It also didn't make him leave my thoughts, earning him the title of the cutest guy I know.

Never would Stephen do that to me, even because when I was bad he didn't even come close, not wanting to “catch my bad energy”.

“You forgot that at home.” I give his coat, trying to hide it was against my will deliver it so easily.

I saw the coat the second Hemmo left the house, but when the perfume enveloped me, I decided for my own good, to just keep it for a little while, spending day and night in it. Luke stares at me with a raised eyebrow before taking the coat from my hands, smiling.

“Funny, I really missed it, but yesterday, I saw it in your stories, so I didn't worry anymore.” I roll my eyes, feeling my cheeks heat up. "Let me enjoy that you still don't hate me today."

“Too late.” I interrupt him, biting my lip.

"I wonder if I can pick you up, so we can go to the Troubadour together."

The boys are playing there today, for the Friends of Friends event, and I was particularly excited, it would be the first time I would see them play live. “First time”.

I wrinkle my forehead and look around, pretending I was thinking about it. Luke looks at me in disbelief, holding back his laughter. I pout, shaking my head.

"I think you can! Yes, you can. I allow.” I press my lips together, wanting not to laugh.

“Oh God, you.” he shakes his head, looking away. I let out my laugh. "Can I pick you up at 7pm? I need to be at the Troubadour at least an hour before the show.”

“Of course! No problems. Go! Now I need to talk to Ash.” I push him back to the door.

“It's about my birthday, isn't it?” he opens an excited smile.

I dissolve my expression, wanting to hit him. Damn it, he knows. I feel the surprise party going straight down the drain, but I don't want to give in to it.

“No! The world doesn't revolve around you, Hemmings.” I cross my arm, teasing him.

“It's about my birthday! Alright, I'm going to pretend I don't know anything.” he takes two leaps into place happily.

“My God, I hate you.” I hide my face, sighing. I can't believe he screwed up his own surprise party.

“Hey.” I hear his voice close. I take my hands away from my face, finding his very close. His lips steal a kiss from me, quickly.

“Go away!” I pick up my bag, hitting him.

Luke walks into the studio laughing, yelling at Ash that I've been waiting. I walk around the hallway, wanting to wipe the stupid smile off my face. I hide my face again, returning to the scene that just happened about 50 times, at least.

“Say it!” Ash approaches.

“I hate him!” I point to the studio, taking a deep breath.

“Of course you do! And the sky is green. I can see how much you hate him, by that silly smile on your face.” Irwin raises an eyebrow.

"Don't make me use my purse against you too." I scare away the latest happenings, focusing on what mattered. "Do you have the ring?" he hands me a silver ring set with a black stone.

“Quickly, because he's already noticed he's gone.” I nod, still analyzing the jewelry.

"I'm going right now and tonight I'll return you at the Troubadour." I keep the piece in my bag. "All set for Friday?" he nodded. "You know he knows, don't you? How did he find out?”

“Behind that stupid face, he's smart sometimes.” I roll my eyes at my friend, laughing. “Seriously, if you pay attention, sometimes it feels like there's an elevator song playing in his head. Especially when he's standing staring at something.” I laugh when Ash decides to imitate Luke, staring blankly at the wall.

“You guys are terrible. Well, I'll be on my way, see you later.” I give a kiss on his cheek.

Thursday is Luke's birthday and I, more than anyone, want it to be a perfect day. Also, I want to give him a nice present that somehow doesn't involve my body, as I apparently did before.

Searching the internet, I found a store in east LA that sold some jewelry that I thought would be to his taste. I was going after a box with five rings and three necklaces, which looked like they were made for Luke.

If I could, I would advance the time, just to give the gift soon. I just want to see his face and hope he likes it the way I think it will.

I walk past reception, waving goodbye to the poor receptionist who still seemed tangled up with the phones. Interns.

"Marnie?" I turn around when I hear my name. The man in the dress shirt, who had just passed me, approaches smiling.

“Yes?” I look at him confused.

“Of course, you don't remember. Sorry! I'm John, 5sos’ tour manager. How are you?”

“Oh! I'm great, thanks.” I soften my posture. Being Luke's girlfriend, I must have seen John a thousand times.

"It was quite a scare. I'm relieved you're okay.” I smile gratefully at the concern. "Would you have a minute for us to talk?"

Luke pov.

I lean against the car, waiting for Marnie to get out. I take a deep breath, trying not to let the anxiety get the better of me. We've practically spent the weekend together, we're getting closer, she's letting her guard down with every second we spend together, letting me fight to win her back, and yet here I am, shaking like a stick, as if it was the first time we went out together.

"Pathetic!" I say to myself, not accepting being like this.

We dated for two years, it's not like she was a stranger. I know her better than she does. I already know everything she likes, how she's going to react to every move I make and even then, I'm terrified of doing something wrong.

When I realized I was falling in love again with every detail of her, I didn't think that insecurity would come back with it. In fact, I thought it would be better than the first time, that I would be more confident and secure. But it’s Marnie I'm talking about, she eliminates any security and logic in me.

I twirl the little ring through my fingers, noticing how cold and sweaty my hand was. Yes, that human being not five feet tall, can mess with me.

I hear the door unlock, prompting me to put the ring away quickly. Marnie steps in front of me, walking around with open arms. I give her the dumbest smile.

“So? Am I OK?” she stretches out her Friends of Friends hoddie proudly.

"You look spectacular." I sigh, feeling my heart race.

"Not really, it was a little old thing that was in the back of my closet." she laughs, sounding like her mother last week. I blink a few times, trying to disguise the stupid face I must be making.

“You really look fantastic.” I say before holding her body against mine. I sink my nose into her neck, taking in all of her scent, letting into my bloodstream, fueling the butterflies in my stomach, along with the touch of her skin against mine, even with the clothes between us.

I ease my grip, releasing her, but her body remains pinned to mine and she pulls me back, squeezing me tighter. The action takes me by surprise. Not that I didn't want to hold her, I could live the rest of my life here, in her arms. But that indicated something was wrong.

“Is it everything OK?” I whisper, overcome with worry. Marnie just nods, affirming, or rather lying to me. She's not fine.

Her body pulls away and I see a sad glint in her eyes. My body tenses, seeing that fake smile take her lips, unlike the one she gave just minutes ago. My face hardens, realizing she was acting.

“Marnie…” I start my speech to say that she could tell me anything, but she interrupts me.

“We're late, we need to go. Let's go!” she dodges around me, heading for the car door.

I sigh, seeing that I won't be able to get anything out of her today. As far as I know, she doesn't want to spoil the night and will hold it off until the end. I hate when she does that. Keep everything to herself, without the slightest need, we can share the problem and even the pain, that's what a couple does, they support each other.

We left the building, taking the expressway to get there faster. Marnie babbles about her excitement to see the band play live. Normally, I love to hear and see her talk too much. Seeing her eyes flashing rapidly, her tongue getting tangled up in some difficult word, or seeing her start to laugh before she can get the funny part out. Her clumsy hands, moving quickly until she managed to drop something.

But now, I can only move my head automatically, still with my mind on her bad performance from before. Until this morning everything was fine, she was excited and happy. Until minutes ago she was happy. But now it's just a facade covering something I can't quite make out what it is.

She didn't argue with Leah, because the gossip didn't get through to me, and I'm sure Noah would have let me know by now, so we can set the process for the two of them to make up. I didn't see anything on the internet that could have messed with her. Unless something happened during the photo shoot.

"Luke?" I look quickly at her, who was looking at me amused. “Are you OK?” now she was the one asking.

“Yeah! Sorry, I daydreamed a bit. Thinking about everything I need to do getting there. What did you say?” I try to push my worry away, focusing solely on her, which is what I cared about.

"I asked if you're going to play my song?" my cheeks heat up. She knows?

"What song?" I question carefully.

“The one made for me, Amnesia.” I stop at the light, staring at her mischievous smile. This one is not fake.

"You didn't make that joke." I say disappointed. Marnie laughs beside me. “I refuse to accept that you made such a horrible joke. Marnie, you were not like that.” I shake my head.

“It was good, you can't deny it.” she pulls my hand into her lap. I freeze from the movement, feeling my skin tingle.

“It was terrible and it insults me somehow. I taught you wonderful jokes.” her fake, forced laugh catches my attention as I accelerate.

"I hear your jokes are horrible." I look quickly at her, who's sitting sideways, her head leaning back against the bench. Shit, she is so beautiful.

“This is a huge lie.” her laugh fills the car again.

The mood gets better the rest of the way. I still have my mind hammering at that moment, but I leave it for later, as she probably would. We entered through the back of the Troubadour, meeting everyone in the hallway and dressing room.

I hold her hand, pulling her close to me as we walk into the crowd. As I expected, M&Ms become the center of everything, everyone wants to say hello to her and see if she really was okay. I leave her for a few seconds in everyone's company, pulling Ashton and Leah aside.

"Do you guys know if something happened to Marnie?" They deny it. "Didn't you discuss?"

“No! In fact, I'm missing it.” Leah turns her face away, watching M&Ms laugh among the crowd. “What there was?” she looks at me again. I resume the scene for the two of them.

“She was fine when she left the record company.” Ash reinforces my thinking.

"I didn't know anything about today's photo shoot." Leah adds. "You don't think Stephen might have shown up again, do you? Or even that bitch? Bethany?” I shake my head.

Stephen had to be really, really dumb to show up to Marnie after she said she knew everything. And Bethany never tried to talk to her after what happened, I doubt she would try now.

“I'm sure she doesn't want to say anything yet so as not to spoil the night, we know how she is.” Leah rolls her eyes, she also hates such an attitude. “But later on, she might tell what happened and right away it will be with one of the three of us.”

"If she says anything later, I'll talk to you." Hastings warns.

I thank the brunette, who quickly rejoins Marnie. I watch her extend her still-in-a-cast arm for them to sign in the few empty spaces.

I quickly prepare for the show so I can stay with her for a few more seconds before taking the stage. I position myself behind her, who was sitting on the arm of the sofa, letting her body lean against mine. I watch for her hand moving up to her shoulder, placing it under mine. I drop a kiss to her pink hair, watching her lean her head back further, looking up at me with a beautiful smile.

Shit, I'm so in love with her.

Minutes after a lot of mess, we got ready for the stage. Marnie comes to me before running to their place. I adjust the guitar, opening my arms to her, who comes bouncing.

"How much have you had to drink?" I ask, laughing, looking at her rosy cheeks.

“Just a little.” It hangs around my neck. “I promise not to pick a fight with anyone." she laughs.

“Thanks! I feel more relaxed.”

“Good show!” she wish me, stealing a kiss like I did earlier.

Marnie escapes my arms like sand, running to the door and running away hand in hand with Leah. I rub my face hard, not accepting how she can move me so much.

I approach the guys, doing our circle like every time we go on stage.

The lights blind me for a few seconds and soon I can see that sea of ​​people ecstatic to see us there. Ashton takes the lead, thanking everyone in advance for their presence and explaining why we're there.

I position myself at the microphone, ready to start singing Youngblood. Before I give the cue, I look upstairs, seeing her cotton candy hair watching me with a mixture of admiration and sadness. I blink at her, who smiles lightly and without strength. I play the chord, trying to focus my attention on the show and the new song I'm going to sing for her next, but all that goes around my head is: What's going on, Marnie?

OMG! Luke's new music video, am I right?

[joshua-flipping-washington]

EllieDina Week - Day 7: Infinite.

Oh man, I can't believe that- Well, yesterday was technically the last day! But I still can't believe that the week is over. I had such a blast, getting to write something for an entire week. One thing for each day, it really brought back my motivation. And- It showed me how creative and talented the community truly is! I was introduced to so many phenomenal new artists and writers because of this event.

Rating: Teens and up.

°○•●

Ellie was stood up at the front of the church in Jackson, she grimaced at the feeling of her palms sweating and she wiped them off on her pants. She had no clue why she was so nervous, perhaps it was because she wasn't religious and she was going to marry Dina in a church? That couldn't be the reason, that would be dumb. She'd be over the moon even if their wedding was held in a dumpster, as long as she got to marry the woman she loved, it didn't matter at all.

They had been unable to find Ellie a SUITable tux for the wedding, so she was wearing her best looking flannel and a pair of brand new jeans. Ellie hadn't had the chance to see Dina yet, apparently it was some kind of rule before Outbreak Day. And for some reason, everyone in Jackson was insistent on her following that to a T. Ellie had grumbled under her breath, not to pleased about having not seen Dina in over sixteen hours.

JJ had popped by when Ellie was getting dressed, she had smiled upon seeing his arrival. " Hey, Spud! What have you been up to? " She said as she scooped him up and spun him around. He giggled and squealed in excitement, though he was happy when he was set down. Ellie reached out and grabbed his shoulder to steady him. He grinned and happily shared with her what he had been doing, and where he had been. " I was visiting Mama! Aunt Maria says you aren't allowed to know how she looks. "

JJ seemed very puzzled by the entire thing, but he had excitedly spent time with Ellie until he was called out to get ready for the wedding reception, he was going to be their ring bearer. And he had been taking the job very seriously, practicing all the time leading up to the date of the wedding.

Ellie tugged at the collar of her shirt, man was it surprisingly hot for the time of year it was. She turned her attention to the center isle, watching as some of the kids excitedly rushed up, tossing flower petals as they went. Stopping to stand on their respective sides.

The kids of the town had been so excited about the news of Ellie and Dina getting married, so of course Dina and that big heart of hers couldn't say no to the children asking if they could toss the flowers. God, Ellie loved her with every fiber of her being.

Ellie's heart rate accelerated as everyone in the church pews began to stand up, her green eyes grow wide in awe and her jaw nearly drops, her throat feels raw with emotions as she takes in the sight of Dina, who is smiling brightly like the goddess that she is- Walks down the aisle, being lead by Jesse's father.

She's wearing a burgundy colored dress, with black and gold accents. Ellie had never even thought about that color combination looking so good, but seeing Dina in it convinced her. Dina was absolutely stunning, that sparkle in her brown eyes as she stops in front of Ellie says it all. " Hey. " Dina says softly.

Ellie cleared her throat and smiled at Dina. " Hey, I missed you, babe. You look- Fuck me, you look absolutely stunning. " Dina was the only one who could pull words like that out of Ellie's mind.

Dina smirked in amusement and teasingly winked at Ellie, finding absolute joy in the way her face grew flushed. " Oh, in a rush are we? We still have to get married, goober. But let's save that talk for later. "

They both grew quiet at the sound of their sons little feet, tearing up the isle with a string of giggles. The rings bouncing wildly as he comes to a halt in front of them. " Mama! Mom! I got the rings! " He announced in a delighted tone, earning a few chuckles from the congregation.

Dina laughs softly and smiles down at him. " Good job, bud! You are such a smart little guy. " She ruffled his hair, watching as he goes and stands where he was told, still beaming with pride.

The wedding commences right on time, the pastor going through the motions of what had been discussed with him. There is a mixture of Jewish traditions, like the breaking of a glass. And some things that were apparently common in a wedding back when people still had them.

Ellie crouches down slightly, taking the rings carefully from the pillow JJ was holding. She smiles as she hands Dina hers, her mind is racing and her heart is hammering heavily.

They both slip the rings on one another's finger when they were given the go-ahead, they didn't exchange any vows. Not in front of people, they didn't need to prove that they loved and cared about each other in front of everyone else. All that they had been through signified that, how far they had come.

" I now pronounce you, wife- And, uhh wife. You may now kiss the bride. " The pastor said, clearly not ever having married two women before.

Ellie chuckles softly, gently cupping Dina's cheek with her hand. She leans forward slightly, her breath tickling Dina's nose as she whispered. " Don't mind if I do. " She pressed her lips to Dina's, sharing a passionate kiss with her wife. Ellie wrapped her arms around Dina and dipped her, unable to hold back the laugh that escaped her mouth at JJ's enthusiastic clapping, his claps actually covered up the applause from all the others.

Ellie picked Dina back up, a fond smile on her lips, her arm wrapped around Dina's waist. " Y'know, I like him like this. He isn't yet disgusted by our love and affection for one another. "

Dina smiled and gently brushed her hand over Ellie's cheek, pushing a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. " Yeah, we are still lucky for now it seems. Unfortunately, he will probably grow out of that and get embarrassed of us. "

Ellie snickered to herself. " JJ is going to have a hell of a time bringing people around when he gets older, guaranteed. " She just meant that they would one hundred percent embarrass him with their love for each other when he attempts to bring a crush home with him.

Dina lightly slapped her wife's arm as JJ came rushing up to them, they both crouched down and pulled him into a tight hug. " You did so awesome, Spud! Proud of ya! " JJ beamed happily, his toothy grin brightening up their world. " Now we are a family. " He said softly, nuzzling his head against his mothers'.

《 》

The dinner and party that is held after the wedding goes on for quite some time. Everybody is laughing and singing, chatting and dancing. The music is soft, yet loud. And it reminds Ellie of the night her and Dina shared their first kiss. The same type of lights are strung up, illuminating the dance floor.

Ellie stands near the counter, her gaze almost blank as she stares straight ahead. Her mind begins to run as all the events that followed began coming to life in her mind. She dropped her head with a gasp, and placed her hands over her ears. No- She hadn't done this in a long time, this was supposed to be their new beginning, she was supposed to be making new memories.

Dina had been talking with Maria, JJ latched to her side like a little monkey. When she glanced around the room for a second, her eyes zeroed in on Ellie, hands clasped over her ears, eyes glazed over and wet with tears. She excuses herself and rushes over to Ellie's side. Gently placing a hand on her face. " Ellie, Ellie I need you to come back to me. Come back to me, El. Our son wants to dance with his mom. "

She gently brushes her fingers through Ellie's hair, whispering softly to her until she was able to pull her out of it. " El, you are home, babe. With me and JJ, we are here. We love you and you are safe. " She repeated this as long as she had to, until the light returned to Ellie's eyes and she dropped her hands slowly.

Ellie looked at Dina with guilt written all over her face. " I'm… I'm sorry, Di- I don't know what… I've been doing so good, that… Hasn't happened in months. " Dina can see that Ellie is on the verge of tears, so she gently takes hold of her hand. " Ellie, I'm not upset with you. These things- They happen sometimes. To the best of us, it doesn't mean you've undone every single ounce of work you've come through. I'm so proud of you, and I just want you to be okay. " She placed a gentle kiss to Ellie's lips.

Carefully pulling her by the hand, she leads her out of the church after saying a quick thank you and goodbye to everyone as a whole.

Ellie looked at Dina with confusion, she really had screwed things up. They were supposed to dance and enjoy the wedding party. " What are we doing? What about- "

Dina shook her head and handed JJ over to Ellie. The other woman grunts slightly from the sudden added weight. " Ellie, we can dance together as a family. "

It's hard to argue when your wife looks so excited at the thought, who cared if it wasn't in front of a crowd. Wasn't that how she preferred it, anyway?

《 》

They soon reached their humble little home, it was no farm house. But it had two stories, and was just the perfect size for their family of three.

Ellie set JJ down on his feet as soon as they stepped inside the house, the boy excitedly followed after Dina as she went to the record player and put on a record for them to dance to.

Ellie smiled faintly at Dina as she grabbed hold of JJ and started dancing with him. He was practically bouncing up and down in excitement as they grooved their way over to her. She gasped as Dina grabbed onto her hand and pulled her into a loving embrace, gently swaying to the music that didn't fit at all. JJ stood on Ellie's converse clad feet, and swayed with them. Her hands holding onto his small one's so he wouldn't fall.

The three of them danced until they couldn't dance anymore, and what that meant was they danced until it was time for JJ to go to bed.

" I'll put him down, babe. " Ellie said as she scooped up a tired JJ from on their couch, she carried him upstairs and helped him get ready for bed. " I love you, mom. " He said softly, drifting off to sleep easily, very worn out from the events of the day.

Ellie slowly walked back down the stairs, surprised to see Dina standing in the middle of their living room, gently swaying to the music and humming to herself. She smiles as she approaches Dina, and wraps her arms around her from behind. Swaying to the music with her, their bodies in sync.

A smile grows on Dina's face, and she turns around in Ellie's embrace. Bringing her own hands up and wrapping them around Ellie's shoulders, letting her head rest against her chest as they swayed to the music. Her brown eyes were filled with so much love for the girl in front of her. " I think that this- Right here, is the start to our forever. I love you, El. "

Ellie's eyes well up with tears and she laughs softly, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Dina's head. " I… I believe that you are right, this moment… And all the one's after. We are stronger together. I love you, Dina. Thanks for allowing me to prove myself, time and time again. "

[tardytothepardy]

Fruits Basket - Vol. 20

I want to try to break the book into three main chunks. The last time I did that, it was easier to write about. So uh, the first chunk has to do with Tohru and her feelings about Kyo, and Kagura's reaction, the second chunk is Akito and Ren's past being revealed (it's totally a mess but it's to be expected), and the third chunk is about things unraveling.

Ok cool let's do it. (The picture was at the end of one of the chapters, I just liked it a lot idk) (also tumblr needs to increase the character limit for the alt text, it's only 200 characters, which goes by quick. twitter has like,, 420, which is more manageable)

Tohru came to Kazuma's house to visit Izusu, and Kagura came to confront Tohru about something. What possibly could it be (as if I didn't say so in the beginning)? Kagura was talking about it a bit with Kazuma, and he said he just hopes that Tohru's feelings don't come from a place of pity (which is a mild "oof" point for Kagura, because that's mostly why she loved Kyo), because Kyo has had to deal with people either flat out hating him, or being nice to him out of a sense of pity. Even Kazuma admitted (earlier in the series. I don't remember when but I remember reading it) that part of the reason he took in Kyo as a child was because he was making it up for how he treated his grandfather, the previous Cat. Over time, those feelings fell away, in favor of genuinely caring for Kyo's wellbeing, but Kazuma doesn't seem to be the one who would forget about stuff like that. (Also it turns out that the previous Cat's partner basically stayed with him out of a sense of pity, as well)

It turns out that Izusu and Tohru were talking about the same thing, and Tohru worried if her feelings for Kyo were selfish, because she wanted nothing to take Kyo away from her, not the curse, not the Sohma family, nothing. Kagura then bust into the room, smacked Tohru across the fucking room it seems, and said, "Then fucking tell him that!!" (direct quote, 100%) Izusu yelled at Kagura for hitting Tohru, asking what right she had for doing that, but given Kagura's nature, it doesn't seem completely out of nowhere. She just got pretty emotional in that moment.

For Tohru, it seemed to knock the right screw loose for her, and she thought back to when she was talking about her father to Kyo, and if he said really anything against what she was talking about, she apparently would've just zipped her lips and pretended she hadn't said anything, and moved on, but he didn't. Which is pretty nice of him to do, honestly. Anyway, when she came to again (because she got knocked out from Kagura's emotion-packed slap), Kyo was sitting there, because Kazuma had called him, ("Hey dude so there was a smackdown here and Tohru got knocked out lmao" is how I'm imagining the call. kjdhkfgjh can you imagine Kazuma saying "lmao" I can't) but Kyo didn't ask about the fight (which was a Wise Lesson from Shishou™), another nice thing for him to do, though in my opinion it would be a pretty easy thing to explain.

Ok, so now onto the second chunk, which kinda has some of the stuff in the third chunk later on but whatever. Story flow, it's pristine today.

It starts with some of the,, maids? or something that are in the Sohma house (they never get names so far as I can tell, and I don't really know what to call them, but at one point someone referred to one of them as a maid, I think? Idk.) talking about Ren, and wondering why Akito still let Ren wander around freely like she does. Another said that Akito can only do so much, because apparently there is a crowd of people in the house that are "Ren-followers", and if she had Ren be completely contained within an area, there's a chance that those followers might start some shit, which would be a headache to deal with. One of the maids said that Akito has been sick (or holed up in her room) for too long, and the rest of the Juunishi are doing nothing to help, which does not help with Ren, who spouts out stuff about how the Juunishi doesn't really care about Akito at all. The maids seem to have a particular thing against Ren, because they view her as an unsuitable woman who somehow managed to become partners with Akira, the previous God, I think, but also the father of Akito.

Speaking of Akito, she has a box. That same box that Ren tried to use Izusu to get back. Something about that box has to do with Akira, and it seems important to both Akito and Ren, though honestly at this point Akito is probably just holding onto it out of spite for Ren, I wouldn't be surprised (I, too, am a petty bitch. I understand the mindset). She asked Kureno if he has any idea what is in it, and when he says he doesn't, she simply says, "Father."

Now we jump over to Ren and Shigure, who are also talking about about that elusive box. Apparently Shigure was tasked to get the box, but obviously he didn't succeed. He said (thought? He didn't say it aloud, it was one of those thoughts thing--- anyway) that he didn't really care, he didn't even want to touch that box, much less even look at it, it was no loss to him. Out loud, he says that it would be inappropriate for him to hold it, and Ren agrees, saying that only she can have it, just like how only she could have Akira, when he was alive. Are you already sensing where this is heading? Well, I'll say it anyway.

Flash back to Kureno, he's thinking about Akira, from when he was younger and Akira was still alive. He remembers Akira as very beautiful, in a fleeting way. Akira was sickly, all the time, and sad. Everyone knew that he wouldn't live for very long. But since he was the head of the house, of the family, it was imperative that he find a partner and produce an heir. That person was Ren, who was one of his care-takers. The rest of the staff (or something??) didn't like that she was going to be with Akira, it seemed unsuitable, but she was the only candidate. She was the only person who recognized how lonely he was, is what Akira said as a defense when people objected. And so, they were married. The older members of the family despised it, the younger thought it was the beginning of a new change, a new era. Ren said (because this section is flipping between Kureno and Ren) that it was only them two (haha grammar): Akira and Ren, they were all who mattered. She was everything to Akira. So when she had Akito, well, that muddled things. Because now there was another person that Akira loved: his own fuckin child. That's right. Ren got jealous of her own child because Akira loved his very own daughter. That's,, that's something. Shortly after that, Ren decided that Akito would be raised as a boy. Or maybe it was while she was still pregnant. At any rate, she said it was because it would be unsuitable for the head of the family to be a woman, but we all know the real reason: it's so that Akira wouldn't be loving another girl, even though that other girl was his daughter. Jfc Ren is a handful. From Kureno's memory, it seems like even as a kid, Shigure recognized that.

Back to Shigure and Ren, Shigure says that he feels sorry for Ren, probably thanks to all that upset she has. She says the same, that the Juunishi have had to deal with the abuse that Akito has dealt to them simply because of that "bond", and that there's no way that anyone could honestly love Akito. Shigure also comments that sometimes he thinks that if Akito had been raised as a woman, she'd look exactly like Ren, which instantly pisses Ren off. She just starts screaming about "Who do you have to thank for Akito being born! I'm the reason that (insert angry comment about how she's the only reason why x happened)". I'm kinda glad she isn't in the series much, this is exhausting. I know she's in the book later, and maybe a bit more in the next few, but jeez. It's a lot.

Anyway, let's end the chapter with Momiji having his curse be broken. The end is near (for the Juunishi, not this post lmao).

The second that the curse breaks, Akito knows it (that's probably the bond. I doubt it's some kinda "we'll be friends forever uwu" kinda thing, it's just kinda an awareness of each other, or maybe just God's awareness of everyone) and races towards Momiji, begging him to not leave. Now that the curse is broken, Momiji is confused as to how those thoughts he had prior for Akito were even there, now that he sees Akito clinging onto him, whimpering and panicked. Momiji waves her away, saying that he'll keep it a secret, and that Akito should go rest, wasn't she feeling sick earlier?

We pan over to the school, where Haru is asking Yuki if he's noticed anything off about Momiji. Haru can't place it, but something seems off, maybe not. Kyo ends up running into Momiji walking down a hallway, and asks him about it (he overheard the others talking about it), and Momiji just out and says it: his curse broke. He said he imagines that Tohru would be happier about it if it were Kyo's curse that broke, and that he (Momiji) lost. (I guess he lost in some unspoken one-sided competition of "getting" Tohru, because y'know she's not her own person who is capable of deciding these things for herself or anything)

Later, Momiji goes back to the main Sohma estate, to apologize to Akito for how he acted yesterday, but also to say that he won't be staying there any longer. Akito takes it like a champ, slapping Momiji across the face and insulting him, saying that he's a traitor, he has nowhere else to go, his family either doesn't remember him or hates him, he'll never be happy! and Momiji's just like, "Yeah lol I already feel lonely", that he can't be with the person he loves, and he no longer has that One Thing that previously connected him to most of the other people he's close with, and that there's no going back. He does say though, that it's not Akito's decision or place to say whether Momiji will ever be happy or not, because he might not be happy now, that does not mean that he won't ever be happy in the future. He then asks Akito how long she will stay at the house, thinking that eventually, everyone will come back to her, that no one will be happy without her. What if it's actually her that is most afraid-- Akito isn't down for an analysis, she just tells Momiji to leave.

Let's now go down memory lane, down a nice and happy time, especially for Akito and Ren: Akira's death and it's after effects. Happy times. (apparently i was wrong, the thing i said was the third chunk that wove in nicely with the second was just the second chunk, i think this is the actual third chunk)

Akito is thinking back (on a rainy morning, extra points for setting the mood) on her relationship with her parents. With Akira, it was nice, he always was kind and caring, telling Akito that she is what everyone has been waiting for, and that she thought she was the one Akira loved the most. With Ren, however, she was always cruel, from the start. She always glared at Akito, she was always mean. Akito hates her. We're brought back to the day Akira died, where Ren bursts into the room, asking why she wasn't notified sooner, why Akira had to die alone. One of the attendants said his condition worsened too quickly to call Ren close by, but also that Akira hadn't died alone; he died with Akito by his side. The attendant said that Akira's will had been passed onto Akito, she was now the head of the family. Ren was angered at that, there's no reason for Akito to still be around now! She only tolerated her child being around because Akira liked her, but now that Akira is gone, there is no one to love or care about Akito. Akito said that wasn't true, that all of the Juunishi will love her, because of their bond. (Which is basically what Akira said. He put most of that stuff into her head, and she doubled down on it whenever Ren said anything against it, which might as well be every single time they were around each other)

Back to the present, Kureno comes in the room to talk about something, but Akito interrupts him, saying that she was happy when Yuki was born, as the Rat. It was mostly just something she used to prove Ren wrong, and she used it as long as she could (much to the deterioration of Yuki's mental health). She thought back, over the years, to all the bad things that had happened, how she tried so hard to keep everyone close, and how all of them had, one by one, come to "betray" (cough cough, try to live their own lives, cough cough) her. After Shigure and Yuki left to their present residence, Ren said that they had given up on Akito. When Akito again mentioned their bond (which, really, now that I think about it, has basically been the singular thing straining to keep everything under control. Akito's sole sense of identity was being God, she's never had anything else.), Ren waved it away, then challenged that if any of the Juunishi can go out into the world, experience it in all it's freaky magical ways, and not be taken in by it, and instead return to Akito, then she will have been proved wrong, Akito's claims this whole time will have been correct. If they failed to, however, Ren said that Akito would have to give up the Sohma name. But Akito believed it, she truly believed she was right, that nothing big enough would come between her and the rest of the Juunishi (Tohru has entered the chat). She had to believe it, she just had to. But now, it's evident, between how Haru reacted upon learning about Izusu, Momiji's demeanor after the curse broke, the general way that the rest of the Juunishi float away from Akito, that it isn't true, and with that, she has nothing to hope for.

Upon this realization, Ren bursts into the room, knee-length hair floating around her, eyes crazed, knife in hand, demanding for Akira. Demanding for that box, and whatever contents were inside. In response, Akito fuggin yeeted it at Ren, she didn't give a shit. It flashed back to right before Akira died, and he soothed Akito by saying that, despite dying, he will always be with her. He wanted for Ren to be happy. He wasn't upset that he was dying so soon, he knew that he was just a man who was going to die, but he was happy that he was able to have a child, and to have had that child with Ren, and since that child was special, it was proof that their relationship was a special one. Back to the present, Ren scrambles to the box, tears it open hungrily to find,,, nothing. The box was empty. It'd always been empty, said to have held Akira's soul, but it was mostly just something to help Akito with Akira's passing. Suddenly, Akito grabbed the knife that fell from Ren's hand, poised to stab Ren but then--

Hiro's curse broke. Ren can thank that bond she always scoffed at for saving her life. But hey, now Hiro can hold his baby sister, which is nice. Yay for family moments.

Boo for Akito, because it's just really grinding in that the curse is quickly falling apart, and there's absolutely nothing that she can do about it. Ren taunts Akito, asking if she was trying to kill her. The attendants blow up, one yelling at Ren for making such a scene, taking a knife with her, and another scolds the first for giving Akito that box in the first place, it's stupid! The first attendant said that Akito knew from the start that it was empty, common sense would say that much! (idk man it could've held one last letter from Akira to Akito, a letter wouldn't affect the weight of the box significantly, it's not common sense)

Akito leaves the room, and Kureno follows. Akito says that it was both common sense but also not, that there wasn't anything in the box. She wanted to believe there was a chance that something was in that box, some kind of invisible energy that would help her. But even after opening it, seeing that it was empty, she still held onto it, knowing there wasn't anything. And that was her common sense, that's what she thought. She'd never been given any other way of thinking, of living, so why and how should anyone expect differently? Kureno says that she can start learning now, that that was what he wanted to talk about earlier, that she can't stay here, she'll never be able to move on, to which Akito cuts him off with "Fuggin now, bitch?? You're saying that now?? That doesn't help me! It would have helped in the beginning! But not fucking now!" (which btw is true. i doubt akito was even allowed to go to a public school, that she was schooled within the estate. i really believe that she's never really been outside of the the properties that the Sohma family owns) Then she stabs Kureno, with that knife she's been holding all this time. She reasons with it saying that Kureno's "halfway kindness" has been killing her this whole time, that it can't be fixed by Kureno saying that maybe Akito should go touch some grass. As Akito is running from the scene (more like haggardly stumbling), she continues thinking that it's Kureno's fault, it's not on her, until she remembers what Yuki was saying at the New Year's gathering about blame. It doesn't really fix anything, it just momentarily makes you think that you're not in the wrong. *record scratch* What if it's Akito's fault, then? All of this? What if it's her fault? What if it's the fault of the person who made everyone change? What if it's Tohru's fault?? (dun dun dunnnn)

Meanwhile, back at the other Sohma house (Shigure's house?) Tohru has some confessing to do. Before that though, Kyo has some confessing to do, though not about the same thing. He tells Tohru that he knew her mom before she died, and that he was the reason she died. He tells her that they met when he was really young, and how they had kinda become friends (in that way that people become friends by talking often, but Kyo never told Kyoko his name, because he had some weird thing about having a name so similar). That all fell apart the day that Tohru went missing. He promised that he would find her and rescue her, but after finding that Yuki had done it (the evidence was The Hat), he lashed out, and never talked to Kyoko again. Years later, when he was at the crosswalk, who was beside him but Kyoko, who he recognized instantly. He wasn't sure what to do, whether to say something to her or hold back. He was totally able to grab her arm, get her out of harm's way, but he didn't, he was too scared. (plus yaknow the whole cat thing) He beats himself up about, still to this day. He does the same with his own mom's death. It was his fault that his mom killed herself, she couldn't stand having such a monster as a child. It was too much for her, and she couldn't take any longer. (It wasn't. I won't say that his mom wasn't put under strain for having Kyo, for knowing that he wasn't human, that he turned into a weird monster if his bracelet was taken off, but from what we've seen of his dad, it was probably at least 85-90% his dad's fault. He was too caught up in the politics of the Sohma family, ashamed of the fact that Kyo was the Cat, the worst out of them, that he couldn't even salvage having one of the good freaks to have as a child of his, and he took it all out on his wife and later his son.)

And the book ends on that cheery note. (Why do I say stuff like that why I am I like this)

[somersetmummy]

(A/N) This chapter takes place right at the beginning of the story, prior to TNA Chapter 1. Some characters property of Pixelberry.

Original characters: Katie Hide (MC), Jenny Blake

New characters: Lucinda Hansen

Rating/Content Warning: Mild adult language

Word count: 2005

Summary: MC Katie Hide is an English rose, living in New York. She’s down on her luck and desperately needs a job before her visa expires and she’s sent back to London. A chance conversation with a friend leads to an unlikely opportunity. Little did she know that one little interview would change the course of her life forever.

- Bonus social edits at the end -

Just like any other Thursday morning of recent weeks, Katie and Jenny were killing time together in their favourite coffee shop just down the street from their shared apartment. It had become Katie's haven and her go-to place when she wanted to lose herself for a few hours people watching, letting the stories of their lives unfold around her.

She'd always had a knack for paying attention to the details, noticing things which passed by most others. It was a skill she'd relied on heavily in her work, always giving her the edge, at least it had until the time it led to her downfall at Panacea Labs.

Katie had recently walked out of her job after piecing together a scheme under the radar to roll out a costly new drug for treating MS, despite there being multiple warning signs that it was ultimately ineffective but instead just masked the symptoms. Anyone else would've just glossed over the signs, not even noticing, but to Katie, the anomalies jumped off the page unmistakably. It was when she tried to escalate her concerns that she was shut down and her life in the lab made a misery by the VP, Declan Nash.

It hadn't taken long for her to realise that the company was more concerned about profits than actually helping people and she knew that the battle to fall in line and keep her job wasn't worth it. After calmly and quietly sending a company wide report on her findings, she gathered her things and walked out before she could be accosted by security. Little did she know that Nash had already been keeping tabs on her communications, in his eyes she was a trouble maker, and the report never saw the light of day.

Unfortunately for Katie, the current opportunities for young women in the biotech and pharmaceutical world just weren't what they should have been and she spent the next few weeks furiously searching for something else to avoid her work visa being revoked. 

Having moved from London to attend the New York Institute of Technology and graduating with a Masters in Chemistry & Bio Engineering three years ago, she'd fallen in love with the city and the life she'd built. She didn't know exactly what the future held and couldn't put her finger on why, but she had a very strong feeling that she needed to stay in New York.  

Today, Katie had planned to work through all the job adverts remotely relating to her experience and qualifications, with Jenny on hand to offer moral support. Tiring quickly of hitting one brick wall after another, they'd long forgotten the laptop and instead had spent the last 30 minutes idly chatting about Jenny’s upcoming gallery event when Lucinda arrived, phone to her ear, her body tense and voice sharp as she wrapped up a call with her boss.

"Of course I've got someone Angela, I wouldn't put my name in the mix if I didn't. My candidate is going to blow the others out of the water, I just know Mr Dalton will be impressed....no not just impressed, he'll be awestruck..."

While waiting for her to wrap up her call, Katie heads to the counter to order Lucinda a much needed coffee and returns to place it down in front of her just as she hangs up. She tosses her phone onto the table and slumps back in her chair, defeated.

Jenny stares her down waiting for an explanation which she and Katie both know Lucinda desperately wants to give but is holding off for dramatic effect.

After a long sip of coffee and a moment of holding her head in her hands she finally exhales.

"I am so SO SCREWED."

Katie and Jenny share a look before returning their attention to Lucinda.

"I've just promised my boss that I have the perfect candidate for some billionaire business man's nanny position....." She glares at them both as if they should understand why that's a problem. "I never touch these sorts of jobs, I only ever look for candidates in finance, nannying isn't worth my time."

Katie chooses her words carefully, knowing how Lucinda can bite back pretty quickly when she's stressed. Speaking softly, cautious not to poke the bear, she looks Lucinda in the eye and internally braces herself for whatever might come next.

"So what made this one so different?"

Fortunately Lucinda seems to finally be relaxing, she replies more quietly.

"Filling this position will put me on the map, nobody in the firm has been able to secure someone for this guy, they only seem to last a few weeks before they quit so the sign on bonus never kicks in. If I could find the perfect person I wouldn't only get a great bonus, I'd be next in line for promotion to Senior Head-hunter."

Her demanding demeanour melts away and she's left looking almost vulnerable. Something Katie knows Lucinda doesn't find at all comfortable.

"Anyway, I'll figure it out, I always do."

She gives Katie and Jenny a soft smile, allowing herself to momentarily forget about her woes so she can refocus the attention back to them.

"So what were you guys talking about before I came in?"

As Katie opens her mouth to speak Jenny cuts in on her behalf.

"Oh Katie's just been trying to work out how to get a job before her visa renewal date comes up in a couple of weeks."

Katie lets out a sigh of her own, suddenly remembering how dire her employment prospects are and feeling equally as defeated as Lucinda.

"I can't believe I've worked so hard for my degree, I found the perfect job in the perfect city but now it's all gone down the drain and I'm going to have to go back home and never see you all again."

Jenny wraps her arm around Katie's shoulders, pulling her close. "Oh come on, like you'd be able to shake us off. Even if you are in another country!"

As suddenly as Lucinda dramatically entered the coffee shop she slams her hand onto the table making the others jump.

"THAT'S IT!" She cries, her idea almost exploding out of her. "This is just too perfect...."

Katie and Jenny share a confused look before turning back to Lucinda who is practically foaming at the mouth, clearly onto something, though they're not quite sure what.

"You need a job, I need a candidate." She says in her signature matter of fact style.

Katie still has no idea where Lucinda's going with this.

"It's win win. I'll put you forward for the nanny position, you'll get a great job which means you get to stay in New York, I'll get my bonus. Not to mention I'll look like a damn superhero at work!"

The cogs start to turn in Katie's brain as she begins to digest what Lucinda is proposing.

"But I'm not a nanny....and what about my visa, it's only valid for work in relation to my degree."

Lucinda waves her hand at her, dismissing her concerns. "No problem there then. This guy's family owns one of the biggest Biotech companies in the country, surely that's related to your degree? He's so desperate for a successful match I'll make sure the visa thing is part of the contract."

She cuts back in quickly just as Katie opens her mouth to object.

"And as for you not being a nanny, what about all those times in the lab when you had to pull rank and sort out the shit that went down between your useless colleagues? You've done more nannying of adults in the last two years than most actual nanny's do in their whole career with children."

Jenny suddenly chimes in "OH MY GOD, this is genius!"

Defeated, Katie turns to look at Jenny in disbelief. She may have had a chance saying no to just Lucinda but with Jenny on board with this idea as well she may as well give up now.

"This will solve both your problems, I mean come on, who wouldn't want to work for this guy..."

Jenny turns her phone to Katie, clearly having been searching while she and Lucinda were talking. On the screen Katie sees the most devastatingly handsome man she's ever come across. He's nothing like the guys she'd known before, this person, was a real man and the sight of him caused her stomach to flip.

While undeniably handsome, it's not just the physical attraction that she's drawn to. Her eyes move to the company bio underneath his headshot and in true Katie style, she scans all of the accolades and achievements the company has to boast about. Her mind races at the possibilities. There's no mistaking that working for this man could open the door to so many opportunities and experiences in the future.

With a sigh she resigns herself to the fact that Lucinda might actually be on to something, this could be the break Katie had been waiting for and would certainly solve her imminent visa problems if she could get it taken care of as part of the contract negotiations.

With a silent nod and slight shrug of the shoulders, she begrudgingly agrees, much to the delight of her friends who squeal at each other in delight. Lucinda immediately pushes her shoulders back, standing to attention, furiously beginning to type on her phone.

"You TA'd for your old professor right?"

"Yes, I did a year as their assistant after graduating. Mainly doing research and going to conferences with her."

Lucinda's eyes never leave her phone as she works her magic, spinning Katie's words into an impressive resume. After a moment she raises her eyebrows and flits her eyes over to Katie, a small gesture which Katie realises is an invitation to elaborate.

"Oh, yeah so that's actually how I got into Panacea Labs, I met a rep at one of those conferences."

Jenny rolls her eyes at the mention of Katie's old company, now affectionately known by them both as Pariah Labs. Despite what she felt about Katie's previous employer, she was immensely proud of Katie's achievements and wanted to make sure they were included.

"Weren't you the youngest lab boss thingy they'd ever had?"

"Senior lab technician." Katie corrects, knowing full well that Jenny hasn't got a clue about the finer details of her work. "Well, yeah eventually, after two years of working my butt off. But I hardly think they'd rave about that in any reference they give me. If they even give one to begin with..."

Lucinda waves a dismissive hand at her.

"With this resume, you won't need any reference from those bastards. Trust me."

Katie had no idea what Lucinda had written or how she'd managed to spin her experience to be more favourable for a nanny position but it must've worked because half an hour later Lucinda slammed her hand down on the table once again, causing everyone around them to jump out of their skin.

"YES! It worked...he wants to see you, you've got an interview tomorrow at the Dalton Enterprises headquarters".

She turns her phone to Jenny to show off the email and they fall into an animated conversation, no doubt planning how they're all going to celebrate once Katie inevitably gets offered the job. As they fall into a blur in the background, Katie looks back over the picture of Sam Dalton on Jenny's phone, not quite sure how she can be so hypnotised by someone through a photograph.

There's something about him which feels familiar, something drawing her in. It's almost as if they're viewing each other through a looking glass and she wonders whether in this exact moment he is feeling the same magnetic pull towards her, a stranger whom he hasn't even met yet. Tearing her eyes away from the phone, Katie's tries to steady the stream of unanswered questions flooding her mind and focus on how she's going to win this man over.

"Here goes nothing."

TAG List: @shewillreadyou @chemist-ana @txemrn @silma-words @thefrenchiemama @secretaryunpaid @sfb123

- Bonus - pre-interview pep talk with the girls -

[voidstilesplease]

By the Angel, TALK

Warning: THIS IS AN ANTI-CLARY AND JACE SPOILER RANT because I need an avenue to let out some of the steam I've been holding off since starting City of Fallen Angels. So PLEASE SKIP AHEAD because I don't want to burden you all with my reading woes.

This thing centers on the beginning of Chapter 9: From Fire Unto Fire and a little bit of Chapter 8. About eight pages of bad, bad romance set me off.

To start,

The rest is under the cut, so you can go away now.

So, what's been happening to Clary and Jace thus far?

This book introduced them now as an official couple, picking up from the end of TMI Book 3: City of Glass. I don't remember their every scene since then to the point in Chapter 9 where I stopped, but basically, they're having relationship issues early on. They're less than two months into their relationship, and the drama is too frickin much. 

Jace has these weird dreams about murdering Clary and waking up guilty about his subconscious thoughts, so he goes angsting about it and avoiding her, snapping at her, being a total dick, and still question why people think they are on the brink of a break-up. 

So, Jace goes with Simon in the next few scenes, in his plight to get away from her as far as possible, yet still be somehow close by being around Clary's best friend to "protect" him, so his distant behavior will be reasonable and forgivable. Yeah, make that make sense. 🙄 But of course, one way or another, they're going to have to get to the confrontation part (that I still wish had been equivalent to an actual break-up), and so that's when Chapter 8 & 9 enters.

Chapter 8: Walk in Darkness pp. 185-186

Almost instantly, the light went out of them, and the remaining color drained out of his face. "I thought --- Simon said you weren't coming." ¹

[...] "So you only came because you thought I wouldn't be here? [...] Were you ever planning on talking to me again? [...] If you're going to break it off, the least you could do is tell me, not just stop talking to me and leave me to figure it out on my own."

"Why does everyone keep goddamn asking me if I'm going to break up with you? [...]²

First, what an asshole?! 

[1] So Jace finally in-your-face's Clary and confirms that he has been keeping his distance like Clary has the plague. He then has the audacity to [2] be annoyed for being questioned on his intentions of keeping the relationship that he has been actively evading for days!

I get that Jace sucks in romantic relationships and has been fucked up by his daddy-issues, but he has the Lightwoods. Heck, Alec is his parabatai. He sees working relationships, so he has to have known that you don't just stop talking to people close to you and have them not question the behavior, whether you're trying to pull away from them or not. Otherwise, then Jace is dumb for all that he's marketed as the "best" Shadowhunter in his age. Screw that.

---

“You talked to Simon about us?" Clary shook her head. "Why? Why aren't you talking to me?"

"Because I can't talk to you," Jace said. "I can't talk to you, I can't be with you, I can't even look at you."³

[3] Way to make a girl feel special, Jace. Oh, no, yeah. He's trying to do the opposite and push her away with some teenage boy angst that doesn't make any sense. Like, who says that, though, aside from dramatic love interests that can't make a better excuse for going emo? 

That line IS TOO DRAMATIC that it hurts, ugh. 🤮

Anyway, so Clary walks out after that. I don't sympathize with her, but I'd do the same. Who wouldn't? Unless you freeze in the ridiculousness of the situation, that is, which is also likely.

Chapter 9: From Fire Unto Fire pp. 190-195

Now, here's the real shit. I want to quote this entire six-page scene back to Cassie and scream at her.

Clary reached the door and burst out into the rain-drenched evening air. [...] and was about to race across the street against the light when a hand caught her arm and spun her around.

It was Jace. [...] "Clary, didn't you hear me calling you?"

"Let go of me." Her voice shook.

"No. Not until you talk to me."⁴

[4] DUDE, what even happened to your I CAN'T TALK TO YOU, I CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT YOU speech, huh? Be consistent for once, apart from your douchebag routine. Make up your mind, Jace.

---

Still holding her by the arm, he half-dragged her around the van and into a narrow alley that bordered the Alto Bar. ⁵

[5] Man, I love a bit of rough loving in my literature, but I'm so pissed at you, Jace, don't even. Lay the hell off.

---

"I was going to tell you that I was trying to help out Simon. [...]

"And you couldn't tell me? Couldn't text me a single line letting me know where you were?"⁶ [...]

[...]

"I think," he said slowly, "that I thought that the closest thing to being with you was being with Simon. Watching out for him. I had some stupid idea that you'd realize I was doing it for you and forgive me---"⁷

[6] Addressing the lack of communication, that's a great path to follow. These two need to talk so bad. [7] But this line? Sucks Balls. You could be with her, Jacey, and save all the readers your drama if you only pull your head out of your ass and try to communicate. It's like you're allergic to it.

---

She took a step back, blindly, and nearly tripped over an abandoned speaker. Her bag slid to the ground as she put her hand out to right herself, but Jace was already there. He moved forward to catch her, and kept moving until her back hit the alley wall, and his arms were around her, and he was kissing her frantically.⁸

[8] Not only is this achingly cheesy, but it's also totally not the way they should be going off about their situation. They were already talking -arguing, yes, but they're still using words to reach out, and their relationship absolutely cannot be healthy without them. Thus far, they have spoken so less in comparison with the times they've spent canoodling. They're not solving anything by having drama on one second and getting it on with dramatic kissing on the next.

I don't care what Clary says about being so lost in love with Jace. He's treating her like shit. The least he can do is give her answers that she has the right to demand from him. Kissing is not an answer. But, well, maybe to Clary, it is because the next parts from page 192 to 194 are spent on softcore porn in a dark alley under the frickin rain. I bet that's a very romantic setting in their minds, huh.

---

And now this part:

It was nerve-wracking. She could feel the feverish heat that came off him; her hands were still on his shoulders, but it wasn't enough. She wanted him wrapped around her, holding her tight. "W-why," she breathed. "can't you talk to me? Why can't you look at me?"

He ducked his head down to look into her face. His eyes, surrounded by lashes darkened with rainwater, were impossibly gold.

"Because I love you."⁹

[9] Is that supposed to make me tingle? SET ME ON FIRE, but that is the lousiest I love you in books that I have ever read. AND IT'S THE ONLY ONE THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, at all!

Shut up with this, can you please. It's not romantic at all. It's a dumb excuse and an even dumber love from the two dumbest people in this whole frickin series. Oh my god.

Clary, realistically, will frown at this answer. She will pull the hell away and spat him in the face with how demeaning his love is if it can make her sick to the stomach with thinking he has already gone bored and is only cooking the perfect way to cut off their connection. He hasn't given her a sound reason, only desperate declarations of love like he's trying to convince them both that it's true. And it doesn't make sense how she's still plastered around him in the cold, trying to convince the readers that every word from Jace has deeper meanings that she understands no matter how gibberish they are. I'm not buying that, okay? Stop selling your larger-than-life connection bullshit because that isn't real.

You've only been together for two months, okay? The strongest you can feel for each other is lust. And it's showing.

---

His hands slid down to her waist and he kissed her, long and lingering, making her shudder.

She pulled away, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Neither does this," he said, "but I don't care. I'm sick of trying to pretend I can live without you. Don't you understand that? Can't you see it's killing me?"¹⁰

She stared at him. She could see that he meant what he said [...] Her desire for answers battled the more primal part of her brain, and lost. "Kiss me then,"¹¹

[10] NOBODY THREATENED YOU UNDER BLADE TO DO THAT BULLSHIT, so shut the hell up with the whining. [11] and Clary, I am so disappointed. You've both just drained me, and I'm dry inside like a raisin.

The next paragraphs describe their very erotic kissing against the wall. Jace, propping her up and her legs around his waist bull crap. Seriously? Am I supposed to believe these two are, what sixteen?- up until Isabelle thankfully ruins their moment by kicking a garbage can that would look better with Jace and Clary in it tbh.

---

And the nastiest horseshit of all:

Clary looked at Jace. At any other time, they would have laughed together at Isabelle's moodiness, but there was no humor in his expression, and she knew immediately that whatever they had had between them ---whatever had blossomed out of his momentary lack of control--- it was gone now. [...]

"Jace---" she took a step toward him.

"Don't," he said, his voice very rough. "I can't."¹²

And then he was gone [...]

[12] No, I frickin CANNOT. His actions keep on contradicting his words, and he's fickle and can't decide which mood to settle, and it's so exhausting, honestly. He wasted a few pages for a cosmic, meaningless declaration of feelings. They're empty words. At this point, I believe the writing only strives to convince the readers that these characters care for each other but is shitty at showing it.

It's not love, because they say it is love.

---

I was already gaining hope for this book, and then one simple few-pages scene with clace squishes it, smearing the innards on my face.

Honestly, TALK OR TAKE A BREAK. This back and forth can't continue throughout the rest of the book or -heaven forbid- the rest of the series. Or at least, put these characters in the background if they really must drag on this problem, because I care not a lick.

Bye.

[rebsrams]

Book: Open Heart

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Rebecca Valentine)

Warnings: none. Pure fluff. Be prepare to melt. Also, I'm not a native speaker, please forgive any mistake.

Summary: Just what we were waiting for after the Book 2 finale. I mean, still not defining? Oh, Ethan..

Word count: 1,463

@openheartfanfics

A CASE OF YOU (ETHAN RAMSEY X F!MC)

Song: A case of you by her majesty Joni Mitchell

Just before our love got lost you said

"I am as constant as a northern star"

And I said

"Constantly in the darkness, where's that at? If you want me I'll be in the bar"

Ever since they laid eyes on each other, it was immediately clear that in the wretched mess that was Edenbrook hospital and life as a doctor, they would be each other's northern star.

A fixed point in the galaxy.

During certain difficult times, they were even brought to think they were meant to be star-crossed lovers, reminiscing images of canisters, protective suits and plexiglass windows.

Such a romantic view for a life they chose to live, knowing that difficulties and loss were meant to be daily bread.

"...how much I care about you".

The words resonated in her head from time to time, after the accident.

She actually spent the following three days tossing and turning in bed, at night and in the early morning, long before her alarm was going to go off.

She couldn't stop thinking about the patina that the plastic shield screened his tantalizing blue eyes with, which made the confession so difficult to figure out.

Was he caring about her like a friend? A colleague? Something more?

Even after all the moments they shared together, he never got to say what his feelings towards her really were. And so didn't she.

But the affection that exuded from his words was something that could have lighten up the whole room.

Then, just as it is, months passed between a charity gala and difficult cases.

Hands touched, lips met publicly and elegant dresses fell to the ground without second thoughts.

Then, it happened.

She couldn't stand it any longer.

Ethan kissed her in front of the whole hospital more than once, and still he couldn't define what kind of relationship he wanted to have with her.

Soon, she came to realize that it was not about the hospital staff or about jeopardizing anything, it was just about him.

He was absolutely and totally frightened.

To deal with all the demons he tried to drown under a thick layer of resentment and cold indifference over the years.

To push her away, again.

To lose her, once and for all.

Maybe he deserved it, he happened to think.

Well, maybe that's an understatement.

It was actually all that he could think about, completely unaware of the fact that he was hurting her so much more by making love to her and letting her go the morning after, unsure of what his next move will be, leaving her on the ropes.

That night she came into his office from a sixteen hour shift, exhausted.

"To hell with formality", she muttered to herself before entering the room.

"What do you want, Ethan?"

"Good evening to you, Dr. Valentine.

I was wondering if you could check on this test results for a brief... What's the matter?"

He looked up at the doorstep, where she stood arm-crossed with a fallen expression on her face and her thick and curly hair completely disheveled.

"For a brief what, Ethan? Why did you paged me here, at the end of an endless shift? Just to let me praise you and your excellent job? Well, bravo. You already know I have nothing to tell you about it. Now, if you'll excuse me."

She turned to face the door again, letting her words sink in the older doctor behind her.

He, for his part, tried to ignore the sting of pain her words caused in him.

"Rebecca, wait. Please. I just wanted to check on you, to know that you're well. You have to admit you've been quite elusive in these past few weeks. It's not like you."

He saw her stiffen at once and her fists close, making her knuckles become white in the stressful grip.

"It's not like me..." she barely whispered, filling the words with suppressed rage.

"YOU THINK IT'S NOT LIKE ME? WHAT ELSE SHOULD I DO, THEN? ETHAN, FOR FUCK'S SAKE, YOU'RE THE MOST BRILLIANT DOCTOR OF YOUR GENERATION!"

The sudden explosion made him gape to say the least.

She continued to stood there, her curly locks all over her face but not enough to cover her eyes, sparkling with still unspilled tears.

"What are you talking about? Rebs, you know that I'm here. Always. Whatever you need, just talk to me and I'll listen."

His brows forrowed in concern under the squared frame of his glasses; seeing her standing there, on the verge of a breakdown, made his heart clench.

"Oh, of course. You're here. Always." she said, imitating him on the last part.

"Don't you really know what's wrong with me, Ethan?" she continued, her voice barely a whisper.

"It's always like standing in the darkness with you. You can never know what to expect or where to turn. Maybe because you're the one who doesn't know where to turn or what to do with your life.

Just take a dammit road and follow it, for God's sake!" her tone began to rise again, and seeing such a sparkle of wild fire in her eyes made Ethan almost sigh with relief, even if he knew he was the only target of that fire.

Suddenly everything fell into place for him.

He played dumb for all this time, trying to ignore the fact that her personality wouldn't admit his going back and forth much longer.

In that very moment, he really was standing at a crossroad.

And, just like she said, he had to take a road and follow it, for her.

"I would... You know, I... I'd understand if you chose to, well... To back off.

I'm not simple. Like, at all." she let out a nervous giggle, caused by the tension of the moment.

"The situation itself isn't simple at all, and we always knew that. I'm just asking you to get your head together. If not for me, do it for yourself. Please."

Her kindness. Her incredible and absolutely selfless kindness. That's one of the things that made her the brilliant doctor that she was and that he loved the most.

Yes, because he knew that. He loved her.

Deep to his very core. She put down roots in him since the very first day, where she almost screwed everything up during that torachotomy and blood spilled all over her coat.

If there was a thing she didn't deserve, was being treated that way, much less from him.

Given all that, he still couldn't find the breath to emit any sound.

He just stood there, eyes locked with hers, a painful expression on both faces.

"I see. Well, I think I'm done here. I'll see you tomorrow for the test results.

Oh, and by the way... You can find me at Donahue's, if you need to tell me... Anything else."

She knew he understood everything, and despite of it all she was giving him his last chance to make it right.

She close the door behind her, careful not to slam it and let her emotions take control over her.

She quickly wiped the tears that eventually fell, unable to catch the ones already fallen on her coat.

Before she could even notice, she was running out of the building.

Ethan was still there, wiping both hands on his face and under his glasses, trying to examine his own thoughts and intentions.

"Do you want her, you scumbag? Well, of course you do. Then go get her! What the fuck are you waiting for?"

He thought, almost muttering, to himself. Such a colorful language was only used in his thoughts, most of the time referring to himself with some exceptions here and there, referring to the guys flirting with Rebecca. His Rebecca.

Coming to this conclusion was enough to make him stand on his feet, grab his navy long coat and begin to run out of the hospital, forgetting about changing in the locker room or even close the door of his office.

The air was particularly chilly and pricked Ethan's nose, the sensation enhanced by his fast pace.

The door of Donahue's was just a few feet away and his heartbeat began to increase more and more with each step.

He was a grown man, almost entering his 38th year of life.

More than that, he was a doctor, dealing with life and death matters every single day of his existence.

And yet, the very awareness of her presence inside that bar, ready to throw her arms around his neck and be taken home to his apartment, if only he had the guts of pouring his heart out to her, made his heart ponder wildly in his chest.

Pressing lightly on the handle, he stepped in.

Hope you like it. Part 2 will be here soon 💋

Also, I'm a newbie and I'd like to gather a taglist. Please let me know if you'd like to join it!

[inessencedevided]

The Untamed, episode 45 - watching notes

I'm at this stage of fandom rn where it's really hard to concentrate on anything else 😅

Every song I listen to gets dissected for how it relates to wangxian

I need to concentrate on my thesis but instead I'm pondering how the untamed raises questions about collectivism vs individualism and how my western perception of that might differ greatly from a native chinese person or even the author's intention

Can't I just write my thesis about THAT?

Alas, I digress ...

Back to our regular programming :D

Last time one Sophie watches the untamed wwx went all Sherlock on us and used his formidable skills of deduction to expose Backpfeifengesicht's plan of killing everyone and blaming it on wwx

I've heard from several people that the next few episodes are their favourites, so no high expectations at all :D

Nobody wipes the blood on their chins away. Might be about the aesthetic

I adore detective-duo-wangxian so much!! Especially because wwx does 99% of the talking but then lwj will chime in with a single word and it's 100% devastating :D

If anyone knows any well written case-fics for these two, please, I need recs! (For after the show)

Backpfeifengesicht makes good one point and that is that jgy already is at the top of the cultivation world. So what does he gain from all this?

Or is it simply that he's afraid of wwx because he's a rebel and might act against him? (Don't answer that. I wanna find out through the show ;))

Wwx just casually revealed that he's been to cloud recess and that he handles went to the restricted section forbidden chamber. What will you do about, Lan Qiren? Huh? 😂

Oooh! Backpfeifengesicht is the ghosted faced man! I thought it was Jiggy himself!!! 😱

That makes way more sense though!

Lan Sizhui! Jin Ling! Oh you brave boys! 😭

Someone hold me 😭

But why does he not take zidian now? He's done so before!

"You little fool!" Is "I love you" in Jiang-Cheng-speak :D

"We're done for! What can we do??" - wwx *strips*

Sorry

Bahahaha 😂😂😂

I just burst out laughing waaay to loudly for the fact that I've got people sleeping in the room next to mine

But look at Lan Qiren when he sees wwx strop to reveal anat is probably his nephew's undershirt 😂😂😂

He's probably questioning every decision that's let him to this point :D

This is completely inconsequential,but I couldn't keep quiet about it anymore because I every time he makes this motion, it always sends a shiver down my spine!!! Notice that wwx (or rather Xiao Zhan) is one of these people whose fingers bend in the opposite direction??? I know it's just a normal thing some people can do, but I can't watch it!! It makes my fingers hurt just looking at it 🙈🙈🙈

Is he turning himself into a demon lure flag?? 😱

Lan Jingyi 🥺🥺🥺

Also does wwx now just transfer his self-sacrificing tendencies to lwj?

Nothing is as hot as these two together in a fight scene

Jiang Cheng doesn't want to leave them behind. He does care! :') he just never unlearned how to unravel his love from his anger

Sizhui running up to greet his dads :')

Look at them! I'm soft guys 💔

He called him Yuan!! 😭😭😭

So this is it. Any doubts I ever had about Sizhui's identity are gone

Will he finally recognize him??

Why don't you say anything lwj? This one time, I beg you!!

Sect Leader Yao still at his gossip shit even 16 years later 🙄

Lam sizhyi is seasick! Why is this so cute! 😭

Oh Wen Ning!! He recognized A-Yuan? Right?

I want to hug Lan Sizhui for his openness and kindness towards everyone he meets, no matter their status or what other people say about them! (Wen Ning now or who he thought was Mo Xuanyu the supposed mad-man) and I wanna hug lan Wangji right after for raising him to be like this :')

Oh Wen Ning! 😭

That's how I'd look at Sizhui, too, if I met him - poor unadulterated wonder :')

And just think about what that means for Wen Ning! He's not the last of the Wens! All their fight wasn't for nothing. This child, their legacy, survived 😭😭😭

"Can I call you A-Yuan" "Of Course." God I'm gonna burst into tears 😭

I'm actually bursting into tears!!

Isn't this the dream of anyone who has ever lost someone? :')

"He's like a brother and father to me" :')

And he raised him from when he was 4 or 5? So ... A-Yuan was about 2 when the Wens died? Right? Then 5 would fit with lwj's 3 year isolation

Ob god, it's the butterfly-toy!!! 😭😭😭

Wen Nings smiling through his tears! I can't! 😭💔And he's got the one from the market!

Aww, wax isn't wearing the white undergarment anymore. Too bad

Oh poor Jin Ling ...

So much grieve that he could probably never process. There so many lost kids in this story, hurt by things they had no control over 😔

I mean, I get it. That's the person who killed his parents (without being in control, but he doesnt know that) and everyone is just talking to him as if it's normal and that didn't happen. But he can't forget,but he doesnt really understand either and he has no outlet. Of course he'd just ... crash 😥

And who would have thought I'd ever try at a flashback of Jin Zixuan's death :(

For once, it'd be nice if the adults actually acted like the parent figures they're supposed to be and explain things to their children 🤦‍♀️

I'm so thankful though, that no one even thinks of scolding him for crying. Jismg Cheng only asked who it was that made him cry (and looks like he'll kick their ass). Generally, thus show has a very healthy attitude towards tears. Most characters cry when they are faced with tragedy, regardless of gender. Men being allowed to have appropriate reactions to grieve (instead of a single men tear or just punching things) is really nice to see

Oh Yao dude whose courtesy name I can't remember, shut up!

Thanks Ouyang Zizhen! You get me

I live for these children standing up to their elders

Meanwhile Nie Huaisang is just on the sidelines, enjoying the show :D never change!

The Lotus Pier theme song alone is making me cry rn 😢

Why can't wen Ning come in?

Oh Sizhui!

He many times do you want to make me cry happy tears today?? :')

Little turnip-baby ❤

But why doesn't lwj say anything ??? 😭

Lan Wangji raised A-Yuan smong a bunch of rabbits??? 😭

Now he's a turnip baby with a taste for carrots, how cute is that? :')

Holy shit, wwx and lwj are really joined at the hip these days of lwj won't enter the hall if wwx isn't allowed to :D

Lwj 😑 "no misbehaviour"

Someone. Knows. Their. Husband.

Okay sorry, but as painful as these cuts must have been and yes, while you do see scars on this prostitute's face, they in no way warrant these horrified gasps as of they had all seen a monster 🙄

Xue yang. Fancy seeing you here in this not at all disturbing sub-plot 😬

Okay that's creepy. That's really creepy

Shouldn't Jin Guangyao have a bit more compassion for these women?

On the other hand, he was born to menacingly stand behind a curtain 🤷‍♀️

W. T. F. ????

Jin Guangshan??? o___O

That's the most skin we've ever seen on this show and it's in a scene like THIS? 😬

THIS IS HOW JIN GUANGSHAN DIED? 😱😱😱

How?

How can you die from sex?

And then jgy made them keep going?

UGH

These poor women :/

So there's someone who set her free on purpose, right?

Bicao has really interesting eyes!

Oh wait, took me some time to catch up. This is about Quin Su and why she killed herself, right?

WHAT??

They were siblings o_O

They just went full game of thrones on this ...

Hey Jin Guangshan, screw you for raping that woman

Wait, is that why jgy had him die like THAT?

I'm so confused about how that happened btw

But why would Jin Guangyao merry quin su anyway? Was this some kind of political marriage that he couldn't call off?

This episode answered some of my questions but raised about a dozen more 😅

@sweetlittlevampire @fandom-glazed @elenirlachlagos @allhailthedramallama @luckymoony @kyrrahbird @i-love-him-on-purpose

5 episodes to go. I'm both happy because I can't wait to brows the untamed tag without looking for spoilers and extremely sad 🥺

Right now I'm planning to watch one episode each day until friday and then watch the last two on Saturday, hopefully quite early, so I can spend the rest of the day crying my eyes out over it, without having to worry about such trivial things as being a functioning adult or a responsible student 😅

[euphoricalethan]

\\Goddesses and monsters //

🦋🦋🦋🦋

Y/n watched as her wings fluttered closed and rested against her back before she stepped into the palace like building, walking into the dining area seeing her mother was sat at the end of it with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hello, Mom." Y/n sighed as she pulled out her chair before sitting down and smoothing our her dress

The two sat in an awkward silence before a loud boom was heard at the front of the house, y/n and her mother looked to see Lilith walking up the couple of steps leading into the dining room

"Hello, sister and mother." Lilith sat down next to y/n watching as her daughter sat right next to her

"Y/n stop thinking about that guy who sits outside my house all the time." Lilith laughed as she took a drink from her glass cup

"Lilith would you shut your mouth."  Y/n's mother slammed her fist on the table as Lilith continued to embarrass Y/n speaking about what was going on inside her head

"What I'm just being honest, I can read minds and y/n was an open book!!" Lilith scoffed as she took a drink of her whiskey before slamming the glass onto the table, only doing it a little too hard causing it to shatter.

"Stop reading people's minds." Aurora butted in only causing Lilith to roll her eyes at the eldest sister

"Screw this, I'm leaving—I'll talk to you guys when you aren't being rude and disrespectful to each other—we're supposed to be a family and this isn't how a family acts!" Y/n stood up as she shook her head beginning to make her way out of the kitchen

Y/n sighed as she walked the empty path near her mothers house, stopping at every dead flower she hovered her hand over it watching it bloom as if it was a brand new flower. Finding an empty patch of grass she sat down on pulling her knees up to her chest—looking up at the night sky seeing the stars shimmer—she felt a few tears fall down her face as her mind raced with thoughts of her family that sat inside the house bickering back and forth.

"Why're you so sad princess?" y/n jumped at the deep husky voice that came from behind her she wiped her eyes before turning to meet the bright hazel eyes of Grayson

"How did you find me?" She rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her knees, her chin resting against the back of her hands as she looked at the stars once more

"I have my ways—now are you gonna tell me why you're sad? Grayson sat criss criss next to y/n looking up at the stars wondering what was so special about them

"No—I'm not telling a demon about my personal problems." The small girl scoffed as she let out a laugh afterwards

"Oh, so it's a personal reason—that's understandable sweetheart, I know the feeling." He picked at the grass as he thought of what to say next

"No, you don't know the feeling of hearing your mother and sister argue all the freaking time." She shook her head covering her face so he couldn't see the tears

"Yes I do, trust me—my brother and mother argued all the time." Grayson laughed as he reached in front of him grabbing a small pink flower before pushing a piece of y/n's hair back and placing the stem of the flower behind her ear

"Why're you being nice to me?" Y/n removed her hands from her face as she turned her head looking at the boy seeing he was smiling at her slightly

"Why not?" He just shrugged as he looked away from her

"You're a demon."

"Just because I'm a demon—doesn't mean I'm not nice princess."

Y/n sighed as she took in the boys features, his eyes a bright hazel color, his dark brown hair falling in his face slightly, his muscular arms—Maybe he wasn't so bad.

"Y/n." She hummed as she traced shapes on her knee

"What?" Grayson furrowed his eyebrows looking away from the stars and into y/n's pink eyes that glistened in the moonlight

"That's my name, y/n." She repeated it once more as Grayson smiled this time showing his dimples along with a toothy smile

"A beautiful name for the most beautiful angel."

"I'm anything far from beautiful, if anything my sister Aurora is beautiful." The girl shook her head as she let a small laugh fall from her lips only for Grayson to scoff

"Bullshit." He leaned back extending his arms behind him as he rested on his hands

"I'm sorry?" Y/n cocked an eyebrow as she picked at certain pieces of grass

"You heard me—bullshit, I know your sister, yeah she's pretty but she's not as beautiful or exotic as you."

"How do you know my sister?"

"Doesn't matter—come with me." Grayson stood up holding out his hand waiting for y/n to take it

"Why?" She hesitated before placing her dainty hand in his large one

"I wanna show you something." He began making his way down a trail that was off the main path

Dead flowers bloomed as y/n walked past them—she didn't mean for it to happen it's been that way since she was born since she was born the angel of resurgence, but she was also born with mind reading along with the ability to talk to animals her mother always said she was special she just never understood why exactly—she thought she was just like every other angel.

The two made their way to a small mountain top, Grayson sat down watching as y/n followed the boys actions sitting down right next to him, the two sat there and chatted for a bit before a voice was heard in the distance.

"Y/n, where are you—I'm sorry for what i did." Lilith was heard calling out for the youngest sister

"I'm here." Y/n sat on a large boulder causing Lilith to look up at the girl before teleporting next to her

"Sorry about earlier, I just—don't think it's a good idea if you mess around with Grayson it could end up a mistake."

"Why not?" Y/n looked at her older sister as she swung her feet lightly

"He'll seem nice at first but then you'll have sex and up pregnant and he will get bored and leave." Lilith looked at y/n as she sighed feeling her shoulders drop

"How do you know?"

"Because I made that mistake, y/n." Lilith sighed as she placed her hand on Y/n's as Liliths memories beginning to flash through her mind

From Lilith meeting Grayson, their first date, after their first time, the moment she found out she was pregnant, to him leaving her alone.

"She's...his?" Y/n watched as Lilith nodded her head slowly

"Grayson and I go back a bit, he said he loved me too, he even took me to this mountain top thing—told me I was welcome there anytime." Lilith looked off into the distance as horror filled y/n's face

"He—that's where I was a few minutes ago, oh god Lilith I'm so stupid for actually believing a demon would actually like me, an angel!" Y/n ran a hand through her hair as she shook her head, standing and pacing back and forth

"Hey—hey..calm down." Lilith stood up and grabbed y/n by the wrist their eyes meeting for a split second  

"Y/n just don't mess around with him." Lilith and hopped down off the boulder and made her way inside

"Fucking idiot." Y/n whispered to herself as she laid on the rock looking up to watch the stars shimmer in the sky 

————

————

part two ah ha ha sorry it took so long, also if anything is fucked up and doesn’t make sense I’m very sorry I’ll fix it eventually!

I’m also uploading this story onto wattpad and if you wanna check it out on their my user is @ euphoricaldolan:)

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E2; Chapter Two, The Weirdo On Maple Street - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

𝘠/𝘯, 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Lucas, Dustin and I take our seats once we get to class.

"Oh, that can't be good." I sigh, gesturing to Mike's empty seat.

"Yeah, he's never this late," Dustin added.

"I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed," Lucas stated.

"I thought you liked his plan?"

"Yeah, but obviously it's stupid, or he'd be here."

"If his mom found out a girl spent the night—" Dustin began.

"He's in deep shit right about now."

Dustin shifted in his seat, and leaned forward, whispering loud enough for us to hear. "Hey, what if she slept naked?"

"Ugh!" My face screws into a sour, disgusted look aimed at my brother, unintentionally speaking at the same time as Lucas. "Why would she do that, Dustin?"

"Oh, my God, she didn't."

"Oh, if Mrs. Wheeler tells our parents..."

The thought of Mom finding out was enough to elicit an anxious groan from me, and I let my forehead fall against desk where I buried my face.

"No way. Mike would never rat us out."

I hesitantly looked up, making eye contact with Lucas. He gave me a reassuring smile, knowing I worry easily.

"I don't know." Dustin said warily.

"All that matters is, after school, the freak will be back in the loony bin, and we can focus on what really matters, finding Will." I frown at his specific choice of words for El, thinking back on how scared she seemed last night. I desperately want to say something, but decided against it, not wanting to get in a fight. Fighting won't get us any closer to finding Will.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Mike Wheeler rides his bike down the small slope of grass towards his front yard. When El refused to let Mike's mom know she was there, Mike had no choice but to resort to plan b. He had led his mom to believe that he had ridden to school when in reality he had stopped around the corner until both his parents were gone.

When he got to the driveway, he dismounted his bike and led it into the garage, however something caught his eye. He stared in awe as the once withered and frankly the most miserable looking plant he had ever seen in his life, was now a beautiful lush green and stood as tall his knees. 'How had Y/n done it?'

It took a solid moment for Mike to gather his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. He parked his bike and made his way inside.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"You want anything to drink?" Mike decided to take advantage of the empty house so that he could show El around. "We have OJ, skim milk... What else? Um, we have..."

Mike trailed off when he saw that El was more fascinated with the things in his living room, mostly his TV set.

"Oh, this is my living room. It's mostly just for watching TV."

El lightly traced her fingers around the frame of the TV as she examined it.

"Nice, right? It's a 22-inch.

That's, like, ten times bigger than Dustin's."

El turned her head and said quietly.

"Y/n."

"Well, yeah of course. Y/n too."

"Dustin. Brother?" She asked, making sure she remembered correctly.

"Yeah!" Mike smiled, then lightly shrugged. "Well, technically Y/n's adopted. But yeah, they're still siblings."

El's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Ad-adopted?"

"Yeah, um, it means that they came from different parents. Mrs. Henderson adopted them because their parents were unable to take care of them. It's funny actually, Y/n is from Hawkins. Or at least that's where they were found. The Hendersons didn't used to live in Hawkins; I don't know much about it cause Dustin was so young he doesn't remember any of it, but I think him and his mom were visiting family here and they just... found Y/n, I think? I'm pretty sure that's why they moved here, or something."

El seemed to understand as she thought about it. She then turned to look at the all the pictures on top of the fireplace. She slowly walks to the fireplace and steps up onto the brick platform. She gazes at all the family photos. Particularly, the photo beside the one of Mike; of a smiling girl, a little older than herself, with long brown hair and a pink sweater.

She smiles longingly and speaks in a soft voice. "Pretty."

"I guess." Mike's face is contorted in confusion and a little in disgust.

"That's my sister Nancy. And that's baby Holly." He said as she moved to the slightly larger photo of a young baby. She then moved along to a photo with Mike, Nancy, and Holly, along with two other people she didn't recognize.

"And those are my parents. What are your parents like?" As usual, El says nothing and she steps down from the fireplace and walks up to a large green chair.

"Do they live close?" Mike continued. He notices El run her hand along the top of the plush green chair. "That's our La-Z-Boy. It's where my dad sleeps. You can try it if you want." He offers. El looked up at him, intrigued. "Yeah." He assured her, with a warm smile on his face. She cautiously sits down as Mike kneels down beside the chair. "It's fun!"

She looked to Mike, wondering what he is up to.

"Just trust me, okay?" She gives a quick nod, and braces herself, not knowing what to expect. She is taken aback by the sudden collapse of the chair, she is now laying down and the chair is rocking back and forth. She lets out a gasp, and then a nervous chuckle.

"See? Fun, right?"

With one hand on the back of the chair, and the other on the front, he brings the recliner back into its default position. "Now you try."

With a small smile on her face, and feeling more confident she leans over the side and pulls the handle, letting her entire body go flying backward into a slow rock. Mike and El both look at each other and laugh gleefully.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The random rock song on the radio that Jonathan barely recognized came to an end as Jonathan Byers drove to his dad's house. His eyes darted to the radio unit in his car for a moment as his heart fell when the familiar sound of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" rang throughout the car.

- 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -

"Darlin', you got to let me know"

Jonathan is sat on the edge of the bed next to his younger brother Will. The two of them are in Will's room, bobbing their heads along to 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' by The Clash.

"Should I stay or should I go?"

"You like it?" Jonathan had to raise his voice so he could be heard over the loud song. Will looks to his older brother and grins.

"Yeah, it's cool!"

"All right, you can keep the mix if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. All the best stuff's on there. Joy Division, Bowie, Television, The Smith's... It'll totally change your life."

"Yeah, totally," Will says with a smile. However, the smile is quick to leave when the two boys hear their mother yelling on the phone.

"Where the hell are you, Lonnie?"

Will slowly turns his head to the door, listening to his mother yell at his absent father.

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it." Jonathan mimics his brother's actions and looks to the door. Finally, he gets up and walks towards the door.

"This is ridiculous! I'm so sick of your excuses."

"One day is fine and next is black"

Before Jonathan sits down, he lowers the volume on the stereo.

"He's not coming, is he?"

"Do you even like baseball?" Jonathan asks softly.

"No, but... I don't know." He shrugs sadly. "It's fun to go with him sometimes."

"Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something?"

Will shrugs his shoulders weakly. "I don't know."

"No, all right? He hasn't. He's trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay?"

Will only looks down at his feet sadly.

"Especially not him."

Will silently nods his head in understanding.

Jonathan decided to change the subject.

"But you like The Clash? For real?"

Will nods his head eagerly with a smile. "For real. Definitely."

"So... is Y/n a fan of The Clash?" Jonathan asks, genuinely curious.

A faint blush dusts Will's cheeks as he looks down at his hands. "Um, yeah, I think so."

"Maybe you should show this to them. I bet they'll like it."

"Maybe. You think?"

"Yeah, from what I know, they have great taste. They're pretty cool."

A loving smile spreads across Will's face. "Yeah, they are pretty cool."

There's a small pause filled only with the now dulled melody of drums and guitar drifting through the air. They had talked about it before, but only vaguely, never fully addressing it and it dawned on Jonathan that there was probably still loads of fear for Will because of it. He looks down at his brother who he loved more than anything and sent him an encouraging, honest smile.

"Will, you guys are best friends. You two are just too close to ruin the friendship. Why don't you think about asking them to the arcade or something? Just the two of you. Maybe come back here for some Mac and Cheese or something if that'd make you feel safer, and you could," he shrugs. "let them know how you feel?"

Will looked up at his brother, shocked. But his body was flushed with relief, he could feel the air in the room hitting his sweaty and clammey skin giving him chills. Not quite knowing how to handle his brothers reaction, his eyes simply fall to his hands where they fidgeting in his lap.

"But what if that does ruin the friendship? What if they don't feel the same way, and they decide to stop hanging out with me? Or if someone finds out- I just- I just can't. I'm not ready."

"That's okay. All I'm saying is, they're way too nice to be the kind of person who would do that. And you are way too important to them. And hey, if you ever do feel ready, or you guys do go out in the future..." Jonathan trails off, sensing the awkwardness creep up. He chuckles and looks back to his brother.

"All I'm trying to say is, I'm here for you. Always."

Will smiles gratefully and Jonathan leans forward to the volume back up.

"Should I stay or should I go? So you gotta let me know, should I stay or should I go?"

- 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 -